Blog#5
I tunes Podcast allows you to make assessment about the downloading method you choose. You can select different types of programs, tune into them and then sense them. You can also obliterate the downloaded programs if you want to view something going fresh in the market. This device is linked with the advanced technology as it allows to you adapt with the upgraded media. Yes, I would advise about this to other people as it is attractive and is also very easy to carry around with you. They can perform various functions and entertain people and also less time consuming.

Blog # 5

The name of my podcasts is “iTunes Podcasts” and it is a technology podcast. One observation of this podcast is decision making process in which podcast to download. The iTunes store, in which you purchase the podcasts, allows you to browse numerous categories, complete with descriptive summaries, ratings, and reviews. You can also preview a sample of it before purchasing. Another observation is the customizing of your podcasts. You can check for new podcast episodes hourly, daily, weekly or manually. Automatically download every episode or just the most recent ones. Keep all your episodes, delete them after you play them, or keep a specific number based on release date. This podcast is connected to the technology segment of this course because it talks about how you can purchase and customizes the podcasts to your standards. Also it talks about the decision making process is purchasing a podcasts through iTunes. Yes, I would recommend this podcast because it is interesting and it keeps you updated on technological advancements/changes regarding podcasts. It is also beneficial to those who have mp3 players and love music.

Blog 5- By: Marco Conte

The name of the first podcast that I listened to was “Middle School Art Teacher”, and this podcast talks from a teacher to teacher point of view. You have one teacher speaking to others about teaching techniques, blogs, news, and just daily events at school. The second podcast that I listened to was “Sonny Rollins in Conversation”, which is a podcast that allows me to listen to an autobiography of a jazz artist named Sonny Rollins. After listening to these two podcasts, observations that I have related to this course is from the first podcast, it relates perfectly to our unit on blogs and podcasts because this shows, how lessons and techniques can be taught over an audio recording and how significant the use of podcasts and blogs are becoming to people. The second observation that I noticed that I can relate to the course is throughout the period of this course, we have to read about many autobiographies, but with the creations of podcasts who needs to read when people can have the opportunity to listen to someone’s life then have to read about it. I would recommend this podcasts to people who are interest in these types of things. The reason for my decision is because not everyone enjoys autobiographies or the life of being a school teacher. I would only recommend these to people who enjoy these topics.

By: Marco Conte

activity #1 - Blog 4

Name: Immigration’s Katrina

(Controversy) http://www.radioopensource.org/

Two observations I made from reading this blog is the situation with immigration in The United States Department of Homeland security. Many people, hardworking and good people, looking for a chance to build were a victim of raids and deported to their homelands. Their lives are in utter distress because they can’t live where they came from because of poverty or other reasons, and they cannot reside within The United States because they are considered illegal aliens. It is a difficult situation for people because they feel like they have no rights and the government can do whatever they want with them, including throwing them in detention centers without hearings and straight deportations. The connection with this in terms of our course is simple. People who go through these tough times will eventually write about their past and their stories in the coming times. Whether through publishing, podcasts, or weblogs, these will be personal narratives, their life in a journal. People will utilize this technology to write their journals, giving students of the future and people knowledge about things that come easy. Many of us take simple things for granted and we don’t realize the liberty we have. For some, they have to earn that freedom yet far from doing anything wrong, that liberty is taken away by government policies and policing.

I would highly recommend this blog because I’ve had friends who have had problems with immigration, from detention centers to deportation. We should be informed and up to date about current events because immigration is one of the hardest and strictest form of government policing after September 11^th.

Blog #4

I chose a technology and education blog, which is called “Education/Technology - Tim Lauer” One observation from the blog is the outdoor classroom which Lewis school attempted to build. The school needed $800 to complete the pouring of the pad with concrete but the school couldn’t raise it. Luckily, Lakeshore Entertainment was filming a movie titled “Untraceable” In Portland. One of their sets is in the Lewis neighborhood and they needed a place for cast and crew to park their cars while filming this week. Since this week was spring break in Portland, it worked out that they could use the school’s parking lot, and in return they covered the cost of the concrete and pumper truck. Another observation was “Jott” which is a feature that allows you to call a phone number, and leave a voice mail message that is then transcribed into an email and sent to you or to others in a text or e-mail. This blog is connected to the technology segment of this course because aside from talking about Lewis’ schools outdoor classroom mission, it talks about technological advancements such as the “Jott” feature which was previously listed. Yes, I would recommend this blog because it is interesting and it keeps you updated on technological advancements, which I consider fairly important to know.

Blog # 4-By Marco Conte

1) The blog that I decided to do was from the website http://www.blogscanada.ca/politics/, and the the name of the blog was, "Why not a drug policy just like our anti-smoking efforts?". This blog discusses the political view on smoking and drugs and also the effort that is being made to try to and stop the usuage. 2) Two observations that I made to from this reading to the course is that (i) is the use of being untruthful. Even though the stoppage of tabacco and drugs is trying to be stopped, I honestly believe it is just a waiste of time because when people have an addiction it really isn't that easy to take them away from it. I just believe that these political views are just being stated to make the people hear what they want to hear and make it like an effort is being made. (ii) This blog relates to this course because over the term we learned about some of the authors that had drug problems and needed help with these problems and their addictions. (3) I would recommend this blog for many others to read because it just goes to show how the use of drugs and tabacco addictions are so largely spread that no matter how hard an effort is made to try and stop these uses, their will always be people that throw their lives away because of these addictions.

By: Marco Conte

Blog 4

1) This blog is from www.mindspy.com. It discusses the matter about suicide. These postings contain some who want to commit suicide or some who know loved ones who went through suicide cases. 2) One thing that was general in all the blogs was that everyone who posted an entry lost an important person close to them. All the posts had links to this course in one-way or another. People desperate to commit suicide find the solution to end all the problems are to end your life because everything ends with ones life. As well, the articles we discovered on website evidently give the equivalent reasons to commit suicide. 3) I would definitely suggest this blog to others because after interpretating these posts they will understand that ending your life is not the solution to all the problems in life

Blog #3 – Robert Chiussi

Blog #3 – Robert Chiussi

This memoir is without villains. There is a thin line between being a villain and not a villain. I believe that the things that her father did were not right, but it does not make him a villain. I believe that a villain is a person who goes out of their way to be a certain way. A villain is a person who was brought up and raised to be a better person but chooses not to. There was not enough background given to explain why he did the things he did. Everybody does bad things in there life it does not make them a bad person. We saw one perspective of a character and unfortunately did not get to see their side, or another view on things. I am sure that many people think I am a villain but they don’t know me and judge me on one thing I did which may have seemed horrible to them. They do not know my reasons and maybe I was doing it for the better of something or someone else. I do not believe there is a villain in this story however I do believe that he was in the wrong for the choices he made.

blog 3

I think that the fear of confrontation and her father are two elements or villians. First, the willingness or the strength to put up with something so wrong and bizarre is a challenge and when your father is involved, it's beyond abnormal. Though never heard, incest does occur in this case with slyvia. Over the course of time, i think her talking about it and actually realizing that this happened even possibly into university, she finally builds enough strength or courage to fight this monster living inside her. Not only is the father the villian here but the entire predicament and the effects add in to the depressive state. It's sad to hear about things like these, but if no one talked about their experiences, many more would go unnoticed and without measures being taken.

blog 3

I think that the fear of confrontation and her father are two elements or villians. First, the willingness or the strength to put up with something so wrong and bizarre is a challenge and when your father is involved, it's beyond abnormal. Though never heard, incest does occur in this case with slyvia. Over the course of time, i think her talking about it and actually realizing that this happened even possibly into university, she finally builds enough strength or courage to fight this monster living inside her. Not only is the father the villian here but the entire predicament and the effects add in to the depressive state. It's sad to hear about things like these, but if no one talked about their experiences, many more would go unnoticed and without measures being taken.

Blog #3

Is this memoir without villains?

In my opinion, this is a memoir without villains. Readers are not given a look at the other side of the story. I am not trying to say that Sylvia's father is without fault or that his actions were inexcusable. Although what he did to her was wrong, we do not know his reasons. We are not given any information on his life and whether or not he was abused. If there were any villains, I would say that it is Sylvia Fraser's own self. Sylvia faced herself both in the past and the present. She had to confront her past self to be able to let her present self live a complete life.

Blog # 3- By:Marco Conte

B. Is this memoir without villains?

I believe that this memoir does consist of Villains. The villain in this memoir would be the father. The father is a villain because of the way and actions he treats and commits on his daughter. This was shown, through incest that he committed to his daughter from rape and molestations through the daughter’s early childhood all the way through to her teenage years. It is even proven in the memoir when Sylvia admits to her father being a villain but she was surprised with these violent actions. Even though what has occurred to Sylvia in the memoir, these violent and brutal actions taught Sylvia a good lesson. From these actions it taught her how to fight for herself and put her past behind her and continue to be able to live with who she is and what her past was.

By: Marco Conte

Blog #3- Sherwin Thomas

B. Is this memoir without villains?

No this memoir is not without villains. The villain through a serious of rape, molestation, and incest, victimizes Sylvia Fraser. The villain is clearly the father, who is the person that commits these disturbing acts on his daughter, Sylvia Fraser. In the memoir, after Sylvia describes a period in her life in which the abuse took place (a period lasting until her teenage years), she states, “The joker on my fathers porch has at last delivered. And the true villain of the piece? Not the breadman, as I wrote in Pandora, but the breadwinner with the devil’s hooked hand.” Here, Sylvia clearly states that there is a villain, and not one that she expected before. Although Sylvia’s father took the form of the villain and performed all of those terrible incest acts on her, she still forgave him which lead to her finding the willpower to forgive and live with herself.

Blog #2 - Robert Chiussi

Who is the bigger liar: Grey Owl or James Frey?

I believe that both of them are liars to an extent, although I would have respond to this inquiry as James to be the bigger liar. James intentionally lied about a vast amount of events, which did not take place. The difference between the lies was the reasons, which the lies were told. Grey Owl was not 100% Indian, but that really should not matter, he was a good man and his true background should not change the things he did in his life. In this life you can choose your background in your heart, I believe that he felt 100% Indian that is why he lied. James lied about everything, He is the bigger liar.

Blog #2

Who is the biggest liar: Grey Owl or James Frey? When answering that question you have to look at the facts. Grey Owl a.k.a. Archie Belaney adopted the lifestyle of the native people. I believed Grey Owl lied only out of omission. He did not intentionally lie, he just failed to correct others when they assumed his heritage. James Frey on the other hand intentionally lied. He did so for means of profiting off all his lies. He embellished his life, so it would seem more interesting. James wanted people to talk about his "memoir", to boost sales of this book. To answer the question, who is the biggest liar, I believe the biggest liar is James Frey. Grey Owl did not use the lie to benefit himself, but instead used it to shed light on the wildlife and wilderness. James Frey used his lie to make himself money. It did not benefit anyone other than himself, which makes him not only a liar, but a selfish person as well.

Blog #2

Who is the biggest liar: Grey Owl or James Frey? When answering that question you have to look at the facts. Grey Owl a.k.a. Archie Belaney adopted the lifestyle of the native people. I believed Grey Owl lied only out of omission. He did not intentionally lie, he just failed to correct others when they assumed his heritage. James Frey on the other hand intentionally lied. He did so for means of profiting off all his lies. He embellished his life, so it would seem more interesting. James wanted people to talk about his "memoir", to boost sales of this book. To answer the question, who is the biggest liar, I believe the biggest liar is James Frey. Grey Owl did not use the lie to benefit himself, but instead used it to shed light on the wildlife and wilderness. James Frey used his lie to make himself money. It did not benefit anyone other than himself, which makes him not only a liar, but a selfish person as well.

Blog #2

In my opinion James Frey is a big liar because he exaggerated completely and there are even fabricated events in his memoir. James Frey inserted details into his memoir that never happened. After reading the interview James’s Frey had with Oprah, it had become quite clear that Frey was guilty of lying. On the other hand, Grey Owl only lied about his identity. Later on he reveals about his true life and also his intentions were honest.
Swati Kapoor

Blog # 2- By: Marco Conte

After reading about both these writers I would have to say that I believe James Frey is the bigger liar of the two writers. Even though both writers share their moments in their memoirs where they lie, James Frey devotes his whole memoir to just one big lie.
James Frey has obviously tried to change the perspective of memoir writing by lying and provoking all his readers with these writings which has made him to be pronounced as such an inspirable writer, but really all he is writing is nothing but lies. On the other hand, even though Grey Owl may lie about being a full-blooded Native Indian, he still perceives in writing the truth to his readers. All in all, it is conclusive that James Frey is the bigger liar of the two writers.

Blog #2- By Sherwin Thomas

Although Grey Owl lied about being a full-blooded Indian and James Frey lied about his criminal career, jail terms, and drug abuse, I think that by far, James Fret is a bigger liar than Grey Owl. James Frey is in fact a bigger liar because his entire book “A Million Little Pieces” was based on fictional and fabricated information and details of his untrue criminal career, jail terms, drug abuse, and his overall status as an outlaw. In other words, James Frey obtained popularity, fame, and millions of dollars by selling a lie, and if it weren’t for these lies, he wouldn’t be the man he was today, or would have the things he has/owns today. He also broke the cardinal rule of nonfiction memoirs, which states, “You do not make stuff up”.

As for Grey Owl, also known as Archie Stansfeld Belaney, he may have lied about being a full-blooded Indian and even being a half-breed, but this was minor in comparison to what he accomplished. Despite is false background/heritage, Grey Owl became one with the wilderness and its creatures. He obtained the perfect symbol of the vanishing wilderness –The Symbol of Canada- The Beaver. He also portrayed all the characteristics of a true Indian, and he his nature writings still stand as classics of the Canadian wilderness, both in for and message.

blog 2

If I had to choose who was the biggest liar between the two individuals I would pick James Frey. The both have profited from their dishonesty but Mr. Frey has con more people from around the world with his untruthful memoirs. The man has made millions off of people and continues to do so by writing more of his fictional experiences. James Frey never lived the life he portrayed in his books. Grey Owl on the other hand did live the life as a native Indian throughout his lifespan even though he had lied about his identity at an early age. Based on these points I clearly find that James Frey is the bigger liar.

Blog # 2

I believe that over the course of time people reminisce of their lives the events that once occurred and when they write memoirs to explain that to the audience, the addition of detail may be a part of their struggle to delineate the complexities in their life. However, in this case when reading Glassco, he did not use instances to explain the predicaments in his life but he coined new ones to draw empathy from the audience. Frey utilized fabrication of details and events to receive recognition. On the other hand even though Grew Owl was British, maybe he really felt as to be a Canadian born first nations author. I feel that just because a person is born in a certain territory or country doesn’t mean that they are of that origin. I could be born in Afghanistan but if as a child I’ve spent over 20 years in Canada, I would feel Canadian at heart.

Blog#2 James Frey and Grey Owl

When comparing the two authors James Frey and Grey Owl my respect definitely goes towards Grey Owl. He only lied about his heritage because he was of British decent. Although Grey Owl claimed to be a Canadian born first nations author after his death it came about that he was British. The reason I respect Grey Owl though was because he joined the heritage of first nations people and lived their way of life. Grey Owl also showed much compassion to the environment and through his stories he built awareness of the wilderness and wildlife.
James Frey on the other hand just lied to get himself famous. His stories of hitting police cars and drugs and alcohol actually turned me off his novels. His stories he claimed to be true make him sound like a junkie and too lie about it is even worse. I believe that his false stories were only intended to get money and attention. James Frey “memoirs” were nothing more than a fiction novel. In my opinion I actually found myself repulsed by James Frey’s stories after finding out the truth about him
-Stevekaufmann

Blog #2

Grey Owl lied about what his ancestral background was, he truly believed he was part Indian. He was raised by Indians which caused him to adapted to their environment and culture. Him lying about being Indian didn't harm anyone nor did it influence people to read or buy his books;
unlike James Frey who lied to make money. Had he not lied his "memoir" would not have been published. He lied about truthful things that didn't have anything to do with him, which brought back memoirs and hurt feelings of the families that it did involve. He also lied just so his life could sound interesting.
I truly believe that James Frey is the biggest liar out of the two. His lies are worst because he had intentions of deceiving people intentionally, it didn't bother him that people felt sorry for him and some even felt empowered by him. He had no problem taking people's money and he felt no remorse.

Blog #1 By Robert Chiussi

I believe that the most important part of a blog is the facts. A blog, which bears no truth, is a story. The definition of a blog is "Blog is short for web log. A web log is a journal..." A journal is not something that should be altered in anyway unless the writer truly believes that what they right is true even if they mess up small details. I find some people want to be seen a certain way, have certain reactions to what they write. They should get into fiction. A memoir should also be treated the same way, but the reader should understand that many facts in the memoir are ancient, they now have many years on them and the journal becomes there story of what happened. When people talk about the good times they usually make it seem like more to get there point across and to have someone else feel there emotion, same with the bad times. Throughout the writers life they believe certain things to adjust and live with the memories in their head and sometimes change what happened to accept what happened.

Blog # 1: By Marco Conte

In writing a memoir I believe that the authors should be faithful to their readers and keep their stories faithful. If writing about their lives they shouldn’t feel the need to tell the readers something that didn’t actually happen because why write the story about yourself if your going to lie to make your lives look interesting to the reader. And that’s exactly what Glassco did. He used his lie to make it seem to the readers that he lived a very dramatic and entertaining life to bring some entertainment and spark to his stories. Furthermore, when proven facts actually showed that this author wasn’t telling the truth about past occurrences in his story or people that he had come across in his life. It brings a lot of thoughts to many about his memoirs, like if any of it is actual true or is his whole story a lie.

Blog #1 - By Pardeep Singh

"The whole truth and nothing but the truth"

My belief is that, when someone is to write a memoir it should contain the whole truth and nothing but the truth. When reading a memoir, one is intrigued to read more and find out what the memoir holds about an individual’s life. When one lies, you are taken away from the whole perspective of a memoir. After reading Glassco’s memoir, I would not read his book, due the all the controversy surrounding the book and questioning its truthfulness. After admitting to writing lies in his books, it makes us question the validity of all his work. No one knows what characters are real or fake, what stories are real and fake. That person’s work will always be in question because no one knows whether it is real or not. When writing any piece of literature, one should always tell the truth to avoid any controversy about that piece of work or past and present work as well.

Blog #1

I believe that when writing a memoir, it should be the whole truth and nothing but the truth. When I was reading Glassco's memoir it felt like it was taken right out of some dramatic novel. If something as personal and truthful as a memoir can be twisted into lies and deceit; it makes you question everything in his memoir even the things that may be truthful.

Izabela Szmigielska Blog #1

When writing a memoir it is imperative that a writer writes only the truth and a whole truth. If he does not writes the truth this brings his whole life and character into question, because the things we thought we knew and felt about him were manufactured by his untruth stories. When admitting years later that he wrote about people he never meet not only he brought his life into question but the life of people that he wrote about. Now we wonder which people had he met which people had he not and which stories is truth and which are not truth. Now we have to discount all the stories he has written and all the people he talks about because we don’t know which parts he made up. For this reasons I feel memoirs should be only the truth without any lies or untruths from the author.

Blog #2 By: Stephen Kaufmann

Part of the suspense in a memoir is the factual representation of someone’s experience. However in this reading Glassco seemed to take away from the realistic approach of a memoir and incorporated his story with many untruthful details. These details did discourage me from getting into the novel as I found his integration between autobiography and fiction seemed to lean a bit too far to one side. This was due to Glassco long tales that seemed to become too far from the truth. In my opinion if an author is going to write a memoir it should be the whole truth. I found myself thoroughly indulged in Michael Ondaatje’s memoir and it’s because he used great detail in explaining true to life stories. So should writers be writing the whole truth or nothing but the truth? In my opinion the truth prevails. Memoirs are an account of the author's personal experiences. If it is filled with false stories than the memoir no longer brings a connection between the author and the reader.

Stephen Kaufmann

Blog#1 By Swati Kapoor

I believe that author should enlighten the reality in his journal. Making the log whole fabricated would result to bad impression on the main character and also it is misleading the readers. Memoirs are about true incidence that is remembered for lifetime by the writer. False stories could grab reader’s interest for only short period of time. If the reader would come to know about the truth then they would consider it slightly an imaginary tale rather than personal journal. Your imagined thoughts could only be added in a true memoir if the author is not certain of details that occurred at particular time. It is measured as the talent of the journalist to completely engage the readers in reading a memoir entertainingly and making them undergo the imaginary event that is portrayed in memoir. According to the disagreement surroundings, Glassco's memoirs researches prove that no part of the book was written in the time explained by Glassco. All of them were composed and amended thirty years later in 1960's. Besides, in 1965’s Glassco confessed in his journal that the one quarter of his book was all lies and he even admitted that he never encountered the persons he wrote about in the book. Now the point is, reviewer may say that the book disclose sincerity and touching truth of his personal conflicts happened in his life. For example, he demonstrated the sexual and artistic preferences in his memoir. This all explain that he places on number of fictional substance in his memoirs. However, we could never come to a conclusion about the fictitious and the whole truth unless told by the author. In conclusion, the memoir should be truthful and the incidents illustrated must be factual.
Swati Kapoor

Procrastination By Swati Kapoor

The show was very exciting. It's amazing that procrastination survive even in this modernized world. We do not even realize that it is extremely involved in our lives. Procrastination has some addiction and it happens to be part of our daily routine. It is difficult to amend our routine lifestyle. But I think that when we learn to utilize our time efficiently, we will be less addicted to the procrastination. As a college student, I realize it is not a good plan to delay things when you can finish them off today.
Swati

Procrasination-By Marco Conte

Procrastination! Could you describe me any better. I'm like the king of procrastinating. I procrastinate from the second I wake up to the minute I go to bed. Whether it is hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock in the morning and avoiding starting my day, or talking on the phone at night and avoiding the inevitable sleep that will later lead into wanting to procrastinate when my alarm clock goes off. I feel the constant need within my life to procrastinate. Although it is not necessarily a feeling or a need that I specifically want, it has become a daily routine, and without it in my life I would probably accomplish much more but feel slightly lost. My procrastination hits an all time peak when it is time for me to sit down and complete my assignments for school. Whether it is talking to someone on the phone or turning on the television for a five-minute break that turns into an hour because I discover a new television show that has now become my favorite. Procrastination has a great affect on the fact that I end up starting my homework when I probably would have already completed it, if I had not let procrastination dominate my life.
By: Marco Conte

Greetings!

Welcome to the blog I have created for your Life Writing course. I hope you enjoy the postings you find here. In this blog, you will respond to prompts about course material, comment on others blog entries, and discuss the use of blogs and podcasts in education.

This is a bonus blog (1%) so you are free to respond or not. It's about procrastination, a topic you may have experienced first hand. Some of us are great procrastinators.

First I'd like you to go 43 Folders to check out the ZeFrank Show on procrastination. You may need Flash or Quicktime to see the video.

Secondly, respond to any part of the video with an example from your own experience and how it may have gotten you in trouble.

Thirdly, read someone else's response and comment on it, as you have been doing in your journals.

Joanne