Improv

The art of public speaking can occur in many different ways. Theater, speeches, poem slams, interviews, or even simply talking to a new crowd of people you've never met all involve public speaking. Most of my experiences have come from some sort of theatrical or speech related background.

With theater you memorize and repeat you lines word for word. I began at the age of nine, and continued on through middle school. One thing that theater teaches you is how to get in front of a crowd and talk. Your lines are preset and your actions are predetermined. Your job is to do those actions exceptionally well and repeat the lines word for word. So what happens when you mess up? Improv! You can't show you messed up so you immediately improvise in a way that keeps the dialogue flowing. It really teaches you how to control your nerves.

With speeches you have the option to speak word for word or recall general ideas and talk about them with the knowledge you already have. Depending on the speech you could be in front of a large crowd or a small crowd. I've always found it easier to do something in front of a large crowd. I can't pinpoint why it's like that for me but it is.

Objectively looking at the way I am when I publicly speak, I want to be able to recall and capitalize on my past ability to improvise. In most of my speaking events I've had some sort of movement required, such as in theater. Now that I am supposed to remain still I need to figure out what my body will be doing as I talk. Nerves are natural, but when they impair both your smooth talking and ability to look calm it's time to get them under wraps. That's my goal.

The Tortoise and the Hare

As courtship and dating styles have altered over the last century, relationships have become increasingly less personal, more possessive, and less successful.

That's my thesis in progress.

The explanation of this paradigm shift will begin with the outlining of when it happened. Previous of the second World War many courtships happened thanks to a friend's recommendation or what is now a "blind date" set up. The "old school" dinner date was typical. Relationships were taken series and time was actually put into them. Then as cars began to become more common, dates and relationships became less interpersonal and emotional and more physical. Cars gave privacy and room to experiment. Continuing on, with technology at the popularity it is now, relationships have become even less personal. Dates consist of less interaction face to face and relationships that are clearly not for marriage are distinctly materialistic, sexual, and rather quick.

I'll then progress to the changing implications behind terminology. One specific example is the term "going steady." For a while the term going steady referred to a couple seriously considering marriage. Now the term is something that anyone does, but it no longer implies intended marriage. The perspective behind this term and many others lead relationships into being less personal and more possessive.

I'll then explicitly explain what these changes ensued. From less personal relationships, to the "I'm his, I'm her's" idea, and then even more to less successful relationships. Keep in mind this isn't explicit to marriages. When taking this into account we can account for all the failed relationships that happened and prevented a divorce.

http://www.plosin.com/beatbegins/projects/sombat.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/upshot/the-divorce-surge-is-over-but-the-myth-lives-on.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/27/divorce-is-actually-on-the-rise-and-its-the-baby-boomers-fault/
http://singlemates.net/dating/dating-in-the-past-compared-to-todays-dating/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fighting-fear/201301/dating-then-and-now

Organic Socials

One paradigm shift could be the switch that has been in the process, and is currently happening. The shift from fossil fuels as a main energy source to an environmentally friendly energy source. Another would be the switch in the concept of dating.

Ever since our economy and transportation transformed into a fossil-fuel-for-energy dependent one, people have noticed many environmental impacts. Due to this, society is now looking for a more "earth friendly" energy source, like wind, water, or electricity. This switch of energy types will undoubtedly change the possible future, but first we need to complete the jump. Impacts will be revolved around a less impacted environment, possible smaller towns for purposes of using large windmills more effectively, and cars, now available for public consumption, that run on the electricity from one’s house instead of the hydrocarbons of the earth. All consumption will release less pollutants, and lead into what is meant to be a better life on earth.

The implications behind the word dating has evolved over generations. Whenever my parents refer to "dating" they mean going out and getting to know someone. In turn, dating multiple people is not that big of a deal. However, when you say dating now it is about the equivalent of the past's "going steady." Over years, as the idea of opposite genders being just friends became more popular, dating's terminology evolved as well because otherwise we'd be dating a lot more than what might have been seen as acceptable. However, this idea is immature. Terms such as these are self-created for the purpose of limiting one’s self and society’s social impulses. With terms such as “going steady” disappearing and being replaced simply by “dating,” social lives are becoming less specific and with possible desensitized-like consequences. Maybe these are the reasons divorce rates and the like are increasing. Who knows?

LEGO Logic

Ole Kirk Christiansen. He is a man well known, yet not. A man whose creation has entertained and inspired many. A man who may have created the single most typical toy for any middle class kid to play with. He is the founder of the LEGO Group, and now I must thank him for being the inspiration to my title.

"Persuading by the use of reasoning," otherwise known as logic, or logos, is an irreplaceable tool when it comes to persuasion, or any rhetorical need. It is inescapably intertwined with ethos and pathos, even when we do not want to admit it. It can be a solidifier of thoughts and hopes, or a tool for compromising, if it is not compromised itself. Even though at times it may not be the strongest of the three main arguments (ethos, pathos, logos) it is potentially the most important.

In many cases we see the use of logos. Court cases, debates, academic courses, and even simple arguments among family and friends all have some form of logos. The most common type of logos is logic and reasoning. As people make arguments they attempt to lead others to the conclusions they've reached, in order to obtain agreement on the subject matter. It's like if each piece of evidence or reasoning was one LEGO piece and they were building a LEGO tower of logic. When they repeat their logic to others step by step it serves as directions to how to build their LEGO masterpiece in a way so it is identical to their original creation. However there are ways that logos is used even when we don't realize it.

Logos can be, and is often, very closely tied to ethos. We tend to take someone's past, accomplishments, education, relative situations, and more into account in order to judge whether they are "qualified" and whether we should trust their judgments or writings. Without realizing it, we use logic to trust other people's opinions, statements, and ideologies. Even if we call it ethos, logos is still an intricate part of it.

Logos can also be compromised in an instant. Pathos, the appealing to emotion, is potentially the strongest of the three appeals. When people tug at the emotions of others they essentially break down all logical thoughts that are inside them. Take a court case of someone who was a part of a burglary. Logically everyone would want to make them do time, however, looking at the view of his/her family, their emotions would compromise their logic and push them to fight for his/her freedom, even when the evidence is leading in the complete opposite direction.

Ultimately logos may not be the most effective appeal, but it may yet be the most intricate appeal, as it is involved in some way or another with the other two.

String Roads

Welcome to my domain everyone! Let me begin by saying I can be indecisive.

Knowing this, I've come to a point where I need to make a decision. It's not like a fork in the road, it's closer to deciding to make a U-turn or not.

Imagine a two-lane highway. For every moment lived the highway gets longer and longer to keep you from driving off the edge. This is life.

As aspects of your life develop and discontinue new roads are created and halted alongside the highway. These roads define you. Each of these roads has two parts. One to the right and one to the left of the highway. The right is for traveling forward, living and experiencing. The left is identical to the right, but it’s for traveling backward, the access road to your memories.

Now if you were to imagine all of life's “roads”, then it'd be a scribbled mess, laying over and branching off of each other at different times. This example is restrained to only my life and one of my “life roads”. These paths touch at some points, and separate at others.

As memories form and events occur two things can develop. I lay out a string along my main road that connects me to that memory in the past, or it becomes so important that it can be considered a defining aspect in my life, which creates a new road.

Now the decision is maintenance or development.

Suddenly I have this slack feeling in my mind; one of the trails of string I've been slowly letting out to connect me to my memories snaps. Plenty of small strings have snapped in the past, some I've never noticed and won't ever notice are missing, but when those small strings braid together they form a strong cord that can hold its own. My question is, has a cord snapped? Did it slowly disappear, one string at a time, so I wouldn't notice?

My first "passion," if it really is a passion, is making that U-turn and finding those broken strings. I know if I start driving down “memory lane” there’s the chance I won't find any, maybe they've simply been pushed off the roadside into the dark abyss of forget below, but, if I can save and reconnect even one string before it falls, then the U-turn will be worth it.

Now, I am a military brat so this "blast from the past" won't be boring. This road trip will pass by stories of actual road trips, funny stories, and even places as far away as Alaska.

During my other passion I;ll drive on a road that branched off my highway and lay out more strings.

This road is called Flip Lane. This road is my gymnastics life.

I can talk a little about what I do and why, what certain skills are called, and the Olympics. By reading this you may even be able to tell what gymnasts will be doing in Brazil come 2016. I've been a part of this sport for the better half of my life so there are stories galore. Some are funny, and others painful, but all entertaining.

U-ey or Nawh? Your pick. I want this to be just as exciting to me as it is to you.

Practice Post

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