final paper

Final Paper: Callings to the Past
Here is this Indian reporter in “The Toughest Indian in the World” that’s found a job separate from his homeland and native lifestyle; he’s drifted away from his roots and his heritage. Given his mindset and love for the past, this reporter idolizes and admires the warrior, in all senses. Now given the time to dwell on this past and the way his father behaved around hitchhikers he feels a longing, a calling, back to his homeland and the way he was raised. Driving down the road he finds this Indian hitchhiker that coincidentally is also a fighter. Instantly the reporter falls in love with the fighter, mostly because he’s Indian, and because he’s a fighter. After being around the fighter he feels a closeness to his heritage and up-bringing. Since the reporter has been around the warrior, he’s become concerned for him, since he’s the one that’s rekindled his love and passion for his homeland. Because of this concern he offers the fighter to stay with him for the night, and during the night there’s a series of events which changes the reporter.
He felt a closeness to his kin and heritage that wasn’t there before, he felt a love and a passion for his homeland that caused him to change his way of thinking and priorities in life. After the fighter left, he woke up the next morning a changed person, because of the closeness he felt to his roots through the fighter. This closeness to his roots is what truly caused the reporter to change his course and head for home, rather than back to the newspaper.
The link through the fighter to the reporter’s heritage can be sparked in anyone, all people need is that closeness to someone, or something, that brings the individual back to their roots. Now that’s not saying that people need to have gay sex, or have sex at all, to be that thing that brings an individual back to their hometown, or native country, or childhood. For everyone it’s different, some person may simply take the smell of rain, or the sight of the desert to bring them back to their roots, and spark a fire to revisit their childhood, or homeland. But since it takes something different for everyone, it’s hard to rekindle people’s passion for the past and the way things used to be, and this is a problem with modern society. This drifting from the past is causing problems in the business world such as premature growth and expansion resulting in a crash, and also in the home. This problem is primarily an issue in the US because many Americans feel they have no homeland, or no roots. Sure, most came from England, but in this day and age how many of us feel we belong to England, how many wish to go back? So since many Americans don’t feel this calling to the past, we’ve been able to look toward the future and push our economy. This lack of attachment to the past is a bad thing in some respects, such as the possibility of failure in the business world, and the issues in the home, but its also pushing the economy overall and causing major advancements in sciences and industry.
Overall though, things will leave people feeling a lack of calling to the past and their heritage which leaves a small void in people’s lives. Now, any void at all causes problems, and maybe at the moment it’s not a prevalent issue, but eventually it will be. Just like in the story, the reporter drifted away from his roots, but once he had that attachment and spark for the past he was able to put one foot in front of the other and head back home, and he could be a happier person for it. How would the US change if everyone had that void filled? How much better would American living be?
Everyone is going to drift away from their home and their upbringing, but not everyone will be able to find the path back, and it’s those that can find the path back that can fill that void in their lives and be better people for it. Like the reporter left without his shoes, people will be able to leave without their worries. People can live better stress-free and worry-free lives, but they’ll need that closeness to their roots reaffirmed and inspired by someone or something. With what the reporter was able to do just by having his connection to his roots rekindled, imagine what the American populace would be able to do and what it would be like if the majority of people were able to do this. Life would be much happier and stress-free than it is today. There wouldn’t be so many pressures on an individual for various reasons. And people could enjoy their companionship and families to a degree that isn’t being reached today.

penguins

well, im running out of things to write about so i just wrote down whatever word came to mind, and penguins are it. but better yet, how about i just write about spontanaety and randomness. what provokes spontanaety? and what determines randomness? penguins came to mind for me, but in my room i have nothing to remind me of the ocean, or even water, i dont have anything on my compt to provoke the thought of penguins or water, the closest thing to me that could remind me of penguins is the duckpond which i can see out my window. is this randomness an indication of a person's artistic ability, or is it just someones ability to think abstractly? or is it either. i honestly dont think very abstractly (when looking at an abstract painting or something similar), and when i do my thoughts are so abstract that i cant even explain it so others understand it. what does this imply, what's this say about me. oh well, im just a goofball i guess.

section 12

i thought the layout of this class throughout the year was great. i dont think all of us need to learn how to write, im sure we all have a good idea of how to do that, but the focus of this class seemed to me to be more on philosophical things, and this is what most of us need to figure out, get our ideals straight. the fact that we had a media day on fridays was a good idea, and honestly, since im an engineer i could care less about an english class and for me personally the relatively easy agenda was nice to cope with. good job wayne, keep it up, i enjoyed the class and your instruction, thanks again

truths and great truths

i read a quote recently that stated that 'there are simple truths and there are great truths. the opposite of a simple truth is just false, but the opposite of a great truth is also true.' this is a rather interesting quote i think, because what it implies is that say.... one person believes in god; this is true, but someone else doesnt; this is also true. now i strongly believe in god so i say thats just false, but that's an opinion and i can see where people can be right in saying this. but what would be other great truths?

patience

how does one learn patience? i have my youth group back in helena which absolutely drives me nuts, but i feel obligated to be there because most the people in that youth group look up to me and i feel i have to set a good example and help guide these students. but how can i make myself deal with them when they're causing me to want to shoot something or someone? is it just my frame of mind and i need to reevaluate the things that bug me? should i look at their immaturity as innocence and almost cute rather than just an annoyance? how does one learn patience in such a short period of time?

flight

someone asked me 'if you could fly anywhere where would you go?" well, for me i have to look at it 2 ways, if it were a plane-ticket, i may go somewhere like the bahamas, or new zealand or greece or something. if i had to choose a place it would have to be new zealand or switzerland, have you seen the country in those places?! but if i had the ability to fly..... id fly to a mountaintop in the middle of the wilderness somewhere, possibly the alaskan wilderness on a peak surrounded by a dozen others and just admire the view, and enjoy the chill air.

major changes?

So im in chemical and biological engineering, and i dunno if i can handle this. i enjoy the stuff we do in my classes and i like this field of study, but i honestly dont know if i can pull the grades for it. whats sad though is that my alternative that i could enjoy would be architecture, and we all know how that goes. oh well, i have all summer to get excited about my major again and get motivated. i hope i do get motivated for next year

finals

i dont think i've procrastinated so much all semester. here it is tuesday and i've hardly begun studying for finals at all! i shoulda started last week sometime, i tried at least, but i just have no more ambition for school this year, i want it to just be summer so bad! i have a pile of calculus books and notes and stuff sitting next to me here which i tried working on a little yesterday, and on the other side of my room i have a pile of chem stuff! i can not focus at all these past couple weeks, and im afraid my tests are gonna suffer for it. finals suck

end of school!!!

so school's almost out, can you really believe it? what are everyones plans for summer? I know im going to be working a lot, but im also planning on getting out and doing a lot. Im hoping my dads back is good enough to go for hikes and camping trips, i'm definitely looking forwayd to that. And spending days out at the lake with my buds, it'll be a blast! jet skiing and wakeboarding all summer long! and get a tan! this white boy definitely needs to darken a bit. I'll be working at safeway full time all summer though, hopefully i can earn enough dough for either a season pass, or a mtn bike, or both. but i'll prolly just end up saving whatever money i earn for the schoolyear so i dont have to spend all my parents' money. So what's everyone else doing over summer?

Back in the day

Arizona, when i think of AZ i think of my childhood; running rampant up and down the street with my best friend, living as though i had nothing to lose, making everything as messy as i could just so i could dive into it whether it was a mudpile or a bunch of leggos. Arizona is where i still refer to as home sometimes, those memories are those of 'back in the day, when i was carefree and had my friends around whom i had known forever', those are thoughts of 'when life was good'. sadly enough thats often what i think, but it's been a personal struggle for me to look at what i have now and think it's just as good as what i once had, it's not like things suck for me, i enjoy everything i have, but when i compare it to AZ there's one thing that i dont have any more, and thats a friend that i grew up with, a friend that knows everything about me and vice versa. but that's been my struggle since i moved to MT, to be able to enjoy everything that i have as much as i enjoyed what i had in arizona. and that should be everyone's goal, to enjoy everything they have at the moment to the fullest

a love story

Once upon a time there was a boy, Jose, who lived in Mexico, the region he lived in wasn’t the best, and he always dreamed of going to the USA. He once had the opportunity to travel to the US on a trip with his uncle and they went to California for a vacation. This was a one time deal for him since his and his family’s financial situation wasn’t very good, his uncle had to pull some strings to allow for the trip to happen, Jose didn’t ask any questions. They were able to spend about a week in San Francisco and they had a great time while they were there.
He met this girl named Cadence and they hit it off right away. They spent a lot of their time together just enjoying the sun and views of the city together, Jose was in a paradise. He knew the time would come when they had to be separated, but he held on to his dreams and promised Cadence he’d come back for her eventually. They made a vow to each other to see nobody and keep their hearts set on each other. When the day came to leave Jose’s uncle had to tear them apart from each other so they could leave… and then he was gone, on the road back home, but his heart was left in Cali.
Once back home Jose to find a job and try to work up the money so he could move to the US. Day in and day out Jose would work constantly for the money he needed, all the while writing to Cadence and she writing back. One day Jose picked up a newspaper and the headlines almost killed him; “Series of 9.0 Earthquakes Hit California” of course it was in Spanish, but the meaning was the same. This sent Jose into a frenzy, he didn’t know what to do, he had no time to send more letters, he had to know whether his true love was alright or not! So that night when he went into work, he decided to stay a little later than usual, and as soon as he got the chance, he went into the office of his employer and ripped them off of all their funds. He figured he had enough money now to buy his way into the US without having to wait months for the proper paperwork.
Once he finally got his way across the border he could finally take a breath, but now the real issue was at hand. He got to the nearest gas station he could find and asked to use the telephone, he figured he ought to at least try and give her a call, if she answered he could give her the good news that he got into the US, or wait to surprise her if he wanted, but if she didn’t answer he knew he had to hurry, or at least to expect the worst. But, to no avail, she didn’t answer. Jose had to set about to find a ride to San Francisco now, he was just happy he didn’t blow all his cash getting across the border. So he got on the first bus heading to San Fran. Now once he finally got to the city he realized he had a big dilemma ahead of him, because now he had to traverse the city trying to find her home address, which half the city was in ruin by now anyway. So he got a map at the nearest shop and began walking. He realized as he started walking that she lived near the ocean, and all he could think is what a great place that would be to live, walking distance from the beach, where you could lay around or go swimming any time you wanted, how gorgeous it would be he thought. After some time of walking he crested a hill and looked out over a subdivision followed by the ocean, and all his hopes and dreams were soon at hand. None of the homes were destroyed from earthquakes or anything, he just hoped she wasn’t elsewhere during the quakes. But as he was standing there admiring the view the ground started rumbling around him! Jose had no idea what to do during an earthquake. He was panicking, thinking of one thing to do for safety but realizing a danger in his idea, he was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. And then the quake peaked and he watched, as the ground before him started breaking away. A huge crevasse was spreading along the coast splitting California off from the rest of the USA, and his true love with it.
Then he saw her there, on the road just on the other side, on the landmass drifting away from him. With the wind blowing in her hair and she standing there taking it all in he was awestruck, then the locked eyes for a brief moment which seemed like an eternity. Then in a moment of fear for losing her he jumped into the ocean to swim off to her, when she saw this she swam towards him as well. With the land separating away from them they met together between the landmasses and met in joy and happiness. And just as scientists predicted, California finally broke off into the ocean from the rest of the US, leaving two lovers holding each other in the middle of it all. The earth gave a final thrashing and sent the island even farther off into the ocean leaving a bigger chasm in the middle and sending the waters into a vicious torrent that sucked both the lovers into the depths of the new oceanic canyon, and they drowned, holding each other after such long, sought after love to be reunited. Their love was reunited, but at the cost of their lives. The story is of a tragic love ending together in the worst way possible. The end.

one's meaning in life

Throughout a person’s journey to adulthood, or maturity, there is much that must happen. Every person completes a new chapter in their life and feels a need to either experience new things in life, or to rediscover one’s self. McCandless, in “Into the Wild,” is a college graduate and wants to remove himself from society, so he decides to travel to Alaska and live on the land alone for some time. By deciding to follow this path he is both accomplishing a great task which in its own would strengthen him physically and mentally, but he is also satisfying his lust for adventure and fulfillment.
Chris McCandless sets out hitchhiking across the Alaskan frontier making acquaintances along the way that could share their story of Chris. According to some of these stories, it seems to me that Chris was so eager to begin his adventure that he never bothered to do any research on either Alaska, nor the necessary actions that would need to be taken to simply live in such a harsh environment. His poor attempt at learning, resulted in a library book never being checked back in, and considering the short amount of time the vegetation would be edible, the book might as well have been used for fuel for his fire, along with the rest of his books. This very observation that Chris set out hastily, shows how necessary it is for individuals to find their place in the world and understand themselves. It shows how forcefully this need will push you and cause you to pursue it, and in Chris McCandless’s case it ended in disaster, but for many it can be either the most joyous experience of all, or the best learning experience, or even both.
In “The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain” this need to pursue personal growth and retribution in ones own eyes is also expressed. It talks of a poem, or something, that someone ‘breathes’ meaning they put their hearts and souls into this object, and that this object is something that they’ve worked so hard to create and form it to just the way they like. This expression of ones self in their work can never be done without a cost, yet the cost in this case is personal understanding and growth. This growth is very similar to the journeys taken like in Chris McCandless’s case.
Both the poem, and the story by Krakauer, express ways of personal learning and growth, both utilize different methods, yet they both leave a person with personal understanding and growth. And perhaps the purpose is not that of personal growth and understanding, but of something entirely different, yet these very points can be pulled out of these texts. No matter what though, people will always pursue things that both excite them, and may perhaps lead to enlightenment, so whether that is the point of these works, that’s irrelevant, because this very thing can be pulled out of many ideas and topics of life.

love poem

it is something that consumes
it itches and burns clear to the soul
when is steps into your life, it blinds
it causes greatness to crumble
it causes greatness to rise
love, is what drives our passion

what is love? -love free write

love is something that allows a person to do amazing things for whom they love. it's when a person loves someone and they think about them continuously, they're always on your mind. someone that takes over your mind and makes that person want to be with them all the time and go out of their way for them to make them happy. love is where your happy simply being around the person you love, not even doing anything special, just happy being in their presence.