Classics and Why we need to read them

The classics are beneficial to teens because it opens their mind to a new world of books. Every classic makes references to other classics and novels. Inside each story lies a world of new adventure. By reading into these classics one can see this new world. The classic Moby Dick, written by Herman Melville, has multiple references to other literature. By opening readers into the world of Ahab and his fight to kill Moby Dick the readers experiences other novels along the way. Melville uses biblical and mythological references in his novel. By doing this readers are opened to past cultures and past worlds.

Posting

http://wontrunoutofink.blogspot.com/2009/04/who-cares-if-johnny-cant-read.html

Posting

I posted on assigned reading...

http://wontrunoutofink.blogspot.com/2009/04/you-know-that-guy-who-was-great.html

I posted on Britney Spears' blog on You're Welcome America?

http://friendsqorq.blogspot.com/2009/03/youre-welcome-america.html

Just My Luck

This past Friday I was suppose to board a plane bound for Washington D.C. at 8 o’clock in the morning. I woke up around 5 and decided for the first time ever to check my flight status before I left. After clicking a few buttons I read the dreaded words- CANCELLED. What? It was three hours before my flight left and it had already gotten cancelled? I quickly put on some shoes and walked outside expecting to see the entire city of Dallas underwater, but everything was fine. There was no reason to why my flight was cancelled it was just cancelled. I quickly made sure I would be able to get on the later flight out of Dallas that left at three.

Three o’clock rolls around and I start boarding my airplane. I quietly say to myself how thankful I am that I’m finally getting on a plane. The plane pulls away from the gate and the captain comes over the loud speaker. It turns out within the past three minutes bad wind and a thunderstorm has started in the south section of the airport. There was now only one runway open for takeoffs and there were around ten planes waiting before us to take off. Each takeoff requires around five minutes, which meant the plane wouldn’t be leaving for an hour. I was frustrated. I was supposed to get in D.C. around noon with my first flight and now I wasn’t going to get in until seven thirty. The worst part about it was I had a dinner to attend at seven.

After finally landing in D.C. I had a very enjoyable weekend, until I arrived at the airport to depart. My flight back to Dallas was set to leave D.C. around four-thirty and the weather in D.C. was very calm. I waited for the gate to open to depart, but it never did. Around four-thirty someone from the airlines came on the speaker saying it was raining and our flight would be delayed at least thirty minutes. WHAT??? There wasn’t even an ounce of rain outside! Does the airline company hate me??

An Unelected Leader

I believe ever situation in our lives has meaning. There are times when we see those meanings and times when they are disguised. This past week was an exciting week for myself as I learned more about my leadership style and myself.

On Wednesday Resident Hall Association elected its president for next year. I participated in the elections as I thought I would make a great president for this organization. As you may have guessed by the title of this post I lost. I was sad that I had lost because I thought this was where I wanted to spend my energy and time next year. However, after thinking about next year I realized it was for the best I wasn’t elected.

All through high school I participated in a form of leadership that was mainly unelected. I only won one out of the three elections I participated, but I was a leader in multiple areas. My eyes were slowly opened to the opportunities available that were for the “unelected leader”. I would be able to spend time mentoring freshman students; I would be able to spend my time developing my human rights group; I would be able to spend my time developing my leadership style.

I’m sure this has happened to many of my readers. Maybe you didn’t get the internship you really wanted this summer; maybe you didn’t get into the study abroad program. Maybe you’re like me who wasn’t elected to an office you thought you wanted. It’s not a matter of what we loose at, it is a matter of what we can do because we aren’t doing something.

Posting

I just posted on Meghans blog regarding spring break...

http://meghan81089.blogspot.com/2009/03/spring-break.html?showComment=1237839180000#c7423648495112777004

Economy.

   Today we live in a messed up economy. This economy has been heading south for years and isn't the fault of any president, but rather the fault of the spending habits of the American people. Look at what crashed first, the housing market. One of the core reasons why the housing market crashed was because Americans were buying up. People would buy houses that were built for people who were making twice as much money. They would have to take out large mortgages/loans. All of a sudden when you can't pay back your mortgages you run into an issue.  All of a sudden to the public it looks like the housing market is on thin ice. 

   Take a look at American publics spending habits with credit cards. Everything gets put on credit cards. People think they can spend money they don't have. They buy cars that are way to expensive. They buy electronics that they wont be able to pay for when the statement comes in the mail.  All of a sudden you have people rushing to the banks asking for loans and asking for refinancing. Banks call back loans and can't receive the amount owed to them and people get scared about having their money in these banks.

      I know its hard to take responsibility but the Economy isn't just affected by the government. We are responsible for this mess too. We decided to spend money we didn't have. We decided to purchase houses, cars, and electronics we could afford.

Bauerlen Argument

Screen Time for the young adults/teenagers in our country is growing out of control. While I might not agree with this statement 100% I see where Bauerlen is getting his ideas. He first explains how teens and young adults are adapting to the screen and creating their own preferences. He states, "We might assume that with children at such tender ages the screen activities follow a parent's directive... In truth, however, most of the children have acquired enough knowledge of the screen to form preferences of their own" (75-76). If you looked at my life this would be true. I watch CSI and 24 while my parents watch Ugly Betty and the News. Bauerlen doesn't stop there, however, but explains through statistics how much time and energy is spent looking at a screen. He then compares these statistics with time spent in books/studying, vastly different. Again I can look to my own life and see this occurring. Over break I was glued to my computer watching movies and talking to friends. However, I was also learning when I was on my computer, something I believe Bauerlen does not allow for in his argument. 

The real question comes down to what you think is to much screen time?

I posted on az's blog regarding their frustration on water  http://azninvasion-blog.blogspot.com/

Ash Wednesday

I have never actually gone to a service celebrating Ash Wednesday. While I do attend an evangelical church back home I have never experienced the ceremonial part of an Ash service. This past wednesday I attended one. My reactions from it are very mixed. You have to understand I come from a very evangelical church where it is on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to sacraments and ceremonial type events.  Our church does baptism and communion but we don't walk down the middle of the sanctuary carrying a large cross on a stick and spread ashes on our foreheads. 

I would describe my Ash Wednesday experience as a learning experience. I realized how people celebrate Christ in different ways. We believe in the same thing, but we go about celebrating/remembering it in different ways. Its like a birthday party- some people eat cake, some people play pin the tail on the donkey. 

Part of me wonders if I am condoning other people for celebrating the same things I celebrate but in different ways. I'm wondering if in daily life I look down on neighbors or friends just because they go about things in a different way then I would. 

Change of Heart

This last weekend I went to Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth. I have never been to a western dance hall and have never done a two-step dance in my life. I didn’t go in a huge group but there were enough of us to have a fun time. The group that I went with wasn’t drunk and had no intention of drinking alcohol during the evening. For most of the people that went this would be an easy task as most of us have learned that you don’t need to be drunk to have a good time.

         As the evening went on most of us had already stepped on plenty of toes and had made a fool of ourselves on the dance floor, but there was one girl who was stubborn and would not go out onto the floor. Her excuse at the beginning was she had no idea how to two-step and didn’t want to make a fool of herself. However, as the night went on we started she started to explain how the only way she dances usually is if she is drunk.

       I’m not using this story as a point of judgment for this girl as I think she learned something this evening. As people were slowly heading back to SMU my group decided to stay to the end so we all good get a few more dances in. This girl that swore she wouldn’t dance decided to stay with use. I have no idea why exactly she decided to stay because the only thing to do there was dance and she wouldn’t even step onto the dance floor. My driver said he would give her a ride back on campus, but she would have to dance with him before the night was up. With fifteen minutes to go she finally got out of the dance floor and started two-stepping. I was surprised to see that she was actually really good at the dance.

       The first dance turned into five more and she started to enjoy the evening for the first time. After Billy Bobs closed her face held a giant smile and was thrilled that she finally decided to dance. A few times in the car ride back she would ask us when we were coming back to Billy Bobs. She really wanted to go back and said next time she would be the first person on the dance floor. 

False Fun

    Friday nights to most people are a lot of fun. What exactly makes these nights fun? The only reason why I ask this question is because of what I saw this past weekend. I don’t want to sound judgmental in this post; I’m more interested in finding out why people find it fun to get drunk.

    After loosing in a poker tournament I headed back to my dorm late Friday night. By the time I got back to my dorm it was already well after midnight and I was exhausted. I ended up watching a movie in one of the lounges in my hall, but I kept dozing off while watching the movie. The movie ended and I headed downstairs to sleep.

    When I opened the door to the study room I saw my suitemate and two other students drunk as can be sitting in chairs. You could tell they didn’t really know what was going on as I walked into the room. My suitemate appeared to be attempting to sleep sitting in a chair with his head against his desk. This confused me because if he was really tired he would have just walked the ten feet to his own bed, but he decided the desk was more comfortable.  As I watched him it was actually kind of humorous as he would slowly slide off the desk and then quickly jerk his head back up to rest it on the desk.

     After about ten minutes of him doing this one of his friends told him it was time to go to bed. As he got up from his sleeping spot his arms swung around and knocked a Red Bull off the desk spilling it all over his bags. He didn’t say anything except back away, which caused him to trip over a chair and land on his back. Eventually he went to bed and I expected him to sleep until three the next day. However, when I woke up around noon he was already gone. 

      Later in the day I asked him what time he got up and he explained how he couldn’t sleep an got up at eight in the morning. He then asked me exactly what happened the night before. Even though he appeared to be having the “time of his life” the night before he couldn’t remember a single thing. It was as if he had a false sense of fun.

      Why exactly do college students do this? I’m not condemning drinking or getting drunk. It’s your choice to drink; it’s your choice to how much your body can take and how much you want to take. However, most people will reply to this question that this is the only way to have fun at college- you have to go out and get drunk, you have to drink to have fun, and you have to blend in with the cool crowd. I know plenty of students who drink responsibly and still remember the fun they had the night before. I’m just wondering when my suitemate will realize that he can have fun without the hangovers and sleepless nights.