Mid-Terms...

suck.

Don't let anyone tell you any different.

My English mid-term this semester will be on Ralph Waldo Emerson's view on education and how that contrasts with Edward Bellamy's idea of what education will be in the future in Looking Backward.

While this is all very interesting and I have no qualms with studying the subject, I also have a Journalism, Elementary Programming and Music mid-term as well as all of my regular homework.

Yay college...

New Favorite Quote

Here is a journal entry I posted for my American lit class:

No Oaks in Flower Pots

In “The American Scholar” Emerson writes, “I will not shut myself out of this globe of action, and transplant an oak into a flower-pot”.

Amen to that Emerson.

This sentence stood out to me as a clever and creative way to write the common modern cliché about “breaking out of the box”. Even 170 years after Emerson wrote these words, they are still relevant and applicable.

Emerson’s imagery in his use of the words “oak” and “flower pot” convey his message of “breaking out of the box”. Oak trees are symbols of wisdom and strength while flower pots are temporary and mainly meant for decoration. Putting an oak in a flower pot would eventually cause the tree to suffocate and die.

I do not want to be an oak stuck in a flower pot with no room to grow or change. As a scholar, a woman and American I want to fight for the right to have opportunities that will help me grow and become like an oak tree: wise and strong.

Finals and Other News

Wow, its been a while since I posted anything. Sorry about that...

So anyway, two finals down, two to go! Luckily one of my English finals was due weeks ago so I don't have to worry about it now. And I finished my Journalism final and turned it in on Monday.

Now all that's left is another English paper and a Greek final on Friday (that one is just not going to go well no matter what but its ok because I don't need the class).

I should probably be working on those right now but instead I'm informing you that I need to be working on them... 0.o...

I have one book to report on:

The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks

I'm continuing with my Sparks fetish and this was a good one to end the semester with. There was some suspense, of course a good love story and dead people! I've always thought that a book is not really all that good if there are no dead people. That probably comes from my love of Mary Higgins Clark where theres always at least one dead person if not several. Anyway, good book with a nice vengeful ending that made me smile.

In other news:
I was watching a B20 video when John mentioned the fact that NBC is bringing back American Gladiators. This is probably due to the writers strike and lack of new material but seriously people, American Gladiators? Really? Are you serious? Please tell me you're kidding! You're not? Oh man, thats just wrong...

In other, other news:
I'm coming home in on Monday!!!!!!! That's only 5 days from now... AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ya, I'm pretty excited. I still have finals to finish, presents to buy and wrap, a room (and desk) to clean, laundry to do and a suitcase to pack. Should prove to be fun.

In more other news:
Thanks to everyone who viewed my video and sent it to all their friends! Please remember if you have a YouTube account to rate, favorite and subscribe here. Thanks again!

The End

Not Too Much...

going on. I turned in an English portfolio today that I was very interested in researching and writing. We read an article on how a subjects gaze in a photograph affects how that subject is viewed. The article particularly discussed National Geographic and we were suppose to look up pictures on the website and write an essay along the teachers guide lines, etc.

The pictures I found were of the Mbuti Pygmies of the Democratic Republic of Congo. I always thought, as I'm sure many people do, that pygmies were midget sized people which I learned was not true. The pictures were of a particular ritual called nkumbi were boys are initiated into manhood by having a daily whipping followed by spending time in the jungle to help them learn how to survive.

When I first read this and saw the picture of a boy actually being whipped I was horrified. Then when I was writing my essay I talked about how pictures cannot tell us anything about how those boys feel or if everything we've read or heard is true or written in a way that isn't bias. We, Americans who have never been to the Congo, cannot even begin to imagine what those boys lives are like nor how they feel. Cultures are so different from each other and we look at everyone else through our own cultural filters without thinking about how in this culture, certain things may be necessary.

I'm not saying I agree with the whippings, etc. I'm only saying that we can't know without being there.

So I think going to the Congo might be cool...

95%

Woohoo! I just got out of my Journalism class where I was handed back the first test that I got a 95% on! Yeah! I was a little worried when the professor made comments about grading generously which meant we should be scared, implying that we did not do to well. I am so glad he wasn't talking about me.

In other news, work is going well. Restaurant drama does exist but at the Blue Heron, at least, its not that bad.

I am working on dropping my History class. I know, sad, but the homework is getting in the way of my other classes that count for something and that I am enjoying much more. Unfortunately I have to get a form signed a few times and its going to cost me something like $10 but right now I'm seeing it as worth it.

Tomorrow I meet with a Career Development Center (CDC) counselor to talk about general things like career options and how to go about getting them. I also have to decide my major soon and I am stuck between a rock and a hard place: English and Journalism. Maybe I can do both, maybe I'll do one and then get a job in the field of the other. We'll see. I am thankful for the CDC, they have already helped me to write a resume and now they're going to help me figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life, or at least a small part of it anyway. I also like the fact that the CDC has the same acronym as the Center for Disease Control, makes me laugh. Ha! (That was me laughing...)

And I think I've had too much coffee...