LIFE POST NUMERO UNO!!

Let me first start this new blog with a hello to anyone out there that is reading this. I was first introduced to the world of blogging my freshman year at the University of Montana in writing 101 class. I was totally hesistant about it at first but once I got a few posts under my belt I started getting used to the idea of putting my thoughts and feelings out there for everyone in my class (and the world wide web) to read. After the class was over I was thinking that I would continue for something to do -- unfortunately though that didn't happen for a multitude of reasons. Please enter life deciding to smack me upside the head and right down to my arse time one. My mother got sick so I dropped out of school after three semesters and moved back home to take care of her since my father worked out of state. She eventually got better (Enter life smack two) but my finances were gone and I was S.O.L. for returning to school then. So here we are a year after me quitting to take care of my mother and my finances are finally getting back on track. I am thinking about returning to school. Yay!!! November 21st, 2011 a day that will forever live in infamy for me. (Can I get a Life Smack number 3 Alex!!) My father comes home from working in Nevada and he is diagnosed with glioblastoma multiformae. Basically for him it means that he has three inoperable tumors in his brain that will one day kill him or leave him vegetabilized. After six months of grieving and some hard work on all of my family's part dad is through with radiation but he is currently on chemo therapy drugs for the rest of his willing life. The tumors are currently responding/shrinking with the drugs -- Woot Woot!! (Life Smack number four you ask??) Well it hasn't happened yet but as we all know it will and I will keep you posted. Before I get to carried away I want to share with you my vision for what this blog will become. I am currently 30 years old living in Helena, MT and I weigh in at 320 pounds. My dream for this blog, if you will, is that it become my soap box. Not that I want to sit and preach to everyone but more of the sharing with everyone side of it. I will talk about my family, my dreams and all of the goals that I set for myself. I hope that it in some way inspires people to take a look at themselves and see what in their life they love. What they can/should change and ultimately learn something inspiring from my tale. Over the next year I will be setting out on a mission to lose weight (my first goal is 25 lbs -- don't want to set the bar too high) find the confidence that I once had and be able to finish something that I start without feeling like I am neglecting someone/something else. I plan on writing a post every 1-2 days but we'll see how it flows with everything else so I hope you enjoy the ride. And with that I say, "Let the adventures begin.....)

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.