Blog Entry 11: Final Blog Reflcation

Blogging was a new experience for me. It is something that I have enjoyed at times and loathed at others, but overall the experience has been positive. For me, the blogging has always been serious, after all, its for a grade; however some entries were taken more seriously than others. During the beginning of blogging with the self generated entries I just wrote down something, but as time wore on I feel that my entries became more insightful to my actual voice and topics that I was concerned with or effected by.

Blogging is a way for people to learn about topics that they usually already have a vested interest in. Blogging has the ability for a person to become more informed about a topic or enlightened about a topic that has newfound concern. At times, the may even be a good output for the blogger to share what is going on in their life.
With all the benefits of blogging, there are challenges. The biggest issue with blogging is finding a credible blog. Information on blogs may be incorrect, or may be stated in a way to suit a specific purpose, after all, the bloggers want to share what they think.

I credit blogging with improving my understanding of visual rhetoric, and also an improved thinking perspective as I now try to observe the other side of a story while reading. Using comics on every blog made me think about what I was actually using it for and trying to support. Being a student of a blogging class was laid back. I could learn about my classmates' perspectives, write my own thoughts, and come away from the experience more informed. The hybrid class style of learning made it much easier to keep track of class and what I had to turn in when. I wish more classes would adopt the hybrid style.

Blogger was extremely useful as it kept me informed and on track with the the leading topic in class, as well as, informed of my classmates thoughts. Blogger progressively got better for me. At first, it was really hard to write about something that I felt had some meaning to me and my classmates could feel some connection to, but as time went on I just wrote about what I thought first and my blogs got better. It took a while for me to enjoy writing blogs, but they did improve the quality of the class.

Blog Entry 10: Trying to Write a Blog

Hey, everyone. I thought I'd right about what is directly affecting me right now. What is bothering me right now is my ability, specifically my mind, to come up with an original topic that I would enjoy writing and that would also bring a smirk or a grin to you, the reader. As I continue writing this blog, it is becoming harder and harder to come up with something that would connect me with the reader, but I figure something every student of First Year Composition is the blog itself. I'm wondering if the original blog entry is as hard for everyone as it is for me.

The designated entries assigned to us by Professor Murphy were becoming  very loathsome to me as they followed the trend of food in class; however,  now coming to my fifth or sixth original entry, I find that I enjoyed tackling the topics assigned and coming up with my own thoughts about it. The direction that was given by Professor Murphy made it easy to write, it made my mind begin to stir, especially with the last topic "Pink Slime", as everyone remembered the last outbreak of hysteria that came with the video's original release. The very food topics that I hated, I now miss as they made it so much easier to write and feel confident that what I was writing was relatable to my fellow classmates that would read said post.
Now this is not to say that I am without original thought, it is simply much more appealing to know that something I will write can be directly appreciated by the reader rather than write a topic that no one will understand. For example, I would love to write about my favorite alternative rock bands, but would anyone like the band or even listen to that type of music. Negative feedback keeps my thoughts in check much like a jailer, and it is much better to write about superficials like Halloween or College than to write about something like how my favorite book series had me cackling for fifteen minutes due to a rudimentary, pubescent joke.

It's much safer to write about a predesigned assignment or idea than to come up with something on my or your own.
Thanks for reading, be sure to comment on how you are doing with blog writings. 'Hope everyone's blogs are going well. Good luck finishing the school year.

Blog Entry 9: Food Perspective Video: Pink Slime

The topic trend continues once again as I bring to you, my fellow classmates, an entry about fast food. Everyone has heard of McDonald's pink slime found in the US or credited to US fast food chains. Everyone has seen the video and everyone has come to some conclusion about the wholesomeness of fast food, and to that I say "Well duh, it's not wholesome."

America has become the trademark of consumer culture. We make money, we buy things, repeat. In the consumer culture, we, as a nation, want to spend as little money as possible for as much as possible. Whether we know it or not, we are endorsing practices such as "pink slime".
'You cannot get something for nothing', 'You get what you pay for', 'Have it your way'. Do these phrases sound familiar? They may as you probably grew up hearing one. Flashy products such as iPhones are hip and in the now and everyone must have one; little do people realize, by buying an iPhone they are supporting child labor. Does it matter? I think to most people it wouldn't. They would just shut it out. It is not really a part of "our" world. "Our" world is a place where you can have Mongolian for breakfast stop at Bestbuy for the newest flatscreen, catch Mexican food through a drive through and going on a shopping spree at the nearest shopping mall. Child labor doesn't fit. Food that is the cost of what you pay for doesn't fit. "Our" world is a place where you are given money that has value only because of faith in the almighty dollar, so you can buy a meal for under two bucks.

    The food industry is just the most recent thing to come under fire of a newfound conscience in America today. Hopefully, it will spread to other areas and maybe even other countries, but I doubt it. The machine that is the American people cannot run smoothly with too much strife. Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear other peoples' horror stories behind products that we buy.

Blog Entry 8: The Fun of Halloween Decorations

Once again, I say welcome to fellow bloggers and hope everyone is doing as well as I am. For this entry, I'd like to focus on the levity of Halloween. Halloween in the United States is an experience. The costumes, the candy, the comics, and the decorations all bring with them a breath of humor into the year as the year approaches its close.

 I am most likely in the minority group, but I hate going to spooky houses. Getting scared by strangers in an unfamiliar setting just doesn't sound fun to me. Although, driving down the street and seeing all the creative ideas seeing light and creating an atmosphere around a home is awe inspiring. Besides the corny blow-up pumpkins and skeletons, Halloween decorations are awesome. They vary so much from people dressing up and waiting to grab you as you
reach for candy into hand-carved vegetables that decorate almost every porch in a form of suburb solidarity.
The costumes this year, like every year, were both corny and pretty sweet. Whether you were a presidential candidate or an undecided voter all the costumes were able to draw some reaction, more often than not good. The reactions, of course, vary with the costume. A gorilla carrying around a child in a cage may not receive as many laughs or nods of a job well done as say a toddler dressed as an Oompa Loompa (Doopety doo). I still enjoyed seeing all the costumes that were worthwhile on social media and seeing what my neighborhood was able to throw together as well.

With all the goods offered around Halloween, by far, my favorite part is the witty comic that catches my laugh, which I think speak for themselves, as does the candy. If you don't know, the candy it tastes good.

I hope everyone enjoyed Halloween to some degree, and I hope you enjoyed this blog entry. Thanks for reading, and maybe tell me about your favorite part of Halloween.

Blog Entry 7: Topics in Food Quest

Time for another blog and another entry about farming. I hope no ones is tired of them yet. For this blog, I'd like to focus on the victim of industrial farming, the small-time farmer who are forced to conform.

Small-scale farmers have been run into a pen where they cannot escape as the gate is closed behind them. They are then given feed, seeds or animals, and when they mature they are sheered of everything they gained and the process repeats. The idea that you can make it in the United States is still viable, but to do so you cannot go into farming. Farming is regulated to such a high degree by larger corporations that a homegrown farm without pesticides is a thing of the passed. That might be for the better. Government regulation of the businesses forces safe habits and a safe product for the American people. The regulation of these farmers is to make a safer and more efficient product. With all of that being said, the family farms are suffering.

The United States Department of Agriculture recently released a summary document on family farm income that put an average of 70% of family farm operators having an off-farm job in order to make ends meet and have some form of disposable income. In the same document, 40% of farm operators claimed that farming was not their primary occupation. The reason for this can be attributed to large-scale businesses forcing anyone that is not with them to leave the business. These larger operations, although they only account for 18% of farms, sell up to 88% of total farm sales. To make matters worse for the family farm, over 80% of farm commodity programs go to these large farms.

The family farms are suffering. The larger businesses are cornering the market and are unwavering in their disposition does not allow any thought for the 82% of farms who are trying to find a place in the market. The government, although is indeed very caring about the American people, focuses more on the safety of the product then where the product comes from and who it effects. Also hurting the smaller farmers is the fluctuation of the market. With factors such as drought and excessive cold fronts affecting their ability to produce produce, they are left with no larger body to rely on and whether the storm.

Thank you everyone, and anyone, for reading. Leave your thoughts on family farms. Also, most of my information came from the Department of Agriculture if you have read anything different I'd be delighted to know. Blurt out my thoughts with you next time!

Blog Entry 6: Getting Through the College Process

I'm sure everyone reading this has more or less gone through the college process. The process of tests and budgeting, of essays and acceptance. I'm not new to it, nor am I an expert. In fact, I have been worrying about the collegiate-sized beast that is secondary education since the first time I received a B in my freshman year of high school.
I have always felt like college was the finally of childhood, and, as could be imagined, it was built up in my head and supported with continual reinstatements of the necessity that college has become. With the weight of college being thrown around. college became a part of my high school life. I was, in my mind at least, forced to talk with family members about their experiences about college, my counselor and what I had to do to make it to college, and my heckling friends who all debated which college was the best for what. I didn't know. I did not know what college was best for what. I judged colleges by their mascot until about the beginning of my junior year. The lightning bolt that sent shock ripples through my brain and body, telling me "You're almost done" was much scarier than I had anticipated.
After all, I was still in high school, yet I already had to prepare for something years away. Something that could, make or break my life. Whether it would be my back from crippling college debt, my mind with demanding classes, or my eyes from the long hours spent watching the textbook remain the same only to go to bed, the restful part of the day, and stare up at the bland ceiling wondering what I had just read and questioning if college was for me. High school was already not easy. Between sports, classes, AP or otherwise, clubs, and friends, female or otherwise, it already seemed like I might go under. This was not helped with the constant drone of teachers rehearsing in tandem "Just wait, you will never get so much slack from college teachers. They are cruel."
The good news is that it is not that hard. Taking it one step at a time makes it easier. Firstly, decide what you're good at and what is important to you. Secondly, look at colleges that highlight what is important to you. Thirdly, decide what you can make without and what you have to accomplish to get where you want to be. It sounds much easier and, in truth, everything is easier on paper.
 Hard work does pay off. I'm a Senior in high school right now taking all my classes that I need for undergraduate school at GCC for the school I was accepted into literally last week, the Colorado School of Mines. I enjoy math so I looked at careers relying heavily on math and I love Colorado. The Colorado School of Mines is one of the top Stem-based colleges in the country and my family members all knew someone successful from Mines. With all the good came the bad, I was terrified that I would not be able to afford college. I looked around and signed up with many scholarship programs that would reach out to me for any I qualified for. I eventually received an email from Questbridge telling me of a four-year, fully paid scholarship to one of 38 colleges and the prestige that would get me. I filled out the application that took me two weeks with an average time of an hour a day on the scholarship form. It paid off. I am now a finalist for the scholarship and have recieved a large increase in college interest that was already present due to hard work my junior year.
What I am getting at is that college is daunting, college is ugly, but college is both fun and necessary. It is not impossible to get into a college no matter your background, no matter what you might want to do. Excel where you can and try where you do not because with the right mindset it is easy to succeed.

Blog Entry 5: Fresh

Hey, fellow classmates. We all watched the same video and all got to see the nasty chicken factory, and most of us, if not all of us, were surprised to see the conditions. I for one would not mind never seeing such a sight again. Then again, the film did open my eyes, most likely as it was meant to.

The documentary executed flawlessly. It was meant to disgust the general populace who have no idea where their food comes from. I think it succeeded. The visual rhetoric shown enabled a tone that can be described as enlightened sadness tinged with vexation. And personally, I don't blame them. Some of the things shown were truly revolting and made my stomach roil. Especially the scene of the chicken bodies being processed; their guts being ripped out almost simultaneously with their head becoming chopped off.

With all of that being said it, it will have no visible effect on me. I will still shop at the same store. I will still go to the same restaurants regardless of where they get their products; that is, so long as it continues tasting as if it was not processed by cold, mechanical hands. I will also continue eating my favorite Ramen: Hot and Spicy Chicken. As said in the documentary, America's worse enemy is inconvenience.

With all that being said, I am glad I know where most of the products found in the local store come from. It helps allows me to make a conscious decision pf what I am eating, of which I am grateful; however, in the grand scheme of things it is simply not worth my time to try and find a fresh local produce store if the one I have been going to is working just fine. An apple has yet to grow leg and bite me, the chickens have yet to take over humanity with what they are being fed. and most importantly the world is not a cesspool of farm animal waste. Granted it may occur, but I highly doubt that. Everything in the industry is being regulated to safe measures for consumption. There are multiple government boards in charge of maintaining a safer world, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior just to name a couple.
Food is tasting just fine today as it was before the documentary. I think that any drastic change in lifestyles is uncalled for and radical to the extreme. Granted, if there is a choice between locally grown produce and industrialized produce I will pick the farm fresh produce, but the choice has to be to my catered to my convenience.
Thank you for reading my blog and specifically my thoughts on it. Comment how you feel, and with that, I bid you adieu.

Blog Entry 4: Can I Afford a Sick Day?

Hey, everyone. It seems like once again we are left with our blogs and our thoughts. For me, the thought that struck me is my ability to miss school. I am talking about all manners of missing school, whether the reason is due to sickness, death in the family, or even a "me day". The question this entry will be focusing on is can you afford to miss a day in college?

The average class size seems to be four classes in one semester, and so the question is reiterated in a different form, is it possible to stay an A and B student by missing a couple days to recuperate from some form of pop up on life? Taking four classes is about average for most students but the number can vary. Let's assume that every class is working independent of every other class, that seems pretty standard. Let's also say you have a moderate understanding in each class and are able to regularly get decent grades by most viewpoints. Your classes range from forty-five minutes to about two hours, for the sake of math, every class takes about an hour and fifteen minutes. Of the four classes, a test or project appear in two classes every two weeks. You also have an hour of homework from every class on top of that every day. That is effectively a bit more than eight hours of schooling every day. Easily said, that is a thing I like to call sadness.

On top of school, you are maintaining, more or less, a social life and connections with your family. You are doing such a good job of doing this monumental balancing act that your friend asks you to help the move. The simple question is, can you afford to do it? In the short, of course, you can help a buddy out, who wouldn't; however, in the long term you have effectively pushed back eight hours of your day. The test you will have to make it up, the project you will have to bust a move and finish it overnight and turn it in early, losing sleep. The notes will have to be snatched from a classmate, and then you will have to go over them alone. And as if that is not enough you will have to go over the homework in fits and spurts as you must stay constant with everything else.

Bam! After an entire week of bending over backward you are now back on track. Was that a sniffle? Poof, and now you have a fever and are sick. You'll probably be out of it for a couple days. That's about sixteen hours of school time used as recovery time. Can you afford to be sick? Of course, that's just, calculating, an additional two weeks or more of feeling terrible once you are recovered. Fun.
What I am getting at is that in college, you simply cannot afford to miss school. The average student cannot simply take a day off whether it be for personal health or a keg party, a different kind of personal health. College is competitive and keeping up with it requires sacrifices. You may miss Billy's party, or not be able to skim by on a group project. The choices made today will have an effect on you tomorrow. Possessing the mind that knows what you can accomplish or do is a necessity when circumventing school.

Blog Entry 3: Status Update

Hey, everyone. I hope all's well with the class and that everyone experienced some reaction to right about in this blog entry. In the the American Life episode, it was reinstated with the girls being interviewed, or chatted with as it was very informal, that it is social media is all too relevant to the feelings of frequent social media users. The feelings I was speaking of  are the vindication of oneself through the social media and the levels that are appropriate within the social media hierarchy. If you are familiar or trying to get familiar with someone you have to comment, if you are a friend of a friend you like it, and if you are a close friend you must comment. Why? Why is it so important to see a notification pop up that someone you know liked your comment or image. Especially, when that person is apparent in your life today and when you would know the opinion and mind of the people that are close to you already, but still they must comment.

To me, this makes the online world superficial. That me juxtaposing with many others peoples view of the social media, but the idea that a comment from someone that is close to you on a picture you are proud of is more important than simply talking with them is astounding. That being said, I am not debasing social media as a means of connecting with other people. That I understand. What I am calling for is a change in the validity of the concept that a like equals value from someone that you do not know on a day-to-day basis. Where should the opinion of a stranger mean more than that, a stranger's opinion? The documentary also talks about people not understanding the two girls, their families included. Perhaps those people are on to something. If you don't get enough likes from people that you may not even know then the post was a failure. Why? Opting to put oneself under the microscope of a detached skulker of the internet world sounds terrifying, mostly because what the skulker says matters. The people that don't understand the like obsession from the podcast  may be on to something.
I hope my thoughts are to disparaged as I'll not disparage anyone else. Thanks for reading my opinion upon the subject of likes and social media.

Blog Entry 2: Hipster Files

Hey, guys and gals. I think we can all agree that to one degree or another...we are hipsters. Whether it be how our music is new and upcoming with its total one hundred searches, only performing at the local level, or the new Thai-Korean fusion barbecue joint, we all have something that we hold dear to us and only share with others that are on the same level.

The big question now "Is being a hipster overrated?"
The hipster portrayal is of someone who is above it all and is defined by Google as "a person who follows the latest trends and fashions, especially those regarded as being outside the cultural mainstream." To me, that seems like a lot of work. Hypothetically speaking, let's say I was trying to enter the hipster class. Calculating the time it would take to make something known, then to find another something to make it known and abandon the previously found item is a cycle that cannot be sated with an ending. But it is okay because the I was there first. Sure it took an hour of random Google searches into the more and more obscure but now that I spent that time I am within the realm of the hipster.
To a normal individual, that may seem redundant. Why not just let good music or food or clothing filter through normal media streams? And to this, I say ha, and ha again. To be a hipster, normal streams are detestable why would I wait any period of time that is functional in its capacity to share information. I am a full-blooded hipster, above such things.
To look like a full blooded hipster, one must dress like none other. There must be so much disorder within an outfit that it becomes a new style. Needless to say, vintage goes with everything in any situation whether it be a fondue on the roof extravaganza or a class on twirly mustache upkeep, one must always look like they do not belong in normal society. To look like this I do all my low key, soon to be everywhere shopping on Zalando, but I will shop somewhere else after this post goes up. I'm a hipster.

I conclusion, being a hipster seems like a lot of work. The personality, attire, and above it all atmosphere take a bit of effort to maintain it. I think it would be chill if we were just zen with who you are and the people around. Share ideas and fun finds the usual way. There is no need for this new label "Hipster" as in inside we are all a little hip. Pun, nudge, nudge.

Blog Entry 1: Blogs and Base Interest

Blogs are still new and upcoming things, but they seem to be a positive, interest-sharing idea. Blogging is more like a virtual club by my point of view. People who like a topic, google the topic, and may be led to a blog where many people with the same interests congregate virtually. Meeting people who share a common interest is almost never a bad thing. It provides idea sharing across a state, country, or even across oceans.

Even though blogs are great, some blogs are done better than others. The Sartorialist, for example, is a blog focusing on fashion and the variants of such, yet it feels almost as if photos are being spat out on a web page to me. Fashion itself is widely varying and coexists everywhere, and yet this blog makes it hard from the front page for someone to feel connected and like they are a part of the fashion scope of the world. On the other hand, it is well organized if the front page does not throw any interest one had out the window. Other blogs focus on connecting more to the reader and creating an atmosphere that is both comfortable and offering interesting snippets of information. In the science blog, Watts Up With That? the very title is comfortable as it expresses a humorous play on words. Upon further exploration of the blog, it shows many different topics all with the same level of comfort. The article  How Climate Change is Fubar offers researched and supported information about climate change and a title that peeks anyone's interest. Some blogs, such as The Norse Mythology Blog, do a decent job of catering to their audience but fail to attract new people. If you were to follow this one or a blog like it, you would have to know a good chunk of information going to be able to participate. Even if you do know your Noric Mythology, moving about  the blog can be difficult. I am not sure if good information balances this out or not as that is for the veteran audience to decide.

Practice Entry: The Who and the Whatsits

Hello again. This is once again, perhaps the third time for a few of you, Dylan Haftings. I'm a Husker from Omaha, Nebraska who has had the privilege to live in many states in the country. For example, I'm moving here from Manhattan, Kansas, a small city, for Kansas, that has the K-State campus as the star attraction. I'm here to get an English credit out of the way in hopes of never taking another English course again.
I really find math interesting and fun to work through as well as history, but I'll never be caught reading nonfiction if I can help it. That being said, I am a huge fan of fiction, specifically epic fantasy series, and even more specifically The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. Reading is a common hobby of mine that I'll try to do at least an hour everyday. Right now I'm partial to the Game of Thrones series as of now, and I hope to see the all the Lannisters failing.
I have a ton of pet peeves, but I can only recall a good portion when someone is doing something. Though you shouldn't worry, I can recall a few. I dislike when people have the sound on on their phone keyboard to max and feel the need to send a long-winded text message. I dislike when someone feels the need to rearrange words to suit what they would say better, losing the original purpose of said words. I dislike when there is not enough time in a day for me to finish a project that I procrastinated on to the very last day. As you get to know me, you may pick up on more, but I'm pretty easy to get along with, and I'm actually not as niggardly as I sound.
I hope to get a degree of a masters or better in a field in mathematics at a college I choose. If you couldn't tell my futures up in the air a bit. Something that makes me unique is the fact that I am actually a senior in high school who is dual enrolled due to having too many credits.
I hope everyone enjoys this class as well as the tidbit about me. I hope you are as willing to get through this as I am.