I am a very particular reader.  I enjoy reading if I really like the book.  In the case of almost every book I have read, I am reluctant to read it.  The one exception of this semester is Bossypants.  

I make time for reading sporadically.  It usually ends up being the Sunday before a blog is due (or sometimes, the Monday of).

The biggest obstacle I face in reading is work.  I work Saturday and Sunday, and I don't usually read during the week (unless I have to).

The last time I got lost in a book was when I read The Hunger Games series in seventh grade.  I was reading it, and I lost my place, and it took me about 15 seconds to find it again.  It was quite the ordeal.  When I found my place, I just couldn't stop reading.  The plot was very engaging.

Being able to choose books independently is important to me because, like I said, I am a very picky reader.

My future goals for reading include reading different kinds of books and more advanced books, plot-wise.

Pretty hard to get out of it now.

The best part of blogging was when I got to show my personality and be sarcastically "funny."  The worst part was blogging about the column.  I didn't have much freedom with that post and, as I recall, it took the longest.

The value of public blogging is that people get to know my interests, rather than turning in a written blog, where only the teacher would find out.

Having a more set schedule for reading and subsequent blogging would help my organization and perhaps improve the quality of my posts.

Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) enjoying some 

apps and zerts.

I have grown as a student by becoming a better writer, analyzer, mathematician, whiffle ball player, and a better user of Microsoft Word, but also I have learned to note-take more efficiently.

I have grown as a person, from 5'7" to 5'9", but also by becoming a better public speaker, through Speech and Debate class, and also Mason Sports Radio Club.

A positive experience that I have had this year is broadcasting with Mason Sports Radio, as I mentioned above.  It is a great opportunity to learn about and broadcast sports that I know little about, and sports i have a vast knowledge of.

Goals I have for my Sophomore year are to retain a 4.0 GPA and to join multiple new clubs.

This is Thomas Marriner, signing off.

I recently finished reading Tina Fey's Bossypants.  She told of her life as a comedian, particularly as a writer on SNL, and the time cap they had.  She also talks about generalization of female comedians (being called not funny).  This book has a similar feel to 30 Rock, her television series, in its tone, which is smart but stupid, hilarious and outrageous, creative.  Here is an example of her creativity:

“I was a little excited but mostly blorft. "Blorft" is an adjective I just made up that means 'Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.' I have been blorft every day for the past seven years.”

She seems a little blorft here.

I recommend this book to those who are mature and appreciate immature comedy, and to all Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock fans.

"In a word, a slice of perspective" by Mary Schmich

1.  The author wants the reader to feel reflective.  Reflective of their own lives.  And she wants the reader to put things in perspective and to appreciate what they have.  She wants them to not complain about what they don't have, but to appreciate what they do have.  She expresses this many times in the article, but it is perhaps most prevalent here:

"I think especially of my youngest sister, who is mentally disabled, who on an average day literally trembles with medicine and the fluctuations of a troubled mind. Her portion is so much smaller than mine that I want to rage against her unfair share as if it were my own. Her limited portion reminds me how capriciously big mine is." 

2.  The author wants the readers to remember that their 'portions' are greater than most, and that others have faced great hardships.  She wants them to appreciate their life, and all aspects of it.  She wants them to remember that not everyone gets the same portion, using potato chips as a model:

"She does. So many of us do. There's always somebody with more, with a bigger slice of brains and beauty, a bigger scoop of fame and money, a heftier helping of love and time. But in this world of cyclones and earthquakes, a lot of us have potato chips to spare."

3.  The purpose of this column is to make people think about what they have, and what others don't.  She wants them to think of recent natural disasters, and those who lost homes and loved ones from those disasters. She also wants them to think of things closer to home, like someone with a mental disorder.  The purpose of the column is to make people realize that they have more than they need, and that many others do not:

"[My mentally disabled sister] started talking about other mentally ill people she knows, ones abandoned by their families.

'Compared to them,' she said, 'I have a lot.' " 

4.  The author uses diction by making "portion" a gateway to a much more meaningful topic, analogous to Leonard Pitts' use of "The Secret Knowledge."  She uses syntax when she is frankly making a point that has been built up for a while, as she did in the last paragraph:

 "She does. So many of us do."

5.  The value of this column today is the same as it was in 2008: people need to appreciate what they have.  A real-world example that would apply to the column today is the Nepal earthquakes.   Natural disasters that have ruined and taken lives, lives that were unprepared for such an event.  Another example would be the Boston Marathon bombing.  Many people lost limbs, have PTSD, and a few lost their lives.

I recently started reading Bossypants by Tina Fey (30 Rock, Saturday Night Live).  Tina Fey talks about her odd experiences as a teenager, including befriending a 23-year-old lesbian couple.  She has expressed her views about life, gender roles, and much more in her edgy book.  She also talks about judgement, and offers these wise words of wisdom:

“To say I’m an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair.”

This snippet is a microcosm of Tina Fey's brand of comedy: sarcastic, unexpected, and a little ironic.  This book is not as funny as her on-screen material, but it appeals to me more than any other comedic author whose books I have read, with the exception of Stephen Colbert.

I recently finished reading Jim Gaffigan's Dad is Fat, which chronicles his own follies, fails, and funny experiences.  Gaffigan's gaffes include stealing his kids' candy and hjfjkldsahfjklsdahfjksalhfkljsad.  Jim is often plagued by his balding head, and his kids' unique minds.

While at a party, Jim was appalled to hear a friend compare having a baby to getting a dog, and gave the following reasons why that was so wrong:

“1. Dogs come when you call their name.2. The absence of birth control does not lead to pet ownership.3. You don’t have to worry about your dog ever becoming addicted to meth.4. You do not have to save so your dog can go to college and then find out after they graduate that they want to be an actor.5. If someone is pushing a baby in a stroller, they are probably a parent or a caregiver. If someone is pushing a dog in a stroller, they are probably insane.”

I'm not sure I totally agree with Gaffigan, especially with number 3.  My dog has been hanging around with the wrong crowd lately.

I have continued to read Jim Gaffigan's Dad is Fat, which has the most eloquent title ever written, one that sends a valuable message.  Jim talks about troubles with a child and troubles he had as a child.  An example of the latter is his extreme paleness (which you can witness here, in his classic stand-up routine "Hot Pockets") and the moderate bullying that resulted.  He describes his appearance here:

"If you have no idea what I look like, I am a very pale person. My photo on the book cover was retouched to make the glare from my skin easier on your eyes. Hey, the publisher wanted to sell books. Trust me, I am a very pale person. No, I’m paler than that. Yes, that pale. Even when I look in the mirror, I think, 'Wow, I’m pale!' I’ve never tanned. Growing up, I hated being pale. I was the whitest kid in an all-white community. Ironically, in a way I was the minority. As a kid, I was called 'Whitey,' 'Casper,' and 'Albino.'"

Jim faced adversity, and he overcame it.  We can all learn a message from this man, who over came a skin abnormality to become a famous mainstream comedian.

Clara Bowles tried to shove her thoughts out of her brain as she drove home.  She tried not to process what she had heard.  She tried to forget about what he had brought up.  It was too much.  Too much sadness, too much memory, too much...

She lost her train of thought.  Clara tried to remember what she was so confused about, but she didn't know.  As she pulled into her driveway, she remembered.  Montag's words echoed in her ears.  My goodness, she thought.  He was right.

No no no no no no no.  She tried to shove those thoughts out of her head.  She called the fire department and reported Montag, so he wouldn't corrupt any more minds.  That Montag is digging around where no one ever should, she thought.  Then she broke down again.  She now spoke aloud, to no one but herself, "Oh no, he's right.  My children hate me, my husbands hated me, and I stood by and watched!" she said, more hysterically than before.  "I have no--." She fell to the ground.  She had habitually taken sleeping pills when she walked into the door.

She woke up several hours later, sluggish, and she felt dried tears on her face, and said, "I wonder what could have made me so upset."  She promptly took more pills and returned to her unconscious state.