Yeah sorry. The Rick Perry and Ugly Sweater post is supposed to be the work of a seperate week.
These small not real posts are to fill the week void my large post took care of. Have some music.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
omg dis is my favorite song evaa
My post about Craigslist was over 1200 words, or equal to 3 blog posts. I promise you I put as much effort into it as I would with three posts. I'm just going to post two videos so that I have the proper number of posts.
I like Coldplay.
Blast from ze past.
I don't really like Rick Perry, but he isn't as offensive as you think he is.
This is the controversial advertisement but republican candidate Rick Perry. Perry is the current governor of Texas and is known well for his openness about his faith and has recently been under some fire for a comment made in his recent commercial, Strong. The ad was intended just for Iowans, but was caught by the national media when it began to stir controversy. This commercial plays at least three times while I watch KCRG channel 9 news in the morning before school. Each time, I'm put off a little by a comment he makes...
"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian, but you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school."
The obvious controversy is started over Perry's belief that there is "something wrong when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school." Perry doesn't try to hide his opinion with learned words, or even try to imply it. He outright says it in plain, moderately casual speech so that every American watching his commercial knows what his stance is. The video currently has 21,433 likes, but this is crushed by the 670,123 dislikes. All of these dislikes came from people hearing the word wrong in conjunction with "gays can serve openly in the military".
First, let me say that I believe Rick Perry does see something wrong with gays serving openly in the military. Play the clip over again when he says the phrase and listen to the way he speaks. There is a slight hint of loathing in his voice when he addresses the fact that this is allowed. You can infer from Perry's conservative political views and religious stance (openly very religious people are more often than not un-supportive of gay lifestyles) that he probably does not support gays serving openly in the military. If that offends you, you have a legitimate reason to dislike him. The way he says "gays can serve openly in the military" can qualify you to dislike him, and you don't have to vote for him.
However, that isn't exactly what Perry was trying to say in this ad. He isn't commenting that its wrong for gays to serve openly in the military, he was commenting that its wrong for gays to have to freedom to serve openly in the military but students are not allowed to freedom to celebrate a religious holiday in public schools. Do you see the difference? He is trying to compare the two, saying that if we allow such freedoms in one institution, why not the other? That is the argument he is trying to bring to light. Perry's Strong commercial is supposed to spread his message of "making America strong with faith". While I personally take very liberal political views, and don't agree with Perry's opinions, its important to understand the arguments made by other politicians. If you are going to argue your point on why you don't like Rick Perry, you need to understand what he is really trying to say. Because gay marriage and rights are a hot topic right now, making any sort of comment about gays in a negative way will bring any politician under fire, and surely Perry will lose some potential voters because of the misinterpretation of this advertisement.
"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian, but you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school."
The obvious controversy is started over Perry's belief that there is "something wrong when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school." Perry doesn't try to hide his opinion with learned words, or even try to imply it. He outright says it in plain, moderately casual speech so that every American watching his commercial knows what his stance is. The video currently has 21,433 likes, but this is crushed by the 670,123 dislikes. All of these dislikes came from people hearing the word wrong in conjunction with "gays can serve openly in the military".
First, let me say that I believe Rick Perry does see something wrong with gays serving openly in the military. Play the clip over again when he says the phrase and listen to the way he speaks. There is a slight hint of loathing in his voice when he addresses the fact that this is allowed. You can infer from Perry's conservative political views and religious stance (openly very religious people are more often than not un-supportive of gay lifestyles) that he probably does not support gays serving openly in the military. If that offends you, you have a legitimate reason to dislike him. The way he says "gays can serve openly in the military" can qualify you to dislike him, and you don't have to vote for him.
However, that isn't exactly what Perry was trying to say in this ad. He isn't commenting that its wrong for gays to serve openly in the military, he was commenting that its wrong for gays to have to freedom to serve openly in the military but students are not allowed to freedom to celebrate a religious holiday in public schools. Do you see the difference? He is trying to compare the two, saying that if we allow such freedoms in one institution, why not the other? That is the argument he is trying to bring to light. Perry's Strong commercial is supposed to spread his message of "making America strong with faith". While I personally take very liberal political views, and don't agree with Perry's opinions, its important to understand the arguments made by other politicians. If you are going to argue your point on why you don't like Rick Perry, you need to understand what he is really trying to say. Because gay marriage and rights are a hot topic right now, making any sort of comment about gays in a negative way will bring any politician under fire, and surely Perry will lose some potential voters because of the misinterpretation of this advertisement.
Ugly Sweaters
As the Holidays are soon approaching, the time to don our gay apparel is now! And what better way than with the ugly sweater, which is almost as traditional as eggnog and tinsel. Common in this time of cheer is the "ugly sweater party" which fosters a competitive environment of who can find the most hideous sweater. Most ugly sweaters are acquired either from older relatives or from thrift shopping at stores like Goodwill and The Salvation Army.
Qualities of a good "ugly sweater"
Pattern:
There are essentially two types of ugly sweaters, sweaters with abstract patterns in awkward clashing colors and sweaters typically associated with your grandma, usually donning cats, dogs, Santa Claus, reindeer, snowmen, snowflakes, angels or messeges of love like "its snow wonder I love my grandkids!" (yes, I have a sweater from Goodwill that says this. Grandma sweaters are more appropriate for the holidays, while your abstract patterned sweater is good for any time of year you want to feel like a hipster. (although, grandma sweaters are pretty hip too, when worn properly).
Fit:
Although your sweater might be awkward, it shouldn't fit you awkwardly. You will pull look and master the art of the ugly sweater if you choose your sweater carefully, fitting you right will bring more attention to the pattern and less to how your shape is engulfed by this massive clothing item. This rule may be broken if the sweater is exceptionally ugly, and must be displayed regardless of how it fits you.
How to find the right ugly sweater
Secondhand stores like Goodwill and The Salvation Army are a haven for these outcast sweaters. At one time, they may have been a fashionable thing to wear. I was born in 1994, so I don't know if the world was at one time populated with holiday cheer and crocheted love in the form of the sweater. These sweaters were given new life when the ugly sweater became a symbol for ironic cool when the ugly sweater party was invented and hipster culture began to spread. The stock of high quality ugly sweaters runs low when you approach the holidays, as these parties tend to occur more often in the winter months. The solution: stock up in the spring and summer, when the sweater section is barely touched. Then, you can get your holiday shopping done early.
Qualities of a good "ugly sweater"
Pattern:
There are essentially two types of ugly sweaters, sweaters with abstract patterns in awkward clashing colors and sweaters typically associated with your grandma, usually donning cats, dogs, Santa Claus, reindeer, snowmen, snowflakes, angels or messeges of love like "its snow wonder I love my grandkids!" (yes, I have a sweater from Goodwill that says this. Grandma sweaters are more appropriate for the holidays, while your abstract patterned sweater is good for any time of year you want to feel like a hipster. (although, grandma sweaters are pretty hip too, when worn properly).
Fit:
Although your sweater might be awkward, it shouldn't fit you awkwardly. You will pull look and master the art of the ugly sweater if you choose your sweater carefully, fitting you right will bring more attention to the pattern and less to how your shape is engulfed by this massive clothing item. This rule may be broken if the sweater is exceptionally ugly, and must be displayed regardless of how it fits you.
How to find the right ugly sweater
Secondhand stores like Goodwill and The Salvation Army are a haven for these outcast sweaters. At one time, they may have been a fashionable thing to wear. I was born in 1994, so I don't know if the world was at one time populated with holiday cheer and crocheted love in the form of the sweater. These sweaters were given new life when the ugly sweater became a symbol for ironic cool when the ugly sweater party was invented and hipster culture began to spread. The stock of high quality ugly sweaters runs low when you approach the holidays, as these parties tend to occur more often in the winter months. The solution: stock up in the spring and summer, when the sweater section is barely touched. Then, you can get your holiday shopping done early.
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| This is what heaven is like. |
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Craigslist 'Missed Encounters' make me scared of the general public.
Craglist is a website that reeks of desperation and is a reflection of how unintelligent some human beings really can be. I first heard of it when I was watching an ABC news report on an undercover prostitution sting using Craigslist to bait criminals. (I watch a lot of TV, okay?) This kind of gave me a set opinion about what kind of website Craigslist is like. I was waaaaaaaay too sketched out to actually look it up for fear of somehow being arrested.
The other night I was watching American Dad, and the show mentioned a section of craigslist called "missed encounters." I had never heard of it before, but the description given on the show made it sound like someone would post if they met someone in public and then wanted to somehow gain contact with them again. It seemed desperate sounding at first, and overly optimistic that the person who you are trying to contact with will actually read it. And then, if the person isn't completely disturbed, you would be lucky if they even bothered to reply. The creator of this section of Craigslist probably envisioned a romantic side of it, someone seeing the love of their life and trying to pursue them and get their attention, only to miss them slightly. With no way to contact them, they write an entry into the "missed encounters" section and hope somehow they will find the one they were looking for. I mustered up the courage to open up Craigslist, which itself is very sketchy looking. The entire site is void of any kind of color scheme or design, all you see is a page full of links.
While "missed encounters" does serve this purpose, the actual results are both creepy and hilarious.
ASSUMPTIONS
The author could potentially be a normal guy, someone who would choose a coffee shop for lunch as opposed to some sort of fast food restaurant. Of course, this is just me speculating and trying to interpret every possible emotion in these strange messeges. Obviously he isn't a normal person in the first place if he was too afraid to talk to this poor woman and instead preferred summoning her online.
WHERE IT TURNS CREEPY
Although this post ranks mild on the creepy scale, some of the language used would put me off if I was the lady in question and came across this post. "...but a didn't see a ring." Its normal to be curious and maybe take a glance at the woman's finger to see her marital status, but making a comment about it is strange behavior. Something about the way he mentions them "locking eyes" makes me think he is some sort of strange hopeless romantic.
PERCENT CONNECTED WITH REALITY
50%
Aside from the deduction for even using the "missed encounters" section of craigslist, the writer is at least aware that the woman probably doesn't frequent craigslist. He ends with "worth a shot.". You can hear the sadness in his voice when he admits defeat with this line.
ASSUMPTIONS
Desperation. This guy was driving down the street and decided that the pedestrian he passed would be an ideal mate, as opposed to trying to contact someone he was actually within earshot of.
WHERE IT TURNS CREEPY
The whole thing is creepy. This is a prime example of what is disturbing about 'missed encounters', you can just express your feelings for complete strangers. The internet is full of weird things like this, but a mainstream website like Craigslist really brings attention to how scary some people in society are. You could be walking down the street and without knowing it some stranger could write an ode to their love for you.
PERCENT CONNECTED WITH REALITY
20%
He tries to identify the woman with slightly more specific details about her than the previous post. This guy obviously has to be a little lost if he thinks this woman walking down the street would be appealed by knowing some guy driving by while she was walking wrote this all about her. Basically, everything posted on this website gives you a whiff of what delusion must truly be like, living in a world where you can choose your partner of the street either out of complete ignorance that she knows you exists or desperation to such a degree that everyone you encounter (or see in the rear view mirror of your '98 Ford Taurus)
ASSUMPTIONS
Oh, good lord. This is the post I originally encountered that inspired my desire to write about this topic for my AP Lang blog. This kind of mortifying stupidity makes me scared of the general public. Somewhere, not too far away (unfortunately) the person who constructed this post is walking the earth, leaving ambiguous missed encounters that tell you everything about the poster without any details about them written. This person is somewhere else, man.
WHERE IT TURNS CREEPY
It never turned creepy. It was born this way. Lets break it down now:
"you were with your kid."
To analyze this to death and then (is beating the dead horse an acceptable idiom?) beating the dead horse by trying to convince you its even creepier than you thought before, the image that plays in my mind is some poor , disturbed gentlemen glaring from afar at some unfortunate woman with her child, unaware this predator is lurking in the background.
"..so I didn't introduce myself..."
The composer lacks the social skills to go up to the (unfortunate)person he is interested in and introduce himself like how a functional member of society should do. Instead, he chose to just linger and watch the woman get a good old-fashioned American meal for her and her child and then express his interest for her on Craigslist.
"...if your single email me."
Well first, the improper use of "your" is a pet peeve of mine, so some lack of formal education of the composer is implied. What is missing from this desperate and completely unlikely to be successful attempt at contacting this woman is an actual description of her beyond she was "with her kid". The odds of the composer coming in contact with the woman are slim to none. First, in the unlikelihood that some woman would be intrigued by this post and reply, the chance still remains that it isn't the woman he is looking for, as the only qualifying characteristic is that they were with their kid at this McDonalds at an unspecified time. Then again, I'm sure any reply to this is good enough for the composer. McDonalds is the place to pick up chicks, ya know.
PERCENT CONNECTED WITH REALITY
None.
The other night I was watching American Dad, and the show mentioned a section of craigslist called "missed encounters." I had never heard of it before, but the description given on the show made it sound like someone would post if they met someone in public and then wanted to somehow gain contact with them again. It seemed desperate sounding at first, and overly optimistic that the person who you are trying to contact with will actually read it. And then, if the person isn't completely disturbed, you would be lucky if they even bothered to reply. The creator of this section of Craigslist probably envisioned a romantic side of it, someone seeing the love of their life and trying to pursue them and get their attention, only to miss them slightly. With no way to contact them, they write an entry into the "missed encounters" section and hope somehow they will find the one they were looking for. I mustered up the courage to open up Craigslist, which itself is very sketchy looking. The entire site is void of any kind of color scheme or design, all you see is a page full of links.
While "missed encounters" does serve this purpose, the actual results are both creepy and hilarious.
ASSUMPTIONS
The author could potentially be a normal guy, someone who would choose a coffee shop for lunch as opposed to some sort of fast food restaurant. Of course, this is just me speculating and trying to interpret every possible emotion in these strange messeges. Obviously he isn't a normal person in the first place if he was too afraid to talk to this poor woman and instead preferred summoning her online.
WHERE IT TURNS CREEPY
Although this post ranks mild on the creepy scale, some of the language used would put me off if I was the lady in question and came across this post. "...but a didn't see a ring." Its normal to be curious and maybe take a glance at the woman's finger to see her marital status, but making a comment about it is strange behavior. Something about the way he mentions them "locking eyes" makes me think he is some sort of strange hopeless romantic.
PERCENT CONNECTED WITH REALITY
50%
Aside from the deduction for even using the "missed encounters" section of craigslist, the writer is at least aware that the woman probably doesn't frequent craigslist. He ends with "worth a shot.". You can hear the sadness in his voice when he admits defeat with this line.
ASSUMPTIONS
Desperation. This guy was driving down the street and decided that the pedestrian he passed would be an ideal mate, as opposed to trying to contact someone he was actually within earshot of.
WHERE IT TURNS CREEPY
The whole thing is creepy. This is a prime example of what is disturbing about 'missed encounters', you can just express your feelings for complete strangers. The internet is full of weird things like this, but a mainstream website like Craigslist really brings attention to how scary some people in society are. You could be walking down the street and without knowing it some stranger could write an ode to their love for you.
PERCENT CONNECTED WITH REALITY
20%
He tries to identify the woman with slightly more specific details about her than the previous post. This guy obviously has to be a little lost if he thinks this woman walking down the street would be appealed by knowing some guy driving by while she was walking wrote this all about her. Basically, everything posted on this website gives you a whiff of what delusion must truly be like, living in a world where you can choose your partner of the street either out of complete ignorance that she knows you exists or desperation to such a degree that everyone you encounter (or see in the rear view mirror of your '98 Ford Taurus)
ASSUMPTIONS
Oh, good lord. This is the post I originally encountered that inspired my desire to write about this topic for my AP Lang blog. This kind of mortifying stupidity makes me scared of the general public. Somewhere, not too far away (unfortunately) the person who constructed this post is walking the earth, leaving ambiguous missed encounters that tell you everything about the poster without any details about them written. This person is somewhere else, man.
WHERE IT TURNS CREEPY
It never turned creepy. It was born this way. Lets break it down now:
"you were with your kid."
To analyze this to death and then (is beating the dead horse an acceptable idiom?) beating the dead horse by trying to convince you its even creepier than you thought before, the image that plays in my mind is some poor , disturbed gentlemen glaring from afar at some unfortunate woman with her child, unaware this predator is lurking in the background.
"..so I didn't introduce myself..."
The composer lacks the social skills to go up to the (unfortunate)person he is interested in and introduce himself like how a functional member of society should do. Instead, he chose to just linger and watch the woman get a good old-fashioned American meal for her and her child and then express his interest for her on Craigslist.
"...if your single email me."
Well first, the improper use of "your" is a pet peeve of mine, so some lack of formal education of the composer is implied. What is missing from this desperate and completely unlikely to be successful attempt at contacting this woman is an actual description of her beyond she was "with her kid". The odds of the composer coming in contact with the woman are slim to none. First, in the unlikelihood that some woman would be intrigued by this post and reply, the chance still remains that it isn't the woman he is looking for, as the only qualifying characteristic is that they were with their kid at this McDonalds at an unspecified time. Then again, I'm sure any reply to this is good enough for the composer. McDonalds is the place to pick up chicks, ya know.
PERCENT CONNECTED WITH REALITY
None.
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