Blog 10

After one of our class discussions about eugenics, ethics, and aesthetics it really made me understand why things happen in the ways that they do and that all things really do happen for certain reasons. Like have you ever had such a bad headache because you were so stressed?Or have you ever wished that a big obstacle that is in your way that you have to overcome to succeed would not have happened? I know that I am very guilty for always wishing things wouldn't be so hard sometimes or when I'm not feeling well I just wish it would go away. But then when I think about everything bad that has happened in my life it has made me a stronger person and I have taught myself to not give up because sooner or later I will eventually succeed. I couldn't imagine living life with no pain or having things in life always come easy because one day something bad will eventually happen and we would just think it was the end of the world and we wouldn't know what to do. And whenever I'm not feeling well yeah i hate the feeling then but to look on the brighter side look at the people who are dying with diseases and here we are being selfish and wanting people to pity us because of a stomach ache. So all in all pain and hard times in life have taught me to be thankful for the good times and things could always be worse than what they really are.

Blog 9

After reading the few articles on the Human-Genome Project I became a little more informed and familiar about it and also about the topic Genetics. Before reading the articles I knew very little about the Human-Genome Project and Genetics although I was familiar with hearing about them in science classes they were just a topic I was not very interested in. The first article I read "The Poetry of Genetics" was about how Genetic sequences are read, how we get viruses in our genetic sequences, and also about how genetic code is viewed as a language by the environment. The next article "Genome Ethics" stated that The Genome Map has two major purposes. The first is the abilities it offers to medicine. The article also talks about Genetic Destiny, Agony and Religion, and the Unhealthy Fetus. And the last article I read was "Genes Cleaned and Starched, While You Wait" was about how genetics were founded by Mendel, how DNA became about and got it's name, and how genetic code is a big deal for the scientific community. So although I really was not interested in any of these readings they allowed me to be more familiar about genetics and the Human-Genome Project.

Blog 8

Alan Lightman wrote and published an article called "A Tale of Two Loves" as a way of expressing his feelings towards certain events. In the article he starts off by saying that he wrote dozens of poems to express how he felt about death, loneliness, and admiration. He also says about the time when his Grandfather died how he buried his grief by writing a poem. I really enjoyed this article because I am a strong believer that writing poems, writing a letter drawing a picture or doing some form of art, or just doing something that you love to do is a good way to relieve stress, express or hide your emotions, and just plain out express your own unique individuality. I know that when I get mad or stressed or just have something that I want so bad to tell someone but can't I like to write a letter about how and what I'm feeling or about what happened in a situation or even just writing a poem about how I'm feeling about a certain situation is also a good way for me to express myself. Also another good way to express yourself or relieve stress is by going for a walk or by doing an activity that you love to do such as for me I love to ride horses but for some people that activity could be something like playing a sport or playing a instrument to express themselves and show people just who they really are and what they are thinking.

Blog 7

After watching the movie V for Vendetta and reading the little bit of the graphic novel that we did I had a few mixed feelings about the book/movie. I liked the movie but at the same time I am not really into gory and killing movies so that kind of made me think that I would have liked reading the novel better. Also for V's death I liked how he died better int he movie rather than in the book because I liked how everyone ganged up on V and shot him then I liked how he lived long enough to kill all of them. Then I also like the movie better than the novel at the end where everyone takes off their V masks and you see many people like Valerie, the girl and Gordon because it makes it look more realistic and like everyone is taking V's side and is going to get revenge on the government. And the last reason why I liked the movie better than the novel is because in the end of the novel it shows Evey meeting up with that man but then it kind of lets you hanging and wondering what is going to happen and I don't like to be left wondering. So all in all I didn't think that V for Vendetta was a bad movie/novel. But there were a few things I would change in both the movie and novel if I could.

Blog 6

After reading "The man behind Abercrombie and Fitch" by Benoit Denizet-Lewis it gave me a complete clear different view about Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister. The story informed me more about A&F I mean who would have though the CEO is a preppy, tan , white teethed sixty one year old man? Because I was thinking someone more around the age of 40-45. Throughout the story the author talks a lot about Mike Jefferies the CEO of A&F and his lifestyles, and the way he does things and the ways he thinks things should be done in A&F and Hollister stores. The author says Jefferies is like the willie Wonka of the fashion industry. Which is right because he is always perfecting the stores and making things the way he wants them. Although I love the stores A&F and Hollister after reading the story it kinda pushed me away more towards American Eagle, Aeropostale or Old Navy. First of all the story made me realize the way the manicans are dressed with their mid drifts showing or revealing other body parts that make people think they look "sexy" and also after recently shopping there and looking at the employees all of the employees are beautiful and thin. And secondly Jefferies quote "America's unattractive, over weight, or otherwise undesirable teens can shop elsewhere" made me mad. I have seen overweight people in A&F and Hollister clothes before and they still look cute and fashionable. Yeah they may have had to buy the XL but if they like the style of clothing and are willing to pay the prices then why should they be denied the service?

Blog # 5

After reading "The Myspace Generation" by Jessi Hempel with Paula Lehmen and "R We D8ting" by Sandra Barron this week in our NextText book I was able to relate myself very well to these stories. Being a very frequent visitor of the myspace website I was kinda shocked and excited to get to read to the story. The story says that myspace had 20 million members log in on October and 9.5 million members log in on Facebook. Myspace and Facebook are good ways for college students to keep in contact with one another and to keep informed with activities going on. Like we discussed in class "Tom Anderson" the first friend everyone recieves when they join myspace actually kinda freaked me out along with I'm sure many other people becuase until I read this story I had no idea "Tom" could be one of myspaces 165 staff workers. Which makes me think when we are communicating with people through myspace, AIM, or text messaging do we really know who is on the other line? Which leads to the "R We D8ting?" story. Being the avid texter that I am and almost always go over my limit each month I can honestly say nothing like that has ever happened to me. Although, with texting I know that it is hard sometimes to understand what people are saying and when people are being serious or just joking. So although, it may be alot easier to communicate through AIM, myspace, or texting sometimes they can just cause problems than any good.

Blog 4

All of this weeks readings in our NextText book all deal wtih families, family activities, and also a story on geneology. Casa: A Partial Rememberance of a Puerto Rican Childhood was the story that most interested me and the one that I could most relate myself to. The story is about a family that is sitting around while the grandmother of the family tells stories. Judith Oritz Cofer is the author and when the story took place she was only thirteen years old. She explains how her mom and aunts would gather around in the living room and her grandmother would tell stories. The story the grandmother tells is based towards the author's Aunt Laura and was about a girl name Maria La Loca who was suppose to get married and was left standing at the alter alone becuase the man she was suppose to marry never showed up. I think this story was meant towards her Aunt Laura because she was suppose to get married to a man in a nother town in a year and I think the story was just meant to scare her a little. The reason why I can relate to this story the most is because I can remember when I was young and my grandmother was still alive my cousins and myself use to always sit around her living room after school and she use to always tell us stories about our parents when they were young and also other stories about the family. I think this is why the holidays spent with the family are my favorite thing to do because I love to spend time talking and catching up with loved ones.

Blog 3

Le Beau-Pere written by Phyllis Rose was one of the essays read this week in our NextText book that interested me the most. In the story Phyllis Rose tells about her second marriage to a man named Laurent and just how he came into her life and her thirteen year old son Ted's life and fit in perfectly. She goes on to say about the types of activities that the three of them would always do together and how Laurent arrived at a good time just as Ted was about to enter adolescence. She explains throughout the story how Laurent never punishes Ted or never tells him what to do. She then concludes the story with the meaning of Le Beau-Pere which is beautiful father. I'm sure that Ted and Phyllis feel that Laurent is a "beautiful stepfather" in a way because Laurent just came into their lives and didn't change anything from the way they were living their life for the previous thirteen years before him. Laurent was not controlling one bit and left them have their space but was always there when he was needed. How would have it been different if Laurent would have came into their lives being a harsh and controlling stepfather? Or how is it going to be in a couple years when Ted is at the age where he is going to need to be disciplined and Laurent is not going to punish or stand up to him? So in conclusion I feel that I wouldn't act the way I do now if it were not for my parents raising me the way they have and discipling me when I needed it and I think if Laurent does not discipline Ted when he needs it Ted's going to end up disobeying Laurent.

Blog 2

After recently just reading this weeks readings in the "Next Text" book I came to the conclusion that the majority of the stories were all about students cheating and plagiarism. In the first story by Jason M. Stephens he talks about research of high school/college students views about cheating, why they do it, and whether or not they consider it to be cheating. He states that most students do cheat or have cheated at least one time before. He also claims that the majority of students know cheating is wrong but still continue to do it anyways. Students cheat because they feel they need to in order to keep their good grades and they may not have had time to do their work so they decide to cheat to keep up. This is a reoccurring thing that is happening more and more in students especially those that work , they have a busy night at work and just don't have the time to do their homework but would hate to get a bad grade so they decide to copy someone else's. That of which I know I have done a time or two but who honestly hasn't? Also a lot of the time when people are considered to be cheating I do not think they really know they are doing it or doing anything wrong. This is where plagiarism happens. People say or do things and think they are inventing something when really it has already been made up. So in conclusion, people have many different reasons why they cheat, its just that some are good believable reasons to cheat and some are not.

Blog 1

This week after reading four stories in our "Next Text" book it made me think about all of the stories being talked about and just how true each of the stories are and just how much I can relate to each story in some way from past experiences I have seen/heard about happening. In the very introduction it shows a woman holding a Louis Vuitton bag which is fake which is something that is more and more common today. I have heard about quite a few court cases in which someone has taken someone else to court because they were trying to cheat them out by telling them the purse is real when it is really fake. Each of the four stories is based on some form of cheating whether it would be a huge deal if you get caught or if it would be just a minor offense if caught. why do people feel the need to steal things? Some people are just that poor or selfish and feel that if they don't steal things they won't be able to survive or fit in . For example some people have to steal food because they are just that poor they can not buy their own food or some people are just that selfish and they feel they need to steal that piece of jewelry just to fit in because so many other "cool" people have it. Also another big reason why I feel that people cheat is because our society is becoming a big competition. And if you don't do things a certain way or have certain things then you are just looked down upon in society so therefore people steal their way to the top so they can still compete society. So there are lots of reasons why people steal and cheat it is your job to decide whether it is really worth it or not.