Thoughts of a Cynical Bastard

Did you know...

November 22, 1963

-Kennedy was assassinated

for those of you old enough to remember..where were you?

Did You Know?

Age Range
Although Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest man to serve as president, John Kennedy was the youngest elected president at 43 years old. He was also the youngest to die in office, at the age of 46.

All in the Family
While JFK was president, his brother Robert was U.S. Attorney General, and his youngest brother, Ted, was elected a U.S. Senator. This is the only time that three members of the same family have held such high government positions. JFK was also the only president to appoint a sibling to a cabinet post.

A Literary Leader
JFK is the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize, for his collective biography, Profiles in Courage.

A New Medium
The Nixon-Kennedy debates were the first ever to be televised, and JFK's ability to project a positive image on-screen may have given him a significant advantage in the election. Interestingly, many people who heard the debates over the radio thought Nixon had done a more competent job.

Strange but True
Although there is no significance, historical or otherwise, it is interesting to note some of the coincidental facts in the lives of Abraham Lincoln and JFK. Lincoln was elected in 1860, Kennedy in 1960; Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy, Kennedy's was named Lincoln; both men were assassinated; and both men were succeeded by their vice presidents, both of whom were named Johnson.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Since we won't be in class (THANK YOU LORD JESUS) on Wed-Sunday, I just want to say to you all...

wait for it...

here it comes...

3..
2..
1...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

so what is everyone thankful for?

Stress

I know..I know, it's normal for stress to happen now.

But I'm not just stressed, im superstress.

-Seton Hill's grading system confuses me (whatever happened to simple A, B,C, 92%, 93%, 87%?) so i have no clue what my grades are like except for in like 2 classes. I want to ask Dr. Jerz and Dr. Wendland, but im actual afraid to.

that is all...

Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and the remaining stuff.

http://www.bartleby.com/114/3.html

Once again, don't know what to say, maybe once i actually read this stuff, I'll know.

The Atlanta Exposition Address

http://www.bartleby.com/1004/14.html

What to say..what to say..I think the speech has left me speechless.

2000 Miles for 5 Minute Speech

SOON after the opening of our boarding department, quite a number of students who evidently were worthy, but who were so poor that they did not have any money to pay even the small charges at the school, began applying for admission. This class was composed of both men and women. It was a great trial to refuse admission to these applicants, and in 1884 we established a night-school to accommodate a few of them.

The night-school was organized on a plan similar to the one which I had helped to establish at Hampton. At first it was composed of about a dozen students. They were admitted to the night-school only when they had no money with which to pay any part of their board in the regular day-school. It was further required that they must work for ten hours during the day at some trade or industry, and study academic branches for two hours during the evening. This was the requirement for the first one or two years of their stay. They were to be paid something above the cost of their board, with the understanding that all of their earnings, except a very small part, were to be reserved in the school’s treasury, to be used for paying their board in the regular day-school after they had entered that department. The night-school, started in this manner, has grown until there are at present four hundred and fifty-seven students enrolled in it alone.

This was a strange passage to me, but I understood it. It seemed to me that Booker T was saying that the black folk wanted edumacated back then, and edumacated was what they was gonna get!

Ok, so I challenged my White Southern relatives for a moment, but seriously Booker was saying that these people needed an education, and they knew they needed an education. Now was the time to do something about it though, and they knew it too!

Wrestler Dies

(Credit goes to Kevin)

The man pictured above died Sunday morning. His name is Eddy Guerrero.

This was a man that is, even in death, an inspiration to alot of people. He battled drug addiction, as well as alcohol, he was only the second man of Hispanic heritage to win the WWE title.

Here is a lost of other Eddie Guerrero accomplishments:

WWE World Heavyweight Title (defeated Brock Lesnar at No Way Out on February 15, 2004)
WWE Tag Team Titles (3 times)
WWE Intercontinental title (2 times)
WWE United States Title (defeated Chris Benoit in tournament final at Vengeance 2003)
WWE European Title (2 times
WCW United States Title
WCW Cruiserweight Title
ECW Television Title (2 times)

(credit goes to wwe.com for this list)

Did I know this man personally? No, I did not. But that doesn't matter, even if you don't like wrestling, you know who this man is.

He always used to come out, and sometimes say "VIVA LA RAZA"--Translates: The Race Lives!

Well Eddie...I got this to say...¡Vidas Del Calor De Latino!

I got bored..so I figured I'd blog...

Let state a few things:

-Law and Order is a damn good show
-Max Payne and Max Payne2 are a couple of a hell of good games!
-I was bored. *shrugs*

100th entry and Truss, the author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, to work on manners

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20051110/en_bo_usatoday/trusstrieshandatmanners;_ylt=AoW_Dl8rMgzP1zVuzs5pclRREhkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA /a>

American Literature Blog Portfolio

Lou sits at his computer in the dining room, sighing. He doesn't want to do this blog portfolio. So he's not...at least not in the way Dr. Jerz wants. He's just simply going to list the blog entries. Why? His brother's home during the weekend and he wants to spend time with him. He will however, either sunday night or early monday morning, monday at the latest, fix it. (UPDATE: I fix it. It's 6 am, I fixed it and added more entries. I'm going back to bed. --Lou)

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011476.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011475.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011789.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011788.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011792.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/011790.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012325.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012322.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012211.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012325.html

WILDCARD:
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012467.html

TO THE CATHOLICS OF THE WORLD--THIS IS NOT WHY YOU BOYCOTT WAL-MART

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051111/ap_on_bi_ge/wal_mart_holidays

A Roman Catholic civil rights group called off a boycott of Wal-Mart on Friday after the world's largest retailer apologized for an employee's e-mail that called Christmas a mix of world religions.

"We only trigger boycotts when we've been grossly offended," Donahue said.

Offend? At what you pea-brained nimrod!? For the guy telling the truth!? BTW, if you want to know what 1 FORMER Employee said here it is:

Kirby wrote that Christmas resulted from traditions ranging from Siberian shamanism to Visigoth calendars.

"Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses (sic), mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and the tree from the worship of Baal. It is a wide wide world," Kirby wrote

Here's why he wrote that email:

a customer-service employee named Kirby had written an inappropriate e-mail to a woman who complained that the retailer had replaced a "Merry Christmas" greeting with "Happy Holidays."

Kirby was right. I am not saying his actions within the company were right, I am saying the reason why people say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas was right.

Catholics of the world, if you're going to have a reason to boycott Wal-Mart, go back to the orginial reason: Because you thought Sam Walton was the Antichrist.

If I had a nickel for everytime a catholic said he/she was "offended" by something--I'd be rich. The world would also be a more boring place.

To the Catholics of the world: GET ALIFE!

Veterans' Day

I want to say, as the grandson and great-grandson of four veterans of wars--my mom's dad fought in Korea; my dad's dad was 14-18 when WWI happened (he was born in Naples, Italy in 1900 and came to America in 1903) and 39-45 when WWII happened. he fought with america. my great-grandfather served in WWI and WWII on my mom's dad's side and on my dad's side my great-grandfather served as a revoluntionary for the Italians, Happy Veterans' Day!

Please, take the time out of your day to pay respect to the soldiers of wars, past, present and future today. They deserve it, especially as more and more veterans of WWI are dying in this day and age.

to our troops: *just simple salutes* Carry on solider in victory and death.

Thank you.

Louis Dominic Gagliardi III.

Newswriting Portfolio

Let's run down the facts:

I'm lazy.

I don't have any timeliness things, or any depth. Hell, I admittedly don't really have any links that are even worth putting here. I'll post them, but only so that their easier to get too. I apologize, but I've been rather lethargic for some reason. I also didn't comment on other people's blogs. Why? No time to read anyone elses, let alone my own. Does that mean I'm calling it quits? No, it just means that I need to start skipping some American Lit classes. lol, i'm only kidding.

Ok, here they are, in no particular order:

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012120.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012237.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012327.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012402.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012458.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012658.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012660.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012661.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012663.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012664.html

Do I expect to get anything higher than a D-/F? Not really. Like I said, I don't know what it was, but I just didn't care this time. I know we have a blog portfolio coming up again so, I'll just do better on that one.

I do have a couple of wildcard entries.

WILD CARD ENTRIES:

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012551.html

The above entry just mentions how authors use blogs, and includes a comment from Dr. Arnzen.

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012146.html

This entry deals with the death of one of the great pioneers of civil rights, Rosa Parks. She will be forever missed.

Guest Speaker

I have nothing to say, nothing at all.

Tell ya what Dr. Jerz, let me get in front of the class and talk about Newswriting and writing for the setonian. that would a fun class. I can sum it up in three words: DON'T DO IT!

Ap Guide to newswriting Chapters 9 and 10

What the bloody hell do I care about seeing colors or news writing for that matter?

From now on in this class, when talking about this class, just refer to this blog entry, http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LouGagliardi/012402.html

It Ain't Necessarily So Chapters 9, 10, and Conclusion.

(I thought I blogged about this--apparently not.)

I don't really know what to say about these chapters, even after rereading them. FINE! Since everyone's expecting me too, I didn't like these chapters. I didn't like this book. That's all I really have to say about. It's all I'm going to continue to say abouts book.

IANS Chapter 2&3

(I thought I blogged about this--apparently not.)

I don't really know what to say about these chapters, even after rereading them. FINE! Since everyone's expecting me too, I didn't like these chapters. I didn't like this book. That's all I really have to say about. It's all I'm going to continue to say abouts book.

*copies and pastes this text to use for the next blog entry about it.*

AP Guide to Newswriting Chapter 11

Yeah..yeah, it's the eleventh hour and Lou is struggling to do his work. Don't preach at me, alot of you are doing the same thing.

This chapter was features. Features are cool because their not straight news. Their designed to give the news in a cool way. I know, this isn't exactly too depthy but you know what? I'm trying to work on gettign the information my brother would need for tomorrow's class together. So don't expect too much from me.

Briefing on Media Law

I sat here, rereading this considering I forgot to blog it the first, thinking "why the hell am I reading this. I completely gave up on Journalism." But then i realized, "oh, it's for class."

Yeah, that's right folks, Lou forgets sometimes why he reads things.

Most of the things in the AP Stylebook I had already learned in my Law and Economics class in 12th grade at good ole GSHS.

The only thing that I was glad was in here, at the right time too, was a piece about copyrights. Copyrights don't just apply to journalism, but to all pieces of literature--non-fiction and fiction.

So upon further review, I am glad I read this section.

idiots.

Woman Sues Postal Service.

Just for the sake of having something to blog about yesterday's paper, I found this online.

How stupid are people? She's suing because she slipped on her mail--god, is this what the country is coming too!?

"Oh, gee. There's my mail. I'd better pick it up before I slip on it."

The woman, in her mid-forties, and wearing high heel shoes that don't look like their exactly slip proof begins to take her groceries from her car, with the intention of picking up her mail, and begins to walk towards her home. A slight breeze, strong enough to pick up some pieces of mail, begins to blow and scatter the pieces. Martha goes to step, and slips on one of the pieces. Getting up and noticing the soreness of her wrist and back decides to drive to the hospital with her ambulance chasing attorney behind her.

"Let's sue the Postal Service even though Congress passed a law saying we can't!"

"Yes, Martha, lets."

Ok..that's the end of my little piece of flash fiction. (I can hear Dr. Arnzen in the background saying "THAT'S NOT FLASH FICTION! THAT'S NOT EVEN GOOD WRITING!")

But that proves my point, the reason Congress passes these laws is SO THAT PEOPLE DON'T SUE FOR THEIR OWN NEGLIENCE. Americans-brains=moron.

Authors using blogs!

Recently I've been reading alot of my favorite authors. It surprised me, when reading the little bio's in the front of the books, or the flapjackets (that I hate btw) that many authors have a blogspot! or else they have a livejournal.

for example:

Justine Musk

J.D. Riso

and many many others.

I realized then that this is the future of writing, and that you don't necessarily need a webpage to keep your readings informed, or to hear from them--you just need a weblog!

Which do you think is easier?

Here's a question for ya'll. Which is easier to write--a novel or a short story.

Heres what I think.

A novel is easier to write compared to a short story. Where as in a short story you have anywhere from 1-(maybe more)50 pages to write; in a novel you can have 250+ pages. In a novel, you can write many different subplots, as long as your main plot is the main focus. In a short story you can (should?) only have one plot going.

I dont know, any thoughts or feedback is welcomed. Someone get Dr. A my blog URL ASAP!

P.S. If anyone owns the Vampire Chronicles and they would like to part with them..let me know!

Quizzes

What's the point of a quiz? To test our ability of what we read? Gimme a break. If we had read the text in the first place, don't you think we would have blogged about it?

I'm sorry, but this was on my mind as I'm sitting here waiting for 9:30 to roll around. It seems to me that in most cases Newswriting and American Lit are supposed to be my most important, "god-forgive me for I have not blogged and now im going to hell" kind of classes. nope, sorry, wrong answer.

Let's run down my past week shall we?

-Monday: Didn't have newswriting. blogged. no one read what I blogged about anyways. Didn't attend media lab because I didn't want to be taught by students.

-Tuesday: Had a test (100 pts mind you) in Faith, Religion, Society. Also had to do a presentation on John Milton in Mjr. British Writers I. Got home at 9:30, it was time for beddy bye.

-Wednesday: News Writing: Can't even remember what we were supposed to, that's how bored I was. Skills for Academic Review: Talked. American Lit: Again, so bored out of my mind I was ready to leave at 6:05.

-Thursday: Went over test and Jainism in Faith, Religion, and Society. Got home and visited my brother whos in a group home for another month.

-Friday i wasn't in class because my little brother, who's more important to me than any of these classes, had a hearing. Yeah, he's still in the group home hopefully until the end of the month. NOT A GOOD IDEA TO BE ON MY BAD SIDE FOR THIS MONTH.

Saturday: Step dad got put in the hopsital because of his cancer.

Sunday: Went job hunting.

So..yeah..as you can see if I wanted to blog for 24hrs straight, I would have taken only 02 classes this semester, and I wouldn't have a life. This has come up before between myself and Dr. Jerz, but I had to address it again.

Electronic paper moves from sci-fi to marketplace

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051104/tc_nm/column_pluggedin_dc

In Neal Stephenson's sci-fi novel "The Diamond Age," a young girl's companion is a book with amazing qualities -- it talks, and the words magically change with the story.

It took entire semester...but there we go a reference to The Diamond Age.

If I wasn't bored...

I wouldn't be posting this entry.

Ok..well, here we go..Chapter 10. What can be said about this snoozefest. Obviously everyone was there for the presentation (but me).

Basically the same thing that was said throughout the book were said in the conclusion and Chapter 10. BORING! It's not even worth repeating or interpreting.

I am so glad I sold this book...I'm sorry Dr. Jerz. I know this isn't the response you want for class, but that's exactly how I feel. Nothing more, nothing less. I can't write about these chapters, because their just so boring...

Why I don't like Journalism

I'm sitting at home late last night, listening to some "scary" music on All Saint's Day, wondering as I read the next few chapters in "It Ain't Necessarily So" why I don't like journalism--is it me? Is it the reporters? what is it?

Then I realized what it is. I hate facts. Not useless facts, those are fun!

But I hate that there are certain rules, and that you can't bend them. That does not that there arent rules in creative writing--it just means that the rules that are there can be bent, which appeals to me as a writer.

This isn't a blog entry to destroy Dr. Jerz, or to say that is a bad professor. Quite the opposite actually. I think Dr. Jerz is an excellent professor who sometimes just talks a little too much (not that im one to talk all the time).

I just don't like being told "you have to write this way or that way." I like "you CAN write it this way, OR you CAN write this way--have fun with the way you write, be creative!"

And that, ladies and germs, is why I don't like journalism.