ENG 1020 Argumentative Associations

In English 1020, I am going to have to argue for all of my papers. Now, as a person who tries to avoid conflict, this is very unappealing to me. I also am not a big fan of writing, so its double unappealing. Some of the things I associate with the word "argumentative" is fear, conflict, hurt feelings, and indecisiveness. It invokes fear because I don't like writing that much and to know that I have an 8 page paper due on an argumentative topic scares the hell out of me. Who can really write 8 pages on something? Well, unless they were really passionate about the topic and they have been following it for years, I can see where they could write 8 pages worth. But for me, I've never watched star trek in my life and therefore find it fearful to write papers on it. But the teacher is supposedly excellent, so maybe it wont be that bad. I also associate the word "conflict" with the subject. I try to avoid conflict where I can because I don't like to get into fights with people about petty issues. I don't necessarily try to please other people all the time, but I do try and respect their opinions, so that no conflicts arise. I also don't like to hurt people's feelings, which is something I associate with argumentative. While this ties into conflict too, I just don't like to put people down, or feel bad for believing in what they believe. I may strongly disagree with them, but I would never make someone feel insolent for their way of living. Also I am very indecisive about everything, so choosing a good topic that I know I could write alot on is difficult for me. I can hardly choose where to eat when me and my boyfriend go out to eat. How could I possible choose something more serious and important quickly? Only the good Lord knows, because I don't. Let's just say I'm very apprehensive about English 1020....I feel its not going to be good for me. But I'm hoping for a good major surprise.

My Morning Routine

This morning I'm going to let you in on my daily morning routine. It's very structured, as in, I do the same things in the same order each morning. I know that sounds a little OCD but its really just easier for me to do it that way. I'm a big fan of making lists on here, so guess what I'm going to use to explain the routine? A LIST! lol

1. Hit the snooze button 2-3 times: I have one of the nice alarm clocks that has a generous amount of time for each snooze hit. It gives me 9 minutes extra each time I hit it! This gives me time to wake up more fully, instead of just rolling out of bed drowsy.

2. Take a shower: This one is self explanatory. But its funny that I have a routine in there too. First I wash my hair, then my body, then my face.

3. Put on eye makeup: First I put a thin to medium line of eye liner on. Then I follow it with mascara. I usually don't mascara the bottom lashes, I just do the top lid.

4. Apply foundation (powder or liquid): Just depending on my mood, I'll either use powder or liquid foundation. If I'm feeling lazy, I use the powder because its quicker. If I feel like getting dolled up, then I use the liquid. Then I put on a bit of blush, if i'm not feeling lazy as well.

5. Blowdry and straighten hair: First I blowdry my hair which takes about 5 minutes, and then I straighten it with my wet to dry straightener. This whole process takes about 8 minutes.

6. Get dressed: You would think I would have gotten dressed earlier, but I feel restricted in clothes when I have to reach up to do my hair, so I just wait to get dressed. I just wear my towel wrap thing while getting ready.

Well, that was my daily morning routine. I'm sure alot of peoples' routines are the same (at least for girls).

7 Reasons to Turn Down a Marriage Proposal

Don't think I'm against marriage or anything, because I do want to get married. This was a prompt from the internet so here it goes.

7 Reasons to Turn Down a Marriage Proposal:

1. You don't love the person: Well this one is plain and simple. You shouldn't love someone who you don't love! Why would you want to spend your life wishing you could love the guy, but just can't. Its kind of stupid to spend thousands of dollars on a wedding, when a divorce seems near in the future. Really people, save your money and find someone you love.

2. The person doesn't love YOU: While this is almost the same as number 1, it has a twist. If a guy doesn't love you, why would you want to be stuck with that the rest of your life?

3. The person is immature: Sure you may love the person, and that's great, but if the person doesn't know how to be grown up, then how do you plan to have a future with them? You can't raise kids, one including a husband or a wife. There should be two parents in the household. Wait until they can play grown up first, then get married.

4. You don't know the person: All those couples that get drunk, meet in Vegas, and get drunk that get married are CRAZY! Why would you marry someone you don't know?! The person could be a complete lunatic! Get to know the person first, please! Let's NOT increase the divorce rate.

5. The person can't hold a job and contribute equally to the marriage: You don't want to marry someone who keeps getting fired from jobs. What does that say about them? Exactly.

6. The person is abusive or harmful (verbal or physical): This one is just common sense. If you wanted to be a punching bag or torn down, then you need to be in a mental hospital.

7. Already married: If you or the person you are dating is married, how does that look for your future. If he cheats on his wife with you, who's to say he won't cheat on you? You're probably just a piece of booty that he knows he can persuade into getting some. Don't do it cuz its wrong too. Think of how the other woman, or man, feels.

Black Friday

I now know the reason how this rare shopping extravaganza received its unusual name.

"Originally, September 24, 1869 was deemed Black Friday; a day of stock market catastrophe. The history of the day after Thanksgiving being the official start of the holiday shopping season may be linked together with the idea of Santa Claus parades. Parades celebrating Thanksgiving often include an appearance by Santa at the end of the parade, with the idea that 'Santa has arrived' or 'Santa is just around the corner'.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, many Santa parades or Thanksgiving Day parades were sponsored by department stores. These include the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, in Canada, sponsored by Eaton's, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade sponsored by Macy's. Department stores would use the parades to launch a big advertising push. Eventually it just became an unwritten rule that no store would try doing Christmas advertising before the parade was over. Therefore, the day after Thanksgiving became the day when the shopping season officially started.

Later on, the fact that this marked the official start of the shopping season led to controversy. In 1939, retail shops would have liked to have a longer shopping season, but no store wanted to break with tradition and be the one to start advertising before Thanksgiving. President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the date for Thanksgiving one week earlier, leading to much anger by the public who wound up having to change holiday plans." (Wikipedia)

I know that was a long history, but I'll now give my reason for the name. I think it is because with all the amazing sales and price cuts, peoples darkest souls come out to buy these things. People get ugly out there, pushing and shoving, clawing and fighting tooth and nail to get the limited pile of goodies. Now if you really want to experience this at it's worst, go to an electronics store. By God, you will leave that store a changed person, meaner and bitter. Today I went out to Target, which was crowded as hell, but I experienced something unlike any other. The people were all friendly, even the costumers! It was pretty cool. But then we went to walmart, and the story went right back to its norm. I always say I will never do it the next year, but I usually do. So thats my explanation of how black friday got its name.

Thanksgiving Day

For thanksgiving, I was really looking forward to my mom cooking dinner for my family. I was all excited until my mom dropped the news that we were going to my grandma's for thanksgiving instead. She had gotten friday off from work and suggested we just leave early to come down here instead of waiting until friday morning. I felt bad for my dad and brother who didn't get to come because they were going to have a football weekend. (The Iron Bowl was on and so was the Prattville High Game.) So they just decided to go to Golden Corral for dinner, and then go to a movie. Me and my mother, however, made our trek down to my grandma's...starting at 5:30am. Let me just say, I was DEAD tired all day. When we got here, we had to go to church (because my grandma is crazy religious, and because we are catholic) to give thanks to God for all he has blessed us with. After that, dinner was started and made and we finally got to eat around 2:00pm. Everybody was starving but it was a pretty good dinner. Now I was kind of being a pessimist because I had really wanted to stay home and spend it with my immediate family and my boyfriend, but I finally perked up after dinner. I guess I just needed some food to calm me down. But after dinner, we had dessert (of course) which consisted of pecan pie and pumpkin pie. Then, out of the blue, my mom and cousin decided to go on a walk. Well the walk consisted of a path that travelled over the entire Biloxi bridge and back. The whole walk was about 6 miles total. OK, for someone who doesn't exercise avidly, it was a god-aweful long walk. It lasted approximately 1 hour and 32 mins (only because I was keeping close time.) When I woke up this morning, I was so sore and still am. It's painful having to work off what you eat during the holidays. lol

Thanksgiving Tradition

In my family, thanksgiving has always been a holiday much looked forward to. I will be honest and say that there isn't much thanks looked forward to, but the type and amount of food involved. We do thank the person who cooks the meal, though, which is usually my mother. And boy does she do a good job with the dinner. The night before thanksgiving, my mother will put the ham on to bake before going to bed, letting it cook all night. The aroma that fills the house is just mouth watering! Then the next morning, she will put the modest turkey breast in and let it cook. While the turkey is cooking, she will start to prepare the sides for the meal. We usually have the same sides, which is fine with me, and sometimes I like to help because it feels good to act like an old fashioned housewife (but only sometimes). Some of the sides we have are:

1. Candied Yams: Yams with pecans and marshmallows on top, then cooked in the oven to perfection! The pecans and marshmellows make a glazed topping for the yams.

2. Stuffing: Come on, everybody has stuffing for thanksgiving....its a given.

3. Green Beans: I don't exactly know why this vegetable is chosen over all the other ones, but usually it is the vegetable picked to have with thanksgiving dinner.

4. Mashed Potatoes: I'm not talking about some "from the box" mashed potatoes, I'm talking about the homemade peel-it-yourself mashed potatoes. These have to be one of my favorite items on the list.

5. Cranberry Salad: This is cherry jello with cranberries, apples, nuts, and other delicious things to make a cranberry gelatin salad. Dear Lord, its delicious!

While we also make many other things, it mainly depends on how many people my mom has to cook for and basically what she is in the mood for. Last year, it was just me and my mom so we went out to Jim's restaurant for thanksgiving. While it was ok, I still prefer my mom's cooking to anything. I love thanksgiving!

End of the World

In honor of the newly released movie 2012, I am going to tell you about what I think should be saved when the end of the world comes. It's not hard to say that humans should be preserved, but also animals.

I would save:

1. Middle adults and younger: This is going to sound harsh but, why save old people when they are going to die off in a few years? In order to save the human race, we need to save the people that can still reproduce and the children who will eventually be able to reproduce. It sounds mean to leave them behind, but they have lived their lives already and are not able to reproduce, so whats the point?

2. Two of each animal: Ok, so I'm going to go a bit Noah's Arc on you guys. Animals are essential to survival on this planet because they provide food and key links in the food chain. If two of each animal is perserved, then the animal species would survive and be able to reproduce. However, I think only the main species key to the food chain and food should be saved. For example, cows and chickens and other animals should be brought on so that they can reproduce and provide for a source of food.

3. Key national documents: I would save documents such as the declaration of independence and the constitution of the United States. Even though everyone on the Earth is not from the USA, it would still be important to have some documentation of some form of government after the world ends. Mass chaos would ensue after all the destruction was done and there was a million people doing whatever they pleased. But then the issue of "who's in charge" would arise.

4. Books: I would save a few books from each countryt that held history and culture in it so that that part of our world would not be forgotten or destroyed. I'm not saying we bring so many that there is no room for people, but just enough so that a piece of the old culture still lives on and survives. A nation that doesn't know their history is doomed to repeat it.

What am I thankful for....

Things I'm thankful for:

1. My amazing family who always trusts, supports, and encourages me.

2. My cute little niece who has brought joy and love to my life like I have never really experienced.

3. My wonderful boyfriend. I prayed and prayed for God to send me an honest man and he did. He came through with my amazing and wonderful and handsome boyfriend Curtis.

4. The chance to go to college. I may be stressed and up to my eyes in student loans, but I'm happy I get the chance to even attend college as some don't.

5. My car because some people my age still don't even have their licenses and I have mine and a reliable car to get to and from school.

6. A job that I love going to almost every day of the week. When you have a job you love, you dont mind spending four or five hours there 5 days a week.

7. My friends who are awesome and cool, and who know how to support me and tell me their opinions.

A Website for Extra-Marital Affairs?!?!?!?!

Is it ethical for a company to provide a service that helps married people have affairs outside their marriage? In my opinion, it is totally wrong and a degradation to the whole American Society. Ashley Madison company provides this type of service and can be accessed online at their website. Its almost like a facebook for cheaters. You set up a profile, wait for people to email you, and then pick and choose which people you want to have an affair with. Ridiculous sounding? Of course it is. I know I'm not the best christain or person, but taking advantage of this unethical practice and destroying homes is disgusting. The CEO of the company was on the Tyra Show and he said he decided to make the company because he had seen that the statistics for outer marriage affairs were high and so took advantage and made a company out of it. One of the members who came on the show had used this service and had ruined her marriage because of it. The husband was then brought on to see how he felt about it (with the CEO still in the audience) and he was in tears and just devastated that his wife could betray him like that. Tyra then asked the CEO if he had any guilt and he said that he felt sorry for the guy but that he had no guilt because he didn't force the woman to have an affair, just provided the service to do it. Tyra then asked the CEO's wife if she trusted him and she said she did. When she asked how she could trust him with such a sketchy business, the CEO said that he compared himself to a drug dealer. He said something along the lines of...Drug dealers just sell drugs, they don't use their products. I just sell affairs, I don't have them. What is our society coming to that some are promoting affairs and wrecked homes? Grow up America and start re-learning your ethics and morals.


Here is a video profiling this disgusting company:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXXWismNYT4

Evaluation of Texting with a Full Keyboard

My first time texting was with a traditional flip phone that just had a number key pad with three letters to each key. At first, I didn't know how to text fast like everyone my age knew how to. But after a month of texting like crazy to my friends and family, I finally got the hang of texting fast. I even became so aquainted with that type of texting that I was able to do it without looking at the keypad. It made it so much easier to drive and text, which I know is bad, but handy when you don't have to keep looking down at the phone to make sure I am texting actual words and not gibberish. After about three years of having that phone, my dad decided to upgrade my phone to one that had a full keyboard for texting, since I texted so much. He thought it would be easier because I already know how to type fast on the computer. But let me tell you the pros and cons of the change to a full keyboard phone.

Pros:

1. It's Faster- After several days of texting with the new keyboard, I realized I could text faster than I had before because I did not have to press one button three times to get a single letter.
2. It only takes one button press- Instead of pressing one button two times to get a letter, all I had to do was press one button one time. This made it easier and faster to use than my flip phone.
3. It's cooler- Let's face it, you feel much cooler using a full keyboard because everyone else is using them too.

Cons:

1. It's harder to text and drive- While this is good for many people because it keeps them safer while driving, its not good when you have to text for an emergency or something else. The full keyboard makes me have to look down to text, which stops me from texting and driving.
2. Harder to learn- Most people think its easier to type with a full keyboard if you know how to type on a computer keyboard. However, that is totally wrong. With a computer keyboard, you are using all your fingers and that's what we are used to. But with a keyboard phone, you are using your thumbs, which makes you feel as if you don't know how to type at all.
   

My Best Presentation Using Process Writing

In theatre appreciation, I had to present one play from the list we had to read this whole semester. I had a partner and we sat together brain storming about how we could present our play "Everyman" in a way that would hold the audience's attention and still get us a good grade. We did not want to do the standard "state the summary" deal, so we decided upon a nontraditional approach. We decided to write out a skit and perform it for the class. We were both former actors from high school so we thought this would be the best way to get a good grade, captivate the audience, and still relay the summary of the play. First, we had to write out the major happenings in the play. We decided upon the few major characters Everyman meets through the course of the play and twisted the scenes to make them funny, but still the same. Then we had to sit down and type out the script that would serve as our rough draft to practice with. After we had our rough draft, we practiced it a few times and decided upon the changes that needed to be made. We then went back in and changed the mess ups and then practiced it a final time. When it came time to perform, we were very nervous because no one in the class had done this style of presentation before and we didnt want to seem like "suck ups". However, we sucked it up and put on the performance. My partner was Everyman and I was every other character. The coolest part about my parts were that I used different accents for each of the characters to distinguish them from one another. Throughout the presentation, people were laughing which made us feel like we had done a good job with our idea. At the end, everyone said how much they enjoyed the skit and how funny it was that I could do all those voices. The teacher was even laughed and enjoyed the skit like the rest of us. I guess we both owe it to the process writing technique to our wonderful success.

Cause and Effect of Transferring Colleges

At the end of last semester, I had to make a very tough decision. I could either stay at the college I was currently attending, Jacksonville State University, or I could transfer to a college in Montgomery and live at home. While there were some advantages to staying at JSU, I decided upon the latter option. I was happy with my decision for a while because I was able to see my parents everyday and still go to school. But after school started I wondered if this really was what I wanted. I had several backfiring effects of moving back home. I decided to go to AUM and it seemed like a good choice. However, once I started, I realized that it was as difficult as everyone said it was. I noticed that out of the four classes I had, I was receiving piles of work for each class and I was getting so stressed. At JSU, I was taking 16 hour semesters and getting along just fine. But at AUM, I had to drop a class because I could barely handle the work load. Another problem was that I had to find another job. Since Papa Johns was owned separately in each city, I could not just transfer to the store here, so I had to find a job. It was about a month later when I did find one, and it turned out to be the worst job to ever exist, Subway. That job was pure hell! I will never work there or let my future children work there! Another bad effect of transferring was that I would have to drive 20 miles just to get to school everyday. While at JSU, I could just walk to class and save gas. Now I have to drive to and from school, around 20 miles each way. Gas money is becoming a major factor that I am running out of constantly.
Even though there are bad effects there were a few good effects of changing. One is I get to see my parents all the time now. While there are some bad things attached to that, it is overall a good thing. I love seeing my mom everyday and asking her advice and just plain being with her more. I missed her so much at JSU that I called everyday just to see what she was doing. Another advantage is that the cost has gone down exceedingly. At my other college, I was paying for not only tuition and books, but also housing and meals. Now, I just pay for tuition and books and I get meals and housing for free. I love coming home to a home cooked meal, instead of trying to find something to make in the microwave.
Overall, I think the good and the bad equal out. And since I've been gone from JSU, I've heard they have been having many problems there, so that just reinforces my decision to move.

McD's vs. BK

McDonalds vs. Burger King

Similarities:

1. Unhealthy
Both of these fast food joints are equally unhealthy due to the high calorie and sodium dosages received with each meal eaten. Ever noticed how much salt was on your fries? Yea, I know. Its usually an immense amount, especially at McDonald's which has the number one fries in the world.

2. Delicious
While this is my personal opinion, I think most people would agree with the taste factor for both of these fast food joints. When choosing between the two, its hard to decided upon just one. Maybe you want the fries from McDonald's but then you want the taste of a Burger King whopper.


Differences

1. How its Made
McDonald's is known for their delicious, but fattening food. Ever wonder why its fattening? It's because they cook their food in little greasy compartments in a huge cooker type thing. Then its stored in other little greasy compartments. This doesn't let the grease drain but lets it stagnate on the hamburger patties. In BK, they chargrill the burgers making it less fattening and more flavorful. They also put less salt on their fries, but each meal still is up there in calories with McD's.