Farewell

Well, honestly, I'm not a blogger. In fact, I hate it. It feels too proper, as if I am trying to become a perfectionist.

But yes, this semester is over, this class is over. I'm going to miss it.

Hungry

It's uncommon for a squirrel to hop up on our deck, one story from the ground. It's even more uncommon that it just stood there, staring into the house.

I just had to go get it a peanut.

Tip #521

Don't clean the sandwich maker with Windex. Your food will taste like crap.

The First Snow of the Season

It was today. Hoorah, 18 days ahead of schedule!

Driving is gonna suck.

Chapter 10 Number 2 - Quick Write

Number 2 asks to describe the fallacies that are associated with this statement: "I don't believe these statistics showing that economic opportunity for most Americans has declined since the 1970's. my parents worked their way out of poverty into the middle class, so anybody can"

One can find a hasty generalization in it, because since the child saw their parents overcome poverty, they created a generalization in their mind. A genetic fallacy relates the family because the child's parents brought them up to believe a statement. Plain folks is somewhat related to this statement too, in the manner that we cannot assume that they are a public official, but they can be of wealth. The child may believe that the parents are elitists compared to other, i.e. plain folks.

Udipi Palace

Among the dozens and dozens of restaurants along Devon Avenue in the west side of Chicago, I chose a small but apparently well known restaurant called Udipi Palace. This restaurant specializes in South Indian cuisine, an obvious fact from the large letters displayed on the sign outside.

Upon entering, you immediately smell Indian cuisine. It’s not the stereotypical “curry” smell, but it actually is a warm, inviting scent. It’s not a flashy place, no, but it’s just a typical restaurant. There aren’t many fixtures on the wall or ceiling, it’s a bit plain. There are a few paintings here and there, but it’s nothing to gaze at immensely. A couple of my friends and I sit down and are greeted by a polite waiter.

The menu isn’t large, it isn’t small; there are just many, many variations of each item.

We chose to get the fried idli (small, fried rice cakes), sahmber (thick soup with pieces of bread), and palak dosa (large, ground rice bread made with spinach, peppers, and spices dipped in chutney and idli).

We received our order in a timely manner, I was surprised actually. And it looked very appetizing. Was it because of my extreme hunger though? Perhaps. But I believe its more about the taste and as the cliché goes, “the stomach need not know looks.”

I dipped the idli into the green chutney and the first taste was quite the succulent one. It tasted of crunchy rice cakes, but so much more. It was soft and moist. It was perfection in a small fried package.

While I was devouring the idli, I looked at what was around me, the people there, and the environment. The sound of crying babies filled the air and overpowered the faint Indian music. My friend had gotten up and left for the restroom, but upon returning, complained to me that the sound of the fan in the women’s bathroom was unbearable to say the least. Well, its probably not as bad as the crying babies.

I disregarded the distractions and proceeded to take a bite of the sahmber. It was thick, but the texture was perfect. The bread in it though, wasn’t too shabby; it was a bit dry. Still delicious though. And then there was the palak dosa. I ripped a piece off of the delicate mix and dipped it in the sahmber. It was a burst of flavors; sweet, bitter, spicy, and blandness. I didn’t think it was amazing, but it definitely was good.

So overall, is this a place worth going to? Yes. The price is good (around $6-$10 a plate), the food is delicious, and the atmosphere, is well, not bad. I had gone on a holiday weekend so I can accept the fact that it was packed.

Udipi Palace is located on 2543 W. Devon Ave, Chicago, Ill. (773) 338-2152

The End of Fall

I regret not admiring the beauty of fall as much as I should this year. My lethargy combined with a dose of procrastination didn't help much either. Anywho, I took this picture by my house a few days ago. It'll probably be the last sight of these colors for the rest of the season.

Location, Location, Location.

This was perhaps the hardest shot I have ever taken. Five pictures at different shutter speeds all combined together with no help from a tripod, unfortunately. Taken at Domino Farms in Ann Arbor.

The Office

The perfect way to relax at night:
A bowl of Cookie Crisp & reruns of The Office.

A city that needs some TLC

It's a mere 10 minutes away from campus. How can we ignore a place that has so much history?

Kitty!

My sister's new cat. Its quite the sly kitty.

A new type of exposure

I've decided to pretty much have more pictures than words for this blog.


Anywho, last Saturday was make a difference day. I went to Detroit and was with the Greening of Detroit committee. They go around Detroit planting trees, and well, make Detroit greener.

Me and three other people planted this tree, and 3 others.

Hmm

Is this an abuse of the freedom of speech?

Midterm Blog

This class has been a real eye-opener for me. I've built upon my earlier English foundations and have reworked some of them, too.
The idea of no midterm in here is amazing. It's awesome. But if we did have one, what would it be about? I believe the midterm for the student [for English] should be internal. What I mean is that midterms test what you know, right? Well knowing that you learned something, that you improved your skills on analyzing ideas should be just enough.

Pg 71, #1

As high school went on, I told myself to take classes that would be essential to the rest of my career, let alone my life.

The class that was most important and life changing to me was AP English Lang/Lit. I had taken it during my senior year and it told me to be critical of the world around me. I learned about how to analyze sentences, poems, books, etc. I learned about fallacies which I still use to this day. It promoted me to read more, to gather more information about my surroundings, and to tear apart information given to me and to take in what is necessary and discard what is meant to fool me.

Life Messes Up Sometimes

Today, on my drive home, my car broke down. In the middle of the night. In the middle of nowhere.

Quick write #1, Pg 45

In the fall of 2008, our high school had an unexpected break; teacher strike that lasted for a week. The teachers said that it was for the sake of both the students and the teachers. Classes were overflowing with students, teachers were losing insurance coverage.
During that week of mayhem, students and teachers were both participating in protests that brought the views of thousands upon thousands of people who were watching the coverage on local news networks.
The board of education was not happy with what was going on. The issue was brought to court and eventually, both the board and teachers were forced to create a compromise or else teachers would lose funding and may also lose their jobs.

Most parents supported the cause of the teachers. Even if they did not have kids who were in that school, they wanted what was moral; what was just for the students and teachers. Parents were able to relate to teachers about the cuts in insurance policies. They listened to what the students had to say. "There's no room for me" stated a home-made sign created by one of the students. Through the eyes of the parents, the superintendents was Big Brother, but the big difference was that the parents had a huge say in what was going on. Their tax dollars support the district, after all.

A resolution was created, even though it was after a while. Teachers weren't happy about it, but dragging it on could mean a loss of their job.
What we should look at, as a society, is to build upon our mistakes. This should not have been allowed to happen. A week of education was lost for students, and we should think about that in a society that greatly values education.

Chapter 1 - Lazere

Honestly, what I did with this chapter is what I did last year throughout AP English: skim through everything.
It was kinda too long to read. I'll just save it for a rainy day.

Anywho, it was interesting. I like how it completely goes against the norms of society, much like Lies My Teacher Told Me. Some words that I found not what I am used to were Special Pleading: The rhetorical fallacy of caliming to be an objective, neutral analysis in order to conceal the reality that one is an advocate for special interests. Sentamentality is the rhetorical fallacy of excessive or manipulative evocation of positive emotional appeal.

Discovery

I thought I'd go explore campus today. I found this by the Henry Ford estate and I HAD to take a picture.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King's words are an inspiration to us all. Repeatedly, he talked about how negros would call the white man a "devil." And how in their defense, they would call the negros rabble-rousers and outside agitators.
I see how he would take the opposing issue and completely dissect it, tearing it to shards.
And what was interesting was how he refers to many before him, Ghandi, Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, etc.
He becomes personal, telling us that he is convinced that this or that would happen. That we should trust him in what he says.

Intro - A

Can we say we support the war and yet not be willing to sacrifice ourselves for it? Are we being hypocritical? The inner conflict runs on a thin line. What is the difference between sacrificing yourself to save a child from a moving bus and sacrificing yourself in the name of war? I believe it is not hypocritical, but then it also depends on the morals of the speaker. Let the volunteers fight for the war first; If I get drafted, let it be. I'll then sacrifice myself for the good.

Luck

Tip #523: When trying to do laundry yourself, make sure the drain pipe isn't clogged. Crap.

My cat was being weird, as usual. I thought I'd take a pic.

Senioritis

Seriously, this senioritis needs to stop. I need to quit procrastinating...right after I get off facebook.

Four Freedoms

What I saw wasn't necessarily what I expected at the Four Freedoms presentation.
It was really interesting to say the least. I've seen Rockwell's Four Freedoms posters many times, and infact, I remember them being on the walls of my elementary school.

These revisions of the posters that I saw were insanely creative. The Wiki article, the Mad Libs poster, and the one depicting guns in every scene.

My favorite one was definitely the set of posters showing an abuse of the Four Freedoms. Is that what FDR wanted when he wrote the speech?

I felt like procrastinating my Comp 105 homework... so I thought id take a picture of it. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? That'll take care of a few pages of my paper...

The Beginning

Alas, the blog has been created.
It's early in the morning. I just drank two cups of coffee. I'm jittery. And yet, everything feels so right.

I'm currently sitting in my room, feet on the bed, cat by feet, homework scattered around cat.
I'm spewing random thoughts into this public domain. Hello stranger from Sri Lanka. Hello Cambodian citizen.