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.