Watching it snow...

Good morning!  As I sit here and watch it snow, I cannot help but think about how the flakes cover everything - weeds, pine needles, grass, and the crocuses that were fooled by the warm weather last week.  Nothing is exempt from the blanket.  Very similar to living, don't you think?  No one is any more exempt from the beautiful gift or the unexplained accident than any other.

The snow first surprised most of us Tuesday morning. The 8-18" of wet snow that fell on Bend knocked out power to many and left others stranded.  I am grateful for a well insulated home and my biggest problem that morning was no Internet access.  Seems so slight compared to what others experienced.  Our power came back on in plenty of time for me to get my essay submitted and the house warm again before nightfall.

I have enjoyed blogging and may continue as it affords me the chance to think out loud with written words.  Perhaps one day a line of mine will stay in someone's head just for fun or maybe because it touched their heart.  The line that stuck with me early in life?  Willa Cather was a favorite author of mine and in her book My Antonia, (1918) is the line ...and the moon hung from the trees like a paper lantern (paraphrase).  That is how I remember the line today.  It stuck with me because it was the first time I read something and got a vivid picture of what the author was describing.  Seems so simple today, but it has stuck with me for many (many!) years...

It has been great to walk with you this term and I look forward to meeting you again soon!  Sunny

Almost there!

It is Monday and our essays are due tomorrow.  Mine is complete except for the reviewing I am almost obsessing about.  How many times should an essay be reviewed?  I'll keep going until the red marks on the printed page are gone...or, Tuesday rolls around : )

I have learned so much this term in Comp II and hope to remember the resources and ideas in the future. 

Sunny

Last mile? Or 11th hour?

Here we are in week nine and our papers should just about be complete.  I have read and reread mine so many times, but I feel it could be improved even more.  I keep rereading, but with a purpose; I printed the Writing Center's Proofreading the Final Paper and will use it as a guide as I proofread for specific errors. I have enjoyed learning about new processes and techniques for review.  I can use them on other papers in future classes.  The process this term seemed more frustrating than last term.  This may be due to me putting too much pressure on myself as I did very well on the last essay I wrote - I think I am expecting the same this time.

This is a different class and different topic and I will do just fine.

As far as whether I like to write or not, I do.  Writing is a great way to express myself, even in a scientific essay.  I've enjoyed blogging as it allows more room to be creative than Facebook where I feel I need to keep things short.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Sunny

How have I felt about blogging this term?

I posted earlier, I know, but I just read the Professor's prompt questions and wanted to answer a couple.  I have enjoyed the process including the setting up of the Blog.  I enjoy the fact that we can change the settings and design when we want to.  The lack of comments is a little frustrating (although, you, Professor D'Angelo, do comment when you grade my posts - thank you!) and I hope that will change after class.  Maybe classmates will have more time to respond and I might let a few friends know of the Blog so they can read and comment.

Good luck to all as we put the final touches on our research papers!

Sunny

Turning frustration into triumph

This week I am later than normal with my post.  I had spent an enourmous amount of time on my essay to no avail.  I composed another post draft outline to find it was not organized well at all!  I kept trying to figure out how to fix that when (out of frustration) I decided to print it out, cut each page up into paragraphs and from there - success!  This method allowed me to read each paragraph alone and physically organize them into a more reader friendly format.  Back in Word, I reorganized the paragraphs as I had them on the table.  Next, I took each paragraph and picked it apart, rewriting some sentences and completely eliminating others.  Whew!  It became fun again!

How has your essay been coming along?  Sunny