To Dance or Not to Dance...

I have this thing; this crazy obsessive thing for cliché carpe-diem quotes. Ironically, however, I normally find my self doing just the opposite. Just today I came by this quote: We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. And you know I sat there thinking, “wow how right he is, you know sometime you’ve just got to throw yourself out there.” Yet I know that next time I get the chance of making an ass out of myself, I won’t. I’ll be safe like I always am. Always. I’m majoring in business, not because I have any overwhelming passion to be the next Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, but rather for the fact that its safe, and acceptable. If I could, I’d be a fashion designer; but than my parents would disown me and I’d be like every other starving artist out there. So I don’t. I don’t commit. I’m more scared of commitment than most men I know. I hate the idea of being codependent or simply dependent on another person. Ironic, no? So what do I do? How hell does one person, decide at 20, what they’re doing and where they’re going? How do I choose what to sacrifice and what to hold on to for dear life? There are so many choices and it feels like there’s not enough time to everything that I could possibly want to. I don’t want to look back 30 year down the road and realize I haven’t lived at all, and I’ve remained that confused, unhappy 20 year old.

Free for All

Freeganism sounds like something straight out of a book. It seems unbelievable that people, living within minutes of USF, can actually survive off a throw away food. Personally, I think that the idea, while resourceful, has many flaws to it. First off, food gets thrown out for a reason and consuming that food could be a potential threat to one’s health. Yes Steve Smith of Sweetbay does admit to early expiration dates for the safety of consumers, but what happens when something really has gone bad? Many times people don’t even realize that something will make them sick because the visible signs of being spoilt are not visible. Also, a more effective way to fight consumer waste would be to encourage even more stores to donate their uneaten food. This task, though difficult due to restrictions put on donated food, is quite plausible. In fact, a young girl aged 14 pioneered the whole concept. Secondly, what would our society be if a good portion of our population scoured the dumpsters for food? We would be setting evolution backwards a little bit, no? Yes I understand that in today’s world we are spoilt and wasteful. Yes we are rapidly destroying our environment but there are better ways to manage all these thing rather than eating out of our dumpsters.

Relay for Rights

The Olympic torch symbolizes the sprit of the Olympic Games and the unity of the world. The Olympics were resurrected in the early 20th century to give the youth of the world direction and productive outlets for their energy. To some extent using the Olympic touch as a method of garnering attention to the human rights violations in Tibet embodies these goals. This shows that the people of the world are giving enough importance to what the feel is a wrong doing on the part of an Olympic host country. Protesters are bringing a lot of negative attention to something that is supposed to be unifying and representative of our common humanity, but by speaking out for people whose voices have been silenced; these protesters are bringing this unification to a whole new level. Protesters are doing something very brave and very good and utilizing their resources to the maximum capacity. Had these protestors chosen to protest at any other time they would have gotten some media attention but it would have been quickly forgotten. By doing it during the Olympic torch relay, they are ensuring that people around they world see why China’s actions in Tibet are wrong. Overall, the protestors are getting their message across: China is doing some very immoral and unforgivable things.

An Empty Room

Personally I think the author of Michael Chitwood in writing “The Room” was thinking about life in general. The empty room, which he is standing in, represents where he is in life right now. The room is empty because though he may wish to seek the council of others no one else can help him with what he has to do: choosing a life for himself. He talks about two doors that exit the room, which showcase the two paths upon which he is contemplating: living in a small town and getting married or a rigorous career. He goes on to say “We are leaving as we speak” meaning that even though he has not chosen a door, he a still moving because he is maturing and growing. Then when he is talking about the “dearly departed” he is referring to all of the experiences that led him up to this point. They are no present, but the remnants of their former presence lingers and plays a huge role in his decision. He ends the poem talking about “our bodies ghosted, the leavings remaining” referring to all the marks that have been physically left by him, referring to things which immortalize him in people’s memories, such as photographs, achievements, etc. On the whole though, the poem simply talks about how choosing where one is going is highly dependent on where one has been.

Beating the Bush

The more I think about it, the more the Bush presidency angers me. Throughout the last 6 plus years of the Bush regime we have seen a steep decline in the state of US affairs and our reputation abroad. We are trillions and trillions of dollars in debt; due to a war we have no reason to be fight. Even now President find no fault in proposing ridiculous budgets of 3 plus trillion dollars (which, thank god, was rejected). And yet he seems to forget that our economy is on the verge of collapse, our dollar is losing value everyday, and around the world we can hear the chants of hate for Americans. Our president has dug us into a very deep hole, and there seems to be no way out. Right now, because of our nonexistent foreign policy and complete disregard of UN mandates, OPEC is threatening to pull out of the dollar and do business in the Euro. I guess President Bush should have thought about the repercussions of pissing of the Venezuelans, and, well, almost the entire Arab “brotherhood.” More than half the world blames us for a good portion of global warming and the UN has yet to forget about President Bush’s blatant disregard for dialogue and the sovereignty of the UN. All in all, we are simply broke and hated worldwide. So what are we to do? For now, we can only pray our next president does not follow in the footsteps of his (or her) predecessor and learns not to let history repeat.

Designer Babies

“‘Designer’ Babies, with Made to Order Defects?” is an argument that mainly uses an appeal to emotion and ethics to convince the reader of its views. The articles talks about the parents with disabilities choosing to have children with disabilities and the different views surrounding this. Personally, a parent with a disability that purposefully chooses a embryo to have the same disability as them is being selfish. Children, as always, can be very cruel, and having to grow up with something like dwarfism makes life so much harder for these children. Yes, parents want their children to look like them or share traits with them but there is a difference in sharing the same eye color and sharing say deafness. Parents are supposed to want the best for their children, and purposefully bringing them into this world disabled is NOT the best decision. I know I personally want my children to have the best genes possible, no matter if they are taller, better looking, or smarter than me. It’s the process of evolution at its best. Moreover, doctors should not cater to parents with such demands. Doctors are supposed to be dedicated to better health and bringing made to order disabled children into this world completely goes against this. Finally these made to order babies with more than likely have a strong opinion about why parents choose to cripple them. These children, who will never be like the majority of their peer, may very well grow to resent the doctors and their parents for giving them such a fate. I know I would.

Unseen Observer

She looks sad. She’s sitting in the shade with the tussling her gorgeous red hair. She sits with her long legs curled under her, and with her piercing green eyes focus on something far, far away. She holds a book in her hands, as if she was in the middle of reading when something tore her attention away. Something interrupts her thoughts as she gives a small jump. Ah it’s her phone. She looks down at it and contemplates for a minute before she actually answers. Within the first few seconds of her conversation, her facial expressions quickly turn resigned to angry and irritated. A few minutes later, she angrily puts her book down, gets up, and begins pacing while continuing the conversation. The “argument” quickly goes downhill as she begins yelling vehemently into the phone. Quickly as the argument began she slams her phone shut and sits back down. Her head drops into her hands, and one can tell that she is crying. After a few minutes she looks up and hastily wipes away the tears as she hears someone approaching. She quickly picks up her book and begins “reading” it. After about fifteen minutes of attempted reading, she looks like she’s given up. She stands slowly, and picks her bag up from the floor. She digs though it for a minute before finding what she was looking for: lip gloss. After a quick application she throws it back in and also puts her book in the bag. She takes another minute to find her keys before she finally stalks out of view.

The Greys

One of my favorite characters in recent television has been Meredith Grey of Grey’s Anatomy. Meredith plays an intern/resident at Seattle’s Grace Hospital in Seattle. All of the surgeons, residents, interns, nurses, etc have their own problems but Meredith’s plays a profound impact on the course of the show in general. Meredith Grey a fantastic representation of a common thread in humanity because her biggest flaw and downfall is her fear of getting hurt. As the daughter of a world renowned surgeon who had no time or desire for a child and a runaway dad, Meredith is constantly plagued by the worry that nothing is constant. She prevents herself from getting too involved with men as well as work. Meredith represents that part of us that holds us back from going for what we want. In essence, she is a very extreme example of how most people live their lives: taking the easy way out with minimal risks involved.
I think that related to Meredith because I share her fear for intimate relationships. It takes a good deal for me to trust someone or even consider them a true friend. I also find that a good deal of my family is like this, my cousins especially. We always know what we want and yet most of us end up doing what our parents expect of us. And just like Meredith, at the end of the day they are never satisfied.

Stop and Stare

I met him on the most beautiful day. Outside it was storming, the kind of storm with rain pounding on the ground, light cracking through a midnight blue sky, wind howling like a pack of angry wolves. There I stood, in the middle of the ritzy shopping plaza my friends and I frequented, watching the rain hit the pavement, the water in the fountain, and the tower palms. I didn’t hear him walk up to me, in fact I didn’t notice him until he spoke. He asked me if he could buy me a coffee, surprising as I was drenched and probably looks like the living dead, and I agreed. We talked and talked for hours about anything and everything. I learned he went to Verot( our rival private school), he hoped to go to UPenn and become a doctor, he wrote poetry, and played soccer, lacrosse, and polo (the kind played on horses) and that crickets terrified him, his life goal, he biggest insecurities, and the list went on. As we parted, phone numbers in hand, I realized that I had found out more about him in 3 hours then half of my so called friends whom I known for half my life. In a matter of weeks he had become my best friend and in less than a years time I would find that he had become my brother. He was the one person I could count on to be there, to be completely honest with me, and to never let me settle for less than the best. He pushed me to apply to colleges I thought I would never get into, send my design portfolio to schools I thought wouldn’t give me a second glance, and try for a scholarship I thought to be a mere fantasy. When I look back at it now merely three years later, I realize he helped shaped the person I am. I was 17 and without a clue as to who I was or where I wanted to go. He helped me to forget everything that ever held me back from going after what I really wanted. He helped me to realize that “no matter how impossible something may seem, you might as well give it a shot, you never you what will happen.” Most of all though he helped me stop pretending, to stop trying to please everyone, and just be me.
The day he left for UPenn was the first time I cried in public. As he walked away, I felt as though he had taken a piece of me with him. Phone calls and email have helped shorten the distance, but nothing could beat having him here.

Mean Street Theater

In “Mean Street Theater: An Awful Image for Black America” John McWhorter argues against the so called “hip-hop” revolution. He claims that rather then uplifting young African Americans hip-hop tends to make them more violent and more subsumable to crime. I completely disagree with McWhorter’s assumptions and claims. First off, hip-hop is not the only music directly correlated with violent lyrics, music, and music videos. In fact one could argue that heavy rock and “emo” music are both more violent than hip-hop. Yes, hip-hop gave direction to the Young African American generation but it was not all necessarily bad. In “Hip-Hop Activisim” Opio Lumumba Sokoni points out organizations such as Russell Simmon’s Hip-Hop Action Network help engage kids in their society and aid in the on-going war against drugs. As Sokoni points out many of these rappers are good influences on our community. Daily we hear about the Brittany Spears, the Paris Hiltons or the Lindsey Lohans of the world and in comparison many of these hip-hop artists have done a much better job as role models. As for Sokoni’s argument, Sokoni does a good job refuting the claims that McWhorter makes in his argument however Sokoni’s argument is more geared toward drug use and drug law. Sakoni points out some very important things like why law enforcement has left the murders of Tupac, Biggie, and other unsolved and has instead focused on arresting non-violent criminals. Regardless, Sokoni does a good job presenting his facts and convincing the audience of his views.

American Idol

Although I have yet to watch an episode of American Idol I have heard some very mixed things about the show. However from the responses on “When did American Idol get emotionally violent it seems that it has rapidly become one of those shows clinging desperately to their viewers. I feel that using people’s misery, failure, and strangeness to create a link from American Idol to the American Dream is wrong, a misinterpretation of our country’s foundations, and simply cruel. The American Dreams, the very basis of country, is the simple evolution from the average man to something much more. Furthermore, American Idol, a very family oriented show, should not be televising programming that is demeaning towards anyone nor should they document the sad lives of people only to have their dreams crushed. This is NOT how the American Dream should be portrayed nor is it something we should encourage our children to watch. We have already deteriorated so much as a culture we don’t need to also derive pleasure or entertainment from these people’s suffering and misfortune.

Schadenfreude is the satisfaction from other people’s misery.

The Stupidest Drug Story of the Week.

In “The Stupidest Drug Story of the Week” the author is poking fun at both the “Drug Czar’s” press release and the New York Times story that mimics it. The author brings up some very good points such as the lack of evidence backing both stories. Furthermore, the author talks of how the press release simply reiterated well known facts. One such example was methamphetamine levels in ecstasy. Even worse was the omission of important facts such as levels of methamphetamine in seized drugs was 16 mg whereas the recommended medical dose for CHILDREN is 20-24mg. Facts such as these make a huge difference in public opinion. Moreover, as the author said, the “Drug Czar” was simply scaremongering” to make a mountain out of a anthill. The author uses the word because it seems as if the “Drug Czar” need something and anything to back his theory and thus threw a whole bunch or facts together. Regardless of this though, a well established and highly trusted newspaper source such as the New York Times should know better then to rip off a press release. Despite the fact that the press release came from the government, the NYT article needed more facts, more evidence, and quite simply more opinion. The author is right in naming this the stupidest drug story, especially when there are much more important things going on in the country. The fact of the matter is, the “drug Czar” may be well on his way to making a mistake. As for the New York Time, they really should consider hiring new writers.