IDENTITY

I found that finding a video representing IDENTITY was difficult because it is such a broad topic. I feel that IDENTITY is self-defining. After watching several videos I remembered watching Russell Peters standup comedy one night. He incorporates many factors that define IDENTITY in his show. These include race, language, and family. In this clip he focuses on race and language. He’s not afraid to be himself, and express his feelings. In the video he identifies himself as BROWN and INDIAN. I think he persuades an important message in the clip, that people need to be accepting of who they are and where there from. Everyone should be accepting of other people’s IDENTITY.
Another factor that influences a person’s IDENTITY is there personality. Russell displays his humorous, outgoing personality throughout his acts. He’s not afraid to speak his mind which I feel is really important when discussing IDENTITY. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they act and present themselves. This movie relates to my IDENTITY, because like Russell, I too have a slight accent. I believe we can learn a lot from many stand up comedians. We can learn to loosen up and not take everything so literal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw6RgIf6epQ

Panera Life

The Panera life is one you have to experience. I’ve been working at Panera for about three years now, and I love it. I originally started at the Panera in Rochester and worked there for three years. I decided it was time to get a job in college, and applied to the Panera in Ames. I got an interview in the next few days, after I applied. The managers seemed nice, I thought I would fit in well with the crew. After a day of work I decided that this store was a lot different different than the one I’m use too. I decided to stick it out and do the best that I could. After about a week I got use to the staff and management. I realized that this wasn’t that much different than the Panera back at home. Eventually I met the regulars. There is one regular named Amy who orders a new order every day, and always talks to the staff. She always cheers us up. Although Panera doesn’t pay the best I enjoy working there whether it’s in Rochester or in Ames.

"Wonderful" Iowa City

This weekend my roommates and I decided it would be a good idea to Iowa City. So Friday at around five we were all packed up and took off on the road. The weather was dreary but we decided it was manageable weather to drive in. About an hour into our trip the rain began, and after about ten minutes it was coming down at a steady rate. We kept driving for a few more miles, when the traffic slowed down to a halt. We slowly drove mile by mile, until we decided to take a little break and stopped off at McDonalds. We walked in and were met by customers dressed in Hawkeye apparel. We got some shrewd looks, wearing our Cyclone apparel. We got back on road, just to get caught back up into traffic. Maybe if all the college students heading to Iowa City could learn how to drive in the rain the traffic jams wouldn’t occur. I think we saw about four accidents on our way. We finally arrived in Iowa City three hours later.

The next day we woke up at the crack of dawn, at six in the morning, to go tailgating. I don’t understand why we had to wake up that early for a game at noon. As we walked toward the stadium we were getting random outburst from the Hawkeye fans. They were shouting absurd statements such as, “Cyclones suck”, and “This is a Hawkeye State.” It got old getting shouted at for six hours while we tailgated, but that was nothing compared to the fans in the game. I have never been yelled at by so many people in one place. I don’t understand why yelling at one innocent fan is going to affect the outcome of the game. The Hawkeye fans went as far as to spit on me at the game. After that I decided it was time to leave the game and went back to the apartment we were staying at. After a long day I decided it was time to hit the sack.

The next day we woke up early once again to head back to Ames. We walked a few blocks to the car and unloaded our stuff into the trunk. As we piled into the car, the driver tried to turn the ignition. The car wouldn’t start and there were no repair shops open on a Sunday, so we were stranding in Iowa City for one more day. Luckily I had brought my backpack and was able to finish all my homework. The next day the car was towed to the repair shop. After several hours it was done and we were finally on our way home. By the time we left it was already six o’clock and all of us had missed our classes. We finally arrived home around eight o’clock that night.

Just Another Day in Paradise

I walked through the door and felt the intense humidity. I thought to myself who would ever want to live here, as the sweat beads began to form on my head. With the aroma of that of a forest after a spring rain, and the sound of water flowing. I looked around and saw the array of colors from the orange flowers, to the purple leaves. It felt as if we weren’t in Iowa anymore. So for the next fifty minutes I decided to go on my own little “English vacation”. I walked around taking in the sights and smells of all the foreign plants. No two plants were exactly the same. I felt leaves that felt like sponges, and other leaves that felt like a piece of paper after you color it with a crayon. There were leaves that looked like eyes and others that looked like claws. There were little plants and there were some huge plants. Since my “vacation” was almost coming to an end, I decided the put on my sun glasses, pitch an umbrella, lay out a towel, and relax. Then the storm came. The winds began to gust, the rain started to fall, and you could feel the tension of all the vacationers. My large umbrella blew away, and got stuck in a large palm tree. The beautiful orange flowers that once hung from the branches, no longer were present. I wanted my “English vacation” to end but our teacher wouldn’t let us leave until four o’clock. We just had to wait the storm out. The sirens began to go off, and panic began to set in. The paradise we were in just a few minutes ago turned in to a disaster.
As the storm began to conclude, our “English vacation” turned into an “English nightmare”. I walked around looking at the aftermath of the storm. The plants began to glisten again in the sunlight, as if nothing had happened. As I strolled up and down the aisles I started to realize not to get down on yourself if something goes wrong.
The plants returned to their original beauty and the paradise was restored, but it was too late. The bells in the clock chimed, the time was now four o’clock. It was time to leave. With my closed dripping with water, chilled, and uncomfortable, I began to walk back to my apartment. Would any of my roommates believe our “English vacation”?

Introduction

I just wanted to let you know a little bit more about me and my life. I was born and raised in Rochester Minnesota. Since I was young I have always enjoyed playing sports. I started playing baseball when I was just three years old, and played all the way through high school. When I was four years old I attended my first Minnesota Twins game, where I saw my idle first play. His name is Kirby Puckett. I looked up to him and he said one of my favorite quotes. He stated, “Everyone one told me I was too short, too small, but I never gave up. I kept pushing and look where I am now.” Besides baseball, I also enjoyed watching and playing football. I also played football throughout middle and high school. My family is also a big part of my life. I have two brothers who have always been there for me. Josh is two years older than me and Drew is five years younger. We all get along very well and are a close knit family. My parents have also supported me in whatever I wanted to do. They have helped me through my schooling, and continue to assist me now in college.

Dorothy Allison- What did you Expect?-- Post 1

“Dorothy Allison, What did you Expect?” is Dorothy Allison’s reflection on being photographed for a magazine by a well known professional photographer. The photographer wants to capture her “sprinkled with powdered sugar.” Dorothy refuses stating, “Do I look like the kind of women who should be dipped in powdered sugar?” Dorothy had never lived the pampered life and lived an average life in the south. I feel that Dorothy views herself as an average person, and doesn’t feel the need to look elegant or pampered. This is revealed when she tries to check into her hotel. Dressed in comfortable clothes, with no makeup, and a broken suitcase, the clerk behind the desk doesn’t believe she is Dorothy Allison, the well known author. I don’t think she was trying to rebel or go against people’s expectations, rather I think she was just trying to make a point, that this is who she is and she’s not going to change. She also states she doesn’t want to be one of those women that our culture views as “seamless” and perfect. She feels that women are often over looked and not recognized in society.
Dorothy is finally photographed towards the end of the narrative, not sprinkled with powdered sugar, but in a laundry mat. She still disagrees with the pose of being sprinkled with powdered sugar, and states, “no one is ever going to get a picture of me like that.” She doesn’t feel that any of the poses presented by the photographer represent her identity, but settled for the pose in the laundry mat, after turning down many other requests. I feel that no photo could represent Dorothy’s identity, because she feels a person’s identity cannot be captured in a photograph. There are images incorporated throughout the narrative. The first image is of Dorothy Allison at the age of nine. It is a simple picture of her looking into the camera, which is very different from the requests made by the photographer. I feel she wanted to include this to represent her average life as a child. There is also an image of Dorothy’s novel, “Bastard out of Carolina,” which has a picture of a young girl with her face covered by her hair. I think this image best describes Dorothy’s outlook on her image.