COEXIST

I don’t normally dress this way, but today I have decided to actually do something and help some people. I know that everybody can see the “COEXSIST” bumper sticker stuck to my awesome truck bought and paid for by my parents. “It’s a new model so it gets 10 miles per gallon.” Anyway that’s beside the point. Typically I wear Abercrombie polo’s manufactured in china, Nike’s from some other Asian country, and Levi Jeans that are probably from South America or something like that, not that it matters, the only thing I care about is the cost and how it looks. Plus I have this nifty COEXIST bumper sticker to prove to everyone that I really love and care about other people and cultures.

                But once again I have digressed. I really didn’t want to ruin any of my expensive clothing, or spend a ton of money, so I was forced to drive to the local Wal-Mart. “God, what a disgusting place”, it’s like every single person who shops there doesn’t have tons of money, or at the very least parents to pay for everything. Luckily my COEXIST bumper sticker shows these awful people, that we are all the same and that we coexist together.

                Alright, so finally I have my new outfit and I am ready to help people in need! I hop in my truck and notice that the fuel gauge is nearly on empty. I stop at the nearest gas station to fill up. “Good thing those Iraqis’ have so much oil”, I think to myself.  Luckily mom gave me her credit card to pay for the gas. As I pay for the gas I notice my COEXIST bumper sticker peeling slightly. I go inside to pay; I ignore the Middle Eastern cashier’s wave and pay for my gas wishing I could understand the cashier but ignoring him because I don’t have time to talk with this foreign man. I get in my car and, merge onto the highway, I see my COEXIST sticker flapping in the wind, eventually it blows completely off. I see it softly land on the side of the road. “Oh well”, I think to myself someone else will pick it up eventually and I’ll just buy another one next time I stop at a convenience store.

Halfway done

My freshman year of college is pretty much halfway over. When did this happen, it honestly feels like last week I was still a junior in high school. Its ridiculous how fast time goes. Everybody tells you that college, and high school are going to go by so quickly and at the time this statement is shrugged off but now that its actually happening its entirely true. We grow up so fast that and things that at one point seemed impossible happen. I remember thinking that college was something that would never happen, its talked about so much but when your in high school it seems like you'll just be there forever. But then one day the impossible happens you grow up and things that were once impossible are now a reality. This may make it seem like its hard to deal with but honestly when the time comes you don't even think about it it just becomes part of everyday life and you deal with it. I can remember being afraid to leave home for a week, it wasn't even that long ago but now I haven't been home in months and that's totally fine. I guess this is all part of aging and maturing, things that were once incomprehensible are now reality's that we deal with on a daily basis.

Happy christmahanakwanza

     Alright, I get that this is a little bit early but Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I've heard Christmas music in department stores and on the radio, and the mall near my house has already erected a massive Christmas tree. Which leads me to believe that this post is in fact not early at all, in-fact it may be late.
      I'm going to be honest here, I love Christmas, I could lie and tell you all that I like the tree, the family time, or even the food, but honestly by far the best part about Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate is the presents and anybody who says differently is a liar. Recently I've heard a lot of people ragging on how Christmas is all about spending tons of money, and how it has been taken over by Hallmark and corporate America. But really these things are what make Christmas, Christmas. I love the music, the crowded malls, the holiday specials, even the Christmas ads get me excited. No matter what anybody says if these things disappeared we would all be a little sad. Honestly this is probably not a good thing, but there are some things that aren't worth getting worked up over. Some things should just be embraced and enjoyed regardless. I'm not saying that we should all just be 100 percent complacent about everything, but honestly music, and ads aren't hurting anybody.
      Now due to the above paragraph I feel like people are going to say "what about people who don't have a lot of money, or people who don't celebrate Christmas?" This is a fair point, I get that a lot of people don't have a lot of money, and that not everybody celebrates Christmas. This is where all the other pieces come in, even though everybody likes presents, family, food and just the general happy feeling that comes with the season is something that should be embraced and enjoyed. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, or have a lot of money the trees are still pretty, the food is still good, and loved ones are still amazing. So maybe I was wrong.... maybe there is more to Christmas than just presents. Maybe family, and giving are the most important things, maybe we should enjoy presents and music and ads, but understand that they are not the most important part, because regardless of monetary situation, or religion I whole-heartedly believe that every single person in this world is loved by someone.
      

ramblings.

Mrs. Cardona if you ever see this, I would like to let you know that at 1:38 am I returned to the AP Comp blog. I don't know why I did this (especially since when I was actually in the class I only went like 3 times total....), I don't what I wanted, but I will say that it did make me a little bit sad? or maybe even nostalgic.... Could it be that I miss this class, and maybe even high school, just a little bit?..... We literally spend the first 18 years of our lives preparing for college, elementary school takes forever, middle school takes awhile, but high school cruises by. Right as people start to figure things out, and everything begins to click, its over, and we're thrust head over heels into a totally knew situation. Many of us have left home for the first time, we are on our own for the first time (sorta), have to clean and do laundry without mom and are generally pretty disoriented. And honestly for all the awesomeness that college entails, it's hard. It's hard leaving this old life.This life that most of us have worked so hard to create, literally becomes almost nothing. Yes, a few measly scraps are left over, some friends, and the grades we got are reflected in our post secondary education, but other than that what else? If we're lucky maybe the memories of a few wonderful teachers, or some rare profound moment registered in a barely awake brain. Sitting here in a college dorm room, seven hours from my home, my family, everything has changed. For some this is an opportunity to start over, a pseudo rebirth, but for others its a sucker punch, an undeserved cheap shot that takes away everything. College is an opportunity that we all get once in a lifetime, its literally a chance to do anything, you can completely change yourself or make it exactly like high school, we can literally become anything that we want and this opportunity is something great. We have literally been given an opportunity to do anything that we want. So why not be happy, hang out with your old friends, or meet new ones, move away or stay close, change yourself or stay the same, anything is possible, but the most important thing is happiness, so do what makes you happy. 

In response to future me.

So it hasn't quite been ten years, but its been about one year. Things have really changed but mostly for the better. onward and upward I guess. I'm in college now things are going well so apparently everything we did in AP Comp paid off in the end.
      This format is weird because its like a public journal, in the sense that it never goes away and that anybody can read it but its private because since I'm not writing this for class anymore it can be anonymous.So what should I do now, sappy love stuff, comedy writing, pictures, does anybody really even care what an 18 year old has to say? Hopefully. Maybe I can make this blog into something....something important. I'm here to make a difference. This blog isn't necessarily going to be world changing but, I will be. So watch out world I'm coming.

a

a- Advanced Placement
b- bad writing (mine)
c- cold, why is the classroom so cold?
d- Dwight
e- Exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!! (this is a joke)
f- fifty essays
g-Grammar
h- humorous arguments
i- illuminating passages
j- jammin' out to our awesome playlist
k-
l- sleep, which is what some of the essays do to me.
m- Mrs. Cardona
n- noisy
o- Orwell
p- Poor word choice
q- Quit, Never quit writing
r- Reading essays
s- Sarcasm
t- Taxing.
u- underneath everything, there is an argument
v- Vocal
w- winging it
x- xylophone
y- Yes! only four more days, (Just kidding)
z-  zoo

future me

Hey future me, whats up, So I am a senior right now, and because this is being posted to my blog this letter will be here forever and ever which means i will be able to read this at any time in the future. So... what would I like to say to myself I guess I would like to say don't give up, as long as you or I or something keep trying we will always succeed, never stop trying to be the best and things will always go well. ummmmm I have no idea what else to say so good bye future self and good luck, I'm trying to make things work out well for you, and hopefully I will be able to read this 10 years from now and know that I have done my best and made things work.

Do I like this?

Well since it is a new year I guess I'll begin by admitting two things. Number one.... I think I think I actually enjoy blogging. This statement goes against everything I have ever been lead to believe, and I don't even care about who's reading my blog, mostly it just feels good to see a massive list of posts compiled into one spot. They even look nice, and sort of published. I am even beginning to want people to read my blog, maybe I'll even become famous! So I guess I would like to thank you Mrs. Cardona, without you introducing me to the world of blogging I would never have found that out that I actually enjoy it.
My second piece of news is that I like Coldplay. There I actually said and now anybody in the world can read it. For some reason after disliking COldplay for so long my brain finally decided to give them a try. and it turns out that I really like them.

sloowwww

Dear Slow customers,
     I  would just like to let everybody know that I work at a gas station, i get paid 8.50$ an hour and I leave at ten o'clock. So just to let all of the old ladies counting change, the balding man who seems to have lost his credit card, the middle aged woman looking for a coupon, and all of the other slow customers, I get paid by the hour. When you take ten minutes to check out at a gas station, do not apologize to me, I am stuck here no matter how long you take, but please turn around, look into the hateful eyes of your fellow shoppers, their angry glares, and the dreaded stink-eye, and think to yourself is that ten cents really worth it? Or maybe you could like let someone else go in front of you while you dig for your money, or run off to go get that thing you forgot, as crazy as that seems, when you as a customer are slow the only person you are hurting is yourself, I couldn't care less if you take 30 seconds or 30 minutes to check out, as long as I'm gone by ten I am a happy camper, but maybe just maybe, glance behind you, into those eyes, look into the grim faces of your fellow shoppers who would enjoy nothing more than giving you a swift kick in the ass, and maybe use a credit card, get rid of your outdated checkbook. Or have your money out and ready, and please don't sit there and look at me like I'm the one causing this. All I am is a lowly cashier, trying to earn money for college all I want is to go home and sleep. So while you count your change, needlessly fill out your check, or dig for that coupon that will save you a nickel, always remember there is always somebody behind you in line.

Risk

Taking risks is something that we do every day. Waking up in the morning is a risk, but it is necessary. Without risk taking our lives would be extremely dull and boring. Sometimes taking a risk works out and sometimes it doesn't, I often take stupid risk's such as driving to quickly or saying the wrong thing, and usually these risks do not work out, they often put me in a bad situation and i have to dig myself out of the hole I have dug. But sometimes taking a risk ends up with a good thing, using a different word in a paper, or writing about a new topic, wearing a funky shirt or similar things often pay off. But basically all that is needed when taking a risk is that you need to weigh the benefits and the consequences, if the benefits outweigh the consequences it is usually good to take the risk. But it is always important to remember that risk is just that, a risk and they can always go either way.

Snow

It finally snowed, I woke up Saturday morning and saw the first flakes beginning to fall, i assumed that it would end quickly, but I was very wrong, it snowed all day and into the night. Although the snow did making driving a bit more complicated and I was forced to come home early, it is impossible to be angry when the ground is coated and thoughts of winter and Christmas swirl in my head.
     It is inconceivable that there is anybody who dislikes snow, without snow our winters would be boring and gray, instead we are graced with the beauty and silence that snow provides on a frigid winter night. And yes we all know that snow can be a pain, driving in it is like trying to navigate an invisible maze, and their is nothing worse than having to wake up early to shovel the stairs on a Saturday morning. But putting all of these nuisances aside it is impossible to imagine a Christmas morning without snow on the ground, Every Christmas that I have been alive for has included presents, a tree, breakfast, and most importantly snow. So next time it snows instead of complaining and being cold imagine a winter without snow, imagine waking up on Christmas morning and seeing the sad dead grass, and the gray sky and trees. Without snow our famous Minnesota winters would be little more than a few extremely cold gray months, as opposed to the winter wonderland we have.

ummmmm.

So this post is a little late... I apologize, but at this point I've missed a couple of blogs and maybe I'm actually beginning to miss blogging? I don'd know what it is but something about seeing your work in a format that looks like it is published gives me a warm feeling, even though all I did was hit publish post. Also the space on the page feels incomplete, so even though I won't get points for this, I am going to blog anyway.
     As the first term of AP Composition comes to an end, I can honestly say that i have learned a lot about writing and myself. And overall I do enjoy, after taking this class I think about the things I am writing and saying and I always wonder if there is a more direct way to say things. I also noticed while watching television I find myself trying to figure out the arguments the adds are throwing at me,or I here an argument and the first thing that goes through my head is "that's definitely an appeal to emotion" or something similar. There have been other changes in my writing style and thinking processes due to AP Comp but I am positive that all of them have been for the better.

Writing process

To write a good paper, there are two things that I must have, the first thing is music, and the second thing is time. When I write a paper I must finish it in one shot, I can not stand starting a paper, then walking away and trying to  restart writing. music is also a key, having an iPod in blocks out all other noise and distractions and allows me to write freely uninterrupted. Music is very inspirational and often helps me to continue with ideas or even gives me brand new ideas, that turn into key points on a paper. These are basically the only things that I need to write a decent paper and if all of these criteria are met my papers usually turn out alright.

School Blog post.

All of the things we have been reading and listening to in class, seem to point to the fact that american students are lazy and unmotivated compared to students from other countries,such as china and India. But how can we know if this is true, in the movie 2 million minutes the students they chose to follow could easily have been oddities in china and India, even though the Children said that they were normal, it is impossible to know if this is true, the movie also never gave hard facts about how far behind we are as a nation, all of the facts related to amount of study time or something similar, and as we know, the amount of time spent studying or doing schoolwork does not necessarily mean that the work is high quality or even beneficial. If 2 million minutes had given hard facts as to how far behind we were as a nation, it would add more credibility to the film, as opposed to showing the total number of hours spent studying. Grades also do not correlate with human interaction, their can be straight A students who cannot work well with others, or are very anti-social, which will make interviewing and finding a job much harder. As with any argument it is important to look at all sides of the spectrum and not just see it from one direction, just because kids in India and China are graduating more engineers does not mean those engineers are skilled or good at their job. i would rather have 10 flawless engineers than 100 bad ones.

Emoticons

In class on Friday we read an article about emoticons. these articles stated that the use of emoticons was a waste of time and made you look stupid, in some cases it said that emoticons are often changed when sending email depending on what type of email you have adding typos and random gibberish to emails. What do i think about emoticons? i personally believe that when emoticons are used sparingly and correctly they can be very beneficial to an email. emoticons allow for sarcasm or jokes to be interrupted correctly. a winky face after line that is meant in a joking tone can make a large difference. adding a smiley or other emoticon can differentiate between offensive and joking very easily. But i do agree that using emoticons can deteriorate emails that are meant to be professional, when sending a email to a friend  believe that it is acceptable to use emoticons sparingly , but when emailing a boss coworker or teacher emoticons should be left out. Emoticons are something that are hear to stay, but if people begin to use them less they will retain a larger meaning and not make the users look stupid.

Obama Speech

This Speech is very different than MLK's speech that we watched in class, Obama starts of much less formally and his voice does not rise and fall the way MLK's does, but although they are different Obama as president is still an expert public speaker. His gestures are used rarely but when they are used they are extremely beneficial he also seems to be very calm throughout his speech. this may be due to fact that that both men were talking about extremely different things. Obama uses a good combination of pathos, ethos, and logos in an attempt to motivate students to improve and do their best in school. This speech, although not quite as powerful as MLK's I Have a Dream still provides motivation for students teacher and all citizens to work hard and strive to be the best all of the time.  

Jim Crowe Laws.

It is very obvious that the Jim Crowe Laws are unfair and racist but looking at them deeper we can see the language used and how that effects the laws. the Jim Crowe laws made segregation legal in the southern United for more than 100 years. MLK was very against them, and his expert writing and speaking was extremely beneficial in the destruction of segregation in the south.

Essay's

These essays are very good, They are fairly entertaining and funny. it is odd though how all of the authors write about a traumatic life experience as if it were nothing, they all mentioned something horrible happening to them and then just moving on. it seemed as though they had all forgotten about the terrible things they had seen. the best example of this was when the author and her brother got blood splattered on them, after their father was stabbed by their mother, although this should play a significant role in almost everybody's life it is talked about as if it was a normal occurrence. the authors do this through their straight forward diction, and simple syntax when talking about their traumatic life experiences

Why I Write

Why do I write? Is it because for the past 11 years teachers have been telling me it's important, maybe its because I need to for a grade or just to get some points. So far in my life these have been the reasons I have wrote, and they are not the correct reasons, writing should be about persuasion or fun or anything, but to write well you must enjoy writing, and write for more than a grade. This year I'm looking forward to improving my writing and learning to write well, that combined with lots of practice should bring my writing to whole new levels.

Inagural post

I have resisted blogging for my entire high school career, I have always believed that blogging is just a mashup of Facebook status updates, Tweets, and a record of daily activities that nobody cares about, but as time goes on it is important to accept and deal with changes and maybe blogging will transform from an assignment into a worthwhile pastime.