Prompt for Wed.

So first off, I think the vending machines on campus are super funny. There are WAY too many choices. All you would need to add is a toilet paper vending machine and you'd be able to live at BYU for a whole semester, while shopping only at vending machines. I also love that there are microwaves at all the vending machines, because it opens up awesome possibilities for lunch. Leftovers? Yep! Oatmeal? Easy! Corn dogs? Oh yeah!

Now that I'm finished with lunch (chicken and rice - delicious!), on to the actual post.

The biggest thing for me in my paper is poor organization. I didn't give my research the attention it deserved before I started writing, so when it came to the actual writing I was working way harder than I would have had to if I had done my research right the first time. I would have gotten more sleep too. I also wrote originally just trying to get all my thoughts on paper and back them up with good sources and that is pretty much how it came out. So to fix it, I am going to revise my introduction and thesis statement to pull everything together. The research ended up coming out alright but just took hours and hours longer than it should have. Everyone's time management suggestions on my last post were awesome and much appreciated! I am excited to try them. Next time. Because procrastination is one of my strongest natural talents : P

And now, websites. First, here are four that are pretty effective at doing what they aim to do.

1. http://www.facebook.com/havinfuninthesun

2. http://www.amazon.com/

3. http://mormon.org/

4. http://www.youtube.com/

Here are four that are ineffective, for various reasons.

1. http://www.lindoncity.org/lindon-justice-court.htm

2. http://www.masteringchemistry.com/

3. http://www.utaharsenalsc.net/

4. http://www.scoreboardsports.net/

This will be a pithy blog post:

Myths have lost their original meaning; what once were dogmas that formed the foundation of other cultures are now to us simple tales lacking any relationship to reality. Unfortunately, what has been lost is exactly what makes myths the basis of so much study.

With the issues paper, I have mostly struggled planning out enough time to complete the research and writing process. How have ya'll been able to plan and limit the time you spend working on it?

Library Instruction: A Well Thought Out Paragraph on the Merits and Lessons of Library Research Instruction with Additional Comments

Additional comments first: the iPads I could take or leave, but those library desks were awesome!!! Natalie, I think you should pull some strings and get those for our classroom. They would be so convenient for mixing up groups or passing papers around. We could take fun five-minute breaks and do things like bumper cars, desk tag, or sharks and minnows. We could even take field trips without having to get up, but we would still be getting exercise from using our legs to maneuver. We already have a pretty great class, but if anything were to make it even better, it would be getting those desks in our classroom.

I thought the library research instruction was very enlightening. I did not know that I could chat with a librarian, or that there are so many great search engines available to help me find scholarly articles and other academically sound sources. I thought it was cool that we all had iPads so we could follow along, although a few times I got distracted looking things up and missed some of the teaching. I found a couple sources for my paper that should help me with my research. I wasn't really confused about anything. It makes sense that we can use encyclopedias in our research but not as sources. It also makes sense that we want to use the work of experts to strengthen our papers' appeals to ethos. I'm glad we are working on this right now; I have a research paper that I am working on for a different class at the same time, and I feel like what I learn in Writing will help me to do a quality job on my other paper.

Popping the question, research paper style (research paper proposal. hahaha)

For as long as I can remember, I have loved playing sports. Growing up, I played a lot of youth sports. I consider myself a sports purist--I value good sportsmanship, playing for a love of the game, and being competitive and intense but keeping things in their proper perspective. In every sport at every level, in varying degrees of severity, there will be contaminants that creep in to the game. These could have the form of a parent banking their child's college education on an athletic scholarship, and pushing their child so hard to excel that all enjoyment in playing sports is lost. These could have the form of a coach picking favorites over skill, work ethic, and fair opportunity when choosing a team because he is friends with some of the children's parents but not others'. These could have the form of an organization that withholds opportunities to participate from some children because they are poor. For lack of a more specialized term, these detracting outside influences are often referred to as politics. When framed this way, politics in sports are negative by definition. For the purpose of the article I propose to write, this definition would be expanded to include possible positive influences as well, such as a coach's use of sports to teach important life lessons or to keep kids off the street and out of gangs. Anything outside of playing sports for nothing but the sake of the game will be classed under the term politics.

This seems like a broad topic, but more than arguing the efficacy of specific examples of politics in sports, I propose to argue the concept as a whole, and use specific examples to support it when such examples would lend clarity to the argument or illustrate an essential point. Elements of the concept of sports politics to be argued would include their developmental effects on children, and whether these effects vindicate, justify, or condemn the presence of politics. They would also include a look into why these influences are introduced into youth sports and where they often come from. Finally, based on the conclusions I will draw from the thorough research I will do, I intend to argue what steps ought to be taken to maximize the positive effects of sports politics on child and adolescent development.

Preliminary research I have conducted consists of quick internet searches that yielded enough recent information to convince me that this topic is a timely one. Based on both the articles I read and my own experience, my initial stance is that politics in sports play a significant role in the psychological development of children and adolescents, and that these effects are negative more often than they are positive. I am excited about this topic because I love sports and feel like they are a very uniquely effective medium for teaching and learning on many different levels, from concepts of hard work and mental toughness to inter-personal relationships to ethics and morals. Like any form of teaching, sports and their accompanying politics are neither inherently good or bad and it matters how they are used, because by affecting the minds, morals, and perceptions of children, they influence the future in a very significant way, and the future, as a result of choices made now, has consequences for all of us.

20 Ideas!

Ok. I hope this list of 20 things does not have to be completely made up of issues-paper-ready issues. Because mine probably won't be : )

1. History of sports

2. Politics in sports

3. Sports in general

4. Old books

5. History of religion

6. History of how religion is practiced

7. Relationships between people

8. Animals

9. History of the United States

10. History of art

11. Physics

12. Exploration

13. Behavioral psychology

14. Efficiency

15. Writing

16. Reading

17. Learning

18. Influence

19. Modern technology

20. Family

There we go! A list of 20 things I am interested in. It's definitely not comprehensive. Hopefully I will be able to pick something to write about from this. The brainstorming I did while making this list did help me think of some possibilities that I hadn't thought of before.

Paper Improvements & Favorite Movies

Improvements to my paper:

1. Change all my n-dashes to m-dashes

2. Unify my voice throughout the paper

3. Clarify some confusing sentences, specifically on pages 2 and 4

And now for my favorite movies! There are a lot. And they are in no particular order.

• Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter (I feel like these all fall in the same category)
• Pirates of the Carribean (all three, but the first one is the best)
• The Princess Bride and Stardust
• She's the Man
• High School Musical (don't judge me : P The first and third ones are the best)
• Inception
• The Lion King, The Jungle Book, and The Emperor's New Groove
• Oscar (I haven't met a ton of people who have seen or even heard of this one, but it is hilarious! The summary doesn't do it justice, but look it up and then watch it when you can: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102603/)
• 17 Miracles
• Forever Strong and Remember the Titans
• While You Were Sleeping

Well, these are a few among many, and I'm sure I'll think of more later. Although, if I can't even remember them right away, how much of a favorite can they really be, right? I think I need to start watching more movies more often : P

Love Story: Scripture Edition!

CHAPTER 1

An epistle of Kermit to his girlfriend, Miss Piggy—He expresseth his love—He asketh her on a date.

And it came to pass, that as Kermit dwelt in the swamp, he did write an epistle to his girlfriend, Miss Piggy, and these are the words which he did write:

2. O Miss Piggy, my heart is full of love for thee!

3. Behold, thou art fair, my love. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.

4. Thy countenance is as the shining of the sun and doth fill my soul with happiness.

5. My heart is also filled with sorrow, with sorrow my heart runneth o’er, because that thou art far from me.

6. Miss Piggy, I beseech of thee that thou wouldst go on a date with me. Doth Friday at the twelfth hour work for thee?

CHAPTER 2

An epistle written by the hand of Miss Piggy, to Kermit—She loveth him as well—She accepteth his offer of a date.

It came to pass, that Miss Piggy did receive the epistle of Kermit on the fourteenth day of the second month of the twenty-hundred and twelfth year since the coming of our Lord.

2. And when she did receive these things, her heart was filled with joy for the tender mercies of the Lord in sending her a boyfriend.

3. And it came to pass, that she did write back to him, and these are the words of Miss Piggy, written by her own hand:

4. Kermit, my love, I send thee this epistle, written by mine own hand and accompanied by my love.

5. Thy greenness doth soothe my troubled heart, and the thought of thee in my mind doth carry me through the troubled days and keepeth me warm through the cold nights.

6. Fear not, my love, for I will return to thee upon the morrow, and the time that we have been apart shall seem to me but a day, because of the love for thee that is in my heart.

7. My heart rejoiceth within me that thou didst ask me on a date, and I would that I had words to express to thee how much I would love to go!

CHAPTER 3

Kermit and Miss Piggy are married—Their generations are set forth.

And it came to pass, that on the twenty-seventh day of the third month of the twenty-hundred and twelfth year since the coming of our Lord, Kermit and Miss Piggy were married.

2. And they did multiply and replenish the earth.

3. And it came to pass that Kermit begat Kermit Jr.

4. And Kermit Jr. begat Kermit III.

5. And Kermit III begat two sons and he did name them Shadrach and Harold.

6. And Shadrach died tragically in his youth, and Harold was highly favored of his father and did receive the birthright. And Harold begat Frederick.

7. And Frederick was exceedingly righteous, and was taken up by the Lord, and thus ended the posterity of Kermit.