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MAY 15TH, 2013 - REFLECTION: TWO PERSPECTIVES
Okay, time to reflect on my blog. Here are some questions I need to answer for my class.
Above this entry are my prom pictures. (My date was Emma from my Creative Writing class. Don't we look good!?) In fact, it is the same prom picture from two different perspectives (Emma's dad's camera, and my mom's camera). I think these photos are a metaphor for my blog. I think my best entries were those that focused on things that we often overlook in our everyday lives and gave them a fresh perspective. Like the pictures above, everything has at least two perspectives, usually more.
Well, that's all I have to say about that. I'd like to thank my audience. Small and few though they may be, you guys definitely made me feel like I was being heard. Writing this blog has been an eye-opening experience and though it wasn't always easy, I'm glad I did it. As I said in my first blog entry, "everything great starts with an idea. An inspiration. Some tiny light-bulb moment that grows until it flourishes as something that can leave a legacy. As for me, it all started with a cup of coffee."
Thank you.
- What has been the most beneficial part of creating your own blog?
- The creative topics I had to come up with to exercise my mental writing muscle and meet the post requirements for the class. I definitely improved as a writer.
- What has been the most difficult part of creating your own blog?
- Again the creative topics. It was not easy to write an essay about something different twice a week for an entire semester.
- What have you learned about yourself as a writer through blogging?
- I think this blog definitely helped me find my voice, or rather my voices. I found which voices I write with depending on the topic and its seriousness.
- Is blogging something you would like to continue? If so, how will you go forward? If not, why not?
- No. There's not much of an audience and so I don't see the point of continuing publicly. I would really want to do more writing exercises like the blogging I've been doing, but I'd probably keep them on my computer or in a journal. I don't like the idea of putting them online for the world to see. My business is not your business. Sorry.
- Do you read any blogs on a regular basis? If so, which ones and why?
- No. Blogs were cool 11 years ago.
- What have you learned about your classmates by reading their blogs?
- I learned that Jacob is a huge sports fan (a bigger one than I thought) and that Emma likes to rant about fashion stuff (she does it really well).
- What has been your favorite blog posts (one you created)? Why?
- I think I can narrow my favorite blog post down to three options: Ish: A Definitive Look at Uncertainty, Profanity: A Closer F*cking Look, and The Highway Home. I think these three blog posts took a closer look at the things that we don't really tend to think about and put them into a new perspective. I got a lot of positive feedback from those posts and I think those are the three pieces I'm most proud of.
Above this entry are my prom pictures. (My date was Emma from my Creative Writing class. Don't we look good!?) In fact, it is the same prom picture from two different perspectives (Emma's dad's camera, and my mom's camera). I think these photos are a metaphor for my blog. I think my best entries were those that focused on things that we often overlook in our everyday lives and gave them a fresh perspective. Like the pictures above, everything has at least two perspectives, usually more.
Well, that's all I have to say about that. I'd like to thank my audience. Small and few though they may be, you guys definitely made me feel like I was being heard. Writing this blog has been an eye-opening experience and though it wasn't always easy, I'm glad I did it. As I said in my first blog entry, "everything great starts with an idea. An inspiration. Some tiny light-bulb moment that grows until it flourishes as something that can leave a legacy. As for me, it all started with a cup of coffee."
Thank you.
April 30th, 2013 - Giving Back
Yesterday, the track team left the high school and drove to the middle school down the street to help coach the younger kids. It was a great opportunity for us to give back to our community and an excellent way to get in a light workout the day before a meet.
Teaching kids is always fun, especially when I'm teaching them to do something I love. Together we taught kids both the methods of our warm-ups and purposes of our stretches. We also taught a few kids how to use blocks for the first time, as many had only ever started a race standing up. We were helping them build upon old techniques and form new ones that would help them for years to come.
Giving back is an important part of any society. While assisting coaches at a middle school only one afternoon may not have the largest impact, it will certainly leave an impression on the younger kids. Communities need volunteers and Good Samaritans to step forward and offer aid to those who need it.
I like to think of volunteers as the superheroes of society; they fly in and do something no one has asked them to do and leave without more than a title, their identity a secret but the difference they make very public.
Thank you.
Teaching kids is always fun, especially when I'm teaching them to do something I love. Together we taught kids both the methods of our warm-ups and purposes of our stretches. We also taught a few kids how to use blocks for the first time, as many had only ever started a race standing up. We were helping them build upon old techniques and form new ones that would help them for years to come.
Giving back is an important part of any society. While assisting coaches at a middle school only one afternoon may not have the largest impact, it will certainly leave an impression on the younger kids. Communities need volunteers and Good Samaritans to step forward and offer aid to those who need it.
I like to think of volunteers as the superheroes of society; they fly in and do something no one has asked them to do and leave without more than a title, their identity a secret but the difference they make very public.
Thank you.
April 22nd, 2013 - Shooting Yourself in the Foot
Whether we realize it or not, I think we all have a tendency to occasionally shoot ourselves in the foot. For example, I scheduled an appointment at my doctor's office for a blood test earlier today, thinking I would get in and out in plenty of time to get to school in time for my calculus test. Then I got to the office and spent forty minutes in the waiting room for a test that took less than five.
Shortly after, I came to school feeling ready for my math test, for which I was thirty minutes late. While I was in the waiting room at the doctor's office, I did a worksheet and an AP problem for review, so I was feeling pretty confident. Then I took the test. Yikes. I don't think I did too well.
Sometimes shooting yourself in the foot can be good. It can be a real wake-up call, letting you know that you need to get your act together. Other times it's just inconvenient. The worst thing about shooting yourself in the foot is the repercussions, or I guess the pain if you actually do shoot yourself in the foot (please don't do that). After today's multiple foot-shootings, I learned that I need to study more for calculus and the rest of my AP classes, and I need to stop scheduling things on the same days as tests.
Oh, well. You live and you learn. Hopefully I'll learn to stop pointing my figurative gun at myself. If every time I shot myself in the foot I actually shot myself in the foot, I don't think I'd have feet anymore.
Thank you.
Shortly after, I came to school feeling ready for my math test, for which I was thirty minutes late. While I was in the waiting room at the doctor's office, I did a worksheet and an AP problem for review, so I was feeling pretty confident. Then I took the test. Yikes. I don't think I did too well.
Sometimes shooting yourself in the foot can be good. It can be a real wake-up call, letting you know that you need to get your act together. Other times it's just inconvenient. The worst thing about shooting yourself in the foot is the repercussions, or I guess the pain if you actually do shoot yourself in the foot (please don't do that). After today's multiple foot-shootings, I learned that I need to study more for calculus and the rest of my AP classes, and I need to stop scheduling things on the same days as tests.
Oh, well. You live and you learn. Hopefully I'll learn to stop pointing my figurative gun at myself. If every time I shot myself in the foot I actually shot myself in the foot, I don't think I'd have feet anymore.
Thank you.
April 8th, 2013 - 50 Things
Welcome back! I would first like to apologize for not posting anything at all last week. I was on Spring Break and was enjoying every minute of it!
For those of you who are curious, I did not go anywhere. I stayed at home with our lovely Hoosier weather and went to a total of five track practices. However, this does not mean that I didn’t have fun. I strongly believe that a staycation can be just as good as any regular vacation. It’s what you make of it and what you do with your free time that makes it great.
So, without further adieu, here is my list of 50 things I did over Spring Break 2013.
1. Go tanning (in my backyard, not at a salon)
2. Eat sweets (I gave them up for Lent, this is a big deal)
3. Go to the gym
4. Go to track practice
5. Throw up
6. Drink coffee
7. Film myself
8. Sing in the car
9. Film myself singing in the car
10. Go to church
11. Lead my religious ed group
12. Go to my youth group at Strange Brew
13. Choose the wifi password at Strange Brew
14. Go to Olive Garden
15. Go to Fogo de Chao
16. Celebrate my dad’s birthday
17. Eat frozen yogurt for the first time (right after I went to the gym; I’m aware of the irony)
18. Ponder the difference between frozen yogurt and ice cream
19. Hang out with a friend
20. Go to Pizza King
21. Play Halo
22. Light a fire
23. Read 3 chapters in my APUSH textbook
24. Talk to my house cleaner
25. Read a book (“The Sociopath Next Door”)
26. Read another book (“Paris, My Sweet”)
27. Start a third book (“Death in the City of Light”)
28. Go to Einstein’s with Evan and David
29. Do a crossword puzzle (on a cereal box)
30. Finish my short story for my creative writing class
31. Go cruising (in my car)
32. Learn my jean size (29”x32”)
33. “Help” with a Student Government project (I’m not really in Student Government)
34. Go to Target (I bought nothing)
35. Go to Target again (I bought something)
36. Talk a to a cute hostess (Outback Steakhouse)
37. Go for a run
38. Ride my bike
39. Fall off my bike
40. Bleed
41. Make a frozen pizza
42. Eat a frozen pizza
43. Get massive diarrhea
44. Cut my hair
45. Make a school video project
46. Drop 3 F-bombs in a school video project
47. Censor myself in a school video project
48. Read an issue of Time
49. Watch a movie (Airplane II: The Sequel)
50. Make this list
Thank you.
For those of you who are curious, I did not go anywhere. I stayed at home with our lovely Hoosier weather and went to a total of five track practices. However, this does not mean that I didn’t have fun. I strongly believe that a staycation can be just as good as any regular vacation. It’s what you make of it and what you do with your free time that makes it great.
So, without further adieu, here is my list of 50 things I did over Spring Break 2013.
1. Go tanning (in my backyard, not at a salon)
2. Eat sweets (I gave them up for Lent, this is a big deal)
3. Go to the gym
4. Go to track practice
5. Throw up
6. Drink coffee
7. Film myself
8. Sing in the car
9. Film myself singing in the car
10. Go to church
11. Lead my religious ed group
12. Go to my youth group at Strange Brew
13. Choose the wifi password at Strange Brew
14. Go to Olive Garden
15. Go to Fogo de Chao
16. Celebrate my dad’s birthday
17. Eat frozen yogurt for the first time (right after I went to the gym; I’m aware of the irony)
18. Ponder the difference between frozen yogurt and ice cream
19. Hang out with a friend
20. Go to Pizza King
21. Play Halo
22. Light a fire
23. Read 3 chapters in my APUSH textbook
24. Talk to my house cleaner
25. Read a book (“The Sociopath Next Door”)
26. Read another book (“Paris, My Sweet”)
27. Start a third book (“Death in the City of Light”)
28. Go to Einstein’s with Evan and David
29. Do a crossword puzzle (on a cereal box)
30. Finish my short story for my creative writing class
31. Go cruising (in my car)
32. Learn my jean size (29”x32”)
33. “Help” with a Student Government project (I’m not really in Student Government)
34. Go to Target (I bought nothing)
35. Go to Target again (I bought something)
36. Talk a to a cute hostess (Outback Steakhouse)
37. Go for a run
38. Ride my bike
39. Fall off my bike
40. Bleed
41. Make a frozen pizza
42. Eat a frozen pizza
43. Get massive diarrhea
44. Cut my hair
45. Make a school video project
46. Drop 3 F-bombs in a school video project
47. Censor myself in a school video project
48. Read an issue of Time
49. Watch a movie (Airplane II: The Sequel)
50. Make this list
Thank you.
