Blog reflection

This blog has been interesting to say the least. At first I truly hated the thought of blogging with a passion because I'm not very good with technology and I kind of like to keep to myself. After my first blog post I started to get into it more and more and found out that its fun to see peoples thoughts on your topics. towards the end I started to hate the blog once again, it was very overwhelming having so much to do, I try to multi-task when I do stuff but with a blog its a little harder to do. This week has been very hectic with all my other classes, and having to drive to Chico to get my truck, I find myself finishing this up at the last minute. Even though its stressful I will admit that it has help me grow this semester and let me express myself in a different way. So all and all I suppose it hasn't been that bad.

What is Success?

This is my views of success, this isn't a great video, but I've taken risks all year so here it goes.

Princess Shelby's Luxuries

In my family my grandpa calls me the Princess this isn't because I act like a princess or am prissy or anything, its just a family joke because I usually get the luxuries I want. I'm not spoiled or rich. I don't like to flaunt things or show off. I am not given everything I want. I got my first job when I turned fourteen, and I have worked ever since. When I started my more stable job at the age of sixteen I begin paying more and more bills and buying myself more things.
I recently bought two horses but before I did that I went through my finances to make sure I would be able to afford these luxuries along with my other expenses. When I was doing this I wasn't accounting for my transmission in my truck to go out. which was an additional expense. I had accounted for receiving my truck and horse trailer registration and I had the money saved up for that and enough feed for all of my animals to get me through 3 months.
At one point I was finally relieved and feeling really financially stable, then made a leap to purchase a horse. And less then a day later I had a huge expense coming out of my pocket. You never know when something is going to go wrong and I've learned that when something does go wrong you just have to make the best of it. I don't regret buying the horses because they make me happy and give me a much better appreciation for the luxuries in life!

Into the Wild: The Impact

Chris had a very nice life, and chose to up and leave it. Throughout the many years he spends on the road, McCandless meets and affects many people, he wasn't with one person for a significant amount of time in order to be talked out of his wandering. McCandless eventually decides to live in the wild, without the advantages of human society. Living in a bus in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness with nothing more than the basics. Surprisingly enough Chris McCandless kept a careful diary of his time, his thoughts, and his reasons for leaving. The Diaries kept by Chris enlightened the aspects of living in the wild and made impacts on several peoples lives.

Into the Wild: Over Confidence

The book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer was a very good book. I appreciated that the book touched on the wilderness. I was thinking about what I was going to write this blog about earlier, and then I was reading Mimi's blog and she pointed out the matter of arrogance. Chris McCandless went into the wild to prove himself and other people that he was capable of surviving. I strongly believe that confidence is a key component to success but Chris was maybe a little too confident, almost arrogant, which is what I believe may be the main reason he didn't make it. I know that if I were sick or thought I was in some sort of trouble I would swallow my pride and ask for help or go home.

Race and Ethnicity

The traditional definition of race and ethnicity is related to biological and sociological factors respectively. Race refers to a person's physical appearance, such as skin color, eye color, hair color, bone/jaw structure etc. Ethnicity, on the other hand, relates to cultural factors such as nationality, culture, ancestry, language and beliefs.

Everyone has there own view on race and ethnicity which is completely fine. This semester I focused a lot on this topic which I often find as touchy ground because everyone has a different opinion. I think that the world is becoming better at accepting different races but we still have a ways to go before racism is completely demolished.  People will always judge others that's the way its always been and it is very natural. For now we all just have to live with this evolving world the way it is.

Below I have posted a link to a video on a child's view on race. during my groups presentation we showed a small bit of this clip so now you can watch the whole thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPVNJgfDwpw&feature=g-hist

 

 

The Wonderful Age of Debt

Anywhere you look you can see debt. Everyone typically has accumulated there own debt by the age of 20. Credit card companies make it easier and easier to gain access to their wonderful pieces of plastic. Many people have a wallet packed full with credit cards, with varying interest rates, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, unless you use them everyday. Shopping, dining, school, bills, there are countless numbers of reasons spend money that they don't have. I know several people who may not have funds in the bank so they just whip out on of there many credit cards. I often wonder how they're going to pay these careless purchases and the additional interest off. In my eyes, if it is not a major necessity you don't need it if you cannot afford it. Having a credit card isn't a bad thing; it could be ideal in case of an emergency and it helps to establish a credit score if you pay it off and don't keep racking up the bill. Just think about your spending habits and your sure enough to not let debt eat you alive!

Movie Review: Skyfall

I recently went and saw the movie Skyfall. In the movie 007 (Double O Seven) is saving M16 there is a lot of action and adventure and all of the scenes are high quality. Right in the beginning of the movie a conflict is made when 007 is shot by his partner and thought to be dead. I personally got scared a few times, but that is because I usually am really jumpy. Out of ten I would rate this move as an eight and the critics on Fandango.com rated it an 81 out of 100.

The Long Way Home

In the novel "The Long Way Home" by Karen McQuestion and published by Amazon Publishing, four women go on a road trip to Las Vegas to see Marnie's stepson Troy. Along the way these women come across a lot of strange happenings. All of the woman grew in different ways throughout the novel and changed rapidly on the trip to Las Vegas. This book was recommended to me by a classmate and when I read the summary on the back of the book it seemed fairly interesting so i decided to read it. Even though I strongly dislike reading, this book was very enjoyable. I liked that it was more modern and up to date.
I would recommend this book to anyone, but chances are good that women would enjoy it most. My favorite chapters were Ch. 40-55. These chapters are closer to the end but it is where the book really gets enjoyable and all of the stuff before leads up to the best part. Although it is a long book, 321 pages to be exact, it is well worth the read.

Advertising Analysis

In the Boys and Girls club ad, nothing is being "sold", but they are trying to convince members of the community to join. The hook is the writing on the hand saying "in these hands: The sound of a guitar or the sound of a gun. A story of desperation or one of inspiration. Blueprints to build a house or plans to break into one. Sign language or gang signs a painter or a con artist. All depending on who gives them a hand" by this quote the creators of the ad are implying that joining this association could make you into a good and prevent violence. The target audience for this would be parents of troubled kids, or even troubled kids looking to change. I feel as though this ad is made to be inspirational, as if the creator is trying to show what things are compared to what they could be.

This add, to me symbolizes making a choice, it could be a choice to change, a choice to be a certain way, or a choice to help. I feel as though this ad is probably really effective I know that as I was reading it I really thought about the comparisons they made like "the sound of music or the sound of a gun". The message is join this club to prevent violence. My opinion of the ad overall is that it uses really good comparisons and examples and I think that the boys and girls club is a great program. I really liked the ad they came up with I feel like if they had more visuals rather than the words it could be a bit more effective. This ad doesn’t have a lot of ads similar to it so it is hard to compare it to another one but I think it has a message and it gets it across rather effectively.

Over all this was a good add to break down, because it was different by not trying to sell a product but rather convince people to join them. As a member of 4-h I can relate to this add; our club is always trying to recruit new members and the 4-H foundation and Community Club Council is always out supporting the organization promoting the members and stating the pros of living a life involved with this program. I know that it is not easy to recruit members and I really think that this add has good intentions.

Ideal Community Advertisement

The Society I prefer is a balanced, structured, community. A place that will offer equal rights, land, no taxes, free education and healthcare, and many more desirable qualities. I want the opportunity to own land and survive off of sustainable agriculture. It will be an ideal place to raise children and teach them how to support themselves and their own families one day. I like this because all of these things are burdens in everyday life, without the worry of paying for healthcare, education, and taxes life would be much smoother. Also I feel that when someone raises their own food they will have a greater appreciation for just about everything. For myself I feel like this would be a great place to live.

My Sentence

I am an old soul with different views of life, known for my hard work and dedication, valued for my honesty and kindness, yearning for success and opportunity.

The Giver-Sameness

In Jonas’ Community everyone sees black and white and there are no visible distinct characteristics that set one person apart from another. The community practices this sort of sameness so that no one feels judged or different. Although it is unrecognizable beneath the shadows of the black and white, there are distinct traits like colored skin, hair, and eyes; such as Jonas’ eyes or Fiona’s hair that set them apart. When Jonas first began to see color he didn’t know how to comprehend it and when the giver was explaining part of seeing color to him he said “We’ve never completely mastered sameness. I suppose the genetic scientists are still hard at work trying to work the kinks out. Hair like Fiona’s must drive them crazy.” (94) The giver points out here that they are trying to modify the traits of the children that are born, but have not yet mastered that, nor have they mastered the art of sameness.

Essay response

In the Essay “What I Think about the Fashion World” by Liz Jones, Liz discusses her view of the fashion world and how it shows unrealistic images of underweight teenagers and her experience as the former editor of the Marie Claire magazine. I feel that in today’s society there are many mixed emotions when it comes to the perfect body. With weight, on one side people show pictures of obese woman and on the other side there are pictures of underweight woman, and there seems to never be a "happy medium". Some people spend countless numbers of hours and dollars trying to get to what the magazines perceive as the perfect body, but they only way this goal will ever be attainable is if instead of surgery, we went through Photoshop. What most people don’t realize when they look at the front page of a magazine portraying a slender tall woman, in a bikini, with perfect skin and hair is that most of that picture is photo shopped. Natural beauty is a thing of the past and everyone is doing their best to look just like everyone else, which typically results in hiding their best features.

In this picture almost every aspect of this woman is photo shopped, her arms and legs are made smaller, her back is slimmed and her face is clearly touched up. I think it is unfortunate that they took a woman who was already beautiful and modified her. I feel if that were me I would probably be offended or made to feel as though I wasn't good enough.

Happy cows come from California

In California a common billboard sign seen on the sides of the road is one of Clover Stornetta Farm's clever Clo the cow signs; or on TV you have probably heard the common commercials promoting real California milk products. I myself love to promote the dairy industry. I personally feel that agriculture is one of the wisest pursuits. The dairy industry is important to our culture for many reasons, it created over 443,000 jobs which accounts for approximately 3% of the jobs in California. Right now California alone has produced over 41.2 billion pounds of milk. Without the dairy cows and the farmers that dedicate countless numbers of hours to milk them, we would be left without many of the common foods and beverages we consume daily. I currently raise my own dairy heifers which I will sell to a local dairy farmer once they calve and are ready to be put into the milk production line. Looking out in my fields and seeing my girls i can honestly say that "Happy cows do come from California"