Blogging about Blogging

When I think of the word blogging, I think about intense artsy writers that spend their days in coffee shops writing down stuff on a web sight that no one is ever going to read. I was very closed minded about  blogging and decided it was only for a specific group of people. What I came to realize, was that I was totally wrong. It has expanded and improved my writing drastically. I was never good at writing, mainly because I never wrote about things that I like. The only time I wrote was on papers that I had to write about. I never gave myself the time to express myself in the literary way. Having this blog has helped me open my views on different ways of expressing myself. I like how we can have the option on free writes every once in awhile, because I can really express what's on my mind. I also like how we have to comment on other blogs because that way I feel that what I'm writing down isn't just to write down but people are reading it. We can get to know more about our peers and it's an outside way to kind of get to know the real person because what they write in their blogs are their true feelings. That way I feel that I am being heard. I also like when we are given prompts to write about because it makes me think about new things and ideas that I normally wouldn't think about. It allows me to push my boundaries and go out side my comfort zone and explained my horizon.

Editing Can Be Fun

I feel that many people have trouble focusing on the big picture when editing a paper, because they get wrapped up in all the little grammatical errors. I do not have that problem, mainly because I suck at fixing grammatical errors. I am terrible when it comes to spelling and proper punctuation. Growing up, it has always been hard editing papers in class because I would always miss the punctuation marks and the teacher would always mark me off. Being introduced to this new concept of focusing on the big picture in peers reviews has been a relief. I also really like how we comment positive things on each others papers because it reinforces that we are doing something right. It's really hard when revising a second draft and all there is marked is errors. When I get a paper back that has all negative feed back on it, I feel that the paper is not strong. Therefor I am not exciting about correcting it, because I felt that the total paper was a waist of time. I also liked the way that we corrected the papers on the peer review. We did not receive just one opinion but three. That way, it feels more like suggestions rather then one person editing it saying its just wrong. Also by having three people read it, the last two readers may catch something that the first reader did not. Lastly, I liked how the editing style was set up on the computers so that a bunch of stuff on your paper isn't crossed out, and you can read the typed words better than people's handwriting.  I didn't really dislike anything; I really liked this way of editing and I think this is the way that a paper should be edited.

Connection is not always productive

My view point on smart phones is not in the norm. Although I have one, I absolutely hate it. In society we are pressured to have the next and up coming thing. We are always connected. I personally don't think that it's not healthy to always stay connected. That means that your brain is always being distracted. I know that I am always glancing at my phone to see if someone texted me back or if I received an email. Currently, while I am typing this blog, I have checked my phone six times; to either reply to text or to answer the phone. It's not always healthy to multitask like that. If we constantly multitask then we are always distracted. This feeds into distractions in things that we need to be focused on. Today, people in school are not doing as well on test, because they don't know how to relax and focus on one thing. I know that when I take a test, I am think about everything from where I am going this weekend, to what guy I think is cute, to how much I need to start working out again. My mind is all over the place because of the constant connection we have to all the different varieties of communication. I mean think about it. We are not only connected by phone but then we have Facebook, Twitter, text messages, computers, emails and Skype. We are constantly connected and have absolutely no time to rest.This also makes problems when going to sleep because your mind is constantly churning. I honestly think that society is going to come to a point that we are going to have major focusing and sleeping problem if not already.