Journal 37

When I hear this song I see Barnes and Noble. This is due to the fact that at Barnes and Noble they always play jazz music much like the song we listened to in class. It is super classy music and makes you feel more sophisticated by hearing that sweet music. Since I think of Barnes and Noble when I hear this song I am happy because I really enjoy Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble is a happy place that smells like the delicious mixture of coffee and the paper of the books that fill the shelf. As an avid reader this smell is very appealing to me and is relaxing. The song makes me think of when you go to the book store and run your fingers across all of the spines of the book. Every book that you touch contains its own little a world. Worlds of magic, science, and so much more. Every book has its own story and that is what makes it unique. Another thought comes to mind when I listen to this song. I think of some classy speakeasy in the 1920's. It's full of smiling happy people that laugh as the spin around the dance floor. Maybe they even break out into the dance known as the Charleston. I picture a live band in the corner playing this song with all of their heart. This song has the ability to transport me into another time and that is truly special. This song reminds me of a better time when life was so much better. I never expected that a song that did not have words would give such clear and vivid images to my brain. I am very glad that I listened to this song today in class and that it was able to provoke so much imagery. Overall, this song made me think of another time and it also made me think of Barnes and Noble.

Journal 36

One of the most important things in life is to be yourself. You have to be true to yourself. I believe that if you are not, you will never truly be happy. By being yourself you are able to be the person that you were meant to be and not the person that others want you to be. If you are not yourself than you are fake, and living a lie takes a toll on your whole life. Why live your life trying to be somebody else when there is only one of you? I always try to be myself because I have only one lifetime and I want to make the best of it. An example of me being myself is coming up with my own ideas. Some people follow others blindly and just agree to whatever they say. I try my best not to do this. I try to research the topic and come up with the best conclusion for me. I always also doubt everything I hear a little bit especially when it comes from the media. Everyone has their own agenda and sometimes they are not giving you the message that is best for you. I like to come to my own conclusions, but I am also open to what other people think. I think that creating your own ideas are important because it is something no one can take from you. They can never make you believe something if you do not want to believe it. Forming your own ideas makes up part of you that is an individual and not just a part of the masses. Your ideas are a part of you and when you follow in what you believe in you are being true to yourself. Overall, I think being yourself is very important. When you are true to yourself you are able to do the thing that is right for you, and you are able to live a happy and successful life.

Journal 33

Sometimes life becomes stressful and you just need to take some time out of your schedule to reduce stress and reconnect with yourself. There are many activities that help me do this. My favorite thing to reduce stress is to read. I love reading because it takes me to a whole other world where I do not have to worry about what is going on in my life. For a couple hours I get to be in the mind of someone else and not mine. For me reading books is like going to see a movie. Except with a book my mind creates the whole world and if I do not like it I can visualize it differently. Another way that I get rid of stress and reconnect myself is by taking a nap. Sleeping is the best thing in the world after a long week. Sleeping helps me feel refreshed and relaxed. In some ways sleeping also lets me reconnect with myself. It does this by giving me a look at my self conscious through what kind of dreams I am having. Sometimes dreams help me to evaluate myself and realize what is really bothering me in the real world. I also like to be with the people that I love when I am feeling stressed. They make me feel better by just being around. I also feel like I can just be myself with them and not the person everyone thinks I should be. Being myself just takes the weight of the world off of my shoulders and lets me get back to who I really am. Another thing that helps me to relax is meditation. At first when I meditate I am a little bit bored and restless. Yet, as I continue to do it I feel better and better. Meditation really helps me to think in that it clears away all of the thoughts that are concerning me. Overall, I do many things to get rid of stress and reconnect with myself.

Journal 34

When  many people think of Self they just think of maybe one or two aspects that make them up and not their whole Self. For this journal I am supposed to describe my Self like Walt Whitman did. There is one problem with this though. I do not think that I know my whole Self. I believe that you discover a little bit about yourself everyday. I learn things about myself when I face the obstacles of everyday life. Maybe it will take me a lifetime of soul searching to find out who I am. Also, what happens when I change? Everyone changes. So, my Self is something that is constantly forming and reforming. This makes it hard to pinpoint my Self at this specific period of time. Self is supposed to be all the different parts that make up you, but what if one day I am feeling a certain way towards something and then the next I am in someway influenced. My whole perspective on a certain topic may have changed just in little over twenty four hours. I, however, will try to explain my Self, as I am in exactly this one moment of my life. I think that part of my Self right now is focused on doing what I believe what is right and what is wrong. This is very important to me. Sometimes I do something without thinking and I always will try to do my best to fix this in whatever way that I can. It is important to me that I lead a life that I can be proud of and not regret doing something I should not have. Another part of my Self is that I am a dreamer. I think that it is so very important to dream big. Sometimes you fail to meet your goal, and that is alright as long as you tried your best. By aiming high I also set myself to a specific standard in which to lead my life.

Journal 35

When looking back at the blog I did all the way back in September, I noticed that my writing seems to be much different. I would not say my writing is better or worse now, but just different.  One of the differences that I noticed was that my writing seemed to be a lot more formal when writing in the blog format. Now that we use a different website for posting our assignments, the post seems much more relaxed and a part of a discussion. I really like this because now my writing is not as dull and stiff as it used to be. I also like commenting on other people's posts in theory because I think it helps to see the way that they see the answer to the question. In practice though the comment box is super annoying and freezes. This makes me mad. My writing also used to have both an introduction and a conclusion, which is a consequence of the more relaxed discussion posts that we now do instead. I also noted that I had a lot of quotes. My writing still uses many quotes to support what I am trying to say. I have also noticed that I use a lot more support for my statements    then I used too. This is one way that my writing has changed for the better. Now I use literary criticisms more, which uses the thoughts of experts. Since I am using the thoughts of experts, this supports what I am trying to say. This has really helped me improve my writing. I also think that I have gotten better at citing my sources than I used to be. I am much more comfortable with using parenthetical citations because I now have to use them in every single thing that I write about.   Overall, only some aspects of my writing has changed. Some of the change is good like how I am comfortable using citations.

Journal 32

"You say you want a Revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world" (Lennon). Revolution is an extremely important concept in our society. Through revolution we can change things and make life better for ourselves. Sometimes revolution can be seen as something bad and radical and it can be, but revolution can also be for the best. Someday I want to revolutionize the world. When I do this society will be controlled by.....PENGUINS! Society will be so much better once penguins have finally asserted their dominance over the human race. Just think of how great everything will be! No longer will the movies be full of actors, but penguins. The world  will be captivated by the sight of the elegant penguins waddling  up to receive their academy awards. This is a great idea because penguins are practically wearing tuxedos already. Once I have put the penguins in charge, they will make me their ruler. I will be known as the Supreme Empress of the Penguin Nation. Now Congress will not be full of politicians, but penguins! Penguins are known for their supreme decision making. Besides its not like anyone ever understands politicians anyway, so when we have the penguins installed it will not be that big of a change. The flag will also be changed. The new colors will be black and white with a picture of a penguin in the middle. Also the penguins will get rid of all the roads in the country. Instead they will build a device that will change the weather to make the country more like the arctic. Instead we will travel around on the sheets of solid ice of the ground. All day when we want to get around we will slide on our stomachs on the ice just like the penguins do. This seems like a much better way to get around and at the same time the environment will be saved because we will no longer need gas. Overall, I think that letting the penguins and I rule the world is a pretty solid idea.

















Lennon, John. "Revolution." Perf. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Rec. 10-12 July 1668. Abbey Road. The Beatles. Abbey Road Studios, 1968. CD.