Fire Drill

This morning, the Noyer Dormitories had a fire drill. Now I'm all for safety and being aware of the fire exits, but not at two o'clock in the morning. That's right. Our fire drill was at two AM! At first I thought it was my alarm, but once I ruled that out, I realized what was happening. Thinking it was a real fire (because who on Earth would have a drill at two in the morning?), I hurried out of my bunk. Well, I should say fell more than hurried. Disoriented from the chaos of everyone running along the halls banging on doors, I grabbed my jacket and bolted for the door. I'm glad I brought my jacket, but in the midst of the madness, I forgot my shoes. We all stood outside in our groups to take attendance for about twenty minutes. I got to bed around three. My first class today was at eight. Lovely.

Crash Bandicoot

The other day, I was watching my friend play this video game called Crash Bandicoot on his Play Station. This game is a classic for anyone that knows Play Station. While I was watching, I realized how far video games have come in a mere twenty years! The graphics nowadays a simply amazing. Now, any system has multiple capabilities such as internet usage and the ability to watch movies. The Play Station 3 can even play Blue Ray discs. These video game consuls are bringing a whole new meaning to multimedia!

Apple's Mac Commercials

For my rhetorical analysis, I decided to use the well known Apple computer commercials. Personally, I do prefer Macs to PCs. The idea of having virtually no viruses is very appealing to me. Although the price for a Mac greatly outweighs the PC, I believe the extra cost is worth my while. I grew up with a PC. Our family of five all used it. I cannot even begin to describe my immense frustration with the endless reboots, warning messages, and loading bars. Once in high school, I was introduced to the world of Apple. I began using the school's Macs for all of my projects such as editing videos. That's why I was very anxious to purchase my MacBook Pro for college. I worked forty hours a week all summer just to get enough money to pay for it. So far, I don't have one complaint about it! The battery life is excellent, which is very helpful in a mobile society. I am especially pleased with the ability to have Microsoft Office on my Mac. I don't really ever see myself going back to using PCs. However, it may be too early to tell.

English Post

Tuesday, September 15:

Today, Kevin Banich and myself had our I Believe papers intensely reviewed. I started by reading my paper to the class. Then, everyone had the opportunity to give some suggestions as to how I can improve my paper. Following my intensive review, Kevin received the same treatment. The class made some excellent points. Professor McArdle also gave us some suggestions for improving our paper. After the intensive review, Professor McArdle discussed the ever-changing schedule with us and we decided to continue the intensive reviews for future assignments.

Thursday, September 17:

Today, it was Jacob Dietz's turn to have his paper intensely reviewed. After he read his paper aloud, the class offered helpful suggestions to improve his paper. After Jacob's intensive review, we learned about our upcoming Rhetorical Analysis paper. Luckily, we have one more class period next Tuesday to discuss it in more detail. After the Rhetorical Analysis discussion, we proceeded to our small groups to peer edit each others' papers.

Intensive Review

My intensive review on Tuesday was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I received some very good critique. Since then I have made some good corrections to my I Believe paper. After the intensive review, I was able to trim my paper down to four pages. I will continue to improve my paper until the final draft is due in our portfolio at the end of the semester. Writing about what I believe in was harder than I thought it would be, but nonetheless, I'm glad this was our first assignment.

Wuhnurth

Thee is this music festival in Muncie this weekend that looks pretty cool. It's called Wuhnurth. It lasts from Friday afternoon until early Monday morning. It's only $30 for the whole weekend, which is a fair price for three days of camping out and seeing some live music performances. I've actually decided just now that I'm going to go! This should be a good way to meet new people. I'm looking forward to hearing some new music by some artists I've never heard of. I'll be sure to post my experiences next week.

Lollapalooza

I have added a link to a song on my blog. The song is called "Lollapalooza." This is my favorite orchestral compositions by one of my favorite composers. John Adams, the composer, wrote this in 1995. Adams is famous for his minimalist work. If you listen closely to the piece, you can hear the actual word 'Lollapalooza' emphasized by low brass instruments about 45 seconds into it. See if you can hear it. It sounds like 'LollapaLOOza.' This is a very energetic overture. It's amazing what can be done with such a simple beat, or even a word!

Music

I have decided to do my I Believe In paper about music. Music has been a big part of my life ever since elementary school, so I think it should be fairly easy to write about. I mean, music has impacted almost every aspect of my life. I met my best friends, met my girlfriend, and had the time of my life thanks to music. I think my first draft is pretty good. I'm actually looking forward to improving it.

Texting and Driving

I recently watched this short video emphasizing the dangers of text messaging while driving. The PSA video uses strong, graphic images to deter teens from using their phones while driving. The video has, unsurprisingly, received much criticism. A large percentage of parents are protesting the video. They seem to believe it is too graphic for their teens to watch. I think that the short film does a fantastic job of showing the real life dangers of text messaging and driving. Sometimes, the shock factor is the best way to reach new, young drivers. Still, this raises the question; Did the media go too far?