May 4th

I turn to Blogger in the midst of a stressful finals week. I am writing my second philosophy paper of the day, finding more more why I put this type of work off so much. Writing a philosophy paper is like doing a math equation. And if there is one thing I hate, it is math. We are required to write within the boundaries of the sample outline distributed to us at the beginning of the year. The words that start the essay are always the same... "In this paper I will argue..." They end the same, too. "In this paper, I have argued..." You must repeat, repeat, and repeat every premise you state; pound that idea to the ground. If the reader didn't understand what you were arguing in the first place, by the end of that paper they had better have an idea.

Philosophy papers are one big question mark to me. Then again, so isn't the whole field of Philosophy. Philosophers can talk through anything inside out. They query everything from a higher power to the physicality of the ground we walk on. Is anything real? Are we really physical beings, or a network of thoughts? What? As I write a philosophy paper I can't help but question everything I am writing. Can't I just walk my teacher through the premise I have drawn on philosophy papers? "Humans are granted a certain degree of free will. I am a human. Consequently, I have the free will to choose not to hand in my paper." ... I will not pass the class if I don't hand in my paper, you say?
The thing is,  I have drawn a second premise. "I do not presume that humans are physical beings. Humans are exclusively mental. My paper is thought up in my mind, and I have no physical means to present it to you."

Philosophy paper problem solved. Maybe Philosophy isn't so bad, after all.

April 22 is Earth Day! 

There are things everyone can do to go a little bit more green. Small steps around the board will translate into great strides. Remember the movie Wall-E? Let's not let that happen to our world. 

Happy April 19th, everyone, and Happy Birthday to my lovely Nana. 

It's that time of the year again where I begin to thaw out and my thoughts start revolving more and more around that summer sun. Today I will entertain myself with a list of everything that I love about the summertime. 

1. The beach

2. The ocean

3. Long days

4. Long nights

5. Marylous Coffee

6. Tanning

7. Friends

8. Camping

9. Prince Edward Island

10. Cows ice cream 

11. Brehauts

12. No shoes

13. Country music

14. Concerts

15. The ice cream man

16. Crop tops

17. Flip flops

18. Cloud watching

19. Starfish

20. Family

21. Fourth of July

22. NO HOMEWORK

23. Sleeping in

24. Warm wind

25. The sound of the waves

26. Exploring

27. Summer rain

28. Thunderstorms 

29. Long drives

30. Beach hair

31. My father's cooking

32. Bright colors

33. Sunglasses

34. Cookouts

35. Serenity 

The list goes on and on. I love just about everything about summer aside from the mosquitoes and no-seeums.  21 days until freedom. 

Now that's journalism. Look at that dedication. #Cantstopwontstop. 

It was just another day in the field for reporter Toya Chiba when he was swept away by the tsunami that hit Japan in April. Chiba was reportedly pulled by rushing waters into the Owatari River. A little water wasn't enough to stop Chiba. In the face of disaster, Chiba continued snapping photos. How many people could you find in this world  who would be caught in the middle of a flash flood taking photographs? Probably one. Toya Chiba, everyone. Screw the camera, I would have been stuck to the top of that white car like a starfish. Chiba survived the incident with a few scars. Despite his heroic efforts, the photos he took that day didn't even have a chance; his camera had water damage. Go figure. The effort was there, though, and that should count. Somebody give this guy a raise. 

Free Rice

Join Now!

Click to join my group 'Fire and Rice' at Freerice.com. The website collaborates though the World Food Programme to help put an end to world hunger.

Here is how it works:
There are six categories to play including: Art, English, Chemistry, Geography, Language, and Math. When users select a category, they are asked to answer sets of questions pertaining to the subject they selected. For ever correct answer, Freerice.com donates 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme. And though 10 grains of rice seems a small donation, those grains sure add up!

I put 'Fire and Rice' together on March 16, 2011. There are 16 members in my group. We have a combined donation of 342,290 grains of rice to date. The top donators have contributed about 40,000,000 grains of rice per unit. 


This website just goes to show how the internet is revolutionizing, well, mostly everything. Just look at how easy it is today to collaborate with people all across the world; solving world hunger from the comfort of your computer chair! What else can be accomplished? Where else can we go? The door is left wide open, and there is no ceiling. This new internet age is just starting to bloom. 

4/11

Did anyone else hear rumors that it was going to be 80 degrees and sunny today? I was ready for a beach day. I only have myself to blame for my frustration, all it took was the words 'sunny and warm' to get the beach day idea stuck in my head. I was not going to re-check the weather,  I am far too stubborn to accept the reality good news like that would change! 

I wish our weather reporters were more like Ollie Williams. He always tells it like it is.

Anywhere

If I could be anywhere in the world right now, I would be in Prince Edward Island. This whole 'grey skies and cold weather' thing Rhode Island has going on isn't cutting it for me.

Just Wondering

I have always been intrigued by the origin of communication. I have frequently thought back to that first conversation-like exchange of man, deciding that words, no longer grunts and hand motions would be used for communication. It must have been an excruciating process trying to teach a whole community a consistently spoken language. It is fascinating how countries landed on different systems of dialogue; different languages, different accents, pronounciations, etc. This thought led me to another thought; is there such thing as a natural language? Crying and laughing are two completely pure processes. So, then, is there a natural way of speaking that is unprocessed from the influence of location and learning from repetition of hearing? This is a hard question to ask, because one could never learn to speak without hearing someone else's words, that have technically been processed through location. I thought about singing. Singing is as natural as it gets. According to Wikipedia, "Singing is the act of producing musical  sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm." Have you ever listened to the Spice Girls? The Beatles? (Probably the better reference.) Both of these groups have members with British accents, though when they start to sing that accent disappears. Could this possibly mean that the American accent is the most natural of all? Just a thought...

3-2-13

3-2-13


Three wins, two ties, and thirteen losses. That was the record of my 2010 soccer season at Rhode Island. With a team loaded with talent, how could this be? With each frustrating loss, the drama on our team escalated. 

My team has had many struggles in the past...on the field, off the field, you name it, we’ve struggled through it. One of the most glaring problems that we have had is a lack of leadership. This lack of leadership has translated into an unsuccessful past fall season. At the end of the season, our team received a new coach. This coach has addressed the leadership problem, and has formed a leadership group of ten girls who will be a foundation for leadership throughout the team. With this new leadership group, I am left to answer the question, “What really is leadership, and why is it so essential?”  So I turned to the dictionary. 


Leadership
-noun
1.The act of leading a group or organization of people


Too vague. After careful thought, I put together the definition of a leader that I have formed over years of playing soccer.

First and foremost, I would describe a leader as an individual whose every unselfish action benefits a group that is greater than him or herself. Leaders are confident. Their actions are never forced. A leader doesn’t think, “Wow, I really worked hard today.” A leader always works hard. They have that inner drive that is solely second nature. Great leaders are supported. They create a network of people around themselves who want to work for them.  A leader can balance on the thin line between friendship and integrity. Good leaders instill trust in their teammates. People can talk to leaders about whatever their concerns may be. On the field, leaders are vocal. They are encouraging without being offensive. Leaders motivate. As essential as communication is on the soccer field, actions speak just as loud. Leaders bring teams together. They create a sense of the word  “team.” On a true team, not only are you playing for yourself, you are playing for every single one of your teammates. Leadership is essential for any team. A teams without a sense of leadership is misguided, and will not be as successful.

Our new coach has already given us an air of confidence. We are starting from scratch, learning the foundations of what it means to be on a team. We are fixing the parts of the machine that were broken last year. I do not have a doubt that we will be winning games next season. Lots of games. Winning games starts with gaining leadership, so here’s to the 2011 fall season.

What I Learned in Florida

This vacation, I learned a valuable lesson from one of the local Miamians. After a week of being on the beach with men and women running around shirtless with thong bathing suits and margaritas in hand, my friends and I decided to hit the streets for some shopping. It was the last day of the trip, and I wanted as much of the Irish equivalent of a tan that I could get, so I threw on my bikini and tank top. It was Miami Beach, people walk around in bathing suits all the time! Had it been New York City, I may have taken another thought. I was sitting outside of Starbucks with my friends Brooke and Ashley, when an old lady approached me. Her leathery skin and linen body suit told me she was close to seventy years old. I turned to this woman, she looks me up and down, and pretty much told me (I'm keeping it very clean) that I shouldn't be wearing that bathing suit. Well, she actually said MUCH more to me that wouldn't be appropriate for a school based blog.

So, there I was in the middle of Collins Ave, squaring off with an old lady. I was polite at first, telling her "Thank you for your opinion", hoping that she would walk away. Her rant went on. She picked a stubborn girl to share her rude opinion with. I wasn't going to just walk away after the things she had said to me. So I asked her,  "Excuse me, are you my mother?" She took off her sunglasses revealing her silvery-blue eyeliner and eyeshadow combination that reached all the way to her penciled in eyebrows. "Do I look old enough to be your mother?", she asked me. I wanted to tell her she looked old enough to be my grandmother. That's when I knew she was a little off kilter. We had drawn somewhat of a crowd at this point, and I wasn't about to smack this old lady right across the face - even if she DID very much deserve it, and if I very much wanted to. Sorry lady, I left all my white linen jumpsuits at home. I'll pack accordingly next year. I turned to my friends and asked them if we could leave. The last thing the woman told me before storming her way back to Starbucks was, "If you are an American, be an American." I thought being American meant having the freedom of expression. The liberty to dress and act as I choose, within the boundaries of the law. Her caustic words reminded me that I am blessed to be an American. I am grateful that I do not live in the Middle East, where under the law I would wear a Burka, concealing all but my eyes from the world.

On my trip to Miami I learned two things. First, I learned that when confronted with crazy, I can stay strong but sane. And finally, I learned that it would be smart to pack pepper spray next year along with my bikini.

iWant an iPhone

In this new age of technology, I think it is becoming more and more necessary for someone to actually own an Iphone. And yes, I am using the word 'someone' loosely. No, I don't think it's dire for the iPhone to be in the hands of a 75 year old man, though I think a student like me could benefit from one. The internet is opening up a whole new world. I am finding that more and more of my classes rely on internet based-sited like Sakai or GoogleDocs. Because of this transition, I have to lug my computer along with me to classes every day, instead of having that luxury of opening up Safari right off my phone. If you were to ask my back, it would be in favor of an iPhone.


My phone is stuck in the stone age; it flips, it has no touch screen, and it has the battery life of an old walkman.  It does what a normal phone is supposed to do. It can make calls and it can send text messages. My argument now is that I believe phones are evolving as everything else in this world does. I think the definition itself of 'phone' is taking a new shape. With the iPhone you can leave your digital camera, book, maps, computer, GPS, phone book, calculator, notepads, word processors, and essentially anything else at home. I have resisted my desire for an iPhone for a while, but now I can say that I really want one of those damn phones. It's either that, or I'm going to start walking around campus wearing tool belt with a GPS, digital camera, phone, walky talky and more glued on. I want to be able to check my email in between classes. I want to look up the nearest restaurants. I want to get lost and actually say that my phone guided me home. Most of all, I just want to be able to play "Words With Friends" without having to be in an area with WiFi. Get me an iPhone!

The Big W

I’m sure that the name ‘Charlie Sheen’ couldn’t be brought up in a room without a rush of people jumping at the opportunity to scream quotes from clips of his most recent interview with 20/20. Sheen, after being fired from the hit show Two and a Half Men, has hit rock bottom. Sheen is reportedly a self-destructive drug addict who has finally snapped. Professionals strongly urge Sheen to seek professional treatment. In an interview with 20/20, when a reporter brought all these raw facts to Sheen’s attention. His response was, “I’m Winning”. 

For about a week, the only thing the media has emphasized was Charlie Sheen. His face was painted all over the internet, newspapers, magazines, and television. His clips on youtube have gone viral. So, I’m left to think: Though Charlie Sheen’s career is at an all time high while is life is at an all time low, could Sheen actually be winning? This whole immediate fame has the potential to blow over as quick as David’s did a few weeks after he left the dentist. In this crazy day and age, though, I wouldn’t put it past anyone to make it big. So, I’m not going to jump to the conclusion and say that Sheen’s fame is short lived. Not for now, at least.  

Well, I can tell you one thing, when Sheen says that he is winning, he isn’t very far from the truth. He’s winning all over the media. The Headlines are as follows:  1. Unemployment Numbers Hit New Highs. 2. Hell Continues to Break Loose in the Middle East. 3. Our Country is Still at War. 4. Charlie Sheen Gone Insane. Given the choice, most of us are reading that headline about Charlie Sheen. People can’t look away. Charlie is taking over our news and he is winning our attention. His crash of 2011 is stealing public interest from pressing issues. If we could get Americans to find half the enthusiasm they have while reading about Sheen, we would have a more aware America.

I’m not sure how long this winning streak will last, but I think it’s safe to say in one sense, Charlie Sheen is in fact winning.

A Realization?

After a class assignment in JRN 115 that required us to schedule an interview with a professional journalist, it’s safe to say that I feel more comfortable in my major. I had the honor of interviewing Ryan Vella, an associate producer for CBC News in Canada. I got lucky finding Ryan, because he is the cousin of a teammate of mine. If life and success it isn’t all about connections, I am finding that it is at least a little about connections. I left the interview with not only a positive attitude about journalism, but also an idea of where I want to  take my blog. The idea was staring me in the face the whole time, I guess I just needed someone to say it out loud. 

One of the first questions I asked Ryan was what he liked the best about being a journalist. Ryan claimed that every day in journalism was different. “For someone like me, who loathes monotony, I like that I never know what’s going to happen on a given day.” Didn’t I say something like that? Yeah, remember. I’m that girl who can’t stand when her bedroom walls are the same color for too long. If I’m stuck in a fixed schedule of monotony, things just start blending together. I love the spontaneity of life, I can’t see myself in a job that will end up feeling like I’m stuck in a re-run of a bad television show, day after day. 

Ryan went on to declare that “Even on days that aren’t that eventful, I still get to learn something new everyday...by covering so many stories and topics in a given day, we have to be mini-experts on anything and everything. Variety is indeed the spice of life.” With that line, I knew exactly where my blog was headed. I am going to start my journalism career early by becoming a mini-expert on, just as Ryan says, anything and everything. 

Truth is

As an aspiring journalist, shouldn’t I be absolutely thrilled with an assignment like this? Truth is, I’m not quite sure i’ve ever been thrilled with the idea of any writing project. So, then, why am I in the field of journalism? With this thought, I pose a great question for myself. 

How could anyone possibly know which direction they want to go with their lives at a time of such transition? Most of my friends went into college knowing what they want to do. My close group of friends include a future speech pathologist, teacher, and nurse. So I wonder: are these girls confident in their decisions, or are they only confidently heading in that direction, fooling the confused and tentative minds into thinking we are behind schedule?  For a girl who can’t stand when her bedroom walls are the same color for too long, deciding on a major that would determine her future is a scary thing. The only thing I truly know about myself is that I love playing soccer… oh, and I love the beach. 

I came into the University of Rhode Island with the idea of becoming a Landscape Architect, a field that would be a compromising balance of my both my creativity and interest in science. Before I even entered school as a freshman, I had changed my mind. I decided that, ‘Maggie MacDonald, Marine Biologist’ had a better ring to it. Marine Biology wasn’t at all what I expected, because Marine Biology had a counterpart named Chemistry, and I have a mind that just isn’t wired for Chemistry. Onward to journalism, and I’m still as confused as the aspiring landscape architect was. Currently, I’m harvesting the idea of becoming an “Underwater Photographer, who is also a journalist.” I’ll keep you posted how long that idea sticks. 

As I wait patiently for some spark of inspiration or direction, I’ll write on. Sitting here, though, I can’t help but feel a bit jealous of those who knew they were going to become a dentist’s assistant, speech pathologist, or personal trainer from age seven.

Autobiography

The writer of this blog is just another college student left dazed and confused, trying to put herself on the right track towards the right future, whatever that’s supposed to mean.

My name is Maggie MacDonald, a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that about 87% of my time is time spent smiling or laughing. Admittedly, I am having a hard time trying to think up enough interesting information about myself to fill up an autobiography. Sure, I COULD go on about how I am the youngest child of three, how I love my family, where I went to high school, blah blah blah. That wouldn’t really tell the readers all that much about who I am. The fact is, I’m not even sure if I know who I am yet. I know a few things, though. 


I know that I love soccer. I have been playing soccer since I was nine years old, running with a tattered ball in my backyard around rocks disguised as cones. Soccer has taken me so many places in this world. Thanks to soccer I have been all around America. One summer, I even went to play in England. The last place soccer has taken me is to the University of Rhode Island. I play as a defender for the women’s soccer team here in Rhody.


I also know that I am my happiest when I am near the ocean. I love everything about the ocean from the way it smells to the way it’s salt leaves my hair curly after a long day at the beach. Maybe it is just the spring fever talking, but I am finding that the more New England winters I endure, the less I want to be enduring a New England winter at all. The way I see it, a one way ticket to Hawaii, California, or Australia is just about as good as any one way ticket to cloud nine. The first paycheck I get this summer will fund my first surfboard.

I am a journalist major. I landed on journalism because I always find myself asking “why”. I have so many questions, and along with those questions I have the urge that a journalist needs to find those answers. The problem with this is, I am not exactly sure where I want to go with journalism, which leads me to my blog. Prior to college, I lived in a small rural town in Massachusetts, where everything seemed to be so simple. After being what felt like thrown into the college world, reality, along with the vertigo sunk in. I need to find a job. I need to start planning my future.

My blog is intended for students like me who are going through the same crazy thought processes that I go through nearly every day. I hope to  find a way to combine practicing my blogging and writing skills with my daily rants and thoughts.