My Final Thoughts on Blogging

I'm not a huge fan of blogging.

I am really bad with keeping up with anything that has to do with posting things online. Several classes throughout my college career have required that I post things online, and I'm pretty sure I either forgot to do them, or did them late more often than not.

I always have trouble coming up with topics to write about. The current diversions columnist from the DI suggested that I look into taking over next year, but I don't think I would be interested.

Although blogging is not my favorite thing to do in the world, it was interesting reading everyone else's blogs and seeing the approach everyone took.

I think I would like it better if I actually started a blog with a focus. Maybe someday.

Useless Trivia

I watch a lot of shows that have to do with useless trivia. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," "Trivial Pursuit," and "Cash Cab" are my favorites. I like to think I would do pretty well if I went on any of these shows. Sometimes I find myself shouting out the answer at the TV, then wondering how in the world I knew the answer. I guess some information that seems to go in one ear and out the other actually does stick.

I prefer these kind of game shows over game shows like "Deal or No Deal". They make it way too dramatic. The game could be over a lot faster if they just opened the case immediately after the contestant chose it and just moved on. However, then they might not have a need for the pretty ladies in pretty dresses. I hope those girls get to keep the dresses.

"Family Feud" is another favorite of mine. I love when someone gives a really stupid answer. There's always just a hint of a pause before the family members clap and say "Good answer!" even though they know it was awful. If I went on the show with my family or friends, we would probably just look at each other and say "What were you thinking?!?!?"

My all time favorite game show does not exist anymore, except for reruns on the GAS channel. It's "Legends of the Hidden Temple". Does anyone remember this show? It was fabulous.

I think the point of this post is I want to go on a game show at some point in my life.

Erica goes on a ghost hunt

As I mentioned in my last post, I went along on a paranormal investigation late Sunday night into Monday morning.

I went in skeptical as a ghost hunter, but open-minded as a journalist. Even though I do not necessarily believe in spirits and paranormal activity, I knew the people I was with did, and I was there to report their experiences, not mine.

Hopefully, it came across in my story that I tried to be as objective as possible in regards to their beliefs in the supernatural.

But this is a blog, and a blog seems like a great place for opinions, so here are mine.

The investigation took place in a small town about 35 minutes away in an uninhabited house. It smelled old and musty, and I found the clutter in the home to be more daunting than the possible presence of spirits.

The only time I got a little spooked was when the leader would ask any spirits present to knock on a wall or touch one of us. All I could think was if that happened, I would have been running for the hills.

Only there were no hills. And we were out in the middle of nowhere, so there was really nowhere to run.

It is also a possiblity that I was too tired to be scared. I usually go to sleep around midnight on "school nights," but the investigation went until 2:45 a.m., and I did not crawl into my bed until 3:45 a.m. Ugh.

The most exciting thing that happened that night, at least in my opinion, was when the cops showed up. Note to anyone trying to rob a home in the middle of the night: Just tell the cops you're on a paranormal investigation. Apparently they don't ask questions.

Anyone ever had any paranormal experiences?

Entering the world of the unknown

One of the things I love most about journalism is that it allows me to explore so many different subjects and experience many different things.

Tonight, I will yet again get to experience something I may not have had the opportunity to do otherwise.

I will be going on a paranormal investigation. You know, ghost hunting.

I have to say I am quite skeptical of the whole thing, and I cannot say that I have ever had a paranormal experience. While there is a first time for everything, I really hope tonight will not be that time for me.

I am very easily spooked. I can't handle even the cheesiest of scary movies. When I went to see The Amityville Horror, I lasted about 20 minutes in the theatre before I left and got my money back, citing "being too scared" as my reason for leaving.

As such a scaredy-cat, I'm not quite sure why I chose to take this story. Nonetheless, I think it will be an interesting experience.

Also, I think it will pose a challenge. Since I have always been so skeptical of ghosts and paranormal activity, I have to approach this with a very open mind. So, I'm going into this with no expectations, and I will just have to see what happens.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Where did the time go?

I have a horrible case of senioritis. The main problem with that is I'm only a junior.

I realized just last week that there were only two and a half weeks of class left. At first, I was ecstatic, but that euphoria quickly turned to dread. In these two and a half weeks I have two research papers, four exams, and two projects, not to mention Ebertfest coverage for the DI and a benefit show. Oh, and a paranormal investigation to go on, but that will be another blog post.

To add on top of all of that, the weather is supposed to be very nice this weekend, and laying out on the Quad sounds much more appealing than writing a paper.

I take comfort in the fact that I am not alone. We are all in the same boat at the end of the year when professors pile everything on at the last minute. Sometimes I miss junior high when the teachers would coordinate homework schedules.

Everything I've got going on now made me very grateful that the 420 research paper was due mid-April.

Good luck to everyone who is as busy as I am these last few weeks!

I'm on a bus, using the internet, listening to my ipod, and texting

When I got on the bus for my three and a half hour ride, I was prepared for boredom. I had my ipod, but I knew it wasn't charged up enough to make it the whole trip. I didn't want to text too much because I needed my phone to be alive so I could find my family at the airport. The internet was just out of the question.

Then I saw a magical sign. Free Wi-Fi.

It really amazes me how much time our generation spends on the internet or hooked up to some form of technology. I can't even begin to imagine what sorts of crazy gadgets our children and grandchildren will have that will totally baffle us in the future.

Have you ever found yourself logging into Facebook, then logging right back off because you're not quite sure why you logged on in the first place? I do that all the time. I'm beginning to view it as a nasty habit.

I have yet to give in to signing up for Twitter, but I'm sure it is inevitable. What is so great about Twitter, anyway? It's just like a Facebook status, without all the other useless Facebook applications to go along with it. If anyone uses their Twitter for a useful purpose, please let me know. Maybe you will convert me.

Being consumed by technology is not necessarily a bad thing. It's the new face of communication. At the same time, however, I would never want communication through technology to replace personal communication. Then we would all end up like the people on the space station in Wall-E, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, you should go watch the movie.

Now, if only the internet connection would stop timing out evertime we went under a bridge.

Why can't there be more tulips in the news?

When we were choosing photos and writing cutlines for them today, the tulip picture pretty much made my day. It was so bright and beautiful. It's amazing how one small thing can change your entire mood. Then I thought, if this picture cheered me up, it might do the same for other people, too.

Just imagine if everything on the front page was good news. Then maybe everyone would be a little more optimistic, and could start their day off with a little more spring in their step.

I know, I know; it's rarely news when things go right, but reading story after story of bad news can get depressing after a while. So many people I know are cynical and distrustful because of all the bad things portrayed within the news.

It's unrealistic to have everything on the front page be good news, but it couldn't hurt to toss in a few stories that might help restore people's faith in humanity.

Even though bad news is what some people consider "spinach" journalism, because it is information the public needs to know, is it too much to ask for a little dessert?

Happy Birthday, Barbie!

Dear Barbie,

Happy 50th Birthday!

Not many women can age as well as you do. I thought for sure that your unrealistic body proportions would have resulted in severe back problems by now, but you seem to be in excellent health.

It's good to know that you're still going strong after your break-up with Ken. What a sad day that was for the world. But five years have passed now, and you've moved on with your life. Good for you.

People say that you're not a good role model: that you're too unrealistic, and you contribute to young girls' discontent with their bodies, while conforming to stereotyped and objectified views of women.

I disagree. You were one of my favorite companions when I was younger, and I turned out just fine. Well, that might be open for interpretation, but at the very least I can say that I'm not obssessed with the fact that I do not have measurements of 39-21-33. However, I am still holding out for your hot pink convertible like the battery-operated one I drove around in when I was four.

In fact, I am willing to say you were a positive role model in my life. You taught me that I can accomplish whatever I want to in life, and that I can be smart and beautiful. And that one can never have too many shoes.

Here's to another 50 years!

Love,

Erica <3

P.S. I was you for Halloween. I hope I did you justice.

Out of the first set of photos, I would print either 1a. or 2a. I feel that the other two photos are too disturbing to print. It is horrifying enough that R. Budd Dwyer had called the press conference with the intention of committing suicide in front of many people, without publishing the photos of him actually doing it. I think the first two photos get the point across without being too disturbing.

I had a more difficult time coming to a decision with the second set of photos. My first inclination was to print the photo of the boy grieving for his dog, but then I imagined that boy seeing his picture in the paper the next day, and I don't think I could live with myself if I caused him more pain.

Printing the photo of the family grieving for their son who drowned would be completely insensitive. If the boy in the bodybag was cropped out, and I had permission from the family, I might print the photo. But probably not.

The remaing three photos are too distubring to print. The last photo is absolutely disgusting, and there is no question in my mind that I would not print that photo. The woman has obviously been through enough humiliation as it is, without hundreds, maybe even millions, of other people seeing what happened to her.

Note to self: Don't discuss pronouns with drunk people

This past weekend, I was at a friend's apartment engaging in a game called "Circle of Death". This game is played with a deck of cards and a beverage of choice. The cards are fanned out face-down around the "community" beverage (I never said this was a sanitary game) and each player takes his turn choosing a card. Each card signifies something to do. For example, 10 is "Categories". So, the person who drew that card would come up with a category, such as clothing designers, and the person to his or her left would have to name something in this category, and play would continue around the circle until someone could not come up with anything in that category. The person who could not come up with anything would have to take a swig of his or her beverage of choice.

One of my favorite cards is the king. When a king is drawn, the person who drew that card gets to make up a rule that everyone else has to follow. These can get pretty creative, and adds some fun to the game.

In this particular game that I was playing, the person who drew a king made a rule that no one could use pronouns. There was general acknowledgement around the circle that this was the new rule, and anyone who broke the rule would have to drink.

Play was about to continue when someone asked, "Wait, what's a pronoun?" Someone else replied, "You know, things like 'he,' 'she' and 'it'."

But apparently everyone thought this was an exhaustive list because the next person to go said "OK, my turn!"

I told that person to drink, and everyone around the circle stared at me like I was crazy. I politely pointed out that he had used the word "my", which is a pronoun. After some protest on their part, I convinced everyone that "my" was indeed a pronoun.

Once we had that settled, someone wanted to resume play, so he said, "OK, your turn." Again, I pointed out that this person needed to drink, because "your" is also a pronoun.

They weren't having it this time. They said it wasn't fair, because there were too many pronouns, and they couldn't possibly know them all. At this point, I would have whipped out my "When Words Collide" book and flipped to page 32, but I didn't have it with me, and I probably would have been ridiculed for it if I did.

Despite my protests, the rule was amended to include only "he," "she" and "it," and all future rules involving grammar were banned from the game.

Clean up this mess!

I hate clutter. Right now, my bedroom is in complete disarray, and I am forcing myself to finish this post before I begin to clean up the mess. Usually, I have to have every inch of my room spotless before I begin any homework. I used to think cleaning was just another way to procrastinate, but now I realize that it is really difficult for me to get anything done when I’m surrounded by clutter. I am actually feeling a great deal of anxiety about this.

I’m not like this just with physical messes. I can’t stand clutter in my e-mail inbox either. I like to keep no more than 20 messages in my inbox at one time, so I can view all the messages on one page, and keep only the ones that are absolutely necessary.

Another aspect of my clutter phobia is language. When I look at something that has too many errors, I get overwhelmed, and I have trouble reading. This happens every time I proofread my boyfriend’s papers. He spells even the easiest of words wrong: “mayby” instead of maybe and “sais” instead of says. It’s embarrassing, really. I get stuck for a few minutes because the abundance of errors makes me lose my focus, but eventually, I get through it.

I know that in editing I will come across many errors, so I need to learn how to keep my focus when I am bombarded with them.

Thank you, Clinton Kelly!

I have always been a Clinton Kelly fan. "What Not to Wear" is one of my favorite shows to watch when I don't have anything in particular to do. I admire the way he can tactfully tell a woman that she needs a head-to-toe makeover because her current style is basically crap. I also admire how well-dressed he is, but I suppose that's part of the job.

Recently, however, I have gained even more respect for Clinton Kelly. He just wrote a book called "Freakin' Fabulous: How to Dress, Speak, Behave, Eat, Drink, Entertain, Decorate, and Generally Be Better Than Everyone Else," which my mother so generously bought me for Christmas. Besides being hilariously entertaining, the section on how to speak is actually educational; it's all about grammar!

Kelly's apparent annoyance with grammatical errors thrilled me, because two of my biggest pet peeves involve grammar.

The first is when people say "could of." It's could HAVE! The second is when people say they will "try and" do something. You don't "try and" do something; you try TO do something.

What do you know? Clinton Kelly addressed those exact problems. After years of restraining myself from ranting at people who say these things because I thought I was the only one who cared, Kelly finally made me realize I was not alone. The sense of connection I felt at that moment has led me to refer to him in everyday conversation simply as "Clinton," because I am quite sure that if we were ever to meet in person, we would be on a first-name basis.

One of the first lessons we went over in JOUR420 was the difference between "lay" and "lie." Thanks to Clinton Kelly, I already had a head start. How "Freakin' Fabulous" is that?