Entry #6

Final Blog Reflection

 

 

Blogging in itself was relatively new to me. My experience was quite positive however, tedious. Writing on blogs periodically helped improve and be comfortable with my writing. It's similar to math where you have to practice often in order to become good at it. Ideas seemed to flow well in my head while I struggled to type down everything properly. I honestly didn't like blogging simply because it was extra work. Even though I'm lazy I actually enjoyed the self generated blog posts. The self generated posts allowed us to be ourselves and choose whatever topic we'd like. Doing assigned was a bit interesting but tedious. Commenting on other blogs was also interesting because you were able to view other student's pages that you wouldn't normally talk to. 

I honestly took the blogging serious. I would always manage to complete them all in time and create blogs that I would personally enjoy. I tried to make it as visual as I could. Nobody likes full text and plain looking pages. I always attempted to connect with the audience. My focus was generally towards college students. I tried not to use topics I wouldn't read myself. I would also look for other blogs that had similar or interesting topics. I also took it seriously because it's a big part of the overall grade. I refused to be foolish enough to skip an assignment that could drop my grade. I work hard and take the time to do my work. I understand that we all have busy lives and our own problems. In the long run, doing these assignments can make a difference in the type of students we are.

 

I learned about certain trends while doing my research on my blogs. I learned about dangerous body trends, the occupy wall street movement, and I learned about rhetoric. I previously didn't focus on those thing because I had no need to. However, after doing research I found myself suddenly fascinated by the concepts assigned. I learned how to venture off a bit and speak with other students online. I had never really gone up to strangers and said, "Hey, your blog is pretty cool." It was a way to come out of my shell.

 

I think blogging is useful to those who need practice writing. To those who enjoy writing, it would be a fun project. For those who are lazy, it was seemingly unnecessary. I do however, believe it allowed me to be comfortable with my writing. It helped with time management and responsibility. It could also be valuable to those who have had issues with the writing projects. I personally am confident with my papers. Others may not feel the same way and put effort into theses posts to help their grade. It was also useful because sometimes we can draw inspiration from the assigned blog entries. It helped lead us away from fluff and focus more on the topics we discuss in class. Overall, blog posts were valuable.

 

Using blog entries is a clever way to help students practice writing. It's different from doing paper after paper and adding stress to students. It was a great way to get students to socialize with others. It's kind f interesting to create posts about what we talk about in class and what we can learn from others. Doing blog posts created new experiences with writing and learning about rhetoric. I didn't like doing blogs but I also didn't hate it. Perhaps if Chris assigned less it'd be less stressful. However, I have to argue on his part that he was very lenient with the deadlines and reassured his students that they could get caught up regardless of the due date. I believe that part shouldn't change because we make mistakes, we forget sometimes. He should maybe not grade so harshly because sometimes these things are new and we may not be comfortable with blogging. Ultimately, Chris did an excellent job with the blog assignments.

 

 

Thigh Gaps?

 

There is an odd trend going on on Instagram, Tumblr, and other social media websites. Its the craze of being so underweight your collar bones and hip bones stick out, and you have a gap between your thighs. I believe this is derived from what young girls believe is attractive on themselves. This treng has caused two sides to arise. Those who are working to achieve the ultimate weight, usually lower than 100 pounds for seemingly tall women, and those who object to the idea and fight back by commenting on how awful it is.

I first noticed this strange trend on Instagram. Many females began posting their weight and photos of different parts of the body. Usually the posts were the stomach, thighs, and chest area. The odd thing was that there was nothing wrong with the photos themselves, but rather how they perceived themselves. Most would feel worthless, unattractive, and desired to push themselves into losing crazy amounts of weight. Many would post up photos of their ideal body, usually the "thigh gap"

The thigh gap is apparently desired by females to feel like their slender and attractive in their clothes. You have a thigh gap if your thighs do not touch. Usually the wider the gaps the more coveted it is. It was something you wouldn't notice unless someone had pointed it out like in this case. Girls do a lot from not eating to crazy diets to get this gap! Some do exercises that promise to create the thigh gap. This is shocking because it creates eating disorders in younger females. Most don't realize that starving yourself really helps you gain weight. 

I'm unsure why females want to have these grotesque, unreal bodies. Most males wouldn't even know what thigh gaps are. Most people wouldn't notice hip bones or collar bones unless one was a scary skinny skeleton.

 

Entry #5

Media Synthesize

Media is a powerful thing. It is everywhere we look. It's our phones, our laptops, on our drive home, the entire country is full of all different types of media! The assignment made me really focus on the rhetoric advertisers show when producing an ad or commercial. Some advertisers are down right offensive while others tend to appeal to family ethics. Overall there are all kinds of messages being sent to viewers and listeners that might not be so easy to catch on to. The assignment made me analyze certain aspects of movies and ads differently. Particularly on the messages that are shown and the ethic values of each. For example, we can begin to analyze certain offensive ads more cautiously than those who are not so obvious.

There are plenty of ads that idealize extremely unrealistic female bodies. At the same time we shoot down those females who are overweight or do not fit that idealized figure. Not only do most ads with females degrade them, they often portray men who are also extremely unrealistic. Many females are too skinny with a full lips and thick eyelashes. Most people could view these ads with "natural" faces and feel down about themselves. Many females often fail to realize that the ads are full of crap. The ads of these women have fake eyelashes and photo shopped skin, and of course full coverage foundation.

 

I found that most advertisements and commercials tend to use sex to appeal to the audience. This says alot about the type of creeps behind the ideas and those who enjoy those ads. Many of them show males as the dominant gender. What happened to equality there? I dislike those ads with inappropriate content because marketing creeps don't stop and realize that children are exposed to messed up stuff as well as the rest of the family. Look at the photo below and figure out the message one can assume.

Cats?

 

I've been researching very serious topics from domestic violence to confusing gun laws. I decided it was time to blog about something that makes me smile. Cats are a craze on the internet! From those cute kitten videos to the silly fail cats. To many people cats are all the same. How ever there are many different types of cats. Many are fancy looking while others are quite peculiar looking. For example, there are cats who have curly ears, short nubby tails, and cute stubby, short legs! Perhaps if you're curious about cats or are considering getting a pet this post will be informative.

The first type of cat that is fascinating to pop culture is a Japanese bobtail. Many people don't know that Hello Kitty is actually a Japanese bobtail. These cats are usually black and white. The main feature is the short nubby tail! Quite often you'll see tradition cat statues in Asian stores that have the features of the Japanese bobtail.

 Another type of cat that is also very interesting to look at are munchkins! The cats are as cute as the name! These cats feature short legs and very cute meows. These cats can be very special to those who want a kitten to stay small forever. They can be found in all sorts of colors. Acording to Jon Stroud, "The Munchkin is generally described as a sweet-natured, playful, people-oriented, outgoing and intelligent cat which responds well to being handle The shortness of their legs does not seem to interfere with their running and leaping abilities."
 

One of the cutest, common, and friendliest cats are the ragdoll cats.Ragdoll cats are typically large soft cats. These cats go limp when picked up. They are very relaxed and gorgeous cats. These cats usually have powerfully blue eyes, have pointed features, and their fur is as soft as a bunny!

Entry #4: Capitalism: A Love Story

Capitalism: A Love Story is a satirical documentary written by Michael Moore. It is based around the financial crisis that started in the early 2000's. Moore does an impressive, playful, and serious analysis of the financial crisis. I've was so surprised to find out what the whole occupy wall street was about. The Movie as a whole was completely entertaining and extremely eye-opening. It was so shocking it was very relate able to a horror movie!

Moore did an excellent job at appealing to one's ethics and emotions. He created feelings of sorrow, loss, anger, frustration, and shock. He presented families who were suffering by going through foreclosure. The stories they told made the audience sympathetic. He really knew how appeal to sad emotions. He could make any viewer frustrated with the banks who were so thoughtless and cruel. One of the most saddening scenes was when a farmer describes losing his farm because through time the mortgages payments kept increasing to the point where they couldn't pay it anymore. The banks pretty much paid them $1000 to pack up their stuff on short notice.

Moore seems to be extremely credible because it is not himself alone in a documentary. His logic made sense because of the people he chose to speak in the movie. He chose people who were directly affected in a factory, house owners being evicted, a widow who was cheated by a company through her husband's death, and officials. He was very serious and accurate in his arguments with how badly the crisis effected the middle class. 

Moore really makes you question whether all banks are ethical. If we were to ask someone "Is if it is moral to kick someone out of their house that they have lived for years because of increasing prices?", the answer would be no. Because it is not right to drain every last penny out of a hard working family and then sell their home to make more  money off another family. It is simply wrong to take something away from someone who is a hard worker. Greed is a sin. How many houses, cars, and assets does someone need? You can't take that shit to the grave.

Dying Love for Video Games

 

Over the past couple of years there have been several articles talking about the deaths of gamers. These gamers don't die from car crashes or murder, but from excessive periods of time playing  videogames without taking a break! These deaths can be prevented simply by getting up and taking a break from the computer screen or controller.

 

One of the most recent articles talks about a male who died playing League of Legends in an internet café. According to the article, "Reportedly, Rong-yu was sitting upright in his chair with his hands still on the keyboard. While his death was most likely caused by an underlying condition, extenuating circumstances may have included the cold temperatures in the building and a lack of movement from Rong-yu staying perfectly still for long periods of time can cause blood clots." The other gamers in the café did not notice for nine hours that he was dead. This reveals how focused and addicted someone can get on gaming.

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/720522/gamer-dies-while-playing-league-of-legends-in-cafe-no-one-notices-for-9-hours/

 

The next case deals with one of the most sold pc games of all time, Diablo 3. This article blew up in the gaming community. The gamer was said to have gone on a 40 hour gaming marathon of Diablo 3. One can only imagine the craziness of sitting, and right-clicking for 40 hours! It is said that the 18 year old gamer rose and took only a few steps before collapsing dead.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/18/taiwanese-gamer-dies-diablo-iii_n_1682600.html

 

The next article talks about two victims and their untimely death involving the Xbox 360. Chris Staniforth of age 20 died from a blood clot that traveled from his calves to his heart. The autopsy reported that it may have been from the twelve hour session of his Xbox. Chris's dad stated that he would stay up all hours of the night playing. He died from what they call thrombosis. According to the article,"Thrombosis occurs when someone sits immobile for long periods of time;it occasionally happens to passengers of international flights, where the hours in air are extended. If the blood clot travels to the lungs, it can be fatal." Chris had suffered a similar death.

The article also briefly talked about a thirteen year old girl who had also died as she was gaming on her Xbox 360. Ana-Lee Kehoe, the victim, would play constantly during her summer break. The article reports that she had called out to her mother about having trouble breathing as she collapsed.

http://redmondpost.com/2011/07/britain-man-dies-due-to-playing-xbox-for-twelve-straight-hours/

 

                                       

 

 





Entry #3 

There's a crazy debate going on at ASU as to whether offering shorter class will benefit as a whole for students and the campus. There are a few sides to the argument in whether ASU will maintain it's credibility. Short classes that last about 8 weeks could also mean a shorter amount of time to graduate or obtain a degree. However, there are still questions being asked if it also means a decrease in price. There are also questions arising if a student can really take in the knowledge in such a short period.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2011/02/22/20110222arizona-state-university-shorter-classes.html?nclick_check=1

 

As a future university student, credibility matters entirely. A student with high standards and excellent grades would much rather take the path that leads to success. Can a student learn the proper material when both he/she and the professor work on tight schedules? In my opinion, it can go both ways of the argument. The professor may leave out all the fluff and insignificant activities one usually creates to take up the time of a semester. The other side may argue that there may not be enough time to thoroughly review the materials needed or leave out certain topics. Imagine if a doctor completely skipped a chapter about the kidney due to short timing.

 

 

 

Many people replied about how it would affect people majoring in engineering. They argued whether ASU would be eye candy on a resume or whether it would lose credibility. Many also complained about how they regretted doing courses in a short time and that it is outrageous to pay such a high price for seven and a half week classes. One person claimed that these short classes would be taken simply as crash courses that would leave graduates unprepared. This means that a student could take a course as either a hit or miss. Ultimately causing a student to waste time and money on something that should have taken more time to really learn. 

Remove Insanity + Loose Gun Laws 

Does everyone reserve the right to own a gun? What about pulling the trigger? What sets you aside from those crazy people that go on killing sprees and harm innocent by-standers? Today we face many issues with the second amendment. I feel as thought now that children have died so tragically we brought attention to this issue. Now we are trying to adjust this amendment. If you ask me whether or not we have the right to own a gun, my answer is yes. However it should be established that those who are sane and do not have ANY malicious intent reserve that right. Not your crazy crack addict down the block! This topic is not only controversial, it is a topic that brings frustration to those living in the US or 'Merica. The following website briefly goes over recent issues before the shooting of the children that recently happened. 

http://www.theacru.org/issues-secondamendment.html

 



 

 

To what extent should this amendment be taken? I for one and many others believe this amendment should be interpreted differently. The thought of losing any one close to you scares the crap out of me. I, as well as many others, fear despair. I do not believe in fighting for the right to have a gun if it costs more lives. No blood should ever be shed for the praise of actual violence. Video game violence is quite acceptable so long as no youngsters listen to you vulgar, violent words.

 



Entry #2

Choices in Teen Pregnancy

 Do you believe that a sixteen year old can be a good mother? Do you believe that parents have the right to decide what their teenage daughter can and cannot do? In this report, a sixteen year old girl sues against her parents for physically and mentally abusing her into getting an abortion. She and her sixteen year old boyfriend decided to take action and choose life. The report did nothing but state facts towards about the case. However, it gave a more liberal reporting. Often times certain news reports are slanted and will either go towards a more conservative or liberal view. In this case it was interpreted more liberally in the sense of praising a win for a pregnant teenager. Had one given this report to a conservative news center, they'd interpret it completely differently.

http://news.yahoo.com/pregnant-teen-wins-abortion-battle-150554993--abc-news-topstories.html

 

 

How this news was interpreted can be debatable. Conservatives are against abortion, but look down on teenagers being pregnant. Liberals may be pro-choice and yet find that life happens and teenagers make mistakes. What does this do to a news station's credibility? it becomes biased! Only certain people will tune in! For example. I am pro-choice. Stating that aloud can make certain people stray away from this page. I believe your body is your body and no one can tell you what to do with it. Being pregnant and having kids takes you in to a whole new stage in life. Whether you decide not to bring in life or have a baby is completely up to the mother. If your husband/boyfriend wants you to keep the baby and you don't, you have choices! He's not the one giving birth or have to nurse the baby. Why should someone like that have a choice? Some people just don't have time to take any more responsibility!

Makeup or No Makeup?

There's always arguments between people as to whether or not a woman needs makeup to "be beautiful". Beauty in general is in the eye of the beholder. It all depends on one's preference in what their ideal partner would be. Personally, I feel like makeup is an enhancement of features one already has and can be used as an addition to a person. Many females feel a bit less of themselves when they got out without makeup. You wear your confidence better than your makeup.

 

 

I believe having natural beauty is a blessing. Someone who is confident without makeup can be just as beautiful as a person with a full face of makeup. However, some people may strongly disagree and argue that women need makeup. Many people argue that women need makeup to appear more feminine. I can partially agree with that. However, one has to be comfortable in their own skin to truly feel pretty. After all, our internal dialogue is what dominates our self esteem. If one keeps degrading themselves, then they are more likely to feel uncomfortable with them selves

 

Sometimes makeup can be viewed as a luxury. This is why we almost never see women who are getting married without makeup. Makeup is not needed to live, right? Therefore, it can be argued that makeup is not needed for anyone. If you feel the need to wear makeup to be pretty, you may not be comfortable with yourself. Great looks begin with a great personality. "No amount of makeup can mask an ugly heart." -Kevyn Aucoin



Entry #1

Blogs, Bloggers, & Bloggies

Blogs are everywhere. One may typically search the web for a blog on almost anything. Whether it is a blog about disorders, pets, or political views, it may be found on the web. Blogs offer entertainment, information, and sometimes deliver formal understandings. In my opinion, blogs are only interesting if the reader is fascinated by the topic. Personally, I enjoy food and beauty blogs. Overall stuff that I am more likely to run into on Tumblr or YouTube suggestions. Blogs that involve corporate businesses put me to sleep. If I view anything socially stupid I immediately imagine the Spiderman meme called "That Post Gave Me Cancer".

 

 

Although there is an endless amount of blogs two blogs I recently researched on caught my attention. The first blog is about my favorite food, burgers. Anyone who loves burgers as much as I do should check out "A Hamburger Today". The burger blog has detailed information about burgers! Picture yourself going to an In-N-Out drive through and having knowledge of their secret menu. Perhaps then, you'd enjoy a tasty meal even better than before!

http://aht.seriouseats.com/

The second blog that caught my attention was titled, "Everyone is Gay". This topic serves for a more deep discussion. Whether your sexual orientation is kept private or you are sure of yourself, this blog creates a more comforting approach. The blog contains videos of people who share their stories about coming out of the closet and others who submit questions of confusion. This blog offers insight on relationship issues and the issues that are involved with coming out of the closet.

http://www.everyoneisgay.com/

 

After sometime on the internet we tend to run into articles and blogs that don't interest us. The blog I speak of is Walmart's blog. For one, I am influenced by previous documentaries that elaborate how Walmart is pretty shady. My opinion on Walmart can be viewed as biased. However, as a frequent shopper, I'd give Walmart the benefit of the doubt and casually read of their current doings.

http://corporate.walmart.com/

Intro.

My name is Elizabeth. To keep it simple you may call me Liz. I have never had this type of blog. So I'll just skip to my hobbies. I play videogames from retro to new releases. My current favorite title is Gears of War 3. I love collecting Pokémon cards and spending time with my boyfriend, Max. Max and I create our own adventures while on our trips to the arcade, trying new restaurants, or just relaxing at home watching Dragon Ball.  We share our goals in creating a shining future at our own pace. My goals at GCC are to exceed average student expectations and get started with an associates.