Who is your audience?

I keep up with many people through blogs. It's fun, and I enjoy it, but I can't help but notice that some writing speaks clearly to me and some just...well, doesn't. Being an English major, I really like big words. They make me feel smart, and I like being able to rattle them off and actually know what they mean. I might even drop a few here and there in this blog. But the question I think every writer should ask themselves is this: Does my audience understand what I'm saying?

If you're only aiming to impress people with your massive use of grammatical vocabulary, then by all means, keep writing your glamorous prose. But if you really want your audience to think about what you're writing, then you might want to keep your language free from confusing words.

This is something I struggle with sometimes. Like I said, I really like my big words. But what I like even more is when I can allow my audience to think about the meaning behind the words, instead of just wondering what the heck those words meant.

If I do nothing more than that, than making my language clear and understandable, then I really do believe I've done my job as a writer. Though I might drop a challenge or two along the way. A broader vocabulary never hurt anyone, after all.

Resolved

I hereby resolve that this year I will get involved more and have more fun and quit being a stick in the mud. I get so bogged down by what I have to do, what I should do, and what other people expect me to do, that I completely forget to just have fun. And, according to my friends, I'm way too young for that to be happening.

I realize that if I manage to pull off graduating in May (a grand feat of extraordinary proportions considering I'm behind), I'll get a nice healthy dose of reality when I go after my first "real job." Apparently all those summers working at the lake don't count as a "real job," whatever that is. Anyway, when I do secure this job and start the beginnings of what I hope is a nice happy career, I'm probably going to have to give up a lot of the fun college things that I get to do as a student. Things like late night ice-skating, free movies and popcorn in the basketball stadium, etc etc.

I'm going to miss being a student. So as of right now, I'm going to make the most of the time I've got left to just enjoy life.

P.S. My roommate has stopped running off for days and days at a time. So, for now, I'm not going to worry too much about it.

Back to the Grindstone

So, I've pretty much decided that I'm going to graduate this May. There's a lot of hard work ahead of me, but I'm confident I can get everything accomplished. College has been fun, but I'm tired of sinking thousands of borrowed dollars into my education. As the debt racks up, my anxiousness to be debt-free climbs. So I'm going to go out and do something about it. Starting just as soon as all my classes are over.

Speaking of classes, I'm currently in the middle of a week-long intensive course on Musical theater. By Friday evening, I'm convinced I will be a brainwashed mind-puppet that only sings showtunes because of the extremely long days and the mountain of work I'm plowing through each night.

It's definitely a good feeling to get weeks worth of classes done in one day, though.

Tis the Season

Since I've been home, I've been focusing on my family and catching up on my sleep. College drains you so much. I'm beginning a time of healing from this past semester, and though my heart and soul still feel like a barren wasteland, I can feel the edges of my bitterness fraying in light of the Christmas spirit. Healing is coming. And I'm definitely ready for it.

My wish for you this Christmas is that you too will find healing for whatever ails you. Whatever life has handed you that has dragged you down, or whatever sorrow tears your heart apart, I hope that this Christmas you will find some comfort in this season of pure happiness.

As I get older, I'm realizing more and more that it's the childlike innocence of my younger family members that heals my battered heart more than anything else in the world. Just seeing the precious smiles on their faces is enough to light a smile on my face as well. My advice this year: Let the wondrous magic of Christmas touch your heart this year.

This is the closest we'll ever come to a real fairy tale, and I intend to enjoy it to the fullest.

I hope your Christmas is merry, and that you will be filled with the joy of the season regardless of whatever troubles in your way.

One More Essay!

Gotta push through one more 8-pager. It's due tomorrow at 4:00 pm. Can I do it? Heck yes!

Here goes nothing!

Flawed System

Can you count on people? I mean, really count on them?

Right now I'm not so sure. My roommate bailed on me....we're supposed to be guarding the bedroom together (our other housemate is completely psycho) but she left because of a phone call with some unfortunate news. We thought our university would help us with this situation, but hey, guess what? They, like our landlord, like the cops, are doing absolutely nothing.

Let me repeat that. They are doing NOTHING.

This wouldn't be a problem if my housemate wasn't a passive-aggressive OCD freakshow who has threatened physical violence and tried to get us arrested for keeping the house temperature below seventy-eight degrees.

I really wish that justice would be served here. But it won't be. I am more and more convinced that the bad guys win most of the time. That's so just...wrong.

Waiting

The most agonizing thing to be doing is waiting for something to happen. Either you want it to happen, are dreading it, or aren't sure what's going to happen, but the anticipation just kills you.

It's the waiting that I don't like. I'm waiting to go to a meeting right now, a meeting that could affect my future in a pretty big way. I'm unbelievably nervous. But I know that once I'm in there it won't seem so bad, and that after it's over I'll be glad I went.

And so I wait, as impatiently as ever. Just...waiting for what is to come.