My Life

Because of You by Kelly Clarkson is a great descriptor of my life, sometimes. I sometimes feel betrayed and hurt by a person I'm close to. Unlike Clarkson and her lover, I am used to the feeling from my parents. Many people would call me a "heartless asshole," because I can set my feelings aside and say things that people won't like.
The family I came from is very military oriented. I have been trained to set my emotions aside to do what needs to be done. I felt very betrayed when they decided not to support my decision to attend college. They expected me to join the military, like everyone else in the family. I chose to be the first in my family history to push for an education past high school. My parents don't think I can do it, so they refuse to support me. I am proving them wrong, however. So, it makes me wonder who is really being betrayed. Them for realizing that I am going to succeed despite their attempts to thwart me. Or am I the one being betrayed because I have a family who tells everyone that I'm failing, just like they said I would?
The song really relates, because when I do need something, like a new computer, I have to go to them about it. So, even though I'm being betrayed, I still go back to them.




Anchors Aweigh, Navy theme song is a really fun song, if you can sing it. I was raised with this song, since my family is very militia oriented. Not everybody was in the Navy in my family, but they were all in some form of military. My grandparents happened to be in the Army, as did their fathers, and their fathers before them. Being raised with military traditions can be odd for those not suited to deal with the harshness, and strict guidelines. Many people look at me and say, "how can you live with that?" I tell them that it's not too hard. It's in my blood having a strict structure to run my life. When they tell me that they can't see me in the military, with a gun, I only laugh.
"Do you see me in the military, with a gun? No, I didn't think so," is what I would reply. I do know how to hold my own in a fight, having the blood in me. But, I never use it. I am a major pacifist. I will try to solve any problem peaceably before resorting to hurting my foe. While it may not look like I am capable of violence, it just takes a couple jabs in a few pressure points to know down an opponent.


Zombie by the Cranberries is another descriptive movie of my life. My family, being military oriented, have all served in either the Navy or Army ever since all of the males have immigrated to America. My maternal grandfather's side has fought in every war that the U.S. has ever been in, starting with the Revolutionary War. My grandfather is actually cousins with General Douglas McArthur. Not direct cousins, however.
Having family in every war is a major pressure on one. I am the first not to participate in the military, despite the pressures from my family. I'm just not a gun holder. Zombie is a good video, because it shows what I am trying to stop by refusing to go into the military. I'm not opposed to war and violence, I just can't stand to take part of it. I am a firm believer that violence should only be used in self-defense, or defense of others. I don't believe in the oppression of others and that it should be stopped at all costs. Even though, the all costs could mean the destruction of a society, I am of the belief that is it better them than us. If I have to destroy someone to save my loved ones, then I will.
Many people view me as a pacifist, which I am. But, what they don't see is the rage I can pack when pressured. Having both parents in the military teaches you a lot. I have learned self-defense from them.



Magic has been another factor in my life. As a child, I loved Charmed. I always wished I could have had their powers. My all time favorite power would have been Paige's. Who wouldn't like the power to teleport and move things with your mind? I remember the days back in Oregon, when my little brother and I would walk the mile downhill to catch the bus. We would always play Wizards and Warriors. I would be the Wizard and he the Warrior. Together we fought all sorts of demonic forces that opposed us on our trek. The Puddle of Doom, the Midget Hill of Chaos, and the Cliff of the Underworld were a few of our more dangerous nemeses. The Puddle of Doom consisted of a ginormous puddle in the middle of the road we had to trek around, stopping occasionally to poke a stick at the water to ensure that nothing would attack us. The Midget Hill of Chaos; nothing more than a fire ant hill. My brother and I hated the "neurotic little pissmires" as Aldo Leopold once said about them. We would torture the things like no other. In winter, we would dump cold water on them. The Cliff of the Underworld was a ten foot drop we had to carefully navigate down, because if we slipped, it HURT!





As you can tell, I'm a major lover of Hakuna Matata in many languages. This is because I live by the law of life: what happens happens for a reason. Don't fight it, just embrace it. When it's in music, that just adds to the magnitude of it! When you have something in song, the whole world can understand what it is you're trying to say. That's one reason I love trying to learn languages. Some come to me easier than others. Japanese, for example, I'm finding really easy to learn. Spanish, on the other hand, is raping me in two ways from Sunday! I just can't get that language down. Yeah, I know some translation, but I can't do major stuff. Just simple words and phrases. Japanese is a language I love. It just seems to flow off my tongue. People may ask how I can learn a language with no letters in it. I just tell them that I find it easier, because I don't have to teach myself that the same letter can be pronounced differently in different languages. I just have to learn a whole new alphabet. It comes naturally to me, because learning something you have never even tried doesn't give you much option for variation.



La Vie Boheme from Rent is an extremely catching song to me. It teaches me to go against the flow. While the song itself may be a bit on the raunchy side, it describes my friends and I perfectly. We can be some of the dirtiest people anyone could ever know when we are together. We take little trips to "naughty stores" just to see some of our friends turn new colors. In fact, four of us went the other day to a raunchy store on "O" St. The three people I was with were girls. One of them is Asian American. We love to make fun of her turning sixteen shades of red. We've even named one of the colors "Asian Red." We aren't insulting the Asians, it's just an inside joke. All four of us have 0ur quirks that individualize us. One of the girls is the "slut" of the group (no, she's not really. She's a virgin). We have the whore of the group. And the rainbow of the group. When the four of us are together in an XXX store, some people really turn colors! Usually Justine, the Asian American girl, due to the fact that she is so innocent. When we went to the store, she noticed a couple naughty things in the shape of Jesus. As of now, she can never think of Jesus in the same way. She always thinks of the naughty toys, that are also mentioned in La Vie Boheme.

What did I get myself into?

I am a member of Theta Chi fraternity. After seeing this video, I started wondering what I really got into. One of the "actors" is a Theta Chi, the other is from Phi Kappa Tau. Observe:




See what I mean? Now, imagine that person being in the same fraternity as you! When we got our hands on this video, we didn't let Todd down for a month. Not only that, we also to have Phil. Nobody knows what to think of him. Sometimes he's "emo" sometimes he's more of a communist.
Granted, this was Breaking The Silence 2007. But still! He's wearing girl's pants!!! Phil is straight, too. We have no idea what to think of him!

Most of the people in Theta Chi are abnormal in some way or another. We have just about every major covered! No Theater majors, though. In fact, Theta Chi is pretty much the powerhouse of the Greek System. We control SAS, the Cooper Center, the Library, the Math Dept, Computer Services, Student Ambassadors, Weary Center, and Intramural sports. And, we have several members who are active in band, chorus, and just about every student organization. I think the only thing we don't have a hold on are PA's and minor on campus jobs like for the departments.

We are also known to the community more-so than the other fraternities because we are always doing service projects: Highway clean up, sponsoring, and just the other day, we aided with the blood drive, and most of the members donated blood. That's about 30 pints! Now, that may not seem like a lot at the time, but it's about 90 lives!

The guys here are all awesome in their own way. Some for brains, some for humor, some for the way they can't attract others. But, they all have something to contribute to the fraternity. I have my near limitless patience and kindness, and new perspective.
I'm glad I joined them, oddities and all!!

Rhetorically Red

Red. We see this color everywhere, everyday: Streetlights, stop signs, clothing, blood, many restaurants, Christmas and St. Valentine’s Day, and even some internet hyperlinks. Given the variety of situations that the color red is in, one would have to assume that it means and appeals to different people. But, why does it appeal to different people? We will cover the myriad of appeals that red symbolizes. From pathos, to examples, to logos, red has a variety of meanings.

When it comes to pathos, the emotional appeal, red easily stands out. To an innumerable amount of people, red can mean different things. Some view it as an angry, hate-filled color. Others find red to be a kind and loving color. Those that view it as angry see blood and gore. Hence the term “So angry they see red.” On the other hand when red is a kind color, it is symbolic of hearts and love. This is why the predominant color of Christmas and St. Valentine’s Day is red. You see red cut-out hearts and ornaments and you don’t think of hate and blood and death. You think of love and peace and happiness.

Red is actually a favorite color to many different people. This is due to the fact that it symbolizes or reminds them of something they love. Paula McGlone, from Ireland, says that most of the UK sports teams have red on their clothing. Her sports club colors are black, and she loves the color red. Max Funky said his favorite color is red because it reminds him of the many video games he plays. Kim Knight likes red because of its vibrancy.

“It gets you energized and moving,” Knight stated.

Mandie Ruzicka also likes the color red. “I don’t f*ing know why I like the color. It’s just a f*ing good color! I just f*ing like it!”

I, too, like the color red. Many people say that it accents my facial color, which is usually either pale or blushed. When I have a pale tone to my face, people say it makes me look a bit darker. When I am flushed, red apparently pulls that color out of me, making me look angry or embarrassed.

In contrast, there are people who hate the color red. Kelli Means thinks that “it is an ugly color, like brown. I look bad in the color red. It’s too close to pink, which is another color that I absolutely despise.”

While skin tone may not have to do with emotions specifically, it does have an indirect attachment. If you see someone wearing red, you will most likely automatically assume something about them. Hey, they are stylish, or They do not look good in that color. You may even think that a person looks sexy or ugly, or even suspicious in the color red. The color may not purposely strike a specific emotion, but the thoughts that are spurred are based upon the emotion, or cause the emotion themselves. Thinking someone is sexy or ugly is not an emotion, but it founds the emotion of lust or hate.

There are many examples of the color red. Streetlights and stop signs are seen everyday in towns that have them. You see red shirts almost everywhere you look. Many restaurants contain the color red in their logo. Streetlights and stop signs. When you see them, it means stop. When you note the red on a passerby’s clothing, it’s because that person wants to stand out.

Red is such a catchy color that many restaurants use it in their logo to be prominent: McDonald’s, Burger King, Dairy Queen, Wendy’s, Raising Cane’s, and Red Lobster. All of these dining locations have the color red as a part of their logo, and they are all famous restaurants. Coincidence? I think not. Yes, there are those places that don’t use red in their logo: Long John Silver’s, Cracker Barrel, Village Inn, Runza, and Perkins. How many of these restaurants pull in the revenue that matches the former?

Shopping centers also try to focus upon the color red: K-Mart, Shop-Ko, Target, PetSmart, and our own Westfield Mall. All of these stores contain red, even if it is just a small segment of the logo. The former companies all pull in millions of dollars a day, easily. They don’t even compare to Wal-Mart, however. And, even this store contains the color red in its logo. I can think of very few shopping centers that don’t contain red in their logo: Barnes and Noble, Bed Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, and American Eagle. None of the latter stores can accumulate the revenue of the former, even though they are national and international corporations.

Even grocery corporations contain the color red. Safeway, Affiliated Foods (a grocery store corporate chain) Bag ‘n Save, HyVee, and Super Saver are five national companies that include red in their names. Albertson’s is the only grocery store I know of that doesn’t contain red in its name, or logo.

Red even appeals to one’s logic. When you see red while driving, biking, or walking you know that you are to stop. This only applies to red that is involved with road laws. You may walk past a person wearing a red shirt, but you don’t stop…unless you plan on talking to them. Stoplights and stop signs signal for a driver to stop driving until the light turns green, or you look and it’s safe to cross past the sign. While it may be the law that states one must stop at a red sign, it also point to one’s logic. You see a stop sign and think red while driving means danger, or warning. Maybe I should stop and look both ways before driving into this intersection. So that’s what you do; you stop. When walking or biking and you come to an intersection, you see the light on the other side says “Don’t Walk.” Your logic tells you that you better not step out into the street unless you hazard wanting to get run over.

In the end, red can have a multitude of meanings under different contexts. It can affect the emotions, meaning anything from lust to hate. Red is a vivid color, one that catches the eye, which is why so many retailers use it. It even appeals to one’s logic when it comes to stoplights and stop signs. www.about.com is a great website about the color red and its origins and hidden means. It gives some “red language,” definitions of the color, matching color combinations, and design patterns (like feng shui) using the color red. Now, when you see the color red, what are you going to think? Oh, red shirt, I should stop. Or, Ooh! A red shirt! I think that is a nice shirt. I should tell him/her! I’m banking on the latter. Otherwise, you won’t be moving when I’m around. I love red shirts and I wear them all the time. Yes, people do stop, but they do so to read my shirt. This is due to the fact that most of them have some witty saying on them. Hmm. I wonder what color I should analyze next. I think I’ll go with blue.

Little addiction

Humanity seems to revolve around this substance. What is it? Coffee. Why? What is it in coffee that makes so many people go crazy when they are on it... or off of it for too long? I personally found this Bumper Sticker off of Facebook hilarious because it's so true about a majority of my friends! A white, porcelain coffee cup on a saucer has spilled over onto the table. The coffee, loaded with creamer, is a shiny gold color running off the end of the picture, while coagulating, much like blood would. At the bottom of the picture are the witty words:

NOOOO!

NOT THE COFFEE!

I NEED THAT TO LIVE!

What I want to know is: why do I find this ad funny? What is it about this Bumper Sticker that appeals to me? I believe that Logos, and Pathos are major factors as to why this picture appeals to me. Examples and Cause-and-Effect seem to be the main strategies in attaining people to look at the picture.

Logos, a play on one’s logic is pretty obvious in this bumper sticker. The logic behind this witty picture is that I’m going to die now that I don’t have my coffee. This strikes MY logic because it makes me think that too many people are dependant upon the stimulant. While others might not think what I do, it is obvious that the creator of this sticker is clearly addicted to coffee. It makes me think that if there are more people like that in our country, then we are all, for lack of better term, screwed!

If you are a coffee drinker, you will know that coffee isn’t usually a gold color. Instead, it’s black. Unless, you put cream of some sort into it to change its coloring. Even then, coffee is a more tan or beige color, as opposed to the gold. This makes me think that the spilling of coffee is like the spilling of money you can’t get back unless you are willing to lick the table for it.

The coagulation of coffee, like blood, is probably no coincidence. Blood is essential to survival. If you don’t have enough blood, you’ll die. I find that this sticker illustrates that effect through the clogginess of the coffee. Coffee is becoming an everyday necessity, like blood. There has even been a new saying, “I have too much blood in my coffee system.” This saying, by one of my friends, strikes me as hilarious. She is about as big of coffee drinker as Kara, if not more so! Although, my other friends' grandma's doesn’t spike their brownies.

I view this as a major analogy to many aspects of life. The first being blood, as stated above. It could also stand for air or water. If you have neither, you are doomed to die a slow agonizing death. The coloring of the coffee could also represent money. People can’t really live without money. They may be able to survive in life, but they can’t afford to LIVE! To me, it also means that if you keep buying coffee, you are spilling your money out in front of you.

One Cause-and-Effect comes to mind when I examine this picture. This is: I am going to die now. I don’t have my coffee to sustain me, so now I will die. That almost makes me sad. I have so much more to live for! This sticker states that to not have coffee is to die. Well, not having oxygen, blood, or water is to die, also. You don’t see too may people complaining about that though, do you? Well, not to mention they are too weak to talk…might be a problem.

A final factor in this Bumper Sticker is its appeal called Pathos. The play of emotions. Reading this sticker, one can glimpse the agony, frustration and anger. When one loses something they need, they will be in agony, of course. The frustration is about the coffee, which is apparently a necessity in the life of the creator. And, certainly, anger. I mean, who wouldn’t be angry when they spilled a cup of delicious, golden, coagulating coffee? I would be so mad. I don’t know what I would do!