Home

I am finally going to go home, it will be the first time since I left to come to the University of Maryland that I will be able to get some of my mother's good cooking (possibly a sample of the Thanksgiving feast) and sleep in my own bed. It will be the first time that I am seeing my little sister since I left for school since she did not come down with my mother and I. And of course, I am going to have to make time for my friends at home and see what everyone is up to. Anyhow the real reason I am making the four hour trip by bus all the way back to New York is so that I can surprise my sister. Like me my sister is a runner, cross country to be exact, and she is running in the race that decides who the county champs are and who gets to run at the State Meet, both indivdually and as a team. I know she's been practicing like nobodies business and sometimes she works to the point where she is too run-down to perform the way the team expects her to, but more importantly the way she expects herself to run. That girl puts more pressure on herself than even I can imagine, sometimes all that stress and energy is misplaced and she can function the way she wants to in those big races. My reason for being there is to simply make her feel at ease, if I have learned anything since becoming apart of the Maryland track and field team it is that you will never perform well or the way that you want if you do not relax. My coach relies heavily on that phrase when we are working out on the track and are clearly tired, he just tells us to relax. Hopefully by my being there and her not seeing me in months will make her listen to what I have to say and she can just go out there in the race and do her thing. She has been patient for so long, and I know that she is ready to bust out and have the greatest race of her life. I hope that this weekend will end up being that time. Other than that, I really am just trying to get some of that good home cooking that only a mother could make and take a "break" from the campus dining food.

steam roll

So tomorrow, Thursday October 23, 2008, my teammates and I face our first competition of the long upcoming season. Even though it's just a scrimmage, it's the very first competition most of us have had since last season, and for the freshman, it is the first college competition we will have. The unfortunate victims of this scrimmage are the runners of American University. I say it like that because they don't really have many sprinters that can compete with us. They do, however, have a few decent distance runners, but from what I see from out distance runners the American runners are going to have to be on a much higher level to beat them. I am excited to finally just sprint and cut loose against other runners besides my teammates. It will do us all some good to get a taste of what it feels like to "beat up on other teams" as my coach put it in the schedule for the week. I can not say I'm not nervous at all, it is my first college competition, but my coach made it a point to let us know that it was not a real meet. That's the way I feel, it is not official and it is only against one team, but at the same time I am excited to just get out there on our track with my Maryland singlet for the VERY first time and rip apart a 300 or a 400. Now I prefer a 300 but, now that I am in better shape than I was in high school I don't mind a 400 on a relay. If nobody is doing anything, everyone should come out to the track and watch the track team put down this American team tomorrow at 2:00pm, it won't take more than an hour because we are only running about four events and like I said before it is just between American University and us.

Sugar Junkie

I have been here for a little over a month and a half now and I have gotten the chance to experience many things that I would not have, had I stayed back home in New York. Something that I will always remember about just being in Maryland is the difference in music. I guess back home I was so closed off to other types and variations to what I perferred because I liked my music so much. I am mainly an R&B guy with a specific rap selection: Lupe Fiasco, Common, Ludacris just to name a few. I was sceptacle of groups such as N.E.R.D that put a twist on the original and mundane style of hip- hop music because their sound was different from anything else I had listened to. As I listened to them more often I began to like it. When I came here I came across what Maryland people call Go-Go music, something my roommate equivilated to violent vomitting. I thought I would be turned off to Maryland music from that point on. However, a week ago from today my a senior teammate of mine told me of this band he was in called 'Sugar Junkie'. He said it was similar to N.E.R.D, which I liked but I was still unsure because he is from Maryland, home of Go-Go music. Anyway I decided to Santa Fe last Monday night where they were playing. I sat through two acts before my teammates band performed. One was almost too amateur to believe and the other was not only boring but prolonged to the extent that people bagan to 'boo'. I felt that the night would end that way and I had wasted five dollars, but the wait and the money was WELL worth it. From the moment my teammate and his band got on the stage their was a vibe of coinfidence that the other acts did not possess. They jumped on stage as if they had to rush to be somewhere else even though it was nearing two in the morning on a Monday night. From their first song to their last they had the crowds full attention, well they certainly had mine. My teammate and his band may have borrowed concepts from N.E.R.D but in essence they had their very own style. They had remixes to newly produced songs as well as original songs that were beyond what I had expected to hear after having sat through such boring acts prior to theirs. Many of my teammates and I that were in the audience were right at the base of the stage marveling at the talent of our teammate as he sang through a voice changer. His performance was simply incredible and when they finished their fifth and final song we cheered for another song along with the rest of the audience, however, they could not because the place had to close. My teammate got off the stage and we all rushed him picked him up off the ground and hailed him as the Champ. I really admire my teammate and have great respect for him because he is so versatile, he seems to be great at everything. In a way that's the type of person and leader I want to be when I am a junior/senior. Anyway the name of the group is 'Sugar Junkie', you can look him and his band up on youtube, the videos from last week are there.

Rhetorical Analysis #2: “Who’s Afraid of Michelle Obama?” by K. Emily Bond

For this second rhetorical analysis we were given the option of analyzing one of the articles we selected for our “Experience and Other Evidence” papers, diving deeper into rhetorical strategies and methods. The article I have chosen to use recently appeared in Bust Magazine, and speaks directly about Michelle Obama mainly through the use of ethos, but there is also a clear and evident use of both pathos and logos due to question presented in the title that addresses a fear that the public has about Michelle becoming out first lady, as well as the statistical data found within the article. The intended audience of this article may be college educated women and older, mainly because this is a feminist magazine, however, this article is not limited to only black women by any means. In fact any person aware of the current political situation, male or female, who may have stumbled upon this article would be able to comprehend and react.

Upon my analysis of K. Emily Bond’s article it became evident that the primary rhetorical appeal that she utilizes is ethos. The plethora of sources she cites from various fields in commercial media, both negative and positive, to validate the points she makes about how Michelle Obama distorted image is powered by racial and sexist rumors and slurs. An example Bond gives her audience is the well circulated July issue of The New Yorker where the cover portrays Michelle Obama as an angry, militant black woman complete with army fatigues and an AK-47 strapped to her back. Other sources that Bond uses are address more positive views of the potential future first lady, such as Michelle Obama’s appearance on The View which was portrayed as “everyone’s best friend.” Bond also makes an appeal to our logic with statistical facts and percentages of black students in Obama’s class at Princeton. Of course, both of these appeals are tied into the pathetic appeal initiated by the question of the title, forcing us to think about what really is there for us to fear about this woman.

Stylistically, Bond elegantly intertwines the rhetorical appeals she uses into a cohesive and functional unit that easily flows from one to the other and throughout the article she injects her own commentary and thought based out the cited information she has provided her audience. Based on the intended audience that she is writing to, as well as, the topic she is discussing the structure of her arguments within in the article are strategically placed in order to most effectively drive her points home and she tends to do this more towards the end of a paragraph when all the outside information pertaining to the specific topic of argument is on the table. This approach allows the audience to weigh all the information for themselves. Bond’s style of argument is particularly effective because she shapes and molds the issue at hand so that she has the last say, and that the very last thing you recall from her article is a point that she proves.

Finally, what makes Bond’s argument so effective is that she addresses several topics of stasis theory including conjecture, because of the questions she presents within the title as well as within the article about rumors about Michelle Obama. Another topic touched upon as well is value. Bond’s reference to this topic provides the key to the effectiveness of the argument because the main issue at hand in the article is whether or not the publicity that Michelle Obama is right or wrong, good or bad. Through her rhetorical and stylistic methods K. Emily Bond has successfully argued a position efficiently.

rhetorical analysis journal

Rhetorical Analysis #1- Volkswagen Video

For my rhetorical analysis journal I choose to use the “VW Unpimp” advertisement for the humor it injected while attempting to sell a new model of a car. I think the audience is clearly directed at those who can drive and in particular the newly licensed male drivers, upperclassmen in high school and slightly older drivers looking for their first car. This commercial is effective at hitting their intended audience because those interested in their first car are looking for something that will make them seem attractive and of course will “look cool.” Something even more elementary that is evident within the commercial is the need to feel sexually attractive, what better way for a male to feel attractive to a woman than with this brand new Volkswagen. Both the “cool” factor and sexual appeal are demonstrated in this commercial presenting us with opportunities to analyze the pathetic and logical appeals, as well as the logical fallacies in the commercial.

Pathos, the primary appeal in this advertisement, employs a humorous and hip German engineer, a man who is clearly keeping pace with modern times as well as young and extremely attractive woman who seems to be his sidekick or assistant. From the manner that they dress to the way that they speak it is made evident to the viewer that they are hip and cool in the way many young people with their first car want to feel, in a funny way. Jason, the young man, portrays the image of a teenager wanting to feel “cool” by flaunting what he believes is an acceptably “cool” car. Through pathetic appeal, the ad’s employed actress makes Jason feel as though his car isn’t good enough, effectively making the viewer feel as though their idea of a “cool” car is not what they thought, and that the only car that is cool enough is the new model Volkswagen. This, I think, blends right into the logical appeals the commercial uses in that simply if you want to be socially “cool” buy this new model Volkswagen. Logically if Jason really wants to be socially acceptable then he needs to get rid of his car, The Flame, and get the car they are selling. This provides the ad’s logical fallacy.

Here we see the commercial’s abuse of the rhetorical appeal of logic, a post hoc fallacy. In the commercial we have the man dressed in all white, a relatively “cool” guy, trying to persuade Jason and viewers to get the new edition of the Volkswagen, a car he himself probably drives. Next we have the man’s beautiful assistant who is dressed identical to the man helping to persuade us in the purchase of this car. Together this forms the belief that because this man drives this new Volkswagen, he was able to attract this woman to be with him. The car being the cause and the effect being his beautiful assistant. Due to societies mentality about pretty woman and cars this commercial makes for a very effective advertisement for young drivers, males in particular, looking to get a nice car that will make them seem “cool” and attractive.

videos i watch at 5:30 in the morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=volIlLCZ3nM- the very first one I watch


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDGKwBKnqds- no work no glory


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BirIEDYrw0Y- patience


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCRS0hQctus- work before glory



I have known about these commericials for about a year now and watched them on occasion but starting about two weeks ago I woke up and put one on because I was waiting for my roommate and it just really motivated me because I know this is what it takes to be the best. So now every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday morning when I wake up early to run hills or go to the weight room I watch all of these video's to motivate me but also to reflect on what I have already done, and to look forward to what I dream of in the future. The video's sum it up the best in that the early workouts are necessary, that working hard is an all day event and applies to every nuance of our lives. Patience is required throughout the struggles whether it be the workout itself of just getting up to be there on time, we all must perservere and continue to reach for whatever it is we want; that there is no glory to those who only dream and wish, you must get up and earn your keep because champions are defined by what they do when nobody is around to see them. Finally, if this is what you love to do, if this is what you were born to do- then you will become what you already know you are. Endurance and faith in myself, as well as knowing what is within me allows me to do what is I am doing, what I was made to do.

some good news

Some good news, as you all should know next weekend is parent weekend. I don't know about all of y'all but my mother is coming down and my mother and I are tight close. I'm just excited because I feel like I have not seen her in months even though it has only been a little over one month. I know that when she comes down all the stressors that I felt during the course of the week or from Saturday workout on the track will dissolve when she gets her. I know we are going to go out to eat somewhere and I love eating, I want to show her some of the spots I know of so she can enjoy a good meal away from home. I did want her to meet my teammates and friends but a lot of people are also going home for the weekend. It'll have to wait for another occasion unfortunately. The only thing I'm worried about really is that she is going to see my roommate and I room and ask first what happened and then ask me to clean it up to her satisfaction trying to be hardcore mother. But I really don't mind a little bit of instruction from her, I am just glad that she will be around for a portion of the weekend and I can show here how I am living here. I know she will enjoy it if she knows I am having fun.

this is going to be a rough week

Since school started I have been steadily getting acclimated to my daily run-around with classes and practice. Waking up in the mornings earlyfor practice and then heading to class and then back to practice after is starting to feel normal. Now I am coming to end of my first practice cycle and I am looking at one of the toughest weeks ever. I have got the normal hills at 5:30 on Monday morning, which we are up to 11. Then on Tuesday morning we have lifting at 6:30, but not just any normal lifting session, we have got maxes where we must lift the max amount of weight that we can is all area specified as many times as we can. Tuesday, as the Lord would have it, is also always the toughest day of the week for me because my classes from the time I end lifting until practice starts in the afternoon at 2:00, a workout practice which if I have not died from the days activities yet will most definetly kill me. Wednesday, a generally gracious day only requires me to go to two classes and pool run for two about two hours. But I am back to the grind on Thursday in the weight room and another workout at practice in the afternoon.
Friday should be a shakeout for Saturday's workout at 9:00 am SHARP workout on the track, those are always fun.

sickness

For the past week I been dealing with this sickness that just keeps lingering. It started last Sunday night when I slept over my friends house and woke up sweating as if I had just ran practice. I flet like my temperature was defineitly around 1000 degrees even though the air conditioner was on blasting that night. So I got up and went to go lower the temperature even further to around 55 thinking that everyone must have been hot in my daze. . .wrong. Now come to think about it I was definetly hallucinating that night because I couldn' fall asleep and kept thnking about weird things, my brain must have been boiling at that point so I splashed some water on my face and body and went back to bed. About and hour later I woke up again chilly and cold but not in the way that I would normally feel from the air conditioner because I had blankets wrapped around me. I thought then that I might have a fever so I woke up my friend and asked for some advil, that helped out alot for the rest of the night and day until I got to practice and just wanted to sleep, then the headaches started coming back while I was doing bounding drills with the jumpers. I felt so drained and while drilling in the longjump pit I had to watch ever out jump me, people who normally wouldn't and that bugs me. That night though I just went home without doing any treatment after practice or going to study table and slept. Later on my friend brought me some Orange Juice and Swedish fish and that helped some more but its been lingering on since.