Between the drafts

           Reading Nancy Sommer's article "Between the drafts" has extremely changed my idea of what revising means. I too, like all the students that Sommer wrote about in her paper, revise my work simply to fix grammatical errors, spelling problems, and the simple things like that. I now see revising as something  so much more! I am really glad I was able to read this article before I started to revise my work for my portfolio due soon here at the end of the semester. My plan to revise my work is going to be so much more in depth. I need to work on speaking for myself and let my research tie into what I have to say and not let the work of the research take over my paper and speak for me. 

          I really like the idea of stepping away from my papers and giving them time to sink in. This way I can go back with a fresh new mind and see if this paper really reflects me. I have actually had it happen to me once before, this occurrence of reading a paper and not even recognizing it as something that I would write. I have gone back and read papers on my computer that I wrote when I was in high school and to be completely honest, I realized that I was writing for the teacher. But in all defense for myself, that is what we were taught to do! All of my english teachers wanted strict research papers, they taught us how to sound smart and scholarly, and I, wanting good grades, did exactly that, but at the same time, I wasn't speaking for myself. 

         To be honest, Professor Martin is the first writing teacher I have ever had that has encouraged me to write for myself and say what I have to say. Before now, I have been using research and other "authority" to speak for me. I am ready to work on my three pieces of work and revise them in this new way that I now see revising as. I am going to make them my own and re-create them, reorganize them and make them mine. I don't need someone else to make their ideas mine. I can certainly base my ideas off of some of theirs but I know I can think for myself. I am looking forward to re-looking at my work and doing more then just fixing spelling errors and grammatical errors which is typically what i would have done.

A few quotes I found to wrap it up that have encouraged me to speak for myself:

It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes.  ~Sally Field 

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” 
― Coco Chanel

“A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine. If one by one all go silent then all that will be left are the soloists.

Don’t let a loud few determine the nature of the sound. It makes for poor harmony and diminishes the song.” 
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Losing myself

This is a poem I found online. I love poetry and like to research poems a lot :) thought I would share this one and it kind of explains how I've been feeling a little bit lately but I think it speaks for itself :) here is the link that I found and the poem copy and pasted below: http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34508

I'm somewhere
That's darker than a starless night
Created by all the pain I cannot bear
Writhes bitter fear and pure sorrow
Which I would not describe

I lost myself
Deep within the fathomless depths
My lonely soul drifts aimlessly
Lost between the facades and falsifies
I beg for my escape
But I am not granted this wish

The pressure bearing down on me
Is impossible to describe
And after so much contained anger
With tears I have not dropped
Somewhere along the way I've lost who I am
In a place that I've all but forgot

Dance

Just wanted to share :) Dance is my life and I love contemporary, it's my favorite style :)

The Grand Canyon - a digital story

          This digital story was very interesting. It was really sad everything that the guy was talking about but what a creative way he did of telling his story. I was not quite sure where the story was going at first but at the end it all ties together and makes sense. I feel like his voice was perfect in tone and speed because it went with the mood of the story and made it sad. I also liked how we told the hidden story behind the pictures sort of like we did in our first project. To be honest i don't remember hearing any music when I think about it but when I go back, how perfect is that? It great how the music fits right into the story almost going unnoticed but most defiantly helping to set the mood.

Smile

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy this writing class. It has seriously been a class that I look forward to attending during the week. I have always loved writing but there is nothing worse than being forced to write about something you don't want to write about. In this class it isn't that way at all! I absolutely love it. We get to write about things that we care about and that interest us and for me that's what makes this class so great! We have an awesome professor who really lets us explore i writing abilities and I feel that she is so encouraging! This whole blog thing is such a fantastic idea. I will probably continue it just for fun even after this class is over. Its amazing how much you can discover about your self through writing. :) Have a nice day fellow followers!

almost home bound!

Going home this weekend! I am supper excited to go home and spend some time with my family. I do not get to go home whenever I want to because of dance team. But, this weekend we don't have a game or event so i get to go home. Yay! I am looking forward to spending time with my brother mostly and watching him play in his last game of the season tonight.

Whitining Beyonce....

http://owni.eu/2011/03/12/racism-in-advertising-50-shocking-examples/

I was extremely shocked to see all of these examples of racism in advertising. I really had no clue and maybe I just haven’t been analyzing commercials that deeply to notice it. It is the advertiser’s’ job to make us like a product without making it obvious how they are doing it. I will defiantly be paying more attention to advertisements now when I see them and honestly before this class I really never paid that close attention to these types of ads, well, all ads in general that is. I just let the ad do its magical work on me and I buy the stuff. I was interested in what the commenters had to say about the article because I feel like they made some great points.  See the following.

·         shenanigans•

o+

o 

§Flag as inappropriate

I have to defend the Australian KFC advertisement: when that story broke here no one knew what the controversy was. The fact the Australian guy was in "an awkward situation" was due to the fact he was the only Australian supporter among West Indian supporters - NOT because they were black and he was white (a series of of ads showed the same guy in different national crowds: UK, India etc). Furthermore fried chicken has no racial overtones here as it does in the US. No one here has ever heard of fried chicken having any racial implications whatsoever. People were simply confused by the fuss and felt, quite rightly I feel, that the US was imposing it’s cultural values on others.

 

             I see a really good point here that people were taking the ad out of context and perceiving it the wrong way that was not intended. I could see people having a problem with it if it was the only ad but it wasn’t. Also, people themselves are being racist concluding that black people like chicken…. Think about it, it could go both ways. I do think that the advertisement industry should be more careful with what they put out there though.

 

 

 

 

                 Also, the whiting Beyoncé thing… that is direct racism… That really made me upset and I think that is just out right uncalled for. That’s all I really have to say about that. But yea, I love Beyoncé’s work, and what a terrible thing to have happened.  

Wind It Up!

 

This ad is about McDonalds Premium Roast Coffee. It is basically saying that people are like windup dolls and the way to get wound up is by drinking their coffee. They are advertising that McDonalds isn't just for kids but that it is for working adults too who need to be woken up. Because, without their coffee we will all hang our heads, drop our paper work, and stand on dangerous ledges. This ad makes us think that it is important that we drink McDonald’s premium roast coffee to wake up or "wind us up."  See my partner's blog, Jaclyn, for a more indepth despcription of this blogs effect on us.  http://babyjacsss.blogspot.com/ titled "McDonald's coffee winds you up."

Conference Groups!

   I thought that the conferences were extremely helpful. I wasn’t really sure what I could do to make my paper better at first but I did go into the conference knowing that something more was needed. I LOVE doing conference work because I feel like its extra eyes to my paper and it really helps me look at my paper in other ways that I wouldn’t have been able to do if someone didn’t open me up to that perspective. The program we used I didn’t not like though. I had to re-upload my paper again because the first time it wasn’t opening so I basically had to create a whole new document on the program and copy and paste all my work and individually download every single picture in to the paper. It was sort of a pain in the butt and the highlighting comment thing didn’t really work and I feel that I would have gotten more out of it if it had worked. But yes, I defiantly liked having the conference group as a source for help because I know exactly what I need to do to make my paper better now.  I also enjoyed writing this paper; it was really fun for me because I LOVE pictures a lot! I am a very visual person.

It's all starting to get to me

I don't know about all of you guys, but I am super tired!!! All the loss of sleep is catching up with me and I can barely stay away during the day. I have never had an issue with studying in my bed ever but here, if I even try, I start to fall asleep, and when it comes to picking between studying and sleeping.... Sleep always seems to win. My eyes seem to be getting heavier and heavier and they burn like crazy!!! I feel like I get enough sleep though, I'm normally in bed for 8 hours but I just can't seem to stay away! I'm sleepy all the time :( I am also starting to get very home sick, it's hard being away from home and I really miss my family!

Also this picture is really cute.... Haha

Vanishing Voices, A Bad Thing?

Is it really a bad thing that languages are disappearing, isn't it just a necessary victim of our move towards globalization?


What is globalization?

According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary globalization is the “process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation technologies and services, mass migration and the movement of peoples.”  

Quick survey from roommates:

# of people who think it is necessary for globalization?  4
# of people who thinks it isn't necessary? 1

I just thought it was interesting to hear what they thought about it and we were all torn between the idea if globalization is more important than individualism. But we all defiantly agreed that for globalization to occur it was necessary to lose all these other languages. 

It is important that we all get on the same page so that we can communicate together effectively. But while it is important to get to this midpoint between all people, we do need all the knowledge to be translated correctly so that we don't lose and thing important that some people may know such as cures to diseases.   

I believe that for all of this to happen we really do have to condense it all down to one common language because it will make everything easier, but it is really sad how some of the culture goes away with the the "vanishing voices." I wish there was some way to preserve the languages while we work towards globalization but that is really hard to do if people stop speaking them. 

September 11th, 2001 the day i could of lost my mom

September 11^th is always a really hard time for me. It was second grade; I remember it just like it was yesterday. My teacher had it playing on the television and the only thing going through my head was that my mom is in that building right now, she is in the Pentagon. I didn’t know if I should cry, freak out, or run. I was absolutely paranoid. My mom was in that building and I didn’t know if I would ever get to see her again.  We got out of school early that day and my brother was in kindergarten at the time and we would always meet at the flag poll out side of the school and get on the bus together, I remember him walking towards me with the sweetest, most worried and confused face I had ever seen in my life.  I grabbed him and told him everything was going to be okay but that I had no idea what was going on. We turned around and started heading for the bus and to both our surprise our mom was walking towards us and gave us a big hug. My brother, Darren, and I stormed my mom with questions and she told us she would tell us what happened when we got home.

My mom told us how her part of the building was hit, right where she worked, but at the time she was out of her office getting her allergy shot close by. A lady from her office called her and told her about the twin towers and told her go home quick and not come back.  That lady saved my moms life and today she is gone.  She didn’t have enough time to get out. My mom lost a lot of friends that day, and it is always a hard but extremely thankful day for my family. I love my mom so much and I cant imagine living without her.

From The Outside Looking In

Today in class when we were discussing “States” by Said, my professor noted that this picture has a boy “from the outside looking in.” As soon as she said that I instantly thought about the song called “Outside looking in” by Jordan Pruitt. I absolutely LOVE this song and I think that the picture and the lyrics to this song really tie together the entire message of this written work. Below you will find the picture and the lyrics to the song.

SONG: Outside Looking In Song (CLICK HERE)

You don't know my name

you don't know anything about me

I try to play nice

I want to be in your game

The things that you say

You may think I never hear about them

But word travels fast

I'm telling you to your face

I'm standing here behind your back

[Chorus:]

You don't know how it feels

To be outside the crowd

You don't know what it's like

To be left out

And you don't know how it feels

To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

If you could read my mind

You might see more of me than meets the eye

And you've been all wrong

Not who you think I am

You've never given me a chance

[Chorus:]

You don't know how it feels

To be outside the crowd

You don't know what it's like

To be left out

And you don't know how it feels

To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

Well, I'm tired of staying at home

I'm bored and all alone

I'm sick of wasting all my time

[Chorus (x2):]

You don't know how it feels

To be outside the crowd

You don't know what it's like

To be left out

And you don't know how it feels

To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

You don't know how it feels

To be outside the crowd

You don't know what it's like

To be left out

And you don't know how it feels

To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

You don't know my name

you don't know anything about me

I try to play nice

I want to be in your game

The things that you say

You may think I never hear about them

But word travels fast

I'm telling you to your face

I'm standing here behind your back

[Chorus:]

You don't know how it feels

To be outside the crowd

You don't know what it's like

To be left out

And you don't know how it feels

To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

If you could read my mind

You might see more of me than meets the eye

And you've been all wrong

Not who you think I am

You've never given me a chance

[Chorus:]

You don't know how it feels

To be outside the crowd

You don't know what it's like

To be left out

And you don't know how it feels

To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

Well, I'm tired of staying at home

I'm bored and all alone

I'm sick of wasting all my time

[Chorus (x2):]

You don't know how it feels

To be outside the crowd

You don't know what it's like

To be left out

And you don't know how it feels

To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

You don't know how it feels

To be outside the crowd

You don't know what it's like

To be left out

And you don't know how it feels

To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

This song is just so perfect and really could be used to show how the Palestinians feel about their lives. Hope you enjoyed the song! It’s one of my favs!  

Lost Identity

         I didn’t really enjoy reading Edward Said's essay "States."  I felt like it was very repetitive and somewhat annoying. I understood the purpose of it but I felt like it was just over done, relaying the same points over and over again. I always like to look at pictures though since I am a visual learner. Below is my favorite picture from this work.

 

      I really liked this picture because it said that the children wanted to take the picture and I thought it was sort of cute. It was like a happy picture in the essay for once. I also think it is neat how they set up the picture in a line type format. Also, from bottom to the top, the children’s faces get a little more serious each child up the line. A lot of the pictures in this essay I didn’t really feel like they helped prove any point, all I saw were normal looking pictures.

        Compared to “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”, it was sort of terrible for me. Maybe it was because it was harder to read because Said kept throwing a bunch of random countries at me and it was sort of confusing and difficult to take in. I felt he didn’t do a very good job at using the photographs to his advantage like the author of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” did.

I MISS MY BROTHER :(

I don’t know about anyone else but I really miss my brother. My brother Darren and I were supper close these past couple years. We are 21 months apart and we didn’t really used to get along but as we got older we realized that each other is all we really have. My brother will be a junior in high school this year and he plays three sports; football, basketball, and soccer. There is nothing I love more then watching my brother play, he truly is talented and I always find myself getting really into the games. Darren’s main sport is soccer and he is currently being looked at by a lot of colleges including JMU! He really wants to come here and I think it would be really cool if he did since we are so close.

I really hope that we don’t grow apart because it got to a point where he was literally my best friend and we would ask each other for advice and stuff. He was kind of like my partner in crime and he would stick up for me if my parents got mad at me, or anything like that.

I think the thing I love most about Darren is that he never fails to make me laugh…. or choke on my food. He always knows how to cheer me up and make me feel better. We had this thing last year where every Friday morning we would get Starbucks just so that we had a nice fresh start for the weekend and just so we could hang out and we would blast music and just have fun. I am really going to miss that this year and I’m sure he will too. I always wonder if anyone else misses his or her siblings or not. Below are a few pictures of me and my brother, we really like to have a good time! 

Peculiar Wonderings

I’m not going to lie, but I am the type of person to over think things and I have a very creative imagination.  I really enjoyed “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children.” The way the author used pictures to tell a story really opened up my imagination to allow myself to almost create my own little movie in my head. When I first flipped through the pages I thought, oh wow this book is going to be kind of freaky and might even give me nightmares! But then as I read the book I found myself not being afraid of these peculiar things that the children could do but thought it might be rather neat to experience the life of Jacob myself.

This book makes me want to know if anything like this really exist and I feel like it would be pretty cool if it did. I mean, imagine meeting children with such amazing talents. If in fact such a thing were real I would hope that the “monsters” didn’t exist so that they may not live in fear.

I am a total picture person and I think it is so interesting to see the pictures in the book as I read. I feel like I was able to better visualize how these people looked. Part of me wishes that there were more pictures; I was extremely entertained by them. I wish that the author had written a continued book about what happens next when they are looking for the next loop and how it all plays out in the end because the end of the book sort of leaves us wondering, almost like the story wasn’t complete. Even though this makes me imagine in my head what could have happened next I want someone to just tell me!

           This is a picture of my friend and I at a lake two summers ago and it really reminds me of this book with very weird and creepy pictures. We didn’t add any effects to it, it just turned out this way and it honestly freaked us out, her mom took the picture and when she went to look at it, it looked like ghosts hovering above our heads looking the other direction. It’s pretty freaky. You can tell it is us, but its almost like it’s our spirits or something because they are looking to the right of the picture instead of straight forward. So when I saw these pictures in the book it made me think of this and I thought I would share it.

Perez Hilton

 

Perezhilton.com is a blog site authored by Mario Armando Lavandeira. He is widely known for his blogging about celebrity gossip, including pictures of them with added captions that he makes himself. He somehow seems to know what all of the juicy gossip is and basically puts it on blast, typically leading celebrities to hate him for it. I would say most of the blogs are scandalous, extremely exaggerating the lives of celebrities during either hard times or being at the wrong place at the wrong time type events.  For this reason, many say that it is Hollywood’s most hated website. 

The intended audience is anyone who is interested and/or likes to read about celebrity gossip and see obnoxious, crazy pictures.  Honestly, anyone could be drawn to reading the blog; I mean how could you not! The craziest, most appalling information is revealed about celebs and their private life and really, half of it perhaps isn’t even true.  The way he writes about it, and how he draws and writes captions on the pictures is what really catches my attention. I absolutely love visuals and it’s amazing how he can take a picture and turn it into a completely different scenario making it extremely funny to read about.

I do feel bad for celebrities because I mean think about it, they are people too, and to be honest if someone was putting my every move on blast I would hate them too! So, I can defiantly see why it is Hollywood’s most hated. Some of the blogging Mario does is in fact accurate information on recent information releases on movies and books.  He also quotes a lot of people and refers to magazines and video shoots, sometimes using celebs own words against them. Perezhilton.com will always keep me reading up on the latest gossip in Hollywood and constantly laughing.