The Art of Blogging

I am not a blogger. Because I am not a writer. I can write step-by-step instructions that you can't go wrong from, but talking about my life and making it interesting is not a talent of mine. Keeping a blog this semester has been quite a problem for me. I'm a pretty good student, but if you just looked at the grades from my blog checks, you would never know that. My poor memory and lack of writing talent has made this a near impossible task. I've realized from this what a talent it is to be able to keep an interesting blog. I really admire the peoples' blogs that I keep up on and really enjoy. It is an art.

My letter to Google

To whom it may concern,

I am writing this letter because I wanted to share how impressed I am with the quality of your commercials. I realize that the main objective for you is to make money, but the way you do it is noble and inspirational. As a Brigham Young University student, I have learned a lot about the negative effects that advertising can have on individuals and families including things like increased materialism and decreased body satisfaction for men and women. Even with my husband as an advertising major, it is sometimes hard for me to appreciate the intentions of the companies selling their products in seemingly manipulative ways. It is commercials like Parisian Love and Dear Sophie that eliminate the stigma that the advertising industry has created in my mind and allow me to see the power that advertising can have to inspire and to change for good. I also notice and appreciate the diversity you include in your advertisements that support a better view of reality.

The creativity demonstrated in these commercials and other advertising campaigns I’ve seen from Google is superior to most other media campaigns I have witnessed. I think it is the lack of creativity that brings about the inappropriate and morally degrading advertisements that are all too common in today’s world. It takes courage and dignity to rise above what is easy and to go after something difficult that can really make an impact.

I really appreciate the dedication that Google shows to promoting things that are wholesome and good. I hope that feedback such as this can prove to your company that you have the right idea of how to capture a loyal fan base while still reaching your own goals of making a profit. 

With appreciation and hope for the future,

Michelle Kemp

Thinking about college without the internet...

I have had to write a lot of research papers lately. Some of these research papers I have spent hours looking at titles of a million different research articles and then, frustrated, starting over from scratch. I wonder what I would've done in the age where you actually had to go to the library and physically look through journal articles for something that might pertain to your topic...wow. I think I would die.

And what did crazy people like me who have to know their grade in their classes at all times do without Learning Suite or Blackboard?? I can't even imagine the anxiety I would have going to college without the internet, on top of the anxiety I already feel! And what did people do when they had a question for their instructor a few hours before their assignment is due? Stop by their house? Haha. I am so grateful for the day and age I live in where searching for research isn't an impossible task, where I can stress about my grades before the end of the semester, and where I can email my professors last minute and still likely get an answer back from them and do my assignments right.

Amazon

Amazon is almost my favorite thing ever. It's kind of sad, but it's reality. I've been addicted to Prison Break lately and I'm able to watch it because I have an Amazon Prime account. It was quite expensive as a one-time payment but it has just about as many movies and TV shows as Netflix but you also get free two-day shipping. This really comes in handy when I'm buying textbooks online last minute and for WAY cheaper than I would get them at the BYU Bookstore (that's another story).

I kind of think that Amazon is going to take over the world...okay, not really. But they're really getting their hands into everything now and I'm okay with it. You can buy groceries on Amazon for heavens sake! But it seriously makes my life so much easier when I want it to. It also makes it a lot more complicated when I can't go to sleep at night because I just have to watch one more episode of Prison Break...

Media is what you make of it.

ZipList.com

So we had a meal planning Relief Society activity this morning. I have to say, when Jake and I actually plan out what we eat, we actually eat! Haha. It's easy to say you're too busy to make something when you don't have any meat thawing or you don't have all the ingredients for anything good. But when we started planning out what we were going to eat, we would always have what we needed, Jake knew what he could do to help out before I got home, and we were eatin' good!

After this activity today though, I felt that our meal planning on our little whiteboard was quite primitive. The girl who presented showed us this website she uses called ZipList.com. I was so impressed with the things that we can do with media! You can save recipes that you find online (including Pinterest!) right to your ZipList and it will make your grocery list for you! And if you get the app, you can just pull it up on your device while you're shopping! This is super helpful for me because I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the store with what I need in mind and then totally forget something. I'm hoping this will solve that problem for me.

So for all of you who are as busy as me, take advantage of these things that can make your life just a little bit simpler.

Prison Break

I've just recently gotten into Prison Break...it's so good! I am so addicted. I really like the main character, Michael. He seems like such a good guy! I'm only like halfway through the first season but I can't help but want to watch it all day long. Last night we watched it for like four hours...I know, it's sad.

This show really reminds me of Lost, although I REALLY hope it ends better than Lost did or I will be sorely disappointed.

I can't help but remember our discussion on media violence though from the other day. This show is about prison--it's quite violent when I try to think objectively about it but its not much different than many other things we are willing to watch on TV. Since I'm not willing to give it up over the violence, I'm interested in observing my behavior to see if I get more verbally aggressive with my husband. If I do, I'll have to prove to him that its the violence we're watching on TV. Maybe he'll get on board and help me give it up if I need to? I'll let you all know how it goes.

Swapping music for scriptures?

As my husband and I only have one car, I walk to school each morning so that he can take the car to work at 5:30 AM without getting abducted! Just kidding. But as I walk to school every morning, I stick in my headphones and listen to my decade old music on my iPod. Before I got an iPod, I used to walk in silence and just think to myself about the mysteries of the universe...well, not really, but I had a lot of time to think. I find now that listening to music is just kind of a time waster for me as I walk to school. Don't get me wrong, I love music, but I can't even belt it out while I'm walking to school so it really doesn't do much for me.

I was thinking the other day about my scripture reading habit and how it hasn't really survived well through my busy school schedule and lack of initiative. Although I don't think that listening to scriptures is the most beneficial, it is certainly better than what I am doing now. I am a firm believer that media is definitely for spreading the gospel, even if that is to myself. I think from now on, I'm going to download scriptures to my iPod and listen to those in the morning. That way I don't get the anxiety of not being able to bust out my Celine Dion lyrics and I get my much needed spiritual nourishment every day. Genius!