Busy April

This past weekend was pretty exciting. A lot of my friends came and stayed with my in wilmington to go to the third eye blind concert, which was amazing. It was by the battleship and its was so pretty with the lights on the water. They played all the good songs and everybody was drunk. I got beer spilled on me twice and my feet stepped on multiple times. Third eye blind said that they have not released an album in 5 years, however they are planning to release one soon. There was crowd surfing and outrageously disgusting port-a-johns, the classic concert setting. Saturday my sorority had a sisterhood retreat and after that I went to cape carteret to be home for the rest of the weekend. This week is greek week and is so busy. Every day there are events and every night there is talent show practice, on top of dance company rehearsal. I have two tests this week and a research paper to work on. This seems to start the business of April, where every weekend if filled with some event. April is always so hectic but i love it because it means school is almost over. There are about 4 more weeks of school left which will fly by. Im so ready for summertime and no class. 

Nora Helmer

I think that Nora is a very complex person. She seems innocent and happy but it turns out that she is just the opposite. She is deceiving to her husband but in a way she is deceiving him so that he will not have to deal with the debt himself. She is scared of what will happen if he found out and does not want him to be ashamed that he had to use borrowed money. She allows her husband to call her pet names and talk to her like a child but tries to prove to Kristine that she is not a simple minded housewife like Torvald treats her. She is intelligent and capable of taking care of herself in the business world but is very pampered by her maids and husband. Nora has a good heart but has many flaws. She spends hardly any time with her children, lies to her husband about petty things such as eating candy, and she is obsessed with money. Just as many other people, she longs for security and to pay off her debt so that she will not have to worry anymore. She is very insecure with her huge debt and potential blackmail with Krogstad. She is definitely not someone that I would want to hang out with because she is so tricky and seems to have a charisma that easily fools people. 

Weekend

Last weekend was very fun and quite eventful. Friday I got my hair cut and colored which cost way more than I thought it would. Then my friend from high school in kinston came to wilmington and we went to one of our friend's house to celebrate him turning 21. There was a ton of people from kinston who I hadn't seen in a long time and it was really fun seeing everybody again. We all went down town to the cellar, which was really nice. And we met Peyton from One Tree Hill, everybody was freaking out but since I don't watch one tree hill I didn't get too excited about it but I did get my picture taken with her and promise to start watching it from season 1 this summer. Although the night later turned into drama, I still had a great time, probably due to the 7 or 8 yeager bombs consumed earlier. Saturday I went to the movies with my Big and saw He's just not that into you. It was so good and very funny. I loved it. Saturday night I went out with some of my friends and had an amazing time. Sunday I slept in for the first time in forever! Then I went to decorate my pledge class's rocking chair for Tri-Sigma. We all went out to eat then went to chapter. The SGA president candidates came to our meeting and talked to us. It was pretty funny listening to them try to win our votes. So at some point this week I'm going to vote for one of them. Although this past weekend was really fun, I know that this weekend is going to be even more amazing. My boyfriend is coming to WIlmington to hear Third Eye Blind with me Friday night, which should be pretty spectacular. Then saturday, after my sorority's sisterhood retreat, we're going to my home in cape carteret so I can see my family because I won't be able to go home for a few weeks after this weekend. Any way, Im in Biology so I should probably go take notes....

beauty

Today I wanted to write about the question: Is beauty more important than character?  I believe that the answer is no. It is ridiculous how much emphasis the world puts on being beautiful and looking perfect. People take drastic measures to perfect their body and make themselves look good. I don't mean that you shouldn't take care of yourself, I think everyone should try to look their best by putting on make-up or fixing their hair, but that doesn't mean going to get plastic surgery on your face because you don't like your nose, getting liposuction on your thighs because you don't like them, or getting a face lift at 60 because you have wrinkles. Your supposed to have wrinkles at 60, that's what is naturally supposed to happen. And getting liposuction will not do any good if you don't exercise and diet because you will gain it all back. You could have just gone on a diet and gone to the gym to lose it, and you would have saved thousands of dollars plus have put yourself through a lot less pain. Everyone should eat a healthy diet and exercise, but when you go to drastic extremes like surgery or starving yourself just to look good, that is when it is a problem. I saw in the news yesterday that a model in her 20's died a couple days ago from malnutrition. She was anorexic and weighed 88 pounds. That is completely absurd. Life isn't about seeing how little you can weigh. Everyone's body has a natural weight that it stays at if they eat right and exercise so you have to accept your weight and concentrate on being healthy, not on making sure all your ribs show in your bikini this summer. Although it is proven that people who are more attractive are more accepted by society, get better jobs, and are perceived as nicer than an average person, beauty does not compare to character. When you get old or if you get injured it doesn't matter how beautiful or skinny you were, all you have is your character.

April flowers

Instead of blogging earlier this morning, I was looking online for prom dresses. Yes I'm going to prom as a freshman in college. My boyfriend is one month younger than me and therefore he is a senior in high school this year. I went to prom my sophmore, jr., and sr. year so this will be my 4th time. I'm excited though because I get to hang out with all of my old friends and see everybody again. Prom dresses are sooo expensive so I'm trying to find one online that isn't $600 dollars. Not only do I get to go to prom again, but also the day before prom is my sorority's formal dance. So my boyfriend will come to wilmington friday and we'll go to formal, then we'll go to the high school he goes to in Kinston on Saturday to go to prom. Sounds like a weekend full of getting dressed up and going out to eat and taking pictures and drinking and dancing, probably in that order. Thankfully, the only person at formal that will be at prom is my boyfriend so I'll most likely wear the same dress. But I still have to get my hair done twice, go to the tanning bed, and get my nails painted. I guess its good to cram it all in one weekend so I don't have time to mess up my nails between the dances. I have a horrible habit of biting my nails but im trying to stop because thats how you get sick. I'm most excited about getting my wrist thing at prom with the flowers...i cant remember what its called...but i love them. And of course im more excited about spending the weekend with my boyfriend because thats something I rarely get to do.

Post-Spring Break

Unfortunately, spring break is over and its back to 8 a.m. classes and studying hard. I had a great time this past week being back at home. I hung out with lots of friends from my home town and got to see my boyfriend much more than usual. I danced in a dance competition Saturday in Durham and our group won a platinum metal for our dance. We also won several awards for it, so that was lots of fun. But the highlight of my spring break was going to Onslow Hospital to observe a CRNA in surgery. A CRNA is a certified registered nurse anesthetist and in NC they are allowed to administer drugs and be in total control of the patients' anesthesia during the operation. I had to be at the hospital at 7:00 thursday morning to change into scrubs and be in the operating room by 7:30 when they started. I watched three different surgeries and stood with the CRNA the whole time to watch what they were doing. He explained everything he used and why he used it, which was really cool. I learned so much about surgery and anesthesia. Then I went on a tour of the hospital and the Cath Lab. That was really neat but my favorite was the surgery. Hopefully, in a few years I will be a CRNA.

Outline for short fiction Essay

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony” both deal with a gruesome tradition that is seemingly unnecessary and unjustifiable. Compare these two traditions, paying particular attention to the language and imagery used to describe each. 

Title: In a Trap of Tradition

Introduction:

• Explain how tradition can be a trap to society
• Many similar traits between the village in "The Lottery" and the Penal Colony.
• There are also several differences among the two

Body:

1st- Similar traits

• Gruesome and and unnecessary punishment
• Neither character receives adequate punishment, in both cases the torture is much worse than it should be
• Many people gather around to participate at some point in the story
• Both tools of torture are described in great detail
• There is at least one person who strongly agrees with the concept of the tradition
• There are at least a couple of people who completely disagree with the tradition
• None of the citizens of the colony or village try to stop the tradition
• imagery used to describe the way the citizens of the community react to the tradition
• Neither victim was allowed a chance to tell why they should not be tortured
• Both victims are used as a sacrifice of some sort, an example for others.

2nd- Differences 

• The character in the penal colony has committed a crime, whereas the woman of the village has not done anything wrong. 
• In the village there is still very much support for the lottery, whereas in the Penal Colony there is no support other than the officer conducting the execution. 
• In the penal Colony, the explorer decides that this tradition is unjust and is the reason that the officer puts an end to the torture machine.
• The conductor of torture kills himself in the end because he wants to receive justice for unjustly killing people, whereas in the village the conductor of the lottery does not feel that he is being unjust and does not kill himself.
• The description and imagery used "In the Penal Colony" is much more graphic and detailed than in "The Lottery"
• the victim of the lottery knew the outcome of her winning and what to expect, however the prisoner of the penal colony had no idea what was going on and did not understand his punishment.

Conclusion:

• There are many similarities and differences in the way the the people in these stories deal with their old traditions. 
• In both cases it shows that tradition can trap people and causes them to keep unnecessary laws that harm others for no reason.
• It is important to constantly reevaluate the laws and regulations, especially those dealing with death or torture.

spring break

It's so crazy that it is already march and there are only 4 more days of school before spring break! Most people go to tropical islands on spring break, relax, and work on their tan. However, my spring is not going to be as ordinary. Don't get me wrong, I will be relaxing on the beach and working on my tan, but that will be at my home in cape carteret. The out of the ordinary thing I get to do is go into the operating room for surgery. Thankful I will not be the one being operated on. I am going to shadow a CRNA which is a certified registered nurse anesthetist. This is what I think I want to do as my career so next week I am going to see everything they have to do. I'm really excited to go and watch a real surgery up close. Hospitals and operating rooms specifically have always fascinated me. I think that part of this is because I have never been admitted to the actual hospital, only to the emergency room. So I have no horrible experiences of being sick in the hospital, which is why I think its so neat.  My slight obsession with hospitals is fueled every thursday by greys anatomy. Hopeful, one day I'll be working in a huge hospital, and maybe being a CRNA, who knows....