• Contingency - dependence on chance or on the fulfillment of a condition; uncertainty; fortuitousness:
• Procure - to obtain or get by care, effort, or the use of special means
• Earbob - an earring or eardrop
• Commodes - a low cabinet or similar piece of furniture, often highly ornamental, containing drawers or shelves
• Sloop - a single-masted, fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel
• Despond - to be depressed by loss of hope, confidence, or courage
• Smote - o strike down, injure, or slay
• Vestige - a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something that is no longer present or in existence
• Edification - Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment.
• Gallimaufry - a hodgepodge; jumble; confused medley
• Paroxysm - any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Reflection on Blogging
I think that using these blogs instead of writing specific assignments has helped explore the essential questions of sophomore English. It feels more like a diary entry, so I tend to talk about things that have happened to me in my daily life, like places I go or TV shows I watch. This especially makes me think about the question, "what type of world is this?"
There are downsides however. Sometimes the more casual feel is not such a good thing. THere's also the technical issue. My internet connection is always dying on me, making it impossible to post. The recording of my This I Believ was an absolute headache to post, and it turns out that it doesn't even work anyway, so I'll have to try and figure that out.
It's also different because now more people are reading what I write. While I don't particularly like this aspect of the blogs, I do like to read what my classmates are writing.
There are downsides however. Sometimes the more casual feel is not such a good thing. THere's also the technical issue. My internet connection is always dying on me, making it impossible to post. The recording of my This I Believ was an absolute headache to post, and it turns out that it doesn't even work anyway, so I'll have to try and figure that out.
It's also different because now more people are reading what I write. While I don't particularly like this aspect of the blogs, I do like to read what my classmates are writing.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
This I Believe
Click here to get your own player.
I believe in smoothies, the harmonious blend of different flavors, creating something unique. Multiple flavors can be combined to make one taste. No two smoothies are alike, just as no two people are alike. Everyone has a mix of personality traits and life experiences that belong to no one else.
Once I combined some random fruits and juices and made what had to be the best smoothie I had ever made. Ecstatic, I wrote down these ingredients to use again. When I did try to re-create this smoothie, it tasted completely different that the original.
I believe that it is no one’s place to judge or make assumptions about other people. Sometimes the clothes people wear or the amount of time they spend playing video games bring up assumptions and prejudices about them.
Once I was at my friend’s house and her sister made a smoothie for me and some of my other friends. Once we had all taken a gulp of it, she announced proudly that one of the main ingredients was tofu. We immediately spat the mixture out, but once we forced ourselves to drink some more, we realized that it wasn’t that bad.
I believe in people, that they all have something different to offer the world, and that there is some good in all of them.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
First, picture the forest.
This weekend I went to Waimea Falls Park. I hadn't been there in a long time and a lot has changed. They took away pretty much everything commercial about it. There used to be a tram that gave tours around the park, a playground, a cliffdiving show, and a small zoo. All of that is gone now, and it's basically just a wildlife park. It's quiet, so you can hear the birds and the leaves on the trees shifting around. At first it reminded me of the description of the forest in the beginning of The Poisonwood Bible. The trees covered in vines, the spider webs, even the place where the girls go for a swim. I half expected an okapi to wander out of the bushes.
After a while, though, I realized that it was completely different from the forest in The Poisonwood Bible. The forests at Waimea feel tranquil, controlled. Even though all the commercial stuff has been removed, it feels too perfect, almost deliberate. It doesn't fit the description "This forest eats itself and lives forever," which feels wild, savage, unpredictable.
SAT Practice Essay
In class we wrote a practice essay for the SATs. The topic was whether or not the media has an impact on out culture and what is important to us.
I think that the media does have a very big impact on our culture and values. A lot of people look to the media to tell them what is important. People look up to celebrities on television or in magazines and often let what these people say or do influence what they think. The unconscious reasoning behind this is that if it’s on TV or on the Internet, it must be true. People in the media, know exactly what they are doing when they send certain messages. If a few celebrities pick up a new fashion trend, it is thrown in our faces through TV and magazines. People who see this might start to follow the fashion trend themselves. Other people will see these people and follow, until it has spread everywhere.
Sometimes people are influenced in a good way through the media. Bono from the band U2 started a campaign called Product RED, where certain products, such as clothing or cell phones, sold at certain stores will benefit AIDS victims in Africa. Bono appeared on TV on some talk shows to talk about this, and the campaign shows countless celebrities wearing or using these products. Shortly after the campaign began, I started to see people walking around at school or on the street wearing these clothes or using these products. I myself have a Product RED t-shirt and bracelet from Gap. I gave a few of my friends these bracelets for Christmas. Part of my reason for buying these is definitely because I want to help AIDS victims, but it’s also true that I hadn’t donated any money to this cause before this. In this situation, the media introduced the information about these products, but it also motivated viewers to buy them by showing celebrities wearing them. Because of the impact of the media on our lives in this situation, I now see people wearing t-shirts from the Gap line all over the place.
The media, through television, movies, magazines, newspapers, and Internet, has a big impact on what we think is important and on many aspects of our culture.
I think that the media does have a very big impact on our culture and values. A lot of people look to the media to tell them what is important. People look up to celebrities on television or in magazines and often let what these people say or do influence what they think. The unconscious reasoning behind this is that if it’s on TV or on the Internet, it must be true. People in the media, know exactly what they are doing when they send certain messages. If a few celebrities pick up a new fashion trend, it is thrown in our faces through TV and magazines. People who see this might start to follow the fashion trend themselves. Other people will see these people and follow, until it has spread everywhere.
Sometimes people are influenced in a good way through the media. Bono from the band U2 started a campaign called Product RED, where certain products, such as clothing or cell phones, sold at certain stores will benefit AIDS victims in Africa. Bono appeared on TV on some talk shows to talk about this, and the campaign shows countless celebrities wearing or using these products. Shortly after the campaign began, I started to see people walking around at school or on the street wearing these clothes or using these products. I myself have a Product RED t-shirt and bracelet from Gap. I gave a few of my friends these bracelets for Christmas. Part of my reason for buying these is definitely because I want to help AIDS victims, but it’s also true that I hadn’t donated any money to this cause before this. In this situation, the media introduced the information about these products, but it also motivated viewers to buy them by showing celebrities wearing them. Because of the impact of the media on our lives in this situation, I now see people wearing t-shirts from the Gap line all over the place.
The media, through television, movies, magazines, newspapers, and Internet, has a big impact on what we think is important and on many aspects of our culture.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Shui Xian (Narcissus)
Currently I am drying myself off with a towel because I am soaking wet. And fully clothed. I'll start from the beginning.
Today I went to Chinatown with my grandparents. It's Chinese New Year Weekend, but the festivites are already over. I bought a little gazebo-looking thing and a fisherman for my fish tank. We had dim sum in a restaurant callede Mei Sum, where my grandparents tried to force me to eat duck feet, singing that "you don't know what you're missing" song. Just as we were leaving, my grandma spotted some weird, shriveled brown things in a box outside a store. Once I read the sign, I realized they were narcissus roots. I didn't recognize them because they are usually shiny and white. These were a little ratty-looking, with the appearence of things that should have been bought a long time ago. Most people but these about a month before Chinese New Year so that they will have bloomed right on the holiday. These were the only ones we had seen in Chinatown today. On an impulse, I said "Let's grow them," so we bought three bulbs for a dollar each. Once we got home, my grandparents stayed for a few minutes to show me how to take off the outside layers. Once we hade cut off some of the shriveled stuff, they looked more like how they probably looked a month ago. I set them in a plastice container with some rocks from my yard with strict instructions to put them in full sunlight. They look like of pathetic at the moment, but I'm pretty proud of them.
Sometimes I get this overwhelming urge to rescue things. Like I want to buy the most sickly and pathetic-looking fish at the store so that I can take care of it and watch it get better. That's kind of how it was today. These roots were kind of gross-looking and they've been sitting outside in a box for more than a month, and that only made me want them more.
Anyway, back to the reason my jeans are soaked and I'm sneezing a lot.
After leaving my roots outside in their plastic container for a few hours, I decided to change the water. This is the kind of compulsion that comes with the rescuing thing. Like I'll feed that sad fish a lot more than normal and watch it carefully as it hovers uncertainly behind the plants for hours. So I turned on the hose to change the water outside, and I accidentaly dopped the hose on the ground. It have a nozzle on it, and of course it landed handle-down. A strong spray of water shot straight up and directly into my face because I was standing right over it. I screamed and started laughing, and ran away from it. Immediately I realized how dumb this was, because I'd eventually have to go back over to it to turn it off and get even more soaked. So I was standing there in front of my house, laughing at myself. A cat stretched out on the roof across the street, also laughing at me, I'm sure.
I went inside and thundered up the stairs, gasping out the story to my mom. She's used to me doing moronic things like this to myself and only handed me a towel and warned me not to drip on the floor.
Today I went to Chinatown with my grandparents. It's Chinese New Year Weekend, but the festivites are already over. I bought a little gazebo-looking thing and a fisherman for my fish tank. We had dim sum in a restaurant callede Mei Sum, where my grandparents tried to force me to eat duck feet, singing that "you don't know what you're missing" song. Just as we were leaving, my grandma spotted some weird, shriveled brown things in a box outside a store. Once I read the sign, I realized they were narcissus roots. I didn't recognize them because they are usually shiny and white. These were a little ratty-looking, with the appearence of things that should have been bought a long time ago. Most people but these about a month before Chinese New Year so that they will have bloomed right on the holiday. These were the only ones we had seen in Chinatown today. On an impulse, I said "Let's grow them," so we bought three bulbs for a dollar each. Once we got home, my grandparents stayed for a few minutes to show me how to take off the outside layers. Once we hade cut off some of the shriveled stuff, they looked more like how they probably looked a month ago. I set them in a plastice container with some rocks from my yard with strict instructions to put them in full sunlight. They look like of pathetic at the moment, but I'm pretty proud of them.
Sometimes I get this overwhelming urge to rescue things. Like I want to buy the most sickly and pathetic-looking fish at the store so that I can take care of it and watch it get better. That's kind of how it was today. These roots were kind of gross-looking and they've been sitting outside in a box for more than a month, and that only made me want them more.
Anyway, back to the reason my jeans are soaked and I'm sneezing a lot.
After leaving my roots outside in their plastic container for a few hours, I decided to change the water. This is the kind of compulsion that comes with the rescuing thing. Like I'll feed that sad fish a lot more than normal and watch it carefully as it hovers uncertainly behind the plants for hours. So I turned on the hose to change the water outside, and I accidentaly dopped the hose on the ground. It have a nozzle on it, and of course it landed handle-down. A strong spray of water shot straight up and directly into my face because I was standing right over it. I screamed and started laughing, and ran away from it. Immediately I realized how dumb this was, because I'd eventually have to go back over to it to turn it off and get even more soaked. So I was standing there in front of my house, laughing at myself. A cat stretched out on the roof across the street, also laughing at me, I'm sure.
I went inside and thundered up the stairs, gasping out the story to my mom. She's used to me doing moronic things like this to myself and only handed me a towel and warned me not to drip on the floor.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
My Backyard
In class we are reading The Poisonwood Bible. The book opens with a descriptive passage about a forest, and we were assigned to use a similar technique to describe a different place.
Imagine a world where the light is green, where the droopy branches of the tree drape over the ground in a canopy of hazy emerald, enveloping the air and space. It is perfectly still, and yet every surface shifts and writhes. There is only one tree, but its bottle-green leaves and wrinkly, lavender flowers seem to fill the entire triangle. The grass is wet, the sun reflecting off the tiny drops of dew resting on the blades. A muddy-brown lizard snakes its way through a pile of dead leaves, leaving behind a rustling sound. Jade green aloe plants sit next to the trunk, huddled against it as if for warmth. A forgotten lawnmower hides under the tree branches, next to the jagged brown fence. Not even the lizards remember why it's there. It's strangely out of place, and yet it looks comfortable there.A tattered white rope hangs down from one of the top branches, the only remains of a once-cherished tire swing. A chilly mist hangs in the air, as if it has just rained. This backyard is alive in every way, somewhat forgotten by humans and yet it flourishes without them.
Monday, February 12, 2007
AntiGravity
There was this show at Hawaii Theater this weekend calleed AntiGravity. It was a performance group, sort of circus-y. They were giving out tickets on the radio, which was how my dad heard about it. Some of the stunts they did were amazing, like with bungee cors and hoops suspended in the air.
Right before intermission, four guys were falling from a post about 20 ft. high and onto trampolines on either side, where they'd bounce back up to the post and jump off again or whatever. One of the guys hit the trampoline, and, instead of soaring back up to the post, he bounced the other direction and hit the floor. He lay curled up for about 30 seconds before some guys came out from backstage to see if he was alright. His body started jerking like he was convulsing. A few seconds late the act was over and the curtain went down. Meanwhile, the remaining three guys were continuing with the act, still grinning and bobbing their heads with the music and making rock-on signs with their hands. I think one guy looked down at him for like a second and went back to the act. I mean, I understand the whole "the show must go on" thing but I would definately have gone right down to try to help him. By the other performers not stopping their jumps and just ignoring the twitching guy on the floor, rather than smoothing the whole thing it over, I found it a lot more disturbing. How could they still be grinning like idiots while their friend may be dying? Even if it meant getting fired, I could not just keep pretending everything was okay.
We expected them at the end of the show to at least say over the loudspeaker, "By the way, that guy's going to be fine" or something, but they didn't say anything, just acted like the gaping hole in the formation of the guys in the finale was supposed to be there. I couldn't find anything about it on the internet or in the newspaper, so I still don't know what happened, whether or not I saw someone die last night.
LOST
Yes, it's another TV show post for me.
Lost just started again. One of the characters, Juliet, was doing some really important research at her work. Eventually, she was able to impregnate a male field mouse. Her boss found out she was stealing some of her samples and trying them out on her sister. Her research worked, and her sister got pregnant from the injections she was giving her. I couldn't decide if it was ethical for her to be taking these samples. One one hand, it was her research and she wanted to help her sister. On the other hand, her company was paying for the equipment and facilities she was using to make this scientific breakthrough. I think that if it was something life-threatening, like her sister was dying and she couldnt pay for treatment so Juliet stole it for her, that would be okay.
Lost just started again. One of the characters, Juliet, was doing some really important research at her work. Eventually, she was able to impregnate a male field mouse. Her boss found out she was stealing some of her samples and trying them out on her sister. Her research worked, and her sister got pregnant from the injections she was giving her. I couldn't decide if it was ethical for her to be taking these samples. One one hand, it was her research and she wanted to help her sister. On the other hand, her company was paying for the equipment and facilities she was using to make this scientific breakthrough. I think that if it was something life-threatening, like her sister was dying and she couldnt pay for treatment so Juliet stole it for her, that would be okay.
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