New York Times Post

The article I read on the New York Times website was called "Mars Rover Finding Suggests Once Habitable Enviroment". This article spoke about The Mars Rover, and how its broken wheel helped scientist discover more evidence that Mars was once habitable.Instead of using the pinnacle of scientific technology to find the evidence, it turned out to be a good old- fashioned accident that found it.

After the rover had broken its wheel, it could only go backward, dragging its broken leg behind it. And thanks to this accident, scientists spotted a shiny spot in the trail behind the rover. After scrupulous examination, it was found that the shiny spot was silica. They took divisive action, in a sense, when they broke apart several rocks in order to see if the silica was just superficial. It turns out it was also in the rocks. Can you imagine, real life in this capacious, empty landscape. They didnt need to fabricate any evidence in order to astound the public, they just needed a broken wheel. Almost seems like they connived to do this, doesnt it?

i think this is a very important discovery, because it compounds the idea that there was once life on Mars. And maybe there still is? Who knows? Maybe next time the rover will blow up and discover a city. :)

Edited Waiting Room

The Waiting Room Reflection

By: Coli Barth

Have you ever wondered how different your life would be if you lived a hundred years ago? Two hundred? Can you possibly imagine the changes, the differences you would have to face? Well, after reading Lisa Loomers “The Waiting Room”, you won’t have to imagine.

The play we read last week in class, called The Waiting Room, by Lisa Loomer, was a comical, yet deep story of three women as they are viewed through the changing times. This satire had numerous key messages throughout, and used the quirkiness of its characters to show them. For example, an important message it imparted was that beauty was inside of you, not only on the outside. This was showed by Wanda, who finally realized this at the end of the play after being told she had cancer and having surgery to remove the tumors. She finds this out as she is telling a story to Forgiveness from Heaven. And speaking of Forgiveness, she herself finds a way to free herself from the bonds of "beauty" by the end of the play. We are not sure whether she simply falls asleep or dies, but I think she really does die, because her freedom is so complete. And finally, Victoria, the "tightly corseted Victorian Woman", who was bound by her proper ideals, finally frees herself from the clutches of both her husband, and her era’s beliefs of propriety. Simply by convincing her husband that she can read Freud is something huge for her, because before she had been so ashamed by it. But at the same time, even this came at a price. And this price was her uterus, because she finally agreed with her husband that it was what was causing her hysteria.

Lisa Loomer says a lot in her play about today's ideals on beauty, health, perfection, and the roles of men and women in the world. For example, Wanda plays a powerful role in this exemplification. She had breasts implants because she thought that they would make her beautiful to other people, as well as to herself. However, in reality, they just ended up causing her far more pain and suffering, when it came out that they caused her cancer, and she had to have her breast removed. Women sometimes have to sacrifice themselves and their health in order just to achieve today's standards of "beauty". And Victoria is an example of the standards back in the 19th and 18th century. She’s very controlled, very polite, very mindful of her husbands wishes, not really good for anything except taking care of the children and the house. But under it all, she’s high-strung; she wants something better in life, something more exciting. The same can be said about Forgiveness. She is always cheery, so much that she can be considered a bit of an airhead. And the "beautiful" image in her time was small feet. And she feels no regret about her foot binding, not even when she starts loosing her toes. Her case is a lot like Victoria’s, the women are supposed to be meek, and follow whatever their husbands say.

The characters progress quite a lot throughout the play. Wanda finds the true meaning of inner beauty, and starts caring less about what other people think about her appearance, because that's not what really matters. When she first tells Forgiveness the story of Snow White, she says "If you're young and beautiful, some old broads gonna try to knock you off. And if you're ugly or old, you're screwed." (pg 74) And after she comes up with her own story, she seems to realize that you don't need implants or surgery or magic to make yourself beautiful. You're beautiful as you are. So, she progressed a lot. And Forgiveness found a way to escape her bonds, both through Wanda's story, and through her "possible" death. She unwinds herself from her "chains", theoretically. And finally, Victoria finally lets herself be herself, at least in some sense. She doesn't let her husband have control over her completely. Although he still has a lot of power. He still made her have a hysterectomy.

Ken and Larry are a sort of connection to the real world during this whole play. They have normal modern day problems, divorces and cats at the vet. But at the same time, they are a huge part of the plot, because they are arguing over whether a controversial serum that supposedly cures cancer should be allowed or not. They're involved in a very large, very twisted plot. Lisa Loomer is really showing how the pharmaceutical industry really isn't in it to help people, but rather for financial gain. They don't care if something actually works, as long as they get paid well for it.

I think Lisa Loomer concluded her play in the way she did because she wanted the play to end itself. She ended it in a way that gave the reader a chance to make their own ending, however they wanted. You could figure out whether forgiveness dies or not, what happens to Wanda, how Victoria fares. I don't think I would change much in the ending, if I was given the chance, Although I would definitely write an third act, just to make it more....fulfilled. I would explain a little more about what happened to Wanda, how she treated her cancer and all. But, overall, I really think this was a satisfactory ending.

The Waiting Room Reflection

The play we read last week in class, called The Waiting Room, by Lisa Loomer, was a comical, yes deep story of three women as they are viewed through the changing times. This satire had numerous key messages throughout, and used the quirkiness of its characters to show them. For example, an important message it imparted was that beauty was inside of you, not only outside. This was showed by Wanda, who finally realized this at the end of the play after being told she had cancer and having surgery to remove the tumors. She finds this out as she is telling a story to Forgiveness from Heaven. And speaking of Forgiveness, she herself finds a way to free herself from the bonds of "beauty" by the end of the play. We are not sure whether she simply falls asleep or dies, but i think she really does die, because her freedom is so complete. And finally, Victoria, the "tightly corseted Victorian Woman", who was bound by her proper ideals, finally frees herself from the clutched of both her husband, and this eras beliefs of propriety. Simply by convincing her husband that she can read Freud is something huge for her, because before she had been so ashamed by it. But at the same time, even this came at a price. And this price was her uterus, because she finally agreed with her husband that they were what was causing her hysteria.

Lisa Loomer says a lot about today's ideals on beauty, health, perfection, and the roles of men and women in the world. For example, Wanda plays a powerful role in this exemplification. She had breasts implants because she thought that they would make her beautiful to other people, as well as to herself. But in reality, they just ended up causing her far more pain and suffering, when it came out that they caused her cancer, and she had to have her breast removed. Women sometimes have to sacrifice themselves and their health in order just to achieve today's standards of "beauty". And Victoria is an example of the standards back in the 19th and 18th century. Shes very controlled, very polite, very mindful of her husbands wishes, not really good for anything except taking care of the children and the house. But under it all, shes high-strung, she wants something better in life, something more exciting. The same can be said about Forgiveness. She is always cheery, so much that she can be considered a bit of an airhead. And the "beautiful" image in her time is small feet. And she feels no regret about her foot binding, not even when she starts loosing her toes. Its a lot like Victoria, the women are supposed to be meek, and follow whatever their husbands say.

The characters progress quite a lot throughout the play. Wanda finds the true meaning of inner beauty, and starts caring less about what other people think about her appearance, because that's not what really matters. When she first tells Forgiveness the story of Snow White, she says "If you're young and beautiful, some old broads gonna try to knock you off. And if you're ugly or old, you're screwed." (pg 74) And after she comes up with her own story, she seems to realize that you don't need implants or surgery or magic to make yourself beautiful. You're beautiful as you are. So, she progressed a lot. And Forgiveness found a way to escape her bonds, both through Wanda's story, and through her "possible" death. She unwinds herself from her "chains", theoretically. And finally, Victoria finally lets herself be herself, at least in some sense. She doesn't let her husband have control over her completely. Although he still has a lot of power. He still made her have a hysterectomy.

Ken and Larry are a sort of connection to the real world during this whole play. They have normal modern day problems, divorces and cats at the vet. But at the same time, they are a huge part of the plot, because they are arguing over whether this serum should be allowed or not. They're involved in a very large, very twisted plot. Lisa Loomer is really showing how the pharmaceutical industry really isn't in it to help people, but rather for financial gain. They don't care if something actually works, as long as they get paid well for it.

I think Lisa Loomer concluded her play in the way she did because she wanted the play to end itself. She ended it in a way that gave the reader a chance to make their own ending, however they wanted. You could figure out whether forgiveness dies or not, what happens to Wanda, how Victoria fares. I don't think i would change much in the ending, if i was given the chance, Although i would definitely write an third act, just to make it more....fulfilled. I would explain a little more about what happened to Wanda, how she treated her cancer and all. But, overall, i really think this was a satisfactory ending.

Fairytales

After reading "Experts say fairy tales not so happy ever after" I realized just how common these "damsel in distress" plot were in them. Theyre EVERYWHERE! I cant believe i never noticed it before. And while the stories themselves are sweet, and nice in showing the people falling in love and living happily aver after, it is a bit annoying how it is always women who are in need and distress. Even in popular movies like the new Die Hard, the main characters, Matthew and John are out to save the world from hackers and such things, while his daughter is held hostage and is basically a BIG setback.

Fairytales have always shown women as being innocent, and without fault, and always in need of help, because they are so innocent, they cant fend for themselves. But in reality, women can be just as strong and...problematic as men, but in a different way. Women can be headstrong, can be just as stubborn as men, they can save others just as well. Those traits that have always been given and associated with men.

One of the few female goddesses i can think of that is associated with strength, with self-dependency, is Artemis. And she is a very...unheard of goddess, compared to others such as Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

So, in all, i think its a bit messed up how women are always in need of help, although these stories have a happy ending. See my icon, these stories sometimes give young girls the wrong ideas.

BBC and NY Times articles response

The first article we read was BBC news article called "In the eye of the beholder?". This article talked about the idea of beauty, and the reasons behind the growing issue of gaining it. I found it interesting, for example, when it likened the want of a blemish free face with the finding of a healthy mate. "Those who champion the evolutionary cause, who put all our instincts and preferences down to nature rather than nurture, see this desire for averageness as inextricably linked to finding a healthy partner with whom to reproduce." But at the same time, this left the question of why thinness is so sought after, since it does not give someone the appearance of being a healthy mate. "But the argument becomes more difficult when it comes to explaining western preferences for the very thin, or China's former desire for binding feet to make them tiny, neither of which have any apparent benefit for mating capacities." Our group finally decided that at the present time, our desire for beauty was driven not by necessity for a healthy mate, but rather by what we thought was aesthetically pleasing. It was no longer a matter of the life and death of the offspring, but rather the sheer attractiveness of the other person.

I really found this article interesting, in the way it showed both sides of the topics. The above comments, for example. It also explained the idea that it was the cosmetic industries fault that beauty was becoming so important, while also showing how that industry disagreed and defended itself.

The second article was a NY Times article called "The Morality of Fat". It dealt with the idea that fat has become our number one enemy these past years, and how society has changed to accommodate that. I found it amazing that while the health food craze has increased, so has " the American waistline". Food has always been something iffy in society. These days, the healthier you cook, the "wealthier" it would seem you are, since healthy cooking is more expensive and time consuming. But at the same time "There is a market clamor for low-fat frozen yogurt, there is a steady rise in sales of high-fat premium ice cream."

In our seminar, we spoke a lot about what we thought was personal responsibility and what we thought was the responsibility of others. For example, i thought there was a certain point in someones childhood where they became self-sufficient, while others thought that children should be supported by their parents, and its their responsibility to show them whats healthy and whats not. I think both our seminars were very in depth, and very enlightening. I hope to have more sometimes soon.

The Waiting Room, scenes 1-4

In class today, we read aloud the first four scenes of The Waiting Room, Act 1. This play was a very humorous depiction of women through the ages and the roles they have played in society. And although we have only read the first four scenes, you can already tell that this play takes a very risque, and upfront technique in telling the story of these women.

The women of this play are VERY varied, each having a different culture and style. Victoria is a severe, controlled women from Victorian-age England, experiencing hysterical fits that her husband believes are cause by her ovaries (crazy man!!!). Wanda is a "ditsy", flirtatious, typical American girl, looking for help with her...implants. And Forgiveness From Heaven is a housewife from China, completely oblivious to the fact that there are some things in her life that are less that...average. Like the fact that her husband has multiple wives, and she just lost a toe.

I have a strange feeling that this play is going to turn out to be insanely hilarious, and more than just a little...mature. :)