A Third Meta-post

Please grade the post Measuring Happiness.


Posts that I wrote at the beginning of the year sound a bit shaky, but my posts during second semester have improved.  My first posts simply state facts and try to connect to something we had talked about in class.  My second semester posts, especially my 4th quarter posts, have included much more of my ideas.  My voice is much more evident, and this shows in my explanations as they now include information about me as a person.  I like to add details about myself, such as what is important to me.  One example of this occurs in my post Focus.  I state that some of the things that are important to me when looking at a college are "music, college life, and Christian influences on campus".  This shows that I value music and the community with which I am surrounding myself, and details like this would not necessarily have appeared in previous posts.


Throughout the year I have made sure that blogging every week was a priority.  This meant working ahead if I knew I would be unable to blog on a particular weekend.  I am very glad that I didn't forget how important blogging is because I realize that writing, like everything else, can only be improved if it is practiced on a regular basis.  I have really enjoyed blogging because it has allowed me to share my ideas with a large group of people: classmates, friends on Facebook, and people from all across the world whom I have not met.  I hope to continue learning effective ways to share my thoughts with others, whether it be through blogging or through another form of communication.  Because after all, what is there to life if we cannot communicate and try to understand each other?

Native American & American Indian

Mia Van de Water as
Morning Star in Zeitgeist
Stage Company’s production
 of The Kentucky Cycle.

Currently our class is reading the book The Kentucky Cycle, by Robert Schenkkan.  It is a series of nine plays describing the relationships between three families living in Kentucky: the Biggses, the Rowens, and the Talberts.  The first play takes place in 1775, and the last in 1975.


One of the characters is a Cherokee woman named Morning Star.  She is frequently referred to as an "Indian", instead of as a Native American.  Is one of these terms better than the other?  I know that I have no knowledge about this matter because have no experience being in a minority group (since I am completely European and have always lived in the United States), so I Googled it.


I came across an article titled "American Indian versus Native American", written by Borgna Brunner.  She explains that in the past the word "Indian" was considered disrespectful and belittling, and made the speaker sound ignorant.  Now, however, the "majority of American Indians/Native Americans believe it is acceptable to use either term, or both".  Many people of that group feel that neither title is better than the other.


At the same time, neither term is perfect.  Brunner gives an example, stating that the word "Hispanic" is used to describe every Spanish-speaker in the United States, which includes a huge range of people.  A better description would be a more specific one, such as referring to a Native American by their tribe name (Navajo, Cherokee, etc.).


In what other situations are many types of people all put into one category? Is this a problem?

Measuring Happiness

Yesterday we discussed our life goals.  We agreed that we make goals in order to improve our lives, and ultimately so that we can become happier.  In the reading we did over the weekend, a section called "Super-Replicators" from Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert, I encountered this graph:

The graph of the four different studies really surprised me.  I have always been told that children make a person very happy, but this graph shows that couples are happiest before having children and after their children have left the house.  I searched for something else that could verify that the graph in our reading was correct, and I came across an article from BBC News.  It shows a graph almost exactly like the first one:

In this graph, instead of multiple studies, the lines compare genders.  Women start at a lower level of "average life satisfaction" than men, and stay lower until their 50s.  This matches what our reading said, which states that "women, who are usually primary caretakers of children, are less happy when taking care of their children than when eating, exercising, shopping, napping, or watching television" (Gilbert 243).  The article even says that housework is only slightly more unpleasant than taking care of children.

This makes some sense to me, as looking after children does require work.  At the same time, though, I believe that it can be very rewarding.  What do you think?  Is the graph accurate compared to your overall happiness?

Appropriate Profanity

I'll start by pointing out that I never swear.  I don't even use variations of swears.  I choose not to because swearing is often offensive to other people, and it makes the speaker sound unintelligent and uncreative.

At the same time, I realize that profanity can be effective in certain circumstances.  If used well, a swear has the ability to make a point stronger.  This past Wednesday our class had the opportunity to hear poet Roger Bonair speak.  In his poem "All Black Penguin Speaks", Bonair swears multiple times, but I believe that this is an appropriate circumstance for profanity.


The penguin who is speaking in the poem is a sassy bird who is pointing out to white humans that he is, in fact, equal to the other penguins even though he is completely black.  One of the lines of the poem is "I know the word rhetorical, bitch".  The use of the word "bitch" is not necessary, but it adds humor to a poem that deals with race, a very serious subject.


Later the penguin states, "fuck your bell curve".  Alternative phrases could be used, such as "forget your bell curve", or "who cares about your bell curve".  Also, the reader is referred to as an "albino motherfucker",  while the penguin could call him just an "albino" or a "white person".  However, using profanity makes the phrase much more emphatic, thereby showing the annoyance and frustration the penguin feels from being thought of as an outcast by white humans.

Willow Road

Imagine that your first-born is five years old.  She is in kindergarten at Middlefork School in Northfield, Illinois.  As you walk her to school on a beautiful October day, you pause to wait for the stoplight to change.  This will allow you to cross Willow Road, which is right next to Middlefork.  The light going the opposite direction turns yellow, and you watch a semi truck fly through, the light turning red as it finishes crossing the intersection.


There has been talk of widening Willow Road for over 40 years.  At rush hour Willow is often slow, though rarely stopped.  In 2005, a solution was reached for widening the road from two lanes to three.  According to the North Suburban Awareness Group, this would cost taxpayers only $6-8 million dollars, while a plan of four to five lanes would cost upwards of $31 million.  The five lane plan would only save a driver about 89 seconds, and the project couldn't be started at least until 2014.


Creating a three lane road would help to alleviate traffic congestion, but at the same time would help to keep young children on their way to school safe because the number of cars using Willow would not drastically increase as it would with four or five lanes.  If I were the parent of one of these children, I would think differently than if I lived in a community nearby where my main focus might be on the extra two minutes it takes me to get to Target, or Jewel, or work.


What do you think?  Is it worth the extra risk, adding access to more cars and increasing the speed limit next to a school?  Is it a selfish decision to push for one plan over the other?

Upper Class Blueberries

This past summer my mom was in New Hampshire until the day before my birthday.  Knowing that I love freshly picked blueberries more than almost any other food, she stopped at Monadnock Berries before flying home.  


Waiting for her plane, my mom took the large bag of berries as well a few other things out of her carry-on bag to reorganize before boarding.  A man sitting near her, who was also on his way back to Chicago, asked how much she would charge for the bag of blueberries.  She explained that they were for her daughter and not for sale.


He smiled disappointedly, and asked where my mom was from.  She replied that she was from the North Shore.  Living about 45 minutes away, he knew all about the area where we live.  His response made it clear that he had a whole set of assumptions about my mom based on the fact that she lives on the North Shore.  He inferred that people living in our area have significant disposable money, and that therefore my mom must as well.  His assumption was that our family must be upper class because of the area in which we live.


Is that always a good measure of a person or family's "class"?  Is there a better measure, like income or education?

Dependence

Dependence: (noun) The state of relying on or needing someone or something for aid, support, or the like. -- dictionary.com


It can be a negative word, when you're referring to a dependency on drugs or alcohol.  It can also be a positive word, when you're speaking of the way that humans often must give to each other in order to survive, or even just perform certain tasks.


Unfortunately, sometimes people you expect to be able to depend on let you down.  For our Junior Theme paper, we must interview at least one person.  About two and a half weeks ago I emailed a person I wanted to interview, and he responded quickly, asking for my questions.  I gave them to him, and expected a timely response.  When I did not receive one I sent him a reminder email.  When I still got no reply I emailed a different person, hoping again that he would reply quickly.  He responded that he wanted a face-to-face interview, which means that I would have to go downtown.  Combined with our busy schedules, I would not be able to meet with him until after the final draft of the paper is due.


Neither of these people are intentionally making things difficult for me. But being forced to depend on other people, especially ones you don't know, for something important is quite difficult. When was the last time you had to rely on another person for something important? Was it hard?