Are we tools or tool users?

I have thought long and hard about this, and still find it hard to come up with a deifnite answer. One the one hand, everyone wants to think and believe that they, themselves are a "tool". That without our special selves, the job, the bigger picture wouldn't be complete. That as a "tool" we are the thing that will get the job done. And while I think it is nice to think of ourselves as "tools", I've started to think that we are tool users.

Being a tool user makes us no less of an individual, or any less important, but I think it is more logical. We are the vessel to so speak, and we have absorbed all of the "tools" around us. Everything we experience or encounter plays into the bigger picture. We use everything from vocabulary to basic equations and manners, that we have learned throughout our lives and we use them as "tools" in our everyday lives.

What we learn and absorb are the tools we use to function!

Visual Literacy

I actually took a film class in the English department last semester, in which my instructor asked us to "read the films." We would watch a variety of films, and analyze them scene by scene. We would look at every angle, every expression, every movement, and through that come up with the meaning of the "text" which was the movie.

I never had thought of myself as "reading" while watching movies, or anything, but through that class I discovered that looking at something analytically and and deciphering the meaning makes one literate. My teacher was extremely literate in film, I however just broke the surface; but I can say that I now watch movies with a bit more critical eye.

I think it can be said that there is such a thing as visual literacy. It can be complex, to piece together sound and images, and put together all elements that make a movie, and "read" them for what they are meant to be.

Very Short Stories

Snow day, cable's out. Now what?

Washed it, dried it, shrunk it.

Bills are late, no shower today!

Politics Shmolitics

When I turned 18 I felt like such a grown up. I could buy lottery tickets, tobacco, and pornography, and I could vote. I did two out of the four, and voting was one of them. I voted in the 2008 Presidential election; though at the time I didn't really know anything about why I was voting.

I know that I am blessed to live in a country where we have the opportunity to vote for our leaders, but I think the reason someone votes and how they vote should be left up to them.

I don't really care for politics now, and I certainly didn't when I was 19. I voted for who my entire family was voting for. I'm not proud that I was uninformed, and that I cast a vote based on generations and generations of the same beliefs. But, I guess our values have to come from somewhere, right?

I cringe whenever I hear political debates, and being the "gray" person I am, like to remain neutral. As I've gotten older, i've realized the importance of listening to both sides of an issue, and deciding from that how to make your own ideas up about something.

Now I don't think there is anything wrong with staying true to your families' political beliefs when choosing a news source, or voting, but there must be something deeper that drives your political motivation.

For me, I hope i'm never a right-wing or left-wing nut job, but I do hope that in the next election I will be an informed citizen that casts a vote based on my values and beliefs, and the candidate I think will best run our country.

Snow Day State of the Union

I chose to read a State of the Union address given by Ronal Reagan. I was taken back by how humble, hopeful, sincere and determined he was to make America a better place. His speech truly moved me, based on the content and his ability to make the speech not about him, but about our nation.

Though the speech was given near the end of President Reagan's second term, but he did not ask for any sort of congratulations, and does not plan on going through all of his accomplishment. He says, "Put on your work shoes; we're still on the job." I appreciate how humble he is, and to me it says so much to not look for congratulations for what his administration has done, but to look forward and realize there is more to be done.

I noticed he is very forward thinking, but holds true to the foundation of our nation. He says something to the effect that our nation will never be perfect, but he has hopes for the future generations not only of America but of the World. I think his goals for the future seem so heartfelt. His speech conveys his passion and love for America, as well as high hopes for the future.

"Just as those who created this Republic pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, so, too, America’s leaders today must pledge to each other that we will keep foremost in our hearts and minds not what is best for ourselves or for our party but what is best for America."