"Nothing Gold Can Stay"

Although I do not disagree with her point of view, this is not quite S.E. Hinton's interpretation of "Nothing Gold Can Stay," and if you would care for her view on it, read The Outsiders if you have not already.

Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay" only has eight simple lines to it, but happens to be one of my favorite poems of all time. He paints a clear image of a golden sunrise and nature blooming it's first green, but replaces that with a gray picture of Eden sinking to grief. Robert Frost rarely wrote about nature and only nature. This poem is a parallel to happiness.

Happiness is a beautiful emotion that I never take for granted. It gives me a warm fluttery feeling in my heart that spreads through my chest and builds a smile across my face-- a feeling that is "gold." Unfortunately, this feeling of sweet ecstasy never lasts. It is the"hardest hue to hold." Soon enough, my smile fades and the feeling in my heart coldly diminishes. "Dawn goes down to day."

"Letdowns" are everywhere in life. We all come across tons of them a day. Somehow, no matter how dark it gets, we hang in there. Perhaps it's the hope of a new-found happiness that helps us hold on a little longer. Maybe if we cling to that hope for a new dawn a little tighter, we can make that "gold" stay a little longer.

A Letter from Mr. Navarro

Dave Navarro, the guitarist for Jane's Addiction, wrote "An Open Letter To Gay, Bi & Transgender Teens" on his website. It, of course, addresses the gay teen suicide issue everyone seems to be debating over. Navarro, however, does not rant about what he considers right or wrong. Instead, he simply assures gay, bisexual, and transgender teens that a better life waits ahead of them as long as they hold on, which is the proper way to address this issue.

When October 20 came around, Americans, by wearing purple, showed their honor to gay teens who committed suicide (because of fear-based hate) and people went crazy over gay rights debates! These debaters completely missed the point! Whether we think homosexuality is wrong or not, we need to be aware that people are ridiculing others, people are hurting others, people are assaulting others because of who they are to the point of suicide. NO ONE deserves so much concentrated hatred to where they contemplate taking their own life away, because they cannot handle going on in life with so much hate.

Instead of arguing over gay rights, we must come together to end the issues we can all can agree should end-- bullying and sheer malevolence.

If you are the one hating, stop. You have no idea how much undeserved pain you are causing the people you taunt.

If you are the one being hated on, stay strong, because that very strength will give the world hope for a new way of thinking and acceptance in the future.

Possible Reads?

1. Neon Angel by Cherie Currie
2. Going Bovine by Libba Bray
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Since reading Scar Tissue, I have an insatiable appetite for my favorite musicians' auto-biographies. I plan on reading Neon Angel by Cherie Currie, the former leading lady of the 1970s punk band, The Runaways. Currie's memoir should be a page-turner, because she was introduced to the wild world of rock and roll at the tender age of 15. Since the memoir's content is simply not appropriate for school, I won't make any bets that I will find Neon Angel in our library. Not to worry! Hastings will surely have a copy of it! Of course, I don't exactly have the cash to buy it, so I'll have to stay in the store and read it there, like I did with Scar Tissue, until a very gracious person let me borrow his copy.

A friend of mine, the same friend who recommended Scar Tissue to me, read Going Bovine and could not put it down. I figured that since he and I are not too big on reading and I liked the last book he recommended, we have have similar tastes in books. Luckily, Mrs. Huff has Going Bovine sitting on her bookshelf, so there is no conflict in getting it.

Many people consider watching the movie before reading the book a "no-no." Why? I would much rather be impressed with a movie, then be even MORE impressed with a book (since books are always better than the movie), rather than be impressed with the book, then upset with how inaccurate a movie is. I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and fell in love. If the movie is that amazing, I can't even imagine how great the book is! I honestly haven't a clue whether the novel is in the library or any English teacher's bookshelf, but I do know that it lies within the classic novel section of Hastings. Perhaps I can find a cheap paperback?

Annotated Reading List

Kiedis, Anthony, and Larry Sloman. Scar Tissue. New York: Hyperion, 2004. Print.

Scar Tissue is the deliciously deranged and drug-infested memoir of Red Hot Chili Peppers front man, Anthony Kiedis. He tells his readers about what life was like growing up in Los Angeles with his drug-dealing father, how the Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP) formed, what happened during RHCP, tours how drug addiction haunted him throughout his life, and the people he met along the way. Kiedis mentioned how his English teachers through out grade school and college fancied his writing style and I can see why! His casual, yet descriptive, story-telling tone makes it seem almost as if he were telling me the story before my eyes. Though I have never been addicted to drugs myself, he very distinctively describes the feelings drug addiction brings to where I understand. (465 pages)

Lamb, Sharon, and Lyn Mikel Brown. Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes. New York: St. Martin's, 2006. Print.

In Packaging Girlhood, authors Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown inform mothers about the media selling an imaginary picture of women being girly, motherly, sexy, and powerless to their daughters. Images such as these are subliminally pounded into girls' skulls at young ages in disney movies clothing, then gradually segue into an image of a sex appeal. Lamb and Brown offer advice to their audience to help them keep their daughters from submitting to the sexist image the media portrays of women. Since I have seen a majority of what the authors mention in the book, I know what they are talking about. The problem with that is that I know more about the tv show, movie, etc. than the authors do and I can tell when the authors over-fabricate, which they clearly do an abundance of times. For example, when they discuss That's So Raven, they say Raven's mother is dead. Any girl from ages 10-20 can tell you that Raven's mother is living (actually in the later episodes, her mother goes to law school, which should be more empowering than not). (294 pages)

Reading Reflection

I have went out of my "norm" this nine weeks and read two non-fiction books- one of which was an autobiography and the other being an informative non-fiction book. Obviously, I had more fulfillment and entertainment reading the autobiography, because it was about a musician.

I haven't quite established a regular habit of reading yet, but I am in the process of getting to that point, if I have the right book. I can read more regularly if I ask my reader-friends what books they would recommend for me, since they know what interests me. Of course, the content of the book does not carry the only issue. I also need to set out a certain time to read. With marching band, friends, responsibilities at the house, ways to make money, attempts to exercise.

I am not really having a "balanced reading diet," since I have only read non-fiction articles and books this nine weeks (except for Brave New World, but that is not exactly independent). I should probably read some more fiction, but I still come across the difficulty of finding a book I can get into. I am not good at "inking my thinking." I get distracted with my thinking. Even though I am not an expert on the subject, "inking my thinking" does enrich my understanding

Next nine weeks, I will somehow find time to read. I suppose I will read once I get home, when I originally watch television. I can also set apart a time right before I go to bed to read, also replacing time I watch T.V. Since marching season will be over next nine weeks, I'll have some more time to read and have a clearer head to think.

I want to read more auto-biographies next nine weeks, like Cherie Curry's autobiography. I have been a fan of Laurie Halse Anderson's books, so I'll go for some of those fictional books. I also heard Going Bovine was amazingly confusing, yet a wonderful read for young adults.

Socratic Seminar

In our class's seminar, we discussed Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. In this group discussion, we encountered new ideas, had our own ideas challenged, learned interesting information related to the book. All of us had to come prepared for this discussion, in order to enrich our understanding of the book, so that means no thoughts from scratch. There were some aspects of my performance in the seminar I wish I could change, and some I feel I did well on. Because of the seminar, I have become a better listener and speaker.

Since other people had input, they introduced a few new ideas to me. Thomas brought up the fact that there was a difference in surviving and living, which I had never thought of before. Kelsey actually read about Henry Ford and learned that he was very racist and, ironically enough, supported Nazism. I always thought of Henry Ford as an all-American wholesome man, but I never really looked into it.

My ideas were never challenged; we all pretty much agreed on everything. If anything, I challenged my own thinking. I first thought that since Henry Ford was a big-shot during his time, Huxley praised him with giving him a religious title in the story, but I then proposed a new idea: Perhaps Huxley condemned Ford.

Preparing for this seminar with research enriched my knowledge and understanding. I went into the research naive of the rich background information and came out of research informed and, oddly enough, refreshed. I made connections to the text, making the text more clear.

As far as participation goes, I had a lot more to say in the first discussion I was in about Huxley giving Henry Ford the role of the society's god, because it's a more touchy subject to me and researching the topic was easier than the latter topic I participated in, so I felt a bit more fulfilled in the Henry Ford topic than the topic that involved Huxley's beliefs versus Orwell's beliefs on what will destroy us.

What was difficult on the latter was research, and because of that, I was less prepared for that discussion. The question asked for my thoughts, and I did not know what could really support my thoughts. I also had a load of difficulty putting the scattered thoughts in my brain in actual sentences, which I have always had trouble with. If I had to anything over, it would be better preparation for the latter topic. If I had done that, I would be far more satisfied with my role in the group's discussion.

On the flip side, I really enjoyed the first discussion I was in, because I get some strange kick out of discussing semi-religious topics in a small group. I liked the fact that I was able to express my thoughts and have others retaliate in a respectful manner, which was something much different than my experiences of discussing a deep subject with a group (my former experience was mainly debate). Along with Kelsey's thoughts on Fordism, I loved listening to Sam and Thomas's thoughts on whether love or hate will destroy us.

I learned that I am only a good communicator, having a clean ratio of speaking to listening, when I am very well prepared and have all of my thoughts in order. Otherwise, I listen much more than speak, thus giving me a very unbalanced "speak to listen ratio." That seems to be the case with everyone-- how can one thoroughly communicate something he or she does not quite understand him/herself? I might get overly excited about a subject and feel as if I should pour all my thoughts out at once. I recall getting the feeling that words were building up in my mouth, almost distracting me from truly listening.

I am a fan of the Socratic Seminar, though I do get slightly nervous. There is nothing wrong with the Socratic system, just me. These seminars will probably assist in helping me with public speaking. I hope we can do another seminar soon.

"Save the Seals"

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is an organization very well known for having controversial and eye-catching ads such as an ad for the "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign in which PETA has a celebrity pose completely nude. For a change, PETA took a more serious approach to an ad featuring a celebrity and for this ad, they chose Steve-O, a daredevil and TV personality. Those who know of Steve-O are aware of his wacky sense of humor and stunts that are both outrageous and painful. Their attention would most likely be brought to a cause even Steve-O is serious about.
PETA was quite clever in coming up with this ad, because it uses all three major rhetoric tools: ethos, logos, and pathos. The use of ethos is quite apparent with "Steve-O for PETA." Why should we trust Steve-O of all people? What does he know? Again, he is known for being a fun-loving and reckless guy, so whatever issue wipes the smile clear off his face must be an important issue.

Since I do not know any women or even girls my age who watch the shows Steve-O appears in, I assume this ad is aimed at teenage boys and young men. Men tend to be less sympathetic towards animals than women are mostly because somehow sensitivity and sympathy equals inadequate masculinity. If someone with as masculine as an occupation (or even appearance for the matter) as Steve-O's shows sympathy, then clearly it is okay for all of the other young men to do the same. In a way, this is a mixture of both pathos and ethos.

This ad appeals to pathos with the word choice. "Each year, many seals are killed" simply would not cut it. More accurate words are used to paint the truly horrifyingly gruesome picture of what happens to seals for their fur such as "slaughter," "massacre", "babies," and "cruel". Also, notice the angry and protective look on Steve-O's face. That helps give the reader the same emotion towards the issue. Plus, can you not help but think the seal drawn on his shirt is adorable? It let's the reader see seals in a more appealing light.

For logos, this ad has a simple, yet powerful paragraph. "Each year, tens of thousands of seals are..." That's enough to grab the reader's attention to the rest of the sentence.

To make an advertisement successful, it needs to have a combination of pathos, logos, and ethos in order to keep the attention of the reader. The reader will need someone they can trust endorsing the ad, the ad to get inside his or her head, and have the facts along with statistics.

"One Tribe"

The Black Eyed Peas are known for their very upbeat and easy-to-dance-to songs. Most people, myself included, have seen the new Pepsi commercial about Pepsi funding meaningful/charity projects. That is where I heard a tiny little excerpt of the song, "One Tribe." Since I did not pay too much attention to the lyrics, all I thought of the song was that it was very catchy.

I did not get a chance to see the lyrics to "One Tribe" until I went CPYC, a church camp that takes place in Pleasantville, this month. One day, the lesson everyone learned was to not judge people by appearances, but instead on the good we see within them, so we listened to "One Tribe" in our "small group" that day and really payed attention to the lyrics. The song was obviously fitting to the lesson with lyrics like "Don't care where you are / Don't care where you been / 'Cause where we gonna go / Is where we wanna be." Where people are and where people have been represents the not-so-good exterior others see, while where people want to go represents the beautiful interior everyone has somewhere within them that people should see.

Church camp aside, I listened to the song again and listened to the lyric "Let's cast amnesia / Forget about all that evil .... that evil that they feed you." Sure, I heard the lyric, but it really made me think. Who teaches us our prejudices and grudges? Our family? Our friends? Our teachers? The media? The truth is all of them are "feeding us that evil." They feed us racism, sexism, stereotyping, and profiling. Think about it, a lot of the unfortunate events in the world sources from that evil. The only possible way it could stop is if we erased our memory of the evil that the world pours into our head.

Would it not be great if we could just forget about everything that happened in the past and our differences and come together as one tribe?

Through the Eyes of a Pig

What do people see when they look at this photo? Obviously, most would recognize a close and warm bond between a mother pig and her piglet, and that is exactly what I recognized when I first looked at the picture, but then I took a much closer look into the picture. Disregarding the feel-good caption below the photo, I saw fear and sorrow in the piglet's eye. The piglet has a very personified facial expression in which it looks as if it will burst into tears.

One may ask, "What is the piglet so afraid of?" Take a look at where the piglet is sitting- a feeding trough. This darkly foreshadows the feeble and miserable piglet's horrendous fate as a part of someone's meal and the gruesome slaughter it will have to face beforehand. The mother has a quite peculiar facial expression. She knows from previous experiences exactly what her piglet fears and knows that her young one has every right to be worried, yet still attempts to assuage and comfort it. This piglet will be one of the many piglets people had severed from the mother's care then killed. Imagine how heartbroken and hopeless one would be if every single one of their children were brutally murdered. That is the level of pain this mother pig constantly feels and she will always feel that very agony until she cannot produce anymore young (at that point, she would be slaughtered) or until she dies.

Some peoples do not have compassion for animals because they like to think that animals cannot feel as humans feel, but whether someone looks at this photo and sees a mother loving her child or sees a piglet and its mother in fear, he or she will clearly detect an emotion that some people will never know of.

Annoted photo link

This sums me up.

Of Mice and Men

[WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!]
Analysis of Detail

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 novella.

"The Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green" describes a deep and green river close to the hillside that George and Lennie were walking along and also describes George and Lennie. George "runs deep" in that he is a very understanding person, despite his vulgar language. Lennie runs "green" because he is, in a way, innocent and does not know what he is doing is wrong until he does the action. This also foreshadow the ending, because Lennie also "drops in close to the hillside bank" from being shot in the back of the head. "Slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains" describes an unstable treacherous mountain. This quote describes Lennie, in a way, because Lennie has a lot of strength (in fact, he has no awareness of how strong he really is) and is very unstable, like a rocky foundation. This also hints that the plot will have smooth slopes at first, then will be rocky at the end.

For a change in description, Steinbeck chose to vaguely describe Curley with "a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway." Lennie, who came down from a different ranch, physically injures Curley in a fight. Curley's wife does not beat Curley physically, but what about mentally? I clearly dected that Curley's wife is a tramp. She seems to flirt with the other men who work on the ranch, which would be an emotional beating to any spouse. If the reader takes the literal meaning, the quote merely describes a river that leads into a pond. Steinbeck seems to describe a limb that used to be strong, but weakened over time with "the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it." This symbolizes George throughout the novel. First, he is mentally strong and can handle Lennie. Over time, George seems to break because he is influenced to shoot Lennie in the head before Curley shoots him in the "guts" to prevent any pain.


Analysis of Point of View

John Steinbeck used the third-person point of view throughout the novel to really emphasize the seclusion each man experiences. One indicator of this lies in the passage "Crooks did not see him...on raising his eyes...a scowl came on his face."
"Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends." This proves that Crooks was often alone. He scowls at the appearance of Lennie after all. He must not have many human bonds at all considering how bitterly he behaves toward a man that obviously does not have any average mental capabilities. Also based on this, Crooks appears to appreciate his privacy more so than relationships. He continuously attempts to shoo people from his room. Lennie on the other hand apparently desires friendships, and always looks for them. His loneliness led him into Crooks's room. Lennie always tries to have a companion, even if they are dead (like the mouse) at times. Lennie desires the sense of security that comes with not being alone. George's words also sum up the intent of Steinbeck when he says, "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place." He means that ranch workers have no one to rely on and must live out an existence of wandering, for they "don't belong no place." Looking at the whole novel, this statement means that, in the end, ranchers will only have themselves to rely on. However, George backed Lennie and Lennie backed George.

Analysis of Tone

Of Mice And Men has a tone of both of inspiration and despair. The inspiration appears in quotes such as "The afternoon sun sliced in through the cracks of the barn walls and lay in bright lines on the hay." This image pleases the mind and gives one an image of sunlight, which is quite inspiring to most. "But in the barn it was quiet and humming and lazy and warm." This also paints a pleasant picture and would give the reader a soothing image. Despair reveals itself.."He went on sorrowfully ... Suddenly his anger rose." This refers to Lennie after accidentally killing a pup. These details are very , mainly because Lennie says, "Why do you got to get killed? You aint so little as mice"after that. This brutal quote even brings tears to some eyes. Not only because a puppy was accidentally, but because someone feels so much sorrow for a mistake they cannot help.

Analysis of Theme

This novel very much represents, "I am my brother's keeper." Both George and Lennie depend on each other. George obviously "keeps" Lennie in that he basically watches over him and makes sure he does not get into any trouble, very similar to a parent and child's relationship. Lennie, in a way "keeps" Geroge because he depends on him so much. As independent as George appears, both Lennie and George depend on each other because of Lennie's handicap. Lennie cannot even function correctly without George and George depends on Lennie because he feels the need to protect Lennie. In a sense, George gives protection to Lennie and Lennie gives George someone to protect.

Migrant Mother

What do you feel when you see this picture? What do you see? j

I see a starving, distressed, worried, yet hopeful family. The children cling onto their mother as their waiting for their father to come home. Maybe their also waiting for something else, such as the future with no more recession or depression.

That is where hope peers its way in. I sense a hint of hope in the mother's eyes

Over all, I feel more inspired by looking at this photograph rather than depressed. It reminds me to always have hope, though life looks to be rough.

Animal Farm's Animals

In George Orwell's Animal Farm, Orwell uses animals to represent Russian leaders and idealists after World War I. Thus, the story is not only a fairy tale, but a way to vaguely state Orwell's distrust against the Soviet Union. This allowed the book to be distributed to Russia without the authorities looking into it. Orwell characterized the animals to where one could easily detect which animal represented which Russian. Despite his personification of each farm animal, he still pays regard to the fact that they are unintelligent and unable to make certain products. This method would definitely appeal to people with very strong political views. In conclusion, Orwell's choice of characters (animals) obvioulsy attracted more readers than what the novel would if the personalities were protrayed through humans.

I Wear the Mask

Eyes stained red,
throat feels sore,
face is swollen.

Time to paint the smile
that should be placed
on this troubled face.

Eyes beam with kindness,
mouth now explodes with laughter,
and face peels back into a smile.

The world believes her lie.
The world thinks she's intoxicated with joy.
The world just knows she's on a natural high.

She feels sadistically victorious
over them.
When will she learn?
When will the paint fade away?

Cross-Examination?

My cross-examination would go a little like this..

Examiner: So, let's go through your movie closet. Shall we?

RG: I wouldn't suggest that, but go for it.

Examiner: Alright, I assume the abnormal amount of John Wayne movies belong to your father?

RG: Affirmative. The Bruce Willis collection also belongs to him.

Examiner: Right, so before I raid the closet some more, are there some movies that you're embarrassed about that you'd like to come clean to.

RG: Well, yes. I have a few movies I am not too proud of. Those being both Scooby-Doo movies, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Powerpuff Girls, and various others.

Examiner: All childeren's flicks that seemed great as a child, but now are just...

RG: ...Awful?

Examiner: Yes. Have you ever considered getting rid of these movies? You know, for a profit?

RG: Oh, no!

Examiner: And why not?

RG: They're MY awful movies!

Examiner: Right, I'll continue witht the raid.... OH MY! AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS!?

RG: I know, that's another one I'm not proud of owning either. I suppose it's a collection of awful children movies I got going there.

The Giver Review

I have once read The Giver by Lois Lowery in the sixth grade, before I even knew what a dystopia or utopia was. I just knew that the main character, Jonas lived in a very strict communist society. Now that I have re-read the novel, I have come to appreciate and realize what a classic this book truly should be.

In the society of The Giver, people of many communities have lives that involve little to no suffering at all, along with minimal disagreements. Therefor, the people of the communities have no conception of real suffering. They really do not have knowledge of what starvation feels like, what war sounds like, or what chaos looks like; their lives are controlled in every aspect such as who they will be in a family with and what their life-long career will be. The people have no desires or worries, so there is a lack of stress. As luxurious as a stress-free life sounds, what would life be like with no choice of aspiration?

Jonas, only a boy, gets to experience what no one else can, though he does not choose to do so himself, being that the Council of Elders forced him to. Through learning experiences through "memories," he becomes wise and realizes that without suffering, how could we appreciate the good things in life.

More detail in Jonas' duty, Jonas has been chosen to recieve memories from ancestral people. One person in the Community must take on this task for everyone else, and every once in a while a new "reciever" is chosen, this person being Jonas. He "recieves" these memories from the previous reciever known as "the giver" (found the title source). Over time, the community that seemed perfect to Jonas turned out to be flawed. Jonas must either decide to pretend to be blissfully ignorant of the flaws or do something about them, escape.

What must we sacrifice for perfection? Whatever that would be, would we have more of a loss or gain? In Lowery's opinion, we would have to sacrifice our individuality to obtain "perfection" and in the end, we would have more of a loss than a gain.

I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone, though adults will definitley catch on to the theme quicker than childern. The main character can relate to anyone, because of his quest to be an individual.

Growing Up (shape poem)

Climb,
Climb, Climb
They'll never end!
These steps keep going.
I want to keep going, too,
but I'm feeling weaker and weaker.

I want--
no, need--
to stay put.
The stairs are
now steeper and
more work to climb

A Time of Celebration

Just a few people I'd like to celebrate.

Here's to you,
Mom and Dad.
Together forever
and still going strong.

Here's to you,
brother and sister
for always being there
at my side.

Here's to you,
Cherry
for pulling through
though times were rough

Here's to you,
Russ
You're always by my side
when I don't have a confident stride

Here's to you,
Sun
You always greet me and leave me
with your colorful rays.

Spring Break

Spring Break- A time when students K-12 have a week off from school. What do some students do with their break? Go on an exciting trip to Disney World or Mexico? Stay home and play a lot of Final Fantasy?

I spend my spring breaks in Hot Springs with family. I usually stay at my uncle's house, and this uncle of mine is not the every day uncle. He just so happens to live in Hot Springs Village.

Though Hot Springs is generally a place where wealthy retired folks live to show off their million dollar house and exquisite landscaping, my uncle knows how to keep everything fun. Usually, when I stay at his house, I sleep in the basement. The immediate thought of a basement is a cold, murky area that most people keep hidden. This basment contains a TV...hooked up to computer with an abundance of movies that I could watch for days (such as The Matrix, The Godfather, Vertigo, and The Shawshank Redemption).

The basement, of couse would never be the highlight of spring break. The highlight would be the time spent with my mom's super crazy side of the family. They know how to make me laugh and always have some sort of story worth hearing.

I also get to see my best friend (okay, she also plays the part of my cousin), Ashleigh. With an age difference of two years, Ash and I have had a sisterly bond since she was a baby. A dull moment never seems to happen when we are together; we are always stirring up some sort of trouble.

A Diet Book Takes a Stand? (TAS book review)

217 pages

Though the title is not considered appropriate for most, Skinny B really proved a point about factory farming to its readers. Surprisingly, it's a diet/self-help book too. What a combination!

This book really has no similarity to any diet book I've ever heard of. Usually diet books sugar coat health facts, but the authors of this book, Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman really pack punches with their blunt and tough words and grab the reader's attention. The authors tell the reader what she needs to hear. They not only discussed why meat-eating is unhealthy for everyone, but also took a major stand on factory farming, which impressed me. Freedman and Barnouin exposed a lot of what goes on behind closed doors of factory farms. I personally loved their unconventional style; however, some just cannot handle the honestly.

The theme of this book was quite heartfelt. Despite the title of the book, Freedman and Barnouin's point is that being skinny does not matter; as long as we're healthy, we should feel good about ourselves. I fully agree with the theme given. Women should be happy if they're healthy and fit, because not everyone will have a model's figure.

I recommend this book to every female out there that will not be easily offended. This book really proves a good point and really tackles major problems.

Persuasion

I don't use persuasion much, therefore I am HORRIBLE at trying to persuade others or maybe I am horrible at persuading and therefore I refuse to try. What came first: The chicken or the egg? Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can persuade my parents to let me go somewhere. So, persuasion isn't huge in my book.

Will persuasion ever be a skill I try to master? Probably not.

I see companies trying to persuade to use their product everywhere, especially on television. Call America stubborn, but a lot of us are just annoyed.

That's what persuasion is for a lot of people: annoying someone or tempting someone until the moment they break and do whatever the persuader was persuading them to do. Others, are actually worth listening to. Very few people can convince me to do something I wouldn't do already.

What It Means to be a Winner

(Writer's Notebook)
Naturally, people want to be better than someone at something. It's called being competitive. Winning doesn't always prove that you're better than someone else at whatever it is you're competing at, just as losing doesn't mean you're not as good as others at whatever it is you're competing at. Remember: We all have are bad days and good days.

Winning is just a good feeling for most. The prize doesn't have to be tangible, it could be pride itself. Too much pride, however, causes someone to be an egomaniac. That type of a person is never fun to be around. I admit, sometimes I sometimes get a bit cocky when I compete in chair tests, but I never let it go to my head.

I've "won" spots in all-region and all-state and first chair in our little school band back in my junior high days. I felt accomplished, because I felt as if I deserved it.

Winning could either mean being lucky or very determined.

I guess you can pick up vibes that I have REALLY mixed feelings on the topic.

Olympic Athletes vs. Every Day People

Olympic athletes get credited for their hard work and determination when competing in the Olympics. Some athletes' multiple hours of practice pay of when they get the honor and glory of being a medalist. They give athletes someone to look up to and aspire to be like.

Maybe everyone sees people with the determination and commitment of an Olympic athlete every day without knowing it. People who aspire to work in the medical field must have a load of determination to get astounding grades to get into good universities and excel there to go to medical school and do well there to be a trusted surgeon.

That doesn't apply to doctors only. It applies to everyone with dreams. I dream to keep music in my life and have the honor of teaching other minds about music or at least be a pro musician and play in random symphonies.

I have been "training" since 6th grade to reach that goal. I think it's going well, because I've been honored with making all-state band. Okay...so it was a low chair in, but still an accomplishment! I want to do better, though. Not to be able say that I'm better than a lot of clarinet players, but to reach this mental goal I have: do well at what I love doing.

I'm Not Sure How A Cat Standing Up Is Going to Inspire Me, but...

(Writer's Notebook)
We were shown an adorable picture of a cat standing on its tiptoes, and I suppose it's supposed to inspire us on something in our world we want to take a stand on. I'm not sure how the to connect, besides the whole "stand" thing.

Anyways, something that I want to take a stand on --besides vegetarianism-- is abortion, one of those issues I have a more conservative view on. (Side note: I really hope I'm interpreting this assignment correctly)

In my eyes, everyone has the natural right to be born. It disgusts me that people abort babies just because they're not ready to be a parent. Here's a thought: If you're not able to support a child, you're not ready to have sex. Even with protected sex, there's always a small chance of pregnancy. That may sound super crazy to some of you.

I understand that the pro choice view is that people should have the choice whether to keep the baby or not and not just pro abortion. The thing is: that is the equivalent to deciding who's going to live and who's going to die and no one deserves that right (Another side note: I'm not big on capital punishment either). Not to mention that the methods of abortion are brutally cruel.

Anyway. I hope I responded correctly. If not, well... at least my view on abortion is out there.

Welcome to Victoria's San Francisco

(Writer's Notebook Topic)
Resting in her soft and cozy home/nest, Victoria is situated on the very top of the Golden Gate Bridge and is gazing upon the midnight lights of San Francisco. A few cars are still coasting along the crime-diseased roads and many buildings still lit up. It's as though while the good people drift away into a deep slumber, the city rats wake up and begin the terrorizing. If only this city could just go to sleep, Victoria thought,Oh well, as long as I can manage to squeeze some hours of sleep in, I guess I'll be alright.

The golden sunrise over San Francisco Bay greeted Victoria and awakened her softly with its sweet-tasting mist.

Now It's My Turn to Take a Stand

I'm sure I cannot make near as much as an impact as great leaders through out history (I recall writing a blog on my favorite leaders) at this moment. Who would listen to a young girl from a small town in a small state? I do not really aspire to be one of those leaders anyway. I refuse to keep quiet about my beliefs, though.

Story time!

My father is a very conservative republican. I won't judge him by his political views, but I will say that his are much different than mine. I am independent when it comes to politics; I just refer to what I believe is constitutional/fair, sometimes that means I lean towards the conservative side, sometimes liberal. One liberal view of mine is on same-sex marriage; I am for it being legalized. My dad feels VERY differently about that.

One night, as I was on my way to the kitchen to grab a cold cup of apple juice, my dad asked in a casual, yet random way, "What are your view on gay marriage?" Oh no. This was the subject I never wanted him to ask me about. I could have given him the answer about how God made Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve that he was looking for, but why should I hide my views from my own parents? I told him "I think that they have every right to be married, though it goes against other people's morals." That set him off. He said that because it was immoral and against God, it should be illegal. I rebutted with, "Alcohol is against many people's morals, yet it's legal. Pornography is against many people's morals, yet it's legal. Cheating on a partner is legal, but very immoral. Deciding to worship Satan is against God, but very legal." We debated for a good 45 minutes, which involved Dad showing me verses in the Bible and whatnot. I feel as if I won that debate, because he didn't say a lot after I brought up that laws are meant to keep us safe and that gay marriage will not harm anyone.

Please don't misinterpret me. I am a Christian and I love Jesus with all of my heart, but as far as I know, we have a separation of church and state and a nice assortment of natural laws.

Bob Barker Stands Up!

[TAKING A STAND PART BLOG 1]
Guess who I found out was a vegetarian? Bob Barker. I suppose that could be one of the reason for his long life. For those of you who haven't watched The Price Is Right before Drew Carey took over, Bob Barker was the host of that show from 1972-2007.

I wanted to look into Bob Barker's vegetarian profile a little more, so I did some research. Barker became a vegetarian over 30 years ago, back in 1979, because he learned about animal rights from his wife. Shortly after, he began promoting animal rights himself.

Unfortunately, his wife passed away in 1981, leading Barker to becoming an animal rights activist. The stand he took that stood out in my eyes occured in 1987, requesting the removal of animal fur prize in Miss USA/Universe beauty pageants. The people in charge of the pageant refused his request, so Bob Barker refused to host the pageant. This may not sound like a big deal if this was one of Barker's first Miss USA pageants to host, but he the pageants from 1967 until that year, because the animals experience high degrees of torture , which was highly against his morals.

Barker refused to stop there. He started taking small stands on The Price is Right by ending every show with, "Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered." He also took a stand against animals used in the entertainment industry, especially circuses.