Well, finally I've met one of my short term goals: to become an Archinect member and be able to post blogs of my own. There's just one little, tiny, diminutive problem with this: I have no idea what to write about in this first blog. Nevertheless, I'll take what I learned in my previous English course at E.L.A.C. and apply that to this moment. No, I'm not going to start doing a close reading of some of the blogs - not at this moment, anyway - but I will do something a little more radical.

In my course we read an excerpt from an author who's first name I cannot remember. Her last name was Hampl. (I would look for my English text but I think I sold that book already.) One of the things she wrote about in her excerpt is that the very first draft people sometimes write are usually the thorough expressions that come from deep within the mind. In other words, if you write what might be reffered to as "spontaneous writing," and you just keep on writing and writing without stopping, expressing your innermost feelings and emotions, at that point you are really expressing what the mind wants to express. Sometimes, Hampl writes, this draft does not necessarily have to be true, and not even make sense at the beginning. Nevertheless, at some point the author will understand what is really trying to express.

In a way, what Hampl writes is really true. Many of us do it in many places: journals, diaries, notebooks, when we're bored in a class, have a lot to express etc. etc. At many moments we apply what Hampl talks about and we let our minds express themselves. One of my ways of doing this use to be in my journal, but writing with pen in hand is not something I am really fond of, which would explain my reason of hating in class essays. I'm not one of those typists on computer that type like 90+ words per minute, but I am at what I think is average of 60 words per minute. Well, it has been a while since I last tested myself, so I will be honest and estimate 40 words per minute now. Either way, I like typing and seeing nice characters rather than my chicken scratch on paper done with an inky or "bloody" pen.

This is why I like blogs, and why like many other people I am a member of Myspace and have a blog. Its a great system where I can express my innermost thoughts, feelings, emotions - personal things. Why I joined Archinect and signed up for the School Blog Project is because there is a professional part of me I would also like to portray. Not only will I express my archiectural experiences, but maybe now and then write a little of my school life as well. I think my school experience is pretty interesting once you get to know it: I was rejected to all of the schools, colleges, and universities I applied for during my Senior year in high school, and therefore had to resort to what I originally thought was my worst nightmare. Well, things have definetly changed, and there's no doubt I will end up being trully grateful for receiving so many rejection letters. There's always a reason for why things happened, and I'm currently in the process of seeing the reason why I did not get at this moment where I wanted to go.

Well, other than that, some spelling errors, yes, and some grammar mistakes, but as part of my first draft I'm justified by Hampl that I'm expressing my mind here. The only difference between her argument and what I'm doing is that I have written the truth in here, and not lies as Hampl says we with tend to do at some point.

“The pen is mightier than the sword” ... but sometimes, the pen gives the fingers and hand really bad cramps.