Blog Post, rhetoric analysis

The blog post I have decided to analyze is Should Christians Celebrate Christmas and it comes from the blog http://divinemusings.blogspot.com/. The blog theme is God and I, and is basically about a Christian woman who discusses a lot of Christian issues.

Rhetoric Situation:
In this specific blog, the Writer/speaker is Seane-Anna (a Christian woman), the audience is really anyone and everyone-but mainly narrows in on Christians who celebrate Christmas. The issue is whether or not Christians should decide to celebrate Christmas FOR the reasons they celebrate it.

4 questions about the blog post:
1. What is the author trying to do?
In this post, the author is trying to give both sides of why/why not Christians celebrate Christmas and then convince people believe in it for the right reason.

2. What specific tools or stategies are they using?
I think that a main tool the author uses is Logos. She uses a lot of logical reason for why or why not to celebrate Christmas for the reason they do. She uses things like facts from the Bible as well as facts of other religions etc. Another tool I think she uses is the fact that she really sides with the "Christian Person". What I mean is that she says yes, I am Christian, and yes I celebrate Christmas, so in a sense she is kind of establishing herself as a person that a Christian reader would want to listen to because of the same beliefs. She just goes on to say, sure, celebrate Christmas, but do it for the right reason.

3.What does this tool make the audience think or feel or believe in?
As I mentioned above, these tools allow the reader to side with the author, allowing the author to be more convincing and believable in what she says. Also, she uses logic which is hard to deny and makes her opinion even more convincing.

4. Why does the author need the audience to think or believe in that thing?
I think that the audience needs to think and feel that way because instead of just celebrating Christmas blindly, they need to really find a reason why they celebrate Christmas in their hearts because she mentions that Christmas is under constant attack and people are trying to do away with it. So, if you firmly believe in it, then it will be hard for people to destroy those beliefs.

The Oped Experience

I absolutely hate writing. I think it is one of the worst subjects ever, and right now, I'm in two. So for me, it is a big deal when I say that this was actually a really painless and even kind of fun/good for me type paper. I really like the way it is on a blog and so it's less formal. It's also really easy to write in a less formal style. As for the oped, I really liked it because first off, we were allowed to pick our own topic. I hate having a topic chosen for me and having to bust out 10 pages on it. And second, it was a topic that we could feel passionate about and therefore really put effort and thought into it. I also like the idea of learning about rhetorical because it is something that is very important in almost everything you do, without even realizing, so, if you can be good at it, and really know it, you'll be that much more successful.

For me, the overall process of the oped was great. I liked having a step-by-step process: first the draft, then the peer review, then the writing lab review, then the final draft. It made it really easy to follow along and have a lot of second opinions. I also like that it was pretty quick to do, the due dates were all close together so it helped me avoid procrastination. I liked this project and I thought it worked really well and was a good learning experience.

AH, driving!! NO!-oped

Think of the last time you were in a hurry. I mean really in a hurry. You have to drive somewhere and want to do it legally obeying speed limits and laws. Okay, now imagine that task at 6:00pm during rush hour in Provo, Utah. Are you going to get to your destination on time? I’d like to assume that answer is obvious but will answer it through some of the following ideas (just in case you’re confused). ;) Driving in Provo has to be one of the worst places to drive because of the light system, and even worse, with a few changes in that system, it could all be avoided. Each day the lights are not fixed, drivers get worse and worse, as though they are being conditioned to drive the way they do. Provo city needs to take responsibility for its terrible light system and take some steps to solve it.

I grew up in Mesa, Arizona. I lived there for 18 years until moving to Provo for school. Streets are pretty similar to the ones here in Utah: grid-like and nice and straight. Granted, we don’t have a whole college population crammed into a tiny city, but we do have almost a half a million people living there. Arizona also happens to be one of the safest places to drive, and according to Forbes, one of the best states to drive. (www.forbes.com). In fact, Provo, UT doesn't even make the top 40 safest places to drive in the 50 states. So, why did I instantly gain a hatred for driving in Provo? Why does anyone gain a hatred for driving in Utah? What is it about the lights that makes it so frustrating to drive here in Provo as opposed to Mesa?

First off, I think that in a way, Provo drivers are conditioned to drive the way they do through the light system. Now hear me out on this. When I say conditioned I mean being “trained” in a sense. When something happens, you react in someway, to hopefully receive the reward at the end. For example, the light turns yellow, you speed up to catch the light and run it, your reward is getting through the light and getting to your destination on time. To break it down even more, here’s another example. The green turning arrow appears in most intersections after the main light turns red, as opposed to being before it. This allows people going straight through the light to fly through a yellow light, or even a red light. They know that the arrow will follow after a brief few moments, and they don’t have to worry about cross traffic going. It gives them a couple extra seconds to get away with running a red light safely. Next time you’re at a light, count how many people actually go after 3 seconds of a yellow light or a red light. It’ll most likely be around 2 or 3. If you’re safely running red lights, don’t you think you will continue to do that in most intersections?

I used to live in some apartments at the corner of University and University. In one single day, I almost got in two accidents in the same intersection, neither of which would of been my fault. I was in the turning lane, waiting to turn left. I was out in the intersection getting ready to turn, and as the light turned yellow I began to turn. Because the road is slightly curved, it is hard to see cars coming around the bend. On each turn, cars flew through the intersection as I was turning and I had to swerve and slam on my breaks to avoid being t-boned from a red-light-runner.

Another way I think that drivers are accidently being conditioned to drive badly from the light system here, is the fact that lights are not timed. Lights are all on a mandatory routine. First the green light, next the turning arrow, then the cross street green light, finally followed by the cross street turning arrow, and repeat. A light in many cases will be green without a car even being there. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been sitting at a red light waiting for the turning arrow to turn red while no one was even in that lane to begin with. There is absolutely nothing more frustrating than waiting for absolutely no reason at all. Even more so, any time a small cross street wire gets tripped, the light immediately turns yellow every time! With the amount of people in this little city, you can forget about trying to be in a hurry. The only way to make lights is by going 15 mph over the speed limit and flying in and out of traffic. And I think this is exactly what people have figured out and learned to do.

In Mesa, I lived on the very South border of Mesa and Gilbert. I had tennis lessons on the very North end of Mesa. It would take me about 10 minutes to get to tennis. In Provo, it would take me most likely like 25 minutes. The difference is that in Mesa, if you are going to speed limit of 45 MPH, you can catch every light. They are timed so that by following the law, you are rewarded. Here in Provo it is the opposite. While driving south down State street from University Parkway on down, here in Provo, there is a stop light almost every half block, if not more. I can remember an instance when I was running late for work and I literally had to stop at every single light. This actually happens to me on multiple occasions.

So what do we do then? Continue to allow ourselves to rip our hair out while screaming to ourselves in our car? I know I don’t want to. The lights need to be timed. It’s a matter of safety. There is no reason that the main roads such as University Parkway, University Avenue, State Street, and so on can’t be timed. Just those 3 streets alone will make a world of a difference. As long as you’re going the speed limit and catch the route right, you should be able to get through all of the lights. Mesa, Arizona does it, so it’s possible. Why not do this? Why not make driving easier through the lights? I honestly think that if we made this change to the light system, drivers wouldn’t be so extreme and things could actually start to settle down around here.

The first step begins with you. If you are as aggravated as I am, and the thought of driving just makes your head ache, then write to the city council. It would even help to write to the mayor. He is most likely just as annoyed as you and I. If the mayor continually gets complaints about the lights, it’ll spark a change. Maybe not instantly, but overtime people will start driving safe again. We need to stop being lab rats trained to drive bad and step up to change it up around here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr9sQwVn4BA

Here you can see of the terrible things that are a result of running red lights. Fix the lights, fix the drivers.

My Night in the Haunted Motel...Well I Thought it Was

The Antler Motel....Attic.

So this past weekend my parents and two sisters came up to drop my youngest sister off at BYUI. So, I decided to quit work and go with them. Both my fiance and I went up.

On Friday morning, we set off on our journey. This will have made my second trip to Rexburg. And there are no promises that there will be a third. It could be the longest 4 hour drive of potatoes, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, potatoes. Field after field. So anywho, after our very long, uninteresting drive, we got to Idaho and unloaded my sisters room and started to set her up in her apartment.

After that, we made a spur of the moment decision to continue the 70 miles to Jackson Hole, WY, since no one in the car had been there before. When we got there it was about 6 in the evening, so we decided to find a hotel to stay in before it got too dark to keep looking around.

Jackson is a huge tourist destination. It's full all the time year round. The weekend we got there, there was a huge gallery showing, farmers market, and a bike/running marathon. Plus millions of people. Literally every hotel in the little city was booked, and had been booked for months. So, we were calling around frantically hoping we didn't have to drive back to Driggs to stay the night. Finally, the Antler Motel let us know that they were expecting some firemen to come take the room, but they had not showed so they had an opening for the time being. Before they let us book it they made us come over and look at it.The "common area" with two wood chairs to watch tv in.

The little attic room consisted of a common area and 3 bedrooms with 4 beds. Since there were 6 of us, and 0 other open hotel rooms this would have to do. We walked up the narrow stairway to look at this room. I don't know if you've seen the Ring or the Grudge, but I swear they were both filmed in the little attic hotel room. There were all these little doors in the walls that were sealed shut, creepy mirrors, broken windows, old doors with the key hole locks. Seriously the most stereotypical freaky room ever.

As were were playing cards in my fiance's room, we kept hearing noises and decided to plan the filming of our own scary movie, unfortunately, me being the loud mouth, would have to die first. As midnight came around, we decided it best to go to sleep because of the early morning we had ahead of us. My fiance Brandon made me leave the door open as well as take the creepy mirror off his wall and hide it. I must've talked the good talked and freaked him out really good because he's not scared of anything much less a mirror on the wall. After I abandoned him in his room, I went to the other room that had two beds in it. My mom and younger sister had already fallen asleep and my sister and I shared the other bed. We kept trying to scare each other all through the night and finally I somehow fell asleep.

See, I wasn't kidding about it being from the ring.
I would be freaked out if this were in my room too.

Fortunately, I managed to get an hour of sleep here and there throughout the night, but it really was the most creepy, awful experience of my life. If you ever find yourself in Jackson Hole, avoid the Antler Motel at all costs. I'd hate for my scary story to become a reality. : )

My not so open, open topic blog

So for theme of my blog, I've decided to focus it on just being more of a public journal, I do have another blog that focuses on my photography, so just for this on here it will be geared towards everything that is going on in my life as well as my fiance's. The updates will mostly be used for in laws and my parents to look at to see pictures or other ideas that I want for my wedding.

So, in lieu of my "blog theme" I'll write my first post.

HE loves....
1. HER
2. Sushi
3. 1969 Mustangs
4. The Bill O'Reilly Show
5. Politics
6. Aviation
7. WW2 antiques
8. Fantasy Football
9. Camping
10. Naps

SHE loves....
1. HIM
2. Photography
3. DIY Crafts
5. Interior Design
6. Babies
7. Camping
8. Thunder storms
9. Sleeping in
10. The Big Bang Theory and Arrested Development

This past week I went and stayed in Vegas with my fiance and his family. We went down to celebrate his birthday and also to try to sell a WW2 propeller at the Pawn shop that is on the tv show Pawn Stars. I also had never been to Vegas so I wanted to experience it. After 6 long hours of driving down we stopped by the Pawn shop and waited forEVER. Finally, we reached the front of the line and instantly were turned away. Ever since they had someone bring in a prop for the show, they've been getting tons. So, we left and went across the street to an antique shop and sold it there for 700$. Awesome. Since we only bought it for $400.

After that we went to the Caesars Palace Hotel and walked through it and then made our way through to the Venetian hotel. I have to admit, those hotels are AMAZING, but I don't think I will ever go to Vegas again. It was only like 107 degrees and like 12 noon. Perhaps I will go to see the strip during the night time, apparently it makes a huge difference. I'm not so much a fan of people handing out gross fliers everywhere you look, smoke filling every inch of fresh air there could have been and just weird, crazy looking and acting people all over the place. So thank you Vegas for the trip out of Utah, but I don't think you and I will be meeting again for a very long time. Vegas is not really the place for a sheltered LDS girl to go hang out at. Not to mention the end is coming and Vegas might have to be one of the first places to go. In my opinion of course.

Overall it was a great trip, got to take my fiance to our favorite restaurant in the world for sushi, open presents, and eat cake and ice cream. Only downer was I had to be back in time for work bright and early Monday morning. Bleh! Well there's nothing like getting out of Provo any chance you get.

Till we meet again, Vegas.

Hmm...what do I need to change in Provo today?

So as I was thinking about what I wanted to write about I was thinking about everything on campus, things I like, things I don't like, and what could be an interesting topic to write about. I pretty much thought of everything that has already been beaten to death by rumors, opinion editorials in the past, students talking on campus. Pretty much all the pros and cons of BYU have already been said and done; dress code, cheating, swearing on campus, pda, the "marriage degree". Even those who don't go to BYU know all about these things.

I decided to instead go in a different direction on what I wanted to write about. When I was driving home I was trying to think of the things that irritate me about living here. And stop light after stop light, detour after detour, my 5 minute drive home became a 20 minute drive home. And so there you have it, I will write my oped on driving in Utah county, mainly focusing on the light system with construction details.