Alright, so maybe the title has nothing to do with this blog entry.. whatever. So, I am similar to my family in the following ways: My dad and I share the same sense of humor/music interests. I inherited some godly party-throwing powers from mom. Dad likes to work out, and so do I surprisingly enough. Mom likes to cook, and that has been passed along to me as well.
My friends also have influenced me in the long-run. Alex is my oldest friend who I still hang out with regularly, and he is another reason for my sense of humor. One of our favorite things to do is say some terrible joke or pun and then go back and forth, adding to each other's jokes for better or for worse, depending on the situation. Both of us love classic rock, and he has introduced me to a few contemporary artists such as The Beatles and The Who. Other friends like David and Andrew showed me how to be a Junior as a Freshman in high-school. I had the great advantage of friends who could drive during my Freshman year, which completely changed my perspective on how friendship flourishes. We would just sit in the van for hours (until the oxygen ran out) and just talk about life and enjoy good music. Most teens need constant input and entertainment, but those two friends taught me how to just enjoy company and outrageous conversations.
My parents realized I had a unique personality as soon as I "popped out!" At my first doctor's appointment, I peed all over the doctor, covering him in volcano-lava-hot urine, much to his chagrin. They could see I had some kind of sense of humor.
There are a few habits/attitudes of my parents which I do not wish to be a part of my personality in the future. For example, I don't want to judge people quickly to keep as many options open as possible for friendship and more. My old trumpet teacher once said, "Be nice to everyone you meet..." and I forget how he ended that great adage, but I remember its meaning every day. Also, I don't want to let assumptions and expectations stop me from trying great things, like my father. He occasionally discourages me from doing things I want to do just because he doesn't think I have time, but I always can make time for friends. (Even if it's at 3 in the morning)
I do think it's possible to work against both nature and nurture. While having grown up with my parents and all their customs and attributes being a part of my daily life, they did not impose any of these in an especially scarring (such as with Danielle, the feral girl) fashion, which I think would make it easier to kick a family trait like the ones I mentioned above. People may be predisposed to their future or habits, but in the end, it is people who decide to change. It's not easy to change, but then again, its harder to deal with the regret of not changing.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Life-Water™
Culture is both a visible and non-visible force which governs our actions in today's society. These non-visible forces can be seen as a sort of Life-Water, because we are immersed in it from day one, and like a fish in a fish-bowl, cannot see it as an insider looking out. An example of this water in my own life is how people in Stevenson generally assume that having more of something among fewer people brings the greatest happiness. I found this to be true in the discussion of Give'a'Thon in Honor Band. Completely ignoring the fact that the biggest class in Stevenson (over 350 participants) wants to cut back this year and set the bar at less than $1 per person in band, the topic came up of how big of a family and how many families we wanted to support. The overwhelming majority voted the band take on one small family of 4 people or less. I was appalled! Their Reasoning: Would it make people happier if they had $60 worth of presents spent on them or $30? I feel like that's what the band students personally would want to be spent on them, that we weren't thinking like less fortunate families. There are newly-destituted families in the Chicagoland area who would be happy to receive anything for the holidays this year, and it should be our duty to fulfill as many of these desires as possible, not splurge on a lucky select family.
Around this time of year, with Give'a'Thon starting up, peoples' generosity is easy to see, or in some cases, their lack of. Last year, I had Mr. Sherwin, a huge Give'a'Thawner, for my Human Geography teacher. We took on the challenge of shopping for one or more families per class, and the general student monetary and canned-gooditary response was overwhelming. However, when it came time to volunteer to go shopping with the collected money on a Sunday, the room was silent as a tree on a windless Summer day. The first to raise their hands after a prolonged minute of treeful silence were the two girls who were in charge of our class's Give'a'Thon in the first place. After another minute or so, I decided to spruce things up by volunteering myself. Americans generally are all for promoting and contributing money to venerable causes, but when asked for the ever-fleeting commodity of time, people tend to shirk from their original generosity. After buying the gifts for the families, Sherwin held a huge gift-wrapping party after school that Wednesday. Here are some demographics for that event: 16 girls, 2 men. One of those men was Mr. Sherwin, so there was nothing going for him with those statistics, but I on the other hand was one very lucky gentleman. Sometimes we forget that when we do nice things for others, there may be some unanticipated rewards in the end. (Indeed, it was an auspicious day in regards to the business of pimping for J-Wex) ; D
An American value I embrace is our stated value of the individual. It may not always be apparent, what with our "standardized testing", judging everyone in the exact same intellectual assessment, but I believe individualism makes America what it is today. There are people from all over the world living in the United States, and their own cultures and customs help create a worldliness at a local level. Even though America is in the process of homogenizing the world through globalization, I believe the Olive Tree will work together with the Lexus in the end, and if it doesn't I will be kinda' disappointed.
Another value I support is the idea of physical fitness. Just because we live in the richest country in the world doesn't mean we should use our wealth to become the fattest and therefore curtail our happiness. "Eat to live, do not live to eat." -Mark Twain And I don't believe in lame-butt walking for anyone under the age of 50. I'm talking real physical fitness here, like push-ups and sit-ups. Every man and woman should totally be able to bench twice their own weight with pure, rippling muscle. Unfortunately, I'm not quite at that point of physical fitness, so I'll save that idea for later.
Sometimes I have my gripes with the value of material comfort in the American lifestyle. For example, owning every new generation of iPod goes beyond material "comfort" in my book, yet for some consumers this a given. For some reason, I just don't always have the desire for more stuff, which some people spend their whole lives chasing after. Right now, I just want to hang out with friends who are in college, a want which cannot be purchased. Personally, I don't see the fun in owning new stuff that for the most part will be obsolete in the next 5 years. ('Cept for 80's Hair Rock band records, those will always be near and dear to my heart)
I also have issues with the value of expected external conformity. When asked "What's up?" we are expected to say "Not much." Smart-asses are expected to say "The ceiling" or something to the same clear-as-day tune. Seldom do people actually think to themselves what their personal response to that question would be if they put the effort into answering it. I choose to answer a different question in response to the previously asked, such as "How are you doing today?" or "How heavy is your preferred bowling ball?" (Which is 11 lbs., for anyone who's interested) What We, as Americans, are expected to keep our emotions on the inside all the time, and not let feelings of unhappiness or negativity creep into our countenances. Why not answer questions in our own way? Why not dress how we want to? Why not show how we feel? If we all conform to a single society's norms, there will be nothing left to hold in awe in lieu of the contrast with your own norms.
Around this time of year, with Give'a'Thon starting up, peoples' generosity is easy to see, or in some cases, their lack of. Last year, I had Mr. Sherwin, a huge Give'a'Thawner, for my Human Geography teacher. We took on the challenge of shopping for one or more families per class, and the general student monetary and canned-gooditary response was overwhelming. However, when it came time to volunteer to go shopping with the collected money on a Sunday, the room was silent as a tree on a windless Summer day. The first to raise their hands after a prolonged minute of treeful silence were the two girls who were in charge of our class's Give'a'Thon in the first place. After another minute or so, I decided to spruce things up by volunteering myself. Americans generally are all for promoting and contributing money to venerable causes, but when asked for the ever-fleeting commodity of time, people tend to shirk from their original generosity. After buying the gifts for the families, Sherwin held a huge gift-wrapping party after school that Wednesday. Here are some demographics for that event: 16 girls, 2 men. One of those men was Mr. Sherwin, so there was nothing going for him with those statistics, but I on the other hand was one very lucky gentleman. Sometimes we forget that when we do nice things for others, there may be some unanticipated rewards in the end. (Indeed, it was an auspicious day in regards to the business of pimping for J-Wex) ; D
An American value I embrace is our stated value of the individual. It may not always be apparent, what with our "standardized testing", judging everyone in the exact same intellectual assessment, but I believe individualism makes America what it is today. There are people from all over the world living in the United States, and their own cultures and customs help create a worldliness at a local level. Even though America is in the process of homogenizing the world through globalization, I believe the Olive Tree will work together with the Lexus in the end, and if it doesn't I will be kinda' disappointed.
Another value I support is the idea of physical fitness. Just because we live in the richest country in the world doesn't mean we should use our wealth to become the fattest and therefore curtail our happiness. "Eat to live, do not live to eat." -Mark Twain And I don't believe in lame-butt walking for anyone under the age of 50. I'm talking real physical fitness here, like push-ups and sit-ups. Every man and woman should totally be able to bench twice their own weight with pure, rippling muscle. Unfortunately, I'm not quite at that point of physical fitness, so I'll save that idea for later.
Sometimes I have my gripes with the value of material comfort in the American lifestyle. For example, owning every new generation of iPod goes beyond material "comfort" in my book, yet for some consumers this a given. For some reason, I just don't always have the desire for more stuff, which some people spend their whole lives chasing after. Right now, I just want to hang out with friends who are in college, a want which cannot be purchased. Personally, I don't see the fun in owning new stuff that for the most part will be obsolete in the next 5 years. ('Cept for 80's Hair Rock band records, those will always be near and dear to my heart)
I also have issues with the value of expected external conformity. When asked "What's up?" we are expected to say "Not much." Smart-asses are expected to say "The ceiling" or something to the same clear-as-day tune. Seldom do people actually think to themselves what their personal response to that question would be if they put the effort into answering it. I choose to answer a different question in response to the previously asked, such as "How are you doing today?" or "How heavy is your preferred bowling ball?" (Which is 11 lbs., for anyone who's interested) What We, as Americans, are expected to keep our emotions on the inside all the time, and not let feelings of unhappiness or negativity creep into our countenances. Why not answer questions in our own way? Why not dress how we want to? Why not show how we feel? If we all conform to a single society's norms, there will be nothing left to hold in awe in lieu of the contrast with your own norms.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Our American Values
Last week, Mr. Smith gave us a list of 23 American Values and choose 5 values and describe how and if they still apply today, what sort of sanctions are issued if they aren't followed.
Material comfort is one value which Americans certainly take part in today, especially at a place like Stevenson. On the bus to school each day, I see no less than half the riders with trademark white Apple earbuds in their ears, listening to Apple iPods. We go to school until we're 18 years of age and then most go on to college, where we earn degrees to get high-paying jobs. With more money, Americans hope to buy more and more "stuff" to make them comfortable materially, at as cheap of prices as possible. (Hence our big box-mart stores and Chinese manufacturing) Americans like having things, without a doubt.
Racism and group superiority, while not the same as the kind of racism one would see back in 1965, still is an applicable American value today. Many Americans harbor racist feelings towards Mexican immigrants (both legal and not). We're going through an economic slump, so the first people to blame of course are the newest immigrants to come to our United States. "They're all uneducated and don't speak ingles, so they must be the cause of all our economic troubles!" Stevenson students also buy into the blatantly racist notion that Hispanics only do landscaping/janitorial work. We live in the country of opportunity, why should that apply only to "Americans"? (A blend of many cultures from all over the world)
While romantic love is a desirable ideal, it seems to be far less common in this country today. Divorce rates have soared over the past decade, showing that maybe people who thought they were in "romantic love" may not have been. It's easier than ever to get a divorce too. Kids at Stevenson are a lot more into having short term "hook-ups" than in years past, and relationships oftentimes are very short-lived. (Although maybe that always has been the case with high-school relationships) I'm going to have to take this value.. off the list. And now we'll take a quick commercial break!
*1 Dinner Later*
Physical fitness is very much a proclaimed American value to combat the little obesity problem America has. We see it in our commercials, in magazines, and other places in life. In high-school especially, the athletic/fit body is idolized socially. We have gym class still thankfully, and it is a commendable program unlike many others around the States. On the other hand, though, a lot of people have resorted to watching physically fit people playing sports on TV, all the while eating chips and other junk food. However, this practice, regardless of its popularity, is looked down upon, which supports our value of Physical Fitness = Good.
Finally, we have the value of caring for the environment. Recycling has become commonplace over the past decade, and polls show more people want to do something about slowing/stopping global warming. With the election of the Obama administration, efforts and capital have been put into researching alternative energy sources like wind, tidal, and solar energy. Gas mileage has become an important selling point for cars these days, demonstrated by the popularity of the Toyota Prius. (Although there also is an economic incentive to using less gas too) Huge gas-guzzlers still are common, especially in the South, but generally people now know that everyone wins when you get more miles to the gallon. It's a difficult concept for some to grasp, because if we reduce emissions by lowering the amount of factory production in the United States, we will fall behind in the shadow of China, which has unrestricted greenhouse-gas emissions. Overall though, the general will of the public is leaning in the direction of environmental-friendliness.
Material comfort is one value which Americans certainly take part in today, especially at a place like Stevenson. On the bus to school each day, I see no less than half the riders with trademark white Apple earbuds in their ears, listening to Apple iPods. We go to school until we're 18 years of age and then most go on to college, where we earn degrees to get high-paying jobs. With more money, Americans hope to buy more and more "stuff" to make them comfortable materially, at as cheap of prices as possible. (Hence our big box-mart stores and Chinese manufacturing) Americans like having things, without a doubt.
Racism and group superiority, while not the same as the kind of racism one would see back in 1965, still is an applicable American value today. Many Americans harbor racist feelings towards Mexican immigrants (both legal and not). We're going through an economic slump, so the first people to blame of course are the newest immigrants to come to our United States. "They're all uneducated and don't speak ingles, so they must be the cause of all our economic troubles!" Stevenson students also buy into the blatantly racist notion that Hispanics only do landscaping/janitorial work. We live in the country of opportunity, why should that apply only to "Americans"? (A blend of many cultures from all over the world)
While romantic love is a desirable ideal, it seems to be far less common in this country today. Divorce rates have soared over the past decade, showing that maybe people who thought they were in "romantic love" may not have been. It's easier than ever to get a divorce too. Kids at Stevenson are a lot more into having short term "hook-ups" than in years past, and relationships oftentimes are very short-lived. (Although maybe that always has been the case with high-school relationships) I'm going to have to take this value.. off the list. And now we'll take a quick commercial break!
*1 Dinner Later*
Physical fitness is very much a proclaimed American value to combat the little obesity problem America has. We see it in our commercials, in magazines, and other places in life. In high-school especially, the athletic/fit body is idolized socially. We have gym class still thankfully, and it is a commendable program unlike many others around the States. On the other hand, though, a lot of people have resorted to watching physically fit people playing sports on TV, all the while eating chips and other junk food. However, this practice, regardless of its popularity, is looked down upon, which supports our value of Physical Fitness = Good.
Finally, we have the value of caring for the environment. Recycling has become commonplace over the past decade, and polls show more people want to do something about slowing/stopping global warming. With the election of the Obama administration, efforts and capital have been put into researching alternative energy sources like wind, tidal, and solar energy. Gas mileage has become an important selling point for cars these days, demonstrated by the popularity of the Toyota Prius. (Although there also is an economic incentive to using less gas too) Huge gas-guzzlers still are common, especially in the South, but generally people now know that everyone wins when you get more miles to the gallon. It's a difficult concept for some to grasp, because if we reduce emissions by lowering the amount of factory production in the United States, we will fall behind in the shadow of China, which has unrestricted greenhouse-gas emissions. Overall though, the general will of the public is leaning in the direction of environmental-friendliness.
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