Marquise Nurse-Williams It’s All in Good Fun
In Lisa Wilson Strick’s article “ So What’s So Bad about Being So - So?” Stricks analyzes the spirit of competition and how it has effected the way kids spend their recreational time. She explains saying that “Unfortunately, doing things badly has gone out of style. It used to be a mark of class if a lady or a gentlemen sang a little, painted a little, played the violin a little….But in today’s competitive world we have to be “experts” - even in our hobbies.” In other words, people can’t have fun with hobbies anymore, they have to be the best or nothing at all. She shows an example of how an amateur jogger can’t go anywhere without being shown up by the “expert” marathon runners in their new high top sneakers, and full tack suits. Stricks then goes on to show how dancing has changed from a fun activity to a set of complex practices and exercises. Next Stricks gives an example of a young gymnast who is nervous about getting into the best gymnastics school. She finds she does nothing for fun and has absolutely no aspect of free time to engage in a fun hobby. Toward the end of the article, Stricks gives her solution that everyone should stop to smell the roses and take a break from that serious activity and enjoy something new or different for a moment. I agree with that notion, taking a breather to do something for kicks and giggles takes the stress away. I think Competition is inevitable when going for something important, like a job position. But when the spirit of competition is among friends in a friendly game of soccer it should stay friendly. My friend Jermall and I have always competed against each other in every video game we’ve ever played one on one, and as ridiculous as it sounds, sometimes it would end up in a negative attitude.
One game Jermall and I compete at is Tekken 6. It’s a martial arts game with about 40 characters to choose from with different martial art forms, and is a highly competitive fighter. We start out having a friendly game with a little smack talk like “Man, you weak fool!” or “ how bout this Dragon Punch to your face son!” also “Punk, you aren’t even worthy to take on my best character, you got to work your way up again!” As the competition progresses, he starts to get mad if I win, because I use to really suck at that game and never stood a chance against him before. I guess that stole his thunder. If he loses one too many times he becomes indifferent towards me for a while because of all the garbage talk the loser of the competition has to eat, then he’ll go back to normal after he licks his wounds from getting whooped on so bad.
In the end we always remember we’re boys, and we can’t let the competition to one up on each other get the best of us. We never forget our motto “Never forget the fourth grade homies.” Competition can cause a lot of negative vibes when it’s suppose to be for fun. I think people need to try to keep that in check when it starts to become serious in what is suppose to be a friendly test of skill. Especially Jermall, unless he wants another taste of this Dragon Punch son!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Unit 3: Journal #3 (Quindlen) Stuff Is Not Salvation response
Marquise Nurse-Williams
Stuff Is Not Salvation Response
10-20-10
Get Money!
In Anna Quindlen’s article, Stuff Is Not Salvation, she touches on the subject of American materialism and our desire for wants over needs. She starts off showing how crowds of people stampeded over a man who fell to the floor of a Wal-Mart store during a Black Friday sale, because they just needed get their grubby hands on that new microwave or television set for half the price. She goes on to speak of the national debt, as America falls into a trillion dollar credit card debt. Then she refers to how the average person’s cell phone only lasts about 16 months at the most, only because it has gone out of style. She then moves on to talk about the children and their want for the newest items in the toy commercials during Christmas and how they are unappreciated by Easter, collecting dust in the garage. As a solution, she finds the happiest people don’t rely on “stuff” or appliances to bring them happiness, but in fact she found a family in Pennsylvania that has learned to appreciate the small things. They kept their lives simple so that even the smallest gift would have meaning to it and wouldn’t be just another toy in the car hold. As an American citizen I find that Americans do put too much money into things they don’t need as people from other countries spend on necessity and rarely on what they want.
An example of American spending over necessity would involve my amazing cousin Ivor. He bought a $300,000 Rolls Royce with a house on the side on credit and while doing the payment he lost his job working in real estate. If he had any since, he would have bought a more practical car rather than something that he really didn’t need.
One example of how people are different in spending overseas, from my experience, was my time I got to spend with the foreign nationals Balad ,Iraq. They were people from all over the world. China, India, Russia, Yugoslavia and even Pakistan and they worked along side my coworkers and I. These people worked everyday with no days off for months to years at a time, for very low wages in a contracting gig called KBR. My buddy Kumar from India, told me the money he earns goes to his large family back home. It’s for food, water, shelter and nothing else. It was nearly the same situation for the rest of these people. When me and my American coworkers would give them birthday parties on the job and gifts, the smallest recognition for their time and effort meant the world to them. The job and the money it brought in meant everything to their families and their well being as well.
I find the American mentality to “keep up with the Kardashion’s” is a false salvation, as Quindlen proposes. Everyone wants to be on the top and in control, instead of feeling like they’re being lorded over I suppose. People believe money is what makes a person happy when in fact it’s the small things that people eventually learn makes a person happiest. Things like real family who would be there to help you when times get bad, or one real true friend over the hundreds pretending to be just that. Or even that special someone who would rather be with you than anyone else and those moments you get to spend with them. The all mighty dollar won’t buy these things, and many people in this blessed country forgot that. As Brian would say “We lost the values, but kept the weed…”
Stuff Is Not Salvation Response
10-20-10
Get Money!
In Anna Quindlen’s article, Stuff Is Not Salvation, she touches on the subject of American materialism and our desire for wants over needs. She starts off showing how crowds of people stampeded over a man who fell to the floor of a Wal-Mart store during a Black Friday sale, because they just needed get their grubby hands on that new microwave or television set for half the price. She goes on to speak of the national debt, as America falls into a trillion dollar credit card debt. Then she refers to how the average person’s cell phone only lasts about 16 months at the most, only because it has gone out of style. She then moves on to talk about the children and their want for the newest items in the toy commercials during Christmas and how they are unappreciated by Easter, collecting dust in the garage. As a solution, she finds the happiest people don’t rely on “stuff” or appliances to bring them happiness, but in fact she found a family in Pennsylvania that has learned to appreciate the small things. They kept their lives simple so that even the smallest gift would have meaning to it and wouldn’t be just another toy in the car hold. As an American citizen I find that Americans do put too much money into things they don’t need as people from other countries spend on necessity and rarely on what they want.
An example of American spending over necessity would involve my amazing cousin Ivor. He bought a $300,000 Rolls Royce with a house on the side on credit and while doing the payment he lost his job working in real estate. If he had any since, he would have bought a more practical car rather than something that he really didn’t need.
One example of how people are different in spending overseas, from my experience, was my time I got to spend with the foreign nationals Balad ,Iraq. They were people from all over the world. China, India, Russia, Yugoslavia and even Pakistan and they worked along side my coworkers and I. These people worked everyday with no days off for months to years at a time, for very low wages in a contracting gig called KBR. My buddy Kumar from India, told me the money he earns goes to his large family back home. It’s for food, water, shelter and nothing else. It was nearly the same situation for the rest of these people. When me and my American coworkers would give them birthday parties on the job and gifts, the smallest recognition for their time and effort meant the world to them. The job and the money it brought in meant everything to their families and their well being as well.
I find the American mentality to “keep up with the Kardashion’s” is a false salvation, as Quindlen proposes. Everyone wants to be on the top and in control, instead of feeling like they’re being lorded over I suppose. People believe money is what makes a person happy when in fact it’s the small things that people eventually learn makes a person happiest. Things like real family who would be there to help you when times get bad, or one real true friend over the hundreds pretending to be just that. Or even that special someone who would rather be with you than anyone else and those moments you get to spend with them. The all mighty dollar won’t buy these things, and many people in this blessed country forgot that. As Brian would say “We lost the values, but kept the weed…”
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Hella Late Intro (edited)
Hi, I'm Marq, I was born in Wiesbaden, Germany at Lindsey Air Force Base. I'm studying Media and Animation. Love art, always have. I'm Working as a security gaurd for a college and soon to be Staff Sargeant in the Air Force reserves. Personally, I try to be decent towards people, but I tend to keep to myself. I try to be talkative but I really don't have much to say, so please don't get offended if I don't spark a conversation every time. Good side to that is, I have a good ear if you have anything to say. Stay up, stay positive.
Assignment 2 Amy Tan, Fish Cheeks : For Shame Essay
Marquise Nurse-Williams For Shame
English
10-12-10
In Amy Tan’s article, Fish Cheeks, She wrote of an embarrassing moment in her life that she felt ashamed about. It was Christmas time at her families house among friends and relatives. Her family invited the minister of their church and his family over for dinner. Tan had a crush on the son of the minister, and felt she would be humiliated at dinner over the food her family had chosen to serve for this occasion since the minister and his son were of a different background. She was also demoralized on the differences of her families customs and courtesies at the dinner table as her dad let’s out a large belch at the end of the meal to show the cook he is satisfied. In the end her mother lets her know that she shouldn’t be ashamed of her background and it’s customs and courtesies. Tan eventually learns her lesson from this situation as she matures. I do not have any similar experiences such as this, but I have been embarrassed even though I know I shouldn’t have. My embarrassing moments started when I bought my first car.
First thing that embarrassed me about my car was that it was one of the smallest cars I’ve ever seen on the road, the 1996 Chevy Metro. There was only room for two people at the most, and it was still cramped inside to sit in. It didn’t even look like a full vehicle, kind of like the car Steve Urkel drove on Family Matters. When I’d park it in the parking lots outside a store I would have the hardest time just trying find it again because it was so small it could hide behind just about any other car.
Next, I was embarrassed of my cars unique deficiencies it came with. For example, it had a large crack in the front window that stretched as far as the eye could see. The radio was ripped out of socket, and the back seat had a big black stain that looked like blood. I’m still not sure what that stain was. It looked as though a robbery or murder had taken place before this car was up for sale in the lot.
Lastly, what bugged me about my car at the time was the simple fact that I compared my car to my sister and brother in-law’s vehicles. My sister had a sleek champagne colored Mercedes Benz at the time, and my brother in-law had bought a Lexus SC 430 convertible with ridiculously shiny, clean, cream colored exterior and leather interior. At family occasions they would pull up next to me and make my ride look like a toy.
At the time, I was a bit immature or possibly a little materialistic. When I look back and think about the idiosyncrasies I had toward my first car, it makes me laugh. I had no reason to be ashamed of that car. The insurance was dirt cheap, and it never gave me any mechanical problems. It got me where I needed to go for three years, and filling up at the pump was only a third in cost of any other car. After I fixed the window and radio it was an excellent car for me. I would have been smart to have kept it in the recession now that I think about it.
English
10-12-10
In Amy Tan’s article, Fish Cheeks, She wrote of an embarrassing moment in her life that she felt ashamed about. It was Christmas time at her families house among friends and relatives. Her family invited the minister of their church and his family over for dinner. Tan had a crush on the son of the minister, and felt she would be humiliated at dinner over the food her family had chosen to serve for this occasion since the minister and his son were of a different background. She was also demoralized on the differences of her families customs and courtesies at the dinner table as her dad let’s out a large belch at the end of the meal to show the cook he is satisfied. In the end her mother lets her know that she shouldn’t be ashamed of her background and it’s customs and courtesies. Tan eventually learns her lesson from this situation as she matures. I do not have any similar experiences such as this, but I have been embarrassed even though I know I shouldn’t have. My embarrassing moments started when I bought my first car.
First thing that embarrassed me about my car was that it was one of the smallest cars I’ve ever seen on the road, the 1996 Chevy Metro. There was only room for two people at the most, and it was still cramped inside to sit in. It didn’t even look like a full vehicle, kind of like the car Steve Urkel drove on Family Matters. When I’d park it in the parking lots outside a store I would have the hardest time just trying find it again because it was so small it could hide behind just about any other car.
Next, I was embarrassed of my cars unique deficiencies it came with. For example, it had a large crack in the front window that stretched as far as the eye could see. The radio was ripped out of socket, and the back seat had a big black stain that looked like blood. I’m still not sure what that stain was. It looked as though a robbery or murder had taken place before this car was up for sale in the lot.
Lastly, what bugged me about my car at the time was the simple fact that I compared my car to my sister and brother in-law’s vehicles. My sister had a sleek champagne colored Mercedes Benz at the time, and my brother in-law had bought a Lexus SC 430 convertible with ridiculously shiny, clean, cream colored exterior and leather interior. At family occasions they would pull up next to me and make my ride look like a toy.
At the time, I was a bit immature or possibly a little materialistic. When I look back and think about the idiosyncrasies I had toward my first car, it makes me laugh. I had no reason to be ashamed of that car. The insurance was dirt cheap, and it never gave me any mechanical problems. It got me where I needed to go for three years, and filling up at the pump was only a third in cost of any other car. After I fixed the window and radio it was an excellent car for me. I would have been smart to have kept it in the recession now that I think about it.
Assignment 1, Prompt1: Fired At Will (edited)
Marquise Nurse-Williams Fired At Will
Journal Entry 1
Prompt 1
10-9-10
Getting fired from a job can be, at times, unjustified and trivial. However, some reasons for an employer to fire a person can be totally and utterly justified morally and by law. Reasons such as an employee’s lack of attendance, physical assault, sexual harassment, and undeniable theft are but a few possible scenarios relating to why a person may as well lose his or her job.
For one, physical assault is one of the most guaranteed ways to lose a job. For example, a friend of mine got in a fight with a coworker at his job at Wal-Mart a few months ago. The coworker threw a large piece of wood at my buddy’s chest. He then retaliated later with a piece of wood at his coworker’s backside. As a result the coworker told the supervisor what happened and my friend was fired from his job.
There are many ways a person can lose his or her job. Physical assault, I find, is one the more serious reasons. It can start as a small quarrel between coworkers, and can end up as a life threatening shoot out. I think, a lot of these reasons are avoidable, yet some are inedible.
Journal Entry 1
Prompt 1
10-9-10
Getting fired from a job can be, at times, unjustified and trivial. However, some reasons for an employer to fire a person can be totally and utterly justified morally and by law. Reasons such as an employee’s lack of attendance, physical assault, sexual harassment, and undeniable theft are but a few possible scenarios relating to why a person may as well lose his or her job.
For one, physical assault is one of the most guaranteed ways to lose a job. For example, a friend of mine got in a fight with a coworker at his job at Wal-Mart a few months ago. The coworker threw a large piece of wood at my buddy’s chest. He then retaliated later with a piece of wood at his coworker’s backside. As a result the coworker told the supervisor what happened and my friend was fired from his job.
There are many ways a person can lose his or her job. Physical assault, I find, is one the more serious reasons. It can start as a small quarrel between coworkers, and can end up as a life threatening shoot out. I think, a lot of these reasons are avoidable, yet some are inedible.
Monday, October 4, 2010
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