Reflection

Reflection of the 101
This class has shocked and amazed me.  I usually hate to write and dread the occasional essay, but something about this class has opened me up to it.  I come in day to day with the excitement of the new write.  I have grown as a writer in this class, even though I still wouldn’t want to pursue it.  I never would have dreamed of sitting down for an hour and just like that creating a 2 page paper about anything off of the top of my head.  This class has helped me look beyond just the grammar and spelling portions of writing and directing me towards the creative and care free portions.  Granted, we do still do those things, but she has found a way to take away the stresses of doing such things.  My favorite story that I started in this class as a free write, was Harold.  Now I called it Harold of the rocks, for a while anyway to see if anyone noticed or commented about the title name choice, but I can’t actually call it that due to it being the name of a song.  This also had one of my favorite prompts to write about…insanity, split personality, and other worldly quirks.  I just can’t write enough about things like this.  It’s actually something that I could fill pages in minutes.
When I started this class, my first free write was a little slow going.  I would try to brainstorm quickly and try to come up with something, then attempt to write, but punctuation errors and spelling errors came quickly and on accident, so it killed the flow horribly.  I would constantly be hitting the backspace key and almost be thinking of the grammar, more than what I was actually writing.  If I could change one thing about this whole semester, it would be a better attendance for myself.

Please read first!

A please read first!
Hello If you are reading this welcome to Michael Wilsons blog.  If you have clicked on some posts already, you may notice that there are a LOT of grammar errors.  This is because each post was done in free write and have not been altered.  Anyway this post was here to inform you of such….enjoy!

Hello Mrs. A letter

Hello Mrs. Anthony.
The school year for me is kind of going a little rough and I know it.  Work is getting the better of me.  They are working me from 3:54 pm to 4:00 am off and on, which makes the trip to OTC hell considering I’m an hour away from Springfield (I live in Crane).  My wife also goes to OTC and has class 1 hour before me, but she doesn’t have her driver’s license, so I have to drive us up to OTC, then drive us back home.  Now this doesn’t sound all too bad until you think, I get off at 4:00 am, get home at 5:00 am, get up at 8:00 am, get dressed and out the door by 8:45 am, so we can get to Springfield by 10:00 am.  Also when I’m out of school its 1:00 pm, so I get home at 2:00 pm, just to turn around at 3:00 pm and head to work to get there by 3:54 pm, to start my day of work.  Also for that time that I’m up here waiting for your class to start, I’m sleeping in my blazer.  I would like to apologize for those days that I have missed, because I have overslept, and could not be woken up from my alarm.
 All honesty I was a little scared about getting into an English class, because the thought of the essay scares me, but somehow you’ve made a way to make it fun.  All the way through high school I despised English with a passion, but here it’s actually one of the classes I look forward to in my day.  I’ve always been more of a math kind of guy.  Something about all of those numbers, and trying to find an answer to a problem that spans a page, seemed like an awesome puzzle that was fun.
I was also wondering how I can check my grades, because I tried to look in the tab that says “check my grades” and it doesn’t show anything at all, just “checking grades” and “you will be able to check your grades here” but never shows them up, or lets you click on a link.
I also love the quirky attitude of yourself and the class, because it makes me feel like I fit in.  It really livens my day.
Well anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for the semester so far, it’s been great.


Sincerely,
Michael Scott Wilson

Where would you rather be.

Where would you rather be?
I would rather be in the fields of Ireland.  I’ve never been to Ireland, just seen pictures of the beautiful landscapes, but I would want to go to the brew masters and get me some of their domestic.  The land looks awesome and if I was to get bored there, which is highly unlikely, I would go and take another trip right on over to Scotland and see the castles.

The smells of the place.
Well the smells of Ireland.  If I had to pick a smell that you would…smell in Ireland, I think that you would smell a lot of sheep dung in areas, because of the sheep herders.  Another smell would be a salty smell of the ocean.  The nice smell of humidity from being close to the waters.  A nice smell of grass would be blowing through the air, also a clean smell in areas due to vast fields.  Also you would smell hops in the bars and breweries about Ireland, cause who isn’t going to visit them.
The sounds of Ireland
One sound that I think that you would here is the sound of crashing waves around the edges of Ireland, considering its surrounded by water.  The sound of birds/seagulls flying overhead around the ocean sides.  You would also hear the sounds of sheep calling in the distance.  There would also be sounds of people laughing and having a good time in the nearby taverns, to further this, glasses clinking, stories telling, people singing, just good folks having a good time with the occasional bout.  Sounds of cars driving down the roads in the cities.  Sounds and chatter of people in the cities, would be yet another you would hear.  Another sound would be the sounds of wind passing through the grass blowing it to and fro, without the care in the world.  Around the country sides would be the sounds of peace echoing.
Sights of Ireland and Scotland
Now this is a toughie for me, so far each of my senses have revolved around the same things and I could keep going and going with the same for every one of them but let me try to change it up.  Of course you could see all of the things that I have described so far in the other senses, but one of the sights that I would really like to see, which is the main reason for me wanting to go to these places, aside from the brew masters, is the castles.  The vast castles of Scotland and Ireland alike would be fine places to go and see.  Another would be the vast fields of green grass and small rolling hills, not to mention being surrounded by water would be a cool deal.  To go to the beaches surrounding and see the different rocks and sea life that had washed up on the shores.
Things to touch in Ireland
Well of course we could talk about the curly fur of the sheep that you will be in contact with.  Another thing would be the nice smooth feel of the grass that you could lay down in.  Feel the cool water of the ocean.  You could feel the cold stone walls of the castles, which have of course, that weathered sandy feel.  The castles would also have old wood, that is riddled with history, scratches and holes and knots to the point that it feels as if it could fall apart in your hands.  The feel of the dusty country roads at your feet as you walk them for your adventures.  The feeling of the rocks down by the ocean, all sharp and ridged.  The feeling of good Ireland cooking in your stomach, would be one of the feelings that I would want to experience.
Things to taste in Ireland
Ok I’ve never been to Ireland or Scotland so this is going to get weird quick, for I will run out of things to talk about really quick.  You could taste haggis from Scotland, which I would think would have an interesting taste about it, and by that I mean that I think that it would suck very badly.  I mean, it doesn’t sound appetizing one bit.  Another, aside from haggis would be the rest of Irish and Scottish cooking.  Another taste would be salt in the air from the ocean, the taste of farms in the air (some good some bad).  Another taste would be of the many types of beers and whisky.  I would love to try straight Irish whisky.

Typology and reflections.

Typology test and reflections…
I have mixed thoughts on my Jung typology test.  The test placed me as an “INFP”, which seemed right by the description, but when I go into the possible career choices, it kind of gets me wrong.  For instance, it says that I should pursue a career in literature and writing or a career in religious education.  I don’t care for religion, I can respect it for its feel good feeling and its giving of security for the afterlife that it gives people but other than that, it is a thing that I despise.  Then the literature portion, I hate writing/typing.  Now don’t get me wrong when I was in public school I wrote story after story, but as far as pursuing it as a career, count me out.  It also said that I would be good in graphics design and multimedia.  Now this is an on the fence job for me, because I can think of so many things to create, but lack the artistic vision or skill to place them on paper.  Now psychology would be the only one out of the list that somewhat would be a job that I possibly wouldn’t mind to do, just because I kind of do that already.  Every time I turn around there is another person wanting to talk about their “feelings” or their “problems” and just start talking away as if I hit the stopwatch and said lets begin.  It gets to the point that they start talking about their childhood and how terrible/good their parents were to them.  For some reason their stories always move me, into the point of telling them something that they were looking for, or not looking for, but leaving them in a place of contentment.
Now aside from the job choices that the test says that I should take, I almost whole heartedly agree with the description of my character.  The part where I feel that it falls short on me, or maybe, would be the part about possibly having an imaginary friend.  Now I talk to myself almost as if I am or have another person inside that I argue with, but I wouldn’t think of it as an imaginary friend for, he has no name.  I do however, “bring mundane objects to life”, see the face in the front of the car, give the toaster and stove personality, laugh at the fridge, etc.  I also agree with the part where it says, “INFP’s have the ability to see good in almost anyone or anything”, I have a problem with this part of my character, not that the Jung test got it wrong, but about myself.  I have a problem with keeping bad people around, and a problem with saying no.  For instance, I have this friend who is into drugs deep, but I keep him around to try to help him, but It kind of drags me down in the process and he asks for money, and ill almost put myself into the hole, just to let him borrow.  Now I’m not going to write a whole bunch about being an introvert, because that is definitely me.  I don’t like to socialize with other people, and a lot of times I go great lengths to avoid it…….unless I’m drunk.  I don’t like parties, if I want to get my drink on, I would much rather be the one who goes to the bar alone, rather than go to a massive party.  If I do socialize, it’s usually the one on one approach, I hate crowds.  Now the weird part about this is that I’m also in a band that goes and plays for crowds.
The typology that I’m placed in makes sense, it’s just weird looking back at myself like this.  I usually go the day to day with the, no care, style.  I think that seeing this and actually writing about my personality, or type, makes me think that I need to re-evaluate myself and maybe try and change.  Like I stated in the previous paragraph, I tend to attract the wrong type of people as friends, because I see good in everything.

The place that I would like to go back to (rough draft)

The place that I would like to go back to is Dauphin Island, Alabama.  This place is amazing to me.  It was the first place that I’ve seen the beach.  Me and my family have been to Dauphin 2 times so far and both times were memorable.  The first time that we went to Dauphin, was to go and see a friend down there, well it was more of a trip to go get her and bring her back up here, but anyway we got a day to go to Dauphin.  The one day that we were there, it really wasn’t enough to get the full experience, but I did have that shock and awe moment, when we started to see the ocean.
When you are getting close to Dauphin, you can see little bits of the ocean through the dense tree line on the sides of the road, just little teases of it.  You go through this for about 10-15 minutes, then you see it.  There is a long bridge that you drive over, that arches way up in the air, and gives you a magnificent view of the surrounding area, and it is beautiful.
After you cross the bridge you see that all of the houses are on stilts and the little island is surrounded by beach.  There is a vast jogging trail, that goes through an almost jungle like area, that winds and touches the beach from time to time.  The people that actually live on the island and are part of the community, are very nice people and care for the well-being of the island.  One of those people, that tries to rally the community, is the lady that owns the gift shop in the middle of town.
On our 2nd trip to Dauphin, we had a little more time to explore the island.  We stayed 2 days this time and dedicated a day to driving, considering it takes about 12 hours to get there from Crane.  We visited the ruins of the old fort that they had stationed on Dauphin.  I was able to see my first sunset over the ocean this time, and the feeling of this, was beyond words.  I have always wanted to see the sunset over the ocean, because you always see it in the movies and it just looks amazing, but the movies just don’t do the actual sunset over the ocean justice.  The reds and the oranges that glisten off of the water as the sun goes down, then they change to a purple and dark reddish color, then finally fade to black.
On that trip, we really wanted to rent a beach house, but were financially unable at the time, due to circumstances, but we didn’t want to cancel the trip, so we stayed at the campgrounds on Dauphin.  Now I love camping, but camping that far south in a tent, with no way of keeping cool, is just a little much for me.  When you wake up in the mornings, you have the feeling of not having a full nights rest, and still feelings of fatigue from sleeping in the tent, so next time we go, which is hopefully this coming year, we will finally rent our beach house.  The prices of the beach houses really aren’t that bad.  You can get a nice beach house for about $1000 a week.
The beach time we had was amazing, not just for the sunset, but because my kid got to play in the sand, and she just turned 3 at that time.  She had an awesome time, played like a kid in a giant sandbox, but better.  She found shells and made castles, and just never lost excitement.  Really made me feel good about taking her along.  My other 2 kids were more concerned about the water.  The bar that we went to on the island, was also on the stilts, and had a big palm tree growing right through the bar.
Now for a little history of the island, and some cool things to see.
A cool thing to see on the island is Fort Gaines.  Fort Gaines was made in 1848, or completed in 1848.  It’s really cool to go through the old fort and see the quarters where the ammunition was stored and where the cannons were mounted.  The confederation had taken Fort Gaines at the beginning of the civil war and held the fort for 3 years, until May 4 1865.
One of the oldest tombstones on Dauphin island, is one that is dated 1841, and it belongs to a John Sprinkle, who possibly works for Santa Clause (that part is made up).
There is a ferry that runs from Dauphin to the mainland.  The island also has its own airport, so if you would want to go to Dauphin, and you don’t want to drive the 11 hours to get there, you can catch a flight to the island directly.
The island also has a sea lab that I have never been in, but would love to go and see.  The last time that we were there, we kind of ran out of time, and money, so we had to skip on the lab, but it leaves something to look forward to the next time around.
There is a deep sea fishing rodeo that is open around July.  I was wondering what a deep sea fishing rodeo actually was and apparently some of the fish are big enough and put up enough of a fight that they jerk you around and toss you around, almost as if you were in a rodeo.
Me and my family are wanting to go back to Dauphin, sometime mid next year, preferably in the summer.  Part of my reasoning for wanting to go at that time, is for the sailing and the kayaking, because there is a lighthouse that you can see way out in the distance, and when I was on the island last time, I overheard people talking about going to the lighthouse, and say a few kayaking out to it.  I can’t wait for our trip back, it’s almost like our home away from home.

The first job.

The first job
Mhy fistr job was a job at a resort.  That job sucked really bad because it was a job where they paid 7 an hour to do every job “nearly” on the resort.  I did the grounds keeping the maid worlk the runner job the maint on the resort nerly every ob on the resort I did and it weighed heavily.  My day went like this, I would go upstairs to the reception dest get my list of the rooms that were out m if they were out I would strip the rooms if not I would simply plsace the condo bag at the gondo and let the maids woit until they would leave then I would go and clean the lobby and all the bathrooms on the resort after this I would go and leaf bolow the gounds then I would take the kitchen tracsh out to the dumpster then I would go up to the condo’s and take the condo bags back to the housekeeping office if there were anything left in them, then I would go and clean the cobwebs off of all of the realings around the resort and pushbroom the sidewalks, then I would take out the trash in fromt of all the lower condo’s around back, if there were new guests at the resort I would get a call from the head at the resort to go and let them preview a room , if a room needed any light bulbs or little fixes I would be on int, on the days of the parrot head party I woulod shofur people up and down the hill with the golf kart that I had , and some of those tpeople tipped very well for instance one person up and down the hill would tip 3o bucks,  it was pretty much the time at the resort when all the rich people come to get drunk all at once, the parrot head party even had “horse” raches lol this was not your tipical horse race mind you it was a board with lanes down it and at eah pint of the board were bibrators and they taken bids to which vibrator was going to cross the finish line first, it was very ridiculous but aside from the ferrying people up and down the hill the parrot head pary was the greadest time that I had at rocklane resort.