Flashforward

When I think about what the future might hold for us I am honestly not too sure what to expect. We have come so far with technology that I can’t even imagine how much further we could possibly go. The part that scares me the most is the possibility of being overrun by computers. Will humans have a job in the future or will computers replace them. If you traced back 30 years and asked people if they thought computers would be doing what they are today I am sure they couldn’t have even imagined that phones would be talking. (Such as Siri for the iPhone)
There is one concept that I think could be really interesting and that would be time travel. To be able to go back in time and see how out grandparents lived or explore the age of the dinosaur would be amazing. However I am sure that someone out there would abuse that ability to the extent of ruining it for everyone else. There really are an infinite amount of possibilities that the future may hold for society. Thirty years from now automobiles may be flying like in the cartoon the Jetsons or we may begin to inhabit space, you never know! I can only hope that the changes the future holds are only positive and bring exciting new adventures.

Abracadabra

Take a scary movie that occurs when one character is left in an empty house. The movie finishes, and suddenly there is no more sound. You've just been primed for fear by the movie, and your emotions are running high. A shadow moves outside, and you freeze for a moment, imagining the face of the axe murderer/psychotic prisoner/whatever right outside your window. You hear a noise, and your mind compiles all of the horrible and painful ways that you could be about to die. It happens. And then, the next time you're in a similar situation, you might start feeling the same way all over again. This is one way that you cannot trust your mind. The key to getting rid of this is to think, "Why am I scared?" And then, if you trace the fear back to a movie you saw, you ask yourself "Is it reasonable for me to be scared of a fictional creation?" This is a way that you can begin to trust your mind.

Alternatively, if you've lost a loved one, you might hear them, see them or feel them in particular contexts that evoke strong emotions in you. This is something that may never go away, but instead lessens over time.

Trending

After reading Jeff Changs’s, “Stakes Is High”, I came to the conclusion that hip-hop has come to be the way our entire generation sees their world. When rap first became popular it was more of a political art form filled with anger and rebellion. The song “Cop Killer” by Ice-T is an example of the anger and hate that was being expressed. These songs brought truth to what was going on at the time. As this age died out the music changed to a different aspect and it became more about money. The tone changed to having expensive cars, houses, big wheels, and money.. Hip-hop is more mainstream then we think, with endorsements, clothing, shoes, and many more products backed by hip-hop artists. It is a new empire for the new generation, out with the old, in with the new. Actually I think that all music has a generational aspect to it.
To the idea that it is mainstream because of its popularity, I admit that such an assumption is valid. Hip-hop has had a great influence on the world. People in other countries have adopted not only the culture and lifestyle, but have reproduced it with infusions of their own culture. Hip-hop has become a way of life for many people, so much that instead of it being considered rebellious it is now normal and regarded as conventional. It is definitely the dominant trend in opinion, fashion and arts.

Environmental Awareness

The importance of environmental awareness is that it aids individuals in understanding the impact we as humans have on our planet.  Being aware of even the smallest details can help us find ways to keep our surroundings clean and green; such as planting a tree or recycling.  An activist is someone who speaks out about the environment and the proper management of it resources.  The importance of an activist is to push for change either through campaigning at the political level or simply by educating.  Without activists this issue would disappear and be forgotten.  Activists push to keep the environment fresh on the minds of the people. We need to protect our planet now so that when our children bring their children into the world there will be a place worth living in. Caring for the environment can help to bring back the earth’s balance that man has made his mark on. So the more aware we are of the problem the more we can do to help!

The Need For Prisons

In my opinion, the prison systems serve a purpose.  However, I think in a lot of ways it should be more regulated. There are prison systems that are way too lax and I feel this encourages repeat offenders. There is no fear of being incarcerated. They don’t have to work, worry about what to eat, or where to sleep. This concept keeps the doors of the prison revolving. The constant revolving door manages to stuff millions of dollars into the pockets of the government. The amount they receive is not the amount put back in to help rehabilitate the inmates. It keeps the hierarchy happy and they in turn build more prisons. If an inmate was forced to work, to learn a trade and earn his keep, I think this would spill over into the inmate’s non-incarcerated life. Education is the key to preservation, and I think that is the same point Foucault was making. I feel like he almost felt the prison system was a conspiracy, and in a lot of ways it probably is. Sadly, there will always be someone that breaks a law and that will need to be incarcerated. There will also always be someone that is afraid of those people. Those are the people that will push to keep the prisons open and running. It just creates a never-ending cycle of imprisonment and a reluctance to dispense with it.

Packing List

After reading “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, I was a little put off by how he first described Jimmy Cross. Mainly because I know the duties of the officers that are leading platoons and he was painted as a mindless lieutenant that could care less about the men that he was leading. Luckily by the end of the excerpt Jimmy Cross sort of redeemed himself by finally realizing that there are more important things that wandering around daydreaming about some girl from back home. His job is to lead the men of his platoon and provide guidance so that they do not do stupid things that could get them killed. Smoking dope and drinking while on patrol is also an absurd statement since that is nowhere near available to them. Also O’Brien states that they carried tranquilizers and morphine. What most Americans do not know is that no matter what injury it is for our soldiers are given nothing more than ibuprofen. Honestly it was a little unnerving altogether that O’Brien would even say that the soldiers would be carrying such things. It is stories like these that make people believe that our soldiers are overseas for nothing but a paycheck. I guess that is the veteran and military wife coming out in me. It is sad that I should feel the need to have to defend what our military is doing overseas. However, the story did point out some good points about the other things that soldiers carry. O’Brien says, “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die.” Now that is something to think about. Sure those men are tough, but deep down they carry the fear that the next minute could be their last. I think it is heartbreaking that our military risks their lives so that you can live yours, without so much as even a thank you from most people. Thankfully, by the end of the story Lt. Cross reminds himself that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead. That statement makes him sound more like an officer and one that I would prefer to be in charge if my husband were part of his platoon.

O’Brien, T. (2010). The Things They Carried. In M. Krasney and M. E. Sokolik (Editors) Sound Ideas (pp. 406-420). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Strength In Love

     I am a military wife. To some, this may be just a title but it really is much more than that. I love my husband very much, but I spend more time kissing him goodbye than I do actually spending time with him. When you marry someone that is in the military you are really marrying into the military. You are dedicating your life to someone and to something that is way bigger than you could ever imagine. It requires a lot of dedication and a love that is strong. Our love has endured four deployments to Iraq that have stretched longer than four years of time. Most people cannot even handle being away from a loved one overnight. One night would be a blessing. You have to be able to communicate through letters and very short phone calls. And once you make the decision to bring children into the world, you need to be able to explain to them why daddy has to go away. It can be a very tough way to live. I am not saying that I love my husband more than another woman may love hers, just that it can be very difficult. I can say, however, that I have become an incredibly strong willed and tough woman. Love is a powerful word that some people may have never experienced, but I can say with pride that I love my life, my husband, my children and every single obstacle that may cross our path and I would not change it for the world.

Important Lessons Learned

         Grade school was a very impressionable time for me.  It was a time when we learned important lessons that we were expected to carry with us throughout our time as an adolescent. Although after thinking about it, it is still a continuous process even as an adult. The life lessons that were bestowed upon us can be equally compared to the lessons that we learn in the real world every day. Some examples of these lessons would be to pay attention, follow directions, honesty is always the best policy and think before you act. All of these were so simple, yet could be so complex for a young adult. Thankfully as I’ve grown older I have learned how to survive those “rules” and learn from them. They have shaped me into a more well rounded person that can stand up to pretty much any issue that I am faced with. Hopefully, I can impart these same lessons onto my own children so that they grow up being able to roll with the punches of life.

Memories That Last a Lifetime

I remember my husband’s first deployment to Iraq like it was yesterday. It was something that I had always feared, but never realized that it would be harder to say goodbye than it would be to leave. Or at least that is what it seemed like. It was a horrible feeling sending the man I love off to a war zone. I had no idea how to act or what to say. Several days after that miserable late night at green ramp, I found myself feeling very ill and ended up in the emergency room due to dehydration. Little did I know that our lives would change in a huge way. The doctor informed me that I was pregnant. Honestly, I do not remember much after that for the next 24 hours or so. It all became such a huge blur. My husband had just left for what we thought was a yearlong deployment and we certainly had not planned on starting a family quite yet. It took me almost a week to figure out a way to tell him. I didn’t want to just blurt it out over the phone and I certainly did not want to just write it in a letter or an email. We had set a skype date up and planned to meet each other on the computer and my plan was to take a home pregnancy test just before then so I would have something to show him. This is not how I had planned on telling my husband that we were expecting, but when it is the only choice you have you have to use the resources available. I remember telling him that I had something to tell him, but I must have had a fearful look on my face because he immediately asked what was wrong. I finally announced that he was going to be a daddy. I’m pretty sure that 15 seconds of silence was the longest pause on the face of the planet. I wasn’t sure whether to expect him to be happy, upset, sad or angry. But he just yelled out, “I’m going to be a daddy!” to everyone that was in the Internet cafe where he was talking to me. Everyone cheered and I heard congratulations come from quite a few guys in the background. I held up the pregnancy test to show him and had tears streaming down my face. I was so relieved that I finally had told him and that I did not have to keep it a secret anymore. I certainly didn’t want the news getting to him before I could! It was a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life and that changed our family in a major way. Looking back, I don’t think I would change a single thing about how it happened. Except maybe my husband would have been home to pamper me while I was pregnant, but that is for my own selfish reasons. There have been several other deployments since then and our family has grown by two. The entire experience of being a military wife has shaped me into a stronger and independent woman. However, once I added mommy to that title I learned new meanings to those words and how they related to me.

Childhood Memories

            As a little girl, I lived with my father who was gainfully employed as a truck driver.  Often times we had dinner at the local Elbys restaurant and we sat at the high top area where my dad would flirt with the waitresses. I hate to say it, but I am pretty sure that I was my dad’s chick magnet.  I never really had a female influence in my life to show me how to style my hair, how to dress or to explain to me the “changes” that girls go through. It certainly was not easy.  I was teased a lot in elementary school and was labeled as a tomboy by most of my classmates. My dad would attempt to buy me dolls or what he thought were girly things, but he never really did get it right. Up until the fourth grade my dad remained technically single until the day he met my stepmother. I remember that day quite vividly because I was at the hospital getting my tonsils removed and she had been my nurse. She was super nice to me and had even let me take my new stuffed animal with me back to the operating room, since it was the day after my birthday and I was determined not to leave any of my new toys behind. Shortly after I had recovered from my surgery I began to see more of the nice nurse that had taken care of me that day. She would come over to our house after work to fix us dinner and I remember after my bath I would beg her to brush my hair and braid it since my dad was so terrible at it. Not too long after that she officially became my stepmother on June 4, 1987. I remember it fondly because it was also my dad’s birthday. She had picked out this beautiful purple dress for me to wear and had a friend of hers curl my hair in little ringlets. It really became a defining moment for me as a little girl. I was so proud of how I looked and I could not wait to take a picture to school to show all the kids that had always made fun of the way I looked and dressed. I know that my dad tried so hard to raise me the way he thought he should and I will certainly never ever hold it against him. However, the best thing that ever came into our lives was a woman who knew how to be a lady.