Mrs. Halls English class

I have enjoyed this class very much. I think if there is one thing that needs to be changed about the class, it should be more clarity into writing papers and citing sources. That just might be my opinion because it was hard for me to look at the book and answer some of those questions in the quizzes. I seemed to have a hard time with the citing of sources. The most enjoyable part of this class was the blogging. At first I was thinking this was crazy, but once I started doing it and got into it I really looked forward to seeing the new topic and creating my blog. I never thought I would be a blog person, but now I am. I would definitely recommend this class to other people because it was fun and not too stressful.

Free write

Today I want to write about the tragedy's that keep happening in our country. It deeply saddens me to see all the death and destruction that is going on in our country today. It is a sad thing when people can not even congregate together with out the worry of a terrorist bombing or some person out for revenge shooting every one on site. My 7 year old is scared to go to school because they keep having "shooter drills" to prepare them just in case some one enters the school and starts shooting it up. While I applaud the school system for the preparation and caring about the safety of my child, it is scaring the crap out of her! Why must our children today have to worry about these things? How did our society get so out of control that we have to watch our backs every time we walk out the door? I think the bigger question is what can we do to change our country and take back our right to feel safe? I can't even let my child play outside with out us because in the blink of an eye she could be gone. I know that this will never be the country that I grew up in, one in which you did not have to lock your doors when you left your house or watch your kids like a hawk, I just wish my children had the freedom to go play with their friends down the road like I did. Is that too much to ask?

Annotated Bibliography

After researching a few topics for my annotated bibliography, I think I have settled on a subject that will be a bit controversial but is a good argument. I chose to make the production and distribution of cigarettes illegal. I think this is very important because of the obvious health issues to not only those who smoke, but anyone that is around the cigarette smoke. Some of the issues I would argue is the health issues, second hand smoke and how dangerous it is, the diseases it can cause, how much money a person could save by not purchasing cigarettes, and cost of health care. The only positive thing that I can think of about the sale of cigarettes is the money generated by taxes and what they could put that money to use. A lot of people think it should be their right to smoke but it is worse for a person to smoke cigarettes than it is to smoke marijuana, yet marijuana is illegal and cigarettes should be too. I know marijuana is a banned topic but was just using it as a comparison that cigarettes are loaded with chemicals and God knows what, where as marijuana is smoked in its natural state with no added chemicals but yet still illegal. I used to smoke cigarettes and it was the best decision of my life to quit, not only for me but for my wife and kids. I quit because my 7 year old has asthma and all kinds of respiratory problems and I loved her enough to quit. My mother smoked 3 packs a day for as long as I can remember and she had asthma, COPD, and emphysema and eventually died of respiratory failure. I suppose because of this I feel very passionate about this subject because it is just a horrible way to go and could save so many lives.

Banned topics

If you look at the assignment description for the final essay, you will see that there is a list of banned topics.  Do you think I should be able to ban certain topics, or should you be able to write about anything you would like?  Why do you think I ban topics?

I think that all the topics that are listed are good topics but are very controversial. Abortion is just a touchy subject and every one has an opinion over when life begins. Another thing that would make this subject touchy is if a person had been raped, they are already facing the pain and anguish over that and then to have to find out you were pregnant, what would you do? I would not want to carry a baby that came from such a hateful situation but if you don't believe in abortion it would just be a hard situation. Gay marriage is very controversial right now. I believe in what the Bible says, but then again I have friends that are gay and they should be happy too. That don't mean I have to do it or like it, I stick to the bible on this one. Gun control is in the constitution, right to bear arms, and now they want to take that away! I don't think so. As I have went through a few of these subjects, I think the reason you have banned these topics is because they all have legal consequences that come with them. You will either feel strongly one way or another and not see both sides of the picture. I have done a paper over the legalization of marijuana before and really did not see a problem with this one. It is your right as our teacher to ban certain topics if you would like to for your own reasons or to spare the feelings of others if they were going to be reading it.

Cash for grades

Cash for grades is a concept I wish they had when I was in school. This program could have positive effects and negative ones depending on how it is used. Some positive effects would be that children would work harder to learn so they could get the reward. In turn, the school system could use this to see if a child may need extra help to learn certain things or maybe have a learning disability. Giving a child cash for good grades can also give them a sense of accomplishment. Cash is also a good gift to give because they can get what they want with the money or maybe they should encourage them to save the money for something bigger and let them know how important it is to save money.
Some negative things that can come from cash for grades is it may cause some children to cheat because they want that prize and will do anything to get it. Another negative is that you don't know what your child may be spending the money on. They could spend it on something that may not be good for them, especially during the teenage years, these young teens could be buying things such as drugs, alcohol, or tobacco products and no parent wants that to happen.
I think overall that the cash for grades could be a positive experience for children but it could also make some children feel like failures if they don't receive a reward for a good grade. Children learn different than others and at different levels so I think it would have to be monitored so it will be fair for all.

Medical Marijuana

Medical marijuana is an all natural substance that could help so many people if only given the chance. Marijuana is considered to be a "street drug" and is illegal but I think it should be considered to be legalized for medicinal purposes. My father had Parkinson's Disease and his doctor told him it would be helpful for his excessive muscle pain because his body was moving non-stop and he could not stop it. It can also be helpful for cancer patients that are in excessive pain or need to gain weight. I believe there are just so many positive uses for marijuana and people are suffering because of it. It should be considered an herbal remedy just like any other root or plant that is used for alternative medicine. I have done a paper on this before and medical marijuana is good for all kinds of disorders such as HIV, asthma, all kinds of cancers, post traumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder and there are so many more. How could a plant with so many positive qualities and very few side effects be kept from the people who could benefit from it? If you look at the side effects or listen to those commercials about prescription drugs on the television that have such side effects it is alarming. Lets take Abilify for example, you take it with your antidepressant. This drug has such side effects as dizziness, weight gain, suicidal thoughts, high blood pressure, and low blood sugar. Marijuana has side effects like dry mouth, increased food consumption, euphoric feeling, feelings of laughter, and at the worst some paranoia. I don't know about you but I would much rather have euphoric feelings and fits of laughter than suicidal thoughts and high blood pressure. I think in the future it will become legal, but it is going to take time and why does it even matter if it is only legal on a state basis if the federal government can just arrest you for it anyway? Just don't seem fair.

Evaluating sources

I actually got three names but i'm going to pick two of them. My two picks were Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Van Buren. Alfred Hitchcock is know as the "master of suspense." He was born August 13,1899 in England and died April 29, 1980 in Los Angeles, California from renal failure. In around 1920, Hitchcock started dabbling in the film industry. In the beginning, he worked on the set doing such things as drawing. He got his lucky break when one of the directors fell ill and they chose him to complete the film. His first film that he was hired to direct start to finish was Number 13, but due to the studio closing, the film was never completed. So that is just a little bit on Alfred Hitchcock.
Martin Van Buren was born on December 5, 1782 in New York and died on July 24, 1862. Van Buren had a nickname, Old Kinderhook and was the eighth President of the United States. He was the third of five children and was the son of a farmer and popular tavern owner. Van Buren went to school at Kinderhook Academy and started his legal career at the young age of 14. At the age of 17, Van Buren married a distant relative, Hannah Hoes, and had five children. Martin Van Buren passed away after being sick with pneumonia for more than half a year with complications from bronchial asthma and heart failure. He was buried in the Kinderhook cemetary.
I initially thought I was going to do my biography on Martin Van Buren because I didn't think I could find enough information about Alfred Hitchcock, but Hitchcock had a very interesting life. It is a tough decision because both of them are very interesting, but I think I may do it over Alfred Hitchcock, because I think I would enjoy him more.

Thinspiration

After reading the article about the website thinspiration, I didn't see really anything wrong with these women except the fact that they were physically in shape. I went to the web site and looked at these pictures and I expected to see malnourished girls with ribs sticking out, but they just look like they wanted to be in shape to me. I personally would prefer a little more meat on my woman because to me, that looks healthy. As for it being inspirational, I guess it just depends on how you look at it. I asked my wife's opinion on whether or not  she found it inspirational and she said not really and it was unrealistic for some people to ever achieve this goal of being super skinny because women have all different body types and shapes. There were some photos of women who had once been big and lost the weight and those pictures were more inspirational than that of some random picture of a girl just taking a photo of herself who has probably never been overweight but thinks she is fat. My opinion is that real beauty comes from within. My wife is overweight herself and struggles everyday to make her lifestyle changes and she is making great strides but she knows she wont be one of those girls and don't really want to be. I love her no matter what size she is, I just want her to be healthy because we have our kids to raise and she is who I want to grow old with.

Adult content for children

I am the father of a 14 year old and a 7 year old, also a step-father of a 24 year old. As a parent, I believe that there is certain material that should be kept from children til a certain age like anything pertaining to sex I would not let my child read until they were at least 16 years or older. I am very old fashioned and am protective of what my kids do and who they see because the world has become an ugly place and I don't think there is such a thing as being too protective of your children. I do let my 14 year old read such books as the Twilight series and know by watching the movies that there are sexual themes in the books, but as for anything else of the such I don't let her  read it. I'm sure she reads stuff that she don't tell us about because we cannot screen everything that she reads but I try to encourage her to read things that are written for her age group.

Literary Analysis

I don't really make time anymore to sit down and read like I used to, guess life gets away from us sometimes. I did enjoy reading these short stories from last week, some more than others though. When I read "The Yellow Wallpaper," I really did not get the meaning in the story. What I got from the story was, that she may have been mentally ill, I still don't understand what the symbolism with the yellow wallpaper is, someone please enlighten me about this story because I do want to understand what it meant by her pulling the wallpaper off.
I like the story "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." Everyone has their own idea of what they can do in life to be a "man" and in Dave's case, a gun would make him a man. Although that gun didn't make him any more of a man, he felt like it did and that's all that mattered to him, no matter who got hurt.
My favorite of the stories was "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." I love the fact that he wanted to go on an adventure and feel brave and alive. He has his moments of fear but he don't give up on his adventures. His wife was an awful person though, it was her pushing him to be more of a man that lead him to his death because he wanted to please her.
The last story, "Good Country People," was an alright story, I just couldn't get into it very much. Maybe because I sat down and read all these stories one after the other and may have been a bit burnt out by the time I got to this one. Maybe I need to read it again.
I'm not sure which topic I am going to pick yet but I have it narrowed down to "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber."

Hemingway Code

The Hemingway Code seems like to me is his idea of what a man should be. I can see some of these rules as beneficial and could live by them but I don't agree with the part about hiding behind false religious hopes. I am a Christian and I believe that there is a God and an afterlife and if I am luck and live my life by the Bible, I will go to Heaven some day. I can do all that manly stuff like never show emotion and endure pain in silence. I don't no why these are only geared toward men though, they sound like good traits for everyone to have.
I do see some of these rules come out in his writing, such as in the story of The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber, while the guys are hunting, Robert Wilson was always talking about not fearing the animals they were hunting. When he didn't face up to his fears and kill the lion, his wife treated him like he was a coward and shunned him away. I don't know if she felt ashamed of him or disappointed in him because she thought he was less of a man and wanted him to man up. People are who they are and shouldn't try to be anyone else to please someone. If a person don't like who you are and what you stand for they don't have to stay around. Be yourself, an original!

Blog # 3

It has been 20 years this year since I graduate high school so most every thing is a learning experience for me. I had forgotten virtually every thing, even the basic stuff that we have been learning. I had always considered myself to be pretty good a paraphrasing, but I have to admit that the paraphrasing exercise was a little more difficult than I had originally thought it would be. I have learned a lot in this unit, including the subject-verb agreement which I had a little difficulty with and pronouns, which was a little easier for me than the subject-verb agreements.
There is still so much that I don't understand with the subject-verb agreements. I know on the test, I had some questions that I thought I had done right but I was wrong. I looked them up and tried to associate them with the subject, but I guess I was still doing it wrong. I think my main problem was over thinking the rules and things. On the pronoun quiz, I also had a little trouble with the questions like "Cheryl and me met for coffee last week." I always thought it would be "Cheryl and I." Guess I was wrong. 
This whole college thing is a learning experience for me because it has been forever since I have learned and used any of these things. Everything is learn and use or learn and loose so it's time for me to relearn all these things and hopefully I will use these tools enough so I won't loose them again.

Print vs. digital databases

In the print vs. digital databases I would have to pick the digital database. I suppose the biggest advantage to digital database is the fact that you can virtually find anything and everything you are looking for. They make everything so easy and with Ipads and portable reading devices it is very convenient. Digital databases also have their downfalls, such as problems with internet service. I think print is the most reliable choice being that all you have to have is your book, no slow internet or no internet at all. When you have to use print material, it takes more time out of your day to do. You would have to go to the library, spend time looking at different material, select the books that would be the best fit for what you need, and stand in line to check the books out. I know that people have been doing this for many years, but it just seems that going through the digital database is faster and more convenient.
Yes, I do think digital databases are replacing print due to the ease of finding things and if you have internet you don't have to leave your house to go get your material. I am a little torn on the question of "is it a good thing?" I think it is good to have digital databases, but it is also good to have something to fall back on in case of trouble with your computer or internet problems. I know when it comes down to it, it is all a matter of personal preference, but I tend to rely more on the digital databases.

Introduction

My name is Steven Boone and I am 38 years old. I am married to the love of my life, Nikki, and we have been together since 2005. Together we have 2 daughters, a 15 year old named Raven and a 7 year old named Hailey. I also have a step-daughter named Jessica and she is 22 and she has a son named Braxton. My family is the most important thing to me and the only family I really have left. My mother passed away on January 8, 2011 from pancreatic cancer and my father died on August 7, 2012 in a tractor accident. I am thankful for the family I have left. I am going to college to get my Associates of Arts in General Education and then I have not really decided what I am going to do from there. In my free time I like to enjoy the outdoors. I love to fish and have recently taken up trout fishing. There's nothing like being in the cold water catching trout! I also have a kayak and love to go down Spring River with some friend and family. I have plans for going all the way down Spring River this year just to see how far it goes, it will be an adventure. I enjoy other types of fishing too, I like to catfish and bass fish also. I hope someday to move somewhere that it actually snows, not much snow around Arkansas but when it does I try to enjoy the little bit we get. I love to ride 4-wheeler's, just being able to get out and enjoy the outdoors, nature, and being able to spend some good quality time with my family. I like sand creek but there are people who don't respect the land and trash it even though there are trash cans available, there is trash and broken bottles everywhere and it's becoming more of a party spot than a family place. When my family and I go ridding, we usually just hit the levee and ride over there. I enjoy it over there and the traffic is not too bad and everyone going down the levee is pretty respectful. There are also a few bridges down there that are great to go fishing on.

Me and my wife

Me fly fishing at Mammoth Springs

My step-daughter Jessica and grandson Braxton

My daughter Hailey

My daughter Raven

Me and my Princess

Hailey ridding her 4-wheeler

Me ridding

My wife is pretty amazing, she just graduated from the Respiratory program at Black River Technical College. She worked very hard to reach her goals and I hope I can make her just as proud as she has made me.