Webkinz

I think these are terrible. Children who use webkinz connect the internet with things you can touch and feel. They might think that webkinz on the computer are actually the same creatures as webkinz stuffed animals, and think they can transfer back and forth. More likely, however, is that children will think that all items have codes you can enter into a computer and they will have a program there. In all, webkinz harm the minds of unsuspecting children.

Halloween

Halloween is the stupidest holiday of the year. When I was a kid, I was always told not to talk to strangers, not to take food from strangers, and not to go into strangers' houses. But on halloween, you do all of those things multiple times! It makes no sense.

Presedential Election

I don't mind people having their views on politics and everything, but, to put it bluntly, WHY DO THEY CARE SO MUCH? The world isn't going to end if the wrong president is elected. Both candidates are qualified for the job, or they wouldn't get so much support, even if it's from people one doesn't like. I just don't understand why people have to get into three hour long debates about whether or not a candidate will make everybody's life miserable if he gets elected, or anything like that.

Pianos

I like the sound of the piano. I think pianos look alright. But I think they are very dangerous. You see, the piano is made up of several parts, and almost all of them can be used as weapons. The strings, for example, can be removed and used for a variety of terrible purposes. The skin on somebody's finger could get caught between keys and ripped off. Various removable parts could be used to hurt someone or something. Grand pianos, however, are by far the most dangerous of all. When their tops are lifted, a small child could crawl in and get caught (believe me, I've seen it done). The top could come crashing down with enough force to cut of someone's thumb. In all, I think pianos are fine, but grand pianos should be avoided if at all possible.

Opinion Fest 2: Glue, Tape, and all that jazz

Express your opinion on different ways to stick things together. Comment, please

Duct tape

I like duct tape very much. It is just about the most useful and well-functioning kind of tape there is. But it is easy to go to far with duct tape. The colored duct tape is what I really have a problem with. Just the fact that it is colored. This might not seem so bad, but think about it. If it's colored, it implies it is supposed to look good. And if it is supposed to look good it must be aimed not for practical purposes, but for something rather different, like decoration. If your going to decorate something, why would you want to use duct tape? It would be just as easy to use something else less expensive. Decoration, or whatever it is used for, can be done with something that is not airtight and watertight like duct tape.

Sun Glasses

Sun glasses are not such a bad thing, but nevertheless, they are certainly not good things. There are many reasons one could potentially dislike sunglasses. They hide peoples eyes, for one. But my reason is completely different.

The fact is that human eyes can withstand very bright sunlight. But the problem is that they have to be trained. My eyes may hurt a little when the light is too bright, but a little squinting can fix that. However, people who wear sunglasses haven't trained their eyes and don't know how to react to bright light, and are therefore depended on sunglasses.

September 11

I just want to take this time to commemorate all the people that died on 9/11/01. I would like to thank all the people that worked so hard to save people's lives.

Food Pyramid

I have many reasons to be skeptical of the new food pyramid, but for today, I will focus on the fact that it is the new food pyramid, and that there was one (considerably more sensible) before it was made. For one thing, the new food pyramid has no reason to be a pyramid. The old one was a pyramid for a reason, but the new one? It could just as easily be a food pie chart, which, I think, would be considerably better. Another thing that annoys me is that nobody pays attention to the fact that there is another food pyramid, and apparently it is outdated. However, I have tried to eat meals based on instructions given to me at MyPyramid.gov, and after a week I knew it was not the best idea. Having three times as many fruits and vegetables than meat and beans just doesn't work for me. The old one does. Why can't they use both, just for different people?

Apple vs. PC

Throughout the history of the computer, one question has been disputed, and that question is: which is better, a PC or a Mac? Well, it hasn't really been disputed for a long time, but many people do argue about it. I have a simple solution: neither is good. They are both terrible, in fact, and it is necessary to recognize that fact so we can think of a new idea for computers, better than Macs and PCs. Although one is better than the other, that doesn't mean there is no room for improvement. Many programs cannot work with apple, and PCs can get viruses and whatnot. I think people have to forget about which is better and focus on how to make it better.

Ear Piercings

I've been busy recently, so I haven't blogged in almost a month. But here goes.

I understand that people think earings are pretty. I myself don't mind how they look. But things like this always get out of hand. I just can't stand to walk by somebody with hoop earings down to their shoulders, or talk to someone with rainbow-colored dangling earings made of lots and lots of small beads. This is going to far in one direction. The other direction is when people wear many small earings and studs. Piercing ones ears is different than piercing other body parts because the earlobe has no bone or muscle and no function that would be possibly disrupted by the  jewelry. When people pierce their ears several times, however, this is like other body piercings and should be done under no circumstances.

Abnormal Blog Entry

I know that this isn't my opinion, but I thought you'd like to read it anyway, so here we go.

I went on a vacation with my family to Yosemite National Park. It's a great place, you should go there. But that's beside the point. One night, my wife and I were going out of our hotel at night to look at the stars. They really were beautiful. But on our way back, I noticed there was someone ahead of us on the path. It was a bear.

My wife screamed and I began to clap to scare the bear away. A little farther down the path, we saw three more bears. I started to stamp my feet and wave my arms, and my wife started to yell and scream, but it didn't work. The bears just stared at us. All of a sudden my wife started laughing. "What is it?" I asked.

"They're not bears," she responded. "They're people."

After realizing this we sheepishly continued on our way, alerting the unfortunate travelers that we were not crazy,  just we thought they were bears.

Manilla Folders

To put it lightly, I dislike manilla folders. They have no pockets, and nothing to make the paper stay in. The tabs can be covered easily. Also, if you only grab the tab the folder can come open and papers might slide out.

Board Games

With board games, you can't go wrong. Board games can range from chess to an educational math game, and they're all great. First of all, they nearly always use strategy. Chess is huge on strategy, as are stratego, monopoly, checkers, and many others. Some are somewhat strategy and moreso luck-and-chance, such as the game of Life or Mancala. Some are completely luck, but they are fun anyway. Also, boardgames are a good way to enjoy your time without having the danger of getting hurt or looking at a screen. (By this I do not mean to say that physical excersise is not good, just if you have nothing else to do and you are excersising all the time, it can be harmful. But in general, excersise is very good.) Lastly, boardgames bring people together. Since you almost always need somebody else to play the game with, two people will spend time with each other even if they wouldn't otherwise.

Staple Removers

Staple Removers are an alright invention, I must say, but not absolutely necessary. Not in terms of my oppinions, but in general they could be replaced by pretty much anything skiny and sharp. But the real problem with them comes in two parts: morally and physically. I'll start with morally. Staple Removers are made to remove staples, therefor giving a sense of security. If you staple something wrong, you can undo it! This makes people sloppier and they aren't as careful with their work. If they staple all the time, it might even transfer to other parts of their lives. Physically, staple removers are also dangerous. One can accedentally poke themselves with a staple remover. Even worse, is is possible to clamp the sharp points down around your finger with most staple removers.

Opinion Fest 1: Space Exploration

Anybody who is reading this blog, please comment. State your oppinion. Respond to other people's oppinions. Do you think space exploration is worth the money? What's the most important reason for space exploration? Tell anything you can think of! I won't comment until at least three other people do.

Paper Clips

Paper clips can be useful. They can clip paper together (obviously), which can be a hard task otherwise. However, I do not think this is worth the side effects. The paper clip can be used for many sinful purposes. If a paper clip is unfolded, it can become a lock-picking device, giving knowlageable people the ability to go places they shouldn't go and do things they shouldn't do. Unwound paper clips are also dangereous. They can poke or scratch somebody or something. Overall, paper clips may be a useful invention, but they are not worth the risk.

National Parks

There is only one word to describe how I feel about national parks. What is it? Fantastic! National Parks are great for three reasons. They help preserve the environment, they are fun to travel to, and they are educational. I, personally, make sure to take my kids to at least one national park every two years. So far I've gone to Yellowstone and Grand Teton, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Mammoth Cave, Great Sequoia, and a few others. They are all great fun with many down to nature options of how to spend your day. I highly recommend a visit to one of them.

Blogs

I, in all honesty, think blogs are great. If you have anything you would like to publicize, I strongly encourage you to make one for yourself!

1. Blogs allow you to share things with the rest of the world
2. Blogger gives you so many choices so you can use blogs for a variety of purposes
3. Making your very own blog is free and easy
4. Blogs are fun to use
5. Blogs are fun to read

Those reasons are pretty much why I decided to make my own blog. There's not much that can go wrong with a well thought out blog on blogger. I enjoy posting and I hope all you readers out there enjoy reading my blog.

Stereotypes

I don't think there is anybody who think stereotypes are a good thing, but a thought has always lingered in the back of my mind when I was learning about stereotyping. Now I want to share it with you: Stereotypes had to come from someplace.

By this I am not saying, by any means, that stereotyping is good. It is terrible, and something that should never be done. Some people say people get stereotypes from TV or things like that. But TV had to get their stereotypes from someplace. It isn't something random when somebody gets a stereotype. It often means that the person is just thinking of the majority group as everybody. Let's take the example of scientists.

Picture a scientist in your head. What is (s)he doing? What gender is (s)he? Most people will probably think of a male scientist, versus a female one. It's true, believe it or not, that many more scientists are male than female.  As for what your scientist is doing, it's harder to predict. However, your scientist is most likely to be a chemist (but not by much) because chemistry is the most unique and interesting of the types of scientists.

Electric Pencil Sharpeners

Sure, electric pencil sharpeners have their pros. They may be faster, and other things like that. But they aren't by a large margin. Electric sharpeners are much louder. When in school, they disrupt class. They can be distracting to people near you. Not only that, but they are too easy. This may sound strange, but many little things contribute to a general lazyness. The fact that you can get up, walk to a pencil sharpener, insert the pencil, and have it sharpened is not a good thing. Just the tiny amount of extra work needed when using a good old X-acto sharpener with a crank can help get rid of a feeling of lazyness.

Towels

Useful things, towels. They can do so much. Keeping you dry and giving you something to lie on are just two of the marvelous possiblities. Did you ever consider keeping yourself wet with a towel? Using it as a blanket on a hot summer day, wrapping something in it... The possibilities go on and on!

Fences and Gardens

Fences are nice. Gardens are nice. But put them together and you get a completely pointless combination. See here, if you put all that work into making a beautiful garden, even if it isn't quite how you pictured it, there is no reason to block it with a fence. I've seen houses with five foot tall iron fences. And what's on the other side? A beautiful garden you can hardly see. Absolutely terrible!

iPods

I don't say this very often, but what a great invention! I, for one, like listening to music. And having all that information in just one little iPod - I still can't get over it. iPods are great, at least they were great. There was the iPod Nano was so useful for me, the iPod video was for other people, the iPod shuffle for those who don't need something perfect, and all those iPods. Then they began to overdo it. I welcomed the iPod Nano Video grudgingly. The iPod touch? It was hardly and iPod, the only thing different about it from the iPhone was that it had no phone and a couple other features. And you know how I feel about iPhones.

French Fries

There are many things people could say about french fries. They are unhealthy, for one thing. But that is not why I am writing this. Think about the name "French Fry." Yes, it says the are fried. But it also uses the word "French." Maybe some of you think I've gone to far on this, but think about it. The name suggests the French, but it is likely they were invented in Belgium or Spain. I know it doesn't matter, but this is a real life example of how things creep into people's subconscious without them noticing. I bet without noticing, those deep-fried potatoes are asosiated with France in your mind. No, this post was not about French Fries. This post is proving that things can creep into your subconscous with out you noticing.

Apple Cider (Pastuized)

Apple cider is a great drink. It tastes good, it's good for you, and, well, there's not much wrong with it. I used to love apple cider, and I still do, but it has gone downhill. Why? Because of a law to protect people's health. All apple cider must be pasturized. Now, I'm not saying it is a bad thing to protect people's health, but I don't think this is the right way. Pasturizing apple cider gets rid of some of the freshness and suddenly it doesn't taste as good. If the law was that all apples made into apple cider must be picked fresh from the tree, and that they can't be used if they were on the ground, it would treat the same cause. And guess what? We'd still have genuine apple cider. Why didn't anybody think of that? Here is a perfectly good solution and they partially ruin apple cider!

Computer TouchPads

Personally, I'm a big fan of mice. Not the ones that run around and have big ears and tails, but the electronic kind used with computers. After a while it becomes so natural to you that when you aren't using one, you do the same thing. You want your whole hand to move when controlling the cursor. But recently, with laptops becoming more and more common, it seems people think touch pads are the way to go.

Most people have used a touch pad, and many of you reading this blog probably find them very easy to use. But that brings us to another problem: Macs or PCs. Macintosh computers have more or less the same touchpad as IBMs, Dells, and all those other PC brands. More or less. Those little changes can throw me off so much. With mice, every one is the same. Touch pads? Not so! The engineers making the computers don't understand that if you only used mice, nobody would get confused and not be able to do what they are trying to do. I recently bought a mouse for my laptop, and all my friends are so happy they can finally use it!

Pencils vs. Pens

This is a very interesting topic, and, believe it or not, has been fought about for a long time. My opinion? Pencils! Pens are a praised invention, yet they are completely unnecessary. They can't be erased. You can see the marks from the other side of a sheet of paper. And bad ballpoint pens can be so frustrating! So why, I ask you, are pens used? Pencils can be erased easily, they don't carry ink that can stain things, and so much more. It is a complete disgrace that just because pencils are gray and you have to sharpen them, humans use such a primitive writing tool such as the pen!

Birthdays

I know I put a lot of negative comments on this blog, but that doesn't mean that everything I have to say is negative. In fact, I consider myself a optimist. My niece's birthday is today and that is why I'm saying this; I happen to like birthdays.
Birthdays, some would argue, are giving rewards for no reason. But I disagree. If the only thing anybody ever celebrated were accomplishments, it may push people harder, and it may not. I think it does not. You know what I think about birthdays? Yes, they are nice to have once a year.

iPhone

At first when the iPhone came out, believe me, I was pulling my hair out. I didn’t want anything to do with it simply because of the hullabaloo about it and I’m sure many of you can connect with me on this. And then I got my iPhone and it all changed. Before I disliked the iPhone, now I despised it. It was addictive. When I should have been writing speeches and playing with my son I was hunched over my cellular phone, surfing the internet! If other addictive things are banned – you know, things like drugs – WHY AREN’T IPHONES! They are equally dangerous to the mind.

Baseball

This is a great sport, and I love it, but it has been taken much too far. I grew up a Red Sox fan, and they’re an amazing team to follow and to watch and to root for, but recently I have backed out. It is so utterly repulsive to see Red Sox fans with letters painted on their chests, yelling at the top of their lungs. What’s the problem with this? I have always been the empathetic type. And think about it – they are damaging their skin and their vocal cords – and for what purpose? None. The players don’t care if you yell at the other team, in fact, it would be my best guess that they are quite opposed to this unruly behavior. And I’ve seen Red Sox and Yankees fans that don’t even give each other a chance and are immediate enemies, just because they support different teams. This may happen in other sports too, but nothing is nearly as bad as in baseball

Pop-tarts

Most people know pop-tarts are unhealthy. In fact, a pop-tart is less healthy than your own toenail! But that is not what I am most concerned about. The pop-tart has introduced a whole new world of fast breakfasts. Long ago, before the pop-tart and others like it, if you wanted a breakfast you would eat a bowl of oatmeal or ham or eggs, or even a compination of those. But with quick breakfast foods like the pop-tart, breakfasts are getting smaller and smaller. For instance, a bowl of oatmeal is more filling that a pop-tart. But which one is faster? The pop-tart! So the people rushing about eat the pop-tart for breakfast, and they don't get enough nutrition, especially protien, and they end up getting restless and cranky, and maybe work less, all because of that pop-tart!