Change

I’m not even sure I could list all the ways I’ve changed. I think the biggest change is confidence. I never lacked confidence, but my confidence has changed. I think I used to feed off of just not caring. I was confident because I refused to acknowledge the opinions of people around me. In the last 2 years I’ve come to the understanding that most people just don’t think about me as much as I think they do. Everyone is too worried about their own life to think about mine. And even if they are thinking about me, it’s fleeting, it doesn’t matter. I don’t know if this shift in perspective is noticeable from the outside, but it’s my mentality. I’ve also become more decisive, possibly because of how my confidence has changed. I’ve learned to go with my gut, and not to worry about outside influences. Is this a good thing? Probably not, but it makes buying things a heck of a lot quicker. I’ve become a lot more opinionated, and rant-y. Or maybe not, but I don’t remember spending so my time talking to my mother about my deep seeded hate for slow walkers. Maybe I haven’t really changed, I’ve just become more. More exaggerated, maybe. When I think of grade eight Julie, I think of badly fitting shirts and pretending to be ‘random’ I suppose I’ve slowly been becoming more paranoid. When I was little I was incredibly paranoid, constantly checking over my shoulder and never being able to sleep. Rather than being constantly being afraid of being stabbed, i’ve been becoming paranoid that everything is part of a weird plot to cause me severe emotional damage. I know that disagrees with what I said before, but it’s still a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I guess two years ago I had it under control, and now it’s seeping back. That’s not a great change. I could do without it. I used to like to pretended to be sad. Like being sad earned me points, made me ‘deep’. It just made me miserable. It made me attract people who thought they could fix me, and made me think I needed to be fixed. I’m glad that I grew out of that. All in all, I can’t really say with certainty how I’ve changed, just that I have changed. Maybe not on the outside, but there was definitely a change.

Minds On - Better Business Model

Yea, I guess I agree with the concept of letting people do their own thing but is it really that groundbreaking? Perhaps because I live in an age where Wikipedia exists and tons of people write ridiculously long code because they enjoy it, I don’t find the concept insane. I’m not surprised by the idea of people doing what they enjoy and getting work done because they want to. You have YouTubers putting up videos because they enjoy the process, and even they are willing to admit that they become less inclined to post anything when it starts feeling like they have to. I get that way with everything. Sure I don’t mind the idea of, say, parodying a song about a book, but with a due date I become reluctant to start working on it. (This is just an example, I love my Of Mice and Men/Blank Space parody. It’s great) Something about being told to do something makes it seem nearly laborious. I hate clutter and love organizing, but it will take 4 hours longer if you tell me I need to clean my room or something. My point is, while I totally agree with the guy, I’m not sure his point is as groundbreaking as he thought. Whatever. More importantly is what we are going to do with it. Truth is, it’s probably going to stay an idea with a couple of examples of success. Just like the idea of changing the school system, people are always going to be too afraid of it. Maybe that’s not so bad though, it provides the constant aspiration to change while never actually making said change. It’s a good way to feel productive.

Careers Blog Part One.

For my career assignment, I am going to interview a paramedic. Being a paramedic has interested me for a while. I like the idea of working hands-on, under pressure, and the way the job demands adaptability. Paramedics provide immediate response to any medical emergency, and thus the must me able to deal with 'gross' things, which I can totally do. In the future, I am going to be take biology and health sciences. From the I will probably go into a paramedic program. I want to be a paramedic because I like the on scene idea of it. You have to work fast, with a clear mind and that kind of environment really appeals to me. The job is always changing, like you're not going to walk up to and accident and think, "damn same one I had yesterday" Being a paramedic is also a hands-on job, which is totally the opposite of what I thought I'd want to do, but the more I think, the less I want to be stuck in a building all day doing paper work. I hope to ask the person I am interviewing about their experiences, what it like to actually be out there and how it feels. I want to know about the hardest parts of the jobs and all the tedious stuff they hate doing. I hope to ask about how hard schooling was and whether its hard to find a job afterwards. Most importantly, I need to find out how much I need to work on my noodle arms, because they aren't good for heavy lifting. 

Of Mice and Men Part 3

My comments are in red
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qJebQvca0kpQBQWuAVIFfRMguXTokTnXrnsnGSLYFfw/edit

Of Mice and Men Part 2

THE IDEAL LIFE

1. I like a lot of things about my life right now. They people I’m spending time with are great and the weather is in that perfect rainy time where everything feels like it about to happen so I’m in an all around great mood. Specifically right this very second I’m wearing this killer outfit and I feel pretty great and incredibly comfortable so that's great.
2. I mean my stomach hurts a little but it pretty much always does right now and  I’m dealing with this weird conflict with my amount of confidence in areas it matters vs areas it doesn't. There's also this impending sense of doom that lingers at the back of my mind all of the time, but I think i’ve just written it off as a personality trait.
3. In ten years I hope would ideally love to live in the Netherlands or Denmark and ride my bike everywhere. The thing is though, I’m probably going to live in a terrible apartment in a shady part of downtown trying to make it by like all the other people my age. I’m learning to be OK with that.
4. 6 months ago I would say I was going to be rich and spend my time being rich, doing rich people things. Now I’m going to spend my time probably barely getting by or driving around doing odd jobs around the country. That sounds nice.
5. My spare time I’ll probably play the guitar with mediocrity and read angst-y poems and listen to folk music while dancing around. I really don’t know.

IS THE IDEAL LIFE POSSIBLE?

I think everybody's current ‘ideal life’ is attainable, but as we gain more we want more so we are always striving for just a little extra. As well, we could get what we want but it won’t always live up to expectations. So yeah, the ‘ideal life’ is possible but its never going to be enough for you. There is always just one thing we would change and that keeps us improving.

REVIEW OF THE BOOK SO FAR

1. I really like this part of the book. The first part I figured the book was going to be kind of slow without any strong moments and the whole this just blurring together. Actually, when I started reading I thought immediately I was going to hate it. I thought the writing style would be hard to get it to and make sense of. However, it really wasn't and I didn't find myself looking back on the last few pages wondering what happened. It’s moving quickly without much filler which my short attention span is eating up. I don’t find the dialogue weird and forced to sound cool. Overall, my low expectations were easily surpassed.
2. The strongest point of the book for me would definitely be George and Lennie's relationship. Its so real and tense that's it makes you feel uncomfortable at times. Like you're intruding on a private thing because you just don’t quite fit with the flow of them. A low point is definitely the fact that there is one single female with dialogue in this book and she doesn't even have a real name. Sure it’s the 1930’s and they are on a ranch doing labor for money, but Curley's wife could have been given a name, or a less shallow story. “I married a man so I could leave home” just feels weak.
3. Actually, I don’t think I would recommend this to anyone, for entirely selfish reasons. My parents have already read it, so I can’t say them, and I’m not sure any of my friends would actually like it. If they did like it, I run this risk of them having a better understanding of it and then I lose something that feels like mine. So, no, even though I liked it I would selfish like to keep it to myself.
4. One of the messages in the book is that family isn't blood. Many times throughout the book George has to defend Lennie and defend his relationship with him. On page 39 - 43 George gets into a long conversation with Slim about Lennie and the trouble Lennie has caused, but George sticks around. That's what family does, it sticks around even though its tough.

Of Mice and Men Part 1

QUESTIONS:

1. INFERENCE: What is Lennie’s opinion of George? Find a line from the book to support your opinion; include the page number.
   I believe Lennie thinks very highly of George and believes he is very smart. On page 14 Lennie says, “No… you tell it. It ain’t the same if I tell it. Go on… George. How I get to tend the rabbits.” I think this shows that Lennie actually likes having George around.

2. INFERENCE: What is George’s opinion of Lennie? Find a line from the book to support your opinion; include the page number.

I think George really loves Lennie, even when Lennie is being an idiot. On page 11 it says, “[George’s] anger left him suddenly. He looked across the fire at Lennie’s anguished face, and then he looked ashamedly at the flames.” He feels bad about lashing out at Lennie because he doesn’t actually want him to leave.

3. ASKING QUESTIONS: What do Lennie and George dream of doing in the future?

Lennie and George wants to own some land with some rabbits. Lennie is going to raise lots of rabbits all of different colours.

4. PREDICTION: Will they live their dream?  Why or why not?

I think they have the potential to, however I don’t think they will in the book because it is a rather short book and judging by where they are now I don’t think there will be time for that to happen.

5. CLARIFICATION: What happened at George and Lennie’s last place of work?  Why?

George and Lennie had to flee their previous job in Weed because Lennie likes soft things and he inappropriately petted a girls dress causing all the men to case them out of town.

6. CONNECTION: Diary entry.  Click on this LINK, watch the powerpoint, and complete the diary assignment on the last slide.

Dear Diary,

We just arrived in California in hopes of Ma and Pa finding work. They heard that the job market might be a little more hopeful down here. I hope it’s true. One day, I bet this will all seem like a little bump in the road. We will own a great big house and the whole family can live there.  Until then, we are living out of a room at one of our relatives houses. They seem nice but Ma never seem comfortable. I hope we find a more space soon though, Jonathan snores and it echos through the room all night. I haven’t gotten a wink of sleep since we got here. I suppose it’s only been one night, but tomorrow I am starting at a new school and I’d hate to not be ready. Ma says that I have to go to school so that she can go out and try to find any way to make money, so I’m going to be on my very best behaviour there to help them out! Anyway, Diary, I have to get going, it’s almost dinner and I’m starving! I haven’t eaten all day! I’ll write tomorrow, I promise!

Of Mice And Men PreRead

Before	Statement	After
-	People that are poor should rely on their friends, family, or church for help, not the government.
+	A true friend will tell you the truth, even when you don’t want to hear it.
+	The “n-word” is more offensive than other racial slurs because of the history of hate behind it.
-	Women today are more often treated by men as equals rather than objects
-	When people are a victim of a crime, they should be able to take the law into their own hands.
-	Nations with the death penalty have lower murder rates
+	The best place for justice to be determined is in a court of law.
-	Being rich is more important than having close friends.
+	Sometimes a person has to break the law to make sure justice is served.
+	Life today is more difficult and complex than it was in the 1930’s

Blog:

Women today are more often treated by men as equals rather than objects. Except when men treat us like objects by cat-calling us on the streets or objectify us in magazines and online. We are more often treated as equals except for the whole wage gap and how women in high positions are often assumed to have done something to get to that position. I don’t agree with that statement because I see the opposite everyday. You’d think it was true, but for some god forsaken reason in this day and age it still isn’t. Like I’m still not expected to have loud opinions because there is something less desirable about a girl with a loud mouth. I guess I have to believe the opposite of this statement because if I don’t I disregard countless women's own experiences and it’s the least I can to do avoid trying to do that. If you say that now women are mostly treated as equal you pretty much abolish the need for feminism but we definitely need feminism and so women clearly aren’t mostly being treated as equal. I was even afraid to drop ‘feminism’ in this in fear of my point not being taken seriously like advocating equal rights is a negative thing put that way and that definitely says something.

1. Who are the main characters in the story?

Lennie and George.

2. What are some of the characters’ distinguishing characteristics?

Lennie is big and strong but super dumb and George is small but smarter and very protective.

3. What is the setting of the novel?
   The fields in California in the 1930s?
4. What can you piece together about the plot of the novel?  What do you think will happen?

I think that Lennie will mess up badly and George will have to get them out of it.

5. What themes are present in the novel?

There are themes of family vs friends, poverty, and equality.