Metacognition: Organizing my Desk

My goal for today was to organize my desk. My desk is the place that accumulates all of the mail I receive, loose school papers and any other piece of junk or trash that I pile on it. Before I cleaned it, the junk on it was probably the worst I've seen it. There was hardly a bare spot on it.

Before I took the task of cleaning my desk, I felt gross whenever I sat at my desk because there were piles of junk all around me. I would try to avoid the site of my desk as I moved my workplace upstairs, where I didn't have to look or be at my desk. while I was cleaning it, it was hard to determine what I should throw away and what I should keep. I didn't know what would be valuable and what wouldn't. I eventually turned to throwing away most of it because most of the papers I had saved on my computer. After I was done cleaning my desk, I felt very refreshed. I felt like a burden had been lifted. Because now there is more bare spots on my desk than occupied spots.

This project changed how my mind feels, by clearing my mind of all the junk that had been on that desk. My mind would feel very occupied when I used to look at it, because I would be mentally looking at everything on the desk, which was very distracting. Now since it is clean, I feel calm and open minded when I look at my desk or when I sit down at it.

After this project I now know where my one photo album is. I had been missing it ever since school started. And while I was cleaning I found it underneath a music book. This is very exciting because the photos in that album are very important to me. I am glad I found it!

Change of Mind: Film Documentary

Today in class we saw part of a film documentary. The documentary included everything from black and white films to more modern day color films. Before watching the documentary I have always been a hater of black and white films. Why? Because I simply don't understand the art behind it. This year in school I decided to take a black and white photography course, and with knowledge from this class and watching the movie today I have changed my mind on black and white films.

To start I now understand black and white films a lot more. In photography I learned that you can filter out the gray tones in a picture by using a filter. Today in the film they talked about how the overall feel of a film can be altered by the contrast of the picture (gray tones). This made me learn to appreciate black and white films a lot more. In a way they are harder to achieve than color films are. In black and white films the lighting has to be just right for the correct contrast and emotion of a scene to take place. Whereas in color there is a little more room for flaws. At the end of class today I realized that black and white films are an art in a sense. Which has changed my mind on how I view black and white films.

iMedia: Jerry Uelsman

Jerry Uelsman is a photographer that focuses on larger than life photography. By this I mean that not all of his shots are realistic but in each shot he takes, he is asking the viewer to consider something they haven't considered before. He also captures a sense of raw emotion in his pictures, that is very powerful.

The picture I have above is one of my favorite pictures by him. At first you see something that looks to be complete in a sense but then realize that there is a flaw, one of the chairs is knocked down. I take away different ideas and concepts from this picture. I first take away that there is never really anything that is perfect. When I look back on things in life I can denote times when things were close to perfect, but never perfect. I also take away that Uelsman is trying to communicate to us through the knocked over chair. Personally I am still searching for the answer to what he is trying to get across. The beauty of this picture is that it is so out of context that it forces you to think. Why did Uelsman set up this circle on a beach? Why is one chair knocked down? These questions remind me of the philosophical questions purposed to Sophie by Alberto. But overall this picture is refreshing to look at and helps me think philosophically.

Best of Today: Simplicity is Design

In class today we watched a movie on the Vietnam Memorial. The memorial was created by a Yale student. The design was simple yet complex. The simplicity of the design was the fact that it was a long black wall of the names of the men who had sacrificed their lives for our country. The complexity in the design was the fact that the wall used the collaboration of colors, chronological order and two walls coming together to express something more than just a wall with names on it. This memorial has a lasting impact on many because of it's simplicity.

At first glance I thought the Vietnam memorial was lame because it wasn't anything flashy. But after hearing the architect's reasoning and ideas and concepts around the memorial I grew to be astounded by it. The fact that the architect came up with something simple yet so powerful is astonishing to me. To come up with something powerful is hard enough but to create a work of art that leaves a chilling impact is amazing. The feelings and emotions she was able to express in this work of art without making it huge and flashy is a skill that not many of us have.

This memorial really struck me today because it gave me ideas of how to go about creating my own sculpture for the 21st century human. I am going to try to emulate the same concepts she put into her memorial, simplicity is design. This is a phrase that my mothers art teacher would recite to her, and today I finally understood it. I now know that most of the time something simple can speak more words than something that is not.

iMedia: Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking is an issue that is left in the shadow of our culture. Many people are unaware of how Walmart gets its clothing so cheap, or how toys are made in china. I was first introduce to this growing issue last year at our school's showing of the movie Call and Response. The movie was filmed by a man who went to India to go into brothels and uncover the unknown secrets of human trafficking. The brothels thought he was another customer so they let him pay his fee for the night and he would then go and try to set his mistress free. What he didn't know is that the brothels addicted the prostitutes to crystal meth so they wouldn't run away. These facts shocked me as a viewer and I had to do something about it.

Unfortunately I haven't made much action yet. I have signed a few petitions that go against human trafficking, but nothing too major. I do however try to boycott places I know that use human trafficking as a way to achieve cheap labor. One of those places being Walmart. I don't do this to make a statement but to personally go against human trafficking. Aside from boycotting stores, one thing that is critical to spreading awareness on this issue is educating people about it. I tell many of my friends and people who I'm close to about this growing issue and ways to help make a difference. This issue may seem small now but if it is not stopped our future generation will be engulfed in it.

The picture above is a symbol for human trafficking. The people in the picture are not recognizable because they are behind a shadow just like how the issue is portrayed today. Americans and other people from the world simply do not know about human trafficking or push it behind a shadow and pretend it is not there. This is dangerous because it gives the false impression that it does not exist in the first place when if you walk down the street the bar you always thought was a bar is in fact not a bar but a whore house. In this picture you can also see a master of some sort next to the two girls. The crossing of arms gives the impression that the master is tense or not happy with the job done. This symbolizes the conditions the prostitutes are put through in the brothels. The picture is a good wake up call to take off the shadow and get a clear look of what we are actually investing our money into.

Metacognition: QE Essay

The question I explored in the QE essay was: How does reading play a role in creativity? While I explored this question I found answers to many other questions. In the sources I researched I broadened my thinking to creativity as a whole, not just the reading aspect of it. By doing this, I opened up my mind to different ideas and concepts about creativity. This type of thinking surprised me because in a way I was being creative myself, I was opening my mind to more ideas and not just focusing on one. By doing this I was able to get a better idea of what creativity ultimately meant to me. I like this way of thinking because it really allows my mind to expand on one idea and apply it to different ideas. It also helps with brainstorming ideas to work off of. One drawback to this type of thinking is that I have a tendency to get off track sometimes. With this I would like to work better at controlling my thoughts and ideas around one central subject and not be so scatterbrained. This way I'll have an easier time tying my thoughts into one idea.

Blogging Around

The first comment I posted was on Jenny’s Blog. She did a blog about people with “odd brains.” This really made me think about those kinds of people and how they contribute to our world today. It was a good exercise to try to empathize with “odd brained” people.

I really like your thinking on this! I believe as well that people with special needs are in a way lucky because they see the world in a completely different way then we do. What you said about autism is interesting. I never thought about it that way how they are focused on being good at one specific thing, but that makes a lot of sense. It is like Temple Grandin who revolutionized the way cattle were treated. People with "special needs" maybe should be called people with "special abilities" because in certain ways they are more advanced than we are. This blog post really made me think about people with special needs. Thank you!

My second comment was on Jae’s blog. His blog was about classical musicians in the twenty-first century, and what music they would have liked. This blog really made me think deep about Mozart and try to put myself in his shoes, like he was alive today. It was hard to think about but also fun to try and guess what kind of music he would listen to nowadays!

Hmmmmmm very interesting. This blog has made me consider a lot of possibilities. I personally think that Mozart would be into metal music because of the artistic guitar riffs and complex drum rhythms. If you are going by more personalities I agree that contemporary musicians and Mozart have similar personalities. But music wise they are different. Contemporary music isn't as complex as Mozart's pieces. I don't know if Mozart would have liked simplicity or complexity. Wow, this has really made me think.

Metacognition: The College Essay

When I write essays there are many ideas flowing through my head. It is sometimes hard for me to focus my ideas into one complete product. For the college essay it is easier for me to focus my ideas.

Before I write a college essay I make a resume of my accomplishments in high school and life. This acts as an outline for what I want to include in my essay. Also I can focus an essay around one accomplishment on the resume. I have found this process to be effective because it helps me focus my ideas on one specific thing, rather than rambling on about many things.

One thing that surprises me about my thinking is that, writing is something that comes natural to me but finding personal things to write about is difficult. This is another way a resume helps me, but even then it is difficult to just pick a few things to write about. Once I do find something to write about, the writing comes really smoothly. It just takes a while to get there. Because of this, I want to work on focusing my ideas more. Also, I need to work on making my essay more appealing to a college admission audience. I don’t have much experience with writing to that kind of audience, so I need to improve on that.

Best of the Week: Creativity

During this week I read an article in class "The Sea of Information," by Andrea Barrett. This article gave me new insight on what creativity is, and what it means to be creative. The author of this article related her creativity to her writing, whereas I am very creative when it comes to music. Even thought there was a slight difference between the two disciplines I was still able to relate to the article and gather ideas from it. One idea I gathered, was the ability to follow a spark of interest and make something whole out of it. The author emphasizes how she "learned to follow were the spark of interest leads me" (Barrett 11). There are many times were I have an idea or a phrase in my head but I don't know what to do with it. In the future though, I am going to make an effort to carry a notepad with me where I can write my thoughts down, so I can make something whole out of them. This article also brought to my attention where creativity comes from. What I got out of this article was that creativity is based on other peoples ideas and things around you. There are many other things that come into play when trying to make a piece "original" but for the most part, it is based on other examples around you. This theory has never occurred to me before until after reading this article. In all, this article inspired me to pay more attention to my creative side and to think more out of box about life. For the most part I was very narrow minded and didn't give myself many options to be creative and inspired but now, I am going to open my mind to the creative side of life and make an effort to see more arrows on FEDEX trucks.

It Matters: Safety of America

The safety of America is something most civilians are pretty confident about. They have the perception that America is a safe place to be and harm will not find them but will find other countries. After recent events in the NEWS, it has come to my attention that we are not safe. Safety, in fact, is far from America. On September 15th a two pipe bombs were found near a school, Click Here to read the full story. A decapitated body was found near one of the exploded pipe bombs.Close by was another pipe bomb, not extinguished, near a school. Events like this give knowledge that our country is still under attack by terrorists and civilians. After the 9/11 attacks occurred, there were vast improvements to the safety of America, especially in airports. Also, the people of America got a taste of their own medicine, getting attacked by another country.. America will never be perfectly “safe,” but there are ways to prevent certain events. I personally would like to see more safety inside our country to prevent events like the one that occurred September 15th. Our country now focuses a lot on making airports safe to the public, to prevent events like 9/11. But the time has come now to focus on energy on safety within neighborhoods and towns to prevent future bomb and homicidal incidents.

Change of Mind: New Yorker Essays

I never was able to vividly picture myself in a plane right before it collided with a building, until after I read the collection of “New Yorker Essays.” The “New Yorker Essays” are essays written by people right after the 9/11 attack, they describe emotions, feelings and lasting impacts the attack had on them. While reading the essays my mind opened up to feelings and reactions people had after the attack. I also learned more about the long lasting effect the attack has on people.

By reading the “New Yorker Essays” on the 9/11 attack my perception on the attack has changed. When the 9/11 attacked occurred, I was too young to understand what was going on and what it meant for our country. Even before I read these essays about 9/11, I still didn’t quite understand it. One thing I really understand now, is how it changed the way people live today. For many, a simple plane ride is a frightening experience because of flashbacks with scaring memories of 9/11. Along with lifestyle changes, 9/11 taught many to not take America for granted. Many view America as a “safe haven,” a shelter where nothing goes wrong. After 9/11 people realized that America is just as endangered as any other country out there.

To be honest I always believed that America was a place of safety and solace. I now perceive America as any other country, not more special than the rest. We may be a land of opportunity but we are no longer a “safe haven.”

By reading the “New Yorker Essays” I was able to relate to one essay in particular. I was able to connect with the essay by Dennis Johnson. He wrote about how people all over the world view America as a different country than the rest. Also, how people don’t expect to encounter danger and terror while in America. Both of these beliefs were very similar to mine, before reading the essays. But now I view America very differently. I realize that the 9/11 attackers hated America so much that they killed themselves to kill us. It is hard to comprehend how much hate that must be, killing yourself to kill others. It is outrageous and disgusting to picture what was going through the pilots heads, when they carried through the 9/11 mission. Now after reading the essays and thinking through the effects of the attack there is one thing that has more meaning to me now than it did before. I’ll never take safety and life for granted anymore, because you never know when your life will flash right before your eyes.