i've been experiencing a lot of cognitive dissonance over this blog. i like to consider myself a writer. sometimes i will openly admit that what i write is good, other times not so much. however, how can i call myself a writer if i don't write? i can't, that's how. i feel as if my skill as a writer has been slowly ebbing away from me. if you have seen the latest harry potter film i imagine my skill leaking from me somewhat like snape's memories leak from him when he's dying.
i'm in grad school so i do a lot of writing, but it's not the same. the type of writing i do in my papers for school is the not type of writing that i'm accustomed to. it's more systematic and structured. sometimes i imagine it lacking life, which isn't entirely true. i truly enjoy writing my papers for school, mainly because i'm so interested in the content matter. it's just that grad school writing is exercising a different writing muscle and i need to make sure that i'm exercising all of my muscles.
all of this is to say that i'm going to force myself to blog once a week. even if it is just rambling like this post is going to end up being. i'm not dumb enough to set myself up for failure by saying that i'll blog once a day. i don't have time for that and i doubt i have enough things to say for that. but i will blog once a week. in rhetoric class we read an article that states that if you want to be a good writer you have to write. i know it sounds like i'm stating the obvious but it's true. i can't expect my skill of writing to develop by not doing anything about it.
on a completely different note i'm extremely excited about all of the papers/projects that i am working on this semester. i have picked the overlapping theme of studying masculinity. i hope that through all of these projects i can hone in on what really appeals to me and utilize that as my thesis. i'm in three classes this semester: communication theory, qualitative research, and feminism and the media. for communication theory i'm going to create a theoretical study framework using social cognitive theory and looking at the masculinity that male student athletes portray and if that portrayal is something that is cultivated in them through the media and other influences.
for my qualitative research class i'm observing the pick-up basketball games at the student rec center and the culture that surrounds that. i'm hoping to see themes of masculinity there as well as other things. currently i'm noticing a trend of aggressiveness and somewhat hurtful communication and trash talk.
lastly, for my rhet. class i'm going to critically analyze "modern family" and the ways that masculinity is portrayed in the different characters. i have to narrow it down to probably two or three characters. right now i'm thinking that the dynamic between cam and mitch and then claire and phil will be the most interesting. especially in claire and phil because between the two of the claire demonstrates the most stereotypical masculine traits. i'm excited. it's going to be a fun paper to write.
now that i've rambled and started stretching out my writing muscles i will end the ridiculously pointless post.
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