Incredibly messy

In some aspects, I am a very neat person. I do my laundry once every week or two, I make my bed in the morning, all the trinkets on my desk are always lined up. But as a person, on the inside, I'm very messy.

The lines in my head are blurred, about what's the most important or what I dedicate the most time to thinking about. In some of my classes, I can't focus enough to take notes because I can't help thinking about a band or a movie. But something that's been snagging me lately is my messy, strewn-everywhere thoughts about college. Where am I applying? When do I have to do it? I'm going to do poorly on the SAT, I should study, I can't study, What do I want to do? What's my major? Will I be able to get a job that I like? That I love? Who am I? What can I do? Sometimes I feel like I don't even know myself.

It can all be overwhelming. This is what my anxiety, my panic feels like. All these things build up, and have you done your homework have you cleaned the kitchen did you remember to get gas? And it suddenly feels like a lot, even though (real) college is a year away. I can't control everything whirling around in my head, and it gets tiring to try.

But there are things I like about having my thoughts as messy as they are: I can make things. I create, I act, I have ideas every second. Ambitious projects that I'll never start on, crazy trips that I don't have money for. I can count on my head to come up with new things, things no one else can see. And I love that. I love being an artist. Inside, even though it might be easier to be a lawyer or banker, I have passion, and oh how I use that passion in liberal arts. A whirlwind of color, of beauty, of new eyes, showing people new ways to think. My scary, deep, uncontrollable mind is an ocean, vast and rich and untamed, wild and free, beautiful chaos. And I wouldn't trade that for being left-brained or file-cabinet-oriented for anything in the world.

Value of MLA Style

As we know, different citations and methods of citation are used for different subjects (and assignments). For liberal arts academic papers, the MLA format is often used, which is more simple than some other forms. It often does not require a title page, and sometimes you may not even necessarily have to have in-text-citations or footnotes. For these reasons, it can be easier for a beginner to use than APA or maybe Chicago formatted citations (which are used for scientific or historical papers).

Wikipedia writer's voice

Your writer's voice in Wikipedia needs to be professional. It is the equivalent of a modern, all-encompassing encyclopedia, after all! Use correct grammar and punctuation. Only write relevant material that's important to the article. Write in a business tone, always use sources, and make sure to use the space for your topic efficiently. Most importantly, withhold your own opinions and write only unbiased facts.

Gay Marriage Essays

Gay marriage seems like a weird thing to look at in class, with how controversial it is, but I did like the essays. Well, the second one. The first one was annoying. And my reasoning in that is, right off the bat Colson claims that queerness only began when the sexual revolution "led to the decoupling of marriage and procreation". When has marriage ever only been about procreation? If humans were only here to make more humans, why bother with marriage at all? Everyone just have at it, with every man and woman you meet. The more the merrier.

Marriage is a bond that is not sex. Marriage may not have always stood for love and support, as it does (in most cases) today, but it has always represented unity and partnership. And I'm not sure why Colson thinks allowing people of the same gender to marry is capable of "destroying" the idea of family. Allowing people to get married brings families closer, it makes new ones, it creates nothing but good possibilities. Maybe it's only Colson who thinks of marriage as a vice for procreation. Infertile couples, elderly couples, couples who don't want kids, all marry happily and freely. I believe Colson needs to stop making excuses for his discrimination and see that marriage is about hope. It's about happiness. And it's about love.

Wikipedia Topic

**THIS WAS A DRAFT I MADE ON TUESDAY AND FORGOT TO POST. I WROTE THE ENTIRE POST ON TUESDAY.

I've decided the topic I'm going to edit is the Muppet page. This isn't just a trivial fan-editing for me, because it IS a page relating to my profession- I want to work with the Muppets, puppeteering for the Jim Henson Company. I would really like to work with The Muppets Studio in the style and creative team of the Muppets' standings in Disney resort parks. And on the Muppet page, the subcategory of ties to the Disney company through theme parks needs A LOT of work and editing. There's almost no information, and what is there is outdated. So that's what I'm going to be working on! I'll have t research official ties with the Disney Parks, including attractions, merchandise, entertainment, and general presence.

Handling Doc 1 Thesis

A thesis, as we learned from the book this week, can really be the most important part of a paper. All scholarly papers have one. It's a really good way to sum up your ideas and all the topics and points of your paper into one summary, and a good thesis can really round out a shaky paper.

What we did for our Doc 1 thesis was actually wait until all the paragraphs of our paper were finished. I then went back and, looking at all of the main points of our paper, added them all in to make a thesis that expressed our paper properly! This helps me a lot when looking for ways to write one. I used to get a little overwhelmed trying to think my entire paper through to make my thesis first, but I've found saving it for last is very helpful and can be more effective, too.

Handling Doc 1 Readers

Handling someone who is editing your paper is similar to your approach to editing someone else's paper. Both require courtesy and respect. I've seen some people stay on their documents and hover while peer editing is going on, or try to tell the editors they don't know what they're talking about, how dare they attack my amazingly great paper! The reality is the peer editors are just trying to help and do their assignment, and their advice could be pretty helpful! So being respectful and listening is important above all else.

Wikipedia Reader

The thought of someone reading an article that I helped write is pretty cool to me, even if they are a stranger. I can hardly picture thousands of them. I knew Wikipedia had a user-friendly editing system, but I kind of pushed that knowledge to the back of my mind and assumed it was the Internet fairies that came up with the sources and information.

But it's not! It's real people like us, in college around the world (as wiki editing is becoming more and more common as secondary education assignment work).

So I'm really intrigued by a Wikipedia reader viewing my edits and work. I think it's important to not only be professional, but use reliable sources. Giving information is a privilege, and you can't abuse it.

Wiki Topic

I'm a bit nervous about choosing a wiki topic, as I have never edited a Wikipedia page before. I may choose one on theatre, but I'll probably try to stick to puppetry. The Jim Henson page gets quite vague the further down you scroll, so maybe I'll edit that one. It's all a pretty interesting assignment; I assume we'll have to find scholarly sources and that sort of thing. I'm excited!

Profession Blogs: Walt Disney World

I'm posting about Disney World today! ...and not just because I'm going on Saturday and I CAN'T WAIT ONE MORE SECOND. I titled this as a profession blog because I DO want to work there, but I didn't really go into specifics here. This is just a little on why I like the park.

I've been to Disney three times, and each time I've been a little more crazy about it. Not crazy in the I-have-all-these-Disney-movies crazy; I didn't really even watch the Princess movies growing up. I think I could see Aladdin, Mulan, and The Little Mermaid II. (My parents didn't want me to have body image issues later on, they say.) What I love is the theme park. It takes a real observer to notice it (and if anything, I am an observer), but Walt Disney World is so detailed. You can see something new every time you visit if you look closely enough.

The ride queues are so intricate and have so many hidden gems in them. There are Mickeys paved in the roads. Each cast member (employee) at the park has a role to fill, a way to act and dress based on where they're located in the park. Disney focuses on the little things rather than the overall experience, and it can make a huge different on a guest's experience. And I think the way all the tiny gears come together and make something wonderful is a really incredible thing.

Have you been to Disney World? Did you like it? Tell me why!

Writing To Learn

Something I really like about this class is the writing requirement. I know that sounds crazy; I don't mean I love having homework. But I think the best way to become a better writer is to practice. The best way to become a better anything is practicing. With writing especially, you can't sit down and know. It's not facts, it's art. Making the words smooth, letting them flow properly.

My dad's an english professor with published poems, so it's kind of a big deal for me to know how to write. I even thought I wanted to be a writer, for a little while (before I realized I couldn't sit still for that long...but acting isn't far removed from writing, it's just telling stories with your body instead of with your words). But I still believe writing is so important. It's a way to communicate. It's always changing and expanding and evolving, and it can change people as much as people change it. And that is really what "writing to learn" is all about.

Adjusting

High school wasn't very much fun for me. I didn't have a lot in common with the people I was with. I wasn't 4.0-enough to hang with the smart kids, or drunk enough for the football-team-and-cheerleader crowd, and I didn't have enough facial piercings to feel at home with the "alternative" crowd. I was kind of stuck. I rotated between the groups, never fitting into anything, hanging out with everyone a little. My teachers saw that I was drifting, and several told me the same thing again and again: "You'll do great in college".

So I guess I've been waiting for college like it was the promised land, full of parties and Fall Out Boy playing at 3AM and boys mature enough to date, a mixed bag of independence. I didn't think once, among all my different fantasies, about how much schoolwork would be involved.

I'm so glad I decided to go the MOWR route and experience my first college classes as a senior, because I think I would lose it if I jumped next year into a new state, new town, new room, paying bills and health insurance, grocery shopping, driving everywhere; even parallel parking (!!!)...AND having 5 or 6 rigorous academic classes a week. Because in addition to figuring yourself out, college is a lot of work. You make your own schedule, and procrastinating can drive you into the ground deeper than any "I didn't do my homework because I didn't feel like it" could in high school.

At the same time as feeling a little overwhelmed, I'm kind of proud. I'm trying not to let anxiety run my life. I went out to dinner last night and ate chocolate lava cake with a friend, and I didn't feel like crawling into a hole and dying from shirked responsibility. So this has shown me that I think I'll be ready next year. Everything moves fast when you're a teenager. But if you breathe and have time to get on Netflix every little while, it will all turn out alright. Probably. ✿

Doc 1 Topic

I actually have learned a lot from our Doc 1 assignment. I already knew it wasn't a good idea to post incriminating or inappropriate content, but looking up information for the paper has made me realize you also need to have an active educational image of yourself online. I hadn't updated my Google+ profile since eighth grade, but a lot of sources say it can help a lot to list your resume or achievements on public websites on the Internet, so something can represent you besides your personal life on social media.