Tattoos for the Animals!

     On October 24th, there was an article in the Huffington Post named "Billy White, Tattoo Artist, Raises Money For Surviving Zanesville, Ohio Exotic Animals". Billy White, a 62 year-old tattoos artist from Zaneville, Ohio donated more than $1,000 to help in the capturing and caring of mokre than a hundred animals that were let loose by a farmer, Terry Thompson, right before he shot himself. Many animals that were let loose were unfortunately killed by officials. Police killed 48 animals, including eighteen rare Bengal tigers, seventeen lions and eight bears.
     White said that until that Saturday, anybody who walked in and got a tattoo of a tiger or any other exotic animal would have the proceeds of his/her visit go to donating money to help these animals. Though no one knows why White would do such a  thing, one can conclude that it came out of the mere kindness of his own heart. These poor animals were shot and killed because of the careless mistake of the farmer. Many were angry because of the tragedy, but many others were hopeful that the money raised would contribute to the surviving animals and their future.

My Favorite Speech Presentation

     This week, Mrs. Kirkman had a wonderful idea to make us create a project on any given speech by using powerpoint.The list of speeches we had to choose from were very famous speeches that used all that we have learned in this class so far, especially when it comes to persuasion techniques. Other than the speech I had chosen, "Farewell to Baseball" by Lou Gehrig, I think Gareen Mehseredjian and Patil Hovsepian's speech project was very well presented. They did their project on Hilary Clinton's speech, "Women's Rights are Human Rights, which was delivered in Beijing, China, September 5, 1995. The significance behind delivering this speech in China was to inform the old-fashioned people there that human rights need tobe applied to both men and women, that there are no differences between what women and men could and have the right to do.
     Hillary Clinton's purpose was to tell all people in her audience, especially those in China listening to her live, that women have all basic rights that all humans are accountable for having. She was very demanding and confident when delivering her speech, and the speech was full of "charged words" that intrigued the audience and caught their attention. The fact that she delivered this speech very firmly and beautifully has helped society as a whole, by becoming a great contribution for people to understand the importance of human rights. Kudos to Patil and Gareen for presenting it so well!

"Straw Into Gold"

     Sandra Cisneros enchants us with her autobiography, "Straw Into Gold: The Metamorphosis of the Every Day". Cisneros is originally Mexican, but she has traveled to countless istes all over the world. She is from the modern day and age, unlike most of the stories that we have read this year. Another difference between the previous stories we have read and this autobiography is that it has no set occasion. Rather, it is taking place during her life in general.
     She writes this story to provide to the reader and introduction to her life, to show her successes and how they have led her to where she is. She has achieved turning the "straw into gold" by accomplishing thing that she never thought possible. The story becomes the base of knowing the hardships that she went through in life in order to get to her life today. She writes in a very simple, descriptive tone, as if speaking to her audience in person. Cisneros's story truly made me feel that I should challenge myself, go against all odds, and become an independent, successful person in the future in order to be happy with my life.

5 Virtues

     There are a million-and-one things wrong with me. I know my flaws, as well as my strengths. However, one has to always think, "What can I do in order to make myself a better person..."? If I were to pick five virtues that I should work on, I would pick the following: Diligence, because it is very important to stick to something and completely finish it. Patience, because it seems hard for me to keep my cool sometimes. Having patience would make me a lot calmer and understanding person. Cooperation, because being an Armenian, I already have the disadvantage (or advantage in some cases) of being very stubborn. I tend to think that I am always right, which is not the best thing to think in most cases. Eloquence, because I truly believe that speech and the way one speaks can have a very strong influence on people's opinions. Having the virtue of being eloquent can help when leading a large group, which comes in handy often. Finally, humility, because to me, humbleness shows the true character of any person. I highly respect those that have the ability to be humble.
     I chose to be patient for the past two days. Though it proved to be very difficult at times, I think I did pull through as best as I could. An example of how I was patient actually happened today (or yesturday since I am posting this 12:24 AM). I was blocking the enterance as a scout while Aram I Catholicos visited, and there were many avid christian old ladies among the crowd. There was a group of seventy to eighty year olds who were insisting that they should pass through, and no matter how many times I told them that they could not, they kept shoving and pushing. If they were twenty years younger, and if I was not wearing my scouts uniform, I sware I would have beat them all up. Fortunately, the circumstances did not let me express myself in that way. I thought about how I was working on my patience, and I restrained from getting mad, and chose instead to be understanding and patient. Next time old women are bothering you, think that you have your entire life ahead of you, and they have lived their's, so they are just tired now. Understand, have patience, and go home and punch a pillow instead.