So this is it. This is the last blog post. Well, maybe it's the last one. I quite enjoyed the experience to be honest. The fact that I was able to talk about some quirks about myself, aside from my intellectually deeper discusses with my readers was refreshing and actually kind of revitalizing.
After experiencing it myself for the first time, I feel there are many benefits that can arise from blogging. One benefit I got from blogging was the fact that I established a trusting relationship where I could talk about myself and the things that ran through my mind with someone who I didn't even know. I was able to open up not only to my readers, but to myself as well. Another benefit I found was that I was able to practice different styles of writing, whether formal or informal. I was able to chose who I wanted my audience to be, and I wrote exactly what I would've wanted to read. I did however, come across the challenge of whether or not I should introduce profanity in my informal writing.
Would people get offended?
Would I sound less intelligent?
These are questions I came across when the time came to introduce the F bomb, or anything else of similar profane nature.
While writing, I learned how to be more cautious of what I write, how I write it, and how I come across. This became what stuck with me the most because of the fact that these blogs are public, as opposed to writing something I would eventually turn in to a professor. I became more aware of my audience. Whether or not my post got 6 views, or 60 views, I was still keenly aware that ANYONE could read it and get their own idea of the type of writer I am.
Being a student made it more of a responsibility to post an entry because I knew I HAD to. I know that if I was merely blogging more my own enjoyment, I wouldn't post as often, or thought out as I have been the entire semester. I grew a fonder love for the internet after being more exposed to other life stories via blogger. That being said, blogging for a class made me realize that there really IS more to people than meets the eye. I mean, for all we know the quietest student in class might have the mouth of a sailor. I believe this assignment was an outstanding one for English 102. You not only learn about your own writing skills, you learn about others as well! You get a glimpse into the thought process of the person that sits a couple rows in front of you in class and it's a refreshing thing to see.
I definitely enjoyed the blogging experience. I may even continue blogging on this page for a couple months until I establish a more personal one.
Till we meet again, fellow classmates!
-Melanie Morales
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Blog Entry Number 10: I have a weird imagination
When I was little, and sometimes even now, certain things that sounded or seemed ominous and intense used to scare the SHIT out of me.
Like my mom had this CD of mexican kid songs she used to play for us, it was called Cri-Cri,
and there was a song on there that if I remember correctly, it was about a sad doll that was left out after being playing with because the lucky kid got a new doll.
EVERY TIME I heard the sad part of that song, I would imagine an ugly doll dragging itself to my child self saying "play with me" in spanish.
It was one of those songs that just creeped me the absolute F*CK out.
Or there was that one movie, I think it was Mirrors?
It has a part where they're in an abandoned building I believe, and the chick goes into the closet and sees the reflection of the same building burning in the mirror and in the mirror, she sees a burning woman crying for help. THE WOMAN IS BURNING ALIVE. And that night I dreamt that that same bitch was dragging herself from my closet to my bed. Safe to say I didn't get a single wink of sleep that night.
There's also that episode of FRIENDS with Phoebe's creepy picture that she made. The one where one of the girls tells Joey that the doll, which is a three dimensional, leg-less woman, comes out of the frame at night and drags her leg-less body across the room looking to steal people's legs so she can be free.
This ugly thing
Yeah. That did it too.
Maybe I have a dragging phobia?????
I've just always had a rather...creative? Imagination.
But I'm one hell of a creative writer. So hey, There's that?
Always draggin' along,
Melanie
Like my mom had this CD of mexican kid songs she used to play for us, it was called Cri-Cri,
and there was a song on there that if I remember correctly, it was about a sad doll that was left out after being playing with because the lucky kid got a new doll.
EVERY TIME I heard the sad part of that song, I would imagine an ugly doll dragging itself to my child self saying "play with me" in spanish.
It was one of those songs that just creeped me the absolute F*CK out.
Or there was that one movie, I think it was Mirrors?
It has a part where they're in an abandoned building I believe, and the chick goes into the closet and sees the reflection of the same building burning in the mirror and in the mirror, she sees a burning woman crying for help. THE WOMAN IS BURNING ALIVE. And that night I dreamt that that same bitch was dragging herself from my closet to my bed. Safe to say I didn't get a single wink of sleep that night.
There's also that episode of FRIENDS with Phoebe's creepy picture that she made. The one where one of the girls tells Joey that the doll, which is a three dimensional, leg-less woman, comes out of the frame at night and drags her leg-less body across the room looking to steal people's legs so she can be free.
This ugly thing
Yeah. That did it too.
Maybe I have a dragging phobia?????
I've just always had a rather...creative? Imagination.
But I'm one hell of a creative writer. So hey, There's that?
Always draggin' along,
Melanie
Blog Entry Number 9: Media Synthesize
Since we've been talking about the media, I've noticed a huge difference in how I analyze the media and it's effects on the people around me.
I've actually been kind of empowering about it, and I'm kind of okay with that.
Every time someone around me, mostly my female peers at work talk about something they aren't comfortable about themselves with, I lash out in a feminist rant. I start talking about how that's what the media wants and that they should love themselves even though others are taught to love the opposite and I get super intense and then I get the look of concern and slight fear.
"Jeez Melanie, all I said was that I feel fat."
then I go in with, "YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL INTELLIGENT BUTTERFLY"
I like it. But I always have to explain why I'm so passionate about that stuff.
I like that too. So shoot me. I love talking about what I learned to people and I'm lucky I have people that wanna listen. I always talked about what I learned, but never so passionately. I'm so much more critical of the media I surround myself with. I guess I just realized how blatantly obvious everything is, Most people don't notice as they're scrolling down Twitter or Facebook, but I do now and it's EYE OPENING.
I guess you could even say I learned some advertising techniques just by analyzing ads I see everyday. I see them and think, "Damn they're clever" and I occasionally have to post ads on Facebook for work and I catch myself trying to use them. Like, damn, It's consuming. Imagine all the people who don't even know how consuming it is?? It's crazy how much of my life it's a part of. That's why I've been trying to enlighten my peers about it, Even though I do it with a slightly twitch eye and neck.
Always watching your media intake for ya,
Melanie.
I've actually been kind of empowering about it, and I'm kind of okay with that.
Every time someone around me, mostly my female peers at work talk about something they aren't comfortable about themselves with, I lash out in a feminist rant. I start talking about how that's what the media wants and that they should love themselves even though others are taught to love the opposite and I get super intense and then I get the look of concern and slight fear.
"Jeez Melanie, all I said was that I feel fat."
then I go in with, "YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL INTELLIGENT BUTTERFLY"
I like it. But I always have to explain why I'm so passionate about that stuff.
I like that too. So shoot me. I love talking about what I learned to people and I'm lucky I have people that wanna listen. I always talked about what I learned, but never so passionately. I'm so much more critical of the media I surround myself with. I guess I just realized how blatantly obvious everything is, Most people don't notice as they're scrolling down Twitter or Facebook, but I do now and it's EYE OPENING.
I guess you could even say I learned some advertising techniques just by analyzing ads I see everyday. I see them and think, "Damn they're clever" and I occasionally have to post ads on Facebook for work and I catch myself trying to use them. Like, damn, It's consuming. Imagine all the people who don't even know how consuming it is?? It's crazy how much of my life it's a part of. That's why I've been trying to enlighten my peers about it, Even though I do it with a slightly twitch eye and neck.
Always watching your media intake for ya,
Melanie.
Blog Entry Number 8: VEGAS
SO I DID A THING, GUYS.
I went to Vegas over the weekend.
This was my first visit after turning 21, I am now 22. MEANING, I could turn up as much as possible.
Let me tell ya, it was somethin' else.
I mean yeah, my dad got his wallet pick-pocketed out of him while the rock n roll cover band on Fremont Street, Alter Ego, was doing their metal version of House of Pain's "Jump Around".
I know what you're thinking. "How is that possible?"
HERE YA GO. IT'S POSSIBLE.
https://youtu.be/fRMXxDfgCS0
credit to me, as this is my channel.
And yeah, I got followed down the Las Vegas strip for over 5 blocks by some creep who seeemed stunned by me in the Cosmetics section of one of the biggest Walgreens I've ever been in my life. Must have been glowing with typical touristy beauty or something. I mean, HE WOULD NOT LAY OFF. We even tried messing with him and changing our walking directions like we had to go back to the store for something and he was STILL AT IT. Eventually, my family surrounded me as if they were my Vegas Entourage and he gave up, but man, he was a persistent one.
OH THE PEOPLE YOU'LL SEE ON THE LAS VEGAS STRIP.
But it was still a MUCH NEEDED trip for my family and I. I mean, free drinks if you're playing on the slots? HELL YEAH. DON'T MIND IF I DO.
Also, if you go to Vegas, don't eat anything off a buffet table that looks like it's been out longer than you've been in Vegas. It's PROBABLY not good.
Always, someone who learned that ^^^^^ the hard way.
I went to Vegas over the weekend.
This was my first visit after turning 21, I am now 22. MEANING, I could turn up as much as possible.
Let me tell ya, it was somethin' else.
I mean yeah, my dad got his wallet pick-pocketed out of him while the rock n roll cover band on Fremont Street, Alter Ego, was doing their metal version of House of Pain's "Jump Around".
I know what you're thinking. "How is that possible?"
HERE YA GO. IT'S POSSIBLE.
https://youtu.be/fRMXxDfgCS0
credit to me, as this is my channel.
And yeah, I got followed down the Las Vegas strip for over 5 blocks by some creep who seeemed stunned by me in the Cosmetics section of one of the biggest Walgreens I've ever been in my life. Must have been glowing with typical touristy beauty or something. I mean, HE WOULD NOT LAY OFF. We even tried messing with him and changing our walking directions like we had to go back to the store for something and he was STILL AT IT. Eventually, my family surrounded me as if they were my Vegas Entourage and he gave up, but man, he was a persistent one.
OH THE PEOPLE YOU'LL SEE ON THE LAS VEGAS STRIP.
But it was still a MUCH NEEDED trip for my family and I. I mean, free drinks if you're playing on the slots? HELL YEAH. DON'T MIND IF I DO.
Also, if you go to Vegas, don't eat anything off a buffet table that looks like it's been out longer than you've been in Vegas. It's PROBABLY not good.
Always, someone who learned that ^^^^^ the hard way.
Blog Entry Number 7: DUMB MEN
What is a hashtag, you ask?
Some people you ask could tell you they're annoying, unnecessary tags for obnoxious "Interneters". (I declare that a word.)
Others will tell you they're a useful tool that helps Interneters (there's that nifty word again) easily find certain search topics.
I feel like if you ask me, I know about as much as anyone else would. Maybe a little more?
I know they are used to sort through topics and gather things of similar content in one fustercluck of data. You basically just put a pound symbol, as such, # before any subject or term you want to categorize to facilitate people finding it.
Like say for instance, you're at a festival. Let's use Coachella, and you want other people who were there to know that you were there, so you tag Coachella.
That would look like this. #Coachella
Now let's say you want people to know you were there last year.
That hashtag is considered to be a"throwback." and it would include the year. So it would look like this, #Coachella2015.
A lot of hashtags are made as acronyms and are specialized for certain days of the week.
Monday has #MCM for Man Crush Monday. It usually consists of people tagging their current romantic partner as a loving gesture.
Tuesday has #TittyTuesday and I'm pretty sure you can guess what that consists of so let's NOT go into detail about that. That's also mostly used on Twitter, but whatever.
Wednesday has #WCW which is Woman Crush Wednesday and it's basically the female equivalent for #MCM
Thursday is #TBT which is Throwback Thursday. This hashtag lets people go back in time and post memories of things they went through.
And finally, we have Friday with #FBF which is Flash Back Friday. Why do we need two days to reminisce? I don't know. But it's there in case someone was off the grid Thursday for some reason.
When considering cultural significance, I think that aside from it being sometimes obnoxious and abused, like for example the #people #that #put #a #f*cking #hashtag #before #every #f*cking #word, it's quite a nifty way to communicate and come together over similar topics of interest. The person sitting next to me might not be interested in, let's say, CHINESE CHECKERS, but someone across the world could be when I search #ChineseCheckers. Ya know?
BUT HEY, I still say "to each their own."
If you don't like them, don't use them. (but don't bitch at people who do)
And if ya like them, go for it. (#but #dont #abuse #them)
#Always
#Melanie
Some people you ask could tell you they're annoying, unnecessary tags for obnoxious "Interneters". (I declare that a word.)
Others will tell you they're a useful tool that helps Interneters (there's that nifty word again) easily find certain search topics.
I feel like if you ask me, I know about as much as anyone else would. Maybe a little more?
I know they are used to sort through topics and gather things of similar content in one fustercluck of data. You basically just put a pound symbol, as such, # before any subject or term you want to categorize to facilitate people finding it.
Like say for instance, you're at a festival. Let's use Coachella, and you want other people who were there to know that you were there, so you tag Coachella.
That would look like this. #Coachella
Now let's say you want people to know you were there last year.
That hashtag is considered to be a"throwback." and it would include the year. So it would look like this, #Coachella2015.
A lot of hashtags are made as acronyms and are specialized for certain days of the week.
Monday has #MCM for Man Crush Monday. It usually consists of people tagging their current romantic partner as a loving gesture.
Tuesday has #TittyTuesday and I'm pretty sure you can guess what that consists of so let's NOT go into detail about that. That's also mostly used on Twitter, but whatever.
Wednesday has #WCW which is Woman Crush Wednesday and it's basically the female equivalent for #MCM
Thursday is #TBT which is Throwback Thursday. This hashtag lets people go back in time and post memories of things they went through.
And finally, we have Friday with #FBF which is Flash Back Friday. Why do we need two days to reminisce? I don't know. But it's there in case someone was off the grid Thursday for some reason.
When considering cultural significance, I think that aside from it being sometimes obnoxious and abused, like for example the #people #that #put #a #f*cking #hashtag #before #every #f*cking #word, it's quite a nifty way to communicate and come together over similar topics of interest. The person sitting next to me might not be interested in, let's say, CHINESE CHECKERS, but someone across the world could be when I search #ChineseCheckers. Ya know?
BUT HEY, I still say "to each their own."
If you don't like them, don't use them. (but don't bitch at people who do)
And if ya like them, go for it. (#but #dont #abuse #them)
#Always
#Melanie
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Blog Entry Number 6: Why Is Good Old-Fashioned Sarcasm Offensive Now?
Working in retail and customer service for as long as I have, the opportunity to be a sarcastic jerk comes up WAY too frequently.
That used to be a great and beautiful thing. I used to be able to launch little sarcastic blurbs to just about anyone who decided to come up to me with a stupid question that they already knew they answer to. The BEST, and probably my FAVORITE example of this is when I get the age-old question, "Do you work here?"
That question, and that question alone simply runs a sarcastic little electric chill up from my spine to my brain. That one single chill triggers something amazing. I simply grab ahold of my name badge and uniform shirt, crack the creepiest smile and say, "now...WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU THINK THAT?"
The painfully embarrassed, and shy look I get afterwards is just PRICELESS. Typically we just laugh it off and continued with conversation. I can't do this anymore though. The chill stops halfway up my spine and I remain submissive.
Now if I simply mutter a sarcastic "nooooo" under my breath, I get the infamous, "LET ME SPEAK TO YOUR MANAGER ABOUT YOUR ATTITUDE."
There is just no way around it now.
Don't work retail kids.
(At least not if you're incredibly sarcastic...)
That used to be a great and beautiful thing. I used to be able to launch little sarcastic blurbs to just about anyone who decided to come up to me with a stupid question that they already knew they answer to. The BEST, and probably my FAVORITE example of this is when I get the age-old question, "Do you work here?"
That question, and that question alone simply runs a sarcastic little electric chill up from my spine to my brain. That one single chill triggers something amazing. I simply grab ahold of my name badge and uniform shirt, crack the creepiest smile and say, "now...WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU THINK THAT?"
The painfully embarrassed, and shy look I get afterwards is just PRICELESS. Typically we just laugh it off and continued with conversation. I can't do this anymore though. The chill stops halfway up my spine and I remain submissive.
Now if I simply mutter a sarcastic "nooooo" under my breath, I get the infamous, "LET ME SPEAK TO YOUR MANAGER ABOUT YOUR ATTITUDE."
There is just no way around it now.
Don't work retail kids.
(At least not if you're incredibly sarcastic...)
Blog Entry Number 5: Does This Sound Like a Good Idea?
So after reading the article, it actually made me want to take the shorter session route. The writer made it sound so incredibly efficient and effective. Simply by adding in the fact that students would be able to finish schooling and graduate sooner made me want to hop on the wagon and enroll into the nearest session. Everyone wants to be done with their schooling. I mean, I know I do. The writer also does a good job in making the proposition sound like genius idea when she includes accounts of important people to the school like ASU Provost, Betty Capaldi.
I completely agree, along with Betty that it would save money. I would want nothing more than to pay as little as I possibly could for an outstanding, short, and intense education. As a student, I've tried my best to stay away from taking out loans for my education, and so far I've done a pretty decent job at it but I am constantly reminded that it's been easy because community college isn't as taxing on my personal savings as a university is. When the time comes, I like the security of knowing that I can finish quickly, while being less economically detrimental to myself.
I completely agree, along with Betty that it would save money. I would want nothing more than to pay as little as I possibly could for an outstanding, short, and intense education. As a student, I've tried my best to stay away from taking out loans for my education, and so far I've done a pretty decent job at it but I am constantly reminded that it's been easy because community college isn't as taxing on my personal savings as a university is. When the time comes, I like the security of knowing that I can finish quickly, while being less economically detrimental to myself.
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