Steam Punks

The steam punk aesthetic and culture has drawn my attention over the past few months. This is a culture inspired by science fiction writers and the timey Victorian era. Authors like H.G. Wells and K.W. Jeter have inspired the use of most technologies we have today in their own times. It is through the scenarios in their books the steam punk culture is born. The clothes, the technology, the music, and the fantasy mindset of re-writing the history of technology from a Neo-Victorian perspective are amazing to me. The style challenges individuals of this culture to manufacture technologies that are timeless and fashionable. A perfect blend of effort and delusion cultivates the mad scientist mentality of the steam punk culture. By rein visioning the past and including today’s technology into it, you can create the wares and wonders of a steam punk. Reinvention from the root of a product allows us not only to grovel over how awesome something appears, when it has an old-timey style, but also allows us to make improvements of our technology by editing the chronology of its existence. Inventing through a hypothetical time machine is what I will call it. My favorite invention of the steam punk culture is the analog desktop computer. As I look at this device I wonder what could have been and how far we can advance our technology if we put more focus on the impossible now. The Steam Punk fantasy world, that its creations inspire, pushes every person of this culture toward a magnificent tomorrow. I know that nothing is impossible thanks to the laws of physics, the science of experimentation and the steam punk culture.

Internship Readiness

There are many qualities to an internship ready student. The most important of these to me are dependability, consistency, obedience and open mindedness. The internship phase for a Year Up student comes with two objectives. The first is obtaining work experience and learning as much about an I.T. career as possible. The second is remaining professional to prove yourself as a worthy candidate and asset to a company. I believe that by combining all my effort into training these four qualities, I can make a great impression on the company I intern with and create opportunities for new Year Up students.
I plan to demonstrate my internship readiness by improving my dependability, keeping my opinion to myself, enhancing communication skills and remaining consistent. In order to improve my dependability, I will be establishing residence with family members, turn assignments in by the deadline and researching resources. I will review my time management daily to help counter unpredicted events that might hinder me from my responsibilities.
My attitude has a major effect on my performance and my work environment. For module 3 I plan to improve my attitude through taking advantage of my downtime. I am a person that chooses to stay busy and even though this can be a plus professionally, the long term effect can become negative. I, like most people, burn out through constant work and without using a break for what it is I can become crabby and openly express a negative attitude. This is why I must relax when I am supposed to.

Deep Rootz Tea House

My first and favorite job to date was working as a team member in a tea house. I got my job when the owner noticed that I was the only kid in my age group going there and she noticed I was doing homework every time I went. I would speak to the owner about how school was and herbalism.I was 15 when I got the job and I stuck with it a whole year. The business was sold a week before I finished working there. I loved my job because I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted in the tea house. This meant that I can hold any position at any moment and there was no reason for me not to be busy. When I felt social I would prepare and serve tea with food, cashier, and recite poetry for the customers. When I was feeling down I would occupy my time with duties that didn't require social interaction like cleaning the tea house property inside and out. It was a job that welcomed my personality and was a home away from home. I can't think of a single job out there that is 100% stress free other than this one. The only thing I didn't like about this job was losing it. When I found out that the business was sold I was highly upset for two reasons, the tea house lost all of their customers due to new policies from the new owner and I was robbed of my sanctuary. I am still friends with the owner and we still have our tea and art. I learned from working in this tea house that some work environments value their employees as much as their customers. Work doesn't have to be a dread if you like what you are doing as work. Working in the tea house has given me the drive to move forward to pursue my passion. The wisest thing I have ever heard in my life came from that tea house "work in something you enjoy and you will never work a day in your life".

Diegoccupy

Diego Rivera's "Frozen Assets" mural has a few parallel statements to that of today’s Occupy movement. Rivera made this mural around 1931 when the United States was experiencing an economic decline. He depicted a massive growth at the expense of a majority of the population. Each part of his mural represented an inequity caused by the wealthy and, to add to the mood of his artistic expression, included a glum color theme.

The Occupy movement was initiated on September 17th, 2011. For a few years our country has experienced an economic decline. While our country's economy has been in crisis, there has been massive growth at the expense of the majority population. For example, gentrification forcing many low income communities out of their neighborhoods due to a sudden rise in rent and or local tax. While landlords make more money on properties, most of the population is no longer housed and less people live in these neighborhoods. Much like Rivera's mural, the issue has been addressed. People from all backgrounds, countries, colors, and creeds flooded Wall Street in protest of this economic equality.

In Rivera's painting there is a warehouse filled with poverty stricken people sleeping in the heart of the area where they once worked. Today many protesters in the occupy movement, even though they aren't housed, are sleeping at the heart of where they once worked. Rivera painted below the poor people in his mural a highly secured bank with only a handful of people waiting to either collect or deposit. Today our Occupy movement reminds us how only a handful of people in our communities hoard money despite the fact that they have enough for a few lifetimes.

The statements made by Rivera's mural and the Occupy movement are often mistaken for opinion. While the way their statements are delivered may be an opinion, I believe there are facts and truth behind their meaning. In times of economic crisis money, work, and welfare are subjects that aren't taken lightly. This makes communicating the issues surrounding these topics difficult. I do not know how long we will be stuck in this situation as a nation but I believe as long as people like Rivera and the Occupy protesters continue making their statements on the problem at hand, some action will take place. Inequality is a civil issue no matter what type it is. Instead of arguing about it, let's do something peaceful and productive about it. Like Rivera and the Occupy movement.

Who Inspires Me

The source of my inspiration is all of my peers. Our school system taught us nothing that would prepare us for a workforce or adulthood. Our parents abandoned us. We live every single day following a system designed to keep us as statistics for someone elses personal gain. While we are treated like livestock, we counter everything that keeps us down. We are everyone you interact with in your every day life. We are your doctors, your teachers, your law enforcement, your hero and your villain. WE ARE EVERYONE. We are the people that are condemned for our achievements. We are those assassinated for solving problems. We are the most misunderstood people on the planet because we don’t have millions of dollars to spend on having a news network brainwasha nation. We are American youth.

What inspires me about the American youth is that we have a grey hat mentality. We never wait for someone else to solve our problems. The common person is too selfish to help anyone these days. Especially a young person struggling to merely exist. As youth we have developed our own system of survival and education. We take ALL matters into our hands because the police and our government has proven itself untrustworthy. What inspires me is our ability to alter and abolish government. What inspires me is seeing a peace and harmony created by the youth. Most of all what inspires me is seeing my peers create the international 99% movement.

I share this inspiration and hive mind with a majority of the world population. While everyone may react differently, ultimately we are aware that something in this world is terribly wrong and we are doing something about it. We will always be condemned by those who fear change but we will see the world conform to the benefit of the people. The Declaration Of Indepandance says, “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

My Wise Community

The members of my community are the homeless youth of San Francisco. We get along very well because we all come from a similar background. As youth we have and show more respect to each other and the world around us because we are humbled. Some might call us old souls because we don't act like most young people. What makes us who we are and united is what we have been through and our common goal to simply improve our way of living. We don't choose our members, society does. We are all the wasted potential rejected by materialistic, selfish, and even stubborn communities. We, for years, have heard every excuse from many employers why they wont hire us. We learned that bending the rules of our surrounding communities is the only way not to die. We exist without skin color or religious bias. Politics is useless to us. We are survivalists and our level of perseverance is our advantage. Our disadvantages is being subject to an opportunity divide. A great success within this community is being able to help our fellow man. We encounter every day new homeless people. People ranging between the ages 18-25 who have never spent a night on the street. If they are lucky they meet me and my community. We show them the ropes and how to get out of this difficult position and they show the next man. As easy as that sounds we have many problems with this system and the new people. The new people need time to adjust and dealing with this transition can cause problems and sometimes we get new people who just use us and leave never to be seen again. I hate being homeless but I love the amount of truth I am exposed to everyday. If it is a lifestyle you can handle and get out of you will see that it is in fact a blessing in disguise.

Module 1 Revision

My school breaks down its school year into seven week sections called modules. The first module I have recently completed consisted of a CNIT 100 (introduction to computers) class along with Professional Skills and Business communications classes. In the time I have taken to complete this module I have learned some things about myself.

I as a student need more sleep in order to function. Without the proper amount of sleep, not only will I have a hard time keeping up with the pace of the day but I will worst of all lose my ability to retain all of the information I am cramming into seven weeks. I need to stay away from junk food. Junk food is slowing my body and mind down and this “it is” I cannot afford in this intensive academic training session. My health has improved due to my abstinence from alcohol. I just haven’t had the time to socialize much these days. My mind has changed completely, I find myself no longer considering what I sacrificed to be here as important. My habits have changed and getting work done gets easier by the day. I am impressed that overall I am in the right mindset to be a student.

A few things that surprised me were how my health is improving. Internally I feel like a new man. I have also sharpened my discipline and taken on a role of leadership.

I take pride in the style I was able to maintain but most of all just being able to complete the module. I didn’t think I could make it’

What disappoints me is getting infractions which made me lose money and lowered my grades somehow.

Other than that, I don’t think there is much to say.

There is no neighbor in "hood"

I grew up in the ghettos and slums of the S.F. Bay Area. Through my upbringing in these areas I have drawn this conclusion, I HATE THE GHETTO. I have seen soo much ignorance in these communities and the hardships I have endured in these areas was the drive I needed to get out. I didn't care if I had to eat out of the trash and sleep in an ally. I had to get out of the ghetto. I spent a few years as a vagabond and experienced the cultural spectrum of many communities. It is my observation that without any economic stimulation a community is doomed to become a war-zone because there is nothing to lose in that area anyway. Living in ghettos I hated having to travel far and wide for my basic needs such as going to school, work, or food. As a result from having to commute to exist in the only place I can afford, I thought I could never afford to move out. Finally I swallowed my pride and became a vagabond because when it comes down to it, there is no opportunity in these areas, no one could afford to even help themselves, and if I had any hope of getting out of this social environmental death trap it's going to hurt. By taking this path I learned that while I was considered the scum of the Earth I was a better investment than a ghetto. Most people are worth saving however we should take no pity in slum communities. They made their surroundings what it is and they have the power to change it, Harlem is a great example. They were a well-established community, became a slum, and now are undergoing gentrification. My point is, why invest in a community that doesn’t want to be invested in? Living in the ghetto made me hate these communities, what they are, what they stand for. I believe that unless they decide to change from within they should be eliminated for social justice and world peace. Demolition of these areas is a service.

Reflecting on The Poverty Business

I believe that companies profiting from low-wage earners are definitely contributing to the opportunity divide. One major trait I have noticed from many companies that offers credit or loans is that they have a tendency to charge a higher interest rate to the low-income client. This to me is morally wrong and an obvious act to maintain a poverty level. I don’t understand why businesses like dealerships, credit, or banks feel that making a community struggle instead of thrive can benefit anyone in the long run. The corporate juggernaut’s tenure over preyed upon credit of the poor community contribute greatly to the opportunity divide. There are many obstacles a person may face to obtain a job or career. If a person doesn’t have good credit then a job requiring things like a car, stable housing, tools, or whatever is alone financially challenging to obtain is out of reach. It is disgusting that the same people creating the social problems rooted from poverty are creating the poverty, and this needs to stop. We can point the finger back and forth about who is at fault but if we want to find the person who takes responsibility for this we need only to look in a mirror. We need to take responsibility for saving money, organizing a budget, and most of all passing laws. The change and solution for this is within our-selves and within a community to exercise their right to vote and create propositions and measures. Complaining and ranting over an issue has changed nothing in this country yet we as a people have a tendency to mope and broadcast our opinions for days, weeks, months, and years. There is a reason why most of the world views the United States as a lazy people and it is because when it comes to something important and or urgent we fail to take action until it’s too late.

My Bio

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. The culture and advances of the society has molded and shaped my mind. As a child, I have been drawn to technology and the limitless possibilities of computers. I actually spent most of my spare time tinkering with scrapped Dell computers and working on my "Super Computer" projects. When I wasn't distracted with electronics, I lived like any normal kid. I played, I was mischievous, I struggled in school due to my opinions and beliefs. I lived in 3 cities growing up which made school and maintaining a social life difficult. To educate myself I learned from the internet because it offered an opportunity to learn what I need to know instead of what the public school system believes I should know. The result was greatly rewarding.  I dropped out of high school and got my GED instead of a diploma so I can enjoy the little free time I had left as a teen. Like many disciplined drop outs, at the age of 21 I have already made mistakes and learned the life lessons high school graduates are just beginning to learn and endure. To compensate for missed time in high school, I would read my friends notes or have the friends that do well in English teach me how to speak and write.

Peaceful Protests For Economic Equality

 I would first like to acknowledge the bravery it takes to peacefully make a statement and still face violence from law enforcement intended to keep the peace. I have been watching Op Occupy Wall Street from its development phases. The article I attached in the link below is a few days old from when this blog was posted. Since the peaceful demonstration began police have been guilty of excessive force and or police brutality. All of which has been filmed and posted all over the internet. This gathering on Wall Street is a display of those affected by corporate juggernauts and the economic divide this country's government has ignored for decades. The United States citizens do not need permits for a peaceful gathering and we do not need permits to express ourselves peacefully to the causes of our social problems. The Declaration of Independence says in the third line of the second paragraph "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." I believe that our law enforcement as U.S. citizens should recognize this and even support their fellow man in times of struggle and change rather than beating supremacy into us and sending us to jails or prisons.


My Sources
 http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/17/technology/occupy_wall_street/index.htm

My Educational Background

I went to many high schools during the lower part of my education. Due to issues within my home and family I had no choice but to move from city to city. In doing so, I have obtained a very worldly view on the educational system and a crystal clear view of both a major opportunity divide and digital divide within the upbringing of our youth. I Begin my high school career with Alameda High School. To be honest I was not the best student attending and did not take full advantage of the opportunities I had available during that time. Alameda High was well funded, multicultural, tolerant, advanced, to put it shortly I would say a model school in the time I went. As time progressed I was forced to move to Contra Costa County where I attended a few different high schools. This is where I noticed a major difference in the educational system between cities. I began my schooling with Contra Costa Unified School District with Richmond High School. That place wasn’t a school at all. It was a war-zone. Flooded with gang violence, drugs, crime, I may have just gone to prison for part of my day. The school was not only despicable in my opinion but it was also underfunded which led to lowered test scores due to a lack of supplies and study material. Also, the teachers weren’t paid enough to be self-sufficient. My time attending that school posed a threat to my education and safety so I dropped out from that school. Upset that I wasted a year in the public school system for nothing I completely gave up on high school and getting my diploma. I dropped out with the intention of getting my GED and finding a full time job. With the assistance of Larkin Street Youth Services I managed to study for and obtain my GED.

The Language of Survival.

I am an individual that like most people adapt language to my current setting. I do this involuntarily now that I am older but this is a trait I absolutely HAVE to display. I have spoken many dialects in the English language due to the constant traveling in recent years. One thing I have noticed from all this is that proper English, professional English, and formal English are greatly despised among most of society. I have been labeled many derogatory things and even physically assaulted for "sounding like a white person". The world has made it very clear to me that most of it would prefer I drop the big words, the grammatical structure, and just let my soul verbally express myself instead of standing behind the mask of a 1950's mindset of formality. Personally, I myself also despise remaining verbally stiff. I use my bad grammar and slang to relax my mind and speed up the flow of my speech. By doing so my mental capacity can focus on more thoughts such as the next few things to say. I am not stressed when I am allowed to speak freely. My financial fate and career shouldn't depend on saying things like "disgusting" over "gnarly" or "hello" over "wassup" but unfortunately it does. There is a lot more to this than social acceptance. By using a different dialect I have come to realize that I myself am putting up a language barrier. Instead of meeting on a "common ground" of what I view as stiff English. I find that it would be wiser and more polite to go around that and just learn new dialects. By learning new dialects I am allowing myself to communicate to more cultures. By communicating to more cultures I obtain understanding and social acceptance. Corporate America is full of A and B conversation. Stiff English can C its way out. By learning the dialect of the culture I am interacting with, I am more likely to build a better rapport than someone who is so formal they seem nonexistent or simply annoying. With that being said, I'm out. Deuces