Every time I write I write in the same spot, on the same computer, with the same pair of knit socks. If you know I am writing and you need to find me, I will be sitting in my bed on the third floor of my house looking over a big swamp, half blocked by a tree that envelopes the lower half of my window. I am always under the comforter, but never under the sheet...it's just too much. Actually, to be honest, I have no idea why I don't go under the sheets, but they just bother me and by the end are usually at the bottom of my bed anyways. I always wear my favorite pair of socks that i'm not really sure can be considered socks. More like knit slippers that go up to my mid-calf. I got them from my Auntie Cindy as a gift a while ago and I remember thinking, wow socks? Cool auntie...but look at it now, they are my favorite pair! Anyways, enough with the socks, I also write on my laptop and only on my laptop. There are actually many reasons for this, mainly because I can't take our desktop computer to my bed, but also because I know my laptop. I know how hard I have to press down to type out a word. I know that when the computer gets so hot that I can feel it on my legs that it's time to give it a rest. And I know the size of the screen and how the words fit to it, I just know my computer and how I want whatever i'm writing to look when I finish.
Unlike most people, I don't exactly need complete silence. I assume this is because I have two brothers and my parents are really loud and obnoxious usually, so I don't really have the option of quiet. BUT when I start my paper or whatever i'm writing, I try to get things as quiet as possible. It's just the beginning that always throws me off. There I need quiet. Oddly, I can never write with music playing. If it's classical with no words and I don't know the song, then I can. But if it's a song that I know, has lyrics, or a melody that is repeating slash I recognize it, then no way jose am I going to be able to concentrate long enough to write even half of a sentence.
So basically I followed every single one of these to get ready for writing my paper. I started with writing out a rough draft that basically sucked. As I went through my paper writing draft after draft I had different people proof read it and give me corrections. I always have my mom be the first to proof read, then I don't let her see it until the very last proof read. By the end she said it turned into a completely different paper. Success. I love proof reading my papers and thinking about one thing, then reading through the entire paper and changing everything that has to do with that rule. I loved it! Am I a nerd that way? yes. Do I care? nope.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
How Safe is Downtown?
How safe do you think downtown really is? The question could be answered in so many different ways depending on the circumstances of course, but in this post I am going to be talking about my circumstances and my experience from last night. Trust me, they are worth talking about.
Let me give you a small recap of my night. My friend Shannon and I went to see the Scottish Ballet at the Orpheum by ourselves and it ended at 10:40 PM. The Orpheum is located on Hennepin and 9th street, unfortunately we parked on Marquette and 6th. So we were dressed up in high heels that were way to high, skirts, and I personally think we looked pretty good. So did many men on the streets on our walk home.
Everybody knows who I'm talking about when I talk about these guys right? The ones that come out of the alleys (we looked in one and I almost screamed), the ones that wear their pants to the ground, the ones that have never taken a grammar class in their lives, and of course the ones that make rude and inappropriate comments to young girls in skirts. These are the kind of people I am wondering about. I kept wondering to myself last night if these guys were just talking the talk or if they would actually try to touch me. I'm sure in the end it's probably all harassment, but at the time there was no way I was about to risk it.
Shannon told me that she heard from someone that you should walk with your head down when you pass those people. So we did that, and I just looked up what you should do if something happens. If they speak to you, walk away and ignore them. Did that. If they follow, get into an entrance of a building that looks safe. The problem with this is that we were looking for entrances and there were very few, or they were closed buildings. Also, always try to find a group of people to walk with. We definitely did that and got some very strange looks and comments, but we felt much safer. If they try to grab you run, point a gun at you run, chase after you...run faster. But remember, high heels. There was no running for us. We could do this sort of gallopy looking thing, but if we were being chased, it would be a good night to be the bad guy.
In the end we got to the car safely, and to be honest the comments did boost our egos a bit, but for future reference I just won't be wearing the clothing I was in downtown Minneapolis at 10:40 PM with my tall, blonde, sixteen year old best friend anymore, because we are bound to get captured and raped. I just know it. And also, every single one of the solutions I looked up are common sense. So if you are put in this situation, keep your head down, don't talk to strangers, and if anything happens, by all means run your little heart out! Swell travels to you all.
Let me give you a small recap of my night. My friend Shannon and I went to see the Scottish Ballet at the Orpheum by ourselves and it ended at 10:40 PM. The Orpheum is located on Hennepin and 9th street, unfortunately we parked on Marquette and 6th. So we were dressed up in high heels that were way to high, skirts, and I personally think we looked pretty good. So did many men on the streets on our walk home.
Everybody knows who I'm talking about when I talk about these guys right? The ones that come out of the alleys (we looked in one and I almost screamed), the ones that wear their pants to the ground, the ones that have never taken a grammar class in their lives, and of course the ones that make rude and inappropriate comments to young girls in skirts. These are the kind of people I am wondering about. I kept wondering to myself last night if these guys were just talking the talk or if they would actually try to touch me. I'm sure in the end it's probably all harassment, but at the time there was no way I was about to risk it.
Shannon told me that she heard from someone that you should walk with your head down when you pass those people. So we did that, and I just looked up what you should do if something happens. If they speak to you, walk away and ignore them. Did that. If they follow, get into an entrance of a building that looks safe. The problem with this is that we were looking for entrances and there were very few, or they were closed buildings. Also, always try to find a group of people to walk with. We definitely did that and got some very strange looks and comments, but we felt much safer. If they try to grab you run, point a gun at you run, chase after you...run faster. But remember, high heels. There was no running for us. We could do this sort of gallopy looking thing, but if we were being chased, it would be a good night to be the bad guy.
In the end we got to the car safely, and to be honest the comments did boost our egos a bit, but for future reference I just won't be wearing the clothing I was in downtown Minneapolis at 10:40 PM with my tall, blonde, sixteen year old best friend anymore, because we are bound to get captured and raped. I just know it. And also, every single one of the solutions I looked up are common sense. So if you are put in this situation, keep your head down, don't talk to strangers, and if anything happens, by all means run your little heart out! Swell travels to you all.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
If everyone stopped, life would be great
If everyone could simply do as I say, the world would be a much better place. I wouldn't get annoyed and want to smack some people across the face, and I know I am not the only one who agrees with some of these. Follow these easy steps, and make my life happier:
- Stop apologizing for every single thing you do. You ask what the homework is? "Ok i'm sorry!!"...why? It literally took me 5 seconds to tell you what it was.
- If you raise your hand in class to correct the teacher if he/she says something is due the next day and it's Friday...everyone knows what they mean. Don't be annoying.
- Ew. Please don't suck up your snot. Walk the 10 steps to get a tissue. It's gross.
- You can stop taking pictures of yourselves in the school bathrooms...is that even sanitary? The lighting sucks, so it's not a good picture anyways. So you can go ahead and stop at anytime now.
- If you don't make words that you mean to be adjectives not into them. It's two little letters guys. L and Y.
- PDA in school...you know what I am talking about.
- If you smoke, well just don't. But if you do, don't walk with a cigarette in your hand, because every single person behind you gets to suck in your smoke. It's disgusting!
If you follow these 7 steps, life will already be a little better. Anything else, I can basically laugh about, but these really bother me. So let's have a good day and not be annoying!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Structure and Sadness
I went to a show tonight at the Walker Art Center. I just crawled in bed and decided that I needed to write a blog...now. I can't get it off my mind, it was wonderful!
Basically, the story is about the bridge in West Gate that collapsed in 1970. I didn't know this before the show, which I'm pretty glad about because it slowly came together throughout the show. For the record, it's choreographed by Lucy Guerin, so snaps for Lucy!...excuse my Legally Blonde reference.
When thStructure and Sadnesse show started, the first thing I thought was, "oh great, I bet it's going to be as sucky as that last show"...not that i'm going to name names or anything, that'd be plain cruel. The whole show started with a man who danced with a piece of ply wood basically... it sounds as dumb as it was, excuse my criticizing. BUT in the shows defense, it got much better and is definitely top of my list.
After the man did a cool trick and left, the show began. bum bum buuum....picture this: three guys, three girls, surrounded my piles of different sized ply wood. Choreographically they are grabbing stacks and setting them up to stand like dominoes sort of. It took me a while to figure out what they were doing, but it was truly amazing. They were doing this for a good 15 minutes, but my mind never wandered. Emotional music was play (can I get some Pathos please?), and in pairs, the dancers would come out and do a contemporary phrase.
At this point, I still had no idea what this piece was really about, and the set up was getting so high on one side that they brought in a15 ft ladder to keep on stacking. Everything was choreographed so beautifully! Then the story started to come together. A long metal board and a small object holding the middle were assembled as the dancers teeter-tottered on either side. Four of them were on it, and at one point a guy goes under it and it collapses.
Let me quickly recap the rest: They tipped on bored over, the smallest which was like a half a foot big, while the largest was like 4 feet big. Then they just crashed down. It was breathtaking. Next there's a woman who sets up a table with the ply wood and is singing along to a new, upbeat music. In the background the two girls are on another bridge made of the metal and two small latters, Then a news report goes over the speakers about the bridge collapse. They do a little dance, they make it as the guys are "ghosts", and the ending left me speechless.
All of the dancers were laying on the ground in a straight line and a metal board is placed over them, and the woman who was singing before, walks across it as the lights go out. This portrays the death of these people by the bridge, and the lights go out before we see if the woman made it across the "bridge".
Or at least that's what I thought about. Sorry for the never ending post, but I recommend this show, it's wonderful and makes you think. You get to see the emotions one may feel when they come across a situation like this. People's husbands and brothers die, but no one can ever know the deep pain endless you were put in the position of someone who lost a loved one. This piece makes you think about these things with a new mind, by not only hearing, but seeing the emotions that are connected to these words.
Think about it for a while.
P.S. if this link works, it's not the same people I saw, and it's much better in person. www.youtube.com
Basically, the story is about the bridge in West Gate that collapsed in 1970. I didn't know this before the show, which I'm pretty glad about because it slowly came together throughout the show. For the record, it's choreographed by Lucy Guerin, so snaps for Lucy!...excuse my Legally Blonde reference.
When thStructure and Sadnesse show started, the first thing I thought was, "oh great, I bet it's going to be as sucky as that last show"...not that i'm going to name names or anything, that'd be plain cruel. The whole show started with a man who danced with a piece of ply wood basically... it sounds as dumb as it was, excuse my criticizing. BUT in the shows defense, it got much better and is definitely top of my list.
After the man did a cool trick and left, the show began. bum bum buuum....picture this: three guys, three girls, surrounded my piles of different sized ply wood. Choreographically they are grabbing stacks and setting them up to stand like dominoes sort of. It took me a while to figure out what they were doing, but it was truly amazing. They were doing this for a good 15 minutes, but my mind never wandered. Emotional music was play (can I get some Pathos please?), and in pairs, the dancers would come out and do a contemporary phrase.
At this point, I still had no idea what this piece was really about, and the set up was getting so high on one side that they brought in a15 ft ladder to keep on stacking. Everything was choreographed so beautifully! Then the story started to come together. A long metal board and a small object holding the middle were assembled as the dancers teeter-tottered on either side. Four of them were on it, and at one point a guy goes under it and it collapses.
Let me quickly recap the rest: They tipped on bored over, the smallest which was like a half a foot big, while the largest was like 4 feet big. Then they just crashed down. It was breathtaking. Next there's a woman who sets up a table with the ply wood and is singing along to a new, upbeat music. In the background the two girls are on another bridge made of the metal and two small latters, Then a news report goes over the speakers about the bridge collapse. They do a little dance, they make it as the guys are "ghosts", and the ending left me speechless.
All of the dancers were laying on the ground in a straight line and a metal board is placed over them, and the woman who was singing before, walks across it as the lights go out. This portrays the death of these people by the bridge, and the lights go out before we see if the woman made it across the "bridge".
Or at least that's what I thought about. Sorry for the never ending post, but I recommend this show, it's wonderful and makes you think. You get to see the emotions one may feel when they come across a situation like this. People's husbands and brothers die, but no one can ever know the deep pain endless you were put in the position of someone who lost a loved one. This piece makes you think about these things with a new mind, by not only hearing, but seeing the emotions that are connected to these words.
Think about it for a while.
P.S. if this link works, it's not the same people I saw, and it's much better in person. www.youtube.com
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Speech
I am in the middle of watching the Obama back-to-school speech, I wanted to write as I was watching so the I could catch the little details in his speech.
Before Obama even came out on stage, the scene is set. There are rows and rows of students in the background of all ethnicities, the entire place is decorated blue (symbolizing leadership I believe?), and a student opens the entire speech.
I was a little surprised that Obama came out saying "Heeeey!" it caught me off guard a bit. I kind of felt like I was at a concert, but I think his point was to bring himself down to a more informal state. This is because his audience here is students, who would better understand someone who spoke like them, or rather us. So I understand his reason behind an introduction like this, but it still caught me off guard...pleasantly I might add.
At the very beginning, he sets the stage by saying that he does not want to be just another adult standing before us kids, talking to us as minority. By this, he gives us a feeling of having a larger purpose, which personally makes me want to listen to him more because I feel like he is not about to just tell me that I have to work harder or stop acting like a child. Rather I'm ready for him to speak to me as if I am an adult and I have responsibilities that will actually matter.
He used the metaphor, "sometimes you need to color outside of the lines." I thought this was really cute, and a little inspiring because everybody can relate to this idea and paint a picture in their mind.
He doesn't have any visuals, but he paints a lot of pictures by using personal examples. Personally I would say make the speech a little shorter, because I am getting really bored and tuning out a little bit, but summing it up, it's a good speech. He's his hands well and seems very comfortable at giving speeches which is very helpful in watching him and feeling comfortable listening.
He doesn't say anything significantly powerful by using repetition or anything, he is simply stating the facts. It is effective,but a little lecture-ish and to be honest, kind of boring. If I had a choice, I would turn it off right now.
His ending was good and straight to the point which I liked. The last thing I want to say before I finish up is that I definitely noticed that every single person in the background was either African American or Indian, except for one boy in the front left corner. I have a feeling that they did this on purpose too to make it seem like America is very ethnically accepting and diverse. Which I guess is true to a point, but I found it a little bit obnoxious.
That is all I have to say :)
Before Obama even came out on stage, the scene is set. There are rows and rows of students in the background of all ethnicities, the entire place is decorated blue (symbolizing leadership I believe?), and a student opens the entire speech.
I was a little surprised that Obama came out saying "Heeeey!" it caught me off guard a bit. I kind of felt like I was at a concert, but I think his point was to bring himself down to a more informal state. This is because his audience here is students, who would better understand someone who spoke like them, or rather us. So I understand his reason behind an introduction like this, but it still caught me off guard...pleasantly I might add.
At the very beginning, he sets the stage by saying that he does not want to be just another adult standing before us kids, talking to us as minority. By this, he gives us a feeling of having a larger purpose, which personally makes me want to listen to him more because I feel like he is not about to just tell me that I have to work harder or stop acting like a child. Rather I'm ready for him to speak to me as if I am an adult and I have responsibilities that will actually matter.
He used the metaphor, "sometimes you need to color outside of the lines." I thought this was really cute, and a little inspiring because everybody can relate to this idea and paint a picture in their mind.
He doesn't have any visuals, but he paints a lot of pictures by using personal examples. Personally I would say make the speech a little shorter, because I am getting really bored and tuning out a little bit, but summing it up, it's a good speech. He's his hands well and seems very comfortable at giving speeches which is very helpful in watching him and feeling comfortable listening.
He doesn't say anything significantly powerful by using repetition or anything, he is simply stating the facts. It is effective,but a little lecture-ish and to be honest, kind of boring. If I had a choice, I would turn it off right now.
His ending was good and straight to the point which I liked. The last thing I want to say before I finish up is that I definitely noticed that every single person in the background was either African American or Indian, except for one boy in the front left corner. I have a feeling that they did this on purpose too to make it seem like America is very ethnically accepting and diverse. Which I guess is true to a point, but I found it a little bit obnoxious.
That is all I have to say :)
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