Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor was a tragic day. It's the day we realized there's seriously some issues that needed to be solved. Many people died. No one helped us; we didn't help each other. The only good outcomes of that day were: we learned to always be prepared. We never know when a tragedy can happen. Anyone can die any second of the die. We learned to become aware.

Pearl Harbor was the die we realized we needed to come together. Unite. One. America.

America learned to be aware that there are some days were we do not know what is going to happen until it happens. For example, in 9/11 no one truly suspected it was really going to happen until the towers got crashed. 2 days before maybe even a week you could've asked someone do you think there's a possibility that the twin towers can be demolished by planes and they're answer would've been no. I can bet my allowance that many civilians had suspicions about Japan getting hot on our tails but no one truly believed they would act out on it. 

We as a whole were ignorant back in 1941 and in 2001 are we still going to be ignorant in 2012? How many more tragedies do we need to let happen before we realize holy... poop we need to stop and observe our actions. 

Sometimes people say ignorance is bliss but I believe if you are ever are ignorant you are being a fool. Why would someone blind themselves and become deaf their surroundings? Nothing can protect you from the cruelness of the world and all its wars. Someone can hide behind a rock or 10 feet under ground or 100 feet above ground we will all get affected by the discordant going on around us. All we can do is be prepared and aware.

We should let Pearl Harbor and 9/11 be more memorable in a way that makes us aware for the future and the better of the world. We as a world should learn our mistakes and not let it get out of control. Has anyone ever heard the saying "History repeats itself.” well, it does and we can make a difference if we fix our mistakes. 

Imagine a world without any wars. “Imagine all the people sharing all the world. Imagine all the people living for today." John Lennon.

The truth about Dreams

What do you do when your dreams don't come true?       Do you just complain about how unfair your life is for the rest of your existence or do you do… something.

My character Sylvie had an accident when she was in her ballet company, she became disabled, and her dreams were cut short. This made me wonder about the world and all the young people who want futures and already have their dreams made up. What do you do when your dreams come to a halt? Sylvie is undefined she doesn’t know whether if her dreams are worth sulking around for all your life. One thing that did happen that made me think you should just move on if your dreams are cut short is when Sylvie realized she could be off worse. She just became disabled for half a year, she didn’t become paralyzed nor did she go into a coma for 5 years in her life. No, she could’ve been worse by a lot but she wasn’t. She was and I quote “healthy” nothing was wrong with her except her leg, which in time she could maybe go back to dancing. She should be grateful.

Many teenagers’ life dreams are cut short. They can only fantasize for so long before reality catches up to them and they realize they can’t afford their dreams. Many Americans can only dream for so long. They can only have a certain dream before they are forced to move onto another dream. So, now why is it when it’s a snobby or inconsiderate kid that doesn’t get their dream we feel bad for them. Well, we shouldn’t because we all have to suffer the loss of our dreams one day or another. You should realize that life moves on and you need to move on to or else you’ll get stuck behind in your own misery. I just can’t take it when people don’t want to move on. I mean come on; you need to understand life isn’t all roses and meadows with rainbows painting the background. Not many people realize it though and become stuck. Stuck in the moment.

If your dreams ever do get cut short then you need to think twice and then think another million times, is it worth sulking around for the rest of your life if your dreams don’t come true. I know that if my dreams ever do get cut short I would go back to the drawing board. What dreams are really worth chasing? What dreams should I let go? If I really was passionate about this one dream then I would take a moment and say is there any way I could still be around my dream? For example if your really into swimming like me then if I ever became invalid and couldn’t swim again then I would be really sad. I would think is there any way I can still be intertwined with swimming? Maybe, I could be the coach or something. Everyone, just think at least once if your dreams come don’t come true, is there anyway around it? There’s always a way. Where there’s a will there a way.

Ballerinas

Splendid Falls is about a ballerina whose name is Sylvie, Sylvie’s life was purely ballet related. When she broke her ankle she realized that she had no life. All she ever did was work for ballet purposes. Ever single highlight in her life was an accomplishment in her ballet career. Every downfall was unexpected.

Sylvie fell on a simple fell on a simple turn. That simple turn cost her greatly. She went from being the youngest most important ballerina to being a one shot single. She went from having all the things she wanted to not having anything at all.

The only thing Sylvie wanted was to fulfill her legacy. Once her ankle became broken her life was cut short. She felt the weight of the world, or at least the weight of her ballet world.

The way Sylvie was portrayed in Splendid Falls made me realize that ballerinas suffer a lot. Sylvie suffered once she lost her ballet because all she could ever remember was her striving for the better. Making herself a certain way, doing everything just right, in order to be able to accomplish her dreams, even if her dreams were harmful to her.

The media also portrays ballerinas similarly. For example, in the movie, Black Swan, the main character, Nina (Nathalie Portman) was very similar on the basic bases. They both made themselves a certain way; they had no real meaning of the value of life, besides ballet.

The only difference between these two main characters, Sylvie and Nina was the way they handled situations. Once Nina realized they were going to cut her out of her ballet career she did everything in her power to stop it. She reduced down to low levels just to obtain her career back. When Sylvie’s career ended abruptly she went through a great depression because her life ended when her ballet career ended. She did not handle the situation badly she handled it much much better.

Both main characters broke down in some point in the movie or book. I strongly believe that they felt too much pressure into becoming a certain way. Nina did wrong doings in order to confront her depression, while Sylvie just sort of kept her opinions to herself and destroyed herself on her own. The Media portrays ballerinas like this. I do not have a first-hand resource on ballerinas, and how they have high stress levels and mental disorders, but from all the writings in Splendid Falls, Black Swan, and so many other books, plays and articles I can conclude ballerinas are under great pressure. They force themselves to be a certain way and do not have a life they are content with outside of ballet.

Fast Food

                                      “Chew On This”

The book Chew On This by Eric Schlosser has changed my view about fast food companies.  I am going to stop eating fast food because of the unhealthy, unsanitary conditions and the abuse of factory workers, and animals.

       I knew eating too much junk food could cause you harm, likewise your weight, but it never concerned me.  I knew that it was so unhealthy -with all the chemicals, et cetera…- but after I read Chew On This my opinion changed direction. The book states that almost two thirds of adults, and one sixth of kids in the U.S.A are obese, or overweight. This is due to people eating more and not exercising/moving around. Fast food is very unhealthy because the fat that accumulates on your body can cause other problems such as, diabetes, asthma, heart problems, high blood pressure, and many more diseases. I realized I didn’t want my body to suffer through any of these medical conditions, so I decided to discontinue fast food from my life.

       The slaughterhouse is not as clean as one might expect, not that anyone will expect high standards. According to Chew On This and its resources, in the 1990’s workers were not allowed any breaks at all, so they had to pee/poo in their pants while they worked, which allowed more possibility of contamination of the meat. It is very unsanitary where cows are raised. Cows produce tons of manure in which, a lot of manure has to be removed that cows are raised in their own pile of poop. Also, a cow can get sick/poisoned because of its manure, and still become manufactured. Um… Eww!!! I know I do not want to eat my hamburger knowing that my meat has been in an unsanitary location! Yet, another reason I am trying to avoid fast food.

       People who work for fast food companies are mistreated. These people are paid the minimum wage, and work long hours. Farmers are now owned by huge corporations, in which they only get paid for the amount of livestock they produce (not including the ones that die because of the hormones they are fed).  It is unbelievable to see that factory workers have to confront many dangers while they are slaughtering animals for large periods of times. Workers can be at risk of being cut or chopped up, or even burned by the machines, and they don’t even get insurance for their injuries. That’s totally unfair, they are workers and should be respected! Injustice does not qualify in my vocabulary, so from now on NO MORE fast food for me!

       Huge corporations mistreat animals, but the chickens suffer the most. They suffer during their stay at a farm and can suffer a huge amount of pain in the slaughterhouse. Chickens are clustered on the farms, in which they can barely move, and live clustered for 6 weeks. During their time at the slaughterhouse chickens are knocked unconscious at a stage called “stung bath”, in which chickens are dropped down into a pot filled with water where electricity is running through it. 2 out of every 100 chickens survive this stage. Then the chickens go through a blade, but some chickens can also survive the blade. The chickens that are still alive are boiled to their death, which is cruel to animals. I know I do not want to be part of this terrible abuse of animals, and I sincerely am going to stop eating fast food.

       In conclusion, I now strongly do not desire to eat anymore fast food. I can’t stand the thought of the cruelty of these companies towards animals and workers. Also, the unsanitary and unhealthy junk that goes in to making a hamburger is nasty. I will never eat another piece of fast food EVER! Eww!

World on Fire

                           "World On Fire"

Hearts are worn in these dark ages

You're not alone in this story's pages

The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying

And I'll try to hold it in, yeah I'll try to hold it in

[Chorus]

The world's on fire and

It's more than I can handle

I'll tap into the water

(Try and bring my share)

I try to bring more

More than I can handle

(Bring it to the table)

Bring what I am able

I watch the heavens but I find no calling

Something I can do to change what's coming

Stay close to me while the sky is falling

Don't wanna be left alone, don't wanna be alone

[Chorus]

The world's on fire and

It's more than I can handle

I'll tap into the water

(Try and bring my share)

I try to bring more

More than I can handle

(Bring it to the table)

Bring what I am able

Hearts break, hearts mend

Love still hurts

Visions clash, planes crash

Still there's talk of

Saving souls, still the cold

Is closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun

Stray from the straight line on this short run

The more we take, the less we become

The fortune of one that means less for some

[Chorus]

The world's on fire and

It's more than I can handle

I'll tap into the water

(Try and bring my share)

I try to bring more

More than I can handle

(Bring it to the table)

Bring what I am able

[Chorus]

The world's on fire and

It's more than I can handle

I'll tap into the water

(Try and bring my share)

I try to bring more

More than I can handle

(Bring it to the table)

Bring what I am able

World on fire touched my heart.

When I read the lyrics and we had to annotate for ELA I wanted to underline every single word and just keep annotating. Ever single lyric was really good. I wanted to keep feeling all these several emotions. That song was a powerful song not only did it touch my heart it touched my soul. That song kept me thinking about our world the whole day. Everything I saw I just kept referring to the lyrics. World on fire isn’t your typical Pop song it was about the 3rd world countries and how we need to do something about it if we want change. World on fire was a Social Action even though it was a video, but it was still an action. The fact that the songwriter put out a video like that, that rebels and becomes a social action to do something and make people aware of the injustice of poverty.

At first, I thought the song was about the twin towers. The lines that are colored in yellow I thought were about the 9/11 attacks. Since when she wrote the song it was around the time period the towers fell. The world’s on fire I thought meant the world trade center was on fire. Then the line visions clash and planes crash I thought meant when the twin towers were attacked the planes crashed into the buildings.  In the beginning of the song it says the sky is falling. Back then the twin towers were Skyscrapers so many people thought the sky was falling. Which would relate to the song.

My friend thought it was about us losing our humanity as we become greedy. This sort of relate to poverty because we want so much and become greedy we do not realize that we are affecting others. We part the veil on our killer sun, stray form the straight line on this short run, the more we take, the less we become, the fortune of one that means less for some. I took away form this that sometime we lose ourselves and forget we are all human. We don’t remember that even if we don’t see or feel the causes of 3^rd world countries doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do anything about it. In fact, we should even do more to make the world a better place.

Even if the song may portray other ideas, all of them come back to the same song. The song has so many meanings, but each lyric reaches out to us because it affects us in some way. This song is a great song. It means we all need to have hope in times of distress. We need to unite to become a better world, and solve these issues. This song made me become aware that we need to help out one another because in the end we are all humane.

Hunger Games

Throughout the series, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, Katniss, the main character, has a change of heart about the Capital of Panem. In the first book, The Hunger Games, she ignores the idea that the Capital is corrupt, she just wants to fend for her family, and survive. Later on in the second book, Catching Fire, she realizes that the Capital is full of injustice; the way they can put her family through the sufferings of Katniss’s captivity, in the hunger games, twice! In the last book, Mockingjay, she comprehends that the Capital is corrupt, for they don’t care if a family is safe, if people were fed in District 2 or 8, or if people are content; the Capital just cares about power, and control.

In the book, The Hunger Games, Katniss wanted her family to survive the hardships, and the grief that came with the loss of Katniss’s father, whom was a miner, but died because of a mine explosion from the Capital. Katniss never really thought about the Capital; all she ever thought of was how she could provide food for her family. Her friend, Gale, always talked to Katniss about the “evil” ways of the Capital, but Katniss just ignored him. Later on, Katniss took her sister’s place in the games. Katniss didn’t really think about the cruel way the Capital just removed her away from her family; instead Katniss was satisfied because she had friends, townspeople that owed her merchandise, to take care of her family for her. Katniss is naïve in this book, but soon she will understand and then hate the Capital.

In the book Catching Fire, Katniss is starting to realize, that the Capital is full of injustice. Katniss has to go back to the games a second time! Katniss now worries that she won’t have anyone to help her feed her family. Katniss is now thinking, how cruel the Capital can be! First they take her away from her family when she replaces her sister, Prim, in the games. Now they take her away again, making her family go through misery of losing her a second time! What about her father’s death? The grief Katniss felt was a cause the Capital had played a part in! That’s three anguishes you can never remove! That will be permanently stored in Katniss sorrow filled moments. Katniss was now thinking maybe Gale was right, maybe the Capital is full of unfairness, for making her feel all the unbearable pain along with her despair.

In the book, Mocking Jay, Katniss despises the Capital. All of her sufferings were caused by the Capital. She decides she has to fight for her losses. She becomes the symbol of hope for all the districts. To top it all off, Katniss losses one more thing, she loses her little sister, Prim. The reason for Katniss going to the Hunger Games was to protect the love of her life, her sister, Prim. Prim was killed by the Capital. In the beginning of the book, Katniss didn’t really want to be the symbol of rebellions against the capital but now she does because she has every reason to rebel against the capital.

If I had lost all the things that Katniss has lost I know I would totally despise the Capital and forever hold a grudge. I would do everything in my power to take down the Capital and avenge my sister’s death. Katniss went from being naïve about the Capital’s cruelty into fully understanding and hating the Capital and its principals.