Some Lives May Not Be Worth Saving...(I'm not a bad person, I sware).

     Sunday morning I had arrived an hour early for scouts and had nothing to do, so I decided to walk to Starbucks. There, as I was waiting for my chai tea latte, the New York Times newspaper caught my eye. I knew I had to pay a dollar for it, but I gathered all my courage, and aloofly walked out of the coffee shop with an overpriced drink in my hand and a "free" newspaper under my arm. In it, I came across a very intersting article named "Rescuing the Birds Many Hate" by Alex Vadukul. This article explained how there is a group of activists in New York that call themselves the "New York City Pigeon Rescue Central", whose main interests are saving the injured birds that seem to be ignored and maligned by those around them. In the article, a story is told about one of the main members of this group, Jennifer Dudley, a forty-four year old woman, who "saved" two birds she encountered who she named Skipper and Lulu, who eventually ended up dying. A fellow member's words of wisdom on the situation were, "At least he's safe now, that's what matters."
     My response to this article is what were the editors of the New York Times thinking when publshing this ariticle? I could think of at least fifty other subjects that would make use of the half page article that this one wasted. God created animals. God created humans. God meant for everything to eventually die. Accept this fact. What good is it serving to the world to take a pigeon to a hospital to be examined and cured? As far as I know, that pigeon is not going to be very beneficial to the rest of society, nor is it going to make a difference in the balance of the universe. Time, money, effort, and man-power should not be wasted on those things that will be of no benefit to us or anything else that surrounds us. Even after the treatment, the bird dies. I understand that these actions are put into affect because of good intentions, however, saving a few pigeons every year will not change the world in any significant way, especially in a city like New York.

Am I Going to Kill Myself?

     As terrible as this may sound, I find myself closely resembled by Willy Loman's character in the book. Though I'm sure many people will write that they are related to the characters Happy or Biff the most, I know that deep inside, we are all Willies trying to survive in this harsh world. I would like to believe that the world is not as bad as it seems, and that I will be as successful as I want to be in the future. I want to achieve my own dreams, just like Willy did. I do work hard every day in order to achieve these dreams, and I do my best to stay focused on accomplishing it. The only thing I hate is that Willy cheated on his wife, and that is the main difference between us.
     Though the acceptance of the truth can prove to be difficult to me, I like the fact that I still dream. Too many people have accepted the misconception that their dreams will not come true, and that dreaming will get you nowhere. Yes, I may not end up in the WNBA, but that does not mean that I cannot have the pleasure of envisioning that I will be as successful one day. I would like to think that this world is capable of being kind and forgiving. I remain optimistic in viewing Willy's perception by seeing the light in what he may have seen, instead of believing that he is just an ignorant coward unable of accepting the truth. He is merely trying to be happy. Though I may not be as ignorant of the truth as Willy, and though I do accept the reality of situatons, as much as it may pain me to do so, I still do have that little bit of hope, that little bit of belief in childish dreams' existence in me, and I would not give that up for anything in the world. After all, Walt Disney's vision of Disneyland was laughed at when he mentioned his brilliant idea of creating it to others, and it stands in it's glory today, pointing the finger to all that doubted it's existence in earlier years.

Death of a Salesman SOAPST

     Death of a Salesman is a play written by Arthur Miller set to take place in the late 1940s. This time was a time of reformation and innovation, as well as a time of struggle. Set to take place right after WWI, Death os a Salesman is surely an accurate and clear depiction of that time. The speaker of the book, as well as the main character, is Willy Loman. Willy Loman is a salesman who travels around a lot for his work. However, despite his past successes, he is not doing so well lately healthwise as well as financially. Stretches of this can be seen in the book when he is caught talking to himself due to various reasons such as his stress from work and not being able to pay off his insurance bills.
     The strory takes place mostly in Willy Loman's house, in New York, NY in 1949. Some scenes in the book can take place in other places also, like in his boss's office, or with his mistress in Boston. The audience of the story can be the reader. However, since it is a play, when it is being performed, it's audience can be the spectators sitting in the crowd to watch the play. The purpose of the story is to informteh audience about Willy Loman's family and the situations of that time. Also, the purpose can arguably be to entertain the audience with an interesting story. The subject of the story could be reachign the American dream, or the acceptance of reality compared to the denial of the truth. The overall tone of the story is modest,  but sad. The book in itself was a very good book in my opinion, and thought the first fifty pages went by slowly, the rest of the book was a breeze to read.

Autism Among Adults

     In the website latimes.com, there is an article written by Alan Zarembo that points out how there are many adults living today in society who have cases of autism they are not even aware of. Ben Perrick is an example of one of these cases. He was diagnosed to have autism in 1954 by the man who discovered autism, Dr. Leo Kanner. Today, however, he is regarded as a schizophrenic who is mentally retarded. Ten percent of cases that were reevaluated, like Perrick's, have seen that they also have autism that has gone unrecognized.
     Many cases of people who are diagnosed with autism at an older age are specified in the article, and in a way, they all seem very sad. If when they were younger they had gotten a clear diagnosis to what was wrong with them, maybe they would have been better off. Many people in today's society have even mild forms of autism that they may have suspected, but are not sure of. It is important for these people to know of their conditions, because after all, they are living in the world like the rest of us. Once their main caretaker dies, they must be faced with the tough reality of trying to take care of themselves and survive. If you fear you mayhave autism, consult a physician immediately!

"The Raven"

     This saturday during the saturday class, we read "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, a gothic writer. His prose and style of writing is very unique and distinguished, and it happens to be one of my favorite forms of writing. In this poem, a raven is shown to remind the narrator of his lost love, Lenore, resulting in him going crazy and talking to the raven. He starts talking with the bird, adn the bird's only response is "nevermore". At teh end of the poem, we ind out that the bird, which signifies an evil being, also signifies Lenore, and the fact that the narrator will forget about Lenore "nevermore".
     The gothic style is shown in his poem in a few ways. The setting is very bleak and dark in the beiginning of the poem, starting off with a midnight in December in a huge mansion. There is an indirect violent incident, which is the loss of Lenore, which could have been violent in some fashion. The main narrator seems as though he is psychotic, because the bird is taling to him, adn he is getting tortured by it. Somehow, after speaking to the bird,a  supernatural event occurs, and the raven actually answers back. All of these characteristics in the poem enable it to be a gothic piece of literature.

Can Infections Cause Mental Illnesses?

     In an article by Shari Roan from the Los Angeles Times called "Childhood Disorder Prompts Study of Infection Link to Mental Illness", it is discovered that it is very possible for certain minor infections to cause much more serious mental problems such such a OCD in victims. The term for this unfortunate situation is pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus, or PANDAS. Because of PANDAS, a young sixth-grader named Brody Kennedy who got strep throat ended up havving obsessive compulsive disorder. The boy started not wanting to go to school because of his newfound germaphobia. He took showers more than three times a day, and in general, becasue very antsy about everything in his environment. These are the typical symptoms of an OCD patient.
     The antibodies from the PANDAS attack only the viral or baterial cells of teh infection, but they also begin to attack neurotransmiters and cells in the brain, which causes mantal issues. This situation not only leads to OCD, but it has also lead to diseases such as anorexia, schizophrenia, and autism. Therefore, if one is to get an infection, especially nowadays, they must immediately go to the doctor adn inform them of this problem if they are already not informed. An infection should not be the underlying cause for something much more serious like a mental illness which may last a lifetime. Brody Kennedy's parents are still taking him to the doctor, and trying to find cures for his problem., Meanwhile, all others are trying to find the solution to these antibodies attacking the brain to prevent other such cases ftom occuring.

My Favorite Part of The Scarlet Letter

     The Scarlet Letter proved to be one of the more interesting books with sophisticated language that might seem boring to some. It had a great plot, along with a well-written storyline that captured the essence of the setting very well. If it were not for the revelations of the main suspence in the story that got revealed well before the actual part in the book, I think I would have actually not put the book down. There were many boring parts in the book where I wanted to slap myself with twelve sticks because of how unenterained I was, however, some parts were very interesting. The most interesting and thrilling part of the book, in my opinion, is whenever Chillingworth finds out about the "A" on Dimmesdale's chest.
     Chillingworth was supposed to be helping Dimmesdale out, and aiding him whenever he seemed in need. However, the moment when he ripped open Dimesdale's shirt and saw the "A" etched in his skin, we all knew that Dimmesdale was in for a wild ride (and not a fun one that you sit on at Disneyland). My favorite part of the book is whenever Chillingworth finds out at first, but what he does to Dimmesdale in return also ties in as my favorite part. I personally am very interested in things like torture and the extent to which one would go to to ensure another's suffring. Given all this, I found this section of the book, which explains how Chillingworth was slowly mentally as well as physically draining out Dimmesdale to be very interesting and thrilling. Not many would think the same, but this is my blog.