Telling The Truth

Mr.Dye presented an interesting prompt about always telling the truth in a story. Such as life in a gang. Should a writer repeat every single worf for word that a gang member would say, should he cut out the swearing and immoral behavior? What I think is, is that immorality for the sake of immorality is dead writing, it has no meaningful effect on a reader. For example, you're watching a commercial about a movie with an interesting story, historical event you learned about or a good book you read, well guess what, at the end of it it says that it's is rated R. Probably because of that "one scene"or something. That's meaningless immorality. Now if you were to write a story about a real life gang experience or something, swearing may not necessarily be a bad thing completely. If the gang members always used clean language wouldn't it set sort of a strange unrealistic atmosphere? Because that's not how a gang life is. Sometimes it is used for the developement of the character or the way the writer wants a character portrayed. I'm not in favor of immorality, don't get me wrong, but there are some, not all, situations in which swearing would be sort of in a way be appropriate. Personally I would never write anything with immoral ideas because there are plenty of good moving stories with no immorality, which tend to be the more powerful ones. So, in conclusion, I would just have to say that it depends on the realtionships, characters, and situtions in a story.

Mistakes

Obviously nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes and have our short comings and impatience with others. Judging others based on appearance is also a limiting factor in our lives. Even just this year, I've judged some people too harshly. I decided that I was going to change my attitude and now they're some of the nicest or interesting people I know. Now, about the picture, it shows a bunch of dead rats all killed by a rat trap at once. It's symbolizing teamwork. Teamwork can be interesting. You can always learn something from working together. I've been in plenty of groups where we didn't win this or that, but I just had a good attitude along with my teammates and we still got more out of it than if we had just sat there and pouted. Other times I've been in a group where it did win. Some cases I had a little bit of a bad attitude, and even though we won, I didn't get much out of it. Just like the picture, we need to share victory or share defeat. It's our choice.

Agency

Class was interesting today because we were prompted to write about agency. One of the questions that came up was something like "can you sell anything?" and "what should we not sell?" To me, basically anything can have a price, in a temporal or physical sense. Land is sold, people have been and are still sold today, goods, etc. Also in a metaphorical or analogical sense, your spirituality can be sold. Do we "sell" ourselves to the devil or to Christ? Do we "sell" ourselves to Daoism or Confucianism? We have our own choice to choose what to believe, when to believe or how to believe in something. It's our own personal submission of our conscience.We can be forced to do something we don't want to, such as if you are a slave, but nobody MAKES you do something. A slave could just quit and refuse to work, even if the consequences are death, that's the free will. You can never completely sell your free will.

Write Now!

Today is the Write Now! Activity thingy mc'bob at UVU. Right now I'm in the text/media workshop. We've been making poster type advertisements about creative thinking, writing or reading. Exciting stuff!Anyway, it's been pretty fun learning about writing!Here's what I sort of came up with....
"One man's garbage
is another man's
TREASURE"- Ideas Are All Around You

Printing Press vs. Gunpowder

It's hard to choose between two very diverse and influential inventions. That's why I both give them the grand prize. No matter what anybody says, saying you have to choose a side (particularly Mackenzie B.), I still think they are equal.
The printing press spread knowledge throughout the common people (particularly Europe), it sparked the beginning of the Renaissance. Which pulled us out of the Dark Ages and into a new thriving era.It made books readily available, news was spread easily and ideas were popping like popcorn. Enabling creative thinking which then sparked great literature and art.
Gunpowder is also influential for revolutionising how the world looked at warfare. Not only was it more dangerous but more convenient also. Close combat wasn't needed as much and sending messages by flares in war was faster. Cannons arrived also, which provided another more destructive way of tearing down the enemy, especially for ships and building. Some say that's a completely horrible idea but if you think about it, it made the world safer but obviously more dangerous. It's just mankind's battle for "bigger and better." That's life and the world we live in, so get over it. Without unrest there is no peace. Without death, there is no life.
Basically I would have to say that both are an equal balance of influences in the course of history. Consider the following picture:
(Think of the iron as "pressing")

My Wu-Wei

Ahhhhhh......peace and tranquility......

Close your eyes like this guy (top picture)


Now as you read this with your eyes closed,imagine yourself sitting lethargically on soft grass warmed by the sun. You're getting very sleepy in this relaxed state, letting your mind wander aimlessly. Take a deep breath and feel the air fill your lungs and leave, now do it again, and again. Ok. Your arms start to feel like they're missing after staying in the same position for so long. Now it's your legs too, then your feet and your head disappears along with everything else.Almost as if you don't physically exist at all.... deep breath, ooooooooohhhhh huuuuuhhhhhh uhhhhhhh huuuuuhhh Ok I'm bored now. How about you? Wu-Wei is definitely a joy of joys fun thing to do. I hope you enjoyed it as much as the old guy did....

Interesting Facts

1. Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.
2. Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
3. The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as substitute for blood plasma.
4. No piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.
5. Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.
6. You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.
7. Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or older.
8. The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.
9. The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.
10. A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.
11. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating 1 olive from each salad served in first-class.
12. Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.
13. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
14. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
15. Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.
16. The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer.
17. Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
18. Marilyn Monroe had six toes. (rumor)
19. All US Presidents have worn glasses. Some just didn't like being seen wearing them in public.
20. Walt Disney was afraid of mice.
21. Pearls melt in vinegar.
22. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
23. The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
24. It is possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs.
25. A duck's quack doesn't echo and no one knows why.
26. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
27. Richard Millhouse Nixon was the first US president whose name contains all the letters from the word 'criminal.' The second was William Jefferson Clinton.
28. Turtles can breathe through their butts.
29. Butterflies taste with their feet.
30. In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world's nuclear weapons combined.
31. On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.
32. On average people fear spiders more than they do death.
33. Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.
34. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.
35. Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
36. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
37. It's physically impossible for you to lick your elbow.
38. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.
39. A snail can sleep for three years.
40. No word in the English language rhymes with 'MONTH.'
41. Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.
42. Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. SCARY!!!
43. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
44. All polar bears are left handed.
45. In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies,
including their eyebrows and eyelashes.
46. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
47. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
48. 'Go', is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
49. If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand seven feet, two inches tall. Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
50. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
51. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
52. Almost everyone who reads this will try to lick their elbow.