Blogging on Blogging

With my first blog assignment completed and filed away within the infinite storage space of the cyber world, assignment number two sits before me, eagerly awaiting my input.

My task: blogging about blogging. Blogging what about blogging exactly? Per Dr. Steven's request, the function, the content and the tone of a blog from his designated list. The option A Teany taste of the Sublime immediately caught my eye due to its unusual name, and so I clicked on the the corresponding hyperlink, deciding that following my instinct was the best method of choice.

My first observation upon arriving at the blog's site was the personal feel emitted overall. On the upper right side of the page sits an "All About Me" section engulfed by a light green color, different from all other green hues splashed across the page. The description that the blog's author - communications graduate student Michael Trimboli - provides about himself, his interests and his ultimate career goals leads me to believe that his published thoughts are intended for an audience of people passionate about food, in particular tea.

Now, I am no expert foodie myself, but like many other people, either relaxing before sleep's intoxicating grasp takes ahold of my body, or self-medicating due to a ruthless and nasty cold, I too indulge frequently in large quantities of tea, and understand the lure such a blog potentially possesses.

With each post, the blog delves more and more into the world of tea, discussing different tea types, various tea uses, recipes calling for tea, franchised tea products and even extends its boundaries to discussing topics related historically related to tea (i.e. the post entitled "Tea Parties Resists Government's Economic Plans). Clearly, this blog's purpose is to make sure its audience gains access to every type of information available on tea and present it in an easily readable and interesting way.

The blog's author speaks to his audience from his own, opinionated point of view, and while sometimes he posts topics based solely on personal experience, he also includes posts supported by articles in the New York Times. In addition, his posts usually appear fully clad with links to various food and recipe websites as well as grocery stores and food markets so as to grant his posts with some source of credibility. I know I hate when someone tells me about a sumptuous new food or drink item to buy and I have no idea where to find it. So links in a blog like this one not only serve as helpful informatives but also as essential tools for the sake of tea loving readers!

The blog's overall layout and design agrees and compliments its content, utilizing calm colors that contribute to its welcoming tone. The basic setup allows for easy access and with a lack of intense, high-tech add-ons, the blog's content behaves as the main focus and tea acts as the star.

So next time I need a snack to accompany the mounds of homework piled up next to my computer, I will refrain from blindly purchasing a 23-ounce can of Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey and instead, let this tea blog choose so that I may indeed experience a teany taste of the sublime.

Self-Serve Yourself

For student veterans of the University of Colorado semester system, the beginning of a new semester always marks two very important events. The first being a brand new schedule with which to enjoy the new faces of both professors and students before the monotony of each course sinks in, and the second, an ever-present, guaranteed three-day weekend.

While during the Fall semester the first weekend falls directly on the Labor Day holiday, the Spring semester commences the week preceding Martin Luther King, Jr. day, making students’ first weekend three days long. So when Dr. Stevens posed the question, “Why is today significant?” in class for our first blog assignment, I knew I wanted to wait until the mini-vacation started to reply with an answer.

In commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, citizens across the nation actively participate in celebrations and acts of service to honor the legacy of MLK, Jr. and his essential contribution to the civil rights movement of our nation. In Colorado alone, while cities like Boulder hosted a rally and march from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., others organized breakfasts, keynote speeches and gatherings with which to emphasize the importance of peace, civil rights, etc.

When I woke up this morning, immensely more buoyant due to the lack of Monday morning back-to-school blues, I woke up acknowledging the significance of today as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day but also acknowledging the significance of an extra weekday to live according to my own schedule instead of one determined by the grueling demands of academia.

As a fourth year student at CU, too many times throughout my college career I feel as though I lived a life organized by thousands of grocery lists, motivated to do things only so I could check them items the list and move on to the next. Sure, there is satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment in achieving such routine tasks, but the incandescent joy and rigor of life’s richness ceases to exist within the repetition a normal school week provides.

On any normal day students wake up, go to class, go to work, go to class, go to the gym, go to class, then return home to eat, take a small break but eventually return to their studies. During the school week my life unfolds within a strict set of boundaries not allowing much leverage to luxuriate in things I truly love. And in this intolerant environment, I live not alone but within the company of others.

Steff Pace, a fellow senior and Psychology major at CU, holds hanging out with her friends to be one of her most valued past times. However relishing in this activity rarely occurs within the midst of the academic year due to her constant class project, class presentation and test preparation overload. What happened to the carefree days of elementary school?!

When the very rare three-day reprieve comes along however, such as the one myself and my other CU companions have just reveled in, the extra day grants students the freedom to enjoy what they want to enjoy without the pressures of class, grades and assignments bearing them down. Spring semester’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday becomes uniquely significant to each student in their own way as they possess the ability to spend the day like the rest of the nation – serving, whether that be collectively with the community, or individually for themselves.

So collectively in the community today was significant because Boulder residents marched across the town in commemoration of a great American leader. Today was significant because parents were able to spend the day with their children instead of work, and children were able to go to the park instead of sit in a classroom.

Individually for me today was significant because I slept in. Today was significant because I relaxed and slowly sipped two cups of coffee instead of a quick gulp of hot liquid while bolting through the door. Today was significant because my feet quenched their craving for concrete on an afternoon run along the creek instead of the unsatisfactory tread of the gym’s treadmill.

Like a buffet of food boasting delicacies from a variety of exotic and sumptuous cuisines, today was significant because I was able to self-serve. I manufactured my day with the flavors that I favor and through those flavors I lived life not as a student but purely as my individual self.

Thank God for three-day weekends.