Tag Archives: technology

30-day writing challenge: Day 30

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Challenge, College, Family, student, Uncategorized

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Day 30: Your highs and lows for the month

Well, this is the end of the road for this challenge.

I can honestly say I had some fun with this. I’m not joking when I saw I had low expectations for this challenge seeing as I have a tendency to forget things easily and I had a strong feeling I’d be skipping posts. Thankfully, I did every post on time and finished all 30 days.

Michael Scott, "The Office"

Michael Scott, “The Office”

Most of the lows came from moments of writer’s block or trying to find the best videos to link to songs and trailers. Seeing as I’ve been using WordPress for a while, I’m used to the format of the posts and how to use the settings.

I experienced a great deal of highs. Sometimes it was watching my mom try to figure out what would be in the daily post and other times it was typing furiously trying to finish before I fell asleep on my keyboard. I had fun doing this and even more fun seeing people “Like” a post because someone other than family and myself were getting something out of the challenge. One writer even asked if she could steal the idea to which I responded I stole it from another blogger via Google Images.

I think by ding a writing challenge helps you remind yourself who you are in a time when your head is spinning from work, school and reality. I’ll probably do another challenge at some point in a few months but for now I’ll focus on blogging about projects I’m working on or things going on around the world.

See ya writing challenge, it’s been real.

Here’s a hint: soon there will a post about the big equal rights victory from last week.

30-day writing challenge: Day 9

10 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by in College, Life, Music, Uncategorized

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Day 9: Post some words of wisdom that speak to you

51qQSFR17uL._UY250_Way back when I was a freshman at Wayne State University, every journalism class required you to write a book report. Some professors found clever ways around it and others ignored it altogether. In my journalistic style and grammar class our professor told us to choose a book and review it similar to how The New York Times reviews books. The other catch was she wanted it to be a book about the area of journalism we were interested in. At the time, I wanted to get into magazine or newspaper publishing and the closest I found was a book by Jason Epstein call “Book Business: Publishing Past, Present and Future.” Yes, it was about book publishing but some of the words on the first page stayed with me.

“Without a vivid link to the past, the present is chaos and the future unreadable.”

I’m a history nerd. I’ve always loved looking at old things be it a book or a painting because they always tell a story. In my antique book collection I have “The Picture of Dorian Grey” with the previous owners name in it and I have walked through many art museums staring at paintings that likely once sat on a palace wall as historical kings and queens built or ruined empires.

Everything has a history. Billy Joel has a song called “We Didn’t Start the Fire” in reference to nothing we do is new when it comes to making history, we just build upon what already exists. It’s a catchy song with a message that likely flew over everyone’s perm when it came out.

Sometimes I feel like Moss from The IT Crowd as I watch Billy Joel's fire grow.

Using Billy Joel’s fire analogy, I feel like Moss from The IT Crowd when it comes to history.

A key part of understanding what’s happening in our world now is picking up the discarded history book. It’s funny to me how many people just don’t know…period. There are many people my age who don’t know when World War II was (as in the time frame), don’t know what Kennedy was known for, don’t know what the Berlin Wall was, don’t know who signed the Declaration of Independence, don’t know how the United States became involved in Vietnam and don’t know the original 13 colonies.

For the most part, I think people don’t care. They can Google the answer if they need to and put it on a flashcard if they need to know for a test. Seeing as my generation is what I call the “iGeneration,” understanding how to use our technology and make it better is more important to them.

Who cares how the technology got to us in the first place?

30-day writing challenge: Day 1

02 Tuesday Jun 2015

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Time for something a bit more challenging.

It’s not the task itself but more the commitment involved. I’ve always wanted to do a 30-day writing challenge but could never find the time or the type to interest me. After looking at a Google Image search for “30 day writing challenge,” I found this one from sunglow and me:Screen Shot 2015-06-01 at 10.47.23 PM

Challenge accepted.

Day 1: List 10 things that make you really happy.

  1. My family.

They’ve always supported me, myself and I through my weirdest phases and longest nights.

  1. My dogs.

Earlier in this blog, I posted a short narrative about the dog I lost. She was my world and made me happy everyday I snuggled her close. Now, I’m left with her memory and siblings, Kitty (teacup Yorkie) and Mr. Bosworth (Maltese).

  1. My iPod.

This little piece of technology even earned a name, Markus, because I never leave home without, much like a parent with an infant. My earbuds are nearly always plugged into my ears and my 2220 and growing songs are serenading me even in my sleep.

  1. My friends

Even though we are what some would describe as a motley crew of people, we have each other’s backs and constantly find ways to make each other laugh.

  1. Thunderstorms

Nothing to me is more comforting than the sound of thunder and the rain as it pelts against my 100-some-year-old house.

  1. Coffee

Coffee and I are like Batman and Robin…you can’t have one without the other.

  1. Writing

It would seem obvious but I feel the need to make it clear. Whether it’s someone’s story in article format or a short story from the depths of my imagination, I nearly constantly feel the need to have pen to paper or fingers to keys.

  1. Shakespeare

As an English minor, I have an affinity for this playwright. He created some of the greatest plays and sonnets in literature and so little is known about him. He’s one of the greatest mysteries in my head. Maybe one day I will post my final project for the Shakespeare class I took during the Fall 2014 semester.

  1. Nighttime

I think much better in the dark. I used to dream of becoming a vampire and prowling around the world in the shadows. I grew up but my love for the shadows and hatred of the sun never did.

  1. My Macbook

This piece of technology earned a name as well, Mischief, and had guided me through the passed two semesters worth of long nights hanging out in Microsoft word and browsing scholarly sources.