Conclusion

Well the time has come. It is the fourteenth week of the Spring 2009 semester and this will more than likely be my last blog entry ever. Although I’m happy that I have one less homework assignment to do every week, it’s a little disappointing seeing as for the most part I didn’t really mind writing down some of my random thoughts, stories, beliefs, likes, and dislikes. I wasn’t really a fan of writing some of the assignments but I liked writing the “free entries” every once in awhile. Since I am not one for giving long, emotional speeches, or writing it in this case, I will answer a few of the questions given on the blog information sheet. The first question is, “what have I learned from keeping a blog?” This question isn’t the easiest one to answer but I guess I learned that some parts of my life could be considered interesting to others. Before starting this last entry, I looked through a few of my old entries and some of them actually were quite interesting and humorous, usually at my own expense. The next question asked was whether or not I’d advise other students to keep a blog. I think that if you enjoy writing and/or letting people hear about yourself, then keeping a blog seems like a good idea. Finally, it asks what advice I’d give to others on keeping a blog. My advice would just be try to talk about things that others would find interesting. For free entries, I tried to tell stories that readers would actually enjoy or talk about things that others in the audience could relate to or find funny. I’m sorry that I had to end my blog with a boring, plain entry with random questions that no one at all cares about. I’m sure for the most part though that my only audience is probably the students in my English 101 class. The only reason they’re probably reading is because we have to comment on everyone’s blog at least two times. Well, to anyone reading, goodbye and good luck with whatever you end up doing.

A Fun Visit to Normal, IL...

For this week’s blog, I’m supposed to give suggestions to my friends on what I would tell them to do if they came to Normal and I was unable to show them around. I think this may be the hardest blog of the year for me. I grew up in Oak Lawn, which is one train or bus ride away from the city of Chicago. In Chicago, the possibilities were endless. You could see a Bulls, Bears, Hawks, or Cubs game, go to the zoo, see some of the biggest skyscrapers in the world, or just walk around and enjoy the scenery of downtown. So to decide what I would tell my friends to do for fun in the city of Normal is not an effortless task. Personally, without a car or any mode of transportation, I know very little about the city itself. I guess the first thing I would tell them to do would be to take a walk around the Illinois State campus. I could have someone give them a tour of the different parts of the school such as the quad, dorm buildings, and other buildings. This isn’t necessarily the most exciting campus so I would hope they scheduled a visit on the day of a sporting event. With all of the different sports, I’d hope at least one had a game that day. They could see a basketball game, a football game, a baseball game, or even a rare track meet. Hopefully the teams could keep it close and then it could prove to be very entertaining. Next, I would hope they chose a day when a concert was playing either at the Brayden Auditorium or at the concert hall in downtown Normal. There have actually been a few popular bands such as T.I. and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus who’ve recently put on concerts here. Any concert would most likely prove to be a fun time. Finally, to the end the night I would make sure they got a sample of one of my favorite places in Normal, Gumby’s Pizza. I would make sure they tried the Pokey Stix and hopefully, if all went right, they would have a fun visit to Normal, IL.

My Unlucky Trip Back Home...

Last weekend, two friends of mine, Joe Ward and Brendan Namoff, who go to the University of Illinois and live in my hometown decided to visit here on Friday night and leave Saturday morning. We decided that it would be fun for them to come even if they were only going to be here for a small amount of time. After finding out that they were leaving on Saturday morning, I thought it’d be nice to go home for a night to get a few things done and then come back here on Sunday night. Saturday morning came along and it was pouring rain. I knew the ride might take a little longer than usual, especially in my friend Joe’s 1998 Saturn, but decided that it couldn’t be much longer than the usual one and a half to two hour drive back home. It was not long after we got onto the highway that the driver’s side windshield wiper started to malfunction. Eventually, while only about twenty miles out of Bloomington, the windshield wiper went completely off track and was as far right as possible. We could only see out of the passenger’s side window and ended up going about 45 mph until we got to the first exit. We went to a car dealership and a gas station, both of which told us that the nearest mechanic was 20 miles down the highway. Thinking creatively, we bought 2 rolls of duck tape and tried making a barrier so the wiper could no longer go off track. We got back onto the highway and within ten miles the duck tape started unpeeling so we got right back off into another small town. After going to another car dealership and two gas stations, both said there wasn’t much we could do but wait. We sat in McDonalds until my older brother called and I told him what had happened. He immediately said, “Why don’t you try Rain X?” I didn’t know what Rain X was but I guess it’s something you put on your windshield which deflects rain so you don’t have to use your wipers. We put it on and it worked perfectly. We ended up driving an hour and a half with no windshield wipers on the highway. I got home completely soaked and miserable after a two hour trip had turned into a five hour trip. I don’t think I will ever forget this horrible experience.