30 days

The movie 30 days was a great way to show how ur life can be different through different experiences. He went through a month where he was expected to live off min. wage and survive with him and his girlfriend. I thought that this was very cool to see and how much they had to give up. and ten when real life came into play and he needed to go to the er for his wrist and he didn't want to because of the medical costs, this is not only a horrible feeling but also a reality of which many Americans have to face on a daily basis. We take for granted all of the things that are handed to us by our parents and this movie makes us stop and think a little about our goals.

moving classes

i think it is weird to think you can marry or be into a different class. there is always a chance to move classes and either move up or down, and make a new life for urself. You can do this by working hard or marrying someone rich! just kidding but really wouldnt it be weird to wake up rich and go to bed poor how would u handle this..would it test ur character because i think it would. It would test what you really felt as a human being about the world and how it works. hmmmm

community service

I NEED TO DO COMMUNITY SERVICE..any ideas????
sry sal this blog sucks

movie and types of class

The movie we are watching deals with different ways to show your class. do you show your class by your house, you clothes, cars..what do you do to reflect where u are in society. Would you chose to buy a new car or invest in new stock. Some people think they need to show of there money with the more glamorous things such as rings, cars, clothes things people can see and know right away that they come from money. It is hard to say that if you could indulge in those possessions you wouldn't, but i think some of it has to do with society and the environment you live in. If you are around people who have all of those material things, you are more likely to try and strive for those things because it is what is considered normal, but it would be more interesting to step outside those norms and change that for the better of our atmosphere.

Deviance

The word deviance is an interesting thing, it is voilating the norms of society in both a positive and negative way. In the positive way, such as paying for someones lunch or randomly helping someone out, those should be norms, not deviance. The world should be trained to automatically help out when needed. You should walk down the street and want to help someone if they seem like they are in trouble. As far as the negative deviance, that is why we have crime and murder, those are the people trying to be heard and break social norms, get "back" at someone for making them suffer. It is all a little messed up, instead of one extreme to the next we need to find a medium.

lake forest students

Today when i walked into class, i was surprised to find we had volunteers who had come from Lake Forest to talk about there life and see what it really is like inside Stevenson. We talked about how it really between classes, social lives, and working. They understood what we had to say and asked interesting questions. They were 19 years old so not too much older then us,so they could relate to us on many different levels. They were nice, mature and really cared about what we had to say. It was a breath of fresh air having them listen and respond to what we had to say instead of tuning us out.

school madness!!

After finishing the movie on friday i have to say that micheal moore is a extrimist but does have some good points. It is true, that since the entertainment and other industries have become more voilent, so has society. People dont relaize that people pick up on fear and intimidation, and it spread to people who think this is there only way to get there point across. This is obviously very wrong because in other countries around the world they solve things other ways besides shootings and bombing. Espeically in our generation, we were tought to fight, we were in middle school when we entered the war, and 6 years later were still in it. This will be in our children's textbooks explaing the world turing into one big shooting target. We need to stop, educate our children and change the future generations if we dont want to lose one more child to a desprate attempt to get heard!

Micheal Moore's Movie

We just started the movie today, but I like it a lot. It is a mix of humor and reality, which seems to be the only way to get peoples attention. It seems like if we were to create a documentary about guns and how bad they are what they do, no one would care, the problem would again go un- noticed. Make a movie with humor and the rare glimpse of the wackos involved,and its number one at the box office. It is only the first day, so all they really talked about was gun control at Michigan, but it was insane! Some of the people and some of the things they were saying were pure examples of why America is such a diverse culture. In some parts of America, our jaws were open during the time when they talked about having 5 guns in there home for no reason, but in other parts of society, we are looked down upon for not believing the same things and participating in the preparation. I can't wait to see the rest of the movie sal!!!

being raised by animals

Yesterday in class we had a discussion about what it would be like to be raised by animals such as dogs, wolves, goat and even apes. It was so weird yet interesting to actually know about something like this. I guess it is out of the ordinary which makes it more valuable to learn about. The story that hit home the most was about thirteen year old girl names Genie whose parents had abused her into not being a human being. It was so sad to see this girl struggle with so many things and not be provided the nurturing side of her life. In class we are learning how we are all born with different make ups and different genes that make us close or related to our families. It is then up to our environment and atmosphere to bring those qualities out. If you are nurtured, those qualities flourish and make you who you are. The more they are ignored and put down, the more you as a human lack personality and skill. It is very sad. Another story that was unique was the one about the boy being family with the pact of dogs, and when captured, frantically begs to go back to his "family". Lets just think about this for a minute, if someone had taken us from our family, we would be devastated, so why is this any different. It is yes weird that this is indeed his family, but it is all he knows. How do you take someone out of that kind of environment and change them that much. Its something to think about...

march 19th

The rally that is taking place downtown for the anti war seems very intense and something i defiantly would want to be apart of. I am very excited to down there and see what it is all about. It is cool that when i was in history class we were discussing different marches, and now i actually get to be apart of one. This is something i could explain to my children that i was apart of this event which is monumental. I look forward to doing this for class and also to add to my community service. I will blog more after the march.

getting hit

ok the whole intersection thing were they fly past you and you almost die like 45 times is insane. Although in some cultures it is different to drive and so on but wow. Im scared..and liz u told me u wrote a blog and i should read it so im sitting here trying to find it and i cant. so u have a lot of explaining to do.

geastures/cultures

We have been talking about different cultures and what is normal and what is not. The thing that I have come to realize is that nothing we consider normal is what other countries consider normal and vice versa. There is not a certain norm that is universal except to have love, food, and shelter. It is interesting to see the different ways that people survive, such as the Japaneses toilet seat and the various ways the cleans themselves. It was also kinda cool to see the different methods of what is normal, such as the taboo, something we know about but it is something we don't discuss.This is a very captivating topic and actually keeps my attention!

Bronx Tale

The movie so far is very good. Yes, sal your right there is alot of racism in it but it is projected ina way where it almost feels like they are being offensive to there own culture. I mean like obviously in this neighborhood there is crime and people like sonny, but i feel bad for C's father. I feel like he is a stand up guy in this corrupted area and he is just trying to teach him right. You can see the difference between him and his father towards the middle of the movie when C is starting to get older and into his teens, he seems as if he is pulling away from his father. It is very intense to see him want to be the black woman on the bus because throughout the whole movie it is projected like it is a bad thing to be attracted to the african american community so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. I really enjoy the movie so far and have a secret crush on sonny, shhh

Snow day response

I think that everyone loves snowdays, but we have to realistic about the reasoning behind stevenson being so harsh on giving them to us. There is a reason why our 10 years old sisters and brothers have school off, it is simply too chaotic to have it, but we are in highschool, some of us old enough to drive and be adults. There isnt snow days in real life, like when we grow up when it snows to much we are not gonna be able to take a snow day off from work. It makes sense and is even something to be proud of that stevenson is equpited enough and ready for any situation..and plus the more snow days we have the more days added on at the end of the year...EWWW. ok this blog makes me sound like a huge nerd/loser but so true. think about it..its real life and the snow doesnt stop and start on command, neither should life.

The survivors of the f-227 (response)

I thought that last nights homework, the article, The survivors of the f-227 by James M. Henslin was very weird. I didnt think it was going to be the gruesome, but I enjoyed the uniquniess of it. It isn't a story that you read everyday. The fact that they had to eat own human bodies to stay alive was very sad. It is a story of survival and limits you go to survive. It was kind of a heavy story but very intereasting. I wouldn't pick this kind of story to read again, but it kept my attention.

The awkwardness of silence

I think people who are awkard tend to feel awkward when its silent. I dont make situations awkward, so when it is silent I dont think that it is any different from being noisy. People get uncomfortable because it is the unknown, if no one is talking, then we cant respond, if we cant respond, what do we do? People talk to much to fill the air and to hear themselves talk. Some people have alot to say which is why they are never quiet, and some people who feel like the silence is awkward are the ones who feel like they need to talk alot. I dont just wish people would listen more, i think they need too. The world is filled with noise and chaios, so we should take the time to listen, take it it and the re eveualte the situation and decide if it even needs a response. Everybody is always trying to get the last word in, which ruins the conversation. The society wants quiet and peace, but yet when we get it we always have to invent new drama to start the noise back up. Do you ever notice how when it is quiet and the world is somewhat peaceful (despite the fact that theres a war going on), we always need to make some story way bigger then it actually is to fill the silence. I have only experienced awkward silence when the situation I was in was awkward. I try and not make any thing awkward, but if it just so happends it is, I do wish i was anywhere else. I can only sit in a room with my true friends, have silence and it not be weird. I think the more comfortable you are around someone, the quiter you can be. If you just met a group of friends obviously sitting in a room silent might provoke some conversation. If it is your best friends you are always around, you can be silent and not need to talk. People should find a happy medium between being silent and being noisy. Silence is golden when words are simply not enough. Sometimes being in the room with people you love is enough, and you dont need noise to content. I think my peers spent most of the time looking for music for two reasons, one being they didnt want to start the blog, and two being that music in our generation is bigger then it has ever been. It is the one way you can express yourself and be a individual but still be connected. It is noise, but a good kind of noise!

me on Blogging

I think blogging is good idea. It is a way to share ideas and thoughts without having to hold back. It is a good idea especially because it is on the computer, a lot more students will want to write more. It is a place to talk and share some thoughts, which is really cool.

Taylors First Blog

Hey! This is my first blog. yayyyy