Revision vid overview

Well that was certainly an interesting video in my opinion, but it did get my mind to start thinking about what the performer was trying to say to the audience. the "Performance. Feedback. Revision" was a very unique way of how to look and address certain topics. it doesnt have to be about a certain subject but anything you wish to apply to it.

~Nikki

Further progression of essay 2

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! or i should say happy belated Thanksgiving..oh well. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and didnt get stuffed like the turkey! Anyhow, with all greetings aside, im pretty happy with how my essay turned out, despite the wonderful snowfall we had that canceled class. Now, as my group is doing option 2 in the criteria, i sort of did a bit of both option 1 and 2 and mixed them together, so for those of you have my essay for reader review, just take note of this so i dont accidentally forget along the road. As far as specific feedback goes, i just want to make sure if im clear or not, thats my main concern as of right now, so if you can let me know that will be great!

~Nikki

The progression of essay 2

Wow..talk about a crazy week. Registration, essays, and exams, oh my! Well as far as the essay portion goes, I'd say that its coming along fairly well, despite its occasional speed bumps. I plan to take my essay and communicate it on a more personal level, not just me talking to, lets say, a crowd, but me talking to a person as if they were my best friend. The reason for this is that I tend to talk through my writing so to speak, as if I'm right in front of you, telling you the same content thats in my paper rather than someone just reading it page for page. Now..the infamous speed bumps, oh joy. The only really speed bump I have is that I know what to say and what I want to say in my mind, its just hitting that wall of allowing me to write it on paper. Odd, I know, but thats how I feel at the moment

~Nikki

My annotated bibliography

For my essay, I have chosen the article "Self-Presentation and Interaction in Blogs of Adolescents and Young
Emerging Adults" by Elizabeth Mazur and Laurie Kozarian. In this article, the authors analyzed 124 blogs to see how people, especially young adults, express themselves through digital composing. In their research (which included many calculations and percents) they find that young adults mainly have emotional-based writings that discuss many topics (family, romantic relationships, all that good stuff.) The argument of the article is just that: "findings indicate that most young person's write emotionally toned entries that focus on their daily lives," which in a sense, in my opinion, is true. I have written things, for example on Facebook, that deal with my personal life, and in this very blog, I have done the same thing. I think this will really help my paper and will help me find out who i truly am.

~Nikki

My essay 2 options

Wow, what a weekend of laborious work. Now time to catch up on things. As I look at my options for my essay, I feel that the first prompt fits me the most, for I can build on my last essay to engage it, so to speak. As I most likely said in one of my earlier blogs (excuse me for I have a horrible memory,) I am a person who loves to learn, it doesnt matter what it is as long as it appeals to me. This is a great opportunity to learn about something I have never thought of before: myself. To people I may seem goofy and weird, but I want to take this time to find out who I truly am in the digital sense.
~Nikki

Dr. West's article relfection

First off, I think that Dr. West is an amazing woman. How she interacts with her students on this level is something you dont see very many teachers do in this day and age.  She teaches them how to interact with society, address important topics within the world and interact on a much larger scale. The use of blogs teaches a person identity and how to communicate with others on a personal  level, which is exactly the way Dr. West teaches her students.

My own writing process

Now, what to say about myself and my writing? Well for starters, there are many habits I tend to keep up when I am in a creative mood, let alone this essay. For one, I have to listen to music. That is a must, and it cant be quiet music either. The music that I choose is very loud and can be disturbing to some, but I love it (for example, I am listening to "Throw Me Away" by KoRn as I type this.) I tend to write late at night in a busy area, for visual distractions seem to motivate me even more to get going on the task at hand. Now I have another habit that may seem unusual to some, but really helps me with my creative process. When I am thinking about a topic or am listening to a lecture, I will draw random characters on my papers. Its not because I am bored or not interested at whatever the topic is, but it gets my mind going and am more aware of whats going on in the class.

I know I am weird, but oh well.

I'd say, out of all the parts in my writing process, that the music and drawing portion were the ones that helped me the most, for they gave me ideas that I couldnt have ever conjure up with if I didnt have those habits. To each his own, but this, in a very odd way, helps me and I accept it with open arms.

~Nikki

Essay 1 reflection

I have to say, for my first essay in college, I felt pretty pleased with the reseults I recieved. It was a difficult challenege I have to admit, since high school level essays are practicaly child's play when compared to college essays, but once I got into the hang of it and researched a topic that I absolutely love (music ie. KoRn,) it became not easier, but funner as I went along. I hope everyone had nearly the same experience that I did, and wish them the best luck on the next essay that we are going to be working on very soon. Good luck everyone!

~Nikki

They Say, I say thoughts

As I read "They Say/I say," many things seemed to pop out at me, but one in particular caught my attention. In part One, on the first page, it talks about Dr. X's speech and how he backed up his results with facts, thus making his argument more powerful. This really trapped me as to I need to do the same with my argument in my paper. I will follow Dr. X's example and back up my argument with facts such as lyrics from KoRn's songs, quotes from the band members and more. This cleared all the confusion I had with my paper and I'm relieved!


~Nikki

The presentation

Well, other than the presentation being completely nerve wracking, I believe it went smoothly. There are definitely the good aspects of it as well as the not so good ones. One major good aspect is that I remembered all the info and wasnt standing up there, rambling like a idiot like I usually am when it comes to public speaking. After I completed my presentation, I have finally formed up my thesis and am going to incorporate it to my paper for Tuesday's assignment, and hopefully my essay well be better than it was.

~Nikki

The blogging relations

Well, as I look over my paper, I start to recognize some relations to Jill Rettberg's "Blogging" book. I probably dont have it as well put as she does, but I believe my paper most identifies with her passage about how blogging can turn very personal, very fast. My paper's thesis is how rock musicians are seen in a false light, them being seen as these horrible and disruptive people, when we dont even know their true story or what their songs are truly talking about. "Judging a book by its cover" isnt going to work anymore in today's world, and it seems, to me at least, thats one of the many points Rettberg is trying to get across, and I hope my paper can make the same point.

the big writing conference

Well, after having my writing conference earlier today, I'm feeling somewhat better about my research and how the paper is coming along. I have a better understanding on what is being expected, and my thesis is becoming more clear as I think it over. Im probably going to change the second paragraph a bit, showing more evidence and concrete detail. My thesis is going to be how rock bands have false impressions, them seeming to be these horrible and disruptive people when we dont even know the true story. The ending is going to be changed up as well, giving a bit of a plot twist for a little fun. Ok that most likely wasnt funny at all, but oh well. Have to give credit for trying, for trying is all that matters.

Research: The beginning stage

As I do the research for my essay, I have realized that the task is going to be challenging. Of course, all research projects are challenging in their own ways, but this one will be in a different sense. Since most or nearly all the blogs created by the band members of "KoRn" are done on podcasts (they do live blogs with full audio) it will be an interesting experience, since I will have to decide on what message they are conveying through their actions, tone of voice, body language, and other things in addition to what they say. Other than that, the research is going smoothly, the website www.modlife.com working wonders for this project, as it gives everything I need. All I have to do is piece everything together and have it make sense

Jill Rettberg's "Blogging" Reflection

As I finished the book, I couldn't help but feel some type of connection as Rettberg showed examples of how blogging can be a way of "self exploration" as she put it. She gives an excellent example in regards to the blog, named "Chronicles of Dr. Crazy," of how it can be used as "a useful, self-reflective tool, allowing one to see sides of them-self that they never realized the full importance of." The author also goes on to give great advice as when it comes to sharing the personal life of yourself, you need to be aware of the community that it is being sent out to and expect to have some good comments and some bad comments to come back at you. However, in today's world, you will get that everywhere you go.

Overall, the book was very informative and well written, giving insight on the history of blogging, how its advanced and is one of the many factors that have shaped the internet from a global perspective.

My interests

Music and art. Two pretty basic things that, to some people, are entertainments and entertainments only. However, I view these two in a different way. I, personally, am a pencil artist. I sketch and create my own characters as well as the stories that go along with them. The inspiration i get for my characters is my music, which is heavy metal/death metal. Although I have kept these two passions strictly to my personal life, I now want to broaden my knowledge about them through the way of blogging, in hopes of educating myself to become a better, more successful artist. I also, through this method, hope to better my writing skills by learning techniques to execute correct paragraphing and tone of voice through the text.

~Nikki

Test post

This is just a test to make sure this works. Well, anywho, hi! im Nicole but please call me Nikki. i must say, as a writer and a person, i am very adventerous and curious, and am always eager to learn something new.