in a place that makes me happy.

My pre-writing rituals differ based on which type of writing I am going to be doing.  For me, there is a really big difference between writing papers for school and just writing for myself.  


When writing school papers, I tend to stare at a blank computer screen for almost an hour before actually writing something.  Then I will write my name and the date.. and stare at the computer screen for another an hour.  When I finally realize that I'm not going to get anything done anyway, I pretty much sprint down the stairs to make myself a cup of hazelnut coffee with the new single-cup coffee maker my mom just bought.. I might have an addiction to it.  After coffee, I decide that I need to get some fresh air.  I will either take a long walk or a run because for some reason this gets me really motivated to get a lot done.  My favorite time of year to run is during the fall because all of the leaves are changing on the trees by the farms around my house.  Running always puts me in a great mood and being in a good mood is essential for me to be able to do my best work.  When I finally drag myself up the stairs and into my room to write again, I realize writing an outline would probably be helpful.  Once I have planned out my paper, there is no stopping me. I don't let myself edit anything on my first draft because I am really critical of my own work and I would probably keep myself from making any progress.  After I finish my first draft, I let myself pick it apart and completely rework it.  By the time I turn in a paper, it looks and sounds nothing like the original draft.


Writing for myself is a completely different situation with a completely different set of rituals leading up to it.  Some people might call it journaling, but I honestly would just describe it as me keeping a record of my life.  I'm that girl who just wants new felt-tip pens and fancy notebooks for her birthday.  Last year, I got four new notebooks and almost 20 new pens for my birthday.. It might take me a while to use all of that.  To write for myself, I always drive out to one of two of my favorite spots.  They are both on the same lake, but I won't tell you which one because I want to keep them my little secret.  I take my shoes off, sit down in the grass or the sand, and dip my toes in the lake (unless it is winter).  Then I write.  Sometimes for hours, with breaks of course.  One of my writing spots has a patch of grass right near the water and two trees that trunks cross each other to form canopy above my head with their leaves.  I go there when I need peace, calm, and quiet and sometimes, inspiration.  My personal writing has  a completely different kind of ritual than my routine for writing papers.  


Here is a picture of one of my favorite writing spots on the 4th of July last summer. 

extreme makeover.

Have you ever seen one of those shows like Extreme Makeover or Biggest Loser? I think I witnessed one of those kinds of transformations over MEA.  Last year, my grandpa was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and they told him he had a slim chance of living much longer.  When they began operating on him, they found that if they removed one of his kidneys as well as a large portion of his pancreas and gall bladder, he might have a better chance of surviving.  He now has to take pills before he eats anything because his body can't digest food on its own anymore.  I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to be so sick.  My entire dad's side of the family lives in New Jersey, so I didn't have a chance to see him until I went down to the shore house there this summer.  My sister had been living with my grandparents and interning at our family law firm over the summer, and she had told me stories about how different the surgery had made my grandfather.  He was irritable, angry, and had lost a lot of weight.  He struggled with the fact that he had prepared himself to die, and was no longer going to.  This is probably the hardest part for me to understand.  We have a loud, huge Italian family and we always greet each other with kisses and hugs, but when I saw him this summer, he wouldn't touch any of us.  He was too timid and afraid of getting sick because his immune system was so fragile.  It was very difficult to see him like this, because he is usually such an animated, engaging person.  When I left New Jersey, he was still very distant.  Over MEA weekend, I visited schools on the east coast.  My dad, my friend, and I stayed with my grandparents for two nights while we were there.  When I walked through the door, it was like I was seeing a completely different man.  He was welcoming and in very good spirits.  In three months, he had gained twenty pounds and looked much more like his old self.  It is amazing how a sickness like cancer can affect a person so much.  I am happy to have him back and am planning on getting really involved with programs like Relay for Life this year.  I never really thought it was my problem until I was affected by it.  This is my family's own little Extreme Makeover story.

so, why are you applying for college then?

"I hate high school."

"Honestly, my teacher hates me. Have you seen this homework load?"

"I'm way too busy for all of this work."

Okay, how many times have we all heard this from our classmates?  Way too many.  If you hate school so much, why are you sitting there applying to 15 colleges?  We blame our teachers, our parents, our stuck-up bosses, our siblings, our addictions to Facebook, and our extracurriculars for unfinished homework.  But who actually takes the time to get past all of those distractions and realize the real problem is themselves?  We work hard for the teachers that we like, and the ones we don't are automatically labeled as evil and out to get us.  I admit it, I have classes that I just breeze through and don't try as hard in as I should because I don't connect to the teacher well.  And when I get back that ugly, little B from that teacher, I automatically think, "Well, that's because they didn't teach this material well." By the way, this occurs most often in math.  I learned that complaining to my parents gets me absolutely nowhere.  They want me to get a good education, but they don't believe it is their responsibility to get me to try my best in school.  Believe me, I complain, whine, and even stomp a foot or two every once in a while over a homework load, but I never would ask my parents to approach my teachers and demand a better grade.  I have seen my friends get their parents to practically attack a teacher when they receive bad grades.  This makes me feel almost embarrassed for my generation because none of that would fly 20 years ago.  What changed?  Why are we suddenly called the "lost generation"? Are we lazy as a whole? Maybe.  Is every single high school student lazy? No.  The article, For Once Blame the Students makes an excellent point, but there are still some of us who realize that the teachers aren't the problem all of the time, but the students are.

As for the film, Two Million Minutes, it kind of made me want to give our generation a friendly "wake up, we are reverting back to cavemen" slap across the face.  This was honestly one of the most frustrating films to watch because I feel like I don't even have enough time to breathe in a day during the school week, so I don't understand how I could possibly increase my hours of studying and school performance.  The only way I can see this happening is if I cut out all of my extracurriculars.  I have an unhealthy obsession with sports and clubs at our school, so this would be way too difficult for me.  I feel as though the film was really slanted toward a particular view on American education and it made a lot of generalizations.  It basically said American students are all lazy, obsessed with video games and T.V., and that we don't know how to study.  Obviously showing the Indian and Chinese students with sleek desks piled with homework, violins, sheet music, and math competition medals is going to make us look bad.  Yes, maybe the academic standards set for American students has been lowered, but it doesn't mean that motivated students have become extinct.

This is shown through Mike Rose's writing, "I Just Wanna Be Average".  He makes the argument that teachers do not expect enough out of students.  This was interesting to read in contrast to "For Once Blame the Students" by Patrick Welsh because Rose is placing the blame on teachers while Welsh places the blame on the students.  Who really deserves the blame?  Honestly, if we are acting as adults here and are still playing the blame game, I think we are all at fault a little.  There has to be a good balance between teacher and student effort.  Both teachers and students must be motivated to give all they can to each subject, even if math is a terrible, impossible one.  Both of the articles and the film both make huge generalizations about groups of people.  Yes, some of it may be based on fact.  But we must consider those students and teachers who expect a lot from each other and have the motivation to learn.

I wish I could keep blogging, but I have so much homework.. my teachers honestly hate me... and I have college apps to work on so I can go to more school and get more homework and complain more..

Honestly, this sarcasm symbol is so useful.

on vision and genius.

This weekend I spent around fifteen hours at my dance studio working with one woman on one piece of choreography.  Her name is Keri LeGrand and she is a master teacher from California.  I have done pieces with her before, but this is my favorite of them all so far.  I wish I knew what the song was called, but I don't.  I'm not going to sit here and make you read about everything we did, how many times I fell on my face, or even how many new bruises and tears in my skin that I have now... 

At the beginning of our work yesterday, Keri sat us down to talk about fully committing to our choreography every time we tried it and then began talking about how everything in life should be like that.  That each time we attempt something, we shouldn't hold back at all and should not be afraid of falling.  I'm used to getting these kinds of "inspirational talks" from master teachers, but this one that Keri gave us is going to stick with me for a while.  The reason for this is because she connected it to a personal story.  Five years ago, Keri was dancing with a company out in Georgia.  On November 5th, 2006, she was dropped by her partner and crashed to the floor.  This fall broke her neck.  The break was 4 millimeters away from paralyzing her from the neck down and she could have very easily died.  Now she is back to choreographing for studios and workshops.  Keri kept talking about how life was way too short to not preform to your best ability all of the time, especially when people are counting on you to be there for them.  

It might sound cheesy, and the story might not impact you as much as it did me, but I just thought it was such an awesome story that I needed to share it.  It was such an honor to work with her this weekend.  I posted a link to one of her pieces that she choreographed for a studio below.

you dog, you.

If you have not done so already, go watch President Obama's back-to-school speech.  Yes, these play every year and we are sometimes forced by our teachers to watch it, but this year's was actually intriguing and relatable.  It was nice to be able to watch, rewind, and analyze specific parts of his speech because there is a lot of good advice and arguments included within it.  Besides the fact that I really enjoyed this speech, it was also full of material for me to rhetorically analyze.  That means that this assignment was actually more enjoyable than I had expected it to be.

Obama's tone throughout his speech was not condescending at all. In fact, he speaks to the students as equals.  I believe this is to establish his credibility (ethos).  He obviously is trying to appeal to his audience, students, by speaking to them as if they are adults and their opinions matter, because that is what every child and teenager wants.

Much of Obama's speech included rising intonation.  This usually built up to an important point that he was trying to emphasize to his audience.  Falling intonation usually was used during his transitions, as they did not need to be as emphasized as his main points were.

He uses rolling cadences generally when his most important points are discussed.  The most important words and phrases are said with more power and volume to emphasize their significance and importance.  This reminds me of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.  The phrases which he wished to be most remembered had the most oomph behind them.

Obama does not seem rigid in his stance, but rather relaxed and formal at the same time.  He makes sure to turn his body from side to side, I assume to let the audience know that he is speaking to all of them instead of talking at one object above their heads.  He is not fidgeting, but is keeping his composure physically.  Obama stands up straight, and uses hand gestures when appropriate.

As the president, Obama is expected to be well dressed, especially when delivering an important speech such as the one on education you have just watched.  He lives up to this expectation by wearing a suit and tie.  He makes sure to make up for his formal appearance by connecting with the audience within the first couple lines of his speech, making him much more personable.  

Obama appeals to the students by saying he understands the pressures and difficulties of high school and that big tests, responsibilities at home, sports,  and projects are hard to balance and deal with all at the same time.  This increases his credibility (ethos) and appeals to the student's interests.  He also appeals to the audience by treating them as adults and recognizing that they are not just kids, but are the future of America and that their opinion matters.  this is important to every teenager, so including this in the speech was clearly to appeal to the students.

Obama's primary argument is to not take the easy route in high school just to maintain a high GPA, but rather to take classes that interest and challenge you as a student.  He also argues that we students are the future of the United States and we should not take this responsibility lightly.   Obama also takes the time to recognize teachers and their importance and dedication.  

The diction Obama uses is clearly chosen so that it will be understood by the main audience, students.  Obama's word choice is easy to understand for children of all ages, so it expands his audience and the reach of his message.  This is done intentionally so that the speech has an impact on as many people as possible.

Now that I have heard Obama's speech on education, I have decided not to drop out of school and try my very hardest.. just kidding, but I actually really enjoyed his message and they way the speech was delivered.  Oh Obama, you dog, you.