Haters Gonna Hate

     If you have a dream, than go for it. Don't ever let people tell you can't do it, or discourage you from doing something that you want to achieve. There will always be haters in life, and there will always be people that don't want you to succeed. If anything this should be motivation for you to prove them wrong and come out on top! I guarantee that there are plenty of professional athletes out there that were told they would never make it to the professionals when they were kids, but look at them now! They didn't get there by letting there opposition bring them down. I guess my point in all of this is that if you have a dream you want to succeed in, then try your hardest to make it happen, cuz it sure as hell won't happen on its own.

I'm Ready For Break!

      I'm definitely not ready for finals. I don't understand why JMU lets us have a glimpse of freedom with the Thanksgiving break, and then they just rip it out from under us and make us come back to take finals! Its so depressing. I know I need to make sure I focus and study hard, but knowing me there is a chance for procrastination. Hopefully I'll be able to crack down on myself and be responsible so I can end the semester with good grades. I just want to go home for Christmas with my family and friends back home! I'm sure these next couple of weeks will fly by, but I just want it to be break again already.
     As some of you know, I like to rap. I'm not claiming to be the next Kanye West or anything, but its just something I have fun with and enjoy doing. Over the break I'm definitely going to be making more songs and videos. I actually just released a new one last night if anyone wants to see it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUDykTxGELs The reason I mention rap, is because I know its something that will distract me during finals! I just need to put it aside for a bit so I don't get distracted. Anyways, I'm just ready for break!

Check out my tumblr!

wickipediadotcom.tumblr.com

A Video of Me Rapping

Yo guys I finished one of my raps. If you want to see it...here's the link. Make sure to watch it in the highest quality! Theres more on the way. Peace.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkjBFxNPITU

"Between the Drafts"

      I now see that revision is a step that deserves a lot of attention. The whole point of revision is to redo whatever piece is being worked on, and make it as perfect as possible. Usually I would just revise my papers by adding a few things here and there, and changing gramatical errors. I honestly have spent more time editing a text that I was going to send to a cute girl than I have some of my papers. It is kind of sad, but true. I just realized, if I spent as much time and effort revising my papers as I do with my texts, raps, Facebook statuses, and Tweets than my papers would be golden! It seems so simple, just add time to the revision stage! I guess the main problem is that I'm lazy, but from now on I am going to try to put a lot more effort into revising my papers. I want to be able to turn in something that just clicks in the reader's head. I want them to know where I was going with my thoughts throughout the entire piece.
     I need to work on expressing my own personal thoughts in a paper, rather than just taking information from other sources and summarizing it all the time. It is important to have reliable sources, but it is also important to express my own individual beliefs in a paper. Hopefully I'll start treating my papers like my Social Media statuses and texts, and actually take the time to revise properly.

Digital Story: The Grand Canyon

     I thought this was a good example of a digital story. All of the elements seem to come together very nicely. The music, the pictures, and the story all just seem to fit. I felt intrigued throughout the whole story, and was curious to see how would end. The narrator did a good job of making the piece emotional. It was a sad story, but it ended up having a happy hopeful ending. He talks about his trip to the Grand Canyon, his parents divorcing, his trip back to the Grand Canyon, and finally his pregnant wife and the baby he is expecting.

I Like Rapping

Something people might not know about me is that I like to rap. I like going on the Internet an finding beats to rap to. I'm not amazing or anything, but if I keep practicing I'm sure ill get good. I already have a legitimate song finished so if anyone wants to here it just let me know and I will gladly show you. I have no shame in doing something I enjoy.
I am actually currently working on a music video for the song, and once I'm finished I will post it on the Internet so everyone can see it. Rapping is definitely a hobby that takes up a lot of my time. I am not good at free styling so please don't ask me to do it. I definitely have a creative side to me, and I often times wonder if I should switch my major from Intelligence Analysis to something dealing with creative thinking. Hmm who knows!? I just thought I would share a side of me most people don't know.

My Blogs are Mobile...No Big Deal

So I have to go to the Forbes Music Center once a month and see a concert in order to get a grade in my music class. I'm here now, but I'm not sure if I'm at an event that will give me credit! I'm suppose to see something that involves instruments. Right now I'm at a broadway show, and I'm not sure if this matches with the criteria in the music class I'm in, considering we study Mozart and composers like him. This is definitely way different than classical music, but it's still music. I guess I'll find out on Monday if this counts or not. Hopefully it does count because I'm going to end up being here for two hours...on a Saturday night!
I guess the positives are that I got to dress up, the singers here are good, this seems like a funny idea for a blog, and while sitting here I was able to find an app on my iPhone that allows me to blog from it. Yup, that's right, my blogs are mobile now. I feel like I'm actually talking to you guys while I'm sitting in the audience. Anyways, wish me luck. It's intermission now, only one more hour to go!

Sneaky Sneaky

          I thought it was out of left field for the author of "Jesus is a Brand of Jeans" to compare advertising to religion, but now that I think about it it actually is a pretty good comparison. Both religion and advertising promise some sort of satisfaction if you obtain what they are offering; the only difference is that religion requires sacrifice. The media does a good job of promoting the idea that if a person obtains their product he will be instantaneously happy without having to give anything up.
         Another thing that advertising is being compared to is relationships. I was shocked after looking at all of the examples provided in the article that so many of them actually had to do with relationships. Advertisers really do a good job making the product they are advertising seem like it can love a person back. The personification of inanimate objects is overwhelming in the media and I didn't even realize it at first.
         I think it is kind of funny how I am one of the people in the boat that doesn't believe advertising affects me, but I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow subconsciously makes me buy certain brands without realizing it. If that is the case than advertisers are doing a pretty damn good job, and I applaud them for that. Advertisers: 1 David: 0.

Conference

         I thought the conference went well. I learned about a lot of the flaws in my paper that I did not recognize. It was a constructuve period of time because I was able to get feedback from my group members and Professor Martin. One of the things I need to work on is picking a specific audience to write to so that i can fit more emotion into the paper.
        Google Drive posed a bit of problems for our group, but that was honestly the only rough experience of the conference and it wasn't even that big of a deal. I was able to add my group members on Facebook so I do think there will be any more problems with communication in the future.
        Overall I thought the conference was a positive experience, and I feel that it will help improve my paper greatly. My next step is to go to the library and finish my paper.

Might As Well Be Trapped On An Island

     I think it would be pretty intense (like camping..."in tents" lol) if I was the last person in the world to speak a certain language. I would feel pretty important, knowing that if I die, my language would be extinct! I feel like it would be my duty to survive and pass the language on to someone so the language can go on and hopefully be revived. There are probably people right now in the world that are the last of their language speaking culture. That must be one of the loneliest feelings to not be able to talk to anyone in your native tongue. I almost imagine it being compared to someone trapped on an island with no one to talk to. I feel like that would drive any person crazy!
     It is not really a big deal to me whether or not my language could go extinct because I've never been faced with that problem, but now that I am trying to put myself in that position all I can think of is loneliness. Hypothetically, if I was the last person in the world to understand the English language I would feel so useless. I would feel that no one would be able to truly understand me. Sure, I could learn another language, but it just wouldn't be the same as being able to use my native language, which I have known my whole life.
     I highly doubt the English language will ever face extinction, but what if it did? How would you feel in that situation? All I know is that I'd feel like I was trapped on an island with no one to communicate with. Who knows, maybe if I got lucky I could find a volleyball named Wilson to talk to.

Taking Things for Granted

     After reading the States article I realized that it is very hard for me to truly understand what the people from Palestine have to go through. I went into the piece reading it with an American perspective. I did feel bad for the people of Palestine, but I did not truly understand what they had to go through until just now as I am posting this blog.
     It is almost impossible for me to think of growing up not having a true home, or a place to call my own. As an American I am sometimes blinded to the conditions of other countries. I unfortunately take for granted the little things in my life like a bed to sleep in, the fact that I am guaranteed a meal every day, or even the pride I have in calling myself an American. People of Palestine are basically not wanted anywhere. They were kicked out of their own country, and they are considered refugees pretty much wherever they decide to go. The thought of being unwanted by pretty much anyone is a haunting thought that I dont think anyone can quite understand until he is put into that position.
     This article really got me thinking about how ungrateful I can be sometimes. As Americans we are truly blessed with so much that we sometimes don't even realize what we have. I'm not just talking about material things either; the fact that I know that I am loved and appreciated, or the fact that I have pride in calling myself an American is something that not everyone has. I am definitely going to have a lot on my mind as I try to sleep tonight, knowing that there are people in the world suffering and less fortunate than me.

Dodgeball!

I just found out there are dodgeball tryouts tonight at UREC! I think I know where I'll be tonight.

X-Men and Peculiar Children

      While in class the other day, Greg and I were talking and we stumbled upon something kinda funny. Has anyone else noticed that Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and the X-Men series are exactly alike? I mean think about it, the peculiar children in the book are exactly like the mutants in X-Men, Miss Peregrine and Charles Xavier (the head of the mutant school in X-Men) play very similar roles in both pieces, and Jacob and The Wolverine are both "peculiar" people who are on their own and are soon accepted into the group of peculiars (or mutants). Also, Jacob and The Wolverine become heroes as the stories they are in go on.

    If thats not enough to prove the similarities between the pieces, think about the plots! Basically the plot of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a "peculiar" boy named Jacob tries to find the peculiar children his Grandfather was talking about. While on this journey he finds the children and is eventually accepted into the group. Jacob soon becomes the hero of the group as he tries to lead the peculiar children to safety from the Hollowgast who are trying to eliminate the "peculiars".

     Now lets look at the plot of X-men. A man that goes by the name of Wolverine is traveling alone with a mutation that allows him to have metal claws come out of his hands. He soon comes across a school for people that have mutations like himself. He is welcomed into the school by a man named Charles Xavier who basically plays the role of Miss Peregrine. As the series goes on, Wolverine becomes a hero figure to the younger mutants as he helps fight an enemy of the mutants named Magneto. In the third X-men movie the mutants actually end up fighting a group of people who want to rid the world of mutants. This sounds familiar doesn't it? *cough cough* (the book we just read).

     Anyways, I just thought this was a funny coincidence that you guys might enjoy. Here's a question: Which mutant or peculiar child in either X-men or the book is your favorite? Peace out guys.

Student Sleep Problems

The blog I read was called “Student sleep problems aren’t just about individual behavior” from the website www.interestingblogs.org. The intended audience of the blog was students who are in high-school or college. The writer was trying to emphasize the importance of maintaining a good sleep schedule. She provided evidence of studies saying that students who get at least 8 hours of sleep, are more likely to succeed than students who only get 6 hours of sleep. A correlation between sleep and work ethic is definitely found in this blog.

This blog is interesting to me because I am a college student who tends to run on low amount of sleep. I like to stay up late in the night whether it be for studying or watching TV. I have already realized that having a little amount of sleep is bad, considering I was almost late to my first 8 a.m. class of my college career. I slept in and missed my alarm, but luckily I was able to get where I needed to be. If I had just gone to bed earlier I would have probably been able to wake up for my class and get a better seat. I realized that I was not as focused as I should have been, because I was running on 5 hours of sleep.

I am definitely going to try to manage my time better so I can get a good nights rest. It is strange, because it feels like this blog was specifically written for me. I realize that it is definitely better for me to get to sleep early, so I can work more efficiently during the day. To end on somewhat of an ironic note, I am currently writing this paper at 12:15 a.m. and I have an 8 a.m. class tomorrow.