Presentations

Katie- In katie's presentation she argued that Dante's Inferno references the Aeneid and the Bible. Dante  draws on Virgils explanation of the underworld to create hell. limbo is different. Virgil it is just in case of unburied bodies, Dante is because they have never known of god and they had to live in limbo longing for him. Datne plays on contra paso and retribution toward actions. Virgil's hell, escape after you serve your punishment, Dantes hell, never escape and punished forever. Think that there was an argument lacking, the point was good but I thought that a clearer argument would benefit her.

Chandler- Aeneis and Dido. Virgil takes it an modifies it and makes the Greeks look worse by making Aeneis look better by leaving Dido than Odysseus who was told to leave. Wanted to make Odyssues seem like he had less morals as opposed to Aeneis.I liked the argument that there was but I thought that there could be more quotes to support his argument.

Melissa- Satan as an epic hero, he is like Achilles, pride, rage and determination. In paradise lost satan showed pride when satan is infuriated when jesus is picked over him. Achilles is prideful when he is confronted by Agamemnon and fights him. Satan tries to get revenge by making human kind fall from god, Achilles refuses to fight in the war and allows his comrades to die. I liked what she talked about and her arguments were very good, a few quotes would be a great addition.

Why Android is better than IOS

Google's Android Software is much better than the competing Apples IOS  for various reasons. The first reason that it is better is due to the fact that it is open sourced. Anyone has access to the software and can use and manipulate it however they would like. There are many different companies that can make phones using android as opposed to Apples IOS where Apple is the only company that can use IOS. Only apple has access to the software for their use and this is restrictive. Because of this Android powers 4 out of every 5 smartphones. Additionally to Android there is an ability to customize the interface. Through android one can have live wallpapers, change screen transitions, and even add many varieties of widgets which are things you can put on the different start screens and use for information input and output without actually opening an app.While with apple the most you can really do is have one or two widgets on the notifications bar, android allows one to have as many widgets as they would like to have on their screens. Over the years IOS has been known for its simplicity and ease of use and has had the advantage over Android. Recently however, many companies have made android easier to use for the average person, Samsung being one of them. They have made the interface more appealing and intuitive by its organization and on screen gestures. Android being open sourced is able to be advanced by many different companies and take new ideas and improve on them much more rapidly than IOS. Clearly Android is a better software than Apple. It is used to power more smartphones, its much easier for the user and the developer to customize and manipulate, and it is now just as simple and intuitive as IOS is.

What Made Me Mad This Semester

I hated having an eight o'clock class on Tuesday and Thursday. I was so stupid. Why would I think that it was a good idea to take a class at eight in the morning? I should have taken a class at nine instead. That extra hour would have made a huge difference on Tuesday and Thursday. There are many problems with having a class at eight. You can't just go to class you have to get ready for the day as well. On top of that, there is still breakfast! There is not a chance that I would go to class on an empty stomach. That is just asking for an unproductive me. These things are why I can't just leave bed at seven fifty five. Instead I have to get out of bed at seven ten so that I can get ready, eat, and get to class on time. Getting up so early after years of having early morning seminary has taken its toll on me and now its recovery time.  Now it may seem petty. I am in fact an early riser but when you have so much homework and your roommate keeps the lights on until one in the morning or your girlfriend guilt trips you into staying up for another few hours while she finishes her homework it is very hard to get to bed early enough to have a good rest. Another problem is being able to focus. It takes me about an hour and a half to get out of my groggy state and having a class while I am trying to wake up just doesn’t set the right tone for the day. Taking an eight o’clock class is infuriating and has been what made me the most angry this entire semester.

Sports Pep-Talk

Guys, we know how to play. You have made that shot hundreds of thousands of times. You have spent hours in the gym. Now it is your time to shine. Many have said that "there is no chance", "these kids shouldn't be here", and "they don't belong." We have proved them all wrong by getting to where we are today. One game left and it is all up to you. How will you be remembered? Will we be remembered as the team that fell short of our goal? Or will we rise to the occasion. We will rise to the occasion. It is our time to shine.

Poop Commercial

The commercial was talking about cleaning up dog poop. They helped to reiterate their message about how disgusting it was to not clean up your dog poop by telling you what it does and showing all these brown colored things that looked like they would be or have dog poop in them. This is an effective strategy in my opinion. By doing this the creators of this ad are appealing to the viewers ethos. They are making the viewers squirm by telling them how the poop affects water and other things and then showing how it could affect their everyday life. Such as using whipped cream, making sausages that look less than appetizing, or even rubbing it on their face.

The God Particle

It is always exciting to be on the cutting edge of discovery. Recently it was proven that there is in fact a "god particle." This "god particle" is said to be the base of all matter on the earth. It is great that we have discovered such a thing. This discovery can benefit society so much. If we have the basis of all creation we can learn even more of how things work and maybe even create things better synthetically. Discovering this should be considered exciting because of all of its many applications. Some would say that by pursuing discovering and developing such a thing we are "playing god." I don't believe this. God has given us minds and told us to use them. We are supposed to get an education, further and better society as much as we can.

That crazy video

What did i just watch? It was a bunch of Germans or Norwegians singing Last Christmas in another language. They were wearing suits that were definitely not in style in America. It looks like it was made 20 years ago but who really knows, it could be a throwback. That little cha cha thing at the end was slightly confusing as well. Why are grown men holding hands dancing around a tree? Their man cards are officially revoked! It was hard to take the video seriously.

Hockey is the best

Hockey is the best sport. What other sport can you get in a fight and not only come back in the game but also not get fined? It is a ruthless game where players bludgeon each other over a little piece of rubber. Anyone who says Hockey is boring doesn't know what exciting is. Nothing is better than watching men beat each other up with a side show of goals and exceptional athleticism and coordination.

Pancakes, waffles or french toast?

This is not even a discussion, waffles are the best. Waffles are the best because they think outside of the box, there are pockets in the waffles. These pockets create a distinct advantage compared to pancakes or french toast. Syrup no longer runs off the side! Each bite is guaranteed to have syrupy goodness to it. Another advantage waffles have are their crispy nature. because of their crispy nature there is undeniably delicious crunch to each and every bite. Neither pancakes or french toast gets as crunchy, or yummy as a waffle.

The Lightning Thief and its Parallels with The Odyssey Rant

Throughout The Lighting Thief by Rick Riordan there are several references to other stories. They are references to Greek mythology. These references are to the fates, but the majority of references are to The Odyssey. The reference to the fates is when there are three old ladies. They represent the three fates. The fates controlled the destiny of everyone on earth. They affected events from ones birth till their death. In the book they tell a bit of the future of Percy Jackson and some potential events that he will encounter along his journey. The reference to The Odyssey is when Percy Jackson goes into a casino. He goes in there with his two companions and once in there they eat some of the food. For a while they are just having a good time partying playing games and so on. Eventually Percy encounters a man from the 1970’s who says that they are still in the 70’s. Percy realizes that they have been drugged and gathers his companions and subsequently leaves. This food which slows the senses and reality is like the lotus flowers that Odysseus and his men encountered on their journey. It almost completely halted their progress had it not been for Odysseus’s quick realization and swift action. Another parallel exists when Percy has to journey to the underworld. Odysseus also has to journey into the underworld. The difference between the two journeys is how descriptive The Lightning Thief is as opposed to the Odyssey. In the Odyssey the underworld is a vague place with little description to it as opposed to The Lightning Thief where the account is more like the Aeneid; there is much more descriptive terminology used in portraying the underworld. The whole story itself is much like the Odyssey. For one they are both journeys across large areas; the Odyssey around the Mediterranean and The Lightning Thief around the United States. Another parallel is that everywhere Percy goes he encounters something going wrong. Whether it is at Medusas lair, Hoovers dam or even the lotus casino. This is much like Odysseus encountering many mythological creatures such as the Cyclops, sea monsters and yes, he also encounters lotus plants. Of course to go with any epic journey there has to be an epic fight at the end. For Percy in The Lightning Thief, it was against a fellow half-blood, Luke. Luke called on a scorpion to fight Percy and after a fight Percy eventually kills the scorpion but Luke escapes. Odysseus has his own battle in The Odyssey. He his son and two of his servants fight over a hundred suitors who were trying to steal his wife from him and were dishonoring the tradition of Xania. Odysseus eventually triumphs. After each of these fights both go on to live their lives happily for the foreseeable future.  The Lighting Thief is a good parallel with Greek mythology, especially with The Odyssey. The many allusions are fascinating to see, look at, and examine.

One of my Favorite Books: The Prince

One of my favorite books that I have read is The Prince. It may be surprising seeing as how this book isn't the most thrilling or captivating novel to read. It even surprised me how much I enjoyed it. I enjoyed all the theories that were discussed and how I was able to think about what was being said and form my own opinion on it as opposed to reading a story about a journey and just following along. It was challenging enough that it wasn't easy but it wasn't so hard that I could not understand what was being said. It was interesting to see how much thought went into ruling, many times it isn't though much about other than what the ruler says goes. It may be a strange book to be on my list of favorite books but it is, and I enjoyed it.

Love Poem

This will be love for the ages if you turn the pages
An endless journey, please baby don't be in a hurry
You and I can't be beat, and don't worry because I'll always be sweet
Times will get rough but oh honey please be tough

One thing...

If I were able to change one thing about my life it would be to change my work ethic. Sure I get things done on time and correctly but the amount of time it takes to get it done is far to long. I wish that I were able to not get distracted by things such as texts, twitter or Netflix as easily as I do. It would also be nice if I were to start working on assignments, projects and essays ahead of time rather than wait till the last minute to do them. By doing that I would feel less stress and more free to do things rather than confined to the library for six or seven hours in one night. This is the one thing about my life that I want to change.

My favorite work of literature

The Count of Monte Cristo is the best book ever. It is an epic revenge story. I love how well thought out it was on how Dantes was going to take revenge on those who did him wrong. The detail and how methodical he was is outstanding. It was a somewhat difficult plot to follow however the ending was very satisfactory. Dantes executed his revenge in a noble but shrewd way and this was what I liked best.

Ordaining Women

Currently in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints women are not allowed to be ordained in the priesthood. This can be unsettling for some because of the want for equality between men and women and because women can't be ordained they see it as unfair. I am not God, I don't know why things are this way but the prophets have said that they don't even know the truth of all things. This is a divine decision. It is not one that even the prophet can make. We do know that women aren't denied the blessings of the priesthood though. One of the general authorities said that just because someone opens the blinds to let in the sun doesn't mean that they control the suns power. Similarly all that men do is open the blinds. Men don't get any different blessings than women based on the circumstance. It is a subject that requires faith on our part that one day we will have understanding of all things like God. But even god has said that our thoughts are not his thoughts.

How Did We Get Here

America is in the middle of a crisis. The country is in almost 17 trillion dollars of debt and that is rising every day. How did we get here? The government is spending enormous amounts and not doing anything effective to stop the accumulating debt.
The total debt in America is nearing 17 trillion dollars. This is due to excessive spending and waste within the government. The government will fund projects that are of no real use to America. This is what we call "pork barrel spending." These are often ridiculous projects that are funded because the firm or group helped contribute in some way to a politician getting into office. There is also too much waste in the government. For a long time the government didn't use both sides of a piece of paper when writing. This would lead to using twice as much paper. This may seem small but the government could less money on paper and more on paying back debts.
In the government there is too much pork barrel spending. The government spent over 18 million dollars on a website to track how much the government was spending on stimulus. That is an outrageous amount of money to spend on any website. That 18 million dollars could be spent paying back the national debt or giving back tax returns. Another example of pork barrel spending is the government recently spent almost two million dollars on research as to why pigs smell. Clearly this needed to be researched it will help Americans so much to know why pigs smell.
The tax system in itself is a waste and changing it would help slow if not stop the debt from climbing. It rewards people for things that they should not necessarily be rewarded for. The more kids you have the more tax deductions you have. Don't get me wrong kids are great however when someone doesn't have to pay taxes because they are not making as much money and have a large number of kids, that is simply unacceptable. There is also a loophole in the tax system that rewards people for not being married. There was a couple who was unmarried but had four kids. The man of the household earned a handsome salary and filed his taxes separate from the woman. The woman put their kids on her taxes and she had no job. The man paid the taxes that were supposed to be paid for a single man earning his level of income and the woman not only didn't have to pay hardly any taxes but she went to school for free as well, on government grants. If the government were to stop loopholes in our tax system like this they would not be losing as much money as they are.
The Government is in dire need of an overhaul in many aspects. Eliminating waste, ending pork barrel spending and fixing loopholes in taxes and other programs. We are here, at sixteen trillion dollars of debt, because the government is being stupid with their spending and have made it easy to get around the system.

A Misunderstanding

The most exciting thing that happened to me this weekend was going on a "bonding hike" with the girls tennis team. We were all expecting some quick nature walk, chatting along the way, having a good time. We were so wrong. Our coach didn't make it sound like we were going on anything rigorous when in fact it ended up being just that. Only one person thought to bring any water on the hike and none of us wore what we should have. I myself was wearing a pair of Sperry's. The hike was about two and a half miles up and the same back, however, about a mile of it was going over sharp jagged boulders with ten foot drops in between. A mile may not seem that long, well  let me tell you that when you are going over boulders uphill it feels like at least ten miles long. Add to that that once you thought you had reached the top you saw another hill of boulders and finally another. That was rather disheartening, however, we all made it to the top, enjoyed the view for about twenty minutes and went back to the cars. While this does not compare to a New York City level of excitement it was still exciting to do and the view was breathtaking.

The Best Ice Cream Flavor 9/18/13

The best ice cream flavor is clearly cake batter and chocolate ice cream mixed with brownie and waffle cone. This combination of ice cream will blow your mind. The sweetness of the cake batter and brownie with the smooth richness of chocolate and the added crunch of waffle cone will probably leave you speechless, possibly even breathless. Cake batter by itself is enough to blow ones mind but in addition to all these other flavors there is no doubt that this is the ultimate ice cream. This is coming from someone who worked at an ice cream shop. Not just any ice cream shop at that, the ultimate ice cream shop: Cold Stone Creamery. I have experimented and tested many flavors, even got tired of some. But this combination is simply the best of all. Never has it disappointed. Never has it let me down. Never have I gotten tired of it. It has turned skeptics into believers. This is the best, even the ultimate, ice cream flavor.

Girls are Trouble 9/16/13

    "Girls are trouble." This is something all adults tell you when you start to take an interest in girls but this comment is quickly discarded because of curiosity. Much to the detriment of ourselves.

     Girls have to be the most confusing people on this earth. They expect all these qualities in a guy but it seems like they have no rules for themselves. A guy always has to be the first to text, send sweet messages or cannot talk to other girls but girls are exempt from these unwritten rules. They never have to text first, send sweet messages and they can talk to as many guys as they want. This is simply not fair and causes lots of drama. If us guys were to simply avoid girls we would be much better off however we are guys. 

    Guys need to be much more careful when it comes to girls. "Girls are trouble doesn't simply mean that we cannot talk to them or go out with them it simply means that we need to be careful. Girls wont necessarily be trouble if you talk and understand how each others feelings. These are all just jumbled thoughts because Dr. Silverman cut me short and this short rant must come to an end. The main point is that guys should be careful with girls, they can hurt you if you aren't careful.

The Woes of Being Tall

People don’t understand how hard it is to be tall. Everyone just assumes that because someone is tall that makes life so much easier. Well it doesn't. There is much more than meets the eye when it comes to the life of someone who is tall.

                First of all, everyone and their brother want to go up and tell you that you’re tall. As if I didn't notice. It’s not like they pointed out something that I never noticed before. I didn't just notice that I was tall. I didn't notice when I got out of bed or had to cram into a small car or when I was standing in line looking over everyone’s heads, or even when the person in front of me asked the exact same question as you. Like come on give me a little credit on my part. Do they think that all tall people are dumb or something!? I can assure anyone who was wondering that tall people are not dumb.

                Then anyone who talks to me asks if I play basketball because I am so tall. My reply is always, “Do you play mini golf because you’re short?” After I reply with that they take offence to it! They must think that it’s ok for them to say someone is tall just because it is supposedly good. Well I guess they don’t take into account all the problems that come with it. I mean everyone assumes that because someone is tall life is better because they don’t have to ask for help reaching for things. On that point I would just like to say that I will not grab anything from the top shelf for you, grab a chair and stop being so lazy.

                The most obvious problem that tall people have is when we walk through doorways, get on bus’s, ride on airplanes, or even try sleeping on the tiny twin bed that the university gives everyone. It is like people are so in awe of tall people they just forget to accommodate us.  We are the most and the least noticed! People like to tell us we are tall and admire us but as soon as it comes to creating something new every one forgets we exist and makes whatever it is a few sizes too small.  It is so much easier for a short person to adjust to bigger things than it is for taller people to adjust to shorter things. Take being in an airplane for instance. If there were more room in between rows it wouldn't affect a short person much at all. Not only that but us tall people would be much more comfortable and would have no complaints.

                Another problem us tall people face is finding clothes that fit. It is like everyone just assumes that tall people have wide hips. Well they are just not right. There are plenty of us who don’t have wide hips and we can never find jeans that fit! Us tall small hipped guys have nowhere really to buy jeans. The only company that has jeans that can fit without being custom made is Levi and even then there are only a few options. And to top it all off people give us grief about wearing shorts all the time and never dressing “nice.” The other difficult part about being tall is trying to find shirts that fit. The sleeves are hardly ever long enough or the shirt is too baggy or too short.  How am I supposed to even shop for clothes anymore? Things are just so ridiculous.

                Obviously home contractors have a thing against tall people. For one I have never met a contractor who was above six foot. Clearly these people are jealous of the gift of being tall. Because of this they must feel the need to make life difficult for tall people in houses. The doorways are hardly ever tall enough and even if I don’t hit my head on the door it will most certainly mess up my hair. How is this even legal? We have laws for handicapped people and accommodating them, why isn't the same done for tall people? Busses should have more leg room, same with airplanes. Drinking fountains should be taller. It is always so uncomfortable having to stick my butt in people’s faces when getting a drink of water. There is just nothing right about any part of that situation.

                One situation people probably don’t think about is all the aches and pains that come along with being tall. Everything is always sore. Backs, knees, feet, shoulder you name it and it is usually sore. Now people will say “well everyone has problems like those especially if you’re an athlete.” To that I say there is no possible way that everything that I have that’s sore came from athletics. I get the back and shoulders but random pains in the middle of the night? Yeah no there is no way that those happen to short people. They are called growing pains for a reason.

                Now finally there is the argument that girls love tall guys while this is pretty much a scientific fact, imagine how a tall girl must feel. Most guys even if they are tall will go for shorter girls it’s nothing personal just the general taste as a whole. So the struggle of a tall girl being able to find a boyfriend is real. The problem with being a tall guy when dating someone is there is absolutely no way to impress a girl with your dancing skills because I have never met a tall guy who is an amazing dancer. That can be a problem when trying to impress someone albeit a small one.

                So now that I am done ranting you all know the tall people struggle. It is not all glamorous as many would have you believe. It is a hard, repetitive and painful life to live for which there is no sympathy from anyone. Whether it be pain, ridicule, repetitive questions, prejudice or a social life being tall has many problems that people don’t know or understand.