HW 26 - Looking back & forward in unit

The important ideas that stick out to me so far are: the current state of the United States health care system is inefficient (Sicko), we put the ill and the dying into hospitals to remove/sterilize the experience (Beth), "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live" (Tuesdays With Morrie), and doctors use family input to make decisions (Near Death).

Listening to Beth's first-hand encounter with her husband's death was the most thought provoking source of information for me this unit. I think this was the most helpful experience because it was very personal, intimate if you will. When you're face to face with a person, it's easier to read emotions. Her situation was real, and we knew that what she was saying was what she truly felt. I'm not saying that the people that were interviewed in Sicko had no emotion, but Sicko was cut, edited, reviewed, cut, edited, over and over again. Every single part of someone's story is important and when its cut down to size, the audience can miss certain emotions and ideas. Beth's story, while maybe she didn't cover every single detail of Erik's death, was powerful and real. But, with that said, Beth's talk wasn't the most factual/informational source of information. I'd have to say that Sicko was one of the few "factual" sources we've gone over so far. I've learned a lot though from talking to my parents and doing quick research for some of the homework assignments.

When we return from break, I think it would be beneficial to explore more reliable numerical information, whether in class, or online.

HW 24 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 3

 Tuesdays With Morrie

Mitch Albom 

1997

Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group; Random House Inc.

Precis of Tuesdays With Morrie

Mitch Albom was a student to Morrie Schwartz at Brandeis University. While Mitch promised to stay in contact after graduation, he did not. That all changed when Mitch turned on the TV to a Nightline news special on Morrie nearly 20 years later. It had been discovered that Morrie had ALS. Albom went to visit Morrie and talk to him about Morrie's philosophy on life and death. The visits became more frequent, and on Tuesdays. Mitch decided to audio record Morrie's "last lessons on life" the topics including, death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness, and a meaningful life. 
Throughout the interviews, Morrie becomes weaker and weaker; and more and more dependent on the people around him to help him live. The experience of dying puts a strain on Morrie's emotions, but he still believes that death is an important part of living. Death is an inevitable part of life; and so many forget that. Through their discussions, they discover that society has the greatest effect on normal practices (like marriage, or wiping your own butt). "In business, people negotiate to win. They negotiate to get what they want. Maybe you're too used to that. Love is different. Love is when you are as concerned about someone else's situation as you are about your own". Morrie's final course taught the lesson of how to live life and how to treat the people within it. 

Gems of Tuesdays With Morrie

"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live" (82). <---not from end of book.
This is quite possibly the most important lesson in the entire book. I actually have found that I see this quote, if not repeated in new words, explained in further detail on almost each page. The entire book is Morrie explaining that death is essential to life. Death happens to everyone; we're so caught up in not dying that we lose the greater picture of life and die unhappily.
"Make peace with living" (173). 
This is what I think really sums up the main point of this book; be comfortable with what/who you are, and accept the fate that is death. 
"Death ends a life, not a relationship" (174). 
There is a separation between life and the relationships between different lives. This links to the idea that memories live on when people don't.

Response to Tuesdays With Morrie
I've read this book twice now, and I'd read it again. I enjoy the style of writing; not so complicated that I'm checking the dictionary constantly, but still generous in sensory detail. For such a sad topic, this was quite a lively book; somewhat in the style of Morrie himself. I haven't necessarily made new conclusions for myself, but I've opened my eyes to the effect that society has on death; they tell us to fear it and that it's a horrible thing. But death, i found in Morrie's case, was beautiful. Because he accepted that it's a part of life.

HW 23 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 2

 Tuesdays With Morrie

Mitch Albom 

1997

Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group; Random House Inc.

Precis of The Seventh Tuesday We Talk About the Fear of Aging
Morie no longer had any privacy.  The only things he could really do for himself were to breathe and swallow food. Morie's initial thought was to fight the disease but decided to forget that because he realizes that culture says we're not allowed to be reliant on others.  Morie actually enjoys his dependency because he feels like he's a baby again.  
The topic of the discussion was the fear of aging.  On his way to Morie's house, Mitch observed many billboard ads.  He realized the models were no more than thirty five years old.  Morrie says "All this emphasis on youth, I don't buy it."  Morie believes that the young are miserable as well as unwise.  Morie also says that "if one were to stay at the age of 22, they'd always be as ignorant as they were at twenty-two."  
Morie believes that people have unsatisfied and unfulfilled lives which is why they want to be young again.  Morie envies young people because they can go to the gym and swim and dance.   Morie tells Mitch that he is every age that he has ever been.

Gems of The Seventh Tuesday We Talk About the Fear of Aging
"We all know how to be a child. It's inside all of us. For me, it's just remembering how to enjoy it"(116)
Most people would feel extremely violated if they had someone washing them, feeding them, and wiping their butt. Morrie did at first, but he's realized that we must embrace all age. If we don't love life, we will be unhappy forever.  

"I worked out constantly. Watched what I ate. Checked my hairline in the mirror. I had gone from being proud to say my age- because of all I had done so young- to not bringing it p, for fear I was getting too close to forty and, therefore, professional oblivion.(117)
Mitch is doing the exact opposite of what Morrie is doing/saying. Mitch is trying to hide behind his age, and stay as youthful as possible. He is ashamed to be where he is in life and doesn't embrace a potential receding hairline or the possible belly of a forty year old man.

"The truth is, part of me is every age. I'm a three-year-old, I'm a five-year-old, I'm a thirty-seven-year-old, I'm a fifty-year-old. I've been through all of them, and I know what it's like. I delight in being a child when it's appropriate to be a child. I delight in being a wise old man when it's appropriate to be a wise old man...I am every age, up to my own" (120,121)
Morrie makes a point; we've all been every single age up to the one we are now. So I have been a 1-year-old, I have been a 13-year-old, and I am a 16-year-old. I am every age up to now, this exact moment. With each year, each minute, I learn something new, thus progressing my views on the world and life; increasing my "wiseness". 

 
Response 
I feel as though this chapter was not only about fear of aging, but the act of aging itself. Mitch is more concentrated on the fear, whereas Morrie is more concentrated on embracing aging; as to not be unhappy his entire life.  I don't know who I necessarily agree with more; Mitch feeling that aging is bad, or Morrie, saying that aging is a wonderful experience. I would say that humans are never happy with where they are because something is always going "wrong". People are always saying "I wish I could go back to being 5 years old again. I wish I were in kindergarten again, so I could have nap time...I wish". And then I look back at elementary school and nap time; it was horrible. I was mildly bullied, but never said anything about it. I would get restless during nap time (as would everyone else). People take opportunities, like nap time for example, and completely disregard them. A five year old wants to play during nap time. A teenager wants nap time to be a class. 
We all take life for granted. So I guess I would agree with Morrie; embrace aging, but more importantly, embrace life. Otherwise, opportunities will pass you by, and you'll always have regret. 
  

Quick Thought

This is not a homework assignment

At my internship we have to order food online. I was looking through a menu of a deli and I was shocked. A bottle of water cost more than a bottle of soda. 

Why, I ask, is something that is a necessity to living so expensive? Maybe we can put a price on life.

HW 21b - Comments

Comments I made:
Jasper,
This was a very nice, thoughtful post. I enjoyed how the last paragraph was full of insightful questions that would leave the reader thinking; not only about Erik's death, but of the overall picture of society's way of dealing with illness and dying.

What I think you could improve on is the beauty/grammar. This is just my personal opinion, but I think that grammar can be quite beautiful; adding semi-colons or commas here and there can make a piece look and flow beautifully.

There are a few places where I wanted to sneak in commas and semicolons or switch words around. Here is an example:
"It just seemed so much more peaceful being at home opposed to the hospital which is just doctors in white coats and note pads in an isolated place".
I would have changed that to:
"It just seemed much more peaceful being at home, as opposed to the ___(add adjectives here) hospital; an isolated place full of doctors wearing white coats and carrying note pads.

By changing around words in sentences and adding more punctuation (but not TOO much punctuation), you can create a beautifully flowing piece that will hit the reader even harder than it already did.

Sophia,
I really enjoyed your post, I went into this assignment thinking that I would be commenting on beauty, but I found that this was easy to read and had some nice descriptions here and there.
I really liked your ending and it reminded me of the book, Looking For Alaska by John Green (as you know, one of the best teen novels ever written).

One thing you could change is your connection to your experience and Beth's experience. I liked the connection that you made, but both paragraphs are about hospice care. With such a long list of 9 different insights, I feel like you could have related to at least one more.
I would like to say that I've caught some grammar errors here and there, but I know that some of my posts have grammatical errors too, and there were only a few so I don't think it's too big of a deal.


Comments on my Blog:
Sophia:
I thought the best part of your post was the 2nd paragraph, where you were talking about your grandmother. I liked this because it was your own personal experience, and you told the story well - it was very detailed. I also liked this line (shows insight):

"But when I felt respect or any sort of sorrow for her or her family, I asked myself why I felt so bad. I realized that it has to do with the way that I've been taught to see death."

Dad:
You have some very insightful comments about healthcare based on Beth’s talk. You have established 3 clear areas of focus; advocacy, insurance and emotions centering on death. Over all, you have good content and perspective. My only comment is perhaps the structure could be a little more organized. For example, when you come back to insurance in the third paragraph, it felt a little awkward and felt like it needed a better transition. I also thought the last sentence in your first paragraph is very powerful. It would also have worked as a closing;“Beth left us with her personal insights into death and dying. She does not want to die in a hospital; she believes that life is connected to energy, yet is still afraid of death. And left me personally with these words ringing in my ear, "The only way to not be hurt by death is to die first"

Zoe (9th Grader):
i agree with Sophia the way you made it more real by adding something personal also the line "Beth was making Erik's death into a celebration of life" really stood out to me
  
Jasper:
Elizabeth,

Niiiiiiice. It was beautifully written. You did really well analyzing the insights Beth gave us on a deeper level. I thought it was good that you connected back to your own experiences in the second paragraph. My favorite part of your post was "And left me personally with these words ringing in my ear, "The only way to not be hurt by death is to die first"." I thought this was written beautifully and it is a strong statement that also stuck with me.  

HW 22 - Illness & Dying Book Part 1

 Tuesdays With Morrie

Mitch Albom 

1997

Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group; Random House Inc.

Precis of The Audiovisual
Morrie would write philosophies about life. An article titled "A Professor's Final Course: His Own Death" was published in The Boston Globe about Morrie's mini-philosophies. A producer on Nightline brought the article to Koppel, who immediately decided to do a special on Morrie. When Ted arrived at Morrie's house, Morrie asked him personal questions in private in order to understand what kind of person Ted was. Morrie believed that death should not be embarrassing and would not allow anyone to pamper him. On the show, Morrie explained that he sometimes felt sorry for himself and sometimes he's angry, but then he remembers that he just wants to live. When Albom saw the show, he was shocked. 

Gems of The Audiovisual
"Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it"(18). 
"Because Morrie sat in the wheelchair, the camera never caught his withered legs" (21).
"He showed great passion when explaining how you face the end of life" (21).
"When all this started, I asked myself, 'Am I going to withdraw myself from the world, like most people do, or am I going to live?' I decided I am going to live- or at least try to live- the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humor, with composure"(21). 
 
Response
I tried looking up the original article that was written about Morrie in the Boston Globe. Unfortunately, it's an article that requires an "archive fee". I would have liked to have gotten a more direct understanding of Morrie's values through Morrie's own words, but I think that Mitch does him justice. I enjoy the way that Mitch portrays Morrie; lively though dying. I think that this is one of the main points of this book; you live until you die, and whatever you do in between is up to you.

HW 21 - Expert #1, Beth Bernett

When Beth Bernett came in to talk to our class she opened up her heart to share with us an experience.The experience was about the illness and death of her husband, Erik Wood. He was diagnosed with advanced metastatic kidney cancer.With the sharing of the story, Beth gave the class some very powerful insights into her personal experience with illness and dying. An experience she briefly touched upon was getting healthcare/insurance. They didn't have healthcare so they applied for government subsidised insurance. It took them 11 months to get onto a plan. This was due to lies and confusion. This gave us a view into the government's effect on illness. As a piece of advice to the class she told us to "advocate for yourself" because there are so many people moving around and working in a hospital, that if you don't say something, no one will. Another thing she said was that hospitals and institutions are in place to keep "death and dying removed, sanitized". This related to hospice care and why they decided to do a "home hospice"; they wanted to keep him close and be a part of the remainder of his life. An encounter that she talked about was a Buddhist monk whom she contacted to ask about Erik's illness. He predicted many things that happened to Erik.
Beth left us with her personal insights into death and dying. She does not want to die in a hospital; she believes that life is connected to energy, yet is still afraid of death. And left me personally with these words ringing in my ear, "The only way to not be hurt by death is to die first".

Beth told us that it was important to advocate for yourself. I find this to be true due to personal experience. My grandma Eleanor passed away in 2007. The first time she was admitted to the hospital was when she fell down and broke her hip. She went to the hospital got surgery, and was then sent to rehab. What the doctors didn't know was that the surgery didn't fix the problem. While in rehabilitation, she complained to my dad that she was still in pain. My dad went to the doctors and told them that she was still in pain and couldn't do the rehab because the surgery wasn't done correctly in the first place. So she went back to the hospital and had the surgery redone. That time, they did do it correctly. If my father hadn't been the advocate for my grandma, more complications could have come about. Actually, even though he was there to advocate, it was discovered that she was beginning to get bed sores, when blood clots in a specific area, a result from not being moved enough-causing less circulation in different areas.

Generally, if you have a corporate job, you have health insurance. For the Wood family, they didn't have health insurance and had to apply for government coverage. For my family, health insurance wasn't too much of a problem up until about half a year ago. That was when my mom got laid-off. When someone gets laid-off by a company, their health insurance goes onto something called COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). To make it simple; we get 15 months of subsidized health insurance (making relatively small payments monthly) and then the rates sky-rocket for the next three months (adding up to the 18 months that COBRA covers). After that we have to find a new health-insurance plan that we pay for completely out of pocket.

When Beth spoke, many questions popped into my mind. Some that I jotted down were, Does the government make an effort to make life essentially "easier" for us? Why fight if you know you are going to die? and the final question i wrote was, What are the flaws in the U.S. health care system, and how will that effect my generation? Overall, my main thoughts were those of respect; respect for Beth to be able to come to a group of strangers and talk about such a sensitive subject. But when I felt respect or any sort of sorrow for her or her family, I asked myself why I felt so bad. I realized that it has to do with the way that I've been taught to see death. Beth was making Erik's death into a celebration of life and was not here to tell her story to gain a (excuse my cliched rhyme) pity committee. So I thank Beth, for telling her story, and opening my eyes to my own views on illness and dying.

HW 19 - Family Perspectives on Illness & Dying

When I was younger, I absolutely loved being sick. My dad would stay at home with me and I was allowed to watch TV while lying on the sofa. I was allowed to have ginger ale and lots of buttered toast. He would make me stay in bed or on the sofa; but would tell me to switch halfway through the day so I would get some movement. For this assignment, I asked my dad how his parents took care of him when he was sick. "The first thing she'd do was take my temperature". He also said that after his mom took his temperature, if he had a fever, he would go immediately to bed and his mom would call the doctor. I found this peculiar because it's a very similar system to how he treats me. We don't immediately take my temperature, the first thing I do is lie down in bed; then he calls the doctor. My dad said that usually the doctor will say something along the lines of, "Well those symptoms fall under ____. It seems that _____ seems to be going around lately. I suggest ____ medicine. There's no need to come into the office". He would then run out to the drug store, pick up ____ medicine, and I would take it.

While there is a correlation between the way he was brought up and the way I'm being brought up, I wanted to know if he  carried these habits personally. I asked him what he did when he was sick or feeling under the weather. "The first thing I do is rest. I don't want to jump to any conclusions about what is ailing me". So I asked him how long he would rest until he did something. "If I've been taking it easy for a day, and I still feel sick then I'll call the doctor to tell them my symptoms and if they tell me I need a certain medication I will probably take it". I found it interesting that he didn't call the doctor right away. When he was younger, as soon as there was a problem, the doctor was called. When I was younger, as soon as there was a problem, the doctor was called. But for my dad, when there's a problem he doesn't do anything until it gets worse. I think this is a strange strategy; to call the doctor for me and not for himself, I personally believe that if you have the best interest in mind for another person, you would care for them as you do yourself.

The pediatrician my parents chose for me was not an "average" doctor at the time. His practice isn't necessarily a mix between allopathic and homeopathic medicines, but I would not consider him an allopathic doctor. To sum up his philosophy; symptoms like coughing and fever are the body's way of fighting off illness; his objective is not to cause any harm only to cure. Some allopathic vaccinations and medicines cause symptoms that may not harm the body but can cause stress on different systems. His belief is that there needs to be a balance between caring for and monitoring your body, and when needed, medicate. My parents haven't really followed this philosophy when caring for me, because I used to take medicine whenever I was sick. I personally dislike medicine and only take it when a symptom becomes unbearable or an extreme nuisance.
I respect the decisions that my parents have made about taking care of me, and it's interesting to know where my dad got his habits from. If i ever do have children in the future, I think I would use similar methods to the ones my parents use when I'm sick; just maybe using a little less cough syrup.

HW 18 - Health & Illness & Feasting

Each year I have two Thanksgivings. One here, in the city, and the other in New Jersey. My parents and I started off our day with my great aunt. She lives just a few blocks away and is one of the few relatives left on my dad's side. Whenever we eat with her we never cook; it's always order in. We usually order from a diner and have it delivered to her apartment. With my great aunt, we don't really "feast". She doesn't have too much of an appetite so we usually don't get too much food. My dad and I shared a spinach pie; my mom had half a burger; and my aunt had leftover salad and some home-made yellow split pea soup that we brought over with us. There wasn't much conversation during our meal; Nan (my great aunt) is 97 and has bad short-term memory so the conversation was basically, "Are you going to see Bunny (my grandma) after this?" My mom would reply, "Yes, we're going to pick her up and go to my sister's house for dinner". This conversation repeated itself probably 3 times within the 30 minutes we ate our food in. Our meal was relatively rushed; our focus was to get the food into our bodies; not really even to enjoy it.

The Thanksgiving lunch we used to have with Nan was much more lively. My great uncle; who was mentioned in my HW 17 post, passed away in 2004, leaving Nan very alone [because they never had any children]. In 2007, Nan's last sister, my grandma Eleanor, died from complications of colon cancer and a dislocated hip. The only blood relatives my aunt has left are my dad, his brother, and me. Thanksgiving lunch used to be much more "extravagant" (though we still ordered out). We would actually set the table and sit in the den and talk before our feast. As there are less people for her to be thankful for; her meals become less "enjoyable".

The meal we have with my mom's side of the family is much more of a traditional Thanksgiving. When my grandpa was still around we had dinner at my grandparent's house. But in 2008, my grandma was recovering from surgery at a rehabilitation center over Thanksgiving. I don't remember much about it, I think that we stopped at a deli on the way over and picked up sandwiches. My grandma's illness effected our regular Thanksgiving routine. Instead of having a turkey dinner in a home we ate sandwiches in an unfamiliar place.
But for the past two Thanksgivings, we have spent our time at my aunt Joanne's house. This year she got an organic turkey; as requested by my cousin, Jeremy. For sides she made mashed sweet potato and butternut squash, yellow and green beans, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, mushroom barley soup, vegetarian stuffing and meat stuffing. I don't think that my family really cares about the "giving thanks" aspect of Thanksgiving. We attempted to have a toast; someone said something along the lines of, "I am thankful to have all of us together as a family"; and then we drank the artificially flavored sparkling pear cider.
My two cousins, Jeremy and Daniel, are known very well in our family for their eating habits. I think Daniel reffered to Jeremy as "the beast" at one point or another. Daniel and his wife had already had Thanksgiving dinner with her parents, so they just tried the stuffing. Jeremy on the other hand kept going. I don't know how many servings of Turkey he had, but everyone at the table was done eating and he was still going. When he was finally done he did some stretching and rubbed his belly. Everything that my aunt made was delicious; people wanted to keep eating but they just didn't have room for anything else. Food pleasure wasn't the main attraction of this meal though; there was a lot of conversation and rarely a moment of silence. If people weren't stuffing their mouths they were talking, and sometimes, they attempted to do both.
We did watch the football game after dessert (pumpkin bread and fresh fruit crumble). Only a few people were really into the game though. Some of us looked through old photo albums and talked about late family members. My family's Thanksgiving isn't necessarily based on thanks nor the pleasure of food. It's more based on simply being with family.

HW 17 - First Thoughts on the Illness & Dying Unit

I was talking to a friend a while ago and she was explaining to me how she gets scared when she's alone because she associates death with being alone. I asked her why she was scared of death. She couldn't give me a well thought out response. I think that everyone is scared of death; that's why we avoid it everyday. That's why we stand on curbs instead of in the middle of the street; why we get vaccinations at the doctors office. But death is inevitable at certain points; why avoid something that you know is going to happen?

Sometimes I'll come home with a cough or a warm forehead and my mom automatically goes for the medicine cabinet. She'll pull out a big white basket full of colorful pill bottles and syrups. about 99% of the time I say "I'll pass" and head to my room for some rest instead. I really hate taking medicine to help "cure" myself when I'm sick. I have never actually done research on medicine or commonly used drugs but I've always felt like I'm putting something into my body that doesn't belong there. I feel like at this point in my life my immune system is strong enough to fight off a virus or bacteria on it's own.

I don't really have a personal view on death. I don't necessarily believe that things happen for a reason but I do believe that whatever does happen occurs because of an outside cause. Death can happen but death has to have a cause in order to happen. For example one's heart can stop beating because an artery got clogged because they led an "unhealthy" lifestyle which can be based off of many different factors. Another example could be that someone got shot which led to them to bleed so much that they died. In the first situation would probably be classified as "natural causes" the second situation would probably be classified as "murder". Sometimes I question how we classify death or the causes of death. What does it actually mean to be dead?

I'm hoping that this unit will help me to better understand death and why my friend was scared of being alone or why I'm so skeptical about medicine.

Some questions I've posed in my head:
What do other people think of when they hear of a suicide? What are the differences between the different standards of death (natural, suicide, murder)? Why do we have such intense emotional reactions to death?

While I'm reading my classmates' blogs, I'm noticing that almost everyone has a personal experience linked to their post. Here goes mine.
My first experience with death was when I was in the fourth grade. My great uncle Abe died. I actually don't remember the circumstances of his death but that I was a little bit shocked. When I first found out I didn't cry I didn't say anything I just went into my bedroom and sat on my bed. I remember I tried SO hard to cry. I thought about what he looked like when he died, I thought about pain and anguish. No matter what I thought about I couldn't cry. I think I got a few tears out and went to sleep. The next day we had a class trip I remember it a Circle Line trip (a 3 hour boat ride). When I woke up I felt normal, like nothing had happened. I started to feel queasy; an image of the Bah-Humbug doormat my Great Uncle kept outside of his apartment year-round popped into my head. I was so confused, why was I thinking about this now? why didn't this come to me yesterday, when I found out he had died? I dismissed my sick feeling and went to school. As soon as I hit 23rd St. (the street his apartment building was on) the sadness hit me. It wasn't until I got to school though that I started to cry. I cried and cried. I cried on the way to the boat. I cried while we were getting on the boat. I cried so much that I literally passed out. I feel asleep on some uncomfortable wooden folding chairs with pleather upholstery attached to the seat.

HW 8- Re-do

 As said in my previous homework number 8 post, my first attempt at growing sprouts failed.

This time; I got a bit luckier. I started growing the sprouts just under a week ago; Monday night (it is now Sunday night).

I started off by removing the sprouts onto a paper towel. 

Then I put them into a sifter and rinsed them in the sink.

The last step was to towel dry them.

I decided to try some; they were quite spicy. I actually called my mom in to the kitchen and asked her to eat one, her reaction was, "wow that's got a kick...now what are you going to do with them?" That was a good question seeing as I already had dinner and I personally don't think that black beans really go with sprouts. I did some really fast research in my mom's handy-dandy vegetarian cookbook/guide and decided to keep them in the fridge in a plastic baggie. 


The experience wasn't that strange; almost every year in elementary school we'd have to put a bean in a plastic baggie with a wet paper towel and see watch what happened over a span of a week or so. That was the extent of my elementary plant-growing life, but it kind of felt the same as this experience. Instead of being excited that " I was making my own food" I was more focused on getting some sort of product so I could do the homework and be done. I think if I grew sprouts out of free will rather than as an assignment I would be more into it.

HW 9 - Freakonomics Response

1. What intellectual moves serve as the basis of "Freakonomics"? Just as Allen Iverson relied on his crossover dribble to beat bigger and stronger defenders, intellectuals such as the protagonists in "Freakonomics" have a "tool box" of particular ways of looking at the world: figuring out topics, asking questions, finding evidence, and evaluating truth. Please describe the 3-5 "tools" that the film repeatedly shows in use, with an example of a moment from the film for each one.

 

The goal of a documentary is generally to spread knowledge to it's audience. But what qualifies a film to be a "documentary"? The tools of the documentary trade; data, experts, and intriguing visuals. Throughout the entire film the audience is thrown numbers, charts, graphs and statistics. One part of the movie focuses on names. More specifically, how names effect the future of a baby. The audience was given an expert (a professor who had done a study on baby names/race and the effect on their future) who narrated visuals by using data. One example is when the audience is shown two boys; one is black one is white. The boys are standing in front of a nice house; the narrator tells us that this is the white boy's house. A new house shows up, it's smaller, dirtier, and uglier; it's the black boy's house. Immediately so much data is thrown at you by this man's voice behind these two boys in front of houses your head begins to spin. He starts bringing up statistics, "In the black boy's neighborhood there is a higher percentage of single-mothers", etcetera. We learn that names don't necessarily plan out the child's future but that it's more of a matter of where they're from. In each of the sections there is always an expert who relays data to a most-likely after-effected* visual.

*please don't kill me for using wikipedia, it does give a pretty good description

 

3. What sources of evidence do the Freakonomics authors most rely on? Why is this innovative? 

 

The Freakonomics filmakers seem to rely on the authors quite a bit for evidence in this film. While each section of the movie had other experts to give us our data and statistics and narrate our visuals, a lot of the talking seemed to come from the authors. I think that it's an interesting approach. Steven Levitt does have certain qualifications to be considered a source seeing as he is an economist and Stephen Dubner has been writing books and articles for quite some time and has been exposed to many topics. I don't really think it's terribly innovative, I just think it's a good way of putting more "expertise" into the film.

Response:

Freakonomics serves as an inspiration and good example to our attempt to explore the "hidden-in-plain-sight" weirdness of dominant social practices.

I do think that Freakonomics makes me think a little harder about social practices but I think that people are already aware of certain things. Example; the sumo wrestling. People knew that the cheating was going on; but they didn't face it. There's things that I do, my friends do, and other people around me do, and I question those actions; but I never fight it or dig deeper. I feel as though the hidden in plain sight "weirdness" is actually quite normal. People just don't want to face the "weirdness" (meaning normality) of it all.

Here in the U.S. we've had a number of documentarys/informative films come out about our food. "Food Inc.", "Supersize me" and "King Corn" just to name a few.  For some, these films have changed their lives; they started to look at their plate and instead of wondering they actually changed what they saw. But for some others they looked at the plate, wondered, and dug in.

HW 8 - Growing Our Own Food

The first time I tried in school to grow sprouts failed, I got a small little ball of sprouts that were probably no good. I was away for the long weekend and couldn't take care of a new batch so I started on Monday when I got home. I can't really write about the entire experience of growing sprouts right now, but I can talk about the experience of growing my own food.

When I was much younger my mother joined our Co-op's garden. We got lucky and our patch partner only likes to plant in one corner so we have the rest of the patch to ourselves. I used to really like gardening; getting muddy and playing with the hoses. There was even a "club" that I made with one of my friends where we sat under a tree and collected sap and herbs and mashed them up with rocks. I would get really excited whenever spring rolled around.
Each year my mom likes to try one or two new plants. I would always choose a new flower to try and she would always choose a new vegetable. Every spring/summer we always have snow or snap peas growing along with mint, rosemary, oregano, basil, usually some lemon balm, and tomatoes. We like to make the patch colorful with some marigolds (they tend to come back each year on their own). And yes, we do actually eat the vegetables and herbs that we grow.
Sometimes growing our own food can be frustrating. There have been some seasons where we plant something new and it never shows up; a waste of space and time. Because the season in which we can harvest our vegetables is so short, we like to maximize our space and we want plants that will give us something useful pretty fast.

I do enjoy going out to the garden every once in a while and checking on the patch or reading on one of the picnic benches, but I'm not as enthusiastic about growing plants. I do however enjoy the outcome; one of my favorite things to eat is fresh basil, it's one of those things that tastes just "OK" when it's not fresh, but it full of flavor and color when it's fresh from the patch.

HW 7b

Chapter 6
Precis: Corn has made America into a "Fat Republic". America was the "Alcoholic Republic" around the 1820s; this name comes from corn whiskey; which was drank by the average American of the time. The alcoholic republic and the fat republic are nearly parallel in their patterns. Corn becomes cheap; making it's demand go up as well as production, which leaves us with excess corn. What do we do with the corn? We make it into something. During the 1800s, it was distilled into corn whiskey; it was cheap to make and cheap to buy; currently, corn is processed into many different forms; the major form being high fructose corn syrup; an ingredient found in the majority of processed foods.

Gems:
Response: I feel like the main idea of this chapter was money. The entire time I was reading I had the song from Cabaret stuck in my head, "Money makes the world go round, world go round, world go round".


Chapter 7
Precis: The industrial food chain ends with fast food. Fast food places have "healthy" items on their menus like salads to invite the on the go "health-conscious" mother into their humble abode with their child craving chicken nuggets. There are 38 ingredients in chicken Mcnuggets, which lead to a lawsuit against McDonald's by some obese teenagers in NY. This led to McDonald's making their nutrition facts available in a pamphlet. out of the 38 ingredients, 13 can come from corn. Fast food is not meant to be savory; it is meant to fill you up; fast.

Gems:
Response: I stopped eating fast-food around 6th grade; at one point I thought I'd be rebellious and not even go into places like McDonald's and Wendy's. I have since then discovered that one friend buying a ton of french fries and a drink provides a warm, smelly place to stay in the winter when one doesn't want to go home. I actually can't stand the smell of fast food. I've kind of gotten over it, but sometimes I'll pass a McDonalds and I gag. I can't explain it.



Chapter 8
Precis: Naylor Farm Vs. Polyface Farm; Joel Salatin runs Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley, which is also a pastoral farm. He has created a food chain; everything gets used. By the end of the season he will have "25,000 pounds of beeg, 50,000 pounds of pork, 12,000 broilers, 800 turkeys, 500 rabbits, and 30,000 dozen eggs"(Pollan 126). Grass is the most important part of his farm. The Naylor Farm is a near opposite. One difference is the industrial farm caters to the global market whereas a pastoral farm generally sells at a local market. Salatin has a big problem with "organic" food, "I would much rather use my money to keep my neighborhood productive and healthy than export my dollars five hundred miles away to get 'pure product' that's really coated in diesel fuel" (Pollan, 132). In order for "organic" foods to make it into America's food markets, there had to be some exceptions and changes to the idea of "organic". 
Gems:
Response: I've always been unsure about organic products, I've heard little bits and pieces here and there. I've heard that as long as a product contains something like 90% organic products it can be labeled as organic. I've also heard that organic isn't necessarily healthier, so I've decided that I'm going to look that up.

Chapter 9
Precis:
Gems:
Response:

Chapter 10
Precis:
Gems:
Response:

HW 7 - Reading Response Monday

I currently am reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

Chapter 1
Precis: How corn is a staple in our current diet. It feeds the animals that we eat and can be processed into other foods. Corn is a C-4 plant; it creates 4 carbon atom through photosynthesis while most other plants only make 3. Americans completely rely on corn. The American food chain has changed with the hybridization of corn.
Gems:
Response: I'm really understanding how big of a resource corn is to America; we use it for practically everything. I'm grasping the concepts of our food chain/system.

Chapter 2
Precis: Corn fields is where our food generally comes from. Planting rotation between soybeans and corn to keep up production. Some areas have lost a lot of their populations because of the spread of planting. Corn is slowly becoming more expensive but there is such a large population of the corn that we have to do something with it.
Gems:
Response: Corn, corn, and more CORN. I knew some of this stuff about corn before but I never thought it was possible to see the word corn on a piece of paper so many times. I do find the book a bit of a slow read; but I think that with time I'll learn to enjoy it more.

Chapter 3
Precis: Grain elevators; tall concrete structures help to move corn to railroad cars in order to transport it.  The government basically runs the farms; they are one of the main money sources for farmers, they want to keep production high but prices low.
Gems:
Response: This was a fast chapter but some parts I had to re-read. Nothing extreme stood out to me in this chapter; maybe if I re-read.

HW 6 - Food Diary

One of my favorite places to get food during lunch is a pasta/cheese store which I shall not be naming for privacy concerns. When I go to said pasta/cheese store I will either get the penne auora or sundried tomato, basil and mozzarella sandwich. I went with option number 2. After eating, Bianca and I went down to CVS. I decided not to get anything but Bianca decided to get a Crunch bar. I had a couple of pieces of that.

Afterschool, I decided to go for a walk with Kady in Madison Square Park. Before going to the park we stopped at a food truck. I've never gotten anything from a food truck; unless you count the endless number of ice cream trucks that spread over the city. The food truck we happened upon was The Kelvin Slushie Truck, which Kady's mom had tried out and said was really good. Kady got a ginger mint slushie and I got a citrus pear slushie

When I got home I was a little hungry so I had some dried cranberries; I'm not really sure how many, and a bottle of water (our current tap water is bad). I was going to have some leftover orzo for dinner because my mom and dad were out for the night, but I passed out pretty early (6 or 7). And no, I didn't eat anything before lunch; breakfast is rarely a part of my day.

Today, I had no school so I ate at my internship. Even though I had time this morning for breakfast I really wasn't hungry so I had nothing. At my internship I order my food whenever I come in. The company has an account on Seamless Web which allows everyone working there to order food. My internship gives me 10 dollars to spend on food; including tip and tax. Each day there are three different places I can choose from. Today's choices were Cuban, Deli, and Burgers. I decided to get the "Spinach Rollie". The wrap was made up of a whole wheat wrap, sauteed spinach and mushrooms, accompanied with avocado, honey Dijon mustard, and tomato paste. I was a little skeptic on the Dijon+tomato paste combination but it was the perfect combination of sweet and tangy. The internship has 2 kitchens, stocked full with snacks and drinks so I grabbed a peach Snapple iced tea and ate lunch.

I didn't have anything else at internship (although there were some really yummy looking cupcakes left over after a client had left). When I got home my mom made spaghetti with steamed carrots, brussel sprouts and sauteed peppers. I'm not a fan of brussel sprouts so I decided to have some plain snap peas instead.  For snack after dinner I had some dried cranberries (one of my favorite snacks) and because I wasn't completely full from dinner I cooked a frozen broccoli/spinach/potato blintz. I also had a 100% juice pack left over from this summer when I had to bring bagged lunch every day to work and my parents would put one in the bag for me.

I didn't really keep track of my calories for the days; I can probably do some calculations pretty soon.

HW 5 - Dominant Discourses Regarding Contemporary Foodways in the U.S.-Read the Fine Print

When walking through the grocery store you see all sorts of words and colors flashing out at you from the shelves. All those words, all those colors- they are for you; the beloved customer. Each label is an advertisement. When searching "food" on the News search engine from Google, the following ads showed up: Sabra Hummus- Easy and Delicious, Cooking Recipes, Easy Homemade Desserts, Delicious Cooking Recipes, Quick and Easy Cooking Recipes, Next Iron Chef on Food Network, and New York Food- Authentic Coffees, Bagels, Cheeses, and Gift Baskets. I italicized certain words to see if there were patterns in the advertisements. Easy, Delicious and Authentic are the main words that popped out to me. This relates to two different subjects; one, being the dominant discourse of food and two, being the foodways of our country. Companies put hundreds of thousands dollars towards market research. Ads cost a lot these days and they need every word that is bringing the reader in to count. These ads show that some aspects of the dominant discourse of food are easy foods and delicious foods. This relates to american foodways because the dominant discourse is related to foodways; what people want is what people will eat. People want their foods to be fast or at least simple to make and want them to taste good at the same time; but does this make them healthier?

Recently there has been an organic surge in America. "Did you try this organic baby food?", "I only eat organic foods; it makes me feel healthier". When searching the phrase "organic food" in Google News, the first group of articles that show up are about Kirstie Alley and how she lost 50 lbs. through an "Organic Liaison diet". None of the articles were from reliable sources so instead I went to NYT where I came across this article. The title is "Doctor’s Orders: Eat Well to Be Well". The article focuses on Dr. Preston Maring, a doctor in Oakland, CA, who has started a farmers market right outside of the hospital he works at. Green markets are rapidly popping up all over America; they are the new way to spread fresh produce to the customers; green markets are generally organic; no preservatives etc.
"Food is at the center of health and illness," stated the doctor. This relates to something Andy referred to in his post for this assignment. How the dominant discourse focuses around food and health and food and illness. The article makes it clear that the doctor believes that obesity is one of the leading health threats of America. But what makes Dr. Maring qualified to say these things and have them published in an article? Is it his 30+ years as a surgeon? Or maybe it's the label on his name, "Dr.".

The New York Times seemed to be a good resource for information so I stayed on there and searched "obesity". One quote from that page, "Overweight and obese patients prefer that their doctors use the terms 'weight' and 'BMI' rather than 'large size,' 'excess fat,' or 'fatness'". This is directly relating to dominant discourse; the words large and fat seem to make people uncomfortable; what ever happened to bigger is better? I noticed that the same name kept on popping up on my screen: Emily B. Levitan ScD. First thought, "What is an ScD?", I click on the hyperlinked name, and up comes this page. Her Bio: "Dr. Levitan received masters and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. She then completed a research fellowship in cardiovascular epidemiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Levitan joined the faculty at UAB in 2009. Her primary research interests are the relationship between diet, lifestyle, and cardiovascular diseases and the application of epidemiologic and statistical methods to address public health questions".

I really struggled with this post....I was stuck and unsure what I should really do.

HW 4 - Your Families' Foodways Part 2

Imagine walking down the street to the grocery store, grabbing 3 bananas and heading to the checkout with only 10 cents in your pocket. The chances of you leaving the store with even half of a banana are extremely low. In the 1930s 10 cents could get you a lot. 3 different candies at the movie theaters or 3 bananas at the food store. My grandma was born in 1927 as Bernice Kaplan. She grew up in Brooklyn, belonging to a Jewish family of seven. Although the 1930s were the time of the great depression my grandmother's family's eating habits weren't strongly affected. My great-grandfather had a steady job at a coat factory and was able to bring home money during hard times. That doesn't mean that they were rich and ate fabulous meals every night; but they could eat comfortably. In winter, every morning my great grandmother would make hot cereal (cream of wheat) for the 5 girls of the family. Each night my great grandfather would come home and dinner would be served, "He had his own special chair and then everyone would sit down to eat". Every Friday night was chicken soup night. My grandma recalls that her mom was the only one who cooked and never really had any help. The easiest thing for them to get were vegetables. Weekly vegetables were carrots, corn and mashed potatoes. My grandma told me, laughing, that "Spinach was about the only green thing I remember". There weren't supermarkets; "there was a food store, a butcher and a bakery". My grandma would get sent to the food store every once in a while with 10 cents to get bananas for her mom.

Candy was never kept in the house; it was considered an extravagance. The only time candy ever entered the house was for passover. My great grandma would order special sesame candies which can actually still be found in some grocery stores. "For passover, many families did this, we would get a big fish. We would get a live Pike and keep it in the bathtub. Then kill it". I laughed when I heard this. She said, "don't laugh, lots of people did it. It was very common- remember, this was the 30s and my mother was born in the 1800s, it was tradition". My grandmother kept her kosher eating style right up until she was married. Even though she no longer keeps kosher, she still has some of the same eating habits. Chicken was one of their regular foods and my grandma still loves chicken; she eats it at least once a week. She will buy a full chicken at the grocery store, cut it up and freeze most of it. When my grandma is looking for food she tries to go for protein. She still loves salmon which she now gets fresh instead of in cans like her mother did to make salmon patties. Just like her mom she always has eggs in her house and always has a fresh, seasonal fruit or vegetable ready to be eaten.

Some traditions from my grandma's childhood carried over to my mother's childhood. My grandma would cook the meals every night; with little to no help from my mom and her 2 siblings. One difference is that instead of eating with the whole family, my grandma and the three kids would eat early and my grandfather would eat later in the day around 9pm. He was a doctor and had very long hours. Sometimes he would come home for dinner at a regular time and then turn around and go back to work. Breakfast was really important to my grandpa and my grandma, following in the steps of her mother would make him hot breakfast like cream of wheat in the mornings. My grandpa's uncles were in the food business and actually opened one of the first supermarkets in their county. My grandmother would shop there to support the family business. Another difference is that they would actually keep sweets in the house. My grandpa really loved chocolate; especially with almonds so there was always Hershey with almonds in the house.

My mom used to work for Citigroup as a producer. She was laid off about half a year ago. I've noticed since then that she has more time to cook meals. When my mom did work, take out was at least a once a week event. There were probably some weeks where we ate only takeout and leftovers. She would cook using a crock pot and it was hard for her to make vegetarian food for me because most of the recipes she knew involved meat so sometimes i had to find something else to eat. Now, we tend to have family meals 3-6 days out of the week depending on our schedules. We rarely eat leftovers for dinner now and we've started to have meals like the ones described by my grandma; full meals with vegetables and not just some gross mashed potatoes.

I think that the change in foodways relies on just a few things; religion, economy, and time period. When my grandma was younger her family kept kosher because of the Jewish religion. As time went on my grandmother decided that she didn't want to keep that particular habit and dropped it. Now, my mother doesn't keep kosher and I doubt that I'll ever keep kosher. During the great depression, my relatives didn't suffer too many of the side effects but it did keep a shortage on what was actually available to them. With this current economy my mom lost her job and now has more time for family meals rather than just ordering in. 80 years ago, there were no "pre-chopped" foods, no chemical preservatives, no genetically mutated foods. Now a days we have so much more technology to "help" us make our eating experiences more pleasant...or at least easy.

HW 4 - Your Families' Foodways Part 1-Documenting Dinner

My mom is basically our designated chef. My dad can make really good chili and lasagna; but on a nightly basis it's usually my mom. We also go out to New Jersey almost every weekend to see my grandmother and we never really cook dinner out there. So there is lots of eating out and takeout pizza/eggplant parmesan. As I said in a previous post, my parents want me to eat fish at least once a week. My mom has started using Alaskan Cod instead of just Salmon or Tilapia. She likes to make the fish in a sweet combination sauce and serve it with sauteed vegetables. Sometimes she does the same thing with Tofu.

The first picture is of mixed sauteed vegetables; snap peas, snow peas, red cabbage, red pepper, bok choy, scallions, and I'm not really sure what else.

 The second picture is of Alaskan Cod. My mom likes to make it with different sauces so there's no real name for it. It's REALLY good and tastes sweet but has a very little bit of sour kick to it.

 This third picture is just a close up of the fish; my mom likes to make food look really "pretty" and presentable, I don't really care one way or another but it does make it more appetizing.

This last picture of dinner tonight is of my plate. Sometimes I don't like cooked/sauteed red pepper so my mom will put out a cup of red pepper sticks for me. The rice is that easy boil-in-bag rice that takes like 10 minutes to cook.

I've noticed my mom really likes to make her food presentable and picture-worthy. I don't know exactly what I'm going to ask my parents about how foodways have changed for them but I think i'll bring something up about presentation.

This is a frittata my mom made for me and some of my friends after they slept over; like i said, she likes to make her food picture worthy.

HW 3 - Food - Fast Food Insights and Green Market Realizations

Ew. The smell of Wendy's triggers my gag reflexes. I look around; almost every table is filled; half the people are talking on their cell phones or texting. I walk forward a little and see that there’s an empty table next to two guys. I take a seat. They pause and glance up at us…then dive right back into their food.

“I’m sorry for interrupting, but would you mind if we asked you a few questions about what you got here today?”.

Pause.

“Uhh… well we’re not in a rush” one says, shrugging

“So, what did you get?”

The same guy replies, “Um well I got a chili and a grilled chicken wrap…and a side salad”

I’m surprised. I thought I’d hear “A burger and fries”.

Bianca asks, “Why did you decide to come to Wendy's for your food today?”

Both guys start talking,

“It’s healthy. There are healthy options. Also; quality. Quality is very important- Wendy's got it right-”.

“-McDonald's sucks”.

Both guys have smirks on their faces and are laughing. I’m 99% sure they’re just f***ing around with us.

We thank them for their time and move on.
 

There are about 17 people waiting on line. A man passes me holding 2 clear bags along with a couple paper bags. The clear bags hold 2 drinks; of which I hope are the largest soda size Wendy's carries. Some of us just stand there for a few minutes; observing people and taking notes.

I approach a few people to ask them what they ordered today. They either walk away saying nothing or say, “sorry, I’m in a rush”.

Then there was the couple. I noticed them when they first got on line. They were a young couple; no older than 25 years old and they had a baby stroller.

“Hi, did you guys order food?”

“Um…yeah”

“While you’re waiting for you food do you think you could answer some questions for me about what you got?”

“Not if it’s going to make me not want to eat it,”

I assure the woman I’m not going to tell her exactly what her food is made out of and that I wont scare her out of her meal.

“I got a chicken sandwich”.

“Why?”

“Because Burger King wasn’t available” says the man laughing to himself.

Everyone has priorities for what they eat. For the two men it was "quality". The sarcastic style in which they responded to our questions shows me that the men didn't care how healthy their food was. I do think that they were concerned with the "quality" of their food because they both were very adamant in telling us that Wendy's was better than McDonald's. The couple also based their priorities on quality. The couple proves that people don't always follow through with their priorities. They wanted the quality of Burger King, but they settled for Wendys because it was the easiest.

The people I interviewed didn't say that they came to Wendy's because it was fast but I do think that the priority of a lot of people who eat at places like Wendy's is because they want food; and they want it fast. Fast-food chains literally thrive off of being fast "food" chains.  A lot of the people in Wendy's were on their phones or were texting; especially the people in line. I heard one woman asking the person on the phone what they wanted. Another talking about how slow the line was moving (I think she's just impatient). Most of the people I stopped had their phones in their hands and were walking at lightning speed. Some people were professionally dressed; probably on their 15 minute lunch break and needed food fast. I think that everyone needs to slow down a little bit and start thinking about their priorities.

HW 2 - Food - Initial Thoughts

I’ve despised family meals since I was little. When I was younger and my family was closer we’d get together probably 4 or 5 times a year for Jewish and American holidays. The only family members who keep kosher are my aunt and uncle. But in respect to their religion my grandmother keeps a set of kosher dishes etc. for our family get togethers. I remember learning at a young age to stay out of the way when the food was being prepared, “That can’t touch that; don’t put that there; what are you doing”. It just baffled me; why did these people care so much about the way their food looked and how it was prepared? Why not just put food on a plate and let it be? That’s the first thing that interests me about food. Religion. I’ve never really understood much about keeping kosher. I know that meat and cheese together is out of the question and that you can’t eat pork or rabbit. There also some unusual rules about burying plates that I don’t quite understand. I find that in most religions there are very specific ways one must prepare and eat their food; and I want to explore that more. 

The dining table at my grandma’s house is long. You can fit about 5 or 6 people on each side and then one grandparent on each end for a total of 13. I don’t know if you’ve ever sat at a long dinner table, but you can never see the people sitting on your side and can never seem to talk to the people at the other end. I would ask sometimes, “Why do we sit at the table”. I usually got something along the lines of “It brings us together as a family”. But what I found is that after dinner, when we would sit in the living room in a circle; where you could see everyone, we had full on discussions. I was too young to partake in the important conversations but I knew there was meaningful discussion going on. Which would bring me to this question: Why do we have to sit at tables? Why not eat standing up? Why not eat on the ground? Why is it only acceptable to have picnics outdoors?

I remember when one of my mom’s cousins married a Korean woman and they had a baby a few years ago. On the baby’s 100^th day of living we held a celebration called a Baek Il. We ate low to the ground, took our shoes off and the children were separated from the adults. I was unsure; take my shoes off? Why on earth would I take my shoes off to eat? It was weird at first but I slowly became accustom.

Rituals are interesting to me because they relate back to religion. People follow certain rituals based on their culture and beliefs.

 

Ethics is important when coming to food. When I think of ethics and food in the same sentence my mind goes to vegetarians vs. omnivores. I have been a pescetarian for about 1.5 years now. I don’t enjoy eating fish but my parents are concerned about my protein intake and have me eat fish once a week. I don’t eat shellfish or any other animal. When I do eat fish I usually keep it to salmon, trout, or tilapia. Some people tell me I’m not a true vegetarian and I honestly don’t care. There shouldn’t be a label. People create their own types of vegetarianism so it works for them; and that’s fine with me. I just thought to myself one day, “If I’ll kill it, I’ll eat it”. I don’t think I could ever find it in myself to kill a cow or a pig or a duck…you get the picture. But I could definitely pull carrots out of the ground and pick berries off of bushes.

Different people have different perspectives on food; what they eat, when they eat it, how they eat it, and why they eat it. All of those things rely on culture and opinion which are influenced by setting and religion amongst other things. 

For me food is very important. Not the rituals put around it. Not the people I’m eating with. Just the food itself. I think people get a little too intense when it comes to food. For some people, food has become a luxury; not a survival need.  I personally try to eat when I’m hungry and eat what I’m hungry for. If I want mac and cheese; I’ll go make some mac and cheese. If I want an apple; I’ll go get myself an apple. People put too much thought into ritual. Why not just go with the flow and enjoy yourself?

HW 28- Comments

Comments I made:
Jasper,
Did not post homework 27
Sophia,
Did not post homework 27


I tried to comment on both Lucas' and Chris' homework number 27 because I noticed that they didn't have very many comments, but when I clicked post, it wouldn't go through and deleted ALL of my writing. 


Comments on my Blog:
Sophia:
I thought the best part of your post was the first paragraph - there was a lot of detail and depth to it. I also liked how you told part of the story, and then reflected on it, and then told the rest, and then reflected on it again.

I identified with the idea about people needing something to do. It reminded me of my grandfather, who has heart problems (so he can't do much without getting tired), but still tries to do things for himself.

This also goes back to the part in Tuesdays With Morrie, when Morrie decides that he doesn't want to feel bad that he needs help doing simple everyday tasks. He viewed it as a good thing, whereas most people are different - they like to be able to take care of themselves.
Dad:
I liked your reference to Tuesdays With Morrie, specifically the reference to “letting go”. The individual Elizabeth is referring to used to be a “get up and go” type, unafraid to face any challenge, trying to motivate others to do the same. Since I know who Elizabeth is talking about I can see she’s paid a lot of attention to small details. But I think the one thing I’ve noticed she could elaborate on is the challenge that’s involved with getting up and down those stairs; how she has to walk sideways holding on to the handrail one step at a time to navigate each and every step; how the wrought iron metal rail wobbles a bit, sometimes making her nervous. If no one is there and she falls? What then? That to me is when she seems most challenged, most afraid that something might happen.
Zoe (9th Grader):
i like the way you opened this, your writing style is very good. i also like the part when you said "I thought about one of the big ideas of Tuesdays With Morrie; Morrie had a hard time 'letting go'" because it gave me more of an insight in to what you were thinking wile writing this
Jasper:
The part I liked best from your post was: "I could have been sledding, building a snowman, or going for a walk in the snow. I thought about what she could have been doing at that moment. She could have been reading her newspaper...oh wait but that wasn't delivered due to the snow. Well she could have been watching the news...oh wait, she did that already today. Well she could go through old items in the storage room; oh wait, that's downstairs." By comparing the endless possibilities of things you could do, to the options that she had really was very powerful to me. It was powerful because it shows the drastic difference and made me think that people probably get very sad with a lack of activities as they get older and it gets harder to move around.