With a vast expanse of topics in the world to explore, The Feather Blogosphere presents an outlet for bloggers to channel and entertain their thoughts.
This year, the Blogosphere hosts seven series, written by both staff and guest writers: Inside the Huddle, In Someone Else’s Shoes, Tangents, The Alternative Truth, The Guy Blog: Senior Edition, The Sports Life and Weekly Devotions.
Their blogs reflect personal interests, covering subjects from sports to alternative Christian music. As they open up their minds to express their ideas, the bloggers aim to cultivate discussion and provide entertainment for readers.
Inside the Huddle
Utilizing their insight and involvement in sports, seniors Austin Rurik and Chandler Vargas created their bi-weekly series, Inside the Huddle. Through this blog, they aim to cover FC’s sporting events with perspectives from the inside of the teams.
“The blog is simple enough,” Rurik said. “It allows an inside look on varsity athletics with a five-sport range for those who do not either play or understand sports. It gives readers a chance to imagine themselves in the middle of a football play, or a fast break in basketball.”
Due to their experience in the FC athletic program — Rurik plays on the football, soccer and baseball teams, and Vargas is on the basketball and track teams — the two look forward to using their knowledge to expand that of others.
“I’m just looking forward to teaching others some things they may not understand about sports,” Rurik said, “like how much time and effort it takes to put into a team, and the difficulties of coming together as a team from day one [until] the end.”
Inside the Huddle will be posted on alternating Fridays.
In Someone Else’s Shoes
Instead of simply sticking to writing down ides, seniors Raine Hayes and Amanda Merzon challenge themselves to consider others’ perspectives in their blog, In Someone Else’s Shoes.
“Our blog is about learning to better understand the people around us while Amanda and I, of course, make fools of ourselves, as always,” Hayes said. “[We are] looking forward to pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones to better understand the people around us.”
After sensing a positive influence from ’11 alumni Sydney Carlson and Jessica Massie’s blog, Becoming Me, Hayes and Merzon sought to continue their predecessors’ series of social experiments.
“We decided to do this blog because we saw how much influence Jessica and Sydney’s blog had last year,” Hayes said. “A lot of people read it and it was very successful, and we wanted to have the same effect. We came up with the idea for our blog because [publications adviser Greg] Stobbe wanted us to do something that was outside the box. So, with his help, we came up with the idea of life in someone else’s shoes: To expose how people act and how other people react to them.”
The blog will run weekly on Thursdays.
Tangents
For sophomore Mark Bennett, his blog, Tangents, is a channel for the many thoughts in his head.
“My blog is basically about whatever pops into my silly little head,” Bennett said. “Every entry will essentially be me putting my insane spin on whatever is going on in the world, the school or my own brain.”
Observing a common format of blogs, Bennett decided to throw in a new approach, he says.
“I chose to write Tangents because I felt like the blogs on The Feather always felt a bit too sane,” Bennett said. “Anyone who knows me is fully aware that I am a ridiculous human being, and this is a great way to expose the whole world to my insanity.”
With an infinite amount of topics to cover, Bennett looks forward to expressing his opinions and receiving feedback from readers. However, the many possibilities also present challenges for Bennett by way of condensing his many ideas into brief explanations, he says.
“The thing I’m looking forward to most about this is how people are going to react,” Bennett said. “Since the blog will have no real focus except my craziness, I feel like it could be a very divisive blog. The biggest challenge about this blog is probably going to be making it coherent. So many of my thoughts boil down to, ‘Mark hate Twilight,’ so it could prove to be difficult turning it into a 500-word blog.”
Tangents will run in The Feather Blogosphere every Tuesday. Check back for the first post, Sept. 27.
The Alternative Truth
Musician juniors Matt Adams and Brandon Porter plan to capitalize their abilities in their blog, The Alternative Truth. With experience and interest in the various generes of Christian music, the two set out to expand readers’ horizons.
“Our blog is going to be centered around Christian music,” Porter said. “On a more specific level, it will be about Christian music that a lot of people probably have never heard of. We will also mention that, regardless or the genre, any music can glorify the Creator. We chose this blog because it includes the two things Matt and I are most passionate about: Our faith and music.”
Having spent years in the world of Christian music — creating it, writing it and reflecting on it — Porter views The Alternative Truth as an outlet for his many thoughts.
“I’m looking forward to just making my thoughts known to those who read the blog,” Porter said. “I feel like a lot of times people just keep all their ideas and opinions in their heads waiting for the ‘right time’ to make them known, and I feel like this is our way of doing that.”
Although Adams and Porter will be able to release ideas in the blogs, opening up the favored topic of music presents the challenge of brevity.
“I think the biggest challenge will honestly be not going overboard with our updates,” Porter said. “Because once I get started talking about music, I could go all day.”
The Alternative Truth will be posted every other Wednesday.
The Guy Blog: Senior Edition
Seniors Nick Avery, David Casuga and Trevor York return to The Feather Blogosphere with their blog’s new volume, The Guy Blog: Senior Edition.
“The guy blog is essentially about how guys work,” Casuga said. “It’s the deep insight into the shallow waters of men. It’s the over-complication of the male psyche so that women can understand.”
Through the updated version of their series, Casuga hopes to justify the misconceptions regarding the life of a guy, he says.
“I thought it would be refreshing to try to give a hopefully accurate insight into the male mind,” Casuga said. “Also, I wish to try to defend our gender from misunderstanding actions of what is often characterized as immaturity and what some might call ‘being a pig.'”
Avery not only looks forward to sharing the life of a senior guy with his readers, but anticipates an enjoyable time working with Casuga and York on the project.
“We’re excited to provide the public with a glimpse of what it’s like to be a senior guy through the exploration of things ranging from The Bro Code to practical jokes,” Avery said. “However, I think the most fun we draw from this blog is the experiences we have. I mean, put three guys in a room and you’ll see in just a few minutes how many hilarious moments have been shared. With The Guy Blog, it’s kind of like that every day we work on it.”
Since the group has not reached a permanent consensus on their blog’s posting routine, check back to The Feather Blogosphere for updates.
The Sports Life
Freshman Chris Grossman easily determined his blog’s topic in The Sports Life, drawing from a passion in his life.
“My [addiction] to sports inspired me to write this blog,” Grossman said. “This blog is about sports, sports and more sports. It’s the somewhat-official sports blog of FCS.”
Although he is only a freshman, Grossman has contributed to The Feather since last year. He does not see inexperience as an obstacle, but rather foresees challenges in creating innovative angles for his subjects.
“I think the biggest challenge I will face is trying to keep each entry different and interesting,” Grossman said.
The Sports Life will run on alternating Wednesdays.
Weekly Devotions
Feeling a call in his heart to share encouragement with the FC family, senior Brady Lee decided to utilize the Blogosphere, and dedicated himself to his series, Weekly Devotions. The blogs are not only featured on The Feather, but also on the FC Web site.
“[The blogs] are meant to encourage and build up the community of believers at Fresno Christian,” Lee said. “I pray that people’s love of Jesus would increase through the devotions. I hope that people will be strengthened, refreshed, and renewed as they live out the truth of Scripture and grow in their relationship with Christ.”
Through writing his blog, Lee has already noticed a number of benefits, and anticipates more to come.
“I am looking forward to seeing how God uses these devotions for his glory,” Lee said. “I might not see many of the immediate effects until I get to Heaven, but God has already put people in my path to encourage me. I feel like my walk with God is growing as I write these devotions. I am learning a lot by studying the Scriptures and it is a joy to share what I learn with other Christians.”
Along he sees the opportunity for the many positive effects of his series, Lee expects difficulties as he aims to post every Monday. However, he looks beyond himself for strength and persistence.
“I definitely think there will be spiritual warfare,” Lee said. “Satan doesn’t want these devotions to run. However, I am encouraged by Jesus’s words: ‘… for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world’ (1 John 4:4). I know that Jesus is in me and that nothing can touch me that does not first filter through the hand of my Lord.”
For more information on The Feather Blogosphere, read the Feb. 4, 2011 article, Blogosphere’s expansion, redesign encourage readership.
For more features, read the Sept. 21 article, Annual Calvin Crest retreat educates eighth graders.
