What I learned this semester:

This semester I have learned many new things and tried things that I have little to no experience doing, but I wanted to try at least. Over the past few years I have changed dramatically and I want to keep changing for the better.

 

1-      How to Perform Shakespeare- Shakespeare and Ethics

Two years ago, I probably would have dropped a class that the professor announced that we would be performing scenes from Shakespeare plays. However, I wanted to stick with it, I knew about it before I signed up for the class, and I was really nervous at first. Since I’ve been working on it, I’ve been trying extremely hard to take the nervous cloak off and just have fun! And it has been fun, the more I try the more I enjoy it. I realized that performing theatre and performing in music (like a show in band, the kind like in Drumline!) were very similar, but it’s been years, 9 years to be exact, geez I feel old and it’s essentially the same thing, you have to act natural even though it’s not, you have to remember where to move and when to move all the while playing (or speaking).

I never thought I would enjoy acting because of my stage fright (and its extreme) so I stayed away from it. But step one is done (the memorization) and  step two performance within an hour or so I increased my knowledge and confidence in myself in performing. (Which I have absolutely no experience in at all) I just have to keep that confidence when I get in front of the students we’re performing for. I have confidence that I can do it!

 

2-      How to write dialogue in stage play/screenplay

Some people would think it is easy. But it is much much harder than it sounds if you’ve never tried it before.  Again as this semester is my “try new things” semester” I wanted to try it out and at least learn how to do it. Even though I don’t have theater background, I do want to write and many writers turn their novels into movies/TV shows, so I at least wanted to learn how to do it so I would know when the time comes to turn my bestseller into a movie. Right? What I learned is it is hard to make dialogue seem natural and not forced and that’s what I’ve been struggling with, and you can’t use a lot of dialogue to explain everything, there has to be actions to cause the conflict etc.. This is the hardest part. You cannot write like in a novel. I gotta say it’s a work in progress and I’m going to keep working on my plays even after the class is over. 

3-      How to design a page

It sounds simple, right? WRONG! Well I had to read forty pages on how to design a page, and the mathematics involved in doing so correctly, not fun, in a poets voice, sound complicated yet?…. Have you ever heard of typography? If not, don’t feel bad, I didn’t know this course focused on typography (letter design). There aren’t many people who seriously think about which font to use when writing a paper, so that the font can be clearly read. What I’ve learned is that the letters don’t have to be a dog to say dog. You can use a simple font to do that. The reason I took the course was to have some background in designing in case I ever get a job at a magazine or newspaper, I would know how to design a page in the best possible way.  Our last project is a newsletter about ourselves. It combines all the elements of the page we have learned from the margins to the type style, the spacing with the letter, etc.. It’s not easy to keep all of these elements in mind at the same time while trying to present something about yourself.

While none of these classes were as “easy” as I originally thought, I think that it was good for me, I haven’t been very challenged (except for Chemistry) in college until now and I’ve struggled and I think I came out on top, taking so many new concepts with me for my future career, whatever I may decide to do.

(found this on a search, I think it applies here!)

Going into my senior year, that's what my motto will be!

Book Review: The Innocent Man by John Grisham

John Grisham’s The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

I read this book as part of a literature class, but I absolutely love it. The Innocent Man is John Grisham’s first non-fiction work that reads like a novel. It was published in 2006. It is also my first legal thriller. I’m more of a cozy mystery reader, you know Agatha Christie, even Sherlock Holmes. This falls under “hard-boiled” mysteries, which is the opposite of the “cozy”, giving you all the gory details, “it could, or did happen in real life type of story”.  Legal thrillers fall under this category and that is what this book is.

An  innocent man, Ron Williamson is wrongly convicted of murder and sent to Death Row.  Another  gets life in prison. There is NO tangible evidence to tie men to the murder yet both are convicted. How does this happen, when our Justice system is supposed to be so great?

The novel starts by describing the setting, a town called Ada, Oklahoma, southeast of Oklahoma City. It seems as though it could be describing any quiet small town, where nothing exciting happens, until an unexplained murder happens and then an unexplained kidnapping.

Grisham takes the reader deep inside the justice system, deep inside the jails, the prisons, Death Row in an Oklahoma prison.  He gives the reader all the details of the case inside and out.  Beware, though: Hhe doesn’t shed a nice light on the Ada police. I wanted to strangle them personally for how they treated the defendants.

John Grisham’s website http://www.jgrisham.com/the-innocent-man/ describes the book like this:” If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.”

Here is a youtube video of John Grisham talking about the novel:

I definitely wanted to strangle the cops who forced confessions out of men who they “knew” were guilty but could not prove it. So the question is how to prove it.  Step one: Force a confession. Step two: Ffind anyone who will testify against them (including snitches in the jailhouse.)  Step three: Use “experts” who can throw out language that is above the heads of the people on the jury.  Case solved, the killer is convicted and put to death.

It was a little unnerving what so-called “evidence” held  up in court in this case and how much sway an “expert” has on the jury.  All the expert has to do is use big words and then the jury goes “ ‘ooh -aah’ ” he must be the killer if this guy says so.” And the judge that ruled on this case is still serving as a judge. It makes me sick, I would hope that his views have changed

If you’ve never read John Grisham or if you have an interest in legal thrillers, this one is amazing, it will catch you from beginning to end and keep you enthralled by our so-called justice system.  One would hope that the system has corrected these issues and that it wouldn’t happen again. However, such is life and, since this story is true, we know that it could happen again. Unfortunately, since most of our mysteries are “sanitized”, reading something like this brings you back to the real world and you can again see that the world is a cruel place. But we have to deal with it. Reading non-fiction is about reading how people deal with life. That is why we need to read these things every now and then. Reading this makes you think deeply about the injustice of our system. We’re supposed to be this great country, yet innocent people were still convicted, just to get it off their plate.

I cannot imagine the hours spent in research on this book. However, (and I don’t want to give away too much) there are a few things that Grisham could have explained better.  Two people fell out of the story after the murder that may have been crucial to it.  And second, footnotes or some references would have been nice, so we know where he obtained some of the information.

Entitlement

What are we entitled to?

 

I’m working on a project in one of my classes on entitlement and it has lead me to think deeply about the things that I, as an individual, an American, a woman, a student, and all the other titles I could give myself, am entitled to. I did a little research and I found that we aren’t really entitled to anything tangible.

People of the younger generation today believe that are just entitled to certain things. Cars, a house, food, a free education, but are we entitled to these things or not? I say no! We have to work for the luxuries, the only things we have the right to are given us in the declaration of independence, and even those are just for Americans, Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Notice it is the “pursuit of happiness”, not happiness. We are not guaranteed anything, in other words, other than our own lives, the breaths we take.

So why is the younger generation so spoiled? They have to have phones, computers, cars, name-brand clothes, the best education, etc… What happened to earning it? I may be part of the generation but I do not see myself as entitled to any of those things I just listed. I did not get a cell phone even when I was doing after school activities. I didn’t get a car for my 16^th birthday, or even my 18^th birthday. I didn’t even get to start college right after high school. I paid for my associate’s degree myself and then I received some scholarships and federal aid to help me continue into my bachelor’s degree. The car I drive was given to me because I had worked so hard to graduate with honors.

 

(EBT card)

I am entitled to work for what I have,  my life, the freedom to practice my beliefs, to have my own, thoughts, ideas and opinions. I see people everyday who spend a couple hundred dollars in food stamps to buy food, half of them still dress nicely.  Once a person told me” I  got laid off, it took them six weeks to get the food stamps to me.” When I said that my store was hiring, she didn’t even look at me. People feel they are entitled to the free money just because they lost their job and don’t want to look for another. There are plenty of businesses hiring, maybe not the same job as one was in before, but it is a job nonetheless,  it will pay the bills. But people think they are too good for a job at McDonald’s or Wal-Mart or any “lowly” job, they just want free money so they can sit around and wait for the next job. I’m not talking about everyone here. But it is a harsh truth , a reality that I see everyday that I work. The bad thing is I cannot qualify for food stamps even though I barely make enough money to pay for my gas and insurance. It’s a sad cruel world.

I'm working to make a living, so I can finish school and start a career and a job I will love.

Top Seven Things I Want To Do Before I Die

·         Attend a service for different religions. I have always been curious about different religions. Taking some classes in college, I have learned that religions around the world aren’t all that different. Many religions are very similar in teachings, but taught differently and practiced differently.  There aren’t THAT many differences between the teachings of Christianity and Buddhism for instance. Yes there are many differences, BUT many of the same basic principles. Each religion goes deeper. So I want to visit a Buddhist temple, a Hindu mandir, a Catholic church (since I’ve never been to a mass) and even the scientology church.  This is not an all-inclusive list. Just a few I want to visit, preferably in the countries, like India, China, Japan, etc…

              

            (courtesy of Gfoogle images)

·         Spend New Year’s Eve at either Disneyworld, or New York Times Square at the front of the stage! I would love to be in Times Square or Disneyworld. I’m a big Disney fan and cities aren’t really my thing. So Disney world would be choice number one and Times Square would be choice number two.  I think that would be a great experience!

            (Google images)

            There's nothing like the Magic Kingdom! 

·         Spend a night in a haunted house/ and or haunted castle in Europe or United States.   Ever since I was little, I loved ghost stories and mystery novels. My dad always told us “The girl who wore the yellow ribbon” when we camped out in his yard. And my favorite mystery books as a child were The Boxcar Children and, of course, Nancy Drew. Trips to the library were important and special because I got to get the next book in the series! Later I loved watching Ghost Hunters on TV. Especially the Halloween Live specials. I think it’s still on the air. I’m sure though because I haven’t had cable in years. I always wanted to go visit the places that they would actually get EVPs and stuff on video. It was too cool. Now they have GHI (Ghost Hunters International) which is on Netflix! I’ve always said I wanted to stay the night in a haunted castle in Ireland! That’s my dream.

 this one just looks creepy cool! (Google images) and website

·         Skydive. While I would consider myself somewhat adventurous, I’m not exactly ourdoorsy. BUT I have always wanted to try skydiving.  I think I will start with bungee jumping though. I’ve had friends who’ve done both and loved it. I’ve never had the chance, but maybe someday!

  

·         Write a novel. I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing. I’m not very athletic or talented artistically (other than reading and writing). I’ve started many ideas and scraped them after a little while. I want to actually write and finish a novel, have it edited and published ( and have it hit a bestseller list would be nice too but that not a priority).

            

·         Go to the Ellen DeGeneres Show and meet Ellen. Of all the talk shows on daytime television, I think Ellen is the best. I don’t get to watch it often, but I’m still a fan. I love that she loves her fans so much. She has crazy games for the audience members but still gives them prizes anyway. She just seems like the coolest person to meet. Maybe I will get to meet her when I publish a new novel and she loves it!

            

·         Study Abroad (preferably somewhere exotic). Okay so this one will be crossed off my list this summer. I am studying abroad in Greece (through Drury!) So while I’m studying the how the Greeks learned the circumference of the earth and the distances to the stars and studying Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey and during my time off, try some Mediterranean fish YUM! I could eat fish every day.  And I will definitely be enjoying the beaches on my time off! 

            

      These aren't in any particular order.