Happiness is the Truth

    Welcome to Thursday's post!  While my husband and I are meticulously cleaning our apartment, I thought I'd take a break, (we've been at it for about 10 minutes...)

    First off, I'd like to point out that I'm down to one potential job as of today...a little disheartening, but I'm not going to let that bring down my spirit.  I refuse to let depression take hold of me like so many others who are unemployed.  Besides, it's only been about two weeks, so what is there to worry about?  A lot of people spend more time than that looking for a job, so I should consider myself lucky that I might have a job by the end of next week.  I'm trying to stay happy.  I re-read the job description for the one I have the interview for a week from today and I feel like I would love that job!  I hope your fingers are still crossed for me, (although you might want to think about taking a break because if you leave your fingers in that position they may get stuck like that...)

    While I try my best to control the outcome of my future, I've been roped into an interesting concept for a project for one of my classes.  We are looking at affinity spaces, that is spaces where people congregate, (in person or online), and collaborate, share and interact with each other based on a mutual interest.  They are a relatively new, complex and extremely modern idea surrounding today's students and classrooms.  One theory is that students learn just as much outside of school as they do in school.  I found a fun article on The Huffington Post about parents with teens using digital media here.  

    By using digital media, (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and games like Minecraft, Pokemon and World of Warcraft they can enhance their communication, social interaction and organizational skills while simultaneously creating a tactfully-designed alternative universe in which to engage with others who share the same passions.  I find the whole concept absolutely fascinating!

    So, in dealing with this idea of "affinity space" and gaming, I'm working on some research that involves Minecraft and Pokemon as they relate to students outside of the traditional classroom environment.  Who plays these games?  Is there a common pattern?  How do players get their inside information?  How do you play?  How do you learn how to play if you aren't already familiar?  What kinds of sites are at students' disposal when confronted with an issue?  These and many more questions will hopefully get answered as I dive into this complex and relatively new terrain.  I might post more about findings as soon as we start researching, but check back for more info later on.

    

**SPOILERS AHEAD MATEYS**

    For my television reviews this week, I'll start with The Bachelor.  CLAIRE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!  I know she loves him and everything, but we have a Stage Five Clinger in the house and she is all sorts of wrong.  She's not nearly as bad as some of the other wackadoos they've had on this show, but if she makes it to the final four, I may shoot myself.  My Top 3 as of this week are Renee, Andi and Nikki.  I know a lot of people don't like Nikki, but I can see things from her perspective and I think she just had a rough week last week, (not to mention I feel like they're highlighting a different girl each week to be the "problem child," so keep an eye out for next week's fire starter).  I think Renee could win because like Juan said, she's just like him.  I feel like they look good together and I'm hoping to see her in at least the final four.  Let me know who you think should go home next in the comments!

    Bones and Castle were pretty standard.  Not a whole lot going on, and Bones just totally ignored the whole Wendell-cancer fiasco by bringing in another, (horrible), intern.  I miss Wendell's gorgeous face already...  Meanwhile we can see Beckett is getting her first case of wedding jitters as she dons that beautiful wedding gown.  I'm still no the fence about it, so let me know in the comments if you loved it or hated it, but I feel like she would look so much better in something a little more form-fitting.  Thoughts?

    How I Met Your Mother tore at my heartstrings yet again as we see Ted FINALLY, (and literally), letting go of Robin once and for all.  It's sad because of all the years they spent with each other but relieving at the same time.  Now, hopefully, they can get on with the whole wedding business that they are taking forever to get to.  I was anticipating that they would have the wedding happen next week, but seeing as they like to draw things out for as long as possible, I doubt that'll happen.  We haven't seen the mother back yet, and we know they meet at the reception, so we'll have to wait a little longer.

    New Girl after the Super Bowl was hilarious!  Prince was a nice added touch, but I loved the ending.  Also, this week's Tuesday episode didn't disappoint either.  I know I don't talk about it much, but it's one of my favorite shows to watch.  So is Agents of Shield, and this week made me question what they were doing completely.  I'm liking the dangerous situations they've gotten themselves into, but I've totally forgotten the reason behind it.  Also, I knew that whole romance between May and Ward wasn't going to last, but I never saw Skye getting shot, let alone almost dying.  We'll see if she turns into some sort of superhero to save her own life, but the official introduction of Deathlok was refreshing.  My husband and I had looked into it and figured he was the only logical explanation for Mike being kept alive, although the original Deathlok's story line is completely different.  Obviously he has motivation to do the Clairvoyant's bidding.  Let's see where this goes.

    Lastly, I've been spending a lot of time inside, re-watching old shows I haven't seen in years, one of them being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I've been more into them lately, probably because of all the hype over the Michael Bay production coming along, but also because they've been a long-time favorite of mine and I refuse to give them up for the sake of being an adult.  Luckily, I found at least the first and second season of my favorite cartoon reincarnation from 2003 on YouTube and have been getting reacquainted with it.  I absolutely love this particular season because of the graphic artwork, more reminiscent of the comic book style drawing, the humor in the dialogue, and the relationship between the brothers.  I think all of these aspects give the show a more authentic TMNT and they stay relatively true to the original story arc of the comic books.  I have always been infatuated with the Raphael in this series.  It's been nice to go back in time for a bit and relive my glory days as a thirteen-year-old nerd.

    Well that's about it for this week.  I think that covers most of what I've been thinking as of late.  I'm excited for this weekend because I am actually leaving my house, (gasp), to go visit and have lunch with my best friend Katie up in Portland, ME, so that should be fun!  I'm also starting my orientations at different middle schools next week, so hopefully I find where I belong for next year.  I'm subbing on Tuesday, so for all my kids who read this I'll see you then!  Also, I'll be posting again tomorrow until my class page about the "Walk My World" project, so stay tuned for that.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Walk My World

    Here we are, on a Friday.  I apologize for the lateness of my post, but I was busy all day with reading, then a much-needed family night.  Trust me, it was entirely worth it.
    Speaking of family, I have some great news!  My sister-in-law is being induced tomorrow and will have my highly anticipated nephew this weekend!  I am so happy for her and I'm very excited to become an aunt.  My only hope is that when I have my first child I am as lucky as she is to have all the love and support that her family has given her.  They've had a pretty rough time the last few months and her family dropped everything and made room for them and the baby, gave them a place to stay and a new job to help support them.  My in-laws are the most selfless, honorable people I've ever met in my entire life.  They surprise me every day with their unwavering kindness.  I suppose that's sad for me to think that that kind of love is unnatural or special when it should always be that way.  Regardless, I have no doubt that that child will be brought up in the best of circumstances.

    On a less emotional note, I have started classes this week, as you all know, and have been engrossed in reading and other preparations for future projects and case studies.  I will be posting on a new page later today directly connected to my Special Topics course about our readings pertaining to participatory culture.  I have also been making preparations to start an observation case study on a student at the school I substitute at.  I already have consent from three different parties, so as soon as I get her class schedule we can start!  I'm super excited to start looking at her writing and see what connections and inferences I can make.

http://wiobyrne.com/walkmyworld/

    In addition to the blog posts and readings for my Special Topics course, we are trying to participate in the "Walk My World" challenge, which is a research study created by William Ian O'Byrne, (you can follow him on Twitter here).  The purpose of this project is to explore the use of digital texts to see how people connect and communicate with each other.  For ten weeks, I will be posting a picture or video snippet of my life accompanied with the hash-tag #walkmyworld in order to provide a glimpse into what my "world" is like.  There are no guidelines or requirements to the posts, but it has to be about your life.  I take that to mean I can continue to post random pictures from various moments of my life, but more diligently.  That is to say I haven't been keeping up with my Instagram as of late, so I will be posting at least once a week for the next ten weeks or so, starting next week.  Should be fun, and I'm excited to be participating in someone else's research!  If you'd like to participate or learn more about Will or the "Walk My World" challenge, you can visit his website here.

**SPOILER ALERTS GALORE**

    On a completely different note, I did get to watch the latest Bachelor, Bones, Castle and How I Met Your Mother episodes from this past Monday.  So far my current Top 3 ladies for The Bachelor are Renee, Andi and Nikki, but we'll see how long that lasts.  I'm just glad that Lucy Lewd went home, finally.  I really like these girls because they seem really down to earth, they're not too young or immature and they seem to really have his best interests at heart.  Again, not sure how it'll turn out, (my father insists that he never picked anyone at the end), but I feel god about this Top 3.

    Bones made me cry AGAIN this week.  I'm not sure what it is with all these TV shows tearing at my heart strings, but apparently they're in a phase.  Wendell was diagnosed with a rare form of terminal bone cancer, so he now has a 10% chance of living through chemo and other treatments.  I died a little, not only because he's been on the show for so long and has been an undeniable asset to the team, but because Brennan SHOWED EMOTION.  If you've watched the show for as long as I have, you'll understand that when Brennan shows emotion, it's a big deal.  Her being sad at his diagnosis, which SHE discovered, shows that it's definitely a hard pill to swallow.  I wish him all the best in this season, but I'm definitely expecting him to die in the finale...fingers crossed I'm wrong.

    Castle was your typical Castle plot again.  After the tumultuous burning building episode we kind of needed a break from the drama.  I was happy to see Alexis (hopefully) break it off with Pi, seeing as he brought nothing more to the story and was basically dead weight in her life.  We'll see if she caved next week, but I'm guessing they're officially over.  It's sad that that was the highlight of that episode for me.

    How I Met Your Mother is getting more and more daring with their story line as we saw Lily and Marshall finally had the fight they needed to have, but it ended in disaster.  Lily ended up leaving in a random vehicle after calling an unknown person for a ride out of the inn.  She didn't say where she was going either, so we could be following her anywhere next week, but I'm most curious to see who it was that she called.  Marshall will most likely be heartbroken so close to the wedding, but we all know from previous episodes that Lily makes it back in time for the ceremony with everyone else, so we'll see what happens.  We haven't seen the mother in a few episodes either, not since she helped Marshall, so I'm eager to see her during the wedding reception.
    That's all for this week.  I'm expecting to post pictures of Tanner when he arrives, so look out for those on Tuesday, but for now I'm going to try and enjoy my weekend.  Here's to more reading and two blog posts today instead of one!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Digital Chats and The Final Countdown

          This week marks the last week of my vacation.  Sadly I didn’t accomplish much of anything, but I’m hoping to be more productive in the coming weeks, partially due to the fact that I should have more actual work to do.  I’m excited to start my final two courses: Special Topics in English Teaching and Teaching Writing in the 21^st Century.  I’m excited partially because one of my classes is taught by the same professor I took Digital Literacies with.  Should be a good last hurrah before I start my internship next fall.

            In other news, I got new glasses yesterday!  I have had the same red pair since 2006, with no change in prescription, so I thought it was finally time to change it up.  Plus I’ve been squinting even with my glasses on lately, so for my own sake I didn’t want to have any more headaches from strain.  It was difficult to choose a pair of glasses because I’ve been so used to my old pair and we’ve been through a lot together, so I was a little unwilling to change at first.  But with a little help from the nice eye guy and my wonderful husband’s opinion, I decided on a completely different style and I love them!  I will miss my signature red, but hopefully these will be just as good, seeing as I stuck with the pop of color.  Here’s to new beginnings and a new style!

            This week I will also be attempting my first online chat sessions.  The New England Bloggers Network will be hosting a blog chat tomorrow night through Twitter which I will be participating in.  Also through Twitter, there will be a “Digital Learning” chat from the National Council of Teachers of English, (NCTE), this Sunday night at 8pm if any of my teacher friends want to join me in that one.  This is my first attempt to participate in one of these digital chats, so wish me luck.  Hopefully it will help me better understand that type of community in the event I’d like to participate more openly in the future.

            For my TV menu this week Castle returns as well as How I Met Your Mother, so I’m looking forward to getting caught up with those episodes which aired yesterday, (as some of you already know, I do not have cable, so I watch everything the day after through Hulu and Netflix through my Roku box).  Also, premiering tonight is the new season of Face-Off, which is a show on the SyFy network about make-up and special effects artists competing for a contract and cash prize.  They are already in their 6^th season and it’s extremely interesting to see what they come up with for various themes and characters.

            Keeping with my Victorian Era kick, I’ve been thoroughly invested in The Tudors series on Netflix, (I’m already on season four…after about a week, maybe?).  Even though you know what’s going to happen to some extent, it’s still a very well done series, so I’m interested to see how they ended it.  Since I’ve been watching Reign as well, this story line ties directly into it, being that Mary, Queen of Scots is related to the Tudors line of succession, (Margaret Tudor, sister to King Henry VIII is her grandmother).  I was thinking about starting The Borgias series after I finish with The Tudors, so let me know what you think in the comments.

            That’s it for this week!  I can’t post a review of The Bachelor from this week yet because I haven’t seen it, but I will Thursday, (maybe), if it still seems relevant.  As for the rest of this week, it’s pretty much wide open.  My sister-in-law’s due date is this coming Saturday, so I could be an aunt as early as this weekend!  Fingers crossedJ I’m hoping we can visit, but we’ll see what happens.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

OOPS...TV Stuff

    Hey guys, so I'm going to apologize early for this one because I honestly haven't even picked up Divergent and totally got wrapped up in other things so far this week.  Sorry!  I'm also currently a chapter away from finishing the first installment of the Game of Thrones series and I hate starting a different book while I'm still working on another one.  I promise to have a mild review with questions/concerns up by next Thursday.

    My distractions were also partially due to the fact that I got roped in to a new television program on Hulu called Reign on the CW.  If you are unfamiliar with the show, it supposedly follows a fictional version of Mary, Queen of Scots through her adolescent years as she attempts to save her country by forging an alliance through marriage with France.  So far it's been less than historical, however it's a nice plot line with all the made-up characters that never existed.  I will be tuning in for the second half of season one on the 23rd.

    Also on my radar for television, (as this has been a lazy week of roaming about the house with little to nothing to keep me busy), is the new season of The Bachelor, which I've already warned you about.  The only reason I'm watching is because of Juan Pablo, which is somewhat obvious.  Also, I've heard that there's a Phi Mu girl amongst the potential bachelorettes, so I will be following her progress as she is automatically my favorite by default.  I will not be able to live tweet the show, however, due to the fact that I have no cable and have been watching online the day after it airs.  As soon as there's a show on Sundays that I enjoy, I will be live tweeting that.

(DIOS MIO...)

    In addition to the new Bachelor, Cougar Town has returned for a fifth season and I could not be more excited!  I have loved this show since its inception and I think it's hilarious.  If I had to rank it, it would fall somewhere around New Girl in my "favorite comedy" pool.  I can't wait to see how they work the new plot line of this season!

    Well, that's basically it.  TV has been controlling my life now that everyone is coming back from their winter break.  Castle returned this week, (tearing at my heart strings), as well as Agents of Shield and Bones set to return this coming Monday with How I Met Your Mother.  I have a lot more that I'm following with new shows popping up on my radar every few days, but I'm only morally invested in a select few.
    I enjoy these shows because of the variations in plot structure and character developments as it pertains to my knowledge about the two.  I think TV does lend itself to a larger infrastructure of literacy that we have yet to explore, but try telling that to an "obese" child addicted to Adventure Time who spends hours of uncultured time on the couch some some Cheetos...  I'm sure I'll learn more about the differences as I continue my digital literacy studies next semester, but for now I'll just let TV be entertainment.  I only have about a week left before I start my last two classes and I want to make the most of this downtime while I have it.  Again, sorry this post is short!  If you have any questions or just want to talk about any of the shows I listed or any of the ones you watch, let me know in the comments or Twitter or anywhere really.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.