Dayne's Blog 2023

Walking through the packed parking lot of a University smelling hotdogs and hamburgers has football game-day written all over it. It’s Iowa, so you’re almost guaranteed to see an empty can of beer roll past you as it gets carried with the wind. Everywhere you look you see maroon and black, the colors that Morningside fans wear with pride. Here, Saturdays get treated as a holiday as hundreds of fans swarm the bleachers to cheer on their hometown heroes.

Morningside University is in Sioux City, Iowa and it is the home of the Mustangs who are multiple time national football champions. Across America, going to, or watching, college football games on Saturdays is a tradition. Today, the Mustangs host conference rivals in Northwestern University so you’d bet that you want to be at the game feeling the catastrophic atmosphere as opposed to watching the game in the dorms on a twin bed.

One box of fruit snacks vs. Morningside. How will people react to free fruit snacks? Will they think I’m crazy? Will they be suspicious? Will they take them with no hesitation? We shall find out!

During this observation period, I handed the snacks out to some people and for others I simply offered.

The first person that I handed, or at least attempted to hand, a pack of fruit snacks to was a male in the library who was just leaving from grabbing coffee so I figured he could use to some food as well. No words said, I stuck out the fruit snacks quickly and the student declined politely while continuing to walk.

Okay, on to the next. This times I wanted to actually offer them to someone and keep them in the box. So, I walked up to a group of women upstairs in the library and whispered, “would any of you like some free fruit snacks?” I was asked why they were free and if anything was wrong with them but once I cleared the air the women gladly took 1 pack each with a smile on their faces. I probably would be skeptical about free fruit snacks as well.

Given my success with the last group, I felt as if that method was too easy. The last method I tried was standing by the cafe and holding up the box while saying “FIRST COME FIRST SERVED!” The main reaction I got from people were laughs and straight up being ignored, aka no reaction. At that point I felt like I wasn’t being take seriously and I even felt like I was being punished as if I was on Impractical Jokers or something.

I was able to hand out a couple more packs without any question to a group of football players on campus that I am familiar with. Didn’t expect any of those guys to pass up a chance at a free snack! I was left with 2 packs and honestly, I took those home and ate them for myself. Ross was so kind as to give me a box for free so I figured a little indulgence for myself wouldn’t hurt anybody!

I recently watched a movie on Netflix called ‘The Hunt’. This was a movie about a woman and 11 other adult citizens who were chosen by elites to participate in a fake world where the elites essentially attempt to hunt them down and pick them off. This move is a Thriller film directed by Craig Zobel. ‘The Hunt’ is a rated R movie. Starring Betty Gilpin and Hilary Swank, the movie was released in 2020.

Personally, I am a fan of thriller movies so this is one that excited me and kept me on my toes. It was easy to tell by the production that there was a lot of money put into this movie and Zobel did not disappoint. I feel like the plot was different from lot of recent movies that have come out in a sense that it wasn’t too predictable. Watching this movie for the first time kept me guessing and I like that you never fully understand the “why” of what is happening until the very end of the movie. I feel like movies that are easy to predict are boring and that’s what makes this movie exciting to watch.

The acting in this movie was top tier in my opinion. The main actor, Betty Gilpin is a well-known actress and the perfect person for the role she was given (a badass). Hilary Swank is also a super well-known actress who has won 2 Oscars and multiple other awards for her roles in other movies and shows. Aside from these two women, the acting could always be a bit better from the other characters, but nevertheless, the vision the director had came to fruition and the cast got the job done.

One thing I will say that I didn’t like as much was the very ending. It was good in that we figured out why the 12 people were chosen to be hunted, but the action between Hilary and Betty could have been a tad more realistic.

As far as cinematography, this movie did a good job of capturing feelings and emotions with camera angles. A lot of movies do a good job with this because it is kind of a rule of thumb for movies, but it’s not overdone or lacking any sort of cinematography, so I think the movie was well shot. Also, this could also be considered an action movie and I noticed that the camera was always moving and panning to different angles and telling a story in the way, so I applaud the filmmakers for that as well.

Any adult who is a fan of thrillers and actions movies would be a fan of this movie. I feel like there is not too much to dislike about it and there aren’t too many movies that have the same storyline as this one. A lot of movies nowadays are like recreations of preexisting movies but this one was actually one that I found to be different and interesting. It almost gave me Hunger Games vibes in the beginning but I quickly realized that this was something far different. In a good way.

Personally, I would rate this movie a 3.1/4 so I think you should go watch it!

I believe in confidence, not only is it important to have confidence, but to be confident in oneself. Nothing allows you to achieve more and push yourself to your limits like confidence does. I almost see self-confidence as a drug, one that will leave a positive effect on your life. I can tell you from personal experience that being confident in yourself can take you places you never thought that you would be.

Being a confident in yourself doesn’t always mean that you are an arrogant person. I feel like there is a fine line between being arrogant and being humble/confident.

I’ve played sports like basketball and football the majority of my life and the first thing any high-level athlete will tell you that you need in order to succeed at a high level is confidence. Growing up I always believed in myself even when no one else did. Not only does confidence provide for a great sports experience, but I believe it also translates over to the real world.

Personally, I’ve never been the studying type when it comes to school. Somehow, all throughout high school I managed to get by with good test grades purely based off of confidence and belief in my smarts. I always encourage my peers who are nervous about testing, or tell themselves they are bad test-takers to just be confident in their studies and not to overthink it.

My senior year of high school I had a classmate turn to me and ask me what I do to stay so calm and collected while presenting in front of the class. While I couldn’t blame this on an overload of rehearsal and study, I kept it honest and told him that I honestly just go with the flow and believe in my abilities while trying not to overthink. After presenting that day, the same classmate came back up to me and thanked me for what I thought at the time was meaningless advice.

Everyone is different and that’s to be understood, but if you’re reading or listening to this, just be confident in yourself. Everything you do begins with you and if you don’t believe in yourself then you already failed. I promise it will take you a long way!

5 Things I love about myself, and 2 things I dislike.

1. I love my sense of humor. I feel like this is one of my greatest traits because it is a big part of who I am and having a great sense of humor keeps me smiling as well as making others smile.
2. I love that I am an understanding person. I have an open mind to things and I love that about myself. I can’t stand people who are closed-minded and can’t take things into consideration.
3. I love that am in intelligent person. I feel like common sense, and gaining knowledge comes easy to me and lord knows that everyone can’t say the same.
4. I love being athletic. Being an athlete has always been a huge part of my life and has opened many doors for me that maybe wouldn’t have been available had I not been an athlete.
5. I love that I can depend on myself. When nobody else is around I can always depend on myself and I feel like everyone can’t say the same. I love that I love myself.

1. I dislike that I became undisciplined. After my freshman year of college I stopped working out and holding myself accountable to taking care of business and I hate that I let myself do that.
2. I also dislike that I am about 5’7. I wish I was closer to 6’2 because I believe that I would be in the NFL right now if I was!

I thanked Ross for sharing his chocolate donut with me as I watched him rip off a 2 Inch piece for me. The chocolate isn’t glazy and soft, it’s a bit harder and looks like it was stuck on top. The breading of the donut feels grainy, like it’s been left out for a few hours. I wasn’t satisfied by this cake donut at all, especially because the chocolate was stiff and almost tasted like dark chocolate.

As I stuck my fork into the ripe yellow pineapple I could see the juices dripping off before taking a bite. Making my teeth feel sensitive from the cold, the soft & juicy pineapple exploded with sweetness as I bit into it for the first time. Eating this pineapple was like being on the beach in 90 degree weather. I was only left wanting more of the pineapple given that it left a bitter taste shortly after finishing. I want the sweet taste back.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/28/louisiana-bayou-levee-gulf?src=longreads

This is a story about a heroic man who saved his town, but wanted to be stopped by the government. Personally, I don’t really like the lead to the story because it isn’t as interesting as the title. When I initially read the title to the story, but the lead was so long and informative that it already began to bore me.

1. “We wouldn’t have a community,” said 69-year-old Windell Curole. Curole is eluding to his efforts to save his community while disobeying federal officials to do so. Had Curole surrendered to federal resistance of his plan, the Gialliano, Louisiana community could have been left is far worse condition.
2. 69-year-old Windell Curole, accompanied by others seeking refuge from Hurricane Ida, gazed out of the window of Lady of Sea Hospital as heavy wind force ripped apart surrounding buildings. Following Hurricane Ida, Curole went against the requests of federal officials to save his community. Why did the government want to stop Curole?
3. In the fall of 2021, Lady of Sea Hospital in Galliano, Louisiana was home to refugees seeking shelter from Hurricane Ida. Among those seeking refuge was 69-year-old Windell Curole who had been a lifelong resident of the area. Curole was willing to help his community even if it meant going going against government commands.

Characters, narrative structure, and themes. About? True, why or why not?

Danger on the Divide

Maggie Slepian: Maggie is the main character/storyteller. She is an over-thinker and someone who comes off as very reserved and self-conscious on this biking adventure and in general.

Matt: Matt is the biking partner of Maggie who ends up getting really sick and deciding to keep biking hundreds of miles. Matt is a professional and someone who Maggie trusted.

Andrew: Andrew is one of the Search and Rescue volunteers who arrived on the scene to help Maggie and Matt.

Ed: Ed is also a Search and Rescue volunteer who was sent to help out Maggie and Matt. Ed keeps in contact with Maggie following the incident and is able to offer Maggie some peace of mind about what happened.

The narrative structure of this story is the Martini Glass structure. The story begins with some key facts about Maggie, what she does, and the situation they are in the at the moment. After that, the story is mainly put into chronological order. There is no real twist to the story aside from them getting the help that they needed, but the Martini Glass structure is the style that Maggie used to tell this story.

This story is mainly about danger and allowing personal thoughts or self-consciousness to lead yourself and others into a dangerous situation. From this story, I think you can learn to speak up for yourself and to go with your gut feeling about situations, especially ones that can lead to danger.

I do believe this story is true. I believe this because the thought process of Maggie throughout the story is very vivid and comes off as authentic. Throughout the story Maggie admits and acknowledges that some of her actions, or lack there of, were made out of embarrassment and or shyness. I just feel like the way she takes us through all of the thoughts and emotions that she felt at the time were real and nothing was sugar-coated.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/11/us/politics/trump-debate-performance.html

Here, is and article about the presidential debate from last night in which the Trump says he had a great debate against Kamala Harris while his allies supposedly think otherwise.

1. Talk to people on campus and get their opinions of the debate
2. Ask Donald Trump why he thinks the debate was a 3 on 1
3. Speak with Kamala about how she thinks the debate went
4. Talk to some colleagues of Trump and get their opinions
5. Talk with Trump about whether his preparation played a part in his performance

I think talking to students on campus and getting their opinions of the presidential debate is the feature that I would be most likely to do because of proximity. Right now we are on a college campus and I’m sure there are a lot of students of have varying opinions about the outcome of the debate. We all know that Trump wouldn’t admit losing the debate no matter what, so I would want to see if his opinions on the debate would be in line with the majority of viewers.