Current Obsession

My

Current

Obsession

And I thought I'd share with you

The Laughing Heart

Life of Adventure

Many of you people may not know me, so I'm going to use this blog as a way for you to get to know me as well.  Well I believe the best place to start is from the end and work back, so I am going to tell you about my future.  No this isn't what I want to do.  This is what I am going to do because I will not accept anything less. I am going to get a wildlife biology degree out of college with a minor in film. I am going to begin raising money and as soon as I have enough I'm selling all of my belongings but a backpack, a select amount of clothes, and some basic film equipment.  With these few materials I am going embark on the journey of a lifetime.  My life goal is to visit every country in the world and I am going to record my travels and the wildlife I encounter.  With these recordings I am going to set up a Youtube channel where I can share all of my videos.  With all of the crap that is on television and the internet, I believe being able to watch a real adventure where you get to learn about distant, mysterious lands will be a value to some people in this world. Now I know some of you may be saying, "Yea everyone wants to travel forever, but it never happens, you get married and settle down," yes that may be true for most people, but I am not most people.  I care not for a wife or kids, but to live my life knowing I did everything I wanted to do and settling down will stop me of just that.  I am someone who doesn't latch on to people, if I was given the chance to go on a trip, but I would not be able to see any of my friends again, I would be bags packed, never looking back because I realize I will only  keep in contact for a select few of my small group of friends after high school.  I know that sounds messed up, but this is my dream in life, the one thing I truly want and I refuse to let anything or one stop me.

"Where you are from is what creates you, but where you go is what shapes you"

montaigne/austen essay

"What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant." a quote from David Foster Wallace's story "Good Old Neon" talks about how our minds are a giant web of fluid thoughts that not even us can stay caught up with.  This thought is like Montaigne and some Austen's writing styles.  Montaigne's essay were written in blurbs of what came to his mind making it hard to sometimes follow and jump topics.  In Pride and Prejudice, we see and learn part of the story through the eyes of Elizabeth, where we get to see her thoughts jump from place to place; we also see the view point of the other narrator of the story, who knows what is going on and is unaffected by outside opinions.

Montaigne wrote his essays in the stream of conscious writing style.  Foster talks about how we can keep up with what goes on in our minds because they are so complicated and fast paced.  While reading the essays you can see the points where Montaigne forgets the point he was making, because will he was writing his mind moved onto the next point and he is forced to move on suddenly. Montaigne thought process is like a shock going through a spiders web, it can be following a straight path, but it gets to a point where it breaks off into eight new paths and he tries to keep the fluidity of the current, causing him to follow one new path.

Austen's characters are complicated, but can only see it one way with their simple ways.  Elizabeth is constantly having to absorb her surroundings and react to what she believes is going on.  This is shown when she assumes she know what kind of guy Darcy is, but as her mind processes his actions over the course of the book, it find his intentions behind his actions.  Her mind is more complicated then she could have ever understood, but it is nothing like the other narrator of the book.  This narrator oversaw all that was happening and had the capabilities to keep up with everything that was going on.  It was all knowing and knew the past, present, and future outcomes of every action that happened.  From the beginning of the story it knew what was going to happen by the end because of it capability to keep up with everything going on in its mind allowed it to intertwine the gaps in between the webs of conscious.

David Foster Wallace believed that the mind was so fast and complicated that one could not keep up with everything that was going on and that what they saw was only a droplet in a sea of their thoughts. Montaigne's essays and style of writing complemented Wallace's belief because Montaigne wrote in the stream of conscious style, meaning he wrote what ever thought was on his mind at the time and changed to the next as soon as his mind changed gears. Austen had two characters in her story that we could compare to this belief.  Elizabeth was only following her initial thoughts, but overtime saw the course of everyone's actions and their reasoning.  The unknown narrator on the other hand was all knowing and was able to follow all of his thought processes and was able to understand everything going on into deep detail.

Reflections on week 1

1)Are there any factors that you think are going to affect your participation or experience in this class? Access to a computer?  Mobile/smart phone?  Transportation?  Friends/family? Schedule?

I think the only factor I will be forced to overcome are playing water polo because it takes up so much of my time, applying for the Naval Academy, and only have one computer available for me to work on at home.

2)Think of an awesome best ever learning experience that changed you. What did you learn? Where were you? What happened? Who else was there? Did it teach you anything about how you learn (or pay attention... or remember, or think?) How did you know what was happening? 

I think one of my best learning experiences that changed me was being able to travel and learn about foreign countries.  The summer before my freshman year I traveled to Egar, Budapest, and Vienna.  While their I got the chance to learn about Hungarian and Austrian culture and history.  I was their with my high school water polo team, some players you may know: A.J. Franklin, Steven Tedsen, Carson Dacus, Kevin Stevens, Nathan Oh, Devon Toomoka, Cameron Cripe, etc.

I taught me that I learn best when I can read and see the things I'm learning about right in front of me and not seeing pictures or using the imagery from the book to imagine its true beauty.

3)What are you most [excited/concerned] about in this class? What do you look forward to in learning?  How do you think it can/will make a practical difference in your life?

I am excited to try this open source learning.  I think it is a way of teaching that I have been looking for my entire schooling career; since I want to go to college where I shape my curriculum and learn hands on, I think this class is going to be a perfect stepping stone this year.  I look forward to broadening my vocabulary and having a better sense of the language.  This class is going to have a practical difference because I can get help from anyone in the class, there is more then one teacher, there is all of my classmates who I can work together with to succeed.

Vocabulary #1

adumbrate - verb give to understand; describe roughly or briefly or give the main points or summary of
He adumbrated his life to the girl he just met.

apotheosis - noun the elevation of a person (as to the status of a god); model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal
He believes he is apotheosis, but no one else see him that way.

ascetic - adj. practicing great self-denial; pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self-discipline
That ascetic boy over there doesn't fit in with the rest of us.

bauble - noun a small, showy trinket or decoration
They always show of the baubles they get from their parents.

beguile - verb attract; cause to be enamored; influence by slyness
His way with words beguiled an audience around him to listen to his stories.

burgeon - verb grow and flourish
All of these kids will burgeon throughout the year.

complement - noun something added to complete or make perfect; either of two parts that mutually complete each other; a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction;number needed to make up a whole force; a complete number or quantity; one of a series of enzymes in the blood serum that are part of the immune response; verb make complete or perfect; supply what is wanting or form the complement to
They work together so well because her imagination is complemented by his innovation.

contumacious - adj. wilfully obstinate; stubbornly disobedient
I have to send the contumacious kids to the corner of the room, until they listen and behave.

curmudgeon - noun a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas
I had to deal with his dad who was a curmudgeon if I ever saw one.

didactic - adj. instructive (especially excessively)
Mainly I'm a didactic teacher to these kids.

disingenuous - adj. not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness
I'm not a disingenuous teacher, I don't try to be your best friend in the beginning and then crazy at the end.

exculpate - verb pronounce not guilty of wrong doings
I try to exculpate them when they don't understand what they did wrong.

fulminate - verb cause to explode violently and with loud noise; come on suddenly and intensely; criticize severely
I have to keep level headed when all of the kids fulminate before lunch.

fustian - noun a strong cotton and linen fabric with a slight nap;pompous or pretentious talk or writing
When I talk to them I have to avoid my normal  use of fustian and talk more to their level.

hauteur - noun overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors
The mayor's son believes he has hauteur over the rest of his class mates.

inhibit - verb limit the range or extent of; to put down by force or authority
I have to inhibit the amount of play time, so they will have time to learn what they need to learn.

jeremiad - noun a long and mournful complaint
I always get jeremiads about how I don't give the kids a nap time.

opportunist - adj. taking immediate advantage, often unethically, of any circumstance of possible benefit; noun a person who places expediency above principle
I admit I am and opportunist person and not everyone agree with how I teach.

unconscionable - adj. greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation; lacking a conscience
I was brought in to replace the old, unconscionable teacher because he would beat the kids with a ruler.

faux pas- noun an embarrassing or tactless act or remark in a social situation
I try my hardest to get rid of the faux pas of their first year of school.

I Can Read

My attempt.  I really struggled with this.

Ap Essay Number 2

In The Crucible the author has girls, who are believed to be "witches",  rebel against what was expected out of women by society and the Church.  They used many mischievous acts to manipulate people into what they wanted and "needed." The girls lie, frame others, and one of them tries to have an affair with one of the married men in the town.

In the time period the story took place, women were expected to take care of the house, the kids, and only talk to when spoken to.  In the beginning the girls are caught "dancing in the forest" and are accused as witches, but they lie their way through the accusations and flip the blame to others in the village. Once they learn this power they begin to use this new profound freedom of speech and accuse anyone,as witches, in the way of their wants and needs.  They leave their jobs in townspeople's houses because they are in the courts sending innocent people to be condemned.

In the early years of America religions like Puritanism were very popular.  The Church was what life and towns revolved around.  Everyone tried their hardest to leave a honest, Catholic life so when the day of their salvation came they didn't get sent to Hell for an eternity, but in this play the girls threw away all of their religious beliefs, which at the time was unheard of, and ran with no thought of the consequences of their actions. They were being non-puritan and going against everything that their society was set out to be.

My Biggest Question

On of my biggest questions is when will the destruction of our own planet stop?

We live on a planet with limited resources and our generation is wasting them like there is no tomorrow, but the sad part is one of these day THERE WILL BE NO TOMORROW. That will be the day we have expended all of our non-reusable resources and as a planet, not just a species because we are expending the clean water, air, and earth. It will be almost impossible to inhabit this planet, like the beginning of the movie Wall-E. I don't know about you but I want to protect this planet as much as I can.

Ap Test Essay Prompt 1

George Eliot believed that her generation lost the true meaning of leisure and filled it with their new thought of leisure.  She believes the older days of sitting around on your porch looking off into the distance the countryside is true leisure, not the leisure her society has, where they pay to get amused by things made for them.  She use a few literary devices to compare and contrast these two types of leisure such as imagery.

Old leisure was in a much simpler time.  A man can sit out and read a paper on his porch with the lazy breeze coming over the hill from the ocean.  He would be sitting their without the smell of factories or emissions, just the nature that surrounded him.  He appreciated the things he had and had no care for how they were made or got there.  Eliot told us all of this; she said a stress-free, natural, country life where you like objects as objects and not how they came to you.

A life where you are rushed and eager to get to the next thing that will amuse you for an hour or two isn't leisure.  Eliot describes her society as these kinds of people looking for that as leisure.  She says "Even idleness is eager now- eager for amusement" meaning people are never stress free, they are constantly looking for their next source of entertainment. They can't find the natural things amusing and are always making new things to entertain them for a period of time, caring only for the prestigious brands of big named entertainment companies.

Ap Test Questions

1.B C
2.E A
3.C
4.E
5.D
6.D
7.A E
8.B
9.A E
10.C
11.D
12.A B
13.B
14.D C
15.C A
16.A B
17.C
18.E
19.A
20.B
21.D E
22.A E
23.E A
24.E A
25.E C
26.E
27.A D
28.C
29.E A
30.B
31.D
32.B
47.A B
48.A
49.C
50.D
51.C
52.B
53.E
54.B
55.E A
56.B
57.C
58.A D
59. B E

I was fairly surprised by my results, I thought I was going to miss more.  I think my biggest struggle was not knowing what some of the words meant in the poems and/or the answers.  I think the fact that this was mainly poetry help me because I consider poetry one of my stronger suits in English.

Colleges

Since we are doing a college resume. I thought I might also post a list of my top colleges. (note one through three are with the intentions of playing water polo there)

1. Naval Academy
2. UC Davis
3. CSU Long Beach
4. CSU Humboldt
5. University of Montana

There are others I'm looking into and I will be applying to more as I research for more colleges.

Cultural Changes??

If you just watched that, then you are probably as disturbed as I am.  As some of you may know weird product commercials like this are found on almost every channel in Japan, but I'm scared to say that this one is actually from the United States.  Do these kind of commercials intrigue you as a buyer? As freaked out as I was, I have found myself a couple times looking at this Philadelphia business's website.  These types of commercials seem more amusing, or latching.. to your mind.  I distinctly remember this commercial more then the one I saw ten seconds ago for some new kids toy, that I don't remember the name of.  Our nation  is becoming more and more overprotecting parents try to protect their little babies (no pun intended) which keep most marketing like this out of the States.  I personally believe that this should and will come to our nation, it will amuse the people for its entertainment value, but also the distinct, weirdness will draw them in as buyers.  What do you think about this possible culture change?

Poetry #1

1) The poem "The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski was used in this Levi's commercial.

2) This is ironic because Bukowski was a rebellous, drunk, who believed in individualism over conforming.  So the fact that a large corporation is using his poems to intrigue potential buys to conform and buy their clothing is extremely ironic.

3) The poem is about living your life and trying to find the best, or the light, out of everything, which I think goes both ways when trying to relate to Bukowski.  Bukoswki chose to have a life of drinking and being with prostitutes, which is him choosing his life, but he drank because the pain he endured during his childhood and slept with prostitutes because he could not marry for about thirty years after his first marriage.

To find this information I used previous knowledge and imbd.com

Essay #1

Palestinian, Edward Said, wrote "Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience.  It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home; its essential sadness can never be surmounted." He is trying to say that isolation can be harmful to one, as well as a cultivating experience.  In The Poisonwood Bible the Price family must leave their home of the United States for a missionary trip to the Congo, but when they arrive the alienation is even firmer on Adah then the rest of her family.  She deals with isolation from the natives and her family, which has a multitude of effects on her.

Adah is one of the few white folks in the small village of the Congo.  When they arrive they feel out of place due to the clash of cultures that they struggle to keep up with, but once the hype of the arrival of the Price family dies down they realize they are family with no knowledge of how to live in their new environment, with their only help coming from Mama Tibata.  Adah having a major physical handicap looks like she could be one of the villager with white skin.  I felt like this led to her family looking past here, for example when Adah and Leah were sent to the river to get water, Leah impatiently left Adah behind on the trail where she was stalked by a lion and pronounced dead by the villagers.  When they told the Price family they believed she was attacked, everyone was shocked when Adah appeared off the hammock at the house because no one had any awareness of where she was.  As the story continues and Adah's sisters become closer to the natives or their family, she almost choose to exile herself from her family due to her unrelenting desire to not be affiliated with them.While her journey in the Congo was about to end she had lost her younger sister Ruth May to a snake bite, Leah got sick with malaria and stayed with Anatole's family, Rachel staying and marrying herself into enough money to satisfy her needs, Adah was surprised when her mother chose her over Leah.  Leah whom Adah always considered a family favorite.  When Adah returned to the states she overcame her disabilities and continued her education into college, where she later went on to study new cures for African diseases. These achievement of hers were possible from the experience she gain while she experienced the Congo "by herself".

Adah began her adventure to the Congo already semi-distant from her family, but once arriving they almost pay no attention to her and she grows on her own.  She continued to exile herself until the end where she came together with what was left of her family to leave for home.  After the rest of her sisters stayed behind, her mom and her made it home.  She became a new Adah and went back to Africa to try and save lives by producing cures to dieseases.

The Posionwood Bible

• the Price family flies to Africa
• they go to a small village called Kilanga
• there for a religious mission
• Nathan Price, the father, is the new minister of the village
• they underestimate what they needed
• Adah, being handicapped, fits in with the natives
• Rachel hates it because she thinks of herself as a beauty queen who doesn't like to work for anything
• Leah believes in God's will and takes the bad things as God saying "you aren't doing it right"
• Ruth May expends all of her energy exploring the surrounding jungle
• Nathan tries to baptize the people many times but they refuse
• after awhile Mama Tataba leaves telling him that they are afraid of the river because of a recent crocodile attack
• with threat of communist take over Belgium pulls out of Congo and lets them set up their own government
• Mrs. Price begs to leave for the safety of her daughters
• Mr. Price refuses to let them leave, believing it is just a challenge from God
• Ruth May breaks and arm climbing a tree
• Anatole tells Mr. Price that the villagers don't want to leave their traditions for Christianity
• Anatole brings Pascal to help the Price family
• Pascal helps the girls learn African culture
• Leah and Pascal become great friends
• Ruth May get Malaria
• Leah gets lessons from Anatole
• Ruth May survives but isn't the same
• Leah falls in love with Anatole
• Ruth May is bitten by a snake and dies
• Mrs. Price and the remaining daughters leave Mr. Price to go home
• They are forced to walk through the jungle
• Leah gets malaria and is left at Anatole's family's house
• Rachel tells Mr. Axelroot to fly her out of there and she'll marry him
• Leah marries Anatole
• Adah and Mrs. Price go home
• Rachel moves on from marriage to marriage until she obtains a vast hotel company in Africa
• Leah lives the African way with Anatole and their four kids
• Adah overcomes her disabilities and goes to an university, where she studies African diseases for cures
• Mrs. Price falls to depression due to the guilt of Ruth May's death
• Ruth May watches over her sisters as they grow up and her mom grows old, describing life and death

Pride and Prejudice

• Charles Bingley comes to town
• Bennet family happy of his arrival because of five unmarried daughters
• Mr. Bennet meets Mr. Bingley, who meets the girls
• at the ball Jane Bennet, the eldest daughter, dances with Charles
• the Bennets meet Mr. Darcy at the ball
• Darcy is rich and single
• Elizabeth Bennet immediately dislikes him
• Jane meets Charles's sisters in hope to be friends because she has fallen in love with him
• Darcy is attracted to Elizabeth
• Sir William ask Elizabeth to dance with Darcy, but she refuses
• Darcy says Elizabeth is the object of his desires
• Jane visits Charles, but falls ill and Elizabeth goes to help
• Mr. Collin is entitled to Bennet property
• He visits Bennets to find a wife
• Collins first wants Jane, but was told she was soon to be engaged, so he tries for Elizabeth
• the day after he arrived Elizabeth meets Mr. Wickham who she likes
• Mr. Wickham and Darcy hate each other
• Wickham says Darcy used a loophole to take his inheritance money
• Wickham doesn't attend ball so Elizabeth dances with Darcy
• Collins proposes to Elizabeth who says no
• Bingley tells Jane he is going back to London
• Elizabeth's closest friend, Charlotte, knows this Elizabeth's only chance to live a comfortable life
• Elizabeth and Wickham get closer, but her aunt doesn't approve due to his low social status
• Elizabeth visits Charlotte after seeing Mr. Collins
• Jane goes to London in hope of seeing Mr. Bingley
• Elizabeth meets Lady de Bourgh who interrogates her
• Darcy visits alone
• Fitzwillaim says Darcy stopped Jane's marriage
• Darcy tells Elizabeth he loves her and proposes, but she says no and questions him
• Elizabeth thought Darcy hated her
• Darcy's ego (pride) makes him jaded, while Elizabeth judges him off rumors(prejudice)
• he writes Elizabeth a letter saying he did stop the wedding because he didn't think Jade felt the same way, and that Wickham tried to marry Darcy's sister for money
• Elizabeth sees darcy as a compassionate, caring man 
• Elizabeth leaves for home and meets up with her sister where she tells them about Wickham and the decide to tell everyone
• Elizabeth goes on a tour through Darcy's house
• Darcy returns home early and runs into Elizabeth
• they talk and Darcy introduces her to his sister
• Elizabeth meets the Bingleys again
• Miss Bingley makes rude comments about Elizabeth, but Darcy defends her
• Jane sends Elizabeth a letter saying Lydia, their younger sister, had eloped with Wickham
• Elizabeth goes home to find her
• Elizabeth's father goes to London to find her
• Mr. Collins bashes the Bennets
• Mr. Bennet returns home without Lydia
• Mr. Gardiner finds her
• they hadn't married, but Wickham would if he got money
• Bennets care more about reputation then who their daughter married
• Bennets think the Gardiners gave Wickham a lot of money to marry Lydia
• Elizabeth confesses her love for Darcy
• Wickham agrees for marriage and visits the Bennets
• Lydia says Darcy was at her wedding
• Elizabeth confused writes to the Gardiners to figure out what is going on
• Gardiners say Darcy paid for wedding
• Bingley comes back and Lydia leaves
• Bingley has a small conversation with the Bennets
• Bingley and Darcy go for dinner, Bingley tries to win Jane's heart
• Elizabeth doesn't think Darcy will propose again
• Bingley proposes, Jane says yes
• Lady Bourgh questions Elizabeth's relationship with Darcy because her daughter is supposed to marry him
• Elizabeth said they weren't engaged, but she'd say yes if he asked
• Lady Bourgh says she can't marry him
• Elizabeth doesn't car
• Darcy, Elizabeth, Bingley, and Jane go for a walk
• Darcy and Elizabeth let the others go ahead
• Elizabeth thanks him for Lydia
• he proposes and she says yes
• they live happily ever after

Theme

• True Love Prevails
• true love broke the social status barriers and prevailed through its ups and downs, leaving them with true happiness

Symbolism
Lady Catherine- Greed and negative effects from money
Mr. Collin- desire to move up the social ladder

Montaigne Essays

• linked old to the new world
• father died when he was thirty five years old
• only one daughter survived
• use essays to release his demons
• essays divided into two books with the third being added
• supported his ideas with evidence and facts
• he questioned other's opinions to learn more about himself
• he believed men and women were cast in same mold
• wrote in french for people to be able to read later
• didn't use religion to discuss death to leave it as an open discussion
• theology and philosophy sometimes overlap
• translated Natural Theology for his father
• wrote important ideas in italics
• believes God is a hidden god
• thinks pride is the sin of sins
• opinion is not knowledge
• to explain why, you must provide evidence to validate your point
• renaissance allowed him to expand his knowledge with foreign scripture
• Montaigne influenced by Protgoras
• wanted to know
• thyself
• understand man and you'll understand the universe
• man is always changing,shifting, and becoming
• all men desire knowledge
• wisdom comes from experience not schooling
• writing brought him to terms with his hard ships and faults

Book One-That our deeds are judged by the intention

• wrote this to come to peace with his life and death
• death settles all obligations or issues of life
• we can't be held to promises beyond our power or means
• says some iniquitous judges postpone their judgement until the can't anymore

Book One- On idleness

• uses this to deal with his depression, delusions and illness
• souls without goals can get lost and lose themselves
• trying to branch out since he is so focused on himself

Book Two- That we should not be deemed happy til' after our death

• almost becomes obsessed with death 
• death is the act of dying, not the state of the soul in afterlife
• more philosophical then religious
• describes happiness as notions of blessedness and of good fortune
• never can be happy until death
• good fortune is key to happiness
• death shows the reality of life and who the person truly was
• the last day of life, one looks back on the life they lived

Book One- On the power of imagination

• imagination evokes mental images of thoughts, concepts, ideas, opinions as well as mental pictures
• religion sometimes dashed with imagination
• imagination brings new ideas and events
• it can take over the mind
• may be in your mind, but is real
• some people escape to their imagination, which makes them lose sight of reality
• miracles, random events, visions, etc. give fuel to the craving of imagination
• imagination can be used as bait to make someone think it is possible or the perfect thing to do
• men imagine women which ruins expectations
• mind and body are one, which imagination powerful
• magicians take advantage of imaginations in order to make audiences believe