Blog 70

Dear Future English Students,

Like most English classes, English 110 is a writing class where you will focus on two papers.  You are writing an analytical research paper and then you are creating a commonplace paper based on a topic from your research paper.  Although this may not seem like much, you will be doing other writing and you will be doing a lot of revising throughout the quarter.  For some teachers, like Leslie Chambers, you will also be creating a blog and writing posts on it every day.  I wrote more for this class then I have written for any other class in this amount of time.  Although I did a lot of writing in high school, it was spread out throughout an entire year rather than just 10 weeks.  You need to learn to balance your time and not fall behind.  If you fall behind, you will miss a lot of assignments and it will be hard to make them up.  Honestly, the research paper was not too hard since our class wrote blogs every day.  For the first half of the quarter, our blogs would be about some segment of the paper 

and this made writing the actual paper easier.

I would also recommend going to the writing center.  If you go to the walk in hours, its only 15 to 20 minutes, and it can be very helpful.  Teachers are a lot harder at grading and they will make a lot of corrections on your paper.  The writing center allows you to talk to people who will help you improve your writing.  I did not think I would ever go, but it was very beneficial for me.

Sincerely,

Will

Blog 69

There are some statistics or facts that are amazing to hear and are interesting to think about.  There are so many random things that you may do without realizing it.  For example you blink on average about 24,000 times a day.  That means that you blink about 10,000,000 times a year.  That may seem like a dumb fact, but I think it’s interesting to think about.  I have always been a fan of interesting facts.  I got this app for my iPod that has a bunch of useless facts and it is hard to stop looking at them.  Other useless facts are; an elephant is the only mammal that cannot jump, the cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns, or only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.  It is weird to put things in perspective and see things from a different point of view.  It’s hard to believe that a ship would take that much fuel just to move a few inches or that it’s almost impossible to live to be 116.  Since I was bored one day, I decided to figure out my own little dumb fact.  Since we have been writing this blog every day, I decided to see how much we have actually written.  If you put all 70 blogs together, it is the equivalent of writing a 27 page, single space paper.  So if you ever have to write a really long paper, just write 250 words a day for 70 days.

Blog 68

So as it gets closer and closer to the end of the year, I am trying to find different food to eat on campus.  I have reached the point where I am tired of dining hall food and I want some home cooked meals again.  I mean, not all of it is bad, but I think I have eaten the same thing throughout the whole year.  Almost every day I get lunch at Fresh Express since I live in Morrill Tower, and then I try to go about anywhere else for dinner.  I think my favorite place to eat would be Sloopy’s at the Union.  This is the one place on campus that reminds me of some of the restaurants we have back in my hometown and it is different from most other places on campus.  I always have a craving for breakfast food, so it is usually a good choice.  I think my least favorite place would have to be PAD pizza or Fresh Express at Morrill Tower.  It’s not that bad, but if you live in the tower you eat there all the time.  It’s just the most convenient thing to do since it is the closest thing to your room.  You don’t want to walk ten minutes just to go somewhere to eat.  It is also convenient since PAD is open till 1 am.  If you ever get hungry late at night, you go there. I would say that the first quarter I ate at the PAD an average of about 3 or 4 times a week.  But now I hardly ever go there.  Does anyone else have a favorite spot or some place that they would recommend?  

Blog 67

So today I saw the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.   I heard a lot of mixed reviews about it and several of my friends who saw it said that it wasn’t very good.  But my roommate and I had free movie passes, and he already saw the Hangover Part Two, so we figured that we would go see it.  But after hearing these mixed reviews, I went to the movie with rather low expectations.  I didn’t know what the movie would be like and if it would be any good.  But after watching it, I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. It may have been a combination of the fact I saw it for free, or the fact that I like Pirates of the Caribbean, but I thought it was enjoyable.  It wasn’t great and it definitely was not better than the first movie of the series, but it was at least entertaining.  I did think it was better than the third one though.  I didn’t really like the third movie and I felt like the movies were getting worse and worse.  That is the main thing that I think is wrong with movies that just keep going on.  The first movie is always the best and they can rarely make them all as good.  Unless there needs to be multiple movies to complete a story, like the Batman series or Harry Potter series, I don’t think it really works.  The only thing I wish they would have included in the movie is the Jack Sparrow song by Lonely Island.  I think that would have been a good addition.

Blog 66

I think one of my favorite hobbies has been playing disc golf.  I guess you can call it a sport, but I would just call it a hobby.  It doesn’t require that much physically activity, but it is a good way to spend some time.  For those of you who have no idea what disc golf is, it is basically just golf with Frisbees.  So, you start at the starting pad, you throw the disc and you try to make it in a basket that is about 100 yards away.  This may seem pretty simple but there is actually more to it than you would think.  They have all kinds of different Frisbees ranging from drivers to putters.  I didn’t really know the difference at first, but I have started to learn about the different types and how to play the game.  The first time I played, I was absolutely horrible.  I went to a place in Iowa when I was visiting my brother at college and we went to a course that was actually like a legitimate fancy course.  Overall, it was fun to walk around in the woods and everything, but it was not that good of an experience.  But sometime later, they built a course in our city park.  After they built this, Frisbee golf became more popular at our school and it was a popular thing to do.  Since it was right next to our school, I played there a lot and I started to get pretty good.  I’m not really an expert, but I enjoy playing whenever I get some free time.

Blog 65

As a college football fan, it is a little disappointing to see Jim Tressel resign as the head coach.  I remember back in the fifth grade when I saw Ohio State win the national championship game.  Before this year, I did not care for college football and I didn’t care about Ohio State football that much.  I guess I was too young and I didn’t pay that much attention to it.  But after that year, I was hooked on football and I look forward to seeing Ohio State play every year.  My parents took me to my first game in 2006 and this experience made me appreciate football even more.  I am also disappointed by all of the alleged crimes committed by the players.  I only hope that after all of these allegations that Ohio State will still be good and people will still be excited for football.  I know I am still looking forward to next year’s season.  It is disappointing to see Tressel resign.  I have always been a fan of his and I wish he was able to leave under different situations.  I know what he did was wrong, but people should remember him as a good coach and not for the penalties he has been accused of.  I think players should be more conscience of their decisions and try to not give in to bribes or offers.  I realize that it is hard to say no if someone is offering you something for free.  But if you know that your actions will affect your entire school and team, you should think twice before accepting gifts illegally.

Blog 64

For whatever reason, I have gotten into a habit of playing basketball or video games instead of homework.  I think since I live in Morrill Tower and there are so many other people around me at all times, I get distracted and sidetracked easily.  For example, today I have been playing horse on a mini basketball hoop inside our dorm room instead of writing this blog or doing my math homework.  I think next year will be better though.  I only have one roommate next year, so I hope I will be more focused and determined to finish my work.  It is a lot easier to get work done when you do not have a bunch of people around you wanting to do things.  I am also living on north campus, so hopefully I will enjoy it and I hope I still have a good time even though I will not be living with all my friends.  But even though I say this, one of my greatest accomplishments this year was beating my roommate, David, at a legitimate game of horse outside our room.  This may seem stupid, but he played high school basketball and I haven’t played basketball since sixth grade.  Also, I beat him by making a behind the back shot, so it was really lucky.  I’m not trying to say that I am better than him, believe me it took me several games to finally beat him, but it was at least an accomplishment.  These little things are what you remember the most and it makes college more interesting.

Blog 63

Since we had Monday off, I decided to go home this weekend and take back a lot of the things I have in my room.  It is strange to think that the year is already over and that summer starts in just a couple weeks.  It was also strange to go back home.  This weekend was graduation for my old high school, so some of my friends who were graduating this year were having parties.  I wasn’t going to go to any, but I decided since I was home that I could stop by.  I didn’t realize how odd graduation parties are when you are not in the same graduation class.  It wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was strange since I didn’t know that many people.  Also, a lot of the people there, I have not seen for about a year.  So it was awkward talking to some of these people, but it was nice to talk to others.  But, it was nice to see some of my old friends I had not seen for a while, so overall it was a good experience.  During this weekend, I also got together with some of my friends who go to other colleges.  This was also a good time.  Knowing that my friends are already on summer break, it made me really jealous and anxious to be out of school.  I have enjoyed this year, but I ready to be out.  Whenever it gets warm outside, I just want to be outside all the time and not go to class.  Luckily we only have a few classes left.

Blog 62 - Scares Me!

As crazy as this may sound, I am terrified by aliens.  This is one thing that both scares and scars me.  In the fifth grade, my grandma took me to see the movie Signs.  A lot of people may think that this was just a dumb movie, but this movie changed my life for several months afterwards.  After watching the movie, I was terrified to be alone in our house or walk around at night.  I live out in the country on a farm, so I could understand everything that happened in the movie and it seemed so realistic.  I live right next to cornfields, so for the longest time, I was convinced that there were aliens living right next to my house.  This is a horrible feeling to go through as a child.  I had to sleep with a baseball bat next to my bed and keep a glass of water near my bed (the water was supposed to be their one weakness).  I have seen a lot of scary movies, but they hardly ever scare me.  But for whatever reason, this movie was my weakness. To this day, I still hate aliens.  I refuse to watch Signs and I am not a big fan of movies that have anything to do with aliens.  Some people have fears of clowns or spiders; well I have a fear of aliens.  I have gotten over my fear a little bit, but this might be due to the fact that I rarely watch alien movies or the fact that a new scary alien movie has not come out recently.

Blog 61 - Concern

One thing that has always concerned me is the energy situation on our planet.  I always hear how experts think that our fossil fuels will run out in only a few years and we will not have many resources left.  That is an interesting fact to think about.  In our country, so many people depend on fossil fuels for gasoline or heating their houses.  If the resources were almost gone, you would not be able to use your cars and these resources would be hard to find.  I always wondered if this prediction was true, or just a tactic to convince people to be more “green” or less wasteful.  I think that alternative energy sources are a good idea, but I do not know what will be the actual solution to the problem.   I do not know if this is enough to support our country or if a different source will be found.   It is interesting to think how our country will be different if our energy sources change.  I wonder if people will be driving electric cars or if they will invent cars that run on different types of fuel.  In the summer, before I went to school, gas prices were only around two dollars a gallon.  But every time I go home, I see that they are even higher and now they are almost four dollars again.  Our country is very dependent on gas and this situation affects almost every person.  So whether we like it or not, the energy crisis affects all of us.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming years.

Blog 60 - Time Period

Obviously life would be a lot different if I had been born in a different time period.  If I was growing up twenty to thirty years ago, there would be no cell phones or mp3 players.  There would be no computers and there would not be many video games.  I think technology is the main difference that separates different time periods.  Overall, I feel like life would not be that much different, but just what people do during the day would be different.  I actually think I might enjoy life in this time period a little better.  Growing up, I was never that interested in playing video games and playing on the computer.  I think it would be more interesting if more people were outside and actually socializing with each other.  Don’t get me wrong though, I do appreciate having a computer or being able to call my parents on my cell phone.  These technological advancements can make life easier and more efficient.  But I appreciate hanging out with my friends and spending time outside.  I think it would be interesting to live the life that my grandparents did.  They got to see many important advancements in our country’s history.  They saw the first person land on the moon, the inventions of television; they saw life with no internet and no cell phones.  I think it would be interesting to see all this happen.  I also think it would be interesting to live in a period farther in the future.  I always wonder what life will be like in a couple hundred years and I think it would be interesting to see it.

Blog 59 - Mistake

This is an interesting topic because everyone makes mistakes at some point or the other.  I was a really dumb kid and I did a lot of really dumb things.  But by doing these things, it made me who I am today and I think I am a better person now.  So I guess I will tell a story of one of the stupid things I did when I was a little kid.  I think the one mistake that I made, that I still kind of feel bad about happened in first grade actually.  I told this girl who rides my bus that my brother liked her and that he had a crush on her.  Keep in mind that my brother is 8 years older than me and he has never seen her and has no idea who she is.  After I told her this, this girl would give me little presents and tell me to give them to my brother.  I would never give them to him and I just pretended like I did.  I have no idea why she believed me or why she thought some kid who had never even seen her before would like her.  But she decided to call our house one afternoon and yell into the phone. “You love me?”  This presented an awkward situation and my brother did not know what was going on.  Luckily he just hung up the phone and decided that it was just a prank caller.  After this incident, I stopped trying to trick this girl and I never really talked to her again.  

Blog 56 - Best Friend

My best friend is Chad.  Chad and I grew up in the same town and went to the same schools throughout elementary and junior high.  I met him in the first grade, but I think we actually started to become friends by playing baseball.  A lot of my good friends played little league baseball and that was where I met many people.  Growing up, I hung out with Chad a lot and we were good friends.  As I said, we went to school together and had classes together for most of our lives.  But after our freshman year of high school, he transferred to a different high school that was about a half hour away.  Even though he did not physically move, I didn’t see him as much since he didn’t go to my school any more.  This was an interesting time and it was strange to not go to the same school as my best friend anymore.  But looking back on it, I think this actually benefited me because I still hung out with him, but I was able to get closer to some of my other friends at my school.  But I think the reason I get along with him so well is due to the fact that we are very similar.  For the previous blog, about the three stories, he was actually the one who was stuck in the mud.  We have had a lot of memories together but this was probably one of the best.  It may seem weird, but that moment was one the best times I have had with my friends and I will never forget it. 

Blog 55 - Favorite Place

One of my favorite places to go is Cedar Point.  I enjoy riding on rollercoasters and it is a good way to spend an afternoon.  I remember the first time I ever went to an amusement park was when I was in the fifth grade.  I went with both of my brothers and I was excited to go, but I was also a little scared to go.  The first ride I went on was the Blue Streak.  It was a little wooden rollercoaster that was one of the first rides you walked by when you went in the park.  I had a great time on the ride and ever since this experience, I have been addicted to these rides.  Rollercoasters are a way of allowing you to experience feelings that you otherwise would not be able to.  It is not every day where you can ride in a car hundreds of feet in the air or go over 100 miles an hour.  So I believe it is an opportunity to do something interesting.  But I can understand how people who do not enjoy rides would not find amusement parks enjoyable.  It can be a little frustrating to wait in lines and deal with all of the people.  But I think it is worth it.  I am usually pretty energetic and I like to have a good time.  Also, I usually go with either my brothers or my good friends, so it is a good way to spend time with your family or people you are close to.

Blog 54 - Stories

Last summer, my friends and I were going to go fishing.  So in order to go fishing, we needed bait and we were going to look for minnows in a creek that ran behind my friend’s house.  It was an interesting experience because we did not really have the right equipment and we were trying to catch them in a net.  But as we went along the creek, there was a muddy area and I decided to go out in this area to look for them.  Unfortunately I got stuck in the mud and I couldn’t get out.  My friends had to go back and get a shovel so I could use it and dig myself out.

Last summer I went with one of my best friends on a mission trip to Minnesota.  Even though I had never been to his church before and I was not really that religious, they let me go along with them.  At Red Lake, Minnesota, we spent time with some of the kids at a camp and we also did work for people around the town.  After this trip, I became friends with some people who were also there from Wisconsin.  My friends and I have taken a trip back to Wisconsin to see them again and it ended up being a good experience.

During my junior year of high school I was playing baseball during the fall.  It was only a fall league and it wasn’t really competitive or anything.  But during one of the games, we were just throwing the ball around after a strikeout and a kid through it towards me.  Unfortunately I missed the ball and it hit me in the face.  I had a bloody nose and was forced to take an ambulance to the hospital.  After they took a cat scan of my head, the doctors told me I broke 4 bones in my face, including my sinus.  Luckily I didn’t need surgery, but the next few weeks were an interesting time.

Blog 53 - Word

Just thinking about one word actually a harder task than I thought.  There are so many interesting words in our language and it is hard to choose one.  When writing this prompt is made me think…..have you ever said one word over and over again until it sounds strange.  I don’t really do this now, but when I was a kid, just riding the bus or something, we would say words over and over again until they sounded strange.  For example, if you say pizza a hundred times back to back, it sounds like a really weird word.  But anyways, I may have just been weird and a crazy kid.  I don’t know if many other people did this.  But one word that comes to mind when writing this blog is concert.  This weekend is the Big Three Weekend at Ohio State, so my roommates and I are going to the concerts.  Last night we went to the Lupe concert, tonight we will go to the Kellie Pickler concert and tomorrow we are going to the B.O.B concert.  Concerts are usually a pretty good time and I enjoy them.  Although this is a pretty boring word just to look at, the concept behind it is a lot bigger.  It is not a fancy word, but it implies loud music, crowds of people and spending time with your friends.  After going to Ohio State this word has more meaning to me since I have been able to go to so many free concerts.  It makes you appreciate being able to go and it makes them that more enjoyable.

Blog 51 - Major

Throughout high school, I enjoyed my math and science classes.  So, as many people will advise you to do, if you like math and science, then take engineering.  Before college, I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.  I know that I liked some of the concepts of engineering, like designing structures, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to think about it.  But so far, I have enjoyed my engineering classes and I think it was a good choice.  Although, I am not exactly enjoying some of the prerequisites I have to take to get into my major.  I enjoyed math and science in high school, but it is a completely different situation in college.  I am excited that I am done with chemistry and after this quarter I will be done with calculus.  A part of me just wants to get these over with so I can start taking classes that actually pertain to my major.  I understand that calculus is a fundamental part of engineering, but I cannot see myself using most of what we learn in everyday life.  I actually did enjoy my engineering classes, so I feel like college will be better when that is the majority of the classes I am taking.  I am tired of taking calculating eigenvectors of matrixes (this is what we are doing in calculus) and I think next year will be more interesting.  If I were to change my major, I would probably change it to something in business.   Although I am actually interested in a lot of jobs that involve chemistry, I don’t like the class and I don’t think I could take anymore.

Blog 50 - Famous Person

If I could meet anyone, I would like to meet Babe Ruth.  Babe Ruth started his career playing for the Boston Red Sox and was then traded to the New York Yankees.  He is one of the most famous baseball players to ever play and he set the standard for baseball.  He set many records and was popular among many people.  He also played in a time where players did not use performance enhancing drugs and he had to work hard in order to achieve his goals.  I always wonder what these players from the past would think about the players who play today.  Would they consider it cheating or would they consider it just another part of the game.  Baseball was a different sport back when these athletes played.  There were not nearly as many safety regulations and players did not even wear helmets while hitting.  Having played baseball, I have an appreciation for these players and I think it would be interesting to meet them.  This was also a time where players were not paid millions to play and it was not all about the money.  I also think it would be interesting to meet one of our founding fathers who helped shape our country.  I would like to be able to meet George Washington.  It would be fascinating to see the first president of our country and see what he was like.  I would like to see why he was so famous and what separated him from the presidents who followed him.  It would also be interesting to see what he thinks about our country now and if that is how he thought it would end up.

Blog 49 - Dream

I have a lot of dreams, but I can rarely remember them for more than a couple of days.  But there are a few I will never forget.  I still remember when I was younger and just finished watching Jurassic Park.  Later that night, I had a dream that I was being chased around the house by a T-Rex.  This may seem foolish now, but as a child, this dream terrified me.  It was pretty traumatic to have a dinosaur chase you around in your own house.  But I think my least favorite dream would have to be when I’m falling.  In the dream I may fall out of a tree or something else that is pretty high up and it causes me to wake up with the feeling of falling.  I think it is unpleasant to wake up to this feeling and it usually makes it hard to fall back asleep.  You feel like you fell out of your bed and you don’t feel secure.  Lately I have been having dreams where nothing important really happens, but it is just about a normal day.  It may be about me just going to class, taking a test, or doing homework.  These dreams can be really frustrating though.  Sometimes I may wake up and think that I already went to a class and turned in an assignment when I haven’t.  Or I may think I told someone something when I have not even seen them that day.  In the mornings I am usually pretty uncoordinated and it does not take much to confuse me. 

Blog 48 - Nature

I am fascinated by the different kinds of fish and animals that can be found in the water.  There is so much water on our planet and there is so much that we don’t know.  There are a lot of different species of fish and it is interesting to see how diverse they are.  Lately in college, I have been watching a show on the Animal Planet called River Monsters.  I don’t know why, but every time I start looking through the channels and I see this show on, I stop and watch it.  It is amazing to see the different creatures he finds and what they are capable of.  Some of these fish are deadly and capable of seriously injuring people.  I guess I like watching the show because it allows me to see the different animals that exist and I can see different animals that I know nothing about.  I never knew that there were so many fish that had razor sharp teeth and just look so odd.  There is so much at the bottom of our oceans that we do not know about.  Most of the Earth is covered by water, so it is interesting to think that we do not know much about the majority of the Earth.  I think it is fascinating to think about the different animals that could exist.  I always wonder if there is some rare creature that has been around for thousands of years that nobody has discovered yet.  Even though I don’t really believe in animals such as the Loch Ness Monster, it is interesting to think about what might actually exist.

Blog 47 - Crush

This topic seems hard for me to answer because it is difficult to remember who I had a crush on when I was younger.  These little crushes were not that important to me, so I do not remember them with much detail.  But I remember I did start to like this one girl who was in my second grade class.  For some reason, our teachers would always sit us boy girl, boy girl in class so I would always have to sit by girls during class.  I can’t remember her name, but I remember how every time we got new seats, I always seemed to be by her.  Throughout the year, we started getting closer and we started to get to know each other better.  I started to like this girl and I believe that she started to like me too.  But unfortunately, I was really shy growing up, and since we didn’t sit by each other for the last couple weeks of school, I didn’t talk to her anymore.  This girl ended up moving after this year, but she moved back during high school.  It took me a while to realize that this was the same girl that I had a crush on growing up.  But, I did not like her anymore and I did not talk to her very much.  It is interesting to see how people change from their times in elementary school to high school.  But throughout school, I also had crushes on some of the girls who were on my bus.  I think it’s the people that we are around a lot that we naturally start to fall for.

Blog 46 - Pet Peeves

There are a few pet peeves that I have.  One thing that really annoys me is liars.  I mean everyone lies occasionally, but it is frustrating when somebody lies when they are talking to you face to face.  At times it can be easy to tell when people are lying, so it makes them look foolish when you can obviously see they are not telling the truth.  Lying usually gets you in trouble and it is hard to keep your story straight if you are not telling the truth.  People just use it as a way to hide and cover up something they don’t want people to know.  It is frustrating because after someone lies, you never know if they are telling the truth or not and it is hard to believe them.  But another pet peeve I have is people who litter on purpose.  Throughout high school, for baseball, we had to clean up the football stadium after the home football games.  After cleaning up other people’s trash for four years, it made me have an appreciation for not littering and I throw away all of my trash.  It is understandable to leave trash at a sporting event since you may forget it under your seat or the trash cans may not be close.  But for example, I do not understand people who can just throw trash out of their window while they are driving.  It is not that hard to hold on to something and throw it away once you stop your car.  I feel like people should be more accountable for their belongings and they should at least attempt to keep the world clean.

Blog 45 - Trip

My family has not been on many trips, but the few trips we have been on have meant a lot to me.  The most memorable moment was when we traveled to Florida to go to my cousins wedding.  This was an interesting trip because before this, I had never been to Florida before.  The one thing that I was not expecting was how hot it is in the summer.  Every day we were there it was around 100 degrees and it was really humid.  Luckily, my cousin’s wedding was in an aquarium and it was air conditioned.  During the week, we stayed at my cousin’s house and we would hang out with each other.  One day we went to Universal Studios, one day we went to the beach and another day we went to visit my grandparents who also live in Florida.  But oddly enough, the most memorable moment I had was going putt putt golfing in Kissimmee.  This course was called Gator Golf and it was special because they had actual alligators you could feed.  So after we were done golfing, we were able to get little hot dog pieces and something that was similar to a fishing pole.  Although they were not real, full sized gators, they were still about one or two feet long.  But you could clip the hot dogs on the end of the line and drop it down and let the alligators eat it.  So, I would put it just out of reach so they would have to chase it.  Although this seems like a strange experience, this trip meant a lot to me because I got to see my family that I do not see very often.

Blog 43 - Present

As you get older, I feel that presents become more and more predictable and they are not as special as when you were younger.  I still enjoy receiving presents and being surprised, but I was much more excited as a little kid.  I still remember Christmas when I was about seven or eight years old.  I never knew what my presents would be, but I spent countless hours trying to guess them and figure out what they were before Christmas.  I would sneak around my parents room when they weren’t home just trying to find them since I was really impatient.  But that year, as always, I couldn’t wait till Christmas morning.  That morning I went downstairs and opened my gifts.  I was shocked to see that my grandma gave me a remote control jeep.  To a little kid, this seemed like the coolest and most advanced piece of technology you could own.  I was fascinated by the idea that you could control a car without any wires or cords.  I played with this toy for hours, trying to run over my other toys and race around the house.  This was the first toy that I really enjoyed more than my power rangers.  But even though this was my favorite present growing up, the best gift I have ever been given is probably my laptop.  After graduation, I was looking around for computers that I could take with me to college.  I was not expecting it, but my parents ended up buying me a laptop as a graduation present.  Like many other kids, I am not sure what I would do without one in college.

Blog 42 - Job

Throughout the years I have had several small jobs, but I have never really had a serious job that I stayed in for a long time.  But I think the best job I had was umpiring little league baseball.  For four summers starting in the 6^th grade, I would umpire at the baseball park that I grew up playing at.  The way this job was set up seemed kind of strange to me.  I was only twelve when I started doing it and the kids I was umpiring were only a few years younger than me.  When you think of umpires, you usually think of adults or at least older kids.  I guess it was hard for them to find people to work, so they took whoever they could get.  But this job was actually very enjoyable.  I was pretty much paid just to stand there and watch little kids play baseball.  In little league, there are not many controversial calls, so umpires are actually pretty much worthless.  But whenever there was a close call, the coaches would usually criticize your call and argue about it.  They probably thought that they could influence your decisions since you were just a young kid.  But overall, it was a good experience.  It taught me responsibility and it was an easy way to get some experience.  It was also very convenient since the park was located about five minutes from my house.  It also gave me something to do and was a way to earn money.  It was also a lot better than many other jobs I could have got involved in.

Blog 41 - Culture

I have always been fascinated by ancient cultures that lived long before us.  It seems odd how people lived with absolutely no electronics and with limited tools.  One of these cultures that are interesting to me is the ancient Egyptians.  It seems almost impossible that these people could build these giant structures without any advanced tools or equipment.  It took them several years and countless hours to move these giant stones and build the pyramids.  These people had to have a lot of dedication in order to make these structures and it is odd to think that they made them just for their pharaoh.  I am also fascinated by the ancient Greeks and Romans.  I studied Latin in high school and I thought that their cultures were interesting.  It was interesting to learn what they did for entertainment and what their society was like.  I enjoyed learning about the coliseum and the gladiator fights that were held inside of them.  Sometime I would like to visit these different places and see all the ancient structures that are still around.  I would like to visit the pyramids in Egypt and see the Roman city.  Other than Washington DC, I have not been to many places that contain famous and important events of our history.  I think it is interesting to study how people lived in our past and how people will live in the future.  I always wonder what the world will be like in a few hundred years from now.  Will the Pyramids or Coliseum still exist?  I also wonder what structures we have now will be famous in a few years.

Blog 40

I have always been close to my family and I appreciate the time I have with them.  After my brothers started going to college and I was not able to see them as often, it made me realize how important my family is to me.  I have two older brothers.  My oldest brother is a graduate from Heidelberg and my other brother is a graduate from Iowa State.  Most of my family lives in my hometown, so going to college has been an interesting experience for me.  This is the first time that I have not had my family around and I have been alone.  I still remember when my brothers went to college and they were not at home as much anymore.  It seemed so strange to be like an only child and be the only one at our house.  But one of my brothers is an architect and lives in Washington DC.  He seems to like it there and he makes it sound like a really nice place to live.  So, sometime this summer I would like to go visit him and spend time in DC again.  I don’t get to see him as often anymore and I usually only see him on the holidays.  My brothers have always been important to me and I was always close to them.  Since I lived out in the country and my friends were not right next door, I would hang out with my brothers and spend time with them.  They were important to me growing up and they still are.

Blog 39

Well, I have never been that great at English and grammar.  If it wasn’t for Microsoft word and its auto correct, I would probably have multiple mistakes every single paper I turn in.  But I still remember in 8^th grade that we were learning the concept of the who and whom rules.  Our whole class seemed confused about this concept and at that age I think it was a hard idea to grasp.  I still remember taking quizzes over this topic and I would just guess which word was appropriate for the situation.  I mean, we had a 50% chance of getting it right, so I figured I did not have to learn this and I could just guess.  But looking back on it, that might not have been the best idea.  I have never looked at these rules again and I am still unsure which word works for each situation.  So whenever I write a paper, I usually try to avoid these words and rephrase my sentences.  In an average paper, you do not use these words very often and they are easy to avoid.  So in my opinion, it is not the most important rule to learn and understand.  But like most other kids, I also struggle with the use of commas and semicolons.  I am actually glad that in a college English class we went over all of these rules again.  This helped out and I actually learned some things that I did not know before.  These rules can be tricky at times and it can easy to make mistakes without realizing it.

Blog 38

By acting like everyone else, are you really making your life better?  Many students in college believe that by conforming to popular trends, their lives will be better.  If everyone else seems happy, then doing the same thing will give you happiness.  But this rumor is not always true. You cannot buy satisfaction and it will only give you fulfillment for so long.  But knowing this, many students still cave in and try to conform.   Some people are uncomfortable acting in their own way and need a standard to follow.  Conforming to society makes your life easier because you do not have to make decisions for yourself.  You simply have to do what you think everyone else is doing.  But by doing this, you lose your personality and character.  You become like everyone else and are just another person.  Many people do this since they think it will make their life better.  The desire to make our lives better is a popular form of motivation and it influences many of our decisions.  Everyone just wants to live a successful life.  But at times, it can be unclear as to what we should do next.  At these times, many people resort to conformity. By conforming to society, you can just do what everyone else is doing.  Many people feel like they get pressured into these situations.  It can be hard to be yourself and act in a unique way.  Although it is not always bad to conform, you should try to limit these situations as much as possible.  Your personality is the one thing you have that is unique and you should not let anyone take that away.

Blog 37

This blog is about a personal anecdote. For this anecdote, I will talk about my personal experiences in colleges and how conformity has affected my decisions.  Throughout high school, I did not feel much pressure to conform and I felt like conformity was not that major of an issue.  But once I came to college, I noticed how more kids seemed to follow trends and that the pressure to conform seemed to be higher.  This may be a result of living away from home full time or being around other students for an extended amount of time.  But in college I started to notice that many students wear popular clothing items like students wearing North Face jackets or many people have the Beats headphones. (You can mention any other trends you see).  Honestly after seeing all of these students with these items, I felt pressure to go out and buy them for myself.  If everyone else had them, I thought that there must be something special about them and I should get one for myself.  Later that week, I went to the store looking for a new pair of headphones.  But after looking around for a while, I realized that this item was not really necessary and that I did not actually need a new pair of headphones.  In this situation, I did not conform to what I believed was the popular thing to do. But, this is only one situation.  Everyone has had times in their lives where they have gone out and bought things just for satisfaction and not for a practical reason.  Although this is not a horrible thing to do, you should not feel pressured into buying something just because you feel everyone else has it.

Blog 36

Suppose that all of your roommates came back to your room with the latest iPhone.  They now have a piece of technology capable of making phone calls, surfing the internet and playing music all at the same time.  They all seem to be really happy and better off now that they have it.  This is an advanced piece of technology and they all show it to you to make you feel left out for not having one.  So does that mean that you should buy one too?  Can a piece of technology give you satisfaction?  You do not want to feel like you are left out and everyone wants to find a way to make their lives better.  But it is important to realize why you are actually buying these items.  Some people buy things to give themselves satisfaction rather than buying things for a practical reason.  They believe that in buying these items, they will gain fulfillment and contentment in their lives.  But this feeling may not be realistic and it may be a result of conformity.  If you buy this new iPhone just because all of your roommates have, you lose your identity and personality.  You did not buy the phone because you wanted it; you bought the phone since you did not want to feel left out.  This item was unnecessary and you bought it as a result of feeling pressure to conform.  Although it is not a horrible if you buy the phone, you should buy it for the correct reasons and not too just fit in.

Blog 35

The purpose of my paper is to inform college students or the reader to be careful when conforming to society.  At times it can be beneficial to conform, but it can also cause problems.  When you see other students wearing name brand clothes or using the latest Ipod, it can be tempting to want to be like everyone else.  You do not want to feel left out and you want to feel like you are up to date.  It is alright to have these things, but you should not worry about trying to be like everyone else.  When you do that, you lose your personality and individuality.  The media and advertisers may use this idea when they try to sell their products.  Their commercials may try to influence you to buy their products just because they want you to think everyone else is getting it.  But there are many other ways that college students may feel pressured to conform.  Students may feel pressured by their own family to pursue a college or major.  Although these people may have good intentions, these are decisions that you should make on your own.  You should consider everyone’s opinion, but you need to pick something that will be best for you.  Conforming does not necessarily give you happiness and in most cases it will actually cause you to be less content.  This commonplace paper is intended to make students be happy with their self and appreciate who they are.  Although they are free to make their own decisions, they should not feel pressured into making decisions that they would not normally make.

Blog 33

My topic for the commonplace is conformity in college. This topic is relevant in many aspects of life and is an important issue to understand.  Throughout your college career, you will feel pressure to do well in school and act like “everyone else.”  You do not want to be left out and a lot of students feel pressure to be popular.  This may mean buying designer clothes or trying to buy the latest technology.  Advertisers may use this knowledge to try to take advantage of students and get them to buy things they normally would not.  But students also feel pressure from their parents to pursue certain careers and choose a school that their parents like.  Until a teenager becomes an adult, they will continue to face pressures from their parents and other adults.  But even after they become an adult, they can still feel pressure from their peers or friends.  Throughout your life you will continue facing the pressure to conform to society and you will have to make decisions on what to do.  At times it may not be bad to conform, but it can also cause you to lose your personality and individuality.  It is important to understand the affects of conforming to society and what the results may be.  By understanding why people do it, you can determine whether or not it would be beneficial or not to act like everyone else.  This makes the topic relevant.  It is important to study this idea and made good decisions throughout college.

Blog 32

Unlike this blog that I am writing at 2 am, my topic for my commonplace project is timely.  This topic is timely since college students, or any student in general, may be pressured to conform to society.  Parents want their students to perform well in school and they may force their children to choose a school or major they do not actually want to do.  These students may choose these majors just to fulfill their parent’s expectations and not for themselves.  Although this can be beneficial, it may also cause the student to be unhappy during school.  Parents are trying to look out for their children, but it is important for students to think for themselves.  This is a problem that many students face today.  Their parents may have high expectations for them and may force them to do something that they normally would not do.  Also, while students are in school, they may feel pressured to conform and act like the popular students at school.  This may include buying new designer clothes or the latest technology.  If they feel like everyone else is doing it, they do not want to feel left out or unpopular.  This is a major problem of colleges today.  Kids try to conform to society rather than act in a unique and distinctive way.  They are afraid to be themselves because they feel like they may be the outcast or the outsider.  This topic will always be timely.  Students will always be pressured into doing things that they do not want to do and they will end up conforming to society since they are afraid to be themselves. 

Blog 31

For my commonplace idea, I am going to write about conformity in college and the pressure that students face every day.  I wanted to talk about the either the expectations of students or the pressure they feel to be like “everyone else.”  Some parents have high expectations and standards that they set for their children.  They may try to influence their children into making decisions that they do not actually want.  This may include the college or major that a student chooses.  Some kids may choose a certain school because they feel pressured by their parents to choose a school that their parents think is appropriate.  Even if they do not truly like this school, they may decide to go to it just to fulfill the expectations of their parents.  This can lead to a student having an unenjoyable time in college and can lead to them dropping out of school.  But, I was also thinking about writing about how students try to conform to society.  People want to be part of the latest trends and own the newest things.  Each day you may see someone wearing the latest designer clothes or owning the latest gadget.  You feel pressured to buy similar things in order to feel like you are up to date and not left out.  It would be interesting to talk about how students deal with this pressure and what decisions they end up making.  Personally, I know some people who do not care about the latest trends, but I also know people who try to keep up to date. 

Blog 30

I read the article, “Fat and Happy?” by Jennifer Gallat.  This article describes the problem of obesity in our country and some of the causes.  Even though obesity is one of the fastest growing problems in our country, it is also the number one preventable cause of death.  By changing our eating habits and by becoming more active, it is possible to control obesity and help manage it.  One of the main causes of obesity is the way you grow up as a child.  Studies have shown that the more familiar a child is to a certain food, the more likely they will be to eat it as they grow up.  So, if children are eating unhealthy foods as they grow up, they will be more likely to continue to eat these unhealthy foods.  Parents can help prevent this by encouraging their children to eat better foods and have a healthier lifestyle.  Another way to prevent obesity is for children to be more active.  Children should be encouraged to play sports and play outside rather than sitting inside watching television.  But unfortunately, some elementary schools are also getting rid of gym classes and recess.  Recess and gym class may be the only time that children are active.  By taking these away, some children may not exercise at all during the day.  Another problem of obesity is the affects it has on your body later in life.  Obesity is one of the major causes of diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease.  By adjusting your lifestyle, it is possible to prevent health problems in the future and which will allow you to live a longer and healthier life.  People should be more motivated to want to live a healthier life.

Blog 29

For this blog, I read the article “You Are Being Lied To Again: Baseball’s New Drug” by Donnie Thomas.  This article goes on to describe the use of steroids and HGH in major league baseball.  In the world today, many athletes are trying to find the next thing that can give them an edge or an advantage over the rest of their opponents.  Many players resorted to taking steroids in order to build muscle and be stronger than their competition.  But recently the MLB has imposed severe fines and punishments for any players convicted of using performance enhancing drugs.  I believe that steroids are a form of cheating and should not be used in professional sports.  If a player is taking drugs in order to perform better, it diminishes their achievements and ruins the game.  A homerun is not nearly as impressive when a player takes steroids to get stronger.  Steroids are just a way to decrease the amount of work that you have to do and make things easier.  It is more satisfying to work hard in order to accomplish your goals rather than take the easy way out.  But now the MLB has another problem.  Instead of using steroids, players are starting to use HGH.  HGH is a human growth hormone and it has similar effects as steroids.  Currently, the MLB does not have many tests to determine whether a player is using the substance or not.  Until the MLB can control and test for all the different performance enhancing drugs athletes can use, players will continue to use them in order to gain an advantage.

Blog 28

The article from Commonplace that I read was titled, “Going Green: Just Another Act?”  This article was written by Kimberly Schmahl and it discussed the issues of celebrities going green.  To “go green” means to live eco-friendly lifestyles and try to control the amount of waste you produce.  Many celebrities claim to be eco-friendly and try to help the environment.  But this article discusses whether or not this claim is true.  Many celebrities are encouraged by the EMA to be environmentally friendly in anticipation that their fans will also try to be.  Many fans are influenced by celebrities and try to follow their actions.  So if celebrities are going green, their fans may do the same thing.  But what sacrifices do celebrities have to make to be environmentally friendly?  In the article, it discusses how actors are buying Hybrid Lexus cars or organic designer dresses.  This is not much of a sacrifice.  Most Americans cannot afford to buy these things and it is an unrealistic approach.  This article also goes on to describes how Bono paid to have his hat flown back to London on first class.  Even though some of these celebrities are claiming that they are trying to help the environment, they are really not doing that much.  But even if they are not doing much, I think it is at least good that they are making some effort.  Even if they have not completely changed their lifestyles, they have made some effort to at least make a little difference.  Everyone can contribute in their own way and everyone has a different approach to living environmentally friendly.

Blog 27

Throughout the years, stereotypes have been a common aspect of our culture and are still present in society today.  People are put in to groups and judged based on personal traits and characteristics.  Although not all stereotypes are bad, it is not always a good indicator to use to understand someone. Not all stereotypes are true and everyone acts in a different way.   If you start to generalize groups of people, some of them may take offense to these ideas.  This may include generalizations that include racial or biased beliefs.  Stereotypes that contain racial or personal opinions can be considered offensive and are usually not accurate.  But people use stereotypes as a way to generalize and make assumptions about specific groups or certain people.  They are a way for people to make simplifications without taking the time to get to know someone.  Even in a professional field, such as law enforcement, stereotypes are present.  Whether it is intentional or not, most people use stereotypes in one form or the other.  Through the show Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, Joss Whedon portrays stereotypes in a way that is uncommon and in a way contradictory to our common belief.  This episode shows how some people do not conform to their stereotype and they may act in a unique way. In the episode, Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer were the two characters that exemplified this feature.  Both of these characters acted in a way that was unpredictable and unexpected.  These characters proved that stereotypes can be inaccurate and a bad indicator to use to judge someone.

Blog 26

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog demonstrates how stereotypes are present in society and used by many different people.  But stereotyping can cause you to see the world in a distorted way and cause you to be narrow-minded.  Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer were proof that not every person acts in a predictable and conventional way.  In the episode, Captain Hammer ended up being a rude and selfish person.  Even though he was supposed to be the hero of the story, he did not act like one.  On the other hand, Dr. Horrible showed compassion and love. He was supposed to be the villain, but he was reluctant to be evil and seemed to actually be a good person.  These two characters demonstrate that people can have unique personalities that are unpredictable.  Stereotypes about certain groups and cultures are not always true and there is usually more to them.  But at times, it can be hard to prevent and control stereotyping.  In order to prevent stereotypes and try to minimize them as much as possible, it is necessary to control the cause of the problems.  One of these problems is the media and the content that the media publishes.  The media tries to publish the most interesting and shocking story in order to get more viewers.  If you read or watch something that contains stereotypes, it is easy for you to start to believe them and consider them true.  Knowing this, it is important to try to prevent the media from publishing articles that are biased and subjective. But, there are also other factors that you need to take into account when you are dealing with stereotypes.

Blog 25

Even in a professional field, such as law enforcement, stereotypes are present.  Officers use evidence and information about an offender to determine their behavior and their actions.  They need to understand how someone will act in order to predict their behavior.  Although this may not be considered a negative effect of stereotyping, it is still a form a stereotyping.  They are basing their decisions on the preconceptions they may have.  But at the same time, officers may start using their own personal judgments when determining the innocence of an offender. Whether it is intentional or not, police may use personal bias in their line of work.  This bias may cause them to make assumptions about a group of people before they actually find evidence and jump to conclusions.  Although their intentions may be good, it can cause some groups to feel discriminated.  In the article Racial Profiling in the Police Subculture, the author says, “Over a long period of time, negative experiences such as racial profiling can lead to specific ethnic groups’ losing confidence in the police” (Chan 75).  Although racial profiling can be beneficial at times, it usually creates more problems.  When a group is discriminated and singled out, they begin to feel as though they are being targeted and stop believing in the police.  If a group loses confidence in the police, they will begin to disregard authority and lose respect for them.  Police officers would have a much harder time controlling a community that does not respect them.  This area could then become disorderly, which could affect the rest of the community as well.  Criminal profiling is an effective law enforcement tactic, but it should not include racial or stereotypical opinions.

Blog 24

Stereotypes are used every day for both legitimate reasons and due to people’s own personal bias.  Although Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer both showed that stereotypes are not always true, stereotypes can be used as an effective way to get information about a specific person.  People often act in a predictable way and repeat many of their everyday routines.  Police officers use criminal profiling as a method of understanding an offender and determining their behavior.  By examining their typical behavior, they can get an idea of where they might be or what they might do next.  With criminal profiling, it is assumed that all offenders will commit crimes in a similar manner.  If offenders do not behave rationally, it is almost impossible to predict their behavior.  But at the same time, police officers may use their own personal opinions when determining the innocence of a criminal.  Some officers may use racial profiling as a means of determining the innocence of an offender.  In both cases, they are using stereotypes, but in one situation they are using evidence while in the other situation they are using personal judgment.  Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog shows that the actual hero and villain are not always who you would expect.  If a police officer uses unfair or stereotypical opinions, they could be considered the villain, while the offender could be considered the innocent one.  At times, the hero may actually use deceptive actions in order to accomplish their goal or objective.  But using deceptive acts causes a hero to look more like a villain.

Blog 23

This scene demonstrated the idea that Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer did not conform to their stereotypes.  Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible were supposed the typical hero and villain, but they did not act accordingly.  A typical hero is supposed to be brave, unselfish, and valiant.  On the other hand, villains are supposed to be mad and mundane.  Throughout the entire episode, we start to see that both of these characters start to act in a way contradictory to what we would have initially thought.  At the end of this episode, Captain Hammer uses the press conference to explain to everyone how good he is and to brag about himself.  This is not the typical way a hero will act.  Also at the end of the episode, he ran away when he was hurt and felt pain for the first time.  These series of events show how Captain Hammer was actually a selfish person who only cared about himself and was a coward.  This final scene also shows a different side of Dr. Horrible.  At the end of the episode Dr. Horrible is grief stricken and depressed over the loss of Penny.  He cared about Penny and he did not want to do anything to hurt her.  Even though he was supposed to be a villain, he seemed to be hesitant to do anything evil.  Throughout the episode, Dr. Horrible shows that it is possible for a villain to actually be good at heart and not completely immoral.  These examples demonstrate how stereotypes are not always true.  Both Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible acted in an unpredictable way and they both  had a unique personality.

Blog 22: Scene

The end of the episode for Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog takes place at an opening of a new homeless center in the city.  Captain Hammer is there to give a speech to the homeless about encouragement and was there to motivate them.  Even though this event was supposed to be about the new shelter, Captain Hammer made the speech about himself and he talked about how good he was.  But during his speech, Dr. Horrible comes in and freezes Captain Hammer with his freeze ray.  He frightens the audience and explains to them, “I bring you pain, the kind you can’t suffer quietly.”  He is going to kill Captain Hammer with his death ray and accomplish his goals of becoming an evil villain.  But just as he is about to do it, his freeze ray quits working and Captain Hammer is able to move again.  Before he knows it, he is lying on the ground and Captain Hammer is pointing the death ray at him.  But when Captain Hammer fires the gun, it malfunctions and sends Captain Hammer flying.  Captain Hammer runs away after feeling pain for the first time, but Dr. Horrible notices that something happened to Penny.  Penny was killed by the flying shrapnel and Dr. Horrible knew it was his fault.   Dr. Horrible is now a member of the Evil League of Evil, but he is not truly happy.  He is grief stricken over the loss of Penny and he is lost without her.  Dr. Horrible accomplished his goal, but he does not feel anything.  It was not worth killing the one person he loved in order to complete his goal.