Casey's Casual Conversation Corner

The aspect of English 198 that stands out above the rest of my classes is the fun we're able to have in the class. Most of my classes have no room for discussions, and it's disappointing as I find that to be the most enjoyable part of classes. That's a problem that I don't have to worry about in English. The people in the class are great too. No one takes themselves too seriously, and it's just a good time. I realized how much I enjoyed the class when class got canceled on Wednesday. I'm not saying I was emotionally ruined, but I wasn't as thrilled to be missing a class as I would've been if any other teacher canceled. The class also makes a lot of sense format-wise. We discussed some topics, and the relatively informal discussions made the information stick in my brain better. With classes that aren't fun and feel like we're being forced to listen, my brain is actively unhappy learning the information; it just takes more to grasp concepts. Engli...

I think my writing process has been effective. I started writing on drafting say and continued making progress throughout the week. I went to the library Friday and really focused on getting a good rough draft made. I still would have liked to go to the library to make more meaningful progress before Thursday (the day before the peer review), but that deadline inspired me. Now, it is Sunday, and I'm at the library again. I plan to make any final changes to my draft and record it tomorrow. Again, waiting until now to work on revising my rough draft wasn't the best idea, but I am happy with my progress. My writing process has always been procrastinatory, and my best results have come from setting smaller deadlines for myself. Or, more accurately, when my teachers set smaller deadlines for the class. I just can't focus when the threat of turning the assignment in late is urgent. I tend to do my best writing late at night, but there are so many cases where I can immediately tel...

Later today, I will be having my first band practice in college. To say I am excited is, of course, an understatement. I want to take this DIY blog to reflect on my relationship with music up to this point. Or at least, the SparkNotes version because this would be a really long blog if I was unnecessarily long-winded. I liked music when I was younger and had several bouts of attempting to take piano lessons, which I hated. When I was 11ish, I picked up the piano again to learn songs from video games. Learning from YouTube, I got way better at piano and eventually, I went from learning video game music to Billy Joel, Elton John, and other more retro stuff. That's around the time I got really into listening to music. And yes, it was also my "born in the wrong generation" phase. I cringe thinking about it. My brother (I think partially inspired by me) started learning guitar soon after this point, and I stuck with piano. Then, the quarantine happened. Around May of 2020, my ...

One of my favorite TV shows is Game of Thrones, which is nice for this prompt because it can essentially be boiled down into a family drama. There are also a lot of very different portrayals of family, with probably the only healthy one being the Starks. The show basically involves the great families of Westeros as they fight to maintain power and/or gain more power. As I said, the Starks are probably the only family with a decent dynamic. I say decent because it is certainly not perfect. The main patriarch is Ned Stark, a highly honorable man who does his best for his bannermen and family. Although a stoic and sometimes emotionally distant man, he is a good father, teaching his children honor and how to be good people in a not-so-good world. He has 6 children, but a lot of family drama comes from particularly Jon Snow, who is Ned's illegitimate child (later, it's revealed that Jon is actually Ned's sister's child whom he promised to keep secret and take care of). Ned...