Invisible Homeless~ March 15, 2010

I personally do not believe that the homeless are invisible. I see them every day on the way to school and they make themselves known to be by constantly asking for money every time they see me. I chose to write on a man named Michael because he is a musician and I can relate to his story because my father is a musician as well. At the beginning the man asked Michael why he was homeless. He responded that he was once a personal nurse for a lady for 2 years then out of the blue she kicked him out. Also he mentioned that he had lived on the streets for 20 years before that time also. First of all it was very apparent to me that he did not like living on the streets because after 20 years of living on the streets, he went out and made something of himself. Also, in his wishes at the end of his interview, he sang to us that he would like a place to call his own. I think that people like to go back to their old habits if one thing goes wrong in their life instead of fighting the current and trying to make their lives better. Sure, I understand that it is very hard to find a job now- a- days in this economy. However what happened to him being a personal nurse? He never said that after he got kicked out for no reason that he went to look for another job. I tend to ignore the homeless when I pass them because some of them are really dangerous and they carry weapons and if you are not careful, you could end up dead for just the $2 in your pocket.

Michael from InvisiblePeople.tv on Vimeo.

That's all for now!

~Ali

The Census~ March 5, 2010

The article I chose to write on today comes from the web site/ news paper called Slate. This particular article that sounded interesting enough to write on is entitled “Count Me Out” by Ted Rose. In this particular article, the author writes on if you can really get in trouble for not filling out the Census. On the form it clearly states that if you do not fill it out and return it, then you can face charges and maybe even jail time. However, there is no law that clearly states that if you do not fill out the census then you will be punished. The Census Bureau does not prosecute those who do not participate or those who fill it out with false statements. However there is a benefit to filling out the census and to do it correctly. When the government gets the numbers of people living in a particular area, they can grant that area more money to create more streets if it is necessary for the town to function. The author then supports this with evidence from a case in 1960 where a man refused to answer the extended questionnaire about the economic standing of his house hold. He argued that the government does not need to know this information and it is an invasion of his privacy. However at the end of the trial, the judge found him guilty and charged $100 and a 60 day prison sentence. Though everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I do not understand why any one would not fill out the Census. At tops the questionnaire would take one family member fifteen minutes to complete, it does not cost them anything, not even postage, and it has the potential to better the communities in which they live in.

That's all for now!
~Ali

Karen ~ March 1, 2010

One Source that I normally did not choose was entitles utne.com. Once getting linked to this web site, I found one of the most interesting titles and had to read more to figure out what it was saying. This article was entitled “Grieving on Facebook” and this article was written by Julie Hanus. In this posted article, it describes the story of a particular case in which the friends of a young gir did not know when it was time to stop grieving the loss of their friend. One friend posted a picture of her and the lost young lady when she first passed away. After months of having it as her profile picture, the girl wrote underneath it when it was alright to post a different photo that did not have her deceased friend in it. I find this article very interesting because I have just lost a dear friend and mentor to me and I was facebook that really helped me grieve. My friend had been battling breast cancer for several years now and when she fell back out of remission; her family posted a group on facebook prompting others to pray for her recovery. A few months later, she passed away. After the message was sent that she had gone to be with God, posts started appearing on the prayer wall telling how wonderful this woman was and how she had touched so many lives. This helped me in my grieving process because not only could I share how much this woman had influenced my life but also I could see that she touched so many others on her time here on earth. This brought comfort to me because I knew then that this woman of God had fulfilled her purpose down here and is now cancer free living without pain.

That's all for now

~Ali

The Mysterious Robert Johnson~ February 26, 2010

Robert Johnson was a guy who really wanted to play the guitar better than anyone else around. There is a legend that one night he was walking around in the middle of nowhere and when he got to a crossroads in the road, he saw a man standing there. Once the man approached him and said that he was the devil and if he sold his soul to him, that he would be able to fulfill his dreams and play better than anyone else. This seemed like a good deal to him so he took it, sold his soul, and from then on was better than anyone else. Many people haven’t really seen a picture of him because it was said that if someone did take a picture of him that you could see just a skull where his head is supposed to be because he was dead once he gave his soul away. However the picture that the man had of a famous guitar player that he thought was B.B King but was actually Robert Johnson is one of the two photographs that they have of him. One photograph that they have of him is one that is thought to be his very own, it was thought be taken in a photo booth and amount to be just a bit smaller than an average postage stamp. The second photo that is known to the public is one done be the Rolling Stones magazine in which he was just voted to be a part of the Rock and roll Hall of Fame. Though this was a big deal, it is said that the artist was dressed very casually and had a cigarette barely hanging on to his bottom lip. His ending to his short story was tragic though because he died at a very young age. However his music became very well known and liked. He also was known as an idol to present day artists such as John Mayer who contributes his talent and his curiosity to Robert Johnson.

That's all for now!

~Ali

Spring Break ~ March 3, 2010

My best Spring break adventure was in April of 2008. I went with Trey, his mother, and his aunt down to their condos right on the beach of Panama City. I had never been to Panama City Beach before for spring break but had heard a lot of crazy stories that had come from there. The first day we got there it was raining a little bit so we decided to unpack and go out to eat. The next day we finally got to lay under the blistering hot sun all day. During the winter, I turn as white as a ghost but after the first time I am out in the sun, I am tan the rest of the warm seasons. I decided not to put on a lot of sun screen because I wanted to get really tan…. Bad Idea! Trey decided to be funny and make a simile face on his stomach with the sun screen so when he did lay out he would have that on his stomach. We laid out there longer than what we were anticipating so when it came time for us to go out to dinner that night, we were both as red as lobsters. It was really painful going to sleep that night so the next morning we went out and bought a bottle of Aloe each. By the end of the trip, his bottle was gone. We had 2 more nights that we were going to stay so on that night we went to Wild Willie’s pineapple shop because I had never eaten there. Before we were seated, his mother wanted to take photos of us on the beach so after about 50 million pictures, we were finally seated. That night, Treys mom ordered us crème’ Brule and told Trey to be romantic and to eat dessert out on the beach. So he surprised me and had candles on the beach with a blanket spread out on the sand for us to sit on. That was my best spring break.

That's all for now!

~Ali

My oh so great photograph ~ February 24, 2010

My oh so great photograph that I like so much is a picture done by an artist that is not very well known named Alfred Eisenstaedt. Alfred Eisenstaedt was working as a photographer at that point in time for Time Magazine and experienced a moment in Americans history that forever changed us. The photo he took was called “Soldier kissing girl in time square”. This was a very famous photo because it was taken August 15, 1945 at the end of the world war two and because the soldier was just so happy to be home and alive, he picked the first girl he saw and took her in his arms and kissed her. The photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt, just snapped pictures left and right in order to capture this special moment in American history that he did not even get the names of the people in the pictures he took. However on the 50th anniversary, the man and woman in the picture were identified as Edith Shain and Carl Muscarello.
The reason why I like this photo so much is because it showed America celebrating after many years of loss and heart ache. Also I enjoy this particular photograph because it shows just how young our soldiers were who fought for our independent country. These men were just merely boys who wanted to show that they could fight for what they were told was right. These boys still had dreams of being married and having kissed a random girl who just happened to be standing right next to where he was at that point in time. This photo also shows the spontaniousness of the men who were just barely able to be called men while fighting for our country.

That's all for now!
~Ali

Strong Support ~February 22, 2010

Growing up, I had a strong family. My mother and father both supported me in whatever I felt like I would exceed at. First it was dance and tap, then it was to the soccer fields, then I wanted to be a cheerleader so I had to take gymnastics, and finally I settled in on singing. This made them happy because my father is a musician himself and he was able to give me voice lessons every week. Soon, not only was I winning competitions but I was also being hired to sing at special events across the Atlanta area. I was only in middle school at this point so my father worked hard with me to ensure that my future in singing was secure. Once I hit high school, I was put in the top choir, given several solo opportunities and was encouraged to be a part of an a-capella group for the community. With this responsibility and holding down a job, I decided that I could no longer carry on with my singing path that was chosen for me. I was pushed into evening lessons so that when I came home from school and work, I would go straight into a voice lesson with my father. This lead me to my decision in not wanting to sing in college. I was so tired of being told what I can and can not do because of my vocal chords and how they would affect them. When it came time to sign up for college classes, my father looked over my schedual I alid before him and frowned. He told me that he was very surprised to see that I have music no where in my future and asked why. I told him that since I will be a teacher, I wanted to devote all of my time and effort into teaching and what it takes to be a wonderful teacher, so I dropped music because it had nothing to do with my dreams I had for myself. I was expecting frogs to fall from the celiling and for him to be so upset with my decision but instead, he told me how much he supported me and that he was proud of the woman I am becoming. From that day on, I knew that I would always have the unconditional support of my family no matter what the circumstances behind it.

That's all for now!

~Ali