After the Movie

So the movie was basically what I thought it was going to be, a nice storyline but way too much singing and over dramatizing of the plot. The plot actually was kinda screwy and jumped around a lot but it was easier to follow once you knew the difference between Linda and Lila. The popcorn was pretty good and everyone was really helpful once you entered the theater because I had about five people ask what I wanted. I enjoyed going back to the theater after all this time though and seeing how much had changed over the past years. Somehow I think I actually sat in the same seat as the last time I went to the theater with my family. Also, I think the same old man was the ticket giver like he always has been. As for the movie experience, it just felt good to get out of that bitter cold weather and get inside somewhere and try to have some entertainment for awhile. Each person's voice was rather unique when they sang and it felt kinda weird to see where the song White Christmas first got its popularity. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire both sang really well and it was pretty cool how the plot covered many holidays in it. The two ladies in the film do a really good job in their parts as well but I had trouble remembering which one was Lila and which one was Linda because they jumped back and forth between the two guys about 3 times it seemed. There were lots and lots of performance-like events in the movie, with many of them taking place at the Holiday Inn and the last couple at Hollywood. I was not really a fan of how much singing there was but at least it was not one of those musical films where they randomly bust out into song and somehow synchronized choreography. Instead, the plot was based around the singing so it at least went with the story and did not hinder it. Of course, as in basically all old Hollywood movies, the film had one of those touchy, never could be real, "Happily Ever After" endings where everyone ends up with who they should be with to live a happy life. I was kind of happy that I went because it gave me a break from my real studying while still giving me time to go out after as well. I am also glad because the ticket was only 5 dollars so I kind of think of it as only spending 5 more dollars to keep an A, which I think is a pretty good deal. One thing I would change at the theater, however, is that they did not have the lights on for the night show AND they did not use the vintage box office they have out front to sell tickets. Instead, they had the lights off and you had to get your ticket from the guy at the stand once you got inside the theater lobby. Overall, though, I did kind of enjoy my experience with the movie and going back to the theater and I would consider going there for another showing of a different movie sometime.

Before the movie

I did a bit of research on the movie, which is called Holiday Inn. I mainly looked at IMDB and Wikipedia to try and see what it was about. After reading about the legacy and the effects of the film in America and the rest of the world, I am kind of intrigued to see it. However, I am not big on musical films, especially ones from the the black and white days, so I am unsure what exactly to expect. I grew up here and have been to the Normal Theater a couple times with my family, but the last time I went was well before I was even in High School. I assume that they have probably made some changes since I had been there last so I wonder what differences there are since my mom dragged my brother and I out to watch another Christmas movie back in the day. Hopefully this experience will be a little different than that one. Going back to my research, I found that lots of pop culture things arose out of this film. The immensely famous song "White Christmas" was actually popularized by Bing Crosby in the film when he sings it on stage. One other special note about the movie is that the Holiday Inn chain owners named their hotels after the film. Well, I hope this is not a waste of two hours and that I actually kind of enjoy it. Also, I am hoping that the weather won't be too bad on the way out there, especially while trying to walk with my bad leg. Time to go see if this film is worth all of the praise it got back in the day

Thanksgiving Break

I had an awesome Thanksgiving break! I got to hangout with my girlfriend literally the entire week and experienced my first Black Friday with her, but I didn't even buy anything and I am definitely not doing that ever again because people are insane on that day and I love sleeping too much. It sucks that I had to come back to school but I always remember that there are only two and a half more weeks here for me so that is perfectly fine. I'm really glad I got to be with my grandparents and my uncles again for thanksgiving because with the way my grandpa has been acting, you never know which one will be your last with some of the individuals you love so you must cherish each one. We all had a great time eating my mom's wonderful sweet potato casserole, noodles, and everything else that she made. The funniest part of the weekend definitely was when my obnoxious uncle told the women and kids to go in another room so they older guys and the men could watch football together. Everyone laughed at him but then they shut up because we love our football too much. My girlfriend and I got to celebrate our 6 month anniversary Sunday together by going out for lunch and dinner and just having a nice casual evening watching a movie. I'm really thankful to have such a loving and helpful family and girlfriend and even her family cares for me which is awesome! I got to go to her family's thanksgiving this year as well and I had a great time talking about sports and politics with her hilarious drunk 90 year old grandfather who just keeps life funny at such an old age. I had to work alot but I'm glad I made enough money to probably pay for most of my books next semester which opens opportunities up to buy a new TV with the money I make over winter break. Well, I hope everybody had as good of a thanksgiving break as I did!

Letters

The first person I chose to write a letter to for the project is my mom. After my parents divorced, my mom rose my brother and I completely by herself for awhile. As a result of that and my strong church influence, we have almost identical values and that has helped us build the close relationship we have today. In addition to that, she also works for a State Farm Insurance Agent like I do and actually worked for awhile at the office where I currently work. I am a business-insurance major here because of her and my dad and the rest of my family being involved with State Farm in one way or another in addition to my mom being an ISU alum. I would definitely write to her about this subject and try to convince her about how the classes will be easy because of previous knowledge, my solid four year plan, and also about the prestige of the Katie School of Insurance. The next person I will write to is one of my best friends. We became really great friends as sophomores at NCHS and we just got closer as the years went on. He graduated with me and is now currently a freshman at Heartland Community College. We both really love sports and we hang out every weekend. He helped me through many of my problems in high school and vice-versa. He and I also share the same values so it is easy for us to get along. I would definitely convince him about would be internships that will get me paid well with good experience, the awesome insurance fraternity, and also how I will be able to get my degree fairly easily.

Free Write

I am so excited right now because one of my sports teams that has been terrible lately has made a comeback and is now on the brink of going to the World Series, thanks to their outstanding pitching. I have been a huge San Francisco Giants fan since I was little, mainly because I was born in California like my dad, who actually grew up in the Bay Area. Towards the end of the regular season, we started a run and caught the San Diego Padres and ended beating them in the last game of the season to earn a playoff berth ahead of them. In the NLDS, we faced the Braves and shut them down with our rotation. We have arguably the best pitching rotation in all of baseball with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner. In addition to that, we have no doubt the league's best closing pitcher in Brian Wilson. With the emergence of our rookie Buster Posey and the team's batting average steadily growing after each game, there is more hope than ever in my mind that we will close out the series tonight against the Phillies and go to the World Series for the first time since 2003, when we lost to the Angels. I am proudly wearing my orange Tim Lincecum jersey today and hopefully when he pitches tonight against Roy Halladay for the second time in the series we can pull out that final win and represent the National League in the World Series. This is also the last game in our home stadium in the entire series so it would be even better if we can close it out (literally with Wilson) in front of the home crowd at AT&T Ballpark where I have seen numerous games. Sorry if you read this and aren't a baseball fan but...Go Giants!

My Research Topic-Insurance

I am planning on majoring in Insurance and minoring in Accounting. I have chosen the topic "Why people need car insurance." My whole family has worked at State Farm so I grew up learning bits and pieces along the way but this summer I finally realized my interests and worked for an agency here in Bloomington. Upon working there, I learned lots of information and went to seminars and eventually took the test and became licensed in insurance. Out of all of the seminars, I learned that it is necessary for every person who has a vehicle to have insurance for that vehicle. I handled countless claims where an accident or a rock shooting up and hitting the window caused damage out of the blue. In addition to that, many other people were victims of hit and runs and did not have any insurance to cover it so they had to try and pay that huge sum of money right out of their pocket. Insurance gives you peace of mind as well as confidence while driving that you can never have without it. If anything were to happen to you or your car while driving, sufficient insurance will cover almost all of the costs while only needing you to pay a low premium to keep an insurance value that exponentially more than you pay. I have also seen some people involved in accidents who went to jail because they were uninsured and injured someone in the other car. Not only does insurance cover the monetary costs of injuries or damages to you and your car, it also covers costs for injuries or damages you might cause to other people or vehicles in an accident. Insurance is definitely needed for everybody who drives or owns a vehicle, because you never know what might happen to you or your property.

ACL Surgery

On October 29th, I am going to have the biggest surgery of my life. As I was playing football over the summer, I tore my MCL and had to go to the hospital. I went through alot of physical therapy and was finally getting back into shape. I worked with Mclean County Orthopedics so I could hopefully get back into sports this year and be ready for football in the spring. I finally got cleared on August 17th, the day before move-in at ISU. On my first day here, I decided to test my knee in my brace on the basketball courts at Manchester. As I came down on one play, my leg got caught on the curb and I heard my leg snap. My friends called the ambulance because I was in alot of pain and could not walk, but it still felt just like when I had torn my MCL, not my ACL. The doctor finally said that he also thought that I had just torn the MCL without any further damage. However, once I visited my doctor at Mclean County Orthopedics, I found out I had torn my MCL, my ACL, and even some of my cartilage. Now I have to go through a huge arthroscopic surgery where they take a ligament from a cadaver, cut it up into the shape of what my ACL should look like, and drill through two of my main leg bones to fit the ACL into place. I will have to go through at least 5 months of rehab in hopes of playing sports ever again and I will be in a full leg brace and crutches for awhile at school. This is going to be really tough for me, but hopefully I can get through the worst of it and come back as good as I was or even better.

My Writing Process

Although the teachers in high school always advised against procrastination, I use it as an advantage to help me write better. Because of my competitive nature, I have found that my writing is alot better when I feel under pressure, kind of like sports. If I feel that deadline in the back of my mind, I push myself better to get the job done to the best of my ability instead of feeling like I am doing just another boring assignment. In addition to that, I feel the need to take breaks from writing so I don't have an overload. I simply write for 30 minutes or less, watch TV or play Xbox for a little less than that time, and then get back writing and then take another break. This gives me more chances to better develop my thoughts into an effective, formal paper with all the right requirements. While I am writing I like to have lots of light but absolutely no sound, usually with the TV on but muted. I do think about my writing alot and gather my thoughts in my head, so it is not completely spontaneous. I also revise as I am writing and sort of use a filter from the thoughts in my head so what I put into a word document is the best writing I can come up with at the time. One new writing process element I want to use is definitely having someone immediately proof-read my paper before I even read the final draft as it comes out of the printer. This will give me the best chance of having my mistakes caught quickly so that I still have time at the computer to fix all of the mistakes I made in the first draft. Overall, my procrastination is the reason why I end up writing better on the final draft.

Advertisements

There are a variety of advertisements that seem to always get my interest. All of these ads have the same elements in common. First of all, the ad must have one single image (or the ad as a whole) that stands out from the page and really catches your attention. After that, the colors I notice must be somewhat geared towards me as a male or else it will lose my interest. These colors include darker shades of blue, green, red, as well as black, silver, or any exotic color. Next, there must be some sort of eye-popping visual or motion-implying image that portrays what the object is or what your life would be life with that good or service. For example, a blurry car that shows it is going very fast or a giant football in the middle of the ad. After that, the product itself must be something that I am interested in such as cars, sports, or products that I use daily. Furthermore, the ad really keeps my attention if there is something informational about it or if the ad makes you try to figure something out such as a question that is verbally or nonverbally asked in the advertisement. If there is a paragraph description about some new Nike football equipment, I am going to read the entire thing. I really want to buy or use the product if it really triggers my emotions and interest at the same time with a combination of a reasonable price listed, an easy place to go get the product, and an item that I will get my money's worth at least every week. An advertisement stays in my memory especially if there is humor added to it in addition to the elements already stated. Finally, if the company is able to use a celebrity or athlete that I easily recognize then it is even easier to stay in my memory because then, whenever I think of that person, that particular product pops into my head right alongside them.

This Fall

I am truly excited for the rest of this semester and all of the activities I will continue or will begin to be involved with over the next few months. First of all, Powerhouse (which is the name for Junior High worship at my church, Second Presbyterian Church, here in Bloomington-Normal) is starting up again along with my third year being an official leader for the worship and fellowship time on sunday nights. I get to help all the kids who are getting ready for high school (and trying to handle junior high drama) get ready for the next big stage in their faith journey, high school.Second of all, I get to be a mentor to one of the eighth-graders, whom I have considered to be the "younger brother I never had", for the confirmation class which all members-to-be in the church must take. In addition to that, I will probably be participating in childcare services for the preschool or nursery at Second Pres. I am also pumped because football is officially back and I am a HUGE Packer fan so I am glad to see them start out another potentially dominant season with a win. Football is almost half of my life so whenever it's fall I am almost always happy, unless we lose. It feels weird not being on the field for the first time in 4 years but I think I will be able to get used to it. Furthermore, I am even more happy because my classes are settling down and I am starting to get into a rhythm everyday between relaxing and my studies. However, now that Halo Reach came out, and Black Ops is on the way, that balance I had will almost surely shift more towards "relaxing". My brother is turning 21 tomorrow which should be awesome so I am looking forward to a great week and amazing first semester!

Peer Questions

1.What does the flow of my front cover look like in your opinion? In other words, what would you guess would be my interests and main focus for the novel?
The purpose for this question is to get the other person's point of view on who they think I am and who I am trying to reach with this cover. Also, I want to see if they think that the images blend together with the color scheme and to see if I can improve the artistic side of the cover.

2. What is the impact of the imagery on the cover as a whole?
For this question, I want to see if the different pictures and colors I am using are either bringing together the main idea of the book or putting too much together and drastically changing what the reader thinks this book is about. In addition to that, I want to see if they have any ways for me to arrange things differently so that the novel is peaking the interest of the right people.

3. What do you think the quotes add to the cover?
The reasoning behind this question is so that I get an idea if the people and statements I used on the front are individuals that others think would have a positive effect on the novel from their front cover comments.

Book Cover

I am currently working on the covers for the novel that will be more of a "guide to life" sort of book for high schoolers rather than a full biography of my life so far. As of right now, my front cover has alot going on but I will hopefully be able to successfully arrange all of the images and color patterns that I want to be shown. First of all, the color scheme is going to be red and black and will have a wordart font for the main title and subtitle that will be twisted or slanted so it does not look completely bland. Next, I will have images that represent me which will be a picture of a football, pictures of the states i have lived in, and the emblems of my church and other organizations I have been a part of. Next, I will put quotes from different people who I admire at the bottom so that they can support my novel. As for the back cover, I will be keeping the same color pattern but will tone down the imagery and put more of an informative summary as well as a "Book of the Year" award towards bottom. I will incorporate a barcode as well as many other quotes from inside the novel so that readers have an idea of what exactly they will be getting their hands on. the quotes I will show will be in different fonts that will emphasize the meaning of the quotes themselves. I learned alot from the book cover activity we did so I will try to use most of the elements that we learned in class. Hopefully I will be able to blend all the elements of the book and my personality into one successful, appealing cover.

About Me

I was born on May 20th, 1992, in Laguna Hills, California. Both of my parents worked/work for State Farm and my dad had been born and raised in California while my mom had been sent there from Illinois by State Farm Corporate. After having my brother three years earlier in Newport Beach, they decided to move to my birthplace after my dad was offered a different job. About 3 years after that, we moved to Ottawa, Illinois after being relocated by State Farm once again. As soon as I was about to enter my second year of preschool, my family moved here to Bloomington, Illinois. However, the moving did not stop and we moved out to Gilbert, Arizona, which is about 10 miles out of Phoenix. Sadly, while in Gilbert, my parents started to fight and it ended with my mom taking my brother and I back here to Bloomington, Illinois, where my grandparents live. My mom was able to get a house right before I entered 2nd grade so I was able to go to grade school here and I have lived in the same house ever since she moved there. My dad was able to get a great job and move back when I was about to enter 5th grade and my parents were able to finalize their divorce but they have a nice and well-communicated relationship today. I am a huge football fan and started at receiver at Normal Community High School here in town and I was also a track captain and played basketball. I work for State Farm just like the rest of my family and I am a resident of Manchester Hall and an insurance major. I am also a HUGE Green Bay Packers, San Francisco Giants, University of Southern California, Illinois State, and Phoenix Suns Fan.