I thought The Glass Castle. was really interesting. I’m interested in learning how the author escaped from her strange family and is now able to live a pretty comfortable life. The author’s description of her father was really vivid and I was able to form a good picture of him in my mind. The part where the author picks her scabs and makes them talk to each other was really strange, however.

Stephen King’s descriptions were impressively written. I like how he was able to elaborate on something as universal as pain in a new and unique way. When he refers to the pain of his first bee sting as an “inspiration,” I remembered the first time when I was stung when I was 5 and I think calling it an inspiration is strangely accurate.

Portfolio 5

One of my favorite memories is of the time I went on a weekend trip with my uncle Jeremy to go see a wind farm. Jeremy was in his early 20s, and studying environmental science in college. He was really interested in alternative energy and was always advocating a green lifestyle. One time he dressed up as a polar bear and walked around campus all day, handing out “save the arctic” pamphlets. Jeremy has always been my favorite uncle because he is very spontaneous, and always willing to play with us kids. He would do fun things like take us sledding, or build tree forts. He treated kids like they were equals and always had new toys for us when he came over. So when my mom asked if I wanted to go with Jeremy for the weekend on his field trip, I was ecstatic.

We left the house in my mom’s then new 2005 Honda Odyssey right after dinner. I sat behind Jeremy in the second row and he turned up the radio all the way up to 30. I remember being really excited about that because my mom would insist that the radio never be turned up anywhere past 12. Jeremy also rolled all the windows down once we got on the highway and turned up the radio even louder. He tried to explain the basic concept of wind turbines to me and I asked a lot of questions about them. It was really special that I was getting to go on this trip and that I got Jeremy all to myself.

Part of Jeremy’s goofy personality was doing things at the most bizarre times. So, true to character, he pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste while on the highway and began brushing his teeth. I didn’t realize he had done this until I was suddenly hit in the face with a foamy glob of toothpaste. My first thought was that a bird had somehow sniped a car going 70 and its poop had gone straight through the window. Then, I looked at Jeremy through the rearview mirror and saw that he had spit out the window, straight into the 70 mph wind, and the force of the wind caused the spit to be sucked right back into the car. I immediately grinned and we made a game out of spitting out. the window.

When it was time to turn in for the night, my budget-conscious uncle found the cheapest hotel possible. As we pulled off of the highway, it was obvious that this hotel wasn’t exactly a 5-star Hilton. When we got to our room, I discovered mysterious brown stains under the comforter and a cockroach convention in the bathtub. Jeremy opted to take the bed with the stains. Normally a stay like this would be really gross, but it added to the sense of adventure.

The next morning we woke up early to finish the drive to the wind farm. As we walked towards the first turbine, I was amazed at the sheer size of the thing. It’s hard to appreciate the sheer size of wind turbines from a passing glance on the highway. They were loud, too, and it was amazing how these giants could power entire cities. The turbine was strong in the wind, guarding the countryside around it. Its tough exterior posed a sharp contrast to the soft grass waving in the breeze. Every aspect was meticulously designed for maximum efficiency. Jeremy was really nice to take his nephew on s an interesting trip and I’ll always remember it.

Wind turbine — castle tower

tall

hard material