And Now the Time Has Come.......

It is a bit of a strange feeling to be writing this last blog post for Writ101. Overall, I would have to say that these blog writes were a new adventure for a lot of people in the class myself included. I can honestly say that I never thought that I would actually do anything like this, but it really beats the alternative of writing a paper in class and handing it in to you. I can only imagine how atrocious some of the handwriting is! I am not now nor will I ever "probably" be the next James Patterson but with the blog I feel like I have more of chance of it happening. With that being written as it is I won't be continuing this blog on a full-time basis, but I could see me sitting around one day just dropping a line about what was is happening in the worldn as I see it. Hell, even possibly something about feelings maybe--who knows?

As far as my favorite post is concerned I would have to say that I am leaning towards the choose your own adventures. These posts just seemed more fun because it gave us the opportunity to choose what we wanted to write on. It gave us as the writers the freedom to literally "Choose our own Adventure." Which hell, isn't that why we have come to college in the first place? Of course with mine I chose to open myself up to everyone on the net by telling 2 truths and 1 lie. It was one of the first times that I actually opened up on this blog and started putting me out there. Granted my truths weren't earth shattering for anyone, but it is definitely a starting point.

Unfortunately, I can't really say that my writing skills have improved dramatically but there is probably a little improvement in there somewhere. I still don't know all of my punctuation usuage and yes as you know my sentence structuring can be likened to a run away train at times but give me a little credit please! Knowing that anyone anywhere in the world could look this up is definitely a little daunting to think about so it really makes me stop to think about what I am typing. Questions like -- Does what I am typing make sense?? or Will this information help anyone out there?? -- keep rambling throughout my skull as my fingers fly. I can honestly say that for the most part I can say that I have tried to answer both of these questions with a yes for every blog post, but like most college kids I have had my "off" posts. I really want to thank you for opening my eyes to this experience Molly and for not being afraid to be different when it comes to this class!! :)

Can you spot my lie??

So in today's edition of this blog post I am writing 2 truths and 1 lie so tell me if you can find the lie...

When I was a senior in High School my mother, sister, best friend and I took a road trip Scottsdale, Arizona. On our way down we stopped in Las Vegas and while the adults (the over 21 crowd) went gambling, we the kids went to Circus Circus and rode the rides in the amusement park. After a couple of fun filled hours we noticed that a bunch of kids were running over to this really gruff, grizzly looking little man and having him sign random things. Of course, our curiosity was peaked at this point so my little posse made our way over and standing there watching his daughter ride some rides was a haggard looking Robin Williams. I stood in disbelief watching as he signed all sorts of things for the kids and sadly to this day I still don't have a Robin Williams signature. In my disbelief, I was actually never able to go over and get his signature but I did end up with a few great stories from that trip.

When I was in the seventh grade I took my girlfriend to her freshmen year Prom. The theme from that year was A Night with the Stars and it was a night to remember. The date started with my parents driving me up to her parent's house since I wasn't old enough to drive. Then we did the obligatory picture taking and then after all of that was said and done my parents drove us to the dance where did the whole gambit of Prom rituals. Afterwards, her parents picked me up and dropped me off at home.

In High School I took Drama I my Junior year. For some reason I ended up hanging out with and sitting next to the really snooty girls from class so our teacher was always yelling in my general direction, through no fault of my own -- at lease most of the time. Anyways, at the end of the year we had to put on a play for our parents and anyone else that wanted to show up. My class ended up doing about 10 of short stories that we acted out and for some reason I ended up being in 9 out of the 10 in some way, shape or form. Backstage I was running from one end to the other and it was a blast actually and it didn't hurt that we all got rave reviews.

Awesome Misunderstood TV.....Glee??

Unfortunately, I do have to admit that I am a TV junkie. I had an extremely hard time thinking of only one show to write on for this post because of this fact. That being said I finally settled on "Glee." In short, Glee is about some kids from all different backgrounds who join the high school Glee Club. In every episode you can find some great moral of truth in the story line and then they of course leave you singing long after the show is over. Yes, I am a bonafide gleek (for some reason that is what fans of the show have decided to call themselves.) This show is full of humor, good morals and lets face it -- most of the cast can actually sing too. It brings to mind my days in high school -- where yes, I was in 2 choir classes and they were the best parts of my day -- but more than that it was about friends. Sure, my high school was just as clique-ish as the next but I rode the fine line between all of the players in the game and came out with some great friends.

Aside from reminding people of their high school experiences, whether good or bad, Glee is about bringing people together. On the show you have the jocks, cheerleaders, wannabes and of course the nerds who all join their voices for an hour of television time. Each one of them has their own personal issues going on but when they come together they are truly there for each other. Sure, some of the story lines are out there, such as, the quarterback of the football team not knowing that you can't get a girl pregnant in a hot tub when you haven't "done the actual deed" shall we say. But come on, he's the quarterback of the football team -- he isn't there to use the lump on his shoulders -- just as long as he can throw the ball and be freaking hot doing it. Play along with it people and teach your children better.

Everybody can find something to like about Glee. If its not in the acting or the storytelling then there is always the music. The music selections in Glee are fantastic. They should be commended for picking such great songs from yesterday and mixing them with today's musical stylings. Like I said before, once the show is over I keep singing the songs long afterwards. If you aren't a fan of musicals then watch for Sue Sylvester played marvelously by Jane Lynch. She steals every scene she is in with her catch phrases and attitude. I can not wait for Glee to come back on next Tuesday. Since I don't have a tv in my room I have to wait until Wednesday to watch it on the Internet but it is definitely worth the wait. Check it out!!

3 Op-ed's that intrigued me

http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/articles/article/caught_in_the_act_guy_candy_not_storylines/95
I really enjoyed this article because I feel the same way as the writer. Porn is so friggin unbelievable that I don't see point in it even though I am a man. The only ones that I could see really liking it would be men that have never had sex with someone other than themselves.


http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/articles/article/braaten_spring_is_not_all_that_its_cracked_up_to_be/974
This article was intriguing to me just for the simple fact that people like this scare. As soon as the snow has melted you will more than likely find me in shorts outside chilling. Not that I am against someone's personal views if they don't want to be out there with me but come on outside and enjoy the scenery while we have it.


http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/articles/article/new_president_should_be_relatable/924
I enjoyed this article because I believe in the message. Not only should this apply to the President of the University but to all of the world leaders out there. So many of the elected officials are just mouth puppets for the people really running the show behind the scenes which causes so much of the chaos when they don't stick to their platforms that got them into the office in the first place.

Sustainability Research.....

So this week our posts are supposed to show at least 5 resources that we plan on using to get information on our Sustainability Papers. Right now I definitely have 5 that I plan on using but I am still looking at more.


https://bl2prd0102.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=7c56e09768914382a8e5ce31d0cf6f72&URL=http%3a%2f%2fdiabetes.webmd.com%2fguide%2fdiabetes_living_managing WebMD is a very popular and resourceful internet website. It is full of great information and I definitely plan on using some of it in my paper.

https://bl2prd0102.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=7c56e09768914382a8e5ce31d0cf6f72&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.diabetes.org%2f The American Diabetes Association web page on living with and managing diabetes is another great source of information. I will most assuredly be using some information from this source.

https://bl2prd0102.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=7c56e09768914382a8e5ce31d0cf6f72&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bing.com%2fhealth%2farticle%2fmayo-119085%2fDiabetes%3fq%3ddiabetes This is a great article written by some doctors at the Mayo Clinic basically tells you all about diabetes and has some great information. I will be using some Im almost positive.

https://bl2prd0102.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=7c56e09768914382a8e5ce31d0cf6f72&URL=http%3a%2f%2ffamilydoctor.org%2fonline%2ffamdocen%2fhome%2fcommon%2fdiabetes%2fliving%2f049.html This is a website that offers some information on diabetes but nothing really great.

https://bl2prd0102.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=7c56e09768914382a8e5ce31d0cf6f72&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.buzzle.com%2farticles%2fmanaging-diabetes-naturally.html This is a great website on managing diabetes while eating raw foods. Lots of good information that I will be pulling from.

Sustainability topic....

Hmmmm....Our next assignment for Writ101 is a resarch/personal essay on sustainability. I was driving back to Helena last weekend when I figured out what I could potentially write about. It was seriously like a light went off outside my head and the angels were singing. I am going to write my paper on sustaining Life with Diabetes. My angle is the fact that I don't have it but I am highly susceptible since my mother and grandmother both have/had it respectively as well as as my brother in law. I am currently employed at St Peter's Hospital in Helena on the weekends but have worked many jobs there over the last 2 years in the admissions department. One of those is registering the patients that show up to talk with the Diabetic Educators there so I am planning on trying to interview one of them as well as my mother. Then I will also do online research as to what exactly diabetes is and what we can all do to prevent the disease.

Have you hugged local Pastuerizer today??

So I have been thinking all week of what to write in this blog post about food...Its just such a wide umbrella of a topic that I really found it hard to find a jumping off point of sorts. Then I miraculously just happened to show up to my 8am Microbiology class this morning and my professor started talking about a lot of different microbes and bacteria and different ways to kill them. One of these ways just rang true to me: Pasteurization. Pasteurization is basically the process that quickly heats and then cools rapidly to slow microbial growth in food and liquids. When you hear "pasteurization" most everyone's first thoughts go to milk but for the lactose intolerant among us it can also used on almonds, canned foods, soy sauce and even tobaccos. We do learn of it a little, early on, in our schooling but it is one of life's many mysteries that many people just take for granted and hope it was done correctly. If its not then we could end up with outbreaks of tuberculosis, diptheria, salmonellosis, strep throat, scarlet fever , listeriosis, brucellosis and typhoid fever to name a few. Should you ever find yourself scoping out the local grocery store aisles and you get a fleeting fancy to grab your favorite bottle of vino, beer, milk or yes even cheese please remember to say a little prayer and thank Mr. Louis Pasteur.

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist, who in 1864, came up with the procedure of exposing wine to high temperatures (which still end up below boiling point) and then a flash cooling in order to prevent souring. God love the man because I know that I do!! In today's world there are basically 4 types of pasteruization. They are flash pasteurization (which as it sounds involves heating liquids to 160-180 degrees before the filling and capping process for about 20 seconds and then cooling, basically higher temps than norm and shorter lengths of time), cold pasteurization (which basically irradiates food and drink -- i.e. milk that could last up to 2 months or more on the store shelf instead of a few days to a week being refrigerated -- cheaper for shipping and storage but may affect the taste), high pressure pasteurization (think of high pressure cooker for a short period of time killing the microbes) and finally Ultra Pasteurization (similar to high pressure but this has even higher temps and the product will have a longer shelf life than regular old high pressure but still needs refrigeration). The high temperatures and short times standard has been designed to kill 99.999% of the number of viable micro-organisms in milk which is pretty darn good if you ask me. So seriously, put down the Budweiser, glass of Chardonay, frosty cool glass of chocolatey goodness milk and yes even the bottle of Dasani and say thanks to a man who over a century ago had the idea to heat something up and cool it down before selling to us the mass market. We salute you Louis Pasteur even if you are French!!

That's it for now folks,
Josh

sources of information can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteurization and http://www.niroinc.com/gea_liquid_processing/pasteurization.asp

Emergency! Bullet in the Brain!!

After listening to both of these stories and the commentaries that went with them I realized that I truly did not understand them. I know they are full of symbolism and they meant different things than what they were saying but its like come on and if you have something to say than just say it. These stories try to be thought provoking and show you what the author's want you to see by being sneaky and clever but I have never in my life been a fan of them. I really want to tell these authors to say what is really on their minds and stand behind their words and feelings.

With all of that stuff being said I do have to say between the two stories that I preferred Bullet in the Brain. If for nothing other than it did make me think what will run through my mind the few moments before I die. Will it be one of my early memories from boy scouts that I have forgotten or many of the new memories that I still have not had the chance to live. I don't know and honestly I can't say that I would want to know just yet but this story did make me pause to consider the many possibilities. Another thing that struck me as kind of odd with this story was when Anders started talking when the robbers showed up and then when he starts giggling as the gun is rubbed against side. Now, I would want to say that I could hold my own in a fight but short of having a known brain tumor the size of Texas I don't think that I could ever laugh or giggle while a gun is being poked into my side. Enough said I think!!!

TTYL!!
Josh

An American Male Age 10....

"The American Male at Age 10" story by Susan Orlean was actually a really good story. It took me back to the time when I was 10 years old (which is probably right around the same time or just before when she was following this Colin around. It really made me think about my own life experiences back then and how much they actually seemed similar to Colin's and how different they were as well. I personally wasn't a huge gamer but I did enjoy playing them from time to time. My favorites were Super Mario Brothers and Contra just because I knew the secret code to getting infinite lives in Contra --(up,down,up,down,left,right,left,right,b,a,b,a) -- I will never forget it. I spent quite a bit of time though playing with my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and G I Joes. I must have had almost every character from the cartoons and movies. There were so many hours spent playing with the neighbor boys and our toys that girls were generally the last things on our mind. Recycling wasn't a huge part of life back then as it is today but I do remember joining the clean up crew at my elementary sohool and picking up the garbage and what nots that shouldn't have been there. This was also the point in my life when I moved from Texas to Montana to be closer to the relatives since my father was getting out of the Army. It was such a free time when you could grow up to be whatever you wanted to be and you didn't have the worries of job security or money hanging over your head. You could be friends with anyone you wanted and no one cared cause it was just one more person to hand out with.

That being said I truly did enjoy her take on the story. I didn't feel like she was trying to over-power the story with her side of things really that often. She did throw herself in there a few times like at the beginning when she talked about how if they were to get married what would happen or when Colin goes around trying to shoot her with his sling shot. What 10 year old boy just wants to sit there and be quizzed about what is going on in lfe?? It provided the reader with some more emotion and kept you wanting to read some more and see what happens to this kid and the story. Otherwise I felt that she really took the backseat and left Colin's story play out on the paper. She was very objective and didn't just drill you with the information that she collected but instead made you think about yourself when you were that old. Now being older and going through the worries of jobs, money, school again and just life itself -- this was a really refreshing trip back down to memory lane for me.

The Enneagram Results are in.....

So...I just took the Enneagram Personality test and got the result of a Type 1. Type ones are the Reformers that are usually teachers or people that want to improve everything around them but are terribly afraid of making mistakes. We are well organized, timely and maintain the highest standards for ourselves which can sometimes lead to perfectionist-ism or being overly critical of ourselves and others. At our best, though, we are generally wise, realistic and extremely noble. Ones also have strong a sense of purpose that leaves them either pre-planning or second guessing their actions so as to not offend anyone or minimize the hurt of everyone around them or themselves. Others tend to see ones as highly self restrictive. Some of my better know cohort ones are Meryl Streep, Mahatma Ghandi, Hillary Clinton and George Bernard Shaw.

What do I think about this??? Well, I would totally have to agree with this assessment and own up to the fact that I am a one. I am constantly thinking and rethinking about things that I have done or said and wondering what if I had maybe done this or that differently. Most people when they first meet me think that I am stuck up or have the impression that I think that I am better than them but this is not the case. I just try to censor myself around new people so I don't offend them but I guarantee that once I feel comfortable around them -- the "real unadulterated" me comes out. I am a total perfectionist when it comes to most things with the only exception being my dirty room. Its not so much that it is dirty but more so of the fact that it is ordered chaos and I know where it all is and goes from there. As far the rest of my life and things you could probably say that I have a little OCD. Books are generally neatly stacked next to each other and homework is usually done first thing so that I have more to play and less time to have to worry about not getting it done in time. I get really frustrated when I am forced to work in a group and not everyone is pulling their weight because I will give my 110% and expect nothing less than that from anyone else. I do hold myself and my work to high standards and I feel like crap when I know I didn't try my best at something. With that being said I can't wait to keep on blogging away with new adventures one day really really soon I'm sure!!! Have an awesome rest of the day and I will chat at ya later.....
Josh

Intro Post-it!!

First off, I just want to say a huge hello to everyone reading this blog right now. My name is Josh T and I haven't always been much of a writer or reader throughout my life -- so I am definitely looking forward to trying this little experiment for my Writ 101 class. Sad to say but only over the last few years have I actually taken to what I used to think was the daunting task of reading. Don't tell anyone but one of the first books that I ever truly sat down and read was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It opened my eyes to a bright new world of books and a little dabbling in the writing department with my sister J. Now I am a huge fan of murder/mystery stories especially Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell.
Hmmm.....what else should I let you know about me??? I am currently a 2nd semester freshman trying to get a degree in Biology at the University of Montana hoping to one day go to Medical School and live somewhere nice and warm til I retire and then I will have a summer home here in Montana and become a snow bird during the winters. Believe me Montana is beautiful and all but I'm an army brat at heart so I do like to move around a bit. Although, after saying that I have lived in Helena for over 18 years now so that is why I finally got off my duff and am now here in Missoula going to school. Lets see ..... I'm a capricorn and do enjoy a conversation over dinner followed up by an excellent game of Scene It! I'm thinking that I had better sign off and do some other homework before I get too much more carried away on here!! Have an excellent night and I might be chatting it up again tomorrow -- we'll see what Molly says!!!

Adios,
Josh