Thursday, January 24, 2013

A White Blank Page


Hey there,

If you are reading this, you are fortunate enough to be in my English 101 class. This is my very first blog. I'll introduce myself while trying not to sound like a personal ad.
Flagstaff, AZ
My name is Cari Jendrisak. I'm a Phoenix native and being such I am in LOVE with the desert we are surrounded in. I spent the past two years attending NAU and enjoying the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the WORLD. 
Deceptive Chalk Art 
To say I like art would be an understatement, I love art. Other people's art mostly but not just the canvas. Creativity with everything is stunning to me, I focus on music, film, writing, and media that is unique. I do admit to having a Pinterest, however this site is my favorite, it's called Trend Hunter. It's not just art, it's media, it's technology, and everything that satisfies the modern conception of ADD. When I do a project normally I get the idea in the middle of evening, then stay up all night just to make it become a physical realityI am now retraining my hands to do ceramics here at GCC. 
My goal at GCC is to earn exceptional grades to transfer back to NAU. I figure it will boost my ego and keep me on the straight and narrow even if the grades don't transfer.I am a bit of a slacker student. I believe the phrase I've heard is,













 "IF you would just apply yourself, you would be brilliant to others too." 















So this is me "applying myself," or trying to anyway. I have taken hybrid classes before at NAU, so it is a bit different but not by much. I have taken about four online classes, all which appear easy to begin with, but are very dangerous because it seems that the deadlines are far away. 

Part of the issue behind my apathy has been that I have no idea what I want to do in life. 
Many have told me to "follow my heart," to venture down the yellow brick road and unveil my personal wizard behind the curtain. This would be genuinely genius advice if I really had an application for the things I am passionate about.


Just in case you need to brush up on your geography.
 My dear Aunt Josie, now 89 years old, a nun and shrink, sent me a big envelope yesterday. I was expecting either a copy of her handwritten 300+ page memoir or a Kolache (a delicious Slovakian pastry), instead it was newspapers with circled titles and a letter in her beautiful cursive.
She sent me alternatives to attending school and living life as an adult right away. She's a bit eccentric at times but her wisdom is something I cannot pass up. We had what I call a "one on one" talk about how many possibilities one often overlooks simply for the reason, that in our small minds, they are not possible.







She says, "If you change your mind, you can change yourself."


I really believe her, crazy as it sounds.




The word "if" is an infinite black hole that will send the sane running for asylums but it's not necessarily the "If" it's the consequence of the "If."

Anything more creepy than old abandon insane asylums? 
For example... "If I die, _____ will happen." Or "What if I choose not to ______, will ______ happen?" The possibilities and alternative roads are what truly what drives us to our knees.

"If" I just apply myself, I will find out what is possible, what I can do, what I BLOCKED out as an impossibility.



It's raining 


outside, 

or rather 

sprinkling

which is the 

most we can 

hope for in the 

Sonoran.

Rain and COFFEE are the most amazing
aroma together.

Coffee is another love of mine.



I will try to be consistent, and if I'm not, I hope you at least find me somewhat entertaining, and if not, say something!
If you don't say anything, I won't know what YOU think, and no one wants to feel like this... 

12 comments:

  1. I probably clicked through 4 or 5 of the different student blogs before arriving at yours; it was the first blog I read through completely. It was, first, easy to read because of the high-contrast color scheme and, second, enjoyable to read because of the amount of media and varying font sizes.

    The cocky-funny first sentence was the biggest hook and what forced me to continue reading. I was hoping to see that you wove that style of overly-confident side comments throughout your post; it's a very intriguing tone.

    I've definitely got to step up my game, after seeing this.

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  2. Kyle, thank you for making my night!
    I am pleased to hear that you enjoyed the overall appearance, I worked very hard on that. I tried to put myself in the reader's (your!!) shoes.
    I am also laughing about how you described my writing. I am a very sassy, and at times, blunt person.
    To clarify: Did you mean you were hoping to see that I "wove that style" throughout the rest of the entry? Or happy perhaps? If the latter I am glad, if the initial, I will try my best to be more consistant.
    I can't wait to see what you have to say in your blog!

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  3. I think your voice/tone is consistent throughout your writing. It's conversational enough that it's enjoyable to read, but professional enough that it doesn't belong in a text or on Facebook; an appropriate mix of both.

    What I meant by "wove that style" was the sassy-ness. The "i'm better than you, and you love it" type of quips, like the first sentence. Personally, that was what made me think, "Wow, this is someone whose writing I HAVE to follow."

    "... you are fortunate enough to be in my English 101 class" and "IF you would just apply yourself, you would be brilliant to others too" were the 2 sassy bits I really noticed and they were both in the beginning. In the paragraph about Aunt Josie, I was half-expecting to read, "this is why my aunt is better than your aunt." And "if you only knew the amazing combined-aroma of rain and coffee..." Almost like the blog is a how-to guide for being as awesome as you are.

    Anyways, I think that what you wrote is great and I don't think you should change any of it. Can't wait for the next one.

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  4. I completely agree with Kyle, you sound so intriguing. I love the way you designed your blog, it is so personal and edgy at the same time. I am definitely following you! Excited to see what else you have in store for me.

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  5. Although I'm completely not ALL that cocky, I'll accept the compliments. :) Thanks Kyle.
    Cassie! Thank you for the comment. I will try not to disappoint!

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  6. You blog is amazing. I loved how the pictures came to life. I agree with kyle, the tone of voice keep me wanting to read all the way through, and say, "wow". I really need to learn how to make my blog be personal but edgy at the same time. While, I am scared to write my next blog I'm excited to see yours. Great Work!

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  7. As you can see by your peers' comments, you are off to a good start and already seem to have some dedicated followers! You do strike a good tone that combines casual & professional - our goal. Visually your blog is engaging and your ideas are well-developed. You do jump from one topic to the next quickly, but as long as you support those jumps with visual/textual breaks as you've done in this post your readers should be able to follow along successfully. Good job.

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  8. I love your blog! I will definitely keep checking yours out. I think a lot of people can relate to you and that is why your blog will be quite popular! I agree 100% with you! COFFEE AND RAIN MIXED TOGETHER IS THE MOST AMAZING AROMA EVER! That comment alone made me a fan. Good job.

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  9. Thanks Salina, Amanda, & Vanessa! I really need and appreciate the feedback!! I hope you continue to enjoy my posts!

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  10. Just checked out your blog, and like those who commented before me, I was pretty amazed!

    I like the way you stylize your writing not just by making some text bold, italicized, or underlined, but by also changing the font sizes to emphasize certain words. Your use of GIFs also makes this blog post of yours less static and more lively.

    I honestly get a dark feeling from your blog, mainly because of your use of black and white a lot (and that pic of the asylum room didn't help :-)) ), but that's not to say it's a bad thing. Come to think of it, it doesn't seem to match the playful tone that I get from your blog post, but I guess that just may be an expression of your individuality, which does make it peculiar, but thus interesting.

    I will have to follow this blog. Again, great work! Keep it up!

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  11. Mick, thanks for checking out my blog and giving some positive feedback! I honestly like darker things but I try to stay positive, especially if I want people to actually listen to what I am saying. I think that if you keep reading, everything is a mix of both as I am constantly trying to balance the thoughts in my mind with the words I write.

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