Rainbow Group 3

December 1, 2009

Hour and a half.

Made our outline of how the parade is going to go starting with registration and a visit from a family who lost a son at the age of 14 years old because he was gay.

Found different videos of Lawrence King

Work a little on work cited

Learning style

After taking the two test that described what type of learners everybody is, I was a high visual learner in both test. I know being able to look at a visual, like a graph or a PowerPoint is easier for me to take in the information that the Professor is giving out. For the Professor to talk the whole class period does nothing for me. At that time that the Professor is talking I zone in and out. In history class it is hard to stay focused because the professor rambles on without any pictures, but when he puts a movie on it is easier to pay attention. My biology Professor always uses PowerPoints and it is easier to pay attention and take in all the information that he is saying. I have many different types of tactics to remembering information for a test. Sometimes I will make up a song about the information or I walk around my house and repeat the material a few times. I have always been a visual learner.

Rainbow 2

November 19th

1 hour

Looked up different videos on how we are all so equal in the world.

Another video on the Pride parade and how it is one time a year and how it affects them to know that we do have people that do not think of them as equal.

Checked the true term for what gay means now and what it use to me 30 years ago.

Checked to see the Facebook page that was made and a few people have replied to it.

Rainbow

November 17, 2009

hour and a half

Group got together and discussed what we will be doing to our paper and how we are going to promote homosexuality as a equal. We made our thesis "Homosexuality has been concealed for many centuries and is starting to be more open to the public we need to show people that it is OK to be themselves because everyone should be considered equal." We also made our purpose and ethos logos pathos. We will be using facebook, PowerPoint movie, posters, and information about how we want people to understand that everyone is equal and why you need to except homosexuality.

Information

Looking up the information for our presentation is very interesting. When going online and looking at different information you start to notice that the gay's are really trying to get there name out their in a good way. On AdCouncil we found a web-page that had to do with twitter. Every time someone wrote gay it was added up automatically to a web-page. When we looked at the web-page it said that the word gay had been used 350 times today.My group has also found many videos of people explaining why the gays are putting their name out there. The gay's are proud of themselves and wanted to be looked at as any other type of person. We should support them in what they are doing with having parades and making websites. This is going to be a fun/funny project!

Group blog 1

November 12, 2009

Spent ten minutes looking up information to use and brainstormed ideas on what to do for our presentation. We are presenting gay pride to the older people. Our Audience is for eighteen to thirty years of age.

What are we doing in our presentation?

Seeing how many people react to a Facebook link of the gay pride parade

Looking up videos and pictures of how people think of gays.

Looking on the AdCouncil website

Ireland

If I could go anywhere in the world right now it would be Ireland. Maybe it's because I keep thinking about the movie P.S. I Love You. Still it would be a beautiful place to go and visit. I always see pictures and of all the hills and the big areas of land that is gorgeous. One of my good friends has been to Ireland and she told me it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is a must visit on my list. When going to Ireland there is one rule, that is you have to at least go into a Pub. I think the best time to visit Ireland would be during Saint Patrica's Day. It would probably be so crazy with people walking around singing Irish songs and drinking there love away. Going to Ireland would also be a good historical place to visit. You could learn so much from there past. If I could hop on a plane right now and fly ten hours just to stay a week in Ireland I would.

Halloween Weekend

Halloween weekend had to be one of the best weekends at Ball State. I never knew college students would be so dressed up for it. I saw some of the craziest costumes. There were a bunch of chicken and gorilla costumes everywhere. I was Wonder Woman and I must say it was an awesome costume. The night of Halloween I couldn't understand how girls can wear short outfits on Halloween night. I was freezing and I had my cape to keep my warm. I do not even what to know how other girls felt in there super short costumes.
I'm pretty sure I already know what I want to be for next year, and that is Tinkerbell or Minnie Mouse. Either of those would be awesome outfits. I just hope next Halloween is as good as this past one. I am pretty sure Halloween just became one of my favorite holidays for the year.

Goals

It is always good to set goals for yourself. When I make goals for something I always work super hard and achieve them. I was thinking the other day and thought, "I should make goals for myself for the next five years," just to see if everything works out. My favorite goal is to travel. I know Ball State has a lot of studying aboard for a semester and I would love to visit London. My top goal is travel to London and maybe other places to like Greece and Ireland.
My school goal for the future is to finish with a 3.5. I know it might not be that high for other people but going up it was hard for me to get good grades. I am going to push myself very hard for the next four years and come out on top. In school I would also like to join a marathon. The training is really hard, of what I have heard. If you think about it, crossing the finish line knowing you stuck it out would make you feel so good inside. My final goal is to be a teacher right after I graduate. There is a job problem right now in the upper part of the states, but I would like to move down to South Carolina. It would be so nice to get away from this weird Indiana weather that changes all the time.

Fall Break

This past fall break had to be the most relaxing three days of my life. On Thursday I got out at 10:45 which was really nice because right after class my mom came and picked me up. We went out to the mall which was fun because she was getting me stuff for my upcoming birthday and Christmas. After the mall we went back home and she made me a wonderful homemade meal with green beans, chicken, and salad. It was very yummy! Later we watched a movie on TV which was Hocus Pocus, that is my favorite Halloween movie.
The next day I woke up worked-out and sat around the house and got some homework done. That helped out a lot because this week is swamped. On Saturday I hung out with some friends that I haven't seen forever so it was really nice to catch-up. On Sunday it was more of rushing around the house type of day. My mom was throwing all my clothes around and I was trying to clean up my room. But coming back to see all my friends had to be a an end to a wonderful weekend,

Seeing People

This Fall Break is going to be very fun. I am not going home but I am going to go and visit my brother. My brother who is a junior goes to Wabash college, which is twenty minutes from Purdue. I'm really excited to go because my brother has never let me visit by myself before. He always told me I was to young and since I was in High School it would not be a good idea. He is in a fraternity at Wabash named Phi Delta Theta. My brother and I are very close and talk all the time. While I'm at Wabash my brother and I are going to stay their till Saturday. Saturday we are going to Purdue so he can some of his old friends from high school and I can see some of my friends. It's always nice to travel around to see people. Getting out of my area and see different perspective of other college students and see how they get by. I'm really excited for this weekend. I love Fall Break!

Halloween

When people thinking about Halloween it usually consist of going out in a fun costume and getting a lot of candy. To my family it is a little different. It kind of reminds me of Thanksgiving. My mom decorates the house with all types of Halloween bowls and pumpkins. My dad puts out lights around the door with skeleton heads hanging for the door. On Halloween morning my family wakes up and meets out in the kitchen where my dad is making thick bacon. While my mom is making sweet cinnamon rolls out of a can. She is not the best cook but she tries. We get everything ready for the trick or tr-eaters to come while my mom is getting all the candy together. When it comes to 7:00 the first trick or tr-eaters arrive. All I hear in the next two hours is, "Amanda come look at this costume! It is so cute!" While my mom is getting the good and handing out candy my brother and I always watch Fox Family. They always have the best movies on during Halloween. My favorite Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus. That's what my family does for Halloween.

Suicide in US Army

Going into war you think of fighting for your country. It never comes to mind that you could end up committing suicide. In Iraq Wilhelm a US soldier took his life in August, because of being bullied in his unit by his Sergent's. The Sergent's names are Bob Clements and Enoch Chatman. It was only his fourth day when he took his own life. Two soldiers are charged with maltreatment and cruelty to there troop. It was said that the two Sergent's used verbal abuse and grueling exercise to Wilhelm. Wilhelm was in 2nd squadron, 13th cavalry regiment. It was said that the Sergent's made fun of his weight and mocked him because he was supposed to be trained to fire master. Instead they put him in a platoon of mostly scouts. This is a different type of bullying that is both physical and verbal. Bullying is when there is repeated acts of a person making fun of another person. This can be from verbal abuse to physical abuse. This should not be happening in a US military base. Soliders are over there to fight for our country. Not to be bullied and then commit suicide.

Aamer, Madhani "Court-martial weighed in discipline cases." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 14 Oct. 2009.

Perfect Rainy Day

I love it when it rains! Everything just seems so calm and peaceful. It's like a big wave just hit everybody to slow down and take your time. A rainy day can be taken as a comfy day, were all you need to through on is a sweatshirt and long cotton pants. It's a reason to just stay home and take a lazy day. Whenever I am home and it rains, I make myself a big cup of green tea, turn on the fireplace, and just enjoy taking everything slowly. Some people take rainy days as watching movies and doing indoor actives. There are only three movies that I will watch on a rainy day. The first one is Titanic because it's just an amazing girlie flick to watch on one of those days. Second is Breakfast At Tiffany's. It is such a good old movie that it makes me want to sit around and shop on the internet. The third movie is 300. It's such a good movie, even though it is not historically corrected. This makes me just want to go into my dorm room, watch a good movie, and internet shop. I hope I gave everyone a good idea of something to do on a rainy day.

Peer Review

Peer reviews are one of the best things to have in English class. It really helps me to understand what a paper is supposed to be like. In this last paper I was really confused on how to write it, but after doing peer review it helps me have an idea on how my paper should be. Getting ideas from others helps me understand on what I need to work on and how to work around it. After receiving my peer reviews I have noticed that I really need to read my paper before giving it to others to read. I need to elaborate on why the song that I have chosen relates to "A long way gone." I also need work on my grammar through out my story, and state where I have received my information when I quote something. Doing peer review, you have two point of views on what to change, so when getting this information I look at my paper and think "I need to change this and this." I hope we keep doing this through out the year so I can always get an idea on what I need to change and what is good.

If I was on an Island

If I was on an abandon island and I could only take three things with me I would take Elton John so he could sing to me, a person who works at a coffee shop, and water shoes. I would take Elton John because he is an amazing singer. He could just sing "Bennie and the Jets", and "Your Song," the whole time which would be very relaxing, and if Elton John was missing there would be a big search party for him, that would make me have an 80% chance of being found.
Taking a person that works at a coffee shop would come in handy because if they have coffee plants on the island she could make me really good coffee, or she could find a bunch of fruit and make amazing fruity smoothies.
Taking water shoes would be a must to take on an island! I would use them to walk around the island, and use them for taking a dip in a pond, it would help not to step on anything that might cause me to die. It would also help in the ocean with not stepping on shells and ocean plants that could be pointy. On those hot days when the sand is really hot the shoes could help form not getting blisters.

My Song

The song that I have chosen for our paper is " No woman, no cry," by Bob Marley. If you do not know Bob Marley is a singer who was in the band "The Wailers." His music is known as reggae which is very laid back. I picked this song because it reminds me of struggles you have to over come to get to where you want to go. That's why I feel like it relates to the story "A long way gone." Ishmael had to over come obstacles to get to where he is now. That could be from leaving your family, to knowing your life is in jeopardy that you have to act fast, no matter what the cost is.
I am not for sure what my thesis statement is going to be or how I am going to make all this information turn into 4 pages. After reading the pages for Thursday I do have some ideas on how to write a proper paper and how to organize the information from the notes that I have been taking for the song, writer, and story. I have a feeling I will probably be living at the writing center for a while before we turn in our drafts and final papers.

The Perfect Date

The perfect date to me would be a beautiful sunny day in the Fall. The guy would leave a big bouquet of sunflowers and daisy's right outside my door with a card on it saying "Today is your special day. Get dressed and come down stairs." I would be so excited, I would run into my room and get ready really fast. When leaving my room I would see daisy's of all colors on the ground leading downstairs. When I would get downstairs there would be another bouquet of flowers that my date would be holding. We would walk around the town, but then he would lead me to a big park area with a beautiful fountain. There would be a picnic set up right under a big tree of with all my favorite foods in a big picnic basket. We would eat and talk for a while about sports and different things.
After our picnic we would walk around, I not knowing where he was taking me. He would lead me to an old pumpkin patch, where he would tell me to pick out any pumpkin. I would pick one and so would he, not knowing what would happen next he would lead me right outside the pumpkin patch and there would be a pumpkin carving area just for us. He would carve his and I would carve mine. Later he would pull out a big wagon and we would set our pumpkins in it. We would walk home with him pulling a big red wagon. We would get to my house and I would invite him in for a cup of coffee. That would be the perfect date.

Coffee Cupcake Shop

If I could open up any type of shop it would be a coffee cupcake shop. The name on the shop would be called "Beans with Sprinkles." It's location would be in an area where a lot of college students like to hangout and close to a lot of neighborhoods.It would serve many different flavors of coffee, which may include Snickerdoodle, Hazelnut, and Vanilla. There will also be lattes, cappuccinos, and for the kids hot cocoa. Every Wednesday and Thursday it will be 50 cent coffee days and 25 cent refills, and on these days kids will be allowed one free drink.
At this shop it will also be a big seller in cupcakes. People from all around the world will be placing orders for these cupcakes. My shop will be featured on "Oprah's Christmas Special." Every cup-cake will be decorated in a different type of theme. If someone wants a princess cupcakes we will make a princess on top of the cupcake. On Saturdays cupcakes will only cost eighty cents for one, and kids 12 and under will get one for free. Everyone will be wanting to come and visit "Beans and Sprinkles," because it's that good.

Rain-boots

Looking out the window Monday morning made me very excited for the day. It wasn't a beautiful sunny day, but a rainy day. I love the rain, it makes me want to curl-up in a big blanket and watch "Breakfast at Tiffanie's," but I couldn't do that since I had a History exam at ten o'clock. While I was getting ready I thought " My mom just bought me some rain-boots!" I was so excited to pull them out of my shoe box and put them on. They are tall rain-boats with different colors of strips all around them. I put them on, under my jeans and was ready to go.
My first problem with the boots was when I was walking down the stairs to the elevator. When I took my first couple of step I heard this weird squeaky noise. I looked around and thought " There must be something in my bag," until I noticed that every time I took a step the boots squeaked. After getting down the stairs I thought I was OK, until I walked half way down to the teachers building and felt pain around my foot. I knew if I would have gone back to change my shoes I would have been late for my exam, so I kept going. By the time I was sitting down for my exam my feet killed. As I was walking to turn in my exam I felt like a duck wobbling around. After turning in my exam I hurried to my room to change my shoes. I have never been so pleased to wear flip-flops in all my life. Today I have band-aids wrapped around my feet because of those rain-boots. No one never told me rain-boots were so painful.

Ishmael Beah

Sitting in the audience knowing you will soon be face to face with a national best selling author is an amazing experience. Seeing Ishmael with his black suit and crazy hair, I first thought "this is going to be a long night." Then everything changed, rather than reading the book page by page he talked about himself in funny, but serious ways. One of them was when he said "I remember talking to the man I use to play soccer with at the kids center, and if my team lost there would be a fight, but if we won there wouldn't be a fight. So I was talking to this man and brought up how we use to win a lot, when he told me that they use to let us win, because they didn't want another fight. Before this I thought I was an amazing soccer player, now I'm just like well I tried."
The village that Ishmael lived in was nothing compared to what we have today or twenty years ago. Ishmael said "If you want to take a bath you have to fetch the water, then make a fire, warm up the water on the fire, then you have a bath. This was very different from his first trip to New York were he was explaining how he was so amazed from the shower, and when he went back home to tell his uncle, his uncle said "There must be a guy on the other side of the wall heating water and putting it through the hole.
At the end of his speech had to be one of the most remember able sayings I will always remember. Ishmael said "I got through this with a fight, everyone has that in them, they just need to find it in themselves first." Ishmael is one of my idols after listening to his speech and I hope he does come back to "Ball State" soon.

KD

Going through sorority rush is a very tiring experience. You have to attend lots of meetings. Meet a lot of amazing people. Make it so you can only have seven hours of sleep a night. I am so glad rush is over, but I know I had one of the best experiences of my life.
Rush started last Thursday and ended Monday. It was a little scary at first to meet knew people and know that they are judging you. Finding out which one you are in had to be one of the most exciting experiences for me. During rush you are put into a group from where you live. My group was number one and we all hit it off right away. On Monday we met in front of Woody Hall. The rush leaders who take us to all the special events were waiting for us. When I got there I saw a big tan envelope which had the bid of your sorority. My leader handed me my envelope.
I was so nervous. I ripped open the envelope and saw in big letters it said "Kappa Delta." I have never been so excited in my life. I jumped up and down and started screaming I was so happy.
My group next had to walk to the field, where we would re-night with my new sorority sisters. All the girls around me were going crazy because they wanted to go to their own sorority. It finally came to 6 o'clock when we were aloud to go to our new sorority. I ran as fast as I could to my sorority. I knew with all the hugs and cheering, I was home.

Tea Room

During the summers of my freshman, sophomore, and junior years I worked at a tea room. It was called (Tea in the Country) which was owned by a little old lady named Caroline and her daughter Jana. They opened the tea room in the summer of 2004. It is located in Yorktown Indiana, in a small little white building that was built almost one hundred years ago. I can still remember how I got my job working at the tea room.
It was in the summer, and I was about to be a freshman in high school. I had told my mother about the tea room before, because I had visited with my friends. My mother made a reservation at noon with her, my grandma, my mothers friend, and I. When we got there we sat right by a big window that was filled with flowers, and big hats of all colors. I can still smell cinnamon scones when I think about it. Jana was the first one that came to take our tea order. I ordered (Raspberry Chocolate Chai) while my mother and her friend ordered a white tea and my grandma ordered a black tea. When Jana left I was telling everyone at the table about the myths of teas. That Jana had told me the last time I visited.
Jana had come with our teas to the table, and was explaining information about teas. After the talk my grandmother said that I was trying to find a job. I remember the feeling that I had felt after my grandmother had said this, total embarrassment. Jana looked at me and said "We need someone to help out, Mom needs as much help as she can get." I shot up and asked "When do you want me?" Everyone looked very excited " How about tomorrow?" "Sounds good to me!" I said. That's how I came to work at a little tea room in Yorktown.

Car Ride

It was July 3rd 2009. My family and I were heading down to Hilton Head Island for our annual family vacation. We always went down to Hilton Head every July 4th week for the last four years. It is a beautiful small little island that is very private. To me it is a place to go and relax, and forget about the real world around me.
My family and I left at 5:00 a.m. In the first five minutes of the trip when my father had slipped coffee on his pants, my older brother was complaining because he and I were smashed in the back. My mother, well she was reading her People magazine that she had purchased the night before. I knew in that time that this was going to be a long trip.
In the first hour we had to stop at a gas station so my dad could wash the coffee off from his pants. Evan was pumping the gas into our four runner car. Mom was inside the gas station buying water with me when my dad walked out and looked like he had just gotten out of the shower. "What happened to you?" my mom said. "The water wasn't coming out so I turned it on high and then it shot out all over me." My mom and I could not stop laughing. When we walked out of the gas station my brother asked, "What is so funny?" I looked at dad and then Evan looked at dad and we just started laughing.
We all got in the car to finish up our eleven hour drive when it started to smell. We all looked around and realized it was coming from my dad, because of the water. Finding out later that we think there was a back up in the water and some could have been from the sewage. That was one heck of a drive all the way down to Hilton Head, with a horrible smell right in front of me.

Moving in

It was a hot summer day in August. My mother was finishing folding up my clean clothes. I could tell she was in a little sad to see her baby girl leaving home. She had kept telling me all summer "What am I supposed to do with your father, he doesn't talk." We made it out to be a big joke in the family. I went in and gave my mom a big hug, I can still smell her " Angle perfume" that she had put on that very morning. I felt my mother to finish off the rest of my clothes, and to see how my dad and brother were doing with loading the car. They were working on packing up the SUV with all my heavy boxes. Making sure they didn't forget anything I asked repeatedly " did you remember the fan, sheets, purple container,etc." "Yes Amanda we packed everything out of your room!."
When everything was packed and checked twice, we sat off for Ball State University. I don't live that fare, so the drive was really short. We pulled in right beside Woody Hall that would be my new home for the upcoming year. " I'm so glad we survived the long car ride" my brother would say, sarcastically. We'll I went inside to get all my living information, my brother helped unpack the car, and my mother and father were in there own conversation which was mainly "Why does Amanda need all this stuff?" Every time they asked me I would say " You wouldn't understand if I told you."
We unloaded everything into my room which took an hour. My parents know that I like my stuff a certain way, so they knew that it was time to leave. I said good by to my brother first which considered me standing on my tip-toes since he is so tall. Then my dad who smelled of after shave from that morning. After letting go of my dad I looked at my mom who tried to look strong, but you could tell she was in a little bit of pain seeing her baby leave. I went up to her and gave her the biggest hug and a kiss on the cheek, she still smelled of her angle perfume from that same morning. They opened the door and were leaving, but them my mom looked back me. With a smile on her face she said " I am so proud of you," and that memory will last forever.

Never chew gum on a roller coaster

Mother's always knows whats best for there children. They can always predict the outcome before there children do anything. Dad's just go with the flow, they always say when the going gets ruff just say "Yes dear." Older brothers are more of the protectors of there younger siblings, but are the best complainers. Daughters are the ones that think they are right about everything, and love it when they go against there mothers wishes.
It was a hot day on the east side of Virgina, the high was 103 degrees. I can still remember my brother in his Michael Jordan jersey complaining to my mother " It's so hot why did we have to come here." My mother is a very wise woman when it comes to finding something fun to do. She looked at my brother and I with her big brown eyes, which meant don't complain, I have something fun for you two. The family got in our new gold van which had a big Colts sticker on the back bumper. While my father was driving my mother turned around and said "we are going to an amazement park." My brother and I looked at each other with our big grins and then our mom, we couldn't believe it our first roller coaster.
We got into the park, and then headed for this on amazing roller coast that goes up and down, it looked amazing. We waited in line for about an hour. I was very nervous, it felt like I had butterflies in my stomach. My mom gave me some spearmint gum to calm me down. She said " just remember to spit it out before you get on the ride," " OK mom" I said. We were at the front of the line and we were the next to go. I remember they kept having this Pepsi commercial showing while you were waiting in line, because this was the roller coaster they used for this commercial. It was our time to get on the ride, and forgot about spitting out my gum. I got into my seat and buckled up. My dad sat right next to me and, and my mother and brother sat across from us.When we took off I can honestly say I have never screamed that much in my whole life. It had to be one of the best experiences ever.
We got off the ride and were about to get into the line again, when my mother noticed something in my brothers hair. She looked at me and asked " Amanda did you spit out your gum before the ride?" " Umm no" We didn''t get back on that ride instead we got in our van and headed back to my hotel. My brother had to get all his hair cut off. I have learned never to chew gum right before going on a roller coaster.

Dorms

Why should all dorms have air conditioning? All dorms should have air conditioning for three main reasons which include, spending more money, having allergy symptoms, and having bad asthma. The first reason is for people with allergies. People who have allergies and no air conditioning can run into the problem of having to take medication which can cost quite a bit of money. The second reason is, if you don't have a lot of money you would not be able to get medication, and you would have to put up with your allergies which may be puffy eyes, itchiness, and runny nose. The final reason that we need air conditioning is people with bad asthma. People with bad asthma may have a risk of a narrow airway which could lead to medical treatment. This is why all dorms should have air conditioning.

All About Me

My name is Amanda Griner. I grew up in a small little town right outside of Muncie named Yorktown. My favorite hobbies are working-out, hanging out with friends, and baking. I'm in love with dogs but not the biggest fan of cats. A perfect day to me would be waking up with a nice cup of coffee in Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. If I could make three wishes I would wish I could be an amazing writer, become a wonderful Elementary teacher, and meet Johnny Depp. Everyday I live by the saying " Live life to the fullest."