Soundtrack to my life

"Let it be" by the Beatles is one of my favorite songs. This song will always have a place in my heart because it is the song I listened to nonstop after my brother passed away. He was a big Beatles fan and got me into liking them. The song always makes me cry but I think that it creates a special connection between me and my brother even if he is not here anymore.

"Digital Love" by Daft Punk is just a great song. It is so much fun to dance to and it is just such a calming song for me. I love techno music and daft punk is just great.

"Dímelo" by Enrique Iglesias is one of my favorite songs to sing. I love singing in spanish. I had to memorize this song in high school for spanish class and I still remember it. Enrique Iglesias is the sexiest man ever and I love all his songs.

"Hello" by Cat Empire is a song that just makes me happy. It is very upbeat and I love the trumpets. My boyfriend showed me the bad Cat Empire and I have practically all their songs now and love them all.

library

I did a search in Madcat for a book with relevance to the topics "climate change" and Antarctica. There were only a few books that were offered, but from the choices, I found a book called Antarctic Ecosystems by Roberto Bargagli. 

The book was in the Biology Library in Birge Hall. Monday afternoon I found Birge Hall where I have never been and walked inside. I followed the arrows pointing to where the Biology Library was at. When I came to the end of the arrows, I wasn't quite sure where to go from there. After about 5 minutes of staring ahead of me at a large brown rectangle that said Exit and Caution When Opening, I decided to find out where this so called door would take me. I unexpectedly found the tiny Biology Library behind it. Instead of wasting time attempting to know where to find this book, I asked the librarian for help. She showed me exactly where it was and how to find it. Good thing I asked for help since the book was impossible for me to reach. From what I could see, the other books surrounding mine were all different kinds of ecosystems and environmental topics. I checked out Antarctic Ecosystems and hope that it will be some what useful to me. 

Bargagli, Roberto. Antarctic Ecosystems Environmental Contamination,   

        Climate Change, and Human Impact. 175. Siena, Italy: Springer- 

        Verlag,2005. Print.

Call Number: 2004110300

Advertisement

A recent advertisement for Skippy Peanut Butter was released on TV through a commercial. The commercial included a mom and a child like most peanut butter advertisements have. This particular commercial has a mom and a son. It is morning time and the little boy is in their kitchen making himself a peanut butter sandwich.The mother walks down and is shocked to see her son making his own lunch. In the background, you can hear the school bus honking its horn. The mother yells with a kind voice, " It's time for school!". The little boy runs to the front door and right before he leaves, he turns and says to his mother, "There's a surprise for you in your purse". The little boy runs to catch the bus and the mother goes to open her purse. Inside her purse she finds a plastic bag with a peanut butter sandwich in it made by her son.You can tell how happy and proud the mother is just by the smile on her face.

I think this commercial is just so cute and it is hard not to smile after I watch it. The little boy in this commercial is absolutely adorable, which is weird for me to say since I don't particularly like kids. I would say that the appeals used in this commercial would be the need to nurture and aesthetic sensations.The mother has clearly loved the son and nurtured him. The mother seems so kind and caring just by her body language and the tone of her voice. The son seems to be very thankful for his mother and wants to show her how much he cares by making her a sandwich. The commercial appeals to mothers because it illustrates how happy the peanut butter makes kids. The commercial is very virtually appealing. The scene is set so perfectly. It is a bright sunny, warm morning before school, which is a typical time for people to make their sandwiches for lunch that day. The camera makes the commercial seem so realistic and feel like you're actually there. I think the commercial works pretty well. My mom buys Skippy Peanut Butter and I think it's so yummy. Also, the commercial stuck in my head cause it is just such a memorable moment for the mother and it is so cute.

Research Question

I am thinking that my research question will be:

What is polluting the ocean?

I am not sure if this is the exact topic I want to do, but I know I want to do something with researching the ocean. I would like to be a marine biologist when I am older and I think it would be a good idea to research the ocean for this paper. I think I can do a lot of things with this topic. I want to look at the affects of pollution on the marine animals. In addition, I want to see the affect of pollution on the coral reefs. If I needed to make the topic more specific, I can look at oceans in certain parts of the world. I can discuss all the human impact on the ocean and how much it is destroying the marine environment. I am sure there will be lots of research I can use to write the paper. However, I am still unsure if this is the topic I want to do. 

Gladwell

In the piece "Something Borrowed", Malcolm Gladwell describes the different arguments of plagiarism. The piece begins with a story of a psychiatrist who realizes that her ideas from a book she wrote were stolen by a women writing a broadway play. The woman who wrote the book was devastated about her ideas being taken and sued. Gladwell explains how sometimes what we think is plagiarism, really isn't. Also, he describes how the Constitution says that after a certain period of time ideas from other people can be used to progress other ideas. Gladwell also discusses how many musicians use similar notes in numerous sounds. Even though one artist uses a set of notes doesn't mean they own those notes.

I liked reading this piece because I thought it was really interesting. I never knew so much went into plagiarism and deciding what is considered plagiarism. The story was a little confusing to follow, however. I kept having difficulty knowing who was speaking and who the author was referencing too. There were a lot of side examples that I feel could have flowed better.

Rand

I think the message that Rand is trying to give is that racial discrimination is a terrible thing and that a person should not be judged on their ancestry. In the beginning of the essay Rand talks a lot about the racial discrimination against blacks. She states that no one race should have more superiority to others. A quote from the essay is "A genius is a genius, regardless of the number of morons who belong to the same race- and a moron is a moron, regardless of the number of geniuses who share his racial origin." I think the quote is really powerful because it shows that someone should be judged because of the way other their people in their race act. A very intelligent black man should not be denied a job because of his race. Another point Rand brings up is about children and the schools they go to. Rands says it is "pure racism" to make children go to a certain school so that the school can meet the "racial balance". Now because of that children are being treated unfairly.

Overall, I thought this essay was interesting to read. I think Rand had a lot of strong points in the beginning. However, toward the end of the piece I was a little confused on what Rand was fighting for. I feel like a lot of the end wasn't supported very well. I thought it was strange how Rand talked about how evil doctrines and can not be forbidden by law. I really liked hearing from a woman's point of view about racial discrimination in 1964.

Sedaris

Being that David Sedaris is an extremely sarcastic man, most of his humor comes from his sarcasm. Most of the jokes in this chapter come from the crossword puzzle. Sedaris uses the crossword puzzle in two ways. One way was to defend himself and to make him look smarter. As according to Sedaris, people around him will think he is a "genius" for having the Times crossword puzzle. The second way is that Sedaris fills in the the boxes with incorrect words. He uses words that he wishes he could to say to the woman right now. It is funny because Sedaris is basically having a conversation in his mind between him and the woman. He spends most of the flight comparing himself to the woman and trying to think of how he is not an asshole. Also, another funny part is in the beginning with the cough drop and how Sedaris thinks of ways to get the cough drop off the woman. I think it is so interesting how all these hilarious things  go through David Sedaris's mind.

"What did the fish say when it ran into the wall?"

"Dam!"

Ronson

In the chapter "The Klansman who won't use the N-word, Ronson tells the story of how he spent time with the Ku Klux Klan. In this chapter, Ronson proves how the Ku Klux Klan is different nowadays than it was in the past. The Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Thom Robb, is not the usual type of leader for the Ku Klux Klan. Ronson tries to show how Thom wants to do things differently and have a more positive image. The fact that Thom avoids using the word "nigger" shows that he does have some feelings for black people. Ronson wants us to get the impression that the Ku Klux Klan doesn't necessarily act and live the way everyone thinks they do. Even though the members of the Ku Klux Klan don't seem as terrible as everyone makes them out to be, they still believe in some horrible and offensive ideas. I think Ronson wanted us to realize that the members are people just like us, just with very different views. I think Ronson exemplified this by how he had normal conversations with them and how they really didn't judge him, however they didn't know he was Jewish.

I thought this chapter was extremely interesting. I was so surprised by a lot of the actions of the members of the Ku Klux Klan. I guess i never really did a lot of research on the subject, i just knew it was a horrible thing that was classified as a "cult". It is interesting how there are different Ku Kluz Klans throughout the country and how their actions differ from each other. The new Klan is a big improvement on the old Klan, however I still think they are pretty messed up but at least they are trying to be a little more polite. By Thom making his members avoid the N-word, can help lead them in a better direction. I don't think it will fix anything major or change anything anytime soon but it is better than nothing. I did like this chapter though, it was entertaining.

Bitch Summary

In the piece, "Bitch" by Beverly Gross, the author defines the word bitch and states the many different ways it can be applied to women. I think Gross's main point is to prove that the word bitch can be used in many numerous occasions, most of the time to describe a malicious woman. Also, Gross states several times how males use the word to show their power over women. "Bitch, the curse and concept, exist to insure male potency and female submissiveness"(80). I think her evidence from the dictionary is very strong. It really makes a point and its interesting to see how dictionaries really define a curse word. In addition, I thought the real life examples really added to the article because it proves how people, even Barbara Bush, can use the word bitch.

I really enjoyed reading this piece. I thought it was funny and interesting. It's not everyday you read something professionally written that's titled "Bitch". I found it amusing how Gross made the point of what it meant in the past and what it means now. "In the old days a bitch was a harlot; nowadays she is likely to be a woman who won't put out"(80). I believe that this piece is convincing. It has very good points and connects all of them. I feel like most males would agree to this. This piece may be a little outdated, but not much. I think one main thing that is different, is how bitch is used a lot more frequently between females, sometimes to offend another woman or just something one friend calls another. I found it funny that one of Gross's students thought that the word "boss" was the male equivalent to bitch. Personally I think the male equivalent would have to be "dick". I wish more english articles that we read were like this.