I don't buy shirts.
Amanda Cunningham
English Composition II
Hamelin
When I moved from Colorado to Kentucky I knew I was in for a culture shock. I was leaving behind the big city of Colorado Springs for the tiny “red-neck” town of Springfield. The people were going from military men to farmers and the girls were going from outdoor wonder-women to Southern Bells. I knew I would gain insight into a different world and many new experiences. What I didn't know was the sheer volume of T-shirts I was going to gain. Buying T-shirts in Kentucky is unnecessary. I received free T-shirts at my high school, at my college, outside of school, and the few T-shirts I did purchase, always came at a discounted rate.
For the one year I went to Washington County High School in Springfield Kentucky I have at least nine shirts I received for zero payment. That fact amounts to one free shirt per month I was enrolled in school. My first free shirt was exciting. I had already taken not of every other student having a T-shirt that advertised the school, and I felt a little left out. Somehow I was involved in some club (I still don't know how that happened), and a part of being in the club meant that I had to sell T-shirts at a football game. Since I was selling the shirts, the advisors thought it was a good idea if I had a shirt to wear so they gave me one. I was elated. I finally had my own T-shirt from my school. That excitement would follow me through every free T-shirt I received.
My second high school shirt came from Pep Club. I was in the Pep Club, but I didn't want to purchase the shirt because the cost was too high. I don't know how I managed, bu a stranger gave me their shirt, because they said they “already had another one.” Another time, I should have predicted where my Kentucky T-shirt life was leading because I was introduced to a new Kentucky concept: the T-shirt blanket. This blanket is created when a person has acquired roughly 30 T-shirts that may be sewn together to create a blanket. Apparently many people in Kentucky have these T-shirts and were amazed that I had never even heard of the concept. I continued to go to football games and manage to be the lucky person who either caught the free shirt or was given the shirt by the neighbor who “just didn't want another T-shirt”. Over the next few months I received at least seven more free T-shirts.
I went to high school in Kentucky for my Junior year, but my senior year was spent back in Colorado. Here I received zero Tee shirts over the 10 ½ months, but as soon as I returned to Kentucky the free Tee shirt parade began again. My sister was enrolled at St. Catharine College and she decided to take me on a tour. Because I visited the college, an administrator gave me my first free Tee shirt from St. Catharine College; a long white sleeved shirt with purple lettering. I wasn't planning on applying to that college, but I did have a tee shirt. A month passed by and I decided to enroll at SCC so I returned to apply. This is when I received my second free St. Catharine College tee shirt; gray with “SCC” written across the front in gold and purple lettering. By the time my third free SCC tee shirt came to me I was looking to clarify sizing so I picked out a size smaller than I normally choose. It turns out that medium tee shirts fit me better. When it came time for my 4th free tee shirt I was prepared. I looked the giver right in the eyes, asked for a medium, and walked away. I knew that if I wore certain pants I would be able to change into my new shirt without looking strangely dressed. I now had a system. I knew I liked purple or gray shirts, and that I didn't like white, I knew I needed a medium for it to look proper, and I knew that if free shirts were going to be given out it was crucial that I show up fifteen minutes early. So far, at SCC I have received eight free shirts.
Going to school is not the only way to receive a free shirt in Kentucky. At my church, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to be vacation bible school volunteer until the day it started so I was not able to get a tee shirt. When I inquired about the getting one I was told that there were none left. I went about my business the rest of the week, but on the last day, a woman who had hears I wanted a shirt had washed her own and brought it for me to have. Another time I went out with friends to meet some of their acquaintances. One of their acquaintances brought a trunk full of “Ditch Mitch” tee shirts to give away so, of course, I took one. Also, I went to the Harvest Festical and a band was playing music. When they were through with their second song the band asked if anyone in the audience wanted a chance to catch the single shirt they had with them. I stood in the front row with six other people and when the lead singer threw the shirt, I caught it. Another time, I was walking to raise money for Tanzania and if I sent in your registration early enough I could pick out what size shirt I wanted. I didn't have enough time, so I went to the event expecting to just miss out on the shirt this time. Kentucky had a different plan for me. When I reached the track, the directors had over ordered shirts, and everybody that wanted a shirt was able to get one. There are free shirts all over Kentucky.
When I finally do break down and purchase a tee shirt it had to be for a good cause. In high school, black out tee shirts were being sold, but I don't buy tee shirts at full price in Kentucky so I was going to go without. The tee shirts were for a particular basketball game and I wasn't even going to the game is I didn't worry too much about it. A few weeks after the game I had joined the softball team and I was in charge of selling the remaining shirts. Since it was going to help my team my sister and I both bought shirts. Another time, I purchased a tee shirt in college. Banned books week was occurring and I am a mojor supporter of books. The tee shirts were discounted, from seven dollars to six, for students who were willing to read out loud over a speaker system. I was already planning on reading out loud, I completely supported the cause, so I purchased a shirt. Even though shirts are often free in Kentucky, I will still purchase the shirts if they support a good cause.
Sometimes I buy shirts in Kentucky, but the shirts fly at you in high schools, colleges, and in life outside of school as well. People often ask me, “Why don't you buy tee shirts in Kentucky?”, and I just tell them, “Because in Kentucky, tee shirts will come free to me.” A I write this, I think about two opportunities this week where I have a chance to receive a free tee shirt. The shirts just seem to be attracted to me like a magnet.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
This is the "fun" paper I am working on for English class. It is the only non argument paper we are going to have to write. also, if any of you have any ideas for a topic I could write an argument paper on I would like some suggestions. This right here in red is going to be very grammatically shaky, because i am in a rush, but don't read to much into it.
TEE shirt ESSAY
When I moved from Colorado to Kentucky I knew I was in for a culture shock. I was leaving behind the big city of Colorado Springs for the tiny “red-neck” town of Springfield. The people were going from military men to farmers and the girls were going from outdoor wonder-women to Southern Bells. I knew I would gain insight into a different world and many new experiences. What I didn't know was the sheer volume of T-shirts I was going to gain. Buying T-shirts in Kentucky is unnecessary. I received free T-shirts at my high school, at my college, outside of school, and the few T-shirts I did purchase, always came at a discounted rate. For the one year I went to Washington County High School in Springfield Kentucky I have at least nine shirts I received for zero payment. That fact amounts to one free shirt per month I was enrolled in school. My first free shirt was exciting. I had already taken not of every other student having a T-shirt that advertised the school, and I felt a little left out. Somehow I was involved in some club (I still don't know how that happened), and a part of being in the club meant that I had to sell T-shirts at a football game. Since I was selling the shirts, the advisers thought it was a good idea if I had a shirt to wear so they gave me one. I was elated. I finally had my own T-shirt from my school. That excitement would follow me through every free T-shirt I received. My second high school shirt came from Pep Club. I was in the Pep Club, but I didn't want to purchase the shirt because the cost was too high. I don't know how I managed, bu a stranger gave me their shirt, because they said they “already had another one.” Another time, I should have predicted where my Kentucky T-shirt life was leading because I was introduced to a new Kentucky concept: the T-shirt blanket. This blanket is created when a person has acquired roughly 30 T-shirts that may be sewn together to create a blanket. Apparently many people in Kentucky have these T-shirts and were amazed that I had never even heard of the concept. I continued to go to football games and manage to be the lucky person who either caught the free shirt or was given the shirt by the neighbor who “just didn't want another T-shirt”. Over the next few months I received at least seven more free T-shirts.
TEE shirt ESSAY
When I moved from Colorado to Kentucky I knew I was in for a culture shock. I was leaving behind the big city of Colorado Springs for the tiny “red-neck” town of Springfield. The people were going from military men to farmers and the girls were going from outdoor wonder-women to Southern Bells. I knew I would gain insight into a different world and many new experiences. What I didn't know was the sheer volume of T-shirts I was going to gain. Buying T-shirts in Kentucky is unnecessary. I received free T-shirts at my high school, at my college, outside of school, and the few T-shirts I did purchase, always came at a discounted rate. For the one year I went to Washington County High School in Springfield Kentucky I have at least nine shirts I received for zero payment. That fact amounts to one free shirt per month I was enrolled in school. My first free shirt was exciting. I had already taken not of every other student having a T-shirt that advertised the school, and I felt a little left out. Somehow I was involved in some club (I still don't know how that happened), and a part of being in the club meant that I had to sell T-shirts at a football game. Since I was selling the shirts, the advisers thought it was a good idea if I had a shirt to wear so they gave me one. I was elated. I finally had my own T-shirt from my school. That excitement would follow me through every free T-shirt I received. My second high school shirt came from Pep Club. I was in the Pep Club, but I didn't want to purchase the shirt because the cost was too high. I don't know how I managed, bu a stranger gave me their shirt, because they said they “already had another one.” Another time, I should have predicted where my Kentucky T-shirt life was leading because I was introduced to a new Kentucky concept: the T-shirt blanket. This blanket is created when a person has acquired roughly 30 T-shirts that may be sewn together to create a blanket. Apparently many people in Kentucky have these T-shirts and were amazed that I had never even heard of the concept. I continued to go to football games and manage to be the lucky person who either caught the free shirt or was given the shirt by the neighbor who “just didn't want another T-shirt”. Over the next few months I received at least seven more free T-shirts.
I also wanted to let you know that I received a 94 on my paper about the transsexual. My professor said it was well organized and well written. I am turning in my book review tomorrow and along with another mysticism paper. Because I had my English class cancelled for Friday, my paper about the Tee Shirts is not going to be due until Monday. That is relieving, even though it is basically done. I think I may just post what I have here in a second.
Library Of Congress
I am still working on my Library of Congress papier. It is still going to be ten pages. It is due at the end of the semester. I have added to the beginning and to the end. Take it with a grain of salt.
The Library of Congress
Amanda M. Cunningham
October 22, 2008
U.S. History I
Dr. Wallace
Probably the least discussed building historically in America is the Library of Congress. That fact is surprising because this building has such a colorful past. Today the Library is the largest library in the world, containing over 650 miles of shelving, but this was a revival from the ashes of two one room libraries which only had part time librarians.
The Library of Congress had a rough beginning. The first library was established on 24 April 1801 when John Randolph drew up an act which needed approval by Congress. On 17 November 1801, Thomas Jefferson, the only person who could possibly be credited for founding the library, donated his entire personal book collection to the library. To Thomas Jefferson, learning and books were of the up most importance. Jefferson spent much of his life collecting books subjecting foreign languages, law, philosophy, geography and even cook books. He felt that "there is in fact no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer." (If you can get this quote from the book... if not get it off of the website in the “extra research”) According to Boorstin, “When Jefferson offered the young nation his personal library, which was to be the foundation of the library of Congress, it contained so many foreign –language books, including numerous “atheistical” works of Voltaire and other French revolutionaries, that some members of Congress opposed its purchase.”(1987). The donation along with $5000 was all that the first library consisted of.
After the establishment of the library, congress created a committee, headed by John Randolph which would be in charge of running and solving the problems of the library. On 26 January 1802 this committee created a role for a Librarian of Congress, who was to be chosen by the president. This committee also pointed out what the role of the library was to be. {If you can...find out what more you can about what the role of the library is to be}. On 29 January 1802, Thomas Jefferson asked John James Beckley to be the librarian alongside his Clerk of House of Representatives position.
Though the committee for the library was in charge of the library's proceedings Thomas Jefferson and James Beckley were often both personally involved. Jefferson often ordered books for the library himself alongside his personal orders causing confusion when orders were being processed. Beckley often gave tours of the library to important figures when they visited the capitol. According to the Library of Congress website, Charles Wilson Peale recorded this in his diary after visiting the library in June of 1804, "We went first to the Library where Mr. Beckley received us with politeness… The Library is a spacious and handsome Room, and although lately organized, already contained a number of valuable books in the best taste of binding." (LOC1)
In 1812 the United States got into a war with England uncreativly named the War of 1812. This was a war that the United States should not have even been involved in. The United States was severely overpowered and attempting the impossible. The library suffered greatly because of the war. On 25 August 1814 English soldiers marched into Washington unimpeded, because the US Army and government officials had fled to Virginia, and burned the capitol building. At that time, the Library was contained in a room within that building. At the very least one third of Jefferson's original donation was torched. No longer was there a building to contain the few remaining books. The library was out of business.
Fortunately, the library was able to continue after the fire. The library was apportioned a small amount of money and a new librarian, George Watterson, was hired. In order to continue the library, the government bought Thomas Jefferson’s personal library from him on 30 January 1815. His library consisted of 6,487 volumes and was purchased for $23,950. The library wasn’t brought back to what it had been before the fire. For the next thirty-seven years, many of the books remained in boxes, stacked atop each other. The library truly did not have space or staff to properly manage the library. The library was overcrowded and to add to the stress levels, a second fire burned the library on 24 December 1851. This fire burned nearly two-thirds, 35,000 volumes, of the libraries collection. The Library of Congress didn’t seem to want to get off the ground.
After this second conflagration the library went through a very rough patch. Money was apportioned to the library for damages, $168,700, but this time around Thomas Jefferson was not around to save the library by donating his books. What books remained were, yet again, stacked in boxes. Abraham Lincoln did not help matters when he hired John G. Stephenson to be the librarian in 1861. Stephenson was uninterested in the library and more interested in getting closer to what was happening in Washington. According to the Library of Congress, Spofford describes Stephenson as, “"a thorough good fellow, liberal, high-minded, & active, but with no special knowledge of books." The library, again, seemed doomed for failure.
The single productive duty Stephenson did was to hire Ainsworth Rand Spofford. Spofford truly did care about the library and is responsible for turning it into what it is today.
Works Sited
1. Boorstin, Daniel J. Hidden History. Random House, 1987.
2. Library of Congress 1. “About the librarian.” LOC.gov. Web. 22 October 2008 <http://www.loc.gov/about/librarianoffice/beckley.html>
Hindu Mystics
Here we go again. Another paper for Matt branstetter. This one is about hindu Mystics. I hope you enjoy. It is due tomorrow, so edit marks unnecessary, but if you want to comment on how I could make it better that would be acceptable. i am planning on keeping and improving all of my papers at some point. Nothing is ever perfect.
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Teachings of Hindu Mystics
Amanda Cunningham
Mysticism
Matt Branstetter
Wednesday, 22 October, 2008
Mystics in the East often teach through writing. Their poetry and stories can be wonderful sources of learning material which is valid in the eastern world as well as the west. Sometimes though, it can be hard for the average person to decipher what point the authors are trying to get across. These mystics will use flowery language and speak in parables which can be confusing to the average person. In this way, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda are two of the most insightful Hindu mystics, though their words may get lost in translation. Here we will explore some of their writings taken from the book, Teachings of Hindu Mystics edited by Andrew Harvey. A few of the most pertinent lines from “Truth is One”, “The Chameleon”, “Who Weeps for God”, “How to Live in the World”, “Worship the living God”, and “The Open Secret” will be investigated further.
In “Truth is One” Ramakrishna states that “People Worship God according to their tastes and temperaments”. One thing that Ramakrishna does show though is that all of the different “religions” are interconnected, they just do not accept this fact. Many people get caught up in their religion as the “only way” and that they worship the only “true God”, but Ramakrishna does not believe this is correct (The Hindu religion does not believe that every person needs to convert to Hinduism). Ramakrishna does believe that only one God exists, but Ramakrishna believes that God is just called by many different names and worshiped in many different ways. Ultimately “God” is called Rama, but these other “Gods” are real as well. Later Ramakrishna states that “There is only one Rama and he has a thousand names.” In the sense that water may have more than one name, calling something by a different name does not change the thing it self. This situation only causes confusion when people attempt to discuss this thing. Arguments that break out over God, Rama, Allah, etc. are unnecessary because every person is actually worshiping and arguing over the same thing. Wars have been fought and lives have been lost over the idea of a name. A name that the small mind of a human created. Rama, God, he is all of these things according to Ramakrishna.
“The Chameleon” another story by Ramakrishna is about many different men stating that they have seen an animal in a particular tree. After all the men fight over the color of the animal they decide to find the animal together to prove which man is correct. Once they reach the tree they find a man who lives at the base of the tree who states the following, “All your descriptions are true. Sometimes it appears red, sometimes yellow, and at other times blue, violet, grey, and so forth. It is a chameleon. And sometimes it has no color at all.” What Ramakrishna is expressing through this story is that God comes in many forms. No one person will be able to see God in the same way, but each experience is God. Similarly is the story of the blind men touching the elephant. Each man touches the elephant in a different spot and when asked to describe what an elephant is each has a different explanation. All three men are correct, but each is different. That is what God is. To every person he shows a different piece of himself, but God is still always the same God.
“Truth is One” and “The Chameleon” both point out that God can be many different forms, but Ramakrishna takes explaining God a step further in, “Who weeps for God”. Here he states , “The point is to love God even as the mother loves her child, the chaste wife her husband, and the worldly man his wealth.” By this Ramakrishna means that we are to put God as the center of our world. For us to place him at the number one spot in our hearts is his true desire. Similar to, as stated in the passage, a mother to her child. We are the mother and God is our child. A mother would die for her child. A mother would kill for her child. This is how our attitude should be toward God. To a worldly man his wealth is what he has to live on. Because he must worry about his physical dollar the man must always have his money on the top of his mind. So too must we place God in accordance with Ramakrishna.
In “How to Live in the World” Ramakrishna notes that we must “Live in the world like an ant.” To an ant the world is much larger. To an ant even something as simple as a trash can full of garbage may be an entire universe full of possibilities, throughout and beyond. Reading further we read that in a world full of grains of sand and sugar, the ant will choose sugar. Ramakrishna wants the people of the world to choose the “good” over the bad. Similar to the glass half full theology, we must choose the sugar of our life. Never will we be able to know or take all. We never know what tomorrow will bring. If possible we should take what we know is a better choice for our life.
Ramakrishna has placed God as everything in reference to the outside of a life, but in “Worshiping the living God” Vivekananda shows how God is placed inside of every person as well. “The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him, that moment I am free from bondage.” God created every person, therefore a piece of him is with them. For every artist, each piece of art they create has a piece of their own spirit within it. God is the artist of the human race. God is the artist of the Earth. God is the artist of the universe. These lines are saying that God is here on Earth. He is the soul of every person and therefore we must treasure what he has created. These lines also point to the truth of the Earth being a creation of God. When a person is respected, so are their creations respected. If we are to respect God we are to respect what he created. Every human's temple. Every animal's temple. The Earth's temple. God is to be respected as the highest, but be aware, he is right here on Earth with us.
Vivekananda also penned “The open Secret” in which he stated that “None can die”. Much truth is in those three words. According to this, the human body was born, but the spirit within was not. A spirit does not have a mother. A spirit does not have a father. Thus the spirit was not born and can not die. The spirit can also be synonymous with consciousness. Before the body was consciousness and after the body perishes will be consciousness. Thus, none can truly die.
We tend to look at god through the rose colored glasses we were given at Christmas by our family, friends, and community. In this world where we tend to receive instant gratification, the idea that we do not know everything rarely crosses our mind, and even if the idea did cross our mind we would not believe it could be true. Mystics like Ramakrishna and Vivekananda want us to realize that we are all a lot more connected than we think. Sometimes we fight and argue with our neighbors because we each believe we are right and the other is wrong only to discover that we were both right all along. We were just looking at the situation from with the light of a match instead of a flood lamp. God is such a huge complex idea that no one can fully grasp. If we can't even know for sure the world isn't flat two centuries ago, how can we be 100% certain that we know all there is to know about God now. If you do not know something 100% you can't properly explain something 100%. Ramakrishna and Vivekananda only want us to open our minds and be aware of the box we are lacing ourselves in.
In my personal life I like to think I can no some of God. I at least would like to know that what I do know is truth. I am reminded of the day I had a fight with a girl about an elevator.. I was certain, absolutely certain, as to which floor a certain area of the building was on. I fought with her tooth and nail only to find out later that she was correct. In the moment I was certain about the elevator, but now I know I was wrong. I regret ever fighting with her about something so silly, because there was no way, in that moment, for either of us to prove ourselves and the truth really didn't matter. Can God be thought of the same way. Ramakrishna and Vivekananda are right in that we can not, in this time, know all of what God is about. He is so grand and great that an attempt to know him completely would always fail. Because God is so great though, it is something you want to get right. The right answer is in fact important. If I get the floor wrong in a elevator I take a few seconds and choose a different floor, but where God is concerned some say the wrong answer will end in damnation. Ramakrishna and Vivekananda may live in a world where God is plenty and god is many, but what if they're wrong?
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Teachings of Hindu Mystics
Amanda Cunningham
Mysticism
Matt Branstetter
Wednesday, 22 October, 2008
Mystics in the East often teach through writing. Their poetry and stories can be wonderful sources of learning material which is valid in the eastern world as well as the west. Sometimes though, it can be hard for the average person to decipher what point the authors are trying to get across. These mystics will use flowery language and speak in parables which can be confusing to the average person. In this way, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda are two of the most insightful Hindu mystics, though their words may get lost in translation. Here we will explore some of their writings taken from the book, Teachings of Hindu Mystics edited by Andrew Harvey. A few of the most pertinent lines from “Truth is One”, “The Chameleon”, “Who Weeps for God”, “How to Live in the World”, “Worship the living God”, and “The Open Secret” will be investigated further.
In “Truth is One” Ramakrishna states that “People Worship God according to their tastes and temperaments”. One thing that Ramakrishna does show though is that all of the different “religions” are interconnected, they just do not accept this fact. Many people get caught up in their religion as the “only way” and that they worship the only “true God”, but Ramakrishna does not believe this is correct (The Hindu religion does not believe that every person needs to convert to Hinduism). Ramakrishna does believe that only one God exists, but Ramakrishna believes that God is just called by many different names and worshiped in many different ways. Ultimately “God” is called Rama, but these other “Gods” are real as well. Later Ramakrishna states that “There is only one Rama and he has a thousand names.” In the sense that water may have more than one name, calling something by a different name does not change the thing it self. This situation only causes confusion when people attempt to discuss this thing. Arguments that break out over God, Rama, Allah, etc. are unnecessary because every person is actually worshiping and arguing over the same thing. Wars have been fought and lives have been lost over the idea of a name. A name that the small mind of a human created. Rama, God, he is all of these things according to Ramakrishna.
“The Chameleon” another story by Ramakrishna is about many different men stating that they have seen an animal in a particular tree. After all the men fight over the color of the animal they decide to find the animal together to prove which man is correct. Once they reach the tree they find a man who lives at the base of the tree who states the following, “All your descriptions are true. Sometimes it appears red, sometimes yellow, and at other times blue, violet, grey, and so forth. It is a chameleon. And sometimes it has no color at all.” What Ramakrishna is expressing through this story is that God comes in many forms. No one person will be able to see God in the same way, but each experience is God. Similarly is the story of the blind men touching the elephant. Each man touches the elephant in a different spot and when asked to describe what an elephant is each has a different explanation. All three men are correct, but each is different. That is what God is. To every person he shows a different piece of himself, but God is still always the same God.
“Truth is One” and “The Chameleon” both point out that God can be many different forms, but Ramakrishna takes explaining God a step further in, “Who weeps for God”. Here he states , “The point is to love God even as the mother loves her child, the chaste wife her husband, and the worldly man his wealth.” By this Ramakrishna means that we are to put God as the center of our world. For us to place him at the number one spot in our hearts is his true desire. Similar to, as stated in the passage, a mother to her child. We are the mother and God is our child. A mother would die for her child. A mother would kill for her child. This is how our attitude should be toward God. To a worldly man his wealth is what he has to live on. Because he must worry about his physical dollar the man must always have his money on the top of his mind. So too must we place God in accordance with Ramakrishna.
In “How to Live in the World” Ramakrishna notes that we must “Live in the world like an ant.” To an ant the world is much larger. To an ant even something as simple as a trash can full of garbage may be an entire universe full of possibilities, throughout and beyond. Reading further we read that in a world full of grains of sand and sugar, the ant will choose sugar. Ramakrishna wants the people of the world to choose the “good” over the bad. Similar to the glass half full theology, we must choose the sugar of our life. Never will we be able to know or take all. We never know what tomorrow will bring. If possible we should take what we know is a better choice for our life.
Ramakrishna has placed God as everything in reference to the outside of a life, but in “Worshiping the living God” Vivekananda shows how God is placed inside of every person as well. “The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him, that moment I am free from bondage.” God created every person, therefore a piece of him is with them. For every artist, each piece of art they create has a piece of their own spirit within it. God is the artist of the human race. God is the artist of the Earth. God is the artist of the universe. These lines are saying that God is here on Earth. He is the soul of every person and therefore we must treasure what he has created. These lines also point to the truth of the Earth being a creation of God. When a person is respected, so are their creations respected. If we are to respect God we are to respect what he created. Every human's temple. Every animal's temple. The Earth's temple. God is to be respected as the highest, but be aware, he is right here on Earth with us.
Vivekananda also penned “The open Secret” in which he stated that “None can die”. Much truth is in those three words. According to this, the human body was born, but the spirit within was not. A spirit does not have a mother. A spirit does not have a father. Thus the spirit was not born and can not die. The spirit can also be synonymous with consciousness. Before the body was consciousness and after the body perishes will be consciousness. Thus, none can truly die.
We tend to look at god through the rose colored glasses we were given at Christmas by our family, friends, and community. In this world where we tend to receive instant gratification, the idea that we do not know everything rarely crosses our mind, and even if the idea did cross our mind we would not believe it could be true. Mystics like Ramakrishna and Vivekananda want us to realize that we are all a lot more connected than we think. Sometimes we fight and argue with our neighbors because we each believe we are right and the other is wrong only to discover that we were both right all along. We were just looking at the situation from with the light of a match instead of a flood lamp. God is such a huge complex idea that no one can fully grasp. If we can't even know for sure the world isn't flat two centuries ago, how can we be 100% certain that we know all there is to know about God now. If you do not know something 100% you can't properly explain something 100%. Ramakrishna and Vivekananda only want us to open our minds and be aware of the box we are lacing ourselves in.
In my personal life I like to think I can no some of God. I at least would like to know that what I do know is truth. I am reminded of the day I had a fight with a girl about an elevator.. I was certain, absolutely certain, as to which floor a certain area of the building was on. I fought with her tooth and nail only to find out later that she was correct. In the moment I was certain about the elevator, but now I know I was wrong. I regret ever fighting with her about something so silly, because there was no way, in that moment, for either of us to prove ourselves and the truth really didn't matter. Can God be thought of the same way. Ramakrishna and Vivekananda are right in that we can not, in this time, know all of what God is about. He is so grand and great that an attempt to know him completely would always fail. Because God is so great though, it is something you want to get right. The right answer is in fact important. If I get the floor wrong in a elevator I take a few seconds and choose a different floor, but where God is concerned some say the wrong answer will end in damnation. Ramakrishna and Vivekananda may live in a world where God is plenty and god is many, but what if they're wrong?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Library of Congress Research Papier
I haven't posted in a while, so I decided I would get something up. This was mainly so you my loyal readers didn't think I was up to nothing important here at school. I wrote some of my ten page research paper today. It is actually a chunck out of the middle, and it is a completely unedited version, so take it with a grain of salt. I am not even going to put it in large font because it is so far from done. LTM. I will have an essay up by the end of Sunday hopefully, so if any of you weekenders want to read on that you can.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
II.History of Library (1800-1886)
The Library of Congress had a rough beginning. The first library was established on 24 April 1801when John Randolph drew up an act which needed approval by Congress. On 17 November 1801,Thomas Jefferson, the only person who could possibly be credited for founding the library, donated his entire personal book collection to the library. To Thomas Jefferson, learning and books were of the up most importance. He spent much of his life collecting book subjecting foreign languages, law, philosophy, geography and even cook books. He felt "there is in fact no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer." (If you can get this quote from the book... if not get it off of the website in the “extra research”)This donation along with $5000 was all that the first library consisted of.
After the establishment of the library, congress created a committee, headed by John Randolph which would be in charge of running and solving the problems of the library. On 26 January 1802 this committee created a role for a Librarian of Congress who was to be chosen by the president. This committee also pointed out what the role of the library was to be.{If you can...find out what more you can about what the role of the library is to be}. On 29 January 1802, Thomas Jefferson asked John James Beckley to be the librarian alongside his Clerk of House of Representatives position.
Though the committee for the library was in charge of the library's proceedings Thomas Jefferson and James Beckley were both extremely personally involved. Jefferson often ordered books for the library himself alongside his personal orders causing confusion when orders were being processed. Beckley often gave tours of the library to important figures when they visited the capitol. According to the Library of Congress website, Charles Wilson Peale recorded this in his diary after visiting the library in June of 1804, "We went first to the Library where Mr. Beckley received us with politeness… The Library is a spacious and handsome Room, and although lately organized, already contained a a number of valuable books in the best taste of binding." (http://www.loc.gov/about/librarianoffice/beckley.html)
In 1812 the United States got into a war with England uncreativly called the War of 1812. This was a war that the United States should not have even been involved in. The United States was severely overpowered and attempting the impossible.The library suffered greatly because of the war. On 25 August 1814 English soldiers burned the capitol building. At that time, the Library was contained in a room within that building. At the very least one third of Jefferson's original donation was torched. No longer was there a building to contain few remaining books. The library was out of business.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
II.History of Library (1800-1886)
The Library of Congress had a rough beginning. The first library was established on 24 April 1801when John Randolph drew up an act which needed approval by Congress. On 17 November 1801,Thomas Jefferson, the only person who could possibly be credited for founding the library, donated his entire personal book collection to the library. To Thomas Jefferson, learning and books were of the up most importance. He spent much of his life collecting book subjecting foreign languages, law, philosophy, geography and even cook books. He felt "there is in fact no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer." (If you can get this quote from the book... if not get it off of the website in the “extra research”)This donation along with $5000 was all that the first library consisted of.
After the establishment of the library, congress created a committee, headed by John Randolph which would be in charge of running and solving the problems of the library. On 26 January 1802 this committee created a role for a Librarian of Congress who was to be chosen by the president. This committee also pointed out what the role of the library was to be.{If you can...find out what more you can about what the role of the library is to be}. On 29 January 1802, Thomas Jefferson asked John James Beckley to be the librarian alongside his Clerk of House of Representatives position.
Though the committee for the library was in charge of the library's proceedings Thomas Jefferson and James Beckley were both extremely personally involved. Jefferson often ordered books for the library himself alongside his personal orders causing confusion when orders were being processed. Beckley often gave tours of the library to important figures when they visited the capitol. According to the Library of Congress website, Charles Wilson Peale recorded this in his diary after visiting the library in June of 1804, "We went first to the Library where Mr. Beckley received us with politeness… The Library is a spacious and handsome Room, and although lately organized, already contained a a number of valuable books in the best taste of binding." (http://www.loc.gov/about/librarianoffice/beckley.html)
In 1812 the United States got into a war with England uncreativly called the War of 1812. This was a war that the United States should not have even been involved in. The United States was severely overpowered and attempting the impossible.The library suffered greatly because of the war. On 25 August 1814 English soldiers burned the capitol building. At that time, the Library was contained in a room within that building. At the very least one third of Jefferson's original donation was torched. No longer was there a building to contain few remaining books. The library was out of business.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
School
School is going pretty well.
Because i have been sick for the past week I haven't done as well on studying and papers. I am just going to have to make that up in the next week as I feel myself getting over this disease.
I added a class to my schedule. Tai Chi. Many of my friends are going to be in the class, and on of my friends' dad teaches the class. I was allowed to borrow another friends book, so I didn't have to pay for it. Saved me thirty-seven dollars. Thank you Doug!
Hopefully Shenanigans will take the class too. Will may be... he hasn't decided I don't think.
Today i have to write articles for the newspaper... and we rearranged our room, so I think that will help me with my Chi... or flow...or whatever. Midterms came out. I should get them tomorrow at my mom's house, so I will post them here once that happens tomorrow.
Because i have been sick for the past week I haven't done as well on studying and papers. I am just going to have to make that up in the next week as I feel myself getting over this disease.
I added a class to my schedule. Tai Chi. Many of my friends are going to be in the class, and on of my friends' dad teaches the class. I was allowed to borrow another friends book, so I didn't have to pay for it. Saved me thirty-seven dollars. Thank you Doug!
Hopefully Shenanigans will take the class too. Will may be... he hasn't decided I don't think.
Today i have to write articles for the newspaper... and we rearranged our room, so I think that will help me with my Chi... or flow...or whatever. Midterms came out. I should get them tomorrow at my mom's house, so I will post them here once that happens tomorrow.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Book Review: Don't KNow Much About History
Here is my book review. It is meant to be 500 words and I have 532 here. I thought it would be a lot longer, but 500 words isn't as much as I thought it would be. I liked this book... no, I LOVED this book. If you want to glance over my review and give me any advice that would be loverly... and yes, i did mean to write loverly. Let me know. It's not due for like two weeks, so whatever.
Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth C. Davis is one of a series of books written by the same author. These books are meant to take subjects normally deemed boring and liven them up, all the while being truthful with the facts. This particular book accomplishes just that. So far, in the first four chapters, intrigue, fact, and humor have all been achieved. These chapters are the history of the United States from pre-Columbus to the mid 1870's. Davis truly has created a page turner that will get the historical facts into the minds of many.
One of the great things about this book is how easy it is to use and understand. All of the subject headings are broken down into questions the readers would ask themselves. For example, if the reader doesn't know what the Articles of Confederation are, they can look in the table of Contents for the heading “What were the Articles of Confederation (p. 48). The index is very through and lists every page a particular topic appears on, so if someone wanted to know every page Thomas Jefferson was listed on, they would simply need to flip to the index, and there would be a list of all 40 pages he is mention on (p. 667). Throughout the book, the voice Davis uses is that of friends chatting over a meal, and not that of an emotionless text book. Life isn't boring and history is life, therefore history does not have to be boring, and Davis proves that
with his book.
Davis is a step above history text books, because instead of glorifying historical figures he shows them in natural light. As far as any high school student is concerned, Paul Revere is a larger than life character who rode his ride and single handedly saved the American people from defeat. In actuality, Revere was quickly captured by the British, and when leading troops against the British at Pentcost he chickened out and headed back for “safety” (p. 84). Christopher Columbus also has a smudged historical record. Not only did Columbus not “discover” America (chapter 1), but when he did come to The New World he was cruel towards his crew (p.4) and the Native Americans (p. 5). Lincoln is the hardest to accept as imperfect. Lincoln was a great man, but he was, by our accounts, a racist (p. 239). For his time he was very “honest” and liberal, but he did accept slavery in the states where it was already legal (p. 239). Our “Great American Heroes” aren't always the great people text books portray them as.
Even though this book is amazing, it is not perfect and for everybody. Some people only like to have the facts and don't like to turn historical figures into characters. Davis wanted history to be entertaining, so people who don't enjoy that will not enjoy this book. Davis also mistakingly made some of the more important areas of history into a list (for example, “Milestones in the American Revolution” p. 71) which has the same affect on people as the genealogy sections of the bible, they get skimmed over and never really read. All in all though, Don't Know Much About History is a book that everybody should read and keep on their bookselves.
I guess it still just seems short to me...
Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth C. Davis is one of a series of books written by the same author. These books are meant to take subjects normally deemed boring and liven them up, all the while being truthful with the facts. This particular book accomplishes just that. So far, in the first four chapters, intrigue, fact, and humor have all been achieved. These chapters are the history of the United States from pre-Columbus to the mid 1870's. Davis truly has created a page turner that will get the historical facts into the minds of many.
One of the great things about this book is how easy it is to use and understand. All of the subject headings are broken down into questions the readers would ask themselves. For example, if the reader doesn't know what the Articles of Confederation are, they can look in the table of Contents for the heading “What were the Articles of Confederation (p. 48). The index is very through and lists every page a particular topic appears on, so if someone wanted to know every page Thomas Jefferson was listed on, they would simply need to flip to the index, and there would be a list of all 40 pages he is mention on (p. 667). Throughout the book, the voice Davis uses is that of friends chatting over a meal, and not that of an emotionless text book. Life isn't boring and history is life, therefore history does not have to be boring, and Davis proves that
with his book.
Davis is a step above history text books, because instead of glorifying historical figures he shows them in natural light. As far as any high school student is concerned, Paul Revere is a larger than life character who rode his ride and single handedly saved the American people from defeat. In actuality, Revere was quickly captured by the British, and when leading troops against the British at Pentcost he chickened out and headed back for “safety” (p. 84). Christopher Columbus also has a smudged historical record. Not only did Columbus not “discover” America (chapter 1), but when he did come to The New World he was cruel towards his crew (p.4) and the Native Americans (p. 5). Lincoln is the hardest to accept as imperfect. Lincoln was a great man, but he was, by our accounts, a racist (p. 239). For his time he was very “honest” and liberal, but he did accept slavery in the states where it was already legal (p. 239). Our “Great American Heroes” aren't always the great people text books portray them as.
Even though this book is amazing, it is not perfect and for everybody. Some people only like to have the facts and don't like to turn historical figures into characters. Davis wanted history to be entertaining, so people who don't enjoy that will not enjoy this book. Davis also mistakingly made some of the more important areas of history into a list (for example, “Milestones in the American Revolution” p. 71) which has the same affect on people as the genealogy sections of the bible, they get skimmed over and never really read. All in all though, Don't Know Much About History is a book that everybody should read and keep on their bookselves.
I guess it still just seems short to me...
Outline for History Research Final
This is what i have of the Outline for my History research paper. I chose to write about teh Library of Congress. Mainly that was because I love libraries and I adore the idea of the Library of Congress. I am very excited about this paper. I have been researching since I found out about it. Hopefull I can condense it all to 10 pages!
Thesis:
I.Introduction:
II.History of Library (1800-1886)
A.First Library (1800-1815)
i.John James Beckley (1801-1807)
ii.Start of Library
a)John Randolph's Act for Congresses
b)Thomas Jefferson's donation
Founder if ever there was one
c)First Law establishing Structure (January 16, 1802)
iii. Destruction of Library
a)War of 1812
b)fire
B.Second Library (1815-1864)
i.John G. Stephenson(1861-1864)
a)unproductive as a librarian
b)Hired Spofford
ii.Picking up the pieces after the fire
a)surviving books sold to government
b)Thomas Jefferson's books sold to government for ???
c)Andrew Jackson gives library a catalog
iii.Second (conflagration) fire
a)Insurance Claim
iv.The Weakening of the library
a)Lincoln appoints Stephenson
b)Stephenson on other things
c)Stephenson hires Spofford
C.The “Third” Library (or lack there of)
i.Ainsworth Rand Spofford (1864-1897)
a)put in place the construction for today's library
b)copyright (be sure to get the facts on this)
ii.Additions to the library
a)copyright
b)Smithsonian Donation
iii.Battle for new building
a)10 years of Pres. Mention
Hays, RB
Arthur, Chester
Cleveland, Grover
b)11 Years of building TJ building finished 1886-1897
cost $6,180,000 (cheaper than expected I believe)
III.Today's Library
A.development of LCC system
B.Billington
C.Future
IV.Conclusion
Thesis:
I.Introduction:
II.History of Library (1800-1886)
A.First Library (1800-1815)
i.John James Beckley (1801-1807)
ii.Start of Library
a)John Randolph's Act for Congresses
b)Thomas Jefferson's donation
Founder if ever there was one
c)First Law establishing Structure (January 16, 1802)
iii. Destruction of Library
a)War of 1812
b)fire
B.Second Library (1815-1864)
i.John G. Stephenson(1861-1864)
a)unproductive as a librarian
b)Hired Spofford
ii.Picking up the pieces after the fire
a)surviving books sold to government
b)Thomas Jefferson's books sold to government for ???
c)Andrew Jackson gives library a catalog
iii.Second (conflagration) fire
a)Insurance Claim
iv.The Weakening of the library
a)Lincoln appoints Stephenson
b)Stephenson on other things
c)Stephenson hires Spofford
C.The “Third” Library (or lack there of)
i.Ainsworth Rand Spofford (1864-1897)
a)put in place the construction for today's library
b)copyright (be sure to get the facts on this)
ii.Additions to the library
a)copyright
b)Smithsonian Donation
iii.Battle for new building
a)10 years of Pres. Mention
Hays, RB
Arthur, Chester
Cleveland, Grover
b)11 Years of building TJ building finished 1886-1897
cost $6,180,000 (cheaper than expected I believe)
III.Today's Library
A.development of LCC system
B.Billington
C.Future
IV.Conclusion
Friday, October 3, 2008
Transexual Papier (Rough Draft.)
This is what i have so far. It doensn't have a good conclusion yet, and I need to work on my argument a little more, but for bones I like it. It isn't due until next Friday though, so I think I am happy with it.
A recent article in Times magazine gave me some incite on a topic I hadn't previously heard much about. In 2004 a retired Army Colonel applied and interviewed for the open position of terrorism research analyst for the Library of Congress. The initial interview went well, and soon everything seemed to be falling into place. A job offer was made and accepted. Soon though, the library found out that David John Schorer who had applied for the job was going to become Diane Jacquelyn Schorer who would do the work for the job and the offer was taken back. This was American discrimination at its finest. Just who was this man and what qualified her for the job? For an act to qualify as discrimination the pieces to a three part puzzle must all come together. Discrimination is the unfair biased judgment and treatment of a person based on one aspect of the person, and Diane should easily win the Civil liberties case.
Schroer was highly qualified for the position she interviewed for. Relation to terrorism and thus military knowledge, she was in the military for twenty-five years, and retired as a Colonel. He had over four hundred fifty parachute jumps and came highly decorated. He also was awarded the Defense Superior Medal. His personal know-how came from his personal home library which has over 16000 volumes relating to military history. For the library, this was a perfect application, so his advisors told him he had the job. Schroer had all the credentials to become the
Library of Congress' terrorism analyst; discrimination just moved in the way.
The first piece of the discrimination puzzle comes with the acceptance that Schroer is a person, even though he is a transsexual. A transsexual is a person who was born physically into the body of one gender, but they know in their hearts that they were meant to be the other gender. David was born a male, but he knows that he was meant to be a female. He spent his entire life knowing this fact, even to the point of cross dressing and taking hormones in private for many years. His life was kept secret for his military career, but soon enough the heart will always show its true colors. In 2005 he finally decided to take the steps to let his inside match his outside. Men are people, and women are people, therefore a man who becomes a woman would still be a person. The first piece of the discrimination puzzle has been solved: David, or Diane, is a person, and therefore can be discriminated against.
The second puzzle piece has to do with the unfair judgment of a person. When David had received the job offer he felt it only right to inform the library of his plans to live his life, inside and outside of work, as a female. Especially since there were many surgeries he may be having in the future to change his genitalia. To do this he took Charlotte Preece (who was in charge of hiring) to lunch at the local Chinese restaurant. When Schroer informed Preece of his plans to transfer his sex she exclaimed “Why would you want to do that?” (Cloud. 2008.) Preece thought that the transition would negatively affect Schroer's work. Saying that a man who becomes a woman isn't capable of doing a particular job is that same thing as saying a woman couldn't perform a particular job. Within twenty-four hours of their meeting, Schroer had been told that he was no longer wanted as a staff member for the library of Congress. The second piece of the discrimination puzzle is in hand because an unfair judgment has been made.
The third piece of the discrimination puzzle is the easiest to explore. After Charlotte adjusted her emotions and had a cigarette she, along with some of her co-workers, created a dialog then called Schroer to let him know that the job was no longer going to be offered. “She told him that the Library worried his transition would impair his top-secret security clearance.” He was no longer given his job opportunities based solely on his “sex”. The action has been taken against Schroer, therefore the third piece of the puzzle.
The court system has had the job of working with this case since 2005. The decision the courts had to make was if Schroer's case qualified under the Civil liberties as Sex-discrimination. On September 20, 2008, it was decided that this was indeed “sex” discrimination. The judge had this to say, “Schroer's case indeed rests on direct evidence, and compelling evidence, that the Library's hiring decision was infected by sex stereotypes.... She was well qualified for the job''(JD Unyon. 2008).The penalties for the library still have to be decided, but the right decision was made as to guilt in this case.
Works Cited.
1 John Cloud. Time. A Transsexual Vs. the Government. Retrieved October 1, 2008 http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1840754,00.html
2. JD Unyon. Last Word. Diane Schroer wins case against Library of Congress' blatant transgender discrimination. Retrieved 1 October 2008. http://www.metroweekly.com/gauge/last_word/2008/09/diane-schroer-wins-case-agains.html
A recent article in Times magazine gave me some incite on a topic I hadn't previously heard much about. In 2004 a retired Army Colonel applied and interviewed for the open position of terrorism research analyst for the Library of Congress. The initial interview went well, and soon everything seemed to be falling into place. A job offer was made and accepted. Soon though, the library found out that David John Schorer who had applied for the job was going to become Diane Jacquelyn Schorer who would do the work for the job and the offer was taken back. This was American discrimination at its finest. Just who was this man and what qualified her for the job? For an act to qualify as discrimination the pieces to a three part puzzle must all come together. Discrimination is the unfair biased judgment and treatment of a person based on one aspect of the person, and Diane should easily win the Civil liberties case.
Schroer was highly qualified for the position she interviewed for. Relation to terrorism and thus military knowledge, she was in the military for twenty-five years, and retired as a Colonel. He had over four hundred fifty parachute jumps and came highly decorated. He also was awarded the Defense Superior Medal. His personal know-how came from his personal home library which has over 16000 volumes relating to military history. For the library, this was a perfect application, so his advisors told him he had the job. Schroer had all the credentials to become the
Library of Congress' terrorism analyst; discrimination just moved in the way.
The first piece of the discrimination puzzle comes with the acceptance that Schroer is a person, even though he is a transsexual. A transsexual is a person who was born physically into the body of one gender, but they know in their hearts that they were meant to be the other gender. David was born a male, but he knows that he was meant to be a female. He spent his entire life knowing this fact, even to the point of cross dressing and taking hormones in private for many years. His life was kept secret for his military career, but soon enough the heart will always show its true colors. In 2005 he finally decided to take the steps to let his inside match his outside. Men are people, and women are people, therefore a man who becomes a woman would still be a person. The first piece of the discrimination puzzle has been solved: David, or Diane, is a person, and therefore can be discriminated against.
The second puzzle piece has to do with the unfair judgment of a person. When David had received the job offer he felt it only right to inform the library of his plans to live his life, inside and outside of work, as a female. Especially since there were many surgeries he may be having in the future to change his genitalia. To do this he took Charlotte Preece (who was in charge of hiring) to lunch at the local Chinese restaurant. When Schroer informed Preece of his plans to transfer his sex she exclaimed “Why would you want to do that?” (Cloud. 2008.) Preece thought that the transition would negatively affect Schroer's work. Saying that a man who becomes a woman isn't capable of doing a particular job is that same thing as saying a woman couldn't perform a particular job. Within twenty-four hours of their meeting, Schroer had been told that he was no longer wanted as a staff member for the library of Congress. The second piece of the discrimination puzzle is in hand because an unfair judgment has been made.
The third piece of the discrimination puzzle is the easiest to explore. After Charlotte adjusted her emotions and had a cigarette she, along with some of her co-workers, created a dialog then called Schroer to let him know that the job was no longer going to be offered. “She told him that the Library worried his transition would impair his top-secret security clearance.” He was no longer given his job opportunities based solely on his “sex”. The action has been taken against Schroer, therefore the third piece of the puzzle.
The court system has had the job of working with this case since 2005. The decision the courts had to make was if Schroer's case qualified under the Civil liberties as Sex-discrimination. On September 20, 2008, it was decided that this was indeed “sex” discrimination. The judge had this to say, “Schroer's case indeed rests on direct evidence, and compelling evidence, that the Library's hiring decision was infected by sex stereotypes.... She was well qualified for the job''(JD Unyon. 2008).The penalties for the library still have to be decided, but the right decision was made as to guilt in this case.
Works Cited.
1 John Cloud. Time. A Transsexual Vs. the Government. Retrieved October 1, 2008 http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1840754,00.html
2. JD Unyon. Last Word. Diane Schroer wins case against Library of Congress' blatant transgender discrimination. Retrieved 1 October 2008. http://www.metroweekly.com/gauge/last_word/2008/09/diane-schroer-wins-case-agains.html
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