When I was writing out the answers to my evaluation sheet in class, I felt like I didn’t write out everything that I wanted to within those lines. So in this blog post, I’ll be talking about more specifically about my thoughts towards the Nonfiction writing class.
Let me start off by saying that I really have enjoyed taking nonfiction. I enjoyed nonfiction for a number of reasons, one of them being the writing assignments given in the class. What’s so great about all these personal essays, blog posts, and in-class writings is the freedom we get in writing all these things. In the blog posts, for example, I have a lot of fun writing on things that interest me or things I want to talk about like TV shows, movies, and Facebook. As for the personal essays, of course there was a prompt to write on, but I was given the liberty to choose a topic or experience that was close to me that I needed to reflect on. To have this kind of freedom was a breath of fresh air. I’ve been so used to writing papers on a specific topic (and ones that I have not been at all interested in) throughout my time at Uni, it was nice for a change to finally have some control in what I was writing.
The essays we read from the Phillip Lopate anthology were also quite memorable and certainly writings I wished we had continued to read. The Paul Farmer book and “The Botany of Desire” were both great books to read, but I liked the essays for a number of reasons. For one, the essays seemed a lot more interesting to me because I could relate to some of the topics more than the things the books talked about. One of the most memorable essays for me was “An Apology for Idlers”, which was the essay on the benefits of idling. To talk about just sitting around doing nothing and watching the world go by was certainly something I enjoyed doing. I was glad that someone in the world advocated for such a thing, especially for a guy like me who lives in a house obsessed with studying and working. That thing I could relate to was hard to fin in either of the books we read. To be honest, I’m not so interested in learning about apples, potatoes, and tulips (although the marijuana chapter was certainly captivating to read). And as for Paul Farmer, he is a great guy, but chances are, I’m not going to be following in his footsteps anytime soon.
Also, I felt that reading the essays definitely helped me in improving my writing. Reading all of these essays, I learned a few things in writing that are key in writing good papers and essays such as to make sure to have a purpose in your writing and to make that purpose clear and concise. Again, the books were great, but I felt that these books were more for pleasure reading. I wanted something that would help me improve my writing and I found that more in the essays.
To sum up my point, I think that the great thing about this class was the fact that I was able to read and write on things that were much closer to me and things that I could probably relate to in my life. That’s what I feel school needs. I learn so much stuff in school about math, English, and science, yet I don’t get many chances to actually relate to it or apply it in real life. Nonetheless, it has been a wonderful semester and it has been an honor to take your class, Ms. Majerus.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Year of 2010 - 2011
I know that this blog post may seem out of place compared to my other posts, but with the school year coming to an end, I want to look back and see what has happened in the past year and reflect on all these events. So let’s start.
What were some of the downsides of junior year? For starters, the amount of schoolwork increased and that was no joke. Unlike sophomore year, I stayed up hours on end until the early hours in the morning trying to finish up papers, studying for tests, and doing a lot of other homework in subjects from History to Calculus and Physics. It really was a difficulty trying to catch up on sleep and I experienced a whole new definition of the word “tired”. Added on to the stress of schoolwork was the pressure of standardized tests and college, keeping up with Track and its 5 am practices, and other extracurricular activities.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that there were the upsides of Junior year. In terms of sports, with the help of Tahar, Edward, and Nealay, we finally reached our goal in Track by breaking the 4 x 100 meter relay record from 1985, an accomplishment I will never forget. I also won a lot of awards that ranged from math to science to even Japanese in a variety of contests. The one contest I will never forget will be my Japanese Speech Contest, in which I was invited to Chicago to give my speech on the Atomic Bomb dropped on Japan in 1945. At the contest, there were people from all over the Midwest who came and spoke Japanese without any accents or dialects, showing me how much I had left to go in order to master my Japanese.
Don’t think this blog is about me trying to brag about my accomplishments throughout the year. All I am here to say is that when you look back on what has happened to you in a year, there were probably a lot of ups and downs. Look back at all of them and learn from all of them. It is good to feel pride in your accomplishments, but also see what you need to improve on and work to set goals for yourself for the next year.
What were some of the downsides of junior year? For starters, the amount of schoolwork increased and that was no joke. Unlike sophomore year, I stayed up hours on end until the early hours in the morning trying to finish up papers, studying for tests, and doing a lot of other homework in subjects from History to Calculus and Physics. It really was a difficulty trying to catch up on sleep and I experienced a whole new definition of the word “tired”. Added on to the stress of schoolwork was the pressure of standardized tests and college, keeping up with Track and its 5 am practices, and other extracurricular activities.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that there were the upsides of Junior year. In terms of sports, with the help of Tahar, Edward, and Nealay, we finally reached our goal in Track by breaking the 4 x 100 meter relay record from 1985, an accomplishment I will never forget. I also won a lot of awards that ranged from math to science to even Japanese in a variety of contests. The one contest I will never forget will be my Japanese Speech Contest, in which I was invited to Chicago to give my speech on the Atomic Bomb dropped on Japan in 1945. At the contest, there were people from all over the Midwest who came and spoke Japanese without any accents or dialects, showing me how much I had left to go in order to master my Japanese.
Don’t think this blog is about me trying to brag about my accomplishments throughout the year. All I am here to say is that when you look back on what has happened to you in a year, there were probably a lot of ups and downs. Look back at all of them and learn from all of them. It is good to feel pride in your accomplishments, but also see what you need to improve on and work to set goals for yourself for the next year.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Unhealthy food
Last weekend, after buying our tuxedos for Prom, Edward and I stopped by McDonald’s to buy some food. While he got some McNuggets and medium fries, I got a double cheeseburger and fries. It was a long time since I actually ate food at McDonald’s. As I was eating this food at home, I had forgotten how great McDonald’s tasted. At the same time,I started to ask myself: what exactly drove me away from eating McDonald’s and other fast food?
When I was kid, I remember I used to eat so much fast food. While my dad took me to eat a snack at McDonald’s once a week before swimming practice, my mom often bought me an array of fast foods that ranged from McDonald’s to Taco Bell to Arby’s. I never paid attention to how unhealthy these foods were and just savored the wonderful taste that these foods had. Eating McChickens, spicy burritos, and curly fries was great to say the least.
Now when I hear the names of these foods or fast food restaurants in general, I feel disgusted. As we all have become so aware of, there is a health craze going on in the nation. People invest so much of their time and efforts into trying to not get overweight for numerous reasons ranging from personal good looks to preventing diseases from occurring such as diabetes and heart disease. Part of this health craze has included denouncing the fast food industry by deluging the public with horrifying facts on the fast food industry about how poorly food is prepared and the excessive amounts of fat, calories, sodium, and cholesterol in these foods. If you’ve read “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser or have seen “Supersieze Me” or have just seen anything related to nutrition in general, I’m sure you get the idea.
Ever since I came to Uni, I’ve become a lot more involved in the health craze. I hate eating fast food and junk food that everyone says that we shouldn’t go to, exercise as much as I can everyday to stay fit and not gain so many pounds, and watch out for what I eat whenever I am eating, making sure to get a good number of meats, vegetables, and fruits into my diet. I’m not criticizing anyone that follows such a lifestyle; personally I think it’s a great way to lead your life. At the same time, isn’t it also reasonable to say that this health craze is out of paranoia, out of the fear that we just don’t want to be deemed “fat”? What I mean to say is that we shouldn’t hate the fast food and junk food that is surrounding us. If you want to eat something unhealthy, then by all means eat it. And even if you don’t burn those calories off later via exercise, there probably won’t be any harm towards your body.
By all means am I not some nutritionist nor am I some health expert. There is a lot I haven’t considered in my talk towards such a lifestyle such as what it means to eat in moderation and how far people’s limits really are. All these things I will discuss in my next blog. As a skinny, athletic boy, all I want to say is this: if you love food, no matter how healthy it is, don’t suppress your inner desire. There is definitely some limit to which we can eat these foods, but eat at your heart’s content. In a way, that might not be as bad as you think.
When I was kid, I remember I used to eat so much fast food. While my dad took me to eat a snack at McDonald’s once a week before swimming practice, my mom often bought me an array of fast foods that ranged from McDonald’s to Taco Bell to Arby’s. I never paid attention to how unhealthy these foods were and just savored the wonderful taste that these foods had. Eating McChickens, spicy burritos, and curly fries was great to say the least.
Now when I hear the names of these foods or fast food restaurants in general, I feel disgusted. As we all have become so aware of, there is a health craze going on in the nation. People invest so much of their time and efforts into trying to not get overweight for numerous reasons ranging from personal good looks to preventing diseases from occurring such as diabetes and heart disease. Part of this health craze has included denouncing the fast food industry by deluging the public with horrifying facts on the fast food industry about how poorly food is prepared and the excessive amounts of fat, calories, sodium, and cholesterol in these foods. If you’ve read “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser or have seen “Supersieze Me” or have just seen anything related to nutrition in general, I’m sure you get the idea.
Ever since I came to Uni, I’ve become a lot more involved in the health craze. I hate eating fast food and junk food that everyone says that we shouldn’t go to, exercise as much as I can everyday to stay fit and not gain so many pounds, and watch out for what I eat whenever I am eating, making sure to get a good number of meats, vegetables, and fruits into my diet. I’m not criticizing anyone that follows such a lifestyle; personally I think it’s a great way to lead your life. At the same time, isn’t it also reasonable to say that this health craze is out of paranoia, out of the fear that we just don’t want to be deemed “fat”? What I mean to say is that we shouldn’t hate the fast food and junk food that is surrounding us. If you want to eat something unhealthy, then by all means eat it. And even if you don’t burn those calories off later via exercise, there probably won’t be any harm towards your body.
By all means am I not some nutritionist nor am I some health expert. There is a lot I haven’t considered in my talk towards such a lifestyle such as what it means to eat in moderation and how far people’s limits really are. All these things I will discuss in my next blog. As a skinny, athletic boy, all I want to say is this: if you love food, no matter how healthy it is, don’t suppress your inner desire. There is definitely some limit to which we can eat these foods, but eat at your heart’s content. In a way, that might not be as bad as you think.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thoughts on Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber. There is almost no one in this world that hasn’t heard of this name. He is currently one of the biggest names in pop music as of now, releasing catchy singles like “Baby”, “Somebody to Love”, and “Never say Never”. Even though he’s only 17 years old, he has a fan base in the millions, has an autobiography and a film called “Never say Never” on his life, and has toys and games endorsing him.
So why do I bring up Justin Bieber? Like all other musicians, he will have supporters and he will have critics and “haters”. What’s interesting about Justin Bieber is that these supporters and critics are really biased and hardcore in what they say about him. While some of these supporters have caught the “Bieber Fever” and believe that he is the voice of your generation, others believe that he should get out of the music industry entirely. I mean for god’s sakes, you can just tell from his songs that he hasn’t hit puberty yet!
I am not nor will ever be in love with Justin Bieber. I mean his music really is awful. Every one of his songs on love and girls are corny. How can he know what love is beyond the teenage puppy love that most of us experience when we’re in high school? The autobiography and movie were overly excessive. He only released two albums “My World” and “My World 2.0”. How can you make a movie about his life after only two albums? Sure he’s made a lot of hit singles, but that isn’t saying much. If you don’t know about Justin Bieber’s childhood, he grew up in Stratford, a relatively small town in Canada. Living with a poor, single mom, Bieber took it out on the streets and sang for small pocket change. He then went on to singing at talent shows and posted Youtube videos of him singing before he was discovered by Usher and was signed a deal. This story, although somewhat remarkable, is not very appealing. Again, he’s only 17 years old. Does he really have any significant life experiences to talk about compared to someone like Kurt Cobain or Jimi Hendrix?
If you go on some websites, you can see how far this antagonism towards Bieber goes to. Take Youtube for example. Almost every one of Justin Bieber’s videos has over 100 million views, with his song “Baby” being ranked as the most watched Youtube video of all time with a record 470 million views. At the same time, it’s also the most disliked video in Youtube’s history. A lot of ordinary people post comments saying how Justin Bieber is a total fag to how small his penis is to how feminine he looks with his former hairstyle.
My point is this: Bieber isn’t the worst musician in history as most people tout. There have certainly been a lot worse musicians than him like Vanilla Ice, Soulja Boy, and Ashley Simpson. I certainly don’t like Bieber, but it isn’t necessary to go so far as to write long pararaphs in the comment box on Youtube or on a blog, ranting on how much you despise Bieber. Everytime I go to a Youtube video, I’ll see at least one of these hate comments regarding Bieber and it disgusts me to actually see one of these comments. There is no reason to hate him and there is no reason to worship him. Just know that he’s out there, making millions of dollars like any other music artist out there.We all have different tastes in music, but you don't have to be so extreme about them.
So why do I bring up Justin Bieber? Like all other musicians, he will have supporters and he will have critics and “haters”. What’s interesting about Justin Bieber is that these supporters and critics are really biased and hardcore in what they say about him. While some of these supporters have caught the “Bieber Fever” and believe that he is the voice of your generation, others believe that he should get out of the music industry entirely. I mean for god’s sakes, you can just tell from his songs that he hasn’t hit puberty yet!
I am not nor will ever be in love with Justin Bieber. I mean his music really is awful. Every one of his songs on love and girls are corny. How can he know what love is beyond the teenage puppy love that most of us experience when we’re in high school? The autobiography and movie were overly excessive. He only released two albums “My World” and “My World 2.0”. How can you make a movie about his life after only two albums? Sure he’s made a lot of hit singles, but that isn’t saying much. If you don’t know about Justin Bieber’s childhood, he grew up in Stratford, a relatively small town in Canada. Living with a poor, single mom, Bieber took it out on the streets and sang for small pocket change. He then went on to singing at talent shows and posted Youtube videos of him singing before he was discovered by Usher and was signed a deal. This story, although somewhat remarkable, is not very appealing. Again, he’s only 17 years old. Does he really have any significant life experiences to talk about compared to someone like Kurt Cobain or Jimi Hendrix?
If you go on some websites, you can see how far this antagonism towards Bieber goes to. Take Youtube for example. Almost every one of Justin Bieber’s videos has over 100 million views, with his song “Baby” being ranked as the most watched Youtube video of all time with a record 470 million views. At the same time, it’s also the most disliked video in Youtube’s history. A lot of ordinary people post comments saying how Justin Bieber is a total fag to how small his penis is to how feminine he looks with his former hairstyle.
My point is this: Bieber isn’t the worst musician in history as most people tout. There have certainly been a lot worse musicians than him like Vanilla Ice, Soulja Boy, and Ashley Simpson. I certainly don’t like Bieber, but it isn’t necessary to go so far as to write long pararaphs in the comment box on Youtube or on a blog, ranting on how much you despise Bieber. Everytime I go to a Youtube video, I’ll see at least one of these hate comments regarding Bieber and it disgusts me to actually see one of these comments. There is no reason to hate him and there is no reason to worship him. Just know that he’s out there, making millions of dollars like any other music artist out there.We all have different tastes in music, but you don't have to be so extreme about them.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
TV shows nowadays (Part 2)
In my previous post before Agora Days, I talked about how today’s TV shows for children are just not what they were when I was a child. Now, I want to delve into that a little further, talking about Cartoon Network, the network I watched most as a child.
Cartoon Network made significant changes to its television programming in recent years. Up to around 2006, many of the more popular 90s cartoon shows were shown on Cartoon Network. Dexter’s Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, and Cow and Chicken are only some of the channels that I watched growing up. As I mentioned in my previous post, it was these TV shows that I enjoyed watching as a child and they had such wild and exciting plots that made them all the more memorable. When 2006 came around though, all of these cartoons were taken off the network completely and would only appear on the network as re-runs.
Coincidentally, 2006 was also the year when Hannah Montana premiered on Disney Channel and made its success in appealing towards tweens. Because of Hannah Montana’s success in so many different markets from music to TV to toys and games, it has spawned numerous rip-off programs that try to imitate the style of sitcom/live reality TV show of Hannah Montana. Cartoon Network was no exception to this and started to promote live-action series such as BrainRush, Destroy Build Destroy, and TowerPrep. Many of these shows involve kids ages 14-16, who are answering trivia questions or building random things and destroying them. In fact, Cartoon Network has even shown basketball games with teenagers talking about the highlights of these games.
Now I’m no expert in television programming and anything related to the subject itself, but isn’t the network called “Cartoon Network”? Why is Cartoon Network promoting live action series when they have nothing to do with the name itself? I know that Cartoon Network does show cartoons, most of which are pretty awful to say the least, but it boggles my mind that Cartoon Network is so desperate in competing against Disney and Nickelodeon to the point where it goes against the name of its own network and creates such boring reality shows.
If you ever watched Cartoon Network in the late 90s and early 2000s, I will always remember how Dexter tried to hide his secret laboratory from his parents while he built his wacky inventions or how the Powerpuff girls had to fight numerous villians ranging from the evil monkey Mo-Jo-Jojo to the effeminate devil Him. I repeat myself from what I said in my previous post: kids shows should make kids fantasize. The content of these shows should be wild and imaginative so that watching these shows will be all the more memorable.
I know that I didn’t talk about other channels and networks that have completely changed their programming. But, I thought that Cartoon Network and the changes it has made would give a good enough picture to the current status of most kids shows. Again, I don’t mean to say that these shows aren’t universally despised nor should be. But they aren’t as wild as they once were and writers of kids shows should really bring back the shows of the 90s.
Cartoon Network made significant changes to its television programming in recent years. Up to around 2006, many of the more popular 90s cartoon shows were shown on Cartoon Network. Dexter’s Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, and Cow and Chicken are only some of the channels that I watched growing up. As I mentioned in my previous post, it was these TV shows that I enjoyed watching as a child and they had such wild and exciting plots that made them all the more memorable. When 2006 came around though, all of these cartoons were taken off the network completely and would only appear on the network as re-runs.
Coincidentally, 2006 was also the year when Hannah Montana premiered on Disney Channel and made its success in appealing towards tweens. Because of Hannah Montana’s success in so many different markets from music to TV to toys and games, it has spawned numerous rip-off programs that try to imitate the style of sitcom/live reality TV show of Hannah Montana. Cartoon Network was no exception to this and started to promote live-action series such as BrainRush, Destroy Build Destroy, and TowerPrep. Many of these shows involve kids ages 14-16, who are answering trivia questions or building random things and destroying them. In fact, Cartoon Network has even shown basketball games with teenagers talking about the highlights of these games.
Now I’m no expert in television programming and anything related to the subject itself, but isn’t the network called “Cartoon Network”? Why is Cartoon Network promoting live action series when they have nothing to do with the name itself? I know that Cartoon Network does show cartoons, most of which are pretty awful to say the least, but it boggles my mind that Cartoon Network is so desperate in competing against Disney and Nickelodeon to the point where it goes against the name of its own network and creates such boring reality shows.
If you ever watched Cartoon Network in the late 90s and early 2000s, I will always remember how Dexter tried to hide his secret laboratory from his parents while he built his wacky inventions or how the Powerpuff girls had to fight numerous villians ranging from the evil monkey Mo-Jo-Jojo to the effeminate devil Him. I repeat myself from what I said in my previous post: kids shows should make kids fantasize. The content of these shows should be wild and imaginative so that watching these shows will be all the more memorable.
I know that I didn’t talk about other channels and networks that have completely changed their programming. But, I thought that Cartoon Network and the changes it has made would give a good enough picture to the current status of most kids shows. Again, I don’t mean to say that these shows aren’t universally despised nor should be. But they aren’t as wild as they once were and writers of kids shows should really bring back the shows of the 90s.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
TV shows nowadays (Part 1)
Last Tuesday, my mom decided to ruin my snow day by making me babysit my little brother while she went off to work. Usually, in order to make my life easier, I turn on the TV and let my brother watch some cartoon that’s on, usually being something like “Spongebob Squarepants” or “Phineas and Ferb”. Most of these cartoons and TV shows for kids though just don’t seem as fun as the ones I saw as a kid. It upsets me that, in order to appeal to the new “tween” demographic, a lot of TV networks are making more reality sitcoms that recycle the same kind of characters and plots and are rarely showing anything that blows the minds of kids.
As a kid, I watched an endless amount of TV. Out of all that TV I saw though, the three most memorable TV channels I viewed were Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel. If you were a kid during the late 1990s and early 2000s, then surely you have seen at least one of these channels and know what I mean when I say that these channels have made huge changes in their TV programming. There seems to be an endless number of reality sitcoms that star young adult actresses like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez that are put through the same issues of cute boyfriends, school, and fights with friends. I am not saying that these sort of topics are necessarily bad per se. But with so many shows that copy this same format, there isn’t much freshness and creativity in these sorts of shows.
Now I don’t have anything wrong with children sitcoms. I remember watching “Drake and Josh” and “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”. I will never forget Drake and Josh’s crazy antics (which included babysitting a pregnant sheep for their little sister) nor will I ever forget Ned’s crazy classmates and the even crazier things that went on in Polk Middle School. What made these reality sitcoms stick out compared to ones like “Hannah Montana” and “iCarly” was that the older reality sitcoms tried to mix it up in every episode. Not only were the jokes a lot funnier, the characters were involved in situations that were completely unimaginable and unpredictable.
Another problem I have with the more recent TV sitcoms is the content of these TV shows. As I said earlier, most of these sitcoms talk about how Miley has a new boyfriend, but can’t see him because of her alter ego as Hannah or how Carly has gotten in a fight with her best friend Sam and can’t settle their disagreement. I know this probably seems appealing to pre-teens, who are excited to enter this new world of adolescence, but what about younger kids like my 5-year old brother? They aren’t ready for this world of friends, dating, and social networking. They should be watching cartoons. And I don’t mean computer generated cartoons with lame toilet humor like “Penguins of Madagascar” and “Total Drama Island”. I’m talking old-school cartoons like “Dexter’s Laboratory”, “Doug”, “Fairly Odd Parents”, and “Rugrats”. Not only were most of these cartoons hand drawn by the creators themselves (which gave the show a more natural appeal), their plots and characters were simply memorable. I feel nostalgic thinking of the hours I spent watching all these TV shows, pretending to put myself next to these characters and joining their many adventures. What happened to all of that?
There is much more left to say regarding the TV shows being aired for children nowadays. I want to keep writing about this because not only is it fun to reminisce of the good times I had with these shows, I really do miss all these old TV programs. On a concluding note, I want to say this. TV programs for kids have certainly made major changes compared to the old TV shows I remember. I don’t mean to say that we should completely eradicate these new shows. But, why not go back to the old school shows? It would be nice to babysit my baby brother and watch a cartoon with him that has hand drawn animations, crazy plots and characters, and truly memorable episodes. All I want is to share my experience with TV with the next generation that is to come and to let them have similar memories to the ones I have now as a teenager.
As a kid, I watched an endless amount of TV. Out of all that TV I saw though, the three most memorable TV channels I viewed were Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel. If you were a kid during the late 1990s and early 2000s, then surely you have seen at least one of these channels and know what I mean when I say that these channels have made huge changes in their TV programming. There seems to be an endless number of reality sitcoms that star young adult actresses like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez that are put through the same issues of cute boyfriends, school, and fights with friends. I am not saying that these sort of topics are necessarily bad per se. But with so many shows that copy this same format, there isn’t much freshness and creativity in these sorts of shows.
Now I don’t have anything wrong with children sitcoms. I remember watching “Drake and Josh” and “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”. I will never forget Drake and Josh’s crazy antics (which included babysitting a pregnant sheep for their little sister) nor will I ever forget Ned’s crazy classmates and the even crazier things that went on in Polk Middle School. What made these reality sitcoms stick out compared to ones like “Hannah Montana” and “iCarly” was that the older reality sitcoms tried to mix it up in every episode. Not only were the jokes a lot funnier, the characters were involved in situations that were completely unimaginable and unpredictable.
Another problem I have with the more recent TV sitcoms is the content of these TV shows. As I said earlier, most of these sitcoms talk about how Miley has a new boyfriend, but can’t see him because of her alter ego as Hannah or how Carly has gotten in a fight with her best friend Sam and can’t settle their disagreement. I know this probably seems appealing to pre-teens, who are excited to enter this new world of adolescence, but what about younger kids like my 5-year old brother? They aren’t ready for this world of friends, dating, and social networking. They should be watching cartoons. And I don’t mean computer generated cartoons with lame toilet humor like “Penguins of Madagascar” and “Total Drama Island”. I’m talking old-school cartoons like “Dexter’s Laboratory”, “Doug”, “Fairly Odd Parents”, and “Rugrats”. Not only were most of these cartoons hand drawn by the creators themselves (which gave the show a more natural appeal), their plots and characters were simply memorable. I feel nostalgic thinking of the hours I spent watching all these TV shows, pretending to put myself next to these characters and joining their many adventures. What happened to all of that?
There is much more left to say regarding the TV shows being aired for children nowadays. I want to keep writing about this because not only is it fun to reminisce of the good times I had with these shows, I really do miss all these old TV programs. On a concluding note, I want to say this. TV programs for kids have certainly made major changes compared to the old TV shows I remember. I don’t mean to say that we should completely eradicate these new shows. But, why not go back to the old school shows? It would be nice to babysit my baby brother and watch a cartoon with him that has hand drawn animations, crazy plots and characters, and truly memorable episodes. All I want is to share my experience with TV with the next generation that is to come and to let them have similar memories to the ones I have now as a teenager.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
My thoughts towards Facebook
Last weekend, after taking my SAT, I decided to log into my Facebook after so many months of ignoring my account. As I was uploading funny pictures from my cell phone, writing on other people’s walls, and looking through the photo albums of my family and friends, a thought came up to mind. Why is Facebook so popular?
Let’s get one thing straight. With over 500 million people around the world using Facebook, it’s just one of those things that we simply can’t ignore anymore. Not only are everyday people using it, but now celebrities and the media use Facebook to connect with these everyday people. Yet Facebook isn’t really any new, innovative concept. There were many predecessors to Facebook such as Friendster, Xanga, and Myspace and all of them have essentially the same features: posting comments on your friend’s walls and uploading pictures. What makes Facebook so different?
Based on my experience, I certainly can tell you how I feel towards Facebook compared to Myspace, which was the largest social networking site prior to Facebook. I remember making my own Myspace account back in middle school to try to socialize with some of my friends. When I discovered Facebook in 2007 and made an account, there were some technical aspects in Facebook that made it more user-friendly and appealing. There were a lot fewer ads that distracted me, fewer strangers would friend me on Facebook, and connecting with friends was much easier via tagging others in photos, playing games like Farmville, joining fan pages, and “liking” other people’s comments and photos. It was all these factors combined that got me hooked on Facebook.
Obviously, changes have been made to all these social networking sites since I first started. Nowadays, as Facebook continues to grow, Myspace is trying to keep up by eliminating their advertisements and adding more games and fun features. The technically appealing factors of Facebook are certainly part of the roots of its popularity. However, as more and more people start making Facebook accounts and start relying on the Internet for more things, it seems that others have the urge to follow suit and join the in-crowd to connect with their friends.
Facebook, to me, has become so popular because it is so popular. It has become one of the simplest means of communication between friends and family. We are such a social species and Facebook allows us to keep socializing from the privacy of our own homes. Even though there is nothing new about the concept itself, we can all agree that Facebook has become part of our culture. Surely, it will change the lifestyles of future generations to come.
Let’s get one thing straight. With over 500 million people around the world using Facebook, it’s just one of those things that we simply can’t ignore anymore. Not only are everyday people using it, but now celebrities and the media use Facebook to connect with these everyday people. Yet Facebook isn’t really any new, innovative concept. There were many predecessors to Facebook such as Friendster, Xanga, and Myspace and all of them have essentially the same features: posting comments on your friend’s walls and uploading pictures. What makes Facebook so different?
Based on my experience, I certainly can tell you how I feel towards Facebook compared to Myspace, which was the largest social networking site prior to Facebook. I remember making my own Myspace account back in middle school to try to socialize with some of my friends. When I discovered Facebook in 2007 and made an account, there were some technical aspects in Facebook that made it more user-friendly and appealing. There were a lot fewer ads that distracted me, fewer strangers would friend me on Facebook, and connecting with friends was much easier via tagging others in photos, playing games like Farmville, joining fan pages, and “liking” other people’s comments and photos. It was all these factors combined that got me hooked on Facebook.
Obviously, changes have been made to all these social networking sites since I first started. Nowadays, as Facebook continues to grow, Myspace is trying to keep up by eliminating their advertisements and adding more games and fun features. The technically appealing factors of Facebook are certainly part of the roots of its popularity. However, as more and more people start making Facebook accounts and start relying on the Internet for more things, it seems that others have the urge to follow suit and join the in-crowd to connect with their friends.
Facebook, to me, has become so popular because it is so popular. It has become one of the simplest means of communication between friends and family. We are such a social species and Facebook allows us to keep socializing from the privacy of our own homes. Even though there is nothing new about the concept itself, we can all agree that Facebook has become part of our culture. Surely, it will change the lifestyles of future generations to come.
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