ROYGBIV or Is It ROYGBBB?

Colorblindness is kind of a misleading word. The word blind means to not be able to see so it's easy for people to assume that a person who is colorblind can't see colors at all. This isn't true at all. Colorblindness is the inability to see certain colors when paired with others. Instead of seeing all the separate colors in a painting, a person with colorblindness will see most but not all because some colors will blend to form one.  Colorblindness is general found in white males. I could talk about the genetics aspect but that's kind of long. If you want to know ask me. Also colorblind people are missing cones in the back of retina that reflect certain colors. I think that science behind it is really interesting because I am colorblind. A fun fact about colorblindness is that it is almost as common as being left handed. 

So some of you might remember that during the Venture activities I shared that I am colorblind. It doesn't bother me at all and that's why I'm comfortable letting people know. I figured it saves any awkward moments in the future. Like imagine if you asked me for a purple marker and I brought back a blue one...I just think that would be awkward if you didn't know. The more you get to know me, the more you realize how much I will joke about it. I don't care if you direct jokes at me either. Chances are I have already heard it. 

What does bother me is when I first tell someone I am colorblind, they quickly interrupt and ask me what color this and that is. I usually responded with a smile and give them an answer that is extremely off. Like if you were to point to a white board I would answer with neon orange or similar. That person is then usually unsure if I am serious or joking. I break the tension but saying I'm kidding and tend to just say what color that object is. I also explain briefly what colorblindness really means. 

As for my what I'm getting to, is colorblindness considered a disability though? I've always felt like it isn't. It doesn't disable me from being a viable part of society. Share your opinions, if you feel strongly that it is a disability I won't be offended at all. 

Inexpensive Fun

Today, a few buddies of mine were hanging out and trying to think of something to do that didn't cost to much. We figured that none of us wanted to spend more than $10 on anything. We sat around coming up with ideas, like play a pick-up basketball game, golf, and disc golf. All those would have been fun but out of no where my friend Kurt said we should buy dry ice and make bombs. 

We all looked at him confused and not really sure if he was joking or not. He went into more detail about what it took. All that was needed was a large amount of plastic bottles, water, and dry ice. We went to Harris Teeter to see how much it would cost. Turns out you can get about five pounds of dry for just under $5. So we bought ten pounds. We went back to the house, found about 35 plastic bottles, filled up two milk jugs with water and headed out to a park. 

At the park we broke up the dry ice and filled a bottle up about one to two inches with dry ice. Then filled the bottle about half way up, sealed the cap tight, threw it away from us and waited for it to explode. Depending on how much dry ice and water you use, the longer it takes to explode. We all knew it would be loud but we didn't expect it to make our ears ring. The bombs are relatively safe because they don't do any collateral damage to the environment around you. For a little less than $10 we had about six hours of booming fun. 

"I'm Hiting In The Bating Cage"

I'm not entirely sure what my dialect would be called. I lived in Indiana up until high school and then moved to Charlotte. I guess the best way is to describe it as Mid-American with a touch of Southerner. In Indiana you don't say soda, you say pop. My aunt told me that they say pop because there was a soft drink called Pop Cola that originated in Indiana. I'm not sure how much of that is true though. Also, I feel like in Indiana it's more proper but maybe that is just how I was raised. My family never used the words ain't and especially y'all until we moved down here. I now use them regularly even though my mom hates it. There is also the difference with sweet tea and an iced tea. I remembered going to a fast food place as a kid and asking for an iced tea and the cashier just looked at me funny. In general the words that are used up there and down here are different but they mean the same thing. 

As for accent, I think it stops at my pronunciation of the letter "T." I'm not entirely sure if it is even an accent, it might just be the way I say the words.  It really isn't noticeable unless there is to hard sounding Ts in one word where the second T is being of a word ending in "-tion." Like if I were to say "I was hitting in the batting cage" it would be more like "I was hiting in the bating cage." I've noticed quit a few people do that with their Ts and always kind of wondered what region that was associated with. 

Lastly I'm not sure how this relates to my dialect or accent, but when I first thought of the way I talked the words shoulder and soldier came to mind. I've always had trouble pronouncing these words and I'm not sure why. I guess I can't make the two different sounds or something. 

Social Class Literacy

In the reading The Elements of Literacy it briefly talked about how literacy can be defined with social classes. Meaning that the high class was the most literate, and the low class was the least literate with the middle falling somewhere in between. I completely disagree and feel like this is stereotyping social classes. It kind of makes me sick that someone thinks that they are more literate than your just because they are looked higher upon in society. Think to yourself, is Paris Hilton more literate than you just because she is of a higher class than you? No one wants to be told they are illiterate, so why even base part of the definition of literacy on class? Also, the  reading says that to define literacy is like defining the word love. With that in mind can one even define literacy as being classed based? If you were to use social class "love" in replace of social class "literacy", would that even make sense?

I remember my Economics teacher in high school sharing a story about a student he had that e-mailed him about how he had got accepted into Harvard law after attending UNC-Chapel Hill on a full-ride academic scholarship. He told my class that the kid in high school was always picked on because it was obvious his family struggled to make ends meet. At the time, I thought about what a great story and left it at that. After reading the class based part of the Elements of Literacy, I realized that according to the that definition this kid wasn't very literate. That just isn't true. The kid had to be exceptional literate for Chapel Hill to think highly enough about him to grant him a scholarship and to be accepted into Harvard law.

Yes, I know there are plenty of examples that fight for and against my argument. I think that in order to say how literate someone is based on social class there would have to be a separate social class that was just based on literacy. It would have to have very clear guidelines on how to measure literacy if that is even possible.

Book 17, Chapter 8 of My Life.

With the baseball season approaching I’ve realized how much I miss the sport, the competition, the team and the brotherhood we formed. I have been reminiscing of the memories I made with my team on and off the field.  One such memory sticks out.

We were heading home from losing in the second round of state by a walk off homerun. It was a three hour bus ride back to school. We were all disappointed in the result, knowing that we were one out away from beating the top seed. For the first 45 minutes to an hour no one said a word. Than when we stopped for dinner at Cici’s the mood changed. It had hit all six seniors, including me, that we just played our last high school baseball game. We had already lost and we didn’t want to sit on a quiet bus for two more hours. We decided to start the fun at Cici’s.

We went to the arcade area and made sure no employee was looking. We tilted this bouncy ball machine and dumped out about 40 bouncy balls. After we stuffed our pockets we got a few more teammates and went outside. Across the parking lot was a Wal-Mart. We decided to throw the balls at the Wal-Mart door and try and get some bouncy balls into the store. It was a lot more difficult than it sounds. You had to time the throw so that someone was walking through the automatic doors the same time your ball was too. We had thrown maybe 15 balls and made two through the door. A few throws later my teammate threw his second ball. It looked like the third ball was to land inside Wal-Mart. We weren’t sure if it made it through the doors but no one expected what was going to happen. The ball was thrown a little shorter than expected but it got two lucky bounces. The first bounce was off the hood of a Tahoe and then off that bounce it hit a gentleman walking into the store on the head. We all stopped, looked at each, and ran right back into Cici’s.

This event lead to jokes and a much better, relaxed feel on the ride back home. Little things like that were what defined my high school baseball team. This story might not seem amusing to some but it means a lot to me because even with losing my last baseball game, my teammates and I were able to look past that and spend the last two hours of the season the only way we knew how. 

The Odd Future Other

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, also known as OFWGKTA or Odd Future, is a hip-hop/rap group based out California that has exponentially gained popularity within the last year. They are known for their "I don't give a damn" attitude, which is flawlessly transferred to their music. If someone has heard of Odd Future they usually know about the most popular member/ group leader Tyler the Creator. Bigger fans know about Earl Sweatshirt and Hodgy Beats. All three members wake up every morning wondering what new trouble they can get into today. I have no problem with what they do but many people feel their loud, rambunctious, and sometimes criminal activities should be immediately stopped. Odd Future's lifestyle is just as responsible as their music to their rise in the music industry. But one member, Frank Ocean, chooses to focus on his music more than his publicity. The little known Odd Future member's music falls more under the rhythm and blues (R&B) genre than hip-hop/rap. He doesn't sing about violence and controversial subjects like his counterpart. His music is stemmed from his life experiences that have made him stronger and about life that he questions. One of my favorite songs he has written is "American Wedding". In this song he describes how the weddings don't seem real anymore and it's about what the spouses get from each other if they were to divorce. Another one of my favorite songs is "We All Try". He shows his personality very well in this song by stating what he believes and what he doesn't believe. Frank Ocean balances out Odd Future with his harmonious and peaceful approach to his music and life. Below I have attached both "American Wedding" and "We All Try"

"American Wedding" - Frank Ocean

 Click play at the very top of the page. 

http://currenthiphop.com/FrankOcean/mixtapes/NostalgiaUltra/songs/americanwedding/uhzco4

"We All Try" - Frank Ocean