non-humans should experience.......

Things I would want non-humans to experience would be:

shopping
making friends
building a snowman and/or a igloo
swimming in a pool, lake and ocean
eating a candy bar. (especially a reeses!)
all the holidays
rap/hip-hop music
television
going to school
family
snowboarding
dance!
having a pet dog or cat
falling in love
applejuice!
going on a rollercoaster
Disney World
playing basketball
traveling around the world
ice cream
bowling
going to a theater
eating at a nice restaurant
Casinos!
partying
strobe lights
the internet
catching a sunrise and/or a sunset
smelling flowers
star-gazing

extra credit blog- my sleeping disorder

Freshman year of highschool I started to get tired more than usual. After awhile, all I was doing was sleeping. No matter if I was at school, home, or anywhere else, and no matter how much sleep I got, it was never enough. It became impossible for me to stay awake for more than an hour at a time before I'd feel the need to sleep again. I would have sleep fits during every class where the extreme tiredness came over me. I'd try my hardest to stay awake and pay attention, but I never won. I would normally only pass out for a couple seconds up to a minute and then I'd somewhow snap out of it myself, or a teacher would wake me up, which made me feel pretty embarassed. My parents brought me to doctors in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but no matter how many tests were peformed on me or how much blood was drawn, none of the doctors could give us an explanation on what was wrong with me. We all started to worry, espeically my parents who feared I had a rarer disease that could possibly kill me, but they couldn't know for sure. Finally someone recommended that I go to a sleep hospital in the cities. So we decided that we might as well give it a try. We went, and after staying there for a day and night, and all the tests that were performed on me, they concluded that I had Narcolepsy. Narcolepsy neither has a known cause nor a cure. The only thing doctors do know about it is what it's symptoms are and that medication can help a person deal with it. I was put on riddelin first, but like many people say, Riddelin made me almost zombie-like. I wasn't feeling any less tired, and found myself zoning out more often. Since I had to visit my sleep doctor every few months, I waited until my appointment to talk to her about it. She then put me on Adderall. Since then I've noticed a big difference from the medication and it defiantly helps me stay awake. It sucks because I'll have this for the rest of my life and I don't even know what caused me to get this in the first place. I'l always struggle with it because I'm always going to need more sleep than most people in order to function. But I'm doing good and as more and more time goes by, I get more used to dealing with it.

Next Semester

Next Semester I'm defiantly going to work harder and be more prepared for everything because I am struggling right now and I don't want to go through the same thing again. This means I'm going to make sure I do ALL my assignments and turn them in on time. And I'm going to start studying for the tests ahead of time instead of within two or less days of the test. If I do good enough this semester and get the 2.8 thats required to start my social work classes then I'll be taking different social work classes along with some main courses like Bio, or Economics. And for my math class I'll probably be taking Social Statistics instead of the general math that doesnt give you a credit because it ties in more with my major plus I do get a credit for it. I think it is common though for freshman to struggle for awhile when they first get here but now that I understand how much hard work is really involved in college, and how everything depends on yourself, like making it to class and turning in assignments on the correct date, I feel i am more prepared for the new semester and a new start to do really good in college like I've always wanted to do.

names and nicknames

To start off, nicknames that have been given to me are : Laney, Shaloon or Shaloony, Shalaney, and a few other similiar ones. These were given to me by both friends and family members. But I can't say why they have given me those nicknames because I'm not them, but they basically just took a part of my name and added something on to it that makes it fun to say. I have nicknames for a lot of my friends though, some are just shortened parts of their name and some of the nicknames don't have anything to do with their name. Their's my friend Christina who I call 'Tina' just because I cut off the first part of her name and it's easy to say and remember. Just like my friend Samantha who of course is called 'Sam', this time just cutting off the end of her name. Or Mitchel, who we all call Mitch. And sometimes the nicknames are from changing around their last name. Like my two friends who are brothers and both have the last name Paulson. We call one of them Paulzy and one of them Peezy, just because it's different and fun to say. Sometimes it can even come from their middle name. Like my boyfriend's sister Samantha who everyone calls Jojo because her middle name is jo and she doesnt like her first name. But then Dan, who we all call 'Jose', is kind of tan and his favorite alchohol is Jose Cuervo, so the nickname was just made up from there. I also have a friend, Marissa, who is bigger and some of her friends nicknamed her 'Moose'. I don't refer to her as this because it's mean even though she doesn't care.
Nicknames are overall pretty cool and are fun to use if they arn't mean in any way.

This semester

As of now I don't know what my grade is in this class but I think that I've been doing pretty good. English is probably my best subject and my favorite too because writing usually comes easily for me and most of the time I enjoy it. I'm glad I took this class because I've learned a lot but at the same time I still had fun. And I love that we don't have tests! As for my other classes, I'm not so sure how I'm doing. I know my first year experience class is going good but it's a really easy class so it's almost impossible to do bad. My urban studies class isn't too bad either. At first I didn't do the best on tests buts that's because I didn't take good enough notes. But I've caught on and I think I'm doing pretty good in that class also. Then there's sociology and ethnic studies which to me are the hardest classes and probably the ones I'm doing the worst in. That's because theres so much note taking and so much that we have to know for the unit tests, and the tests are really hard because they are based on so much information. Overall I think I'm doing ok. I need a 2.8 Gpa this semester to be able to start taking classes that involve my major in social work and I'm a little nervous that I won't make it, but I'm just going to work extra hard from now on to do my best because I will not let myself fail.

have you ever noticed....

Have you ever noticed how so many things that may seem ordinary for some people can be a totally new thing to others. This could apply to basically anything. like people in wisconsin who have an overpopulation of deer and see these animals as plain and boring and hunt them as a sport. This may totally shock someone from say, Florida, who rarely sees a deer and if they do they find it to be an amazing experience. But for the person in Florida, seeing a peacock run around is expected and may even find the creatures tendancy to follow a car around in order to see their reflection, as extremely annoying. But if a person from Wisconsin experienced this, it would be highly amusing and defiantely a time for picture-taking.
Weather is another example. People in Minnesota, Wisconsin and all other states that experience the four seasons see the beautiful colors of fall and get to participate in many winter activities, but hate the weather and would love to live in a place where its warm all year round. Then people from California and other states where it always seems to be summer could travel to wisconsin in the winter and be amazed at the site of snow alone.

Criteria on 'A Modest Proposal'

My oppinion: I neither liked his idea that he discussed, or the way he went about explaining it.



The author speaks in a way that is hard for readers to fully comprehend. He seems to stray away from his topic a couple times, and he uses a lot of Old English which both make reading it rather difficult.

Once I began to understand what the author was actually talking about, I also realized how he approached the topic in a sort of joking matter. He made it sound as if eating poor, innocent children was almost an amusing way to solve the problems for the homeless and hungry people living in the streets.

The authors idea is overall disgusting to me. He speaks of selling and eating children to make money as if they are animals. In a way he is almost promoting the United States to practice cannabilism, which is something that I defianetely dont approve of.

what i really want in life

What I've wanted in life and the goals I want to accomplish have changed over the years of my life and there's a chance that they may change again, but as of now, I know roughly, what I want for myself. First of all, I of course want to finish college. This means obviously four years or so left. the major I'm going for is Social Work because I've been through a lot in my life and I've learned how to get through some tough times, and I want to help other people with their problems. especially those who cant help themselves. If I can get enough money though, I want to go for my Masters so it'll broaden my job choices and payment amount. As of now i of course live in the dorms, but by the beginning of next year i will be getting an apartment with my boyfriend. When my college life is over with then it'll be time for some change. im not going to rush myself but i want to eventually move somewhere that has a need for social workers. so i'll apply online for jobs all over the US. hopefully i will get a few job offers back and then it'll be time for me to decide where i want to go. As of now i dont have a certain state, city or county that i prefer to move to, so i'll make my decision on how far away i want to move, what kind of area i'd be moving to, the type of jobs i could get there, and a lot of other things. but i do hope to move me and my boyfriend to a different state besides wisconsin or minnesota. i want to work in Child and Family Services because i love working with kids and teens and they are the one's i want to help the most. my dream is to work with the government because they offer great jobs and also provide a lot of benefits for you. even though i dont have everything exactly planned out out in my life i know i will do great and find the job thats right for me. the only other thing i want is, after im settled in and have a good paying job, to have a family of course.

something we have to do

Something that I have to do every year but hate is going to my yearly check-up with my sleep doctor in the cities. Every since I was brought to the sleep clinic sophmore year of highschool and diagnosed with narcolepsy, its necassary that I do a yearly check-up to make sure everything is going good for me and that I dont need any changes made in my medication or anything else. I've hated going to the doctor all my life but since I've had to go to so many different ones when we were trying to figure out what was wrong with me, I've grown more used to hospitals. My doctor at the sleep clinic is very nice, but its such a hassle to have to drive there in the first place. And then when we do get there, even if we're on time or even early, we end up waiting for about an hour past our scheduled time before we actualy get in to see the doctor. What makes it even worse is that since my disorder isnt extremely common and iIexperience a lot of other side effects from it also, doctors really take an interest in my case. So usually every year i go there, doctors in training come in groups from their schools to sit in and listen to me and the doctors conversation and then are allowed to ask any questions they want. and every time im always picked to be a guinea pig for them to question. all the people are nice and respectable, but its so weird having to explain the things i go through and experience from my disorder to strangers. especially since a lot of the things i talk about probably dont make total sense to them. i know they are being taught all about my disorder and other ones too so they can one day be a doctor, but no matter how much research and information they have on a disorder still doesnt mean that they understand. the only way to really learn and understand is if you go through it yourself and experience everything first hand. and even though its basically required that i get a check up each year, it still is something that i never look forward to doing.

routine, expectation, adventure

routine-
expectation-
adventure-

ROUTINE: In highschool I did have a routine set up for what i did each day basically. I'd get up every morning at about 7:00 or so and get ready for school and eat breakfast. Then of course until 3:30 i was in school working hard. When school got out I'd always run home first to eat a snack and usually take a nap. Once I woke up I would either do homework for awhile and then go out to see my friends after, or I'd switch it around and go out with my friends first and do my homework when I got home. Then i'd go to bed between 10 and midnight and get ready to do the same things the next day. but now that i'm in college, i dont really have a routine that im used to yet.

EXPECTATION: When i worked at my last job at the Holiday gas station in my hometown, i absolutely hated it. my boss's there did nothing but complain and would always go out for cigarette breaks and leave us in charge. We never got treated fairly and were always being yelled at for so,ething. even though i did not like my boss one bit and i absolutely hated going to work, i still drug myself tehre every day i was scheduled to work because i needed the money and i wanted to prove to myself and others that i could work hard even with people who are rude and annoying.

ADVENTURE: the best adventure i ever had was going to Aruba for my first time. It's an island off the tip of florida and its absolutely lovely there. the timeshare we stay in is gorgeous and so is all the screnery. it never snows there so its always a perfect sunny day and theres so much you can do. the beach and ocean are right out back of our timeshare so i got to do fun things like jet-skiing and parasailing. all the wildlife on the island is amazing. i love everything about that place and im lucky i get to go there now every other year.

birthday experience

theres nothing really special about my birthday. its on the first of february so its always freezing cold outside which makes it even worse. but the best birthday i can remember was when i was probably a 7th or 8th grader and i got to have my party at an indoor waterpark nearby my hometown. i got to bring like 8 people and they were my closest friends. we had an absolute blast going down the waterslides and everything else. and then my parents rented out one of the party rooms there so after we swam for awhile and gained an appetite, we went to the room and had pizza and pop and played tons of games.

favorite childhood toy

i'd have to say that my favorite childhood toy was barbies. they were a lot more popular back then even though they didnt have nearly as much stuff as they do now. but i loved dressing them up in different outfits, and i had a big sister who gave me a lot of hers and was always there to play with me. i remember that i thought they were the coolest thing ever and figured everyone loved barbies. so i could never understand why my older brother never wanted to play with them with me haha. they probably remained my favorite for a few years and then i of course began to grow out of them. i still remember though, the day my mom decided to sell them at our garage sale, even though i never played with them anymore it was still hard to see them go for some reason.

explanatory and argumentative essays.

The explanatory essay approaches its topic by using a thesis in the first paragraph to inform the reader of the subject they will be reading about. the topic is also given for mainly information and usually doesn't present an argument. Just like the explanatory essay, the argumentative essay also usually starts with a thesis, but its focus is more on supporting one side.
Another way these essays differ is in the source they may come from. newspaper articles would be better used with argumentative essays because newspaper articles often convey opinion or bias, sometimes discreetly and sometimes openly. Editorials are good for for explanatory essays because they often convey unbiased information, along with opinion. but even though a source will usually be better used with one type of essay, it will still most likely contain elements of both explanation and argument.
Explanatory essays define and explain key concepts without taking a position. argumentative essays do take a specific position and are meant to be persuasive. its main purpose is to convey a point of view regarding the topic. but many scholars of writing say that these two types of essays overlap eachother. they say that all writing is essentially persuasive, even if it doesnt enter into a complex argument. an informative piece must also work to persuade the reader that its claims are truthful. and then on the other hand, in order to persuade others of a particular position, we typically must also inform them about it. Writers say the key is to just focus on the primary purpose of the paper.

14 different things you can do with ice cream

1. eat it
2. throw it at an enemy
3. take a bath in it
4. use it as a face mask
5. wrap it up and give it to someone as a present
6. use it to make milk shakes :)
7. use it as hand lotion
8. wash your hair with it
9. pour it on you on a hot summer day to cool off!
10. watch it melt into a liquid
11. put it into a bowl or a cone etc..
12. add your own ingredients to it
13. sell it!
14. make rootbeer floats

Profanity

I dont think profanity is really a big deal depending on the situations in which it is used, and how often it is used. People are always going to use profanity because our soceity makes it seem like its no big deal and it carrys on through generations. I do swear but not all the time. If I'm with my friends its a lot more common for me to use profanity because most of my friends do too and it becomes a habit. When we're telling a story or anything, swear words kind of seem to express the emotion you're feeling more. I'm not saying that this is a good thing because even if its ok to swear around my friends, I tend to get used to it and then find myself speaking the same ways around my family. My parents don't get mad or anything when I swear but they just prefer that I don't use it all the time. And to be respectable, I do watch my mouth when I'm at home. But when I start getting into a story and talking really fast, swear words slip out here and there. Usually I catch myself and apoligize even though I don't need to but I just feel bad using profanity in front of my parents when its not necassary. Then theres of course the school scene where I always try and watch my language. I would never swear at a teacher or anyone of higher authority or an elder to me. So when I'm with my friends is the only time I allow myself to freely speak, even though its still not necassary its just a hard habit to quit I guess.

Music

Music doesnt exactly make an impact in my life but i love it and i would be kinda lost without it. music is the thing i need when im bored. like if im driving around in my car, sitting in my room by myself or even with friends, if there isnt any music playing it just seems weird. it gives u something to do and something to talk about. i like listening to different music at different times though. like if im trying to relax or study i listen to softer music like country or light rock usually. but if im hanging out with my friends, driving in my car, or at a party, i need to be listening to loud, fun music like hip-hop, rap and R&B. if im in a sad mood, and i just wanna sit and think or maybe even cry, i listen to country or slow love songs, or just anything that basically explains how im feeling.

experience with an animal. and the animals point of view

When I was 10 or so, my parents got me a hamster for a pet. i loved it so much and i was so excited to get to play with it. i decided to name him boo-Boo because i thought it was a cute name. i'd always take things from around my house and make little obstacle courses for it to run around and play in. but one day i decided to take him outside with me to try and find something out there for him to play in. as i was walking by my swingset i stopped to think if there was anything there that could be fun for him. my sandbox i figured would be a bad place because he could easily get buried in the sand and i didnt want him to get it in his eyes or anything so i knew that wouldnt work. and the slide and swings wouldnt work either. then i looked at my see-saw and remembered that the handle to hold on to was a round hollow pole and it looked perfect for him! so i held my hand up to one end and he went right into it. then id just go to the other side and wait for him to run through. i did this for awhile, and figured that he must love it. but then something happened. i put him up to it like i normally did, but this time when he went through, he got stuck. he didnt come out the other end so i looked in the tube and saw him there stuck in the middle. he looked all puffed up like he had suddenly gained weight. just then my dad came by and asked if i was having fun playing with Boo-Boo. i smiled and said yes, scared to tell him that i had let my hamster get stuck. my dad of course wasnt dumb and after looking around asked where i had put him. i quickly lied and said that i had already brought him inside. my dad said that he was just inside and he knows i didnt come in. he asked me again where Boo-Boo was. i hung my head down and pointed to the pole. he looked at me strangely and crouched down to look inside it. i started getting teary eyed because i thought he would be stuck in there forever. my dad laughed and told me it was ok. he said that when hamsters sometimes get frightened or bothered they puff themselves up. thats exactly what had happened. he had gotten bothered that i kept putting him in there. all my dad had to do was blow through the tube and it made Boo-Boo run right out. i promised my dad and my hamster that i would never put him in something that small again.

BOO-BOO'S VIEW

i was outside enjoying the nice weather with my new owner, loving life. i knew she was trying to find something for me to play in so i was pretty excited. then she stopped by this creepy, small and stuffy hole and held me up to it. i thought "she must be kidding". why would i want to play in this? but she obviously really wanted me to go through so i figured i would for her. i quickly ran through, heading towards the light on the other side. when i got there my owner was there ready to catch me. i was happy that it was over with and was hoping that she'd find something better for me to play in. but then she held me up to the hole again. i was angry but i figured that i'd just do it again and maybe then she'd be happy. well, i was wrong. she kept making me run through it and finally i had enough. i stopped in the middle of the tube, fluffed up my fur and sat waiting for her to get the hint. i could tell she was worried but i figured i'd just wait a little longer to teach her a lesson. suddenly i looked and saw some man looking at me at the end of the tube. i then realized it was my owners dad but i still didnt budge. but then he started blowing in the tube making it all windy. that really bugged me because the wind was messing up my nice fur. but i figured that my owner must really be scared if she had to have her dad help her, so i decided it was time to go back out. when i came out she was there to catch me and instantly started hugging me and talking some weird baby talk to me. of course i didnt understand a word she said but from her tone of voice, i could tell she was sorry and that she would never do that to me again. lesson learned!

letter to the judge

Dear Judge Harview,
I'm sitting in jail right now thinking about how what I did was wrong. I have never been a drinker, but I felt so left out and everyone kept telling me to just have one drink. I guess it was dumb of me to listen because now I'm sitting alone in a cell. But I just want to let you know sir, that if you give me another chance I would never make this mistake again and I will stay far away from alcohol, I promise!

letter to friend

Dear Sam,

I bet you couldnt guess where i am right now. well i'm in jail just to let you know! The party you were supposed to go to with me got busted and the cops chased me down. they gave me a breathalizer and threw me in jail. it really sucks in here and im waiting for my parents to come get me. i didnt even drink that much and i dont think i should have to be in here. but you're lucky you didnt come last night even though it wouldnt have been so bad because then you'd be sitting right next to me!

letter to my parents

Dear mom and dad,
I dont know exactly how to tell you this but I'm in jail. I went out last night with a few friends and I was just trying to have a little fun. I ended up having a couple drinks but I was nowhere near drunk and I didn't even think about driving. But the cops showed up and I didn't get away, and now I'm sitting here in my cell alone. I'm sorry for disappointing you both and for making you pay to bail me out but it was a mistake and I have been honest with you about it so I hope you won't stay mad at me for too long. Love, your daughter.

"Shift Happens"

I thought the slide show, "shift happens" was pretty interesting but a little confusing also. It seemed like the information went from one subject and switched to a totally different topic out of nowhere. But the part I found really interesting is all the information about China and India compared to the United States. Like how much larger their population is according to how many babies are born, how many students the schools hold and everything else. It was also neat to hear about how the world is preparing us to take on jobs that havnt been made yet, and to solve problems in the world that havnt even been made a problem yet. I like how the slideshow talks a lot about the information age and how websites and other things on computors are such big parts of our lives. It was funny to see the stuff about myspace and how if it was made a country, it would be the 11th largest in the world. The main thing I learned from this video though was that the world is a lot more informational now than it was years ago, and that we'll just keep learning more and more as time goes by.

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