United We Stand?

One article that really caught my attention was "Why the English Language Amendment" by S.I. Hayakawa. He argues that there should be an amendment that would make English the official language of the United States.  In his argument he points out that speaking English is what makes it possible for someone to engage in the American lifestyle.  Hayakawa emphasizes how making English the official language and not viewing the country as being composed of groups of immigrants would help make America more united.
Before reading this article, I had never given any thought to how important English is or why it should be made the official language of the U.S.  Now that I have read the article I see how essential the English language is to the American lifestyle.  I think that I take it for granted that I was raised speaking English because many immigrants come here and are eager to use the language as means of enriching their lives, while I never had to conquer a language barrier to have my life. Due to the fact that English is so important to America, I completely agree that there should be an amendment to make it the official language.  If it were made the official language, then I think that more people would want to learn it and view it as something to unify the country.  How could we ever be a unified nation if people refuse to recognize that speaking English is an important aspect of being an American?

Milk Life is anything but LegenDairy

 

Last year I stumbled across this "milk life" commercial.  It shows a guy breakdancing while milk flows out of his torso in a swirling fashion.  My initial reaction was to hate it because I was used to the previous slogan "got milk?".   I also thought it was very unconvincing that the advertisement is trying to get people to think that if they drink milk, then they will be able to breakdance and have milk flowing from their torso.  No matter how much milk a person drinks, they will most likely not be able to breakdance and they will definitely not become a milk dispenser.  From the extremely unrealistic concept of the commercial it is easy to see that it was intended to reach a younger audience, but I think that the people in charge of creating the concept should have addressed an older audience as well.  Older audiences are the people who actually have the money and the desire to buy milk.  If you gave a kid money to go to the grocery store, they would pick candy over milk any day.

Even though I found the commercial to be unconvincing because of its ridiculous concept, I'm still going to buy milk. It's an  important ingredient for most recipes and is a requirement for most baked goods.  I'm not going to stop buying something just because I don't think its commercial is very good.

The Odd One Out

Why Americans still use Fahrenheit long after everyone else switched to Celsius
During my elementary school days when my teachers began teaching how to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, I would always get lost on those homework assignments.  It always seemed useless to know this conversion because the U.S. uses Fahrenheit. Finally my homework made sense when my third grade teacher explained to the class that Celsius is used everywhere else in the world and that it could come in handy to have an understanding of it.  Since then, I have found it strange that the U.S. is the only country that still uses Fahrenheit.  It would make more sense for the U.S. to use Fahrenheit because the rest of the world does.  I know that it would be a difficult process to switch to using Celsius, but it would make things a lot easier in the long run.  If the U.S. would switch to using Celsius, then the whole world would be on the same page when it comes to temperature.

I Would Die Without Cheeseburgers

In Foer's article, "Against Meat" he recalls that the meats he ate during his childhood were an important part of his memories.  He also proceeds to convey that it is possible to attach those memories to a new handle.  While I agree that foods can channel important memories, I do disagree that those memories can be attached to anything else effectively.  Once I associate something with a certain memory, then that never changes.  For me, cheeseburgers will always remind me of relaxing Sunday barbecues and preparing meals with my father.  I don't think that I could ever associate those specific memories with anything other than cheeseburgers.  Cheeseburgers will always remain a comfort food because of the many memories I have attached to them.  There is not a single other handle that would accurately or effectively carry those memories for me.

Google is a student' best friend

Throughout my career as a student, many of my almost elderly teachers have complained about how they couldn't use the internet to help them with their school work or how they hated doing research in a library. Hearing about how they had to do their school work without websites, such as Google, always makes me cringe.  I couldn't imagine doing a research paper without the help of Google. I don't think that I would have gotten good grades throughout high school if it weren't for Google.  Even though some people think that society is too reliant on technology, there are so many things I wouldn't know if Google was never invented, such as how to play the guitar or bake.  Whenever I don't know something, Google is my lifeline.  We are better off than previous generations because of the technology that we have today.

Can you really call a modern musician a musician?

Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac
Earlier today I was on YouTube watching Fleetwood Mac perform their song Rhiannon.  Fleetwood Mac is one of the most famous bands of the 70's and it is easy to see why when you watch their live performances.  The had so much stage presence and they would just get lost in their own music.  They were also able to play their instruments better than anyone could ever dream of playing.  As I watched the video, I wished that today's musicians could be like them.  Now when you go to a concert the musicians are not able to play well enough and they need a couple of back up guitarists and singers even when they are in a full band.  When I see things like this I am left to wonder where all of the real musicians went and why the music business has such low standards today.

My Tedious Writing Process

Many people will tell you that the writing process begins with some type of pre-writing, but I beg to differ.  The first thing I do when I get a writing assignment is freak out.  I don't freak out because I think it will be difficult or that I won't get it done.  The reason why I freak out is because I'd rather be doing something else like watching Netflix.  After the freak out I begin to think of ideas for my assignment and imagine the structure it will have.  Once a sufficient amount of thought has been put into what I'm going to write, then I start to draft or write like a maniac.  After my first draft has been written, I proofread.  Even though your not supposed to do this until the end of the writing process, it helps me figure out what needs to be revised.  Then I revise, proofread again and try to turn it in as soon as possible because I never want to see the assignment ever again.  My writing process has been successful so far, but I need to work on not getting so attached to what I have written before the revision process.  Hopefully I will do a better job of this during this course.