Girl on a Train

March 2, 2009 at 1:21 am | In casual observations, real life | Leave a Comment

There was a girl sitting in front of me on the train today. She had longish blonde hair tied in a ponytail and talked constantly on the phone – not one long conversation either, but many smaller ones. I think she smelled of smoke, but it could have been someone else. I don’t think she was feeling well either. She would rest her head against the window as she talked, I believe it was to her mom, and when we passed over the bridge she got a bit freaked and jumped back. She mentioned the bridge on the phone. I’m not sure if it just startled her or whether she has some fear of bridges or water or heights or all of the above.

For some reason I noticed all this through reading Watchmen. Maybe because they were mostly non-visual. I also remember someone eating something very strong-smelling. Not in a bad way, but noticeable. There was a guy across the aisle eating ramen, but I don’t think it was him.

For some reason I wanted to write about this. It’s just odd the multitude of little things you notice throughout the day.

Another Essay Oddity/Rant

March 2, 2009 at 1:04 am | In Rant, casual observations, real life | Leave a Comment

I’ve found professors/TAs/readers are increasingly wanting me to add more detail to my thesis or intro paragraph. I don’t understand this because I actually write decent intro paragraphs and thesis statements. Heck, the fact that I actually know what a thesis statement is and where it’s supposed to go is sadly more than some of the other English majors I’ve come across.

Wanting more detail in the intro paragraph isn’t so bad because I can always add more detail without proving anything. How do you add more detail to a thesis statement without having it become horribly long and complicated though? I don’t know how papers are supposed to be structured these days, but I learned to state my argument in general terms and then go into detail. It’s even more ridiculous when they ask you to start proving things in your intro paragraph. What do they want us to do? Write out the paper before the paper?

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