Music Review

For this music review I'm digging up an old song.  Old Man by Neil Young is a great song that compares generations.  I feel that a big clash between people always comes down to generation vs. generation.  Ever since there has been different generations clashes have occurred.  Fathers always trying to be better than their sons, or even people in the business world look down upon younger generations for their lack of experience and vice versa. I think what people fail to see is that even though our age may be different, they are more similar than different.  This song sums this up a little bit.

As I'm writing this blog I'm watching American Chopper: Sr. vs.Jr.  For those that don't know what this show is, here is a short summary: American Chopper: Sr. vs. Jr. is a show that follows both Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. after they split from OOC.  Paul Sr. sued his son Paul Jr. and since then they haven't talked and their relationship has dwindled so bad that Paul Sr. didn't even go to his son's wedding.  What they won't except is that they are so much a like, they can't work equally.  As soon as they accept their like personalities the sooner they will be able to reestablish a relationship.

Back to reviewing, this is a song that the lyrics speak louder than the music.  Neil Young is an amazing song writer that has power within his lyrics.  Even though the song is a very simple one, it still has a lot of meaning.  Neil Young's lyrics captivate the listener and leave it open ended to interpretation.  Although it maybe a story, it can mean as much as you desire.

YouTube - Neil Young - Old Man - Live at Massey Hall

Jay and Nick

These two characters, Jay and Nick, have become quite good friends since their first acquaintance.  Nick hadn't known Gatsby but from what he had heard so when he actually met Gatsby, I think he was in a way surprised.  They agree on many things and they have the same views for a lot of things.  Although they just met their relationship is developing fast based on what they share in common.  Before they knew each other they thought way different. For example, Nick thought (Based on Jordan's rumor) that Gatsby was this menacing German spy.  To say the least their friendship hit the ground running.

Jay took initiative and invited his neighbor, Nick, over to one of his extravagant parties.  Nick shows up and finds Ms. Baker.  Nick ventures to the library and finds that the books are real which gets his hopes up that Gatsby could be a real man to admire.  However, he realizes they are uncut, but to him just the thought of having actual books is more than enough.  When they finally meet, they know they will become great friends. 

When Jay introduces himself to Nick, Nick doesn't even know its Gatsby himself.  He makes the mistake and soon Jay corrects him by saying he is Gatsby.  As they start to talk they realize they have many things in common, and that they are essentially the same person.  At the second party Nick attends the two converse a little more deeply and start to talk about the war.  Unintentionally, Jay clears up the rumor by telling the real story of how he took a machine gun regiment up to the front lines and took out the whole line of German soldiers before the Infantry could reach him.  Nick admires many of Gatsby's qualities.  Soon enough the two are hanging out around New York in Gatsby's hydroplane as if they had known each other for ever. 

Winter Poem

Snow

 

Snow is white and clean

Snow is pure like gold and gods

Snow should always fall

The Trick of Writing

For me the trick to writing is getting my ideas onto paper.  This may sound easy for some but for me its most likely the hardest part.  The ideas that are actually in my mind are sometimes better than when I get them on paper.  So when when I do get these "good" ideas onto paper its like pulling teeth out.  The whole process takes a long time for me so I end up spending a lot of time looking at the screen.  However, over the years I've gotten much better at this and I can get the ideas out much faster than before.

This problem has followed me ever since I have started to writing.  I've never excelled at reading and writing, I've been more of a math and science type of person for as long as I can remember through the years my English teachers have tried to help me improve this.  The most memorable was probably my 6th grade English teacher, although we didn't get along, she really pushed me to improve my skills.  So all in all, the trick is getting ideas on paper.

Thankful for a Classmate

If I had to choose someone to be thankful for I would probably choose Haley since I've "known" her the longest.  She's in my division and we live very close to one another.  I first met her in freshman orientation and freshmen connection.  Since then our relationship has developed into a brother sister relationship.  It's weird but funny in way as well.  Haley is a good classmate and friend because we have a very good understanding of each other and unfortunately for her I know how to make her angry.  However, she also knows how to come back at me with jokes.  So all in all we are very good friends that know how to piss each other off and make each other laugh.

For me it seems that the longer that I know Haley the more dependent I have become on her.  I find myself asking her lots of questions about homework and other various questions.  I think I definitely depend on her more than she depends on me but I'll never admit that to her.  Haley has saved me many a times and I thank her for that, and that is why she is probably the best classmate.

I am a Plow

A plow to me is a agricultural tool. However, I doubt Mr. McCarthy wanted us to talk about how we help a farm. So a plow in this sense, to me, is a person who goes through life with their head down and does the same thing everyday. These types of people are "Going through the motions." Therefore people that take initiative in the world and are passionate in what they do are the ones that aren't plows.

People that are plows wear in the same path everyday by doing the same thing over and over again. On the other hand people that don't do this make new paths. In all both groups of people could be looked at as a plow. One makes the same trench over and over while the other makes a new path each time.

A Direction the Class Needs

A few of my class get to be a little tedious because of the repeated class structure: Go over homework, lecture, in-class work, and then assign homework. To me this shouldn't be how we learn. Classes should be taught the way we want to be taught. We're the ones learning after all. People learn better if they are taught in a way they can relate.

Everyone learns better a certain way so I think they should be taught based on how they learn best. For example, if a student learns chemistry best with hands on examples like labs, then that student should have more labs in his/her lesson plan. Or if someone learns better with lectures then they have more lectures. All in all for me a class has to intrigue me for me to maintain focus. So therefore the classes I like are classes that have aspects that I enjoy.

American Lit this year hasn't had this problem yet because we have discussions that I can jump into if I have an opinion to put forth. I tend to excel in classes that have aspects that are my learning strengths. So in conclusion, I think that if we are taught the way we learn best we can all make it through high school learning and having fun.

Modern Day Slavery

Around the world, children are working in more dangerous jobs than the average person in America. Approximately 1-6 children ages 5-14 are victims of child labor. Millions in the world work in very hazardous conditions such as mines, chemical plants, and around dangerous machinery.  Most parents are worried when their kids start climbing trees or rough housing on a jungle gym. They couldn't even fathom having their five year-old breathing in harmful chemicals and doing tedious labor for twelve hours. These children are in need, yet they are invisible to most of the world. The majority of people don't care how they got their gold necklace, but if they knew that a child almost died to make it; maybe they'd think twice.

The child slavery all over the world for the most part goes unnoticed, due to the fact that cases aren't publicized.  I find this sad because this means that companies that use children are getting away with child labor without penalties.  Also child labor isn't exactly thought as slavery it's looked upon more as a wrongful crime. People don't think it is as serious of a problem as it really is.  So all in all we all know it is happening yet we don't do anything because no one knows how serious it is.

In conclusion, I don't think child labor is seen as a very serious problem because it is not publicized a lot.  The slavery most people think of is either the sex trade or sweat shops.  However, child labor is just as serious. To sum everything up child labor should be explained to people so the rest of the world knows of this massive world wide problem.  Just think billions of children around the world are victims of child labor. So the next time you buy something made outside of the US, think about the idea that a 5 year old child may have had to suffer in order for you to get that product.  And then if you buy that product you support child labor. 

Puritans Today...

Salem: The darkest times of the Salem actually put it on the map. As the tourists came to Salem the town was filled once again with witches.

Puritans: The puritan was created on the idea that orthodox christianity.  They tried to live the bible as literally as possible in their own lives.

House of the seven gables: The House is believed to be haunted.  Many employees believe there is a young boy and a women spirit.

Hawthorne:  Hawthorne's grandfather was a judge in the Salem Witch Trials.  Father died at a young age, mother went into seclusion until her death.  Was a very angry writer, resembled the house.

The Puritans still make their way into our society today but we don't see it as much anymore.  Their way of thinking still is around.  The literal meanings of things are still around in our now a day political parties.  Each has its interpretation on different things to different degrees.  However most don't believe that there is a perfect person as did the Puritans.  So all in all the Puritans as a society didn't last but their legacy and ways live on forever within the modern day world.

The Moment I Knew I was an American

To be an American?  Many things can classify a person as being American; views, background, virtues, goals. For me an American is anyone who expresses the views of freedom and the has the will to accomplish his or her goals.  Race, ethnic background, culture have nothing to do with being an American. If you are a hardworking person looking to make a good life for yourself and share the necessity of freedom, you meet all the qualifications.  Born in America makes you "American" but only by a slip of paper that says you were born in America.  If you believe another countries virtues and opportunity are greater you could consider yourself that nationality.  To say the number of people that consider themselves Americans is very few considering how many people say they live in America.

When I was a kid, I was always asking what I was. My mom would say your half Chinese and half Irish.  I would also ask the story's of how our families got to America.  I would ask my mom's mom especially because she immigrated from China and I found her story to be the most interesting out of all the story's.  As I grew older I kept to the same story until I started being asked what race I was on surveys and tests.  I had always considered myself Chinese-Irish (Chi-rish), but when I was then asked to choose between "white" and "Asian," I found myself pulled between sides of the family.  I was very confused as why an "other" box was so hard to have, there has to be a pretty good amount of multi-racial kids besides just me.  So this was the moment I truly realized I was an American.  I represented the make up of all most the entire country. Like myself there are millions of Americans who are multi-cultural.  There is only small amount of "pure-blood" people and the numbers are going down in each generation.  So when I realized that being part of many cultures was the staple of America, I realized I was American.

America was sought as the "Land of Opportunity" and it brought many cultures into it.  This movement of people to America is what makes it such a beauty.  Before America I would have never existed.  There is no way that I would've come to be if America hadn't existed.  I am a true product of America because without it I would probably not be here.  The chances of an Irish man going to China would've been very slim.

Us vs. Them... Us and Them

Absolutely no idea what this blog is supposed to be about, so here goes nothing.

As you go through life there are always going to be groups. Whether they're social, racial, sports, religion, or what ever they might be, they will exist forever until the world becomes one. However, I don't see this happening in my life time, but what I do see in my future is a lot of "Us vs. Them."  Today all around the world their are fights between groups that have gone on for hundreds of years.  For example, the Shiite and Sunni Muslim groups have been fighting for a long time and it seems as if there is no end in sight.  Religion is a major group difference and it doesn't just happen in Muslim culture it happens in the majority of religious groups.

The main problem with group differences is that they just follow the same views as the generation before them so really the same war is being fought hundreds of times.  If you look at some of the main problems different groups have there aren't a lot of new problems that come up  most of the problems have occurred for many years.  In order to move from "Us vs. Them" to "Us and Them" we have to set our differences aside and solve our disputed problems and agree to disagree on somethings. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in order for world peace or "Us and Them" different groups have to look at what they are really fighting for.  Is the reason that important to be killing over?  As soon as one group looks at the bigger picture and realizes, in a hundred years they have made no progress.  This is a good sign that maybe that battle is never going to be one and from the beginning there was never going to be a winner.  The point I'm really trying to make is that when people see that in order to survive we rely on the good of humanity as a whole, world peace could become a possibility.  For example, when you are alone the chance of you surviving by yourself is much lower than if you had a companion, if you were stranded on an island. However, if you have a companion you are more likely to survive (Tom Hanks and Wilson in Castaway).

John Proctor, Hero or Stooge?

John Proctor a decent or dishonest man? He's both in a way.  Throughout the story my views of John changed because first he was having an affair with Abagail and then he stayed by his wife when she was charged with witchcraft.  So it's hard to decide what to call him because he seems to match all his bad with good.  So in order to choose what side he belongs, hero or stooge, you have to look at the true message behind the majority of his messages.

The main thing John Proctor proved is that sometimes when you do something wrong, admitting is more powerful than denying because you send a message to all those who are against you.  In John's case it was most of the town minus his wife that saw him to be a sinner, but in his eyes he was cleaning his name and his image by admitting to the charges and paying the price.  Although some saw it as him escaping confession, the truth was he already made his peace with God and was just out to prove a point against the puritan society and how a accusations mean everything.


John Proctors example showed that in a puritan society no matter how much good you good one sin will get you executed.  John wanted to show that he could have lied and gotten out of the mess he put himself into, but instead he would keep his name and image clean by not lying and facing the consequences of his actions.  To me this makes a true hero because he accepted the consequences and didn't try to lie his way out. 

All in all the puritan society is a little crazy over the fact that you can't make a sin or else you don't go to heaven.  In all reality if you accept your punishment or accusation and make peace with your god, then that is all anyone can ask for.  This is what John Proctor was ultimately trying to do in my eyes.  He admitted to his wife and made peace with God so his sin was forgiven by everyone that mattered.  The people didn't matter because no matter what he looked like a sinner and that is what his message to us was getting across.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

This radical sermon sparked lots of controversy and was hard to believe for some to comprehend.  Jonathan Edwards came out with this piece to try to prove to all that he wasn't just crazy, but that his beliefs were true.  He believed in the Puritan way and was totally into the whole idea that if you didn't do as the bible said word for word that you weren't going to heaven.  He, along with many others, believed that the only way to make it into heaven was to obey the laws of God throughout your entire life with out missing a beat.  This was borderline insanity for some to comprehend.

For some it was to much and they found the Puritans different as in a bad way.  Most people in England didn't find the Puritans as good company and demised them.  Because the English had booted them with their bad reputation, they looked for refuge in the 13 colonies.  Even the Natives found this type of religion to be a little strange.  However, the main reason people didn't understand them is that they new what was outside of the society, where as the Puritans only new the Puritan way.  The craziness that the Puritans put forth as reason quickly made people turn away as they saw no logic in Jonathan Edward's speeches and sermons.  The majority of the English found them to be weird and saw the Puritans as an unfitting group so they let them go to the New America.

All in all the Puritans were a misunderstood group.  Kind of like today's Amish people.  We may find them a bit strange because they are stuck in the past but we have outside views on them, where as they only know what is within the group.  The biggest part into understanding a different culture or social group is to make sure you have the right perspective on things.  For example, if you automatically assume the Amish are weird then you aren't fully understanding them.  However if you take the right angle and you see that they know nothing but the Amish way you would understand and not criticize.  Things appear differently with perspective, but in order to see them the right way you have to look at them with the right perspective.

There goes the neighborhood

In my neighborhood there are a clash of generations.  My parents generation all live in the same area and/or the same house in some cases.  There is an increasing number of newer families coming into the neighborhood and some of them disagree with what the older parents have.  My parents did not come from Chicago so they aren't really part of it but even so some of the newer parents put them with the older generation.  I've noticed this not as much on my block but more the old school and parish I attended, Queen of Angels Elementary School and Parish.

I started to notice this as I got older and it was because a lot of newer families started to move in. They came in and started to "take over" control in a lot of the committees at school.  In the neighborhood as well they started to change a lot of things that had stayed the same for many years, some for the best.  Within the school the "older families" that had been in the neighborhood for many years didn't like the change and began to complain.  Things started to change in the grades below me, but things stayed the same for my class. Things were changing and people didn't like it.

Overall, the newer families were doing what they thought best for their kids.  But, the older families didn't like the change and gave them a hard time and it was like a civil war with in the school.  The events ran their course and people are still not getting along unfortunately.  So for the time being it will be Young vs. Old.  Neither side will adopt the changes and with that will come controversy over anything that happens with in the school.  This is happening all over and it shouldn't happen because everyone should try to compromise and move on with life.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Ryan Brown.  I am half Chinese and the rest Irish, German, and a little Welsh.  Fortunately,  I've lived in the same house my whole life and made many good friends with the people that live around me.  Growing up I've learned to try new things thanks to my parents.  They allowed me the opportunities to try new things and through these I've fallen in love with a few things.

From a young age I my parents helped me through school and to stay focused.  As I got older I realized why they had pushed me to do well in school, to do well you have to have the drive to succeed.  It hit me the hardest in 7th grade when my grades determined my academic future.  With the knowledge my parents had instilled in me I was able to well in 7th grade.  My parents were a big part of my motivation to do well in school when I lacked it. I thank them for that as that is how I got to where I am now.

I've been an active kid all my life.  I never was the one that liked to sit around, I had to be doing something.  I've played sports since I was young and the two I still play are baseball (the longest)and football which I've played for a couple years (one which was played at Whitney Young).  One of my favorite things to do is ski.  I started skiing when I was about 5 and kept it up ever since.  I tried snowboarding when I was younger but it wasn't the same (I was pretty bad at it).  Over the years I've improved and now some hills are a piece of cake that I would've never done in years past.  The first time I went skiing in Colorado was one of the best times of my life.  Until then I had only skied the Midwest and after awhile the double black diamonds (highest difficulty) get pretty boring. So Colorado was a big change and I loved it.  If I could live out there all winter I would.

Overall, I am an outgoing energetic person.  I am very friendly although I am sometimes shy at first. I am open to try a lot of new things from foods to challenges.  I love my parents no matter what even though they make me mad at times because they helped me get to where I am today.  I am proud of my heritage and like to learn about my ancestors.  I like the outdoors, skiing, and sports and I hope I can continue them forever.  In the future I hope to be an electrical engineer that works with robots. In conclusion, I try to live life to the fullest and accomplish all my goals big and small.