I'm too tired to think of a creative name

I am a pretty creative person. I play flute, I draw, and I will on occasion write. This year, however, my writing well of awesome ideas has dried up. Currently, the only thing that gets me motivated to actually write is when it's assigned. Sad panda. Of course, once it's assigned I immediately check to see when it's due. I know what you're thinking, "Oh, what a good student! She checks to see how much time she has to make her writing the best it can be". Hahahahahaha no. I am a procrastinator. A bad one. Although I am getting better. But anyway, I check to see when it's due so that I can mark it in my assignment notebook in an attempt to get myself to start early. I usually just ignore it. So, a week or two before the paper or essay or poem or what have you, I might begin writing. Maybe. It usually depends on how important the assignment is.

I usually start by clicking that Itunes symbol on my desktop. Teachers always say that we shouldn't listen to music while doing homework. Well, I'm addicted to music. Not only that, but the best way I learn is through music. So I have an excuse. Next, I open a blank word document. You're probably like "Well, yeah, duh." but that's unfair. I COULD HAVE BEEN WRITING ON PAPER! So there. Anyway, I stare at this document for two minutes minimum. It would probably stare back if it had eyes. Then, I get up and get a blanket. This may seem random, but my house is always cold. I use blankets in summer (and we usually don't even use our air conditioning). Once I return to my perch in front of the computer, I think about what I want to say in the assignment, what my task is, what I need to accomplish. Then, I just start writing. I form thoughts in my head and type them out. I don't stop to think about how I should word something unless it's super confusing. It's like freewriting in a way. I kind of go into a trance. By the end, I don't honestly think I could tell you a majority of the stuff I wrote about. Only after I have done this, do I start to really type my essay/paper/whatever. I go back and add things in; I take things away. I fix punctuation and grammatical errors. After that, I go back and do it again, and again, and again. In fact, what you are reading right now is the four-time edited version of my original post.

Mmmmmmmmm. Now that that's done, let's talk about something fun! I was on youtube the other day. Actually, it was a couple of weeks ago. On a Saturday. I found this really weird and kind of scary video. It wasn't scary as in horror movie, zombies coming to get you scary. It was scary as in "what the heck? This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and I think my brain might have just exploded from the sheer wierdness of this." Essentially, when I was watching it my face was like

Except for, you know, I'm not an old man.

This video was part one for a movie. You would think that after reacting like that, I would stop watching the movie. Wrong. I was strangely addicted, but I have no idea why. I think I got through about a half an hour before I had to go do something else. I can't wait to finish it.

In case anyone is interested and/or is bored with some time on his or her hands, this is the link to part one of the movie. I feel like I should warn you though, It's in Korean (with subtitles). That's right, it's a Korean drama. Be afraid. Be very afraid. The main characters are members of one of my favorite bands, yes they are Korean, and yes, I know I have weird tastes. Get over it. But, in my defense, they are all pretty. I mean pretty good. Actually, they are amazing at singing. And dancing. And general awesomeness. Here is a link to the first song I ever heard of theirs called Hug and here is a link to an awesome Christmas song that they did called Magic Castle (I think it's a Christmas song, anyway). If you watch the first video, please watch the at least one of the other ones. I feel like I have to defend them. And if you don't want to watch the first video, watch the second or third anyway! They have some serious talent. I listen to them a lot while writing.

I don't know if what I just said can be considered "substantial" but it is what it is.

Random Awesomeness

So I found the following short comic a couple of days ago by one of my favorite artists on Deviantart (see previous posts for more details) and it almost made me snarf my tea. So, yeah. I thought I'd share it

This is it (I wanted to include it as a picture, but you couldn't really see the words)

I'm not really sure what to say

So, first off, I must say that I think 2 Million Minutes gives a mixed message. The entire argument is that the American education system is falling behind and that if America wants to remain a world power we have to "step up our game" (so to speak). Throughout the documentary they show the American kids slacking off and the Chinese and Indian kids working their (figurative) tails off. I mean, they open the documentary with Neil (the American boy) saying "Yeah, I , like, never do my homework. I mean, maybe sometimes on the weekend..." or something to that effect. And while this bias is all fine and dandy, in the end, the only kids who got into their first choice for college were the American ones. So I'm just kind of like, "...What are you trying to tell me?" Because that really doesn't drive home the argument the documentary is trying to make.

On the other hand, the other two readings made an argument of some kind and ended in a very clear way. I really liked the I Just Wanna Be Average reading because it was not only well written, but also very concise. And it does tie in a bit to the 2 Million Minutes documentary because Rose, the author, talks about the school system that he went through. He says that students will "float" towards the expectation the teacher sets for them. So if America is setting its expectations low, then obviously we are going to fall behind, just like 2 Million Minutes was saying in the first place.

Weekend Post

Okay...This is an open-topic post-assignment-y-thing. So be prepared for some rambling and whatnot.

First things first, I got The Son of Neptune on Friday! (cue spaz attack) I have seriously been waiting for this book for a year. I am so very, very, very, extremely happy! It's by Rick Riordan, who, in my opinion, is a genius. He also wrote the Percy Jackson series (love love love) which is about Greek mythology, and The Heroes of Olympus series (Son of Neptune is the second one in the series) is the spinoff series. Mr. Riordan is also working a series about Egyptian mythology called the Kane Chronicles. Honestly, I think the only thing that kept me going whilst I waited for Son of Neptune to come out was that the second book in the Kane Chronicles The Throne of Fire. So, yeah. I absolutely adore his books!

Here's a link to the Percy Jackson website, but you can also get to Heroes of Olympus and Kane Chronicles website from there

So, over the summer, I became absolutely obsessed over this one website called Deviantart (there is a relevance to what I was talking about before if you'll hang on for a moment). Basically, people can post and therefore share their art through the website. And there are so many amazing artists on there! My favorites are AishaxNekox, frzdragon, and Burdge-bug. Burdge draws so many wonderful pictures of stories she likes. Including Percy Jackson (see? RELEVANCE!). Well, she also draws Harry Potter (more lovey love love), The Hunger Games (not so much love, sorry), Doctor Who, some characters from her sister's stories, etc. Augh she's so awesome! I mean, look at that! (It's a Harry Potter one, by the way)

or....or....This one! It's Percy this time

So yeah, I just have way too many things that I obsess over. Especially since I've only mentioned two of the many, many things I obsess over.

Yup, I think that's the end of my rambling...maybe

Oh! And I sprained my ankle and am on crutches for at least a week. Kay! Bye-Bye!

Obama Speech

Obviously, when watching a speech, the first thing you really notice is the speakers appearance. President Obama, when he walked onto the stage, was dressed up, looking very professional. He seemed to be not only confident, but at ease too. Immediately the listener/watcher knows that he is well prepared and is knowledgeable about what he's going to talk about. While giving the speech he stood in a very relaxed manner, not slouching, but not super stiff. His hands were either making gestures to accompany his words (all of which were very natural), or they were resting on the podium.

Throughout the speech, he remained very calm, and collected. He sounded almost as if he was having a conversation. He was articulate, but not overwhelmingly so. In fact, he stuttered on occasion, which on a professional level doesn't look very good. However, I thought that those stutters made him more believable and intimate, especially since he was talking to students. Also, he used "easy words" so that everyone he was speaking to (students, in particular) could understand what he was saying.

There was no obvious climax like in Dr. King's I Have A Dream speech, but you could sense that there were several within the speech. Like Dr. King, he uses lots of logical appeals (but not nearly as many emotional ones). For example, when he was talking about how we can make a difference in the world right now, he told three stories about students who are doing exactly that. I especially found the story about the girl who came up with a new desire for cancer inspiring, so I guess that was also kind of an emotional appeal too.

He talks about his daughters and how he wants them to do their best, which was an ethos appeal, because it tells us that he knows what he's talking about. Other ethos appeals he uses are when he tells about his own school experience, and also when he says that he, and many other people in the government are working hard for the students' sake.

Personally, I didn't think it was the best motivational speech in the world, but then again, can anything seem super motivational after hearing the I Have A Dream Speech? Anyway, I thought his argument (do the best you can in school) came across nicely. I did like the simplicity of his speech, and the almost easy-going feel it had. All in all, I thought it was a nice speech that made good use of the appeals, but it wasn't the most motivational speech I have heard.