Observing Conversations

Thanksgiving break was filled with conversation, both good and bad. One conversation between my grandma and my mom stuck out from all the rest. The two were arguing about how to cut the turkey. The simplest of tasks turned into a complicated acquired technique. My grandma’s dialogue when explaining why her method was better than my mom’s enclosed perfect examples of ethos, pathos, and logos. My mom was saying it would make the turkey more flavorful and juicier to keep it whole and cut slices as needed. Here my mom was trying to appeal to senses and therefore our emotions. My grandma instantly jumps in and states her credibility, “I’ve done this for over 40 years, I know how to cut a turkey thank you very much”. After she proves that she is knowledgeable in the subject, my grandma appealed to the family emotionally by saying once she is gone we can cut all the turkey we want, in any fashion we desire. Yes it was a shady blow but it got our attention. Finally my grandma used her years of wisdom and logic to explain why her idea of cutting the turkey individual parts and then slicing it was a better method. As you can see even the smallest most pointless conversations you can get a point across using ethos, pathos, and logos in the correct manner.

Christmas List

Hey Everyone lets get into the Christmas spirit a bit and write your Christmas list here's mine... It's not big but it'll do.

- A yamaha or casio keyboard, my whole family plays piano but no one took the time to teach me and really want to learn
- Some cologne, I ran out

- Long Johns and wool socks, it's getting cold

- A nice sweatshirt, or money to go buy some clothes





...Maybe some movies or CDs, other than that I'm good.

Time Flies When you forget you're having fun

This first semester has just sped right by and I don't know if it's just me but it feels like we just got here. I always thought when I got out of high school, "oh no four more years of school, I just want to be done"; but at this rate four years is going to just fly by. Finals are coming up and I need to get to some assignments and do a little bit of studying; not to mention these papers really need revised... I guess this is crunch time coming up. Be ready for it you guys.

Home Sweet Home

I went back to my home town this week like most people and expected to feel welcomed and at ease, but instead it just seemed to be filled with stress amongst friends and my family. I went to my grandma's house on Thanksgiving Day like I do every year. I love Thanksgiving at my grandma’s mostly; my family and I (4 aunts, an uncle, 16 cousins, and others) eat a huge homemade meal; turkey and noodles, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, candied yams, fresh rolls, stuffing, it is an ideal meal... The whole time though I listened to arguing and complaining, it's really bothersome so I mostly watched football. But when I got back to Muncie this afternoon, I felt something unexpected. A feeling of home plagued me. This is where my life is now and I like it; All I can say now is home sweet home Muncie.

Thank God for Thanksgiving!

I am so excited for my favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving! Would you like to know why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday? Turkey, noodles, mashed potatoes, fresh rolls, green bean casserole, candied yams, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and it's all homemade, who doesn't love Thanksgiving?! I getting together with my family and I'm sure I'll be telling them all about my life at college, and hear even more about how I should be doing better. I get to watch football with my uncles, and then go play in the backyard with my cousins. Hell, I even like the stupid gossip my Aunts go on about. I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding a conversation to analyze. I cannot wait until Thursday!

Peyton Chokes!

So who else watched Peyton Manning blow it earlier today against the Patriots. How could we lose to the Pats!? I was so angry, we were coming back so well and with under a minute left Manning throws it right into the hands of the defense. To make this loss to our rivals worse, I ran into two Pats fans after the game, talk about a nasty run-in... I think we scared the other people on the bus arguing back and forth like we did!

The Walking Dead

There's this show I've been watching on AMC called The Walking Dead. I love zombie movies and this show is the epitome of zombie movies put into a TV series. It has such a great post-apocalypse story line and it is filled with drama. It has everything from a kid getting kidnapped over a bag of guns by a gang of Hispanics that run a nursing home to a brother getting handcuffed to the top of a roof as bait for the hungry zombies. I advise anyone who loves gory movies to check out The Walking Dead; who doesn't love a good zombie series?

Bored on Sunday

 These Sundays are so boring; they literally are a day for rest because the only thing I do is sleep, eat, and recover; oh and do a little homework when I get around to it. The only reason to even wake up is because you're already up when you have to close the blinds because the afternoon sun is shining through. At least there is football to look forward to! Well I think I am going to change my Sunday routine. I never have to get up during the week because my classes are so late so I should make Sunday the one day I get up early go for a job, get some coffee in me; I could take a break and read the newspaper by beneficence or frog baby or something. Then I could do some homework, get a little reading in, and I can't miss football regardless of how productive I want to be. At least then when someone asks me, "how was your day?"... I can say that it was productive. :)

My Luck Marble

(actual pic)

I thought I had came to college with everything I needed. My phone, a stereo, a computer, supplies for school; I assumed I couldn't be missing anything. A few weeks after arriving to school I realized I had lost my lucky marble that my nephew had given me a few years back. I loved that marble; anytime I would get frustrated, nervous, sad, or anxious I would grab my lucky marble and rub it between my index finger and thumb. It was such a comforting gift. Since my nephew was only 2 when he gave it to me of course he had no money to buy an actual gift, and he barely understood the idea behind Christmas. Nonetheless he got me a present and I think it was the best present I had ever received, The past 4 years it has been in my pocket through thick and thin; so when I though I had lost the damn thing I felt so bad I searched everywhere for over a week and couldn't find it anywhere, I had given up. Well on Thursday I had an inQuisit test for my Fiscal Wellness class; I forgot the test was coming up so I had no time to study for it. I though for sure I was going to fail and if I fail any test in that class, I fail the class (since there are very little points in the class). Well, while I was taking the test I got really nervous and reached in my phone to see the time (I could've  easily looked on the computer, it's just habit to look at your phone after a while); when I reached into my pocket I felt a small little ball. I didn't even think about the marble until I saw what it was, I got so happy, I rubbed it for a few seconds put, it back in my pocket, and began taking the test. I finished the test and to my surprise I got a 91% on it. Just my Luck?

Lazy Sunday

Today I slept a total of 18 hours.  Ridiculous, I know.  I think college life messes with your sleep schedule.  It seems like either I can't sleep at all, or I sleep a ridiculous amount.  Sometimes I'll have spurts of insomnia.  This only seems to be when I desperately need sleep.  Then days like today I can't seem to make myself get out of bed.  I blame stress.  Stress and college.  College is stress.  I'm sure the average college student will agree with this.  The end.

Paying for the Poor?

In 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson established the War on Poverty. Since, the United States has spent over $9 trillion on government welfare programs. Even though we are feeding impoverished people with money they just can't seem to pull themselves out of the loop. We have just as many impoverished people in United States now than ever. The rate of poverty in America can be approximately 13%-17% at any given time. I think people in poverty are just biting the hand that feeds and aren't trying to take the money they are basically given and putting it to use. In order for the impoverished to become fiscally stable they need to learn and improve not simply get paid by the government to "get by". In 2009 we spent ~$500 billion dollars on welfare programs, that is enough to supply every man woman and child in poverty ~$12,000; and for what, so they can spend the money and come back begging for more. Benjamin Franklin once said “I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.” I believe that is how we should treat the poor, as cruel as it may sound we need to increase convince these people to get back to the United States fundamentals and create businesses and jobs; this country thrives off of the little people.

Halloween

I don't know about everyone else but I am pumped for Halloween; it is by far the single craziest night at Ball State, everyone is out running around, mostly causing chaos and wreaking havoc, how do you beat that. On top of that everyone gets to run around in sexy, scary, or funny costumes, it is going to be cool seeing how everyone dresses. Oh and did I forget to mention the PARTIES! I know there is going to be a million of them so everyone needs to be safe and don't drive under the influence, we are all adults and need to act accordingly. Even though this is my first year here, for the past three years I have came to BSU for Halloween, I have had a blast every year so far and I plan for my first year here to truly be the best. I hope to see you guys out there (that is if I can recognize you past your costume).

Update: Dontating Plasma.. Work?

Finally the wound on my arm from a couple weeks ago is pretty much healed, there is a lot of scar tissue but it is definitely better than it was. I just hope that the plasma center will accept me now, I don't fully understand what a scrape has to do with donating plasma it wasn't infected or anything. Last time I went in there I waited for an hour and then got denied, what a waste of my time when I should have been doing homework that was due right after the appointment. I'm going to try to sign up for a later appointment this time, that way I don't have to worry about class but it definitely needs to be done this week, seeing as how Halloween is this weekend.

Update: Thieves

Me and Henry figured it out, we discovered who stole the speakers, some kid named Isaac that lives 3 doors down from us. How shady do you have to be to steal from your fellow floor mates, we all have to live together for a year so we might as well respect each other am I right? Me and Henry gave him a little speech and I don't think he is going to be stealing from an of us ever again, he was pretty jittery when we approached him. We squashed the whole deal and we now have our speakers back, too bad we couldn't have a death metal bathroom though.

Donating Plasma.. for work?

Recently I tried to donate plasma at the BioLife plasma center that is located next to Best Buy; the first week I get paid $75 and every week after that is $50, I really need money so it seems worth it to me until I can find a real job. I spend way to much money on a weekly basis and have no clue where it goes as I have no material possessions really to feel benefited from it. When I go to the plasma center however, I was deterred due to a large abrasion on my right elbow (they can't accept plasma if there is an open wound). But since they won't accept my plasma I now have no money until this wound heals. I've never been so broke in my life; I'm used to having a job and having money, at least I still don't have to pay for groceries or rent...yet...

THIEVES!?

So in our bathroom there used to be a radio so we could all listen to music while we get cleaned up in the morning. Due to a lack of maturity and responsibility said radio no longer works. Me and my roommate Henry being good the samaritans that we are, replaced the radio with speakers that can plug into ipods, iphones, and any othe electronic device with a headphone jack. The speakers were in the bathroom no longer than 12 hours and BAM! they are stolen. We put another sign up that says to return the speakers and if that doesn't seem to get the message across I guess me and few friends are just going to have to go door to door!

Lafollette Food is Becoming Repetitive

So we've been in school since August 28th and don't get me wrong the food here is just fine, but I'm so sick of fried food and packaged meals. I miss a good home cooked meal; meatloaf, chili, steak, pot roast, chicken, and mostly I miss good home grown veggies! I can't even eat the veggies here, they taste awful! The freshman 15 is catching up to me and it's because of all of the fried food. All I want sometimes is a turkey sandwich and they sell sliced turkey and ham and whatnot but they don't sell whole loaves of bread! What the hell is the point of having one and not the other. I guess I better just get used to this for a while, it's nice not having to go buy groceries, but I miss cooking things myself... 

iPhone Withdrawls!

So over the weekend I managed to lose my iPhone. For those who have an iPhone you can only imagine how it feels to lose such a vital part of you. Yes I said it is a part of me; it is amazing how much iPhones can do. I used my iPhone for almost everything I did throughout the day. I used it to look up schedules, to write down my homework assignments and set alarms; in fact it was my alarm so now how am I going to wake up (I'm lucky my earliest class isn't until 10:00 a.m.); I used my phone as a GPS, as a gaming device, social networking, texting, calling; almost every event in my day I used my iPhone to make it easier. I feel naked without it, like when you lose your wallet the little bulge in your pocket is missing. I can't afford a new phone and there's so many calls I need to make on a weekly basis. I guess I'm going to have to get used to borrowing other people's phones for a while.

One Cup of Coffee

I realized recently that for me to get through college I'm going to need to stock up on coffee. I came to school with a bag of dunkin' donuts coffee but ran out way too quickly. I looked all over campus and could not find a place to buy ground coffee with a meal card, and I'm all out of money so I cant afford to just go to a grocery store. Eventually though I found really good, freshly ground dark roast coffee at the coffee shop in the library. My prayers were answered! I've been drinking coffee for a good majority of my life and I've always had it black (my dad always told me if I wanted to drink coffee then I have to drink it the most unpleasant of ways; it's an acquired taste I began to love though). I started drinking regularly around the age of 10. Unlike most houses we didn't have tea in a kettle on the stove but we always had coffee in the pot for an afternoon pick me up. I'm sure it isn't healthy to be drinking for that long and from that young of an age, but I've been cutting back the past few years. The problem is it's starting to look like I need to pick the habit of drinking heavily to make it through my days here at BSU.  

PAC-MAN

Earlier today my friend Holly showed me this video and I just couldn't stop laughing. It is definitely categorized under cheesy slapstick comedy; but nonetheless, the expressions on everyone's face is priceless. It gave me the idea of being PAC-MAN on Halloween and have a bunch of my buddies chase me around like those little monster guys. Lol. There's another video of the same french guy, in a go-kart, dressed up as Mario, and driving around a major city; it's hilarious...Here's a link to the YouTube html: Mario Kart (Remi Gaillard)