Starting my final project

My final project for this class is getting my blog out there and read on the internet. I want people to ya know, actually read it and perhaps even enjoy it. I will be researching ways to help lead bloggers to my site and try to get a group of regular readers. the reason for undertaking this idea is I want to be able to connect what i have done all semester in journalism to something i am interested in and something i will continue even after completing this course. I will need to put a lot of time, effort and research into this goal in order to succeed; good old-fashion hard work and perseverance will hopefully do the trick.

thats about it for now.
wish me luck,
Maddie Mudpie

Of What I Know-This I Believe, rough draft

After reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau, a quote hit home hard, “"I was determined to know beans." In context it simply meant just that; he wanted to know everything he could about beans because he was planting them. White sitting there in English class, I made the connection; wow, so this is where the phrase “I don’t know beans about it” had originated.

Well, I was inspired by the idea that I wanted to know beans! Alright, so maybe not literally but I definitely I wanted to know beans figuratively. I really did want to learn as much as I could about well; everything.

I believe that ignorance is humans’ major sin and that we all commit this sin. Knowledge is power to make the changes we all hope for. If people had known about Darfur before then fewer lives would have ended. Invisible Children, which is the organization that is trying to help Darfur’s main goal is to educate others about the problem.

Plain and simple, to achieve peace and end world hunger and solve so many other problems starts with educating the masses. It sounds so simple but in reality it is not. Many have no desire to learn at all.

It is my constant goal to continue learning and I will do so even after I finish school. The pursuit of intellect and through learning is the only way to better one’s self and I will not be satisfied until I am as learnt as any scholar could possibly be. It is a lifetime goal that may only be accomplished when I am an old maid who is as wise as my years were fulfilled.

Ignorance may be bliss but, it is only personal bliss that is not long lasting for most. Knowledge is happiness for the whole. So thank all that teach you, I know I will.

By writing this essay and reading other essays with the same intent, it just emphasizes what many themes really are universal. I can easily relate to many other's stories. The actual writing of this essay was a challenge but I am glad I did it. I just wish that the school from New Jersey actually did it with out. I was really their loss.

Seeing is Not Always Believing

Order.


That's right, I attribute the fact that I am incapable of one decent topic to write about on order. I blame the Puritanism Beliefs that still echo in our society. How else am I to explain why that when I am given a chance to write about anything I want I can’t come up with squat? Zilch. Zip. Zero. Nada. I have absolute freedom for an essay on something I believe in and I can’t think of one sound idea to write about. It’s not like I don’t believe in anything, which is certainly not the case. I am very religious even if I’m not the most devote Catholic. I have strong morals and beliefs.

Well, it is human nature to need constraints and order. It is the very reason that no one chooses any other means of thought or ways of living. We, as a race certainly have the capacity to be more innovative but the beliefs are so far drilled in our brains that we are afraid of change; real change anyways.

Maddie Mudpie, I am disappointed in you. There’s honestly nothing going on in that head of yours? Think, think, THINK.

Yup, diddly. Absolutely diddly squat.

Sorry to disappoint, Miller, but I have yet to come up with a topic for my “this I believe” essay. Blame it on order.

I am no good at these blog ordeals

There’s too many unwritten rules to follow and I’m to thickheaded to realize them before I make a fool of myself

On my last blog entry I used someone else’s pictures that I got off Google and put sappy messages on them, I thought I’d be safe if I just linked them to the original websites I got them from but nope. its not that simple, right away I get a comment saying that I violated some copyright rules and such so basically I felt like such an a**.

What was actually pretty comical about the situation was that the name of the blog entry that i infringed copyright laws on happened to be named "We need to enforce the laws". Just my luck right?

Well to fix the situation I tried to comment back the person who was obviously ticked at me, to say the least and delete the said photos. oh and I complained a good deal to Megan, Kelsey and of course Miller.

That was a demoralizing experience I do not wish to repeat so from now on I plan on just using my own pictures or make sure I take the necessary precautions before using other peoples pictures.

Knowing me I’ll probably end up doing some other blogger faux pas tomorrow.
I’m not cut out for this nonsense; this blog world can be vicious.

We Need to Enforce the Laws

An issue you don’t hear much about in this election being debated is the protection of endangered animals. The United States has made leaps and bounds creating laws to protect endangered and threatened animals. Due to these laws there’s such thing as hunting seasons like duck season so hunters don’t kill off too many of one species at a time, there are wildlife parks and reserves and there are laws on the trade of rare animals. These things are great. However the enforcement of these laws is pitiful. The fines for breaking these laws are small; if you even get in trouble at all.

The government doesn’t fund organizations trying to protect these animals as well as it should. As The Insite puts it, “The annual federal budget for protecting endangered species is less than what beer companies spend on two 30 second TV commercials during the Super Bowl. That means there's not enough money to evaluate the species now proposed for listing.” The government spends billions are war efforts, bailing out our economy, and scientific experiments like the collider which the U.S. “contributed $531 million for.”

Biodiversity is a serious problem to consider, recent studies conclude that if something isn’t done soon many species will disappear; as it is about 25% of mammals are currently endangered. Fox News recently said, "The IUCN estimated that 76 mammal species have gone extinct since 1500." If this trend continues our environment will soon be seriously depleted. Out of the necessity of the entire world we need to take drastic measurements in saving the wildlife. What are our candidates plans on this severe problem?

Some Pictures of endangered animals are at Rolf Hicker Photography.

Positive Feedback

I'm started to get really excited about the newspaper. People seem to really like the idea of post secret in the newspaper. A lot of people say they think its great that I'm trying to get the newspaper up and running and be a bigger part of the school. Some are even excited for me. I love the positive feedback; it makes me feel like I'm really making a difference. So, today I started to collect secrets, some people even gave me five or more alone so over all I have about 100 or so secrets. Let me tell you they’re some hilarious ones. My personal favorite is, "I peed in the woods and two days later I got poison ivy on my butt." <-- hilarious, right?
I got some great new ideas for the newspaper I can't wait to share with the writers. I think they should call it the Phoenix, cause it is about to rise from the ashes as a whole new paper when I'm done with it! If you can't tell, I'm incredibly motivated to this new project of mine.
Guess that's about it for now.

Post Secret At Branford

Student and Faculty submit secrets anonymously to the newspaper in boxes that will be available during lunch waves and possibly in the office. They can be decorated already or just plainly written. The plain ones will possibly be decorated by art classes and willing volunteers. Submitted secrets will be read before hand and deemed appropriate before published in the Buzz.

Some examples are at PostSecret.