Student Expo

I had to present one of my papers for the Student Expo to get an A in the class. I felt like my presentation went fairly well, and my presentation covered a lot of material on the topic. When I was done presenting the paper to Sweeney and the librarian, I thought it would be cool to walk around and check out the art at the expo. One of the most interesting pieces of art that I saw was the piece named, "Smokey Bear". It was a phone that was sitting in a cup. The phone had a picture of the art work in it. The artist of the work, Cannithy, had a very distinct description of what inspired him to make this said bear. He said the inspiration came from Smokey THE Bear. At this point, I was like okay he stole the idea from Smokey the Bear. However, they are nothing alike. Smokey Bear was about a pot smoking bear and then my interest was starting to peak. He said that Smokey Bear was a Marijuana activist and enthusiast. I was starting to feel like he just threw it together last minute, but once he gave me a plot and story behind the bear, I knew he actually put some effort forth. 

Contribution Essay

So, the in class essay that we had to type up today in class was about our contribution to the class and what we brought to the table this semester. I write about how I contributed to the class discussion topics. I would always give people enough time to answer, but if no one answered in time, that is when I would speak up. I felt like my contribution to my group was also good as well. I made Power Points with very vivid transitions and animations. I also used a very multicolored slide preset that would make the PowerPoint pop a little bit more. However, I did really like it when we talked as a whole group in that class. I was not a big fan of the small groups. I just wanted everyone to participate and have fun in that class. It is an easy class and I know that they are capable to do whatever they set their minds to.

CHILI COOK OFF 2014!!!

The chili cook off was amazing!! Regardless of my girlfriend wanting to exit the mosh pit during my favorite band, it was still fun. A Day To Remember was so good and blew my expectations of them out of the water! Panic! At The Disco was just as good, if not a little better. They put on a show for the chili cook off. They were quite the performers. On the other hand, Seether sucked and I hated them. You can't just stop in the middle of a song just because you are in the wrong tune. What d-bags!! Although I did not get to try the chili, it was still an experience in itself. I loved the fact that the bands were so generous and caring of the fans. The bands were so good, except for Seether. It was so much fun and I definitely cannot wait till next year!

In Class Essay

Next class, we have an in class essay to do. I have no idea what it could possibly be on, but all I know is that I'm not too excited to do this paper. We have not done many in class papers, but I am kinda wondering if it is just another writing process paper. I would love to have an essay in class that is just on whatever we want to write about. that would be nice and sufficient for this guy. If it was on that, I would write about how procrastination is not helpful to a student who needs time to do his/her work. I could write paragraphs on paragraphs of how procrastination is bad. I have been in that situation so many times. This whole week is going to be interesting.

Teaching the Class

Last class, my group had to lead the class and that was okay I guess. I was not up for leading the class on my paper topic, but I had no other choice. I presented my topic to the class and told them a tad bit about the effect music has had on popular culture. They agreed with me some what, but they also had some valid arguments. We struggled to stay on topic that class as well, because I was still heartbroken that the Undertaker lost at Wrestlemania :(  BUT I digress.... We actually made progress that class, especially with that video that I showed the class. It talked about the 90's and how it was one of the biggest impacts on pop culture. The 90's was a dark age for music. A lot of violence was portrayed in the artist's music back then. They talked about shooting, drugs, killing, and sex. The 'Grunge' era was probably the worst due to the fact that they talked about dying a lot and a ton of depressing lyrics. It pretty much made it seem like they had been bullied and suicide was the only way out of this world. But HIP HOP took off with the gang affiliated artists that were coming into the music scene. They talked about killing people and robbing people, and basically how life was growing up for them. All of this is what truly changed pop culture for good.

Third Essay

I would like to share with you the topic of my third paper. The main topic of my third paper is "Pop Culture", but the subtopic is the way that music has an affect on popular culture.

I really like this topic, because I love talking about music and how I can relate to the life situations of the artists and try to make you truly think about the purpose and images that they try to portray. In this case, I am writing on how music has the biggest impact popular culture. Without music, we simply would not have as much technology as we have now. They were trying to make it so that everyone could here the music world wide, and the only way to do that is to update the technology so they can spread the music to everyone. Also, so they could put on bigger and better concerts and put out albums. Music has developed so much that the fashion develops with it as well. The 70's brought new clothing and also new movements of uprisings and which eventually was later called, 'The Hippie Movement'. Everyone hopped on that bandwagon at least once in their lifetime back then. They wore clothes like the artists that they listened to as well. It consisted of raggedy clothes, tight shirts, boot cut jeans/parachute pants, and headbands. Then when the 80's came about, the Hippies started to die out and the disco era started to take over. Thus started the, what I like to call, the 'suit' phase of music. Everyone wore the ugliest suits in the 80's. Then the 90's came up and it was all about baggy clothing, and that was in affect for about 15 years. Now today, we wear a lot of clothing that has made it here from the UK. Its just us trying to stay up to date. We, as a whole, just need music, and if we did not have it, we would probably not be where we are today.

Spring Break!!!

For my spring break, I went to Massanutten, VA and it was a blast! I was able to go skiing for the second time ever in my life, and I was falling pretty hard. Regardless, we went skiing in 70 degree weather, but it was still fun!!! I loved skiing and would definitely do it again in a heartbeat. I just wish I could carve instead of just going straight downhill, but hey, at least I learned how to stop! We rented out a town house for a whole week while we were there, and it had the best view of the mountain. I could not have asked to spend it with better people though; they truly made the trip worth it.

We also played Taboo as well, and all I could think about was Sweeney's class when we play Taboo in there. I always get so competitive when it comes to games, but especially Taboo. I want to win!!!

To sum it all up, my vacation was great, and I had a blast with all my friends. I cannot wait to do it again!

Second Essay

Our second essay for class was on family, and I could really relate to this paper. I have had some problems with my relationship with my father. I am not going to really get into the details of the problems, but I will just say we do not get along that well, but we are working on it. My topic for this paper was on the relationship between a father and his son. It is proven that a father and son and/or a mother and daughter only get along but so much. However, when it comes to a daddy's girl and/or a momma's boy, they get along superbly. I saw that same sex relationships between parents and children do not tend to end so well when it comes to relationships between the two. They tend to fight more, tell each other less, and drive each other away. I do not fully understand why this tends to happen, but it does not happen to everyone; just the majority. I found the only way to bond with my father was through racing and sports in general. That was the best way for us to get along. I love him very much, but I feel like he does not understand where I come from. Everyone tells me that my dad speaks so highly of me, but when it is just me and him, I do not understand what I am doing wrong. I have not really been there for my family lately either, and I think all that is doing is adding fuel to the fire. Needless to say, DO NOT neglect your parents or family. They are what got you to where you are today and without them, you would be nothing.

First Essay

The first essay was on Crime and Punishment, and my subtopic was on drugs in public schools. I felt like it was a necessary topic to talk about considering everything that recently happened with Chesterfield County Public Schools. They now have drug dogs that roam the hallways everyday, and if you suspected of being high, you will be drug tested. First of all, the parents of these students should really pay attention to what they sign at the beginning of the year, because that is an invasion of privacy. The school systems themselves are getting out of hand in general, and it is like they are turning into concentration camps. Second of all, you should not have brought drugs to school in the first place. Deal with that crap outside of school! It's not worth getting written up over.

I was not sure if I should have done my paper on that topic, or if I should have done it on the topic of the death penalty in Texas. I found a lot of information on that as well, but I figured I could relate to this one so I went with it. However, it was a little difficult to extend out into 5 to 6 pages. I was struggling really bad with finding more info on this topic. Other than that, I love my paper on Crime and Punishment. It pretty much summed up how happy I am to not be in high school anymore.

Topic Choices

In class, we talked about what topics we would possibly want to do for our papers, and it was a terrible idea to let us take a majority vote to choose what we are going to write about. Some people in our class have a lot of mixed views and feelings, and we also have the people who could care less about picking topics, because they were going to have to type the papers regardless. I, on the other hand, am satisfied with our topic choices, but I also fell under the 'could care less' group of people. I thought of it as a way of learning new things about some of the topics that I have never wrote about before.

We ended up choosing 'Crime and Punishment, Family, and Pop Culture'. I am OK with these choices and I look forward to writing these papers. Some of the people in my class are not cool with the topics we chose, but those are also the people who never come to class. I have read a couple of people papers on these topics before (just in general, not within our class), and they have given me an inspiration to write the papers now. I have not started on the Family essay yet, but I will be starting on it soon. I enjoy this class and want to get a good grade, but I really need to start focusing more on getting these papers done so I can get the grade what I signed up for....an A.

Thanksgiving Break Son!!!

Well, my favorite holiday is unfortunately over, but it was a good as always. I have a great day with my family and friends. I went to my grandparents house for dinner and watch football all day and night. Even though my grandma said she was not going to cook, she still did anyway. I thought that her dogs were going to devour my stuffing on my plate, but surprisingly they waited peacefully until i offered them some. Then that's when they got pretty crazy. I also went over to one of my friend's houses that night after all my family festivities were over, and I had a blast there as well. With all of these wonderful people surrounding me, I cannot wait for next year's thanksgiving! I had a lot of fun on my break, and now it is time to get ready for all these exams that I have to take. I am not to enthralled by which classes I have to take exams in but hopefully I will make a good grade on my exams. So, bring it on exams. Let's dance....

In Class Essay

The essay we had to write in class was a little different than all the other essays I have written before. We had to write an essay on how well we participated in class and on a scale of one to ten; we had to grade ourselves on how well we actively participated in class. I feel like my participation in class is very well and I try to answer questions frequently and as often as possible. I love the way we discuss our subjects and topics in class, because I love how we are so comfortable around each other enough to be so open with each other. I enjoy the way we respond in class and the discussion in class is fun. The class is pretty active in participation, except for a couple of people in the class that cannot stop talking which tends to get super annoying. Other than them, class is pretty fun!

Writing Process actually did work!

So, in class, we went over our process on how we write our papers and surprisingly, this actually helped me out a lot! I did not think that doing such a process would be useful to writing my papers. I, of course, was proven wrong. I listen to music and actually make a brainstorm sheet now when I write my papers. In the long run, I think this will really benefit me. I pretty much just sat down and typed/wrote whatever popped into my head. Also, I used to hate making brainstorm sheets, I felt like they were just completely useless and that they provided no help at all. Now I see how much they make a difference and how much they can mean whenever you lose your place. I can now write my papers better than I have ever imagined! So thank you Mr. Sweeney, for going over that process with us in class. Someone did receive some benefit from that class.

Research Paper

I chose to write my paper about an article on bad music in public places, because I love music and the topic I had before this one was a good enough topic to talk about. The topic I had chosen before this one dealt with a football speech given a couple years back, but the only problem is that it really was not an argumentative topic. This new topic is more of an argumentative topic because not all music in public places. I feel like there are some places that play great music and definitely appealing to the public. The music that is played in public places all depends on the age group that most commonly comes into your store. So, that means the music might not be what you expected when you walked in. I know that from working at Kohls, we used  to always play 90's music and early 2000's music. However, since our shift has been aimed more towards the late 20's, early 30's age group, the music has became more hipster and more "today" feeling. It just all depends on your age group.

Grammar Schmammar

My grammar schmammar group did the difference of further and farther. I learn a lot about this topic and I am glad we had this one to do. I learned that further is the more commonly used word between the two. I had no idea that you used further for more of a figurative way than physical. Farther is used only when you are talking about a physical distance. These words are used incorrectly all the time because people usually get the meanings of these two words mixed up with one another. However, if you thought more about what you were going to say before you say it, you will probably use the correct word at the correct time. Now, it is time to finish typing this research paper.

DNA!!

I went to see a grunge band perform for my last beyond class assignment and they were pretty good. I ended up seeing a band that was from Wyoming that I really liked after they play their first song. Their name was The Righteous Vendetta and they brought the house down. I loved their music and their passion for what they love to do the most, which is make people happy and play music. They jam out so hard and powerful like it's their first time playing. DNA was super good as well, even though I came to see them, I still thought that The Righteous Vendetta was the best band that played that night. If I were you, I would go see this band the next time they come back to Virginia.

Public Schools Vs. Drugs

The Chesterfield County Public Schools have banned any sort of illegal substance in their schools. First of all, why are kids bringing these drugs into school in the first place? What is the point when you could just see them outside of school and make the drop way easier than the risk of getting caught by the officer assigned for your school? I believe that these kids need to be more logical in how they make their "drops". However, they are also drug testing students at these schools. I don't really know if they are doing this to everyone or if they are only doing it to the kids who have been caught in the past/present. I think that the drug testing is a little bit too harsh on these high school kids. There is a line that needs to be drawn. Drugs, excluding marijuana, is acceptable to be tested for. Plus, the only way the school system could have gotten away with this banning of illegal substances and drug testing, is if the parents have signed a legal document that approves this school act. So, this means these parents need to read more carefully when you sign papers that your kids hand you.

Picture From Class

The picture is about Jesus Christ dying on the cross. He died for our sins, and we are forever in His debt. The picture that is shown is showing that the light of heaven is coming down upon Jesus as He is taking His last breaths on the cross. 

This artist named the title of the photo, “Piss Christ”. This changes my whole view on this photo. It makes me feel like His name is being taken for granite. Disrespectful..

The people who were behind this picture, were antichrists and anti-American. They were making this picture and others like it to express their hate for everything holy. They get paid with our tax dollars to make these stupid, disgraceful paintings. There are people trying to rise up against these people. They say, ‘rotten art, leads to a rotten culture’ and they are right. I completely agree with the fact that they need to pull out from the funding of dirty art.

The gov’t should go through a very detailed approval process for them to fund certain artists.

Flux!!

I went to see Flux Pavilion as my beyond class assignment, and it was awesome. Flux Pavilion is a DJ from the UK and he is one of the most popular artists in the dance/electronic world right now. His concert featured 4 DJs and they were pretty good as well. Although one of the acts, Cookie Monsta, was too repetitive, I didn't let that hold me back from having a good time. When Flux came out the place lit up! (literally) He had a laser light show and smoke machines on the stage and it was so awesome. I can't wait to go back to another concert like that and get even more crazy than I did this time. That was my first dance/electronic concert I have ever been to, and it left a great impression on me!!

Lyrical Genius!

I wrote first paper on music, and the way that the lyrics can effect somebody.

It all depends on how you can in the perspective of the singer/band.

The artist takes his music and transforms it into something desirable and worth listening to.

As a musician, I feel like I, as well, must take in the "grabbing people in" perspective.

 

These lyrics are something were reading so enjoy!

 

You saw my pain washed out in the rain
Broken glass, saw the blood run from my veins
But you saw no fault, no cracks in my heart
And you knelt beside my hope torn apart

But the ghosts that we knew will flicker from view
We'll live a long life

So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light
'Cause oh that gave me such a fright
But I will hold as long as you like
Just promise me we'll be alright

So lead me back, turn south from that place
And close my eyes to my recent disgrace
'Cause you know my call
And we'll share my all
And our children come and they will hear me roar

So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light
'Cause oh that gave me such a fright
But I will hold as long as you like
Just promise me we'll be alright

But hold me still, bury my heart on the coals
But hold me still, bury my heart on the coals 

 So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light
'Cause oh that gave me such a fright
But I will hold on as long as you like
Just promise me we'll be alright

 

-Mumford and Sons