Beasts of the Southern Wild

My G&T class just finished watching Beasts of the Southern Wild. This fictional but realistic movie focused on the life of a young girl named Hush-Puppy and her father who live in the bathtub. What is the bathtub, you ask? It is a place on the tip of Louisiana that filled with water with a ferocious storm. The few people who decided to stay in their homes had to find a way to adapt and survive. Unfortunately, Hush-Puppy's father, Wink, is dying, as he has some sort of heart condition. These events make it extremely difficult to survive.
As the movie begins, you feel like you are in a foreign place that cannot possibly be America. The scene is a jungle, with poverty stricken people. Yet, they are all happy. They "get the most holidays" out of everyone. They are simply content. However, as the movie progresses, you get a feeling of normalness. It seems that the forign environment is calling to you because all the people seem so happy. They ever refuse to leave their homes. Wink states multiple time that "I ain't leaving the bathtub" even with an approaching hurricane and his heart condition. This movie makes you feel weird when you turn it off and get back to reality. You miss the simpleness of their life...
The other thing that made a big impact on my life was Hush-Puppy's quote "We are all parts in a big, big universe". It makes me realize that what just happened to me (Injured, Victory, ect.) is not important. We are all cogs in the machine. Without my friends and everyone else, life wouldn't be possible. It makes you try to appreciate things more, like the fact that I can go to school and have a G&T class. It would still be cool to live like Hush-Puppy though...

Passion Project Update

I have had 8 days so far for my passion project, and yet I was barely able to do anything at school. Many of the sites that I need to visit to learn about my topic (Stealth Tech.) are blocked by the school. However, I have done a lot of my project at home on my free time. I so far have discovered and explained how the tech works, who discovered it, what types of planes use it, who makes it, and I have also gone into detail about each of the stealth planes. So far I have researched the F-117 stealth Fighter, B-2 Stealth Bomber, and the new stealth plane that will replace all the other regular fighters; the F-35. I have also contacted the military base and am going to contact Lockheed-Martin about going on a tour, but I do not have an answer if I will get one from the military base and I am trying to find contact info for one of the nearby Lockheed offices. So far I am very pleased with  how my project is progressing. I have so far accomplished my goals, and since I have, I am trying to expand them by trying to get the class the ability to go on a trip to Lockheed.

Some upcoming problems:

1. lack of access to sites at school
2. finding the right contact info foe Lockheed
3. determining if the military base will let us take a tour

Myers-Brigs Test

Recently my class took a Myers-Brigs personality test, which is a test to show what type of a person you are. It will tell you if you are driven by feeling, by fact, if you are very social, ect. This is an incredibly accurate test and many famous people have taken this test. My personal type is ESTJ, which means I am Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact. Decisive, quickly move to implement decisions.
This test has told me a lot about myself. It has confirmed that I am realistic and decisive. It has also showed me that there are lots and lots of different people out there. In our class, many people found themselves getting the same personality as other students. This was to be expected, I suppose  because many of us think alike and have similar personalities. Even more impressive, no one said that their result didn't match up with who they were. I ask that whoever is reading this post takes the test and decides for themselves if it is accurate.
As an interesting side note, Some other famous and infamous ESTJs include: Henry Ford, Condoleezza Rice, Dr. Phil, Martha Stewart, Bill O'Reilly, St Paul, Tom Clancy, and Saddam Hussein. 

Joyas Volsdoras

This piece of writing is very interesting. It talks about the hummingbird, on incredible but fragile creature. It "can dive at sixty miles an hour. They can fly backwards. They can fly more than five hundred miles without pausing to rest." However, the article has a much deeper meaning than that. It goes on to talk about how each creature only gets a certain number of heartbeats, and you can either spend them fast or slow. It goes on to describe how large a blue whale's heart is. Finally the document concludes with a section about how important and how much we store in the heart.

Joyas talks about how we all love, but we still live alone. He sums it up beautifully in this statement "So much held in a heart in a lifetime. So much held in a heart in a day, an hour, a moment. We are utterly open with no one, in the end -- not mother and father, not wife or husband, not lover, not child, not friend." Feelings seem to be one of the most important characteristics in being human because everyone has them. That is what makes us truly human.

HUMAN

To be human means you are more than just a bunch of DNA. You have feelings and memories and emotions. You are compassionate and you show love. Without those traits you would not truly be human.
If you think then you are human. Every single person in the world (who is mentally capable) thinks and dreams. It is simple human nature to think about solutions and aspirations. When you believe that you can become greater, you are a real human.

The Terri Schiavo Case

In our G&T class, we recently went over what happened to Terri Schiavo, and if it was right to take her off life support. Personally, I believe that it was the right call, but how they did it was all wrong. According to Wiki, her husband was abusive and had wanted her to die.  Personally, If all you could do was sit in a hospital and vegetate, literally, then I believe that at that point, life has no meaning anymore. You are not the same person when you are almost brain dead.
Again, I will repeat that her best interest is to die. I do not mean to sound harsh. I believe most people would not want to continue living if they were in a vegetative state. Personally, I believe that life is meaningful because you can interact with others, have fun, and experience emotion. I also feel that felling sorrow would be better than no feeling at all. Life is fun because we suffer, and pick ourselves back up again, time after time. Also; the satisfaction that everyone derives from winning is another example. Both show the human drive to be the best, and to never be defeated. That is called hope and willpower. Once you take that away, there is little left to live for. Terri should have been spared misery and been allowed to have the chance to pass on as soon as they found out that she would never be able to do anything again. 
However, there is no doubt that she is still alive. She does not have a reason to keep living, but she is not dead. If she was dead, I would not be writing this post and this would not have become a national issue. The term dead replies to something that no longer has any signs of life. However, she still ate, slept, and had a heart beat. And if you have those three things, you are alive.Even though she may be brain dead, she is not a lifeless sack of bones. There was still a spark of life, even though it may have been dull.  In my opinion, Terri was definitely alive.

20% project # 2

This time around I have decided to do a project on why you need good protection for your PC, and what security software can provide it. I originally decided to do a project of football, but I have found a few articles recently that are really interesting. I have decided to change the project and make it so that I am learning entirely new information. I will include which are the best, why they are the best, and how simple things, like getting a good password, can keep you safe from malware. I do not see any problems I may run into at this time. I think that I will be able to find the information I need. My Dad can help me if I run into any problems, and I can uses multiple internet and written articles. This is going to be a great project!

Genome Testing

There is a new type of testing for birth defects and dseases. It is called genome testing, and it seems like it comes out of a sci-fi movie. It literally can see your chromosomes and cad discover gaps in them. It could determine if you are at a high risk for alzheimers, or if you have a brain deficiancy. It can show you all of the medical issues that may come up during your life. The only question is, do you want to know?
I personaly think that even though you now may live with the fear of developing these illnesses, you should find out what they are. It could tell you that you have a high risk for cancer, or baldness, and this allows you to know to keep a close eye on your body and your hairline. Even if it is uncureable now, you will know to be on the look out for the cure when it is developed. This could easly save your life.
Since I always back my opinions, I would want to be told everything, especially life threatining conditions. I would feed the same way if it was a close loved one having the testing. I would want all the details. However, if I was the doctor, I would find it a little hard to tell a mother or father that their son not only has a birth defect, but they also have a good chance of getting cancer early in life. However, knowing that I myself would want all the details, I believe that it would be only fair to tell them everything.

Reflect and Resolve

Reflection:  In 2012, many great things happened. There were advances in clean energy, the fiscal cliff was avoided, the NFL record for receiving yards in a season was broken, and one of the best movies ever, The Avengers, came out. However, it also had plenty of bad things, too. Hurricane Sandy and multipul shootings left the nation scared. However, I believe the world and I have learned that bad situations brings out the best in people. I never realized until now that everyone helped out the victims of the shootings and the superstorm. The NFL, the goverment, everyone was raising funds. I look on the world with a newfound admeration.

Resolution:  In 2013, I resolve to become stronger, faster, and a beter person. I will follow the role model of Tim Tebow, who is strong, fast, and, you guessed it, a good person. I will run and lift weights every day as long as I am able to, cut back on junk food, and have a positive aditude. I look forward to what this year has to offer.