My three best friends

My three best friends.

I do not only have one best friend, but I have three - Ariana Burdick, Nikki Herbison, and Chase Labranche. I love them all the same. So, I couldn't just write about one.


I'll start off by describing Ariana Burdick. Ariana is very tall and very thin. She has blond hair that is almost white. She is amazing at basketball, but doesn't like any other sports. Also, she is very outspoken and she speaks her mind most of the time. Ariana is a very bubbly, lively, sweet person. The next best friend I'll tell about is Nikki Herbison. Nikki comes off as very quiet and shy, but is very talkative once you get to know her a little better. Nikki is average height, and is thin, like Ariana. She doesn't do sports, but she is very creative with art and pictures. She is seen by other people as very sweet, and shy. Nikki is the opposite of Ariana, as in she doesn't speak her mind very often (which is okay!). You could say she is just more conservative with her thoughts than most people. My last best friend to describe, is Chase Labranche. Chase has long, lovely dirty blond hair and is average height for a guy. He skateboards amazingly, and loves good rock music. People perceive Chase as quiet, and shy. He talks more as you get to know him. People make friends with Chase very easily, because he is extremely nice and easy going. The same goes for all three of my best friends.

To start off, none of my best friends are egoists or egotists. I have a hard time getting along with people who are conceited. All three of my best friends are very different, but very alike in some senses. Nikki is an ambivert but tends to lean towards introvert, but only when shes around a large group of people. I say this because she is so shy and quiet most of the time, and she's extremely creative and very smart. Ariana on the other hand, is leaning towards extrovert. She is extremely outgoing, loves meeting new people and being adventurous. And then Chase is right in between. Id say hes probably an ambivert, because hes not an extrovert or an introvert. He is all of those physical descriptions. Overall, even though we are all three very different, and are all ideally individualistic, we are all best friends. I suppose that's why we are - because were all so different.

-Nicole Dandridge

Earliest Moment

One of my earliest memories is from kindergarten, when I was about five years old. I was at my uncle's appartment with my little brother, Ian, and my two cousins, Brandi and Ashley, who are older than me. We decided to go to the small park behind the house to play on the toys. Being the adventurous person that I am, I decided to try something a little more exciting. I ran over to the monkey bars, climbed up, and tried to jump and reach not the first bar, but the third or fourth (it would have been too easy to reach the very first one!). As I leapt off of the platform, I realized I would never make it, and instead of grabbing the bar, I fell and landed with my arm out and behind me at a very strange angle - CRACK! Everyone went crazy--they started yelling for my uncle and running around!

The last thing I remember was my oldest cousin, Brandi, picking me up off of the ground and running to the house to get my uncle. Before I knew it, we were speeding down the freeway to get to St. Peter Hospital. As we pulled up, I recall my dad picking me up and taking me in. I remember they gave me a teddy bear and some medicine that made me very sleepy! It was scary when the doctor said I would need surgery to repair the compound fracture right by my elbow, but the worst part was when the nurse had to cut my shirt off to get me ready for surgery! It was my FAVORITE! It was a white shirt with the coolest sparkly heart on the front--the kind every five year old must have! I woke up hours later in a hospital room, with a cast on my entire arm. They put my arm back together but two long silver pins held the bones in place and had to stay in for about six to eight weeks. It was really wierd because they stuck out of my arm. I'd rather not mention what it felt like when they pulled those out!

Another big part of this that I remember, is being in a commercial and in an ad for the paper for St Peter Hospital. My mom is a pharmacist at the hospital, so we did an interview, a photo shoot and commercial (with make-up, hair and everything). It was pretty cool, actually.

-Nicole Dandridge

Rebecca - Imagery:

Why did the author of Rebecca use imagery as the dominant literary element in the novel? I suppose Daphne De Maurier uses imagery so frequently throughout the novel to describe the setting and the different things and places, in and around Manderly.

Life at Maderly is supposed to be perfect and up to standards, but it is also dark and creepy. Everyone describes how life was at the mansion, when the first Mrs. De Winter was alive (Rebecca). Imagery is used to describe the good and bad sides of Manderly and the people with in it, and that visit. Imagery just describes everything better and helps define things better. Also, without the imagery, the book would be all about the girl and what she has to say, which would not be very interesting. Imagery adds depth and makes the novel much more interesting in my opinion.




-Nicole Dandridge

Outside Reading

The book I am currently reading outside of class is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. A supposedly creepy, suspense novel. So far the book seems a little bit boring, but I am not very far into the story yet. It is hard to get into right now, because it is moving a little slow, and the author is still introducing many of the characters and their personalities.

Though I am not very far along in Rebecca, it is obvious to me that the dominant literary element is imagery. Almost every page in the book is full of descriptive terms that fill my mind with a well painted picture. I suppose the author uses imagery as a main literary element, because it keeps you more interested if you're able to picture things well, and I think it helps you understand certain things much better than if the author used different elements.

So far in this book, I see the tone as Somber or maybe even Nostalgic. The author used terms and words that make you think of melancholy things. Also, the characters seem to be in off - strange moods and their behaviors change constantly. Overall, I'm not sure what the exact tone is yet.