You know, I've had a lot of really good, thoughtful ideas for blog posts lately. Most of these ideas come to me while I am sitting in my AP European History class because we talk about really thought inspiring things in there. The problem with it all is that I always forget what I want to write about by the time I get home. That's what I get for having the class right before lunch. Often I even write down the ideas in a notebook. Sometime I even look at these ideas when I am trying to come up with something to blog about. The inspiration never comes back though.
Today we were talking about Napoleon. He did not believe in liberty. What we were discussing was whether that was acceptable or not and if we thought what Napoleon did while ruling France was acceptable. Now, before I go on to discuss my thoughts on this matter I have to say something, I firmly believe that every person should have the right to say and create what they want. I believe that people try too hard to censor things out of society. I am firmly against book banning and even movie banning for the sake of not offending anyone.
However, I believe that when talking about whether or not Napoleon was right to keep that freedom of speech and expression from the French people there is more that needs to be considered. The French people had been living under really bad conditions for quite some time before Napoleon came in and took over. They were not in a good place economically and their government was failing them time and time again. What Napoleon was giving them was safety. A government for the people, if not by the people. For the first time in years the French economy was allowing most people to live well. France was quickly becoming a strong nation in Europe and it was due to the changes that Napoleon had enforced.
If he had allowed people to talk about whatever they wanted (maybe about how wrong the things he was doing was in the eyes of the people) then there was a chance that the people would start another revolution. Be happy, was what Napoleon was saying. Be happy that you have money. That the reign of terror is over and that you can live in peace.
Is it really that bad that the French people did not have the freedom to say whatever they wanted? I do not believe that it was. They were not able to talk about how horrible Napoleon was or how wrong the things he was doing were, but they had money, homes, and food. This was a major improvement from before.
I wrote an article on censoring for the Centurion (Layton High's newspaper) and I am planning on posting it soon. However, after talking about Napoleon today I really think I could write a better article. It is hard to express ones thoughts on such a big topic in a page and a half.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Life
There are so many things that have gone through my mind in the last hour or so. And since it has been a while since I've actually blogged something substantial I figured that I would write something today.
About an hour ago I was sitting on my bed, watching TV, and browsing the internet on my laptop and I had a thought. 'I wonder if anyone else has blogged lately'. After following that thought I saw that Mr. T had written a blog a couple of days ago. It made me happy to see it. I love reading other people's blogs. Especially when the blog belongs to someone I haven't spoken to in a while. On top of that Mr. T's blog was on something that I've actually wondered about before. It was great to read it (along with the links to other blog entries that worked with it); it got me really thinking about a lot of things (things that did not necessarily correspond with the topic of the blog).
One of these things came from an assignment that I am starting in one of my classes. The assignment is to research a college you might want to go to. Find the majors that you might consider, look at admission requirements. That kind of thing. I was thinking about it and then I saw Mr. T's blog and it just kind of emphasized what I've already been thinking about what I want to do with the rest of my life. Right now I have two ideas about what I might want to do. These ideas are completely different from what they were a year ago. It was about this time last year that I was beginning to change my mind on what I did and didn't want to do with the rest of my life. A year ago I wanted to be an Aerospace engineer. A big shot smarty pants who would design all kinds of fancy mechanics for NASA and such. It was a big dream of mine since an astronaut came to my elementary school in sixth grade. I realized then that I really wanted to know more about the universe. I wanted to see the universe. However, I am not the kind of person who would be into the whole shooting a rocket up into space and so astronaut was out (this also how I came to rule out firefighter in second grade, I hate heights and that cherry picker thing would scare the crap out of me). The next logical conclusion I came to was to work with the astronauts in some way that would allow me to be close while staying away at the same time.
I have mentioned previously that 2008 was a big year for me. There were a lot of inspirations that came with the events (good and bad) that came with it. One of these was that, while science has always been interesting to me, I can't see it being a career. It might be fun, but I can easily see that fun wearing off eventually. So I started thinking (because of course I need to know my life plan in 9th grade) about what talents and interests I had that I didn't think I could ever get bored with. My conclusion? Writing. Reading. Discussing language and ideas. All of these things led me to several career ideas. First there was writing. I know that the percentage of writers who actually manage to live off of their writing alone is very small and, even if I think I am an decent writer, the chance of me making it would be slim. The next thing that came to me was teaching, English specifically. I thought, "If I could learn to teach and inspire kids half as well as Mr. T did for me then I might find that I would really like it". The third inspiration is actually more recent. Journalism. This year I am on Layton High's newspaper staff. I love it. I love the environment and I love the work. I'm actually going to apply to be an editor next year. I could see myself going far with journalism. I could inform people about world issues all the while informing myself. It is very very appealing to me right now. I love it! That isn't the only thing Mr. T's blog made me think about today, though.
Another thought inspiring thing came along when I came to the part of Mr. T's blog that mentioned his inspiration to become a teacher and the teachers he had. He said that in high school he had a really great English teacher one year and then a not so great one the next year. It made me think about my current (and sad) English situation. I had Mr. T last year and I loved his class. He was THE funnest and THE coolest teacher I've had and, if that were not already enough to make me love 9th grade English, I learned a lot from him and his class. This year however, we've gone through one and a half books (both under three hundred pages), I've written one serious essay (which has been the only real assignment we've done), I find the class and the teacher ridiculous, and yet I have learned. It may not be the kind (or the quality) of learning that I got in Mr. T's class last year, but they are lessons that I value all the same. These lessons have a lot to do with how to deal with things you don't like. I have also learned that a drama teacher does not make a good English teacher (ha ha). Sure, I would absolutely love to have another teacher like Mr. T, or, better yet, just to have him again, but it is beneficial for me (even though I'm not actually learning anything that goes with the curriculum) to experience different types of teacher even (some could consider it especially) ones that I don't like.
I have spent so much time on this blog that I don't necessarily know where the rest of them went. However, this is more substantial than almost anything I've written in a while. So there you go. If anyone still reads this please let me know. I haven't seen any comments in a while.
About an hour ago I was sitting on my bed, watching TV, and browsing the internet on my laptop and I had a thought. 'I wonder if anyone else has blogged lately'. After following that thought I saw that Mr. T had written a blog a couple of days ago. It made me happy to see it. I love reading other people's blogs. Especially when the blog belongs to someone I haven't spoken to in a while. On top of that Mr. T's blog was on something that I've actually wondered about before. It was great to read it (along with the links to other blog entries that worked with it); it got me really thinking about a lot of things (things that did not necessarily correspond with the topic of the blog).
One of these things came from an assignment that I am starting in one of my classes. The assignment is to research a college you might want to go to. Find the majors that you might consider, look at admission requirements. That kind of thing. I was thinking about it and then I saw Mr. T's blog and it just kind of emphasized what I've already been thinking about what I want to do with the rest of my life. Right now I have two ideas about what I might want to do. These ideas are completely different from what they were a year ago. It was about this time last year that I was beginning to change my mind on what I did and didn't want to do with the rest of my life. A year ago I wanted to be an Aerospace engineer. A big shot smarty pants who would design all kinds of fancy mechanics for NASA and such. It was a big dream of mine since an astronaut came to my elementary school in sixth grade. I realized then that I really wanted to know more about the universe. I wanted to see the universe. However, I am not the kind of person who would be into the whole shooting a rocket up into space and so astronaut was out (this also how I came to rule out firefighter in second grade, I hate heights and that cherry picker thing would scare the crap out of me). The next logical conclusion I came to was to work with the astronauts in some way that would allow me to be close while staying away at the same time.
I have mentioned previously that 2008 was a big year for me. There were a lot of inspirations that came with the events (good and bad) that came with it. One of these was that, while science has always been interesting to me, I can't see it being a career. It might be fun, but I can easily see that fun wearing off eventually. So I started thinking (because of course I need to know my life plan in 9th grade) about what talents and interests I had that I didn't think I could ever get bored with. My conclusion? Writing. Reading. Discussing language and ideas. All of these things led me to several career ideas. First there was writing. I know that the percentage of writers who actually manage to live off of their writing alone is very small and, even if I think I am an decent writer, the chance of me making it would be slim. The next thing that came to me was teaching, English specifically. I thought, "If I could learn to teach and inspire kids half as well as Mr. T did for me then I might find that I would really like it". The third inspiration is actually more recent. Journalism. This year I am on Layton High's newspaper staff. I love it. I love the environment and I love the work. I'm actually going to apply to be an editor next year. I could see myself going far with journalism. I could inform people about world issues all the while informing myself. It is very very appealing to me right now. I love it! That isn't the only thing Mr. T's blog made me think about today, though.
Another thought inspiring thing came along when I came to the part of Mr. T's blog that mentioned his inspiration to become a teacher and the teachers he had. He said that in high school he had a really great English teacher one year and then a not so great one the next year. It made me think about my current (and sad) English situation. I had Mr. T last year and I loved his class. He was THE funnest and THE coolest teacher I've had and, if that were not already enough to make me love 9th grade English, I learned a lot from him and his class. This year however, we've gone through one and a half books (both under three hundred pages), I've written one serious essay (which has been the only real assignment we've done), I find the class and the teacher ridiculous, and yet I have learned. It may not be the kind (or the quality) of learning that I got in Mr. T's class last year, but they are lessons that I value all the same. These lessons have a lot to do with how to deal with things you don't like. I have also learned that a drama teacher does not make a good English teacher (ha ha). Sure, I would absolutely love to have another teacher like Mr. T, or, better yet, just to have him again, but it is beneficial for me (even though I'm not actually learning anything that goes with the curriculum) to experience different types of teacher even (some could consider it especially) ones that I don't like.
I have spent so much time on this blog that I don't necessarily know where the rest of them went. However, this is more substantial than almost anything I've written in a while. So there you go. If anyone still reads this please let me know. I haven't seen any comments in a while.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
THE SOOTHSAYER: ROUTINE JUSTICE
I am a soothsayer. It is not a difficult job. It is not even a full time job. However, it is a job that has the possibility of being quite interesting at times. I was the one who tried to warn Julius Caesar about the death that I saw in his future. Now, I feel that it is important to mention that what I do is not a science. It is not something I can control and it is almost never comes up as something specific. This is important to know because on the day that I foresaw what would happen to Julius Caesar I was not aware of the extreme consequences my failing would have.
Soothsayers are not popular people. They do not go around with packs of people following them about and they often live alone. I am a typical soothsayer. My home is a small place. There is only one room, but it is perfect and fits all of my needs. There is a desk in the corner where I write my reports on the things that I “see”, a bed against one wall, and a cooking area against the other. It was here that I saw what would turn out to be the death of Julius Caesar.
One thing that I am a stickler for is routine. I cannot stand chaos because I fear that if I let chaos into my life I will never get out of it. What I do is unpredictable and to let any other unknowns in is very risky. Anyway, that morning I got up and got my breakfast. As I was eating I sorted through the things I had been seeing lately and looked for connections. This is something that I do every couple of days. While I write everything down as I see them I do not actually try to figure out what it means until it has had time to set in my mind.
Julius Caesar had come up in one of my more recent “visions” ( I do not like to refer to them as such, but I have yet to find a word that fits them better).All I had seen was red. Red and then Caesar’s face. However, the things I see often come with thoughts that just come to me for reasons I often don’t understand. This time what I kept thinking was: “The ides of March. The ides of March”. Over and over again. This scene came to me the week before and I was still trying to figure out what it meant that morning.
It was while I was writing down something that had came to me while cooking that I made the connection between the ides of March, the color red, and Julius Caesar. I was almost positive that with his recent triumph over Pompey there would be some people concerned about how much power he had. This concerned me.
I was not a huge supporter of Caesar. I tend to stay out of public situations as much as possible because I fear that it will cloud my decisions. Here it was easy for me to say that if Julius Caesar was in danger then I would have to help him. I didn’t know whether what he was doing was good or bad and to me it didn’t matter. He was in danger and I had seen it so it was now my job to warn him.
I quickly turned to my notes on the Julius Caesar case and confirmed my suspicions with the evidence at hand. I needed a plan. First, I thought, I need to find out where Caesar is and how I can reach him. That is where my contacts come in. We soothsayers may be solitary, but we have our connections and our ways of gaining information. So that morning I left to town to see if I could discover Caesar’s location. I had to get to him. I see it as part of my “calling” to help those that I see. Why, after all, would I be given such information if I weren’t supposed to use in some way?
It did not take me long to find a man, his name was John, who could tell me what Julius Caesar was planning on doing that day. It was the day of the footrace, I was told, and Caesar wanted his wife to be touched by Mark Antony. I didn’t have much time to get there. I had to get going rather quickly. I inquired quickly about the best possible way to get close enough to Caesar for him to hear me, see me, if possible.
And with that I was off to warn Caesar to beware the ides of March.
I wrote this for my English class yesterday. The assignment was to write about what the soothsayer did before coming to Caesar in Act I Scene 2. I actually had a lot of fun doing it and I think it could make a really good short story. I don't know. I haven't really gotten into Julius Caesar but this assignment was fun. So it's all good. :P
Soothsayers are not popular people. They do not go around with packs of people following them about and they often live alone. I am a typical soothsayer. My home is a small place. There is only one room, but it is perfect and fits all of my needs. There is a desk in the corner where I write my reports on the things that I “see”, a bed against one wall, and a cooking area against the other. It was here that I saw what would turn out to be the death of Julius Caesar.
One thing that I am a stickler for is routine. I cannot stand chaos because I fear that if I let chaos into my life I will never get out of it. What I do is unpredictable and to let any other unknowns in is very risky. Anyway, that morning I got up and got my breakfast. As I was eating I sorted through the things I had been seeing lately and looked for connections. This is something that I do every couple of days. While I write everything down as I see them I do not actually try to figure out what it means until it has had time to set in my mind.
Julius Caesar had come up in one of my more recent “visions” ( I do not like to refer to them as such, but I have yet to find a word that fits them better).All I had seen was red. Red and then Caesar’s face. However, the things I see often come with thoughts that just come to me for reasons I often don’t understand. This time what I kept thinking was: “The ides of March. The ides of March”. Over and over again. This scene came to me the week before and I was still trying to figure out what it meant that morning.
It was while I was writing down something that had came to me while cooking that I made the connection between the ides of March, the color red, and Julius Caesar. I was almost positive that with his recent triumph over Pompey there would be some people concerned about how much power he had. This concerned me.
I was not a huge supporter of Caesar. I tend to stay out of public situations as much as possible because I fear that it will cloud my decisions. Here it was easy for me to say that if Julius Caesar was in danger then I would have to help him. I didn’t know whether what he was doing was good or bad and to me it didn’t matter. He was in danger and I had seen it so it was now my job to warn him.
I quickly turned to my notes on the Julius Caesar case and confirmed my suspicions with the evidence at hand. I needed a plan. First, I thought, I need to find out where Caesar is and how I can reach him. That is where my contacts come in. We soothsayers may be solitary, but we have our connections and our ways of gaining information. So that morning I left to town to see if I could discover Caesar’s location. I had to get to him. I see it as part of my “calling” to help those that I see. Why, after all, would I be given such information if I weren’t supposed to use in some way?
It did not take me long to find a man, his name was John, who could tell me what Julius Caesar was planning on doing that day. It was the day of the footrace, I was told, and Caesar wanted his wife to be touched by Mark Antony. I didn’t have much time to get there. I had to get going rather quickly. I inquired quickly about the best possible way to get close enough to Caesar for him to hear me, see me, if possible.
And with that I was off to warn Caesar to beware the ides of March.
I wrote this for my English class yesterday. The assignment was to write about what the soothsayer did before coming to Caesar in Act I Scene 2. I actually had a lot of fun doing it and I think it could make a really good short story. I don't know. I haven't really gotten into Julius Caesar but this assignment was fun. So it's all good. :P
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