emilicious

I am going to summarize the forward and introduction to Baghdad Burning by Riverbend. The forward (vii-ix) was by Ahdaf Soueif and it gave me a little insight to what I would be reading about in Baghdad Burning. “This book should shame all those with a lingering imperialist bent of mind who see Iraqis (or Arabs, or Muslims, or “third-worldeans”) as somehow lesser or, at best, “developing”,” (Soueif ix). It talks about how the book is mainly placed in Iraq and doesn’t really venture outside of it. It doesn’t give a theory on why the Bush administration invaded Iraq. It is simply a look into what the invasion feels like. The introduction (xi-xxiii) was by James Ridgeway and it described a little about Riverbend and the background of the situation she is in the middle of. She is in her mid-twenties and lives with her mother, father, and brother (E), in Baghdad. Before the war she was at a job that involved computers. She now sits on the roof with E and they have “learned to identify different types of of automatic weapons by the sound of their volleys,” (Ridgeway xi). It said sometimes she had to jump out of bed in the middle of the night because the electricity would come on and she would need to do laundry or update her blog. It gave some background of the war and she calls the efforts of America to help with the government a pro-American puppet show government. I don’t really keep up with the news on what has been and what is presently happening in Iraq. It was really good to get some background on that stuff. Honestly I have no right to have an opinion on the background information they gave in this book. It seems like this book will be really interesting and I am excited to read it.

I live in the dorms at Keene State with my roommate. Therefore I have no room of my own. We have a lounge on our floor that is supposed to be for quiet time, but mine is always filled with people. At home I have my own room. I never really went there to do homework or anything. I don’t think I need a room of my own. I like being around people, I like noise, and I like commotion. My room here is very distracting but I manage. “She may be begining to use writting as an art, not as a method of self-expression,” (Woolf 80). In this quote I believe that Woolf is takling about how woman (after they have a room of their own) could now use their writting as an art form. “So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say,” (Woolf 106).  

“With Apologies to Virginia Woolf”

As I was browsing the internet for something of value I stumbled upon an article that made me turn all shades of green. I was on the celebrity blog, Jezebel. There was an article called Cover Lies: ELLE’s “Intelligent Women” Issue is Kinda, Well, Dumb. ELLE magazine had an “intelligent women” article where they spoke of celebrities, hair stylists, make-up artists, as intelligent women. There are millions of intelligent women on this earth, scholars, poets, authors, and so on. This magazine that is speaking to the women of our country is displaying our hair stylists as the intelligent women of the world. Now I’m sure these women are smart people, but there is just many people that have achieved so much more. Natalie Portman went to Harvard, so what, so did a million other people, it doesn’t make you such an intelligent person that you should have an article on how intelligent you are. I think that the world has so many intelligent women and this article down plays that fact and it makes me ill.

In “Web of Influence” in the book BLOG! by David Klien and Dan Burnstein I really enjoyed reading one informational paragraph that started on page 84 and ended on page 85. The paragraph basically explains what a blog is and little bit of its history. I liked the part where it said in 1999 there were an estimated 50 blogs and in 2004 there were somewhere between 2.4 million to 4.1 million! My point is that it is so crazy that between those five years so much could change. I think that this paragraph is important because it really shows how blogs have advanced. The paragraph also speaks about what exactly blogs are. If someone didn’t know what a blog was they could read this paragraph and get a great understanding of what it really is. For example they say “They are usually presented as a set of “posts,” or individual entries of news or commentary, in reverse chronological order.” In short, this paragraph is important because it addresses every aspect of a blog from someone who may have no idea what a blog is.

I reviewed the blogs, Wonkette and Daily Kos. If I were to say which blog would influence me more for the upcoming 2008 election, I would have to say Daily Kos. Even though politics should be something that really interests me since it is my future, politics really doesn’t interest me. Looking at these blogs Wonkette called itself “D.C. Gossip” which I think is hard to rely on honest information. I have had a lot of experience with gossip and with my experience 99% of gossip is untrue. Wonkette did seem like the more interesting website and may be targeted for people my age. Daily Kos seemed more informational and professional. Daily Kos seemed to have the more serious issues and it may be targeted for a older crowd. Some of the stories on Wonkette were HILLARY TO APPEAR ON TEEVEE’S DAILY SHOW TONIGHT, and HOLLYWOOD CAUSE WATCH: CHANGE VS. FUCKING BEN AFFLECK. Some stories on Daily Kos were Texas, early voting; and will it be a purple state? and FISA Fight: Communications trade group opposed to amnesty. I’m not saying that Daily Kos doesn’t have the occasional silly post such as McCain Wines & Dines His Media Lapdogs, I just think that Daily Kos is more professional looking and more informational. I guess I would look to Daily Kos to get my information on the upcoming election.