Thursday, October 05, 2006

The Typical Lunch

On Tuesday, Abby and Malarie were having their typical lunch, at their usual table. They knew that soon, Marci and Daniel would wander in. Like they usually do. This day, however, they were a bit later than normal.
Everything went as usual, like it normally did. They ate, Malarie begged, and they all talked about marching band, a big part in most of their lives.
"So Abby," started Mal, "how do you feel, being the only non-marching band member at the table?"
"Well," Abby started slowly, " I used to be okay with it, but now I'm very insecure. Thank you Mal for making me paranoid!"
Malarie just laughed, and she hung her head to hide her laughter from the rest of the world. Her face turned red, and she started gasping for air, as what generally was done at the table when they exchanged running gags, and made new inside jokes.
"Don't die Mal." Joked Abby. This only made it worse, and soon Malarie was coughing, and her ribcage started to hurt. Daniel and Marci didn't seem to get the joke, and of all people, they should have. They were the ones who were going back to band for another season. They seemed as though they didn't even know what band was. They played it off pretty well though. No one even noticed anything until they, Daniel and Marci, started eating.
Every day at lunch, Daniel would accompany every bite he took with the usual sound of "ahm." Today, he seemingly ate like a normal person. Because Mal has attention deficit disorder, she tends to grab detail as a result of not paying attention to any one thing for an extended period of time, and she picked up on the unusual serenity of Daniel's eating habits. She leaned in towards Abby to whisper this queer findind in her ear.
"Abby, watch. Daniel isn't saying 'ahm.'" They both watched as Daniel took a soundless bite of a french fry.
"Oh my God, he didn't say 'ahm.'" said Abby.
"Well thank you Captain Obvious for that stunning report!" said Mal. "I know that! I told you! I think there's something wrong with this picture here."
"That can't really be Daniel." Noted Abby.
"That can't really be Marci either!" exclaimed Malarie. "Look! she bought her own food! They both bought their own food! Imposters I tell you! Imposters!"
"Just pretend like we know nothing. We'll be safer that way." sais Abby.
"Ask them a question that only they would know the answer to." suggested Malarie.
"Yeah okay, how about,"Marci, what's you'r name?"
"Right, like that'll work." Criticized Malarie. "Ask them about their pets. Yeah, ask Marci about her cats."
"Good idea, but we'd have to fit it into conversation. I can't just start out saying 'cats cats cats.' when they're talking about 'band band band." said Abby.
"Ah ha! I see." Mal said, pondering over what they should do about their little delimma. "So, Abby," said Mal, very loud and cotrney. "Do you have a dog?" she asked even though she already knew the answer.
"Why no, Mal, I don't have a dog." answered Abby, mocking Mal's tone.
"I think you should ask Marci about her cats; ask her what their names are." Mal suggested to abby in the same cheesy tone that this conversation began with.
Then Daniel piped up, and said, "That are you guys doing? You're being really weird!" That did is for Malarie.
"See! I told you it wasn't really Daniel!" she screamed. "If it were, he would have known that we always act so strangely!" She pointed to Daniel. "Imposter! Who are you, and what have you done with the real Daniel?" she demanded. Then Marci joined in and started pelting Malarie with french fries.
"Mal you psycho, calm down!"
"And you! You are in on it too! I'm on to your little secret! I'm going to expose you!" cried Mal.
"Oh no!" Marci said overdramatising, "Anything but that! I must stop you!" She continued throwing fires at Malarie. "Feel the wrath of the french fries!"
At this, they all bursted into laughter. Their game was done for the day, and the lunchbell rang. Another typically usual day at Ben Davis High School.
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A Report on Charles Schulz

Malarie Piercy
Junior Literature and Composition
Final Draft
14 April 2002

Charles Schulz
A great American is anyone who has impacted America in a big way. People who have majorly impacted American culture, or have captured and depicted it in creative ways are truly great Americans. Charles Schulz influenced and captured the diversity of American civilization when he developed his comic strip, "Peanuts." Through his creation, Schulz has impacted American society for over 50 years. With his career, his creation, and his legacy, Schulz has come to be a truly great American.
Schulz, through the years, has had many diverse jobs. The thing is, though, they have all centered themselves around the same thing, art. Schulz started out by teaching at an art instruction school in Saint Paul, Minnesots. Another early job of his was lettering cartoons for a religious periodical. Later on in life, Schulz served in World War II. This is where he developed a comic strip of his own, "Li'l Folks." Unlike most syndicated cartoonists, Schulz worked without any artistic assistants. In 1950, United Features bought the copyright to his strip, and they distributed it under the title, "Peanuts" (http://encarta.msn.com). United Media now owns the copyright to "Peanuts," and they received $84.9 million in 1998 from the comics, TV shows, and licensing deals that put the characters on everything from lunch boxes to life insurance ads. Schulz earned more than $30 million a year from the strip, but he had never bought the copyright back (http://abcnews.go.com).
"Peanuts" is a comic strip that cuts across demographics. I'm not sure that any comic will ever be as popular," says David Astor, who writes about syndicated news for Editor and Publisher magazine. Of some 220 syndicated strips today, "Garfield," by Jim Davis, is the one that comes closest to being as popular as "Peanuts" (www.scripps.com). This comes as no surprise to most of the readers. The characters are just so diverse. Charlie Brown wins your heart with his losing ways. It always rains on his parade, his baseball game, and his life. Although he's concerned with the meaning of life, his friends sometimes call him "blockhead." Even though we all know that he will neer win anything, we still love him, zigzagged yellow sweater and all. Sally Brown, Charlie Brown's sister was accepted by Charlie Brown the day she was born. He even passed out chocolate cigars. Ever since then, he's been trying to understand her. Sally always looks for the easy way out. She has a cute schoolgirl crush on Linus, her "Sweet Babboo" and her brother's best friend. Snoopy, Charlie Brown's dog, is a beagle with a split personality complex. Joe Cool, WWI Flying Ace, Literary Ace, Flash Beagle, Vulture, and Foreign Legionnaire are among some of his favorite fantisies. He hinks of Charlie Brown as "that round headed kid who brings me my supper dish". Woodstock is the smallest of the "Peanuts" characters but has a big presence for a little bird. He's a little inept, his flying and logi are erratic, but he can type and take short hand, and he is usually game for anything that Snoopy wants to do. Linus Van Pelt inspired the term "security blanket". He is the intellectual of the gang, and flabbergasts his friends with his philosophical revelations and solutions to problems. He suffers abuse from his big sister, Lucy, and the unwanted attentions of Charlie Brown's little sister Sally. He is a paradox; despite his age, he can put life into perspective while sucking his thumb. He knows the true meaning of Christmas while continuing to believe in the Great Pumpkin. Lucy Van Pelt works hard at being bossy, crabby and selfish. She is loud and yells a lot. HEr smiles and motives are rarely pure. She's a know-it-all who dispenses advice whether you want it or not -- and for Charlie Brown, theres's a charge. She's a fussbudget, in the true sense of the word. She's a real grouch, with only one or two soft spots, and both of them may be Schroeder, who prefers Beethoven. As she sees it, hers is the only way. The absense of logic in her arguments holds a kind of shining lunacy. When it comes to compliments, Lucy only likes receiving them. If she's paying one -- or even smiling -- she's probably up to something devious. Rerun Van Pelt is often mistaken for Linus even though he's his little brother. He can always be recognized in his trademark overalls. Rerun is more skeptical than his brother, much harder to convince, and always gets around Lucy where Linus gives in. His only fear is being the passenger on one of his mother's bicycle-riding errands. Somehow, Rerun is the only witness to her riding into grates and potholes. Luckily, he always wears a helmet. Rerun also longs for a dog of his own, but since his parents won't let him have one; he tries to "borrow" Snoopy from Charlie Brown. Snoopy won' have any part of it unless Rerun brings cookies. Schroeder, who idolizes beethoven, brought classical music to the "Peanuts" strip. Reserved and usually unruffled, Schroeder reacts only when Woodstock tries to make his grand piano into a playground, or when Lucy seeks to make it her courting grounds. The latter can lead to minor violence. Peppermint Patty is a pro on the baseball diamond, bit in the classroom, she's a D-minus all the way. Bold, brash and tomboyish, what she lacks in common sense she makes up for in sincerity. She's the only one who calls Charlie Brown "Chuck." Oblivious to much that goes on around her, for a long time she seemed unaware that "the funny-looking kid who plays shortstop" was a beagle. She has trouble staying awake in class; most of her waking hours in the schoolroom are spent analyzing the probability patterns of true-false tests. Marcie is Peppermint Patty's best friend. From the moment they met at summer camp, Marcie has called Peppermint Patty "Sir" out of admiartion of her misguided manners. An unlikely pair, they seem to have nothing in common yet that is what makes their friendship so genuine Marcie is the smartest of the "Peanuts" gang, but also the most naive. SHe's always willing to help out her friend with schoolwork, and she's not above sharing test answers or caling her on the phone to remind her of homework assignments. There is an innocence to Marcie, and Peppermint Patty is her protector. Marcie is also completely inept when it comes to sports, yet they still let her play on the baseball team. If Marcie and Peppermint Patty ever have a falling out, it's likely over Charlie Brown, whom they both secretly love. Pig Pen made his debut in the "Peanuts" comic strip on July 13, 1954 and simce then, has been the butt of "dirt" gags. He walks around in a cloud of dust, sprinkling dirt on all he comes in contact with. Pig Pen is happily messy. he doesn't try to explain it, hide it, or fight it. For him, it's just a fact of life. Franklin met Charlie Brown at the beach in 1968. They'd never met before because they went to different schools, but they had fun playing ball so Charlie Brown inited Franklin to visit him at his house across town for another play session. Later, Franklin turned up as center-fielder on Perppermint Patty's baseball team and sits in front of her school. Franklin is thoughtul and can quote Old Testament as effectively as Linus. In contrast with the other characters, Franklin has the fewest anxieties and obsessions. He and Charlie Brown spend quite a bit of time talking about their respective grandfathers. When Franklin first appeared in the late 60's, his noticeably darker skin set some readers in search of a political meaning. However, the remarkable becomes unremarkable when readers learn that SChulz simply introduced Franklin as another character, not a political statement (www.comics.com).
THe 50 years of Peanuts has been a remarkable 50 years of events in the strip.
October 2, 1950 - Peanuts debuts in seven newspapers
November 16, 1952 - Lucy first holds a football for Charlie Brown
June 1, 1954 - Debut of LInus' security blanket
January 5, 1956 - Snoopy first walks on two legs
1958 - Yale University names Schulz Cartoonist of the year.
August 23, 1959 - Sally debuts (as an infant)
March 11, 1960 - Charlie Brown's father is revealed to be a barber
1960 - Hallmark introduces Peanuts greeting cards
November 19, 1961 - Charlie Brown first pines for the little red-haireed girl
1962 - Peanuts is named Best HUmor Strip of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society
April 4, 1967 - A bird strongly resembling Woodstock appears
May 18, 1969 - Charlie Brown and Snoopy sccompany astronauts into space aboard Apollo X
July 20, 1971 - Marcie first calls Peppermint Patty "Sir"
November 20, 1973 - A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving debuts, and wins an Emmy Award
January 21, 1974 - Rerun first appears on his mother's bicycle
August 13, 1975 - Spike debuts
January 27, 1977 - Sally first dubs Linus her "Sweet Babboo"
June 28, 1979 - The WWI Flying Ace visits with the "cute little French girl" (Marcie)
January 7, 1980 - Peppermint Patty gives a correct answer in her class
("Timeline".Snoopy.com).
Since Schulz's death, there has been a lot of controversy as to what will happen with the comic strip. Schulz left strict instructions that nobody else could draw "Peanuts," and before he died, he told one of his daughters that animated shows featuring Charlie Brown and the gang, must end as well. The thing is, however, since Schulz did not own the copyright, he legally had no say in what happened with the strip. His children are worrows about what is going to happen with the strip. They fear that new programs will stray too far from Schulz's original script. "They'll end up like "South Park" or something like that," says Monte Schulz, son of Schulz (http://abcnews.go.com).
Though we aren't sure of what will happen to the strip in the future, its past has been something great. It took 50 years to become what it is, but it was well worth the wait. Schulz did a fine job with his creative abilities. His life has greatly impacted American society. Charles Schulz, through his creative gemius, is honestly a great American.
Works Cited
Lang, John. Popularity of "peanuts" unlikely to be matched soon. Scripps Howard News Service.
"Meet the Gang". Snoopy.Com.
March 25, 2002
March 27, 2002
"You're in Limbo Cahrlie Brown". ABCNews.com.
2002
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