Blog #2 Success question

Question: What is success?

I define success as a display of character, integrity, and humility. Success is born from leading a purposeful life. Victory over temptation, diligence in difficult times, patience in frustrating moments are all examples of what I consider successes. The success of life does not come from money or fame, but from the experience of working hard and staying devoted to a purpose. Wealth, power, and fame are not successes, but could be the results of success. True accomplishments are ones that took the strength of the heart and conviction of the mind to achieve.

Blog #1 Catastrophe of Success

I think that this essay was written extremely well. The ideas and analogies all focus around the downfall called success and explained just what aspect of success is so terrible. Speaking from a literary standpoint, the chronological order of the events explained and the individual meaning of those events are shown and illustrated very vividly. The "Catastrophe of Success" showed how repulsive the luxury that comes from success is and how the author realized how the comfort and service he received were actually taking the vivacity and purpose from his life. He finishes his piece off with giving the idea that life is only worth living when truly lived.

Poem

Solve

Come on now,

The question gives you three variables

And you have three equations to use

Don’t tell me you can’t figure it out

If you cannot solve this mere question,

How will you ever correct a problem?

Unable to correct a problem

what will you do for a tragedy?

You are fool because you think yourself a fool,

Neither intelligence nor aptitude inherits wisdom,

But a clear and prudent mind gains that imperishable gift,

So do not shackle yourself to the image you have of yourself,

Be free to grow and prosper in your heart and mind,

Learn to manage what you have and what you need,

I can teach you how to solve for three variables with three equations,

But you must allow yourself to learn to apply that in life evermore.

Blog #10: Are you an organized person?

Sometimes. I am organized enough. Being organized helps keep my leisure time. With more leisure time, I can relax more. If I relax more, I can live longer. If I live longer, I can do more good in the world. If I do more good in the world..... Well, I just want to do good in the world. Through organization, I can do more good. Furthermore, organization can allow me to do good more efficiently, diligently, and successfully. Still, it's hard to be organized. Probably because good things don't come easy.

Blog #9 News Log

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/alabama-fan-face-sign-instant-internet-hit-172350668.html

     To distract free throw shooters in basketball games, people have brought in enlarged pictures of different celebrities or known people before. Now, Jack Blackenship brought in an enlarged picture of his face to distract the players' shots and it has gained a lot of internet attention. He has actually gained recognition and a little fame. He says he intends on getting new images to hold up in the games to keep things new and original. One of the possibilities he mentioned was his dog's face.

     I see why people would do something as strange as that, but honestly, I would prefer that people do not. While the side effect of such gags is humor, its main purpose is to distract the players. That just takes the fun and the glory of winning a game. Have no doubt, a victory will still feel sweet, but would it not taste so much sweeter if you knew that all of the players, both of home and away teams, played to their fullest capabilities with determination and focus? C.S. Lewis once wrote, "'...Has not one of the poets said that a noble friend is the best gift and a noble enemy the next best?'" This is the mentality that people should have. No jeering or mocking after games, but just commendations of how well each team performed and the amount of effort they put in.

Blog #8: Happy Valentine's Day

Before testosterone hit me, when I was in elementary school, I had a crush. There was this korean girl and I only liked her because my best friend liked her. It was pretty funny. I think she was pretty. I can't really remember. My other friend told me that, this one time, I was chasing her around the playground and she got her finger stuck in the chains of the swing set and an accident occurred. I am not sure what happened, but my friend told me that she broke her finger and the bone was sticking out. Personally, I don't remember this so I do not know if it is true, but he seemed pretty certain.

Blog #5: News Log

http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2012/02/hey_bergen_county_clean_the_snow_off_your_cars.html

The article is about how Bergen county has the highest number of tickets given out due to snow being left on top of cars. The number of tickets given out in Bergen county is astronomically different from all of the other counties'. The reason is unclear as to why this is. Perhaps every other county just does not care as much about this traffic infraction as Bergen county does or perhaps every other county just does a better job of dusting their cars before they drive.

I think that this is not as important as the war on terror, but I think abiding by the laws of the road is worth doing. Even though dusting a car's roof for snow may be inconvenient, it is safe practice and may save from a ticket in Bergen county. It may be cumbersome, but it is better to be safe than sorry.


Star-Ledger graphic, emphasis added.

Blog #7: News Log

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/nj_abortion_doctor_charged_wit.html

A doctor in New Jersey commenced an abortion and finished it in Maryland. He was then charged with murder because abortions are illegal in Maryland. When searching for evidence, the authorities found over thirty fetuses stored. The reason he had to go to Maryland is that he was working in coalition with another doctor so he had his patients come with him to bring them to the other doctor, who did the actual removal of the fetuses.

Honestly, I will not talk about the controversy whether abortion is right or wrong. Instead, I have to say that this doctor did not think things through. He really should have checked the laws of the state he was about to bring his patients to before he went and executed a controversial procedure. Actually, he may have known about the laws and chosen to ignore them doubting that he would be caught. Either way, he was a fool and he is paying for his imprudent actions with multiple cases of murder on his hands.

Blog #6: Super bowl

Sports are a show of physical ability just as a concert is a show of musical ability. Both of them gain popularity by provoking emotion, but, while music gains listeners by extracting many different feelings from them, sports have their objective as drawing crowds by inciting excitement and suspense. The rush that comes from seeing a match between which team can place the ball in the right spot before time runs out is, for many people, a great thrill. Then, as the stakes get higher, as the championship comes up, the rush gets greater and the adrenaline courses through the watcher's veins as water through rivers. This is why main events of sports, especially the Super Bowl, are so popular.

Blog #4: Lottery

With my $10,000, I would support the growth of education in third world countries. One of the ways that poverty-stricken countries can escape their circumstances is simply by proving useful (in business, science, etc.) and education will provide the means to becoming useful as a country. $10,000 would be little help in the grand scheme of things, but it would be help nonetheless.

Blog #3: Memory

The setting was dark, lit by a very orange ambience of street lights. We were in field, maybe a soccer field with a playground. I was young, around five years old. My brother and I could not find our parents and we began to get more and more scared. At least that is how I remember it. I assume my brother, while searching, saw our parents before I could because he turned around, bringing me around with him for I was holding his hand and began to walk in a seemingly random direction. I probably did not see them because I was crying so hard and my tears were probably blurring my vision. I asked, "Where's mom?" (in korean of course, I did not know how to speak english back then). I'm sure I had been asking that question persistently and continuously up to that point. He pointed behind us and I saw our mom walking at a distance toward us. And so, everything was okay. I ran towards her screaming as hard as I could, "UHM-MAH!!!", which is korean for Mom. My world, which was falling apart and ripping at the seams beforehand, was good as new and a safe, happy place now that my mom was there.

Blog #14: Glasses

Glasses rhymes with grasses,
Grasses sounds like gases,
Gases is one letter different from bases,
Bases is kinda like homeostasis,
Homeostasis is a word I've forgotten the meaning of,
Of has the likeness of love,
Love is something that comes from up above,
Above is where it flies, the dove,
Doves can be mistaken for hubs,
Hubs can be accidentally spelled tubs,
Tubs is a place to hold masses,
Masses and masses of water,
And water is found in (where else?) than very simple glasses.

Blog #13: Don't you love it when

Don't you love it when you reap what you sow? Even if the result turns out to be against you, you still feel the justice of the progression of events. When you study and you get a good grade, when you do not study and you do not get a good grade, there is a righteous cause and effect. However, when a sequence of events does not reflect justice, the lack of fairness disgusts even the most crooked people. Perhaps times when such things occur so often that justice, which comes around so rarely, surprises us when it occurs.

Blog #12: DOAS

I would like to be a physicist right now. However, my inclination of physics only barely outstrips my feelings towards all other subjects. I could just as easily major in business or chemistry. I know that my pastor, who was so passionate engineering and went to COOPERS UNION, one of the BEST engineering schools in the nation. Still, his calling was not in being an engineer, but a pastor and so he went where he was called and today, I see a man who knows that he is doing what he should be doing. If he could be swayed from the path of his passion, I know that the slightest breeze could push me from my current path so, though I look towards the world of physics right now, I really do not know where I am going in life.

Blog #11 Great Gatsby

This author definitely sees the flaws of Gatsby clearly. However, while he does not approve of the actions that Gatsby has taken in his life, he does say that Gatsby's drive throughout Gatsby's life is admirable. It is the pursuit of happiness, the American spirit, the race towards the green light. More than an ambition, the author calls it, but an aspiration. I completely understand. As one who has gone through life with multitudes of desires tugging at his hear, I also know that I lacked the effort and the passion to go and reach for the things my heart longed for.

Still, his life is yet stained with the poor choices he has chosen in his life. Despite his strength of heart and pursuit, he is guilty for the crimes he has committed to attain his high social position. In his great chase towards riches and love, he disregarded an important part of his life: morality. He followed his hypnotized heart across the border between right and wrong; I doubt he even realized it.

Blog #10: New Year's Resolution

My resolution is to not slack off. Some would think that this is too vague to achieve, but actually, it is not vague, but expansive. In my life, I get things done on a satisfactory level, but I do not want to be okay with just okay. I want to be progressive, proactive, and successful, not mediocre, average, and ordinary. I feel that I was made for bigger and better things, but it all depends on the work I put in to my life. I have so many opportunities in front of me, but taking advantage of them requires a high level of effort and stamina. Still, greatness would not be great if it did not take a great effort to attain it.