De Blog and de Blog Again: De Bloggit's Tale

Dear de Blog,

I feel like I didn't give you a conclusive ending, so here is one last post. You should feel special because this is the first post I'm not doing for school; you're already graded. Don't worry, you got good marks.

Don't really have too much to say, but I'm gonna' give your link to all of my Facebook peeps, so here's a shout out to them.

But yeah...hm...good times. Well, I'll catch ya later, or not. We'll see.

Anyway, it's been real. At first I was fighting you, but now, I find myself reflecting back on it all as I say goodbye. Ya know, CARBS, The Office, tons of annoying grammar rules that I'm surely breaking in this post. MCOM...yeah. Hm, maybe Bilbo and Smaug will end up being friends. Wouldn't that be an Oliver (T/t)wist.

Alex Nielson, de Blogging out.

De Bloggit: Desolation of de Blog

My presentation is gone. It is done and never to be seen again. It is now in ruins...desolation. After all of that practice, I will no longer make reference to Pam & Jim while talking about 30 second elevator pitches. Good times.

Before I look onward, I'd like dwell on the past a bit more. It was really a different experience, using flip charts to present. Never done it before. I was happy to see some others present and have a few warm-up rounds before I was actually graded. There were some good hooks. One about the Pony Express and another with a guitar particularly stuck out to me. The use of tablets in presentations was also neato. Aside from cool ways to present, there was some quality content shared. Like I really ought to be able to manage my e-mail better now and I really am considering making a website for myself, using a technique or two I learned there. (I know we're pretty tight, de Blog, but I may have to move on). I'm gonna' make a difference in my life with these new insights.

Still, just like when teaching Sunday school, I feel like I do the most learning when I'm presenting. I'm very grateful for some of the tips I got to improve upon my methods. At first I was droppin' way too many "um" bombs, not smilin', and wrote things out during the presentation before I said them. I changed my ways. Still a few "um"s here and there, but I improved. I'll continue watching myself on that.

My goal for future presentations is to have a very clear purpose in mind, give answers to the questions on people's minds, and make it meaningful to them. Ya, know make it matter and be memorable. Of course, I'll have to get rid of the junk, really identify the situation, and practice, practice, practice until I master it.

De Bloggit: An Unexpected Journal Entry

Well, I know it is unusual for me to post in de Blog/my journal before class, but today I had an unusual experience. I attended a professional networking event. The event was being held by the Now I Can Foundation which is designed to help children with disabilities become more able. They told us about some of the activities they have for the children, how they get their funds, and some of the promotional events they organize. They also gave us a quick tour of the place. Not to mention fruit and donuts. All in all, it was alright.

I also found it to be an interesting learning experience. Being around professionals like the president of so-and-so and manager of this-and-that made me a bit more aware of some things. Mostly I did felt like I was doing pretty well: I arrived on time, came dressed properly, madeeye contact, and asked thoughtful questions. But I was far from flawless. For example, I noted that I introduced myself as "just an ungraduate." I was told to get rid of the just. I gotta' make myself look good. There's no need to belittle myself. Also, even though I was conversational, I really don't remember too many names nor did I get contact info. If I had a more clear purpose, I would get more clear results.

To conclude, I'm glad I went. I saw what to expect from a professional networking event, what I did well, and what I ought to improve. And improve I shall. In the future, this experience may come in handy. Perhaps my increased awareness and skills will land me a job. As Smash Mouth put it, "You'll never know if you don't go."

De Blog wears prada

Every group in the MCOM presented just the other day. We dressed up all nice and fancy. Snazzy, if you will. I wanna' give a shout-out to Kelly and Ian for all of their hard work. Even when I had to make like Christian and bail, they continued working hard on the PowerPoint on that fateful Wednesday night. Also, some diligent practicers. A solid team. I feel good about it. We put in our effort.

Anyway, it was fun to watch some other presentations too. Hearing complaints about streaming on Netflix really hit home for me. Freezes up way to often when I'm trying to watch The Office. We saw some good examples of powerful speakers, waking up the audience, and showing stunning facts. Good presentations really. The GoReact thing was kinda cool, but kinda distracting. Hey, that reminds me, I'm gonna' see what people said about our presentation. Gimme a sec and I'll be right back.

A sec later....

After taking a gander at that, it seems that we had too much filler. I hadn't realized... And we still gotta get a bit better at talking to the whole audience. Me especially. Gotta' look around. People wanna' see my beautiful eyes. But all in all, pretty good. Smooth transitions, good volume, we supported one another, etc.

I'm gonna' have to be one well rehearsed chap for my presentation on the "30 second elevator pitch." Gonna' be intense. There's gonna' be so much eye contact that if it was a sport, they'd call a foul for too much contact on the play. Eye will practice. It's gonna' be you and eye.

Yep, adios amig(o/a).


Alextreme

Lord of de Blog: Return of the K

We're expecting the return of Kathryn, our international affairs specialist! AKI will get its other K back! Rad.

Briefing Article turned out pretty chill, I reckon. Did you know there's an MCOM specialist in the the library's writing center? Well, now you do. Pretty helpful.

This next project is a whopper. We're doing ours on Apple. There are some pretty funny complaints. Calling Apple the worst company in business, someone getting shocked by the charger, saying how they lost the vision Steve Jobs had, etc. I sure am glad we had time to work on it all in class.

We also learned a bit about the "5 Minute Masterpiece." For 5 minutes, I'm gonna' have to seem like I really know 30-second elevator pitches. New acronym to keep in mind, RIKSMAR. I thought it shoulda' been like SIR MARK or RISK RAM, but there was an order to it, so it's fine.

My main takeaway was to not procrastinate. We've got lots to do in not so much time. I guess...kinda like an elevator pitch. Limited time. Use it wisely. That's what I'm gonna' do. The KAKI gang is planning to get the most of our case project done by Monday.

Secondary takeaways are technology doesn't replace everything and take criticisms well so you can improve. That's what this is all about, right? Getting better. Getting better all the time. Can't get much worse. Ha, just a Beatles song I wanted to reference. So, I'll do that and assuredly be a better me than the me of today.

Will KAKI deliver on the Apple presentation? Or will they choke? Tune in for the next episode of MCOM to find out!

Lord of de Blog: The Two Hours

You know, those two hour meetings can really pay off. I think they made our presentation presentable. Otherwise, woulda' been a nervous bunch and the presentation would have felt like two hours. Anyway, I will address four main points in this post: (a) things I did right, (b) something I did wrong, (c) things KAKI did right, and (d) something KAKI choked on.

Keepers. Ron Weasley. Get it? He played keeper, ha...sorry. What I mean to say is my gestures (except for holding my hands together). I be usin' my hands a lot, without even noticing. Like, when explaining parallelism, I used lefty for the manual side and righty for the automated. Twas' lookin' smooth. Another thing, the preparation. Like when I bust out that quote, I seem pretty legit. Just as a whole, I seemed to know what I was talking about. Like I say, those two hours meeting make a difference.

Stopper. Sometimes I was lookin' pretty out of place. Like, I'm not quite sure where I should be standing. I scoot around uncomfortably a little. I should probably take a step back when I'm done talking. Get outta the way.

Team Keepers. Lookin' smooth. Us and the Power Point. Perfect? Nay. But snazzy. Glad we talked about what to wear. We looked like a team. Power Point, despite its flaws, seemed pretty official and usually legible. Also, the hook was solid. Good for our audience, I reckon. Ring Pops at the end also just made at least the proposal aspect of our presentation memorable.

Choked. Actually using our Power Point. I mean, it was there, and looking pretty good, but I don't know how much we really used it to help present. Some charts, some visuals to make understanding a bit easier. Now, it wasn't terrible. Organized things a bit,  and usually showed the things we were saying. But using it, maybe with the pointer, I think could have made it better. Room to improve.

That's what I got. KAKI doesn't slack (slack, like slacks, khaki, slacks, get it?), so we'll keep getting better. Practice makes better.

KAlexKI, out.

Lord of de Blog: Fellowship of the Ring Pop

Team AKI  gave a presentation today. We're missing Kathryn, due to much more important matters. I wish her well. Anyway, we gave out Ring Pops. It sucked...Ha, get it. sucked...Ring Pops. Ha. Anyway, I will not focus on the presentation in this post, because I will make a separate blog post dedicated to it.

Today, we had a bit of a discussion. Was kinda refreshing. People shared their thoughts on what they thought had been going well in the class throughout the semester and what could be better. Some good insights. Really seemed like our opinions were valued. That's good every once awhile. As WSB 8 says, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." It seems to me that an effective leader gets the opinions of those (s)he leads.

We also looked at some future assignments. Team (K)AKI will study some complaints regarding the company Apple. Should be interesting. A good chance to do some team research. I hope we can combine our strengths to be like a super hero. In the best-case scenario, it'll be a great learning experience.

Oh, and we also heard some words of wisdom from a former student of Professor Middleton named Joe. He credits getting his job with Toyota to this class. Inspirational. This class does kinda seem more important than my others. Seems real-er.

Wut, I got a lotta work to do. Gotta take DOCS into account with my business letter. Ought to remember that this class is about more than a grade.

"So what, I'm still a rock star!" Sorry, that's a line from a song by Pink. So what, I think I'm learning important skills that will make me a better communicator and may give me a competitive edge in the job hunt.

Now what, I'm gonna focus in. I've been getting good advice from the professor, the TAs, and my peers. I'm gonna implement it all like a cold turkey, so I'll do well in this class and beyond! And not suck.

Good night, America!

Your host, Al.

De Blogginator

We went to class in the library this week. What a twist. I learned quite a bit about research methods. I can now more easily find scholarly information online. Before I would have just used Google Scholar. Also, I used to only be vaguely aware of boolean logic. Now, I actually get it AND will use it OR use it some more, NOT forget it. Efficiency, here I come!

I learned me an awful lot of acronyms and other tips that should help me write and edit other people's work. What's up, DOCS?

This class definitely seems to be the most useful of my classes. I will be using the search methods I learned in my COMMS 101 class. The questionnaire tips would have been helpful earlier for my advertisement class. My resume is better. Yeah, if this class lands me a job, I'll be satisfied. Plus, I'm better at understanding grammar rules which will just make me a better communicator altogether. Rock on.

Anyway, am I going to apply what I've learned. My research is going to be more official than a referee and probably quicker too.

The interview, de Blog, and the Wardrobe

Well, Mr. Blog, I know this is highly unusual, but I'd like to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on a mock-interview which I recently held with Sir Ian Jimenez. That fellow is a gentleman and a scholar. He 'interviewed' me for a position as a research assistant.

I felt, and Mr. Jimenez agreed, that the interview went smoothly. It would not be inappropriate to compare such smoothness to silk. I was able to respond to his questions, even the tricksy ones, with poise. I came in with a PAR mindset and it really did come in handy. I was able to whip out a few stories in a coherent matter and relate them to my ability to work for him. Also, I showed passion for the job. But, as Mr. Jimenez so kindly pointed out after the interview, I do have room to improve in a few specific points. And improve I shall. I will strive to make myself and my resume appear professional. Twas' a great learning experience.

I sure wrote "I" a lot in that last paragraph. As for Ian Jimenez, I whole-heartedly give him a 5 out of 5. A stunning performance.

Of Mice and de Blog

Well, talk about your busy week. I dunno if I've ever had so many assignments from one class due at once. Course', the TAs, writing lab, and the trusty ol' book helped me out. After all my drafts and hard work, I forgot to sign my cover letter. Bah humbug.

Today, I found myself running in a suit and tie with a fake mustache in the rain. The things I do for school. Okay, the mustache was my idea. Anyway, we had our practice interviews today. It went swell, I reckon. Although, I think sometimes I'm not the best at putting myself in the best light. I gotta' focus on my good attributes and forget about the bad. Eye contact and hand gestures can also improve. But my resume was lookin' as sharp as a katana. I found the illegal interview questions to be interesting. Like, if you're interviewing a pregnant lady, no comment about the pregnancy can be made. So weird.

We talked a lot about writing persuasive and bad news letters today. The indirect approach can make all of the difference. Gotta be sly as a fox. Professor Middleton showed these two examples of a bad news letter, one direct and one indirect, but they conveyed the exact same information. I found myself more bitter reading the direct one.

Makes me wonder if I ought to more indirect sometimes. You know, when supermodels try to hook up with me, I gotta' let em' down easy.

But an indirect approach is not the same thing as saying nothing. The "no response" response can be the worst response of all.

Anyway, my take aways from the day are be careful how you communicate, criticize and take criticism with courtesy, and don't call pregnant ladies "pregnant." Next time someone criticizes me, I'll ask them to criticize my ability to take criticism. Criticism makes perfect.

Keep it reAL,

AL

De Blog Knight

"Didn't you get the memo?" That's just a line from Batman Begins that I like. Sorta related.

Just beat Gonzaga! But that's not really related at all.

This week featured a proposal (not for getting married) for our future Business Articles. Mine was all about Nintendo's marketing strategy. Should be interesting. In class, we learned some rules of interviews, resumes, letters of recommendations, memos, networking, etc. Who'da thunk that folk in college get business cards? All the info bout' the interview would seemed a bit more pertinent for me a week, when I was interviewed for my Resident Assistant position. But, got it anyway, so, woohoo! I learned a little more about how to emphasize your strengths on your resume. Put what's most impressive first. If someone in an interview asks me about my greatness weakness, I prolly tell them that sometimes I'm a perfectionist, stressin' about every detail. They'll like that.

This blog post seems very unorganized. This paragraph is just to make some space. Yep.

I thought it was really funny that Professor Middleton once had "rocking out in the car" in her resume. Chill. I wonder if I could get away with something like that. Just depends on the employer, I reckon. Gotta' know your audience and tailor your resume accordingly.

I sure hope this class gets me a job somehow.

I think the biggest take away for me was to just do a bit more planning and preparation for interviews. Know your answers for questions before they ask them. They might say, "What's your story?" or "What would you bring to our company" and you gotta' have a good answer in a jiffy. Gotta' be quick on the draw. Like a sheriff. Share if you agree! Ha, just kidding.

Also, I'll start doin' cover letters. Maybe a style cramper but professional it is. If I wanna' be a pro, I gotta' look like a pro.

Be a pro, not a Joe.
A champ, not a chump.
A winner, not a beginner.
The best, not the rest.

Okay, I'll give it a rest.

Good knight,

Alex Jay NielsonosleiN yaJ xelA

The Princess and de Blog

Wazzup? Another exciting week in the world of MCOM. Oh, here's my agenda for this post: (1) I'll tell you about preparation for class, (2) I'll tell you about class, and (3) try to come up with something funny, but if it doesn't come to mind, I won't dwell on it and instead just call it good.

So the KAKI alliance made a pretty Valentine's Dance ad. Props to the team there. Prolly a good thing we didn't include Power Puff Girls like I kinda wanted to (well, really just the heart background at the end of all the episodes). Class liked the final product the way we had it. Nice, simple, red. Yep.

Lotso reading. Tres capitulos. Get outta' your mind! I reckon there were lotso acronyms; e.g., CLOUD, HATS. Course', there were some I made up too. Like COW'D. Everything gets verbified, why not cows?

But, enough about pre-class, let's talk real class. There was totally a quiz. I had to make like Christian and bail before we graded em, but word on the street is I skooled it. Schweet.

Other than that, we learned about memorization. Memorizing organized things is way easier than random stuff. True for your writing too. The professor was sayin that the beginning and end stick with the reader the most. True for oral conversation as well. It was actually recommended that we implement more agendas in our daily conversations. Like maybe on my next date I should say something like, "Tonight, I hope to do the following: (A) get to know you better, (B) enjoy the scenery, and (C) learn to dance." Suppose I could try it.

Oh, yeah, and the presentations were nifty. I thought there was some real effort put into those. And the brownies were just icing on the cake...or a cherry on top, or something. (Note: the brownies were actually there; the icing, cake, and cherry were not but rather are being used for figurative speech)

Yep.

So, instead of some joke, I'll you what I plan to do with this wealth of knowledge I've gained. I'll practice (hopefully, with my team) presenting. I'll pay more attention to my organization. I'll try to determine the kind of writing something is. I guess you could call this blog informative if you so choose.

Anyway, I'm gonna hit the hay. Have a good one, world. If I can persuade you, I hope you'll think and not smoke.


Alex "The Jay" Nielson

How de Blog Stole Christmas

He probably stole it with his hands.

Two songs popped into my head during class today.

1. One was Jewel's "Hands." The chorus repeats, "My hands are small, I know. But they're not yours, they are my own."
2. 
   

1. The other was Alanis Morissette's "Hand in My Pocket." She sings, "I've got one hand in my pocket and the other one is giving a high five." The other hand not only gives high fives, but does a variety of other things through out the song.

Both seemed relevant. We talked a lot about our body language during presentations. Our hands send messages whether we notice or not.

Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was just having too much fun making this post really ugly. See, we learned about is the layout (not as in "laying someone out," but the technical meaning) and design of  power points and handouts. I thought it was funny to go ahead and try to break all of those rules, but wow, ugly presentations can sure be annoying. The light on light just made me feel bad...and dark. I don't want to put you through anymore of that. Gotta' watch my carbs.

There are so many small things that make a big different in presentations. If you're not careful, all of your hard work could be all for naught because of something silly like your hands being clenched in a fist, having shifty mobster eyes, or excessive "likes" (and I don't mean on Facebook).

My take away from class is that I really ought to practice presenting and record myself or ask my friends if I do anything weird. I'm sure I have my own habits that distract from my message. I should have taken Ursula seriously when said not to underestimate the importance of body language. Anyway, this week, I'll try to be paranoid about my hands and feet and eyes and...let me try that again. I'll try to be paranoid about my hands, feet, and eyes this week. Better. Oh hey, that reminds, I schooled my grammar test. Ah-sum.

Anyway, that's what I got for now.

• Alex Nielson

You, Me, and de Blog

To my fellow Bloggingtonians,

Grammar matters. And spelling. And punctuation. And sentence structure. And...let me try this again.

Grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure matter. Nailed it.

The grammar exam is coming up and I reckon I'll do just fine. (compound-sentence structure)

If I go crazy, that's another story. I'm pretty paranoid about my writing now. So many rules to memorize... It can't be healthy. Some of em' stick wit' me: farther is distance, further is degree; whom is the object and receives action, who is a subject (I just remember that you use whom in place of him, her, me, they, etc. and you use who in place of he, she, I, them); I choke on the affect/effect scenario; and a lot of other rules.

Yeah, life goes on. I suppose it's good practice. I feel like it probably would have been better to learn all of this years ago. But, as President Uchtdorf pointed out not too long ago, according to an old proverb, "The best time to plant a tree is twenty years. The second-best time is now." Guess I'll settle for second best.

I learned that "Only know you love her when you let her go," is very different from "You know only you love her when you let her go," or "You know you only love her when you let her go," etc,

And--get this--"swum" is a word. Yep, it's real. Get used to it.

So, by having learned so very much, I'd have to say the greatest lesson I learned was that I have so much more to learn. And that's what I'll do. I'll study, practice, guess, check(transitive verb, by the way), ask(regular verb, by the way) for help, and then school that test.

Yep, that's my simple plan.

Alex Nielson, over and out.

The Wizard of de Blog

To Who(m)ever:

Another weak, another blog.

Oops, spelling is my weekness.

Haha, just Drake & Joshing.

Okay, but seriously, this week was fairly eventful as far as M COM goes. Team KAKI met in the library and we made our charter. The team is really coming together. I reckon we're a pretty responsible team with a good work ethic.

There are plenty of grammatical rules we're expected to become familiar with. I think I'm getting the hang of most of them. 10 percent luck. October 30. Two princes. The liar will lie down. I will lay down the law. Not "Donkey Kong was cool" but "Donkey Kong is cool." Here's an example of a subjunctive sentence: "If she weren't such a jerk, I would totally marry her." Here's an indicative one: "I would catch a grenade for you." Oh fine, here's an imperative one too: "Don't stand so close to me."

Shyeah, those are some examples of an ample amount of rules.

Professor Middleton recommends we get a Linked In account. Maybe I should.

There were some group presentations. They were swell. Apparently our team was saying "uhh" a lot. I wonder if that was me.

So, I think I'm learning to be more aware of what's going on around me. That's good news which you won't find in the NY Times.

Uhh, yeah. That's what I got. My New Week's Resolutions are to reluctantly "link in", attend at least one grammar study session, and school that pre-test.

Feel free to correct my grammar.

Keep it concise...unless you feel the urge to drag on....like a dragon. Smaug talks too much.

Keep it outta' cite.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. (Hey, that's another imperative sentence.)


-Alex, the Great and Powerful

De Blog Strikes Back

Well, zippity-doo-da. I used some hyphens there, but probably incorrectly.

This week we learned a lot about grammar and punctuation. It is tricky business. Grammar Nazis are out there and make for a good college humor video. Anyway, there are so many rules. We're doing Chicago style, so that ought to be remembered. There are some real differences between the styles. The one that sticks out to me is that in a list, you still use a comma before the "and."

For example, "I eat salads, bananas, and hamburgers." I assume the rule holds true for other conjunctions like "I'm not a world renowned musician, athlete, or actor."

I've got to do a lot of writing this semester (and probably for the rest of my life), so it's good to get some practice on these rules. I'm going to keep practicing. All the small things add up. That should probably be, "All of the small things..." Hm.

Outside of grammar rules, we also formed some groups. I'm a proud member of team KAKI. The logo is still in development. We've formed and I hope we can perform before too long.

We learned some rules of etiquette. If you've got a variety of spoons and forks, use the outside ones first. Another helpful etiquette trick is that "left" is four letters like "fork" and "right" is five letters like "spoon" and "knife." So, next time I go to a fancy restaurant, I'm going to use my utensils like a pro. They may be the difference between me getting an awesome job or not.

Also, fellow classmates recommend that I network if I want to get my sweet ideas and cartoons onto a bigger stage. So, I'm going to try to get better at networking. Yeah, I'm going to work that net.

Yep, that was how things went down. Here's to hoping that the stuff I learn sticks with me. Don't be rubber; be glue!

May the force be with you all.

I fought de Blog and de Blog won.

I've never done anything quite like this. So, bear with me if it seems like I don't know what I'm doing. Expect a little trial and error. Don't be shocked if I hit and miss. As Aerosmith put it, you've got to lose to know how to win. So, here it goes.

This week has been an eventful one. First week back to school. Ahh snap. Among the many events that have happened thus far is I had my first day of class in M COM. I was a little nervous because I'd been studying for a quiz we were scheduled to have on sentence structure. I learned something in my reading that had never occurred to me before. I learned the difference between a phrase and a clause.

Get this. A phrase doesn't have both a subject and verb. So, for example, "After the rap battle" or "Before the beginning."

However, a clause DOES have both a subject and verb. Like, "Kel likes orange soda" or "Do you have to let it linger?"

Then, there's different types of phrases and clauses. It all gets kind of blurry in my head from there but those are the basics.

So, pretty much, when someone gets up in my grill telling me that a clause I wrote is ghetto, I'll know they're not talking about a phrase I wrote. I can totally differentiate them. Ain't no test gonna' fake me out. Consider it learned.

Well, that's what  I got. Not sure how to close this (or how I should have opened it). I don't quite feel like this is a journal. Maybe a record. Or an epistle. Yeah, that works.

I close my epistle.