Registration

I was reading Leslie's blog earlier today about Spring 2010 registration. I understand her frustration with the number system that SGA uses to be able to register for classes. Though she is a 9 and I am a 5, the whole system really is not fair. Even though I am a 5, I still have had a hard time registering for elective classes. This upcoming semester won't be an issue however, because I am a 3rd year and the classes I'm taking are pretty much set. I am taking 4 credits of research, 3 credits of Independent Study, Physiology II, Molecular Biology and 2 electives that I am not sure about yet. I probably am going to try to take Creative Writing:Fiction and Marriage, Family and Sexuality for my two electives. I am basing this more off of the time they are offered then the classes themselves to be honest. They fit seamlessly into my awesome schedule. Here's to an awesome Spring semester!

The Value of a Blog in the World Today

Blogs are a great way to present your perspective on life to the world. Within a blog, you are limitless to what you can provide your readers. You can share your thoughts and feelings, vent about an issue or share some tips based off of your experiences. Blogs are also a fun way to show friends and readers pictures, links and or videos that you like. It is also a way to keep track of all the crazy events that occur in your life. Blogs can be in text form or a "vlog" which is a video blog. It can be professional or personal. It is a valuable asset that definitely seems to be growing significantly as time progresses.

The remote control

So I tried out the new little remote control that I received with my new computer that I previously blogged about. Talk about super crazy awesome power that I now wield in the palm of my hand. I can be just lingering in my door way with a bag of Healthy Pop Popcorn in my hand, flick my right wrist and BAM! A song melodiously fills the air and a smile tugs at the corner of my lips. I love how I can just change my mind and then the song can change as well with little to no effort. What fun!

New Computer

After my computer decided to betray me and run out of memory, I decided to invest in buying a new computer. I just received it yesterday in the mail. It is a HP Pavilion dv4-1433us Entertainment Notebook PC. The little chocolate swirls and the awesome web cam have brought great joy into my life. Just last night I decided to try out the new web cam with my boyfriend. What an amazing experience that was. It felt like I was sitting in his living room with him watching the Phillies game. I really appreciate the fact that I now have a web cam because sometimes I truly do miss seeing him and hearing his voice. My new computer has opened up so many fun and exciting opportunities and I can't wait to try out more options! Next: The remote control I was given!

Hunger

I am very hungry at this moment, and I just realized I have not had a single thing to eat all day. It's funny how stress can mask hunger. The stress of my computer not working really quenched any hunger pangs I had earlier. Now that the situation is fixed and I am in the process of reinstalling McAFee and Google Chrome, I am really starting to experience some pretty crazy hunger pangs. Right after I conclude this post I plan on going into my kitchen, grabbing the can opener and opening up a can of Spaghetti O's. I know some people might be thinking, "Why Em, aren't you a mite bit old to be still eating Spaghetti O's?" To that I respond with a heartfelt "NO!" I have had Spaghetti O's since I was extremely young and I see no reason to stop. The delicious scent of meatballs and sauce when I finish making that last crank on the can opener is to die for.

Restore to Factory Settings

Yesterday I came back to my apartment and as I was walking through the door in to my room, I noticed a blue error screen on my computer. I tried countless numbers of restarts. I finally called Dell tech support and they told me I was going to need to pay a fee of $49 to fix it. I declined at the time. The next morning I woke up and tried to restart my computer again. It still did not work. When I got home later, I called Dell again and had them restore my computer back to factory settings. I have lost countless amounts of documents, pictures, music and more. The situation really is displeasing; the only thing I can look forward to is the fact that my computer now has a fresh new start. I can take this as an opportunity to start again with this "new" computer and hopefully not have to deal with another blue screen error.

Physical Appearance Profile Piece

A Fall Breeze: A Physical Appearance Perspective
A woman 25 years of age approaches the garden near Woodland. Her steps are light in her ballet slippers and her curly brown hair lifts with the Fall breeze. Wearing green capris and a red top, she arranges herself on the middle of the three black benches. A green bag sits on her right and she reaches in for a reading book. With a cross of her legs she opens the novel and begins to read. She stops to pull out a 20oz bottle of soda out of her bag. Her lips curve into slight smile as and it is obvious that she has delved into a completely different world.

10 Tips for Profile Pieces

1. To prevent a reader from being bored, switch up the scene by incorporating relevant dialogue
ie: The writer of “The Longing” incorporated quotes from both Suzi and people who know her/know of her such as Nancy Hamilton
2. Increase the pace of the story in order to prevent predictability.
3. Use the 5 W’s in your piece. It is not essential to cram all of this information into the first sentence, just let the information weave itself together early in your article.
4. Let people be the “captain” of their story and you are the guiding navigator
5. Vary sentence structure often as to make your story more realistic and engaging
6. Try to get the true emotions behind the person’s story and include quotes that convey these emotions
7. Create images for the reader to expand on in their minds as they are reading (pg 82 paragraph 5).
8. “The Longing” switches scenes very often and goes back and forth between her younger self and her current self. This helps keep readers interested and engaged
9. Add depth to your profile and do not narrow a person down to one part of their life (ie: their job, their awards/recognitions) focus on capturing the person as a whole by finding out their roots, past experiences, goals, ambitions, downfalls
10. Use trial and error. Try new things such in the longing, where the writer is not writing for the audience, the writer is actually a part of the person he is profiling. He is in her mind, experiencing her experiences and feeling her feelings.

Internet-You don't Know What You've Got Till Its Gone

Yesterday I spent nearly 5 hours getting Internet at the apartment. I handed the Comcast guy tools while he stood on a ladder outside of our apartment for about 2 hours and then I spent the next 2-3 hours on the phone with both Comcast and Belkin trying to get the router to communicate correctly with the modem. It was definitely worth it when I was able to sit down at my desk in my own room and hop on the internet. I am so happy that I can now sit at my desk in a pair of sweatpants with my music blaring from the computer speakers and access the Internet. The old phrase "you don't know what you've got till its gone" is so true. I have definitely learned to not take technology for granted!

The Profile

If it wasn't for free graduate courses in exchange for teaching English Composition courses at Emerson College, Christine Flanagan might never have become the amazing professor at USP that she is today. “It was like having a book club but I got to pick everything we read,” says Flanagan. Professor Flanagan has a very upbeat and down to earth personality which makes her very easy to talk to. Her favorite weekend activities include hanging out with friends and going to the movies. Most recently, she was nominated in 2008 for a PushCart Prize which is an honored literary project published since 1976 for her short story “Return to Ithaca”.