the PWP keeps on growing.

Stepping away from the idea of relationships and distance many face on a daily basis, I decided to take a different path for this personal web project I have to complete for my writing intensive class. 

"i cant get Chicago off my mind..."

Living in Chicago, i'm constantly faced with the loud noises of the "el", the sirens, the cabs, the wind, and of course all the tourists! It's almost impossible to avoid while living in the very populated loop. Yet, if you search hard enough you can escape from the crazy city life and find silence in many different locations. One may think its impossible to actually get Chicago off their mind, especially while living right inside one of the craziest cities on earth, and that's where i got my idea:

The Urban Oasis Blog: Finding Silence Within the Hustle and Bustle of City Life. 

I have always been a city girl at heart, even though I grew up in a little town in Minnesota. For as much as I love the city, I still like my calmness and silence, therefore, I have decided to find numerous "quiet" areas in the city. People will be able to see pictures of all the places I visit as well as what i saw while the visit took place.

I also want people from other areas to be able to submit their own findings so when people visit the page, they'll be able to experience silence in other cities, not just Chicago.

Interrogating Texts...

When faced with any type of reading, I always try to look at it with an open mind, even it it's not something i'm interested in, or something I find very intriguing, I still give it a chance. Unfortunately, I don't think that is the case when it comes to many.
Texts today need to be short and sweet. Most reading is done on the computer today, and with the crazy obsession with social networking, and other online websites, it's easy to say that many get distracted. I, am not ashamed to admit that by the fourth or fifth paragraph i start to "skim" the text. I feel like people need to say a lot, and they think they look "impressive" when they write more than they need to.
Its not hard to create a point in a few words...poets do it all the time, right? Therefore I don't understand why people find the need to bore us with useless information that goes right past our eyes, and doesn't even sit and process.
Most people just want to read the facts, the highlights...ya know, the interesting stuff, so when it comes to interrogating texts, that is usually what we look for.

Face it, in today's world everything has to be short. We have 160 characters to text, 140 to tweet, and anything after that looses interest. I am by no means saying that news stories should be brought to us in twitter format, I just think that its easier for many to comprehend, therefore proving that the longer the text the more we get distracted by other things. We don't have time to read long stories today because we're so fast paced. I just wonder what it will be like 10 years from now?

the PWP continues to grow...

The feedback received in class really helped me figure out where I wanted to go with the project. I wanted to stick with the long distance relationship concept, but rather than making it about my own relationship to step outside of the box and direct it more towards how you can make a relationship last. How one deals with being away from loved ones for long periods of time, and how the technology we have today can actually allow two people to be connected at all times, even if they are in separate parts of the country.
I, by no means am a genius on the whole subject so not only will I teach myself things but also reach out to other people who are in the same situation.
Now the hard part, where to start, and what to call it...

The PWP Grows.

After sitting in class this past week and learning about the blog I'll be creating I had a lot of thoughts go through my head. Of course being a music business major I automatically leaned toward something in that direction. I had all sorts of cool ideas about how I could maybe even turn this web project into something more, almost as if it were a music magazine that details the alternative and local music scene. But after lots of contemplating and fighting with ideas I thought to step out of my comfort zone and maybe talk about something many can relate to on a more personal level over who's playing a show at the metro next weekend.

Many people wouldn't know by looking at me, but I'm currently involved in a long distance relationship. Now many say it would never last, and some people believe I'm totally crazy for even considering it. But like many college students when the end of the summer approaches we sadly have to sometimes leave that special person in a different area. Now, this could be the case, but I've actually been in this situation since my boyfriend and I started dating. He's in Green Bay, WI. while I'm back and forth from Chicago to Minneapolis. Its a daily struggle to stay strong especially when I have a bad day and just need a hug and cant get that from the person who means the most to me. However for some odd reason we're making it work and strive to be there for each other no matter how far away we are. Hes in a band who will eventually tour, and as the relationship grows there will always be the distance factor.

I thought it would be interesting to take the time out and share our story with people, and prove to the people who don't approve of the relationship that it can work out. We're perfect for each other, we're just not in the perfect situation currently. From the moment we met I knew I would spend the rest of my life with him, hes the missing puzzle piece that I've been trying to find, and I haven't been happier since.

Whether this is a cool idea, or a lame one, I feel like it could reach out to people in the same situation and let them know they're not alone! But if this one is a flop, I guess I can always go back to the music blog....