Tuesday September 17th

To be quite frank, I almost never outline my papers. I find it inhibits my thinking and creativity while writing. However, I definitely see the value in it and organizing your thoughts. If you are writing a 1,000 page book, for example, a rough outline might come in handy. When I do outline I usually do so with paper and pen. In most cases, though, I organize my thoughts by thinking. Maybe this isn't very efficient but when I do outline I usually find it doesn't help much or I don't even use the outline (which is probably my own fault).

Monday September 16th

I went on college visits over the weekend, although it was really Saturday through Wednesday. I flew to Washington D.C., and then we drove down to Williamsburg, Virginia and, after that, Charlottesville, Virginia. We then drove back to up to D.C. to fly home. I saw the College of William and Mary, the University of Virginia, and Georgetown University. They were all great schools with beautiful campuses, and I will definitely apply to all three. Virginia has a lot of sites of historical interest from the colonial and revolutionary period of American history, so we also visited a few tourist locations. We went to Colonial Williamsburg which was, surprisingly, not tacky at all. After touring UVa we went to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. It was pretty interesting. When I came back to Kansas after my trip I was distraught because compared to these places Kansas is the armpit of the world.

Wednesday September 25th

I do not really think about citing work in my daily life to be quite honest. I just do it when I need to because it is pretty necessary, but it's not difficult and takes about two seconds. People who get annoyed by it should stop whinging. I have to cite work in debate all the time so I am pretty numb to it now. It's appropriate to cite work in a professional or academic setting when you would otherwise be stealing somebody else's words/research/idea. Also, it makes your work that you're using the research for more credible, especially if the source is impressive. It's important to cite work because otherwise we devolve into a society of thieves. 

Tuesday September 24th

My favorite book is The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde because I'm a pretentious jag. Actually, though, it's because Oscar Wilde was the most amazing man/writer to ever grace this planet and the collection of his writing encompasses everything writing can and should be. Whenever I feel bad or stressed I can read that massive door stop of a volume and it calms me down and makes me realize there's a lot more to life. My other way of calming myself during stress attacks is to watch T.V. I LOVE T.V. Oscar Wilde, though, always has what I'm looking for.

Monday September 23rd

I actually do enjoy writing, though it depends on what I'm writing. In school I have been told by teachers and my fellow peasants that I'm good at it so I suppose it's pretty easy to enjoy something that is a natural talent. I wouldn't say that I like writing papers and essays for school but they don't irk or frustrate me as much as they do other people. I have to write for debate and forensics a lot and I do enjoy that. I qualified for nationals in forensics with the speech I wrote last year so that was nifty. Writing is an essential skill in life because it is one of the major ways in which you present yourself. If you write poorly you present yourself as a plebeian but if you write well you present yourself as having a brain, which is always a nice feature. I will use this skill to hopefully get me into a college that is not KU and then to continue advancing my academic and professional career. I might even want to write for the moneyz some day (that was a prime example of my writing talent).

Wednesday September 11th

I look up to both of my parents in life. They are encouraging and expect a lot out of me without being unrealistically demanding. They inspire me to do my best and I think it's largely because of their influence and support that I've done well academically and in life in general. They strongly believe that I can achieve anything if I put my mind to it, but also let me know that I don't have to be the best at everything. A lot of kids resent their parents but I've never felt that way.

Tuesday September 10th

Good e-mail etiquette is important because it is a way that you present yourself to the world. That's why in the "real" world, or in professional settings, it's important to present yourself in a professional way in order to be taken seriously. If you don't use good e-mail etiquette then you won't get a job and then you will be homeless and die. And who wants that?! If you do have AMAZING e-mails, though, everyone will want to hire you and you will have money and good connections as far as the eye can see.

Friday September 6th

If I could solve one global issue it would probably be to end terrorism. This is a serious threat that has plagued the lives of millions from almost all nations and I don't think we've been going about it the right way. Force and torture aren't the right approach to ending this as they only breed more hatred. A more effective solution must be found to allow world peace. Currently, the continuation of terrorism creates a lot of fear and danger. It's also created a lot of sticky situations because in Syria the rebels, who are fighting against the government that America may be attacking soon, are partially made up of terrorists. If we support the rebels we may be in effect helping some of al-Qaeda. As long as terrorism exists and we only use force to fight against it, it will continue to be a serious problem.

PSA - Texting and Driving

Tuesday September 3rd

A Public Service Announcement is a form of media that informs/sends a message to the public without directly trying to sell anything like most commercials. They are usually on T.V. or possibly the radio. They often include a famous person and/or pictures that are so sad that they make you angry. The purpose of PSAs is to inform the viewers about an important issue, often dealing with health and safety, and to tell them how to prevent it. If I could create a PSA I suppose it would be about how such a large population of American voters and future voters are ignorant bigots because it is a problem.