I am...Mrs. Fraser

I am…

small-town sports, a life in the country
and the desire to be a good girl

two younger sisters, who really know me and love me anyway

riding horses bareback with my cousins and
picking vegetables
from my grandparents’ garden 

domino games and stories around an old kitchen table in Oklahoma 

shopping in a Ford Crown Victoria
piloted by my lead-footed grandmother 

Drury College, where I learned about Alice Walker,
the secrets of ПBФ,
how to live with roommates,
and that the world is much
bigger than Cassville, Mo.

Ryan, who knows I don’t like to talk when I first wake up,
who loves me even though I don’t like to cook, and who every day
tells me how pretty and smart I am, even on days I’m not.

Macauley, a junior with his own car and a job and
the start of his own life,
with a clever sense of humor
and a kind, sensitive heart,
my sunshine when skies are grey

I am…

sweet tea and chocolate milk, chips and guacamole 

pets on the furniture

puffy, comfy white couches, ironstone plates and pitchers,
chippy white furniture, burlap and linen,
mismatched silverware and old photos,
flea market finds and treasures that make me smile.

a tattered teddy bear bought with my birthday money
in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, when I was 8

tightly folded notes passed between teenage boys and girls
in class and church

photos and scrapbooks and a project always in the works.

books on my nightstand and magazines on the floor

sleeping late on weekends (especially when it rains)
in a bed with lots of covers and feather pillows

dark blue eyes and my dad’s olive skin,
black-framed glasses when I read or watch TV.

jeans and ankle boots, lots of black,
hair that always ends up in a messy ponytail,
Uggs and sweatshirt.

I am…

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is
fighting a hard battle.” (John Watson)

“Everyone you will ever meet
knows something you don’t.” (Bill Nye the Science Guy)

“Let it be…let it be…
There will be an answer…let it be.” (The Beatles)

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love.
It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot.
All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes,
the lump in your throat,
and in that hollow part of your chest…
Grief is just love with no place to go.” (Jamie Anderson)

Let's do this!

Blogs are an interactive, visual way to share our writing, and I'm excited for you to create your own. I am providing some written instructions on the handout I passed out, but I think you'll really just learn as you go. 

Your individual blog will be like an online, visual portfolio of your work for this class.  You might occasionally post something on your own, but your blog for Creative Writing is not meant to be a diary or like social media.  You will post your assignments to your blog for me (and often your classmates) to read.  You'll get comments/feedback from us right on your posts, too.

What I've set up here is a central class blog where I will post assignments and sometimes my own writing. You can usually check here for directions or what you need to get started, so please take the time to read the information I post. When you create your blogs, I will add each of them to a "blog roll" on the right hand side--from here you can hop on and see what everyone else is up to, and I'll be looking for you to make supportive and appropriate comments on your classmates' blogs beginning in the near future. This whole process of creating a blog might be a new one for most of you, and I appreciate your willingness to jump in and try something unfamiliar. You'll just have to spend a little time playing around with your layout, and I hope you feel free to add your own personal touches and make your page your own. You can start with the basic setup and let it evolve from there.

Some things to know/keep in mind:

• A post is a new entry you create from scratch with your own thoughts and ideas. A comment is an idea or thought you attach to someone else's post.
• While your blog is meant to be a place for you to express yourself and for others to communicate with you, we aren't using our blogs for socializing like facebook or texting. I hope you're kind and friendly to one another, but resist posting casual messages or silly small talk or really anything not related to our work together as a class. Later on, when you've moved on from Creative Writing, you may want to continue your blog and of course then you can do whatever you want with it!
• Since your blog is an "assignment" for a writing class, please attempt to use proper grammar and punctuation. You should not use text-speak or abbreviations or slang that you might use in texting or email. i do not want you to type in all lowercase like this. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO TYPE IN ALL UPPERCASE LIKE THIS. Use complete sentences and your best grasp on writing conventions. This is not to say we won't all make a few mistakes here and there, but we want it to appear that we were trying not to, not like we just haphazardly slapped some stuff down.

I do hope you enjoy this process...I'm here every step of the way so don't hesitate to ask me if you have questions or want some guidance.

• When you've created your own blog today, leave the url (address) of it as a comment on this post. I'll link all of them to this page and this will be our home base. You can name your blog whatever you want, but I'll be listing them by your first and last name in the blog roll because it's much easier for me to keep track of that way. 

• Your first post will be your"I am..." Poem you drafted on Monday. You should be able to copy and paste the text from Docs or you can draft directly on blogger. Add an image or two using the button that looks like a photo (next to the blue word "Link") on the tool bar. 

• Also, please leave a comment on my "I am..." post telling me something you found interesting or something we have in common. 

• Then do the same for as many of your classmates as you can.  Just click on their names in the blog list down the right side of this page. 

• If you've still got some time after that, you could work on customizing your blog with backgrounds, design choices, gadgets in the sidebar, etc.  Here is just one place you can get free stuff to use in your blog design:  Cutest Blog on the Block.