Steve's Blog

Been a long time

indoormanatee — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:35:17 +0000

It’s been a really long time since I have done a blog, my grade will probably show that. These blogs are awesome and I think they are a lot of fun, but I just thought it was kindof pointless. For a long time I didn’t know if they were being graded or not, so I was just kind of doing them, but now I am in that stage of “oh my gosh, I need to do blogs”. We are supposed to have 27 blogs, and I only have 1 7 blogs, that’s not very good. However, I feel as though the 17 blogs I have done were extremely good and will be worth about 100 blogs ( because that’s just how it is ).

In addition to that, I had a great Thanksivin, and I ate lots of turky and stuffin and cranberry sauce ( mmm ). I will have a great December, because I had a good November too. I hope you all do as well.

CCM Readings ( Why bother? )

indoormanatee — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:48:10 +0000

The three CCM readings for which we were responsible were well-written blips about certain issues pertaining to society. The first of which was a well-written blip about the issue of recycling plastic bags when you go to the grocery store. I believe that this is an issue, yes, but there is no clear way to prevent it, only lowering it. I think it will help slightly, to reuse the plastic bags each visit, but I don’t think any drastic changes would occur. The second essay was a well-written blip about same-sex-marriage. I have heard every possible argument about this issue, and it just does not interest me anymore, but somehow this fellow found a way to interest me. I applaud him on his efforts, but disagree with his argument. The third essay was a well-written blip about soda pop ( or as non-Ohioans call it, Soda ). I believe soda is delicious and great, but unbelievably harmful to the body and will inevitably shorten one’s life span by several years. Although it pains me to say it, I think soda should be removed from public places, and sold as much more expensive products, this would reduce the amount of soda being drank by America. The essay was good though.

Qualifying My Public Discourse Topic

indoormanatee — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:21:12 +0000

My topic for the past two papers has been for the most part labor rights. I believe that this topic is something that everyone needs to be aware of, because labor is the driving force of not only this country, but the whole world. My thesis for this next Inquiry is kind of undecided, but at the same time, I have a strong idea about what I am going to talk. If I had to pose my thesis statement in the form of a question, it would be : “Does the American public need to do something about the country’s labor policies?”

On this worksheet that I was given during my English 111 class, instructed by Lynn J. Hall at 10:10 A.M. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, there are twelve things that my thesis question must have in order for it to be an acceptable topic. After looking at them all, I can immediately answer questions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12 with “yes”. Questions 4 and 8 were a little more tricky, and I had to think about them a lot more, but I eventually came to the conclusion that “yes” was the appropriate response to those as well. After looking at this checklist, and thinking deeply about my thesis question, I am confident that I will be able to succeed on this paper, and show everyone that I’m the boss!

What I think about Matthew Shepard

indoormanatee — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:25:17 +0000

I did as the assignment requested, and went to Google. Once there, I typed in the search box: “Matthew Shepard”. Hundreds of thousands of related sites appeared, but I went to Wikipedia for this one ( Oh no, not Wikipedia, Wikipedia is the most unreliable thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life… ). According to the most reliable website on the web, Matthew Shepard was tortured and murdered because of his orientation ( for those who are too lazy to Google it, there you go ).

As unreliable as teachers think Wikipedia is, I find it nearly impossible for someone to go into that site and change information about such a widespread event. It is a tragedy indeed, but it was a learning experience for America. There have always been hate crimes based on race, religion, orientation, favorite color, etc. Only after this event happened, did the higher-ups see what was wrong with the legislation of our country, they knew that something had to be done. A new law has since been passed and hate crimes are not allowed.

What I think about Peace in an Air Raid

indoormanatee — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:04:46 +0000

I read this peace and immediately thought “oh geeze, it’s going to be another one of those things I have always read about people who are unhappy”. I was right for the most part, but at the same time, I was surprised to see that this reading was so much more than that. The story takes place from an English girl during the time of the London Air Raids in WWII. Hitler’s army was relentlessly dropping bombs all throughout England, preventing any kind of retaliation. In my opinion, this was one thing that humanity in general should look at in disgust. That one country should see it necessary to attack innocent civilians when they did not even attack yet, it’s pitiful. Adolf Hitler is viewed as a bad person for most because of what he did to the Jewish population, but I think he is a bad person for much more than that. He saw it necessary to not only lie to France and England, but to take over Austria, Poland, Hungary, and forcefully take control of France. England was left completely alone against all of Europe, and instead of invading, or just being happy with the accomplishment he had, he thought it was necessary to attack England too.

Down in Mississippi

indoormanatee — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:29:52 +0000

In addition to Mississippi being a fun word to spell, it makes a great topic for a play. “Down in Mississippi was very interesting, and it showed a very strong side of activism that many do not associate with freedom summer. There were only three characters in the play itself, in addition to 6 vocalists. 3 actors is all this play needed though, they did a very good job of making the audience believe that this was actually going on right now. At the time, Miami University was responsible for housing many people associated with Freedom Summer. They made accurate references to actual people in real life, and they acted as many normal people would act in such a situation.

If I had to rate this play on a scale of one to ten, I would give it an eight. I believe there were a few things wrong with it, for example, the ending was rather weak. It could have ended more powerfully ( I don’t have any suggestions, I’m not a playwrite ). Lastly, I would like to say that Mississippi is still one of my favorite states just because of it’s name. It’s just so gosh darn fun to spell.

What I think about Walking By..

indoormanatee — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:12:29 +0000

When I read this exert, my initial reaction was pity. I felt bad that someone had to do something differently based on the color of their skin. The man gave specific examples of following a white girl in the park, and how he has to pretend to be all jolly and happy to avoid angry mobs. That would most likely not occur today, but the fact that at one point, it did occur, it’s quite sad.

On the other side, I kind of got a chuckle out of this reading because of the references to the way girls walk when they are by themselves. I’m not going to say they all walk the same way, but for the most part, alone girls tend to have that subtle, hunched over walk and try to make themselves appear weaker and more defenseless than they actually are. Lots of people are going to get offended by what I just said, but don’t! It’s not meant to be offensive, ffs, i’m just trying to say what I was thinking. That is all.

The Story of Me

indoormanatee — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:01:39 +0000

What a strange thing to blog about, there aren’t many stories from my life to choose, at least not many that are short enough to put into paragraph form. It’s too early in the morning to think of something creative, so I am going to just tell a story of what happened to me when I was nine.

My friend Spencer and I decided that we wanted to go sledding on one Friday afternoon. We made our way to the hill and we were enjoying ourselves quite a bit. Some other people joined us after a while, and one of them had a snowboard. I was little and stupid, but I wanted to see what would happen if I could ride the snowboard down the hill. I did not strap myself in, I did not have the right boots, I was not prepared at all for what I was about to do. As I pushed myself down the hill, I immediately lost my balance and went tumbling down the hill. The fall itself was not so bad, I had only a few bruises, but what came after that fall I will never forget.

I looked up the hill, and noticed that there were two objects coming straight for me ( why their parents would be such dumb asses as to not tell their children to be careful I will never understand ). I could hardly move because I fell in such an awkward position, so I slid myself slightly to the left and managed to avoid the first person, minus some contact on my leg. When I tried to look for the second person, it was too late. She had come down on her sled, and hit me right in the mouth.

I had never before seen so much of my own blood and I thought I was going to die ( I was nine years old, and it really wasn’t that bad of an injury ). I don’t remember much after that, except for the stupid ass girl who said “oh my gosh, he has a bloody nose”. ( That damn whore I wish I could have strangled on the spot ). Aside from all the anger I felt, I learned one valuable lesson, to not make stupid decisions because you never know when some stupid kid is going to ruin your evening.

Freedom Summer Tour

indoormanatee — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:12:23 +0000

I think it’s really great that Miami can be known for something as cool as Freedom Summer. To attend a school with such a positive history is really quite enjoyable.

I enjoyed going to this tour and listening to those two girls talk about Freedom Summer. Okay, sure, I’m not the most sympathetic person in the whole world, but I sure know when it’s time to put on my sorry cap and start understanding what was going on back in those times. Attending this tour really helped me understand exactly what part Miami University played in Freedom Summer. I am going to repeat myself again, but I know none of this stuff happened in the North. It’s remarkable that people who aren’t directly affected by something can cause such a strong movement.

I hope we can do something like this again in the future.

Freedom Summer

indoormanatee — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:34:42 +0000

There has not been 1 English class throughout my entire life where this was not a subject we had to explore or read books about. I have read many many books and articles and even listened to things about why Freedom Summer was important, and why it changed everything. When most people think about this stuff happening, they think of the South, where it all did happen. For the most part, there is a history behind the oppression, dealing with the days when the South had African-American slaves. Because of that, there was little to no “wronging” in the North. I am in fact from the North ( Ohio ) and I grew up in an environment where everyone was treated equally. I think it’s great that they stood up for what they believed in back in those days, but I think it has lost a lot of it’s merit today. In the United States, everybody is treated equally due to the countless laws and constitutional amendments that took place. If we should be worried about unequality, we should be looking elsewhere, where it is actually a problem.