Listening

The Art of Listening

Listening (verb) used without object) Means to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing; to pay attention; heed; obey (often followed by to ):to wait attentively for a sound (usually followed by for ): to listen for sounds of their return: or to convey a particular impression to the hearer. (Dictionary.com)

Learning how to listen effectively and efficiently is an important skill. When one listens one can learn and pick up importation information. Listening includes obeying, paying attention to the person speaking, whether it is picking up on their body language, gestures, expressions, and other non-verbal clues; allows you to know what they  are saying both verbally and non- verbally. Listening shows a sign of respect and that you’re paying attention; everyone loves to be listened to. When you listen you can learn a lot about a person; his or her likes and dislikes, behaviors, etc.  This in turn makes dealing with this particular individual fairly easy.  Listening benefits both parties of the conversation listening allows the other individual to reason with themselves and deal better with the problem they are facing. Most importantly it gives the other person a different perspective or opinion.

Hearing is a physical ability while listening is a skill. Listening skills allow one to make sense of and understand what another person is saying. In other words, listening skills allow you to understand what someone is "talking about".

Words of the Day

criterion n. A standard by which to determine the correctness of a judgment or conclusion. 

 
      crucible n. A trying and purifying test or agency

Time is of the Essence

I guess it pays to be on time. I walk into class today 10 minutes late, now mind you I always take the seat in the far back so I can charge my computer; I look straight to the back and someone is in my damn seat. I have been sitting back there for five weeks straight; now all of a sudden you decide to sit back there. Having a laptop with a charged battery is essential in class especially if you are taking notes.  Unfortunately for me, I did not bring a notebook or pen so I guess I’m shit out of luck, until one of the plugs become available.  I just hope it is soon because as I am typing this my battery is extremely low.
Words of the week:
decapod adj. Ten-footed or ten-armed.
diatribe n. A bitter or malicious criticism.

Tired

As I sit in my 9:00am class, I begin to drift.
To drift off in daze, in realm where subliminal images fill the room
As I look around, I wonder if this could be reality.
I see a few familiar faces but something just doesn’t add up.
I begin to explore, exploring to see what this unusual world has to offer.
Until I am abruptly awaken, my head flips up as my elbow hits the desk.
I was sleeping the whole time.

Vocabulary Words:
approbation n. Sanction.
azure n. The color of the sky.

Maturity

Maturity

I'm not sure if it was due to the fact that my head was hurting or simply because I wasn't feeling the whole vibe of the day; but my 100w class was irritating the shit out of me on Tuesday. It all started when I woke up that morning, I had a terrible headache and was running late to class. We were greeted by our ever so perky and oh so enthusiastic professor; handing us a quiz. Now mind you the quiz is on grammar and punctuation so obviously there is going to be grammar and punctuation issues. Ten minutes in to the quiz my peers decided to poke fun at the sentence that had the word AINT in it. Now let us keep in mind this is not the first or last time some of them have heard the word. A joke or two, a HE-HE-Ho-Ho, and chuckle is fine: but to keep talking about the damn word for fifteen minutes is irritating as F*&k. Wait Wait Wait that's not all, someone had the nerve to ask if the person whose sentence it was, was from the south or if they went to a community college. I felt as though that person was trying to say that person who used the word was uneducated. I was highly offended. One should never generalize or over or under estimate any human being. Just because you live in a southern area does not mean you cannot form  a sentence correctly. Just because you attended community college does not mean that you are not educated. The punch line of it all was that the same people that were poking fun at the other persons sentence failed to realize that everyday is two words every day and not one hahahahaha. What I learned is that some college students are just as immature as kids, people from the south, or community college.

Words Of The Week:
aggrandize v. To cause to appear greatly.
altruism n. Benevolence to others on subordination to self-interest. 

Sticks and Stones

One will never know how their words affect the next. “Oh girl, look at her hair; that is a hot mess”.  “Her fat ass needs to stop eating and join a gym”. Statements such as those can be extremely detrimental to one’s self esteem. Unfortunately the person, who is talking about the other, really doesn’t take that aspect into consideration.  I never realized how my words could affect someone until the other day.  I guess it wasn’t until it hit home when it affected me the most.  So I guess my mission this year is to limit the negative statements I may have to say about others.

Words of The Week:

accost v. To speak to. 

abase v. To lower in position, estimation, or the like; degrade.

Social Intercourse

Social intercourse is a form of intercommunication. Due to the technology era; humans have become so in tune and so attached to their gadgets that they have become disconnected from reality.  A simple “Hello, How are you doing”, is no longer sincere it’s a form of social intercourse. The greeting has now become more of an exchange. It is a form of common courtesy, but in all actuality the person who you are conversing with really doesn’t care.

Words of the week:

Substrate (Noun): Something that is spread or laid under something else

Coruscate (Verb): 1: to give off or reflect light in bright beams or flashes : sparkle

2 : to be brilliant or showy in technique or style