Casey :)

What does being fashionable really mean?

2009-06-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

It is common that I find myself gawking in the Neiman Marcus shoe department; gaping at every Christian Louboutin shoe, placed prominently on the circular glass tables. Some may call these over priced treasures ridiculous, but I call them art. Although many people disagree (typically the people who find shopping a drag), fashion is a way of expressing oneself through color, pattern, shape, and texture. In other words, “Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening” (Coco Chanel). Even though fashion is whatever you make it to be, there are some guidelines you must follow in order to actually be fashionable. To tell you the truth, until last year, I had absolutely no idea what style was. Trying to fit in by following the current “it” looks was my motto, and to be honest, it got me nowhere. This all changed this summer when my friend and I studied Fashion Design for a month in Florence, Italy, one of the fashion capitals of the world. If someone were to ask me what I learned from that incredible experience, I would say I learned how to be stylish by being myself. Now I can safely say that I steer away from the current “it” look and instead create new styles that get numerous compliments and even more glares

Mark Bereyso

2009-06-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

It has been a month or two since junior theme, and i had my interview with Attourney Mark Bereyso. Mr. Bereyso has his own gay rights firm in chicago, as well as being gay himself. I had a really interesting interview with him that ended up lasting an hour, where i got tons of information about the struggles gays, lesbians, and bisexuals face while living in our society. It was all really interesting although it was mainly not things i could use in my paper. After the interview, he asked if i would send him a copy of my paper once i was done with it. So after i finished i sent him a copy and he responded, saying how great it was that i had chosen such a controversial topic. We kept in contact, and he ended up telling me all about his childhood and how hard it was to grow up and try and make your way in the world as a gay american. I was so grateful to him for sharing all that personal information with me, because it really gave me an insight into what that life was like. I have an aunt who is a gay american, and i have never really been able to understand it, because my family is not very open to the idea, and we dont ever talk about it, and my aunt is not welcome to bring her partner to family events. It was also so hard for me to understand what the big deal was. If we were really her family, shouldne we be more accepting of her sexual orientation?

Is art becoming less valuable in todays society?

2009-06-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

I just read about a really interesting experiment in the newspaper. Joshua Bell, one of the greatest violinists of our time participated in a an experiment in New York City where he pretended to be just a street performer. He set up right outside a subway station and began playing. Despite the fact that he is a genius musician that many people pay thousands to see, nobody even glanced his way. He played all day, and only received a few glances, and even less stopped to listen. I found this completely surprising, because i had no idea that our society was so far gone into their own lives. In my opinion, Joshua Bell was almost entirely ignored when playing at the station because our culture has killed the ability to appreciate great art in general. After playing some of the most spiritually powerful pieces such as Chaconne and Ave Maria, Joshua Bell had less than a handful of people stop and listen to him. Most people were so busy caught up in their own lives that they didn’t even look twice while passing Joshua Bell expertly play the violin. This shows how our culture is slowly killing its aesthetic appreciation for art, even if it’s sung, painted, or played by the best. I never noticed this before but our society stopped appreciating beauty in art. For example, back when my parents were young, the Beatles were very popular. They are still among the best; every song of theirs is a classic that can be listened to over and over again. The music created today is nothing like the classics. Most songs like “Whatever You Like” and “Just Dance” are popular for about a month and are then never heard of again. This is because the media will produce any song that has a beat, even if the song has mediocre lyrics and is sung by someone with no talent whatsoever. With every year, our appreciation for art is dwindling. Hopefully this will reverse and our world will start enjoying the real beauty that lies in life.

Celebrity Baby Boom

2009-06-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that lately the media seems to have this obsession with Celebrity Babies. Im always seeing stories in magazines like Cosmopolitan and People about the "Most Fashionable Celebrity Baby" or articles about Celebrity Baby accessory "Must Haves". Im wondering where all the obsession with celebrity babys come from. After all, theyre not the ones acting in movies and who have songs on the radio like their parents, and yet their pictures still show up in the tabloids every month. And everytime a baby is born to a celebrity, it is front page on all magazines and Celebrity Gossip newspapers. I really wanted to know the reasons behind this obsession, so i went online to see if some philosopher or other intellectual had come up with an answer to my question. What i found was pretty interesting, although it wasnt exactly the answer i was looking for. http://http//www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20007101__1547307,00.html

I thought this was a compeltely hilarious article, cause this guy was wondering the same thing i did, but he went about it in a much more humerous way.

Students Suprise Seatmate

2009-06-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

I heard a really interesting story in the news this morning. A few days ago, two high school seniors from Maryland were on their way back from a football conference, when they struck up a conversation with a man they were sitting next to on the plane about football. He knew alot about football, and they were suprised at how knowledgable he was about the sport, and so ended up talking to him the entire plane ride. When they got off the plane ride, they discovered that the man was actually Clarence Thomas, A Supreme court justice. They immediatly told their principle they wanted to invite him to speak at their graduation. The principle didnt believe that they could ever get a supreme court justice to speak at their small maryland highschool. But suprisingly enough, Justice Thomas was so impressed by the boys, that he not only agreed to speak at the graduation, but he gave then a great honor by telling the whole room how highly he thought of them. I found this story really inspiring, because it shows how a little act of kindness can go a long way. One of the things that impressed the justice about the boys was that even though they had no idea who he was during the plane ride, they still went out of their way to be friendly. From that they got something that is going to go with them theyre whole lives. Not only is it an amazing memory, theyll also always be able to get a an amazing letter of recommendation that noone would doubt

Progress?

2009-06-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

This photo really represented American Progress to me, because it shows our progress in our recent history, as well as from when the country first began. Firstly, I think this image represents how the soldiers in Iraq are completely out of their league and are not equipped to be fighting there. We have been in this war for many years now, and despite everything the soldiers are going through, we still have made no progress in ending the war. You would also think that after all the damage that has been done to our country because of war, we wouldve found a better solution to our problems. We have made so much progress in our country, and it has become one of the main world powers, even though it is one of the youngest countries in the world. I believe we should be able to see a problem and come up with a way to fix it, instead of just ignoring it. For example, these soldiers in iraq need help, but i dont know if theyre going to get it. Weve been over there fighting for years, and nothing has gotten better. Dont you think its time for a new solution?

What is the truth behind legends?

2009-03-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

This spring break, i went to Colonial Williamsburg. While there, we went on a ghost tour of the town, where we hear the different ghost stories and legends that took place there. They had it set up so that when you went to the houses, a "ghost" would come out and tell you their story. Afterwards, the tour guide would tell the group the truth about the story. Most of the truths were completely different from the legends. It made me wonder how these legends had evolved from the truths. As time goes by, the stories are passed down through generations of people, and the stories are changed a little bit each time. In the end, the stories are completely different then how they originally started, kind of like the game Telephone. It also made me wonder about all the legends we know today, and how far they are from the truth. Things like George Washington's famous cherry tree, or the stories in the bible, or people like Rosa Parks, who, as we discussed in class, might not have been the hero we thought she was. It is kind of sad to think that the stories we have grown up on and the heros who have influenced us might not all be what we think they are.

Beauty through time

2009-03-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

Today in class as we were discussing junior theme topics, someone brought up the topic of the perception of beauty through time. This reminded me of something that i saw in Williamsburg during my spring break. We went on a tour of the Payton Randolph house, and the tour guide showed us a painting of Mr. and Mrs. Randolph. We all laughed when we saw them, because to us they were very funny looking people. After we laughed, the tour guide told us that
they were actually considered very attractive during their time. I thought this was really interesting, because i didn't think that beauty was something that could change. I guess that nowadays, beauty has changed because of the use of make-up and different clothings styles. Also things like skin tone and body size have changed through time. What is considered as attractive goes through trends, just like clothing and other accessories.

We can do it!

2009-03-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

Today in class, we started a discussion about World War 2 propaganda. One of the posters in the slide show was the "We can do it!" poster, about womens work in the war effort. It got me thinking about womens rights, and how big of a turning point it must have been for women. Up until this time period, women were still seen as the quiet, sweet and gentle homemakers. Most were raised under the impression that their purpose in life was to become a wife and mother and create a happy home. It must have come as a shock when all of a sudden, women needed to step up and do what was considered mans work, during the war. While some women were happy to have this chance, there were probably some who were hesitant, because it was against the beliefs they were raised with. This opportunity gave women the chance to show themselves, and men, what they could do.

The simplest thing

2009-02-27T11:09:00.000-08:00

Every week, i take dance classes at Fisher Dance Center in Wilmette. During our breaks, my friends and i go down to the Treasure Island grocery store which is right down the street. There is always a man sitting outside in an electric chair selling magazines. Every week we pass him, but we've never stopped to talk to him, or buy a magazine. This week, however, we decided to stop and buy a magazine. We stopped and asked how much they were, and ended up staying and talking to him for the next hour. He told us his name, and basically his whole life story. It was so interesting, and also really sad to hear all the things hes been through. He's really a remarkable person. Towards the end of the conversation, he told us that he knew we were only buying a magazine from him to help him out, and how that meant so much to him. Most people dont even acknowledge his presence, and just walk in and out of the store, completely ignoring him. I wondered how it would feel to sit outside alone all day, every day, and have most people completely ignore you. I could tell by the eager way he talked to us that he really didnt have much human contact, and it meant so much to him that we had that short conversation with him. I really hope we can continue to talk to him each week, and i really hope that more people will start to talk to him. He is such a great person, and i hate to think of him being so lonely all the time. I know that even the simplest thing would mean a lot to him.

What really is racism?

2009-01-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

After writing my blog on the Bengals slogan last night, i brought the subject up at the dinner table. We got in a really good discussion about it, with even my 10 year old brother bringing up some good points. My mom brought up a similar point that shocked me. When she was in collage, she was a part of a sorority, and when she was a senior, became the vice president of that sorority. Before pledge week began, each of the sorority and fraternity houses had a meeting with the administrators, to go over the requirements each house had to meet to be able to continue at the school. One of that requirements was that each house accept at least one pledge of a different ethnicity into their house. I thought that this was absolutely ridiculous. These houses should accept everybody based on whether they feel they should fit their sorority or not, and not just to fill a quota. If a person found out about this requirement, they wouldn't know whether their were there because they absolutely deserved to be, or because they were just needed to fill a quota. I understand that the administrators may be trying to be sure peoples bias about race isn't put into the decission, and that everybody has a change to join a sorority, but still. I think it would be better to be in no sorority, then to be in one that you dont belong in, or that your disliked by people in. This whole requirement could cause alot of resentment, i think its a really bad idea.

Who dey?

2009-01-05T14:23:00.001-08:00

Today in class we talked about racism, and the steryotypes put on people of different ethnicities, and it reminded me of something that i never even thought about as a racist comment. Growing up in cincinnati, ohio. my family and i were always huge bengals fans. The bengals slogan is "Who Dey" which comes from "who dey think gonna beat dem bengals". This slogan came from african americans, or how they supposedly would say that sentence. This slogan is written on shirts, signs, and all other propaganda that the bengals put out, is yelled at the games, and its also the name of the bengals mascot. This slogan started in the 1970's, and you would think that by now, the bengals would have gotten rid of this steryotypical and racist statement. Many highschools who have names like "redskins" have had to change their names because their racist against Native Americans. If the government is making highschools get rid of their racist names, shouldnt they also be making our football teams change their racist slogans? The bengals have a lot of african american fans, and they probably find this statement very offensive. The phrase shows bad grammer, and is spelled like they would supposedly say it. It doesnt make african americans seem very intelligent. Now that i think about it, i dont really feel comfortable saying something that is so offensive to so many people.

Witch Hunt

2008-11-02T17:02:00.000-08:00

While reading The Crucible, i started thinking about other "witch trials" that have gone on in the past. For example, In Germany during World War II, there was a kind of witch hunt going on after the jews. They were advertised as being evil and bad for the human race, they were even refered to as "bad mushrooms" in childrens books and movies. The main goal was to round up all the jews and despose of them, leaving a pure race. There was a mad hunt to find every jew in Europe. Another example of this was the armenian genocide. It was the deliberate destruction of the Armenian Population in the Ottoman Empire. This was the same goal that salem had. To get rid of the evil in their society, which in that case was the witches. Each of these societies "evil" had specific qualities that they told people to be looking out for so they could be identified. This also kind of made me wonder where these kind of things started. What made these societies take normal people and turn them into enemies? To make people so scared of these enemies that is starts a whole phenomenon just to get them out of their lives, and so they can feel safe. Was that one little thing worth all the innocent lives lost?

Rights in School?

2008-10-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

The other day, my sister came home from school very upset. She's a 7th grader at Washburne, and in her science class they're beginning to talk about dissecting frogs. Everyone in our family is Vegetarian, and we all believe strongly in animal rights, so naturally we are against the dissecting of frogs. After her class was over, my sister went up to her science teacher and told him that she didn't feel comfortable dissecting the frog, since it was something she strongly disagreed with. He asked her if she ate meat, and she said no, and explained to him why she felt so strongly about animal rights. He told her he understood, but that there was nothing he could really do about it, and if she didnt dissect the frog, she would get a failing grade. The teacher could tell how big of a deal this was to my sister, and i feel that it is really unfair that he still told her that she had no other option. Especially since there are many other options, like virtual dissections, that help kids learn the same things they would in a real dissection. The teacher put my sister in a very hard position, and i think he used his authority against her. He definitly should have tried to see it from her perspective, and not be so close minded

The Renaissance Schools Fund

2008-09-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

In our Student Bill of Rights project, each group put down the things they thought should be a necessity for all students in the state of illinois. Some of these things where a safe learning enviroment, safe transportation to and from school, qualified teachers, up to date technologies, textbooks and other learning tools, nurses available anytime during the school day and social work support. These things reminded me of something my family has become involved in this year. The Renaissance Schools Fund is an organization that works to give students living in the inner city of Chicago what we agreed where every students rights. A large group of people from the North Shore have donated thousands and thousands of dollars to open schools, called LEARN Charter Schools, in safe areas. While in these schools, the students wont have to listen to fighting and gun shots, and they can feel safe from the violence most of them see and experience at their homes. Every day, buses come to transport the children to school, and home once the school day is over. Alot of the money has also gone to hiring qualified teachers, nurses and social workers, as well as buying resources such as textbooks, maps, computers, and books to fill the library. This organization gives us proof that having a good learning enviroment really does make all the difference. LEARN Charter schools had ISAT scores that where over 20% higher in both math and reading then any other inner city school, as well as an attendance rate that shows 95% of students coming to class on time, everyday. But the most exciting accomplishment of the LEARN Charter schools is that 97% of its students go on to graduate from highschool. 97%! Thats as good as New Trier! It is just so good to know that so many children are getting the opportunities to become the best that they can be and the chance for a better life.

Which works better?

2008-09-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

In class on Friday, we where talking about how Mccain has been pushing this idea of his "rebirth" in his campaign. He started out in a really wealthy family, went to someof the best schools in the country, and then suddenly hit rock bottom when he was being held prisoner in the vietnam war, and once he was saved went on to running for president. George Bush also went through this same kind of curve in his life. On the other hand, Obama's life has gone in a completely different direction. He started out at rock bottom, and worked his way up to the top. What im wondering is, which tactic do people like better? Personally, i feel like people would like and respect Obama more because of his life. He started out with nothing, and worked hard to give himself a better life, and has gotten this far because of that. Mccain and Bush started out with alot of money,and had alot of things in their lives handed to them. It is pretty admirable, once they had their decline that they had the strenght to work their way back to the top, but i think that Obama needed to have alot more strength to start at nothing and to work his way up with nothing to help him out.

Test Blog

2008-09-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

CASEY