Well another semester's gone. Another begins tomorrow. June seems years away, but we'll get there eventually, and then I'm three-quarters of the way done. Oh, geez.
Anyway, this blog's been great. Somewhat academic, makes me seem a little smart. But I think I'm going to delete it. I have another blogspot that I actually wrote on until the start of the semester, and I'm going to try my best to continue writing there. So I'd love for Mrs. Cardona to link my blog, but if she really wants to creep, it'll have to be here. Just as a caution, everything on that blog is my completely random, unedited thoughts. Also, I think I've grown a fair amount as a blogger since I started writing there, so no judgement on those posts. Please.
Thanks to anyone who ever bothered to read this blog. If you actually found my assignments interesting, maybe you should check out my other blog too so you can see more of me writing freely.
Well it's a gorgeous day and I think I'm going to do some cleaning, listen to some music, and drink some tea. Typical, I know. Goodbye probably for good :)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
AP Comp: An Index
Attitude
Cardona
Max
BLA (pronounced "blah" for multiple reasons)
boring books
"Oh my GOD, Postman, shut up already, our televisions aren't going to like come alive and take over."
Blog
tool for: class
procrastinating
making you feel internet-cool
Bullshit
a lot of my writing
probably what Bitzer actually wrote
Cry
finding out scores
at 3 a.m. with a paper due and without ideas.
Diction
and tone: probably make up 90% of the questions I got wrong
Energy
subject of that one assignment I wrote, I think...
, lack of.
Fail
everything
Glossary
"WHAT? There was a glossary on her website the whole time? You've got to be kidding me."
How
am I going to survive this class?
is Mrs. Cardona so sassy?
can Max and Abram be so annoying?
Interesting
euphemism for nice
what people were kind enough to write on my paper instead of the alternative
Joke
My social life while in this class
"Free time"
How's that for a start?
Monday, January 16, 2012
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Sorry for the boring title, but I just figured the title should match the content of the post.
My BLA group read "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman and hated every second of it. But I'll get back to that.
Postman's excruciatingly clear argument is that society has become too centered around the television and all public discourse now has a purpose that is, as least to some effect, to entertain. I suppose this book matters because it points out some of the flaws that come with all of the advances in technology. It warns us of the negative effects this "entertainment takeover" has. The actual writing was boring. Just dull and generally uninteresting. I fell asleep three times in the span of two pages while doing one week's reading. It was somewhat academic because the writer talked about the "research" he'd done (by watching countless hours of specific types of television programs), and he's pretty snarky, but definitely casual. He has an I'm-better-than-you kind of tone.
My recommendation would definitely be not to read it. If you really think you'd like to hear his message, you could probably go find a summary online that would tell you everything about this book in a page better than Postman could do in his whole book. Unless you're an old-timer who has an unfulfilled hatred towards today's society, misses "the good old days", and likes to shout "YOU ROTTEN KIDS" to anyone under 30, chances are you won't like this book. Sorry.
My BLA group read "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman and hated every second of it. But I'll get back to that.
Postman's excruciatingly clear argument is that society has become too centered around the television and all public discourse now has a purpose that is, as least to some effect, to entertain. I suppose this book matters because it points out some of the flaws that come with all of the advances in technology. It warns us of the negative effects this "entertainment takeover" has. The actual writing was boring. Just dull and generally uninteresting. I fell asleep three times in the span of two pages while doing one week's reading. It was somewhat academic because the writer talked about the "research" he'd done (by watching countless hours of specific types of television programs), and he's pretty snarky, but definitely casual. He has an I'm-better-than-you kind of tone.
My recommendation would definitely be not to read it. If you really think you'd like to hear his message, you could probably go find a summary online that would tell you everything about this book in a page better than Postman could do in his whole book. Unless you're an old-timer who has an unfulfilled hatred towards today's society, misses "the good old days", and likes to shout "YOU ROTTEN KIDS" to anyone under 30, chances are you won't like this book. Sorry.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Advice from a 16 year-old
Dear my future self,
I'm not going to specify the age you're going to read this at, because does it really matter? I don't know what's coming when anyways so I might as well write this generally.
I sure hope that at whatever point you're reading this, you've figured out what you want to do with you life. If you're still babysitting to make money, quite frankly you need to leave the computer right now, get off your butt and do something about that. If you've advanced past that, congratulations. I really didn't know if that would ever happen so...bravo. Maybe you've chosen to do something with environmental engineering like you told everyone you were thinking about, when you really had no idea. Maybe you became a journalist like you thought Freshman year. LOLJK, we both know that didn't happen. Eh, as long as you're not still living with your parents, which you definitely are not.
I guess there's really not a whole lot of suggestions I can make to you right now, being 16 and generally apathetic, confused, and quite exausted, but if you haven't already, you need to do everything on the following list absolutely as quickly as you possibly can.
-Get your ears pierced
- Leave the country (that one time you were in Canada for about 5 minutes really doesn't count)
- Go to more concerts (This isn't a suggestion, this is concrete command. You remember how much fun you had at the Ellie Goulding concert.)
- Meet Darren Criss somehow
- Get your left, right, and center splits completely flat
- Give bangs a try
- Click here and do one of those things
Don't try to be hipster. It looks like a lot of work. And please, please, PLEASE, learn to cook more that something from a box. It's disgusting how little you can make. I mean yay for defying gender stereotypes and feminism and all that, but really. Eat some decent food. How about discovering a new source of renewable energy. It'd be nice if you did that.
I don't know what else to say. You're going to be able to give me more advice than I can give you so, come and visit some time. Time travel has been invented by now, right? If not, add "Kidnap Dr. Who" to that list up there.
Sincerely, 16 year-old you
I'm not going to specify the age you're going to read this at, because does it really matter? I don't know what's coming when anyways so I might as well write this generally.
I sure hope that at whatever point you're reading this, you've figured out what you want to do with you life. If you're still babysitting to make money, quite frankly you need to leave the computer right now, get off your butt and do something about that. If you've advanced past that, congratulations. I really didn't know if that would ever happen so...bravo. Maybe you've chosen to do something with environmental engineering like you told everyone you were thinking about, when you really had no idea. Maybe you became a journalist like you thought Freshman year. LOLJK, we both know that didn't happen. Eh, as long as you're not still living with your parents, which you definitely are not.
I guess there's really not a whole lot of suggestions I can make to you right now, being 16 and generally apathetic, confused, and quite exausted, but if you haven't already, you need to do everything on the following list absolutely as quickly as you possibly can.
-Get your ears pierced
- Leave the country (that one time you were in Canada for about 5 minutes really doesn't count)
- Go to more concerts (This isn't a suggestion, this is concrete command. You remember how much fun you had at the Ellie Goulding concert.)
- Meet Darren Criss somehow
- Get your left, right, and center splits completely flat
- Give bangs a try
- Click here and do one of those things
Don't try to be hipster. It looks like a lot of work. And please, please, PLEASE, learn to cook more that something from a box. It's disgusting how little you can make. I mean yay for defying gender stereotypes and feminism and all that, but really. Eat some decent food. How about discovering a new source of renewable energy. It'd be nice if you did that.
I don't know what else to say. You're going to be able to give me more advice than I can give you so, come and visit some time. Time travel has been invented by now, right? If not, add "Kidnap Dr. Who" to that list up there.
Sincerely, 16 year-old you
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Holy Process Analysis
And here's the analysis for my Energy Visual Essay. Whoooo.
1. Why did I choose these pictures?
First off, the argument I'm trying to make (my claim) is that the world needs to stop using dirty, polluting energy sources, and start researching and using renewable energy sources such as solar power, hydropower, geothermal energy, wind power, and biomass energy. Some warrants related to my claim are that people would like to live in a world that they can breathe freely without a filter or more generally that people recognize that pollution is essentially "bad" and that people understand why. Based on my picture of the oil pollution with the dead fish, I'm assuming that people don't want animals such as the fish to die. These sound like obvious things, and really they should be. I'm trying to make it very clear that using these renewable energy sources is an obvious choice. The audience I'm directing this towards is mostly people who can do something about this issue, such as politicians and even voters more generally. I'm kind of directing it at scientists and people who can research renewable energy sources, but only as a way to encourage efforts, not to inform, as they would already know much more on the topic than the video allows. It is also directed at our class, not only because they will really be the audience, but also because the video could spark interest on the topic. If some of the pictures or the overall message is interesting to them, they can tell other people about it and make the issue more known. They could also become interested enough in the topic that they choose a related profession which could help immensely in the long run. My purpose for my work of art is mostly, like I said, to raise some awareness or instill a little motivation. Since the video has no facts or places to go for more information or specific actions one can take, it is meant only to spark some interest on the topic from the viewer.
2. I chose the first image mostly for it's color scheme. The way all of the colors were so mucky, and that the top had just a bunch of the rising smoke collected into one black, dirty bunch made it stick out to me when I first saw it and it really lacks any sort of happy or optimistic colors. The smog that is being emitted is an example of the pollution that is caused by burning coal, one of the four main types of non-renewable energy. It illustrated how dirty the process is, and the dark colors really create a contrast to the later pictures that illustrate renewable energy sources. The second image also has very grungy, gross colors, but the thing that first draws your attention is the difference between the size of the cooling towers and the houses. It represents how non-renewable energy sources are dominating all of the other energy sources. The smoke billowing out of the top also illustrates the pollution factor really obviously. In the third picture, there is about a third of a fish exposed at the surface of some water, however it is obvious by the rainbow pattern floating in this liquid that whatever is was has been contaminated by a lot of oil. The fact that the fish is floating on the top allows us to infer that it is dead, and the oil found around it implies that the pollution was a factor. The grayish/blackish shade of the liquid (which we can assume is water, because that's what fish usually live in) gives off the same gross, grungy feeling that the first too images did, which keeps the message flowing. The focus of the fourth picture is now so much the dark colors (though there are some in the background that contrast to the foreground), but rather the bright colors of the flame. This picture shows a downside of the fourth non-renewable resource: natural gas. It illustrates the dangers that this resource present and obviously why continuing constant use of this would not be a good idea, because fire is, obviously, bad. The fifth image isn't a photograph unlike the first four, but rather an illustration of the dangers of nuclear energy. The cooling towers closer to the background have smoke billowing from them, like in the second picture, but they now display the radiation symbol, which signals potential danger. This symbol is also found on the barrels in the foreground, one of which is laying on it's side, spilling it's contents. The leakage from the barrels has formed into the shape of a skull. If the viewer was unaware of the dangers that the radiation symbol warned of, the skull makes it obvious what could happen with this dangerous resource. The sixth image is a cartoon that depicts the earth surrounded by the same smog displayed in the first two images. The earth is coughing or choking of the grey smoke, as well, which is meant to show that the world is becoming "sick" or being destroyed by the non-renewable energy sources. The contrast between the pure, white background and the evilness of the grey illustrates again how undesirable these resources are. The seventh slide contains text saying "The change we nee is Green" which could potentially have been used for a candidates campaign, but says exactly what the video is trying to say. Being "green" has come to mean being environmentally-conscious, and by utilising renewable energy instead of polluting non-renewable energy, we become greener and demonstrate our care for the planet we live on. The eighth image is of one of the five renewable energy sources: wind power. The brilliant green of the grass creates a feeling of stability and life. The light blue of the sky behind the spotless windmills creates a feeling of peace and nature. Both of these colors (green and blue) are found on your stereotypical globe, so they illustrate how this energy source with help the word. The ninth image shows very clean-looking wood chips. These are actually the second renewable source of energy: biomass. The focus is on the wood chips being held in the persons had (which happens to have a green sleeve on it- very earthy). The wood chips have bits of green and brown with them, which are also very earthy and contribute to the "help-the-earth" message that this picture sends. The tenth image shows us a dam, which represents the third renewable energy source: hydropower. The varying shades of blue in this picture gives the viewer a sense of calm and tranquility, which are both very good feelings. They make the viewer agree with this part of the video, which is the obvious intention. The eleventh image is possibly my favorite in the whole video. It is a picture of a solar panel (which obviously represents solar energy) and even has a brilliant reflection of the sun coming from one of the panels. The white burst of sun allows the image to have a good, clean feeling in the viewer's mind. The rest of the image contains bright blues, which emits more feelings of peace and goodness. More positive connotations which convinces the viewer even more to want to agree with this part of the video. The final image shows all five of the main renewable energy sources, with their names written below them. They are all depicted in a fairly neat way, which continues the feeling of clean that these energy sources have compared to the non-renewable energy sources.
The images were put in this order for a very specific reason. The first six images showed the non-renewable energy sources and the downsides and risks of them. The seventh image (green change) presented a way to change our ways from these polluting resources. The eighth-eleventh images showed four of the five renewable energy sources that we can use to be cleaner and more efficient that the non-renewable resources (The only renewable resource that was not shown was geothermal energy, which is hard to find a good picture of, especially because the heat it gives off can look a lot like smoke, even though it definitely is not.). The final image is a way to wrap up the positives that this video had. It had an image of all of the renewable resources, which (since it's the last image) will hopefully stay in people's heads the longest, so they remember the key points.
3. The music I chose doesn't necessarily connect with a certain audience, which is why I chose it. It can really speak to everyone. The mood of the song is kind of mellow, so it remains a part of the background, so that the focus can remain on the images. It has a sad, yet hopeful feel, which fits because my aim is that the viewer will feel more or less sad about the damage that the non-renewable resources have caused, but hopeful because of all the opportunities we have to change our ways with the five renewable resources. There are no lyrics to the song, which again allows the focus to be on the images and the message they send. The song starts out with a simple progression that repeats four times, then has a brief almost pause where one note is held before changing to a much more forte dynamic, which is right before the "green change" slide to right at one of the most poignant moments in the song, the message really starts to take shape. There is very light drum set, and quiet guitar I think, but the focus is clearly on the strings, which gives the piece a more sophisticated feel. The only thing I would change if I had chosen a different selection would have been to choose one that had two very distinctly different moods; one more depressing to play at the beginning with the more sad and dark images and one to play with the more hopeful and bright images. This would have created more of a contrast, but I couldn't figure out how to manipulate Animoto to change the timing of the song, so this song worked really well.
SOURCES:
1. Why did I choose these pictures?
First off, the argument I'm trying to make (my claim) is that the world needs to stop using dirty, polluting energy sources, and start researching and using renewable energy sources such as solar power, hydropower, geothermal energy, wind power, and biomass energy. Some warrants related to my claim are that people would like to live in a world that they can breathe freely without a filter or more generally that people recognize that pollution is essentially "bad" and that people understand why. Based on my picture of the oil pollution with the dead fish, I'm assuming that people don't want animals such as the fish to die. These sound like obvious things, and really they should be. I'm trying to make it very clear that using these renewable energy sources is an obvious choice. The audience I'm directing this towards is mostly people who can do something about this issue, such as politicians and even voters more generally. I'm kind of directing it at scientists and people who can research renewable energy sources, but only as a way to encourage efforts, not to inform, as they would already know much more on the topic than the video allows. It is also directed at our class, not only because they will really be the audience, but also because the video could spark interest on the topic. If some of the pictures or the overall message is interesting to them, they can tell other people about it and make the issue more known. They could also become interested enough in the topic that they choose a related profession which could help immensely in the long run. My purpose for my work of art is mostly, like I said, to raise some awareness or instill a little motivation. Since the video has no facts or places to go for more information or specific actions one can take, it is meant only to spark some interest on the topic from the viewer.
2. I chose the first image mostly for it's color scheme. The way all of the colors were so mucky, and that the top had just a bunch of the rising smoke collected into one black, dirty bunch made it stick out to me when I first saw it and it really lacks any sort of happy or optimistic colors. The smog that is being emitted is an example of the pollution that is caused by burning coal, one of the four main types of non-renewable energy. It illustrated how dirty the process is, and the dark colors really create a contrast to the later pictures that illustrate renewable energy sources. The second image also has very grungy, gross colors, but the thing that first draws your attention is the difference between the size of the cooling towers and the houses. It represents how non-renewable energy sources are dominating all of the other energy sources. The smoke billowing out of the top also illustrates the pollution factor really obviously. In the third picture, there is about a third of a fish exposed at the surface of some water, however it is obvious by the rainbow pattern floating in this liquid that whatever is was has been contaminated by a lot of oil. The fact that the fish is floating on the top allows us to infer that it is dead, and the oil found around it implies that the pollution was a factor. The grayish/blackish shade of the liquid (which we can assume is water, because that's what fish usually live in) gives off the same gross, grungy feeling that the first too images did, which keeps the message flowing. The focus of the fourth picture is now so much the dark colors (though there are some in the background that contrast to the foreground), but rather the bright colors of the flame. This picture shows a downside of the fourth non-renewable resource: natural gas. It illustrates the dangers that this resource present and obviously why continuing constant use of this would not be a good idea, because fire is, obviously, bad. The fifth image isn't a photograph unlike the first four, but rather an illustration of the dangers of nuclear energy. The cooling towers closer to the background have smoke billowing from them, like in the second picture, but they now display the radiation symbol, which signals potential danger. This symbol is also found on the barrels in the foreground, one of which is laying on it's side, spilling it's contents. The leakage from the barrels has formed into the shape of a skull. If the viewer was unaware of the dangers that the radiation symbol warned of, the skull makes it obvious what could happen with this dangerous resource. The sixth image is a cartoon that depicts the earth surrounded by the same smog displayed in the first two images. The earth is coughing or choking of the grey smoke, as well, which is meant to show that the world is becoming "sick" or being destroyed by the non-renewable energy sources. The contrast between the pure, white background and the evilness of the grey illustrates again how undesirable these resources are. The seventh slide contains text saying "The change we nee is Green" which could potentially have been used for a candidates campaign, but says exactly what the video is trying to say. Being "green" has come to mean being environmentally-conscious, and by utilising renewable energy instead of polluting non-renewable energy, we become greener and demonstrate our care for the planet we live on. The eighth image is of one of the five renewable energy sources: wind power. The brilliant green of the grass creates a feeling of stability and life. The light blue of the sky behind the spotless windmills creates a feeling of peace and nature. Both of these colors (green and blue) are found on your stereotypical globe, so they illustrate how this energy source with help the word. The ninth image shows very clean-looking wood chips. These are actually the second renewable source of energy: biomass. The focus is on the wood chips being held in the persons had (which happens to have a green sleeve on it- very earthy). The wood chips have bits of green and brown with them, which are also very earthy and contribute to the "help-the-earth" message that this picture sends. The tenth image shows us a dam, which represents the third renewable energy source: hydropower. The varying shades of blue in this picture gives the viewer a sense of calm and tranquility, which are both very good feelings. They make the viewer agree with this part of the video, which is the obvious intention. The eleventh image is possibly my favorite in the whole video. It is a picture of a solar panel (which obviously represents solar energy) and even has a brilliant reflection of the sun coming from one of the panels. The white burst of sun allows the image to have a good, clean feeling in the viewer's mind. The rest of the image contains bright blues, which emits more feelings of peace and goodness. More positive connotations which convinces the viewer even more to want to agree with this part of the video. The final image shows all five of the main renewable energy sources, with their names written below them. They are all depicted in a fairly neat way, which continues the feeling of clean that these energy sources have compared to the non-renewable energy sources.
The images were put in this order for a very specific reason. The first six images showed the non-renewable energy sources and the downsides and risks of them. The seventh image (green change) presented a way to change our ways from these polluting resources. The eighth-eleventh images showed four of the five renewable energy sources that we can use to be cleaner and more efficient that the non-renewable resources (The only renewable resource that was not shown was geothermal energy, which is hard to find a good picture of, especially because the heat it gives off can look a lot like smoke, even though it definitely is not.). The final image is a way to wrap up the positives that this video had. It had an image of all of the renewable resources, which (since it's the last image) will hopefully stay in people's heads the longest, so they remember the key points.
3. The music I chose doesn't necessarily connect with a certain audience, which is why I chose it. It can really speak to everyone. The mood of the song is kind of mellow, so it remains a part of the background, so that the focus can remain on the images. It has a sad, yet hopeful feel, which fits because my aim is that the viewer will feel more or less sad about the damage that the non-renewable resources have caused, but hopeful because of all the opportunities we have to change our ways with the five renewable resources. There are no lyrics to the song, which again allows the focus to be on the images and the message they send. The song starts out with a simple progression that repeats four times, then has a brief almost pause where one note is held before changing to a much more forte dynamic, which is right before the "green change" slide to right at one of the most poignant moments in the song, the message really starts to take shape. There is very light drum set, and quiet guitar I think, but the focus is clearly on the strings, which gives the piece a more sophisticated feel. The only thing I would change if I had chosen a different selection would have been to choose one that had two very distinctly different moods; one more depressing to play at the beginning with the more sad and dark images and one to play with the more hopeful and bright images. This would have created more of a contrast, but I couldn't figure out how to manipulate Animoto to change the timing of the song, so this song worked really well.
SOURCES:
http://www.environment-green.com/Global_Pollution.html
Monday, January 2, 2012
Man, You Guys Are Good.
Dear Glee producers,
Let me just start by saying I love your show. Really I do. It's just that sometimes I question your view of reality.
I find it TOTALLY normal that the New Directions students really only have two classes: Spanish and whatever Ms. Corcoran teaches (which really isn't that important, of course). It must have been mere fate that the entire show choir ended up in the same classes during the same hours, too. I also find it astonishing that the students have show choir rehearsal more than actual classes, and not only that but multiple times every day. It's so weird that my school AND EVERY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE WORLD doesn't have quite the same priorities.
I'm also really impressed with your student orchestra that happens to be in the choir room every single time the New Directions are there. They must be phenomenal musicians to be able to just play every song the students tell them to play the instant they are instructed to do so without any music. I wish I magically knew how to play every song in the universe on my instrument. It also makes so much sense that the glee club is all about togetherness and equality, yet they never so much as acknowledge the musicians. I must just be misunderstanding the vague lessons you're teaching.
The miracles that go unmentioned with the glee club have to be my favorite part of the show. The fact that the New Directions had to have a bake sale to raise money simply for transportation to a singing competition, but can somehow use really advanced technology just for rehearsals (such as rain on the stage and real fire effects) is so great. I guess I just don't understand why the kids aren't more grateful for the technology. Must be my silly, uncomprehending brain again.
So if you were going for even a semi-realistic high school, SPOT-ON. Really, I mean this stuff probably happens to high school kids all of...never.
Sincerely, Critical Viewer.
Just saying, the entire time I was writing this, my face was twisted into this sarcastic, overly-bitchy look. It might be stuck like this for a while.
Let me just start by saying I love your show. Really I do. It's just that sometimes I question your view of reality.
I find it TOTALLY normal that the New Directions students really only have two classes: Spanish and whatever Ms. Corcoran teaches (which really isn't that important, of course). It must have been mere fate that the entire show choir ended up in the same classes during the same hours, too. I also find it astonishing that the students have show choir rehearsal more than actual classes, and not only that but multiple times every day. It's so weird that my school AND EVERY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE WORLD doesn't have quite the same priorities.
I'm also really impressed with your student orchestra that happens to be in the choir room every single time the New Directions are there. They must be phenomenal musicians to be able to just play every song the students tell them to play the instant they are instructed to do so without any music. I wish I magically knew how to play every song in the universe on my instrument. It also makes so much sense that the glee club is all about togetherness and equality, yet they never so much as acknowledge the musicians. I must just be misunderstanding the vague lessons you're teaching.
The miracles that go unmentioned with the glee club have to be my favorite part of the show. The fact that the New Directions had to have a bake sale to raise money simply for transportation to a singing competition, but can somehow use really advanced technology just for rehearsals (such as rain on the stage and real fire effects) is so great. I guess I just don't understand why the kids aren't more grateful for the technology. Must be my silly, uncomprehending brain again.
So if you were going for even a semi-realistic high school, SPOT-ON. Really, I mean this stuff probably happens to high school kids all of...never.
Sincerely, Critical Viewer.
Just saying, the entire time I was writing this, my face was twisted into this sarcastic, overly-bitchy look. It might be stuck like this for a while.
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