Minecraft

So, there is this neat computer game called Minecraft.  One of the versions of the game is called Skyblock Survival. In the game, the player is able to build items and collect items that are needed for survival.  A player may chop down a tree to collect saplings, which the player will in turn use to plant more trees.  In theory, one tree can provide the resources needed to plant anywhere between one and ten trees.  Another part of the game is creating an unlimited water supply, which one can do using the water provided when the game starts, making a pool out of cobblestone (that the player needs to collect somehow), putting the water in the pool, and putting ice on the water.  Water is a much needed commodity in the game, and an unlimited supply is a must, so making it is one of the first things the player does.  During the game, the player is forced to create an unlimited supply of cobblestone, for it is very likely that the player will increase the size of the playing area by 50-100 times within a few hours.  Thus the cobblestone is very important, although collecting it takes a lot of time.  During the night, skeletons, zombies, spiders, and other monsters appear.  These monsters can only spawn in dark places, so the player must light up the dark places in the area the game takes place in so that monsters do not spawn and kill the player.  During the game, one of the player’s missions is to create a platform for the monsters to spawn.  It is smart for the player to create a tunnel from the platform to a trap, such as a water/lava trap, in order for the monsters to be taken care of without the threat of danger or the player needing to take care of them individually.  The player also has several objectives to complete, which include, but are not limited to, making bookcases, painting paintings, create dye, plant mushroom and cactus farms, and collect pearls (which appear in the remains of certain monsters).

I heard about Minecraft from one of my friends and decided to check it out on youtube.com before I decided if I wanted to buy it.  On the website, I found a link to someone playing the Skyblock Survival version and chose to watch it.  Within a minute, I was intrigued, and am now watching the whole series of videos pertaining to the version.  The videos have made me want to play Minecraft, and I believe I will ask for the game for Christmas.  I found a free version, that does not include the different versions, or even any objectives online, and I have played it a few times.  The free version is very limiting and slow, however, so I hope that is not how the real game works.  However, you are able to build things free at will, unlike the version I have watched.  So, it is still very fun.

"The Shadow of No Towers" Quiz

As I read the comic, I realized how hard it was for someone to act during September 11, or during any tragedy for that matter.   On top of the shock of the collapsing twin towers, people were forced to witness the lives of the people inside the towers end and breathe the toxic air as they tried to help those in or near the towers, all the while not knowing why planes crashed into the towers or what was happening throughout the rest of the world.  The title, “In the Shadow of No Towers,” is a phrase alluding to the worry, the fear, the anticipation, and the striving feeling to help that emerged in everyone’s minds on that fateful day.  In the frames and gutters, the reader can see the twin towers burning and slowly collapsing, showing what is happening while the author’s story is going on.

The author portrays images of himself, of children, of the people he interacts with, and of the twin towers.   When the author portrays himself as a human, he is letting into his feelings and the reaction he and others makes during and after 9/11.  When he portrays himself as a cartoon human, he is simply showing what he did during the attacks.  When the author portrays himself as a mouse, he is thinking about the past, remembering his father, and worrying about what will happen in the future.   He portrays himself in these different ways in order to show the different aspects of the tragedy and how the different thoughts people have at different times.  It creates the effect of looking back on the tragedy, while the author is telling the story of the tragedy, which creates an illusion of time travel.

The text creates the feeling in people that they had when the attacks happened.  The text serves as a tool for people to remember what happened and why people acted as they did when it did happen.

Octavia Butler Quiz Post

The use of time travel as a narrative device in a piece of literature adds an aspect of mystery and excitement to the piece.  It forces the reader to be engaged in the present and the different times that are visited in the piece, and to discover how the different times interact with each other.  As the story unravels, the time traveling aspect becomes easier to understand, although in the beginning, the reader is downright confused as to how and why the time traveling is taking place.  In Butler’s novel, I was extremely confused during the first chapter, but as I continued to read, I became more aware of what was actually happening and what the point of the time traveling was.  One may use tie travel in his or her piece in order to show the relationship between the different times, and how the time(s) in the past affects the time(s) in the present or future.

For her novel, Butler had to research the plantation in which Rufus and his family lived, in order to correctly write about it in her story.  She also had to research the civilians in the area around the plantation in order to show how the people behaved and what they did correctly.  Historical fact is seamlessly put into the fictional story by allowing all the non-important events be how they were in the past.  She researched what life was like when Rufus was a little boy, and thus incorporated it into the story in order to make it seem more realistic.

I have always loved animals.  Over the course of my life, I have had many pets, including three toads, several fish, a bird, and a dog.  Eleven years ago, a cockatiel flew into my family's backyard.  We assumed that the bird was someone's pet, for cockatiel's are not known to be a wild species in Plymouth, the city I live in.  My family and I walked to a house a few homes down the street in which we knew of a family that owned exotic birds to ask if the cockatiel belonged to us.  As we walked down the street, the bird followed us, by walking quickly behind our feet.  We asked the people at the house, and they said that it was not their bird.  So, we walked back to our home, with the bird shortly behind us.  When we got home, we decided that the bird was not going to leave any time soon, and we kept it.  The bird then became our pet cockatiel, Mac, and she remained in our house until she passed away two years ago at the age of nine.  Oer the course of her life, Mac and I bonded in a special way.  I pet her every day and I played her Green Day songs, which was the only music that she seemes to enjoy.

Seven years ago, my family decided to adopt a dog.  One day, my mother took my sister and I to a house in Clinton Township where we met a lady who was selling Maltese/Shih-Tzu puppies that were about ten weeks old.  My sister and I played with the puppies for several minutes, and we decided that one of the two girls was the one that was the most playful, and my mother told the lady that we would buy the puppy.  The next day, my mom went back to the lady's home to purchase and bring the puppy home.  That puppy became my now seven-year-old companion, Zoe.  I look forward to going home from  college just so that I will be able to see my dog and play with her for hours on end.  

Diary of the Great Deportation Quiz

The moment that Lewin enters his diary with his own thoughts and feelings makes the reader feel as if they are actually the ones suffering in the Warsaw Ghetto.  It allows one to fully comprehend not just the facts, but the emotions and thoughts taking place in the mind of the victims of the Holocaust.  Personally, when I got to this part of the diary, I was swept with a sudden realization that people actually suffered through this horrifying event.  People usually think about the fact and the conditions of the Holocaust, but they don’t always think about what the victims were feeling while it was taking place.  It is quite hard to imagine these said feelings, and for some, it is only through such a powerful piece as this diary that they are able to understand what the victims were feeling and what was going through their mind.

            At one point Lewin writes about how his wife was taken by the Nazis.  I believe that at this point in the diary, Lewin has given up that there is hope for any of the victims of the Holocaust.  He wishes deep sown that his wife will be saved, but he knows there is a slim chance that his wish will come true, and he knows he cannot cling to hopeful feelings when he is living in a time when one needs to face the truth more than ever.  I believe that after this point in the diary, Lewin becomes less hopeful that anyone will ever be saved, and thus he writes with increasingly truthful details in order to be able to face the truth head on.

            At the end of the diary, after which it is thought that the Nazis seize Lewin and his daughter and sent to the deaths, Lewin begins to ask questions aimed at God.  He asks whether there is any hope for the survivors.   He wants to know if there will be a miracle in which will save him and his daughter.  The questions show how many of the survivors up until that point believed that they were all doomed, and that only a miracle, which was unlikely, would save them from their imminent deaths.  It is an extremely sad part in the diary for the reader realizes that these cries for help are their one last hope that they will be saved.

My Future

As of right now, I am pursuing majors in political science and history.  I am intrigued by politics and would like to become involved in the American government in more way than just voting.  After college I plan on entering law school, in which I plan to obtain my law degree.  With a law degree, one can do so many things: I could become a lawyer, a judge, a politician, a journalist, a political staffer, a new anchor, or a writer for a television news program.  I could follow in the footsteps of President Barack Obama, "NBC Nightly News" host Brian Williams, "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, or just become a district attorney only known in my hometown.  There are so many paths to take, and I don't know which one will be the right one for me.

I know that someday I would like to serve in the United States Congress, although it would be difficult to get there without first being involved in local or state government positions.  So my primary plan is to go to law school, become a lawyer, work for members of the Michigan Congress, later become elected to the Michigan Congress, and then hopefully work my way up to being elected into the United States Congress.  My secondary plan would be to attend graduate school in New York City and possibly get an internship or job working for a well-known news corporation such as NBC.  From there, I could become a lawyer for the corporation, or possibly even work my way up to become a writer, correspondent, researcher, or even anchor.  Although, it is extremely difficult to get into many the law schools that I would like to attend that would give me the chances to go as far as I want to.  Especially the ones situated directly inside New York City, Columbia University and New York University, whose law schools are among the best in the nation.  But one can dream, right?

Organizing For America

Today, I went to an Organizing For America meeting at the Kalamazoo County Democratic Headquarters.  At the meeting, I, along with several other supporters of President Barack Obama, were able to watch the official premiere of the president's campaign website directed at young voters, http://www.barackobama.com/young-americans, via a live stream from the University of Pennsylvania.  At the actual event, there were several speakers, including the campaign manager of President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, Jim Messina, and the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter.  The topics addressed were the President's and his administration's political views and actions on health care reform, educational reform, and unemployment.

While watching the live stream, one could witness the enthusiasm and the excitement among the supporters of President Obama at the premiere.  After every speaker told their story or answered a question, the crowd erupted in applause.  The premiere also allowed many people, especially university students, voice their concerns or opinion about health care reform, educational reform, and unemployment.

After the premiere ended, one of the workers for Organizing For America gave me and several other people attending the meeting information on internships for Organizing For America.  Overall, it was a great day!