How i feel about us

How I feel about you, is something I don’t think I can explain.  You’ve been a part of my life since I can remember and I can’t see life without you.  You’re the sun to my shine and beginning to my ending.  Even when I try to walk away from you, something keeps pulling me back.  I’m emotionally attached to you; you’re my homie’ and my best friend.  Who else can I run to when I need love?   When I say “we’re getting married”, you may think I’m joking, but I’m serious.  I appreciate you for all the things you’ve done for me.  I value everything you say, even when it may seem I’m not listening, my ears are always open for you.  You’re my reality check when I think the world revolves around me and you’re the caring voice I need when I feel the word is against me. 

                Who’s Tay with Zay? We’re total opposites, but we go together so well. We’re two halves of a whole and without you, I wouldn’t be complete.  My love for you goes past anything physical, it so much more.  We are mentally and emotionally connected.  You know me best and you’ve been there to grow with me.  Sometimes I feel as if you know things about me that I don’t even know about myself.  You are my lover, my best friend, you are my everything.  The thought of losing what we have terrifies me because I know what we have is what a lot of people wish they had. So cheers to us and the long future we have ahead of us.  We’ve made it far past the infatuation phase, we’ve made it through arguments and all other obstacles that was put in front of us.   We have a lifetime ahead of us; it’s no stopping us now. 

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inner thoughts

As I sit here and think about my last weeks of my freshman year of college, I get sad.  This year has been filled with so many hardships, but I’ve also been rewarded greatly.  I’ve grown to appreciate Illinois State University and be proud to call it my school.  Looking back at the semesters, I wish I would’ve branched out more socially and got to know more people.  Being here really changed me because for the longest time I’ve always been a social butterfly.  But I’m still finding myself as a person, I’m still learning to realize everyone can’t be my friends. 

                My significant other and I aren’t on the best terms, but I’m still glad I have him through everything.  He’s stuck by me for almost 4 years (June 1^st 2008) and even though we argue almost every day, he’s still sticking around.  I can definitely agree with the statement that college changes you.  I feel like I’m a totally different person than I was when I started here in the fall of 2011.  I’m not sure if I changed for good or bad but I just know I’m a different Taylor Katie. 

I’m excited to get home for the summer.  I miss my friends and my family.  For the longest times it’s been me and my mom.  I miss her so much and I don’t even tell her. I have a tough exterior that I try and use, but I really miss the times we had.  She’s the only one that has been by my side since birth and she hasn’t given up on me.  I get emotional when I think about all the sacrifices she made for me; I could never pay her back.  But my plan is to show her that I understand.  Well I’ve reached 300 words so I’m out, PEACE!

-Taylor Katie

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The way I write

Research has always been hard for me.  The sources I use for my paper have to be perfect, they should reinforce my thesis at all times and in many cases they don’t work like that.  I find myself using multiple quotes just to get across one point which can be time consuming.   I research the same way for all classes, I usually go online to Jstor or Google Scholar and I’m usually successful with finding academic writing that fits my topic.   When I write it is more of a free write to a topic. I don’t like to be confined to any specific thesis or to any length.  I just want to write until I feel I get my point across or I have enough ideas that can be integrated into a regular paper.    My lack of structure when I write sets me up for long periods of time where I’m writing and not really getting anything accomplished, I really kind of just taking up space which helps out when I have longer papers to write.  However It’s almost inevitable for my paper to start of like this because this helps me get out all the ideas I want to write about out.  More than likely while I’m writing the paper, I won’t have any correct grammar or even make any since to anyone; but I’m fully aware of what’s going on.  My method of writing is messy but somehow it helps me create some of my best work.  my style of free writing at the beginning of the paper gives me a chance to get all my ideas out and after that all I have to do is add some quotes, fix my grammar and then I’ll be done.   I wouldn’t recommend this strategy for anyone because it’s not really logical and unless you have the ability to type large sums of information out at one time, it probably won’t work for most.  

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Close-Reading

I am no stranger to close reading and how they affect your interpretation of a text.  Back in high school, we were required to annotate and interact with all text that we came into contact with.  But the interesting thing that I learned about close-reading from this week, is that you have to do research on the author which can also give you a lot of information about what the text is going to be about.  For example, in the short story “the yellow wallpaper” once we found out background information on the author, we were able to better understand the text.  We were able to understand what was going on in the personal life of the author and what was going on in the world around that time.  Once we found out all this information we understood the text better and were able to connect better with the text.

            I believe that these exercises have definitely affected the way I read text: It has taught me to investigate more when reading.  I feel, I am better equipped at how to read text and respond properly.  I have been taught to look at syntax, diction and even capital letters.  All these techniques will help me understand readings better. 

Close readings are very beneficial for the reader.  You are thrown into the world of the author which helps you relate to the author better.  You are required to look at various characteristics in the text that you may not have did before.   All these tools make you more knowledgeable on the text and the author.  You’re able to better infer on what’s the underlining meaning of the text.  Being a close-reader is an important skill to have and should be used whenever coming into contact with a new text.  

The only topic I am interested in doing my paper on is the diva herself, Beyoncé Knowles. Beyoncé has matured so much as an artist since her first solo album “Dangerously in Love”.  She has transitioned into the pop diva that is recognizable by the whole world.  Since she is idolized by so many people I thought that it would be a great idea for a paper analyzing why she is such an idolized individual.  However, I realized I am more interested in how Beyoncé has matured as an artist, so I’m going to go with the latter of the two.  A lot of aspects of her as an artist have transformed. I am most interested in Beyoncé Knowles as my topic for a variety of reasons. It begins in my childhood when Beyoncé was my favorite member of her childhood group “Destiny’s Child”. I would learn all of their songs and even some of their dances. I absolutely loved her. As I grew up and she became a solo artist, my love for her continued to blossom. She has gone from just a popular face in a world known group, to a force of her own. I enjoyed nothing more than listening to her music and watching her videos. After a while it became clear to me that she was my favorite artist in the industry. I know this may seem silly to you, but for me Beyoncé is a true idol, she is the vision of a truly successful woman who has stayed true to herself in her climb to the top. As far as resources are concerned I have found information on www.biography.com, www.beyonceonline.com, and www.tmz.com/person/beyonce-knowles. I have yet to find different sources to make my research clean and official, but I will continue the search until I find something that fits my paper and the substance of it. 

Review

Beyoncé is a very talented and passionate artist.   She is unmistakably one of the best performers of her time and has a fan base that is worldwide.  Beyoncé’s most recent album “4” is one of her best albums as a solo artist.  It is an incredible album with music that everyone can enjoy.  She was able to incorporate different styles of music that has reached various demographics that she did not reach before. On her album, she has music that reflects the independence of being a women and even music that expresses love.  There is definitely a visible difference in her maturity as an artist and the message she wants her fans to here on this album.  The album gives us a glance of where Beyoncé is right now in her professional and personal life.  It is an album made for Beyoncé’s love of music and her want to connect with her audience.   

“4” was a very diverse album especially in the style of music Beyoncé used.  This album was able to incorporate so many diverse styles of music because Beyoncé was able to get her inspiration from different cultures from around the world.  The beats to the majority of her songs are unlike any other I have heard, and the instruments used (if they are instruments) are not recognizable by the average person.  Even the background singing on this album is different from what she usually does.  This album is a total 360 degree turn from what is regularly expected of Beyoncé as an artist.  She is a pop-artist and a lot her music is to an upbeat tempo.  Usually on her albums she has 2 or 3 slow songs with the rest being upbeat, but this album, the majority of the songs were slower and you could hear the emotion in her voice as she sings.  I think this album helped Beyoncé’s fans get to know her better as an artist.  She was able to show a more vulnerable side of her in this album.  For this album, she also didn’t do a regular tour.  She did four nights at the Roseland theatre which is a relatively small area for Beyoncé’s fan base.  She wanted a more intimate area so she could connect better with her audience and give them more of her.  

One of the most influential songs on the album would have to be “I Was Here”.  This song was able to capture everything Beyoncé has accomplished in her lifetime.  It details the impact she’s had on the world and everything about her.  While performing this song at her concert at The Roseland theatre, Beyoncé gets emotional.  Her fans respond by also getting emotional.  You can hear the love and desire in her voice as she sings.  Beyoncé album “4” overall is a feel good album that has music for everyone to enjoy.  This album is a reflection of all the accomplishments Beyoncé has made over the years and a preview of what Beyoncé will put out in the future.  Beyoncé still has more things to accomplish as an artist and this album is only the beginning for a new form of music Beyoncé will make way for.  

Spring Break

Spring break for me is not really exciting.  Not to say that any other year for me has been more exciting but this one is going to be extremely boring.   I have no real plans, but to work and to study.  My grades aren’t at an acceptable standard for me, so besides working, I’ll probably be studying.   When I first arrive to the city, my family is having a small get together so I’ll attend that.  I probably won’t want to stay at this gathering for too long because I’ll just have got off a two and half hour train ride.  I’m excited to see my family but due to the exhaustion I’m sure I’ll feel, I will want to sleep!  This weekend will be the only time I will actually do anything because my plan is to work all next week.  For Saturday I’m planning on surprising a close friend of mine with a LATE birthday cake.  I hope she enjoys it, because it’s going to be a twist.  Her mother told me she likes strawberries in her cake, but since I can’t get to the bakery in time enough to order a cake with strawberries, I’m going to buy a cake and strawberries.  Then I’m going to give them to her at the same time.  I hope she enjoys the freshness of the strawberries!  To end my weekend, I’m planning on going to church since I haven’t been in a very long time.   I’m also sure I will see my significant other various times through the weekend.  We have nothing planned but something is bound to come up.  Besides the fun of this weekend I’m excited to work.  I love shopping and in order to shop, I need money.  This is the plans for my spring break so hopefully everything works out.  

ethnography

My taste in music is completely different from most of my friends simply because I’m more interested in R&B styled music.  One of my favorite albums right now is “4” by Beyoncé.  I decided to invite a friend from high school over to listen to the Cd with me.  Her name is Candice Mallet-Torry.   She is really into rap which is totally different from R&B.  I explained to her that I would record her reaction to the music and what are her emotions towards the album.  She understood what I said and we began. 

·         She was initially was lying down in my bed on twitter through her cell phone.

·         1+1 was the first song to play and she began to sing along.  Towards the second verse she gets really into the song and throws her hands up and waves them. 

·         During the special of the song, she gets up and gets on the computer to get on twitter.

·         She then checks weather for spring break.

·         The next song title “I Care” comes on. 

·         She question what song it is and I tell her the song title.

·         She switches topics and begins talking about the weather during spring break.

·         She discusses how the weather is going to be great.

·         She begins talking to my roommate and ask why she isn’t following her on twitter. 

·         They both follow each other on twitter and she begins singing along to the chorus of the song.

·         She then goes to the bed to check her phone.

·         The next song titled “I Miss You” comes on.

·         She again questions the title of the song and shows a look of disgust on her face.

·         She yells at me how she doesn’t like the song, it makes her feel sad.

·         She sits down at the desk again to get back on the computer.

·         She then signs into Skype and looks through her friends that are online.

·         She explains how there’s no one important on Skype so she gets on twitter and begins looking at various followers pictures.  (twitpics)

·         The next song titled “The Best Thing I Never Had” comes on.

·         She continues silently listening to the music and looking at pictures. 

·         The next song titled “I Rather Die Young” comes on.

·         She complains about the lyrics to the song saying “this song is a joke! The only person I’m dying for is my mama.”

·         She goes on explaining how the song is silly and no one is worth taking her life for.

·         She turns to the next song skipping over “I Rather Die Young.”

·         The next song titled “Start Over” comes on.

·         I can tell she is beginning to get agitated by the music and the messages behind the music.  

·         After realizing she actually like the song she begins to hum to the beat of the song.  I was able to see a whole attitude shift from her.  She began to enjoy listening to the song.

·         She then navigates her attention to Facebook and looks down her newsfeed. 

·         The Last song we listened to was “Love on Top.”

·         She immediately begins singing and rocking to the song.

·         She gets up and dances a little more to the song before retiring to sit on the bed. 

·         She then demands that she doesn’t listen to anymore songs.  She says “I can’t take no more.”

·         After “Love On Top” goes off she immediately switches the music to a rap song called “Riot”

My room is a sanctuary of pink, black and white.  Both me and my roommate’s bed sets are those colors and we have various pink accessories like laundry baskets, garbage cans and pillows.  We both are fans of the color pinks so our room reflects that.  The television was on and an episode of “Family Guy”; However, you really couldn’t hear the TV because we keep the volume low.  The room smelt like French fries simply because before we began listening to music we were all eating French fries.  Candice had on pajama shorts and a big white T-shirt.  She had on a red and white hair bonnet to hold her hair down.   Candice is really into social networks and is almost always one.   While listening to music you were able to see this.  My roommate was indirectly including within my experiment because Candice interacted with her.  For the majority of the time my roommate was on her phone on a social network but I observed her randomly nodding her head in enjoyment to the music.  I also was including in the experiment for I changed into more comfortable clothing before the experiment started.  I had on orange capris and a blue T-shirt.  I positioned myself in the far corner of the room so that I can see everything going on in the room.  I ended up getting enjoyment from the music and I sang along to a lot of the songs even the ones that Candice didn’t react well to.  I think my room was the best place to do the experiment since my room is a very welcoming and comfortable place.  I predicted that I would have random company like I do on most nights but this time no one came to visit me.  I would’ve like if some other friends would’ve walked in to see Candice’s reaction to how they felt about the music.  Overall I realized that even though the music was enjoyable for me, it wasn’t so enjoyable for Candice.  

The movie fan

I have been to blockbuster only a few times in my life.  It was what expected from a video store; loads of movies I’ve never seen.  But due to economic reasons I guess, blockbuster is no longer in my area.  For homework I was asked to go to The Movie Fan which is a locally owned video store.   I wasn’t really excited about this simply since I’m a frequent Netflix user.  To me, Netflix is convenient and not that expensive.  Since it was required, I took the adventure of a lifetime to the video store.  I didn’t really know what to expect since it was locally owned and not a big enterprise store.  While looking outside the video store looked old and boring.  My initial thought was this video store would suck and it wouldn’t have any movies I would want. When I first walked in, it had a rustic feel.  I was right by thinking it was old, but it was a welcoming atmosphere.  When I walked in, I was bombarded with films old and new.  I initially didn’t know what movie I wanted to rent so I went with a classic that I know I would like.  I asked the employee if they had Lion King 2 and he replied “no, someone stole our copy.”  This tainted my already bad view of the video rental place because they didn’t have the movie that every video store SHOULD carry.  I didn’t let this minor setback stop me from finding a movie, so I attempted to find a new movie.  I walked through the store for about five minutes until I find the “New Releases” section.  I was so excited because they had Puss In Boot.  After I found this movie I went to the checkout counter and was ready to leave.  The employee was very nice and informal.  He explained the rental process and gave me my movies.   

I chose the new cover for The Lion King Blu-Ray edition.  The first reason I chose this picture is because it is totally different from the original Lion King cover for the DVD or VHS.  The original cover had an orange background and the characters faces looked soft and more inviting.  The cover also depicted the attitudes of most of the characters.  For example, in the first picture Timon was giving of the look of relaxation.  This shows how he lives the model of “Hakuna Motto” meaning no worries.  Pumba is pictured smiling and looking up to TImon which also shows his character because not only was he a care free soul, he was also genially happy all the time and he looked to TImon for guidance.  Another good example is the picture of Scar.  He looks very sneaky and devious which also describes his character in the movie.  This picture did a good job of explaining the movie and the attitudes of the characters. 

Now on the Blu-Ray cover the background is blue and the characters faces look harder for lack of better terms.    There is no extra light shinned on the faces of the characters to give them a glow which is more appealing to the eye.  Another big thing that sticks out is the picture of Mufasa is the silhouette of the cover.   This makes me think that Mufasa has a bigger impact on the movie than he did in earlier years because he’s not pictured at all in the first cover.  For the Blu-Ray cover all the characters are looking towards a common direction.  This also speaks volumes on the story plot because they’re always trying to move forward and leave the past behind.  Although some aspects of the Blu-Ray cover tell the story of the Lion King, Overall I think the old Lion King cover did a better job.  It helped explain the movie and the characters. 

 

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love since 2008

They met in august of 2007.  They lived two houses away from each other so they walked home from school with each other.  She wasn’t interested in him and he thought she was cute but he didn’t want to be with her either.  Walking home, they would have random conversations, but it was just small talk.  Due to a mutual friend, they began to talk to each other on a more serious note.  On June 1^st 2008 they made it official.  It has been 3 years and 8 months since they’ve been together.  Their relationship is far from perfect, but to them it’s worth it.

 She loves him and he loves her and no matter what, they will always be together.  Distance nor time can separate them, they aren’t afraid to fight for each other.   He is s a year older then her but her age doesn’t affect him.

 They were able to stay together through his first year of college, and they’re fighting to stay together through her first year of college.  The odds are against them, but they feel they can make it.  After all this time it’s impossible for them to separate or even think about seeing each other with someone else. 

                They’ve planned their lives together, but more than likely their plan won’t go the way they want it to.   To them it doesn’t matter, as long as they’re able to stay together.     It’s times where they don’t like each other and even say words to each other they wouldn’t say if they were of sound mind.  This doesn’t matter either because they understand that sometimes you do crazy things out of anger. 

                They’ve grown to think of each other as family.  They’re familiar with each other’s families.   One day in the future they’re planning on creating a family together, but no time soon because they still have life goals they have to accomplish. 

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TV Shows and Commercials

The direction that commercials go, deals a lot with who views the TV show and how they will be affected by it.  I recently watched Bad Girls Club which is a reality TV show aimed toward older teens and women in their twenties and thirties.  Even those this is the audience that this show is aimed a lot of other demographics watch this show.  For example, even though Bad Girls club is targeted at women, a lot of teen men watch the show.  Beyond that, the commercials are more catered to women.  For example there were multiple lotion commercials that advertised soft skin.  The actors in the commercials were women at a youthful age.  Another aspect of the commercials was celebrity usage.  For example, the Jenny Craig commercial, featured Mariah Carey in a Belly top in a long skirt; even though, the skirt was long it had a long split on the side that was almost the length of the skirt itself.  Recently Mariah Carey gave birth to twins so for her body to be tones enough to wear a belly top and revealing skirt pulls people in to use the product she used to lose weight.  This is aimed at women who are not confident in their bodies and with the right push, will buy anything to get the Mariah Carey look.

                I watched another TV show called Family Guy which airs on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network).  I would think this show is more aimed towards men.  The commercials also prove that it’s aimed towards men due to the commercial choice.  For example a Gamefly.com commercial came on where only men were shown on the commercial and this fits the stereo type that men are video gamers.  It was also other male dominated commercials like the Guitar Center commercial where it was an all-male group who was feature in the commercial.  I believe, depending on who the show is trying to reach out to, the commercials will reflect the interest of those group of people. 

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Taylor is a walking contradiction in her mind.  Although she doesn’t have a deep love for writing and reading, is a “drag” for lack of better terms, she still believes she is good at both.  It is always room for improvement and even the best have to still practice at their craft, but Taylor feels for her not to read or write frequently, she is good at it.  She has been praised for some of her creative writing abilities and scores high on reading exams.   Taylor is a social butterfly, but recently she has become more timid plus she has little time for social events.  In current weeks, Taylor has become more committed to changing her life around not only socially, but physically and academically.  Due to the changes that college life brings, Taylor has made working out a part of her regular weekly schedule.  It has been a motivator for her and helps her keep fit.   Academically Taylor is still trying to figure out what she wants to do.  As of now she is Biology major, but this may change.  Her original plan was to major in biology and go on a pre-medicine track; However, she has become interested in nursing as a major since it’s less time consuming.  She is not sure if she wants to change her major, but she is considering the possibilities.  This semester for Taylor is sure to be one full of struggles and accomplishments.  Her course load is a bit heavy, but she is ready for whatever may come her way.  Taylor feels that her English 101 class should be interesting and a great learning experience; it will help get her back in the habit of reading and writing.  Taylor is excited about what this semester will bring her and all the mysteries it holds. 

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