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Showing posts from September, 2019

emojiz

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“We ALL started out like this, didn’t we? Using words and images interchangeably.” Since cell phones became ubiquitous throughout the 21st century, texting has been the main form of communication throughout friends and family. Quick and easily accessible, texting has connected friends across the globe via the Internet and now online friends are the new normal. Yet texting has also taken something from us, the inflections in tone and facial expressions that help us decipher the true meaning of the words that people are saying. I’ve mistaken many of my friends’ texts for something as sarcastic when they really did not mean for their words to come out as mocking at all. This disconnect from conversations prevents us from picking up on small social cues that reveal our true intentions, yet gradually, we are texting more with our expressions the help of some unexpected symbols: emojis. Emojis help convey the tone and mood that we are in and allow snarky comments to be sent without hu

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“That must be how my father felt when he heard Jimmi Hendrix for the first time”. Music has always been an important part of my life. I never start my car without my Spotify on and carry earbuds with me everywhere. In America, I’ve looked up to many artists, from Childish Gambino to Tyler, The Creator but they seem far away to me, in another world. It is only with the emergence of a new artist, Rich Brian, that I feel like someone finally understands my life in America. Rich Brian started rapping ironically. He called himself Rich Chigga and only gained popularity because of his edgy content. Yet this fame sparked a change in him and he changed his name to Rich Brian, determined to concentrate on making quality music because he loved it. A native of Indonesia, Rich Brian learned English through YouTube videos and moved to the States looking to get big. He raps about normal rapper things, money, luxury, women, for the catchy summer single, but he also speaks of coming to America and

What are you patriotic for?

“I told the Bosnian record collectors that when I thought of the records of these Memphis men, when I looked out the window at the Mississippi mud and felt their names moistening my tongue what I felt, what I was proud to feel, was patriotic”. Patriotism has always been a tricky subject for me: my parents hailed from China, I was born in Canada, but I spent most of my life in America. Even after spending about 13-14 years of my life in America, I’ve never felt particularly patriotic for America. I’ve also never felt particularly patriotic for China. During the Olympics, my parents would cheer on for China, but I haven’t always felt particularly connected to China. My sister and I would cheer China on with our parents, but I don’t think we felt the same patriotism for China that our parents felt, I think we cheered on China because our parents did. I don’t know why I never felt patriotic for America; maybe it was because my parents didn’t really understand American holidays so w

How can perception affect the truth, and how would understanding different perspectives affect the world?

Perception causes many truths to come out of one situation. Someone’s perception of an event is based on their own basic ideas, and they may portray these ideas and opinions in the retelling of a situation, which may lead to clashing truths. A good example of how perception affects the truth is the American Revolution. The American History textbooks write the American revolution as liberation from England’s rule, while the British textbooks write it as a betrayal of their colonies. The differing perceptions of an event may be a factor in causing wars, as these different truths lead to different opinions and eventually, different ideals that people would die over. There is no one truth because of all of the different opinions from everyone. There are too many factors and too many different motivations for a single truth. If people began to understand each other’s different perspectives, then they will understand why certain people act a certain way in situations. By being able to t