The Lingering Impact of Erratic Syntax

         Back in October, when we first received our blogging assignment, I have to admit that I felt an unparalleled sense of excitement. Finally, I thought, a creative writing assignment! Little did I know, however, that blogging would change my perspective on life. Well, sort of.  My lack of common sense and affinity for awkward situations places me in a unique position in life--I almost daily find myself getting into strange, awkward, uncomfortable, or just plain weird situations that most people would tend to innately avoid.  Last week, for example, I took out two Amish teenagers and my sister while sledding.  The week before, I accidentally walked in on a pre-wedding ceremony while looking for a blood drive.  Instead of turning bright red and backing out of these situations as I would have previously done, I realized that the first thought that runs through my head is hey, I should blog about this! My new mind-set fascinates me, and, as I look back at all of my blog posts, I see my frame of mind and attitude slowly evolving and improving.  In my opinion, my most interesting and my favorite post is my first one, "Masked Melodies." I like this one because of the poetic liberties I took in writing it--I think the erratic syntax and the imagery combine to create a realistic scene, one that I hope readers could easily visualize.  The particular memories that I wrote about remain very vivid in my memory, and I think I reflected the intensity of those memories in a unique and equally as vivid way throughout the post.  I did, however, stubbornly sneak passive voice in where I felt that it sounded right, and for this reason (and its overwhelming length) I do not see it as my best post.  I believe that my best writing appears in "Like Clockwork." In this paragraph, I kept the length reasonable while incorporating somewhat relevant anecdotes and connecting them  back to English class.  As I re-read all of my posts, I noticed that the general flow of this one stood out to me--I saw very few awkward sentences and transitions, and I even caught myself fighting the urge to laugh at one of the anecdotes about my dad (who I currently see outside in his "bee suit" trying to chase a few runaway bees away from his pigeon loft).  Consequently, my favorite comment (courtesy of Kate Girouard) appears on this post.  She offers a brief version of her own entertaining Christmas-tree-decorating story as well as a profound comment about materialism: "Memories and past experiences shape who we become, while such a focus on popularity and wealth makes us greedy and withdrawn from true personal connections." I cannot agree with this statement more.  I have found that too much of a focus on money or other trivial things can divert our attention away from what truly matters in life--personal relationships.  And, of course, blogging.