Poe's Pretty Petty Pity Party: Part Two

I wanted to do a little exploration this week into criticism and disagreeing with another's point of view. For our last formal writing assignment, we had the option to praise or criticize the author of our chosen article and while I opted out, I was intrigued to the extent that criticizing or disagreeing makes me nervous and how far I'm willing to go to avoid it, especially in person.  Unsurprisingly, I think that disagreeing/arguing is something that is often taught as a "bad" or "scary" thing for people who grew up socialized as women. Women/fem folks are pushed in the direction of quiet, agreeable, and being a doormat when it comes to opinions or big decisions. I have a lot of opinions, thoughts, and perspectives on many topics, from the silly (like are ghosts real or what the best jellybean flavor is) to the very important (women's rights and police brutality) but I really only share those opinions with those I feel really safe with or people who alr...

Compassion . Between the books and interactions I've had recently, compassion has been on my mind. I've been spending time with professors/faculty as well as students around campus and I've noticed that there are times were it seems like the professors and students are almost on opposing sides; where the students get frustrated with the professors regarding assignments or grades, either because they feel some assignment was unfair or too hard or too tedious. And professors can get frustrated when students are late turning in an assignment or don't complete the projects or get lower grades, because often the professors can see the potential in the students and want them to do their best.  Listening to both sides often brings to light an explanation of why something was late; a family member was sick, a stressful day that ended in a migraine, a job that's stressful, children, and pets needing care, or just straight-up burnout that leads to taking the exhaustion and fr...

 This week we read some quirky and interesting articles while we practice the art of summarization. I found today's article to be fun and a good launching point for discussing many different sides and topics. We read "Why Wikipedia is so Tough on Bigfoot" by Stephen Harrison, which is an informative and witty piece.  In this article, Harrison dives into the conflicting sides of cryptozoology; a legitimate study of science or purely a fantastical pseudoscience. Harrison discusses the type of language that is used (and occasionally enforced) by the moderators of Wikipedia regarding articles on cryptids and the objections bigfoot believers make about the dismissive and often patronizing tone that is used on the popular information site. He shares the perspective of the Wiki moderators, defenders of misinformation, and how they're working to maintain a source that can be trusted.  "We do not allow Young Earthers or Flat Earthers to dictate our geology coverage....

Hello and welcome to Poe's Pretty Petty Pity Party: Part Two. On this blog, we're going to be delving into formal writings, from famed authors like Edgar Allen Poe or Stephen King to the works that we create. This is going to be a space for the admiration of well-written horror and supernatural tales by learning how to write well myself.  My name is Rhanna, I'm an electrical engineering major at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. I picked electrical engineering after I was introduced to Arduinos and coding and the concept that "Hey, I'm smart, I could learn how to make robots!". I owned and singlehandedly ran a bakery from 2018 to 2021 and experienced a whole lot of burnout. In 2022 I earned my GED and started taking classes in the fall. I really enjoy learning about all topics, I've yet to find something that bores me and every new class is bursting with new nerdy things to learn.  Little Soup (top) and Little Luna (the kitten)   I live with my partner...