It's Been A Long Week...

         Hence the reason I forgot to post this on time (figures). My rant of the day is that I had a Forensics presentation on toxicology/illicit drugs today, and despite the fact that mine was nearly half an hour (three times everyone else's) I still did not get a chance to mention every single little detail about each drug that I managed to cram into my brain before 1:30a.m. last night. The time consuming part about this whole project is that when I type in a word I don't know, the definition for that word contains another word I don't know and then I am forced to look up that word and the cycle goes on...and on...until I have a whole piece of paper filled with definitions that are pointless because I didn't even need to talk about the first definition in the first place.
    I will end my blog post on a happy note. Something that despite all the stress of the week has managed to calm me down. No, I am not talking about food, sleep (or lack of) or even singing when I'm alone in the car. I am talking about The Bachelor. Can you believe what happened on the episode last night? Ugh, I can't believe Sam left! Courtney is really getting on my nerves, but Ben is too oblivious and "in love" to notice that! Emily even tried to tell him what Courtney is really like, but he would have nothing to do with it. I like Kacie B., and if she doesn't win and Courtney does then I will stop watching the show forever! Just kidding, I will just stop watching until the next season comes on. I think Emily is the next Bachelorette, that will be so exciting!
P.S. I'm going to miss this blog, and I just might still write on this blog after this class is over, the main reason being I just found a background I really like (and learned how to change the font and the text color).

It's All Good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg

I was scrolling through old posts on the blog I follow (Kendi Everyday) and found this video! I'm not as pumped for the tests as this girl is about her "haircuts" and "pajamas," though. We have been preparing all year for this test, and although my brain is pretty much fried I know that we will all make it through (alive at least). It was a tough decision, but I have sworn to give up shopping and The Bachelor watching until I am done studying for these tests, but really...it won't be as bad as you're probably expecting.

Visual Argument

Open Letter

Dear Drunk Guys in Front of Me at a Concert,

                I understand that the excitement of a concert can cloud your judgment as to how many drinks is an appropriate amount. Then again, it may be the excitement of the concert mixed with the previous alcohol consumption from the bar down the street. I could have sworn they put a limit as to how many drinks you can buy at a concert. They do that at a Twins game, and I know that because I’m sure my dad and his friends have hit that limit numerous times. What is the limit here, huh? Seven?  What really puzzles me is that it is the same guy going back to pick up an arm full of drinks every time. Doesn’t the worker selling him the beer grow a little suspicious when this idiot returns every third song for another round of four beers? What really cracks me up is that I can hear every word of your conversations because believe it or not, I am sitting right behind you. Do you even know what is coming out of your mouth, or how loud you are mumbling? Well, I do, and I really don’t care to hear about how your girlfriend is coming over after the concert, and of course all the other details that comes with that tidbit of information.

                Maybe if we were at a U2 or AC DC concert being obviously intoxicated would not be as frowned upon, but we are, in fact, at a Taylor Swift concert. There are twelve year old girls dressed up in sundresses and cowgirl boots, and twenty five year old women in braids and tight plaid shirts trying to act like twelve year old girls. I am truly scared for that young girl and her family sitting next to you guys. I don’t know if you are at all aware that your moron friend on the left just leaned over to that little girl and tried to strike up a conversation with beer in hand, and the little girl’s mother grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away from the “scary man.” Everyone is standing, and given you are large adult men with cowboy hats and dancing stupidly, I can’t exactly see, and therefore wouldn’t know why the crowd suddenly began to cheer louder. Maybe you took the hint from the glares of parents around you guys, because a little over halfway through you got up and left, never to return (to those seats, anyway).

 Sincerely,

The second half was great!

Writing and Reading

              I wouldn't say that writing has "forced" me to look at the world in a different light, but I would have to say that writing has "allowed" me to look at the world differently. Anyone can piece together letters to form words (aka writing), however it takes practice and dedication to piece together these words into something powerful, something surprising and something with meaning. I find it interesting how we spend a lot of our time studying rhetorical strategies and how they are different strategies are emphasized in a writer's work. While writing my own work, I do not put certain rhetorical devices in it on purpose, however when reading through it again and really picking it apart, I notice all the rhetorical devices that I incorporated subconsciously. This brings me to wonder whether experienced writers try to include strategies or does it just come naturally to them after a lot of practice? I also read differently than at the start of the year because when going through a book, I make sure I grasp the main concept, but do not spend majority of my time focusing and memorizing it. I think that if a reader is reading an essay by a very experienced writer, than they will not have to focus on memorizing the plot, but instead because of the devices implemented bits and pieces of information will piece together in their head without having to think about it.

Things I Would Like to Learn to do...

1. Play guitar. In sixth grade I came back from a week-long overnight horse camp, and I was so upset that I would have to leave horses and return to my family that I cried the whole night. My mom brought out a guitar she had brought me while I was gone at camp, and she told me that she had signed me up for guitar lessons starting in a few weeks. I was so ecstatic, yet my excitement was short-lived. Who knew guitar playing was such hard work? Definitely not me. To this day I only remember three chords...and just because I remember them does not by any means mean that they sound good. As far as guitar playing, my dreams have always been to be just like Taylor Swift. However, I am currently too lazy to pick up the guitar and learn to play a few more chords, and so hopefully in the future I will start taking lessons again. While in Texas over Thanksgiving I saw this guitar in a store, it was hand-made and on sale for a lot of money. I thought, "wow, that looks so cool, and not that hard to do." So because my guitar is currently sitting dormant in my room (hopefully only for a little while) my goal is to decorate is just like this guitar, without all the Texas symbols and stuff of course. (If this ever happens, I will try to post it to my blog.) Once it's all blinged out and pretty maybe I will have the urge to pick it up more often and learn a few new chords.

 

2. Cook. I know how to make anything that at one time was sitting on a shelf in the freezer aisle...and goes in the microwave. I would like to learn to cook like my grandma, because she makes these extravagant homemade meals everytime I am over there (even just for a casual occasion). She even makes her own potato salad! (I had no idea that was possible! I guess I just figured the heavens parted and plop, down came potato salad right onto the grocery store shelf.) My goal in life is to have recipe that I thought of myself, and when I bring the dish to parties people will be asking me for that recipe. That would be nice.

3. Learn to sew. Over the summer I really got into project runway, and after watching everyone sew for hours on end I got really inspired to make my own dress. I went down to the sewing machine in the basement, fabric in hand, and figured that I would start and that it would turn out okay. The direction book was huge, too many words (after all, your brain is turned off in the summer) and I was too lazy to read them all. So, not knowing how to turn the sewing machine on or how to operate it whatsoever, I played with knobs and switches until it finally turned on. The result to what I pictured in my head as a masterpiece was less than satisfying. Actually, I couldn't keep the needle in a straight line, so there was a big red thread running in a crazy line (like someone attempting to walk in a straight line, but instead wobbling all over the place-right before they get a DUI). Then suddenly it got all jammed up in a huge tangled mess of thread in one spot, and then the machine got jammed and stopped. Now someone who had read the instructions might know what to do in this situation, but I had no idea so I just forcefully ripped the fabric out from under the needle and then fidgited with something that holds the thread and needless to say, I am no longer allowed to touch the sewing machine. When I am older I would like to buy one of my own, where no one can prohibit me from using it when I please, and learn how to sew something that actually looks like what I was intending on making.

A Word That Should Not Be in the English Language

      Chunky is defined as "bulky and solid," either referring to a stocky person, or an object. When someone hears the word "chunky," their mind often thinks of it as something solid within something somwhat liquidy, such as potato chunks within Campbell's soup, or pieces of chocolate in your dog's throw up the morning after Halloween. Chunky is a good description word, and often an object cannot be described as anything but chunky. The reason we are so repulsed by this word is because when we hear the word, our brain immediately visualizes an image to go along with it. When referring to a person, we should instead use the word "stocky," to avoid a negative connotation, and confusion with an object being chunky.