TV Show!

The television show that I would recommend to everyone is American Idol.  It has something for everyone.  You could be a reality television fan, enjoy comedy or drama, or maybe you just like to think that you were part of the reason why the final contestant won.  After the show is over, the winner gets a record contract, so who wins actually matters beyond the show.  From Kelly Clarkson to Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry to David Cook, there have been many platinum selling artists that came from the show.  For all the shows currently running on TV, American Idol is the only one that has lasting impact on the general public long after each season ends.

The Great Debate: Opinion v. Fact

It's interesting to me to read how each of my classmates interpret the meaning of each article written and then respond to the writing afterward based on their own opinion.  For me, being someone who I would classify as a progressive or liberal, my opinion or interpretation could be much different than someone who would call themselves a conservative.  Here is what I read and what I thought about each article afterward:

The first article I read was an article by Arianna Huffington discussing a conversation she had with columnist Joe Klein about how out of touch the Washington media is with the rest of the country.  She writes about Klein's trip around the country and talks about issues that should be the big stories in the Washington media cycle, like how 1 in 5 children live in poverty and 1 in 5 people are unemployed or underemployed.  She uses pathos with great effect while she is discussing the issues at hand, as well as the "non" issues, like if Hillary Clinton will run as President Obama's Vice Presidential running mate in 2012, when there was no story there to begin with, just a couple of people bouncing ideas off a wall and nothing else.  She also uses logos very well when closing her argument, using the statement "Maybe if the Washington press corps focused more on the casualties of the economic devastation in their own country, they'd care less about the horse race -- and a very different kind of story would "win the morning"" as a logical conclusion after her arguments she previously made.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/joe-klein-and-diane-sawye_b_752674.html

The second article I read is entitled "Facebook, I Just Can't Quit You" by Meghan Daum.  It discusses how facebook is time wasting and for lack of a better adjective, addictive, but how it has become a necessity to be a member or feel like you've been left behind by the world.  The author talks about how she was a skeptic of facebook and didn't want to join, but how she became hooked when she tried it and now how it is impossible to leave because of it's value to the current social world.  The overall use of pathos is probably the strongest of the three here, but I also see a lot of logos as well, since the author uses the shear size of facebook to make an argument of how you have to join and can't leave.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-daum-facebook-20101007,0,2696276.column?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fopinion%2Fcommentary+%28L.A.+Times+-+Commentary%29

The third article I chose to read is entitled "Obama's a Lock in 2012" by Peter Beinart.  Overall, I liked the argument made by the author when he stated that Obama will win election in 2012 because he has no serious primary challenger from his own party, and only 3 sitting presidents didn't win re-election in the last 75 years, and all had serious competition within their own political party.  He also uses an argument made by GOP Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in that if the GOP takes the House of Representatives this fall, it will only help Obama and history shows that if the economy shows that it has improved from what a president inherited, then he almost always gets re-elected.  This article focuses heavily on logos, using logical conclusions based on what has happened in the past.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-06/why-obama-will-win-a-second-term/?cid=bs:archive7

Enneagram test

I think this is pretty accurate. If I was to describe myself personally, I can't disagree with anything that came up as a result of this test. Yes, I would say that I tend to stay detached from things most of the time (Molly, you already knew this from our chat during conferences). I also agree with the result of me being a "type 5" person. I do tend to enjoy analyzing things, sometimes I think too much. I always like to think logically and I do have a need to understand everything and sometimes I do have a fear of being overwhelmed. I do like the statement that says my mind is my best friend. So, again, I would agree that this test is accurate.


As for my 2nd and 3rd tests, I also tend to agree (mostly). Type 2, the helper, also does describe me. I do like to help people and I am overly concerned about others' well being more than mine, at least most of the time. As for Type 4, hypersensitivity, or the romantic, I agree completely with the good and bad analysis from 9types.com.

Enneagram Test Results Type 1 Perfectionism |||||||||||| 50% Type 2 Helpfulness |||||||||||||||| 66% Type 3 Image Focus |||||||||||||| 54% Type 4 Hypersensitivity |||||||||||||||| 66% Type 5 Detachment |||||||||||||||||||| 82% Type 6 Anxiety |||||||||||||||| 62% Type 7 Adventurousness |||||| 30% Type 8 Aggressiveness |||||||||||| 42% Type 9 Calmness |||||||||||||| 58% Your main type is 5 Your variant is self pres

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Main Type	Overall Self

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Forgot to put this in my last blog

Believer

Trashy

I decided to write about my personal stake in garbage collection.  At this time, I don't see my personal stake in garbage collection any differently than it was before I left my parent's house, other than the fact that I now am responsible for taking out the garbage myself.  However, it's easier to see the amount of trash that I make in a given week, and it's a lot more than I would have expected.  I do not recycle at my apartment, but I do if I'm out with my friends and there's a garbage can and a recycle bin within a few yards of each other.  I really don't have any big reason why I don't recycle at my apartment, other than convenience.  As for my overall feelings for garbage collection, the article had no effect.

Is it sustainable?

For my sustainability topic, I've chosen to write about electric vehicles.  I want to start with the advances in electric vehicle technology as where we are now and discuss where it may or may not lead to.  I also want to talk about the different types of vehicles that are now electric (cars, trucks, trains, etc).  I also want to discuss the benefits of electric compared to staying with oil and gas.  I also want to find out if it is a viable solution to what we have now and what things stand in the way of this change, and if it is possible, how long it will be until the majority of vehicles on the road no longer use oil and gas.

The F word....

When we were assigned this blog in class, the first thing that came into my mind was "food... um... okay".  I had to think a little bit.  What was I going to write about.  There are so many different types of food, and so many different reasons why people eat what they do, whether it's healthy or just plain yummy goodness.  There's only one thing that I could think of that could fit both the health and tastiness and that, of course, is pizza.

Pizza can include all 5 food groups, depending on the toppings chosen.  Those are wheat, vegetables, fruit, cheese, and meat.  You can buy it frozen at the grocery store and cook it yourself at home, or you can order it from your own home and someone will bring it to you hot and fresh right out of the oven.  You can even order it online.  (see here)

Now I know what you're thinking: How can pizza be considered healthy?  Pizza's full of grease and fatty ingredients, right?  Well, that can be true if you order it from the big name pizza restaurants, like Pizza Hut and Domino's to name a couple.  The answer to that question is simple:  Make it yourself.  These days, there are many different healthy recipes for pizza on the internet.  (see here for some examples) 

We all have our favorite types of pizza.  From cheese to pepperoni to pineapple to supreme, there are many ways to top pizza.  You can even choose how you want your crust to be made.  Overall, pizza has to be considered for the food hall of fame.