Reilly's Ramblings

To be honest, I have no clue what’s going on right now or even what day it is today. The sad thing is that though I passed out on my mom’s couch and rested peacefully for a couple of hours, I still had homework to complete. My mom told me to “get up and finish your homework so you can go to bed.” I woke up and started on my homework for a couple of hours.

I went to bed at midnight and woke up clearly at 2:50 A.M. this morning. I couldn’t believe that I was wide awake and ready to start my day already. I spent four hours finishing writing, restructuring, editing, and publishing my final draft for my first article in my bed. Then I read an article about someone who donated one of his kidneys to a stranger for 15-20 minutes.

I finally laid back down at 7:20 A.M. and got out of bed again at 7:40 A.M. At this time, I’m running entirely behind schedule. I didn’t eat breakfast and left my mom’s at 8 A.M. I arrived at school at 8:03 A.M. and entered class at 8:06 A.M. The feeling that I have is that I’m tired, I’m hungry, and want to go back to bed.

The first name Reilly is in a drink and business. If you hear the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts song in a commercial and sing it to me, I not bothered by it anymore. The drink O’Reilly’s Irish Cream is a liquor. I wished that my name is after the beverage that would’ve been cool. But my mom liked the name because it was very Irish and a cute name for a girl. Someone pronounced as Ree-lee also like really.

The last name Mahon is a very Irish last name. My mom’s last name is Persinger, which is also a very Irish last name. My last name spelled backward is no-ham. That’s pretty cool because I can say that I have bacon but no-ham. Ha Ha Ha! I have people pronounced my last name as May Hon, Ma Han, Ma Hon.

Write as a sarcastic politician:

Good morning, my name is Reilly Mahon. My first name is most recognizable with the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. Please don’t sing the song; I’ve heard it too many time in my life. It is also familiar with the liquor, O’Reilly’s Irish Cream. Pronounce my first name as Ry-lee, not Ree-lee. My first and last name have a very Irish background. If you try to spell my last name backward, it will be no-ham. Please, no food jokes about having bacon but no-ham. Pronounce the name as May-Han, not May Hon, Ma Han, or Ma Hon.

On Sunday, Lindsey was working at Lowe’s in Sioux City as a cashier and had to close that night. A co-worker told her while she was closing that there is a store meeting that she had to go. If she didn’t go, then she would be in trouble.

She said, “I’ll guess I go then.”

She walks into the back of the large Lowe’s building in the patio area. She sits down in a hard, plastic, dusty chair at the end of the patio section.

A new guy that starting at Lowe’s was sitting behind her kicking her chair throughout the entire meeting. Lindsey finally grabbed his leg and took off his shoe. She threw his shoe back at him.

The store manager, Tom, walks into the meeting in his dad-clothes with his white dad-tennis shoes. He gets up to the microphone, and it is too soft for anyone, especially anyone in the back to hear.

No one is paying any attention to what Tom has to say at the meeting. He hands out awards to all of the assistant managers at Lowe’s. While he’s handing out the awards, he mispronounced all of the names of the assistant managers.

At the end of the store meeting, Tom opens up to a Q & A session. Someone asked a question of why are hours being cut down. He gets very defensive about the hours cut for some people.

A coworker wanted to ask Tom if he’s sleeping with one of the cashiers but didn’t ask the question afraid of losing the job. Finally, the store-meeting was over.

After the meeting ends, everyone took the free candy available at the meeting and leaves the store. Lindsey and some of her co-workers stood in the parking lot and talked. They talked about how the one-hour session was worthless and talking shit about Tom, the store manager, who takes himself way too seriously.

It was a beautiful day outside for a September day. Leaves are starting to fall off of trees. Not a lot of clouds in the sky. “An unusual day for this time of year,” said the radio DJ on Classic Rock 99.5.

I’m driving in my 2002 Chevy Tracker with one of my taillights covered in red lens tape. Body and frame damages and no bumper. The tape covered some of the scars on my Tracker from a car accident that happened less than a month ago.

I was finally going to my doctor’s appointment that I missed on Friday. Instead, I took my 13-year-old half lab and half chow dog Pegasus to her doctor’s office.

I was leaving school after being there for a couple of hours. I had to have a flu shot. I thought to myself, “Yay, needles,” as I’m driving to the doctor’s office.

I also thought this would be one of the last times I go to this doctor’s office. My doctor’s office ranges from birth to 22-year-olds for patients.

My mind was also telling me to get there in time for the appointment. Luckily, the drive was only less than five minutes from Morningside College and plenty of parking spaces open.

The experience with this assignment was unique because carrying a box of cookies to classes every day for three days was stressful with a backpack full of school work. It was hard at first to make the cookies go away but the next two days made it easy for the cookies to go away.

On day one, it was challenging to try to get someone to take one bag of cookies. Luckily, the activities fair was on the same day as this story first started. I took the box and open it up and set it in front of the Mass Communications table in the fair.

Nobody took a bag except when the fair was over. There was a lady at the table to the right of me that looked at my cookie box.  Another classmate, Mari Pizzini, also brought her box of cookies to the activities fair. They were Scooby Snacks.

She asked, “What kind of cookies do you have?”

I said, “Fudge Stripes.”

“Can I have a bag?”

“Sure you can.”

I tossed the bag of cookies to her, and she said, “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

On the next day, my progress of making the box of cookies empty was much better than the day before. Five bags of cookies less to have with me. I gave out two bags of cookies to Katy Hackworth and Nathan Hoogland. It was an awkward but funny experience. We laughed as gave them cookies.

Quickly after that, I asked Jenny Mansfield if she wanted a bag of cookies. She said yes and gave her a bag of cookies. Soon after, Jonathan Covert realized that I was giving out cookies and asked for bag himself. I said yes and gave him a bag of cookies. Katy, Nathan, and Jonathan all went to their class afterward.

I took my box of cookies onto the second floor of the library. Set them in front of my computer so when people walk by; they can see the cookies. Nobody took a bag of cookies for a while, and so made a sign that said: “FREE Yummy Cookies” to put in front of the box.

After a while, Steph Davis noticed the sign and was confused. I told her that it was for an assignment for class and she repeated what I said.

She says in a loud voice, “THANK YOU!!” and takes a bag for herself.

On day three, my progress was even better than yesterday. I gave out six bags of cookies. Kaitlyn Polk, who was leaving campus that day, before my class start. Morgan P., who was confused about why I was giving out cookies and was skeptical about the whole thing. Katie McClintock, who asked why I was giving out cookies and explained why she was seeing people giving out cookies.

The last three bags of cookies were giving out before the J.D. Scholten rally. They noticed the sign on the box and asked if there were cookies inside and said yes. They didn’t believe me, so I opened up the box to show that there are cookies inside.

They asked if they can have them and I said yes. I tossed the bags to them, and they said, “Thank you.”

I said, “You’re welcome.”

Finally, all twelve bags of cookies were gone. The struggle of carrying a box of cookies and trying to make them go away was gone.

Original lede: “On Oct. 23, chemists around the world come together to celebrate a sacred holiday amongst their profession: Mole Day. On that same day, millions of non-chemists look in confusion as chemists wish them a happy Mole Day.”

Revision #1: For chemists, Oct. 23 is a day that celebrates a sacred holiday, called Mole Day. For non-chemists, Oct. 23 it is just another day in the month.

Revision #2: Mole Day is a holiday that is not well-known to many people, but for chemists, it is an essential holiday to be celebrated.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-an-ex-cop-rigged-mcdonalds-monopoly-game-and-stole-millions

Original Lede: “Jacobson was the head of a sprawling network of mobsters, psychics, strip-club owners, convicts, drug traffickers, and even a family of Mormons, who had falsely claimed more than $24 million in cash and prizes.”

The lede works because it shows how huge this conspiracy actually is and how many people it took to rig the Monopoly game. It grabbed my attention by mentioning the different groups of people that helped Jackson and how much money and prizes were falsely claimed.

New ways to write lede:

Topical: Jerome Jackson and his crew had falsely claimed more than $24 million dollars in cash and prizes in 12 years from the McDonald’s Monopoly Game.

Topical: More than $24 million was falsely claimed in cash and prizes from the McDonald’s Monopoly game by one man and his large network of connections.

Contrast: It took mobsters, strip-club owners, convicts, psychics, drug traffickers, and a family of Mormons to help one man steal cash and prizes that are worth more than $24 million from the McDonald’s Monopoly game.

Question: How can someone or even large groups of people working together steal over $24 million in cash and prizes from the Monopoly game at McDonald’s?

Question/Contrast: Why would someone go through all the trouble to have lots of people help him steal millions of dollars from a game?

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/06/les-moonves-and-cbs-face-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct

Characters – Les Moonves-main character, Illeana Douglas-alleged victim number 1, Janet Jones-alleged victim number two, Christine Peters- victim number three, a prominent actress- victim number 4, Dinah Kirgo- victim number five, former child actress Kimberly-victim number six, CBS workers accused of sexual harassment, Jeff Fager- executive producer of ’60 Minutes’

Narrative Structure – Starts out with who Les Moonves is, then goes straight into the allegations, then the history of the allegations, how long CBS and it’s current and former workers knew about this, Moonves statement about the allegations, CBS statement about the allegations, CBS vs. Viacom, and Douglas’ allegation against Moonves. CBS statement about Moonves trying to kiss Douglas but denies any sexual harassment, continuing Douglas’ allegation, Jones’ allegation against Moonves, Peters’ allegation against Moonves, and a prominent actress’ allegation against Moonves. Dinah Kirgo’s allegations against Moonves, Kimberly’s allegations against Moonves, how CBS handles sexual harassment allegations and what they do about it, CBS workers accused of sexual harassment, claims against Fager, how Fager covered up accusations against other CBS workers, and how sexual harassment happens all across Hollywood.

Themes – Sexual harassment in Hollywood and how television stations handle sexual harassment claims

Story: The N.F.L. Stiff-Armed Trump. Now He Is Heckling From the White House. – The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/magazine/nfl-owners-trump-football.html?action=click&module=In%20Other%20News&pgtype=Homepage&action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage

Five additional feature-ish stories that can come out of this story:

1. How has politics affected sports since Trump came into office?
2. Why is politics in every aspect of life since Trump became President?
3. Can politics be removed from anything from sports to entertainment to everyday conversations?
4. When can sports be just sports again?
5. How do sports like football feel about all this attention on them because of the President?

The one that I would like to do most is number three. The reason is that ever since the 2016 presidential election, politics have become the basis of news in every aspect and Trump or his administration is in the headlines every single day.

Health: Detection of breast cancer genetics in younger women

What can women do when they’re younger to detect if they have any breast cancer genetics?

When they found out if they do have the genetics, what changes do they need to make to give themselves better chances of not having breast cancer?

Sources: online medical websites dedicated to women’s health and breast cancer

Quotes: young women who may or may not have the genetics, women that didn’t know about the genetics, campus nurse, doctors that studied breast cancer

Entitlement: Ways of seeing someone who’s entitled

How to detect if someone believes that they are entitled to anything and everything?

In what ways can anyone see an entitled person around them in public, friends, or family members?

Sources: online websites that have articles about entitlement and the mental history behind entitlement qualities

Quotes: People who have seen entitled people, people who have dealt personally with entitled people, and entitled people themselves