Hi, my name is ______________. Welcome to the writing center!

The writing center for me was quite the experience. I barely made it to my appointment that day because of the weather. It was a hurricane outside and I could barely walk with out being smacked in a different direction by the wind and rain. As I tried to save my computer from any water damage, I moved as quickly as my body would allow me. When I finally reached the writing center, I bustled in, huffying and puffing, and completely drenched. I had manage to salvage my laptop, all my books however weren't quite as lucky.

The tutor who helped was junior or senior, male, and very kind. I will leave him nameless for his privacy (and also because I wouldn't be able to remember his name or his face if you payed me). For this reason lets just call him Jake.

We sat down with my laptop and because I was a little disorganized he seemed to be also. I hadn't printed out a copy, but it didn't seem to matter we just used my computer( which did I mention was low on battery?).

Despite my misfortunate given circumstances Jake was quite helpful. We went over my opening paragraph and made it completely solid, and then continued on to the rest of my paper. The only thing that I would have to complain about is that he was really inattentive. If he didn't need to pay attention to me at that moment in time, you could bet he was looking at his computer or staring at his watch, or out the window.

Our hour had passed and we were about half way done. It annoyed me that half way through mid sentence he cut me off to say that our time was up. I asked Jake if he had another appointment, he hesitated and said "Yeah, yeah, yeah.". My computer was going to die anyway but he really couldn't wait to get rid of me. As I packed up my computer put my rain jacket back on and got myself together to face the ridiculous weather that was still outside. I noticed he had gone back to playing a video game on his computer. I check my phone: 1:15... another appointment really? Come on Jake! Help a girl in need, a girl who's paper was in need of serious help. Wasn't it his job to help me? Wasn't he getting paid to sit there and help me?

It would seem that didn't matter. Overall he was very helpful, but there were a couple of things that could have been adjusted to make my experience better and have better results from going.

I tied the belt on my jacket and gave one more " Jake do your job and tell me you wouldn't mind helping me for another ten minutes" look at him. No response.
I left, got luch, and sat there pondering how someone grades a paper that doesn't seem complete.
Dammit Jake -_____-

Just Add Water

JUST ADD WATER!

So much is hidden behind this phrase.
Every infomercial, ever, comes to mind....
" It's a plane that flies it's self... all you have to do is just add water!"
Well not exactly but you get the idea. Condensed orange juice, chia pets, just everything unnatural. Adding water creates a chemical reaction and makes things... well react.
But there are so many meaning behind that phrase in and out of context. Really human life is almost like that. Without water we die. The body can survive with out water up to three days. The body can survive up to forty days with out food. Without water we are dead.
Just add water.
Just hydrate yourself.
Just make sure you can function.
Just live.

If a tree falls in the forest does anyone hear it?

I guess that is kind of the same thing? Well not really but almost .... it's a different sense, I suppose.

"A new way of understanding an already powerful theory is beginning to take shape, one that could change the way we understand the world around us. Do we create what we observe through the act of observation?"(Roebke pg. 230)

That question really gets me, especially since I really don't understand the philosophy behind it. Solipsism is the philosophical theory that self is all that you know to exist(Webster dictionary)...???

WHAT!!?

That barely makes any sense... well I guess it does, kind of?

Philosophy drives me crazy. Does that mean everything behind my back right now is just blank space an entire universe undiscovered and unused by us because we just haven't created anything there?

Observation I believe is key to learning, but creating? In art observation is key to learning and creating your art. But does the same hold true for the world? Do we observe and then create the world surrounding us. Sure there are tons of theories are using your "energy" to attract opportunities, people. good health, and so on. Even science falls back into spirituality sometimes. And this really seems to be on the border line for me at least.


Roebke's arguement is unclear to me still. And I think in a way his conclusion is passive, leaving the reader unstatisfied. I do however really enjoy the end when he ask a question Dr. Zeilinger cannot answer, and a week later there is a job posting for a collaborative philosopher.

Faustian sold his soul to the devil... Have we?

Limitless— that is what has seemed to become the staple of our society according to Berry. Berry directly calls out our society and almost everyone living in it on their wasteful and greedy way of life. When I first read this I tried to dismiss Berry’s view of our country. But not even a quarter of the way through article, not only could I not dismiss his views, I had to accept that they true. Not only true, but shamefully I am living them. We all are though when it comes down to it.

Berry talks about the industrial revolution, and how this is where the idea of a limitless economy started. This is why we live this way, the way we live calls for limitlessness on every aspect . Berry talked about a summit in Louisville Kentucky. This summit was supposed to deal with the problems of fossil fuels and our energy sources. The solutions presented were not solutions at all, but just temporary replacements for our usable and non-refundable sources.

Limitless is not just present in things like our economy. Everyday everywhere you go people want everything for nothing. Even a trip to get ice cream becomes a production. Over 20 flavors over 50 topping, and an endless way of having it served. The choices have become over whelming. Berry is just yelling out for us to wake up and simplify our lifestyle again. Because in reality its not as hard as it seems.

Waste and Greed. Greed and Waste. WasteandGreed

The image of waste fills my mind with mountains of garbage. Just an overwhelming mass of people's trash. Broken computer screens, unwanted toys, rotting food, clothing never worn, shoes missing there match, and just an excess amount of matter. A matter that could have been saved and recycled, but instead was destroyed and made unusable.

Greed and Waste are close in character. Greed in my mind is matter wasted. The foundation of greed comes from waste. We are too greedy to share so we dispose of whatever we can't handle. It is a person that sits there- on their mountain- and they create more, they hoard more things, and eventually it is all wasted.

These two cohorts further the cycle of taking, never giving back, destroying community, simpleness, and just causing destruction.

Derrida's afraid of writing... I mean he writes and all, but still he's afraid of writing.

Jacques Derrida: author, philosopher, speaker.
He is many things, but his one skill that accounts for much of his success, he claims to fear. Why is that? Derrida's fear of writing is something that not is not uncommon. I believe this fear doesn't come from the writing itself, but the fear of human reaction. Every person, every individual judges and reacts to all of other peoples actions. Its natural and unavoidable because of different opinions, different ways of life, and just different people. He uses writing to face his fears, he uses it to venture forward into the unknown of opinions and confrontations.

I have only once really experienced fear after writing. It was a rhetorical analysis of the Bad Romance music video. When I picked Lady Gaga as my topic I knew right away it would be controversial, but not until after the paper was printed and handed in did I start feeling the anxiety build up in my body. My entire paper was about women and their sexuality. What I had experienced in the past at school was these kinds of topics were not discussed and were deemed inappropriate. The Irish catholic girl inside of me became nervous at what my professor would do. I was afraid she would think of me in a negative light and grade my paper poorly because of the blunt topic I was addressing. Later after receiving an A on my paper, I realized that- yes- the subject was controversial but I wasn't being graded on being appropriate.

Derrida uses language as his vehicle to propel his ideas forward. He fears the back lash but never takes back anything he publishes. Its a constant battle between himself. Believing in what he is writing in and fearing the reaction of what he believes.

Hass, Jones, and language.

“Hubris at Zunzal” by Rodney Jones and “The Problem of Describing Trees” address the topic of language. The written language— when you really think about it— is a very strange concept.

In Hass’s poem he sneakily makes his argument by exploiting people who try and make language deeper, prettier, and more meaningful. When in actuality they just stomp on all of those things, making language loose it simplistic beauty.

In Rodney’s poem he commends the written language for being created without it our thoughts, quite literally would be washed away and irretrievable. “ No image like the image of language.” This quote embodies the need and beauty of descriptive language. These poems both center around language. And prove two different points. Balancing out the two extremes. Without it we are lost, with it we are over zealous with its use and abuse its simplistic nature by making it overly complicated.