Album/Track Review

For my track review, I decided to use a song my mom recommended to me. It's by George Michael and it's called "Praying for Time".

The song is from 1990, but the lyrics could easily be applied to 2012 and all the issues we're dealing with now. The fiscal cliff, recent shootings, the general unrest among society in America, etc. all relate to this song.

It would take forever to show all the comparisons so I'll just highlight a few that stood out to me:

The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But we'll take our chances
Because God's stopped keeping score

The first line says it all. The rich keep saying that they don't have enough money and want to get more by taking from those that really are poor. And with all the commercials saying that people need to give more and more, those that are just getting by (aka middle class citizens) start to feel like maybe they have too much compared to others around them. But most of society won't give anything because who's going to make society give anything?

And it's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of

These lyrics relate not just to America, but to the entire world. What's usually the first story on the news: a murder? Another terrible tragedy? Or someone doing something good for someone else? There's so many things wrong with the world that it's hard to find something that's right. It's become almost impossible to think that anything could get better when almost everything we see is just another issue that may never be solved.

I'll just leave a link here so you can listen to it yourself.

A Direction This Class Needs

So far in this class, the direction Mr. McCarthy has taken in teaching it has been spot on. It's not a class where you listen to lectures, take notes, and have a quiz on something you tried to memorize right before you walked into the classroom. It's an engaging and open discussion that doesn't involve busy work (i.e. answering questions out of a book that are obvious). It allows you to think for yourself.

I'm glad I didn't get World Lit as my English this year now because I'm sure it would not be engaging. After experiencing Scotese's Brit Lit class last year, I don't think I would've been able to deal with a class he teaches that's tougher. I'm not saying that I'm glad that Philosophy is easy because it's not. Instead of looking for answers in a book, I'm looking for answers within myself. Sounds easy, but sometimes I just can't seem to form an opinion. Everyone makes such great points that I honestly don't know how to add to a discussion sometimes. I would feel like I'm saying something obvious that doesn't make people think. Then again, the purpose of the class is to not try to one-up somebody else. But I at least want my comment to mean something.

Almost everything said in class makes me think. A prodding question, a legitimate argument, a different point of view, etc. It's so different from any other class I've had. Philosophy is not a place where different answers or opinions are trivialized. Everyone is on equal ground, no matter what. No one is completely wrong and no one is completely right. In this class, there are no bad or wrong answers. There are only opinions.

Frankl-y Speaking

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl has become one of the most interesting books I've read. There are many books out there that tell about the Holocaust, but the way Frankl tells his story is unique. Not only does he tell his personal story, he explains the emotions that all the prisoners faced while they were imprisoned in the concentration camps.

The line "The best of us did not return" was a line that stood out to me because it not only stated that the ones who survived weren't the most honest people (or they had to learn how to be indecent to survive), it also stated that the best traits in humans didn't survive. If you were a man who was honest and just, your food and clothes were more than likely stolen from you and you died sooner as a result of that. The ones who survived probably forgot everything about being an honest and just person and only knew of thievery, lying, and deceit.

"An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal" was another line that stood out to me. It's a paradox because something can't be abnormal and normal at the same time, yet it can. It's saying that acting uncommonly to something that is uncommon is fine because you have not experienced it yet. If you act like everything is fine during an abnormal situation, that's abnormal because you wouldn't act normally to something abnormal.

The book is very good so far and I'm hoping the second part is just as informative and interesting as the first.

Our Stranger Meaning

Meaning- What is meant by something; something that one wishes to convey, especially by language.

Ironically, the definition of meaning is not that simple. Instead, it is just as confusing as the following question: What gives your life meaning?

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to answer this. I don't believe that my existence stands for nothing, but I don't feel like I'm the most important person in the world and that I give meaning to everyone else's lives. I would have to say that everyone's life has meaning to someone or something, whether it's big or small.

The whole meaning of life seems to be strictly personal. You may feel like you don't mean anything to anyone, but someone may feel like you are the most meaningful person in their life. The life of a politician from Serbia may not have any meaning to me, but it means something to the residents of Serbia. You may think, "Well, what's the meaning of laws or governments if we're all going to die anyway and the Earth will be destroyed in a few billion years?" I think you shouldn't worry about something that will have absolutely no impact on you. Yes, we are all going to die someday, but that doesn't mean you get to be wild and crazy just because you feel like your life doesn't matter. Those laws are there for a reason: to protect everyone, INCLUDING yourself.

Everything has some type of meaning. It may not mean anything to you, but it has meaning to someone or something in the grander scheme of things.

The Eulogy of Khalil Dorsey

Khalil Dorsey was at a turning point of his life. He was in his junior year and it was about time for him to to start thinking about colleges. He didn't get to go down that road, so let's take a look at a few of the things he's done so far.

If you ever met Khalil, you would know that he may come across as a bit shy and on the weird side. But just give it time and he'll be one of the nicest friends you could possibly have."I'll still be weird, though. That's just who I am," he says. You may have also recognize him from somewhere but not remembered immediately. "Then eventually, someone says 'Hey! I saw you on that Gamefly commercial!' and you'll know. It wasn't just me, it was the whole family." He's not the only one that had face time in his family. His mom, Jocelyn, has been in movies and TV shows for over 10 years now. His little brothers, Matthew and Kyan, are both extras on the new NBC series "Chicago Fire". He's been a TV extra for the award-winning series "Boss" on Starz. And his entire family was recently in another commercial, this time for Kyocera. "It hasn't aired, though. I don't think it will and I'm almost hoping it doesn't. I don't like drawing attention to myself. It's embarrassing." That was another thing about Khalil. He would do things just to do them, not be recognized for it.

A look at a few of his other achievements reveals that he was on the Whitney Young Math Team for 4 years and was the only student from his elementary school, Poe Classical,  to get accepted into Whitney Young in his class. He received Young Authors awards for each of his books. And he hoped to design and customize cars in the future. Khalil used to always say, "The one person I want to be like is Ryan Freidlinghaus. He's the creator of West Coast Customs and I really admire all the work that they do. One day, I want to own a company like his."

He was always that kid that everyone wondered about. What goes through his mind? How does he see things? He didn't even know. It was one of his goals. "I've always wanted to understand me. Who am I as a person?", he would ask himself. It was just another one of those traits that separated Khalil from the rest.

The Story So Far...

Khalil Dorsey is at a turning point of his life. He is now in his junior year and it's the time to start thinking about colleges. Before he goes down that road, let's take a look at a few of the things he's done so far.

When you first meet Khalil, he may come across as a bit shy and on the weird side. But just give it time and he'll be one of the nicest friends you could possibly have."I'll still be weird, though. That's just who I am," he says. You may also recognize him from somewhere but not remember immediately. "Then eventually, someone says 'Hey! I saw you on that Gamefly commercial!' and you'll know. It wasn't just me, it was the whole family." He's not the only one that has had face time in his family. His mom, Jocelyn, has been in movies and TV shows for over 10 years now. His little brothers, Matthew and Kyan, are both extras on the new NBC series "Chicago Fire". He's been a TV extra for the award-winning series "Boss" on Starz. And his entire family was recently in another commercial, this time for Kyocera. "It hasn't aired, though. I don't think it will and I'm almost hoping it doesn't. I don't like drawing attention to myself. It's embarrassing."

A look at a few of his other achievements reveals that he has been on the Whitney Young Math Team for 4 years and was the only student from his elementary school, Poe Classical,  to get accepted into Whitney Young in his class. He has received Young Authors awards for each of his books. And he hopes to design and customize cars in the future. "The one person I want to be like is Ryan Freidlinghaus. He's the creator of West Coast Customs and I really admire all the work that they do. One day, I want to own a company like his."

For now, he has new teachers and new classes to worry about. What's going to happen next for him? We'll all have to wait and see...