Carry It Forward: TED Presentation

Today I presented my TED speech and I really liked the idea my presenter talked about. Obviously, because thats why I wanted to do it for my presentation in the first place. Eating habits is something I really care about and want to fix in my life for instance. I eat ALOT of meat, and I used to eat ALOT of junkfood, but Ive started to cut down on that. He explains how our over-consumption of meat and junkfood are going to destroy sustainability on earth and harm our own bodies. I believed this whole time that meat was good for me, so thats why I eat so much of it. And its so incredibly good! But I would really like to decrease the amount I eat because now I know the real harm its doing. It is definately going to be really difficult but I hope to succeed with this because Im not completely satisfied with my body yet. And of course I care about my health and I dont want the planet to destruct any time soon. I know my contribution wont save the world but its a start! It sure will be easy though when I go out for dinner, because meat is wayyy to expensive! So Ill stick with salads and other healthier things instead of my first instinct always being meat.

                                        

An Inconvinient Truth: Wars & Hatred

The one thing I just cannot understand is why everyone can NOT get along. Like why cant we all just accept each other for who we are? Everyone is so caught up on their own beliefs and if other people dont share that same belief, automatically we hate them. Like the Holocaust for example, why must you hate on all the Jews? Its not their fault they're Jewish, thats just what they were born into! How can you punish them for that? They believe in their stuff just as the Germans believed in whatever they believed in. You never saw the Jews hating on them for anything! Why cant everyone just mind their own business! I feel that all countries now should just have nothing to do with each other. We should stop helping others and others stop helping us because its not doing any good. Its just the mindset that everyone has and there is no way we can change that and that really bothers me. They all say "oh this person isnt like me so lets judge them!" "start a war!" blah blah blah! We all just need to get with the program and realize that what were doing is harming us, wasting money, and not getting us any further. We need to accept, love, and respect each other so everyone from everywhere can be friends and we wont have to have any hatred or any wars or any of this stupid stuff that is a waste of time. I dont want to worry about bombs dropping on my country or me or my kids living through world disasters like that. And with the way its going, I dont think its going to get any better. The band Smashmouth said it perfectly in their song "Why cant we be friends?" We just have to change everyones mindsets to love and respect and I think well be just fine. But that is a looooong stretch.

Blogging Around

First, I commented on Kara's blog about the meaning of life. She talked about how we need to live for the better things in life, and appreciate that more and I think that is a very strong idea.

Kara,
You are so right on! There is so much more to life than stupid electronics and things like that. However, I dont feel that we are selfish for having them or wanting them. I mean, I dont think what was your main point, but I definately need my phone and computer, for communication, safety and homework of course. But I'm sure I dont obsess over them or base my life off them. Family, friends and love are so much more important and that is what we need to focus on and cherish.

After that, I commented on Addie's blog about the Do You Mind question on change. She said how she would have liked to (if she could) been born in a different place and upbringing do get a different experience and maybe learn about a new culture.

Addie,
Oh my gosh! I wonder this ALL the time! I would love to have a chance to be born in a completely different place, different family, friends all that stuff. That would be awesome! Thats really interesting you thought that way because when people are asked what they want to change about them, the first thing we generally think about is appearance. But you didnt and I think thats really special. But it would definately be really cool to live a whole different life and see how different things "could have been."

Best of Week: Interpretation

All week we have been reading this article called "consilience" a unity of knowledge. The key idea discussed in this article is interpretation. The author says that interpretation is an art of it's own. It is the engine that drives consilience and I think that that is a very strong idea. We mostly talk about how when reading these articles, we have to interpret what they are saying in our own way to really understand it. You ask, how do you know that you know something? If you can interpret it in your own way. But this is a very hard thing to do sometimes and can get frustrating. Anyways, this is a huge reoccuring idea in class everyday and is very powerful. I would like to see myself being able to interpret others works in my own way this year and when I get to college. Thats why I love that we are getting the practice now.

Best of Week: Do You Mind?

My all time favorite part of this year is the Do You Mind questions. I love answering them, and I love hearing other peoples answers. It really is a great way to think deeply and explore my past and ways of my mind. One question I liked a lot was one asked earlier this week. It was, What's the biggest step you've taken in the past year? How did it change your life? When I was asked this, it required no thinking time. It came to me right away because this was definately my big moment this year. I finally got to perform infront of the entire school by myself! I was CRAZY nervous, but it was an all around great experience that really changed me. I used to think only the "usuals" got that opportunity and that I would never be able to do that, but I was wrong. When it was granted to me, it was an amazing feeling of accomplishment and gave me tons of confidence I never knew I had. This memory will now stay with me forever and help me to go on and do bigger and better things. Confidence is KEY.

Blogging Around

First I read a blog by Klaudia Stachura. It was a connection of Alan Lightman, Colbie Callait, and Klaudia. Her main focus was how in Einsteins Dreams, Alan Lightman talks about how people get stuck in time and they aren't able to say the things they want to say. She noticed that in one of Colbie's songs, she talks about this, and Klaudia has also had her own experience of this with her grandfather. I responded:

Klaudia, first I have to say that I respect you so much for being able to share something from your past that is so personal and emotional. But the main thing I got from this, was when you said its hard for you to express emotion. That is really sad :[ and being a person who loves to love and tell everyone how much I love them, I really hope that changes for you in the future because its a great thing and it feels really good to say. :] and I do know exactly how you feel, all of my grandparents are dead and seeing the last one go was heartbreaking and its hard to go through I know. But on a happier note, I love the connections you made..its always great to connect things with music because it is so relatable sometimes and music is a fun way to do school stuff haha..but they were very strongly put, so true, and I love the picture! Then I noticed that you have an image for every blog post and it really spicens it up..lol I wish I thought of that! Great job! Love ya! haha

Second, I read a blog by Joe G.  He wrote about when he cleaned out his closet, and I was able to make a very close connection to that. I responded:

Joe, this is seriously the same thing I did with this blog. Haha my closet was a DISASTER and I was like how did I let it get like this? I can never just fold things back up and put them away right away im just too lazy lol. But that quote is really awesome. I've never heard it put like that, but my parents always said things like that to me too. Even knowing, its still hard to do sometimes right? Yeah and procrastinating never helps either! But this was halarious lol like I actually laughed when reading it especially the clothes cleaning themselves up part! Lol.

Final Blog: The Shallows--The Post-American World

The book I read was The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains. I am commenting on Ashley Cummings' blog for her book, The Post-American World. It doesn't seem like these two books have a lot of connections, but there are some in the beginning of the book, which she writes about in her blog. The quote Ashley used is saying that there is so much growth in our world now with technology, economics, and politics and it can be good and bad. I am going to stick with the technology part because that connects to my book the most. She quotes that "it is raising a series of complex and potentially lethal dilemmas" (Zakaria 27). That is something that the author of my book Nicholas Carr, would probably agree with. He believes that the Internet is changing us and our brains in mostly negative ways. Both of these books discuss how technology is greatly advancing. It's good because everything is now faster and easier and we can do anything we need to do online, and most Americans now find that they cant live without it. Its bad because were dependent on it and now were losing the importance of memorization, books are also losing their value and its only going to get worse...and better at the same time. Also, I like how she talks about challenging the status quo, and changing it because thats what we have been talking about in class all semester. I feel like in my book, the author wants us to challenge the status quo as well and maybe try to cut down on our use of the internet and television. He wants to bring back the power of the book, as opposed to The Post-American World, where they need to alter the status quo to compete with the new global powers we will soon have.

Lit Circle Meeting #3: The Shallows

In this section of the book, he starts off with some things about what the internet is doing to us and how we have this fear of being out of the social loop, like being invisible. He also tells us about the differences between hypertext and hypermedia, and there impact on readers. He then runs tests and practices on different groups of people, mostly college students, to see how they affect the brain and how the brain works. Then he finishes with the world of Google and social networks and how they were born and how they affect us.

Nicholas Carr cites Gary Small, a psychiatry professor at UCLA who also believes in the theory that the internet changes the brain. He states that, “The current explosion of digital technology not only is changing the way we live and communicate but is rapidly and profoundly altering our brains” (Carr 120). I completely agree with both of them because I feel like the internet has changed me. I’m sure some people disagree, but they are probably in denial. It definitely changed the way I live, because now I have to incorporate Facebook into my schedule and now I can use it for so many things that I couldn’t before and it is a lot easier and faster. I get a feel of safety I guess when I realize I can do something online. When I need to get a hold of someone and they aren’t answering my calls or texts, I say “oh its okay, I can just catch them on Facebook!”

Captured Thought: Chicago Musical

My last three years of high school, I have never cared about the musical. I never tried out, or ever wanted to be in it. Im just not the best actress, but I love to sing and dance! But everything was diffrerent this year. When I figured out that the musical was Chicago, I was actually really excited! I mean it was the only musical that I have seen a bunch of times, and actually liked, but I just couldn't wait to try out because I really wanted to be Mama Morton. I knew I wouldnt get a lead role, and I didnt really want one so I would go for a shorter role, and I knew I could rock her song. So I just had to make it through Variety Show, and then I'd be ready for musical. But man, that did not go as I had planned. During and after v-show I was just utterly exhasusted and feeling busy and stressed all of the time with all the rehearsals and homework and all the other things I had to do, I had no time! If that was that bad, I didnt even want to imagine what musical would be like and I could not just jump into something else that time consuming right away. I just couldnt help but feeling lousy all the time and kind of angry that I can't even get as school-involved as I want to. I have to go back to work and find another job cause I took too much time off for school stuff and now I need money. I feel like Im just getting a taste of adulthood too soon, and I cant enjoy being a kid anymore. I really would have liked to be in that musical, but I guess its just bad timing.

Connection: Einsteins Dreams and Titanic

In the one vignette written on May 4th, 1905, Einstein talks about these two couples who are out to eat at their usual table at the usual hotel they have their dinners at. He goes into crazy detail about the setting and their wardrobes and how fancy everything is. It's basically the story of a typical night for typical rich, stuck up people. They talk about things like the weather and the children and fancy shmancy things. Reading this totally made me think of the scene in Titanic when Jack comes to dinner with Rose's family and friends. They are all just so proper and they make the biggest deal about what to wear and they are all smoking cigarettes and drinking brandy. They are literally word for word the same things going on. This connection doesn't really provide insight for me, it just shows me how I DON'T want to be like. It reminds me how annoying rich people are and I'm glad that whole cherade doesnt really exist anymore. Rich people don't really act like anymore it's more of an olden time thing. That's what makes their behaviors so similar. I'm glad it's not like that anymore.

Metacognition: First semester

If I could sum up the whole first semester in one word, it would be dreadful. There was so much work and reading I felt like I never had any spare time. My homework would take about 1-2 hours and most of it was for this class. I guess if we were reading books that I liked then I wouldn't mind all of the reading. But unfortunately I strongly disliked both of the books we read this semester so it made the whole experience more painful. On a good note, I did like all of the videos and documentaries we watched, they were interesting and always connected to the literature somehow. Also I liked the YouTube videos and commercials. I never knew how much meaning could be in these complex yet simple commercials. I do have trouble with thinking philosophically so that's probably why it was so hard to go along with what we talked about in class and relate to it. And that's why I didn't really do so well. So my hopes for next semester are that hopefully we have a little less work and the books get better.