Making My Own Cookies

Looking back on Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, I feel that Kesey really tries to make the point that people cannot rely on others in life. Bromden finally escapes when he decides to take things into his own hands. Without the reliance on McMurphy, Bromden can more clearly see what he wants and how he will accomplish this. Over break, I have also realized this. My friends and I decided it would be fun to have a cookie exchange. Everyone made three dozen cookies and then we would each get at least two of every kind of cookie. It seemed like a great idea at the time-make some cookies and receive a variety of cookies in return. Then, at the party, I realized I did not like majority of the cookies made. In fact, I would have rather just had my one over many of the other options. They just were not the cookies I wanted. I did not even get a chance to my own and ended up not eating very many cookies. Then, the next morning, I realized how much I really wished we all just stuck with our own cookies, as I got up in the morning feeling nauseous. I was now sick with food poisoning from someone’s cookies…awesome. As I lay on the couch the rest of the day, occasionally running for a bucket or something, I really regretted having the cookie exchange. Why not just make our own cookies? Why did we have to rely on everyone else to make cookies? From now, I will avoid cookie exchanges and make sure I take matters into my hands so I get what I want and do not end up sick.

20 Ways to Know You Take AP English 12 with Ms. Serensky

You know you are in AP English 12 when…
1.You have a blog. I mean, really, what senior in high school has a blog?
2.You feel weird reading a book without a pen in hand. Books just look blank without your scribbled notes.
3.You make fun of people who do not know what situational irony is.
4.You stalk Indian people. (Cough…Alex Kreger…cough.)
5.You often spend your time trying to come with the latest tune for “Bobbie’s Blog Banter.”
6.You wonder if Ms. Serensky really is watching you at all times. (She is.)
7.You evaluate your sanity an insane amount of times.
8.You laugh every time you hear the words, “Dear Journal.”
9.You begin to stress out if the desks are not in a circle.
10.You frequently say “Gogol” in an Indian accent.
11.You know what it feels like to turn in twenty plus pages of work at one time. Not to mention, you know what it feels like to stay up the entire night beforehand.
12.You feel nervous walking towards Ms. Serensky with money.
13.You get freaked out when all the lights are on in a classroom.
14.When you hear the word “America,” you immediately picture the flag in Ms. Serensky’s room coiled around the pole. (Or you picture Thomas Donley.)
15.You laugh at the juniors in AP English 11 and all their frivolous stresses.
16.You say “sorry” when you begin talking at the same time as someone, and then continue to talk.
17.You know that Ms. Serensky is obsessed with the twins’ relationship. (And you know who the “twins” are without me even saying their names.)
18.You have discussed English work and books in every other class. Moreover, all your other friends and teachers hate you for it.
19.The sight of a sticker on top of your paper makes you happier than a kid on Christmas morning.
20.You do homework on the second full day of winter break.

Fear

As we continue to read One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, I continue to grow frustrated with the treatment of the patients, when I struggle to find why they are even there. As we recently read, many of the patients are voluntary and could leave whenever they please. So, now I wonder why they stay in this miserable place. Why not leave? When McMurphy asked them this question, Bill Bibbit responded that they would leave, “If we had the g-guts!” (195). His response made me think of a quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt, where he stated, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt helped the American people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he promised quick, forceful action. I found that this quote really applies to the characters in this novel. They allow themselves to suffer based solely on their fears. After the fishing trip, they feel bolder, more confident in themselves, further illustrating that they are capable of living a normal life. Still, they allow their own insecurities, their fears, to keep them locked up in this institution. I wish that these men could realize this and recognize that they have nothing to fear. I feel like McMurphy is showing them this, and slowly, the men are beginning to see it and maybe actually believe it. Like Roosevelt, McMurphy provides the patients with hope. He delivers potent action through his interactions with the nurse. His actions force the patients to relook at their conditions and see that their fears are absurd. With the help of McMurphy, I believe he can help these patients overcome their fear and in the end, lead happier lives.

Franklin Roosevelt:

Call Me Crazy

Call me crazy, but I actually like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I know most people find it hard to believe that anyone would like any of the books we read in class, but I enjoy reading this book (despite the large amount of reading we have each night.) I find many of the characters likeable and humorous, particularly McMurphy and Harding. I enjoy Harding’s sarcastic remarks to the other patients and I love seeing him prove how smart he is as he explains things to McMurphy. McMurphy’s spirit always provides entertainment and I enjoy the ways he tries to get under Nurse Ratched’s skin. For example, when he came out in just a towel, which angered and shocked Nurse Ratched, then when he took it off and revealed he actually had shorts on. Even Nurse Ratched, though I do not like her, I like the drama she creates. I love to see what she or McMurphy will do next to get back at the other one. I also found poor Cheswick funny, for his blatant admiration for McMurphy. In comparison to The Namesake, I like this book so much more. The characters and the storyline are much more exciting. I found The Namesake boring majority of the time, as well as depressing. None of the characters seemed to ever feel happy. I did not like any of the characters in The Namesake, except for Ashima, who I mostly liked out of pity for her situation. I find One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest very humorous as well. Through dialogue with the characters and Chief Bromden’s observations of the patients, I find the story can be very funny. I also find it interesting the Kesey found his inspiration for writing the book while being in an institution himself and experimenting with drugs. I wonder how much of the book comes from his own personal “trips” on acid, and which he thought of separately from that. I look forward to reading more about the story and I hope for more exciting conflict between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. So, go ahead, call me crazy…I like the book.

Too Good to be True

People are funny. It seems like whenever people hear good news they cannot accept it immediately; they always think it seems too good to be true. Yet, as often times demonstrated in class discussions, people are too quick to believe the worst and criticize the fault found as soon as possible. Often times, when people hear good news they say things like, “No way!” or “I don’t believe you!” On the other hand, when people hear bad news their faces turn red within seconds and they have their pitchforks and torches in hand. I noticed this as I woke to a phone ringing early Monday morning, followed by my mom coming in my room to tell me that I had no school, it was a snow day. The first thing I said back to her was, “Are you serious?” Now, of course she was serious. What kind of mom would wake their child up early just to lie to them about a snow day? And why else would the phone be ringing at six in the morning? But, still, I had to check for myself. So, I called the school hot line, excited to hear the words “No school” but instead I heard “Chagrin Falls Schools are operating on a normal schedule.” I was so confused so I ran back into my mom’s room to ask who called her. I simply could not accept the amazing news of a school, even after she told me it was a recording from the school. Still, I waited until I had received a couple texts from friends before finally allowing myself to go back to sleep. So, why do we refuse to accept the good and unquestioningly accept the bad? For example, in class, when we prepared ourselves to watch The Namesake, I felt confident that we would have to take notes during the movie, even though the students in the class before already said we did not have to. Also, before the football game on Friday, we all expected to have to make up work for that day of class. We could not believe that the calendar simply read “Football Game.” I think part of the reason we will not instantly believe good news is that people do not want to feel disappointed. So instead, they build up this idea that it simply cannot be true. Then, they think that they will be even more excited when they find out it is true. However, I do wish I had gone right back to bed Monday morning, instead of sitting up anxiously for another half hour.

Faye Haxby

After researching information about Ken Kesey and discovering what a wild life he led, I was surprised that he was married. I wondered who his wife, Norma Faye Haxby, truly was. I wondered if she participated in all of Kesey’s crazy antics and drugs or if she approved of what he did. In 1956, while attending college at the University of Oregon Haxby and Kesey eloped. Haxby and Kesey were high school sweethearts and first met in seventh grade. I found it interesting that the two married while Kesey still appeared driven and studious. This is how Haxby knew him; he was voted most likely to succeed in high school. Kesey and Haxby moved to a stretch of bohemian cottages near the Stanford Golf Course after he earned a scholarship in 1958 to Stanford. Haxby and Kesey had their first child in 1960, a girl, Shannon. They had their first son, Zane, in 1961. But, in 1961, Kesey changed. His determined attitude focused more on taking drugs than working in school. He began his journey with the “Merry Pranksters” in 1964. (Kesey and Haxby had a second son, Jed, in 1964.) Haxby was not a part of the “Merry Pranksters,” which included Kesey's best friends Ken Babbs and Neal Cassady, Carolyn Adams, Wavy Gravy, Paul Krassner, Stewart Brand, Del Close, George Walker and more. In 1967 Kesey had another daughter, Sunshine, with fellow “Merry Prankster” Carolyn Adams, also known as “Mountain Girl.” (Fun Fact: In the 1980’s, Adams married The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia.) It amazes me that Haxby stayed with Kesey throughout all his road trips with the “Merry Pranksters,” his drug use and his infidelity. In fact, in an interview with Paul Pintarich, it sounds as though she felt miserable during his years on the road. In reference to the journeys of the beatniks in the 1950’s, Haxby remarked, “‘Ask the wives how much fun it was. You’ll get a much different story.’” This made me even more curious about why she stayed with him all those years; they remained married until Kesey’s death in 2001. Although, Kesey did calm down after his prankster adventures and he remained at home with his family. He became something no one ever expected-except maybe Haxby. He was a devoted family man who raised cattle and sheep, taught graduate writing seminars at the University of Oregon, coached wrestling, started a website and edited a magazine. Still, I wonder how she stuck it out all those crazy years. Maybe she knew more about him than anyone else. Maybe she did not care about his adventures. Or maybe she just really loved him. I guess love truly is “a crazy little thing.”

Here is a photo of Faye Haxby: