Week 6 Blog 1

Very simple for this week: Locate two sources, read them, and post an annotation for each, just like we discussed in class. So, provide the citation (i.e. how the source would be documented on a works cited page), one paragraph summarizing the source (remember, if it's a research study you need to show how the authors got their results, what their results were, and why they did the study), and a second paragraph explaining how you will use the source in your mini-ethnography.

Week 5 Blog 2

The last time I was culture shocked...Out of my element...Where I didn't know anybody...I'd say the last time I was at all shocked by someone's behavior was a long time ago. Last year, I was introduced to some people that I wouldn't have probably found on my own. They were the kind of people that you just have to get used to. Now, on occasion, I do drink. But, usually, I don't drink beer. My friends and I, when I lived in Lafayette, went over to this kids house for a party. They were beer drinkers, they listened to country, and they drove pick-ups. These are not the kind of people I'd normally get to know, because on the surface, we have nothing in common. However, that night, I got to know the guys who lived there and they were all really nice and treated me like I'd known them for years.

Week 5 Blog 1

A place that brings out strong memories for me is the living room of my grandma's old house. The last time I was there was during my grandma's passing. I realize now that the house she lived in brings back so many joyful and sad memories. I remembering visiting the house that just smelled like my grandma. And she didn't smell like an older person, either. When I look back at my childhood, most of my happy memories are of playing with blocks on grandma's floor. Being "the pet puppy" for a day or so many Easter egg hunts in her backyard. Grandma Betty was my mom's mom and I lived with her for a while during my early high school years. She was an incredibly sweet woman who helped build the foundations of the person I am today. Grandma taught me everything I know about being a lady and being confident in public. I miss her every day and there isn't a book I don't read without picturing her house as the setting. My grandma's house always reminds me of the smell of split-pea soup cooking or "Tiny Bubbles" playing on the record player. Her walls and carpets were all a creamy beige color. This will always be the house I picture when I think of Grandma Betty.

In-Class Writing

Do you feel this is an ethnographic study, a work of entertainment, both? Explain your answer. Who are the interview subjects and why are they important? What roles do the interviews play? Do they move the story along? Lend a perspective on the subculture? What are some of the attitudes, beliefs, rituals, artifacts, etc. that make this group a subculture?What is the structure of the piece? How is it organized? Does this help or inhibit your understanding of the subculture?What were some of the stereotypes you held about skateboarders before watching this? Do those stereotypes still hold true? If so, why? If not, what changed your perspective?The rhetorical triangle (ethos – do we trust what the creator of this is telling us…? What if you knew the filmmaker was also one of the skaters? Pathos – what emotional response did you have and why? Logos – how was the piece constructed?)

I think that the documentary is both entertaining and educational, because it is a look into a culture that I am not familiar with. The interview subjects are all the main people from the skateboard movement in the 70s. They were there and they were at the forfront of it all making them the best at that time. The interviews are the whole thing, along with old movies and pictures. If there were no interviews, sure the story could still be told, but with them, it is so much more interesting. It's like getting backstage passes at the concert of your favorite band...the coolest thing ever. The homemade skateboards are certainly an artifact, not to forget about the drained pools. They had rules about who could come and who couldn't and they kept themselves an exclusive group. I think that the documentary is focusing on not only the Z-Boys experience but also the facts of history that pushed these kids into starting their own "revolution." I have a lot of skater friends. Kids like that tend to hang out with kids like me, rockers, because adults riddicule us for being who we are. That, of course, just pushes kids harder to do what they want. Someone tells you no you will only want to do it more. Skateboarders get a bad rap for getting into trouble with cops, skating on private property, and not giving a damn about rules.

Week 4 Blog 1

Can you make any general conclusions about your subculture as of right now? And if so, what are those conclusions? Do you think that what you have been observing is specific to the particularly community in which your subculture resides, or do you think it would be the same even if you observed that subculture in a different community (i.e. is being a server at Ruby Tuesday's the same everywhere? Would a club like the BSU Tennis Club or Campus Crusade for Christ conduct itself in the same way at Kent State? Do the same rituals, beliefs, behaviors, etc. surround all tattoo parlors? etc. etc). Think about how geography, demographics, political and religious positions, etc. play a role in influencing members of a particular subculture.

Some general conclusions that I have reached are that everyone in the band is committed to sounding good, also, all members love music and it plays a major role in each of our lives. I think a different genre of music might produce a different set of people. However, I have noticed that most musicians tend to do the same things. They tune their instruments, set up, and when it comes to off-stage life, many musicians fall into the fate of "drugs, sex, and rock 'n' roll." I think that since we are all from Indiana, we share the same mentalities on socioeconomic problems. For example, if Chris breaks his guitar, the band will suffer until he can make enough money to buy a new one. And, since we are all independent, we all would understand his situation, even though we don't play his instrument.

Research Plan

I think I will visit the library Saturday morning to see if I can find some books on other bands so that I can see how someone else might write about it. There are three other band members besides myself so I plan to interview all of them at our next practice which is the first weekend of February.

Week 3 Blog 2

Surprises:

For the most part, I was surprised that our practice space was so geared toward music. All of the amps were set up, and stay set up 24/7. There is also a cabinet in the corner that holds all of the guitar accessories and also, my most important tool, my mics.

Intriguing:

Something that I found most intriguing about the space was the pool table and air hockey table. Another thing that I should probably include is Frosty's girlfriend. Frosty is my boyfriend's dog, an enormous white lab. His "girlfriend" is a large, white, stuffed lion. Sometimes, in the hurry of getting drums set u, we forget to close the basement door. Frosty will totter downstairs and start humping the big lion. It's always so funny that we have to stop playing until we can get Frosty is stop and go upstairs.

Week 3 Blog 1

What research have you started thus far for this project? In other words, have you already interviewed possible informants? If so, describe that interaction and what transpired. If you have not held any interviews, what questions will you ask when you do and why do you feel those questions are important? Have you already visited your cultural site? If so, describe some of your observations and what questions those observations might have raised. If you have not been to your cultural site, when do you intend on doing so and what new questions or expectations might you have after some of our in-class discussions and exercises? Have you attempted some basic "academic" research (i.e. Internet, books, periodicals, etc.)? And lastly, do you consider there to be a difference between "academic" and non-academic" research? List some examples.

So far, I have been to my field site several times, I know every member of my band, and I have asked my guitarist, and boyfriend, to do an interview with me. I haven't devised exact questions to ask yet, but I think I am going to focus on setting up and an average jam session. I feel that these questions are super important because you can't play without setting up and writing takes a while if you don't just do it together, i.e. jam. Our practice space is in Coatesville, IN, in my boyfriend's basement. We usually practice on Friday nights when Chris, lead guitar, and I, singer, get home. The band room looks like your typical basement...There is a pool table, an air hockey table, and a huge stuffed bear, which the dog likes to "play" with. The first weekend of February will be the next time I go home, so we will also be playing with the band. I have not done any academic research, because, as you might have guessed, my band is not famous. The most information that I can give you is going to be from my perspective, which, in light that I am the singer, is going to be pretty in depth. I think there is a huge difference between academic and non-academic research. Non-academic research, to me, seems a lot more hands-on, like people learn more from doing than reading about something someone else has done. In my life, nothing is G-rated, including my band. But, you, the reader, wouldn't know that unless I told you what's really there. Someone watching our band play a show, for example, wouldn't know what happened at practice the night before.

Week 2 Blog 3

My study will be on my rock band. I am the lead singer. There is also a guitarist, bassist, and drummer. I will never tell you that the music is too loud, because I am still young and love it that way. Now, when I'm 50 and can't hear, I'd tell you about my rock band a little differently. I love my band. We all work really hard so that when we can get together for practice, it only takes a few moments to get back into the groove of playing music. I have a subjected view of my guitarist because he is not just that, he is my boyfriend as well.

Week 2 Blog 2

Hopefully at this point in class you have figured out where you are going to do your fieldwork (i.e. a fieldsite or fieldsites, for example a retail store at a mall, a band practice room, a locker room, etc.). So, remind the class what culture/subculture you have picked, then describe your possible fieldsite(s). If you’ve already been there, what sensory details can you remember? If you have not been there, what do you expect to find? In addition, discuss what you hope to learn about your particular culture/subculture by visiting a specific fieldsite(s). If you are already an insider, what new things do you hope to discover? If you are an outsider, are you looking to learn something specific about your chosen culture/subculture, or are you open to learn whatever you can?

Picking just one culture to focus on is becoming increasingly difficult for me. I've done quite a few studies of cultures different from my own. From speeches on MMA fighters, to papers describing the "horrible" smoking ban, I've learned a lot at college. A big thing that I am currently changing about my life is my recent start of a band. This is something I've never done before but I am completely commited to learning as much as I can. Parts of my life are very explicit and I'm hoping that my insight into my band won't be too scary for anyone. Our practice space is a basement, and two of the members, including myself, live here at BSU. The other two members live close to Heritage Lake which is in Coatesville, IN.

Week 2 Blog 1

"Take something that's familiar to you -- an ordinary routine or ritual in your everyday life that would seem extraordinary to someone else in another culture or subculture -- and reexamine it as if you were seeing it for the first time. Try something simply -- like the way you fix your hair, listen to music, change a tire, take in the mail, or get ready for a sporting event. List the specific behaviors of your routine, and identify what might seem strange or extraordinary to others. Write a short paragraph that describes the process" (15).

What I do before I go out at night.

Usually, I will shower sometime that day. Sometimes its right before going out. Let's start from getting out of the shower. I put on music before I start anything. Then, my hair in a towel, I get dressed. After getting dressed, I brush my teeth, put on make-up, all while dancing and answering phone calls. By the end of this time, several friends will come over so that we all leave at the same time. There is usually a relaxing time now since everyone arrives early, excited about the night's activity. When everyone has calmed down a little, we head out the door. We walk in pairs. Usually, I am in the front, to lead this parade to our get together. Once we arrive, we find friends and mingle, sometimes going out for air and to meet up with the group. That is how I go out at night.

After rereading my post, I have decided that the most unique part of my night is when all my friends get together to relax before going out. European cultures maybe very used to the idea of us coming together before going out. I find that most Americans, however, will just plan to make their way to the party and meet them there. There are most likely other cultures who think we're weird and can't imagine this way of going out at night. That is a very interesting thing to think about, other cultures thinking that my most mundane daily task, is actually something unusual to them.

Week 1 Blog 2

Subcultures I belong to:

Volleyball Player-- always busy with games and practice, thinking about ways to become a better player
Girlfriend-- spends more time with "the boyfriend" than with friends
College Student-- poor, constantly tired, out on the weekends, eats lots of pizza/take out
Smoker-- the "smoker's circle", power smoking, most of my friends are smokers
Heavy Sleeper-- morning classes suck, roommates love me
Physical Fitness Major-- working out a lot, learning about muscles, telling "normal" people at the gym that they are doing it wrong

I am a smoker, among many other things. Most of the time, non-smokers make statements that make smokers seem non-human or like they don't have any say. Recently at Ball State, a "designated smoking area" was cut in half due to non-smoker complaints. This is unfair. Smokers are people, too. Whether non-smokers like it or not, we have the right to smoke. A big issue I am having with the recent cutback on space, if you don't like the smoke, go sit somewhere else. That is clearly marked as a "smoking section", deal with it. Besides, we already gave you the rest of campus, this makes me feel like a Native American being pushed off my own land.

Week 1 Blog 1

Write about a paper (any paper) you have written in the past. What was your process when writing the paper? (Did you have music playing in the background, did you write the paper the night before, did you outline or just start writing, etc.) What “type” of paper was it? (Creative piece, research paper, lab report, book report, etc.?) What do you feel is the difference between editing and revising?

Last semester, I wrote an 8 page fictional story for my literature class, English 351. My writing style is pretty much the same every time I sit down to write a paper. I put on my music, tune out the world; sometimes I just start writing (like now), other times I have so many ideas that I have to outline them first. For that particular paper, I had thought of an in-depth story so I wrote out a rough outline first, just to decide what I wanted to keep in or out while I was writing. I put on my iTunes and started the story. Usually, short papers (around 3-4 pages) take me about an hour to knock out. Since it was an 8-page paper, I gave myself a full week to get it done. I finished in around 5 or 6 hours throughout that week. When I finished with the first draft, I asked my boyfriend, a creative writing minor, to look over it and edit. When he helps me, he’ll just go over things on my computer so that I don’t have to waste more paper than necessary. After his revision, I then took it to my other English professor who read it and pointed out things another professor would notice. When he was finished, I rewrote the paper on my own and turned it in. Ultimately, I got a B+ on it, and thought I had done a pretty good job.