Relief

Alas, the joy of being completed with all my assignments. It feels as if I have been glued to my computer for days. I honestly enjoyed this English class. It may have just been the best English class I have ever taken in all my years of attending school. Due to the amount of writing that I have done this semester I am considering in taking up a career in journalism, then a again I have considered many careers none in which I have actually stuck too. I have learned that I actually enjoy writing a lot more than I originally planned too.

Jonathan Swift- A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift has a sick idea. His idea is that we should eat the children of the poor to help economy and control the population. Of course he is proposing this in a jokingly manor. But basically what he is saying is that if the rich feel so horribly about the poor then why don't they just eat the kids, since they are such a failure to economy according to them. The sickening part of all this is that I can assure you some lunatic has thought of this before and if the idea was proposed in a serious manor then the possibility of something similar to the Holocaust may just repeat itself.

Crunch Time

I have never been able to solve the mystery of why we as students leave everything to the last minute. I have known about all my assignments since the beginning of the semester yet I have procrastinated and now I am 3 days away from the end of the semester and have to get everything done. The stress would have been decreased if I would have begun to do my work at least 2 weeks ago but of course that just isn’t my nature. Students in generally seem to have this bad habit, and we all try to improve it. Some of us do eventually others fall into the group that never do and we even become CEO's and still leave all the work for the last minute even if it's may cost you millions of dollars if for some reason you are unable to finish your job by the due date. Perhaps one day I will solve the mystery of why we continue with this bad habit till then I will call it plain laziness.

Susan Allen Toth-Cinematypes

I remember the day in class where we all read this passage together and at the end I don't quite remember who said so but someone said that this passage had to be exaggerated because guys can't really be like this. Oh but they can and they can be worse. An example of this would be Sam, Sam to me isn't all that much of a bad guy, most guys I know would have just came in and disregarded the fact that they have a girlfriend but Sam didn't, if anything lets applaud Sam for with holding temptation. And if you think Aaron is odd I have met worse, actually Aaron is quite normal compared to some of these guys you meet in Hialeah. I truly enjoyed this passage.

Allen Pace Nilsen- Sexism in English: A 1990s Update

There is a proverb in this passage that truly disturbed me, " If you see an old man, sit down and take a lesson, if you see an old woman, throw a stone." I would like to know who in the world told the man that came up with this proverb that a man was some how superior to a woman. The ignorance by this enraged me. So basically women like Amelia Earhart, Maya Angelou, Hellen Keller, Harriet Thubman, have absolutely nothing worth listening to. Somehow this person has convinced himself that a man has more knowledge. In modern society especially in America women have just the same amount of education as a man, some women are infact more successful so in what way are man superior? If I ever met this person I would show him a thing or two and I truly hope I never meet a fellow who has this same view point because they might not live to regret the day they ever met me.

Lewis Thomas- The Lie Detector

If there is one thing that is certain in this world it is that EVERYONE has told a lie. For whatever reason it may be we have all done it. Of course society looks down upon it because as Lewis said we are an interdependent species that relies on each other therefore we need trust. So when someone is caught in a lie, it may very well be the end of the world for them. Their credibility is flushed down and can no longer be trusted. Yet it is something so commonly done by the entire world that there shouldn't be a reason to make such fuzz about. Everyone wants to believe that we are not being lied to because we want to truly trust someone. However that may never happen even if it's a white lie, a lie is a lie.

Barbara Ehrenreich-What I've learned from Men

Let me begin by stating that I loved the way Barbara ended this essay. It was brilliant, and I agree completely with every word she has to say here. Women do need to stop acting so nice. There are times that I catch myself being too nice. Living in Hialeah you get the constant jerks throwing nasty comments at you as a form of flirting and sometimes they go too far. There has been plenty of times where I have felt that I've wanted to just go right to one of them and smack them because they can be so vulgar but of course being ladylike I do not resort to violence and just walk away pretending I did not hear a word this jerk just said. Television and movies show you exactly what Barbara is talking about succesful women. They do tend to be emberrased about their success and I do question why. Over all we need to stop thinking in situations as much as we do, we over analyze things so that we won't go too far so we may always look like a lady in the end because at the end you are not looking like a lady you are just being the weaker sex. I am not saying let's act exactly like men because in all honesty I would never want to be like a man, but I say we steal some of their traits so that we wont be looked down on.

Marie Winn- Television Addiction

Television has a negative affect in your life? I disagree. It is the person who controls the outcome. Television, medicine, food, internet; all these things can be negative when using it the wrong way or using it excessively. Too much medicine can kill you just enough can heal you, too much food can make you obese but you need food for nutrition, the internet can become dangerous when you become so obsessed with it that you are glued in front of your computer half of the day but when used to your advantage you can learn from it and become cultured. You need TV. to be informed, an example of this would be the daily news. You need TV to be entertained because one can go crazy when bored, that’s a realistic statement. T.V isn't only needed; it is wanted, and useful. Channels like the Discovery channel, TLC, the History channel, etc, all help you become more educated and what’s so wrong with that? Anything can become an addiction and yes television can become one as well but so can many other things, but only you have control over that.

Friends, Good Friends--and Such Good Friends

I really enjoyed the way Judith Viorst described the different type of friends one may have. I too agree that friends come in many different levels. I have a friend that has known me since I was 5 and when we do talk the immediate conversations are about the days when we used to play with our dolls in the front yard, memories of our 6th birthday, our memories of elementary and we always talk about how horrible our mother's would cut out hair back then. I have a guy friend named Eric who I find myself telling him stuff that I would never be able to tell my girlfriends with such ease, but also holding back on some stuff I know he would never understand. I have my best friend who I can tell absolutely anything too but as Judith says we don't agree on everything that time has passed. I disagree many times with her view points as I am sure she does too.

Judy Brady: I Want a Wife

So I was trying to find passages in Volume Two that would intrigue me so that I could be able to write blogs about. The title “I Want a Wife" made me curious as to what the passage was really about. After being done with it I was really disturbed because the way she described what a wife should be like was so stereotypical and that's fine because in all honesty that is exactly what society wants wives to be. The perfect wife to me sounds more like a slave, a nurse, someone who has to attend to all of her man's need without concerning her own needs. It is thoughts like these that lead me to believe that I don’t ever want to get married. Marriages should have an equally intake in everything that goes on.

Mornings

Waking up early has never been something I was too good at. I've always dreaded the time my alarm clock rings and have always been the type to delay my alarm clock to 5 minutes after. So it is with much sacrifice that I have found it in me to wake up this semester at 5:30 a.m to arrive to school on time. But then there are days like these, days where your professor decides to not show up. Usually I don't complain much, in fact I am not actually complaining at this moment because it is due to that same professor that I am able to get an advance on another assignment. However, if I wake up early to hear a long lecture on solar energy I would appreciate for my professor to be there or come on, give me a fair warning at least. There are still a number of us who dont mind sleeping. Im sure I come off as a grinch sometimes but it' s only because I the things everyone is thinking about but are to afraid speak up. Then again, I don't exactly mind missing out on one of his speeches again, in fact I am thrilled.

Deciding the Future

I am 17 yrs old in college. I am currently on my second semester and still under "UNDECIDED." Ahh yes, I am one of those individuals who still has no idea where they are going to end up 10 yrs from now. As if my life hasn't been rushed enough. Most kids my age are either in their junior year or senior year deciding what color their prom dress is going to be, or what should they engrave in their class ring and here I am dealing with the constant pressure of deciding what I want with the rest of my life. I wish I could take a break from it all but that just isn't an option for me. Sometimes I believe that the very same pressure I get from the parentals is the reason why at times I slack off. I still want to be a kid, and in reality I still am, but time is ticking and it's the one thing I can't afford to loose, unless I want to end up like my 23 yr old brother who sleeps until 5 p.m on the weekends and spends the remainder of his day playing Final Fantasy on his playstation. Hopefully I decide soon enough, until then I promise you the next time someone comes up to me and asks " So what are you going to do with the rest of your life?", better be a good 20 feet away from me.

Simply My Luck

I have always been known for being the cause of the misfortunate events in my group of friends. We have always joked around with this but not too long ago, this theory was confirmed. I am 17 years old, and I few weeks back I honestly didn't know how to drive, until my friend decided to take charge of that, taking me around Hialeah Gardens. I was doing pretty well being my first time and all but of course you can bet that things couldn't be going to smoothly, remember it is me driving. As I was two blocks away from my house I see red and blue flashing lights, yes it was the police. I got pulled over for a broken tail light, in a car that wasn't even mine! No issuarance, driving with someone under 21, and it being 2:00 a.m. Of course I should have realized the consequences from the start but lets be honest how else was I suppose to learn how to drive. The officer was debating on just letting the situation slide, but of course with my luck my friend's registration was no where to be found. I got a ticket to the amount of 89.50 and well that's my dilemma.

Suzanne Britt-Neat People vs. Sloppy People

I really enjoyed "Neat People vs. Sloppy People" by Suzanne Britt, mostly due to it's sarcasm. I consider myself to be in the "Neat People" category. I agree with some of the things said, for example the line "Neat people operate on two unvarying principles: Never handle any item twice, and throw everything away." To a certain extent I agree with that statement. Neat people are vicious with mail, that I agree with entirely, but why not, it makes sense to throw away all the propaganda you receive in the mail. One thing I do that contradicts what she says is keeping the receipts for sentimental reasons. I keep all my movie ticket stubs that mean something to me, but being neat I keep it all in the same box, that also includes birthday cards, Christmas cards, etc.

Russell Baker-Slice Of Life

"Slice Of Life" by Russell Baker is truly hilarious, and maybe a bit more for me because in a way I can relate to it. Last thanksgiving I had to carve the turkey and it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life. Honestly, at the point of aggravation the ax method sounds so ideal. Not very sanitary but simpler, which is always more convenient. I remember, my stepfather had to step in and finish the job for me because I was demolishing the turkey, which personally the look of the food shouldn’t matter, right? The taste should be the only factor of importance. Well apparently not when you have a mother who prefers the over all presentation above all.

William F. Buckley, Jr.-Why Don't We Complain?

Personally, “Why Don’t We Complain?” was possibly one of the readings I enjoyed the most, generally because of the sense of humor used in the passage. It was really realistic because the majority of us do have that problem. However, in the case of the movie theater incident I felt he did have the right to complain and not be ashamed. I mean we do pay almost ten dollars to watch something besides a blank screen. As for the train, I don’t understand why the other man looked at him the way he did, it was a fair complaint that I am sure plenty of people had the same feelings regarding the situation.