L.A. Times Music News RSS Feed is a popular choice to read for those whose pastime is gossip. This rapidly updated feed discusses everything from celebrity scandals to the difficulties on touring bands due to gas prices.

Because there were at least three articles updated a day, I found being bored impossible. While I have no interest in which celebrity is cheating on their spouse, I did take interest in the articles discussing upcoming artists. Not only were well-known celebrities mentioned in these posts, but highly praised movies, such as Mama Mia!, were also mentioned. I was glad to find that the articles were widely varied in topic and I rarely read the same story twice. Band stories varied from the punk rock band Jimmy Eat World to the pop sounds of Miley Cyrus.

Reading these articles helped me to expand in my thinking. Because there were so many different topics, I could hardly stay focused on one thing too long. Reading these posts kept me on my toes and further inspired me to broaden my range and choose a variety of topics to write about.

My love for this game kept me reading the foreign language that highlighted major matches between names unknown to many people and the scoring process familiar only to those who understand the game. While I was highly interested in the Nadal-Federer matches and Serena William’s injury, the topic for discussion was not varied, for many of the writers wrote about the same players and situations. I would have liked to have read wide-ranging topics and this feed was not updated very often. The information revealed in these articles was highly statistical and would have lost the interest of readers who are not completely obsessed with the sport.

I was exceptionally glad to find a personal interest to write about. Writing is always easier for me when I can relate to the topic. While I enjoyed reading these articles, they were more of a personal delight than an inspiration to my writing.

I was constantly learning the effects of new medicines, for this feed was being frequently updated. As I am completely obsessed in my health, I took great caution and thoroughly read the content of each article. Reading about the latest medical disasters and accomplishments gave me a feeling of awareness and helped me stay at peace. While learning which foods to avoid due to salmonella outbreaks interested me, I could not keep up with the more complex words and statistics that some of the articles contained. Even though percentages prove a point, the writers seemed to over prove their point. The many numbers left me confused. Since I do not keep up with the news, I was glad to be informed of the most recent medical stories.

Reading these articles inspired me to write with more facts and exact details to emphasize my point. As a writer, I hope to be able to persuade my readers.

Blogging has become a phenomenon as more and more people hit the computers to capture their thoughts on the screen. While many posts exhibit current issues, others are no more than random thoughts of the writer. Blogs have become more and more existent among high school students. Out of the billions of blogs available, three blogs, written by students of Batesville High School, caught my eye.

In the blog Got Words, the writer, Audrey, is concerned about the welfare of others. In her latest post, Child’s Play, she discusses how important reading is to young children. Reading is critical in school and “does not stop at English, but goes on into math, science, and history.” Children that do not learn to appreciate reading now will struggle in the future. While her concern is evident to young children, the writer also chooses to express her concern for her fellow classmates in her post Sleep Deprived. Since hours of homework leave students with little time to sleep, the author suggests that schools start class thirty minutes later. The writer illustrated this post with a cartoon of a little boy taking sleeping pills. Also displayed underneath this post, was a picture of a seat belt to illustrate her post Live Savers. Anyone who reads these posts can benefit. The author cleverly wrote her posts to persuade the reader to take these issues into consideration. She also frequently writes about topics that readers do not think about often, but are important enough to stay in the mind. I find agreeing with the author’s posts extremely easy.

The next blog I came across was Peeling the Layers. The central category of her posts came from how others influence us, the readers. The great influence of our peers is mentioned in her post Wake Up. Students, indeed, need to “wake up” as we struggle against the pressure of underage drinking and driving. The writer, Amberly, grabs the readers’ attention with catchy post titles such as Exempt Me and A Dead Man’s Trash is a Dying Man’s Treasure. Her posts inspire the readers to take action and change the way they are. Although she does not post blogs frequently, the quality of her words cannot be questioned. In one of her first posts, An Eye on the Idols, she makes note of the influence corrupted celebrities “have on their worshipers.” The writer carefully crafts well organized pieces that the reader can easily relate to.

As my search continued, I came across one last blog – Get Lost in My Thoughts. The writer, Kaitlin, seemed to write about whatever was on her mind. However, the posts were all connected into what any teenager would be caught up doing. Her compelling pieces were crafted to change the reader’s minds about what they think they know. In her post Do You Know What You’re Singing?, the author is already contradicting the reader’s knowledge of song lyrics. Not only is music an important aspect in our lives, but our means of communicating, cell phones, is a hand held device that is almost constantly at our sides. The author discusses how texting is an “infatuation of this generation” and a “must have.” By making texting into an obsession, Kaitlin makes the reader feel guilty about when and where they text. The name of the writer’s local hangout is also mentioned in her post Stories from the Sandbar. Overall, the author does a good job presenting poor judgment calls and peer pressure to influence the reader into reconsidering their lifestyle.

Not only are blogs the thoughts of the writer, but they also describe their personality. Each post had a different topic and a different point of view. The writers easily managed to change the way I think while they expressed their thoughts on the important issues in their lives.

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