Experiment: Week Four

This is the last week of the experiment and I am exhausted! I have had numerous headaches this past week and I have just been outright sluggish. We began practicing longer hours this week as well for volleyball, which I am sure is not helping my case much. However, I am doing my best to stay away from caffeine. I am going to be very excited when I am allowed to drink caffeinated drinks again. This experiment was very eye opening for me. It has shown me that I depend on caffeine a lot just to get me through the week. I have been falling asleep earlier and taking naps more often. These results are probably expected, however I did not realize how much it would impact me!

Waste Land

     The statement made by Vik Muniz in The waste land, I believe is completely true in some situations. However, I also think that it has to do with ones perception on a situation. Two different people could look at one situation completely differently. One person could view a situation as a learning experience, for example, while maybe another person can only manage to find the negative aspect in the situation.
     In my opinion, his argument does not change so much throughout the documentary itself. I think that his statement changes more peoples view on their lives. In the beginning of the film, a lot of the workers, in my opinion, simply thought that this job was the only option they had. It was the only way they could survive and they knew that was going to be where they would be the rest of their lives. After their experience with Vik, and they saw how he could take useless garbage and mold and create it into a beautiful work of art, I believe they started seeing that they could better their lives and make something more out of themselves, just like Vik made something better out of the garbage. I think it had the most affect on the man that was in charge of the landfill picking, when he accompanied Vik to the auction and was able to witness himself how much money Vik was able to make off of his work created from garbage. It was really cool to see the workers outlook on life change after their experience.
     I do believe that this statement could be considered universal because I think with the right mind set, anyone can better their lives if they think about how they can apply this quote. If someone is always looking at situations with a negative attitude, then no, I don't believe anything better can come out of it. However, if people are optimistic and see that if they try hard enough, they can make something negative into something more positive or beautiful. This statement can relate to anyone who is going through a hardship. It is a very inspiring message that I think can be very helpful to people.

Experiment: Week Three

     This week I have continued to avoid caffeine no matter what. Let me just say, with 6 a.m. lifting workouts for volleyball every morning during the week, this is not easy to do. I have had a lot of headaches and have actually noticed that I have not been able to lift as much weight as I normally am able to. The energy just is not there which I thought was very interesting. It is definitely not a mental matter. I will be very excited when I can once again drink caffeine.

Experiment: Week Two

     Today, I am starting the second part of my experiment, cutting out caffeine completely. This means no caffeinated pop, no Starbucks, no chocolate. Let's just say this is going to be a difficult two weeks for me. I am extremely interested however in how it will affect my mood, my health, my sleeping patterns, and more. With the first part of my experiment I noticed I was frequently in a very good mood despite the fact that I had to be up at 6 a.m. every day and wasn't taking a nap later on in the day. This was very different because normally a schedule like that would make me very irritable and in a very bad mood. We'll see how these last few weeks go!

Experiment: Week One

     For the first week of my experiment I am drinking at least 40 ounces of a caffeinated drink each day at no specific time. Throughout the first few days I have been alternating a lot what I drink. I have had diet caffeinated drinks, regular caffeinated drinks, and the occasional cup of Starbucks coffee. I have consistently gotten right around 6 hours of sleep each night going to bed at midnight and waking up at 6 a.m. for my morning volleyball lifting workout. I am usually exhausted after this workout and occasionally get an an hour nap before I'm off to class. I haven't noticed any major changes through the first week other than having a headache the second day of the experiment and on the fourth day I woke up with a pretty bad cold. I am starting to feel better and am continuing to drink my caffeine.

That's the Nature of Research

     The object I brought with me was a bracelet. It was just a little metallic leather bracelet you could probably find just about anywhere. I personally found it at Tropical Trends and wore it religiously for a good six months. This bracelet doesn't have any deep meaning to me other than I really loved wearing it at one point in time. It reminds me a lot of my senior year in high school because that is when I wore it daily. However I chose to bring it because a lot of times, bracelets like this one are symbols of friendship if given as a gift and they can have a lot of significance to people.
     I then destroyed the bracelet by cutting it up into little pieces with scissors. I took the pieces home and pondered what I could possibly create with the pieces I had left. I decided that I would create a Christmas tree ornament with the pieces. i used the golden part of the bracelet to make a star and then used the string part that was on the bracelet to create something so it could actually hang on the tree. Considering the quote, "all acts of creation require an act of destruction," I believe this to be very true. In order to even be inspired to create something new, I believe there must be some sort of problem or destruction to want to create something new.  

The Art of Listening

     The article, "In Africa, the Art of Listening," was a very intriguing article in my opinion. The author posed some very interesting ideas about people and how we have changed over time and how we are now. The author seems to think that humans are story telling creatures, and the only way to get anything out of story telling is by being able to be a good listener. I think that this relates to the situation we read in class in the sense that there were several people taking place in an argument and from the way the excerpt sounded, the argument wasn't going to be getting resolved any time soon. Possibly, if the individuals involved would have taken a step back from the situation and would have taken the time to listen to some other prospectives on the topic, the issue could have been resolved. If you don't take the time to listen, you will never be able to give anyone else a chance to explain their point of view to you, ultimately never believing that you are wrong. Everyone is wrong every once in a while. I think if these people would have been better listeners, the problem wouldn't have been as big of a deal.
     I also believe that this could relate to our research project. I think that being a good listener also has to do with being able to read between the lines in a sense. I think it involves going thinking deeper into what a person is actually saying. Throughout our research, we will most likely come across opinions, whether it be from other people or simply online sources. I think if we take the time to listen to them, and not just assume that we are right, our research may come out far more accurate.