Blog Assigment #11 Santa Letter

Evyn Haberstock
Sports Lane Road
232 Volleyball Street
V2A 4B6

December 18th, 2011
Santa Claus, North Pole
H0H0H0

Dear Santa;
I have been very good this year.  I have also been doing well in all my classes and playing lots of sports, which means my locker is always full of sweaty gym clothes. I think my locker partner would appreciate a air freshener or some laundry detergent, perhaps an unlimited supply of disposable gym clothes. I would also love some Old Spice deodorant, Rebecca's old men deodorant and sweaters have inspired me. I would also like some driving lessons because well Santa, you probably wouldn't believe it but a cop pulled me over a few weeks ago on Main Street.Except I was parked. I thought he had stopped because I had too many people in the car, you can imagine my surprise when he told me I was pulled over for my parking job. The rear end of my car was sticking out so bad that it blocked the lane next to it. I wasn't given a ticket, but a face full of red embarrassment was punishment enough.
I would also like some pen-ink remover. You see quite a few years ago, I was at a sleepover with some friends at J******'s house and I was the first one to fall asleep and they drew all over me. It took weeks to scrub the permanent marker off.
I don't need to ask you for smarts and intelligence because you already know I'm a straight A student and all, (kind of), maybe it's because my dad is the Biology teacher, he just passed along the wisdom and my amazing athletic ability.

Thanks Santa!

Blogg Assignment #10

“Plugged In”

“Cell-fishness” as it has been satirically dubbed, or cell phone addiction has intoxicated our society, and not necessarily just the youth. Kevin Newman, fifty two, was awarded with an honorable document at a ceremony and after he “took his seat on the dais, [he] began typing on his iPhone.” Pamela Eyring, director of the Protocol School of Washington, that teaches social manners viewed this as “rude, period.” The article “Public Displays of Disaffection” excerpted from MacLean’s Magazine debates that controversial subject of cell phone usage, or “cell-fishness” in daily life. The article’s most perplexing information said that “10% of people under age 25 didn’t see anything wrong with texting during sex.” This fact was also supported by the predictable statistic that reveals “the younger you are, the more tolerant you’ll be to electronic distraction.” There is even a “National Cellphone Courtesy month” in the United States, “requiring awareness- as if it [were] a disease.”

The information from this article is shocking and appalling. Not too many years ago, it would been highly frowned upon to text or use a electronic device while at a noble ceremony accepting a honorable award, however today it is widely accepted by many groups. Where do we draw the line? From here, it is a slippery slope. When does the line get blurred between doctors or physicians using cell phones while operating? It is an addiction, and an unhealthy one at that. Also the “National Cellphone Courtesy Month” may promote proper etiquette on texting, it is borderline pathetic the problem has escalated to that. The first step to recovering from "cell-fishness" is to "turn it off, - it's a start."

Blog Assignment #9 Original Poem

I am the stop sign

I ‘m vibrant, chromatic, and showy

and I can’t be missed.

I am the wall between there

and here.

I am more than vexatious obstruction.

Law abiding citizens,

obey me.

I cause mayhem,

Yet provide protection from collision.

I am the stop sign

I am the Berlin Wall

I divide insanity and mayhem.

I am the unforeseen obstacle,

blocking ambitions and aspirations.

Undealt with,

and I flourish cancerously.

I am the mental impasse

during an SAT exam.

Optimists fear me,

pessimists expect me.

I don’t negotiate

nor compromise.

You overrule and overcome me,

are defeated

or withdrawal prematurely.

I am the stop sign

Blog Assignment #8

"Ideal Relationship"

     "I don't believe for a moment that a perfect mate exists-"
This line is an excerpt from the story "Forget Prince Charming" written by June Callwood. The author describes how there is no such thing as a perfect relationship because there is always conflicting personality characteristics and insolence. The poet Alice Major from the poem "puce fairy book" promotes the idea that fairy tales and the clichés involved is ludicrous and ridiculous. Alice Major focus's more on the fact that women cannot live up to these "ideal looks" of beauty. June Callwood focuses on the idea that couples need certain qualities to have a successful relationship.

Major is brilliant when she compares real life women to the old, traditional values of fairy tales that "[are] pretty, but slightly passé." Finding true love is supposed to be one of life's greatest gifts. One is expected to look past the other's flaws and "the parts of [them] that [are] no fairy tale." Major indefinitely states in her poem that she "[may] have [found her] one true prince but on mature consideration [she] declined, with thanks, the honor of cutting off [her] toe." The underlying meaning(s) of the last stanza is that although she may have found her soul mate, she was mature by knowing that no one is fairy tale perfect. She also recognizes she is not the perfect fairy tale princess, and that her foot is much too large to fit in the dainty glass slipper.

June Callwood stresses to her readers and grandchildren that "they cannot expect perfection". If you do, you will only be disappointed by a "narcissistic dope." Callwood, who was been "married almost fifty-seven years and so far it is working out", forms the idea that "Prince Charming" mates and the "temporary insanity that accompanies courtship" are not the ingredients for a successful relationship. Callwood states that many young lovers in "the first fiery intensity of romantic attachment" are given a brutal wake up call once the "sweetness they [bring out] in one another" fades. She also criticizes lovers who believe that "the partnership will be effortless" because "two adults from different backgrounds will not agree on everything" and there will have to be huge efforts, compromises, and sacrifices to make the relationship work.

One would imagine that although the two stories have different meanings, Major would applaud the grandmother's advice in the story "Forget Prince Charming" because she shares a similar idea with Callwood that fairy tale relationships and characteristics are highly unrealistic and impossible to live up to. They also share the idea that just because one meet someone who may seem like a ‘Prince Charming’, doesn’t necessarily mean that one necessarily would be happy spending their live with such a ‘perfect’ individual.