do not go gentle into that night.

Obituary

    Sam Stephens, the author and artist behind many unique and beautiful comic books, died peacefully in his sleep at age 76. He was happy and healthy with a life partner like no other and two wonderful children who loved and adored him. 

note: I'm sorry i couldn't really make this any longer than it is because that's all I really want? I don't really think that I can really expand on it very much. I'm sorry.

lmao rip me in half i lov death

1. Glenn Hegar is a comptroller and was asked by Sen. Royce West, if the sky was falling in Texas. Fossil fuel prices have been dropping recently and West was concerned about it. In response, Hegar told west that he would much rather be in Texas than in the other 49 states, but that they do still need to keep a close watch on the falling prices. He also said that despite the decline in prices, the state budget isn't in jeopardy of being dragged down by the energy market. Severance taxes take 7.5 percent of the market value for natural gas, and 4.6 percent for oil. The prices for oil and natural gases are going down, so the money being brought in is going to go down as well.

2. Donald Trump has decided that instead of going to the debate, he is going to host an event dedicated to war veterans and wounded warriors. The Iowa caucuses are happening on monday, and this Fox News debate is the last one before the caucuses. Im not sure what I think about his decision. I think that raising money for veterans is a surprisingly good thing of him to do, but the reason he's not doing the debate makes me angry. He thinks he has the right to be a sexist asshole and make excuses that that reporter woman was only standing up for herself because he thought she was on her period?! no thank you good bye I don't need this in my life. Clinton and Sanders aren't sure if they want to go to the debate that is now taking place on the 4th of february, which is 5 days before the next debate. The event wasn't sanctioned by the democratic national committee so the newly proposed debate may not happen.

3. Mosquitos are carrying viruses said to be causing birth defects, and the troops that were called in are going into homes and trying to exterminate all the mosquitos in the area. Zika and dengue are diseases that are carried by the mosquitos. Microcephaly is a birth defect caused but zika. The health minister said that the battle was already lost, but that just means that he's lost hope of containing the virus, and I doubt that the public needs that right now. The U.S Centers for disease control and prevention are telling pregnant women to reconsider traveling to brazil and surrounding countries and territories because of the outbreak. Brazil also recommended not getting pregnant until the crisis has passed. 

4. UT professor Weinburg said that he was going to ban guns from his classrooms. UT chancellor McRaven said that they would be following the law, like you're supposed to do and uphold the campus carry law. The open carry law went into effect on the 1st of January. Justin said that the people who were concealed carrying are still doing that, and that we just haven't seen people carrying guns and other weapons around openly. 

5. Ken Paxton is a Texas Attorney General, and he's angry because Obama relocated seven syrians (a couple and their 5 kids) to Houston without a one week notice prior to the relocation. Paxton filed a suit on Dec. 2 under the pretense of fears of terrorism and that the government can't accurately do background checks on all of the people fleeing Syria. Judge David Godbey rejected the request saying that paxton's reasons were all hearsay with no truth behind it. 

6. Texas could win it's 1,000 game in the school's history if they beat Kansas on Wednesday night. It's been a strong season for basketball, and the only problem is that there are a lot of turnovers happening. 

7. I liked the New York Times obituary better. I think it's a little more personable and not so much reporting his death as it is remembering him and what he's done. 

i like this Mitch Albom character man

Writing and Things 

1. The article is about reclaiming the attention that readers used to have regarding newspaper. Because we have technology and faster ways of getting information, newspapers have to start creating and stylizing again, so that the reader wants to read it not just for the information, but for the style of the story, the action and suspense. Journalists thought for a while that to get better, they had to copy what the competition was doing. But that is not the way to go, because the competition does everything faster than the newspaper. 

2. LEADS

  Leads grab the readers attention, that's all they're there for. Nowadays in feature writing, journalists are starting to stray from the outline of "all the information goes in the first paragraph", and instead painting pictures, scenes, and writing actual stories instead of dumping information onto the paper. Journalists use misdirection, which manipulates the reader into thinking the story is about one thing, and then switching the entire story around to get at the actual serious story that the journalist reported. Mitch Albom says that those kinds of leads "arrest the readers attention" and prove for better feature writing when it comes to making it come to life. 

3. THE MIDDLE

  Albom talks about getting away from making sweeping broad statements and just barely scratching the surface of the matter. Tons of journalists do that and it doesn't capture and keep the readers attention as well as a real in depth story would. He suggests finding a person or people and talking to those individuals not just about the situation, but their lives how the work what they do and how much they make. After getting that information, then go into the serious situation at hand. Make the story personable and intimate. 

4. THE END

  A lot of journalists who are just starting out, tend to make the end of their article blunt, to the point and very out in the open. But this may not be the best thing to do. Mitch says that endings work better if they're subtle and hint at your position rather than just flat out saying what you think. If the ending is good enough it will stay with the reader, it will resonate with them, and you will have achieved your goal, which is to create a lasting impression on the reader when they have finished reading the piece. 

 I always try to liken good writing – the stuff that I read that I look at and put it down and say “wow” – is like dropping a stone or throwing a stone in a calm lake. The really good part of the writing is all the ripples that come as a result of it. The stone is the paragraph, the ripples are the way that it resonates.

I chose this quote mainly because I think it will help me with writing my own ending better, and also because i felt this way about the ending that was written in the piece that you read to us today. These sorts of endings, whether or not it's a journalistic piece or a novel, always manage to have me staring at a wall blankly and just thinking about it and pondering what exactly it meant. 

  

I am a Suffering Man™

And these are my suffering hands™

        Alan Rickman is dead and so am I. He was such a good actor and person, and I just love him so much. He was passionate and strong and cared about people and he shouldn't have died. I'm definitely going to watch Harry Potter when I get home.

       I read the articles about Alan, David Bowie, and Amiri Baraka. All three of these people were passionate and caring and just ?? really chill people who made a difference in the people around. Amiri and Alan's article was a lot longer than bowie's, as they were less well known by the general public.

Pope Francis has nice hands

1. The author is writing about Autism and the struggle that these parents go through with children who are on the more intense part of that spectrum. The article calls to attention not just what this one person went through, but gives the reader more perspective on this condition and the way they are treated.

2. The article is pretty objective, it's less of a story than the one we read in class, but it does make sure to keep away from really inserting the writer into it.

3. instead of the writer just putting information about what happened to this mom, they take you into the life of this family and use a lot of sensory details that put you in the moment. As is you were a spectator looking through a window sort of.

4. The majority was based on interviews. The woman was dead by the time the article was being made, so there wasn't any way to see first hand the events that took place. The writer had to have gone to a billion places to get all this information. There is no way that they went to her brother and asked what happened. It wouldn't have been a good story if that's all they had done. They went to the jail, the brother, the friends, and even got to hear some stuff from the autistic child. It was some pretty ace reporting if you ask me.

5. "Sky sorry hit momma."
    "Life with Sky these past few years has been very isolating for the two of us."
   "Try spending an evening sitting in a closet with your back to the door, trying to hold it shut while your child kicks it in." 
The writer probably asked what life was like living with sky, and how he reacted to his mothers death

my blog is pure okay?

1. A lot of journalists who are just starting out tend to write about data or issues and don't tell a story, which is what gets readers to pay attention. You have to think about a specific theme and add those human elements. While facts are important and you need to have them in there, you also ned to think about joy and emotion and humor. Anything that will attract the reader and make them think about the story you wrote.

2. When writing a journalism story it's a good idea to use or consider dramatic devices, such as drama, character, conflict, dialogue, order, anticipation, and climax. These all help to progress your story and have those human terms in there that will keep the reader hooked and feeling the things you want them to feel.

im really gay wow

mark kauzlarich 

i like this picture because im super proud of the queer community as a queer person. What a good time!!!!

tomas munita

its really sad and im sad and everything is sad

daniel etter

he a happy man good job nice time. 

best song of 2015: Ong Ong by Blur beceause its really cute and Blur is so pure and nice

best movie of 2015: Krampus because it was good?? Lots of body horror and stuff. Blood everywhere

most important person of 2015: its-a me a-mario. i dont know. i like mario. hes cool. 

biggest news/entertainment story of 2015: Caitlyn jenner coming out/transitioning!!! a very big moral boost for other trans girls who are afraid to come out or take that first step into their transition!!!!!!

1. My holiday was okay i guess?? I went to a picnic with my friends and that was pretty great.

2. umm I want to climb more and get a little more upper body strength. Also, becoming more comfortable with medias other than pencil and marker in art. 

3. im looking forward to the summer and not dealing with my problems :)