What Is A Place Essay Reflection

This essay was interesting to do. It involves a topic I believe in combined with my personal experience at the World War One Memorial. I have been into military history for as long as I can remember. I even tried to continue my families legacy in the military but was denied due to health issues. My Uncle is mostly in to the wars that shaped America, namely the Revolution and Civil Wars. I am more in to the wars that shaped the world like the First and Second World Wars, and the Wars on Terror.
This essay allowed me to do something no other homework assignment has let me do: connect with family. This essay allowed me an opportunity to interview my Uncle and learn many things I didn't know about and to relive the trips we took to the Museum when I was younger. When you are younger, things that should be important to you usually aren't. But my Uncle has a way of getting them to sink in. I enjoyed the trip to the Memorial, but when he took me to see the Bricks he placed for our family, it really set in what this War meant. It effected everyone everywhere. It was a war that was so much more important and broad than most people realize. As time passes, so do the memories and experiences of those who were there, until all that we have left is silent relics from the past that collect dust unless people like my Uncle take the initiative to make sure they are remembered.
The thing that I found most difficult to do was to document my research. One reason was that there is only one website for the Memorial, and its the official one. Everything else is Wikipedia. I tried to use multiple pages to broaden my citations. I also interviewed my Uncle as well. But having never done a research paper like this before added some challenges. I read and reread my handbook. I hope it makes sense!
I found all but one of my writing groups workshops useless. They all said the same thing, “perfect!” “great detail!”, etc. Only one had any constructive criticism in it. I was able to use it to help my proof reading and add details and break up some run on sentences. I appreciated her help a lot.
I like the workshop for the most part. I try to be helpful but I don't know how helpful I am because no one says anything. They just type up their papers and submit them. I'm guilty of doing the same thing, so I imagine we all are like that in that respect. I sometimes found it tedious, especially if the paper was not interesting to me. It could be a real struggle to not just say “It sucks, get rid of it!”
I am most proud of the details I added to my essay that I got from my Uncle. While tiny details, I feel they added to the importance to the topic and my experiences. To me they tie the paper together and make it not just about me, but my family and how important I feel it is to know the contributions they made for me and the world.

ISIS Inc.

I picked an article by Fox News on the terrorist organization ISIS (actually ISIL). I chose Fox because its mostly all I get what with only having an antenna. ISIS has become a huge story. We first heard about them several months ago trying to take over Iraq from the North, capturing a vital fresh water damn / power plant, and generally being a nuisance. We started bombing missions on ISIS compounds and training camps, carried out by US Fifth and Sixth Fleet. We were told they were just a bunch of pushovers and would be dealt with quickly. Of course, that was not true. We are again spending millions of tax dollars to fight a terrorist group that would rather destroy the lives of innocent people just going about their lives - and our allies in the area (Turkey) don't really want to help. ISIS is not the push over we first thought. They are stealing roughly a million dollars a day in oil, sex slaves, bank deposits, and even from grocers and vendors in the areas they control! If people don't give over money, they are threatened, either by having their homes and businesses damaged, to having relatives kidnapped and killed. The oil is hitting the black market, giving ISIS millions in laundered funds - and eventually a lot of that oil is reaching American shores to be used by us. Its near impossible to track. The best we can hope for its to try to freeze their accounts and assets, and hopefully make it near impossible for ISIS to bank anywhere. I believe this article is trustworthy not because it has Fox News stamped on it ( that does help), but mostly because the Associated Press contributed to the article, meaning most if not all of this information is available to other news outlets.  This is just my opinion, but I believe public opinion is starting to shift again, as I think Obama wishes. He even admitted he and his cabinet and many of our allies underestimated ISIS. We are going from a support role to a more active role against ISIS, possibly with a ground offensive which means more tax dollars spent on another war, and more kids sent to fight - and die. I hope more can be done to avoid another ground war, but we will have to wait and see.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/23/us-islamic-state-oil-sales/

Senses Writing

I would rather be at Two Rivers right now. Two Rivers is a mountain bike park situated where the Finley and James Rivers meet south of Nixa. This is where I went on some of my first group rides when I started mountain biking. Its beautiful. Big trees seem to go on forever from where the blue sky meets at the top to the blue waters of the rivers down below. The trail starts going up, never seeming to stop. There is the taste of caramel in the air from the dust that is kicked up by us riding. We would ride for two or three hours, stopping to take a break every now and then. I would drink from my Camelbak looking at a tree that was hit by lightning. You could still smell the chard wood, reminded me of a barbecue. When we started back up we spooked some birds from the trees, screaming in irritation. After a long climb the best part starts- the decent. I would catch myself listening to the air rush through my helmet going downhill and tasting the sweat on my lips as we rode back up. Our bikes are quiet except for the clicking of the freewheel. Its not uncommon to hear and see deer and beavers scamper off as they get startled by me going by. The musky odor from the moss and damp earth grows stronger the closer we get to the bottom of the mountain. You can hear the river flowing and see fish swimming in it. The trail gets faster and faster the farther down we go, switching from worn smooth rock to hard pack dirt and back again. It almost feels like I'm weightless every time I crest a mound. The trees grow a little to close for comfort at times, scraping my elbow as I ride by. The greatness of it is that it always changes. Its never the same. One day you go out and its as hard as can be, you're aching and sweating and the bugs are eating you alive because you forget your bug spray, or the spray gets in your eyes! Another day its seems like the easiest thing in the world and relaxing. The flowers give off a wonderful scent, but the pollen makes me sneeze. The maple trees give of a sweet smell, hinting of the syrup within. The sun setting spreads across the sky and water in a rainbow of color that seems to go on forever. It brings to a close what was a wonderful day. As we ride our bikes down to the parking lot, crunching over the gravel, we see some other riders washing their bikes down from all the dust. We take a break, waiting in line. I wash my bike off, dry it, and re-oil it. Its a weird mixture – oil, sweat, bug spray, and water. But it seems so right together. I take a drink from my Camelbak. The water tastes sweet and fresh, after all the dust I've ingested. The only thing better after a hard ride is a nice cold beer with my friends in the rest area. We sit and chat about our experience until it gets almost too dark to see. We take the signal and head on home, waiting for the next trip.

Mama's Mexican Egg Rolls

Mama’s Mexican Egg Rolls:

Preheat Oil to 325 degrees

Ingredients Needed:

Egg roll wrappers (full package)

1 lb. of Hamburger meat (Tiffany likes to use 73/27, to make as less fat as possible)

1 pk. of taco seasoning (Tiffany likes to use a mild spiced seasoning)

1 pk. of Mexican blended cheese

1 pk. of shredded cabbage blend (includes cabbage, red cabbage and carrots)

Season to taste Ms. Dash Garlic Blend or (whatever spices you might like)

Dipping sauce:

1 container of sour cream

½ a jar of picante sauce (if you like chunky sauce use chunky if not don’t)

(If you are a ketchup person like my girls are, they are really good to eat with just ketchup)

Equipment to use:

Fry Daddy (if you don’t have one pouring oil in a frying pan deep enough for the eggrolls to cook in is good enough.)

Frying pan

Large and medium size mixing bowls

Spatula

Mixing spoon

The Story behind the egg rolls:

Tiffany has two girls and wanted to make something different for them. She got tired of making the same ole’ same ole’ things. So she decided to take an egg roll and taco recipes and combine them. Hoping that her children would like this, Tiffany put in the plan of action to make them. They ate the Mexican eggrolls and they have been a hit ever since then. Both of her girls ask her all the time to make them!!! She made them for a friend’s daughter’s birthday party and every time she goes over there, she is asked to make them as well! It’s funny how just a simple combination of recipes has made a true hit.

How to make the egg rolls:

First of all get a cup of cold water so you can stick your first knuckle of your middle finger and where your pointer finger nail is, to get the wrappers wet to seal them up. Next then smell the hamburger meat and listen to it sizzle as it fries. Then drain the hot grease and add the delicious smelling taco seasoning. After that add all other ingredients (she starts hearing the vegetables break as she starts blending everything with her hands, also feeling the cheese squish between her fingers) and the taco meat in a huge bowl together. You will then take about 3 heaping teaspoons of the taco mixture and fold into an eggroll. Taking your middle and pointer finger and dipping it into the cold water to seal up the wrapper. (Below is a picture of how to make an egg roll if you’re not for sure how to. It says to use egg whites, but you don’t have to, water works just fine.) Making up 3 or 4 at a time will save time just standing watching the egg rolls cook one by one. Then putting 2 or 3 in the fry daddy watching it bubble up the egg roll wrapper as it fries. When the egg rolls are light to golden brown (when floating on top of the oil) they are done. Set them on a plate with paper towels on it to soak up the grease. Next to last while you are frying the egg rolls, you can make the dipping sauce. Just take the sour cream and picante sauce and mix it in a medium size bowl cover with plastic wrap. Stick it in the fridge to keep it cool while finishing the egg rolls or remember if your family likes ketchup you can use that too! Then lastly, chow down on these crunchy homemade Mexican egg rolls that your family will just thrive over and will want you to make them all the time!!!!

This is color of what the eggrolls should look like, if you like them cruncher, then leave them in a little bit longer.

Blog Reflection

Here we are, a month or so after we started our Blogs for class. I got to say as a whole I enjoyed the assignment. In the beginning this assignment was mostly about free writing and learning how to let my thoughts flow onto paper more effectively. As time went on and I learned to let my thoughts, both good and bad, flow, I started to be able to turn the assignment into my own journal. I used the daily Blogs to share what was going on in my life as best I could. Not every day was a good Blog, but I tried to at least hit the base line. Some days I had writers block so I just wrote whatever I managed to get out (mostly complaints about whatever happened that day). My biggest complaint I have and have voiced repeatedly is having to do this daily. It got in the way of other homework, and I believe one reason I turned in my essay late. I was so hung up on getting these posts in I forgot my essay was due. I know, no excuse, but my memory isn't perfect. I can only cram so much in there at a time and retain it. I would have enjoyed it more if it was every other day, or if I could choose to write a post every now and then and tell about what happened between postings, but I understand the necessity of requiring an entry every day - most people wouldn't do the assignment if we could just do it whenever. I wish that my posts were acknowledged by Ms. A and my fellow students more, so it wouldn't feel like I was alone, but I know its impossible for Ms. A to comment on every post. I do believe I have benefited from it though. My fluidity is much better than it was and I am enjoying writing more because of it. I think my essay benefited from this Blog assignment as well. I also have been able to incorporate some of the writing workshop in my writings, such as using long sentences and punctuation better. I will continue to Blog for the rest of the semester. It wont be every day, but I will continue to write. I like being able to share with my class what is going on, even if no one reads it. I think it will continue to help me improve my writing ability if I stay with it. So here ends my last official Blog post. Hurrah!

At a Loss

So I got this assignment in English. I'm supposed to write a story using words provided by everyone in the group. I talked about this in another post. I'm finding I'm having a really hard time with this. The words are so random that its hard to lace them together. One of my classmates did a really good story on working in a call center and how stupid people can be. I could do that about AutoZone but I don't know if I want to do a story that is that similar to hers. But This assignment is due tonight and I don't want to be out all night trying to come up with something. I need to do the brakes on my car and check the power steering before a trip tomorrow and I'm rapidly losing daylight. I think I'm going to take a break and come back to this before it ticks me off even more. It may not be so bad if I knew if the assignments were still worth doing or not since I will probably get a zero for that essay I turned in 12 hours late. Ugh this sucks!

One can dream

One of my friends showed me a video of Danny MacAskill , who is a highly accomplished trails rider. Trials riding is a type of riding where you are to get through an entire course or trail without putting a foot down. So you can imagine how highly skilled these guys are. The movie was mesmerizing. Danny went back to the Isle of Skye, Scotland where he was born and road the Cuillin Ridge line. I am in awe of his skills. I thought I was an OK cyclist, but nothing compared to Danny. It makes me wonder what I a capable of if I try hard enough. Can I bunny hop gaps and turn 180's without touching the ground. Can I jump gaps and hit a trail without bonking. Then the question is, if I could develop those skills, would I be brave enough to try? That's a big question. Self preservation usually trumps all in most of us. But if everyone was concerned with that then we wouldn't have people like Danny in the world. You got to admit, being able to pursue your passion without getting overly caught up in self preservation would definitely make life sweeter. But before you can fly, you gotta drop in off that ledge... Here's to everyone reaching for their dreams!