My Blog Reflection

      I still haven’t decided if I am into blogging or not. I think for a school assignment it’s a cool project because not a lot of teachers have to make a blog and post your thoughts about what were discussing in class on a blog. I have never made a blog before this class so this was my first time using one. I didn’t keep it very up to date through out the whole class but I liked the things that I put into my blog. I felt like I gave it the effort I wanted to and what came out of it was nice. I liked putting my real feeling about the homework and what we were discussing into the blog instead of a homework assignment. I liked the media blog that I put pictures from my iPhone. Overall I thought the blog was a good idea for an English class but it wasn’t my favorite thing of the class. I never fully got into the idea of blogging but now that I’m doing it I don’t see why it is so bad. I see why people like to do it everyday. I will probably not continue blogging but I am happy that I got to experience it from this class. 

The Namesake movie VS. The Namesake book

          I had mixed thoughts about the movie The Namesake compared to the book. I thought the book was so great because there was such fantastic detail and you could imagine almost every scene because the author would describe it to you so thoroughly. In the movie I was surprised because they had to cut so much of the book out of the movie to make it all fit and make the movie make sense. I thought they could have done a better job of putting more detail like the author had in the book.

            As for the parts that they did put good detail and followed the book I thought it was great. I thought the characters that played Ashima and Ashoke were exactly who I would have cast for that part. They fit the character description all the way from the way they looked from the way they acted. Also the man who played Gogol did a great job portraying Gogols life through the ups and downs. There were some parts of the movie that were straight from the book and I noticed that very easily because they did such a great job making it exactly like the book.

            Over all I thought the movie was a good movie but for me it didn’t make complete sense because they left out so much detail from the book. I would not recommend it to any of my friends unless they have read the book. I would recommend some of my friends to read the book and if they liked it, to watch the movie so you can see the characters you have always imagined on the big screen. 

Namesake Questions

As Gogol mourns his father’s death, what great qualities of his father’s character come to mind? What connection was there between him and his father that he now appreciates more than ever before? How might his father’s memory give him a firmer grasp on his own identity in the years to come?

When Gogol is mourning his fathers' death, he remembers all the great times he had with his father, all the time he was always there for Gogol. I feel like Gogol appreciates his father more now because he has become less embarrassed by his name and his family and he learns that his family is the closest thing possible to him and he can’t take that for granted because some day they won’t be there anymore. Gogol learns to appreciate his family and culture more after his fathers' death because he sees how important it was to him and is to his mother. 

The meaning of beautiful through my iPhone

            The one thing in life that will always make me feel better, always calm me down, always put a smile on my face, and will always be there for me is the beach. I love the beach more than almost anything else in life. I love the California Pacific Ocean and I love the New York Atlantic Ocean, any ocean anywhere is my favorite place in the world. There is something about the beach that calms me down and makes me take a step back from reality and let’s me relax. I have always found the waves crashing against the shore so soothing for me. Nothing else makes me happier then spending time in the sun on the beach frolicking in the water. All of the pictures shown in this blog I have taken on my iPhone. I find this pretty funny after reading the short essay by Andrew Sullivan about people living in the iWorld. I notice now that even when I am at the beach, relaxing and taking a break from the world I still have my iPhone out because I want to capture the beautiful moment I am experiencing.  Sullivan states in his short essay that people are missing out on life because they are plugged into their iPhones and not paying attention to the world around them. Sullivan didn’t think about using an iPhone to capture the moment in life that you are enjoying. I love the beach and I love my iPhone and together they make the best memories I will always be able to look back and reminisce on.

South Hampton Beach in New York over summer

Bodega Bay Beach in December, cold weather but still the beach is beautiful

Watching some friends Skim board at the beach at sunset

This is one of my most favorite  beach pictures I have ever taken, love how the waves look crashing onto shore

Enjoying the warm Atlanic Ocean water with my Mother, the one who gave me ocean fever 

What it takes to be a "Fiesel"

          Family to me means the people in your life that know you the best and are always there for you. Family is very important to me because they mean so much to me. I care a lot about my family and I know they care about me just as much. I would do anything for my family anytime, any day.  

          I don’t feel like I am a certain person because of my last name Fiesel, but I feel like I do things a certain way because I am a Fiesel.  Everyone in my family has a really good work ethic; we all work very hard for what we get. All of us have jobs that we always give 110% towards. We are always putting in extra hours when other people are slacking off. Fiesel doesn’t mean anything cool in a different language but we are hard working people.

Is a TV in the bedroom really the worst thing possible?

 In the short essay “Turn Off the TV Before It Ruins Us” by David Nyhan, he discusses the effects television has on young kids today and how their life can be affected by it. “More than half of the American‘s kids have TV sets in their bedrooms, where they can pig out on whatever vile fare is lowest common denominator of the day.” I just got a TV set in my room no longer than 3 years ago; my parents never let me have one before because they knew it was bad for a young kid to grow up with a TV in their room.  Maybe I am a better person today because they never allowed me to watch as much TV as I wanted, I will never know if they were right or not. 

iProducts Taking Over The iWorld

The type of media consumer I am, is the one discussed in the short essay “Society is Dead: We Have Retreated into the iWorld” by Andrew Sullivan. I own an iPhone, and iMac, and an iPod and I constantly use all of them at the same time. I watch TV to hear about all the newest gossip on Kim Kardashian and how much money she is spending on her wedding. I am consumed in the world of technology and it started when I received my first iPod when I was 12. I have always loved to listen to music and an iPod made that easier for me, I could take all my favorite music with me on the go where ever I was. Apple has made me the technology user that I am today, that makes me have an iproduct attached to me at all times.