freewrite 4/3/2013

already into april... thats crazy. i hope i did decent on all those tests the other day. at least good enough to keep a b average so i can get cheap insurance. they were nice enough to go ahead and give it to me but i still have to provide proof which i havent done yet. ive started saving hard for the next time i have to pay my insurance so that i can put it in my savings account and start saving over again for other things. it will be close though... my grades that is. as long as im passing algebra and have as good of a grade as i think i do in business i may barely make 80 percent. neither one of those teachers post anything to blackboard so im kind of in the dark as far as what my grades are. i need to pick it up in sociology. theres not a whole lot of points to earn in that class so every point counts. im just not much of a sociological thinker i guess. i thought i was until i took the class. as i sit there and listen to each concept i find myself applying business theories to each situation.

freewrite 3/31/2013

OOOOHHHHHklahoma where the winds blow sweeping down the plains... thats how tired i am today. i have succumbed to search overload (remember those commercials?) found some change in my pocket today, like two dollars. i was pretty stoked. i hyad to pay rent today. that sucked.surely not as much as making my new car payment every month will. i hate bills. i wish someone would leave me a ton of money. or just give me an awesome job. i could go for an awesome job. im completely willing to work. i have 3 tests today. one of which i havent begun studying for yet and two of which i still have homework to complete thats due before the test. my life is great. is anyone else tired of hearing about gay marriage?

video response

Ethan Knapp

Mr. Neuburger

English Comp 101

20 March 2013

            Video Response

            In the world we live in today, we wake up and we turn on the news to hear about shootings, natural disasters, war and famine. It has become such a natural occurrence we have become somewhat desensitized to it. That is at least until detrimental disaster strikes close to us or effects us directly. We buy our coffee, we eat our cheap take out, and we become completely complacent and satisfied in our daily “struggles.”  Which is not harmful to certain extent. Of course our capitalist way of life depends on trade and flow of currency. When we buy our coffee and our food we perpetuate our monotonous lifestyles. It is not until an urgency sweeps our sleeping hearts that we even think about changing anything.

            When the Germans first began their assault on the Jewish people it was subtle. They began with infringements on their rights such as when they were allowed to shop and various daily routines. Naturally, like any other people, they became uneasy when their monotony was interrupted. Though uneasy, no one had ever expected in a relatively short period of time their lives as they knew it would be over.

            The germans were intriguingly clever in their ability with words and propaganda. It is my idea that Hitler, having done so much for Germany by the way of mechanization and industrialization, was believed by all to be trustworthy and intelligent in his methods.

            The germans were obsessed with technology. The camera at the time was still a rarity to see, so people would do things they would not normally do to be in front of one. The Germans used this to their advantage when they were filming in the ghetto. This is one thing that I thought peculiar about the film. Even though conditions were extreme for most people, the sight of the camera and the possibility to be on it, brought a smile to some faces.

            Watching a once proud people be reduced to such standards is so difficult to watch and impossible to un-see. As I stated in the beginning, we go untouched by tragedy for the majority of our day to day lives and until it strikes us or someone close its no more than a picture on television. This was different.

            I could not help but try to imagine my life upturned the same way the Jews’ lives were. Seeing the anguish the film brought to the faces of the people who had lived through the conditions absolutely breaks a normal human being’s heart. To see my family and the people I know reduced to such indignity just seems so surreal. Our traditions and norms completely disregarded and things like hygiene and human interaction coming second to the need to find food and survive. It seems impossible. Which I am sure the Jewish people thought as well at the time.

            I fear we inch a little closer every day to another situation such as the holocaust. More people should see this film. We hear about it and read about it growing up. We spend a chapter or two learning about World War Two in general where we read thing like “America defeated the Nazis! Oh yeah hitler killed millions of Jewish people and put them in unbelievable conditions.” you are never given the chance to get so close to it when you learn about it in junior high. More people need to understand how small the holocaust started. Never take your most basic freedoms for granted.

freewrite 3/20/2013

seems like im behind on everything today. i still need to wrap up my response to the video we watched in class. i had such a hard time focussing on it last night i feel like its just rambling. i also didnt get my math done becase i was at my moms doing laundry last night and she doesnt have internet. thats the downside of having classes that are more or less online. on the up side im still loving my new car. its fun to drive, has lots of power and gets way better fuel mileage than my 94 does. im keeping the old one around until the weather decides to stay nice, and then ill probably take it back to cabool and park it at the house.its been a pretty good ole car for all the headaches its caused. at least it just about always starts. it sure leaks though. i think thats what i was most tired of. im never buying another convertible.

freewrite 3/6/2013

whatta wednesday. im not quite as tired as i have been. im finally catching up on my sleep. im still in the process of getting a new car. hopefuly ill know today if my loan goes through. i dont know why it wouldnt. hopefully i can be driving it by friday. i met the guy yesterday and he let me drive it. the clutch felt tight and the whole car felt pretty solid. depending on the interest rate i should be able to get payments down to 200-225 a month which i thought was pretty manageable. first thing i want to do to it is put some louder mufflers on it. a magnaflow axle back setup would do it quite nicely. then maybe a cold air kit and a tune but then ill probably leave it alone. ill save all my hot rodding money for my old one which im still in the process of building a new engine for. im super stoked to get this new car but not to have a car payment again. its been nice driving the one i have thats paid for. theres a few people that think i should sell it but i just have way too much money in it to sell it. i would only get around 2500 bucks for it and that would be lucky.

freewrite 3/4/2013

super tired today. i spent the whole weekend moving and im still trying to catch up on sleep. i checked my grades when i got to class and a page that im sure i turned in last week for sociology is missing in the grad book so ill hajve to get that figured out later. hopefully she may let me just print it off becasue i have it in my email here at school. i found a new car i want to buy. its an 06 mustang gt. just a plain black five speed with five spoke wheels. i like it a lot. its only got 94,000 miles on it and it looks brand new. i like my old 94 but its becoming more of a project car all the time. a couple buddies of mine from work replaced the heater core in it last saturday and it was an all night job. we started at 8pm and finished at 4 in the morning. which by mechanical standards is right on time becasue it calls for 8 hours of labor. we had to pull the whole dash out. it was something ill never do in a daily driver again. it did need to get done though. my heater core wasw leaking so bad that when i turned the heat on steam would come out of the vents. i like my new place. stefanie likes it too i think. still trying to get everything organized and put away.i took her to texas roadhouse last night. spent 56 bucks but i also have lunch for the next two days. i need to buy a new tv, but id also like to put as much money down on a new car as i could. decisions, decisions. i still have yet to cash my 580 dollar check from the federal government so that will be helpful.

The Big Understanding

Narrative Essay

The Big Understanding

From the time we are born we are engraved with this sense of size. That is to say that everything we do is big and it makes an impact, or growing up you hear ‘’Oh wow, you are getting so big.’’ When you get a good grade in elementary school it is a big deal. When your parents take you to Mcdonald’s you want a mighty kids meal rather than a happy meal because that’s what the big kids get. We want to be big and everything we do to be a bid deal because we are taught that bigger is better.

When I was in elementary school, I knew this family of kids one of who was in my class. Everyday, these kids walked to and from school whether it was raining, snowing, or 120 degrees out. Everyone knewt they were not very well off compared to most of the other kids. They often wore the same clothes at least a couple times a week and looked as though they rarely showered. None of these children were bad kids by any means, albeit the older boy was in the principal’s office from time to time for common shenanigans, but he was not a bad kid. They all had an uncanny disposition given their circumstances.

When I was in second grade, my friend Alex’s mom Carla, along with my own mother a and a couple others of friends, were organizing this absolutely massive yard sale. It wouldn’t even fit in the yard, and in fact, it had to be put in this giant garage/shed kind of thing that was bigger than any of our houses. I told my mom I thought we needed to go through and get some of the better clothes they had all gathered up and send them to these children because they were so lacking in proper clothing. Mom agreed and when the children received the clothes I was praised up and down from my mother, my teachers, the principal, and even the superintendent. What I had done was a big deal to all of which my response was, “It just needed to be done.” We had tons of people standing around to talk about how rough these kids had it, but that’s all anyone ever wanted to do about it. It was not a big deal. It was simply one human being seeing a need in another’s life and making a conscious decision to try to help improve their condition knowing  he had the ability to do so. I couldn’t grasp why everyone thought this was a big deal.

I have some family that live in Arizona. My cousin Kerry, his wife Kyla, and their son Reizo all live in Flagstaff. Every summer and some springs, they fly to Missouri to come spend some time on the family farm, and it’s always a good time. We get a lot of fishing done and eat a lot of good food and play lots of music.

There was one summer, the summer before I went into sixth grade that I was able to fly out to Flagstaff to see them. It was the first time I had ever flown on a plane or had the chance to go anywhere farther than Arkansas. I thought it was a big deal. We were able to do lots of things there in Flagstaff. We went to an indoor rock climbing gym, we went to some of the local shops downtown, and ate at lots of great restaurants.

The second day I was there we took a trip to the San Francisco Peaks which are about 45 minutes outside of Flagstaff. Normally, it’s a very popular spot for skiers in the area. However in the summer it gets warm enough that all the snow is gone save for some that is in the shade most of the time. The owners still leave the lifts and the little restaurant inside open just to make a little money in the off season. They take anyone up on the lift that wants to go up the mountain just to check it out which I thought was pretty cool. After about a ten minute ride up the peak and being forced to let go of my fear of heights, we arrived at the top. Above tree line I could see Flagstaff miles and miles away where the air was crisp and clear. At the very top of the mountain were some small trees that looked more like bushes called bristlecone pines which a guide told us were like 1400 years old. All of this was so fascinating to me and beautiful as well. I wanted to see more of this beautiful part of the country.

The next day we took a trip to the Grand Canyon. We drove about an hour to a railway station that the Grand Canyon Tour Company owns. It’s merely an old fashioned train to ride to the Grand Canyon. It was really cool I thought, and after watching the scenery go by and seeing herds of rancher’s cattle, we arrived at the Grand Canyon. We had to go through the process of tickets and getting through the gift shop, but finally I could see a great viewing area just up a small incline, and I immediately went this direction. Along the way the first thing I noticed were squirrels everywhere coming right up to people. I saw a sign that said, “Please do not feed the squirrels,’’ and I realized why they were so friendly. Finally, I reached the top of this small hill and began to see one of God’s greatest creations. It was incredibly huge. The river running through it was the brightest blue. Although it was disappointing at first, after about five minutes I could not figure out what was so great about this place until I saw about halfway down  a person riding an animal. Even though they were only about halfway down I could just barely make out what this little speck was. That’s when I realized that this place, this thing, this hole in the ground was so immense my eyes could not even perceive its depth. I said to myself under my breath, “This is a big deal.” All my life I had been told how big and great I was and finally, I had proof of otherwise. I had verification I was so small and so insignificant I couldn’t even realize it without the aid of someone almost a mile away  I could barely see. Even though that person will never know what they did for me in helping me see what I do now, it just goes to show that every little piece plays a part in something much bigger

Freewrite 2/20/2013

is it summer yet? having a long weekend really got me out of the groove of going to school. i really wish it was summer now.i almost believed it was going to stay warm and now its cold again. i wish the weather would be a little more consistant. my sinuses cant take the warm, cold, warm, cold, weather. moving into my new apartment next weekend that will be cool. dont want to go to work today. cant put thoughts together in a cohesive pattern today. i need caffiene. should have eaten breakfast. bad choice. i dont think my boss is going to give me any time off for spring break. have this bump on my finger. it hurts.is it summer yet? so tired. made 60 bucks yesterday fixing the brakes on a buddys car... that was cool. i need caffiene.

Freewrite 2/8/2013

its going to be a long day. up at 5am and wont get off work till 9. a day in the life so to speak. so i play this game called skyrim and its a big deal in the game world. over the past six months or so they have been releasing downloadable content like new quests to play and new weapons and all kinds of goodies. well they have only been able to release it on xbox up until this month and everyone who owns the game for playstation 3 has been completely in the dark as to when they would be able to enjoy the new content. fiinally though, all three of the dlc packs will be available this month. going to get breakfast with my buddy clayton today. we go get breakfast at cedars every friday because they have a 6 dollar steak and egg deal with hashbrowns and biscuits and gravy. pretty stoked for that. need to talk to the ladies at the front desk about my smartcard. they sent it to the rogersville post office but even though everything on it was correct to a t except the zip code which only had 3 extra numbers on the end of it becasue whoever was entering my information didnt know what the hell he was doing, they sent it back. my house is LITERALLY ONE FREAKING BLOCK away from the post office but theyre too stupid to realize that. im just curious as to what the thought process was of the person who decided to send it back. "Well everything is righ..well the zip code is wrong better send it all the way back.." they should be hanged. anyway that where im at. oh and one of my very favorite bands got back together and im getting tickets tonight to go see them in june. most excited ive been in a long time.

Freewrite 2/6/2013

super tired today. i stayed up until 1 doing math homework. not a good time. tuned 20 yesterday... that was cool. im trying to download this new version of garageband and after class today im gonna go buy some recording stuff. that will be fun. went and looked at this 03 mustang gt yesterday. it was white with grey cloth interior. the salesman came and told me someone was already buying it and they were just waiting on the paperwork to finalize. when he told me that i was shocked becasue whoever had the car last took all the trim off and spray painted it white and put aluminum knobs and switches all over the whole car. and he told me that the car was headed back to their shop because it had had a lowering kit put on it and it wasnt done right... so having learned all of this i looked at the salesman and said you got someone to pay 9 grand for this piece of junk!? it has 150000 miles on it! he was insulted, but he gave me his card... salesman... i still have some math to get done on my break betweeen english and math. hope i can get it all done before class starts. i need to do a better job of staying on top of it but ive been super busy trying to find an apartment. stefanie and i are in the process of procuring one we really like as long as all the paperwork goes through.


im the knight and this dragon is this morning

sensory language

Iphone

Backpack

People

Walls

Keyboard

Cookies

Orange HI C

Exhaust fumes

Perfume

Fabric softener

Morning breath

Orange HI C

Cheeseburger

French fries

Soda

Typing

Breathing

Whispers

Mumbling

Central air system

Keyboard

Orange HI C

Cotton

Plastic

Styrofoam

                I put my iphone on a led zeppelin playlist and put in my backpack and took off. I began running and dodging all the people and jumping over every wall that I came to. I imagined my feet were like fingers on a giant keyboard and all I had to do was type. As I ran by the bakery the smell of cookies filled my nose. It surprised me that anyone would be baking cookies at a time like this. when I finally reached my car I slid across the hood on one knee like I was bo duke or something. After slamming the door I noticed an orange flavored HI C in the center consol. I took a big gulp knowing this may be the last time I ever enjoy my favorite drink. I fired the engine smelling the exhaust fumes almost immediately mixed with the smell of the perfume off the jacket the girl from the night before left in my car. There was also the calming smell of the fabric softener that I was told to pick up yesterday. I took off as the men in suits rounded the corner and sped away. But I knew they wouldn’t be far behind. I needed a different car. A faster one at that. Actually, what I needed was a tooth brush. I could taste the morning breath and it was not my favorite smell. I was hungry too. I could really use a cheeseburger and some French fries, and a fresh HI C or a soda. I sped over to the garage where the rest of the cars were. I needed something faster but not too radical as I didn’t want to draw attention to myself…  so I grabbed the keys to the holy grail… the Ferrari 458. I pulled it out the back and ran back inside. I could hear all of the work of the office from typing to whispers and mumbling along with the central air system. My father asked where I was going to which I replied “ ill bring it back in one piece.” I sat down in the driver seat and pulled out my laptop to plug into the cars computer. I figured now was as good of a time as any to try out the custom tunes I had been writing for this car. As my fingers pecked at the keyboard I could hear tire squeals in the distance so I finished over writing the car’s traction control settings and closed my laptop. I eased the car out from behind the garage and to the edge of the road. I could hear them coming. I thought to myself “ I may need a fresh pair of cottons after this” if you know what I mean. I through my Styrofoam cup into the recycle bin outside of the garage that said plastic because I’m just cool like that. I saw them fly around the corner of broadway and fifth. As I made eye contact with the first driver I took off.

freewrite 2-4-2013

tired tired tired today. not too sure why becasue i slept pretty good. i do have a lot on the brain though maybe thats why. after work tonight i finally get a day off tomorrow. which is nice becasue its my birthday. im going to be turning 20 this year. thats pretty crazy... another whole year to go... anyway i already feel like im 40. i wake up and my back and neck hurt. i have to sit and watch the news while i eake up. and if im not up at least two hours before i have to be somewhere im still half asleep when i get there. i was reading the wall street journal the other day and the government is sueing anheiser busch imbev NV becasue they tried to buy out modelo, who makes corona and a few other known brands. the government claimed that becasue it would give anheiser a 48% market share they fear they would charge whatever they want. my thinking is even if they wanted to they still would have half of the worlds other beers to compete with. and even if there was a monopoly on the beer they still couldnt charge too much because people would just quit buying it. i think it might even get cheaper if one company owned all of it. but what do i know. i need to fix the screen on my iphone.

Freewrite 1/28/2013

here comes another week. im broke until the end of this one. in fact i probably have about 7 dollars worth of change in three different pockets of my jacket #Loser. oh well. good times come and go. i plan on looking at some apartments this week so that will be nice. my calves went to auction yesterday so i should have a nice chunk of change to play with. haha someones phone just rang #Loser. anyway ive been trying to decide where i want to live but man that stuff is boring. and way too expensive. i cant decide if im excited about this writing assignmet or not. i suppose whether i am or not is irrelevant. got my math homework done last minute last night. thats a good time. its hard working full time and going to school full time. you have to make every minute of every day count toward something. i wish i didnt have to close tonight at work. i liked closing at my old store but here i dont much care for it. it gets so boring. from the time it gets dark till nine when we close we have less than ten customers. average around 6. i did stock a ton of merchendise last night so that kept me busy but theres only so much you can do. know what workd is fun to type??? power. like when i key in power steering line at work... power. i like it because the PO and WER are all together. man what am i gonna do for lucnh? i need to find a coinstar. has it been ten minutes yet?

freewrite

freewritingggggggg... the longest ten minutes of my life. not even because i dont like it i just cant keep up with all my thoughts and it frustrates me sometimes. not sure if i did my math homework correctly. the teacher has a problem stringing together thoughts cohesivly. nice lady though. wish i could have gotten my i am from poem to upload but im not sure what i did wrong. it wouldnt upload from my mac with a picture on it so im not too sure what to do about that. dont have to go to work today thats pretty cool. not sure what im gonna do all day... probably homework. has it been ten minutes yet? downloaded a new episode of south park last night on itunes called... well i cant remember what it was called but the boys dress up as the avengers and randy marsh buys a blockbuster thinking he'll get rich quick. hes my favorite character on the show. i might download a new episode of top gear tonight. i love top gear. cant stop addicted to the shindig (red hot chili peppers) looked in my change pocket this morning. cant decide if im going to cash it in soon or keep saving it. been shopping for apartments not sure what to go with. the new jefferson student apartments look nice and are cheap for what they come with but i feel like it would just be a huge dorm. not really what im into. need to finish my business homework before noon so i dont get a bad grade. shouldnt take too long. stefanies birthday was saturday. it was nice. i think my birthday is coming up. gonna be turning the big 2-0. not sure what to think about that. thinking about buying my brothers 4runner. he is selling it cheap. i like 4runners... really nice rig. has it been ten minutes yet? i feel like i should have typed more by now. i dont like these keyboards.

I am From - Ethan Knapp

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Free Write 01/16/2013

woke up this mornig to find i dont hav to go to work this morning... made my day exponentially better. probably gonna go home and work on my car a little bit. i have a small coolant leak that ive been having a hard time tracking down. i wish i got paid today... theres a couple albums on itunes that i really want. all in good time i suppose. my girlfriend stefanies birthday is saturday and i have NO IDEA what to get her. she loves shoes though.... i just worry that ill pick some out that she doesnt like. found five bucks in the dryer this morning... #BurgerKingLunch. pretty stoked about that. why do i hear peter griffens voice in my head when i read my own writing? did you just go back and readd it in that voice? dont blame you.

has it been ten minutes yet? sure would like some breakfast.. dont have any clue what im gonna do between this class and my next. might try to read a magazine or something. i checked twitter already and theres not much to see. i wonder if im going to have a lot of homework for friday. im dreading the math homework. i hope its not a lot. i was reading in my business book last night and it said we are coming to the end of an era of service-based production and entering an era of information-based production... does that mean we're gonna go from jobs like nurses and chefs to just making up information to sell?... i could ddo that... i suppose it makes sense... we live in a much more liberal minded time than even just 10 years ago... i wonder whats gonna happen whith all the new gun control laws.. i feel like a civil war is innevitable withn the next four years of obamas presidency. and i feel like if it doesnt happen then it will happen when america elects another very left wing president after him... i just dont understand why people wont stand up for what the country was founded on, reffering to the second amendment. however why are guns more important than all of the other freedoms and liberties that they have slowly taken away up until now? why are gun control laws the eye opener?

i think its sweden or some country like that where every citizen is required to own and practice with a gun on a regular basis and their  crime rate is almost non-existant. who knows whats gonna happen...

Ethan Knapp - Introduction

     Hello, I'm Ethan. Born and raised here in the Ozarks in a small town called Cabool. If you were un-aware it existed I assure you, you haven't missed much. With a population not exceeding 2,300 it is a great place to stop for gas. When I graduated in May of 2012 I took the fall semester off and moved to Columbia MO with plans to begin school there in the spring semester, but found columbia just was not the place I wanted to be. I worked at O'Reilly Auto Parts while I was there and continued doing so when I moved to the Springfield area.

    Of all my interests music is what I am most passionate about. I was raised on it, taught by it, and enjoy playing it. My favorite band is Led Zeppelin. I also love The Black Keys, All Time Low, Jack White, Fall Out Boy, Iron and Wine, and so many more. I have a very diverse interest in music as there are many kinds of artists I like to listen to, but relating to other people through music is a challenge for me because my views surrounding the subject are a little deep, or out there I suppose. For instance, I do not believe in musical genres. I only hear two kinds of music: music that touches the mind and music that touches the heart. Then there is great music with the ability to do both. However if it fails to do either it's probably crap.

    I am a huge comic book nerd. Spider-Man is my BRRROOOOOO  but I love anything Marvel. I am a big video game junky, or rather a connoisseur. Like I mentioned earlier I work for O'Reilly's so I am a  huge car guy. I drive a 1994 Mustang GT convertible that I have had since I was 16. It's silver and super loud. You can't miss it.
    Similar to music I try to understand cars on a deeper level. In my opinion anyone can build a small-block Chevy, but when you can discern what pistons to use with a 60cc combustion chamber to reach a  compression ratio of 10:1, or how much boost the stock rotating assembly can withstand in a 5.7L Hemi, you can go so much farther with it.

    Besides all of that though I'm just your average dude always getting into small town shenanigans with my buddies and working to make ends meet. I may seem quite un-approchable to most, but I assure you I'm always willing to lend a hand when it's needed. Having trouble getting the pics up right now #MacProblems