Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Guest Post

(This post is an essay written by SN3 for his sixth grade class. Posted “as received” and with permission of the author.)


My Life

By Robert Pennington

On February 19, 1997, a blue-eyed, 9-pound baby was born squeaking and squealing in Rochester, New York. So began the life of Robert Ellis Brobst Pennington.

The Past


The win without the “n”


I swung for victory, then suddenly a dull but sharp something poked me in the mid-section. I fell on the ground and faked my death. “So close, yet so far,” I muttered, as I heaved myself up off the ground. “Win to Ian,” the ref announced. I groaned because the score was 9 to 13 in Ian’s favor. “m’lord Ian and m’lord Wesley to the field! m’lord Robert and m’lord Brendon, prepare!” the ref announced. I remarked to Brendon that Wesley was going to die. Just then we heard a heavy thump. I yelled and laughed, as I saw Wesley win. By then I was exhausted from my previous battles. Yet, I was called onto the field. I grabbed a sword and shield, and, as I trotted out onto the field, I heard something. It was Wesley. He was yelling “Look out!” I turned just in time to dodge a swing from Brendon. Then I returned the swing, I feinted, and then tapped lightly on Brendon’s chest. He was dead. I gratefully took a drink of water. After two more battles, I tied the score 15 to 15. It was time for the final match between Ian and me. As I slowly promenaded onto the field, doubt crept into my mind, as thoughts went in one ear and out the other ear. Thus, I swung for victory and struck home.


The great feast


I stepped out of the car on the asphalt parking lot. I asked my mom when the feast was, and she replied, for the umpteenth time, five o’clock. She was annoyed. Walking in the door of the church was the strangest way to change from modern to medieval but I was immediately taken back in time, by being enveloped in the enticing, exotic smells of cinnamon, nutmeg, and something like cinnamon that was lighter and sweeter. The smells became more inviting by the minute. Soon, appetizing foods, such as chicken with garlic and salt, which tasted divine, appeared. Then, an exquisite, beef stew appeared, reeked of leeks, but had an excellent salty tang. Thus, time passed, I stepped out the church and into modern time. We got in the car and went home.


The Present – My Hobbies


Drawing is a great hobby because you can take a blank piece of paper and make it into an old lamp, a girl with freckles, or a beautiful moon. If I have a chance to draw and a white piece of paper, I will draw. What I like to draw is fantasy for fun, such as a “zorcling” or a “hydralisk.” The best part of drawing is thinking up the names of the creatures I draw. For example, one name I dreamed up recently was “zyamanor.”


Another hobby that I enjoy is collecting Legos and Bionicles. It is fun because I can mix up the parts to create new and strange creatures, machines, and all kinds of objects. Why I collect Bionicles is because I am working towards my goal of making the ultimate Bionicle. I have been collecting for about 8 years and I have two big bins full of Legos and Bionicles. If I counted all the Bionicle parts I have, I would probably have about two million.


Words provide a unique perspective, especially if you play with them. Thus, messing around with words has become a hobby of mine. One of the funniest words in written English is access because it is something you do and something you have. It is a noun, but over time it was “verbed.” Also, compound words are funny because you take one word, push it up against another, and it means something totally different. For instance, take the word home and the word work. When pushed together, they mean something totally different than what they mean separately.


The Future


In the future, I will be a writer of fiction about the beginning of the world, from a different perspective. I will illustrate in words all the different variables to describe what the world could have become. By the time I am forty, I will be married and will try to have five best-sellers. After I retire at sixty, I will move to Greece with my family to live out my days visiting famous spots in Greece. Then I will die.

Fin.


Today's Pic: SN3 in this year's class picture. The Second Mrs. Pennington doesn't like this shot and I'm not too fond of it, either. But it IS better than a drivers license photo.

(Update: I had to delete the earlier version of this post. Some way, somehow, the native formatting in Bobby's essay thoroughly hosed the blog's formatting, yet again. So... a delete and repost was in order.)

11 comments:

  1. Chip off the ol' block there dude.

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  2. I am very impressed with his writing skills. I agree with Dan.

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  3. SN3 seems to be quite the writer with a great imagination. Maybe he will be an illustrator too. And a world traveler.

    My son took the goofiest school photos - made me crazy. When we started homeschooling, I took the kids to Sears to have their photos made. The photo flashed on a monitor as the photographer took each pic. Jesse was laughing so hard at Bo's photo flashes, that the photographer wanted her to leave the room. What is it about boys and photographs?

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  4. Wow, that's impressive writing for his age. Has SN3 ever expressed an interest in writing - he's got some great gifts there already. A natural.

    Goofy pics - what kid at that age doesn't take goofy class pics. It's a right of passage isn't it?

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  5. That's great stuff! I have little doubt that SN3 will, indeed, retire to Greece with a boatload of cash from writing, if he continues to apply himself.

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  6. Robert for President. I'm sure he has much more sense than any of our candidates.

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  7. Laurie: LOL! But he ain't 35...

    All: Thank you VERY much for your kind comments. It's obvious I'm very much the Proud Papa, eh?

    That said... too bad about the difference in our ages. I wouldn't mind living out my dotage on the largess of my children, especially somewhere in Greece... in or on the Aegean.

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  8. What a fantastic imagination! Not to mention the writing skills. He will undoubtedly go very, very far in life. You have every reason to be proud, Buck.

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  9. Robert is quite a writer, and a cutie too.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.