Babies, Babies Everywhere!

The world is over populated. By the time you finish reading this, the population will have added another two hundred plus people to its existence. As you’re reading these words, about ten babies are being born with every twenty or so words. Our approach to over seven billion people on Earth is literally a few days away, and there is no slowing down after that. Sitting at your computer, people are being born and dying as you’re scanning through each word that I have written here. However, the rate at which we are creating human life is a lot greater than the rate that human life is dying off. Our average life expectancy is about 77.5 years. This number has increased about 30 years since the turn of the 20^th century, when it was 49.2 years (see second link). For this reason, since the population is growing at a quicker rate than exhausting, over-population is occurring. It might sound great that we as the human race have expanded our boundaries and extended life so much further. And it is great. However, the beauty and wonder of how we have grown as a human society only goes so far. The more people we acquire on earth, the more people we need to provide for, and thus the more resources are being used. The Earth, however, is running out of the ability to provide these resources. Like the last sip of your favorite juice box, we are sucking the life, literally, out of Mother Earth. In the future, nearer than scientists would have expected, the resources that we depend on for everyday life and that sustain our living habits, will have diminished and become absent; human life will then begin to do the same.

With all this warning you would think that people would be more concerned about the future of humankind and our high-risk over population? And yet, in the last minute or two that it took you to read though this message, another two hundred to three hundred children have been born world-wide and there is no sign of us as intelligent human beings of slowing down.

http://galen.metapath.org/popclk.html

http://aging.senate.gov/crs/aging1.pdf

Existentialism on Prom Night

I fought with this song time and time again to first figure out what the heck existentialism meant and then figure out what the entire song, title and lyrics, meant together. Here is what I came up with.

Existentialism is concerned with the concepts of self-existence and decision making. In this song, “Existentialism on Prom Night,” it’s underlying meaning is to lay out the fact that decisions need to be made. After prom night, essentially, is when the “party” ends and the next step of your life begins. As the song begins, it depicts a laid-back, lazy image of sleeping in and dreaming. This dream, however, must come to an end just as prom night had to come to an end. Decisions must be made and your “self” must be established. For this reason, the last lines of the song “sing me something soft, sad and delicate, or loud and out of key… sing like you think no one’s listening” are important to hear and grasp. These lines encourage the listener to be their own self, and “sing” as they want to be heard. To sing like you want to, and to live like you want to, is the real message of the song, I believe. The existential challenge here is to become your own person as you want to be seen and as you want to live. The decisions you make and the choices that guide you also guide your existence.

Brita©

This Brita© commercial, aired for the first time this year, really shows how much plastic us Americans use, and how much plastic we should recycle. The sentimental voice and language the narrator uses plays off the listener’s emotion and appeals to our sense of empathy. Not only the tone, but the images portrayed give a very vivid and accurate look on just how many plastic bottles are used yearly. Through the hard facts listed, ethos is established to help their campaign and boost their credibility, and the images also help to give a visual perspective of what the narrator is talking about.

From these observations, and in my opinion, I would rule this advertisement as one that uses the Roman theory of rhetoric. Although the ad is absent of tropes and figures, however, the style in which it is presented uses ethos and emotion to reach the listener. For this reason, although literary figures may not be added, the Roman theory of rhetoric and style is present.

When I first saw this add, I really couldn’t believe the facts that I was hearing. Thirty-nine billion!? That’s a lot of bottled water if you ask me. This commercial gives a solution to the problem through a persuasive ad campaign. I personally own a Brita© and think it’s awesome. However, some people may prefer their bottled water over the constant refilling of the Brita© pitcher; that’s their purgative. For those people, which I will include myself in the category of “bottled water user” because I often take a nice cold water with me to the gym or class, I have one word of advice: recycle. Although not a solution to our over usage of plastic bottles in the US, recycling is one step of the hundreds that an individual can do to help out the environment. Just a word to the wise.

Yellow Butterfly

After a discussion in class about John Burroughs, particular his quote “love is the measure of life; only so far as we love do we live,” I was inspired to take some time to myself and think about what love meant to me. I retreated to a secluded lake where I recently had done my nature experiment. Instead of being completely cut off from technology, however, I took my iPod along with me. As a kind of guide to who I was and what I loved, I put my iPod on shuffle and let it play as I sat there in silence myself. You can tell so much about a person from the type of music they listen to, so I thought I’d reevaluate my musical selections. Song after song played, an array of rap, house, pop, acoustic, alternative, and screamo music all came through my earphones. As all these different sounds played back to me, different feelings accompanied the melodies. I had trouble putting my finger on just what in these songs appealed to me. The similarities were few and far between, and the differences were plentiful. About fifteen songs played through until one song, a song I know and keep close because of the story it tells, began to play. With the first note I was brought to tears. This song, an agonizing story about death and the struggle to deal, gives me a heavy heart and I can barely contain my tears each time I hear it. This song, however depressing and disheartening it may be, gave me the clearest perception of what love is to me, and what thrives me to live: people. All the people around me, my family, friends, acquaintances, even enemies, make living worthwhile. To lose them, for me, is to lose life. My family members bring me the most unconditional love one can ask for. They are the foundation and backbone to who I have become. My friends bring me sanity in a crazy reality. They ground me and lift me up. My acquaintances keep me wanting more. They are the faces that I crave to meet, that I long for. And my enemies bring me challenge. They keep me aware of who I don’t want to become and why.

It’s hard to imagine that a five minute song, after a series of about an hour worth of other songs, can bring about these ideas of love and the art of living. I love people. So in congruence with Burroughs’ quote, people are what let me live.

Now Playing: Yellow Butterfly, Meg and Dia

Alligator Handbags

Let’s talk about privileges. In class, we had a discussion on what is nature and what is natural, which led into a discussion of the privileges among our society. The interesting comment of alligator handbags came up by one of my classmates and it got the wheels in my head turning. Let’s think about some of the other obscene privileges and ridiculous trends that our society has come to embrace and love. These inventions and miscellaneous items are not to be taken to heart as useless or meaningless, because, let’s face it, we all need portable purse hangers for our desks and hats that hold multiple beers to satisfy our excessive drinking habits. So here’s a few “privileges” or otherwise pointless creations that make our every day American lives easier:

Umbrella hats: Good thing your head isn’t getting wet! What about the rest of you?

Sporks: The invention of the spork is truly brilliant. The creative balance of spoon and fork make for a more well-oiled eating experience at your local Taco Bell. How could anyone eat their cheesy fiesta potatoes with just a spoon OR a fork? That question is beyond me.

Phone Kick Stands: This handy device would have not even been known to me if I had not been at the bar the other night and a lonely looking gentleman pulls out his Smartphone, kicks out the stand, and starts watching a TV show. Seriously? One, why would you come to a bar to watch That 70’s Show? And two, why the hell does your phone have a kick stand?

Bump-Its: Not everyone can master the “poof” as well as Snooki on their own, so Bump-Its were brought into the picture to allow for the perfect hair style. No more struggling for hours to get complete symmetry in your “bump,” just slip the Bump-It in and you’re set!

Heated Driveways/Tiles: There are two words that can substitute for this energy inefficient and frankly lazy creation: salt and shoves. The use of these two things, when combine, make for an excellent way to diminish the fallen snow and ice and defeat the feat of winter. Another alternative, although not as rustic as the good ‘ol shove would be a snow blower or snow plow. Any of these substitutions would work great in replace of a heated driveway. And as for heated tiles, socks and/or slippers are great for the task of keeping your feet warm.

Hair extensions: I myself have purple and green hair extensions, so this is in no way saying that they are pointless. They obviously serve crucial fashion purposes and add spice to the perfect outfit. No, they’re not meaningless by any means. Of course, there are those girls, and guys for that matter, that would just love their short, bobbed hair to transform into long, luscious locks by the snap of a clip. For both these reasons, trendy accessory and compensatory device, hair extensions are absolutely necessary.

These are just a few pointless/meaningless creations.