12/2/09

Week 15 entry

It hasn't been a fun week. On Monday I take place in a presentation with ambiguous results and ask Professor Dan questions for which I've wanted answers for months. On Tuesday, after work, a late SPSS assignment for statistics, and dinner, I go to the peer mentor to apply what I know to my essay, but am still stuck. I end up changing my thesis a bit, but it ends up with me replacing a paragraph. At the end of the night, I end with the same amount of words that I started with: 350, for a 1200 word essay. This morning I add about 100 more. I go to class, hoping to put my essay behind me and move on toward other projects and finals... and find out that he's extending the deadline two more days.

Campus events

Campus Movie Fest in October was a night full of spotlights, long lines in the dark, funny and dramatic videos, and crushed hopes of winning a raffle prize. Many interesting movie entries, I must say. However, I can only remember a few. The dramatic short "Resistance" had me tense during the whole movie, although its plot was very simplistic. The movie "Fun Scare" (was that the title?) appealed to a lot of students, but I guess I didn't think it was so funny. In my opinion, "The Truthbreakers" is the definition of what comedy should be, but with a clever ironic twist.

Fire on the Fountain was also an interesting event. Even though I did not stay long, I was able to see the fire dancers, who were amazing to watch. And I have to admit, the amount of effort put into the whole event (stage, booths, food, performance) was pretty astounding.

MUSE workshops

During the second-to-last week in October, I attended a seminar ran by the student health department designed to educate us about the risks of alcohol when given the opportunity to drive a vehicle. To do this (here's the fun part), we played Mario Kart 64 wearing beer goggles, which are glasses that distort your vision to simulate the experience of being drunk. Although I repeatedly lost, it was both fun and enlightening to not only hear but experience how dangerous it was to drive drunk.

At the beginning of the same month, my friend Kayla and I attended a less entertaining (and more depressing and scary) seminar regarding domestic violence and harrassment. A panel of 11 people, consisting of judges, attorneys, proscutors, mayors, officers, and sheriffs, who all have had experience in dealing with such offenders. They went over the process of how offenders are tried in court and how victims can get help. The air was dead serious, and I didn't dare get out of my seat.

11/30/09

MUSE interview imbedded


This was the interview that we did last week, with Amirissa and Karimah, MUSE 1.

11/25/09

The audio project

Well, it's unfortunate that we couldn't do the fun and creative radio drama that I was hoping for, but an interview is fine, too. I learned the possibilities of becoming politically active on campus, and that it's never too early to do so, from Karima (sp?). Oh, and Audacity is free. Nice.

11/18/09

The last chapter!

It's about careers.

Taking the end-of-chapter quizzes, one thing I found was what I want out of a career. Some values I chose from a list were having opportunities for advancement, having plenty of time to spend with family, contributing to the welfare of others, and making a lot of money.

There's also a list of my self-management skills, and from that list, I chose sense of humor, ambitious. friendly, helpful, and open-minded. What I noticed were some items that I skipped over, such as completing assignments and being self-confident. Now that I've singled these qualities out, I can work to impove on them.

11/9/09

Chapter 11 is about monneh...

Reading Chapter 11 actually interested me a little bit, seeing that I've been recently thinking about subjects like budgeting and financial independance. Yeah, I'm that boring.

I was NOT going to spend ten minutes sorting a 30 item list of subjects in order of importance to me, but I can make a few comparisons. On the top of my list are a comfortable lifestyle, family activities, friends, independance and security. At the bottom of my list are a new home, shopping, religion, and culture.

I am not a compulsive shopper.

Well, this chapter didn't help me as much as I figured it would, but it helped convince me to keep track of my spendings more. Hell, maybe I'll go find a second job.

11/4/09

The video project

Is the video as epic as I thought it would be? No. Did the topic I suggested follow thorugh? No. But what we did make was random, strange, and oddly funny in the right light. But hell, what's important is that we had fun making it, and no one was really that stressed out. So that works.

Besides, nerf guns are stupid.

Here's the video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmtDOQqNI5Y

Group members list (in no particular order) :
Joel Palermo
Kim Saechao
Mynesha Grey
Patrick Harris
Ryan Barker
David Harty

10/27/09

Chapter ten. Go crazy.

A chapter about healthy lifestyles? Sounds like fun. Here's how the "know yourself" sections went:

Self-assessment #1 took asked for a lot of my general feelings and attitudes (being helpful to others, feeling well-rested every day), and how they contribute to a healthy lifestyle. I scored pretty well on this, but I couldn't help but notice that some factors seemed a bit unnatural. One asked if I usually go to bed happy and satisfied about the day. Well, when's the last time you went to bad happy? On a good day, right? I dunno about you, but I ususally go to bed tired, not happy. But isn't that normal? Anyway, being well-rested and having a positive demeanor is definintely beneficial to a healthy lifestyle, but no one's happy all the time.

The second self-assessment was simply saying no to drugs.

The third self-assessment was about my views on sex, and although I will not go into details, I ended up getting a pretty liberal score for many figures. But whatever your views are, what's important is that you know what your partner thinks about the subject. Oh, and since when is emphasizing communication labelled "liberal"? Is it "traditional" to make sure that neither one knows what they want from a relationship?

10/20/09

Chapter 8 is about tests, y'all

And chapter about tests? And right before our midterm? Who would've thought?

Let's see, first up is test anxiety. Ha! I laugh in the face of tests (even the ones I'm not prepared for... it's a rather hollow laugh). I answered "never" for a good deal of the questions, such as "I have difficulty getting a good night's sleep before the test" and questions regarding physical sickness from stress (ouch). I put "sometimes" for the questions regarding being distracted during tests, but I get distracted quite 0ft- ooh, new Youtube video!

A question about one's honor code made me think for a bit: "If someone is caught cheating, which consequence do you think is the most appropriate?" It had a few options to choose from. I thought that failing the student in the course would be way too harsh. Instead, I feel that failing the student on the assignment alone would be a justifiable approach.

10/13/09

Patrick goes to CMF

After working with my group on our not gun-related video, a lot of us went to the mandatory Campus Movie Fest. It was a night full of spotlights, long lines in the dark, funny and dramatic videos, and crushed hopes of winning a raffle prize.

Many interesting movie entries, I must say. However, I can only remember a few. The dramatic short "Resistance" had me tense during the whole movie, although its plot was very simplistic. The movie "Fun Scare", if that's what it was called, appealed to a lot of students, but I guess I didn't think it was so funny. In my opinion, "The Truthbreakers" is the definition of what comedy should be, but with a clever ironic twist.

Bottom line: it was a great night with great movies, but I had a God-awful headache, so I couldn't really enjoy it.

10/7/09

Chapter 7!

Okay, This chapter wants to tell me how I should change my study habits. When I first noticed that, I wanted to take a lighter to my textbook, but realized after a bit of reading that it didn't ask me to change anything drastically. This is mostly because I'm pretty decent at keeping good study habits.

The chapter suggests staying consistant in your time and place of study. Personally, my best place to study is on my bed in my dorm room. The thick door blocks out a lot of noise from the hall, and I have privacy and internet accessibility in here. I generally do much of my studying and work at night, because most other people in my dorm hall do the same.

Sleeping was also a big factor in this chapter. It explains how bad sleeping habits such as cramming or dozing off at a desk can lead to sleeping disorders. On the whole, I get 6 to 7 hours of sleep each day. I only had some minor checks on the sleeping disorder checklist, so I don't have much to worry about.

9/30/09

Peer Mentor/MUSE evaluation

Despite a couple issues in communication, I think that the MUSE class has been going alright so far. I appriciate the work that Professor Dan does to make up for when he is unable to come to class, and how peer mentor Anna works hard to make the class fun for everyone. So far, our class peer mentor has helped form our syllabus, cleared up confusion on homework assignments, and even took the time to learn our names.

I can't say I've learned much from the course, though. The title "Get Internet Famous" doesn't really cover what we've done, which is using blog entries as means of submitting homework. But recent promises of video projects and computer terms make me more optimistic.

Chapter 4 & 5

Chapter 4's approach to helping students get the most out of learning was by providing several lists of common personality categories and types of learning styles. I suppose that the goal of this chapter is to have students understand how they learn best, so that they can utilize their best ways of learning. I noticed that my two top strengths in intelligence, somehow, came to be tied at interpersonal and intrapersonal, which kinda contradict each other in concept (one suggests introversion while the other suggests extraversion). I never take such tests seriously, becuase my scores are generally all across the board.

Chapter 5 tought us how to think. Seriously. Most of it was simple, common sense knowledge, such as knowing when and how to determine if something that you hear is made up or real. But some people lack common sense, so I suppose it helps. It does helpfully explain how to state an argument, though. After a long quiz, I found out that I am classified as an information "consumer", which insultingly tells me that I can't gain knowledge outside of memorization.

My favorite title from chapter 5: "Avoid Making Bad Choices"

9/24/09

Chapter 9 - Plagiarism, writing, and speaking

This chapter in 6 words: What to say and not say.

The first thing covered in the chapter is writing. While I'm not the strongest writer in the world, I'd say that one of my biggest strengths is keeping my writing structured and easy to read. If you have an easily understandable thesis, then an easily understandable essay with divisions of proof and evidence will soon follow. The only issue I have is explaining quotations and facts from outside sources. While past teachers have told me that even a couple sentences can't sufficiently explain outside information, I have difficulty getting past just one sentence. I'll try seeing how else I can explain facts and relate them to my paper the next time I have a writing assignment.

I am pretty freaking good at public speaking. Having been in a speech and debate club in high school, I've had experience in reciting, writing, editing, and perfecting speeches and acts. What's difficult for me to do is practice reciting speeches word for word, because I usually tend to paraphrase or speak on the fly about my subjects. Granted, I do many practice runs before each official speech, but I don't stick to a specfic script. Although, the book makes a point for me to remember to know the audience that I'm speaking to, so I can know what sort of language, formal or informal, to use.

The "what not to say" portion of this chapter covers plagiarism. While it's definitely not worthwhile to go ahead and copy, or even paraphrase, what another source says without proper citation, it's important to know that even those who don't mean to steal can plagiarize without knowing it. Make sure to explain and site the source of your information, or face legal consequences, possibly including jail time.

And that's no good.

9/22/09

Bio-poem

Patrick
Agreeing, Bizarre, Considerate, Delightful
Boyfriend of Jessica, roommate of Ari, family of JoAnna, Chris, Veronica, and lil' sister Jess
Cares about gay rights, his relationship, and the feelings of others
Feels distracted, amorous, ticklish
Needs attention, internet connection, and cheese-flavored snack crackers
Gives advice, accidental humor, and time for community service
Fears seperation, the judicial system, and roller coasters
Wants to see a bright future for himself, his friends, and everyone
San Jose, 8th street
Harris

9/16/09

Interests (Chapter 1 + prologue)

I enjoy surfing the web,
playing video games,
playing tennis,
playing pool (due to the pool table downstairs),
and hanging out with my awesome girlfriend, Jessica.

Ch. 3 review

I spent too much time on:
Video games, internet surfing, and playing pool

I spent too little time on:
Homework, studying Psychology, and updating my blog

Next week, I will spend more time on:
Homework, studying, and blog updates

Next week, I will spend less time on:
Surfing the web, Instant messaging, and pool.

These are what I must work on to become a great time manager:
1. Keep and maintain written to-do list, so I can have control over times of certain events, but can also make sure to complete them all.
2. Monitor and restrict time spent surfing the web.
3. Set a weekly limit for number of weekday pool games.

To work on my bad habit of excessive web surfing, I will work on replacing such web surfing with blog updating.

Relationships

Had breakfast with a stranger this morning. I sat at a table for no more than a minute, and he approaches. Mind if I sit with you? Nah, go ahead. Minute-long pause. I asked for his name, which was Nate, and by the end of the discussion, I finished my smoothie.

One of the things I talked about was my girlfriend Jessica, and how she doesn't live too far away from me. He told me how he had to leave his girlfriend when they had gone to different colleges. It all reminded me of the case of my kindly dorm neighbor Stephanie, who had formerly resided in Chicago. To my amazement, she continues her relationship with her boyfriend by means of video chat and phone, even though they live halfway across the country.


Suddenly the 20 minute drive to Jessica's doesn't seem so much a challenge.

What drives someone to keep their love strong for another person when such a long distance divides them?

First day of work!

Having never had a job outside the home before,
Having gone through about 3 weeks of applications, paperwork, and background checks,
Having set 2 morning alarms and a set of clothes,
I went to my first day of being a tutor at a junior high school on Tuesday.

...but I overslept. I got there a half hour late. On my first day of work.

Thankfully, the teachers I worked with were forgiving about this, and I took notes along with the middle schoolers. Mrs. Sylvia Davis, one of the teachers I am working with in the AVID program and my contact for the job, was very kind and introduced me to the class. I think the kids must've thought it was cool to have a college student in the class, because they seemed to be pretty nice, too.

As fun as my first day of class was, however, I have my concerns for keeping the job. After doing the math, my salary comes down to about $45 a week, and I don't consider that much - especially since a tank of gas costs me $30 and I'm saving money to become more self-supportive next year. The problem is that I need to sign an employee contract saying that I will promise to work for a full year, so I need to make this decision quickly.

But what do you think? Tell me any thoughts or suggestions you think in the comments section below.

9/14/09

The Weird Mime game

Today in my Get Internet Famous class (whish would be right now, since we're still in class), classmate Alex and I were partners for the group mime game. The point of the game is to have one person make expressions using face and body, and the other person must mimic the same motions and expressions. The purpose of the game, although Professor Dan explained its role in learning about communication, was a tad unclear. Thus, a lot of people in class - Alex included - were hesitant about doing such actions and miming.

In the end, we felt that the activity was fun, but we were still confused as hell.

The MLK Library

On Wednesday, the Get Internet Famous class went to MLK library for a "tour". Instead of exploring the different floors and sections of the library (an act that I have done already in my free time - wheeeeeeeeee, elevators!!!), we sat in a swank conference room and learned about how to access library resources online. Wasn't the most fun thing in the world, but I certainly learned a lot about how to find scholarly articles online, which oughta help for writing papers. I hope Professor Dan is feeling better.

My classmate Alex and I turned in our scavenger hunt paper that day, but don't know how well we did compared to the others. Will we get that awesome First Prize? Hope so. I still don't have a textbook...

9/10/09

How's my roommate doing?

Ari's been doing fine, as far as I can tell. Due to his shy nature, making friends with others is kinda awkward, but thankfully, the awesome people on our floor like Ian and Stephanie make it worth the effort.

Both Ari and I have had a similar experience in transitioning from high school to college, mostly because we did not move far.

(Prologue Review Q. 1)

8/31/09

Top Ten Favorite Sites

Here's a list of awesome people and sites that I visit regularly:

http://www.sjsu.edu/
The San Jose State website...
http://www.vgcats.com/
VG Cats, an awesome web comic about video games - hardly ever updated...
http://www.xkcd.com/
XKCD, a very witty (and often nerdy) web comic with stick figures - updated every other day!
http://www.halolz.com/
Halolz, a blog(?) posting several funny video game-related pictures - updated daily!
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/unskippable
Unskippable, an awesome video series that's like Mystery Science Theater 3000, but with video games - updated weekly.
http://www.cracked.com/
Cracked, a site full of funny and amusing lists and enlightening facts that are relevant to your interests - updated daily!
http://www.daisyowl.com/
Daisy Owl, an amusing web comic about kids raised by a talking owl - updated weekly.
http://www.youtube.com/user/CardGamesFTW/
Yugioh Abridged, a great video series that spoofs the popular anime series - updated weekly.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/
Gaia Online, an anime-based social networking site. It's free and fun.
http://www.deviantart.com/
DeviantArt, an art-based website. Lots of lovely works there, of all sorts.

8/26/09

And Day Two

Tuesday, August 25: the second day of the rest of my life.

Professor Feist, teaching the wonderful subject of psychology, spoke to a large class in a small classroom and told us about the awesome online resources. I'll admit, it sounds cool.

Professor Abrams has a face you won't forget. When he went through the rubric and got to the part saying "no laptops in class," everyone watched as I stopped typing and put mine away. But I did meet two very nice friends: the cute and talkative Kayla and the quiet and technical David.

The food is still very tasty.

SJSU - Day One

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life."


That day was Monday, August 24th. In short, my first day of school went like this:

Professor Dan, dressed in a shirt displaying more Marvel characters than I care to recall, explained to us the fun fun fun we'll have in the class, and even showed us the Numa Numa video.

Professor Eckstone, not unlike Regis Philbin in appearance, taught to a class of nearly 70 students. The class was expected to run for 3 hours. Thankfully for my short attention span (although the material wasn't all that boring), it only went for half as long.

Hot dog, pizza, salad, french fries, Pepsi, iced tea, and apple juice. The food at the dining commons was delicious.