One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

So far, I have really enjoyed Kesey's novel. His style of writing is very realistic and vivid, especially in the Chief's schizophrenic narration, which gives the book a unique touch. From what I have read so far, I do not think that Kesey's novel promotes misogyny, but I do find the characterizations of the black boys to be a bit outrageous. He accurately portrays the forces of conformity through the Combine and the Big Nurse's insidiously repressive nature.

Supersize Me

Spurlock's documentary effectively identified the problem and proposed a solution. He presented tons of supportive evidence about how and why Americans are obese (sugary, fatty foods and drinks in school cafeterias, lack of nutrition facts in fast food restaurants, enticing advertisements, etc...) Spurlock's solution to reduce obesity in Americans starts in school cafeterias nationwide. If healthier food options were presented to students, and unhealthy drinks and meals were eliminated, students would start learning healthy habits at a young age, reducing the chances of them becoming obese. Supersize Me was a well made, virtually unbiased documentary, and the sources interviewed were credible. Spurlock presented the facts about the harmful effects of McDonalds in a rational manner, but the artistic genius of the documentary was obviously creating negative (and sometimes creepy) imagery to help push Spurlock's point home.

Bullicide

Teasing is a byproduct of many adolescents lumped together in an enclosed area. The older species of the vile Snott-nosed Bratticus are often hormone crazed and angry, finding what they perceive to be flaws in others and relentlessly berating them for it. Such is the world of the high schooler...yet this is not necessescarily a good world to exist in. Victims of bullying have been pushed to kill others, but most common are cases of suicide, when they can't take the torture inflicted by their peers any longer. Unfortunately, not many bullies realize the effects of their 'innocent' actions, but harassment is truly in the eye of the beholder. Teasing someone may seem harmless, but it has the possibility to inflict deep, psychological damage. With such large gains in technology, we are only making bullies job's easier. Cyberbullying is a relatively recent trend in the way bullies torment others. It is all too easy to send a hateful message to that annoying girl with the big ears, or that one overweight guy. Cyberbullying is harder to police than the more traditional form of bullying, but it is still highly important to attempt to abolish it.

Bulling happens everywhere, in person, on the computer, on the phone, everywhere where people talk bullying happens. Bullying is everywhere in our society, you can’t stop it. The only way you know your pushing some kid to the limit of bullying, is when the kid commits suicide. You don’t know they could be really getting hurt cause they are always laughing with you when you make fun of them, then all of a sudden you don’t see that kid anymore, and you know it’s your fault. When tormenting happens it usually happens to the gay students. People call them gay, faggots, homo’s, many other hurtful things towards them. And this happens because they are not like everyone else; they are different from the society. The people who bears this responsibility to curb such behavior is their parents, students, teachers. Almost everyone. People see bullying everyday and nobody tries to stop it, but they just laugh at them and point fingers. Even though we have these “house rules” as Groves, it does not reduce bullying at all unless there is a teacher around to stop it. People don’t listen to kids especially teenagers.

College...Such stuff as dreams are made on.

October has been an extremely stressful month for me. After many frenzied trips to and from my counselor's office, answering awkward application questions about work visas and how many children I've had, and long hours spent filling out every minute detail of my academic career, I have FINALLY conquered the dreaded college application. After applying to five schools in the span of three weeks, I have been reduced to a nervous wreck. I still find myself jolting out of bed at three A.M., sweaty and muttering feverishly about deadlines and secondary school reports (just typing that sent my brain into a frenzy, ticking off items on my mental college checklist). I'm pretty sure that all of this college application hooplah is worth it, though. Living by my own rules, FREE from the reign of my household version of 'The Man'...oh yeah, can't forget about the degree thats supposed to get me a decent job. But in case you couldn't tell, I am mostly excited for a little taste of freedom. I never thought about what would be like, standing on the edge of my high school career. It's exhilarating. I think I know what is waiting for me on the other side, yet at the same time, I am a little remorseful as I watch my senior year slip past me. I have a feeling that life will only get better from here... provided that I don't sustain any major bodily injuries, or become addicted to crystal meth, or anything detrimental like that. Things are looking good.

STOP BULLYING

Today, unfortunately, bullying has become a very common sight in our society. We see it in school and out of school. Too much testing in and out of the school environment can lead to children committing suicide. I believe that there is a no tolerance rule for bullying, even being bullied once can hurt someone. I believe that it has to be a group effort to curb this bullying habit that many kids in our school and others across America have. The teachers have to be on the lookout for possible threats, and the students, as well have to stick up for their fellow classmates whether they know them or not. I believe that the groves house rules are a very good way to try to stop the bullying effect because they show all of the students in the school the rules that they have to live by if they are to go to the school. I think that the assembly that we will have on Thursday will be a good way to show us how to prevent bullying.

I'm Tired! I'm Tired! I'm Tired

High School classes should start later. 7:30 is just plain stupid. Why are the student who need the most sleep getting the least. The average high school student sleeps around 7 hours a night, and that is 2 hours below the average needed to succeed in high school. And to those who say that we can just go to be earlier, you cant really fall asleep at 9 pm, people simply arent tired yet. I have to get up at 6 to get ready and get myself set for the school day. Some of my friends have to get up at 5 or even 4 in the morning to catch the bus or go to swim practice. That's insane! Instead of starting before middleschool, at 7:30, we should start after elementary school at 9. School days would run 9 to 4 or something around that time area. Students would be able to sleep in and get a decent night's sleep. Extra curriculars wouldnt be a problem because the students would be able to stay up later. Even if this isnt a viable solution, the current model won't work. People in the first two hours look like zombies, and there is absolutely no enthusiasm. People with core classes in first hour simply cannot fuction well, and they are at a severe disadvantage to those at later hours.

Supersize Me

Morgan Spurlock’s movie supersize me demonstrates the hazards of eating too much fast food. I agree with Spurlock because throughout the movie the main character who is doing the 30 day diet of eating just MacDonald’s 3 meals each day, and cannot consume anything else that is not served over the MacDonald’s counter. Spurlock’s documentary does offer a solution: don’t eat fast food every day. It’s that easy, as seen in the movie that main character gains weight everyday and puts his heart to risk. This experiment I don’t think is that valid because people will eat stuff at their homes also, where the main character only eats MacDonald’s for 30 days, and only MacDonald’s. The part that I found most effective in Supersize Me was when the main character has to walk up the stairs everyday for work, and he notices throughout the experiment the stairs get even harder and harder to climb up every day he goes on with the experiment.

Supersize Me

I think that Morgan Spurlock’s experiment to see what McDonalds would do to your body image and health over the course of a month was a great idea. I think that it was a good idea that he carried out this experiment because it showed Americans what McDonalds and fast food would do to your body if you ate it for a month straight. I think that his experiment directly identifies the problem with fast food making Americans obese because it shows Americans that eating too much of fast food and not getting any exercise really wear down on your body. Throughout the movie we see Spurlock throwing up from all the fast food and we see his cholesterol levels rising very quickly. I think that he treated the issue fairly too because to get the point out to the country not to eat so much fast food he had to directly show them what would happen if you do. The part of supersize me that I found most effective was the final body image of Spurlock after his 1 month eating binge of McDonalds was over. To see how much fatter he had gotten was awful and it taught me to not eat fast food all the time.

Recruiting trip - University of Kentucky

I went on a recruiting trip last weekend the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. Both of my brothers, Tripp and Nick, go to the University of Kentucky, so I am looking there to go to college. I have always liked the University of Kentucky since my oldest brother was looking there. I am also planning on swimming there as a teammate to dominate the SEC’s. It’s a small campus, which is good for getting to class to class, but there are also a lot of students who attend there. On my recruiting trip we looked at every study building the campus has, the swimming pool, the dorms, apartments, roads, restaurants, name it and we went there. I stayed there for one night and I stayed in the dorms with my host. Every recruit got a freshman host and they stayed in their hosts dorms. There were a total of 10 swimmer recruits that had been there that weekend. There was also a football game that was going on against the Louisville Cardinals, UK rivals, so the game was also really fun to go to. We were able to go on the field because we were athletes. In the end I really liked the campus and everyone on the swim team because I will most likely seeing them every day in the pool.

Spirit Week

This year was the first year that I actually dressed up for all of the spirit week days, and competed in one of the games. The past three years of high school I guess I never really took the time to dress up for the days because I knew our grade wasn’t going to win. This year was different though, since we are seniors I knew that if we were going to assure ourselves a win we would need the vast majority of the grade to dress up. This year I really got into the whole dress up thing too, I went as far as buying costumes and accessories from the dollar store so I would look perfect on the dress up days. My favorite part of spirit week would have to be Thursday though. Thursday is field day and it is when you get to represent your class and wear your class colors. Students cake on face paint, and tie rope bands all over their heads and arms. The last 2 hours of the day are reserved for the games. Each grade competes in special games on the gym floor in front of their whole class. The gym is so loud from chanting and screaming that you can barley hear the person next to you. That is what makes spirit week so fun, what makes it even better is when your grade wins the bucket and gets to celebrate in a huge mob on the gym floor.

SuperSize Me!

I admire Morgan Spurlock's courage and dedication to his idea. Seeing how a one month McDonald diet will affect your health. But what good will come of it. Obviously the outcome is going to be you becoming rediculously unhealthy, hating your life, and regretting your decision. You dont need a medical degree to see that an all McDonald's diet will negatively affect your health. Why would he go through with it? There's no myth to test out, so why would he go through with such a crazy idea. Is 20 years of your lifespan worth making a video essay? To me it's not, but what do I know? All we need is a little logic to see that the concept of Super Size Me is a bad idea. On a side note, it's amusing that shortly after supersize me hit theatres, the super size size at Mcdonalds was removed. Maybe that was Morgan's goal. Showing the country what eating McDonalds actually does to your health may scare people away from fast food and they'll eat a little bit healthier. His movie didn't have too much of an impact however, as I ate McDonalds for lunch today. I had a 10 pc large McNuggets meal because they have little monopoly stubs. I could win a car, or a guitar, or a million dollars. I even won 2 free breakfast sandwichs (excludes egg McMuffin).

E-TRADE COMEERCIAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4GZfvXx9Js

E-Trade commercials have become very comical and popular ever since they aired the commercial involving a baby talking about stocks during the super bowl about 2 years ago. The commercial that I have chosen was the first commercial they aired involving the “famous” baby with an older man’s voice. This baby talk to us about how it is easy to buy stock and he shows us how fast it can be to buy stock off of Etrade.com. This commercial in particular hits the buttons for very elementary skills. It shows a baby buying stock off of the internet so it shows us that if this child can buy stock so can we. It also hits the buttons for wealth. It hits the hot buttons for wealth because it shows us that the baby just bought stock and became wealthier at that moment. This definitely hits Americans in the heart because almost everybody in America wants the opportunity to become rich and have lots of money. This commercial may have been able to persuade lots of Americans to invest in stock off of Etrade.com. Not only will this help E*TRADE get business but it will help Americans become more satisfied.

Allstate "Mayhem"

Allstate is heard all around the world, and now is getting very comical lately because of “Mayhem.” Mayhem is your worst enemy because it does the worst things for you in every situation. In this commercial Mayhem is your blind spot, covering you from getting hit, but Mayhem doesn’t always look where he is going and lets the car ram right into the back of her car. These Allstate commercials are showing people that if you don’t have to right insurance you may be paying the damage yourself, which no one wants to do. Mayhem shows you all the bad things that could happen to you if you’re not covered. But when you’re covered none of this will happen and if it does you have Allstate to cover it for you. Allstate is trying to prove that they are the best insurance company in the world, and Mayhem helps them prove that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osPQhrnzNYk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4GZfvXx9Js

E-Trade commercials have become very comical and popular ever since they aired the commercial involving a baby talking about stocks during the super bowl about 2 years ago. The commercial that I have chosen was the first commercial they aired involving the “famous” baby with an older man’s voice. This baby talk to us about how it is easy to buy stock and he shows us how fast it can be to buy stock off of Etrade.com. This commercial in particular hits the buttons for very elementary skills. It shows a baby buying stock off of the internet so it shows us that if this child can buy stock so can we. It also hits the buttons for wealth. It hits the hot buttons for wealth because it shows us that the baby just bought stock and became wealthier at that moment. This definitely hits Americans in the heart because almost everybody in America wants the opportunity to become rich and have lots of money. This commercial may have been able to persuade lots of Americans to invest in stock off of Etrade.com. Not only will this help E*TRADE get business but it will help Americans become more satisfied.

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Old Spice appeals to a wide variety of people, and that is because of the commercials. This particular commercial hits on all of the things that make americans american. A handsome, muscular man talks about how your man could be like him. This man claims that all your man needs to do is use Old Spice body wash. The commercial hits the buttons for wealth. Diamonds come out of his hand "Anything could happen...". It also hits on the sensative man. Riding a horse, buying two tickets for "that thing you wanted to go to". It also hits the button for insatisfaction. A woman may be unsatisfied with her man simply because this commercial points it out. "Your man could be like me". You'd never think there were problems before, but now you're told there are problems because your man doesn't provide what this man does, a good time, wealth, and good looks.

Reptilian Hot Buttons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v5HSdiyNbg
This ad for Cheerios features a caring grandmother and adorable baby. It makes consumers associate eating Cheerios with a sense of warmth, and long for a connection with family, which they think they can only achieve through buying and consuming the cereal.



This ad does not stimulate my reptilian brain, but I find it humorous all the same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNDfreK0Yno

So It's Spirit Week...

What the hell is going on? People are wearing strange colors, ripping their shirts, painting their faces, yelling and screaming, and basically raising hell. What's causing this chaos to happen? Oh wait, it's spirit week. A week where people show their support for school by dressing up and support for their class by competing during field day. That's pretty cool, what are they competing for. A bucket?  That's it? hmmm, that seems pretty dumb. In all honesty, spirit week is kinda dumb. Logically, it makes zero sense. Dressing up is fun, i'll grant spirit week that, but the rest just seems dumb. Thursday is a mix of fun and confusion. Everyone dresses up in their class's color. That makes sense. Ripping shirts, painting faces, and screaming? Minus the screaming, that seems weird. How does ripping my shirt and painting my face show support for my senior class? Outside of showing my enthusiam for spirit week, it doesn't seem to support much because now I have a useless shirt and I have to a shower to get the paint off... Anyway, on to the games. The games are a fun way for the classes to compete, so that makes sense, but why are we competing for a bucket. Why not a giant trophy or a prize? There would certainly be more incentive to avidly compete. But now spirit week is over, and it's friday. The bucket has been won, and the class with the most spirit has been announced. It was fun, and being a senior, I'm glad to say that it's finally over. No more getting yelled at for not dressing up, and no more stress about winning a stupid bucket.

Spirit week 2012, SENIORS!

Craziest week of my life, spirit week. It’s my senior year and my last spirit week I am ever going to attend for a school. Seniors have the most spirit out of any other grade in the school. We have won 3 times in a row dressing up, and now we are in the lead coming up to win the bucket. Seniors always win the bucket. The bucket is like a trophy, the biggest prize during spirit week. Spirit week also consists of field day, a big events filled with many little events. Winner of field day is the winner of the bucket. And every year the seniors win it. There has only been one year where the juniors won and that was a couple years ago. My favorite spirit week dress up is toga. All the seniors every year have a day dedicated to wearing a toga to school. Since I was a freshman I’ve always wanted to wear a toga to school, and now I have.

College Life

           So I visited Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) over the weekend. It was an awesome school. Very intelligent people, distinguished professors, and many many fraternities. I stayed one night on campus, in an apartment specific to a fraternity. Despite the almost overpowering feeling of intellect coming from everything on campus, fraternities will be fraternities. People were drinking, they were 21 of course, but still. People were smoking pot, people were partying. And I didn't expect it. I expected a more tame college atmosphere from such a prestigous university. It certainly wasn't a party school, but it was still noticeable. I never mentioned anything to anybody, and i took everything from my experience in. Thinking about whether or not i would like to go their. I know I wouldnt get involved with the college party life, or atleast illicit party life. But i can't be sure. I expected everyone to be "clean". But people will be people I guess, and know that I think about it, I'm not surprised. People will always be people. People will drink, people will smoke, people will have sex. It will never change. I know that college is supposed to be the most fun time of your life, but stilll, i expected a cleaner experience from Carnegie Mellon

Tennis State Championships 2011

At the end of this week my high school tennis career will be over. I have been on the varsity tennis team at groves for 3 years and all of the years I have been on it have been very fun and interesting. Our coach is an ex-marine so it has gotten me in great shape. Our summer workouts are very intense and pay off during the season. Each year I also get to meet new teammates and compete against new players around the state. This year is the most enjoyable year by far because I got to play 1 doubles with Calvin Greer. We have had an outstanding season and have set ourselves up to be the # 2 seed at states. We have only lost 3 times this season so I am very happy with how far I have come since last season when I was playing 4 doubles. I am definitely sad that the high school season is going to be over but at the same time I am ready to start playing indoor USTA tournaments and looking into possibly playing college tennis.

Cultural Influences on Gender Identity

Society exerts great pressure on both men and women to conform to its standard of how they should look, live and act. Men are generally expected to be strong, confident, tough workers, while women are assigned the role of nurturers, and weak, emotional sexual objects. To an extent, these gender roles stem from natural characteristics found in each sex, but popular culture has greatly exaggerated them. Nature has hardwired men to be hunters, protectors and physically strong, and women to be nurturers, physically weaker and thinkers. However, their exaggeration in society can be potentially damaging. Boys try to prove their worth through being tough and unessescarily aggressive, all the while being rewarded by society for their negative behavior. This leaves us with legions of angry, potentially violent males, who have been wrongly influenced by our ideal vision of them.

10 years later

Since 9-11 happened 10 years ago I do not remember many of the events that happened during that tragic day in American history. I have gone throughout my life not thinking about the events that happened on that day because I know if I think about them they could possibly interfere with my life and give me a false mindset on what may happen in the future. I do not let these events get to me and I don’t try to think about them because they could prevent me from doing such things as riding on an airplane and going in skyscrapers. This year I did watch a bit of the anniversary and it was one of the few times that I got to see the images and videos of the world trade center collapsing. I am glad that I was only in 2nd grade when this happened because I think if I was older it would have affected me much more.
I agree with my other group members, I don’t think our culture has changed too much. The airline security and building security have become more picky and strict but other than that I think that America goes about its day as it usually does. Watching “On Native Soil “made me angry because I saw how poor the airline security was and how poorly the government dealt with the situation.

Cultural Influences on Gender Identity

Male and female are more of a person's description as opposed to their sexual designation. The words "man" and "woman" carry many more meanings to them than the parts God gave you. Men are tough, violent, and perform more physical jobs while women are sensitive, frail, and they work with cosmetics. Or so the stereotypes say. Everyone feels the need to attain one of these labels, regardless if their actual gender matches the label. The media instituted these labels. Movies, music, television and other forms of visual entertainment associated the qualities displayed by "men" and "women" with actual men and women, and because everyone blindly accepts the media's word, these stereotypes stuck for the worse. The notion that everyday people worship these ideals is disturbing. I dont know why women feel the need to look like Angelina Jolie on a magazine's cover page when they really have no chance in hell of doing so. The media set the stereotypes, but America's people implanted the idea that they have to look like "men" and "women". It cannot be done, and many people have hurt themselves trying to achieve these impossible standards. Steroids, plastic surgery, botox and many other appearance altering procedures have become the coveted thing to do these days. And it's very concerning. When people confine themselves to a certain idea, they fail to see the value of other ideas and ways of life. If a woman is devoting her entire being to looking like a super model, she will fail to see that she, herself, is pretty, has value, and has a place in society.

Gender Identity

The Media and the news have a big influence on the gender identity in many ways. Men have high expectations in the world. Men have to be “American”, they have to be bulky, good looking, big muscles just like all the guys in a magazine. Women think they have it hard on themselves of being skinny but it’s the same to guys we have to be held at a standard also. I’m not saying women have it easier because they don’t; women have it just as hard. Women in magazines like the magazine “People”, the women on the front are perfect. Perfect body, perfect face; perfect everything, and when women think they are not like that they become emotionally unstable. This is a problem in our society because this can hurt our country, people will judge people on how they look and that’s not how this society should be. But in this world men and women are going to have stereotypes no matter what, and we have to just face it, it’s going to be there.