Nightmare Cure

Lately, my roommate and I have been having strange dreams that affect our daily lives. We have been discussing these terrifying nightmares with one another since last week. As we were trying to rack our brains for a cure, I remembered something that I had heard about bed directions a long time ago. I could not recall the exact details of this saying so we decided to look it up. What we found was incredibly interesting and actually seemed to be correct. Our beds currently face the north, and apparently that is the worst direction. The hypothesis states that earth’s energy comes from the north to the south and the east to the west. Ideally one’s feet should point toward either the south or west. The energy from the earth should enter your head and travel to your feet. Another aspect of a good night sleep is Ch’I which is a form of feng shui. This energy comes through a door, veers to the left, and circles the room. This energy, unlike earth’s energy, should enter from your feet. If one’s head is pointing towards the door then it is said that they will toss and turn during the night. Electrical devices also affect people’s sleep. If phones or iPods are close to your head then it will interfere with your brain waves. Certain signs are more sensitive than others including Gemini, Aires, and Aquarius. This information startled my roommate and me because first of all, we face the north when sleeping. Secondly, my head is pointed toward the door every night, and my roommate sleeps with her phone beside her. We realized that this might be a myth, but we have decided to investigate. Next week, we plan to point our beds toward the south and west, and move them away from the door entrance. Hopefully this will put an end to our horrifying nightmares.

"Candy" and "Sugarman"

“Candy” is a movie that supplies a view into two people’s unconditional love for one another. Their strong feelings revolve around their use of heroin. The young artistic girl (Abbie Cornish) falls quickly for a daring addict (Heath Ledger). As their relationship progresses so does their drug use. Eventually they are only completely happy when they are under the influence of heroin. The urgency for the drug forces them to put their lives and reputations at risk. The song “Sugarman” by Rodriguez also relays the need to have a drug. He describes the same emotions that the couple is experiencing, but through music instead of a movie. The song and movie tie hand in hand because they both relate to the necessity of drugs in one’s life. The high that people receive from drugs is shown visually in “Candy” whereas the auditory description is in “Sugarman.” The need for drugs consumes people’s lives, and eventually they feel as though they cannot survive without a fix.

Conformity

My mother always told me that I needed to make the right decisions. She informed me that some would be extremely difficult while others would be clear as day, but what does that really mean? In the overall scheme of life, do we really have the option to make our own choices? Sure, I can decide if I want to attend English class on Friday or where I live, but will that make a difference in the big picture? Humans like to believe that we have choices, but in reality we all follow a certain pattern: complete high school, graduate from college, find a job, buy a house, have a family, and eventually die. This is the template that everyone strives to complete. The minute decisions and choices that we make really don’t affect the pattern of conformity. Certainly there are exceptions to this guide of life. These people are the ones that drop out of high school, flunk out of college, and other deviations from this perfect pattern. Society labels these people as “losers” and “failures.” A simple slip in the ways of our society gives them foul reputations. A relative of mine dropped out of school after his sophomore year in high school and now is worth millions. Once again this is a rare exception from our planned out life, but no one looks down upon him because of one thing, money. Our lives revolve around it. People strive for money, not for love or an amazing job. Conformity rules our lives because we hope that it will lead us to our biggest desire, wealth.

"Son's Gonna Rise" by Citizen Cope

Citizen Cope’s song Son’s Gonna Rise has been one of my favorite tunes since I heard the band play at Hampden-Sydney College. After I heard them play at the college I realized how many movies their music appeared in including “Alpha Dog” and “Ghost Town.” Their music is upbeat, yet relaxing. I have been unable to categorize their sound into one specific category. This particular song describes a young man driving his wife to the hospital in order to give birth to their son. He says “the son will rise in a mile” in regards to the baby being born, but if one does not listen to the song closely, then one would think that he is talking about the sun in the sky. He also references the son being out of the dark. I like how he uses this clever metaphor to relate the birth of his son to the sun in the sky. The song makes sense to the observer if they decide to really listen to the lyrics. The entire song feels rapid and rushed which allows the listener to feel the urgency. Citizen Cope not only produced a catchy song, but one that revolves around comparing two things that seem different, but with the use of words is, in fact, similar.

"What the Bleep Do We Know?"

In the documentary, “What the Bleep Do We Know?” fascinating topics regarding life are discussed. One topic that really caught my attention dealt with water. A scientist put words on water bottles, and then studied the shapes and characteristics that the water formed. When no words were on the bottle, no shapes appeared, but when caring words were put on the bottle the water formed shapes similar to the commercial snowflake. A phrase regarding murder was placed on one bottle, and the water revealed a horrific shape with a deep yellow color. The question was raised in the documentary asking if words could do that to water then what could our thoughts do to our bodies. Another issue was raised about our sight. The eyes are simply lenses that take in large amounts of information to our brain, but the only objects that we actually envision are the ones that our brain can process. For example, when Columbus’ ships embarked on their long journey to America the Indians could not see their ships on the horizon. This was because they did not know that ships existed so their brain could not process the objects. One member of the tribe noticed the ripples on the water, and questioned why they were created. After days upon days of staring at the water, he finally saw the ships because he had conditioned himself. Whether these theories are the truth still remains a mystery. Many other questions involving Quantum Physics were discussed. I highly recommend that everyone watch this documentary!

Descriptive Essays

In class on Monday I read over Aaron and Steve’s papers. I realized how different they were from mine which discussed a secretive location on the UNCW campus. Steve chose a mountainous range while Aaron chose the Wildlife Reserve on the UNCW campus. I thoroughly enjoyed reading both essays even though they were completely different writing styles. Aaron’s descriptive essay gave me second thoughts about my own essay. The way that he described the setting and the emotions that were derived from the place was simply eloquent. Steve’s essay was pertaining to snow skiing. I could relate more to that essay because I have experienced the sport. The descriptions that he gave reminded me of Massanutten, a ski resort in Virginia. Since I have been unable to attend my family’s vacation time there, it was nice to have the imagery refreshed in my mind. I would really love to read everyone’s paper because I received so much enjoyment out of Aaron’s and Steve’s.

Environmentally Friendly

http://http://www.epa.gov/

This environment focused website allows easy access to information about the environment, as well as tips to keep families from all different areas out of harm’s way. The United States Environmental Protection Agency supplies details on current issues, science, technology, laws, and regulations. Another great utility are the tips that this site provides on overcoming winter storms. For example, no one should keep their grill or generator in their home for heat because it creates carbon monoxide. In my Environmental Issues 205 class we are constantly discussing the dangers of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. This site proves that the dangers are real, plus it supplies helpful hints to diminish our use of harmful greenhouse gasses. The site does not only address the idea of greenhouse gasses, but also the topics of water pollution, air pollution, oil spills, and other global crises that are occurring every single day. Countless articles are posted on this website that deal with every type of environmental problem occurring in our world. I strongly recommend everyone at least take a quick glance at this article to further understand the trauma that our globe is experiencing because of humans’ poor choices.

Common Words

Habits control our lives. Habits are apparent in the way we walk, eat, and even talk. Our language develops from the people that we have come in contact with over the years. The words that commonly escape from my mouth have been picked up from various people that have influenced me. Awesome is a popular word used by the young American generation of today. My habit of saying this word has come from our culture and newly developed slang. I took the words rare (weird) and frothin (guy really likes a girl or vice versa) from the Australian slang. I spent most of my senior year with a good friend from Australia, so his terminology wore off on me. One of my dearest cousins always uses the word quality to describe something that is high class. This catchy word easily molded right in to my vocabulary. The most recent word that I have picked up is killer. When an object is killer cool it means that it is extremely cool. This term has traveled from the north with a girl that I just met and made its way into my terminology. The habit of saying certain words can be damaging to the way others view you or it could define an aspect of your personality.