Comments

I commented on Dylan's, Allie's, Melissa's, and Katie's.

Reading and Reflection Pt. 2 Broken Windows

This theory was really interesting. I had problems understanding it at first, probably because it was really late and I was exhausted, but I reread it and am pretty sure I get it now. Fixing the small problems before they get too bad is a good idea. I liked the graffiti cleaning idea. Because it takes three days to finish a piece, once they finish just fix it. They put so much work into it and now no one can appreciate it. It is like taking a completed roll of film from a photographer and exposing it or recording over a musicians tape. They were probably so proud of that and now its ruined. There's no way to get it back. It's the worst kind of punishment.

Reading and Reflection Pt. 1-Stanford Studies

The studies Stanford did with the underground jail thing, like Dylan said, made me think of the Chinese Water Torture episode of Mythbusters, too. That's what you get for being in a class based on Mythbusters. The less choice you have, the more stressed you are. Even if you know there are people right there who can get you out and get you to safety, you still can't help but become super paranoid. Maybe they'll turn on you and force you to stay strapped down. You never know. I wasn't at all surprised by the outcome of their "tests." The environment you are in definitely effects how you act. It's kind of like what I said about the last chapter, what you are exposed to is what determines your future. People who are treated poorly and are raised in less than decent environments are much more likely to either become serial killers or become super depressed. Sometimes even both. It all depends on how you are treated and brought up.

The OC #2-Shootings

I didn't know much about this shooting before reading this article and I don't know much about any of the previous ones. I don't watch t.v. much and I never watch the news, nor do I read the newspaper or anything news related. I should probably start caring about what's going on, but I don't. I think what happened was horrible, who wouldn't? People were hurt and killed, but this kind of thing probably happens more often than we know. Though, I looked it up and the number of school shootings have gone down quite drastically in the past decade or so. I wasn't really affected by the article that said the shooters bought their weapons from the same place. Anyone, anywhere can get anything easily and it's not that surprising that more than one person buys from the same place. I'm sure there are more than three people buying from stores online. No big deal really. I bet someone else in some other state bought something from, say Barnes and Noble, sometime recently. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Anyways, I really hope school shootings aren't going to become a regular thing and I hope the numbers keep going down, not up. Maybe people should stop being so judgemental. Most shooters are people with poor social lives and got picked on. Some of them have mental problems, but for the most part it's because they weren't treated right and were hurt in the past.

The OC #1-Bloggerific.

I really like this class. It's my kind of class, since it requires no talking. It's a great class for people like me. Those of us who may have something to say, but are too afraid to say it. I like having a chance to think about what I'm going to say. No one just asks me a question and expects me to answer on the spot. That kind of thing stresses me out a lot. Also, I really like computers so any excuse for me to be on the computer is a good thing to me.
I tried thinking of something I wanted to change about this class, but I couldn't really think of anything. It's such a great class. The assignments aren't too difficult, the reading isn't all that bad, and we have plenty of time to get everything done. The only thing I think I might change would be maybe to add choices. For example, with the OC or Research and Linking there could be a few options and we'd only have to pick one or two. So if there's a student who doesn't like, let's say, politics, there could be another options. You could even offer a choice where they can make it up themselves, but you can only use it some specified number of times so it's not just random crap week after week.

Reading and Response Pt. 2-Emily

The story about Emily, and the story she created, just amazed me! I didn't realize how complexly kids that young think. She was not only making a story of things she normally does, but she made it up completely and used everyday stuff in a fiction story. And she was only two and a half years old!! It just amazes me how intelligent kids are at such young ages. Though I'm not totally convinced it's from t.v. A lot of it comes from their environment, how their parents raise them, and how they are taught things at school and at home. If t.v. shows like Blue's Clues and Sesame Street help, then that's awesome.

Reading and Response Pt. 1-Sticky

I didn't realize that shows like Sesame Street and Blue's Clues took so much thought and research. I never really thought about it, but now that I have, it's not actually all that surprising. They feature some intense stuff for kids. Emotions are a big deal to them because they don't get it. My brothers get so confused when one of us gets sad or angry cause they don't know what's happening. They just ask, "What's wrong with (insert anyone's name here)?" Even when we try to explain what's wrong they still don't get it. Watching it on t.v. helps them comprehend it a little bit. Lots of exposure to it in the past, present and future will prepare them for their own emotions. I hope. Or they'll grow up to be heartless, uncaring people. Whatever works.

The OC #2-Sickness and school

Don't you hate it when you get really sick and then your entire life gets messed up? I think there needs to be a way to be cure your sickness and not fall behind in everything. I know I've been more sick in the past few weeks than I ever have. I never get like deathly ill. At the moment I think I have the flu, which I've never actually gotten, and I'm falling so behind in everything. Especially this class. I haven't been allowed to get out of bed for days, though that hasn't stopped me, and I'm super busy lately, too. I have Gymnastics classes on Thursdays and I'll probably miss that, and then rock climbing sometimes that I should be starting, but now can't. Plus I'm missing a bunch of classes at school and I'm already behind from being sick and going to the dentist last week. There needs to be a way for kids to be sick and relax and get better without falling way behind in school. Some kids are super motivated once they get back, but not everyone can do that. If you have any ideas please share them. I'm going to go rest some more before posting another blog. My body doesn't like this whole sitting in a cold kitchen thing I'm doing now.

The OC #1-Welcome to Hello Kitty Hell

Ok, I've wanted to post on this for awhile and should have done it as my blog I'd be willing to follow, but here it is.
Hello Kitty Hell-One Man’s Life With Cute Overload
Hello Kitty Hell was originally a site/blog made by a guy whose wife is probably the biggest Hello Kitty fanatic in the world and became the greatest Hello Kitty site. He started by posting blogs about ridiculous HK things his wife would buy, then other people would send him emails of things they'd find and he'd post them. There are some amazing things like HK Guns, bathtubs, jewelry, computers, valentine's day chocolates, even an HK MMORPG. There are also some other, inappropriate things on there. It's the most ridiculously fantastic website I've ever seen. Whether you hate Hello Kitty or are more obsessed than this guy's wife, it's the best website to go to for a little giggle.

Research and Linking: Cool Schools

One school I found was The Met.
The Met is a small alternative high school in Providence, RI. built by two guys who were given money and told to start a high school from scratch. So they decided to forget about all the common ideas shown in normal public schools and asked themselves "What's best for kids?" They wanted a school that allowed kids to experience different things that they might be interested in and allow their parents to be active in their child's education. The website shows a bunch of statistics about the school, like #1 in the state for Parent Involvement and 94.6% Graduation rate, one of the highest in the state. I think the reason it's such a cool school is because the students aren't forced to take classes about things they don't want to learn about and the teachers and parents are much more involved in the learning process than in other schools. Students there don't go home for things like holidays, not because they can't, but because they don't want to.

Another school I found was Brockwood Park School.
Brockwood Park is located in Hampshire, 60 miles SW of London. It has a about 60 students 14 and older and has the feeling of a large family rather than a boarding school. The students as well as faculty all help to keep the grounds looking nice and really are like a huge family made of people from over 25 different countries. Much like Linworth, the students help plan their individualized schedules, as well as offer their own classes. The curriculum at Brockwood is based on the particular needs, talents, capacities, and interests of each student

RE: A Little Help, Please?

I think I figured it out. Something was going on in the HTML. Let me know if it's still doing it.
Thanks.

A Little Help, Please?

My computer is being really spastic and is making my font look...weird. Sometimes it looks bigger, sometimes smaller, and I can't really tell what it ends up looking like to you guys. So if you notice the font's too small or changes size in the middle of a sentence, let me know so I can attempt to fix it.

Thanks!

The OC#2-SMILE!

LolCats
What would make you smile more than cute kitties with cute, misspelled quotes? Nothing! LolCats is probably one of the most adorable websites I've ever seen. People post pictures of their cats doing cute, silly things and have quotes spelled completely wrong. The ones I posted are just the beginning. There are hundreds of pictures and videos that will entertain you for hours. My little brothers love watching the videos and will stay quiet as long as they are playing. If you're ever down, just go there and you'll be better in seconds. Unless you don't like cats.

Research and Linking-Politics

I don't really care for politics all that much. I'm not very good at making my own opinions, which makes politics very difficult. Something somewhat political I do care about, however, is the Colbert Report. He makes politics fun. So I found a blog about him.
COLBERT2008
Simmons, the blogger, has a lot of different things to do with Colbert, like polls, quotes, and other things to keep us up to date with Colbert for President. One of his older posts, actually, is 101 Greatest Stephen Colbert Quotes. Colbert is probably the funniest and greatest political type people I've ever known.

Another blog I found was...
mediagirl
Media Girl is a blog by and for women (and men, too) to discuss, rant, blog, analyze, and/or laugh about media, politics and culture. It touches a lot on feminism as well. The latest posts have been, of course, about the presidential elections. It's a very open site that allows anyone to speak their mind about politics, not just in the U.S., but world wide.

The OC #1-Targeting

After reading about the "demeaning ad" from Target, I got quite frustrated with them. Though the picture itself didn't really bother me, (I don't find it demeaning, but I guess, if you don't get it the first time you look at it, it would seem that way.) the way Target handled it was unacceptable. They need to actually listen to their customers and treat them with respect or they'll be losing a lot of money. And not using the technology we have today and the sources out there to talk to and hear from your customers is just stupid. Grow up and stop being so close-minded.

RRR-Pt.2:The Tipping Point-Chapter 1

The 80/20 thing I found very interesting and, once I thought about it, made a lot of sense. It's not like there are, say, 100,000 criminals that do an equal amount of killing. 20,000, probably less, do the majority of the murders/crimes and the other, 80,000 commit small, petty crimes. There are always those mass murderers who do a majority of the killing. It makes perfect sense really.

This chapter had so many stats and sources. I loved it! He gave so many different ideas as to why the HIV virus spread so quickly and gave sources to back up those ideas. Like, the demolishing of the buildings leading to the massive increase in people infected with syphilis. It made sense and he gave other peoples' opinions on if that's what happened or if it was something else, like the decline of doctors/physicians/etc. at the clinics.

I'm really looking forward to reading more and hoping he has a lot more stats coming our way.

RRR-Pt.1:The Tipping Point-Intro

When we were assigned the book I didn't really think about the name, but now that I've read it makes a lot of sense.

Who knew there was a way to compare STDs and Hush Puppies. I remember the Hush Puppies trend. I was a big collector of the plush toys. There were so many colors and they were so adorable! I wonder if I have any of those lying around somewhere...

I'm quite fond of his examples, things that just came out of no where and became very popular very quickly. Like Pokemon or those disgusting Vera Bradley bags. They are so ugly, why would you want to be caught carrying one? I apologize to anyone who carries one. That's your choice. I, personally, think they are hideous and not at all useful. Pokemon, however, I'm a big fan of. I didn't really know about them when they first started, but over the past few years I've come to like them. Sorry, I'm getting a little off topic.

So far I'm enjoying the book. He has a lot of stats and sources which makes me want to believe him. I like people who can back up what they're saying. I'm looking forward to continuing this book.