Risk. Its what you do.

When I think of the word risk it is usually quite negative. But when weighing risky situations I think of it like an  economist, does marginal benefit outweigh marginal cost. I think that risks are a good thing. Taking the chance on the Ivy league school, I mean what do you have to lose? People say, "I know I wouldn't get in." Who gives a fuck? YOU DON'T KNOW.  Look at scattergrams of Harvard, there are many dots that let people in with a 19 act and a 3.0 gpa. Who cares if these are trust fund babies, they are still getting in, so you might try to. Take the risk, and take the reward.

best video ever...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtEp5yc-g3A&ob=av3e

Video Blogging

So, hey there, I thought that I would give video blogging a try--- or because I am cool and can say it, Vlogging. Anyway, it turned out terrible. So none of that for you today. So my dreams are shattered. I guess I won't be as cool as these people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghA5oOPE-xg&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq7G-Q9ZwC0

The man from the dumpster

The business meeting is this morning. A dreamer nears his eyes reflecting the good times that were apparently long ago judging by many layers of dirt beneath his nails. I run my hand through my hair as if to check that my hair which was perfect five minutes ago had not transformed into the tarnished, contagious mess that was his. He comes closer and I get the first whiff of his scent that only in prehistoric times could have been deemed "pleasurable". I look up anxious for the light to change, not only wanting to get this meeting over with but because I do not wish to dwell upon the man that reflects how hung in the balance my lively hood is.

Jealous? Yeah, I thought so.

#1
Jealousy is a deep emotion that goes beyond a basic physiological response, it penetrates deep inside and hits people at times, when they least expect it. It starts in your head as you feel your face get hot and your cheeks flush then works itself downwards, penetrating deeper until you feel your hands curl into fists and you are reduced to an animal, ready to "fight or flight". Jealousy can be in response to someone getting the girl you like, getting into a college that you didn't, beating you for a solo in music class, all different situations, but all evoking the same response.


#2
He kissed her. At the same time, John took off, hands curled into fists and face red as a crayola crayon. The girl he liked had been stolen from him , or so, he felt. As he seamlessly strides over, he gracefully approaches his "new" adversary and punches him across the face, attempting to show both him his feelings of animosity and to prove to her that he is the dominant male here.


#3

Jealously is defined as a resentment against a rival, and is a human emotion. It can be both powerful and weak, but influences many decisions made by those who have it. It can be felt by a person at any age, any gender, any race, at any time.

#4

When one acquires jealousy it is not something that is as explosive or as fast as reactions such as anger. It usually begins in the following steps...

1. Desire- a want for something or to achieve something

2. An attempt- those who feel desire often make an attempt to achieve their goal

3. Failure- Failure is almost always observed when it comes to jealousy

4. Observation- one witnesses another achieving the goal that they failed to.

With the combination of these Jealousy is nearly always the result.

#5

Jealousy is a bad thing. It tears at peoples soul and causes unhappiness for the individual. When someone becomes jealous they often make mistakes and miss details that makes the world go round. Studies have proven that while distressed, people are 50 percent more likely to find themselves in a car accident and 20 percent more likely to make a mistake. Jealousy leads to mistakes, therefore we should not dwell on our animosity toward others and pay attention to detail.

#6

I have never been jealous. Period. But anyone who says that is lying to themselves, so I must be a liar. A point of jealousy that remains vivid to me is on March 2nd 2009, the day i got cut from baseball. I can remember my hopes and my effort at practice/tryouts and can remember going into the results room with my fingers crossed, after my best friend came out just before me and said, "I made it." And then I didn't. I felt doomed on the inside, and it felt as if it were the end of the world. 

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live.
Its still funny.

Anyone who says they aren't just isn't watching anymore, or just isn't cool.

Top 5 SNL bits. Or skits? Or sketches?

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAYL5H46QnQ&feature=related

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlUD34WFfR8

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ3NnfGlClQ

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJYJUmKXSlI

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_W_xLWtNa0

Legit Post.

Translated Meanings from a Text Conversation, Part One, Max Hanson Associates originals are almost indescernible, even teen experts have difficulty


Person (P1): Hey
Person (P2): Hey
P1: What's Up?
P2: Nothin' much U?
P1: Nothing.
.................................................. (Both think, Where do I go from here?)

Slang has become continuously more common since the advent of the cell phone and, more specifically, text messaging. Proper English has become continuously more diluted with the influx of slang words such as Legit, totes, trippin', and sick. This has led to a tremendous amount of confusion and reflected poorly upon generations X and Y as a whole. So let me identify what some of the common slang words mean.

NM: Not much
OMG: Oh my God
Totes: Totally
Legit: Legitimate
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO: so
Poo: Poop
WTF?: What the Fuck?
2: to

Aren't these convenient? I know that in standard English I say What the Fuck all the time so thank God that one's there

Education- old post make-up

America is full of slackers. This point, made in Two Million Minutes demonstrates that Americans do not put half as much time in school as do our Chinese and Indian counterparts. This I feel is due to the fact that American's put too much time into achieving the top positions that are unrealistic. For example a position as an athlete where even if you are without any brain you make money. This is ridiculous as the percentage of people who are professional athletes is less than .02 percent. However, I am not surprised by the difference in the amount of time that we spend on homework as our laziness is seen in our ever-expanding waist lines. Americans are content with being middle class, whereas in India and China school is the way to escape poverty. Let's go America.


In the words of Jack Black in School of Rock, "Get off your ath lets do some math, Math math Math Math Math"

Blog Response: Girls are B*@$%^&

After my free-write I started to wonder what makes me different than women. 

Lets gloss over all of the aspects.

Maturity: Women mature much faster than women. 

Sex: "supposedly" men think about sex every seven seconds, women about twice a day

Hormones: men are ruled by testosterone 

Women are ruled by estrogen

Effects of the Hormones:

Testosterone: As testosterone affects the entire body (often by enlarging; males have bigger hearts, lungs, liver, etc.), the brain is also affected by this "sexual" differentiation. Aggression, is also an affect of the presence of testosterone. 

Estrogen: Causes emotions, reduces muscle mass,  increases fat stores

Sitting down to write.

When I sit down to write, it is not what you'd expect. I don't like everything a certain way or care as much about my surroundings as do the nit-picky English Majors. Cough, Cough. Haha :) For me to have a successful writing experience I must have inspiration, which comes from a variety of places. One such place that inspiration comes from is stress. When I am stressed I sit down and work, not allowing my self-diagnosed ADD to take over. I work hard until the stress in this case or in all cases the inspiration is gone. Once the inspiration is gone i then just leave the work mid-sentence and come back to it later. All I care about is having fun while I do it and achieving the task at hand. For me to write I often have to be happy and laughing otherwise I come off as quite persnickety and uppity. To achieve this I usually watch some of my favorite YouTube videos.
So if you are looking for a chuckle, Look at these....

Auto Insurance- Legendary 5 out of 5 stars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtEp5yc-g3A&ob=av3e


Family Guy, dairy Cow. Really quite inappropriate but I can't help but Laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2H-ZNfhxbs

And finally, Charlie Bit my finger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

These will brighten up your day. Please watch.

Stress... Yeah its everywhere

MoPro
Rhetoric

Business Plan

Music Recording

ACT

College

Are You good enough?

Why is this so hard?

The thoughts of these are enough to send a dose of adrenaline coursing throughout my body and coming to the end of the quarter they all seem to pile up at once. I have one exciting week in front of me.... But this got me thinking what causes stress and how does it affect your brain?

Stress is how your body responds to a feeling of being upset or threats. When you sense danger your body initiates a fight or flight reaction, otherwise known as a stress response. Stress is to protect you, in the wild it helps you to be more alert, focused and observant allowing you to escape danger.

Stress is also helpful as it is what convinces you to focus on the game winning hit, or study for an exam when you would rather be doing other things.

However, stress can block memory sensors such as cortisol because it blocks the neurotransmitters involved in some forms of memory recall.

How does stress affect the brain?

This can be described better by pictures....

NORMAL                                              Stressed

As this next week comes to a close, I can not wait to head back to the nice blue of normal.

Classical Music Still Rocks

When people look and think of classical music, they think of the nerdy, awkward children, that play in band and orchestra. However, the negative connotations of classical music are often unfounded as many of the people who are the first to rip on classical music often, when asked, "have you ever actually listened to classical music and if so, could you name a song from this genre that you listened to?" answer stupidly, "well no, but it still sucks." And so for all the people who need their horizons expanded, here is some Classical music that is undeniably good.

My Top 3 --- in no particular order.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0cpKzDoOdA

This is Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.
Gorgeous, well known, Perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/user/oliarnalds#p/u/5/UHVh_L_kv1Q

This is a song that is modern and includes a balance of many different instruments, however all of them are in fact, Classical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uql9IV5M_j8

The Barber Concerto, this is the 2nd movement. Listen to the rest if you wish. they are all liked below.
1st movement--   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2ifFuF3FoQ&feature=relmfu
2nd movement--  already posted
3rd movement-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_cbnyWG4Fo&feature=relmfu

So once you listen to all of these, then we can talk about why classical music "sucks".

Yes sir, Mr. President.

Tone: The president seems right off the bat to try to make this conversation seem frank and sincere. This is exemplified by the fact that right away he says, “Please sit down,” like a teacher. He also draws on personal experiences such as his time in an ethics class or his personal differences from others.

Intonation: He uses intonation to help him create rhetorical questions and help to get his message of responsibility and traits that will help us not only personally succeed, but to help our country succeed.

Posture: Upright and tall, but with a approachable demeanor that keeps the conversation light and happy.

Diction: He uses simple diction, however, due to the way he speaks he keeps it seeming conversational, instead of coming across as demeaning and arrogant. For example as he compliments teachers, he helps students understand why they do it, this helps the students and me for that matter, understand and feel close to their teachers.

Repetition: This is not as prevalent as in Dr. King’s speech. However, there are several specific examples. One such example is after every main idea he states, “this needs to happen, Right Now.” This phrase was also prevalent in his “American Jobs Act, Speech”. One other repetition that President Obama uses was in one of the opening paragraphs, and that was “it doesn’t mean, It doesn’t mean,” This helps us to understand what he wants us to do exactly, by providing the counterexample. 

Mean Ole' Jim Crow.

The Jim Crow laws were enacted after the civil War in order to keep blacks from gaining many of the freedoms that they had gained as a result of said event. They were a vicious atrocity to human rights and I, a white man more than 100 years later, still feel a white guilt as a result of them. I know I had nothing to do with it, and my ancestors had nothing to with it either, but is the way I feel justified? I don’t know. I can’t understand how people could have not done anything about it, I mean they weren’t actually a secret were they.  The only thing that gives me some relief from my guilt is the fact that it is over now.

Where is the Jim Crow section 
On this merry-go-round, 
Mister, cause I want to ride?
Down South where I come from 
White and colored 
Can't sit side by side. 
Down South on the train 
There's a Jim Crow car. 
On the bus we're put in the back--
But there ain't no back 
To a merry-go-round! 
Where's the horse 
For a kid that's black?

Short Story ReactionsT

Overall: The stories that were provided were extremely beneficial. After reading, I had to run to my computer, and immediately start work on my narrative.

I was also surprised at the lack of story line in many of the stories however, I still found myself enjoying the stories. I mean, Eggs? 

Now I have stated that these essays were good. Now I think what made these essays so good was their style. Some examples of exemplary style were.....

I never saw him eat scrambled eggs. How could he know about my story? He read it and said, "What the Hell is this?"

My father, a marine corps fighter pilot, 220 pounds, six two, a blunt instrument: a semiautomatic assault weapon. 

It felt and smelled so much better, classier, than the cheap paper books I had up till then- that funky sour stink 

issuing out of comic and big little books. 

There was also an emotional appeal to some of the essays as well. The most powerful to me was by far in the Pat Conroy, "But it was this terrible union that made me want to be writer." 

I was really intrigued by all of these essays and found them to both a good read and beneficial to me as a writer. Cheers to more in the future. 

Soo true.

As I read the Orwell version of Why I Write, I was conflicted, as I could not tell if he was addressing an audience, me, or if he was merely engaged in a self-reflection. I would argue that it was a little bit of both at times. One moment that I felt that he was truly addressing me, the reader was when he was talking about the intrinsic motivations of becoming a writer. These seemed quite accurate to me as I know that if given a choice topic, I would often choose something historical or political.  On the Dideon, the way he crafted his introduction was brilliant to me, using a sensory experience that he then forces on the reader to forge the original syntax that would be used throughout the entire essay.

College.

As we enter the new school year, I feel as if I were thrown back into a world that, even though I have been inside many times, feels foreign to me. But this school year isn't exactly the same as last year. This year is senior year, and with it comes the stresses of college applications. Applying to schools ranging from UPenn-Wharton to Gustavus Adolphus and everywhere in between while managing AP Classes and extracurriculars, makes every essay I complete feel like one step closer to freedom.

A senior slide you say,
why can't I have it that way.;

Max