I am White.

In class we had to remember a time when were made aware of either our gender or race.

I remembered back to when I was younger and my family went with family friends to go get pumpkins for Halloween. The family is bi-racial, the mom is white and the dad is from an island near Jamaca, and he's black. The dad, Varo, had a nephew who came to stay with the family while he went to school in Madison. And the nephew came with us to the pumpkin farm.

When we got to the pumpkin farm, there were lots of families and little kids my age,which was around ten years old. The nephew, who had come from a very black populated island, made a joke that he'd never seen so many white people before. It was funny, but I never even took notice. And that was the first and only memorable time that I've had my race made aware to me by another person.

Letters Home

In class we had an assignment to find soldier's letters from three different wars. Most the letters I found were similar, saying that they loved whoever they were writing and that they wish they had more time to write. When we were given the assignment I hadn't even thought of those close to me who were receiving letters.

Two of my close friends had either a boyfriend or an ex-boyfriend who'd decided to join the marines. And for the past few months they've only been able to communicate by writing eachother. It suprised me how just writing could bring people closer, to me it seems kind of romantic and if you read the letters they were just that.

Even years later the message people want to give when they're away from their loved ones, in war or training, is that they're safe, they always want more time to write, and most of all they appreciate and love the person they're writing.

Drops of Jupiter

For my cool writing presentation I chose the song "Drops of Jupiter" by Train.

“Drops of Jupiter” is a single off of the band Train’s second album which is titled Drops of Jupiter after the single. It was released in 2001, and went on to win the Grammy for Best Rock Song. It’s hard to categorize it into a narrow genre, because the band brings in elements of country, rock and alternative music.

My first impression of this song is that it’s about a woman who left behind either a friend or a boyfriend that she’d been close with. And the reason she’d left was because she was looking for something better in either her relationship or her life all together. And the man is asking sarcastically “Did Venus blow your mind, was it everything you wanted to find”. And it also hints that it wasn’t all that great with the lines “Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded, And that heaven is overrated.”

Going along with my first impression, but it could also be taken as a separate interpretation. I think that at the end it turns optimistic and into more of a love song than having a bitter tone. Because when she came back to him, back to the “atmosphere”, near the end he says “Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you’re wrong”. And I think that line holds a lot of significance of being there for the girl, even if he didn’t agree with her decision.

I personally make a connection to the song because it’s talking about this girl who wants to explore and see what else is out there. And continually the images of stars are used to represent the unattainable. But unlike the girl I hope to find that there is more out there and even though my loved ones think I’m dreaming beyond what is practical, I hope they’re wrong. So for the most part I relate to the woman in this song.

Heres the link to the song on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xXQFnIEf_Q

Being Censored

In our free write journal the other day we were asked whether or not we've ever been denied ideas/materials/points of view because of censorship. And I realized that this has happened to me without the word censorship jumping out at me.

When I was younger I always would want to watch movies over at friends’ houses or with my older brother that were rated R. And for a long time my parents denied me permission. I really wasn't concerned that my parents would ever find out so I would always go ahead and watch the movie anyways. Looking back on it now it was probably with good reason that my parents didn't want me to watch these movies, because I'd usually end up scared out of my mind and up all night afraid to go to bed.

Another time I'm being censored from things is on almost a daily basis, the school computers have a lot of sites blocked. And while it's mostly the sites that include games and things that'll keep you off task in the computer lab, there are some that I need for whatever class I'm in. And that’s when the censorship can get the most frustrating.

My Metamorphosis Reaction

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was a hard book for me to get interested in and I had to force myself to read every page. I found it to be really strange and unrelatable. First of all because Gregor turned into bug and that was weird but the message about family that it sent to me wasn't at all positive. In the story it gave background on how Gregor worked hard to support his family so that they wouldn't have to work or worry about their financial troubles. But when Gregor turned into a bug and wasn't able to support his family, they mostly saw him as a burden. Because then the rest of the family had to get jobs and take care of Gregor. To me it didn't send a very supportive message, but I do realize that these weren't the most normal circumstances either. Overall I didn't really enjoy The Metamorphosis.

This I Believe...

This I believe…

“Dream as if you’ll live forever,
live as if you’ll die today”

-James Dean

Make plans and goals for what you want in life, but you don’t necessarily have to live by them because as you change so do your goals and dreams. And being spontaneous is a part of living life.

But having plans for what’s next in life and focusing on what you want can help you to move on to bigger and better things.

President Obama

Early last year I was swept up in the momentum of the 2008 presidential election, since I had a political science class and it became part of everyday to talk about the election and recent events. I even had the opportunity to watch him give a speech at the Kohl Center, where I was a mere twenty feet away from him. And thats when I became apart of Obama Mania. I paid close attention through the primaries, and the Democratic convention, where Barack Obama became the democratic nominee.

And just last week I watched as Barack Obama became the President elect of the United States of America. It was awesome to watch as history was made, and see the celebration throughout America, CNN even feature footage of people in Kenya celebrating. Because the change that Obama is promising is not only for America, but for other counties as well. The historic significance in this election is without a doubt monumental, we have the first African-American president who not only won the electoral vote but also the popular vote. In my opinion John McCain took the loss gracefully, giving recognition to the historic significance of this election and giving thanks to his supporters.

I waited with anticipation for Obama to make his way to Grant Park in Chicago, and it was well worth the wait. His acceptance speech was thoughful and moving. And I'm so glad he won the election, because I believe he will bring the change we need.