Blog 75- letter to English 110 student

Dear English 110 student for Winter 2011,

I have definitely developed as a writer throughout this entire quarter. I feel that I was pushed way over my limit but I think that was a good thing because I learned how to become a better writer. At first when I came into this class and found out the theme the class was going to be structured around was science fiction I was really bummed out because I’m not a fan of science fiction. I have to admit that I did not like every show we watched in class; some were better than others. I would suggest that you go into this class with an open mind because that will definitely help you to succeed. After learning the theme, I had somewhat of an open mind and that kind of made writing papers for this class more difficult because my mind was not completely open. I feel as though if you have a completely open mind to everything that deals with science fiction in this class, you will be a successful writer. I also recommend that you go to the Writing Center. Those tutors really helped me out into thinking differently about subjects for my papers. I would also recommend that you schedule your appointments with the writing center a week in advance because they get booked up pretty fast. Good luck with this class and I hope that it pushes you just as it did for me.

With love,

English 110 student from Autumn 2010

Blog 74- science fiction

When we first started this English class I was not excited at all about how the topic of this class was going to be about science fiction; I was not a fan at all about science fiction. I thought it was kind of ridiculous that our class was going to be based on science fiction because for those of us who do not like science fiction, like me for instance, I thought that it was a bit unfair. I thought the English 110.01 was going to be just basic English as we learned throughout high school. I thought we would get to choose our topics and decide for ourselves what we wanted to learn about. I did not think that our papers were going to be based on science fiction television shows that we watched in and outside of class. I have to say that after watching Firefly, it is not that bad of a series. I definitely would not have ever chosen to watch it on my own but since it was required for this class I thought I should just give it a shot. So that’s why I decided to watch more episodes for my ARP paper. After watching more episodes, I decided that you could almost relate anything to this series if you really tried and worked hard at it. I have to say that I liked Caprica better than BSG. I thought that Caprica kept my attention better and that I could easily relate to that plot better than that of BSG.

Blog 73

Today’s going to be kind of a busy day! I have some studying to do but I think that I’m going to mostly revise my papers today and start studying for my Spanish final that’s on Monday. My roommates and I are also looking at some apartments today sort of as a little study break. I really hope we can finally find an apartment so I’m not homeless for next school year! The other two girls, that I’m living with next year, and I will be so excited if something works out with an apartment today because all of the other apartments we’ve looked at have not worked out, unfortunately. Then my one roommate and I are going to go ice-skating later with a bunch of our friends. It’s at the OSU ice rink so we thought that could be another little study break later tonight. It will be a fun study break because I haven’t been ice-skating in so long. I used to go in middle school to the Chiller on Friday nights for “Friday Night Melt Down”. Those were so fun because all of my friends went. After ice-skating, I’ll probably come home and study for a little bit more then my roommate and I are going to make hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie. I love watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate! I absolutely love this time of year! My mom told me that it’s supposed to snow a lot today/tonight. I hope it does because fresh snow is so pretty!

Blog 72

So today I woke up and ate some Reese’s Puffs for breakfast. I was running late to math so I hurried at ate my bowl of cereal. Then I went to my last math lecture of the quarter and was actually surprised that I understood most of what my lecturer talked about today. That math lecture was my last class of the quarter too! It’s weird to think that next week we don’t have classes, just finals. I still think that I have classes next week. It hasn’t hit me yet that I will be on winter break next Thursday. I’m kind of upset that I have a final on Thursday because I have one on Monday too. I wish I could move my math final to Monday but my lecturer said that there was absolutely no way that anyone could move there final, that we had to take the final on our scheduled exam times. I just wish that I didn’t have to wait around from my Spanish final on Monday to my math final on Thursday. So after math, I had to make my Big’s present for her because I’m giving it to her tonight! I decided to make her a tie blanket because it’s really easy to make and it’s really not that expensive. I got her a baby blue and white plaid pattern on one side and the other side is white. I wanted to get baby blue instead of white but Jo Ann’s didn’t have the right color of blue.

Blog 71- Caprica

The show we watched in class today was very odd. I was extremely confused because I thought it was supposed to be a mini series, but I guess it wasn’t? I’m not really sure. I was also confused because I didn’t know if this was like the second episode of a mini series or if it was a movie or what. I liked this show much better than BSG I’ll have to admit. I thought it was much more intriguing and kept my attention better than BSG. I did not like how Ben was the terrorist who blew up the subway thing. I really thought he was a good kid and would go with Zoe to “happiness”. I was kind of expecting him to do something though because when Zoe was talking to him the whole time on the bus he was sweating and had an expressionless face. But I was not expecting him to bomb the whole bus! That was really unexpected. I felt really bad for Zoe’s mom because I really feel she regretted slapping Zoe in the face. I really feel that she truly regretted doing that when Zoe passed away. I cannot believe her dad did that move when he was in the club with Lacy. I did not realize that he would do that. I thought that when he was hugging her that he would be happy to see her but obviously he wasn’t since he basically “killed” her with his flash drive. It was very odd.

Blog 70

So today was such a good day today! I got my final back final back from Food Science and Technology and I got an 86 so I got and 88 in the class which is a B+. Thank goodness because I am so excited because I have one final down now and only two to go. I only have to finish revising my ARP and CP papers for English and I think that I pretty much have my CP done. The ARP is going to be harder I feel like because it’s longer and a harder topic. So tonight I’ve been working on my paddle for my Big in Kappa. I think it’s going to be super cute. It’s the colors of Kappa; dark blue and light blue. But there are a lot of different dark and light blues. Then I put the K’s and the gamma on the paddle in a medium blue. I also put a fleur de lis on it with a big diamond on it. I also put a key and a “Big Sis” on it since the paddle is for my Big. I cannot wait to give it to her and see her face when she gets it. I also get a paddle from my Big. The paddle I made my Big is a little paddle since it’s from me (I’m her little). The paddle I will be getting is going to be a bigger paddle since she is my Big. I get to give it to her on Saturday and I’m so excited!

Blog 69

So today was a blah day because of the rain. I really wish it would be snow instead of rain because it’s almost December and December to me means rain not snow! I woke up this morning and had to study for my math quiz and my Food Science and Technology final. Then I went to my math recitation and took my quiz and left class after I finished my quiz and went to Oxley’s (the grab and go side). I studied for my final and ate lunch there. I’m still bitter that the “real” Oxley’s doesn’t take swipes during that time! So after lunch, I went to English and my group actually got out early so I came back to my apartment to study more for my final. I decided to take the final earlier than the scheduled time for today because I wanted to get it over with and I had something to do for Kappa today as well. I’m glad I did that because I would probably just be finishing up my final right now. After I went to Kappa, two of the girls in my pledge class and I went to Jo Ann’s to get some stuff for our paddles that we’re making for our Bigs. I’m so excited to make them because I haven’t done any arts and crafts related things for a while now! I also decided to get some fleece to make a tie blanket for my Big! I’m really excited to make everything!

Blog 68

I’m doing this blog early too because I have a super busy day tomorrow. Well today was a very long and tiring day. I didn’t go to bed until 5:30 this morning and woke up around 11 so I didn’t get that much sleep. Then I came home and just sat around the house for a while with my roommate and we watched TV and ate lunch. My dad had to bring everything that I took home for Thanksgiving break back to campus today because I went straight to the game with him yesterday so he asked if we wanted Cane’s and of course we said yes! Who turns down Cane’s? Then after lunch I went tanning and watched some of the Browns game and they actually won! It was a miracle too but still they won for once! Then after that I did some homework for my Food Science and Technology class. That class is just so boring. I mean I know it’s online but it is still so boring because the material doesn’t interest me at all. Because it’s not interesting, it takes me a while to read the lectures and take the quizzes but I got 100% on both of the quizzes that I took today! Oh and I have that final on Tuesday. I don’t really know how I’m going to do because there is SO much material to look over before then. I’m happy though to get this final out of the way and not have it next week.

Blog 67

I’m also doing Sunday’s blog early so I don’t forget because I could see myself forgetting to do my blog. Today is just going to be a day for catching up on doing homework and settling back into my apartment. My mom and I did so much laundry this weekend but I’m going to leave some back at my house since winter break is only 2 weeks away. I also have to study hardcore for my Food Science and Technology final because that final is on Tuesday. I hope it’s not hard because I have a high B in that class and I would really like to keep that grade or raise it. So I have a lot of studying to do for that class. Then I also have to work on revising my ARP and my CP papers. That will take a while since I’m really slow at getting new ideas for my papers. I also have a math quiz to study for. I have my last math quiz on Tuesday and I’m so happy that I’m almost done with that class! I’m so ready, in general, to be done with this quarter. It seemed like, this quarter that I had a ton of busy work to do. In math, I realized that the WebWork and paper homework were just not worth doing anymore because both were stressful and took way too much time for what they were worth towards my grade. Also, these blogs get tiring to do every single day. But I guess it’s worth doing every blog because we get extra credit.

Blog 66

I’m writing Saturday’s blog early so I don’t forget to do it because I probably would since it is Michigan game day. I cannot wait for the game! I’m really excited because I’m starting my day off early and going to football block probably around 7 am. Then the game’s at noon and it’ll be so much fun. It’s not supposed to rain and I really I hope it doesn’t rain because it’s been raining for the past day and a half, literally all day and hasn’t stopped. It would be absolutely miserable if it rained. I’m kind of glad the game’s at noon because we can party all afternoon and into the night when the game is done. I really hope we kill them because I can’t stand Michigan. And I’m getting sick from the Mirror Lake Jump so the Buckeyes better win! Although Mirror Lake Jump is always worth it since it’s tradition. I heard that the Buckeyes uniforms are pretty unattractive for this game. I guess the helmets are red and plain which means they’re probably going to look boring? Not to sure if I’m going to like the red helmets. I wasn’t a huge fan of last year’s Michigan game uniforms but that’s just my opinion. Although I did like the white helmets. I love white anything so I thought those helmets were cool. I think after I finish this blog I’m going to look up the uniforms that the Buckeyes are wearing and see if I like them or not.

Blog 65

Today I’m going shopping with my dad. My mom and brother are at my brother’s hockey tournament in Miami, Ohio. My dad and I aren’t going super early to shop because I don’t feel like waking up at the crack of dawn to go shopping! We’re getting more of my snowboarding stuff for Christmas because that’s what I’m getting from my parents is all of my snowboarding stuff. I’ll probably also go to the mall and look around just because I haven’t been shopping in a while. I think I’m also going out to lunch with some friends that I haven’t seen in a while, which will be nice. After lunch, my dad and I are going to start setting up our Christmas decorations in the inside of the house. My brother and dad set up the outside lights, I think, a weekend ago while I was still at school. I think my dad and I are going to set up our Christmas tree. I love doing the tree. We have a hodgepodge of ornaments and it’s nice to see all of the different ones every year. One of my favorite ornaments is school bus with a picture of me from maybe the second grade. It’s just so funny because my bangs are absolutely ridiculous. Another one of my favorites is a picture of my brother and me when we are probably four and two and we’re in our little Christmas outfits. I absolutely love Christmastime and cannot wait until it’s here and we’re on break!

Blog 64

Today is Thanksgiving, so Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I love this holiday because you get to stuff your face and not really feel bad about it. I also like it because we always go to my mom’s side of the family for Thanksgiving and it’s a big party. My mom is the youngest of nine so I literally have 25 cousins. It’s crazy but so fun because there’s always something to do and you always have someone to talk to. My one aunt always makes the turkey and it is SO good. She makes her own homemade gravy too, which is the best. My other aunt makes the best mashed potatoes. I don’t really want to know how much butter is in them but they are just SO good. Then my other aunt makes this cheesy broccoli rice casserole. That’s also really good because I love cheese, rice and broccoli so it’s even better when it’s all mixed together. That same aunt also makes the dessert “dirt”. I always look forward to that because it’s such a good dessert and it’s fun for the little cousins because it really looks like dirt. We also watch a lot of football in my Grandma’s family room because there are so many games on throughout the day on Thanksgiving. I really like watching football and it’s even better with all of my cousins and uncles and my brother and dad. Today’s games were good and entertaining. I kind of wish the Cowboys would have won though.

Blog 63

So today I only had one class and it was my math lecture. It wasn’t too bad although this final is going to be pretty rough and I’m really not looking forward to that final. It’s also on the last possible day of finals so that makes it even worse. After class, I had to help my roommate find her phone because she left it with our friends at Phi Psi. She didn’t want to take it with her to the Mirror Lake Jump because she didn’t have a bag and it probably would’ve gotten ruined. Also, she’s not covered for any more water damaged phones because when we first moved into our apartment and we were cleaning our house, her phone fell in a bucket of dirty water. We finally got connected with the guy who had her phone so she went to go pick it up then left straight for her house in Cincinnati. My mom helped me pack up some things from my apartment. We got all of my dirty laundry and towels from my roommate and my bathroom. I was excited when my mom came because I knew I was going to have a nice little break. Although, it seems that homework never ends because I have to do these blogs and I have to do a couple quizzes for my online class. I seriously cannot wait for winter break where I will have absolutely no schoolwork to do whatsoever. Two more weeks and we are done!

Blog 62

Today in class BSG felt like it just dragged on! I thought this segment was a lot more interesting than the one we saw the other day in class. I thought it was much more action packed although some parts still kind of bored me and made me not want to pay attention. I liked how the writers/creators also made the main characters survive the Cylons outburst of bombs. Having the main characters survive something devastating like that always makes me like the show more. However I didn’t necessarily like the ending. At first I thought that the main commander was really going to take them to earth. But when he was talking to the president after he made his big speech to the survivors he said that he didn’t know how to get to earth. This made me angry because I really thought that they were going to live and survive. I left class a little bit before the show was done and so I don’t exactly know how it ended. I hope that it ended up that they figured out how to get to earth and will live amongst other humans. Other than that I thought, overall, that they show was very dragged out. I thought the writers/creators could’ve had the same story line and plot and made the actual show a lot shorter. That might’ve been a better plan because there were many parts where I thought this show was just so boring and I didn’t really pay attention.

Blog 61

So today was just a blah day. Nothing really happened. I went to math lecture this morning and I had absolutely no idea what my professor taught us today. I really just go to lecture to hear her speak and write down the notes so hopefully it can just be imbedded in my mind. Then I had to run to the bank after class and I was going to go tanning but my package was up, which was a bummer because I didn’t have time to run back to the bank before my next class. So I just went to my Spanish class early and re-read the chapter in our book that we had to read for today. The book is very confusing and a lot of the students in my class think it is too. And Spanish took forever today. It seems like ever since we started that book, that class just drags on because before when we weren’t reading the book, the two hours and 18 minutes went by kind of fast. So after tanning I went back to the bank and got money for another tanning package. Then I went tanning and it felt so good. Tanning makes me feel better; especially since summer’s my favorite season. I live outside in the summer. I love to lay out by the pool and just bake. Today I also felt like an idiot because I wore my rain boots all day because weather.com said it was going to rain. Welp, no rain came and I looked like an idiot wearing my rain boots.

Blog 60

Whew am I glad those Buckeyes pulled off that win! That was WAY too close for comfort in my opinion. Yesterday my plans with friends to watch the game fell through because my one friend wasn’t feeling too good, so I decided to call and see what my dad and brother were doing. They were just going to watch the game at home, so I invited them to come down here and watch it or to pick me up and we could go back to our house in Powell to watch it. They decided to stay down here and we went to Eddie George’s first, but it was way too crowded so we decided to go to McFadden’s. It had a nice crowd and we could get a table so we stayed there. I actually really liked their food too. I got wings and fries and both were excellent. After the game, my dad asked my brother and I if we wanted to go to the men’s basketball game since they were playing at home. So we went and we got club level seats and we saw our really good family friends because they have club level seats too. I didn’t get student tickets to the basketball games because I didn’t last year and I thought I would just buy a couple games this year. I’m really mad I didn’t get them because the Buckeyes are going to be really good this year from the looks of last night’s game.

Blog 59

Last night was very fun. My best friends from high school came to visit me. One of my best friends goes to OU so she is on Winter Break right now and she decided it would be fun to come visit me this weekend. The other best friend goes to BG and she’s on Thanksgiving Break right now so she thought she would come with my other best friend to visit me. It was nice to see them and hang out with them because I haven’t hung out with them in a long time. We went all over the place last night. I live on W. 10th which means that I live very far from all of the parties, etc. We were all the way on E. 17th in between Summit and Indianola at my guy’s fraternity waiting for the cab that my roommate called to come pick us up. The cab company she called was extremely inefficient. They told my roommate that they would be there in a half hour and to wait outside because they wouldn’t call us. That was the first red flag because cabs should always call you when they get to where you are. So we went outside after 25 minutes and waited then for another 45 minutes. It was FREEZING outside needless to say and the cab was still not there. I called and the lady said the cab driver wasn’t sure if he wanted to “pick up” our call. I was extremely angry.

Blog 58

I’m doing Friday’s blog early because I have a really busy day tomorrow! I have the SLRPE test at 9-11am. I’m so nervous because I have to pass this proficiency type test in order to take Spanish 401. I really hope I do well because I want to be able to take Spanish next quarter. After the test, I have math lecture from 11:30-12:18pm. I really don’t want to go to math lecture because it’s so boring but I’m the type of student that has to hear the professor talk about the material while I write the notes. After math I might go tanning. I’m not really sure about that yet. Then at 1pm, I’m meeting my friend, who was in my Chem 121 lecture last year, at the RPAC for lunch. I haven’t seen her since sometime spring quarter, so it’ll be nice to see her and catch up with her! After lunch, I’m probably going to come home and take a nap because I’m going to be super tired. I’ll also probably do some homework. After that I’m going to shower and get ready because all of the girls in my pledge class are going to Lemongrass for dinner! I’m really excited because I’ve heard it’s a really good restaurant and I’ve never been there. After dinner, one of my best friends from high school is coming to visit me! I’m so excited because I haven’t seen her in a while and I really miss her!

Blog 57

I thought BSG was going to be totally weird and that I was going to be bored the whole class. Well, I was kind of bored but the show was actually mildly entertaining. I still don’t necessarily like the fact that it’s another sci-fi show. I didn’t really understand the beginning of the show. Did that robot woman kill that commander? I didn’t really understand the point of the beginning. And how did she meet up with that doctor guy? She said that he was the one that helped her to bomb the whole planet but how did she randomly meet him? I did like the doctor’s house. I love houses with walls that are all windows. Also, when the bomb came near his house, how did the doctor not die? Because he was shown running to the government plane that had to make an emergency landing on the planet. That really confused me because I thought when that bomb hit near, everyone died? I was really confused during this part. I also didn’t understand the relationship between the son, Lee, and the head commander. I know, from the conversation that the two had, that Lee’s brother died but why was he being so mean to his dad? I mean I know he lost a brother, but the dad lost a son too. And what Lee and the girl in the jail cell have to do with each other. She seemed to really be fond of him when he came to visit her in the cell, then out of nowhere, she flipped a switch and was yelling at him.

Blog 56

I just came back from Sloopy’s Diner at the Union with my roommate. I had never been there for dinner before; I’ve just always gone in and gotten a piece of pie to go. My friend, Drew, from Phi Psi facebook chatted me last night and we talked for a while and he said that he had work tomorrow. I always forget where he works; he’s told me probably ten times where he works too. But anyways, he works at Sloopy’s and he told me to come today! So I said that I would and bring my roommate because she knows him too. We got to the Union a little before he started to work so we waited in the lobby. It was packed and there were literally no places for us to sit so we said on the bricks by the fireplace. The fireplace felt amazing because it’s absolutely freezing outside! My roommate and I talked for a little bit until Drew started working. We went into Sloopy’s and asked to be seated in Drew’s section. He was excited that we actually came! It’s always nice having a friend be your waiter because you can talk to them more and be more interactive. The food was excellent there! It’s not like the other campus dining places; it’s like eating at an actual restaurant. I got a really good grilled chicken sandwich and some mashed potatoes and gravy. So I highly recommend going there if you have swipes to burn because it has good food and is a cool environment.

Blog 55

This week is Big/Little week at Kappa! I have eleven girls in my pledge class and we don’t know who are Bigs are until Thursday. So we get gifts and clues throughout the week as to who our Big is. I’m super excited because at Chapter today we already got some presents! And my note from my Big said to get all of my homework done for tomorrow night so that’s why I’m writing this blog now. I’m so excited to get more clues throughout the week! This is such an exciting time because I love getting presents and surprises like this. It makes me so happy. And I love getting new Kappa stuff! Can’t have too much of that. Tonight, from my Big, I got a KKG picture frame, a KKG bottle opener key ring thing, a KKG notebook and some KKG post-it notes. I am in love with the frame because it’s just so cute. I can’t wait to put a picture of my Big and me in it because I love pictures and I have so many up in my room and in frames throughout my room. I’m really curious as to what’s going to go on this week. Our New Member Chair said she didn’t want to ruin anything so she didn’t really tell us anything, other than to get ready to be surprised! Some other older girls in Kappa gave us some good advice: to get our homework done as soon as possible. I’m really glad they told my pledge class because they said they wish they would’ve known to do that!

Blog 54

I’m really jealous of my best friend that goes to OU. She has finals this week and is done for the quarter on Thursday! Although I feel like Autumn Quarter has flown by it would still be nice to be done on Thursday. I just had my math midterm for crying out loud and she’s in finals week and is almost done! I can’t wait until this week is over and then next week is Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving. I love the food and I like to see my family and be with my friends that are also home from different schools. I haven’t seen some of my friends since they left for school back in August. And that really makes me depressed! I’m very excited for a little break because it is much needed at this point. I’m tried of school at the moment and I’m ready for a change in my classes. I just want a change of pace. I’m tired of taking math because honestly I don’t really know how in my future knowing the arctan of something is going to help me. That’s why some GEC’s are frustrating because they don’t necessarily pertain to what you’re majoring in. I’d really like to start getting into more classes for my major but that probably won’t happen until the spring since I switched majors. I’m getting excited though for those changes because then I won’t be taking “busy-work” classes and I’ll maybe actually be interested in the material that is being taught.

Blog 53

I have a busy day today. I just woke up and I didn’t get a very good sleep last night. My roommate and I stayed in again since we were so exhausted from going out for the past couple of days. We watched 27 Dresses because she had never seen that movie before and we were in the mood for a good chick flick. Our movie was over around midnight and we would’ve gotten a great night sleep, sleeping from midnight to 11am; however, the people next door were blaring music. We could hear every single word and the bass was shaking the bed. It was absolutely ridiculous. Normally I wouldn’t have cared because I love loud music and partying like that; however, when I plan to stay in and get a good night’s sleep that music was just a tad bit annoying. So anyway, about my day today, I have an Alumni Tea Party for my sorority from 12:45-2pm. I really don’t know what’s going to go on today because I’ve never been to an Alumni Tea Party. I bet it will be fun though. After the Tea Party, I have to study my butt off. I have my last 152 midterm tomorrow and I want to do well on it! Hopefully it goes well because I can’t wait to be done with midterms in that class! Then I have some Spanish homework and I have to comment more for these blogs. I also have to work on my ARP revision.

Blog 52

I’m doing Saturday’s blog early so I don’t forget to do it! I’m excited there’s a Buckeye game tomorrow because it was weird last weekend not having a football game. I’m excited for tomorrow because we have football block again with Phi Psi and I really missed it last weekend. It’s so much fun to tailgate and be with friends before the games. And I forgot that College Gameday is going to be here tomorrow too! I feel that College Gameday gets the fans and crowd even more into the game. Even though Penn State isn’t ranked, it’s still going to be a big game because we’re still in the race for a Big Ten title. So playing Penn State is always a big game. I hope it’s nice tomorrow because it’s been extremely nice all week; however, I heard that it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. I really hope it doesn’t rain because I don’t like standing in the stands in the rain. To me, that’s just no fun. After the game, I’ll probably get something to eat for dinner and come home and take a nap. I think it’ll be nice to relax before going out because tomorrow my roommates and I have an 80’s party to go to. I think that party will be fun because themed parties are always great. I’m not sure what I’m going to wear yet. I think I’m going to see if anyone in Kappa has some colorful tights that I can wear.

Blog 51

Last night I didn’t really feel like going out. I was planning on going out but my body was just so exhausted and I thought it would be smart to just stay in a get rested for the weekend. So I did some homework and watched a movie on E!. I ate waffles for dinner because I really didn’t feel like having such a big dinner last night. Then my roommate came home from work and she got ready. While she was getting ready I started to get hungry and I really don’t have any idea why. But while my roommate was getting ready, I decided to go make a grilled cheese. I hadn’t had a grilled cheese in a while so it definitely fulfilled and satisfied my hunger! While eating my grilled cheese, I was in my roommate’s room while she was getting ready and I watched “George Lopez”. That show is so funny and I always watch it when it’s on late at night. It was always on Nick-at-Nite late during the summer and when I couldn’t fall asleep. George Lopez is just so funny; he’s sarcastic and witty. I also like his late night talk show. So after my roommate was done getting ready, she and my other roommate went downtown. I just laid in my bed and watched some TV and went on the computer for a little bit. It was nice to finally just relax and fall asleep because I was so tired.

Blog 50

I am so beyond frustrated with looking for apartments next year. It is always difficult to find something that works for everyone and has the right amount of bedrooms and bathrooms. Going door-to-door is also gets kind of embarrassing because you have to knock on this random person’s door and then ask if they are living there next year. If they say no, they usually look at you weird and shut the door. If they say yes, sometimes it gets extremely awkward because you have to ask them questions like how many bedrooms and bathrooms does this apartment have. You also want them to show you around since you might be living there next year. It’s kind of weird because you don’t want to invite yourself in, but at the same time you need to look at that specific apartment because you could be living there next year so you want to check everything out. This is such a stressful time because currently my roommates and I are “homeless” for next year because we don’t want to live in the apartment that we have now. I just want to find out where I’m living and be done with this situation. I hate not knowing things like this because on top of school stressing me out, I now have apartment searching added to my stress level. I can’t wait to figure this apartment situation out and just know that I have a place to live for next school year!

Blog 49

So I’m writing for this blog even though I’m so busy at the moment trying to get ready for my TG tonight! I don’t really know what to write about so I guess I’ll just recap my day. I woke up and ate pop tarts with my guy and then I walked to math class with his two friends, who are also my friends. Math was super boring today, as usual and it was really hard to pay attention today because it was so boring! So I left math a little early because I had to go back to my apartment and switch some books out of my backpack. Then I had to go to the bank to deposit a check and then I went tanning because I was getting kind of on the pale side resembling Casper a little bit. So after tanning I had to go back to my apartment because I forgot something for Spanish class. Then I made myself a turkey and cheese sandwich to eat on the way to Spanish class. While walking to Spanish, I discovered there are so many sidewalks that are closed that are close to my apartment because they are redoing them so I had to maneuver around those and I finally made my way to 11th to get to College. Spanish class seemed like it went on forever today, which it usually doesn’t. Then after Spanish I had to go to the writing center to get help on my ARP. Hopefully I get a better grade than before!

Blog 48

Today was just an okay day. I woke up around 9 am and studied for my Food Science and Technology midterm and my math quiz that I had today. I ate Reese’s Puffs for breakfast with my roommates and then went back to studying for my quiz and midterm. After some more studying, I had to go to my math tutor. I studied for my upcoming midterm with him. My third and final midterm for math is this Monday and it is going to be so hard. I’m so glad it’s the last midterm though because I’m really ready for this class to be over because I cannot stand this class. After my math recitation and English class, I came home and ate dinner with my roommate. We made four cheese Rice-A-Roni and dinosaur chicken nuggets. Mmmm it was delicious. After dinner, I shut myself in my room and studied for my midterm. So I just checked my grades for my math quiz and my Food Science and Technology midterm and I did really well on both! I got a 90% on my math quiz and I got an 84% on my Food Science and Technology midterm! YAY I’m so excited. I wanted to go tanning but the tanning salon where I go closes after the last tan, which is at 8:30. So now I think I’m going to go to the gym and burn off some of the stress that I had earlier today and do some other homework after I get back from the gym.

Blog 47

So today I am supposed to schedule at 11:45 for Winter ’11 so I’m not going to my math lecture because my math lecture is from 11:30-12:18 and I really don’t get any service on my laptop throughout the halls at Ohio State University. So I didn’t want to take the chance of not getting a Wi-Fi signal and not be able to schedule my classes. So I think I’ll just get the notes from someone in my lecture class and I’ll be good to go! I’m nervous that my classes are all going to be closed since I’m scheduling today. Most people that I’ve talked too have already scheduled. And then I’m also nervous about my Spanish class because I have to schedule it but if I don’t pass the SLRPE test on the 19th, then I won’t be able to take Spanish 401. AH so many things to be nervous about in the next couple weeks. Hopefully everything works out! So after I schedule, I have to go to Spanish and study my butt off for my Food Science and Technology midterm tomorrow. I also have to study for my math quiz tomorrow because I need to do decent on it so I can have a good quiz average. School just never seems to slow down! However, autumn quarter has flown by! It crazy to me that it’s almost Thanksgiving and then two weeks after Thanksgiving we’re finally on winter break! I honestly can’t wait for winter break.

Blog 46

I literally did NOTHING last night. It was a Saturday night and you would think I would’ve gone out but I didn’t because I went out Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so I guess I just didn’t feel like going out again? I don’t really know. So my roommate and I came home last night from buying some new snowboarding stuff and took more than a two hour nap! We are so lazy. I didn’t do any homework yesterday, well except write my blog. But other than that, I did ZERO homework! That was probably not a good decision but oh well, can’t do anything about it now. So after our nap, we were planning on getting ready and going out but we really just didn’t feel like getting out of my warm bed. So we talked for a little bit and decided we were just going to stay in and watch TV or a movie. Well, there weren’t any good movies on TV as I was scrolling through the channels until I came across the Oxygen channel. The end of The Wedding Planner was on and we decided to watch that because I have it on DVD. So we changed the channel because we didn’t want to see the ending and got the DVD and watched it. I love that movie and I hadn’t seen it in a while so I’m glad that we ended up just having a chill night and watched a great chick flick! But now I’m going to do other homework so bye!

Blog 45

So I’m picking up a new hobby: snowboarding. My roommate got me hooked on it last year when I went with her and a bunch of her friends and I absolutely love it! I was so active in high school playing Varsity softball and field hockey so not being active during the school year in college makes me kind of feel bad about myself. Snowboarding is actually really intense. I fell so much last year when I went for my first ride. I used muscles in my legs that I never thought I had! I was so sore the next couple days that I had a hard time sitting down in class and getting up out of my chair. HAHA. Also getting into my lofted bed last year in the dorms was a pain in my butt. So anyways, today my roommate and our friends went to the Capital Rail Jam today down at the LC. We just watched people free ride and tonight’s the actual competition but we decided we didn’t want to stay that long and we wanted to go buy things for snowboarding season. I have nothing for snowboarding so I have to get EVERYTHING. Today after the Rail Jam, my roommate and I went to Aspen Ski and Board on Polaris and I got my pants, goggles, and hat. I’m so pumped because the pants are my favorite color, which is Tiffany blue. And my goggles are hot pink and my hat’s black with hot pink and the Tiffany blue speckles in it. I’m so pumped!

Blog 44

Title: Our Materialistic World

“But Daddy! I really want the black BMW Z4 convertible, not the white BMW X5 SUV. SUV’s are ugly and ‘mom cars’,” said the almost 16-year-old as she made a huge scene in the car dealership by huffing and puffing and stomping her feet. Needless to say, her father was less than happy with his daughter; however, with the fakest smile, he politely said to the car salesman, “We’ll just stop by another day.” The daughter stormed out of the dealership, swearing loudly, making an even bigger scene than before. Here is a little taste of a similar situation that occurred on one of MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen episodes. (You might have to copy and paste this link into a webpage). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90HhZ-pyC2Y.

Blog 43

I’m excited because it’s almost the weekend! I only have one class tomorrow and it’s math lecture so I almost always go out on Thursday nights. I’m excited because last Thursday I wasn’t able to go out because I had a math midterm on Friday morning and tomorrow I don’t have a midterm! It’s just lecture which will be nice to just sit and take notes and not really have to pay attention. I’m also just excited for this weekend in general. I’m going downtown with my friends tonight. Then I have my fall date party with my sorority tomorrow at the Vault, which is also downtown. I’m excited to get dressed up because I miss going to homecomings and proms so fall date parties are like going to a mini homecoming! I’m not really sure what I’m going to do for Saturday. There’s no Buckeye football game which means no football block with Phi Psi, which makes me sad. I might just relax on Saturday and catch up on some sleep. I need sleep because lately I’ve been going to bed at like 12:30 or 1 am, which is probably not the best idea I’ve ever had. I just do homework when I get home from class and I want to relax and have a little “me” time and I have to make dinner or go to dinner then I do more homework and go tanning and basically I have a ton of things to do when I get home from class that I just lose track of time.

Blog 42

So yesterday my roommate’s and I went grocery shopping yesterday and I saw things that literally made my day! I saw all of these Christmas food’s that are coming out now! Christmas cookies, sprinkles, doughnuts, etc. It made me so excited to see those because Christmas time is my FAVORITE time of the year. I don’t think people understand how obsessed I am with this time of year. I love baking Christmas cookies and making gingerbread houses. I love the smell of all of the cookies when my mom or nana bakes them on Christmas Eve or morning. I love Christmas music. I start listening to it right around this week every time of year. I have two Christmas playlists on my iTunes. My favorite Christmas album is Christina Aguilera’s. She has an amazing voice and because I love Christmas so much, it makes the album that much better. One of my favorite things to do around Christmas time is to go to the Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo. I love getting bundled up in a scarf, hat and mittens and going around the zoo with a mug of hot chocolate and looking at all of the pretty lights. I forget how many it is said to be up at the zoo, but there have to be millions of lights. I’m also the biggest kid in the world and like to ride the merry-go-round during the Wildlights. I’m so obsessed with Christmas that I think my friends and family get annoyed with me!

Blog 41

I woke up this morning and decided to go on a cleaning rampage. I cleaned my roommate’s and my bathroom literally from head to toe (if you can say that about a bathroom HAHA). It was kind of gross since campus is so dusty, our bathroom collects dust in the weirdest places. The top of the toilet collects the most. Ew. I can’t stand dust. Then I vacuumed the floor of our bathroom and Swiffered the floor to make it squeaky clean. And the grossest part about cleaning the bathroom, at least I think, is cleaning the toilet. I put on these massive yellow cleaning gloves because the toilet freaks me out. But I sucked it up and cleaned it! Then after that I called my Dad just to say hi and talked to him about Spring Break. My roommate and I have been looking at flights and hotel prices for Panama City, but everything would cost us at least a grand and we really don’t want to spend that much on our sophomore year Spring Break. So we looked into some other options. Her one friend is a big snowboarder and he is being represented at this “Collegefest 2011” in Mont Tremblant Quebec, Canada. Not exactly what I was thinking about doing for Spring Break (my Dad was like “Maria, you know Canada’s not going to be warm!”) but my roommate and I want to do something different every Spring Break during our college years so we thought why not!

Blog 40

I am currently watching the Jersey Shore: Reunion. I missed the live showing of the show last Thursday because I had to study for my math midterm, finish writing my ARP, and also study for my Spanish oral exam. So needless to say, I wasn’t able to watch it last week because school owned my life. But anyways, I’m absolutely obsessed with this show. I hope MTV keeps up with new more new seasons because this show is absolutely ridiculous. I think it’s funny how about a couple years ago these people were just regular people living in New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Now, they are basically celebrities. It was amazing to me how many people were either Snooki, The Situation or Pauly D for Halloween this year. All of the costumes were different but you could still tell who it was they were from Jersey Shore. And I was on the Facebook the other day and they have the ads on the side of the webpage. I normally don’t look at those ads but something caught my eye and I had to do a double take. I saw The Situation on one of the ads and I thought to myself, “No way that can’t be him”. Well it definitely was. Apparently, according to the ad, he now has a diet plan or diet pill out. And apparently The Situation has his own iPhone app? I think that’s kind of funny. It is just insane the amount of publicity these people get now! I mean I would love it too if I was in that situation, not going to lie.

Blog 39

Trick-or-Treat is on Sunday for my neighborhood at home in Powell. I’m going to stay in Powell for a little bit on Sunday because my roommate and I will be driving back from OU and I just want some down time with my family when I get back from OU. I’m excited to pass out candy to the little ones that come to my front door. I have never really passed out candy before because I’ve always been the one Trick-or-Treating or at a Halloween party or something else that enables me from passing it out. I’m also excited to see all of the little kids costumes. I remember when I was little, I loved dressing up and going door-to-door to get my candy. I would always race my friends up to the front door. I also remember that Trick-or-Treating always became a tiring task. I would be so excited for about the first 10 or 15 houses, then I would just crash and burn. Then I would get excited again when we got home and poured out our pillowcases or pails full of candy. My favorite candy is Reese’s and I would always want to trade the candy that I didn’t like for those. Everyone knew that Reese’s were my favorite so sometimes they would just give me them since they are my favorite. I’m also excited to see the little boys next door because I babysit them over the summer and I haven’t seen them since the last day I babysat them! They are the cutest four and two-year-olds you will ever see and they always have the coolest costumes for Halloween!

Blog 38

I’m finally going to see my best friends ever tomorrow! I’m so excited because I get to see them and I’ll be down at OU celebrating Halloween! Nothing beats that. I’m going to be a black cat. I know it’s so original but I thought it would be nice to just put together a costume and buy accessories rather than a whole costume. So I just bought black cat ears and some black makeup to draw my nose and my whiskers. I’m mad thought that it’s going to be chilly. I guess the high tomorrow night is 40 degrees! Why couldn’t it have been like last weekend? It was perfect weather last weekend. But of course, it has to get cold when I’m going to be in a strapless dress! I’m also excited to see my friends because my one friend that goes to OU lives in her sorority house and I haven’t seen it yet. I’ve only seen pictures of her room but I can’t wait to actually see it in person. It’s going to be so crazy down there. My friend told me that there are going to be 50,000 policemen down there for the weekend. She said that the police horses have been out since Wednesday this week. 50,000 policemen is such a crazy number! That’s almost about how many people that attend Ohio State University! That many people for just one weekend. I still can’t get my head wrapped around that. So excited to actually go out when we’re all done getting ready!

Blog 37

So today has been a busy yet very productive day! I woke up around 9 and studied math until I had my exam at 11:30. I think I did pretty well. I was confused on one of the problems but hopefully I’ll get some credit for writing things down. After my exam, I came home and studied for my Spanish oral exam that I had at 1:30. From my teacher’s comments and reactions to what I was saying it seems like I did well. My exam was in Hagerty Hall so I decided to use some of my commuter swipes and go to the Union for lunch. I ate my lunch in Woody’s. I forgot how neat that place was! So after my lunch, I came back to my apartment and talked with my roommate for a little bit because I was just so done with doing schoolwork. Well, that didn’t last long because I’m now writing my blogs for the weekend because last weekend I was kind of forgetful! I can’t wait until I have my ARP paper turned in and then it will finally be the weekend and I can go celebrate! This seriously has been the week from hell. I’ve had so many exams and papers due, it’s not even funny. So tonight for Halloween, my roommates and I are being risky business. I can’t wait to get dressed up and roam around campus. I love getting dressed up for Halloween and seeing what other people are going to be.

Blog 36

“But Daddy! I really want the black BMW convertible, not the white SUV. SUV’s are ugly and ‘mom cars’,” said the almost 16-year-old as she made a huge scene in the car dealership by huffing and puffing and stomping her feet. Needless to say, her father was less than happy with his daughter; however, with the fakest smile, he politely said to the car salesman, “We’ll just stop by another day.” The daughter stormed out of the dealership, swearing loudly, making an even bigger scene than before. Here is a little taste of a similar situation that occurred on one of MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen episodes. (You might have to copy and paste this link into a webpage). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90HhZ-pyC2Y. Ridiculous right? Here is a girl who is getting a brand new Lexus convertible for her 16th birthday. Let me repeat. HER 16th BIRTHDAY! Most people her age get hand-me-down cars; some don’t even get cars when the turn 16, let alone a brand new Lexus convertible. What is completely idiotic about this situation is that the mother of this moronic child just sits back and listens to her daughter bitch about how she “completely ruined” her birthday. Wah wah wah. Imagine if you were that mother dealing with a child like that. I can tell you that I would never let my child embarrass me like that in front of people. I can also tell you that I probably will not be a parent that purchases a brand new Lexus for my daughter on her 16th birthday.

Back to school shopping is one of my favorite times to go shopping with my mother. Yes, I still get giddy when I buy school supplies, however, the back to school shopping I’m talking about is for new clothes. I like “collecting” certain things for my wardrobe. One of the items I collect are shoes, the other are jeans. However, I’m kind of picky when it comes to those two items. I don’t want to sound like a brat, like the girl in the youtube video I posted for my other paragraph, but I like to buy designer jeans and shoes. However, unlike the brat, I work for my things. Yes, my parents will buy me some things, but things that they think are too pricey or ridiculous because I don’t need it, I buy for myself. I’ve learned over the years, that Mommy and Daddy will not be buying me things forever. However, as I wrote in my other paragraph, I don’t think some children, like the brat, realize how lucky they are. Some people get cut off from their parents right when they graduate from high school, others have parents that help them out and pay for college and other nice things. I’m very lucky that my parents are paying for my college, etc, but I can tell you I would never act like the brat. I always take into account that my parents a so generous to me, and I never really take any of the things they do for me, for granted.

Blog 35

For my two Common Place articles, I read “Comfort Food” by Morgan Glaze and “Classes, Finals, Friends, and Cancer: The Life of Future College Students” by Shelby Veppert. I liked both of these papers; however, I really liked “Comfort Food”. I can easily relate to what Morgan’s friend went through. I think most girls can! There are some days where I don’t always feel pretty or I’m just down on myself and turn to my two favorite men in the world: Ben and Jerry. Yes, my favorite kind of ice cream is Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked. If you have never tried it, I highly recommend going to a grocery store near you and purchase a pint of it. I can eat almost a whole pint in one setting, but on to talking about Morgan’s paper. I can’t believe all of those statistics she mentioned in here paper and how affective they were. I think it’s amazing how many people get plastic surgery because it will “make them feel better about themselves”. I understand, like Morgan said, if you have DD boobs and want a reduction because they can really put a strain on your back. However, I don’t understand, and think it’s absurd, that people get plastic surgery to make themselves comparable to others, mostly celebrities. I think Heidi Montag is a disgrace. How can one person get 10 different procedures in one setting is beyond me. And I don’t even think she looks that pretty after all of those plastic surgeries; she looks worse! I think it’s horrible that some girls have to feel that way about themselves.

Blog 34

So in class today I thought that working in groups was very helpful when it came to picking my topic for my Commonplace paper. I had some really good ideas about different things about greed, others about ideas or things from the episode that I’m writing my Analytical Research Paper or just other ideas bouncing off of the episode. After talking with Grace, while in the groups of two, I narrowed what I want to write my paper on down to two of my ideas. I either want to write a story about being put into other people’s shoes or a satire the importance of money in today’s society. I think it would be interesting to write about being put into other people’s shoes. I’ve always wondered, myself, what it would be like to walk a day in someone else’s shoes. I think it would be neat to “be” someone else for a day and discover what they do because everyone’s life is unique and different. I also think it would be neat to do a satire on the importance of money in today’s society. I was co-editor of my yearbook for two years in high school so I had to write all different kinds of writings for the yearbook. A satire on the importance of money would be neat because I was thinking about poking fun at Hollywood, Bel Air, New York City, 90210, etc. I was thinking about writing about plastic surgery and what people “buy” in order to make themselves look “good”.

Blog 33

This week is going to be a super busy week that is why I’m doing this blog today a day early! I will be writing my English paper this whole week, hoping that I can write a paper that is well written! I have a Spanish test on Monday and Chapter Monday night. Then on Tuesday I have a math quiz and paper homework due. Tuesday night I’m getting dinner with one of my best guy friends that I haven’t seen in a while. At 8pm on Tuesday, I have to be at the Kappa house for the first formal rush event. I have no idea how long I’ll have to be at the house for! On Wednesday, WebWork 4 for math is due. I can’t stand WebWork. It’s annoying to work out all of the problems on paper then have to insert the answers on the computer. And most of the times, I have the correct answers; I just get confused as to how to enter them into the computer. Thursday I have my regular classes then I will be studying my butt of for my math midterm, which takes place on Friday morning. Friday morning I will take my midterm and be done for the week! Once I am done I am going to celebrate like crazy because it’s Halloween weekend. I’m staying at OSU on Friday night then going to OU for the craziness of Halloween! I’m so excited for this week to be done and hopefully I do well on all of my assignments.

Blog 32

My mom’s 50th birthday party was last night. She actually turns 50 today! Since turning 50 is kind of a big deal, my dad wanted to throw her a huge surprise party this past summer over July 4th weekend so that all of our family, friends and people from work could come. My dad and I had started planning the surprise party last May. I bought all of these cute “Over the Hill” decorations and balloons and designed the invitation and printed it on cute balloon-decorated paper. My dad went to Kinko’s and printed out about 150 invitations. He mailed them all out and we thought this party was really going to be such a nice surprise for my mom. Well, when I came home for the summer from school, my mom got really sick. My mom never gets sick; she’s a really tough old dog. So on the third day of calling off sick from work my dad decided to take her to the emergency room. Turns out my mom had to get an emergency appendectomy. Our family friend is and ex-ER doctor and he said that a normal appendix is the size of a pinkie finger and my mom’s was 10 inches long that’s how infected it was! I didn’t really know how serious her condition was; she had to take off work for three months for healing time so obviously we had to cancel the party. So last night, we obviously didn’t have 200 people at our house, we had around 75, but we had a nice party for my mom.

Blog 31

So today was the Buckeye game. I was excited because my cousin, from Youngstown, came to visit this weekend, so I got her a student ticket and she borrowed my roommate’s BuckID and we snuck her into our section. She had never been in the student section before, and honestly it’s so different than sitting in any other section. Before coming to Ohio State, my parents always get season tickets so I would sit with them. Obviously their tickets aren’t in the student section so my first game, last year, was definitely an experience! She said she had fun in the student section because everyone was so rowdy. HAHA we decided to leave a little bit before halftime, though, because it was raining a little bit and we didn’t feel like sitting in the drizzle. I personally think drizzle is the worst kind of rain. We went to get my car in the Union garage because I brought my car down to campus for the weekend and we went back to my house in Powell for my mom’s 50th birthday party. My one best friend that also sits with me during football games came with us to my house too. When we got to my house, the score of the game was 42-0 or something like that. When we left the stadium it was 28-0. That was insane; I don’t think we should be the number 10 team. I think we’re much better than a number 10 team so hopefully we’ll go up in the rankings on Sunday.

Blog 30

So after my math lecture, my roommate and I had nice “bonding” time. We went to Potbelly’s to have lunch because we were both starving. Potbelly’s is neat because they have the most random decorations all throughout the restaurant. I always find something new every time I go in there. So anyway, we got turkey and cheese sandwiches and just sat and talked for a while. Then after lunch we went to No Tan Lines to go tanning. We go tanning a lot. I really like to tan because I feel so good in the “sun”. I’m obsessed with the sun. I know tanning is fake sun but it makes me feel good because summer is my favorite time of the year. So we tanned and then went back to our apartment and showered because after I go tanning I always smell burnt. It’s a gross smell; my body smells burnt and my hair smells horrible. HAHA so after showering we had to wait on our other roommate to get out of her exam to go to the mall. When she got home we went to Polaris to go shopping and to just get out of campus. I wanted to find a little, plain black dress for my black kitty costume for Halloween; however, that was a complete fail. I thought Forever XXI might have something, but they didn’t and instead of going to “look” for a dress, I ended up buying tons of clothing that I probably didn’t need. I need to stop spending money like that!

Blog 29

Please help me integrate these quotes :)

Greed is a complexity. There are many things that go into why a person becomes greedy; greed is connected to other things that make a person want to be “greedy”. Some people are greedy about objects; others are greedy about people. Whatever it is that people are greedy about, they know what they want and that is why they are greedy. “Desire for objects expresses our psychic existence in relation to external reality in all its manifestation; and, in this sense, desire has no limits. Our desire for objects invests psychic meaning in our world,” (Levine, 131). When some people want something they desire, they will do anything to get it, even if it means hurting others while in the process of getting it is what they want. Jayne had the desire for an object: money. He knew that money is what he desired for and would let nothing get in his way. He also really didn’t have any idea what it was he would be suffering from because of his actions. However, because some people have such a high desire for a certain thing, they don’t step back and look at the bigger picture and realize what will happen if they obtain what it is they desire. “We are guilty, then, for the consequences of our greed, and it is this guilt and these consequences that we fear,” (Levine, 137). Some people, though, understand what it is they will be suffering from; however, they still go through with getting what it is they are greedy for.

Blog 28

I really love this time of year. I love fall. I love all of the colors of the leaves. It’s so gorgeous. Although the summer weather is my favorite, I do have to say that this chilly weather with the sunshine is very nice. My mom makes the best pumpkin cookies ever. They are the most delicious cookies during this time of year. She brought a whole, big Tupperware container to my apartment and they were all gone in 2 days. I love wearing my UGGS everyday because I could literally live in those things. They are probably the most comfy shoes I own. I don’t really understand why guys think they are so ugly? I think they are great! I also love this time of year because I love dressing up for Halloween. I went to OU last year for Halloween to stay with my best friend who goes there. I’m going to OU again this year and I’m so excited because I haven’t seen my best friend that goes there in forever! Last year I was a sailor; however, this year I have no idea what I want to be. I don’t know if I want to buy a costume like I did last year or if I should just make my own costume and just put some random things together. This is kind of a little problem considering Halloween is, not this weekend, but next weekend. I need to figure out what I want to do soon!

Blog 27

So today has literally been the busiest day EVER. I woke up this morning around 9 am and started to finish my Food Science and Technology project that is due tonight by midnight. Then I ate Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (my favorite kind of Cheerio) with my roommate for breakfast. After breakfast, I did more of my FST project until I had to leave my apartment to go to my math tutor. I left for my math tutor around 11 am and had a tutoring session from 11:15-12:15. I really am not a fan of 152. I worked on paper homework with my tutor and we started to look at the WebWork project 1 and it looked extremely difficult. That class is so much fun… not. After tutoring, I had math recitation from 12:30-1:18 but I decided today to just collect my quiz and paper homework from last week and leave because my TA was doing problems that I already had completed and knew they were right. So I left class early and went to Oxley’s for lunch. I was so excited to get a meatball sub and wedding soup when I discovered that Oxley’s doesn’t take swipes from 10 am – 2 pm. I thought it was some kind of joke but the guy looked at me like I was crazy and proceeded to tell me that the sign was, in fact, true. So then after Oxley’s I went to English class then bolted from English straight to my apartment. I had to finish my FST project and submit it into Carmen. Then I had to hurry and get ready for Formal Pledging tonight for my sorority!

Blog 26

My roommate and I woke up around the same time and she came into my room and told me that she had a hilarious dream about us last night. She said that I was hurt and was in a wheelchair. (You have to know that I get hurt, I always say I wish I had a wheelchair to be pushed around in. I know it’s not the best way to handle being hurt but I would never want to use crutches). So anyway more about my roommate’s dream. She said that she was pushing my in the wheelchair to go watch our friends’ soccer game. She said that she was pushing me really fast on purpose and all of a sudden my wheelchair got caught in a hole in the grass. After my wheel got caught, I apparently was flung out of my wheelchair and landed on the grass. She said that I fell in front of the whole soccer team and all of the fans. I literally died of laughter when she told me this because I could totally see her doing something like this to me. You have to know my roommate and I to think this is funny because we have a funny/weird sense of humor. Other than that funny story that made my day, today was just another Monday. It was a fun-filled day of classes and eating and library-ing it up. Oh yeah and on the way back from the library, it poured. Wasn’t a fan of the rain because I didn’t have my umbrella, my rain jacket or my rain boots.

Blog 25

So after I decided to write my blog yesterday about how much I hoped that the Buckeyes would win, I guess I’ll write that I really hate Wisconsin. I honestly didn’t think that we were going to lose that game. I’m extremely upset because I really wanted the Buckeyes to go undefeated this year! I was yelling at the TV like a mad woman last night. And my guy friends even cooked out for my roommates and I. They made us cheeseburgers and I ate two of them. They were amazing. The cooking out was the best part of the game. I guess I’ll also write about what I’m doing today. Right now, I’m watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians. I really love that show because all of the girls are so entertaining. My roommate is making us lunch. She’s making us Four Cheese Rice-A-Roni. It is the best rice ever. I think I might also have a turkey and cheese sandwich. I am extremely hungry today for some odd reason. There’s a Keeping Up With The Kardashians marathon on and I am so happy because the new episodes normally air on Sunday nights at 10pm and I’m normally doing homework at that time so I’m glad I can finally catch up and watch the episodes that I missed! The rice that my roommate is making is almost done so I should probably conclude this blog for today. I’m so excited to stuff my face since I didn’t have breakfast this morning.

Blog 24

Today is the big day! It’s a big day because the game’s on tonight! I’m excited to watch the game tonight because I’m cooking out with some good friends. I love cookouts during fall football games like this one tonight! I absolutely love Buckeye football, especially on home game days. Even though tonight’s away, it’s still fun, but nothing beats going into Ohio Stadium and watching a good game of football with over 100,000 other people! I love tailgating with all of my friends and family. Eating and drinking are some of my favorite things, so why not do it with the ones you love, right? I love how intense the crowd gets during games, and nothing beats sitting in the student section. Although, I have to say that I’m kind of upset with where my seats are this year. I’m further up in the stands than I was last year as a freshman. I find it kind of odd that as a sophomore I would be up further than last year? I’m kind of nervous for tonight’s game. (I always get nervous before these kinds of games. Actually I always get nervous before any Ohio State game. I’m weird, I know. Wisconsin isn’t that bad. I mean their ranked 18th but still. Last week, Alabama was ranked number 1 in the country and South Carolina was ranked 16th and they still beat Alabama. AH! I really hope that we can pull this win off and stay ranked at number 1.

Blog 23

My roommate and I absolutely love to watch Disney Channel when we are just trying to relax in our apartment. There is this new show called Fish Hooks that just started airing a few weeks ago. I am actually watching it right now while I eat dinner. At first it looked kind of dumb, but after watching the first 10 minutes it’s actually a mildly entertaining show. There are many different characters that have different accents and outfits that are really funny. It is mostly a cartoon; however, there are bits and pieces of real images that pop up in and out of the episode. It’s a very colorful show so I can see how little kids love watching Disney Channel because all of the colors help keep their attention. Also, the way that the fish characters talk and act is easily relatable to the young teen crowd in society today. It is really entertaining to hear these conversations and to think that I used to act the way that the characters are on the show. It makes me feel mature and good about myself that I have grown out of the drama-filled lifestyle that fills high school. The show was obviously based for more of a younger crowd because of the scenarios and behavior that are represented in the television show. I do have to admit, though, that after a whole episode the show got kind of annoying. I am not sure if I would chose to watch it again unless there is absolutely nothing else on tv.

Blog 22

In the ninth episode of Firefly, “Ariel”, Jayne’s actions towards River and Simon were acts of dehumanization. During this scene, to him, River and Simon were just mere objects rather than human beings because all he cared about was receiving his end of the deal from the Feds. Because he decided to sell out River and Simon out to the Feds, Jayne wasn’t really thinking clearly with the fact that River and Simon’s lives could’ve been seriously affected or put in danger; he wasn’t looking ahead at the bigger picture and thinking about what they potential consequences could have been. He didn’t think about anything or anyone else but himself in this situation. The creator of this show, Firefly, wanted to show that desirable objects can get the best of anyone and make people do unethical things to others without realizing what the consequences would be. Because he was so greedy, he lost all self-control and ultimately that is what led him to sell out River and Simon. “The self-interest connected to greed becomes both self-denial and an attack on others. This leads to the paradoxical conclusion that pursuit of self-interest connected to greed, rather than finding the self as its end, serves only to affirm the loss of self,” (Levine, 132). Although Jayne has never really gotten along with River and Simon, he, as an overall person, would not have sold them out had money not been in the picture. However, because he did sell them out, he feels guilty at the end of the episode for what he did to them.

Blog 21

Let’s be honest; money plays a huge role in today’s society. As much as people don’t want to admit it, money is extremely important. “In twenty-first century corporate life, the idea of avarice is also associated with a greed for power,” (Long, 248). So not only do people want money, they also want power because with money comes power. Money and power can become a very dangerous combination because both enable a person to get it is what they desire. “Money comes to represent the power to buy all that is desired,” (Long, 250). Because Jayne had such a strong desire for money, he thought that the money could change him. While negotiating the deal with the Feds, one of them said to Jayne that he would “soon become a very rich man”. Right then and there, Jayne probably thought about all of the things he could do with that money. A “very rich man” equates to having and doing extravagant things: cars, houses, vacations, and parties. Now, Jayne might not have been thinking that far into the future but he had to have been thinking of something extravagant when he decided to go through with his plan of selling Simon and River out to the Feds. Because of the desire for this massive amount of money, Jayne ultimately lost his self-control. “Greed taken into action is popularly seen as an exemplification of the break-down of self-control,” (Long, 248). When a person loses their self-control, they are more than likely to make mistakes that might end up making them deal with serious consequences.

Blog 20

Greed is a complexity. There are many things that go into why a person becomes greedy; greed is connected to other things that make a person want to be “greedy”. Some people are greedy about objects; others are greedy about people. Whatever it is that people are greedy about they know what they want and that is why they are greedy. “Desire for objects expresses our psychic existence in relation to external reality in all its manifestation; and, in this sense, desire has no limits. Our desire for objects invests psychic meaning in our world,” (Levine, 131). When some people want something the desire, they will do anything to get it, even if it means hurting others while in the process of getting it is what they want. Jayne had the desire for an object: money. He knew that money is what he desired for and would let nothing get in his way. He also really didn’t have any idea what it was he would be suffering from because of his actions. However, because some people have such a high desire for a certain thing, they don’t step back and realize what will happen if they obtain what it is they desire. “We are guilty, then, for the consequences of our greed, and it is this guilt and these consequences that we fear,” (Levine, 137). Some people, though, understand what it is they will be suffering from; however, they still go through with getting what it is they are greedy for.

Blog 19

Another article that I read was titled, “The Attachment of Greed to Self-Interest” by David P. Levine. Levine is a professor at the University of Denver. He argues, “Though prominent in shaping our thinking about self-interest, the part played by greed is as often denied as acknowledged. The denial of greed expresses the ambivalence it provokes, which stems form the danger it poses or seems to pose. This danger stems, in part, from the link between greed and destructiveness.” So I believe that Levine thinks that people know that greed exists however some deny and some acknowledge that it is there. Then he goes into saying that those who deny that greed exists are the ones who are going to be put into “danger”. He also says “Greed represents an aspect of the desire to live. … By its very nature it is endless and never assuaged; and being a form of the impulse to live, it ceases only with death.” So I believe that Levine thinks that for some people greed is a way of life, a desire in order to live their lives. Also, he says that greed is endless. I believe this to be totally true because once you start to become greedy; it’s hard to stop being greedy. I think it’s kind of like an addiction. You always want more and you are never really ever going to be satisfied. I wonder if this is why Jayne is always looking out for “better” jobs. I think Jayne has the mentality that he will never have enough and never be satisified.

Blog 18

I read another one of my articles titled “Greed feels good, so watch out” by Kerry Hannon. Hannon writes for USA Today. Hannon interviewed Jason Zweig, author of “Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich.” Zweig believes that there is a battle between your “brains” when it comes to making money. He says, “There is a battle between the ‘reflexive brain’ (emotional-driven biological circuits that make us crave rewards) and the ‘reflective brain’ (analytical circuits). Your brain becomes intensely aroused when you anticipate a financial gain: ‘Your brain treats potential investing (or gambling profits as a broad class of basic rewards, like food, drink, shelter, safety, sex’ or drugs.” So I think that Zweig believes that anticipating the financial gain is more “fun” than actually receiving the money. I think this ties really well with Jayne because he was obviously very excited to get his money from the Feds because it was a more amount of money than Simon’s job. I think Jayne got to wrapped up into the idea of making more money and that ultimately cost him getting arrested. So I think Zweig would say that Jayne’s “brains” were battling and ultimately his “reflexive brain” won. He was so emotionally driven to get the money from the Feds that, I don’t think, he realized what his consequences were going to be. I also don’t think he really realized what his actions were going to do to Simon and River either.

Blog 17

I read one of my articles titled, “Is Greed Good?” by Christoph Uhlhass. This article was mostly about eBay. What it takes to “survive” when purchasing items off of the website. I don’t really that information about eBay will help me, however, there were some good quotes about greed and the economy that I think I might be able to use. The article defines an economic man (Homo economicus) as “a rational, selfish person who single-mindedly strives for maximum profit.” I think that Jayne fits this definition, while he definitely does not seem to be the sharpest crayon in the box; I think he knows what he’s doing when it comes to benefiting himself and making others look bad. I also thought this quote was good, “People not only try to maximize their gains but also watch to see that they get roughly the same share as others: they are happy to get one piece of cake as long as they next person does not get two pieces.” This definitely ties to Jayne because in episode 9, he wants to make sure he gets the most money possible. That is why he decides to rat out Simon and River because the Feds made him a better offer than Simon. This quote was good as well, “Circumstance also sculpts behavior, studies have revealed, regardless of natural character traits or values. That is, whether a person is competing in a market of strangers or negotiating with a partner can make a big difference in whether fairness, reciprocity or selfishness will predominate.” I like that because I feel Jayne was selfish when he decided to go along side with the Feds.

Blog 16

I read one of my articles titled, “Is Greed Still Good?” by Deborah Solomon. Solomon is a writer for The New York Times magazine. Originally, I thought that this article would explain why or why not greed was still good; however, it didn’t. It was an interview between Solomon and movie director Oliver Stone. Stone’s movie “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” recently hit theaters. 75 percent of this article probably won’t help me with my paper and my argument; however, there was a quote that I liked of Stone’s. Solomon asked, “In the new film, Gordon Gekko, the disgraced financier, turns out to be a softie trying to reconcile with his daughter, a left-wing blogger,” and Stone replied, “I wouldn’t say that he has gone soft, but he certainly has matured, and he suffered. I think the movie is very much about family. If you’re a coldhearted person who just admires money, you’re not going to get anywhere.” I really liked the part of his answer about if you’re a coldhearted person that just admires money, you won’t get anywhere. I honestly believe this is true. That quote, I believe, really explains Jayne. I believe that in episode 9 (the episode that I’m writing my paper on) Jayne really is a coldhearted person that only wants money and doesn’t care about his “family”, Jayne’s family being Simon and River. I think that the money from the Feds got to Jayne’s head and he didn’t realize what the consequences of his actions would be.

Blog 15

I want to do my paper essentially on greediness when it comes to a monetary reward. Why people feel the need to put others lives in danger beats me so I want to research this topic a little more. I guess I could also tie in how karma can be the biggest bitch when it comes to this topic. I feel that karma is huge when it comes to this kind of thing. I want to find what makes people “pull the trigger” when it comes to these kinds of things. Maybe do a little bit of research about the way people think when it comes to money? I want to understand what makes people do these sorts of things and why they think it’s okay to do them.

Works Cited

Hannon, Kerry. “Greed feels good, so watch out.” Academic Research Complete.
USA Today. 10 Sept. 2007. 7 Oct. 2010.

Levine, David P. “The Attachment of Greed to Self-Interest.” Academic Search
Complete. Vol. 2. Issue 2 p131-140. Psychoanalytic Studies. June 2000.
7 Oct. 2010.

Long, Susan. “Greed.” Academic Search Complete. Vol. 15. Issue 3 p245-259.
Psychodynamic Practice. Aug. 2009. 7 Oct. 2010.

Solomon, Deborah. “Is Greed Still Good?” Academic Search Complete. New York Times
Magazine p18. 12 Sept. 2010. 7 Oct. 2010.

Uhlhaas, Christoph. “Is Greed Good?” Academic Search Complete. Vol. 18 Issue 4 p60-
67. Scientific American Mind. Aug./Sept. 2007. 7 Oct. 2010.

Blog 14

For my final episode I watched, episode 9 “Ariel” from Firefly. After I originally watched this episode, I thought it might be a good episode to write about because I liked the message that it was portraying. Then after discussing the things we discussed in class on Tuesday, I knew that I had to write about this episode! After watching the episode a second time, I picked up on some things that I didn’t realize the first time. (But isn’t that how it always is? HAHA) I definitely picked up on Jayne’s actions in this episode a lot more. At the beginning of the episode he seems very into the doctor’s plans for a job because it is worth a ton of money. However once he’s in the hospital with Simon and River, he leaves them alone in a room and talks to the Feds via an iChat thing. He tells the Feds that he has their “fugitives”. When I first watched this episode I was so confused because I had no idea who the “fugitives” were. But as the episode progressed, I slowly learned that Jayne had ratted them out to the Feds. I couldn’t believe this when this happened. I was so angry because I didn’t understand why he would turn his back on them in order to make a little more money. The Fed that Jayne talked to via the iChat thing even said that he was “about to become a very rich man”. It seems to me that nowadays people will do anything for money. Even if it means putting others lives in danger. Then at the end of the episode, Mal puts Jayne’s life is in danger when he discovers what Jayne did. All I have to say is karma is a bitch!

Blog 13

For the next episode of my choice, I decided to watch another episode of Firefly. I watched the 13th episode, “Heart of Gold”. The more I watch this show, the more it keeps me intrigued and I don’t want to stop watching it! I never thought I would say that because Sci-Fi is not my forte. Anyhow, during the episode Inara receives a call from a fellow companion, Mandy. Mandy needs the crew’s help because she knows there will be a battle and they are not fully equipped to fight. Inara explains this situation to Mal and he agrees to help the companions out. She needs help keeping this powerful man away from her “whore” house because he got one of her girls pregnant and he wants to keep the baby as his heir. Yet the man has a wife. If I were the wife, I would be furious that my husband got another woman pregnant, yet his wife seems perfectly fine that the baby is his. Why she is fine with it makes no sense to me. But during this episode, I discovered that Inara truly cares about Mal. After having sex with Mandy, Mal leaves her room early in the morning half naked as Inara is walking by. She cries after talking to Mal because Mal confesses that he had sex with Mandy. Then after all of the fighting is over and they are back on Serenity, Inara discreetly describes her feelings to Mal and says that she is leaving the ship! I don’t understand why she would leave if she has everything there? Is she leaving because she cares that much about Mal?

Blog 12

For the next episode of my choice, I decided to watch episode 12, “The Message” of Firefly. At the beginning of the episode, it goes into a flashback seven years ago when Mal and Zoe are in battle. There is another guy, Tracy, with them and Zoe saves his life because he didn’t see one of the enemies approaching him. Then the episode goes back to the present time and Mal and Zoe receive Tracy’s “dead” body in the mail. Then the cops go to the mail station, where Mal and Zoe just left with the body, looking for Tracy’s body. After taking the body back to Serenity, Zoe discovers a recorder and Tracy said on the recorder that he only trusts Mal and Zoe to get him back to his family to have a proper burial. But why now? Why seven years later, dump your body to people that you haven’t associated with in so long? And how do you know you can still trust those people? Was he trying to set up the crew? Then Simon attempts to do an autopsy but as he begins to cut Tracy, he magically wakes up. Not going to lie, that part made me jump. Then it’s discovered that Tracy is smuggling human organs, trying to make money to put is parents on a nicer planet. I understand trying to give your parents a better life and all, but putting others in danger while trying to do it is not a smart idea. Honestly, I was really confused after watching this episode.

Blog 11

For the next episode of my choice, I decided to watch “Trash” from Firefly. I think it’s funny that the episode is titled “Trash” because Saphrine, or whatever her name is, I have discovered is an extremely trashy woman. At the beginning of the episode when Mal visits his friend and they are talking about his friend’s new wife, I definitely wasn’t expecting Saphrine to come out because the friend said her name was Bridget. I’m glad the friend didn’t stick with her though because she is a very sly person, I think. As the episode progresses, Mal decides not to leave her on the moon. Why? I don’t know because if someone tried to kill me and my friends, I would for sure leave them on a moon to fend for themselves. And why he decides to go along with her plan to make some money beats me. I would never trust her after what she did to Serenity. But apparently Mal thinks her plan is a good idea and while on the job something strange happens. The person they are trying to rob is another man that Saphrine is “married” to, except this time her name to him is Yolanda. I literally laughed out loud when this occurred because this woman is a complete joke. My question is how does she get with all of these guys? And how many men has she “married”? It seems like she is a traveling prostitute or something. I also don’t understand how none of these guys, except Mal, a smart enough to know that this woman isn’t their wife? I also laughed when Mal called her “Yo-Saph-Bridg”, since she has a thousand names.

Blog 10

For the next episode of my choice I watched episode 10, “War Stories”, from Firefly. I thought it was ironic that in this episode Wash talked about how Zoe always follows the captain’s orders and that she doesn’t really have her own opinion. It’s ironic since we talked about this situation of Zoe’s in class the other day; I didn’t really think that it would be talked about in an episode, I thought I was just more of an idea that the creator wanted us to be aware about. During the episode, Wash messes something up with the ship and says he did it because he doesn’t want to hear of another bonding story between Mal and Zoe. So in return, Mal lets Wash go with him on this “job” and the two men end up getting caught in a battle trying to complete the mission. I think it’s funny on Wash’s part because he was the one that wanted to see what it was that Zoe does with Mal and he ends up in one of the scariest situations. I also think it’s funny that Wash thinks that Zoe obeys everything that Mal tells her, when Mal says to Wash, “There’s plenty of orders of mine she didn’t obey… She married you.” In my opinion, from Wash’s facial expressions in the episode, he is bothered yet relieved that Zoe did this. In some odd way, I think Zoe and Wash are very good for each other because they balance each other out.

Blog 9

For the next episode of my choice I watched the 9th episode of Firefly, “Ariel”. When Simon describes his plan to make money to everyone, I found it funny that Jayne was actually going to go along with it, since Jayne can’t stand Simon. And when Simon and River and Jayne are in the x-ray room, Jayne actually seems like he’s worried about River. As the episode progressed, however, I was starting to think that Jayne had something up his sleeve. As it turns out, he did and was the one that called the feds on River and Simon. I feel that the “theme” for this episode is that karma is truly a bitch. Jayne thought that he would make more money by calling the feds than what Simon’s “job” would’ve paid him. But to his dismay, he too was taken by the feds with River and Simon and didn’t receive his money that he thought the feds were going to give him. Because Jayne was extremely greedy and looking out for himself, he ultimately could’ve gotten the whole crew killed. I don’t understand what makes a person feel the need to be that greedy when it comes to making money. What desires a person to put others under the bus in order to succeed? I understand that it’s a dog-eat-dog world, but I could never imagine putting another human being’s life in danger just to better mine a little bit. I think it’s ironic, at the end of the episode, how Mal puts Jayne’s life in danger just as Jayne did to River’s and Simon’s.

Blog 8

In “High School is Hell”, I believe the argument that is being made is that high school really metaphorically like hell. The quote, “Today's teens live in a world where their classmates plot their murders, where the threat of gun violence is always present, where there is a high rate of sexually transmitted diseases, date rape, and stalking,” explains directly why high school is a living hell. I did not feel like I had to take all of these things into consideration at my high school; however, I do believe that there are high schools in the United States where students have to deal with these kinds of situations. Whenever I think of these situations, such as the plotting of murders or gun violence, I think of Columbine High School. I could never imagine “plotting” my classmates’ murders or even think of bringing a gun into a school. I guess that’s just where I grew up, that everyone pretty much knew everyone and my whole class got a long with each other. Another quote that I thought was more about a normal high school “hell” was, “Finally the viewers are left with a show where the characters' worst horrors are not just the monsters they are fighting but the grim reality of such ultimate high school horrors as parent-teacher night, not having a date for the prom, being made fun of in class, and not getting a spot on the cheerleading team.” I think this more describes what I went through in high school. Seriously though, people freaked out if it was let’s say two weeks before prom and they didn’t have a date. People made such a big deal about have a date that they would literally cause themselves to get sick, or not concentrate on the one thing that mattered in high school, graduating. But at the same time, I mean come on that’s not nearly as hellacious as someone killing one of your classmates.

Blog 7

For my next episode, I decided to watch “Out of Gas” from ‘Firefly’. At first I didn’t understand why, that at the beginning of the episode, Mal was on the floor and looked as if he was dying. The ship was gloomy, dark and had a blueish tint to it. After watching the episode, I started to put things together about death. Even the name of the episode strongly correlates with death. When you are “out of gas” usually that means something bad is going to happen, and in Serenity’s and the crew’s case they are literally out of gas, meaning fuel and oxygen. Throughout this rough situation, Mal tries to hold everyone together since everyone is down and believes they will all die. I personally think Mal thinks he will die however he has to be strong for the crew since he is the captain. Kaylee says, “We’ll start to feel it, then feel nothin’ at all,” and Simon says, “Suffication’s not really the most dignified way to go.” After realizing the way the crew will probably die is suffication it makes sense to me how the director made Mal seem throughout the episode. As I mentioned before, whenever Mal is shown when the ship is going down, the surroundings have a blueish tint. I believe the director did this as some sort of symbolism because when you suffocate you turn blue. This episode definitely has a lot of symbolism that somehow, someway ties into suffocation.

Blog 6

Going over “The Train Job” as we did in class today makes me look at ‘Firefly’ a little differently than I previously viewed the show. I never really expanded my thoughts about the characters or specific moments; however, in most of my blogs, I tried to connect my idea to something that involved the real world. Today definitely helped me put two-and-two together. The part that was most significant to me, in this episode, was when Inara went back to Paradiso to rescue Mal and Zoe. By her doing that just shows that all of her characteristics are true. Although she seems to be of a higher social class than some of her crew members, she is extremely compassionate and looks out for others, such as this example. In this episode, she also gives advice to Kaylee about Simon. Although Kaylee seems to be from a lower social class than Inara, Inara speaks to her as if she is a really good friend. I truly believe that Inara means every word she says to Kaylee in this scene. This makes me believe that there are people like Inara out there. One person that comes to mind is Oprah. She is of the extreme high social class, but she is such a “normal” person. She gives advice to so many “regular” people and gives so much of her money to benefit others. I wonder what would happen if every person of that kind of status would do what she does? How many people would be affected? Would there be much of a difference between the social classes?

Blog 5

For the next episode of my choice I watched Episode 7 ‘Jaynestown’ of “Firefly”. Throughout the episodes I have watched of “Firefly”, it seems that Jayne has always acted as though he were a tough human being. He also doesn’t act as orderly as say Simon or Mal. When the crew arrives in what is known to be Jaynestown, he seems very cautious and hesitant because he decided to disguise himself. Then they see the statue of Jayne and are in disbelief because they are in a very poor town and don’t realize why he is being honored. I thought I was kind of strange that the little boy was just blatantly staring at Jayne, but I figured something was going to happen where he would be recognized like that. The song the man sings in the bar, the bartender giving him the best whiskey in the house, and the replica statue are things that pay tribute to the “local hero”. A line in the song says, “He stole from the rich and gave to the poor”. That kind of makes me think of Jayne as some sort of Robin Hood character. I also think it is kind of ironic that he didn’t realize how much of an impact he had on the town. I guess many “Robin Hood’s” don’t realize those things because they are just trying to help others instead of themselves. I would react the same way Jayne did after he was recognized because he realized how much the people appreciated his actions.

Blog 4

For the next episode of my choice I watched Episode 6 ‘Our Mrs. Reynolds’ of “Firefly”. Before Saphrine becomes a conniving little woman and betrays basically everyone on the ship, she seemed like an innocent woman who was semi-arranged to marry Captain Reynolds. Whenever she was around Captain Reynolds, she always looked and had her head down, making him seem superior to her. She acted very timid when she was around him and she always wanted to please and obey him. She freakishly and magically appeared out of nowhere, wherever he was. She did everything for him, even if he didn’t ask her for anything, she was always there waiting on his hand and foot. She kind of resembled a slave. She was worried that if she didn’t do, as he wanted that he would just abandon her on the next planet to fend for herself as a prostitute. She sort of resembled a slave. In the world today, many cultures arrange for women to marry certain male individuals, based on class or social structure. When this occurs, it shows the rest of the world that women are still not seen as equal to men in all parts of the globe. This situation, although important in some cultures and religions, has many downsides to it that give the whole concept a negative connotation. Women, like Saphrine, should be able to choose the man whom they wish to marry, instead of being forced into a situation in which they are not comfortable.

Blog 3

I watched Episode 5 ‘Safe’ of “Firefly” for the episode of my choice. When Simon gets taken away and punched by the natives of the town, he goes into a flashback where he talks to his parents about his sister’s notes that she has written. Simon knows there is something going on in her head and wants to explore this dilemma; however, his parents completely disregard his concern for River. They basically tell him that there is no need to worry; that it is just a “phase” she is going through. His parents seem as if they are naïve to the fact that their daughter has some sort of “imperfection”. In today’s society, this seems to be a relevant situation in many households. Many parents, like River’s, don’t want to believe the harsh reality that there might be something different about their child. Because of the way society is today, with all of the competition, parents want their children to always be seen in the best light as they can be. It is unfortunate that some parents, like River’s, decide to neglect their child’s problems in order to maintain some sort of “norm” in society. Those parents should be more open to exploring these “flaws” in order to better their children’s lives because it would ultimately help them to become a better person than they ever could be if the flaw was ignored. This situation occurs more often than not and everyone should be aware that taking action could help those individuals with certain special needs.