Red tape

Huh... Okay, here's an insight on the inner workings of the mind of a typical UiTM guard.

I'm pulling into the faculty in order to submit Zurin's thesis (my wife, for those of you who don't know. Who reads this blog anyways?) and I'm stopped by the guard. I don't have a car sticker, since I don't park inside, it's closer to walk to class from the outside public parking lot, as opposed to the parking lots prepped for students inside the compound itself. That particular logic continues to escape me, but fact of the matter remains that I don't have a sticker.

So I tell the guard who stopped me that I'm just dropping off a thesis at a lecturer's office (pretty far away from the gates, and I'm just dropping the damn thing off anyways, so it doesn't make sense to waste 15-20 minutes parking outside walking inside, walking back outside and driving off) so could I please just be let in for a bit.

He asks if I'm a student. Well, now that you mentioned it, yes, I am a student, which would be why I'm dropping off a thesis, you numbskull, normal citizens have better things to do on their daily routine than go to a faculty in Shah Alam and drop off thesises (thesese? thesesesisis? what's the plural for it anyways?).

He asks to see my card, I show him it, at which point he comments that I don't have a sticker. Regular Einstein. Yes, I don't have a sticker (which is why I'm being pulled over). Why don't I have a sticker, he asks. Why, because I usually park outside, and today I'm just delivering a thesis, so could I please be let through. You should get a sticker, he says. I tell him, well, that really wouldn't be advisable at this point in time, since I'm in my final semester, and I wouldn't need it after this.

He tells me, this is why you need a sticker, because you want to go into the faculty. I wonder at this point which part of I'm just delivering a thesis that he didn't get, and decide it was probably the entire thing. I sigh and reiterate that I'm just hopping in to send a thesis.

He tells me you should have a sticker, at which point I realize belatedly that adhesives might have been a childhood obsession of his. I give up trying to make a point and resign myself to the fact that maybe I should have just parked outside. He nods, proud of the point he's made and tells me that I should go and apply for a sticker, since I want to come into the faculty with the car, and he'll remember my car and its stickerlessness, and I'd better have a sticker the next time I want to come in. He'll let me through this one time. Which was all I was frigging asking for in the first place.

I sigh, nod, and tell him I will definitely get a sticker for my car (although it's so obviously redundant since I won't be coming back here as a student anymore, so there really is no point in having a sticker since I'd have to register as an outsider anyways), however I believe he may have missed the subtle sarcasm in my voice, as well as the clockwise rotation of my eyes, due to my distracting thumbs up, coupled with a nod and a tight smile.

I bet he's probably gonna boast about that incident to his friends over lunch. "You know that green car? Oh yeah, I made sure it's gonna have a sticker. That's right. Me. Oh yeah. I went there. Who's the man?"

Simply amazing.





EpoL

My bad

Heh, no, it wasn't 70, or even 96.

My proxies actually managed to give out and take back all 100 questionnaires.

Owh mah lawd!

AE Blues

Does my back hurt?
Why yes, yes it does, thanks for asking.

I'm tabulating my questionnaires, and in hindsight, it probably wasn't a really smart thing to send out 100 questionnaires. 50 would've been good, 100 is overkill, since I've got at least 70 answered if I remember my figures. I suddenly feel a sense of dread; if I recall correctly, I think 96 people answered... I've calculated the results for 40 so far.

Dear UiTM TESL Program :

Referring to the above paragraph, it is quite possible that you might drive me bat**** crazy.



Love, EpoL

Pumpkin

So...

Let me tell you about Pumpkin. He's a soft shelled terrapin, a Trionychidae, who I purchased earlier this year. He's my second terrapin, the youngest of two so far, the other one being Naiade, a red eared slider. I picked him out myself, rather than let the aquarium choose him at random, and he seemed to be one of the more lively ones in the choosing tank.

Brought him home to KL, and he was initially shy, or maybe scared, and refused to eat when anyone was looking. After a while though, in the words of my wife, he developed a personality, and would immediately perk up when we held the container of shrimp over his tank, grab one as soon as we dropped it, and scurry off to his favourite feeding corner where he would work on the shrimp for a good five minutes.

My wife and I fell in love with him.

At first, he only recognized me, but he learned to recognize Zurin as well, and was always happy to see us, since it was usually feeding time. I cleaned his tank every couple of days, since shrimp tends to stink quite a bit, and bacteria tends to form up in stagnant water.

Lately though, we had been swamped with work, so we didn't pay him as much attention as usual, and what with having to move around a lot between KL and Shah Alam and PJ, and the occassional trips outstation, we just weren't around him enough, I suppose. When we were around him, we noted that he just didn't seem his usual happy self anymore.

Before this week, he had been spending a couple of weeks with my mom, who reported that he hadn't been eating properly. I brought him over to Shah Alam earlier this week, where I could keep an eye on him, and maybe he was slightly happier to finally have some attention, since he seemed to regain a bit of his old appetite, and ate quite a bit once he had settled down.

After returning from today's seminar, we took a nap, since the past few days have been quite exhausting. Waking up, I decided to check on Pumpkin to see if he was hungry, and if his tank needed cleaning.

He didn't move when I tapped the side of the container, and not even when I touched him.

My wife cried.

I want to.

We're burying him tomorrow.

CALL - an overview of stuff

Based on your teaching practicum experience please answer the following questions in your blog:

If you had the chance would you utilize ICT (CALL) in your teaching?

It would really depend on a number of parameters. Is there internet at the school? Is it running all the time, or do you have to request for it to be connected? How long does the request take to be accepted/rejected? How long does it take for the connection to be up and running? How many computers are there in the lab? How many students are in the class? Is there sufficient filters on the internet connection? Are the computers running in ideal conditions, or are they slowed down thanks to bad maintenance? Projectors and speakers are basic systems which don't require a technician breathing down your neck to operate (like in some of the classes here in our beloved faculty)? Distance from class to lab. Periods before and after your English class (in case there's lunch before or after, at which point the students get restless, or if there's a teacher with a penchant to 'overteach' which would screw up your schedule well and truly). Is the prepared lesson something which really requires a computer, or could you do it with a piece of mahjong paper? Do the students have basic fundamental knowledge of operating a computer?

For example, I did my practicum in Subang Utama. There were enough computers to support the number of students in the computer labs. They definitely can use computers well enough, since they do the whole myspace,facebook,friendster thing, as well as MSN and YM chats. However, the classes were always very far, and the students would take forever to go from one place to the next. They would take 10-15 minutes to hustle to the labs, and 10-15 minutes to hustle back to their class, which meant less time for the lesson for me, and eating into the time of the next teacher, which would get my humble self in trouble. This factor alone made me reconsider any CALL lesson plans I might have tried to make happen. If the classes were closer, I might have tried to think up a few CALL lessons.


How do you think it would help (or would not help) your students to learn English?

Honestly, using computers would probably be a big help in teaching kids to learn English. Give them a simple game to play, and they need to understand the instructions properly. Give them a website to go to that caters to their interests, and they'll want to know what 'ambiguous photo-emmissions' are, since it's a superhero power. And any number of other things.

Unfortunately, it would also be bad if they came across any of the feared online languages.

SMS speech : hi hw ru, im fyn 2, i kno u bz, ttyl bai.

13375p34|< (leet speak (Elite Speech)): 1 |3 1337, j00 5|_|><><()RZZZ (I be leet, you suck (I am an elite, you are far inferior to myself))

lolspeech : er, go to www.icanhascheezburger.com

These would all have a bad effect on the language IMHO. Not to mention all the swearing to be found in forums, as well as idiot opinions on whatever is a hot topic at the moment. Brrr...


What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing CALL in the Malaysian schools?

Advantages would be if you could actually get the theory up and working instead of staying on paper. It would cut down a lot of the time needed to prep materials and look for information, and with a good local network and program, allows for efficient distribution of work and information to students. It allows for better co-operation between teachers, in working out kinks in the distribution and execution of programs which are used for classes.

Disadvantages would be if CALL became something too widely depended upon, so yeah, viruses, blackouts, thunderstorms, would effectively lay to waste most of the class preparations. If Godzilla happens to attack too, but that would lay waste to conventional teaching methods as well as civilization as we know it...
On a more serious note, pirating of software used in CALL might very well lead to students being able to cheat their way through lessons, and if an exam were ever to be CALL oriented, they could cheat through that too. Also, if a non-flexible program is used, students who are too weak might not be able to cope, whereas students who are too 'gifted' might get bored easily.


What are the barriers in implementing CALL in the Malaysian classroom?

Funding. Lack of computers. Lack of computer/peripheral maintenance. Lack of suitable programs. Lack of technical experience in most teachers, as well as students - I was asked on multiple occassions to help out with computer related stuff during my practicum, which turned out to be pretty basic, but since the teachers had probably never needed to use computers before, they didn't know how. Not being derisive of the teachers here, they just didn't know. I wouldn't know how to do something I'd never done before either. So, lack of training. Teachers who are set in their ways not wanting to use CALL. Students not having the facilities at home, therefore not being familiar with CALL, and not being able to do homework. Also, friggin adolescent hackers might feel the need to sabotage the school so they don't need to do any work, or they just feel like ruining whatever technology the school has. Yes, technology has its limits, but you could actually log onto the BIOS of a computer and remove the voltage limiters on the power supply as well as the temperature warning and shut off knee jerk reaction so that a computer would overheat and burn out the motherboard and processor. Not quite the push of the magic button which makes things go boom, but has the same effect.


Please also include any other comments/thoughts/ideas on this topic

A lot of the implementation of technology in a classroom setting, or just plain education, has to do with several factors which go beyond simple implementation. The technological as well as civil maturity of a populace. I mean, I prep a mahjong paper and a student tears it up, big deal, 60 sen. A student rips into a computer and it's RM1500 baby. There's also the execution of the entire thing. You can't just go to war without checking to see if your gun's loaded, which means you shouldn't implement something without making sure you've thought through the entire thing. What's the use of using CALL if it's just gonna be the same lessons you could have done with a piece of cardboard, only you're using a computer? So the theory of using CALL has to branch in different directions from contemporary and conventional means of teaching. A proper curriculum that >>worked<< would definitely be a necessity. Teachers who are CALL oriented, and technologically savvy who think differently would be a huge plus. CALL shouldn't just be seen as a new tool for old styles of teaching, but an entire step forward in teaching methodology. While it might not replace conventional teaching methods, and I'm not saying it should, it shouldn't be reflective of conventional teaching methods, because then it would be pointless.

CALL Lesson Plan

So, here's a lesson plan that shows just how much of a comic book geek I am, as well as expect students of this day and age to be. Hmmm... Regardless, feast your eyes :

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Level : Form 2

Time : 1 hour

Aims : To make use of students’ creativity to create a parody superhero and use their imaginations to create backgrounds for the superheroes.

Technical Requirements : A computer for each group of students (ranging from 1-4 depending on size of class as well as computer lab) with an active internet connection and photo-editing software, such as MS Paint or Adobe Photoshop. MS Powerpoint is optional for presentation purposes.

Preparation : Have some images of animals and superheroes on standby, which can be found by googling any animal and any superhero and selecting suitable images (suitable meaning full body images which show the entire superhero, not just faces)

Optional to prepare a parodied superhero complete with background story.

Procedure :

1. Ask students to name their favourite superheroes, either from movies, or comics.
2. Ask students how those superheroes got their powers.
3. Show them pictures of animals and superheroes.
4. Ask them what would happen/how they would look like if the superheroes were animals instead. (Optional : present parodied superhero, complete with background story).
5. Get students to work in groups or individually, depending on circumstance and teacher’s discretion.
6. Get students to google images of animals as well as their favourite superheroes, or use the images that have been prepared to make their own superhero parody by using photo-editing software such as MS Paint or Adobe Photoshop.
7. Get students to present their finished product and create a background story for the superhero; how they got their powers, and how they fight crime.

Follow-up :

Get students to create supervillains for their superheroes at home. Preferably the supervillains should be the natural enemies of the animals which they used for the superheroes.

Wtb time warp

Stumbled across this as I was mucking around for info. Handy site. Sometimes you can't help but curse at yourself for not having found stuff just a slight bit earlier, I mean, it could have been handy during any one of the basic literature classes, or even during the practicum. Oh well, live and learn and pass it on.

Gandhi, AKA Nadzeri Md Suhaimi

Gandhi was born in Porbandar, India, on October 2nd 1869. His father died when he was still a teenager. At the age of 13 he married Kasturba Gandhi who was three years younger and the marriage lasts for 62 years until her death in 1944.






As a young man Gandhi left India to study law in London. Then he spent two decades working in South Africa securing rights for Indian expatriates. It was during this time that his political reform through non-violence which he called Satyagraha was born.











This movement meant resistance of tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa, total non violence, which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. This way, when he returned to India, Mohandas Gandhi emerged as a political and religious leader in the fight for independence from Great Britain and was accorded the country's Father of the Nation. India freed itself from Britain on August 15th, 1947. Five months later, on January 25th, 1948 Gandhi was shot by a conservative Hindu.

Moral subsidies

So, I had errands to run and decided that taking the LRT would be more economical, so me and my wife park over at KL Sentral and decide to hop on a train. What happens? Well, first I have to shout at people to let the passengers off the train before they get on. Then, the next stop, a bunch of people actually miss the stop because they couldn't get off due to people pushing to get inside. Gah! So upon disembarking, I holler to everyone outside to let us out first, before they push in. Which kinda works.

Completing the errand, we go back to the train station and wait for the next train. Guess what? As soon as it arrives, this dude actually rams into me, pushing me aside while his girlfriend giggles. I yell at them, but they act like they don't hear me, at which point my wife drags me over to the next door where there are less retards and more space. Gah!

So, fuel prices go up and the nation screams in outrage and people start rambling about better public transport and rarararara, at which point the government hands out fuel subsidies. Wonderful. But you know what, it's not really public transport that needs a boost, but, read my lips here people, YOUR GODDAMN COURTESY, or let me put it a bit more clearly, YOUR GODDAMN ABSOLUTE LACK OF ANYTHING RESEMBLING COMMON COURTESY BECAUSE YOUR PARENTS WERE TOO BUSY SCREAMING ABOUT SUBSIDIES TO TEACH YOU BUGGERS SOME MANNERS, at which point I'd like to point out that it's actually impossible for the government to hand out moral/courtesy subsidies to curb this problem being that it requires having something abstract in stock, and suddenly I have a funny image of a bunch of people lining up at the post office to receive their government sanctioned manners subsidy and now I've calmed down.

Seriously people, we're not progressing. All the technology in the world could be at our fingertips, all the luxuries and eveything you could ever want to make your life easier, and we wouldn't progress simply because we haven't eliminated the asshole gene that resides in most of the world today, and the best thing is, this gene that contains the behaviour of assholity isn't even handed down from parent to child, it's actually absorbed experientally from the atmosphere. Hear that kids? Breathing can actually make you an asshole.

*sigh*

Forgive my swearing, but seriously, at this point, do most people even know why you recited the national tenets during assembly at school? Do most people even remember them once they've left school? Gah!

Malaysians, heck, Earthlings, I beseech you, buck up, coz we can't hand out moral subsidies.

That's right, I haven't been raving like a lunatic

So, this blog is supposed to be about education, but I haven't exactly been uploading any course syllabi or what not like a good little boy, so maybe anyone who reads this (I wonder who does actually) might think that I'm in the habit of digressing from the focus of a particular subject (not necessarily untrue most of the time, but in this case, very much so).

So, the blog is about education? What is education? Maybe the answer is simple. Science is science, geography is about maps, math is about numbers, and English (TESL anyone?) is about language. It's so simply clear cut isn't it? Not really...

Let's say for example, I decide to state that I owe my friend a favour, since he (she?) helped me out a few weeks back, so once I repay the favour we'll be even. My dear reader(s?), using the wonders of language, I just taught you math, specifically 1-1=0, in way more words than necessary, but the point to be proven here is the fact that you can't just take everything at face value.

The blog is about education, yes, granted. Have you ever thought about what education is? To me it's so much more than syllabi and course descriptions and schemes of work and anything else they've thrown at us in the Faculty (of Education for any non-TESLite readers out there who for some reason may be reading this). Some dude, I think an ex-premier of Africa (Prime minister if I'm not mistaken, I don't think it's president...) once said that education is "the act of liberating the mind from ignorance". Sums it up quite wonderfully actually.

So, in short, if I'm not whinin', but I'm statin', then I must be educatin'.

Hmm hmm hmmm

What most people know about the fasting month is that people don't eat from sunup to sundown.

What most people don't know about the fasting month is that sometimes when you take an afternoon nap, you dream of giant talking hotdogs and wake up with cravings 4 hours before you can break fast.

Also, over the weekend, I rearranged my parents' room while they were away. They called five minutes ago, and were not amused. :/

Lastly, something to ponder.

Malaysia

Meh. You don't need a flag to be patriotic. It's not something you should only show one day or one week or one month out of an entire year. Some people go crazy, decorating their cars with plastic holders and tiny flags which they'll probably end up throwing away, which isn't exactly environmentally sound. Heck, it contributes to fuel wastage, due to lack of proper aerodynamics, those tiny flags actually create additional friction, which means your car needs that much more power to burn before it can achieve the desired speed, not to mention the miniscule additional weight, which also probably lowers the circumference of the tyres by slightly below a micrometer or so for each flag added. So, when you take into consideration all of these factors, plus any I haven't mentioned, each flag you stick on your car actually makes it worse for the environment, and therefore you are harming your country.

I just digressed a whole lot right there, but the point of it all is that you don't need to go bonkers when Merdeka is around the corner. Helicopters flying around, planes zooming by practicing for the big parade, it all kinda puts more holes in the ozone layer.

You love your country, prove it with less flashy flashy. Pick up pieces of trash you see lying around, help the old people who might have worked their lives to make the country a better place cross the street, or let them sit down on your seat in a crowded bus, hold the door open for them, teach the kids you're pinning your hopes on some manners, keep an eye on them and think about their wellbeing, take care of our past and our future in not so many words by doing the right thing right here in the present.

It's not easy to do the right thing all the time, but it isn't exactly the hardest thing in the entire world to try and do it sometimes..

*sigh*

Malaysia's 51 this year, making it some sort of grandpa country. Happy birthday. I know a bunch of your kids are kinda fighting all the time now over all sorts of silly stuff, sorry about that, but some of us are trying to behave. Mostly. Kinda. Sometimes.

Again, happy birthday.

And sorry about the swearing.

It actually makes a lot of sense...

Seriously, just take a look at this. Whoah. Ever think about that?

Level 56 Evil Politician LFG, low INT, high CHA, high brain cell DPS.

So, apparently someone decided that the citizens of a particular region, not the whole country mind you, should thank him for single handedly knocking off 15 cents of the petrol price due to his divine noisemakers other people refer to as 'mouth' (and use more wisely too, but meh.). Clickity for those who don't know what I'm talking about. The citizens of a particular region which happens to have votes to cast. I wonder why the rest of us petrol users shouldn't be showing our gratitude on this one, but I suppose I don't understand politics as well as most people should.

Hmmm... If I'm not mistaken, One Utama is having a Mega Sale! To hell with 15 cents, they're knocking off up to 50%!! Blame that one on yourself too so that we can give you our gratitude, Mr Evil, sir!

For everyone who thinks Ethos is cool...

Haha, no.

CALL website evaluation

Website evaluation

http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/
projets/anglais/exercises/welcome.html

1. Who are the users the website is targeting?

The users which the website is targeting are actually any users who want to learn English, from the Beginner stage, all the way to Advanced. I’m assuming they have to at least have a rudimentary knowledge of the language first though.

2. What sorts of things are the application users expected to do with regards to learning and using or even manipulating the content?

The site doesn’t boast anything fancy, which is just fine. Users are expected to do anything from filling in blanks, to reading and understanding passages and answering questions about those passages, in a slightly boosted form of the Microsoft Excel exercise we had a while back. There are also some crosswords and the like. Users generally just decide where they stand in the food chain, from Beginner to Advanced, click on a link, and are guided to many different types of exercises, which are focused on the various skills.

3. What sorts of computer skills are the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?

Basically, the computer skills required to use the website are the ability to type, and point and click a mouse. Handicapped students might have a problem with this one, but technology has recently come up which allows those without the benefit of hands to operate a computer using a mouth held device, and in fact, some technology is in the making that allows for a chip to be inserted in the part of the brain which controls motor functions, which then beams instructions to a receiver chip which then processes commands according to whatever it is you’re thinking. Er… Okay, enough digression, but basically, all you need to know to use this website is being able to type and use a mouse. Also, for Mozilla Firefox users, you may want to enable scripts for the website.

4. While you are “playing”/”accessing”/”assessing” the website, does it remind you of anything you do (or have done) in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?

The exercises found in the website are akin to the drilling practices that were done by teachers back in primary and secondary school. Filling in the blanks, reading and understanding passages, it’s the staple food of English class exercises in Malaysia. At least it was back when I was in school…

5. What setting will the website best be used in: independent study lab with no teacher available, lab associated with a class, a teacher-led class with one or a few computers?

The website can be used in an independent study lab, but the dangers of having a computer access a website would be that students will more often than not be surfing rather than studying. A lab associated with a class can be done, as long as the teacher is vigilant and students are obedient. A teacher-led class could probably work, but with only one or a few computers, not much learning would take place, since these are the types of exercises that seem best done individually.

6. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?

Drills, drills, more drills, and drills. Perhaps some scaffolding, if a teacher is around to facilitate the exercises which are being done.

7. How well are the Vygotsky’s constructivist theory of learning and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory applied to the chosen website?

Honestly, the website seems more catered towards individual usage, so Vygotsky’s constructivist theory may not have been what the author had in mind, however, it can definitely be used that way, assuming there is someone who is more proficient than the user who is willing to sit down and guide the user through the exercises. As for Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory, the website doesn’t seem to have any exercises based on anything outside of the Linguistic intelligence sphere.

8. In 1980’s and early 1990’s, there was a major debate on whether the computer was a master of or a slave to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation, is the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?

The website itself quotes this at the starting page : “Students having problems with any of the exercises are advised to consult their teacher for further help -
neither this nor any other program can provide a substitute for a real, live human teacher !”. I’m inclined to agree actually, as you can learn a lot from a computer program, or a website, but until we develop the technology for actual functional Artificial Intelligence, there’s only so many variables which can be programmed into a programs response algorithms, meaning a program will never be able to answer every single question that you can come up with satisfactorily. A computer is a wonderful tool which allows us to actually be able to experience things which we might not have access to in real life, however, at this point in time, that’s where the story ends. A very intelligent student may learn from a computer, but a computer is not able to teach a student. Yet.

9. Would you like to use the website yourself in your future work?

Assuming I work as a teacher, I would probably direct my students to try this website out at home, but I probably wouldn’t try to use it in class, unless I had direct control over every single terminal my students were accessing. It is a very good site for drilling exercises, but lacking something more interactive, students would become bored quickly and easily unless they wanted to access the website on their own steam.

10. Suggestions/Recommendations.

I have no real suggestions and recommendations for the website. It’s true, I have toted that the website is mainly about drills with a lack of interactivity however, websites like these are needed for those who want to learn the language without having to wait forever for an interactive flash to finish downloading so that a merry clown can sing ABC to you while you go off on your adventure through the wild with a talking tiger who lays down grammatical rules while hunting bad language. I may be exaggerating, but my point is, not everyone needs a website which is colorful and interactive in order to learn. Those who have taken practicum will know that if you enter every single class with a different game, in the end, the students will get bored of games and will not have learned much. This website is pretty good, since it gives you what you want, and that’s it.

Meh

Yeah, did I happen to mention yellow is my least favourite colour?

An Actual Post

So, finally, an actual post. Tsk.

I actually wasn't enthusiastic about starting a blog, but that couldn't really be helped, so I guess that feeling will have to be shelved. Why wasn't I enthusiastic? Bad experiences I suppose.

Don't get me wrong, some blogs are actually really really enjoyable to read. I happen to browse through a few webcomics, and the artists post up their thoughts on a lot of things all the time, some are entertaining, some are profound, and some are just another way to look at things. My wife blog hops whenever she has a lot of free time and nothing better to do (I probably have my head stuck in a video game at the time), and sometimes I pop into the room and peek over her shoulder at something interesting, which is cool. So at this point in time, I know that blogging is something which can be positive. At this point in time.

Unfortunately, my first few experiences with blogs led me down the negative path of thinking, years back when the trend suddenly started to boom. See, most of the blogs I happened across were basically... How do you put this... Online emo-pityme-whinefests. With the occassional "I'msocool" post. Explain? Alright. Whine, whine, whine, life sucks, whine, whine, please take pity on me, whine whine, I'm so helpless even though God gave me ten fingers and toes just like everyone else, whine whine, my troubles are unique, whine, zomg I attended (insert underground stuff) today that makes me ubercool, oh wait, no events today, back to whining.

Now, expressing yourself is all well and good. If something bad happens, you can tell your friends, no problem. It's healthy. But making blogs a stepping stone for some kind of pity-fest so that random people you don't even know who happen across your blog somehow and decide to tell you that wow, your life really >HAS< been tough, omg, you're so strong, don't worry, you'll endure, rarararar, just to make yourself feel good, I think that's just embracing patheticness. Done on a private blog, where only your closest friends have access to your posts, yeah, all well and good. Doing it daily on a public blog? No. Bad dog.

I'm of the school of thought that public blogging should be done sensibly. Make posts funny. Make them interesting. Make them non-sensical. Make them profound. Mention troubles if you need to, but don't dwell on them needlessly day after day, because you're not being emo, you're just begging for attention in the cheapest way possible.




......
You know, if emos were really emo, there would be no emos as soon as they decided they were emo?

Microsoft Word Exercise

And now, how it would look like turned into an exercise!

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Word Snake

The text below is all squished together. Separate the words from one another to form a whole sentence! If you have a sense of humour, it will be funny!

Thecatdippedthemouseintothemelteddarkchocolateandlicked

itslipswonderinghowthecombinationwouldtasteafterhaving

laininwaitsolongfortherodenttospringthetrapithadset

earlierwhileavoidingdetectionbythedogwhowasout

togetthecatforpullingthatprankonitlastweekresulting

inthedisfavoroftheirownerwhohadonlyjustrecently

allowedthedogbackintothehouse,albeitverycautiously,

fearingarepeatoftheepisodewhichhadlefthimwith

aminorconcussionandsmellingofdroolandcanineurine

rightbeforehisimportantdatewiththeprettywoman

fromtheofficewhoeveryoneelseadmiredbutnooneelse

hadthegutstotalktobeforehehadtakentheplungeand

askedheroutonlytocanceltwohoursaftertheirdatewas

supposedtostart,callingfromahospitalphoneafterhisneighbor

hadfoundhimpassedoutontheporchwithadogsittingonhis

chestgrowlingupatacatonthewindowsillwhichlookedfor

somereasonreallysmugandguiltyatthesametimeifpossible.

Class work

The cat dipped the mouse into the melted dark chocolate and licked its lips wondering how the combination would taste after having lain in wait so long for the rodent to spring the trap it had set earlier while avoiding detection by the dog who was out to get the cat for pulling that prank on it last week resulting in the disfavor of their owner who had only just recently allowed the dog back into the house, albeit very cautiously, fearing a repeat of the episode which had left him with a minor concussion and smelling of drool and canine urine right before his important date with the pretty woman from the office who everyone else admired but no one else had the guts to talk to before he had taken the plunge and asked her out only to cancel two hours after their date was supposed to start, calling from a hospital phone after his neighbor had found him passed out on the porch with a dog sitting on his chest growling up at a cat on the windowsill which looked for some reason really smug and guilty at the same time if possible.

I would've gone on, but it was getting ridiculous. :p

I'm a Blogger!

I'm a blogger now! With no real posts within the past two weeks ever since I started! Yar!!

Kay.

As part of my course, I now have a blog. Yay.