Movie theatres Carding is good!

Seen any good movies lately? Well I recently saw a rated R movie and before purchasing the ticket they had to see my I.D. I noticed that a couple kids who were seing the movie got kicked out because they were under the age of 17 which is the minimum age you have to be in order to see a rated R movie in the united states. I have a friend who works at the movie theatre Rave motion pictures in Peoria and she comments a lot on how much people complain about having to get carded. She tells me a lot of people hate the fact that they have to prove that they are 17. And while they think it is a hassle and a waste of time I think that it is a great law that the movie theatres need to keep sticking too. I believe that by carding it keeps kids from seeing material that is not appropriate for them. For example; in the movie Zombieland (which is rated R) they showed nudity and it seemed like they used foul language every other word. Carding also helps the parents of the kids who are underage keep track of them and make sure they aren’t doing anything that their parents wouldn’t approve of. Even though it is a annoying to always have your I.D. ready to show I think that it is something that is very effective and helpful for both the movie theatre industry and the parents of the kids who are trying to get into movies they aren’t supposed to be seeing.

this class has helped me

Taking English 105 has helped me so much. I have learned things like how to get the readers attention and keep it or how putting sensory details in your paper really helps the reader relate to it. But the number one thing I have learned in this class is how to make a paper my own. When I used to write papers I would just write about things that I didn’t even care about I would just pick a topic that I didn’t even care about. I realize that I am going to have to write papers on things that don’t really matter that much to me but that is another thing I have learned, how to make it interesting. Writing can be fun when you make it your own. I write about things that matter to me or that interest me. I thought that this English class would be my most hated class but, I find it fun. I actually enjoy writing, and this class has actually made me think that maybe I will pursue a journaling degree. The thing I need to focus on though is getting some confidence in my writing. I feel like this class has me ready for English 110 which is something I though I would never say. Before I took this class I was so scared that all my papers would be terrible and that I would fail out of it. Thanks to this class I am excited for my next English class and can confidently say bring it on!

Generation Y - Technology

Generation Y is heavily dependant on technology. One of the biggest things that makes generation Y different from all of the other generations is the fact that we cannot live without modern technology. I agree with this statement and believe that generation y is very dependant upon their technology. I was listening to the radio last week and I heard the question would you rather lose your cell phone or your wallet? And everyone that called in said their wallet. Why does our generation love technology so much? I think it’s because it makes life easier and faster, we’ve had it most of our lives. I honestly do not think our generation could survive if they did not have a cell phone, the internet, iPod or gaming systems like the Wii. We have become so dependent on these things that our world would be a wreck if we didn’t have them with us twenty-four/seven. When it comes to relationships we have a whole new way of relating to our friends. You can go on a date without even leaving your room, thanks to the internet. I believe all this technology has made us a very impatient generation. Before increased technology you would have to wait when you made a phone call if you didn’t get a hold of someone; now we have answering machines so we don’t have to keep calling back. All we have to do is just tell them who we are and what we want and then we’re done with them. If you have texting, you don’t even have to wait. You write what you want and send it; then wait for them to respond. Our generation’s technology is amazing when you think about it. However I feel like it’s causing us to become lazy, impatient, and causing us to be people who only care about ourselves. We have become so dependant upon our technology that if something ever was to happen to it our generation would be lost.

practice makes perfect

The papers that I used to write would take me so long to write and I would hate writing them too. It would take me forever to think of a topic to write on, and then it would take me even longer to think of how to talk about that topic and make it sound good. I would be so critical of my writing and always ask myself does this really sound right? Then I would doubt my writing and I would erase whatever I wrote, because I felt like it had to be perfect and my writing wasn’t perfect. Being in my English 105 class this year has helped me realize that my writing doesn’t always have to be perfect, and that I need to just write and stop being so critical of what I write. I can tell that by having to write a lot has made me more confident in my writing. If you would have told me that I would have to write every week for this class I would have dropped it right away, but I found out that writing a lot makes me a better writer. I guess it’s true that practice does make perfect. I always thought that you were born a natural writer; that either you could write well or you couldn’t and that was that. Some people do have that natural ability to write really well, but I believe that anyone can become a great writer if they practice writing and have confidence in their writing.

is Christmas coming to early?

Are stores putting Christmas things out too early? While walking through a department store, all I could see were Christmas decorations. My immediate reaction was, we are in October. Christmas is more than two months away; we still have two holidays to celebrate before Christmas is here - Halloween and Thanksgiving. I know that Christmas is a very important holiday because we’re celebrating the birth of Jesus, but Thanksgiving is a very important holiday too and I think that Christmas is overshadowing it. Stores should put out Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving; so people aren’t forgetting about how important Thanksgiving is. I also feel like having things out for Christmas so soon causes a negative idea about Christmas because having customers see Christmas decorations and things makes the customers think that they have to start buying things now and gets them in a hurry so they don’t get to stop and enjoy the Christmas spirit. Christmas should be something to be excited about; not thinking of how much money you are going to be spending. I think that keeping the Christmas things out of the store until after Thanksgiving will help us be able to relax more and enjoy the months before the rush of getting everything done before Christmas. I believe seeing the Christmas things in the stores before it is time to even think of Christmas gets us worried about getting everything done in time when we should really just stop and enjoy the holidays.

you have to make writing fun!

Hearing that I had to write a paper used to be the worst thing someone could tell me. I would be so scared to find out what the teacher thought, and what the other students. I was so scared they would think that my writing was dumb. But I have figured out that writing can be fun, you just have find something that interests you and write about it. When I heard we had to write a 2-3 page paper on sometime that writng has helped or changed you. I was so upset thinking there is no way I can write that much. But I found out that if you are writing about something that you care about or love, then writing can be fun. For my lit snap I am writing about a boy that got into a car accident and how it changed my life. I loved writing this paper, and I still find myself reading over it and adding to it. This is something I thought I would never want to do. But I think that writing can be fun and interesting if you find something fun and interesting to write about.

Who's to blame?

Who’s to blame??? I was scanning the paper this week and noticed a picture that I recognized. His name is Travis Kreiter and we went to the same high school. I read the title “Bradley freshman golfer rendered ineligible by NCAA.” You see Travis worked so hard to be the golf 2008 IHSA class 1A state champion. He would practice for hours a day. I don’t think that the scholarship committee is being very fair. Apparently Travis had two classes he took his junior year that didn’t qualify for the scholarship; his English class and his math class. In order to qualify for the NCAA scholarship you need 16 core classes and Travis had 14 ½. I think it is especially unfair for Travis because he wouldn’t have gone to Bradley University if he wasn’t getting the scholarship. He said he was more likely to go to I.C.C. because he couldn’t afford to go to Bradley. And the fact that he was thinking he had a scholarship for $20,000, and one month later they tell him he’s not getting the scholarship. So now he’s getting a $32,000 tuition bill, which he does not want to pay. Now the question is; who’s to blame? Is it the school’s fault for not letting him know his classes weren’t eligible for the scholarship, is it the NCAA for not making it clear to him that he needed to take 2 more classes to be eligible. or is it Travis Kreiter’s fault for not making sure he had every class he needed for the scholarship. I don’t really know if there’s a person to “blame” but I think they all could have done things differently to make sure he was getting what he deserved. I love that Travis is having a positive attitude toward everything and not blowing up at the schools. Travis said, and I quote “There is no use staying mad because I know I didn’t do anything wrong and it’s out of my hands.” I totally agree with him, the sitiuation is in the past and there's nothing you can do now. You just have to keep looking forward and believe that everything will work out.

week 6: words can change you

Have you ever read a book that changed the way you thought or acted? Well I have been reading the book 19 Minutes and I don’t think I have ever been more paranoid in my life. The book is about a school shooting at a high school. You find out right away that the killer is a boy who was the school “nerd” who got made fun of a lot. This scared me because I see kids getting made fun of all the time, so I’m constantly thinking “Oh my goodness he is going to grow up like the boy in the book and shoot people.” Also, when I am in a room with a bunch of people I am thinking about what I would do if there happened to be a shooting right here right now. Would I run? Would I hide? Would I find my friends or just run away? I am so paranoid! I think it is so weird that a book can change the way I think and act. I always heard people say “that book changed my life” or “that book will move you” but I would never have really believed that I could be “changed” by a book. I thought that you had to love reading to really get into a book and get moved by it, but believe me I am not a reader at all and this book has really changed me. I’m not sure if it’s a good change or a bad change yet; but I know it is a change. I am still just in shock that words that someone wrote can change the way a person thinks.

To Spank or Not to Spank

I think that it is crazy that it’s illegal to spank your children in California. America is called the land of the free and I believe that parents should have the free will to choose to discipline there kids how they want. Now, I don’t believe that spanking is a permit for child abuse. Parents can’t just go out and hit there kids for no reason. But I do think that spanking is an effective way to discipline your children.
I remember always growing up and learning that if my mom called my dad into the room, I had better brace myself because I was going to get what I had deserved coming to me. If I had done something wrong or out of line, for instance when I said a curse word, I would get punished with a spanking. Getting a spanking from saying that one cussword has kept me from repeating it in front of my family.
I also believe that spanking is good for the children. It helps them realize that what they did was wrong and that the choices you make have consequences. Like if I told my mom “No, I won’t clean my room!” The consequence for my choice of disobeying my parents would be getting spanked. This circumstance helped me to realize that I am supposed to treat my elders with respect and getting spanked reminds me not to forget that. I also think that getting spanked goes over so much better than just pointing a finger and saying “don’t do that” or “I’ll count to three” because if the child figures out that nothing will happen to them if they disobey then they will keep on acting the way they were. Spanking does have its age limits. I mean if your dad still spanks you when you’re 13 then that’s a little weird. I would say for kids 12 and under spanking is a good way to teach your child that what he or she did was wrong, and trust me anytime they want to disobey again, that spanking should remind them not to.

week 4: I'm an angry writer

It’s difficult for me to write unless I’m in a writing mood which is usually when I am feeling upset or I have seen something that inspired me to write about. I usually write the most when I am really upset because all of my emotions that I have held up inside of me are coming through me which then translates into my writing. I think I write better when I’m angry because I don’t stop writing to think about it or if this makes sense or not. I just let it all out. The words come easier for me.
On the other hand, if I was writing about something I had to write about it would be harder because I would constantly erase what I wrote and be constantly thinking about how it doesn’t sound quite right. I think I feel this way because when I write when I’m upset the last thing I care about is if it sounds right or not. All I care about is the thing that happened or the things I heard that made me feel this way. It’s not that I like to write when I’m angry, it’s just that when I’m angry I write better because I am so angry I don’t worry about the stuff I’m writing.
I do sometimes get inspired to write when I read what other people have written and after reading it thinking that if they could write like that then maybe I could too. I also like to write when I am bored. It helps me pass the time and when I’m done writing it helps me feel better that I didn’t waste my time watching television.

week 3: Universal Healthcare

Universal Healthcare is a very debatable issue right now. And I must say I am not in favor of it at all and here is why.
If it is so good, then why do people from other countries come to America for our healthcare? Isn’t America about being free and all being treated equally? So then why do other countries with universal healthcare treat the elderly differently than their children. They treat the children before the elderly no matter how much the other person needs it. It could be a matter of life and death and they still treat the child first. All because they say the children have more of life to live than an elderly person. Also our hospitals will be crowded and very hard to get into; which brings me to another issue. They will be so full of sick people that those germs will be spread everywhere and could cause people to get even sicker than they already are.
There was an article in the paper recently that a doctor wrote about how he had worked in England and Canada and now practices in the United States and he said that there were patients on long waiting lists and in crowded conditions. I like the point that Booker Jones stated in the Journal Star recently: “What is government going to do that's better than what the states are doing? Our system has been working pretty well so far, so what needs to change?"
I think that they should talk to other countries and about their healthcare and see what they like and don’t like about it. I bet that you will find they made a mistake making their healthcare universal and I believe this because if it was so great then why do we have people coming to our country for our healthcare?
Universal Healthcare will end up doing us more harm than good in the end. And once we decide to undertake this it will be an even greater mess to try to clean up.

Week Two Case Study: I like to Journal

Writing is a means of expressing my thoughts. I enjoy journaling because it’s like therapy for me. When I ‘m upset or something really cool happened and I want to express my feelings about it, I go to my room and the first thing I do is grab my journal and write down in it how I’m feeling or what made me upset or happy. It relieves so much stress from life that I would probably otherwise take out on my family or friends, but instead I just let it all out in my journal.
Journaling also helps me later on when I look back in my book and see all the hard things that I have overcome. It reminds me to be thankful of the things I have now because they will be gone before I know it. It also is so comforting when I get done writing in my journal, like I accomplished something. It makes me feel so good.
I don’t really like to show my emotions; so when I was upset about my Grandma dying, I would write in my journal about it. And it helped me so much. When I would miss her, I would write in my journal. When I felt bad for my grandpa trying to live all alone now, I would write in my journal and it really helped me. I guess my journal is like a person I can run to when I want to just blurt out how I feel. I never have to worry about it judging me for the things I say or do.
Writing in a journal is a very personal thing – I’ve heard of people having a person responsible for disposing of their journals if something were to happen to them. A journal is a place where you can be totally honest about your feelings whether you’re mad, sad, glad, abused, depressed or just contemplating about life. Journaling is just one of the many ways of writing to express your feelings.

Letter of introduction

August 30, 2009

Professor Stephanie Guedet Scott
English Department
Illinois Central College
1 College Drive
East Peoria, IL 61635-0001

Dear Stephanie;
It has been cool getting to know you this first week of class. You seem like a really fun professor and I look forward to getting to know you both as a teacher and as a person. I am Jennine Lynnae Blasing and I live in a small town west of Peoria called Brimfield, Illinois. I am 18 years old and was unexpectedly born in the bathroom of our house on July 18 of 1991. There are eight people in the family and I am the fourth child born. I have two brothers and three sisters and we all have the same initials J.L.B.
I love Jesus Christ more than anything in the world, and I love learning about Him in the Bible. I have been on two mission trips; the first one to Louisiana for the hurricane Katrina victims. It was very humbling to see all the people who had everything taken away from them and yet they still had smiles on there faces, were very friendly and were glad to have us come and help them start their lives over. The second trip was to Chattanooga, Tennessee with an organization called Confrontation Point Ministries. This trip helped me grow a lot both as a Christian and as a person. It challenged me to go up to strangers and ask if I could pray for them, work with the elderly, and teach generationally poor kids with an organization called Kids 4 Christ.
I love to play sports. My favorite would have to be soccer because it is a team sport and you can’t win without each other. I also love to watch sports on T.V. which is why I would like to go into sports broadcasting. My goal is to go to I.C.C. for my general education classes and then transfer to either Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois or Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky where I will major in mass communications.
I like to listen to music for relaxation. My favorite song is “Firefly” by Jimmy Needham because the lyrics make me happy when I’m upset. I also love watching movies and would have to say my top 3 are; 1 - Extreme Days, 2 - Mrs. Doubtfire and 3 - Pride and Prejudice. I have played the piano and saxophone for 8 years.
I love making people laugh whether it is a joke, or dressing up funny, or just doing some ridiculous stuff. My best friend is Heather Damron; we have been friends since the 8th grade and we do everything together. And I mean everything!
I love trying the impossible. If someone tells me I can’t do something I will try everything to prove them wrong. I am also very competitive - I hate losing at anything. I’m a very active girl and I love having a busy schedule.
I am a die hard Cubs fan. For graduation my sister’s boyfriend took me to my very first Cubs game at Wrigley Field – which was pretty awesome. Two of my personal goals for this semester would be to get straight A’s, and to meet some new people I wouldn’t have had the chance to in high school. I hope we have a better chance of getting to know each other better this semester. And I’m looking forward to spending time with you since I have the privilege of having you as my professor for English 105 and Reading 104.
Sincerely,
Jennine Blasing