long time no post

So I havent written a blog in well an unassigned one since ummmm before spring break i think. Shame on me. Im so going to get a bad grade for this section of blogs. Maybe if I write one every day for a week Ill have enough to at least get the minimum number. Im such the slacker.

On the plus side, school is almost over. Only two more weeks of classes then finals. I cant believe my first semester as a college student is almost over. its insane!!! I dont feel like Ive done anything this semester but according to everyone else Ive done a lot more than expected so go me I guess. haha. Next semester hopefully the courses will challenge me a little bit more. At least thats what Im hoping. I want to feel like I actually did something worthwhile. Maybe Im just too hard on myself.

On a lighter note I got my nose pierced a couple weeks ago. That makes my piercing total 10 and tattoos 4. I dont look like Id have those numbers, at least thats what Im told. Im a bit of an odd one, blonde, intelligent, but yet I have piercings and tattoos. AND I want to be a pediatric orthopedist, in other words a kid bone doctor. I had an experience when I was in kindergarten that dealt with an extra bone growing out of my knee that wasnt suppose to, thats kind of why I want ot go into this field, and I love kids! Most people just think thats an odd combination.
Right now Im just rambling with nothing really in particular on my mind, Im waiting for class to being.

Myspace and Facebook

I have been given the assignment to write an argumentative paper on something. Well, it is based off articles in our English book. For a long time I was just thinking like, what am I going to write about, because Im interested in all of the topics. I actually was quite stressed trying to figure everything out.

The deciding factor just kind of hit me. One of my good friends here at college is having trouble with her boyfriend, because of facebook. He can track her every move and is making her time here trying to adjust horrible. Ive noticed this with a ton of people on my hall and its really sad actually. Internet social networking is a good thing in many aspects, but is it making it more difficult for people to adjust, especially in college. All their friends from high school can track and see their new friends and good times, but yet they get jealous and feel like they are being replaced. Significant others not going to the same school are seeing things in photographs or misreading comments. Starting arguements and drama because of an internet site? Is this really necessary? Ill admit, Im guilty of having both a facebook and myspace. But, I can see the damaging effects on college kids trying to keep up with both old friends and new ones, making both strained relationships. Are these sites adding extra stress to an already stress filled life of a college student?

To play or not to play?

...football that is.

A debate is going on in class on whether or not UNCW should have a football team. Granted there are other sports present on this campus such as baseball but, should we add to our collection?

I think having a UNCW football team would be a good idea. Ive attended several athletic events and very few people show school spirit. Being in the south, football is a very prominant sport and generally more people attend football games than any other. For the most part, UNCW has very weak school spirit. I went to high school in West Virginia near Huntington. For those of you who do not know, Marshall University is located in that city. Football games were always a big to do. Everytime there was a home game, the buzz around all the local high schools was all about the upcoming game. The surrounding communities would put up banners and have special deals and events at resturaunts. Every game was always full of fun stuff and tailgate parties and after parties. The entired area got involved. I feel that if UNCW had a football team, it would allow the Wilmington area a chance to get involved with people they dont necessarily know. I also think that it would be a good opportunity for the high school students nearby to have more chances to check out collge life besides the academic side. Having a football team wil also give the area a sensee of comraderie, in the sense that they are all banding together to root for their team.

Another reason for having a football team would be for money. Selling tickets for even 5 bucks a piece would gernerate revenue for the school. It would also create new jobs for students and other people around campus.

All in all I think having a football team at UNCW would be a very good idea.

Paper Outline

Gangster still from the text. The movie Alpha Dog.

I. Introduction/anecdote.
A. pop culture
1. pop culture and youth
2. pop culture and my life
a. the pants from the commercial

II. Gangster Still
A. time period
B. dress
1. 9-5 job attire
C. shabby place
1. bullet holes
2. nice finery in case

III. Alpha dog
A. modern timeframe
B. dress.
C. talk

IV. the differences
A. dress
1. represents differences
2. gangster high status then/common place now
B. respect

V. same
A. lifestyles
1. actions are common place
2. killing doesnt mean anything
B. frowned upon.

VI.Conclusion
A. pop culture big influence on people
B. directly reflects timeperiods culture

Indecisive.

I know Im suppose to be blogging about ideas I have for my upcoming paper. It is suppose to be on a comparison of something to deal with Pop Culture. The problem is, I have no idea what or where to start. I want it to be something unique and interesting, but something that is specific to me. Something that will challenge me to perceive things differently. Ive read a few other blogs about this topic and they all seem like such good ideas. I could take so much from them, but, I dont want to copy anyone else. Im stubborn like that. Seems to me Im having a problem being original :( And im all about originality. Should I compare two songs? What about two television ads? Who knows?!?!?! I wish we hadn't gone over the gangster pictures that are in our text book. I could do so much with those two pics. Just the subtle differences that I picked out of those two pictures I could write soooo much on. If I wanted to I could compare Myspace to Facebook, two things that are very much pop culture. We get tons of information on both websites and lots of advertisements. The way communication is done and how you connect to different people is also different. Now that I think about it, I might just do that, not sure though.

Anyway, Spring break is coming up and that means mid=terms. Cant believe school is going by this fast. Hard to comprehend how fast paced life seems to be now. Next thing we know, we are gonna have careers and be married with children, well for the most of us anyway. Its funny how when we were children a year seemed like forever, but the older we get, it seems like the faster it goes. A year is gone in a blink of an eye. Makes me sit and wonder, am I living my life to the fullest, am i focussing too much on what doesnt matter and not paying attention to what does? Just a few things thats been on my mind lately.

What has the world come to?

So, I dont normally watch tv and havent had one in my dorm room until yesterday. I FINALLY set up my tv and bought a new dvd player, just in time for this English assignment (writing a blong while watching tv). So here I am sitting here in front of the tv with my remote and my laptop. And, since Im consciously paying attention to what is actually on, Ive noticed somthing somewhat disturbing.

The term Pop Culture is essentially wrong, its more like SEX Culture. Ive been casually flipping through the channels and for the most part, everything has something to do with sex. The most popular tv shows are always dealing with who is meant for eachother or the newest sex scandal. The most popular talk on my floor is the love lines from One Tree Hill and Greys Anatomy. Why are shows like this you ask? Because WE are OBSESSED with sex. Everything in today's society somehow deals with sex, or at least it seems that way.

Even the add comercials use sex to get peoples attention. Whether its for a new cologne for men, that will "have woment flocking around you" or a new clothing line to "attract the ladies". For women its all about the products. Beauty products. Things to help you change your weight, hair color, facial flaws, and anything else that will "make you more appealing to men". Comedian Rodney Carrington has a joke that is funny but so very true. He says that a company trying to sell wheelbarrows only has to have a hot blonde dressed in a bikini, licking her lips and saying "mmmmm" on the screen. Then flash the wheelbarrow. "I couldnt drive to the store fast enough to buy me a wheelbarrow" Replies Rodney. Hilarious as it sounds, ITS TRUE. Think about it..you'll see.

So, pop culture is really, sex culture. Our lives are dictated by sex. How often we get it, who with, how to make ourselves more appealing to get it. What is the world coming to that this is all there is to society. Not that Im advocating a change, Im right in there on the bandwaggon, Im just stating simple fact.

Concrete Angel

I have come to realize that music plays a very big role in my life. I always have some music on, whether its my ipod, my computer, the radio or music videos on tv. As for picking a single song to talk about....it took me forever. I have so many songs that mean so many different things to me depending on what mood Im in. At the moment, Ive had a song playing over and over again in my head for a while, Concrete Angle by Martina McBride. The lyrics are absolutely amazing.

This song really has a lot of meaning to me because it is so true in todays society, one can never really tell who is being abused and may need help. I have personal experience with this when I was growing up. Several people I knew were in a similar situations. It just goes to show how oblivious people are to their surrounds, or how they will ignore problems that stare them right in the face. Every time I hear this song, if Im alone, I cry. Not just because of the pain and suffering the child goes through, but to think of how heartless the world has become.

http://www.kidsforsavingearth.org/kse.htm

I was given the assignment of finding an environmental website to discuss in a blog. This one really touched me. It was founded for a young boy who passed away from cancer at 11. He wasnt concerned with the fact that he had cancer, he was more worried about what we as humans were doing to our environment. This organization provides a means for young children to be a part of eco-friendly programs.

Not only do they provide an easy way for young children to help out, this website provides multitudes of information on the problems the earth is now facing. The information is easily understandable for its targeted audience. Normally these types of sites target the adult world, but this one is perfect for our younger generations.

Im awfully wordy!

So, jokingly in my previous blog, I warned everyone about how I use a lot of foul language; unfortunately, I actually do. Ive payed attention to what words are used most frequently in my everyday speech; it's worse than a rated R movie! Id have to say that more frequently than Id like to admit I say cocksucker and fuck(er). I have no idea how people can stand listening to me talk. I drop something "FUCK", the computer acts up (which I just bought a week ago) "Cocksucker!". Luckily my roommate and I have very similar vocabularies so I dont have to worry about it too much around her; I just wonder how people react to a petite blonde walking down the sidewalk conversing on her cell phone with a friend, probably get a few odd stares that I am completely oblivious too. NOTE TO SELF: stop using such foul language when walking around campus. I am actually a semi-intelligent individual and my word choice doesnt exactly demonstrate that aspect about me. Ive also caught myself using phrases that are inside jokes around new friends at school, that are from my friends around town. One of which is "green means go". It doesnt sound too horrible but the inside implications are. A friend of ours got very desperate in the dating world... he made a mistake and told us about a girl that he was interested in. Big mistake. We all knew that she "had been around the block" and therefore our favorite saying now when someone does something stupid or knows they are about to do something stupid is GREEN MEANS GO! Its much funnier if you knew the exact circumstances but Im not willing to go there. Anyway, what started out as a joke, well, turned out to be truth. I really need to start paying attention to what Im saying and around who Im saying it.

New Ink

Since I dont really watch the new or any sports, Im just going to catch everyone up on what is going on in my life (I have to keep a blog for English, dont want to get a bad grade).

At this exact moment I am sitting on my bed, surrounded by textbooks, needing to study. I hate to study. Never really had to in high school, but Im very competitive when it comes to grades, but yet I am the queen of procrastination. An odd comibination I know.

This past weekend, instead of doing homework, I hung out with friends and spent an unnecessary amount of money on stuff that I dont need. The most exciting event was getting my tattoo fixed. Last year when I got out of boot camp, I got a shooting star tattoo on my foot/ankle. It was for my dad. Well, the woman that did it, sucked. It looked horrible. The star looked like a starfish, and the tail of it was squiggles. I had numerous people ask if I got bored and drew on myself with marker, thats how horrible it looked. So Saturday night, I went to my tattoo shop and got it fixed. I go to Hardwire on Front Street for anyone who wants to know, they do some of the best work in the area. Anyway, I had probably six different designs drawn on me seeing what we could do to cover up the shittyness. The start is still there, turned into a nautical star, there are commits and clouds and the moon and water. Im very happy with the end resualt, even though I was there for almost 4 hours. And a little information about getting your feet tattooed, highly painful. I have a VERY high pain tolerance, didnt even know that I had a broken bone after a car wreck, and this tattoo made me squirm.

I am going to warn everyone now. My next blog is an assigned one for English. We have to pay attention to our word choice and see what words/phrases we use most everyday. The warning is, I have very foul language, so be prepared.

"The Way to Rainy Mountain"

This article's mood is set immediately in the introduction. The description of Rainy Mountain, the details used, allow the reader to picture the setting as the author, Momaday, sees it. This article is vivid and each detail lends the reader a hand in understanding the deeper meaning of this article.

Momaday begins this article by describing Rainy Mountain and the "hardest weather in the world". He describes the different cycles this area of geography goes through. Before I go into that though, the author states " All things in the plain are isolate; there is no confusion of objects in the eye, but one hill or one tree or one man." If you read into that statement more, you will see that the author is using that statement as a metaphor for life. At the end of your days, not a single action, event, person, and so on, stand out as THE significant moment. Everything that happens and everyone you meet, blend together as one, creating the whole scene of your life at once. All that you have experienced is blended together to create the final picture, not a single event defines you, but the final picture is what defines you. Momaday uses his first paragraph to do just that. The scene he depicts does not just focus on one item, but the combination of everything creates the significance.

Momaday uses well chosen details and word choice to describe the weather cycles for Rainy Mountain. Each weather description is fierce and brings the imagination to life picturing the blizzards and the scorching heat. These events are scary and thrilling at the same time. During them one would have to use courage and not give in to the urge to give up. Despite the harsh circumstances, once over them, one can look back and see the beauty in it. The fact that each cycle, you can adapt and learn new ways of coping with what is thrown at you. The end picture has so much more meaning because of this. The same goes for life. Each hard experience you go through, may seem like the end during it, but if you keep going, once on the other side, you can reflect and see how beautiful that harship is. It makes you stronger and gives you experience and gets your ready to handle what is thrown at you next. At the end of it all, the horrible that you experience turns into something beautiful becuase it has molded you into who you are today; just like the final image of Rainy Mountain. Despite the horrors this place goes through, after it all, the scenery is breath taking.

All About the Money

Ive noticed that as Americans' our value system is based, in general, on money. Everything revolves around tangible gain and not necessarily on bettering oneself. We believe that the more money we have, the more valuable we are and the more impact we have on the world around us. Because of this basis, little or no care is taken to preserve our natural surroundings and historical sites.

Our lives are driven by the fact that money makes everything better, the more we have, the happier we will be. Or so that is what most of us are led to believe. In this process of gaining wealth, many will do anything and everything to get there, and not care what happens in the process. Architects are a prime example of this. Most don't take into consideration the location of the building they are planning, not in the sense of historical relivance anyway. So many historical sites and buildings are torn down and destroyed. All of this done for profit. Much of our history has been forgotten and tossed aside because of the destruction of memorable sites.

Long Weekends

This weekend has been a long and eventful one. Friday, I ended up going over to a friend's house. Tosha needed help with a baking project for a class she is taking. I was up until 3 am helping her bake french bagette bread. That was an interesting experience. We ended up having a huge mess to clean up afterwards, but the bread turned out amazing. We make a great team. During our project, Tosha's brother kept trying to distract us.

Now, Tosha is a few years younger than me, 3 to be exact, and her brother is only a few months younger. The three of us worked together over the summer. Needless to say, her brother Rich, thinks that he is "the shit". I think every male goes through this stage, well some never leave it but thats a whole other story. He was desperately trying to get us to devote our attention to him instead of baking the bread. The things he did were actually quite commical, including walking around with his shorts pulled down over his white behind, showing all. It was just too funny because he tried so hard to get a reaction and the more we ignored him, the harder he tried. Why is it that men try so hard to get reactions from women, and any kind of reaction at that?!?!

Then next day was more of the same, except Tosha wasn't around to keep Rich off me. She had her baking class. I helped clean their house up a bit and during this I had to keep my guard up. Ive learned the hard way that walking around in sleep pants around Rich is not a very good idea. I lost them on several occasions because he would walk by and give them a nice hard tug. Id love to know when 19 years old regressed to being 8 again. To my relief, he left and I didnt see him for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday Tosha and I decided to make dinner, at midnight. We did pretty well if I say so myself. We made orange ginger chicken and General Tso chicken. There was garlic couscous and risotto too. For dessert we had brie and crackers with fresh blueberries. There weren't any left overs. Once again we made a mess of the kitchen, but it was sooo worth it.

Sunday, I made more bread. We did so well that we wanted to share it with everyone and made honey butter to go along with it. My crew got together later on that night and we went bowling. That was interesting. I was the only girl in the group, again. Sergio acted like he was white, again. He got a little cocky after a few strikes. The other guys just goofed off. Juan, I dont know how he bowled. He broke his hand last weekend punching his truck after some guy ran into it at the boat docks. I sat out because my shoulder is still messed up from the car wreck I was in back in November and I dont want my collar bone to break again. During those few hours at the bowling alley, I was close to loosing a few of my friends. I was going to kill both Juan and Sergio. They both kept hitting my ear that I just got pierced. It doesnt sound like it is a big deal, but it kept tearing my ear and making it bleed. The woman that pierced it called it a suicide. Im not sure if thats to correct term but thats what Im using for now.

Now you can see why I was not happy with them for hitting it. My hair looks bad in that picture but I kind of figured I needed to give a visual.

Anyway, it is Monday evening and I am completely done with all my homework for my classes. I feel like Im missing some because I didnt really have that much to do. Oh well, its time to see what other trouble I can get myself into tonight.

Thursday Nights are COLLEGE NIGHTS!!!!

Have you ever thought about the reality of going to a club? A bunch of groups of strangers gathering in one building, getting shitfaced drunk, dancing and grinding on people they dont know. The women are all skantily clad and wonder why they get groped by the strange men they dance with. The men all get dressed up to stare at the almost naked women and start fights with other drunk men who are looking at the same woman that doesnt even belong to them, but to the man standing in the corner having a beer. And yet we live for the thrill of club nights?

Now, dont get me wrong. I am a fellow club goer myself. I have just recently sat down and thought about this aspect. How do we consider all that fun? I have had some of the most amazingly fun nights of my life at clubs. But, when I think about these nights, they all end up with stories about who got in a fight with who over so and so, or did you see how that guy tried to dance with me. I find it entertaining that our generations idea of fun is mainly focused on drinking and parties. But, Im not complaining.

Actually, last week I had some things happen to me that were story worth:

Most of my friends are guys. I just seem to get along better with men than I do women. I have recently been dubbed "one of the boys" by my "group". Anyway, we all went together downtown to our favorite club. Now, picture this: a short blonde chick, a 6 foot Mexican, a "redneck" with spit bottle in hand, a 6ft 6 black cowboy, and an assortment of other mismatched guys, walk in the club together. That in itself I find hysterical. I had my own personal bodygaurd team. Now before this, we were all in Walmart, dressed up for the night out, in the little girls toy section. I had to buy a birthday present for my best friend's eldest; she turned 5. Needless to say we turned several heads. At the club, I was video taped by my friend Juan, and I didnt know it. I was on the dance floor having a good time dancing with my friends..who just happened to be black and over 6 feet tall. Im 5 ft 2. This video was sent to everyone that I knew. The funny part about this, is that of course the club is dark, and on the video, since both my friends have dark skin, it almost looks like Im dancing by myself because the quality of the camera is shitty. Im not the one who pointed this out either, my 6ft 6 cowboy friend, Sergio, did.

That probably isnt that funny to others who werent there, like so many club stories, you had to be there.

But, I will end this here. Time to get ready to go out with my interesting hodgepodge entourage. But, not before I finish my homework ;)

milblogging....

The military has a substantial amount of meaning and impact on my life. The majority of the men on both sides of my family have been, at some point in their lives, in the military or affiliated with it. All my life I have had a great appreciation for members of the armed forces because of this fact. I made a major decision after high school, turned down acceptance to Purdue University, and did exactly the opposite of what everyone expected; I joined the Navy. So much has happened between then and now that I really don't want to get into but, the short and very simple version is that I got hurt and was discharged.


Now that my brief history is finished, I can go on with the true subject of this blog. I just wanted to explain why this subject has such meaning to me.


My English class was given an assignment the other day to find two blogs that we thought were interesting. Before this assignment I have had ZERO experience with blogging. It took me forever to find two that even remotely looked appropriate for class. I ended up choosing two milblogs. One titled American Soldier and the other From My Position...On the Way. The former is solely one author while the latter is a compilation of blogs from different authors. Both discussed the happenings of a soldiers daily routine. Some entries contained descriptions and personal feelings about major news breaking happenings overseas, while some just focused on the tediousness of being away from home and the daily monotonous routines that are quickly established by the men and women on deployment. Having military background, I found it interesting and dare I say, entertaining to be able to read these. Milblogging gives civillians the chance to experience the true meaning of what it means to be at war. I know this particular war is controversial, and most do not support it, I know many soldiers who do not, but that doesn't mean that people in general don't support the troops. Milblogging is in its own way, able to demonstrate the types of ordeals that soldiers go through on a daily basis that may, or may not, change their opinion on whether or not to support soldiers in general.

I also noticed that, to some extent due to the need to be discrete, the truth comes out. Pictures and links from news stories were often used in blogs followed by personal accounts of what happened. These blogs give readers a front row seat so to speak, to what has been going on overseas. That in itself is amazing considering that not even a hundred years ago it would take weeks or even months before news would reach the homefront, and now it takes only seconds.