Know Your Audience

To be perfectly honest it is going to be incredibly difficult to pinpoint exactly what my audience consists of in this class based off the questions posed and the way they were answered in our "Know Your Audience" discussion. I will admit that the our first assignment (view from your window) had me generalizing the majority of the class as religious Midwesterners. I'm not saying this in a bad way at all, but this was just perceived by the majority of posts discussing their view as witnessed from their kitchen table with their coffee and open bibles.. This was not disproved or reinforced by the answers to questions because honestly I feel that the class, myself included, failed at posing questions that would give us a more complete presentation about the general ideologies of the entire class. I know what some people's destination spots, or favorite foods are, but what does that really provide me about the audience as a whole. I think instead I've learned a great deal more from reading people's reading responses than the know your audience game. These responses are where my original assumptions are more reinforced. I feel that many students in this class fit the mold of passionately patriotic Midwestern Americans. They have a huge appreciation for family, our military, and our country. I think that many of the people in this class tend to lean more to the conservative side of the debate and would fit the way I view the majority of people I coexist with in Springfield, MO. This was not unexpected when entering this class because I find myself in many deep conversations about politics and ideologies with the people that surround me. I guess I just didn't ever learn that one should never discuss politics and religion with people. These conversations, with a vast amount of people over the past five years, has allowed me an educated generalization of Missourians. I don't use this assumption with everyone I come into contact with, of course, but it does help me get a general idea of what opinions might be presented when striking up a conversation with someone in which I don't have a great deal of knowledge. This causes me to be a little more reserved with my ideas, that tend to be more "liberal" than those of the people around me. I keep this in mind when I am writing in order to not scare away part of my audience or offend them with my more open and loose perception of the world. Overall, although I did not learn what I would have liked to from our question game I did gain insight into individual students passions and goals. This will help me in my writing because I will feel more confident to make references of things that I know at least a few people in my audience will understand. I hope that I am not coming off as arrogant or like I am speaking from my high horse because that's definitely not the tone I was trying to convey. As I have said before, in my responses to posts, I love different opinions. It's what made debate in High School so much fun. If we all had the same perspective on every subject life would be an incredibly boring place.

Beauty

6-28-15

I found it hard to bring myself to do this blog after such a relaxing day, but here we go. I'm not sure what to really talk about so I guess I will just share some of my experiences that I had today. The trip out of town and into nature was exactly what I needed. I left Springfield feeling tired and overwhelmed and came back feeling rested and carefree. This energy is surprising judging by the amount of energy I expended today, but it is a true testament to the influence that the beauty of nature has on me. We changed our plans slightly today and ended up hiking at Ha Ha Tonka instead of floating on the Buffalo River. It was a great decision and the amazing state park there was exactly what I needed. We hiked for six hours so one would think that I would be immediately ready for bed the moment we got home. This is the farthest thing from the truth though. Instead I feel as if I had just laid in a hammock all day reading and relaxing (besides the slight soreness I am experiencing in my legs). It was an amazing day that allowed me to soak up natures beauty and revitalized my spirit. This being my first adventure at Ha Ha Tonka I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had no idea how vast the park was and it took us the whole day to just accomplish some of the more popular trails. We started by visiting the famous "Castle Trail". This is a path that takes you to a large castle that was built by a businessman in the early 1900's. A fire had destroyed all but the foundation of strong and well built stone. Seeing this work of engineering was amazing, especially when you coupled in the fact that they had to haul all of their stone up from a quarry. The amount of work that this structure must have taken was astonishing and hauntingly beautiful. We then proceeded to go from trail to trail hiking past the Lake of the Ozarks, giant, old quarries, a large natural bridge, beautiful natural springs, and balanced on rocks on tall bluffs. This time away from the world, other than the other park goers, was priceless. It allowed me, as I said in my last post, to release my troubles to the world and to be humbled by its vast beauty. I hope this time gave me the perspective I need to carry myself through the rest of this summer semester. Until then I will be dreaming of being back on the beautiful trails with the love of my life.

Finding your inner zen

6-27-15

Tomorrow is an import day in the sort term for my life. It is the first day off that I have had in ten days and the last I will have for the foreseeable future. When time to relax coming few and far between, I realize that the time can not be wasted and must revitalize me for the coming weeks. So I sit and ponder the most effective way for me to achieve complete zen. The perfect day of relaxation is no absolute and differs depending on the individual that is planning the event. For me it is not a question at all. My plans are quickly devised around one central component of my relaxation process, nature. My girlfriend and I, not allowing ourselves to succumb to the idea of sleeping in, will wake up at sunrise, pack food and water into a cooler, and will start our drive to the Buffalo River. There we will be able to bask in the beauty of our surroundings without being subjected to the sound of car whizzing by, or really any sounds attributed to humans, other than the other than the sounds of other people partaking in God's beauty along side us. This is my place of true zen. A place far away from the luxuries of modern society, besides bottled water, where I can turn off my brain and connect with nature. The sounds of the birds singing, the cool waters rushing by, and the smells of the woods is what brings me relaxation. Offering yourself a chance to step away from your day to day life is extremely vital to living a happy life. If you do not find your own specific way to reset your brain and revitalize your body, then you will surly fail in handling life's daily stress. The way I accomplish this is to go to a place that makes me feel small compared to the universe. Makes my problems seem like nothing when being put beside large cliffs and open sky. There on the Buffalo River I will find the peace of mind to carry on through the rest of this summer semester. There I will disconnect from the modern world and loose myself in teh peace of nature. There I will not think about any of my problems, or tests, or homework assignments, or what needs to be done at work. There I will find myself again and forget the rest.

Why am I doing this?

 6-26-15

As I sit an ponder what my next blog post should be, my mind races and goes no where simultaneously. Over the past few days I have been subjected to an intense inner struggle inside my mind. The basic argument that my brain can not reason is simple: Is all of this work worth it? Living in a society that literally has the world at its fingertips can lead you to thinking you can do, or learn, anything without the help of others. In the past when something would break you would pick up the phone book and call a repairman. Now, we instead search the vast realms of the internet in order to attain a way to do it ourselves. The same can be applied to education. I am a former Political Science turned Computer Science major with the dream of someday owning and operating an online news publication that will, hopefully, help educate the world and provide a place for people with similar ideas to come together and share. This was the same goal when I started college the first time studying Political Science with a focus in Middle Eastern Relations. Although many aspects of my life has changed since I first entered college, the same doubt still persists. Is this worth all of the effort that I am putting into it? The first couple of times attempting college I would succumb to the busy life that my current career as a cook would present me. Finding time to complete homework while running a kitchen is difficult and often seems discouraging. This time around I suffer at the hands of the same discouraging question, but the difference between now and then is I have a more definitive answer. Now I believe, almost certainly, that college is worth the effort that I am expending. This is not attributed to the lack of educational resources that modern technology has gifted us. In fact, I am even more certain than I was before that I could reach all of my education goals by attending free online courses that teach all the various levels of programming and coding. So wouldn't one draw the conclusion that it is ridiculous to be paying thousands of dollars to posses the same knowledge that one could attain on their own? On the outset this would seem very absurd, but when you dig deeper you find a very different answer. Maybe I have lost my teenage angst or have given in to the expectancies of life, but now, more than then, I feel that the classes I am taking will help me grow to be a better person than if I tried to go about on my own. College presents you with different view points inside of a classroom, or online, setting that cause you to experience thoughts that you might not have on your own. Not only that, but professors give you strict deadlines that may not seem very fruitful at four a.m during an all nighter, but will help shape you into an individual that possesses the ability to meet a challenge set before you. This skill will be very important at the next level when an employer sets deadlines that might be more demanding than an individual would set for themselves. Although, I am sure I will continue to go back and forth about whether this is really the best to go about educating myself in the 21st century. I am glad that I have reached a place where I am able to respect goals set before me and have the power to dig deep and accomplish them even when every part of my being wants to just give up. This strength is what will shape me into the entrepreneur that I hope to someday be.

What is worse for the Economy: Unemployment or Inflation

6-25-15

When comparing the effects of Inflation and unemployment, it is important to first realize the relationship that they share. Inflation and unemployment actually have an inverse relationship. This was discovered by A.W. Phillips, and led to a train of thought that was undoubted until the 70's and 80's, called the Phillips law. The law was derived from a basic theory that built itself as such: the more people that have jobs, the more the nation can produce annually, this causes wages to increase, which puts more money in the pockets of consumers, which leads to more good being purchased, which increases the price of goods. This basic thought created the Phillips Curve. This is a way of graphing the relationship between unemployment and inflation. It shows that as unemployment decreases, inflation rises, and vice versa. Now the reason I say that this was undoubted until the 70's and 80's, is because during this time period the country experienced both increasing unemployment rates as well as interest rates. This particular abnormality is referred to as a stagflation. Of course, economics being the mystery that it is, there is no real explanation for the economic deviance from the Phillips law. No matter what the real factor was during this time period it created doubt in our once wide believed understanding in the relationship between unemployment and inflation. Even so, its basic foundation still lays in tact that, for the majority of the time, when more people have jobs, they have more money to spend, which creates an increased purchase of good, which raises prices. So now that the relation between the two subjects, economically speaking, in order to answer the question in the sense of which hurts the consumer (the largest cog in the machine that is the World Economy) to the greater extent. Although this can be logically concluded (better to have a job and pay higher prices for less goods than to not have a means to purchase any goods at all) we can look at sociological studies that point us towards that answer. The Washington Post once posed the question, "Which makes us more miserable:Inflation or Unemployment". They cited a study by a Dartmouth college professor that created a "misery ratio" by dissecting the differences in misery levels during tougher economic times. The results showed that "a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate lowered our sense of well-being by nearly four times more than a one percentage point rise in inflation". This proves that it is far worse for the country as a whole to be effected by high unemployment rates as compared to high interest rates. As far as which is worse economically, this is a debate that will continue for the foreseen future.

Mui, Ylan. "Which makes us more miserable: inflation or unemployment?." Washington Post. N.p., 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 24 June 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/12/which-makes-us-more-miserable-inflation-or-unemployment/>.

"I believe" free-write

I believe that food culture is one of the strong foundations of community. 

America's food culture , in most places, has decayed into the fast food culture that we witness today. The quality of the food we consume has been replaced by quantity, as the agriculture sector shifts farther from local growers to giant corporations like Monsanto. Although, we are seeing a slight return to farm to table in some markets, largely fueled by the rising health awareness, these types of luxuries are not available on a consistent basis for the majority of America. For many of us, it has become much easier to eat processed goods than to obtain a fresh meal including an assortment of organic produce. There are many reasons for this trend. One being the economy and the rising gap in monetary disbursement. When you live in a country where the top 1% earns over 50% of the money you will see situations such as this. But it also lies in the hand of people's priorities when it comes the budgeting their income. Many of us will sacrifice quality of food in order to appropriate money towards other objects. Also, laziness has caused a drop in Americans that know how to do basic kitchen functions. It is not the days of old when shipping food from one distributor to stores across the country was not feasible. This has caused us to switch away from local farmers that have a much higher production cost compared to large corporations making non-organic food that can yield much more from their crops to feed our ever growing population. Now while an entire shift away from GMO's is irresponsible and unfeasible, we still need to fight harder to bring the local farming operations back and focus our resources on our local food communities. This will stronger communities that are proven to have less prejudice and less violence. Although, you may sit there and laugh at the idea that farmers markets could

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"I believe" pre-write

I believe that I try hard at whatever I do

I believe that I have strong convictions

I believe that I try to make other around me better

I believe that I am human and will make mistakes

I believe in love

I believe in happiness

I believe the St. Louis Blues are the best team in hockey

I believe that hockey is the best sport

I believe in equality
I believe that prejudice still exists

I believe in the good of man

I believe in the evil in man

I believe that everyone is born good

I believe that racism is not dead

I believe that all men are created equal

I believe that I am loved

I believe that love conquers hate

I believe in social justice

I believe that this country is flawed

I believe that human kind can do better

I believe in the power of revolution

I believe that the people bear the grunt of politicians mistakes

I believe that my generation will change things

I believe in the beauty of the world

I believe that if I try hard enough I can accomplish anything

I believe that I will be a good father

I believe that society is becoming increasingly disconnected from community

I believe that food culture is one of the strong foundations of community

I believe that the United States has sacrificed quality for quantity when it comes to food

I believe in justice

I believe that we will all have to answer for our actions someday

I believe that we all need to care more for each other

I believe that manners and common courtesy is rare

I believe that our education system is flawed

I believe that our justice system is unfair

I believe that most people have their priorities out of place

I believe in happiness

I believe in myself

I believe that things will get better

I believe that I am a caring individual

I believe my cat is the coolest cat in the world

I believe that someday I will be successful

I believe that I am a good cook

I believe in forgiveness

I believe in acceptance

Jung Typology Test

As I sit and ponder the results of my Jung typology test I wonder if this short yes and no test is a true reflection of my personality. I consider myself a thoughtful, caring, introvert whose writing reflects this recluse personality. I might show passion, but I do not ever write with the intention of endearing myself to the reader. In fact, most of the time I make it a point to be different or, in some cases, slightly offensive. Now this doesn't mean that I'm trying to take personal shots at people or anything of that nature, but I have always enjoyed being the black sheep. The one person that takes a sympathetic approach to topics that most people align themselves against. At the same time, being a former student of the art of speech and debate, I do posses the ability to converse with a wide range of people and might appear seemingly approachable. But in these forced instances of social interaction I tend to put up a facade, outside of standing directly by my moral convictions.

So the Jung typology test was probably accurate in determining that I have a slight preference of introversion. Just because one has the ability to socialize in large groups of people doesn't mean that that is their preference. I, for example, love going to concerts because music is a large portion of my life and is, in my opinion, best consumed live, in a large group of sweaty people. When I go out for shows I feel at home as if these people were my own family. But in the deepest pit of my soul I still have an uncomfortable feeling that lingers. This is probably true in my writing as well. No matter how comfortable I might feel about writing a paper, even over a specific topic that I am passionate about, I can never shake this slight edge in my writing style. This might be attributed to my severe lack of trust in people. Although this is something I've worked hard on overcoming in my life, I feel that it is a stain on my soul that will never be washed away. This is the same reason that my writing tends to come out verging on the edgy side. Exploring this side of my personality could help me make my writing more inviting and thus attract a large audience while, at the same time, not forcing me to abandon, what I feel to be, my unique writing style.

The next section of the test made claim that I have a moderate preference of intuition over sensing. This I can agree with fully. While I am capable of living in the moment and making decisions based on the present physical situation, I would much rather use theoretical solutions to answer problems, rather than the more conventional methods of reasoning. This probably stems from my time in debate where almost every argument was that of a theoretical situation. Of course there were the empirical arguments that were necessary to have the most real world debate possible, but I found those boring compared to the theoretical debates. New is exciting to me and convention is boring. This is reflected in my writing style and also the type of writers I find myself enjoying. I tend to side with the type of writers that have thrown convention to the wind and reject everything time tested and proven. I find it much more exciting to forge my own path and to follow ideals that may or may not be accepted at the time, which can be tied in with my black sheep mentality. If I wanted to be like everyone else I would start wearing Abacrombie & Fitch and listen to the radio. But, knowing this about myself makes it imperative that I don't reject everything that is time tested. While forging my own way into the future is exciting to me, it is important to not forget history and be doomed to repeat a failure.

The last two sections are not causing me to have as profound of a realization about my writing as the latter two. The first being that I have a slight preference to feeling over thinking. This is probably true due to my sympathetic nature. The same sympathy that has lost me too much money to the homeless of downtown Springfield also creates the opportunity to have a negative impact on my writing. Being too quick to side with a sympathetic story can cause you to allow your emotions to get in the way of telling or seeing the whole story. One has to be able to look at both sides of a situation not matter what and the writer can not allow sympathy to get in the way of telling the complete version of their story. Also, being a feeler makes me more prone to deal with things as they arise opposed to being prepared in advance. This has made me more prone to procrastination and knowing this about myself will allow me to make more time for planning that will make my assignment easier in the long run, even if it sacrifices some of the raw emotion I try and bring to my writing. Lastly, the Jung typology test guessed that I have a slight preference of perceiving over judging. This I can agree with wholeheartedly because I am one that likes to keep my outside world as open as possible. I do not like to organize my surroundings and although I might have a set plan of action in my mind, I like to leave myself open for changes based on what the world offers me. I feel like this is very important to my writing because having an open heart allows for a writer to be less ignorant to the ever changing climate of the world. the moment you've closed yourself off to change is the moment you've lost.

I truly enjoyed this assignment and will pursue more exercises like this in the future to grasp an even more in-depth view of myself and how it effects my writing. I hope to take the things I've learned about myself today and consider them as I am working on assignments in this, and future, classes in order to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be.