Finals, Finals, Finals

Well, it is finals week at Wayzata High School as the first semester comes to a close. I have a two day final in AP Micro, a two day final in AP Physics, I already had a two day final in AP Comp, I gave my blog study presentation today in Comp on mindhacks,  mindhacks.com , an awesome blog that you should definitely look at if you like science and psychology, and now comes my BLA final, sadly the last "English" assignment that I will ever have in high school.

The book that my group did for our BLA project is The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls, written by Joan Jacobs Brumberg. The book goes into good depth to describe how girls have viewed their bodies both sexually and socially and different time periods throughout history, and focuses most importantly on how those images have evolved over time. Specifically it argues that the emergence of omnipresent commercialism and liberalization of sex and sexuality have led to girls putting a much larger emphasis on their bodies and much more thought into sex and appearance at increasingly younger ages. Throughout the book it highlights changes in parental influence in girls lives, the presense of doctors in girls lives, the rise of fashion and marketing, and increasingly important and clear, however misguided, definitions of beauty.

We then compared Brumberg's book and its argument to a documentary call The September Issue that has to do with the fashion industry by highligting vogue and the power that it has over women in our society today. Anna Winter is the editor in chief of of Vogue, and the piece argues that Anna Winter, by having control of what goes into Vogue has control over the fashion trends and therefore the minds of women in our society. This piece looks much more specifically at the fashion industry than The Body Project but both share similar viewpoints within their arguments.

Both pieces argue that commercialism in our society plays an immense role in what is considered beautiful and what is not, and that being beautiful by society's standards is very important to young women in our society and that it is spreading to younger and younger girls. Brumberg makes her argument almost exclusively with logic and historical examples to back up her points. The structure of her argument is clearly broken down in sections within the book where she backs up her claims with reasoning and examples and explains the overall impact of the point that she is trying to make about female bodies. The documentary is also somewhat logical as it points out the connections between what goes on in the fashion industry and the effects that it has on young women in particular, but it does seem much more biased and contains emotional appeals while Brumberg's piece does not. The documentary uses emotional appeals to portray Anna White almost as an evil dictator who was complete control over young women and their ways of thinking, which may be partially true but is certainly exaggerated in this piece to some extent.

The audiences of the two pieces do overlap but also are a bit different. Brumberg's audience targeted more toward older and mature girls and also for parents who are or are planning to raise girls in our society. The documentary also appeals to similar women but is more targeted toward all women in general because the main focus is on fashion which makes its way into the lives of almost all women today. I think that The Body Project is very effective in its argument because it uses an overwhelming amount of logic and is very straightforward but not malicious in its claim that the body images of girls have changed over time as a result of commercialization and open sexuality. In my opinion Brumberg has a more effective argument because it much more logical and rational. However, The September Issue does have an effective argument as well, just not as effective, because it does appeal to its audience successfully in its tactics because it focuses on fashion which appeals to women and it uses enough logic paired with emotional appeals to back up its claims that Anna Winter, and the fashion industry, have a certain control over the minds of women.

Okay so that is one final done.
I will be so relieved after school tomorrow when I can finally take a break.

I'm on a Mission

Well, I have now put the final touches on my revision essay and it is ready to be turned in. I wrote my essay on vacations and why we are so infatuated with them. I also extended it to material objects as well to further establish my argument, but it was mainly focused on vacations and new experiences.

 So why did I write about this you ask?

Well, my mission statement would be something like this. I wrote my essay on this topic because it is a topic that everyone can relate to and that anyone could read. I wanted to write a reflective essay where I was able to turn my own experiences and my own thinking into a logical argument that I could extend to humans in general. My purpose in writing this essay is to get people to reflect on their lives. I think the biggest reason I wrote it is because I want people to enjoy their lives more, and be thankful for the things that they have because it is normal for someone to think their life is boring, even if it is the repetition that is boring and not their life. I wanted to make an argument about something that anybody could relate to, and for that argument to make them reflect on their own lives and how their lives relate to what I wrote about.

That is why I wrote about vacations. And their awesomeness.

Another Funny Video

Here's another funny video that I thought I would share because after going on youtube for the first one of course I am going to watch a few more videos, and this one does a very good job of over-exaggerating stereotypes.

A Parody on Shamwow

Okay so I decided to turn to the all mighty youtube for my humor example. I went with a video that I have seen a few times but it is always funny because it is so ridiculous and pretty much pointless. Nevertheless, I find it funny so I hope you do as well. It is called Paper Towels:

Expanding Your Horizons

Why is it so hard for me to think of the things that bother me. I know there are plenty of them but whenever I try to think about my pet peeves it takes me a while to think of them and then articulate them. Well here goes:

One pet peeve of mine, at least the first one that came to mind, is when someone says they are not good at trying new things or doesn't try doing something new because they don't expect to be good at it. I'm not completely sure why that annoys me but part of it is probably because I enjoy doing new things or trying new things. The first part is more of a wording problem than anything because when someone tells me they are not good at trying new things, the first thing I think is, "No, it's not that you aren't good at trying new things, it's that you just don't want to." I don't say that out loud to people because nothing good would come out of it, but then it makes me think about why people are so against trying new things. Maybe they are afraid of not liking it or not being good at it. Maybe they are trying to convince themselves that their lives are already good enough and that they don't want to throw a wrench in. It may be different for everyone but the thing that annoys me the most is when people don't try doing something new because they are afraid of failing or are afraid of being embarrassed if they don't do well or aren't cut out for it. Maybe they will be amazing at it. Maybe they will find their new favorite food. Even if it doesn't go well, you still learn from the experience. Part of it may be because when I was a little kid I hated trying new things, but then my outlook changed. We come into this world with basically nothing. We must discover the things that we are good at, the things we enjoy to do, the things we are passionate about, and the things that just aren't for us. The thing is,

You will never know until you try.

My Christmas Tradition

Yes I realize that it is New Years Night when I am writing about Christmas but once I fill you in on my amazing Christmas tradition you will realize why I have waited a week to spend some time writing about it.

As it does each year, Christmas morning rolls around and most people are either fast asleep in their beds, waiting impatiently for the clock to hit 7:00 before they can sprint downstairs to open presents, or waking up early to "check" the gifts that Santa has left for their children overnight. Well it's a different story for me. The clock buzzes at 5:00 am but I am already lying awake in anticipation. I quickly put in my contacts, throw on some clothes, and lug my suitcase and backpack downstairs and to my Uncle's car in the driveway. Just like the previous 17 years, my family and I are heading to Florida on Christmas day, more specifically Sanibel Island, Florida.

Every year my grandparents rent a house from December to March in the same neighborhood on the island and every year over Christmas vacation my family and I fly down and stay with them for around a week. It is an awesome Christmas tradition and a great chance to get away from my normal life and the cold that accompanies it at this time of year.

This year on Sanibel Island was pretty much just like all the other years but I would want it no other way. Spending my days relaxing at the beach, splashing in the pool, playing mini golf across the street with my brother, and enjoying some delicious seafood before walking over to the beach for a sunset. When that is my typical day I have nothing to complain about. I guess maybe I could ask to stay there longer but my time will come. Hopefully when I am as old and wise as my grandparents I too will have a paradise that I can call my home for 1/4 of the year. Not too much where it becomes the same old thing and just your home, but an exciting break from life that I can always look forward to and enjoy every moment of.

Let's Talk Sports

Okay so in this post I am just going to talk about a bunch of different things corresponding to a bunch of different sports, because I love sports. If you don't, then you should reconsider because there are countless sports and they are fun to play and fun to watch. You can start with sportscenter. On ESPN, channel 25 on comcast and channel 206 on direcTV, sportscenter is on every morning and I watch it every week day while I am eating breakfast before I go to school. It if a basic recap of the sporting events of the prior day and it only includes the most exciting, important, or entertaining parts so it is perfect for someone who isn't super into sports.

Football is an awesome sport. It is one of the few times that you can run around like a madman and hit someone else as hard as possible and have people cheer about it. This weekend everyone's favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings, achieved a nice victory over the St. Louis Rams 36-22. Adrian Peterson rushed for over 200 yards, including an 82 yard touchdown run. That brings his season total within 300 yards of the all time single season rushing record. Peterson now has two weeks to rush for 300 yards and he can break the record. Fingers crossed.

Now baseball. The biggest news in baseball recently has had to do with the Los Angeles Angels. They recently picked up Josh Hamilton to add to their already killer lineup. Their lineup is stacked with sluggers Josh Hamilton, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Trumbo, Morales, and Kendrick to name a few. The Minnesota Twins have also made some questionable moves recently, getting rid of both of their center fielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere, so they now have a pretty big hole to fill.

In recent basketball news around Minnesota, the Timberwolves are having a good start to their season at 12 wins and 9 losses. Their starting point guard Ricky Rubio has also just returned from a torn ACl suffered last season. He had a great first game back last night as the T-wolves beat the Dallas Mavericks and Rubio had a top ten play on sportscenter today.

That's a good amount for today, maybe in a few weeks I will have another post about sports, and next time we will add in some stuff about hockey if the NHL decides to make up and end the lockout.