Entry #6 fate?

What is fate? By definition, it means "the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power." How about destiny, " the events that necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future." These are concepts I don't generally agree with.

Before I explain myself, I want to to say that I do follow a religion. I am not trying to offend anyone in that aspect. But if you strongly believe in these concepts, which is fine, just humor me and read on.

Now, What is it I don't agree with? I don't think everything in our lives are predetermined and out of our control. Here's what I think, there are two things that make up our life's. One is the actions we take. I believe everyone has a choice and are responsible to making that choice. People who say the phrase "I'll live up to fate," I can't take too seriously. The people who take matters in their own hands because they have the determination, are people I know are serious.

The second thing that makes up our lives is chance. I see chance as a possibility and luck. Not everyone is born with favorable circumstances. There are guys like Donald Trump who humbly say a million dollars is a small loan. They are others that see health care as a luxury. Think of the circumstances someone is born with as a hand in a game cards. Some people are dealt a good hand, while others are dealt a bad hand. The winner of a game isn't always predetermined by the the hand you start with, but the the actions you take.

My dad had a cousin with photographic memory. from what I had been told, this cousin had really good grades in school. It looked like he was going to have a promising future at anything he would decide to do. After all, he had a gifted ability that many can only dream of. What does he do now? My dad couldn't answer that question. Turns out that cousin associated himself with the wrong people and that's all I know. So even if your chances are good, it is the decisions you make the control the outcome. That is something this cousin took for granted, despite all his good qualities.

Well those are my thoughts. I myself am still practicing to 'take my life by my own hands.'  I hope you guys take the action to comment down below and see what you think? Goodnight! :)

Entry #5 Shorter classes

I'm trying to formulate an opinion about this topic. If you were to ask me how what I felt about short classes, I would have said something like, " No way , all that work with so little time, I'll pass." Well now that we are halfway through through this Eng 102 course, I have a little change of heart. I'm surprised that I like this format of class. I had my hiccups at first, but i'm getting used to it.

ASU is offering something similar, cutting the course time by half with the same amount of work. It's a efficient way of finishing a degree quickly, but doesn't retain the same quality. My worry is that, just like any other normal course, the quality of teaching isn't the same. With shorter classes, it could be difficult to handle a class early on of quality isn't good.

 I'm still on the fence. I'm all for saving time and money, but am I ready as a student to handle that type of work load. Maybe if the class work is well formatted like in in this course, but that isn't a guarantee.

Feel free to comment on your thoughts on the the subject, that way I might have a more confident stance with this topic.

Entry #4 Longing to Read

When I was younger, I had a short attention span. Well, more like it was hard for me complete focus a one thing. So when  it came to reading, I couldn't get into it as a kid. I remember my parents buying me the first Harry Potter book. At the time, The movie adaptation of the books were were releasing. The movies were okay, but I could never get into reading the novel. I think I got through the third of it before giving up, and probably didn't remember specifics of the the book.

I eventually got better at being more focus in my teenage years. I started small with reading books under a hundred pages. Later, through the years i was able to read  five hundred page books in mere days (if they were interesting to me).

It's funny actually, why would I want to read about a narrative that can take me days, or weeks to finish. Movies and television shows are easier to digest and less time constraining. I think is the journey it takes to reading a book. It's left to your imagination of how the the setting is shaped. But I think most importantly is the connection towards the main character of a story. I could to live vicariously (hope i'm using that right) a character's experiences. Usually, know what they are thinking. This is what some movies and shows lack. One exception I could think of is a new show I'm seeing called Mr. Robot. The main character narrates what he is thinking frequently. This way the audience has more of a connection to him.

I'm glad I was able to learn to love reading.
I miss reading the journey authors conjure up for their characters and being able to see their growth. Hopefully I can get back to it after the semester is over, during the break. But until then, anyone have any book recommendations?

Entry #3 Slanted Reporting

Personally, I don't watch news reporting so much. This is mainly because many times the news is filled with a lot of filler i'm not interested in, and that I can keep up to date with current events through the internet and social media.

I do know what slanted reporting is. From what I understand, media outlets like CNN and Fox News are prime examples of slanted reporting. This is because they are affiliated with certain groups and might want to avoid reporting anything that might not be in favor of them. But, I don't watch either channel so much.

I do like watching satirical slanted reporting. And an excellent example of it is the the show Colbert Report. Stephen Colbert plays a over exaggerated right wing character. In character, he lets his views take over news stories. which can be hilarious at times. It's obvious that Colbert's character has complete disdain over the democratic party. An example of it is when President Obama wins re-election, Colbert shows his sorrow by drinking his troubles away and blabbers on everything with the president and his cabinet, which can be great comedy.

Entry #2 Smile

I'm not sure if anyone notices, but I like to smile. Years ago, I decided to make it a habit to smile more. Don't get the wrong idea now, it's not like I was a negative person or anything like that. It was just a thought I had one day and it just stuck. It wasn't immediate at first, but I noticed small differences after I smiled more. It turns out smiling could help better social interactions, crazy huh!? It almost felt easier, and more pleasant to talk with friends and strangers. I laughed more because I already did have the job by smiling. It also changed slightly changed the perspective of me people viewed. I was already liked, so I was liked more. And for those who didn't liked me, well don't mind them, they don't know what they are missing anyway.

I have personnel experiences in my life that made smiling an advantage. When I started a new job, I was more depended on because I was easy to be ask to help others with their task. Some co-workers commented that It was weird that I smiled so much, which I took as a compliment. Seem like not enough people smile, so I'll have to do it for them. Another example is whenever I ask a girl to dance with me, I feel that my chances are better when smiling. Don't get me wrong, I still get rejected, but at least I get more chances. I seen friends who ask girls in blank expressions and get turned down, as i I watched, seeing how awkward it looks. Seems like smiling can release tension between total strangers.

I feel everyone needs to smile more. It can be hard to meet new people, but if you smile, I have a feeling it will make thing easier.

Entry #1 Overview On Blogs

This is my first time ever running a blog. The only other thing I've done similar to having a blog is having a journal. I had to write in a journal when I was young as a way to express what I was feeling. i didn't get very far. The first entry's I wrote were not that long or expressive. Later on the journal would evolve to a log of events that happen throughout the day. I easily lost interest. I find it interesting that I can type my thoughts in this format without losing too much interest. Is it because typing on the computer makes it easier. Did I mature more as a student that I can somewhat convey my thoughts in a format that is not speech? I'm not sure myself to be honest, but writing in a blog is going to be interesting because I might better understand what type of writer I might be.

I'm slowly getting used to doing this. I don't detest it as I did when I wrote in that journal. I guess is because it is more goal orientated than the journal. I checked other blogs to see what topics I might want to do in the future. A blog I won't model after is the TMZ blog. Their post on what celebrities are dressed as for Halloween was amusing, but pointless. Many of the examples that had have circulated around social media cites. Many I saw on my Facebook. Unless if your only source of media is TMZ, I can't see why someone will go to that blog when they most likely seen the examples on other cites. A blog I do like is Top Tenz List. I'm always learning something new and surprising from it. Not that I will model my blog in that format, I think it will get tedious real quick.

All I can say is that i'm anxious for future blog post, so we'll see how intellectual I can get. I have a feeling it might not be too impressive, but we'll see about that. Goodnight!

Hey everyone, welcome to my blog. I would like to take this time to introduce myself. If you didn't know already, my name is Luis Iturriaga. Now what are my interest or hobbies? I'm glad you asked. I'll start with the most interesting aspect about myself. I am a practitioner of karate, shotokan karate to be precise. I have done karate for many years but this style is the one I currently do. I dedicated so much that I became a black belt 2 years ago and teach when I have the opportunity. One opportunity I have is teaching at the GCC Shotokan Karate club. I always have a great time sharing what I know to new people and gives me some perspective on how far I have develop as a student and as a person. 

But enough about that for now. Another interest I have is art. I have always like drawing and have been very decent at the least. But there was a time, regrettably so, that I stopped drawing. If I haven't stopped, I would have developed my skills further, but that's in the past. I rediscovered my passion for it late in high school and currently in my drawing 111 course. This is leading to having a career in graphic arts and design. I always took satisfaction in creating anything that look cool. I feel that in this career, I have the opportunity to do so. I'll get a true taste of what it might be like next semester in a graphic design course I will be taking.

I obviously have more interest, but it might be better to not show and tell everything. I have to leave the audience wanting more, right? Maybe in a future blog post, but until then, I'll see you soon.