Nature Vs. Nusiance

Recently, I came across an article in the New York Times titled "Nature, Nusiance, or Worse?" In this article, a young woman from Berkely, California saw a turkey on her roof and "was initially charmed. Turkeys! In Berkeley! How quaint! How colonial!" However, she later realized that the Turkeys would become a nusiance if they arrived in large quantities. During mating season, male turkeys become very vicious, and will attack anything that moves with the sharp spikes on their legs. The author then went on to reference other animals that have been a nusiance in urban areas, such as "a deer who ate $300 worth of landscaping and a racoon who took a marshmallow from her neighbor." Her husband jokingly suggested that if a the turkeys became a nuisance, she should shoot them. And the woman actually took his suggestion seriously!

If Emerson were to meet this woman, he would probably tell her that the turkeys are actually doing a favor by letting her experience nature, something that doesn't often happen to people living in urban areas. "In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in the streets or villages," Emerson wrote in "Nature." These turkeys could help the woman discover something more "dear or connate" than her daily life in Berkeley.

In my opinion, the turkeys, deer, and racoons who "destroyed" components of urban life can help remind people what is really important. Is it really necessary to have a $300 landscaped yard? Does one marshmallow really matter? According to Walden, these trivial items do not fall under the essentials of life, which are "Food, Clothing, Shelter, and Fuel." By wanting to shoot the turkeys, Emerson and Thoreau would say that this woman is placing more importance on urban luxuries than nature and wildlife. Nature is something that is greater than us, part of the "bigger picture," while marshmallows and expensive landscaping are extremely insignificant.

Dear Santa

I came across an article in the Chicago Tribune about childrens' letters to Santa being reflective of the current economic crisis. The writers of the article went to the post office and looked at letters from several very poor children from the south side of Chicago. "Officials believe the nation's financial turmoil prompted the spike, as traditionally optimistic requests for video games and bikes are often supplanted by pleas for basic necessities such as pajamas and socks." Children whose parents have lost their jobs are realizing the basic necessities of life. "A 10-year-old boy is sure Santa will bring diapers for his baby sister. A girl in 3rd grade asks for slippers to keep her feet warm. Two brothers say their mom needs help making the rent."

This article instantly reminded me of the chapter "Economy" in Walden. Thoreau writes, "Some things are really necessaries of life in some circles, the most helpless and diseased, which in others are luxuries merely, and in others are entirely unkown." (pg 6). People from the North Shore "circle" would never even consider asking for diapers for Christmas, much less diapers for someone other than themself. Diapers are something that are already there in most homes, and are taken for granted. Reading Walden made me realize how lucky I am to enjoy so many luxuries, and this article made me want to do something to help those who are less fortunate during the Christmas season.

Taylor Swift- A Self Made Woman?

Taylor Swift is currently my favorite artist. I have been following her music since 2006, when I came across her song "Stay Beautiful" on iTunes. I have liked her long before she became popular, had songs on the radio and went "mainstream." I personally love all of her songs because they are unique, written by herself, and from the heart. Unlike many current popular artists who hire songwriters, Taylor writes all of her songs herself. I consider this to be a very self-made woman characteristic. It is much easier to hire a songwriter to do the work for you, but do the songs really have any meaning? I consider Taylor Swift's songs to be very meaningful, they are about real problems that teenagers experience and real life situations. She uses specific peoples names from her life, referencing a boy named Drew in "Teardrops on my Guitar," Corey in "Stay Beautiful" and Stephen in the song "Hey Stephen." Often, artists who use other peoples' lyrics have very vague and general songs, which I find hard to connect with because they dont mention any specifics.

Since I consider Taylor Swift to be such an inspiring artist through her songs alone, I did some research to find out if she truly was a self-made woman. I found a detailed biography of her life on her website. Taylor was brought up in a house with musical influence; her grandmother was a famous opera singer. Taylor started singing at the age of 10 for local karaoke contests, and sung at a basketball game at age 11. She started writing her own songs at age 12 with the guitar. She recalls "playing four hours today until my fingers were bleeding." Sincer her family was familiar with the music business, they took her to record labels all throughout Tenessee until she was signed.

So, is Taylor Swift a self made woman? I think she is. She genuinely loved composing music and singing when she was very young, it was not a dream forced upon her by anyone else. This is apparent in her music, especially seeing her play live. I saw her in concert this summer, and it was apparent that she loved being onstage and singing to the audience. Other artists I have seen in concert have a bored air while playing on stage. Taylor Swift was the complete opposite, she enjoyed performing, which was apparent in her smiling, dancing, and interacting with the audience. Writing all of her own songs and playing the guitar herself (instead of hiring another person to do it for her) shows that she is a self made artist. Even if she did not come from a poor background, like many of the self made men we talked about in class, she did have to work hard for success. Although her family's connections in the music business certainly helped Taylor's musical career, it was her dedication and passion for music that elevated her to the platinum-album sucess that she is today.

Listen to Taylor Swift's new song "Fearless" (the entire album was released just last week!)

Is Txting Bad 4 U?

It seems like every time I am texting in front of my parents, they are always telling me how bad it is. They say things like "Your going to get carpal tunnel from all that texting." and "your poor thumbs, how can you do that all the time?" I decided to research if texting really was bad for your hands. I came across a very well written article on a health website. It said that texting, along with video games, ipods/mp3 players, and portable game systems can cause injury to hands and arms if used repeatedly. "The small, definite, repetitive movements used to manoeuvre controls on these tiny handsets can begin to cause pain over time. The thumb, while good for gripping, is not a very dextrous digit and is particularly susceptible to injury", explained chartered physiotherapist, Bronwyn Clifford. The article also gave tips for people who do enjoy texting on how to still text while minimizing injury to your hands. Some of these tips which I found helpful were taking breaks during texting, using both hands, and massaging your arms if they are sore.

Personally, I find that my hands only hurt if I am texting continuously, which is not very often. I mostly use texting when I am in a place where I cannot talk on the phone, or when I need to send a short message to a group of people. I find video games to be more painful to my hands and fingers. The video games I play last about 5-10 minutes, wheras sending a text takes under a minute. Also, many video games are played aggresively, and I find I need to apply force to win them. I rarely play video games because I find my hands are too sore after them and it is not worth it. I appreciate the author offering tips to the texters and gamers of America to prevent them from experiencing perilous hand problems.

Uniting the Americans

When I watched John McCain's concession speech on Tuesday night, I immediately thought of our first unit in class: what does it mean to be an American? Looking back on my notes, I had written the question "do American values demonstrate individualism or community?" I believe that John McCain completely addressed the value that the community is greater than the individual. He did this in convincing his supporters that even if they disagree with some of his policies, they should still respect him because he is going to be our president, and the leader of the American community for the next four years. "These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the challenges we face. I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together." The words "come together" show that McCain is putting aside his personal loss of the election to embrace the value of community during the difficult (perilous) times.


"Tonight more than any night I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens. Whether they supported me or senator Obama, I wish godspeed to the man who is my former opponent and will be my president." At this point when watching the speech, I felt incredibly inspired by his words and started crying. Losing is never an easy thing, but McCain was able to not only lose graciously, but inspire all the Americans watching his speech to become united.

Integrated Global Studies School: A Dream or a Reality?

Yesterday in advisory, a teacher named Mr. Vargas gave us a presentation about the new Integrated Global Studies school. The idea sounded very intriguing to me, because I loved taking EH freshman year and AS junior year (both classes that integrate English and History). Since I loved these classes so much, I thought that IGSS would be a good choice for me. In addition, the IGSS focuses on global studies and the environment, which is similar to Geoscience. I am taking Geoscience this year and it has been my favorite science course at New Trier so far.

After introducing the idea, Mr. Vargas gave us a few things to consider with scheduling. For starters, it would take place periods 5-8. My senior year I was hoping to take Design as an art elective, a class that only meets sixth period. The reality is that I have wanted to take this class for a long time, and if I did IGSS I would have to give it up, something that I didn't want to do. In addition, IGSS counts for English, History, and Science, which means I could not take other English, History, or Science courses. Ever since Freshman year, I have planned to take AP Psych and AP Creative Writing Senior Year. Not only do these courses look good on college appliations, but they also interest me greatly. After listening to Mr. Vargas speak, I realized that the dream, (or idea) was that I could take another integrated class, something I loved. The reality was that I would have to give up other courses that I have wanted to take for a long time. Another reality which we addressed in class is that colleges prefer to see standard courses rather than new, somewhat experimental ones. After talking to some friends in advisory, I learned that others, like myself are intrigued by an integrated course, but are hesitant to deviate from their four-year plan they created freshman year.

A Pragmatic Approach to Lying

I came across this article, titled "Why kids lie: How to teach children truthfulness and respond to lies helpfully." The article was directed at parents, but I was immediately intersted because my two little siblings often lie about even the smallest things. The article has many practical tips for helping kids to stop lying. "Teaching truthfulness repetitively, not only after children already have lied," was one of these tips. Another one was "Not punishing truth telling. The consequences for coming clean should never be so severe that it's worth it to the child to take the risk and lie." The second tip is extremely practical, because I feel that many children choose to lie because they know the truth will get them in trouble. If a parent makes it clear that the child will not get a severe punishment for telling the truth, they will be less afraid of telling the truth. "Reassuring children that we won't be as angry if they tell the truth." was another one of these tips.

This article is very practical in explaining that parents need to set a good role model for their children by not telling lies themselves, because young children "soak things up like a sponge." I appreciate that Jody Johnston Pawel (the author) knows that there is no hard-and-fast rule for getting children to stop lying, which is why she is practical in offering many different solutions. Pawel also realizes that no matter how many times the parent tells a child "lying is bad--dont do it!" the child still may not listen and continue to lie, which is why a parent needs to be patient.
When dealing with problems involving children, I think it is best to take a pragmatic approach because parents will become easily frustrated if their expectations are overly idealistic and the child does not meet them.

Idealistically Enchanted

This weekend I watched the movie "Enchanted" while babysitting two little girls. For those who havent seen the movie, Enchanted is a Disney fairytale movie about a princess named Giselle who lives in a perfect animated world. Just as she is about to marry her prince, the evil witch throws her into a black hole and she is transported to New York city (and is no longer animated). She meets Robert, a very pragmatic man with a cynical outlook on life. After meeting Robert, Giselle begins to change her overly idealistic views on life and love. Robert learns from Giselle that while being practical may be the safest, it is good to step outside your comfort zone and take risks. My favorite line of the movie is when Giselle says "nobody has been very nice to me." Robert sarcastically replies with "yeah, well welcome to New York." Giselle answers with "thank you!" As an idealist, she tries to see the best in everyone, acts nicely towards people, and is shocked when anyone is angry or mean. She is such an optimist that she does not even realize that Robert's comment is sarcastic.

Throughout the movie, Robert and Giselle are constantly teaching each other about their love lives. Giselle is about to marry a prince that she has known for only a day, and Robert convinces her to go on a date with him so they can get to know each other before making a commitment. Robert has been dating a woman for five years and still has not married her. It is clear that the woman is not entirely convinced that Robert loves her, so Giselle convinces Robert to send her an exsquisite bouquet of flowers carried by two doves, something an idealist in a relationship would do. In watching Robert and Giselle teach each other things, I realized that in life, love, and history we need to find a balance between idealism and pragmatism. While it may be fun to be completely idealistic like Giselle, she needs some practicality in her life to prevent her from getting hurt. On the other end of the spectrum, Robert's life is very safe, but also boring, which is why he needs idealism to make him take chances and dream big. This lesson can extend beyond the movies into real life-- idealistic and pragmatic people should team up, because they balance each other out.

Fear of Pumpkin Attacks

This weekend, a giant inflatable pumpkin stack in my family's front yard was torn apart by vandals. It was clear that they had taken the Obama sign out of our yard and used it to tear the material sometime Sunday night. Monday morning we found the pumpkin with giant holes in it, and the Obama sign taken out of our yard, laying next to the pumpkin with a bent wire. We had a different Obama sign that was stolen, and now this one was used to destroy our fun Halloween decoration. My family called the police to report the vandalism, and they came over for an interview Monday night. They told my dad that yard signs belonging to both the McCain and Obama signs have been vandalized and stolen recently in Wilmette, and suggested that we put the sign away. I think it is terrible that people cannot do something to express their political views as simple as a yard sign without having to worry about vandalism. People need to be able to express their political opinions without fear that their personal property will not get punished. During the Salem witch trials, people were afraid to express their opinions because they could get hung for disagreeing with the government. While a hanging and a pumpkin attack are two entirely different stories, the question still remains the same; do we hide our opinions from fear of getting hurt, or speak out and risk the consequences? My family is deciding to speak out by putting the Obama sign out during the day to show our support, but taking it down at night to make sure our other Halloween decorations are not vandalized. In this case, we were able to find a solution to speak out but still be safe, but that is not always the case. During the times of McCarthyism, government officials who spoke out against McCarthy's policies were punished, because this was viewed as a suspect for communism.

An Argumentative Editorial

When I started reading this article, "An Absence of Leadership" in the New York Times, I thought it was going to have a poor argument. The opening sentence is; "It took President Bush until Wednesday night to address the American people about the nation’s financial crisis, and pretty much all he had to offer was fear itself." This is a very opiniated statement, and was not backed up by many facts. For those like me that did not see President Bush address the nation and supposedly offer fear, it would have been very helpful facts to serve as logical evidence. Later in the article, the author does show how Bush offers fear, by saying "our entire economy is at danger (if Congress does not pass his bailout plan.)" It would have been helpful for including evidence at the beginning, to make the reader want to read more.

Personally, I first became interested in the article when the author brought into consideration Barack Obama and John McCain's reactions to the financial crisis. "Given Mr. Bush’s shockingly weak performance, the only ones who could provide that are the two men battling to succeed him. So far, neither John McCain nor Barack Obama is offering that leadership." I have been reading so many articles that are either pro Obama or Pro McCain. I have seen many articles that point out all the things that one of the candidates is doing wrong. It is refreshing to have a unique viewpoint on the well-discussed subject of the upcoming election. I agree with the author's statement that "What makes it especially frustrating is that this crisis should provide each man a chance to explain his economic policies and offer a concrete solution to the current crisis." The article is very strong in logical evidence with direct quotes from Obama and McCain's response to the financial crisis. The article also uses ethical/emotional evidence when it mentions that the increase in taxes are coming out of our pocketbooks, and that Bush's current plan does nothing to improve the taxes for most Americans. People who are taxpayers (everyone) can relate to this and will feel like their taxes should improve and thus want to agree with the article's argument.

Are they really sixteen?

While watching the Olympics this summer, many people (including myself) were shocked at how young the Chinese gymnasts looked. "There's no way those girls are sixteen!" I would hear people comment. An Article in the NY times addresses both sides' arguments about whether or not the gymasts are sixteen. While reading this article, I noticed that some points of either sides' arguments were either strong or weak in logic (logos).

photo: He Kexin in the middle with a gold medal for uneven bars

Bela Karolyi, a coach to both US and Romanian countries argued that the gymnasts are not sixteen. He pointed out that it was easy for the government "of an authoritarian country to alter paperwork," and say that the girls are 16 on their passports. He also used the fact that the girls still have their baby teeth as evidence. I think this is very logical, because people lose most of their baby teeth when they are 16. He also points out that the passports could have been changed, and the passports were the only evidence provided in support that the girls were sixteen. However, Steve Penny, President of the USA gymnastics did not have a logical argument. He pointed out that in email messages and internet chat rooms, gymnast He Kexin was said to be 14. Chat rooms, email messages, and Wikipedia (also mentioned in this argument) are not valid sources, and therefore make the argument seem illogical.

The Chinese officials responded to this argument by providing the New York Times with copies of the passports that say the girls are 16. This is logical evidence, because a passport is an official document. However, the online records and 2007 National registration lists say that He is 14. This is also logical evidence, because the registration for the gymnasts must be correct in order for them to compete.

This argument is a proposal argument, and begs the question "What actions should be taken?" (see pg 27 of Everything is An Argument). I think that the argument plays an emotional concern to many other countries teams. By having younger gymnasts, the Chinese team has an advantage because the younger gymnasts can perform tricks easier and are psychologically less worried. Therefore, I think the argument should be investigated more on both sides, and I would suggest that the arguers strengthen their logical evidence. Right now, there are not enough correct facts to determine one side as the truth.

Pilgrims Close To Home

I have been very interested in the Pilgrims ever since we learned in class that they were the first group to set up a democracy. I came across a news article in the Chicago Tribune about a Pilgrim Baptist Church on the South Side of Chicago being renovated. The Bronzeville Church was built in 1891, and it was destroyed when workers rebuilding the roof accidentally set it on fire. Fortunately, there are many artifacts and photos salvaged from the fire. They will use the artifacts and photos to replicate the church, in addition to building a social services building and a cultural center on the same ground. This Church is also historically significant because it was the home to the African-American gospel movement in Chicago. It continues to play an important role in the community today because of its historical significance.

I think it is great that they are restoring this Church, because both the Pilgrims' journey and the Gospel movement are important historical events. The article also mentions that this Church is an architectural marvel, and rebuilding it will be a window into the past. I am glad that they are also building a cultural center to educate people about the history and culture of the people who used to live in the Church.
I also think it interesting how the Church was first used by the Pilgrims, then used as a synagogue, then used by African Americans. This shows that no matter what race or religion people are, they all want a place to pray, and look to the Church during perilous times. The article mentions that this Church is very significant for families whose ancestors went there, and I think rebuilding it will help connect those people with their past.

Palin's Campaign: Gossip Takes Over

Recently, Sara Palin was featured on the cover of gossip magazine US weekly with an article titled "Babies, Lies, and Scandal." Inside the article, Palin's family life is described as "new, embarrassing surprises." "Within hours of McCain's surprise introduction of the little-known, charismatic mother of five as his running mate, the scandals began to emerge as quickly as flies at a labor day picnic." This statement mentions nothing of relevance to the election or McCain's decision to pick Palin as his running mate. Instead it is focusing on the gossip element, which in my opinion, has no relevance to the actual voting in November. Later in the article is a spread of photos mocking Palin's lack of experience, with pictures of her hunting caribou, participating in the Miss Alaska Pageant, and sitting in her office with furs on the wall. Inexperience is a legitimate concern for the candidates, but there is no need to make fun of her past or personal hobbies, which have absolutely no relevance to her ability to be a good vice president.

In class, we discussed the importance of having multiple perspectives to a story, like in Reservation Blues. This is important, but having a narrow-minded gossip perspective of politics is crossing a line. While I don't doubt that some people may be uneasy with Palin's lack of experience, her personal life should not play a decisive factor in whether or not people vote for her. Personally, I admire Palin's honesty in eventually admitting to the public that her 17 year old daughter Bristol is pregnant. "We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby, and even prouder to become grandparents." Palin is doing nothing politically wrong by showing her daughter love and support in this very difficult time, but all the press focuses on in the scandal aspect. This article also uses very unreliable sources for quotes. "as a commenter on yahoo! sniped: "how can Palin help McCain keep America in control when she cant even keep her own daughter in control?"" Using a comment from a website is completely unreliable, because nobody knows who could have made the comment. In addition, this article uses quotes from Levi Johnson (Bristol's Baby's father's) myspace page. There is no way of knowing whether or not these facts are true, because people can claim to be anyone they want to on the internet.

first post

HAYYYYY welcome to my blog!!!
American Studies is the tightest class eva!


Links:
Google
YouTube
Wikipedia