iPod World, or What Have I Been Missing? (Blog #5)

I just finished up reading "iPod World: The End of Society?" by Andrew Sullivan. As I finish collecting my thoughts on this article I am thinking to myself how much society has changed with technology in the past decade. Sullivan sums up what he thinks about this "iPod world" we live in today. He talks about how iPods have made society tune out the world and how people forget to stop and remember the beauty around them. Sullivan calls people who own iPods "little white box worshipers." He is so right with the points he makes. What has society really come to with new inventions? Are things like iPods hurting us?  Or are they helpful to some people? 

Today we are constantly surrounded by technology and new innovations to improve and enhance every day life. Things like iPods, iPhones, iHomes, MacBook’s, 3D T.V'S and iPads. The list goes on and will continue to grow forever. As I look at this list I own five out of the six things. I own them because I use them for work and school and on a daily basis, but do I "really" need them? No, but I have them because I worked hard to buy them as a necessity. I feel like some people own them because it is the "in" thing to own. For some like to have their own "peaceful" time so they use their iPod to tune out the world. But for others like me I enjoy owning them, because I can balance enjoying and stopping to smell the roses every once in a while. I think that these items have made American's tune out the world. Most people do not see much beauty in the scenery around them, because they have so many distractions in front of them now days. I think this article can go both ways in his arguments depending if you are an avid iPod user or if you just do not really care for them at all. 

Malcolm X (Blog #4)

Between the two readings I read I choose to blog and write about Malcolm X. Malcom X tells the story of what his life was like behind bars in federal prison. His education really started in Charlestown Prison where X became envious of a man by the name of Bimbi. Bimbi was full of knowledge and took head of all the conversation's they ever had. X was basically fascinated with this man and so this is when he began to take charge of his education and help better himself. While behind bars X got a hold of a dictionary where he began page by page coping everything that was in it. He soon had a whole tablet filled with words from the dictionary. He became his own teacher and became consumed with learning about the words he was writing down. X says at the end of his article, "In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college." He took a negative situation and turned his life around while he was in prison.

This article made think about all the times I had been influenced by a teacher or student to take action in my education. I do not like to admit it but I had always disliked school up until college. Today I now tell myself "You have to prepare your education today so you will have a future." Being in college now makes me appreciate every aspect of learning. I take my work more seriously and try to obtain as much as I can everyday. Knowledge is a powerful tool and everyone in the world should get the opportunity to education. Learning is so important and I think a lot of people take it for granite and do not realize how lucky they they are to get to learn and have the privilege to go to school. I loved this article from Malcolm X and I really enjoyed learning about his journey through self taught education.

Shitty First Drafts (Blog # 3)

As I finish reading "Shitty First Drafts" by Anne Lamott I realize how important writing a shitty first draft really is. I have always felt that I had to write my best from the very beginning of a writing assignment or paper. Felling like from the moment my fingers hit the keyboard or my pencil hitting the paper, all I have ever thought is this paper has to be "perfect." Of course their is always room for improvement, but now reading this article I finally feel like I can let my creativity run and set my mind free. I can actually have verbal throw up and just write what I fell without having to feel like my first draft has to be perfection. Instead of getting writers block and staring at my computer or piece of paper with a blank and unpleasant look on my face, I can actually enjoy writing more with knowing it is ok to write a bad first draft. 

Lamott says in her article that "very few writers know what they are doing until they've done it." I love this line because everyone has their own "it". And that "it" is discovered when their first draft is done and their 2nd and 3rd drafts are complete. After completing the steps the writer can then define that "it" as their final piece of writing that they are satisfied and happy with. Lamott talks about her process of writing and that even the most successful writers don’t just sit down and start writing. Most writers have a “shitty first draft.”

You have to start somewhere when writing, and a good start is to just write whatever “visions” and “voices” come through to you, as Lamott says. I loved this article and am going to take this one to heart as I continue to write in this class. I feel like I will find myself writing a lot better and become more creative if I just let go and write from my soul. 

The Price of Reading (Blog #2)

In the article, "The Price of Reading is Eternal Vigilance," the author Anatole Broyard who is 53 years old is just learning how to read as he analyzes that, "most people read badly." He explains that reading goes beyond just skimming your eyes across the words on the page, but to occupy the book and "stop around" in it. Broyard also goes into detail that there should be a voice between the text and the reader.

To me the author used a lot of great imagery sentences and words to get the reader to imagine what Broyard was going through as being a new reader. Using words like "as soon as I open it, I occupy the book, I stop around in it," " Make them feel your presence. Shine your intelligence in their eyes." These sentences really jumped out at me as I read the article and I started to create this picture in my head of what it was like for him. As Barbi wrote in her blog post on this article, I agree too that the author uses a lot of medical terms. Bryoard begins to talk about how he feels about being around books and used words like fear of "cracking the spine" of the book, "sterile," and making sure his "hands were clean" before taking out the book. It was very interesting to me that he would use medical terms to describe his situation, but it made an interesting twist to the reading.

This article reminds me a lot of myself. I have never liked to read and still to this day hate reading. It takes me forever to understand the concepts of what I read. As I think to myself I wonder if this is because I don't make the reading understandable to me. I feel like most of the things I read I just skim over and let it cross my eyes once. I love the passage in this article when the author talks about stomping around in the book and scribbling out words to make whatever he is reading “his own version,” just for him to understand. I think what I need to start doing is "talk back" to the book and make what I am reading my own version. This way I can start to communicate with myself what I am reading. Overall I agree 100% with what the author has to say in this article.  

About Me (Blog #1)

My name is Alexa Hoselton and I am passionate at everything I do. Dancing since the age of nine, I am now a dance coach for the Sheldon Colleens High School dance team and the Irish Middle School dance team. Things I like: Dancing, being creative in the kitchen & trying new recipes, traveling to new places & seeing the world, being organized, hanging with my family & friends, tooling around on my laptop, cosmetology, planning events and finding new music to choreograph too. Things I dislike: People who are unorganized, people who make excuses for themselves, bad hygiene, rude people and politics. I enjoy writing and am looking forward to learning a lot and growing more during the course of this class.