Japanese Potato Chip Commerical

 I don't usually find this humor appealing, but it made me chuckle since 8th grade

http://www.duggback.com/videos_comedy/Hilariously_Creepy_Japanese_Potato_Chip_Commercial/

Hipsterism

I'm currently writing this from an iPad right now. How mainstream of me...I'm sorry. Anyway I'm using this free write to talk about hipsters. Mrs. Cardona said something to me that I founds amusing and true.

I asked advice for my visual project that will be about rebellion of counter cultures. I brought up uptown Minneapolis to Mrs. Cardona who then scoffed in her Cardona way. She said that the people of uptown whom refer to themselves as hipsters are not counter culture,but are all conformists and hippies are examples of true counter culture.

I found this to be true. I visited uptown on Saturday and everybody looked the same. With their chai tea lattes, funky hair matted by cool hats, some attire of odd jacket, with indie music from the current 89.3 blasting out of their broken-down cars.

I simply scoffed in a cardona-ish fashion.

High School at 2:21

I walk it five days a week  I've walked it five days a week for the past four years. But this year something changed. I walked up instead of down.

As the bell rings, I scurry from my class on the first floor C wing. By the pillar that stands in front of the stairs, there is a large group of loud and obnoxious friends. They wait for the bus. Everyday it's the same, they chase each other while screaming nonsense. Sometimes one hits another.

Continuing on I begin to ascend up the stairs. The right side for up traffic and left side for down traffic social rule is completely ignored. There is only a single file line on the extreme right of the stairs for people going up. Conversations are loud enough for surrounding ears. "Did you hear what Stacy did last night? That WHORE."

Stacy is right behind the voice that spoke her name. Stacy does not enjoy what was said. Stacy lets the voice know she does not enjoy it, as high pitched bickering fades down the staircase.

Later there are two guys, probably sophomores, screaming across the herd of students. They scream sexually profane insults (I don't really feel comfortable writing it, although I'm tempted). With a look behind me, there's an elderly woman in the single file line of people going up the staircase. She has a look of terror and awe. She's obviously a guest: her age, facial expressions, and name tag make it clear.

Now the hardest part. The crossing. It's comparable to wildebeests crossing the Nile River, avoiding the crocodiles. The single file line must wade through the underclassmen. A girl, about 5 ft 2 inches tries to go ahead. She is bumped multiple times, and groans in frustration to her friend. Some have other methods. A football player does the bumping, shoves, and gets through quite easily. Others follow the path he just made.

And the line is free just like that. The seniors head out the 2nd floor doors to their cars.

It took me going up the stairs to learn this. High School is immature. No manners. No courtesy. It's far different from the world outside. Out there, people hold doors for each other, and exchange thank yous. When I was going down, I was part of the herd of wild animals. Now I'm ready to go out to civilization. Out of the high school. To become an adult.

FATE

1. Fate is a predetermined course of events that is destined to happen. It is a synonym of destiny. Some believe it to be God's work, others believe it to be Nature's nature course. Natural Selection could be fate, those are aren't meant to reproduce don't get the opportunity to.

2. In the Lion King, it is widely believed throughout the movie that Simba is destined to become king. When Scar has his evil plot that results in the death of Mufasa, and the exile of Simba, Scar defies fate and becomes king himself. However, because it was always Simba's destiny to become King, Simba returns to pride rock to fight scar and assume the position that was always his.

3. If one believes purely in fate, then they might believe everything is handed to them, or they can't change what life throws at them. In other words, trying to go against the flow is worthless because the river will always triumph. However, if one believes that they pave the road themselves, then they could be more willing to work hard for what they want, even when the odds are against them. These people are described as go-getters, rather than the Eeyores of the world.

4. My mother believes it was fate that moved us to Minnesota. I remember when I was seven, dreading coming to this barren and cold wasteland from the landfill that is New Jersey. But I was quickly swayed when I met a friend named Brian on my first day here. Brian is still my best friend to this day. In Minnesota we have met people who have changed our lives, while our remaining family in New Jersey has had its fair share of problems. My mother thinks it's fate that we came to a better life without knowing it.

5. Should we believe in fate? That things are just handed to us? That we can never change what is about to happen and should just lay there defenseless? That's not living. That's reacting. We should do the acting. Make our own destiny, follow our own path. What's the use of not trying? Even if you admit there is some fate in this world, why not go down without a fight? When you want something, you go and get it. When you wait for it to come to you, it rarely happens. And the person who goes out and gets it, who fights, will get it before you.

6. His parents said he was destined to go to Harvard. He had to live up to those expectations. If he failed them, he failed himself. It was fate to get into that school and he had to do it. He studied for every test, had no time for friends or just being a kid. A stood for average, he had to set records. As a result of his parent's predetermined path for him, he made it into Harvard. The risk of letting them down was too high. He had met his fate, but at what cost?

Dreamsicle.

Dreaming intrigues me. Why is it so weird? So fascinating? What could its purpose be?

I consider dreaming to be the last frontier. Not Oregon, not the depths of the ocean, not the vastness of our universe. Our own minds haven't been tapped into.

Stay with me on this one...it's about to get really weird, really fast. In the past I have tried lucid dreaming. And there goes my credibility. Yes, I was inspired by Inception.

Lucid dreaming is when one is consciously aware that they are dreaming. What does this mean? That they control what they do in that dream. You want McDonalds? You can get McDonalds. McDonalds while flying? Why not. McDonalds while flying through time? Oh yeah.

Now accomplishing this state is quite hard and many people refute it. I could provide sources, cite them, blah blah blah but I won't. Basically there are two methods.

1. Train your mind to always keep track whether it is in consciousness.

Apparently tricks to accomplish this are to look at a digital clock twice. In a dream, your unconscious mind is lazy, it can't keep small details constant. In real life when you look at a clock twice, it will be the same (maybe 1 extra minute...). In a dream, this is not the case. Other tips include looking at yourself in a mirror, and pinching yourself.

Another key component is to REMEMBER your dreams. A dream journal helps, and is a really interesting read. Its like a diary of somebody in an insanity ward. However, by writing down your dreams every morning you can accomplish Lucid dreaming because you remember more (5-6 instead of 1-3) and you determine patterns that you create (recurring dreams).

Once your brain realizes it's in a similar situation to that of a dream it makes the connections. "Whoa this is like that dream. That one dream from that one time. Whoa I'm dreaming. Whoa I'm sleeping. Let us partake in some rather joyous activities," says the brain.

2. Crazy Method.

A person is dreaming when they are in REM stages of sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) They are deep stages which occur multiples times through the life. One theory is if the person doesn't fall asleep, and keeps still, the body will jump right into REM. You will be conscious but unable to be in reality. I call bullhickey on this. (I know you think the other part was crazy too...)

Have I ever had a lucid dream? No...but it is supposedly possible. Research it. I'm too lazy to turn this into a MoPro paper. I just find dreams interesting and I think they are symbolic. It's a good indicator of what's going on behind the scenes if you take the time to interpret it. And it is midnight, I am tired. Time to dream.

ps: I'm sorry about the tardiness of this blog. I was in my own little dream world. I'm going to hit the sack and dream of an A in AP Comp :)

Back in my day we frolicked.

As computers have come into play, some have believed that they are impacted society in negative ways. Here are some of the societal  issues that have been brought up by page 126 xsqaured. I believe some are downright ridiculous

• Loss of privacy- This is not something to be concerned with, if managed correctly. But it is a valid fear as many people do not protect files that can be hacked, etc.
• Two-Classed Society (those who don't have computers and those who do)- One word. Public Libraries. Ok, never-mind that, that's two.
• Research (Plagiarism)- As Mo Pro would suggest this is an issue. But those who post on the internet should know that EVERYBODY can see their work, and go through the proper steps of protecting it.
• Pornography- It existed before, it's called Playboy.
• Censoring the web- China is a prime example of this. It should be available to everybody, it just gives the world a giant service. This is a valid concern.
• Destruction of diction- Text messaging and the internet has changed the way people communicate. I would like to point out that we cannot understand Shakespearean language, it's just an example of how language transforms itself through the times.
• Death of print- Newspapers are dying. But they are moving onto the web, still getting advertisements. So they aren't really dying if they are making a profit. Technology is supposed to make things more efficient and in this case, it is.
• Social Isolation- Yes kids are not frolicking with butterflies as much as they used to. They can now watch a video of a butterfly fluttering in the summer breeze on youtube. I will admit that is kind of sad.

One personal pet-peeve of mine is people hiding behind the computer screen. Instead of saying something to your face, people will now say snarky, anonymous comments that they wouldn't have the cojones to say if they were right in front of you. It gives them false confidence. This angers me. But all in all, computers aren't destroying society as we know it, they are helping. 

High School Occupations

During my time in high school I have had two jobs that have added to the continuing struggle of juggling social life, school work, and funding yourself.

My first job was as a "team member" at Caribou Coffee. I started last year in September. I hated every moment of it. As a "team member" you have to do everything. This includes cleaning, cashiering, drive-thru (yes it was one of those Caribous...), and the most feminine part of the job...making the drinks.

Before I got the job, I would never drink coffee. I had to memorize the differences between lattes, mochas, cold presses, cappachinos, coolers, machiattos, and espresso. And then there was your typical old cup of joe. That I knew had to make. (You poured it out of the giant canteen thingy that I can't believe I'm forgetting the name of).

The only good part of the job was my co-worker, Mack. He was the older brother I never had. We had conversations ranging from the economy, how to get girls to notice you without being cocky, and surviving a zombie attack. I once had to pull out his earring out of his eyebrow with pliers once. That made us bros.

One day, I came into work and heard that Mack was leaving for his new job. Construction. Caribou to Construction. Quite the career change, but I was struck with sadness. I decided after that I would quit (Even though it was 2 months later)

In August of this year, I was hired for my current job. A cart-attendant at Target. Many people question my position. YOU ARE GOING TO GET COLD!!!

But I love it. I love pushing carts around and not dealing with people (except when I have to cashier...). I love walking out into the sea of pavement and feeling like a big deal in my neon orange vest. The best part is...the managers don't care where I go half of the time. As long as I answer my walkie, they don't have the slightest clue that I'm playing Words with Friends in the bathroom (haha). Also, Quinn works there. Shoutout.

So those are two high school jobs for you. I wrote this as soon as I got off. It was a bad day, so I went from Target to the Caribou across the street to pick up a Mint Condition. That's a weird full circle....

Procrastination always wins.

This week destroyed me. Destroyed me. Being a senior, I had Part II due on Thursday, and I had to reconstruct my Rhetorical Analysis Paper. That's a ton of writing, 27 pages if you want the exact number. How did I do it? I did it at the last  moments possible.

Sometimes I wish society still wrote with ink-tipped feathers on scrolls. Computers are the biggest distraction ever. Instead of hurting your brain cells by composing true literary art, you could numb/kill them by logging on to facebook and talk about the latest drama that won't matter 1 week from now. Or you could check scores of the game, look at funny pictures, and tweet about how you are procrastinating.

Before I would attempt to write while making 2 sandwiches, maybe some chips and salsa, and doing anything but writing. But to combat with my procrastination methods, I had to think of a solution. This week I used our publicly funded libraries to help me out. All I brought was my iPod of jams, and my assignment sheets.

When I got there I was amazed at what other teenagers did. They met in "study groups" and blabbered on about stuff they weren't studying about. Others were facebook stalking in front of everybody (Everybody does it, but these people don't care who sees). Here I was, with the same distractions I face at home without food. And I was hungry.

But somehow, someway I trained myself to imagine this computer only had Word 2010 and NOTHING else.  I jammed to many a tune and typed away. Sure it was the last hours possible to complete all this writing I was assigned, but by putting myself in an imaginary world without distractions I did it. Am I crazy because I have to imagine a land without distractions? Maybe a little, but it works.

Lazy Rivers

Lazy Rivers are heavenly. They are my zen. I know I sound weird but floating around on a tube in circles, doing absolutely nothing, while getting a killer tan is freaking relaxing.

Last spring break, I was feeling a little stressed going in and the lazy river solved that. While I was fried under the sun, I became enlightened while contemplating deep thoughts (the title of this blog!). When I came back, everything computed in my mind and I did what I had to. And I thank the lazy river for that.

Look at that, tell me you don't want to chill right now.

 Over my MEA break I visited the University of Missouri (Mizzou) and was elated when I heard they had a lazy river in their rec center. I had to see this for myself. The rec center is voted one of the best in the nation but the lazy river is subpar. It has a circumference of about 100 feet and looks like a figure 8. 

However, the fact that a lazy river is in close proximity to where I might live is quite cool. It's probably a little sad when I'm using lazy rivers to judge where I want to go to college, but hey if I could major in chill, I would. 

Students.

The film 2 million minutes makes the argument that there is a student "epidemic" that is sweeping across the United States. Students are slacking off and as a result risking their entire futures. In contrast it tries to show how countries such as India and China are trying their hardest to be the best: their students study much more than Americans and academics is their #1 priority. This is supposed to make the American audience fearful of their future and dive into their competitive drive to be number 1. 

I felt like the film picked the completely wrong American students to prove their argument. Trying to make slacker out of a guy who is president of his class, writing for the school newspaper, and going to Purdue on a full ride scholarship? What were they thinking? And the other girl they picked with the sparkling 3.94 GPA was no slacker either. They showed them having social lives, but never went into their study methods.

Meanwhile, the students they picked from China and India were shown to be academic superstars. One kid basically said he was a "genius". However in the end, the American students went to the colleges of their choice while the Indian and Chinese students ended up getting rejected and forced to take other options. The film's argument just didn't work for me.

I do think students in America don't have the drive that other students from different countries have. But like Mike Rose's article "I Don't Want to be Average", this might be due to the educational system itself. The same thing is taught and reiterated year after year. The same methods are also used to learn. 1. Do homework 2. Come to class 3. Receive grade. This doesn't promote learning, its just basic bribery. There needs to be more fresh ideas installed into the educational system or we're going to continue feeling like robots. 

Planking

I'm not going to lie. I was going to write about my personal issues and complain but nobody wants to read that. All it sounds like is wah, wah, wah. So I'll write about a pointless topic instead.

Planking. It's stupid. How bored is our society if we must take a picture of ourselves laying stiff in unusual areas? The answer: Society is bored. And when society is bored, society does stupid things.


This girl is so bored she has her face in a toilet. Or maybe she's that drunk. In that case, her face will eventually be in that toilet anyway so it doesn't matter.

The history of planking is actually racist. When the Europeans would capture Africans and bring them to the new world, they were forced to lay in a stiff position for the entire journey. That was a few a weeks, if not months. I bet planking doesn't seem all that innocent anymore.                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Planking is also dangerous. A drunk man tried planking on his 7th floor of his building, and fell to his death. That's not an honorable way to die in my opinion, not that dying honorable really matters in this case.

Planking is just stupid and that's my two cents. Go ride a bike, or chase butterflies.

Rhetorical Analysis of Obama's Speech

In President Obama's annual back-to-school speech, his audience is represented by the students of America. However because the topic is being a successful student and impacting the country, his audience is specifically high school students. He is speaking at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in front of a student body and is introduced by a student president. To connect with his audience he uses diction that is not politically complicated as his normal speeches might be for normal students. He also makes pop culture references to things such as facebook to further connect with his audience.

The general appearance of Obama is typical of a U.S. President. He is wearing a suit and tie to appear and credit him as being professional at what he is doing. His posture also reiterated his credentials because he was standing upright with hand gestures to emphasize a point. He gave the audience an impression that he knew what he was talking about and he was very confident about it.

Obama's argument of the speech is that the students of America need to know that they are the future, and the country relies on them. "You're not just kids. You're this country's future," he said. When he said this he kept it short and understandable to the audience. He connects by using pathos, emotion appeal when he mentions that teachers understand they are the future. He states that teachers are doing their jobs not for self benefit, but for the benefit of the country, so students should be compelled to do the same.

Obama also uses statistic evidence to provide logos in his speech, while contributing to his argument. He mentions that 60% of jobs will require more than a high school degree, and that the United States needs to be number 1 in college graduates.

In addition to pathos, and logos; Obama used ethos to round his argument and make it complete. The fact he is the President of the United States already gives him ethos, but he mentioned how he was a student and didn't earn the best grades he could have. This connected to students who are in the same boat, and might give them hope that if they step it up they can impact their country to the point of becoming president.

To make his argument more presentable, Obama uses the right mix of tone, cadence, and intonation. His tone is similar to a parents, he does not want to be disappointed and is giving advice on how to accomplish the goals he wants from the students. When he is speaking he uses the right amount of cadence and intonation to not sound monotone and emphasize crucial points.

Overall, Obama's speech is very well rounded and successful. He connects to the audience and gets his argument across in a way they can understand.

To make his argument come across clearly, Obama uses cadence and intonation

No to Jim Crow

The Jim Crow laws were created by Southern and white politicians to try to restrain blacks from receiving power in their society. Once the blacks were freed from slavery following the civil war, the fear among these politicians was that blacks and whites would flip roles, so they tried everything in their power to stop that. As a result these laws have lasting effects, some still impact today.

Nobody should be treated differently in society because of their skin. One of these laws even applied in death, a black person could not be BURIED in the same graveyard as a white person. That's ridiculous.

MLK was the voice of the sufferers of the Jim Crow Laws. In his Letter he wants change from the status and wants blacks to have the same opportunity and treatment as white people. This defies the Jim Crow Laws and for good reason. For once, somebody was taking action against irrational fears that were established a century ago.

Thoughts on the Weekend Packet

We were assigned a packet of short stories to read over the weekend, and I chose to write about the first two because they both stood out for me.

William Kennedy- Kennedy's writing captures the struggle of writing. Every good writer needs a better editor. Kennedy shows the three types of editors in my mind. 

First, there's his mother: the "oh this is wonderful because I love you" editor. They will accept any piece of work, because the writer can do no harm in their eyes. Most mothers fall under this category. 

Next he describes the Banjo Teacher. The Banjo Teacher said "Very good" instead of his typical "very very good". This is the sugarcoating editor. They will praise the writer but offer subtle hints to work on it, so the writer doesn't have their ego bruised.

Lastly, Kennedy goes to his father with his work "Eggs". His father criticizes it to the point of saying "is this what you learned in school?". Kennedy does a good job describing the narrative between him and his father, with back and forth responses. Kennedy's father is the best editor, one who cares about his writer enough to let them know when their writing needs actual revision.

The thing I can take from this Egg related short story is that, my work could always use revising and it's best to find a good editor for that. Somebody who cares about you enough to let you know you suck.

Pat Conroy: This short story differs from Kennedy's due to its serious tone. Conroy captures emotion with his word choice of growing up with fighting parents. Throughout the story the reader is struck with shock. For example Conroy includes "the miscarriages were the lucky ones". Conroy does a good job of getting to the reader in short and concise sentences. "Blood got on me, my sister." is a powerful example. 

The last line of the story really drives it home in my opinion. "My father made a mistake. He was raising an American novelist and an American poet-and we wrote it down." That line continues the trend Conroy had through the whole story of impacting the reader with as little as possible. 

Why I Write

   Dating back to my days in elementary school, writing has always been one of my favorite subjects. Writing allows anybody to express themselves and share their voice and has so many different outlets to choose from.

   As a journalist for the Trojan Tribune, I write to inform. I write brief one sentence paragraphs that quickly wrap up a series of events, so the reader can be informed of what's happening fast. It is the duty of a journalist to find out what happened and provide it in this context. Speed and efficiency are the key components of journalism writing.Opinion pieces are also a part of Journalism that I enjoy a lot. Taking a current event and showing people your own thoughts is refreshing in contrast to only reporting the facts. 

    I also write to prove a point. I am one of those kids who enjoy the classic 5 paragraph essay and FRQs. Writing a persuasion piece is fun for me because while I'm writing it, I'm putting emotion into my work and becoming an expert on the topic as I go. Knowledge is power, and writing spreads that power.

       Although I don't write in my free time, I enjoy it when the opportunity comes along. I'm not always good with my words, and writing allows me to speak precisely what I want to say. You can't revise a conversation as you go along and I often say something that I didn't mean to. Writing allows me to display my thoughts and correct them as I go in order to get what I want people to hear. Speaking doesn't always do that. And that's why I write.

Blogging

I've never blogged before, in fact I've always been hesitant towards it. I never understood the interest in reading about people talking about themselves, and I didn't think anybody would be interested in reading about my life.

However, it's the beginning of senior year and I am definitely more open to change then I have ever been. I'm looking forward to this school year, and catching whatever life throws at me. Now is the time to take chances, and participate in things you wouldn't expect to. One of my biggest fears in life is regretting not trying something and missing out on something that could have been great.

So in a small way, this blog is a risk for me. It's going against everything I stood for, but I'm open to it and I'm looking forward to the opportunity it's presenting.