Mookie Riffic

I've been on a pretty good roll with a lot of good posts (in my opinion), but unfortunatly all things must come to an end. There is going to be no blogging for me tonight. Not with this horrible headache.

Sorry. I'll blog tomorow (if my head stops pounding).

~M 0.o Kie~

Posted by at 06:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

But this pisses me off. (Thanks to Jen for the link)

So lets start at the beginning (I'm going to tear this article apart).

If your teen isn't text messaging -- chances are they are blogging. That is journaling their innermost thoughts for all to read on-line. Today blogs are giving teens the creative outlook they need to express what they feel, think and do on a daily basis.

*Blinks* First off, I can, and often do IM and Blog at the same time. Second, I don't put my "inner most thoughts" here. I'd be insane, because first off, my parents DO read my Blog. And second a blog isn't just talking about personal life.

he clicks on his Web log, or blog — an on line diary he keeps on a Web site called LiveJournal — and checks for responses from his readers.

*Aggravated Sigh* I've said it before, and I'll say it again. A LiveJournal is NOT a Blog. A journal is a place to whine. A blog is a place to whine and have good times.

Lets skip forward a couple of paragraphs to the next passage I've decided needed my personal opinion.

The teenagers who post journals have (depending on your perspective) a degraded or a relaxed sense of privacy; their experiences may be personal, but there’s no shame in sharing.

Do I do this? I don't think so. And to some degree I believe there is a shame in sharing. I'm sorry but you don't go onto a blog/journal and just post every single intimate detail of your life. Well some do, but I don't believe in it. Posting your entire life will take up your ENTIRE LIFE. You wont do anything else. A teenager doesn't post about the first time they have sex, or if they smoke weed. You just don't do that. You don't post that you watched a scary movie and peed in your bed. You don't post your deepest secrets. But thats my opinion. And if you just have too, get a journal, not a blog.

a new kind of intimacy, a sense that they are known and listened to. This is their life, for anyone to read. As long as their parents don’t find out.

Wow. I guess I just defy all of the laws of nature. First I'm not supposed to exist. And now I'm not supposed to blog because-Heaven Forbid- my father reads!

And thats another difference between a Journal and a Blog. A Blog wont get you grounded (mostly) if your parents don't like what you write. Why? Because you don't post stuff that you know will get you in trouble! In a blog you use common sense. Generally its known that you don't do certain things, for example, you don't post about a particularly smelly fart, or like I said before, the first time you had sex-the day after! Now the whole sex thing, some people do post it, but generally its not until YEARS later. Not the next day. Granted there are exceptions

On one final note:

To read more of this story, click here.

Story provided courtesy of the New York Times. Copyright © 2004 by New York Times.

The New Your Times sucks. They shouldn't make you pay for a news article. Not when they already posted a good chunk of it!

So anyway. That article has me kinda mad, but its Okay. I just hope, the author of that article learns that there IS a difference between a blog and a journal. Either that or I'm overacting. < mocking > But thats Okay. I'm a teenager! < /mocking of psychiatrists>

Posted by at 06:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

This was a school paper, I got A's all across the rubric. If you haven't read either/both works you might want to skip this essay. I'm putting it in the extended. And you aren't getting the original. I'm correcting what the teacher said needed correcting. For example I didn't know that Holocaust needed to be capitalized. He he.

The World Wars were a period full of horrible acts. World War I was the first with trench warfare; hundreds of thousands died from disease and dysentery,no just battle. In WWI, the Germans first showed their skill at propaganda. In the following war, World War II, there was the Holocaust, an attempt by the German Nazis to commit genocide of the Jews. The holocaust was an attempt by Adolf Hitler to exterminate all Jews; Hilter placed millions of Jews in concentration camps, and killed millions. Many have documented the atrocities of both wars, but none as brilliantly as two men have: Elie Wiesel and Enrich Remarque. These men wrote about the wars in a very descriptive manner that could not help but open the eyes of the world. Wiesel wrote his own memoir, Night, about his time int he concentration camps, and Remarque wrote a historical fiction, All Quiet on the Western Front, about life int eh German trenches, based on his own experiences as a solider. By documenting the wars, both Wiesel and Remarque are able to illustrate, by usage of strong diction the reduction of humanity to mere animals.

In the novel Night Elie Wiesel tells his own story about the Holocaust. Wiesel talks about the loss of his father, his faith, and his innocence. During his experiences he and the other prisoners are consistently faced with attempts to strip them of their humanity and reduce them to mere animals with primitive wants and instincts. Wiesel portrays this dehumanization with his diction such as “Men threw themselves on top of each other, stamping each other, tearing each other, biting each other. Wild beasts of prey, with animal hatred in their eyes; sharpening their teeth and nails” (95). The level of dehumanization these victims face is appalling. At times they fight to the death for mere crumbs of bread. Elie survived the Holocaust; at the expense of his faith and temporarily, his humanity. During the Holocaust, the main goal of the Nazis, beyond exterminating the Jews, was to dehumanize them with the wide spread usage of propaganda. The Germans, in general, were masters of propaganda and used it at every turn; attempting to make the Jews themselves believe their own “impurity”. As Wiesel depicts in his memoir, the Nazis often load the Jew on cattle cars for transport, all the while insulting them, calling them swine, or pigs, and beating them.

All Quiet on the Western Front is placed in World War I, and features a fictional character named Paul Baumer. Paul has become a member of the ‘Iron Youth’ and he, like a Elie, has lost his innocence. Often during highly periods of the novel, there is an increase usage of animalistic diction such as “With one lunge, I shoot as flat as a fish over the ground; there…I crouch… I claw… I groan… I creep…” (Remarque 67). This use of diction emphasizes the horror of war, and the reduction of man’s humanity towards each other when placed in a highly stressful situation. Another such example of animal behavior is when the men “reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant human animal.” (Remarque 56). The extended use of animalistic phrases creates a mood that forces the reader to feel some guilt about human kind and its actions.

As both novels progress Elie and Paul are forced to become more distant from their fellow beings. With Elie, it became apparent after the death of his father, and with Paul, the death of his companions. These deaths created a cataclysm that was the final point for the characters, where they reached their lowest point. Once at such a low point, it was extremely hard for the characters to continue, often just living because of instinct, not thought. Paul and Elie’s ability to act like animals often saves both numerous times. It often saves Paul because it allows him to dodge bullets and shells without consciously recognizing that they are coming toward him. The ability saves Elie when he is on the 42 mile run; Elie is not consciously aware ofhis body, and allows instinct to take him over. If Elie had been aware of his pain and how tired he was, then Elie would have been just another Jewish corpse on the side of the road whose only use would be as a road marker to lead the Allied forces to the Nazis.
Wiesel and Remarque used specific diction to portray the dehumanization of humans to the point where they were animals. The authors wrote their novels informally, making it intellectually at least, an easy read. By writing in common language the authors were able to pass along their ideas and theme’s to everyone, not just the well educated. The main characters in the novels, Elie and Paul, are in different wars, but both have to face highly emotional experiences and go through intense emotional trauma. Another similar aspect of the two characters is that they are only boys, both of which are very young, Elie only 15, and Paul barely 20.The two characters are similar in their struggle for survival; the biggest difference being that Paul dies, while Elie lives. Both men also must face horrible situations where their will and strength are tested, almost to the breaking point. The way Elie and Remarque illustrate war in the novels Night and All Quiet on the Western Front make it impossible for the horrors to be lost, or dismissed. These two authors have proved to mankind, that war is not glorious, happy, or romantic, it is not, not in the least.

Posted by at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Politicians are constantly going on and on about how they will improve education. Get us more teachers. Better supplies. Better surroundings. Less kids per class. They have yet to deliver.
In my P.E. class there are 45 kids. There are 9 P.E. classes in my block. That's 405 kids and 9 teachers. Now some people would say "yeah, but that's not an important class.." Sorry to burst your bubble, but if a class gives me a grade, and that grade can affect my GPA, it's important. And in PE we also have health every three weeks. So lets look at it this way. Theres one teacher. 45 kids. And we're supposed to A) Learn to drive, and B) Get Certified for CPR. You can figure it out.
My friend Emma is in Algebra II/Trig, and is struggling. She can't drop down to a lower math class (IB-Algebra II in this case) because there is no room. She has math the same block as me, but I'm in the Algebra II class. Once again, theres one teacher. But instead of 45 kids, theres 34. And the teacher is, in my opinion, an idiot. We'll refer to the teacher as Mr. J.
Outside of Mr. J's are of expertise, math, he is an idiot. Sorry to be harsh but its true. He assigned a project. How many turned it in? 12. How many actually put effort into it? 4. And then, instead of making the 3 grade project into an example, and force the other 22 kids to take the course seriously, he accepted late work.
I found out something today that really angers me. (Can't find a link) A man applied to a school to become a teacher. They denied his application because "He was too smart, and might intimidate the students". No teacher is ever overqualified. Under qualified? Hell yeah. But over? Thats an oxymoron.
Maybe if the teachers were actually decent we wouldn't have lower scores then South Africa in our math programs. Maybe we wouldn't have kids on the street joining gangs and spending the rest of their lives working in McDonald's. Maybe if our teachers were decent and didn't teach everything directly from the text books kids would be interested. Maybe we would absorb the info and not mind the homework because its interesting. Maybe we would learn more from our teachers then just the basic level info. We might learn to appreciate life better. We just might decrees the poverty levels in this country.
But how do we get decent teachers. People who actually care and will help a student to understand. Well first off lets raise the salary. The average teacher's pay is pathetic. In Hawaii for the 2003-2004 year, a teacher with a Bachelors and 6 years of teaching experience is paid $35,373. Now I may still be a bit naive when it comes to this type of stuff, but I know enough to know that that is not a good wage. No wonder no ones to teach if thats nation wide. Theres no incentive.
As an IB student, I generally get good teachers. Partly from luck, partly because all the crap teachers don't like to put forth the effort necessary to teach IB. IB teachers have a lot to account for, they have to accomplish both the county curriculum, AND the international curriculum. And it's not easy. But one of the benefits is they don't have to deal with the "Gangsta" kids who think they are bad asses and too good for school.
One of my favorite teachers taught us about the first World War in a very interesting, and to my mind fun way. She wanted us to know what it was like to be a solider in a war, so she did her best to recreate it. She split the class into two groups, Americans vs. Germans. And everyone had to take off their shoes and stand in a pan water for a minute to get our socks wet. Then when everyones feet were soaked we had to build "Trenches" out of our desks and draw cards. Depending on the card you could get a limb tied up so it was useless, you could get killed in which you laid in the middle of the floor for the rest of class, or you could get lucky and get to shoot the other side with these cheap plastic dart guns. It was fun, and you can bet everyone got an A on the test for that section.
With out decent teachers none of the modern day-to-day problems in society are ever going to change. We will forever be stuck in a state of limbo where the elite rich get all the best teachers while anyone that has the bad luck to be born in the city or rural areas is just plain screwed. We need teachers; not more regulations and standardized test.

Posted by at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

And want to know how I know? Simple, only Bill and one other can write truly tactless and disgusting stuff. And for some reason they both like to discuss bodily functions and illnesses. Heres a sample of the next Bill

be it for a few stitches or treatment of anal warts and raging herpes you have to flip the charts over

For the full text of the passage, which was left as a comment, go here.

So now all Andy has to do to truly become a Mini-Bill is get off of the stupid LiveJournal server onto some place decent. Even Blog*Spot is better then Live Journal.

Posted by at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

So yesterday I mentioned that I was toying with the idea of setting up a little (or not so little) blog meet. And I started to serious think about it, and I realized that if this is gonna happen, and if I'm gonna organize it (because it is my idea, can't really pawn it off) then I gotta make some choices and decisions. So heres the list of things (so far) to figure out.

When?
Where?
Who?
How many?
Family event?
Bloggers only?
Kids welcome?
Kids not welcome?
Alcohol?
No alcohol?
Where to get money?
Where to get food?
Actually organize stuff to do?
Just go with flow?
Will I be the only kid!?

So as you can see, there is much to figure out. Oh boy...

Posted by at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (3)

Of getting some the DC/Northern VA/Maryland Bloggers together at some point. Or everyone.

While everyone would be nice, it could be pricey. Cause I don't imagine plane tickets from Hong Kong, or Australia, or Sweden would be very cheep. And thats what I'm all about. Cheapness.

I've already found out from Dad that when we go to visit my bro in Connecticut, we're going to visit Tunning Spork and StMack. Yea!

But I'm thinking of something kinda small, a few people, like me for instance. And Tink, Silverblue, PoloRandy, Roxette, Kevin, Nic, Victor... and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. Make it small like. Ya know?

And if I had a time frame, I'd say Spring Break would be a good time (Easter-ish) because thats when I don't have school. So yeah. If I'm not totaly insane, tell me, because I think its a good idea.

Posted by at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Is a privacy agreement required by the national Government to be signed by all patients/clients of Doctor Offices, Hospitals, Pharmacys, and numerous other places.

HIPAA is a pain in my @$$.

Not because I don't think its a great idea. But because it forces me to do extra paperwork, which is just badness.

So if you haven't noticed I work in a Doctors office, an Eye Doctor to be percise. And that was where I was yesterday when Dad met Silverblue, Roxette Bunny, Tink, and PoloRandy. I was so mad when I found out I couldn't go because of work. Gah! Oh well. I'll just have to make them come up to woodbridge again... Or wait... If we go to States for the One Act (cross your fingers) I think its in the same general area. I'll find out tomorow.

Posted by at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My mom's (A) computer runs on ME.

Dad's computer (B) runs on ME.

Mine(C) is XP.

My sisters/extra (D) computer is on '95.

How do I get them to get along? D can read and gets along with A, B, and C. B and C get along. A hates everyone but D. A also has the printer and can acess files on B and C but B and C can't acess the printer or files on A. How do I fix it?

Posted by at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

And so I return to my blog when a sparkle in my eye and much joy.

Now as soon as I finish barfing over that last sentence I'm gonna post mucho.

Posted by at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)