You state "Till death do we part" or stay together for the kids. From personal experience being the child involved with her parents separating, staying together just for the kids is not fair. It’s not fair for the children or the parents pretending to love when they know they don't. Three and a half years ago my parents decided not to be together anymore, it was a sudden shock to me and my siblings. We all thought about how and why this had happened. The day before everyone seemed fine, all hunky dory, and the next, I got the biggest shock of my life. I could never see my parents separated, we were the perfect family, so I thought.
I don’t want my whole life story out on the net so long story short I finally worked up the courage to ask them what had happened and why the all of a sudden change in heart. They proceeded to explain to me that because of us kids they didn't want to mention anything, they just wanted to pretend everything was okay. I think that tore me up more than anything. Just because kids are involved does not mean that two people are supposed to stay together. The parents deserve to be happy as well as the kids. The kids will learn when they are old enough to understand, why their mom and dad did not stay together.
If the parents are good parents they will know exactly what to say to their kids. No need to "bash" the other parent because they are still the mother or father of their kids. They wouldn't have those kids if it weren't for the other parent.
My parents will always love each other, but it's not the type of love that married people have. It's the type of love that two parents who share kids have for each other. My mom will always love my dad because he is my dad; and vice versa for my dad about my mom. I know your opinion is your opinion and you have it for a reason, and don't misunderstand I am far from calling you wrong. BUT...the fact that parents stay together and pretend to love each other just for the kids’ sake is wrong. Trust me, it’s not fair and it hurts even worse to know that the whole time you were basically being lied to by your own parents. I do however believe that two people should at least try to make it work because of the children. In this case it would be like and unexpected pregnancy. Those two parents may think that it will never work between them and all of a sudden a baby happens, they should try. If it doesn’t work, well that’s what trying is for.
This so called journey that I have been through with them has taught me a lot about relationships; what they should and should not be. Because of my parents I know that pretending is not the way to go and they need to be happy also. The children will learn that the decision their parents made was only for the best, not meaning to hurt anyone in the process.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Road-Cormac McCarthy
A book written by Cormac McCarthy called "The Road" was the last reading assignment given in my Engl 112 class. We were assigned to read this book and be prepared to be involved with the class discussion. I started reading the book over Thanksgiving "break" and finished it by the second week of December. In the beginning it was quite difficult to keep open, nothing in the book was catching my eye; but I got over that and just kept reading. I knew it had to be done.
The boy and his father are walking along a road somewhere in the United States. We are never told exactly where but we do know that they are walking south. The narrator is describing the surroundings as very ashy. First thing I think of is "oh, there was a fire, the whole city is burned, and basically nothing left of this place." Well as they keep walking, the description of the surroundings never changes. Now that’s a little odd to me. How would the whole entire country looking like this? Burned to nothing.
The boy and his father continue down this road to what seems to be no where. Many times throughout the book the boy wants to stop and not continue on anymore, but his father won't have it. He encourages his son to continue on down this road, even though they are always hungry and always thirsty, they still go on.
That to me is very inspiring, the love that this father has for his son, the goal he wants to reach and knows they can, all of it. It's absolutely wonderful. This place they are walking in being as it is with nothing left, leaves the source of food very unlikely to have; drinks as well. The water is filled with dirt, ash and even dead bodies. I would go thirsty as well. Whenever they do come to houses that look just safe enough to walk through they search for canned foods. Anything they can salvage to take and eat when they stop for the nights.
Throughout the book they do find food and very rarely drink, but they still manage to walk and keep up high spirits. They are thankful to be alive, nothing could be better than being alive and having each other. They run into trouble a few times including crazy people who cook human parts to eat. Thankfully the dad carries a gun in case anything life threatening comes their way; something did, he needed the gun to save his son and himself.
The father is not feeling to well as the book continues. He wakes up coughing so hard that he starts to cough up blood; he is not doing too well. As they stay walking down this road he doesn’t get any better, in fact he gets worse by the day. Toward the end of the book the dad ends up dying but thankfully another family who is also walking the road runs into the boy. They allow him to join with them and continue on their long journey to what still seems to nowhere.
The boy and his father are walking along a road somewhere in the United States. We are never told exactly where but we do know that they are walking south. The narrator is describing the surroundings as very ashy. First thing I think of is "oh, there was a fire, the whole city is burned, and basically nothing left of this place." Well as they keep walking, the description of the surroundings never changes. Now that’s a little odd to me. How would the whole entire country looking like this? Burned to nothing.
The boy and his father continue down this road to what seems to be no where. Many times throughout the book the boy wants to stop and not continue on anymore, but his father won't have it. He encourages his son to continue on down this road, even though they are always hungry and always thirsty, they still go on.
That to me is very inspiring, the love that this father has for his son, the goal he wants to reach and knows they can, all of it. It's absolutely wonderful. This place they are walking in being as it is with nothing left, leaves the source of food very unlikely to have; drinks as well. The water is filled with dirt, ash and even dead bodies. I would go thirsty as well. Whenever they do come to houses that look just safe enough to walk through they search for canned foods. Anything they can salvage to take and eat when they stop for the nights.
Throughout the book they do find food and very rarely drink, but they still manage to walk and keep up high spirits. They are thankful to be alive, nothing could be better than being alive and having each other. They run into trouble a few times including crazy people who cook human parts to eat. Thankfully the dad carries a gun in case anything life threatening comes their way; something did, he needed the gun to save his son and himself.
The father is not feeling to well as the book continues. He wakes up coughing so hard that he starts to cough up blood; he is not doing too well. As they stay walking down this road he doesn’t get any better, in fact he gets worse by the day. Toward the end of the book the dad ends up dying but thankfully another family who is also walking the road runs into the boy. They allow him to join with them and continue on their long journey to what still seems to nowhere.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Divorce, it sucks for the kids
Here's a thought, Divorce. I never really thought much about it until last night as I was waiting for Joshua to hurl. A guy and a girl fall in love. They think they are perfect for each other, and they marry and have kids. Somewhere along the way, they realize they were wrong. That either, one, or both have changed, that they were immature at the start, something happens, that makes them separate. They jump through the legal hoops, yada yada yada, and everything is hunky dory, right? Wrong.
What about the kids? They are made from, and only from, parts of the parents. Obviously it isn't a 50/50 ratio, but a kid is made up of both. Now when the parents split, what sort of outlook to the future does that give the child? "Mommy and Daddy can't live together anymore, but that doesn't involve you, you'll be fine." Think of the inner struggles a child can go through. It was easy for the parents to just give up, to split, but what about the kid? They can't just leave parts of themselves. The child is stuck as this chemical makeup, which has been proven to be volatile, or at least unstable. But instead of separate identities, it is all in one cornucopia we like to call a person. What did that child do to deserve this constant internal conflict?
Moral of the story: Till death do you part; or Stay together for the kids.
What about the kids? They are made from, and only from, parts of the parents. Obviously it isn't a 50/50 ratio, but a kid is made up of both. Now when the parents split, what sort of outlook to the future does that give the child? "Mommy and Daddy can't live together anymore, but that doesn't involve you, you'll be fine." Think of the inner struggles a child can go through. It was easy for the parents to just give up, to split, but what about the kid? They can't just leave parts of themselves. The child is stuck as this chemical makeup, which has been proven to be volatile, or at least unstable. But instead of separate identities, it is all in one cornucopia we like to call a person. What did that child do to deserve this constant internal conflict?
Moral of the story: Till death do you part; or Stay together for the kids.
Free Write
Pregnancy…what to say. It’s a blessing from God. A very crazy experience for any girl to go through, it has its ups and it has a lot of downs.
There are too many things I am told not to do, which I ignore, and I’m pretty sure my ignorance is what got me into the hospital three times in the past month. All three times hooked up to IV’s because of dehydration. Too much sugar can send a pregnant girl into labor. My favorite part of staying in the hospital was getting woke up by the nurses so they could check my blood pressure and pulse. It really sucks having that elastic band wrapped around your belly all day and night! My baby didn’t like it! She kicked it all night. That’s really the best part of this whole experience. Knowing that she is okay helps me sleep at night. My worst fear is going to the doctor because I wasn’t feeling her move and them telling me that she’s not okay. I couldn’t imagine how someone could feel knowing that there was a baby who was healthy and perfectly fine one day and the next not. I haven’t had her yet and I will tell you I have never been more attached to or in love with anything in my entire life! It really is true that you can love someone without even meeting them. That someone is your child.
It really sucks that no man can ever experience how it feels to be pregnant. They say a dad really knows what it’s like once they see their child for the first time. But a woman knows while she’s pregnant. Feeling the baby makes it seem so real. It’s so hard to explain to anyone. Even to a woman who’s had a baby. Its love! Something that can’t be explained. I wonder how a dad feels about his child (ren). I wonder what goes through man’s head when he looks at or holds his child for the first time.
I wonder how different my life will be. I am always told that my life will be over and new one will begin, called “our” life. My life had changed a lot since I’ve been pregnant. Just knowing made me change so many things I do and the way I do things. Believe it or not my driving has changed dramatically! Maybe it’s because I don’t have a job and I know can’t afford a ticket, OR maybe it’s because I’m scared something might happen and I don’t want to hurt my baby.
I’ve been told that when you’re pregnant you have crazy dreams! A friend of mine has told me about crazy dreams and even day dreams she has had. She says she used to daydream about drowning her daughter, or how her daughter was having an asthma attack in the back of the car and the radio was up too loud to hear her so she died. That makes me nervous about what I may think about. I have had dreams about going to bed pregnant and waking up with a baby!
It’s crazy what you think about, not just about yourself, but others too.
There are too many things I am told not to do, which I ignore, and I’m pretty sure my ignorance is what got me into the hospital three times in the past month. All three times hooked up to IV’s because of dehydration. Too much sugar can send a pregnant girl into labor. My favorite part of staying in the hospital was getting woke up by the nurses so they could check my blood pressure and pulse. It really sucks having that elastic band wrapped around your belly all day and night! My baby didn’t like it! She kicked it all night. That’s really the best part of this whole experience. Knowing that she is okay helps me sleep at night. My worst fear is going to the doctor because I wasn’t feeling her move and them telling me that she’s not okay. I couldn’t imagine how someone could feel knowing that there was a baby who was healthy and perfectly fine one day and the next not. I haven’t had her yet and I will tell you I have never been more attached to or in love with anything in my entire life! It really is true that you can love someone without even meeting them. That someone is your child.
It really sucks that no man can ever experience how it feels to be pregnant. They say a dad really knows what it’s like once they see their child for the first time. But a woman knows while she’s pregnant. Feeling the baby makes it seem so real. It’s so hard to explain to anyone. Even to a woman who’s had a baby. Its love! Something that can’t be explained. I wonder how a dad feels about his child (ren). I wonder what goes through man’s head when he looks at or holds his child for the first time.
I wonder how different my life will be. I am always told that my life will be over and new one will begin, called “our” life. My life had changed a lot since I’ve been pregnant. Just knowing made me change so many things I do and the way I do things. Believe it or not my driving has changed dramatically! Maybe it’s because I don’t have a job and I know can’t afford a ticket, OR maybe it’s because I’m scared something might happen and I don’t want to hurt my baby.
I’ve been told that when you’re pregnant you have crazy dreams! A friend of mine has told me about crazy dreams and even day dreams she has had. She says she used to daydream about drowning her daughter, or how her daughter was having an asthma attack in the back of the car and the radio was up too loud to hear her so she died. That makes me nervous about what I may think about. I have had dreams about going to bed pregnant and waking up with a baby!
It’s crazy what you think about, not just about yourself, but others too.
My Moods
I'm a moody person. I think I've always realized this, but only recently I'm learning how much my moods, and changing of moods shape my life. I don't know if it's something I should work to overcome, or something I should learn to accept as part of me...Where is the line that defines the difference between a low self-esteem and a constant desire to be more than what you are?
I was thinking that I have never given my full attention and devotion to any 1 thing for an extended period of time. Sure, I've felt inspired from a book and changed my outlook on life and sometimes my behavior, but whether I've lost focus and drive, or was so successful in integrating that change that it now feels normal, I'm not sure. Part of the necessity to read books is the mnemic ability to keep yourself accountable. I don't think I posses that skill. That doesn't mean I'm not going to read, but it possibly means that I don't know how to read effectively.
At church on Sunday, I couldn't keep focus because there was a gentlemen a few rows in front of me that was taking notes, it seemed at least, and he filled at least 5 notebook pages. I want to know why these people take notes. Is the simple act of writing it down enough for them to gain an extra level of retention or comprehension? Do they save the notes? Do the ever really refer to their notes later? How much later? Will this strategy work for me?
That’s the real question though. We all have our own tricks and skills and downfalls. At what point do we accept our abilities and deal with what we have? Do we believe that we can maintain a constant state of better ourselves in our lives? Someone could dedicate their life to improving themselves in all areas, but even then they’d probably fail to do anything worthwhile because they spent their whole life learning.
Sometimes, I’m in the mood to read. Sometimes, I want to improve my abilities to understand and comprehend. Sometimes, I’m so sick of it all I just want to give up and do nothing. Sometimes, I just want to sit around and talk about it all. Sometimes, there’s no time for any of that.
I was thinking that I have never given my full attention and devotion to any 1 thing for an extended period of time. Sure, I've felt inspired from a book and changed my outlook on life and sometimes my behavior, but whether I've lost focus and drive, or was so successful in integrating that change that it now feels normal, I'm not sure. Part of the necessity to read books is the mnemic ability to keep yourself accountable. I don't think I posses that skill. That doesn't mean I'm not going to read, but it possibly means that I don't know how to read effectively.
At church on Sunday, I couldn't keep focus because there was a gentlemen a few rows in front of me that was taking notes, it seemed at least, and he filled at least 5 notebook pages. I want to know why these people take notes. Is the simple act of writing it down enough for them to gain an extra level of retention or comprehension? Do they save the notes? Do the ever really refer to their notes later? How much later? Will this strategy work for me?
That’s the real question though. We all have our own tricks and skills and downfalls. At what point do we accept our abilities and deal with what we have? Do we believe that we can maintain a constant state of better ourselves in our lives? Someone could dedicate their life to improving themselves in all areas, but even then they’d probably fail to do anything worthwhile because they spent their whole life learning.
Sometimes, I’m in the mood to read. Sometimes, I want to improve my abilities to understand and comprehend. Sometimes, I’m so sick of it all I just want to give up and do nothing. Sometimes, I just want to sit around and talk about it all. Sometimes, there’s no time for any of that.
Drama/Gossip
I have discovered that there are few things in this life more annoying than “gossipers” and this town seems to be full of them. Crawfordsville seems to me like it is the central hub of the world for gossip, because no matter what if something happens, EVERYONE knows about it within ten minutes of it occurring. I think what makes this worse for me than your average Joe is that I unfortunately happen to work at a place chocked full of drama, Wal-Mart. No matter what, there is always something happening at work with someone in some department. Someone is making someone else mad, or someone called in a left someone else with all of the work...I would love for just one day to go to work and not have to deal with all of the drama that occurs, is that too much to ask? I think that this world relies too much on drama today, and unfortunately we all listen to it entirely too much, maybe we should take more seriously that age-old adage “if you don’t have something nice to say, then don’t say anything at all”
The Road
“The Road,” by Cormac McCarthy was a very interesting book. There were so many things that you would miss if you weren’t paying attention. It was not the fact that you missed words, but how they were said in the story. You could almost hear the man speaking. I know that the story wasn’t really the big upper that a lot of people would have liked, but it did leave you with a little glimmer of hope. I know that this is morbid, but some of my favorite parts were where he described certain gory scenes. I could almost see all of the people that were in the basement of the farm house, and I could hear their screams when they cried for help. I know how the man felt for his child and I knew that I would be the same way with my own children. I would keep going for them; I would starve myself so they could eat; and I would sacrifice myself to save them. I know how this man feels for his son; but I don’t know it to the extremes that the father did. The father is the perfect image of what every parent should feel if all hell breaks loose. I enjoyed this book, though it ended in a cheap way.
Weddings for Cheap
I am getting married on Sat. Dec. 13th and I am really looking forward to it, but there are so many things that have come up that I never thought would affect a wedding. The main thing that caused us problems is the fact that we are poor college students with two kids. Another thing that caused problems was finding a place. We had to search all over for a place that didn’t cost too much. In the end we found out that we could use our church because we are members of the church. I know that you all are not interested in my troubles, but I also know that if you talk to someone who has been through all the stress; it takes some of it off. Some things are important to remember: fake flowers are cheaper and you can arrange them yourself and they still look good, find a close friend who can style hair, have wonderful sisters that help find you dresses and the fake flowers, and of course find a church that you belong to (that way you can use it for next to nothing). I know this doesn’t help much, but if you are in a pinch; these are the things I suggests.
Halloween
I know that Halloween has been over for a while now, but I do love that holiday. You see all of these children running around as spider-man, batman, tinker bell, witches, and who knows what else. Everyone is usually very friendly and you see a lot of people having a good time. The house that I grew up in was known as the best house to go to for trick-or-treating. It was not because of our candy, but because my father used to scare the crap out of anyone that came up to our house. I know that adults and children alike say that Christmas is their favorite time of year; and they say that you will always feel like a kid at Christmas. For me, Halloween gives me that joy. There is a fact that you don’t know what candy you are going to get and you sometimes never know what costume you are going to wear till that night. What also makes me excited is the fact that I have children of my own now and I am going to share my love of Halloween with them. I want them to enjoy dressing up and letting their imaginations take them far away.
CHRISTMAS :)
Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year. I love all the Christmas decorations and all the Christmas spirit. It means a lot to me to get to spend so much time with family and get to celebrate with them. I like picking out gifts for everyone. I like how all the stores are decorated so nicely and everyone seems to be so busy. A lot of people get stressed out about Christmas but I try not to let it get to me.
I think sometimes Christmas has gotten out of hand and people forget what the real meaning of Christmas is. It seems like people are only worried about the gifts. Yes, the gifts are part of it but that is not what it should all be about. It should mainly be spending time with your family and just realizing how blessed you are to get to celebrate Christmas with your family. There are many people in this world that will not get to celebrate with their families, if they even get to celebrate at all. Everyone just needs to keep in mind how blessed they really are to be living in a free country and being able to celebrate with their families.
I think sometimes Christmas has gotten out of hand and people forget what the real meaning of Christmas is. It seems like people are only worried about the gifts. Yes, the gifts are part of it but that is not what it should all be about. It should mainly be spending time with your family and just realizing how blessed you are to get to celebrate Christmas with your family. There are many people in this world that will not get to celebrate with their families, if they even get to celebrate at all. Everyone just needs to keep in mind how blessed they really are to be living in a free country and being able to celebrate with their families.
Losing Trust in a Good Friend
I have been dating my boyfriend for almost a year. His sister and law and I are pretty close. We talk a lot and tell each other pretty much anything. I trusted her with everything I told her until a couple of months ago. The only problem is sometimes I think she’s jealous that she not the only woman in the family anymore besides Ray’s mother. We were talking one day and I told her something that I only wanted her to know. The next thing I knew she had told Ray’s whole family and made a huge deal out of it. I called her and confronted her and she told me that that’s something she could not keep a secret and she felt that they should know. She not only told everyone, but she turned it around on me and made me look like the bad guy. It turned into a big situation and I felt like after all this happened Ray’s family no longer felt the same about me.
She really hurt me in this situation and I no longer trust her with anything anymore. It was hard to let a really close friend go, but after all that happened I no longer felt like she was a friend at all. I learned from the situation not to trust everyone especially with something I did not want anybody to know about. It was hard getting through all the drama but after a couple of weeks everything went back to the way it had been before. It was a bad situation because I was afraid I was going to lose the relationships I had with Ray’s whole family. Everything is better now. Ashley and I get along, but it is definitely not like it used to be.
She really hurt me in this situation and I no longer trust her with anything anymore. It was hard to let a really close friend go, but after all that happened I no longer felt like she was a friend at all. I learned from the situation not to trust everyone especially with something I did not want anybody to know about. It was hard getting through all the drama but after a couple of weeks everything went back to the way it had been before. It was a bad situation because I was afraid I was going to lose the relationships I had with Ray’s whole family. Everything is better now. Ashley and I get along, but it is definitely not like it used to be.
The Road
I thought The Road was a very good book. It was a book that you did not want to sit down because you wanted to know what happened next. I just wish it would have said why everything was burnt and why the world was the way it was. The man took care of his little boy the whole way through. That is what you call a good dad. He always put the little boy first. If they were both starving he would always let the little boy have the food first. It was amazing that they never gave up. If I had been in their situation i would have wanted to give up so many times. The man always encouraged the boy to keep walking and just keep moving. It broke my heart at the end when his dad died. I was scared the little boy would have to continue the journey alone. He found a nice family that took him along with them. It was a very good book and i would reccomend it to anyone to read.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
For every 1 gallon of gas we burn, 19 pounds of carbon dioxide are being released into the air for our family, friends and selves to breathe in. Due to this, in 1989 1 out of every 4, 15-25 year olds were diagnosed with lung lesions and chronic respiratory problems and also in 1990, 41 cases of Stage 1 Smog Alerts were announced. Is this how we want to live our lives? Obviously it is because someone out there killed the one thing that was most certain to save our lives. Yes! That one thing would have reduced global warming & money problems, but most importantly it would have reduced the medical problems that the people we love are suffering from today. That one thing was the Electric Vehicle (EV).
The electric car was made in California and Arizona to be tested out and hopefully receive good consumer reviews to one day have the EV the main source of transportation. The reviews and remarks this vehicle received were amazing! Everyone who drove it loved it and many of those people purchased this car and drove it everyday like they would any other. If this vehicle received such great reviews, why had I not heard of it until now? Why do we not see these vehicles out on the roads as main sources of transportation? What happened to this miracle that could have been?
Alan Lloyd, the chairman of California's Air Resources Board held a meeting for one person from each vehicle company to come propose why the EV should stick around. Everyone thought they had 10 minutes to talk, Lloyd cut there time down to 3 minutes. Absolutely no time for anyone to sum up a 10 min talk. Lloyd killed the mandate in 2003. They EV was no more. Reason being there was no demand for the vehicle. President Bush explained that the state recognized car companies were unable to meet the "Clean-Air" Rules (10% of vehicles from 2003-2008 must be electric or zero-emission). So instead of bringing back the 100% electric vehicle, they settled for the Hybrid; which still uses gasoline and in turn still pollutes the air.
The EV ran solely on battery and ranged from 75 to 100 miles per full charge. The average person drives 29 miles per day. That is ⅓ of a full charge. How was there no demand? Why would anyone say "no" to this wonderful piece of machinery? If the EV were to be brought back and offered to everyone, I would definitely give it a chance to see what it was like and if it could meet my needs as a mom, student and employee. I do a lot of driving, but most of it is not needed. I really believe this could change our world in making it a cleaner and safer environment for everyone!
The electric car was made in California and Arizona to be tested out and hopefully receive good consumer reviews to one day have the EV the main source of transportation. The reviews and remarks this vehicle received were amazing! Everyone who drove it loved it and many of those people purchased this car and drove it everyday like they would any other. If this vehicle received such great reviews, why had I not heard of it until now? Why do we not see these vehicles out on the roads as main sources of transportation? What happened to this miracle that could have been?
Alan Lloyd, the chairman of California's Air Resources Board held a meeting for one person from each vehicle company to come propose why the EV should stick around. Everyone thought they had 10 minutes to talk, Lloyd cut there time down to 3 minutes. Absolutely no time for anyone to sum up a 10 min talk. Lloyd killed the mandate in 2003. They EV was no more. Reason being there was no demand for the vehicle. President Bush explained that the state recognized car companies were unable to meet the "Clean-Air" Rules (10% of vehicles from 2003-2008 must be electric or zero-emission). So instead of bringing back the 100% electric vehicle, they settled for the Hybrid; which still uses gasoline and in turn still pollutes the air.
The EV ran solely on battery and ranged from 75 to 100 miles per full charge. The average person drives 29 miles per day. That is ⅓ of a full charge. How was there no demand? Why would anyone say "no" to this wonderful piece of machinery? If the EV were to be brought back and offered to everyone, I would definitely give it a chance to see what it was like and if it could meet my needs as a mom, student and employee. I do a lot of driving, but most of it is not needed. I really believe this could change our world in making it a cleaner and safer environment for everyone!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Control Room!
This stupid movie is bullshit! We went into Iraq with hopes to find the man behind September 11, so when we were sure he wasn’t coming out of the town we bombed it! Ok they are giving us hell for us bombing them, showing the nation pictures of all the dead people from the towns that are under turmoil... Ok how about we show them the pictures and footage from what they did to us. We didn’t make a deal out of it, no so while they slept sound in their beds that horrible morning, we were in a state of shock! Not only did they demolish the World Trade Center(WTC) , but they took two of our own planes to do it in! When we bombed them, by got we did it with our own planes, our bombs and our troops!! They didn’t have the balls to even do that!
Also it wasn’t just the Americans who went over there! They say that we have no god, and no humanity, yet what about theirs. IF they hadn’t started this shit in the first place we wouldn’t be over there finishing it! Don’t start something if you don’t want to finish it, or you don’t like what becomes from the results of your actions. You don’t like what happened to your country; well we didn’t like what you did you ours that beautiful September morning. Don’t mess with a powerhouse if you can’t compete!
I don’t agree with the way it was handled no, but how would you handle something like that, I mean what would you have done if you’ve got a nation behind you who wants revenge on the pain that they caused us! If you do nothing and try to handle it diplomatically you are a coward, while on the other hand if you “bring the rain” you are a tyrant! How can that be? Are we to just sit here and do nothing while those assholes get away with what they did; no that isn’t the American way… When you are young you are taught to stand up for yourself and what you believe in, so what are you going to do if someone comes out of nowhere knocks the crap out of you, are you going to stand there and let them get away with it, no they will do it again. So what do you do, you hit them back, you stand up for yourself and what you think and your person you are! Do you want to be known as a coward or a strong mental person who doesn’t let people walk all over them. We didn’t become number one just because when someone kicked us we stood there, no we kicked back harder than they did till we either as a nation or a single person were the last one standing, that is how it works, always has and always will!
This movie isn’t showing the entire story, it is making the American people out to be the bad person, yah ok I think enough is enough, and we get the picture, poor you. Well that’s just too bad, you don’t like being bombed, hey guess what we didn’t either. Another thing is that the news is the news, you can’t just pick and show what you want, you show everything, and even if it doesn’t show what you think is right. The American people have a right to know what is going on over there, I mean after all we are the ones paying for it, right? So wouldn’t you want to know everything that is going on, not just what the news teams want you to see, to make you think that the Iraqis are bad? I would, I would want to know exactly what my tax dollars are paying for, what my troops, who are not only just American soldiers, but our friends, brothers, husbands, fathers, uncles, grandpas, mothers, daughters, wives, sisters; people who we have known since grade school, or before! They are our family, and the American people!
I understand that you have pride in your own nation, one of which you love with your whole body, and you are going to stand up for what you think is right. You know they say what we did wasn’t right, we shouldn’t have gone into their nation to bomb them without them knowing, but if you remember right they did the same thing to us. They high jacked not one or two or three, no they took four of our commercial airline planes, flew them into our buildings; two went into the WTC, the first plane went into tour1 at 8:45am, it collapsed around 10:30a. The second plane crashed into tour2 around 9:03 and exploded, that tour collapsed around 10:05a. One crashed outside of Philadelphia, PA. that was flight 93, and the fourth went into the Pentagon building in Washington DC. Sorry if I’m not sorry for what we did, but what they did isn’t any worse then what we did only we used our own stuff. I can still remember the state of shock I was in when I was sitting in class and the principal can over the intercom asking all the teachers to turn their tv’s onto CNN News channel that the WTC had just been bombed. We hadn’t had our tv on but 2 minutes on when the second plane crashed into the second building, all I could do was sit there and think, and pray for all those poor peoples and their families. All the while hoping that the sick person behind all of this would someday get what they deserved…
This stupid movie is bullshit! We went into Iraq with hopes to find the man behind September 11, so when we were sure he wasn’t coming out of the town we bombed it! Ok they are giving us hell for us bombing them, showing the nation pictures of all the dead people from the towns that are under turmoil... Ok how about we show them the pictures and footage from what they did to us. We didn’t make a deal out of it, no so while they slept sound in their beds that horrible morning, we were in a state of shock! Not only did they demolish the World Trade Center(WTC) , but they took two of our own planes to do it in! When we bombed them, by got we did it with our own planes, our bombs and our troops!! They didn’t have the balls to even do that!
Also it wasn’t just the Americans who went over there! They say that we have no god, and no humanity, yet what about theirs. IF they hadn’t started this shit in the first place we wouldn’t be over there finishing it! Don’t start something if you don’t want to finish it, or you don’t like what becomes from the results of your actions. You don’t like what happened to your country; well we didn’t like what you did you ours that beautiful September morning. Don’t mess with a powerhouse if you can’t compete!
I don’t agree with the way it was handled no, but how would you handle something like that, I mean what would you have done if you’ve got a nation behind you who wants revenge on the pain that they caused us! If you do nothing and try to handle it diplomatically you are a coward, while on the other hand if you “bring the rain” you are a tyrant! How can that be? Are we to just sit here and do nothing while those assholes get away with what they did; no that isn’t the American way… When you are young you are taught to stand up for yourself and what you believe in, so what are you going to do if someone comes out of nowhere knocks the crap out of you, are you going to stand there and let them get away with it, no they will do it again. So what do you do, you hit them back, you stand up for yourself and what you think and your person you are! Do you want to be known as a coward or a strong mental person who doesn’t let people walk all over them. We didn’t become number one just because when someone kicked us we stood there, no we kicked back harder than they did till we either as a nation or a single person were the last one standing, that is how it works, always has and always will!
This movie isn’t showing the entire story, it is making the American people out to be the bad person, yah ok I think enough is enough, and we get the picture, poor you. Well that’s just too bad, you don’t like being bombed, hey guess what we didn’t either. Another thing is that the news is the news, you can’t just pick and show what you want, you show everything, and even if it doesn’t show what you think is right. The American people have a right to know what is going on over there, I mean after all we are the ones paying for it, right? So wouldn’t you want to know everything that is going on, not just what the news teams want you to see, to make you think that the Iraqis are bad? I would, I would want to know exactly what my tax dollars are paying for, what my troops, who are not only just American soldiers, but our friends, brothers, husbands, fathers, uncles, grandpas, mothers, daughters, wives, sisters; people who we have known since grade school, or before! They are our family, and the American people!
I understand that you have pride in your own nation, one of which you love with your whole body, and you are going to stand up for what you think is right. You know they say what we did wasn’t right, we shouldn’t have gone into their nation to bomb them without them knowing, but if you remember right they did the same thing to us. They high jacked not one or two or three, no they took four of our commercial airline planes, flew them into our buildings; two went into the WTC, the first plane went into tour1 at 8:45am, it collapsed around 10:30a. The second plane crashed into tour2 around 9:03 and exploded, that tour collapsed around 10:05a. One crashed outside of Philadelphia, PA. that was flight 93, and the fourth went into the Pentagon building in Washington DC. Sorry if I’m not sorry for what we did, but what they did isn’t any worse then what we did only we used our own stuff. I can still remember the state of shock I was in when I was sitting in class and the principal can over the intercom asking all the teachers to turn their tv’s onto CNN News channel that the WTC had just been bombed. We hadn’t had our tv on but 2 minutes on when the second plane crashed into the second building, all I could do was sit there and think, and pray for all those poor peoples and their families. All the while hoping that the sick person behind all of this would someday get what they deserved…
blog 4- Visual Cues
Since November is drawing ever closer, we see more and more commercials of both of the nominees telling us who we should vote for in the presidential elections. There is a lot that you have to pay attention to when you watch them. Sure they have their messages stating their reasons for why they should be president, but there is also visual information that might also be catching your interest. All of these visual cues play a part in the commercial; these visual cues are what I am going to try and interpret in my own words.
As I have been watching these commercials, admittedly they are mostly Barack Obama’s commercials; I have noticed that when they are talking about John McCain’s plans for the country, the lighting gets darker, and the speaker’s voice gets angrier sounding. This is something that will try and get you feeling as they do about senator McCain. They want you to feel that McCain is not the right person for presidency and they want you to feel upset by the thought that a man like McCain would even run for office. Another thing that they do is also show pictures of Senator McCain and President Bush hugging, shaking hands, and/or laughing together. This is trying to instill the thoughts that McCain is just like president Bush. When they show these pictures they usually have white writing across the picture to make the writing stand out. These words are usually about how we don’t want the same thing as President Bush, and how senator Obama would help change this. There was one commercial that did get my attention the most. If you go to barackobama.com and hit the media button; you will see a list of other media related things to the far right. The one that I clicked on was the button for ads. There is one that was really sweet that I liked; it didn’t really state too much about McCain, but it did talk about his family some more. The ad’s title was called “Buster” and it was talking about how his grandfather fought in General Patton’s army, his grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line and how his mother woke him up at 4:30 every morning to go over his lesson with him. It showed pictures of each of them doing something similar to this. He also stated that his grandfather told him that “we are Americans. We can do anything if we put our minds to it.” All of this is trying to show that he is from this country; that he isn’t a terrorist as some people accuse him of; his grandparents and his mother were white middle-class Americans; and that he lived an ordinary American boyhood. All of this is trying to convince the people watching that he is like you and me. Personally I think that the commercials are beautifully done because they do kind of suck you in by their facts, which they do have, and then an uplifting message at the end. It’s like when you have a stressful day at work. everything seems to be going wrong, you’re in a horrible mood and nothing seems to be making it better; then at the end of the day, you get home, see your family, and you know that everything is going to be alright. That is an uplifting feeling, and that is the feeling that he tries to leave with you at the end of his commercials. He is trying to say that he is going to make everything alright. You get this from how the light changes and the sound changes. Everything brightens up when he is on the screen and when he is talking. After watching a lot of Obama commercials this week, these are the visual cues and subtlety that I have seen.
P.S. Vote for Barack Obama Nov. 4th.
As I have been watching these commercials, admittedly they are mostly Barack Obama’s commercials; I have noticed that when they are talking about John McCain’s plans for the country, the lighting gets darker, and the speaker’s voice gets angrier sounding. This is something that will try and get you feeling as they do about senator McCain. They want you to feel that McCain is not the right person for presidency and they want you to feel upset by the thought that a man like McCain would even run for office. Another thing that they do is also show pictures of Senator McCain and President Bush hugging, shaking hands, and/or laughing together. This is trying to instill the thoughts that McCain is just like president Bush. When they show these pictures they usually have white writing across the picture to make the writing stand out. These words are usually about how we don’t want the same thing as President Bush, and how senator Obama would help change this. There was one commercial that did get my attention the most. If you go to barackobama.com and hit the media button; you will see a list of other media related things to the far right. The one that I clicked on was the button for ads. There is one that was really sweet that I liked; it didn’t really state too much about McCain, but it did talk about his family some more. The ad’s title was called “Buster” and it was talking about how his grandfather fought in General Patton’s army, his grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line and how his mother woke him up at 4:30 every morning to go over his lesson with him. It showed pictures of each of them doing something similar to this. He also stated that his grandfather told him that “we are Americans. We can do anything if we put our minds to it.” All of this is trying to show that he is from this country; that he isn’t a terrorist as some people accuse him of; his grandparents and his mother were white middle-class Americans; and that he lived an ordinary American boyhood. All of this is trying to convince the people watching that he is like you and me. Personally I think that the commercials are beautifully done because they do kind of suck you in by their facts, which they do have, and then an uplifting message at the end. It’s like when you have a stressful day at work. everything seems to be going wrong, you’re in a horrible mood and nothing seems to be making it better; then at the end of the day, you get home, see your family, and you know that everything is going to be alright. That is an uplifting feeling, and that is the feeling that he tries to leave with you at the end of his commercials. He is trying to say that he is going to make everything alright. You get this from how the light changes and the sound changes. Everything brightens up when he is on the screen and when he is talking. After watching a lot of Obama commercials this week, these are the visual cues and subtlety that I have seen.
P.S. Vote for Barack Obama Nov. 4th.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Arguing with Respect
My grandmother and I have never been as close as we both would like, and I believe that this was due to the distance between our homes fro so many years. She has always lived up north and I lived in the south, up until three years ago when my family moved here to Crawfordsville.
My grandmother is a wonderful woman! She is very well educated and she is always up for helping others before herself. She had to have that quality in order to be the boss to many nurses at a hospital in Chicago. My grandmother was great at her job and still would be! She got all the nurses what they needed when they needed it! She was the perfect boss!
Many years ago my grandmother retired from her career as a nurse. However, she never left the “boss” side of her at the hospital. She has carried that with her and will continue to do so until the day she dies. That has been the big problem between us for so long. We argue about so many things from the type of milk I drink to the type of vegetables I don’t eat. I have never opened up to her when we were disagreeing and fully told her how I feel. I usually just bite my tongue and walk away. But this time was different; I couldn’t do that during this argument. Maybe it was the pregnancy, maybe not, but whatever it was my feelings came out and I made sure she knew exactly how I felt!
This disagreement we had was about my baby shower coming up next month. She wanted to help with the shower because according to her, the mom-to-be is not supposed to do it. I didn’t care though; I began to plan it months ago only because if I did it I knew it would get done. We got together one day to discuss all the plans I had already made, from the games, to the decorations and the food. Now I think I should tell you that when my grandmother wants to plan something, or have people over, no matter what the occasion she always has to be in charge and do it all herself the way she wants it done.
So back to the day we got together and began discussing my plans. I started with the games and she agreed. “Wow.” I thought, “This may actually be easier than I thought.” I should’ve known because once I mentioned my cake and the fact that I was purchasing it that must have turned her stomach because she blew up and said “I’m not paying that much for a cake when I can get one made for free.” Well we argued for a bit back and forth and I finally told her that the cake was not getting any changes because that is how I wanted it.
That was the first time I had ever opened up and talked to my grandmother that way. I have too much respect for my family to talk to any of them that way, but I don’t know what it was about this time I guess I just couldn’t take the fact that she wanted to take over and change everything. I regret talking to her like that, I feel really bad and I understand that the way she thinks and does things are different and not everyone likes it but we all must deal with it because she is family and we all love her. I have dealt with her being the way she is and I will continue to do so, out of respect and the fact that she is family.
I’m still not sure why I blew up like that and I know it was silly, especially over a cake, but that was the only thing that I spent a lot of time on. I looked for the perfect cake and when I found it, I knew it. We still have a lot of things to do for my baby shower and not much time. One thing that’s marked off the list is the cake because I finally got her to agree to let me take care of it. I knew I would get at least one thing I wanted!
My grandmother is a wonderful woman! She is very well educated and she is always up for helping others before herself. She had to have that quality in order to be the boss to many nurses at a hospital in Chicago. My grandmother was great at her job and still would be! She got all the nurses what they needed when they needed it! She was the perfect boss!
Many years ago my grandmother retired from her career as a nurse. However, she never left the “boss” side of her at the hospital. She has carried that with her and will continue to do so until the day she dies. That has been the big problem between us for so long. We argue about so many things from the type of milk I drink to the type of vegetables I don’t eat. I have never opened up to her when we were disagreeing and fully told her how I feel. I usually just bite my tongue and walk away. But this time was different; I couldn’t do that during this argument. Maybe it was the pregnancy, maybe not, but whatever it was my feelings came out and I made sure she knew exactly how I felt!
This disagreement we had was about my baby shower coming up next month. She wanted to help with the shower because according to her, the mom-to-be is not supposed to do it. I didn’t care though; I began to plan it months ago only because if I did it I knew it would get done. We got together one day to discuss all the plans I had already made, from the games, to the decorations and the food. Now I think I should tell you that when my grandmother wants to plan something, or have people over, no matter what the occasion she always has to be in charge and do it all herself the way she wants it done.
So back to the day we got together and began discussing my plans. I started with the games and she agreed. “Wow.” I thought, “This may actually be easier than I thought.” I should’ve known because once I mentioned my cake and the fact that I was purchasing it that must have turned her stomach because she blew up and said “I’m not paying that much for a cake when I can get one made for free.” Well we argued for a bit back and forth and I finally told her that the cake was not getting any changes because that is how I wanted it.
That was the first time I had ever opened up and talked to my grandmother that way. I have too much respect for my family to talk to any of them that way, but I don’t know what it was about this time I guess I just couldn’t take the fact that she wanted to take over and change everything. I regret talking to her like that, I feel really bad and I understand that the way she thinks and does things are different and not everyone likes it but we all must deal with it because she is family and we all love her. I have dealt with her being the way she is and I will continue to do so, out of respect and the fact that she is family.
I’m still not sure why I blew up like that and I know it was silly, especially over a cake, but that was the only thing that I spent a lot of time on. I looked for the perfect cake and when I found it, I knew it. We still have a lot of things to do for my baby shower and not much time. One thing that’s marked off the list is the cake because I finally got her to agree to let me take care of it. I knew I would get at least one thing I wanted!
blog 3
Disagreeing with someone that you know very well and respect is really hard mentally and emotionally. You have to think about how your argument is going to sound to them, and you have to be careful not to offend them. The one person that I respect more than anyone else in the world is my father. He has been there for me through everything. He has always been the one I call up if I ever have a problem. There is one thing that he and I have not been able to see eye to eye on; who should be president. I hadn’t realized how much we disagreed until recently, when Barak Obama and John McCain were nominated to run for presidency. I do share a lot of the same feelings towards certain issues. We both believe that the government should butt out of peoples personal lives, lower taxes, and better health care. Unfortunately, I think that Obama will help us achieve some of these goals, and he thinks McCain will achieve these goals.
I think a lot of how my father feels about Obama has a lot to do with the fact that Obama has a Muslim background, and he is half African American. My father was raised in an era where African Americans weren’t treated equally, they still aren’t treated as equally as they should, and I think he does have more prejudice feelings towards them then he lets on. I know for a fact that he doesn’t like Mexican Americans; mostly because he was fired and replaced with Mexican Americans. A lot of this can lead to the resentful feelings that he seems to have towards people of different races; and I think that is why he is voting for McCain. Whenever we talk about the presidency and who we think should win; he completely shuts down and says that Obama is a terrorist and that he loves this country being a democracy and doesn’t want it to become a communist country. My father completely shuts off when it we talk about the presidential candidates. So it makes it hard to even try and discuss the election.
I think a lot of how my father feels about Obama has a lot to do with the fact that Obama has a Muslim background, and he is half African American. My father was raised in an era where African Americans weren’t treated equally, they still aren’t treated as equally as they should, and I think he does have more prejudice feelings towards them then he lets on. I know for a fact that he doesn’t like Mexican Americans; mostly because he was fired and replaced with Mexican Americans. A lot of this can lead to the resentful feelings that he seems to have towards people of different races; and I think that is why he is voting for McCain. Whenever we talk about the presidency and who we think should win; he completely shuts down and says that Obama is a terrorist and that he loves this country being a democracy and doesn’t want it to become a communist country. My father completely shuts off when it we talk about the presidential candidates. So it makes it hard to even try and discuss the election.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Blog 2- A Convenient Enough Truth
The leading documentary of global warming called, An Inconvenient Truth, seems to be changing the opinions of everyone concerning global warming. The documentary is actually based around former Vice President, Al Gore’s speech. When I think of Al Gore, I think of all the horrible things my parents said about him. I grew up in a conservative, very Republican household. Where bill Clinton and anyone affiliated with him were considered evil; So Al Gore was just someone else who got criticized a lot in my household. Even when he was running for president against George W. Bush, I was rooting for Bush. How naïve was I? The economy is falling apart; we are in a war that should have never been started; and gas prices are so much now that I can’t drive around to get to school. Bush hasn’t even tried to approach the global warming crisis at hand, but now I know that Gore would’ve.
Thinking back to when I first heard about global warming; I think of a huge man who had this enormous, booming voice that you could hear from down the stairs, and into the cafeteria. My ninth grade biology teacher tried to get us aware of the fact that it was a major problem that needed to be dealt with. He told us how the greenhouse gases worked and how it would affect us. After school that day I went and talked to my mother about this whole new concept, and she agreed with him. Since then I have been aware of the global warming crisis and hoped that scientists and the people in charge, aka the government, would do something to fix it. Unfortunately nothing has happened to help. Now after I graduate, this movie comes out. Al Gore, someone I was taught to despise, is talking about something that I really care about. So I watch the movie, and I am blown away. Al Gore is talking sense. How can this be? Sure he talks about himself a lot, and he get annoying after awhile; but I really soak in his message. I learned a lot from all the facts that he gave to everyone in the documentary. I didn’t know that so many things were happening around the world showing signs of this catastrophe. I will admit something to all of you that read this; I am a tree-hugging, animal loving, wannabe hippy. so as I watch, I learn that more and more animals are becoming extinct; polar bears have been found to have drowned because they can’t find thick enough ice to lay on; pine trees are being ravaged by pine beetles that were once killed off because of the winter months, but no longer are because of rising temperatures; and that the glaciers in the Himalayas are receding so much that they are not longer giving the water needed for some people to survive. This totally boggles my mind that the United States of America, the wannabe world police/saviors; we’re not doing our part to help. We are also the only country in the world that has signed the Kyoto Protocol treaty but we are the only ones that have denied ratifying it.
How does this all tie into Al Gore? He informed me of important lessons to learn; not only for myself, but for my own children as well. So now I am left regretting one thing I thought I would never do; I now wish that we could go back in time and stop war-mongering George W. Bush from winning the presidency. I wish Al Gore had won; maybe he would have made things better. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows for sure? I do know one thing now; I can’t keep wishing for change. If I want something to change; I have to do something that brings about that change. It all starts with one little step into the inconvenient truth.
Thinking back to when I first heard about global warming; I think of a huge man who had this enormous, booming voice that you could hear from down the stairs, and into the cafeteria. My ninth grade biology teacher tried to get us aware of the fact that it was a major problem that needed to be dealt with. He told us how the greenhouse gases worked and how it would affect us. After school that day I went and talked to my mother about this whole new concept, and she agreed with him. Since then I have been aware of the global warming crisis and hoped that scientists and the people in charge, aka the government, would do something to fix it. Unfortunately nothing has happened to help. Now after I graduate, this movie comes out. Al Gore, someone I was taught to despise, is talking about something that I really care about. So I watch the movie, and I am blown away. Al Gore is talking sense. How can this be? Sure he talks about himself a lot, and he get annoying after awhile; but I really soak in his message. I learned a lot from all the facts that he gave to everyone in the documentary. I didn’t know that so many things were happening around the world showing signs of this catastrophe. I will admit something to all of you that read this; I am a tree-hugging, animal loving, wannabe hippy. so as I watch, I learn that more and more animals are becoming extinct; polar bears have been found to have drowned because they can’t find thick enough ice to lay on; pine trees are being ravaged by pine beetles that were once killed off because of the winter months, but no longer are because of rising temperatures; and that the glaciers in the Himalayas are receding so much that they are not longer giving the water needed for some people to survive. This totally boggles my mind that the United States of America, the wannabe world police/saviors; we’re not doing our part to help. We are also the only country in the world that has signed the Kyoto Protocol treaty but we are the only ones that have denied ratifying it.
How does this all tie into Al Gore? He informed me of important lessons to learn; not only for myself, but for my own children as well. So now I am left regretting one thing I thought I would never do; I now wish that we could go back in time and stop war-mongering George W. Bush from winning the presidency. I wish Al Gore had won; maybe he would have made things better. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows for sure? I do know one thing now; I can’t keep wishing for change. If I want something to change; I have to do something that brings about that change. It all starts with one little step into the inconvenient truth.
blog 2
Today is September seventeenth two thousand and eight, we just got done watching a movie in English class, and the movie is called “An Inconvenient Truth” . What the movie is called really isn’t important it is what the movie or I guess you can call it a documentary is what it entails. The opening scene is of a beautiful stream that could be right in your backyard that’s how common it is. I guess that really isn’t important either. What really is important is Al Gore opening statement he makes to this entire room of people. He says “It isn’t isn’t what we don’t know that gets us into trouble, it is what we know” which struck me as odd. I think here is a former Vice-President of the United States of America the most powerful country in the world telling me that our knowledge will get us into trouble. I find that troubling in itself, I’ve always thought that knowledge was power, the more I knew the better I would be for my family and the better a life I would have for the future, now I’m just not so sure anymore, and here is why.
What is Global Warming? That is a common question these days in the classroom, and to many people it has different meaning, most know the same facts but it means different things to people. Some think it is just a government conspiracy while others see it as a real threat. What does it mean to you? To me Global Warming is a bigger problem then I ever thought it to be, I mean I knew it was a very bad thing that the people of today’s world were trying to fix but never did I see it to be this big of a problem. Just a little fact that I’m sure everyone already know what it never hurts to hear more then once, you know that co2 makes the ozone thicker correct? Well I bet you didn’t know that because of the admissions of our cars and trucks the co2 levels are going up and up they are actually almost off a chart that we have used since 1970, or the start of this becoming a big problem, and due to that the ice caps are melting, I know you’ve already heard that, but it is true. The western ice shelf in Antarctica is supposed to be one of the largest in the world yet it is slowly becoming smaller, and it keeps breaking off into the waters of the ocean. We can’t afford to have all that ice that is stored down there to melt and drain into the ocean, that will cause ocean levels to rise more then 25 feet, that is over half the cost of Florida and San Francisco, yah that will not be there anymore it will be under water, not to mention New Orland’s which already has most of its city under sea level.
We keep having worse hurricanes then the year before last, have you ever stopped to think why? I know our scientist have, they knew how bad the storms will get, and they told us what the damages would be. The storms keep getting stronger because the oceans are becoming warmer, they are getting that way because the suns uv rays are going right into the water instead of reflecting off and back into space, thus causing the water temperatures to rise. In India the summer of 2005 was the hottest summer that they had ever had in recorded time it was 122’F that was also for a period of days, and that was the average, not just the day. Which wasn’t even that past two years, I would like to know what the record is now?
I guess what I’m trying to say is something needs to change, we have the technology to make the world a better, more efficient place, why aren’t we? Also if we are one of the smartest nations why are we the biggest contributor to this problem we emit over 30.3% of the earth’s co2 levels and we don’t even have the biggest population. They say that old habits and old technology isn’t a bad thing, but what happens when you have new technology and you are still fighting old habits? We should all do something to help the planet, and I’m not a tree hugger but this is home, we only have one planet people. So what will you do? Are you going to change. Here is a website that you should check out if you care at all about the place you live, willyoujoinus.com . If you believe in pray, pray that people find the strength to change.
What is Global Warming? That is a common question these days in the classroom, and to many people it has different meaning, most know the same facts but it means different things to people. Some think it is just a government conspiracy while others see it as a real threat. What does it mean to you? To me Global Warming is a bigger problem then I ever thought it to be, I mean I knew it was a very bad thing that the people of today’s world were trying to fix but never did I see it to be this big of a problem. Just a little fact that I’m sure everyone already know what it never hurts to hear more then once, you know that co2 makes the ozone thicker correct? Well I bet you didn’t know that because of the admissions of our cars and trucks the co2 levels are going up and up they are actually almost off a chart that we have used since 1970, or the start of this becoming a big problem, and due to that the ice caps are melting, I know you’ve already heard that, but it is true. The western ice shelf in Antarctica is supposed to be one of the largest in the world yet it is slowly becoming smaller, and it keeps breaking off into the waters of the ocean. We can’t afford to have all that ice that is stored down there to melt and drain into the ocean, that will cause ocean levels to rise more then 25 feet, that is over half the cost of Florida and San Francisco, yah that will not be there anymore it will be under water, not to mention New Orland’s which already has most of its city under sea level.
We keep having worse hurricanes then the year before last, have you ever stopped to think why? I know our scientist have, they knew how bad the storms will get, and they told us what the damages would be. The storms keep getting stronger because the oceans are becoming warmer, they are getting that way because the suns uv rays are going right into the water instead of reflecting off and back into space, thus causing the water temperatures to rise. In India the summer of 2005 was the hottest summer that they had ever had in recorded time it was 122’F that was also for a period of days, and that was the average, not just the day. Which wasn’t even that past two years, I would like to know what the record is now?
I guess what I’m trying to say is something needs to change, we have the technology to make the world a better, more efficient place, why aren’t we? Also if we are one of the smartest nations why are we the biggest contributor to this problem we emit over 30.3% of the earth’s co2 levels and we don’t even have the biggest population. They say that old habits and old technology isn’t a bad thing, but what happens when you have new technology and you are still fighting old habits? We should all do something to help the planet, and I’m not a tree hugger but this is home, we only have one planet people. So what will you do? Are you going to change. Here is a website that you should check out if you care at all about the place you live, willyoujoinus.com . If you believe in pray, pray that people find the strength to change.
An Inconvenient Truth
To be honest, before watching “The Inconvininent Truth” I did not know very much about global warming. If someone came up and asked me what I thought about global warming, I would probably have nothing to say about it. After watching this documentary, it has really opened my eyes to global warming. I can now see how big of an issue it is in our world. It is actually very scary to me. It just makes me wonder if most everyone just ignores this issue, what is going to happen to the world? It makes me wonder throughout my lifetime what is going to happen? Not to mention if someday I have kids what are they going to go through?
One of the points that he brought up really sticks out in my mind. He was saying that polar bears have been found dead. Some of the polar bears have been drowning because they have had to swim so far that they could not make it. That is very sad to me. So much ice is melting that they are having to swim a lot more. Does this mean that one day polar bears are going to be extinct? From the sounds of it yes. The sad thing is that it’s not just polar bears that rely on the ice and the cold weather. Many other animals need the ice. If the glaciers are melting everyday, then eventually we will have no glaciers on our earth. I can’t imagine the earth without any glaciers.
He also said that we have had more natural disasters that have been caused by gloabal warming. When the water temperature gets warmer the storms get worse. The water temperature is rising so does this mean the huricanes and other storms are just going to continure to get worse? I can’t even imagine the weather getting much worse than what it is now. The hurricanes in the past few years have wiped whole cities out. If they keep getting worse I can not even imagine the tradgedies that are going to occur.
He also said that the ten hottest years occurred during the last fourteen years. He said that 200 cities in the west hit all time record highs. I don’t know what people are going to do if it gets much hotter than what it has been. If it gets much hotter there are going to be more droughts and possibly more wildfires in the west.
It just seems like our country is worried about so many other issues that this one is overlooked. I guess I was guilty of this too. I just wish everyone could watch this movie and realize how big of a deal this really is. This really scares me.
I think that there needs to be more awareness on global warming. Before I watched this documentary I did not think that global warming was that big of a deal. Now I realize if something is not done about this issue, its going to continue to just keep getting worse. I would encourage anybody that I know to watch this movie. It is a very serious issue that people need to know about. If everyone could come together and work against global warming we could put a stop to it.
One of the points that he brought up really sticks out in my mind. He was saying that polar bears have been found dead. Some of the polar bears have been drowning because they have had to swim so far that they could not make it. That is very sad to me. So much ice is melting that they are having to swim a lot more. Does this mean that one day polar bears are going to be extinct? From the sounds of it yes. The sad thing is that it’s not just polar bears that rely on the ice and the cold weather. Many other animals need the ice. If the glaciers are melting everyday, then eventually we will have no glaciers on our earth. I can’t imagine the earth without any glaciers.
He also said that we have had more natural disasters that have been caused by gloabal warming. When the water temperature gets warmer the storms get worse. The water temperature is rising so does this mean the huricanes and other storms are just going to continure to get worse? I can’t even imagine the weather getting much worse than what it is now. The hurricanes in the past few years have wiped whole cities out. If they keep getting worse I can not even imagine the tradgedies that are going to occur.
He also said that the ten hottest years occurred during the last fourteen years. He said that 200 cities in the west hit all time record highs. I don’t know what people are going to do if it gets much hotter than what it has been. If it gets much hotter there are going to be more droughts and possibly more wildfires in the west.
It just seems like our country is worried about so many other issues that this one is overlooked. I guess I was guilty of this too. I just wish everyone could watch this movie and realize how big of a deal this really is. This really scares me.
I think that there needs to be more awareness on global warming. Before I watched this documentary I did not think that global warming was that big of a deal. Now I realize if something is not done about this issue, its going to continue to just keep getting worse. I would encourage anybody that I know to watch this movie. It is a very serious issue that people need to know about. If everyone could come together and work against global warming we could put a stop to it.
Global Warming- "An Inconvenient Truth"
Global Warming is something that every person is required to learn about or at the least be taught while in school. Personally, this never caught my attention; I always looked at Global Warming as something that will eventually go away or something that people would eventually forget about in 5-10 years. This is not the case; in fact the complete opposite has happened.
Al Gore, former year 2000 Vice-President of the U.S has made a movie called “An Inconvenient Truth”. This movie includes all about the effects that Global Warming has had and will continue to have here on Earth. Some things that have resulted from this, to me, are making absolutely no sense. It is not natural for the animals that have lived in and belong in warm or cold climates to move closer to the north or south poles because their homes are too hot or too cold for them to survive in! Think about it! Polar Bears are dying because the distances they have to swim to get to “shore” are growing everyday. Gore also explained that due to Global Warming one country could be flooded and at the same time its’ neighboring country could be experiencing a drought. The only thing I could think of was how this is physically possible.
Watching this movie really made me stop and think about the things that make global warming possible and also made me realize that the people who live on and call Earth “home” are the real reason for global warming. Deforestation (the cutting down of forests’) is one of the many things that are making Global Warming. When a single tree is cut down, carbon dioxide is released into the air causing the temperature to raise a fraction of a degree. However, cutting down a whole forest or two, results in a major change in temperature and the amount of carbon dioxide (not meant to be inhaled) in the air. If this movie was seen by at least ¼ of the amount of people here in the U.S and everyone did something like buy a vehicle with a higher MPG or something as so simple as to changing a regular light bulb over to a fluorescent bulb, a very large amount of carbon dioxide would be decreased.
Changing the filter on a furnace or air conditioner saves 350 pounds of carbon dioxide in one single year. - http://climatecrisis.net/takeaction/whatyoucando/ viewed: 9/17/2008
Al Gore, former year 2000 Vice-President of the U.S has made a movie called “An Inconvenient Truth”. This movie includes all about the effects that Global Warming has had and will continue to have here on Earth. Some things that have resulted from this, to me, are making absolutely no sense. It is not natural for the animals that have lived in and belong in warm or cold climates to move closer to the north or south poles because their homes are too hot or too cold for them to survive in! Think about it! Polar Bears are dying because the distances they have to swim to get to “shore” are growing everyday. Gore also explained that due to Global Warming one country could be flooded and at the same time its’ neighboring country could be experiencing a drought. The only thing I could think of was how this is physically possible.
Watching this movie really made me stop and think about the things that make global warming possible and also made me realize that the people who live on and call Earth “home” are the real reason for global warming. Deforestation (the cutting down of forests’) is one of the many things that are making Global Warming. When a single tree is cut down, carbon dioxide is released into the air causing the temperature to raise a fraction of a degree. However, cutting down a whole forest or two, results in a major change in temperature and the amount of carbon dioxide (not meant to be inhaled) in the air. If this movie was seen by at least ¼ of the amount of people here in the U.S and everyone did something like buy a vehicle with a higher MPG or something as so simple as to changing a regular light bulb over to a fluorescent bulb, a very large amount of carbon dioxide would be decreased.
Changing the filter on a furnace or air conditioner saves 350 pounds of carbon dioxide in one single year. - http://climatecrisis.net/takeaction/whatyoucando/ viewed: 9/17/2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Blog 1 Freedom -vs- Equality
There will always be a long standing conflict between those that have equality and those that have freedom. I personally think that freedom and equality are two things that can coexist, but not to the extremes that everyone would like them to be. There are conflicts that always arise between the two when you try to have them both. So you would have to ask yourself what is more important to you and then you would have to go from there. To really understand the conflict between them; you really have to look at the two extremes of both freedom and equality.
People that have all the freedom they need don’t have as much freedom as they think. Humans are animals and we do find ways of governing ourselves; even if it is through a fight to see who is a stronger person. By doing this they have unknowingly caused inequality within the group. The persons that end up in the governing body will have more power than those that are not. They might take more for themselves and their families, because they are the leader or part of the ones in power. If they don’t like someone in their group; they can have that person picked on, removed from the group, or just ignored within the group. This takes away from the equal treatment that everyone else had once shared.
Then you have the next extreme of everyone being equal; which is slightly impossible because someone will always be in power. As I said before, we are animals and we will find ways to govern ourselves. The best way to look at an extreme like this is to give you an example of this extreme; and the best examples that everyone knows are Russia and China. These people are “equal”, but they have no real freedoms. They are told how they are to run their lives, how many children to have, how much they are going to get to eat, etc. Having a government that tells you how to do all these things would be the only way to keep the equality that one would desire.
So now I am back to the beginning question; what happens? Usually there is a fight between the two groups. Both sides believe that their way of thinking is correct and that no one else is right. We have actually seen this conflict many times in our history and it won’t be our last. World War II is (sort of) an example of these two sides conflicting. Adolf Hitler wanted the world to be full of his Aryan, making everyone equal and the Allied powers were opposed to this and wanted freedoms. This is only one example of many. There is the Revolutionary War, Vietnam, the Crusades, and many numerous wars in Africa between the tribes. This is a conflict that usually has bloody ends because no one is willing to compromise. That is what happens when these two values, freedom and equality, collide.
People that have all the freedom they need don’t have as much freedom as they think. Humans are animals and we do find ways of governing ourselves; even if it is through a fight to see who is a stronger person. By doing this they have unknowingly caused inequality within the group. The persons that end up in the governing body will have more power than those that are not. They might take more for themselves and their families, because they are the leader or part of the ones in power. If they don’t like someone in their group; they can have that person picked on, removed from the group, or just ignored within the group. This takes away from the equal treatment that everyone else had once shared.
Then you have the next extreme of everyone being equal; which is slightly impossible because someone will always be in power. As I said before, we are animals and we will find ways to govern ourselves. The best way to look at an extreme like this is to give you an example of this extreme; and the best examples that everyone knows are Russia and China. These people are “equal”, but they have no real freedoms. They are told how they are to run their lives, how many children to have, how much they are going to get to eat, etc. Having a government that tells you how to do all these things would be the only way to keep the equality that one would desire.
So now I am back to the beginning question; what happens? Usually there is a fight between the two groups. Both sides believe that their way of thinking is correct and that no one else is right. We have actually seen this conflict many times in our history and it won’t be our last. World War II is (sort of) an example of these two sides conflicting. Adolf Hitler wanted the world to be full of his Aryan, making everyone equal and the Allied powers were opposed to this and wanted freedoms. This is only one example of many. There is the Revolutionary War, Vietnam, the Crusades, and many numerous wars in Africa between the tribes. This is a conflict that usually has bloody ends because no one is willing to compromise. That is what happens when these two values, freedom and equality, collide.
Freedom vs. Equality
Today, it seems to me that all people want is to be treated equally yet be free to do as they please. What does it mean to be “free”? Some may say it means that a person can do whatever they want, whenever they want. However, I would have to say that being free means being under a democratic rule where everyone gets to voice their own opinion and it actually matters. What does it mean to be “equal” or have equality? I would say that to be treated equally, everyone would have to be treated the exact same way, no questions asked. How is this possible? How will this work?
When these two come into contact all it starts is conflict. Freedom and Equality to me, are two totally different prospects. People who work hard to become who they are today deserve everything they have and continue to get. There are also people out there who do absolutely nothing with their lives and get everything they want. Those are the people who make me sick to my stomach. I dont understand how anyone could just sit around, do nothing and expect everything they want when they want it. Those people are all about equality. Thinking that all people should be treated equal, whether it is worked for or not.
Those who are for freedom...well. I look at them the same. Believing that everyone should have unlimited freedom. If that was the case, how many people do you think would be left on this Earth? I can honestly say that if everyone had unlimited freedom i would not be writing this blog today. Im not sure where I would be, but I definitely would not be in school. I would probably be in the same situation I was 3 years ago when I still lived in Florida. Not wanting to get into that so just take my word that it was not the place anyone should be in.
I think that freedom and equality should be added to the list of the seven deadly sins. Anyone who acts upon having unlimited freedom will end up in prison or worse dead, and those who act like they deserve everything everyone else has and don't have to work for it, well they are just going to end up very unhappy people. No sane person would want to be associated with anyone who thinks or act like that. I sure dont, but that's just me.
When these two come into contact all it starts is conflict. Freedom and Equality to me, are two totally different prospects. People who work hard to become who they are today deserve everything they have and continue to get. There are also people out there who do absolutely nothing with their lives and get everything they want. Those are the people who make me sick to my stomach. I dont understand how anyone could just sit around, do nothing and expect everything they want when they want it. Those people are all about equality. Thinking that all people should be treated equal, whether it is worked for or not.
Those who are for freedom...well. I look at them the same. Believing that everyone should have unlimited freedom. If that was the case, how many people do you think would be left on this Earth? I can honestly say that if everyone had unlimited freedom i would not be writing this blog today. Im not sure where I would be, but I definitely would not be in school. I would probably be in the same situation I was 3 years ago when I still lived in Florida. Not wanting to get into that so just take my word that it was not the place anyone should be in.
I think that freedom and equality should be added to the list of the seven deadly sins. Anyone who acts upon having unlimited freedom will end up in prison or worse dead, and those who act like they deserve everything everyone else has and don't have to work for it, well they are just going to end up very unhappy people. No sane person would want to be associated with anyone who thinks or act like that. I sure dont, but that's just me.
Blog 1: Freedom vs. Equality
Freedom in America is something our country fought very hard to achieve. We are a free country, but we still have our limits to freedom. We havefreedom, but you cannot abuse the freedom that we have.Equality is saying that everyone in America is being treated equal. It issaying that everyone is going by the same rules. These means citizens aregoing by the same rules that the government are. It is also stating thatone man is not richer than another man.I think when freedom and equality come into conflict it is taking awayfrom one or the other. It seems to me like freedom and equality areopposites. If you are free, you are free to be who you have worked to be. If you have worked to become wealthy then you deserve to be wealthy. Ifeveryone is equal it is taking away from freedom.I think that if we lived in a country that was about equality it wouldsolve a lot of the problems that we do have. There are wealthy peoplethat are throwing away food every day, and then in other parts of thecountry you have people starving. If everything was equal it would makeour world a better place. I don’t see America ever being completelyequal. Americans worked hard to get the freedom that we have and that isnot something that would be given up in anyway.
Americans value freedom and equality. What happens when these values come into conflict? (For example: When free people are against equality or when equal people want to limit freedoms.)
Well first of all I should probably tell you what freedom means to me before we go into talking about what would happen if someone decided to take it away from me. Freedom to me is being able to wash your car in your own drive way wearing anything you would like to wear. There are no rules that say girls can’t wear short shorts and a swim suit top, or having someone say that she is showing too much skin for someone her age. There’s no rule that says by a girls twenty-first birthday does she have to be wed with two children. No, we live in a free state that clearly says in the bill of rights we have the freedom of: Freedom of speech, press, religion, and petition.
If I had grown up in a country were these freedoms aren’t allowed I’m not sure it would bother me too much, yes I’m sure I wouldn’t like them. But I don’t agree with things now! No one is going to agree with everything, or go along with the way our unique government thinks it should run. There will always be that one person who is willing to make waves. The problem arises when an emperor comes in, starts taking charge of everything. Making new rules, religions, and appoints himself head of state! Every normal person with a brain is going to know that isn’t right, and if he has any say in what his life should be like, they will use their voice, I mean after all you might as well use it…Thus I give you the birth of a revolution!
Since the dawn of written word people have been having revolutions over one thing or another, most of it over land and freedom! The ordinary man doesn’t like to be told what to do especially by an outsider. For example: Rome and Egypt. Caesar thought he could come in take control of everything and claim it was for God and country. But in the end we all knew what happened to the mighty Caesar, “Et tu Brutus?” He was betrayed by his “so called” best mate! It just goes to show that no matter what, the human man or woman will not give up freedom for anything in the entire world.
The last part would be equality. The normal person wants to be considered the same as everyone else no matter what color, where you grew up, what side of the tracks they grew up on, or how much money they make in a financial year. They want to be the same as the Joe Blow right next door! My opinion in that is if they can talk, walk, and are breathing, they can do whatever that man down the block can. A person is only held back by themselves, and I truly believe that you are your own worst enemy. Just like Martin Luther King Jr, he was a black man who had a dream that one day our kids would walk down the street and see nothing but people. They would look past what was on the outside and see only what was just like them on the inside! Yet that was how many years ago, and we are still fighting to see that dream come true… So as a closing to thins topic which I’m sure I could go on and on about equality. I leave you with this quote for a very wise man of color proving that not only white men know what they are talking about. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools”
Well first of all I should probably tell you what freedom means to me before we go into talking about what would happen if someone decided to take it away from me. Freedom to me is being able to wash your car in your own drive way wearing anything you would like to wear. There are no rules that say girls can’t wear short shorts and a swim suit top, or having someone say that she is showing too much skin for someone her age. There’s no rule that says by a girls twenty-first birthday does she have to be wed with two children. No, we live in a free state that clearly says in the bill of rights we have the freedom of: Freedom of speech, press, religion, and petition.
If I had grown up in a country were these freedoms aren’t allowed I’m not sure it would bother me too much, yes I’m sure I wouldn’t like them. But I don’t agree with things now! No one is going to agree with everything, or go along with the way our unique government thinks it should run. There will always be that one person who is willing to make waves. The problem arises when an emperor comes in, starts taking charge of everything. Making new rules, religions, and appoints himself head of state! Every normal person with a brain is going to know that isn’t right, and if he has any say in what his life should be like, they will use their voice, I mean after all you might as well use it…Thus I give you the birth of a revolution!
Since the dawn of written word people have been having revolutions over one thing or another, most of it over land and freedom! The ordinary man doesn’t like to be told what to do especially by an outsider. For example: Rome and Egypt. Caesar thought he could come in take control of everything and claim it was for God and country. But in the end we all knew what happened to the mighty Caesar, “Et tu Brutus?” He was betrayed by his “so called” best mate! It just goes to show that no matter what, the human man or woman will not give up freedom for anything in the entire world.
The last part would be equality. The normal person wants to be considered the same as everyone else no matter what color, where you grew up, what side of the tracks they grew up on, or how much money they make in a financial year. They want to be the same as the Joe Blow right next door! My opinion in that is if they can talk, walk, and are breathing, they can do whatever that man down the block can. A person is only held back by themselves, and I truly believe that you are your own worst enemy. Just like Martin Luther King Jr, he was a black man who had a dream that one day our kids would walk down the street and see nothing but people. They would look past what was on the outside and see only what was just like them on the inside! Yet that was how many years ago, and we are still fighting to see that dream come true… So as a closing to thins topic which I’m sure I could go on and on about equality. I leave you with this quote for a very wise man of color proving that not only white men know what they are talking about. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools”
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Underage
Throughout the United States, the legal drinking age is 21. However, in most places this is not necessarily the case. Children are brought up in a alcohol society leading to disoriented lifestyles. To an individual deciding whether to drink is a personal decision that he or she will inevitably have to make. As alcohol abuse continues to spread, the consequences of underage drinking as well rises. Underage alcohol use is more likely to kill adolescences than any illegal drugs combined. Alcohol Abuse is a significant dilemma that impairs the decision making process of the individual. Alcohol prevents messages trying to get to the brain, altering a person s emotions, perceptions, movement, hearing, and vision. Under the influence, an individual may make harmful decisions such as endangering other people, harm oneself, and set bad examples.
When an individual is intoxicated, he or she makes unintelligent decisions that effects each person in his or her surroundings. Getting behind the wheel is a crucial decision that an individual should not take lightly. The driver is responsible for every life that is in the vehicle. Being under the influence, inhibits the driver to get to his or her destination safely. Adolescents, not under the influence, already have an increased risk for having an accident because of their lack of driving experience. For that reason, driving while intoxicated increases the risk of a collision. Along with getting behind the wheel under the influence, there our other ways to endanger another individual s life.
Along with endangering other people, an individual also harms oneself. Alcohol takes a dangerous toll on the human body. Alcohol is a depressant, which means that it slows the function of the nervous system. Alcohol combined with conditions such as depression and stress also contribute to the third leading cause of death among adolescences, which is suicide. When large amounts of alcoholic beverages are consumed several problems occur in one s body. Alcohol poisoning is a result of continuous drinking habits. The body becomes poisoned by the alcohol being consumed, and eventually stops functioning. Other problems also evolve from drinking heavily. Teen drinkers are more likely to have health problems in the future. Into adulthood an individual will have risks such as damaging organs, such as the liver, heart, and brain. Other difficulties with the body will surface if alcohol abuse is not controlled.
When an individual is under the influence, he or she can set a bad impression. Drinking impairs ones brain enabling he or she to think straight. This may cause an individual to do embarrassing acts such as throwing up. Hangovers are also a result of consuming large amounts of alcohol. Hangovers are not fun, and is very embarrassing to a person. An adolescent is admired by younger age groups. Children admire and absorb every aspect of a teen. Adolescence have such an amazing impact on children, but sometimes teens make wrong decisions that lead children in the wrong direction.
In conclusion, alcohol is forcefully promoted throughout society, and is regarded as a normal part of adolescence. Underage drinking is dangerous to oneself, other individuals, and one s reputation. Individuals who begin drinking at an early age develop serious alcohol problems that effects one s lifestyle. It can destroy an individuals life.
When an individual is intoxicated, he or she makes unintelligent decisions that effects each person in his or her surroundings. Getting behind the wheel is a crucial decision that an individual should not take lightly. The driver is responsible for every life that is in the vehicle. Being under the influence, inhibits the driver to get to his or her destination safely. Adolescents, not under the influence, already have an increased risk for having an accident because of their lack of driving experience. For that reason, driving while intoxicated increases the risk of a collision. Along with getting behind the wheel under the influence, there our other ways to endanger another individual s life.
Along with endangering other people, an individual also harms oneself. Alcohol takes a dangerous toll on the human body. Alcohol is a depressant, which means that it slows the function of the nervous system. Alcohol combined with conditions such as depression and stress also contribute to the third leading cause of death among adolescences, which is suicide. When large amounts of alcoholic beverages are consumed several problems occur in one s body. Alcohol poisoning is a result of continuous drinking habits. The body becomes poisoned by the alcohol being consumed, and eventually stops functioning. Other problems also evolve from drinking heavily. Teen drinkers are more likely to have health problems in the future. Into adulthood an individual will have risks such as damaging organs, such as the liver, heart, and brain. Other difficulties with the body will surface if alcohol abuse is not controlled.
When an individual is under the influence, he or she can set a bad impression. Drinking impairs ones brain enabling he or she to think straight. This may cause an individual to do embarrassing acts such as throwing up. Hangovers are also a result of consuming large amounts of alcohol. Hangovers are not fun, and is very embarrassing to a person. An adolescent is admired by younger age groups. Children admire and absorb every aspect of a teen. Adolescence have such an amazing impact on children, but sometimes teens make wrong decisions that lead children in the wrong direction.
In conclusion, alcohol is forcefully promoted throughout society, and is regarded as a normal part of adolescence. Underage drinking is dangerous to oneself, other individuals, and one s reputation. Individuals who begin drinking at an early age develop serious alcohol problems that effects one s lifestyle. It can destroy an individuals life.
My Hero
The word hero can have many definitions depending on the individual and their expectations in life. Through the eyes of a child, a hero can fly through the sky, have incredible strength, or become invisible. In reality, these abilities fail to exist, and the perception of a hero develops into something inconceivable. To me, a hero can portray far less unimaginable characteristics. A hero simply helps, listens, and gives advice when I am confused and frustrated with life. My mother fits these attributes completely. Because my mother remains a strong willed, determined woman she fits my image of a true hero. My mother is loving, encouraging, and hardworking.
My mother loves me without a doubt. No matter what I do, no matter how many times I disobey her trust, she still continues to love me unconditionally. She has a extraordinary way of knowing when I am upset and need guidance. It seems as if she can see right through me and read my mind. High morals and standards from her family is the basis of the love that she shows to me. Her mother gave the same love that my mother shows to me. That in itself demonstrates the true meaning of a hero.
Beside the fact that my mother loves me unconditionally, she works hard to keep the household running properly. She works at a job that she despises, but does it to supply the needs of the family. She has tolerated her career only for the welfare of her family. Because she chooses to put her children first, she sacrifices her own dreams. At times I take her selfless acts for granted; however, as I have matured I see with clarity the sacrifices she has made for the happiness of her family.
My mother portrays both of these attributes; however, encouraging remains her strong point. My mother’s motto in life states to always aim your goals higher than you can achieve. She tells me never to settle, and to always strive to be the best. She reminds me that life is not a dress rehearsal, but that life is happening right now, and she reminds me to have color and passion in every aspect of my life. My mother helps me to get motivated, and she sets me on a path where my individuality shines through. She uses honesty to make me stronger and prepare me for the real world.
In conclusion, my mother inspires and motivates me to be a better person. She reminds me that I can accomplish any task that comes my way and to always pursue my goals. I will forever remember the values my mother instilled into me.I know she will always be there for me through the many chapters of my life, and that, to me, shows the true meaning of a hero.
My mother loves me without a doubt. No matter what I do, no matter how many times I disobey her trust, she still continues to love me unconditionally. She has a extraordinary way of knowing when I am upset and need guidance. It seems as if she can see right through me and read my mind. High morals and standards from her family is the basis of the love that she shows to me. Her mother gave the same love that my mother shows to me. That in itself demonstrates the true meaning of a hero.
Beside the fact that my mother loves me unconditionally, she works hard to keep the household running properly. She works at a job that she despises, but does it to supply the needs of the family. She has tolerated her career only for the welfare of her family. Because she chooses to put her children first, she sacrifices her own dreams. At times I take her selfless acts for granted; however, as I have matured I see with clarity the sacrifices she has made for the happiness of her family.
My mother portrays both of these attributes; however, encouraging remains her strong point. My mother’s motto in life states to always aim your goals higher than you can achieve. She tells me never to settle, and to always strive to be the best. She reminds me that life is not a dress rehearsal, but that life is happening right now, and she reminds me to have color and passion in every aspect of my life. My mother helps me to get motivated, and she sets me on a path where my individuality shines through. She uses honesty to make me stronger and prepare me for the real world.
In conclusion, my mother inspires and motivates me to be a better person. She reminds me that I can accomplish any task that comes my way and to always pursue my goals. I will forever remember the values my mother instilled into me.I know she will always be there for me through the many chapters of my life, and that, to me, shows the true meaning of a hero.
Childhood Memories
Just beyond my yard awaits a special place where I can reminisce about happy childhood memories that I have experienced. During our childhood, my friends and I used this place as a hideaway. In this place homework was unknown , chores never existed, and our imaginations never stopped. Our troubles, worries, and responsibilities were left behind. This place was an exciting playground where our imaginations could run wild.
A babbling brook located just outside our front door served as a place to escape from reality. The pure rainwater washed over the rocks forming pools of water sporadically down the creek. These pools of water were filled with strange creatures; however, the dangerous creatures lurking nearby such as a snake or crawfish never frightened us. We would catch these creatures in our pails and admire our great find. The fascinating rocks we collected meant more to us than a chest full of gold. The rocks, in our imaginations, transformed into tools and the clay turned into makeup where we would give ourselves names and pretend we were Indians. We used this to escape from our own identity and transform into someone incredible. I often recollect those carefree days, when the sun glistened on the surface of the water, and we sat aimlessly watching the clouds float by without a care in the world.
The journey to our special place seemed to make the brook even more interesting, a challenge in itself to reach. Grown-ups were not allowed in our private world. Therefore, we told our parents to cover their eyes so they could not see where we were headed. In our minds our little world belonged to us and we made the rules. Reality failed to exist in our world and imagination flourished. To reach our destination, we traveled down a narrow path, to a steep treacherous bank. The bank ,to us, appeared as an enormous mountainside. We carefully eased down the hill and made our way to our secrete hideaway. After that, we crossed the shaky bridge that we made to cross the ditch, leading us to the creek. When we reached the creek, we immediately threw our shoes off and splashed in the cool water.
We would play endlessly until the last ray of light from the sun had slipped behind the trees. Only then, did we realize it was time to end our adventure. Sometimes I take a walk to our creek, but it has changed. The path has disappeared; the water does not feel as crisp. The images in the pools have faded, but if I stay long enough and look hard enough I see glimpses of them, or is it just my sweet memories?
A babbling brook located just outside our front door served as a place to escape from reality. The pure rainwater washed over the rocks forming pools of water sporadically down the creek. These pools of water were filled with strange creatures; however, the dangerous creatures lurking nearby such as a snake or crawfish never frightened us. We would catch these creatures in our pails and admire our great find. The fascinating rocks we collected meant more to us than a chest full of gold. The rocks, in our imaginations, transformed into tools and the clay turned into makeup where we would give ourselves names and pretend we were Indians. We used this to escape from our own identity and transform into someone incredible. I often recollect those carefree days, when the sun glistened on the surface of the water, and we sat aimlessly watching the clouds float by without a care in the world.
The journey to our special place seemed to make the brook even more interesting, a challenge in itself to reach. Grown-ups were not allowed in our private world. Therefore, we told our parents to cover their eyes so they could not see where we were headed. In our minds our little world belonged to us and we made the rules. Reality failed to exist in our world and imagination flourished. To reach our destination, we traveled down a narrow path, to a steep treacherous bank. The bank ,to us, appeared as an enormous mountainside. We carefully eased down the hill and made our way to our secrete hideaway. After that, we crossed the shaky bridge that we made to cross the ditch, leading us to the creek. When we reached the creek, we immediately threw our shoes off and splashed in the cool water.
We would play endlessly until the last ray of light from the sun had slipped behind the trees. Only then, did we realize it was time to end our adventure. Sometimes I take a walk to our creek, but it has changed. The path has disappeared; the water does not feel as crisp. The images in the pools have faded, but if I stay long enough and look hard enough I see glimpses of them, or is it just my sweet memories?
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
My Neighbor
Blog 12
11 years ago I moved into this place on April fools day to be exact. Lots of good things have happened to me and lots of bad things also. One good thing that happened to me was that when I moved in there was a little girl who lived down the road about 1/8 mile I think she was 11. We talked from time to time, and when she was about 15 she babysat for me for awhile. When she was younger she even went swimming with my kids and I, at the pool she reminds about that sometimes. As the years passed by I got to watch her grow from a skinny little girl into a, beautiful adult parent. It’s really pretty cool because now she lives rite across the road from me. So after watching her grow up now I get to watch her kids grow up that’s almost two generations I have watched. We were talking about a month ago about how neat it was that when she was in high school my son was in grade school and they road the same bus, and now my son is in high school and her daughter is getting ready for kindergarten next year. I wander if I will live long enough to see one more generation.
Anyway now she is all grown up with three kids, that is quite a handful for anyone, but she does a pretty good job. Her mom and dad still live where she grew up which is really nice for when they want to see there grandkids or if she needs extra help with the kids. I find myself talking to her more all the time we are actually growing quite close, she even had me watch her children one time about a month ago, I was surprised that she did that, she has two kids still in diapers, and I have not changed a diaper in about 12 years, but fortunately I was not called upon to perform that duty. That takes a lot of trust to leave your kids with someone, it made me feel pretty special, but I was a little nervous about it. Anyway my neighbor is quite a pleasant young lady, we got along good 13 years ago and we get along great now she is like family. I even own the same car that she used to drive, I have had it about 1 ½ years now. I know she cares a lot about me, she was always checking in on me when I was on chemo, she still nags at me if I need go to the doctor and do not. One day I fell asleep and she called when I did not answer the phone she got all worried and came beating on my door and the side of my house, then finally went back home and called me about 100 times until I finally woke up. Yep I think she cares for me as much as I do her, and that feels good.
Blog 12
11 years ago I moved into this place on April fools day to be exact. Lots of good things have happened to me and lots of bad things also. One good thing that happened to me was that when I moved in there was a little girl who lived down the road about 1/8 mile I think she was 11. We talked from time to time, and when she was about 15 she babysat for me for awhile. When she was younger she even went swimming with my kids and I, at the pool she reminds about that sometimes. As the years passed by I got to watch her grow from a skinny little girl into a, beautiful adult parent. It’s really pretty cool because now she lives rite across the road from me. So after watching her grow up now I get to watch her kids grow up that’s almost two generations I have watched. We were talking about a month ago about how neat it was that when she was in high school my son was in grade school and they road the same bus, and now my son is in high school and her daughter is getting ready for kindergarten next year. I wander if I will live long enough to see one more generation.
Anyway now she is all grown up with three kids, that is quite a handful for anyone, but she does a pretty good job. Her mom and dad still live where she grew up which is really nice for when they want to see there grandkids or if she needs extra help with the kids. I find myself talking to her more all the time we are actually growing quite close, she even had me watch her children one time about a month ago, I was surprised that she did that, she has two kids still in diapers, and I have not changed a diaper in about 12 years, but fortunately I was not called upon to perform that duty. That takes a lot of trust to leave your kids with someone, it made me feel pretty special, but I was a little nervous about it. Anyway my neighbor is quite a pleasant young lady, we got along good 13 years ago and we get along great now she is like family. I even own the same car that she used to drive, I have had it about 1 ½ years now. I know she cares a lot about me, she was always checking in on me when I was on chemo, she still nags at me if I need go to the doctor and do not. One day I fell asleep and she called when I did not answer the phone she got all worried and came beating on my door and the side of my house, then finally went back home and called me about 100 times until I finally woke up. Yep I think she cares for me as much as I do her, and that feels good.
Drug Testing Recipients of Government Assistance
Blog 11
Hello I’m going to confront you with a problem today. Then we are going to discuss the cause then we will discuss a possible solution. The problem is drug abusers’ living off of government assistance; the cause is that there is no way of keeping them from doing it, the possible solution is drug testing recipients of government assistance.
My main concern with this issue is the line of people waiting to get help who really need it, and cant because someone else is abusing the system. If we were to implement a drug screening for these recipients we could potentially solve two problems at ounce reduce drug abuse and get help to the people who really need it. I imagine every one here knows someone on assistance who really doesn’t need it and I also imagine you know someone who needs assistance and can’t get it. Well that just can’t continue in a country were the majority of people working get drug tested there is no reason that people living off of the working communities taxes should not get the same treatment. If you have a job that requires a drug screening and you fail your test in most cases you loose your job. In some cases they will require you to get help and if you can’t solve the problem then you get terminated. Well I am merely suggesting the same treatment for recipients of government assistance.
So in conclusion let’s take into consideration the needy people waiting in line for help the think about the people who are already getting it and abusing it something needs to be done. I personally think this would be a good solution if you agree I am going to give you the address to the governor and I hope you will take a little time to write him a letter to voice your opinion on this problem.
http://www.in.gov/gov/2310.htm
By Phone: 317-232-4567
By Mail:Office of the GovernorStatehouseIndianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797
Don’t be afraid to contact your voted officials remember they work for us, and they should have to answer to us not the other way around. Come to think of it maybe we should implement a drug testing policy for them after all they are no better than us so they should be treated equally. I imagine that it would be a hard job to get accomplished the politicians probably do more drugs than anyone else I mean after all they can afford it, and they probably use all the drugs that the D.N.A. and F.B.I. confiscate from the drug lords. This is one messed up world we live in any thing is possible.
Blog 11
Hello I’m going to confront you with a problem today. Then we are going to discuss the cause then we will discuss a possible solution. The problem is drug abusers’ living off of government assistance; the cause is that there is no way of keeping them from doing it, the possible solution is drug testing recipients of government assistance.
My main concern with this issue is the line of people waiting to get help who really need it, and cant because someone else is abusing the system. If we were to implement a drug screening for these recipients we could potentially solve two problems at ounce reduce drug abuse and get help to the people who really need it. I imagine every one here knows someone on assistance who really doesn’t need it and I also imagine you know someone who needs assistance and can’t get it. Well that just can’t continue in a country were the majority of people working get drug tested there is no reason that people living off of the working communities taxes should not get the same treatment. If you have a job that requires a drug screening and you fail your test in most cases you loose your job. In some cases they will require you to get help and if you can’t solve the problem then you get terminated. Well I am merely suggesting the same treatment for recipients of government assistance.
So in conclusion let’s take into consideration the needy people waiting in line for help the think about the people who are already getting it and abusing it something needs to be done. I personally think this would be a good solution if you agree I am going to give you the address to the governor and I hope you will take a little time to write him a letter to voice your opinion on this problem.
http://www.in.gov/gov/2310.htm
By Phone: 317-232-4567
By Mail:Office of the GovernorStatehouseIndianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797
Don’t be afraid to contact your voted officials remember they work for us, and they should have to answer to us not the other way around. Come to think of it maybe we should implement a drug testing policy for them after all they are no better than us so they should be treated equally. I imagine that it would be a hard job to get accomplished the politicians probably do more drugs than anyone else I mean after all they can afford it, and they probably use all the drugs that the D.N.A. and F.B.I. confiscate from the drug lords. This is one messed up world we live in any thing is possible.
Chemo-Brain
Blog 10
Hello everyone today I am going to inform you about a condition referred to as Chemo-Brain. I will inform you about the cause, definition, the effects it has on victims, and what you can do to help people who suffer from it. I will also tell a few funny stories about the effects it has had on me. The medical professionals choose to refer to it as cognitive deficits or declining neuropsychological functioning. According to chemocare.com Chemo-Brain is a side effect of different types of chemotherapy that has adverse effects on the victim’s memory, attention, concentration, and abilities to perform various mental task. The medical profession has just began to study the cause and effect of the phenomena and claim that contributing factors include aging, depression, menopause, low blood counts medications, and emotional upheaval of cancer. Hey also claim that if you suffer from this side effect there are certain things you can do to help deal with it they include avoiding distractions, asking people to repeat information, practice task, write down information, use a daily organizer, keep a journal, post reminders, get organized, exercise your memory, manage stress, get plenty of sleep, increase physical activity, do crossword puzzles, and ask for help. One good thing about Chemo-Brain is that the effects are a minor debt to pay for the accomplishments that chemotherapy has on cancer, but they are starting to look for ways to prevent the side effect.
Unfortunately I am a victim of Chemo-Brain I have been suffering from it for a two years and the doctors say it can last anywhere from one year to ten years. It mostly affects my short term memory, my thought process, and my concentration. The people around me sometimes get aggravated with me because I can’t comprehend curtain concepts for instants when my son is tutoring me in algebra. Sometimes the get entertained with me because I do some really stupid stuff. For instants one time I went to fill my glass with pop but instead I filled the ashtray setting on the table by my glass. A lot of times I forget where I am going ill leave the house to go one direction but I simply go anther that’s some funny stuff there. Unfortunately in conversation sometimes I get lost and forget what I’m talking about or a lot of times I forget stupid little words and that is the part that really irritates me the most.
So in conclusion now you know that Chemo-Brain is a brain defect. You know it is caused by chemotherapy and you know how it affects the victims who suffer from it. So if you meet someone who has it there are curtain things you can do to make it easier on them be patient, repeat yourself if necessary, and if you see they have got off track in a conversation help them get back on the subject or help them think of that stupid little word that simply escaped there feeble brain, and if it happens to be me its ok to laugh about it. Because really what else can you do but laugh.
Blog 10
Hello everyone today I am going to inform you about a condition referred to as Chemo-Brain. I will inform you about the cause, definition, the effects it has on victims, and what you can do to help people who suffer from it. I will also tell a few funny stories about the effects it has had on me. The medical professionals choose to refer to it as cognitive deficits or declining neuropsychological functioning. According to chemocare.com Chemo-Brain is a side effect of different types of chemotherapy that has adverse effects on the victim’s memory, attention, concentration, and abilities to perform various mental task. The medical profession has just began to study the cause and effect of the phenomena and claim that contributing factors include aging, depression, menopause, low blood counts medications, and emotional upheaval of cancer. Hey also claim that if you suffer from this side effect there are certain things you can do to help deal with it they include avoiding distractions, asking people to repeat information, practice task, write down information, use a daily organizer, keep a journal, post reminders, get organized, exercise your memory, manage stress, get plenty of sleep, increase physical activity, do crossword puzzles, and ask for help. One good thing about Chemo-Brain is that the effects are a minor debt to pay for the accomplishments that chemotherapy has on cancer, but they are starting to look for ways to prevent the side effect.
Unfortunately I am a victim of Chemo-Brain I have been suffering from it for a two years and the doctors say it can last anywhere from one year to ten years. It mostly affects my short term memory, my thought process, and my concentration. The people around me sometimes get aggravated with me because I can’t comprehend curtain concepts for instants when my son is tutoring me in algebra. Sometimes the get entertained with me because I do some really stupid stuff. For instants one time I went to fill my glass with pop but instead I filled the ashtray setting on the table by my glass. A lot of times I forget where I am going ill leave the house to go one direction but I simply go anther that’s some funny stuff there. Unfortunately in conversation sometimes I get lost and forget what I’m talking about or a lot of times I forget stupid little words and that is the part that really irritates me the most.
So in conclusion now you know that Chemo-Brain is a brain defect. You know it is caused by chemotherapy and you know how it affects the victims who suffer from it. So if you meet someone who has it there are curtain things you can do to make it easier on them be patient, repeat yourself if necessary, and if you see they have got off track in a conversation help them get back on the subject or help them think of that stupid little word that simply escaped there feeble brain, and if it happens to be me its ok to laugh about it. Because really what else can you do but laugh.
Use of Birth Control
Blog 9
Today I am going to discuss with you, the importance of using birth control. I will talk about my experiences, abortion, birth control options, and our personal responsibilities of having control over our reproductive abilities.
When I was 17 my first child was born she was unplanned, when I was 21 my second child was born. When my son was born I realized I had all the children I could handle financially and responsibly. At that time I decided to get a vasectomy to ensure the quality of my children’s lives and the quality of my parenting abilities. Wait a minute!!! That was in 1990 where did this child come from in 1994? The math doesn’t work does it or the vasectomy didn’t work. Well the fact of the matter is that my daughter was adopted by me as a single parent in 1997. I got custody of her in 1996 because her mother or father neither had time or the desire to raise her, but they didn’t think about that when they conceived her. This happens all the time!!!
People we have a responsibility to ourselves, our children, and our society to have control over our reproductive abilities. According to Planned Parenthood of Indiana from 7-2006 to 6-2007 there were 5,160 abortions just in Indiana. Pretty sad thought isn’t it, makes me want to scream out to God and ask why!!!
A large potion of people use a pill as a form of birth control and that is very effective 99% to be accurate. Unfortunately in today’s society we need to consider the possibility of disease so I would advise a condom if you are unfamiliar with your partner as a safety measure. At this time there are no pills for males to use, but scientists are researching that avenue according to howstuffworks.com in a research paper by Stephanie Watson.
Ok so in conclusion thanks to my daughter and the 5,160 abortions that took place we can see what happens when we don’t use birth control. So how do we benefit if we do use birth control? Well for one we don’t have to kill little baby’s. We can make sure we are ready to take the responsibility of parenthood before we have children. And we can control the quality of our families lives and the quality of time we have to spend with 2 or 3 children compared to who knows how many. So please be responsible with the miracle of reproduction that God gave you.
I heard this somewhere one time (anyone can be a dad but it takes a real man to be a father) men we are just as responsible as the women so don’t try to push any responsibility off.
Blog 9
Today I am going to discuss with you, the importance of using birth control. I will talk about my experiences, abortion, birth control options, and our personal responsibilities of having control over our reproductive abilities.
When I was 17 my first child was born she was unplanned, when I was 21 my second child was born. When my son was born I realized I had all the children I could handle financially and responsibly. At that time I decided to get a vasectomy to ensure the quality of my children’s lives and the quality of my parenting abilities. Wait a minute!!! That was in 1990 where did this child come from in 1994? The math doesn’t work does it or the vasectomy didn’t work. Well the fact of the matter is that my daughter was adopted by me as a single parent in 1997. I got custody of her in 1996 because her mother or father neither had time or the desire to raise her, but they didn’t think about that when they conceived her. This happens all the time!!!
People we have a responsibility to ourselves, our children, and our society to have control over our reproductive abilities. According to Planned Parenthood of Indiana from 7-2006 to 6-2007 there were 5,160 abortions just in Indiana. Pretty sad thought isn’t it, makes me want to scream out to God and ask why!!!
A large potion of people use a pill as a form of birth control and that is very effective 99% to be accurate. Unfortunately in today’s society we need to consider the possibility of disease so I would advise a condom if you are unfamiliar with your partner as a safety measure. At this time there are no pills for males to use, but scientists are researching that avenue according to howstuffworks.com in a research paper by Stephanie Watson.
Ok so in conclusion thanks to my daughter and the 5,160 abortions that took place we can see what happens when we don’t use birth control. So how do we benefit if we do use birth control? Well for one we don’t have to kill little baby’s. We can make sure we are ready to take the responsibility of parenthood before we have children. And we can control the quality of our families lives and the quality of time we have to spend with 2 or 3 children compared to who knows how many. So please be responsible with the miracle of reproduction that God gave you.
I heard this somewhere one time (anyone can be a dad but it takes a real man to be a father) men we are just as responsible as the women so don’t try to push any responsibility off.
DON’T GET LOST
Blog 8
Hello everyone. How are you doing today? Has anyone here ever been lost? Well after today that may not happen again. Were going to discuss the interstate, highway, and county road systems and how you can use this information to keep from getting lost and if you do it wont be for long. I’m going to give you a few historical facts then show you on two different maps how you can easily keep from getting lost.
The interstate system according to wikipedia.org in 1921 when the Bureau of Public Roads ask the Army to provide a list of roads it considered necessary for national defense. The Interstate Highway system was authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 it had been lobbied by major U.S. automobile manufacturers and championed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. As of 2006 $425 billion has been spent on the original plan that is projected for completion in 2009.Which will be comprised of 160,000 miles of interstate and highway.
So how do we utilize this system for us? Well we need to know how the system works. First is the numbering system it is really quite simple. The Interstate numbers start on the west and using odd numbers get bigger as you travel toward the east. Then they start in the south and get larger as you travel north. There are little green signs on the side of the interstates that are called mile markers they start at the west and south side of each state and get larger toward the east and north side of each state. Very helpfully these mile markers coincide with the exit numbers for example if you want to get off at the Crawfordsville exit at U.S. 231 it would be exit number 34 so if you are traveling west and you see mile marker 38 you know that you have 4 more miles to go until you get to exit 34.
State highways work in the same way except you don’t have exit numbers, but you do still have mile markers that are little blue signs instead of little green signs. And they are numbered from the North and East and get bigger as you travel south and West. Just the opposite of the Interstates.
Now we have the county road system it is a little bit different. What they do is split the county in fourths straight down the middle north and south the straight across east and west. For example in Montgomery county they split it north and south by using U.S 231 then they spit it east and west by using U.S. 32 on the east side of U.S. 231and Base line road on the west side of U.S. 231.Then they number the county roads in increments of miles away from these three different roads for example if you were at the intersection of 150N and 650W you would be one and one half mile north of Base line road and six and one half miles west of U.S. 231.
So as you can see it is really a pretty simple system. Just remember the numbering systems, mile markers, and exit numbers, on the interstates. Remember the numbering system and mile markers on state highways. And remember the numbering system and which direction you are going on county roads and you should not get lost if you do you should be able to look at a map and figure out pretty quick were you are. I hope this information will be very useful to you in your travels. And I thank you for your time. Now please keep these maps in your car because lost is not were you wont to be.
Blog 8
Hello everyone. How are you doing today? Has anyone here ever been lost? Well after today that may not happen again. Were going to discuss the interstate, highway, and county road systems and how you can use this information to keep from getting lost and if you do it wont be for long. I’m going to give you a few historical facts then show you on two different maps how you can easily keep from getting lost.
The interstate system according to wikipedia.org in 1921 when the Bureau of Public Roads ask the Army to provide a list of roads it considered necessary for national defense. The Interstate Highway system was authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 it had been lobbied by major U.S. automobile manufacturers and championed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. As of 2006 $425 billion has been spent on the original plan that is projected for completion in 2009.Which will be comprised of 160,000 miles of interstate and highway.
So how do we utilize this system for us? Well we need to know how the system works. First is the numbering system it is really quite simple. The Interstate numbers start on the west and using odd numbers get bigger as you travel toward the east. Then they start in the south and get larger as you travel north. There are little green signs on the side of the interstates that are called mile markers they start at the west and south side of each state and get larger toward the east and north side of each state. Very helpfully these mile markers coincide with the exit numbers for example if you want to get off at the Crawfordsville exit at U.S. 231 it would be exit number 34 so if you are traveling west and you see mile marker 38 you know that you have 4 more miles to go until you get to exit 34.
State highways work in the same way except you don’t have exit numbers, but you do still have mile markers that are little blue signs instead of little green signs. And they are numbered from the North and East and get bigger as you travel south and West. Just the opposite of the Interstates.
Now we have the county road system it is a little bit different. What they do is split the county in fourths straight down the middle north and south the straight across east and west. For example in Montgomery county they split it north and south by using U.S 231 then they spit it east and west by using U.S. 32 on the east side of U.S. 231and Base line road on the west side of U.S. 231.Then they number the county roads in increments of miles away from these three different roads for example if you were at the intersection of 150N and 650W you would be one and one half mile north of Base line road and six and one half miles west of U.S. 231.
So as you can see it is really a pretty simple system. Just remember the numbering systems, mile markers, and exit numbers, on the interstates. Remember the numbering system and mile markers on state highways. And remember the numbering system and which direction you are going on county roads and you should not get lost if you do you should be able to look at a map and figure out pretty quick were you are. I hope this information will be very useful to you in your travels. And I thank you for your time. Now please keep these maps in your car because lost is not were you wont to be.
Abraham Lincoln
Blog 7
Today I am going to give you information about a man that most people know as the 16th president of the United States of America Abraham Lincoln. I am also going to give you information about a man that most people don’t know, one of the greatest public speakers of all times Abraham Lincoln.
MR. Lincoln was born on 2-12-1809 to a poor family in Laurue Kentucky. In 1816 his family relocated to southern Indiana, which at that time was a harsh, desolate, frontier. In 1830 they relocated again to Illinois just south of Decatur. In 1831 at the age of 21 MR. Lincoln had grown to be a tall man 6’4” to be exact, and very powerful in upper body, but also very awkward. At this time he set out to live his own life in New Salem, Illinois. In 1834 he was elected to the Illinois General Assembly. IN 1836 he received his license to practice law.In 1842 he married Mary Todd. In 1846 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. On November 6th 1860 he was electected the 16th President of the United States of America.
Now this is regarded by millions of people including me as proof that Democracy offers all men the best hope for a full , and free life.
This brings us to President Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest public speakers of all times. On 4-12-1861 the civil war started, and lasted until 4-9-1865. Thus President Lincoln had to hold this Country, and our Democracy together through public speeches, and letters of which he wrote all of personally. Through roughly four years of war between what was now a country split in two parts ,the Union, and the Confederacy. In doing so he proved to the world that Democracy could be a lasting form of Government through the worst of times.
The Gettysberg Address ,and many of his other speeches, and writings are still classic statements of Democratic beliefs, and goals.
One part of his success was his character he was a noble man with great merits, and insight. President Lincoln’s insight on the civil war was that at any cost the Union must be saved, and that Democracy would not be destroyed by a minority of the American people. The other factor of his success was his ability to express his convictions so clearly, and with such force. He simply wanted to be convincing, and understood. He didn’t realize that he was writing words that would set the frame of the U.S. Government , and the Americans beliefs for years to come.
So let’s talk about the Gettysberg address as an example shall we. A two minute speech in which he defined his beliefs, and remorse for the fallen lives of both side of the great battle, and that they had not died in vein. But and I quote “THAT THIS NATION UNDER GOD SHALL HAVE A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM, AND THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE,FOR THE PEOPLE SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THIS EARTH”. This two minute speech given at Gettysberg, Pennsylvania on 11-19-1863 is now carved on a stone plaque in the Lincoln Memorial. There were five copies of this speech written only one of which President Lincoln signed, and according to THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA were I got all of this information none were written on an old brown envelope with a pencil on the train ride to Gettysberg.
Some of President Lincoln’s speeches, and writings have come to be honored as great pieces of literature. Wouldn’t he be amazed?
On 1-1-1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation another great writing by President Lincoln. On 11-8-1864 he was re-elected as President of the United States of America.
So in closing Abraham Lincoln was not only the 16th president , who held this country, and democracy together through one of the nations’ worst moments. He was also one of this countries greatest public speakers, and writers. So this young boy who grew up in worse than what we now consider poverty stricken conditions, and rose to fulfill one of the most powerful, and responsible positions in the world. Had his extraordinary live shortened by John Wilkes Booth at forde’s theatre on 4-14-1865. When Booth shot him in the head with a pistol. President Lincoln died on 4-15 1865 at 7:22 AM in Washington D.C. with his family, and high Government officials watching over him. Not to leave you in suspense MR. Booth was hunted down ,and killed by the U.S. army on 4-26-1865 near Port Royal Virginia. President Lincoln was buried on 5-4-1865 at Springfield, Illinois the monument on his grave is a place of universal pilgrimage.
Blog 7
Today I am going to give you information about a man that most people know as the 16th president of the United States of America Abraham Lincoln. I am also going to give you information about a man that most people don’t know, one of the greatest public speakers of all times Abraham Lincoln.
MR. Lincoln was born on 2-12-1809 to a poor family in Laurue Kentucky. In 1816 his family relocated to southern Indiana, which at that time was a harsh, desolate, frontier. In 1830 they relocated again to Illinois just south of Decatur. In 1831 at the age of 21 MR. Lincoln had grown to be a tall man 6’4” to be exact, and very powerful in upper body, but also very awkward. At this time he set out to live his own life in New Salem, Illinois. In 1834 he was elected to the Illinois General Assembly. IN 1836 he received his license to practice law.In 1842 he married Mary Todd. In 1846 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. On November 6th 1860 he was electected the 16th President of the United States of America.
Now this is regarded by millions of people including me as proof that Democracy offers all men the best hope for a full , and free life.
This brings us to President Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest public speakers of all times. On 4-12-1861 the civil war started, and lasted until 4-9-1865. Thus President Lincoln had to hold this Country, and our Democracy together through public speeches, and letters of which he wrote all of personally. Through roughly four years of war between what was now a country split in two parts ,the Union, and the Confederacy. In doing so he proved to the world that Democracy could be a lasting form of Government through the worst of times.
The Gettysberg Address ,and many of his other speeches, and writings are still classic statements of Democratic beliefs, and goals.
One part of his success was his character he was a noble man with great merits, and insight. President Lincoln’s insight on the civil war was that at any cost the Union must be saved, and that Democracy would not be destroyed by a minority of the American people. The other factor of his success was his ability to express his convictions so clearly, and with such force. He simply wanted to be convincing, and understood. He didn’t realize that he was writing words that would set the frame of the U.S. Government , and the Americans beliefs for years to come.
So let’s talk about the Gettysberg address as an example shall we. A two minute speech in which he defined his beliefs, and remorse for the fallen lives of both side of the great battle, and that they had not died in vein. But and I quote “THAT THIS NATION UNDER GOD SHALL HAVE A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM, AND THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE,FOR THE PEOPLE SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THIS EARTH”. This two minute speech given at Gettysberg, Pennsylvania on 11-19-1863 is now carved on a stone plaque in the Lincoln Memorial. There were five copies of this speech written only one of which President Lincoln signed, and according to THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA were I got all of this information none were written on an old brown envelope with a pencil on the train ride to Gettysberg.
Some of President Lincoln’s speeches, and writings have come to be honored as great pieces of literature. Wouldn’t he be amazed?
On 1-1-1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation another great writing by President Lincoln. On 11-8-1864 he was re-elected as President of the United States of America.
So in closing Abraham Lincoln was not only the 16th president , who held this country, and democracy together through one of the nations’ worst moments. He was also one of this countries greatest public speakers, and writers. So this young boy who grew up in worse than what we now consider poverty stricken conditions, and rose to fulfill one of the most powerful, and responsible positions in the world. Had his extraordinary live shortened by John Wilkes Booth at forde’s theatre on 4-14-1865. When Booth shot him in the head with a pistol. President Lincoln died on 4-15 1865 at 7:22 AM in Washington D.C. with his family, and high Government officials watching over him. Not to leave you in suspense MR. Booth was hunted down ,and killed by the U.S. army on 4-26-1865 near Port Royal Virginia. President Lincoln was buried on 5-4-1865 at Springfield, Illinois the monument on his grave is a place of universal pilgrimage.
My Youngest Daughter
Blog 6
Well the first thing I have to say about her is she is a blonde, not literally, but she acts goofy all the time. She is smart she gets good grades, and is involved with school functions. She is active in sports basketball and softball, and she pretty good at both of them. She lived with my son and I for years then about 4 years ago she decided she was going to go live with her mother. Which I thought was a bad idea, but at her age I figured it was up to her, so away she went.
One day when her mom was mad at me she was running her mouth about me, and my daughter told her not to talk about me like that, and her mom blurted out in rage that she had been adopted my me when she was 3 years old. That’s wrong on so many levels, and then my daughter went into meltdown emotionally. It took her about 6 months to get over it but she finally did, and I am glad it would kill me to loose her. Now we are ok not as close as we were before, but ok.
Now she comes down almost every weekend and we try to have a good time, but classes keep me pretty busy so we usually just hang around the house but that will be different after this week. I’m only taking 2 classes in the summer so hopefully we can start having some fun like we used to.
One thing a little strange about her that I never did figure out about her is, that the whole time I was on chemo she hardly ever came to visit. I think it scared her that there was a chance I might die, and I think she thought she might accidently be here when it happened, but I am really not sure what it was.
She is not quite as self motivated as my son but she is a pretty good worker when she wants to be. She is 4 years younger than my son, but she can hold her own when they start wrestling around, she is a big girl not obese but big and pretty athletic. She likes to talk on the phone a lot, and chat on the internet. She never reads for entertainment which I think is strange because my son reads a lot. She likes to go camping, fishing, swimming, and canoeing, she likes it outside she goes hunting with me, she likes to watch TV which I don’t do much of, but from time to time I’ll watch a movie with her and we both enjoy that especially scary movies. Ok that’s all I’m going to say about her for now.
Blog 6
Well the first thing I have to say about her is she is a blonde, not literally, but she acts goofy all the time. She is smart she gets good grades, and is involved with school functions. She is active in sports basketball and softball, and she pretty good at both of them. She lived with my son and I for years then about 4 years ago she decided she was going to go live with her mother. Which I thought was a bad idea, but at her age I figured it was up to her, so away she went.
One day when her mom was mad at me she was running her mouth about me, and my daughter told her not to talk about me like that, and her mom blurted out in rage that she had been adopted my me when she was 3 years old. That’s wrong on so many levels, and then my daughter went into meltdown emotionally. It took her about 6 months to get over it but she finally did, and I am glad it would kill me to loose her. Now we are ok not as close as we were before, but ok.
Now she comes down almost every weekend and we try to have a good time, but classes keep me pretty busy so we usually just hang around the house but that will be different after this week. I’m only taking 2 classes in the summer so hopefully we can start having some fun like we used to.
One thing a little strange about her that I never did figure out about her is, that the whole time I was on chemo she hardly ever came to visit. I think it scared her that there was a chance I might die, and I think she thought she might accidently be here when it happened, but I am really not sure what it was.
She is not quite as self motivated as my son but she is a pretty good worker when she wants to be. She is 4 years younger than my son, but she can hold her own when they start wrestling around, she is a big girl not obese but big and pretty athletic. She likes to talk on the phone a lot, and chat on the internet. She never reads for entertainment which I think is strange because my son reads a lot. She likes to go camping, fishing, swimming, and canoeing, she likes it outside she goes hunting with me, she likes to watch TV which I don’t do much of, but from time to time I’ll watch a movie with her and we both enjoy that especially scary movies. Ok that’s all I’m going to say about her for now.
My Oldest Daughter
Blog 5
My oldest daughter and I have had quite the rocky relationship; we actually got along pretty good until she moved to Louisiana, when she was 15. She was born when I was 17, and her mother and I did don’t stay together long after that. She has always lived with her mom except for the 3 months she lived with me soon after her mother moved to Louisiana. Before that she lived in Darlington most of her life, with her mom and step father a friend of mine from school, he was pretty cool. She would come down almost every other weekend for years. Then her mother and step father hooked up with this couple from Louisiana, and decided to swop partners, for the weekend. Then they decided they were going to swop for life, so both couples got divorced, and they all moved to Louisiana. That’s when my daughter came to stay with me for the last three months of school, when she went to Louisiana to visit for the summer, she never returned.
I have not seen her sense that was 6 years ago; let me tell you that really messed up our relationship. They expected me to drive back and forth to Louisiana to visit her, well that was not at all in my budget. So everyone blamed me because we never got to see each other the whole time. Oh well someone has to carry the load why not me.
Now she is coming up to visit in about a week, and I will get to see her for the first time in about 6 years. I am really exited about the visit, and I hope she is to, and I hope we have a good visit while she is here. She will be here for a week, but that is not near close enough time to catch up on 6 years.
She just turned 22 and is graduating from community college this spring; I guess she did good in school that’s what she says. I’m not sure what her plans are now that she is out of school she has a few ideas but has not made a permanent decision. Whatever it is I’m sure she will do fine, she is a strong willed young lady with good morals. I have to admit her mother did a good job raising her despite the fact that she moved her away from me, and caused me to loose out on 6 years of my daughters’ life. Water under the bridge I guess if we work at it I’m sure we can make up for some of it. Anyway we will find out next week.
Blog 5
My oldest daughter and I have had quite the rocky relationship; we actually got along pretty good until she moved to Louisiana, when she was 15. She was born when I was 17, and her mother and I did don’t stay together long after that. She has always lived with her mom except for the 3 months she lived with me soon after her mother moved to Louisiana. Before that she lived in Darlington most of her life, with her mom and step father a friend of mine from school, he was pretty cool. She would come down almost every other weekend for years. Then her mother and step father hooked up with this couple from Louisiana, and decided to swop partners, for the weekend. Then they decided they were going to swop for life, so both couples got divorced, and they all moved to Louisiana. That’s when my daughter came to stay with me for the last three months of school, when she went to Louisiana to visit for the summer, she never returned.
I have not seen her sense that was 6 years ago; let me tell you that really messed up our relationship. They expected me to drive back and forth to Louisiana to visit her, well that was not at all in my budget. So everyone blamed me because we never got to see each other the whole time. Oh well someone has to carry the load why not me.
Now she is coming up to visit in about a week, and I will get to see her for the first time in about 6 years. I am really exited about the visit, and I hope she is to, and I hope we have a good visit while she is here. She will be here for a week, but that is not near close enough time to catch up on 6 years.
She just turned 22 and is graduating from community college this spring; I guess she did good in school that’s what she says. I’m not sure what her plans are now that she is out of school she has a few ideas but has not made a permanent decision. Whatever it is I’m sure she will do fine, she is a strong willed young lady with good morals. I have to admit her mother did a good job raising her despite the fact that she moved her away from me, and caused me to loose out on 6 years of my daughters’ life. Water under the bridge I guess if we work at it I’m sure we can make up for some of it. Anyway we will find out next week.
Gas Prices: blog 12
The gas prices are really starting to put a dent in my pocket. At three dollars and eighty cents a gallon it is costing me around fifteen dollars every time I drive up to Lafayette. I am so relieved that school is almost out for the summer, and I don't have to drive up to Lafayette five days a week. But what about next school year? Who knows I may not even be able to afford to drive to school anymore, and I'm sure I'm not alone on that matter. People are trying to better them selves by going to school and it's just getting harder to do. How is anyone supposed to live when we are paying four dollars a gallon?
I saw on the news a month or so ago that oil companies are making billions of dollars in profits. How can our government let this go on? The gas prices and increasing rates of food, etc are dragging every one into a huge hole that we one day aren’t going to be able to get out of. Minimum wage is like six dollars or somewhere around there and the people that are making this kind of money are having to spend pretty close to an hours work pay for a gallon of gas. This is ridiculous!
Us working people can't even enjoy our money when we get it because everything is increasing and no one is making more money. Someone need to do something soon, because gas is just going to keep going up. When the gas goes up everything else goes up. I am so glad that I still live at home and I don't have to worry about paying for food, a house, and other life necessities. I could never make it.
Someone out there is getting rich and it sure isn’t us “normal” people. I think that every one should boycott buying gas. If every one stuck together and didn’t buy gas, didn’t go to work and so on then no one would lose their job, because if that was the case then everyone would have to be fired. I believe the semi-drivers tried to do this and some of them, but not all semi-drovers stuck to the plan. The reason why these oil companies are charging so much is because they can. If we keep paying, then they will keep increasing the prices of oil. It’s going to be a never ending cycle if we don't do something about it.
I saw on the news a month or so ago that oil companies are making billions of dollars in profits. How can our government let this go on? The gas prices and increasing rates of food, etc are dragging every one into a huge hole that we one day aren’t going to be able to get out of. Minimum wage is like six dollars or somewhere around there and the people that are making this kind of money are having to spend pretty close to an hours work pay for a gallon of gas. This is ridiculous!
Us working people can't even enjoy our money when we get it because everything is increasing and no one is making more money. Someone need to do something soon, because gas is just going to keep going up. When the gas goes up everything else goes up. I am so glad that I still live at home and I don't have to worry about paying for food, a house, and other life necessities. I could never make it.
Someone out there is getting rich and it sure isn’t us “normal” people. I think that every one should boycott buying gas. If every one stuck together and didn’t buy gas, didn’t go to work and so on then no one would lose their job, because if that was the case then everyone would have to be fired. I believe the semi-drivers tried to do this and some of them, but not all semi-drovers stuck to the plan. The reason why these oil companies are charging so much is because they can. If we keep paying, then they will keep increasing the prices of oil. It’s going to be a never ending cycle if we don't do something about it.
My Son
Blog 4
Now there is an example of memories and observation, to which I’m sure I can not begin to do justice to in close to 500 words. All the way from his first breath, to coming up on his 18th birthday in less than 3 months. That boy has taught me a thing or to of course I have him to, that is my job and I do my best with what I have. As I had mentioned he will be 18 soon, he just received his learners permit recently so I let him drive me every chance I get. He has a very delightful girlfriend whom loves him dearly, as he does her. He is admired by many of people young and old, my landlord for example thinks he is a wonderful young man, as do I. he gets good grades in school, and is active in diving, band, cross country, and many other school activities. He is a hard worker, he has worked for the same construction company every summer for the last 3 summers, and I’m sure he will again. On top of that he does odd jobs of all sorts and mows lawns to make extra money, for what ever he has a already planned to purchase.
He has grown to be my best friend and sometimes that makes it hard to be dad, but I take a deep breath and do what I know is rite, if I did not I would be cheating him and I. Him and I have been through a lot together, we live alone just the two of us, and have for about 5 years. Before that it was him, his little sister and I so we have had plenty of time to bond. He stood beside me through 2 years of fighting cancer, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and numerous surgeries. He knows god and believes in his word, and tries hard to be a good Christian. He tolerated the days when I used to drink, and I know that sometimes that was hard for a young man. He has had to spend numerous hours home alone while I was working, but we had fun spending those paychecks on the weekend, I really miss that part myself, I bet he does to. He has had to deal with all the crazy woman in my life, but we have a deal about that they are not aloud to live here.
There was a time how ever when he was young and needed dad for different reasons. We had to go swimming, fishing, hunting, canoeing and many other activities that we both enjoyed. Ill be back to normal someday I hope and we can those things once again. As I said I cant do my son whom I love so much, any justice in 500 words, and I was correct because I have not began to scratch the surface of the memories or observations about this delightful young man, than I get to call my son.
Blog 4
Now there is an example of memories and observation, to which I’m sure I can not begin to do justice to in close to 500 words. All the way from his first breath, to coming up on his 18th birthday in less than 3 months. That boy has taught me a thing or to of course I have him to, that is my job and I do my best with what I have. As I had mentioned he will be 18 soon, he just received his learners permit recently so I let him drive me every chance I get. He has a very delightful girlfriend whom loves him dearly, as he does her. He is admired by many of people young and old, my landlord for example thinks he is a wonderful young man, as do I. he gets good grades in school, and is active in diving, band, cross country, and many other school activities. He is a hard worker, he has worked for the same construction company every summer for the last 3 summers, and I’m sure he will again. On top of that he does odd jobs of all sorts and mows lawns to make extra money, for what ever he has a already planned to purchase.
He has grown to be my best friend and sometimes that makes it hard to be dad, but I take a deep breath and do what I know is rite, if I did not I would be cheating him and I. Him and I have been through a lot together, we live alone just the two of us, and have for about 5 years. Before that it was him, his little sister and I so we have had plenty of time to bond. He stood beside me through 2 years of fighting cancer, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and numerous surgeries. He knows god and believes in his word, and tries hard to be a good Christian. He tolerated the days when I used to drink, and I know that sometimes that was hard for a young man. He has had to spend numerous hours home alone while I was working, but we had fun spending those paychecks on the weekend, I really miss that part myself, I bet he does to. He has had to deal with all the crazy woman in my life, but we have a deal about that they are not aloud to live here.
There was a time how ever when he was young and needed dad for different reasons. We had to go swimming, fishing, hunting, canoeing and many other activities that we both enjoyed. Ill be back to normal someday I hope and we can those things once again. As I said I cant do my son whom I love so much, any justice in 500 words, and I was correct because I have not began to scratch the surface of the memories or observations about this delightful young man, than I get to call my son.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
My House
Blog 3
When I was a very young boy I was fortunate to live deep in the hilly woods of central Indiana, just on the North-East side of shades state park. We lived in a house trailer on my grandfather's lake (LOK SHANGRELA). It was in my opinion the best place in the world to grow into a young man. It was very secluded and surreal there was a five acre lake and his property totaled ninety acres of woodland full of hills and hollows. It was fun, educational, although at times very harsh, if you can imagine going back in time about two hundred years. My childhood was much comparable to that of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer I spent most of my time trying to stay as far from authority as I could. Deep in the woods I was free and I loved it, the longer I could spend in the woods the happier I was. There was more to do in the woods than I could get accomplished in ten childhoods, building forts, playing Indians, climbing trees, building rafts, carving spears, or digging a hole in the side of a hill the list goes on and on.
I can not fathom how a young boy living in a fun filled place such as this could ever say he was bored, but my brother sure did he was what I call a momma’s boy, Always hanging around the house watching TV and playing video games. I imagine as his older brother I should have invited him to go on my adventures with me, but to tell the truth I really did not like him much, and still do not. I was quite content all alone in those majestic woodlands, and never got bored. Once I stepped into those woods my imagination was the only limitation there to the amount of fun I could have.
Although as I said it could be a very harsh place, the winter time was the worst. The infamous winter of 78 that was an extremely harsh time. We missed 30 days of school sounds fun huh, 30 snow days in a row. Well it was just the opposite I thought I would rather do anything than go to school, but let me tell you that winter I learnt a big lesson. Our driveway was 1 mile long and the snow had drifted it closed, so we had to pull a sled all the way to the road 1/8 mile west our driveway, to meet someone who would pickup supplies and bring them to us. Yep it could be nasty, but those summers by the lake made it all worth the hard work. If I had a chance to do it all again, you could bet your last dollar I would.
Blog 3
When I was a very young boy I was fortunate to live deep in the hilly woods of central Indiana, just on the North-East side of shades state park. We lived in a house trailer on my grandfather's lake (LOK SHANGRELA). It was in my opinion the best place in the world to grow into a young man. It was very secluded and surreal there was a five acre lake and his property totaled ninety acres of woodland full of hills and hollows. It was fun, educational, although at times very harsh, if you can imagine going back in time about two hundred years. My childhood was much comparable to that of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer I spent most of my time trying to stay as far from authority as I could. Deep in the woods I was free and I loved it, the longer I could spend in the woods the happier I was. There was more to do in the woods than I could get accomplished in ten childhoods, building forts, playing Indians, climbing trees, building rafts, carving spears, or digging a hole in the side of a hill the list goes on and on.
I can not fathom how a young boy living in a fun filled place such as this could ever say he was bored, but my brother sure did he was what I call a momma’s boy, Always hanging around the house watching TV and playing video games. I imagine as his older brother I should have invited him to go on my adventures with me, but to tell the truth I really did not like him much, and still do not. I was quite content all alone in those majestic woodlands, and never got bored. Once I stepped into those woods my imagination was the only limitation there to the amount of fun I could have.
Although as I said it could be a very harsh place, the winter time was the worst. The infamous winter of 78 that was an extremely harsh time. We missed 30 days of school sounds fun huh, 30 snow days in a row. Well it was just the opposite I thought I would rather do anything than go to school, but let me tell you that winter I learnt a big lesson. Our driveway was 1 mile long and the snow had drifted it closed, so we had to pull a sled all the way to the road 1/8 mile west our driveway, to meet someone who would pickup supplies and bring them to us. Yep it could be nasty, but those summers by the lake made it all worth the hard work. If I had a chance to do it all again, you could bet your last dollar I would.
the aftermath blog 12
Well this class is almost over; Thursday is the last day for meeting in classroom number seven. It has been an enlightening experience through this whole semester. Our professor did give us food for thought when it came to our writing assignments. As a whole, the class has been great. I have made new friends that I needed in my life, and I have learned to write a lot better through this experience. I am grateful to have had such a small class that individual attention was available. The teacher was kind and courteous to everyone’s ideas, thoughts, and voice from the beginning; and almost all the way to the end. We have written three papers in this class, twelve blogs, and numerous in class writings to help us better our writing. We even did a presentation over what our research paper is going to be over. We were all able to provide input for everyone’s presentations to help them better their papers. So were we graded fairly on these? I am not quite sure. I know that it is not my place to correct a teacher, so I won’t. But I am going to address my fellow students about this subject and the grades that I received from them. While I was presenting my information I noticed that those who were grading me were staring out into space the whole time not even listening to the information. On a positive swing, I just wanted to say thank you to the teacher for his great input. I know that he has had a hard semester. He had a lot of personal family problems that he unfortunately had to deal with, and I do have sympathy for him. I want to congratulate him on his new home, and I wish him a long prosperous employment here at Ivy Tech Community College and/or at Purdue University. I want to wish him luck on his dissertation and whatever the rest of the year holds for him. I would like to wish the class luck on earning their majors or certifications. So thank you for a great semester and I wish you all luck.
postpartum presentation information also outline for paper blog 11
Postpartum Depression
By Bonny Ellingwood
What is postpartum depression?
Also known as PPD
It is a depression that can affect a new mother after the birth of a child.
This depression not only affects mothers; it can affect the entire family as well.
There is a difference in the severities of the depression.
These are three different types of postpartum depression in order of severity.-
Baby blues
Postpartum Depression
Postpartum Psychosis
Next, I am going to tell you the difference between the three, what their symptoms are, and how they can be helped through medication and therapy.
Baby Blues
Effects 70-80% of new mothers
Occur 3-4 days after the birth of child
Usually go away in 14 days
The symptoms of the baby blues are:
Anxiety
Sadness
Irritability
Crying
Headaches
Exhaustion
A sense of inadequacy
Baby Blues Continued
Since this down period is usually short and not severe; it does not need medical attention.
There some things that can be done to help ease these symptoms:
Try to sleep when the baby sleeps.
Don't try to be super mom; do what you can but try to rest as much as you can.
Swallow your pride and ask for help from family for chores and, if bottle feeding, nighttime feedings.
Talk! Tell your husband, friends, and/or family how you are feeling. You could also join a support group of new mothers feeling the same way.
If this period of “blues” last longer than 2 weeks; the mother or family should seek help.
If it lasts longer than 2 weeks the baby blues can turn into postpartum depression.
There is a 10-20% ( 1 out of 5) chance of a mother developing postpartum depression after those 2 weeks.
Postpartum Depression
Though the signs of postpartum depression are very similar to the baby blues; the depression’s symptoms are more severe and they last longer.
the symptoms of the depression are:
Constant fatigue
Lack of joy in life
A sense of emotional numbness, feeling like a failure, feeling guilty, or feeling overwhelmed
Withdrawal from family and friends
Lack of concern for self and baby
Scared of hurting self or baby
Decreased sex drive
Severe mood swings
Impaired thinking or concentration
Sleeping too much or too little
Constant crying
Eating too little or too much
Having panic attacks
Headaches, chest pains, heart palpitations (heart beating very fast and a feeling like it is skipping beats), and/or hyperventilation.
Postpartum depression continued
Postpartum depression can come into affect anywhere within the first year after the child is born.
10-20% of new mothers will end up with PPD
This part of depression can last for months to years; it usually does not go away without help.
This depression can affect family life severely, but I will talk about that later.
Now onto the scariest part of PPD -postpartum psychosis
Postpartum Psychosis
This is the most severe but rarest form of PPD
Occurs about 1 or 2 out of 1000 births
Usually appears within the first six weeks after the child is born.
Some of the symptoms for the psychosis are:
Total loss of grip on reality
Delusions
Hallucinations
Sleep disturbances
Rapid mood swings
Obsessive thoughts about the baby
Paranoia
Thoughts of suicide or thoughts of killing the baby
A mother experiencing these symptoms needs to receive medical attention as soon as possible.
The most famous case of this is Andrea Yates.
Drowned all five of her children because she thought if she didn’t they would go to hell. She was tried and found guilty of capital murder. She was sentenced to life in prison. In July 2006, she was retried and was found NOT guilty by reason of insanity.
What causes PPD?
They have found that three major factors that can lead to PPD-
Physical changes
Emotional changes
Lifestyle changes
Physical changes:
A major drop in estrogen and progesterone after the child is born
Hormones produced by the thyroid may drop suddenly
Leaving the mother feeling tired, sluggish, and depressed
changes in blood pressure, blood volume, immune system, and metabolism
Can cause fatigue and mood swings
Possible Causes of PPD
Lifestyle changes:
A demanding baby or older children
Which can lead to exhaustion
Having difficulty breastfeeding
Financial problems
Lack of support from family, friends, and/or partner.
Having been diagnosed with depression/bipolar disorder
Also if it runs in the immediate family there is an increased risk
Also severe PMS has been attributed
Marital discord
Young age
The pregnancy was unwanted or unplanned
Possible Causes of PPD
Emotional Changes:
When you are exhausted, it is harder to manage simple things. So you may feel:
Overwhelmed
Anxious about the new arrival
May feel less attractive
Feel a loss of self identity
Feel loss of control over life and decisions
Why do I need to know this?
If a mother is suffering from PPD; it is vital for that mother to receive some sort of help.
If the mother is not treated:
Could harm herself
Harm the child
Since the mother doesn’t really care
May not be as involved with the child
Early childhood interactions are found to be important to development of the child. This can cause the child to have behavioral and learning problems.
could cause the couple so much stress; could lead to divorce
This makes it very important to identify this disorder early so that the mother and family can cope with it.
How do you treat it?
They are using a either hormone therapy, talk therapy, medication, or a combination of all three.
Hormone therapy:
Estrogen replacement may help counteract the drop after childbirth
Runs risks of drying up breast milk, and increased risk of developing blood clots in legs and lungs. Weigh the pros and cons of this treatment before trying it.
Talk therapy:
Talking to a counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or a group of mothers going through what you are going through.
Helps you find better ways to deal with stresses, feelings, helps set realistic goals, and helps with problem solving.
Treatment continued
Medication:
Antidepressants:
Found to be the most effective
There are certain ones that can be given to mothers who are breast-feeding
Can enter the breast milk if breast-feeding; but there are have been studies that show, with certain antidepressants, the amount that goes from that mother to child has little to no effect on the child later on.
Anti-psychotics:
These are given to the mothers with postpartum psychosis.
The one that is best known is Lithium.
It is used as a mood stabilizer.
What can you do?
To help mothers who are going through this the family and partner can play a very important part.
Talk to her
Help her with household chores
Sweeping, dishes, general cleaning
Taking over the baby so she can catch a cat nap or a break
If she is having trouble sleeping:
Provide a hot bath
Ear plugs
A snack and/or warm milk
Encourage activity but don’t pressure her
Swimming
Walking
Deep breathing
More you can do…
Don’t take her attacks at you personally
If you do get mad; get mad at her depression not her. It is hard for her to control her outbursts.
Don’t expect her to just “snap out of it.”
It is a serious illness, much like a flu or cold, but it affects her hormones and chemicals on the brain. It is a serious thing that takes time to recover from.
Encourage her to take her medication and to seek a group/counselor to talk to about how she is feeling.
Also remember, it is okay for you to feel overwhelmed and depressed too.
If you feel this way; find someone to talk to as well. What’s it going to hurt?
As you can see, this is a serious disorder that needs to be recognized and dealt with. It does not just affect the mother, but the whole family. Be on the look out for the symptoms and you could be able to help someone you love.
EL FIN
The End
By Bonny Ellingwood
What is postpartum depression?
Also known as PPD
It is a depression that can affect a new mother after the birth of a child.
This depression not only affects mothers; it can affect the entire family as well.
There is a difference in the severities of the depression.
These are three different types of postpartum depression in order of severity.-
Baby blues
Postpartum Depression
Postpartum Psychosis
Next, I am going to tell you the difference between the three, what their symptoms are, and how they can be helped through medication and therapy.
Baby Blues
Effects 70-80% of new mothers
Occur 3-4 days after the birth of child
Usually go away in 14 days
The symptoms of the baby blues are:
Anxiety
Sadness
Irritability
Crying
Headaches
Exhaustion
A sense of inadequacy
Baby Blues Continued
Since this down period is usually short and not severe; it does not need medical attention.
There some things that can be done to help ease these symptoms:
Try to sleep when the baby sleeps.
Don't try to be super mom; do what you can but try to rest as much as you can.
Swallow your pride and ask for help from family for chores and, if bottle feeding, nighttime feedings.
Talk! Tell your husband, friends, and/or family how you are feeling. You could also join a support group of new mothers feeling the same way.
If this period of “blues” last longer than 2 weeks; the mother or family should seek help.
If it lasts longer than 2 weeks the baby blues can turn into postpartum depression.
There is a 10-20% ( 1 out of 5) chance of a mother developing postpartum depression after those 2 weeks.
Postpartum Depression
Though the signs of postpartum depression are very similar to the baby blues; the depression’s symptoms are more severe and they last longer.
the symptoms of the depression are:
Constant fatigue
Lack of joy in life
A sense of emotional numbness, feeling like a failure, feeling guilty, or feeling overwhelmed
Withdrawal from family and friends
Lack of concern for self and baby
Scared of hurting self or baby
Decreased sex drive
Severe mood swings
Impaired thinking or concentration
Sleeping too much or too little
Constant crying
Eating too little or too much
Having panic attacks
Headaches, chest pains, heart palpitations (heart beating very fast and a feeling like it is skipping beats), and/or hyperventilation.
Postpartum depression continued
Postpartum depression can come into affect anywhere within the first year after the child is born.
10-20% of new mothers will end up with PPD
This part of depression can last for months to years; it usually does not go away without help.
This depression can affect family life severely, but I will talk about that later.
Now onto the scariest part of PPD -postpartum psychosis
Postpartum Psychosis
This is the most severe but rarest form of PPD
Occurs about 1 or 2 out of 1000 births
Usually appears within the first six weeks after the child is born.
Some of the symptoms for the psychosis are:
Total loss of grip on reality
Delusions
Hallucinations
Sleep disturbances
Rapid mood swings
Obsessive thoughts about the baby
Paranoia
Thoughts of suicide or thoughts of killing the baby
A mother experiencing these symptoms needs to receive medical attention as soon as possible.
The most famous case of this is Andrea Yates.
Drowned all five of her children because she thought if she didn’t they would go to hell. She was tried and found guilty of capital murder. She was sentenced to life in prison. In July 2006, she was retried and was found NOT guilty by reason of insanity.
What causes PPD?
They have found that three major factors that can lead to PPD-
Physical changes
Emotional changes
Lifestyle changes
Physical changes:
A major drop in estrogen and progesterone after the child is born
Hormones produced by the thyroid may drop suddenly
Leaving the mother feeling tired, sluggish, and depressed
changes in blood pressure, blood volume, immune system, and metabolism
Can cause fatigue and mood swings
Possible Causes of PPD
Lifestyle changes:
A demanding baby or older children
Which can lead to exhaustion
Having difficulty breastfeeding
Financial problems
Lack of support from family, friends, and/or partner.
Having been diagnosed with depression/bipolar disorder
Also if it runs in the immediate family there is an increased risk
Also severe PMS has been attributed
Marital discord
Young age
The pregnancy was unwanted or unplanned
Possible Causes of PPD
Emotional Changes:
When you are exhausted, it is harder to manage simple things. So you may feel:
Overwhelmed
Anxious about the new arrival
May feel less attractive
Feel a loss of self identity
Feel loss of control over life and decisions
Why do I need to know this?
If a mother is suffering from PPD; it is vital for that mother to receive some sort of help.
If the mother is not treated:
Could harm herself
Harm the child
Since the mother doesn’t really care
May not be as involved with the child
Early childhood interactions are found to be important to development of the child. This can cause the child to have behavioral and learning problems.
could cause the couple so much stress; could lead to divorce
This makes it very important to identify this disorder early so that the mother and family can cope with it.
How do you treat it?
They are using a either hormone therapy, talk therapy, medication, or a combination of all three.
Hormone therapy:
Estrogen replacement may help counteract the drop after childbirth
Runs risks of drying up breast milk, and increased risk of developing blood clots in legs and lungs. Weigh the pros and cons of this treatment before trying it.
Talk therapy:
Talking to a counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or a group of mothers going through what you are going through.
Helps you find better ways to deal with stresses, feelings, helps set realistic goals, and helps with problem solving.
Treatment continued
Medication:
Antidepressants:
Found to be the most effective
There are certain ones that can be given to mothers who are breast-feeding
Can enter the breast milk if breast-feeding; but there are have been studies that show, with certain antidepressants, the amount that goes from that mother to child has little to no effect on the child later on.
Anti-psychotics:
These are given to the mothers with postpartum psychosis.
The one that is best known is Lithium.
It is used as a mood stabilizer.
What can you do?
To help mothers who are going through this the family and partner can play a very important part.
Talk to her
Help her with household chores
Sweeping, dishes, general cleaning
Taking over the baby so she can catch a cat nap or a break
If she is having trouble sleeping:
Provide a hot bath
Ear plugs
A snack and/or warm milk
Encourage activity but don’t pressure her
Swimming
Walking
Deep breathing
More you can do…
Don’t take her attacks at you personally
If you do get mad; get mad at her depression not her. It is hard for her to control her outbursts.
Don’t expect her to just “snap out of it.”
It is a serious illness, much like a flu or cold, but it affects her hormones and chemicals on the brain. It is a serious thing that takes time to recover from.
Encourage her to take her medication and to seek a group/counselor to talk to about how she is feeling.
Also remember, it is okay for you to feel overwhelmed and depressed too.
If you feel this way; find someone to talk to as well. What’s it going to hurt?
As you can see, this is a serious disorder that needs to be recognized and dealt with. It does not just affect the mother, but the whole family. Be on the look out for the symptoms and you could be able to help someone you love.
EL FIN
The End
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