What I Spend Money On

If you were to walk up to 10 random people and ask them what they spend
their money on, what answer would you get back? The answer would be
infinite whether the money was spent on a piece of candy or a car. But,
it's actually the little things that you don't expect to spend money on
(coffee, gum, etc.) that end up costing you a whole lot.

Have you ever started a day with 100 bucks and by the end of the day,
all you have left is a 20? You ask yourself, "Where did all my money go?"
Well, if you really think about it, what DID you spend it on? You may not
notice it while you were spending away, but it’s actually the little things
that you don’t expect to cost you money.

You can’t help it. It's natural to want to spend money just because you have
it. A pretzel there, a smoothie here, and a can of coke for later, no wonder
you’re winding down from a 100 to a 20 dollar bill.

To see where my money has really disappeared to, I’ve conducted a little
experiment. For three days, I wrote down every single thing that my money
was spent on.

The first day, the total amount was $20.88 (bottle of water, coffee,
snack/soda vending machine, subway, hair dye kit and a trip to the gas
station). I spent $43.73 on the second day (coffee, vending machines,
clothing store, and Chinese take-out). Lastly, the third day’s total amount
was $28.93 (coffee, vending machine, car wash, and the clothing store).

When I added up all the little things I bought, I spent about $30 per day and
that was just three days. In a month, I would lose more money than I make!

Next time you shop, I challenge you to keep track of all the things you buy.
You'll be surprised at how the little things can add up and end up costing you
more than you expected.

Hunting of the Scavengers

Al Pacino a.k.a Cinderella

America has always been a sort of fantasy land for foreigners who come from less fortunate and less established countries. These countries include, but are not limited to, countries in the Middle East and South America. In the case of Scarface, the main character comes from Cuba, a country notorious for an unfair, communist government. Calling it a communist country is almost too nice sounding compared to the true reality of the state of the country. It is, in all senses of the term, a dictatorship lead by Fidel Castro, an egotistical leader who only looks after his own needs. Al Pacino's character is caught up in this political fiasco.
During the 80's, Miami was a sort of safe haven for Cubans coming to America. They were dubbed "political refugees". This was a very controversial act at the time, considering many of these refugees were ex-criminals that Cuba dumped on America just to get rid of them. Our main character in Scarface is one of them. Despite this fact, his story has a Cinderella theme to it. He comes over to America with absolutely nothing. From this point he does what he has to do, become a drug lord, and achieves the "American Dream". It can be said that this story contains another message. This message may be calling out to people, telling them not to become too greedy. At the end of the story, Tony Montana did not heed the call of this message, and because of it, lost everything. We should all listen to this message too, while pursuing our goals and dreams.

Blue Beard vs. Criminal Minds

How the story of Blue Beard resembles an episode of Criminal Minds
This is a summary of Blue Beard, for those that know the story, you can skip this paragraph.
The story of Blue Beard is not everyone’s impression of a fairy tale, but indeed it is. Blue Beard is disliked by all the ladies, despite his amazing fortune. Not to mention, when he marries a women, she disappears. Well, one day, Blue Beard has a party, and a young lady decides that he’s not all bad. So, she marries him. Upon their marriage, he had to depart to attend to some business. He gives her the keys to his house but says don’t open the last door in the basement. The lady goes off, exploring her newly acquired fortune, when the curiosity nearly kills her. She goes down to the basement and opens the door. She finds all the dead bodies of his ex wives. So, in a panic, she runs back upstairs to notice that the key is stained with blood, and try as she might, it wouldn’t come off. Later that night, Blue Beard comes home to find the key full of blood. He asks her why she betrayed him, and demands that she be killed. She asks for a few minutes to pray, where she really summons her sister to find her brothers. She goes down to Blue Beard, and as he goes to kill her, the brothers walk in and kill Blue Beard. She lives and inherits his fortune.
When I heard this story, it reminded me of an episode of criminal minds I had saw a few days prior to hearing it. On this particular episode, the cops keep finding these dead bodies, so the Criminal Minds crew people are called. They notice that 13 of the deaths are all related, and they suspect a serial killer. The bodies where left in the fetal position, with no signs of raping or any type of abuse besides strangulation. Meanwhile, a truck driver tells his daughter (who is with foster parents because her mother died and her father can’t always be there) stories of how he tries to find a mother for her. Later, you find out that the truck driver has been kidnapping women he thinks might be sutable for his child, then after asking the question “Do you want kids?” and being that most were young, they would say “No.” and he would kill them. He would tell these stories to his daughter, (in a much less gruesome way) and tell her that she just wasn’t right for him. Well, one day, he finds a mom and a teenager stopping at a truck stop, and he kidnaps the mom, and leaves the teenager as a witness. The Criminal Minds people find out that he has a daughter, and find her to use her as a bribe. She tells him that she needs to hear the story of the newest princess (the women were refered to as princesses and he as the prince for story reasons). As the father is telling his story, the FBI takes the woman, and the father kills himself in front of the daughter.
In the Criminal Minds version of Blue Beard, the truck driver is Blue Beard, the woman kidnapped is the wife, and the FBI are the brothers. These stories are similar in the fact that the truck driver and Blue Beard are both looking for honest people, but have their own, demonic way of doing searching. They both just wanted someone to love, but I don’t think they really realized that them doing it the way they did was pulling people away from them. I think the reason they did it that way was because they didn’t have enough time. Blue Beard left his wife of their wedding night to go attend to business, and the truck driver was always on the road, so they probably didn’t have much time for courting young women.
These two stories are a little different though. For instance, Blue Beard hid the bodies, and the truck driver left them on the high way for everyone to see. Also, Blue Beard was looking for love, where the truck driver was more or like looking for a suitable mother for his daughter. Another difference is that Blue Beard is killed by the two brothers, where the truck driver kills himself. The story of Blue Beard ends a little happier, being that the woman is saved, and she inherits the fortune, where as in Criminal Minds, it’s really sad because the daughter is literally left with no one.
The story of Blue Beard and this certain episode of Criminal Minds have their differences, but they are more alike than different.

Fairytale Related Movie

Blades of Glory is a movie that reminds me of the fairytale Cinderella. Katie is the younger sister of an ice skating duo comprised of a sister and brother. As a child Katie took ice skating lessons which her parents drove her to and from. One day while all three were driving to her lesson, there was a fatal car crash in which only Katie survived. From then on Katie's brother and sister treated her like Cinderella. They forced Katie to work for them, making her chauffer them to competitions, spy on their opponents and sew glamorous costumes for them while she received no pay and was treated very badly. At the end she finds happiness after enduring a few trials and tribulations.

Fairy Tale/Movie

This weekend I watched Double Wedding. It is simply another Cinderella story. You know the American dream, once again. Two sisters, twins, fall in love with the same guy. One of the girls friends put her on an internet dating site. One of the guys that reply are this "prince charming". He then meets her twin sister thinking it is her and is in love with her also. It is funny though how the truth of him being with both sisters dosn't reach much more attention than it did. The two girls are madly in love with this "prince charming".
One day one of the sisters get a call from him and the other sister sees his pictures and questions her boyfriends picture on her phone. They then realize this is the same guy they are both dating. It was honestly not his fault considereing they are identical and they both do not know this is the same guy. So what do they do about this "prince charming", they have to confront it in some way. They talk to the guy and he is raged the second sister acted as though she was the sister and they had all the other dates. In the end it all turns out and "prince charming does become a Prince Charming. I can't tell you to who or what happens, that would ruin it! I think yall should watch it and see how it turns out!!

Somebody Has To Say It!

Why do we try so hard to spare people's feelings? As children, we said WHATEVER came to mind, WHENEVER it came to mind. No thought was given to who's feelings would be hurt, who would be offended or even who heard us. Children are open and honest so if you want the truth, ask a child.

Sadly, as children grow up, they are continually hushed by "authority figures." After being scorned for years, we learn to be quiet and to be less than honest. Basically, we learn to be politically correct.

Like every other child, I too was hushed when I tried to give an open, honest opinion. Doesn't everyone deserve to hear the truth? Well, I must have missed the parental lesson in political correctness because I believe some things just have to be said. More important, somebody has to say it so why not me?

Many topics fit into this category. A perfect example of this is the death of the world's king of pop. Michael Jackson. During his career, he was one of the most adored people in the world. When they saw him, men screamed like schoolgirls and women fainted like someone had drugged them. The world loved Michael Jackson and he could do no wrong. Well, that's what they said in public. When his appearance began to change, so did his fan base. All of a sudden, African Americans felt rejected because of the perceived rejection of his race.

Then came the charges of child molestation. He was demonized by the same ones who claimed to love and admire him. What happened to the seemingly eternal love and faith from his fans? Jackson was hounded so badly by repeated charges of child molestation, he fled the country that had helped him rise to the top. Well, as my grandfather once said, always know who's holding your ladder, because you want to make sure they don't yank it from under you once you climb to the top. Now, that's words we can ALL live by.

The love-hate relationship between Michael Jackson and the public continued for years. That is, until his death on June 25, 2009! I happened to be vacationing in California that week and his death just seemed to suck the oxygen out of the California air. The moment he died, he miraculously went from one of America's most wanted to a saint. Now he was receiving awards and dedications from award shows and media channels that hadn't played his music or spoken positively about him in years. To me, this is a blatant example of hypocrisy at it's finest! I realize this blog might not change any one's opinion or habit, but someone had to say it.

Scavenger Hunt: Sleeping Beauty Video

Seatbelt Commercial--is it effective? Why?

Class,
I came across this commercial recently and I'd like to get your feedback on it. Please answer the following questions:
1. Why do you like or dislike this commercial?
2. What emotions did it cause you to feel?
3. What is the thesis (main point) of this commercial
4. How effective is it? That is, are you more likely to do what the commercial wants you to do?

Commercial belongs to its respective copy write owner.

Library Scavenger Hunt

This is me during our scavenger hunt and I found the ballet Giselle. Woot!

Finding Forever

Maybe its just me but have you ever took one of those tedious quizzes on princetonreview.com or some other website to find "what in college should you study?". Well I took a billion of those quizzes and they all tell me something different. One time I took one and it told me I should be a bank teller. A bank teller?? I would never in my right mind imagine myself going to school all these years just to count some cash (no offense to anyone who does that). But as a sophmore in college, I am still lost on what I want to "grow up" and be.

As a child growing up in a lower class household, my parents pushed education on my brother and I. My parents didnt go to college because their parents parents parents only pushed on them to get a J-O-B. So I was the over achiever who read books all the time, on the debate team, always getting the awards at the awards ceremony, National Honor Society, the first to graduate with Honors in my family, and the list goes on. All the while Im doing all the activities I never sat back and thought, "What does Dominique wants do with her life?". As a child, I thought being a doctor wouldnt be too bad I mean its not that hard right? I just go to school a little bit longer than I'll be able to get my two door Mercedes Benz for me, my Prada purse, and my cute little dog name Sassy. But in all actuality, I was caught up in the glitz and the glam of having the title "Dr." in front of my name that I missed how challenging and overwhelming just getting into medical school can and will be.

Im majoring in chemical engineer now and so far i like it a lot but sometimes my mind wanders to other places because I really love to write. But then the aspirations of me and my Mercedes Benz (and you cant forget my Prada purse and Sassy) slowly diminsh because my mom put this image in my head of me majoring in something like that will in turn not let me get the things I really want and desire in life. I know my mom means well but I just need to decide for myself what do I really want to do.

So for now Im still in search of finding forever, something that is designed especially for me instead of always being in the grey of things. Hopefully something will speak out to me and scream "That's so you". But for now I will def going to give those quizzes a rest before they tell me that I should be

Same world, Different People by Chelsie (Student)

Doesn't anyone every wonder how crazy this world may seem sometimes. We all seem to live in the same world but aren't we all different in some way? Some people prefer to listen to rock, some prefer to listen to rap, and some don't enjoy music with any words at all. We live in a very diverse world. You may think its just the state you live in or the country, but in all reality there is no one person that is alike in this whole world.

Just look around you. Do you see anyone with the same style? Sure, some people may follow a certain trend, but they are still their own person. I might like my hair long while the girl next to me really does not like long hair at all. She wont dislike me or look at me any different because of a certain way my hair is fixed. She may not agree with me but that's why we are different. A guy may like to play football and his best friend may hate football but skateboard. We are all different. We do not just have different likes and dislikes or different styles but we all have different mindsets. My best friend will not always have the same ideas and points of views as me. I will not like her any less because of this though.

Never be afraid of letting someone know your ideas just because you think they will not agree. You have the right to say what you think and be heard. So what if you are totally different from this guy you have been drooling over for the past year. He might like you all you have to do is give it a chance. If you always stop yourself from doing what you want because someone is not the same as you, you will never get anywhere in life. Do not let anyone stop your dreams because they think you can not do it. They do not know what you can accomplish because they do not have the same mindset as you.

If you would see a lady walk into your office with her hair all over the place, dirty clothes, and just a really bad appearance you would automatically judge them. Not all people that are like this are not in intelligent. Some people are brilliant or a genius and they could care less about how they appear. I mean think about it Einstein did not exactly have the best hairstyle in the world. He looked like he had been electrocuted! Everyone still respected him though. I recently watched this video online at work about this lady trying out for the "Britain's Got Talent." When she walked up she looked like the old lady that lived in a shoe. She was dirty and very under dressed. Everyone just looked at her and laughed. When she began to sing everyone stopped and they were stunned. This lady has one of the biggest voices I have ever heard! This just goes to show she has a very different taste and she does not care what people think about her. She is good enough to be a celebrity and she wouldn't change anything about herself because she is quite happy with it!

Everyone is different and everyone thinks differently. Some people may judge you because of this but as long as you are happy with yourself that is all that matters! No one person is the same. No one looks like the same, no one acts the same, and no one thinks the same. Everyone in this world has their own identity.

My child will do things differently.

How many times have we been in Wal Mart, picking up our weekly groceries, when we hear a child screaming at the top of his lungs, “I WANT THIS ONE!” and 9 times out of 10, what does the parent do? Ignore them, and pretend to not be embarrassed at their child’s obnoxious behavior.

And how many times have we said to ourselves, “My child will do things differently.”? The fact is, we can’t really know how we are going to react with the way our children act in public until we get there.

Today in America, we have things like “Child protection programs” that prevent parents from beating their child. And though this program is great for those parents who actually beat their child, it absolutely sucks for those who just need to correct their child. And where does that put the parents who just need to correct their child? In the middle of Wal Mart, embarrassed as all heck.

The programs are meant to help children who are really are being beat by their parents. This topic is a sad one, because unfortunately, it happens every day. The program, contrary to popular belief, WILL NOT take your child away for correcting them, or just spanking them lightly.

I am not by any means saying that every parent should discipline their child by spanking them. Have you ever seen the hit TV show Super Nanny? Well, she uses a non violent way to correct children, and I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen an episode were it has failed. She simply lets them know that she means business by asserting herself in a way their parents don’t. And if you really, REALLY watch the show, she’s not fixing the children. She’s fixing the parents.

Children need to be corrected and disciplined early on in life. This prevents a lot of embarrassing moments at Wal Mart for parents, and also embarrassing moments around their future friends. If children are brought up right, they will also respect their parents more as well.

Just a few days ago, I saw a child in a mother’s arms and he reached over and slapped her! And not just a tap, but a slap! Though it probably didn’t hurt the mother, it is a serious lack of respect. What about Parent Protection programs!

Though this isn’t a laughing matter, I think this whole situation would have happened differently if the parent had disciplined her child telling him that it is not nice to slap someone, in a firm and assertive voice.

Too many households are run by children. I have a cousin who is around the age of 5, and a few days ago he came here asking if he could play my brother’s video game. My brother let him, and not too long after, his mom came over to visit with my mom. A little later, her husband called and asked if they would like to meet for lunch. She agreed that this would be a delightful treat for them all, and went to get her son. Soon after she went to get him, she came back, called her husband back and said, “sorry, not to day. Our child doesn’t want to because he’s playing video games.” WHAT?! In my book, I think she should have made her son get off of the video game to go and have lunch. Her husband’s plans for a nice family outing were ruined because she didn’t want to tell her child no.

Think about that. That is not the way things should have gone. It is because of the parents lack of disciplining their child that it happened that way AND why they ended up not going out for lunch.

So next time you are in Wal Mart, and you hear the child screaming, think about it. How will things be run in your household?

Teaching College Writing or Herding Cats by Amanda Anderson (Instructor)

Teaching college writing to first year students is like herding cats. It's difficult and sometimes I question why we do it. This is not my way of questioning why we teach students to write, because I believe every student has an inner writer. But I know that not every student in my class is going to need to write a personal narrative. Not every student is going to need to know MLA style. In fact, I really question the validity of this system.

So, why is teaching them how to write an English thing? Why isn’t there writing in the discipline course for each major? Since most students are not English majors, why is writing specifically an English course? Do we think that a college writing course, designed to hammer out the mechanics of grammar, syntax is sufficient? I don't.

Every discipline has their own writing style and technique, so why don’t grad psych students teach psychology writing 101? In almost every major, the possible exception being the English major because writing is considered a part of the English discipline, students enter their major without knowing how to "talk the talk" so to speak. They know there is a language of their discipline, they’ve seen it, come close to understanding it, and find themselves near drowning in it. Students get that there is something called "good writing" but they don't know how to do it and because they don't do it perfectly the first time they think they never will.

Pardon my gender stereotyping for a moment, while I make a point.
It’s like a little girl watching her mother put on make up. The results when the child attempts to make up her own face are bound to be near comical parodies of her mother’s careful actions. However, with practice, and a bit of fashion sense, the poor child will stop fixing herself up like Bobo the clown or Mimi from the Drew Carey show. She'll develop her own style and it will become as natural to her as breathing. However, if her father (without begging gender or sexual orientation questions) were to teach her, she might not ever learn how to properly use make up. Why? Because her teacher was not an expert in the subject. Writing is like this. We need the right teacher so that when we make the mistakes we can be corrected so that we can learn how to do it properly.

If each major had a writing course and let their students write from that perspective, their writing would be more focused and could develop with an eye to their future career. I could picture this model working so well. We know there is a need. We could do one semester of college writing, a general overview of the nuts and bolts of writing, then send the students to more specified writing courses. This would ease them in to their professional or academic language much more effectively then our current method.

This idea seems logical. I guess that's why it has no place in higher learning.

Sigh. And we wonder why the humanities are struggling?

**Legal Disclaimer: This post does not reflect the opinions of the University of Louisiana, the English Department, or anyone else who might think I'm putting words in their mouth. This post is intended to get students thinking about why all majors take a basic writing course in the English department. It is not challenging any university or departmental policies.