are they wrong?

When talking about the Inuits on Monday, I started to think about my friend Katie. She is a teen mother and had tossed around the thought of an abortion. She was devastated when she heard the news considering the father of her baby was her best friend's boyfriend. Oops! It was a really hard decision she had to make. Which is the right thing to do? What is going to make her happy in the long run? Can she handle this on her own? How will it effect her life from now on. She thought long and hard and ended up keeping her baby. She is a beautiful little girl named Madalyn. She is perfectly healthy and Katie loves her dearly. She doesn't know what her life would be like without Madalyn now. Was it the right choice considering she was only sixteen years old? I think so. However, the main difference is that in Katie's situation, she has a nice home, not moving around, shes stable and had the funds from her family to care for her baby. The Eskimos, or Inuits, are nomadic and cant always provide for their young. Is that to say that it is right or that one can understand why they resort to infanticide when the parents cannot find a caretaker? Maybe, maybe not. I personally cant wrap my head around the killing of an innocent child, but i can relate to their needs. There have been times in my life when things were tough and it was hard for my parents to provide food and we were without a familiar, comforting home while my house was being rebuilt after a fire in 2000. You sometimes have to fall back on someone for help but if they can't help, you have to do whatever is best for the whole family, or in this case, the Inuit clans. Most people are pro life these days, i think. But can you see how they aren't doing it out of pleasure, it's the only way the rest of the family can survive. What do you all think?

Cultural Relativism Questions

For this response, I want you to discuss one or more of the following questions. Do not repeat the same thing that another person has written in their response. For this week, you can either post an individual response, or you can respond to someone else's post, but you need to post at least 2x by Monday. One time could be an individual post, one time could be a comment. I do, however, want you to try to start a discussion with at least one other person before class time on Monday. Your comments should be trying to start a dialogue.

In order for me to count your comments, I want to see well thought out responses that strive to start a discussion, not merely statements. If someone comments to one of your responses, then I encourage you to respond back.

Here are some of the questions that you could discuss. These questions are all drawn from your reading on cultural relativism. I even encourage you to post your own questions. Have fun and I'll see you at the museum tomorrow.


1. What challenge does the case of Eskimo** behavior (or perhaps the behavior of the South American tribe that we watched in the film in class) present to the study of ethics?

**The correct term for Eskimos is Inuit.

2. What are the six elements in the article involved in the view of ethics called cultural relativism?

3a. What is the argument advanced by cultural relativists for their position? Note: There is a quite specific and clearly defined answer here.

3b. Is this argument persuasive? Why or why not?

5. The author asks us to assume that cultural relativism is true. He then sets out the negative consequences of holding such a view. What are the negative consequences that follow if these turn out to be true?

6. Why does focusing on values rather than customs undercut the cultural relativist?

7. The author argues that there are in fact certain values that every society must share? What are they and what reason does he give for claiming that all cultures must share them?

8. While the author ultimately rejects cultural relativism, what things does he think come out of the idea?

HIT.

You.

You are in the bathroom at the local mall. As you are entering you see a mother take her child into the stall furthest away from the door.  You claim the stall next to them. Next you hear the mother hitting the child, but you can obviously not see it happening. You wash your hands and the mother and her child also come to the sink to wash their hands. There are so signs of physical abuse on the child besides the redness under the eyes from crying.  Is it any of your business to tell someone that the child had been hit? Was there a good reason for this "spanking"? Do you ignore what you heard because you can not prove what you thought was the situation? Or do you brush it off because you also have been spanked in a bathroom stall?

Other peoples business

Situation 1: Your best friend is in a fight with your other best friend over a girl. You find out through the girl's opinion over the situation and see that she has no care for the other boys but you? What do you do? Do you stay out of the business and let them fight, or do get involved and sleep with the girl?

Situation 2: Your best friend's sister has a cute cousin. You are well known for dating your best friends sister in the past, but that does not stop the cousin from really liking you. Even though your best friend says its ok, do you date the cousin or break her heart and reject her?

Situation 3: You met a girl at a party and slept with her. You both really like each other and hit it off real well. Right when you start dating, you discover she is your bosses daughter. She doesn't see you and the over protective boss does not know. What do you do, do you continue to date her, do you keep it a secret or not keep it a secret? 

Situation 4: You met a group of girls who are friends at a party. You go home that night with one of the girls. The next day you meet the girls again at another party. Although the friend is aware, she still comes off strong. Do you go home with the friend of the girl or do you go home with the girl you slept with the night before?

Situation 5: You have a crush on a girl who some dude has a crush on too. The dude worried tries to hook you up with another girl, who is gorgeous and FINE. You take up the offer and go on a date. The date was a nice lady and you had a great time. Do you continue to pursue the crush or date the girl you were setup with?

Situation 6: You are at a family event and your mom introduces you to her friend and daughter. Both of the moms push you and the daughter together, trying to set you up. As awkward as the situation is, you start talking and get along well. Also, she is FINE. Do you sleep with your mom's friend's daughter, or do you just walk away and never talk again. 

haha, the bucket list.

You and your friend are in a car one night driving past Blockbuster Video. Your friend notices a poster for the movie "The Bucket List." The car stops in front of the video store and you get out to look at the poster. It is taped to the outside of the store. It is 2am on a Sunday morning in the summer. You dont think anyone is around or can see you. Take in mind that you have stolen a 5dollar footlong poster from subway the week before. What do you do? Take the poster and drive away or leave it and go home?!

09

Situation 1: You're at Guitar Center, you're playing with some of the large expensive sound equipment that they have, you really want a piece of it, but you know you can never afford it. Would you fake an injury in the store to get something for free?

Situation 2: You're at Guitar Center, playing with some of the large expensive sound equipment that they have. While you're moving an amp head, the entire stack falls down and crushes your foot. While it was very painful, you don't think your foot is broken, would you fake the injury to get something for free?

Situation 3: You're at Guitar Center, playing with some of the large expensive sound equipment they have. While you're shifting an amp head, the entire stack falls down and crushes your foot, breaking it. Would you ask for some compensation, even though the stack fell over because of something you did?

Situation 4: You're at Guitar Center, playing with some of the large expensive sound equipment that they have. While you're playing, one of the stacks falls down and crushes your foot, through no fault of your own. Would you ask for compensation, in the form of free equipment because of this?

cash money

You're walking down the street with a friend/acquaintance, and money falls out of their pocket. You're real tight for money, and you know they have a lot, so do you pick the money up, let them know they dropped it and return it to them? Or do you pick the money up, and casually put it in your pocket, and if they notice that they lost money later on, say "yeah, that sucks" and act sympathetic?

YOU

Situation: You and your best friend bought tickets months before your favorite band is coming to your town to play. You finally make it to the show, and your favorite band starts to play (in a venue that is non-smoking).

1.) Your friend is a smoker, so he/she decides to light a cigarette, thinking she won't get caught in the crowd of people. Moments later, security is escorting her out of the venue. Do you go with her, or do you stay to watch your favorite band, which you've been waiting to see for months?

2.) You and your friend are smokers, so you light up cigarettes, thinking you won't get caught in the crowd of people. A security guard spots your friend, but you are able to put yours out under your foot before the guard sees you. Do you take advantage of your swiftness, or do you man up and leave, too ?

3.) You and your friend don't smoke, but a guy/girl that you befriended while in line for the show does, and he lights a cigarette when the band starts to play. Your friend is on your right and you notice a security guard approaching your left. Do you warn your new friend ?

I am not sure if we are supposed to come up with six situations, but I can't really think of any other ways to contort this hypothetical situation. Comment if you do!

Would you really kill your brother who just gave you his kidney for a bottle with the cure for cancer? Your sick!

So here is the scenario. You are Spiderman, and you have to choose between the death of your dream girl, or a car full of young children. Jay Kay! Lolz.

So sorry, I'll try to think of a good one.

Actually this is kind of like one that we talked about in philosophy last year, but I like it!

There is a train heading full speed down the tracks, near the end of the tracks, 5 adults are tied to the tracks by some random crazy guy who wants to prove a point. These people will surely die if nothing is done. Fortunately, you are given the power to flip a switch that will redirect the train down a different path that will save these five people. Unfortunately, there is one young boy tied to the track at the end of the track. Either way someone has to die, it is up to you to choose the 5 adults to die, or the one young boy.

No one saw it

You just got out of the movie theater with a few friends. You say good-bye to your buddies and walk to your car. Your car is parked at the end of the parking lot because you arrived to movies late. You jump into the car and pop it in reverse. You press on the gas too hard and bash into another car. You get out to look at the damage. Its just a fender bender, but you can tell that the car hit. You look to see if anyone is around. No one is in sight and you are in the far dark corner of the parking lot. Do you wait, leave a message with your information, or do you go home?

Take the Money and Run?

Ok, lets say you are walking through the parking lot of a bank and you see a bag sitting by the trash cans close to the ally. Inside the bag you find it is filled with cash. Lets say enough cash to pay for your 4 years at Columbia. Knowing that there is no one around and no cameras to see, do you take the bag without a second thought, take it into the bank and report it or give it to the homeless family walked by to get to the bank?

motorcycle mixup

Situation: Your best friend wants to get a motorcycle so badly and has waited for three years to finally get one. His neighbor is selling his motorcycle and your friend has the money to buy it. Here's the part that really gets to you...one of your uncles died riding one, your aunt just got into an accident and is suffering in the hospital, another uncle lost two limbs and a friend of yours now has a metal rod running through his shin; all because of motorcycle accidents. You really don't think its a good idea that he gets a motorcycle of his own. You are too worried about his safety after all you've been through. Do you tell him not to get the bike of his dreams and make him possible angry with you or really sad or let him get the bike and have that constant worry in the pit of your stomach? Do you reason with him and tell him about all those family horror stories in hope that he will chicken out? You dont want to ruin a friendship over a silly bike, what do you do?

Ethical Dilemma

You are a doctor, a pediatrician. You have a patient who is 16 and was born with HIV. He has no idea. His parents and you know, but they have decided to wait until he is older to tell him and because he is under 18 you have a verbal confidentiality agreement with the parents. This kid comes in alone without his parents for a check up. He tells you he wants to have sex with his girlfriend and they're thinking about it. You can't tell his parents because of the confidentiality agreement you have with him because he is your patient. What do you do? You can't say anything to either party that alludes to the danger or situation, but if you do nothing you risk a 16 year old girl getting HIV.

School Dilemma?

Situation 1.

Your a teacher and you find one particular student to be a hassle. The student is rude, disrespectful, and nasty. One day another student who is friendly, participates, and usual does well is secretly caught cheating off the rude student. Do you take notice or let it pass by?

Situation 2.

Your a teacher and you and one of your students know each other outside of class. You and their parents are good friends. The student isn't completing his homework on time like the other students. Do you give him a break because he's the student of a friend?

Situation 3.

Your a teacher and your class is studying a controversial matter. There are really good movies to support the subject matter, but they are rated R. Rated R movies are not be shown to students, but you are not very likely to get caught. Do you show the movie?

Situation 4.

Your a student and you notice another student is always very sad and depressed. He walked past you one day and you noticed scars and bruises on their body. Your concerned? Should you let someone of authority know?

Situation 5.

A student and a teacher a having a relationship. You know for a fact it is consensual. Do you tell?

Situation 6.

Students at a high school are filming a documentary. The documentary contains cursing and inappropiate material. Should the documentary be shown? Should the students be punished?

Shoplifting

Situation 1
One day you are at work behind the cash register and you see a friend put a CD under his shirt and walk out of the store. This is not the first time that your friend has done that, and your manager is starting to notice. Do you keep letting your friend shoplift, or do you tell you manager and risk getting fired?

Situation 2
One day you are at work behind the cash register and you see a friend put a CD under his shirt and walk out of the store. One of the people you work with notices what your friend has just done. Do you tell the person that you work with to not tell anyone because he is your friend, or do you let your coworker catch your friend?

Situation 3
One day you are at work behind the cash register and you see a friend put a CD under his shirt and walk out of the store. Do you call your friend and tell him to bring back what he stole, or do you just ignore it?

Situation 4
One day you are at work behind the cash register and you see a man put a CD under his shirt and walk out of the store. Do you just ignore it and hope that no one else saw it, or do you go after him and ask for the CD back?

Situation 5
One day you are at work behind the cash register and you see a man put a CD under his shirt and walk out of the store. Do you tell your manager what has just happened, or do you just play it off as if nothing happened?

Situation 6
One day you are at work behind the cash register and you see a man put a CD under his shirt and walk out of the store. You realize that the person that just shoplifted also works at your store. Do you tell your manager, or do you not do anything?

Marriage Ethical Dilemma

Situation 1:
Your parents have been fighting recently, but that is not out of the ordinary. While on the computer you find out that your dad's e-mail was left open. After opening his mailbox you find out that he is seeing another woman. You are positive your mother does not know because that is not what they are fighting about. You quickly sign out.

Situation 2:
Your parents have been fighting recently, but that is not out of the ordinary. While on the computer you find out that your dad's e-mail was left open. After opening his mailbox you find out that he is seeing another woman for over a year. You are positive your mother does not know because that is not what they are fighting about.

Situation 3:
Your parents have been fighting for the past 6 months. While on the computer you find out that your dad's e-mail was left open. After opening his mailbox you find out that he has been seeing another woman for 6 months. You are positive that your mother does not know because that is not what they are fighting about.

Situation 4:
Your parents have been fighting for the past 6 months. While on the computer you find out that your dad's e-mail was left open. After opening his mailbox you find out that he has been seeing another woman for 6 months. Your mother has suspected this, but never had the evidence to back it up.

Situation 5:
Your parents are fighting. This is VERY unusual. While on the computer you find out that your dad's e-mail was left open. After opening his mailbox you find out he has been seeing another woman. You are positive your mother does not know.

Situation 6:
Your parents are NOT fighting. While on the computer you find out that your dad's e-mail was left open. After opening his mailbox you find out he has been seeing another woman.

Photos

These photos struck me immensely, you should all check them out regardless of where you stand on your political views. I think they show a very humanized portrait of someone we all might recognize.







More pictures are included in the following link, make sure to read the corresponding captions as they always add even more to the photos.

Ethical Dilemma

For Monday, create and write out an original ethical dilemma. It can come from your own life if you need, or something you've created; in either case, direct the question to the reader (read: use "you" an eliminate any identifying details).

Keep the following in mind: ethical dilemmas are exactly that- they are dilemmas. The choice between right and wrong might be clear, but the choice between ideal and realistic may be difficult. Or, perhaps the ethics are situational and difficult to negotiate.

Don't include too much information or qualifications. Just enough to give your reader the basic understanding of their choice.

Thanks, Molly Gordon

Hey !
YOU!
Are you feeling a little unsure about writing your artist's statement? Do you wish there was a lady who had the time to give you some steps to help you create the best artist statement you possibly can?
Well you're in luck!
mollygordon.com/resourses/marketingresources/artstatemt
It's not the best website I've ever been to, but I found it at least a little helpful.
Try it FREE! whenever you want

08

I just wanted to announce to the class that as of Saturday October 18th 2008 I participated in the election by casting my vote for the first time.

Has anybody else voted yet?

For Those of You Who Need To Boost Your Grade

I encourage you to be more active on the blog. You do not need to only post when I send out questions. I encourage you to also do things like engage the guiding questions for the course in blog posts. Feel free to ask questions; write responses to the reading; and even talk about art forms that go along with the themes of the class.

So if you've missed class or turned in blog responses late or not at all, here's your chance to help boost your grade.

The McCormic freedom center...let me tell you.

History and kristina don't mix very well; so when I go into History museums, they really bore me. I was a bit tierd from walking with AneMarie about a good 100 blocks, but the beauty of the city was well observed by me. At first we ended up at the wrong building, Ane, Remo and I, so we almost didnt really make it. The security guard at the Radio Station building looked at us like we were crazy. Anyway when I actually stepped foot in the MCF I noticed the metal sheets strug up by wire up to the ceiling. I thought to myself that this was going to be interesting. One of the first things we did was go see a movie. While sitting in a movie, I had two older ladies sit by me who were mumbling things to one another. The movie wasn't that boring but I did lose focus and think about what the museum will teach me today. I really didn't know that there were different things in the museum, I thought it was all about the same thing. I actually read the questions on the boards and they would ask a question like "If there was this leader in...would there be a...?" and then you would be asked yes or no. Then I would flip the board and then see if the correct answer. I got them all right, believe it or not. Its cool to see how much has changed over the years. On rights and getting peoples' opinions on different matters. I really enjoyed what I looked at. When you push the buttons and listen to what people had to say, it made me wish that I had a voice on issues to. One thing that really struck me was the post-it wall that it said. "Ever since 9/11 happened, we now have the moment of silence during the pledge. How do you feel about it?" Then people put up a post-it that stated what they had to say. I remember one saying "PEACE IS THE WORLD..." It was very interesting. Well I had a good time! Kristina Kastl out... :-p

I skipped class this morning to see the Jack Kerouac scroll.

I have officially been to the Freedom museum twice in the past 9 days. When I went for class i was late and missed the sweet movie. I did do a lot of the interactive videos though, which weren't that bad. I went back for a second time on Friday...

My friend and I were looking for something free to do and we were walking on that part of Michigan Ave. It wasn't that bad, really. For the most part, I like going to weird places like that because whether you realize it or not you are learning something.

I voted for Nader because I felt bad for him.

That museum was pretty alright if you ask me. Like alright meaning it wasn't good or bad. The exhibits were kind of interesting and they got me involved too because I got to push buttons, which earns huge points for me. The movie was probably the most exciting part, besides being able to dance to the banned music and look like DJ's with huge headphones while doing it. The exhibit that struck me the most though was the one about Abe Lincoln and George Washington. How could they?! I looked up to them! Right after I got back from the field trip a stormed into my room and tore down my 3' x 7' poster of Abe Lincoln and started crying. Not really, but it was interesting to learn that they actually did silence the media from getting anything out that would make them look bad, especially considering they are a few of the 'good ones'.

But other than that, that's about it. I want to say I remember the five freedoms from the museum (is it five?) but I already forgot them. Well let me see, petition, press, religion, speech? Yeah something like that. But any experience is a positive experience for me. So hey, I grew from the trip.

COMMUNICATION....oh and free speech

It was just out of coicendence that I had showed up to the Museum and felt extremely, and I emphasize that, extremely tired. Any museum that relates is about America or the Government generally disappoints me; it for the most part did. The exception was the video of free speech. 

The video's message was presented through comic like figures of cavemen; it was very humorous with their stupid gestures and such. For the most part it really amused me. I didn't catch the message the first time so I watched it the second time. It was confusing. It was showing the history of communication and how it has grown over time. When it was about to end, the important message finally came out, which was supposedly how important is free speech. The whole time it was about how communication evolved into modern days, and then last minute was like "FREE SPEECH" and didn't really explain the importance. 

That woke me up. It was confusing. It was entertaining. Of all the other sections, it was the only one that didn't really mean anything. 

FIRE!

The museum was definitely not what I excepted. I thought it was going to be a boring fieldtrip to a museum that had a bunch of old artwork about our freedoms. I was wrong. The museum was filled with interactive exhibits. I liked the exhibit about my rights. It told you each right, and under each of them, they gave four examples to explain each right. Under right to freedom of speech it said we do not have the right to say whatever whenever. For example, we can not falsely scream "FIRE!" in a crowded theather. I thougtht the museum did a good job example topics that can be confusing to others. It would of been a great trip for middle schoolers.

Free-Dumb

My title doesn't really symbolize my feelings about the Freedom Museum trip, but I did think it was clever. I thought that the video shown in the very beginning of the trip was probably the most interesting. The topics were easy to relate to, and it put things in perspective as far as exactly how far can we push our "rights." The music censorship part of the museum was also sort of interesting. We were able to see a bit of how times have changed. Certain things were banned in the 1950's that are quite common nowadays. Overall, I was able to find a few things that kept me interested in the museum. Not bad.

Fieldtrip!

The museum trip was more exciting than I expected. I liked how laid back this one was compared to a history museum. It definitely was more contemporary. My favorite exhibit would have to be the censorship in music display. Many songs from the 50s through today have been banned from the radio. Today when you think of vulgar lyrics, you think of 50 cent or Gorgortoh. Well maybe only I would think of Gorgoroth, but anyway. Back then people thought Cindi Lauper, The Beatles and George Michael had dirty lyrics. I just think it's crazy how our perceptions on what is right and what is wrong have changed over the past few years. Lyrics just keep getting more inapropriate.
Freedom of speech doesn't seem to be a large part of our lives. Sometimes people take too much advantage but others use it well. I believe music should not be banned nor cencored. It is the parents job to control their childern. It is just unconstitutional to ban music.

yeah...about that...

I actually kind of liked the Freedom Museum. Well, some of it. I mean the censorship corner was kind of interesting. Mainly just because i love George Michael. The 12 minute film we watched was pretty interesting, but the two old ladies in front of us didn't seem to like us very much because we weren't being old and serious like them. I wasn't really bored per say, it was just a little...well... lacking. But i wouldn't say it was a total failure.

my block is a little boring. i stay near the corner of my block. this block is fill with old people in little. but this block does get it bad time. like the time it was a huge fight in the front of my house. but it bad thing happen like every other tw months.

well to be honest...

I was kinda bored after the first twenty minutes at the freedom museum. It might have been neat if I was actually studying, in detail, all the facts that were argued about the rights of others ( like in 6th grade). It was a nice change from sitting in a desk for an hour and a half though. I was, like most people, attracted to the one wall with the booths discussing times in our history that really pushed the envelope. For instance, events that were said to be too violent or sexual on TV or radio. I wasn't able to listen to the music booth but the movies were interesting. Many of them were either sci-fi or horror and the public voted that they weren't to over the top, however, the corporations in charge, thought differently. I also thought it was cool to see how the technology of communication has changed over time. From ink and parchment to blackberry phones and laptops, we have really evolved and the rights given to our country and others have changed just as much. Woman have increasingly received more rights and specific races aswell. Visitors even have the chance to voice their opinion on the new law of "a moment of silence to start each day in school across the country". Many think that it's promoting religious prayer time but its really a time to reflect on resent events past or present and thinking about the soldiers in the war. they also get to place their fake votes on the president for the upcomming election. Overall, the Freedom Museum was created very well; it's interactice and would keep grade schoolers occupied for awhile.

Peace is not treason

The freedom museum is a little nook of history located into between booming capitalistic stores. At fist I was skeptical, but for what it was it delivered a message. Everyone enjoys their freedoms that we are given, why can't anyone go learn about them in a museum for free? My favorite exhibit featured Films that had to be altered or fought to be unaltered in order to be viewed with the directors vision while still being under the code the united states uses to rate movie and either deem them appropriate or inappropriate. You had to listen to the film's dilemma then decided if they crossed a line or not. After voting it shows you how many people agreed and disagreed. I felt that everyone was always on my side and felt that comic books, movies, video games and books should be able to be about whatever the author intends. If you don't want to look at something because its offensive to you , than don't, don't try to ruin it for everyone else. I lot of responsibility goes along with rating pieces of media that make it mainstream. It's your responsibility to decide who is mature enough to see it. I can see why the boards rate movies and whatnot, but I don't think it should be as strict. I'm not a psychologist, but I've seen American Psycho and it hasn't inspired me to kill hookers and hobos. Just saying.

07

The McCormick Freedom Museum was a pretty interesting place, it reminded me a lot of my American Studies class junior year of high school; in which we discussed our rights a lot. I liked a lot of the exhibits in the museum, but the one that caught my eye more than all of them was the exhibit on banned music. While I understood that some of the songs were banned/changed because of fairly explicit lyrics, I couldn't believe when I saw The Who's Substitute on the list for the lyrics "I look all white, but my dad was black." I also thought it was hilarious that Frank Zappa's "I Don't Want To Go", a song about draft dodging, was on the list, and there were not even any lyrics in the song that could be considered bad; except for a line about draft dodging.

Overall the museum was interesting, and the movie and the small exhibits were fun for a short while.

Middle School All Over Again

Going into the McCormick Freedom Museum I personally was not interested in anything that was there; I felt like I was back in the sixth grade all over again learning about the freedoms that we as Americans take for granted. Because of what I have just stated above I am going to tell you about what I thought was the most amusing exhibit; for me it was an area that had a group of four different instances of when freedom was being challenged. The four reasons were starting a Gay Straight Alliance at a high school, banning a poets books from a public library, having a public demonstration of the Nazi party in a predominantly Jewish town, and another that just escapes me at the moment. At each station there were four people that would state their arguments either for or against the topic, and then in the end I was able to vote on what side I personally believed was right based off of the information I was given. It made me think more about the situations at hand, instead of just picking something because my parents tell me to. I also believe this exhibit has a few responsibilities that go along with what it advertises. For instance take time to consider both sides of the topic, respect, and try to be fair. Even thought there are those responsibilities that does not mean that everyone uses them to come up with their final choice; which is what I find interesting and funny. Because in the end our own personal biases win over facts and evidence.

Preparing for Class 12

Honestly, most of the exhibits did not interest me at the museum. Most of the topics they covered are already covered in any high school social science class. I did however find a diamond in the rough at the back of the museum. Along side with the censored media was a small exhibit on reporters arrested for speaking against the government. Usually I see/read things about reporters getting arrested in Cuba, Russia, China, etc. by dictators. The museum however wrote about how our "great" presidents like Lincoln and Washington detained reporters in war. It effectively showed me how governments are always able to get with anything in times of war. Previous lessons on history always white wash our forefathers. All the high school textbooks make it seem like they were infallible. This section of the museum helped show that the executive branch has always overstepped the line and we need to continue to put them in their place.

Race For The Prize - The Flaming Lips

<--[Me, my cool self, during a typical Day in the Life (Wannabe Max Fischer?)]


This is the song that used to wake me up everyday. It was a great way to start any day in my opinion. It was only until much later that I filtered any meaning out of it, but until then, this was my 6:30 Am wake up call every day. I liked eating breakfast before I took a shower so once I got out I could just brush my teeth and run out of the house and ride my bike to school (when weather permitted). Grapefruit and coffee, and sometimes if I wake up earlier than normal, eggs, made up my breakfast of choice.

When I arrived at school my hair was always all over the place since I normally rode my bike, and i'd go to the spot by the library where me and my friends would meet before a strenuous 7 hour day of school.

Classes were alright, but nothing too great to talk about.

At the beginning of the year after school, i'd stay after for marching band, but after October I just kind of walked aimlessly around the school with either my friend Delaney, or Ryan, or both, before I rode my bike home.

I'd do my homework right away depending if I had work or not, or just chill or go out with friends alright. Looking back I really didn't do much homework. I did fine in school and learned a lot, but didn't do much work. Which I liked, and I think having more fun than doing work paid off, because I enjoyed High school a lot more. And also in my opinion, I don't think anyone really learns too much in High school anyway, besides who you are and where you fit in the best and what makes you happy. And if your doing homework all the time, your never gonna figure that stuff out.

For the most part weekdays were just alright. Weekends were better and it might have been the same old stuff but I enjoyed it nonetheless. No worries really. Suburban life is almost too easy. Somebody throw some reality at my face please.

Oh, thank you Chicago, Illinois.

Same Thing Different Day

Orland Park may have developed a lot over the past few years, and have plenty of place to eat and shop, but living here, it does get old.  I would like to say that a majority of the people (or at least people who went to my high school) were stuck up rich kids.  I mean don't get me wrong, Orland Park is a pretty nice town to live in.  It's clean, a lot of people, and it's pretty easy to find something to do.  Then again, after a while especially if live here, you find those things to doing boring.  Sure, we have a mall, movie theatre, and bowling alley, but you're not going to want to spend ten dollars every night now are you? Prices and tax here is kind of ridiculous, which makes us want to find something to do that's either very cheap, or preferably free, which is not easy to find at all, which to me is why it makes Orland Park somewhat boring.  Maybe with all this new development we'll get some more new activities to do, but who knows.

It is not like it used to be.

I usually would wake up arond 6:30 on a school day, but in the summer I would sleep for hours. My phone alarm usually woke me up around 2 P.M. Usually to an Ensiferum song. If it were a Friday I would roll out of bed a little earlier fir Ska practice. As I walk out the door, I notice that my neighborhood is not blossoming with youth as it once was. Everywhere you looked in the 90s, there were kids running through the sprinkler or having a squirtgun fight. I'ts not like that anymore. Walking down Wedgewood Drive, there are no kids outside. My neighborhood has pretty big houses, not nearly as large as some today, but pretty large. Streets are not covered by trees because my neighborhood is relativly new. Sometimes I got in my car and went for a cruiz. Down Modaff to Washington street. Downtown Naperville is a pretty popular place to go, expecially for the youth. I park my car and get out. There are many large chane restaraunts and shops. I really wish the shops were more 'mom and pop" like. Sometimes I go downtown with my friends and make fun of the middle aged, divorced, woman. They are out usually on Friday nights. I love Naperville but there are a lot of jerks taht live here that give it a bad name.

Watertown to Cambridge to Boston.

I hear my alarm clock, 10 A.M, I ignore it. I only set my alarm to keep from sleeping until 1 in the afternoon. I roll over on my side and look out my window adjacent to my bed. I can see my neighbor's white vinyl siding with black trim, their flowers bursting through their porch window. I can smell fresh clean cut grass, because I left m window open from the night before. The smell of smoke still lingers. I hop in the shower and get ready to go out. I race down my long staircase, kiss my brother goodbye, and off we go. I get in my Jeep. I love that car. I pick an album on my iTunes, pump up the air, and light a cigarette. As we go up the street you can see the Cunniff elementary school and cemetery. Then I turn left speeding down Highland Ave. All the houses are unique and have been here for years. No developments or subdivisions in sight. Now, we're in Watertown Square. You can see the Charles on the left. Birds, children, and dog walkers are crawling all over the place. It smells like nature. The exhaust from my car can't be noticed from the banks. I merge right and now we're in Cambridge. It's one of the most historical towns, other than Boston. We're racing toward Harvard Sq. There aren't any cops on this road ever. I'm gaining speed. The river whizzes by along with runners and cyclists. We're at the Salt and Pepper bridge. We call it that because the pillars look like shakers. Ahead you can see the Prudential building and the Citco sign, both huge landmarks for tourists and drunk college kids trying to stumble back to their dorms. Boston commons is up on our right, the traffic is unbearable. You an only go around because all the streets are one way. Boston is always bustling until 2 A.M. Not until then can you experience the tranquility of a city asleep.

The Good Day

Alarm went off as usual. Slept 5 more minutes and hit snooze for a second time. Slept 4 minutes, woke up, and waited for alarm to go off. Rolled out of bed, jumped in shower, and did the usual. Drove to school, slept in school, and left school. Waste of my time as always. Turned on some Naughty By Nature and bumped that shit down the street. I threw on my smile, opened a window, and admired the green trees. With my arm half out the window I took in the great weather. A few punk ass 12 year olds were exchanging dirty looks with me as I cruised by. Another group of rich 16 year old obnoxiously blonde girls stroll by dressed like skanks. I laugh as another stupid generation rises. I have no problem with girls like that, except when they just get younger and younger. Makes me feel disgusting when I realize how young a girl is when I get close after checking them out. I pull into Barnes & Nobles, the regular for all the ages. I pull around the corner expecting some BMW to cut me off and steal my parking, but instead a corvette with an ass-hole driver does instead. Me being a lucky as hell, I manage to get a spot after circling the lot once. There are alot of nice cars, some shitty cars, but still mostly nice. Benzo's, Mercedes, Beamers, and all the luxury. Gave the nod to the famous Naperville bum. He has less crap than usual with him. Hang at the usual magazine section, leave, holla at some girls, and then cruise again. A good day in Naperville. 

Drunken Irish

         Walking out my front door you have 2 options, go right; find your self at the park with a plethora of per-junior high "park rats" or go left; find your self at the neighborhood elementary school with the junior high drop outs smoking camel reds. Going left is the best option. As you begin to walk up the block you find houses medium to small size all built in the 1920’s. My house seems significantly bigger and older then all the houses on the block. My mom said the people who originally built our house bought it out of the Sears catalog. The “American Four Square” is what it was called. Each house on the block is only about 10 feet or less away from the house next to it. Each house only has about a 50 foot lot total, very close for comfort with little to no back yard. All the houses seem pretty average to boring, nothing grand or extravagant about them, maybe some paint chipped here or there. You walk past 5-6 houses and your already at the top of the block, looking at a brick wall. On top of the brick wall is the field that connects to the elementary school. Once to the wall you turn right. As you walk the wall seems to shrink into the grown while a tall metal fence sprouts up to keep the small children from falling off the ledge or running into the street. Go three more blocks in the same direction and to come to the corner of Syndicate and Randolph. Here is where you can catch the number 74 city bus. 

             You take the bus west down Randolph seeing more closely laid houses becoming more plan and rough looking.  After a few blocks you cross a bridge, this leads into the West End, one of the original neighborhoods built in the city. My house is technically on the edge of the West End, with only about a two block difference from Lexington Pkwy which makes up the cut off. As you travel on the 74 there are liquor stores, small grocery stores and bars, lots of small bars. The West End is home to working middle class, white, hmong and hispanic families. It is also home to young street racing enthusiasts. On a summer night you can find young people gathered outside under the hood of colorful dodge neons, chevy impalas, evos, ions and so on. You can also hear the sound of their booming engines at night running up and down the streets. 

              As the bus continues down Randolph we reach West 7th, a street home to tattoo shops, restaurants, head-shops and more bars.  It is said that the city was built by drunken irishman, which is why we have so many bars. The bus will go right on West 7th and start its new journey deeper into the heart of downtown, leaving the West End behind it.

06

Deerfield, its a really pretty town, I think it's because most of the people have so much money they pump it into the community and make it look like one of those towns you see on TV, where everything is just perfect. I walk out of my back door into my garage, it's 75 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze; so my garage smells kind of moldy and there's water on the floor from the sweating concrete. I hit the button to my left and open the garage door and walk out into the world. It's really green outside, I see the young family across the street of me playing with their daughter who is about two. I walk up the upper left part of the figure-eight that my street and the street behind me makes to get to Greenwood ave, I make a left and walk east on Greenwood towards the Milwaukee District North train lines. When I get to the train tracks, I cross them and start walking south on Park street, towards what is central Deerfield. As I walk along the train tracks to my left there are many houses 1970's - 1980's era, most of them have two floors, and many of them are inhabited by small families. About every other front yard I see small kids playing, they give me the weird eye, as I look at them still making my way down Park. I make it to the Hazel crossing, and I wait for a car to come over the tracks, before jogging across the intersection to Jewett Park.

Walking through Jewett Park, I pass the skate park, I'm reminded of many incidences where I hurt myself, or got into fights with the asshole kids that inhabit the part. On a strange note, nobody is there. I think to myself "they're all probably snorting coke at the projects to the east of Jewett." I keep walking through Jewett, past the playground where I see many kids playing with their parents, I pass the Park District and then Jewett Park Drive to get to the corner of Deerfield road and Robert York ave. I cross Deerfield Road when there are no cars, and make my way to the Deerfield commons, the location of my destination: Walgreens. I run into Walgreens and grab a Redbull, for $2.49 these things sure are worth it. As I exit the Walgreens I see my friends pulling into the parking lot in my friend Ryan's blue Honda Civic. I run towards their car, and then popping the top on my Redbull, jump into the back seat.

"What are we doing today?" I ask.
"I don't know." Ryan says.

The start of yet another fun Summer day.

Corn and Houses

I jump in my '95 Buick Century Custom. On I have to spend minutes getting out of this maze that people call a "Subdivision". Left, left, straight, right, straight, right, straight, right... YES! I MADE IT! Now I get to drive through corn fields. Corn fields are the BEST! Its a few miles to hit Plainfield. Corn field after corn field and then BAM! Subdivision after subdivision after stores after subdivisions. I jump on 59 and I hit traffic. There is always traffic on 59. 59 will take me all the way to downtown Plainfield. There are not alot of people that walk around in Plainfield, expect on mainstreet where a bunch of Ma and Pa shops are. On my drive, I see only 3 main things: Corn fields, stores, and subdivisons. If I drive to ends of town, I can find one of the 5 highschools. Overall its not that fun to drive around in Plainfield, but nothing crazy ever happens so I don't have to worry about getting hurt like I do in the city.

Waking up for Class

My phone vibrating on my bed post has to be the worst noise in the world. It's 7 am; I have two hours to finish a paragraph, read a couple of pages, or start my math homework. No one is awake in the apartment yet, but outside suits are going to work.

While walking to class a couple of people ask for money. They always have a new excuse, but my response is always, "sorry." A dozen smokers will pass by on my two block journey. Each puff makes me crave one, but I'm still going two months strong.

Taxis fly by. Buses roll up to the crosswalk. Sports cars dodge traffic. Pedestrians cross anywhere. Someone how, no one gets hit today.

All the buildings around me are gone or under construction. My entire block is in a transition phase; I won't be here when all of these buildings are done. Lots of shops are empty or not open. They are sitting to become something new, some day.

Students in my class don't know what they want to do.
In the back of the room I hear someone say, "...a designer... maybe" or "...I think directing, but I'm not entirely sure." Everyone has choices and decisions to make. Right now they are sitting in math class, being built and waiting to be something new.

From downtown to home.

Walk out of my parent's restaurant. Turn to the left and see the pre-school that I attended. Remember how I used to sleep in the back of the restaurant while my parents were working. Take a right and walk past the ledges I used to skateboard by when I was 15. See the smoke shop and bar that are right by. Walk further down. Notice the huge walk I still have ahead of me. Pass the homeless shelter that is always empty. They must have gotten homes. Start venturing up the large hill that occupies much of the journey home. See the pizza place that was once bombarded when they offered 23 cent pizza. Walk past the old Victorian style houses, there are white people sitting on their porches sipping various things out of coffee mugs. It's probably coffee, or maybe tea. See a couple young kids playing around on bicycles. Pass the Dominoes, contemplate cutting through the woods and cemetery to make it home quick. Decide I'd rather stop by the Circle K station and pick up a vitamin water. There's a white dude mowing his lawn. I stop into the Circle K and there are people buying milk and eggs. Peanut butter as well. Start the short walk home from here. There are people outside sitting and barbecuing. I think they do it everyday. Walk over the bridge that overlooks state route 13. Remember the time I sat there for two hours. Make it home, Mom and Dad are sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner, my brother's entertaining them with a story from the day.

Mansfield is not the most exciting city.

Um.

Walking out the door, I notice that my neighbors across the street are having their carpet cleaned for the third time this month. The Armstrong's next door to them are getting their bushes trimmed to perfectly frame their walkway. Mrs. Harrison from around the corner is walking her pure-bred Italian greyhound in her new pair of $200 high heels. She waves politely, but I am surprised she can see me through her over-sized Chanel sunglasses.
It's really interesting how our neighborhood works, actually. One side of Shadywood Drive, my side, was built in the early 1980's. The houses lined up on the hilly street are humble. Across, the street, however, the homes began developing in the late 1990's to the present. You can see the progression of years, because the homes get bigger and bigger as the street goes on. Each home comes equipped with enormous pillars, large wooden doors, and four-car garages. Other than the difference in the two sides of the street, my neighborhood has little to speak of. There is a wooded area found behind some of the houses on my side of the street that is the perfect little path to escape to for some solitude. I like my neighborhood. I just think it's funny how the two sides of the street are so completely different.

You're late!

I'm going to assume that I wasn't clear about a due date for this assignment.
Remember, you're supposedd to describe you community as LeAlen and Lloyd do in Our America. I think it's on page 36.
I'll give you all one more day to do this, or until midnight tomorrow. Your post on the Freedom Museum is due by class time on Monday.
Have a good weekend.

wow, my town is boring!

It's a very "blah" Tuesday afternoon. Chilly, rainy, high of 58. As I walk out of my house I get the sweet smell of those fall leaves, the beautiful colors or orange, yellow and red. I hear my crazy Polish neighbor yelling at her dog once again. The streets are not as busy as they usually are this time of day. The cul-de-sac is full of young kids playing in the puddles. I wish I had time to play in the rain with them. It's a fairly clean place, well kept houses and lawns. Usually, when it's sunny out, there would be families left and right walking their pets or riding their bikes. I like to think I live in a safe area.
Pulling out of my subdivision in my crappy '98 ford contour; I run into a busy street. New construction, kinda crazy. Speed limit is way too slow for this street. On my way to work, Starbucks that is, i hit a lot of red lights. As im staring off into space i notice a family in the van next to me. the kids look bored out of their mind! finally it turns green, pass a few cops; they dont have to do much around here. maybe just bust a few parties and pull people over for speeding...maybe they should change the speed limit! I noticed the old wooden picket fence has been painted in Chicago Bears blue and orange sporting the Bears symbol dead center...pretty cool. anyways, this is "downtown Bourbonnais". A few small neighborhoods, a grocery store or two, too many gas stations and banks. On the outskirts of town all I see are cornfields. in the adjacent town, Hersher, they even have "drive your tractor to school day". Please tell me that isn't sad! Kids have to find their own entertainment around here. The old movie theaters, which we have three of, get real boring, real fast. The bowling alley is about 55 years old, I haven't gone in a while. Passing the elementry school, it looks like schools out. little ones loading onto the buses. Turn the corner, here we are. Starbucks! One of the best hang out places in town...pathetic. Across the street lie a Beef o Bradys and a martial arts studio that my cousin went to back in the day.
Pretty slow night, mostly Olivet students (local Nazarene university). The rain is letting up, birds are chirping near the drive thru window. See some friends, well we all know just about everybody. gotta love the regulars. They always have some crazy story to tell. always up in everyone's business. I guess that's what you get for living in a small town. closed up shop. Driving through the utter darkness, sadly safe and peaceful darkness. Never any excitement. My town.

Don't forget....

There's a blog response due today. I'm looking forward to reading these.

DCP? ANYONE?

If someone was doing a Barrio type project about your hometown orneighborhood, what would you want to be the very first picture?

Darien is a well rounded town. The very first picture would be DCP Darien Community Park. Darien is not really hard to get lost in but DCP is the meeting point of DARIEN.

Describe the image in as much possible detail and explain why you think it would be the best choice.

DCP is a interractive place where groups of friends, family or couples go to chill at the park. The park is huge and has lots of different activities. For example their is parking on both sides of the lot. It can park about 60 to 70 cars. Their are two play grounds one for younger kids and then the other one for young adults. Their is a volleyball court and 5 basketball courts 2 baseball fileds and one soccer field. They have 4 huge built sitting areas for parites ( i dont know what they are called but, its a wood canopy with metal picnic tables throught). Always huge celebrations are held their. The darien fest is held their. You always hear "DCP, meet me their at midnight. Oh usually parks close at 8 pm DCP is 2 in the morning. Music shows are held their, car shows. DCP brings the community together. Thats where i meet alot of people. So thats what i would put as my very first picture of my hometown. Also we respect DCP and no one trashes it. The only thing that could possibly go wrong is fights would break out. Other then that DCP is respected and no one wants the cops to patrol the area every day. Its Darien the Trust town.

Naperville, Frontier Love, 4/20

This is the picture I decided to use as the cover for what would be the story of Naperville.

This picture is important to me and a few people I know in my community because it captures some of the few things that we love very much, and although this picture isn't necessarily "beautiful", it is beautiful to the ones who are familiar with it.

This is a picture of me and a few of my close friends on the Holiday of April 20, 2008. Although this holiday is considered a joke amongst me and my friends, we still pretend to celebrate it by going to the local skate park (pictured in back), known as frontier, or frontier love.

I think this is a good picture because it says everything there needs to be said about my community of friends and where I live. And that is this, "We are blessed, and yes we hate some of the people here because they have no conception of reality, but we are going to have fun despite them, and that is all we really care about," which I think this picture depicts perfectly.

Notice we are all holding "skahbads" and wearing "skahbahshus". Yes that's how cool we really were and still are. This was a great day with great memories that I hold fondly in my heart and this picture is the perfect eye-catcher for an entire book of pictures that would prepare the audience for what would be life in Naperville, IL.

Forest Graffiti....

Picture Taken By Bill Joyce, St. Paul, Minnesota

          

  Ok, the thing about the Twin Cities is that there two cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) that are spilt by the Mississippi River. But the river isn’t level with the cities so to get down to the river you have to go almost straight down. Some how as you get closer to the river you go from city streets to instant forest with trails. Once you have faced the downward climb, you walk along the river but also walk under all the massive brigades and drain pipes coming from the cities. All the drain pipes and bridges are covered with graffiti, the city doesn’t even attempt to paint over them anymore. But I choice this picture because I think it captures the strange urban forest that the Twin Cities has produced over the years. Going to the river is apart of almost every Twin Cities kids life and a huge part of mine. Not only is it a place where people can’t really find you (when you don’t want to be found) but also its very visual beautiful. The river banks hold a lot of history too, there are abandoned buildings and tunnels, now covered with the markings of an urban environment. Sadly, the river banks have taken a darken turn in the past years with the deaths of a few kids. But the river banks will always be a place of gathering teenagers and city dwellers searching for a little patch of green grass.

05

This is the image I'd use for my hometown of Deerfield, just because it's me and all of my friends out in the woods having fun on a gorgeous day. The picture gives you a pretty acurate description of how the town actually is, its very woody, and of course I want to show a bunch of people having a fun time.
A lot of people that I know that are from the Chicagoland area have the wrong impression about Deerfield. Many people believe that it's a place for the rich snobby people to live on the north shore, but I was really hoping to show that it's no like any other place, the people are nice, and there's plenty of places to have fun. (not shown in this picture)

Good ol' Bourbonnais

Well, Bourbonnais is a small suburb south of the Chi and there isn't much to do around here at all. We are surrounded by corn fields and quite a few gravel roads. It's relatively new compared to many other southern suburbs, however, the kids in Bourbonnais have to go searching for a good time. One place most people gather would be along the Kankakee River. Especially in the summer, the people of my community are all fishing, swimming, or floating down stream. It's a very relaxing retreat aswell. Along the river banks wind paved bike paths that also run through the Kankaee State Park. I've found my "happy place" along these paths. It's a little cliff, well a rather large rock sticking out of the hill side, that over looks the river. It's hard to find, located behind many large trees, but if you come across it at the right moment, one will see the perfect view of the sunset. This would be the front picture of my coummunity's book. It would have to be taken in about two weeks when all the leaves have changed to there brilliant oranges and reds tied in with the lush greens; the sun glowing in the disantance reflecting off the light, fluffy clouds, casting that soothing pink and purple. If you look down below, you'll find kids floating in innertubes down its gentle rapids and fathers fishing along the sandy banks with their children. Positioned in the center of the picture would be the sillouette of a person or two, doesnt matter the gender or age, everyone can enjoy this spot along the Kankakee River. This is the perfect reflection of my town in the fall. I could have chosen a picture of the corn fields or the skate parks, maybe even the Bears summer camp or the Annual Friendship Fest. This scene by the river just seems to capture it all.

Honestly, I don't remember why we named it "Smokey Bones"

I'm sorry this is a photo of myself. 

When I went photo hunting, I found a few of houses I had taken during Christmas and Halloween but the nice autumn day in my "Smokey Bones" picture just hit the mark. I wanted to show how vast the fields are in Sandwich and when I think of home this is was what I think of. The "downtown" scene of Sandwich is just a few small family owned restaurants and a Walgreens, which is not exactly picturesque.  There also isn't very much to do, so taking long drives out to the middle of no where, just to smoke a few cigarettes, wasn't a rare thing to do. I doubt other people from Sandwich would portray it this way. For some people, my hometown is just football games and drunken parties. But for me, Sandwich was just a place to escape from with my friends or by myself. 

The Wu

Watertown is 5-10 minutes from Boston depending on your mode of transportation. It's a small suburban town located right on the Charles River (insert dirty water lyrics reference here). Most kid's activity is located on the river. Its a beautiful safe place to partake in illegal underage activity. There's not much to do in Watertown so that's the bulk of what kind of stuff kids are doing. My Barrio photo would be of my friends and I at the docks on the Charles. It would be at night with our backs to the camera sitting on the railing over looking the river. You can see houses that overlook the river, but also the huge amounts of nature and foliage blocking us from you. It shows how we can see everything, but no one can see us. The picture represents how even though we're hanging out at the docks because thats all there is to do, we're also enjoying the scenery that new england has to offer. It also showcases the community that I am a part of with my friends and what we embody as a group. We're a tight knit group of kids that have been friends since 6th grade or before.

The Perfect Place to Raise a Child

My barrio reminds me of something like this above. Beautiful and perfect for a calender. My first choice for a picture was a 12 year girl, dressed in skanky clothes, and probably covered in expensive designer wear. The thing that sticks the most is spoiled, rich, suburbia children. Naperville is a great place; it really is a great town. The only problem is that everybody is rich and spoiled, or acts that way. I use this picture in a sense to capture the fact that Naperville really is a beautiful place. It comes off as  a bubbled perfect little town (although it is amazingly large). 

Naperville was a mixed experienced; it was both nice and bad. The place was beautiful, it had everything, but the people bothered me. There was an attitude of suburban individuals that was loud, abnoxious, and conceded. Other than that it was safe and clean. It had lots of stores and facilities. There were lots of activities. But with all to be said about Naperville, like the picture, it was generally boring or meaningless to me. When places boast they have everything, I find it ironic it has nothing for me. 

Mansfield, Ohio (or the place between Cleveland & Columbus)

No we don't have any real reason for tourism. Or any other large attractions for that matter. Sure you can count the Kingwood Center but if you live in Mansfield that place is old after five visits, two of which are spent chasing the peacock who lives there.

Basically we're a rust-belt town whose economy relies entirely on a decrepit steel mill. We're located exactly 1 hour south of Cleveland and 1 hour north of Columbus, making it an ideal town for concerts but a primarily boring place.



But this is what I love about Mansfield. The fact that I can drive 10 minutes in any direction outside of town and find myself in the middle of nowhere. Or perhaps find myself covered in trees by one of the surrounding nature preservation areas. This picture here directly represents Mansfield to me. State Route 13 runs east and west of Mansfield and connects you to some of the most beautiful surrounding areas.

Not Getting It

In my hometown, lots of people go to work then sit in front of the TV and do nothing.
Many of the residences don't care about anything going on outside of their four walls, as long as it does not effect them. My attitude is why do they even bother leaving their work clothes?

The photo is clearly showing someone in work attire with no expression on their face. The negative spaces and small depth of field makes it look like that person is staring into nothing. From what you can pick up in the background shows very little detail. Also being shot in black and white also gives it a dull feel. There is nothing in the photograph to suggest anything from happening. A dull and monotone image accurately describes where I grew up.

P-Ville

This is Plainfield, IL. Plainfield is an old farming town that, over the years, has been stuffed with suburbs. Plainfield has been one of the quickest growing towns in the nation for the last few years. We have built 3 highschools in the last 7 years, and there is another one opening next year. There is Plainfirl Central High School and one for every cardinal direction(North, South, East, and West). That is not including all the lower level school that we have had to build to feed the highschools. A lot of people still see the town as a farming town, though. There are still a number of farm field in the town.

Ask any kid from plainfield what they think of it, and they will probably tell you," P-ville is boring! there is nothing to do." That is half right. Plainfield is pretty boring, but if you go looking with the right people then you can find some fun stuff. Yes its true I could not wait to get out of Plainfield, but there is something about the town and people that I enjoy. If you are ever stuck in traiffic on 55 or 59(which you will be if you are driving on either one), then hook a right and chill in P-ville for a while. There is more than just corn fields I promise.

Eh my neighborhood

So i don't have an image on my macbook, and i lost every bit of login information to my Flickr account. So i'm going to go on words. If i had to pick one image to describe my town, it would be middle school kids hanging out at the strip mall by my house trying to look all cool and stuff. Granted, mot middle school kids in my town did/do it so yes, i as one of them once, unfortunately. It's a pattern. They get into to high school and realize it's time to make some real friends and have a real life now. Hanging out at Regency plaza/Huntington plaza doesn't count as a social life. I would drive up to Huntington plaza ( down the street from my house) when i was 17 or 18 to run errands for my mom at the Walgreen's or ship something at the Pack 'n' Mail, and i would see these kids leaning against the wall/windows outside of where Record Breakers used to be. 13 and 14 year old kids, smoking cigarettes, but not inhaling them. Throwing things at cars and pedestrians because they thought they were bad ass. When i hung out there, i never did that, i sat quietly wishing i had money to go buy records. Those kids tried to be smug, and cool. If i captured them in an image you would feel their sliminess run down your spine. You would want to punch them in the face, or tell them to grow up and get a life. They are at a young age, and need to realize, that people don't think you're cool now, they probably won't later. the word "cool" i irrelevant later in life. I really wish i had taken an actual image to represent these kids. Maybe i will this summer.

Indy.

(Credit: Flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/blatch/10810338/)

This image in my opinion perfectly describes the area I live in in Indianapolis. I really like how the photography captures the suburban area, which Indianapolis mostly consists of. Indianapolis is a very much suburban and rural city in my opinion. I think people think that the suburbs means it a safer, much cleaner, crime-free environment, but it very much isnt. Many crimes occur in the suburbs secretly, alot of the most successful crimes have rooted from. I like how the background of this pictures gives off an "perfect" little neighborhood, but the kids are fixing cars and dancing in the street.

picture

Naperville, Illinois was and is a fun place to grow up. I can remember a time where there were no worries. Summers seemed to be endless and the best season of the year. This photograph perfectly describes the city I am from. It was taken on the last day of highschool; my senior year.
Naperville is the 4th largest city in Illinois, meaning there is always something to do. Teens have coined the term Naper"thrill," as a way of saying the opposite. I guess kids that live there do not know how good they have it. I would choose this photograph to represent Naperville because it shows we like to have a good time, regardless of age. My friend's neighbor was lauhing at us while we were having fun in the sun. That didn't stop us from having a good time. This picture is definetly the best choice and the only one that I would want to describe my hometown.

Orand Park

Deciding what to use as a cover for 'Orland Park' is difficult to think of.  There really isn't anything that attracts people from other towns except the mall, and there isn't anything historical that means a lot to the town. I mean, the town grew a lot and developed a lot to where there's no like historic land or anything. I was thinking maybe the golf course because Orland Park is supposably the golf capital, but to me that still sounds like nothing too special or anything.  So I'd have to say I'd use a picture of the barn that's near my house.  It's probably the most historic site in Orland because it's been there for ages, and Orland used to be all farmland.  And in the summer and fall the farm opens up and sells fresh fruit and corn and a lot of people go there. The only problem with using that as the cover is it'll make Orland look like something it's not. People will get the impressions it's all farmland when it's nothing like that at all.

screw you, North Carolina

Dayton, OH is nothing too great, and I am certainly the first to admit that. But we used to have at least one thing to brag about, one small achievement that we could be proud of amidst the slow decay of our city: we were the home of the Wright Brothers when they were making their first successful airplane! Airplanes are obviously a huge part of life nowadays, so that is a big deal to have the first one ever made in Dayton, OH. Most of you reading this may think I'm making this up, because I'm sure you've all heard that North Carolina is the "birthplace of aviation." That is a joke, and Dayton does not appreciate it. It's true that the Wright brothers took their plane down to North Carolina to fly it on the beach, because the weather was more permitting there, but this does not change the fact that the plane itself was "born" in Dayton. When North Carolina started trying to take credit for birthing flight, the Daytonians took action and built a huge replica of the first airplane and put it in the middle of Main Street in downtown Dayton. It's obnoxious, and that's exactly the point. Needless to say, a picture of this large replica placed in the middle of the road, dividing the two sides of Main Street, would no doubt be the cover of a "Dayton" book.

Friday Night Lights

My hometown is very sports orientated. So that would only leave me with one choice; the football field. I would take this picture on a Friday night with all of the lights shinning on the field. The marching band preforming during half time, with a sold out stadium screaming for the Fighting Saints, in each end zone a neon yellow goalpost awaits for a player to score a goal, the score board shinning bright with a short overview of the game. Charles the Great rushing the stands getting everyone pumped up. Anyone can see that this is the place to be, orange and black flooding the stands awaiting the for sure victory of the Fighting Saints!
There are many reasons why I would pick the football field. It holds some sentimental memories of myself, I was a member of the marching band and the cheerleading team. That field was my home for four years, many Fridays nights of my high school life were spent there. It is where many friendships are cemented over some hot cocoa and pizza, and where many families watch their daughters and sons shine on the coveted grass. This is one of the most important places in my town where everyone sets aside their differences and comes together to celebrate the orange and the black, to cheer on our team all the way to a victory.

Assignment Due by Monday

If someone was doing a Barrio type project about your hometown or
neighborhood, what would you want to be the very first picture? Describe the image in as much possible detail and explain why you think it would be the best choice.

October?

For everyone there is a clear line between their private and public lives. It is always easy to switch back and forth between the two at will, because we really don't think about it consciously, we just switch to whatever seems more comfortable in the situation.

For me, private or public doesn't depend on whether or not i'm alone in a room or out in the world. It depends more on the people I am with and interacting with at the time. When i'm with some of my closest friends, I am able to be both my public and private self, because I can do things, and share things with them that I wouldn't be able to do with other people. On the other hand, when I am with people I don't typically interact with, I am more of my public self, meaning I present myself much more conservatively than a really am, because honestly, my true self can get a little ridiculous at times.

Currently I consider my home to be my dormroom, because that is wear I go to sleep at night, and I consider this place to be a public and private place, because even if my roomate is there, I get along with him very well so I am not worried about being myself in my own room. Of course I can't go all out and throw my personality all over the room all the time, because I can guarentee he might get a little annoyed by that. But I am completely comfortable being myself in my own room.

Overall I think when you are most comfortable with the people you are with, is when you are your true self, that being public and private, and are able to express any of your emotions at any given time. And honestly for me, and for most people, I am not in this situation very often, but I try and be myself in most all situations anyway.

Think Tank, noun: The shower.

It's hard to get away from the world around you.  When my life gets hectic there is nothing I love more than going on a walk. I used to take an iPod with me to drown out the outside noise but now I can just walk in the noise. Being alone is something that people should try out more often because it lets you think without another person dictating your thoughts. But at times going on walks makes me realize how busy everything in my life is. After many years of searching for my perfect private nook, I discovered... the shower.

No one, unless creepy, walks in on someone showering because your naked and thats a private all in its self. When I feel like my brain wont stop going and life is moving to fast, I jump in shower. This is the best place for me to sort through all of my thoughts. If I can, I will just sit on my couch late at night because my roommate is sleeping and showering is too loud. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes, having my "private" time consists of sharing a couch with one of my roommates and not talking. This is the best kind of privacy I feel. It's nice when you can have your privacy but not feel alone.

Allein Sein

One thing I love about my home in Mansfield is it's designated areas. Let's say for instance you were to walk into my living room in my home. (No it's not adorned with Saint Candles.) You'd be greeted by my mother sitting on the couch nearest the window, she'd say "hello". My dad would be laying on the love seat directly across from the window. He'd be watching golf so pay him no mind. My brother might be in the living room as well, if so he's playing computer games and talking to my dad about sports. Now since they're all in the living room, they're silently conveying that they're all open for communication. If they're in the room that means "hey leave me some privacy for awhile."

On a Saturday morning I might hang out in my room for three hours and then venture to the living room to communicate. It's a silent bond we have as a family to respect each others privacy. It's this sort of thing that I miss. At my dorm there are no set places as to where you might want privacy. Though the room is an obvious choice one of my roomates still lacks the capacity to knock before entering the room. It's not that I'm doing anything that specifically needs to be private but sometimes one just enjoys silence.

Privacy.

I believe privacy is different for everyone. I believe its based on the level of comfort. I think we balance our private lives and our public lifes, by our environments and the people we are around. People often consider their homes the most private. I think people consider their homes the most private because it contains most of their belongings, valuables, and it's sheltered from the rest of the world. I dont think the home is always the most private place in the world. Me living in the dorms, I would technically call this my home for the time being, but it's not private at all. There is always someone around. Beside my room I would consider the bathroom, the most private place. The bathroom is where you are your true self, because theirs no one watching, and where your most intimate moments take place.

Ying and Yang

How do we find and maintain balance between our private selves and our public selves?
During our lives we learn how we should be but at the same time we find out more and more of who we really are. We learn that our private side is portrayed when the world is not watching and that our public side is portrayed when all eyes are on us. We maintain balance by making sure that no matter how busy we are in our public/professional lives, we still have time for ourselves and the people we are close.

What places do we consider the realm of the "private"? Why?
We places we consider "private" varies from person to person. Everyone has their own sense of privacy and relaxtion. If I enjoyed reading then a library might be considered as a private relaxing place or maybe if I enjoyed water then being on the beach or on a boat would be private.

Many of you might think of your home as a private space, but is it always?
No home isn't always a private place, that would also depends on oneself. To some a private place might mean to be away from the children and/or spouse and to others just being home with the children and/or spouse is private.

What if there are roommates?
If there are roommates, it would be the same scenario as the previous question. Privacy is view differently by different people and different cultures. Having a roommate could be private if you have a close personal relationship with that roommate or it could be public if you do not have a personal relationship with that roommate.

How does that influence how you act?
Sorry teach but these questions really don't differentiate from each other. So again as I stated in the previous question, if I had a personal relationship with my roommate then I would be myself around he/she which is letting them into my private life but if I did not have a personal relationship with he/she then I would have a fake "public" attitude towards them which in turn keeps them distant from my private life.

Where else would you consider a private place?
A private place to me when I want to get away from the world is in my room, listening to music and dancing.

An Absurd Pastime

Running. All my friends think I am crazy for running, but running is how I get away. If something is bugging me, I slip on me Nikes and go run. It doesn't matter how far or how fast or even where I run. When I run, I step out of my routine life. Running gives me a place to think about things. During a run, no one can bug me. Even in the city with all these people, I feel totally alone on my runs. Running allows me to escape. My room is also a place that I consider private. In my room I can do whatever I want. I can shut the door and become detached from others.

Things change when others enter my room or go for a run with me. They get to see a different part of me. That sounds like I have slip personalities which I don't. I just act like everyone else does in there comfort zone. Only a few people get to see the private self. My running buddies see the runner part of me, but my cousin Josh, who is like a brother, and my best friends Zack and Tucc probably know the private me the best. This is just because they stopped judging me a long time ago. I hate to say it, but everyone judges people they do not truly know.

Neutral

I can see this argument going both ways. On one hand, we are products of the information age. We have always been connected to millions of people with our internet connection. This technology has created a new social standards of exposing the entire world to who we are and what we did. In my hometown, the parents never use know their child was going to keggers. Now teenagers incriminate themselves with posting photos/videos online, for everyone to see. The basement with the open liquor cabient can now appear on any corner of the earth.

It isn't just adolescents being stupid on the internet. This is the second class I have had were my homework had to be published online. Homework use to be private. Now if I google "New Millennium Studies Blog 2008" this blog appears on the first page of results. For the past 15 years technology has been all about getting your voice out there. Let everyone know what you have to say. Today, it has been achieved and now a 12 year old calling herself "Trixy96" say, "TIHS SUX!!!!1" to an audience larger than our presidents could grab 20 years ago.

To look at the other side, sometimes walking down the street I think we are all living alone together. When I went to class this morning I must have pass at least a dozen people listening to their iPods. Each one of them erasing the noise of the world and creating their own soundtrack. I'm not extremely opposed to this act; I do it all the time. But when I am listening to my iPod, I feel completely disconnected. No one is going to say, "Hi" to me, hold a door, even the homeless don't ask for change. I am complete isolated on State Street.

It's not just headphones that keep us seperated, our homes seem to also. In grade school I remember I was friends with every kid on my block. Every day after school, we would get together and play some game. We ran through everyone's yard, used eachother's equiptment, and invited people into our home. Once I started Jr. High everything suddenly changed. Most of my friends moved away or were a year or two younger than me. When I brought friends over I knew from school we weren't treated the same way. Everyone's yard was not open. Parents I use to have dinner with would yell at me because of the noise. It was like I didn't know them anymore. More people started to move out and new neighbors started to move in. I was starting high school and could careless who they are. Occasionally someone would knock on my door asking if they saw their dog. Before they introduced themselves I didn't even know they lived in the culdesac. Usually they didn't even give their name.

Right now, I am guilty of the same thing. There is over a handful of people on know on my floor, but I can't say I know the people I share a wall with. I also use Facebook, Vimeo, and other social networking website to get my message accross to as many people as possible. I can't say that I am one way or the other. I don't mind that people know about my life, but I don't post everything about me on my Facebook page. Although I do have an extensive favorite movie list.

04

I think its a very interesting balance between maintaining a private self and a public self. I think it all depends on how much a person is willing to share things with people. For instance I have my friends, I have my close friends, and then I have my family. It's pretty obvious that my most personal things I'm usually going to share with my family and then some personal things I will share with my close friends and even some less things I will share with my friends. However I, personally, share a close balance with my close friends and my family, there are somethings I am willing to tell my close friends, then somethings I am only willing to tell my family. It's kind of like a system of different levels, there are the general positions: friends, close friends, family; but then there are overlapping parts. For me it all depends on trust, and how long I've known the person; which again is still part of trust. If I trust this person then I'm going to tell them things that I wouldnt be comfortable telling other people with.

The first place I would thing would be a private place would be my own room, but considering im now sharing a room with my roommate Kein, my room isn't so private anymore. Of course I still have my room at home, but when I'm in my apartment I feel most at home/ most private at my work desk; which is surprisingly in our living room. I think it's because I bought this myself, built it myself and I'm the only one that uses it make it my own, my private spot. It doesn't even have anything to do with being in a secluded area! My apartment usually isn't a very private place, I mean I have three roommates, two of which, have girlfriends, so there's usually plenty of people over at my place, but it still stays the same my desk is my private place. When I have my headphones on, I'm listening to music or just doing work, nothing else matters.

I love fall ! !

Hm... privacy. This is actually an interesting subject, having come to college. I used to think that my room was the most private place that I had, but I now share a room with someone I have known for only about a month. I feel like I have lost some of my ability to be my private self.
Now, my private self and public are not necessarily different people, it's just that there are some things that I keep to my private self most of the time. For example, I play guitar and write songs, but it's not something I do for other people. Writing songs is for me, so I rarely share the experience with others, so I often find myself finding time while my roommate is out of the room so that I don't lose that part of my private self.
Another point this brings up, is how I think there is the ability to be private with others. I am able to be my private self with my family at my home in Dayton, OH. I also have a couple of friends who I am able share private things with. They're part of my comfort zone, and I feel like I can share that part of my life with them.
I'm not sure what else I can say about privacy, but I would like to add that I am really intrigued by this book we are starting to read.

special...k

It should be easy, at least, when balancing my private and public identity. Hell, it should be the same for everyone. My public self is what I am on the surface, it is the cover of the book. If someone hangs out with me or even just talks to me, that individual has no choice of seeing the real me. Nobody can really know another person until they actually talk. The balance of comfort comes from the level of satisfaction I have for myself; I do not strive to change my general appearance and character that I emit. 

Most kids figure their bedroom is their private place or their home. Typically at those places, they can cast away their "mask" worn in front of the public and they can be themselves again. This is the same, I believe, even if their roommates or others enter their zone. No body can lie forever. My case is different, because my realm of privacy is not home, and also because my realm of privacy is for me to meditate rather than "be myself".

As an artist, I need constant privacy so I may reflect or just clear my mind. I find peace in noise and numbers. There are individuals who need a silent room for peace; I am the complete opposite. My realm of peace is in a world of chaos, because in chaos, individuals find themselves alone and by themselves. Generally, any public place with many people and noise; luckily, I now live in Chicago. Walking up and down the streets I can find myself lost in a trance. Riding the "L" loosens my shoulders and comforts me. Above all, no matter where I am, music is my realm of peace and privacy.