Creativity in a Can

Go into a big city, and you are bound to see it everywhere. It covers walls, trains, and even entire buildings. It’s graffiti, and the place it has in our culture is debated quite frequently.

Some people feel that graffiti is ugly, that it’s a destruction of property, that it ruins the appearance of the structures that society has worked so hard to build up. I do not agree with this opinion, I think it is an outdated view, and needs to be rethought. Consider how many man made structures are around us that we have just left to rot away. These structures are far more ugly than the creatively painted designs the are graffitied onto them.

Now, I am not saying that all graffiti is great. When people decide to graffiti for a malicious purpose, then it can become a problem. Spray painting meaningless lines or words onto the brand new commuter rail car requires no creativity, and really ruins the perception of our society as a whole; we are seen as a society of destruction, rather than creation.

Fortunately, the majority of graffiti that I see is creative, original, and gets people talking. In many areas, the graffiti is the most interesting and beautiful feature in the area. This creativity, provided by members of our culture, brings creativity and life into what was once rotting steel and crumbling brick, a feat many would only dream of achieving.

While graffiti may be illegal in many areas, I feel that a good majority of it is done for the greater good of the people, and for that I commend the artists who risk legal action to bring creativity and beauty back into our increasingly bleak culture.

The Negative Side of Caring

Care is a word that is typically used in a positive context. If I had to define the word care, I would say that care is having concern for a subject and taking action for said subject. You might care for your ill grandmother by visiting her and helping her with chores. You might care about the life choices your friend is making and try to lead them down a better path. Every time we hear the word care or think of the act of caring, we always envision to a positive, kind, loving action. Rarely seen is caring’s negative side, a side to caring that doesn’t fit into it’s normal heartfelt definition. This negative side is simply caring too much.

There is nothing that bothers me more than when people care too much about me, my actions, or my preferences. Some people just think that it is their job to fix everything about me, no matter how minute the detail may be. People care about how I look, people care about my personality, they care about what kind of computer I use, they care about my glasses, they care about practically every part of me, and they want to change each of these aspects to better suit themselves. I still will never understand why people care so much about such mundane things. Some might say that they are just trying to help, but these things are what make me who I am, and I don’t need anyone telling me that I need to change them. Maybe everyone just needs to sit down and think about what they really care about. I’m sure there are plenty of subjects to care about that are more important than what I choose to wear to school today.

Paper Bag in the Wind

It has been far too long. I have been sitting here for the past two weeks, getting nearly no attention, and I’m ready to move on. It’s always sad to leave, but I feel that it is really my time to go. There is no use in me just sitting here, so it’s really for the better if I move on and find someone else to inspire. My whole experience has been a great one. I’ve been the topic of many discussions and have been analyzed from top to bottom. Now that my goal has been achieved, it’s time to move on. I can’t help but feel like a piece of paper floating in the wind, just waiting to see who I might blow in front of next.

True Creativity

Using simple items as a form of entertainment has been a popular theme throughout American culture. Consider one of the most popular toys of all time, the Slinky. What more is a Slinky than a giant spring? Despite it’s outstanding simplicity, we still use it as a source of entertainment today.

There is one item that’s entertainment value is often unacknowledged; the paper bag. Children in our country now have pre-made puppets to play with, but where’s the fun in that? Sure they get to play out a scene and might have fun doing that, but how much greater is it to create something on your own and see it come to life. If you give a kid a box of crayons and a simple brown paper bag, they can make anything come to life right before their eyes.

Sharing a Room with 199 Siblings

Anyone who has brothers or sisters know that the entire point of your life is to pester them; in a similar way, it is their life goal to bother you. This can be exasperating to say the least, but for me the annoyance is even greater. I have spent my entire life right next to my brothers and sisters. We have all been in the same place, together, since the day we were born. As you might imagine this generates quite a bit of problems. My brothers constantly try to hog all the limited space we have, while my sisters won’t stop complaining about how they want to get out of this place. I can’t really blame them, because living in the bottom draw waiting all our lives to be used can get very boring.

New Purpose

It is truly amazing how quick the entire process was. One minute I’m just standing there, the next I’m in a factory. I always knew this day would come sooner or later, but that didn’t really help ease my nerves when the event transpired. The process was beginning now. First, they tore off my skin so I could be treated easier. This was quite painful, but was not as terrible as I had imagined. I then was dunked into a vat of chemicals that started to slowly dissolve most of the matter I was made up of. After a bath in these chemicals, all that was left of me was cellulose fibers. These final fibers that once made up my body were then washed, rolled into sheets, cut, and folded. At least now humans can use me for their lunches. I guess.

Discarded

It was dark. I could hear machinery whirring all around me, an eerie sound that seemed unescapable. Instantly I feared for the worst; I was done for, and there was nothing I could do about it. The stories passed around between my acquaintances were far too familiar to me; fairly soon I would be making my way down a cold, unforgiving, conveyor belt, never to be seen again.

Sure enough, I found myself traveling down a conveyor belt. Crumpled, incapacitated, unable to move, every bit of liveliness inside me was drained. Without any chance of escape, I decided I would just have to accept my fate; I was being incinerated, and there was nothing I could do about it. It’s hard to imagine that just a few days ago I was carrying someone’s lunch, but I guess no one keeps a paper bag forever; eventually one day we must be discarded.

My TV is Killing Me

Every day, it seems as if some researcher is coming out with a new study claiming that some typical everyday task is killing us, or some other crazy theory. One recent study published in Pediatrics showed how watching the popular children’s cartoon, “SpongeBob SquarePants,” can cause brain degradation in children. Honestly, I don’t understand how scientists can make this link. How can watching a simple television show cause brain damage? It seems like nothing can be good in our society, everything has to have a negative part to it, or something wrong with it. This is really disappointing to me, because I feel that something as variable as a television show cannot be defined as simply good or bad. While constant viewing of a show might cause some people to misinterpret it’s content, there is one thing that many scientists do not really think about; does the benefits of a show outweigh the negatives? In the case of SpongeBob, I feel that the benefits outweigh the negatives. People, especially children, need to have fun and need to be creative. SpongeBob is a great example of a character who inspires children to have fun and express themselves. As a child, I know a main source of my creativity were through television shows like SpongeBob. It inspired most of my childhood artwork, it got me talking with other children, and taught me valuable life lessons. I would say my childhood was greatly improved because of SpongeBob, and the positives of the show definitely outweigh the negatives. If this research on SpongeBob is true, then I guess the brain damage was worth it.

Feeling (Double) Down

Fast food companies in the United States are constantly trying to change the way we think of food. Some try to persuade people to eat healthier, like Subway, who encourages Americans to try a baked crispy chicken sandwich instead of it’s fried alternative. Others, however, try to convince us that it’s okay to eat unhealthy foods. Kentucky Fried Chicken, who tries to persuade people to consume bacon, cheese, and mayonnaise shoved between two pieces of fried chicken, is a great example of a company’s disregard for it’s customer’s health.

I honestly cannot fathom why anyone would willingly consume any of food that is so blatantly unhealthy. Our culture stresses the importance of a healthy diet through schooling, government support, and advertisement, so why is it that many Americans still continue to support an unhealthy lifestyle? I believe this decision is based largely around the low cost and convenience of living an unhealthy lifestyle. You can go to practically any fast food chain and in under a minute have a meal for less than five dollars without leaving your car. That’s quite impressive! What is the cost of this to your health, though? You might contract diabetes, you might become prone to heart failure, or, at very least, you might feel bad or sick. Some of these risks are possibly deadly. Does it really make sense make yourself prone to certain health implications just for a cheap meal? People might argue that they don’t feel sick and they enjoy the convenience of unhealthy fast food, but just because there aren’t any repercussions at the current moment, doesn’t mean there won’t be any in the future.

My suggestion to everyone would be to seriously consider trying a healthier diet. If you look hard enough, you can still find cheap healthy food that is easy to obtain or make. You don’t even have to completely cut out fast food from your diet; just try a healthier fast food, or eat fast food less than you do now. I guarantee that if you truly attempt to live a healthier lifestyle, you will feel much better about yourself and your future.

The Ballad of the Paper Bag

Have you ever noticed the way a paper bag folds up? Next time you see one, take a close look at it. When the bag is folded down, it appears to just be a flat piece of brown paper, but when you unfold it, it becomes something different, it changes into a three-dimensional object. To me it is extraordinarily amusing to watch this process unfold. It’s almost like reading a pop up book when I was a little kid; there is just something interesting about the way the lifeless paper can jump right up, move around, and change. Maybe I’m crazy, but next time you see a paper bag, take a closer look and maybe you will be just amazed as I am.

A Paper Bag in a World Filled With Lunch Boxes

When people think of emotions, they typically envision the feelings and instincts of humans. Are emotions reserved to humans, though? Let me let you in on a little known secret; humans are not the only ones who get to experience emotions. Believe it or not, practically every object in this world has emotions, they have just been too shy to convey them to humans. Well, I want to break that stereotype and let humans know how I feel. The more days I sit here by myself, the more melancholy I feel. I’m always left alone, just laying here. Nobody has even bothered to stand me up or move me around. I’m not even granted the simple act of getting fresh air; something that so many humans take for granted. I’ve never had a purpose, and I have been of little use to anyone around me.

I want someone to share their lunch with me. I want someone to take me with them to school or work. I want to be acknowledged. For now I suppose I’m stuck sitting here, for being a paper bag in a world filled with lunch boxes makes it difficult to be noticed by anyone.

Maybe I'm Crazy?

Note: I do not have a blog post for September 6th, because I was not in class to trade trinkets.

Look in any lunchroom waste bin and you are likely to see one very common item; the brown paper bag. There are plenty of superior alternatives to the paper bag, so what is it that draws society to keep using this simple creation to carry our lunches? One might argue that it’s for convenience or ease of disposal, but come on, that’s just silly! The true reason why people continue to use paper bags is because of their smell. There is just something about the scent of ground up trees that reminds you of home. Now, this probably sounds crazy to most people, but when you think about it, is it really any crazier than cutting down millions of trees to make them in the first place?

It's a Love-Hate Relationship

America; land of the free and home of the brave, everyone has heard this phrase, but how does it really hold up? Many Americans feel that our country is the best in the world; we have the best government, the best economy, and the greatest opportunities, but does America really live up to it’s name? In my opinion, America I somewhere in the middle.

America is an awesome country, and I am proud to live in it, but there are definitely some things that I dislike about America. To be honest, I’m not really into politics, so that doesn’t really matter much to me, but what does matter to me is what America feels like to me. I love that Americans can live freely and have a happy, successful life. There is a problem with this though; there are people that don’t get to live this life; they never have a chance to live the “American Dream.” There are people in all countries that, for whatever reason, cannot live their life to the fullest, but I feel that in America this is becoming far too customary. Everywhere I go, I see people who don’t have passion or desire to succeed. Whether this is because of our current economic status or just a lack of desire, it seems almost as if America’s entrepreneurial demographic is dying. This is very disappointing to me, for I feel like it previously was one of the best parts of America. On the other hand, America still has people with desire to succeed, which is promising to me. It is to be hoped that these people will drive the rest of America to aspire for success. 

Another major factor that influences my view of America is the prejudices and assumptions it makes about it’s own people. I’m sure that this happens in all countries around the world, but it seems like America should be better. Not only do we have biases of people from our own country, but we also have these misconceptions of countries other than ours. It is getting better though; our country has drastically reduced racism and has generally thought of each other more equally. 

In my opinion, America is an exceptional country, but there are still quite a few things we could improve on.

Out With the New; In With the Old?

We are living in a society where things are constantly changing and being improved upon; computers get faster, buildings get larger, infrastructure gets more advanced. One thing always amazes me, though; our society’s embrace of styles from the past. Everywhere I look, I see people featuring styles from the 90s, 80s, and even further into the past. Whether it be bright neon colors or checkerboard patterned clothing, people allover the world are featuring styles from the past.

My question is simple; why is it that society defaults back to the past for style when practically every other element of our lives are consumed by the future? Many people would argue that this is just a fad and will eventually pass. I feel differently, though. I would argue that this phenomena is something bigger than just a fad; it's a recognition of our culture.  

My belief is that our society, while interested in the future and growth of our culture, also wants to embrace the culture of previous generations. Inevitably, we want to remember what the past was like so we can appreciate it and use lessons from it to improve the future. Even if the majority of people are mimicking the styles of the past just as a fad, without thinking about it, there was always a person who started that fad; how did they come up with the style? Somewhere along the line, someone had to have a reason behind recreating the styles of the past, and I believe that reason was to celebrate and remember what previous generations were like.