Reflection 6/9/14

This week was alright. Nothing that eventful happened as usual. I’m really just counting down the days we have in school until summer vacation. The worst thing about school right now is probably finals. We have to take them on the last day of school. Usually, we take finals before the last week. I think that the school is just trying to keep students from cutting class because after finals, the last week of school is something that no one cares about. But the school’s calendar has been so messed up I don’t even bother will trying to figure out stuff anymore. I really just want to take all my finals, be done will school and try to enjoy my summer vacation.

6/1/14 Reflection

This week was alright. I was glad I got a day off because we went out of town for the Memorial Day weekend and got back late. It was a great feeling to wake up on a Monday and not have to go to school. There wasn't any homework either so I got to rest for the whole day. The rest of the week was pretty boring. The highlight of the week was that I got into NHS. I was really excited because I didn't get in on the first application process. But then I appealed and now I’m in.

Reflection 5/25/14

This week was alright. Nothing out of the ordinary happened so that’s good more or less. Friday was the highlight of the week though. Other than it just being Friday, there was the semi championship for our baseball team. It kind of sucked that we lost; especially because the whole school got signed out for the game. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience. I was out of town over the Memorial Day weekend. Because of that, my plans for the weekend were kind of ruined but it can’t be helped. Monday, I didn't really do anything. There’s only a few more weeks until summer. 

Nobel Literature Prize Speech

I don’t want to sound conceited or anything, but I have to be one of the luckiest guys in the world. I honestly still can’t believe I won this award. A lot of people might not think the Nobel Literature Prize is anything special. I mean it is a Nobel Prize after all. It’s just not as popular as other awards. But that doesn't change the fact that this is an award that I've been dreaming about getting for as long as I can remember. Winning the Nobel Literature Prize to me was like winning an Oscar or a Grammy for anyone one else.

The only thing I regret is that I won this award for a book that I didn't even think was my best work. Don’t get me wrong though. I had fun writing Until the End of Time. But when I finished writing the book, I felt like there were too many loose ends and that the reader would walk away feeling disappointed and kind of peeved that they spent thirty bucks on such a let down of a book. That’s why I was so surprised when my publisher told me that he loved the book. That’s when I knew the book wasn't so bad because my publisher will let me know how bad my stuff is. I actually really have to thank my publisher for the work he does as well. He really has helped me improve my writing. And he’s not the only one. My family has been the most supporting people while I’m writing. They are the one’s that keep me from tossing that story I've balled up because I think it’s not good. They urge me to take a second look at my work and keep working at it. That’s exactly what happened. I balled up Until the End of Time and got ready to toss it. But I didn't because of the people that believe I can improve anything I do. And a few years after my book was published, some movie directors came up to me and said that they wanted to make a movie out of it. My book. The one that I was so close to throwing in the trash. Of course, all of the action described in my book translated well to the big screen. And now, I’m here, accepting this award. But honestly, it would feel a lot better winning this award for one of my other novels. Poetry and short stories were always my main focus and I took a leap of faith with Until the End of Time. Writing it was so out of my comfort zone. But I can’t complain because the journey to get where I am has been both rewarding and difficult. It consisted of nothing but practice and commitment, for that was the only way I could become the best author I could be; even though I still believe that the book I won this award for was not my best.

I know I mentioned thanks to my family and my publisher for supporting throughout my writing career and I hope that they continue to support me. However, there is another person, better yet group of people I would like to give my thanks to. I just wanted to say thank you to the readers for supporting me as well. Without you guys, no one would know about my book. No one might even know about any of my books if it wasn't for you. All of you definitely keep me in business and you guys inspire me to be a better writer so that I can create better stories for you to read. Basically what I’m trying to say is: if you keep reading, I’ll keep writing. Thank you for the support and thank you for allowing me to accept such a prestigious award like the Nobel Literature Prize. Good night.

Reflection 5/18/14

This week was alright. It’s getting closer and closer to the end of the year so that’s pretty exciting. Nothing really new happened though. Mr. Rehak is leaving so that kind of sucks. Friday was probably the worst though. Nothing particularly bad happened. It’s just that the night was dead. I wanted to go to the Lacrosse City Championship and support varsity but I had to get service hours for NJHS. It wasn't all that bad. I actually kind of had fun. But I still would have liked to go to the game. There will be more to do next week. 

Final Works Cited

Works Cited

Burma, Darryl. "7 Best Crowdfunding Sites for Musicians." CrowdMapped. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://www.crowdmapped.com/7-best-crowdfunding-sites-for-musicians/>.

"Crowdsourcing and the Evolving Relationship Between Artist and Audience."Crowdsourcing and the Evolving Relationship Between Artist and Audience. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.

Kanter, Beth. "Crowdsourced Philanthropy: How Do We Measure The Impact of the Crowd?." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Dec .2010. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beth-kanter/crowdsourced-philanthropy_1_b_797828.html>.

Messitte, Nick. "Crowdsourcing Your Record: How One Singer Separated Herself From The Pack." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmessitte/2014/02/18/crowdsourcing-your-record-how-one-singer-separated-herself-from-the-pack/>.

"Pandora's Tim Westergren: The Man Who Remade How You Hear Music." Interview. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

Plummer, Vincent . "hypebot." 'hypebot'. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2014/03/fangagement-artists-crowdsourcing-opinion-interview-5-michael-shoup-12southmusic.html>.

Stevens, Darren. "Crowdsourcing: Pros, Cons, and More." Hongkiatcom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/what-is-crowdsourcing/>.

Wright, Danny. "Top Five: Weirdest Crowdsourcing Offers." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and            Media, 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2014

"Young Guns: Grooveshark, the Jaws of the Music Business?" Fox Small Business Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.

."10 Cool Crowdsourced Music Video Projects." Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.

Reflection 5/11/14

This week was alright. We only have a few weeks until school is over and I’m getting more excited as each week passes.

We got our progress reports this week as well. I did aright. I got four B’s and one A. I could have done better. I’ll just have to work harder to finish the semester out.

On Saturday, my sister had a dance show up at Northwestern. It was pretty cool. The following day was Mother’s Day, but my mom had to work so we didn't do much. We still got her gifts and stuff and tried to make her day as easy as possible.