No. 2

Good to be here

in the blogosphere!

How's it going, everybody? Thought I'd just post a quick update about myself and my life at Rockhurst.

I've been keeping pretty busy as of late reading Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanence. It's a terrific book in which the narrator uses his experience repairing and riding a motorcycle as the basis for exploring deeper philosophical concepts. A good piece of trivia for you: it is also Phil Jackson's favorite book.

Classes are going well. I am particularly excited about Intro. to Playwrighting, which I am taking with Dr. Charles Kovich. We are required to write a one or two act play for the class. Though this seems somewhat daunting to me, I am also incredibly excited. This, I think, is an awesome opportunity to improve as a writer.

Alright. Peace.

Joey

P.S. Here's the link to the Rockhurst English Dept. if you are interested.

http://www.rockhurst.edu/academic/english/index.asp

Liam Neeson And Joey Z. Say... Welcome Back!

Hey Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Extraterrestrials, and Enraged Fish,

This is Joey Z, getting back to blogging! What a semester it has been so far. I have a heavy course load that includes:

-Intro. to Playwriting

- Communications

- Spanish 3150

- Endtime Prophets

- Ethical Theory

-The American Presidency

On the social agenda, I've really been trying to take it easy lately, just relax. I've been eating a lot at Winstead's, a delicious diner that's within my miniscule means.

Rockhurst itself is about the same as always. We've been hit with some awfully low temperatures lately, but today it's gorgeous!

Alright, well, thanks and good night.

Joey

Rod Blog-ojevich

Hello Voters (and Non-Voters),

Just pulled into Nazareth...

Back at RU! Everything's going great right now. Just finished watching the movie Bob Roberts for my political science course. Really interesting film. Glad I got the opportunity to enjoy it!

Other than that, not much. I'm going to miss my family, but I know I will be home in only twelve short days! Christmas is right around the corner, and I've started preparing my list for Santa Claus. Here is an excerpt:

-Ten life-size cardboard cutouts of Mickey Rooney

-A plexiglass window that sings about dreams

-My two front teeth.

Peace.

Joey

We'll Always Have Americans In Paris

Hey there humans,

What do you think of when you hear the phrase Americans in Paris? The movie or dried-noodle company of the same or similar name? Well I don't. What I think of is one of the best classes I have taken at Rockhurst, which happens to share its name with the phrase I mentioned above: Americans in Paris. The class focuses on American writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and T.S. Eliot while they were in exile in Paris during the early part of the 20th century.

The class is taught by Dr. P.C. Miller, a terrific instructor who keeps the class interesting and fun.

The work that I have most thoroughly enjoyed in this class is the poem "The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot. Difficult to understand but extremely rewarding to read, the piece is an absolute tour-de-force exploring the concepts of life, destruction, and the possibilities of re-birth. It is amazing (even if I don't quite understand all of it yet!)

Peace.

Joey

Bumper Sticker Extravaganza!

Hello Party People,

A great question has been weighing on my mind lately: how many people actually read this blog? Well the time has come to find out! I am going to count to three, and when I get there, I want you to scream at the top of your lungs like the world is ending. My magic Scream-O-Meter will automatically calculate how many people just yelled their heads off, and we'll have an official tabulation of my readership.

Okay.

One.... two....three!

Louder!

I can't hear you!

C'mon!

Okay.... good work. And the results are in... four million five hundred sixty-two thousand one hundred seventeen people are reading this blog. Thanks, guys and gals!

Phew... all that screaming wore me out. Luckily, academics haven't been too too difficult lately. Oh certainly I've got my work cut out for me, but I'm really enjoying all my classes. It's been a fun year, and I'm sure it will continue on in a similar fashion.

Alright. Peace.

Joey

Thank You, Martin Sheen.

Hello Readers,

Everyone has goals. Some people yearn to play professional baseball. Others want to write the great American novel. Still others desire to buy up all of the blue pens in the world and name them "Joan." These are all well and good, but, ever since I was a young boy, I have had a different dream: to view a movie featuring Martin Sheen. Well, folks, today I did it. I watched "Catch Me If You Can," a really super film that features Sheen as Captain Willard, the father of Bud Fox, an aspiring stockbroker who gets caught up in the deceptive world of greed and lies. It truly is a breath-taking performance, and I can say without hesitation that, when I grow up, I hope to have an eighth of the poise that Sheen displays in delivering it.

Peace. And thank you, Mr. Sheen.

Joey

Like A Bowling Loan

Hey Mr. Tambourine Man,

What's going on, everybody? My name's Joey, but of course you already knew that as I have been blogging for a year and a half now, rendering this sentence completely pointless...

When was the last time you knew what the capital of Pakistan was? Well it's Islamabad. You see, you do learn something new everyday! And that certainly is the case in Politics in Fiction and Film, a really terrific course in which I am currently enrolled. Each week, we watch a movie that explores some aspect of that crazy game we call politics (or Boggle!). Some of the films we've watched include Dr. Strangelove, Lord of War, and The Manchurian Candidate. What's more, we also read some interesting books, including Catch-22, 1984, and the only title without a number in it All The King's Men. It really is a terrific course and I feel as though I am truly gaining insight as a reader, viewer, and citizen.

Hey is that a blog post you're reading? Must be!

Peace.

Joey

http://www.rockhurst.edu/academic/polisci/index.asp