Music, Music, Music

Music is one of the most important things to a lot of people. Almost everyone enjoys listening to music, it just depends on their preferences. Some enjoy soft sounds, while others enjoy loud ones. Listening to music can be fun, but making music is even better.

One of the ways you can do this is through instruments, and there are so many different kinds. There are clarinets, guitars, pianos, oboes, the triangle, horns, saxophones, accordions, harps, violins, trombones, drums, and many many more, including the instruments that are within the categories stated before. Another way is by using random things around you. In the movie Pitch Perfect the main character uses a cup to make herself a beat to sing to for her audition, something that my friends practice everyday with their water bottles at the lunch table. I have two friends that sometimes will randomly start patting their legs or their chest, going off the others' beat to create their own, somehow making it sound really good together when they do this randomly.

Along with instruments, or alone, you can make music with your voice. Singing can be fun to do; using your vocal chords to try and hit different notes and sing a tune. There are some people who can use their mouths to create noises that make a beat, without the use of anything but their own selves.

All of the different ways to make music is fun and can create a challenge. It is a completely different feeling to be listening to something and mimicking it, or even writing a song of your own. A sense of pride comes with this, and its a good feeling to make music. (284)

Gender Roles

Today in class we discussed gender roles, and how there are very apparent stereotypes of how men and women should act, based on how society expects them to. Men should do the house work, take care of his lady, wear clothing that doesn't always match, and complain about chick flicks. Women are supposed to make the food, care for the kids, love eating ice cream and chocolate, and look good all the while. Some of these things are true for some, but I can name a few girls who cringe at the sight of chocolate.

I find these stereotypes to be very untrue from my experiences. I am terrible at cooking, and I'd much rather eat honeydew than chocolate ice cream. I know a guy that loves cooking and is very aware of what his clothing looks like, and makes sure to look good. When watching scary or sappy movies, I often times fall asleep, while my guy friends will be sitting on the edge of their seat, or my dad will be sobbing when Forrest Gump exclaims, "Jennay! I love you Jennay!" Don't get me wrong that movie is heart wrenching, I'm just not much of a crier.

I can remember of one instance that these stereotypes' irrelevancy was shown big. I was driving with a friend in the passenger seat when he looked to his right and said, "Hey, that's where I get my hair cut" while I said almost simultaneously looking to my left, "Hey, that's where I used to do tae-kwan-doe" We both started laughing, realizing how typically, we should be saying what the other did.

Of course these stereotypes do have to come from somewhere. Traditionally, these stereotypes are true of many men and women and what they prefer. Although this is true, there are a lot of other men and women that would disagree, and don't want what they are "supposed to" want. (319)

Bakery

Yesterday I started my first week at the bakery at Hy-Vee. Although I have only had two shifts in this area, I know that I will like it. It's a lot different than being in grocery as a checker or courtesy, and there is more to remember.

One thing we have to do is simply package the baked goods. Cookies, bread, cupcakes, muffins, cinnamon rolls, sticky pullaparts and more are all things that we have to put into certain bags or packages, print out their price tags, and stick them on. After that we pick up whatever was just packaged and put into their specific area on the shelves, mostly around the bakery, and a few in the front of the store.

Another thing to do is make samples. This is one of the best parts, because we have to get some bread, cut it up, cover it in a buttery garlicy substance, cook it, and set it out for customers to come by and eat. If there happens to be a few pieces that are too small or big, then we can eat them.

We also have to take cake orders. People call in or come to the counter with what they have in mind; birthday cakes, wedding cakes, anniversary cakes, and some weird requests are given to us and we put them in a pile for the cake decorators to finish. It is interesting to watch the cake decorators work; they are able to fashion frosting in ways that amaze me... I can barely ice cupcakes well enough to set out on the shelves. I guess it takes practice.

After all the work is done cleaning is the last thing. First is to wash the dishes, and wipe off all the counters. Then sweeping, then mopping. These tasks can sometimes be tedious but I'm grateful to be doing something besides standing in the same place working a cash register. If there is extra time before the bakery closes and there is nothing to do and no customers, its fun to grab a piece of paper and practice your frosting penmanship; something I have not yet mastered, or even come close to doing.Working in the bakery will be busier in some ways, but a lot more fun. (379)

Another Weather Post

With the winter weather comes something that most drivers seem to forget about every single year: ice. This summer especially has been without terrible weather, so when there comes that one day that everything is all of the sudden covered in snow and ice, everyone seems to freak out. First off, the night before the storm, everyone decides they need to be prepared in case they are locked inside their house, and they go to the grocery store to buy enough canned goods and milk for a large, hungry family to be sustained for the next two weeks. I find this to be a little entertaining, but its what people do.

After the weather is here is when things get even worse. Driving in bad weather can be dangerous, so it's best to drive slowly and to take precautions, like not tailgating and making sure to watch out for snow banks. People don't always get that, and it ends in a lot of avoidable car crashes.

When I started driving, I learned in the snow, so maybe that's why I feel like people in Iowa should definitely know how to drive in snow by now. I also learned with my father in the passenger seat repeating to me time and time again, "Katy be careful and remember: everyone is stupid!"

There are some things everyone should remember when driving in the winter. One being that when you're stuck to go back and forth; trying to drive forward and spinning your tires will get you nowhere but maybe stuck worse. Another is that if you're trying to get somewhere at a specific time, leave a little earlier, because if there ends up being bad traffic, well speeding on ice is just not the way to go. Also, trying to get up hills when there is snow on the road can be hard, and even more nerve-wracking when there are people behind you trying to get up it just as you are.

Winter weather can be gruesome, it's just important to be calm and careful. (344)

The Future

It's hard to try and think of the future. When you think of past time periods, what typically comes to mind? First, there's the cavemen. You think of dirty people wearing cloths and drawing on stone walls. Then you think of the people that have cities, in pueblos. Then there are the kings and queens when men wore hats and bow ties. When women wore long dresses and took great care of their hair. Then there are the people with really long hair, who wore tie dye and talked of peace. I know, I know, this is all very stereotypical stuff, but there was always something that defined that era. What will ours be, when people of the future look back on the 2000's?

Everyone says that we are in the technology era, everything is changing and it's now considered weird when you don't have a smart phone. But that will just become more and more advanced, and people will laugh when they see pictures of us with our smart phones and think "aaahh the old days"

It's just weird.What will people think of when they see old pictures of the people of today? What will they think when they learn about the natural disasters in other countries? Or about the first African American president of the United States? About the attack on 9/11? Even about the release of the first iPod, and learning about Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson?

What is going on today will be what kids of the future will learn about in their history books. The people we see in the news every day will be the people they see in pictures with a name and description written beside it. (285)

Sledding and Sliding

It is soon going to be officially the winter season. What will you do during snow days? This is such a big question. Some people like to spend their snow days sleeping in, or catching up on work they need to get done. Others though, like to spend it in some other ways.

One fun way to spend a snow day is Truth or Dare. This game is about ten times more entertaining when the weather is bad. I personally can say that I have done the chicken dance in the freezing cold outside, in a tank top and shorts. I can also say I have played a whole song on the piano whilst being soaked from sleet (this is when we set our piano outside for free, because we no longer needed it in our house). I have also once spent fifteen minutes in a hot tub, then five minutes rolling in snow, one right after the other. It was crazy, but hilarious.

Another way to spend snow days is by finding any way you can to spend your day sliding around, rather than walking. Outside of course is one way to do this. It is always fun to traditionally get out some sleds, go out with friends and slide down hills. Maybe make a fort, and a snowman friend. Another way to do this though, is to get water and pour it on the snow, which can make it more like ice if the conditions are right. This makes sledding in your yard more dangerous, but also more slippery and fun.Then there is simply trying to walk around on your driveway when it is covered in a thick sheet of ice without falling; almost impossible.

Although it is always fun to go outside and do all that, there are ways you can do it inside too, if going outside isn't an option. One way is to find a good pair of socks and a hardwood floor. Run and slide across the room... just make sure not to break anything. It's hilarious. Or if you want to get even crazier, find a good sleeping bag and a flight of stairs. This takes some practice, because if you slip off the sleeping bag you will probably end up falling down the stairs and getting rug burns on your knees and hands. Rug burns hurt, but sometimes they are worth it.

There are many other ways to slide around too, like getting a blanket and using the hardwood floors to pull a friend around the house. With doing all this though, its best to be as careful as possible while still having fun, because chances are something will end up broken and you will have bruises and rug burns all over yourself... but a smile on your face!(468)

Kids

Kids are adorable. They really are. They are so smart and funny when you have real conversations with them, and they try to have good intentions. They also voice their opinions openly. Just today I had a 7 year old cousin tell me that my room is disgusting because of its pink-and-purple-ness. After he said that, I agreed and told him that soon I was going to paint it, probably a green color. His smile got huge when I said green. He then told me that he thinks I should paint my ceiling red, because it would look really cool. I couldn't help but laugh.

I have always been surrounded by kids. Growing up, my mom ran a daycare business out of our house, and soon after she quit is when I grew old enough for her adult friends to ask me to help take care of their kids when they weren't home. I loved it.

At work, I see kids come through all the time. Some ask for suckers, but I have to watch their face contort into disappointment when I tell them sorry, but our Hy-Vee doesn't have suckers. Some are sweet, and try to help their parents by putting the groceries in the cart onto the belt, standing on their toes to do so. Some ask for a candy bar, and yell when they don't get one. Some say "Of course mom" when she tells them that they can have a candy bar, but they have to wait until after dinner to eat it.

I once babysat a kid that was obsessed with dinosaurs. I asked him to tell me about some of them, and he started showing me pictures of them and telling me about them with a look of concentration on his face. I actually learned a lot about dinosaurs that night.

Some people don't give kids much of a chance. They find them gross or annoying or dumb. I personally know people who wanted to adopt kids, went through the whole process to get a license, but now don't keep the foster kids for very long, because they just find them to be too much. I find those people to be a bit ridiculous. I understand some people can't get along with kids well, or are even intimidated by them. Some people though, just don't even give them enough of their attention to even see what the kid wants them to. (410)