Bravisimo!

Wow. I can't believe that this semester is already coming to a close. It's crazy how quickly time flies by when your not physically keeping track of it. I guess this blog could be considered a little bittersweet. Another school semester has finally come and gone and I am definitely happy to see this one come to an end because honestly, for some reason I had a horrible case of the procrastination bug. I don't think there was one assignment I didn't procrastinate on which was sort of stupid and gave me an unnecessary load of stress. I will however miss this class. It's crazy when a class comes to an end and you realize that you will never take it again and you will probably never see or hear from your classmates again. Being an online class, we never really met eye-to-eye, well most of us, but we have learned to respect each other and to build on each others knowledge. I found myself learning more and more from all of you through our blogs and our reading discussions and even our group projects. I always considered myself to be pretty open-minded, but then again I have always being extremely stubborn. When we were asked to give our opinion on controversial topics, at first my main state of mind was, well my opinion is the obvious right one because its common sense. When I started reading all of your comments and opinions on our discussion forums I was amazed to see how much I was overlooking! I had never spent time to actually think through my conclusions and I had never had that healthy debate about what was right. This is one reason why I have to say thank you to my fellow classmates because you guys taught me that there is always another side to the story and never jump to conclusions until you have weighed all the details and read all the writing in the fine lines.

Finally I need to thank our wonderful teacher Professer Gross because she has the patience to have an online class like this. It takes a skilled teacher to figure out ways for her pupils to do group projects without being face to face with each other. The way she used her creativity to put together all these different assignments for us made it easy for us to complete them and from what she writes in her announcements, it appears we have all benefitted from these interesting assignments and are all doing fairly well. I will take what I have learned from this class and apply it to the future. And with that, I hope you all find what you are looking for and I hope you all lead successful and happy lives. Remember: Every mistake is a lesson learned, and live life with spontanaeity and open arms so you can leave without regrets. Ciao.

Procrastination DOES NOT Equal Relaxation

For our blog this week, we were asked to write about what we have learned not only from our research paper topic, but also what we have learned through the process of writing it. The biggest lesson learned for me would definitely be DON'T PROCRASTINATE. I waited till 2 days before the paper to actually start writing it which was not a very smart idea. I was a lot more stressed out than I should have been and I did not get very much sleep. Also, if I had written it ahead of time I would have had time to look at it and revise it before the peer draft reviews so that I could have submitted my best work. Instead I just submitted the first very rough draft, which may not have been the smartest idea. I was in such a rush that I did not even write an outline which I usually HAVE to do in order to keep my thoughts organized. Once I was done with my introduction and I had no idea where to go or what to say I had to put the paper aside and write an outline. I just could not do it freestyle. I also am happy to say that the research paper helped me learn how to use ebsohost. I had never used it for any other project, but when I realized that the majority of my classmates were using it for the research project, I figured there MUST be something special about it and it must be useful somehow because of all the hullaballoo I was hearing about it. I found out I could have definitely saved myself a trip to the library I had just resorted to ebscohost before.

On another note, my topic was about how the Islamic law which was being used as a foundation for the Iranian law, appeared to be very anti-feministic and dangerous to women. I never knew how hard women had it in Iran. I never felt so privileged and lucky to be American and to have the freedom to be my own person. The part of my project that truly made me the most upset to write was when I started listing out laws that definitely portray not-so-subtle hints of anti-feminism. They had harsher punishments for women than males such as if they were sentenced to get stoned, men would only have to sit in the pit up to their waist, but for women it was up to their neck. If they were caught fornicating they got whipped and if they were caught wearing the wrong kind of attire they were whipped. There was one part in the actual Iranian constitution that stated that a woman's life is valued only HALF as much as a man's. I was outraged when I wrote this portion so the people that had to review my paper probably saw how strongly I felt about this portion of my paper. Although these laws are bad enough, the last one that I learned about is the absolute worst. If a woman is murdered by a man, the victims family has to pay money to the murderers family for any injuries procured on the man by the victim. Then, and only then, will the murderer or abuser be taken into jail. It is crazy learning that there are countries that have these brutal rules and subject women to so much physical abuse. Thank God I'm an American.

"Paper Paper Go Away, Come Again Another Day"

So I have a little problem. It is called the research paper and its supposed to be about a topic that we were supposed to pick and relate to Iran. I also have another little problem I sort of contracted that procrastination disease that seems to come from time to time where you say your going to work on it and then you don't over and over and over again. It seems to infect most college students and high school students because for some reason we seem a little more susceptible to it than the average person. Okay Okay I admit it I have not gotten very far on my paper at all. I am working on it more today so it will still be done earlier than the due date, but I know that I should have done more on it sooner. This morning I was dreading the fact that I still have so much to do on the paper and wishing I had been one of the smarter people that had finished the draft a while back.

I want to do my paper on women's rights in Iran because I think that it will be the easiest topic for me to relate to. At first I started writing my paper on the prompt that we were given that compared The Great Gatsby with Reading Lolita in Tehran, but then I realized that I could not find my Rlit book because it had gotten lost in the confusion when I had moved two weeks ago. I didn't notice that it was gone until I needed to find a quote and did not have the book there to look at so I was back to square one. One thing that I am not looking forward to is writing the works cited because like I've said before a number of times, MLA format is not one of my expertise. I am actually not very good at it at all even if I use the citation machine generator. The things that I type into the boxes to create the citation end up being wrong. I think I just need to practice a little more because practice makes perfect.

So far my biggest problem in writing the paper besides procrastination was creating the outline. I did something called brainstorming and wrote down everything I could possible thing of on a scratch piece of paper and just went from there. I had a hard time deciding what I was going to put where and I was and am still scared that I am not going to reach the five page minimum. I tend to write more in an essay than what is required, but I still worry about it because I don't want to sound redundant. As I sit here and sip my coffee at this very moment I am looking for even more sources to add to the paper to avoid that situation.

I think once I get started on the paper again and into the full swing than everything will come out smoothly. I think that I just have a little bit of worry wart in me, but I guess you could say it's in my genetics. Good luck to everyone on your papers! I hope we all do a great job and reach that page requirement.

Reality Check

So the blog for this week is going to be about one of the somewhat modern marvels of our generation. Something called "e-mail". It's this new way of talking accept you don't talk. You communicate through typing on the internet and you don't have to look at the person you talk to, you don't even have to know the person. You don't have to use complete sentences and you don't have to carry on conversations. If it sounds like I am against e-mailing than I can't lie, I can't lie. I think that e-mailing, even though I am a huge fan of it, is ruining the way people communicate entirely.

We no longer have to actually talk to our teachers, we can just send an e-mail and get a prompt response if we have any questions or concerns. We can get to know people and make friends from e-mailing on websites like MySpace or Facebook. Even huge purchases like buying cars or renting houses can be done entirely through e-mail. Moral of the story is, e-mailing makes life easier. BUT Do we really need life to be any easier? Whatever happened to student teacher relationships? What happened to having to make your own friends in person? Or take a look at the dating sites where people meet their soul mates through e-mailing. Whatever happened to finding that someone on your own and face to face? Because e-mailing and the computer has always been around in my life sometimes I want to know what it would be like without all these advancements in technology.

I really had a reality check a few months ago. I was watching a classic television show that I'm sure we have all watched at one time, Sesame Street, with one of the children I teach. I was very startled to see that Elmo was teaching the children how to e-mail. Last time I checked Sesame Street did a great job at teaching children their numbers, the alphabet, and how to read and it was geared more for children in lower elementary grades and under. The fact that they are introducing the children to e-mailing this young is disturbing to me and the fact that they are wasting time on this kind of stuff instead of focusing on what they have always been good at also bothers me. I think that e-mailing is definitely going to change the future generations. I think that since e-mailing has started to replace certain types of communication, it will progressively get worst. I think eventually, hopefully a loooooong time from now, e-mailing and texting will replace speaking entirely and the spoken language will cease to exist.

Patience Pays

The blog this week is supposed to be about how much I feel I've grown from this class in my writing skills from all the reading assigned and discussions that we have participated in. Before this class, I would have considered myself an extroverted kind of person that always had a strong opinion to share and was very stubborn about my ways. I find that through these discussions that we have all helped in creating my strong opinions are swayed and I am becoming more open to different thoughts. I think that the team work has also helped me through my writing. By reading the blogs and perspectives of my fellow classmates it has helped me to be a little more organized in my own writing. I think that being able to have that visual of how they organize theirs, I am able to establish a form for my own writing instead of being all over the place.
Also, my writing, although it still consists of simple informal words, I have learned to use them in a more intellectual and understandable way. By reading books like "Animal Farm" it showed me that even though they used a lot of colloquialism in the book, they were still able to make it a significant piece of literature. It helped me to understand that I am not limited just because my vocabulary is not full to the rim. I can still write well with what I already know, and keep my mind open to that which I have yet to learn. I also learned new vocabulary and different ways to express myself through "Reading Lolita in Tehran". I loved the way she was able to express herself and the beautiful metaphors she used such as comparing her own little world she created to "Wonderland". I try to use more metaphorical phrases since I have read that book because the way she is able to use that rhetorical device brings the book to life and makes it more personable to the reader and much easier to truly understand.
Although I had a tough time in our group projects because sometimes I felt bad that I could not constantly be on blackboard, we were able to compromise our parts through teamwork. It helped me realize that I can work with a team and be part of something bigger. It allowed me to see that my point of view has an impact on others thoughts as well as theirs on mine. So far this class has obviously taught me a lot and made its footprints on my writing skills, but i know I have a long way to go. My abilities to write are still growing and it will take me a long time till it is in full bloom, but with a little patience I know I will be able to reach my full potential.

Dictator Nutritionist? I Think Not.

I found this comic when I was online researching for my Nutrition class. I could not help but feel angry when I saw this. For one, I don't see how it is funny I guess maybe I have a different perspective on humor, and secondly, The artist is trying to use the image of a government nutritionist in form of a dictator to provoke the people of America.

I do not think the government nutritionist is someone that should be the target of humor. I understand that given the recent circumstances it might seem that way, but the nutritionists are just trying to do their job and make America a healthier place. I heard on the radio just yesterday, that they are going to cut back on salt in different foods at the market to hopefully cut back on the sodium intake in America's diet. One of the radio hosts made a valid point that I agree with. It does not matter if we take the salt out of the food because the reason we have salt at home is to make our foods as salty as we like it. Even though I agree with this I still think it is worth a try, maybe we can figure out another way, with less expense, to make it taste as good as we like it. Even if it doesn't, hey you never know, maybe it will be better for the economy because we won't have to pay for the extra salt in the food.

The purpose of stating the above is to point out that nutritionist are doing their best to make America healthier. They are not trying to be something they are not ( like a dictator lol), they are just trying to do their job just as we are. I went to Canada in January to see my sister get her master's and I was in for a huge culture shock. It was crazy to see that everyone around me was in the best shape and the only overweight people around were tourists from other countries. The reason for their healthiness was because having a car was really inconvenient in Vancouver, and having to walk all over instead of drive benefited their health. They cooked a lot at home also instead of going to fast food restaurants. It could have just been the farmer's market with a great selection of produce that motivated them to do so, but I think that we need to take some advice from the Canadians.

It took this to really help me see what is happening to America. When I came back I faced the fact and completely understood that we are an overweight country. Sometimes people can't help it, but most of us can we just choose not to and honestly, I hate to admit it, but we are lazy. So let's not bash on someone that is trying to extend our lifetimes and get us to the peak of our health. The only way we can be healthy is if we take things step by step. Instead of taking out our frustration with our poor health on innocent government nutritionist, why don't we take that first step, get out of our cars and walk to places close enough, and start making more home cooked meals.

Fat Chance or Fair Chance?

So this week's blog subject is a little different and requires a different sort of introduction. The prompt is to write about how I would feel if a leader of a known hate group were invited to speak at my school. That is kind of a strange thought to me. My first thought that came to my mind was fat chance! That's the last thing I want to do! Then I thought I have always frowned against hate groups and gangs of all types, but then again if I were to stop this man from voicing his thoughts I would be forcing him to give up his freedom of speech and I am a huge believer in freedom of speech..most of the time.

I think it would be interesting to hear the viewpoints of a person with that kind of social status. I have never been subjected to anything related to that because I was raised in fairly safe family neighborhoods and I was always forced to endure the uniformity (including those awful uniforms) and strict teachings that private schools have to offer lucky students. I've been told more than once, actually more than I can count that I was raised in a very sheltered and protected atmosphere. When I think about it even though these men belong to hate groups and live very different lives they are still people and are worth giving a chance..unless they've committed some unforgivable inhumane act. It might have been something that happened in there lives that left them in such an emotional wreck that motivated them to join a hate group in the first place.

What is freedom of speech exactly? It's the ability and privilege to say what you want when you want. When you were younger whenever you were caught doing something wrong that broke the house rules what happened? Most people are grounded meaning that their privileges are taken away like watching tv, going out, or using the phone. When you were in high school and texted people out of control how did your parents feel about that? They probably punished you by taking away texting..that is if you did not have unlimited texting in the first place ;). The point of my ranting is to prove that when a privilege is abused it is taken away. We may have freedom of speech, but censorship is what is helping us keep it. If this leader were to speak at school I think I would welcome him as I would any other speaker because he deserves that chance to say what he has to say, as long as he doesn't abuse that privilege. Idon't think of the freedoms we are given as freedom I think of them as privileges because America's special in that way. We are offered these wonderful things that other countries have not even considered making legal.

Also, I find it wrong to make assumptions. It is actually one of my biggest pet peeves. To assume is to prove yourself naive and to know is to prove yourself wise. okay okay so I made that up, but sounds like something I could find in a fortune cookie and it sounded good to me. If I was to assume that this leader were automatically a horrible person with no family and no friends and not even give him a chance I might be missing out on an opportunity that I might never have the chance to get back. I hate it when people make assumptions about me so why do it to this person? I know what your thinking, this guy basically builds his hate group off of assumptions of a specific group of people. Have you ever heard of the saying two wrongs don't make a right? I'm sure you have because that one I didn't make up. I'm sure everyone's been told that once or twice by their loving grandmothers. I think maybe we need to heed their words a little more often. I would give him a chance and let him speak his mind because this country is all about giving people the fair chance.

Self-Respect: The Yellow Brick Road to Happiness

If I had to choose between self-respect or happiness I would have to say that is kind of an odd question. It seems apparent to me and extremely obvious that the two go hand in hand with one another. Personally I think that self-respect is something that is required in order to be completely happy. Without self-respect there will always be something nagging at the back of your brain and you will have no strength left from being so extremely self-conscious that you won't have the time to be happy. What is self-respect to you? Self respect to me is a person's ability to have confidence, take pride in what they have, and also be proud of what they have accomplished. Self-respect is more than just a characteristic, it is a way of living. To live with self-respect means to live with being yourself and not wanting to change who you are. It is to live with the thought that everything you do is your very own way and you are neither hypocritical nor trying to be something your not. In order to have self respect one has to accept themselves fully for who they are. They have to realize that everyone has their imperfections and because they are your very own, your imperfections are perfectly perfect for your imperfect self. And lastly self respect is having the ability to look in the mirror and not look at everything that is wrong with you, but realize that there are so many greater things about yourself that outshine your flaws.

Happiness. How can you be happy unless you have self respect. I don't think anyone can be completely happy unless they are happy with themselves. If a person dislikes themselves and considers themselves to be happy they are living a lie and are therefore not happy. A person may say that they have given up all their self respect in order to be happy for instance, with the person they love and want to spend their life with, but honestly, they have a healthy dose of self respect. They respect themselves by respecting their choices and believing that it is the right decision. It is the confidence in making that choice that enables a person to live in a happy situation. People who work in places that are thought to be demeaning like stripper clubs are only using their jobs that are considered to be taking away their self-dignity in order to transition into a happier life. With these jobs people are allowed to reap the benefits they need in order to sustain life.

There are so many characteristics that come hand in hand with "self respect". There are dignity, pride, humbleness, faithfulness, perserverence, confidence, and hopefulness just to name a few. I say faithfulness because if a person does not have the capacity to stay faithful I feel that they lack the self-confidence to realize the good that they have. I say perserverence because a person with self- respect does not just give up when they believe something is right. They don't let their beliefs be shoved into the corner because a person with self-respect knows that their opinion means something no matter how huge the world is. I say hopefulness as a part of self-respect because it is necessary to have hope in order to sustain life and remain happy even through the hardest times. In Greek Myths they say that when Pandora was made as punishment to make the lives of men basically miserable, she was given a box. She was told not to open it because if she did the worst things that one could ever think of would be released like stress, frustration, and other things that tend to make life hard for us. Out of curiosity she opened the box and released illness and other horrible things into the world, but it is said that the only thing that remained in the box was hope. I don't mean to preach to you about Greek Mythology, I merely am trying to prove a point. Hope stayed in the box because if hope is released then hope is lost. Hope is necessary to stay in the minds of men because it brings happiness and wishing into those hearts that suffer during hard times. Self-respect sounds like its something simple to understand, but in writing this I realize that it is more like a large theory that is changed from person to person. This is just my theory about self-respect and happiness. It's like a math problem. Without self-respect, the equation can never equal happiness.

What'd You Just Say?!

When it comes to communication of the sexes, I noticed that men and women have their very own special ways of speaking and getting their point across. You can't really tell what your own style of communicating is until you really analyze it and pay attention. It just comes out naturally! It is much easier to see the differences between men and women if you watch them in conversation together, ESPECIALLY when they are in a relationship. Relationships have their ups and downs and ins and outs and one of the most important things to two lovers would have to be communication. Without it, how would the couple get anywhere? Have you ever seen a couple fight before? It can be pretty entertaining if you really pay attention to the facial expressions, tone, pitch, and other visible expressions of both parties. I noticed that women have different ways of expressing that they are angry through the pitch of their voice and tone. Some women have that "I'm pretending like I'm happy, but there is definitely something wrong with me and you have 10 minutes to figure it out" kind of expression where they speak with a higher pitch, a forced cheerful tone that almost sounds pained, and they have a huge obviously fake smile on their face. Sometimes you can tell they are saying "I can't believe what you don't know what you did, you are so naive," when their eyes are opened a little wider than normal their body is leaning farther toward their significant other, they are speaking with a high pitched voice as if talking to someone significantly younger, and they are speaking slowly using easy to understand words as if breaking down something to make it easier for the other party to understand and almost demeaning them. Some women convey they are angry merely by doing the normal scrunch of the eyebrows, speaking with a lower pitch, and speaking quickly letting the other party know that they are serious about the matter at hand.

I also noticed that women have a distinct way of letting a member of the opposite sex know that she is interested. Usually she has a smirk, or a big smile on her face, she tends to make the pitch of her voice a little more squeaky than normal (I could not think of any other technical word), she tends to make a lot of eye contact, and she tends to think everything is that much funnier then it had been before by getting a case of the giggles every couple of minutes. This is just what I have noticed through observing my friends and talking to some of my male friends about what they have observed. I recently even had a conversation with my boyfriend, and he helped me realize that I also do some of these examples. Being a women, I can't really say why we express ourselves in this way, it just comes naturally to us. But, that's enough about women, lets look at the way men express themselves.

I'm just going to stick with the two that I mentioned above. How they express themselves when they are angry and when they find themselves in a situation where they are interested in a women. When men are angry I've noticed that they don't show emotion as much as women. I'm not sure if it's the lack of estrogen and that extra shot of testosterone, but they tend to hide their emotions if they are sad or upset about something. Some men do the exact opposite and once you get it out of them, it doesn't take a lot of thinking to be able to tell that they are angry. A lot of men don't talk a whole lot when they are angry, they tend to keep to themselves, anything said comes out in short forced sentences, their faces are very somber, and their pitch is a lot lower, and their tone is very short and stuccato. A lot of men use their body language to show they are angry by turning their body in a different direction while they are speaking to the other party, speaking in a loud higher pitch, their face is more scrunched then normal, and they tend to shake their head from left to right numerous times. When they are trying to pick up women I noticed, if they are confident, they are a little braver. They say things that they think might be funny, they speak with a matter of factly tone, and make a lot of eye contact. Their voice has a higher pitch to it to show they are happy and enjoying themselves also. If they are not confident I notice they fidget a lot with their hands and they are constantly doing something while talking to the girl. They tend to avert their eyes a lot, maybe looking around at different things, they speak with a quiet pitch, but their tone is also a little higher than normal, but their body is facing the girl they are most interested in.

These aren't all of the ways men and women express themselves, but these are the most drastic differences that I have caught on to between the sexes. I've only given examples of expressions when angry and when in a flirtatious environment because I think this is when the differences in communicating and expressing between the genders are the most apparent. Take some times in the next day or two to observe and I think you'll notice the same things I did. Maybe you'll be able to catch yourself doing some of these things.;)

The Power of Body Language

There are so many ways in this world to communicate besides literal spoken language. One way of communication that's power I find is extremely underestimated is body language including facial expressions. Many people do not take into consideration how much they could understand and completely grasp if they only paid attention to what was right in front of them. Let's take a look at body language for a second. If you were talking to someone how would you be able to tell if they were enjoying conversation or not? You could tell if they were not enjoying it by noticing if they were looking at their watch over and over again, not making eye contact, not really responding, or if their body was facing an entirely different direction. These are just some examples that one could get a clue from. If someone were truly enjoying the talk they would engage conversation back, and offer advice or maybe ask questions to possibly keep the conversation moving. They would be in a comfortable relaxed position and they would be making eye contact every now and then just to reassure the speaker that they still have their attention.

I know that I use body language whenever I'm in the middle of a conversation. My hand gestures help me get my point across and I use everything that I listed above. Usually if I'm talking in a group of more than one person, the person that the anterior of my body is facing toward it the person that I am most interested in what they are talking about. Just today I was testing out the powers of body language and facial expressions in a supermarket. I had gone to pick up a thank you card for a family member that had filed my taxes for me and this middle aged woman happened to be in the card aisle as well. Right when I picked up my first card she immediately started talking and I mean talking ....NONSTOP. She was a very nice lady she just had a lot of issues in her family that she had wanted to vent to a total stranger about. She started by telling me that she had been look for a sympathy card and began the conversation by crying. I could tell she was under a lot of stress and everything so I humored her and gave her my support and attention. I figured it would be okay because I didn't have to be at work for an hour and a half. An hour later rolled around and she was still talking to me and by this time I had knows all her family member's names, every significant event that had happened in the past twenty years of her life, that her husband carried a man purse as she called it, and that her family had a hernia problem. By this time I had sneaked a peak at my cell phone (trying to avoid her seeing because I didn't want to be rude) and noticed I needed to get out of there. I tried to subtly give her the hints by shifting my weight around directing my gaze toward the door, pulling out my cell phone a few more times to look at the clock, then finally she understood and let me go, but not before asking for a hug. Body language does work, but had I had started to use more of it during the conversation I would have been able to make it to work sooner.

Another way of body language that everyone especially women tend to use is the way that they walk. Especially if they are alone females are always extremely vulnerable. In order to avoid the danger of getting abducted and to avoid the taunts and calls that every women gets, I try to walk with confidence. I keep my keys in my hand and my cell phone in an easy to reach place at all times. I don't make eye contact with anyone and walk with a purpose. There have been so many cases where women have found themselves in an undesirable position and this is my way of avoiding it. Body language has the power to even protect you!

Is The Globalization of English a Good Thing?

English, being thought of as the language of success, is being globalized each and every day. Globalized, meaning that it is being used more and more in different countries. Last semester in Sociology, I learned that America (along with Japan, China, and other important trade countries) is hugely involved in trade and commerce and when it comes down to business, the United States is one of the more important buyers if not producers. I don't mean that we are more important than the other countries, I merely mean that the American society is a large part of the economical society of the world, hence the globalization of the English language.

I know that I refer to this a lot, but from where I grew up, English has evolved so drastically from the proper way of speaking the language. It has morphed into this weird language that consists of part English, part Hawaiian, part Samoan, and part of the Asian languages. People there that are considered to be "true locals", use this way as their English. As I've said before in another one of my blogs, I grew up thinking that some of these words were real English words, failing to realize that they were from an entirely different country. Children that grow up in different countries and in different situations are sometimes required to learn English because they think that the language is the only way to success. Growing up with this along with their native tongue causes English to morph, creating mixed language such as Spanglish or Pigeon English even though that was created in our country.

Not only is this going to affect the evolution of true and proper English, but there are also other ways. Look at our generation. We are constantly mixing words and using certain words to mean other things, for instance, the word "hot" no longer only means that the sun is beating down on your back, now it also means good looking and "bad" is no longer a negative thing to be, now it is what people strive to be considered.

By the way that English is progressing in , give or take, fifty years, the generations of tomorrow will no longer know true and proper English. The Webster dictionary will have changed so much you won't recognize it. Basically what I'm saying is I'm not sure if complete globalization of English is something to look forward to, but who know, change can be a good thing, right? The good things about globalization of English would be, for starters, the expansion of the AMerican trade. Our economy would probably benefit and our ability, or the government's ability rather, to speak with different important figures of different countries would benefit. There might be less violence and more peace if communication were easier and better ways of getting one's point across were available, but that is a big thing to say. No one would be able to promise anything, but it is worth a shot especially to especially to peace lovers and tree huggers like myself ;). I think we should take a shot and welcome the globalization of English. Tehre is no rewind button to life, but life's full of bumpy roads, why not add another that might benefit us like a speed bump. That's just some food for thought.

Creatively Speaking...

Creativity is something that I think has sort of shaped the world to what it is today. Honestly, take a moment to take a look around. Everything you see was started from someone's creative light bulb. That chair in the corner, the bed, and even my dog (cockapoo..some breeder had to come up with the mix right?) all came from a sudden burst of creativity. I think that without it, everything would be a little duller, the day would be a little less bright, and our minds would constantly be running on autopilot. Creativity is the pure essence that I like to thrive off of. I have a horrible time reading books like textbooks because they are pure facts and the languages used is so didactic and not alluring to me at all. When it comes to poetry, the creativity just spills off the page and it makes it a lot easier for myself to read.

When it comes to creative writing, that's when I like to have my fun. Writing creatively has no limits, no boundaries, you just write. There are no wrong ways to write when it comes to being creative because every way that you write is your way unless you feel the need to copy other people's work which is frowned upon in most societies ; ). Being creative shows that someone is unique and allows them to display their individuality. I could sit here and write huge words out on this little blog and completely confuse all the readers, but I think that would probably be a good example of a double speak form in which someone, most likely a politician, takes to time to use huge words integrated into their sentences so well that they lose the audience completely because they are incapable of keeping up with all the bedazzled words. If I were to do that I would lose who I was along with those long confusing words. I like to keep things short and sweet. I often read newspapers and magazines where people try to use all these huge words INCORRECTLY, and I have to admit that that is one of the reasons why I try to keep things simple. I believe that if you don't know what something means, look it up, don't try to wing it. Sure it may show some spark of creativity, but so will making up your own words and that will surely not be acceptable in college papers, I promise. Basically, I think that we need creativity in not only our writing, but also every aspect of our lives because if not things would get terribly boring. We need to keep things changing so that we can open ourselves up to new experiences and keep our minds open to new thoughts.

The World's a Garden..Let it Grow!

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This week for my blog I chose to write about this interesting picture I found when browsing the internet. This weeks reading was about people challenging the status quo. This picture immediately caught my eye because it's of a dark brown sheep amidst a hoard of white sheep. This picture was obviously taken because the photographer wanted to get his opinion about "fitting in" heard. The sheep in the middle stands out the most.

In today's society it is frowned upon to stick out and they are even sometimes discriminated against. For example, lets take a look at people that express their individuality through tattoos. When someone has a lot of tattoos most people can't help, but stare. No matter what their tattoos might mean and how artistic and beautiful there tattoos are, they are going against the status quo and are therefore standing out and getting judged. Parents seem to always frown upon their children getting tattoos when they come of age, but I think that it should be their choice. Sure it is permanent and sometimes it is a mistake, but they need to be allowed to express themselves. Take a look at how interviews for jobs are conducted. You are supposed to dress nicely and be clean shaven with very little piercings, in other words, you must look like the other prototypes that are trying to get the job just like you. A lot of interviewers decline many applicants who have piercings or tattoos or if they just don't look like they'd fit the job. The reason is because they are automatically judged and not given the chance to "fit it". The person in charge does not want that person to flaw how their company looks as a whole. Does this mean the company itself is scared of accepting different people?

I definitely have my own opinions about challenging the status quo. Especially when it comes to living up to one's "expectations". I remember in high school everyone figured since I was part Japanese I had to be amazing at math and a horrible driver. The normal overplayed asian stereotypes. Although I have to admit that I am a horrible driver and that everyone should watch out when I'm on the road (=p) I absolutely hate math. I can't do it and haven't been able to completely understand it since middle school.


I chose this picture because it shows someone trying to make an impression to their picture's viewers. This sheep is standing out amongst all the rest, but they continue to be sheep and the world does not fall down around them and cease to exist because one decided to be a different color than the rest. What it all comes down to is that the world is scared. Everyone is scared of change, but I think we need to embrace it. Without change how can the world progress?

The Clash of Cultures

A defining moment in my life when I felt the power of language would have to be when I was nine years young. It was my first time moving to the mainland. I was so worried about starting my new school because I had attended the same school since preschool and I would have to start making new friends and trying to fit in all over again. What I failed to realize was that they would speak so differently. In Hawaii, I could never really be considered a "local island girl" because I didn't speak the way the locals do, but I did say a lot of the same things just without the accent. It's called pigeon english. My sister and I had the same problem when we came to the mainland. The first time she realized it was on a family vacation to Disneyland. She was eating at one of the many money-killer restaurants and was enjoying her meal, but like a normal little kid, she was very easily distracted. One of the waiters figured that maybe she had finished and walked over to pick up her plate. My sister was angry because she hadn't finished her Mickey Mouse cookie so she turned to the waiter and said, "I'm not pau!". The waiter kind of regarded what she said and nodded his head, but continued to take her plate. She grabbed it again and said, " No, I'm not pau yet." She was getting so frustrated because this man was not understanding her. My grandma finally saw the problem and stepped in, letting the man know that she was not done yet. This is when my sister finally understood.

I started understanding on my first day of school. I went around and made some friends, but I noticed that they all looked at me funny when I would use the word Pau for done or when I'd tell them to "try come" or when I'd try to tell them that they had a Pooka (hole) in their shirt. I had a few friends come up to me and ask what race I was and where I came from, so I told them that I was hapa haole and that I came from Oahu. They looked at me like I was crazy! That first day was rough and I couldn't understand why everyone thought the way I talked was funny. I went home upset and told my mom everything. She sat me down and explained that those words I had been so adapted to all of my life weren't even English! I was so surprised. I had been speaking different languages without even realizing it. Hawaii is filled with so many different races that the language they speak there has adapted to each one. Pigeon English is a mixture of broken English, Japanese, Philipino, Hawaiian, and some other languages. Even though I have to admit, I'm pretty darn "white-washed", as most would say, since I've lived here for a while I have a hard time breaking the habit of saying certain things that I've grown up around.

Critical Thinking: A Dish Best Served With Simplicity

When it comes to critical thinking, I have to admit I find myself doing it more than the average person. At this moment I'm being critical of myself for even saying that because I realize that I just made up a statistic about the average human being. It would be smarter to say I find myself critically thinking and analyzing things...a lot. I tend to critical think about things that don't need critical thinking. For instance I could be walking down the street and notice an old man sitting at a table by himself sipping a hot coffee. I would try to analyze him, trying to figure out his story. Why was he sitting alone? Was he ever married? Has he been going to that coffee shop for a while?

My idea of critical thinking is thinking about something and really cutting it down to the core. I take an idea, or concept, or even a sentence in a book and I cut it to pieces, layer by layer like an onion. If I were to compare critical thinking to something I would compare it to the job of a chef. When they find a delectable dish that they would love to recreate, they think about the different flavors that are combined in the dish and what could possibly be in it. Then they think about ways that they spend time thinking about how the dish could be cooked to perfection; you could bake it, broil it, grill it, etc. When critically analyzing something in a book, you cut it down separating what type of rhetorical devices can be found in a paragraph. When you find a metaphor, or what you think might be a metaphor, you look for the hidden meaning, or, for the sake of the cooking analogy, you look for the hidden way of cooking the piece of work. To clarify, the way you look at the chosen paragraph or stanza in a poem is how a chef would look at that special unknown dish. The way you take it apart, noticing how wonderfully the author has combined their rhetorical devices and what types that includes would be how the chef finds the different ingredients used to make that dish. They way you would focus on what might have prompted the author to write the piece is how a chef would focus on how the cook decided to create it.

This is me critically thinking, just some food for thought. If it seems like rambling, than your right, that's what it is. When I critically think, all these thoughts just fill my head like the why, what, when, how, who, where, questions. It's like my mind just wants to continue adding to my critical thoughts once I get started. That brings me to the end of this blog. If I can get anything out of this class, I would love to be able to take control of all of these thoughts and organize them so that instead of rambling on and on about something, I am able to understand them and talk about them more easily without confusing anyone.