Who doesn't love Mark Twain?

“Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” ― Mark Twain

A Small Place Quotes by Jamaica Kincaid

A Small Place Quotes 

“You are not an ugly person all the time; you are not an ugly person ordinarily; you are not an ugly person day to day. From day to day, you are a nice person. From day to day, all the people who are supposed to love you on the whole do. From day to day, as you walk down a busy street in the large and modern and prosperous city in which you work and lie, dismayed and puzzled at how alone you can feel in this crowd, how awful it is to go unnoticed, how awful it is to go unloved, even as you are surrounded by more people than you could possibly get to know in a lifetime that lasted for millennia and then out of the corner of your eye you see someone looking at you and absolute pleasure is written all over the person's face, and then you realize that you are not as revolting a presence as you think you are. And so, ordinarily, you are a nice person, an attractive person, a person capable of drawing to yourself the affection of other people, a person at home in your own skin: a person at home in your own house, with its nice backyard, at home on your street, your church, in community activities, your job, at home with your family, your relatives, your friends - you are a whole person.”

― Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place

More Essays to come?

I haven't updated this site for a while because I have been out of my local community college, Fresno City and working full-time.

I hope to start updating this site soon with more exciting essays.  Maybe more on Amanda Knox since that's one of my favorite subjects.

            I have always had an affinity for nice decadence.  Being the progeny of a successful investment banker didn’t help matters.  I grew up listening to my Father on the phone for hours speaking finance jargon, wondering when he was going to give me a stack of cash to shop with rather than spend time with me. 

            I am Hilary Louise Rothmeyer and I have decided to rob a bank.  You might be wondering why I am in need of cash and how I am going to pull of this heist unscathed.  Well, my Dad cut me off 3 months ago and times have been hard and I have become the lampoon of my yoga circle.  I know I should get a job and try to get back in the good graces of my Daddy, but he means business this time and there is no way slaving away at Pinkberry is going to pay for my incessant spending.  That is why I came up with this brilliant plan to meander into the bank on Crabtree & Fourth and demand copious amounts of cash.  All I have to do is wear a disguise and no one will even know I was in the proximity of the bank. 

            Once the deed is done, I plan to regain my Father’s confidence so he no longer thinks I am the prodigal daughter that is out spending his money frivolously.  He will think I got a job and have been working hard but really I have been living the good life from the stolen money.  Once he forgives me, I will again be living the life of opulence.  

Did Amanda Knox Get Away With Murder?

I will add the pics later..... Did Amanda Knox Get Away With Murder? Many people throughout the world followed the case of Amanda Knox who was accused of killing her flat mate, Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy while going to college. A lot of people in the United States and overseas who followed the trail, that took place in Italy, claimed the media was biased, especially the way the American media portrayed Amanda Knox as they only reported favorable reports about the accused murderer. There were websites that popped up on the internet supporting her innocence and gaining followers to have Amanda’s side through the trial. Some of the opposition, feel she was given special treatment in the media because of her good looks, others claim she was treated poorly because she was an American who was known for her partying and promiscuous ways. These actions were documented in a prison diary where Knox admitted having intercourse on the train to Italy with a young man she had just met. She had the public asking themselves, “Is she too pretty to have murdered?” But her actions had the public wondering, see figure 1, Amanda Knox is seen smiling in the court room where she is bring tried for murder. In this paper, I am going to present why I think the evidence shows Amanda Knox is guilty but had her verdict overturned because of sloppy police work and the glamorization of Amanda as “Angel Face”. Figure 1. A photo of Amanda Marie Knox smiling as she enters the courtroom. (The Daily Mail. Barcroft Media) One of the first things people notice when reading about this case is that there is a lack of a motive. Why would Amanda Knox want to kill her flat mate? There was really no reason. None of Knox’s DNA was found in the bedroom in which Miss Kercher was stabbed to death, according to Nick Squires of The Telegraph. Squires also wrote that Rudy Guede, the drifter that was convicted of the murder, said that Knox was not in the house on the night of the murder. Amanda Knox was questioned after the murder and told police that she heard Kercher screaming the night of the murder but did not have a lawyer present and only knew basic Italian. As just stated, Knox knew basic Italian but she knew enough Italian to accuse local bar owner, Patrick Lumumba, of the murders, when later another black man would be accused and convicted of playing a part in the murder of Meredith Kercher. Lumumba, an innocent man, was held by police after Knox’s accusations. This can only lead one to think that Knox might have been trying to throw the Italian Police off her scent. No one even suspected Rude Guede of Meredith Kercher’s murder at the time and a lot of locals found it odd that a totally different man of African decent was placed behind bars for the same crime. I think this is evidence of how heartless Amanda Knox was to accuse another man that she knows did not commit a crime and let him sit behind bars away from his young family. It’s either very heartless or the work of a clever fox. Later, Lumumba filed a lawsuit against Knox for defamation of character for $740,000. When she accused Lumumba, she also admitted to being in the house at the time of the murder, hearing Meredith Kercher’s screams, and recalled covering her ears. She later recounted this statement and said that she was pressured by the Italian police for a confession. Amanda Knox said, in a five page statement, that she was at then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito’s house the night of the crime. Sollecito could not back up Knox’s alibi as he was on drugs and could not remember as printed in The Telegraph by writer Nick Squires. Even if Mr. Sollecito was very intoxicated the night of the Kercher murder, it’s very suspicious that he did not remember being with his girlfriend or not. If he cannot remember being with his then girlfriend, Amanda Knox, how does he even remember where he was at all that night? When we focus on Mr. Raffaele Sollecito’s alibi, which is important because he too was tried for Meredith Kercher’s death, we see that he claims to be at home on his computer downloading cartoons and watching the movie Amelie. In Squires article, it tells us that experts examined his computer and there was no such activity that night. Another fact to take note of is that Knox and Sollecito turned off their phones the night of the murder, from around 8:40pm, and turned them back on around 6am. In Barbie Latza Nadeau’s book, Angel Face; The True Story of Student Killer Amanda Knox, Knox rarely turned off her phone just in case her mother in Seattle called, arising more suspicion. One detail that I could not get past was that Sollecito claimed he was too intoxicated to remember if Knox was with him that night, but he remembers he was downloading Amelie. Figure 2. This photo shows the horrific scene of the crime along with the bathroom. (The Daily Mail. Barcroft Media) After searching Sollecito’s apartment, the police found a knife with Amanda Knox’s DNA along with Meredith Kercher’s. When questioned about the knife and DNA, Sollecito claimed that Kercher had cooked before at his house, but this was proven to be a lie in court. Why would he make that up? Did he not know Kercher had contact with the knife? Being that Kercher was killed with a knife and there was DNA of the victim of the boyfriend of her flatmate, I do not see why this point was not pushed more in court considering the Italian Police proved that there was a staged break-in in the flat that the murder occurred. Nick Squires of The Telegraph, reports that police found glass on top of clothes that had been scattered on the floor but that the break-in was done from the inside of the flat (3). During the trial, Prosecutors accused Sollecito and Knox of staging a break-in to appear as if a burglary turned into rape and murder. This is commonly done on television shows when one commits murder that is not premeditated. Please see figure 2, that shows how horribly bloody this scene of the murder was. The amount of blood shows just how violent this murder was. It appears as if Guede, Knox and Sollecito were in the flat, along with the victim, Meredith Kercher the night she was killed. Guede was definitely there as he defecated in the restroom and did not flush the toilet. It was also proven, with DNA testing, that his semen was found inside Kercher’s vagina, on her purse, clothing and left a handprint in her blood. Sollecito claims to have been so intoxicated on drugs and alcohol that he does not remember being with Amanda that night, but somehow the victim’s DNA is on a knife at his flat when searched by police. It was also claimed by the police that his DNA was found deep in the clasp of the bra that was cut off the victim as she was stabbed to death. Italian Police maintain that Knox’s DNA was mixed with Kercher’s DNA on the knife that was considered to be the murder weapon and she did admit to being there when first questioned by police. There was also a bloody shoeprint that did not match Guede’s shoes but was obviously made while the blood was still fresh and this is a clear indicator that there was someone else with Guede there that night. The other party would have heard Meredith Kercher screaming or struggling if she was being raped by Guede and would have possible been found by police or come forward to testify against him, but this was not the case. This shoeprint, see figure3, shows that there was another participant in the flat at the time of Miss Kercher’s murder. The shoeprint was Sollecito’s size and the knife that was found at his apartment was cleaned with bleach, commonly used to clean blood after a violent crime. The bra clasp that had a very small amount of Sollecito’s DNA on it was found six weeks after the crime and was showed in Italian Police video shortly after the crime, being kicked around like clutter. Now for Knox, nothing can take away from the fact that she has no alibi the night of the murder. She has no proof she was not at the flat. In fact, she admitted being there to police and bragged around town to people both Kercher and Knox knew that she found the body and described details that had not been released to the public yet. If Knox was innocent, she was not doing herself any favors be boasting about finding a body as if it was not a big deal. She was also witnessed kissing Sollecito the day the body was found inside Knox’s home. This is not the body language of a young girl who has just lost her flatmate to a horrific murder. When she was brought into the police station for questioning, Amanda Knox was witnesses doing cartwheels and even did the splits during her wait. Not knowing that Sollecito had already been arrested. Figure 3. This is a photo taken of the shoeprint at the crime that was attributed to Sollecito. (The Daily Mail. Barcroft Media) What is not widely known is that Amanda Knox wrote an award winning essay while in prison in Capanne. The arrogant author details a violent sex party that is fueled by drugs. This is another example of odd behavior by Knox after the murder. After she was arrested on suspicion of the murder, details emerged that on Knox’s MySpace she had written a fictional story about the drugging and raping of a young woman according to Squires article (3). By the time the appeals trial came, Miss Knox knew fluent Italian which is a testament to her intelligence. Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito and Rudy Guede were all placed at the scene of the crime by the prosecution during the first trial, and it was supposed that the murder was the result of a sex game gone wrong. All accused parties had a history of drug use and Knox documented her promiscuity in her diary. Patrizia Stefanoni examined the DNA evidence in 2007 after the murder. Pictures showed her collecting evidence with gloves and she also wore gloves when analyzing the DNA at the laboratory. In a photograph used by the defense, it shows Stefanoni wearing a bracelet outside of the glove that could have transported DNA and contaminated the evidence. She still maintains that there was no contamination on crucial pieces of evidence linking the American student to the murder. Stefanoni told the appeals court that she could rule out contamination on the knife, which she is positive contained Meredith Kercher’s DNA profile. On October 3, 2011, in an Italian Court, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito won their appeal and were freed from prison due to lack of evidence. Meredith Kercher’s family gasped in horror as the verdict was read and told press that they felt Meredith had been forgotten during the process of the trial. Amanda Knox flew home in time for Halloween, where she dressed up as a cat burglar, see figure 4, on the fourth anniversary of Kercher’s death, this upsets many who believe she is guilty of the murder and that she staged the break-in. Figure 4. Amanda Knox shortly after her release from Italian Jail on Halloween 2011, dressed as a cat burglar. (The Daily Mail. Brooks/INFphoto.com) Between the behavior, pre-trial evidence and post-murder actions, I believe that Amanda Marie Knox is guilty of playing a part in Meredith Kercher’s brutal stabbing death in a sex game gone wrong. Evidence show’s that she was present during the murder and that it was not lingering DNA just because she lived there. Her knowledge of the crime scene shows she knew where in the room Kercher was found, and how she was laying as she died. The DNA on the knife at Sollecito’s flat shows that both Kercher’s blood and Amanda’s DNA were present on the knife and matched the wounds on Kercher’s neck. I believe that if the Italian Crime Scene Police had been prepared to handle a high profile case such as this, properly handled the DNA covered items and interrogated Amanda Knox by the book, then the original “guilty” verdict would have been the final judgment. Works Cited Meredith Kercher's Bathroom Sink and Walls. 2008. Photograph. The Daily Mail. Barcroft Media, Perugia. Web. 6 Dec 2011. Bloody shoeprint in flat where Kercher was murdered. 2008. Photograph. The Daily Mail. Barcroft Media, Perugia. Web. 6 Dec 2011. Smiling Amanda Knox spears in court for trial. 2008. Photograph. The Daily Mail. Barcroft Media, Perugia. Web. 6 Dec 2011. Amanda Knox dressed up as a cat burglar. 2011. Photograph. The Daily Mail. Brooks/INFphoto.com, Perugia. Web. 6 Dec 2011. Nadeau, Barbie Latza. Angel Face: the True Story of Student Killer Amanda Knox. New York: Beast, 2010. Print. Nadeau, Barbie. "The Italian Job." The Daily Beast 6 Oct. 2009: 1-3. Print. Squires, Nick. "Amanda Know Won Essay Competition with Story about Violent Sex Party."The Telegraph [Rome] 7 Dec. 2009: 1-3. Print. Squires, Nick. "Amanda Knox: Guilty or Innocent, Five Reasons Why." The Telegraph. 3 Oct. 2011. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.

Work so far...

Hello Everyone,


I just wanted to post a little something explaining what a couple of my future posts will be about.  


I am currently working on an essay regarding Amanda Knox and if I think she is innocent or guilty of the murder of Meredith Kercher for my English 125 class at Fresno City College.  Right now, I am working on my annotated bibliography and I know I have some great sources so stay tuned!

Bye bye,


Michelle


photo credit

“Strike of Genius”

                                          

Who would have thought that, the weather pattern, El Nino would have inspired me to write a journal entry that I would write about years later?  I was in 6^th grade at Wishon Elementary and my main concerns were playing, friends and then school.  Well, I also really liked Kris Kross and TLC and I wore T-shirts with hoods, but I digress.  I was getting amazing grades and participating in extra curricular actives such as; spelling bee, band, and geography bee.  I was really doing well for myself.  But something rare would inspire me more in creative writing.

               During a turbulent thunder storm, in the middle of the night, something awoke me from a deep sleep.  In fact, I woke up standing up!  My ears were ringing like church bells and my eyes burning like fire.  I ran to the window to see what that loud noise was that woke me up during this thunder storm.  The tree, it was gone.  We had a very tall Italian Cypress in our backyard that was the tallest in the neighborhood that now was no where to be seen.  Where did it go?  My first thought was that a twister had touched down and taken our tree.  But I soon realized that the flash that was still inhibiting my eye site was from a lightening bolt and I began to worry because the tree was next to our bird aviary and we also had a litter of chow puppies.  Immediately, I ran to tell my parents who told me to go back to bed and that I was dreaming.  After much convincing, they finally got up and saw that I was not telling them a tall tale but that the tree was lying on our patio as the rain continued to pour down in bucket loads all over Fresno.  Luckily, all of our animals were alive and well.  It looks like we have fire wood for this coming winter thanks to El Nino and the lightening bolt.

            In the morning, I hurried to school to tell all my classmates about my crazy night.  When I got to class, our teacher, Mr. Mehas told us to take out our journals.  We were told to write about our weekend.  Of, course I would write about the lightening bolt that knocked our tall tree down to the ground and about how I woke up standing up.  I mean, what else would I write about?  I was very inspired so I began to write, what I think, was once of my best stories. 

            After completing my journal entry I handed in my journal like if I was handing over a piece of art that I slaved over for days.  I was very proud of this work and I was excited for my teacher, that I looked up to, to read and it give me his feedback.  I watched him collect the beige journals with a black spine and stack them in a neat pile on his desk.  My hopes sank as if it were an anchor in the ocean.  When would Mr. Mehas read my journal entry? 

            The next day I was still thinking about my great story and how I had this great line in it where I “ran through the house like a gazelle through the forest”.  I had no clue that gazelle are mainly found in the desert at that time.  I knew my journal entry was great and finally I see my teacher take out our journals and slowly pass them back.  It seemed like it took ages for me to finally receive my journal.  I looked around at the other kids and then started flipping through the pages to my last entry.  You know, I really don’t remember what it said but all I know is he pulled me aside and told me that he loved my story and was going to have me read it to the other 6^th grade classes.  Can you say “teachers pet”?  Oh well, my story was well written and I was about to get my shine on.  “Do I go now? I asked. 

           

            I walked so quickly to the class next to mine that I didn’t even get jitters about reading in front of my peers.  I knew they would be totally annoyed with my story and how I pranced from class to class reciting my basic journal entry and how they were not doing the same.  Would I even have friends after this?  Who would play Wagon Wheel with me at recess?  My head was growing fast and large like a melon.  It’s a wonder it didn’t fall off and roll down the isle between the desks. 

            I made my way to the next and finally classroom where the teacher was waiting for me with candy as a reward for my stroke of genius.  A jolly rancher.  It was like a trophy to me.  I read the story and headed back to class and then my teacher, who stood tall and proud, asked me to read it for the class.  My class.  I read them how I woke up standing up and how my parents did not believe me when I told them the tree was gone.  It was like an epic tale of survival.  My classmates thought it was cool but also kept yelling at me that day knowing my ears still hurt from the sound of the lightening bolt. 

            I jokingly call this my stoke of genius but this real life experience helped me write a story that was fun a creative that I still remember to this day.  I had always been good at reading and writing as a youth but this was on another level and to have my teacher be so supportive of my writing really made me feel confident.  I also realized I had cool class mates that didn’t get jealous that I got to run around the school reading my work and getting goodies.  They teased me a little but were pretty supportive of my work also.  I think it is because I was surrounded by very intelligent kids. 

            Later on that year, I wrote a speech as the campaign manager for my friend Stephanie who ran for Vice President of our school and I also gave a speech for being the D.A.R.E. student of the year.  I was able to give these speeches with confidence and feel secure with my writing because I had amazing teachers along the way to help me grow and great inspiration from a rare occurrence.