Thursday, March 19, 2009

In Class Stuff

Have you been able to make/see some connection between all the reading in here? Do you find yourself skipping most the reading? If so, how come?

Reading? I don't think I've read anything for this or our last class actually. Mad at me?

Aside from that all powerful notion of a grade, why do you come to class? (If it's only for the grade, please say that).

I come more for the credit than for the grade. If I get any sort of good grade it's a side issue, they don't put grades on your degree.

Is it possible to describe at least two important things you've already learned or taken from our class? If yes, what are they? If no, does that trouble you?

I wouldn't pinpoint anything I've learned specifically. This isn't a science class after all. I'd say what I've taken from this class and the last one is a broadening of my writing skills. That may be, however, because I haven't written papers in a few years. I'd also attribute to this class a refocusing of my energies on school. Before I took a class with you I was kind of wandering through academia, taking easy classes to avoid a class where I might have to work.

What would you really like to see change in our class after spring break?

I would like to see a buffet of some sort, preferably a golden corral style steak buffet, but whatever you can whip up on your limited budget is fine.

Has this class affected your writing?

It has affected my writing in the sense that I haven't done much outside of it, and the writing I have done has improved through the practice.

My pedagogical approach might be overly relaxed. I'm not interested in being a police officer or forcing you to grapple with the world of language with the same passion as I do. Does my approach negatively or positively impact your work? And how so? Do you get distracted by others who want to approach the class differently than you?

Ironically, I think your approach negatively impacts my work. That is, I tend to not get things done until absolutely necessary, and your relaxed approach exacerbates this tendency as I done ever feel as if you'll come down on me for not getting stuff done in time. That said, I've never worked well for teachers that have come down on me, and I seem to work just fine for you. So maybe I'm wrong.

Early Self Evaluation

Grading Policies:

Drafting Credit (50 pts): You receive drafting credit for all of the in-class and out-of-class work you do to complete your five original papers. Full credit will be given when you submit your first and second drafts on time, participate in your peer-review sessions, and attend any required conferences.

Blog/Fast Writes (25 pts): You will receive full credit for each fast write when it is completed on time and shows that you have thoughtfully engaged with the assignment. This can be a fun and easy 25 points. Late entries, entries that are lame and only a couple of sentences long, or entries that fail to address the heart of the assignment will not receive credit.

Participation (25 pts): Your participation grade will take into account your attendance, your in-class participation, and your participation in the class’ on-line discussion threads. You are allowed to miss 3 class sessions (the equivalent of a week of class) without penalty; for every absence after the first three, I will deduct two points from your overall participation grade. If you are a quiet student who feels uncomfortable speaking in large class discussions, you can still earn all of your participation points by making frequent, thoughtful posts to our WordPress site

43

23

25

=

91%/A-

I've deducted 7 points for having not finished up the second final draft (although I'm close and really should have turned it in long ago)

I've deducted 2 points because I just don't know if I've made all of the fast-writes or not, but I know I've done most of them at least.

I've given full participation credit because I have missed very few classes, and I'm the most badass student you have.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Information

Information does not exist until it is observed. It exists, therefore, only in the mind of the informed. Outside of these perceptions information is only what it is. I.E. a piece of paper with writing on it conveys information, yet it is not information itself. Information therefore is a thought process, it is the conveyance of data and ideas.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Freedom

Freedom is an illusion. No one is free from their own personal experience of reality, and we as a people are slaves to the limited connection through which we relate to existence. Experiencing freedom is the result of faith in the order of things unknown. As such, we pull a veil over our minds and tell ourselves that we understand that which we do not. By ignoring our ignorance we manifest the illusion of freedom.

Great nations build themselves up on this illusion of freedom, and demand moral authority in the name of this freedom.

Yet, morality and authority are illusions as well.

As always, everything is an illusion. Even the illusions are illusions.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Paranoia

I stare out the hole in my door,
watching the translucent faces float here and there.
I am sick, and then I am sick.
The voices call from a distance, angry shouts and mario calls.
Out of the corner of my eye my coming doom waits always.
My thoughts are obscurred by possibilities.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Alveolar Osteitis

Paint swirls and shadows curl.
As the stitch comes loose, the wound lies bare.
My reality is going to snap.

On the swirling astral planes of subconsciousness,
a puddle of goo scribbling obsessions, riding the waves of concentric realities,

looking to understand the paradoxical notion of eternity,
and the possibility that existence is nonexistent.

What if God really is there?

When are you filling in the gaps?

Every moment of every day. Since everything is based off of assumptions, and knowing anything for certain is impossible, every decision and every thought is filling in to yourself the gap. The assumptions you make everyday are simply a way for your mind to ignore the fact that nothing is certain, and pretend that some sort of sense can be made. Reality is a gap, and a gap full of gaps full of gaps.