don't hate- communicate

I hate it when people try to shove their views down my throat, like they're right and I'm wrong and that's just the way it is. Sometimes I feel like all communication can be persuasion, because everyone usually always believes that what they're saying is correct. But then again, honestly thats only one function. I remembered then that communication can also be used to explanation' informing, or entertaining. When I think of persuasion, I think of manipulation, and that's not always the case. At least, that's not how it is for myself. Communicaion can be seen to some as just a means to persuade others that their opinions and views are correct, but to most, it is just a way to interact. Do with it what you will; communication can be all about persuasion if that's what you want it to be. Personally, I just think that's stupid. People who are only focused on persuasion and not communication in general used for other purposes. Let's not hate- communicate!

Cancer sticks

To tell you the truth, I am a pretty strongly opinionated person. There are many things I feel strongly about, but I guess I'll just chose one that I really don't like, and I bet a lot of other people will write their posts about this. Smoking. What is up with that? Ahh it's just killing your own body. I have done so many reports, read too many articles, and have seen a ridiculous amount of those gross tobacco commercials for me not to have a strong opinion about smoking. The smell stenches your clothes, smoke gets blown in your face, and not to mention its like sucking cancer right into your body through a tube. Maybe I am a little bias about the situation, because many family members have had and still do have cancer. And since cancer is so closely linked to smoking, I have a very strong no-smoking policy. So many that factor could get in my way. It just bothers me: the facts are out there; the statistics, the logic, the scientific proof, of the effects that smoking has on your body. But we still do it? Are we stupid? Yes, I know there's an addiction involved, but that should be your first clue that it's not a smart idea. Okay, I'm going to stop now. Honestly, smoking just isnt for me. I'm not happy when my friends are crazy smokers, but it's their decision. I'm not against anyone who smokes. I just wish our society would be smarter, and more aware about what goes into their bodies- and care a little more.

Personal space, please.

I shared a room with my sister for thirteen years of my life. I can imagine that there are many people who can agree to the fact that there is NO such thing as personal space when you're living in the same room with a sibling. Absolutely not. I would come home from school or wherever, and my sister's clothes would be all over my bed. All over the floor. My hairbrush would be covered in her hair, my makeup would be moved, and the clothes in my drawer would be in a wrinkled mess. Personal space? I think not. Clearly her intentions were "Hey, I'm her sister, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want." Maybe some think that there's no such thing as personal space when it comes to family. I partially agree with that. I think there SHOULD be, but with family, you always feel okay with pushing the boundaries of personal space, because you think, hey we're family, they'll be fine. That's on the thin line of taking advantage. Especially with family members, personal space can be... well, nonexistent.

Socially Awkward Experiment

While hanging out in Cafe Diem today (I seriously think I'm there all the time..) I broke the norms of eye contact while in a discussion. Let me tell you, it was awkward. Nothing is more weird than having a conversation with someone and they are looking all over the place; around the room, looking at people walking through the door, their watch, anything. I had the pleasure of being that socially awkward person. I was sitting on a couch with my buddy Keith and I knew that this was the time: we started talking about high school and old memories, and my eyes just started wandering. I was telling him a story about my senior year and I looked at his sweatshirt, his messy hair and all the chaos going on in Cafe Diem. It must of seemed like I wanted to be anywhere but there talking to him, poor kid. I felt horrible- by breaking eye contact and not looking at him I felt so rude and he probably got the impression that I was not interested in our stroll down memory lane. The conversation took an awkward turn. I could only imagine what was running through his mind. Probably something like, "Wow this girl is a jerk why doesn't she just leave already." Which I did not what to do! But thats how important eye contact is I guess. The conversation took an awkward turn. He was wondering why I was still here talking, I was wondering what he was thinking in the first place, and then words just stopped coming. We went to our seperate couches and got out homework. This is definitely not a smart move to making friends, or keeping them for that matter.

Exams= no fun

Maybe it was because this was the first exam I've taken this year and I was nervous, or because I suck at taking tests, but I thought this past Listening test was... difficult. I studied the material too! I had a very efficient study sheet, with basically everything that was in my notebook- anything you could possibly want to know about listening, and I still felt unprepared when I got that test. I think the hardest for me was the fill in the blank's. Personally, I'm not a fan of them, because you need to know definitions completely word for word, rather than just the overall concept and idea. So they are overly confusing and not helpful to me. I think that was my worst section of the test. The multiple choice and T/F were very explicit and self explanatory which was great, and even the short answers were fine because you get to talk out your ideas on the paper and it doesn't need to be an exact text book answer. Honestly the only problem I had was with the fill in the blanks.
I probably could have studied a bit more, but now I know. I didn't study word for word definitions, but more like the general concepts and ideas. I'll work on that. Overall, the test was fine. I just really don't like tests to begin with, so my answer might be a bit bias.

Truth: I'm not the best listener

You know when people are watching TV and their eyes get glazed over? That's the way I look when I am listening to something that I am not interested in. That's one factor that greatly hinders my ability to listen. If a certain topic or a show doesn't interest me, I barely pay attention, which is not the best thing, especially in a classroom setting. If I tune out a bit, I really can't recall facts or the information discussed too well, and I won't be able to remember it when the time comes for an exam. That's probably my worst habit- if a certain topic doesn't keep my attention, I won't try to keep my attention focused on it, but I'll find something else to amuse me, which isn't a problem at all. I'd say this definitely interferes with my ability to listen, it's not a help at all. Another factor is that I get distracted way to easily...by anything really, whether its mental or physical interferences. Again, it definitely hinders my ability to listen and comprehend.
The only thing I can do to compensate for their influence, is to engross myself in the material, whether I find it interesting or not, and FOCUS. I bet that if I really tried, I could tune out everything else around me, and really concentrate on the topic. Write excessive notes, mentally repeat everything the professor says after she says it- sure that's a bit extreme but it will keep my mind on the material, no matter how badly I want to just tune it out. It all comes down to just focusing- sucking it up and actually listening. Go figure

G'day Mate- Dust Storm in Australia

I don't know if anyone has heard, but recently in Australia, there was this huge dust storm. I know what you're thinking: Australia is on the other side of the world- you either had no idea or don't care. Which is totally fine. BUT it is really interesting. I especially find it crazy because I was in Australia for three months last summer, and I lived in Sydney where they got hit pretty bad with this storm. So when my Aussie friend called me and told me what happened, I was shocked! He said how everyone woke up in the morning, and all you could see was orange dust being swirled around every where because of the intense wind. I was reading some articles about it online, and one lady being interviewed said, "When i first woke up, my curtains were drawn so i assumed there was some hectic large bushfire...." The dust was that bright! Everything was covered. The cars, the streets, the people walking outside... It wasn't advised that anyone went out of their house, because the ventilation was so bad. Many people, as a result were hospitalized. Not to mention, this was no small thing. The dust storm was 310 miles wide and 620 miles long that swept the East coast. It's really an unbelievable picture.

When my friend called me, the dust had settled down, but it still covered a lot of the cars and it was still in the air. People were walking around with scarves and masks to cover their noses. It's so hard for me to believe- that the place I lived for three months, basically turned orange. I thought it was fascinating and I found myself reading a lot about it! But for those of you who have never been to Australia and can't get the mental picture, here are some photos I found of the dust storm. It's really amazing.

Take a look at that! That's the dust cloud first coming in!

Before the Storm:

SydneyOpera house
After -->

This is the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Can you see it?? Barely? My point exactly.