Reading List

I have read 3 books, an equivalent of 5 books.

-Camelot, 145 pgs (3 books)

-The Great Gatsby, 180 pgs (1 book)

-If I Stay, 272 pgs (1 book)

I enjoyed reading Camelot because it has a great plot with some small bit of historical accuracy buried somewhere deep within the faeries, witches, and incest. The book tells the story of King Arthur, and obviously Camelot, of the rise and fall of the system of chivalry thought up bravely by King Arthur. This book was very interesting, because it combines all of the great elements of a comedy, a tragedy, and drama all in one play.

Consumerism Quote

There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.

-G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

This quote speaks volumes about the solution to our main problem. Our mindset. We as consumers, will never solve our problems of over-consumption without spending ourselves dry, unless we train ourselves to want less. This quote is from many years ago, and it's obvious that the idea of reducing our consumption is going to improve our lifestyles. And this was written even before the big problem of overconsumption that we know today came out.

This quote has hit me very well, and it's kind of like a duh moment. This quote seems totally profound, yet when looked at in its simplest concepts, it is one of the most obvious, yet most overlooked things in our society.

www.walmart.com

This advertising slogan, by Walmart, "Save money, live better," was Walmart's strategy to reach out to customers during the recession. Walmart used this new slogan to tell customers that they are looking out for their basic needs, they realize that money is tight, and they want customers to know that they can, for the best price, give customers the best value on the best products to get them through this recession.

This strategy is using a lot of pathos, they are appealing to the desire of consumers to have a solution, to have something that will make them happy, and will come at a price they can afford in this time of recession.

I react well to this advertising technique used by Walmart, they are not giving out false information, they really do have great prices, and with all of the different items in their stores, there must be something that would make someone's life easier. Whose to say that I can't find something in there that will make my life easier, and help me "live better."

What a Tangled Web We Weave

The article Learning to Lie on New York News and Features makes some really compelling points in research about reasons why kids are drawn to lying, and examples that they are actually following to develop these habits.

The article goes over the basic childhood time line of lying. The child starts out young, and avoids punishment by lying about their actions, then it progresses to white-lies, which the article points out were actually initiated through parent's examples and encouragement. When a parent tells a child to put on a happy face and act like they love a present at Christmas that they really hate, that is lying. Yes, the lie may make someone feel better, but it is still a lie.

When parents encourage children to lie, they are setting them up for a life of dishonesty. The question that must be answered is: where does the line need to be drawn? Obviously we don't want kids getting gifts and screaming their outrage and hate over them, but at the same time, we don't want them lying about bigger things, like matters of safety and morality.

So the question posed by the article is: Where do children get hooked on lying? Well, lying is a stage that most children go through at some point in childhood, but they usually grow out of it through socialization. However, if they find lying works for them, or that they see others around them doing it, and succeeding, they will continue. Telling a telemarketer you don't speak English is lying. Cheating on taxes is lying. Lying is lying, plain and simple. Don't try to sugar coat something that is plain and simple as day. Children learn by example, and while things aren't always the parents fault, there is the possibility that detrimental behaviors learned by children didn't just pop out of nowhere, they started closer to home than we may think.

I Had a Great Fall

I got on my bike, my mind prepared for the task at hand, my fingers clenched around the handlebars, my teeth clenched, my body totally ready. I was ready to peddle my bike; I had to make it over the ramp; I had to get to the other side. My task, getting over the ramp, seemed simple enough. I had to get up the ramp, over the top, down the side, and back to the ground, safely in one piece. I began the to pedal my bike over to the ramp. Simple enough...right? As I climbed further up the ramp and as I began to reach the top I began to become scared as I began to fall. My fall was terrible in appearance, yet the pain was little. On my hand, blood I saw spreading. Why did I feel no pain? I began to walk inside, and walked, and tripped, and found, and spoke to, my mom. Her view of my wound and her awe at the grotesqueness and my lack of panic, moved her to slowly but surely clean and bandage my wound, patting me on the back for my bravery.

Why Do We Find Joy in Pain?

We have all seen America's Funniest Videos or watched funny videos of people doing stupid things, and ending up hurting themselves, sometimes very seriously. The very sentence I just wrote conveys my point exactly. We find these videos funny. Why?

In this video, "Scarlet Takes a Tumble," we see a woman, who decides to climb up onto a structurally unsound table, and proceed to dance and move her body in motions that do not equally distribute her weight along all support structures of the table. Scarlet proceeds to dance, proceeds to sing, proceeds to fall, as the table flies out from under her when she unfortunately walks too far forward, thereby unevenly distributing her weight to the front part of the table, causing said tumble.

Just while typing this description of this video, I am struggling to contain my laughter. But why? Why do we laugh at the pain of others? Why does the pain of others seem to amuse us to no end? When we see others, such as Scarlet, in unfortunate situations of unexpected pain and trauma, a number of things go through our minds. First off, humans have the innate, and not always becoming trait of finding cruel humor amusing. Secondly, and primarily, we have the urge to laugh at others pain because when we see someone else in an unfortunate situation, we have the "funny feeling" of relief that we are not in that situation. We are looking at Scarlet take her "tumble" and we say to ourselves "Wow... Glad that wasn't me." We then proceed to laugh because we know that she is alright, or the video wouldn't be online, and also because we have something that we are able to look at and be grateful we aren't in that persons shoes.

Three Books I would like to Read

I would like to read 19 Minutes, because Natasha and others have recommended this book to me and I heard it was really well written. I would also like to read The Red Tent, recommended to me by Ms. Weygandt, about Joseph's sister who was little mentioned in the Bible. Lastly, I want to read Among the Hidden, also recommended to me by Ms. Weygandt. I trust her recommendations because she has recommended me some very good books to read in the past.