Unfocuse- Ooh Shiny!

Should I be embarrassed that I don't have a writing process? Should I be embarrassed about the things that my miniscule process includes? It's not that I lack a writing process, it's just that I've never explicity followed one every time I have to write a huge paper. My process involves me taking the laptop, sitting down (nowhere special, usually just at the kitchen table), and opening up many tabs (facebook, Mrs. Cardona's blog, dictionary.com, bubble spinner) that I can spend time on when my paper gets to be too much for me to handle. I'm not a procrastinator: I like to start working on things as soon as possible so I can spend more time on beautifying them, but sometimes I'm surprised that I do finish my papers with time to spare because I open up so many distractions for myself and I'm unfocused (usually) by nature. I can be very focused when I want to be, but in the first steps of writing a paper, that focus is virtually nonexistant.

So I don't have a writing process of things I have to follow any time I delve into a paper. There are, however, certain things that are never and will never be part of my writing process.

• I can't handwrite drafts. Never have and never will. It bugs the small amount of OCD that I have. That was why I was so complainy when I went to Orlando because I had to handwrite my draft on the plane ride. Doubly worse.
• I can't edit on the computer. Something about the screen bothers my eyes and makes them glaze over after a page or two. I always have to print out a copy of my draft to edit it. Doing that is also better because you can draw lines and arrows and see all the changes you have made.
• There has to be either complete silence or crazy loud chaos. One extreme or the other. If two people are carrying on a conversation right next to me, bad things happen because I either start writing down their conversation or can't write at all because of the distraction.
• I can't write at dinnertime. That's because my dad comes into the kitchen and turns on his music and starts cooking away while singing "Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?" His so-called cooking music. Now, don't get me wrong, I like his cooking music. In fact, when I cook with him, I insist on having some background tunes to chop and mash along with. It just doesn't help when I'm trying to write a paper.
• Don't talk to me. Please. I get very testy when I am in the zone and writing away and someone comes up to me and says "Now what time does your thing start, again?" Wait until I'm awkwardly unfocused and staring off into space to ask me a question like that. Please?

Now, if we're talking about writing a poem or something like that, I am very lenient about the process because I think it's best to just let your creative juices flow. Whatever trips your trigger at any point in time is bound to have a lovely effect on your poetry writing.

There's a tidbit for ya.

Call Me a Foodie

Over MEA I went to Orlando and Disney World (a.k.a. the happiest and most magical place on Earth). Despite the tortures of waking up at 3 a.m. to catch our flight and going to bed at 2 a.m. last night, it was one of the best trips I have ever been on and one that I will remember for a very long time (leading and marching in a parade at Magic Kingdom at night heading towards the glowing purple castle = awesome).

The best part by FAR was going to Epcot for a day. The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival conveniently was happening during our stay. Major scores in the pleasing Meredith's taste buds category. There were kiosks set up all over the park serving food from all over the world. Countries from Brazil to Poland, South Africa to South Korea, Belgium to Morocco were all represented by little appetizers worth 3 or so dollars. I was in heaven.

I vowed to eat at or buy things from as many countries as possible in my time there and I believe I succeeded in doing so. Morocco: check. France: check. China: check. Hawaii: check (even though it's not a country). Let me break down for you my culinary adventures of the day:

• Morocco: Couscous with chicken and grilled vegetables (this was a full meal for lunch)
• France: Almond croissant (which I ordered in French, no big deal or anything)
• Germany: Marzipan chocolates and what looks like a chocolate hazelnut wafer sandwich
• Italy: Amaretto and coffee truffles
• Japan: Kiwi gummies
• China: Caramel ginger ice cream
• Mexico: Nachoes and goat's milk candies (those are all for my dad)
• Hawaii: Pulled pork sandwich with pineapple and red pepper chutney

The highlights of my day were by far Morocco, China, and Hawaii. The couscous at Morocco was very good but it seemed amazing because it was the first meal I had in 8 meals that was not fast food. It felt so good to eat good. The ice cream in China was just freaking fantastic. It had actual hunks of caramelized ginger and caramel in it which enhanced the flavor by at least 30%. It was delicious but I couldn't finish it because the ginger started burning my throat. The little plum-sized sandwich I ate in Hawaii was the tastiest thing I had all day. It's pretty self-explanatory but the way the flavors meshed together and the contrast between the tender pork and the harder pineapple was fabulous.

Good thing we walked around the park for 12 hours. Otherwise, I would have gained 5 pounds alone that day.

There's a tidbit for ya.

I feel so inferior.

My self-esteem plummeted this week. I thought I had been spending my 2 million minutes productively. In an average week of 10,080 minutes, I spend approximately 5,040 minutes at school or doing homework, 510 minutes doing music related things, 180 minutes volunteering at the Humane Society, 630 minutes either getting ready for my day or getting ready for bed, and an estimated 3,360 minutes to sleep. That leaves me with 360 minutes to do whatever I want. Yay. But apparently that amount of free time would be a disgrace in Indian or Chinese cultures. I swear, kids who live in India or China and go school there don't even have time to blink. Can I point out a logical fallacy? Hasty generalization. Picking 2 students out of about 20,000,000 students is a hard task and the selected students are bound to only represent two genres of the high school scene. I don't believe the hard-working dedicated student category was filled, which is what I believe a good bunch of students are. The documentary 2 Million Minutes made me feel like a minority because I actually care about doing well in school. I shouldn't feel like a weirdo for working hard. Maybe I should live in China.

No that's a bad idea. After watching that documentary, I can't dispute the fact that there probably are smarter, harder working students in China and India who set higher goals and expectations for themselves than we do. However, most American students are more well-rounded: we are smart but also create time for ourselves to do things we enjoy. And just because we don't want to become doctors or engineers doesn't mean we aren't setting our sights high. I want to become a professional musician and play in famous orchestras around the world. The odds of that happening are slim, just like the odds of becoming a doctor or lawyer, but you cannot tell me that I don't have my sights set high. I will flip.

Which brings me to flipping out during the movie at least 3 times. 1) When Neil said that he didn't try at all on the PSAT yet qualified for a National Merit Scholarship and gets to go to Purdue on a full ride scholarship, I about blew a gasket. The thoughts running through my head: "How come I work my tail off to do half the things that he does and what do I get for a reward? A nice pat on the back. Pathetic." He seemed like a good student, just lazy, which is probably what the documentary was trying to get at. 2) When the boy from China said he spends half of his time playing computer and video games I was so mad. I wish I could play video games for half of my afternoon and still get the grades that he apparently does. 3) I hate it when people disparage their own capabilities. The boy from China said he was really surprised that he got picked for the national math championship EVEN THOUGH he was the top math student in his entire school and in the top 100 in China. If I was that smart I would totally think I should get picked for the math championships. It's mean but I think it was good that the documentary showed the foreign students not making it in to their colleges of choice. It made me feel better because these students that I had put up on a pedestal didn't turn out to be as high and mighty as I thought they were. It made me feel like the things I want to do and the colleges I'm aiming for are culturally acceptable.

Whoa, now quickly on to "For Once Blame the Students." I just have one thing to say about this article. Teachers do make a difference about whether a kid wants to work hard in that class or not. If a teacher is super chill, a student probably isn't going to work that hard. If a teacher is super strict, students are going to be frightened into working hard. But, in some cases, I do agree with what Welsh says about looking at the foreign students' work ethic to see that education in America really is a privilege and not a right.

I like how Rose talked about Vocational Education and how teachers odn't know what to do with students who don't want to try. I think that since both my parents are teachers and I know how much they get frustrated with students that don't try hard is the reason that I try hard in school. I feel that I owe that much to my teachers. I could relate to the title quote: "I Just Wanna Be Average." I know that I have expected less for myself because I thought other students were better than me and because if I set my expectations low, when/if I surpass them, I will feel even better.

But, gosh. I feel so inferior.

Insert Creative Title Here

Happy Free Write!!

Technology hates me. It does. Don't try to dispute the fact, it's futile. My iPod dies every day, my phone freezes often, and my laptop doesn't register what I type. Life is so hard.

Can I just tell you how much I enjoy Modern Family? The writers for that show are comedic geniuses. The actors have impeccable comedic timing. Phil Dunphy reminds me of my dad. Please tell me you've watched Modern Family. No?

I just died inside.

You really should. It's a great show about normal families in America. (Even though one family is a gay couple with an adopted Asian baby, one man is in his second marriage with a woman in her second marriage that is 25 years younger than he is, and the last family has 3 kids and a dad that is out of his mind. So yeah, totally normal.)

Last night, my family was too lazy to cook so we got Punch Pizza. I'd say that's a fair trade-off.

My cat has some sort of issue. Well, multiple issues. Apparently he ALWAYS NEEDS TO BE SITTING ON SOMETHING. Let me list a few things he enjoys to sit on: our recliner, the ground, my lap, my dad's lap, my mom's lap, the kitchen table, the refrigerator, the bathroom counter, the toilet, my bed, my pillow, my folder, my notebook, my textbook, our laptop, the piano, the TV stand, and, oh yeah, MY FACE.

Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I have cat hair in my mouth. How gross is that? But I allow his antics because I love him. Dave.

I like to play french horn. Please tell me you know what that is. If you don't, how are you my friend? French horn/music is my freakin' life! My french horn is my baby. Figuratively, obviously. I couldn't have actually given birth to it. It's bigger than my body. I play french horn in MYS (Minnesota Youth Symphonies) and don't even mention GTCYS to one of us. We despise them. I also am in a brass quintet, pit orchestra, marching band, and Wind Ensemble. Ths list is endless! Actually, no. It ends there. Here is an action shot:

Don't I look so professional? My horn is so shiny. I'm waffling back and forth about whether or not I should give my horn a name. What do you think: cheesy or awesome? Check this out: watch me! I'm not in this orchestra (I couldn't find any of my years) but this gives you a pretty good idea of what we do. We also don't normally have hundreds of singers to accompany us. This piece was just huge. Mahler is a beast. There are some major horn parts in this piece. Sorry the recording is pretty quiet.

I'm going to go eat some pasta.

There's a tidbit for ya.

Obama and His Speech - AP Comp

Sometimes I am in awe of Obama as a speaker. I just watched his Back to School Speech at Benjamin Bannaker High School. Even with my volume on mute, I could tell he was speaking eloquently and informatively just by how he looked. First, he was wearing a suit. How much more professional can you get? Not much more. Second, he held himself very professionally. His posture always upright and formal, but he never looked stiff or uncomfortable. Also, he made eye contact with the members of the audience which makes him more relatable and credible because he is talking right to them. His limited use of hand gestures strengthened the point he was trying to make. He never gestured profusely just for the sake of moving his hands around. He used gestures to emphasize a statement. Lastly, he used the inflection of his voice to his advantage. His voice projected throughout the whole gymnasium without sounding overbearing. He didn't use much cadence or range in his voice because he wasn't trying to rally the audience, but he did become quieter when he wanted people to listen more closely and he pronounced words clearly so the audience could understand him.

Obama knew that his audience was varied (from kindergarteners to highly educated teachers) and his diction was logically chosen to cater to all of them. He used simple sentences with powerful words that kindergarteners could understand, but also impressed teachers. He knew not to use long sentences with elevated vocabulary because his audience would have been easily distracted. His purpose wasn't to rally the audience so there weren't many phrases that provoked vocal reactions from the crowd. Instead, he wanted to motivate students to have a plan for the future and to keep pushing ahead to achieve what they want to achieve. To do this, Obama used empowering language, such as "you're this country's future" and "whether we fall behind or race ahead in these coming years is up to you." These statements motivated me, along with other students all over the nation, to strive for excellence and be the best student I can be.

Obama used many emotional appeals to elevate his speech. The statements I listed above are examples of pathos because they make a person feel like they can go and conquer anything. Also an example of pathos was when Obama was talking about the sacrifices teachers make. He said that "[teachers] don't do it for a fancy office or a big salary. They do it for you." This definitely sparked emotions in me. I felt honored that teachers make all this sacrifice in order to make our future better. I also felt like now I need to work harder to show that their hard work has paid off. He used a lot of ethos in his speech, too. All of the times he referred to himself, he was using ethos by establishing his credibility. For example, when he talked about his time in high school and how he wasn't the best student and didn't really like his classes, he established his credibility because he was explaining a time when he was in our shoes. We, as students, are more inclined to listen to someone who knows what we are going through, so by using that example, Obama brought himself to our level and we believed the things he was saying. Lastly, he used logos to provide students with examples of what they could be doing and what they needed to be doing. When Obama included the statistics about how 60% percent of the jobs in 10 years will require a degree higher than a high school diploma and that America is ranked 16th in the world based on the number of college degrees per our population, he influenced the audience by using logic and reasoning. It is kind of a shocker statistic that appeals to the audience by making them work harder. He also used logos when he included the examples of teenagers across the nation that were doing tremendous things to benefit society. That made me want to strive to do more things, even though they might not be like what those kids did.

Obama is a very influential and commanding speaker.

Sorry this got to be so long but it is brimming with analysis!

There's a tidbit for ya.