Hot Cheetos

Our Actions and Fate

2008-09-08T06:23:00.000-07:00

Thinking about destiny, determinism, and our actions, I think our actions are what affect our future the most. Ultimately, it is up to you how you treat people, the environment, and yourself, and the effects of that will show in the future. For example, do you think the earth would be becoming the way it is today if people were not constantly polluting it? That is not an instance of fate. The majority of religions believe in freewill and how the effects of what we do are shown as well. Christians believe if we make good decisions, we will go to Heaven. Buddhists believe that by living a good life, you may eventually become enlightened. Muslims believe that after death on the day of judgement, you will be judged as either a good or bad person, and sent to Heaven or Hell. There are not a lot of religions that believe in fate. There is, however a possibility where fate, determinism, and our actions all coexist. Maybe the decisions we make are already predetermined, therefor making our fate predetermined. Our actions could be affected by DNA and the people and environment around us, but ultimately our decisions are up to us.

Battle Royal

2008-08-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

In the short story, "Battle Royal," the prostitute dancing at the gathering is a symbol for America. The various colors on her body, the yellow of her hair, the blue of her eye shadow, the pink of her nipples, and most of all, the American flag tattoed on her stomach, represented the diversity of the "melting pot."
The author writes that he wants to "caress her and destroy her, to love her and murder her." What the writer feels is a symbol of the paradox of how he feels about America. He wants so much to be a part of it, but at the same time he hates it.
The heavy-set merchant with diamond studs on his shirt front is completely hypnotized by the prostitute. This guy represents the typical rich man who is after the American dream of wealth.
Everybody else in the room chases after the dancer, their "beefy fingers sinking into her soft flesh." This represents the greed of the rest of America, going after that American dream.

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

2008-08-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

The old man with enormous wings was an angel, and he came not to bring Pelayo and Elisenda's son to his death, but to help the family. By locking the angel up as a freak show and charging admission to see him, the family earned money to keep all the crabs out of the house and their little boy became better. During his time being locked up in a cage, the angel was patient and calm, even with people throwing food and rocks at him to make him do something interesting. The fact that the angel allowed this to happen to him proves that he did not mind being locked up, like he meant for it to happen.

The Cathedral

2008-08-20T06:05:00.000-07:00

The short story, The Cathedral, is full of irony. It is about a man, Raymond, who's wife's good friend, a blind man, comes to stay at their house after the death of his wife. Raymond is not excited about having the blind man over because he has a stereotype about blind people that they are boring and require a lot of attention. When the man finally gets there, Raymond kind of does not know how to act, but eventually the two get along. Finally, after plenty of drinking, eating, and a little smoking, the two are watching a show on cathedrals, and Raymond asks the blind man if he knows what cathedrals look like. The man says no so he and Raymond draw a picture of a cathedral together to give the man an idea of what they look like. Then the blind man tells Raymond to close his eyes and try, and then asks how the cathedral looks after, but Raymond does not open his eyes. Then Raymond says, "It's really something." So in the end, as Raymond is trying to teach the blind man something, the blind man ends up teaching something major to Raymond: what it is like to be blind.

This I Believe...

2008-08-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

As much as I hated hearing this said when I was younger, I have recently come to hold it true. Education has, is, and will always be the most important part of my life.
And I’m not only talking about being crammed with twenty of my peers in a tiny classroom of Decatur High, my small-town school just south of Atlanta. I’m also talking about being taught by my grandma to quilt, growing up learning to dance at Decatur School of Ballet, and even having my older sister, Katherine, teach me things I probably should have waited two years to learn.
And despite how meaningful learning these things was to me, learning in school does open up opportunities. School has taught me to interact and work well with others, but also it has taught me to do things on my own. I used to hate going, and I admit that still to this day, I dread Monday mornings and I can barely ever wait until the final bell on a Friday afternoon, but it is now that I realize what schools does for me. As I grow up, education continues to be the building blocks for my future; and it doesn’t stop there. What I reap in the future of my success is only a part of what I get out of learning.
I realize now that the more I learn, the more I can currently enjoy; feeling the jolt of excitement after catching a perfect rifle toss, finally getting up on the wake board, and even putting my word in an adult conversation, something I would not have had an interest in years ago. I remember playing trivial pursuit with my family when I was a kid. I'd have to play on a team with one of my parents because just about the only question I could get right was, "What does PB&J stand for?" I played for the first time in years against my parents a few weeks ago and I actually won, and that's right, with no outside help. With a lot of the questions, I would think back to something I learned in American Literature or World History and have the answer. It felt so good to know things even my parents didn't.
So after years of learning, some significant, and some pointless things, I have come to a conclusion; I will be learning until the day I die.

Memorable Quote

2008-08-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

I love listening to music so most of the quotes that really grab my attention are from songs. The band, Bright Eyes, seems to always have very well-written lyrics that have meaning and moral. “All this death must need a counterweight, always someone born again. First a mother bathes her child, then the other way around. The scales always find a way to level out.” I don’t know what gets me about this quote, but it always comes to mind when I need to do something for somebody else that maybe I don’t want to do or when somebody I know is upset about something. Thinking about the idea of the quote really helps because it makes me realize it is true that “every action has an equal but opposite reaction.”

Test

2008-08-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

... to see if this works.