Holocost Rememberance Day

The Holocaust was a very sad time in the history of the world. As I see it, the Holocaust was completely unnecessary, however, I cannot help but see many important lessons that should be taken away from this. First, we should never discriminate against anyone who is different than us, because the thought of doing that to anyone is hypocritical. Because to those whom we are discriminating against, we are the outsiders, we are the ones who are different. But we really aren't any different, we are all humans, and that makes us as similar as water from the Atlantic compared to water from the Pacific, the water came from different places but its still water, that is the second lesson we must learn from this. The third and final lesson is that violence will never be the ultimate solution to anything. Because, chances are, when you begin massacring other people, you will eventually be overpowered by some other forces, and if nobody relents, that will be a very scary situation, possibly ending our race. My thoughts on the Holocaust is this, that it was a terrible time in history, but we neither deny that happened, nor downgrade its seriousness, and we must learn from our mistakes.

Gossip

Gossip is a very terrible thing, and is detrimental to the reputation of an individual. This story has a wonderful analogy for gossip, because like feathers that float away in the wind, they never can be completely gathered up. This is almost identical to what happens when someone starts a rumor. It begins with one person telling a lie, and then people want to tell everyone they know, and those people want to tell everyone they know, and so on. Once the train of gossip is set in motion, it will never stop. Gossip give the originator a sense of false confidence. By degrading others with lies, they believe that it makes them a better person, or more popular. To have a false rumor started about you is horrible, because much like the person who stared the gossip, you cannot stop it, and then people develop a false image of the subject of the rumor. Gossip is something that cannot be solved without a very public statement done by the originator of the rumor, stating that the gossip is nothing more than just that, a rumor.

My Public Service Announcement

The public service announcement that my group is choosing to do is a warning to not get your ankles "broken" during basketball by someone else performing crossovers. We are going to get some footage of Brett or Drew "breaking" Jeff's ankles, and then show how someone would prevent this embarrassing event. I'm going to try and get some words flashing on the screen to emphasize the major points. Its going to be a funny public service announcement sending a "serious" message to the public. Hopefully, we can make all the transitions as seamless as possible, and add a great poster to help explain our message.

My iMovie Project

This is my iMovie project that I did in my computer technology class. We were supposed to make a music video for a song that I liked. I chose to use the song All-Star by Smash Mouth, because I knew that there were a lot of lyrics in the song that would be easy to visualize. I got a few ideas for the video from the official music video, but most of my ideas were original. I really like the song, and ever since I was eight or so when the song was originally released it's been one of my favorite songs. So, it was lots of fun reliving my younger years, and seeing the results of my hard work.

Easter Break

This Easter break my family went to Williamsburg, Virginia. We had a great time!  We went golfing, visited the historic Colonial Williamsburg area, and did some shopping. It was very similar to other trips we had taken to Williamsburg, however, we went to the Easter Vigil mass at the William and Mary campus chapel, which was quite an experience for me. During the mass, they baptized five students, which is customary, but it was much more violent than I had ever seen before. Because when the students stepped up to be baptized, they stepped into a small pool and had two large jugs of water dumped on their heads. It is going to be an experience that i will remember for a long time to come.

Inspiration

This quote tells me a lot about what people, including myself, generally get confused. It is that many people are so focused on trying to correct their actions, that they commonly forget to correct the source of the problem, their thoughts. In order to correct one's actions, one must first analyze the thought process undertaken before performing the desired action, and if fault is discovered, that is what must be corrected. I've always been someone who would do something without thinking a second about it , which is why I really like this quote, it helps me step back and remember where the real problem lies.

Lenten Promises

This Lent I made a promise to refrain from eating Mrs. Matarelli's cookies, and to work on cleaning up my language. I found doing both of these things very difficult, with each having different obstacles that are found in the same basic problem. This basic problem is that I found that I had become accustomed to doing both things without thinking beforehand. So, throughout this Lenten season, I've learned to slow my life down, and actually thinking things through thoroughly prior to making a decision. This has helped me lead a more Christian life, because I do what I feel is right, and have thought about whether its truly the right thing to do. And, I've dropped a few pounds too!

Future Career

When I grow up, I want to be a doctor, and more specifically, a cardiothoracic surgeon. I want to work with people, and I want to help them live better lives, but I really want to be the one person who has a major influence upon whether a person lives or dies. I've been told that I am crazy, because I'm going to be so sad when I lose patients, so I tell them that I will be, but, I can only imagine the exuberant felling that I'd have after saving the life of someone who would not have lived otherwise. It's going to take a lot of school, and even more residency, but I want to be a surgeon no matter what I have to go though.

Service Project

A service project that I plan to work on is to work at Proctor Hospital. I worked there last summer, and I had a great time. I worked in the surgical area, where I folded laundry and checked case carts, which are the carts that hold all the surgical instruments for a given surgery, and I also worked as an assistant to a nurse in their general in-patient area. I loved it all, and I want to be a doctor when I grow up, so I gained some valuable experience in the field. While working in the surgical area, I was able to see many different surgeries, which was so cool! I found that lots of the patients that I helped were happy to see a fresh young face in a scary environment, so I am glad that I could help the patients have a more pleasant experience while they were at the hospital.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey was one of America's greatest radio talk show hosts. He died on February 28th at the age of 91. He was the most listened-to radio talk show host, with his broadcasts ranking among the top ten on all the radio networks. He is also the number one radio host on network radio. For more than 50 years, Paul was working as a broadcaster on the ABC networks. He has received many awards, among them are The Presidential Medal of Honor, the NAB Spirit of Broadcasting Award, and the Peabody award. He also produced the TV show Paul Harvey Comments that ran continuously for 20 years. May he rest in peace.

iPhoto Project

I've just finished making an iPhoto project that spelled out my name and had pictures that represented who I am. I started out and was trying to have all the letters that spelled out my name represent a part of me, but I found that was too laborious and time consuming for me to complete it in time. So, if there was a complication during the process, it was that I couldn't find many letters that I thought were original enough for me to include in the project. Once I got my letters, it was smooth sailing from there, and I'm glad that I'm now able to use iPhoto!

NASA Picture

Explanation: The Moon, fresh from a biting encounter with the Sun last week, appeared next to threaten Venus. The waxing Moon appeared to glide right past, however, just a few degrees away. Venus, of course, is much further away from the Earth than the Moon, so the passing was really just an angular illusion. Pictured above on June 13, a fading sunset finds the crescent Moon and Venus between clouds and above the city lights of Geneva, Switzerland.

I chose to post this picture because it not only shows distant planets and stars, but also the Earth as we would see it from an airplane. To me, it symbolizes the fact that we truly are just a small part of something way bigger. We've fallen into the belief that the whole universe metaphorically revolves around us, and this can lead us into serious problems. We need to realize that it's not all about me, me, me, but rather that we all have a role to play in our survival and without each other we are doomed. For each organism plays a role in the survival of all the others, and we are just the lucky benefactors.

Bibliography:
Gregory Giuliani. The Moon & Venus Over Geneva. 13 June 2002. Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. 19 Feb. 2009 .

Athletes and the Media

Recently, Michael Phelps was caught doing drugs, and some pictures were taken. These pictures eventually made their way into the mainstream media. I can't say that I was heartbroken, finding that one of my sports idols was not the person I had at one time perceived him to be, but I was sad and almost in a state of disbelief. I can't imagine what would possess him to do something like that, since everything seemed to be great in his life, having just broken Mark Spitz's record for most gold medals at one Olympics. But, I'm not him, so I can't make judgements about his life, and being in the spotlight can be a lot of pressure. Still that isn't a reason to do drugs, and I don't have any anger toward the media for sharing the pictures. Michael needs to be aware of what he's doing, and must act as if every thing he does will be closely scrutinized, because most things he does will be.

Animal Farm

Right now, I'm reading the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell. I'm about half way through the book, and I love it! Its tough reading it as a human (which is probably the only way to read it) because it constantly bashes all the problems that humans have caused and can cause because of our nature. The book is about a farm where the farmer is neglecting his animals, drinks constantly, and doesn't care about the condition of the farm's buildings. The animals decide to revolt against the farmer, driving him away into town. They turn the farm into Animal Farm, becoming self-sufficient while maintaining a relatively luxurious lifestyle. Another pro for the book is that it isn't very long, about 100 pages, so I strongly suggest reading it!

Foreclosures

Recently, our country has fallen victim to a serious financial problem. This problem is that many homes are being foreclosed, which is when a mortgage lender reclaims a home because the home owner fails to repay the mortgage. This can be very devastating to home owners, because they lose their home and they are forced to move out within a very short period of time. I don't know any body who has had their home foreclosed, because they chose wisely when buying, and I take that as an example for how I should be deciding when I'm older. I believe that the government shouldn't help people whose homes have been foreclosed. I know it sounds cruel, but when someone goes looking for a home, they should always check to see if he or she can afford it. Also, the buyer should be saving money in case a sudden problem arises.

Our 44th President: Barack Obama

At 12:06 p.m. on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama took the oath of office, solemnly swearing to execute the office of The President of the United States faithfully. At that moment I felt like our country was headed in a new direction. Whether I thought that direction was a positive one, I can not say. But, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic about most of his plans, and believe that he has only good intentions for the nation when devising these plans. I've looked at many of his policies, and have found some that I am truly excited about and others that I hope never get legalized. For example, I believe that he has great ideas for saving the environment, but I completely disagree with his stance on abortion. For now, I'm going to keep an open mind and not make any rash assumptions and see where he leads us.

Build the Block

On April 7, 2009 in Peoria, Illinois, there is going to be a vote about whether a sales-tax increase should be implemented to help fund the Peoria Riverfront Museum, which is a part of the "Build the Block" campaign. The block in mention is a seven acre piece of land found in downtown Peoria. I personally believe that this would be a great addition to the riverfront, and I also went to pre-school at the current museum. The museum would contain a five story IMAX theater, a state-of-the art planetarium, and many exhibits with subjects ranging from science to art to history. In addition, the block would help to increase the quality of the river by filtering runoff with plants that naturally remove pollutants. So, I encourage all who have the ability to vote for the tax increase to vote in favor of it, so we can "Build the Block". If you want to learn more about the "Build the Block" campaign the link is right here-->://www.buildtheblock.org/.

The Golden Globes

Well, last night was the 66th annual Golden Globes, and I didn't want a single minute of it. Personally, I'm just about fed up with the obsession that our country has with every single thing that a famous person does. But, I was interested to find out what show won the best comedy on television, since I watch The Office and 30 Rock, and 30 Rock won. I am a huge fan of The Office and watch it faithfully, however I believe that the correct show was chosen. This season, 30 Rock was much better, and as much as it pains me to say it, this season of The Office was far from the hilarity of previous seasons, and i hope that this Thursday it can get back on track!