How does Outliers connect to MY life?

     In the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, it talks about many different topics such as how the month someone is born in affects their maturity. It talks about how the year someone was born in can allow them new options, like Bill Joy. It talks about plane crashes, and the power-distance index of people. It talks about rice paddies and a few other things. As completely random and sometimes unrelated these things seem, a few of the topics connect to my life.
     In the first chapter of the book Malcolm Gladwell talks about how the month you are born in can affect your education. He talks about how "parents with a child born at the end of the calendar year often think about holding their child back before the start of kindergarten."(pg. 28). I have a younger brother that is named Caden, who just turned five on December 20th. My mom had decided she would have him go to school next, and I was find with it at first. But since I read the book I found out that whatever disadvantages a kid has in kindergarten doesn't go away. "The small disadvantage that the child born in the early part of the year has over the child born at the end of the year persists."(pg. 28). I don't my brother should have a disadvantage just because he's born near the end of the year. But, if my mom had decided to put him in school this year then "the teachers are confusing maturity with ablility," so that the older kids born earliest are put in advanced classes (pg. 29). Since Caden was born in December, he likely wouldn't be chosen since he is less mature than a kid that was born in, say, January. I think that we should be more like Denmark because they "have a national policy where they have no ability grouping until the age of ten (pg. 29)." That way, decisions are made after the "maturity differences by age have evened out," (pg. 29). And maybe, we could test out Malcolm Gladwell's idea to divide the kids into groups so they have equal chances of doing "advanced" things.
     In the second chapter of the book it talks about how a man named K. Anders Ericsson, who was a psychologist, did research on violinists. He divided the students into three groups: Stars, people that were good, and "students who were unlikely to ever play professionally and who intended to be music teachers in the public school system," (pg. 38). All three of the groups were asked how many hours they had practiced. By the time they were twenty, the stars "had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice," (pg. 39). The students that were just good "had totaled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totaled just over four thousand hours," (pg. 39). The study showed that "once a musician has enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works," (pg. 39). It has been found that ten thousand hours is the "magical number for true expertise," (pg. 40). Since I want to become better at things like writing and dance I have to practice at it more until I have practiced and worked at it enough to have enough hours to be equal to at least the lowest group of violinists. It also helped me figure out that the key to becoming skilled at anything is to practice.
     In chapter seven, the book talks about "Power Distance Index", which is "concerned with attitudes to hierarchy, specifically with how much a particular culture values and respects authority," (pg. 204-205). The book also talks a little bit about the United States. Since America has a lower PDI (number fifteen out of nineteen), that means they are less intimidated by authority and are more likely to show disagreement with their boss or manager. This connects to me because I live in the United States, and I think that it's comforting to know that people in America are able to openly disagree with someone that has a higher status or is in the position of being in control. I am also glad to live in the United States because the book states that "our ability to suceed at what we do is powerfully bound up with where we're from," and because sometimes places that have a high-power distance culture can have speech barriers since they have high respect for authority and could only hint and make suggestions in the hopes that their boss, or whoever is higher than that person, would pick up on those suggestions and listen to them (pg. 209).
    Overall, the book suprised me with how many connections to my life I could find. I think this book has taught me quite a few things that will be helpful to know.

Perspective Poetry Prompt

Bruised and Battered

I walk down the row of apple trees,

When something bright catches my eye.

I walk towards the item,

And discover that it is an apple,

Glimmering when the light hits it.

I bend over and gently pick up the apple,

Staring at its strong bright red color.

Its body is speckled with various bruises from the bumps on the way down,

But still the apple remained whole.

I notice a few holes in the apple,

They remind me of puncture wounds left by needles.

But still the apple stays strong,

 Even as it was battered and bruised on its way down.

Microfiction: The Sound of Breaking Glass Stopped Her

She was focused intently on her work when the sound of breaking glass stopped her. The sound made her cringe, and she slowly stood up to go see the damage that had been done. "I swear, if that cat breaks one more thing..." She shook her head as she wandered towards the kitchen where the noise had come from. She walked into the kitchen and looked around to see what her cat had broken. But there was no plate lying on the floor, no flower vase spattered in pieces on the ground. Instead there was a giant hole in her window, and shards of glass littering the floor. She bent over to begin cleaning up the glass and noticed a rock, laying near the dining table. Someone must have used the rock to break my window, she thought, but why? In her head she ran through all the people that would have done this to her but came up with no one. She finished cleaning up the glass and went upstairs to find something to cover the hole in her window. She decided to go into her room and grab a blanket to throw over the opening, plus she needed to grab her cell phone and call the cops. She opened her door to find a man in all black rummaging through her jewelery box. She jumped back in shock. "Who are you?! And why are you in my jewelery?!" Of course she already knew what he was doing with her jewelry, he was stealing it. The man looked up at her, pulled out a gun, and fired. It suddenly became harder to breath. Her room began to swirl around her, and when she reached to her side, the feeling of gooey warmth trickled down her fingers. The man looked at her once, before running down the stairs and out the door. She was on the ground now, a pool of red surrounding her. She tried to reach for her phone on her nightstand, but everything in her body was screaming at her to give in and sleep. She had attempted to slow the bleeding by pressing down on the spot where she had been hit, but the blood still oozed out, and as it did her grip got weaker and weaker, until she finally gave in to the fuzziness in her head, and decided to sleep. She closed her eyes as everything faded away.

TU Tuesday

Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.

http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/An-apology-that-should-have-been-to-readers-2400310.php

I agree with the speaker that the "'War on Christmas'" is being lengthened by people that follow "liberal ideology". When I think about it, Christmas seems to be the only holiday (that I know of) that has people that are willing to discard traditional values. It also seems to be a major holiday that isn't really even mentioned much in school. I mean, I get that there's people that don't celebrate Christmas, but "it's estimated that 80 percent of the world's population is Christian and believe that Christmas is one of the holiest days of the year". I also don't get why there are people that "want to rename a Christmas Tree a Holiday tree". People who celebrate other holidays don't get people trying to change the way they celebrate their holiday, so why should we? I remember thinking how weird it was in elementary school that we got to sing songs about Hanukah, other holidays, and some winter songs, but not a single song about Christmas. I remember my class had someone come in and teach us about Hanukah. Why not Christmas as well?

My T-Shirt Vote

I vote for the one that says "the world is but a canvas to the imagination."

Cookie choice: chocolate chip

Creative Contest I Blog

V=Vizsla

Breed Description - "The breed originates from Hungary".

Appearance/Size - "The Vizsla is a medium-sized, short-coated hunting dog that is essentially Pointer in type". The Vizsla is 'an attractive golden rust in color".

Diet - The Vizsla should be given "food that is a blend of poultry, wheat, barley, and rye mixed with a small amount of 50/50 - pork/beef and oats".
Temperament -  The Vizsla is very affectionate and will "follow you wherever you want to go." It is "an ideal companion for a very active person with a very active lifestyle" and the Vizsla "is very bright". They don't like being left alone and "are great with well-behaved, respectful children, though are often not fond of toddlers". Also, a Vizsla will "act like he is a puppy until he is about four years old".

Shedding -  "The Vizsla sheds a fair amount of hair. You'll find hair stuck to your couch, carpets, clothes and everything else in your home."

Health/Allergies/Vaccines – "Health conditions seen in a Vizsla include Epilepsy, CHD, and Lymphosarcoma. Conditions of a rare nature include Dwarfism, Hypothyroidism, Tricuspid, PRA, Persistent Right Aortic Arch, and Tricuspid Value Dysplasia. Vets recommend that this breed is checked for thyroid and potential hip problems."
websites used-
http://www.justdogbreeds.com/vizsla.html
http://www.atozdogbreeds.com/vizsla_breed_information.htm
http://www.akc.org/breeds/vizsla/
http://www.wdcusick.com/Vizsla.html

Creativity Breeds Creativity

Small Poetry Prompt - Write a poem about a very small object.

A single snowflake,

Falls from it's fluffy white home,

And slowly spirals down,

As a small breeze whisks it away.

Carried by cool winter air,

It flies along with the current.

The small little snowflake,

Unnoticeable to the naked eye.

It drifts past trees,

Their leaves dead and gone,

And weaves around their branches,

Not yet ready to settle down.

Then the snowflake finally makes its landing,

Settling on the cool, frosty ground,

Allowing its silvery-white edges,

To be seen by anyone,

 Before it disappears.