vocab composition 3

junior 7-8

you love voraciously. too quickly. too intensely. too forgivingly. with a hunger you can never seem to satisfy. you paint your heart on the soles of your wandering feet. your domain is any place you can get with a few bucks and starry eyes. it scares me sometimes.

it always comes in a deluge. sweet obsession. uncontrollable. wild. you’re blinded.

they always divest you of the walls you build. they strip your conscious bare. you love so hungrily.

the way the movies portray adolescent adoration is a travesty in the face of your infernos. you seem to find home in shared Marlboros and bottles of Mad Dog and the in the arms of misfits.

your passion is domineering. i don’t know if it’s celestial or wicked how far you’ll follow your beliefs into the dark.

you have no delusions about eternity. you know the meaning of end. yet i can’t rationalize how clearly you see all of their souls. how do see you past their cloaks? your attractions elude me. you don’t fit into any boxes. if you went to a palm reader they would say beautiful chaos. you cannot be predicted.

you fall so fast into potions of unthinking infatuation.

ravenous love. even with a pen i couldn’t possibly concoct your dirty, flawed, punk perfection.

Vocab composition #2

senior level 3-4

i’m sorry that you’re so dogmatic. i  know that you’ve seen all these things with your own eyes. and we lied to each other sweet words of wisdom. but no matter how sharp the thoughts, we could not change each other's minds.

it’s funny how in a world full of agnostics we still fight. i thought all wars had to be holy. but that doesn’t seem to be a criterion lately. i wonder how we got so addicted to violence. bloodshed. winning. thinking back to the time when language was merely instinctual i wonder if perhaps it would have been possible to learn the word peace before the word kill.

it’s a little bit hypocritical, don’t you think that we will kill each other preceeded by blessings. if you are not like us, there is no amnesty here. only the brave can be free.

our reputations are based on sides of ourselves we’ve never seen and character flaws that are compute.

we try to rationalize our schizophrenic desires in a patchwork landscape of hand selected rules and parables. this one is relevant to us. this one is not. do not question.

are we cognizant of our own mortality? what if living forever only meant learning to live in the infinite space between minutes.

Vocab Composition #1

college level 3-4

our destinies were born in archaic winds. oceans that we’ll never taste. grey skies we’ll never feel. ancient hymns we’ll never hear. a landscape still forming. changing. unhindered by maps. not yet observed by demographers. but you can still sense it if you stand still enough and listen to the past and feel which way the earth is pulling you.

ancestors without names. we were written from archives of genes that had no clue they’d create artists and anarchists that fall as far from the tree as you can get.

my history has more hegemony over me than i’d like. i can see the mistakes, the mishaps play across my skull like picture frames. spilled coffee. missed dates. unrequited letters. i’m sorry.

regrets in full regalia. its hard to move on sometimes when your subconscious is dressed up in grandiose memories you’d rather forget.

our destiny was already determined. we’ve got a predisposition for losing ourselves in books and for swallowing our depression and for staying up too late.

but existing in our history isn’t conducive to living in a world moving faster than the speed of sound. sonic booms disturb daydreams. there is no room in our crowded cities for wandering stories and primordial lullabies.

we find stories in graffiti. monuments. icons of unadulterated rebellion. we see the world through different eyes, all these generations later.

do not traduce us. you do not know us. you don’t know the taste of our words or the pulse of our grandmothers. we are creating art. there is no higher calling. do not judge us.

see. we were born to be the viceroys of relic nations. this is what our ancestors started. our hearts were already beating on stage thousands of years before we were born. we are only temporary. fleeting.

our destiny was already decided.

#4 Novel Blog Post (Bird)

I really enjoyed this book. It was absolutely rib-crackingly hilarious at times and unbearably poignant at others. I love her sarcasm. A passage that particularly shone for me was on page 168 where she talks about finding someone to read your rough drafts...

"If the person says no, it's good to wait until you get inside your car before you fall apart completely. Then you can rend your clothes and keen and do a primal scream. Of course, you probably want to be sure that the person hasn't followed you out to your car. But it actually doesn't matter if he or she sees you break down, because you don't have to be friendly with that person anymore. That person is a jerk."

And then her discussions about death and Pammy and how she parents her son are incredible. It almost transcends a "writing" novel and, as all great books do, addresses the human condition with all of its trials.

Ah-mazing book.

Bird by Bird Quiz

for Monday, December 2nd

Novel Blog Post #3 (Bird by Bird)

The way she recounts vignettes of her memories is stunning. I officially love this book. The way she integrates poetry and is really self-deprecating at times and tells all sorts of charming little stories about her family and is honest and blunt about many things. Ah. Super great book. I think every kid that decides they want to write should read this book. Because it is so honest. She tells you exactly why being a writer sucks. But you still see the magic in it.

2nd Novel Blog Post (Bird by Bird)

One thing I am noticing as the book progresses is that the chapters are not all that well defined. My guess is that this stems from her trying to make the book as little preachy and manual-esque as possible. But it occasionally verges on being sort just a run on story. Her humor is often the highlight of the chapter but because of that I think her actual message about writing gets obscured a tiny bit. But at that same time that's what makes it a really enjoyable read... So I'm not even really sure how to assess that.... Despite that though, I am continuing to be more and more begrudgingly excited about writing. I haven't really had all that much interest in writing in a couple years, but reading this book kind of ignites the fire again. She talks about writing with almost this reverence. And it's inspiring.

Novel Blog Post #1 (Bird by Bird)

From even the first page I have really liked the conversational, story-telling style that the book is written in. When this assignment was first explained that we would be reading books about the writing process I think everyone gave a bit of a groan (mostly internal, some external) but I am enjoying it as much as any good novel that I've ever read. She recounts her childhood in a way that makes you want to keep just drinking the stories up. I guess it should be expected that a book about writing should be written well, but I suppose I was a bit of a skeptic. But every part is really well written. The descriptions of both characters and events are superb so far. I looking forward to the rest...

Factoid Friday #12

This one was less facts and more interpreting a plethora of personal stories and accounts and realizing that a common thread is the often unstatement but exceptionally negative connotation of institutionalization among people dealing with mental illness.

About Mental Illness. (n.d.). NAMI. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=about_mental_illness

Commencement Personal Reflection

I was interesting to go back and write a commencement speech for the eighth grade 3 years after I gave one as an eighth grader. It's baffling to see how much has changed. I reread what I had written and the aspects of my life that I held above all other then are almost unrecognizable from what's important to me today. I really liked the nonspecificity of the prompt. It was freeing to spend just a little bit of time rambling about advice I would formally give to my younger peers. I think that we often have advice, just never a good venue in which to share it. Humans are almost obsessed with sharing our experiences and trying to influence others before they make the same mistakes as us. It's the reason we teach history to our children. At the same time I realized how much of a distaste I have for formal speeches, they always seem to fall flat to me. Even those that are passed around the internet. But oh well... A very self-reflective project overall.

Thesis. As of right now.

Despite a movement started altruistically in the 70's to remove the mentally ill from institutions, there are many factors, both economic and moral, to consider in the debate about the best way to to treat mental illness.

Running Reference Page

link: Google Doc

Infomercial #2

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yM3WUdBR0wE&feature=youtu.be&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DyM3WUdBR0wE%26feature%3Dyoutu.be

Factoid Friday 11

A new study conducted by Oregon State of California's mental health care systems that were implemented in 2004 has interesting new evidence. They found that, in most cases, comprehensive, community-based mental health care has helped those with mental illness transition to more independent living and may actually save the state money while reducing the negative effects of institutionalization on patients' lives.

Yoon, J. (2013, October 2). News & Research Communications. California's new mental health system helps people live independently. Retrieved November 14, 2013, from http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2013/oct/california%E2%80%99s-new-mental-health-system-helps-people-live-independently

Response: MLK "Birmingham"

"...we were the victims of a broken promise." Is very striking emotionally to me because it is said so plainly. He seems to be showing that under such a harsh system, the victims themselves are beginning to break. It also speaks deeply to the public, I think, because the US places such importance on truth and unbroken promises, while in reality, we have rarely followed our own moral code and it is now a very sensitive topic.

"I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty­ five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights." This is an almost infallible appeal to the authority of King in that he is literally just stating his importance in a prestigious organization.

"In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self­purification; and direct action." I was drawn to this appeal to logic because lists, and breaking things down into smaller, more understandable parts, is comforting to most people and can often appease their doubts about something that seems like a massive issue.

Argument Project Self-Analysis (racial profiling)

In retrospect, I feel pretty guilty for snatching up the con-side without discussion. I hadn't realized how close-to-impossible the pro-side would be, particularly the valid argument, that Darwin and Lennart got stuck with. When the four of us were discussing the topic, it really dawned on me just how racist that whole system is. We essentially couldn't come up with a single valid argument for it. And it's amazing how the public just accepts policies like this, obviously without thought, because the issues are really quite plain if you just look at them. In terms of my own presentation, I was disappointed. I was pleased with what I had actually written, but the day we presented, for some unidentifiable reason, I pretty much lost my ability to enunciate. All of the complicated diction I had included, I was suddenly unable to pronounce. Which was a bummer. But I was pleasantly surprised with how close I was to being near the time goal. When I had rehearsed, it was about 15 seconds under, but in front of the class I inched a little closer. Overall, I really enjoyed this project. It was both amusing but also contemplative to see all of these ridiculous arguments for current issues our society is dealing with, and to see just how many people are oblivious to logical fallacies in our daily lives.

Factoid Friday 9

Those with mental illness make up a disproportionate amount of the people in our nation's prison system and it would actually save us money to treat it before it reaches our prisons. In a study conducted in Florida, over the period of 2005-2012 patients that did not receive mental health care from the state costed the state on average $95,000 while those that did only cost the state around $68,000. This study also notes that 70% of all young people in the juvenile detention system in the US have some form of mental illness.


Kirchner, Lauren . "Treating Mental Illness Prevents Crime and Saves Us Money." Pacific Standard. Pacific Standard , 14 June 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://www.psmag.com/health/treating-mental-illness-prevents-crime-and-saves-us-money-60236/>.

Commencement Speech Selection

I chose JK Rowling's commencement speech given at Harvard in 2008.

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination

Factoid Friday #10

Deinstitutionlization efforts are reflecting a shift from "asylum-based" mental health care to a model based on community, based on the belief that physiatrist patients would have a higher quality of life in their own communities than in “large, undifferentiated, and isolated mental hospitals”.

"Module 2: A Brief History of Mental Illness and the U.S. Mental Health Care System." A Brief History of Mental Illness and the U.S. Mental Health Care System. Unite for Sight, Inc. , n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://www.uniteforsight.org/mental-health/module2>.

Factoid numba' 8

The raw facts: More than 450 million across the globe suffer from mental illness and schizophrenia, depression, epilepsy, dementia, alcohol dependence and other mental, neurological and substance-use disorders make up 13% of the global disease burden, which surpasses both cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Torgovnick , Kate. "TED Blog." TED Blog Some stats on the devastating impact of mental illness worldwide followed by some reasons forhope Comments. TED Conferences LLC, 11 Sept. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://blog.ted.com/2012/09/11/some-stats-on-the-devastating-impact-of-mental-illness-worldwide-followed-by-some-reasons-for-hope/>.

Factoid #7

Often times the deinstitutionlization of people with disabilities leads to a better live situation, yet for people with serious mental disorders after they've been removed from institutions they don't receive the care a support they need.

Klein, Ezra. "What happened to U.S. mental health care after deinstitutionalization?." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/12/what-happened-to-u-s-mental-health-care-after-deinstitutionalization/>.

Columnist Project: Step 2.5

Kennicott once again opens with flawless imagery and personification - the reader is immediately drawn in. He seeks to bring to light the importance the height limits in D.C. have on a larger scale than just the aesthetics of the skyline. He is constrained somewhat by the almost instinctual reaction of the reader to not really care about something like architectural laws. But with extensive evidence and historical background, Kennicott creates an appeal to authority. The reader trusts his knowledge and can hardly help but become emotionally invested in the issue. His tone is one of concern - for his city and the larger repercussions of the potential law change. He once again utilizes a distinctive periodic structure by laying out of his ideas before stating his opinion in the final sentence. As always, his diction is superb, using a combination of both erudite language and common, understandable vocabulary. As always - superb.

Kennicott, Philip. "D.C.’s height limits: The risk of ending them - The Washington Post." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/dcs-height-limits-the-risk-of-ending-them/2013/09/13/ba188bce-006b-11e3-96a8-d3b921c0924a_story_1.html>.

Agree/Disagree/Qualify examples "McMurtry"

I agree with McMurtry's claim that society is sick, backed by football's evident violence. I have read several articles in TIME magazine that discuss the long term negative effects of the game on players and society's apparent willingness to ignore those consequences. 

I disagree with McMurtry's claim that society is sick, because although a violent subculture exists, there are many people that demonstrate a desire for peace and do not glorify violence, as shown simply by many bumper stickers. And while football may have roots in brutality, when the players kneel in respect to injury, it shows that there exists no complete obsession over it. 

I subscribe to the claim that McMurtry makes that society is sick, shown by massively televised and marketed bloodshed in movies, video games and sports such as wrestling but his use of football as evidence is invalid. While football may have roots in brutality, when the players kneel in respect to injury, it shows that there exists no complete obsession over it.

Even though McMurtry's assertion that football has an obsession with violence is valid, I disagree that society is sick. While a violent subculture exists, there is not an all consuming obsession and acceptance of it.  

Factoid Friday #6

When the institutional movement first began in the 1850's, facilities for the mentally ill were expertly designed, with many of the same treatments that are now considered moral. But near the end of the 19th century, new treatments from Europe emerged, like shock and insulin therapy and institutions became overcrowded and in terrible condition. As a result of this the deinstitutionalizing movement began, and still has steam. But the lives of mentally ill now could hardly be argued to be better then the way it was in institution. So if properly run, mental institutions are far superior then forcing the mentally ill to live on the edges of society. 

Panero, James. "A New Moral Treatment by James Panero, City Journal Spring 2013." City Journal. The Manhattan Institute, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. <http://city-journal.org/2013/23_2_institutionalization

Taking the cliche out of cliches

Many hands make the work need to go through 2 committees, a board, and the Supreme Court.

The eyes could be windows to the soul. Except windows usually work best when they're transparent.

Burn the midnight popcorn.

Factoid Friday due 10/4

My fact:  Research shows that renting apartments for homeless, mentally ill people in the neighborhoods where they are, and getting them treatment there, works better than shipping them off someplace.

"Colorado Weighs Reopening Psychiatric Hospital For Homeless : Shots - Health News : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. NPR, 13 May 2013. Web. 4 Oct. 2013."

Factoid #5

My fact: New research out of Sweden finds that prolonged use of technology, particularly within an hour before bed, throws off the sleep cycle and circadian rhythms of young people and can lead to symptoms of depression. 

P.C., F.A.C.S., David Volpi, M.D.,. "Heavy Technology Use Linked to Fatigue, Stress and Depression in Young Adults." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Aug. 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.

The Third of the Fabled Factoid Fridays

The fact: There are roughly 320,000 seriously mentally ill people in prisons and jails this year and there are only about 100,000 beds for psychiatric patients in hospitals and mental institutions. Which means there are almost 3 times as many people with serious mental disorders in prisons as there are in proper health care facilities.

Pan, Deanna. "TIMELINE: Deinstitutionalization And Its Consequences." Mother Jones. Mother Jones, 29 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Sept. 2013.

Column #3

Why Syria’s images of suffering haven’t moved us

In this week's column, Kennicott ironically uses pathos to show his reader's how ineffective the current appeal to pathos, through horrifying images, is. He begins his argument with intense imagery, painting a picture of horror like the rest of the media is currently. His sentences are often very short for emphasis. It is brilliant the way he reconstructs an example of the portrayal of Syria with his own words, but he proves that it still has the same effect. His tone is very cynical and almost disappointed that Americans are so unmoved by these atrocities. He builds up his column with a distinctive periodic structure; not revealing his specific exigence until the very last sentence. Kennicott states many pieces of historical evidence for possible reasons for this, but his point remains unchanged: Americans are impacted very little by the appalling photo-journalistic images coming out of Syria. Even oral representations of them, as in Obama's speech, are dismally (as a side note - I ADORE the adjective dismal...) underwhelming to the public. So far, out of all of his columns that I've read to date, Kennicott's exigence and restraints for this subject are most clear. He seeks to inform the public about the slow pollution of media images that has changes our perception of the world and it's moral codes. His audience is completely, blind to this, and as the consumers of this information, are actually the source of the problem he is addressing. Once again, his column is stunning. Moving. And almost startlingly effective at bringing together so many different elements to construct an argument about and societal issue or event.

Kennicott, Philip. "Why Syria’s Images of Suffering Haven’t Moved Us." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.

Column Analysis Número Dos

National Gallery’s ‘Tell It With Pride’ looks at black Union soldiers

Kennicott once against wrote a superb piece seamlessly combining elements of history, pop culture, art, and politics into a column that doesn't just address one event, but contextualizes it within an intelligent setting. In this post he seeks to educate his readers about the multifaceted issues surrounding this latest show at the National Gallery featuring photographs and sculptures of the black soldiers in the Civil War. His biggest constraint is his reader's lack of knowledge the specific art pieces he's addressing and the historical context in which they were created, but through patient explanation his point is effectively made. The way he organizes his column, effortlessly flowing between presenting facts, potential reactions to those, and examples to related to this issue creates this 3-D sense of conversation, rather than lecture. He ranges between almost clinically presenting his evidence and casually adding comments on it. He employs imagery to present his readers with a mental image they too can study as his analyzes it. Once again, he penned a brilliant article that encompassed a large volume of topics and ideas but still was easily understandable.

First Factoid Friday (isn't that nifty alliteration)

My fact: 1 in every 17 Americans lives with a mental illness and 1 in every 4 adults lives with a serious mental illness. Adding up to almost 57.7 million Americans with some sort of mental illness every year. The economic costs of untreated mental illness cost the US over 100 billion dollars each year.

National Alliance on Mental Illness


NAMI | About Mental Illness. (n.d.). NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness - Mental Health Support, Education and Advocacy. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=about_mental_illness

Controversial Topic Choice (finally)

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth I begrudgingly decided on a singular topic; the societal stigma associated with and the repercussions of (monetarily, public safety, social welfare) mental illnesses e.g. depression, anxiety, dementia, PTSD, schizophrenia. I realize that this is a massive issue, that I cannot possibly canvas all of, but I chose it for also the same reason; I will definitely not get tired of it and there are so many facets to it that I will be able to discover something completely new every week.

What the Hell is St. Louis Thinking

I was definitely intrigued with this project. I think as a general rule, our society currently has this obsession with the past, highlighted by the "hipster culture" with typewriters and record players etc. so I think his idea is particularly relevant right now. And the fact that people can't delete pmakes the responses more genuine and more thought out beforehand. It's an interesting concept, trying to characterize a city by the thoughts of its inhabitants. It would have been nice if they had presented some of what had been written, I'm curious to see how people responded.

Column Analysis

50 years after MLK, Obama delivers predictable rhetoric amid historic backdrop

In this article Kennicott analyzes Obama's speech which memorializes MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech given 50 years previous. Kennicott's specific exigence is the need to create an intelligent and accessible analysis of an event in the current world and its relevancy to the past. His constraints consist of the lack of specific knowledge about MLK's speech in his audience. Kennicott's final call to action ends up echoing Obama's sentiment about the shared commonality of the American people and their collective goals. Kennicott's voice is very matter-of-fact and in some places, blunt; but this creates a greater sense of credibility - that he is synthesising facts and presenting an analysis in which his personal bias is minimal. Kennicott opens and closes the article by drawing the parallels of structure and rhetorical method between Obama's commemorative speech and MLK's original. Kennicott's message is effective, in my opinion, particularly due to his honesty. He points out that it is not Obama's best speech, but at the end of the article, by ending with Obama's own remarks, he seems to concede to the effectiveness of Obama's speech.

Columnist Choice

Kennicott, Philip. "Critic’s Notebook: Homophobia’s Politicization Reflects Sad State of Russian Cultural Politics." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 1 Sept. 2013.

The general topic of Kennicott's columns are centered around the arts and culture. I was drawn to his column by the way he incorporates so many different topics; the arts, politics, and societal issues into articles that seem not to fit into any one category. I hadn't had any previous experience with this author. I spent a very long time sorting through many different columns, both online and in print, and was pretty dissatisfied with most of them. I was also hesitant to choose one from the list that was provided because I didn't want to end with a repeat of the same author someone else had. But in the end I figured that an award winning author was probably the best way to go and someone writing about the arts and culture interested me.

A World Without Worlds Reaction

"A World Without Words" was eye-opening to me, which was its intention; to bring to light the importance of language, not only in communication, but in the very way our brains function. As humans, we tend to associate words with being exclusively useful outside of our bodies. It is generally thought that they are merely the vehicle for us to convey our thoughts, experiences, stories and needs to those around as opposed to actually being integral to our very being. I had never before thought about the way that I define myself, I simply am. It is a new concept to me that the way I define myself is completely dependent upon my ability to put words to those definitions.

Taylor's description of her experience of existing without words, being completely in the present without any commentary and without any relativity to the world around her, reminded of something we discussed last year; does language define culture rather then the other way around? We might say "the U.S. speaks mostly English and France speaks mostly French and Mexico speaks mostly Spanish, therefore those languages must be a product of the culture that they're used in, right?" But what if the very culture, and the ability of the people within the culture to progress as conscious beings, was entirely dependent on their ability to find words in which to define that culture? That concept is a lot harder to wrap our brains around, which is why we don't often think about the importance of words in such a general capacity. It is also a little frightening to think that, despite how much we try to organize ourselves and the world around us, through religion, family structure and many other ways, we are nothing without a language to organize our very thoughts with. I can take in with my senses an entire lifetime, but without words to file those memories away, I only have the ability to experience that moment in the very utmost present. My life would be just a ton of immeasurably small amounts of time that are meaningless to each other. Woah. 

On the other hand, another thing that struck me was just how profound mental silence can be, which instills in me a renewed interest in learning to truly meditate. 

Overall it seemed like the collective exigence of the commentators and Taylor was to change the way their audience perceives something that we take for granted; words. Through story telling, Taylor is intriguing to the listeners and is able to convince them to absorb what she is saying about language.