Popular Culture and the Humanities Essay

I am writing this letter as a piece of a time capsule. I wish to capture for you a day in the life of the typical person in 2012. I have to say at this point that my day starts early. The house really starts buzzing around 6:00. Usually my husband is out to work at this time. Giovanni, my son, takes a shower getting ready for school. I start making coffee, and getting breakfast ready. Then we have breakfast together and soon he has to wait for the bus to bring him to school. His bus ride is about thirty from where we live. We chose a Catholic school for our children, Guilherme, 21 yrs old, graduate from Salesian High School and is current living in Pennsylvania in his last year in De Sales University and Giovanni 15 yrs old, attends Salesian High School. We want them to learn and practice a catholic faith. Next I have to get ready to go to work. It takes about ten minute driving to the school. Little Angels is private Preschool School; I teach a Pre-school class, which has 13 children. We have to use an electronic card to gain access to building. Nowadays you can’t be too careful with security. My schedule is from 9 to 5 every day, I have one hour lunch break, and I spend trying to juggle between homework, work and chores. I am currently a part time student at Kaplan University. I do not attend physical classes in a physical building. My classes are online. This means that I receive the information through the internet. The internet is the only way to communication nowadays. I have never met my professors face to face, but we correspond through discussion boards on the school’s web site. The Internet is named for â€Å"interconnection of computer networks†. It is a massive hardware combination of millions of personal, business, and governmental computers, all connected like roads and highways . Business, schools and even governments have come to depend on the internet as the main way to exchange information and even goods. No single person owns the Internet. No single government has authority over its operations. Some technical rules and hardware/software standards enforce how people plug into the Internet, but for the most part, the Internet is a free and open broadcast medium of hardware networking. Most of my banking, education and work are done online. Throughout a typical day, I will pay bills on the internet, access my class information on the internet and correspond with my sister and brother in Brazil through e-mail or Skype. At 5 when I came home usually my husband is waiting for me and we go for a two mile run. After I use the stove which cooks food by using electricity to heat pots or pans on the top of the stove or elements in the oven of the stove. This may not really represent our popular culture right now, since many people prefer to eat in restaurants, but we prefer to cook our own food since it healthier that way. That is pretty much what our days are like in the year 2012. We use a lot of technology, but family time and interaction with each are still the strengths of my day. We enjoy devices like cars, GPS, and dishwashers, refrigerators, air condition, cell phones, Ipads, which makes our lives so much easier. Even though we have made much medical advancement, we still have not found cure for Cancer, but we had good news this week, it looks like a regular sports bra, but it’s meant to help women detect early signs of breast cancer. Lifeline Biotechnologies has developed the First Warning System, or a smart bra, after years of research. The concept is called â€Å"thermography,† which relies on precisely detecting heat or abnormal heat signatures from tumors versus normal tissue. †Dr. Siavash Jabbari of Sharp Barnhart Cancer Center in Chula Vista, Calif., said the device is an â€Å"encouraging sign in the fight against cancer,† and it will give hope to the one in eight American women who develop the disease in their lifetime. The bra is still in a trial stage, but it’s showing good results. The company hopes the device will be available in the U.S. within the next two years. To us women this is good news, because mammograms are so painful and not so efficient. Times right now seem pretty uncertain. Unemployment is high, and it is difficult to find a job. My only wish is that my boys to grow up to be good people, to give back to society rather than take from it, and I want them to be able to take care of themselves and their future families. This is a year of a President Election, Barak Obama our President against Mitt Romney. I’m personally going for Obama because he’s actually trying and he is the best hope for our financial country recovery. Sincerely, Vivian Lopes Part 2: An Example of Morality and Decision Making Abortion and Pro – Life Nowadays, in this world, there are a lot of problems that can cause great conflicts for human beings. One of the most complex problems is abortion. This is due to moral and ethical values which we all have. The majorities of us are Catholics and as small children were taught values that are based on the bible such as that famous phrase â€Å"Thou shall not kill†. This phrase relates to an abortion because abortion is the murder of a human being. My own personal beliefs of abortion come from my Christian faith I believe abortion is wrong and it is murder. Pro – Life is great organization that is sponsored by Catholics as they try to prevent abortion and promote alternatives to abortion. Abortion is murder. We should support life and not end it. Part 3: My Definition of Happiness A smile, a laugh, a quick thoughts, going for a jogging in a cool summer day; chocolate; my son’s up to give me a hug because he hasn’t seen you all day or in a long time, these are the little things, these are happiness these are all things that make me happy. Happiness is very simple to me. Having the necessities of life and knowing that my family is taken care of. Have shelter and food and clothes. I want my boys to have the best educational opportunities that they need and the healthcare that they need. I want to live debt free and try to teach that lifestyle to my Boys. Being materialistic does not make anyone happier. The things that are most important are relationships with my husband and children, our friends and extended family. These things will bring more happiness that any expensive vehicle will. I have come to this view seeing many people chase things that in the end leave them alone and unhappy. Just being happy with your life and accepting who you are and what you have will bring you happiness. Part 4- The day Osama bin Laden had been killed On May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed in a terrorist compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In an 8-month plan enacted by the president, and led by CIA director Leon Panetta and American special forces, Osama was shot several times. His body was taken as evidence of his death, and DNA tests revealed that the body was, in fact, his. â€Å"For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and our allies,† President Obama said in a late-night address to the nation on the eve of Osama’s death. â€Å"The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda.† He added that â€Å"his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity† (www.biography.com) Part 5: The Twin Towers I believe that the Twin Towers of the World Trade should be included because they represent big change in our society. When the Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001, many people realized that the world not completely favorable of the American lifestyle. We realized that there are people out there like to hurt and kill for no reason, or just try to take our freedom .Every day we live with the reality of being at war. It made us all step back and think about our national security and how to be safer. The sense of community that happened after that attack still brings tears to my eyes. Over 3,000 people died in those attacks that were coordinated by al-Qaeda. After twelve years later, we’re about to finish building the first â€Å"green† building in Manhattan. It consists of four main things that make it green. Those are; energy efficiency, water efficiency, good indoor air quality, and sustainable materials. It runs on fuel cells which are powered by natural gas. This is probably standard in your world; however, this is the first building that has this ground breaking technology. It is supposed to be made from materials that make it near impossible to destroy. I remember watching a documentary where they showed how they were going to build it. I remember them saying the stairwells are wider with oxygen being pumped into the air and automatic safety features installed for emergencies. It is an impressive building that symbolizes us still stand as one nation under God; and also represents all the innocent’s lives lost for no reason. Part 6: Taylor Swift – Long Live song Taylor Swift at just the age of twenty, She is simply a young, brilliant, and stunning singer. She has released 3 albums all of which have had hit singles. Though it was only 4 years from her debut to her most recent album Speak Now, her music shows how much she has grown as a person and as a singer ; with each song written so beautifully, it is amazing to believe it was written by a twenty year old. This is one of my favorite songs on the album. It means a lot to me, looking back at my life and remembering how it felt and what the journey was to get here. It is deep and profound and makes me happy inside can explain. Part 7: Shrek Fairy tales don’t always follow the same boring pattern; beautiful princess falls in love with her prince charming and they live happily ever after. The movie Shrek, an ogre and a beautiful princess fall in love, though this beautiful princess has a secret; her secret is that by day she is a beautiful princess, and by night she’s an ogre. Shrek thought she was beautiful as a human and as an ogre; this hidden message is shown as beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Also in the movie, another implied message is that people are prejudice to stereotypes. Though, once you truly know someone, it can be really wonderful and life changing. Though this fairy tale isn’t like the average fairy tale, it still has implied and hidden messages. Shrek displays many of these, each were carefully thought out and written to match the others perfectly. Even though Princess Fiona didn’t end up beautiful in the way she thought, Shrek still thought she was beautiful as an ogre. Being beautiful to someone can mean more than being beautiful to everyone. Donkey may have been very annoying in the beginning, but Shrek learned that he was a true friend, even when he judged him from the beginning Donkey reminded Shrek who he loved and wanted, which changed his life forever. Friendships can last forever, and can have many impacts on a person. Part 8: The I Pad I chose the I Pad (portable computer), to leave in my time capsule. This electronic device is where you store all of your information. I’m sure you have something much more advanced, but this was quite the item back in my day. It is portable and most people use them when they are in school, working, or to read. This is the technology of the 21st century; the I Pad is just one of the devices owned by Apple. They are also responsible for bringing us the iPod for music, the iPhone cellular device of our century and the Mac Book (laptop). They are the most expensive devices, but they are very impressive machines. This company (Apple) owns the electronics of our time. References: Net for beginners References: Retrieved from http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/i/f/What-Is-The-Internet.ht./ Fox news References: Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/10/18/new-mart-bra-could-detect- breast-cancer/#ixzz29xjyPhGM Bibliography Imdb.com Shrek (2001) References: Retrieved from2012/10/18 – Memorable quotesImdb.com (1990) Shrek (2001) – Memorable Biography References: Retrieved from, 2012/10/18http://www.biograph.com/people/osama-bin-laden-37172quotes. Online Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126029/quotes You tube; References: Retrieved from, 2012/10/18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gidYacgDeH8 Apple; References: Retrieved from, 2012/10/18 http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/