Sports in my life

Ever since I have been in the 8th grade, my life has revolved around sports. Before that, all of my brothers an I experimented with sports to see which one we liked best. We swam, played soccer, did gymnastics, we were lifeguards... Me and Sam even tried sailing for one summer. Personally, my favorite sport after basketball was gymnastics. I was extremely good at it an I loved it, but it came to a point where I had to choose between it and basketball and I chose basketball. It didn't take long for us to become a basketball family. My god parents (Ahmad's parents) new how time consuming this would become as we got older, but my parents had no idea. They never expected the countless hours they would spend in gyms, or the trips every weekend to and from games. When I got into high school o spent much more time with my teammates and in the gym than I did at home. After a while, my coach became like a "mom" and my teammates be I were all her daughters. I was scared to get in trouble or to get bad grades because of what my coach would do to me or what my coach would think much more so than my mom. I can't say that I would have my life any other way. Sports in my life, specifically basketball, has provided extreme enjoyment in my life. It has kept me in shape, developed relationships in my life, and it has taught me values in life like commitment, dedication, and hrs work. I am blessed to be a part of he Whitney young lady dolphins, and I am going to put my children in a position to be a part of a team.

Thankful for a classmate

During this thanksgiving season, I am thankful for my twin brother Sam. It is nice to have a sibling who is in the same class as you. You always know what is due in that class, and you can talk about stuff you thought was interesting in class at home. I'm not thankful for him just because he is a useful classmate, but I'm thankful for him cause he is a great natural best friend. I don't have favorites (between my brothers) but he is the brother I'm closest too because we are the closest in age and we have a lot in common. We used to tell people we had the same brain, and I still think that's true. We used to make Ahmad jealous because me and Sam were always on the same page, and it would take him a little longer to understand stuff. However, he always got a kick out of asking us the same question at separate times, but receiving the same answer from both of us. Sam is also a good best friend because he motivates me and i motivate him, especially in basketball. From the time when we were little we used to compete against each other and it helped us to get better. I remember when I was little I used to think about what it would be like if I had a twin sister instead of a twin brother. I remember thinking it would be a lot of fun because we could match our outfits, but that was the only reason. Now, I would never trade my twin brother for a twin sister. I can match my brother if I want to, and I think I would be a completely different if I had a sister. My brother has helped to shape who I am today, and I'm thankful for him as a classmate and a friend.

Open Letter to Cormac Mccarthy

Dear Mr. (Cormac) McCarthy,
I really liked your book. I felt a little lame for finishing it so fast, because it was assigned in school, but I must admit it was very hard to put down once I started it. It addresses many issues. Arguably the most overbearing issue is the apocalypse. I think it symbolizes what is happening to the world, and it is a realization that our lifestyles are unhealthy. It is frightening to think of a generation of people that will never see the sun, or animals, or civilization. I think it is a good thing you wrote this book, because it turned into a movie, and it makes this realization more public. Another issue the book addresses is love. As teens, we are getting to that age where we personally, or the people around us, are falling in love. By no fault of our own, we all know very little about love. We think it is ok to "love" our boyfriends or girlfriends no matter how wrong they are, or how unhappy we are. Somehow someone put into our minds that unconditional love between a man and a woman, or in our case a girl and a boy, is acceptable and it is not. This book has an appropriate setting for unconditional love. It is the love a man has for his son, and it is the most vivid and accurately depicted portrayal of unconditional love that I have ever read about. I thought this part of the book was very moving, and I'm glad i got a chance to read it.
Thanks Mr. (Ian/Cormac) McCarthy.

Victoria E. Thompson

Defend the Poet

I actually dislike the poem Dinosauria, We. It may be too far for me to say that I disagree with it, but I definitely don't like being exposed to such negativity, no matter how true it is or isn't. It may be right or wrong, but I am a believer of the saying "ignorance is bliss." In my own life, I have found that when a person knows too much, it is always devastating. If I am going to be told something that I don't want to hear, I would rather it be kept from me, because while it may enlighten me, it will also ruin my mood, and all I want is to be happy. That was my immediate reaction when I read this poem. However, I must admit that I am glad that I read it, and I think there are some more important people than I who need an opportunity to read it as well. The poem is brutally honest, and painfully graphic, and in some cases I think people will not take it seriously because it is so exaggerated. but it is hard to ignore the words in this poem. Charles Bukowski is right, for the most part. At the rate we're going, we will destroy the earth. Perhaps not while I'm alive, and maybe even after my kids have died, but if something doesn't change, my grandkids will be feeling the consequences of today's lifestyle.

A Direction This Class Needs

Granted I am a little late writing this blog, and I imagine if I had written it on time my thoughts on the matter would be a little different. But, better late than never.

Right now in class we are watching the movie about capitalism. I find it extremely interesting. I'm always interested in things that are going on globally, and things that could potentially make me money in terms of a career (said like a true American). Jobs are hard to find these days, and I want to study something in college that will be a booming business, so right now I'm very interested in the economy and the new world order and stuff like that, so naturally, watching a movie about capitalism and reading a book about globalization is right up my alley. If it were up to me, I wouldn't change the direction of this class at all. I find the class enjoyable and very informative. I think we have a good class in that we all have very different ideas and that we're all willing to participate. We have great class discussions. I don't know what's coming up next in class, but I think the direction we're moving in is fine. Any of my input is probably invaluable, because the only thing i know about philosophy is what i've been taught in this class, and I have no idea how to run a class.

So, in conclusion, i think whatever the direction the class is going in right now is perfectly fine. I am just hear to learn and be intrigued.

Mother-Daughter, Father-son

I really don't know too much about the psychological and physical differences between men and women or their relationships with one another. I can only base my answer off of what I know from experience. In my house, all of my brothers and I have a very good relationship with our parents. We can pretty much talk to both of them about anything, and we love both of them equally. There may be some very subtle differences. In Kennise and my "mother-daughter" relationship, for the most part, we get along. We have similar traits, but like any other mother and their daughters we argue about a lot of stuff too and have a lot of disagreements. My father and my brothers don't really argue as much, but they got disciplined a lot more than I did when we were growing up. My brothers and my father discuss my father a lot, and me and my mother discuss other people a lot. My father and my brothers like to watch movies and speculate alternate endings, while me and my mother would prefer to go shopping, or get our nails done or something of that nature. While these are distinct differences, I don't know if it's because of the fact that there are true differences between mother-daughter and father-son relationships, or because of the differences in my parents and our personalities.

How do you know what you know?

This question, I think, is one of the most frequently asked questions of philosophers. Asking this question is a never ending discussion; you can ask how you know what u know, and then how do u know that u know what you know, and so on and so forth. I don't think it is that deep. I agree with the philosopher (whose name escapes me at the moment) who said "I think therefore I am." I agree with this literally, and in a more abstract sense. I think at a simple level, if you know you are something, and other people know you as something, then there is no sense in question whether you are that thing. It's all a question of perspective. Whose perspective are you looking from when you ask the question how do you know what you know? I think it is inefficient to ask questions that that don’t really have an answer. Unless you can find a tangible problem that can happen if you don’t know the true answer to this question then trying to search for it is a waste of time. I also think that if the majority agrees on something then it is true. For example, the majority of the world believes that the earth is round. Since we think it is, and we think we have proved that it is then it is. You know what you know if enough people agree with you.

My meaning

So I'm a little confused at the prompt for this blog, "my meaning." My meaning of what? My meaning of life? Yeah, we'll go with that...

To me, life means making the best out of every situation. Unlike Candide, I don't feel that everything is always at the best it can possibly be. On the contrary, things are very rarely the best they can possibly be, but I feel one should go through life always trying to be at their best. If you are in a negative position, and it is something you absolutely cannot control, I feel like it is a disservice to yourself to not try and be as positive about the situation as possible. I don't see why people go around being angry all the time, or consistently doing things in life that don't satisfy them. I truly feel bad for people who are depressed, and are too sick to be happy. I don't know what it feels like to not be able to look on the bright side, or feel good about something. They are unable to grasp the concept of "things are not always as bad as they seem." In my opinion, the unhappy life is not worth living, not so much the unexamined life. The meaning of life varies with everyone, but this is one thing on which I feel we can all come to a universal agreement. It is hard to find meaning in life when you are not happy, so just smile :-)

God

Does God Exist in Our Society Today?

My immediate, almost involuntary answer to this question is a resounding yes. I cannot speak for everybody, but in the way that I view society God does exist. We do not all have one unanimous opinion about God as perhaps we would have back in the early 1700’s, but God is still heavily regarded and in many cases relied on in our society. This is kind of a touchy subject for me, because it is hard to draw the line between science and religion. Now-a-days everybody wants to prove things scientifically which is understandable, but I think at some point we have to accept that there are some “how” and “why” questions that we will never tangibly know the answer to. I know I frequently find myself thinking why do bad things happen to good people, or why didn’t we win state, or why did the 15 year old student-athlete have to be the victim and not the 30 year old criminal? As many times as I may ask, I will never know these answers, and neither will the rest of the world. I continue to tell myself that everything happens for a reason, and God has a plan for all of us. I know that has been a saying that people have fallen back on many times in 2010. I don’t know how people are able to get through the type of terrible things that happen in this world without having that thought at least once in a while. God is viewed differently these days than he was say in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The one view that I feel is timeless with God is his existence, and his purpose, and that is something I think that should not be questioned.

Do Candide's Punishments Fit His Crimes?

Do Candide’s punishments fit his crimes?

I think it is obvious that Candide’s punishments do not fit his crimes. In my opinion, Candide does no wrong in the book. He is painfully naive, and a little immature and gullible, but to say that he committed a crime hugely overstates the case. The only crime he committed is the one he didn’t get punished for, and that is killing the inquisitor and the Jew. The story puts Candide through all of these ridiculous and life threatening experiences because he is convinced that whatever is happening to him is the best it possibly can be. After a few near death experiences, some war and destruction of cities, Candide finally begins question whether he is actually in the best situation he can possibly be in. Granted, some fortunate things do happen to him in comparison to all of the hardship he has gone through, but that is only to be canceled out again by more trials and tribulations. The really only true punishments Candide had was when he was in the Bulgarian army and they whipped the skin off of his back, and also being thrown out of the castle for kissing the princess. I think with the progression of the book, Candide becomes less of a push over, and begins to take initiative. If he had been doing that all throughout the story, he wouldn’t have dealt with all of these punishments I’m sure. However, the author does a great job of portraying Candide’s growth as a multi-faceted character, and it is satirical which makes it 10 times more enjoyable. 

Is the unexamined life worth living?

Socrates felt that the only way to truly enjoy life and have happiness is to completely examine your life. By that he meant question everything you do all the time and have the deepest possible understanding of yourself and the things around you. On the one hand, I can partially agree and say that is one way of achieving happiness, but I imagine it is a very intricate and laborious way of doing so. I feel like I am a happy person, and I've never gone through the self examination process that Socrates is talking about. Perhaps I am missing something, but I consider myself happy. Perhaps I am not happy by Socrates' standards. Maybe in truth I'm not "truly" happy. But if that's the case, I've never been truly happy, and I cannot miss something I've never been exposed to. Maybe it's not too late for me to do the self examination, though. I just don't have the time. Maybe when I get old and I'm retired, and looking for activities to fill my day, I'll examine myself and my life and always be happy, even when I'm bored. Or maybe if I fall on rough times, and I am idly feeling sorry for myself, I will reexamine my life, accept that nothing is as bad as it seems, and achieve true happiness. But for now, I smile everyday, I live comfortably, I love my friends and family, I am perfectly content. Perhaps I'm not truly happy, but is it worth DYING for? Absolutely not.

Eulogy

Victoria Estelle Thompson was born to Hubert Orlando Thompson and Kennise McKinzie Herring on the morning of November 11, 1992. She was the 2^nd of their 3 children, the 1^st of their set of twins, and their only girl. As a child, Victoria was outgoing, and learned how to speak before her twin brother. As a baby, she often translated for her brother, and even added some of her own opinion when talking to her parents and other adults. In later years she attended Ancona Montesorri School in Hyde Park, which would become the foundation of her childhood. She would spend countless after school evenings in Hyde Park, where she would meet, unbeknownst to her at the time, the love of her life who attended school just down the street in the 7^th grade. In high school, basketball defined her. She began playing with her soon to be high school coach in the 8^th grade for an AAU team called the lady fire. She formed a life long bond with her coach from then on, and the people who continued on to Whitney Young with her. As a senior, Victoria and her brother Sam both enjoyed the recruiting process of college, and went on many visits to many different schools. They knew they were going to be separated for the first time, and they were dreading the reality of it all. Victoria will be missed dearly by all of her many loved ones. She was a wonderful daughter, sister, teammate, and friend.