RU 4 Online Dating?

I have been contemplating the way(s) that our increasing devotion to technology has affected the ways we communicate with each other and develop realationships. One obvious part of this discussion is the issue of Internet dating. I am really curious to hear your opinions on this topic. There are, of course, convincing arguments for dating online (you can find who/what you are looking for a lot easier; it gives you access to a larger "dating pool"; you can communicate and find out if there is any real compatability beyond physical attraction), but there are also a lot of reasons not to do it (first and foremost, there are a lot of freaks in the world, and many of them spend a lot of time online; the people you meet often live too far away for a real relationship; you can't know if you have chemistry with someone until you meet that person face to face; people are fake online, putting forth a false, or idealized, version of themselves). These are all arguments I have heard, not necessarily my own arguments. I'm sure you have heard these arguments, or similar ones.

So my question to you is this: Is online dating a good thing? Is it improving or hindering the way we meet and fall in love? Is it speeding up an outdated process or taking all of the fun and tradition out of what my grandparents would call "courting"? Feel free to share personal experiences. Do you meet people online? Do you have success stories? Horror stories? I am really interested in hearing your views on this topic, as well as your own diverse experiences.

~D

Text messaging: A nuisance to society?

Text messaging has become increasingly popular over the years. It's convenient, discreet, easy to do, and only takes a few seconds for your message to be sent. But has text messaging become such a staple in society that it's ruining our everyday relationships? What about the people who blatantly text while you're trying to talk to them face-to-face, is it more rude to ignore the person that's talking to you or texting you? Has texting taken the place of having regular conversations with people? Or is it helping relationships because it's so much easier to keep in touch by sending short messages? One major flaw with text messaging is that you can't necessarily determine the other person's emotions in what they write; a lot of messages can be taken out of context and create problems. Is texting while driving more distracting than playing with the radio or chatting with a passenger? Is it acceptable or dangerous? Do you think text messaging has benefited our society or hindered it?

This is America... Right?

Hola! I mean... Hello!

I would like to know how you feel about having Spanish written EVERYWHERE you look. Maybe for those of you that speak Spanish it's not a big deal, maybe it's a huge comfort.
I feel a little left out of the loop. Before I went on my 2 year excursion to Japan, the only thing that had another language written on it was a can of Pringles... I was surprised that when I got home (even though I was in my mother country again) I was only able to understand half of the billboards, magazines, and even things being broadcast on the radio.

My brother has a very strong opinion on this subject. One of the points he constantly made was along the lines of "If we don't want illegal immigrants in our country, why are we making it more convenient for them to live here by putting Spanish everywhere? If THEY want to live, work and be a part of OUR country they should take the time to learn the language that's spoken here!" He does have a valid point I think. Do you agree with my brother?

Are You Sold on Sex?

This week we had a really great discussion about visual rhetoric, and one topic that generated a lot of conversation was sexuality in advertising. "Sex sells" is a truism that we hear from time to time, but we went a little deeper than that today. We discussed what ads that appeal to human sexuality say about us. Do they reveal how far we've come, to a point where we can openly celebrate the human body and our sexual nature, or are they gratuitous appeals to base impulses that exploit and objectify the body? Do they promote unrealistic ideals to consumers, especially young consumers? Or do such images depict common fantasies and impulses that we no longer, in 2008, have to keep hidden? And, from a rhetorical point of view, do these ads work for you? Does this image at all persuade you to buy these jeans? I would love for any of you to sound off on this.

Freedom in the USA

This doesn't really have any relavence to things going on right now it's just something i've been thinking about lately. How lucky we are to be American citizens; we have freedom of religion to be activley Religious or not; we can choose as people whether we want to attend college or not, where we go to school, what classes we take; and the topic that has been weighing heavily on my mind, having the freedom to choose or change a major in school.

I think about all the countries that make all the choices for the people and they have no choice but to go to that certain school, be a certain religion, even choosing a major in school or a career is taken away from people in the world. What must that be like? I can't imagine being forced to be a Mathmatician or a nurse; neither of which i am remotely interested in doing. I would hate life if i had to do either one of those things. How much of a persons beliefs and personality are taken away by not having those freedoms?

I am so grateful that i do live in America, where i have gone to 2 colleges, and been able to choose what i want to do with my life. How much do we take that for granted?

Politics

So..... I am curious to know what everyone thinks about the election. I am also curious about what you believe is going to happen now that Palin has been introduced into the election. What do you think about Palin? Let me hear your thoughts and oppinions. . . . . . :)

September 11th

So I know I'm a little late bringing this up, but September 11th just passed and I felt like it was forgotten. To be perfectly honest, I forgot about it until I remembered the date. I felt really stupid and unpatriotic. My sister is in 6th grade, and was really young when it happened but she said her teacher didn't even bring it up. No moment of silence or anything. Thats really hard for me to take in. Are people just ignoring it now? It doesn't matter if you know someone who was personally affected by September 11th, it touched EVERYONE! I didn't even know what the World Trade Center was when it happened, but I knew how horrible the whole day was, I knew it wasn't good.
I guess I just wanted to know if it's going to end up being some taboo thing we won't be able to talk about. If it does, then I apologize in advance because I for sure will be talking about it. Even if we only mention it once a year, it doesn't matter, as long as it is forever in our minds.

Did I miss anything?

Hey I wasn't able to attend class yesterday because I had to go to a new job training, I had a friend of mine drop my assignment off in class, but I was wondering if there was anything crucial that I needed to know for the next class.

You do not have to use to topics in the book

The list in the book are some the options for topics that we can write about. In class it was also said that we can pick our own topic if it will help us complete the assignment, or if we just did not like any of the options the book gave us. Hope that helped :)

BELIEVE OR DOUBT?

Im sitting here in the library starting the beleiving and doubting assignment but i cant remember if we can pick our own thing to beleive or doubt. im pretty sure we can but there was that list and i remember talking about the list in class so now i have my self confussed about what to do. i was wondering if anyone knew if we were to write one from the list givin in the book or pick our own? if someone will let me know just to make sure i would appreciate it, i will continue to just write it and be safe and pick one from the list. but i was just wanting to know. Anyway it seems like a good assignment because everything you pick a side whether you believe or doubt so in this lesson i like that we get to kind of try and trick our mind into beleiving something we really dont.

New School Stuff

Well this week of school has been very interesting. I went through all of my classes and learned what I would need and what is to be expected. English seems like it will be hard but possibly interesting. It sounds like I am going to start asking for other's point of view instead of stating my own. I am taking a few auto classes that start at 7:00 A.M. Ouch! I have to bring my own tools to my auto classes. It is going to be expensive, but at least I will have them for later on in life. One of the hardest things has been that many of my friends didn't start school until today so I have been trying to include them in my schedule this week also. I have to balance a job as well. It'll be tough but I'll make it.