ENG 001: Section 09

Writing Project 3: The Personal Voice: Identity, Diversity, Self-Discovery

2007-12-10T18:59:00.000-08:00

Weird Al Yankovic, “The Saga begins”: Although this isn’t the official music video to “The Saga Begins” as I was browsing through I noticed it and how it was made. This video is done using Lego characters. It tells the story of Star Wars by using these Lego characters. It’s done in a very creative and aesthetically pleasing manner. This video demonstrates the versatility of Legos and how they can be used to create just about anything one would want. Looking back to my pre-teen years, I realize that I was infatuated with Legos. Legos did not just play a minor role in my life; they were my life. Legos can be used in so many different forms. I remember getting some of the big 1000 piece Legos sets and building them one day, and tearing them down the next. These big Lego sets were amazing. They contained desert and jungle adventures. There were also cowboy forts and ninja palaces. There was anything that you could imagine. The cool thing about Legos is they give you a feeling of omnipotence. You are able to construct anything that you want, and you’re also the one who decides who the good-guys and bad-guys are. It’s up to you to decide who lives and who dies. This was what made Legos the most fun for me, being able to control what happened. Because as just about every other young boy I didn’t have much that I was in control of. Legos were pretty much the only thing that I could.

Weird Al Yankovic, “Amish Paradise”: This humorous video describes the life of the Amish people in a way that is very appealing to an audience. It makes one laugh while at the same time making them think how fortunate they are to not be Amish. The video focuses a lot on how eccentric the Amish are and how crazy they appear by not using automobiles, telephones, or even electricity. This is a view that is often used upon people who are home-schooled. A lot of the time those who attend public schools think that home-schoolers are insane and do not possess the same capabilities as the “normal kids” who went to a public or private school do. As a home-schooled student myself (up until high school), I know that this is true. Many cold looks and quizzical stares were pointed in my direction my ninth-grade year (the first year I was not home-schooled). Classmates whispered softly to each other while giving subtle glances in my direction. Finally, when one was brave enough they would ask a question such as, “Do you have a television?” or, “Do you use microwaves?” These questions continued all the way up until the end of my tenth-grade year. The questions that were being posed to me were very stupid and immature. Just because a kid is home-schooled doesn’t mean that he’s dumb, or that he doesn’t have a TV or microwave. These are simply juvenile thoughts. However, even though these questions seemed ridiculous, looking back, I know that I would have asked them too.

Linkin Park, “By Myself’”: Although there is not an official music video to this song, there are a few videos of live performances and just random acts being performed to the song. I did find a video of martial arts. Basically what is going on in this video is just a bunch of fighting. There are a lot of martial artists just beating the crap out of each other. Martial arts played a huge role in my life. I was involved in taekwondo from ages 8-13 and it helped me to become who I am today. Some of the goals of taekwondo were to teach students respect, courage, and self-discipline. There were a few more traits that taekwondo really encouraged, but these three were the ones that it focused on most. Taekwondo benefited me a lot. By going to regular taekwondo class and various competitions, taekwondo helped me to form some bonds with people that I still hold. It helped me to develop my ability of making friends, while at the same time teaching me discipline. By winning at the competitions, taekwondo also taught me to be confident. It gave me a sense of “I can do it, no matter how hard it may seem.” In taekwondo there are different ranks. If someone is a higher rank than you, then you are required to call them either “sir” or “maam”. This taught me respect, which is very important to have. All these traits are important, and because of taekwondo, I carry them to this day.

Green Day, “The Time of Your Life”: In between scenes of the singer sitting on a couch strumming away on his guitar and singing the song, we see everyday people doing everyday things such as sitting at a bus stop or at a store. They all appear to be missing something although it’s not quite clear what that something is. However, from the lyrics we can assume that they are missing out on the time of their lives. Everyone at some point has a time of their life. It can be a place you go, or something that you do. It can be anything. A school trip to Mexico is what it is for me. As a junior in high school, I was involved in a trip down to Mexico. It was an amazing experience. As we were on our way to Mexico, we stopped in San Antonio, Texas and visited the Alamo, and saw the Riverwalk. When we finally got to Mexico, we stayed with host families in Tampico and became immersed in the language. While we were there, the group I was in did some missions work with a missionary who visits Mexico quite often. We went to some of the extremely poor villages and brought food and clothes. The people swarmed to us like the fish at the Henry Doorly Zoo swarm to a chunk of food. It was one of the most eye-opening and beneficial trips of my life. That’s what the time of your life should be, enjoyable, but at the same time it should give you something worthwhile.

NSync, “I Want You Back”: This humorous lip-synching take of NSync’s song takes place at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York. Two cadets at the academy seem to have a little too much time on their hands and have come up with a very entertaining spin on “I Want You Back” by NSync. Not only was this video very creative, but at the same time, it also required a lot of teamwork, which is very important for a cadet at USMA to have. That was one of the very first things told to me when I visited West Point in October 2006. The two Plebes that I stayed with for the weekend were adamant about making sure that I knew if I went to West Point I would have to have the ability to function in a team. They told me that it was probably one of the most important things to have at West Point because otherwise it would be impossible to make it through. This video also shows the humor that the two guys who created it have. I learned that this is also another important trait to carry while at West Point. In order to keep your sanity at West Point it is essential that every once in a while you are able to laugh and have a good time. If it were not for moments like these, then no one would ever be able to get through the four years at USMA.

Vitamin C, “Graduation”: The video itself is not the best. It simply shows various people hanging out with their friends while the singer randomly appears singing her heart out about all the good times that friends have together. However, even though the music video is lacking in quality, it really speaks volumes to me as I graduated high school. Graduation from high school is an important step in anybody’s life. The feeling I got while standing up on the stage as I gave the valedictorian speech was incredible. It was a feeling of being on top of the world. However, that was not the only feeling that I felt as I stood on that stage. So many emotions ran through me. There was excitement. It was exciting to know that I was done with high school forever. There was confusion. I didn’t really know what I was going to do with the rest of my life. And along with that last emotion came fear: fear of the unknown and the fear of losing my friends. Although fear of the unknown may not be in the list of top-ten fears it is still a very common fear that many people face every day. The fear of losing friends is a little less common, but it hit very hard on graduation day. Everyone was going their own separate way and I had no idea if I would be able to stay in touch with all of them. Despite all these fears, however, graduation was an amazing day and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Linkin Park, “In the End”: Although the music video itself has very little to do with reality (people normally don’t stand on top of giant statues and sing) the lyrics to this song are very powerful. There are so many places where someone gets so far, “but in the end, it doesn’t even matter.” USMA played that role for me. Receiving the letter of acceptance from USMA put an infinite amount of pressure on me. People started telling me how I needed to run the rest of my life. People told me I should go, people told me I should stay. Eventually, I decided to go. As a new cadet taking part in Cadet Basic Training (CBT), every day was a struggle. From getting up at 5am to do PT, until TAPS at 10pm, a war was raging viciously inside of me. The war was a battle of emotions. It was between my pride that wanted me to stay even though it was apparent that choosing to come was a bad decision, and my humility that was telling me I needed to leave, this wasn’t the right place to be. Eventually my humility won, and thus began the process of leaving. After two weeks of out-processing, I was finally on a plane headed back to Nebraska. Reflecting on what happened this past summer, it is apparent that the trip to USMA, as a whole, was beneficial in maturing me. However, it is also apparent that it is more important to do what you want to do and not what others tell you. Because in the end, what they say, it doesn’t even matter.

Timbuk 3, “The Future’s so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades”: This is a rather interesting, and slightly confusing, music video, but throughout the video a clear message is delivered. Nothing is impossible to achieve as long as you are willing to work for it. As a freshman at Nebraska Wesleyan University I am finally starting to realize that. Throughout high school, thinking about the future was something that I chose to avoid. High school was just about here and now. Being in college, however, has really opened my eyes to what is actually important in life: building strong relationships with family and friends, a good work ethic, and always putting God first. By doing these things I have begun to realize that there is nothing out there that can keep me from having a successful future. There is no individual, no test, nothing that can hold me back. This is very important for me because there are sometimes when studying for a test that I simply look up at the ceiling and just think, “This is impossible.” That is the wrong attitude to have. Nothing is impossible. There are just some areas in life where we struggle more than in other areas. But that doesn’t mean that it is impossible. It just means that we have to find a way to get through it. We have to persevere. An area where I struggle is in writing. Writing something clear and concise is something that I have a problem doing. However, by realizing that, I have already taken the first step towards finding a way to become better.

Post XIII: First Music Video

2007-11-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

The first music video that I can remember seeing was “Bye bye bye” by NSync. I remember that my family had just gotten cable television because we had just moved into an apartment in town. We used to live in the country and we only got about five different channels. Then we moved and lived in town, and my family bought cable for our TV. I remember that my aunt was babysitting me that day and was watching television so I came out of my room to see what she was watching because I was bored. I don’t know why I remember this, but I remember that she was watching a countdown of the top ten music videos of the week, and I had just heard “Bye bye bye” on the radio so I told her that I thought that the number one music video would be that song. She disagreed with me and said that it had been out too long so it wouldn’t be that one. While we were talking the television was playing commercials. The number one video was coming right up after the commercials. So I remember that we both sat there and finally the commercials were over and the announcers on the television began to introduce the number one song and to my aunt’s chagrin and to my delight, the number one video was “Bye bye bye” by NSync. I felt great after that. From what I can recall, I gave my aunt a pretty rough time about it. I kept reminding her that I was right about the number one video and she was wrong. I kept saying, “shouldn’t you have been right, not me?” After a while she got fed up with me and just told me to shut up. So I did. Because even though I was right, she was babysitting me. And I wanted a snack.

Post XII: Least Favorite Music Video

2007-11-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

It is kind of hard to completely determine what my least favorite music video is, but after much thought I would probably have to say the Feel Good Inc music video by the Gorillaz. I did not really want to have to choose that video because I actually like the song. But I just could not help myself. Something about that video drives me completely insane. I believe that it is the fact that it is animated the way that it is. Something about that animation really gets to me. I just do not like it at all. I never have particularly cared for animated music videos, but out of all the animated music videos that I have seen, Feel Good Inc by the Gorillaz is by far the worst of them all. I think that it must have something to do with the fact that the band that is playing in the video is a bunch of animated…things. They do not even look real. I understand that what they are supposed to be are gorillas, or gorillaz, but I really do not think that it is done in a clever or funny way. Hopefully they were not trying to make the video funny because in my mind it definitely was not. It drives me up a wall to see the animated, fake looking gorillas standing up there beating on their instruments. Personally, I like real things. I will admit, I am very practical and I like seeing things the way that they are supposed to be. I do not like stuff that is completely fake and unrealistic. It is just the way that I am. And the thing about this video is that I have tried to like it. Because like I already said, I like the song a lot, and so I wanted to at least make an attempt to like the music video. But I failed miserably. I can’t help it. It’s just too unreal for me.

Post XI: Music Video

2007-11-10T09:53:00.001-08:00

The reason that I chose this video is because I really think that it is an entertaining music video. It is a music video of the song “Yeah” by Usher. I really like this video because of all the dancing that they do in it. I think that watching Usher do all of his dance moves is really cool and I think that it is very fun to watch. It has an upbeat tempo and I really like the music. If it was just something that was entertaining to watch, but was horrible to listen to, then I don’t think that I would find the music video all that good. I don’t want to have to watch videos with “mute” on all the time. However, I did not once feel the urge to do that while watching this video. In order to make a good music video, you have to use a song that appeals to the audience you are trying to please. That takes care of the audio aspect of the music video. However, that’s not all. You also have to have a good visual aspect and that is in the actual making of the video. It is essential to have both of these aspects at work in your video in order to make it a good video. I think that in this video there is a great combination of both the audio and visual aspects. The different colors of flashing lights really appeal to the visual aspect of this spectrum. They catch the viewer’s attention and can kind of enthrall them. This is great music for the audience that this music video was geared for and therefore does an excellent job the audio end of the spectrum as well. All in all, this video really encompasses all of the necessary aspects needed to create a great music video. I guess that’s why I find it so intriguing.

Writing Project 2: Argumentation and the Public Sphere

2007-11-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

I chose to analyze a political cartoon by Neal Obermeyer. In this cartoon we are shown many different images. We are shown Harvey Perlman, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln chancellor, in the center of the cartoon, shrugging his shoulders and with an oblivious expression on his face, saying, “Oops. Lol.” To his left, we are shown Steve Pederson, the University of Nebraska’s former Athletic Director (AD). Pederson is pictured running away with an enormous check. On the check we see how much it’s worth, what it’s being given to Pederson for, and who gave it to him. Another image that we see is that of angry people, presumably Nebraska football fans or the booster club, standing directly to the right of Perlman. We can assume that they are angry because their faces appear to be slightly distorted and their expressions are twisted into menacing sneers. One other thing that is important to note is that Perlman and Pederson appear to be in some sort of spotlight which is most likely there just to show that they are the center of attention.

This cartoon deals with the recent firing of Steve Pederson. In the eyes of Chancellor Harvey Perlman and many Nebraska Cornhusker fans, Steve Pederson was not doing a good enough job in his position. The problem was that earlier this year, the University gave Pederson a five-year contract extension so the University had to buy out his contract at $2,200,000 in order to fire him. The political cartoon is saying that Harvey Perlman threw away all of that money. First, he gave Pederson a contract extension and then, a mere three months later, Perlman decided to fire him.

I believe that this cartoon is making two arguments. One is that Perlman made a really big mistake when he extended Pederson’s contract. Then after he realized it was a mistake, he just shrugged it off with a little “Oops, sorry!” As though throwing away $2.2 million dollars was like spilling your milk at the dinner table. The second argument that I saw made in this article is that Perlman was essentially just letting Steve Pederson run away with $2,200,000.

I really like this cartoon because of the humorous way that it is presented. Presentation is a major factor in determining how effective an argument is. In this political cartoon, Obermeyer uses many rhetorical strategies. Obviously, he uses illustration, this is a drawing, but he uses much more than just that. However, I am only going to focus on one of those strategies: cause and effect. I believe that this is one of the most important strategies that is used in this political cartoon.

Cause produces an effect. This may seem elementary, but it is important that one has this understanding when talking about cause and effect. With that in mind, let’s talk about how cause and effect is used in Obermeyer’s cartoon.

There is more than just one cause in this cartoon. The causes in this cartoon are the actions that UNL Chancellor, Harvey Perlman took in hiring Steve Pederson, giving him a contract extension, firing him, and then having to pay him $2.2 million dollars. All of these actions produce some sort of effect and are therefore qualified as “causes.”

It is important to mention that actions are not strictly causes or effects. They can be both. Some of the causes in this cartoon can also be labeled as effects of another cause. For example, Harvey Perlman hired Steve Pederson. That is the base cause in this cartoon, the foundation for all the other causes. The effect of Perlman’s decision to hire Pederson was that eventually Perlman gave Pederson a contract extension. This cause meant that if Perlman ever wanted to fire Pederson before his contract ran out, Perlman would have to buy out the rest of Pederson’s contract. Three months after he gave Pederson a contract extension, Perlman fired Pederson. This was another cause. The effect of Perlman firing Pederson was that he had to pay him over two million dollars to buy out his contract. This effect is also another cause. This cause produced an effect of angry people, most likely the Boosters and other big money donors, involved with the University of Nebraska. These people are angry because of all the money that Perlman wasted throughout the entire process of hiring and firing Steve Pederson.

There are only three types of rhetorical appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos deals with rational arguments and reason. Pathos is more along the lines of an appeal to the emotions of and individual. Ethos is an appeal to authority or character.

Although all of these three appeals are present in some form or another, I believe that the most important rhetorical appeal that is being used in this political cartoon is pathos. This cartoon contains a lot of humor and looks as if it is trying very hard to appeal to the emotions of people. It is using humor to connect with the reader. It does that in a few different ways. The first way is by having Harvey Perlman say “Oops. LOL” when he’s talking about firing Steve Pederson. No one, especially a university chancellor, would ever talk like that at any time, and definitely not about something as serious as firing a high-profile staff member and having to pay him $2.2 million. Really no one ever uses “lol” when they’re talking. Lol just means “laugh out loud” and is generally used on the internet or in text messages. It is used to convey to the reader that the speaker finds something to be humorous. However, in the cartoon Obermeyer does this to make it seem like Perlman really didn’t care at all about firing Pederson and was just blowing the whole issue off.

Another humorous element in this cartoon is Steve Pederson running away with a huge check. This check is ridiculously large and brings a lot of attention to itself. I believe that Obermeyer is trying to show us something through this check and that’s why he made it as abnormally large as he did. I believe that through the size of the check, Obermeyer is trying to show the readers just how much is being wasted on firing Pederson. All that said, this image gives the reader the impression that Pederson is taking his check and running to the bank as fast as he can so that nobody can stop him. This is humorous because it makes it look like Steve Pederson is a criminal who just stole a lot of money and is fleeing to Zurich to deposit his riches before he is apprehended.

In my opinion this cartoon employed some very useful rhetorical strategies and appeals. I thought that the way that Obermeyer utilized pathos was exceptional. It was done in such a way so that it was humorous and yet at the same time meaningful, which is a very important trait in any argument. I also enjoyed the strategy of cause and effect that Obermeyer used. It caught my attention and also caused me to think about all of the different actions that took place in order for this cartoon to be what it was. I really admired this cartoon and thought that it made an outstanding argument.

Post X: Tom Osborne

2007-10-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy season for Nebraska football. First they start out as a possible top-ten team, but then, after a demoralizing loss against USC have plummeted down to the bottom of college football. Something needs to be done about this, and fast! Well, something has been done, or at least been started. University of Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman fired Steve Pederson from Nebraska’s AD (athletic director) position on Monday, October 15. The next question was, “who would replace Pederson as AD?” Well, there is now at least a temporary solution. Tom Osborne, the legendary coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers when they won three national championships in the nineties, is back at UNL. He will be the interim athletic director until a permanent replacement is found. However, one has to wonder whether or not he will be the permanent AD now that Pederson is gone. I believe that many people are hoping that he will be permanent rather than just interim, and why shouldn’t he be? He has an amazing resume at the University of Nebraska and has become a fan-favorite for many years. He knows football and it just seems like the AD position at UNL would be a great fit for him. Many people believe that with Tom Osborne at the helm, Nebraska football will once again shine the way that it used to, rather than become an embarrassment to fans by losing by over twenty points a game. That’s not the kind of football that Nebraska fans want, and that’s not the kind of football that Nebraska plays. They are much better than that. With Tom Osborne as AD, we will probably see some changes for the best out of the program. Rumors are circulating that Osborne might try to bring back Turner Gill or Bo Pelini. Either way Osborne chooses, one can rest assured that it will bode well for the future of the program.

Post IX: The Gallup Polls

2007-10-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

One of the most interesting jobs I have ever done is the job that I currently am working. I work at the Gallup Organization as a telephone interviewer. A lot of people think that what we do is sell stuff, but those people are wrong. What we, as interviewers, do is marketing-research. We do customer satisfaction surveys for various companies; companies like Wells Fargo, Experian, and the Wachovia. These are just a few of the many different companies for which Gallup does surveys. Gallup also does surveys about current events rather than customer satisfaction. These are the surveys that you see in USA Today and also on the television on news channels like CNN. Those numbers that they use don’t just come out of thin air. They come from the Gallup Organization.

However, despite all this, Gallup is not only an organization. At the same time, Gallup focuses a lot on making their workplace environment the best that it can possibly be. They are always striving for the workers to be happy with their jobs. At Gallup they believe that the happier one is with his or her job than the more productive they will be. If that is the case it will be a win-win situation for both the employee and the employer. The employee has a job that they are happy at and enjoy doing, and the employer is pleased because the workers are being productive and are getting all of the work done. One way that Gallup tries to reach to their employees is by using the Q12 survey. This survey is supposed to help the employer understand what needs to be done to get content employees. Some people think that this is stupid and pointless, but they might want to re-evaluate their philosophy. Because so far, this has worked well for Gallup, as they have been going strong for over seventy years.

Post VIII: Gang Problems in Lincoln, NE

2007-10-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest issues facing the local community today is the Scheels gun heist. On Monday, October 1, 2007, a total of 82 guns were stolen from Scheels sporting goods store. According to the police, the heist was gang-related. Three people were arrested: Michael Nimox, Cleophus Collier, and Jameal Gaines. The concern that this causes me, and a lot of other people, is that this seems to demonstrate that gangs here in Lincoln are becoming more and more prevalent through time. This is disconcerting because I believe that nearly everybody is, or should be, desiring gang-related activity to decrease rather than increase. However, as of right now this is not happening. As a matter of fact gang-related activity is getting to be more and more prominent throughout the capital city. I am certain that we need to start trying harder to put an end to this rise of activity among local gangs. There has to be something that we can do to assist the police force in trying to stop it.

All this said, I believe that I do need to point out that, as a whole, Lincoln has been pretty good with not having that many gang-related problems of a large extent. This year, there have been 471 crimes that were suspected to be committed by a gang, and of all those crimes 350 of them were vandalism, mostly graffiti. That is not that bad of a number, although vandalism is not a good thing, it is certainly much better than homicide and other alternatives. However, from this latest robbery at Scheels, it appears that gangs are beginning to become bolder in the extent of the seriousness of the crimes. I think that this is something we, as a city, definitely want to avoid. So I believe that we need to try our hardest to find something that we can do to help our city move in the direction of putting a stop to gangs, rather than simply ignoring them and pretending that they are not a problem.

Post VII: Freewrite about Boston Red Sox

2007-10-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

It happened again! The Boston Red Sox swept the Los Angeles Angels in the first round of the MLB playoffs. The last time these two teams faced each other in the playoffs, the Red Sox swept the Angels just like they did this time. Right now, the Red Sox are looking very good. Their pitching is incredible. They have only allowed four runs combined in three games. Their hitting has been very good. So far, they have averaged just over six runs a game. As of right now, they look like the team to beat in the World Series.

In their series against Los Angeles, Boston completely dominated games one and two, and were able to get some clutch hitting and walks from big players like Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz in game two. In game one, Boston’s pitcher Josh Beckett pitched a complete game and didn’t allow a run. In game three, the Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling, was nearly as dominant, allowing no runs in seven innings pitched. However, game two was a little bit of a different story. In this game, the Angels actually had the lead at one point, three to two. The Red Sox battled back later in the game to tie the score at three apiece. After that both teams’ bullpens shut the hitters down until the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth, with the score still tied, three to three, The Red Sox got two men on base with only one out. Then Manny Ramirez came up to bat. With the count at one ball and no strikes he hit a three run home run out of the ballpark giving the Red Sox the win six to three. With this kind of pitching and this kind of hitting, it’s easy to see why Boston finished the regular season with the best record in baseball. It’s also another reason why I think that the Red Sox will end up as World Series champions again.

Project 1: The Attentive Mind: Observation, Reflection, Insight

2007-10-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

The wind whipped through the Farmers’ Market with a particular viciousness the morning I was there. As a matter of fact, when I first arrived, one of the tents that was set up over a small booth of vegetables almost blew over. The grizzled old farmer who was crouched under the tent grasped frantically for the ropes to keep his tent from flying away. Fortunately, some passersby rushed to his aid, grabbing the ropes and, after stabilizing the tent, lashed it tightly to sandbags so that it would not blow over again. As I watched this, I got to thinking about how nice it was for those guys to jump in and help that old man out. That really demonstrated to me the spirit of Farmers’ Market which is, in essence, the spirit of community. I realized this as I saw those big men helping the little old farmer with his tent. As they were fixing it, they were joking and laughing with the old man about what had happened. It was like family - they treated each other as if they had known one another for years.

The Farmers’ Market of Lincoln, Nebraska is a small gathering in the Historic Haymarket, where groups of people get together to buy and sell local products, to perform on the street or be entertained by performances on the street, or maybe just to connect with other community members in an informal and personal way. The people who go to Farmers’ Market form a small community of regular folk who still believe in the importance of connecting with others. Farmers’ Market seems to be imperative in not only building community here in the city of Lincoln, but also restoring what appears to be a lost sense of community among the people who live here.

As I continued to move through the Farmers’ Market, I noticed more and more examples of this “family” atmosphere. As I walked by the tents filled with food, I overheard some of the customers referring to the vendors by name and just having casual conversations with them. “Hey Jerry, how’s production going so far this year? You got plans for the winter?”

“Oh it’s been going pretty good. I’m not going to be doing too much this winter. I’ll just be enjoying a little time off. How about you?” These little conversations demonstrate the personal connections that people at the Farmers’ Market have with each other - it expresses that sense of community. I find that atmosphere to be so much different than my usual journeys to the store. At just a regular grocery store, you’re rarely going to overhear someone calling the cashier by name and asking them about their plans. Even if you did try to engage the cashier in conversation, he’d probably look at you like you were some kind of a freak. It’s not like that at the Farmers’ Market. It seems like you can tell by the tone of their voices whether or not they actually know each other and genuinely care about one another.

This is the kind of community that seems to be missing from Lincoln today. Everyone is always so busy now, rushing from school to work or from work to pick up the kids at day-care, that they don’t seem to have any time to just relax and shoot the breeze with their neighbors. It seems that everyone’s stress levels have skyrocketed. This can be extremely detrimental to the growth of community spirit. And though a community may be financially successful, if it lacks community spirit then it will eventually wither and die. Truly prosperous communities are founded on a mutual sense of benevolence, general goodwill, caring about your neighbors, and sharing common interests with them. If we’re too busy for any of these things, then how are we possibly going to achieve a prosperous and successful community?

I believe that Farmers’ Market is also beneficial to the city of Lincoln because it also helps people get out and get some fresh air and exercise while doing local shopping. Generally, when people go shopping for food or jewelry or other accessories that you find for sale at Farmers’ Market, they go to a grocery store or a shopping mall. They saunter around inside the mall, maybe sipping a Frappucino from the local Starbucks, while sucking in the recycled air pumped through the air conditioning system. Not so at the Farmers’ Market! At the Farmers’ Market people have to get outside and breathe air that’s redolent with the earthy scents of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables. They experience an atmosphere that isn’t sanitized and structured. It’s like awakening to a world that you forgot existed.

One way that the Farmers’ Market really seems to impact Lincoln is by creating a small-town kind of feeling in an urban area. Lincoln over the last few decades has seen a lot of growth and has focused a lot on urbanization. That is a good thing, but at the same time, in order to stay connected with the community, the city of Lincoln needs to simply sit back and relax. With all of the urbanization, the meaning of the word “community” seems to have disintegrated and has been replaced with a sense of isolation and caring only about ourselves. Watching out for your own well-being is not a bad thing, but not looking out for anyone else’s well-being is a bad thing. It seems that we need to stop our incessant striving to get ahead, and take a moment to just be who we are and connect with our fellow humankind. The Farmers’ Market is a great venue to get a wide variety of people together around a common interest so that they can connect. It’s through connecting that people can remember what the meaning of community is – not simply looking out for yourself, but for others as well.

But the Farmers’ Market can’t be the only thing that tries to connect people and get them interested in creating a sense of community once again. Each of us as individuals needs to stop and look around to see what’s beyond our realm of comfort. I know that personally, I need to take the time to just be aware of the opportunities that are out there to actually create and enhance a sense of community. They could be small things, like going to a local theatrical production instead of going to a movie. Or they could be bigger things, like getting involved in local community centers that work with diverse populations in the city. Those are ways to get connected and build community spirit. Also, bringing others along with you so that they can experience what community spirit feels like is a vital part of building a sense of community.

Even though we, as a community, seem to be struggling with our sense of connection to each other, we are still a community. Developing the economic part of our city is important, expanding our city to meet the housing demands is important, but perhaps more important is maintaining the connectivity between the citizens of Lincoln. We need to have more events like the Farmers’ Market – events which connect us to each other. If the citizens of Lincoln really want to be successful, they need to start getting the members of the community familiar with each other. If everyone works together, so much more can be accomplished.

Post VI: A Video about Hugs

2007-09-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

I thought this video was really funny. I watched it and I started laughing. It’s not every day that you see a guy in downtown Lincoln running around giving people hugs. But, all that aside, I thought it actually was a very good video. They way the had the change from a black and white background to a color background right after the guy got his first hug was very appropriate. I also liked that because I think that this change in the color of the background signifies that even trivial things, something as simple as a hug, can make an amazing change in the life of a person, even without the one who instigated that change realizing it. Because when the video changes to color, the guy who gave the “free hugs” guy a hug didn’t even realize that any change had occurred. That just goes back to what I said before, it’s important to always be the best that we can to everybody, because one thing might make a huge change in someone’s life and we wouldn’t even realize it.

Another thing that stood out to me in that video was the music. Before the guy with the sign gets his first hug the song says, “I don’t mind where you come from as long as you come to me.” This makes me think that what the video and song are saying is that a lot of people out there are feeling left out and like they want to fit in and connect with other people but they just don’t know how. They want to be accepted but they feel like they never will.

Really, I think that this video is a great reminder that everyone needs to approach each person as if they mean something to them. It’s amazing how much the little things mean to people. It makes people feel like they’re accepted and like you care about them. These little detail cam make a huge difference in anybody’s life.

Post V: Observations and reflections of the Farmers' Market

2007-09-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my family and I visited the Farmers’ Market. I had only been there one other time this year and normally I go at least five times a year, so I was really excited that I finally had enough free time to be able to make a trip to the Haymarket in Downtown Lincoln to go to the Farmer’s Market. While I was there, there were many different booths that caught my eye. There was a booth with vegetables and fruits. Generally I only like fruit and not vegetables so much, but the selection that they had at the Farmers’ Market was incredible. Not only did they have everything from corn to sweet potatoes, but the vegetables were also homegrown and fresh. That was enough to make even me suddenly hungry for vegetables. And the fruit…need I say any more. I was sold the minute I set eyes on the variety of apples and peaches and nectarines and the list goes on.

After a while, I left the fruits and vegetables and sauntered on over to the pastry booth. I was lured to this booth by the tantalizing aroma of baked goods that I could smell from across the market. I couldn’t resist. I reached into my pocket and took out my wallet. I had to have one of those cinnamon rolls. I picked out the one that looked biggest and best to me. I couldn’t wait. As soon as I selected it and paid for it, I took the cinnamon roll and found a spot to sit down for a while and eat it. I had made a good choice. It was probably the best cinnamon roll I have ever had. After I finished, I sauntered around with my family a little bit more and after we had been there for about an hour, we decided it was finally time to go. Although nothing too eventful happened that day I’m still glad I went. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to get that cinnamon roll.

Post IV: Site Observation

2007-09-13T09:16:00.001-07:00

I visited Union College here in Lincoln. As I walked around the campus, in and out of the various buildings, there were a few aspects of this college that stood out to me. First, this college was a very small college. It was just over one thousand students and that was the biggest student body that Union had had for 24 years. The campus itself was also very small. It only had a few buildings with classrooms in them, and a mere two dorms. The sidewalks weren’t crowded with students flying around on their bikes in order to get to class in time. Actually, everyone strolls around at a leisurely pace because there’s no hurry; most of the classrooms are right next door to each other.

Another thing that I noticed about Union College was that it was a very peaceful place. As I said before there was no rushing around. There was no chaos. Everyone at Union seemed to know one another and just be really relaxed. It was nice to be around that kind of atmosphere. Sometimes we all need a break from freaking out about this and that, and just take a moment and relax. Sometimes we just need to slow things down and take a deep breath, and then we can move on again. It’s important that we don’t stress ourselves out because then we will not perform up to our potential.

As I visited Union College all these thoughts came into my head. It was interesting to me because then I was able to see that I, myself, had been wearing myself out about a whole lot of little things. I learned from this experience that worrying doesn’t solve anything. Rather, it’s more important to keep a cool head and just breathe, rather than go crazy about everything that needs to be done. It’s smart to think about the things that need to be accomplished, but it’s not smart to worry about them.

Post III: Response to a Local Article

2007-09-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

I read an article that was about the city of Lincoln proceeding with the plan to install a second “quiet zone” so that trains will no longer have to use their horns to signal that they are coming. I believe that this is a good idea. Personally I hate the constant bellow of train horns. It’s extremely disrupting and in my own opinion, can take away from the peace and serenity in the atmosphere of a good day. Another reason that I like this idea is that, according to the article the city will beef up security around the train tracks in the area of the quiet zone. I believe that this is a great idea. There can never be enough security around train tracks. Too often someone doesn’t even pay attention to the tracks and races over them without a second glance. They don’t realize, however, that there is a train approaching. The end result is generally not a pleasant one and ends in the driver of the car meeting his or her demise.

This is obviously not the ending that anybody wants. So I believe that it would be extremely beneficial to the entire population of the city of Lincoln that this quit zone is put into place because I believe that it will also cut down on the number of railroad accidents in the Nebraska. The number of accidents in Nebraska has already been cut down in 2006. In 2005, the number of accidents was 122 and in 2006, the number was 90. That means that the number of railroad accidents has already been cut down by thirty-two.

I think that this number can drop even farther with the addition of more quiet zones. Extra security equals less of a chance of people making mistakes at railroad crossings. That means there will be fewer accidents and fewer fatalities. Quiet zones are good things, and I can’t wait till until they are placed all throughout Lincoln.

Post II: Response to National Museum of Roller-Skating

2007-09-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

On Friday afternoon, I visited the National Museum of Roller-Skating. My experience there was not one of the most thrilling or invigorating experiences of my life. As I first entered the museum, I walked through the doors and the first thing that I saw was a cubicle. As I entered the room, I realized that I was walking through an office; an office full of people busy at work. At this point, I began to feel slightly awkward. I felt out of place. I thought to myself, “I don’t belong here. People who roller-skate and people who care about roller-skating belong here.” I was not one of those people. I was just there for an assignment.

As I finally made it back to where the actual museum was I felt a little bit more relaxed. I was finally away from all those office cubicles with workers peering out of them at me with looks on their faces that read, “What do you think you’re doing here?” Everything started to felt better to me. I was a little more at ease. I began to walk around the museum and start to examine a few of the exhibits. Although I still felt out of place, I began to focus more on the history of roller-skating and various other interesting facts about roller-skating and forgot how out of place I felt.

There were a few interesting facts that I noticed while I was there that I had never heard before. For example, I never knew that Tara Lipinski was a roller-skating champion when she was a young girl. I also never knew that there used to be a dress code for women when they roller-skated. They couldn’t wear skirts that were more than two inches above the knee.
So, I finally stopped caring about what all the roller-skating people thought about me invading their museum. After that it became a lot more enjoyable. It became more than just an assignment. It became something interesting. I learned stuff while I was there. It was a good experience but…I’ll never go back.

Post I: Discourse Surrounding the Essay

2007-09-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

“As there is no standard human type who writes essays, so is there no standard essay: no set style, length, or subject. But what does unite almost all successful essays, no matter how divergent the subject, is that a strong personal presence is felt behind them...Without that strong personal presence, the essay doesn’t quite exist; it becomes an article, a piece, or some other indefinable verbal construction.”

-Joseph Epstein in “No Standard Essay.”

I found this quote to be quite truthful. I believe that it is impossible to define a standard essay because of all the different subjects and writing styles that are used. There are essays written over subjects of all kinds, such as people, animals, thoughts, ideas, and the list goes on. For example, on essay on “The Existence of God” is going to be different from an essay on “My Summer Vacation.” An essay’s length can range from short to long and can be written from whatever perspective the author chooses to use. There is just no standard format that can be given when writing an essay.

One premise that Epstein put forth in his quote that I found to be extremely thought-provoking was his idea that “a strong personal presence” had to be felt in an essay in order for it to be successful. I had never thought of that being an important part of an essay, but Epstein’s reasoning is very logical. If one doesn’t add his personal presence, then the work does indeed become less invigorative; rather, the work becomes dull and lifeless. As Epstein noted, “It becomes an article, a piece, or some other indefinable verbal construction.”

An indefinable verbal construction obviously is not something that any writer should strive for in an essay, or any other literary work for that matter. An essay is meant to intrigue the reader, not to bore the reader to death. I see an essay best defined as a written work in which the writer explains his feelings on the subject. I see an essay as something that the writer uses in order to get his thoughts across to whoever cares to know. The author writes down his feelings and thoughts on a subject and allows anyone who would like, to read his work and draw their own conclusions about what he said. So although it is hard to actually define a “standard essay” that is the base definition that I have created.