Presidential Encounter

One lab we accomplished was one of political importance. We called the presidential comments hot line. Right after we dialed the number, we were soon redirected to a nice woman who asked us what our comments to the president were. This is how the conversation went...
Presidental Comments Hot line Woman (PCHW)- Hi, whats your comment for the president?
Me- Hi, um we would just like to say that we, that we respect the presidents um, decision, to um go to war in Iraq. But we believe its time for change and to take them back to the US.
PCHW- Haha. mmmhum. hahha Alright, I'll get that down. Okay, thanks for calling!
Me - Thanks! Bye!
PCHW- Buhbye!

If I ever had the chance to speak momentarily, the conversation would probably go something like this...
Me- HELLO!
President Bush - Why hello there. How are you doing, young woman?
Me - I'm doing great! How are you? How are things in the white house going?
President Bush - I am fantastic. It's a beautiful day. The white house is as great as ever. Its white, and its a house.
Me - Uh, great! So I was wondering, how do you feel about your approval rates at the moment? They are extremely low. Do you feel worried that the country hates you? Do you feel nervous and pressure when you see the new candidates running? Do you worry that they will become a way better, and more loved president than you?
President Bush - Um. Great to meet you. I got to go. See yah. God bless you and America.

I Heart Arts

I created and put this bumper sticker on the back on my dad's car and we drove to school with it on Friday, February 15, 2008.

Meet Theo.

This is THEO.

How we're alike:

We are both pianists.

We waste a lot of time talking to each other when we should be practicing.

We are very ticklish.

Our birthdays are in February.

We love coffee.

We love the jazz pianist Art Tatum.

If we believed in reincarnation, we agree that we both would have possibly been the same person in a past life. Each of us could have made up one half of the ideal person since our personalities are extreme opposites.

We want to move to New York City someday.

Hallo!

Did you know that German is spoken by approximately 100 million native speakers and also about 80 million non-native speakers?! It is spoken primarily in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

10 phrases in German:

Hello
Hallo

Please
Bitte

Thank you
Danke

Yes
Ja

No
Nein

How are you?
Wie geht es Ihnen?

Where are you from?
Wo kommen Sie her?

What is your telephone number?
Was ist Ihre Telefonnummer?

Good Night
Gute Nacht

Good bye
Auf Wiedersehen

Day of Silence

February 12th was probably the longest day ever. Emily, Ali, Claire and Alex took a vow of silence from 12am-12pm. Although we slipped up by mistake sometimes and we had to talk once or twice we really raised awareness about HIV/AIDs. All of us received many questions throughout the day asking us about the purpose of this day of silence. We tried as best as we could to explain using our pantomime skills and writing stuff down. People wondered what the purpose of it was if we couldn't talk to actually spread the word. We said "it got your attention didn't it?". Whether people realize it or not the awareness of AIDs was spread atleast somewhat.
To advertise this huge event we put up signs around campus, used word of mouth and made a facebook group ( http://hs.facebook.com/event.php?eid=12545745929 ). Many people participated and many people heard about it over the internet. And even if some people didn't participate they still asked about it and seemed interested. Overall this was a great, but hard experience. You don't really realize how much you need to speak throughout the day until you try not to.

What would you REALLY die for?

On February 7th, Claire and Alex went around the campus asking people what they would REALLY die for. We explained that many times people say they would die for little things, but we want a serious example of what you would die for. As you can see from the pictures a lot of the things people would die for had to do with family; even Claire
and I chose our family as something to die for.
To our surprise, we didn't get as many outrageous answers as we had originally
planned for. The closes to weird we had
was "I would die to be smart". We approached all kinds of people; some staff and some students, most of them we didn't
know. At first it was kind of awkward to just go up to random people and ask what
theywould die for, but after the first couple of
times we got used to it and it was easy. They
happily wrote down what they would die for
and let us take their picture and these are our results.

No Cell Phone for 120 hours!

From the dates of February 4th to February 8th, I did something I have never done before. I went five days with out the usage of my cellular device. That is equal to one hundred and twenty hours without communication to the outer world. The first few hours without having my phone were full of anxiety. I usually always hold my phone in my hand at all times. I consider it my security blanket. When I parted from my phone, it was like my right hand had been cut off! I am always using my phone, whether I use it for texting my best friends, calling my mom to pick me up, or just checking for the time. I had to keep my phone hidden at home so I did not cheat and just take a peek at the missed calls and texts I had received. As the week evolved, it got slightly easier to cope without my phone. I still had a tiny bit of anxiety in the back of my brain, but it got smaller and smaller as the hours passed.
By the 8th, I was relieved and overjoyed when I got my hands on that tiny piece of technology. I had always known that I was pretty attached to my phone, but I never thought I would ever have this much separation anxiety ever! In the end, I learned that items we use everyday loose their usual value. Once one of those items are gone, we realize how valuable they are. Just like the song, Big Yellow Taxi, by the Counting Crows says, "You don't know what you got till it's gone." I have learned to also take joy in the little things in life and not take everything for granted because I definately have more than some other people around the world. Many poor people cannot afford something like a cell phone service plan.

Chalk Writing

Here is a picture of a chalk writing that was located right out side the entrance to the commons. It is hard to see because we made the writing very big and took a picture from the academic hall. It reads, "You Decide. VOTE 08." While we were making the sign, the people who passed by said something like, "Oh yea, I can vote," or "Who am I going to vote for?" The sign reminded them of a very important political event where they can make a difference.

Too Much Stuff.

Taking one picture of all of my possessions would be pretty complicated. My house it’s self needed a picture of its own. Although I could have put some of my stuff out in front of it, putting the contents of my room in my front yard would have taken too much time. Even putting everything in my room on display would not show everything I own.
I just recently moved into my sister’s old room when she moved out. Since no one was moving into my old room, I left some of my stuff in my old room too. I also have things that I keep on each floor of my house in random places. To gather all of my stuff would take a long time.
I knew from the start of this lab that I had more stuff then the people in the pictures and that I have too much stuff in general. But after I began taking pictures of my stuff and comparing them to the pictures on this web site( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worldbalance/material.html ) I began to feel even more guilty. I knew I had more stuff then most people in the world but I guess I just get so used to comparing what I have to all the privileged people I interact with that I forget how the average person in the world lives.

On January 19th, 2008 we, Emily K. Wolfe and Alixandra N. Kish, embarked on a journey of a life time. We ventured to spend twelve consecutive hours in our local twenty-four hour super market, Wal-Mart. We met our fellow conquest members early Saturday morning, sacrificing one of our two precious mornings of beauty sleep. After we spent a few moments together out in the real world, we entered what would be our facilities for the next long twelve hours. At precisely eight ten, our journey began.
Two seconds later, we were bored. At loss of what to do we stood dumb founded in the entrance of the store. After walking around for a few minutes we then settled in front of a large screen television in the electronic section playing a classic Disney film, Toy Story 2.
We made ourselves at home with colorful bean bags located conveniently in the same proximity. Several by passer gave giggles or smiles until she came along. Walking out of her way to come between our nest and the screen she scowled and knitted her eye brows as she remarked, “Yall shouldn’t be blocking the aisle like this!” And pushed her cart inches away from our toes.
However all of our experiences were not as harsh. The store manager and three fellow round guys brought us each a box of skittles for free. While we were playing hide and seek, trying on Hannah Montana and camouflage clothing, and moved around slippery when wet signs, no one complained. The store employees also did not mind us buying immense amounts of delicious food products and then bringing them to the back of the store to devour. When we found ourselves at loss of what to occupy our time with we would head back to the conveniently placed Subway to dine and lounge.
The crowd evolved with time. We found a diverse selection of human beings from middle aged women with curlers to teenage lovers. We also saw many families taking advantage of the discounted products that Wal-Mart has to offer. Many were low class, wearing worn clothing, and purchasing few items. However there were also a few upper class moms with full carts, wearing name brand clothing and talking on their expensive cell phones. The intensity of the crowd would fluctuate throughout the day. The high points were around mid day and after super time.
We began to waver as the day began to close, wondering if we could possibly stay for a few more hours. We counted down the minutes and persevered finding whatever we could to preoccupy our slipping minds. In the end we survived, but barely. Rejoicing when eight o’clock came around, we had celebratory Red Velvet Cake. Then, all stepping out of the same time, we were finished. We learned several things by the whole experience. But the top lesson learned from this conquest has to be that we will never step foot in a Wal-Mart again.

The End.

Hero Letter

As the very first lab of our commonweal adventure, I decided to write a letter to the one and only Ben Folds. I wrote it to him because he truly inspires me and he is an artist just like me. I have gotten no response and probably never will, but I did try.