The Last Blog.

It's been a wild wide this semester in etymology. I feel like I've learned more about writing in just this class than I have in english class all year. I really liked how the class focused on writing, instead of the history of english  literature or some other crap like my other english classes. I really believed I improved my writing skills alot over the course of this semester, and I plan to use the skills I learned in this class for the rest of my life. And I also find myself using etymology vocab in my everyday vocabulary now, it makes me look so smart, and in papers i've been accused of plagiarizing because of my use of the vocabulary and claims.  At the beginning I was everything but a reader, I never read. But now, I really think I'll read outside of class. I actually look forward to reading this summer. I always said before that I didn't have the time to read, but because of this class, I feel like like everything else you just have to make time. One thing I had trouble with, was sticking to books. I think If I read fiction books I wouldn't have been a "book hopper" so often; however, as minute as it may seem, the extra 50 pages and original extra blog posts was a big turn off. I also really liked the blogging experience, I thought that it kind of made the class feel like an independent study, I really liked the idea of having something of my own. It would have been nice if we would have just had 2 blogs a week though, and if the blogs were checked every week like they were originally. I liked having blogs due every week a lot better just because It kept me from procrastinating a week and then realizing that I had 6+ blogs due in just a few days, which led to me doing multiple blogs in one day. As far as poetry goes, i've kind of fallen in love with poetry this semester. I really enjoyed performing them in the poetry slam this semester and I actually want to participate in the national poetry slam, I think it'd be a lot of fun. Lastly, it's kind of sad that This year is coming to an end. Especially etymology class, I'm really going to miss daily poems, reading thursdays, as well as running to lunch and making fun of Chelsey Thomas.

Truly, Take Care everyone.

Bad Decisions. Good intentions.

A while back I posted the video of the song "All of the Lights" by Kanye, Rihanna, Kid Cudi, Fergie, as well as others. Well now, Kanye and Rih are back but they dumped everyone else and Drake, lil Wayne, and Big Sean jumped on. Like many of you know, Drake's my favorite rapper so I was glad to see him on this remix. His verse was my favorite, and I also wish that he was featured on the original. Hopefully a music video will be made for this one! Enjoy!

Move Your Body.

This video is apart of a new White House incentive to get kids healthy, and no one better could do it than the ever-talented Beyoncé Knowles. Often Heralded as simply 'Queen B' Beyoncé tagged along and did a remix to one of her older songs in support of the Campaign. The lyrics and dance steps highlight Beyoncé's finest.  I really like how a huge star like Beyoncé would take time out of her day to re-record her old songs, and film a new music video with a bunch of kids. But the best part comes in the second video.

I thought this was AWESOME! Not only did she take time to redo a song, but she took time out of her busy schedule to go and suprise a group of high school kids dancing to her "flash workout." For an almost 30 year old Beyoncé still has it, but along with her new maturity she really shows her class and grace.

Tiger Luck.

Like alot of asian women, Amy had a dream of writing a novel about raising her children. When sophia was born she was working was working at a succesful job at the Wall Street law firm. She really never got into the law business, she could care less. Her husband on the other hand loved it. He worked at a law firm also.  He eventually got a job at Yale as a law professor.  Once Amy decided that she didn't really like being being a lawyer, she decided to write this novel.  Right after Sofia was born, she started writing this novel, and she applied for law teaching jobs all over the country. And she moved to New Haven. Soon after, she got accepted i na teaching job at Duke Law school, and the family moved to North Carolina soon after.

I'm confused on where this lady is going. First, this is the first time she's told us her name, and it was random also. Second, I don't know where she lives. I thought she lived in New Haven, Indiana because she grew up in lafayette but then her husband taught at yale and they moved to the Carolinas? This last reading was all over the place.

Tattoos

I posted this photo on tumblr the other day and I think it's really cool! I didn't like tattoos until recently but I just figured out that I like tattoos alot! I just like them in places where you normally wouldn't like them. I like this one a lot because you rarely see tattoos on fingers and I like these tattoos also. They're not all "in your face" like most other tattos, and they're alot different. I really like both of them, the diamond and the anchor are both really cool.

I'm gettin Paperrrrrrrrrrrr

This has become one of my favorite new songs, I just really love the beat! Who knew Chris brown can rap? He's often heralded as the greatest singer of our generation but apparently he started out rapping! He's actually pretty good and he has my favorite line in the whole song. I find myself whistling it all the time. I also like the throwback to old school hip hop in this visual, the jordan jerseys, and nike shoes bring everything together to form great artistic visual to this song.

Along with Chris Brown, This girl can rap! I really liked this interpretation, it was really different. I have no idea how she learned the Busta Rhymes verse,  it's crazy! All in all, I think she did a great job and her interpretation of the song was equally fantastic.

Tiger Mother.

This reading opened with the Tiger Mother doing what she does best, opinionating. She believes that a smart child is the best way to show a child has good parents, and if a child isn't the best acidemically then they have bad parents. Apparently when she was young, somone else recieved the "child of the year" award in elementary school and her father felt like she had disgraced him. She also claims that a part of her regrets marrying a caucasian man and not another chinese man, but another part of her is glad because it shows her new american found freedom.  When her parents first moved to America, they moved with almost nothing. Their main focus was to focus on her education. Because of an old saying, the speaker believes that her children will disobey her, because of the changing generations of kids.  The speaker was going to make sure that her child didn't do that, so she made her do classical music, she also made sure that her kids did physical labor. Her husband didn't like that idea, he didn't like the ideal of his kids struggling, and worried about their backs. Also she believes that In china, kids never back talk, but in America it's the norm.

I understand how there's a culture shock between every generation but come on, let the kids be kids. I know that a parent is allowed to raise their kids however they like but this is a little crazy. The kids are more like slaves instead of kids.

Battle Hymn Of the Tiger Mother

Don't worry I haven't given up on Accidental Billionaires, I had just left it at home one day and decided to pick up this book at random. It actually has turned out to be a pretty good book. The book opens with a lady describing her way growing up with her own "Tiger Mom." A tiger mom is most commonly an asian mother who is very stern and intense with her children, although there are many western Tiger Mothers also. Tiger kids have to be in advanced by 2 years, only complete in sports where they know they will win,  never spend the night at their friend's home, and they have to play the piano as well as other things. The story follows " the chinese mother" as she raises her two daughters Sophia and Louisa along with her Jewish Husband. The two agreed that The "tiger mother" help their kids with school work while the kids be raised with a Jewish background. Sophia is the perfect Tiger Daughter, she respects her mother, does all her school work, and works dilligently and graciously. Lousia, on the other hand is almost the total opposite, she's kind of a rebel flower. Although her mother loves her, Louisa has tested her mother on a couple occasions, and her mother knows that Louisa is not going to be as easy to raise as Sophia. The Tiger Mom has a lot  more on her plate than she thought.

I think having a "Tiger Mom" would be awful. They're not allowed to do theatre or any type of acting at all, and that is something that's really close to me, something I love to do. I also think It would be sad to be forced to do these things. These Tiger moms are kind of stripping their children of their identities, not being allowed to go to a sleepover as a kid is a little outrageous. I was also suprised to see that the author grew up in lafayette, Indiana.

The Poetry Playlist

Here are my first 6/10 poems that i've chosen for this project. My theme is the ever-evolving Pop Culture, and i'm really excited about getting into this project. Here's my poems:

1. Mirror, Mirror - Tom Nealy
2. The honey Bear- Eileen Myles
3. Self Help- Bruce Covey
4. live chat- roberto harrison
5.Now and Then- James Schuyler
6. Que sera Sera- A. Van Jordan

Spring Semester

Mark Zuckerberg & Katy Perry

This last reading was really long so I decided to break it up into two different posts to keep everyone interested. Eduardo is still uneasy about running the facebook in two different places, but he knows he can't do anything about it now. Meanwhile, Mark & Dustin are busy finding interns to accompany them on their trip to california, while Eduardo is busy worrying about thefacebook and setting up his internship in NYC. Later, Eduardo entered the computer lab to find a group of computer nerds playing computer drinking games. And when Eduardo looked up, he saw both Mark & Dustin testing to show how good the interns were at this game. Whenever one of them got far enough in their computer code, they'd look up and down another drink. Once a winner was declared, Eduardo also noticed a girl by Mark's side, Priscilla. Priscilla had been hanging around Mark for a while, Eduardo believed she was going to become his girlfriend. For once Mark had ben geniuenly happy. Eduardo decided that he could make the company work in two different states. Anways, in three months things would be back to normal but this time Eduardo would be a Senior and Mark a junior. Maybe the facebook would grow, or maybe it would halt, but Eduardo thought the future for thefacebook would be grand.

And Grand it was. While reading this reading, I came across an article on yahoo about Mark Zuckerberg himself. He recently bought his first home ever for 7million dollars in  California. In fact the article said he was worth over 13.5 billion dollars now, which makes that 7milion dollar home look like pennies for him. I'm really liking this story, I have a feeling this trip to California will have a key role in what will happen between Mark & Eduardo.

Spring Semester

This reading with Mark & Eduardo both annoyed. In the middle of their class, they looked back and they saw what they described as "another" VC. Apparently men in suits, and other VC's have been evading Campus for months, following both Mark & Eduardo around. With summer coming up, thefacebook was becoming an everyday job, and money was starting to pile up. Thefacebook became a real company during this time also. Eduardo registered thefacebook LLC. Then Mark dropped a bombshell on Eduardo. He had been creating a side-website with some other friends called wire-hog, which was kind of a blend with facebook and napster. He decided he was going to integrate it into facebook as an application and Eduardo was okay with this. It wasn't until the second bombshell did Eduardo seem to get a little uneasy. He had just decided to go on a internship in new york when Mark decided he wanted to move his business adventures to the sillicon valley. It was even worse that Mark was going to take Dustin along with him and handle the business aspect, which was Eduardo's to begin with. Eduardo knew that it wouldn't be easy working from two different sides of the continent, but Mark's mind was made up. He wasn't going to give in.

This book only has like 30 pages left and i'm starting to think this is the reason why Eduardo and Mark are no longer friends. I'm guessing Mark & Dustin decided to make their own plans while in California and Eduardo wasn't going to let that go down. I'm not sure for sure though, i'll just have to read and find out!

New York City

This reading began in my favorite city of all the time, the big apple! Mark and Eduardo came to New York on a "business" trip, but all Mark seemed to want to do is goof around. Infact, Eduardo single-handedly paid for most everything, dwindling down the 1,000 dollars he put in thefacebook himself. Also, paying for all the business' expenses himself (taxis, etc). Eduardo had set up almost everything, he set up all the meetings with big business' that didn't go particularly well. Although all the business' were impressed by thefacebooks 25million members, not to many knew exactly what it was. During these meetings either Mark slept or didn't help at all, very unprofessional. Then Sean parker came into the picture. Sean Parker floated through the chinese restauraunt they were eating at like a celebrity, going thorough rounds at other table until he met his destination at Eduardo and Mark's table. To Mark, Sean was a God. Sean talked to Mark the whole night, with Eduardo feeling a little miffed, he couldn't wait for the night to be over. Later that night Eduardo expressed that they really didn't need Parker, but Mark's mind was made up, Parker was his idol. In just a week they were to open a new bank account, this time with 10,000 dollars in it, this was the beginning of the mega-billion dollar facebook company.

My favorite part of this whole reading was probably that it was in NYC. New york is my favorite city in the world and it's home to my favorite College--NYU. In one year I see myself living in the big apple, attending NYU with a double-major in theatre & broadcasting.

P.S. If any of you are in the New York area and are interested in seeing some of the greatest broadway plays, you should definitely stop by TKTS in Times Square for discount tickets in all the great shows. It's pretty hard to miss, it's the big red thing in the middle of time's square lol.

Modern Family

After reading the Article Quality time, redifined, I realized how all of america's family life is revolutionized. Family time doesn't mean the same thing that it meant even 10 years ago. The article told about a family all spending family time without really spending family time. Although the family was together, they were all occupied with themselves. The mother was busy on her ipad, the father on his laptop, the daughter on her ipod and the young son on the wii. This family was linked to the popular show, Modern family, which recently had a plot similar to what happens in this family everyday. Now my family is definitely a technology dependent family but when we have family time that means no electornics unless we're all using it together, unlike the other families of today. I'm sure the same goes for all families, family time is very important. Your family makes you who you are, and with the electornic revolution almost replacing the family, kids of the future won't be so well off when it comes to people skills.

March 2004

This reading opens with a new character, Sean Parker. Sean Parker woke up unknowingly at Stanford, in california with womens lingire all over his room. He figured he must have had a good night. Sean didn't even go to Stanford, but everyone knew who he was. He, along with his original business partner Shawn Fanning changed the recording industry by creating Napster. However, Napster didn't last very long, after a while record companies got the best of the two Seans and Napster was shut down, although Sean didn't regret any of it. Things didn't get much better for Sean after that, years later he and a couple buddies built a multi-billion dollar social networking company, but in the end Sean was kicked out. It was Michael Mortiz whom brought Sean down, a noted investor who Sean brought in on Plaxo himself. Sean needed a way to get himself back into the business. He had already looked at Myspace & Friendster to get himself back, and then came facebook.

I'm really interested to see how much a signifigant role Sean is going to play in all this. He just might be the one to break up Eduardo and Mark's relationship. We'll see how everything goes.

Rolling in the Deep.

I've fallen in love with this song. I loved the original, and I love the Mike Posner version. It wasn't until not too long ago that I even knew who Adele was, I had heard her songs, but never knew the name. Now I love her music, she's so different. It's nice to finally see some artist from the UK back in mainstream music, first Adele and now Jessie J. It reminds me of the days of the beatles and the Rolling Stones, although Jessie J and Adele definitely places into different music niches. I've also always liked Mike posner, mostly. I liked the song cooler than me alot, but the rest of his songs were kind of Ehh to me. I just liked how some of his songs were of a retro-futuristic vibe. He's been off the scene for a little while but this cover will definitley bring him back to the charts. Anyways, both songs are different and each represent the artists musical niches, but they are all very pop culture.

Veritas

This reading began with the Winkelvoss' waiting, phrantically in the office of the President of Harvard. When the Winklevoss' finally met with the president, he was kind of arrogant and honestly didn't care about the problem. To the winklevoss' dismay, the president said that it was a problem between the university and them, but between Mark and them. Cameron tried to persuade that it was against the university rules and that Mark had breached the University's standards of honesty but the President still didn't bulge. Sadly, the Winklevoss' were out to take care of Mark by themselves, whatever that meant. It had been really hard for them, they truly believed that Mark had stole this idea from them, Cameron even believed that his innocence had been lost then.

I don't really understand how the Winklevoss' just think that Mark stole the idea from him. Do they forget why they even hired him? It was because of FaceMash, the first social networking site that Mark made that had to be put down. And the winklevoss' were never in any formal agreement with them, so even if Mark had stolen the idea from not much could be done.