121kra’s Weblog

After three drafts this is how my paper on shopaholics went.  If you are interested in the subject, feel free to read it. 121-afrides2.doc 

Facebook and myspace have affected many people.  There are so many people in the world who have a profile on either, if not both of these websites.  So many people hear how these websites have harmed people, or have been used to trace people down, yet nothing stops them from doing their nightly check of their profile.  I have heard of many people who have complained that they are truly addicted to the website.  Some people check it on a daily basis.  It has become such a popular site that colleges, and people who interview for jobs have been known to check if someone has a myspace.  Facebook almost just as popular if not as popular has become an increasing problem as well.  While facebook seems like it may be less harmful because people use it to find classmates, it can never be perfectly safe.  There will always be hackers or people with bad intentions that go on these sites.  One of the ways people always say that you can reduce the risk of becoming a victim of one of the terrible things that could happen is to set your profile to private, and only accept friends that you know.  Still, if you don’t set your profile to private, and one of your friends has a myspace or facebook friend who has bad intentions, he can now see all of your pictures.  What makes it so much worse is that not only can people see your pictures and know what your face looks like, but most people put down their age, birthday, town where they live, and other things that are completely insecure to disclose.  Though not even I follow these ideas, I do suggest that people go home and take off all of the personal information.  Saying that you have a dog might not be a big deal, but disclosing that your birthday is November 22, 1987 is not a smart idea.  Full names are also not good ideas.  This may sound funny coming from someone who is writing a blog post that can be read by everyone who bothers to look but we all know that there are bad people out there, why should we go out of our way to make it easy for them to harm us.

peer-evaluation-form.doc

This is part of the work that we need to do for our English class.  For this semester we have to write four papers, each of which have four drafts to them.  The second draft is always a draft that we write and share with a small group of students to see what they feel about the paper.  As you all know, my paper was about shopaholics.  My other group members’ papers were on child labor, Coney Island, and a family’s past.  They were all very interesting.  I like my group members, whose names are Tebogo, Liz, and Tiffany.  They all seem really nice, though I know Tiffany because she is a suitemate of mine in the dorms of St. Johns.  Still I hope that you read my paper and post your own comment, or just look to see what they wrote.  They posted their comments, as I posted my comments on their blog post itself.  I feel as though I want to keep my group the way it is.  I hope that they continue to be my partners because they seem nice and we all get along.  Getting along is a big part of this class.  If you don’t like your group, you may not take your responses to heart.  It is important that they are nice enough so that you understand that they are only trying to help.  If you see them as your enemies, they will never do you any good.  I’ve learned this first hand that you really need to learn how to like them in order to be in a group with them.  This may seem a little ridiculous but it is the only way that I can work well with the people in my group.  I hope that you can understand where I’m coming from and I hope that you find it interesting what I have to say about them.  I won’t be bashing all of them, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you won’t find it here, but this is my evaluation of how the process of the peer evaluation went.

We all know that men are very different from women.  There used to be the problem that women had not status in society, but that’s not what my problem is.  I’d like to know when it was that men got the idea that they could treat women as terribly as they do today.  Women might not have been equal to men in older times but men were courteous and there were even things like holding a door open for a girl (which no one knows where that went…probably right out the same door-metaphorically speaking), they used to walk on the outside of the road during the time that people threw their garbage out the window, and many other things.  Now where has it all gone?  In today’s society men don’t do anything for women anymore.  They complain that women are too loud, talk to much, gossip too much, and they wonder why they don’t get sex after marriage.  For all men out there, just because you got us to marry you, or date you for a year doesn’t mean that all respect and courtesy can now fly out the window.  I don’t understand where men get off saying, “I don’t know why my wife doesn’t have sex with me, or all my wife wants is a baby.”  If they were half the men they should be, maybe they would know better and actually treat women right.  I don’t have a link for this blog post so maybe it won’t count as a blog but this is all from my experience.  I may not be completely experienced when it comes to relationships but so far the only men I’ve found was one who took anger management classes because he threw a bowl of soup on a counselor, a guy who cheated on my with one of my best friends, and a guy who treats me like dirt every day and has actually tried to abuse me (and then he wonders why I don’t act the same towards him anymore).  You tell me why a girl like me would want to be in a relationship when all she can find is this.  You tell me who thinks that this is good behavior.  I’m not sure if it’s upbringing or if somehow I find all the losers in the city but it has become quite rediculous.  You show me a man who is decent and I will somehow find the worst part of him.  Explain to me why this is someone, anyone, because honestly I wonder if men are the inferior sex and I’ve lost all hope that they may ever be the equal of women.  A woman would give up anything for the person she loved or cared about and a man can’t even come out of his room in order to meet her.  A friend of mine was willing to give up anything for the man she loved, and yet he broke up with her because his parents didn’t like that she wasn’t jewish.  He loves her and misses her a lot but somehow he doesn’t have the guts to persue what he cares about and be with someone who loves him and would cherish him no matter what the cercumstances were, unlike the conditional love that his parents give him (which should be unconditional).  Show me how this is fair

121-afrides1.doc

The link above is to my peer review draft for the paper that I am writing for my English Class.  As I have previously stated in one of my other blogs, my paper is on shopaholics.  If anyone would like to give me some imput I am very open to any suggestions.  We were supposed to ask three questions which you can find in the link to my paper, but here they are again in case you want to see them,

·         Do I speak about too many items and should I focus more on one rather than another?

·         Is my grammar well done?

·         Are there any other suggestions that you have about my paper?

      I’m not sure that people understand the severity that being a shopaholic can be.  I hope that people who have this problem learn how to solve their problem so that they don’t become some of the people who are in extreme debt.  There are so many people who lose so much money on things that they don’t need.  This problem is a great deal like the problem of gamblers.  These are the people who don’t care where their money goes, and then wonder why they are broke.  There are so many people who lose their homes, cars, and everything else that they own because of stupid decisions.  There are always some who lose money in the stock market, but at least those are not quite on the same level as people who are gamblers.  Everything in moderation is fine, but it is when things get out of hand and people start to go overboard that things start to get bad.  People need to learn how to control themselves because it is only with self-control that they will stay out of problems that could eventually destroy their lives.  I only hope that you enjoy the paper and I hope that if you are one of these people and shop to the extent that these people shop, that you will finally learn the possible damages it may cause.

http://stjohns.edu/campus. 

I live on campus in St. John’s University.  I am in Hollis Hall on the sixth floor.  I love most of my roommates, but there are always those one or two people that you could live without.  I am probably going to dorm again next year but I only wish that we can choose our suitemates.  I have requested another single, as I have had this year, however if there is no where to go to request suitemates, I may be with none of the people from my dorm this year.  I will miss them all dearly, and all the funny nights like even last night.  I can’t wait for the semester to be over and for us to have off, but I am also sad to have to say goodbye so soon.  I’m not much for goodbyes but it will have to be done.  If any of them are reading this, I wish you all the luck…we’ll hang out next year no matter what, but have a good summer.  I know I’m a little early for this but perhaps my constant wearing of skirts has me in the summertime 24/7.  I’m sure that if for no other reason, they will remember me for that.  Along with them I will miss some of the people that I had in my classes.  I will always remember going to my philosophy class during the first semester of my freshman year and sitting next to Denise Williams.  We always made fun of our really stupid teacher.  I’ll never know what was so wrong with him, but I’m sure he’ll never forget the laughter that came from our direction every class.  I’ll never forget my English class with my suitemate Tiffany Cioffi.  I’ll always remember Wilson Chau from my philosophy class this semester, during which we would always laugh about something stupid (at least not the teacher this time).  I’ll also remember John Mulham from my Theology class, during which I am almost always on the verge of falling asleep in.  All of these people, some more significant than others, will always be people that I remember and I hope that we all keep in contact over the summer.  The last people I hope to keep in contact with, who are probably the most important on the list are my suitemates-Tina, Elisabeth, Tori, Tiffany, Lesleen, and Arlett.

http://www.tv.com/friends/show/71/summary.html  The television show “Friends” is one of my favorites.  It is about six friends who go through their lives together.  The characters are Phoebe, Rachel, Monica, Joey, Ross, and Chandler.  I learned at one point that the original name of the show was supposed to be “Insomniac Café,” but at the last minute they decided to change the name.  The show went on for many years and has ten seasons.  My favorite characters were always Ross and Rachel.  I always hoped that they would get together in the end and I was thrilled when the final episode had them get back together.  I love movies, but television shows are also special in their own way.  I love how you can see the characters grow and change over the years.  I also find it more dramatic- in the case of dramas, when they force you to wait a week to see what happens next.  I like seeing different stories that all fold into one big story.  I like movies because you understand and feel for a character in only two hours.  Because it is only two hours, you get to see the whole story all at once.  Television series are different but they form the same type of idea.  Because the series can last years, you can know the characters to such an extreme that it can make you cry as if their problems were your own.  This is why so many women cry at soap operas.  I must admit that I am one of those people.  I can get so attached to characters that it hurts me to know that something didn’t go their way. www.cwtv.com/shows/one-tree-hill “One Tree Hill” is one of the shows that can do this for me.  It is another show about friends, but unlike “Friends” they go through life altering problems rather than comedic instances.  I can cry during this show because I see a character’s marriage go sour, or a lover who cheats.  I have loved this show since I first started watching it, and just like “Friends” it will always be one of my favorites.

http://www.guncite.com/ 

I think that gun control is a very controversial topic nowadays.  It will probably never become illegal to own a gun, for the simple fact that it is a constitutional right to, “Bear arms.”  There are groups of people that are in complete agreement with this constitutional right, yet some are more opposed to the idea.  There are many negatives to allowing people to own guns.  The growing crime rate is one of the best reasons as to why people should not be allowed to own guns.  There are so many hold-ups and murders that guns are known as dangerous.  We all know that guns are one of the most, if not the most dangerous weapons out there.  On top of that, there are so many incidents in which children kill themselves because of guns that aren’t properly stored.  Because of these innocent deaths, people get hurt or die from guns.  There are however some benefits to guns.  One huge benefit is the police.  Although there would be no need for police to have guns if no one else was allowed to get them, there will always be people who go against the law and still own guns.  The security that guns give to people is a reason for people to own them.  I am personally opposed to guns however I would probably own a gun one day, especially if I lived on my own.  Even still, this has become a major issue for candidates that are running for presidency or any other office job.  People are normally against the idea of owning a gun, yet the security that it brings to people makes them a little more comfortable.  I know that as someone who lives in a house, there are always fears that you have when walking into an empty house.  Because of this I would go against my belief and own a gun.  If I had kids in the house I would either secure the gun properly or get rid of the gun.  I know that there are a lot of dangers but in our world today, and especially in some cities there is a need for some protection to get through everyday life.

121-afrides.doc

I have asked around and have found that most people think that I should do my paper on shopaholics.  There are some people who were just uninterested in Volleyball, while others thought that I might have an easier time writing about shopaholics.  I am pretty sure that I will wind up doing shopaholics.  I wrote a much longer paper than I should have, but all of the points seemed interesting.  For my revision, however, I think that I will add a few specifics and try to take out some of the points that seem useless to me at a later date.  For now, however, I feel as though everything is necessary.  I hope that I do well on this project because I am a true shopaholic and I would like to be honest to my addiction.  In a country in which everyone spends seven dollars on a pack of cigarettes, or five dollars on a cup of Starbucks coffee, why wouldn’t we have a growing problem of shopping?  No one looks at shopping as a problem because of all of the other severe problems with cigarettes and alcohol.  Still, shopaholics have a big problem and they should be acknowledged.  I hope that people become aware of the problems that shopping can lead to because of this paper.  Problems of severe debt start at early ages when people turn into shopaholics.  I’ve seen so many episodes of “Big Spender,” a television show on TV, in which people are in debt by thousands and yet can do nothing but purchase some more.  It becomes a vicious cycle of buying, growing in debt, borrowing money, purchasing more, and continuing.  It’s pretty sad that no one notices the money that goes out of their pocket for the simplest things.  Five dollars for a cup of coffee doesn’t seem like much but if you multiply it times seven days a week it’s thiry-five dollars.  If you multiply the thirty-five times fifty-two weeks in a year, you’re paying one thousand eight hundred twenty dollars a year on coffee.  For some this might not even seem like a large amount but then again these are the same people who live pay check to pay check and complain that they can’t afford a house for some reason.  I hope that this interests you and makes you more interested to read my paper.

It has taken me quite some time to decide what I should do for my profile paper.  This is a paper that we have to do for English class.  It is supposed to be about a community or a place.  I haven’t decided which I want to do yet but I did have two ideas.  My original idea was to do my paper on the disabled.  http://121kra.wordpress.com/  My uncle (another blog of mine) is disabled and I thought I could do a profile on people that are paralyzed just like him.  I then figured out that I probably couldn’t get to the hospital, doctors, and many disabled people in the amount of time that we were given.  It’s a shame that we don’t have more time because I would have liked to do this project.  I then decided to choose between two different topics.  Here is where I get confused.  I’m not sure whether to do my project on Volleyball players that graduated in my class and are now in college, or on shopaholics.  I am personally a part of both groups.  I most definitely am a shopaholic, and I was on the Volleyball team from eighth grade on to my senior year.  I know for a fact that I get upset when I can’t shop and I know many people who are the same.  I also know that I miss Volleyball more than anything.  I miss Volleyball so much since I left my high school and it has become a real emptiness in my life.  I was one of three captains and I’m sure that they feel the same way that I do.  There was one other player in my class, but I’m not sure how she felt about the topic.  For shopaholics I could discover how gender affects whether or not someone is a shopaholic, if their mood affects their will to shop, if it is addictive, how much they spend, try to hypothesize when the problems start, and other things.  For Volleyball I could ask whether or not they miss the sport, have they played since high school, how much it meant to them, and why they played.  Every year my high school has a barbeque and pool party on the last day of school before finals.  After this party, they normally go up to the gym and play a senior versus faculty game.  I would also ask if they would be interested in doing an alumni versus senior game.  If they are willing to do it, I will go to my school and try to set it up.  Probably not by the first draft, but maybe by the peer review draft (second draft) I will include in my essay if there will be a game or not.  If so my professor, Robert Leston is welcome to come and watch.  This is not yet decided but it is something that I’ve been thinking about for a while.  I hope it works out because I miss Volleyball.  Please help me decide.  If anyone has any suggestions I am very open to them.