Portfolio Websites

I am back at Saginaw Valley State University and back in my writing classes. I'm currently working on a personal website. It has been a struggle trying to decide on a theme and something original and interesting that would give the site my own personal style.

I found these great blogs and websites that show examples of other great personal websites. Seeing them has really helped me along my path.
- 20 Inspiring Personal Portfolio Sites You Should Explore

- 50+ Fresh and Unique Personal Portfolio Websites

- 35 Professionally Designed Personal Portfolio Websites

My school project website will be found at svsu.edu~alhowe 

My site is still under construction and what is there today may be completely different two days later but come on over and check it out then leave me a message and tell me what you think. 

Please take a moment and let me know if any of the links or my own site inspired you. Thanks.

Writing Biotechnology Scientific Reviews

 I just wrote my very first Scientific Review for my Biotechnology Writing class this morning. Very early this morning like from 2 to 6 am.

I had dreaded doing it wasn't into it at all in the beginning. I had started it several times this past week but life and school and four kids kept being to big of distractions to let me get very far. By Tuesday I had most of the researching done. I found several articles about transgenic food and allergies in children. They were all very interesting and informative. I read them several times in my false starts that got nowhere with actually getting started.

I think that it actually was a blessing for writing a Review paper to have read the articles so many times. I knew what they said and could easily put them into my own words for the review by the time I sat down this morning to write it.

What I had dreaded was the rules and the abstract. Which is funny in a way because I had already written an abstract for the class and the rules are good guidelines that really give every scientific paper a consistency that allows them to be thorough and interesting. It may have been more of the distraction issue again. It was definitely easier to get homework done when the kids were in school. Either I may have more all night writing sessions in my future or I'm gonna have to take it out of the house for a few hours like go to the Library or somewhere.

I was amazed when I started to write ad then finally after the second time through editing looked at the clock to see that it was 7 am and I had been writing for five straight hours. Well, reading and writing and a little more researching of some facts then of course editing and doing the final formatting.

The awesome part was I was writing and doing all that for five hours and it just flew by. When you are doing what you love to do time flies and it doesn't seem like work at all. I love to write whether it is my thoughts, a business report, a guide, instructions, grant proposals or scientific writing, it is all writing and even though sometimes I have issues getting going I always find that in the end no matter what kind of writting I am doing I really love to do it!

I can't wait to someday get paid to do what I love that will be the best!

So here are some links that could help you if you want to learn about writing scientific reviews.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19531932/How-to-Write-a-Scientific-Review-Paper

http://www.parint.org/isajewebsite/bookimages/isaje_2nd_edition_chapter5.pdf

http://www.istl.org/06-summer/review3.html

Finally I will get my paper "More needs to be Done to Protect Children from Allergenic Transgenic Food" posted for anyone who is interested in checking it out on my online portfolio 

http://arvillasportfolio.webs.com/

Have a great day and please leave me a comment let me know, What have you been writing lately?

Writing in HTML

I'm just finishing up my very first HTML class and I have come to a few realizations.

1. People who write in computer code are still writers like me, they just use a different language.
• I always thought that writing in code was something completely different than writing a document. 
• Writing an entire site requires knowledge of more than just HTML one must learn CSS and PHP too, similar to writing a great document requires knowledge about the subject and background which may include learning the meanings and backgrounds of words.
• Computer code requires one to not only be a good writer but also to be visionary and creative thinking not only of the wording but of graphic design also, much like creating a good magazine layout.
2. Writing code is much like writing a report or document.
• First you need an idea, a sketch or an outline of what will be written and how it should look.
• Good content always makes a better document, there are structures to follow in code just like in writing a sentence in English.
• Editing is not just a necessity but with code if it isn't correct it won't work.
3. Writing code can actually be pleasant.
• Once a style sheet has been created and a basic page layout, the background work, then the code that creates each page is much easier.
• I love writing and expected to dread coding but was happily surprised that I like it.
• Graphic design is always present in writing layouts and is also important for a good webpage and I love designing pages and places to look nice.
• It has come in handy for my blogs, my black board posts and in other places that I hadn't expected.

If you would like to see what I did for my HTML class I would be proud to introduce you to my live online website. It is called Easy Sales Shop and I will be using it to sell things that I have made and maybe someday things that other people have made too. 

Yes, I plan on taking more computer code classes. My degree requires it and my curiosity demands it. 

Net Neutrality

Have you heard about this thing called "Net Neutrality"? I hadn't before today and now I am all fired up. My fingers can't hardly keep up with my brain.

Okay so I am currently taking a HTML class and my teacher brought up this topic for our discussion for this week. He shared some really good links that I'll share with you too.

Wikipedia defines "Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutrality) is a principle which advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers or governments on consumers' access to networks that participate in the internet." Go there and read there is more too.

So the issue is that big businesses like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable are lobbying our government to end net neutrality and let them control what they allow us to see ON THE INTERNET.

THAT IS JUST CRAZY TALK! I know it sounds nuts, here are some links where you can learn more.

Save the Internet.com So, apparently over 2 million people have heard about this before me and banded together so if you haven't already, go there. They also have lots of good information.

Common Cause.org another place where people are banding together to fight for our freedoms on the internet and another place where you can make your voice heard. (I really must be living in a cave with my head buried in the sand.)

Finally there is NetCompetition.org which is an e-forum promoting competitive internet choices for consumers. I love their counter in the upper right corner plus, yep, they have more good information.

So I beg you if you didn't hear about net neutrality like me and have been nose to the grindstone living your life oblivious to what is going on in the world around you, go read learn and decide for yourself.

Do you want someone else to decide what you can see over the internet?

Leave me a message and tell me, had you heard already? What are your thoughts?

Lots of Blogging

Okay, you can't tell it from this blog, but I have been doing lots of blog writing.

I started a blog just for stories about our family. I call it Simple Family Stories. I have been taking a minute here and there to write down little stories from how I met my husband to us planting our first garden here in Texas. I am not trying to put them in any particular order that way if something interesting happens today I can write about it or if nothing is really going on then I can write about something that happened from the past.

Mostly I have just been trying to stay busy reading and writing and trying to perfect my craft so that someday, dare I dream it, I will be graduated and working. Actually getting paid to do what I love, to write! I have always done it and I must not be to bad at it because I keep getting A's from all my teachers. I have Ethics and Algebra right now but in 4 weeks I will be starting Bio-Medical Writing. I am very excited to take that class.

Happy Easter all.

Another Semester Over

One more semester done. How wonderful it is to say that, especially knowing that if all goes well I will be a graduate by Christmas. I finished up my English Workshop class, no need for any other English classes now and I have started my adventure in computer classes with my first class Computer Literacy. I enjoyed both class and encountered to more teachers that gave very good and timely feedback.

The English Workshop class was an adventure toward a ten page argumentative paper. Much to large to paste here in the blog. I will however put it in my website. It was titled, "Budget Rekindles the Debate over Abortions" a very argumentative topic and in the news quite a bit lately.

The Computer Literacy class was the most basic of computer classes but I learned some very interesting things like cloud storage and Trojan viruses among other things. I was compelled to write a five page paper which was titled "Computers and the Technical Communications Industry." It will also be available on the website for your reading pleasure.

I fear next semester because it brings me into Algebra yet again. My love of words is barely equal to my dread of numbers. Yet here I go again forced to confront numbers. I do look forward to my Biomedical Writing class in the second half of the spring semester.

The adventure continues, stay tuned for more updates. :-)

The website to view my works is http://arvillasportfolio.webs.com/

If you read this please leave my a comment. Thanks.

Listening Final Completed

Goodness that was an interesting assignment. We were supposed to work in a group of four students on the paper, but it ended up being just the two of us my new, dear friend from Alaska and myself. We worked really hard and collaborated very well, she was awesome.

The final assignment was to write a Listening Analysis on a Film. We decided on The Prince of Tides and set about creating a document that ended up being a full 16 pages long. I think we did a great job, we'll see what our Professor says, he is a tough one. We have been getting good grades from him but never a perfect score. Some classes are just like that.

So, if your interested in checking out the Effective and Ineffective Listening Analysis of The Prince of Tides, you can check it out on my online portfolio.
http://arvillasportfolio.webs.com/

My listening class was a great experience. The professor was tough but fair and gave the best feedback that I have gotten through NEU from any professor. I wish my writing professors gave such fabulous detailed feedback on our work. I learned many things that I sort of knew about just through life and many more things that I had no idea about. I think that the Listening class was a great success. Although I was skeptical of it in the beginning, as a Junior in college having to take a listening class, I have learned valuable skills that will serve me well throughout the rest of my academic career and into my writing career.

Learning about WordPress

Yesterday I decided it was time to force the freelance writing desires into reality. I am now, once again only a full time college student and stay-at-home mom, so I am going to work as hard as I possibly can to become a freelance writer.

I searched freelance writing and found a place called Odesk and several other places that I may use in my adventure. The one common denominator that I noticed was that many possible clients wanted me to have knowledge of WordPress. So, today I set out to gain knowledge of WordPress and make myself more valuable in the freelance writing industry. The first place I visited in my adventure this morning was Wikipedia and that linked me right up to the WordPress site that allowed me to download the program for free and is where I know I will find out all I need to become a WordPress expert.

As for what I am writing at this time, my Online Documentation class has me creating a help file for a retail business. I picked the Furniture Row website since they currently have no help feature. I am creating a Design Specifications Document about the help file which I will upload to my online portfolio.

My Listening class has me creating reports about podcasts and movies on the topic of listening. When the class ends I will pick the best report on listening and also upload that to my online portfolio.

It has been a while...

Okay, I have got to admit life got crazy and busy and I haven't posted in quite a while.

I got a full time job as a salesperson at Furniture Row in Las Cruces, NM. I am still taking full time classes but now they are online. I am in Listening and Online Communication presently. Life is still crazy but I am going to take a few minutes every week to write something.

So, I am officially back and would like to suggest a great website for tech writers with a blog and podcasts. One of which I am currently using for an assignment for my Listening class. http://www.idratherbewriting.com

I will be better this time more consistent, I'm gonna write it in my calendar to post.