English blog...England blog!

I am living in London! This place is amazing. One of the classes that I am taking is a one credit “London Walks” class. For this class we have a series of walks to go on, and then create a visual journal for each walk. For the first week (the afternoon of the 9th to the 12th) we went on the first 8 walks listen in our books in different groups or on our own if needs be. We walked through the city and visited many of the sites. We walked the walls of Londinium—the route of the ancient wall, which laid out the perimeter of the Roman town, a walk through the city, a walk along the stretch of the Thames—mostly the south side, a walk past Westminster and Lambeth, a walk about “the temple” or “Legal London”—the western half of the city, a walk westward from the city—along the theatre route, and a walk dealing with London’s seats of power and government. We visited many statues, buildings, and landmarks during these walks, but I don’t think I’m going to list them out right now. It’s been amazing! The first night we got here we saw “Les Miserables,” and on our day trip last Wednesday we visited Canterbury, Rye, and Beachyhead. This week we are seeing “The importance of being Earnest.” A couple of us have also gone to “Woman in Black” and “History Boys.” I’ve gone to the Portrait Gallery, the London Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the V and A Museum, but I’m going to have to go back and go through them all again. I’m studying British crime, Religion, Studio art, Conceptual art, and London Walks. The building we are in is beautiful! Maybe, as soon as I’m done typing this, I’ll give a little tour with my camera. The ward I got assigned to is great—they are so kind! Right now I’m in the Young Women’s; I’ll be teaching next week on “Preparing to become an eternal companion.” Ha ha, I know, kind of funny. A couple of us go to institute; it’s a chance to get to know even more people. We get around by tube and coach. The tube is the underground train station—like the subway or the metro. The coach is the bus we hire when we go on trips outside of London. Well, I’ll sign off for now. Cheers!

Review for unit 2

Note: you can use this if you want if it aids your study. As a disclaimer: There may be things on here not on the test, or things on the test not in here. These are just things that might be important.
Chapter 10 Waves
-Types: Longitudinal/compression, shear/transverse (what can they travel through?)
-Properties: Wavelength, frequency, crest, trough, amplitude
-What is the relationship between frequency and wavelength?
-Behaviors: reflection, refraction, diffraction, and interference (destructive and constructive)
-Standing waves
-Doppler effect
-Sound and light; frequency and amplitude
Chapter 11 The Properties of Light
-Wave nature of light (reflection, refraction, diffraction, and interference) (double slit)javascript:void(0)
-Be acquainted with figure 11.8 (electromagnetic spectrum)
-Particle nature of light (photoelectric effect)
-Wave energy is amplitude; particle energy is frequency
-Is light a wave or particle? Neither; exhibits properties of both.
-Figure 11.17 (wave-particle duality)
Chapter 12 Physical Properties of Matter and the Continuous Model
-States of matter
- Physical properties of states of matter
-Melting and Boiling Points (figure 13.9)
-conductors/insulators
-Density=mass/volume
-Color; Discrete spectra (Absorption and Emission spectra)
Chapter 13 The Molecular Model of Matter
-4 assumptions
-Physical states of matter (figure 13.5)
-Maybe figures 13.6 and 13.7
-Temperature is the average kinetic energy of the molecules
-What is happening at molecular level with conduction, gas pressure, mixing substances?
Chapter 14 The Nuclear Atom
-Continuous model (previous chapter)
-Brownian motion
-Molecular model (previous chapter)
-Discharge tubes
-Thomson plum pudding model (figure 14.1)
-Rutherford’s gold foil experiment (14.2)
-Rutherford Solar System model (figure 14.3)
-Couldn’t explain discrete spectra
-Bohr Model
-if electrons were orbiting, they’d be radiating energy and falling into the nucleus
-also, why were they in specific orbits?
-Quantum Model
Chapter 15 Duality of Matter
-wavelength=Planck’s constant/momentum (momentum=mass x velocity)
-acts like wave when observed (sure of motion)
-acts like particle when unobserved (sure of position)
-Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
Chapter 16 Quantum Model of the Atom
-Orbital: standing waves of probability
-Exclusion principle: Shell (1,2,3,etc) , Orbital (s,p,d,f) , Spin (up or down)
-Energy wells
Chapter 17 The Periodic Table
-Atomic theory (pg 200)
- families (columns), periods (rows)
-Periodic Trends (Atomic Size (figure 17.7), Ionization Energy (figure 17.8), Chemical Properties (valence electrons, etc))

Rhetorical Analysis

Argument of a friend: "You shouldn't do so much homework"
Why? "Because you should spend some time doing other things"
Like what? "Like playing in the snow, meditating, talking, making gingerbread houses, getting to know new people..." ok get the point. But I can't just not finish homework. "Why not?" I don't know. i just can't. "Well, why do you have so much?" I take too long. I have a lot of credits. And also, even my jobs have homework. "Well, why the heck did you choose to do all this stuff? Is it that important?" I don't know. Hey, when did this turn into an interrogation anyway? "Sorry." meh. "So, you ready to take a break?" I am taking a break; i'm talking to you. "really?" Ok, so maybe as I'm talking to you I'm recording it as a rhetorical analysis for an English blog entry even though we don't necessarily have to have one today, but my teacher said we might be able to have this one make up for one we've missed previously. "ha ha. you're lame"

...
I can't really argue with this. I guess his argument is affective.

Technical Assignment: audience awareness--those who have trouble relaxing

There was a study done for sleep help. The study was to find some of the best ways to relax. I can't remember number two and three, but number one (for this study anyway) was listening to relaxing music. Sometimes when I have a busy day it is hard for me to relax I can't even bring myself to sit down to listen to music. I try. I sit down to listen and it is just hard for to be able to sit there. I've come up with something different. I've started playing the guitar. It makes me sit there. In order for the music to come I actually have to sit there and play it. My fingers have to find the chords and I have to strum the rhythm. Then I feel the rhythm, strum the rhythm, and I start to slow down. To wind down. Maybe each has their own way to wind down. Everyone is different and so everyone should figure out the best way to do their own thing.

Free Write

I'm going to start typing and I'll try not to stop until I have a sufficient enough entry. I think it is probably a good idea; it gets you into the flow of writing. Sometimes it is difficult to begin. There is a blank screen in front of you with a cursor just blinking and blinking. Expecting you to do something with it. It kind of reminds me when I have a blank canvas in front of me. Every mark you put down will be judged or evaluated. It is hard to start. For canvas it is even harder because it costs so much. But even words. Once it is out. Once it is on paper. It is written down. People can look at you. People can examine you. It is a record that you are accountable for. Maybe that is why it is a little foreboding. I wish we could communicate clearly. Words are so muddled anyway. We don't think in words. We think in thoughts. If we thought in words then we would never have those times where we "can't think of the right word." In those instances we know the concept we are trying to find the right word to link to the meshy concept in our mind. Some people paint or sing or move or talk or write to try to communicate the concepts and the stuff that is going inside our minds, but it doesn't seem to ever be clear enough. It never seems to be completely accurate. One day perhaps. Maybe that's what "Adamic" language is. We'll all have to learn it, but it is just universally understood. Anyone can understand it. One person can speak it, and no matter what language you speak you'd be able to understand. Maybe that's what is happening in the scriptures when they hear things that couldn't be written down. It is this language that is universally understood and communicated, but they didn't know how to speak it yet. And maybe eventually we'll all be able to learn it. Things would get done so much more efficiently, and I can't imagine any arguments because people would understand where other people were coming from. A universal language. Where everything is clear.

FW: tonight

I am so tired of being on campus. One of the jobs I have is being an RA/TA for the Sociology department. The students in Soc 300 are required to give phone interviews for one of the professor's research projects. They get research gathering experience and he gets free labor. Well, almost free. A TA has to be in the phone lab with the students when they are calling people (from 7 to 9:45), and so we each take our night. Tonight is my night. Good joy. I've been patrolling half the time and going through a semester's worth of physical science homework (another glamorous job--Physical Science TA). You ever have those days when it just seems to be really really long? I do too.
Oh, my word. The best thing just happened. Three of my students just came and gave me some food. Bless their souls. I love them. It looks like onion rings, fries, and some kind of burger. Some kind of barbecue burger. It looks good. Happy day. (P.S. they aren't bribing me; they can't bribe me because I can't change their grades.) This tastes really good. I've been living of apples and soup for the last week because that's all I've had and I haven't had time to go to the store. I really hope that this is 200 words because this entry is getting ridiculous.

TA: Audience; a book club that is discussing Wright's poem

There are a few precious moments marked in a person’s life that are just as important as the epic milestones or the monuments of accomplishments. They are the moments of a deep self-contentment—a realization that everything has its place. James Wright’s “A Blessing” tells about a moment when he had such an experience. Wright finds himself in a condition of pure unfettered happiness, where he was able to undergo the awe inspired by an experience with two Indian ponies at twilight.
This poem serves as a reminder for those who get too tied up with the business and strain of the social world, a world whose social strains are often self-created. The reminder shows that sometimes it is necessary to slow down. The poem illustrates that occasionally moments are just captured, that time can hold its breath and allow a few minutes for someone to breathe in deeply and truly appreciate the glory of the simple and the overlooked.
I think that these types of experiences happen at different times to everyone. It doesn’t happen so much when a person’s physical surroundings change, but when the person changes a little in how they perceive their physical surroundings. Their senses become more acute and intensified with the wonders that encircle them. When reading this poem I couldn’t visualize exactly the grass and the ponies that Wright spoke of, but I could feel how they made him feel. It moved me to instances were I felt the vividness that he described. He writes, “Suddenly I realize that if I stepped out of my body I would break into blossom.” Reading his poem made me recall those instances when I felt in the same condition.

FW: D&C

D&C 59:1 The Lord gave a commandment to assemble in Jackson County, Missouri, and He blesses those who have done so with an eye single to His glory. The eye is “a representation of light, knowledge, insight, and revelation; (it) can also represent what we desire or long for.” The eye is the window through which the beholder is to receive knowledge, and to have an eye single means that the person’s desires are focused entirely on one thing. In this verse the blessings are for those whose eyes are single to His glory. Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk where he outlined six reasons of why people serve the Lord—six motivations for why people choose to obey the commandments. The first was out of a hope for an “earthly reward,” to be recognized by the community and to receive compensation. The next was a “personal desire to obtain good companionship;” the desired consequence for doing right is to associate with others who do right. Other reasons for serving the Lord include “fear of punishment,” “sense of duty or loyalty”, and “hope of an eternal reward.” These are all good reasons if they keep a person from sin, but the most essential reason for following the commandments is out of a love for God. It is the desire to submit to God’s command for the humble purpose of fulfilling His will—not for reward, punishment, or other design—but simply because it is right. The Lord had given the saints a commandment to move to Missouri, and those who obeyed this commandment for the right reasons, who went with “an eye single to (His) glory,” are blessed.

FW: thanksgiving

I am thankful for:
The sweatshirt that I'm wearing, teeth, post-it notes, pictures, blue wigs, tithing, peacock feathers, laughing, garbage cans, hymns, noses, pillowcases, weddings, electricity, guitars, chocolate, stained glass, blush, toe-nail clippers, hack-E-sacks, twirling dresses, pants that fit just right, sushi, etch-a-sketches, nail polish, calculators, an alphabet, alarm clocks, chopsticks, lotion, tomatoes, chick flicks, family, friends, relatives, hair, glasses, bags to carry things in, college, vacation, singing, cell phones, the color white, audrey hepburn and fred estaire, dancing with a partner, conciseness, literature, bows, toothbrushes, daisies, tupperware, quilts, freckles, cereal, stars, cafes, wooden floors, ipods, earrings, love sacks, drum sticks, filing systems, computers, cherries, envelopes, three-toed sloths, sharpies, chocolate chips, exercising, my shoes, sketch paper, compliments, winning wagers, clean clothing, clouds, vegetables, ciran wrap, purses, mace, yarn, memories, jackets, balloons, late nights, winkleberry, paper plates, metallic markers, teaching physical science labs, bubbles, mushrooms, the word "goober", hole punchers, ear phones, zebra pens, cds, greeting cards, warning labels, jack handy quotes, uno cards, poison control, art, pasta, some forms of debauchery, being romantic, candles, good music, snails, words, pockets, change, good conversation, potato skins, holidays, road trips, the united states, erasers, hampers,drawing flowers in margins, good ideas, paper clips, funny faces, God, Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Scriptures, religion in general, faith, LDS religion, truth, the prophet, missionaries, charity, mercy, justice, plaid, plastic reusable cups, cardboard boxes, pink doors, mountains, windows, cars, calenders, restaurants, and more....

TA: Audience awareness, artist public statement

Artist’s statement
I believe that there is something inside of artists that they try to bring out in the medium—something like how they have been living up to this time, their mentality, their opinion of the subject they are painting, their feelings, and expressions.
This is not to mean that artists must paint puppies and hollyhocks when they are happy, and corpses when they are depressed. It does not mean that in order to paint the artist’s opinion of life he or she must paint in a literal manner to illustrate concepts; a spilling cup symbolizing a death, a cat symbolizing the demon inside, etc.
If you want, you could paint a portrait of a little girl when you are happy, and this same portrait when you’re depressed, or anxious, or tired. These feelings don’t have to be literally manifested in the subject but they will come out in the way that that the artist paints. The brushstrokes made become an indication of who the artist is and what he or she is thinking or feeling. As layer is laid upon layer and feeling upon feeling, depth is created—the painting will show humanity.
The artist must strive to have the freedom to express what he or she wishes. They must choose and master a medium that allows them the greatest freedom to express what they wish. It is a communication with the viewer, but instead of using words the artist uses image.
Art should put the viewer in a state of aesthetic arrest—to take them in. In my paintings I’ve striven to paint lifelike. This is not to be confused with photorealism—I want to go beyond realism and paint life not by what I paint, but how.

RA: Cummins and Gulutsan

They make the argument that those who speak a second language will be better at "objectification" and creating "sets." They go through a couple of studies that they did, where they give an operational definition of the concepts "set" and "objectification" and explain how these studies would be good ways to measure such things. For their studies, "set" is to be thought of as "the underlying dimension which integrates all the psychological processes and behavior of the individial." They measure levels of mental activity. Their conclusions are that "bilinguals performed at a significantly higher level than unilinguals on both verbal and non-verbal intelligence measures was attributed to the fact that becuase bilinguals have two words for the same reference they objectify both their linguistic operations and the conceptual features of the external environment more efficiently than unilinguals." I believe that their argument worked for their audience, especially as their audience was probably a bunch of dry old ostentatious intellectuals who needed some type of scientific study to justify any type of political conversation over some snobby wine-filled, cigar smoking social hour at the country club.

RA: Immigrant America

Alejandro Portes and Ruben G. Rumbaut's book "Immigrant America" talked about why immigration is a good thing. They used statistical research and logic. They point out that America is a nation that has been established from immigration. They show good sides including bilingualism and culture. They take arguments about wellfare being a problem and that immigrants don't pay taxes and other issues that people have had with immigration and counter them by using other arguments. Much of the book is just explaining immigration. What it is, what it does, what some immigrants are like, migrant patterns, and more. I don't know if their arguments were sufficient. Maybe for their audience, people who know some about immigration (probably pro-immigration people who would like some data to "prove" their claims). As for me, I still don't understand immigration. I've heard it both sides, but I still don't understand it. When did we start setting up walls and fences for people who wanted to come to America? Is the crime rate going up? Is our society really being hurt by it. Why is there this big separation between "us" and "them"? There is a geographical separation it's true, but it's not like those who were born in the U.S. merit this coincidence. Do those in America deserve to be in America? And do others deserve to be where they are? I don't understand, it might be things with the government that makes it more complicated than i'm able to comprehend. One day perhaps.

FW

People name their daughters Autumn and Summer but not Spring or Winter. I wonder why,

I like chocolate chips. In or out of the cookie.

We have two wire giraffes in our apartment; one is Cleo, one is Andy.

What if toes were called fingers and fingers were called toes. I don't think that would be a good idea.

I think that almonds taste like what trees ought to taste like.

Dear Blog,
I am tired.
I like the color white.
I also like to draw stars on my papers.
I can't draw stars on this paper though because it is on the computer.

I kind of like the the name Ralphie for a girl. I don't think I will name my child that, but I think it would like a friend who is a girl named Ralphie. Maybe I will call Heather Ralphie.

If I was in an air band I think that that would be cool.

If I worked at a hospital I think I would wear green scrubs.

I really don't understand where blonde stereotypes come from.

TA: Audience awareness, another for whit

It was Halloween. Ryan had invited us to a Halloween party at his house. We said we’d be a little late—because we had to go trick or treating.—and off on a little tangent—trick-or-treating was especially good that year—It was so cold that not too many people were out—so we were getting a lot of candy. Also Whitney, never ever let anyone tell you that you are too old to go trick-or-treating.—so after trick-or-treating we went to Ryan’s house. The people who I remember being there are Cambri, Lori, Heath, Brenton, Jordan, Ryan, you, and me. WE played some games ate some food. Cambri, Lori, and Heath left. Then we went outside and had the biggest snowball fight that Jordan, Ryan, and Brenton had ever been a part of. We were the white-washing queens. Yup, our techniques were so perfected we could actually be called royalty in this art. I must confess those guys were also pretty good snowball fighters and at the end we were all pretty cold and wet, but we were all sure laughing. Oh, except for Heath; He came back, got white-washed, and left. I think Spritely Twink almost got stuck on the way out. You know, we once made signs for those guys to hold up during basketball games. One said something about binging the opponent’s leg off, but I can’t remember what the other one said.

TA: Audience: Whitney

We’d decided to make doughnuts. We were all doing something; it was like a machine; roll, pinch, toss, sizzle—it smelled pretty darn good. Our little machine took a little detour; Destry bent down, and when she stood up her head hit the tongs that were used for flipping, and the uncooked doughnut spiraled through the air and landed behind the stove. For some reason we thought this was hilarious (You and I anyway) and we were rolling on the ground. I can’t pinpoint the exact reason why it was so funny, but even now as I’m picturing it I’m smiling. Perhaps the powdered sugar in the air had just gotten to our heads.
After the doughnut affair, we drove to the grocery store in the lovely fifteen-seater van in order to buy some life saver mints—(if you chew on them in the dark they spark in your mouth). Destry was trying to ride in a cart. I think she crashed.
On the way home we saw what we thought was a cat and so we started chasing it with the van. It turned out to be a fox. When we got to your house I think I parked the van on the street—I was too nervous parking it on your long driveway. We watched Robin Hood: Men in Tights with your grandpa, and ate doughnuts. Then we laid under the stars on your trampoline looking for UFOs, conversing philosophically, and pointing out shooting stars.

FW: Individual worth

Individuality and personality were part of our preearthly state. The traits that we developed premortally assist in establishing the individual personalities that we each have at the present. They are gifts from God—he actually wants us to have personality. Both our Eternal Father and His Son had a personality particular to them individually, and the personalities that we developed in the preexistence helped God place us in our specific circumstances. Our individuality comes from within us, and no power can take it away.

“Individuals have a genetic and an environmental inheritance, each of which is powerfully important. But there is an even earlier bestowal that follows us from our premortal existence wherein our personalities and traits were developed in various ways and in various degrees and strengths. The third bestowal is at least as important as those involving genes and environment. All three combined would, if fully comprehended, give us a true picture of the human personality and how it has been shaped and molded. This would help to explain human differences that are not explainable solely on the basis of genes and environment, varied as these are.”

Neal A. Maxwell. “Third Session,” Deposition of a Disciple. Gospelink. Salt Lake City, Utah. Deseret Book Company: 2004.

TA: LDS Audience

D&C 59:6 states, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it.” It is important to note the last fragment of the section, “nor do anything like unto it.” This illustrates it is not enough to simply follow the letter of the law and, for example, refrain from killing people; there is a responsibility involved in this statement that requires an understanding to what God expects of his followers. Stephen R. Covey puts it aptly as he states, “What we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do. We all know it. There are people we trust absolutely because we know their character.” As stated in the scriptures, “Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit…Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them” (3 Nephi 14:17-18, 20). A tree will yield it’s own type of fruit; the nature of the tree determines the nature of the fruit. Hanging ornamental fruit on the tree (i.e. trying to change the fruit) will not alter the tree; the tree itself must change, and the fruit will change as a result. Our character is the origin for our works; therefore, by reforming our character, our works are also altered. Our actions are motivated by our founding principles, and so our characters must be such that the choices we make will advance the will of the Father.

RA: Live meeting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55ZyV6kDC0Q

This ad has a young business man looking very sauve and business-like. There is intense music going on, the man gets out from a cab, and proceeds through an airport to an elevator. During this short journey, text on the screen reveals that he is, "Tyler Johnson, Vice President-International Sales" and a few seconds later, "Destination Helsinki, Product Feedback Meeting." He does some masculine business-like things; he runs his hands through his hair, straightens his suit, checks out the backside of a lady standing infront of him in the elevator. Then just has he is leaving the elevator, the doors slam his head. He drops to the floor where the doors close again on his head, and again. Finally, the janitor outside moves him out of the way, and the doors are able to close. On the closed elevator doors are the words, "Business Travel Stops Here, Microsoft Office Live Meeting."
This ad tells the audience that business travel is after all, just a big head ache. The audience is business men (like the poor Tyler Johnson). The name "Tyler Johnson" is a pretty average name, and so the average business man can put themself in his shoes. Some business men would begin watching the ad and think, "Yeah, that's me. I'm a business man," even though it's a highly idealized rendition, these type of men are optimistic. On the other side, you'll get the more realistic business men who'll start watching the ad thinking, "that's not what it's like at all." The ad's conclusion works for both. The first type will think, "I don't want that to happen to me" and the second type, "business meetings are a headache, it's true." What is the answer? Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

TA: artist audience

Art should be beautiful. This is more than attractiveness; one should be able to be moved by beauty. In art, something may not even be “pretty,” but it can be deeply satisfying, beautiful even. Something can be happy, but things can also be sad, and sadness can be its own kind of beautiful, too.
Art should be good. Art should be good in the opposite way that evil is evil. Art should not seek to be malevolent, but to be virtuous and worthy in its intent and effect.
Art should be outstanding. It should aspire to be exceptional, to be excellent, and to hold itself to its highest quality and standard.
Art should be uplifting. It ought to have the ability to change a person who has experienced it in a way that will enrich their lives. It should lift and edify people.
I think that part of the reason that people create art is that the act of creation is divine, and as sons and daughters of The Creator, we have an aching to touch upon that divinity which is inborn in us all.