History Homework #31

Part A:
For this section I spoke with a friend of mine named Leron. Leron is 18 and lives in Queens. I asked him how cool varies in the different boroughs. He said the difference was smaller than you think. He says that of course the kids with more money are going to dress a bit different but deep down it is all the same. The rich kids dress the same exact way the poor kids do just a more expensive version or alteration. I then asked him about his style and what it takes for him to be cool. He told me that he goes for a spin off of the fresh prince of bel air only a more updated classy version. I wanted to know more about the personality side of it though. He told me he does his best to be authentic but it does not always work out. He tries to be straight forward and tell you what is on his mind. Although many people claim to do this, he is definitely one of those who stands out and carries through with it. Authentic seemed to be the word that came out of his mouth most often.

Part B: The methods I use to be cool are mostly based around clothing. I try to be authentic but I know there are so many other people that dress like me. To attempt being cool within my personality I always try and be very outgoing. When i meet new people i try and break right through the awkwardness and find something that we have in common. I can imagine people can find this annoying at times but i really only mean it well. I often try and be sarcastic but on my own account. Every time i say something sarcastic that could be viewed as coming off hurtful i feel guilty. To be cool I try and not change the way i act too much but as everyone does, it will always be altered a bit depending on the situation that i am faced with.

Homework #30 History

What are the sources of this sense of meaninglessness but also of the need for a sense of meaning?


This meaningless to me is something that started not all too long ago. I think the rise of film and movies was the main reason for people having this hole and sense of meaninglessness. The majority of movies involve someone or something carrying out a heroic act. Time after time we constantly watch movies with a different heroic act. Usually, the main character is caught in a struggle or is faced with a major problem and finds a way to over come it and ends up extremely happy. Of course not every single movie or even story involves this but most do because in order to follow a plot with climax there must be a issue or problem. There is nothing wrong with these movies at all but in my opinion they are one of the major reasons we constantly feel empty and have not lived an exciting life. We continuously see images of people overcoming these huge unrealistic battles in life. In turn we people are brainwashed to believe that the smaller battles and achievements that we overcome in our lives are less meaningful. We immediately compare our battles to another battle we have once seen on a television set and most of the time we will fall short in comparison to that event in the movie making us feel less then we are. Old people wishing they were young again are often those who had a meaningless life when they were of a younger age.
More often than not people use a partner to fill or mask this whole of emptiness we have. I would'nt say it is a distraction from the emptiness but it provides a way to prevent the feeling of emptiness. For one, you are likely to reproduce and that is a feeling of pride and honor, and a partner keeps you busy and almost in a sense of denial from this hole. After my parents divorced each other they quickly moved on to find other partners just to mask this feeling. Part of it could be competition between them but in our society we are made to believe the thought of growing old alone and not reproducing is depressing and wrong. We want someone to hold on to and be with to make us feel good. Friends have this affect of masking up being lonely but usually its affect seems to feel more short term.

History hw 28 draf

1. Pountain, Dick, and David Robins. Cool Rules Anatomy of an Attitude (FOCI). New York: Reaktion Books, 2000. Print.

Traces back the history of cool and how its routes have remained the same. Talks about how cool is now primarily about consumption as advertisers now have the power to control what is in style and how we think we will look. The working definition is that cool is an oppositional attitude taken by individuals in order to express defiance.
I found it very interesting because it traced back the origin of cool in their perspective to West Africa. Also Compared cool in our American society to that of other countries.

2. Kerner, Noah, and Gene Pressman. Chasing Cool Standing Out in Today's Cluttered Marketplace. NEW YORK: Atria, 2007. Print.

Discusses how people who are more authentic and take risks in life have a higher chance at being cool. Interviews people on being cool and what it takes to be cool and analyzes what they say and forms opinions about it.
Interesting book but nothing groundbreaking. Most of the stuff that I saw from reading parts of it was all stuff that we had already discussed in class. Insightful but not original.

3. Wesemann, Tim. Book of Cool, The. Grand Rapids: Zonderkidz, 2004. Print.

This book gives brief and straight forward answers to questions posed by middle school boys on what it takes to be cool and if it is really worth it. It answers a lot of common questions that boys have about being cool that they may not be comfortable asking someone else.
This book could go in depth more about being cool. I like how it talks about how the cool we consider is not the only type of cool person that you can be and how cool is not the same as being happy in most cases. Interesting.

4. "How to Be Cool at School - wikiHow." WikiHow - The How-to Manual That You Can Edit. Web. 04 Jan. 2010. .

This article is put together by multiple people, both men and woman on how to be cool in high school. It states how the first day is always the most crucial to let people know what kind of person you are. The first impression will set the tone for the rest of high school.
I found this article a bit boring considering it is stuff that we have already discussed, it is not really helpful to children as it does not give specific examples.

5. "Be cool - AskMen.com." AskMen.com - Men's Online Magazine. Web. 04 Jan. 2010. .

This article is geared more towards the middle age men, it talks about how important it is to have a girlfriend. It is not so critical whether she is good looking or not, the more important thing is having one. It also talks about how it is important to not over call your girlfriend and friends. This is said to be key because if you over call it will make you come off as desperate.
Just from reading this article, it made me feel very degrading. It is written in a very grimey way and allows one to live a lifestyle that is truly meaningless.

History Homework #27

I decided to interview my uncle at thanksgiving, although not quite as cool as my cousin, i figured i could already assume what my cousin had to say about his idea of cool. My uncle comes off as cool to me because he makes you feel relaxed. He gives off a vibe of never worrying about anything and never stressing out. He remains calm in all situation and therefore makes me feel mellow and chilled out. When i finally sprung the typical question on him he seemed sort of surprised. I asked him how cool changed from when he was a kid to now. He explained how in his field of business cool is all about status. He mentioned how his office is a continued competition of who can "out boy" the other one. The bigger car, the hotter wife, the more children, The swimming pool. As a kid thought, money did not play into it quite as much. He claims you did not need to have a car to be cool. You were praised if you were a star athlete and had a hot girlfriend. The key to it all, according to him was not having respect for this hot girlfriend. It made you seem like you were too good for even the pretty girlfriend.
We sort of went off topic after that as he turned up the volume of the football game, thanks uncle Jerry.

Street Interview:


I walked out of school and stopped the first person in site, a boring looking business man who clearly had no idea of what being cool was like. Huge suit jacket and pleated gray pants with a tie so long it could easily get caught in an elevator door. This should be interesting i thought. He seemed willing to answer a few questions. To my surprise he had some pretty insightful thoughts. He explained how most people associate cool with being the best. "look at nerds in your high for example, they are going to wind up wealthy and successful but no one wants to be seen with them" Although i understood his concept of cool and being the best after the first example, he went on and gave about five more examples of situations where being the best is not cool. This guy really thought he was on to something.

History homework #26 cool1

George "santi" Peralta

Forest Hills, Ny






Where are you from Santi?

I was born in Cali, Colombia but raised in the big nyc!

What is different here in NYC from Columbia?

Well I mean, the weather for one thing. The poverty in NYC in nothing like what you see where I am from, this aint nothing man. You should see the ghettos of Cali, shits unreal.

That sounds pretty crazy man, on a different note though, can I ask you what is like the coolest thing about you?

you mean like my style or my personality?

Both.

Well to start of my style is like interesting cause its original. I mean of course your "gunna" see other heads with ed Hardy t shirts but like they dont rock it like i do it. They make it look like they trying way to hard. For me, i like to make it look easy

History homework #26 cool3

Mark Luxama
18 Georgetown
Coney Island,NY

Hey Mark, tell me a little about what your wearing?
This is the like black hipster brooklyn look.

Is this like the common style in Coney Island or are you like only one wearing this stuff?

No man, nobody has this style yet. Its all new and original.

What is it about you that makes you so different?

I guess its the camo jacket. You just dont see it around anymore, thats what keeps it so fresh.

Do you shop at like big brand name stores?

No its all about the hipster shops in Williamsburg. They got it cheaper and used.It gives that authentic look.

History homework #26 cool2

Omar Stevens

Brooklyn New York



So Omar, whats this style you got going on?

Um basically i got like the flannel and the snap back hat.

Is this something you would go out to a party in?

uh, sure.

What are like the main clothing stores you shop at?

Uni qlo, Thrift shops, Levis store, Urban outfitters.

What is it about you that makes you so cool?

I dont really consider myself as someone especially cool, but um i guess the cool look for me is coming off as laid back and relaxed.

History Homework #25

Brittani,

I enjoyed reading your story. It was original and the plot was interesting. i think you conveyed the idea of how what may be cool in some areas is not necessarily cool in others. I think this character is considered cool because what he does comes of natural, he goes to private school but pays no tuition because he has a gift in basketball. That is cool. Nice to see you have a creative side!

Bryanna,
I like how you showed how being mean and rude to other people makes you cooler as a whole. Joe is the type of character who doesnt take shit from anyone. he doesnt respect women since he gets so many. He may be careless but that is exactly what makes him so cool in the long run. He is also cool in our society because he creates drama in peoples lives.

Arden,
Your story about Dakota changed the idea of cool because you had him start off as a nice respectful guy and show how by becoming popular he became this arrogant guy who does not care about any one. Its funny that the better guy personality wise is the one who isnt popular but the major jerk gains popularity for his carelessness. interesting.


Sam,
Unlike a lot of other stories your character of cool was a respectful guy who had a passion for a girl and was not afraid to show it. The main thing i realized about your character that relates to the main character of my cool story is that both do not fear what other people in school will think of them and what they are wearing. It goes back to being careless or coming off as having a careless image yet still pulling off being "fly"

Omar-
Jim comes off as a cool character because he is faced with a problem and an awkward situation and is able to deal with it. Jim is straight up and doesnt beat around the bush. That is a character trait that falls under the idea of cool because he can help solve problems instead of just complaining that the situation is wrong. cool story, very realistic.

There were many patterns I noticed in a lot of the stories. One trait that came off interesting to me was the idea of effortless. All of these characters that the story was based around, mine including, featured a character that was cool without any effort. He or she manages to give off a "cool" appearance without showing any effort. Cool must be natural or the person will be considered trying too hard. The character also often had a problem showing affection since that may be categorized under uncool.
In Brittani's story the main character, Daishawn was a basketball player that did not fit into his new school. It was obvious that he was from a different social class. Daishawn though, being the cool guy that he is refused to conform to the style of his upper middle class peers because that was not who he was. People respect this because it is considered staying true to your roots.
Many of the characters in peoples stories feautred them walking down the hallway and showing any care for anyone or anything. This idea of hard to get is a trait of cool because it shows that this given cool person is not dependent on anyone else, all they need is themselves.

HW: 24 History Short $tory

As a student, Pascal was lazy yet he still got good grades. He was one of those students rarely said something in class but when he did it was earth shattering. it changed the point of view of the entire class. He would rarely do his homework yet he would pass all his classes effortlessly. He was a natural. Nothing he did came off as forced and on purpose. He was so suave with the women yet at the same time a bit mysterious.
As the varsity cheerleader team tried to start up a conversation with him at lunch, he kept his eyes glued to his book with the title that no one had heard of. The book described him, unknown yet so cool. It was not like he was trying to play hard to get with these girls. He was just merely "too good" for high school girls.
On weekends Pascal didnt bother going to the high school loft parties out in Brooklyn with his peers. Pascal would hop on the uptown 1 train to Columbia university and attend those frat parties. He did not bother with girlfriends. He did not have the time or patience to deal with women for more than one night. He was a heavy drinker yet he never got drunk. Yet through all this he had one problem. Pascal only didnt get involved with people because he had major trust issues. He was beaten as a kid by his father and was fucked over by his mother. He did not know how to trust people and feel safe around them because all his life he was around people who could not be trusted. This prevented him from having close friends.
Soon enough Pascal himself realized it and knew he had to do something about it and he met Roxy. A college girl who had similar problems to Pascal. Her mother passed away and she lived with her aunt. She on the other hand had an ex boyfriend who beat her. Pascal came to realize how what they had in common made him closer to her and gradually came to trust her. Pascal still kept his cool ways and trends after overcoming his problem.

Homework #23 History-Cool

Where did cool start? Thats what i am most curious about in this topic. Cool to me, being a teen means almost the same as hip. Cool to me is referring to what is currently in style and cool to wear. What was cool and in style last year could be totally out of style and uncool now. The only things that remain cool are personality traits. It also seemed to be cool when the look is effortless. A cool person is never cool on purpose. It is supposed to come off as being all natural. Nothing was ever forced, it just happened. If this was the case no one would be truly cool.

This cool we perceive in todays society is an image or side of a person that has little to do with their actual personality. In the majority on New Yorks young hip kids wear what they see worn by the celebrities. In New York though, it is not quite as bad. Kids here take what they see worn by others and put there own personal spin on it making it some what original. In suburbs across America, it seems like each person looks like the next, making no one individually cool.
There is no single cool for everyone. Every group has a different image of cool, but they all have a higher image that they look up to. Regardless if the member of the group or a celebrity they all strive to be like this person. For example, for a period of time i loved the oceans 11 movies. I wanted to be like George Clooneys character because he was such a suave character. It seemed like he was careless yet at the same time he cared so much. He was able to stay calm regardless of the situation. Nothing could rattle him. Looking back i realize how stupid i must have looked trying to be like a 40 year old casino thief. Although i wasnt trying to have the same story as him, i really wanted to be that careless mysterious member of the group that no one could figure out. Cool differs by group.

History Homework #21 art project

This a sketch I did of an older man, that sort of looks like my uncle who has not kept up with the digital revolution. He is staring at digital objects in distress because he is baffled by them and has no idea how to function them. He is unaware of their purpose and is frustrated by this. My piece of art makes me think of what the pros and cons are of not following and staying up to date with all the latest digital representation devices. On one hand he is very stressed about it but on the other he views things in a very different way and makes more out of his life. I think the most interesting part of aspect of my art is the fact that it is based on someone I know and what it is like for them to go through there lives using minimal digital representation devices. My art is a hammer because is goes against this digital revolution and portrays a man who lives successfully using digital equipment minimally.

The stranger post #2

At first, i wondered how a book like the stranger was popular book. It seemed to have little plot. Now though the Stranger has become very appealing to me. I am curious to know what Mersault is thinking and what his beliefs are. I want to know his past life and why he has so little ambition in life. Something must have happened to him at some point along the way. He seems to have intimacy issues because every time someone attempts to get close to Mersault he backs them away. Marie, is interested in marrying him but he claims to not love her. At this point she may be wondering if he even has the inner ability to love and show affection for someones personality. He continues to go back to Maries physical features and his sexual desires with her. It seems as though every time he mentions something about her, he moves on to her physical attributes.
Mersault killing a man threw me off completely. It brought excitement to the book out of no where. It is ironic how the reader gets so into the back and even more so after the shooting but Mersaults personality remains the same throughout. He some how finds a way to enjoy being in prison. He uses his time sleeping and pacing around his cell thinking about random furniture in his house. Yet through all this, i still do not think that Mersault is crazy in the head.
The incident where Mersault killed the Arab man is questionable only because of the mere fact that he shot him five times. He claims his reason for doing it is because he was scared. Even if this was the case, he shot the man 5 times. I think if it was purely fear he would have only shot him once. Mersaults real reason for it remains unknown to me because he shows so little emotion in jail and in the court case. He shows little emotion on how he feels with the court case and is more interested in how a court room actually works. His state and outcome of his case means very little to him because he can accept being in jail.

History HW #20 Big Paper revised

History: Big Paper

Digital Representation devices have provided a distraction from boredom through their stimulating entertainment in both adults and children, and are a primary reason of our societies failure and ignorance. From day 1 of any person’s existence on earth they are surrounded by digital representation devices. We are brainwashed from the start to think certain things, not all of which relate to digital representation devices. When a child is born it is dressed in a pink outfit if it is a girl and a blue outfit if it is a boy. We conform to this because this is all we know. To a certain extent, the same applies to digitalization. We buy mobile phones but rarely use them for their original purpose. I for one, rarely talk on the phone and spend all my time sending text messages because everyone else does it, not necessarily because it is easier. When asked by my parents why I choose to send text messages over talking on the phone I realize that I conformed to doing it because everyone my age does. The main reason for the decision of teens to text message goes back the digital representation devices as a method for people to prevent boredom. A conversation on a given topic that can be completed through talking on the phone in a matter on minutes can last for a span of numerous hours through text message, which provides stimulation for someone over a longer period of time.

Stimulation comes into play at a young age and is almost an addiction. The common situation for children is video games. Often times, primarily in America but also in many other countries, children are left at home while parents are at work. They spend their time watching television while simultaneously playing handheld video games. They use this as a way to alleviate boredom because it is easier than going out and socializing face to face with friends or being active. Even at times when parents or siblings are home that could provide a different form of entertainment or stimulation, the child often chooses to play his video games or watch his television because it is effortless on his part and the decisions he makes in his forms of digital representation devices will not nearly have a similar affect on him as the decisions he will face in real life. This does not only apply to video games with children. Families in general use digital representation devices to avoid boredom or awkwardness. An example is my extended family. Every thanksgiving we get together to see one another and end up watching a movie together. We almost use the movie as a way to make it seem like we all get together and enjoy doing things together. In reality though, during the movie everyone is glued to the television screen and no one talks to each other. The movie in a given situation can be a tool to avoid getting into a personal conversation with a person or group of people. After the movie though, we all talk as a family, but strictly using the movie we all just watched as the base for our conversation. This is how hidden and unintentionally most of these digital devices can be. They affect the way we socialize and behave. My family as a whole would have gotten into more arguments and fights if it weren’t for television because we would not be avoiding things. On the other hand our family would be a lot closer because we would know more about one another’s lives. I personally know very little about how my cousins are doing because of the mere fact that our relationship is so weak and the memories we have are just of us and the rest of our family huddled around a box of moving motions silent with our eyes glued to the screen.

Digital representation devices are the easiest way for us to escape reality for a while. Often teens and even adults go to movies on dates. Usually they do it for sexual pleasure and sometimes even for the excitement of the actual movie. But they often take their “dates” to a movie theater because this is the easy escape to an experience where little talking is done. Friends of mine have admitted to bringing a girl to a movie because they felt unable to hold a decent conversation with the girl. This is an effect of the aftermath of spending too much time isolated alone playing video games.

One of the worst problems with all of this is that we are unable to face it and are in complete denial of it. If would not be quite as bad if we were universally able to point out this mistake and its affects and do something about. The reality is completely different as we think we are fine and it has little effect. I often hear an argument for video games and other digital media representation devices as being a good thing. Whether the argument is good or not becomes irrelevant when you realize how many people fall for it. This just puts us into deeper denial of the situation our society is in as a whole.

Over stimulation from digital media representation devices can cause ADHD in children. When they stay put in one place watching television and simultaneously playing video games they are unable to focus as well. Excessive amounts of electronic media often can exacerbate the ADHD behaviors in children. They are over stimulated and at points overwhelmed with how much is going on around them. They could be chatting on instant messenger while playing music and video games. This causes them to shuffle between media activities and prevents them from showing and concentrating their full attention on one device.
I can personally say that as a child I spent too much of my time using digital representation devices. Whether is have been television, computer or video games, I let it eat up too much of my childhood and now may be the reason I have trouble focusing on something without getting distracted. It can be argued that this digital media revolution has helped us and benefited us because it has for the most part. It provides simple entertainment and a convenient way to communicate instantly. It has helped us develop new ideas and make things easier for ourselves. Its importance to the real world is important, as almost every person in the world has been affected in both negative and positive ways. We have all come in contact with it at some point and form our own opinions on whether it has helped us or set us back in the long run.

HW#18 Big paper rough draft

Digital Representation devices have provided a distraction from boredom through there stimulating entertainment in both adults and children, and are a primary reason of our societies failure and ignorance. From day 1 of any persons existence on earth they are surrounded by digital representation devices. We are brainwashed from the start to think certain things, not all of which relate to digital representation devices. When a child is born it is dressed in a pink outfit if it is a girl and a blue outfit if it is a boy. We conform to this because this is all we know. To a certain extent, the same applies to digitalization. We buy mobile phones but rarely use them for their original purpose. I for one, rarely talk on the phone and spend all my time sending text messages because everyone else does it, not necessarily because it is easier. When asked by my parents why I choose to send text messages over talking on the phone I realize that I conformed to doing it because everyone my age does. The main reason for the decision of teens to text message goes back the digital representation devices as a method for people to prevent boredom. A conversation on a given topic that can be completed through talking on the phone in a matter on minutes can last for a span of numerous hours through text message which provides a stimulation for someone over a longer period of time.

    Stimulation comes into play at a young age and is almost an addiction. The common situation for children is video games. Often times, primarily in America but also in many other countries, children are left at home while parents are at work. They spend their time watching television while simultaneously playing handheld video games. They use this as a way to alleviate boredom because it is easier than going out and socializing face to face with friends or being active. Even at times when parents or siblings are home that could provide a different form of entertainment or stimulation, the child often chooses to play his video games or watch his television because it is effortless on his part and the decisions he makes in his forms of digital representation devices will not nearly have a similar affect on him as the decisions he will face in real life. This does not only apply to video games with children. Families in general use digital representation devices to avoid boredom or awkwardness. An example is my extended family. Every thanksgiving we get together to see one another and end up watching a movie together. We almost use the movie as a way to make it seem like we all get together and enjoy doing things together. In reality though, during the movie everyone is glued to the television screen and no one talks to each other. The movie in a given situation can be a tool to avoid getting into a personal conversation with a person or group of people. After the movie though, we all talk as a family, but strictly using the movie we all just watched as the base for our conversation. This is how hidden and unintentionally most of these digital devices can be. They affect the way we socialize and behave. My family as a whole would have gotten into more arguments and fights if it weren’t for television because we would not be avoiding things. On the other hand our family would be a lot closer because we would know more about one anothers lives. I personally know very little about how my cousins are doing because of the mere fact that our relationship is so weak and the memories we have are just of us and the rest of our family huddled around a box of moving motions silent with our eyes glued to the screen.

  Digital representation devices are the easiest way for us to escape reality for a while. Often teens and even adults go to movies on dates. Usually they do it for sexual pleasure and sometimes even for the excitement of the actual movie. But they often take their “dates” to a movie theater because this is the easy escape to an experience where little talking is done. Friends of mine have admitted to bringing a girl to a movie because they felt unable to hold a decent conversation with the girl. This is an effect of the aftermath of spending too much time isolated alone playing video games.

     One of the worst problems with all of this is that we are unable to face it and are in complete denial of it. If would not be quite as bad if we were universally able to point out this mistake and its affects and do something about. The reality is completely different as we think we are fine and it has little effect. I often hear an argument for video games and other digital media representation devices as being a good thing. Whether the argument is good or not becomes irrelevant when you realize how many people fall for it. This just puts us into deeper denial of the situation our society is in as a whole

Homework #17

RIchie,

After reading your post i realized how strong your ideas were. I think if you organize your ideas better in your outline it will in turn improve not only the outline but your entire essay as a whole because you will be able to easily refer back to it hen you are moving from one argument to another. I think that your third argument, the one about finding an easy way out of things is very interesting. I think you should explain in detail though how you plan to carry out this argument. Besides that though i think you are on the right track to writing a very good essay about this topic.

keep up the good work

Hey Arden, I think your outline is a very good start to your essay and will make it more simple to structure your essay in an organizing way. Your thesis is short, which is not necessarily bad because in this case it goes right to the point of what you are trying to tell us. Trouble in the economy, your 3rd and final argument is most appealing to me. I look forward to seeing the rough draft of your essay and how your carried out your three arguments.

Good luck writing your essay!

Homework #16: Outline

Thesis: Digital Representation devices have provided a distraction from boredom through there stimulating entertainment in both adults and children, and are a primary reason of our societies failure and ignorance.


Main Idea for Intro: Children and Adults everywhere with access to forms of digital representation devices use them to alleviate there boredom and therefore waste there lives away.
We spend too much of our time communicating via text message and facebook and the youth today is unable to hold a educated conversation because of the mere fact that we are to used to communicating in other digital forms. Our society has become ignorant and in denial of the whole situation. We all point the finger on how other people are addicted to media but are often unable to face it ourselves.



Arguments:

Children being left home alone spend there time playing video games to avoid boredom and too get some form of stimulation. No longer spend time outside as much.

We are in denial about how corrupt our societies have become through digital representation devices and how they affect our daily lives in negative ways.

The raise in levels of ADD over the past 10 years because of over stimulation between television,video games, and computer use. Children cannot focus at so many loud things at one time as it becomes distracting later in life.


Evidence: The ammount of revenue that video game companies earn per year through children buying video games. The decline in children's outdoor activity. Mostly adults live off their mobile phones and are fully dependent on them. Prime example: my father. Online data that shows increases off ADD in the past decade. Sources that talk about how video games can cause distraction and over stimulation.

draft of #15 history

Arden, 

Reading your posts is very enjoyable as they are quite clear and easy to read. The way you format things make it easy to understand. You often briefly introduce the topics at the beginning of your text and then go into further detail of everything you stated at the beginning. 

  In your most recent blog (blog post #14) you make connections with the text were responding too but you formed your own opinion as well. I was skimming through other peoples work and realized that a lot of what they wrote was just direct ideas of what was in the text and they did not even state whether or not they agreed with what they were saying. It was almost like i was reading a shorter version of the text that we were assigned too because no new ideas were introduced. 

I think organization is your strongest point in your writing because unlike myself, you break all the topics into paragraphs and dont jump from one topic to another within the same paragraph. As far as improving on your writing, i think your choice of vocabulary and usage could be stronger. You often use a word to describe something where you could easily select a better word for that sentence. 

Who is this guy? English blog homework

Meursault as a character so far is someone who seems to rarely show emotion. He is not necessarily negative in his thoughts but you cannot make a clear cut decision on what he is feeling. From the first page you think that he does not care about his mother and shows no affection to her. On page 15. I see the first glimpse of him relating or thinking about his mother. "Seeing the rows of cypress trees leading up to the hills next to the sky.....I was able to understand Maman better."
With this quote I believe he is saying that with seeing with gorgeous landscape around him, he is able to understand Maman's reasoning for living here. He can directly relate to his mothers feelings because perhaps she had an appreciation for landscape.
From what we have read so far, we know or think the Meursault is an emotionless guy and does not question what he is feeling. Although it may be considered boring by some, I think it raises the excitement to find out what kind of guy he is and what he really feels inside. It is the mysterious personality that we see so far that makes me curious to know more about his background. From the start of the book we are told so little exact information to form a clear opinion on who he is. We are not told any background information besides "Maman used to spend her time following me with her eyes, not saying a thing" We are not told what type of relationship they had and why Meursault is so detached from her. He seems to be very lonely and in denial about his feelings. His social life is rarely mentioned so far, so I assume he does not spend his nights partying with friends but instead staying in and wondering about his ideas.
When I am sad or hurt about something i am similar to Meursault. Instead of complaining or seeking help, I store it all inside of me. I bottle up my fears and sadness and do not share them with the outer world, similar to the way Meursault does.
We look at people and immediately judge them by their outfits, we have no idea what they have been through or overcome yet still for some reason we often think we know how they are feeling and what they are thinking. In the case of Meursault he is very unpredictable in what he says. Right when I was convinced that he did in fact have strong feelings for his mother, he tells the man that he does not want to see her again.

English: I <3 Huckabees

The movie I heart huckabees was a new and original idea. I can imagine that most people only went to see the movie because of the cast that was in it. The plot and story of it is very original which makes it surprising that so many top actors agreed to be a part of it. I can imagine the script may have sounded very dull to a lot of people but when actually carried through it makes for quite the interesting movie.
This world that we live in is definitely meaningful, at least in my point of view but rarely does it make complete sense. I question our reasoning behind our existence and what our job is on earth. Is it really to be the best person that we can be? Or is there maybe a deeper meaning. Maybe each person, at birth is set fourth a list of goals that he/she is supposed to fulfill and complete before dying. Maybe there is no meaning. It is ironic how we always strive for another level. In grade school we are told to work hard so that we get into a good middle school. From there the same story carries on to high school, and from high school to college and then to graduate school. We work our lives away so that we have enough money to be stable during retirement. But at this point our bodies are so old and worn out there is not much left for us to experience. The order in which we do things seems reversed. The meaning of life comes into question. To me personally, people that are living meaningful lives are those who do not even worry about there own lives. They are constantly out to help others. We strive to make it seem like we are helping others so we can feel like we are living a honest meaningful life. We go to charity events or we donate money to organizations where we have no idea where the money is going. The important goal of this "helping others" is a feeling we get and hoping our peers see us as good meaningful citizens. It brings back a quote that “Once you realize the universe sucks, you got nothing left to lose.” This is sort of true because you play your life in a way that you take risks within your life because you believe they are not risks. This would cause you to experience and get so much more out of your life.

History Homework #14

Personally, both of these texts go against most of what the older generation believes in. The typical thought is always books and writing are the pathway to success and television and video games are the key to failure. In both of these texts, the main point or points is that video games and television are really not so bad, and we have evidence to back it up. This, in a sense goes back to the start of the enlightenment period. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes questioned theories that the people were born to believe. Although at first considered controversial, people became very interested in these thoughts and questions posed by the "enlightened philosophes"
The argument is how the stimulation provided by video games and television is rewarding to the brain. He goes deeper into the differences in digital entertainment of television and video games. For example on television we just lay there and attempt to follow the story board that is appearing on the screen where in most cases video games you are more in involved and faced with "decision making" within the game.
He begins to talk about how children that are raised and brought up reading will later in life spend more of there free time reading because they are so accustomed to it. I can personally say a lot of my friends parents got them video games as a way of preventing boredom because the parent themselves could not provide entertainment with and for their child.
This text i just read is a breath of fresh air away from all the stuff we are filled with in our brain by outside sources. Because it is so different and because it is a original thought it makes it more appealing to me. Michael Moores new movie called Capitalism: a love story is very appealing to the mass audience because they know before even going into the movie that it will be a contradiction to what we hear. This is how i feel reading this text. Even if the argument were to be faulty it would still come off as interesting to me because it is a brand new idea. The way it is written is very convincing and provides good examples for almost every argument stated which makes it, at least to me, seem more reliable because some form of backup or background is provided.
This text in most ways is a complete opposite to feed. Although it can be argued against, Feed is more about how our society is already or will in future be failing completely, this text is more about how maybe our society and all this technology is not such a terrible thing after all. Maybe we are going overboard when we say we are all heading for doom and our society is so dumb. My grandma always tells me how dumb our generation is with our texting or computer usage but meanwhile she doesnt have the knowledge or patience to operate a computer or cellphone. We naturally critique what is different and what we are not used to seeing. "Toben" is telling us in a story how crazy our society is becoming while Stevin Berlin Johnson is providing the good aspects of digital technology and how it stimulates our minds constantly regardless if is through television or the stimulation provided in video games.

Homework #13 feed b

Feed is written about teens but unlike many other teens related books, it is written to a more broad audience. Pre teens would enjoy this book because it is about the future and what things would be like. Adults would read the book feed with a different insight than most teens because they have already seen the difference in society from when they were growing up to the present whereas teens only have experienced there own generation and really have nothing to compare it with.  Feed to teens is what our generation is to adults. 

 Books like feed are interesting because they appeal to a wide audience that can be read on multiple different levels. It is similar to the book Animal Farm. In Animal Farm children read it as a childrens story about farm animals and adults often read it as a metaphor to stalinist russia. The style of writing something to appeal to more than one audience is extremely difficult because you have to write it in a form where it is complex yet easy to understand. 

   The book Feed states a problem but not much of a solution which is not necessarily bad. After all Al Gore's 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient truth is about the effects of global warming and how doomed our society is if we continue at this rate but it does not provide any solution or progress method. Still, Al Gore managed to win the nobel peace prize. Feed is similar through the fact that it shows a problem on our generation and the following one but does not end in a way that a disney movie would, making it more interesting as a whole. 

homework 10

http://espn.go.com/
www.facebook.com
www.miniclip.com
www.funnyjunk.com
FOX 5


These are probably the top five media devices or categories that i use. Espn is my bible for sports and news and watching highlights. The website is more appealing to me than the tv channel because of the mere fact on the website i can personally select and customize what i enjoy watching and what interests me most. Facebook, like most other kids my age, serves mainly to communicate with friends quickly and to alleviate my boredom when i have nothing planned. Miniclip and funnyjunk are purely for entertainment and funny jokes. Although a lot of it can be considered a waste of time i still enjoy going on either once in a while to check up on things and maybe even forward a joke to my grandmother.

blog #3 english banach

In this section Banach constantly brings up the idea of our goals in life and how we are too often happy and satisfied with the situation we are given. When we are faced with a situation our way of dealing is just getting through it. As I understand it Banach is telling us that we should quit taking the suffer and do something about it. Only we can truly change the outcome of the situation to better ourselves. Banach asks “Why would this fool be happy eternally rolling a ball up a hill?” Although we are not technically rolling a ball up a hill our entire lives it can be compared to what we do as people. Constantly accepting the situations we are given and every time we do finally reach a goal, we move on to the next thing we want to achieve. We always strive to get what we cannot have. In elementary school we are told to work hard to get into a good middle school. In middle school it becomes important to do well on the test so we can go to a good high school. From there it continues on to college, and graduate school and then we need to work hard to get a decent job. We work our entire lives so we can retire at around age seventy. This seems reversed to me. The youthful days where our body is well and fully functioning we spend time in classrooms where we could spend time exploring the world and experiencing different cultures. When we are old and retired we worry about getting sick and stay home all day. We spend to much of our time worrying about things we have control over. Technically speaking if man constantly put in the right amount of work he would end up doing a lot less worrying.

time a wasting

Homework #7

What are your feelings and thoughts on electronics and digitilazation?
Dad- What is this for school or something?
Me- Yes
Dad- electronics and digitilization arent really as bad as me often make them out to be. Of course they hold us back from doing other thing that could be more useful. Think about it though. When I was 16 I had to write a hand written letter to my cousin in Vietnam. It took about two weeks to get there, if it go there at all. Now in a matter of seconds I can send him a video of me talking to him personally just becuase of our modern technology.

Random Man on streets views of modern technology

"It ruins the way me think. Everything is better than the previous one. I use to fraud checks back in college. Cant do that no more can we? Yeah you can send a picture light speed but you also realize you are staring at a dam piece of plastic for hours. Maybe its glass, i dont know. I got to go.

Close friend named Bibi:

Its good cause we know more and find out more. Its not so good cause we end up doing less. We knows things that go on in different parts of the world really quickly. It is crazy to think about what we have come from in technology. It is a joke to me when I see a really big cellphone that is outdated but to think that man invented a device that allows us to communicate with a person via voice that is anywhere in the world. Dude, thats crazy if you ask me.

david banach response #2

Banach's argument is that we find things to blame when we do not succeed. This is completely true. It is very rare to see someone not find an excuse for their failure. We only do this because it is the easiest way out and relieves us of a large ammount of guilt. Wayne Dyer has a book called change your thoughts, change your mind. For a large portion of it he talks about fault and blame. He tells us "All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you." To an extreme measure, blame can be compared to using alcohol or drugs as a temporary solution to depression and sadness. For a period of time the blame, and even the alcohol will relieve and distract you from reality. At the end of the day though, you will have to face it that blaming someone only put a halt to your progress as an individual. You put your faults and flaws on someone or something else because of the mere fact that you were not able to admit to yourself that you were not good enough.
Banach goes deeper in how people no longer realize that they have the power to decide who they are. This reminds me strongly of the commercial for anti drugs that claim we should be above the influence. Personally, i have never met anyone in my life who is above the influence of other people. To some extent we all are. Women started wearing ugg boots because they saw other women wearing them just as men began wearing nike dunks because they saw other men wearing them. These days it is near impossible to be original. Every person we meet we act different around. We meet someone famous we act polite, we meet someone rude we act rude back, we meet a goodlooking man or woman we try to impress them by acting different. This is why love rarely works. A man meets a woman and she becomes crazy for him. In reality though she is crazy for the image and mask he put on for her. Sooner or later she will discover the real man and maybe wont be so impressed. She will often claim that he has changed since they met and that he is not being himself. The irony in this is that when he finally does become himself she is surprised.

Hw: #1 Manleys Homework on "the ethics of absolute freedom"

Banach's lecture almost questions what we discover and believe. What we see or think may not necessarily be true for everyone. When Banach poses questions at first, he asks very broad questions that can be easily argued for or against. Personally though, I think that human flourishing is to maximize a humans potential in there life span. Regardless of what accomplished or income earned, it is the mark he can leave on thing that will let him look back at the end of the road to really value what he has done. Our ethics shape out who we are and therefore it becomes important in the decisions that we make as we are faced with them to shape out who we are.  I find a good portion of what Banach is saying is a question proposed to the reader on what we see and what we believe. The fact of the matter is that we think we know so much and are so advanced in technology but in reality I think that we know so little. The planet earth is a bleep on a radar screen in the galaxy where other life forms may look down at us and question our way of life. 

Homework #3 Initial thoughts on digital unit

When you really look at the affect of purely communication electronic devices you realize how drastic the change is. Pagers and beepers seemed to be the revolution in communication only a couple of years ago and now they are "dead technology" We can literally contact any one with a mobile device or computer in a matter of seconds. I was watching a James Bond film the other night and was completely amazed that a solid ammount of his super cool gadgets have already come out. He was talking to an agent through a video on a screen. Once very cool, we already have the video chat function on many of our laptops. 

   The real question that i wonder is how far can and will we go from here? We often focus so much of our time into creating the new ipod, and the sidekick when if we spent all this time, energy, money and research when we could use it on maybe finding a solution to global warming?World hunger? I think its our priorities that are screwed up.