My internet just crapped out on me, so I'll continue with my story.

So we were all lined up in front of the MEPS at moffet field. Standing outside getting our bags checked and such. Then we were all put into a big room where we had to fill stuff out and take a test to check for alcohol in our system and check our blood pressure. We listened to different power point presentations on how to fill out that stack of forms that we had in front of us. After a little over an hour we were all sent to medical. We sat waiting in chairs. Mostly everyone was worried about peeing in their pants, because we were not allowed to pee until it was time for urinalysis. The males were lucky, because they got to do this before the females. But a few of the guys were bladder shy and couldn't perform in front of the worker hah. It wasn't until ours later that the females finally got to pee! We were really struggling to hold it! We had to go to the bathroom in groups and had the med workers physically watch us pee into cups. Then we had to take our samples to lab to see if were pregnant and clean of drugs etc. We took several different vision tests. A test for color blindness,a basic letter reading similar to the DMV, and a perception test where we looked at different circles in rows to see which were protruding forward. We also had hearing tests, and blood tests. At one point we were all in our underwear doing different exercises and the famous physical exercise the "duck walk" where we had to crouch down and walk across the room in our underwear lifting our heels and toes up like a duck. If you couldn't do any of these, you were disqualified. Then we also had one on one interviews with doctors and check ups. i would write more in detail maybe tomorrow, I'm just really tired right now. It was a long week of briefings and meetings with recruiters to prepare me for MEPS and the actually process of my full physical.

But in the end I passed every part of my physical! Got my job and signed my contract. We even had our swear in ceremony. It was pretty cool. But everyone was so exhausted and just wanted to get it over with hah.  But when we were officially all sworn in, it felt really good! Now next step, Basic training! That should be fun!

This course was a good learning experience! Even though we all came into it angry and unhappy, I think we all enjoyed it in the end. Another awesome round of presentations! Thanks Kamran for my name! I'm going to miss everyone, even though it's only been a short time that we've all been together, but we were a really good group that liked to have fun.

So the final essay, I didn't really have much time to work on it. I've been really busy. I had a lot of issues with paperwork and offices shutting down for my next chapter in my life, The United States Navy. The Navy is my number one priority. Well I really have no choice hah. I must go where they tell me and do what they tell me to do when they want me to do it. So I'm bummed about my paper. I think if I had more time I could have written it better. If only I didn't have to have so many meetings with my recruiters and master chief. Sorry Paul!

So today I completed and passed my physical. Then I took my oath and was sworn into the US Navy. I am now a sailor. Crazy!

It all started with my recruiter picking me and another recruit. We were ready to head out to the MEPS office in Sacramento. But there were issues with Sacramento office being shut down for changing of command or something. So last minute my recruiter had to pull some strings to get us into San Jose MEPs, which already had more than 40 applicants. Luckily we got in! So we arrived at the Holiday Inn in San Jose, by the airport. There were so many recruits coming from all over California. Some as far as Fresno and Visalia. We had meetings and briefings about what we had to do and what to wear etc. Then we had a curfew at 10pm. We were woken up at 3am to get ready and eat breakfast. We had to line up outside of hotel by 4:50am for the shuttle to pick us up and take us to MEPS, where we will be having our physical. We were lined up and set to go to the medical wing. There were about 45 candidates waiting to get their full physical. So there was a lot of waiting.

I can't believe we only have one session left already! It's been fun, especially for an English class. I know how much we all have been hating English since the JEPET test hah and not wanting to have to take another English class. Initially I was dreading this class, but I believe I've really learned a lot about myself and my writing process. I've always been aware of my many problems that I seem to have with writing and my creative handicap. But I also found out many more things. By knowing these things hopefully I'll be able to work on them and write a million times better than I have been before. Overall this course has been very helpful. I really do love how we're not sticking to the standard way of writing an essay. But on that note I've been trying to work on the last paper that we have to do. It's actually really hard. Writers block times a thousand. I was hoping to finish it this weekend, but no luck. I've been really busy and I've been having trouble even picking an author to write about. Mostly concerned about being able to write enough about any of them. I know it's not due until the 6th, but I really don't have that much time left. I just found out today that I have my physical for the Navy on the 5th and 6th. So I lose 2 days on writing this paper. Bummer! Hopefully I can get it done on time. Not only complete it, but make it decent. I really want to end this class on a high note though. I want to try to get an A!

That was another great round of writer's presentations! I really love learning about new author's and their work and adding them to my future reading list. We've had such a large variety of presentations, author's  and genres. I can't wait for the remaining presentations! 

So we just have 2 more class sessions left! After doing my presentation, just one final essay. This last essay looks really tough. I'm glad that I got my presentation over with, but I kind of want to do mine over haha. I had it all ready in my head, but when I got up there everything started slipping away! Speaking in front of people is not my thing! I had so much more to say, but I couldn't pull it out of my head. Neil Shubin is a really great science writer and amazing scientist all around. I wanted to be able to convince everyone to check him out, but I couldn't remember what to say! But everyone else had an awesome presentation. I enjoyed them all! I especially likes Anthony's because I've read so many articles by PZ myers and he does a lot of research in my field of study. So it was really cool to find out that he did science blogs. I had no idea. Thanks Anthony! I'm really looking forward to everyone else's presentations and learning about some new author's and books to add to my reading list.

So that final essay. I don't even know how I'll even approach it. Hopefully the samples that we will see in class will clear some things up. I like Chuck Klosterman. Maybe I'll go with him. I don't know!

So this blog is just all over the place. But I'd like to talk about Neil Shubin again haha. He really is like a rockstar in the science world. He found and made that missing link between land and sea! He's really down to earth and just awesome. Super smart as well. I really do recommend that everyone picks up his book Your inner Fish. It's written as a narrative telling his own personal stories of his expeditions. He goes through all those questions of how and why and where this came from? relating to the human body and evolution. He really writes it for a general audience, beyond just the scientific type. He doesn't use all those fancy terms and explains things clearly and easily in a way that anyone can understand. He also puts so much humor into his book. It's so different from other Science books that you read. And if you're interested he has many many articles and studies that have been published in Scientific journals that are really science-y., but very cool and interesting. 

So I think I have about a week of vacation after this English class before I start my R3 session. I'll have class everyday for 4 hours! Yikes. I think it's only a week after this R3 session that the Fall semester begins. So I don't really get to have a summer vacation. But Fall will be my last semester before I head off to bootcamp for the Navy. Have to pay for school somehow!

I don't know what I'm writing anymore just random stuff haha so I'll end it here.

I am so bored and there really isn't anything to do besides look over my assignments and presentation so I decided to write another blog.

After reading some other blogs everyone wrote about the "documentary" that we watched in class. I loved it! It reminded me of things that me and my friends used to do when we were younger. Then just had no time for it mainly because of college. I really miss creating things. I loved doing art. Before being a Marine biology major I was  an Art major. My concentration was in ceramics. But before that I used to do a lot of stencil work on shirts and record sleeves for really obscure hardcore/screamo/deathcore/noisecore/punk bands hah. So many labels in music! I even tried incorporating stencil work onto ceramic pieces by using over/underglazes. It was pretty cool. I miss having time to actually do art. I think there's too much emphasis on academics. Everyone should do some fucking art! Try out different mediums and see what you like. Who knows you might discover your inner Pablo Picasso or something. It really is amazing when you get to express yourself through art. It can be hard work though, but totally worth it when you see the finished product of what you created!

I remember sitting on the floor spending hours drawing free hand then cutting out all the positive/negative spaces for the stencil with an exacto knife equipped with a #11 blade. Took so much time! Especially the really complicated ones composed of several layers. Going out late at night with stencils hidden in a pizza box and some homemade wheat paste. I was never really all that talented, but I had lots of fun doing it. Good times.

Some random stuff of old work I had in my closet. Nothing really fancy, just the least offensive ones haha.

 So give it a go!

So we only have three more class sessions left. Crazy! As much fun as the class has been, I can't wait for it to be over hah. Then one week off before R3 session begins. Bummer! Then I think it's a week after R3 is over before the Fall semester begins. I miss having real summer vacations! This class has gone by so fast. I feel like we just started and soon it'll be over. Even though the session is short, I've learned a lot about myself and writing. So it's not wasted time like some classes have been. Where you don't really learn anything or do anything meaningful or useful. You just have to take it, because you need it to graduate.

It's been a busy week for me. I'm kind of scared of doing my presentation on Monday. I was kind of hoping that I'd at least be able to present during the next session, but the sign up list was full for every other time except the first day. I would have liked to have more time to spend on it. It's also good to see a few before I have to present. Watch how the first day goes and then fix mine up. Oh well. I usually talk a lot haha. Speaking in front of people is hard though. I don't mind if it's not my idea or work, but when it's something that I have done it's really difficult. I don't know what to do with my hands, or who to look at. I forgot what I'm supposed to say, even though I swear I had it prepared and was all ready to do it. But as soon I get up in front of people, everything seems to escape from my mind. This only makes me more nervous and the whole situation a million times more frightening. It usually helps when you've known the people that you are going to speak to for a while. I never really got to know the people on the other side of the class haha. I mean we really didn't have much time to get to know each other.

Well it's 4:30 in the morning. I can't sleep. Insomnia sucks. I guess I'll look over my presentation more. Good luck everyone with yours!

When I think about it our version of Perls experiment was very helpful and kind of fun. I can tell by what I discovered about myself as a writer and my many obstacles I have with the writing process that I was unaware of. Now I know what I really need to work on and ultimately will help me improve how I write. Hopefully. All in all it was a good and useful experience. Exhausting but still good hah. During the peer review I saw that it helped others understand their writing process better as well. So I say it was a success. I also found that we had pretty much the same issues that we were concerned about. I really enjoy reading everyone else's paper. I learned a lot during that peer review process as well. Ruili and Kamran have good systems with planning out how to write their papers. I think I'm going to try them out next time. Thanks guys!

 It was actually pretty funny listening to my recording while I was doing my transcription. I was pretty much laughing at myself the whole time that I was transcribing. I think I might be kind of crazy haha.

The three letter assignment we were introduced to looks like it will be lots of fun. I love how we get to branch out and experience writing different genres. Me and some friends used to yelp. It was actually really entertaining. The yelp community is pretty awesome and weird and hilarious all at the same time. You have your yelp stars with crazy elaborate descriptive stories. Which is the kind of reviews we wrote haha. Good times. It's been a while though since I've even looked at yelp. We only ever reviewed restaurants. It will be interesting to write about the bookstore to different audiences. I think the hardest one would be the one to the President. Have to be careful with the vocabulary that we use and how we approach it. Try not to fly off the handle haha.

It was so hot this weekend! It's times like these that I'm so glad that I reside in San Francisco where it rarely gets that hot. And when it does there's so many places in the city and around the bay area to escape this heat. The hot weather gave me an excuse to enjoy the beach and my discourse (totally just tied in what we discussed in class, totally! haha) with fellow beach goers:) So I spent most of my weekend by the water. Especially since I can't stand the heat! It felt really good just cooling down by the water and just spending time with some friends. This is what life is all about! Having a good fucking time. Sometimes you just have to be like fuck everything else and just have fun. Worry about it later! That's what my weekend was all about. I love San Francisco. I love going to places like Ocean Beach and Chrissy Field, but can't forget about the places nearby. Some of my favorite places are in the cities of Half Moon Bay and Pacifica! Pretty much anywhere by the water is awesome to me. For example, there's a Taco Bell right on the beach at Pacifica! There is nothing like sitting on the sand with an amazing view of the waves rolling in and crashing down feeling the resulting mist on you while scruffing down fifteen tacos and chugging an extra large cup of baja blast (free re-fills!) With the added epicness of enjoying all of this with rad people that you love! Good times. I recommend this for anyone and everyone. Just say fuck it and do it! Really clears up your mind! I feel people are far too stressed out these days. Everyone could use a break. IN FACT, everyone deserves a fucking break! We work too hard sometimes!

I also recommend Pillar Point and Mavericks in Halfmoon Bay! Beautiful! There are so many cool fish that inhabit this area! Like Leopard Sharks (Triakis semifasciata, Marine biologist discourse!). You can actually swim with sharks here! Killer waves if you enjoy surfing. Mavericks is actually a world famous surf spot! If you're not into that or can't swim or have a fear of the Ocean, you can just relax on the sand or check out the tidepools. Many different types of organisms can be found here, which is also very educational. Another added bonus!

 Well now that I had my fun. Time to get back to the real world :(

During the peer review we had during class I was really impressed with all the papers that I've read. It's a wonder why any of you are in this class! I read a paper about relationships, love and friendship, one about LGBT rights and a paper on human diversity through the eyes of someone from China. They were all written so well and very enjoyable. It really makes a difference when you have the opportunity to write about something that you choose and are passionate about. When there's a personal connection to what you're writing. These papers really showcased that. Very proud of my group :) It's really nice to see the different points of views of others on different topics. Now I feel like the paper I wrote sucked haha. But it's only the first draft! That inner critic in all of us is a bummer! I'm also those kind of people that feel shy and embarrassed to share what I write. Especially since I had to write the paper over and over trying out different topics. Then I scrapped them all because they were way to predictable of me and too science-y. I wanted to get off the Science type of direction and to try something else with this assignment.

The transcribing process is a hell of a process. I have so much audio to go through! Hopefully I'll have the time to complete it. I'm glad that we're receiving extra time in class to do it. The samples we saw in class were very helpful. I really had no idea how we were going to do this. But the samples clarified some things. Blogging is hard I feel like I'm just summarizing the class, because I'm trying to tie it in with what we did. I remember that PIE technique from a previous English class. But that was so long ago. The last English course I've taken I think was like maybe 4 or 5 years ago.

I can't believe that we're halfway through the course. This is crazy. I've taken other summer classes before, but for some reason it seemed like they were much more longer. Time seems to go by so fast when there's so much to do.

Random Fish fact: Lobe-finned fishes the Sarcopyterygians are more closely related to tetrapods including humans than other fishes!

From California Academy of Sciences private collection

Coelacanth is an example of a Sarcopytergian. They are ancient fish! Often called a living fosssil, because they were thought to have been extinct 65 million years ago, but have been rediscovered. Makes you wonder what else is living in the ocean! Megalodon??

Finally blogger is letting me sign in! Been having trouble being able to log onto this site! i read everyone's comments and just realized that my blog may be hard to read, because of how it is formatted. Or rather the lack of formatting haha. Thanks for the suggestions!

In class we discussed many things. Specifically, writers block. I consider myself a blocked writer. I either have so many ideas for a premise for a paper or none at all! This an experience that I always expect. I mean always! Even when I do start getting into the topic I am writing about, I always hit a wall. It gets so frustrating! I try just taking a break from it and coming back to it later hoping that I can work it out. But that rarely works. I'm sitting there again stuck.

For example, this perspective paper. I was finding it very difficult. I'm not satisfied with what I wrote. I'll probably not be able to sleep and re-write it all over again. When I was brainstorming, I thought of things that I love. Like hey if it's about something that I love maybe the writing process will come along a lot easier. I was wrong. It's still just as hard haha. Let's see I love skateboarding. I've always had a weird obsession with Iceland. I love everything related to the ocean. There has to be something that I can write about! I decided to go with the Ocean. I'm a marine biology major. I love fish and I can't stop talking about it. Just ask my friends haha. I go on and on and on about Sharks! Knowing all this would lead me to believe that this paper should be easy to write. But no, it's a bit harder actually.  Probably because I can go in any direction with it. Meaning so many ideas! Finding a focus and sticking to it!

Well here goes my first blog entry I've ever written. I don't really know what to write about. Since, this is for an English course I guess I'll start it off by saying that I'm really bad at writing. I don't just mean that the finished product of what I write is bad. Writing is a process not some solitary action or product. It's way more than that. It's a complex process where every word written influences what will be written next as well as how what has already been written will be developed. That's why being bad at writing is so much more of a bummer than being bad at singing, or cooking or whatever. Words are the most common form of artistic expression, because a lot of people in general have a hard time shutting up. I'm no exception hah. Thoughts seem to zip through my head, but I can't seem to put them into words on paper. I find that most of the time I'm able to speak these thoughts in a way that expresses what I am thinking adequately. Sometimes more than adequately. Sometimes I even make myself proud. This is never the case with writing though! I think it's mostly because I don't feel motivated. I mean like, any task loses it's appeal when it's forced on you, so does my ability to write down my thoughts and feelings clearly on paper disappear when I sit to write or type them. Or there are just too many rules and restrictions placed upon what you are trying to write. I could spend forever speculating about why I have such a difficult time and try to psychoanalyze myself, even though the only things I know about human psychology is from a required GE course at a junior college. And I hate when people do that kind of thing anyway and act as though they have a confident explanation for my hardships with the writing process. It would probably all come to down to my lack of ability to piece my thoughts together clearly in front of a computer screen or a blank notebook. When I do feel motivated and confident about writing something, I just can't seem to transfer it onto paper. For example, the other night I was convinced that I could write a book. Not only did I have enough ideas to do this conceptually, I had actual words and phrases running through my head. But as soon as I sit in front of my laptop I can't connect words to anything that I was thinking that night. I can barely remember what I was thinking. Writing is such a difficult process for me. You come up with a concept, rework it, start typing, develop the concept, and make a point. Then you have words written down that hopefully say the same thing to you, let alone other readers, what you where thinking as you were writing them. Since my thoughts are usually all over the place and my mind seems to hibernate when I actually go to write them, even just having a clear concept is a challenge. I try to just type without thinking and let my concept develop itself, but that usually doesn't work for me. Most of the time I just end up messing around with playlists on itunes or staring at the squiggly green and red lines all over my word document. On the rare occasion that I actually am able to write out something quick, the result is something that captures my thoughts exactly at that exact moment. The words make perfect sense as I write them, describing to me exactly what I am feeling and thinking. But by the time I've finished it's too late. The moment is over, gone forever and so is my understanding of what I've written. It's meaningless before it's even complete. I would rate that pretty high on what demotivates me. So that explains the reasons for my avoiding any type of English course throughout my college career unless I HAVE to take it. Also, probably the reason why I was unsuccessful with the JEPET haha. So to wrap this up before I start getting off topic like I usually do. All my failures at every step of the writing process kicks the butt of a butchered tune or burnt dish in my lack of abilities department. Hopefully with the help of this course I'll be able to improve my writing skills and prove to myself that I can have some sort of success in writing. I could also set myself up for failure, but I imagine that I would at least be able to come up with a better premise for a blog entry than I suck so much at writing! Maybe next time I'll write about sharks or something.