My opinion re: online voting...

Here's the deal. I'm not an expert when it comes to online voting. All I know is the following:

--I don't enjoy going to the polls. It would be super convenient to vote from home.
--People with disabilities can't always get out to vote. If people could vote online, many of those folks probably would.
--People who live out in the country, far from towns, would probably be more likely to vote if they could do it at home using the Internet.
--There's a lot of room for corruption....I think someone would be able to manipulate the results. Look at what George Bush did in the last election (2004)...imagine what could happen in the future!

Check out this quote:

"Those who cast the votes decide nothing.
Those who count the votes decide everything."

-- Josef Stalin

Muy interesante, no?

Seriously, though, I don't know much about online voting. Is it a good idea--or not? I don't know...but you need to figure out where you stand on this issue so that you can be ready for Tuesday's test!

Can you guys help me a bit? Please leave some comments in which you educate me. Let's pretend I don't know anything at all...

What is online voting? How does it work?

Is it being used anywhere? If so, where, why and how?

What are some of the advantages of online voting

What are some of the disadvantages?

How would you like to vote in the next election (if you could)? Why?

Thanks!

PS--Feel free to ask a grammatical or word choice type of question, using a sentence you might want to put in your essay....

Chat with Ethan Hawke...OR....Shop at Ikea?

I got a mysterious phone message from an old friend of mine, H, at 2 pm on Monday: "Call me...something cool might be happening tonight...something kind of exciting."

I was intrigued, of course. What possibly could be going on?

I immediately returned the call to H, who happens to drive a limo. "How would you like to meet Ethan Hawke?"

"Ethan Hawke? The actor?"

"Yes, him. For real. I'm picking him up tonight and taking him to a movie premiere in NJ....maybe I can arrange for some sort of meeting."

"How?"

"I don't know...maybe we can pretend you're dropping off some papers for me or something."


Faking it
Lame, I thought. He'd see right through it. But so what? Many had pulled the fake "I just sort of ran into you" thing in the past.

But then I remembered---I had a plan to go to Ikea. To look at furniture. Something very important that I've been putting off for far too long. And I'm not into celebrity worship, especially of Hollywood celebrities.

But...Ethan Hawke. Hmmm.... He was pretty wonderful in Gattaca, wasn't he? :)

While H was telling me more, I decided to google Ethan, to try to remember which movies he was in. I found a list and then realized I'd only seen two of them. Gattaca was one of them.

Divorcing Uma
And then I read about how he ended his marriage to Uma Thurman. He slept with their nanny. This bothered me. I'm a huge fan of Uma's. I think she's beautiful in an unconventional way and, more importantly, a versatile actress. How could he? You fool! I thought! LOL

And then, visions of Swedish meatballs began dancing in my head...and yummy mashed potatoes. And cool and sometimes cheap furniture that's often tricky-to-assemble. Suddenly, that sounded like more fun than meeting Ethan for a few minutes of fake spontaneity and pretend worship. I made my choice and went to Ikea. I figured I could always change my mind later if I wanted (even though I was quite sure I wouldn't.)

I shopped around, saw lots of cool stuff and bought nothing. I was sort of in pre-buying mode. I did eat the meatballs and mashed potatoes, though. A great meal, for sure. And by then, I sort of forgot about the possible meeting. I got home a little while ago and began writing this blog...

Then, about 10 minutes ago, I got a call from H, who didn't know that I'd pretty much opted not to meet Ethan (I figured I'd let him know once he did call.)

"Things have gotten screwed up," he said. "It won't just be him in the car. His wife (the former nanny) and publicist will also be there."

"I see," I said.

"Want him to call you?" H asked.

"Call me?"

"Yes. Maybe I can convince him to leave you a phone message...you know, 'This is Ethan Hawke calling' or something."

"But...I wonder if would be better if I answered the phone?"

"That's up to you"

To answer or not to answer--that is the question
A couple hours later, I was sitting here, wondering if I'd be receiving a call from Ethan Hawke, a movie star. It was not what I thought Monday night in my world would be like!

Truthfully...it wasn't that important to me. Instead, I was thinking about the $49 table and $19.99 (each) chairs I saw and the pricey but perfect couch I saw at the Macy's Furniture Outlet that matches everything in my living room perfectly (but would mean no winter vacation for me).

I kept thinking--if that phone rings, I may or may not answer it. Somehow, I thought it might be more fun not to. It would be cool, somehow, to let him go to voicemail.

He is, after all, just a person....subject to my cellphone voice mail system like anyone else.

:)

Of course, if he were Val Kilmer or Russell Crowe...OR...Johnny Depp.... I might have answered....or driven over and sneak a peek! :)

*****************

PS--A couple hours later, my friend H called. It turns out that Ethan's publicist wouldn't let him make the call. So, I did not have my chance to chat with Ethan. Oh well.

What makes us happy?

How do you see yourself? As an optimist? Pessimist? Realist? Blind optimist? Optimistic pessimist? An optimistic realist? All of the above? None of the above?

Wherever you are/however you see things, you might enjoy this movie--Happy Go Lucky. It gets you to look at what it means to be happy, you own reactions to someone who's happy/optimistic, how people react to each other based on their own experiences/filter, etc., and what it's like for a positive person to be around someone negative---and vice versa. It's funny and deep, entertaining and thought-provoking, and quite an experience to watch.

Here's a link to the trailer, and a short review of it (compliments of apple.com and miramax):

Review from apple.com/miramax:
Just how hard is it to be happy? In the effervescent new comedy from writer/director Mike Leigh (“Vera Drake,” “Secrets & Lies”), Sally Hawkins stars as Poppy, an irrepressibly free-spirited school teacher who brings an infectious laugh and an unsinkable sense of optimism to every situation she encounters, offering us a touching, truthful and deeply life-affirming exploration of one of the most mysterious and often the most elusive of all human qualities: happiness. Poppy’s ability to maintain her perspective is tested as the story begins and her commuter bike is stolen. However, she enthusiastically signs up for driving lessons with Scott (Eddie Marsan), who turns out to be her nemesis — a fuming, uptight cynic. As the tension of their weekly lessons builds, Poppy encounters even more challenges to her positive state of mind: a fiery flamenco instructor, her bitter pregnant sister, a troubled homeless man and a young bully in her class, not to mention that she has also thrown out her back. How this affects not only Poppy’s world view but also the outlook of those around her begs the question, “glass half full or half empty?”

Another review can be found here.

If you get a chance to see this film, I'd love to hear from you. Did you like it? What did you think of Poppy? How about her driving instructor? What was your general reaction to the film?

Obama on Myspace and Facebook? Yes, he is!

Check it out...the President-Elect Obama has a Myspace page. He's also on Facebook. You can read about him, watch videos and even leave a comment for him. Most likely, he's too busy to get back to you. Still, it's cool to know that you could write him if you wanted.  :)

Here are the links: Myspace and Facebook.

Enjoy...

By the way...I just became friends with Obama on Facebook. Well, actually, I became a "supporter." I don't think that's exactly the same, but hey....so what?  :)

Anti-immigrant/Racist--beware!

Mijail just wrote a short blog about a man named Hal Turner. He linked to a video of this man who spoke of the "collapse of the dollar," a form of money called the "monero" and a few other things. Until he posted this, I had never even heard of the guy. I listened to some of the video and thought, "He's a bit intense...maybe even sort of fanatical." I then figured I'd try to get some info about him. By the way, he's from New Jersey!

Here’s some info about the man, according to Wikipedia:

“Harold "Hal" Turner is an American white nationalist and white supremacist from North Bergen, New Jersey. He ran his program, The Hal Turner Show, as a webcast from his home once a week and depended on donations by his listeners. He quit the show in July 2008 for good. In August his website also closed down though he retains a blog.

Turner has often made news for his extreme right-wing views. He promotes antisemitism (including rounding up and killing Jews)[1] and opposes the existence of the state of Israel.[2] He also denies the Holocaust.[3] In 2005, Turner organized what he billed as a "rally against violence" after a white student was beaten by a black student at a high school. In 2006, he got in a fight with Jaime Vazquez, a former Jersey City deputy mayor, after Vazquez called him a racist coward. Turner has made numerous threats against political figures on his website and in other forums.”

Looks like he's a white supremicist who hates African-Americans and immigrants. Look what I found in his blog:

“America committed national suicide tonight because we turned control of this nation over to inferior people who, in the history of the world, have never created or maintained the kind of advanced nation that we White people created here.

America committed national suicide by allowing millions of illegal aliens and other non-citizens, to vote and get away with it. Again, republicans were afraid to be called racists by demanding enforcement of the law while socialist democrats were willing to lie, cheat and multiple-register ineligible people to steal the election.”

****************************
Not sure what you all think, but I find this guy a bit scary.

Obama really won!!!

I am so excited about the news. Obama won!!  He's now going to be our 44th president.

It's incredible, and the timing is excellent. He's just what we need right now.

I have so much more to say, but....it's almost 1 a.m. I have a class tomorrow morning at 8:55 and need to get some sleep.

Anyway, all I want to say is YAY!!!  YES, WE CAN!

Weird weekend....

I had a really late night on Friday...got in so late that I lost part of Saturday. That wasn't good because I really wanted to get out into nature to ride my mountain bike. 

I was exhausted and sort of groggy. I felt like I'd flown to Europe on an overnight flight. Nevertheless, I went ahead with the bike ride.  (Remember: "nevertheless = but + anyway.)

Then, for the rest of the day, I did what so many people in class love a lot--I wrote. Yes, I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. Yesterday, I edited and rewrote and edited and rewrote.

Why did I spend my weekend doing this? 

Because I wanted to enter a writing contest. Recently, I received an "honorable mention" (top 100) out of 17,000 writers who submitted stories to a Writer's Digest contest. I was surprised and thrilled, of course. 

This encouraged me to keep writing (even though it's so much work and so tiring). So I wrote another story and just submitted it a little while ago.

Anyway....back to the story that placed in the top 100. It was an inspirational story, one of facing fears, which I'd like to share with you. It's called, "Into the Darkness."  I'll share it with you next blog. Right now, I'm just too tired.

Zzzzzzzzzz

See you tomorrow...

Taking pride in your blogs....

Hi, everyone. I think you've been doing a fantastic job on your blogs....I like what you've been saying. It's been so much fun to read them.

As you know, I haven't asked you to write them perfectly. That's not the point. They're more a way of working on your fluency. Having said this, I'm noticing (at times) a few things that I don't think are OK:

--starting sentences without a capital letter
--sloppy writing with little or no proofreading
--disjointed thinking

Over the next week, I will come up with a checklist, which you'll need to use when writing. Until then, please:

--write your blogs a little more carefully; proofread and correct errors
--start sentences with capital letters (these are not text messages, after all)
--put some thought into what you're writing
--try not to write about the same thing over and over again...variety is the spice of life!

:)

PS--If you want help with proofreading, just ask Salah. He's caught errors in my blogs, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it. (Everyone needs an editor--even professional writers!) You can also ask Cristian....he's also got a knack for cleaning up grammar.

Sending text messages at a funeral?

Yes, folks--it's true. Some people are so addicted to "texting" that they send messages while at someone's funeral. They also do this at weddings...and while driving. How addicted are these people? Click here to find out....

Credit cards....worth it or not?

Please notice my use of adverb/adjective clauses, passive voice and present perfect....

***********************************************************

I have a couple of credit cards, each of which I find very useful. One of them is a MasterCard, which I first got about 10 years ago. I like this card a lot because it allows me to accumulate points that I can use toward travel. Believe it or not, because of this wonderful card, I've been able to travel to Mexico and New Mexico for free! I love this credit card, but I know that I've probably paid for at least 10-15% of the price of these tickets.

How?

There have been a few times (not many since I usually pay off the card before the bill comes) when I was late on a payment or just "let it ride" (paid a little, but not all, and let the bill get bigger next month). I was charged a late fee of $30 and then a certain interest rate on the balance, which was high, of course.

Despite these charges, I still think I got a good deal. :)

Having said this, I'm not so happy with my Macy's card. I can't explain it, but it seems that there's always some sort of problem with it. It seems to come on different days of the month, which confuses me. For some reason--maybe this reason--I've been late on it once or twice. This really upsets me!

That's my personal story. Of course, everyone has theirs. A friend of mine, who doesn't make much money, got into some credit card debt. He'd had eye surgery a while back, and unfortunately, his medical benefits didn't cover it. As a result, he had to use his credit card. Some other things happened, which he charged.

Now, he's got some serious debt to pay off.

Another friend of mine ran up some very high bills about 7 years ago. She is still paying them off. In fact, several bill collectors call her every day because she hasn't been making payments lately. She lives a life of anxiety because of this, and she just doesn't know what to do. I worry about her because she's a 75-year-old woman.

Anyway, I think the bottom line with credit cards is this--if you charge something, make sure you can pay it off that month. If you're viewing it as borrowing, then you're definitely headed for serious problems, including long-term debt.

*******************************

Do you have a credit card? Which one? What sort of benefits does it offer? Are you happy with it? Have you ever overspent? (You don't have to share too much information here, by the way.) Do you trust the credit card companies?

CLASS BLOG LINKS...

Prof. Egle: http://leglew107.blogspot.com/

Cristian: http://cristianenw-107.blogspot.com/

Iryna: http://welcometoirynasblog.blogspot.com/

Cinthia: http://cinthiasilvademuriel.blogspot.com/

Carlos: http://carlos-te-da-una-salsa.blogspot.com/

Evelyn (note: her address uses her middle name:
http://mevelinrosali-rosali.blogspot.com/

Mayra: http://mayraberrio.blogspot.com/

Fanny: http://fannyluz.blogspot.com/

Joselina: http://joselina2.blogspot.com/

Darshan: http://darshanp.blogspot.com/

Eduardo: http://eduardo-eslw107.blogspot.com/

Frida: http://flhuaman.blogspot.com/

Salah: http://salauddin21.blogspot.com/

Mijail: http://mijailcarrion.blogspot.com/

Sweet things students say and do...

Have you ever had a couple of bad days in a row? Days that are just super stressful and tiring and don't allow time to relax at all?

That's what this week felt like to me.

But something happened that cheered me up... Carlos, one of your classmates, surprised me with a new pack of dry erase markers. What a sweet thing to do! I know that he and all of you have seen me take my markers and throw them across the room, into the garbage can, more than a few times, right? I'm no Michael Jordan, but I'm pretty good. LOL Anyway, obviously Carlos noticed that my markers were on their way out and thought he'd help me out with a sweet gift of some fresh markers, which I greatly appreciated.

What's so nice about this is not just the markers, but what the gift means to me. It reminded me of how special my students are and how sweet ESL students are in general. You guys, whether you realize it or not, are quite awesome. You work hard, do so much, have tremendous goals and huge hearts. Just like teachers have a major influence on students, it works the other way. You all have an impact on us... Thank you!

And by the way, at each level of ESL, special things seem to happen.

I believe I was telling you last night that I was teaching my G 001 students the "possessive adjectives": my, your, his, her, their, our and its. I began by telling the class, "I like my marker." I held it up to my nose, to be funny, of course. And then we went around the room, and each student talked about something of theirs. I then used the word "your" and others used "her" and "his" to make sentences. One student said, "I like my band-aid, and I like my stitch." Everyone laughed. And the last student, who just arrived in this country from Jordan or a neighboring country 3 months ago, wasn't sure what to say. His friends spoke Arabic and explained what we were doing, and then he said, in the best way he could, "I like my teacher!" It was very sweet....more importantly, it was a grammatically correct sentence!

Another teacher and I were chatting about this student one day...and she told me something sweet he had said. Evidently, when she arrived in her classroom yesterday, the lights were quite dim. She said, "We need some light..." He said, "No, teacher....your face is the light" or "Your face has the light." I'm not sure exactly what he said, but....I know it touched her heart and mine.

Making the impossible....possible

Do you think it's possible to achieve something that seems impossible? Is that always a possibility?

Some people are able to beat the odds and make it happen. How and why? In each case, it's different. Is it the drive, the will, good old motivation? Is it luck? Is it hard work?

Check out Skinny Vinny, a NJ resident who had been obese for most of his life. One day, he got sick and tired of his body and the life he was leading. He decided to change it. He put every bit of his energy into losing weight, through Weight Watchers, and guess why? He made it happen! And now, he's gotten into exercise and is a marathon runner! Amazing, isn't it? Read his story here: SkinnyVinny

Does his story inspire you? How do you feel after reading it? Is there something you would like to do that you think is impossible? How can you make it happen? What can you do that Vinny did?

I can tell you this--his story blew me away! I was truly impressed and inspired. When I think about how depressed he felt about his weight and how he was able to motivate himself enough to change, I think--there are things I can do, too.

Looking forward to hearing from you here. I hope that Vinny's story motivates you to make your dreams come true! :)

Effects of Steroids--by Cristian

Please read Cristian's essay and leave comments for him. Thanks.

*******************

Cristian Rodriguez
ENW-107-E1
Effects of Steroids

Many athletes want to get better and better over time. As a result, they do whatever might help them to improve their performance. Some of them train hard, but some of them use steroids. Steroids help them to get stronger and to improve their performance. Steroids are also used as medicine by people who suffer from various types of pain and diseases. However, the inappropriate and extreme use of these drugs called steroids causes many side effects, which might ruin one’s life.

Steroids cause several side effects that manifest on the outside of the body. For example, the skin may get rougher because the pores get larger. Also, steroids cause acne or it gets worse for the ones who already had it. Moreover, the extreme use of steroids might cause baldness or at least it speeds up the process for the ones who are going to lose their hair anyway. In addition, steroids are known to cause breast enlargement in men and growth of facial hair in women. However, all these external effects depend on each individual.

Steroids also do internal damage to the body. They cause serious damage including urination of blood and many things that might not look so serious. In addition, steroid use might cause infertility in both men and women. At the beginning, it might seem good because of the increase of the sexual functions. However, it might be just be for a short period of time. When the steroids begin to work in the body, the individual won’t be capable of maintaining an erection, but everything is going to be normal when the individual stops taking steroids. In addition, they directly affect the liver, which might increase the level of suffering and disease in general. Moreover, the cardiovascular system is strongly affected by steroids because of the increase of cholesterol, which can lead to heart attack.

As steroids cause many physiological effects, they also cause many psychological ones. Some of those effects are delusions, depression, and many others. In some cases, these effects can be devastating. For instance, there’s a case of a wrestler, Chris Benoit, who seemed to have everything. He was famous had a lot of money and a good family. However, he was taking steroids. Gradually, he began to have many psychological problems, including depression and anger issues. Unfortunately, he couldn’t handle his rage and one day he killed his wife, son, and then himself. Many people think that the extreme use of steroids was at least fifty percent of the reason why his psychological problems became so severe, ultimately leading to this tragedy.

In conclusion, steroid use might cause many side effects that may definitely ruin one’s life. In my opinion, people should look for information before they decide to take steroids. If they decide to use them, they should do it under the supervision of a professional who can advise them about side effects and the precautions they can and should take. However, some people don’t really care about the possible consequences of steroid use. Others simply think that in order to gain something, there should be pain and suffering. It is this belief that gets so many steroid users into so much trouble.

Welcome to ENW 107--Fall 2008

Hi, everyone. Just want to welcome you to the class. I have a feeling it's going to be a great one. Whatever your feelings are about writing itself, you all look interested and excited about the class. And that brings a smile to my face!

So let's have a great semester!

Please visit this blog as often as you'd like....and set one up for yourself so that we can communicate here. It will be useful--and fun.

Prof. Egle