Assignment #8

The extraordinary Pantene commercial has to be one of the most moving and profound commercials I have ever seen.  It seemed like so much more than a commercial; it felt like a real story.  It was so deep I just can’t get over it!  The message I got from it far surpassed any lecture or article on becoming successful.  It shows that anyone can be great, as long as they never give up.

Now to analyze this clip to death!  The setting represented the differences between the two competitors.  It would go from the nice house and grand piano of the snobby rich contestant to the poor sidewalks and violin of the poor deaf girl.  This showed that no matter where they came from, they can both end up in the same place.  There was of course the external physical conflict with the pushing, verbal abuse, and the fight.  But there was also internal conflict.  The deaf girl was continuously degraded and discouraged, and she had to deal with that on the inside.  And at the same time, the rich girl had internal conflict.  She was worried that the deaf girl might beat her in the competition.  And she chose to act physically on her fears.

I believed the deaf girl’s violin was an ambiguous symbol of her soul.  Of course, she needed the violin to play the music, but it also represented her on the inside.  When the guys came and took it and broke it, she broke on the inside.  But she taped it up and fixed it, just like she healed on the inside.  She refused to let the broken violin stop her like she refused to let a broken pride stop her.  When she went out on the stage, the violin shined, just like she shined.

I think it’s unanimous that the protagonist in this story was the young deaf girl and the antagonist was the rich snobby girl.  But if I were relating this to a more general situation, I would say that the protagonist would be the average joe kind of person just trying to make a difference and succeed in the world.  While the antagonist would be the industry bigots who think they own the world and no one else matters.

The climax of the clip to me was when the fight began.  When the guys showed up and started beating the old man and took the girl’s violin, my heart sank.  That was an epic part that made the story what it was, that gave it the message that it should convey.  And like I said earlier, this message or theme, was succeeding no matter what obstacles you face.  If you don’t have all the resources, time, and money, you can still be as great and make as much of a difference as those who do have all of those things.  You just can’t give up; you have to keep on keeping on.

Lyre Bird – Assigment #7

Wow!  What an interesting creature!  I had never even heard of the Lyre Bird until watching the Youtube video today.  It is neat to see that there is as bird that you cannot identify by its call, as we normally do.  It’s almost like a prettier, more subdued Parrot.  Parrots have been beaten to death over the years with the endless jokes, movie scenes, plush toys, and other amusements.  It’s refreshing to see this bird that is more natural and real.

It’s incredible to hear what deforestation has done to this animal.  When you first hear it, you find it hilarious that a bird sounds just like a car alarm.  But when you sit down to write about it, you realize the enormous negative effect it has on the bird.  Setting aside the fact that they mimic as they do, deforestation alone is extremely harmful to animals.  They lose safe harbors and mates and eventually become extinct all together. 

Now lets throw in the mimicry.  The sole purpose for their mimicry is to obtain mates.  So if deforestation comes and the only sounds it hears are those of cars and equipment, what is it going to mimic?  That would be the cars and the equipment!  Therefore, their mating call is not reaching out to females because they think it’s just the workers and logging trucks.  Then, the mating doesn’t occur and no new Lyre Chicks are born, thus eliminating the population even faster. 

Deforestation has negative effects on all rainforest inhabitants.  But this poor bird bears the brunt of a double dose of danger because it depends on a totally natural environment.  

So, all in all, deforestation is bad.  Uhmmm kay.

No, seriously, it is.  We need to help the animals! :)

Tele…The Word Part

Go check out my word part project at YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZseqtPq1Fo

It’s pretty amazing.

Assignment #5

When we get up in the morning, what do we do?  We go straight to bathroom, brush our teeth, mash the zits that have formed over-night.  Then we get in the shower.  We wash our hair in our $20 a bottle shampoo so it will be bright, shiny, and healthy.  Then we lather up in our Axe body washcause who wants to smell like regular soap?  Then we shave so we’ll look fresh and clean.  Then we get out and start the hair working.  You add the thickening compound, the mousse, blow dry it with your salon-quality blow dryer and set the look with hairspray that your eyes bugged out at when you saw the price.  Then you have to find something to wear in your closet full of “nothing to wear.”  You really just want to put on a tee shirt and sweatpants, but there’s some voice that tells you that Ralph Lauren looks just a little bit better than that.  So you give in, remembering the old saying, “If it’s uncomfortable, it must look really good.”  After you’re “dressed to kill,” you head down the stairs to the kitchen in search of anything good to eat.  You really want bacon, eggs, and biscuits.  But of course, who has time and just imagine how many more pounds that would add to amount you already need to lose.  So you settle for a muffin, knowing you’re going to be hungry by 9 o’clock.  And then it’s off to school, in your car.  You like your car, it’s not an old clunker like a lot of kids have to drive, but it could be much better.  And you arrive to school and park by the kid who has the nicest car in the school, the one that turns the heads of even the teachers and administrators.  It’s just not fair, is it? 

So what was the earlier paragraph about?  Body image.  The things we revolve our entire lives around.  And for what?  Recognition?  Legacy?  Or is it because that’s what we’re taught to do?  People are taught from a very young age to look their best and have the best of everything.  Who teaches us this?  Parents, family, TV, media, friends, school?  Or all of the above?  If you guessed the last option, you are correct!  Without even meaning to, we try to make ourselves better than we actually are because “It’s what you’re supposed to do.”  Most people strive for weight loss, beauty, and a killer social life.  Few ever achieve all of those things, and even the ones who do keep trying to better themselves.  This is all so we can look and be just like those models.  You know, the Abercrombie ones, the ones in Vogue, the MOST perfect ones.  All the media teaches us is that we need to look just like the people they advertise.  And we fall for it every time. 

I found a website that really explains body image and self esteem in detail:  http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/problems/body_image.html.

It correlates with what I said, but I didn’t really pull any information from it.  If more people realized just how deeply these things affected us, I think some people might change their habits.  After writing this (definitely not before) I see just how much these materialistic ideals consume me.  But what can you do?  Theirs always one huge obstacle in the way from overcoming these issues:  high school (a.k.a. the Mecca for self esteem issues).

Pencil Face

Wow!  There’s not much else to say about the SCAD video “Pencil Face.”  It was weird, funny, and creepy all at the same time! lol  If you look REALLY closely and think REALLY hard, you can find an actual message/lesson in the movie!  To me, that message is “Don’t let your wanton desires consume you.”  When the girl had the opportunity to draw whatever she wanted, she drew food and gorged herself on a cake.  She wanted to play so she drew a kite.  Then, she wanted a huge lollipop.  Instead of as lollipop, she received what I can only describe as a portal to hell.  Little bit of a let down from a lollipop….

Then, the black hole sucked her in and I can only guess it devoured her.  It was way creepy.  Of course, as I said earlier, the mood of the whole clip was creepy.  A deserted town, a pencil with a face, a pencil that makes portals to the underworld.  But the major “Creepy clue” was the young, pale girl with long, black hair in scraggly dress–the stereotypical horror story victim. 

I have no clue what I would do if I had a pencil like that.  I probably wouldn’t even use it for fear of the first thing it drew would suck my body away!  I mean, if I KNEW it wouldn’t try to kill me, I would probably draw money.  Lots and lots of money!  I’m talking trillions!  Like bail-out worthy amounts! lol  If you have money, you can get any other material thing you want–without worrying that instead of a car you were going to get eaten alive! lol 

A bit misleading…

I only got 6 of them right on the ethnicity sorter.  I felt confused by a lot of them…. half of them looked white to me!  It was a lot harder than I thought it would be in the beginning.  There were a couple that I just really had no clue on and guessed!  I tried to picture people of that certain ethnicity that I know and compare the pictures to them and the way they looked.  That’s not the best way to go about it!  I guess that just goes to show that people can be different, even if they look the same in my eyes.  I mean, everyone is different, but looking a certain way sometimes gives misconceptions about people prematurely.  I know I’m guilty of this, but this exercise shows that people aren’t always on the inside what they appear to be on the outside.

It’s been awhile…

Well, I feel like such a slacker. This is my first post in weeks! I like the blog idea, but I stay so busy I seldom have time to participate. Also, I am a slacker in another way… my summer reading.
I know, I know, we’ve had it for months, it should have been completed weeks ago. I’ve never procrastinated like this before and I’m worrying I might be in trouble! I’ve only finished Fahrenheit and Huck Finn. There’s no excuse for it, but I have been very busy with one crisis right after another this summer. From family friends in abusive marriages, to moving, to working to try and make a dollar, I’ve been swamped!
But I’m really buckling down now, honest! I know I’ll pull, through, cause there’s no way I’m going to miss Honors English 11 with the legend, Mrs. Roper
)

Summer Reading

I am actually excited about summer reading this year.   Okay, not really excited, but not absolutely dreading it like in 9th or 10th grade.   The past 2 years, the questions have seemed to go one FOREVER!!!   But this year, it looks like it won’t be nearly as gruesome. 

I will start with whatever book arrives first from Amazon; that’s how I choose my beginning novel! lol  I don’t really have any special strategies for reading.  I just try to get all done as quickly as possible so I can still actually do stuff during the summer.   I found out this afternoon that our new screened in porch is the best place ever for reading!  It overlooks our creek with its rushing water noises and is just a comfortable and serene place to read.  I like nothing more than to sit out in a big old rocking chair after supper on a cool evening and just waste away the hours pondering life.  But reading is also a good thing to do out there, especially now that it’s screened in:  no kitties, puppies, and mosquitoes the size of Coke cans to get in there to me!!  Has anybody else seen these things this year?????  They’re freaky looking….

And so it’s Friday night

Well, this is the last Friday night of our sophomore year!  Woohoo! And I spent it making a dent in my DVR list….  But, I got caught up on Grey’s, the Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters, so I’m happy about that.  I wish Izzy wasn’t being killed off though  

Anyways, yearbooks today were awesome!  It looks great!  I can’t wait to get more signatures!  This is one of my favorite days of the year because everyone, EVERYONE, comes together and forgets problems and disagreements and then writes something profound or something hilarious or some inside joke that no one else will understand (Gloria-a-a-a-a). 

Well, it’s past my bed time (7:00).  So I’m turning in for the night.  We’ll talk again soon

Bored in AP Euro…the story of my life.

I’m sitting here in AP European History, bored, as usual.  So I thought I might do some blogging!  lol I hope Mr. Cheatham is okay with this!  I’ m excited about the whole blog thing.  I think it will be fun.  Well, I’m going to go see if I can find some friends )