Monday, February 21, 2011
Downfall
Well, it's been a pretty boring two days but Sunday into Monday usually is. Last night I watched a German film called Downfall which is an account of Hitler's last 12 days in his bunker in Berlin. I forgot I had rented it, but I suppose it was mostly because it had so many good reviews. As far as movies go, it was very very well done. I am not too familiar with all the details of Hitler's time in power, but I spent a good amount of time today doing basic research about the main characters and events in the movie. The movie followed what I read very accurately. Some of the events are downright disturbing, but I suppose you can't expect much else from a movie about a psychopathic dictator. The most disturbing event is when Magda Goebbels systematically murders her six children. I had difficulty watching it. It wasn't gory, and it wasn't violent, but it disturbed me so much that I had trouble sleeping afterward. I've seen movies where children are violently shot and killed, but for some reason the calm and matter of fact way in which Magda went about it was especially bothersome to me. It's a scene that isn't going to leave my head anytime soon.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Rants, Raves, Thoughts
I've neglected blogging. I'd love to say I've been busy...partially true. I am busy about half the time, and the other half I either read or watch Netflix, which is a new and horrible addiction of mine. In general, in spite of all the ridiculous snow we've gotten, I feel pretty decent. Usually this time of year isn't great for me mentally. It does get tiring, but as my father says, we just have to embrace the weather, which means putting on your boots and hats and coats and scarves and buying snowshoes if necessary. I'm sure people back in the 1800's never bitched about this shit the way people do now. We are all spoiled little brats. I have never heard such bitching and complaining in my whole life as I have this winter. The joys of working customer service include listening to people bitch on all levels of everything.
Ex: "I just can't STAND all this snow, I'm moving to Florida! This is just ridiculous I just can't believe it bleh bleh blah blah moan moan cleaning snow sucks blah blah moan."
"No one can drive in the snow! I am the best driver ever in seen in snow and everyone else sucks, they're terrible, took me TWO HOURS to get to work blah blah moan moan."
That's enough examples. Thinking about these people makes me want to throw things. The biggest problem for me is that many of these snow bitchy people are people that I know and usually love. There are, of course, the people who love snow, and then do what I'm doing, which is to complain about the people who hate it, but it seems that these people are few and far between. I just get tired of listening to it after awhile. No one is original, but everyone thinks that they are. The morning after a huge snowstorm, when every status on Facebook is about snow or snow removal, and how bad your morning commute was, it's a little sad. I do not need a motherfucking picture of your snow covered car. MY CAR LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME. I do not need a picture of yours. I can simply look out my window. Holy shit, a snow covered car! Imagine! Good thing I saw yours on the internet first so I could compare.
People in general make me angry lately. I guess I'm frustrated myself, but I feel as though I walk around in a world completely blinded to all truth. A woman was in the store the other day talking about how much school the kids have missed because of the snow. She was angry because "I already booked my vacation and now with all the snow, it's going to be that last week of school - well that's just too bad for the school, my kids are just not going to go. And can you imagine, the school is saying that kids will only be excused that week with a doctor's note! Well I never! No one could predict 80 inches of snow, and I already booked my vacation!"
I wanted to slap this woman so hard. Really? You already booked your vacation and your poor children might have to miss out because of some snow? How horrible that they might have to stay in school for an extra week! Fuck you, you entitled cunt. People are constantly blaming the schools for not properly educating children. This is a way for shitty parents to shift blame onto an institution for not raising their kids properly. The problem is with students who are ill-prepared and entitled and every time they fuck up get excused because Mommy and Daddy call the school and complain and threaten a lawsuit. How dare the school try to discipline your fragile little lamb of a child who can do no wrong. I certainly do not mean to say that there are no bad teachers and never a reason to complain about a school, or that the school always handles these issues properly. I'm simply pointing out that a lot of parents these days seem to think their kids are special little snowflakes who must be protected from everything, and this is why these kids grow up and become incompetent assholes who frequent my line in the package store to complain about everything.
This entry has turned into a rant. Since I'm ranting, I'll bring up another topic which caught my attention the other day - namely, some guy I read about on yahoo who is touting the idea that kids don't necessarily need to go to college because it is too expensive and a waste of time.
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/james-altucher%27s-8-alternatives-to-college-535903.html?tickers=COCO,APOL,ESI,DV,EDMC,STRA,^DJI
I think I found this interesting because I completely understand where this man is coming from and I think he has good intentions. It worries me though, that people will start to think this is legitimate. He obviously hasn't exactly thought his ideas through fully, since if you watch the video he basically says that he is not saying that no one should ever go to college but that for some kids it might be a good idea to wait and explore other options, and that not going to college doesn't necessarily mean you will end up flipping burgers the rest of your life. On this point, I agree. I do not agree, however, that we should start encouraging kids to not go to college. I struggled with and still struggle with some of the same questions he brought up - namely, how much you actually learn in college. As someone who attended a four year public university in a humanities major (which we all know we can't do much with in the field upon graduation with no advanced degree), I have an answer. That answer is that students learn a great deal in college. Unfortunately, most of that learning does not come in the form of test scores or essay grades. I was technically, in terms of grades, a poor student. I rarely studied. The problem is that the type of learning I'm talking about can't be measured or categorized. It comes in many different forms. Grades are so often not an accurate depiction of intelligence. I guess in tests where they test students to see what they have learned academically in college, they don't do much better four years later than they did entering as a freshman. I can completely see that. It makes perfect sense. Most classes I took I retained very little actual solid information. If it's information that you are not going to continue to use and is simply memorized in order to use it on a test, it won't be retained in the long run. The best way to retain important information is to use it in the real world, which the world of academia is severely lacking. After all of this and knowing that I wasn't such a huge fan of college, it seems odd that I would still advocate for it, but I do simply because there truly aren't any alternatives that are better. The pros outweigh the cons in this case for me. For most people who are not incredibly ambitious and need a little direction, college provides that. It also provides a bridge from high school to the real professional world.
I would say to anyone that has the resources and ambition to pull off any one of Altucher's alternatives to college to go for it. How I wish I had the funds to take time off and travel the world. Doesn't everyone? Unfortunately that is not a reality for most students. In fact, it is going to be easier for most students to travel while they are in college than not. It is probably easier to concentrate on creating great art while actually in school than just on your own. There are numerous opportunities available to college students that aren't available anywhere else. I wish that I took advantage of them now. Truthfully, I have some regrets about that time of my life. I feel a little bit as if I wasted it. On the other hand, I still feel I learned a lot, both in the classroom and out of it, and in so many different ways. I definitely think that college isn't for everyone. I agree that it is overpriced. I avoided being in a huge debt by attending a public in state university, so tuition was a lot lower. I certainly think that people should be asking these questions and trying to come up with solutions to them. I think that being able to cut tuition costs as well as add some sort of practical element to four year university study would be greatly beneficial to future students. I don't have any solutions for it, of course, but that's why I'm writing a blog about it and not an article. Problems like these are too complex to just start naming off rash solutions like don't send your kids to college at all. Too often we forget how statistics are generated. They don't take into account things that may be so important, so it's important to look at every statistic published with a critical eye. So often it's said that the most important skill people learn in college is critical thinking, and I completely agree.
Ex: "I just can't STAND all this snow, I'm moving to Florida! This is just ridiculous I just can't believe it bleh bleh blah blah moan moan cleaning snow sucks blah blah moan."
"No one can drive in the snow! I am the best driver ever in seen in snow and everyone else sucks, they're terrible, took me TWO HOURS to get to work blah blah moan moan."
That's enough examples. Thinking about these people makes me want to throw things. The biggest problem for me is that many of these snow bitchy people are people that I know and usually love. There are, of course, the people who love snow, and then do what I'm doing, which is to complain about the people who hate it, but it seems that these people are few and far between. I just get tired of listening to it after awhile. No one is original, but everyone thinks that they are. The morning after a huge snowstorm, when every status on Facebook is about snow or snow removal, and how bad your morning commute was, it's a little sad. I do not need a motherfucking picture of your snow covered car. MY CAR LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME. I do not need a picture of yours. I can simply look out my window. Holy shit, a snow covered car! Imagine! Good thing I saw yours on the internet first so I could compare.
People in general make me angry lately. I guess I'm frustrated myself, but I feel as though I walk around in a world completely blinded to all truth. A woman was in the store the other day talking about how much school the kids have missed because of the snow. She was angry because "I already booked my vacation and now with all the snow, it's going to be that last week of school - well that's just too bad for the school, my kids are just not going to go. And can you imagine, the school is saying that kids will only be excused that week with a doctor's note! Well I never! No one could predict 80 inches of snow, and I already booked my vacation!"
I wanted to slap this woman so hard. Really? You already booked your vacation and your poor children might have to miss out because of some snow? How horrible that they might have to stay in school for an extra week! Fuck you, you entitled cunt. People are constantly blaming the schools for not properly educating children. This is a way for shitty parents to shift blame onto an institution for not raising their kids properly. The problem is with students who are ill-prepared and entitled and every time they fuck up get excused because Mommy and Daddy call the school and complain and threaten a lawsuit. How dare the school try to discipline your fragile little lamb of a child who can do no wrong. I certainly do not mean to say that there are no bad teachers and never a reason to complain about a school, or that the school always handles these issues properly. I'm simply pointing out that a lot of parents these days seem to think their kids are special little snowflakes who must be protected from everything, and this is why these kids grow up and become incompetent assholes who frequent my line in the package store to complain about everything.
This entry has turned into a rant. Since I'm ranting, I'll bring up another topic which caught my attention the other day - namely, some guy I read about on yahoo who is touting the idea that kids don't necessarily need to go to college because it is too expensive and a waste of time.
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/james-altucher%27s-8-alternatives-to-college-535903.html?tickers=COCO,APOL,ESI,DV,EDMC,STRA,^DJI
I think I found this interesting because I completely understand where this man is coming from and I think he has good intentions. It worries me though, that people will start to think this is legitimate. He obviously hasn't exactly thought his ideas through fully, since if you watch the video he basically says that he is not saying that no one should ever go to college but that for some kids it might be a good idea to wait and explore other options, and that not going to college doesn't necessarily mean you will end up flipping burgers the rest of your life. On this point, I agree. I do not agree, however, that we should start encouraging kids to not go to college. I struggled with and still struggle with some of the same questions he brought up - namely, how much you actually learn in college. As someone who attended a four year public university in a humanities major (which we all know we can't do much with in the field upon graduation with no advanced degree), I have an answer. That answer is that students learn a great deal in college. Unfortunately, most of that learning does not come in the form of test scores or essay grades. I was technically, in terms of grades, a poor student. I rarely studied. The problem is that the type of learning I'm talking about can't be measured or categorized. It comes in many different forms. Grades are so often not an accurate depiction of intelligence. I guess in tests where they test students to see what they have learned academically in college, they don't do much better four years later than they did entering as a freshman. I can completely see that. It makes perfect sense. Most classes I took I retained very little actual solid information. If it's information that you are not going to continue to use and is simply memorized in order to use it on a test, it won't be retained in the long run. The best way to retain important information is to use it in the real world, which the world of academia is severely lacking. After all of this and knowing that I wasn't such a huge fan of college, it seems odd that I would still advocate for it, but I do simply because there truly aren't any alternatives that are better. The pros outweigh the cons in this case for me. For most people who are not incredibly ambitious and need a little direction, college provides that. It also provides a bridge from high school to the real professional world.
I would say to anyone that has the resources and ambition to pull off any one of Altucher's alternatives to college to go for it. How I wish I had the funds to take time off and travel the world. Doesn't everyone? Unfortunately that is not a reality for most students. In fact, it is going to be easier for most students to travel while they are in college than not. It is probably easier to concentrate on creating great art while actually in school than just on your own. There are numerous opportunities available to college students that aren't available anywhere else. I wish that I took advantage of them now. Truthfully, I have some regrets about that time of my life. I feel a little bit as if I wasted it. On the other hand, I still feel I learned a lot, both in the classroom and out of it, and in so many different ways. I definitely think that college isn't for everyone. I agree that it is overpriced. I avoided being in a huge debt by attending a public in state university, so tuition was a lot lower. I certainly think that people should be asking these questions and trying to come up with solutions to them. I think that being able to cut tuition costs as well as add some sort of practical element to four year university study would be greatly beneficial to future students. I don't have any solutions for it, of course, but that's why I'm writing a blog about it and not an article. Problems like these are too complex to just start naming off rash solutions like don't send your kids to college at all. Too often we forget how statistics are generated. They don't take into account things that may be so important, so it's important to look at every statistic published with a critical eye. So often it's said that the most important skill people learn in college is critical thinking, and I completely agree.
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