McCandless Project

  For my McCandless project, I dyed my hair pink. Yes, you heard me, pink. Over all I thought I had some very good reactions. In fact, I was surprised by the amount of positivity I was received by. Some people were a little alarmed when they saw me for the first time, it was like they were taken aback about my decision! Of course, they calmed down once I told them it was only temporary but I don't feel that it is their right to police my choices; it is my hair and I will do what I want. I cannot count the amount of compliments I received. People loved what I did to my hair! During my experiment, I felt confident and proud because I had defied the social norm, and I had done it well. I'm the type of person that doesn't give a second thought about others opinions about me and that is why I loved this project, it was so easy! All that was required was for me to finally have an excuse to do something that I've wanted to do for a while now.  Part of it of course, was getting my mom to agree, which she did very quickly and was only worried by a potential mess in the bathroom. My dad was very impressed by how well the dye worked and wanted to know how I did the dye process, my grandparents reacted the same way. As the joker that he is, my Pops asked if he could dye his hair green the same way. Five minutes later Nana asked the same question. I was very well received among the older members of my family. As a result of this experiment, I feel as if I am free to break the social norm, it's my life and I will live it as I please.

Personal Quote Journal

      The quotation I chose is a line spoken by Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. It states that "Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast," (Austen, 47). It basically says that taking a modest view on one's achievements is misleading, as it's often that you are instead unsure of yourself or just fishing for compliments. This quote is representative of me and my beliefs because I conceive that one should always take pride in the work they have done. Not taking pride in your work and stating to yourself as well as others can diminish your confidence. Not showing the love that you have for the work done when in reality, this is the best work you have done is lying. It is still a lie even though it may be indirect, especially when you deny the quality of the work done. it's like when someone says that they have a horrible story just to get people to compliment you! I do not have to imagine what my life would be like if I lived by this quotation, because I already do. I always take pride in what I have done even if it is not my best work. People call me arrogant, but that is not always true. I take pride in what I do and there's a difference. Appreciating has been done is amazing for a person's confidence, it creates an aura of self assuredness and reliability. Since I believe in myself, others know that I am dependable to succeed in my work. I do not enjoy self-deprecation; it rattles the nerves and shakes the mind  making it near impossible to focus and prepare. As a general rule, I make sure that I look upon my future tasks with a critical eye and an open mind. As much as I enjoy having confidence, there is a time and a place for everything. It is your job to decide when those times are.

Churches

Churches

I've never been so frustrated in my life. This whole process was like giving a cat a bath. Even driving away from the last church we had visited, it seemed like the building itself was mocking us. In fact, if it wasn't for Jonah, I think I might've exploded.

"Hey Alex,"

Jonah said gently putting his hand on my knee,

"It's ok, We'll get through this. I know how important this is to you, and I want you to be happy. These people don't know what they're giving up. I promise you, the next place we visit will say yes."

I sighed, knowing that he was right. It was just hard, especially after the reaction we got from the last church. I bitterly thought back on it.

We were standing in front of the big oak doors, they were so monstrously large that they made us look like midgets. They were carved with the image of Jesus Christ holding his hands out to his disciples on the day of the Last Supper. Somehow, I was nervous to enter the place that has given me refuge for my entire life. I looked over at Jonah, his chocolatey brown eyes glinted with determination as his golden hair blew in the wind like wheat in a field at sunset. Jonah stood fast in front of the doors with a quiet resolve that showed on his face. He seemed to be glowing from deep within, or maybe that was just me.
“It’s now or never,” I remarked, my voice shaking. “The worst thing they can say is no, right?”

I continued running my hand through my short hair, still not used to the feel of it. Apparently, my new haircut made me look more “respectable”. Jonah looked at me and smiled.

“You worry too much ‘Lex, they wouldn’t dare turn us away. It’s the twenty first century, we’re totally legal now. They can’t refuse us. This is New York!”

 His words did nothing to placate my concerns.

“That’s not true!” I cried, stumbling back from the doors as if magnetically repelled. “They can still say no!” I shouted, tears dripping down my face. “It can be for a different reason like if they don’t have a time that works for us, or if they only let certain types of couples get married there, or what if they don’t do weddings at all!”

I rambled and blubbered, tripping over my  own feet and falling onto my bottom. We had garnered all sorts of attention by now, people had stopped to watch us on the streets, cars slowed as they passed by and people had started to come out of the church, pushing open the large oak doors and emerging from the creamy white facade. I could feel my face burning as I hyperventilated on the church step. Jonah knelt down beside me, ever calm, ever caring. he bent his head down and kissed away my tears. He whispered encouragements into my ear and helped me up so that we could walk to the car, away from this mess.

    “They better say yes,” I grumbled. “I’ve been through enough today,” I remarked and glared at the road. Jonah gave me a small half smile and looked at me through the corner of his eye.

“It doesn’t matter what they say ‘Lex, there are alway more places to go,” he suggested. “Who says we have to stay in Rochester, maybe we could go to Buffalo or even Albany. That’s where they signed the bill, right? We could get the governor of New York to marry us!”  He added with a sly grin playing on his lips.

“You know Jonah, this is why I love you,” I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

By now we had pulled into the parking lot of the next church. I took a deep breath and pushed open my car door, I was shaking.

“Y-You know, maybe we don’t have to get married in a church,” I quavered, “I know this really nice state park that has some pretty nice scen-”

That was as far as I got before Jonah cut me off with only a look. That same fierce determination shone in his eyes. At that moment, I knew he wasn’t going to rest until we had a church to get married in gosh darn it!

“You know,” he whispered, his lips brushing my ear and his hot breath tickling my skin, “I could go in and ask while you stay in the car, ‘Lex. If this makes you uncomfortable, then you don’t need to do this. I just know how important it is to you to get married in a church. I want to make you happy.”

“But will you tell them?” I asked.

“Tell them what?” was my answer, paired with a curious stare from brown eyes, glowing with love.

“That we’re gay,” I replied.

“Naw,” he said, kissing me softly of the lips. “That’s none of their business.”

 

 

The Message Behind Behind the Beautiful Forevers

    My choice summer reading book was Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. One of the many messages in this book is that there are different levels of poverty. Not all poor people are the same. There is no set mold for poor, and if there was, no one would fit.

    The Husains and Sunil are on different levels of poverty, as the Husains are richer than Sunil and more fortunate as well. Both the Husains and Sunil are in the garbage business. However, Sunil is a scavenger and a thief and the Husains own a garbage trading business. For instance, whenever Sunil is with Abdul Husain like on the last page, itis almost like Abdul is looking down on him. For a living, Sunil goes and walks around the airport digging through dumpsters for trash that’s “valuable” to trade and make a living. Who does he trade them to? Abdul. Even their housing is not equal. The Husains live in a nice hut with stone walls while Sunil is on the streets. All of this goes to show that even those in the same business are poor in different ways. Different jobs might have more or less money paid for doing it. Abdul Husain makes more money for his family than Sunil does for his, so the Husains have much better, nicer things than Sunil and his sister. This may not seem fair, but it’s life. Both families work equally as hard, but the Husains are just on the better end of the business than Sunil. The Husains in the beginning of the story can even afford to renovate their house. This is because their end of the business is more lucrative than Sunil’s even though Sunil works just as hard.

    Another group of people that are on different levels of poverty are Asha and Manju as compared to Fatima the One Leg. Fatima is widely scorned across the slum for her raucous behavior. She is a nuisance for slumlord Asha and her daughter Manju, a college student. When Fatima accuses the Husains of beating her after they get in a fight about the Husains’ because they were getting sand in her rice and “making too much noise,” Asha only sighs and shakes her head. Only out of courtesy does she offer the Husains to give Fatima a bribe to keep quiet.  Still set on revenge, Fatima dumps kerosene on herself and sets herself on fire. Both Asha and Manju are unbothered by this and very annoyed. Fatima is the exact opposite of Asha and Manju. While Fatima is a one legged prostitute married to a drunk, Asha works for several charities, is a member of an affluent political party, and is slowly making her way into the middle class. Manju might even become the slum’s first female college graduate! These women are as different as they come no only when it comes to their level of poverty, but how desperate for recognition they are as well.

    To conclude, there are different levels of poor. There is no poor mold and all poor people are different. Even in the same business or the same gender there are differences. When today’s society thinks of poor, people think living on the streets begging for change, while in reality, it’s so much more.

And Then There Were None Metacognitive Blog

In my first draft, I had some errors in word choice, I fixed them in my revisions. I also had an area in my part II where the flow of the paragraphs was off. I was told that it was a very abrupt and confusing subject change. The forms of support that helped me the most were the peer review and having an adult read it. This was specific to my current paper instead of towards past work. It was also more interactive. I think all of the forms of support should still be used, as they were all very helpful. I know that I have room to improve my flow of writing because my sentences are a little choppy sometimes.

Just Between Us

On Doctor-Patient Confidentiality and the First Amendment

 

  Picture this; you are a defense lawyer in a courtroom, and your client, a doctor, has been sued.  The doctor claims that he has the right of free speech, and should be allowed to talk about his patients whenever he'd like, but the lawsuit says otherwise.  According to the prosecutor, your client has violated the terms of doctor-patient confidentiality and owes him 500,000 dollars in damage. After a heated courtroom debate, the verdict is out.  It looks like Dr. Blabbermouth has to pay up, and fast!

 

  This situation is becoming more and more common across the country as more doctors rights are being infringed. From seemingly good to perfectly dreadful, new laws are being passed about what doctors are and aren't allowed to talk about. This brings up the question of what counts as speech that can be protected by the First Amendment.  Many people only count "speech" as advertising, protesting, or even casual conversation. The problem here is that not enough people count talking to a doctor as valid conversation, or "real speech".  This is their privacy at stake! There is nothing more important than keeping that strange lump on your chest a secret, right?  Wrong.

 

  Believe it or not, there is a higher law of the land than pinky swearing to keep a *eh hem* "large freckle" a secret, and it is called the Constitution of the United States of America.  Ever heard of it?  If not, then let me inform you that the Constitution is the highest form of law in the land to be obeyed above all else.  The Constitution protects our most basic rights, including life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness as well as freedom of speech.  Sound familiar? It should.  This is from the United States Declaration of Independence, or to non Americans, these are the words of enlightenment philosopher John Locke.  According to Locke, every human being is endowed with these unalienable rights since the moment we are born.  Who are you to take away our most basic of all basic rights?  That's it, no one.  No body can infringe upon our rights.  This country was founded upon the ideals of freedom; liberty and justice to all! To refuse this to any person would be Un-American.

 

To conclude, all forms of interpersonal communication counts as "speech", and all Americans no matter what their profession should be under the protection of the Constitution.  Remember this next time you are at the doctor's office or in a hospital and think of the most basic rights of all human beings and the highest law of the land.

 

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