As much as we'd like not too...

As much as we'd like not to, we find ever oppurtunity to hate
Never knowing what our actions our doing and whether or not to deflate
Always looking for excuses just because we discriminate
Always looking for ways to accept our own fate

As much as we'd like not to, we all remain in a sence of lost
Surrounded by attempts in changing, yet we feel as if it's too high a cost
Always taking life by the horns and then watching it as it slowy turns to a frost
Always taking life and watching as it's star-crossed

As much as we'd like not to, we search and tend to destroy
Catching a glimpse of this hard-working steel similar to Troy
Always visualizing then never acting as if some sort of annoy
Always visualizing , thinking moral then a switch as if some sort of coy

As much as we'd like not to, we gain age and wisdom
Finally seeing the truth about the ism
Always questioning, and in society being forced to succumb
Always questioning and looking for and outcome

TOO BROAD?

Cultural Studies is a HUGE topic! When I first became interested in this topic for this blog this year I don't think I realized how broad of a term it really is...

Ever since I was a young girl people have just fascinated me. They way they act, treat others and change. How humans can adapt and learn. I enjoy observing them. Over a series of weeks I've been observing people actions towards me. It's so interesting that every one's mood reflected there actions. This is just a an observation, no significance but it intrigued me. I believe that I need to understand the different areas of this broad topic, specify what I want and reevaluate what I understand "cultural studies" is. I want to know so much but with not enough time on my hands. Well, at least in this class. I wonder if in my future will this travel with me? Will I learn so much about humans they disgust me? How can it be that we "humans" have lived together for so long? Will history repeat itself again? I question myself, my actions, my thoughts and emotions and wonder if others are thinking that same or can relate. I wonder if "Americans," meaning all persons living within America, realize if they over-use EVERYTHING!!!! So many questions, I feel lost now.

Through out history all evidence points to history repeating itself over and over again. It seems every-time we try something new we always end up in the same place. If you look around us now and a decade ago and a century ago, you see we are always in some sort of War depending on if it's Civil or International. We strive on grief it seems? As if it ignites this giant burner and sends an instant message of shock to every inch. We fight, become allies, then fight and become allies with another. Countries are not loyal. If you were not able to fight you were essentially just captured and taken over. If you look at origins of people, you see not many people only come from one place. Over all these millions of years people have traveled, conquered or were extinct, repeatedly. They never learn. We never learn. We let the same thing happen all the time. " I'm not going to do this." Yet the next day you catch yourself eating that bag of Hot Cheetos again. It's never ending and I believe it will be so forever more. We have made it this far together, why not end on a good note and STOP all this violence. We have created a bad habit, one which is not easily broken. "It's better to learn a good habit first then to ever have to learn how to replace your bad habit with a good one." (-unknown) I just worry, science is so intense these days, I just see us blowing each other up and it's scary to think. One day your laughing the next your gone, puts your head through the wringer. We must truly strive to understand one another and realize history is repeating itself again.

In today's society I believe most people are different. There is so much diversity in the World. We may all be 99.9% the same but, our belief systems range from a ultimate high to an extremely low. We may be thinking similarly but about opposite ideas. I just question myself and what I do and compare it to another. I like to see how we add up. A lot of others are very similar to me. In high school, life is "pretty rough." (joking) In reality it's difficult, at least socially. Others students throughout the school and I have began expressing our feeling to each other. How can we think such similar things and not be friends. We talk about judgement. People lay this upon of grounds so hard at RFHS it seem. Not necessarily with stereotypes but in cliques. It's interesting to begin to understand the brain of a teenager as well as of a young adult. I hope to learn more as my life continues.

As for the future, I assume can wait, "I mean it is the future." No one knows! We all can dream though, and hope. Stay positive and look in the past to help us create a future. Know our faults and accomplishments and learn to hold ourselves with pride. I believe the future holds great things for humans, it's just a matter of surviving other humans to reach the ultimate prize. It's funny how we have to beat ourselves. We are all 99.9% the same. Maybe that's it?! Humans around the World do not realize this. Perhaps they are so blind to judgement and stereotypes that they are unable to see what is right in front of there faces. We need to just learn we are not so different after all.

Reflection

Im finding alot of interesting details to just think about through everyday. I beleive that humans should all care for one another. We all have different background and different lives. Yet we all think alike. Im just confused by why we think we can treat eachother the way we do. We find pleasure in making fun of others cultures, worlds and lives in general. Anything that is different about yourself we find faults in. I feel like im leaping above others in this area. I really am trying to accept others for who they are and understand that even though we are all different we are all 99.9% the same. I feel we all need to know this and I will jam this into your minds every single blog. Just know that your making the mistake. That's all I can ask you to do is try. Realize that your making the mistake and attempt to fix it. I beleive we all need to understand our mistakes, be able to admit them and then begin caring for others besides our self. This is how our cultural problems can be fixed.

Another Reason.... GeOgRpHiCaL lUcK

I began thinking of "Geographical Luck!" I've recently finished a long and tedious book for my CU World History Class. Though I was stoked for the class, I knew that this book would shoot me in the brain. As I began reading this term popped up almost immediatly and I became intrigued. I began thinking about the studies of culture and how the climate and geography of a place is a huge deal with our World today. This book is called Guns, Germs and Steel, and was written by a man named Jared Diamond. Diamond's theory is that intelligence was never the key but that it was a series of events involving, climate, domestication and people. I began to wonder about some of the areas similarities and differences. We all come from such different backgrounds, all from different beliefs, all from different families. Yet we are still as I told you before 99.9% the same. We all have that same emotions and feelings. The thing that sets humans apart is the fact that we are all different. Heritage sets us apart. Lives change everyday, in the tropics, one doesnt know if you could catch malaria. meanwhile back here in America we have to worry about catching a cold. I was thinking about the economical differences, and how Americans have so little to worry about but we complain about so much. While on the other hand students and elders from third world countries live life with passion and hope and love it even though they are left with the worst.

Guns, Germs and Steel focuses on the geographical era. We know that areas throughout the world are of enviornmental differences. Some areas with tropical climates are unable to support animal and plant domestication. Meanwhile others such as Europe have thrived in domestication. Europe has thrived at conquering the planet. From the America's to the Australian area conquestidors full of hunger for power and thirst for more sent Europe of the wall conquering every land that came into view. Though the more "conquesting" peoples had intelligance, I found out that by using Guns, Germs and Steel these now 3rd world countries will remain third world countries not because of money although money is a big issue but because the differences in the geography not the economy.

If Everyone Cared...

"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Whoopi Goldberg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IUSZyjiYuY

If Everyone Cared
From underneath the trees, we watch the sky
Confusing stars for satellites
I never dreamed that you'd be mine
But here we are, we're here tonight

Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive

[Chorus:]
If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died

And I'm singing

Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive
Amen I, Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive

And in the air the fireflies
Our only light in paradise
We'll show the world they were wrong
And teach them all to sing along

Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
(I'm alive)

[Chorus x2]

And as we lie beneath the stars
We realize how small we are
If they could love like you and me
Imagine what the world could be

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died
When nobody died...

[Chorus]

We'd see the day, we'd see the day
When nobody died
We'd see the day, we'd see the day
When nobody died
We'd see the day when nobody died
*NICKELBACK*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_Everyone_Cared

Ugh, this video is riveting! I love it and i'm not going to lie, I cried!
Its about picturing the World as a more perfect place, where everyone would join together. This music video and lyrics happens to show precisely what I've began to say in my article. It shows a little bit of history in America and throughout the world that people really can make a difference. I just guess I do not see the difference between me and another or slightly any difference. We all judge, we all stereotype and we all spend days of our lives contemplating life! We share so much. This video shows several famous prejudicial advocates, people who spent their lives trying to better the world and it's life forms among it.This song just shoots bolt through my body and I really believe that with excepting love and life we can all see a day where no one was to die.

"FREE YOUR HEART FROM HATE, FREE YOUR MIND FROM WORRIES....
GIVE MORE, EXPECT LESS
live simply...."
*Uncle Willard*

This song and post contributes to my topic because, I believe that Nickelback is a very culture friendly group. They believe in World Peace which was ultimately my biggest issue, is that we all judge , fight and hate so much we are left with hardly any love. Through out our World we see discrimination and hate on anything that can be. Such as history, economy, politics, media and other forms communications, theories, religion, art, philosophy, anthropology, prejudices, and ideals. Any one person can hate upon anything but , its only because they hate themselves, in a way. This is why love and acceptance is the only way to achieve WORLD PEACE!

InTeR-cUlTuRaL MiXeR

My article for the RAM RAMPAGE.... Roaring Fork High School student newspaper
not required
Twenty-five students from Roaring Fork High School, minds full of knowledge but ignorance seeping from the seams, ventured into the Carbondale Lappala Center. They met to discuss some of the differences among teenagers today. The students openly and truthfully shared their opinions and listened to the opinions of others about today's society. They spent two days, one getting to know each other under the skin, and the second deepening what they had discovered. A women the students were introduced to was Dee. She was polite, sensitive and just an amazing speaker and listener. She led the two-day Inter-cultural Mix training with passion and dignity, always reminding the students that humans are all 99.9% that same.
The first day was spent sharing stories of the students' heritages, acting out a few skits and participating in several fun, interesting activities to begin to take a look at each other right beneath the skin. Several high schoolers began telling their family stories on a map and outlining where they came from. By the end of this activity several parts of the world map looked liked an ant farm, with lines going wild like those of the tiny ants' tunnels, if one can imagine. The students were baffled by all the ingredients of the "American Stew" and began blurting out comments like, "Whoa, you're from!?" or, "I had no idea!" One student in particular, of half Anglo and half Hispanic descent, was Alex Rascon. His light skin always faulted others into thinking something different than the truth. Students began to finally see how similar we all really are.
They began discussing the major "isms" in our world today such as classism, racism, sexism, religious worship, and heterosexuality vs. homosexuality, ageism, and a few other minor issues. They spoke about what they see in everyday life but mainly what they see in Roaring Fork High School and what they felt needed to change.
"Flash judge" is another activity the students engaged in. In this activity a series of photos of everyday kids and teens were shown on a screen for several seconds. The students were to judge whether or not they would: befriend them, acknowledge them or ignore them depending on their looks. The majority of students decided on ignoring most everyone. The second part to this activity was a second look at the students being flash judged. Every single student on the film was a straight A scholar interested in something productive and achieving their goals. This activity left the students not only questioning how they felt they needed to change and open their own minds to a new way looking at others, but also what were ways to show the rest of the student body we are all 99.9% the same. It was a day for student questioning, telling and answering, but mostly a day for peer-bonding.
The second day was as if someone had saved a sinking ship. The students, teachers and other affiliated members began to wander further into the minds of teens and people in our world. They continued discussions on the "isms," and what they had witnessed in school and the community. Discussions were led to deepen the students’ knowledge of their peers. Instead of questioning activities that barely touch inside, the students were asked to answer questions involving their beliefs. This is where the boat slowly started sinking.
The students all shared openly and listened to each others comments with ease until they realized not everyone believes the same thing. We are all so different, how can we be 99.9% the same? Several heated, though not steaming arguments, aroused among the little fishing boats but with the help of elder ships, the students safely and properly made it to land through their differences. It was by the end of the second day when the minds which were bursting with questions and comments were know tired and ready to venture into the outside world. Where they will strive to pay attention to their judgments and solve how to overcome their prejudices.
The Inter-cultural group have met several times since the two-day training to discuss and share what they feel is the best way to train the school with their new light. Friday is the one day a week the students are unable to "jump" reach classes. During this period, the inter-cultural students will be attending a classroom within the school to teach or show a fun activity to the students. These activities will incorporate prejudices, heritages and making it apparent that we are all 99.9% the same. The students have hope this will end up being an all year, school-wide "thing."

I believe these students will make a difference. I believe this is a way for the students to share, know and learn from one another. I know that the issues among the students occurs not only in this small, yet, growing valley but occur everywhere we humans, are present. Some say is human nature, I believe we can control the way we look at others and accept them for who they are. All it takes is a little understanding, we do this everyday among friends, why not take a few minutes out of your "busy" life and talk to someone you normally do-not. You never know when destinies can collide. As the great Forrest Gump once said, "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get." This statement is the truth we know nothing of our futures, all we know is what we know and our pasts. Should'nt we all just forget about the past and contemplate about our future, "free our hearts from hate, free our minds from worries, give more , expect less and just live simply?" My dear Uncle Willard told me this one morning, which made me think about my article and what we students want to fulfill. Some students believe this Inter-cultural group will have no effect on the students of Roaring Fork High School, I believe these students are just blinded by the their own faults. These are the type of people who judge not by the person inside but by whats on the outside. Others, like myself know we have faults and have realized that judging one by their looks, sex, materialistic possesions, age, religion anything against just the way the person is on the inside is wrong. We may still do it, but we think about the affect and receive guilt when we judge. I know I think about it all the time.

It is never too late to give up our prejudices.

Henry David Thoreau, 'Economy,' Walden, 1854
US Transcendentalist author (1817 - 1862)

I recieved this quote as motivational quote. I found it very inspiring. Give them up, in the long run they will only hurt you. People are 99.9% the same. The only difference is on the outside and truthfully what does the outside really matter. I judge, you judge, EVERYONE judges. It's like it's human nature. I have vowed this year to attempt my dearest to let go of my prejudices. To know and feel good about myself to the point where I need not to make fun or bully others. To feel this would be pure bliss. We all know we steriotype becuase of our own problems, fears and issues. What we need to realize is that the person next to you is in just the same amount of pain or boat you are. People are all 99.9% that same!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BLl72bmCVq0


I really like this video... I hope you do too... I myself was very steriotypical over the "emo" reputatuion and judged what I thought about it with out knowing the truth. We all are ignorant to a certain extent, none of us are perfect. We all struggle through the same things, that's life. Maybe in a different way but we do. This video shows not only my thought on steriotypical "Emo" heads is inncorrect but shows other steriotypes as well. It gives out a good message for the audience, that prejudice is wrong, hurtful and you can never judge a book by it's cover.

Link to Cultural Studies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_studies

I really like Wikipedia because it gives you a definition of each of the terms that I will be blogging about. It's very accruate. I think when reading my blogs this site will help the reader (YOU) have the option of clicking back and forth if you don't know what a subterm means with in my big issue. I like it because it gives you little summary of the the history and veiws of others, references, present vs history, and other external links.... ENJOY!

What you may find...Why you'll find it...

This is my first blog, these blogs will bring up very passionate topics to myself and to other's throughout our very dissimilar yet similar World. Remember these topics will be very broad but each blog will relate to one another. Also Cultural Studies will be well researched but will have some ignorance for I am not genius but merely a teenager.I love speaking and discussing about these issues and hope you do as well.

The topics will include questioning our World's civilizations and the issues concerning and bettering our World. This will inhabit a bit of several subjects, such as history, economy, politics, media and other forms communications, theories, religion, art, philosophy, pshychology, anthropology, prejudices, and ideals.I find this a fascinating and most important issue in our World. I believe that this topic and all subtopics are what cause the majority of our greater Worldly problem ed situations and questions. If we can not, as a group learn to understand and except each other for who we all are we will never succeed "World Peace." These issues, questions, comments and opinions need to be released. We need to speak about them and here is something that will give us a little help.