An Awesome Weekend

This weekend was an amazing weekend that I have ever had in a long time.  I let Charlotte, NC Friday and headed to Greensboro, NC.  A group of friends and I traveled there to spend the night with another friend.  The ride there was ridiculous.  I knew that Charlotte had 5:00pm traffic but never 2:30-3:00pm traffic.  It was crazy.  There were tons of 18-wheel trucks all across the highway.  When we finally arrived to Greensboro, we unpacked and just all hung out at the house that night.  We made spaghetti (one of my favorite foods), and it was delicious.  Saturday arrived and my friend and I took a trip down to Wake Forest University in Winston Salem to see my boyfriend and his friends play Club Basketball against Wake Forest.  I made a shirt to represent him and his number (#32).  I saw his parents and he was very thrilled to see me.  Unfortunately they lost their game.  On the way back to Greensboro from Winston Salem, I got in contact with my aunt and she picked me up at the mall, and we were headed to Cary, NC for the day.  It was my little cousin’s 1^st birthday.  None of my family members knew that I was coming so when I arrived they were all shocked and excited to see me, especially my parents and little sister.  They all jumped on me and gave me big hugs.  My little cousin’s face lit up when she saw me and that experience was priceless.  After her party, I went back to my aunt’s house in Greensboro and we ordered Japanese food.  We watched tons of movies and had an awesome time.  I can’t wait to have another weekend like the one I just had.  I love spending time with my friends and family; they bring me joy and happiness.

Dialect/Language as I know it

There are different features to my language.  You have many people that interpret their own “slang”, while others interpret different accents and dialects.  My dialect is very unique to many people.  Because I do not sound like majority of people from Durham, North Carolina, they tend to find my dialect very Northern.  I don’t have an extremely strong accent like a New Yorker, I have a Maryland accent.  Some words and phrases that I say may sound interesting and unique to a lot of people due to the fact that my accent is strong and distinctive.  I know my friends enjoy hearing me speak at certain times and some words that I tend to say they always repeat and try and say it like I said it.  I laugh at them all the time because when I hear someone else say things that they think I said, I tell them over and over again that I KNOW I didn’t say it like that.  People may have a perception of me when I speak with my dialect.  Because it is Northern, many people automatically assume that I’m “rude” or “arrogant” or even the fact that I grew up in poverty and may seem “ghetto.”  It’s weird and strange for me to hear people with a deep Southern accent/dialect.  They use so many strange words and phrases, but I know they are saying the same thing about me and my dialect.  When I hear someone from the South, I automatically assume “rednecks” or “bums.”  In my dialect, I believe that English Standard is only a “cover up.”  Where ever you are from, you will have an accent, and because of that accent, you tend to say a word but it comes across as not the “English term” or how someone else would say it so it’s looked upon as being “wrong.”  I feel as though there is no true “English Standard” language or way to speak.  Everyone is unique in their own way and that’s what makes the World so diverse.

Terms of Literacy

For my English class, we were given two prompts and had to choose one to discuss and write about.  Both of them pertain to literacy.  What I have begun to think about, in terms of literacy, is the fact that literacy is very important in many different aspects.  Literacy is the way to life itself.  There are so many things that we encounter with literacy.  Every day we depend on literacy in so many different ways.  Without literacy, it would be extremely hard to communicate and understand.  Literacy is the ability to read with knowledge, write coherently, and think critically.  Within literacy there are many different discussions that we have had in class, as well as, different readings that we have had to read over the time of my English class.  I remember reading an article titled "How to Tame a Wild Tongue."  That particular article gave me an insight  on literacy that I had never seen before.  In that article, it talked about a young woman who was an Chicano and how it was to be a Chicano.  The different language encounters that she had to go through within speaking English as well as Spanish, and even sometimes "Spanglish."  That article made me feel a little mad.  For one, the article was hard to read and decipher because it would switch from time to time from English to Spanish.  It also made me a little upset because throughout the article, she discussed how embarrassed she was of speaking and how much her culture and language was "in the closet."  No one, in my opinion, should feel embarrassed about their language.  Literacy is the key to everyone and their success.  Just because you speak a certain way or interpret things different, that makes you who you are.  Literacy is worldwide and it comes in all shapes and sizes.

Temple Run

I just got this new game on my phone called Temple Run, and it is so addicting.  The phone that I have is an HTC Thunderbolt.  I love my phone and I think it is pretty amazing.  I usually download and play a lot of games to keep my attention and just because their fun.  I have many different games and apps, but I kept constantly hearing about this new game called Temple Run.  Majority of my friends had it and I would see them play and try to beat each other’s high score and so of course I wanted in.  I began to play the game on some of my friends’ phones and I couldn’t really get the hang of it at the moment.  But I kept trying and trying and finally I decided that the only way I could really beat them, was to download the game onto my phone.  I now stay up playing this game to try and get the best score I can possibly get.  Some of my friends are in the MILLIONS, and I am nowhere near that score yet, but I will get there eventually.  So far this game has been draining my battery so I have to constantly carry my charger with me where ever I go, but that is just the life of a smartphone anyway.  I am starting to feel as though many of these games are truly addicting.  And the one thing I continued to tell myself is that I will not become addicted to any game.  Well, I come to let you know, I have become addicted.  This is really a fun game and a time killer so I think everyone should go out and download Temple Run.  You’ll love it, trust me!

A Night With Him =)

On yesterday, January, 14, 2012, I had an amazing night.  It all started with me hanging out with several of my friends and enjoying our time together like we always do.  Laughing and joking around and watching the guys play video games all night long.  My friends and I went out to eat first and shortly after that, we had gone back to my friend Mike’s room and just chilled.  But instead, my boyfriend and I went to his room and hung out.  We were both sitting there bored and trying to figure out what to do.  Usually he and I watch movies together all the time, but this time I didn't want to do "the usual."  Instead, he taught me how to play Call of Duty on the PlayStation 3.  I see most of my guy friends playing this game and it seems pretty boring but it was actually fun and I had a blast.  The first stage we had to go through was the “Zombie Attacking” stage.  It was kind of scary to me because it seemed so real when you would shoot them and their heads would fall off.  I kept laughing and it would make him laugh which would make us die in the game and we had to start all over.  I attempted to do it on my own, but once the zombies would get close up on me, I would pass (or should I saw throw) the controller at him and tell him to save me.  The most zombies we killed were 22.  I enjoy playing video games with my boyfriend.  It’s fun and it makes us both laugh tremendously.  He is my best friend and now I’m his new Call of Duty buddy!