Art Review, Banksy.

Banksy has truly brought a new era to the art world. Even though he does not want the fame he just wants to make a statement to the world about things that are wrong and go un-noticed by the average person. In the piece I found he shows that image of the grass is greener on the other side, the idea that what you have is never as good as what you neighbor has. He shows through a concrete wall a picture of the beach in a tropical area that could be considered as paradise with children on the outside looking in with a shovel and a bucket which is the things kids bring to beaches to entertain themselves. Banksy is such an amazing artist in my mind because he wants to show people things that they overlook and would not notice unless it was shown to them. This specific piece is different than most of his pieces because he is showing people affected by separation of the wall, most likely he is showing them what they probably already know that what is happening on the other side is better than what is happening on their side. Banksy has so many piece of art that he has done throughout his career, which has made it hard to pick a single piece to review. I appreciate that fact that he does not work for the money, more for the passion and through the passion he has made a living.     

We Have the RIght.

We have the right to chill. Its the last weeks of senior year, we all know where we are going to school next year, or at least have a good idea. Why do teachers want us to work just as hard as usual with the end so near? I mean senioritis is completely contagious and I would be shocked to find a senior that doesn't have it. I would keep writing but senioritis is kicking in again and..... I'm out.

Mr. McCarthy's Birthday week.

This was a couple months ago now, but happy REALLY belated birthday. Thank you for the nice spring break with no homework it was nice to not have to be grinding through homework the entire break. I cant really think of what to write so I am just going to talk about your class. Not trying to kiss ass but Philosophy has been the best english class that I have taken since being at Whitney. Its also the only one that I had a choice whether or not to take so I contribute part of the fact that I like it to that. Also probably one of the most interesting discussions go on in your class. So thank you Mr. McCarthy for having an interesting class, I appreciate it.

X is Known.

Malcolm X is known thats for sure. Maybe not for what he was really about but he is known. If you ask the average person I would bet that they could not tell you what Malcolm X stood for and what he believed in. So what should he be known for? He should be known for his desire to change how people were treated and change the way people thought about race. And simply he wanted to further his race so that they live lives of freedom and without oppression.

X Marks the Spot

So the Autobiography of Malcolm X, its been fairly interesting so far. I dont really agree with a lot of the things he says about white people, but being white, naturally I would hate to be called the White-Devil. He led a pretty interesting life during his time in harlem which gave an interesting glimpse into a portion of history that I would have known little to nothing about. And in at least that aspect the book brought something to the table. Malcolm seems to be one of those people you meet who have been everywhere and done everything who we envy for their ability to wander around and experience all that they can be offered. Aside from that I dont have a lot to say about this book. There are some pretty strong prejudices put on people and makes getting through the book somewhat more difficult.

Beggin'?

Well I'm not Beggin' but I would like to hear Beggin' by Madcon. Beggin' was originally a song by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Frankie Valli was a major contributor to the music industry from the 50's to the 70's. Originally Beggin' was a love song of sorts, basically talking about what a girl has done to him. He also talks about how he wants to change to become the man she wants. And is "Beggin" her not to go. When Madcon remade the song he replaced his voice for Frankie Valli's and made the music more crisp and also added bass to the song. On top of this he also added some lines of rap. Where he he basically re-enforces the idea originally laid down by Frankie Valli. 

Madcon really employs one of my favorite styles of modern music, He incorporated classical music or at least music from a different generation that you would not expect to go well with rap. I think that although he did not create the song and he is using something from someone else, it takes true skill to pull it off well. I also have to say that if it was not for this song I would not have gotten the original song which is equally as good as the remake.  

I Know This Means Something.

I know this means something..... What does that mean? These headings are ridiculously vague. So Ill talk about the fact that we just had two days off of school cause there was an insane amount of snow. I dont know what the rest of the city looks like because I have not been able or willing to get a car out of our alley or get to the train. But on wednesday I casually walked down Sheridan Road in Rogers park and saw about 5 cars driving around. For people who dont live on the North Side, Sheridan road is possibly the busiest road around here no matter what time of day. So to celebrate the fact that no cars were driving on it I made a snow angel for the experience. My street just got plowed (its 8:30 on thursday) by a piece of demolition equipment that my dad told me weighed at least 15tons, which had trouble with all the snow on my street, but the driver was a real chill bro and plowed our driveway for us so it worked out for us. My neighbor who owns a BBQ restaurant gave us food today because no one came to his restaurant today. Wonder why? But it was amazing.

I know what this means!
Snow Day.  

ULTIMATE RECIPE!

When I think Ultimate Recipe only one name comes to my mind; Bobby Flay. And Bobby Flay's best recipes are always his burgers, he may be the burger master. He can seriously put anything on a burger and it'll be incredible I can personally guarantee that. I'll give some good examples, Cesar Salad Burger, Greek Burger and the Miami Burger (A cuban sandwich version of the burger). But where the burger really tops out for me is the Santa Fe Burger. It is completely perfect in my opinion, it has a queso sauce, poblano peppers, and sliced tortilla chips that top the patty before the top bun goes on. The Burger has the classic cheese on top of it with the tortilla chips which give it a good crunch which sets it apart from other burgers. The poblano pepper is kinda sweet like bell peppers but adds a good flavor to the overall burger and gives it the Santa Fe taste. I have only had this Burger a handful of times but it is by far the ultimate recipe for me.

I'm A Shoe.

Flip Flops. I almost feel like there is not much more to say. I absolutely love my flip flops, if it were not so cold I would be wearing them right now. When it comes to flip flops you cannot go wrong with Rainbows, if you can break these I would be genuinely shocked, there are strong as you cant believe and it makes them so much more valuable. Flips flops to me epitomize summer and what goes on during summer. every time I put them on I realize that its warm out and I dont have to worry about school but just go and do stuff.  Whoever invented the flip flop is really taken for granted, they did something great for the world.

Globilization

Globalization, to me this means the unitizing of the world into a global entity. This new globalized world or at least the beginning of it has brought us some pretty amazing things. We now can get spices from all over the world, walk down the street and get food that was originally made in Italy, Japan, ect. And as simple as it seems the process and the actual execution of this meld of cultures into one place is actually amazing. If we look at what it took for our modern society to get to this point you would see a long and drawn out process which is boring to us because we just want to sit down and watch tv. But that tv is also a part of the globalization. Your tv was probably made in asia somewhere and shipped to the united states for you to watch. Not to mention the Soccer game that is going on in Europe that you can watch live but most likely recorded because the time difference would make you wake up WAY to early to see it. But you are sitting on your couch watching the game that is being shot in a country thousands of miles away eating your take out food (pizza) and watching a tv that like the game came  from thousands of miles away. Globalization is the unity of all countries for the purpose of efficiency, bettering mankind and diversification of the things that normally go on in your country. So what is globalization to me? It is the unification of countries to provide a better environment, although it has not come without short falls it has still served a great number of people and bettered our earth for the people on it.

Good Food.

Good food review. Its a vague title but I'll try to roll with it. Good Food, in my opinion good food lays at a large number of restaurants around the city and can be found easily by typing in Chipotle to your phone. No matter where you are in Chicago you can easily find a Chipotle close to you. Chipotle is one of my favorite places to go for food and I get the same thing every time for 5 years straight now. Every Chipotle has the same thing and its always good. No matter what you get. And its not about the restaurant its about going with friends and eating the food. I cant really say anything about the atmosphere because I have never taken to the time to look around while im eating.  But if you have never been its time to stop putting it off or hating chipotle for whatever reason and go and eat. It'll be great

King Still King?

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential people of our countries time, but I feel like his message is being forgotten and what he stood for is dying. To be honest I had to read an article to really understand what he stood for and what his message was. I knew the basics but the basics dont do him any justice. In my opinion he should still be king but we are allowing ourselves to forget his message of desegregation, this is apparent in chicago (although its been that way for a while) but also in our school. If you were to ask someone what race sat in which house of of school the answers would be pretty similar. the answers are pretty standard for everyone in the school. I try to point out that the school is segregated in lunch rooms but I am guilty of the segregation too. So on a sad note I believe that he is still King but is only a figure and other ideas are creeping in and taking over.

Sports In My LIfe

Sports. I dont keep up with the sports that most people find entertaining, I dont go out of my way to watch football, Basketball, Baseball or any televised sport really. I keep up with my own sport, sailing. And just to make sure its clear it is a sport, its in the summer olympics and im pretty sure that makes it a sport. Sailing to me has provided another family, which I spend my entire summer with, from the day we get out of school to the day it starts up again. As a team we go everywhere together just like all sports teams do. Except for us an 8 hour trip is pretty normal to get to the competition, and 8 hours in a team van can make people pretty close to each other, in both senses of that statement. But like all teams we take it very seriously, we have practice every weekday from 8 to 4 and then travel on the weekend to show other teams and sailors what we have. We are handicapped though unlike the warmer southern states sailors who practice all year round we have a 5 month period where we cant do anything but look at the frozen water where we usually spend the majority of our time.
I see Sailing as not only a sport but a way to spend time. You dont have to take a boat out with the intention to race, you can also take the things you learned to take a cruise and listen to the water flow around your boat and just relax and enjoy the fact that you are using the wind to move. You also get a whole new way of looking at the city from the water about a mile out you can see the entirety of Chicago's lake front and at night the sight is enhanced.

Thankful for a Classmate.

I have to say that the most important person in the class for me is the guy who sits behind me, Kody. I ask him the same question everyday, what was the homework, not only for this class but also for Law, and I seriously attribute me getting a majority of my homework done on him. But I feel like I am also thankful for the rest of the kids around me. A class is nothing without the people you talk to in the class, otherwise it would be a sit and listen to Mr. McCarthy, which isnt bad, but you have to have diversity in the conversations you have, thats how we keep from being bored to the point that watching the clock become extremely engaging. So I am truly thankful for everyone in the class, probably one of the funniest groups of people in one room I have during the day.

Class Direction

where does this class need to go? That is a very interesting question. Where should a class go? should it be scholarly or should it be fun? Why can't we have both, thats how it should be. School needs to be fun and also teach us something. If we are not having fun then we sit through class and think about where we would rather be, I know for myself I would much rather hang out in Miami than be in a boring class. But that all changes when I feel like I am engaged or at least think somewhat about what is happening in class. So where should we go? The best direction in my opinion is more discussion, its an English class right? and some people believe the art of conversation is dying, so lets revitalize it in an environment that doesn't lead to the loss of a job or the loss of a human contact.

Family Relations

Families have interesting internal structures. In my family my mother controls the family, even though my father does more work for the family. For me I am more drawn to my mother because of this controlling factor, I'm not really sure why but if there is something bad that happened I am more inclined to talk to my mother about it... Maybe Freud was right that sons are closer to their mothers. What adds to my confusion as to why I am more inclined to talk to my mother is that my father and I have similar traits and enjoy similar things. We are both sailors, accomplished in the midwest. We like similar music and we are both interested in fixing things before we throw them away and buy another or go without something. But even through our similarities we are not especially close, I dont go to him for problems, but then again I dont go to my mother for problems either. That is just who I have grown up to be, I'd rather be independent and solve my own issues that tell my parents. So for me this idea of  parent and child relationships is quite difficult. I wouldn't consider myself to have a normal relationship with either.

What do I know?

How do I know what I know? That is a very good question, I want to think that what I have learned is true, and that things I hear are also true. But do I actually know that everything around me, everything said to me, everything I read is true? No, of course not. And being disappointed by something that I believed to be true but really wasn't is one of the worst feelings you can have. Being sure of something and then it ends up being false and you ideals and hope are crushed. But that situation is only in the most personal sense. If I found out that 1+1=3, to be honest I wouldn't care aside from the fact that all of my math classes since 1st grade have been based of 1+1=2.. So in reality we can only hope that what we know is true. For some things it'll never be clear cut as to right or wrong, truth or lie, black or white.

My purpose

My purpose. 
 First I think I should try to define what I believe purpose is, a purpose is something a person is best at, that aids in their own life to make them feel complete and so they feel they are contributing but also something that helps others too. I don't believe finding a purpose is an easy task, in actuality I think it may be one of the hardest things as humans we try to do. 
 For myself I think this is an impossible question to answer at this point in my life. I am not sure what I am doing to help everyone around me, that's serves a purpose that lasts longer than a day or a week. But just because I don't believe I have one now does not mean that I don't believe I'll eventually have one. I think a true purpose comes later in life when you are not being treated as a kid or a child which seems to persist with adults no matter if you are the same size have the same things to say or for that matter have more intelligent things to say. So what I am trying to say is that a purpose is like wisdom, you have to earn it, and you cannot just have it instantly. 

God In 2010

What or who is god in 2010? As a person who is not religious I do not seek out god for problems I have or thank him for good things that happen to me, but if there is a god and he did create the earth I respect him deeply, and if I could, I would tell him he did a pretty good job.
           But what purpose does god have in a society that is slowly finding out how we were created or what our past looked like through science, and soon possibly we may find out all the secrets of the world and how we came to be? For the time being I believe god still holds a purpose, for people who could not bear the thought that people  are alone in the universe god provide a much needed pillar in which to lean and feel stable. For people who need to have a purpose in life god helps them too, what could be more worth while than serving a higher cause or being who at the end of your life will welcome you to paradise with open arms, or for that matter greet you with open arms and 72 virgins. It serves society a higher cause as well, if society had a bunch of people who were killing each other and robbing, and doing other crimes to others we would have a very serious problem, but in most religions, god says that doing all those crazy acts is bad and he will not greet you at the gates to paradise.
       So what is god? God is a way to make it from day to day, continue a family tradition, a higher being to please. He is our way of making life meaningful and letting the wonder of the world be explained if not through reason, through intelligent design.

An Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living

From what we have learned from Socrates, we know that an unexamined life is not worth living. By this Socrate means that if we live our lives without analyzing what is around us then we will not truly being living and life not worthing living is something truly sad. All people should examine their lives and not just go day to day without the concept of time or space even coming into the equation. As a society we should should always examine life, because what do we know is true and what do we know is not? And what about ourselves is true and what is not? the only way to answer this it to really reflect on ourselves and to try to realize what really lays behind what we see on a daily basis, why do we do the things we do? Why do others act the way they do in accordance to our actions? These are all questions to ask ourselves and if we do so we are no longer living an unexamined life and we live the way Socrates tried to teach people.