StephJW789

Why i dislike/like blogs

2008-12-01T13:03:00.000-08:00

I like the blogs because they are easy and quick to do, I despise them because we must post them on the internet. I dont want the things that I say to be on the internet, and i find people who pour their emotions and thoughts into an online diary to be kind of lame. So from doing these, I now find myself extremely lame. I wish that they could just be handwritten journals, they would accomplish the same thing and I wouldnt have to consider myself a blogger.
Blogs are helpful because they keep me writing. The hardest thing for me is to put my thoughts on paper and blogs force me to do so on a bi weekly basis. This is good practice and it has made formulating my thoughts into actual essays much easier. But once again, this could be accomplished in pen and paper format rather than on some website.

Why dont we learn?

2008-11-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

Up until recently i thought that we all lived in a perfect world. Through all my history classes in high school we learned about pointless wars and ruthless dictators and i seriously thought that we had learned from all of this. We learned that america was the peacekeeper of countries, that whenever there was injustice in the world we would go out and fix it and save the day. This seems to be totally and completely wrong. Im so baffled by the choices that our country has made in recent times. Its a repeat of history and if we keep repeating the mistakes that we have already made it is going to be the demise of our world.
I understand that after the attacks in 2001 we had to fight back. That makes sense. But why then are we in Iraq. Removing Saddam Hussein was a good idea but not for the reasons that our country did it. They related him some how to the Taliban and said he had "Weapons of Mass Destruction" but we didnt go in there to help the iraqi people. It reminds me of another crusade. Going to the middle east to fight a war of ideals. He never threatened us, Osama Bin Laden did. And for some reason we are busy fighting this religious war and letting the man who killed thousands of people on our own soil still live. This is backwards and im confused.
If america is this big peacekeeper why arent we in Africa. These people are dying of genocide and disease and we have done basically nothing to help them. It seems the world doesnt care about africa, but we were all here for a reason. And if one country dies off because of mass genocide and aids its not good for the world.
The world is falling apart, from the environment to its people. We are all becoming more divided and until we can come together as one people, from one planet, we are going to continue to destroy it.

If i won the lottery.

2008-11-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

If i won the lottery i would buy a modest sized house for myself in evergreen with a backyard for my dogs and big garage for my cars. I would supe up my car a little bit and i would maybe buy a beemer or some sort of suv. I would furnish my house beautifully, and have a whole playroom for my cats. Then i would buy a house in aspen for my father as far up some mountain as it possibly could be. Then i would buy a house for my mother down the hill with flat property and room for all of her horses. Then i would buy a small house for my best friend so that she didnt have to struggle to live in a crappy little apartment. I would put a small chunk in the bank and i would give out some of it to my other closest friends. The rest of it would all go to animal shelters in the area. Especially the dumb friends league because they are no kill and i myself have gotten 2 cats from there.
I would get myself to a safe comfortable place but i dont think that i would go crazy. No shopping trips or lavish vacations for me. I would want to continue to work and get my degree so that im doing something with my life and still living normally. I would like to get my life in order and then give back. And since animals are the best things in the whole world and because of people they are abused and not taken care of I would like to give back to them.

Pop Culture Argument Part 2

2008-11-15T11:15:00.000-08:00

Text Message
Dude, rappers are shovenistic assholes!
Billboard
RAP-degrading women and encouraging violence one lyric at a time
Blog
Try finding a rap song that doesnt view a woman as only a sex object. Its ridiculous. Their idea of a love song is simply explaining all the things they would like to do to a woman. They abuse the world love when really every time they use that word they should insert the word f-ck. Like in akons song "I wanna love you" He begins by talking about how hot a stripper is and then goes crooning about how he wants to "love" her. Obviously he wants nothing else to do with her besides her body. There is also so much with "b-tchs and hoes" that it really puts a horrible light on women. No one needs to call a woman a b-tch and rappers use that as there main way of describing a woman. Rap has made it so a woman is only desirable for her body and if she has an opinion she is a b-tch. Its horrible and rappers need to re think what they should be rapping about so that they stop degrading women.

The medium plays with this message because in each way it is shown in a different light. In the text message it is informal and your whole point isnt being made. Its more of an emotion than a thesis. In a billboad you want to make a memorable statement that is short and to the point so you also cant explain everything. It is also less about your own emotion and more about making a point. In a blog entry you can be more specific and give examples as to why you feel this way. Once again it is about how you feel. In the paper I can use a combination of these ideas. I can play to the audiences emotions all the while backing up my points with specific lyrics.

Pop Culture Argument

2008-11-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

There are so many arguments I would like to make about pop culture it is going to be very difficult to narrow it down to just one! I do believe that Paris Hilton is the downfall of america, i mean, have you seen her show "my new bff" that is evidence enough in itself. However, I feel this topic is too broad and i would probably get very upset writing it. I could also write a paper about how Zac Efron is the best disney star to ever grace the big screen. But i dont think that I could get enough evidence to back that up besides the fact that he is beautiful. There are many things i can say about pop culture i just cant think of something strong, or valid enough to base an entire argumentative paper on.
I figured it out. I will do it on music. Rap music. And how all of its glitz glam booty shakin is just completely unnacceptable and degrading to women.

Sick and Tired of Lies

2008-10-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

I embrace politics alot more than the average 19 year old. I love it. I love that there are people so driven that they want to change the world they live in and i love supporting the people whose ideas line up the closest with mine. I love that as a country we have the power to change how things are set up and that we can vote for what we believe. But what i hate are the lies that are being poured into our heads by television and the radio. If i see one more commericial about how ammendment 58 is going to raise our taxes im going to throw up. If i see one more commercial about how obama is a socialist or about how mccain is bush im going to jump off a bridge.
Why must we make up lies about the other side in order to win? Why cant both sides just display what they have to offer and the american people be intelligent enough to make a decision that is based on what they believe? Im tired of emotions and lies deciding politics. Why cant they tell the truth in their advertisements? The words "congressional liberals" have been taken to the same level as terrorist simply because of the tone in which they are said in the campaign commercials. McCain says he can cross party lines but he is making congressional liberals the new weapons of mass destruction. Im tired of dishonesty and i dont want to listen to the bullshit anymore. I cant wait until Obama is in office and all this nonsense is over!!

DEMOCRATS ARE SEXY!!\
OBAMA 08!!

This i believe

2008-10-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=34&topessays=25&&start=

This essay I read by Penn Jillette of "Penn and Teller" was sort of a backwards way of stating what he believes in. His statement was that he believes that there is no god. Through his non-belief in god he came to have faith in life. So many people seem to get all of there strengths and ideas from "god" and he sees this as just nonsense. He enjoys being alive and having family and he credits this to the beauty of life, not to some invisible being who is apparently in control of everything. He doesnt believe in heaven because why should he need it when he gets to enjoy being here every single day. He says that because he doesnt believe in god he can be more open to other cultures and people without falling back on the idea of "i was raised this way therefore i am right and anything you say I must not take into account because it is different." He says he can relate to people on the basis of reality instead of some being that does not have any credibility.
Without a god he believes that it humanizes all of our problems and our world. Mass genocide and disease is then not a trick that god is playing in order to teach us a lesson nor is it something that god will fix. It is a human made and therefore humans can fix it. Without god we put faith in the human race to change the world. It connects us all and instead of clinging to ideas that only exist in our heads we can relate our ideas to other people. He says that not having a belief in god lets him have room for belief in family, love, sex, and even jello-o. And i agree with him in the fact that all of these contribute much more to a beautiful life than a semi-existent omniscient being.

beliefs

2008-10-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

I think that the world is at a loss when it comes to respect. If we could find it in our hearts to respect every person for what they had to bring to the table it would bring us to a much more peaceful state. People have lost the idea of respect. Kids dont respect their parents, employees dont respect their bosses and vice versa, we have lost respect for our government and our government has lost respect for its people. If we could learn to appreciate others and the world for what it has to offer we wouldnt be in this downward spiral. If we all did what was best for ourselves as a whole instead of what is best for the individual self our world would be a much better place for everyone.
In our society, someone or something always has to be the best. If we lost this idea of "best" and took on the idea that we are created equal happiness wouldnt be so hard to find. In our country we see america as the best and we have pushed these ideas on other countries for years. If we could just learn to respect other cultures for what they are, and lose this idea that we are the best, we could build a more peaceful world instead of destroying it based on false ideals of what other people should be. People should never be something they are not and if we could learn to respect each other this would never be an issue.

Eulogy

2008-10-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

Goodbye freedom, goodbye independence, knowing you was short lived but now it must come to an end. In 3 short weeks i will be abandoning you to go back to a life imprisoned under the roof of my parents house. Apartment 106, you brought me happiness, independence and a whole lot of debt. You gave me freedom i never thought possible, no curfews, my own food, with my own couch and my own coffee table. However, in turn, you robbed me of all monetary value i thought that would last me at least more than a year. Independence was the best feeling in the world. I was living the good life, a 19 year old with her own place, paying her own bills buying her own food but now that must come to an end. The money well has run dry and now i must run home to my parents with my tail between my legs. I didnt lose you without a fight, however the fight was not worth fighting anymore. I dont believe you can put a price on independence but i definitely know its not worth 700 dollars a month just for a roof over your head.
So goodbye independence. You were fun in the beginning but now i feel as if i have wasted my hard earned cash on nothing of value. I have spent 5600 dollars on you and now i have nothing to show for it but an empty bank account. Not to say that i will never attempt to experience you again, but next time when im ready to deal with all of your problems. So peace out independence and hello screaming fathers and crazy mothers!

My advice for Sarah Palin

2008-09-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

I could write a whole essay on all the reasons i hate sarah palin. She is a disgrace to womens rights and a puppet of the republican campaign. She is completely unqualified to be in office and terrifies me that if john mccain is elected there is a good chance she could be president, seeing as how he is so ancient he is bound to have a heart attack sooner or later. But instead of rambling about how much i hate her i would just like to give her some advice.
First of all, go home. Go to alaska, and take care of your children. You have 5 of them as i remember and im sure they need you much more as there mother than america does as vice president. And i know that all you want taught in schools is abstinence, but maybe if your 17 year old daughter knew what a condom was then she wouldnt be bringing her first child into the world. She needs you now more than ever. If i had gotten pregnant when i was 17 and my mother went and decided to become vice president i would be so deeply hurt and lost. She needs you and if you are a good mother you would be there for her. This is going to be the scariest experience of her life and you need to be there holding her hand instead of holding a gun on the cover of newsweek. IF you arent even there for your family then how can i trust you to lead this whole country. Where do your values lie? In the love and care for your family or the vanity and publicity that you get from being a tv puppet? You are empty and hollow, from your brain to your heart. Also, doesnt your youngest child suffer from downs syndrome. I understand that you wear the camo pants in the family but why are you leaving all of this responsibility to your husband? You are the mother and you need to be there for them. Get your priorities straight, and when you finally do this i think that you will realize that it will not only benefit your family but it will protect the rights of women everywhere.
So please Sarah, just go home.

What happened to the hippies?

2008-09-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

What happened to the hippies? Not the hippies themselves persay but why is there no group of people making a statement against the government that is breaking us. This country was founded on the ideals of a better life. Why are we letting the people in charge of it drive our lives into the ground?! Why is it that i work full time and cant afford a small apartment? Why is it that if i want a better future i have to pay nearly 2000 dollars a year to attend a community college? This is wrong. We have such a money rich country but why is it distributed so wrongly. The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer and the elimination of the middle class is in full force.
We need a change. And i feel as if we have lost hope in that idea. People dont feel as if there voice is heard anymore. The few who speak out are seen as radicals. But we should be radical! We need to be radical or else we are going to be fighting out whole lives to climb out of this bullshit!
We need massive change. And the only way to do that is to unite and make a statement. We live in a republic. A government for the people. But our government does not care about the people.
Why do we put our trust in these men whos priorities lie in their pockets?
LETS START A RIOT!
Truckers park your cars where they are right now and refuse to move until gas is below 3 dollars a gallon.
Riot in washington until there is a 700 billion dollar bail out plan for the people!
Riot until you can afford the healthcare you need.
And students, and people who want a better future riot until education is free, because everyone, regardless of monetary status, deserves an education.
So please, all im asking is make a statement, stand up for what you believe in and be radical until things are changed. Dont just sit back and watch as everything we as a people built crumbles in the selfish hands of washington.

700 billion dollars?

2008-09-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

I would like to start off first by saying that I am absolutely LIVID because of the recent events on wall street. When I thought that our economy couldnt get any worse 2 men on wall street made some bad trades and are now asking for congress to grant them a 700 billion dollar bailout. 700 billion dollars? There are so many other places that money should go if we are just going to print more bills to save the worlds problems. If we used half of that to send to africa for relief work we could put an end to mass genocide and we could help sick starving children. But instead we are going to give possibly up to 1 trillion dollars to those idiots on wall street who messed everything up in the first place! These men make more in one day than i do in a year and it makes me sick to think that any of the taxes that i pay are going to go to these people. I work my butt off for practically nothing and part of the money that i make is going to go to these rich old men who messed it up for themselves? That is wrong. Where is robin hood? Where is the man who is going to take from the rich and give to the poor. We need one of those and soon. Hopefully Barack Obama can do this but there is still the issue of getting him elected because there are so many ignorant people that we allow to vote.
If instead of giving a 700 billion dollar bailout to corporations why dont we divide that up and give it to the people. Maybe if we all had a little extra cash in our pockets we could pay our mortgages and fill up our gas tanks. If the government divided that money up and gave it to everysingle person, man woman and child, that would be about 2200 dollars for every single person! I would probably give one of my fingers for that much money! 2200 dollars would make a difference unlike that 300 bullshit stimulus check bush attempted to make a success. 300 dollars does not go very far, that would pay a little less than half of my rent or pay off my pending electric bill. But 2200 dollars to every man woman and child? that would make a difference. That could get the people back on their feet again. But no. As a people we are going to sit aside and let congress pass a 700 billion dollar bailout to give to the men who screwed us over in the first place. That is twisted. And it makes me lose hope in the values of america when the people arent trying to stop it.

Description

2008-09-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

A rolling hill of lime green grass pours into a bed of tall pine trees and small red and yellow bushes. There is a slight breeze that breaks the staleness of the warm air. The breeze causes the trees to sway, making them look like they are waving to each of their passerby's. The sun reflects off of the grass creating a glowing yellow undertone. There are just enough clouds to dampen the glare of the sun without covering any of its brilliance. Red and yellow leaves that have fallen from the bushes decorate the grass. Statuesque red rocks jut out of the grass like small mountains.

Tattoos and Piercings Fashion vs. Identity

2008-09-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

I dont have any tattoos however i do have 8 piercings. I dont have any tatoos because i cant think of something i would want on my body that is permanent! Commitment scares me and i dont want to be commited to something for that long term. I think they are beautiful and i understand why people want them, just for now that is not for me.
I do choose to have piercings because of fashion and other reasons. I have three in each ear because i love earrings! They let me express myself and my taste and i love it. I also have my tongue pierced. This was more to make my father angry than anything else. When i was in the 8th grade my science teacher had her tongue pierced. I came home and told my dad i wanted to get mine pierced. He freaked out screaming "DO YOU KNOW WHAT THATS USED FOR!!". So when i turned 18 i got my tongue pierced just to see how mad i could make him. He offered to pay me 1,000 dollars to take it out but i left it in! totally worth it!
I also have my lip pierced. This was and wasnt my choice. My boyfriend had long ass crazy metal hair that i absolutely hated. I wanted him to cut it off and eventually he did. In return i got my lip pierced. Ive grown to love it, but i never would have gotten it otherwise.
In my opinion it doesnt matter the reason why you modify your body. Its your own body so if you want your nose pierced cause its in or if you get your boyfriends name tattooed on your ass it doesnt matter.

McCains Lame!

2008-09-09T10:41:00.001-07:00

The purpose of McCain's speech was to decieve the listener into believing that he has democratic ideals and will fight for the middle class. Throughout his entire speech he distances himself from the republican party and the bush administration. He talks about how he will change washington to benefit the middle class. He claims that his ideas to cut taxes and create jobs. He attempts to pass off barack Obama's ideas as his own. Which I understand because that is the only way he has any hope of being elected. He tries to bring credibility to his vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. He does this by trying to make her relatable to the middle class by talking about her 5 children and the fact that she has to buy groceries. This tactic tries to make the listener relate to him and believe that he has the people in mind.
The main theme of his speech is that he will fight for this country because that is what he has been doing for his whole life. He says the word fight over 25 times. He will fight for our freedom, fight for our rights. I dont know what all the fighting is for but it seems to be his campaign. All he wants to do is fight and when he says that he and the democrats and independents will work together, i dont see that possible with all the fighting.

Barack Rocks!

2008-09-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

The purpose of Barack Obama's acceptance speech was to unite the middle class under the Democratic party. Obama related himself to the average American citizen and made the listener feel as if he was just one of us. He described his life and it is the epitome of the American dream. He spoke about growing up on food stamps in order to go to college to get where he is today. The idea of starting from nothing and making yourself into something is the foundation that America was built on. He tapped into this with his ideas of hope and change, ideas that he still believes are possible and that he can achieve if elected.
He discussed issues that matter to the majority of the American population: education, taxes, affordable health care, and the war in Iraq. He wants to make education affordable to those who make the grades and show the effort. He himself went to college on an array of scholarships and he wants to make this easier for everyone. He also wants to lower taxes for the suffering middle class and not give tax breaks to large corporations who outsource all their jobs. He wants to make health care and medicine cheaper so that the majority of people can get the care that they need. He wants to end the war in Iraq safely and soon while keeping weapons out of the hands of Iran.
Obama's goal was to instill hope into everyone who heard that speech. He tapped into what really mattered instead of making an election about social issues such as gay marraige and Roe vs. Wade. He wants everyone to understand that he is truly American and that he has worked hard to get where he is today and he will continue to work hard until changes in Washington have been made. His purpose was to inspire a new generation to stand up for what they believe in and not lose hope.

The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies

2008-09-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

In Bordo's essay she adresses the effect that media has on womens sense of body image. In todays society beauty has become an unnatainable goal that women will go to any length to achieve. Women will refinance their house in order to get a breast lift or a years worth of botox. And all for what? What are we trying to achieve by prancing around like walking barbie dolls? You can take Cosmopolitan magazine for example, the sections include beauty, fasion, and sex. Why is a magazine that focuses on these superficial things considered a bible to most women? Image has become the center of all of our thoughts.
Who are we making ourselves up for anyways?Its certainly not for our own personal satisfaction because if i didnt have to straighten my hair every morning I would be a happier person. And its certainly not for my boyfriend because he thinks i look best in jeans and a t shirt. Who are we doing this for? Why do we need to look like our outfit cost 300 dollars and are wearing enough make up to perfom in a play? We are bombarded by images from television and magazines that all tell us that we need to lose 20 pounds and curl our eyelashes in order to fit in with this plastic society. And the sad part is, even though I hate the way the media tells me what to do with my hair and what clothes to wear i still buy Cosmo every month and wont leave the house without mascara.