No progress

Had a sweet spring break even though I didn't go anywhere. It was my b-day yesterday. I haven't started on my paper yet and its Saturday night! But I have all of tomorrow.

Spring Break 2010

The photos below were taken at Cocoa Beach Pier in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where I spent a few days relaxing on the beach. Although I complained the whole way, because this was my first ever real road trip and drive longer than four hours, the 4o-ish total hours driven back and forth were well worth it.

Besides spending time on the beach I also got to: spend time with my immediate family, who recently moved to Orlando, Florida, take an air boat ride/tour on the supposed "most gator infested lake in Florida", go bowling at the craziest all-in-one bowling alley/arcade/club/bar I've ever seen, disc golf at an awesome park on an 80 degree, sunny day, mini golf, shop, sleep in, and most importantly, relax and ignore anything school or work related for a week.

$pring Break $pending

I sold my motorcycle for $1,850

I bought a new TV $850

I got money for my birthday $250

I bought an xbox360= $80

I bought stuff for my new xbox360= $50

I bought a new BCD for scuba diving= $100

I bought new dining room table chairs= $130

This spring break has been money madness.

Ive made a pact to spend no money next month

Shank

Shank’s presentation of his writing in the blog is similar to the writing in our essays. For example Shank questions, “So what hinders innovation and change?” Shank uses ideas from interactions with people from his life to ask questions and expand upon those ideas within his blog. This directly relates to our course goal to use sources and expand upon them to create our own ideas.

This style of presentation is different from our goal of academic inquiry research and writing because Shank uses personal life experiences. Although Shank is highly accredited, us as English 102 writers use academic and published journals for our sources more then our personal involvement with our topics.

Shank’s blog is as academic as it is a personal blog. Most traditional blogs I’ve personally seen have been about those at less of an educational level then Shank. Most blogs I've seen, the writer talks about their everyday interactions in the world such as bad flavor of the day at the ice-cream store to being in their first car accident. Shank’s high education leads him to interactions with people of similar education. He blogs about his everyday social life, which is extraordinarily advanced intellectually.

To be a Dad during Spring break

During spring break Ive been apart of many adventures. Ive partaken in hunting zombies to ensure survival of the human race, a pirate on the high seas, and a space ship pilot involved in spreading freedom from tyranny. Ive had the opportunity to be a chef, a nurse, a mentor, a comedian, a Drill Sergeant, a maid, a friend, a computer technician, a taxi driver, a critic, a source of money, a giver of advice, a source of wisdom, and at times ready to pull my hair out. Wrap it all up and that equals a Dad.

During my Spring Break I have been a Dad to 3 kids and enjoyed it.

Jason Robinson

SPRING BREAK

This spring break i worked a lot and did not make a lot of progress on my paper. It was my birthday last night and i had a lot of "fun". dont remember a lot of it, but i was told i had a good time. im hungover like a boss! hopefully i start to buckle down on my paper.

PEACE!

Spring Break disappointments

Lets see my spring break was so so. My family and I moved into our new house which meant that I spent my break unpacking wasn't fun. But I did have some fun times I made a visit to Dave and Busters it was fun although the food really sucked. I played BINGO at Potawatomi like three days in a row. I went to see Repo Man funny movie and I got a new look going for me. OOOO and my biggest disappointment wasn't that I had homework it was that my Dad and his wife for some unknown reason decided that over my spring break they would renew their wedding vows they've only been married for ten years so whats the need to do that for I don't know. It was funny though my mom showed up and everybody got quite it was a priceless moment lol. Overall my break has been ok though I learned a lot about my limitations, my views, and overall myself.

Revision

I'm finally going to start revising my paper. Sure it probably was not a good idea to wait this long but i was having way too much fun over spring break to work on it. After the discussions in class about critical inquiry i realized i could elaborate on some of my ideas that were previously undeveloped. With this revision and others my paper should meet the 10 page requirement, if i pass it or not obviously remains to be seen but i feel pretty good about how its all coming together.

Spring Break and Homework

They should never mix, by the way.
To be completely honest, I have not spent much time thinking about english. I had homework in all of my classes and those assignments seemed more entertaining than this one, so here I am, attempting to finish this one over the weekend, before I head off to work and deal with whatever crap awaits me there.
4 aids on the floor last night. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS.
Not only that, but because I work full time and go to school full time, I have neglected a lot of things over the past few months and so I had to take time this week to get things organized. The baby is going to be here in two months. I am on my countdown. And I dont like feeling unprepared.
And I do.
My mind is in total baby mode. Not to mention that I have this horrible pain in my side that wont go away and I dont know if it is baby kicking me or if it is my gallbladder, which apparently can become quite abnoxious with women in their third trimester, and I itch all over. And when I say all over, I mean even my fingers itch. And that is really unpleasant. And when you are feeling overweight and overworked and overtired and overstressed, it is hard to focus on school.
Where was I? Oh yes...
BABY!
But I am incredibly excited. I tried to get his room together, but its hard because I know that I am going to be having a baby shower when his family gets back from Mexico. That's right. We were supposed to go to Mexico for his sister's wedding, but Mexico and 7 months pregnant just did not seem to mix. So here we are. At home. Grr.
So, about this who paper thing...
I re read what I wrote from my first draft. Finally. I never like reading my drafts because I am always afraid that I am going to look at them and go "UGH" and then feel like a huge failure and have to start all over. I dont know if I was critical and I still dont exactly get what it means. I think I came up with some new ideas, but what do I know. I do know, however, that I need to take a good long look at the course goals and really focus on them, because I didnt give two craps about them the first time. I just started writing. There was so much in my brain that I just had to get it out on paper. It felt good, but now I feel overwhelmed again because I sort of feel like I am back at square one.
I dont know if I am on the right track or not.
I think a good start for tomorrow would be to do an outline and try to figure out what I am trying to do with my essay. What I got out of it in the end was that America needs to work with the Arab world, not focus on taking down Bin Laden, because bringing them up and raising their confidence will take away his power. Therefore destroying his following, at least to a greater extent. But I dont know if that is critical or if that is just me spouting off my opinions. I think I might try to incorporate what I wrote last Friday into my paper, becaue I think that what I came up with then was more critical, per say, but it needs refinement. Do I have to come up with new terms? Random generalizations about what I think are not going to help me now. I need to dig deep.
This is frustrating. Thinking is difficult.
On the topic of these blogs...
Shank's blog was really interesting. When I first opened up his page, I thought his layout was awesome. I loved the pictures and the even the style of text he used. It looked academic (can somehting look that way?). But I really dont think it was. I think it was a man at him computer reflecting on his thoughts and the thoughts of his community and really isnt that all a blog is? It wasnt academic inquiry he was engaging in. I think it was just him trying to make sense of a lot of different ideas and concepts. It was interesting (though I was lost reading some of the post, I admit) but he didnt say anything new or do anything or change anything. He had some unique thoughts, but everyone has those. Are there any stakeholders in his blogging? Yes. I think people who are a part of his community care about what his ideas and thoughts and reflections are. He is an important member of their society and when he talks (or blogs), people tend to listen. Perhaps someone is taking his ideas and actually using them to perform academic inquiry. I dont know. Do I think he was critical? Perhaps. I think at times he started going somewhere, but it never went far enough. And it didnt have to. This blog appears more professional on the surface, when you look at the structure of the opening page and its layout. It looks professional. But I dont think it is entirely. He is not opening up about his personal life, this is true, but he is not attempting to address anyone specifically. I dont believe that he sits down at the computer and considers what he going to say and who he is going to address before beginning his writing. I think that he just begins to write. He is writing about a profession and about academic topics and therefore his work may seem more professional, but I think it is more personal. I think he is really just trying to write what he thinks and feels, about what his opinions are and what he believes is important and interesting and unique.
I absolutely loved Dooce's blog. It had me laughing. I read her three part labor story (seeing as I thought it would be relavent) and I really enjoyed her writing style. She made me feel as though I was experiencing things with her. I have a lifestyle that is similar to hers. I have my home, with my fiancee and our cats and our soon to be new edition. And all those mundain aspects of life really dont seem that mundain when you are happy with your life. Her talking about her morning routine or her children or something funny her dogs did are all part of what makes life great. It is what your life is made off. And so I could really relate. I think though that she is playing to an audience. She writes like she is speaking to a crowd. She knows how to keep you engaged and she writed with a purpose. There is a topic and there is an ending. It is not purely random. But that is ok. She makes her living this way. She is good at what she is trying to sell, and that is her life and her experiences. Is she critical. In her own way. In her labor story she has some moments of thought provoking change and some interesting things to say about the birthing process. But I dont think what she has to say is extra ordinary. Would the world go on without her blog? Of course. She has not contributed anything of great importance. Her blogs are merely reiterations of her daily life. There is nothing that shows to me that she is on a quest to answer questions or understand her ideas any further. She is just writing about what she is experiencing. And she is good at it. And that is what brings people back to read more of her work. She has a huge stage to work with. The internet has given her the chance to share her life with people all over the world and that is the amazing thing about the internet. It connects people and life experiences and you realize that we are not so very different from one another. One thing bothered me. All the advertisements on her page. When I first opened it, I thought I had gone to the wrong site. It made everything at first seem really impersonal. But it is a business. It just gave it a feeling of being disconnected. I didnt like that.
I may go back and read more about both blogs.
But for now, I am just glad that I can go and do something else. I think I will go read over my A and P notes for my test coming up next week. That sounds exilerating.

thought process

So I have been doing some serious thinking and reflecting.

Some of you have read my blog postings, which have mainly been focused around foreign policy, but here is something that really has been an interesting question for me. I started this whole thing with the perception that to liberate social classes, there were many things that we would have to do. I believed that Lobbyists would have to take a stand down, and that the national minimum wage should be raised, and that every company (including foreign, U.S. based companies should have to pay taxes, and get no type of tax cuts), this would ensure that the people in the United States got the money that they deserved, so that people would have a relatively equal playing field, there were many other things that I wanted to change but you get the general idea.

The thinking process here was, if I changed the economic standing of citizens by limiting the influence of both domestic and foreign companies, and business leaders, and ensured that citizens would be granted the same types of privileges that wealthy people have... then things could at least be easier to live with, the poverty level wouldn't be so much, and the people who are homeless could get jobs easier because the companies couldn't move out of the country so easily.

To me that was a great thought process, and it was logical, at least at the time. Here is the problem and the question. If I change the economic standing of citizens does it mean that their class will be influenced for the better? At first I answered this with an emphatic YES, but look at it this way... your poor so I give you twenty bucks, but not only you get twenty bucks, but everyone gets twenty bucks now you are richer yes, but you are still twenty dollars poorer than everyone else, you may be able to get yourself a pair of pants, or maybe you invest in a haircut which later gets you a job, I don't know, but I do know that even though you may be able to dress yourself in better clothes, so are the people who were considered the middle class, and although the wealthy don't get as much money, they are still wealthy. The problem is that economics doesn't answer all of the question. Some people would say that they just want more money, but a middle class person might be asking for better job satisfaction, or for more compensation for traumatic events such as cancer, or a loss of a family member. The problem is, you will still be middle class, and your days will be just as monotonous as the day before. To change the United States, or even the world there would have to be a homogeneous mixture of economics, and morals... and for that to happen, well... it won't happen. For our economic, and socio- economic views to change there would have to be something epic to happen, like seriously we would need like a world wide economic collapse, and a quick entry for a new type of system that was generally accepted because it does not follow the same steps as our current economy in place.

Some people may say that this is now an economics debate and I am saying no it is not, there is a clear difference... our money may change but our social schema will not. If an economy is to better a society, the economy must embody the ideals of the people within it. Many people now are asking for more equality, people must understand that equality is not what people were asking for when our government was made, people wanted competition, and that is what they got, which is what makes it so hard for some people to live within our society. So, I guess the question is, what ideals does our country hold today? are we spawn of corruption, and indecency, people who put on a nice face, but are really mean and cruel. Or are we the country who on countless occasions has tried save, replenish, rebuild, or accept nations... I don't know how, why or when... but based on what we have seen and are seeing the economy will change, when it does there are going to be certain parties favored, with the health care bill, and the economic stimulus package I can see that there are huge strides to better the average americans lives, now lets hope there will be long term acts that will ensure not only a stable economy, but an economy that favors lives of freedom rather than lives of constant work, and cometetiveness

Listen to me bitch about SB

So I didn't have any plans to go anywhere, which wasn't a big deal to me because I never do, but apparently 85% of my friends decided they were either going home for SB or some awesome vacation. Although I had limited friends that were still around I was going to make the best of it, and being 21 its not that hard to find a good time at the bars on the weekend, so my weekend went alright. Then the week rolled around and I had to work 4-10 M-F. Realllll sweet. But it gets better. I woke up wednesday with an unbelievable sore throat and no energy to move/work/do anything. So I had to call in sick to work two days in a row which looks terrible because they know its my SB. Now its friday, I'm doing homework for this class, then going to work. Then spending the weekend revising my essay because I couldn't do it the past two days. I guess there is more to bitch about but I feel like I've done enough already. Hope this at least brightened up everyone else's Break.

Shanks Blog:

Having never really read over a blog of any sort, (other then our classes of course) I wasn't sure what to expect. I really liked the layout that Shanks uses, blogs are an interesting way to provide information via text but make it incredibly easy to throw in links, photos, other topics and useful information all into one space. Sometimes it reads like a picture book with hotlinks in it. The blog I read by Shanks was FARO - heritage futures. I felt like this was a mostly academic blog, he makes a distinction in his blog stating "My long-standing argument that archaeology is as much about the future as the past." He then continues to dissect the details of the Faro Convention into highlights as he see's them. The way he lays out the highlights of this document lead me to believe that Shanks is using his blog for a more academic based viewpoint then just blogging about daily stuff.

I also read some blogs from Dooce.com and found that this really isn't the thing for me. I'm glad that this family does well for itself writing daily blogs, taking pictures, and maintaining a website but its just not for me, besides, this shit i do, think, and say on a typical day is much more interesting then most of the stuff I spent the last 20 minutes reading. Must be a family person thing or something.

DONE

My Spring Break

So far ive been really bullshitting this break off, I've been doing my own thing and gettin much needed rest! Im taking this break as a F*ck You to all homework and school work. I wokeup a little early today and decided to do this homework. Guess i could give adam his "much needed" 45 minutes of homework. My spring break didnt consists of any trips or anything, but because of this break im now planning a summer trip. My trip will consists of me leavin milwaukee, and i will be going to new york, from new york ill be going to atlanta. I cant wait until summer break! Farewell for now, i guess ill restart some more revision tomorrow for this paper of mines. I hope everyone is out getting wasted enjoying spring break the right way!.
....O yeah by the way, tomorrow im attending a HOTEL party, with STRIPPERS!!!!!! Thats to all my buddies who like strippers, wanna come? let me kno lol....Alcohol and Gods Great Green Plants will also be in attendance. I hope adam isnt reading, then again, he might wanna come too!lmao ok im done now!

Other blogs and spring break

The blog is written like a story book or writing a story you would tell to someone in person. It is very much personal and real life events happening. The compared with Shanks is very much different. Shanks is more facts with a little opinion where this blog is more of a personal example that could be used in Shanks blog. She gives her opinion but in a way thats more open to others feedback or their say on the situation she wrote about in her blog. The medium used in the writing is like i said very real life situations and the pictures make it more realistic for the reader and better to understand, put reader in writer's shoes. Also the pictures were of every day objects where the ones in Shanks were objects no one knew anything about for the most part not making it relatable. it is very different from every day academic writing by the means that its just someone writing about their day, and it doesnt really have background information or sources cited to compare information or critque.

My spring break i went to florida! i have gone mini golfing, got second place! woo! then got a great massage but dang it took almost 2 hrs to get in, only cuz they were behind in people, but it came out to be a very good massage..especially for my first time. Then we went bowling which i suck at, and thats y i insisted i had bumpers, all the guys said thats being a sally or a pussy sooo i said u can have your own lane! i got third and last every other time ! haha! then we went go carting which i think was the best part of the trip!! i beat all the aggressive guys! i did get slammed though and got a bruise in the middle of my back not cool! but still sooo much fun. We went golfing where all i did was drive the golf cart which came to the second best thing of the trip! haha and today we are going on an air boat ride where i hope i get some color!

Shanks and Sh*t!lol

Shanks blog is pretty friendly, he presents his ideas as if he's blogging for people he knows. His writing is still illustrated in a form of academic inquiry because he analyzes and discusses his findings (research) and he shows that he knows what he's talking about. Shanks blog is more of a internet classroom where he displays real life examples to students, in a sense to give them a more close up image of things going on vs. the formal lecture hall with hundreds of students. His website is displayed to match his personality, while his posts seem to do the same. It lacks professionalism but this could be because it's just a blog, because he's an archaeolgist and not a website designer, and his writings would probably be displayed different if he was writing a paper instead.

Dooce's blog is more personal vs shanks which is more educational. Her blog is about her life and it is presented to inform people of what she does. Dooce's blog was also more appealing to the eye due to the fact that she's a housewife and she probably has more time on her hands than shanks. Nevertheless, both blogs are about what they do. They are both interesting, and they both help out the careers of the authors.

Shanks and stuff

Well I have read through some of Shank's website, and I really don't care for any of it. I think that Shank's presentations represent academic inquiry though. He seems to post a picture for the readers to contemplate about, and then he writes his own interpretation on it. Shank offers many different views on how to look at a subject and is a "Picture Perfect" example of how a picture can be worth a thousand words.
Blogs different from compositions in many ways. Blog writing can be more opinionated, informative, or argumentative. From the brief view of Shank's writings I can see that he has his own special writing style. He doesn't have to write in a certain form or even introduce sources, although sometimes he does. He writes to ask questions or to state ideas to really question reality.
It is academic in a sense that all of his co-workers and fellow archeologists can go into his world and understand his way of looking at something. So it is both academic and "blog." Academic in ways that anyone can look at his writings in an attempt to find new light on looking at a particular subject matter. "Blog" in a way that coworkers can see what is going on in his mind.
The writing reflects Shanks as a person because it is a collaboration of his ideas. Therefore it reflects the way that he thinks and his life.

I liked the Steampunk, the first picture was cool and reminded me of playing Bioshock. I also looked at "the locked door" and "behind the locked door" postings to get an idea of what is going on. I just became curious when Shanks was writing about how the abandoned apartment brought about disturbing images, even though it seemed kind of normal to me. Hell, I always leave a grenade on my table too.

I guess I'll post about the other blog stuff later tonight after work. Where I have been my entire break... some "break"

Well I just looked at the Armstrong blog. I just glanced at it, and it is very personal based. Why she can live off a blog website I really don't care. Blogging on the internet for her is a way to express her current feelings and emotions. Doesn't really compare to Shanks at all in my eyes, it's work findings verses personal reality. Images are worth a thousand words, gives the blogger an idea to stem or branch off into many others. The internet definitely affects writing style, it's not like one is sitting down and constantly revising a book. They just have a thought and then report on it in cyberspace. Not all blogs are academic, I just briefly viewed Armstrong's blog and I think it is far from academic. All I saw was just a compilation of random thoughts, why people care I do not know.

Shanks is critical in his blog. He uses various topics to look at things under a different light.

My spring break. Work. Friday night I got done with school, through today. I worked everyday. Except Thursday, replaced the front struts on my car, that was a bitch and a half. Thought about doing my homework some nights, but decided it's a much better idea to video games. It's spring break after all, I shouldn't be stressed out about school. I should be relaxing, throwing back a few drinks, and hanging out with the guys. Now I got a month and a half of bullshit left. Fun.

Spring Break(:

For the first time in a long time, I actually did something over spring break instead of just staying at home doing nothing. This time, I went to Chicago for three days with my friends, and it was fun! One of the main places that I wanted to visit was Chinatown, so we of course, went there! Now i can tell everyone that I've been there before(: I have never been out of Wisconsin before, besides going to Washington DC back in the eighth grade. So going to Chicago; I had to make it memorable! (: But now that I'm back in Milwaukee, I've been so tired and sleepy; the two-hour ride back gave me a headache; more like, I was car sick -___-" But I'll try to get back on my homework business as soon as possible.

So I read through a couple of blogs that were done by that women talking about her family, and her life. I didn't really think there were any issues with the material in her blog, after all her blog is about her life and what it is like in her world. Basically what the blog seems to be, are events and stories that occur in her everyday life. I think the use of the images, helps you have a better understanding of the stories that she is telling. I think technology makes the way these blogs are written more casual, less worried about having perfect English, and just putting everything out there. This differs from academic writing, because it isn't perfect writing, it's shorter, and is more personal on every level.

The way shanks writes I would say is more casual, he writes how you would, to people who are familiar with you. I think being that he is writing online, he writes in a more casual form, not very proper or formal. To be honest I'm not really sure if this would be considered academic inquiry, I would lean more towards that his writing is not academic inquiry. His writing is different than a academic paper, for one it is not near as long it gives more of an over view of his experiences and cuts right to the point. They're the same, because in an academic paper you put in overviews of a topic, just more in-depth writing on that particular topic. I believe his writing is more of a blog, like I said he talks about the overview of his experiences, and stays more on the surface level. On the other hand though, he does get pretty deep and into certain things in his blog. I think some of his blogging leans towards being professional, but most of it is more reflecting on him as a person. How he talks about his projects and experiences for some reason just give me a vibe of how shanks is as a person, and I feel thats the way he wants it to be.

Spring Break

I've been really lazy about the assignments that we have to do, so I'm just going to blog about my Spring break first and then the assignments later. My spring break has been great. I've spent three days in Chicago so far just hanging out with friends and getting lost everywhere. We stayed at the Club House Inn for two nights and those two nights held great memories for me! But I'm now back from the trip and am STILL tired from everything! It is currently Thursday and I'm just soooo sad that school is starting back up again this monday! :( But hopefully, for the rest of the week, I can still be able to find something exciting to do and also, make time for homework! :)

Whistler Blackcomb SB '10

I have spent this spring break, like I have every single one since I can remember. Snowboarding in Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia. Being that I just got sponsored by Oakley this year, this one is just a lil bit different. I am here with 3 of the top pros in the snowboarding industry, as well as 2 other accomplished ams from across the country. Getting to snowboard with my idol, Terje Haakonsen, is a dream come true. I have also enjoyed getting to know Women's Superpipe Gold Medalist, Hannah Teter, and Men's Superpipe Gold Medalist, Shaun White. We have spent the past week and a half here partying together, living together, and snowboarding together. It is currently perfect here. 45 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and fresh powder from a storm last night. We are all riding very well and will hopefully have some of the photos we have captured in an article in Transworld Snowboarding Magazine, this July. Hope everyone is having as much fun as I am.

Shanks and Other Blogs

I chose to combine blogs 1 and 2. To start of with the Shanks blog. I read through those who had posted already. I believe that in ways, Shanks' blog is academic inquiry. He uses his experiences and conversations with friends and scholars, to formulate his own ideas about how to teach, and human nature. If I'm not 100% wrong, this is what academic inquiry is about eh? It was very hard for me to find any other "scholarly" blogs. Most of them were just random people blogging about whatever they have to talk about. Being myself an aspiring amateur snowboarder and wakeboarder, I am a member of many blogs in those "cultures" if I may. Those of us who are highly accomplished and have many tricks under our belts, help the younger, less experienced riders learn tricks. I think blogs are a great way to get up to speed if you are just starting a new hobby. As well as a great place to chat with other people who enjoy what you enjoy in life.

spring break

hey guys and girls, just checking in to say what up. I've been kicking back and florida for the week, I haven't had time to read that shanks thing yet. I plan on reading it on friday. The plane has free wifi so that'll be a perfect time. My flight down here was a little crazy, the first plane i was supposed to take ended up at a different gate and nobody announced it so i missed that plane. Then the plane to georgia was delayed due to bad weather. The plane was delayed for 2 hours and when I got to atlanta it was insanely busy because of the delays, luckily i found a plane to tampa that night. I ended up in tampa around 2a.m. It was a crazy adventure, but i met some nice people along the way. I ended up sitting next to a younger girl who had a baby on the plane and the other guy in our row thought i was the dad, i had got up to use the restroom (i was in the window seat) and the older guy says "big daddys getting up." haha me and the girl just laughed. What made it even funnier was the guy was saying how the baby had my eyes and looked like me. lol. Hope everyones spring break is going good, see you all on monday.

Spring Break

The last couple weeks have been difficult for my family and I didn't quite realize just how difficult until I came home this week. Last weekend my grandma was diagnosed with throat cancer. It's located in 3 separate spots and it's invasive meaning its spreading very quickly. Simple things like swallowing and talking have become very difficult for her, things a lot of people take for granted. As of right now surgery is not an option due to the cancers location. So for the next 7 weeks, monday through friday, my grandma has to go through radiation and then chemo treatments once a week in hopes of shirking it down enough to remove it. With the treatments swallowing and talking will get harder, sores will develop on her throat, and theres a chance she will lose her hair. Basically it's going to be like going to hell and back for her.

When I found out I was with my boyfriend and the comfort of having someone there meant everything to me. Despite the fact that I hate breaking down in front of people this was a time when it was inevitable. It's like you hear the word cancer and your brain automatically links it to death because you hear stories of people losing friends and family to cancer. You hear on the news that there is no cure, but theres ways to prevent the spread, ways to prolong your last few years, months, or days. But in the end there is almost always death. Now I know this seems stupid since we all are eventually going to die, but I think we have come up with this illusion that there is a right time to die. When someone we know dies in a car accident or dies from a heart attack we sit there and say over and over that it wasn't there time to die and we sit there and try to put the blame on every little thing because we don't want to face reality even though we're living it. It's like we're caught up in wanting a perfect happy ending to everything because thats what books and movies make us think is supposed to happen. But it's not realistic and it never will be, and we can't let go of the fact that it's not.

Yesterday was my 20th birthday, but after everything thats happened it seemed almost selfish to celebrate it. I felt like it no longer mattered, it was just another birthday, just another regular day. My parents didn't agree though, buying me dinner and presents, they needed that happy illusion, that escape from what was actually going on. I'm not saying its a bad thing though because I think we're always going to need that illusion of a happy ending. I just think that the longer we hold on to that illusion the harder its going to be to accept reality when it comes knocking on our door.

Shanks

As i read through his work i found it is very similar to academic inquiry in the sense of background information needed before analyzing and critiquing the information. The way that is different from other pieces of writing is that he lists what the important key components are about the topic he is writing about which is a lot more accessible to readers to understanding the material. I believe that Shanks does present professionalism but incorporates his own ideas to make it have personality to how a reader see the information.

So it is tuesday during spring break, and i have done nothing so far. Which has been okay with me because i find that sitting at home doing little things that don't require alot of money or a plan of knowing what you are going to do is okay. The weather here is really nice...50 which some say is cold. but still very sunny which is nice. I love getting to play basketball with my brother, it is amazing how much they grow while i'm away at school. He is thirteen and becoming as he says " a man". His entire presence is different. Boys are so much different than girls are. It is like they feel that they are so much better than anyone. They have a new confidence that is funny to watch. I do love my brother though... so it is okay.
I don't really have any super big plans over break. I am really excited though to get my hour massage. My boyfriend kyle bought it for me for our 4 year anniversary. I am super pumped for it because massages are amazing. It is one place i am actually able to relax and not have to worry about a thing. i find that with school and hw and just being up and busy non-stop can ware you down. So this should be a nice way to relax. Thanks kyle! <3
I have honestly forgotten about the blog. I was so caught up with writing my rougt draft that i forgot to post on here. I was not sure how to write my draft which made me really struggle with getting it done. I hope that the comments that we get back will reall y help me with fixing it into a better paper.
Well maybe i will remeber about this blog more over break, but until then i'm done.
Hope everyone is enjoying there break.!!

Blog Part 2

Personally, I'm not a fan of blogging. I kind of think it's a waste of time. If I want to share information with people or tell them certain things about my life I will do it face to face or over a phone call...not on the internet to people I barely know and just do it because I need a good participation grade in English 102. So with saying that, other blogs I found on the internet were pretty much just there for me meaning people just writing a bunch of stuff down for other people to read because they have nothing better to do. There are so many different types of blogs from academic, art, sports, philosophy, health, personal, and so much more. Michael Shanks blog was academic but commercial at the same time and I find that rare. Majority of the blogs did not seem too academic to me what so ever. Shanks used good imagery but I did not find that too much else where (maybe it was just the sites I was on). Academic writing is completely different from people writing down their random thoughts that they have during the day. The research paper that I am to write is supposed to be academic inquiry...that is why I have over 12 weeks to write it...not twelve minutes. Overall, I can see how some blogs are helpful and important and considered academic inquiry, but for the most part I feel blogging is pointless and people should find other activities to participate in rather than sitting in front of a computer screen reading about other peoples life and thoughts.

Destin, FL

So I am in Destin, FL as I blog...well, techically staying in Fort Walton Beach. We arrived here yesterday and it was pretty chill...ate dinner in the room and sat in the hot tub all night which came with a drunk lady trying to wrap a towel around her head to dry her hair...soooo entertaining. The people she was with were talking about their plans for the next day (today) and how they needed to get an early start and all I could think is, "HA! Yeah right...your little lady friend there is gunna feel like a freight train is running through her head when she gets up! Good luck with the early start pals!" Anyways, last night I barely slept because the wind is sooo strong and you can hear it whistling through the sail boats in the harbor right below my room. Today was on the chillier side so we went shopping and saw Alice in Wonderland which was pretty good! We ate at Fudpuckers which is an amazing restraunt with a bunch of alligators. Tonight, I will sit in the hot tub again and treat myself to some ice cream and Grey's Anatomy later. The rest of the week, I will be sitting on the beach by day and out by night. I may not come back after this vacation...just stay here in FL..? I think so :) Hope everyone is enjoying their break as much as I am and it's only just begun!

Shanks

Michael Shanks presents his blogs in a "commercial" way. However, I still see them as being academic inquiry because he talks of his findings and his knowledge of what he does. His writting in the blog is professional yet laid back in a way that makes it friendly to read. If he were to write a research paper about the same information he writes about in his blog, it would be presented in a much more organized/professional way and may not be so easy on the reader. His website is professional to some extent but I also think it reflects his personality in a way. While reading it you can really understand his interest and passion in what he does which is pretty cool!

Spring Break

Well last night was great...I got to bowl next to Greg Jennings all night. Talked about what the Packers need to accomplish in the draft and about next year.. learnt that Aaron Rodgers loves St. Norberts College parties...LOL.