LAST BLOG EVER

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS IS OUR LAST BLOG EVER? Ok maybe NOT EVER BECAUSE HECK SOME PEOPLE LOVE THIS THING, I THINK I AM GOING TO JUST WRITE ONE EVERY DAY OUT OF HABIT. Ya I KNOW I WAS JUST KIDDING. AND I AM GOING TO WRITE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE THIS IS SO EXCITING! I AM WATCHING O.C. RIGHT NOW AND ITS MY FAVORITE SHOW, WELL ALMOST MY FAVORITE BECAUSE MY REAL FAVORITE IS ACTUALLY ONE TREE HILL BUT O.C. IS ON RIGHT NOW SO I AM WATCHING THAT. OH AND I STARTED PACKING UP MY DORM ROOM TODAY BECAUSE I LIVE ON THE 9TH FLOOR OF RICHARDSON TOWERS SO MOVING OUT DAY IS GOING TO BE INSANE SO I THOUGHT THAT IF I START EARLY THEN IT WILL NOT BE AS BAD AS TRYING TO GET EVERYTHING OUT ALL IN ONE CRAZY DAY! I KNOW I AM JUST SO ENTELLIGENT NOW THAT I AM A SOPHMORE IN COLLEGE, WELL ALMOST! HAHAHA I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL SUMMER. OTHER THAN SUMMER SCHOOL AND MY BOYFRIEND BEING OUT OF TOWN THE WHOLE ENTIRE SUMMER, IT IS GOING TO BE GREAT!!!! OH KAY GUYS, BYE BYE. SO LONG AND TOODALOO!

Running!

Okay so I went running this morning and it was the best thing ever! I love working out but for some reason the hardest thing about working out is getting started. So once I get started then it is all uphill from there because not only does it feel good when your working out but also, your burning calories so you know your getting in better shape and losing weight but the best thing is, you release endorphins. And once the endorphins are released then you feel better and then your whole day is better because you worked out and now you know your body feels and looks better! YAY I just love working out! I kind of wish I could be a personal trainer because then I could work out everyday and that would be my job so I would be paying to work out, my most favorite thing ever! And also I would be helping out others get in shape and then they would feel better and then they would be happy with their family so then all their family would be more happy and that would just spread around the whole world!

Running!

Okay so I went running this morning and it was the best thing ever! I love working out but for some reason the hardest thing about working out is getting started. So once I get started then it is all uphill from there because not only does it feel good when your working out but also, your burning calories so you know your getting in better shape and losing weight but the best thing is, you release endorphins. And once the endorphins are released then you feel better and then your whole day is better because you worked out and now you know your body feels and looks better! YAY I just love working out! I kind of wish I could be a personal trainer because then I could work out everyday and that would be my job so I would be paying to work out, my most favorite thing ever! And also I would be helping out others get in shape and then they would feel better and then they would be happy with their family so then all their family would be more happy and that would just spread around the whole world!

God

Does anybody ever really know what is going to happen to them? It is scary to think about death. I mean I do not really think about it a lot but when I do it always seems to give me the chills. I believe in eternal life but it’s just that we have to have so much faith to believe in it! And I do! It is just hard at times since we have never TALKED to anyone that has been up to heaven. I wonder what it is like. And the thing that really scares me is whether or not I am going to know who my husband is and my family and kids. I always thought so but then in the bible it says everyone is equal in heaven. So if that is the case there would be no difference between any other man and my husband? I do want to know remember who my loved ones were. But it is heaven so obviously everything is perfect. The only thing we should really be worried about is making it to heaven! It is so insane to see how many people do not have faith in God even after he sent his son to Earth. I really look up to all the people who believed in him before Jesus even came to Earth. What strong faith they had!

summer school

OH I really do not know if I can handle these last few weeks of school left. I thought it was going to be easy. Everything was just supposed to be winding down but it is definitely not! Everything is just piling up and adding more and more stuff to be done before school is out. I am actually dreading getting done with school this time! ONLY because all of my projects and papers are due before I can be done with this place! And to make matters worse. I registered for summer school! L whyyyyy I know! Hahhaha and on top of that I thought the class I signed up for was 7-9 at NIGHT! And I was thinking hey that’s not that bad I can still go out afterwards.. Nope turns out.. It’s 7 in the morning! So I will have to go there straight to work! Haha EVERYDAY OF THE WEEK! I have never had to take summer school before so I do not know what to take. I just hate having to pay for it and having to wake up and ATTEND SCHOOL IN THE SUMMER! Sometimes I just wish I was back in high school!

no more rain!

GUESS WHAT!?? This is our last week to do blogs! AHH haha what are we going to do everyday with all that extra time. I am going to feel as if I need to write on everyone’s face book now! Thanks Wendy! Now I am going to become one of those annoying people who spend all their time on face book! Haha Man I really can not believe this semester flew by that fast let alone this whole school year! Everyone always says that college flies by but I could never imagine it could go by as fast as it did this past year. We only have one week left of school! I just wish I did not have to go to summer school. Luckily I am only taking one class but that means that it is two days a week for FOUR hours each day! I can not even handle sitting in a seat for an hour and twenty five minutes. There is NO WAY ON EARTH I can handle a four hour class, especially since it is history. The most boring subject to me. I am definitely not looking forward to that part of summer but everything else about summer, YES!

ANOTHER rainy day!

Another rainy day! Gah I always heard the phrase , April Showers bring May flowers but man! It has been rain constantly! Except yesterday was so pretty and then today we have this. But I am not going to get down about the day because I just woke up and I do not want to already get myself in a bad mood! Some days I love rainy days. Maybe today will be one of those days J !! I can not believe we only have 2 weeks left of school! Freshman year flew by! Everyone always said it, but I sure never actually believed it could go by that fast. I thought high school went by fast but I think college is beating it. I am ready for school to be out but at the same time I know that it is the deadline for a lot of assignments that I have yet to complete. As soon as I finally finish those then I will be ready to go home! But then that means moving out of this dorm…. Ew! Hahaha just the fact of thinking about moving all of this stuff in this room down nine flights does not make me happy! All I can say is, it better not be raining that day! haha

Friday Speaker continued

The most interesting fact that he made was that FREE insurance is available for children ages 0-21 if family’s income is less than $21,000, which is not that low. The insurance is called Coverkids and is trying to make its way across Memphis. Coverkids covers up to 200% of poverty level ($53,000.) It is said to be a safety net those who are not covered by TennCare. The capacity of Coverkids is 75,000 children! That is an unbelievable amount! So why are all the children in Memphis not benefiting from this? The answer is, they just do not know about it! I really believe this would help out immensely in Memphis because then parents would not be afraid to take their children to the doctor because of extremely high hospital bills. Now knowing they will be covered, they will not wait until their child is deathly ill. Hopefully more and more families will spread the word and join. Right now only 16,000 children are enrolled under this insurance. I could not understand why there are not a ton more! Then he stated the fact that Coverkids was just established in may 2007. If they can keep the enrollment increasing as it has been then the future of Memphis may be off to a great start!

Friday Speaker 1

Urban Child Institue!
As I listened to the speaker last Friday I was intrigued by MANY awakening facts that I had no idea occurred and still are to this day! Well Friday I could not decide whether I was going to attend the speaker because it was FLOODING rain and freezing and I was on the total opposite side of campus but finally I decided I would go and I am glad I did because there was just two of us in there! I could not remember his name and I felt bad to ask him after he started but he works for the Urban Child Institute. They focus on children ages 0-3 because they feel that if brain growth is slowed during those ages, the “tool box” of life will be messed up so he says. A child’s brain is 80% hardwired by age 3! In Memphis alone, we could fill up the Liberty Bowl 3 times with children of ages 3 and under! He and his company want to help children get started on the right foot that way they are not hurt for life. He stated that the 4 main influences on children are: age of mom of first birth, mom’s education (not father, oddly enough), income of family, and family structure. He also stated the fact that breast feeding is very important! It helps increase babies immunity. Oddly enough though, the largest supplier of formula is food stamps….? You think they would just convince families to breast feed and that would be less money spent by government.

depression of the ggame

So last night I was so excited so I watch the game, I had waited all day. The moment of truth arrived it was tip off time. Memphis was behind almost the whole game , but we are Memphis and we could come back so I was not really nervous. Finally we were up by 7 with 2 minutes left in the second half, everyone on campus was running around , on the streets , through the halls and on the side walks chanting we won. But in actuality we didn’t win we had lost. We had worked so hard all year and we lost. No one knew what to say or how to act at this point. But after the press conference on T.V and watching how our players reacted to the loss, which surprisingly was not bad at all. We knew and they knew that they had a awesome year and were proud to have gotten as far as they did. Today at school was depressing even though the weather was awesome. Students walked around with there heads low, you would have thought they played in the game and lost it for us. But this basketball season brought our school together and we all had new found pride in our school and it was over. I just hope that next year we are this good and our school will once again come together and support our school and make people remember who we are and we mean business!!!!!!!

Boysssss......

I hate boys I really do! Uhhhh they make me so mad! Okay not all of them. Actually it is just one and I hate it because I really do love him but he just makes me so mad sometimes. I do not understand how you can love someone so much that they can actually hurt you and not even realize it! I am just tired of putting up with it! It is not like it is a big deal it is just annoying things that do not matter to him that shows me that he does not care! And I know he does care deep down inside it is just whenever he is around everyone else and caught up the in the moment he just makes me disappear and I know he may not be trying to do that but that is what he is doing! And I HATE IT! I really doooo. And everyone always says that you can not hate something unless you care enough about them to hate them and that is true I care so much that I just hate this stupid controversy! I just do not understand how boys can be so mean! And I know I will be over it tomorrow I just had to vent tonight! Haha

Race

Today in class was the best class so far. I know I have said that before but now today just beat all the others! Haha it was fun because it was interesting. Really interesting. It was something that we all enjoyed talking about. Maybe not enjoyed as such, but rather something that we all had an input in. And whether or not we actually stated our input is a different story. I think the reason we all did not blatantly come out and say our feelings is all because we are scared of what is going to happen. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. He came out and talked about civil Rights and look what happened to him. I know today is different and I really doubt someone shooting their fellow student for just stating how they feel. Lets just hope not. The way I see it, I do not feel any differently or think differently of white and blacks or Asians or Hispanics, but rather the way people act. I can not stand thugs. Maybe because the way I raised but that is not being racist. I am not stating whether whoever the thug is is black or white but I just can not stand the way thugs act or dress or talk. I don’t think today people are so called “racist” but rather just associate certain things to the majority. We do that to so many different things in life. If most of the baseball players are cocky, your going to associate them to being cocky. That is just how people associate certain people to certain groups.

from good to bad

So I finally got TCBY last night and it was awesome! I love it. The bad thing is, is that I actually had to pay for it, and full price for it too! Normally I always go with my boyfriend and so he will buy it for me and we also normally have a buy one get one free so it’s a lot cheaper. Well last night I went with my friend so I had to buy my own and we did not have a buy one get one free haha so it stunk! But the ice cream was still amazing!!!
I am really upset now though because me and my friends were supposed to go to Ole Miss today to watch the Memphis baseball team play ole miss and we have had this planned for over a month and all of a sudden about ten minutes before we are about to leave to head on down to Oxford, Elizabeth, going to be our driver, gets a call from her aunt saying that she has to come into work today because the person who took her shift quit today. Her aunt said if she does not come in to work they will fire her. I am so mad!

Class Argument

Argument
Tupac is a hero. He is a legendary rapper. Anyone and everyone knows that the man behind rap music is Tupac. Everyone adores him. Isn’t that one of the main qualities of being a hero anyways; just the fact that everyone loves you? That is how it is now a days. Brittney Spears used to be every girls idol, now no one likes her so she just went down the drain. Tupac is known for being the best rapper to ever live and will live. Supposedly he still lives. I say he is a rapper’s Elvis. He may not even have great qualities but do all hero’s deep down inside?
Today in class was probably my favorite English classes yet! Whether it was Morgan hiding under the desk to scare Wendy for happy April fools or the fact that we were arguing over Dixie Chicks and Toby Keith! Haha I hope we have another great day Thursday! I hope everyone had a hilarious April fools day because I know I did. I played a joke on my boyfriend and he has still yet to find out it and it’s actually now 12:21 on April 2nd. So I wonder if it still counts!? haha

birthday

Okay so it is my birthday week and I am so excited because I love birthdays I just LOVE them! It is not that I like getting presents, well I do not mind receiving presents but that is not what makes me birthday special. I just love getting together with my family and having cake and ice cream and being able to have excuses for everything! I can not wait until Friday when I can just ask my mom to take me to TCBY and if she says noo Courtney I really do not want to go I can say buttt mommm its my birthday! Hahah I love TCBY almost as much as my birthday, and that is a lot! AHH I just can not wait until Friday! The bad thing is I kind of hate looking forward to things, well I like looking forward to something because I know it is something good but then once it is over, it is totally gone and then I am sad! I feel as if I like wished for it to be here so quickly and then all of a sudden it is gone, and I missed out on all the days that came before that big day!

Silly Medicine

So the last few days were not the best days. Well I hate saying bad days because they were not BAD. BAD would be if someone I loved was hurt real bad or something else terrible happened, and luckily none of that happened so I should be thankful I know! And I am! I just hate feeling sick! My throat was swollen earlier this week so I went to the school clinic, they prescribed me to a medicine and I took it. That night I started feeling bad but I took it again the next day and turned out I was allergic to the medicine! I broke out in hives and could not stand up without getting ready to throw up and fall over. It was miserable! My mom was scared I had mono so I had to go to the hospital and they did all kinds of tests and luckily I had no diseases! Just highly allergic to that stupid medicine! So the moral for this blog is… remember which medicines you are allergic too because trust me it is not fun when the medicine only makes your sickness WORSE!!! HAHA but other than that… I had a great day and I hope everyone else did too!

Interview info!

I interview a teacher at a Memphis City School. I asked her a few questions about her feelings towards the brand “Every Child, Everyday, Colley Bound.”
“I, as well as most of my teacher friends, feel that the MCS slogan "Every child, every day, college bound" is rather misleading and unrealistic if you take it literally. The former superintendent who coined the phrase, said that her intent was that every child would receive some type of further training after high school, whether it be college, some type of training school, etc. In other words, a furthering of a child's education. In that respect it would make sense, but that is not the way the public, or even teachers, perceive that statement. And certainly everyone is aware that not every person is destined for "college". Perhaps the wording could be changed to be more appropriate (every child, every day, higher bound; or some other such phrase to convery the meaning). The statement would be more inclusive to all students, whether going to college, entering a technical path, entering the military, or even a student with a disability who might enter a group home or training program.”

Irma Russell

Today I had the chance to listen to Irma Russell speak! She works at the University of Tulsa but I think she said her husband lives here or is from here so that is how she is here visiting in Memphis! Before she began talking, she explained to us that she wanted it to be more of a conversation and not only her talking. She said many things that caught my attention. Irma said that science is corrigible. Meaning that we never really know, we never get “there” or to that point. She also made the point that we are all debating about climate change. The senator has come out with reports that it is “real.” But what difference does it make, what is the next step?
The idea of Rhetoric is deciding on the argument of something and whether or not which side is correct. Rhetoric helps you stand back and look at it. You do not want to let it be the umbrella “over” you because then you will just have a biased opinion when you argue. She used the example of the definition of sustainability. There are many different definitions but which one is correct or is there a “correct” one?

History

Ethnic Cleansing a process in which advancing army of one ethnic group expels civilians of other ethnic groups from towns and villages it conquers in order to create ethnically pure enclaves for members of their ethnic group. Occurred in Yugoslavia
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country on the Balkan peninsula of Southern Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina gained its independence during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Bosnia and Herzegovina can be described as a federal democratic republic that is transforming its economy into a market-oriented system, and it is a potential candidate for membership in the European Union and NATO.
The country is home to three ethnic "constituent peoples":
Albania, officially the Republic of Albania (Albanian Republika e Shqipërisë pronounced [ɾɛ'publika ɛ ʃcipə'ɾiːs], or simply Shqipëria) is a country in South Eastern Europe. Albania is bordered by Greece to the south-east, Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, and the Republic of Macedonia to the east.
As a result of the opening of the country in the post-communist era, Albania is now undergoing a development boom as its telecommunications, transport and utilities infrastructure is being revamped

school assessment

Is there something wrong with giving students an incentive to have a better lifestyle? Normally people would love anything that can better there chances for a higher education. Here in Memphis, it is a different story. Memphis City Schools are upset with their tremendously low graduation rate and decided that they are not going to just sit back and let the declining rate keep falling. They have stamped the new brand “Every Child, Every Day, College Bound” on all Memphis City School students hoping to ingrain an optimistic mindset of post secondary schooling. Not only did they just brand this mindset on the kinds but they are also educating their students at a level that will allow them to attend a post secondary school. The brand has immense positive prospective results in store for students, families, and the city. The few controversies holding all families back from believing in this brand is the idea of whether or not this should in fact be the School Board’s main priority and also whether the brand’s word choice is the most optimum

circle or heart!?

Why do people wear circle necklaces instead of heart necklaces? The reason is because people claim that a heart has a point, a circle does not. Love is a continuous thing, just like a circle. So when people wear a heart yea it is showing love but supposedly it has a stopping point, and no one wants a stopping point in their love do they? So if you wear a circle, it will never stop. The love will stay in the circle and never have an ending point. Obviously the heart was used because it was symbolizing the actual heart organ figure but then again, does a real heart actually look like the stereotypical heart? Not really! More and more people are wearing the circle necklaces or “Eternal” necklaces in place of heart necklaces. So I wonder if circles will just take over. Instead of drawing circles on everything when you are bored you just start drawing bubbles everywhere and writing I 0 bob on our hands! Hahaha Who knows? I guess only our grandchildren will, but who ever made up the idea of the circle was pretty smart. I wonder what the next thing will be… because circles do have a whole in the middle!?
Word count=205

Sleepy!?

Well, all this rainy weather sure is making me tired! I even got eight hours of sleep last night but I still feel as though a truck ran over me. I really think being sleepy is at least half mental. At least it is for me. If I know I am only getting four hours of sleep, I will wake up mad and throughout the whole day just act cranky and sleepy because I know I only got four hours a sleep. It is as if I am given a right to act that way. But then if I got a good nights rest and I am sleepy the next day I tell myself I can not and should not take a nap because I do not need to. So I wonder if one night I do not get enough sleep, and I did not let myself know that, I think I would not let myself act so sleepy. So next time I know I am not going to get a lot of sleep I want to hide all my clocks so that I can not see what time I actually do go to sleep. Then maybe I can trick myself into acting wide awake all day!
Word count=209

Floyd Skoot 2nd!

Today in class we had the opportunity to listen to Floyd Skoot, a River City writer. It was my second time to listen to him speak since I went downtown to listen to him last night. They thanked him for coming out even though he was a little under the weather. He admitted many of his subjects do not flow together. All of his works are a whole (poetry, memo rare, and non-fiction works.) He said that most of his poetry begins with a mood unlike his non-fiction that begins with memories. He said that he always writes in the same place, his house. He can take notes anywhere and everywhere but he always does his composition in one place. He said that it is a great key for us to follow when writing. Skoot said that “poetry is an art of compression” His essays, novels, and poems are all brief. He believes if the works if good, it will find readers. He assumes that if people are reading his works, then they obviously already know who Shakespeare is. He also said that nothing leaves his house without Beverly’s consent! Skoot also mentions the fact that “it is easy to fall in love with what you believe!”
Word count= 209

Rainy Days

So yesterday was just a bad day. Last night I finally thought I was about to actually get a good nights sleep. I was sleeping great until the fire alarms went off at 5 in the morning. We were stuck out there for forever! Then I came back and fell asleep and my alarm never went off for theatre class so I slept through that accidentally. I went to take my stomach medicine and was out! Then I had to go to a workshop that was supposed to last like 30 minutes and lasted and hour and 15 minutes! So that was just a messed up morning so this morning me and my roommate decided that we were not going to let anything get to us. We woke up like an hour early and went downstairs and got us breakfast to go. I dragged my roommate out of bed and told her that no one would see her so don’t worry. She ended up running into her ex boyfriend We came back up here and had some breakfast in bed watching T.V.! Even though it is rainy outside, were not going to let anything effect our happy mood! Also Easter is almost here! I hope everyone else has a great week and weekend!
Word count=215

Floyd Skoot

I just got back from a River city writing, by Floyd Skoot! It was down on Main Street which at first I thought was going to be a struggle trying to get there and find parking but it turned out to be a very fun night! I rode with Christa, Emily and Jen and we parked for free right down the street! It was really neat listening to Mr. Skoot talk not only because he was Rebecca, the director of the River city writing program daughter, but also because I felt like I was apart of something famous! As if it was only for high tech writers and I was aloud in to listen! My favorite poem he read was the poem about his daughter Rebecca. It reminded me of the poem my dad wrote for my older sister, Ashley, when she got married. It was amazing to here all the struggles he has been through with his brain disease and yet still is able to write such great works. He explained now the hardest struggle he has to overcome everyday is just the extreme, extra work he has to do to convert short term memory to long term memory. Something our brains do every second without realizing it! I also loved the snacks they had! That was a definite plus!

podcasts

I just figured out a way to workout and study at the same time! I hate when I do not get to workout everyday but then again I also hate when I feel like I am behind in school work. And lately I have definitely been feeling both of those. I feel like I am never on top of my work. It is as if it just keeps on loading up. I need to get used to it before I start nursing school!! I have a humongous Anatomy test tomorrow and our teacher uploads pod casts online so that we can listen to his lectures from class. I figured out that I can listen to the lecture while I do abs! haha That way, I can study and work out at the same time and I am going to be learning more because when you workout your body releases endorphins and endorphins will increase brain wave stimulations! Also, when you workout, you do not get tired like you usually would from studying or listening to boring pod casts! Now I am actually excited about listening to these silly things! There is a girl in my Anatomy class who downloads the pod casts on her Ipod and listens to them while swimming. That would definitely be a fun experiment too!
Word count=218

Papers :(((

Ok say I do not really know what to do about all the papers that have been assigned to me in the last 2 weeks or so. I really did not think I was taking that many hard courses this semesters. I am about to enroll in nursing school and just thought that this semester would be a breeze compared to what was about to hit me. For some reason, that is not how it has turned out. All of a sudden I feel like I am running in an up hill battle. I finish one paper and I still have 3 more to complete. I think it is just because I am not only taking English but Theatre and Music, and as funny as it seems, we actually have to write just as many papers in those classes as English. I just need to take one step at a time and complete each one and then move on to the next one. I think I am going to be able to handle the English “Big Shabang” as long as it is just broken up in small amounts first! I just hope that we do not have to write a ton of papers for nursing school!
Word count=206

Spring Break 2

Normally vacations are determined by the places you go. In my case the beach was awesome and a definite addition to the greatness but what really made our vacation was the people we were with. If we were locked inside a dungeon for four days, we would still be laughing and having the times of our lives. We did so many stupid stuff like doing late night abb classes, stayed up all night to watch the sunrise, and watched three guys dance in a trash can.
What is the first thing that you associate spring break with? Alcohol right? Well the crazy thing about our trip was that not one of us, under age, and of age, never touched the bottle. That was what was amazing. Not saying that anything is wrong with alcohol, but to have this much fun without alcohol is when the real personalities are shown. That is the reason why all of us grew so close and most importantly stayed close. We bonded from the start and from our heart. As the saying goes “You are who you are when you are with you friends” had a big impact with me on my trip. If I could spend the every second with my new friends I would because I know that they make me a better person.
Word count=221

Spring Break 1

Is spring break supposed to be a time of relaxation or time of extreme fun? Is it extra time granted to catch up on all over due assignments or time to never think about school work at all? In my case, Spring Break was the best time I have ever had. It was not just because I had time off from school and was lucky enough to go to the beach. It was the people I spent my vacation with that mde it extraordinary! You would think that being packed into one house with 60 people could only create drama and fighting. In Gulf Shores on March 1-March 8 2008, 60 people grew so close together. Before the trip, I had only talked to about 10 people going on the trip. With that being said, obviously I was nervous, wondering if I was going to have fun. When I was on the way home all I could think about is how much I would give just for one more day in Gulf Shores. I am so glad that I chose to take part in such an adventure! Ahaha because that is definitely what it was. An amazing, hilarious, fun filled adventure!
Word count=206

Fun in the Sun

Imagine this… laying out on the beach, toes in the sand, fun people all around you, playing volleyball until 5 in the morning, swimming in the ocean, getting tan and having the best time of your life! Yes, now imagine sitting in class or doing homework. Which do you pick? Definitely, the spring break I just went on! I just got back from Spring Break and I can not stop thinking about it. It was so much fun, well TOO much fun and now I can not get in the mood to study at all! I love that we had a little break in between all of our school work but it was just kind of only tempting us for summer so now I just wish it was summer but then when you think about it, we have a long way until summer. Sometimes I wish summer was here really fast, but then I think about all the tons of assignments due before summer, and I hope it does not come TOO fast! I hope everyone did have a great spring break and just relaxed from all school work and anxiety, and stress! Now lets just look forward to SUMMER!!
Word count=204

Spring BREAK!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!! Off to spring Break we go… I can not WAIT until I leave this campus and place my feet in the sand of Gulf Shores. All I can say is that it better be hot because I can not stand this cold nonsense. I hate cold weather, it is so depressing. All it makes everyone want to do it cuddle up in bed and get nothing done! What is the fun in that? None! I really hope the sun is out the whole entire day that way we can all come back with a sun kissed Tan!* Why else would I want to go to the beach!? I really hope everyone has a safe and fun spring break whatever they are doing. Just relax and take some time for yourself and think about all the hours you are not at school; and worship it! The only thing I am scared about is coming back and having a ton of work still to do. I was planning on waiting and finishing my paper but now I am definitely going to try to finish both before spring break because I know I will not be in the mood to want to do homework when I get back!
Word count=205

What a Night!

Guess what? Okay so I ended up going to the basketball game tonight and it was really fun because we won by a a lot and we went with a bunch of friends which is always fun! Memphis ended up killing Tulsa so Ha all you stinky Vols fans!! The game was a great time but on the way there was not and on the way back was also not a good time because we almost got in a wreck both times. On the way there, we were trying to cross over from southern and there was a train coming but there were no arms at all! We started to go over, and at that time the train was not that close, but then we got stuck on the tracks! The car in front of us stopped and the car behind us blocked us in and the train was still ROLLING!! Don’t worry I lived, obviously! I am writing this! Then afterwards we were just riding along Patterson and this car starts flying out of the driveway and I screamed at Megan to GO and she hurried and slammed on the gas and luckily the car missed us by a hair. So actually tonight was a GREAT night!
Word count=210

Game!?!?!?

Should I go to the game or not? Yes, I know that I need to support Memphis Tigers and it would be fun but then again I do not want to go all the way down there, pay for parking and then it not be a good game. Well actually now that I say that, I want it to be a good, close game but then again at the same time I do not want it to be a close game because then that means that we might loose and it we loose to Tulsa, I will not be able to handle it! Especially after what all we did last night celebrating University Of TENNESSEES LOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think everyone at Memphis was watching that game cheering on Vandy. My dad said that we actually should have been rooting for UT because it would help out our rank but along with what everyone else believes as well; I do not care about the rank all I care about is the fact that UT IS NO LONGER NUMBER ONE! I think everyone up there in nasty knox know realized that too after last night. After we rubbed it in there face for hours and hours. Hey they did it to us, it just came back to bite them in the butt!
Word count=218

Research

I have been working on my second part of my English paper about School Assessment for Memphis City Schools and have found some rather unpleasing percentages! How much of the population of Memphis has graduated high school? Even worse how many do you think have graduated college? Get ready…Only 25.6% residents in Memphis have a college degree and 51.5% with high school diplomas. Citizens of Memphis wonder why there are numerous amounts of homeless people, people living off welfare, and family’s who can not even pay there own bills, and this is the reason. The board of education claims that it is because of the loss of goals. It is as if they are living in a cycle of downfall. If their parents did not attend college why should they? That is why the Board of Education for Memphis City School’s adopted the brand “Every Child, Every Day, College Bound.” It is not enforcing the students that everyone of them absolutely have to go to college, but rather helping them realize that everyone of them “can” and our now given the opportunity to go to college. The district is saying that it believes “every child should be educated as if they were!”

Did we really loose!??????

I really can not believe we lost to UT. It is not the fact that we lost because truthfully like Callipari said, we may have needed this lose before we go into the tournament, but did it HAVE to be to the University of Tennessee!? I swear I think I would have rather lost to like a four year old team, just because I can not stand UT fans. I was going to stand in line all day to go to that game and I think I am glad I did not because I would not have been able to handle those fans after the game. I had friends from high school calling me obnoxiously singing their ridiculous fight song. Okay they have been number one for what an hour and there already bragging about something that they will only have for 2 more days until they get killed by Vandy! Some other UT students/ friends starting sending us messages asking if we were embarrassed to go to school at Memphis now? 1st of all, we had been number one for almost 3 or 4 weeks! Why in the world would be embarrassed! They are just so annoying. All I can say is that I can not wait until they get beat…and it better this WEEK

Memphis City Schools

I have been looking up a lot of background history for Memphis City Schools. I have found a lot of interesting, yet quite depressing percentages. MCS' graduation rate is currently 66 percent, meaning that 34 percent of MCS students drop out or don't finish high school with enough credits to earn a diploma
Tennessee’s graduation rate is 81% which actually is not that bad but then again it is just high school. That does not mean they HAVE to go to college. High School is not that hard, you mostly just have to attend class and do your assignments and you can easily pass. I am just trying to figure out whether the problem is caused by the parents’ or teacher‘s lack of interest. From the research I have gathered, it is mostly the product of both.
To think even more depressingly, “Only a quarter of the city's population has a college degree.” It is just hard to see our city, Memphis, not following the flow of the future. Now a days graduate school is like college, it is about to become another required step in school. I just hope Memphis keeps up with that flow and does not fall back.
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Memphis Tigers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have we ever been number ONE ranked in the UNITED STATES for this long!? That is right, No! I am so excited but so scared at the same time. I want to just go yell in the streets how awesome we are but then again that might just jinx us and I am definitely not doing anything to jinx us. I mean really, what if we win the whole thing! What is going to happen?! Let’s just say, we BETTER get out of school! Christian Brothers High School used to get out of school if any of their teams one; even their pom pon team and they did not even attend Christian Brothers!
I am so nervous for this Saturday. Especially after last Saturday’s UAB game. I was not able to watch it. I was babysitting 6 kids and the parents went out to watch the game because they have direct T.V. and could not receive the channel so I was stuck at the house with no T.V., no radio, and just screaming kids all night and NO CLUE WHAT WAS GOING ON! I heard how crazy and close it was so I watched the last minute on you tube! Haha I just hope that they step it up and start playing amazing for this UT game! This Saturday is going to be insane! Beal St. is going to be INSANEEE!! I can not decide whether I want to even try to go down there and wait at the forum for 14 hours and then still maybe not even be able to get into the game! All I have to say is… TIGERS BETTER KILLLLLLLLL UT!
Word count=279

why is jail so easY!?

Okay so I am trying to study anatomy because I have a big quiz tomorrow that I really do not know that much about and I am all hyped up on sugar because I have had way to much sweet tea so I can not focus but mostly because I keep thinking about something and it is driving me crazy. I just do not understand why we do not have harsher punishment for criminals. I mean really, lets think about it this way. Your homeLESS, as in no home at all, no food at all and no money, AT ALL. What in the world would be holding you back from winning a free prize of free housing, food, and the best library in the state of Tennessee? That prize being jail to us but in their eyes a “home.” To them, nothing because it is not like jail is worse than what they have been doing. So what are they going to do, because crime in Memphis so they can hurry and take that “go to jail card.” That is why crime keeps on happening because there is really no harsh punishment. If we actually did punish them, they would not do it! I say if they steal, you cut off a finger. What ever they do; we do to them; instead of just giving them free rent and food for a couple months and then off they go to repeat the cycle.
Word count=243

School Shooting Continued

Just as the title says, school shooting still CONTINUES. When is it going to stop because normally like any other thing, if the scale is rising, it is just going to keep rising.
There is a difference in a kid bringing a gun to school and a person who is mature enough to know that they did not just bring it for “show and tell.” Not saying that either one is okay at all, it is just on two different extremes. I just do not and can not understand how someone can first of all kill themselves but even worse, kill others before committing the first sin. It is like as if they were not coward enough to kill themselves, they have to end others lives as well, and why, to make themselves feel better? I really just can not imagine what that boy’s parents are going through who shot himself AND the other people in Illinois. I just feel so bad for the parents having to go through that. They said that he did not take his prescriptive medicine that day. How many people in America with psychological problems do you think forget to take there medicine every day? Millions, but they are not all killing people. I just do not understand how this can REALLY happen?
Word count=222

School Shooting

I have always wondering how someone could have the courage to bring a gun to school. I guess just because I have always grown up knowing that pretty much my life would be over in a second. Not because of the fact that it could literally kill a person but more of, just knowing that if I got caught, I was dead meat either way. If I did not go to jail my parents would for sure send me off to some mental hospital. I just do not understand how KIDS do not have enough sense to know how serious guns are. They are not just play toys that kill toy soldiers but then just wake up for the next game. I just think it is because they were not RAISED to know that. They grew up in communities that DO use guns all the time. And they kill people all the time so it just seems as “something to do.” When are parents going to explain and actually talk to there kids, the ones who should just be playing with GI Joe men and not real, fully loaded guns, that they are not just toys, but rather a death switch.
Word count=203

Music Concert

Music Concert!
I attended a concert tonight which was my second one to attend. Trust me, normally I would not have gone to a concert on a Wednesday night and miss the Tigers play basketball but I had to. I thought I was prepared and knew mostly what was going to happen. I was wrong. I think it was because this time the performers were not the same as last concert. When I walked in the door I was given a pamphlet of the members of the East China Normal University orchestra. I could only read about three paragraphs because the rest was all in Chinese! I was worried that if I could only read half of the pamphlet then I bet I was only going to be able to understand half of what they were saying. I was thinking wrong about two things. The performers were a combination of East China Normal University and The University of Memphis orchestra and since it is a “concert” it really did not matter what language they spook, music has no specific language for each country!
The orchestra was made up of so many players. It made me feel as if I was attending some music show on Broadway. For some reason I always relate these songs to movies. The beginning of the concert reminded me of the recent movie “August Rush” about a symphony in New York City.
The first song “Spring Festival Overture” started off very slow and calm. It made me feel as if I was on a boat in the ocean. I felt as if something amazing was about to happen. It gave me the feeling of excitement. All of a sudden it changed to happy, fun fast moving music. It made me feel as if I was running away and wandering through flowers on a “Spring” day, relating back to the title. It reminded me of music out of Disney movies, especially Bambi or Snow White! It was so neat because there were so many instruments! The combination and the result was awesome! This song was definitely my favorite out of all the songs!
The one thing I learned from the concert tonight is that no concert can be the same as another concert. Even if it is the same song, not one player can play exactly the same way as another person.
Word count=393

REVISED vote essay

Get Into the Election
What are so called voters? It is one who “makes a formal expression of opinion or choice, either positive or negative, made by an individual or body of individuals.” Would we allow doctors whom were about to perform surgery on one of our family members to “vote” on which is there favorite surgical technique to use? No, we want them to use the “best” approach, the one they have studied and known is right! If they do not use the correct surgical procedures then they are not accomplishing the best result, they are “just doing, it to do it.” That goes the same for voting, if you are not going to be well informed about the candidates, then do not just go post a random ballot only based on worthless, silly opinions.
The article “Let’s Not Get out the Vote” is an argument towards Thomas Jefferson’s statement “Get out the Vote.” The main difference between these two slogans is the time period. When Thomas Jefferson was president, voting had just become a right for our citizens to be able to pick who would lead our country. Obviously when people were allowed to vote, it was an honorary deed to do so. It is as if you had nothing planned for next Saturday and someone just happens to give you their UT-Memphis basketball tickets! They would almost feel obligated to go, just because they know how big of an opportunity it is. They may not be big, all out Memphis basketball fans but would still wear blue just to support their team! Why did they choose to go to that game? They not only chose to attend the game but the supported and “wore blue” just as voters back in Jefferson’s era not only chose to vote but were educated and informed about each candidate.
That idea is the main struggle in our generation today. So many slogans pop up on television, the streets, and the newspapers. Slogans such as: Vote Today, Make your Choice, Cast YOUR Vote” to encourage the citizens to go to the polls and make their decision. The slogan that I best remember is “Vote or Die.” It was always shown on MTV ads during last year’s election. Yes, Music Television, as in the show that mostly no one over the age of 20 watches. Now there may be some very intellectual citizens under the age of 20, but not that many. If they see this slogan, they are just going to feel extremely obligated to cast a vote. They do not care if it is for the right person and the most qualified candidate; at least that is not what the slogan portrayed right? I just turned eighteen and remember people asking me if I was going to vote. I just responded with a quick yes because I was afraid they would be mad if I did not. Now if asked again I would say “No, I am not going to vote this election because truthfully I have no idea who the candidates are. Sure, I could tell you there names and maybe whether or not they are Democrat or Republican, but other than that, not a thing. I do not feel ashamed that I am not voting because I would just feel worse knowing that I chose a candidate which soon may represent my country, only because of their name.”
Another factor of voting that I think is a big mistake is choosing a candidate based on their party. I understand most Democrats want to have a Democratic President and same for Republicans but do they truly know each of there personalities and goals they wish to reach while in office, or did they just been following them only because of their party name? I think one reason that we do not care to get involved with their real backgrounds is because we are all naïve. I will admit I am one of those naïve citizens of America. We believe that nothing really bad is going to happen to our country. Sure we see it happening to other countries everyday but no, not ours. It is as if every president is just given a button to push that contracts the super down over America that protects us from everything. I am not wishing upon any harm to our country. I just wonder what it is going to take for us to realize we do not have a protective shield over us? I just hope we realize before we are shown.
Throughout this essay many points have been made as to why “Get out the Vote” is not the best slogan to use, especially in this generation. “Let’s not get out the vote” is a slogan that comes across as total opposite as “Get out the Vote.” It may persuade some citizens to not vote. I think the best slogan for this year’s election should be “Get Into the Vote.” It will convince citizens of America to research the candidates, actually understand what is going on, and to not just go to the polls and cast a vote randomly.

1st draft on Voting!

Get Into the Election

What are so called voters? It is one who “makes a formal expression of opinion or choice, either positive or negative, made by an individual or body of individuals.” Would we allow doctors whom were about to perform surgery on one of our family members to “vote” on which is there favorite surgical technique to use? No, we want them to use the “best” approach, the one they have studied and known is right! If they do not use the correct surgical procedures then they are not accomplishing the best result, they are “just doing, it to do it.” That goes the same for voting, if you are not going to be well informed about the candidates, then do not just go post a random ballot only based on worthless, silly opinions.
The article “Let’s Not Get out the Vote” is an argument towards Thomas Jefferson’s statement “Get out the Vote.” The main difference between these two slogans is the time period. When Thomas Jefferson was president, voting had just become a right for our citizens to be able to pick who would lead our country. Obviously when people were allowed to vote, it was an honorary deed to do so. It is as if you had nothing planned for next Saturday and someone just happens to give you their UT-Memphis basketball tickets! They would almost feel obligated to go, just because they know how big of an opportunity it is. They may not be big, all out Memphis basketball fans but would still wear blue just to support their team! Why did they choose to go to that game? They not only chose to attend the game but the supported and “wore blue” just as voters back in Jefferson’s era not only chose to vote but were educated and informed about each candidate.
That idea is the main struggle in our generation today. So many slogans pop up on television, the streets, and the newspapers. Slogans such as: Vote Today, Make your Choice, Cast YOUR Vote” to encourage the citizens to go to the polls and make their decision. The slogan that I best remember is “Vote or Die.” It was always shown on MTV ads during last year’s election. Yes, Music Television, as in the show that mostly no one over the age of 20 watches. Now there may be some very intellectual citizens under the age of 20, but not that many. If they see this slogan, they are just going to feel extremely obligated to cast a vote. They do not care if it is for the right person and the most qualified candidate; at least that is not what the slogan portrayed right? I just turned eighteen and remember people asking me if I was going to vote. I just responded with a quick yes because I was afraid they would be mad if I did not. Now if asked again I would say “No, I am not going to vote this election because truthfully I have no idea who the candidates are. Sure, I could tell you there names and maybe whether or not they are Democrat or Republican, but other than that, not a thing. I do not feel ashamed that I am not voting because I would just feel worse knowing that I chose a candidate which soon may represent my country, only because of their name.”
Another factor of voting that I think is a big mistake is choosing a candidate based on their party. I understand most Democrats want to have a Democratic President and same for Republicans but do they truly know each of there personalities and goals they wish to reach while in office, or did they just been following them only because of their party name?
Throughout this essay many points have been made as to why “Get out the Vote” is not the best slogan to use, especially in this generation. “Let’s not get out the vote” is a slogan that comes across as total opposite as “Get out the Vote.” It may persuade some citizens to not vote. I think the best slogan for this year’s election should be “Get Into the Vote.” It will convince citizens of America to research the candidates, actually understand what is going on, and to not just go to the polls and cast a vote randomly.

FRED

I am just going to tell a funny story I heard today. In my sorority we all get beta fish! Well my friend was given one and at first she was so excited. For some reason though she is actually terrified of fish. Not really the fact of looking at them but just like having to feel them when she changes and cleans the bowl. So obviously she never cleaned him, Fred, she made her room mate do it. The bowl sits on their bathroom counter and yesterday her friend was JUST in her room but then just left, so all of a sudden she was washing her hands and accidentally hit the bowl, it shatters, and the worst thing is, she was all by her self! Fred went flying on the ground with all the broken glass! She started crying because she did not know what to do to. She wanted to pick Fred up but was so scared because she hates touching sliming things like that. I know if she really loved Fred she would have just done it.. But she was selfish huh!? Haha She said she just kept getting water and pouring it on the fish and every time it would kind of jump a little bit! So she called her room mate and she had to drive back up there to pick up Fred and return him safely to his home. Turns out Fred is STILL alive swimming around in one of their cereal bowls!

word count=251

?!... Just think!

Ponder!?
Have you stopped and just taken the second to think where you are in life? Like we are just going through the motions but never actually taking the time to realize what we are doing or how we are effecting everyone else we meet? How many people do you think you see in one day!? The more important question is, how many people remember seeing you? There may be no difference whether you just sit inside all day cooped up or actually decide to go outside and see people and not cause any difference. To make an impact on anyone or anything in the world, you have to make an effort. Just saying hi to one person could change a lifetime. They might have been having the worst day ever not thinking they were going to make it until your smile turned everything around! Whenever I am having a bad day I just stop, sit down and think about allll the things I have. It makes me mad at myself afterwards for actually thinking I could possibly have a bad day. No way, just go to St. Jude for an hour and you will be leaving thanking God for everything you have been given. I just wish everyone could see what all they have. Yes, sure there is always someone that is going to have more than you but what specifies more? Their money or material things? Because we all know that does not matter in after life…

Questions

QUeStIoNs
I was laying in bed last night and that is mostly the time when I say my prayers and try to go to bed; but instead I was bogged down with questions just popping in my head and things I should have done that day that I need to do tomorrow but knowing that I would forget. Have you just sat and thought about what is going to be like when you die. Do not get me wrong, I believe in God and eternal life. But sometimes it is just hard to KNOW what it is going to be like since we have not talked to anyone that has gone there. I am not doubting it at all it is just so weird to think about it. I always think about it like hide and go seek and like everything goes black but then all of a sudden the game just starts over; but in our case it does not. Or does it? Do we reincarnate and come back to life. Do we come back as our self or someone or something totally different not knowing at all that I lived on Earth before? With saying that, that means I may have lived on Earth before and had a whole different family. It is just amazing to think that God already has a plan for all of us. So really all we need to do is just sit back and relax and know that everything is going to be okay, and as he planned!
Word count= 255

Fate

Fate
Haha I have had that same question feeling as I did in my last blog and was just thinking about so many different things. Have you ever been to a physcic? I have not but I also do not think I would want to. Yes, maybe to see the results of short term, like what my grades are for this semester or if I made it through nursing school; but other than that I do not want see what my future entails. What would be the fun in that? Also I would feel as though every action I make will mess up my plans and effect something 50 years down the road. The thing is; it does. Everything I am doing right now, the decisions I am making IS in fact impacting my life somehow. The kicker is, is that someone already knows my life plan, and that is not a psycic. It is God. He already knows everything I will be doing in 30 years or even if I will still be living. It is sometimes hard to realize that, only because it is such a “belief system.” Thankfully we have so many signs and proof that he is our savior; but really, if right now some man came down to Earth and said that he was Jesus, would you believe him? Yes, he did do AMAZING things after that, like raise from the dead and heal many people and changed 1 loaf of bread to feed 1,000s of people and walked on water, but before he did all that; would you be able to trust someone telling you that they are the God?

Religion

I could not decide what to talk about today and then I thought about how today is “Ash Wednesday.” I am Catholic and so today is the start of lent. 40 days where before Easter, getting ready for Christ. Today we can not eat meat and every Friday until Easter as well. We also pick something that would be very hard for us to give up, and we do, for 40 DAYS! Haha It actually really is hard thought because I am picking desserts and that is my favorite thing in the world, I would much rather have desserts than eat a steak dinner! But whenever I start complaining then I think about how Jesus gave up his whole life for us along with so many other sacrifices throughout his life.
I know this may seem off topic of Ash Wednesday but not really because I am talking about Religion. I do not really understand why there are so many religions that all worship God our savior. In church last week the Gospel was talking about how not to be separated. That all who love God should all be together and not branch out for those branches will be broken. I am not saying any religion is bad at all I just do not understand how all the different types of religion started in the first place and why? Obviously there are some issues that are different but I think the main one, and the biggest one, is that we all believe that God is our Savior. So think about the difference if we were all together; how much more fellowship and worship could we bring and create with one group that big!?
Word count= 275

Tornado Weather

TORNADO
Doesn’t everyone want to get out of school; whether it be a snow day or random storm that will cancel school? I know I do, I can not wait until spring break that I am actually wishing a storm upon Memphis. The bad thing is, this time it might actually be bad? I just got done with all my classes when I heard the news about all classes and campus activities canceled for today AFTER 2:30 (after all my classes are done for the day, my luck!) I just heard a siren and was wondering if it were the tornado sirens. Then I heard the slightest bit of talking and remembered that it is part of the security plan; even though you can only hear it if you are in the vicinity of 50 ft.
I think the reason that I have never been very scared about tornadoes and truthfully only worked up about the occasion is because I or anyone close to me has never been effected (knock on wood.) It is not that I am actually excited about TORNADOS at all, it is more the fact that it just changes our regular routine. It is really weird because I was born on April 4 and the night before I was born there was a tornado warning. Every year since then, there has been a tornado warning the night before my birthday. Trust me I am not wishing for any bad weather at all, just maybe a false alarm kind of thing that will get us out of school that’s all!
Word count=269

School!

School Days
Oh boy… I am so tired of doing school work I could just scream! I can not wait until Spring Break when we are out of school for a whole week and do not have to worry about any school problems or assignments due the next day, well hopefully at least. I think that I just loved High School too much and now that I am in college it is a big difference. In high school the teachers “guide” you on everything. Everyday they will ask how everyone is coming along and always remind us when the assignment is due. In college, big difference. The teachers expect us to remember when it is due and that if we need help we find it. We have to make all the initiatives our self. Obviously that is how it should be, since we are growing up and that is what college is here for, to get us ready for the real world!
Yes, I love only having 2 or 3 classes a day but the difference is in high school, sure we went to school for seven hours but then when we left school that day, we were done. I maybe had to do an hour’s worth of homework a night and that was not even required. Now we have to study for over 4 or 5 hours a day! I think it is also different for me because I would so much rather have written homework rather than studying because I never know when I have actually thoroughly finished studying whereas a homework assignment- when I finish it is when I stop.
Some days I have to admit I just wish we could be back in middle school!

Watchdog

THE NEW MLGW GAS RATE SCHEDULE AND A $12.6 MILLION CHANGE IN THEIR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
This blog is about MLGW’s new rates that will be in effect for this next year. It shows that all of the rates will be increased so to decrease debt. I do not think it is that fair for required companies to keep increasing our rates just so they can get out debt. I mean yea that does solve problems but couldn’t everyone do that? What if the new president came into office and said that taxes are going to be increased 50%. That sounds like a ton right? Well that is how much MLGW raised there “Block” prices. A block price is set price that you have to pay depending on different categories. Right now there are only 4 but in the news plans not only are they increases prices but they added another required Block we all have to pay! If the taxes were raised that much then yea United States could finally return out of debt but who would want to live here then? It is just crazy to think how prices just keep escalating. It always reminds me of the saying “Oh when I was young…,” but it is true our parents paid about $10 to fill up their tank. Who knows what our kids and even grandkids will be paying for gas to put in their cars.
Word count= 210

Faces to Names

Faces to Names
Faces To Names- When opening up this Memphis Blog I had no idea what it was going to be about by the name “Half Bakered.” I was guessing maybe a bakery? That is actually what made me choose to read that one was because of the interesting name. When I opened up the blog, it was a bunch of pictures and interesting facsts about this author. It was so neat to learn all about the man before even reading his thoughts. That is the difference between just reading the newspaper, finding articles there to write about and actually being able to find background information about the person before reading his thoughts. He talked about this man he met and soon found out that they were both Memphis bloggers. They then asked the crowd how many were bloggers and not just one hand went up, but a dozen! I think blogging is kind of like a grown up face book. Most older grown up people do not have face book so if they still want to chat with people they can get a blog! It is a fun way to stay in touch with not only friends but random people who share the same interests and knowledge with you.
Word Count=211

Strip Clubs

Strip Clubs
This blog is about Memphis’ ordinance to close down strip clubs. I think it would be a great idea to stop prostitution. These people are gaining so much money for such a bad cause. It is like an escape for men to go have beers and watch women dance on polls for pleasure. People are clearly “using” women’s bodies for pleasure. That is not only against all morals but it is a sin. It is sad to think that strippers and prostitutes make more money than half of the people living in Memphis but it is true. What is even more sad is that these strippers and prostitutes feel they have to do this job to make money to live. They are not only trapped in this lifestyle but also literally trapped behind their owners and sometimes even bar to which they are dancing behind. I just think the whole concept of strip clubs are nasty. At first it might upset a lot of people and even the strippers for setting them out of jobs; but in return will not only set them on the right track but maybe even help Memphis. I hope the ordinance passes!
Word Count=202

Smart City Memphis

I picked a Memphis Blod that I thought would help me with my research on school assessment since we have to start writting the paper today. The title is "Smart City Memphis" and is about changing people's ideas and notions of our city. It mainly focuses on achievement in education though! Obviously right now many people see Memphis as a place that is not safe. Sure there are some places that you may feel safer in but really and truly how safe can you feel if you just finished watching the news for only 5 minutes and hear all the horror stories going on in our own city. Leaders of this article are broadcasting a radio at 6 A.M. on Saturdays and Sundays to talk about our life in the urban city. I think that our community is just excepting the fact that our city is rather rough and harmful. It is like we are giving into the fact and just letting it keep happen. We just need to stand up to it; make news rules of harsher punishment and it will not keep happening. It is just the same as kids not receiving adequate education. Both aspects are just accepting the fact that their are not good enough and they stop trying and just give up.

Word count= 202

giving blood

My room mate just left to go to St. Jude to give platelets. The difference in that an just giving regular blood is that first they take the blood out then filter and then put back the rest of the blood in your body. April, my room mate, said that the only bad thing about it is that it is cold when the blood goes back in the body! She is an Up Till Dawn morale captain so she is required to give platelets. Giving platelets is a lot different that just giving blood. When you give blood it only takes about 5 or 10 minutes at the most. When you give platelets it takes so long that you can start watching another movie after finishing ONE! Giving blood is really needed in our country because only 60% of the blood is actually able to be used on patients. The thing we don’t realize is how much platelets is needed as well because no one wants to sit an extra hour to give blood. I know I would not. I would feel as if I had helped enough by giving blood why should I sit around for another hour or so. I actually think that some blood banks pay you to give platelets. I know that is an incentive for me to give!
Word Count=223

School Assessment continued

If a boy is raised in a terrible house hold, never taught anything, parents coming and going in and out of jail the only way he is going to learn any education is all up to his teachers. That puts a big load on their part that really should be equaled out by help of the parents. Yes that kid may have a lot of fight in him and may use his parents life as an example that he never wants to experience but for us to believe he is going to be able to educate himself is unrealistic. For us to think he is going to be just as smart as other kids his age is crazy. The sad thing is, is that this happens everyday. This is why schools are filled with students that do not care; because their parents do not care. What is going to give a 17 year old kid the incentive or push to want to learn if his or her own parent does not even care what he or she does. I think the problem may lie at school a little bit but the main factor all relies on the starting point and that is at home.
Word count=205

School Assessment

I picked School Assessment because I want to find interesting facts as to why some kids graduate high school with so much more knowledge while just as many kids if not more can not even read. If I had to make an educated guess today as to where the problem lies; I would mostly guess the parents. I think it all starts at home. If you are not raised to want to succeed then you will not be able to. If you are not pushed to do homework and actually work hard in school then you will also never work hard in school then you will also never work hard in life for anything. It is hard to decide where the fault lies since you can pinpoint different people but I believe it all starts “where it starts.” A kid spends just as much time if not more at home than at school so why should parents think that it is not their problem or even duty to be helping push and teach their own kids to read and write so they can succeed. Whenever you look at a kids and measure their quality, It all depends on how they were raised.
Word count=204

crime and punishment

Courtney Bradshaw
English 1020
Professor Sumner
January 24, 2008
Last night when I was hanging out with my friends; somehow we got on the topic about jails and their lack of punishment. I do not understand why the jails are not harsher in punishment. The inmates receive three meals a day and a shelter. It may not be the “best” food or the most comfortable bed but its still food and shelter that people without those things want. Why would a homeless person not want to commit a crime? They just go to jail and get food and a place to live. Unless homeless people actually have morals then they are going to see stealing and crime as a way out of their own misery. It becomes a free ticket to a shelter home, also known as jail. If our punishment was as harsh as other countries we would not have trouble fighting crime because people would be too scared to actually commit any crime. In England if you steal something, they chop off your hand. If our country did the same thing to criminals then crime would be cut in ½ right there. I just do not understand why we are so easy going on criminals. If they had the nerve to commit whatever crime they committed, then they need to suffer, not just sit in a cell with a roof over their head.

Working Out

Courtney Bradshaw
English 1020
Professor Sumner
January 23, 2008
Working Out
This is my first real blog post to ever have. I have heard of people having Blogs but I have never really even looked or read one. My sister said she reads one everyday that is hilarious. I do not think mine is going to be as funny or enjoyable as his but I will try to not make it boring. I know we should have started writing about our topic that we picked in class today but I could not decide which one I wanted to write about so I thought of something random. Today I am going to talk about working out. I actually just got back from running at the school’s Hyper (the workout facility) and that is what made me think about this topic for the day!
Do you ever wonder why working out always seems to make you happy. Even if you did just do the most strenuous and tiring exercise it all seems worthwhile after finishing. Not only is it because you know you are getting your body in a better shape or because you are losing pounds but in fact the reason you get joy out of exercising is because when you workout your body releases endorphins. An endorphin is a natural hormone occurrence in the brain that affects emotion and reduces pain. Endorphins are natural painkillers. Who knew that a person addicted to morphine could just exercise and get the same painkiller effect as actually taking the drug.
I just got back from the gym and just being surrounded by so many people enjoying their time working out mades me happy. I saw Brooxie Davis up their and we started to work out together. Even though the physical aspect of your body doing that much work is hard it is fun being their with others and just messing around.
It is hard to find time to stop everything and go to the gym but it is a commitment you have to make if you want to stay in shape. Sometimes I feel really gross if I do not workout but never to the point where I am mad at myself or get in a bad mood because I did not workout that day. Some people are so obsessed with working out that they have a disease. They feel that they if they do not workout and feel skinny then they mentally do not feel okay as well. Working out can be a great thing but not when it is at the point where you do not have any self confidence if you do not. I think mainly people are so obsessed with how they look because of the images famous people portray now a days. They are having a competition to see who can get the skinniest. It just stinks because now that is the “going thing.” If you want to make it famous you have go to be tiny. It is such a wrong image to represent to young kids and teenagers. You just wonder when all the things totally switched. Back in the olden days if you were pale it meant you were wealthy because you did not have to work out in the yard unlike the tan people who were normally the slaves. If you were really skinny then it showed that you were poor because you could pay for enough food. So obviously everyone that was fuller and plump had a lot of money. Now all of a sudden it is as if it is just the opposite even though money does not matter. I think one of the reasons is because un healthy food is much cheaper. I am sure that McDonalds does have an enticing dollar menu but then you think about how that one hamburger you about to eat is enough calories for a whole entire day it makes you sick. It just stinks that if you are really trying to eat healthier it cost more. Yea you could think that “Oh I’ll just eat less” but that only causes a disease not a healthy diet. It is good to know that the world is moving on to a healthy country but it should not move on to the point where it encourages girls to not eat because supposedly that is what everyone thinks is “in style” and cute. Everyone needs to realize that the healthy and in style look is not ridiculously skinny even though that is what models and actresses are making us believe but rather a healthy body, mind, and spirit!

word count=770

Manifesto

Courtney Bradshaw
English 1020
Professor Sumner
January 17, 2008
The Manifesto of 1020
“a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, organization or someone.”
When given this assignment to write a 750 word essay on “Manifesto,” I had no idea what I was going to write about or even what the definition of manifesto was. Once I looked up the definition, I knew that before starting this essay I could actually make my own manifesto to planning how I was going to describe what the meaning portrays to me.
A manifesto can be something as small as constructing your own diet or something as major as preparing a prospective legislation for a country. I bet numerous manifestos were made on New Years. Eager people writing outlines of how they hope their year turns out, new resolutions, or even just a commitment to stop bad habits.
Manifestos are made everyday in every country. Any written agreement of intent may not have the name “manifesto” but has the same outcome in the end. The word “manifesto” is being heard a lot more in England and other countries and not in America because me seem to use other words for the meaning. Our society uses such names as: agreement, plans, and everyday commitments.
The best example of a Manifesto in my eyes is the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence. In 1776, America was finally free from Britain. Men who became leaders that day took a stand and made a Manifesto for this country. Legislation knew it was time for a strategy if they wanted this country to grow in time. Instead of just talking about ideas, they knew they had to write out a great plan to achieve anything. Even back in those days the guys knew that they would get no where but running circles if they did not have a written intent as to how and why they are taking action. It was especially important knowing that if Legislation were to take anymore actions or risks, then every colony, not just one or two, would be wanting to withdraw from the country.
My manifesto is a list of goals I want to achieve in this semester in English 1020 all focusing on helping me become a better writer. I have never been one to enjoy writing in a formal way. I love talking and writing about fun topics. If I understand the topic needed to be written about I do not have a problem at all; it is as though everything just flows and I just type away. I do not have a problem with grammar either. My struggle is finding how to put my thoughts into correct wording in an essay. I want to become an all around better writer! I learned the differences of four different essays last semester. I made good grades but it was only because I was told the steps to take. If just given the assignment to write a synthesis essay, I do not think I could have interpreted the rules and skills just given to me by the title of the essay to understand everything to finish a paper in two weeks. I just want to fully understand in what circumstances to use certain styles or techniques in an essay. Another one of my goals of English 1020 may sound silly but it is always one that I make when joining a new class. I want to make all my classmates become my friends by April. I like having a new schedule each semester so that I can meet six new classes full of friends. I look forward to going to class and being with everyone if it is a fun and friendly environment. That does not mean we do not have to learn anything. I actually do better when I am enjoying myself because I then want to get enthralled with the work and assignments.
I have never had a love for English mainly because I have never really understood it. I enjoyed Grammar class in middle school because there was only one correct answer. It was easy to see the right correction to the wrong answer. Knowing that I could easily fix my mistakes, I never had a fear in my grammar. I dread writing essays because there is not always a blatant right and wrong way of writing. Even thought there is such broad range of outlines for an essay, allowing even more correct ways to write a paper, it just seems as though it is a harder decision for me to choose which is the “right one.” I want to feel comfortable completing any given any assignment by the end of English 1020.