Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
crazy.
Ah! So I am trying something new as a person this semester, I am blogging. I also write, so I could say that I am trying something new as a writer this year by blogging. It is exciting and new, however, no one ever reads it, oh well. I miss New York and I miss certain people only when they are around.
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Sun, reading response.
Taylor Mali’s poem “What Teachers Make, or Objection Overruled, or If things don't work out, you can always go to law school, ” was very rhetorical in its delivery because it was an attempt to persuade. However, the method he uses was from an interesting perspective. In the beginning, he had negative connotations toward teachers, he criticized them, saying that they are just students that couldn’t make it elsewhere. He then brings us in to how much he makes via a second person inquiry, and then the rant starts. With his gravel-truck voice, and flawless posture, red-in-the-face, he breaks down just what he does in his job. Mali explicates on just how he makes those kids work. And by explicating this information, he really gives his audience a feeling of what exactly these kids do. He convinces you that he works hard! Yet, he does not merely present the fact that he works hard, he explains why he does it, which brings us to the very end of the poem. And that’s the part in which he answers the second person in the poem to the inquiry of what he makes, stating
“You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).”
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?”
So he sides with his antagonist in the beginning of this poem. He laughs and repeats jokes made about teachers. He explains both sides. But this is a prose, and in a prose whether written, in our heads, or spoken, is an issue; it has two sides. In order to present an idea to someone, we must present both sides, because if we don’t we are not giving the audience the full picture, we are fearing that we may fail in persuading them, and most importantly, we give up the fight to beat something. Like our class handout said, you must accept the possibility that you may not succeed in order to achieve something. You have to know what you are up against, because it is silly to fear what you can not avoid. And when we are trying to persuade someone something through writing or any form of presentation, even speech, the event or situation that we describe is alive in those waves and it is strong. If you are strong about it, you must be able to face the challenges that go with it and that is what Taylor Mali does in his poem.
My Accidental Jihad by Krista Bremer
From an Islamic point of View, Jihad means strife. It means an integrity-driven motive to accomplish. This story starts out with her resenting him, but turns around at the end. It reminds me of Mali’s poem in the way that it has a central message and that is that teachers work hard. In this short story “My Accidental Jihad,” the central message is the same and translates to the benefits of self-discipline. The opposing sides of her husband’s Islam practice or fasting for Ramadan is criticized from the beginning, but in the end, the husband had the last laugh. The husband had the “last laugh” at the end because he appreciated the food he had, he indulged it, and was getting something out of the whole situation, when his wife, did not, she was busy recklessly completing chores. But her whole point was whining about how she couldn’t indulge in anything with her husband, so her negative outlook on it was wrong in the end and she was laughed at, just like the audience that laughed at Mali’s jokes about teachers in the beginning and got the rude awakening of his enthusiasm for teaching and the finger at the end. This is a great example of presenting both sides to an issue, and holding strong to one side or the other will bring conflict as the opposing side emerges. Mali’s poem was a great way to show how to present both sides, but Bremer’s story, is a great representation of how we will face up against things in our strife but the virtue of fighting for your place in line pays off because characters, events, and settings were acting this out in the story.
“You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).”
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?”
So he sides with his antagonist in the beginning of this poem. He laughs and repeats jokes made about teachers. He explains both sides. But this is a prose, and in a prose whether written, in our heads, or spoken, is an issue; it has two sides. In order to present an idea to someone, we must present both sides, because if we don’t we are not giving the audience the full picture, we are fearing that we may fail in persuading them, and most importantly, we give up the fight to beat something. Like our class handout said, you must accept the possibility that you may not succeed in order to achieve something. You have to know what you are up against, because it is silly to fear what you can not avoid. And when we are trying to persuade someone something through writing or any form of presentation, even speech, the event or situation that we describe is alive in those waves and it is strong. If you are strong about it, you must be able to face the challenges that go with it and that is what Taylor Mali does in his poem.
My Accidental Jihad by Krista Bremer
From an Islamic point of View, Jihad means strife. It means an integrity-driven motive to accomplish. This story starts out with her resenting him, but turns around at the end. It reminds me of Mali’s poem in the way that it has a central message and that is that teachers work hard. In this short story “My Accidental Jihad,” the central message is the same and translates to the benefits of self-discipline. The opposing sides of her husband’s Islam practice or fasting for Ramadan is criticized from the beginning, but in the end, the husband had the last laugh. The husband had the “last laugh” at the end because he appreciated the food he had, he indulged it, and was getting something out of the whole situation, when his wife, did not, she was busy recklessly completing chores. But her whole point was whining about how she couldn’t indulge in anything with her husband, so her negative outlook on it was wrong in the end and she was laughed at, just like the audience that laughed at Mali’s jokes about teachers in the beginning and got the rude awakening of his enthusiasm for teaching and the finger at the end. This is a great example of presenting both sides to an issue, and holding strong to one side or the other will bring conflict as the opposing side emerges. Mali’s poem was a great way to show how to present both sides, but Bremer’s story, is a great representation of how we will face up against things in our strife but the virtue of fighting for your place in line pays off because characters, events, and settings were acting this out in the story.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
My Stress-Management Skills
Manytimes, all stress is is something that needs to be done and I don't know how to fit it in into the million other things I need to do. But the things I need to do include eating,exercising, sleeping, bathing, laughing, and SCHOOL. Okay, so know that I know that these are all things I need, I have to prioritize. Because School has deadlines and it is the worst thing to lose, I know that I have to do that first. .......eureka! I just came to an excellent conclusion! That is, I stress out because I know that a lot is at stake if I do not do my homework, and that's why I stress out about it so much! It is important that I know that one huge thing that will eliminate stress is self-doubt. Yeah, okay, a lot is at stake, but that's fine and that's where it starts and ends. So right there, that is a great way to get rid of stress, to realize that self-bashing ideas are bad. In fact, if you smash those to the ground, you will feel really good knowing that you accomplished that task that was very scary.
Going to places that I like that I always put off is a wonderful place for me to eliminate stress as well. When I say places I like I mean spiritually and physically. Getting things out of the way can start in your head.
Going to places that I like that I always put off is a wonderful place for me to eliminate stress as well. When I say places I like I mean spiritually and physically. Getting things out of the way can start in your head.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Taylor Mali YouTube video
One thing I notice about comedians is they are totally rhetorical. I disagree with everything he says about teachers, yet it is very hard for me to gather my thoughts or think for 2 seconds because his delivery is very aggressive. With that, the comments on the salary just annoy me. Teachers are the most important part of society in the end and it is harder to teach someone something than it is to just learn it your self.
The end statement/hand gesture, said to me that all he said was satirical and he in fact feels bad for teachers because of their salary, and he in fact supports teachers. I think his techniques were arguing a point he didn't believe in, and he did it well. He did this by getting real into it with his voice tone, aggressive body language, vocabulary, bullet-point structure, and his points against being a teacher. He presented ideas that were neutral, yet he used, like I said, aggressive behavior and delivery to get you to think one way or another. This is minimalism and it says what you want to say without actually going into detail and just presenting the concept or idea. His aggressive delivery was misleading, but in the end, his neutral points that he gave in the middle were all very supportive of the statement I think he was trying to make. He is trying to make us feel the anger, frustration, and criticism teachers are faced with, and in the end, how courageous they are. But he used satire, he used facts, or what I called "neutral-points," some of those were; no kids wants to go to school to go back to school, kids that go go because they couldn't make it. In our society, some opinions become facts, and the way he presented them were as if they were facts. But in the end, when everyone was cheering him on, he flipped them off and he had the last laugh because he expressed that this was not true, and that the audience was stupid for thinking that it was. Bringing up money is an objective way to convince someone, and that was a good way to convince people that teachers follow their heart. He was very well-spoken.
So I guess what I am trying to say, is that Mr.Mali wanted us to think for ourselves in this one. I think it was amazing how he made people agree with him. He did this by talking about teaching in a deragatory way and the audience was cheering him on. In the end, the audience was fooled and yet another great point of how we need teachers and they're stronger than the rest. It was very manipulative in a way because he was so convincing. I did not agree wit him from the get-go, but I couldn't stop to think because it was so aggressive. His main technique was presenting ideas and feeling strongly about them in his speech and voice tone, somethign that is lost in writing. But, what he did was make everyone feel bad and maybe that audience will have a better appreciation for teachers.
The end statement/hand gesture, said to me that all he said was satirical and he in fact feels bad for teachers because of their salary, and he in fact supports teachers. I think his techniques were arguing a point he didn't believe in, and he did it well. He did this by getting real into it with his voice tone, aggressive body language, vocabulary, bullet-point structure, and his points against being a teacher. He presented ideas that were neutral, yet he used, like I said, aggressive behavior and delivery to get you to think one way or another. This is minimalism and it says what you want to say without actually going into detail and just presenting the concept or idea. His aggressive delivery was misleading, but in the end, his neutral points that he gave in the middle were all very supportive of the statement I think he was trying to make. He is trying to make us feel the anger, frustration, and criticism teachers are faced with, and in the end, how courageous they are. But he used satire, he used facts, or what I called "neutral-points," some of those were; no kids wants to go to school to go back to school, kids that go go because they couldn't make it. In our society, some opinions become facts, and the way he presented them were as if they were facts. But in the end, when everyone was cheering him on, he flipped them off and he had the last laugh because he expressed that this was not true, and that the audience was stupid for thinking that it was. Bringing up money is an objective way to convince someone, and that was a good way to convince people that teachers follow their heart. He was very well-spoken.
So I guess what I am trying to say, is that Mr.Mali wanted us to think for ourselves in this one. I think it was amazing how he made people agree with him. He did this by talking about teaching in a deragatory way and the audience was cheering him on. In the end, the audience was fooled and yet another great point of how we need teachers and they're stronger than the rest. It was very manipulative in a way because he was so convincing. I did not agree wit him from the get-go, but I couldn't stop to think because it was so aggressive. His main technique was presenting ideas and feeling strongly about them in his speech and voice tone, somethign that is lost in writing. But, what he did was make everyone feel bad and maybe that audience will have a better appreciation for teachers.
Learning styles session
From going to the seminar on knowing my writing style, I learned a lot. My learning style is all I found. No, seriously, I took the test and got an equal number of points under each category. I was scared to hear this, hahaha, but, the more learning styles you apply to, the better you grasp concepts. This makes me really happy, but at the same time, it truly impedes on my studying sometimes, because I really want to get into it. This leads me to believe that I am, all in all, a kinesthetic learned at heart because I have to do SOMETHING to learn. The definition of a kinesthetic learner that the seminar gave was that you have to physically do something to learn best. I think that I need to physically do something like exercise or walk to think about what I have learned, but also, for example, writing something as soon as I hear it or think it will help me learn best. I think getting into it, totally,, is how I learn best. For example, after I get out of my art appreciation class, the best thing for me to do is look at a piece of art and apply what I learned to the piece, read more about it, re-write my notes,and re-play what the teacher said in class, and then walk to think about it and learn it best. So, I truly incorporate all three styles into my optimal work envirnoment.
I think this relates to the Paddington Bear activity and the concepts therein because the assignment encouraged us to encompass a writing topic's many angles to get a reader to grasp a concept. using sensory details "fattens up" a draft, just like incorporating different learning styles. Another thing that relates to the things we have learned in class was how your learning style can change with time. To me, this relates to how our draft can change at any time, our mood and way of grasping concepts can change, thereofre our outlook on our writing will change. I also think that asking us to always be working on a draft is related to kinesthetic learning because we are thinking about our pieces as we do different things.
I think this relates to the Paddington Bear activity and the concepts therein because the assignment encouraged us to encompass a writing topic's many angles to get a reader to grasp a concept. using sensory details "fattens up" a draft, just like incorporating different learning styles. Another thing that relates to the things we have learned in class was how your learning style can change with time. To me, this relates to how our draft can change at any time, our mood and way of grasping concepts can change, thereofre our outlook on our writing will change. I also think that asking us to always be working on a draft is related to kinesthetic learning because we are thinking about our pieces as we do different things.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
clss today.
Wow. So the chaos of this class is coming to grounds for me today. I learned a lot in class today, and I will telle you what the main ones are. The first one, is that writing is an emotional ventilation system and it must warm-up before it can provide you with the temperature your brain needs to function. ALso, emotionally, I have to get stuff off my chest and out of my head before I can focus on other things. This leads me to my second lesson learned today, that is, that when reviewing an essay, I have to read it, and sometimes re-read it. This is important so that I can give accurate advice and opinions. Today, I reviewed Michelle's blog and the method I used was to read it a few times, re-read the parts I didn't get, and then start from the beginning, reading over the misunderstood part with new eyes. then, I wrote my reactions on paper, then typed them. Then, I read the blog again to see if I really thought that. I needed to understand the piece before I could reise it, both in content and context. Also, I needed that warm-up.
end.
end.
>listen
we can go walk in the morning we don't need streetlights just a new start. I think i want to start making jewlery......
Monday, September 17, 2007
today in class.
Liz was right, a lot of baggage is brought to this class. ......Harvey's "guinea-pig" revision experience was awesome~~!!!!!
I noticed that we all got more descriptive and constructive responses when we talked together.
HArvey said that my comment really helped him. But I think i needed other people to talk so that they could spark my thoughts. In our text, Writing @ RRCC, I learned that writing usually begins with a reaction to something. Reguardless of that something being an experience, a piece of writing, etc., it begins with a reaction and not just a mere thought. I think I read somewhere that it is also a philosophy that everything is a reaction to something....but without diving into that, I just want to say that it is much easier to write when you are thinking about something that happened/ reacting to somethign that happened, whether you read about or experiencced it. Today, hearing other people helped me to pinpoint exactly what I wanted to say by opposing or supporting others.
When I read out loud, I actually started crying. I was afraid that I would start crying because listening to others read made me feel sad because it related to what I wrote in a big way. So, since I was the last one to read, I started crying. It was very emotional for me. Reading it out loud was much more than writing it, reading it, or summarizing it to anyone else. And it felt so blank when i read it aloud. I felt like I longed to be alone when I wrote it and reading it aloud made me very vulnerable. It wasn't as heart-felt as I thought it was when I wrote it. And like Liz said, it makes much more sense to me than it does to my audience. I think the hardest part of this piece is that it is so personal and explaining it breaks it down more for me when I put EVERYTHING into simplifying the concepts therein. However, someone once told me that you don't really know anything until you can teach it to someone else. Emotionally, this is hard for me because I don't want to look back on the decisions I made, I don't want to do that at all because that was part of the paper, was not looking back. Part of the paper was also my fear of ending up somewhere I don't want to be. So, maybe this is a blessing is disguise then...hahaha! I can re-evaluate the decision I have so intricately documented, and now, for all to read..and examine. I also think I am showing "inertia," which, by the way, means the ability to resist gravity, to revise this because it is my own thoughts. Thus it is hard to tell myself I need to change, because this paper was the biggest decision that I've ever made. However, this class and doing what I am doing in this class is my dream and my experiences in my paper are all things that I did for this class, this semester.
I am having some trouble being able to revise for people right when I hear their writing. And reading it aloud makes all the difference in the world. I think, in fact, it's better than reading it in the silence of your brain. So, I want to read it aloud a few times, or have someone else do it for me, while I write my notes, and I want to compile stages of notes to later synthesize. I feel like I have to do sooooooooo much stuff to get this stuff out on the table, let alone do it.
I am confident that I will have a lot of writing to use on portfolio 1. I can't wait to discuss what the standards will be. And I cannot wait to hand it to Liz. I think that we need a lot of work done before then and now and we need to utilize our connections through the internet to help eachother.
....So, for class, my first suggestion as to what I want the teacher to grade us on is this: That, as students we let others examine our work and incorporated their suggestions in ways that made our writing retain our identity, but we expanded our horizons and at least LISTENED to what others had to say. I am not saying that we need to do what others suggest to get a good grade, but rather we listened and revised our papers in one way or another to make it understandable to others by gaining feedback from our audience. We utilized the feedback from who we are writing for. WE do not write in this class for ourselves; we write so we can present a piece to others. Look at it this way, musicians that think it is just a matter of time before they are famous and that their audience is graced with their presence only play music for the money, for the girls, and for the fame. And I don't go to concerts to give anyone money, I go to concerts for humanity, to feel love graciously given to me by an artist and I give back. I write so that others can feel it too, and so that they can realize that they're not alone in feeling hopeless. I love humanity and I want to help everyone and I think love is the best way to get that across. I believe that if you try and try and try and try and try, eventually some light will come out of your darkness. I think one of the standards for our class is that we change our writing for the purpose of clarity to our audience and that we revise after hearing sugestions, but not emulating someone else's style and we acticely read our writing and help others.
I noticed that we all got more descriptive and constructive responses when we talked together.
HArvey said that my comment really helped him. But I think i needed other people to talk so that they could spark my thoughts. In our text, Writing @ RRCC, I learned that writing usually begins with a reaction to something. Reguardless of that something being an experience, a piece of writing, etc., it begins with a reaction and not just a mere thought. I think I read somewhere that it is also a philosophy that everything is a reaction to something....but without diving into that, I just want to say that it is much easier to write when you are thinking about something that happened/ reacting to somethign that happened, whether you read about or experiencced it. Today, hearing other people helped me to pinpoint exactly what I wanted to say by opposing or supporting others.
When I read out loud, I actually started crying. I was afraid that I would start crying because listening to others read made me feel sad because it related to what I wrote in a big way. So, since I was the last one to read, I started crying. It was very emotional for me. Reading it out loud was much more than writing it, reading it, or summarizing it to anyone else. And it felt so blank when i read it aloud. I felt like I longed to be alone when I wrote it and reading it aloud made me very vulnerable. It wasn't as heart-felt as I thought it was when I wrote it. And like Liz said, it makes much more sense to me than it does to my audience. I think the hardest part of this piece is that it is so personal and explaining it breaks it down more for me when I put EVERYTHING into simplifying the concepts therein. However, someone once told me that you don't really know anything until you can teach it to someone else. Emotionally, this is hard for me because I don't want to look back on the decisions I made, I don't want to do that at all because that was part of the paper, was not looking back. Part of the paper was also my fear of ending up somewhere I don't want to be. So, maybe this is a blessing is disguise then...hahaha! I can re-evaluate the decision I have so intricately documented, and now, for all to read..and examine. I also think I am showing "inertia," which, by the way, means the ability to resist gravity, to revise this because it is my own thoughts. Thus it is hard to tell myself I need to change, because this paper was the biggest decision that I've ever made. However, this class and doing what I am doing in this class is my dream and my experiences in my paper are all things that I did for this class, this semester.
I am having some trouble being able to revise for people right when I hear their writing. And reading it aloud makes all the difference in the world. I think, in fact, it's better than reading it in the silence of your brain. So, I want to read it aloud a few times, or have someone else do it for me, while I write my notes, and I want to compile stages of notes to later synthesize. I feel like I have to do sooooooooo much stuff to get this stuff out on the table, let alone do it.
I am confident that I will have a lot of writing to use on portfolio 1. I can't wait to discuss what the standards will be. And I cannot wait to hand it to Liz. I think that we need a lot of work done before then and now and we need to utilize our connections through the internet to help eachother.
....So, for class, my first suggestion as to what I want the teacher to grade us on is this: That, as students we let others examine our work and incorporated their suggestions in ways that made our writing retain our identity, but we expanded our horizons and at least LISTENED to what others had to say. I am not saying that we need to do what others suggest to get a good grade, but rather we listened and revised our papers in one way or another to make it understandable to others by gaining feedback from our audience. We utilized the feedback from who we are writing for. WE do not write in this class for ourselves; we write so we can present a piece to others. Look at it this way, musicians that think it is just a matter of time before they are famous and that their audience is graced with their presence only play music for the money, for the girls, and for the fame. And I don't go to concerts to give anyone money, I go to concerts for humanity, to feel love graciously given to me by an artist and I give back. I write so that others can feel it too, and so that they can realize that they're not alone in feeling hopeless. I love humanity and I want to help everyone and I think love is the best way to get that across. I believe that if you try and try and try and try and try, eventually some light will come out of your darkness. I think one of the standards for our class is that we change our writing for the purpose of clarity to our audience and that we revise after hearing sugestions, but not emulating someone else's style and we acticely read our writing and help others.
what the hell, i forgot this part.
Oh yeah.........is anyone taking notes on our assigned readings? This sounds really silly, but I don't know if I should record notes and drafts in the same notebook or not..I don't want to have two notebooks, and I could technically get a divided notebook, but I already started in a "regular" notebook. All I want is to see some shining falling bright stars. I think that it really doesn't matter and that it will suck i fi am writing a draft ina notebook, and then see it all sprawled out bash into notes. no one can predict what will be written or how much room you need. So, how does one leave enough room for a writing session or a note session?????? My notes are a bit behind, so maybve i should start something new....all i know is that no matter what i do, i will always have more paper..........
what the hell.
Ok, so I have a lot to say, here I go. First of all, really like the literature we are assigned to read in this class. It really helps me listen to myself.....I think we are trained to only listen to authority and the most objective of ideas, yet in our heads, our ideas are subjective.
I really want to do well in this class, and I think that as the first college-level english class, we should really utilize this fabulous opportunity. I'M CEREAL ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!! Think about if we had remembered and worked on all the skills we have ever learned from the get-go...let's say second grade. Where would we be? I will be the kind-of obliged first to say much furthur probably. But, we are finally to a point where we are told to do what we want rather than play by the rules.
Here's a question that arises when I use the internet and a classroom to take a class;
How does the use of the interenet and the facilitation of it change the way we interact?
I think I want to look at the "cons" in this one guys. And the reason I want to do this, is because I don't want it to happen. Okay, so here we go, I think that we tend to communicate less seeing that our writing is exhibited, so because of this, we may have less of an incentive to communicate less face-to-face. And please remember , I am only being pessimistic to create awareness. I can't change the world with my blogs, no one can...but blogs/literature/songs can change people. What if I were to post very personal writings on my blog...then how would the way we interact change? How? It would be real writing wouldn't it? You see, eventually, we are all going to present this to someone else, and other people will read it. OUR GOAL IS NOT JUST TO WRITE A WELL-WRITTEN PIECE, BUT A PIECE THAT IS HONEST AND MAKES THE AUDIENCE FEEL SOMETHING. I think we all have a choice as to what to disclose in our writing...but who is to say we cannot present it as fiction, afterall, we already view most writing as a "Story." I don't want to get comfortable.
I really want to do well in this class, and I think that as the first college-level english class, we should really utilize this fabulous opportunity. I'M CEREAL ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!! Think about if we had remembered and worked on all the skills we have ever learned from the get-go...let's say second grade. Where would we be? I will be the kind-of obliged first to say much furthur probably. But, we are finally to a point where we are told to do what we want rather than play by the rules.
Here's a question that arises when I use the internet and a classroom to take a class;
How does the use of the interenet and the facilitation of it change the way we interact?
I think I want to look at the "cons" in this one guys. And the reason I want to do this, is because I don't want it to happen. Okay, so here we go, I think that we tend to communicate less seeing that our writing is exhibited, so because of this, we may have less of an incentive to communicate less face-to-face. And please remember , I am only being pessimistic to create awareness. I can't change the world with my blogs, no one can...but blogs/literature/songs can change people. What if I were to post very personal writings on my blog...then how would the way we interact change? How? It would be real writing wouldn't it? You see, eventually, we are all going to present this to someone else, and other people will read it. OUR GOAL IS NOT JUST TO WRITE A WELL-WRITTEN PIECE, BUT A PIECE THAT IS HONEST AND MAKES THE AUDIENCE FEEL SOMETHING. I think we all have a choice as to what to disclose in our writing...but who is to say we cannot present it as fiction, afterall, we already view most writing as a "Story." I don't want to get comfortable.
Monday, September 10, 2007
images. ( to be revised)
*********Readers this is the blog to be revised************
1. What areas were descriptive enough or the most descriptive? Are there parts that need description, if so, then what kind?
2. What areas are you curious to know more about? What areas are you not more curious to know more about?
So, we treked all over L.A. that day; myself, my step-brother, and my sister Monique. We drove there ina silver, shiny Chrysler Sebring. In this Sebring, the wind leeches in and grabs you like Ursula, the evil octopus from The Liitle Mermaid. Her tentacles grab and press down on all your survival orphaces. She strangles you.
...this trip wasn't supposed to be a business trip, or so we were told. When we got there, is when we were informed that this trip was, in fact, one of my stepmom's business trips. We all love food; my stepbrother, sister, and I. We planned on eating at Pink's, a hot dog stand that has been around since the 1930's. We found out about this place on the food network. It was so exciting that we went. We stayed right next to Disneyland, but we decided to take the rental car up to L.A. instead. It was funny, because the only reason we went up to Los Angeles was to eat at this dinky little place. We didn't go to eat at some fancy place or go to some fancy schmnacy store. No, we just went to eat some hot dogs. When we got there, the saturated smell of hot dogs handled the air. We waited in the hot sun for two hours in this cloud of fried food. There were about seven people working and they were all sweating. There was a short, tired, hispanic woman that gracefully took our order, I think she was in fighter-pilot mode. We ordered four hot dogs with modifications, onion rings, and fries. She remembered it all, she then filled her order all by herself, and we had our food when she herself was done making it. This to me was amazing customer service, because it was done effectively and no one was sucking up to me. IT was so real
It was definitely worth the plane ride, the walking, the LA freeway driving, and the two-hour wait in the hot sun.
1. What areas were descriptive enough or the most descriptive? Are there parts that need description, if so, then what kind?
2. What areas are you curious to know more about? What areas are you not more curious to know more about?
So, we treked all over L.A. that day; myself, my step-brother, and my sister Monique. We drove there ina silver, shiny Chrysler Sebring. In this Sebring, the wind leeches in and grabs you like Ursula, the evil octopus from The Liitle Mermaid. Her tentacles grab and press down on all your survival orphaces. She strangles you.
...this trip wasn't supposed to be a business trip, or so we were told. When we got there, is when we were informed that this trip was, in fact, one of my stepmom's business trips. We all love food; my stepbrother, sister, and I. We planned on eating at Pink's, a hot dog stand that has been around since the 1930's. We found out about this place on the food network. It was so exciting that we went. We stayed right next to Disneyland, but we decided to take the rental car up to L.A. instead. It was funny, because the only reason we went up to Los Angeles was to eat at this dinky little place. We didn't go to eat at some fancy place or go to some fancy schmnacy store. No, we just went to eat some hot dogs. When we got there, the saturated smell of hot dogs handled the air. We waited in the hot sun for two hours in this cloud of fried food. There were about seven people working and they were all sweating. There was a short, tired, hispanic woman that gracefully took our order, I think she was in fighter-pilot mode. We ordered four hot dogs with modifications, onion rings, and fries. She remembered it all, she then filled her order all by herself, and we had our food when she herself was done making it. This to me was amazing customer service, because it was done effectively and no one was sucking up to me. IT was so real
It was definitely worth the plane ride, the walking, the LA freeway driving, and the two-hour wait in the hot sun.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
What you Thought You Knew About PAddingotn Bear is a Lie!!!!
I know that Paddington Bear is a space voyager! He looks like an ordinary bear, but he takes his magical lunchbox and flies to the moon! He goes on fantastical space odysseys; he has had more life experiences than any human on the planet. However, he is just a boy, trapped in a bear's body. He is noble, scruffy, revolutionary, and can get out of the rain whether he is drenched to the bone or not. He is the representative of our populus named children.
Searing through that sheet of atmosphere, his mighty, furry paw/hand rips the contraints of gravity until he is free.
Searing through that sheet of atmosphere, his mighty, furry paw/hand rips the contraints of gravity until he is free.
Some Things I Admired About Lauren Slater's Writing.
Ok, sorry to my audience for the boring title, but I am not going to go back and change it now. I think the main thing I noticed in Lauren Slater's "Consumer Report," was how focused she was even though it was quite a complex essay. She introduced events vaugely then explained them later on. This created suspense, but she also introduces events without explaining how it ended and left me with intense feelings, mostly of fear and sadness. I want to try to explicate an emotion and not go off on a tangent. I want to talkabout the many facets of a topic and stay focused at the same time.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
What I Already Know About Myself As a Writer.
Well, what I do know about myself is that I need to revise, revise, revise, and then maybe revise some more. Writing is ahuge mechanism for me to pull out the thigns in my brain and sort through them. I use writing as a ways of discovering things that I am thinking, because if they are not out of my head they don't exist sometimes. I also know that I have many ideas and my main problem is getting them out in a form in which others will read it. I think that the way to do this is by following our course, I think this is a perfect method, actually. My writing goes in stages from nonsense, to a toothpick bridge, to a paperclip bridge, and finally, to a real bridge.
I know that I need structure and I need to get a lot off my chest to write well, because I have too many ideas in my head and no way to write them, it is driving me crazy. Also, I know that I need to warm up when writing. This is a fascinating concept to me; in that I cannot accurately write until I have warmed myself up, by writing something, anything. Peer review helps me get myself into perpective, as much as I used to like to isolate myself when I write, I now want and truly desire the opinions of others. It's nothing against anyone, I have just kind of been hidden in boks for the past few years and got used to it. But as of right now, I want nothing more than the ideas, insights, and stories from anyone and everyone around me. What helps me to write is my experiences with people. I feel like I am an explorer writing about my observations. I want to learn about people and I want to hear stories, and most of all I want peoples' criticism. I accept criticism as a suggestion, not an insult. My goal is to make my reader feel something when they read my writing, and I want everyone's help in doing so.
I know that I need structure and I need to get a lot off my chest to write well, because I have too many ideas in my head and no way to write them, it is driving me crazy. Also, I know that I need to warm up when writing. This is a fascinating concept to me; in that I cannot accurately write until I have warmed myself up, by writing something, anything. Peer review helps me get myself into perpective, as much as I used to like to isolate myself when I write, I now want and truly desire the opinions of others. It's nothing against anyone, I have just kind of been hidden in boks for the past few years and got used to it. But as of right now, I want nothing more than the ideas, insights, and stories from anyone and everyone around me. What helps me to write is my experiences with people. I feel like I am an explorer writing about my observations. I want to learn about people and I want to hear stories, and most of all I want peoples' criticism. I accept criticism as a suggestion, not an insult. My goal is to make my reader feel something when they read my writing, and I want everyone's help in doing so.
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