Notes from the Life of a Total Genius
Page 2
Awwwww … Aren’t you a cute bunny?!?!
ive got football triouts 2morro.
Good luck! You’ll get in for sure. You dominated capture the flag at camp this summer.
Ya, I OWNED that flag man. will keep u posted.
From: Von Ipo (thenexteastwood@hotmail.com)
To: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
Sent: September 12, 19:56
Hey, Artie!
First, don’t you love Hark? That guy is awesome! Do you have a poem yet for Drama? If you need one, I’ve chosen twenty! I basically went through my shelves and picked the best ones, but I can only do one. I chose a Walt Whitman poem, but I’m going to ask if I can do a Jay Z rap as a poem. Rap is basically poetry. Maybe Hark’ll even let me play the real song in the background. Let me know if you want to look through what I have. Some people are doing their performances in partners. Be cool if we did something together, hey? Like our movie last year! Let me know!
Cheers!
Von
Assignment: Personal Reading Projects
Although we will be doing a novel study this year in class, as well as studying one of Shakespeare’s tragedies (here’s a hint for you: Double, double, toil and trouble …), there will also be some individual reading and responses. Over the course of the year, you are expected to read and review at least one of the novels on the approved reading list, one biography or autobiography and one non-fiction book. Of course, you’re welcome to read and respond to more books if you wish! If there is a specific book that you wish to review that is not on the list, please speak to me. You must log your responses through detailed book reviews. I expect more than a synopsis! Chart your progress and reflections as you read.
There is no specific due date, but I suggest you plan your year accordingly, so that you aren’t handing them all in at the end of June. Book reviews submitted after June 3 will be marked as late.
From: Kennedy Laurel (imsocutekl@hotmail.com)
To: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
Sent: September 14, 11:16
Hi Arthur!
Thanks SO much for running the bake-sale booth! Wasn’t the carnival super fun?? It was HILARIOUS to see Catie in the dunk tank! She was so mouthy, I’m not surprised that she got dunked so often LOL! I’m going to write an article for the Marathon about how it brought together the school in such a positive way!
Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you about something. Someone saw you eat a Rice Krispie square while you were sitting there, but they didn’t see you pay for it! I’m sure it’s just a mix-up, but I promised that I would follow up!
Kennedy :)
From: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
To: Kennedy Laurel (imsocutekl@hotmail.com)
Sent: September 14, 14:41
Dear Kennedy,
I’m glad that the carnival went pretty well. I didn’t really get a chance to see any of it, since I was the only person working my booth the whole time. And your “secret source” is right. I did eat the last Rice Krispie square without paying for it. I never got a chance to eat dinner, and it was the last one and the carnival had already closed, so I didn’t think it was a big deal. I was so hungry! I didn’t know that you had spies watching! You must know EVERYTHING that happens in the school hahaha!
Did you want me to pay for the Rice Krispie square? Do you want help writing your article?
Yours truly,
Arthur Bean
From: Kennedy Laurel (imsocutekl@hotmail.com)
To: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
Sent: September 14, 16:20
Hi Arthur!
OF COURSE NOT! You don’t have to pay for it! I just wanted to check up!
I DO have spies everywhere! So you better watch your step LOL! One false move, and you’re OFF the friend list LOL!
I already wrote the article today! I wanted to get it done because Jerry’s having an awesome birthday party tonight! It’s Disney themed LOL! Can’t wait to go!!
Kennedy :)
From: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
To: Robbie Zack (robbiethegreat2000@hotmail.com)
Sent: September 17, 11:43
Dear Robbie,
How did the football tryouts go? When will you find out? I still can’t believe you want to be on the football team. I thought you were going to focus on art this year! Speaking of which, I can get you a spot doing a comic strip for the Marathon. I called it “The Out of Towners” so that you can draw it, but no one will know it was you. It will be brilliant. I can tell you all the gossip around the school and then you can make fun of it in your comic.
This week we got a ton of Math homework. I’m going to be doing it all weekend. But the new Drama teacher, Hark, started a playwright club AND it’s only open to grade nines and a few grade eights. It’s really serious. We’re going to put on our own plays this year! If you were here, we could have totally made Zombie School into a play (it would be better as a play than Von’s dumb movie anyway), but I don’t want to “steal your ideas” (as you like to remind me), so I’m going to do something else. I really thought Kennedy was going to join the group too, but she didn’t. Not that I care, I just thought it was weird. It’s probably for the best. I don’t really want to have to see her all the time anyway. She’s being so bossy at the newspaper meetings. It’s like she thinks she has the final say on everything.
Are you coming back to spend Thanksgiving with your dad? I hope so.
Yours truly,
Arthur Bean
From: Robbie Zack (robbiethegreat2000@hotmail.com)
To: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
Sent: September 17, 15:04
i find out about the team next week, but i think i made it!
playrites sounds cool. my acting career ended with romeo and juliett. i was a child star whose star faded. HA! besides, my school is putting on a musicall and i am def NOT a singer.
i def dont want to do ur comic strip. if i do any art, it wont be as boring as that sounds. im going to be an art and football star. watch out marshawn lynch! im more talented than u! HA!
im back a round thanksgiving. see u then 4 sure.
Rob
Dear Hark,
Here’s my poem for the performance poetry assignment. What do you think? I wanted to go with something classic at first, but I didn’t know what to do and it all sounded so boring. I thought about using a Jay Z rap song, but Von told me he was doing that. Instead I wrote this over the weekend. Is it OK? I don’t want to sound stupid, especially if everyone else is doing a famous poem and mine is the only one that isn’t famous. Maybe it’s not even all that good. I bet you’ll be honest with me. You seem like the type of guy who would be honest with his students. Anyway, I made sure it didn’t rhyme because I didn’t want it to sound too childish and I looked through all your poetry books and just used their style of free verse.
Yours truly,
Arthur Bean
I’m No Detective
By Arthur Bean
I’m no detective,
but
I can’t help but notice that you’re around.
Maybe it’s by accident
That you’re close by
That your seat is next to mine
More than it isn’t next to mine
It could just be a coincidence
That I saw you near my house
In the rain
In the nighttime
Under an umbrella
Under a tree
Looking around
Looking lost
It could be a lucky shot
That you were at the restaurant that night
We all know the pizza coupons
Are only good on Thursdays
So of course everyone is there
Everyone who is anyone is there
But maybe
These are clues to something more
Something exciting
Something true
But who am I to say?
I’m no detective.
Hi, Arthur!
First off, I love your poem. It’s fantastic! It’s mysterious and a little creepy, in a really good way. It’s hard to say if your narrator is telling the truth or not. Is he the stalker, or is he being stalked? This is great work. Has anyone ever told you you’re a great writer? This is going to be just perfect; we’ll work on staging it in a way that adds to the mystery of the piece on Thursday in class. This year is going to be great, isn’t it? I really appreciate getting your reflection on the piece too. Let’s keep that up! I like knowing what you’re thinking about when you’re writing. It helps me to understand your intention and help you achieve what you want.
I’m so pleased to have a gang of students who are serious about theatre. This is what teaching is all about. You guys inspire me, you really do!
Hark
Assignment: Reviewing Personification
Imbuing non-living objects with human-like characteristics adds effect and a unique voice to your work. This is called personification, and can be an excellent descriptive technique. Create ten sentences personifying objects you find in your house.
Due: September 23
Personification Sentences
By Arthur Bean
1. The ice cream in the freezer was calling my name. It cried out in despair, “Eat me, Arthur! Eat me!”
2. The computer stared back at me, blankly.
3. The books on my bookcase squeezed into line to make room for one more.
4. The blanket was snuggled deep into the couch cushions.
5. Even the kitchen held its nose at the smell coming off the garbage can.
6. The kitty litter box begged to be emptied.
7. The lemon puckered its lips in distaste.
8. The corn perked up its ears at the sound of the water boiling.
9. The potato eyed the tinfoil, knowing that it spelled the end of the potato’s life.
10. The cherry felt sad in the pit of his stomach.
Arthur,
You started off very strong, but the last three examples descend into puns rather than personification. You have a keen sense of description, and I’d like to see you challenge yourself this year to use different literary devices to bring your work to a higher level.
Ms Whitehead
From: Kennedy Laurel (imsocutekl@hotmail.com)
To: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
Sent: September 23, 19:50
Hi Arthur!
I was looking over the list of “hot topics” that you brought to the Marathon meeting and I want the student body (as much as I HATE that term :)) to feel like it’s really about them. I LOVE your idea of having a creative corner where students can submit their own work in the paper to share it, but do you think they would go for it? Most kids aren’t going to do more writing OUTSIDE of class than they have to.
It’s really about making this the best year ever for the Marathon! And it’s so important to me because, don’t tell anyone, but I’m trying to win the school leadership award! They only give one out if there’s a student who REALLY deserves it! So I’m working like Supergirl to win it! It means a lot to me to be recognized as a leader, which sounds SO lame to say, but it’s true! It’s so much work though! I feel like I need to make clones of myself to do all the things I’ve signed up for LOL!
I guess what I want to get across is that the Marathon is a REALLY big part of my plan to win!
Kennedy :)
From: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
To: Kennedy Laurel (imsocutekl@hotmail.com)
Sent: September 23, 21:43
Dear Kennedy,
I didn’t even know there was a leadership award. I think you’d be a great choice for it! I’m happy to help you out on anything that you need. That’s what friends are for, right? Do you want to hang out after school sometime this week? I can help you plan your strategy, and then we can catch up with other people. I can never keep track of stuff happening, I’m invited to so many things!
Yours truly,
Arthur Bean
From: Kennedy Laurel (imsocutekl@hotmail.com)
To: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
Sent: September 23, 22:02
Hi Arthur!
I can’t meet tomorrow. I’m campaigning for the grad committee (no surprise there, hey? LOL). I want our grad to be THE BEST, so Catie and I have been working really hard to make posters to get everyone excited for the end of the year (I KNOW! A LITTLE early LOL!). Plus, it might be a bit weird, just you and me. I mean, we are TOTALLY friends, but I don’t know if we’re friends who hang out. That might be weird! Right now, everything is so OK between us. I don’t want to ruin that!
Kennedy :)
From: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
To: Kennedy Laurel (imsocutekl@hotmail.com)
Sent: September 23, 22:40
Dear Kennedy,
Of course. That totally makes sense. I’m cool with that. Cool as a cucumber!
Yours truly,
Arthur Bean
This new playwriting group is awesome! I wish you could be in it. We decided to call ourselves The Leg Breakers. Get it?
like the moffia?
Sure, like the mafia.
It’s a play on words. Like Break a Leg.
PLAY on words?!?! hahaha
That’s not what I mean.
i know
Maybe you can be in it from Lethbridge! I can ask Hark. You could submit stuff by email or you can Skype in!
Then you & I could write together! It would be awesome. I do my best work when you’re here. I was thinking of writing a play about time-travelling aliens who save Earth!
do u mean u do MY best work when im there hahaha
Are you ever going to let that go?
nope hahaha
Arthur, Editor: Meet the Creatures
By Arthur Bean
There are plenty of new student faces around this year, but also a few new teachers. I had the opportunity to speak to the three new teachers at Terry Fox Jr. High, and find out a little more about them to share with you, my readers.
I first talked to Mr. Harker. Mr. Harker’s full name is Hector Harker, which he said “makes him feel like a character in a bad children’s book.” He has always hated his name, and he thinks that’s one of the reasons he went into theatre. He said that “he could play a character with any other name than his own.” He went to the National Theatre School in Montreal, and after that, he was in a touring production of Cats for a couple of years. When he got tired of dressing as a feline, he moved to Toronto, where he did a couple of plays and was an extra in some movies, including a movie starring Robin Williams, but he never met him in person. He was also in the chorus of Wicked, which is another musical, for two months, before he quit and went back to school to become a teacher. Mr. Harker moved to Calgary last year, and he said that he’s super stoked to be at such an amazing school with such great kids. He said that he plans to do a student-written play festival this spring, and that he is here to learn as much from his students as he hopes they learn from him. With such a wealth of practical theatre and film experience, and his awesome ideas for theatre in our school, I can say with full certainty that we’re lucky to have him here!
Ms Kraleigh is the new principal. She used to work at a high school in the southwest. She is married, and before she became a principal, I think she taught Chemistry.
There is also Mrs. Lahiri. She’s the new grade seven Math teacher. This is her first year teaching (you know what that means!).
If you see Mr. Harker, or any of the other new teachers in the hallways, be sure to say hello. It’s always a good idea to stay on their good side!
Hi, Arthur!
You did a great job interviewing Mr. Harker. He’s a cool guy; I’ve been chatting with him during lunch too and he’s got a great sense of humour, much like myself! I think, though, that Ms Kraleigh a
nd Mrs. Lahiri didn’t get a fair shot here. Here are your choices as Editor: you can cut down the interview with Mr. Harker and add more to the profiles of the other two teachers, or you can keep the interview with Mr. Harker and have equally in-depth interviews with Ms Kraleigh and Mrs. Lahiri in the next editions. Mrs. Lahiri’s interview could focus on her use of fractions; I hear she’s partial to them. Or maybe, because she’s the Math teacher, she has a lot of problems! I do know that her class on the use of decimals definitely has a point!
Cheers!
Mr. E.
Dear Mr. Everett,
I guess I could do that. I’ll set up time with the principal to meet her. Maybe people will see me going into her office and think I’m a badass!
Yours truly,
Arthur Bean
From: Von Ipo (thenexteastwood@hotmail.com)
To: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
Sent: September 27, 11:20
Hey Artie!
Loved your poem for Drama. It was awesome! It reminded me of this poem I wrote once that was about a detective and the guy he was chasing. It was a lot longer than your poem though. Literally thirteen pages long! Was awesome though. They were going to publish it in the Globe and Mail, but it was too long. Anyway, do you want to be partners for the dialogue work this week? It would be awesome to work with you, and we did so awesome last year. Plus, I think you and I are basically the best writers in the group. You come up with amazing ideas.
What do you think? Let me know!
Von
From: Arthur Bean (arthuraaronbean@gmail.com)
To: Von Ipo (thenexteastwood@hotmail.com)