Halloween!

Personally, I am a huge fan of the Halloween tradition. I enjoy every aspect of Halloween from deciding what costume to wear to the late night scary movies that keep me up at night. I think that Halloween is the perfect time of the year to unveil all of your crazy decorations and go all out in the spirit of Halloween. It is also a tradition in which not everybody is obligated to participate in and some people choose not to at all. My parents however, took Halloween pretty seriously and when it came to deciding what costume I was going to wear, my mom did not just take a trip over to Wal-Mart. My mom and I have always thrived off of each other’s creative energy and I’m glad to say that was apparent through the majority of my Halloween costumes we created when I was a kid. Whatever I wanted to be, my mom and I would somehow devise a plan to make the most extravagant costume that all the neighborhood kids would look at with envy. My costumes have ranged from a big purple butterfly to wearing a box from which I “sold” stuffed animals out of. I have had very fond Halloween memories throughout the years and like every kid, I drooled over, counted and hoarded every piece of candy that I gathered during beggar’s night. Although waking up in the morning with the worst stomach ache and being as tired as ever, Halloween was always one of my favorite traditions and to this day, still is.

My roommates and I celebrating our favorite time of the year..HALLOWEEN!

The Process of Revision

I think that the process of revision is a very important and necessary step that must occur while composing a piece of writing. Many of us may think that our papers are perfect the first time around and acquire no type of change whatsoever. However, this happening, is extremely rare and for the majority of us, the process of revision is an inevitable aspect of writing that we must learn to deal with. For me, I am never fully satisfied with my original draft and I understand that if i take some time to reread and make the necessary changes, I will be more confident in the outcome of my writing. In order for this confidence to occur, it usually takes me at least three revisions before my writing is something that I am satisfied with. I believe that revising can have nothing more than a positive impact on your writing by making the final draft more sophisticated and well thought out. Once compared with the original draft, the revised version and its differences are clearly evident. The structure of the paper as a whole as well in the sentences shows more fluency and my main ideas are stronger with supporting evidence. Without the revision process, my writing would have been lacking in certain aspects and would not have achieved its full potential.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created over 6000 pieces of art throughout the short 20 years of his career. His work consisted of many different types of mediums such as canvas, watercolor, print, posters, drawings, ceramic and even glass work. Typically, his art portrayed people or groups of people in their natural working environment. He specifically enjoyed capturing groups of people enjoying the 19^th century festive Parisian nightlife, particularly at Le Moulin Rouge. In one of his paintings, entitled “La Goulue and Valentine Le Desosse” Toulouse-Lautrec depicts the Parisian nightlife through a dancing scene at the Moulin Rouge. As the title of the painting implies, the two main figures dancing in his piece are La Goulue and Valentine Le Desosse. Upon researching this particular piece of art, I came to realize that La Goulue is actually just the stage name for the French cancan dancer Louise Weber.  Valentine Le Desosse was also another stage name for Jacques Renaudin, a wine merchant who enjoyed dancing in his spare time. Louise and Jacques enjoyed dancing together at the newly opened Moulin Rouge and became instant stars. Louise however, stole the show with her outrageous and captivating performances and quickly became one of the highest paid entertainers of her time. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec targets the members of the Parisian night life by painting images of popular performers in a renowned setting like Le Moulin Rouge. The way that Toulouse-Lautrec portrays this painting shows that he has a great appreciation for La Goulue, Valentine le Desosse and the fascinating night life of the people of Paris.

TV and its Impact

As a child, I clearly remember what my favorite television shows were throughout the years. When I was younger, I recall watching harmless shows like Barney, Mr.Rogers, and shows that depicted the idea of friendship and that “caring is sharing”. As I grew older, I started watching shows with more of a “personality” and when I say personality, I mean they made more of an impact and were more influential on my life. Once I started watching these shows with “personality” I began to be more conscious of how I looked, dressed and acted around other people based on how the characters in the show looked, dressed and acted. Although this behavior of conforming to what children witness throughout their everyday life, is normal, it does however make a significant impact on the way they perceive themselves as well as the people and the world around them.  The way that television shows and movies are able to somewhat overpower a child’s views and opinions is evident in today’s society. For the last two birthdays that my five year old nephew has had, the theme and gifts that he got were based off the popular movies, Transformers and Star Wars. I find it interesting how a child that young can want absolutely everything in his life to revolve around these two movies, and nothing else. 

Looking back on my childhood, I cannot say that if I didn’t watch any form of television, I would have turned out to be a smarter, more independent and a more successful human being. TV, in my eyes can have both a positive and negative impact on a child’s life. It is the responsibility of the parent to insure that the television their children are watching will benefit rather than hinder their development through life.