Monday, March 15, 2010

Getting Lost Within a Blog


In order to share common interest and experiences blogging is an excellent way to do that. With bogging, you are able to share stories, experiences, and all kinds of new things with people in whom you may never even meet in your lifetime. With belief, blogging is a wonderful way to communicate with people and be able to talk about common interests in which you share. People who find themselves interested in blogs are those people who look for some kind of communication with an outside person in order to compare and share. Something to talk about when it comes to them and being in a group of those who interact.


Douglas Rushkoff has the common saying “Internet is not killing off conversation but actively encouraging it.” Throughout the article Rushoff talks about social currency and why success is directly related on the ability to create excuses for people to socialize and talk to one another. This all means that like all successful television shows, websites, and music, there are generally ones that offer the most valuable forms of social currency to the fans of them. Douglas Rushkoff describes all of this as friends who sit around and tell jokes, that they are using content that most likely they found used somewhere elsewhere in order to being up good conversation. http://www.youknowster.com/jokes/view/121-you-know-youre-a-bad-driver-when

Does Rushoff have a good point when talking about media success? Is it true that all of the television shows, websites, and music all just create something for us to talk about with all our friends? If all he is saying is correct, than it is no different when it comes to blog sites and how people react to them. This is a way to share common feelings and something to talk about among our peers.


When it came to looking at other bloggers sites, I was able to comment on what they wrote and relate it to my own life. It was almost like a building block for communication between me and someone in which I completely knew nothing about to begin with. I enjoyed reading all these blog post and getting to know a little more about them, to create a conversation on either something I know something a lot about or something they know a lot about.

For example when looking at a certain blog post of a classmate about “Things That Make Me Want to say Fuck You” by Cimino, I was able to relate in what his blogs were about by common interest in some of the same things that can and will drive me crazy. One of the blogs he wrote that most sparked my interest was the last one written by him under the title, “Having a Shitty and Messy Roommate.” I found this to be so interesting and funny because if was so easy for me relate to his readings because of the simple fact that I have 5 girl roommates who refuse to clean anything. Another blogger in class that I enjoyed reading very much was “Living With Cocoa.” Even though this blog made me sad at times to read it because at the end a horrible tragedy occurred and Cocoa and he was found no longer able to be with us. I enjoyed reading these by Lauren because at the start of her blogs I was so jealous of the fact that she had the wonderful opportunity to raise a puppy and see how it changed her whole family’s life in one way or another. Towards the end of reading these blogs it touched my heart to know how quickly life can come at you and change for the worse. It taught me to love everyday and take it for what it is worth. http://www.baddrivers.org/


There is not much wrong I can find with blogging. It is good for all in ways to communicate and be a part of each other’s lives when we may not even know each other. If you ever need to express yourself, chances are there is someone out there who feels the same way and would love to communicate in a blog with you about those certain feelings of anger or happiness, which ever they may be.http://www.askmen.com/daily/blogs/women/are-women-bad-drivers.html

Rushkoff, Douglas. "The Internet is Not Killing 0ff Conversation but Actively Encouraging it."




Anonymous. “What do you mean I’m a bad driver? Define bad driver!” Bad Driver Blog. 17 Jan. 2007. 15 Mar. 2010

Other Blog Beyond Opinion

Is it to agree or disagree with those bloggers out there who may not share all the same opinions that you do? Coming from this certain blogger, bad drivers come in all ages, with a wide range of driving skills, and with a variety of driving experiences. At any given moment, a once considered good driver, can become labeled by others as a poor driver. Likewise, a bad driver can have good driving moments.http://www.unleashedhumor.com/crazy-bad-driving/funny-women-driving-video/


Perfection at each of the skill’s pillars identified by the blogger in "Vent Away" tends to improve your likelihood of being considered a good driver by those sharing the road with you at the moment. Nonetheless, this particular blogger seems to have not considered the "human factor". It should be evaluated with equal importance as the skill pillars, should such agree. The personality, attitude, mood and the “human factor” of those driving the same path , have a major impact on whether the driver will be perceived as a good or a bad driver on any given day. Although the unknown blogger makes excellent points in his blog to point out why drivers operate their vehicles so poorly, the points that he assesses in his skill pillars is not all that there is to this driving equation, but is this true for my opinion?

This particular blogger perceives himself as a good driver and is irritated by the vast numbers of drivers, which he labels as bad drivers. He is dismayed by the lack of basic knowledge that he has determined is not being taught to new drivers. He argues that only perfect practice can make us perfect drivers. He insinuates that many drive, but do not practice safe driving practices on a regular basis. He acknowledges that today’s driver is bombarded with far too many distractions while driving. All of these factors, he argues, contribute to their bad driver profile. Additionally, the author of this blog cites the public’s general lack of common courtesy behind the wheel, as well as the driver’s general lack of awareness, as major contributing factors to poor driving. He believes that with the improvement in the pillars of a good driver, that others will be less likely to label you as a bad driver and our roads will be a safer place to travel.



This blogger is asking questions and seeking answers as to why he shares the highway with so many poor drivers. His own perceptions seem accurate, yet, too black and white, and he lacks considering the influential component of the “human factor.” The blog is nicely structured, and he clearly states both his opinion and his conclusions as to why other drivers function so poorly at driving.

His outline requiring skill pillars is easy to follow and most of his points are non controversial. His tone is a tad sarcastic and a bit haughty. He leads us to believe that he is mistake free driver and he considers himself a comparatively excellent driver to everyone else. Somehow, he believes that following his few suggestions will make it difficult for fellow drivers to consider you a poor or inadequate driver. It seems fair to assume that most drivers would not label themselves as bad drivers, and that they also believe that they are better drivers than the other guy. There are indeed bad drivers and good drivers with bad driving moments. Sometimes the determination of the ability of a driver lies only in the eyes of the evaluator.



The blogger left out several major contributing factors to one's ability to drive well. The driver's personality, attitude, or mood on a particular day and time can even make the best driver a bad one. Some personalities make worse drivers behind the wheel than others. A person who feels a sense of general entitlement, or who is greedy, selfish, or aggressive is likely to be considered by others to have a poor ability to drive. A driver, who habitually has poor judgment in all other aspects of his life, is likely to have similar poor judgment while they are behind the wheel. The driver’s mood can contribute to how his driving is viewed by those around him. If the driver is momentarily anxious, depressed, tired, or angry, his driving could possibly match his mood or distract his otherwise good driving skills .A driver who is usually considered a good driver can become one of the most dangerous drivers ,if he has chosen to drive while impaired with drugs or alcohol. An elderly driver who has been accident free his entire life, can one day be called a poor driver because of factors that are related to his age. Sometimes our perceptions of one’s driving ability are tainted by our own judgments based on the age or gender of the driver.



The writer of this blog states his aggravation with drivers who he considers to be poor drivers. He makes excellent suggestions and valid arguments that could well influence how a driver is able to drive, as well as, how they will be perceived by fellow drivers. It is inaccurate to label a driver as a good or bad driver, as human factors such as mood, attitude, and personality can all influence your abilities at any given moment in time, at any particular place and time. His comments are well taken as we drive in a world with drivers with too many distractions and with drivers who are inconsiderate of others. We must never lose sight that a human being is driving the machine. Agreeing and disagreeing with the blogger comes to many advantages when writing my own blogs.http://zenlizzie.wordpress.com/tag/bad-drivers/


Rushkoff, Douglas.  "The Internet is Not Killing 0ff Conversation but Actively Encouraging it."
 
Anonymous. “What do you mean I’m a bad driver? Define bad driver!” Bad Driver Blog. 17 Jan. 2007. 15 Mar. 2010

Mine or His Fault

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the whole road to yourself? Worries of accidents caused by people and not myself would not be an option. On several occasions I wonder what it would be like to have my hands on the wheel with nothing on my mind, nothing to worry about except with the worry of my long brown hair getting tangled from the blowing breeze through my driver’s side window. When driving my 2002 Blue Mercury Cougar I feel as though I have the whole world in the palm of my hand with the feeling that nothing can stop me, but who could be stopped at that moment. Although, I know this may not be the case, no one says I can’t dream. http://www.reallyfunnypictures.co.uk/general/pic102.php





While writing about some of my insane driving experiences, it takes me back to the day when it all happened, when I say my life flash before my eyes. Although there are many stories to tell it was on incident that I can honestly say I will not ever forget for as long as I live, in which I’m sure you can relate to with one incident or another.

The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, dogs were playing outside, and it was a day that would describe summer and everything that goes along with it as well. It was on this blazing hot August day that I knew the world was given to me and it was my choice to do whatever I wanted with it. I loved my shiny blue Mercury Cougar, with leather seats, green dashboard lights, a stereo system that will rattle your head and everything else a teenage girl dreams about. With me being the clean freak that I am, I was on my way to wash my beloved car for probably the third time that week. The feeling of the sun hitting my skin that was coming through the sunroof was almost something that was unexplainable. With my music turned up so loud you could hear it on the other side of the world and, my hair blowing all over the place I was in heaven. I went about on my way down the busy streets. My car was clean; there was a smile on my face that could light up a room.

While driving down the road, I came up to a black Jetta. I was not able to understand why this car was stopped in the middle of a busy afternoon rush; it was that instant I was unable to stop my car in time to avoid hitting the black car. With my reaction of not wanting to hit the car, I instantly swerved into the other lane where there were several cars driving at. It was at this very moment I lost control of my entire car. Going a little over fifty-five miles an hour it was right then that I hit the car from that lane and was then thrown into the other lane by another car.http://www.platerage.com/

Closing my eyes to escape the fact I was about to go down, that my life after this moment would never be the same. I heard a big bang and was instantly thrown to the passenger side of my car, with everyone hearing it within a 10 miles radius. After hitting my head against the door, I was found to be unconscious at that very moment. The next thing I can remember is having someone drag me through the left window of my Mercury Cougar so they would be able to get me out of the car. I could hear the sound of an ambulance coming down the busy road. I was just awake enough to give a man that happened to be across the street the number to my house so that my parents were able to come make sure I was okay.

With my parents having a panic attack, I regained my consciousness. I was talking to this man that was working on the construction site across the road about what had just happened. Explaining to him I was not able to remember the details of my accident, he told me I hit the curb with my car over three feet in the air and went down a ditch and hit a light pole head on. He was surprised to see that I was able to walk but was obviously not hurt to the extreme standards I probably should have been. I refused to get in the ambulance but by this time my parents had arrived and I had no choice but to do what they told me. Heading quickly to the hospital in the ambulance, I passed out until we were able to get to the emergency room where I then suddenly found myself bleeding a large magnitude. With my parents sitting there by my side, feuding among each other, the doctor came in to examine me from head to toe. The doctor did everything from taking my blood pressure, checking my temperature, and looking inside my eyes.

The doctor enters the room and makes an announcement to all who was there that I was going to survive despite my very feelings at that moment in time. It was such a relief to know I was going to be alright with just a little bit of antibiotics and lots of rest within the next few of those days. My parents treated as though I was a princess, being was very caring, and was also very able to take care of all my needs in order for me to feel better. It was longer than a few days to where I was almost starting to feel like myself once again. The bleeding had stopped but the only thing that had not been my flashbacks of my accident and the many nightmares I was experiencing.

It can be asked is this more of my fault that it is of the black jetta? Should the black jetta be the one who should end up being cited for the accident? I have strong feelings going both ways on this subject. I believe a broken down car should not have been in the middle of the road like it was, but how am I to explain that to a police officer? The laws are the laws and with me being that certain experience, I lost my license, did not receive money for my car, and also lost my insurance.

It was on that summer night that my driving would change forever. It felt like a million years until I was able to drive again without any troubles. I learned a valuable lesson; always drive with one hundred percent of my attention when on the road, that driving can cause you or someone else’s life in only a heartbeat. Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly!http://www.youknowster.com/jokes/view/121-you-know-youre-a-bad-driver-when

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Grand Accident, Party mood

It was not long after getting my license that I experienced my first devastating, bone shattering accident. Naturally, being a new driver, I was extremely anxious to be driving my new 2006 Pontiac Grand AM, although I did not know that my skills were very limited. It was on New Year’s Eve night during an insane snow blizzard that I decided I needed to get away from my parents and go party the night away. Now, I will not say I am a bad driver, but driving on icy and snowy road conditions was not listed on stuff I am experienced with, that is for sure.


Although, my dad was telling me not to leave the house on that cold, snowing, winter night, I did not listen and I went anyway. What happened next would change how I felt about driving in the snow for the rest of my natural born life. I entered the highway merging with traffic in the busy four-lane. Things were going very good, I had the music turned up high and the new heater was blasting in my face. With my unknowing parents back at home in bed, I was on top of the world. Next, I went to take my exit towards my friend Ashley’s house to arrive at her giant New Years Eve party fashionably late. I turned right at the stop light when I got to the bottom of the exit ramp. The roads had doubled in snow accumulation since I left for the party. As I turned at the stop light I hit a patch of ice and did a 180 turn. I took a deep breath and put the car in reverse to turn myself around. Just as I was getting back into my lane of traffic, a green SUV came hurtling towards my front end. It hit me with the sound of crushing metal and flying glass from my windshield that had exploded upon impact. My arm was pinned in my mangled steering wheel. My head felt hot, I realized I was bleeding from the top of my head.

Next, the other driver called 911 and then I do not remember anything until the paramedics showed up to cut me out of my car. I sat in the back of the ambulance until my parents showed up to get me. My arm turned out to be only bruised on the bone and my head only needed a quick liquid stitch from the paramedic who was cleaning me up. My parents were upset with me but they knew I had learned my lesson.

Your getting very sleepy...very sleepy

Do you put yourself behind the wheel when you feel as though you have had gotten in inaccurate amount of sleep. As I was reading about this epidemic I found a study conducted by Farmer’s Insurance found that 10 percent of drivers admitted to falling asleep at the wheel and nearly 20 percent of people admitted to dozing off. Also the U.S National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates 100,000 of reported crashes occur as a result of drowsiness, and considers sleep deprived drivers a hazard. The greater the sleep deprivation, the closer the correlation to higher levels of intoxication. As far as I am concerned driving drowsy is just as dangerous as driving impaired. Because sleep is something no one person can live without the body simply needs its rest in order to do hazardous activities. This all scares me and probably most of other people as well. To admit the truth sometimes I feel like is no other options but to drive when being completely not awake. I know this puts myself and others in danger yet I still find myself doing it. I am sure when it comes to others they have done the same thing. Maybe we do this because there is no way to measure our fatigue level. Hopefully we can all keep this in mind when it comes to coming behind the wheel, rethink if your not at your best condition to drive at any given moment.

DUI is no fun!

For this blog I want to write about something that has become a problem in Ohio but all over the country. The certain subject is driving under the influence of alcohol or also known as DUI. Between the past several years states have really been cracking down on the law. When hitting the road I believe this is an important thing to crack down on. To save many lives, including innocent lives. It is known alcohol slows the brain by acting as a depressant for it. This all means when you make the decision to drink, messages your brain suppressed are no longer sent. According to the Center for Disease Control and prevention, car wrecks have become the highest reason of death for people in the United States who are under the age of 24. It has occurred to me that many story’s I have heard in my life sometimes involve death of young ones who make the choice to drink and drive. I do not believe this problem will ever go away completely but by the law cracking down, I believe it will significantly reduce. The penalties and laws including fines for drunk driving are all extremely high in most states. Also the number of deaths caused by drunk drivers each year is still high. The choice we all need to have is, is it really worth risking your life among many others to get behind the wheel while being under the influence of alcohol.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Hurt yourself, not others

It has become obvious we live in a country where people drive like maniacs. The phenomenon about this all is for the most part these are passive people. Generally speaking they are not outwardly aggressive people.
The physical crime in this country is quite minimal, even though beer drinking serving as the national past time, they do not often become rowdy or uncivilized. This is all raised well so why is it so amazing to watch them on the interstate driving. What are the signs that your a lunatic driver?

One way you know your a lunatic driver if you drive a BMW. This will probably offend a few of the owners of BMW. They didnt associate BMW ownership with bad driving when living in the U.S. Serving the meaning evertime you see someone fly by you like a lunatic, they are almost sure to be driving a BMW. Another reason may be if you drive 40 miles over the speed limit and do not think it is dangerous. Another reason you may know your a lunatic driver is if you pas on the right, this makes you a bad driver and also sometimes a jerk. Is it just because the guy in front of you doesnt want to drive over 90 miles an hour its ok for you to pass them on the right. Another reason adding to this is you cross solid white lines, you know theres a reason these things exist. Crossing them is a danger to you and also others on the road. It is as if the safety of others does not matter to you.
If you find yourself doing any of this, you may be a lunatic driver. And if you know you are, how does this make you feel about yourself? Not only causing harm to yourself  but to inicent bystanders just living their daily lives.