The Last Blog Post

I don't really know what to say.

It's been a crazy semester. AP Comp was not the sole source of the craziness, but it was probably the most grueling. It's amazing the difference it makes in how hard work is whether or not you like what you are doing. It was probably even more pronounced for me because I have somewhat of a motivation problem. Even so, AP Comp was hard mostly because I didn't like it, not because it should have been difficult. I refuse to focus on the negative in this last blog post, though, so I won't go in to why I didn't like the class.

That crazy semester? It's done. Finally. I'm finished applying to colleges. I haven't heard back from most, but I got my first acceptance. I will be going to college. That's an awesome feeling. The future I've been looking forward to is rapidly turning into the present.

I'm done with AP classes. Not just AP Comp. I'm done with the annoying pre-organized papers in AP Gov. Because all arguments have exactly three reasons supporting one side and two supporting the other. I'm done with the infuriatingly tedious lab reports in AP Physics. My line of best fit isn't straight enough? Oh yes, I deserves that B. Definitely.

All of the extra busyness that has plagued my life this semester is finally starting to organize itself into predictable little bunches. I'm starting to feel like I have control over my life again. I'm not inches away from a mental breakdown. I have free time. (!)

And I really don't have anything I can complain about. However much my sleep schedule suffered, my grades didn't. I got my A's in AP Gov and AP CoGo, and I got my A+'s in physics. I got my A-'s in AP Comp. The hardest A-'s I have ever earned. Why don't the A's and A+'s feel more like accomplishments? Do I set my standards too high? I don't think I do.

The A-'s in this class are my first A-'s in two years. If it were any other class I would be mad at myself. But it's not any other class. It's the hardest class I've taken or will take in high school. By far. Linear Algebra and Differential Equations is going to be a piece of cake compared to this. Out of all the classes I've ever taken, this is the only one in which I've been satisfied with my grade. Why? Because in all other classes, every single point below perfect was not meeting expectations. People get angry at me all the time for it, but yes, I am UPSET when I get a 99. In this class, though, I had different expectations. I expected B's. Because that's all I thought I could do, based on how I evaluated my skills. That created feelings I've never really had before. The feeling I got when I checked skyward and found out I got an A on the revision essay, and didn't drop to a B+ for the term is one of the best I've had in a while. I not only met my own expectations, I exceeded them.

Not only is the crazy semester over, the next semester is going to be awesome. One last semester. I get to have two of my favorite teachers from previous years, Mr. Skerbitz and Mr. Bordwell, again. I'm actually excited for all my classes. I'm excited about having a math class again. I'm excited about having spanish again. I'm even excited for Mo Pro. Yes. I am looking forward to it, and not just because I have Mr. Bordwell.

The future is bright.

Our minds are crazy

For our BLA this term, our group read the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. This book was all about how our mind works in very short windows of time–how we make quick decisions. He called this "thin slicing". I thought it was an extremely interesting view of how our minds work. Previously, I would have believed that I am in control of my mind, but now I know that I am not, really. Many major decisions are the result of my subconscious mind. One example that stuck out to me was racism. Sure, we don't act racist, but there were tests done that showed that everybody has a somewhat racist subconscious. This threw me for a loop for a little bit, since I don't like the idea of being racist at all, but being aware of how it works was interesting.

The documentary that we watched was called How to Make Better Decisions and it was made by the BBC. This documentary, instead of focusing on what happens when we have to make decisions, focused on how we can be affected in the decision making process. For example, you can be primed by holding something hot or cold that will make you make a different decision directly afterward. You can also see into the future! (maybe) This was a different view than Blink because it didn't take into account how our brain works on the subconscious level, but it added a lot of useful information that I will use in conjunction with what I learned from Blink.

The main thing I got out of these was that psychology is complicated. Yes, it sounds stupid. But I did not know how complex our mind could be. We need to recognize that sometimes, what our brain does is not under our control. We should know that our brain is capable of much more than we think it is. We should be on the lookout for attempts to manipulate our brains. Also, we can't have just one philosophy for the way our minds work. Different methods work with different situations, and its important to know what works well when.

Overall, I am very glad I read this book and watched the documentary. After really not enjoying the BLA last term, actually getting a good book this time around was a pleasant change. I had read another Malcolm Gladwell book recently, so I knew that this one would be good as well. The documentary was done as part of BBC Horizon, which is a program (or a programme, I suppose, as it's British) that makes tons of wonderful documentaries, of which I have seen several, so I knew the documentary would be good too.

I don't think this was the intention

In doing my test corrections, I don't feel like I am discovering mistakes I made, I feel like I am arguing as a devil's advocate for an answer that feels less correct than the incorrect one that I originally chose. 

That being said, I am super-duper thankful that we have the opportunity to do test corrections in the first place.

Everyone saw this, right?

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/187524501.html

The Lesson I Learned

My essay sucked.

It took some major discomfort in class this morning for me to realize that. I can't necessarily speak for other students, but from me, thank you, Mrs. Cardona, for snapping me out of my haze. I thought my essay was fine. I knew it probably wasn't great, but neither were my others, and they got B's. But I was wrong. And after the blog post earlier today, I think I realize some of what went wrong (I'm pretty sure there were sentences specifically referring to me, even). I know I need to figure out how to fix it. I just don't know how yet.

I wish AP Comp was my only class. I wish I didn't have physics problems to do every night. I wish I didn't have a physics test to study for. I wish I didn't have a lab book to prepare. I wish I didn't have to do AP Government readings. I wish I didn't have to study for the FRQs. I wish I didn't have to practice any of my three instruments. I wish I didn't have a band concert tonight. I wish I didn't have a recital this thursday. I wish I didn't have a jazz band performance creeping up quickly. I wish I didn't have music lessons that expect major progress every week. I wish I didn't have college applications to do last weekend. I wish I didn't have to sleep.

I want to write a good essay, or at the very least I don't want to have written a crappy essay. I hate not meeting expectations. For as long as I could remember, the single thing that scared me most was getting in trouble. The fright has decreased as I've gotten older, but the guilt and disappointment are still there whenever I make someone unhappy. When the projector was turned on and showed the letter we had to write, I knew. It was a kick in the gut, a horrible way to start the day. But I have to say we, or at least I, deserved it.

I suppose the only explanation I can give is that I just had too many things. I wasn't able to give my essay the time it deserved as an essay, only the time it was allotted as homework. It didn't help that I had to completely change topics and start over after I had done the first draft and the peer conference.

The lesson I've learned from this, besides the obvious "my essay sucks", is that I simply can't do this many things at once. This whole semester has been proof of that for me. I wish I wasn't stuck in the middle of everything. But I am. I'll see what I can do.

AAAAUUUGGH!

After finishing up my revision, I have discovered that my essay goes ONE LINE onto a new page at the very end. Not even one full line, like half a line.

My Goal

For my essay I am revising the very first blog post we were assigned—the one explaining our writing process. In this revision essay, I expanded the topic slightly, and I am writing an essay called "How Non-Writers Write".

It isn't too big of a topic change, as my writing process that I wrote about originally is definitely the writing process of a non-writer, but I am rewriting the entire thing from scratch. (It still counts as a revision essay, though, not a new essay, right?)

My goal with this essay is not simply to get a good grade. I would be lying if I were to say I would have written this essay if I were not required to for school, and I would be lying if I were to say the grade I get on it doesn't matter to me, but for the first time I actually somewhat care about what I'm writing about.

My mission is to show what writing is like for those whose mission and inspiration is only to get a good grade. What it is like for those whose brains just don't work the way that writers' do. I want to raise awareness. The fact that this is an essay assigned for a writing class is important.

I'm a non-writer. As a result, writing is a special kind of torture for me. Even when I am inspired, I hate every bit of the process. Especially in a writing class, I'm not sure many writers are really aware of the struggle that people like me are forced to go through in class and outside of class. I'm a math guy, and I know that I don't understand as much as I would like the ways people struggle with math. I know I would like to find out that kind of thing from those people. So I am doing it for what I struggle with.

Funny Videos

First of all, the penguin video: 

Next, the onion. Nothing else compares. Warning: Contains very frequent uses of the real versions of the words "bullcrap" and "frick".

Also, CollegeHumor. Warning: Contains a couple school-inappropriate anatomical terms and a four letter word beginning with "f". But it makes a great argument.

Finally, Andy Levy is very sorry (No inappropriate language in this one).

Wait! Bonus: The single video that has made me laugh more than any other. It doesn't really have an argument, but its freaking hilarious.

I don't like morning people.

Pet Peeve: Morning people

I could have just said that I don't like mornings, which is true, but that wouldn't be as broad a statement as it would need to be to summarize my dislike.

It's Monday morning. I have just woken up, 6 hours earlier than I would like, after getting four hours of sleep. I have to drag myself out of bed, and drive to school. I have my coffee, and am just sitting for a bit waiting for the bell to ring, and all of these morning people around me are so happy and energized. It really pisses me off.

They're like people who gloat after winning. Monday morning is a horrible time and everyone should be grumpy. Don't rub it in my face that you are able to fall asleep before 1 am.

And of course they're happy. The world is completely biased in their favor. Everything starts early in the morning. It doesn't have to, but it does. School, along with most jobs, starts at an ungodly early hour.

People who aren't morning people are at a disadvantage in all of these aspects of life. They are not able to do as well in school, because they are forced to get up before they have had enough sleep. They have to take standardized tests in the early morning, too.

So these morning people have everything going in their favor, and then they have the audacity to come up to me at 7 am and say: "You look tired." OF COURSE I LOOK TIRED IT'S 7 AM! Go away and don't bother me again until I've had a chance to drink my coffee.

Happy Birthday

Today, December 25th, is a very special day; it is the birthday of a great man. A man whose revolutionary thinking influenced the world more than any other person ever to have lived has. A man whose life should be celebrated more often than simply on his birthday. A man I look up to.

I am, of course, talking about Isaac Newton.

Isaac Newton is the smartest person ever to have lived. I don't think it really can be contested, if you're looking at results, anyway. He was a detective, figuring out how the universe really worked. It is hard to put into writing how important he was, but without the things he did, math would be deficient and physics would be non-existent. Since this is an AP Comp. blog, I should try to come up with a comparison for writing, but I don't think there is a single writer that was close to being as influential as Isaac Newton. The closest is probably Shakespeare, but if he'd never existed we would only miss out on bad comedy and lame tragedies written in boring non-rhyming verse.

Isaac Newton: much better than Shakespeare. Much better than Jesus, too.

How much longer?

How much longer until we do something about gun violence?

How much longer until we pay attention to the United States' handgun homicide rate, and how it is 50 times South Korea's, 100 times Great Britain's, and 150 times Japan's? How much longer until we acknowledge the influence of those countries' strict gun control? How much longer until we are willing to concede that the Second Amendment is defective?

How much longer until we realize that saying "guns don't kill people, people kill people" is simply ignorance of the difference between intent and enablement? How much longer until we admit that guns are devastatingly more effective at killing people than other methods? How much longer until we figure out that things designed specifically to kill people should be illegal?

How much longer until we recognize that the idea that guns are for self-defense is complete bullshit? How much longer until we remember that guns don't shield you, they kill others? How much longer until we rebut the idiotic notion that more guns would help, not hurt?

How much longer until we stop encouraging murderers? How much longer until we understand that by starting news reports with flashing sirens, showing pictures of the killer, having 24-7 coverage,  making the body count the lead story, and making the killer an "antihero" we can expect to see a repeat of the tragedy within a week?

How much longer until we actually provide proper mental health care, instead of insisting sick people have to take care of themselves? How much longer until we treat the mentally ill as human beings? How much longer until we can get psychiatric help easier than buying an assault rifle?

How much longer do we need to let people die before we can get it through our head? 

Or—if we continue to act like every tragedy is unavoidable,

How much longer until the next one?

Variations on a Theme of Stupidity

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." –Albert Einstein 

Disclaimer: The content in this blog post may at times stretch the truth, modify the truth, or be entirely fictional. It might be someone else's truth, stretched truth, or modified truth. It might not be anything at all.

Narration:

I was minding my own business, mindlessly browsing the internet, hoping my parents wouldn't mind that I was opting not to do the chores that I was assigned, when I happened across something that changed my entire worldview. It was a website that collected asinine and unintelligent things people write on facebook. I was shocked and addicted. I read it for hours. At the end of my journey of discovery, I was a different person. I had become someone who was cynical and angry, all because of what became very clear that night. Humans are fricking stupid. Like, really fricking stupid.

Description:

The teacher was a slightly overweight older man who was childish in the weirdest ways. He had an abnormal speaking cadence and had a hand puppet named "Mr. Hand" with which he had conversations while teaching. He decided that he was going to start the day with some new math problems for the class. He asked them "What is 5 times 2?" and was answered by unsure silence. He encouraged the children not to be shy and to give it their best shot. A kid in a red shirt named Clyde was suddenly enthusiastic, and was called upon. "Yes Clyde?" "Twelve?" Bonus points if you recognize where this is from.

Example:

I was calmly sitting in my US History class, in the front corner seat, closest to both the window and the teacher's desk. We were taking a test on the revolutionary war, or rather, some people were still taking the test, and others, including me, had already finished. I was working on homework when one of the people still taking the test went up to the teacher's desk to ask a question about the test. The question that she was asking about was the freebie question our teacher had put at the end of the test, asking who had won the revolutionary war. And this student didn't know. She was an American that had just sat through an entire unit on the revolutionary war and she didn't know whether or not we won.

Comparison/Contrast:

Don't be stupid about stupidity. That is, don't mistake things for stupidity that are not. Ignorance is not necessarily stupidity. Even for things that everyone knows by age 30, at the current U.S. birth rate 10,000 people learn these things every day. Don't ridicule someone for being one of today's 10,000. Apathy too is not necessarily stupidity. Whether or not you choose to care is independent of your intelligence. Stupidity is where ignorance and apathy meet. All of these things can appear to stupidity, but only judge true stupidity.

Process Analysis:

There are very few people that are beyond the point of no return regarding their stupidity; it is possible to improve. When trying to improve someone who has fallen into the pit of stupidity, there are two routes. You can fight their ignorance and hope their apathy is eliminated as a result, or fight their apathy and hope their ignorance is eliminated as a result. The latter seems to be the much better method, and it is used frequently by teachers. Show somebody why they should care, and they will then learn based on their own motivation.

Division of Analysis:

Stupidity is a broad term, comprising many different aspects. As elaborated on previously, stupidity is a combination of ignorance and apathy, that is, not knowing and not caring. Besides those elements, the main part of stupidity is a lack of intelligence. A lack of intelligence can have numerous effects worthy of ridicule, including but not limited to the complete inability to reason and/or the rejection of logic entirely, a dense mind impervious to all basic knowledge, and a tendency to make bad decisions.

Classification:

There are many different types of stupidity. There is quiet stupidity, where it is not obvious that a person is stupid. This stupidity is more excusable, and it is more sad than reprehensible. It begs for intervention and rehabilitation. There is also aggressive stupidity. This is when someone either knows they are stupid, and for some reason embraces it like it is positive and as a result shows it off to whoever is unfortunate enough to be near them, or when someone is so incredibly stupid that they think they are smart. The effect is the same as the other form of aggressive stupidity, but their observers have a little more pity and a little less hope.

Cause and Effect:

The stupidity that is seen in most humans is the unfortunate effect of a number of causes. One major cause is when kids learn it from their parents or other authority figures. When a culture of stupidity is the surroundings in which children grow up, many of these children are ruined intellectually. If a kid has parents that don't see education as a high priority and see reading as a waste of time, and then goes to school and has a biology teacher that says evolution is a liberal lie from Satan, they are unlikely to be an intelligent participant in society when they are an adult (But they still get to vote).

Definition:

Stupidity is not somebody holding a different opinion than you. Unless their opinion is stupid. Stupidity is not somebody simply being annoying. Stupidity is the lack of brainpower to be a positive contributor to society intellectually. It is almost always accompanied by a lack of understanding by the stupid person about the negative effects they have, which is  shown through their hostility when challenged by smarter people or a silly sense of pride about their lack of contributions.

Argument/Persuasion:

Due to our silly obligation to be polite, stupid people have been left to hurt our society unchallenged. This has to stop. Take a stand! When you see someone rattling off some bullshit that is obtrusively false, challenge them. When someone tries to berate you for displaying some intelligence ("lol u nerd, no1 carez if its 'technically correct' or not...") then make them recognize the absurd position they are taking. Anti-intellectualism is running rampant, and it's up to us to stop it. Good luck.

THIS BLOG POST TOOK SUCH A LONG TIME. IT WAS LONGER THAN THE GUIDED CRJ, EVEN. THAT'S LONG.

Round is a shape

I've never been particularly athletically inclined. 

Every day in middle school P.E. class, we would start by running. When we were outside, we ran outside and then ran around the track once. When we were inside, we ran around the gym to music until they told us to stop. After every class, we would do it again.

I hated it.

I hated everything about running. I hated how boring it was. I hated the feeling of getting tired and out of breath. I hated not being fast or having endurance. I hated how other people were naturally good at it. As a result, I never really tried.

I would still do it, of course, there really wasn't another option, but I didn't do it. Instead of focusing on the running, I was focused on being able to stop afterward. Instead of thinking about getting better, I just thought about being good enough to not embarrass myself. Instead of embracing the benefits of running, I dwelled on the pleasures of sitting on my ass.

I regret it to this day. I wish I had established a good habit of exercise, or at least gotten myself to a point where I was physically fit. Because I'm not now, and I'm not really in a position to start. If I had taken P.E. class seriously in middle school, I would have been able to continue on in high school on my own, as taking P.E. classes in high school is not a realistic option for the academically inclined.

So now if people ask if I'm in shape, instead of admitting, that no, I'm not, I try to play it off with a joke. "Yes, I'm in shape. Round is a shape".


I'm sorry this is so short. I had a very hard time thinking of what would fit the prompt, and just ended up going with a mediocre idea. I'm aware this is not up to snuff, but it's late, and I can't figure out what else to do. 

What's wrong with me

That's not a question.

I can't write well (still). I don't seem to be getting better, either. I don't know why I felt the need to take this class. If I had to decide again I definitely wouldn't put myself through this.

I can't handle doing things I'm bad at. I have this ingrained need to be good at things, and not in a healthy way. When I miss a point on a test, I hate myself. When someone does better than me at something I care about, I get insanely jealous. When I know I might fail at something I don't do it all. I keep myself sane by not caring. I'm no good at sports? Good, because I never cared about them anyway.

That's why I don't care about AP Comp. I can't afford to. I need to keep my sanity for more important things, like AP Physics, college applications, or anything else that will affect my life after January. If I cared, I would write my essays over a number of weeks, not a number of hours. But I can't. I can't invest that time for the B that would come regardless. It would kill me mentally. (Don't try to counter the grade speculation. I'm not and will never be a writer good enough for an A on an essay, not even If I wrote 12 hours a day. My brain does not work the way a good writer's does)

Not only can I not handle doing things I'm bad at, I can't not be the best at anything I care about. I need to feel that superiority. I know this isn't the way the world works, but it's the way I work. This is breaking me down mentally every day. It took me a couple days to get over the physics test I didn't ace. I had to stop doing math team, not because I couldn't stand that I didn't understand a few things, but because I couldn't stand that other people did understand those things. I am worried about going to a good college, because I don't know if my ego will be able to survive an environment of so many people smarter than me.

I'm also kind of an asshole. I'm bitter, aggressively sarcastic, offensive, and condescending. And I don't care. I don't like people anyway (to use vocab, I'm a misanthrope) People, overall, are overwhelmingly stupid. They're ignorant. They care about trivial things. They're overly sensitive. I'm not looking forward to having to share a country with them for the next 70 years. To be honest, 90% of them could just disappear and I'd be happier.

Maybe the last paragraph gave this away, but I'm also completely socially inept. I hate talking to people. I don't talk to new people at all if I can avoid it. I would prefer to do all the work on any project if only I could do it myself instead of in a group. I can't make phone calls. I put off sending emails because I can never think of what to say. I would much prefer to stay at home alone than to go somewhere with people.

To top it off, I have the worst work ethic there is. I try to just call myself a procrastinator, as that's a more acceptable thing to be, but it's not that I just put things off to the last moment (although I do). I'm just incredibly lazy in general. This hasn't affected me negatively until recently. I don't mean to sound cocky—wait, yes I do. Or at least I don't care if do—but I'm smart enough where I didn't have to do any hard work to be successful throughout the first 11 grades of school. Honors classes? What a joke. Easy A. 4X Math, the "hardest class in the school"? Really easy A. My GPA went over 12 with no struggle from me whatsoever. Now that's changed. I made the mistake of enrolling in this class, and made the mistake of joining National Honor Society. These two mistakes, combined with 2 other AP classes, college apps, and extensive extracurricular music activities have made my laziness bite me hard in the ass. I received my first A- in two years from this class first term, I'm probably in sketchy standing in NHS, and I'm close to a mental breakdown. Oh, and I don't have time to sleep anymore.

It's 2:00 am, but I still need to work more on more homework. Better read that essay and do the CRJ, even though they have never and will never help me on the quizzes, and even though I have never and will never be helped in any way by interrupting my reading every paragraph to write about sentence length.

Visual Essay on Religious Fundamentalism

Just to clear up any potential confusion: The three guys in the 3rd-5th pictures aren't just any preachers. The first is Pat Robertson, who said that the Haiti earthquake happened because Haitians made a pact with the devil. The second is Jerry Falwell, who blamed 9/11 on feminists, abortionists, homosexuals, and the ACLU. The third guy is Harold Camping, who predicted the Rapture on May 21st 2011 (the billboard in the next image was done by his organization). All three of these men are evil fundamentalists, which is why they were included.

Family Member Characterization REVISED BECAUSE I SUCK AT WRITING (It still sucks because I still suck, but it's better)

All four of my grandparents are awesome in their own ways, but with regard to overall strength my paternal grandmother takes the prize.

For her 80th birthday a few years ago, all of her children and their families came to celebrate. On the night of her birthday, we went out to a restaurant. Instead of enjoying some unhealthy food on her birthday, my grandma ate very healthy food, just like she usually does. Perhaps that type of commitment to a healthy diet is the reason she was just as healthy and mobile as all of her children 30 years younger than her. Or perhaps it was the fact that instead of eating donuts for breakfast with the rest of us she was down at the gym exercising. She doesn't look 80 years old, and I don't think she ever will.

I wish I had the same determination to be healthy as she does. That's one thing about her that hasn't been successful at influencing me, at least not yet. But it's not my fault. It's food's fault for being so damn tasty. And exercise's fault for being too hard. Ok, it is my fault. I'm a lazy bastard who is not in shape. Wait, I take that back, round is a shape.

When my grandma isn't exercising and takes the time to relax, it's usually in front of the TV keeping up with current events and politics. Every weeknight we visit the night is spent watching Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. My grandma loves her because she is a "strong, smart woman". This is a common theme with her political statements. All of the problems we have are because the country is run by men. I think this is borderline sexist, but I know better than to mouth off to her. Our political views are usually something we have in common, but we were in opposition in 2008 because of the gender issue—I liked Barack Obama because he was awesome, she liked Hillary Clinton because she is a woman. She has always been very politically involved. She even ran for office when she was younger. She didn't win, but this was in a time where women weren't really involved in politics, so it was a statement just to run in the first place. She has donated a lot of time and money over the years and every visit seemed to have at least one phone call from the DFL asking her for more. Some of the coolest things in my grandparents' house are all of the signed pictures of her with politicians. The list includes recognizable names such as Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Jimmy Carter, and Hillary Clinton. Depending on your political persuasion, you might not think highly of those people, but it's noteworthy regardless.

I would have to guess I inherited my political views from her. Neither of my parents are especially outspoken with regard to politics, and none of my other grandparents are either. I love to form opinions, and I especially love to argue. My grandma's outspokenness about politics has inspired me to not be afraid about expressing my opinions, and to not worry about what other people think. I am really glad she was able to instill this quality in me, as it is one of the qualities that defines me as a person.

She's retired, but she still has to work hard every day. My grandpa has declined a bit mentally over the past couple of years, and she makes sure he takes his medications, drives him down to Hardee's to talk with his friends, and tries to limit him to two glasses of wine. Both of them have somewhat short tempers and every once in a while you overhear them having a bit of a heated discussion, but it never escalates. I think my grandma is really good at keeping things under control.

She has influenced me this way as well. Although I love to argue, I don't get angry. I get sarcastic, bitter, and condescending, but I don't get mad at people. She has enforced my ability to argue without it getting out of hand.

In general, she is a force to be reckoned with in influencing her grandchildren. When I forgot to send her a thank-you note, she let me know, she didn't ignore it. One of the first things she said to me on my next visit was asking me if my arm was injured. When I or any of my siblings or cousins did something wrong they were going to get a talking-to. Not an angry one, by any means, just one that makes sure we understand. She is able to be effective in discipline in a way parents can not.

Thanksgiving

Ah, Thanksgiving. It probably should instead be known as Foodeating or Footballwatching, considering that is done a lot more than giving thanks, but whatever. It's a five-day weekend, that's the part that matters to me.

My brother got home from college last weekend and Wednesday my family drove to the home of my maternal grandparents in Iowa. My mother's brother and his family were also there, including a Norwegian foreign exchange student that is living with them for the year.

Observations:

Everyone helped make the food. That was the fun part. The cleaning up was less fun, and it took a little more encouragement. The kids forced the grandparents out of the kitchen during cleanup, as they had worked the hardest in making the food.

My family and my mom's brother's family are very different. My whole family is definitely more introverted, whereas their entire family is very extroverted. This is evident with the foreign exchange student. My family is just not the type to host a foreign exchange student. We wouldn't be very good at it. Their family, however, has hosted three, and they seemed to have gotten along very well with all of them. They just become natural members of their family for a year.

Speaking of the foreign exchange student, he brought some interesting questions to my mind. What would it be like to experience the very family oriented holiday of Thanksgiving in a foreign country? You are in a house you had never been in before, with people you have never seen before. It takes a special type of personality to be able to handle that.

He also seemed very grateful to be accepted into my cousins' family, and comfortable being a part of it. He seemed really close to my cousins, as if they were actually biologically related. He hugged my aunt several times like one would hug a biological mom.

I observed a couple of things about myself. I can't be in a crowd for extended periods of time. On thursday for several hours 6 or 7 more people came over to my grandparents' house on top of the 12 that were already staying there. It created a big family socializing event, which I did not want to be a part of. I'm bad at socializing already, and the awkwardness of doing it with distant relatives you barely know made it even worse. I cherished my escapes into the basement to use the bathroom, just because I could be not with people for a couple minutes.

In general, I observed that even though I was away from home seeing family that I only see about once a year, I still spent a lot of time on my laptop, by myself. I guess I just can't adapt to the change in personality that is necessary to constantly socialize with family. I need something to be the same as at home. I know I should be able to be better when it's family, but I can't.

I might add more if this ends up not to be enough. I'm all blogged out for now.

Cartoon Analyzation Thingy

Mr. Smith felt sick at the end of class on Friday and had to leave so the blog post was never explained to first block. That's why this is going up on a monday.

This cartoon makes fun of the far right (You can tell cuz of the sign that says "FAR RIGHT" on the clown). It make the point that although the far right has been outspoken in their criticism of Obama for ruining the image of the United States through his interactions with foreign leaders, the ones truly hurting the image of the United States are the far right themselves through their baseless criticisms. The main visual attraction in this cartoon is the colorful cowboy clown. The rest is all black or neutral colors, so the red, white, blue, and yellow really stand out in comparison. This represents how the the far right's negative affect on the U.S. stands out in comparison to whatever affect Obama has had through his foreign policy. 

This cartoon makes fun of the Republican party, and how badly they lost the election among female voters and hispanics, two demographics they need to do better with if they want to win. It shows a old white male that represents the Republican party (as that is their only remaining demographic) reading a book called How to Pick Up Women Voters with another book called Spanish for Morons waiting to be read. All of this while he is drinking and smoking, which I don't blame him for after the drubbing the Repubs took on November 6th. The visual aspects of the cartoon paint an image of someone who is desperate and is not improving. This is conveyed through the context of the bar and by the ominous background.

Ahhh. Another two things I can't enjoy anymore after analyzing them.

The Dumbest Generation?

I apologize for any sarcasm that may or may not be present

In The Dumbest Generation, Bauerlein manages to attempt to try to make a somewhat effective argument. It was hidden throughout by a useless onslaught of redundant statistics, but I think I have been able to discern it:

• These kids have scored lower than other generations on some tests of knowledge
• A lack of knowledge in the areas these specific tests tested means that these kids are dumb
• They don't read as much as I did back before technology
• if they don't read as much as I did they are dumb
• They instead spend time on this newfangled compooter thing
• All new technology makes people dumb because I'm smart and I didn't use new technology 
• The statistics I am telling you show that technology is bad 
• See? Therefore anyone who uses it is dumb
• These kids don't respect smart people like me anymore
• Because all older people are smarter, kids should learn their place and not think their dumb opinions are valid.
• These kids aren't participating civically as much and when they do they don't do it the same way I do
• Because they don't do things my way they are dumb
• By combining the many ways these kids are dumb, it is clear that they are the dumbest generation that has ever existed in this country, and therefore they will affect the country negatively when they start to come into power.

I realize that was more than a little sarcastic. I'm not sure whether that tone is kosher, and considering this goes into the 85% category, I'll try to word that a bit more seriously.

Bauerlein thinks that the culture of the under-30 age group is one that has the effect of dumbing down to the point where they are the dumbest generation ever. They have no intellectual pursuits anymore, and are distracted by mindless technology that is hurting them. They, despite being dumber, act as though they are smarter than everyone else. Most importantly, they don't involve themselves civically, and those that do don't have the perspective required to do it properly. All of this is getting worse and people aren't realizing how dumb it makes them. Their dumbness will hurt the country.

Despite how much I hated the book, there were a few passages I agreed with. They are both from the only chapter I somewhat agreed with, chapter 6. 

"Democracy requires an informed electorate, and knowledge deficits equal civic decay"

This is one of the main themes of chapter 6, and it is one I agree with. Americans need to become smarter about politics. There are two aspects to this: Making sure everyone cares about their important civic duties, and making sure they can do those duties properly. This is one reason I think MoPro is one of the most important classes in the high school, despite its unpopularity among those who want to not give a shit.

"This knowledge principle forms part of the democratic faith, and it survives only as long as a fair potion of the American people embraces it, not just intellectuals and experts"

The reason that required knowledge for proper civic involvement is not known by a lot of people in America is because of a culture of anti-intellectualism in America. Being smart and actually knowing things and caring is seen as nerdy. We need to get it into people's heads that it's OK to be knowledgable, that you won't turn into a nerdy, geeky, dork.

The obstacle to this is that the people that really control the country won't allow people to become knowledgable, because an educated electorate goes against their interests.

There also were, of course, many passages that I didn't agree with.

"The Internet doesn't impart adult information; it crowds it out. Video games, cell phones, and blogs don't foster rightful citizenship. They hamper it."

This was a disgusting statement, because it proves that Bauerlein doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. He calls our generation dumb for embracing technology, but it is obvious that he knows nothing about it. If someone spent even 5 minutes on the internet they would figure out that it is the best resource in the WORLD for information, including adult information. you can learn everything on the internet, and just because it can also be used for other purposes doesn't negate the fact that it provides an availability of knowledge that cannot be compared to anything else that has ever existed.

The same thing can be said video games, cell phones and blogs. You cannot criticize these things outright, because the only "problem" with them is that they can appeal broadly enough  to have whatever affect the individual wants. It is ABSOLUTELY not the fault of these entities that some stupid things occur.

"Traditions must be there at hand"

This is something that Bauerlein got wrong over and over again. Just because this generation isn't the same as your generation doesn't mean that they are stupid. He needs to realize that sometimes thinking needs to evolve, and that doesn't happen by conforming to the same traditions over and over again. Traditions don't help us, they hold us back.

Overall, Bauerlein was not effective in arguing his point, at least not to me. I was not his audience. His audience were other people his age that were fed up with all the stupid teenagers that wouldn't listen to them. Perhaps his argument would have worked better for that age group, but it sure won't convince anybody who doesn't agree with him to start. He doesn't persuade, he just encourages the opinions of people who hate stupid young people by providing them with statistics. He appeals to their distrust of everything new, such as technology. To top it all off, we AREN'T the dumbest generation. Guess which generation is? HIS generation. 

Proof here

Yep. The guy writing the book "The Dumbest Generation" is actually from the real dumbest generation. Maybe that's why the book was so terrible.

Shocking, Spooky, Scary, ...Squash?

I feel like a bad stand-up comedian. 

"Ya know, what's the big deal with pumpkins?" *crickets*

But seriously. What the crap, America. We're carving up perfectly edible food so we can put fire in it for one night before it gets stolen and chucked at our mailbox. Did you know there are starving children in Africa? Eat your goddamn pumpkins. They're even delicious, if the word pie comes after. How did something this stupid even start?

The British, of course. 

Of course the British were even lamer. Instead of our huge, bad-ass pumpkins, they decided it would be fun to carve up turnips, mangelwurzel, or beets. I don't know why vegetables were thought to be the ultimate thing to carve lanterns from, but you can't expect the British to be logical.

When all the cool British people decided to get away and found 'MURICA, they also decided to ditch the lame vegetables. They found these huge orange things and immediately recognized the superiority of America over everywhere else. This inspiration is known by historians to be the sole cause of victory in the Revolutionary war. Not really.  

These big orange things were biggest during the harvest season, so we started carving them up as a celebration of getting enough food during the summer that only most of us would die during the winter.

Eventually, we started linking these pumpkins with folklore, specifically with the will o' the wisp. We also started linking the carving with All Hallow's Eve, the night before All Saint's Day.

That leads us to where we are now. Americans buy vegetables that they won't eat (they probably buy more of these than vegetables they DO eat) and then murder them, scoop our their innards, and then carve them up like a serial killer would their victims. We then put fire in them, because this is 'MURICA and in 'MURICA fire makes everything better (see July 4th).

And after all that, they still aren't scary. They're still just a lame art project like those macaroni sculptures that you made in preschool. Except with more 'MURICAN wastefulness.