1/22/12

Meeting the parents is a situation that is always quite funny and has a lot of cliche characters.
-The overbearing, protective father. He usually comes from some type of military background and this makes him extremely intimidating. His hair is crew cut and short, blonde if possible usually. He is "always watching" the new boyfriend and making sure his princess is not being mistreated. He is absolutely in love with his wife, and that is the only person he ever answers to.
-The horny wife that constantly teases and tempts the boyfriend without the rest of the family knowing. She loves her husband but is bored with her married life so she goes after younger men. She doesn't really want them to sleep with her though, she just enjoys the thrill of the chase. She usually drinks a lot and wears fancy clothes and hats.
-The often uneducated, loser brother. He still lives at home with his parents, does drugs, has a part-time job at some grocery or convenience store. His hobbies include sitting around getting high, watching porn, and mooching off his family. He sometimes helps the boyfriend to rediscover his love for his sister and encourages the boyfriend to go win her back.

1/20/12

Friday we all discussed our own personal stories. Some were funny, some enlightening, and others lost my attention. I remember one in particular that, from the very start, I got disinterested in because of the way they started telling the story.

1/18/12

On Wednesday we continued to talk about story and what makes a good story. The main message was that every story has two main characters, one conflict and one resolution as its minimum. Stories should be concise as to not lose the audiences attention. He also corrected himself in saying that we read at a seventh grade level instead of fifth grade.

U.C.A.

The other day I was driving in Brookside. One of the houses caught my eye. There was a cement lion statue on the porch. I thought to myself, "There must be a story behind that statue." This made my imagination run wild. What if it was purchased in Asia? What if it was a gift? And so on. I settled on this: the husband saw the statue at an Ace Hardware store and loved it. However, when he brought it home his wife went rampant. She hated it. In fact, she hated it so much, she left him. Now he lives alone in a big house in Brookside. He has to pay two mortgages by himself. He holds by his lion though. That is dedication. That is love.

1/12/12

Wednesday we continued to talk about power. Most Americans do not read after high school. They have some form of illiteracy. Many read at a fifth grade level. They are not stupid however. Americans just have a short attention span. They read only the headlines. Also, sentences with more than eight words tend to lose that short amount of attention. We have only a finite amount of energy to use each day. Our brain decides what to filter out. This method allows us to retain information we let through our "WIFM" barrier.

1/9/2012

Yesterday in class we talked about gaining power through our writing and what that meant. Many of us have probably not had many opportunities to gain power or influence in any instance in our tiny lives. This class will let us hone our skills and become masters of our own words. There are a lot of creative thoughts swirling around in our heads, we just need to bring them to light. Writing for the media can be a powerful tool, and I for one cannot help but be excited about this class.