Who is Phaedrus to the narrator?

   In the book the narrator constantly refers to a ghost called Phaedrus. He tells the story about when Phaedrus had seen a dog in the woods and when he looked into the dogs eyes he realized he saw a reflection of himself. The narrator talks about how Phaedrus wanted to destroy the ghost of rationality and free himself from "the bondage of his own identity."
  
   Phaedrus represents the author's old self because the author to had escaped his past self and identity. He tells the reader of the time years ago when he had waken up in a hospital, confused as to what was going on when a nurse tells him, "you have a new personality now." The narrator used to be Phaedrus, but as Phaedrus wanted he had escaped his identity. In a way Phaedrus, his old self, is dead because the narrator doesn't have much memory of him. Phaedrus is also alive in a way because  always be a part of narrator, who he used to be and the memories he does have, so the narrator will never be able to forget Phaedrus.

Dear Parents

Dear Parents,

We've got a long road ahead so I should say this now.

Thanks for going through all the diapers and band aids. From the stories I've heard I was one interesting baby.

Thanks for the flintstone vitamins, grape flavored cough syrup, the doctor visits, the hugs, cleaning play-doh out the carpet, stepping on legos, teaching me to ride a bike, the life lessons, the hugs, the late night egg salad sandwiches, the hugs, the hugs. The hugs.

Those moments where bonding isn't forced and just kinda happens, those are nice. And truth be told I will remember that more than any family vacation.

I can't count the number of times that you've told me that you will be there if I need you or I can talk to you if I'm in trouble. Even though each time is probably the millionth time, keep saying it. It works. Somewhere inside I really do feel like you'll always be there for me if I need you.

Thanks for letting me make decisions for myself as I get older. I know you have the tendency to want to save me from everything, but don't be afraid of letting me make my own mistakes because the truth is that everyone has to make them. I make mistakes and don't know what I'm doing sometimes. I'm human. Try to remember that of me and I will try the same with you. I have many dreams and goals. Some of them are not what you might have wanted for me, but support anyway is highly recommended.

And for god's sakes if you have a daughter, don't read her diary and especially don't read her diary, freak out and then confront her about it. She secretly loses a lot of trust in you and she won't come to talk to you about anything. And that takes years to get back.

Thanks for teaching me to love reading and to love learning. All the trips to the book store and the library, I realize how important those were now.

Thanks for teaching me to be accepting of others, that everyone is different and that is okay and that I don't have to follow what other people do. You taught me to love and accept other as well as love and accept myself. The more I meet and hear about other people's parents and families the more I realize how fortunate I am to have you.

Sincerely and with love,
The Kid

Civic Duty

Civic duty is the responsibility we have and actions we should all follow. With the millions of people in our society we need just a few rules to live by so we don't all drive each other crazy or kill one another.

Here's just a few of the civic duties I believe in:
1. No cutting the line.

•  To the CTA riders that see 15 people waiting in line to get on the bus and decides to slide their way to the front. That only works for old and disabled/injured people! 

2.  No littering.

• We all have to live on this world, just pick up your trash! I also propose a solution to this......

.. (a little drastic, but hey there will never be litter again or not as much)

 

3. No stealing.

• Shout out to that guy at the orange line who told me I dropped $20 and the stranger who mailed my cousin her social security card she lost. People are so awesome sometimes.

4. Give to people in need.

• I still remember the time this boy gave his McDonalds burger he just brought to a homeless person. Point 2 for humanity.

 

5. Treat people who work in customer service/ hospitality nicely.

• Just because it's their job to deal with you doesn't mean you have to make their lives harder. It's called common courtesy. Everyone should be respected.

 

6.  Please pick up your dog poo!

• Why is there dog poo all over the park? Don't tell me you're doing the park a favor because your dogs poo fertilizes the grass. This is the reason I avoid walking in the grass. Is this another form of littering? It should be.

 

 Now go out there and be good citizens.

 

 

 

 

King Still King

    
     The civil rights movement was a very big time in history and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is definitely an important figure to know. He not only played a big role in the civil rights movement, but still plays the role as a person of inspiration today.
With that said I feel that black history has become very..stuck. Over the years you learn about very important figures. Important people you should know.

     Then you learn some more about them.

     Then you learn about them again.

     When it comes to black history you often learn about the same people and the same events and nothing ever really expands beyond that point. Every now and then I will hear a different name. There's usually a sentence or two said about them and then I don't hear about them again. With the classes I've taken on black history you could guess all the people and events I learned about and most likely be right.

     It is indeed important to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the great leader he was, but to also expand and recognize other leaders, in history and at current times.

Leaving on a Jet Plane- Mos Def

 *Mos Def is the name that he is widely known for but, he changed his stage name from Mos Def to Yasiin Bey, so that's what I'll refer to him as for the rest of the review.

Yasiin Bey is a hip hop artist and MC born in Brooklyn, New York. He has also done acting.

He is never shy when it comes to sharing his political views. Some of his political views can be found in some of his more seroius songs. I have chosen the song Leaving on a Jet Plane by Yasiin Bey which is probably one of his more feel good songs. I also like another of his feel good song Life is Good. The chorus of the song was inspired by "Leaving on a Jet Plane", a song written by John Denver in 1967.

 This is an unofficial video made by the person who put it up on Youtube.

ALONE

Being alone can be beautiful.

Having people around is great, but I think people tend to underestimate the importance of being alone. Being alone most of the time is connected with words like loneliness and sad. In society being alone has been labeled as bad, but I disagree.

With college visits I realized the importance of being alone sometimes. I went to go see Columbia College with my grandma. As we were taking a tour of the place she made statements about the school. I appreciate her feedback and it was part of the reason she was with me on the tour, but I notice that afterwards I starting to rethink my own opinion of the college that I had before and it was hard to form any new opinion with my grandma's words stuck in my head. I felt kinda frustrated and confused, trying to sort my grandma's thoughts from how I felt about the school. From then on I decided I would take college tours alone so that I could form my own opinions about the school and figure out if I really liked it. After taking the tour alone maybe I would bring someone to come with me for a second tour.

I don't really get to be alone that much. The only time I'm really alone is on the rare occasion when everyone in my house is gone and I'm left home by myself. And. I. Love. It.
I play my music without thinking about if it's too loud. I can sing loudly. I go to the bathroom without thinking to knock on the door first. When I go to make dinner I don't need to ask if something has already been pre-decided or what other people want. I could walk around without pants until the desire to put them on strikes me. If I wanted to I could have ran through the house and jumped on the couch.

Before being alone and thinking about it, you never realized how many times a day you take into consideration the other people around you with simple everyday task and how they really do change how you think and act. Being alone can be very freeing and I think it could lead to you finding out more about yourself.

Man's Search For Meaning

In Man's Search For Meaning Frankl states that the prisoners who gave up on life and commited suicide did so because, with the situation they were put in and the day to day torture they went through, they saw no reason to live. The only prisoners who resisted giving up and continued to live were the ones that saw hope for the future. They found their menaing and reason to live on. As Frankl said, "..the attempt to restore a man's inner strength in the camp had first to succeed in showing him some future goal. Nietzsche's words, " He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how," "

In the movie  La Vita è Bella,  Roberto Benigni's character truely embraces  Frankl's philosophy. The moment he figures out that he and his son are being put into a concentration camp Roberto saw his meaning and his future. His reason for being alive and pretending everything was okay was his son and his wife and the possible future of all of them coming out of the concentration camp together.