People Change by Rocky Shattuck

ok, so this poem is something I want to post. I wrote this and wanted to get feed back.

Mr. Inloes, you don't have to count this if you don't want to. Thanks everyone.



Stuck in a world you thought you once knew
Now everyone's turning their backs on you
Once quiet girls, changed and its strange
Have turned their backs and started doing drugs
The chick next door that you liked for years
Has turned her back and started drinking beers
All of these changes are going around
And you kick and scream but they don't hear a sound
What happened to the innocence so easy to find?
You wonder if you're the only one who still has their mind
They try to pull you in and you know you might fall
But nobody knows there's a solution to it all
Right over this wall you can have your life back
Of friends, and laughter, be back with your pack
There's no need to worry, no need to fear
All of the innocence you know is still here
There are just a few obstacles you know you must climb
Persuading and begging to get back your mind
You cannot give up the prize is far too great
Just hope your obstacles don't make you too late
Do all you can to help your chains break
This is all real, nothing is fake
You're stuck in a world you thought you once knew
Turn your back on your world and they've turned theirs on you

Obama!

The world is dramatically changed. Our nation is no longer ran by republicans. Obama is the new leader, the new way, the new light. Obama brings hope for many people in the United States. Different and more modern Obama took the election away, and for the first time in four years the democrats rule the white house. I’m proud and honored to be apart of history. I’m pretty upset that I couldn’t vote. Now I have to wait four years, but I know and you know that this was one of histories finest elections, and I couldn’t be apart of it. It’s all over! The Bush era is over. Countries are celebrating the fact that Mr. George “W” Bush has moved out of the white house! It feels good to look at the president of the United States and actually smile, because you’re proud of your leader. That’s the feeling that the American people haven’t felt in awhile.

What do you think about President Obama?

Paul Newman is the MAN

Lets face it people Paul Newman is the man. Just look at that picture. Smooth, creative, unique, different, just a few words that describe this man. He is magnificent in "cool hand luke". There is to much to say. Come on! hes on a ranch bottle. Paul absolute does a hell of a job in the movie "cool hand Luke".

After watching "Cool Hand Luke" it became one of my favorite movies. I loved everything about it. The dry humor was awesome. His insane smirk was something that no one else can perform. Paul engaged himself with the movie script. Newman wasn't alone, the film also features an outstanding supporting cast that includes George Kennedy, Strother Martin, and early screen appearances by Dennis Hopper and Harry Dean Stanton.

Paul Newman and George Kennedy are at their best at this popular prison drama. Quote to remember: "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." When I hear that line i just smile :D. Also the title of the movie is perefect representation of everything.

Did this movie win you over, like it did for me? Or was it just another classic movie that you will forget about?

Do you admire Luke?

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Movie

The other day we started watching One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and it was not like what I expected. I expected the people to act differently, especially Nurse Ratched. I expected her to be meaner in the way she went about her job and how she treated the patients. In reading the book, i got the impression that daily schedule of the patients was a lot more strict than it was portrayed in the movie. In the movie the patients could smoke whenever they wanted to and could play board games and cards when they pleased. Even though we just started the movie, I really like it, a lot better then Cool Hand Luke. Some of the patients are very funny, but at the same time, it is kind of sad to see the way that some of them are treated; and how some of them are so sick and will be in this state for the rest of their lives. I feel really bad for the mentally ill and the people that have to stay in a mental hospital. I think it is so sad to see people that are mentally ill, like the patients that are played in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.


Even though we have not gotten very far in the movie, what do you think about it so far? Do you like it? Do you think it is anything like the book? Which one do you think is better? How do you feel about the treatment of the mentally ill?

Halloween!

Today is Halloween! I have seen several students dressed up but not too many. Don't you think it would be fun if our whole school dressed up? One of my friends at Seaholm told me that practically everyone dresses up on Halloween at there school. It was really shocking to me how a girl in my first hour has never been trick or treating. Do you know anyone who has never gone? I didn't realize that certain kids aren't allowed to go trick or treating whether it's because of their parents or if it's because of their religion. In my second hour class the wee-care kids came by trick or tricking and they were adorable. I noticed at least four girls who were princesses and almost all of the boys were action figures. I thought about our class topic of gender and how seeing those costumes related to girls being "girlish" things for Halloween and how boys are always "boyish" things. Whenever I go trick or treating I always seem to notice how much more chocolate I get than chewy candy. I would way rather get sour patch or swedish fish than a snickers bar.

What's your favorite candy?
At what age do you think kids should stop tick or treating?
Are you dressing up as anything for Halloween?

Gender/Advertising Essay

When Mr. Inloes told us that we had to write an essay of 500 words or more on gender issues and or adversitments dealing with gender, I wasn't exactly sure how to go about that. It took me a pretty long time to try and think of one topic to cover that I would be able to find an article on and be able to relate to it in my own life. Finally, I picked my topic. I chose to right about genderized double standards. I grew up having two older brotehrs and that was hard being not only the only girl in the family but being the youngest. Yeah, my brothers broke some rules for me so when I got to high school I wouldn't have to deal with so much but for the most part it was really hard. There have been so many times in my life where I wanted to do something but my parents wouldn't let me...but they would let my brothers? For example, both my brothers went to U of M and I always wanted to go visit. When my oldest brother was there, my brother David went to go visit him when he was a junior in high school. My parents were totally cool with letting him drive up with a bunch of friends and spending the night, I mean it's my brother not some stranger he would be staying with. When it came time for me to become a junior and I asked to spend a night at Michigan with my brother the answer I got was "no you're too young". But wait...when my brother was allowed to we were the same age. and they kept saying well, it's different he is a guy. It's little things like this that need to change because girls and boys are allwoed to do the same thing! Double standards should not be around anymore. They say that everyone is supposed to be treated fair and equal how come it's easier said than done?
Have you ever been in a type of pickle like the one I was in?
What is your take on double standards, do you think there are some things boys should do and girls shouldn't at a certain age? place?

"Cool Hand Luke"

I really enjoy watching the movie "Cool Hand Luke." When we are watching the movie I like to find the comparisons between McMurphy and Luke. Their characters are very similar. They both push the rules. For example, Luke always runs away from the place where he is forced to be kept at. In "One Flew Over the Cukookoo's Nest" McMurphy always test the water with Nurse Ratched. I think that the movie Cool Hand Luke is more interesting since we read the book "One Flew Over the Cukookoo's Nest." I think it is more interesting because we are able to compare Luke and McMurphy. I always find movies more interesting when you are able to relate two charcters from completely different authors or producers. I thought the movie was good, however, when we started watching the movie "One Flew Over the Cukookoos Nest" I thought that that movie was better then "Cool Hand Luke.

What did you guys think of the movie? Do you think it is interesting that Luke and McMurphy relate to each other even though they are from different storylines?

School Spirit

Since freshmen year i remember the schools spirit. My senior class when i was a freshmen was awesome! There was always a band at the basketball games, a mascot at most of the football games, and people just representing groves. When that class left and i moved on to a sophomore then to a junior, i felt the school spirit went down dramatically. No one went to football games, and when we did know one ever believed in our football team or cheered. Its not that our football team is bad or has been bad in the past, its that we don't believe in our players. Our athletes at Groves needs everyone support in what they do. A little belief in someone can go a long way in their life's. This year has been different. More people at more sporting events and activities. For example i went to the groves soccer game versus Lahser. I have never seen that many people at a high school soccer game. It was incredible, and i had fun. This past homecoming game was awesome as well. There where nearly 1500 people in attendance. I love the class of "09" and the spirit we possess. I really hope this trend continues into the winter and spring sports.

Designer Labels Taking Over

When your walking down the street, you always see designer labels. When you see the alligator, you think Lacoste; when you see a horse, you think Ralph Lauren Polo; when you see the famous swoosh, you think Nike. Why is it that so many teenagers think this way? Younger generations of girls and boys think that they need to have these designer clothes in order to fit in. Just like in the essay we read in class entitled "Swoosh", girls as young as twelve and thirteen years old are begging their parents to take them shopping to get these desginer clothes that distinctly have the logo visible to everyone. My younger sister is becoming one of those young girls who only wants certain types of clothes. It seems like she only wants clothes from Hollister, and the clothes she does have from Hollister all say the brand name on the front of the shirt, or have the bird in the top left corner of the shirt.

What do you think this says about our younger generations? Why do you think younger girls and boys think that they need to have these designer clothes in order to fit in? Did you use to shop at certain stores, just for the logo? Do you know anyone that does?

Super Size Me vs. Mean Girls

Within the past couple weeks we have watched two great movies during class. Mean Girls focused on high school girls and how cruel they can be. The movie brought up stereotypes and rumors. Some believe it's an exaggeration on how high school girls act, but I believe there is some truth behind it. Gossiping and talking about others is something many high school girls do, even though it's not right. The movie showed how rumors and lies can create huge problems. The plastics had certain days where they had to wear certain things. Do you think our society focuses too much on looks and materialistic items? Super Size Me was made to show America how horrible fast food is for you, and how advertising makes us want it anyways. Commercials for McDonald's show food that looks a lot different than what you actually get. Advertisments for McDonald's fail to mention how many calories their different meals contain, and the negative health effects of eating it. It's embarressing to know that Michigan is one of the fatest states in America. Advertising for unhealthy products isn't helping us.

Which movie did you perfer? What was your favorite part of each movie?

Barbie

In class we have been reading a lot of articles about gender. In almost every article that we have read, Barbie has always come up. Of course when I was younger I had a million different kinds of Barbies. I loved dressing her up and playing with her hair. I thought she was a very pretty doll, but I never really thought that I should grow up looking like Barbie. A Barbie was just a toy that I played with and never really had any influence on me about how girls should look. Do you girls now a days really look up to Barbie that much? Barbie was just a doll, I never thought of her as an attractive doll. I guess now that I am older and becoming more aware of the world around me, I can see how now Barbie could have been and influence on young girls, but I feel like when girls are young they are too niave to think of Barbie more then just a doll they can dress up and brush her hair.

While growing up did you have any dolls that you played with? Do you think they had any influence on how you look at yourself today?

Super Size Me

Do colors and characters really drag you into buying a product? After watching Super Size Me it became clear to me that because of Ronald McDonald and the colors and happy meals... all of the customers keep going back. To see someone sit there and eat McDonald's for 30 days straight and having to eat everything on the menu, it's disgusting to me. The fact that Michigan is up there in the fattest state in our country and people are becoming too lazy to even walk to get their food is terrible. After reading more about the movie online, it said that it was based to show people the corporate influence on our country and all over the world (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390521/plotsummary). It seems insane to me that because this little restaurant has such a large chain all over the world and has it's own cartoons, cookies, Halloween costumes and their own clown. Because of all of this advertisement, people are way over the fact that it's not good food for you, they changed their menu to a dollar meal...who wants to pay more food? The people behind this place are genius but what they don't seem to see/care about is the amount of people that are dying, or walking out of here with terrible health problems because of the fast food.

What do you think about the movie? How they advertise themselves? Do you eat all this fast food...enough to make you vomit outside your car window? (I would really hope not)

MEAN GIRLS

Attitude, lies, rumors, and looks, all things that high school students worry about. Every day we wake up and get ready. When we get ready we put this mask on top of your true identity. Sometimes you don’t know that you’re doing it but you are. Girls wear makeup, spend hours on their looks, and have this thought that they’re going to be judged. Of course there going to be judged, its high school and that’s the way it is. “Mean girls” isn’t a perfect representation of high school but close to it. The nice thing about Groves is there isn’t clichés, or groups at groves there isn’t a group called “plastics”.

Students of groves are lucky to have a multi culture filled school. This could be different for other schools. But why is the society the way it is? Why is it that more attractive girls have more of a chance getting a guy or a job? This is a problem that needs to be seen. Girls shouldn’t feel obligated to put this mask on their identity to get the attention of a male or female, which ever they prefer.

The problem is, it’s a way of life. Every morning people wake up and hide themselves. Whether it’s doing something to impress someone else, or putting on an act that isn’t your true self. I think “high school” is exaggerated. You see all these movies with sex, drugs, and this sense of negative act of high school students. When really it’s not like that. At groves there isn’t a thing called “freshmen Fridays” or “plastics”. Sometimes people take things way too far. Or have this stereotype image in their head. I could be wrong but this is just my opinion on high school and how it is shown in society.

What did you think of the movie “mean girls”?
Is Groves similar to this movie?

Mean Girls

Does it really matter what you wear? and where your clothes are from? While watchign the movie Mean Girls, many things that occur in the movie don't really happen in real life. Being a girl in high school I think most girls can agree with me that we have encountered pretty much everything that can happen between girls. The clothes you wear shouldn't matter, girls shouldn't judge girls but there is nothing that can stop that. It's a girl thing, all girls always judge other girls whether its...what they wear, the boy their with, or the people they hang out with. Of course being in high school gives you so many choices of people to hang out with but I don't think their are too many groups and cliques are our high school. Not only are there issues with girls I think guys too. People think way to much about what people will think of them, and it is starting to make people act...not how they usually would. People need to be able to go to school and go out with their friends without thinking "I wonder what they will think of me?" It's becoming an issue when nobody can act themselves. What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree with cliques and how people change the way they act around others that aren't typically in their "group" of friends?

Gender

For the past week we have been learning about gender. What I really enjoyed reading was the story that Mr. Inloes read to us on Wednesday. It was very entertaining and while he was reading it I was thinking to myself how true it was. It is true how girls always over analyze everything, that they need to explore everything in great detail in order to figure out a situation or a problem. On the other hand, for guys, it is also very true that guys do not really think about things in too much detail. It seems like guys' minds wander and think about something completely different than what women are thinking. I loved the end part of the essay where he mentioned the part after the car ride. How a few days later the girl was still analyzing the situation with her friends and the guy was just sitting on the couch and thinking the car ride was something important but does not know what it was. It is weird how society fews men and women and have the sterotypes of each. Not all men and women act exactly like how most of society persieves them. Did you enjoy the article that we read in class? What do you think about how society views the different genders?

"Men Just Want Mommy"

For homework last night we were assigned to read an article written by Maureen Dowd. In this article it was trying to say that most men are attracted to women that do not have a highly ranked job, or position in their job. The majority of men go for women that have jobs such as secretaries, nurses, nannies and assistants because that means they are able to take care of them. Dr. Stephanie Brown quoted "Poweful women are at a disadvantage in the marrige market because men prefer to marry less-accomplished women". Dr. Brown belives that men think that if their woman has an important job, they are more likely to cheat on their husband or boyfriend. I completely disagree with these statements. I don't think that a woman that has a highly paid job, or is a supervisor for a company or the business she works at should effect who she marries. Men are becoming more and more shallow as the years go on and that needs to change. Women should be able to have whatever job they want, and whatever man they want.
What are your thoughts?

Detroit Lions move on

The Detroit lions fired president Matt Millen on Wednesday, more than seven years after the former linebacker and TV analyst took over one of the NFL's most mediocre franchises and made it the worst. "I have relieved Matt Millen of his duties effective immediately," Lions owner William Clay Ford said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. Millen's teams won a league low 31 games since he took over in 2001, but Ford refused to get rid of him until now.

Whether Millen was fired or left on his own doesn't really make a difference as the main thing is that he is gone. I love Attending a Detroit Lions game and seeing the fire Millen signs. Now we all can get rid off our signs, and make new ones that say "Now We Have a chance" its sad that people are so negative about their own home team. My father calls the team " The Dandy Lions" He compares the detroit lions to the dandy lions because their always getting picked and mowed down.

I dont know If anyone even watch the lions anymore? But What do you think of the departure of Matt Millen?

Future Stress

College Essays, interviews, applications. All of this stress that comes with college. Its really hard for a high school student. Its Even worse if you play a sport and you all of this stuff to worry about. Its amazing to think that our life's are starting. High School is coming to a halt and we start all over as freshmen in college. I dont know about you but im scared. Have you ever asked your self would if? Would if I dont make it? Would If my parents dont beleive in me? Or like my college that i will be attending. All of this pressure is unbeleivable. I was thinking about this and i thought to myself i need to just stop. Take a Second and enjoy my last year in high school, because this is it. No more mommy and daddy wakeing you up. I need to suck up the fumes of high school because its almost gone. What about you? What are you stressed about? What college do you want to go to? and what do you want to sudy?

Summer Plans

Over the summer I traveled to Israel for one month. I went for all of July. It was an amazing experience. I learned about the land and the different people that live in Israel. We were able to travel all throughout the country and see how different and diverse each area is. When I was there I became best friends with a girl who is from Israel. Her name was Anat. We had the greatest times when we went shopping and hung out. She would show us around Israel and teach me how to bargain with the people in the flea markets. Also, I never realized that every place we stopped at in Israel had different scenory. I just thought that Israel was all desert with a few scattered trees. I saw that it was nothing like that at all. The rest of the summer i just hung out with friends, but going to Israel was the most exciting thing i did this summer.

What did you guys do over the summer?

September 11, 2001

I remember sitting in my 5th grade classroom listening to my teacher explain to us that something has happened in New York. We were only in elementary school so we didn't understand what was going on. As I made my way home my parents had told me that two airplanes had crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I was too young to understand what that meant to the people of America. After living through September 11th I have realized how close America came together. Everyone began showing their support for the people that died that day and became very patriotic. I realized how lucky I was to be an American, living in a country that shows so much support for others

What were you doing on the morning of September 11, 2001? How did it impact your life?