Well, I guess the paper is done. Also, blog+class reflection

That was not the paper I wanted to turn in but nothing can be done now, past the date. I've got 2 exams tomorrow (and by tomorrow I mean Thursday, after I sleep) and still a lot of work to do in the quarter and having one class all but out of the way is a relief. 
As a side note, I took all my reflections, papers, and blogs I wrote this quarter for English and put them together into a word document because I was bored 5 minutes ago. I know I shouldn't be bored with so much going on but I guess I got tired of working for a minute. Anyhow, what I found is I had written about 13000 words over the course of the quarter, and they fill 42 pages. I find this to be quite interesting, as it puts the quarter into perspective.
Still, what also surprised me is this pales in comparison to what I've done before. Once while riding on a plane I decided to take my laptop out and just write. I had no goal, other than entertaining myself, which allowed me to write quite a bit. In the 90 minute flight I wrote 3400 words. That is the best medium I can think to use right now. Because I had no goal for my writing then, and I wanted things to come out as they were, I did not fix typos or errors. It was also simplistic at times and I was a bit redundant. Does that mean those 3400 words are inferior to another set of 3400 words? Well they certainly didn't take long to go down, and not much thought went into that, but I was still rather surprised by it. That was 3400 words spanning 10 pages in 90 minutes.
I really want to find something that I enjoy writing about. I enjoyed that trip and writing it all, but it has no purpose to me now. I tried reading it and it just goes on and on and on, and I cannot do it. In fact much of my writing was simply based on my tracking how long it was getting and how many words I had at a given time. Here's the start of what I wrote about a year ago now.

"I am traveling on a plane right now, writing about nothing.  My ears feel like they're about to pop, too much pressure, but nothing I can do about it.  I'm flying down to Onterio california for a vintage kart race, and I dont feel like utilizing the media I have on my laptop at the moment, so I decided to write.  I dont know if anyone will ever read this, or what it's purpose is, but I hope to discover that along the way.  I'm currently in a text document with no real formatting aside from text wrap so I cant even see how much i've really written.  It is currently 9:30 pm and I'll be arriving at an estimated 11:22 pm.  We were schedueled to arrive at 10:15, but do to electrical problems with a light, we had to switch planes and caused us a considerable delay.  We just now achieved 35000 feet in the air and were advised they now estimate us arriving at 11:15.  We can now unfasten our seat belts as needed, though it is Alaska Airlines' policy that we must keep seat belts fastened while seated.  I hope to not have to get up during the flight.  The date is 1/27/10, a wednesday.  I had Math today, precalc 2, and am skipping chemistry 162 tomorrow.  I already turned in my mostlab that would have otherwise been due tomorrow.  I am however missing a 3 point reading uh.. I cant remember the word, not exam, but mini-test.  It is my intention to not correct myself and simply write this as it comes to me.  If I can recall the word at some point, I'll share it.  Anyhow, the 3 points isnt a big deal.  Oh, it's Quiz by the way, just came to me, figures, as soon as I finish explaining that, it would come to me. "

That's just a short part, the very beginning, because ... why not. It's about the only part I can look back on and enjoy reading. Well, no, that's not true. The best part I felt was the end. It was the only part I took out, corrected typos, and saved in a different document. It's not perfect but hey, does it have to be?

"Oh, if my plane crashes and everyone dies, I hope that my family could be allowed to read this.  That would suck, but I have no regrets.. well kinda, anyhow, don't be sad.. not that my saying that would help, but whatever, I'd like to live longer, but if I die, I die, I just hope I don't really see it coming, no time for regrets, no time to be unsatisfied with how things went.  Gotta move on in this big experiment we go through every day called life.

Doug Waterman, Jan 27 2010"

Actually, in reading it right this second, it seems a little stupid. That's it though, it's out there.

So, it just occurred to me I'm supposed to write a reflection on here. I changed the Title accordingly to include that in here as well as this post has had very little meaning to this point.

As is likely evident, I've enjoyed my blog. I was saying earlier in an obscure way how I enjoy writing. This has been a fun way for me to express my thoughts throughout the quarter.

I do feel a slight disappointment though. While I have enjoyed my own blog, I have not enjoyed searching for other blogs to write forced feedback to. We all know what I'm talking about. It's hard to find a blog that naturally sticks out to me as something I must reply to. With replies being required for a grade, we do it, or at least some do I suppose, but is that good enough? I hit on the idea that the blogs are the wrong medium before. With everyone on different blogs, separated into different places, it's inherently more difficult to communicate fluidly with each other.

After some brief research I found Google Groups may work decently if you are interested in giving that a try (Melissa). (I don't know why I include that, it's implied that that is directed to you, but anyhow....). If you dont like that, there's always good old php, or what ever is current these days. There is free hosting if you do a little searching, it's easy to find. The more people are tied together to one another, the better I think. They also make group or community blogs, which could also be an option, but I don't much like that one myself. The one plus to these is it makes grading easy as you can see each person's blog right there. However, what you cannot easily see are replies so it's still limited in that respect. A php board could do a better job for that. All you do is click on a user, and you can search for all posts made. Feel free to ask me if you want more information on these. I can try to get more at a more convenient time (for me) (aka, tomorrow afternoon).

I am sorry about my paper being so short. I have had quite a bit of focus on my math and biology classes over the last 2 weeks. If it's any consolation, I certainly know how to write a research paper. That is the goal right? I've generally been more interested in learning than actually caring of a grade. That is not to say a grade is not important or that I did not want to write anything. Practice writing is always a plus, even if it may not be fun. I thought hard on what I should do over the last 2 weeks. I was 5 weeks behind in math back at that time, and it was a debate. I looked at my grades continuously, and decided I must focus on math rather than my paper. I am sorry for this. Being that I have 805 points right now, this cannot be a surprise that my focus would be elsewhere if there is anywhere for it to be. I don't expect much as far as points go for my paper. I put some effort into what I wrote, but it certainly was not enough. I still hope to get around to making more in my 'rage comic' series. It's all about time now, and I say that as I'm blogging which could be seen as unnecessary. Again, proof that this is at the least something that I've enjoyed.

I may be going up to Tulalip next week (tuesday was it?) to see Sherman Alexie as well. It all depends on what I'm doing that day, as I may be bound to other plans, so we'll see. 

I may continue blogging, though not likely on this particular blog. I will however leave a place for you to post things if you or anyone wishes. You are welcome to keep me on the email list as well.

Doug