Class

I think that the movie in class about class was a little too particular. I think those who are super worried about what class they are in are those who pay attention to the details about who you date, what kind of bread you eat, and what kind of utensils you buy. There are many people, i think, who dont worry so much about that stuff. Around here everyone is pretty much the same class and we dont see the differences so dramatically. Besides, life isnt about how much money you make or who your friends are, its if your happy.

Free

American's believe in not the right to equality but the right to opportunity. This means not everyone should be equal in social class and wealth. This would be Socialism. We believe in opportunity to work harder to achieve more than our neighbors. This may seem harsh, but it is what makes this country so great. However, if you are born into a family t hat has this advantage already, you are already ahead and vice versa with poorer people. However, these people born on the bottom have the ability and opportunity to work harder. Some cases its harder than others, like in the story of Tammy. She has started way too late in her life to completely change things. Her son has the right idea though. He is going to dress, act, and try harder to fit in with the next higher class and achieve more for himself. Unlike his mother he has dreams and aspirations that he wants to achieve he no longer wants to be at the bottom of the social ladder.

Jail..

I have never realized how horrible, sad, and lonely jail is. As soon as you enter they bring down your self esteem. I guess this is for the jail's own defense, but if you want the prisoners to eventually leave and return to society they must be helped. Most of the prisoners go back to jail soon after they are released. I think jail should have some therapy to help these people and read into their minds; prisons should try to find the issues within the prisoners to help them as a person, not just punish them as criminals. I know someone in jail and after watching 30 Days I couldn't help but feel so horrible. These people are so lonely and their friends and family are sometimes not there for them. In my case, a relative of the prisoner wants nothing to do with them.. I think its so sad. In jail they are so lonely and need someone to talk to to and something to live for. If family isn't there for you, then who really is there for you?

Shut UP!!

My parents are easy going, just sometimes they need to shut up.
From a young age, my mom always said "if you want that then get a job. When you get a job, and make your own money you can buy whatever you want." Sure enough, I did. At 14 years old, I was working at a local pizza shop, Pizanoz. My parents like that I had a job because I made money. But as soon as I started getting paychecks and going shopping and buying ridiculous things, I was bugged about that again. Shut UP! First I need to get a job to buy myself things. Second when I do I get lectured. I just don't get it. And when I get a job, my mom keeps telling me that I should enjoy my life and not work so much- I have the rest of my life to work. Work has been a part of my life for sometime now and I cant just quit. Shut UP! So they tell me to grow up and I do and then they want me to be a child again. Too late.
When I started dating my boyfriend Freshmen year, I had to get picked up early. It was almost like ten o'clock would roll around and my parents would be on their way to get me. Sophomore year I had a car, so I was able to stay until curfew. Now I understood this that I need to be home by twelve for curfew. But when my boyfriend moved down the street Junior year and I'm allowed to be out after curfew just not with my car, my parents still want me home! Shut UP!! Finally, now that I'm 18 and a Senior, I have no curfew. Now my parents have no reason but I still get yelled at. I don't care because they are ridiculous but its just funny how they don't want me to grow up yet its happening, and its been happening for a long time. I'm very mature and it scares them. But it scared me having to get a job so young, so SHUT UP parents. Think about what you tell your kids before its too late. Once innocence is lost in our "real" world, its gone.

MEdia vs. school

The media has gotten us into a mess. Girls want to look their best, or what the media says is best. Girls crave to be extra thin, beautiful, and popular. I think that there is nothing wrong with wanting to look beautiful all the time, I just think its wrong when a pretty girl will look in the mirror and "ugh, I look like shit" because she doesnt look absolutely perfect. I have always been one of those girls, but I dont get caught up over it. Im not too focused on how people see me, especially at Stevenson. I think that all the girls are too caught up on how they look and trying to fit in that they have all formed to be the same person to keep friends. They laugh at stupid jokes, they talk shit about people they dont even know, and they live off the gossip they get during lunch. I have stayed as far away as I can from all of that, and I think that its worked. I have a better self image and I am genuinely happy with that. So the media does put pressure on girls, however there is more pressure from the girls at school to be thin, beautiful, and popular.

Socialization

Growing up with two brothers was a lot of fun. My older brother is 5 years older than me so he wasn't around a lot growing up. However, my younger brother is only 15 months younger than me. He has always been a trouble maker. Since fourth grade, calls home from teachers went from once in a while to everyday by his sophomore year in high school. My little bro chose to leave Stevenson where he is in class with other kids with behavioral or social problems. Sometimes I feel trouble just finds him. He is smart, he just doesn't apply himself. I feel like this puts a lot of pressure on me. My parents have him to worry about all the time that I don't want to give them any more worries. I learned this from a young age and I always wanted to be a role model to him. A major drawback of trying my best to be a good kid is that when you mess up, its not just a little deal, its parents asking you and bugging you about it all the time. I thing that because I try so hard to do my best that my parents should leave me alone, I'll make it. My little brother is who they should be worried about. Besides, they don't even know the half of it.

No Mirrors!!

Class this week was interestingggggggggg. This weekend I went to a college and we went to a frat house. It was so weird how the guys live vs. how girls would live. The guys would spit on the floor, have trash everywhere, and most importantly NO MIRRORS IN THE BATHROOM! I dont know why but I was so shocked at that. When I go into a bathroom I expect there to be a mirror. I think its all part of the masculinity thing that its not a "tough guy" thing to have a mirror in the bathroom. A bathroom owned by girls will always have a mirror in it because we are very concerned about our appearance. Its so interesting !!

Love and Money

Tuesdays with Morrie was an inspirational movie about life. It helped me think about who I love and who I would be devastated to never have a gain. In the movie, the main character gets too caught up with work that he forgets to think about those he loves- Morrie and his girlfriend. At times, we do get too caught up in our own lives we don't take time to slow down and enjoy it with those we love. We are constantly taking orders from our parents, our bosses, our jobs, etc. It's very easy to get tied up but we must remember to take our time to remember the things in life that really mean something. Morrie was an inspiration to the main character and helped him think about his life and his priorities. Work should be a priority but never a way of life. My older brother is someone who needed to realize this, and slowly did. My brother is a firefighter at two different cities and works a lot. He's saved up a lot of money and is still very young. Straight out of high school he began working a lot. He never took time for himself. My mom would always tell him "you have the rest of your life to work, take some time for yourself." Later down the road, I help use those words too. I will miss out on trips with my friends or family or other events because I have to work. It's easy to get caught up because we want the money. However when I look back, I would much rather have the experiences I missed rather than the money.

ChiNA town

I experienced culture shock this summer when I was in Hollywood. My mom, cousin, grandma, and I went to China Town. There we walked around, bought some stuff, and just looked at everything they had in these shops. There was one store imparticular that was very interesting to me and made me feel very sheltered. We walked into a grocery store, and it was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. Evertyhing was dried up and looked like sticks. However, the place was crowded with shoppers. In the back of the store, we noticed a counter with a woman putting different "ingredients" together. We asked what she was doing and she explained she was putting together a prescription. In the corner of the grocery store is a doctor that you can go to with an ailment. He then writes up a prescription of different things to put together and the lady behind the counter gets it ready for you. Everything she was putting on the plate looked like leaves, sticks, grass, and other things from nature. The prescription that is written up is literally 1 lb of basil, 4 grams of oak leaves, or whatever they use. The lady described that this is their way of life. You would go here for anything you need a prescription for. She thought it was weird that I had never heard of a prescription like that!

who are youuu

The movie we watched in class was so good! It went perfect with what we were talking about in class. Since C was a little kid he wanted to be just like Sunny. He wanted people to see him and define him as a mob dude, or someone like Sunny. He might not have been OK with everything that was going on but that is who he "wanted" to be.
It sucks when this happens. I see it all the time- a person will start hanging out with a group of kids because they want to be defined by them. Usually its a group that makes dumb decisions or gets into a trouble a lot. Later that person will begin to forget who they are and only know who they're pretending to be. Its sad when this happens, but sure enough they'll get it. C's dad was upset when he saw his son acting like how he was; he knew that it wasn't the same son that he raised. Everything was different: how he dressed, talked, who he hung out with, etc. C had a hard time figuring himself out.
It's really easy to get caught up in bad things; hopefully the person has enough sense to not forget who they are.

groups that define meeee

In class last week we were asked to put on a sheet of paper our different factors of life that help define us. As I thought about it, I had many. I basically put friends and family and work, however, my friends and family were seperated into groups. I had my girls, who I have been best firends with for years. I had my two neighbors that I am so close with its an understatement to call them just my best friends-they are like my sisters. I had my brothers down as well, but they were seperated becasue they each influence me in a different way. And then I put down my parents and my job. We were then to underline the one group that had the most influence in our life. I, of course, put down my job. I have been working since I was fourteen at a pizza shop. The one I am currently employeed at I have been there for two years. I chose my job as my biggest influence becuse I feel that work really give you character. I interact with customers there everyday and its great to see such different types of people all come together. Im at work a lot and I absolutely love it. Sometimes I almost feel bad for getting paid becasue I have such a good time. My boss is super cool and everyone else that works there is like family to me.

volunteer work!

I am a huge believer in helping people that are less fortunate than me. Last year I did GIVE almost every week for a few months. Though these people have a home and clothes and food to eat, they need friends. Me and a friend of mine would go and enjoy our time with the residents. This made me feel good knowing that people enjoyed our company too and looked forward to our visits. Another thing I did, and will be doing again this year, is closer to the holiday season. Starting around Thanksgiving, I begin to save my money. I make gift packages for the homeless in downtown Chicago. I love going to the city and I hate to see those less fortunate than me in the cold. I love to sew and I would sew blankets and put together gift bags with food, hand sanitizer, chapstick, the blanket, and other items in it to help make the holidays better. Going down there and seeing the faces on these people who are used to getting nothing for the holidays makes me feel so good inside. I hope to continue this for the rest of my life.

siilence

Silence, I think, is awkward depending on who you are with. When I am with a group of friends and out of no where there is a silence, I cant help but think of how weird it feels. Usually something is filling the air- music, conversation, television, etc.- and when nothing is filling it, for that moment its just awkward. Everyone begins to laugh to ease the situation. In my lifetime I have experienced many awkward silences. They typically happen after a deep conversation with friends and we all, for just a minute, reflect in our minds and don't say anything. It feels awkward to me because we all had so much to say and then out of no where we just stop talking. WEIRD.

When I'm with a group of strangers or people I don't really know, silence is expected. Everyone feels awkward then and I feel like my mind is racing- should I say something? what would I say? what would they think? blah blah blah. Usually, I will say something and then I get looks like "OMG she just talked.." I think that silence with strangers is only as awkward as you want it to be. You cant sit in a room with people you don't know and expect tho have so much to say, you know?
I think the best silence is when your with someone you love. When you can sit in silence for hours and not have to say anything and its not weird at all. I dated a kid for three years and I was in love. When we sat in silence, which wasn't often, it just felt normal. There was absolutely nothing awkward about it at all which made the silence feel good. It's almost as if you really are saying something and you know what they're saying and what they're thinking. I like that kind of silence, a lot. Its almost when your listening to a Jimi song and he goes on and on with his solos on the guitar and people, like my mom who don't like Jimi Hendrix, feel like "when is he gonna start singing or where are the lyrics, what is this crap?" The point is that he doesn't need to say anything, his music is saying everything. You have to listen to music beyond the words like when your in love you have to listen to more than whats being said.

About Me

I am defined by music, art, my friends and my family. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin are my favorite artists. To me, their music is what keeps my blood pumping. Jimi covers the walls in my room and fills my cd case, along with others. My dad is the person who introduced me to classic music. When I was younger, my dad and I saw a poster of Jimi Hendrix when he is lighting his guitar on fire. My dad explained to me that he could do things like that because people would just give him guitars. Being young and naive, I thought that was the coolest and I needed to know everything about this guy.
My dad is a huge influence in my life. He is probably my best friend. I could tell you everything I like about him but it would take way too long. He's just the best. My older brother is my hero. He is 5 years older than me and has been a role model since I was young. Its really weird because I never liked him that much until this summer. He and I got close and spent a lot of time together. He is a fireman and a paramedic. My younger brother is chaos, but is my best friend. He and I are complete opposites but we're together all the time. And if we're not together then he is usually calling me. Where are you? Who are you with? When are you coming home? Those are his famous questions. He was recently moved to a different school because it was hard for him to cooperate in public school setting. My mom works at school. I usually go and stop by her, but this year I haven't had time. I'm out of school after fifth period. I go right to work and then right to another job. This schedule is really tough on me, but I'm hoping I can keep it up. Anyways, I have to save for a new car. Mine is a piece.