“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” (B.E #14)

Talk about a walk down memory lane! These past 5 weeks flew by and I’m really happy to have had the opportunity to spend it with you all. Reading my past blogs has made me realize how much I’ve grown with each analysis and comment. I enjoyed seeing my particular mood for each blog post. Some of these topics that were assigned, I was very eager and happy to write about, and some nights I just wanted to quickly hit the 300 word mark and move on. I’d have to say Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half was my favorite blog topic. I was introduced to a very comical blog that I have shared with family and friends thus far.

Writing to an audience and receiving feedback was great. I knew we were going to have an awesome class after reading the introductions. After commenting and receiving comments, blogging has made me realize that blogging doesn’t have to end because it’s like an open ended conversation that allows anyone and everyone to chime in when they please. At first, I was nervous about writing in front of a crowd and worried about how people would react to my thoughts and opinions. It’s amazing how many mistakes I have in my writing and will continue to have; I am by no means perfect. This class has immensely helped my writing due to my classmates and wonderful teacher’s constructive criticism.

I enjoyed Black Swan as well. Without these blog posts, I have to admit, I would have never watched this movie. Watching this move several times has helped me understand visual rhetoric and the different perspectives my peers had on this movie.

In conclusion, this class has been a wonderful experience and blogging has introduced a new positive light in my life. I look forward to reading more blogs in the future and maybe run into one of you once again, GL everyone and Peace!

Blogging; I bid thee farwell! (Final Blog Entry 14)

I, among many of my fellow classmates, had a skeptical, hesitant opinion of blogging when we first started this class.  In the beginning, I totally felt that blogging was just an outlet for socially shy persons with extraordinary ideas that were better conveyed via type or a more hidden way of the internet.  Boy was I wrong! Through this class’ guidance, I have realized that blogging is more of a public diary for anyone and everyone.  It is not to say that sharing every thought, idea, opinion or story with the public to see, appeals to all.  In fact, that is the exact reason why I was resilient to take a liking to the idea of blogging in the first place.

This world has become so public now a days, where the exchange of basically anything is so readily available, and our expectations of instant gratification are so profound that we cannot settle for anything less then exactly what we demand.  Anyone’s ideas are interchangeably shared to the point where two people could have thought the exact same thing, but the one who said it first gets credit for it.  I suppose, when talking about establishing connections, that this is a good thing to see that others feel the same way that you do, but blogging has just reinforced my initial opinion that when nothing is private, that is not a good thing.

I have learned to be more open to different types of literary forms that I would have avoided at all costs had it not been for this class; graphic novels, psychoanalytic films, etc.  For this mind opening experience, I do credit this class, the professor, and the students who contributed to my learning adventure!  It was a short, yet great journey and I learned more then I could have ever expected!

Bye Bye Blogging…for now.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that I have a love/hate relationship with blogging. I don’t have a problem sharing my thoughts and feelings with others via the internet, in fact I may be more comfortable doing it in a blog entry than telling someone how I feel and what I think face-to-face. The problem with blogging, or I guess I should say the obstacle that I am still trying to overcome, is the technological aspect of blogging. I thought I was fairly tech savvy before this class, but it turns out I have (embarrassingly) never used GoogleDocs even! I really struggled with WordPress at first, just figuring out how to insert a photo in my post was challenging. Then there are all these other features on the blogging site, like tagging entries, categorizing them, I was all confused. I can appreciate that WordPress is very customizable, but at the same time, I was just thinking, “Why the hell are there so many different options for writing a blog entry!”

I am not proud of many of my blog entries academically speaking. I honestly wish I had more time to put into this class and really focus on my writing and improving as a writer. I think that I had good input on whatever images or films, etc that we were discussing, but my actual writing was not the best I could have put out there. I really enjoyed writing about visual arts since it was an interest of mine to begin with, but I do think that I would enjoy blogging more and writing more when I don’t have to write about something specific every day. Back in the fall, I actually wanted to start a blog writing about thrift store fashion and I got all excited to post pictures of my latest outfit that I created using items I bought at Goodwill or the Salvation Army. My roommate and I even bought cute dishware from the thrift store that I wanted to photograph and write about so badly! I never did start the blog, but I think that I would be more motivated to write about topics that were close to me and that I was really passionate about. I love writing down my dreams from the night before. I think I should start a personal blog to archive all my dreams!

So long, folks! (Blog Entry 14)

Blogging was an experience to say the least. At first I was not comfortable doing it at all. It felt really personal and a little scary, I didn’t like sharing my thoughts and having people interpret them one way and comment on them. As we entered the second week I began to feel a little more comfortable. My favorite blog was when everyone had to post about a blogger that they read. It was really light-hearted and fun, I got to check out a lot of new websites and experience new internet things!

 

Blogging is really easy now. All I do is post what’s on my mind. I don’t really edit it. I just want to get everything down and not worry if I sound dumb or immature. I use my blogging as a way to just throw all my thoughts together so I don’t forget them, usually just coming back to them later. It worked out surprisingly well, I knew when I posted something that wasn’t well written that there would be snarky comments and I took it all with a grain of salt. Every time I came to a dead end in my papers I would just return to my blog and pick our ideas that I had written about a few days prior.

 

The worst part of blogging for me was comments. I don’t know why it was so difficult for me to do three a day. Maybe because after I had just written a blog post I felt bored going back and reading comments. I’m not really sure. Writing the blogs was easy but posting the comments took thought and time. The time issue was my biggest concern. I actually enjoyed reading other’s blogs just like I enjoyed editing papers. I was taking two other summer classes at the same time on campus and it was hard to dedicate myself to blogging and commenting.

 

Maybe not necessarily blogging, but the act of writing every day has definitely improved my skills. Having to sit at the computer and force myself to write has made the words come easier. I could easily write a paper in an hour as opposed to before when I would have to get myself going days before and usually finish it the morning it’s due. I’ve really enjoyed reading other’s papers and blogs getting to know their personas and writing styles. I think it really influenced a lot of my writing. 

 

I hope to continue blogging, with the possibility of not sharing it but keeping it for myself. Just tidbits of what is going on in my life. I think it is a great way to keep track of memories and stories just like Allie Brosh did, just maybe not as dramatic!

The End has Come (blog 14)

 Originally I wasn’t too sure how I was going to feel about this whole blogging thing. I always thought blogging was for stay at home mom’s that didn’t have a whole lot else to do. So they would sit at home and vent about their daily life or write down new recopies. I have now learned that while some of this may be true there is a lot more to the blogging community then just that genre.  I have learned that there are so many different types of categories and ton of different people interacting daily online.

I think the blog that I am most proud of would be the blog where I wrote about “Why I’ll Never be an Adult” from Hyperbole and a Half. This was an interesting blog to read and it also broadened my perspective about blogs in general. One thing that I do like about the blogging community is that it is ok to be informal and address the readers.  I like being able to use the “I” voice throughout my writing and voice my opinions. This is what is great about blogging because there is no such thing as a standard blog. The format can vary as well as the formality.

There were several students in the class whose blogs I enjoyed reading. I think what made them so interesting was their language. At times I felt to more informal they were the more humorous and relatable they were. I am all about being able to relate to my audience so these people really captured my attention. I think what is special about blogging is that it gives your reader a chance to really know what is going on in your mind. I found that there were several people who did an excellent job at doing this.

Overall, I was definitely surprised by my interest in blogging. I was able to change my perspective and even find a couple blogs that I would like to follow on a regular basis. I think that this was a great success!

 Originally I wasn’t too sure how I was going to feel about this whole blogging thing. I always thought blogging was for stay at home mom’s that didn’t have a whole lot else to do. So they would sit at home and vent about their daily life or write down new recopies. I have now learned that while some of this may be true there is a lot more to the blogging community then just that genre.  I have learned that there are so many different types of categories and ton of different people interacting daily online.

I think the blog that I am most proud of would be the blog where I wrote about “Why I’ll Never be an Adult” from Hyperbole and a Half. This was an interesting blog to read and it also broadened my perspective about blogs in general. One thing that I do like about the blogging community is that it is ok to be informal and address the readers.  I like being able to use the “I” voice throughout my writing and voice my opinions. This is what is great about blogging because there is no such thing as a standard blog. The format can vary as well as the formality.

There were several students in the class whose blogs I enjoyed reading. I think what made them so interesting was their language. At times I felt to more informal they were the more humorous and relatable they were. I am all about being able to relate to my audience so these people really captured my attention. I think what is special about blogging is that it gives your reader a chance to really know what is going on in your mind. I found that there were several people who did an excellent job at doing this.

Overall, I was definitely surprised by my interest in blogging. I was able to change my perspective and even find a couple blogs that I would like to follow on a regular basis. I think that this was a great success!

This is the End (Blog Entry 14)

Looking back at my old blog entries, the one that stands out the most to me is my 3rd one entitled “Natural Serenity”. I think this is my favorite blog entry because it is the one, out of all of them, that is about something I am really interested in. The other blog entries weren’t bad, and were almost crucial to really understanding all that we did in this class, but they weren’t very compelling to me. They are all very academic and feel like mini papers to me. I preferred being able to write from the heart about things I really care about.

I have to say though, this blog experience was a new one for me, and it was a nice look into the world of blogging. I liked being able to see what everyone else had to say about everything. It opened my eyes up to new concepts and ideas that I had never thought about. It allowed me to see things from many different perspectives and caused me to think outside the box when it came to finally doing the papers at the end of the week, because the things we wrote about in the blogs were often very relevant to what I had to write about at the end of the week. Sometimes I did not like having to do a blog because I felt that I found myself trying to write about things I didn’t care about, and I feel that some of my entries were forced. I think that it would have been nice to have a choice between a couple blog entries each time we had to write one, because this would lead to more thoughtful blog entries and more creativity.

I felt that, because my thoughts and ideas were being published on the internet for the world to see, I had to censor my language a bit. In addition, I was writing to the class- a bunch of people that I didn’t know- and I felt the need to be careful not to offend anyone. I think I would enjoy blogging in a setting that is more “free” and gives me more of an opportunity to express myself as an individual, as Brosh had done in “Hyperbole and a Half”. This is what I learned about my own writing- that I would rather do it freely and uncensored. Perhaps this will lead me to do more free writing in the future, because much of what I have to do in school is purely academic. All in all, it’s been fun, but for now, blogging, this is the end (my only friend…the end).

Sloth you later! (Blog Entry 14)

I must say that over the course of the past weeks, the idea of blogging has become a whole heck of a lot less intimidating to me. When the class first started I was worried that I would fail horribly at it, that I would end up looking like an idiot or a lunatic. Writing the blogs was hard and took a long time, as if I had to labor over them for a while for them to be even close to worth posting.

However, now I feel much more comfortable writing to such a wide audience and actually do enjoy it. I feel that I came to know my fellow bloggers in a way, and sought some out each week for different reasons. It has been a strange feeling though, as I feel that I know my classmates better than I should, being that I have never actually met them. Funny how that happens.

Among the things I have learned from our blog is how important the visual aspect actually is. I found that I was drawn to the more unique looking blogs, rather than the blogs that just used text (for this reason I have posted the unbelievably cute picture of a photo bombing sloth below). I also found that I was drawn to the blogs with unique or witty titles, I suppose because if someone put in that amount of effort to their blog title, the post itself had to be good.

As far as my own writing goes, I do believe that it has improved.  The combination of blogging constantly and writing a paper every week has really had an effect on the way that I am able to edit myself as I am writing. Rather than having to constantly look back on my work, I can spot out more of my mistakes or bad habits as I am going. I am excited to put my new skills to the test this coming fall as I write my thesis! I think these new skills will save me from some serious headaches.

Thanks for reading everyone and enjoy the rest of your summer!

Background messages (B.E #13)

 

This resume was found with a quick Google search. I noticed the visual layout and decided to talk about the pros and cons. At first glance, the background immediately stood out to me which I obviously very important when applying for a job. Like a thesis statement in an essay, you want the reader to buy what you’re selling and remain interested. I think this could use some improvements such as a larger font. I have eagle eyes but I still had to lean in and read most of Mr. Thomas writing.

Creating an effective resume is crucial in the working environment. I’m not expert on writing effective resumes, but I definitely think a resume needs to stand out. Obviously your personal information needs to be added to your resume first. I think with a solid (16-20pt) font size the chances of getting noticed are increased. When trying to make a resume stand out, I think the use of concise langue is crucial. For example, replacing clichés such as “responsibilities or duties included” when identifying your experiences with action verbs like “assisted, performed or created” are better ideas. In addition, avoiding personal pronouns will help to get your point across easily.

The white spaces provide proper indentations as well as a good “fill-in” with the background photo. It shows this persons interest and creativity behind the text. It’s not as rigid compared to many other resume’s I’ve seen in the past (including mine!)

If I were an employer, I definitely would give Brad Thomas an interview based of the presentation of his resume itself. I like when people think outside the box and don’t follow boring resumes that typically are seen because society say’s is the professional thing to do. Resumes like Jessica Coder’s shows a lot of character and stands out from the rest which gives the person a better shot at getting the job.

I’m Sad It’s Over Blog #14

One thing that stands out about me that I see as I look through my blog posts is my unique usage of tone and voice in my essays.  Each blog that I have written for this class I felt as it I have given an honest opinion for each assignment.  The tone that I try to show with each post is both educational with a subtext of humor in each blog.  This is something that I always have fun with and I hope that when people have read my blog posts they get a little bit of a kick out of the blog.  I think it is designed to allow us to learn and have fun.  This is something that i’ve always tried to do.  Another thing that sticks out to me is how awful my grammar is.  This is something I need to look at and address.  I think that I need to take more time while I do my posts and reread everything closely.  I think that if i can improve on this I can become a much better writer, and allow myself to look more professional.

Something that I am proud of is my usage of vocabulary.  For this i am going to give all the credit to my word of the day calendar.  I take a page off everyday and try to use the word that day.  It is just a small something but over time I think it has really helped me develop as a writer.  Plus it is a lot of fun to do each and everyday.  What makes me cringe is the dumb mistakes that make me look like an idiot in some of my posts.  Some words are misspelled and other words I have no idea how they got in there.  I know that these are all things that I need to improve on.