My Last Words

It's hard to say what my last words would be. I'd like to say that there is something profound I would say, but I really can't think of anything. And I doubt my Alzheimer-ridden brain will recall anything deep either. I definitely hope that I die in a non-violent manner, and hopefully after a long, full life. Dying is not something I'm scared of. At most, I fear for those I'm close to having to deal with the absence and sadness, especially those without a knowledge of the plan of salvation. Death will be so great. I'll finally be out of this filthy, rotten world and a bit closer to God. I look forward to seeing all of my deceased friends and family (and my dog Sasha...she died laying on my shoes before Seminary one morning). And I hope that when I'm gone people will remember me as the person that I am, not just the logical one. But my personality, I like to think, is a lot more goofy and carefree than that. I don't know my exact words to those who will be near me when I'm on my deathbed. But my last publicly seen words will probably just be brief and to the point. In explanation, probably a Facebook status saying:

"Death? Still winning."

Week 14: Farewell

It's been a while... And now I'm leaving. Last words, huh? I guess I'll just start typing things and see what happens.

"You're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame... Life is scary--Get used to it. There are no magical fixes; it's all up to you. So get up off your keyster, get out of here and start doing the work!... Nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy." ~Dr. Robert Kelso

"It's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in this world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain, and I can feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid, little life." ~From American Beauty

"Love is not a victory march/It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah... It's not a cry that you hear at night/And it's not somebody who's seen the light/It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah." ~From the song Hallelujah, performed by so many artists that I have no idea who did the original

"If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied/Illuminate the "no"s on their vacancy signs/If there's no one there beside you when your soul embarks/I'll follow you into the dark." ~From I Will Follow You Into The Dark, by Death Cab For Cutie

These are some amazing quotes, but there are so many more out there. More beautiful, more eloquent, more simple, more poignant. Hopefully one of these will strike your fancy and perhaps alter the course of your life. Here's one that did so for me:

"And all at once the crowd begins to sing/Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same." ~All At Once, The Fray

And another, more recent, most applicable to all:

"Your future will be as bright as your faith." ~President Thomas S. Monson, qtd. by Elder Russell M. Nelson in last General Conference (April 2011)

Live your life according to what you know is right by the Spirit. The most important thing I have learned this year at BYU wasn't in the classroom, or even church. I learned to act. When you stumble upon some great truth, some great quote, or even a simple truth, live by it. That is the only way we will learn the mysteries of God and become celestial beings. Don't be passive and let life happen to you. Make your life happen. I promise all of you that if you do so, your life will go in the best direction possible. It may not be what you hope for now, but believe me, you will be so much happier than if all your dreams came true.

If there is one thing you learn, make it be to learn how to pray. It is my opinion that prayer is the most important and powerful tool given to mankind, and too often we take it for granted. Prayer is direct communication with God. Does that not strike you as astounding? Prayer allows us to have a conversation with our Heavenly Father! Sometimes I can't even believe that we are allowed such a great privilege, fallen as we are. "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, Confused at the love that so fully he proffers me. I tremble to know that for me, He was crucified, That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died... I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine... Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me. Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me." This applies to each and every one of you. Don't squander this impossibly great gift.

Strive to live your life in such a way that on that day when you meet the Savior face to face, he will beam and embrace you and call you "Friend." What greater compliment, in heaven or earth, could be given?

Week 14

I don't like thinking about my last words. As cool as it sounds sometimes it really is an awful thought to think about dying. I am one of those guys that would enjoy dying in his sleep. That way nobody sees you kick the bucket and it is not as sad for others to actually see someone die. By dying in my sleep, I will have no words to mutter as I pass into the after life. Sleeping is very peaceful to me, and so I believe that dying in my sleep would be a pretty relaxed way to go. This way I don't have to endure the pain and suffering of being awake and trying to decide on what the heck I am going to say as my last words. If you think about this, it is quite an ordeal. In about two minutes or less you have to come up with an inspirational speech to those that love and care for you. This idea frustrates me and I almost feel that I need to write a paper on it so I can have drafts to revise and edit, just so I can say the right thing. If I knew my time was up I guess I would write a letter to friends and family expressing my gratitude for them and all of the good times we had. Actually on second thought, I believe this to be too mushy and it would also take a lot of time and effort to compile a memoir of sorts. If I knew my time was up, the absolute last thing I would be doing is spending my time writing some dang letter. I would be out in the world living it up! I would be golfing, fishing, and enjoying others' company. Forget a letter with my last words, I will just make a nice little Facebook post that says something along the lines of, "Hey everybody it's been real. But it hasn't been that real. Smell ya later!" or something smirky like that. This seems like a more correct matter in which I would conduct myself while I'm getting ready to depart this worldly state in which we all currently reside.

My Last Words

I have never really thought about what my last words would be. But, this week I have taken some time to think about if I had a chance to give my last words in this life what they would be. Of course a lot of what I would say would be how grateful I am for so many people in my life and how much I love them. Another thing that I thought a lot about was my 6 nieces and nephews. All of my siblings are much older and I feel like I missed out a lot because of that. It ended up that I got nieces and nephews that seem like younger siblings at times. They are the ones that I would really like to write my last words to if I had to.

There are two things that I would want them to learn from my last words. The first thing is something that has really helped me through a lot in my life. It is a talk given by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, " Come what may and love it." There has not been one day of my life that has been perfectly easy. But, no matter what happens sometimes you just have to think " come what may and love it" and make the best of the situation you are put in. The second thing that I would want to tell them is something that my stake president told me when I graduated high school. He said that, "the best advice is the advice you don't want to hear." I found that to be so true so many times in my life. What I want is not always what i need. And when I get advise that is hard to hear it's usually so hard to hear because deep down I know that that is what I need to hear and do.

Au revoir

In a way, this is a good-bye for a little while. Don't get me wrong, I am excited to serve for two years in France, but it is going to be a whole new experience. I have only thirteen days left in Provo, and I will spend most of it locked away in rooms preparing for or taking Finals. I always like to look back at the positives of experiences. Please forgive me, but I am going to take an opportunity to list some of my favorite experiences from my first year at BYU. The image that I will remember best is glancing at the snow covered mountains as the sun shines on campus. I will remember watching The Jimmer. I will always be happy that I went to the SDSU and Wyoming football games, even when nobody I knew was going. My memories of the Swimming Conference Championships, where I broke through and swam well for the first time in years at an end of season meet, are sweet indeed. I will remember the feelings I had when I walked out of the testing center to look at that stupid TV and got scores better than I expected to. I will look back with some pride on the fact that I finally started to come out of my shell towards the end of winter semester. I think that I will laugh when I go home and have church meetings in a place where I have not had classes, study groups, and meetings with professors. I think I will miss walking by buildings with names such as "Smith," "Benson," and "Kimball." I know that the sight of the Lord's Temple, available to me at almost any point in the day now, will carry a greater meaning for me when I don't see one for twenty-two months. I hope that I will be remembered for the good things that I did and accomplished, rather than my many failings or the times I came up short. I hope that I can continue to build on my efforts to be more grateful, as reflecting on the good things in life have made me a much happier person this year. Last of all, I hope to come back with a renewed sense of motivation to accomplish the goals that I have set for myself here at BYU.
"To the reader I bid farewell, hoping that many of my brethren may read my words. Brethren, Adieu."

Week 14

My last words will most definitely be, “make sure to film this.” I don’t know how I’m going to go, but I can tell you that it will be in a blaze of glory, such glory that if it was to be filmed, people wouldn’t cry over my death but laugh about how ridiculous the path was I chose to kick the bucket. That way they could just show the footage at my funeral and people’s sides would be splitting from laughing so much. And they’d say, “that’s so Jacob, man I’ll miss that guy.” Or maybe, “That’s the most cottage cheese I’ve ever seen anybody eat in one sitting, maybe that’s why it ruptured his stomach leading to his utter demise.” The funeral will be brief and loaded with laughing people, just the way I want it. If I knew my time was up in life, I would of course do the usual: tell my family I love them, repent, you know the works. But then I would go to an expensive Chinese buffet and eat like there’s no tomorrow; because there is none. Kind of like the movie Groundhogs Day where he has no regard for what he eats anymore as he lodges an entire éclair down his gullet. I would probably view that world in a better light. The mountains would look more beautiful, the sun would feel warmer, and singing of children would seem less annoying. What I would leave as my legacy, and also what would be important for people to hear, would be to regret nothing! If you make a mistake, learn from it, sure, but yell, “I regret nothing” as you walk out the door. Regretting things leads to sadness and there is just not enough of our precious time on earth to be sitting around regretting things. Do the preparation beforehand so you don’t have to deal with regret; but if you don’t prepare, just face the music and regret nothing. If you ask a girl on a date and she turns out to be engaged, regret nothing! Laugh about it and move on.

Last Week- Last Words

When thinking of this topic it made me really sad. It is like talking to your parents about their will: straight up depressing. I don’t really like to think about dying but when I have to there are many things I would like to say as my last words. First off, I would hope that I have lived my life to its fullest, savoring every last memory and moment. LIfe is too short to take for granted. In the scheme of things, however, our life here on earth is nothing compared to an eternal prospective. It is like an inch on a a string that runs on for miles. My last advice to everyone here would be to not focus on the bad things in life but to cherish the good things. I often find myself thinking about all of my hardships and struggles that I forget to recognize the blessings in my life. I begin to let life slip out of my fingertips and become much more negative. We always need to be optimistic and never let our trials bring us down. Heavenly Father gives them to us to strengthen our testimonies and make us stronger as a person. If we are positive and focus on the blessings in our lives we will realize Heavenly Father’s and Jesus Christ’s hand in our lives. They are always here for us and we must be examples to the world with a bright hope and faith that everything will work out according to their plan for us. I guess what I am trying to say is life is what you make it :)

(Week 14) My Last Words

It may sound a little morbid, but I have thought a lot about what my last words would be if my time were up. Of course, over the years, what I’ve thought my last word would be has changed. When my time is up, whether that be in life, in a relationship, in a specific place, I want my last words to reflect what I’ve learned in my life and what I wish those whom I have encountered throughout my life to understand. When all is said and done, at this stage in my life pertaining to every aspect of it, my last words would be these: “fear is merely a state of mind; one that is conquered by the love and faith of good friends.” When I look back on these last 18 years of my life, I reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly. My ‘last words’ are an accumulation of it all. I’ve realized that the things which I didn’t do that I could have, the things which I did wrong that I should have admitted to, the things I wanted to do but didn’t make time for were the result of fear. In those instances, the times in which I was able to overcome that fear I attribute to the support and love of good friends. Fear is something that affects everyone, some more than others, but we often overlook our ability to diminish fear. We have a power over fear that often goes unrecognized because of how much power we allow fear to have over us. It took me all too long to grasp this concept but it has been something that has given me strength and allowed me to pursue many more things that I have not only wanted for myself but that have bettered my life. This is important for others to hear and implement into their lives because when we use the people around us to overcome the fear that hinders us, we are capable of so much more than we thought we were. Fear is merely a state of mind; one that is conquered by the love and faith of good friends.”

Week 13

When I read just to read I will practically read anything that sounds even remotely interesting. I am an avid reader and have been known to spend an entire day just reading a book. There are a lot of people who don't enjoy reading or are very specific in what they read. I am definitely not one of these people. Reading is one of my favorite past times, and it is so relaxing to me. It is a time when I can just forget about the world around me and an author's world. I enjoy being able to be creative about what I see given the author's description. That is one thing that I love about reading. Everybody can read the same text, but because everybody sees things differently, we all have different images in our minds. This allows for a freedom of imagination, and I believe it is very important for a person to experience. Reading for pleasure can easily take our minds off of the stresses of the world and allow our brains to take a break and stop thinking so hard. Everybody needs to be able to just have fun and enter into an adventure that is placed before them on a page of a book. When I write I often try to think of what I have read in the past that has kept my attention and try to add those elements into my writing. This is a little bit harder when writing academically, because the stories that I like to read are not very structured like academic writing is. I think that I enjoy writing creatively more that academically because I do love to read books so much. Reading books gives me ideas and really gets me motivated to write stories myself. When I am writing I often imagine what I would like to read about and incorporate that into my owns words. Reading for pleasure is something that I really enjoy and I do believe that it is important for people to do on a regular basis. It keeps our minds rested and open, and can also really help improve our writing.

Week 13

What do I read for pleasure? Well, to be honest I have not done a lot a pleasure reading lately. When people ask me why I don't like to read I say it's because I read so much when I was little that now burned out. When I was little I could sit in my room all day just reading. Even now I love to go home and read all the books that remind me of my childhood. My all time favorites were the Berenstain Bears! As I kid I think that reading books like these were very important. Reading books like the Berenstain Bears helped me learn how to read while I was having fun. I think that reading also helps kids to learn morals through the stories and situations in the stories.

In college writing is much more enjoyable than reading for me. Reading is always the same, boring, and without fail it puts me to sleep. I think that there is so much more that you can do make writing pleasurable than reading. Working on my research paper I learned a lot of ways to make writing more enjoyable. One thing that has helped me is to choose a topic that I am actually interested in, especially if it requires research. When I care about the topic research does not seem annoying, it is interesting when I find something new about my topic. Another thing that helped make the writing process better was thinking about the topic in a new way. I tried to think of ways to do research that were less traditional. Not only did this give me better and more interesting information but it was more enjoyable than normal research!

Week 13

People read all of the time. Everyday we read something we see whether it be at school, on our computers, or driving on the road. Reading is necessary for everyday life and without it mankind could not function or communicate. Communication is not only important for survival but it also is very important for an individuals success. I read not only because I have to for school and stuff, but because I find it rather enjoyable too. I don't find myself reading novels or anything like that because it is quite frankly hard to find the time to do so, but when I do have a little spare time I like to read articles on the Internet. It is so easy to pull up pages on topics that interest me through the World Wide Web. So much information is available to everyone who desires it. After a quick google search, you can have the info you want in milliseconds. I am truly thankful for this great invention. For pleasure reading, I find myself mostly on websites such as ESPN.com and SportsIllistrated.com. I am a huge sports fan and enjoy nothing more than a nice sports article on one of my favorite players, teams, or coaches. This is what interests me the most because of how in touch I like to stay with the sporting world. I like to know the latest info and being kept up to date so that I can talk on sports subjects with my friends. This way I can make knowledgeable comments and sound like I know what I'm talking about, even if I really don't know everything on the topic. Sports articles make this possible for me. I believe reading for pleasure is very important. It's one thing to read for your classes, but I believe that just as much learning is achieved by reading something that actually interests an individual. A lot more attention is achieved when people read something that is meaningful to them. It is a whole lot easier for me to recall an article about the BYU basketball team, rather than reading for a history quiz. The basketball article is just more intriguing for me than history reading. This is why I believe that reading for fun is important; it triggers more memory. I try to write on more pleasurable topics too. I feel that I am more involved in my writing when I write on something I enjoy.

Week Whatever - Reading for fun

I actually used to read a lot when I was younger. Tons. My mom would have to come in my room and tell me to stop reading because I stayed up so late doing it. Unfortunately, sometime around my junior year of high school, that wore off. Now, I barely ever read. But when I do get the time or make myself read, my favorite books to read are fantasy books. I always feel kinda dumb telling people, but hey at least my intelligence is high enough to have those books not include Twilight..... anyway. My favorite series of all time has to be the Wheel of Time series. It's a fantasy adventure series, very similar to the Lord of the Rings, but more in depth and frankly a lot more complicated (maybe why I stopped reading...). Almost every single one has been the #1 New York Times bestseller for at least a week, and it's definitely just. They are great. The most reading I do is probably either for school (boring) or on random websites. My most frequented website is called comicbookmovie.com , a news central for movies based on, you guessed it, comic books. I'm a comic nerd beneath the surface, to the point where yuppie Dark Knight and Heath-Joker obsessors bug me. It's very interesting, I like feeling one step ahead of the public in knowing about movies, like the next Batman movie, and Thor, and Captain America. I'm a movie buff, so it's a great site for me. I also like to read movie reviews and either be edified and enjoy them, or hate on them and get irritated (cough Ebert is off his rocker, seriously cough). Good stuff, but not particularly beneficial I guess. Maybe I should start reading more!

Week 13

What do I read for pleasure? Let me tell you. Nothing humors me more than reading the comments on sports websites concerning the recent outcomes of sports game, namely college sports. Whenever a team loses to BYU, or when a team loses a really close game due to a botched referee call or huge mistake by a player, the comments are incredible. For example, when Boise State lost to Utah State in football this year due to, not only one, but two field goals, I could’ve read the comments bashing the kicker Kyle Brotzman for hours. And I did. People can be so clever, and relentless, when they are filled with fury. Reading for pleasure is important because it reminds us that it isn’t just for busywork, as it is usually perceived as such in regards to school reading. Reading chemistry or geography books for class does not fall under the category of pleasurable reading for me, and if I never created time for recreational reading, I would look at the general idea of reading with utter disgust. Reading for pleasure is also a stress reliever. Being able to temporarily separate oneself with the hectic world we live in can really cultivate serenity and forces relaxation. Although, even this can cause problems: I’ve known a select few of my peers who rely too heavily on escaping reality through reading, and they eventually through their lives out of balance because all their time is spent reading. However generally, reading for yourself is healthy and can be truly enjoyable. When I think about how to make writing more enjoyable for me, I consider the papers I’ve had the most fun writing in my past. Whenever I am able to express my sense of humor and really try to instill my voice in the paper, that’s when I have the most fun. For example, I can’t really instill my sense of humor during a rhetorical analysis, however my senior year we wrote a descriptive paper on something we hate, and I loved it! I chose grits, and implanting my own voice and opinion made the paper actually fun to write.

Week 14: Harry Potter :)

What I read for pleasure is two words: Harry Potter. I love all of the books and have ready them two times and also love the movies. The happiness I receive from these novels is beyond great!

I didn’t start reading Harry Potter until the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published. I cheated and read that book first. It was the start of my new found obsession. I was addicted. All I would ever do was read them and watch the movies. Just about a month ago I found a smacking deal at Costco (the best place in the whole entire world); all six movies together were on sale for 35 dollars. SO CHEAP! It honestly made my day :).

Reading for pleasure is very important to me because it allows me to escape this world and enter into a new one where I can imagine the characters to be just how I want them to be. It lets me realize that reading is a great thing and not always so boring like a history textbook could be classified as. No offense to history but when one chapter takes me two hours to read it becomes very hard to keep my brain focused. However, when reading for pleasure there is no certain number of chapters I have to read or certain quiz I have to take; I am solely reading for pure enjoyment.

How this pertains to writing is looking at the clean sheet as something that you can make into your own masterpiece through the words that you write. Reading for pleasure allows my brain to relax and writing should also. It should allow us to relieve stress as we write whether what is on our mind, a research paper, or a letter. We are able to put our own words onto the page and truly make our paper ours.

Les Mis and Harry Potter

So the only thing that I have read “for pleasure” in the last twelve months is a condensed English version of the book Les Miserables, and technically I haven’t finished it yet. Over the summer I was pretty much booked out thanks to an onslaught of required readings my final semester of high school. Then came BYU, with fifty hours of homework a week, plus swimming, class, and if I found some time to eat or talk to people I jumped at the chance. I do think reading for pleasure is important. If you have the time, reading a book can let you escape into another world. I always enjoyed leaving my problems behind for half an hour to read about the problems that other people are having, even if the characters are fictional. I think that is why I enjoyed the Harry Potter series so much. When I picked up a Harry Potter book, I could just forget my problems for a couple of hours and think about what Harry should do. Because the plot was based in a fictional universe that I had never been to, I didn’t understand anything better than he did – until the later novels anyway – and therefore felt comfortable trying to analyze his problems and attempting to create potential solutions. I do not know if I have ever been able to change how pleasurable any one writing assignment is for me. I try to choose an interesting topic, but after that I do not think I can alter how much I will enjoy the assignment. If I get to give my own opinion on something that I am interested in and have significant, logical evidence to back my position, chances are that I will really enjoy writing my paper. If I am writing a paper that has a topic of no interest to me and drags on aimlessly forever, I will want to kill myself before I finish it (i.e. my Junior Research Paper on a book that I hated). Reading for pleasure is much different than writing for pleasure. I can pick up a good book anytime, if I think I have time to actually read it. On the other hand, I will probably never write a sentence if I don’t feel that it is absolutely necessary for one reason or another.

Week 13: Literacy

Literacy is the ability to read and write. I would expand this definition to: The ability to feed a growing curiosity, satisfying it all the while. For example, I imagine walking into a library. I walk towards the nonfiction section, divided into general broad categories. What do I want to learn? There are cookbooks, which inspire me to try cooking. There are those how-to books, for practical law stuff and financial stuff, the kind of stuff that you hear about but don't necessarily understand what it is when you're so young. There are foreign language books for French, Chinese, Italian, and Spanish. There are even books commentating about current events in the US, like the war in Iraq. Upon looking at these various topic of information and more, my curiosity is ignited. It's like my curiosity is a pleasantly light stomach, ready with plenty of room to devour decadent desserts (as opposed to being so stuffed that you can't enjoy another bite). It's like, the more knowledge I "eat," the more satisfying feeling I get, just like eating 15 Reese's cups (no holding back). Getting mentally exhausted from happily reading late into the night is like being stuffed with all my favorite foods: pleasant and ready to drift off into blissful sleep.

As for the writing side of literacy, it's okay, I guess. It's the means of reading: something has to be written for it to be read. Writing is a great outlet when I write in my journal. It's fun to read back on, and a great way to get memories stored to be relived over again with each re-reading. I love reading some of the funny things that happen in life, and my comments. It is almost like enjoying a work of fiction or a bedtime story, but way more vivid, since I can remember actually being there and remember details of the 5 senses instead of just imagining. There are benefits to writing to persuade people; I'm probably biased towards reading just because writing to an audience with care takes some work.

Lastly, a strange mix of reading and writing I enjoy is reading about creative writing. Mostly, this is interesting because I like reading fiction that I enjoy, so it's fun to understand what makes fiction good for when I try to make up my own stories. It's like mythbusters in a way: learning the elements of fiction also applies to fiction on TV and in movies, so when I see really good movies, I can identify what specific plot device I enjoyed about them (although it's been a while and I can't think of specific stuff- I read about character development a bit). It's also nice to be able to understand why I don't enjoy a movie: I can say that it had a plot that relied on a coincidence (like a person dying in a car crash, being cliche) which doesn't make for that intriguing of a plot in some cases.

One of my favorite things to read about fiction is Mary Sues and Gary Stus. These are characters that seem to be "perfect" and it's pretty funny to read about them: Chances are, every writer has made a character like that before, so it's relatable. It's fun to wonder, is Harry Potter a Gary Stu? In some ways, yes. Mary Sues and Gary Stus aren't always a bad thing, but they are fun to poke fun at. :)

(Week 13) Literacy: (n.) The ability to....

Literacy is generally defined as the ability to read and write, but to me it is so much more than that. Yes, reading and writing is important but the two together hold no real importance in our lives without understand of what is being read or written. Comprehension has a great significance in the definition of literacy. We communicate with one another these days through reading and writing more than we ever have in the history of the world. Our understanding what is being conveyed to us or what we want to convey to other people makes all the difference. Words are an amazing tool that we have be blessed to have at our disposal. Each word has it owns place in literature and can redefine our perceptions of so many things.
Literacy is language and the use of language in reading and writing. To be literate in one country is not the same as being literate in another. I’m not talking about language barrier but rather the way in which words are used. For example, in our country, we use the phrase ‘I don’t care’ when asked about our opinion or our preferences on something. In Spanish, ‘I don’t care’ is ‘no me importa’ which literally translated means ‘its not important to me’. This phrase in Spanish is portrayed the same way ‘I don’t care’ is in the U.S. to say that phrase it its Spanish version comes off as being offensive to many. Our comprehension of our very own languages and their use in our lives is different among people and cultures. Literacy, with my added definition of its need for comprehension, is then different all around the world. It is truly amazing.
Literacy in my life has made a great impact on me. I love to read and I do it all the time, whenever I can. My love for books has lead me to learn and appreciate things so much more than I did before I began reading as much as I do now. Of course, a lot of that comes with age and personal experience, but I attribute a lot of my knowledge to what I have read; whether that be in a newspaper, magazine, book, journal etc. I am thankful for literacy because it is not only a way to communicate, gain understand, and even expand my imagination, but it is a way to preserve those things long term, something the world didn’t ever think would be possible thousands of years ago.

Week 12- Makeup Week- Favorite Foodski :)

What is there not to like about cookies when they are warm and just melt in your mouth? I am so thankful that the dutch accidentally made “koekje” or “little cakes”- what are now known as cookies. Cooks back in the day would use a small amount of cake batter to test their oven before baking a cake. The marvelous thing that happened to result from this practice was the single-serving size cookie. The Dutch popularized the cookie in the United States. Years later, in the 1930s, an innkeeper in Massachusetts with the name of Ruth Wakefield ran out of nuts while making cookies. Thank goodness for this tragedy because she decided to substitute chunks of a chocolate bar instead forming the Toll House Cookie; in other words the famous Chocolate Chip Cookie. The delicious, smooth chocolatey bite delights my taste buds. Just thinking about cookies makes my mouth drool!

However, the best cookies in the world are chocolate chip oatmeal cookies; a summary of my childhood. They are also known as the “DiGiovanni’s Tradition.” At least three times a month my family would gather in the kitchen and makes several batches of our favorite cookies. These chocolate chip oatmeal cookies made the bond between my family grow stronger. Now when I make a visit home to Texas during BYU breaks, the first words that come out of my siblings’ mouths are “Who wants to make the DiGi’s cookies?” Whoever said sweets cannot bring happiness was wrong. I sincerely smile every time I think back to those cookie making days in my California kitchen where flour was draped over the granite counter top. I love thinking of many memories of my childhood and how I have made it to where I am today. Honestly I can say that the legendary chocolate chip oatmeal cookies not only gave my taste buds a treat, but also filled my heart with the love I share for my family and the memorable times we spent together making them.

I honestly revised this paragraph before I even wrote it. By reading everybody else’s comments on how they changed their blog, I already had ideas in my head of the organization I wanted to follow. I had to change a few words here and there, but thanks to ya’ll I did not have to do a whole lot! Hopefully it was not too shabby of a blog!

Week 12: Locks of Love

What if there was a kid who had permanently lost their hair, so it could never grow back? They may have lost their hair due to a disease, such as cancer? They do have the option of getting a wig. But let's say that there was a young 10-year-old girl who played soccer. Would she really want to wear a wig, always worrying about it falling off? Perhaps every day at school, she worries about the wig falling off and humiliating her, or worse, what if other kids decide to play a prank and pull it off at recess? For these kids, there is a solution that will not compel them to avoid sports, and not cause them worry during school. The solution is a high-quality hair piece from the non-profit organization, Locks of Love.

The hair pieces that Locks of Love provides are made from a mold of the child's head, so the cap is a custom fit, vacuum-sealed. So, kids can play sports and run around at recess without worry. Even more, they can shower and swim with the hair piece still on. It is also removable by breaking the vacuum seal at the temples.

The recipient can choose what color and length of hair they want. Then, strands of donated hair is injected into the silicon base, which is a skin-tone color that the child can also choose. Where does this hair come from? One hair piece takes 6 to 10 donated ponytails, at least 10 inches long-- 10 inches would make a jaw-length hair-piece since 2 inches are used in the manufacturing process.

Why not use synthetic hair? Synthetic hair cannot be colored and it can't be flat-ironed or it will "diffuse" (ehow). Also, human hair can last up to one year with proper care, but synthetic lasts only three months. Human hair will fall flat when it gets wet, like normal hair, but synthetic will retain it's posture-- although this makes synthetic hair convenient to maintain, it would seem to be unnatural looking. Overall, human hair will grant these kids in need a chance to live a normal life just like you and me.

So, what can we do to help this non-profit organization? We can help by donating hair (non-bleached and non-colored, because the chemicals would react in the manufacturing process) : and you do not even have to donate lengthy pieces to help. I'll describe ways to help in terms of hair length.

One can help by donating 0 inches of hair by donating money to help pay for the custom hair pieces that would retail around $3,500 - $6,000 each: Locks of Love will give them for free, or a lower price depending on financial need.

One could donate less than 10 inches of hair in a clean, dry ponytail or braid. It won't be long enough for a custom hair piece, but can be sold to help pay for the costs.

One could donate 10 inches of hair, which would be enough to make a jaw-length hair piece.

One could donate 15 or more inches of hair, which will give recipients the option of choosing a longer-lenghted wig.

So, the next time you are getting a hair cut, why not consider forming a ponytail to cut off instead of letting it get thrown away? If it is under 10 inches, if it's long enough (I don't know the minimum for selling) it might be able to help the costs of Locks of Love hair pieces. It takes a little bit of time to send it in, and if everyone did it, the benefits can add up. Let's help these children live a great life full of everything life has to offer.

* For details about how to send donations/etc., visit the Locks of Love website.

Works Cited

http://www.locksoflove.org/

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5011197_hair-vs-human-hair-weave.html

(Week (12) Faith and Truth

My grandmother often sends my siblings and I articles she had been reading on LDS.org that cover a large range of religious topics. One of the many she sent us this week was called Faith and Truth. As I read through the article, a lot of things popped out at me. I thought for the free blog topic this week I would share with you guys some of the things I picked up on.
When I think of faith, I generally think of something that is more often hoped for than actually known to be true. For me personally, though I have faith in the truthfulness of the gospel, I never had ever directly seen the correlation between faith and truth by definition. In actuality, faith and truth are rooted in the same Hebrew translation. I should have understood this by means of having faith in Jesus Christ or God our father. Both are true, living beings in which we have faith of their existence and power.
Prior to reading this article, I hadn’t understood the parallel between the word truth and the name Jesus. Where I had once believed truth to come from that of Jesus, they are actually synonymous words- one in the same meaning. This is easily exemplified when Nephi writes, “I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus.” Jesus is not merely the origin of all truth but he IS truth. This truth is an accumulation of many aspects of his godliness: knowledge, love, grace etc. This idea is encompassed in the definition of truth found in D&C and the definition of Christ. In D&C it states, “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, as they were, and as they are to come” whereas Jesus is referred to he “which is, and which was, and which is to come.” The meaning of these two things sheds light what truth really is. When we have faith in Christ, we are brought directly to the truth. This whole concept is important to grasp because it is through truth that we are saved and capable of living with our father in heaven and our beloved brother again. Knowing the truth is to know god, through which we are set free.

Week 11

When asked about my favorite food I find it very hard for me to choose just one, and my favorite food often changes. However, as of lately the something that tops the list is a simple, but tasty hamburger. There are many toppings that can go on a hamburger, and I prefer practically all of them when I am enjoying one. For example, ripe and juicy tomatoes, crisp lettuce, sour pickles, and even onions. Hamburgers alone are great, but they're even better when there is a side of perfectly cooked and season fries to go with it.
The history of the hamburger goes a long way back; there are various accounts of “hamburgers” stretching back to the 15^th and 16^th centuries, but these were not even close to the same “hamburgers” that we see today. The first appearance of a hamburger on an American menu was back in 1826 on the menu of a restaurant named Delmonico's, in New York. Even though this is the first appearance on a menu there are many speculations as to who actually invented the hamburger. There are people who say it was a coincidence and that vendors ran out of sausage for sandwiches and were forced to use beef instead. There are also others who believe that a young man started selling sandwiches, made out of meatballs, that could be eaten on the run, and these sandwiches would eventually evolve into the hamburger we know today.
Whatever the story is, I'm just glad somebody was able to come up with such a good tasting piece of food. I love hamburgers, there are so many combinations of different toppings and ways to make them, they personalize the way we eat.

While fixing up the rough draft I pretty much rearranged everything a couple of times trying to get it to sound right. I also fixed a few sentences and moved some of them around. I even go rid of some sentences that didn't fit, but also added others that I felt needed to be there. There were, of course, grammatical errors that I had to go back and fix also.

Week 11: Onigiri

Some Japanese food, like Sushi, is well-known in America. But some popular Japanese food isn’t very well known in the western world. One Japanese food that isn’t very well known in America is called “Onigiri.” Onigiri are rice balls shaped into a circle/triangle, filled with a filling such as a pickled food or salmon, and wrapped with seaweed. Onigiri are also made with some salt so they aren’t bland.

Making onigiri was an activity of my Japanese culture class in high school. The rice was cooked in a rice cooker, and the resulting starchy steam smelled so good at the end of a school day. We dipped our hands in water to prevent the rice from sticking to our hands (which it did anyway). We carefully morphed the rice into a ball and wrapped the salty crispy seaweed around it, enjoying it coming to life and sticking to the rice as it gained moisture. These cute little rice balls have been a part of life since long ago in Japan’s history.

Onigiri has a simple but long history, dating back to earlier periods when there were warriors (a.k.a. samurai). In earlier periods, onigiri were made for samurai to eat while they were outside. The reason they were made to eat outside is because they are convenient to eat and carry, like finger food. Onigiri are still convenient in modern-day Japan and have been lovingly hand-made because they are portable, but that’s not the only reason they are popular.

Onigiri have also gained popularity in Japan because they are now mass-produced and available in convenience stores at a great price, and because they have a homemade touch. They are widely available thanks to the new inventions of machinery. However, the seaweed on the onigiri would wilt, so it is packaged separate from the rice so you can wrap it on yourself before eating. In addition to coming packaged, it is also becoming a popular dish of cafés. Either way, “when you have onigiri prepared just for you or add the seaweed wrapping yourself, you get the warmth of the personal touch,” (Great Balls of Rice!).

Overall, these rice balls are cute, portable, and can make you feel special for eating them because of the care that goes into making them.

***I added the paragraph about making onigiri in my class into the beginning after I wrote about the history. I paid attention to the flow of old information to new information. I also expanded the 4th paragraph topic sentence to include the "homemade touch" idea. Overall, I think writing like this added clarity but seems more redundant. Maybe there's a balance I should try to achieve, in general.***

Works Cited

"Great Balls of Rice! Classic Snack Gets New Lease on Life." Web Japan. Japan Information Network, 21 July 2003. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. http://web-japan.org/trends01/article/030121soc_r.html.

yummmmmm..

My favorite food in the whole wide world is a hot fudge sundae!! Every year since I can remember my parents have taken me to get a hot fudge sundae for my birthday! These sundaes are not your normal sundaes, they are GIANT and made perfectly every time! The perfect sundae is made layer by layer. It starts with a cold creamy layer of vanilla ice cream followed by a warm rich layer of melted fudge. These layers alternate to the very top of course, and then it's topped with a thick layer of whipped cream. Then the sundae is sprinkled with nuts and topped with a maraschino cherry! Thank heavens for the person who invented this delicious treat. Although, no one has been able to agree on who that wonderful person is. We do know that they came about around 1890. Around that time a law was passed in some places in the mid-west that banned soda on Sundays. So, for ice cream shops the only options left were ice cream and syrup, which gave the treat its nickname.. ice cream sundae.

The first time I wrote this it was really random and a lot of the phrasing sounded really awkward. There were also a lot of mistakes with my spelling as well as my grammar. It was very choppy and did not flow in between explaining the sundae and then giving the history.The rewrite made it possible to organize what I was trying to say and make changes!

Week 11

I love food. Food is so great. There's nothing like eating something that tastes great and is good for you. My favorite kind of food is definitely pizza. I enjoy variety in all things, so variety in food is a big deal for me. Pizza offers many different kinds of variety for me. There are various breads, meats, cheeses and veggies for one to choose from in order to make that perfect pizza combination. Not only is there much variety for what your pizza contains, but there are various restaurants and chains that offer different styles and types of pizza. I enjoy partaking of pizza that is not always the same and that is made differently. Pizza has originated from Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures starting in about the tenth century. Pizza was considered a dish of the poor and was not considered to be a kitchen recipe for many years. The ingredients for pizza have evolved over the many centuries, mostly changing when it was brought to America.

I can't remember when the first time I had pizza was, but it must have been sweet. My first taste of it was probably a big turning point in my life, due to the fact that I used to be a very picky eater. Pizza opened doors for me. A nice hot slice of cheesy, spicy pizza sounds good right now. This dish probably made me be more willing to try other foods throughout my childhood. In trying other foods I might discover something new for my taste buds that could possibly be just as good as pizza.

I found some major improvements from my first writing to this revised one. It is amazing how many little errors I noticed. Second drafts are wonderful and make a huge difference. This is why I enjoy the peer reviews that we do in class. I moved so many sentences around in my first draft to make this post make more sense. I moved my history of pizza part around a couple of times trying to make it fit in the best place in conjunction with my more personal stories with pizza.

Week 11-Pasta

My favorite food is pasta. Pasta is generally accepted and being an Italian food. Thank you, Italy. The two basic categories are dry pasta, cooked without eggs and able to store for up to two years, and fresh pasta which must be eaten within a few days. It is made from wheat and some types of pasta have other ingredients, like eggs, added in. When made from scratch, noodles are made by preparing a dough, cutting it into strips, and putting it through a pasta grinder that evens and thins the strips. The noodles are then left out to dry and then boiled. Isn’t pasta cool?? Pasta is so fun to eat too! And there is like…a million different kinds of noodles. You can choose from manicotti, penne, ditalini, fettuccine, rigatoni, ziti, fiori, rotini, tortellini, gnocchi! Just to name a few. There’s stuffed pasta, long pasta, skinny pasta, shaped pasta, wheat pasta, and even designer pasta. I can honestly say that I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been to a restaurant that offered pasta and ordered something else. Pasta has never failed me. Whether it’s Kraft Macaroni & Cheese or one of everything at Brick Oven, pasta is always a good choice. Any kind of pasta will do, as long as it’s served with a white sauce. Not red. The only times I can remember not liking pasta were when it was served in a marinara sauce. I’m not a fan. It’s so tomatoey…Alfredo sauces are so superior in every way. Remember this next time you’re at a restaurant, imagine that big plate of toasty warm pasta served with garlic bread and meatballs coming your way. It won’t take long for you to figure out what you’re ordering.

It was kind of hard to make pasta interesting to read about, thus the tone I used in this. I know it’s unprofessional and far from academic. However, anyone reading this probably figured out that I freaking love pasta. That was my main intention. I organized it by topic: History and facts about pasta, types of pasta, and my opinions about pasta. Now go eat some pasta.

Steak

People have been eating beef since they figured out how to graze and butcher livestock. But when it comes to beef, there is only one way to enjoy its maximum potential and that would be in the form of a well-cooked steak. The best steaks come from the hindquarter cuts of a cow. There are several classifications of meat, the most important being the USDA evaluation. If the USDA gives a selection of beef the grade of “Prime,” you know you have found yourself a good piece of meat. I personally prefer my steak somewhere in that medium medium-rare range. That places the internal temperature of the meat at around 145 F when it is finished cooking. I love steak when it is warm, tender, and juicy. I really don’t care how large my selection of meat is, my priority is to be able to savor each bite to the fullest of its potential. People who order and eat those forty ounce steaks are missing the point in my opinion. I don’t have anything against them, but how much you enjoy your steak shouldn’t be measured by how much meat you can eat, or how fast you can shovel it down. Rather, I believe that every morsel of a great meal will be appreciated and enjoyed by the partaker, not quickly throw down into a bottomless and never satisfied pit of hunger. I first began to enjoy a good steak when I was a pre-teen. I began my relationship with food like all other children who enter this world. First I drank milk, and then expanded my horizons progressively to foods that were more solid. I have a very interesting relation with dairy products. Milk, yogurt, and ice cream, are just some of the delicious members of this food group. I developed a particularly strange attachment to cheese as a child, an attachment which has recently displayed itself again. I think I will enjoy a mission in France, where people place a high value on the quality of dairy products such as yogurt and cheese, as well as the simple things such as bread and vegetables.

My first draft was significantly different than my second draft. In the first draft I rambled aimlessly about my topic and its history. As I thought about my history with food, I simply listed off foods that I liked as I thought back through my childhood. Obviously my second draft is a little more formal and conveys a more direct and comprehendible message.

Week 11: The Cheeseburger

A meal that is representative of a turning point in my life is the introduction of crab into my life. At first the thought disgusted me, but upon trial during a vacation to the Oregon Coast at the age of 10, it instantly became a lifetime favorite of mine. Another turning point in my life, food-wise, would be when I first started ordering food at restaurants that weren’t hamburgers. Cheeseburgers have been my favorite food ever since I can remember, and it’s is all I ordered growing up. I ordered spaghetti one time in place of my burger, and regretted it. Nonetheless, I found it a stepping stone of diversifying my food choices. Upon some quick research, it may interest the masses that the hamburger originated in the United States and Germany and that the term “patty” is never used in the UK! Exciting stuff, eh? It can be served as pork, turkey, or tofu patties or a combination of meats, but is normally served in the beef form. Crisp lettuce, fresh tomato slice, thin onions, and a hybrid of mayo and ketchup are the elements that are optional to my favorite food: the cheeseburger. However, required are two lightly toasted bun halves, which serve as the security blanket to encompass the, also required, succulent beef patty. American cheese settles atop the patty, but has reached a temperature that lowers its viscosity and permits the free flowing of cheese whichever way gravity feels. No combination of ingredients can imitate such euphoria as does the cheeseburger. This is a meal that I simply love. Other than this meal, the meals I’ve loved have been those that were outside my comfort zone; crab, sushi, and a sandwich with questionable lunch meat. They are the most memorable and have all turned out delightful. I have only hated one meal, and that’s because it caused violent food poisoning; curse family reunion tamales.


At first i began with the description of my favorite food, but after revising I decided to open with the meals that were represented as turning points in my life because the topic of "meals" is more general and then i could eventually lead to the specific topic of hamburgers.I also moved the research portion of hamburger to right after the turning point section because it didn't flow well to read facts about hamburgers after a savory description of hamburgers. Then I transitioned into all kinds of meals i enjoy and left the meals I hate at the end. Because i thought it was funny to end on.

Dear Media,

One day I'm going to have a family. When that time comes I'm going to teach them that the reason we are on this earth is to ultimately create and be a part of a family. To reach this goal they're going to need to understand that a family was meant to be made up of a father, a mother, and their children. Not two dads. Not two moms. Not one dad. Not one mom. Not a bunch of parentless kids running wild through the streets of Tree Hill. How dare you put it in their minds that any of these options is more desirable or even equal to a traditional nuclear family? Your influence reaches far and wide, poisoning the minds of our society until it reaches those who make the laws in our land. The thought of my kids going to elementary school and learning about same-sex marriage as an equal alternative to heterosexual marriage makes me ill. I am not passing judgment on any individuals, however, I don't want my kids to be conflicted on where they stand on this issue because what they hear at home is the opposite of what they're taught at school. Media, you have done this. I may very well now face the difficulty of combating both the media and school in my children's beliefs. If my children enter into homosexual unions their chances of staying together are significantly lower than if they were in a heterosexual marriage. If a union is broken, the biological parent or legal adaptive parent will automatically get custody of the child. The other former partner gets nothing, not even legal visitation rights. I don't want this mess for my kids or grandkids. I realize that a divorce isn't a piece of cake either, but why add to the complications? The things shown on TV don't ever give proper attention to these complications or many other consequences for that matter. The social effects of being gay are occasionally looked at, if it adds drama to the show. But in my opinion being gay, for the most part, isn't even depicted as an alternative lifestyle anymore. Being gay or straight is portrayed as being as inevitable in society as have people who are white or black. I don't claim to know why people are gay. I actually have no opinion on the issue and even though I don't agree with homosexuality, I believe with all my heart that everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. My kids will grow up knowing this, even if the media doesn't always teach it. However, they will also know that we believe in the traditional nuclear family, since media, you refuse to teach this as well.

Peace media.

P.S. This doesn't mean I don't love Modern Family...conflict of interest, I know.

Week 11

Dear dumb parents,

Although you may think you're doing just fine and dandy only watching PG-13 movies, you may be wrong. One of the most vital aspects to understand when discussing ratings and their debatable accuracy is "ratings creep." To be put simply, ratings creep is the change in content of lower rated movies, specifically them becoming more extreme over time, such as PG-13 movies now containing the more graphic violence or gratuitous profanity which would formerly only be in an R-rated film. According to the Movie Picture Association of America's (MPAA) frequently asked question guide, there are "no specific rules with which ratings are assigned." Although off handedly one may remark that PG-13 films can only contain 1 "f-word" and only a certain amount of sexual activity, a look at their actual guidelines reveals this to be simply a trend. They do indeed contain specifics such as R-rated films being the only to contain "sexually oriented nudity" or "the f-word in reference to sexuality in some form." However, the CARA ratings board within the MPAA is given complete liberty within broad terms such as these, and the majority vote of which rating to be assigned is taken, only to be reconsidered if under appeal by filmmakers. Essentially, the system is being exploited, resulting in the bar being pushed just a little bit further every time as movies contain more and more edgy content. As this brief summary of ratings creep has shown, using better judgment before letting yourself or your children watch even lower rated movies is needed. Perhaps try kids-in-mind.com 's more detailed, number based ratings system, to check the appropriateness of films before letting them into your home.

Sincerely,

Ben

Letter to my Senator

To the Honorable Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison:

Dear Senator Hutchison,

Greetings from the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. My name is Chad Sorensen. I am currently enrolled as a full-time student at Brigham Young University, but I am a citizen of the state of Texas. Consequently it is to you that I address my remarks.

Teenage pregnancy is a serious issue in society today. It is an especially serious problem in the state of Texas. Only Mississippi has more live teen births per 1000 teenagers than Texas does. Another point of concern is that women between the ages of fifteen and nineteen account for more than one out of every ten pregnancies in Texas. Something must be done in an attempt to combat statistics as startling as these.

It has recently come to my attention that research has been conducted which links teen pregnancies to the amount of sexual content viewed by teenagers. In a study published in 2008, in the journal Pediatrics, researchers concluded that teenagers who viewed low amounts of sexual content were half as likely to be involved in a pregnancy as teens who viewed high amounts of sexual content.

As a recent high school graduate, I do not find this statistic particularly shocking. The majority of my peers who were involved in sexual behavior preceded such behavior with a high intake of sexual content from various media sources.

Senator, based on the evidence noted above, as well as countless other studies and statistics that have been completed or are being conducted currently, I am suggesting that a change be implemented. We need a solution to better protect the youth of America, and more specifically, the youth of Texas, from the dangers of media sexuality. I am asking for your help in finding a solution to this current problem.

Of course there are several Constitutional issues that could arise if the government were to attempt to increase its regulation on the media. However, I do not think that voters would disagree that small changes could be implemented to help protect teenagers from the dangers posed by sexual content in the media. Perhaps a restriction upon the amount and type of sexual content that can be displayed in a show would help to slow the tide of the media onslaught that our youth are facing. Even if this is not possible, I am hoping that by bringing this issue to your attention that steps will be taken to help combat the problem of teenage pregnancy.

May God Bless You in Your Endeavors,

Your Concerned Citizen
Chad Sorensen

Dear Media,

WHAT do you think you are doing? Trying to make nurses look bad on national television. That is completely uncalled for. Thanks to your shows of Grey’s Anatomy, House, and ER the public’s perceptions of nurses are totally wrong. Nurses are not incompetent, ditzy, or to say the least non-existent. Nurses are not the doctor’s servant and handmaiden.They are the ones who take care of the patients constantly, checking their statuses frequently, and truly being the patients’ advocates. I do not appreciate what you are doing the the image of nursing. Not only are you helping contributing to the nursing shortage, but you are making nurses themselves feel like they are nothing. They are starting to have low self-esteem and are unconfident in their daily tasks. This prevents nurses from performing their activities with an assured mind. That in return makes a situation more dangerous for the patient. Also, it is said that if registered nurses were increased in the hospital so many more lives would be saved. Who would not want that to happen? Obviously you don’t want it to because of all of your bashes against nurses in your television shows. Another thing that upsets me and all of the nurses in the world is that you rarely ever have male nurses appear on your shows. This is showing the public that male nurses are frowned upon. Many people believe that male nurses are wanna-be doctors and are not smart enough to be accepted into medical school. This is horrible to think. Nursing is an awesome job and is an educated career. Nurses go through many years of school and are taught so much important information. They perform difficult tasks everyday and it is them who help save patient lives. The next time you decide to put another untrue thing about nurses in your shows, take a minute to think about it or give nursing school a try and see how it is truly hard and rigorous. Thanks for your time.

Mykenna DiGiovanni

Week 10

Dear Jimmer,
Have you ever been listening to music and singing along with the team and you suddenly realize what you are singing? There are so many songs that have a great beat and are fun to sing along to that have themes glorifying the use of alcohol and drugs. Peers are the greatest influence on the music that adolescents listen to. Teens are exposed to hours of music every day around 77% of that music makes reference to the use of these substances. Teens hear and see celebrities that they like singing about the fun that comes from this substance abuse and gain a good impression of the substances. When a time comes that these teens are confronted with using drugs or alcohol they remember the fun that they observed in the music videos and songs that they have heard. There are additional harmful affects that this music has on teens. Studies have shown that depression and aggression also increase as a result to music containing lyrics glorifying substance abuse. So Jimmer please for the sake of all of BYU please don't listen to bad music, and make good choices.

And, thank you for the big win, 52 points... UNREAL!!

Week 10

Dear Earnest,

The globalization of media has impacted the world. Many great new innovations have come about in the recent decades that have made it possible for you and I to be able to find out information instantaneously. I know that your are just as big of a sports fan as I am, and like to use certain media outlets to acquire information about your favorite athletes and teams too. Athletes are always being conversed about through television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet. So much of what athletes say and do affects the perceptions of you and I. The media makes all of this possible. Remember when we talked about Tiger Woods and that character Brett Farve? We said that those guys are idiots for the recent negative media attention they have been getting. The media has made our perception of these guys seem not as 'professional' as we thought they were. We looked up to these guys as kids but now we look down on them. Tiger is an adulterer, and Brett likes to send lewd pictures of himself to others. Dude, we had some really great heroes that we looked up to right? Not quite, my friend. The media has ultimately destroyed our childhood heroes and makes us look negatively upon them. It is good that the media gets out the truth so that athletes don't continue on with their horrible actions but the media should be a little more careful in what they broadcast to the public. The media should stop hounding on the stories of these athletes because it is ultimately giving the athlete more attention that they enjoy having. When you are a role model for children across the world you would think that you might want to conduct yourself in a matter that is appropriate for young kids that want to copy your life. This is why athletes should be more cautious in their dealings with the media. Every move they make or word that comes out of their mouth can be broad casted to millions in seconds. The vicious media, looking for any new breaking story, puts athletes on display to be negatively viewed by the public and its perceptions. There goes our so-called heroes...

Till we meet again Earnest.

Week 10

Dear Jordan,

Have you heard about the lockout that is supposed to take place in the NFL if they do not come to agreement for the terms of the new contract? Both the players and the owners of teams are in a huge debate over what the salary cap should be and how much the players should earn. This debate has been going on since the end of the 2010 season which was played without a salary cap. If there were to be a lockout many people would feel the repercussions of this event. One group that would feel this a lot would be the new incoming rookies that are looking to be drafted. Yes they are still planning on having a draft this year which means those rookies would be drafted, but the ones that end up not getting drafted would not have the choice of trying to go walk on to a team after the draft. The rookies that would be drafted would not necessarily be given a salary for the next year. This means that all these kids fresh out of college who were banking on the NFL as their job no longer have the NFL as an option to make money for a year. Many of these kids would not have a good back round to fall back on if they cannot make money because their entire focus in college was football. This is just one of the major problems of the lockout and there are many more that are out there and if you look at the big picture, almost everyone in the nation is going to be affected in this lockout whether the effect be big or small. This is an issue that you should probably keep your eye on because it will affect you in a way that will not be beneficial to you whether it be big or small.

Week 10: Dear Andy

Dear Andy,
How’s the family? I heard about that homeless woman beating you up. That’s pretty crazy, man. Anyway I’ve heard some talk on the radio about a possible reinstituting of the Fairness Doctrine. You know what I’m talking about? It’s the doctrine that was introduced in 1949 and then upheld by the Supreme Court in 69’ that would allow the FCC to regulate and force equality in broadcasting. Well it was abolished in 1987 during the Reagan administration, but now there’s talk on the news that democrats are trying to bring it back again. It makes sense that they would want to do that though. I mean it is conservative media that is the most popular in the country by far; liberal talk shows don’t even compare in listener numbers. I just don’t see the “fairness” in the whole deal. I mean, sure, people should be able to hear both sides of the story, and that option exists! It’s just the liberal talk shows aren’t nearly as popular as conservative talk shows. Why would this be? Probably because they haven’t got much to offer to the table other than saying things like “Hope” for a better tomorrow, while republicans can use facts and logic to point out problems that our country is facing, but that’s just me. I don’t see why the Liberals can’t just let the conservatives dominate one portion of mass media, I mean let’s be honest, democrats own pretty much every other form of media: cinema, television, and music, to name a few. If there is going to be regulations for equal representation on the radio, it certainly seems fitting to institute a similar regulation on all forms of media, I mean as long as we’re talking about “fairness.” It’s just something to think about. Some democrats are denying that there is even a push to get it passed, including Obama, but at the same time there are liberals openly expressing a need for bringing it back. So just keep your eye out, it could make a comeback here pretty soon. The more successful conservative talk shows get, the more they’re going to want to silence them.

Week 10

Dear Amanda,
We've both played lacrosse. We know about the absolutely ridiculous rules involving the women's "no contact" sport. But it almost makes the sport more challenging if you think about it. Instead of using contact and checks to maintain ball control, it's all strategy and mentally being stronger than the other team. In men's lacrosse their pocket is 5x bigger in their sticks and the fact that their goalies can have longer poles, thus resulting in much longer throws (especially from a goalie's standpoint), makes it a lot easier to get the ball from one end of the field to the other. Remember the one time that for practice instead of warming up by doing our regular passes with balls we used water balloons instead? It improved our stick skills so well because of the slack that we had to give every time we caught a balloon.
Sometimes I regret switching from girls' to guys' lacrosse, but in the end it definitely challenged me more. The ball can be thrown up to 90mph with the amount of whip boys have on their pockets compared to the girls average 60mph shots. And knowing that I wouldn't get punished for stepping out of my goal circle; Practically a dream come true. But at the same time, lacrosse goes back to the Native Americans, who used to play lacrosse instead of fighting war! They didn't hit each other or check each other's sticks. They played it more as a relaxation and meditation routine than a physical, rowdy sport. Women follow those rules and history a lot more closely.
It just feels like sometimes men and women should be allowed to do things the same way.

Peace out home-skillet.
-Rachael

Forgot to put my Citation for my Pencil Blog :/

Pencils, CategoryCarpenter. "Pencil History." Pencil, Pencils, Buy Pencils. 2010. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. .

(Week 10) Sex in the Media and the Lives of Adolescents

In most recent years, sexual activity has become extremely prevalent among adolescence. The use of the word adolescence is in reference to those within the age range of twelve years old and eighteen years old. Teenagers have adopted a new curiosity and pursuit for sexual experiences. This early desire to participate in what is normally considered, by society, to be an adult experience, is concerning to both parents and the public alike. This concern begs the question, what is causing this early onset of sexual curiosity. Some believe it is the influence of their peer that causes adolescents to pursue such activities and yet still there are others that blame the media. The media does play a significant role in the lives of adolescents and influences much of their perspectives on sexual activity, especially that which is viewed in movies and on television. It seems that the early onset of sexual activity in adolescence is a result of explicit movies and television.
However, despite there being a large amount of sexual content in media, it can be argued that parents are the ones to blame for the viewing of such sexual content in the first place. There may be sexual media in the world, but it would not exist if there weren’t a demand or desire for it. With that in mind, parents have the ability these days to control much, however not all, of the sexual content their children view. Parents can use parental controls on their TV’s and computers to prevent their children from watching inappropriately sexual TV shows and viewing images or reading about inappropriately sexual media. Parents have the ability to prevent their children from watching R-rated, or other inappropriately rated, movies. Also, parents can prevent the media that their children do view out of their control from causing their curiosity to become action through consistent and frequent conversations pertaining to sexual activity. If parents were more aware and open with their children, perhaps adolescents these days would not be so prone to early sexual activity. Sexual media isn’t something that can be discontinued in a day, however if parents were to take action pertaining to the matter, perhaps that wouldn’t be necessary.

Ahh.. I forgot to add the Citation:

Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Bubble Gum History." 20th Century History. Web. 05 Mar. 2011. .

Bubble Gum

I absolutely love gum, especially bubble gum! There is nothing more enjoyable to me than chewing on huge piece of pink bubble gum, blowing a giant bubble, and the waiting for that bubble to explode all over my face! Gum has been all around the world for a long time, although, bubble gum was first discovered by accident in 1928. Walter Diemer was an accountant for Fleer Chewing Gum Company. In Walter's spare time like to do some experimenting of his own with gum. One day while experimenting with some recipes he formulated a gum that was not as stick as the gum at the time and was more flexible which made it perfect for making bubbles. When we think of gum we commonly think of bright pink blocks wrapped in paper. The reason Walter Diemer made his gum pink was because it was the only option that he had, and i guess it stuck. Walter began selling his new bubbley bubble gum and soon it became a hit. The first day that he took his gum out to sell in stores it sold out! Walter then quit his job as an accountant and opened his own bubble gum company "Double Bubble". Double Bubble was the only bubble gum company clear till World War II, till other companies picked up on this great idea. Today, there are so many different kinds, flavors, and colors of bubble gum to choose from!

Week 9

We all have one, and it is almost a necessity in today's world. I am talking about the iPod. I figured that I should learn more about something that I am constantly connected to.

When we think of the iPod, we immediately go to Apple and Steve Jobs. However, the original idea for the iPod was in the mind of a person named Tony Fadell. Tony Fadell is now the senior vice president of the iPod division at Apple. The fist iPod was introduced on October 23, 2001, and only took a year to create and produce. The first iPod had only a five GB Toshiba hard drive. Ten years ago, the feature that helped the iPod stand out against competitors was the scroll wheel. Even though the iPod had new technology and there wasn't anything else like it the public did not react well to the product at all. The price, which was $400, was just too much for the public to spend on a first generation product. A year later Europe received the iPod and was much more accepting of the new technology. Later that year Apple came out with a ten GB, Windows compatible iPod. We all know the different versions of the iPod get updated yearly, if not more often. The first complete redesign of the iPod happened in early 2003; they redesigned the look, the memory, and the adaptability to computers. Since then the original iPod has had three new generations. There have also been a few new additions to the iPod family. There is the iPod Nano, the iPod shuffle, and the iPod Touch, each have also had multiple generations themselves. As we all know, Apple is not slowing down at all when it comes to new and improved product, and the history of the iPod is definitely not over. Now we all know a little bit more about a product that we all use daily.

Nistor, Codrut. “The History of the iPod.” bindapple.com. N.p. October 13, 2010. Web. 4 Mar. 2011

Week 9: Greek Mythology

I have always been interested in Greek Mythology, but I have never really known anything about it. I have kind of been one to think that myths have nothing to do with life today so why care. After doing a little research I was surprised to see some of the history behind it and learned about a few myths. Some of the stories in mythology are way cool and actually have some meaning to them. Mythology was the Greeks religion. It was used in order to explain events in life and its certain situations. A myth is a sacred narrative explaining the world and how mankind came to exist in its current state. All of the different stories in myth (there are many) have something of importance to the Greeks. I learned from my research that many Greek myths are used in today's culture. One such use of myth I came across was integrated into the recently popular film, Inception. In Greek myth there is a story about the daughter of the Cretan king named Ariadne. Ariadne was said to have aided Theseus in killing a creature called the Minotaur. In order to kill the Minotaur, Theseus had to go into the Labyrinth (a complex system of tunnels and paths in which it is easy to get lost in). The myth states that, "Ariadne, fell in love with Theseus and gave him a thread with which he could trace his way back out of the Labyrinth" (Morford 602). Through the aid of Ariadne, Theseus was able to enter the Labyrinth, kill the Minotaur, and return unharmed. I thought this was awesome because this myth can be seen in the movie Inception. The female lead character in the film is named Ariadne. Was this a coincidence? No. The Ariadne in Inception does the same thing for the main character Dom Cobb, as the Ariadne in the Greek myth did for Theseus. Inception's Ariadne accompanies Cobb through the labyrinth of his own subconscious mind while serving as the architect of the dream Cobb is having. Both Ariadne's provide means for getting Cobb and Theseus back safely into the world where they belong.

Morford, Mark P.O., Robert J. Lenardon, and Michael Sham. Classical Mythology. 9th ed. New
York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.

Week 9: Korean

So, I was curious about Korean. I know some Japanese and some Chinese, but no Korean! With all those circles and lines, I wondered what kind of alphabet they had, what kind of vowels and consonants they used, and what kind of basic grammar structure they had. I did a little browsing, and found some phrases.

예 "ye" = yes. It sounds like a cross between "yay" and "yuh" (see Google Translate of "Yes" to Korean and push "listen" to hear how it sounds). It is a circle with two lines sticking out of the right, and connect them with another line, then another parallel line. Almost looks like a doorknob. If someone passes you a note in class, saying, "Are you going to the basketball game tomorrow?" You could write "예 ". You could even say "Ye," and people will probably think you were just saying "yeah" with a British or New Zealander accent. (or Korean accent if they knew Korean.)

To say "hello," 안녕하세요, it is "annyeonghaseyo". (On the simple phrases list of the one website, it says it means "How are you?" So, I guess it means "How are you?" and can be used as a greeting.) Listening to this on Google Translate, it sounds like "Ann yung ha say oh." They say it pretty fast, so I'd try to say it in the same amount of time it takes one to say "extraordinary."

To say "no," 아니요, it is "aniyo," like "Annie yo," based on what I heard on Google Translate. This one looks easy to write. The first character is a circle with a stick with a little leaf sticking off the side. It is one character, and you can tell by highlighting it with your computer mouse. The second one is like a wide four with the middle part slanted up. The last character looks just like yes, but on its side and only one connecting line without the extra parallel one.

One website said this was "no," but just as no has various uses in English "I don't no" (just kidding, that is actually a different word.) Since there are different subtle uses to the word "no" in English, in my opinion, such as "No, thanks" and "There is no water" and "No, I didn't do that" and "I'll be back in no time," there are probably different uses of (and perhaps different words for) the word "no" in Korean as well. The translation on Google Translate for "no" is 없음, "eobs-eum," and for "No thanks" it is 아니요,"aniyo." Since on learnkorean.com, the 아니요 ("aniyo") version of "no" was on their basic phrase list along with "yes," I would guess that "aniyo" is the way to say a general "no" response, like to a question.

Some more background info, about the characters: It appears that some (or all? I don't know) are made by combining the phonetic alphabet characters into one character. That probably makes it easier, since the geometric shapes don't look much like pictures that relate to the word. (Some characters of the Japanese language that look like pictures of what they mean are 木 (tree), 川 (river), and 山 (mountain).)

Korean characters: If you look closely, you can see how the three characters on the left are put together in the character on the right.

ㅎ (h)+

ㅏ (a) +

ㄴ (n) =

한

han

Google Translate. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. http://translate.google.com/#en|ko|.

"Korean for Fun: Basics I -- Simple Phrases." LearnKorean.com: Korean for Fun: Basics I. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. http://www.learnkorean.com/k4fun/k4fun_basic.asp.

"Lesson 1 Hangul Alphabet System." Learn Korean and Speak Korean :- Free Site for Learning Korean Language. Kpop Team, 2009. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. http://www.learn-korean.net/learn-korean-classes-viewarticle-5.html.

Week 9: NSYNC

NYSYC has blown my mind for years. What’s not to love with their butter-smooth harmonies, unmatched choreography, and likable members? But being my favorite “boy band” group, I have never really learned much about the history of the band and how it came to be. Well first off, these rag-tag group of boys would all meet each other in Orlando, Florida, after a talent scout had approached Chris Kirkpatrick about starting the newest teen pop sensation. Chris called his friend Joey, whom he knew from working at Universal Studios with. So with a solid start of 2 people, the scout, Lou Pearlman, looked through videos of singers to gain more members. This is the time where one Justin Timberlake was discovered as a young singer in the prestigious Mickey Mouse Club. This club is the soil from which Justin, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera would all grow and blossom from into stardom. Justin suggested his friend JC, who was also in the club, and after auditions to find their bass Lance bass, the group was formed. I found it interesting that the group really didn’t know each other very well. Lance was a complete stranger, while the other two pairs were separate friends/acquaintances. The group pretty much became an overnight success in Europe, namely Germany, with its early catchy tunes like “I Want You Back” and “Tearin’ Up My Heart.” And have you ever heard either of those songs? I can see why they were hits overnight. They are too catchy not to dance to. You may have heard of NYSNC’s second album, No Strings Attached, which holds the record for the fastest selling album as it sold over 1 million copies in one day and over 2.42 million in a week. The stores just couldn’t keep them on the shelves. This album was supposed to debut in 1999, but legal battles with Lou Pearlman delayed it from coming out till 2000. I guess Ponzi Schemes are bad, and Lou is going to be put away for a long time because of them. After their album Celebrity, interests of the group started to differ including Chase and Justin desiring solo careers. The group disbanded in 2002, but has gotten together for various occasions such as the Grammys in 03’.

Starpulse.com. N SYNC Biography. http://www.starpulse.com/Music/N_Sync/Biography/. 3 March 2011.