What is the "new normal"?

So lately I have been watching this new show called "The New Normal" with Andrew Rannells and Justing Bartha playing a gay couple. It's a very controversial show in my opinion. It challenges what the typical American family should look like now by saying two gay parents and a kid is the "new normal". I'm not opposed to gay parents having a child, and in some ways it would benefit the kid, but how can this show say this is the new normal. Are there really that many gay couples with kids to constitute a TV show about their lives? I would think a TV about divorced couples more "normal". And the latest episode is about politics, and boy does it get nasty. It's a very funny show but shocking too because I have never seen anything like this on TV. The one character, Nanna, is such a racist old grandma that I cannot the things she says. If you want to watch a show that makes your jaw drop, then this would be great.

Home

While I was sitting down trying to drum up something blog-worthy (can that be a new word?) I decided to find a quote and discuss it. The quote reads "Home is not where you live, but where they understand you"- Christian Morgenstern. I agree with this to a large extent because I feel at home wherever I am, mostly because I am surrounded by people who get me. For instance, I was sitting on my freezing porch writing this, teeth chattering and fingers numb, too lazy and focused to get a blanket when my sister walks up and says "lift the laptop". I was too "in the homework zone" that I just did what she said. She then proceeded to wrap me in a blanket. Then she grabbed a jacket and said "sit up", so I did, then "put your arms through", which I did and then she walked away. Without me even telling her anything, she understood me and helped me out. She is such a sweety that way. Another example of a home that isn't home is when I am at theater. All of my thespian friends understand me, including my sister and best friend and awesome neighbor kids/ practically little sisters. Theater is a big happy family. Does anyone else have a special example of a home that isn't home to them?

SCSU Acceptance :D

Earlier this week, Tuesday I think it was, I received my St. Cloud State University acceptance letter. I am already to begin in fall of 2013. I got my school ID number and I am completely done apply to colleges. This means the rest of my school grades are unimportant. All I have to due now is graduate. Which shouldn't be too difficult. My dilemma now is that there really isn't that motivation to do exceptionally well to get into a college, because I already did that. I could do the whole senior slide thing, even with IB classes. But, I am not that kind of kid. I would feel guilty and out of place. I enjoy excelling at my school work and getting top notch grades. So now I am trying to figure out what am I doing it for? My parents I suppose, since my mama wants me to get this IB diploma really bad. And partly myself, because I know when I've done a good job. So I was also wondering, how to other kids feel after they get accepted? I mean the kids who don't have honors classes. They could practically give up on the rest of school and "slide". IB doesn't let you do that. I suppose that's good though.

Jobs

Today I went and observed a sub culture for my ethnography. I went to a Park Nicolette clinic in St. Louis Park with Johanna. While we were there, we interviewed technicians and a doctor to get the scoop on how things went down there. I found it interesting that the vibes we got were that the clinic was calm and quiet, it wasn't busy like I thought it would be. Then we asked the doctor if he liked his job. He said yes, especially the hospital part where he performed the surgery and not so much to clinical work because it required talking to people a lot. Overall, though we got the impression he enjoyed his job tremendously. The head nurse said the same thing as well as the Chief Cast Technician, who makes casts for people. This got me thinking that no matter what I end up doing after college, even if it doesn't work out the first time (it didn't for the head nurse) at least I will make sure its something I enjoy. Why do people waste their lives for jobs they hate and that are meaningless? Does money matter that much?

Teaching Tech

The other day at tech for the musical, I was reminded why I loved it so much. Not only do I get to enhance my building skills for the future and improve friendships, but I also get to teach incoming noobies. Some of them are freshmen who have never lifted a drill in their life while others are experienced but it's their first time helping. Well on this particular day I had the honor of working with this really great kid, Victoria. She's a freshman and she doesn't know the difference between a screw and a nail, she gets confused by the buttons on the drill (reverse or forward) and it took her 2 minutes to drill one screw. And even though right now she isn't skilled, I know for a fact that she can become skilled: because not once did she give up. Even when I taught her how to use a giant table saw, she didn't wimp out, she stayed strong and tried something new. What I'm trying to get at is that I feel good when I can teach someone something important to me and watch them improve. I think she felt good too because now she is nearly a pro. Activities like this also help me to improve my teaching abilities and, to some degree, my patience. I was very proud of her though and hope to meet many more kids like her.

Ethic In Attack Ads?

Today when we were watching those attack ads in English class, I couldn't help but think "Is this an ethical way to persuade people?" I know that Obama didn't support the video in which the Romney Plan got slammed, but using a snapshot of someone to backfire on them seems wrong. It's not that I support either Romney or Obama, but if I were running for office I wouldn't like being attacked like that. It seems unethical. And even sneaky. When that photo of Romney was taken, did he think it would be used against him like that? Either way, it just seems mean to attack people like that. I suppose that's what politics is though. Whoever can out-media someone wins.

Appearance Isn't Everything

This past Sunday I went St. Cloud to look inside some houses. My whole family made a field trip out of it. My parents are buying a house there so I can live in it while I go to SCSU, as well as the other three siblings in my household. Anyways, we all got the chance to look inside these two homes and it was really quite the experience. My brother, who is ten, thought that both houses be saw were great and either one would suffice. He is only ten though, and doesn't understand that it's not just how a house looks that is important. The first house was over 100 years old and had an ancient garage covered in lead paint most likely that was flaking. And as cool as the upstairs and backyard were, the kitchen was too small and the basement, quite frankly, a little scary. When I pointed out the flaws of the house, his little eyes lit up and he began to understand. I also began to understand this concept as my parents discussed what would need to be changed with the realtor. The same thing happened with the second house, only the big flaw was a gigantic backyard (lots of mowing) and no AC. Even though the houses we saw were great to look at and fun to explore, they had their downfalls. I guess what I am trying to get at is that it's not about the looks, it's about the inner workings. This can be applied to many other things, like people for instance, I just sort of now understood it more fully.

What should a woman look like?

I think it's interesting how the ideologies of how a woman should look has changed over time. Way back when in Greece, the ideal woman was actually pretty heavy set and had big curves. This was because the more voluptuous a woman in this culture was, the more obvious her signs of wealth were. Because back then the rich people could afford the food, whilst the poorer people could not. But, fast forward to our society and now the plus size women isn't idealized. The tables have completely turned. Also, now in days it's the poorer classes who can buy the food and get heavier, mostly due to fast food. And sometimes the skinnier people are the more wealthy because they can afford more healthful foods. Women in today's society are portrayed as beautiful and thin and sexy, mostly because of the media. And the media in ancient Greece displayed their ideals as well, especially in their statues and paintings and carvings. But when did this shift in what a women should look like occur? Or is there no way to pinpoint this?

Chuck Taylor Shoes :D

Earlier this week, because of Anna's blog, I got thinking about gender and expectations we assign to things. For instance, it's expected girls wear pink, guys wear blue. Girls play with barbies and guys play with trucks. Then I was looking around my house for fun, trying to match the expected gender to items. Which altogether sounds a little crazy, I mean what gender gets a couch? Anyway, I was thinking of things more clothing related. Such as flip-flops are usually "girly" and cargo pants are usually guy oriented. But, when I thought about my most favorite footwear in the world, the Converse sneaker, I couldn't come to a conclusion. Both men and woman wear these and even the product's website displays both genders equally. I found this interesting, so my question is what other items have a gender, either unexpected or expected? And which items can swing both ways?

Yahoo! Findings

           The wonders of Yahoo! news... I just watched a video of the new DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) robotic mule created by the U.S. army and frankly, I was a little disturbed.
           Basically, the gist of the invention is that it is a mule-like robot that can carry items for soldiers and follow a troop similar to a real animal. But the robotic pack mule itself is very strange looking. It's almost like a real mule, but made of metal and headless. The creature, if one can really call it that, even walks like a actual mule!
            Anyway, my question is what do people think of this? I know people have used horses and mules in war, and I suppose this is the next step in because using real horses is a little old school now, plus the fact that they get slaughtered, but isn't this a little "out there"? I mean what's next, robotic carrier pigeons and police dogs. It's all very interesting, but I think the humanity of animals is lost. You just can't make a robot that is so animal like and yet not be real. I understand that this "mule" will serve its purpose, but what will the soldiers think who have to work with it?  Watch the video, it's as my younger sister said, disturbing. (she watched over my shoulder)

Video- http://news.yahoo.com/darpa-unveils-robotic-mule.html

Thinking About Words

Sometimes when I am just sitting around, I think about words in the English language and how silly they can be. For instance: the word patio and the word ratio are both spelled with the same letters except for the "p" and the "r" and yet these words sound nothing alike. I noticed this when I was walking through the patio furniture section of Target and had been learning probabilities that same day. Anyway, this silliness is apparent in a lot of words. Take my favorite for example: apron and saffron. Well actually, I lied. These two do sound the same. But everybody says the latter wrong. Now my question to you is why? If apron is pronounced a certain way, then why don't people pronounce saffron the exact same way? Think about it. Most people say "saffron" with the "ahh" sound. This bugs me so, so, so much because I have a sister named Saffron and when people yell out her name at soccer games or are just trying to get her attention at school, they say it wrong! But why? Why is it that ratio and patio do not sound the same? Why is it that people say saffron with an "ahhhh" when it rhymes with apron? I don't know, and I suspect no one else does. There is no right answer. The English language can be a silly thing, and I just happened to be wondering about it.

Wild Creatures Observed Whilst Walking

Just got back from a 6 mile walk to the Coon Rapids dam with my old man. Not only was it a refreshing and beautiful day, but I got to see a ton of wild life. We were walking on the path and noticed a baby fawn, almost identical to Bambi, that was just prancing along with its momma. It was really adorable. Then on the same path just a few yards away was another doe who skipped across the path and into the brush. It was all so very close and it's sort of weird now that I think about it that I don't notice these things as much as I should. As it was my dad had to get my attention and pointed to the animals until I noticed them. Maybe it was just because I was tired. Anyway, later we crossed the 610 walking bridge and my dad nearly knocked me over because he stuck his arm out in front of me and whispered "stop." I was startled and asked him what the big deal was. He pointed his finger just five feet above us, and there we saw this magnificent hawk perched on the caged wall just gazing out across the highway. It was a beautiful bird, especially when it spread its wings, took flight and I could see its speckled bottom and brown plumage. Now if it were not for my dad, I would have been completely oblivious to all of this. I don't particularly know why. Part of me thinks it's because I was getting tired towards the end, or that I wanted to get home, or that I just don't notice things very much. I am going to try to notice things more often, even if its things as simple as a hawk five feet above your head. But seriously. Who ever looks up? I know they don't in the movies.

Testing...1...2...3...

This is just a test post. I really hope it works.