Christianity and the Survival of Creation

Even though this story practically put me to sleep, there were some parts where he was pretty sarcastic and it made me laugh. He says that the anti-Christians try to criticise the Bible, but they skipped over the first rule, that they actually have to read it first! He also says that he and no other sane person could expect any government figure sitting and listening to what Jesus has to say when he talks about "loving your enemies, and doing good to them that hate you." I couldn't see that happening either.

I don't agree with Berry when he says that "such sacrifice is a refusal to allow the body to serve what is unworthy of it." People who murder, and rape are still out there doing more unworthy acts. I also don't think that he listens to the new christian music that he talks about. He says it "attests to the general assumption the religion is no more than a vaguely pious emotion." I listen to christian music every day and I love it. It sends out a great message to a person of any age.

The Argument Culture

"The best way to discuss an idea is to set up a debate". Not necessarily. If everyone keeps arguing with each other, its not going to get anywhere. People are actually going to have to agree at some point to find a resolution to the topic. Arguing does make us distort facts and encourages us to lie just so we can end up winning the argument. I know, I do it all the time! Then once you do lie, you'll end up just arguing about that instead. Its an ongoing cycle where no one gets their way in the end. Everyone just compromises.

Road rage is a great example of how "dangerous the argumentative culture can be". Shouting at each other for some silly reason creates risk for them, and for the other drivers around them. It also makes us waste valuable time that we could be using to actually make a difference. We should take in the idea of taking a point of view from three things instead of two. By doing this we wont get the constant one against the other. In the end, arguing is pointless, but everyone still engages in it.

Its Time to Ban Handguns

They should be banned. I don't like the idea that anyone can have a gun and use it at any time. It is so unsafe that I'm surprised more people aren't dead yet. Having a gun to go hunting with is okay or to just have to practice shooting is not that bad. Having a handgun that can be hidden and used at any moment is very dangerous. People that have them, the normal ones anyway, can "sometimes get drunk and shoot other good guys in a rage, or blow their own heads off". This happens way too much. Parents that have guns are the worst because their children can get their hands on a gun at any moment and kill themselves. It can happen to anyone.

They need to start making more laws against handguns. The National Rifle Association really needs to buckle down and stop expecting things to turn out a certain way, "like they always do". The murder rate would surely go down if less people owned guns. Less presidents would be assassinated, less banks robbed, and less innocent bystanders killed during a random shooting.

Leave No Child Inside

"Yes, there are risks outside our homes. But there are also risks in raising our children under virtual house arrest" (16). Kids these days are only interested in the newest video games like the Wii, Guitar Hero, and War video games. When I'm outside, I only see about ten kids outside; when I was a kid everyone in the neighborhood would be outside playing with each other in the wilderness. We need to get together like the retired biophysicist and start more outdoor-education programs to get kids back involved with nature. "No one among us wants to be a member of the last generation to pass on to its children the joy of playing outside in nature" (20). We also need to show kids that we ourselves, even when were older, like to go outside and be one with nature.

I think its great that parents found out that their hyperactive child found calmness when being outdoors. More people should try this method, and will most likely like the outcomes. "Young children learn through the sounds, scents, and seasons of the outdoors" (18). By going outside, they can learn this firsthand instead of reading how it smells and feels from a book, while sitting inside, on a couch!

In Defense of Talk Shows

From reading In Defense of Talk Shows, I could tell Ehrenreich is very passionate about how she feels about talk shows. Shes sick and tired, like everyone else, by how every talk show is the same and how they just want to exploit people. Then they all get scolded by the audience and have to talk to a therapist who knocks some sense into them. By the end of the episode, they break down into tears and swear to change. The only thing Ehrenreich likes about talk shows are their morals, which are the same: "Respect yourself, listen to others."

She also points out that, "they take lives bent out of shape by poverty and hold them up as entertainment exhibits." It's just like a commercial during the Montel show when they say the show is looking for "pregnant women who sell their bodies to make ends meet." They will do anything just to get a crazier story than before on their show. Whats even sadder is people do tell their secrets on national television, and for what?

I do like the idea of her new kind of talk show. It would feature new stories we've never heard of and it would be more interesting than hearing the same story over and over again. I would definitely watch it.

The Whole Horse

I was very confused by this whole story from all the vocab and how long he wrote about industrialism and agrarianism. I was bored and lost from the second paragraph. My mind completely shut out everything. After I read it again, I picked up on some sentences that have meaning. I like how agrarianiam "is interested-and forever fascinated-by questions leading toward the accomplishment of good work." I am always looking for a way to accomplish good work too. "Because the knowledge and know-how of good caretaking must be handed down to children, agrarians recognize the necessity of preserving the coherence of families and communities" (240). This is great and industrialism just takes away from this way of living.

Industrialism is a way of living where you always want something new and better than what you have now. Agrarians get satisfaction from the way they live so they dont need to keep going out and buying new things. "They do not wish to live by piracy, beggary, charity, or luck" (240).

Attack of the Killer Cats

Wow.....this is weird that someone would even think to go do a study on how many things a cat kills in a year. I myself have three cats and I've only seen about ten birds, four rats, and twenty lizards in the six years I've had them. From what the book says, it seems like my cats need to start killing more things (not that I want them too). Just a little funny story... My cat mickey caught a bird and it flew into our house, and eventually pooped on the wall because it was so scared!

Why were there kids remarks on the side of the story? It really ticked me off because I didn't want to read them, but because they were there, I had to. I just wanted to read straight through the story, but got distracted every time one popped up. Overall the story was very descriptive on how they did the research. It was gross how people stored the dead animals in the freezer. Imagine accidentally eating that for dinner!

Why We Crave Horror Movies

"I think we're all mentally ill," very true! Everyone has something wrong with them, but only to a certain extent. Also, everyone is afraid of at least one thing. My sister and I both have a "hysterical fear" of spiders, cockroaches, and watching scary movie previews. She cant watch the movie preview period, but I just cant watch them before I fall asleep because then I would dream about it. When it comes to actually watching the movie, I'm all for it. I love being scared enough to scream, so then afterwards I can laugh about it.

I love how King relates scary movies to rollercoasters. Many people are deathly afraid of rollercoasters, but not me. Just like the scary movies I love the thrill of getting butterflies in my stomach from riding rollercoasters. Another point that King makes is that he cant call a hallmark card poetry. When your a great writer like Stephen King, theres no way you can appreciate a little love card someone came up with in ten minutes.

Once More to the Lake

"You remember one thing, and that suddenly reminds you of another thing". I think we read this story just for that sentence. We are supposed to remember our own stories by hearing about someone elses memories. I have had a memory close to this one and it reminded me of the great times I had with my family. I too remember the cool early mornings and how some things seemed "motionless". This was a great story to get my mind thinking about memories for our next paper.

When I was reading the story it was making sense at first until he kept switching back and forth with past memories and making new ones. I had to stop once and figure out which memory he was talking about (old or new). White describes the things in his story very well though. He even added three adjectives to one noun, "small, soggy, icy garment"! I've only used two adjectives at the most because I thought it would be over doing it, but the way he put it made me see the little boy wince as he put on his shorts.

Remembering

Remembering is a great passage that really tells you step-by-step how to write a remembering essay. They tell you where to start by first reading someone elses essay and trying to remember your own experiences from theirs. Then you choose your own topic and start brainstorming from there. The author even gives me "collecting strategies" to figure out what my topic could be. I particularly like how they show dialogue from other writers so we can get a sense on how to "show our story" and not "tell it".

One of the problems I have with writing is trying to get a single point across. The author makes a point to tell us we should have a "single main idea or dominant impression". Thanks for the reminder! They also say we are "writing to share a part of our life with another person". The author goes on more about this when they tell us to make sure to listen to our readers feedback. Thats so we can see if our story is understandable and makes a point.

Walking

I think it is awesome that thoreau says "Wilderenss is the preservation of the world," (140). You cant always expect a man to be able to produce food, and new land to live on. On the other hand, you can rely on nature to be able to produce new trees, animals to devour and places to make a home. In order to recieve what you need, you have to trust the wilderenss to bring it to you. He notes this when he says, "I believe in the forest, and in the meadow, and in the night in which the corn grows," (140).

Thoreau also mentioned something about never giving up on what your doing and you will succeed. He talks about the man who always presses forward, never rests and some day he will be on new wilderness surrounded by raw materials of life. I have tried my best on everything I have done and even if the outcome is not as good as i expeted, I am still happy because I know I tried my best and good things will come in the future. You cant always anticipate for a great effect, but you can rely on new thngs happening in the future.

How to Mark a Book

Adler makes a great point when he says we not only have to "read between the lines", but "write between the lines" (20). I read for fun most of the time without marking in the books because their from the library. When I read my own books, I take in so much more information by marking in the margins and highlighting important sentences. Also when I read for fun I notice i can finish the book in no time; When I read for other reasons I know it takes me way longer because I get involved with the book by marking in it.

I found Adler's tips on how he marks in a book very useful. I used to only highlight and mark the pages, but he has given me more ways to grab insight from a book. I now use asterisks and circle key phrases and words. For me though, he does take it a little far to go and write his own index in the back and an outline at the front of the book. I don't think I would ever spend that much time on one book.

Shitty First Drafts

It is easy for me to relate to Shitty First Drafts when Lamott states, "Even after I've been doing this for years, panic would set in" (76). This is true for me because even though I've played volleyball for eight years, I still panic and get a little nervous before every game. I like how she describes everything she has to be before she can relax and really start writing. Having to eat, remember to breathe and even make a few phone calls. Everyone has to go through their own routines before settling down and getting to work .

Although I agree with Lamott, she contradicts herself quite a lot during the first pages. She goes to tell us that not one writer writes a great first draft, but is lying becasue the very next sentence she says, "All right, one of them does" (75). I definently cant relate to her about how she has the people in her head telling her what to do. My mind isnt even that creative to think up whole characters in my mind. Her telling us about these people shows us how creative she is and how she can write such talented pieces even with a shitty first draft.