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.