Life in the Lost and Found Bin: January 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012

When I Grow Up...

I found this on Dearblankplease blank:

"Dear "what do you plan to do when you graduate?",

...try to pay my rent.

Sincerely, please stop asking."

It is probably one of the most relatable things I have stumbled across lately. This was a very fortunate discovery.

Friday, January 27, 2012

She’s More than a BFF; She’s the BPIEM

Full disclosure: there are multiple people I could call best friends. But there is only person that I can say is the Best Person I’ll Ever Meet.

She’s the first friend I made when I came to Pilgrim Lane Elementary in April of first grade. She’s the one that knows all of my secrets and aspirations. She’s the one that I can always count on.

I don’t know if we would become friends if we met today. Part of me says that of course we would become friends because we are best friends. But we are also such different people that we probably wouldn’t be as close as we are now if we hadn’t known each other for nearly ten years.

Meet Grace:

Favorite Color: Purple (Like JB)

Favorite Guy: JB (And Zac Efron. And that guy Liam from One Direction. The List could go on)

Animal: Kangaroo (She still has one that I drew her on her wall in her room from 8^th grade)

Talent: Fashion—She is the best dressed girl at her high school. Without a doubt.

Sport: Cheerleading

Miscellaneous: She is the best friend anyone could ask for.

Despite our differences, being best friends has made us more like each other. Being friends with her has made me more girly. And she told me that being friends with me has made her a better person. She said, “I think I would have been a trouble maker, but you are such a goody-goody.” It was the first time I was ok with being called a goody-goody. She’s also the only person over 5-years-old (that isn’t a member of my family) allowed to call me Tay-Tay. You make exceptions for the people you care the most about.

For the past ten years we have been able to tell each other anything and everything. It’s almost like we’re married. Through sickness and health (and many stupid boys) we have always been there for each other. We really do have a best friend kind of marriage. We’ve already planned our lives together.

We will live in Medina but have large boats on Lake Minnetonka. We’ll have a boat for the day time and a boat to have parties on in the night time. We will live next to each other and at least one of us has to have a porch. In our twenties, we will both have great careers. Then will settle down and have kids. And they will be best friends too. When we are in our eighties, our husbands will be inside yelling at the TV, and we will be on the porch.

We have the future all planned out, but our past is just as much a part of our story as will be our future.

Our Playlist:

“Count On Me” Bruno Mars
“Down” Jay Sean (One night in the beginning of 9^th, we couldn’t stop playing it)
“2012” Jay Sean
“Moves Like Jagger”(That time the guy in the next car started laughing at her dancing)
“One Time” Justin Bieber (How she discovered him before he was popular and we watched this video over and over and over again.)

Meeting Grace was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. As she likes to remind me, I think everything happens for a reason (Don’t take that too literally). What I mean is that I believe in serendipity. And meeting her was the greatest serendipitous moment of my life.

I hope you know you can always Count On Me.

"Sometimes in life there really are bonds formed that can never be broken. Sometimes you really can find that one person who will stand by you no matter what. Maybe you will find it in a spouse and celebrate it with your dream wedding. But there's also the chance that the one person you can count on for a lifetime, the one person who knows you sometimes better than you know yourself is the same person who's been standing beside you all along."

(A quote from Bride Wars that describes our friendship)

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Glen: I am a writer

Today I volunteered at Summerwood (a residential home for the elderly) with the YES Advisory Board. We were filling bags for homeless teens in the metro area. So as we filed in, we were each assigned an elderly person to fill bags with and talk with afterward. I was assigned Glen.

I have never had a problem with talking, nor do I dislike the elderly. But for some reason I was flustered, and I had no idea what to talk about with Glen. Thankfully, he carried the conversation through most of the time we filled the bags. As we sat down to talk, I slightly panicked because I had no idea what to bring up to someone over 60 years older than me that I had never met before. Naturally, he asked me what grade I was in and what subjects I was interested. But why is this worth blogging about? He asked me what I wanted to do after high school. I briefly talked about college and told him I want to be a writer. Something in his face changed and for a moment I braced myself for a harsh response. Instead, Glen sat up a little bit straighter, "I am a writer."

Truthfully, I have no idea how much time passed before they had to leave, but by the end of the conversation neither of us wanted it to be over. Glen announced to the entire room that he wanted to stay and talk more. He said he wanted to take me with him and adopt me. The whole room chuckled as he told me I could be his granddaughter and he could continue to encourage me in my writing. If I ever come back, he said, I must bring my writing and he will tear it to shreds and teach me how to write. Glen told me about why I should start out as a journalist to learn the basics about writing, and I asked questions on how his writing career unfolded. It was fascinating. He told me that as much as I might want to write the next Great Novel, I can't skip the steps. I have to learn everything in between. Before we departed, he reminded me I had to write everyday about what I saw, and when I got home I had to write about meeting him.

As the YES Advisory Board meeting began, all I could think is this was truly an act of serendipity. I will never forget this day or meeting Glen. It was as if something was telling me that it is ok to be a writer. No matter where I go, no matter who I meet, no matter what I become, I will always know what I am.

I am a writer.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

My Life Since September (Work in progress)

Analysis 28

Summary versus 29

What Cardona will do if you give her Summary 32

AP Test 280-300

Prompts 280

Terrified 298

Bitzer 35

Exigence 37

The Rhetorical Situation 36

Blogs 50

Series of Fortunate Events 54

Yeah, Write 51

Book Length Argument 45

Fast Food Nation 46

The Tipping Point 47

Close Reading Journals 40

Not even worth noting until November …

Quality increased over time 42

Diction 8

Didion 35

Essays 330-400

50 Essays 332

Why I Write (See Orwell and Didion) 350

Everything is an Argument 1-800

Everything….

Finals 750

Study everything without some study X mentality for 760

Google Docs 245

Our whole class collaborating in a hurry 248

Humor 75

Irony/ Sarcasm 84-89 (See Irony)

Satire 78

Parody 90

Irony 84-89

Juxtaposition 130

Antithesis 134

MLK 132

Language and Composition 1

Max’s Attitude 765

‘nuff said 765

Nancy Mairs 634

Inspiring 635

Open Letters 70

Dearblankpleaseblank 72

Fortunate Discovery 72

Orwell 5-20

The God of Rhetoric 6

The slovenliness of the English Language and 7

Parallelism 170

Power Writing 305-320

Crunch time 306

Obnoxious class piles 307-310

Rushing 311

Quizzes 500

You just failed 508-516

Your life depends on 517

Reading 150

Learning to read again at 16 152

Max and Abram competing 156

Risks 700-720

Learning how to take 702

Taking risks in writing 704

Rhetoric 1-800

The foundation of life is 2

Rhetorical Modes 405

Success (That page seems to be missing)

Only being facetious 800

Syntax 3

First quiz: What does that mean? 3

Toulmin 21

Claim, Reason, Warrant 23, 25, 27

Understatement 543

This class is hard 545

Visual Arguments 100-125

Ads 104

Writing 1-800

Joy 798

Xsquared 456

Burke’s Penentad 458

COMP

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Blog Project Links

1. Main Focus

2. Down right quirky and personal experience

3. Fun Side

4. Comparison (Why I chose Lynette's blog)

5. Blog Awards (Major Ethos)

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Multiple Choice, Multiple Guess, and Multiple Ways to Bring My Grade Down

It's that time of the year again. Usually when people say this they are referring to raking leaves or taking down Christmas lights. Luckily I have no rake in hand, and I am afraid of ladders. So instead I get a three day AP Comp final, sprinkled with a dash of APUSH vocab and reading quizzes. Add in a huge APUSH map and date test tomorrow. Three Spanish finals. Oh and that sorta biggish presentation thing in AP Comp. So I mean, obviously my life is much better than the average Joe taking out down the lights. Oh yes, I have it good.

So what if I am nervous beyond belief? What about the insane number of hours I have sequestered myself in my room for these past two weeks? Who cares if the next week is going to suck even more than this one? I have learned more in the past five months than in any other period of my life. There was never a single moment that I questioned taking AP Language in Composition. Not when I failed for the first time. Not when I failed a quiz for the third time. Not when I was ready to pull my hair out over figuring out rhetoric. Every time I open Tindall I regret taking AP US History. With each X I solve for, I curse to the Math Gods. Spanish, I love. (Sorry for interrupting proving that AP Comp is the best, but what can I say? Lo Siento. Me encanta Espanol.)

Yes, I am very nervous for the last part of the final. But I have participated. I have learned. And I will perform. Tomorrow at 7:30 AM with my Bic mechanical pencil in hand, I will complete my final with confidence that I have worked hard and will do what I can do. And that is all I can ask from myself.

But for now, I'm going to get back to reviewing what I have learned.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Book Review: "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell provides a thoroughly researched theory he calls the “Tipping Point.” The Tipping Point argues that there are three factors that converge to cause social epidemics. The three factors he calls the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. The book is logically structured to help the reader understand each concept, and then he brings them together to show that not every situation is clearly caused by only one of the factors.

The book is gripping from the first line to the last paragraph. Gladwell knows how to relate to his readers in a way that will help them understand the concept that he is arguing for, while fascinating them with concepts they may have never thought about. His tone seems somewhat causal yet he is so educated on the subject that it is very professional. The reader understands Gladwell is quite intelligent, but he never seems arrogant or matter a fact in his writing. The book is genuine in the way that it makes an effort to connect to the reader in attempt to help him or her understand the “Tipping Point.” By writing about human behavioral patterns, he opens the reader’s eyes to subtle findings that he or she may not have noticed before.

This book would be extremely beneficial to most of society. It would be particularly helpful to anyone trying to make a certain idea “tip” or in other words start a social epidemic. Gladwell examines different situations to fit each part of the “Tipping Point.” In the Law of the Few section, he uses examples such as Paul Revere and a businessman Tom Gau to explain that Mavens and Salespeople can cause these epidemics. On page 60, Gladwell explains a Maven is “one who accumulates knowledge.” Tom Gau was a Maven because he got pleasure from explaining his knowledge to other people for their benefit.

Gladwell uses examples such as Blue’s Clues and Sesame Street to explain the Stickiness Factor. He explains why Blue’s Clues was ultimately more effective in capturing kids’ attention because of their Stickiness. Sesame Street was getting their attention as much, Gladwell explains, because children pay attention to what they understand. The concepts on Sesame Street were too hard to understand at their level.

In the Power of Context section, he uses a story about a subway vigilante in New York, Bernard Goetz, that one day shot four young African American boys. The purpose of this chapter is show that people will do things they wouldn’t normally do under different circumstances. Bernard Goetz was a usually calm tempered man with a stable job and family. In a different context, it appears Goetz likely wouldn’t have shot the four young men. Gladwell also reveals the four young men had priors and between the four of them had stole, harassed, and raped women.

It is difficult to explain such large concepts in so little words. To fully understand the idea of the “Tipping Point,” you must read it yourself. It’s an easy read and you won’t regret it.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Many the Miles

The great thing about romance is that there is always more to come. Just when you think it can’t get any better, you find that one quirk about the person that you never want to lose. You know you’ve really caught the love bug when your heart aches so bad no amount of Tylenol will ease your symptoms. The shakes. Increased heart beat. Uncontrollable palm sweating. You’ve lost your voice. It’s really a horrible affair. They make it look glamorous in the movies because they secretly want us all to feel their pain.

Look at Gatsby for instance. This guy seems to have it all. His name is Jay Gatsby and he has magnificent house and a great fortune. He throws wonderful parties with a plethora of guests to mingle with until dawn. Yet, Gatsby is an empty man, longing for someone across the lake. I like to call him the Loneliest Party Host. He throws these frivolous parties filled with people he doesn’t like, hoping that one day Daisy will show up at one his parties. She lives across the lake with the green light at the end of the dock. It has been over five years since they were together but Gatsby never got over Daisy. She moved on with Tom Buchanan and even has a small daughter. But Gatsby loves Daisy all the same. Gatsby would no doubt live by the statement “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” In his case, it is true. As the story unfolds, the reader begins to realize that Gatsby has fallen more in love with the idea of Daisy as the years go on. He is foolish until the day that he is killed and believes that he is in love with Daisy even after all of these years. Distance and time away only magnified his love for Daisy.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder” doesn’t necessarily mean distance makes you love someone more. In fact, the only thing distance does is help you realize how much you really care about someone. If you are a plane ride away from someone and you figure out that you would be devastated if you never saw their face again, you know how much you care about that person. But if you can’t realize that when they are standing right in front of you, then you aren’t as fond of them as you thought. The distance shouldn’t strengthen the fondness, it should merely uncover it. It should be like it was playing hide-and-seek. Gatsby wasn’t searching for his love for Daisy, because the longer he was without her, the more he created his own version of her. Maybe he grew fonder of her as the years went on, but at some point he stopped loving Daisy and fell for the girl he created in his dreams.

This phrase should be used cautiously. Absence makes the heart grow fonder because we tend to start missing people we care about when they aren’t near us. The person can be half a world away or in another part of the city, but if they aren’t with us, we begin to miss their company. It makes us appreciate them more. When you really care about someone, you want to spend all the time in the world with them. You start thinking of ways to be near them. It’s a natural reaction, and no matter how hard you try it won’t go away. It’s the little bugger that won’t let you think. It’s the way your heart won’t slow down—no matter how still you sit. It’s the feeling you can’t let go of no matter how many miles are in between you.

Now go find your love. 1 Mississippi…2 Mississippi…3 Mississippi…..

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Dare to be Yourself

15% Weird, 50 % Unique, 35% Talent, and 100% Reason to Be Yourself

The purpose of this video on individuality is to show that striving to be different doesn’t always make you unique. In trying to be different many people end up seeming strange. But being unique is actually about finding a quality or interest you have that is something different from most people and embracing it. The target audience is teenagers being that many of the images are part of pop culture and they are more likely to recognize the faces, and therefore, understand why these people were chosen.

The video begins with a picture of snowflakes. Underneath the picture there is a caption that says “INDIVIDUALITY: Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else.” I used this picture because I wanted to show that everyone is different like the fact that there are no two identical snowflakes. But the caption changes the message of the image. I also want to show that everyone is trying to be unique. Since everyone is trying to be unique, there is less individuality.

The next picture is of Cee Lo Green in a bird costume. This image is supposed to show that being different can sometimes be seen as being weird because this costume is outrageous. The next picture is Katy Perry with pink hair and a kimono. Pink is not a natural hair color nor are kimonos typically worn by Caucasian Americans. The next two pictures are of Lady Gaga but there isn’t as much time spent on them. They flash by so quickly because Lady Gaga strives to be weird, thus her pictures usually appear strange at first glance. Also, they lead into another picture with a caption about Individuality. I wanted to spend more time on this photo then on Gaga because it shows average people that look ridiculous rather than someone who is trying to be recognized in the spotlight. It is three people who are purposely odd looking and it says, “INDIVIDUALITY: ‘Cause everybody’s doing it.” This shows that it is almost like peer pressure and trying to be different isn’t always a good thing.

I spend more time on the next picture to let the viewer digest the picture. It’s a camera with a quote that says “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” The purpose of this picture is to when the camera comes out, it should be to take a picture of the real you, not the “unique” person you are trying to be. It also serves as a transition as the music changes. This section is to show talents and characteristics that make people unique without trying to different. There is a black and white picture and the only thing in color is an orange bench. This will draw the viewer’s eye to the bench, showing individuality in a positive light.

There are two pictures of movies with crowds of people dancing because they look happy and show off their talents in a positive way. Then the next two pictures are of a flash mob on Modern Family because it is again showing a group of people coming together to dance in a unique way. In both sets of pictures everyone is dancing together. The first picture from Modern Family shows Mitch (the redheaded man in the front) with a huge smile on his face and his fist high. He isn’t being strange or striving to be different; he is simply being himself. Then there is a picture of a gymnast flying through the air. This take a tremendous amount of talent and dedication, and no one sees this being weird. She is doing what she loves.

The song changes one last time as the video transitions into a video of a guy unicycling. The point of the video is to show the viewers that anyone can be unique. This is a seemingly normal teenage boy from the suburbs, and yet there is something incredibly unique about him. He is defying every stereotype about what it takes to be different. This kind of talent isn’t achieved by throwing on some feathers or a kimono. It shows being unique isn’t about trying to be famous and get the spotlight. Being unique is about being yourself and showing anyone who is willing to watch.

The final picture is about a flower made out of different colored fingerprints. Everyone has different fingerprints. It is a final example of showing that our true selves are beautiful. This shows everyone is different, and that is the good thing. Without trying, we are all unique in our own ways.

The first song is called “Anything But Ordinary” by Avril Lavigne. The drums are playing a steady—somewhat calm—beat. The lyrics correspond with the pictures because she is talking about being weird and wanting to be anything but ordinary. The pictures in this section are supposed to show that these people are weird.

The second song is “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga. It immediately fits the first image that is saying to “Be Yourself.” I made the song start there so that it would fit with the image and enhance the argument. It is an upbeat positive song about accepting who you are. The lyrics also correspond with the picture when Mitch from Modern Family is raising his fist she sings “I was born this way.” This shows an empowered person proud to be who he is.

The final song begins with the video. It is called “Remember The Name” by Fort Minor. I chose this song because not only does it show how much talent this takes, but the lyrics show that it is something worth paying attention to. The lyrics “He doesn’t need his name up in lights” and “He feels so unlike everybody else,” demonstrate that this talent isn’t about being famous but it makes him different.

Sources

Video:

Kyle Alviani

Songs:

“Anything But Ordinary” Avril Lavigne

“Born This Way” Lady Gaga

“Remember the Name” (Clean) Fort Minor

Pictures:

http://cdn.idolator.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/katy-perry-pink-hair-500x332.jpg

http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/4266472

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=lady+gaga&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1920&bih=878&tbm=isch&tbnid=aRgF1FZpE-MoRM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ladygaga.com/photos/detail.aspx%3Ffid%3D11143%26phid%3D11239&docid=TRqdjyDF4v0TrM&imgurl=http://cache.interscope.com/images/local/500/6f1d6d0a-878a-4e8e-b59f-5f1a5f217a0a.jpg&w=500&h=340&ei=bRXiTsa0PMjm2gWzpoivBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=606&vpy=198&dur=6770&hovh=185&hovw=272&tx=207&ty=118&sig=118122970403675263328&page=1&tbnh=155&tbnw=207&start=0&ndsp=40&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0

http://cdn.sheknows.com/articles/2011/11/lady-gaga-born-this-way.jpg