Monday, October 25, 2010

Journal #17

I do not think I have ever really bonded with nature. I have done things IN nature, like camping and stuff, but I have never done a rain dance or anything like that before. I have never run through the woods butt naked and worshiped a tree or something like that. I do not really know what to type now. I guess I will just talk about how much I loved being outside in nature when I was young. I am not going to make up a story about bonding with nature, my sick sinuses are distracting me too much, and they are blocking my creativity.
Anyway, when I was younger I loooved to go outside. I would go outside as often as possible. I do not know if that's because my family did not have cable or internet, or if it was because I just loved being outside. Well we had cable but we only had like twenty channels, and only one of them had cartoons, and those cartoons only played on Saturday mornings. And we did have internet, but it was dial up so we never used it. Anyway, I'd always be outside. I remember making a Teepee out of big sticks with my neighbor, Amie. It was an awesome teepee. It was real tall and stuff and we used leaves to make it more sheltered. I also used to love climbing tress. I would always climb the one in my front yard, then nestle myself in between these two huge branches with a book and start reading. I suppose that was inadvertently bonding with nature since I was in that tree for a long time. I would also hide out in this "secret" fort that was in between my house and my neighbor's house. I say "secret" because it really wasn't secret at all because it was extremely easy to see. I do not spend as much time outside as I used to. The only time I'm ever outside now is when I wash my car or when I go for walks. I have too many other things to do.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Journal #16

I am going to write about my favorite TV shows. I can't just talk about one TV show that I like because I like far too many. I'll try to narrow down all of them.
I think my mooost favorite has to be Top Gear. The only bad thing about Top Gear is that if it's a rerun, it's really boring. All of the episode are kind of "one and done" sort of dealios. Anyways. Top Gear is a British show about cars. It's not just about cars, though. They do a lot of ridiculous tests to test which car is best out of a certain group, and they also have different challenges that they have to complete, among other car related things like races and lap time. One of my favorite episodes is where they hollow out the inside of a sedan and turn it into a living room. They put down concrete to even out the floor, then they put in little floor boards. They gave it a WORKING chimney and bookshelves. They even fit a wingback chair in there. They then proceeded to see how fast they could drive it, while there was a fire in the fireplace. There are a lot of other silly episodes, but that's a good one.
I also really like the show House. I really enjoy Hugh Laurey, if that's how you spell his name. I already forgot. My mom doesn't like it because it can get a little graphic at times. I am interested in medical things though so I like watching it. I don't understand a single medical thing they say, but I like it.
The last show I am going to mention is Courage the Cowardly Dog. I loved that show as a child, and I will continue to love it forever. It used to scare me so bad when I was little, but I'd watch it anyway. Now that I'm older I just enjoy watching the really odd art style that whoever created the show uses. The creatures are delightfully odd.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Journal #15

I use logic and reason when I make decisions, usually. I say usually because I also enjoy making spontaneous decisions that involve no logic or reason whatsoever. If the decision is important though, I will think logically. I don't really know what else to say. Uh, I think with logic and reason when I do my homework. I use logic and reason when I think about due dates, which I guess is pretty much homework. I use logic and reason when I watch NCIS and House. I use logic and reason when I bake cookies. I use it for pretty much anything that involves thinking, unless, like I said before, I feel like being spontaneous. So I guess some things that I don't use logic and reason for would be anything I do with my friends. What I mean by that is like, if we're trying to decide where to go, one of us will just say, "Let's go left" randomly. Of course none of us have thought logically about where we're going. We do think logically though, when the car is running out of gas. Then I have to think, "Oh, how far can I go with the amount of gas that's left in my tank, and how soon do I need to go to Thornton's?". So I suppose no matter what I do, logic and reason sneaks its way in there. I think that I'm a fairly logical person, more so than some people I know. There are multiple instances where I'll say, "oh, we shouldn't do that, something will go wrong" but no one will listen to me, and then something horrible happens. That has happened so many times. I do encourage being random every once in a while, though. I think being random and not thinking logically or reasonably is a lot more fun and enjoyable. Being logical can keep you out of a lot of trouble, though. I don't know what else to say now. I'm jsut being really repetative now. I'm pretty sure that's how you spell repetative. This blog says it isn't. I just used logic, ooh.

Monday, October 18, 2010

"Common Sense"

I am just going to start off this reflection/blog by saying that I did not really appreciate Thomas Paine's writing. He wrote "Common Sense" in almost a smug sort of way. He thought that he was always right, and everyone else was always wrong. One point that he brought up multiple times was that we should not have a monarchy. He said it was a sin for the Jews to think about one and it is a sin for America to have one (Paine). Paine also says, "The prejudice of Englishmen, in favor of their own government by king, lords, and commons, arises as much or more from national pride than reason." (Paine). What he means by this quote is that the people of the nation are not thinking rationally about their rulers, they only support them because of their own pride. I think Thomas Paine's strategy was to make the reader feel like he was right and that there was no other answer to consider. He also discusses the issue of colonies being too big for one group of people to represent. He states that there should be more people to represent them. We are learning about something similar to this in AP US History, but it is more about why some colonists were unhappy that the larger states had more representatives and the smaller states had less representatives. People thought that it was unfair that the larger states had more power than the smaller states. Thomas Paine just says that the colonies need more representatives, though. He also talks about when the colony increases in the amount of people, then the amount of interests and problems grow (Paine). I agree with his statement because it is reasonable. This statement can also refer back to how Paine wanted more representatives. As the amount of people living in the colonies grows, as does the need for more representative figures. The amount of problems increase as the colony grows because the issue of housing, food, and jobs will arise. Thomas Paine also talks about the fighting with England. He says that he knows that it is difficult for the colonies to get along with Britain because we want to be independent, but many of the colonists and government officials are still somewhat dependent on the British form of government (Paine). This is another way that Paine gets his ideas across to people. He talks about major issues and things that will be relatable to others. He then supports those ideas and subjects with a strong opinion and an example. Thomas Paine also confronts the problem of debt. Paine stated that the country needs to be in debt. He made one intelligent remark, saying that national debt connected the colonists together (Paine). He also said that with debt, there comes a Navy (Paine). I think that there would still be an army and a naval force, even if the country was not in debt. Before America was in debt to France, we had the Contineal Army. Thomas Paine also mentioned what would happen if we made an alliance with Britain. He thought that Britain would provide some protection for America by placing naval forces in its ports. He also brought up the important fact that common sense would tell them that they would trick them into slavery and then they would rule the colonists all over again (Paine). I thought this was a very good point. If America had openly allowed Britan to come back into the country, they would be leaving themselves wide open to become part of the British nation and government once more. Any hopes of being independent would be crushed, not only because of Britain taking control again, but because America would become dependent on Britain to protect them. Overall I think Paine made some very valid points. I think his writing strategy was good, although it did annoy me. I still do not like his "I'm always right" attitude, but I think in a way that helped him to persuade his readers. He also makes some historic references throughout the document. Overall I just thought he made many relatable points, and that was mainly how he supported his writing.
Paine, Thomas. "Common Sense." Archiving Early America. Online. 18 Oct. 2010.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Literary Criticism

The literary criticism that is found on Facts on File written by J.E. Leo Lemay is a very thorough and thoughtful piece of information. Lemay is very clear with his words and with what he thinks of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. Throughout the whole criticism we read of how Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is his best work and he is a much better literary author than anything else. I would have to argue a point that Benjamin Franklin's greatest work of art was nothing to do with any of his writing. In the essay Lemay says Benjamin Franklin was well known throughout the world and in Europe (Lemay). Europe was basically the center of the world at this time in history so he is comparable to the Pope or St. Theresa of the present day. Everyone knew him, but how many people read his Autobiography? No one because not very many people were literate. The people in this time period knew him for his inventions not for his writing! Think of the genius things he invented, one of them he found. But still, no one else found it. It is not like electricity is one of the greatest findings of all time. It is not like nearly everything that we in this present day use throughout the day. Electricity is Benjamin Franklin's greatest work of art.

Benjamin Franklin also invented the furnace. This improved greatly the wooden stove that only could warm one room of the house. Franklin made this furnace warm the whole house. Most of all the people I know have furnaces in their house so that is a pretty credible work of art. It allows us to sleep in comfort in the brutal winters of central Illinois. Then Franklin invented the bifocals. These were pretty nifty indeed for they allowed people with poor eyesight to not wear those ridiculous looking eyepieces they had before. They have developed into a common thing of fashion and style now and they help poor vision. Let us not also forget that Franklin came up with the concept of daylight savings time, as I have learned in the movie National Treasure. Daylight savings is something we Americans use all of the time. It is in the fall, and I can not recall the date but we fall back one hour and in the spring we go forward one hour. This allows us to have more hours of daylight to perform all of the activities of which we wish to perform in the daylight. This was pretty helpful before the lights we have now, which use electricity by the way.

Another one of Franklin's works that I would have to put ahead of his Autobiography would be his invention of a postal service. Before the days of emails and phones or texts, we had one way of communication and that would be the mail. This was all because of Benjamin Franklin. This helped us immensely when we did have have the technology that we do today. We can attribute basically all ways of communication to Benjamin Franklin since he invented electricity.

While J.E. Leo Lemay makes a very valid point that Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography was a great work of art, it was by far not his greatest. We have to think of all of the great things Benjamin did for this nation and the world. He has made many things easier because of his various works. But no way no how is his Autobiography his greatest work of art.


Franklin, Benjamin. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. [S.I.]: General, 2009. Print.

Lemay, J.A. Leo. "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." InThe Renaissance Man in the Eighteenth Century. Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1978. Quoted as "Franklin's Autobiography and the American Dream." in Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. October 11, 2010.

Journal #14

This is my declaration of friendliness and all things kind :) I don't know why I chose it, but I think it's something that kids these day could do with a little more of. Too many chillins' these days are rude and unthankful! So I am going to make it a law (in my blog) to be friendly. Huzzah.
Here are some amendments for my declaration of friendliness (and there are plenty of them)
1.) If someone does something for you, SAY THANK YOU. It's not that hard to do. There are so many instances where I see someone doing something nice for someone else, ie picking up a dropped book, and then the helpee just kind of avoids making eye contact then walks away. So yeah, say thanks! or thank you. or thankers, I like that one.
2.) If someone else is about to come through the door behind you, just hold the door open a fraction of a second longer. I have been smacked in the face so many times.
3.) In the school parking lot by the sports complex, take turns with the people coming out of either of the two exits. You know, the main one then the one that's off to the left when you enter. I let a car go in front of me whenever I'm pulling out. I've also nearly been rammed into because the person just couldn't be patient, though. Leanne angry.
4.) I really wanna put HELP A BROTHA OUT right here but that has nothing to do with this amendment. If you accidentally run into someone in the hallway, don't shout "GET OUT OF MY WAY" or "OHMYGOD, MOVE". Please. This annoys me to no end. Just say, "sorry" or "excuse me". Don't yell, it's not like they could help their locker placement.
I could continue on and on, but I don't really feel like it. Help an old person, carry someone's books if they have crutches, pick something up for someone if they drop it. There are a few more in short. I wish people really were like this, that'd be like a Utopia of friendliness.

Journal #13

Well this journal is about school spirit. I don't really have a whole lot of an opinion about school spirit because it usually just depends on my mood. If I'm in a good mood then yes, I love school spirit. If I'm in a bad mood then no, I will not be having any school spirit whatsoever. And other times I just don't really care.
School spirit can be fun, especially during homecoming week. It's fun to get to try and beat the other classes (I still don't know who won, by the way). I really liked 80s day this year. I don't think we had it last year so it was refreshing. I don't like cowboy/cowgirl day very much. Our school is full of hicks enough as it is, I don't think it needs to be encouraged. Most of the people who dressed for cowboy/cowgirl day didn't even try that hard, anyway. Girls just threw on whatever flannel shirt they could find. I actually enjoyed observing the people who actually like on farms dress up, though. Their costumes were actually authentic and really good, not just throwin' on a plaid shirt. Every year we have class color day and school spirit day, so those get pretty boring after a while. Everyone's class colors are usually kinda lame anyway. I think black or white is a cool color to have since they're so basic. The juniors last year had tie dye shirts, those were cute too. A lot of people go all out for class color day and spirit day, though. I see a lot of people with painted faces or just things on their face in general. It's an excuse to use crayola markers on your face, basically.
School spirit can be bad when there is too much of it. Some people go overboard and freak out on you during homecoming week if you do not participate. Or if school spirit goes as far as putting someone else's school down, that's not cool either. I think one year some Pleasant Plains students vandalized another school or something, and that is a perfect example of how school spirit can get out of hand fast.

Journal #12

I just realized that I still have to do this blog! haha. This blog is about working with a partner. Sometimes I like to work with a partner. Working with a friend is very fun. Sometimes it depends on what friend you are working with, because you may not get a lot of work done. I am usually a hard working person though, and so are most of my friends, so we can work and talk and stuff at the same time. Usually, when we are working and talking and having fun, the work is done before we know it!
I really do not like working with people that I do not like or do not get along with. No one likes to do that. We usually butt heads or do not have to same ideas. Sometimes I just cannot understand what other people are thinking. It is really hard to do a project or something when you and your partner have totally different ways of thinking.
I remember a lot of project that we got in middle that I could have gotten a better grade on had I worked with someone I knew. Usually what ends up happening whenever I am in a group with some is I do all the work. People just assume that since I get my homework done every night that I am going to want to do the whole stupid project. WRONG.
I just do not work very well with partners. If it involves making a poster, they always make me do it because once again they ASSUME that since I like art and I'm a decent artist, I am going to want to draw the poster. WRONG AGAIN. So. I prefer either working with people I know or working alone.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Journal #11

Well, this journal is about ethics and values. I don't really have a whole lot to say about this. I think ethics are more like rules and what you see as being right, and values are more of your own personal views and what you see as important. I have not really ever thought about either of these, so I do not know what to say here. I think ethics are a little more important than values because you should always do what's right. A lot of people follow their values more though because they want to be independent and do what they want to. Values are very important to how a person views themselves. Values helps a person to become who they are and they can establish themselves. Values are things that people value and focus their lives around. Values are basically a set of rules that a person sets for themselves that they follow. Values are usually easy to follow because a person sets them for them selves. For example, a persons value is to be nice and to help others. This is a good value because it is helping out a person and the person who is giving out the niceness. Values are all different types of things. A person could set all their values based on the Bible. This would mean that they follow what the Bible says. They will also follow the 10 Commandments as closely as possible.
Ethics are more closely related to rules, not what an individual sees as being right. Ethics are like what is expected out of a person. For example, if you go to a sit down dinner, it is expected of you to be polite. It is not a rule, but it is generally what people are expecting. It may not be one of you values, but it is what should be done, even though it may not be what you want to do. You may want to be the most rude, obnoxious person on the planet because one of your values, lord knows why, is being loud and proud. That would be what you want to do, but it is not what is expected or what is right. So, basically ethics are what society views as right, and values are what you personally view as right.