Well, first off, I wouldn't have punctuated the title as I just did. Buuuuuut the prompt said to do it like that, so I did.
If I were an English teacher, I wouldn't keep doing the same thing every day in class as we've been doing for the past few weeks. Honestly, it's boring as hell. I'm tired of doing Do You Mind??!!, then a TED speech or two, then Consilience. It's been this way for far too freakin' long.
If I were an English teacher, I would keep doing the Do You Mind??!! questions; I like these. They make people think about things they might normally not or at least get them to reflect on these things and put them into words. I think that's cool.
If I were an English teacher, I would have had my students read Consilience on their own, then have them discuss what they read. After that, I would go over it in class and try to give them ways to better annotate and recognize patterns and whatnot. I would probably do this over the course of two to three days max. However long we've been doing this has been too long and make for one boring ass class.
If I were an English teacher, I wouldn't make them (the students) give a speech about some TED presenter that they'd already written a speech about in the previous quarter. I understand the public speaking thing that Senor Allen is trying to achieve, but I wouldn't have them give a speech on THAT. I would have my students give a speech on their high school career, where they began, where they are now, and where they want to be as a person and as a functioning member of society.
If I were an English teacher, I would want to have my students be as open and as honest about their lives as they could. I'm tired of this bull shit where people don't talk about personal things, because it's not "cool" to be open with your emotions and ideas in public. It's dumb. I see the main reason for people not being open is that they're afraid of being judged by others. That's dumb.
I don't know why I decide to do these blogs when I'm tired. They all suck when I do this. Oh well; it's almost over.
- Seacrest Out
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
An Inconvenient Truth: Osama bin Laden
OH THANK THE FRIGGIN' LORD HE'S DEAD! AMERICA'S PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED!!!
That's only a slight exaggeration of what America's reaction to bin Laden's death has been. Unfortunately, we're all dumb. The media built this up to be a huge turning point in our history, and that's simply not true. It took us nearly eleven years after 9/11 to find him, and now that he's dead, nothing's changed.
The problem was never Osama bin Laden or even Al Queda. The problem is our obsession with the Middle East. We get too hyped up on solving the world's problems when they don't want us to. Let us not forget that America supported the coup that eventually led to Saddam Hussein becoming the leader of Iraq.
Here's a website that shows a timeline of what America's been doing in the Middle East and I will leave that there for the time being:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6308.htm
Now, the problem is that we've been intervening in the Middle East for far too long, and it's pissed a lot of people off. Al Qaeda has grown larger than we know. In fact, Al Qaeda is not just a term for a specific group. It has grown so large, that it encompasses nearly every member or act against the West. It's not just bin Laden anymore. Yes, he may have orchestrated 9/11, but in past years he had become less and less of a prominent member of Al Qaeda. He became a symbol.
Now that we've killed that symbol, and we're still in the Middle East, and we're blaming Pakistan for sheltering him, we've made it even worse on ourselves.
Until we withdraw, which will be a lengthy process, terrorism will be a constant threat.
Sorry if this blog sucks; I'm tired.
- Seacrest Out
That's only a slight exaggeration of what America's reaction to bin Laden's death has been. Unfortunately, we're all dumb. The media built this up to be a huge turning point in our history, and that's simply not true. It took us nearly eleven years after 9/11 to find him, and now that he's dead, nothing's changed.
The problem was never Osama bin Laden or even Al Queda. The problem is our obsession with the Middle East. We get too hyped up on solving the world's problems when they don't want us to. Let us not forget that America supported the coup that eventually led to Saddam Hussein becoming the leader of Iraq.
Here's a website that shows a timeline of what America's been doing in the Middle East and I will leave that there for the time being:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6308.htm
Now, the problem is that we've been intervening in the Middle East for far too long, and it's pissed a lot of people off. Al Qaeda has grown larger than we know. In fact, Al Qaeda is not just a term for a specific group. It has grown so large, that it encompasses nearly every member or act against the West. It's not just bin Laden anymore. Yes, he may have orchestrated 9/11, but in past years he had become less and less of a prominent member of Al Qaeda. He became a symbol.
Now that we've killed that symbol, and we're still in the Middle East, and we're blaming Pakistan for sheltering him, we've made it even worse on ourselves.
Until we withdraw, which will be a lengthy process, terrorism will be a constant threat.
Sorry if this blog sucks; I'm tired.
- Seacrest Out
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Final Blog :(
Dear my many, many followers,
I regretfully announce that this will be my final blog post. I want to thank you all for being so loyal to me throughout my ups and downs throughout the years; in a way, I feel like we've grown together. Thank you to all my sponsors, and again, my beautiful and plentiful followers.
Just kidding, this thing sucks. Thank God this is the last one. Screw you, bloggy blog.
My literature cirlce book of choice was... hold on, I forgot; I gotta check. Oh, that's right. My book of choice was The Politcal Mind by George Lakoff (pronounced LACK OFF, seriously).
I read a post by Hana Becker where she responds to her literature circle book of choice, Thinking In Pictures: My life With Autism by Temple Grandin. The book is about how a woman with autism goes through life and has learned to "replace emotional complexity with intellectual complexity".
People with autism often have a difficult time relating to others on an emotional level but may sometimes possess incredible intellectual capabilities. The Political Mind states that people often vote based on how the candidates make them feel, often favoring conservatives. My book was biased as hell; that was to be expected based on political views of a certain individual in the classroom. Anywho, George Lakoff did make a few solid claims.
Progressives tend to run their politcal debates using facts and statistics as their plan of attack, while conservatives tap into the human unconscious to sway the votes in their direction. A person with autism would be more likely to vote for the candidate with the better policies, rather than the candidate with the better feel. Maybe we all need a little autism.
That's it. I'm done.
Not yet. I have one last ranty rant.
GOD DAMNIT PEOPLE. Stop trolling on Rebecca Black. Okay, yes, her song "Friday" sucks major ass. It may be the worst song ever. But it's not her fault. Make fun of the song, not her. She's 13 for Christ's sake.
She is not the one to blame for her crappy song, it's her parents. The girl is signed to Ark Music Factory's record label, which is a legitimate record label... sorta. They've been making music videos for a while now, but only within the past week, with the release of "Friday", have they gotten any real publicity. It's basically a record label, which lets super rich parents shovel out huge amounts of money to get their prissy teenage daughters in a music video. Blame the parents for spoiling their children to the point where they get their children embarrassed on a national scale. The girls obviously have little to no talent, but they have to keep their little princesses happy. Everyone just wants to be Justin Bieber nowadays.
Wouldn't it be cool as shit if this blog was read by a crap load of people because of the keywords "Rebecca Black" and "Friday"? Just in case that happens, THIS IS FOR A FRIGGIN' ENGLISH CLASS. LEAVE ME ALONE.
I regretfully announce that this will be my final blog post. I want to thank you all for being so loyal to me throughout my ups and downs throughout the years; in a way, I feel like we've grown together. Thank you to all my sponsors, and again, my beautiful and plentiful followers.
Just kidding, this thing sucks. Thank God this is the last one. Screw you, bloggy blog.
My literature cirlce book of choice was... hold on, I forgot; I gotta check. Oh, that's right. My book of choice was The Politcal Mind by George Lakoff (pronounced LACK OFF, seriously).
I read a post by Hana Becker where she responds to her literature circle book of choice, Thinking In Pictures: My life With Autism by Temple Grandin. The book is about how a woman with autism goes through life and has learned to "replace emotional complexity with intellectual complexity".
People with autism often have a difficult time relating to others on an emotional level but may sometimes possess incredible intellectual capabilities. The Political Mind states that people often vote based on how the candidates make them feel, often favoring conservatives. My book was biased as hell; that was to be expected based on political views of a certain individual in the classroom. Anywho, George Lakoff did make a few solid claims.
Progressives tend to run their politcal debates using facts and statistics as their plan of attack, while conservatives tap into the human unconscious to sway the votes in their direction. A person with autism would be more likely to vote for the candidate with the better policies, rather than the candidate with the better feel. Maybe we all need a little autism.
That's it. I'm done.
Not yet. I have one last ranty rant.
GOD DAMNIT PEOPLE. Stop trolling on Rebecca Black. Okay, yes, her song "Friday" sucks major ass. It may be the worst song ever. But it's not her fault. Make fun of the song, not her. She's 13 for Christ's sake.
She is not the one to blame for her crappy song, it's her parents. The girl is signed to Ark Music Factory's record label, which is a legitimate record label... sorta. They've been making music videos for a while now, but only within the past week, with the release of "Friday", have they gotten any real publicity. It's basically a record label, which lets super rich parents shovel out huge amounts of money to get their prissy teenage daughters in a music video. Blame the parents for spoiling their children to the point where they get their children embarrassed on a national scale. The girls obviously have little to no talent, but they have to keep their little princesses happy. Everyone just wants to be Justin Bieber nowadays.
Wouldn't it be cool as shit if this blog was read by a crap load of people because of the keywords "Rebecca Black" and "Friday"? Just in case that happens, THIS IS FOR A FRIGGIN' ENGLISH CLASS. LEAVE ME ALONE.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Captured Thought: l(a leaf falls)oneliness
My favorite (and also first of the school year) "wow" moment came in Humanities when we read a poem by E.E. Cummings. The poem reads as:
l(a
le
af
ll
s)
one
l
iness
Reading that for the first time, I had no idea what it said, or what it meant; frankly, I didn't care. But then someone pointed out that it was fragmented, and then I got it. It was that "wow" moment Mr. Allen brought up every once in a while. Actually, it was more like an "oh" moment.
Still, after seeing that it said, l(a leaf falls)oneliness, I still wasn't very interested. Anywho, once Mr. Allen started disecting it, I started to auto-turn my ears off and go into my own world. But once he started pointing out all the "ones", I kinda got hooked.
Unfortunately, I like poetry. It's interesting. Awesome. It's just amazing to see a poem with very few words turn into a whole story, with intense meaning in every single syllable. Back to the poem itself, a bunch of stuff made it awesome: the ones, the falling motion, the oneliness, the flow with the parentheses all made the poem kick ass with a simple phrase.
Most of the class tried to claim that we looked too deeply into the poem, overworked it, overdid it, raped the poem - per say. That wasn't cool. Maybe I'll explain later. I'm tired. Goodnight.
- Seacrest Out
l(a
le
af
ll
s)
one
l
iness
Reading that for the first time, I had no idea what it said, or what it meant; frankly, I didn't care. But then someone pointed out that it was fragmented, and then I got it. It was that "wow" moment Mr. Allen brought up every once in a while. Actually, it was more like an "oh" moment.
Still, after seeing that it said, l(a leaf falls)oneliness, I still wasn't very interested. Anywho, once Mr. Allen started disecting it, I started to auto-turn my ears off and go into my own world. But once he started pointing out all the "ones", I kinda got hooked.
Unfortunately, I like poetry. It's interesting. Awesome. It's just amazing to see a poem with very few words turn into a whole story, with intense meaning in every single syllable. Back to the poem itself, a bunch of stuff made it awesome: the ones, the falling motion, the oneliness, the flow with the parentheses all made the poem kick ass with a simple phrase.
Most of the class tried to claim that we looked too deeply into the poem, overworked it, overdid it, raped the poem - per say. That wasn't cool. Maybe I'll explain later. I'm tired. Goodnight.
- Seacrest Out
Sunday, January 30, 2011
It Matters: Einstein's Dreams
I just need to get something off my chest; these blogs suck. I see absolutely no point in them. Okay, sure we get busy work that makes us relate things and explain a bunch of other things that don't really matter to us. I cannot speak for everyone, but I, for one, get nothing out of blogging these blogs. Like I said, we connect things. Big whoop. I'm pretty sure everyone in the class can do that without wasting their time on a blog that they will never use again, or even look at again. If you think that we're practicing some essential skill, that's fine. I just don't see it; it's pointless. It doesn't matter (it's a little joke, see title).
Anywho.
I also don't see why the novel, Einstein's Dreams, matters. I've only read the first assignment thus far, so maybe it'll make more sense later on. The reason I've only done the first assignment is that I'm lazy. I would've read it before writing this thing, but seeing as how this is due in a couple hours, I'll do this now and read the book later.
It's not like I don't understand the concepts of Einstein's Dreams (or maybe I don't, we haven't talked about it yet), but I'd like to see the scientific back-up to these dreams before I accept his theories about time.
Like, where the hell does he get the idea that I will be writing this blog all the time? Basically, in the novel, it says that one event will continue to happen. So when two people have their first kiss and the cherish the shit out of it, he's surprised because the two don't know that the event will happen again and again.
This must be happening in other worlds, I assume. But where does he get the idea that other worlds exist? And that carry-it-forward thing doesn't make sense either. This theory basically says that there are three possibilities whenever we're confronted with a decision, just like there are three dimensions. In the book, it says that a man is deciding whether to go see a woman. Option one is that he goes to see her, falls in love and has super awesome passionate sex. Option two is that he goes and is disappointed. Option three is that he doesn't go at all. These are all happening, but in separate worlds. Every decision has three possibilities, so there are an infinite number of worlds.
But what defines a decision? Is it only when there's a major decision like to pull the plug or not? Or what if I have an itch and I decide to scratch it or not? Is that a decision?
If every little decision has three possibilities has three possibilities, and is always happening, doesn't that mean there are an infinite number of worlds? If there are an infinite number of worlds, then how come I haven't met another me yet? There's a possibility in another world, that I'm a super mad scientist prodigy at the age of 18, and that I've found a way to go to other worlds/demensions. If there are an infinite number of worlds, then this is happening as we... speak? type? and one of me would make it their goal to meet every single one of me to tell them about the existence of other worlds/demensions.
I haven't met another me yet.
If I could see something to back his theories up, I'd be more obliged to accept them. But until I see me number 2, or I see something scientific, I won't buy this. Until then, I won't see how this matters. It doesn't matter to me.
Okay, I figure you won't give me the full points unless I agree with you on something and tell you that it matters. Here you go.
We're learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and we watched the protests in Egypt. They connect because they're trying to free themselves from an oppressive system. MLK was fighting to end segregation and gain equality, Egytians are fighting to throw their president out of office. Cool. That matters.
Oh, by the way... you said that you thought Yemen is going to be the next Middle Eastern country to protest its government. I'd like to know why you think that. I don't know much about Yemen, but I do know that Yemen has the highest population of Al-Qaeda members. I'm think they'd have something to say about that. I don't know whether they'd be for or against it, or stay out of it completely, but you didn't go on to give any evidence as to why you think Yemen would be the next country to protest its government. That matters.
Anywho.
I also don't see why the novel, Einstein's Dreams, matters. I've only read the first assignment thus far, so maybe it'll make more sense later on. The reason I've only done the first assignment is that I'm lazy. I would've read it before writing this thing, but seeing as how this is due in a couple hours, I'll do this now and read the book later.
It's not like I don't understand the concepts of Einstein's Dreams (or maybe I don't, we haven't talked about it yet), but I'd like to see the scientific back-up to these dreams before I accept his theories about time.
Like, where the hell does he get the idea that I will be writing this blog all the time? Basically, in the novel, it says that one event will continue to happen. So when two people have their first kiss and the cherish the shit out of it, he's surprised because the two don't know that the event will happen again and again.
This must be happening in other worlds, I assume. But where does he get the idea that other worlds exist? And that carry-it-forward thing doesn't make sense either. This theory basically says that there are three possibilities whenever we're confronted with a decision, just like there are three dimensions. In the book, it says that a man is deciding whether to go see a woman. Option one is that he goes to see her, falls in love and has super awesome passionate sex. Option two is that he goes and is disappointed. Option three is that he doesn't go at all. These are all happening, but in separate worlds. Every decision has three possibilities, so there are an infinite number of worlds.
But what defines a decision? Is it only when there's a major decision like to pull the plug or not? Or what if I have an itch and I decide to scratch it or not? Is that a decision?
If every little decision has three possibilities has three possibilities, and is always happening, doesn't that mean there are an infinite number of worlds? If there are an infinite number of worlds, then how come I haven't met another me yet? There's a possibility in another world, that I'm a super mad scientist prodigy at the age of 18, and that I've found a way to go to other worlds/demensions. If there are an infinite number of worlds, then this is happening as we... speak? type? and one of me would make it their goal to meet every single one of me to tell them about the existence of other worlds/demensions.
I haven't met another me yet.
If I could see something to back his theories up, I'd be more obliged to accept them. But until I see me number 2, or I see something scientific, I won't buy this. Until then, I won't see how this matters. It doesn't matter to me.
Okay, I figure you won't give me the full points unless I agree with you on something and tell you that it matters. Here you go.
We're learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and we watched the protests in Egypt. They connect because they're trying to free themselves from an oppressive system. MLK was fighting to end segregation and gain equality, Egytians are fighting to throw their president out of office. Cool. That matters.
Oh, by the way... you said that you thought Yemen is going to be the next Middle Eastern country to protest its government. I'd like to know why you think that. I don't know much about Yemen, but I do know that Yemen has the highest population of Al-Qaeda members. I'm think they'd have something to say about that. I don't know whether they'd be for or against it, or stay out of it completely, but you didn't go on to give any evidence as to why you think Yemen would be the next country to protest its government. That matters.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Metacognition: First Semester of Senior Humanities
Apparently I'm supposed to write about what I learned/thought about in my first semseter of Humanities. But to be honest, I don't think I learned much. Maybe it was because I didn't pay as close of attention as I could have, maybe it was because I didn't do all the assignments, or maybe because there just wasn't anything that I found to be particularly interesting or worthy of learning.
What I expected from Humanities was an easy-going class where we explored various forms of art such as writing, video and such, which we did. But there was too much work for me to really get anything out of it. There was always a blog, a mindbook entry, a forty page reading section, or some other assignment due that I think really took away from what we were supposed to be learning. I am no teacher, so I don't have a valid opinion on the work-load or anything, but I think it could have been lightened.
Some areas could have taken less time, while some others definitely could have used more. Now, I'm going to Oakton, so there's no need for me to write a college essay, but I noticed that several students were displeased by the lack of time that was spent on college essays. Sure the students could go in for extra help, but some students have conflicting schedules with teachers and the only time they have to learn about the college essay is in class. I think we spent maybe two days on the college essay. 100 minutes.
I guess what I learned from Humanities wasn't so much to do with my education, but I learned more about the students in my class and the way they think. It is kind of a divergent thinking class, and some students just weren't able to do certain assignments/tasks without being led by the nose to get where they needed to be. This is part of why I don't think there was enough time spent on the college essay. Many of the students who had trouble were the same students who were linear thinkers and needed a seeing eye dog to do their assignments. I can't blame them fully, because it is not completely their fault. That's just how they've learned to learn.
I know I'm sounding like I think I'm superior than others, but I know I'm not. There are kids going to nice, expensive colleges. I am going to Oakton. Not to say that Oakton is a bad school, but I am going there because my grades are so poor that I have no other option. Just so you all know, I'm not dumb... I just don't do my shit.
All in all, I didn't learn anything profitable from Humanities. Sorry Mr. Allen.
- Seacrest Out
What I expected from Humanities was an easy-going class where we explored various forms of art such as writing, video and such, which we did. But there was too much work for me to really get anything out of it. There was always a blog, a mindbook entry, a forty page reading section, or some other assignment due that I think really took away from what we were supposed to be learning. I am no teacher, so I don't have a valid opinion on the work-load or anything, but I think it could have been lightened.
Some areas could have taken less time, while some others definitely could have used more. Now, I'm going to Oakton, so there's no need for me to write a college essay, but I noticed that several students were displeased by the lack of time that was spent on college essays. Sure the students could go in for extra help, but some students have conflicting schedules with teachers and the only time they have to learn about the college essay is in class. I think we spent maybe two days on the college essay. 100 minutes.
I guess what I learned from Humanities wasn't so much to do with my education, but I learned more about the students in my class and the way they think. It is kind of a divergent thinking class, and some students just weren't able to do certain assignments/tasks without being led by the nose to get where they needed to be. This is part of why I don't think there was enough time spent on the college essay. Many of the students who had trouble were the same students who were linear thinkers and needed a seeing eye dog to do their assignments. I can't blame them fully, because it is not completely their fault. That's just how they've learned to learn.
I know I'm sounding like I think I'm superior than others, but I know I'm not. There are kids going to nice, expensive colleges. I am going to Oakton. Not to say that Oakton is a bad school, but I am going there because my grades are so poor that I have no other option. Just so you all know, I'm not dumb... I just don't do my shit.
All in all, I didn't learn anything profitable from Humanities. Sorry Mr. Allen.
- Seacrest Out
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Metacognition: QE Essay
I pretty much wrote my QE essay in a couple of days. I didn't do the first section of it, and I half-assed the second section in one day. I definitely had the time to do it, but procrastination always gets the best of me. My thought process through the whole process was, "I'll do it tomorrow, naww I'll do it tomorrow, oh shit...". Again, as I've said in previous blogs, I wish I could concentrate on one thing for an extended period of time and avoid procrastination. Of course, this isn't going to happen any time soon.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Blogging Around
I commented on one of Rayn's posts about the Susan Sontag essay. It basically said that American's were ignorant and that Susan Sontag is the man.
My response:
I also commented on Liz(zie's?) post about the big transitive property that you've introduced us to with the whole "being inside someone's mind who was in someone else's mind" and whatnot.
I said:
My response:
Hey bud. Since you commented on one of my little ditties, I thought I'd return the favor with a comment or two of my own.
Comment the first: I understand and agree that the media skews a story in order to get the people believe what they want them to believe.
Comment the second: It isn't purely an American thing, though. This happens all around the world, in all countries. The way I see it, most news stations, newspapers, magazines, etc. are not there to give people the facts. They are a business, out there just to make money. It doesn't matter what they say, so long as they get a good buck out of it. Example: the Mosque on Ground Zero. It is neither a Mosque, nor is it on Ground Zero. But that's what the media says so that we can get a kick out of it and get all pissy.
Comment the third: There are three sides to a story: your side, my side, and what really happened.
Comment the first: I understand and agree that the media skews a story in order to get the people believe what they want them to believe.
Comment the second: It isn't purely an American thing, though. This happens all around the world, in all countries. The way I see it, most news stations, newspapers, magazines, etc. are not there to give people the facts. They are a business, out there just to make money. It doesn't matter what they say, so long as they get a good buck out of it. Example: the Mosque on Ground Zero. It is neither a Mosque, nor is it on Ground Zero. But that's what the media says so that we can get a kick out of it and get all pissy.
Comment the third: There are three sides to a story: your side, my side, and what really happened.
- Seacrest Out
I also commented on Liz(zie's?) post about the big transitive property that you've introduced us to with the whole "being inside someone's mind who was in someone else's mind" and whatnot.
I said:
I thought I'd return the favor.
1. A while ago I was thinking about the question, "Do we ever cease to exist?". I will explain why this is relevant; hold your horses. My answer was no, the reason being that in one way or another, we've all impacted someone's life in some way. This influences who they are, even in the seemingly most insignificant ways at times. If we are able to shape people's thinking, beliefs, etc. then there's no way we can cease to exist. Basically, it's the transitive property. Being inside someone's mind who was in another person's mind who was in another person's mind, is the same thing that I was pondering a while back. And yes, what you said made sense.
Comment the second: Thank you for commenting on my blog. I actually really appreciate it.
- Seacrest Out
- Seacrest Out
- Quote of the day: "Interpret the law as aging with its eyesight failing"
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Metacognition: Junior Final Exam Essay
I'm not really sure that I have a coherent thought process to explain to you, but I shall try nevertheless. One thing you have to understand about my mind is that I don't understand it. It just plays leapfrog with all the topics swirling around in there. The frequency of the leaping depends on how invested I am in a certain topic at a certain time, and most of the time I'm not very invested in anything (except for the ladies, that is something which I work full time), thus the number of frogs in which my mind leaps are not few or far between.
by the way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnp-23dyKR0
I've noticed that my posts have been rather serious or bitchy lately, so I'll try to make this one a little more fun (hence the link). I'm actually sorry about the amount of bitching I've been doing lately; I've been on my period.
Anywho, I should continue on about my thought process. Yes. Well. Okay. Hmm. Got it. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo, with all things I tend to procrastinate. This was no different for my final exam essay for English, my junior year. It was the typical bull shit where you have to relate three of the books you'd read that year in English and tie them together to one central theme.
You know what? I'm tired and don't feel like blogging anymore. You've seen how my mind works. This should suffice for this assignment. I guess the only thing I'd like my mind to do is to be able to focus on something for an extended period of time, regardless of my emotional attatchment to it.
By the way I've seen four skunks this weekend. I ran away from all of them.
- Seacrest Out
Quote of the day: "It's true that tactless teem totem-poles turn tolerence to tired tabboo"
by the way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnp-23dyKR0
I've noticed that my posts have been rather serious or bitchy lately, so I'll try to make this one a little more fun (hence the link). I'm actually sorry about the amount of bitching I've been doing lately; I've been on my period.
Anywho, I should continue on about my thought process. Yes. Well. Okay. Hmm. Got it. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo, with all things I tend to procrastinate. This was no different for my final exam essay for English, my junior year. It was the typical bull shit where you have to relate three of the books you'd read that year in English and tie them together to one central theme.
You know what? I'm tired and don't feel like blogging anymore. You've seen how my mind works. This should suffice for this assignment. I guess the only thing I'd like my mind to do is to be able to focus on something for an extended period of time, regardless of my emotional attatchment to it.
By the way I've seen four skunks this weekend. I ran away from all of them.
- Seacrest Out
Quote of the day: "It's true that tactless teem totem-poles turn tolerence to tired tabboo"
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Best of Week: Creativity
Writing this little ditty once or twice a week is cool with me, but it's not cool when the topics suck. If anyone is reading this (which I doubt), let me explain. I'm not blogging for the joy of it, or to relieve myself of some stress which can only be conquered by therapeutic writing. I probably (no, definitely) wouldn't be doing this unless I had to. As part of my Humanities grade, I'm required, by law, to post a blog somewhere between once and twice a week about some predetermined topic. I don't get a whole lot of choice on what I get to write about. Today, I get to write about what the best/most interesting idea was in class this week. The thing is, I don't want to write about this. It's not that I don't want to write altogether, though; I'd just rather write about more important things on my mind. Dear God, this post is brooding and full of angst! Enough of this; on to the main course.
Okay, so this week we learned a lot about creativity. I find this a bit ironic, because I've always felt that creativity wasn't a learned skill, I thought people just had it. Let me rephrase that. It's not so much that we've been learning about creativity, so much as how to be creative. I'm pretty sure learning how to be creative defeats the purpose of being creative entirely... If everyone "learns" to be creative, then who will actually be creative? Will we all be? Or will the original creative people have to step up their game and try to out-create the rest of these learned creators?
I apologize dearly for the length of this entry, but I didn't find anything to be the best of the week. I just found a little something that I could potentially bitch about.
- Seacrest Out
As promised, your quote of the week!
"I see that twice a day, every five minutes"
Wrap your brain around that one.
Okay, so this week we learned a lot about creativity. I find this a bit ironic, because I've always felt that creativity wasn't a learned skill, I thought people just had it. Let me rephrase that. It's not so much that we've been learning about creativity, so much as how to be creative. I'm pretty sure learning how to be creative defeats the purpose of being creative entirely... If everyone "learns" to be creative, then who will actually be creative? Will we all be? Or will the original creative people have to step up their game and try to out-create the rest of these learned creators?
I apologize dearly for the length of this entry, but I didn't find anything to be the best of the week. I just found a little something that I could potentially bitch about.
- Seacrest Out
As promised, your quote of the week!
"I see that twice a day, every five minutes"
Wrap your brain around that one.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Connection
Gather ‘round children!
With the passing of the nine-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, I guess it would be an appropriate time to reflect. No?
In Humanities class, this is what we’ve been doing for the past week or so, and it’s raised some questions. Before I ask away, though, I feel it necessary to tell you what led me to these questions; without this information I’d leave you all wondering what the hell I’m talking about, and in the process fail you as your lord and blogger.
In class, we were given a packet full of articles written one week after the horrific events of that day, nine years ago. All of them attempted to explain what happened from each of their respective perspectives (is this redundant?), most of which had a tone of grieving disbelief of the mass murder committed. There was one article, though, written by Susan Sontag, which had a tone of disbelief not that of the mass murder but the idiocy and ignorance of Americans.
Nine years ago, we believed these attacks were completely unwarranted, that these attacks were random deeds of the evil Islam. A week later, Sontag proposes that this is untrue, and that we provoked these attacks with the bombings of Iraq and our abuse of power in the Middle East. How dare she criticize our government? How dare she criticize us? We could not have possibly provoked this, and we most certainly are not stupid. America is the land of opportunity and freedom. This has to be the most unpatriotic individual America has seen since Benedict Arnold.
I’d like to put a little spin on this, if I may. Yes, Susan Sontag was labeled unpatriotic. Was this true? Absolutely not (well, this is just my opinion; feel free to feel however you feel). What the pilgrims came to America for was freedom of religion; and what the First Amendment was made for was freedom of speech, to be able to criticize the government. We pride ourselves on those freedoms today, still. What Sontag did was not unpatriotic at all; in fact, it was the most patriotic thing someone can do. She called us out on our ignorance, and what did we do? We called her out on her patriotism and we denounced it. What she did was both incredible and brave; she was able to assess the situation within a week of the terrorist attacks and let the world know how she viewed it. She let us know that the terrorists weren’t cowards, that we weren’t so innocent, and from what I’ve been able to conclude is that the word “terrorist” is not the right word. If anything, they should have been hailed as heroes. I mean, we consider the Founding Father’s heroes, when technically they were terrorists as well. It seems to be that we only use words that are convenient to us, and not the words that truly describe what is really happening (one day I will hopefully have a rant about words, but for now I must stay on topic and continue with this blog). Long story short – Susan Sontag was the most patriotic person at the time.
Nine years later, a pastor named Terry Jones decides it’s a great time to be intolerant. September 11, 2010, Burn a Quran Day. I hope you know about this, because I’m not going to talk about what happened specifically. Basically, he didn’t go through with it, but I was more interested in people’s reactions. Right away, it made me think of Susan Sontag, the way he was basically demonized by Americans and Muslims alike. I got to thinking then, are we jumping to conclusions like we did nine years ago? Is he actually being patriotic? He was using his right to free speech, and freedom of expression. The thing is though, that there’s a point when freedom of speech and expression goes too far. That point is when it violates other people’s rights. I mentioned that the pilgrims came to America to fight religious oppression in England, earlier in the essay and this is where it comes in. What Jones was doing, was attempting to abolish Islam by saying it was “the work of the devil”. He was denying Muslims of their right to practice their religion; this is unconstitutional and unethical if you didn’t pick up on that. If you’d like to talk about this with me, feel free.
I connected these two people because they were both heavily scrutinized about something that stemmed from the same thing. Unfortunately, Jones was being extremely unpatriotic and intolerant, while Sontag was the opposite.
I’m tired, and I’ve been tired for some time now. I apologize if the second half of this blog wasn’t up to par, but I got sidetracked for about an hour and lost my train of thought. This is when I became tired and getting the infamous “writers block”. Again, sorry.
Well, I shall leave you with this: Merry Christmas and to all a good night!
- Seacrest Out
P.S. – Starting with my next blog, I will start posting quotes of the week. I will choose these quotes from wherever I find something interesting. Hopefully you’ll enjoy them.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Carry It Forward: Pass the Plate, Mr. Feynman
I plan on making this a short entry because I’m a little short on time due to my chronic procrastination (really, this is becoming a problem).
Today I was reading, Pass the Plate, Mr. Feynman, from Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda. It seems to be an autobiography of sorts; in this section he explains his curiosity stemming from his childhood and growing into adulthood with the same, if not greater, sense of curiosity. In a specific part, early in the reading, he writes,
“Allowing this childish curiosity to continue on through my whole life has given me satisfaction and maybe even a sense of meaning. It stimulates a part of my brain that registers pleasure; and whether it has meaning or not, it feels as though it does. No matter how old I get, I have the feeling that if I can keep this curiosity flame lit, I’ll see the world in a way that never gets stale. Life will have a taste that delights. Maybe that isn’t actual meaning or purpose, but somehow it sets that worry aside. And I don’t want to lose it,”.
This reminds me of my English teacher, just trying to get the most out of life and trying to have fun. Honestly (not trying to suck up here, I swear), this is something I admire because it’s almost as if there’s something reminiscent of childhood there, which many people my age have already lost. It’s something that I can feel slipping, and something that I want to catch and hold on to ‘cause growing up sucks. Reading how Alda found so much happiness just watching clouds go by makes me miss childhood so much more. I want to go back to when pinky promises were sacred, when I could use words like never, and never ever and really believe them, when summer camp was the bees knees and not just a summer filled with drinking and “partying”; I want to go back to the time before puberty and pimples and girls and pointless, teenage drama; I just want to go back to when all these thoughts and questions of loss and heartbreak and happiness and guilt and shame and just plain, old sadness, that are far beyond my understanding, weren’t an issue. I miss being happy for no reason.
As a part of growing up, I’ve taken it upon myself to figure out who I am as early as possible. And for the most part, I’d say I’ve been pretty successful. But what do I know? I’m seventeen. Maybe I think I know who I am, and maybe I think I’m right. I’ve examined that most teenagers think they’re right, though, and they often turn out to be wrong to the max. Yeah, I said to the max. Anyhow, from this chapter/article/essay/whatever-the-hell-it-is, I’ve decided to open up myself to new things and interact with the things that interest me. I mean really interact with them and research them, instead of just shrugging things off like I normally do. I’m going to do this, and hopefully it will open up my mind to new things, and give me some new insight as to who I am, who I want to be and who I will be.
- Seacrest OUT
Today I was reading, Pass the Plate, Mr. Feynman, from Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda. It seems to be an autobiography of sorts; in this section he explains his curiosity stemming from his childhood and growing into adulthood with the same, if not greater, sense of curiosity. In a specific part, early in the reading, he writes,
“Allowing this childish curiosity to continue on through my whole life has given me satisfaction and maybe even a sense of meaning. It stimulates a part of my brain that registers pleasure; and whether it has meaning or not, it feels as though it does. No matter how old I get, I have the feeling that if I can keep this curiosity flame lit, I’ll see the world in a way that never gets stale. Life will have a taste that delights. Maybe that isn’t actual meaning or purpose, but somehow it sets that worry aside. And I don’t want to lose it,”.
This reminds me of my English teacher, just trying to get the most out of life and trying to have fun. Honestly (not trying to suck up here, I swear), this is something I admire because it’s almost as if there’s something reminiscent of childhood there, which many people my age have already lost. It’s something that I can feel slipping, and something that I want to catch and hold on to ‘cause growing up sucks. Reading how Alda found so much happiness just watching clouds go by makes me miss childhood so much more. I want to go back to when pinky promises were sacred, when I could use words like never, and never ever and really believe them, when summer camp was the bees knees and not just a summer filled with drinking and “partying”; I want to go back to the time before puberty and pimples and girls and pointless, teenage drama; I just want to go back to when all these thoughts and questions of loss and heartbreak and happiness and guilt and shame and just plain, old sadness, that are far beyond my understanding, weren’t an issue. I miss being happy for no reason.
As a part of growing up, I’ve taken it upon myself to figure out who I am as early as possible. And for the most part, I’d say I’ve been pretty successful. But what do I know? I’m seventeen. Maybe I think I know who I am, and maybe I think I’m right. I’ve examined that most teenagers think they’re right, though, and they often turn out to be wrong to the max. Yeah, I said to the max. Anyhow, from this chapter/article/essay/whatever-the-hell-it-is, I’ve decided to open up myself to new things and interact with the things that interest me. I mean really interact with them and research them, instead of just shrugging things off like I normally do. I’m going to do this, and hopefully it will open up my mind to new things, and give me some new insight as to who I am, who I want to be and who I will be.
- Seacrest OUT
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