Biography
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Created By Christina Bruenjes
2011
Billy Collins
Biography
Billy Collins: Changing the Rules of Poetry One Line at a Time
“Lovely poems...Limpid, gently and consistently startling, more serious
than they seem, they describe all the worlds that are and were and some
others besides” (“Billy Collins”).
This quote said by John Updike explains the wittiness of Billy Collins
poems. "A motto I've adopted is, if at first you don't succeed, hide all
evidence that you ever tried." This quote said by Billy Collins explains how
he can make his humor come through in his poetry without really trying to
be really funny (Goodreads.com). Billy Collins was born in New York on
March 22, 1941. He was born to William and Katherine Collins (“Billy
Collins Biography”). Collins grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens. As a kid
his father was an electrician. Collins remembers his father wanting him to
go to Harvard Business School. William would arrive home with Poetry
magazine after he would work in a building on Wall Street. Collins once
told an interviewer, "If he had known the effect of those magazines, he
probably would have burned them" (Mitchell). Collins talks about how
travelling influences his poetry. He says that he never really means to have
things from his travels enter his poems, but somehow year’s later random
bits and pieces enter poems of his that have nothing to do with the poem
itself. Collins lets his surroundings into his poems. He might be writing in
his home, but the poem will end up where his head is (“Felicitous Spaces: An
interview with U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins”). Collins writing has been
influenced by many things, and this has caused him to go on and write
many poems and books that caused to him to receive many awards.
Biography
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Biography
Collins got started in poetry after co-writing a review with Michael
Shannon (“Billy Collins Is One of The Most Famous Poets of the Modern Age”).
He published throughout the 80’s, but after his book Questions about Angels
was published in 1991, he was finally recognizable. After this book was
published, he went on to write a number of more poems and poetry collections.
He received much praise for his books Picnic, Lightning and The Art of
Drawing. Collins received his Bachelors degree from the College of the Holy
Cross. After that he received his Masters degree and PhD from the University of
California – Riverside. Collins teaches at City University of New York (“Billy
Collins”). He also taught at Sarah Lawrence College (“Billy Collins
Biography”). His years of teaching have greatly impacted the way he writes
and who he writes about. In his poetry he tries to change the way people think of
poems. He incorporates humor into his poetry without trying. His poems seem to
relate to others through its voice, not through the direct words written on the
page. Collins is known for not following the rules when it comes to poetry. He
likes to change the poems so they fit his voice and how he wants his poems to
sound. Collins served as the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001-2003, after he served
as the New York State Laureate from 2004-2006 (“Billy Collins”). In the 90’s
Collins won five recognition prizes from Poetry magazine (“Billy Collins”). He
also won the Mark Twain Prize in 2005 for the category of humor in poetry
(“Billy Collins Biography”). Over the years Collins has been able to make a
name for himself and has put a lifelong impression on modern day poetry.
Biography
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Biography
Biography
Collins is known for many different types of writing forms. He is
most known for his unknown results in his poems. He wants to show people that
poetry isn’t always about the down in the dumps depressing lines, but that it
can be fun and whimsical without having to try really hard. Collins doesn’t
like to stick with the standard poetic devices. He uses them more as a guideline
than as rules. His poems reflect this. In his poem Sonnet, the poem picks fun at
how in a sonnet you’re supposed to have 14 lines. He also picks fun at the
thought of a poem and how it’s supposed to rhyme in most people’s minds
(Billy-Collins.com). Collins has changed the way people think of poetry. He
will be remembered throughout the years because of his writings. It has been
said that he will be remembered long after he is gone. Collins has become
famous because of his ability to change the way poetry is looked at and how he
is able to make his sense of humor come through in his writing. Collins has
changed everything involving poetry; it’s not thought of in a bad way because
he is changing it for the better. The quote said by Billy Collins sums up his
ability to make his poetry his by bringing out his humor, "A motto I've adopted
is, if at first you don't succeed, hide all evidence that you ever tried."
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Inspired Poems
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Bibliography
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Another Reason Why I Don't
Keep A Gun In The House
By A Swimming Pool Outside
Syracusa
Candle Hat
Child Development
Consolation
Dear Reader
Embrace
Fishing On The Susquehanna
In July
Flames
For Bartleby The Scrivener
Forgetfulness
I Ask You
I Chop Some Parsley While
Listening To Art Blakey's
Version Of "Three Blind Mice"
• I Go Back To The House For A
Book
• Introduction To Poetry
• Invention
•
Japan
• Litany
• Madmen
• Man Listening To Disc
http://www.poemhunter.com/billycollins/poems/
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Neither Snow by Billy Collins
When all of a sudden the city air filled with snow,
the distinguishable flakes
blowing sideways,
looked like krill
fleeing the maw of an advancing whale.
At least they looked that way to me
from the taxi window,
and since I happened to be sitting
that fading Sunday afternoon
in the very center of the universe,
who was in a better position
to say what looked like what,
which thing resembled some other?
Yes, it was a run of white plankton
borne down the Avenue of the Americas
in the stream of the wind,
phosphorescent against the weighty buildings.
Which made the taxi itself,
yellow and slow-moving,
a kind of undersea creature,
I thought as I wiped the fog from the glass.
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Analysis
The poem “Neither Snow” by Billy Collins shows his extensive use of similes in
his works. In this poem Collins tries to tell the writer about an average day in
the city where he lives. He shows the reader that the snow has a way of racing
towards the Earth to see who the winner might be this is described by the quote
“And now a wildly blowing race of snow.” Collins is also trying to tell the
reader that we are only a small part of the world we live in. He is also trying to
show us that we stand watching and observing the creatures and things
around us. This is shown in the lines “An eye on a stem/ swiveling one side of
its world/ observing tons of water/ tons of people/ colored signs and lights.” As
stated before, Collins uses similes throughout the entirety of this poem. One
example of a simile in this poem comes from these lines “The distinguishable
flakes/ blowing sideways/ looked like krill/ fleeing the maw of an advancing
whale.” Two other examples are “Yes, it was a run of white plankton” and
“Which made the taxi itself/ yellow and slow-moving/ a kind of undersea
creature.” These lines show similes by the way Collins describes the snow being
like plankton in the ocean trying to escape a whale. They also show similes by
telling the reader how Collins portrayed the taxi as being a sea creature
lurking along watching as the “plankton” escaped the approaching whale.
Collins might have used these similes to show the reader that we aren’t much
different from the creatures that live below the sea. He may also be showing us
that as humans we sit and watch instead of helping others when they need the
help. These similes make the reader think about what Collins is really trying
to say through his poetry and what kind of message he wants the reader to
receive. “Neither Snow” is a wonderful poem that makes the reader think about
who they are and how as humans we aren’t as different as our friends under
the sea.
Biography
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The poem The First Dream by Billy Collins is one of my favorites because it makes
you think about what you can accomplish while you dream that you couldn’t
accomplish while you’re awake. Some lines that show this are, “how he had put his
arms around the neck/ of a beast that the others could touch/ only after they had
killed it with stones/ how he felt its breath on his bare neck.” These tell of the “first
dreamer” being able to accomplish the things he would never be able to in real life.
The First Dream
By Billy Collins
The Wind is ghosting around the house
tonight
and as I lean against the door of sleep
I begin to think about the first person to
dream,
how quiet he must have seemed the next
morning
as the others stood around the fire
draped in the skins of animals
talking to each other only in vowels,
for this was long before the invention of
consonants.
He might have gone off by himself to sit
on a rock and look into the mist of a lake
as he tried to tell himself what had happened,
how he had gone somewhere without going,
how he had put his arms around the neck
of a beast that the others could touch
Biography
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only after they had killed it with stones,
how he felt its breath on his bare neck.
Then again, the first dream could have come
to a woman, though she would behave,
I suppose, much the same way,
moving off by herself to be alone near water,
except that the curve of her young shoulders
and the tilt of her downcast head
would make her appear to be terribly alone,
and if you were there to notice this,
you might have gone down as the first person
to ever fall in love with the sadness of another.
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I chose the poem Snow Day by Billy Collins because it can help us relate to a normal winters day in the
Midwest. I really liked this poem because I can understand the children’s happiness of having a day to
play in the snow. The lines I can most relate to are, “and listen to the plastic radio on the counter/as glad
as anyone to hear the news/ that the Kiddie Corner School is closed/ the Ding-Dong School, closed/ the
All Aboard Children's School, closed/ the Hi-Ho Nursery School, closed.” These lines remind me of when I
was a young child listening to the radio and hoping for my school day to be cancelled.
Snow Day
that the Kiddie Corner School is closed,
By Billy Collins
the Ding-Dong School, closed,
Today we woke up to a revolution of snow, the All Aboard Children's School, closed,
its white flag waving over everything,
the Hi-Ho Nursery School, closed,
the landscape vanished,
along with -- some will be delighted to hear
not a single mouse to punctuate the
blankness,
the Toadstool School, the Little School,
and beyond these windows
Little Sparrows Nursery School,
Little Stars Pre-School, Peas-and-Carrots
the government buildings smothered,
Day School,
schools and libraries buried, the post office the Tom Thumb Child Center, all closed,
lost
and -- clap your hands -- the Peanuts Play
under the noiseless drift,
School.
the paths of trains softly blocked,
the world fallen under this falling.
So this is where the children hide all day,
These are the nests where they letter and
In a while I will put on some boots
draw,
and step out like someone walking in
where they put on their bright miniature
water,
jackets,
and the dog will porpoise through the drifts, all darting and climbing and sliding,
and I will shake a laden branch,
all but the few girls whispering by the
sending a cold shower down on us both.
fence.
But for now I am a willing prisoner in this
house,
a sympathizer with the anarchic cause of
snow.
I will make a pot of tea
and listen to the plastic radio on the
counter,
as glad as anyone to hear the news
And now I am listening hard
in the grandiose silence of the snow,
trying to hear what those three girls are
plotting,
what riot is afoot,
which small queen is about to be brought
down.
Biography
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Inspired Poems
Introduction to Poetry
on the shore.
By Billy Collins
But all they want to do
I ask them to take a poem
is tie the poem to a chair with
rope
and hold it up to the light
and torture a confession out
like a color slide
or press an ear against its of it.
They begin beating it with a
hive.
hose
I say drop a mouse into a
to find out what it really
poem
and watch him probe his way means.
out,
or walk inside the poem's
room
and feel the walls for a light
switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name
Biography
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Inspired Poems
I Ask Them to Take
By Christina Bruenjes
(Inspired by Introduction to
Poetry by Billy Collins)
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I ask them to take a picture
and envision the meaning
like a dictionary revealing a
word.
I ask them to take a ball
and shoot it through a basket
or dribble it down the court.
I ask them to take a poem.
And hold it up to the light.
Biography
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Inspired Poems
Today
By Billy Collins
If ever there were a spring day so
perfect,
so uplifted by a warm
intermittent breeze
a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,
List of Works
releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage
Sample Poems
that it made you want to throw so they could walk out,
open all the windows in the house holding hands and squinting
and unlatch the door to the
canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its
jamb,
a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with
peonies
seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking
Biography
into this larger dome of blue and
white,
well, today is just that kind of
day.
Inspired Poems
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Inspired Poems
The Storm
By Christina Bruenjes
(Inspired by Today by Billy
Collins)
If there was ever a day so stormy,
so gray with the looming clouds.
It makes you want to duck and
cover,
and throw up the shutters.
To lock up the windows,
and cover the shades.
with the light mist before the storm.
The violets have hidden,
waiting for the sun.
Biography
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The girls in their dresses,
don’t sit out for afternoon tea.
The rain settles,
into a steady sheet.
Everyone hides,
if there was ever a day so gloomy.
Inspired Poems
Original Poems
When the sky lights up,
with natures glow.
The path is speckled,
Bibliography
Original Poems
Butterfly
great unknown.
By Christina Bruenjes It waits for the dawn of
the evening
to finally be released of
The butterfly sits
its eternal prison.
gently,
hidden from the fiery It finds itself glowing,
rain.
shining in the rays of
the sun.
It sits alone,
The butterfly sits
as the gentle frost
gleams beautifully in gently,
the bright sun.
hidden from the fiery
It masks its desire for rain.
the sweet smell of escape
as it’s trapped in the
Biography
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Original Poems
Alone
By Christina Bruenjes
As we sit alone,
I ponder the dark night.
We loom in the utter
silence,
wondering if things will
ever change.
I hope for the memories,
that I still carry with me,
questioning if they will
ever come back to me.
You sit here,
trying to make things
seem right.
When deep-down you know
nothing will ever change.
We both want the same
things,
but neither one of us know.
We will forever sit alone,
in the darkness together.
Biography
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Bibliography
Biography
Biography Credits
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http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins
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http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Billy-Collins
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http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=996865
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http://billycollins.net/
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http://www.terraincognita.50megs.com/interview.html
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http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/438.Billy_Collins
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http://www.poeming.net/home/1-famous-poets-news/6-billy-collins-is-one-of-the-most-famous-poets-of-the-modernage?fontstyle=f-larger
Poem Credits
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http://www.billy-collins.com/2005/06/sonnet_billy_co.html
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http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/introduction-to-poetry/
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http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/30034
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http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/neither-snow/
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http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/snow-day/
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http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-first-dream/
Inspired Poems
Original Poems
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Bibliography
Biography
Image Credits
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Storm
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blogs.reuters.com/wpcontent/uploads/2007/07/storm1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2007/07/26/perfect-storm-fortech/&usg=__NxV9b-7127tIOkWVii6nuI1KKqo=&h=527&w=640&sz=53&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=1l8H6IGDoA8MM:&tbnh=169&tbnw=227&ei=VA-3TaaD4iitgfH8ISTAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dstorm%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D839%26gbv
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Dream
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.esogarden.com/images/uploads_bilder/dream_a_z.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.esogarden.com/index.php%3F/weblog/C37/&usg=__eiwXGBx8xYOIDTVwG4DiNpyvXVE=&h=282&w=270&sz=14&hl=en&st
art=0&zoom=1&tbnid=2E2PSSEQNgy6M:&tbnh=162&tbnw=155&ei=MRC3Tam7PIWltweTnNGLAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddream%26hl%3Den%26
safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D839%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=141&page=1&ndsp
=21&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0&tx=61&ty=118
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Snowy Trees
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.luminous-landscape.com/images/Snow-Clad-Treesthumb.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.luminouslandscape.com/tutorials/exposing_snow.shtml&usg=__1nZF2aqm8FHkvYEqXMxRUV9b5wY=&h=432&w=311&sz=29&hl
=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=oP_w4wS1XtILeM:&tbnh=169&tbnw=122&ei=t7G5TfGNF4G3tgfY=7neBA&prev=/search
%3Fq%3Dsnow%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D839%26tbm%3Di
sch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=230&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=88&ty=120
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Butterfly
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/134125/happy-butterfly-greeninsect.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.all4myspace.com/layouts-2.0/butterfly-myspace-layouts2.0/50&usg=__jriyhG4i_QuH7geP6SDJ_sNod_g=&h=480&w=640&sz=57&hl=en&start=18&zoom=1&tbnid=PPAhtGpAFb
hjvM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&ei=S7O5TZMCsajtgeGr43fBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dbutterfly%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D1259%26bi
h%3D839%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1
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Images Continued
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Mouse
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__MUF9Ou3FQk/TNdUcHmKkRI/AAAAAAAAANI/y6Sh2pC8feU/
s1600/mouse-in-maze.jpg&imgrefurl=http://glasspenny.blogspot.com/2010/11/if-you-want-to-make-god-laugh-tellhim.html&usg=__fpjFYOViTYpGJc1dlSvHS305_b8=&h=290&w=200&sz=55&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=7QQdVkZln5NSM:&tbnh=164&tbnw=160&ei=4rS5TfW6FcXAtgeF4bDeBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmouse%2Bin%2Ba%2Bmaze%26um%3D1%26hl%3
Den%26safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D839%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=50&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r
:3,s:0&tx=94&ty=126
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Basketball
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rothregatta.org/wp-content/uploads/nba-basketball-lakers-thunderabc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rothregatta.org/category/basketball/&usg=__AUI2ddmNGtGA2uPX1f8VYucnda0=&h=364&w=283&sz=18
&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=O2Wqndb2JSekM:&tbnh=163&tbnw=127&ei=rLS5TcSXBceWtweKqb3eBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dbasketball%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3D
active%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D839%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=328&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0&tx=53&t
y=80
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Biography
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Flowers
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bokkom.co.za/flowers/5aug2007/flowers6.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pronet
works.org/forums/today-is-spring-dayt103519.html&usg=__FwovSIbMe8BhiMLkFxPIpfbDVZg=&h=332&w=500&sz=47&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=G5ymuc1cHoBvM:&tbnh=161&tbnw=211&ei=TbW5TdrmI9Octwf__oHfBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dspring%2Bday%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dac
tive%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D839%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=957&vpy=456&dur=80&hovh=183&hovw=276&tx=215
&ty=140&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:0
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Background
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http://free-desktop-backgrounds.info/1296987851-Yellow-Swirl-Desktop-Wallpaper.jpg.htm
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Girl
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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.homedesignfind.com/wpcontent/uploads/2009/05/darkroom.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.homedesignfind.com/how-to-tips-advice/design-dilemma-brighteningup-a-dark-room/&usg=__ks9f6H8cH5cOqZv_dfV5sUa6w0=&h=424&w=530&sz=19&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=HDVITmXvD74_KM:&tbnh=154&tbnw=215&ei=f6LCTZfJsiltweQoJDTBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddark%2Broom%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D816%26gbv%3D2%26t
bm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=537&vpy=97&dur=62&hovh=201&hovw=251&tx=75&ty=80&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0
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