My Parents Fear for Me (Extra Credit)

During interview I asked my mom what was her fear for me once I moved out of the house. Her response was brief yet packed with mixed emotions. The words that she used to describe who I am were really touching in the beginning. The ultimate fear that most mothers goes through would be the fact that if their child was going to die before them. However, she feared the most for my safety once I go to college. Even though I have 10 siblings in total, my mom still feels as if I need to stay home when I attend college. Her fears were all over the place during the interview. She did not cry but I sort of sense that she will have to eventually deal with the fact that I would have to move out the house soon. I think in general my mom is afraid of change and changing what she has been used to. My dad however, was clam and relax. He simply said that he fears that I will no longer need him once I grow up and become more independent as a young adult.
My mom and dad didn’t really say much because their emotions are limited when trying to expressing themselves. They see other people that change into a totally different person in a bad way and they think that that would be me in a couple of years.
After the whole interview with my mom and dad, they made me realized how much they cared for me. I know they both fear about me once I go to college. I think that pretty much all parents go through a transition when their children leave their sides. Since, been living with them pretty much my whole life. It’s going to be really hard for me as well.

Minh: Mom, what is the ultimate fear that you have for me?
Mom: I want you to stay home when you go to college
Minh: Is that your #1 fear for me?
Mom: Yes, I see kids becoming bad and different. I don’t want that to happen to you.
Minh: OKAY…So why you think that I’ll change?
Mom: Kids do stupid things Minh!

Minh: Dad, what’s your fear for me?
Dad: When you grow up. You might not need me anymore
Minh: Aww…
Dad: Your older brothers and sisters are own their own and sometime I miss them needing me.
Minh: So that’s what you fear for me?
Dad: Yes

The Blinding Of The Sun (Extra Credit)

Throughout the novel imagery and symbolism plays a major role in capturing the true essence
of a human being under pressure. The sun on the beach is a reoccurring symbol within the The Stranger. It drives him to act upon things that are unusual and life threatening, as a result killing an innocent Arab. The novel also reveals a sense of urgency, and can be represented through the repeated hot weather. A comparison between the sun and the waves of the ocean exposes the main character's vulnerability and personality.

Meursault's lifestyle is chaotic because is subjected to not knowing how to control his actions. We can see this throughout recklessness in killing the Arab shows that he is not human and the nature around him makes him different. However, he feels a new sense of pride and dignity when he is with his mistress. When he is not with her, he resorts to nonchalance life in which he does not care about anything. While he does not care about anything, he does not consider the many consequences that may hurt him in the future. In fact, he completely disregards them, as shown on the beach. As he is on the beach standing over the Arab, the sun is beating down on his face. The hot light from the sun acts as the drive that pushes him to killing the Arab because it reflects from him, and the rays from the sun represent the rays of his actions that sprout out from him.

The sun, the source of life, is constantly irritating Meursault as he is about to kill the Arab. His agitation with the sun shows his hatred towards life, or at least his irritation with it. He does not necessarily despise life but he doesn't care whether or not he is alive. This is why the hot sun beating down on his face represents the truth and the fact that he is alive and he should be living; however, he doesn't appreciate the sun. Instead, he does not like it and runs away in the shade of unhappiness as he murdered the Arab. He doesn't care about life, which is shown through his lack of consideration at his own mother's funeral. When she died, the sun was beating down real hot. That represents how no matter what, he cannot escape the sun. The sun, representing truth and reality, is hitting him hard, yet he does not see that he can use it as a light to see rather than something to hide from.

It's easy for Meursault to settle for less than the best because he believes that he can settle for anything. Instead of striving and struggling to achieve ambitious goals, he just goes with the flow. The sun reminds us of this because no matter how much light is on him, he is still unable to see. Instead of seeing with the sun, he allows it to blind him from seeing right decisions and making wise choices in life.

His death is the result of his carelessness and unwillingness to be optimistic about life and use the sun, which represents hope and the future, to its fullest potential. When he runs away from the sun, he is eventually going to die because he needs the sun to live, physically and mentally. It is a source of enlightenment that he constantly ignores throughout the entire novel. He is not a religious person, which is why he gets so defensive when the priest comes and talks to him at the end. The priest is the sun that tried to shine light on him before he passed away; it was his last test, which he failed, and which is why he had to die in the end. He refused to accept this light of help. His ignorance and the way he does not know how to treat women, his mistress for example, makes him suffer the consequences of a future death. Because he does not care so much, he is hidden in the darkness while the sun is beating down on everyone around him. He cannot face the facts because he does not know that he is even wrong for taking life for granted. He is taking the source of energy and wisdom for granted and not even seeing that it is there to help guide him. All his actions and decisions are based off of the reflections of others, which is why the sun is beating down on him hard at the beach; it is trying to reveal the truth, but he cannot seem to see it. He is too blind by the same sun that cannot seem to guide him.

In summation, The Stranger is a novel that depicts the life of a man who is too blind to see reality. He is brightened by the sun, but cannot even see that he is being enlightened. Albert Camus does this on purpose to show that no matter what, there is always a light. The sun, which represents this light, is in focus. However, it is up to the person and individual to make the right choices with this sunlight. Meursault, who ignores this brightness, ends in a failure of life and a death. Camus' repetition of the symbol is not only creative, but also impacting since it really contradicts Meursault's life. The author shows the world that no matter what situation one is in, they must accept the light and use it to guide themselves rather than stare right into it and get blinded.

Friday the 13th.

Hello there, wow its been a long time since I blogged huh? Well Its around 11 pm. I just got home like 2 hours ago. Still tried and I smell like IN-N-OUT BURGERS LOL! I thought that I would have some bad luck today but, so far my day has been good. I start doing video blogging now. I know, writing is much better. But, sometime it hurts my hands and fingers. However, I have the chance to open my own pod cast channel on youtube within this month. Hope you guys stay tune! I have a audio file that is attach to it. DL it and listen to me talk lol. Who knows maybe one day I can become a famous radio host! Anyways, for those that have experience some bad luck today, call me and tell me all about it! I really want to know. =)

Failure to Rise

A interesting topic to be talking about. A well known journalist like PAUL KRUGMAN from the New York Time wrote this article about Mr. Obama's stimulus bill. He compared the pros and con of the bill by exposing the true that it might have a "failure to rise" however, he has high hopes for the president by trying to help families that are in need except caving in a giving the Republicans a huge tax cut. There were numbers being thrown in this article. Krugman discuses about the Bush administration and how what they did to favor their party. Paul stated that "Bush administration’s $2 trillion in tax cuts or the $1 trillion and counting spent in Iraq — has bordered on the deranged." No matter what the outcome will be the stimulus check will be given out with in these few months. It was clear when the House and Senate voted upon the purposed amount.

My Views

I have high hope for this Stimulus to be a successful one because we all know that in order for the wheel to spin faster again, we need to start spending. However, I think that most Americans will start to save their check and use it when times get rough. What Paul K. said could maybe be true. Maybe this stimulus check will have the failure to rise. Well, we don't know yet no do we?

Open Heart Surgery

The Summary of the Article: Open Heart Surgery

People around the world are dying each day from different complication with their hearts. This article discusses about the risky surgery known as open heart transplant. This treatment can only be order when a patient is suffering from a serious case of heart failure. It’s pretty simple if you really look at it. Doctors basically take out the old and damaged heart and replace it with a donated heart. “Today, more than 85 percent of heart recipients will live at least an additional year and more than 70 percent will live five more years. However, patients continue to face a lengthy waiting list to receive a donor heart.” A heart donation is really rare and sometime people can die from waiting for a donor. Over time scientists have done many researches on this topic. They have created mechanical hearts to save lives. Since there is a shortage of people willing to donated their heart these machine hearts are the second best things. When a person go through heart transplant there is a high risk of other complications as well. After their surgery the have to follow up with hard doses of medicine after being discharge from the hospital.
My Views
I think that the health fields are becoming very high tech! I idea of having a heart planted into your body is really amazing! I think that people should have the best chance to survive. I like the idea of having a machine that pumps your heart instead of a real one. This article made me realized that I should take care of my body especially my heart.

50 Killed as Plane Hits House near Buffalo

A mysterious “black box” that was from a “Continental Airlines plane that crashed late Thursday night near Buffalo, killing 50 people”. The box contained explosive chemical that triggered the explosion.

I think that the officials should have checked things that didn’t seem right. And the fact that 50 people died from the crash was shocking! I can’t imagine that.

Bailout Plan: $2.5 Trillion and a Strong U.S. Hand

The article is talking about our Nation’s trouble and the administrations like Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary is proposing to spend 2.5 Trillion to save the a once wealthy nation. They have a vision of bailing out private investors. These topics are very controversial because some people like tax payers don’t agree with it.

I think that if we are going to spend such large amount of money to bail out companies and private investors THAT SCREWED UP in the first place. We should set guidelines for them to follow.

Poster Boy

This article is summarizing an adventure of two street artists that is roaming the subways in New York City. The creative artists use materials that are around them such as advertisements on the walls of subways. They cut and paste different images together to get a final result that changes the meaning of the original ad. Some people find these cool and creative but, officials of the city consider this vandalism. The self graffiti artist known as Poster Boy was arrested and is waiting on trail.


I personally think that this is really cool and that they should have the right to express whatever they want to send out. However, with that being said. We still need to respect the laws of the city. The Poster Boy is ruining thousands of dollars by rearranging the advertisements that companies are spending throughout the city.

The Lose of an Epic Teacher

The school was in deep mourning when they discovered that a beloved teacher had passed away from a deadly motorcycle accident. It was the first day of the Winter break when a veteran teacher that had been with Phillip and Sala Burton High school for almost 15 years was announce dead on Friday night. The shocking news eventually made its way to current and former students. The news set a toxic blow to the kids that she used to teach while they were in school.
No one knew how to cope with the situation except help comfort each other. Within two days, a huge vigil was organized by former and current students along with teachers to honor Ms. Bonnie Hansen. Teachers and students went in front of her classroom to share old memories about her grace and passion in wanting to help her students. Tears and laughter were shared.
The news was so powerful that local bay area news station was there to cover the story. Overall, Ms. Bonnie Hansen was a great and caring teacher that died at a young age. Her legacy and epic teaching will continue to repeat it self through the science wing of Burton High School.

My Thoughts and Views about the Stranger

After the seminar most of our classmates had good decisions about the true meaning of the sun as a symbolic message throughout the book. I tired to find the reason why the sun was a reoccurring theme within the book. However, there were many other characters that had some meaning as well.
What I found interesting from the seminar was the fact that Ben and Nourel mentioned about the man and his dog and how they play a purpose in playing the role of god and his followers. At times there were topic that was unclear but it was fun to listen to. My views about The Stranger can be summarized as a very cryptic book. Because the main character always had my mind thinking about his actions. I just don’t understand how he can shoot a person out of the blue. I think that he is having a mental problem with himself more than ever. Because, he mentioned a lot about the sun causing a discomfort towards him.
I enjoyed listening to Kelly’s reason when I asked the question if he was religious or not. Kelly was later supported by Shirley when they both said that he is psychologically detached from the world around him. That was quite a strong statement because I thought that was just stressed out, I never thought that he could possibly be crazy.
Now if you mentioned it. The idea of the main character being crazy can be reasonable because when his mother died, he really didn’t care. His mysterious actions leave the reader confused and frustrated. When reading the first chapter I was still trying to see what kind of character he really is.
Other people from the Socratic seminar used his girlfriend as a portal of this releasing his stress. Also the comparison of the sun and ocean waves was really brilliant. I interpret it as a way for him to get away from the stress around him. I notice that when he’s under the sun his personality was really irritable and when he’s under the waves, he seems more relaxed and chill.
Maybe the author is trying to let us see when he is trying to transition the main character from being mad and angry to being relaxed and chill.

I session of the Socratic Seminar left me with many more questions about the main character and his true emotions. I am looking forward to seeing how he treats people around him later on.

Lilly Ledbetter Bill

Pretty much this whole article is about a paycheck that has been way over due. Ms. Lilly Ledbetter now at the age of 70 has finally gotten her closure by president Obama about her salary when she worked alongside with men. Ms. Ledbetter was one of the many thousands or millions of women that was mistreated by companies that favored men when it comes to salary raise. Even thought they work for the same position Ms. Ledbetter had a much lower salary. Now, she has finally won that battle. She reported to the New York Times saying "I'm so excited I can hardly stand it,"

I think that this is slowly making a huge difference too many women across America. Even though back then Ms. Ledbetter files her case and eventually went to the Supreme Court and lost. Today in this article she had proven that things can always change and that this article will impact the future paycheck of women working in America.

The Bacon and Sausage Explosion

The fact that a person that can eat 2 pound of bacon and 1 pound of sausages is really discussing! But this internet recipe is super popular in Kansas City. It was first discovered in a BBQ competition and eventually got enough hype to inspire food fanatics to blog about it in their websites. This dish is definitely not meant for vegetation or health fanatics (weight watchers). Many people predicted that this man meal will be featured during the SUPER BOWL.

I THINK THAT IS REALLY FUNNY BECAUSE OUR NATION IS ALREADY BECOING A FATTING NATION. Why would we encourage a product that has so many calories? However, with that being said I don't mind trying it. =)

American's Nation About Fast FOOD Intake

This article talks about the history of the most popular American dish known as Mac and Cheese. The hearty dish can pretty much make a meat eater satisfied. Over the years vegetarians and food savvy individuals have create many verities of this wholesome dish. Its easy to prepare and satisfying to the taste buds have made most Americans addict. The writer of this article took it to himself by furthering her knowledge by studying with top chief Julia Moskin in recreating this recipe. For a Mac and Cheese dish to make a statement, fine cheese maker like Michael Dave grates most of his cheese by hand. Overall, the art in making Mac and cheese is ever expanding and where ever there is cheese and pasta there will be Americans to follow it.

I think that Americans should learn how to limit their addiction. I like Mac and Cheese but, it seems as if these people don't fool around when it comes to their Mac and cheese. Overall, the article was a fun topic to read and I really enjoyed it.