I am a wonder bread, honky, poppin' fresh, uncle daddy, vanilla, and mayonnaise mama. At least, according to the Racial Slur Data Base (www.rsdb.org). There are many, many more slurs on this website for every heritage and culture. It was really shocking to read some of the terms, as I was only familiar with maybe 10% of the slurs. The definitions are posted along side the terms, thankfully (I guess?), as I would have been completely lost as to what most of them meant. They range from being very funny, to being completely disgusting, and after researching this website for my paper, it really just made me feel very sad. There is so much ignorance in this world, and this website more than solidifies my statement.
In all actuality, I am a thirty-five year old Caucasian female from Irish/German/Polish decent. My grandfather was Irish, and my grandmother was German, on my mother's side. My grandfather was German, and my grandmother is Polish, on my father's side. None of my ancestors arrived in America until the early 1900's. However, I recall an episode where I was at a gas station, and was approached by a man who was carrying a gas can, who wanted money from me for gas. I told him I didn't carry cash that I was using my debit card to pay. I was in the middle of pumping my own gas, when he asked if I would fill up his can for him. I would have, but then he followed that request with"...that's the least you owe me!" This did not resonate very well with me, and I was shocked at his accusation. Maybe I misunderstood what he meant by how I "owed" him, but I know how I took it, and I was not very polite, and he did not get his gas.
One of my favorite books is a collection of essays by Hollis Gillespie, titled "Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch". She took this title for her book, from an incident she had while driving, and almost ran over a man. He then screamed her aforementioned book title at her. She was amazed at the speed of the man's judgment of her, in the mere seconds they shared of this incident. The speed of judgment is almost as fast as the speed of light, sound, and a moving vehicle through a bad neighborhood.
I feel "white people" are generally perceived as intelligent, morally sound, and are less likely to commit a crime or victimize someone. Yet, our economy has suffered greatly due to decisions made by the majority rule "white people" of the banking industry. Will any of these participants be held accountable for this financial collapse? If so, would they be sent off to same type of prison system, your common thug is committed too, or would they more than likely end up in a minimum security facility, with private cells? John Edwards, Steve Phillips, and Mark Sanford have selfishly challenged the "moral standards" of themselves and their families. Some of our notorious historical figures such as Adolf Hitler, Jim Jones, and Slobodan Milosevic are responsible for human atrocities. What I have always been surprised by is the length of time; these figures were in power, before they were finally dealt with.
"White women" are perceived as victimized, damsels in distress trophies, in constant need of rescuing. I hate that because I am a woman, it's assumed that I know nothing of cars. $37 for an air filter, really Jiffy Lube? They are $11 at AutoZone. I am still a girl, meaning I do shop around. When my grandmother was a nurse in World War II, she was trained to drive ambulances. One event she recounted to us was when she had to get under the vehicle to assist with repairing a tie rod, in the middle of a live combat zone! That was in 1943, and still, over sixty years later, I need to take a man with me to buy a car, because I know I will be treated more seriously as a customer, if I do. I feel "white people" are also perceived as supreme elitists, entitled, and in my one, isolated case, former slave owners. Unfortunately, this is a history there. My own experiences with racism are not as extreme as most. I have not been the victim of a violent crime due to the color of my skin, and like everyone, certainly hope never to be. However, I have been singled out, or felt people have erroneously judged me to quickly.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Essay on writing essays
I would like to discuss one of the most horrific terms that has struck mortal
fear into the hearts of millions of students. Essay. "Essay" can be viewed as a
term of unspeakable horror, afflicted torture, and a weekend destroyer to the average student. Urbandictionary.com offers the following definitions of the term essay: 1. A composition that is usually a few pages long. 2. The bane of my existence. 3. A ploy conceived by English teachers to show their jaded outlook towards students who are either too stupid to do it anyway, or are smart, but prefer pin-point to the point answering rather than spending five paragraphs trying to convince "X" to do "Y". They usually give people a week or so to do the essay, but it is known fact that nobody does the stupid things until the night before it's due.
My experience with the aforementioned definitions is true, as well as timeless. I am now faced with the challenge of writing an essay in college during 2010, when my prior experience was in high school, 20 years ago. I really struggled with writing in high school, and I hope now that I am an older, more serious college student, that I can successfully accomplish writing this paper, even though so much has changed in two decades.
The last time I wrote an essay was in the year 1990. I was a sophomore in Ms. Best's European History class at Ursuline Academy in Springfield, Illinois. Our essays were to be 3-5 pages long, double-spaced, either handwritten or typed. We would also present our papers in front of the class. She allowed us to choose from a list of historical figures, and I had selected Marie Antoinette. January 19th, 2010 is my first official day in Mrs. Malouf's English Comp class at Saint Louis Community College at Forest Park. This is also the first day I started researching my first essay topic. Our essays are to be 3-5 pages, double-spaced, and typed in minimum font size of 12. We will need to submit both a paper copy, and an electronic copy through a school program called "Blackboard". We are able to write about anything we choose. Originally, I thought I would write about a personal experience. However, according to our syllabus, we will be studying descriptive, narrative essays on February 11th, 2010. A personal experience would be better suited for that style of essay, according to Mrs. Malouf.
I selected a popular historical figure for my paper for European History, as I felt there would be several sources to reference. My first research attempt was unsuccessful, as my then boyfriend's '85 Pontiac Firebird broke down on the way to the public library. My next attempt, in my mother's Chevy, got me downtown to the library, albeit, not as stylishly as the Firebird would have. However, even though there were many sources listed in the card catalog, only one book was available for me to reference and borrow. Marie Antoinette was certainly popular, not only among the French, but also the several thousand high school students residing in Springfield. My final attempt at obtaining research materials was again, unsuccessful, as I contacted several video stores to find the 1938 movie, “Marie Antoinette". Of course, this movie was not available to rent anywhere in Springfield, but 600 copies of “Weekend at Bernie's” were certainly at my disposal.
Now, flash forward 20 years to my research attempts for my English Comp essay. I drove my dependable '05 Scion xb, not to the public library, but home, where my computer is. My first research attempt was to google "college essay topics". This yielded 2,390,000 results. I checked several websites over several days, obtained some good ideas, and then paranoia set in. Mrs. Malouf advised us on our first day that all electronic papers are screened for plagiarism. I then thought writing an essay about my experience writing essays would certainly avoid plagiarism accusations. I am correct in my thinking, as again, I googled "essays on writing essays", and google could not locate anything. Now, I’m finally ready to write about my topic.
I have never repeatedly hit the delete button on my computer so much in my entire life. I'm concerned about wearing it out. Of course, I remember burning through several erasers writing my Marie Antoinette paper. After all, erasable ink was a modern invention for the time. It has taken a solid day of writing, checking, deleting, and rewriting to just get out a rough draft. I'm a completely different person from who I was in high school, yet my writing style is still the very same, just digital. I'm glad I started crafting this paper early. I had learned from my past experience as Marie Antoinette, that waiting until the night before is not the way to handle a major writing and presentation assignment. I guess I shouldn't have stayed up late watching "Weekend at Bernie's".
My grade result was a "B" for Marie. Although, my essay writing was fine, my presentation was not so good. I was visibly nervous, and ignorantly mispronounced "Versailles" several times. "It's Ver-SIGH, not Ver-SAILS, Sarah.” said Ms. Best. Thanks. Perhaps if I had been able to obtain my movie, I would have picked up on that, as I had never heard the pronunciation before. I took Spanish, not French, for my foreign language credit. (Vive la Espanol!)
This paper is nearly finished now. I'm not sure of my grade on this essay. However, I am certainly more confident with this paper than I was with my Marie Antoinette project. After all, I don't have to present in front of this class.
Essays are still a challenge to compose, no matter what decade you grow up in, or what generation you are from. They will still consume a week of your time, whether you go to a library, or sit down in front of your computer. You may face delays from outside sources whether you have a solid mode of transportation, or a cracked distributor cap. Challenge is still there if you have too little material, or too much, to reference.
fear into the hearts of millions of students. Essay. "Essay" can be viewed as a
term of unspeakable horror, afflicted torture, and a weekend destroyer to the average student. Urbandictionary.com offers the following definitions of the term essay: 1. A composition that is usually a few pages long. 2. The bane of my existence. 3. A ploy conceived by English teachers to show their jaded outlook towards students who are either too stupid to do it anyway, or are smart, but prefer pin-point to the point answering rather than spending five paragraphs trying to convince "X" to do "Y". They usually give people a week or so to do the essay, but it is known fact that nobody does the stupid things until the night before it's due.
My experience with the aforementioned definitions is true, as well as timeless. I am now faced with the challenge of writing an essay in college during 2010, when my prior experience was in high school, 20 years ago. I really struggled with writing in high school, and I hope now that I am an older, more serious college student, that I can successfully accomplish writing this paper, even though so much has changed in two decades.
The last time I wrote an essay was in the year 1990. I was a sophomore in Ms. Best's European History class at Ursuline Academy in Springfield, Illinois. Our essays were to be 3-5 pages long, double-spaced, either handwritten or typed. We would also present our papers in front of the class. She allowed us to choose from a list of historical figures, and I had selected Marie Antoinette. January 19th, 2010 is my first official day in Mrs. Malouf's English Comp class at Saint Louis Community College at Forest Park. This is also the first day I started researching my first essay topic. Our essays are to be 3-5 pages, double-spaced, and typed in minimum font size of 12. We will need to submit both a paper copy, and an electronic copy through a school program called "Blackboard". We are able to write about anything we choose. Originally, I thought I would write about a personal experience. However, according to our syllabus, we will be studying descriptive, narrative essays on February 11th, 2010. A personal experience would be better suited for that style of essay, according to Mrs. Malouf.
I selected a popular historical figure for my paper for European History, as I felt there would be several sources to reference. My first research attempt was unsuccessful, as my then boyfriend's '85 Pontiac Firebird broke down on the way to the public library. My next attempt, in my mother's Chevy, got me downtown to the library, albeit, not as stylishly as the Firebird would have. However, even though there were many sources listed in the card catalog, only one book was available for me to reference and borrow. Marie Antoinette was certainly popular, not only among the French, but also the several thousand high school students residing in Springfield. My final attempt at obtaining research materials was again, unsuccessful, as I contacted several video stores to find the 1938 movie, “Marie Antoinette". Of course, this movie was not available to rent anywhere in Springfield, but 600 copies of “Weekend at Bernie's” were certainly at my disposal.
Now, flash forward 20 years to my research attempts for my English Comp essay. I drove my dependable '05 Scion xb, not to the public library, but home, where my computer is. My first research attempt was to google "college essay topics". This yielded 2,390,000 results. I checked several websites over several days, obtained some good ideas, and then paranoia set in. Mrs. Malouf advised us on our first day that all electronic papers are screened for plagiarism. I then thought writing an essay about my experience writing essays would certainly avoid plagiarism accusations. I am correct in my thinking, as again, I googled "essays on writing essays", and google could not locate anything. Now, I’m finally ready to write about my topic.
I have never repeatedly hit the delete button on my computer so much in my entire life. I'm concerned about wearing it out. Of course, I remember burning through several erasers writing my Marie Antoinette paper. After all, erasable ink was a modern invention for the time. It has taken a solid day of writing, checking, deleting, and rewriting to just get out a rough draft. I'm a completely different person from who I was in high school, yet my writing style is still the very same, just digital. I'm glad I started crafting this paper early. I had learned from my past experience as Marie Antoinette, that waiting until the night before is not the way to handle a major writing and presentation assignment. I guess I shouldn't have stayed up late watching "Weekend at Bernie's".
My grade result was a "B" for Marie. Although, my essay writing was fine, my presentation was not so good. I was visibly nervous, and ignorantly mispronounced "Versailles" several times. "It's Ver-SIGH, not Ver-SAILS, Sarah.” said Ms. Best. Thanks. Perhaps if I had been able to obtain my movie, I would have picked up on that, as I had never heard the pronunciation before. I took Spanish, not French, for my foreign language credit. (Vive la Espanol!)
This paper is nearly finished now. I'm not sure of my grade on this essay. However, I am certainly more confident with this paper than I was with my Marie Antoinette project. After all, I don't have to present in front of this class.
Essays are still a challenge to compose, no matter what decade you grow up in, or what generation you are from. They will still consume a week of your time, whether you go to a library, or sit down in front of your computer. You may face delays from outside sources whether you have a solid mode of transportation, or a cracked distributor cap. Challenge is still there if you have too little material, or too much, to reference.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Day 14 o' school
English:
This is the first time I was REALLY late to school. Our electric was out in our kitchen and office, and when I checked out the circuit breakers, the box started sizzling. I didn't want to leave in case the house exploded, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and may explain why I attend community college. Well, two hundred dollars for an electrician to come out and quarter-turn a screw, and I was running into class by 10a. Only to be told by the professor that she rescheduled the midterm test date for today. I'm going to be able to take it on Thursday, thank friggin God.
Algebra:
We are finally doing some old school Algebra that I remember from WA-AY back. Awww yeah, got my fa-reek on with some FOIL and polynomials! We took yet another quiz, and blew out of class early.
Oral Comm:
More work with the group. All five of us were there today. We ended up doing research in the library. Golem played with her phone. This is concerning to the rest of the group, and we decided to put a safety net in place, in case she doesn't show up on the presentation day. I think you can set your watch to that. This was my first time to the library, and I was pretty impressed with the size of it. It's like a real school and everything.
Media:
My only class I was present for the entire time. We just went over terms for our third chapter. Pretty tame compared to last class. Last night, I emailed the professor to tell her what a stupendous badass I thought she was with the way she handled the sixth graders. She stopped me on the way out, and told me she appreciated my message, and sadly that probably wouldn't be the last time she has to babysit. Oh, college kids and their diaper changes.
This is the first time I was REALLY late to school. Our electric was out in our kitchen and office, and when I checked out the circuit breakers, the box started sizzling. I didn't want to leave in case the house exploded, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and may explain why I attend community college. Well, two hundred dollars for an electrician to come out and quarter-turn a screw, and I was running into class by 10a. Only to be told by the professor that she rescheduled the midterm test date for today. I'm going to be able to take it on Thursday, thank friggin God.
Algebra:
We are finally doing some old school Algebra that I remember from WA-AY back. Awww yeah, got my fa-reek on with some FOIL and polynomials! We took yet another quiz, and blew out of class early.
Oral Comm:
More work with the group. All five of us were there today. We ended up doing research in the library. Golem played with her phone. This is concerning to the rest of the group, and we decided to put a safety net in place, in case she doesn't show up on the presentation day. I think you can set your watch to that. This was my first time to the library, and I was pretty impressed with the size of it. It's like a real school and everything.
Media:
My only class I was present for the entire time. We just went over terms for our third chapter. Pretty tame compared to last class. Last night, I emailed the professor to tell her what a stupendous badass I thought she was with the way she handled the sixth graders. She stopped me on the way out, and told me she appreciated my message, and sadly that probably wouldn't be the last time she has to babysit. Oh, college kids and their diaper changes.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Day 13 o' school
English Comp:
We turned in our essays today. As I turned in my paper, she handed me a contract for the honor's program. Wow, it's so very official looking, like mortgage paperwork or something. We then went over our third essay which will be a comparison/contrast paper. I had asked her if I could turn in a paper that I had all ready wrote for another class. She said as long as it met her specifications, it would be fine. So I may just tweak and turn in my paper on THe Daily Show and NBC Nightly News. I'm trying to figure out what to write about for this honor's paper. Maybe our surrogacy experience, or how Starbucks went to, over, and around the moon and stars for us with Jason's illness.
Algebra:
I got a 93 on my test. There were eight of the tests lying on the table by the entrance, and mine was swimming in a pile of papers with nothing higher than a 58%, so that made me feel pretty good. I was a little late getting into class, since one of my classmates asked me if he could "check his answers". This new street term or "cred" that I have now learned really means copy your work, as there were no "answers" on his blank pages. He actually took a phone photo of my cumulative review. It was all so very Watergate just for 20 points. Now I have to change my route from getting to English to Algebra, so I can dodge this guy in the halls.
Oral Comm:
Today we worked more on our group project. One of our members was not there, and that's a shame, because she was really good on our last presentation. We have it narrowed down to three topics: Food, Entertainment, and Health. Now we need to hammer down six objects that will need to go into our time capsule. I'm about ready to put "the mouth of Golem" in our capsule, just for shuttin' up purposes.
Media:
This was doozy. We finished the rest of our gender movie. Before it even got started, "Steel Trap" was asking if they are working on something that could be shot into gays and lesbians to "fix" them. She actually said she viewed them all as mutants like X-men. Unbelievable. The professor actually had to explain to her that X-men aren't real. And her retort was people with seven fingers are mutants just like gays. The rest of the documentary went on about other cultures and genders, such at the Thai ladyboys, and hishra's of India. This group of youngin's was just coming undone over this. Our professor came down pretty hard on them for not taking it seriously. She told them there was no point in them even showing up to school if they weren't there to learn, and they were not going to get anywhere in the world, with their little St. Louis mentalities, when there is a world of over a thousand cultures. Man, I like her.
We turned in our essays today. As I turned in my paper, she handed me a contract for the honor's program. Wow, it's so very official looking, like mortgage paperwork or something. We then went over our third essay which will be a comparison/contrast paper. I had asked her if I could turn in a paper that I had all ready wrote for another class. She said as long as it met her specifications, it would be fine. So I may just tweak and turn in my paper on THe Daily Show and NBC Nightly News. I'm trying to figure out what to write about for this honor's paper. Maybe our surrogacy experience, or how Starbucks went to, over, and around the moon and stars for us with Jason's illness.
Algebra:
I got a 93 on my test. There were eight of the tests lying on the table by the entrance, and mine was swimming in a pile of papers with nothing higher than a 58%, so that made me feel pretty good. I was a little late getting into class, since one of my classmates asked me if he could "check his answers". This new street term or "cred" that I have now learned really means copy your work, as there were no "answers" on his blank pages. He actually took a phone photo of my cumulative review. It was all so very Watergate just for 20 points. Now I have to change my route from getting to English to Algebra, so I can dodge this guy in the halls.
Oral Comm:
Today we worked more on our group project. One of our members was not there, and that's a shame, because she was really good on our last presentation. We have it narrowed down to three topics: Food, Entertainment, and Health. Now we need to hammer down six objects that will need to go into our time capsule. I'm about ready to put "the mouth of Golem" in our capsule, just for shuttin' up purposes.
Media:
This was doozy. We finished the rest of our gender movie. Before it even got started, "Steel Trap" was asking if they are working on something that could be shot into gays and lesbians to "fix" them. She actually said she viewed them all as mutants like X-men. Unbelievable. The professor actually had to explain to her that X-men aren't real. And her retort was people with seven fingers are mutants just like gays. The rest of the documentary went on about other cultures and genders, such at the Thai ladyboys, and hishra's of India. This group of youngin's was just coming undone over this. Our professor came down pretty hard on them for not taking it seriously. She told them there was no point in them even showing up to school if they weren't there to learn, and they were not going to get anywhere in the world, with their little St. Louis mentalities, when there is a world of over a thousand cultures. Man, I like her.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Day 11 and 12 of school
English:
Tuesday, we discussed "Once More to the Lake" by E.B. White. I could not get into reading this essay at all. I HATED it, and hated him even more for writing it! I think it just has bad timing, since I spent most of the weekend writing my rough draft on Jason's diagnosis. The last thing you want to read is some rich, white guy bonding with his son at the lake he and his father used to "summer" at for a month. Weirdly, I was more physically emotional reading this crap about his "... groin feeling the cold chill of death" when his son put on a wet swimsuit, than writing Jason's essay. Suck it, E.B. White! You, Wilbur, Charlotte, and and your flacid vitals need to quit making me cry. I guess the whole what- was- once- was, and what coulda, shoulda been, was conflicting. I got 3 out of 5 on the "Didja read it, 'cause I assigned it" paper.
So I got a glowing review on my first essay. It's probably the best grade that I have ever received on anything ever. She said she was going to keep a copy on file and present it to students who asked what it took to get an A. She told me that for honor's I need to write a ten page paper, and I should not have any problem whipping out something like that. We'll see.
Thursday, we had our peer review of our rough draft of our descriptive narrative essays. This was really hard, long, and probably deeply psychotic to write. I started this on Friday around 10am, and didn't stop until Max was banging on the front door, since he was home from school. This paper is only to be 2-3 pages long, and I had seven pages before we even left the first hospital. There is just so much to a day like that. All the details would get so suffocating, that I would cry and have to lay on the floor a few times. Poor Max came home to a deeply disturbed woman. But I finished it with a little help with my pop's, sister-pants, good friends, and wine. There were two others in my peer group. One had written an essay about her family of nine growing up in a two bedroom apartment, which was pretty good. The other had a handwritten six pages of the longest run-on sentence ever recorded by man. It was about her and high school friend getting in a fist fight with other girls that weren't respecting them. I think she had the best response to my rough draft. She asked if it was a true story, and if I was okay. I told her yes to the first and no to the second.
Algebra:
Quiz 3 was Tuesday. So was a discussion on inequalities. A very long discussion. There are certainly all sorts of inequalities sitting in the desks in this room.
Thursday, I got 14/15 on my quiz. Stupid negative integers screwing up my stuff! It's the little things that get you. I get the feeling that a lot in our class are struggling due to every single quiz problem was questioned. I really admire this instructor. She is a true Zen master among the hopelessly ignorant. We then took our test on Chapters 3 and 4. There were just a few word problems that seemed kind of dumbed down compared to what our homework from our textbook is. For that, I thank her. I can figure out 20% off an $80 blouse at Macy's, AND show my work. I can figure out m+35=5(m+7)-4m. Woo-hoo, all real numbers. Let's see how we keep up the momentum on this though.
Oral Comm:
Tuesday was review for our test. After our review, we broke into groups with new people. We have a 15 minute group presentation on three topics from present day that will go into a time capsule. Our group had hammered down food, and either health, entertainment, or politics. This seems like a real Motley Crue.
Thursday, was on test on perception. It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I think because we just took a test on perception in Media, and a lot of the terms were somewhat similar, yet different too. After the test, we broke into groups again. One of our group members is profoundly unstable. One of those who talks out her thoughts... on ev-er-y-thing. At one point, I think she was just talking to her self, but looking at all of us. I think we have food, health, and entertainment decided upon, but I think we could have accomplished a lot more, if I could clothespin Golem's mouth. This ought to be a very "precious" presentation.
Media:
Tuesday was a test day, so once we took it, we were out the door.
Thursday, we got our test back, and I got an 86%. I'm a little shocked by that one, but I see what went wrong where. We watched our Genders studies movie, and then watched a student with a mind like a steal trap, not comprehend any of it.
Why are the ignorant always the loudest? There still is a little more of it to see on next Tuesday, so I'm sure we'll be even more exposed to a human booster shot of stupid. Can't wait.
Tuesday, we discussed "Once More to the Lake" by E.B. White. I could not get into reading this essay at all. I HATED it, and hated him even more for writing it! I think it just has bad timing, since I spent most of the weekend writing my rough draft on Jason's diagnosis. The last thing you want to read is some rich, white guy bonding with his son at the lake he and his father used to "summer" at for a month. Weirdly, I was more physically emotional reading this crap about his "... groin feeling the cold chill of death" when his son put on a wet swimsuit, than writing Jason's essay. Suck it, E.B. White! You, Wilbur, Charlotte, and and your flacid vitals need to quit making me cry. I guess the whole what- was- once- was, and what coulda, shoulda been, was conflicting. I got 3 out of 5 on the "Didja read it, 'cause I assigned it" paper.
So I got a glowing review on my first essay. It's probably the best grade that I have ever received on anything ever. She said she was going to keep a copy on file and present it to students who asked what it took to get an A. She told me that for honor's I need to write a ten page paper, and I should not have any problem whipping out something like that. We'll see.
Thursday, we had our peer review of our rough draft of our descriptive narrative essays. This was really hard, long, and probably deeply psychotic to write. I started this on Friday around 10am, and didn't stop until Max was banging on the front door, since he was home from school. This paper is only to be 2-3 pages long, and I had seven pages before we even left the first hospital. There is just so much to a day like that. All the details would get so suffocating, that I would cry and have to lay on the floor a few times. Poor Max came home to a deeply disturbed woman. But I finished it with a little help with my pop's, sister-pants, good friends, and wine. There were two others in my peer group. One had written an essay about her family of nine growing up in a two bedroom apartment, which was pretty good. The other had a handwritten six pages of the longest run-on sentence ever recorded by man. It was about her and high school friend getting in a fist fight with other girls that weren't respecting them. I think she had the best response to my rough draft. She asked if it was a true story, and if I was okay. I told her yes to the first and no to the second.
Algebra:
Quiz 3 was Tuesday. So was a discussion on inequalities. A very long discussion. There are certainly all sorts of inequalities sitting in the desks in this room.
Thursday, I got 14/15 on my quiz. Stupid negative integers screwing up my stuff! It's the little things that get you. I get the feeling that a lot in our class are struggling due to every single quiz problem was questioned. I really admire this instructor. She is a true Zen master among the hopelessly ignorant. We then took our test on Chapters 3 and 4. There were just a few word problems that seemed kind of dumbed down compared to what our homework from our textbook is. For that, I thank her. I can figure out 20% off an $80 blouse at Macy's, AND show my work. I can figure out m+35=5(m+7)-4m. Woo-hoo, all real numbers. Let's see how we keep up the momentum on this though.
Oral Comm:
Tuesday was review for our test. After our review, we broke into groups with new people. We have a 15 minute group presentation on three topics from present day that will go into a time capsule. Our group had hammered down food, and either health, entertainment, or politics. This seems like a real Motley Crue.
Thursday, was on test on perception. It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I think because we just took a test on perception in Media, and a lot of the terms were somewhat similar, yet different too. After the test, we broke into groups again. One of our group members is profoundly unstable. One of those who talks out her thoughts... on ev-er-y-thing. At one point, I think she was just talking to her self, but looking at all of us. I think we have food, health, and entertainment decided upon, but I think we could have accomplished a lot more, if I could clothespin Golem's mouth. This ought to be a very "precious" presentation.
Media:
Tuesday was a test day, so once we took it, we were out the door.
Thursday, we got our test back, and I got an 86%. I'm a little shocked by that one, but I see what went wrong where. We watched our Genders studies movie, and then watched a student with a mind like a steal trap, not comprehend any of it.
Why are the ignorant always the loudest? There still is a little more of it to see on next Tuesday, so I'm sure we'll be even more exposed to a human booster shot of stupid. Can't wait.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Day 10 - first fight with campus cop
Yeah, I don't think that will be my last encounter either. I get to school, and the parking lots are full, so I park on one of the side streets, like I've done for the past month. Only this time, I get stopped by an "Excuse me, ma'am, did you just park there?" Ok, don't EVER "ma'am" me. Nothing flips me into bitch mode quicker than the "M" word. I said, "Yeah, I park there all the time." She told me I couldn't, even though, there were no signs, even though, there were no parking cones, even though I pulled up behind 6six cars that were all ready parked there, even though three cars pulled up and parked behind me. I told her to just write her ticket, that I didn't have time for this. I'm glad I called her bluff, because there was no ticket on my car, or anyone else's when I went out after class. Puh, campus cops are lower than mall cops. At least mall cops will throw their keys at you.
English:
So, I was just stewing about that broad, and not very participatory in discussion, as I was envisioning my car be towed by the company "You Paid For It" - Elliott Davis is always chasing. Ironically, we read some of Sherman Alexie, a Native American writer, who wrote some great essays about the oppression he experienced growing up on a campus... uhhh... reservation. Man, I could relate to Cries-Like-A-White-Boy. Also, I was really amused by my class mate, who was DRINKING from her can of BBQ Pringles. I guess she couldn't get her massive hamhock-like fist down the tube, down to her processed foods goodness, and was applying a basic rule of physics. Yum. Our professor, told me to wait a moment after class, and I thought I was going to get a talking to from her. It was actually really nice, she told me to sign up for the honor's program, that me and a couple of others were good enough writers to seek that out. I thanked her and then had asked her if she knew who I could talk to about about these pigeonholing campus cops. She sighed and rolled her eyes, and gave me a couple of phone numbers. She, I like.
Algebra:
We got our take home quiz back, and I got 17/15. Thank God for bonus points, I'm going to take those where I can get them.
It's starting to sound more like a dead language class, as we are venturing further down the rabbit hole with story problems, and less with the linear stuff. Here is where I'm going to need to take the blue pill or the red pill. I guess that would make our instructor the Caterpillar, or maybe the Mad Hatter... and we're just a bunch of tweedle-dums.
Oral Comm:
This was a jiffy class, in by 12:30 and out by 1:10. She gave us back our group presentation grade, and ours was 18/15. Woo-hoo, more bonus points. 5th graders rule! We have another test on Tuesday about perception. NOt really a whole lot to communicate on this class about communication.
Media:
I talked with the professor about my B, and she "uped" me to a B+. She said mine was one of the first papers she read, and she didn't have a grade gauge established for the whole class assignment yet. I'm still not real happy with that either, but I don't want to start arguing for grades this early on. She said that was one of the higher grades in my class, where the class average was around a C-. Wow, I guess I get to tow the line. Last night, on the Simpsons, Lisa gave a powerpoint presentation, and at the end of it, she tagged it with "Targeted Grade: A/A+" I might lift that for my next paper for her.
English:
So, I was just stewing about that broad, and not very participatory in discussion, as I was envisioning my car be towed by the company "You Paid For It" - Elliott Davis is always chasing. Ironically, we read some of Sherman Alexie, a Native American writer, who wrote some great essays about the oppression he experienced growing up on a campus... uhhh... reservation. Man, I could relate to Cries-Like-A-White-Boy. Also, I was really amused by my class mate, who was DRINKING from her can of BBQ Pringles. I guess she couldn't get her massive hamhock-like fist down the tube, down to her processed foods goodness, and was applying a basic rule of physics. Yum. Our professor, told me to wait a moment after class, and I thought I was going to get a talking to from her. It was actually really nice, she told me to sign up for the honor's program, that me and a couple of others were good enough writers to seek that out. I thanked her and then had asked her if she knew who I could talk to about about these pigeonholing campus cops. She sighed and rolled her eyes, and gave me a couple of phone numbers. She, I like.
Algebra:
We got our take home quiz back, and I got 17/15. Thank God for bonus points, I'm going to take those where I can get them.
It's starting to sound more like a dead language class, as we are venturing further down the rabbit hole with story problems, and less with the linear stuff. Here is where I'm going to need to take the blue pill or the red pill. I guess that would make our instructor the Caterpillar, or maybe the Mad Hatter... and we're just a bunch of tweedle-dums.
Oral Comm:
This was a jiffy class, in by 12:30 and out by 1:10. She gave us back our group presentation grade, and ours was 18/15. Woo-hoo, more bonus points. 5th graders rule! We have another test on Tuesday about perception. NOt really a whole lot to communicate on this class about communication.
Media:
I talked with the professor about my B, and she "uped" me to a B+. She said mine was one of the first papers she read, and she didn't have a grade gauge established for the whole class assignment yet. I'm still not real happy with that either, but I don't want to start arguing for grades this early on. She said that was one of the higher grades in my class, where the class average was around a C-. Wow, I guess I get to tow the line. Last night, on the Simpsons, Lisa gave a powerpoint presentation, and at the end of it, she tagged it with "Targeted Grade: A/A+" I might lift that for my next paper for her.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Day 9 o' school
English:
My classmates are starting to grow on me like bread mold.
Our instructor left our reading assignment handout in her office.
When she left to go get them, one of the younger ones announced that she had candy for sale.
The guy next to her asked if her kid was selling it for school, and she said she was selling it for her wedding.
So, a line of about seven form to buy snickers bars in the back of the class.
Our instructor had returned, when she was on her 4th transaction, and started passing out our assignment.
She teacher-glared at the last little candy girl, who actually said to her, "What, I can't do that?"
She firmly told her to sit down.
We read, "The DIscus Thrower" by Richard Selzer, which was really hard to digest, as it was about a patient in the final stages of dying. I don't think I blinked once, just so I could keep my eyes good and dry.
Later in the class, we broke into groups to do a narrative dialogue.
My partner and I got Peter Pumpkin Eater and Wife. That was another little slice, as I would sometimes call Jason that when I was angry at him. The only nice thing about that class was when one of the chip girls got a candy bar wrapper stuck to her shoe, when we were leaving.
Algebra:
We had to turn in our take home quiz today. The whole class was passing around each other's test to see if we even came close to our answers. It's weirdly a little reassuring to see so many people struggling. We have another quiz tomorrow, and I'd rather put tacks in my gums than take it. Two words:story problems. No one speaks that way. NO ONE!
Oral Comm:
Today we had our group presentation. It was pretty fun, and got lots of giggles. I think ours was pretty well received. Our instructor seemed pretty pleased, and said it was creative. Next class is just review for another test. Ya-hey.
Media:
We got our perceived racism papers back, and I got a "B". Not sure why, there weren't any comments. "B"'s are all that bad, but I think that is the best I'm going to be able to write. She had quoted my paper in class too, so it couldn't have been all that awful. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow, but man, I wonder what it takes to get an A.
My classmates are starting to grow on me like bread mold.
Our instructor left our reading assignment handout in her office.
When she left to go get them, one of the younger ones announced that she had candy for sale.
The guy next to her asked if her kid was selling it for school, and she said she was selling it for her wedding.
So, a line of about seven form to buy snickers bars in the back of the class.
Our instructor had returned, when she was on her 4th transaction, and started passing out our assignment.
She teacher-glared at the last little candy girl, who actually said to her, "What, I can't do that?"
She firmly told her to sit down.
We read, "The DIscus Thrower" by Richard Selzer, which was really hard to digest, as it was about a patient in the final stages of dying. I don't think I blinked once, just so I could keep my eyes good and dry.
Later in the class, we broke into groups to do a narrative dialogue.
My partner and I got Peter Pumpkin Eater and Wife. That was another little slice, as I would sometimes call Jason that when I was angry at him. The only nice thing about that class was when one of the chip girls got a candy bar wrapper stuck to her shoe, when we were leaving.
Algebra:
We had to turn in our take home quiz today. The whole class was passing around each other's test to see if we even came close to our answers. It's weirdly a little reassuring to see so many people struggling. We have another quiz tomorrow, and I'd rather put tacks in my gums than take it. Two words:story problems. No one speaks that way. NO ONE!
Oral Comm:
Today we had our group presentation. It was pretty fun, and got lots of giggles. I think ours was pretty well received. Our instructor seemed pretty pleased, and said it was creative. Next class is just review for another test. Ya-hey.
Media:
We got our perceived racism papers back, and I got a "B". Not sure why, there weren't any comments. "B"'s are all that bad, but I think that is the best I'm going to be able to write. She had quoted my paper in class too, so it couldn't have been all that awful. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow, but man, I wonder what it takes to get an A.
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