too skinny too fat or stuck in the middle

Too Skinny, Too Fat or Stuck in the Middle

When Professor Marsh first told us that we had the freedom to pick whatever topic we wanted to write about for our second paper, at first I was really concerned because I had know idea what to write my paper on. Then I figured I would just write it on something easy like celebrities and how they affect our daily lives. When I went to the conference with Professor Marsh and told him my idea, he told me that it was to vague and that I would loss my focus because there are so many different sub-topics that I could write about. Then I told him about the episode of the Tyra Banks’ show that I was watching the night before. The theme for that episode was how the media affects young girls. They started to talk about how if Marilyn Monroe where to still be alive in today’s society she would be considered heavy or even fat and how A-list celebrities that are way too skinny are considered to be the “it girls”. So soon as I told him about that he told me “that’s it, write about how the idea of the “ideal woman” has changed throughout the years”.
Throughout history the idea of the “ideal woman” has been influenced through the media. For the most part when you ask a man or a woman who they would consider to be their “ideal woman”, they would most likely name a celebrity or a supermodel. If you were to ask them, why, they would probably give you several physical reasons why they consider that person to be their “ideal woman”. Now don’t you think there is something wrong with society if we just consider them to be “ideal” because of their physique? Well I do. I feel like not only do people see these women to be “ideal” but half the time they try to be just like them. One thing that I feel like most people don’t really understand is that these “ideals” do change and have changed throughout the years.
In the beginning of the 1950’s when Marilyn Monroe first came out as a celebrity or an “it girl”, most women wanted to be her and most men wanted her. She first started off as a cover girl/ model and then she became an actress. She had this sex appeal that no other woman of her time had. Marilyn Monroe was a size twelve. Her body was curvy and very voluptuous. But according to Just Say When “Vintage Clothing sizes are much much smaller than today's clothing sizes… vintage clothing sizes run 4-6 sizes smaller than clothing sizes today.” So what we would consider to be a size twelve back then in today’s standards it is really a size four or six. Now still considering that if Marilyn Monroe would still be alive today she would still be consider fat because she was a size six. As much as this might hurt to hear in today’s society if you’re not a size zero or two, you are probably considered fat. But back in the 1950’s most women looked up to their “ideal woman”, Marilyn Monroe, and they were basically wearing clothes that in a way were showing off most of their curves, to show that they weren’t rail thin. But in the 1960’s everything changed.
Twiggy a world renounced Supermodel came to be what most women were idealizing in the 1960’s. Personally I would say that this is when rail think look came into play. Twiggy was about 5’8 and weighted 97 pounds. It’s pretty scary to think that this is what women today would consider to be “ideal”. I would consider this to be the era when the anorexic look came about. One thing that that I think inspired this look of being really skinny was that in 1959 Mattel introduced the first Barbie doll which “became a huge success in the sixties” (Vintage Blues). Now these look last through the sixties and the seventies. The “ideal” look for women in the eighties didn’t really change a whole lot. The skinny look was still in but not the deathly skinny look but more of an athletic look. But for some weird reason the “ideal look” of being extremely skinny and looking like you’re about to break came back through the nineties and it hasn’t gone away because today we see celebrities like Nicole Ritchie, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan are all female influences that young girls and women would consider to be “ideal”.
One of the main reasons why I wrote my paper on how the idea of the “ideal woman” has changed through time is because I really want to open up some people’s eyes and truly show them that trying to fit in with society is not necessarily the best thing because it will eventually change. I guess being a girl this topic really affects me because I have to deal with looking at these images of what society calls “it girls”. Which for the most part, what women consider to be “ideal women” are not healthy “ideals”.
The playwright Oscar Wilde once said that “My great mistake, the fault for which I can’t figure myself is that one day I ceased my obstinate pursuit of my own individuality” (Hair Cut advice). This quote describes perfectly what part of my project is about. Young girls, boys, women and even men these days are trying to fit into and are trying to portray an image that can never really be achieved because in the end when they finally get to the point where they are considerable happy, a new look or a new “ideal woman” comes around that will change their prospective on everything. My whole point is just be yourself, be happy with the look God gave you because he gave it to you and just you for a reason. Don’t try to fit in with what society thinks is cool or in because in the end everyone will be the same, and what’s the point if we are all the same? What’s the point in trying to look like these “ideal woman”? When in reality maybe what we think is “ideal”, in the end it isn’t.


















Bibliography
http://www.justsaywhen.com/Vintage-101-Sizing.htm
How Cover Girl and “America’s Next Top Model” Have Influence Pop Culture. 14 April 2007 <http://wordpress.blakeschool.org/wordpress/?p=26>
The “Ideal” Woman <http://haircutadvice.com/article30.php>
Cohen, Barbara. The Psychology of Ideal Body Image as an Oppressive Force in the Lives of Women. 1994 <http://www.healingthehumanspirit.com/pages/body_img.htm>
Shapely Centrefolds? Temporal change in body measures: trend analysis. BMJ <http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7378/1447>
Benson, Tera. Today’s Cultural Ideal of Women <http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/scisoc/sports04/papers/tbenson.html>

Ideal women of today

Eva Longoria and Giselle Bundchen are two women that today we would consider to be ideal women and hav the ideal bodies.

Marilyn Monroe- Ideal Woman of the 1950's

She was a size 16 and yet she was an ideal woman of her time

Website

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/scisoc/sports04/papers/tbenson.html

Just think

It's really scary to see what just happened at Virigina Tech. And if you reallt think about it can really happen anywhere even here at St. JOhns. We may have public safety to protect us and everything but if you really think about they really aren't doing anything. As I started to think about it, I realized that anyone can just walk into St. JOhns and make pretend they are a student or something. I have seen it happen, I know people that don't do go here but for some reason or another they live here. SO before you say that it can't happen here it can.

Quote for my Essay

"My great mistake, the fault for which I can't forgive myself, is that one day I ceased my obstinate purssuit of my own individuality"

http://haircutadvice.com/article30.php

Freshman Year Basically Over

So I honestly can’t believe how fast this semester went. I seem really scary that I’m going to be a sophomore in college. Sometimes I feel like life just needs to slow down. We only have about ten days or schools and I feel so stressed because I have so much to do and not enough time to do it. For me this semester feels a lot harder than last because I am taking more classes, which obviously means more work. But feeling so worn out for the past couple of days, because of school, work and life it’s self. So many things have gone on during these past couple of weeks that are making me feel this way. The one that’s at the top of the list is the death of my grandfather. He passed away last Sunday, but I still find it hard to deal with it. I think since like the day he died I haven’t been able to sleep. All I do at night is toss and turn and basically get up every hour. Even my mom has told me that I don’t seem my self these days, and I actually starting to notice also. I think I’m just finding it harder to deal with things these days. I feel like, when finals and everything is done, that I will probably start to feel more like myself and less stressed.

WEbsites

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7378/1447

Women

"Women on the runway, on makeup (and any other product) advertisements, on billboards, in magazines, on commercials, in movies, all have been specifically coached ( whether they know it or not) to carry themselves in a certain way in order to portray a role, set a trend, and to influence our society. These roles and trends influence young women in our society in what products they buy to look what society calls “pretty”, and how they act toward others. More specifically, the make- up brand, Cover Girl, has set trends as to how women should look like. Through it’s pictures on the products, and what models they feature on the commercials has told women what kind of make up they should wear, what size they should be, what their facial structure should be like, how they should smile, and how their hair should be."

http://wordpress.blakeschool.org/wordpress/?p=26

First Draft

After my meeting with Professor Marsh, I felt a lot more confident about the topic that I want to write. I had first started with the idea of writing about how celebrities affect our daily lives. In my first draft my central question was: “Why are we so mesmerized by people who are just like you and me?” But then I realized that this topic is way to board and there are so many topics I could write about this. So I finally decided to narrow it down to how the feminine ideal has changed throughout the years. If you were to look at a magazine from thirty to forty years ago and compare them to the women now they would be considered fat. One of the reasons for this is because the idea of the “perfect women” has changed. Personally I don’t think it has changed for the better. I will probably be researching how and why the ideal of the perfect women has changed throughout the years and finding the history of what the perfect woman was back then and now. I guess my central question now would be: How has the ideal of the perfect woman changed from today’s standards to the standards of thirty years ago?
I guess one of my major objectives for this project is to show how the ideal if the perfect woman has changed throughout the years and basically to show girls that what could be hot and in style today may not be tomorrow and just to be happy with who they are. One of the things that I hope to accomplish is basically to show that maybe being who you are in the long run is better than trying to fit in with what society thinks is the perfect woman because that will only last for so long until another “it girl” comes along and everyone will want to look like her. Now that I fee like my idea for this project has evolved more I feel more confident in what I want my “end product” to be but I am still torn between two things. First I was thinking of creating a power point presentation with handouts of the class. My slide show would show women throughout the years going as far back to 1940’s to now and to show how the “ideal woman” has changed. The second thing that I was thinking of for my “end product” of making a website incorporating some of the same ideas from the power point presentation into the website. But I still don’t really know what I should do for my end product. All I know is that I want it to be something that will grab the class’s attention and not put them to sleep.
I feel like I will need to begin by using google. Besides google, other sources that I am going to use are magazine and newspaper articles. Now that I changed my topic and made it more specific, I don’t know if I will really need to conduct interviews. I feel like a survey will only get my so far and if I do create a survey I will document it by posting it to my blog and creating a separate section for my second research paper. I really don’t think that I will need to do a lot of research in the library because most of it I could do sitting from my house. But I think I could use the library to look for old magazine and newspaper articles on my topic. I will definitely have to do a lot of online research and I will also have to find a lot of pictures. Pictures will definitely be one of the biggest parts of my report because my report deals with how the appearance of the perfect woman has changed throughout the years. The best place to document all my information is in my folder or in my blog, but for my it’s easier in my folder because I like having things hands on and I like to be able to write on the articles that I get.

http://www.fashion-era.com/1970s/1970s_fashion_images.htm

This website shows how women would dress in the 1970's

1950

This shows what the style used to be in the 1950's

This website is amazing it goes through how the styles where it shows me how different the styles were of each era - www.vintageblues.com/history6a.htm

Working at STAPLES SUCKS A little!

Today i went to my place of employment which is STAPLES. I didn't ahve to work but i just went becuase I needed to buy some art stuff for my little sister that i forgot to buy on Tuesday, when I worked. As soon as Iw walked they were like do you want to work today because we really need you and we were just about to call you. This kind of mad. I know I am a good worker and when they need me they can count on me but they can't always and constantly count on me. At the moment we have about 7 cashiers when we are suppose to be having like 12. The ones that they do they have us work extra hours because they might be to lazy to hire some new people. It's getting to the point where I am thinking for quiting but I really don't want tot because I absolutely love the people that I work with and i get along with them so well. It also makes me a little mad that i have been asking for a raise for the longest time and they still haven't given it to me. I keep giving them new reasons espeically now that they gave me a new responisibility which is basically to count all the money at the end of the night and do all the banking. So i think i deserve a raise and I am hoping that I get one because if not I might go looking for another job.

RIP ABUELITO: I LOVE YOU

If god is with us when we are broken the most... where is he now that my whole family is broken. Today is Sun April 8, 2007 and it's easter and my abuelito passed away. My dad left for colombia today to go be with my whole family. It's so sad that this happened becuase we were all hoping that he would get through it, like he did all the other times. I feel so bad for my dad because he didn't get to say goodbye in person... saying goodbye to my dad this morning was one of the hardest things that i have ever had to do. Seeing him so upset and crying like that broken my heart and made me break down. I wish I could be with him right now but I know that he is on his way to be with all my aunts and uncles and epsecially my grandmother. I feel the most for her because my grandmother and grandfather were married for sixty years, they have been together for the longest time and now what is she going to do without him... what are we all going to do without him. I just miss him so much and I can't get it out of my head that he is never coming back

Umm

Today while I was in my theology class, we were talking about how God sometimes puts us to our lowest points in life to make us open up our eyes. He also said that even when we are at our lowest points thats when God is with us the most. Ok sometimes I really dont agree with that. Like when 9-11 happened and whne katrina happened, alot of people turned away from God and in away i would to because this is suppose to be a person that loves and cares for us then why would he make us suffer so much. But one of the reasons why i feel he would probably do this is to one way or another makes us closer to him. But i honestly really don't know.

Music- Our Everyday Lives

Music is something that surrounds us on a daily basis. Whether you’re shopping in a store, listening to the radio in your car or when you’re on the platform waiting for the train, music is there. According to wikipedia.com, music is “expressed in terms of pitch, rhythm and the quality of sound. Music can also involve generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli principally sound.” In a way I would have to agree with this definition of what music is, but there is more to it than just pitch, rhythm and sound. Music plays such a huge role in our lives that it’s actually a subject that some schools teach.

So if music is such a big part of our lives then why are schools trying to take away funding from the arts and putting it into things that are more traditional like math and reading? I obviously don’t agree with what they are doing. In the article “Music in the Classroom”, Yoon argues that children who are exposed to music, perform better academically and their abilities to learn are “enhanced”. It also said that by learning about music and training with music can teach you life skills. This research shows that music can help students get better grades and basically become a well rounded person. Then why don’t schools spend more times on the arts. I guess more people think that teaching their students or children more about math, English or even history will get them further in life than some instrument will.

Liberal arts is usually one of the first things that is being cut from federal funding from schools because most of these politicians fell that these programs are taking time away from what is more “important” like math, reading and science. The way I feel about is that we spend most of our lives with our heads in our books just studying world history and trying to memorize the multiplication tables and not enough time to enjoy the subjects that are more fun. Learning about music is something completely different because it’s opening up your mind to something completely different. With music it’s more hands on than any other subject, it’s a subject that allows a person to be very creative and become more dedicated. Another thing is that by starting to teach music at schools and then taking away the funding where does that leave the students that would like to pursue that instrument. The only option that is left for them is to go study at a private institution, which in most cases are very expensive.

Writing this paper I tried to look for reasons that answered my question why is funding for music is being cut? The most popular response that I found is that they don’t consider music to be one of the “core academic subjects” and that “does not require that states and/or school districts offer programming.” (Americans for the Arts) I don’t agree with that the quote is saying because I feel like should require school districts to not just offer it but to make it part of the core academic subjects.

I decided to make a little survey and give it out to some of the people that I work with and some family members to see how they feel about funding being cut. I decided to only survey ten people because I figured it would be easier. The age range for this survey ranged from sixteen to twenty-six. One out of the ten people played an instrument in school. One of these people is my cousin Natalia; she is twenty-six and has been playing the piano for twenty years. She played the piano all through high school and she majored in piano for her college degree. When I asked her how she felt about funding being cut from liberal arts programs, she said that it “devastated her to know that a lot of kids won’t get the chance to learn to love an instrument like she did growing up in school.” She feels that playing this instrument and learning all about it gave her a sense of pride because she got to learn something that was completely unknown to her and she got to master it. Another thing that she said was that she gained a lot of life lessons from learning to play the piano. One thing she learned was to apply herself and that if she wanted to great at something she was going to have practice, practice, and practice. Another thing that she learned was confidence, and being able to think outside that box when she was told to write her own song.

Out of the survey that was basically the only insightful thing that I got because the other people that took the survey none of them played an instrument. But they all end up saying basically the same thing about music and how funding for it shouldn’t be removed. I absolutely agree with what they think. All types of liberal arts programs shouldn’t be looked down upon as not being as important as the other subjects. I feel that music can teach a person so many different things that something math or science is going to teach you. Learn about music opens up your eyes and your mind.

I think that more people need to open up their ears and just take time and just listen to their surrounds because music is always surrounds us. It’s unfortunate that most governors can’t see how important just playing an instruments or singing in the schools choir is to the development of a child or even a human being. Just imagine if one hundreds years ago governors or presidents saying to stop the teaching of music. We won’t have the amazing signers, composers, violinist, pianists and many other artists. Life would be extremely boring and dull. I feel that if these people keep cut the funding for the arts then the future of music is history.

Report- Second Draft

Music is something that surrounds us on a daily basis. Whether you’re shopping in a store, listening to the radio in your car or when you’re on the platform waiting for the train, music is there. According to wikiepdia.com the definition of music is “expressed in terms of pitch, rhythm and the quality of sound. Music can also involve generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli principally sound.” In a way I would have to agree with this definition of what music is, but there is more to it than just pitch, rhythm and sound. Music plays such a huge role in our lives that it’s actually a subject that some schools teach.
So if music is such a big part of our lives then why are schools trying to take away funding from the arts and putting it into things that are more traditional like math and reading. I obviously don’t agree with what they are doing. “Music in the Classroom: Its Influence on Children's Brain Development, Academic Performance, and Practical Life Skills.”, this is an article that I found when I was researching the topic of music. The article basically said that children who are exposed to music, their abilities to perform better academically are enhanced. It also said that by learning about music and training with music can teach you life skills. This research shows that music can help students get better grades and basically become a well rounded person. Then why don’t schools spend more times on the arts. I guess more people think that teaching their students or children more about math, English or even history will get them further in life than some instrument will.
Liberal arts is usually one of the first things that is being cut from federal funding for schools because most of these politicians fell that these programs are taking time away from what is more “important” like math, reading and science. The way I feel about is that we spend most of our lives with our heads in our books just studying world history and trying to memorize the multiplication tables. Learning about music is something completely different because it’s opening up your mind to something completely different. With music it’s more hands on than any other subject, it’s a subject that allows a person to be very creative and become more dedicated. Another thing is that by starting to teach music at schools and then taking away the funding where does that leave the students that would like to pursue that instrument. The only option that is left for them is to go study at a private institution, which in most cases are very expensive.
I decided to make a little survey and give it out to some of the people that I work with and some family members to see how they feel about funding being cut. I decided to only survey ten people because I figured it would be easier. The age range for this survey ranged from sixteen to twenty-six. One out of the ten people played an instrument in school. One of these people is my cousin Natalia; she is twenty-six and has been playing the piano for twenty years. She played the piano all through high school and she majored in piano for her college degree. When I asked her how she felt about funding being cut from liberal arts programs, she said that it devastated her to know that a lot of kids won’t get the chance to learn to love an instrument like she did growing up in school. She feels that playing this instrument and learning all about it gave her a sense of pride because she got to learn something that was completely unknown to her and she got to master it. Another thing that she said was that she gained a lot of life lessons from learning to play the piano. One thing she learned was to apply herself and that if she wanted to great at something she was going to have practice, practice, and practice. Another thing that she learned was confidence, and being able to think outside that box when she was told to write her own song.
Out of the survey that was basically the only insightful thing that I got because the other people that took the survey none of them played an instrument. But they all end up saying basically the same thing about music and how funding for it shouldn’t be removed. I absolutely agree with what they think. All types of liberal arts programs shouldn’t be looked down upon as not being as important as the other subjects. I feel that music can teach a person so many different things that something math or science is going to teach you. Learn about music opens up your eyes and your mind.
I think that more people need to open up their ears and just take time and just listen to their surrounds because music is always surrounds us. It’s unfortunate that most governors can’t see how important just playing an instruments or singing in the schools choir is to the development of a child or even a human being. Just imagine if one hundreds years ago governors or presidents saying to stop the teaching of music. We won’t have the amazing signers, composers, violinist, pianists and many other artists. Life would be extremely boring and dull. I feel that if these people keep cut the funding for the arts then the future of music is history.

I was watching the trya banks show and towards the end of the show she said this quote that i thought was really intresrting and really got my attention.

"All the water in the world can't sink a ship unless it gets inside"

Music

Music is something that surrounds us on a daily basis. Whether you’re shopping in a store, listen to the radio in your car or when you’re on the platform waiting for the train, music is there. According to wikiepdia.com the definition of music “is expressed in terms of pitch, rhythm and the quality of sound. Music can also involve generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli, principally sound.”. In a way I would have to agree with this definition of what music is, but there is more to it than just pitch, rhythm and sound.
To me music portrays my everyday life. One of the things that make me connect most with music besides the rhythm and beats are the lyrics. When I listen to music I don’t hear the beat I hear the lyrics. In some way or another I feel like music is like therapy. When you’re sad, happy, angry, in love, there’s always a song that speaks directly to what you are feeling. There have been times that I have been so upset and I just listen to a song and I start to ball like a baby because the song is talking exactly on how I am feeling. That’s definitely my favorite thing about music. It’s so diversify, that it expresses any mood. Sometimes it’s weird because you like this artist was probably feeling the same way I am feeling when they wrote the song and that’s an amazing way to connect with the artist because at least you feel like you have something in common with someone that is famous. One good example of this is sometimes when I’m at work during my break, I always with other coworkers and most of the time I’ll one of my earphones on from my ipod and the other one off so I can talk to them. But they will always ask me what I’m listening to and when I tell them, they are always given me feedback on what they think of the song, or artist. So basically music surrounds us even when are not even listening to it.
But when I talk about music I’m not just talking about what’s hot on the radio, I’m also talking about music from other countries, music people play like the piano or the violin and many more. Music has an extremely long history and throughout this long history different types of genres and different cultures have evolved their own music. There have been six major musical periods: medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and now the 20th century music era and each of these different types of era’s have influence each other in one way or another. The 20th century era is the one that plays more of a role in our lives because it’s basically in the era that we are in. But that doesn’t mean that the other eras aren’t incorporated into the music that we listen to today. I know many artists that have made songs using beats or melodies from other periods to make their song sound more unique. One good example is that I know this song that the melody in the beginning is something that Beveenthoeven composed. I guess you can say it’s weird to mix rap with classical music but that’s what makes it interesting and appealing to many listeners.
So if music is such a big part of our lives then why are schools trying to take away funding from the arts and putting it into things that are more traditional like math and reading. I obviously don’t agree with what they are doing. “Music in the Classroom: Its Influence on Children's Brain Development, Academic Performance, and Practical Life Skills.”, this is an article that I found when I was researching the topic of music. The article basically said that children who are exposed to music, their abilities to perform better academically are enhanced. It also said that by learning about music and training with music can teach you life skills. This research shows that music can help students get better grades and basically become a well rounded person. Then why don’t schools spend more times on the arts. I guess more people think that teaching their students or children more about math, English or even history that, that will get them further in life than some instrument will.
I think that more people need to open up their ears and just take time and just listen to their surrounds because music is always surrounds us. It’s unfortunate that most governors can’t see how important just playing an instruments or singing in the schools choir is to the development of a child or even a human being. Just imagine if one hundreds years ago governors or presidents saying to stop the teaching of music. We won’t have the amazing signers, composers, violinist, pianists and many other artists. Life would be extremely boring and dull. I feel that if these people keep cut the funding for the arts the future for music is looking pretty bad.

website- music

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music

Music

The Influence of Music
A new study shows that music with a slow or meditative tempo can relax people by slowing their breathing and heart rate, while listening to faster tempo music speeds up respiration and heart rate. This adds to the research that shows music tempo affects blood pressure, breathing rate and other key factors. Other research has found that music can alleviate stress, improve athletic performance, improve movement patterns post-stroke.

about.com

Thinking

Today in class i started to think about assignments that the groups were coming up with and I actually came up with one:

Write a letter to your younger self, guide them on things to do, how you would do things differently, what would you do the same?

This is a quote that i ahve as one of my away messages:

"If you only remember one thing in life, remember this: what's meant to be will always find a way, no matter what.. time tells all, act on good impulses, don't quit, never ignore the butterflies, and live without regret"

Music on my MInd!

So while I was doing the homework/ group assignment that you gave us. And I commented on Brain’s journal entry on music, so I felt inspired to write about especially since the Grammy’s were last night. First of all I love music! I basically carry my ipod everywhere I go. I honestly can’t live with out it. This obviously shows much of role music plays in my life. I love everything about the beats, lyrics and the artists that sing them. I feel that music depicts everything in my life. In some way or another I feel like music is like therapy. When you’re sad, happy, angry, in love, there’s always a song that speaks directly to what you are feeling. There have been times that I have been so upset and I just listen to a song and I start to ball like a baby because the song is talking exactly on how I am feeling. That’s definitely my favorite thing about music. It’s so diversify, that it expresses any mood. I also think that by looking through someone’s ipod or mp3 player you could definitely learn a lot about that person.
Sometimes I feel that people care more about what the beat is and who sings it than what the words are saying. In a lot of ways I used to be like that, I used to just put songs on my ipod that everyone used to listen to or what is hot on the radio. But now it’s different, now I listen to the lyrics first and then the beat. In a way I feel that people now a day's concentrate more on the lives of these artists more than their music. As I watched, Mary J. Blige and Christina Aguilera, performances at the Grammy’s., it hit me how hard these artists work. They put sweat, tears and long hours just to make one song. Watching the Grammy’s it made me kind of sad because they have this Grammy foundation, which is basically to save music. This is so sad that schools would actually take something that plays a huge role in everyone’s life away.

Lovee, Relationships, Valentine's Day??

ok soo most of the blogs that i have read so far have been the most part been about love. And I guess because Valentine's Day is like right around the corner it's basically on everybodies mind. Personaly I think that if you have a Valentine then great you get to go out and have fun with your date. You may get flowers, chocolates or even cute teddy bears. Then obivously your going to love valentine's day. But what about the people who don't have valentine's on valentine's day. In a way we are left out in the cold. But I think that people without Valetine's shouldn't feel sad, depressed, or even hate the holiday, just be your own valentine. I know it may sound wierd and everything but you spend that day mourning over something you don't have and do something for yourself. Treat yourself to a new handbag, buy yoursel flowes or candy. Yea I would love to have Valentine, i obivously don't have one yet, but if I don't get one that's ok. I have basically learned to deal t it. And plus or all of those who are in a relationship, I don't think that there should just be one day where you show your love of each other. Guys worry so much on valentine's day on they have to get their girlfreiend's flowers and how expensive they are, but I think that if that's that one day you give your girlfriend flowers then theres a problem there.
So my point basically is if you have a Valentine they congrats and if you don't then congrats to you to because you don't need one. Just love yourself and have fun!

Thoughts on a Quote

The quote that i put up on my common place book is a quote that I really like alot. It's been one of my favorite quotes every since the movie Hitch came out. For some reason I can relate to it. I honestly think that what the quote saids is true. WE obivously do need to breathe to be able to live but i think that we should live life to the fullest and be happy with the moments that take your breathe away. Because I feel that if we don't take the time to stop and just appericate what we have, it's just go to fly past us and we don't even realize what has happened.

random quote

"Life isn't about the amount of breathes you take, its about the moments that take your breathe away."

So today has been like an never ending day. Today i went to school at 12 which means that i got to sleep in pretty late. First i had DNY which sometimes seems like a never engding class because a class that is suppose to be fun my professor makes it extremely boringg!! Then i had theology which i actually like that class alot. Then it was history and then I got to go home at 3:30. But then i basically had to rush home get changed eat something and like run to work because i started at 5. Then at work people are really wierd. I don't understand why they had to make my job more difficult than it already is. Like some guy made a return of $700 and he didn't want the check that you are suppose to get he wanted the money right away. Then finally at 11 i got to home and do my homework, which is something i really want to do at 11 at night. That's basically how my day, oo i almost forgot i completely lost me voice all day at work and my fellow co-workers were making fun of me which was definately not cool.

Grading Zones Questions

Grading Zones

1. Do you like this poem?
Yea, I think it explains how most people feel about grades.

2. What does it mean for you?
To me it means that, you basically get what you put into it. That grades don’t really have to do with the teacher they deal with how much work are you willing to put into it to get that A.

3. What parts of the poem are clearest to you?
The part that is the most clearest to me is the part about the heads and the tails. I think that most people could probably relate to both sides.

4. What parts are fuzzy?
I don’t really understand the part where you say “once in the grading zone there is no turning back. Fade to black”. I don’t really get what you are trying to say with that.

5. If you were to write your own poem about grading, what would the first line be?
If only getting an A was that easy

6. How do you feel about grades?
Sometimes I feel that you should get what you put into the class but then there are times where you work your behind of in a class and you do everything but you still fail. I think that at times both the teacher and the student are to blame for a student’s failure. The student because they might not have put the work into it, but the teacher because if they see that a student is struggling with something they should offer some help instead of not doing anything.

Assignments Questions

Assignments

1. Do you like your assignments spelled out for you explicitly?
I like it when a teacher tells you what to do and examples to you everything that you need to do because if the teacher gives a board question and if you answer the teacher might grade it with a low grade because you don’t know what the teacher was looking for.

2. Would you rather come up with your own assignments, on your own terms?
I don’t think I would like to come up with my own assignments because I have no idea what is to easy or what is too hard.

3. What assignments have you enjoyed in the past?
The assignments that I have enjoyed most in the past have been assignments that involve things that I like. Like writing a story if you give me what I have to write about I don’t think that I would enjoy it as much as if you tell me write a story on anything you what. With that I think that I could use my imagination five times more.

4. What assignments have you not liked so much?
The assignments where the teacher gives you like one day to do it. An assignment that involves boring subjects are the ones that I basically hate doing.

5. If you were given the assignment to come up with a dozen or so writing assignments, how would you respond? Would you like that assignment?
Honestly I would hate the assignment, it’s not that I hate English it’s just that its one of my weakest subject. I would obviously have to do it but I would definitely have a lot of problems and trouble doing it. I think that I would basically have to move into the writing center.

6. Is there another word, other than 'assignment', that might serve to better indicate the kind of work you've done or will do in this course?
Project, Paper, Research, and Homework

My Office and Discussion Board

My Office
1. Any Questions?

Nope I don’t have any questions are anything. I think it’s cool that we can reach you on your cell phone. I don’t think a lot of professor would do that.

The Discussion Board
1.Have you ever participated in online discussions? When? Under what circumstances?

Yea I participated in a lot of online class discussion in high school and this year in my first semester English class. One day she told us not to come to class and that we would have a virtual class. It was interesting because it was like this big chat room.

2. How is online 'discussion' different from f-2-f conversation?

For me sometimes it’s easier to talk to someone online for some weird reason. I think that face to face is more personal than through a computer. But I actually liked having the virtual class because I was at home sitting in my room in my pjs. So I liked it a lot. I don’t think I would want it to always be like that because I think it’s important to have face to face time with people.

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of online discussion?

I think one of the advantages is that you get to be anywhere that you are comfortable and just have the class. Another advantage for me at least is that you don’t really have to get dressed because nobody is looking at you. One of the big disadvantages is that you really can’t tell what people are thinking with online discussion and you really can’t express yourself through the internet that’s something that has to be done face to face. Another disadvantage is that it takes time typing unlike talking the words just come out and sometimes it’s a lot easier to talk than to write because you can make a lot of mistakes when you write.

4.Do you prefer one to the other?

I don’t really prefer one over the other. I think that I actually like have the class better than having the online discussions. I would much rather interact with people face to face than virtually.

Our Classroom Questions

Our Classroom

1.How do you like our classroom?

Yea, I like our classroom. Last semester I had an English writing class which was about the same size as our class but I think I feel more comfortable in this class because at least there are other girls. In that English class I was the only girl. One of my good friends from high school is also in the class which makes me like the class so much more.

2.How does it compare to classrooms you've been in before?

I think this is one of the classrooms that I have been able to feel the most comfortable because of the size. I think that with small classrooms the teacher can pay more attention to everyone. I like the size of the class itself but I don’t really like the size of the classroom, sometimes I feel like people are on top of me when I’m in classes that small.

3.How's the light? The air? The view from the window?

I think that everything is fine with the classroom. The light, the air, everything is fine. Well the view isn’t beautiful I think it’s of the air conditions and the back of buildings but its ok.

4.How are the chairs arranged? How could they be arranged to facilitate our writing 'community'?

The chairs are all facing the front of the blackboard which makes sense because it is a classroom, but I think that your idea of trying to move the chairs and putting them into a circle maybe would be better because then that way it feels less like a classroom and more like a place to come to talk about out ideas and our writing.

5.How do you think we should use our classroom space?

Well in our classroom there is not that much space to be able to do anything, so it may be hard t o move it around into a circle. I guess we might have to leave it that way it is because there really isn’t any room to move facing our direction or something.

6.What might be some good general rules for classroom conduct?

One big thing with classroom conduct I think would definitely have to be respect. I think that we can’t make fun of what anyone said because then they aren’t going to want to say thing ever again. I think that everyone should be able to bring their own ideas to the table without thinking what everyone else is going to say.

The Writing Center Questions

The Writing Center

1. Did any of your former schools have a writing center?

Yes, my high school St. Francis Prep did have a writing center. I guess that’s what you can call it but in reality all it really was a classroom where the English teachers would go to when they didn’t have any classes and just help the students out.

2. Have you ever gone to a writing center? If so, what is it like?

I have gone to the writing center here at St. Johns. I was kind of nervous at first because I have never really been the best writer and I always the writer center was a place where they would say that I was a bad writer. But it wasn’t that bad. I went there twice once because I needed help coming up with an idea and to help me structure the essay and the second time I went was to proofread my essay.

3. How can the writing center here at St. John's help you with this course?

I think that the writing center will play a huge role in this English class because if you can’t come up with an idea they will help you brainstorm and they will help you make your essay flow.

4. What facets of your writing do you want to work on?

There are a lot of things that I definitely need help with when it comes to writing. The first thing would have to be my grammar; it’s definitely not the strongest. I need a lot of help with that. Another thing would maybe be it’s sometimes I don’t really know how to structure any essay.

5. If a WC consultant asked you to describe your writing process, what would you say?

I think first I have to come up with an idea of what my essay is going to be on. If I don’t come with one I will be stuck and will not be able to do anything. Once I have an idea I’ll I write down notes on the topic and make sub-topics. After I have made that outline then I will start to write my essay. Throughout the essay my ideas definitely will change but I have to make sure to rearrange everything to make it flow. Then I’ll print it up and proofread it. After that I’ll fix all the mistakes on it and hand it in.

6. Have you hugged your writing center today?

By hugging I don’t really know what you mean but if you mean that I’m grateful its there. Well then I guess you can say that I hugged the Writing Center because it has definitely helped me with a lot of my writing problems that I have had.

NAME

My name is ALEXANDRA LA-ROTTA. Well my first name is definitely not from generations or anything. Basically how I got my first name is that one day when my mom was pregnant with me she had gone into a bakery and saw this French man eating with his little daughter. Then he called out her name with a French accent and said “Alexandra please finish your breakfast”, ever since that say my mom has been in love with my name. She loved the way the man said it and fell in love with it. Another reason why my mom picked my name is because we are Colombian and since I was born and brought here in the United States she wanted a name that could be pronounced the same in any language and people won’t have a problem saying it wrong. In most languages my name is basically the same expect each culture has a different way of pronouncing and spelling it. In the Spanish culture the most popular name that is like mine is Alejandra. There are many different other ways of spelling my name.

The origin of the name Alexandra is Greek. That's why alot of people think I'm greek for some wierd reason because I don't even look it. The meaning of my name is defender of men. When I was little I would always tell my mom why did she name me Alexandra. I never really liked the name for some reason. But know that I'm older I actually like it. Most of my childhood friends call me Alex, and I guess that's why i didn't really like it becuase that's a boys name. But most of my high school friends know me as Lexi. But now most people call me Alex. I really don't ming what people call me as long as they don't butcher my name I'm fine.

Now my last name LA-ROTTA is definately not a common last name. If you translate it into spanish it means the broken one. Which made me not like it when i was little becaue alot of people made fun of me because of it. But the last name originates from Italy. My grandfather was born in Italy and he moved to Colombia when he was a little boy. Originally it was spelled Larotta, but of some wierd reason over time it became LaRotta and then when my grandfather got to colombia it started to be spelled La-Rotta.

One funny story with my last name is when I went to get my premit. So I was at the DMV for like an hour because they always take forever there but after I had taken the test and passed it. I was finally called to be able to fill out all my information. The lady asked for my first name and i gave it to her and then she asked for my last name. When I gave it to her she looked at me really funny. And I was like what and then she asked me if La was my first last name and if Rotta was my second last name. I told her no, then she started to get really mad at me and she started to yell at me because if I only had one last name then why was there a dash in the middle of it. And I had to show her my birth certificate because she thought I was lying to her. I just thought it was really funny that this lady was getting mad at me because of a dash in my last name.

Expanding on a question

The question i pick was "Do you have a website? a MySpace or Facebook page? a blog?". I choose this question because i think that i can relate to it. I actually have both, but I am starting to like facebook better becaseu for some reason or other i feel thats a safer than Myspace. They both are very different but yet they are both the same.

Myspace anyone can be your friend and mostly everyone you ask probably has one. Myspace is not really safe becasue people can make pretend they are a person but they are someone different. You can leave people comments and have pictures and you can actually pick what you want it to look like. You can make a background or pick one thats already made and just personalize it. It's deffinately a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. It's also a way to meet people. Even though i won't do it there have been alot of people that have met up with people from myspace. Myspace has like a million different features to pick from.

Facebook is very different. First of all you have to be a high school or college student to be able to have a facebook. Even though that's slowly changing. I have seen alot of people who aren't in school have one. In one way or another it's alot safer because since only college people can have it then that means preverts really can't be your friend. One of the safety thing it has it when a person asks to be your friend theres a page that opens up and its has a whole bunch of opitions that you can click on that ask you how you know the person and if you don't know the person than theres link for that and it opens up to another page which tells you that if you don't know the person why are you adding them as your friend and it just deletes them. Facebook you can't have different background or anything its all the same. You can make different types of albums and you can have like a million pictures. So you can tell there are so many differences between the two.

This is Me!

Hi so I basically ahve to talk about myself. Lets start with, my name is obivously Alexandra, and I a currently a freshman and I am a Marketing major. I dont dorm because I think it's kind of gross to share a bathroom with like six other people and plus i live like five mintues away from school and it would be stupid to dorm. I just graduated from St. Francis Prep. I love it there and was so upset that it had to leave it, but it's all ok because St. Johns is like a second Prep. Most of the people that graduate from prep end up going to St Johns. I am currently working at staples as a cashier. This is my first real job, which surprises most people. I am colombian and some italian, which you can actually tell becausae of my last name. I speak spanish at home. I live with both my parents and i have three sisters, one of them is older and the other two are younger. I really can't think of anything else to write at the moment but if I do ill add to it.

Love Alexandra<33