A Writer's Notebook

                                                                
The reading for this week in my English class talked of a writer and her connection to her notebook. It was a crucial tool like the log books were for the truckers in Friday Night at Iowa 80, and just as important to their professions. As an English major I've taken several creative writing courses before, but I've never taken a notepad with me, though if inspiration strikes and I have my laptop available I will type a few ideas before I can lose them if I come across a thought that seems important. I've never done research on an environment before, and especially not on a culture of any sort. This essay made me realize how crucial it is going to be to have to carry some sort of way to accurately record what I feel, hear, see, smell etc while I am observing my area of study. Writing for creative and fictional purposes never posed this challenge for me because you only need to remember small pieces of information and then your imagination is to be trusted to do the other 90% of the work for you. This can't be the case when doing this project because this isn't a place for imagination, but accurate observation has to be the main goal. Notes are key.

The Bowling Alley

I found this reading of the bowling alley interesting because it highlighted on several different aspects of the place in great detail. The author introduces readers to social groups active in the alley at the particular time of day she went which included the employees and the bowling leagues she had been curious about in previous writings. 

It is explained how the lanes and teams are divided up and how the actual scoring system works. The author goes on to observe the prices of items such as; price to bowl, price of shoe rental etc....

In my essay on the BSU I plan on asking individuals who I know personally there about their work out routines included; how many days they come to the gym and whether or not they are consistent, what machines they typically use and how long they spend at each one. There is also a snack station at the gym that I have never before used so I will be curious to see what exactly a fitness place sells for snacks and drinks. Is it the typical sports event snack stand or is it protein packed and healthy?

BSU Gym

      What do I know about the gym at Bridgewater State University? It's a cold, downhill walk from hilltop Shea-Durgin freshmen dorms. The first time I went there was when I was still feverishly fighting my parents over whether or not I would be going to this place for the next four years. It was big, much bigger than the gym at my high school, and cleaner too. The exercise equipment was new, and there was a lot of it. Now that I actually go here I've been a few times with friends when the guilt of eating was too much to ignore. The routine would be the same; plug in my iPod and go on my machine and never make eye contact. With anyone.
      Questions I have about this place are pretty simplistic; why do people come here? For sports? To lose weight? Health reasons? The cute boy in the weight room? I want to know what compels certain individuals to work out several hours each and every day. How do they keep going? Or not get bored? I just want to know why people can just go on for hours without stopping.

Memoirs

      This week for English the assigned reading was about memoirs, the act of writing about one's life. I've always personally found these types of writings interesting because I can both read about the lives of people I admire or laugh over the humor inspired lives of comedians that seem to be filled with misadventures. This reading talked not only about entertaining one's audience but about personal responsibility as the author of such work. In a memoir the author is trusted to write about their past, and in doing so has to relive their lives, perhaps reliving things they would rather forget.
     I have always found memoirs to be tremendous works of courage for authors. This is because they are opening their past, their memories and their feelings to the public. Not only is this scary in itself but also the author must first think; 'Is my life important enough for people to even CARE about?'. It's facing that question and being able to actually answer it is what I find courageous about memoirs and why I find them so enjoyable to read.