FREE WRITE - TIMES NEW ROMAN

A Few Things That Bug Me:

1. When people use Times New Roman for something that isn't a paper, book, or other big bunch of text. So what if Times is the default font, that doesn't mean you have to use it! There are SO many other good fonts out there, why does everyone have to Times New Roman? And who decided that it would be the universal default? It's about time we put it away for a while and gave other serifed fonts a turn. Like Garamond for example, or Goudy Old Style. Things are much more pleasant to read when the font face is something more visually appealing, refreshing, and a change from the cold, hard standard. BUT, I'm not referring to curly, messy, or fancy fonts. I'm talking about clean serifed fonts, (fonts with the "monkey tails" or lines on the letters.) And it does not belong on big signs, titles or flyers. Again, it's boring. The point is to stand out and be something people will want to look at. No one is going to want to read or look at something that was typed in the same font that they type their papers in. Even THEN a change is refreshing. Oh, and the same goes for Arial.

2. Warm milk.. *shudder*. Milk should always be fresh-out-of-the-fridge cold.

3. When you get the milk-to-cereal ratio wrong and end up with either dry, hard bites of un-moistened cereal, or spoonfulls of plain milk with a few Cheerios floating around. I'm pretty sure Raisin Bran is the hardest to get right.

A Few Things That Can Make My Day:

1. Putting on clothes right out of the dryer. (When I was little we used to dump the freshly finished load onto our couch to fold and sort and I'd just burrow into the pile and lie there until they were cold.)

2. Heavy, cold-press watercolor paper. Mmm...

3. When you realize someone fell asleep while taking notes because of the steady stream of "s" on their screen.

Free Write

Okay, so my random thought of the day: It's amazing to think that the little bit of information we pass on to others every day (by teaching them things) has an impact on who they become. For example, I wonder if high school teachers ever tell people, "see that guy? I taught him algebra. If he hadn't learned algebra he never would have gotten his diploma and gone on to college and learned what he needed to know to get where he is today." It's especially amazing when the thing you teach becomes part of the amazing thing they may accomplish. Every famous or significant person had several people in their lives that taught them the basics, and layed the foundation. Yes, the famous/significant person had the original thoughts or did the orinial things that made them famous/significant, but had someone not taught them the basics, they couldn't have moved beyond... if that makes sense. It's hard to put to words how amazing/impressive that thought is. Kind of like how one missionary baptizes one person, that then goes on to become a missionary and baptize two people, etc. The domino effect of influence. Crazy.

Free Write.

It's interesting the way that accessing information has changed over the past few decades. With the creation and growth of the Internet, almost any bit of information can be accessed by anyone, anywhere. Yes, there is still a lot that is only in books. In fact, not very many books are available to freely view on the Internet today.
With that knowledge in mind, it's a real bummer when you search Google for something, only to find it isn't there, or the results are not relevant at all. This means in the entire, vast database of knowledge, no one knows about what you're looking for. It almost doesn't exist.
I’ve come to realize I often have this mentality when searching. It’s very close to true that if it’s not on the Internet, it’s not going to be anywhere else. But along with the wealth of knowledge, comes a wealth of garbage. Yes, it’s wonderful that you can find facts and answers in seconds, but those seconds will often turn into minutes and even hours after sorting through all the random and irrelevant sites for what you really want.
So there’s my “Hmm” thought of the day. If you’re looking for something, and it’s not online, good luck finding it all. (Especially when it comes to looking for items and articles of clothing.)

Rhetorical Analysis: The Gym

To do this assignment I went to the Gold's Gym near BYU campus. I was nervous because I knew that if I didn't have some kind of backup to my ten minute claim,they'd end up talking me into finding more time. So I set an alarm on my cell phone and went in.

Pathos: The guy with whom I was paired began by appealing to my pathos. He asked me about where I was from, and after informing him that I was from Provo, he mad a connection from me to him by telling me about his roommate who was also from Provo and had gone to Provo High. He was obviously trying to create some kind of connection between us so that I would feel more comfortable.

Ethos: Next he told me how great the gym was, that it was the first one in Utah, and that all the trainers were some of the best. He also let me know that he was the manager, thus building himself and his fellow trainers up as worthy and knowledgeable purchasers of my money.

Logos: Then came logos. Going along with the Ethos, he gave me some of the facts. The Gold's Gyms of Utah were some of the best and largest nation wide. It seemed like an ovbious thing to join because of all the nice benefits and convenient locations of the gyms.

Luckily I made it out alive and with two minutes to spare. It was an interesting experience to see the various methods of persuasion they used. The best part to me, though, was identifying his use of the threat/reward fallacy. He said something along the lines of "It hasn't been a good week, I'm going to get yelled at on Monday, but if you join, I can at least have something to show for it...." Right.

My first post... I think I'll begin with a little bit about myself.

I was born in SLC, but have grown up in Provo all my life. My mom is from Menlo Park, California, and my dad is from San Marcos, Guatemala. That's where I get my golden brown. They met on their missions in Ecuador, came here to BYU, were married and there's that.
I was second born after my older sister, Olivia. She loves avocados. She's 21 and is presently serving in the Dominican Republic. She is the responsible one. And the Graphic Design major.
After her of course, was me. I'm the pre-mission Animation major.
Then my brother, Calvin, who is 17, a senior at Provo High and a whiz with words. In fact, he's probably going to end up pointing out all my grammatical and punctual flaws. But I don't mind. He's the prospecive linguistics major.
Then came Josie, the classic middle child. She's 15, a Freshman, and an amazing cellist.
Carmen is the day-dreamer. Constantly having to be refocused, worrying about minor things, and an amazing artist. Classic ADD, and yet she pulled of a 4.0 her first term of 7th grade. We still can't believe it.
Number six was Maya. Almost the complete opposite of Carmen. She doesn't miss a beat; she's responsible and smart but a drama queen. It's amazing how down-to-earth she can be one minute, and then how overly dramatic the next. And yet, if you don't know where something is in the house, she can tell you where it is.
To top it off is almost six-year-old Ashton. Amazingly smart, but impulsive. A fantastic reader, and yet almost dyslexic. It's first grade, and he still can't consistently keep most letters facing the right way. Which also doesn't make sense because he's practically a child prodigy artistically. He was so excited today to show his Crayola Color Change Markers for show-and-tell.

And that's pretty much how it goes. Quite the combination to say the least...