Cat Lady

I don’t have anything to say today, so this post will be bit of a ramble so I just get my post in for the day.

Still thinking of what to say…

Well, I wish I had a cat still. I really miss Cato. I look like a crazy person now any time that I see a cat wander across my path when I am walking outside. An observer would see me lock my gaze on the cat, increase my speed to try and reach the cat before it runs away, and if I am close enough, I call out for the cat to let me pet it. But nearly every time the cat runs away when I am at about a ten foot distance away. That is how my life is going currently…

Well…there is a cat at the Humane Society that I really want to adopt. Her name is Cholula and she is a VERY sweet and snuggly momma cat––just like how Cato was. However, I can’t adopt any cats right now because I don’t have a place of my own (meaning a house and not a student apartment) and my mom doesn’t want to have any more pets. So I probably won’t be able to have a pet cat for another ten years. Isn’t that a weird thought: I want to be a cat lady already but I can’t even have a cat…sheesh.

Finals

This round of finals will be interesting because all of my finals are scheduled. I have mixed feelings about having them all scheduled. I like it because then I don’t have to set up a time to independently come, but instead just show up and take it. It is also easier to plan anything I am doing outside of school around the scheduled finals. It also helps to push me to take the tests. It gives me a goal to work towards. However, it can be hard to have scheduled finals because some of them are on the same day only a few minutes apart…ugh. And if I don't study in time, there is no planning a new time to take the test. So I need to be on top of things––something I need to be better at.

I cannot put into words how excited I am for this semester to end. I need a flipping break from school already, and the end cannot come soon enough. However, with the end comes all of the big final projects, papers, and tests. So I want school to be over, but at the same time I don’t. Here’s to hoping I survive this last stretch of school and finals.

Taste in Music

My guilty pleasure is listening to music from the 70’s or 80’s. NO ONE at home likes the old classics, that is, except for Mom on occasion. She was in her teens in the 70’s and so it was the music they would play at school dances and such. She also told me that a lot of her friends would go disco-dancing but she never really enjoyed those types of things…or so she wants me to believe. On multiple occasions when I have played Bee Gees on the stereo, I have seen her groove. The music really is contagious, and I can’t blame her for dancing. I can get pretty into the dancing at times, too. Crazy, I know, but it happens.

I also enjoy listening to music from around the 50’s. This decade of music is my “feel-good” music. Again, NO ONE (except for Mom) likes this type of music. I don’t know…I have an odd mish-mash taste in music. I’m thinking it’s because when I got my first iPod in first grade my dad put all of his music on my iPod. So, I listed to songs from James Taylor, Billy Joel, The Beach Boys, Chicago, MoTab, Mozart, The Bourne Identity and let’s not forget the random TV show theme songs from MASH, 77 Sunset Strip, and Happy Day’s. I was an easy kid to please. I mean I was in first grade: little kids are always easy to please.

But looking back on my exposure to music, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

CTR Ring

Usually I am not one to wear rings or much jewelry. I think that most earrings and necklaces just get in the way and never look that great on me. So, I have basically just stuck to wearing my watch and occasionally some simple stud earrings. However, a few days ago I gave in an ordered a ring. It’s not any ring, mind you, it’s a rose-gold CTR ring that I have been keeping my eye on for little bit. Today it came in the mail and I couldn't be more pleased. It fits perfectly, is simple, goes with my watch, and is not as annoying on my finger as I thought it would be. It will take a little while to get used to seeing it on my finger, but for the most part, I have been liking it.

This is actually my first legitimate CTR ring. When I was in primary, I cycled through some cheap 10 cent rings, but nothing really worked. Then, I decided to get a necklace with a little CTR ring on the chain and I actually wore it for a few years. I remember that everyone kept asking me if it was my baby ring since it was so small. I didn’t even know that was a thing…?

Regardless, I am quite happy with my CTR ring. Here’s to hoping it will last for a long time.

Possible Topic

Okay, so I think I have a semi better idea of where I want to go with my paper. I am thinking that I will argue that even though we live in a community of knowledge where we depend upon each other’s expertise in a field to learn, piggybacking ideas is detrimental to your overall learning. Specifically looking at the university forum. I am thinking that I will discuss how we learn, what the most effective ways to learn are, and why piggybacking ideas does us no favor. As I specifically look on college campuses, I can relate my argument back to how when we are going to college, we are supposed to be learning things for our own. We are about to enter the real world with a career and need to be able to handle things on our own. Many people give in and go with the flow on things, but students at a university should avoid doing that at all costs. If we do go with the flow on hot-button topics, it shows how ignorant and uneducated we can be. We give in and go with the flow on things because we think we understand all of the facts of the matter but we ultimately don’t. I think that as we come to acknowledge our ignorance and take a step back to evaluate the sources on our own, we can become better educated and informed individuals––the thing we are trying to accomplish in becoming as we go to college.

Burnt Out

For some reason, trying to write my research paper has me completely stumped. I don’t know what to do because I am very intrigued and interested in my topic, I am just having a hard time trying to pinpoint what I am going to argue. Then along with that, I need to find sources that will support my argument. I don’t really know why it has been so hard. My sister tells me it is because I am so burned out from pushing myself so much and stressing over too many things to count so it makes me hard to want to focus on school anymore. I do feel quite burned out, I just don’t know what to do to fix it. I mean, right now is not the time to feel burnt out. The end of the semester is when all of the final papers, projects, and exams are due and need to be taken. I personally don’t think that is the most effective or efficient way to do things. I think the learning should be a continuous process and shouldn’t have to be tested at the very end as a huge, weighted thing. I don’t know, it just makes things harder for me. I guess it is just the idea of putting so much on the last test, or the last project that kills me. Especially when there are so many different classes demanding your best work at the end but all at the same time. I don’t know. Maybe it is a lesson in time management or something, but I don’t think it is a smart thing to do.

Stumped

Seriously, right now I can write anything but my research paper. I don’t get what is wrong. I am super exited about my topic and all, but I just can’t discipline myself to write it out. I think it is because I haven’t fully figured out what I am arguing, so that is pretty important. I just need to think through what I want to argue. After reading over the article that got me originally interested on the subject of communities of knowledge, knowledge sharing, and how we all depend upon each other to learn things and spread and create knowledge, I have more ideas of what to write about. But it keeps leading back to the problem that I don’t know what to specifically argue. Gah. I think that talking about the knowledge sharing on campuses would be interesting, but I don’t know what I would argue there. Maybe how to best relay knowledge? Or if the use of technology is helpful or not? Or maybe I could talk about herd mentalities and when we begin to piggyback on other people’s ideas. But what is there to argue in that? Just when it would begin? Why it would begin? Why it is bad? 

I just need to figure this out soon because I need to send a draft to my peers. Oh gosh…