Thursday, April 28, 2011

so you might be a nerd when...

I freely admit, ok maybe not so freely admit, but I’m a nerd. I was just on bedfordstmartins.com, looking at Diana Hacker’s guide called, “A Writer’s Reference.” On this site there are writing exercises to improve any mistakes that you’ve been making. They have anything from exercises in grammar, punctuation and sentence agreement to researching and there is so much more. With everything you do, improvement comes from practicing. This site gave me a great opportunity to do that.

While I was on the site I saw this link, Language Debates. I’m always interested in a good debate so I curiously clicked on it. Up came a list of controversial language usages. People, much smarter and brighter than I, have clashed and torn at these subjects. Now, I have the pleasure to read the debates and figure out which side of the fence I sit on. For example, comma usage. When making a list do you put a comma before the “and” or do you leave it out? e.g.: “When I go to the store I need to get popcorn, milk, bread, butter, paper, pens, and pencils.” Or, “When I go to the store I need to get popcorn, milk, bread, butter, paper, pens and pencils.” See the difference? It gets harder when you look at a sentence like this: “They had brown, green, gray and blue eyes.” Are the eyes gray and blue or were some eyes grey and others blue? Personally I like to not have the comma. You might have to read it twice, but I don’t think that not having it takes away from the reading. What do you think? To have a comma or not to have a comma? Hmmm… what a writing quandary.

Check out all the different and fascinating language debates on Diana Hacker’s site. Here’s a link to a few:

Oh and my fav "cliche" quote of the day is:

“Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.”      —Henri Bergson

- Megan A. Way

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Spring Improv

Once again Improv is back, and this time on both campuses.
Firstly, on Friday April 22 and Friday April 29, the Midlo. Improv Group will be performing at 7 PM in room A201 at the Midlothian campus.
Secondly, on Tuesday May 3 and Tuesday May 10, the Chester Improv Group will be performing at 7 PM in the Nicholas Center Theatre at the Chester campus.
This is a great opportunity considering that there are four performances, two on each campus.  Help your selves to some laughs and come to one, or even more, of the shows.
Also as a side note, if you come to one of the performances and find that you like the genre of theatre, there is a new place in Richmond called ComedySportz Improv Theatre at: 8906 West Broad Street.  It’s in a strip mall near the intersection of Parham and Broad.  Shows at this venue will begin on May 7, 2011 and will continue on Fridays at 8 PM and Saturdays at 7 PM and 9:30 PM.

Picture: http://laughingsquid.com

-Kyle Rudnick

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

How To Be A Millionaire, a Mark Zuckerberg Story

I could be very clique and say, “Are you a fan of FaceBook? Have you seen the movie The Social Network?” Well, have you? If you haven’t, why don’t you clear your schedule for a movie night out at the Midlothian campus? It’ll be in room C109 at 6:30pm. Oh and you should definitely post what you think about the movie on JTCC’s FB page. To reserve a seat for you and a friend, contact Amanda Carpenter at ACarpenter@jtcc.edu. Clique warning again: “Hope to see you there!” ;)
- Megan A. Way
-Kyle Rudnick