ShelbyLynnMyshak! <3

In our world, we are judged in many different ways, by our actions, our words, our appearance and our social standings. We judge people everyday of our lives when we don’t even know we are judging them. We judge people so much that we can’t even recognize when we are actually judging one another. We are judged so much that it makes us think of each other not equal. In our world most people are less fortunate than others, reasons for this is, they don’t have profit, they don’t have a job to get the profit they need and they don’t have a place they can call a home. This is a huge problem in all societies today and it needs to stop. If we can try to stop this it will be a hard challenge but I know that we can stop all these problems. We just have to believe that we can do it and that it won’t be a difficult task too complete.

A problem like the one above is happening in our world today, this one is a huge problem. On January 12, 2010 a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the western coast of Haiti. This country was already known to be one of the poorest countries in the world, after this natural disaster it had sent them to the top of the list. The people of Haiti are no strangers to natural disasters, they know what they can be looking forward too at anytime, but they weren’t expecting such a huge earthquake to destroy their country. Buildings all over the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince are collapsed, killing thousands of people and trapping thousands more. It is estimated that 3 million people have been affected by this natural disaster, and over 500,000 have been left homeless. Survivors are desperately searching for food, water and shelter known to be not even classified as shelter. I feel horrified for these people, they didn’t deserve this to happen too them, they did nothing to deserve this, but then again no one can stop such a drastic disaster like this to happen. The people of Haiti are suffering day by day to survive in their loved country of Haiti now known as hell. These innocent people have lost their loved ones, their food, water, and shelter and now they have nothing. Their pride is now not there. When people ask me, what is fair and what isn’t? I would tell them life isn’t fair. It’s not fair that these people have to live through hell now, it’s not fair that this natural disaster had to happen to them, life just doesn’t seem fair to me after this event that just occurred.

In this term we read the book and watched the movie Julius Caesar. There are two groups of people in Julius Caesar, the Stoics and Epicureans. An Epicurean believes that we should live with high quality materials and that we should not take anything for granted. Epicureans are the ones that like to pamper themselves in materialistic items and live for material items and not love like a Stoic does. A stoic believes in immortal soul. They believe that we were set on this earth so that we could look forward to something better after death. I Stoic would believe that life if fair, but an Epicurean would believe that life isn’t fair.

When I was 6 years old I had an experience with inequality. An example was that I had thought my brother was treated better than I was. I always thought that my parents loved him more because he was their first child and that he was the most important one. The only thought I had in my mind was that Christopher was the better child and that I wasn’t that important. Now when I look back I realize that me and my brother were treated the same, I just didn’t understand it all when I was 6 years old. My parents loved me and my brother both, just when I 6 years old I had no idea what to think. Inequality is a factor that can happen in many families in our society. The individuals that are treated badly by their families don’t have a strong enough voice to speak up. We now have places where those people who are treated with a bad life can go too and restart their lives and be happy again and not think about the times when they were treated withdisrespect.

So what is fair and what is not fair? When is a situation fair? We all know that everything can’t be fair, we all know that life can’t always be fair either. We have to get use to the fact that fairness is something that we have to keep up with in our lives. We have to respect the people in all societies and not judge one another by how much profit we have or by what our social standings are or by our color of skin. We are all equal, but we just can’t see this through all the judging and unfairness in the world. Each and every one of us are different on the inside but we are no where near different from each other on the outside, we are equal to one another and we have to recognize that.

Alcohol is a huge factor in our society today. People love alcohol and there are many commercials advertising different types of liquor. All these commercials have at least one or more girls in them, it seems too me that the only way they make these commercials is if they have girls in them and the alcohol beverage of course. The girls are always being used in these liquor commercials, and the guys are always the ones that use the girls for their own good, using the alcohol as a tool and an excuse. The way that society is working today is that if the men drink and get arrested, it’s not that big of a deal. But on the other hand if the ladies do the same actions as the men that would be a huge problem and it would be completely unexpected.

One commercial that I have recently watched is the Bud Light commercial, called the Elevator. This commercial is a perfect example of gender stereotyping, the girl in the elevator is being used by the body guard. The other two body guards are helping him use the girl. That is what supports him to keep doing that all the time. The girl is minding her own business waiting till the elevator stops at the right level so she can get off and continue her life normally, and not get humiliated  by stupid guys who live a fantasy out of alcohol. If there boss saw them doing this to their customers, I’m pretty sure that they would without a doubt get fired. That is an unacceptable way to get girls and use them for your own benefit. These girls should not be used for guys own good, and to live in a fantasy that will end as soon as the alcohol is out of their system, they will get back to real life and see what it really is like out there, and then they will start drinking again because they can’t handle what life throws at them. They use the alcohol as an excuse to use the girls and then blame the alcohol as an excuse.

Another commercial that I had recently watched was the Hahn Beer commercial. This commercial is a good example of how guys will do anything to get their alcohol. In this commercial the girl is going to sit down and have a drink of beer and the guy above her sees the beer and jumps off the balcony completely not even paying attention to the girl and is just paying attention to the beer. This commercial shows that guys will do absolutely anything just t o get their alcohol. He is willing to bounce a girl of a chair into a pool to get the alcohol. This commercial is kind of different then others that I see, because in other commercials they are using the alcohol to get the girl, but in this one they are using the girl to get the booze. He pays no attention to the girl that got bounced off, because maybe she might have been hurt. It still illustrates that girl are still getting used.

One commercial that made me think about gender inequality greatly is the Heineken Beer commercial. The commercial is about these ladies walking in there friends house and then she shows them her walk-in closet full of shoes and clothes. Then soon after you hear the men yelling and cheering from the other end of the house because they had just walked into another walk-in closet full of Heineken beer. When I first saw this commercial on t.v. I thought that is displayed gender inequality greatly. This is shown in the commercial when the ladies walk into the closet full of clothes and shoes they start screaming and when the men walk into the closet full of  beer they start yelling and cheering. In this commercial it is showing that the ladies only care about clothes and the shoes in the closet and not alcohol and it displays that the men only care about their Heineken beer.

All these commercials that I’ve talked about are based on gender inequality. Our society today is always known that alcohol is a major factor too both men and women, but mostly the men. These alcohol commercials that I have talked about in my post have almost all guys in the commercial, as the men are the people displaying the beer and the ladies are the attraction. In all these commercial they are displaying that the men us the alcohol to get the ladies. Most ladies can drink the same amount as guys can and act the same as them, so I don’t get why men are being treated they way they are. Is alcohol only portrayed towards men and not women? Gender inequality plays a huge role in everyones lives today, and its affecting us greatly. We need to stop gender inequality so that us women and those men can be treated them same. If we stop gender inequality the men won’t be treated any better then us and just because these commercials are portraying that men are better then us doesn’t mean that they are actually better than us women.

Toy commercials can have major effects on gender-based inequality. Girls and boys toys are completely different. For example, the GI Joe action figures, younger boys believe that they will turn out to be like this, strong and someone who can fight anyone. When really this isn’t going too come true for these young boys. It’s a GI Joe action figure, no one can possibly be exactly like an action figure, its a toy. For younger girls their toys are more realistic and they are in training for their future with babies. There are dolls out there that can pee, poop, drink, eat, and talk. These little girls that have these dolls are training in a low way of how taking care of babies. Most toy commercials for boys and girls is gender-based inequality. These toy commercials are advertising the gender-based inequality at a very high level.

One day my little cousin and I were watching cartoons on t.v. and a commercial for the Baby Alive doll came on. I remember him saying, “that doll is gross, why would I want to see that, I like boy toys and not dolls, those are for girls.” I thought this was pretty funny, but I understood after that commercials are separating girls toys from boys toys. The Baby Alive commercial represents the gender of girls and that this doll is directed for girls only. The reason for this is because you would never see a boy changing, feeding, or really caring for a baby doll, thats just weird from my perspective. This commercial has a young girl playing and acting like this is a part of who she is and a part of her life. In the future, she will know how to change, feed, and care for the her baby as she did for her Baby Alive doll when she was younger, but in a more successful way. All dolls in our society today are saying, “I love my mommy.” Why can’t a doll say both, I love my mommy and I love my daddy? This is disrespectful to all men because their saying that a baby only say, “I love my mommy,” and not I love my daddy. This is disrespecting gender, something our world plays in a huge role in today.

The Hot Wheels commercials are a huge example of a boys toy. In every Hot Wheels commercial there is a little boy playing the part of playing with these cars. These types of commercials are displaying the gender of boys, by having a boy play the part in the commercial and not a little girl in a pretty purple dress pretending to act like a boy playing with these toy cars. This commercial is displaying the gender of boys and not girls. Little boys are supposed to play with toy guns, cars, and action figures, not little girls. Girls are supposed to play with dolls, and fur real friends, something a boy wouldn’t play with. If a boy came up too me and said he wants to play with a baby doll, I would just think thats weird because I always thought baby dolls were for girls. All these commercials display too us that cars, trucks, and toy guns are for boys and dolls and fur real friends are for girls. It’s just that simple, girls will grow up to be sensitive and caring and boys are supposed to be tough and not sensitive.

The Furreal Friends commercials are directed too girls only. This toy in my opinion could be for both a boy and a girl, but from the commercial it is saying that this toy is only made for girls and not boys.  This commercial represents the gender-based inequality by only saying this toy is recommended for girls. I personally think that boys would like this toy as much as girls. My little cousin Sydney has a Furreal Friend and she loves it, but her little brother Joel absolutely loves playing with it as much as she does. This commercial should have both a boy and girl in it playing with the Furreal Friends to show that this toy could be for both boys and girls, not just girls. For example the Furreal Friend in this picture could be for both boys and girls. I know little boys would love to play with this chimp as much as a little girl.

Barbie is a big selling toy for many girls all around the world. Barbie has a figure that makes all girls think they should have tiny waists, big chests and long blonde hair. This figure to me is what most girls want today in our society, but too most girls it hurts them because they want to look like this but they can’t. Girls should be happy of who they are and what they look like and not try and look like some plastic figure that has the tiniest waist ever and the biggest chest. When I was a little girl I always wanted to be like Barbie with the long blonde hair and living in all these huge houses with these nice cars and most little girls want to be like Barbie too. But in reality it’s not going to happen. Barbie plays a huge role of stereotyping and self-conscious for girls in our society today. For me, I don’t like the message that Barbie is sending out too these younger girls. They need to know that in reality no one looks like this, Barbie is a plastic doll that has the smallest waist ever and the biggest chest ever. Girls need to learn to love their own body and not try and look like some plastic doll.

Here is a link to the same discussion about Gender Role Reinforcement in Children’s Toys in the Forum; http://forum.stjschool.org/viewtopic.php?id=445

“Every household has one or more shrines for this purpose.” This sentence represents stereotyping because, the Anthropologist is saying that every household has one or more shrines for this purpose when really not every household has one or more shrines. The Anthropologist is stating that all Snaid-Anac’s have these shrines, he is saying his opinion and not that true facts about the Snaid-Anac’s. “While this in not unusual, the ceremony and philosophy concerning the body are entirely unique to the culture.” This sentence represents cultural relativism because, the Anthropologist is saying that the ceremony and philosophy concerning the body are entirely unique to the culture. So he is stating that whatever is unique to the Snaid-Anac’s culture is no better or worse than anything other cultures unique ways.

California Diaries: Dawn

Author: Ann M. Martin

STJ School Forum : Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion : Dawn by Ann M. Martin
STJ School Forum

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-17
Thursday 10/9. Dawn talks about Carol and why she couldn't tell dad that she was pregnant. Dawn and Jill got in a fight, but Dawn still wasn't sorry enough to work things out with her.

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-17
Wednesday morning 10/8. Dad called and wanted too know how his children were doing. Him still not knowing about the new baby that Carol was going to have.

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-16
Tuesday night 10/7. Dawn tells Jill Carol is pregnant.

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-16
Early Tuesday morning 10/7. Dawn states the party went great.

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-16
Monday 10/6. The girls talked about the party all day and wondered what it was going to be like. They met Ducky.

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-16
Saturday 10/4. Girls talk about going to the party and what their going to wear. They go to the mall to pick new outfits.

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-16
Even later friday afternoon 10/3 & Friday night 10/3. Dawn found out Carol was pregnant and they talked about it.

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-16
Friday afternoon 10/3. Jill didn't want to go too the party anymore, she was scared. But Dawn still wanted too go, she wasn't worried at all.

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-16
Friday 10/3. Dawn found a note sticking out of her locker, it was a note about meeting the upperclassmen at a party.

Dawn by Ann M. Martin in Book Talk : Fiction Book Discussion, shmyshak, 2009-11-02
Thursday night 10/2. Mary Anne had asked Dawn about the “We Love Kids Club.”

Recently I’ve been reading a book called Evermore. In this book it tells the story of a young girl, Ever, who has lost her whole family in an accident. Ever moves too a new school and every detail of her has changed after she meets Damen Auguste. Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition.  He is gorgeous, exotic, wealthy and he holds many secrets. I can relate to this book because I know what its like to meet a new guy. Like when I met my boyfriend for the first time, every little detail about myself had changed after I had met him. I became more outgoing and I was not shy anymore, I became more like myself. Like the time my boyfriend and I went quading at his house, we got stuck in a slew and we could not get out. So I started giving him a hard time something that I wouldn’t normally do, but around him I’m more outgoing. I didn’t have to be shy about myself and what I could do and how I behaved. I did not have to act like a completely different person around him, I could be myself and I like being myself and not pretending to be a different person. I believe that I should not act completely different around them. It is better to be myself then when I try to be different. I believe most can relate to the same feeling I have about this.

When I was reading this book it got me thinking that when I lose a family member or a friend I start to change and then after I change my whole life is brand new and I would not know where to start with it. After I lost someone in my life, my life completely changed. It was a whole new experience for me. After that I was more sure with everything that was happening in my life and what I was doing with it. When Randle Hobbis passed away I could not stop crying, I didn’t know what to do with myself and how to restart my life after the news I had heard about her. She was like a big sister to me, she was always helping me and showing me new ways to do different skills. I never thought that she would go at such a young age and I never got to experience the future with her. I tried to renew my life and I tried to get it through my head that she was gone and she was never coming back. So about after 3 weeks I got more control over the whole situation and I had finally got myself together, thinking and knowing that Randle was in a good place and she wouldn’t get hurt there. After those 3 weeks I was brand new again. People do not know how much my life had changed after I had lost the girl who was like a big sister too me, who I was very close too. Like Ever, she lost her whole family and her life completely changed, she met new people and those people helped change her life.

I learned from this book that when I lose someone I will always be sure too start over again by change. Like Ever, she lost her mom, dad, sister and dog. She did not know what to do, she thought that the whole reason they died was her fault. After meeting Damen it changed her and he made her believe that she did not cause her whole family to die. Damen is the person who can change a person’s life forever, like he changed Evers.

I would without a doubt recommend Evermore to readers who are looking for a book that will captivate them from the first word to the last. In this book I had learned that new beginnings can be good and that people can change after a death and they met new people who can help change their life forever. I believe all people should change over time, even after a person’s death because after a death people don’t know what to do with themselves and if their able to change they can start over fresh and start a new beginning.

Crystal Meth is sometimes called speed, uppers, crank, chalk, ice, glass, copilot and christmas tree, however it’s most commonly known name is crystal meth, scientifically known as methamphetamine or methyl amphetamine. Methamphetamine is a drug that releases high levels of dopamine; which regulates movement, emotion, motivation and feelings of pleasure. It stimulates the central nervous system, which in turn affects heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. Overtime, meth can deplete dopamine receptors, making it impossible to feel pleasure at all. It also affects mood, appetite, mood and alertness. Meth is known to decrease appetite, but increase wakefulness and physical appetite. Meth can be snorted, smoked, or injected. When injected or smoked, meth is known to give a very intense high.

Crystal meth has alot of effects that most people do not know about. They just think that its away to be free of everything and to get high, cause they think that’s whats good for them and their so addicted they can not get off of it. The way methamphetamine makes you feel depends on a variety of factors that include, weight, age, how much you’ve taken, how long you’ve taken it, and the method used to take it in, and etc. Methamphetamine produces effects like euphoria and stimulation that are much like cocaine, except the effects last much longer. Methamphetamine is in the brain for longer, which can lead to prolonged stimulant effects. Here are some effects of crystal meth;

1. Tolerance can develop with long-term use of methamphetamine, which means the user will need larger amounts of drug to achieve the same desired effects. Long-term use can result in addiction.
2. High dose use can result in violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, insomnia and weight loss.
3. Methamphetamine causes increased heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to strokes and death.
4. Other effects include risk of convulsions, respiratory problems, irregular heartbeat, and extreme anorexia.
5. With long-term use, psychosis can develop including paranoia, mood disturbances, delusions and hallucinations. For example, people may feel the sensation of insects creeping on the skin, and as a result scratch and pick at their skin until there are open sores, which can become infected.
6. Another problem found among Crystal Meth users is “Meth mouth.” Many users often have rotting teeth and it’s not known exactly why, although it may be because of a reduced blood flow to the teeth and gums, and dry mouth from less saliva.

Most people in our society today are addicted too crystal meth, I myself don’t know anyone who does this, but have heard of people around the world being addicted. Crystal meth too me is something that you could never possibly get off of. It is a horrible drug too get addicted to. I’ve just never understood why people are addicted too drugs like crystal meth. It’s a bad habit to get into so why would you get addicted? Do most people have reasons to do this drug or do they just do it because they know someone who does it? I just do not understand everything about drugs and why people do it.

The most influential feature is the looks. Looks too me are the most important feature as too other people also. I believe no one wants too look like a slob, they want too look their best and don’t want a bad reputation for themselves. My looks is what makes me, me. I never want too look gross or make myself look bad, because then I would get a bad reputation for myself and for me I wouldn’t want a bad reputation. Some people are overweight, and some people are really underweight! Most people are self conscious of their weight and thats not always a good thing! If our looks weren’t a big deal in our world today we would have a better world and people wouldn’t judge one another!

In 2007, I went to the best concert of my whole life!  My friends Taylor, Lindsay and I had 4 tickets too go too a Nickelback concert! We had to take Taylor’s dad with us too drive us too Edmonton and back too Vermilion. The whole way there all we could talk about was the drummer that played for Nickelback! All three of us thought he was the prettiest person ever, We couldn’t wait too see him live! All though we could never get his name right, now Daniel Adair was pretty had for us too remember, which is pretty sad!

We finally got too Edmonton, the girls and I had so much energy for the concert!  All 4 of us got out of the car and started too walk toward the train station where we got our tickets too ride on the trian, which we had too ride to Relax Place because it was pretty much impossible too drive there with all the people for the concert!

After awhile we pulled up too Relax Place! We stepped out of the train and first person we see is some random guy playing his guitar on the pavement playing for money, he was pretty good but i didn’t wanna give him money. We finally got too the line where everyone was waiting! There were so many people it was crazy! We were pretty close too the doors, they finally let us in and the first thing that had happened too us when we came in was, we had too get searched by body guards. For me it was scary and really awkward, I’ve never had that done before!

We got into where the concert was happening, we had pretty good seats! The show had started & we were all really pumped! They played all their songs off the album and one of their new songs! They were all really great! During the show, there was this really drunk guy above us and we had dancing and not paying attention and spilt his beer on Lindsay’s sweater! That was the only bad thing about the whole concert! Us girls were all screaming and singing and then all of a sudden it went silent! The drummer was doing a drum solo! We started too scream as loud as we could possibly scream! The young boys in front of us were shaking their heads, but we didn’t care! The drum solo was amazing! It was almost the best thing about the whole concert!

The concert was all over and we had too leave! It was so busy I thought we were going to get lost! We finally got out of Relax place and had too take the train back too where the car was! We were so tired and our throats were super sore! We had got back too the car and we were on our way home! We barely could even talk, our voices were gone pretty much! But we didn’t really care, cause we had an amazing time! So now you know why this was the best concert ever!

She was the only one
So young and beautiful
Did not know what to think
The ladies never knew her

They ask her,
are you a lady?
The one girl said,
I do not know

She did not know what a lady was
The ladies replied,
A lady is mature, loving, and caring
But so much more

The girl thought about herself
She knew she could be all of those
But the ladies put her up to it
They knew she could achieve

She was one girl in a group of ladies
The one girl achieved everything
She never thought she would become a lady
The group of ladies loved the one girl

The one girl became known as a lady
Not the one girl in a group of ladies
She was an achiever in her eyes
But also in the ladies eyes