Tattoos and Piercings

Around the beginning of the semester we had to read a story in Beyond Words called “The Body Piercing Project.” I don’t know if most of you read it, but I actually found it a little interesting. After reading the story it got me thinking about the way society views piercings and tattoos.

Older generations tend to think very strongly about tattoos and piercings. They think that they are disgusting and not acceptable. Most believe that it is just a ‘rebellious thing’ that young people do. Some religious folk say that getting a tattoo is a sin.

Most of our generation either currently has a tattoo or is planning on getting one. And piercings are accepted and encouraged. It is now believed that doing things to your body gives you ‘self empowerment’ and helps you get a sense of who you really are. We all know that tattoos are permanent and to some people it is something no one can ever take away from them. I personally believe that tattoos and some piercings are okay and shouldn’t be so frowned upon. I currently have a tattoo and plan on getting others as I get older. But I don’t plan on going crazy and covering my body.

I think that the only time your piercings or tattoos should matte to someone other than yourself r is when you are applying for a job. No one wants to hire someone with a tattoo covering their face, it’s as simple as that. And when you have a nose piercing that makes you look like a bull you shouldn’t expect to get a job anywhere else but maybe at starbucks. I know it sounds bad but unfortunately that is just how it is.

Do any of you guys have the same feelings about tattoos that older generations are? If so, why? And what do you think about the way tattoos and piercings are viewed?

Favorite Movies

There is always that one movie for everyone. The best movie they have ever seen… in their opinion. What is it that makes a movie appealing? Is it the action, the actor, the writing, or message that makes the movie great?

My favorite movie, which led to a series of movies, is Dirty Harry. A rough movie about an investigator named Harry Callahan working in San Francisco in the early 1970’s. He is notorious known on the force as Dirty Harry for a number of reasons such as how he goes outside the lines of the law, or his relations with women. He carries with him at all times a Smith & Wesson .44 magnum. It is a large, powerful handgun unlike any other at the time.

The movie opens with a man using a high-powered rifle to murder a woman swimming in a pool on top of a building. Later, a note is sent to the police by the self-named killer, Scorpio, demanding $100,000 or more killings will come. Harry is put on the case and throughout the movie stops all forms of crime while chasing down Scorpio. He at times breaks the law in order to provide justice and security for the people of San Francisco. He ultimately brings down Scorpio illegally, and simply tosses away his badge, knowing he would at least go down for the right reasons.

These movies are by far my favorite movies because of the character portrayed and the actor playing the role, Clint Eastwood. It would be safe to claim that Eastwood is a conservative actor. Most people today remember him best for his role in Gran Torino. He played the no nonsense old guy that longed for the days of manners and a safe neighborhood. Eastwood made his name, and a cult following, for his roles in “spaghetti westerns” such as The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. These westerns earned their name for being filmed in Italy.

Back to the subject of Eastwood, he remains to be my favorite actor not only for his ability and the roles he plays, but what he stands for in every movie he acts or directs in. He always takes a stance for justice and patriotism, and if the movie he has a role in has nothing to do with the two, then he always plays the good guy. He may be the gun wielding man with no name providing safety for a small town, or the rough boxing coach that generously shares his knowledge with an up and coming female boxer. Even with the long career he has yet to end after over 40 years, it is hard to find one movie out of the over 40 he has had a role in that he doesn’t take on those roles or stances.

As left leaning, and crazy some of the people in Hollywood get, it’s refreshing to have an actor of Eastwood’s caliber with a stable head on his shoulders. He never makes a scene or runs his mouth for tabloids to jump all over. He keeps to himself and causes no controversies. I couldn’t tell you what his political preferences are and I could care less. He does not use it to get attention or make a name for himself. Eastwood simply lets his acting do the talking and tries his best to simply be a normal person off camera. That trait is what appeals greatly to me and a lot of people in Hollywood should take note of.

It would be safe to say that the actor greatly helps make a movie great for me. Both how they behave on and off the screen. Someone who I can be proud to claim as someone I look up to. So what part of a movie helps make a movie from just being good, to being your all time favorite? Is it also the actor? Director? Or is there simply a favorite actor you want to talk about? Maybe it’s the cool lines that will be remembered and recreated for moviegoers to come… above are some from Clint.

Summer Time

http://static.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/85590-bigthumbnail.jpg

Okay so we all know our first year in college is coming to an end. It is now spring semester with only a few weeks left of school. How exciting right!? Everyone is starting to stress about finals and making sure his or her grades are in good shape. It seems like everyone is just studying for the finals too. My weekends and weekdays have been consumed with studying (especially chemistry) and that’s about it. Yes I still have time to go out and do fun and exciting things but my grades are my top priority right now. And I don’t know about you guys but my motivation has become one thin line.

Our G.P.A is a very important number and basically will either make you or brake you. If your G.P.A is fairly low, say goodbye to FSU! With that in mind, taking five classes and them not being easy has really taken a toll on my G.P.A this semester. One way to help rebuild your G.P.A up is taking summer classes. Taking summer classes can help you get ahead in your major too. Also if you know you have a hard class ahead of you, you could take that hard class or classes over the summer. I think that’s a great idea because you won’t have to worry studying on top of you other three classes. You can spend all you time on your one hard class, therefore making a better grade. Another thing too is, since you took the hard class over the summer, your fall schedule wont be as stressful. And who doesn’t want a non-stressful schedule? I know I do!

The only bad thing about taking summer classes is losing a big chunk of your summer, which is a bummer. Summertime is meant to be with your friends, being carefree, and going to awesome pool parties at West 10. School is not supposed to be on your mind because you spent the last ten months in school and studying your brains off. But if you slack off during the school year, you have to pay the consequences. And the consequence of slacking off is summer classes. This summer I plan on taking chemistry 2 and retake statistics. I chose to take chemistry 2 this summer because I know it will be hard and want to get it out of the way because the next chemistry class I have to take is organic. And the only thing on my mind about chemistry is, the faster I get it done the better! This year statistics has really taken a toll on me. My instructor was and is awful therefore I don’t understand one damn thing!

So my question to the class is, do you think taking summer classes is a good idea and what are the advantages/disadvantages? Do you plan on taking summer classes? Why or why not?

I hope you guys have an awesome weekend! J

            

International Civility

Spring Break was last week and we have all had time to relax with our friends and family. Whether you went on vacation or stayed at home each and everyone of us spent an amount of time out in public interacting with people at the beach or at the store. Over my Spring Break I spent time in Dubai visiting family. After spending a week over seas, coming back to the United States I find myself asking has something changed? Have people always been this way? So what has changed?

A few weeks ago someone posted a blog entitled “ Politeness A Thing of the Past”. At the time I just couldn’t agree with the point of view expressed in this post, but after coming back to the U.S from the U.A.E. the points expressed in that blog have seemingly become real.

During the time I spent in Dubai I saw it all good and bad; but the overwhelming impression that I got from the experience is that the people as a whole are generally more caring and considerate than the people back at home. To me, the amount of order and civility came as a shock. On my very first day there my sister and I visited the Dubai Mall. Still jetlagged and without a watch my sister asked someone for the time. Instead of smugly telling her the time or even ignoring her as I have come to expect from someone at home, the man actually offered my sister his watch. Now this was an extremely generous act, but was it just a fluke? Just a one in a million chance we would asked the worlds most generous man for the time?  To me it didn’t seem like this was the case. Over the next few days we were treated kindly and respectfully by almost everyone we met. On another occasion my family and I witnessed a man drop some money. Before we could blink, a local man picked the money up and chased someone halfway down the street to return it.

In just a week I feel like I have gone from being skeptical about the intentions of the people around me to feeling safer than I ever have in the United States. So just what is it? In all of Dubai and the U.A.E. only fifteen percent of people are citizens. The rest of the population is composed of foreigners from Asia, Africa, and Europe. In my own mind, a country with such diversity and so many cultures wouldn’t be nearly as safe as the U.S., but oddly I felt more at home there than I do here. I’m no expert on this matter, but from what I understand the crime rate is low because the penalties are much greater for crimes there then they are in the United States. As a result drug problems are non-existent and alcohol is highly regulated.

Arriving back into the United States, came as another shock. Having been acclimated to the civility of the U.A.E., I was greeted by surly TSA workers at JFK, who just didn’t seem to like people. This came as a huge disappointment to me. Having lived in the United States my entire life I knew that this was not right. The way the TSA workers were treating people would horrify most Americans. Unfortunately, for so many foreign travelers this was, and will continue to be the first impression that people from an American, an idea that truly disturbs me.

All this being said, there is no were I would rather live than the United States, and I realize that nine out of ten people will always do the right thing. This being said, my question is what do you think about the civility in the U.S.? Have you ever been to another country and noticed a change in the way people treat each other? And finally, do you think that the U.S. should have greater penalties for crimes? Or do you think that greater penalties would infringe on our constitutional rights?

Greek Life

14% of undergraduate students at FSU, male and female, are currently involved in a fraternity or sorority. Many stereotypes of fraternities may be that they drink too much or they party too much. That one spends money to make friends or that its a waste of time. Many stereotypes of sororities include that they dumb or very promiscuous.

I am part of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and I can say that it has made me a better person. As for sororities, they have many standards that they have to keep up with, much like fraternities, such as gpa, involvement among the organization, and involvement on campus within a school organized group.

My question to you is if you would ever consider joining a fraternity or sorority? If you are already involved in a fraternity or sorority, why did you decide to join one? If you aren't, why didn't you join one? Do you think that the stereotypes are accurate or is it just another stereotype?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAq0OevRjBY

Our Home

Tonight I would write my blog post. After reading many, I thought that it would be easy to just write about any old topic and post some questions at the end. However, just before I started on the assignment an idea came to mind. I could write about something that really affects me, I could write about a subject that really matters. So I sat down at my computer to compose a deep and interesting post that asked questions which would leave fellow students pondering for longer than just a few moments. So after much time, thought, and effort here is my post.

I have always been interested in speeches, and one of which I enjoy listening to over and over was written by Carl Sagan. Carl Sagan was an American astronomer who looked into the night sky with ambitions to understand the universe around him, and a mind capable to match those ambitions.

When Voyager 1 spacecraft took a photograph of the earth in 1990 from the distance of approximately 3.7 Billion miles away, it inspired Sagan to write this speech on his thoughts and questions of humanity.

As you can see in this photograph, the earth appears as a “pale blue dot” centered in a beam of light. All around it is the blackness of space. It is perhaps an understatement that our home looks so small in this picture, that it is almost unrecognizable! (The blue circle is simply highlighting the dot so you can see where it is).

Maybe you see this picture and it just blows your mind! Or maybe you see it and think,

So what, it’s just another NASA space picture.

However, I doubt anyone could have seen this picture quite like Carl Sagan did. When I first found his speech on YouTube I listened to it once and moved on. Then about a week later I found it again and played it several times over. To me, it is simply mind blowing, and I was surprised at how few people actually knew about him. I can often find myself so wrapped up in my own world that I forget about how small our lives really are. I forget that we shouldn’t take our time and our days for granted. Each time I see this video it reminds me of that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfwY2TNehw

If only one person reading this wOatches the video and finds it interesting or inspiring, then it makes all of the sleep I have lost over this blog post worth it. For everyone responding to this post, I would like you all to think about this image of our planet. As well as the speech that Carl Sagan delivers in the YouTube video (which is also matched with many popular American movies clips). After this, tell me a little bit about what you thought of his speech and the picture. Then tell me what is the single most important thing to you on this “pale blue dot”, and what you think American society’s most important thing is on this dot?

Thank you.

Work Cited

NASA. Pale Blue Dot. 1990. Photograph. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PaleBlueDot.jpg

Sagan, Carl. We Are Here: Pale Blue Dot. 2007. Video. Mogwai. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfwY2TNehw

Racism in America

            I was only seven years old. Being told that I was moving to the great United States of America with tons of opportunities, I was thrilled. When we finally arrived in our new home in Florida, I can’t even explain the amount of sadness and disappointment that I started to feel since that day. Within two days of moving into the neighborhood, I already had enemies, ninety percent of them being people who I had only exchanged no other word other than “hello” with. On my way home from the new school on third day of moving in, a group of at least ten Cuban kids jumped me for no apparent reason. All I could remember was being kicked in the stomach repeatedly, blood dripping down my nose, and hearing them call me a stupid “chino.” At the time, I didn’t know how to speak Spanish, or even English for that matter. I just wished that I could communicate with them so they could understand all the things I was yelling in Korean. When I came home after being beat up, my worried mother started crying; I’m sure she too felt deceived by all the wonderful things that she had heard of America prior to arriving at our new home.

I developed trust issues and was afraid of meeting new people ever since that incident. You can only imagine the fear that I felt when a group of black kids approached me when I was shooting hoops outside my house (which was the furthest I would travel from my house ever since I was beat up). Automatically, I froze in fear until one of the kids asked me what my name was.  My mom, who had seen the group of kids surrounding me, had run out of the house to prevent anything from happening. I told them my name, shook hands with everyone, and started shooting hoops together.

Growing up in a diverse neighborhood with various races, I was exposed to the harsh reality of racism found in America ever since I was a child. It seemed that everywhere I went, there was violence amongst different groups of kids or gangs, all of those being of different cultures. What perplexed me even further was the fact that the first best friends I had ever made were black. If I, someone who stuck like sore thumb within my group of black friends, could get along peacefully with different people, why couldn’t everyone? I believe that I am the epitome of what everyone in the United States should be like. I don’t think that I’m being cocky when I say that, because since it’s the way everyone should be anyway, its nothing to brag about. Everyone is different, and that being said, people shouldn’t hold resentment towards any particular race because of one person. I, being in Sigma Beta Rho Multicultural Fraternity Incorporated, personally have brothers of almost every race, all of those who I love to death. On a final note, I just want to summarize everything I said in three words: Racism is stupid.

Why do you guys think racism exists in America? Have you had any personal experiences where you were discriminated against because of your race or just because you’re “different?” What kind of solutions can you guys propose to prevent racism and promote peace?

"New Law to Combat Racism and Xenophobia." Cyprusupdates. 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.cyprusupdates.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/racism-546x387.jpg>.

Kony 2012

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Kony 2012 has been a national issue across the world. If you didnt know Joseph Kony is a African rebel, who over the last couple of years has been obducting children and turning girls into sex slaves and boys into child foot soilders. Kony now ranks as one of the International Criminal Court's most wanted men, facing arrest on charges of crimes against humanity after a 26-year campaign of brutality in his failed bid to overthrow the Ugandan government. But he is not always on the attack he has also done political speeches to gain power and trust then going on the offensive again. What do you think joseph Kony is truly after ? Also, What are some other World issues that would be occuring that we as Americans might not pay attention to?

Break(ing) Time

The week before spring break, the attendance question during class was "what are you doing for spring break?" My answer, like most people's, was that I was just going back home for a week to see my family and all my friends from high school. I live in the spring break capital of the country, South Florida, so I figured it was going to be a fun couple of days, just like the old times. But holy crap was I wrong.

Prior to college, everyone always says that once you come back home to visit, you realize that things just aren't the same anymore. People change. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes for the worse. I usually ignored these type of remarks. "My friends are the shit, they're always gonna be the same," I would say to myself. Unfortunately, a lot of them did change and proved people's predictions to be true.

Some of the people that I went to high school with have been doomed since they were little kids. They were always getting in trouble and getting themselves in bad situations. As they grew older, their problems grew in severity. It's not surprising that those types of people changed. What is shocking is when the ones that seemed to have everything going for them, suddenly became degenerates and simply decayed into scumbags overnight. Kids that excelled in school, came from stable homes, had jobs, partied moderately, and had promising futures did a complete 180 with their lives. They became every parent's and friend's worst nightmare.

My hometown of Weston, Florida, is a stereotypical suburban neighborhood. Homes are expensive and luxurious. Public schools here are all graded "A+". The roads are all perfectly paved and the landscape is well maintained.There are a variety of 'healthy and safe' ways to have fun here. Hundreds of cops roam the streets like sharks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. A bunch of celebrities, including Dan Marino and The Rock, call this town their home. The city is rated as one of the best places to raise a family in the United States. From an outsider's point of view, it is the ideal place to live.

Unfortunately, appearances are deceiving. This town is not what it seems, and it is not as pleasant as one might think from just visiting. People here are extremely superficial. They all compete with one another to see who can buy the best house or car. Moms get breast implants to match their teens'. Our local high school, Cypress Bay, had it's own show on MTV.

Sadly enough, this materialistic mindset, gives way to a lot of undesirable problems. A large portion of the teen population experiments with heavy drugs (I'm not talking about just weed, that's baby stuff. I mean coke, X, and even heroin. Really dangerous shit). Most parents ignore their kids' problems and even promote their habits by giving them money.

I don't want to make this too personal, because I realize a lot of you might not be able to relate to it. I'm not going to bore you with stories about people that you don't know or even care about. To be very, very brief, I'm just going to say that this spring break really opened my eyes and changed my perspective on a lot of my friends. Some people I thought I was going to be friends with for the rest of my life, only care about possessions now. They have goals in life very different from my own. At the same time, this helped me realize who my real friends back home are. I am fortunate to have these people still in my life.

My questions to you are: do you find people you went to high school with have changed ever since you started college? Have these changes been good or bad? How do you feel about your friends changing? How do you deal with these changes? Any additional comments on this subject?

This video is a parody of 'New York State of Mind', but instead it's called 'Weston State of Mind'. Yeah I know it's pretty damn cheesy, and I realize the guy is a total tool, but it describes my hometown accurately and sums up the lifestyle here pretty well.