Crawlers and Squirmers

Although it's not necessarily a phobia, I am scared of worms. I am scared of spiders, I am scared of beetles. I am scared of any squirmy thing or crawler that touches me. So, in a way, I'm simply scared of touching insects; as long as they don't bother me, I don't care. But once they touch me I will freak out.
As far as worms go, I won't touch them unless I have some type of gloves on. In the house I lived in for most of my life, we had a garden in the backyard. If we wanted to go fishing, my brother, sister and I would go "fishing" for worms. Both my siblings were fine with touching the worms themselves, except I was almost terrified. My brother, like most, would hold up a worm in front of my face, forcing me to see the squirming thing that longed to go back into the ground, but instead went into an ice cream bucket with a little layer of dirt from the garden.
Not so much worms themselves, but I can't touch them. I love to fish with my grandpa (this ties in, I swear), but when we do go fishing (which is very rare), I do not touch the worms if we have live bait, and once I get a fish I do not touch that, either. Squirmy things simply freak me out, and I refuse to touch them. Same with bugs--any sort of bug, really. Ladybugs (which we had in my old house every summer we lived there), spiders, ants; I can't stand them touching me. As long as they're crawlers or squirmers, I try to shake them off as soon as I can.
If someone tells me I have a bug on my shoulder or back, I will make a scene. Whether it's in public or not, I just want the thing off me. More often than not, someone will simply tell me that I have a bug on me.
Yes, they're just a bug. But to me, they're creepy crawly squirmers and they completely freak me out.
(Sorry this is so late, I completely forgot about it!)

Two Worlds

In this movie about deaf and hearing cultures, there were multiple heated arguments about whether or not a Cochlear implant was right for children in this deaf-cultured family. Some arguments throughout the movie were that once the kids learn how to speak and hear with their Cochlear implant, they would leave the deaf culture completely behind and never look back.

With the two parents that were deaf and had deaf children, their five-year-old daughter heard about the implant and asked her parents for one. While considering it, the mother thought about getting one herself. The father, along with the wife's parents, thought it would be a bad idea--they decided for her that she wouldn't be interested in their family anymore once she was older and could communicate with people in "the hearing world". All she wanted to do, though, was fit in and understand hearing people, instead of struggling to comprehend what they're saying. Eventually they decided to move to a deaf community in Maryland. Although I thought that was good for their kids as well as the parents, I didn't think it had an actual solution to the "problem" that their kids would face later on in life when they have to communicate with "the hearing world".

In another part of this deaf-cultured family, the two hearing parents had twins, one hearing and one deaf. They decided to give their infant baby a Cochlear implant so he could be in "the hearing world". With that came more disputes about the subject. What I didn't understand, however, was why it would be a bad thing if these kids were both in the hearing world and the deaf world, as some of the parents were as well as the parents with the twins in this movie.

Something else the family argued about was that whether giving or not giving the kids this implant was abuse. I don't understand why some people had said that it was abuse if the kid did not receive a Cochlear implant. I just don't see abuse in the ability to hear or not.

All in all, I think that the parents had good points as to why their child should or shouldn't have an implant, but I think it should be the child's decision altogether. If they ask about it, do what the two deaf parents did and go meet with families or schools that have kids that have had the implant. If they don't, I'd assume that the kid is okay with being deaf and communicating with hearing people. I don't think that a child would automatically become only part of "the hearing world" if they get a Cochlear implant unless the parent(s) don't introduce sign language as part of their daily life.

American Song

The song that I chose to write that I thought reflects America greatly is The 8th of November by Big & Rich. I think that this song is a huge part in most American homes today because the lyrics talk about a soldier leaving his home to go and fight the war.
In 1965, on November 8th, there was an Airborne Brigade in Vietnam. 48 soldiers lost their lives that day, and this song reflects what happened to one of the soldiers, but at the same time includes those who died.

"Said goodbye to his mama, as he left North Dakota, to fight for the red, white and blue". As the first few lines of the song, I think that it's powerful to start out with. As it goes into the chorus, the song acknowledges that there is not only one soldier that is a hero; it's all soldiers. Although it does talk about one specific soldier, I believe that the song can relate to most that come back from being at war and fighting for their country.

"On the 8th of November, the angels were cryin' as they carried his brothers away. With the fire raining down, and the hell all around, there were few men left standing that day." I can't even imagine what it would be like being in the war, having to go over seas to continuously risk your life. However, I am so grateful that there are people that not only are willing to, but want to defend America.

I think that although this song contributes to one date in time specifically, it can relate to every-day soldiers that leave or come home from the war. I also think that this song will always reflect America because in the majority of homes there are people that risk their lives for America, and there will always people that do so. We should always give contribution for those people.

What I failed to mention earlier was the part of the song that talks about the 1200 (pronounced as twelve hundred in the song) Viet Cong attacked the unit of soldiers that were in Vietnam:
"He was dropped in the jungle, where the choppers would rumble, with the smell of napalm in the air, and the Sergent said, 'look up ahead'. Like a dark evil cloud, 1200 came down, on him and 29 more. They fought for their lives, but most of them died, in the 173rd Airborne."
Here's the link to the song on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozpdBvB0hek&ob=av3n&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1

Writing Styles

Everyone's writing syles are certainly different, no one's being the same.
My writing style is unique, and actually kind of complicated. Although when I do my homework I sit at the table--so I can have everything spread out and whatnot--when it comes to writing, I usually end up sitting on the couch or recliner, writing in a notebook. Most of the time I have the radio on, or if there are commercials on most radio stations, I'll turn on my computer and let Pandora play. Even though I'll have all my work written out, when I open Word so I can type it up I actually turn a whole new direction, using parts of what I have written earlier but not really going the direction I had intended to in the first place. Sometimes it works out, but sometimes I have to rewrite what I typed, which is okay. All in all I enjoy writing, and even if I don't stick the my first thought, who does?

Skunk Dreams

When I first started reading this article written by Louise Erdrich, I really got into it because I thought that she was telling a story about something that happened to her, which she was. But the more I read the more distant I became with the article because I felt like Erdrich was drifting away from the story. Later in the article Erdrich mentioned a fence and elk on the other side of the run-down, multiple wired fence. When she did, I thought, Where in the world is this article going? Erdrich had talked more about the fenced-in area, stating that the nature, the animals inside were only there for the hunters to have fun, which saddened Erdrich as well as me. I don't think that wild animals should be used for that purpose--brought in from other areas or captured only to stay there til they are hunted, although at least they had 25,000 acres to roam free, so to speak. At the end of the article Erdrich had gone back to the skunk and stated how skunks are free wherever they are. They cannot be captured, and when threatened, they do not hesitate; they simply turn around and unleash their powers. Erdrich had also said that if she could choose any animal, she would be a skunk. When I was little, my friends and I would talk about our favorite animals and how we would want to be a dog or cat. But when Erdrich had stated that if she had to pick she would be a skunk beacuse they are independent as well as free, I would want to be a skunk as well; as crazy as that sounds.

When Katie Wakes by Connie May Fowler

The book I read is a memoir written by Connie May Fowler and is called When Katie Wakes. I'm glad I chose this book to read because it was certainly an easy book to get into and I didn't want to set it down at any time.

Throughout this book, Fowler writes as though she's telling the man she lives with everything. All the thoughts she had about him and how he made her feel. She also talks about her past, with her parents, as well as her new job and attempting to escape him.

In this intriguing book, Fowler tells her story about when she was only twenty-six years old and living with a verbal and physical abuser who was thirty years older than she was. He would disappear for days, first wiping out her bank account and come back without any explanation or apologies. When this horrible man would get upset he would take it out on Fowler, so, at the beginning of the book, she got a puppy.

Showing up at a run-down farm with skinny kids running around and a man on the porch who runs the place, she wanted to get out of there, and fast. As soon as she saw the only black puppy, she picked it up and sped away. The puppy's name was then called Katie and protected Fowler as well as gave her hope.

At one point of the book, Fowler gets so sick that she is admitted into the hospital for thirty days. The man that she's "with" is gone during this time, as it is at least the fifth time he is "working on something big". This man doesn't pay for anything, as it is that he doesn't have a job, so it's not exactly a surprise to Fowler when she comes home to an eviction notice nailed to the door. That was how it was for most of the book

While reading When Katie Wakes, I thought that Fowler had the most courage in the world. Most people, or at least I think, would give up all hope, think that they wouldn't be able to escape from their abusers. I think that more than anything, Katie was the one that gave Fowler the self-confidence she deserved as well as the nerve to get away from the man that continuously knocked her down.

Something that I loved about this book was that Fowler would jump back into the past at a time that her father would beat on her mother or when her mother would go out looking for her dad when he didn't come home for days. All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend this book for anyone who thinks that there is hope for anyone that is in a difficult situation.

The Prevailing Opinion of a Sexual Character Discussed

Personally, it was difficult for me to read this whole article by Mary Wollstonecraft. But what I got out of it was that she believes that women deserve a right to an education and should be treated just as men are. That both sexes were made equally and should be treated as such. What I liked about the article is that throughout it, Wollstonecraft stayed on the same topic and continued with what Rousseau had said in a previous article or book. Also, because she stayed on the same or similar topic(s), I agreed with most of the points she made when she dissagreed with Rousseau's statements. When Wollstonecraft included, "Rousseau declares that a woman should never...feel herself independent..." I completely thought that was unreasonable. Even though this article was written in the 1700s, I was still shocked by the things that Rousseau would state about women. Why shouldn't women have the right to be indepenent?
I give Wollstonecraft much credit for writing this article because I can't imagine that it wasn't frowned upon in that time for a woman to write about what she thought was right. Although I enjoyed reading this article, I felt like the author rambled on. I thought her sentances were well thought, but I also think that she could've shortened them much more. Altogether, this was a great article in my opinion and I'm glad that the author stood up for what she thought was right or she thought needed to be said. Do we not need more female leaders in not only the present, but the future?

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

In the article, Is Google Making Us Stupid, Nicholas Carr first points out that he felt like his brain was being taken somehow beacuse of the internet--how we can now just skim through articles and think that we know everything there is to know about a certain topic. When I read this article I was really drawn to it because he talked about not only one person that had their own opinion about this, but at least five. Carr explained that people aren't even reading full stories anymore, or can't hold their focus through a whole story. For example, Bruce Friedman stated, "I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print." Not only can Friedman not hold a focus in print, but the web as well. Any more than four paragraphs, Friedman also stated, he skims through.
Carr also mentioned that we are probably reading more than people were in the 1970's or 1980's, although it's not the right 'way' of reading. In today's world our reading is through texting and emails, not storybooks or novels.
I think that we should encourage people to read storybooks and articles because I don't think that people should skim through articles or books but actually get into the writing. I agree with Carr throughout the whole article because I think that although Google is helpful, I don't think that everyone should rely on it completely.

Talk of the Town

This blog is about two articles that have to do with the twin tower incident, published on September 24, 2001 and written by John Updike and Susan Sontag.
The first article, written by John Updike, had an excellent view about 9/11. It had a different twist about it as well as having an actual viewpoint when it happened. I think that because Updike actually saw the twin towers fall, he was able to write a truley one-of-a-kind article. Throughout this article, Updike pointed out various observations: The smoke that first came out of the building didn't even seem threatning at first glance but ended up being completely life changing for thousands of people. Another interesting point of this piece is how Updike described seeing the buildings fall: like an elevator and also that as he and his wife watched, they clung to each other as if they were in the actual building that was falling. Toward the end of the article, Updike points out that this nightmare isn't over, and I agree with him. Also, a little later, he says, "...risk is a price of freedom...this country is worth fighting for." I think that is very well put and I think that this article was amazing.
The second article, written by Susan Sontag, I think that she had an excellent point when she stated that the leaders of America were and are trying to tell us that everything's okay. I also agree with Sontag when she stated, "Let's by all means grieve together. But let's not be stupid together."
With both of these articles, I think that it really showed how these two authors cared about this country but in different ways beause they experienced 9/11 differently, as did everyone else. Both authors were also right when they said that this country needs to stick together and be strong even when something drastic happens.

The New Girl

Hello, I’m Paula Elfers and I was new to McFarland this last school year of 2010. I used to live in Cameron with my dad and after spending the summer in McFarland, decided that it’d be great to live here. I live here with my mom and it’s awesome. Although I miss my dad as well as my other relatives and all my friends, I think it was a good choice to move here. It’s hard to live four hours away from my dad because I don’t get to see him a lot, and when I don’t, it’s hard not to be frustrated with him. I have a dog at his house and she is a golden lab named Abby. I absolutely love animals and hope I can live on a farm someday. Horseback riding is something that I wish I could do every day, but a person usually needs to own a horse if they want to do that, which I don’t. I don’t have any pets here in McFarland, but when I go to friend’s houses it usually makes up for that. My mom’s friend owns a farm just outside of McFarland, so it’s really fun to go over there and play with their dog and pet their cows, especially the calf. When I was in track I had a lot of fun, and it also gave me motivation to keep running, and I hope I never stop. During my sophomore year in Cameron, I was a cheerleader—which is very different than dance—and had tons of fun doing it. Although it was a lot of work, being at the games and seeing the crowds cheer with us paid off.

My brother is in the Navy and I’m absolutely a proud sister to say that. He’s two years older than I am and although he’s stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois, I don’t get to see him much. When I do, though, I definitely cherish it. It’s hard not to be able to see him, especially when we’ve never been apart for more than a couple months at a time. When he graduated in May of 2010, it was one of the hardest things to think about: him going away, possibly being shipped halfway around the country. Although he’s only in extended training I still worry about him but still try to keep in contact with him as much as I can. I also have a sister who lives in Minneapolis with her husband, who we don’t get to see a lot but whenever I talk to her there’s no gaps of awkwardness or even simple silence. We could talk nonstop and that’s something I love about her. Although we’re ten years apart, we’re so similar. I also have a step-sister and step-brother, but only see them when I go to my dad’s house, which isn’t often and unfortunate.

My comfort is music, and I love to listen to a variety of music. I’ll usually sit down and read a great book while listening to music—whether it’s country or rock. Although I’m not good at art, I also love to sketch pictures. I’ll usually either draw pictures or doodle quotes, which is another thing I like to do—find crazy, or serious, quotes that I’ve never heard before. An example:

“There's no half-singing in the shower, you're either a rock star or an opera diva.” –Josh Groban