Emily’s Las 284 Seminar Blog

This is a song by the Wolfe Tones its a rebel song but also really funny if you listen to the lyrics

 I feel like I should explain my slideshow more.

I’m Irish and German. My Irish side is my mom’s, we are McGinns, if you go back a couple of years. It drives my dad crazy that we, my mom and I, my brother could care less, only celebrate our Irish side. But what is there to celebrate for Germany?

My boyfriend, Ryan McKernon, actually studied abroad here last year and thats how we met.  He lives in the English part of Ireland. However, he and his family are proud Irish catholics and are very much anti-English. His sister Michelle, is I believe either 7th or 3rd in the world for Irish Dancing.  Its a lot of expensive phone bills for me and late nights for him, but we’re gonna make our relationship work.

I have an older brother and as a kid, I followed him around and wanted to do everything he did. That’s how I got started into soccer.  I love soccer its a fantastic sport.  The Chicago Fire is my favorite team, because their our home team, and so far this season, their doing really well. Manchester United is a Euro Football team, their Ryan’s favorite team, so I became interested in them as well. Again, this is just another team that’s having a fantastic season.

I love animals, always have. The picture is of a sealion at brookfield zoo. It was over spring break that I took the picture. I’m sure you all remember it was a rather nasty spring break. It was a cold monday when I went and the zoo was pretty much empty.  I walked into the underwater viewing part for the sealions and this guy was just hanging out. He looked at me with some of the most intelligent eyes I’ve ever seen (for an animal that is).  He started performing for me, whatta show off.  I love photography, because it allows me to find things that I find beautiful and/or interesting and capture them. I’m more of a nature or landscape photographer, too many people are into portraits and it gets them into trouble (miley cyrus).

I have a pretty cut and dry sense of humor. The picture, “giraffe serive area” that sparks so many weird ideas. Are the giraffes now doubling as wait staff? Are they like just like a car and need to be tuned up? I mean what do they mean giraffe service area?

I love music! Oh my goodness. I mean that’s what defines us. Chicago is the jazz and blues, New Orleans is jazz and zydeco, Austin is country. Obviously there are more, but is there any other place in the world like the United States that is so in love with its music? We’re the great American story tellers, we don’t have old folktales like people in Europe, Africa, and Asia, none that are unique to us anyway.  However, we do have music. We tell our stories through our songs. There is a lyric in City of Chicago by Gavin Coyle (another Northern Irishman) that says “they brought their songs and music to ease their lonely hearts”. They didn’t bring their books, they brought their music. Some people who I talk to don’t see music the way I do. They just don’t get it. My friends and I circulate songs. We send each other links  to songs and say listen to this, this is how I feel right now or listen to this, I heard it and thought of you.

I am a surfer. Like I said in my story I learned how to surf at Wakiki Beach in Hawaii. There are no words to describe the experience. I understand now why people can’t get enough of it. Surfing is like a drug. Its a natural high, like laughing. When your out there surrounded by people who love the same thing you do but it doesn’t matter anyway becuase its not like their there, for all you know, your alone. There’s just peace. Its you and the ocean and God and nothing else matters. No stress, No concerns (unless you see helicopters or everyone around  you bailing, then its time to get out of the water or your going to get eatten).

One last thing about me that I didn’t put into the slideshow was that the show ghost hunters on SciFi, is very interesting to me. I believe in ghosts, and I have to say I like this show because they don’t run around screaming. They take a very scientific approach to investagate the “hauntings”.  I’d like to join them sometime, I think it would be a lot of fun and come on, how many people can say that they hunted ghosts for a part time job?