I don't mind blogging...for WSC 002-06 at least.

Fo rme blogging is a writing experience that I feel is....


A nice way to express what you really feel, to an extent of course. Some things are more interesting to blog about that on other topics. I had to do a blog last semester for another class and I hated it. I have to admit that when I found out we had to create a blog for this class I rolled my eyes a little, BUT it has not been so bad after all. I kind of enjoy blogging for this class. However, I do prefer to blog about my opinion on a topic or discussion so that I can express myself even if it is an "I don't even like this article and this is why" expression. So I quess it is safe to say that I actually like blogging = )

Blogging might be less of a task if ALL of our blogs were just expressing what we feel/think about what was read or discussed in class.

"Big Foot" By: Michael Specter

Without reading the entire article, which I did read, I knew exactly what I was about to engage in. At the end of the first paragraph Specter wrote; “This is a monumental challenge. It requires a revolution in technology and a revolution in thinking. We are going to have to rethink the way we live and work.” Immediately all I could think about was Wendell Berry's article "Faustian Economic." Specter went on to discuss how food corporations promote “going green” on their products in an effort to try and push consumers to do their part. He discusses “food miles” but doesn’t explain what that really means until four pages into the article which bothered me a little. After talking about "food miles" he then switched gears and began to discuss the concept of “cap and trade.” He also included the argument of whether or not you can trade something, such as the environment, without direct ownership. If trade is allowed the worry is that the environment has thus come under ownership which can be a bad thing. While the article’s main focus was on the negative effects of greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, I do not believe the article tied all topics together very well. However, the article most definitely reflected Berry’s article (that we need to change or way of living) except that Specter took the expected scientific approach which didn’t really capture my attention very much. For me, Specter’s article was a scientific reading that did not have any appeal to me because it is a continuous, monotonous discussion. It is NOT that I do not care for the environment. On the contrary, I believe in helping preserve the environment that continues to sustain life even when its very own inhabitants do not have the same respect. However, Berry approached the issue in a way that really made myself and others take a look at ourselves, others and the environment and REALLY THINK!

Just Add Water?!

Just add water...is that it?! I just have to add water and "PRESTO" I have a cake mix and all I have to do is put it in the oven?! Is this healthy? What happened to the eggs, oils and the other ingredients involved in making a cake?! Is the icing made the same way by just adding water? This must be one of those "new and imroved" ways of making food. I think so at least. I'll go with the pillsbury cake mix and make my own cake with more than just water. However, I will buy the ready made Betty Crocker vanilla icing.

(The reason as to why I wrote what I wrote)
The very statement "just add water" is something that I raise and eyebrow to. It comes across as a command and my natural instinct is to ask why? For what purpose? What if I don't want to "just add water?" "Just add water" makes me feel like I am doing something that is boring, some thing that has no flavor, like water. I want something more that just water, I want some thing with flavor, preferably sweet. I am a somewhat of a rebel I guess you could say.

WOAAHHHHH WRITING CENTER!!!

I found my visit to the writing center EXTREMELY helpful! I went with absolutely nothing written, not because I am a "bad" student but simply because I was not 100% sure of where I was heading with my paper. When I left I would say I was 90% sure, the other 10% was my need to just organize all of my thoughts once I began writing. This is a problem of mine. What she did was to ask me questions specifically related to the essay question. This helped steer me onto the track I needed to be on. The questions were built on top of one another and my mind began to flow. I was able to pick up where she was going with her questions and brought up my own suggestions for what I could discuss in the essay. Within 30 minutes I had a nice list that we were both able to create on what I would discuss in my paper. I have to admit that I was a little excited because I viewed the essay as "easy" now. However, that feeling scared me a little because you never expect work to be easy in college; therefore I did second guess myself a little bit. I have not received my essay back as yet, so we will see. I might just pay another visit to the writing center...no I WILL pay the writing center another visit = )

The Reality Tests?

"Do we create what we observe through the act of our observation? (230)" Joshua Roebke

What we observe can be effected by the act of observation yes and no. To explain I will present a scenario. I decide I want to observe lions in their natural habitat. I position as close as possible to the family of lions. I observe the lions sniffing and pawing at my jeep, one even attempts jumps onto the jeep. Because of this I conclude that lions are curious creatures when a “foreigner" enters into their territory. This is a yes scenario. The “no” would occur if I planted some undetectable observation equipment into their habitat and observed them from somewhere else. Then I would watch a “foreigner” invade the lion’s territory and not come out. In this case I would conclude that lions are extremely territorial. This is VERY different from the conclusion that lions are curious creatures. So yes, the very act of observing can affect our observation in that we are creating what we observe. No, if the observer is aware of this possibility and takes precautions to make sure this does not happen.

The weakness in Roebke’s thesis was that I lost interest. The entire reading was him continuously telling the same situation of scientists trying to test whether or not realism is a part of Quantum Mechanics. This was my understanding of what the entire article was about. The very argument however makes no sense to me because you can’t really separate anything from reality.

"Faustian Economics" By: Wendell Berry

“The problem with us is not only prodigal extravagance but also an assumed limitlessness…..we have founded our present society upon delusional assumptions of limitlessness.” This is Berry’s central argument. Surrounding this argument is the reason as to how we came to this. The answer to this question how is because people believe that the American way of life is indestructible; there is always more. What this has led to, according to Berry, is greed and waste. We must have limits, or else humans will cease to exist. This I can agree with.

Berry did something very interesting that I truly admire. He referred to "Faustus" and artists who work with limits and used them to support his argument. Faustus was a highly intelligent man in his day whose thirst for knowledge turned into greed. His greed was so intense that he sold his soul to the devil, literally, in exchange for ultimate power and all of the knowledge in the world. The power and knowledge that he was given allowed him to be at home in one minute and in less than 30 seconds he was at the Vatican. However, even with all of that power Faustus became bored. In the end Faustus was taken to Hell when his "contract" was up.

Berry’s reference says that such “limitlessness,” does not make people happy and does not lead to any place good. Berry says that artists work with limits such as frames and time limits. Yet still artists manage to produce beautiful work within these limits. Thus, we can do the same because freedom itself comes with restrictions in order to fully experience the peace that comes with freedom.

In the end, Berry concludes that the only way to side step a Faustus ending is to perform like an artist in order to sustain our human existence. We need to “re-program” our way of living to incorporate the fact that resources and the environment we live in are NOT limitless. Real artists paint, write, draw, sing and dance as they please within the limits of time, paper and or a stage. We must stop thinking that freedom means the lack of or absence of restraints and, start thinking like real artists.

Painting Excess Waste

Excess wastes looks like the prissy women sitting in the restaurant. They order one meal and then if it is slightly cold they send it back. They snicker about how there is “no way they could eat that." The waiter brings them a warmer plate. However, they come to the realization that what they ordered has too many carbohydrates and they are on a "low-no carb diet." The stressed waiter returns to their table making sure he doesn’t show the faintest notion of his frustrated state. By the third time around the ladies take a few bites and then push their plates away. I sit across from these ladies and watch their barely eaten food taken up and carried away, to the garbage most likely, because they refused to carry their left-over food home. This is excess waste I see when I go out and it upsets me. What is wrong with getting a doggie bag?