Entry #11 We have reached the end

Now at the end of a semester, which seemed to last an eternity, I am proud to say I am an English 102 hybrid course survivor!

The blog project was one of the most intimidating assignments that was addressed in the first week of school. I was worried because not only is this a large portion of the course grade but it is completely PUBLIC! I am shy for the most part and I do not go and put myself out into the world for myself to be judged and even more than that, I have never shared my writing with so many people. This entire project has pushed my writing and personal boundaries to a new level. Starting out as the assignment I feared the most, it was the project I enjoyed the most and was able to project my own voice through. The blog actually felt like a journal or diary where I could express my own opinions, ideas, and emotions.

I felt this is a beneficial outlet for myself to get my ideas out in black and white instead of keeping them in my mind. I definitely would recommend blogging to other people and I actually think this may be something I will continue to practice. The only challenge I had during the blogs were finding interesting topics to write about. I do not like to write about topics which do not personally interest me because if I am not interested then neither are my readers. I did find topics which I loved writing about but it took some serious thinking and brainstorming. As a student, English 102 was the first course which challenged me intellectually, challenged my ability to manage time, and my ability to dedicate myself to school. Being 20 years old, a soon to be mother and wife, working part time, and going to school fulltime, I felt my dedication has been to school but I learned this semester that my priorities have wavered away from my education.

I am dedicated to being the best person I possibly can be in order to provide for my family and be a productive member of society and although the intentions of the course was not a life lesson, it definitely gave me a reality check in the long run. I am proud to say I made it!

Entry #10 Amsterdam's Red Light District

Amsterdam's Red Light District

I recently talked to a friend who is visiting Europe and is currently in Amsterdam and shared an experience which I have heard of before as "the red light district". Now, this is a bit more riske than previous blogs. The red light district is a series of street which have buildings with windows which have red lights in them. These red lights shine down on women who sell themselves for sex in order to earn money. In contrast to the United States, prostitution is completely legal in Amsterdam and is actually considered a viable form of income. 

As men walk down these streets, the women knock on the windows to grab mens' attention, which is when these women begin their sales pitch of which sexual activities they are willing to perform. If the men like the pitch, the women bring the men in the building where the acts are performed. Also, in the district, there are different sections lit up with different colored light which are coded for different types of women. Some of these types of women include latin women, african women, heavy-set women, etc. The red light district aims to please men in all types of ways and has become quite the tourist attraction. The red light district is actually such an attraction that it is even featured on the Amsterdam information page along with sex clubs, escorts, and prostitution. The comparison of the United States and Amsterdam are completely black vs. white. Although the red light district is one of the most famous attractions in Amsterdam, there are more sights to see on people's sex travels such as rooms where you can pay a small price to watch people have sex and other clubs where you can participate. 

And this whole time I was under the assumption Amsterdam only had marijuana to offer..

Entry #9 Media

My relationship with Media

As an avid user of social media, I am already well aware of the presence of things such as fake news, gender biases, violence, etc. During the videos shown in class (Tough Guise 2 and Killing Us Softly 4), it became more and more prevelent to me that gender biases against women is worse than what I originally though. Of course, women were the last people to get the right to vote so it really should not be a shock to us how degrading media is towards women. Women are just items for men to paw at and for media to oversexualize.

This oversexualization has even effected how people view breastfeeding. Seeming the female breast is not being used in a sexual mannor, majority of the male population has an issue with public breastfeeding. This has been a major issue I have seen on social media lately. The media has programmed us to prefer this:

over what science has actually intended the female breast to be used for other than sex..

As a soon-to-be mother, this new realisation of how durogatory the media views females has made me worried about the struggles I will face as well as my daughter. Even Donald Trump, the newest president of the United States, has made his own feeling toward the female race ever so obvious on his Twitter account and in a number of his interviews. After this new revelation, logging into my own social media accounts has become almost a nauseating experience, which was very different from before the media discussions in class.

Entry #8 Why is recycling important?

Why is recycling so important?

Sure, the necessity for recycling seems to be obvious to many but practiced by few. According to this diagram from Planet Aid, 

The United States is alone responsible for 25 percent of the worlds waste production and yet we are only responsible for recycling 34 percent of this large amount of waste. The Unite States may be number one in a long list of things, recycling and environmental awareness is not one of them. Our environmental foot print is substantial. Unfortunately, due to the human races neglegence and lack of prioritizing the care for mother earth, this is what she feels like at the moment...

There are plenty of things we as a nation and a race as a whole can do to slow the progression of climate change and recycling is one of the easiest ways. By recycling, we reduce the pollution of our land fills, oceans, and even preserve national monuments such as the Grand Canyon. Recycled plastics are our number one pollutants because they never break down and return to their original forms. These plastics, in turn, can be used to make clothing, furniture, and recycled back into the handy dandy water bottles and tubber ware all of us have grown to love. By turning our waste into useful items, we can reduce the landfills that have turned into mountains and the trash that has now become islands in the middle of the ocean (which at this rate, will soon become our eighth continent). In case my description has yet to place vivid images in your mind of our distructive bahavior, here is a short video to help.

In a previous blog, I mentioned the concept of no waste grocery shopping, which is another great way to contribute to taking care of mother earth, but recycling is an easy way to begin this change from the convenience of your own home.

Are you willing to contribute to this change?

Entry #7 Let's get hashtagging!

#HASHTAG

Let's take a moment to talk about the phenomenon that is hashtagging.  Now, having been a high school adolesent when this new social media trend came into play. At first, I was curious about the trend, but soon after it became overused. Instead of people creating coherent and complete sentences, the caption would be only hashtags discribing whatever was in the post. The video from the article How #Hashtags Changed The Way We Talk includes the following video:

Which is a prime example of how obnoxious and tedious it has been to read the captions I previously described. Although, I do believe, when used in the correct way, hashtags can have a level of efficiency and it can be an effective way of catching peoples attention. For example, the #blacklivesmatter caused a massive social media uprise and brought the movement a large amount of attention which is the first way to move towards change. The hashtags allow people to see all the information from posts other people have made with the same hashtag which is how much of my generation follows along with large news stories. This way of following stories is efficient because hashtags spread faster than wildfire, but this does leave a lot of room for fake news to spread just as fast.

Pro-tip: take what you see on social media with a grain of salt, even if it is attached to a trending hashtag. #becareful #hashtagresponsibly 

Entry #6 Ashton Kutcher Speech

So, if you have read my previous blogs, you will have already noticed I have a strong admiration for the actor Ashton Kutcher. Not only do I admire him because he is am amazing actor, but also because he is a humble man who stands up for his own ethics and morals, which is very rare for many celebrities. As an example, please watch the included video (excuse the lenth but it is definately worth the time):

One point that really surprised me was when he talked about all of the flack he got when people found out the type of organization he works with because he is "just an actor". Ashton definately hit the emotional appeal on the head because he got emotional explaning the company that he works withis actually a company tat deals with human sex trafficing of children which will upset any normal human being, but it rewally hit home for those with children (Ashton included) because then your child is put in place of that child in your head. A very sad and self-torturing image to live with.

I admire Ashton Kutcher for fighting for something he believes in and "bestowing the right to pursue happiness" on to others because many people these days are too self obsorbed to focus purely on the needs and the lives of those who can not help themselves. Ashton Kutcher is an understated hero in today's society.

Entry #5 Ducey

While reading "Ducey: Why Arizona needs more college grads", Governor Doug Ducey attemps to appeal to the readers emotions by repeating "as a husband and father" to remind the readers that he is not just a polititions. 

An attempt to change the readers view of him from:

to something more along the lines of:

which many polititians try to do. I think he did a good job and sounded genuine but personally I feel he failed to appeal to the average, every day person who struggles to come up with the money to go to community college, let alone a nice university. Ducey offered plenty of pretty statistics, but failed to expand on how he expects these goals to be attainable and ways to assist those of the middle and lower class attain a higher eduction. Personally, this is why I almost did not attend college myself. Luckily, the resourses were attained, but that is something not all are able to say.
My question is, how does Governor Ducey expect to fix this problem other than distracting us with big numbers and pretty colors?

Entry #4 The Key to Success

A while ago, a video which had a famous actor in it named Ashton Kutcher came accross my news feed so I played it. This video not only touched my heart and resignated close to home for me as it did for many others who are in their late teens and twenties. Before we discuss the video, here it is for you to watch:

Ashton Kutcher discusses 3 key points to being successful.

1. Opportunity.
While discussing opportunity, he appeals strongly to logic because it is only logical to learn from each job (as much as you may hate it at the time) as a learning experience and a way to succeed in the next job that'll take you close to your desired end result. This coming from a huge star that many people know, it resignates in our minds a little better because even the most successful people had to start somewhere!

2. Being Sexy.
Hearing "being sexy" automatically makes the Kardashians come to mind because that was the only way they became successful, but Ashton Kutcher has a different take on what "being sexy" looks like... Instead of taking this time to over sexualize the human body (as most people do now), Ashton took this time to appeal to the ethics our parents tried to raise us with by infasizing that nothing is more sexy than being smart! As a woman who society love to over sexualize, THIS got my attention. Finally someone admits that looks shall fade, but being smart, genuine, and thoughtful will last an eternity.

3.Build a life.
Saving the best for last, do not let someone draw boarders aroung you and limit your ability to change the world. This appealed to my emotions, having been in this box he speaks of time and time again. Instead of just fitting in and living the life your are told to, build the life you have always dreamed of. No one can stop you!

Now, this video was presented to me at the perfect time in my life. Hopefully, I brought it to you just in time.

Entry #3 Slant Reporting

Biased reporting seems to be something for which a large portion of the United States have become aware of when watching news reports (especially during political elections) along with reading information in the news papers and on social media. Now, many are falling victims of slant reporting which is a much smoother way of puttings your own opinion into whatever it is you may be discussing, without looking completely baised. When I think of biased reports and slanted reports in todays society, someone named Tomi Lahren comes to mind. This woman is known for her online news reports for which she expresseds her exreme right wing political views and her conservitive opinions of society.

In the Youtube video I would like to discuss, Trevor Noah is interviewing Tomi Lahren to discuss some of her reports in which he is basically critisizing for being slanted and many times completely biased. Please watch the following and then I shall discuss my own take on the video/interview:

Now having seen the previous video, time to discuss and yes, I know it is a lot to wrap your mind around. In many of Lahren's videos, she appeals to the emotions of her conservitive, right wing audience by discussing the issue many have with the "Black Lives Matter" movement. As said in the video, many associate the unfortunate events with the fallen police officers to be the main goal of the Black Lives Matter movement which is why she addresses it multiple times in multiple videos (get those conservative blood vessels moving!) but she is called out on the fact that she failed to mention these unfortunate insidences were not acted out on by the group as a whole but by the few bad apples in the bunch. So, basically the report is dicussing the few bad scenerios but it is REALLY saying that all of those who "subscribe" to the Black Lives Matter movement are "thugs" and fighting for something which is not an actual issue.

A lot of Tomi Lahren's subscribers have also come to the conclusion that she is working with an agenda which clouds her judgement. The way she has delivered her reports has overall shot her credibility completely. In other words, next time you are on Facebook or Youtube, maybe skip past Tomi Lahren's channel unless you are looking for some slanted reports.

Entry #2 No Waste Grocery Stores

Walking through an average grocery store, one can not help but notice the excessive use of plastic packaging. Even wrapping oranges in plastic. If only nature would have created some sort of protective outer layer for fruit! Sure would help with the excess waste we see every day. After reading an article from The Huffington Post, I learned of "no waste grocery stores" which originally began in Europe. Grocery stores ceased to offer bags and wasteful packaging. Instead, shoppers are obligated to bring their own reusable containers such as mason jars or Tupperware.

These grocery stores are now becoming popular in America, which is a few centuries late but the environment is grateful they have arrived! Some may feel this new movement is a bit too "granola mom" for their taste, but the younger generations seem to take fondly to the idea. These new stores could change the direction our environment has been headed for and help reverse or at the very least slow down global warming (polar bears will thank us later).

If the concept is still lost on you, here is a video to demonstrate what no waste looks like:

Next step: Zero waste homes?

Entry #1 Blog Review

"All 21 Xbox One Launch Games in One Place"

Although I am not part of the intended audience for this blog, this blog peaked my interest due to the authors voice being present, making the blog easier to read. The blog included videos to queue the reader into which game the author is discussing which made the blog easy to navigate.

"Top 15 Most Popular Blogs"

This blog was organized well and included link which was a nice tough to help the readers have an easier time making their way through the blog. Although the blog was unsatisfying due to the lack of voice (no personal touches!) and it did not have the feel of a blog, but more of an award list from the Grammy's.

"The Top 50 Blogger Blogs"

This blog was very similar to the previous blog, ACCEPT this blog actually portrayed the authors voice, a casual take to the topic, which was an appealing element to the blog. Also, the blog included a detailed explanation as to how the ranking is done which gave the author more credibility despite the casual voice use in the blog. The organization made the blog very easy to navigate and follow along with which resulted in the blog, overall, being a strong blog.

A Little About Myself

Hello! My name is Robin Norton. I am 20 years old and a soon to be mother of a baby girl. I currently work at Olive Garden as a host and a server. When I am not at Olive Garden, I am working on my homework for classes at GCC, taking care of my boyfriend and preparing our house for our new baby.  My passion is helping others, which is why my major in college is Nursing. My goal is to get my bachelors and become a Registered Nurse. 

On the other hand, my goal with my blog is to strengthen my abilities as a writer. I have always enjoyed writing and being challenged in the different writing/ english classes I have taken over time. I am excited but also nervous for this blog because this will be a completely new territory for me to be challenged in. I hope my readers will enjoy my writing as much as I have!