Not another "End-of-Semester" Blog Post!

Wow. So many things happened lately and I've survived--for the most part--the first semester of college in my entire life. Yes, COLLEGE, even though high school schedules were structured to be like college--block scheduling really takes a lot out of you, as do sleep and Second Life.

Being addicted to Second Life is nuts. I've been having dreams related to it, more so over Thanksgiving break..... *shudders* So it's probably a problem right now, but i'm having a problem with it being a problem because i don't want it to be a problem! Uh, is that a problem?

But Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you enjoyed your birds as much as i enjoyed my turkey-flavored ham from Perdue! lmao

But yeah, it's exam time..... Reminder for fellow students: in Towers, i kept seeing a flyer taped to the walls and elevators, and i'm pretty sure it's on all your RAs' doors but 24-hour Quiet Hours will start being in effect on Tuesday so everyone can study for exams. And i bleieve i heard correctly that there will be no classes on Wednesday, December 8, for the sole purpose of studying for exams? (and maybe sleeping--i'm falling behind on that, again) Correct me if i'm wrong!

But good luck to you all, and I hope y'all pass your exams! I know i wanna move forward with college--means i get to SEW clothing sooner! (that course is next semester! WOOHOO!)

Final note: you know you've been playing SL for too long if you keep trying to do things in real life that you would do in Second Life.
Examples: jumping up into the air, expecting to fly; threatening to "ban" someone's ass when they're pissing you off; complaining about the traffic by saying "what is up with this f@$king lag?!"; wondering how many prims makes up an interesting real life building; trying to right click objects; asking for teleports to certain locations; looking for the chat bar so you can communicate to people (TRUE STORY! happened to me!); doing the typing thing while in conversation with somebody; not sending someone a picture via cell phone or email or other mode of communication because it's "non-transfer"; figuring out what happened to the "little blue menu"; you hear your bed whispering your name for hours and you can't figure out a way to mute it; and finally, looking for poseballs if you want to do it with somebody............

all worth a real life laugh, especially if you know what i'm talking about!

Enjoy the rest of the week! Cuz trust me: it'll get easier, since we got through the laggy--uh, i mean draggy part of the semester where there's so much to do and not enough time to do it. But if you only slept during the fall break, i tip my hat to you and wish that i had done the same.

For you--a cartoon! LATERS! \m/ (the horns/rocker symbol.....for those not in the know)

What It's Like to Have Autism WebMD Article (Research Paper 3 Rolling)

What It's Like to Have Autism

Just for people to understand...... (Hey, Rebecca! You should check this article out! It's VERY insightful!)

Anyways, YIKES! I am soooo behind again: i missed a few assignments and i'm just STUCK on my Speech Communications persuasive speech because I don't know what to speak about!!!!!!! :(((

And now I only have a few days to throw together my Informative paper for English.......maybe if i use this article.........

(I'm writing about Asperger's; problem with that is I have yet to decide to write objectively or subjectively, especially since i have Asperger's myself. Any tips, please post them in the comments! It would REALLY be appreciated!)

WISH ME GOOD LUCK!!!!!!! Laters!

Papers, papers and MORE Papers!

Well, might as well fill in the gap here for all of you loyal followers (both official and unofficial) on why there hasn't been a post in so long!

There's SOOO many papers! We've done two so far! *yawns* and we're just going to keep doing them until the cows come home, i guess.......

as for the previous papers:

--Paper #1: letter to college president: i got an A!

--Paper #2: late, but i'm probably going to pass it, too

--Paper #3: on deck; informative paper--explore a topic of interest to me/write a public service announcement/present findings to a sociology class about student behaviors on campus......

one of those three, and i go with academic......i can't wait to share what i am going write with everyone else through my paper on Asperger's Syndrome!

Also, a note on Second Life: it's incredibly fun (and there IS a Marshall University campus on there! just fyi) but also incredibly addictive.....i mean, i'm taking a break from it altogether. It's been messing with my sleeping patterns and causing me problems. That's not good.....

So, there's that going on......also a Powershift event is going on this weekend. Can't wait to for that to happen! There's so much energy there! And so much action! Would make some great photos online........

And i am trying sooo hard to get some sleep.......Second Life has robbed me of so much sleep that i need a day devoted to just sleeping! and not this saturday either--i have stuff to do that day!

Well, there's your update.....looking forward to writing one that's not all over the place and focuses on at least just one subject rather than just jump from subject to subject........

Laters!

Chicago Public Radio--This American Life: "Ruining It for the Rest of Us"

I did it on the "Ruining it for the Rest of Us" episode because it sounded the most intriguing and somehow, i can relate: I feel like i was ruining it for the "rest of us" back in high school. So I can relate.

1: What do you think is the concept or question the episode focuses on? Is it a simply focus, or is the focus complicated and complex? How many smaller, branched-off, related questions are there? What are they?
The episode focuses on how one person can just ruin productivity, like one bad apple spoils the whole bunch that was for sale. And it is being seen in an experiment where a bunch of people work together in groups on a certain assignment but one person is the “bad apple” of the group and doesn’t help or contribute to the project. It also went over a very severe, serious case of “Bad Apple Syndrome” where a non-vaccinated child has contracted measles and started an outbreak, infecting people left and right all because the parents just chose not to vaccinate their child.

2: How was the "inquisitive spirit" of the speaker/searcher portrayed/demonstrated?
It was demonstrated by how each speaker started to explain each part of the story or experiment or something. Each speaker explored the topic they were talking about, and just went on and on, covering each aspect of the topic: how it started, the effects of the origin of whatever happened, etc. And the audio featured quite a bunch of interviews, exploring each and every side of the topic.

3: How -through what lenses/perspectives- is the concept or question considered/examined? How many viewpoints has this example been examined through? How can you see them (different voices/presenters/speakers/experiences)?
The concept is examined as though these people want to know EVERYTHING about the topic of a bad apple ruining the rest of them. It has been examined through both sides, mostly through the eyes of the concerned parents who chose not to vaccine their child(ren). And I can see the different viewpoints through the different voices and the different presenters.....

4:Does the episode examine multiple aspects of the topic/concept/questions? Do you feel that the writing was trying to make a case, or persuade, or simply explore the topic/concept/questions? Was it all told as a narrative, or were there some instances of hard data gathering?
The episode did examine multiple aspects of the topic and asked good questions about the issue. It provided a very clear example of a "bad apple" spoiling the rest, with the measles outbreak of so many years ago. And it was all told as a narrative that explores the topic, with some data gathering--not too hard data gathering, but enough to present the information and tell the stories.

God, I love this audio! And Mike Birbiglia was on there! Yay! I just saw him last week! He's awesome! I recommend seeing him!

Exploratory Writing Thesis Question

My thesis Question is "What is the meaning of life?!"






okay, not really......hahaha!




Actually, it's about sleep deprivation, like:

-->"Is sleep deprivation a serious problem on campus?" or something like that

It's because I've been having problems with sleep and such and it's because i've been staying up SO LATE because of Second Life. Darn it and all of its fun!

Reading Text and Visuals in an Advertisement

The ad I'm analyzing can be found here.

It's actually pretty clever........

“Scared of losing your hair?”

Advertising Agency: Sorento Healthcare Communications, Mumbai, India
Executive Creative Director: Rajesh Rai
Creative Group Head – Art: Dinesh Ghosalkar
Creative Group Head – Copy: Sarvesh Raikar
Visualisers: Sabin Antony, Amruta Karandikar
Group Account Manager: Preetha Vasanji

Writing Activity

1.) The advertiser is trying to persuade people to use an anti-hair-loss prescription more than other brands.
2.) The advertiser designed the ad to make use of the elevator doors as a way of animation.....of sorts: on the closed elevator doors of corporate offices and residential buildings is the complete crown of a man with hair, but when the elevator doors open, on the back wall of the elevator, is the same man, but bald with text that reads "Scared of losing your hair? Ask your doctor about Power 1+4." A note: The name "Power 1+4" was used as a sort of code name because the real name of the hair product was not allowed to be used in the advertisement.
3.) The ad appeals to my emotions the same way it appeals to everyone else's emotions: I do not wish to lose my hair unintentionally whether it is by disease or infection or other medical condition. However, I am female so it doesn't completely appeal to my emotions as it would to males, when the loss of hair due to age is a lot more problematic. On the other hand, since I shed (yes, i really do shed!), it would probably appeal to me as a way to decrease the shedding I am afflicted by on a regular basis.
4.) The strategy they used is the animation via the elevator doors: the hair pulling away is an animation of hair loss which is a problem for many and raises issues that people need to address. Hair fall is extremely common but seldom referred to a doctor. It would show you what the problem to be solved was and a possible solution to the problem.
5.) It was very effective: it was "highly amusing" to the people who observed this advertisement and was the topic of conversation in the elevators. It also stimulated a "significant rise in enquiries about the therapy among doctors" located in the area where the ad was placed.
6.) The photos, if removed, would probably affect the advertisement since it wouldn't be providing a visual animated display for people to understand. Also, if the ad wasn't placed on elevator doors like it was, and placed on a billboard along some highway, it wouldn't become very effective because the opening of the elevator doors was what made it unique and memorable.
7.) This ad helps potential buyers make informed decisions about the product because it's an ice breaker for a common problem that people deal with on a very frequent basis and are probably embarrassed about. And it reminds them about the problem, as well as suggest a possible solution when the person seeing the ad couldn't think of a way to fix the problem.

This is a very enjoyable and remarkable ad campaign. I applaud the graphic designers and media consultants and such for creating such an effective display.

Freewrite #4

Lately, a friend of mine has been taking care of a baby squirrel in her home when the squirrel's own mother abandoned it. Some pictures can be seen here. Anyways, I've been thinking: why have strange exotic animals as pets? And when i say "exotic," I mean along the lines of lions, monkeys, tigers, etc. People would go to great lengths to smuggle them past Customs and into the USA, and this would put them into great danger of getting seriously hurt or even killed. I know that there are people out there who keep squirrels, chipmunks and possums as pets, but really? The people who can shelter them......it shouldn't be you, me, a neighbor or any average person. It should be a vet, a wildlife conservationist, a zoologist, a zookeeper, or people licensed to handle and treat wild animals or whatever.

I confess: I would love to own a squirrel as a pet, for the simple owning of one and the insanity that comes with the idea. (That's Rachel-logic leaking through. Sorry! Usually, nobody understands it......but anyways.....) It would be purely funny. And squirrels are cute........

But it doesn't mean that I can just take care of it all willy-nilly; I might do something wrong in the care and keeping of a squirrel. I mean, the one squirrel that my friend was taking care of died yesterday while in their care, which is really sad--no animals should have to die through the mistakes made through someone's good intentions.......

So, please leave the squirrel-keeping to the professionals and the truly insane.......