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
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
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
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
Thursday, February 13, 2014
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
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
Thursday, February 6, 2014
How de Blog Stole Christmas
He probably stole it with his hands.
Two songs popped into my head during class today.
- One was Jewel's "Hands." The chorus repeats, "My hands are small, I know. But they're not yours, they are my own."
- 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
Friday, January 31, 2014
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.
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.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
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
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
Thursday, January 16, 2014
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)