Pictures everyone can appreciate!

Some awesome pictures for the end of the day!

For the Ladies!

-

-

-

-

-

Now, for the MEN!

-

-

-

-

-

Everyone should be a Fry Chef

In my opinion, everyone in the country needs to work as a fry chef. Before you stop reading because of what I’m saying, hear me out. I've been working as a fry chef for over a year at two different establishments and I have learned a thing or two about life here.

            My first reason why is everyone needs to learn a skill called teamwork. Teamwork is so important in life and a lot of people don’t know how it works. In the back of a restaurant, things can get really busy. Everyone back there has their own job and responsibility to make sure that food comes out at a reasonable pace. To accomplish this goal of “reasonable pace”, communication is a must. Everyone has to be on the same page on what is going on and what needs to be done. Why do you think there is a head chef in all fine-dining restaurants? There needs to be someone who is making sure everything is going smoothly and everyone’s food is being accounted for. This is hard that in looks. Many times at work, I have fallen into that position of being the one in charge making sure everything is coming together nicely. It’s very stressful, but when everything works out well, and everyone is working together as a team, the night can be a success.

            Working in the kitchen, I have learned what true stress is. It’s very similar to the same stress one feels when they have a paper to right and it’s due the next day. When there are 20 tickets on the board and only two people cooking, it becomes hard. When working in a kitchen, the food isn’t the only thing to worry about (even though it’s the most important). We also have to make sure everything is being prepped, things are being stored properly, and that the food is the best possible quality. It’s a lot to worry about, but after a while, the stressful becomes the norm. Stress management is one very important skill I learned as being a fry chef.

            People should be a fry chef because it would give them an appreciation for the people who make their food. Like I've said before, being a fry chef is hard! We’re expected to cook everything as fast as we can, as best as we can, all without mistakes and for little pay. It’s hard work! If everyone worked as a fry chef, then people will learn to appreciate how hard it is.

            In my opinion, everyone needs to be stuck in a kitchen behind a grill, stove, oven, or fryer for some time in their lives. It would make them appreciate what people do for them a lot more.

Battle of Five Armies

Over the holiday, I was able to watch the last Hobbit in the trilogy, the Battle of Five Armies. Talking with people after the movie, I was able to see what others thought of it. Other people didn’t like it as much as I did. They thought it was just one big battle and it didn’t have much plot development on its own. Too bad this is my blog and not theirs :D, but on some scale I have to agree. 75% of the movie was war and battle, but this movie is part of a trilogy that was originally one book. In my opinion, the best way to critique it is by watching all three movies together. Since they all came from one book, watching them all together is almost like watching the Hobbit, the book, whole. For those who don’t agree with me, that’s their problem, but here are some of the highlights I enjoyed.

*****SPOILER ALERT***** 

·         I loved how the directors casted Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug. All I could think of was that Sherlock Holmes was a dragon. It was cool!

·         The sound track was amazing like I expected it to be! I listen to it all the time. Howard Shore and Neil Finn are geniuses!

jj

·         I loved the whole buildup of Sauron and the next part to the story. The movie does a great job of foreshadowing to the antagonist of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

·         The greatest thing I loved about the third movie is how the ending started right where the lord of the rings begun. It was the perfect way to end it in my opinion.

·         There are many other things that I loved that are not listed, but “ain’t nobody got time for that” :D

Flooding the Earth

One of my favorite general authorities in the LDS church is Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The summer before I started school at BYU, Elder Bednar gave a talk during education week called, “To sweep the earth as with a flood”. In this talk, he talked about technology and a world with growing media. He encouraged all who listened to use this new media to spread the gospel. We’ve talked about this talk a lot in class and it is something that I could definitely be doing better, so this blog is in a way fulfilling it. In his talk, he talked about how the internet and new media is one of the adversary’s greatest new tools. For as much bad as new technology has, it has such a great potential for good too. For example, I’m convinced my iPhone can do almost anything a normal computer can. I have written papers, communicated with my older sister who is on a mission, and read my scriptures using it. Devices like iPhones and iPads are so useful, missionaries for the LDS church have also started to use them. I believe that technology is a miracle in itself. A miracle to me is something we know to be true without seeing it. I don’t know how all new technology works, but it does. People were gifted with knowledge they use to introduce new technologies that help others and save lives into the world. That in itself is a miracle. In a growing world, everyone has to adapt to new technologies because technology is changing every day and we shouldn’t be left behind.

Research Paper

This semester, I have the opportunity of writing a research paper for my writing class, and I am going to be researching a member or event of my family’s history and how it can relate to us presently. One thing I might write about is disease. Everyone in the world suffers from disease whether or not it’s them or a close family member. That’s what I might write about. If someone were to list all the diseases running through my family, it would be a long list. I know things like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and mental illness run through both sides of my family for sure, and I’d like to research someone in my family’s past that suffered from one of those ailments. Maybe they couldn’t be medicated for it, or maybe they died early from it. There are so many possibilities to find something to write about of them, and maybe through writing about it, I can bring more awareness to a certain disease as well. I do count it as a blessing to not be experiencing any of my family’s sicknesses yet. Maybe this research paper might one day save my life too. It’s definitely an interesting thought though; homework saving lives!

Rhetorical Analysis

For class, we had to write a rhetorical analysis of a speech. It was the only one I could remember doing, but I'm sure my high school English teachers haven't completely failed me. I feel like I’m learning so much more in the entry level writing couse than I have in my earlier education. I decided to analyze FDR’s speech to congress after the attack on Pearl Habor. Here’s the analysis. It still need revisions, but if you have any ideas, just leave a comment.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Calling America to Arms

Analysis of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s speech “Infamy”

            On the morning of December 7^th, 1941 at 7:48 AM, the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked without warning by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The base was attacked by a barrage of fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes damaging all eight of the United States Battleships currently stationed there, sinking four of them. There was a staggering number of casualties. There were 2,403 Americans deceased with another 1,178 Americans wounded from the treachery. This surprised everyone in the country, including the President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In his speech the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt persuades congress to declare war on the empire of Japan while at the same time, he calls young Americans to action. Through Roosevelt’s effective use of imagery, emotional wording, clever diction, repetition, and a little bit of logic he is able to pathetically persuade both congress and the citizens of the United States to come together against their new enemy after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

            In the beginning of the speech, Roosevelt alludes to the date of the attack and how it would forever be infamous. He effectively uses this imagery to set the tone for the rest of his speech. He said, “Dec. 7 1941 – a date which will live in infamy”. This sets a very serious tone with just that word alone. How different could the speech have been if he said “on this day, America will never be the same again” or “this day will remembered forever”. They wouldn’t have the same effect. Using good diction Roosevelt is able to capture the attention of his primary audience, while at the same time he is pathetically stirring up the emotions of everyone who is listening.

            Just like the word infamy, Roosevelt uses many other emotional words that keep the tone of his speech very serious and somber while at the same time, they stir up the emotions of people listening. He uses words such as solicitation, deliberately, onslaught, premeditated, and treachery to accomplish this. The same message could be delivered with any replacement of these emotional words, but the effect would not have been the same. Roosevelt uses these words in particular to paint a distasteful picture of the enemy. He uses them to exhibit the ruthlessness of Japan, and the danger presented by them. Using such emotional words amplifies his message and draws focus on how grave and dishonorable the sins of Japan really were.

Roosevelt effectively makes it known to his audience, through clever diction, that Japan, as a whole, was responsible for the attack and not just their military. He does this through various usage of the words Japan. He uses Japan in many different ways like “the Empire of Japan”, “Japanese forces”, “the Japanese”, and “the Japanese government”. By using such an extensive variety of a single word, Roosevelt makes it clear that there are many parts to the Japanese government involve. Furthermore, he makes it clear that none of the parts can be dismissed; that they all must be accountable as a whole.

            Roosevelt used repetition to increase the rhetorical effect during his speech.  When listing all the sins of Japan since the previous day, he listed them all out instead of grouping them together. Instead of using, “Last night…” and listing all of them together, he began each one with, “Last night” and then listed them individually. The rhetorical effect of separating them is so much greater than if he would have just listed them. The usage of repetition both strengthens his message, and draws more focus on certain words such as “Japan” and “attacked”. Those two words together created a summary of the entire speech itself, “Japan attacked”.

            Out of the three modes of persuasion, pathos has been the number one mode so far, but logic is also used in his a little in Roosevelt’s speech. The only piece of logic used is in the statement, “Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger”. At this point of the speech, Roosevelt has his audience so stirred up that they come to the realization that they are in danger. In combination with the facts presented before, it’s pretty hard for them not to see the logic in that statement. With this statement given toward the end of the speech, congress is left with passionate facts left by Roosevelt, a dire need for military action, and their own choice whether or not to go to war.

            Throughout his speech, there is a clear call-to-action presented by President Roosevelt. He addresses his secondary audience, the American people, through different words and phrases within his speech. “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.” “I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.” These two segments from his speech declares this call to action by using words and phrases such as “the American people” and “ourselves”. During the speech, those listening, who were not members of congress, were also being stirred up in emotions through Roosevelt’s speech. They were probably at a point where they all would join the war, which is what a lot of young men did in that ere. A lot of young women also joined up arms from Roosevelt’s speech by becoming war nurses and mechanics for military equipment during war time. President Roosevelt calls strength to the people of the United States, and that it is time to defend the United States and many listen to him and join up arms against their new foes.

            Roosevelt’s speech is widely remembered, even today, and one of the greatest speeches given in the 20^th century. Through the use of imagery, emotional words, clever diction, repetition, and a little bit of logic, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt successfully convinced the United States congress to go to war with Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor, while at the same time he called young American’s to arms.

What I Want to do.

If I could make the “I” in the title stand out more, I would. It’s just such a small word. What do I want to do in life? At first this was a hard question to ask myself, but it’s one that every person asks themselves. One thing that sets me apart from others is that I also love to cook and I love to SCUBA. If I never had to worry about money in the future, I would probably own a restaurant somewhere near a beach where I could make amazing food and dive to my heart’s content. Not everything is so easy though. In life, we have to compromise on things. I’m probably never going to own a restaurant on the beach, but I do have the choice to study what I want to study and to work in whatever field I want. There are many things I want to do in my life. Getting a degree and finding a great, well-paying, job is first. I want to have a job doing what I want to do

What do I want most of all though? I want to be happy. I want to feel that everything I’ve done will contribute to my family and society. I don’t want to finish my life mostly taking from other’s hard work. I want to contribute something myself. I want to make a difference. That is what I want to do.

Procrastination Blog #3

With me being stupid, I've put off writing my blog posts to the last day, so I’m going to write ten of them today. I think for the first it would only be appropriate to talk about procrastination. Just about everyone does it, whether it be pushing off a homework assignment or a chore at home. There are something that we shouldn't procrastinate. In my opinion, we shouldn't procrastinate things with indefinite deadlines. A better way to say it, is that we shouldn't hold back on important things because life is short. You should ask that cute girl on a date, you should ask for that promotion, you should ask forgiveness and forgive others for wrong doing. Things do not happen unless they are acted upon. That’s Newton’s first law of motion, and I hope that applies here too. A world where people don’t put off the important things would be a better world for all.