Early Youth Decay

This post was originally posted Friday, the ending was added that Sunday at 1:00 A.M.

Something no one has thought would happen in our little community has happened. The rumors that are flying around make information blurred and distorted, so I claim that many statements about this that may seem fact could very well be false. However, what I do know is that a student from the high school of which I attend shot a pistol from a moving vehicle at something. What was shot at or the intent of shooting at it isn't clearly known.

The real question should be, why? What would cause, influence, provoke someone to do this? Of course, the only real answer may be in the person's mind, and even he may not know.

Moral Decay in Youths by bfery (or Blake in the comments) explains that children are becoming "desensit[ized] to violence". Bfery gives an example of a 15 year old being "doused in rubbing alcohol and set on fire by a few other teenagers." There's no doubt anyone would find this act atrocious. The author may very well be suggesting we are heading down a bad slope stating that Never once as a kid did [he] experience first hand, or even see for that matter, any bullying to such an extreme extent."

What seems to make the most sense to me is that we, the youth, can get into the bad sorts of activities if we aren't involved in activities that have a reason or aren't given any direction in life. As my father states, "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop." When we find ourselves with nothing to do, we look for something to do that we are interested in, is fun, exciting, or exhilarating. This free time can be beneficial and harmful. People find what they love to do in their free time, other people find what society hates.

Why? I heard the cans outside and some talking and I disregarded them at first. Then I realized what may be going on and ran outside, but if only I had been a little faster or maybe if I had been paying more attention. All along my Father's old van, the one he's had for years, there is graffiti. I'm angry, I want to hurt the people responsible, I want them to pay, I want them to regret doing this to my Father. In my mind this is a crime against everything he has ever done. I curse into the air, I scream, but they've already run away. I'm enraged.

After a few minutes and some pacing, I begin to think again. What makes me better than these people if I want to bludgeon them, to beat them, to make them pay? I'm worse than they are. How dare I even write a blog post about decay in morals of the young when I can't keep my own thoughts from atrocity. What does this make me? This makes me a hypocrite. I am no better than they.

Maybe I wouldn't have hurt them, but stand rigid with anger. I would yell, no doubt. My thoughts are jumbled and it shows. Pure emotion.

Later, I will come back to this and think, "Why was I so angry?" and "What is wrong with me?" But now, I can't help feeling angry, it's only been 40 minutes.

My Syntacular 12 sentence story (not really that great)

The rocket was ready to fire, its round placed securely in the tube, its fuse hanging loosely from the top of the tube, its fuse lit and running evenly. The tube seemed right; the explosive seemed off. The tube, a little fiberglass wonder, was the barrel tube to our stemless mortar shell. The fuse went up to the lip of the tube, down to the middle, into the round. We all braced ourselves for the launch as the fuse went into the tube. Crack! We searched for any shrapnel and searched for anyone hurt and searched for what went wrong. We were all astonished: none of us understood. Wondered what happened, we all did. So what caused this loud explosion? We all looked for a solution, and thought, and contemplated, and found a simple answer quickly. We all knew what had happened , we all looked at one another anyway, we all thought this to be funny, yet ridiculous, the rocket was upside down.

The Five Stages of Robert Neville

WARNING: Contains spoilers on the book I am Legend by Richard Matheson.

Many people have seen the movie I am Legend starring Will Smith; fewer people have read the book I am Legend by Richard Matheson.

What many people who have only seen the movie do not know is that the book is very different from the movie. At some point while I was still reading the book, my mother found it and read the whole story in a couple hours. Later, when I mentioned the book to her, she mentioned how Neville had gone through the stages of grief.

After finishing I am Legend, I remembered reading about Neville's anger, depression, and final acceptance, but I hadn't thought that they were tied in such a way. Early in the book, Neville crushes a drinking glass in his hand and becomes infuriated at simple objects such as the mural he painted on the wall. Even though this does not perfectly match the mold for an anger stage, Neville does seem to want to get back at himself for the loss of his loved ones.

Neville's depression is very evident when he spends hours at a time remembering and nearly reminiscing about the past, his wife, and his daughter. At one point, Robert is trying to look for an answer to the plague by looking back into his past and recalls lying half-drunk, fully clothed, crying in his bed after burying his wife.

Acceptance is the final stage of the five stages of grief. As Robert Neville discovers what he has become to the new people of the world, he comes to a personal realization. He comes to accept what he is and what he has become to no longer fear his own ending.

I had read that people who have a terminal illness or only a short amount of time to live go through these stages too. When I read that, I did not think much of what was said. Later, I remembered why I wear my LiveStrong bracelet. My cousin, Jessie, has Neuroblastoma, a form of cancer which is often present at birth. Even with her problems she still manages to smile, boss people around (lol), have fun.

You may feel like Robert Neville but you can always look forward like Jessie.

(I did some research about the 5 stages of grief here and here.

What to read...

1. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is the third and final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. After reading the first two books, the natural idea would be to read the last book. Although there is something about me and not wanting to finish a good series (of anything really)...

2. I am Legend by Richard Matheson was recommended to me by El Drunko (*cough* *Lauren G* *cough*). What also interested be in this book was that I had seen the movie, which I enjoyed. However, after reading just a few pages into the book, I realize that the book is nothing like the movie, though that is not exactly a bad thing.

3. I first heard about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson over the radio when the speaker spoke of the author's background and how he hadn't intended for his writings go become books. Later, my English teacher gave a short book talk on the book and got me interested in reading it.

2nd Quarter Annotated Reading List

Matheson, Richard. I Am Legend. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2007. Print.

The book I read, I Am Legend, is actually a number of stories by Matheson. However, in the main story, Robert Neville is the last man on Earth. The rest of the human race has been wiped out by what he could only describe as a vampire virus. Neville deals with the pain of losing his wife and child as he looks for something to do to keep himself from going insane. At times, Robert is enraged at himself and at others, he mourns the loss of his family. As my mother pointed out to me, Robert Neville goes through most of the stages of grief. Who wouldn't be a little unstable after realizing they were the only rational person on Earth who didn't want to drain the blood from people? Neville's story is a very interesting one that I found myself feeling emotions for and is a good book for just about to read (probably not small children). (two books worth)

Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Signet Classics, 2000. Print.

In the world of 1984 the three super states, Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania, are in a perpetual war. Each super state uses the war and other methods such as propaganda and even self-mind alteration (Doublethink) to control all aspects of their citizens lives, even their thoughts. This control was later compared to that of "a boot stamping on a human face--for ever." The duty shown by the residents of the super state of Oceania could only be considered fanatical by our modern day society. Something I always wondered was, "How can these people take this abuse?" The answer is, they don't know any different, if there isn't something to compare an item to, what you have originally seems best just because you have something. However, some of Winston's Smith's old memories begin to surface and he starts to remember what life was like before the Purges. This leads Winston down a path of "unorthodox" thoughts, which lead him to question everything around him. If you would like to find out what happens to Winston or if you like Dystopia/Utopia or fiction books, I would recommend this book. (2 books worth)

Independent Reading: In Development

Between Odyssey, band, Beta club, NEHS, and work I'm finding difficulty in reading consistently. I still read the required minutes each week, but sometimes that consists of 120 minutes in a day. That's my best excuse, but that's still an excuse. What might help me to read more consistently is to have a designated time of the day to read. Even with that fault, I am doing decently on practicing a balanced reading diet. I read a candy fiction, deep fiction with themes that could relate to modern society, and a nonfiction book about the inner workings of TV News and how facts can be distorted (Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and How to Watch TV News by Steve Powers and Neil Postman respectively). I didn't read Catching Fire with deep thought, besides to paying attention to the storyline. However, I did read Brave New World and How to Watch TV News with analytical thought simply because they were much easier to relate to modern day society. To some extent, I do ink my thinking. I find inking my thinking to be both advantageous and burdensome. Inking does help me to go back and reflect a little on what I read in relating something I just read back to something I read much earlier. Stopping to write something down, especially a longer thought, can cause me to lose my train of thought. For the next nine weeks, I will try to read more consistently and have most of my books read before one week to due date.

Annotated Bibliographies: How to Watch TV News

Tingle, Greg. "Journalistic Plagiarism Is out of Control." Greatreporter.com. 17 Feb. 2005. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. .

Plagiarism is a problem for many people. There is not only plagiarism in school reports but also in the news. This article describes how "journalistic plagiarism is out of control". Big time journalists, such as Jayson Blaire of the New York Times, even plagiarize and falsify documents. Some reporters will even plagiarize reports from little known sources such as students. A TAFE student in Sydney wrote "article on a historical society issue involving the local council in Sydney's Hill's district." He then pitched his article to a local newspaper, who replied: "'Sorry, not very interested, but you can send over your ideas if you like'". Four weeks later, an edited version of his article was printed in the newspaper. How to Watch TV News describes how VNRs (video news releases) are plagiarized by the general media such as CBS News. CBS News used a VNR by the Institute for Injury Reduction to show defections in safety belts and rollovers without giving credit to the Institute. If people in the news can't come up with something and have to revert to stealing someone else's work without giving credit, how trustworthy can they be in reporting news in the first place?

Jury, By Louise. "An Overpaid Airhead? Not Me, Katie Derham Tells the 'old-timers' - Media, News - The Independent." The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

Many people claim that news anchors are overpaid for "simply to read[ing] an autocue." Both new and old employees in the news agree. Most people say that being an anchor requires very little intelligence. John Humphreys even went to the extent of saying that he thinks his "four-year-old will be ready in a couple of months." However, Katie Durham claims that an anchor must be able to "think on [their] feet." She also claims that if they were not able to think on their feet "the product would be crap and we would be taken off-air." Many newscasters and anchors today are not getting out of the office and into the field to do actual reporting. Jon Snow explains that we are seeing the rise of a generation of anchors who have never been in the field" and that "there are people now who are saying 'Sorry, I don't do that', and 'I don't know how to do that' - and as a result never left the studio." How to Watch TV News explains how anchors are payed ridiculously large amounts of money to capture viewers with their good looks and nice suits.

Lee, By Douglas. "Firstamendmentcenter.org: Press - Topic." Firstamendmentcenter.org: Welcome to the First Amendment Center Online. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

There is debate whether cameras should be allowed in courtrooms. Some say that when cameras are let into courtrooms, they hamper the ability of the judge and jury to pass a lawful decision. This has many people to claim that they have been denied a fair trial. However, cameras are now being allowed in most places, so long as the policymakers of the federal and state courts allow it. How to Watch TV News explains how many defendants are claiming they were denied a fair trial by the presence of cameras. One person explained that when you add a camera to a courtroom, you turn the "courtroom into a circus." The debate has changed slightly since cameras have modernized. One argument about whether to have cameras in the courtroom was that they distracted everyone. Now, cameras have become much quieter and pose less of a physical distraction.

Dreisbach, By Shaun. "TV News Too Violent for Children? - Parenting.com." Parenting.com - The Home of Parenting and Babytalk. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

All parents (or at least the good ones) care whether their child watches violent TV at a young age, but what if TV news were just as terrifying and corrupting? In TV news, children are exposed to the base of human life (murder, muggings, and crimes) in it's truest form. According to this article "a recent study found that children actually find the news far more terrifying than anything they'd see on a blood-and-guts drama." "The researchers showed nearly 600 kids ages 8 to 12 disturbing TV content -- things like war images, people shooting at each other, house fires, and plane crashes -- then told them what they were watching was either a fictional "Hollywood show" or an actual news program." They found that "children who thought they were seeing real events had significantly higher fright responses -- they showed a greater emotional reaction -- than those who believed they were watching a fictional show," said study coauthor Brad Bushman, Ph.D. How to Watch TV News expresses a kind of worry about children who watch TV news because they are exposed to such acts.

"Fake TV News: News Release | Center for Media and Democracy." Center for Media and Democracy | Publishers of PR Watch. Web. 17 Oct. 2010. .

There are many TV News stations that play video news releases (VNRs) and do not mention their source or that they are VNRs to the public that they show them to. This brings up problems with plagiarism and the possibility that the VNR is fake. Most TV news stations find it irresistible to take an already made news report, say it is their own (or fail to mention that it isn't theirs), and show it to the general public. Most people take these reports as facts because they are not told that the report is a VNR. How to Watch TV News talks quite a bit about VNRs and their ability to be easily stolen by TV news stations. There are a few VNRs that are fake news, which leads to concern in showing these reports to the public when they aren't researched by the TV news station.

"Is Linking an Antidote to Plagiarism in Journalism?" Publish2 Blog. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

Even in small states, plagiarism is present. Tammi Marcoullier writes of how she found out that one of her blog posts had been plagiarized by a competing news source. What caught her attention was that the person who she interviewed had said a specific quote which was also included in the other person's report. When Marcoullier called the person she suspected of plagiarizing her blog post, he apologized in a "backhanded way, as if he really didn’t believe he’d done anything wrong." Marcoullier suggests a simple way to avoid plagiarism on the Internet by simply linking sources. Journalistic plagiarism is mostly represented in How to Watch TV News in the use of video news reports (VNRs). Plagiarism is the "worst crime" that can be committed by news sources simply because they do not give credit to the people who actually worked on the reports and have all the credit for themselves.

""What Do We Need Professional Reporters For?"" Small Dead Animals. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

This article deals with the growing number of citizen and free-lance journalists and photojournalists. People in the news business fear that many more people will go to the local news by citizens instead of the highly paid anchors for factual, reliable news. Who wouldn't go to someone they know personally for news (and I don't mean gossip) instead of some good-looking anchor behind a desk reading an autocue? The citizen journalist may have more incentive to get his or her facts straight. If a citizen journalist reported on a major event only to be found out that his/her facts were completely wrong, the journalist would loose much respect, thus less people would trust that person or listen to him/her. How to Watch TV News shows examples of how citizen journalism is being used more often. For example, hundreds of people filmed the events of 9/11 in the streets and around the city. These videos were used in reports about the event and give a different view than one of the mainstream widely known TV news sources.

"Cameras In Courtrooms: Information from Answers.com." Answers.com: Wiki Q&A Combined with Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedias. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

Whether cameras should be allowed into courtrooms is still debated in various degrees. Now, all US states "allow some type of camera coverage." Even though some people argue that having cameras in the courtroom violates due process rights, experimental studies have, in some courtrooms, suggested that cameras do not interfere with due process. First, the Supreme Court "enacted Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, prohibiting all photography or broadcasting of federal criminal cases". The Supreme later reviewed the case of Chandler v. Florida (1981) and unanimously decided that "states should be free to develop their own procedures for broadcasting trials, and that such television coverage was not an inherent violation of due process". Even with Rule 53 not being upheld any longer, the Supreme Court "does not allow photographic or broadcast coverage of proceedings." How to Watch TV News explains the debate about whether or not cameras should be allowed in courtrooms, which they leave up to the policymakers of the federal and state courts.

"Children And The News." American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

Children are exposed to news very often and without the reports being sugar-coated for the children, negative effects can occur to the children. Children watching news are prone to "imitate what they see and hear in the news," which is "a kind of contagion effect described as 'copy cat' events". Children who are constantly exposed to violent news are more likely to be fearful and suffer from other such negative effects. With the increase in coverage of crimes ("240%" according to this article) children are much more likely to be exposed to such acts. This article also has suggestions on how to reduce the negative effects of violent news such as "monitoring the amount of time [the] child watches news shows" and "provid[ing] reassurance regarding his/her own safety in simple words emphasizing that you are going to be there to keep him/her safe". Worry is expressed about this subject in How to Watch TV News because TV news stations do not soften violent reports for children.

"Why You Need To Be Careful About Watching The News." Citizen Warrior. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

Many TV news stations leave a negative or depressed feeling on the viewer because most feature acts that are out of the control of the victims. People who watch these kind of reports feel a sense of helplessness and hopelessness because "the problems shown on the screen are too big or too far away or too permanent to do anything about". This coupled with our brains having a "negative bias" leads many people into a kind of depression (mild or severe). TV news can more easily impact how a person feels than news in print because "you have no choice over what you take in, and visual images remain in the mind more easily". How to Watch TV News explains how people are attracted to events such as murders and muggings because they think about how they have survived another day or "I'm glad that wasn't me".

Socratic Seminar Reflection

Late last week and early this week, my English class participated in Socratic Seminars about different themes from the book Brave New World. One of the groups I was in discussed the irony of John the Savage's name and the significance of the names of the various characters. The other discussed the power of language in the book, and the power of the word to influence thought and behavior.

I really did not feel as though I encountered any striking new ideas (or at least ones that would stay with me through the weekend and other school work). I felt as though much of what was said were confirmations of many of my own thoughts. The idea that John was more civilized than the "civilized" world and John's emotional understanding but not comprehension of Shakespeare were already thoughts to me. There were not very many challenging of ideas during our talks (though I think that is mainly due to people being respectful to one another and not wanting to have a bad grade). Even though I did not find drastically different points of view from my classmates, I did found out a little background about background such as character name origins when preparing for the seminars. Interestingly, Bernard Marx somewhat exiles himself from society by going to the Savage Reservation. Similarly, Karl Marx (who Bernard is partially named after) is expelled from Paris at the end of 1844 but then returned when a revolution first broke out (or Bernard returned to society). Also, the name Lenina Crowne is said to come from Vladimir Lennin, who supported Karl Marx. I tie this to Lenina trying to understand Bernard and supporting him.

In retrospect, I think I did fairly well on my parts of the conversation. The most difficult part, I would say, would be trying not to interrupt someone who is speaking when an idea pops into your head that feels as though it must absolutely and positively be said at that moment. Even though we had eight minutes to discuss our topic, I felt as though I hadn't said all I wanted to during that time. During the conversation about the power of words to influence thought and behavior, we did not get to talk about Newspeak from the book 1984 by George Orwell. Nearly all of my research for that discussion was about Newspeak (which included quotes from 1984). Even with my negative comments, I enjoyed sitting down with a group of my friends and mutually being aware that we were about to engage in serious and deep conversation. I would invite people into the conversation more often who weren't given much of an opening during the conversation to speak if I had a do-over. Overall, I enjoyed our Socratic Seminars though I would give a little more time to discuss than eight minutes to let everyone say what they wanted to and cover most everything.

That information about Karl Marx being exiled is from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/marx.html.

Annotated Reading List

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2009. Print.

Suzanne Collins supplies an atmosphere of oppression and rebellion in her book Catching Fire, which is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Katniss thought she would no longer have to deal with the Capital and its calmly insane president after her Hunger Games. She was wrong. There is unrest in the districts due to Katniss' defiance of the Capital, and who wouldn't be angry at a government that made you send your children (or you) to entertain the masses by killing one another. Trust is a major theme in Catching Fire because Katniss has to determine who her allies are and who her enemies are. "Remember who your enemy is" Haymitch says to Katniss before stepping into the arena. In the world of Catching Fire, there is the all-powerful Capital to oppress the other districts in a tyranical sense. I can tie this idea back to Brave New World in that there is one tyranical person who controls almost everything in the resident's life. I believe that if the world described in Catching Fire were our world, we would find it to be our "duty to overthrow the government that has not acted in the general public's best interest". However, many people claim that today's government is terrible, yet they do nothing. So if something truly horrific happened similar to the events of Catching Fire, would people be too indifferent to rise up?(400 pages)

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.

What is a utopia? Is it a place where everyone gets along well? Is it a place where no one is biased against another person for their physical looks? Is it a place where everyone enjoys their work? The Brave New World in which Huxley writes of is a utopia he believes we will one day become. However, unlike the typical connotation of the word utopia, Brave New World is not exactly a perfect society (or at least at this point in time we would not describe it as such) with its loose sex, approved use of hallucinogenic drugs, and genetic predetermination. Huxley prophesies that a decay in moral values will lead to his (dystopia)utopia. Some of this decay in morals can be spotted in our society such as many people now considering it normal to have lovers in a year numbering into the double digits. Soma, or the drug of Brave New World, is used by the people whenever they want an escape or are feeling too much emotions. Taking a gramme of Soma sends the person on a "holiday" away from reality to a feeling that is described as being "Christianity without the tears." This drug can be related to the want to legalize marijuana in the US. Utopia may not be pretty, but it's "perfect", right? If you wanted a utopia, what would you be willing to sacrifice for it? (259 pages)


Postman, Neil, and Steve Powers. How to Watch TV News. New York, NY: Penguin, 2008. Print.

How to Watch TV News will enlighten you on how to... well watch TV news. How to Watch TV News is both informative and a warning to the general public of what TV news is all about. Money (well, maybe some news too but that's back seat to money). Postman and Powers describe how TV news expose their viewers to ads. One technique is for the anchor to grab a person's interest just as they are going to commercial break so that that person stays with them. Also, "breaking news" may get many people's attention (which equals more viewers, which equals more people watching commercials, which equals more money), even if those first reports are not exactly solid facts. With the age of technology that we are in now, reports can be sent instantaneously back to the studio. These first reports may not be as accurate as news stations would have you believe. If something catastrophic happened five minutes ago, how do you know so much about it anyway? How to Watch TV News describes the inter-workings of TV news and how it affects our perception of certain events. (169 pages)

The annotated bibliographies are here.

Random Stuffs

Because I was surfing the web and found some stuff that relates to English Class and Starcraft 2 (kinda incongruous, huh?) English related: dystopia (and no, I'm not starting a political war here, it's a joke, don't blog rage), 1984, and some soma.

The source of that above comic and another translated strip here.

Pink and the US' abundance of abundance

Pink's humorous criticism of American's abundance sheds light as to how America is evolving today. Pink explains that "during the twentieth century", most middle-class Americans aspired "to own a home...." He then states that "more than two out of three Americans own a home in which they live. The use of the word aspiration in Pink's sentence paints a picture that owning a home was more than a simple goal to Americans that could be easily reached. Also, Pink uses a bit of his humorous criticism by later saying that "in fact, some 13 percent of homes purchased today are second homes. This new abundance has left Americans more capable of satisfying one of their needs of survival: shelter. This idea of the elimination of the fight for survival is driven home as Pink describes that "abundance has freed literally hundreds of millions of people from the struggle for survival" and has "made it possible to extend the quest for self-realization." The use of the word "struggle" suggests a kind of air that a great burden is lifted from many people by our abundance. This example explains how abundance has taken away the fight for survival (the use of the words "from the struggle for survival" greatly represents this point) and let people start exploring the right-brain parts of life, thus evolving.

Got a deathstick?

(click the image for a better view)

Above is an ad for a "New crush-proof box" for cigarettes. The ad is, of course, denouncing cigarettes and not promoting them with the box being a casket among other details.

Though the ad is short on very long text, the longest string of words explains that "The Surgeon General has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health." This may seem as if it were one of the most obvious facts in the world; however, the fact that this statement has been determined by the Surgeon General makes the statement much more credible. Most people would trust the word of anyone who could rightfully be called a surgeon but if that surgeon were the Surgeon General, who wouldn't believe what he or she has to say about your health? If this person were important enough to have a title that no other surgeon has, one would think that that person were much more knowledgeable than many other surgeons in the world. Another credible source to help strengthen this ad is the text about the use of the FTC method at the bottom of the image. The FTC method has been used to tell the amount of tar, nicotine, and other substances in cigarettes since 1967. The FTC method has been revised since to show the levels of tar and nicotine when a cigarette is smoked under higher intensive conditions. Because the FTC method is used in all cigarette advertisements and by the major cigarette companies, this bit of fact is not to be taken as a said statement by an untrustworthy source.

A few facts around this ad state a few hard facts such as the amount of tar and nicotine per cigarette and the Surgeon General's warning. 8 mg may not seem as though it were that much tar, but how many cigarettes are in a pack and how many packs do some people smoke in a day? Some people may consume up to 32 ml of tar a day, or even more. Again, the Surgeon General's warning has the simple fact that smoking is dangerous to your health. That simple statement states a fact which is impossible to argue with.

The largest part of the above photo is that of the coffin with a few cigarettes tucked into it's bed. The coffin may be reminiscent of the passing of a loved one or someone a person knew. From there, one could go as far to relate the loss of a loved one to lung or similar cigarette caused cancer. This thought can really pull on the heart strings of someone who has actually lost a loved one to cigarette smoke and even bring back painful memories. Even the joke at the top of the ad about the "New crush-proof box" has a kind of emotional appeal. At first a grin may cross a viewers face, and then a grimace after a little consideration about what is being said. The joke may even be suggesting that the smokers are more concerned about a few precious squeezed cigarettes than their health or the health of those around them.

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are used in this advertisement against cigarettes by borrowing some of the Surgeon General's credibility, stating a fact about tar content, and reminding us of lost one to this addiction. This ad blends all parts of Aristotle's persuasive appeals to persuade people to not use cigarettes.

Something Taken for Granted

Late last night, while trying to find a topic for my final thINK summer assignment, I glanced at the counter to find food from my mother’s parent’s house. The food looked great; a kind of flour chips, a sauce, dried onions, and banh xeo comprised this tray of brought home food. I just had a sample of each but as I lay in bed, I realized how important home cooking is.
Both my maternal and paternal grandparents cook their own meals. I’ve never known any of them to so much as look at a fast food restaurant. What is a fast food joint anyway? Is it a place to find a good deal or delicious food? I beg to differ.
Even though the fast food places may seem to be a cheap place to get food, if one were to look a little closer, questions can be raised. If the value menus are composed of $1 items, what is the quality of the actual food? Restaurants are built to make money, not give it away, so how would they make money by serving high grade food for such a low price? I have watched my father cook a $40 batch of gumbo which fed my family and friends for days. How much fast food could a person get for $40 at not even a fraction the taste?
Besides being healthier and more cost efficient, cooking meals yourself brings people together. Why go eat out somewhere when you can cook for a friend or a loved one? If that cook doesn’t want to cook alone, they could get a loved one or friend(s) to help them cook, this is actually quite fun.
Whenever you get the chance, cook a nice home meal for yourself or your family. Not only will you hone cooking skills and save money, you will also get to spend valuable time with family and friends.

Money, Greed, and Temptation

Money leads to many problems in life and some go so far as to call money "the source of all evil." Money causes tragedies when in excess or when people think they need much more.

These ideas are expressed vividly in the short story The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving. Tom Walker was a meager, miserly fellow who lived just a few miles from Boston, Massachusetts during 1727. In short, Tom met a man claiming to be Old Scratch. He offered Tom the treasure of a pirate for the usual price. With much greed in his heart and fear for not wanting to lose the treasure, Tom struck a bargain with Old Scratch to be his "usurer" of money. Tom gained vast amounts of money by squeezing the money from poor debtors and land-jobbers. One day as he was about to foreclose on an unlucky land-speculator for whom "he had professed the greatest friendship", Tom lost his composure and exclaimed, "The devil take me if I have made a farthing!" Old Scratch was glad to comply.

Tom showed much greed when Old Scratch instructed him to "lend money at two per cent. a month" and he replied that he would charge four. Tom shows an even deeper greed and selfishness as he replied to Old Scratch's instructions to "extort bonds, foreclose mortgages" and "drive the merchants to bankruptcy--" by saying that he would "drive them to the devil."

Pink Floyd actually has an entire song about money and how it affects people. During the aptly named song, "Money", Pink Floyd explains how money changes people into greedy and selfish beings that "grab that cash with both hands and make a stash". Pink almost seems to compare money to drugs as he sings, "Money, it's a hit" in that we can't get enough and need another hit similar to a drug. Pink later goes on to sing about man's selfishness by stating "get your hands off my stack." This statement describes how people would not be moral enough to share any of their money.

In this society money can be the illusion of happiness, the more one has, the happier that person is. We see money's corrupting hand in our government and in other organizations. Even children are affected by money, some have too little, just enough, or too much for their own good. Many crimes are driven by the hunger for more money such as robbery, muggings, and the sale of illegal drugs and substances.

Be very careful when you handle money. Keep a firm grip on what cash means to you or it can posses you. Ultimately, I agree with Pink Floyd's lyrics, "Money, so it seems, is the root of all evil today."

The Men Who Shouldn't Come Home

This post contains spoilers about the short stories The Open Window and The Monkey's Paw.

Death is an inevitable part of life, we all know that. But what would you do, or could you think, if you saw someone who you knew was dead walk again? This might be harder to take in than the person dieing in the first place. Seeing someone dead and then seeing them walking again would be beyond reasoning. We know that once someone has passed, they don't come back. This belief is a part of our understanding of life. So what would you do if someone you knew was dead came walking in your front door?

I decided to read The Open Window by H.H. Munro. Many (well... maybe most) people would not interpret this story the way I did, which is their translation. Towards the beginning of the story, everything seemed to be normal with a simple exchange between Framton Nuttel and Vera about the loss of her aunt's husband and two younger brothers. What struck me as odd was that Vera had said that when the brothers and husband had drowned in the marsh that "Their bodies were never recovered." The story takes on a more solemn tone when Mrs. Sappleton remarks gleefully that her "husband and brothers will be home directly from shooting". Believing she had lost her mind, Framton thought the talk of the "shooting and the scarcity of the birds" was "purely horrible". The atmosphere turns ghastly when Mrs. Sappleton exclaims, "Here they are at last!" As Framton turned to look, he spotted three silhouettes "walking across the lawn towards the window" "in the deepening twilight". Not knowing what to do, Framton simply grabs his belongings and dashes out the door.

After I read The Open Window, I immediately thought of the story The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs. The Monkey's Paw in a nutshell is about Mr. White wishing for two hundred pounds because his friend, who gave him the paw, had told him to "wish for something sensible." Perhaps completely in coincidence, Mr. White receives two hundred pounds at the cost of his only son's life. A week after burying their son, Mrs. White demands that Mr. White wish for their son to be alive again. With much fear and demanding by his spouse, Mr. White wishes that his son was alive again. At that exact moment, there is a subtle knock at the door that resounds throughout the house.

I believe I made a connection between these two stories because of implied ideas about the living dead. Is there really a correct way to react to seeing someone you knew was dead walk again?

After research here, here, and here I realized that I horribly misunderstood the story of The Open Window. Vera's story and reaction when the men came home fooled me and if you knew me, you would know that I take everything anybody says very seriously and that I am very gullible. This would contribute to how I can not sense sarcasm unless it is extremely excessive. I believed Vera's story because she broke her self-possessed composure with a little shudder at the end of her story and a look of horror when she saw the husband and two younger brothers coming back from their hunt. When Mrs. Sappleton exclaimed that the men "looked as if they were muddy up to their eyes!", I believed that this was implying that the men had crawled out of the ground. However, we learn more from our failures than our triumphs.

My annotated photo/story

Here's my first Summer assignment for English class about who I am as a writer, reader and who I am myself.

Of Mice and Men

From his first paragraph, John Steinbeck sets the scene in Of Mice and Men through his use of imagery as he describes the natural world as a parallel to later events in the novel. From the sentence describing "the Salinas River" dropping "in close to the hillside bank and" running "deep and green", a few words stick out to me. "close" reminds me of being close to someone (as in a relationship). "River" sounds similar to a nourisher or life giver. Parallels to the story from this sentence would be that Lennie (hillside bank) and George (the River) are close and George provides for Lennie (ex. food). The "slopes" that "curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains" partly describes George and Lennie's relationship to one another. "curve up" sounds as though the mountains and the river are related to or close to one another (relationship). The mountains being described as strong and rocky are similar to something coarse and mighty. The parallel to the story could be that Lennie (mountains) and George (the slopes of the river) are close to one another and Lennie is very strong. One of the more interesting descriptive sentences about leaves "under the trees" lying "deep and so crisp" describes how protective each is to the other. The word under may refer to protecting or covering. The crisp leaves may be something unhurt and unmolested by trampling feet. To the story, Lennie (tree) and George (the leaves) or vice versa each protect each other and watch out for one another so no harm will come to the other. Even though there may not seem to be parallels to the story in the first paragraph, upon reading the book many parallels can be seen throughout the story.

The second part of this analysis involves quotes from the story and interpretations of the tone. The first tone word I came up with was unfortunate. George still stared morosely at the fire. "When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts. I never get no peace." "Well, we ain't got any," George exploded. "Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want... These quotes show how unfortunate George may be because he has to look after Lennie. George expresses how much more fortunate he would be if he didn't have to look after Lennie all the time. The second tone word I came up with was the word dire. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering. "Well, that girl rabbits in an' tells the law she been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in a irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day. Got on'y our head sticking out from the side of the ditch. An' that night we scrammed outta there." These quotes show how dire George and Lennie's situation was at times, mainly caused by Lennie's mistakes. The drastic measures George and Lennie took to avoid these consequences and what reactions these situations called for show how dire their situation was.

Although being your brother's keeper is not always easy, one must remember that your brother will keep whomever keeps him as well. "So we sit in a irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day. Got on'y our head sticking out from the side of the ditch. An' that night we scrammed outta there." This quote shows how dire George and Lennie's situation was and what measures they took by sitting "in a irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day." Carlson was not to be put off. "Look, Candy. This ol' dog jus' suffers hisself all the time. If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head-" he leaned over and pointed, "-right there, why he'd never know what hit him." This quote, while foreshadowing, illustrates that the people during this time would do what had to be done by shooting "him right in the back of the head". A show of mercy is also realized in this quote when Carlson says, "why he'd never know what hit him." Recently, I have had an instance of watching out for someone, and then having the favor returned. A couple weeks ago, I found a class ring that belonged to someone I knew from the band. I returned his ring and he replied by saying that he "owed me one". While taking a quiz in Chemistry class later that week, I came upon a question that I just couldn't remember. Part of the question had to do with "the partial pressure of a gas on the surface of a liquid". I wracked my brain to remember what the answer was, but I just could not remember. Mr. Russell, our Chemistry teacher, gave my class a hint by saying that "there's an eleventh grader with this same exact last name". After he had said that, I remembered who I had given the class ring back to and wrote his name down. Because of this exchange of favors and indirect favors, I made a one hundred percent on the quiz and raised my class grade to an eighty-eight percent.

(Direct book quotes are in blue.)

Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother

Nearly everyone has seen the photo of Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother at some point. Some may not have even known when this photo was taken. Even if someone doesn't know when this photo was taken, anyone can see and recognize the expression on the woman's face. The lines of a face which should be smooth and the (what seems to be) sped-up aging of this "thirty-two" year old woman are apparent. Even though you cannot see this in this picture, "she sat in that lean- to tent". The children's dirty, matted hair and the look of uncertainty and fear on their mother's face provoke thoughts of how cruel the Great Depression was or might have been for some or many people during that time.

(citations and image from here.)

The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry moved me and gave me second thoughts about utopias and dystopias. In particular, I took joy in Jonas' emotions and his dissimilarity to the rest of the community. I also enjoyed the theme of this story.
In The Giver, Jonas is the main character and the new Receiver of Memories. Jonas is picked out from the other forty-nine children in his generation for a special duty, to receive memories from the Giver. During times when the Giver gives Jonas memories, Jonas experiences emotions which no one in the community has ever experienced. Jonas begins to see color and the blanket of Sameness is lifted form Jonas. How Jonas deals with these emotions is very intriguing because in our world, we would not have thought that anyone could not have experienced these feelings (warmth, cold, the pain of a sunburn). This newly developed recognition of everything around Jonas sets him apart from the rest of the community. An example would be when Jonas recognizes that an apple is red colored and he tries to tell his friend that the apple is red. His friend does not recognize that the apple is red because of Sameness and thinks Jonas is acting strange. One physical difference of Jonas and the Giver from the rest of the community is that both are said to have "light colored eyes".
The theme of The Giver is a very deep one. What exactly is a utopia and can you have one without a dystopia? The community of The Giver is obviously supposed to be one of a utopia. One can argue that this so called perfect community is, in fact a severely flawed community. For example, if there are twins born, one must be Released while the other goes to the nurturing center. If there is no wrong, is there a right? What's to base off of that tells what is right when there is nothing wrong? This may lead many to think that a utopia cannot exist without there being some sort of dystopia.
I enjoyed The Giver and would recommend this book to anyone who likes almost-modern day sci-fi or to anyone studying utopias and dystopias.

Animal Farm: Thoughts on Orwell's use of animals as characters

This is just my opinion, so people may disagree or see differently than I do, which is awesome.

George Orwell's Animal Farm is a very thought provoking story of the fictional revolution of animals on a farm. George Orwell uses animals as the characters in his story instead of humans, which I thought was odd when I first began to read this story.

This use of animals is effective in helping me to understand how this society is similar to a utopia/dystopia. In my mind, the different animals of Animal Farm are similar to people born with different characteristics such as Boxer seeming to be born into manuel labor and the pigs being more clever and smarter by who they are (as in pigs). Animal Farm is a parallel (is that the right word?) to Joseph Stalin's Soviet Russia during and around World War 2. The animals other than the pigs and dogs can be compared to the proletariat of Soviet Russia during that time. The separation of the animals by species greatly helps to represent who they were, such as the sheep and ducks, who were much less intelligent than Boxer. This separation by species seems close to the separation by a different kind of person/people. This is somewhat hard to describe unless you know what I'm thinking or talking about.

Cross Examination

A: So, what're you doing?
T: Homework.
A: That doesn't look like homework.
T: I mean I was doing homework, but I'm taking a break.
A: So can I see what you were doing for homework?
T: Well, uhh.. I already closed it.
A: Can't you just open it open again?
T: That would take too long, plus I'm busy.
A: But you would only have to make a couple clicks.
T: Well, I'm doing research now.
A: That's Youtube.
T: Yea, I'm doing research on Youtube.
A: What assignment is this?
T: It's the Research-Youtube-by-looking-at-videos-assignment, now get off my case.
A: There's no such assignment.
T: Yea there is..
A: I just looked at the assignment and there's nothing about Youtube on there.
T:Well... umm.... ALRIGHT, I'M NOT ACTUALLY DOING HOMEWORK.
A: I could of told you that.
T: Gaaah!! Look! I'm doing homework now, happy?
A: Wasn't that due three days ago.
T: *throws up his hands and leaves the building*

Finding Hope

they may seem dark at first

billowing a surging

overwhelming

and overpowering

but look closely

you might see it

that edge of silver

at the edge of the cloud

Celebrate

"For what can you celebrate?" I think that I could celebrate being alive. Without being alive, you couldn't really do anything. Every good (and bad) memory you have is due to your aliveness (that doesn't sound phrased right...). At times being alive may seem difficult to celebrate but if you just take a second to think, you may find hope in your situation.

Rain

Here's a blog post that I thought was very interesting. The topic is on one of my most favorite phenomenon of our planet Earth... and that would be rain. I love everything about it. Many times there aren't even words to describe how I feel when rain is pouring outside. I agree with this person's thoughts (though I don't know the songs that he speaks of). Follow my lead.

The Mask I Wear

--->(no sense intended here, so I guess you could call it a rant)

Outside never seems right,
Contained so others won't see.

I wear the mask lightly,

but not tightly.

My haven is safe;
I open up to myself there.

Keeping to myself is what I do,
As solemn as I keep myself.

Truly I'm a virtuous person;
Altruism is what seems to ring out.

What does St. Patrick's Day Mean to you?

I have never really thought very much about St. Patrick's day. When I remember St. Patrick's Days of the past, I remember a day of either remembering to wear green and being safe or forgetting and preparing to get pinched. Now that I give more thought to luck and such, I become more grateful for all the lucky moments in my life. One such lucky moment would probably be when my Dad and I were filling a PVC tank full of compressed air to check for leaks and the tank exploded in our hands. Any amount of air pressure can be dangerous but I had the luck to walk away unhurt from this potential catastrophe. While in Houston, Texas my family and I went to watch a parade. Afterwards, we were walking back to a train station to get back to our car. We encountered a crosswalk that had a stall near the left of the road and limited our view. As my sister was crossing the street, I spotted a car speeding from our blind side. Immediately I understood what would happen and I yelled out her name. She danced back just as the car sped by. I am very grateful for this bit of luck.

Call of the Wild Book Review

     Jack London's The Call of the Wild electrified me with its tale (no pun intended) of a harsh Northland.  I also enjoyed the character's involved in the story.

     The Call of the Wild follows the journey of the dog Buck through his adventure into the North.  Buck has to survive in this harsh, new environment virtually on his own.  He soon picks up habits and lessons from the other dogs through watching.  One such lesson would be when Buck finds out his teammates have burrowed in the snow to stay warm during the night.  Other such lessons are when Buck learned "to bite the ice out with his teeth when it collected between his toes".  He also learned that "when he was thirsty and there was a thick scum of ice over the water hole, he" could "break it by rearing and striking it with stiff fore legs."  Maybe one of the most important lessons Buck learns is that if a dog goes down in a fight, that is the end of him.

     Characters in The Call of the Wild are quite amazing.  Buck, the main character, almost seems as though he is a human rather than a dog simply by his rational thoughts and way of doing tasks.  In a fight, Buck is being severely beaten and has no way to back out of this fight.  He finds a way to adapt to his foe's movements and tactics and soon brings the opposition down.  John Thornton saves Buck later on in the story.  John Thornton is played out as a very kind and likable person, which he is.  He stands up against Buck's current owner and saves Buck from certain death.  John Thornton also shows that he understands Buck when Buck "would often seize Thornton's hand in his mouth and close so fiercely that the flesh bore the impress of his teeth for some time afterward" to be a sign of admiration and love.

     I enjoyed The Call of the Wild and would recommend this book to anyone who likes nature, learning about primal instincts, or a good read.

Book Review: The Bar Code Tattoo

      Suzanne Weyn's The Bar Code Tattoo astonished me in how I could see our world in a similar situation.

    A major idea of the The Bar Code Tattoo is that all people would (will?) be identified with bar codes.  These bar codes would identify the person's blood type and other medical specifics.  What if the codes told more than just these medical specifications?  What if we were tracked through these codes?  What if our lives were controlled by a few simple black bars?  That's a tough set of questions.  In the story of The Bar Code Tattoo bar codes are beginning to be used for everything from buying items to getting a job.  In the story, a character compares the degree of government tracking individuals by saying that "they first started out using Driver's Licenses as IDs, then credit cards were tracked" and so on.

     Kayla, the main character, resists the bar code and joins a group against the bar called KnotU2.  This group is centered around working against Global-1.  Global-1 is a large organization that owns all farm production and many other vital businesses.  This reminds me a little bit of our (somewhat) monopolies in our society.  Though not on the same level, what if these large corporations turned into an all-controlling monopoly like in the story?

    Our world may be moving in this direction if we are not careful of our government and business corporations.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes semi-futuristic or action themes.

Persuasion

I do not use persuasion very often.  I am not very good at persuading people, which is probably because I do not use persuasion very much.  If I do have to persuade someone, I will probably talk out the situation and give reasons/facts for my point.  Persuasion is not very important in my life.

Winning

Winning can mean doing better than other people in an activity or overcoming a personal obstacle in yourself.  Winning does not always mean receiving a tangible reward.  I am both ashamed and proud of many things I have won.  Even though winning doesn't always mean receiving something tangible, something I am very proud of winning is academic medals during Junior High.  I was given 3 (maybe 4) rewards for the highest grade in class.  The classes I remember are Art, Computer Technology, and History.

Commitment

I believe that I could commit myself to being better at playing the marching snare.  I will commit myself to learning to play the marching snare better.  Making myself better at the snare is important.  Next year, (this season is already over) there will be only one person on snare who has had any experience with the marching snare.  Also, he is going to be a Senior, so I have to learn as much as I can from him before he leaves.  This is even more important when I remember that I am the only person moving up (maybe, this could change) from the bass drum (which is what everyone on the Drumline starts out on).

Yesterday, I saw a mug in Barnes and Noble that made me smile. The mug read: "Be the change you wish to see in the world…" (just in case you didn't notice that large image above). The quote was by Ghandi (something else you might not have known if you managed to miss that picture), which made me more interested in this particular cup. Really, if you think about this, you can figure out pretty easily how you influence other people. There are more quotable mugs that are good, if you are willing to take a look.

I took the image from here.

The Red Badge of Courage

Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage amazed me with the main character's tale of bravery in the face of death.

In The Red Badge of Courage the youth (as he's called throughout the story) leaves home to fight in the army during the American Civil War. This in itself is the youth taking a stand against his mother, who wanted nothing to do with the War. I believe that the youth might have felt a little bit obligated to serve. However, this idea is mostly thrown off when the youth confesses to himself that he joined for the wrong reasons. Those reasons being that he wanted more so to defy his mother. The youth also joined because he saw, or rather imagined, himself as being a hero among the soldiers by using courageous speeches and battlefield survival. Another stand is taken by the youth when he and one of his friends overhear an officer saying to a general that he (the officer) can spare their (the youth and friend's) own regiment the best of all to lead a suicide charge into the enemy on a different front. The officer even goes as far to say that the regiment "fight like a lot 'a mule drivers". During this charge, the youth is reminded of the officers words and grows agitated. Later during another charge, the youth had made a resolution in his mind of retaliation against the officer. "It was clear to him that his final and absolute revenge was to be achieved by his dead body lying torn and glittering, upon the field. This was to be a poignant retaliation upon the officer who had said 'mule drivers,' and later 'mud diggers,' for in all the wild graspings of his mind for a unit responsible for his sufferings and commotions he always seized upon the man who had dubbed him wrongly."

I enjoyed reading The Red Badge of Courage and would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Civil War stories or tales of bravery and courage.

Image from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www2.scholastic.com/content/media/products/76/0590021176_xlg.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp%3Fid%3D168551&usg=__Tb7vB4Gse49Z7V4U06-Q03Xpu9I=&h=252&w=230&sz=19&hl=en&start=97&sig2=ixS7v-aAFav33hMkEuFWpA&um=1&tbnid=HJwvbv8pLezgNM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bred%2Bbadge%2Bof%2Bcourage%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26start%3D90%26um%3D1&ei=wDJWS5T-DYq4tgPmwbjZAQ

Taking a Stand

      This post may seem a little obvious with what tomorrow is, but I'm going to write on this subject anyway.  I admire Martin Luther King, Jr. for his stand against many of the United States.

      Even though nearly everyone knows his story, I'm just going to give a quick refresher.  At the time, there was major segregation between Blacks and Whites in the US.  The segregation went to far as to have Whites and Blacks separated into different schools and even to have different restrooms. Martin Luther King, Jr. took a stand against all this and most of the US (and by most, I don't mean all).  Martin Luther King, Jr. used non-violent protests to get a point across (which was partly inspired by Ghandi's way of protest).  He succeeded in changing the entirety of the US and how  people look at the small differences in each the other man.  In the end, as everyone knows, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

      I admire Martin Luther King, Jr. for his capability to stand against such a large mass of people, something I don't think I could ever replicate.  Martin Luther King, Jr.'s peaceful protest inspires me to do the same with conflict among others.  Even in the face of danger and death, he did not use violence, something that inspires this non-violent method even more.  Martin Luther King, Jr. had everything to lose, his home, family, and even his life, and yet he still stood up for what he believed in.

      Against all odds, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood up for what he thought was right and I admire him immensely for that.

Image from 

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/113/286476887_d43f3cff29.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.knowmoremedia.com/influences/&usg=__6wugj_gkpccYJVzolyfCpqaGVgQ=&h=393&w=500&sz=140&hl=en&start=9&sig2=xjWTweVENKcCT7LltjntUw&um=1&tbnid=5u1k79LU752-WM:&tbnh=102&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmartin%2Bluther%2Bking,%2Bjr.%2Bmarch%2Bon%2Bwashington%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26um%3D1&ei=fMhTS5XQEJLytQOIu43hBw

Something I wish I could change, but really can't

Less homework.  I really am just writing about this because I don't want to get into politics or war.  Homework can be a major dampener on study time and free time.  I believe that if you are really taught what you are supposed to be taught at school, you should not need to learn more at home on your own time.  I believe that time at home should be used to study or relax.

Taking a Stand

     Many people may think that taking a stand for what they believe in is difficult.  Taking a stand can be very difficult, if you make it difficult for yourself.  I took a stand for what I believed in.  This was no small task for me.

     First, a little background info.  I moved into a new house about a year ago.  This new house is actually a warehouse and it wasn't exactly in the best condition when we moved in.  Ever since, my family and I have been working on our new home.  Everyone does their part, some more than others, but it is still help none the less.  My Father is home nearly all the time and he does about  90% of everything that gets done around the house.  My Mother helps all she can, though she has a day job and isn't home nearly as much as my Father.

      This is where explaining gets difficult.  My Father doesn't exactly have a day job he goes to every morning at 8 but still gets payed even though he is home most of the time (and I don't mean he has a job on the computer at home or anything).  My Mother does and usually gets home around 5.  Honestly and bluntly, my Mother complains of (nearly) all that my Father does even when he does his best and just does what's best for us.

      Back to what I've been meaning to say from the start, taking the stand.  At the time, I was playing at the computer when my Mother and someone she was talking to walking into the room a couple steps away.  My Mother said something to the effect (that's probably the wrong a/effect) of complaining about the trimming near a door being off the ground.  The person she was talking to agreed and said that they had suggested the same.

     I couldn't take it anymore.  I stood up and walked over to my mother.  I explained to her that my Father does much more for us than she knows and that he does what he does because he loves us.  I didn't wait for a response as I turned back to the computer.

     Some teenagers may have little to no respect for their parents and think that this stand is nothing compared to what they do.  I respect my parents very much which made this stand that much harder for me.