Thank you, Val

Problems.

With the topics of the USPS losing money and "The Singer Solution to World Poverty," the solution brought forth for each situation both involve money. All anyone thinks about today is money. Kids are taught to learn, go to school, and become successful for what? Money. However, money is not always the solution. No matter how much money I throw at a rock, it will not fly. Shrinking the USPS will not solve the issue, but rather simply make sending letters even less efficient, thus further discouraging people to use physical mail. Drones. Drones are the answer to everything. With drones, mail and packages can be sent with little cost. Sure, mailmen would lose their jobs, but they can instead work as drone monitors. Bam. Problem solved.  This didn't involve the government throwing needlessly large sums of money at the problem, but rather it reallocate resources to adapt to the situation. Sometimes problems don't have clear solutions. Instead of fighting the problem head on, it's necessary to just work around it. Extreme Drought in California? Move to Nevada. Tired of mosquitos? Move to California. Wait. No. Everyone in California already moved to Nevada. Live underwater. Last time I checked mosquitos live underwater. See? Sometimes you just have to work around the problem.

Now THIS is how you solve a problem.

As depicted numerous times throughout the novel, Art's parallel attitudes towards his father are shown within these panels. Art himself doesn't mind spending time with his father, yet he can't stand living with him. This is because of the things his father does. In this case, his father got rid of Anja's old journals. At this point, Art gets a lot angrier than he normally does at his father's actions. He even cusses at his father and calls him a "murderer," something "even to [his] friends [he] should never yell." By specifically using the word "murderer" instead of idiot or imbecile, Art is somewhat blaming his father for the death of his mother. Also, the last panel is shaded so it looks like tears are coming out of Art's eyes. Before this, he hasn't really shown much emotion towards the death of his mother, other than the comic in the middle. This shading represents the pain that doesn't heal. The pain of losing a parent, but also the pain of the holocaust. His father even says how the books had brought back so many bad memories. This shows that while Spiegelman depicted everyone as animals to somewhat mask the true terrors of the Holocaust, these mice themselves wear masks to not only protect themselves, but to prevent them from hurting the people they love.

Picture Perfect

For those who didn't know me when I was younger, this is me as a child. With the whole debate on whether photographs are a "irresistible form of mental pollution" (Sontag), both sides have valid arguments. It all depends on how you use it. For example, the photo above is used to document and preserve my image as a child. Therefor, one may argue that photographs and pictures bring a sense of truth and documentation that are important. However, the photo above is not me. All I did was search up "asian child" on google images and selected the first image of a boy. Those against photographs would then argue that images are deceitful. Yes, I agree. Pictures can be misleading, especially with photoshop readily available (but at a whopping $120+ a year). However, isn't life also deceitful? Whether it's news stories, magazines, or even friends and family, everyone and everything lie. That poptart you had for breakfast wasn't actually a poptart. It was a Toaster Tart.

Also, without photographs, I wouldn't be able keep my self esteem up every day.

Without photographs, cops wouldn't know who to look for when catching criminals. Therefore if you argue that photographs are bad, then you support crime.

Also without photos, this would never be possible.

Check out Andrew Yuan Photography @ https://www.facebook.com/AndrewYuanPhotography

While reading the Consider the Lobster, I couldn't help but to wonder what life would be like if humans didn't eat lobsters. First off, Red Lobster wouldn't exist. Also, buffets would be less popular, considering how many people (my parents) only go to buffets to eat lobster. There's an infinite amount of what if's about how the world would be different if humans didn't do certain things. However, those who eat meat, whether it's lobster meat or beef have already accepted the fact that their food was once living, moving just as they themselves do. If this wasn't the case, then they would simply refuse to eat meat and be vegetarians. Even so, us humans have assigned the task of butchering these once breathing forms of sustenance to others, just so we ourselves do not have to feel the guilt of killing an animal. Therefore, like Wallace himself admits that he hasn't "succeeded in working out any sort of personal ethical system" for which the issue of killing lobsters will make him change is eating habits. In the world, there are predators and prey to keep species populations under control. WIthout us humans, lobsters could possibly be so plentiful that they eventually outnumber us and enslave the human race. Therefore, us lobster-eaters are in fact saving the world. 8)

Tick. Tock.

With the whole idea of multiplicity, the movie The Hours, time itself is what makes the movie unique. By shifting between three different time periods, the audience simply gets snippets of daily life that seems completely unrelated (of course only to those who haven't read Mrs. Dalloway). However, through the contrasts of these three depictions, the same conclusion arrises. No matter how hard we try, we "still have to face the hours." Although Richard Brown tries to write about everything that happens in a moment, he can only get as minute as one single day. Also, Richard even tells Clarissa he "seems to have fallen out of time." foreshadowing his inevitable death. Virginia Woolf also lives a tragic life. As we find out in the movie, she moves to Richmond for her own safety, so her husband can keep careful watch of her. However, time must continue. Woolf's unrelenting desire for freedom causes her to fight with her husband, exclaiming, "You cannot find peace avoiding life." No matter how hard we try, no one can stop time. As tragic as it is, death is unavoidable. However, as Virginia states, "Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more. It's contrast."

Ahoy Me Matey

"Suddenly Elizabeth stepped forward and most competently boarded the omnibus, in front of everybody. She took a seat on top. The impetuous creature-a pirate-started forward, sprang away. she had to hold the rail to steady herself, for a pirate it was, reckless, unscrupulous, bearing down ruthlessly, circumventing dangerously, boldly snatching a passenger, or ignoring a passenger, squeezing eel-like and arrogant in between, and then rushing insolently all sails spread up Whitehall. And did Elizabeth give one thought to poor Miss Kilman who loved her without jealousy, to whom she had been a fawn in the open, a moon in a glade? She was delighted to be free. The fresh air was so delicious. It had been so stuffy in the Army and Navy stores. And now it was like riding, to be rushing up Whitehall; and to each movement of the omnibus the beautiful body in the fawn-coloured coat responded freely like a rider, like the figure-head of a ship, for the breezy slightly disarrayed her; the heat gave her cheeks the pallor of white painted wood; and her fine eyes, having no eyes to meet, gazed ahead, blank, bright, with the staring incredible innocence of sculpture" (135).



    Elizabeth, being a yee little lad, is constantly surrounded by older people. By coming from wealth, she's expected to act classy and mature. However, her trip on the omnibus reveals her hungarrrr for adventarrrre. She describes the bus as being a pirate, yet it acts more of a pirate ship, "rushing up Whitehall." With Miss Kilman almost forcing her love onto Elizabeth, Elizabeth just desperately wishes to be free. She's almost living a double life; on the outside she lives a rich, civilized life, yet she desiarrrrrs for freedom and adventure. Avast ye, Elizabeth describes the fresh airrrrrrr as being "delicious," so freedom itself is what sustains her, Savvy? Shiver me timbers! By living a life of multiplicity, the lassie feels isolated, "having no eyes to meet"-almost as if she's trapped in Davy Jones' Locker. Being a pirate is generally seen as a manly occupation, yet Elizabeth wants to batten down the hatch and be free like a pirate. She doesn't carrrre about society's gender roles, but rather what her harrrrrt desires. Therefore she represents the "incredible innocence" that once existed within every person.

    So in a time like today, we should not allow society to kill our inner pirate. Arrrrggghhh! Fight for freedom, fight for justice! Don't let anyone tell you you can't.

Septimus

"Was he not like Keats? she asked; and reflected how she might give him a taste of Antony and Cleopatra and the rest; lent him books' wrote him scraps of letters' and lit in him such a fire as burns only once in a lifetime, without heat, flickering a red gold flame infinitely ethereal and insubstantial over Miss Pole; Antony and Cleopatra; and the Waterloo Road. He thought her beautiful, believed her impeccably wise; dreamed of her, wrote poems to her, which, ignoring the subject, she corrected in red ink; he saw her, one summer evening, walking in a green dress in a square. 'It has flowered,' the gardener might have said, had he opened the door; had he come in, that is to say, any night about this time, and found him writing; found him tearing up his writing; found him finishing a masterpiece at three o'clock in the morning and running out to pace the streets, and visiting churches, and fasting one day, drinking another, devouring Shakespeare, Darwin, The History of Civilisation, and Bernard Shaw" (85).

    This passage brings to light what Septimus used to be before the war. It's nice to see how Septimus was capable of loving someone, of feeling. However, this also makes this current situation with PTSD even more tragic, for he does not think of  Rezia as beautiful or impeccably wise. Instead, whenever Septimus is with his wife, he's thinking of death, war, or Evans. Not only did Septimus lose his friend Evans in the war, but his ability to feel and his grasp on life.

    The mentioning of Antony and Cleopatra is quite interesting. Having pretty much the same ending as Romeo and Juliet (seriously the ending is ALMOST THE SAME... love causes them BOTH TO KILL THEMSELVES...), Antony and Cleopatra may be foreshadowing to something tragic later on in the book. Since Keats is giving him "a taste" of the play, and being the woman he loved before the love, the idea of the play should be somewhat imbedded in his mind. Whether it's him killing himself after his wife leaves him or dies from misery or him killing himself from survivor's guilt, the future of Septimus does not seem bright.
 
    Another detail beautifully crafted into this passage is the idea of how ordinary Septimus's life was before the war. Not the boring ordinary, but rather the normal, correct ordinary. This passage presents the idea that he would often experience all of the ups and downs of life. He had a crush on Keats, whom lit a fire that burns "only once in a lifetime." Also, he experiences the struggles of his poetry career, sometimes tearing up his writing in frustration, sometimes running out to pace the streets in satisfaction. His devouring of plays (Shakespeare), science (Darwin), history (The History of Civilisation) and journalism (Bernard Shaw) illustrates how he was involved in all aspects of life prior to the war, which ultimately emphasizes the tragedy Septimus's current state of mind.

Social Media

As the internet gets bigger and bigger, each generation gets more involved in it. This has affected society both in a positive and a negative way. Although people are more connected through social media, the whole idea of socialization has begun to change. Now a days people are more concerned with how many friends they have on Facebook, or how many followers they have on Twitter. Not only does this trend change perception of identity, but it also can cause depression. The news has been covering more and more stories about suicide due to depression from bullying. Like in YouTube comments, it's a lot easier to troll around hurt others through a computer screen, than to bully them in real life. Sometimes the computer screen seems like a "small square of the windowpane," small and impossible to escape (Woolf 2). With kids spending more and more time on the internet, reality may shift from the real world to the digital world. Teenagers these days are often concerned with how many favorites their tweets get, or how many people say happy birthday to them on Facebook. Although social media helps people socialize, it can also hinder socialization. You can't really tell the emotions of the person you're talking to through a computer screen. Therefore signs of depression are harder to notice. Sometimes we just need to look up from our handheld devices and just ask how our friends are doing, and stay a little bit away from social media. 

PSA: Being Different

Like Nancy Mairs' Disability piece, Amy Tan brings to light the idea of being different. She ends up feeling embarrassed and ashamed for simply being different. Especially in high school, people just want to fit in. They want to be accepted and fit into their group of friends or cliques. However, that doesn't justify being ashamed of who they are. Not only is it important to be proud of your culture, but it's also important to just be yourself. High school is only four short years. What happens there does not define who a person is. So what if some people don't want to cut their hair even though it's starting to look like a straight haired afro? So what if some people like wearing crocs because they're comfortable, yet stylish? Or, as Amy might say, who cares if some people eat "stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges" instead of roasted turkey and sweet potatoes for Christmas (Tan 95)? Everyone should take pride in being unique. As my friend's blog title says, You [is] for Unique (check out the blog). However, this does not mean people should go around trying to be all hipster. It is definitely not a good idea to reject all of society's rules and decide to never wear clothes again in hopes to be "unique".  That being said, "your only shame is to have shame" (95).

Words

    While we were discussing Mairs's Disability piece and how media misrepresents disabled people, Joe Swanson immediately came into my mind. Before reading this piece, I never really thought much of him; he was just a handicapped character that would occasionally provide comedic relief through his ignorance. However, now that I think about it, what's funny to me may not necessarily be funny to others. I know I don't find Asian jokes to be very funny; I'm sure handicapped people don't find the portrayal of people like Joe Swanson to be very funny either. However, this brings light to a separate issue. Maybe kids learn to make fun of others by seeing such ridicule in comedic television shows, thus thinking it's acceptable. These examples of ridicule and mockery are perceived as normal because the characters themselves lack the "complexities that round out a character and make her whole" (Mairs 14). What I mean is, people never see how the name calling, the racist, sexist jokes actually affect the characters' emotions. Just like how their outfits never change, cartoon characters in Family Guy, The Simpsons, and many other shows lack any change in their personalities. They can be made fun of, physically beaten or or even die (Kenny from Southpark), yet the next day they're back to normal. Kids may interpret this as a green flag to make fun of others, as long as some people find it funny. The saying "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" is total bogus. Words hurt. A lot. The earlier they realize how distorted the media is and how powerful words are, the better.

SNOW DAY!!!!!

I am who I am

Oh, that Asagai, out of the blue asking me to go with him to Nigeria. That would be a dream come true. I know that she told me I "ain't old enough to marry nobody" (Hansberry 149), but  now is the time for growth. Now that we've moved into a new house, an actual house, we can begin the end of assimilation. No longer must we follow society's ignorant rules. Why can't women be doctors? Why can't blacks live in white neighborhoods. Oh, I'm sure mama will let me marry Asagai and move to Nigeria with him after we get settled into our beautiful new house. We do not need to dream through a single, tiny window, where light fights its way in every day. Now that mama's dream of living in a real house is fulfilled, I'm sure she'll let me pursue my dream. For brother pursued his dream and failed, yet mama never stopped loving him. Also I know mama isn't the shallow type to make me marry that prick George. Not only that, but brother also might become the head of the family. Now that he's proven himself to be a real man, it'll be awesome to see mama's tyranny finally end. It's not that I hate mama, it's just her God talk always bugs me. Anyways, becoming a doctor in Nigeria would be amazing. I wouldn't need to assimilate, and I'd finally be with my true ancestors. I'd finally find out who I really am.

A Diamond as Big as a Pink Elephant

Happiness is a concept so easily grasped, yet so hard to maintain. The world is full of hardships, as seen in Fitzgerald's short story, A Diamond as Big as the Ritz.  Although happiness is first felt when obtaining wealth, it is soon lost in the abyss of greed and jealousy: John experiences first hand how wealth leads to corruption. In a once upon a time fairy tale land, Fitzgerald illustrates ideas so true to man kind in such a far fetched fashion. Although money often leads to corruption and despair, humble fortune can bring true happiness. However, in the case of the Washingtons, fortune can lead others towards the path of inevitable destruction. Like Moses being forbidden from entering the promise land, an act that started innocently led to the unavoidable punishments. Had the Washingtons simply left the giant diamond alone and lived a humble comfortable life, they would have lived a very peaceful happy life. However, due to greed and corruption, evil deeds were done to keep such unnecessary wealth from the off chance that someone else would have found the diamond hidden inside the mountain. One man's corruption causes everyone to suffer. Like a pink elephant's tusk, the diamond as big as the Ritz was so unnecessary, yet so desirable.Fitzgerald's far fetched story is a great example of rhetoric because it clearly shows the outcome of being rich and corrupt. Today's society also portrays such ideas; for example, Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years in prison for corruption. It's crazy how such bizarre, unbelievable stories can have such true themes.

Chasing Dreams

    Dreams are meant to motivate people to work. They are desires which may end up becoming a reality. However, dreams should not be focused on to the point where nothing else matters. Sure, dreams are nice, but tunnel visioning on a single dream isn't the way to go. In Gatsby's case, his absolute focus on his dream of ending up with Daisy led to his ultimate demise. His dream of being with Daisy causes him to be willing to take the blame for Myrtle's death, and he even tells Nick, "I'll say I was" (143) when Nick asks Gatsby if Daisy was driving. Gatsby's focus on his ultimate dream of being with Daisy prevents him from seeing the repercussions of his actions and decisions. There's no way Gatsby can be with Daisy if he's in jail, or in this case, dead. Not only is tunnel visioning on a dream bad, but it also leads to the inflation of said dream. Nick realizes that through the years, Gatsby's expectations of Daisy may be higher than she can ever achieve; during the tea time with Gatsby and Daisy, Nick thinks that in some ways Daisy must have "tumbled short of his dreams" (95). Therefore, focusing on one dream is good, but it should not dictate someone's life. In Gatsby's case, his inability to move on from Daisy led to his ultimate demise. Sometimes it's better to let a dream go than to go down with it, for letting go of one dream may sprout new dreams to pursue. Broken dreams not only make people stronger, but they allow people to continue to chase better, bigger dreams. 

Therefore, people should always chase their dreams, but they shouldn't let their dreams solely control their lives.

Right Wrong.

Jay Gatsby has turned out to be a very interesting man. The mysterious descriptions and rumors of him in the beginning of the novel stimulates curiosity. What sort of character will this man turn out to be? A man described as having a "gorgeous" (Fitzgerald 2) personality and being "related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away" (2) gives off the impression of being a good-hearted and important character. However, his love for Daisy isn't exactly righteous. Lusting after a married woman is generally frowned upon in society, yet Fitzgerald has somewhat justified his lust. It's first established that Daisy's marriage with Tom isn't very stable. Jordan even bluntly says "Tom's got some woman in New York" (14). Not only does this allow Gatsby's lust to seem more innocent, but Gatsby's good morals are once again reassured at the meal he has with Nick Carraway and Meyer Wolfsheim. Wolfsheim claims to Carraway that Gatsby "would never so much as look at a friend's wife" (72) is the epitome of irony. Gatsby is said to not look at others' wives, yet he lusts after Daisy. However, the fact that Gatsby's acquaintance believes that he would never commit adultery gives off the impression that his love for Daisy isn't bad. Therefore, although Gatsby's love for Daisy isn't exactly "morally right" Fitzgerald is hinting at the fact that it may indeed not be as bad as it seems.

Stability in Change

    Punctuation's consistent rules are needed to provide a stable structure for a constantly evolving world, thus allowing man-kind to advance at a perpetual rate.

    Although punctuation is often seen as inconvenient and even unnecessary, it is needed to bring order to a world filled with chaos. Some say that punctuation rules need to be updated, yet those people don't give specific changes that need to be made. Changes  like the pilcrow and the hedera have indeed "enjoyed temporary places in common usage before fading from view" (Source A). Therefore, history itself has proven that the current rules are adequate. Also, like Ben Dolnick, many people have experienced first hand, how at first glance some punctuation seems unnecessary, but after further inspection the true beauty and "exquisite tension" (Source E) can be fully appreciated. Also, Dolnick's point that no literary advice should be "adopted mindlessly" (Source E) resonates with the idea that change should not be desired for the sake of change. Sure the ever-changing world inspires innovative ideas, but structural basics to human-kind like punctuation have no need to be altered. For if they are altered like the world is, society will no longer have a mutual basis to which they can express their ideas. Whether it's through the use of the comma that is the most "usable of all the stops" (Source D) or the semicolons that give off "a pleasant little feeling of expectancy" (Source D), today's punctuation helps express anything from a simple note to a friend to a world-changing idea. Therefore, through the consistent templates of punctuation, the world can continue to grow.

Picture Source

Beauty and the Beast

"It was in a dark, wet place, its head covered with great O's of wool, the black face holding, like nickels, two clean black eyes, the flared nose, kissing-thick lips, and the living, breathing silk of black skin. No synthetic yellow bangs suspended over marble-blue eyes, no pinched nose and bowline mouth."(Morrison 190). Morrison uses vivid imagery to illustrate how innocent Pecola's baby is. The "synthetic yellow bangs" also reminded me of the phallic figured barbies, and how unnatural they looked. Although Pecola's child doesn't resemble those plastic, artificial figurines, it's considered ugly and even unnatural. This irony plus the fact that the innocent baby doesn't survive childbirth just further emphasizes how society's perspective of beauty is skewed. Although the idea of longing for "blue eyes" is constantly mentioned within the novel, Morrison ends the book with the idea that even if one obtains such beauty, it will not seem like it's enough. Once a person falls into the mentality of longing for something they're not, there's always the possibility of a more beautiful being. Therefore, by making the last chapter of the novel a conversation between Pecola and her imaginary friend, Morrison not only shows Pecola's true feelings, but she also uses these feelings to tell the reader that longing to be something you aren't is pointless. Since the "what if's" are infinite, it's better to accept yourself for who you are and if others can't appreciate that, then they're the ones with ugly hearts.

What would you do?

    Peer pressure is looked upon to be something bad. People often say "Don't fall into the peer pressure!" However, peer pressure is generally thought in a sense that people want you to do something. For example, they want you to eat that weird jelly bean you found on the ground or pick off that one hair dangling off of the bald guy in front of you's head. People fall into peer pressure just to avoid ridicule, or to just fit in. As I was reading The Bluest Eye, I came upon the following line: "Frieda agreed with me. 'Miss Forrester said he was incorrigival" (Morrison 67).  Incorrigival isn't actually a real word. It's supposed to be spelled incorrigible. However, Toni Morrison specifically spells it wrong, because she uses this spelling mistake to further characterize Frieda. Frieda, the girl who previously had just stood up for Pecola, is depicted to be an innocent child. She's innocent in the sense that she has yet conformed to society, for one of the main messages of this story is conforming to white culture.When someone's being attacked by multiple people, the average person would simply walk by, for they might fear that if they joined in they would also be attacked.  Most people conform so they're not different. They want to fit in to avoid ridicule. However, in no way does this thought ever come into Frieda's mind as she selflessly stands up for Pecola. Therefore, Frieda is seen as the innocent minded protector that has yet to conform to society's ideals, and Morrison emphasizes this innocence by misspelling the word incorrigival. Also, when I was reading this passage a TV show suddenly popped into my mind. It's called What Would You Do. This video is somewhat similar to the scenario of what happened to Pecola and Frieda.

Subliminal Messaging

    While discussing the interesting and truthful perspective on how Barbie objectifies women, a sudden idea popped into my head. Not only do their "giant breasts and high-heeled feet"(Prager 354)  objectify women and sexualize their appearance, but Barbies may also subliminally tell boys it's okay to mistreat women. As a child, my keenest memory of Barbie is mutilating the head. Due to fear of ridicule, little boys often feel the need to act manly, which often entails ripping the head off of Barbies ( a way of letting others know that they don't ever want to play with girl toys). This is just another example of how Barbies are not appropriate for children. However, on the subject of subliminal messages in childhood, a few months ago I heard on NPR that by telling first and second graders to circle the differences between two pictures or to find the odd one out of a pattern, it teaches kids that being different is bad. People often have the urge to fit in, and when you tell kids that things that are different should be pointed out, it subconsciously tells them different is bad. The only way to undo this subliminal brainwashing is simply awareness, and Emily Prager does an excellent job unmasking the toxicity towards the image of women Barbie emulates.

Slavery

    Although slavery has been eradicated from America, it's still an issue in other places around the world. People generally assume since slavery is no longer an issue in America, it isn't an issue anywhere else. However, it is. There are more slaves today than there have been at any other time in history. It's estimated that there are somewhere between 21 to 30 million slaves in the world (freetheslaves.net). The slaves today don't have any chances of escaping either. Because of technology advances, security cameras and other high tech equipment can constantly monitor the slaves and prevent them from ever escaping. Any amount of cunningness, "the only weapon of the weak"(Jacobs 556), is not enough to escape such inescapable conditions. Why is there slavery still? The same reason there were slaves in the past. Corporations would much rather outsource their work to foreign countries if the labor is cheaper, and the cheapest labor possible is straight up slavery. People these days idolize money. Holidays like the 4th of July, Christmas and Thanksgiving are all pretty much just opportunities for businesses to host super sales and other market actions. The value of holidays has gone down.  Although not as extreme as Frederick Douglass's The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, everyone is slowly becoming alienated from such celebrations. We can change this, however, by simply celebrating each holiday for its original purpose. Also, boycotting any sort of “holiday special sale” going on would let the corporations know that Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, not a time to buy a super mega ultra portable vacuum cleaner. If we boycott these holidays and spread the word about the ongoing issue of slavery, we can eventually end slavery in other countries too.

 

Source: https://www.freetheslaves.net/page.aspx?pid=348