The Biography of Blake Stone

The Biography of Blake Stone is an interesting because it relates to our society today. The beginning of the story, when Blake Stone is introduced, I could picture this'perfect guy', which is really how some girls picture their 'man' today. When the author says,  "The only problem with Blake Stone was that he didn't exist. He was the imagination of everything I considered to signify masculinity based on a lifetime of reading and watching [T.V.] "(1). it is so true to today's society. Girls compare so much of their life and dreams based on T.V. and books, that its almost unrealistic. No one is perfect and while reading this I kept thinking to myself if my ideal guy was as fiction and perfect as Blake Stone.

Not only does this relate to how girls picture their perfect guy, and how guys try to win over their perfect girl, but it also applies to online dating, and how the internet plays such a big role in people's lives today, especially middle school and high school age girls, even some college age girls. What some people think is just casual online flirting can eventually evolve into feelings for another person and can lead to online dating, which is where drama can begin and people begin to get their feelings hurt. As Gambit (Blake) and AzrealAsh began competing for CalendarGAL's affection, things got heated and CalendarGAL's real emotions came out. "CalendarGAL broke down to dark pink Arial tears. When Blake tried to protest, CalendarGAL wouldn't listen. Unsure of how to handle the situation, Blake signed off" (8).  Even though the relationship of CalendarGal and Gambit is online, it can apply to how real some peoples online relationships really are, and it gets serious. CalendarGAL obviously formed feelings for Gambit/Blake, and when Blake realized what he thought was just a virtual relationship turned out somewhat serious, he fled because he didn't know how to handle it. The online boys made CalendarGAL feel special and loved, but CalendarGal felt like they only liked the girl that she was online, and not the real her. The boys didn't know the real woman behind CalendarGal, the "fat 32 year old woman from Georgia"(8). I wonder why people let themselves get involved in situations like this, but then again I can sympathize for CalendarGAL because the boys gave her attention which made her feel special. The thing that stood out to me the most was when the author said, "arial tears". This is a simple two word phrase, but it just made it seem that more real. This makes me wonder how people get themselves involved in such serious relationships like this online, but it also helps me see how serious something so innocent transforms to be a serious online relationship and how people are affected from it. 

The Biography of Blake Stone was entertaining to me. I was able to stay focused, and enjoyed what I was reading. I liked how the author used elements that influence our society today such as the internet, tv, and books to create his characters, because I could apply it to my life, and visualize it and put myself in the character's shoes. 

Kraatz, Jeramey, and Sandra. The Biography of Blake Stone

In Class: Authority

I am an authority:
-working with special needs kids
-my high school
-going to concerts
-boarding a plane
-having a good time
-how to entertain myself during road trips
-loving and spending time with my family
-being a good friend
-going to football games
-redheads
-frozen yogurt
-how hard it is to play the piano
-going on mission trips


I became an authority on working with special needs kids because I devoted my time to Younglife Capernaum. Younglife Capernaum is younglife for people with special needs. On the third Saturday of every month I was a leader at Capernaum younglife club. I spent time with the kids, laughed with them, played games with them, and just had a good time with them. As I continued to spend time with them, I started connecting with the kids and formed a relationship with them. In March, I was asked to go to a Younglife camp with in Florida called South Wind. Knowing that I would LOVE to do this, I said I would go. I kept working with the kids and hanging out with them as much as I could before the trip. When I went on the trip with them I had two buddies and I was 'in charge' of them. Not thinking to much about it, I just kept doing what I was doing and had a good time, not thinking how much the kids looked up to me. As I went to camp I had to help these buddies everyday. I helped them eat, brush their teeth, get ready in the morning, etc. These daily actions made these kids look up to me. Not only was I there leader, but I was a friend to them whom they looked up to. I learned so much from these kids, and was humbled by my experience at Southwind. I never thought that I could be that someone that people looked up to. I just thought of myself as a friend, not really a leader. These kids trust me and come to me if they need anything. Its so good to know that the kids have an outlet of someone to go to if they need anything. A lot of people look down at kids with disabilities. I dont even notice that they have a disability now. I look past that and see their personality and that they are just as capable as I am.

In Class: Freewrite

Bruce Ballinger

When I was writing Writing as Inquiry, I was not excited about it. As I began to read I noticed that what I was reading was interesting and not as boring as I thought it would be. Bruce Ballinger is humorous and made me feel like it was okay to not be a perfect writer. His tips of how to read and write helped me know things to help me be successful as a writer. I would lose focus and he would make a joke about me maybe not paying attention to the text and it got me right back on track. Writing as inquiry to me means you should freely write and practice writing and not let yourself get stopped because you 'don't know what to write'. He encourages you to write about anything you think of instead of taking the time to brainstorm to try and write something perfect. He mentions that even experts have to practice and write alot of drafts of their work. You cant just expect to have a perfect paper by writing one draft and letting that one draft be your final piece of work. I thought the diagram of the line was interesting compared to the writing process that bounced back in forth from step to step. I never really thought about how much you repeat steps and go back to steps to complete a paper. I also thought alot about how I write and my style of writing. I thought about if I question myself while writing and if i really focus on my promt and brainstorm alot or if I just let my thoughts flow onto paper. I also thought it was interesting when he talked about people's habits while writing. Like the boy who could only write on yellow paper with a pencil. This made me think about my writing habits and what I do to help me write a 'perfect paper'. I feel like chapter one and two helped me not be so uptight about my writing and maybe will help me write better because I can relax and not stress about my writing, because after going over multiple steps in the writing proccess more than once will help me clean up my paper to be the best it can be.

Hi, my name is Abbey Baxter. I am from McKinney, Texas and have lived there for my whole life. I am a freshman pre-major (I'm undecided) at TCU. I love to hang out with my friends and spend time with my family.

I chose TCU because of the small size and location of the campus. My dad also went to TCU and my sister currently goes here, so I decided I would keep the tradition alive. If I was chancellor of TCU there really is not anything I would change. So far my experience here has been good, and there is nothing that I have wanted to change. A good teacher is someone who you can relate to, and will make you work but also will understand when something holds you back from accomplishing your work, and will take the time to help a student be successful. Good students are ones who work hard and are serious about the classes they are in, and want to be successful and not just want to 'get by'. They also respect their teacher and take the time necessary to pass the class. If I could have dinner with three people it would be Hanson. Three things you should know about me are; My faith and family are the two most important things to me, I love to laugh, and I am very down to heart and go with the flow. 

I took this course because it was required, but it seems really cool, and I think I will work well in it since we do get to be in a lab on computers. Its a different and interesting way for me to learn. I don't write too much, besides what is required for me in my english classes. I use facebook all the time, I text message and sometimes email. These three things have in a way decreased my writing ability because I  hurry and don't use proper grammar or just don't feel like typing that much, so I shorten things up. I don't really use abbreviations of things, so using phrases like 'LOL, BTW, etc.' aren't an issue in my writing. 

If I could have dinner with three people living or dead, I would have dinner with Hanson! Three things you should know about me is that; I have a good sense of humor, I am very chill, and you will rarely see me serious.

I have read and looked over the syllabus, and I am very excited for this class.