Parents becoming too attached to technology

I can agree with this article. They're saying that parents and adults have a bigger addiction to technology than what people may think. The roles have been switched; instead of the parent nagging the teenager about putting away their phones, the children are nagging the parents to get off the smartphone or laptop. I have personally noticed this with my own mom every since she got her fancy droid smartphone and iPod touch. This woman loves scrabble. I mean loves it. After dinner, when we'd be spending family time together in the living room, she'd be on the couch with both devices out, playing two simultaneous games of scrabble and Words With Friends. It gets really annoying. And her most recent discovery, and I blame myself for this one, is the new "Draw Something" game. I showed her, knowing she'd love it being the art major she is, but I didn't think about what it could mean. Now, every single night, when she's not playing Words With Friends, she is constantly asking me, "Bryana, does this look like a postcard?" or "What does this look like?" And when that's not going on, she is constantly asking me if I played my turn with her yet.
Yeah. This is getting a little out of hand. I have brought it up to her several - no, many- times. All she does is laugh it off. So I know exactly what Beth Teitell means when she describes the many people who have trouble with parents getting of their technology devices. She described an instance where a father was so attached to his laptop, his two young children were putting their heads in between him and the screen, and even "fabricated potty-training accidents" (Teitell). She qualifies both sides of the argument with interviews from many people. It seems as though the majority of the interviews make it seem like parents are the bad guys when it comes to technology, though I think this was the author's purpose because she is showing everyone how harmful technology can be to children when parents are using it.


Article: Dad, can you put away the laptop? by Beth Teitell

What Doctors Can Learn From Musicians

At first, when I read the title of the article, I thought, "How in the world can doctors learn from musicians?" But after reading it, I can definitely see how it works. Music and medicine differ in one, big way: Medicine is based around having the knowledge of many medical topics, but little knowledge if used in the performance of medicine. Musicians, on the other hand, make it their goal to perform. They practice and practice and practice with plenty of critical feedback from teachers, themselves, and audiences. For most of you, you've had some sort of private lesson teacher or coach or something of that sort. The way they help you is by coaching you. Helping you along the way, you know? That's what doctors can use from musicians. Getting constant feedback and coaching during their process of practicing. They "spur constant growth" (Ofri) with you, motivating you to do your best. As a musician, you strive to become better, and no plateaus are acceptable. I find that this method can be very effective and it would greatly help our population of doctors. If they get their feedback and criticism, they can better their performance and make sure they're the best they could be.
The author, Danielle Ofri, is a musician and a doctor, so the article works very well coming from someone who has the experience of both areas. I thought it was well done, and brought up a good point of improvement in the field of medicine. She also quotes a book by a fellow doctor about her argument, and how "the actual practice of clinical medicine is a performance" (Ofri).


Article: What Doctors Can Learn From Musicians by Danielle Ofri, M.D.

iBooks go a little too far?

The point of a book is to read it, right? Well, apparently not. At least, not to the new iBook from Apple. You may think this iBook may be just your regular electronic book, made for reading enjoyment. Nope. This book comes fully equipped with games, interactive playthings, music, and just a whole bunch of distractions. If I wanted that much stuff in my book, I would have just gotten the computer game. It think this new feature just takes away from the enjoyment of just reading words. Not playing "whack-a-mole" with Beatles characters because it somewhat has relevance to their story, "The yellow Submarine". Author Laura Miller pointed out something I definitely agreed with, "You can’t really pay much attention to anything else while you’re reading, so in order to play with any of these new features, you have to stop reading." (Miller). Something else I am not a fan of with these books is not being allowed to have an imagination. With little videos and interactive illustrations of what happens, I wouldn't be able to think for myself and picture the story with how I want it to look. If I had one of these fancy-shmancy iBooks, I wouldn't have that feeling I do on lazy summer days where I sit outside in the sun and just get lost in a book. No. I'd have all of these distractions within the book that would cause me, and many other people, to not even read a book.
The author definitely has a strong opinion when it comes to these iBooks, and that is negativity. Coming from first-hand experience with one, she hates it. Reading with more than one person, especially children, causes both of them to argue about who gets to play which game and who gets to use the special feature that the meaning of reading gets lots with them. This is not something we need, especially for our youth. It was said that this may be the possible future of books. And it really frightens me. The author's first-hand experience definitely adds more support to her argument.




Article: Can bells and whistles save the book? by Laura Miller

The Color of Water by James McBride

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Classical Music... a Punishment?

What this article says is that music can be used on a negative way. People don't really like the sound of classical, and it therefore drives them away. For example, a 7-eleven blasted Mozart in it's parking lot to get rid of unwanted loiterers. Also, a school in England actually used classical music as a punishment. When students misbehaved, they were forced to sit and listen to the music for an hour. And behavior increased 50%. If listening to classical music was a punishment, I wouldn't mind at all. I like classical music. For the most part, I disagreed with the article, until a few good points toward the end. It has a lot to do with presentation. If the music is screechy because of the poor speakers, a bad recording, or something of the like, it isn't going to be as enjoyable as listening to it surround sound or even better, live. If you pass through a terminal and hear music for a short amount of time, you don't really notice it. But, if you were to be staying in that terminal for a while, that music becomes more apparent.
For the most part, Anne Midgette is supporting the theory that classical music is used to filter out people from public spaces, and is used in a negative way. She starts the article out with a personal story that has made her realize this. After giving several informing pieces of evidence, she makes her argument clear. I don't think she wrote this for the argument, really. I think she wrote it for the sake of informing others.

Article: "Blasting Mozart to drive criminals away" by Anne Midgette

'Tis by Frank McCourt

So far, I really enjoy this book. I haven't really read much of it, but I really like what I have read. I know it's going to be about him trying to make it in New York, but the part about him in the church, I really like it. It's interesting to see how differently people valued religion. There were those who went all-out and sat in the front, but then there were the guys who were in the back, making fun of them. And now, people don't even bother to show up to church if they don't want to go.

The captain who wouldn't go down with the ship

You've all probably seen or heard about that cruise ship that hit a rock and sank. Yes, it was tragic. And it could have been stopped. Mainly because of that loser of a captain. I saw on the news that this guy went off course without informing his supervisors of his change, so they couldn't warn him about the dangers that lay ahead. What really makes me angry is that he's the one to make this mess, and yet he leaves the ship before announcing, "abandon ship" to the passengers, leaving them to figure things out for themselves. Now, that's pretty darn stupid. I remember, my first and only cruise in the summer of 2005, we had to do a drill where we got our life vests and report to our designated areas. It didn't really inform us as to what we were supposed to do after that. But that's because the captain, who wouldn't ditch, would tell us what measures would be taken based on the situation we were in. But, in this case, the passengers couldn't even rely on their captain. It's pretty sad. Now people are going to question whether they want to even go on a cruise in fear of the captain leaving them in a crisis. And on this ship, the crew didn't even know what to do. That's why so many people died.

I really like how the author set it up as a Q&A session with "the dean of ocean-liner historians" (Mashberg). His purpose was to inform others of what really happened, and to explain what is supposed to happen, as well as the after-effects with will occur. The guy left without warning, he was supposed to stay, and this event looks really bad on the cruise line. The author's argument is very valid, mainly because it's hard to disagree with him. I don't know of anyone who would stick up for the captain, because what he did was wrong (and fortunately, he's in jail now).


Article: The captain who wouldn't go down with the ship by Tom Mashberg

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Another law that doesn't make sense

In New York, it is illegal to put your feet on a seat in a subway. Yes, you heard me. It's illegal. I find that law to be pretty dumb. I mean, it makes sense if it's rush hour or the subway is crowded. I get that. But if it is 3:10 am, and you happen to put your feet up, getting arrested for it seems pretty extreme. At the very most, give a ticket or something. In the article, it was said that a man with diabetes got arrested for briefly putting his feet on a subway seat after injecting his leg with insulin while riding a Manhattan subway to work. That's a bit too much. I feel that these people are getting arrested for the sake of getting arrested instead of actually displaying the goals of the enforcement.
I think the authors' goal was to communicate to their audience about how putting your feet up on a subway is illegal, and quite frankly, how ridiculous it is. They give specific instances on why the law is dumb, but also give examples on how it can be helpful. They define it as helpful when police officers arrest someone who just so happens to be wanted. But I kind of feel like it's just a coincidence.

Article: Relax, if You Want, but Don't Put Your Feet Up by Joseph Goldstein and Christine Haughney

America may be the most religious nation, but does that really have to do with anything?

Okay, so America is very religious. More than 90% of our population says they believe in God and pray regularly. But saying that you pray doesn't really mean anything. In the New Testament, "faith without works is dead". I actually found this fascinating that they bring this up because of our writing prompt about actions speaking louder than words. But anyways, this article was mainly about how we may be religious, but that doesn't mean anything. Poverty has risen to a record of 49.9 million people, or 16% of the U.S. population. 3.5 million Americans are homeless each year, and hinger in the United States has reached a 14-year high. After reading all of these statistics compiled into one article, I'll admit, it scared me. I couldn't help but think, if poverty and homelessness is this bad when I'm still a child, how bad will it be when I'm living on my own with a family to support? The article also states that "American restaurants toss out more than 6,000 tons of food every day," (Starr). I found this interesting. I know that restaurants should donate food they throw away. But I have learned that Dunkin' Donuts used to do that. They would give away any food they didn't sell in a day to the homeless. But they had to stop, after one person claimed that they got sick from eating the food Dunkin' Donuts so kindly donated. And he sued. So because of things like that, they aren't allowed to donate their food and are forced to throw it away.
Obviously, Bernard Starr's purpose is to inform. I didn't know more of half of these statistics. To inform more people about this would benefit others. I kind of think it's the author's goal to overwhelm the readers with how bad of a state our country is in. Because I was quite overwhelmed with the amount of statistics in the article. And pretty much, all I got out of it was: America is in bad, bad shape.

Article: So what if America is the most religious nation? by Bernard Starr

From Glee to Broadway

As some of the Gleeks out there may know, Darren Criss is now on Broadway, filling in the shoes of Danielle Radcliffe on, "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying". He'll be performing for three weeks before he returns to Glee. After that, Nick Jonas, yes Nick Jonas, is going to take the role. I think it's amazing how Darren is finally stepping up his game. It says in the article how he has been doing musical theatre his whole life, and I think making it to Broadway is huge.  But since being on Glee, Darren has gained oh so many fans, and I believe that's part of the reason why the shows sold out so quickly. Now imagine what it'll be like when Nick Jonas will take over. A Jonas brother. I'm sorry, but I think it'll be difficult for a Jonas brother, this one in particular, to act on this level of skill. Especially pull off the amount of dancing that will be needed. And I'm not so sure he'll be able to pull it off. Anyway, I just think this job for Darren Criss will definitely open many more doors for him.
The author's purpose was to inform the audience what is going on with Darren's career. Where he came from, where he's going. The beginning of the article seems to tell a story, and get a sneak peek into one of Darren's rehearsals. It made it seem like he was too good for the role at first because as a performer, Darren knows exactly how to dance. The choreographers told him he was a little "too good" for the character he was playing and had to make his dancing a little less perfect. Darren has also been called a "triple threat", someone who can sing, dance, and act. It described where he started, how he became famous overnight from Glee, and where he hopes to head.

Article: 'Glee' Star Gets His Broadway Turn by Patrick Healy

Bless Me, Ultima (chapters 17-22)

As the book ends, I must admit, I liked it more so than some other books we have read this year. What I really liked about it was some of the things that made me think differently. There was a lot of insight. For example, on page 195, the conversation between Tony and Florence is very advanced for a couple of second graders. How Florence says, "I never asked to be born. But he gives me birth, a soul, and puts me here to punish me. Why? What did I ever to do deserve this, huh?" (Anaya, 196). And Tony replies, "...maybe God puts obstacles in front of us so that we will have to overcome them. And if we overcome all the hard and bad things, then we will be good Catholics, and earn the right to be with Him in heaven" (Anaya, 196). First of all, I wasn't even on that level of thinking in second grade. When it came time for my First Communion, I thought it just meant I was growing up in the church.
I must admit, I was sad to see Ultima die, but I had a hunch she was going to die in the book somehow. What I didn't like was that we never find out what Tony does with his career. In the beginning, we think he's going to be a priest or a farmer. That's what Ultima an his whole dream was about. It develops throughout the book, describing Tony's struggles with his faith in God or the Golden Carp. There was plenty of build up, then we end up never finding out. But maybe that's what the author wants. Maybe their purpose is to leave it to their audience's imagination.