{Math} ∩ {Facebook}=∅

You know what really grinds my gears?

Plain and simple: Facebook Questions. Ever since Facebook decided to add the Questions option, which flood my News Feed with nonsensical nonsense, people feel the need to get other people's opinions on topics, like who looks better and what browser do you use. Really? Like I need your opinion, when I have my own.

However, there is one thing where your opinions do not matter, and that is the Facebook Questions that are math problems. Math, being the universal truth, needs no arguing, at least for basic algebra. Basically, for my readers living without the internet, Facebook randomly will have math questions, like "What is 6+7×2×0?" or "What is 1+1+1+1+1+1+1-1+1+1-1×0?"and people will respond with what they think is the answer. Regrettably, not all people have the best math skills, and so they will respond with an answer that is incorrect, for example, 0 in both cases. And of course, since Facebook is stalker heaven, the answer you put down will be available for everyone to see. So imagine how embarrassing it would be to answer a 3rd grade math question incorrectly when you're in high school?

There are a few reasons why this whole math question thing grinds my gears. One, it just gives me little faith in the math skills of our nation. While we are answering simple algebra expressions incorrectly while surfing Facebook, students in other countries are working on complex equations while surfing a textbook. Hello? It's called the order of operations. Remember PEMDAS, that silly thing with Aunt Sally? Well, it actually means something that has daily applications. And the whole "Well, it's multiplication, then division" argument? Yeah, no. It's multiplication and division grouped together as an operation, and they are performed reading left to right. Remember, division of two numbers is the same as the product of the multiplicative inverse of the divisor. And just because you see a ×0 in the problem doesn't mean the answer is zero! Parentheses matter! Call me a math elitist all you want (I'll take it as a compliment), but that's my opinion.

Another reason why the whole math questions thing grinds my gears is that the problems are so easy! I mean really? Algebra? And not even good algebra, just basic pre-algebra. The math connoisseur in me needs to be challenged while I'm wasting the majority of my life on Facebook. We could be using Facebook as a tool to teach people math instead of embarrassing them when they can't solve simple problems. We could have calculus problems, linear algebra problems, and other types of questions that would challenge me, and when people get them wrong, it won't be as awkwardly hilarious.

I would post more reasons for my anger, but I think I've established a strong enough syllogism to prove my point. Maybe not a sound mathematical proof, but it's good enough for me.

So please, stop with the math problems, Facebook and Mr. Zuckerberg. I think you've embarrassed America well enough.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

So Much for Higher Education...

You know what really grinds my gears?

Thanks to our wonderful government, one of the scholarships I receive, the Robert C. Byrd Scholarship was cut out of the federal budget, so we could try to "balance" the budget and "reduce" our deficit. This scholarship awarded $1,500 to about 28,000 college students every year for four years, and while $1,500 may not seem like anything when it comes to college expenses, this can reduce (note the lack of quotation marks here) student loans, cover textbook expenses (and being an engineering/math major, textbooks can be worth more than the scholarship), and maybe eliminate work study. Yet the government has decided to ignore education, once more, and eliminate the scholarship.

I'm so irate that I will actually use a column made by a Tar Heel, and that's saying something. You can read the column here, but I want to pull out an except that is really well-written (why am I being so nice to a Tar Heel?)

"$1,500 a year may seem an insignificant portion of the astronomical costs of a university education, but the help of $1,500 less in loans or out-of-pocket payment cannot be denied. At the least, it confirmed that hard work in school is noteworthy. If we believe education is a tool for better workers and citizens, why do legislative actions indicate otherwise?

The Byrd scholarship cut was a part of the April 12th federal budget signing, meant to help balance the nation’s deficit. But when military spending increased $5 billion in the same signing, really how much scrimping was the $42 million that would have gone to the Byrd scholarship? How can we deny that investing in students is the best way to invest in the future?"

If there is one thing that you want to do that really grind my gears, mess around with our education system (ahem, state legislatures). The author of the above letter makes a great point. Why do we encourage higher education as a means to a better nation, yet turn around and cut the funding for such a scholarship that would encourage higher education? I may have only had one year of higher education, but I believe that's called a contradiction. And also, let's cut $42 million from the scholarship, and yet increase our defense budget. I did the math (thanks to higher education). $42 million divided by $5 billion is .84%. What we provide as an increase for the defense budget is about 120 times more than what we eliminated for the scholarship. It would've really sucked for the defense budget to receive a $4.958 billion increase, and still maintain the Byrd Scholarship.

Now I'd like to point out the contradiction from our government. In President Obama's State of the Union address, he said these words:

"Of course, the education race doesn't end with a high school diploma. To compete, higher education must be within the reach of every American. That’s why we've ended the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that went to banks, and used the savings to make college affordable for millions of students. And this year, I ask Congress to go further, and make permanent our tuition tax credit –- worth $10,000 for four years of college. It’s the right thing to do."

...............................................................Ummmm, anybody see a problem with this? I didn't think that this part of the speech meant to cut a scholarship from the budget. I guess I need a higher education to pick up on the irony of this situation.

President Obama also made a very strong point with increasing our nation's power as an innovator in the sciences, highlighting increased funding to biomedical research, information technology, and clean energy research. Well Mr. President, do you know where these researchers, inventors, and engineers come from? College. Surprised? Me too!

With the cancellation of the Byrd Scholarship, our government has sent another message to the youth of our nation. We want to talk up a big game so you can want to go to college, but we won't help you get there. And in fact, I even have another quote that supports that from the News and Sentinel:

"Officials with President Barack Obama's administration said since the program was designed for high achieving students, those students likely will receive grants, scholarships and financial aide from other sources."

If you're really that misguided to think that every smart person gets tons of scholarships and grants thrown at them so they can go to college, I suggest you go and search for the scholarships yourself. Hopefully, you'll see my point. Thanks government, for helping us out. Delegating to "other sources" is always the best idea.

And that's what really grinds my gears.

Shaq, Don't Be a Tweet!!

You know what really grinds my gears?

The Twitterverse is my next attack, specifically in light of Shaq's retirement over Twitter. For my unaware readers, which wouldn't be any of you since you all are "hip with the times," Shaquille O'Neal, a great basketball player, announced his retirement in a video, and then a link to that video was made available to his followers on Twitter.

Now granted, he was gracious enough to provide us with a 15-second video announcing his retirement instead of cramming it into 140 characters, but really? Twitter has really expanded to such worldwide fame, so I will give Shaq credit for reaching out to his 3.85 million followers in a quick fashion. But he just tweeted a link; no information about the link, just, a link. If I were one of his followers, I probably wouldn't have clicked the link...until the twitterverse exploded with the popular trending topic (a.k.a. a hashtag) #shaqretires.

I'm not upset about the fact that he is retiring. He's been in the business for a long time and I'm sure he's tired. I'm just upset that he essentially summed up his retirement in the 26 character link. He had 114 more characters to use! That could have been plenty of room for an inspirational quote, a hashtag, or even four more links, so he could have split up his retirement video in 5 3-second clips! (For those of you that read The Onion, you will understand that last bit)

I'm also very upset with his method of retiring. Really Shaq? Twitter? This was the perfect opportunity for you to take out an hour time slot on ESPN to announce your retirement in a dramatic interview with Jim Grey. You could've had a press conference with the media right there in the room, and they would have every well-calculated statement ready. Hey, if it's worked for Brett Favre 12 times, it would've worked for you.

Well, this was an opportunity lost for you, Mr. O'Neal. I suppose you'll have to un-retire and come back, then retire again (see Brett Favre above). But you've made a great run in the NBA, you're a great citizen with your work in the Sheriff reserves and multiple charities, and you're a great conductor (look it up). I wish you a happy retirement, even though you'll never read this blog post.

Now for the rest of you, summing up your lives in 140 characters. Twitter was created so you could be stalked easier, not so you could spill your entire lives to the twitterverse! That's why Tumblr and Facebook were created. Save it for there. (Also, since I'm on the topic of Twitter, I would like to add that hashtags are #unacceptable on Facebook, but that's another post)

And that's what really grinds my gears.

Speed Limit: e mph

You know what really grinds my gears?

I really hate speed limit signs that are not multiples of 5. I like my speed limits of 35, 40, 45, and so on, but put a speed limit of 14 mph or 8 mph, and I just don't get it. Who has that much care to go exactly 13.23482124 mph, when our odometers are precisely marked off at 5 mph intervals?

I notice the odd speed limits when I am in neighborhoods, particularly old people neighborhoods and fancy neighborhoods. Just driving by one neighborhood, I saw a 14 mph speed limit sign. I didn't drive through there, but I am just trying to wonder how would I get to that speed? I know that some of the fancier cars have digital odometers that give the exact speed, so if that is you, go ahead and stop reading, since this blog is not for the elite that you all are.

(I don't mean that, please keep reading, and don't be offended)

But for those of you fancy-digital-twenty-first-century car drivers, just share the plight of the average and regular car driver. Imagine having to drive a 13 mph speed limit. So halfway between 10 and 15 is 12.5. So from 12.5 mph, 13 mph is going to cover 1/5 of the arc between 12.5 and 15 mph. I don't know how many of you carry around a protractor with you at all times, but measuring those angles and driving at the same time is not recommended, unless you want that protractor to go through your head.

Wait, you all don't carry a protractor with you? Oh dear, I feel a little awkward now...It's not bad to be obsessed with Geometry, right?

Now I'm sure some of you are reading this and you don't find a 13 mph or an 8 mph speed limit to be weird or annoying. Why? Because who drives the speed limit anyways? We're all told that the speed limits are not "serving suggestions," but most of us treat them as such. Whether you drive over or under, I can't say that we all drive the exact speed limit. Physically, that requires a great amount of precision to get exactly 70 mph, but mentally, when you want to get somewhere, you want to get there as soon as possible.

**NOTE: This is not a recommendation on my part to drive over the speed limit. All traffic laws and regulations of your respective state of residence should be followed. But hey, we are all human, hopefully.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Cameron

Also, I may start a Duke 365 blog, to mark my first-year adventure through college. Yay or nay? Let me know.

Like, Dislike, Confession, First Impression

You know what really grinds my gears?

The new Facebook trend of Like, Dislike, Confession and First Impression that everybody is doing. Just some of the responses are hilarious and so fake, and I absolutely love it. And when I say "love," I truly mean despise. Just in case the sarcasm was not strong enough.

I just enjoy how everybody loves each other on Facebook. I find the response for the "dislike" categories to be quite fake. I know that we all "dislike" how we haven't seen each other in so long, or we don't have many classes together, or anything along those lines, but allow me to redirect you to the definition of "dislike" from dictionary.com:

"to regard with displeasure, antipathy, or aversion: I dislikeworking. I dislike oysters."

Now I am going to focus on the words 'antipathy' and 'aversion.' Both of these words are negatively charged. Something you dislike leaves a bitter sentiment with the person that make you oppose the person you are referring to in your little post. Not seeing somebody does not make you oppose the person. Yes, I am commenting on the semantics of the whole ordeal, but that's not even the strength of my argument.

The part that really grinds my gears is the desire for a good ego stroke on both ends. For the delivering side, the person wants to feel good about himself or herself that he or she is such a nice person that would not say a bad word to anybody, when in reality there is something worth disliking. Society is too PC, so even though it says "I will be honest and say what I dislike," the truth is too often never revealed, because we do not like to cause conflict. On the other end, the receiving end wants to feel better, so when they see "dislike: don't hang out enough," or anything similar, it's so great and happy that there is nothing the other person dislikes about him or her. So everybody is happy, yay!

But that defeats the purpose.

Why do we participate in such Facebook activities? Why do we lie through our teeth, keyboard, monitor, and in text? Everybody has a flaw, that makes us human. If there is something that one dislikes, then I feel that it should be brought up with a friend. But why must it be brought up over Facebook? Why must there be a public forum on how we all miss each other, when I will say that that is not the reason why we dislike many people? This is something that does not require an audience to complete. The only reason this is around is for us to indulge in how much we think people like us. I am fully aware that people do not like me, and I would not want for people to lie to me and say, "Oh, I dislike nothing about you," or "I dislike how I haven't seen you in two hours," or anything of the sort. This is true desensitized America, and we are so afraid to anger our friends.

I agree with that.

So why must we have the "dislike" category is everyone is going to either lie or place a careful euphemism that doesn't offend? Why can't it just be "Like, confession, and first impression"? That doesn't seem bad, right?

I guess not. Let's just offend people by lying to them and saying that they have no flaws.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Cameron

Ice Ice Baby

You know what really grinds my gears?

I have a thing with my iced tea being, well, iced. And when my iced tea isn't iced, I tend to be ticked off. Consider this blog a complaint letter to Chick-fil-A.

Dear Chick-fil-A:

I love sweet tea. I love iced sweet tea. When I get sweet tea, and there is very little ice, I am not a happy camper. If the tea is hot, add more ice. This isn't rocket science, although it could potentially be helpful, or at least take a lesson in thermodynamics. If this were England, I wouldn't complain, but this is America. And specifically the South. I like my sweet tea, and I like my ice. Please, make it happen. I love the rest of your food, but I could enjoy your tea a little more. With all due respect, it is detrimental to your business to serve warm tea when the menu clearly states iced. Please, fix it.

Your number one fan,
Cameron

Now, this isn't a one time ordeal. This is habitual. This needs to be fixed. I'd much rather have them say, "would you like a little tea with your ice?" That way, I wouldn't be complaining. But with summer on its way, I implore you, Chick-fil-A, to please add a little more ice. It would make me very happy, and aren't we here just to please me?

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Hey, I'll tty....New Text Message..AARGH!

You know what really grinds my gears?

I hate when I'm sending a text message to somebody, and then during my text, I receive a new message, and it interrupts my train of thought on my first text.

I'm sure we've all had that problem some time or another. You're texting somebody, and up pops the new window: New Message. To view, or not to view, that is the question.

If you decide to view the new message, you may forget what you wanted to say with your original text. However, you will be enlightened with new knowledge, especially if it contains some good gossip.

Now if you decide to view the message later, you may not receive some necessary information that you need for the text that you are currently sending. Of course, if that were to happen, then you could always play coy and be like, "oh, I didn't see your last text..."

Now with this situation, you face a few risks. If you decide to view the text, and it just says the famous, "K," then you've wasted your time and you may have lost your train of thought on your original text. However, if you don't view the text, and it is something valuable for your original text, then it is difficult to go back on what you first sent, and thus, there may be some issues. And if there is one place you don't want to have issues, it's over text messages, since those can be saved for future torture and blackmail.

So are there possible guidelines that we may follow for what to do with an interrupting text message? Sure, let's create some.

1) If the text message comes from the person you are currently texting, check it. The new text message may have some necessary information.

2) If the interrupting text message comes from someone unexpected, don't check it. It won't have too much of an impact on what you are currently texting.

3) If the interrupting text message comes from a parent, check it. You never know what they have to say. And you don't want to make them angry.

4) Picture messages can wait, I promise.

5) When in doubt, I say check. Or, you could finish your original text, don't send it, view the new message, and then revise your current text message, if necessary.

I hope that these guidelines may help you in your future texting endeavors. The pain of an interrupting text message is severe, but with willpower we can overcome.

And that it what really grinds my gears.

Cameron

Would you like Fries with that? (Partial Credit to Katelyn Callahan and Raymond Dalton, with thoughts by Tracy Kim)

You know what really grinds my gears?

How many of you have recently been to McDonald's or Burger King recently? First of all, if you have, then shame on you! Fast food is bad for you, so just avoid it! But obviously, it is there, and it is food (hopefully), so I guess you should eat it. But aside from that, have you seen your prices and deals available to you? I mean, 99 cents for a double cheeseburger at Burger King, 49 and 59 cents for hamburgers and cheeseburgers at McDonalds, and lots of tacos for cheap at Taco Bell. Those are great deals!

NOT!

Okay, so the burgers and such are nice and cheap, but what if you want to buy a drink? Do you know how much a drink costs now? If you don't, then go to Burger King, and just buy a drink. You will certainly be shocked. And if you want another thrill, when they ask you if you'd like some fries, just say sure. Again, the cost is far disproportionate to what it should be.

Okay, so let's analyze this. A burger. Well it is meat, at least we hope so. It comes from a cow. The cost of raising a cow and all of the processes from farm to plate is somewhat expensive, I'd say. Let's not forget the wheat for bread, tomatoes, pickles, and whatever condiments. All of that is for 99 cents.

Now let us look at a soft drink. It's just syrup and soda water. And for a medium drink, it's roughly $1.50. Okay, the syrup for a drink and the soda water alone may cost about 5 cents. That right there is practically, not mathematically, a $1.50 profit. Oops, I did forget the cost of that expensive paper cup, plastic lid, and extremely expensive straw. Still, it's a complete ripoff, but if you are going to eat something, it is customary to drink something with it.

And now let's take a look at the French fries. They typically consist of a potato, maybe Idahoan or Russet. They are yanked from the ground by a tractor, and then they are peeled, run through a slicer, and ta-da: French fries. At the restaurant, they pull the bag out of the freezer, put it in the fryalator, and then served. Labor and production alone may not even surpass 50 cents, but yet it costs nearly $2 for a medium or large fry. Really, like I really want to pay that much! But it's a meal, so I guess I should get the side and waste my money away to nothing.

So why is this? Why do we just pay so much money for something that costs next to nothing? Ladies and gentlemen, that is capitalism. The restaurant wants you to buy, so they put competitive prices on the main course, i.e. the burger. So for bang for your buck, you choose which restaurant to go to. And once you're there, you are stuck there, and you are forced to buy their drinks and fries. It's just like a movie theatre.

We can put it this way. In America, you buy hamburger. In Soviet Russia, hamburger buys you. Although that second phrase seems to apply better to us.

I want to thank Katelyn Callahan for the idea of fast food, Raymond Dalton for this idea on the American economic system, and my mom for this overall idea. I like this idea of viewer-choice selections. If you do have any ideas for new blog posts, please let me know. Post a comment or find me on Facebook, and I will try and post some more posts.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

What an Itch!!

You know what really grinds my gears?

Have you ever been writing an essay or paper for class or something? Do you ever get into the groove of writing the paper and you just scribble away? Well if so, comgratulations! Now have you ever been mid-sentence...and your nose itched?

Now you have a dilemma. Do you choose to finish your sentence, and suffer through the pain of your itchy nose? Do you stop writing to scratch your nose, and risk the possibility of losing your thought? Do you multitask, and write and scratch at the same time, but risk having your paper slide and ink smearing your paper? What do you do?

Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of society's greatest problems to date, even surpassing health care. An itchy nose is an unhappy nose, and an unfinished thought is not complete (duh). I'm sure you have experienced the same thing as well. I have come to realize that our noses just itch at the most inopportune times.

You have an essay to write...your nose itches in the middle of a sentence. You are having a conversation with somebody or a group...your nose itches, and you are not going to scratch it because it looks like you're picking your nose. You have to take a picture...your nose itches, and you get a lovely snapshot of your finger near your nose. You are cooking and preping some food...and your nose, once again, itches, and food contamination is very bad.

I beseech the inventors of the world to work on some invention or pill that will prevent nose-itching so we don't have to scratch our nose in neither an embarrassing situation nor a thoughtful project. One of these days, we will solve this problem, and dilemma no more.

And just to let you know, I only had to scratch my nose twice during the creation of this post.

And that's what really grinds my gears.

Cameron

Virginia is for lovers...but I hate you

You know what really grinds my gears?

You, Virginia. I have a couple of issues with you. But to begin, I just flat out don't like you.

Let me set up some background information of my disgust toward Virginia. My family decided to drive up to Maryland for Christmas and my great-grandma's 90th birthday, all of which were successful endeavors since I saw and played in snow. Now the day after Christmas, we have to drive back down to Florida, with a stop in North Carolina overnight. Our plans were to drive down to North Carolina in 7 hours.

Haha, yeah right. Thanks to Virginia, our trip was extended to 10 hours.

Now onto my list of grievances: First of all, people apparently do not know how to drive in Virginia. People of Virginia, there is no need to stop on the interstate if there isn't an accident or a lane shift! There shouldn't be a parking lot on I-95 for absolutely no reason!

Second, have your rest areas open! When your interstate is going to be a stand-still, you may want to have rest areas open so people can go to the bathroom if needed. I know there are budget cuts, but seriously, people will still be driving and people will still be needing to go.

Also, I-95 in Virginia needs to be a 3-lane highway, not a 2-lane. If every other surrounding state can be a 3-lane highway, what makes you so special to only need two lanes? Huh? Are you that special?

Overall, you are a dumb state. Why we readmitted you back into the Union is beyond me, but we did anyways. For any readers, this is your fair warning: Avoid Virginia!

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Not a Clean Cut

You know what really grinds my gears?

As I'm sure most of you know, we are approaching Christmas. If you were not aware, then get a calendar. Since it is Christmas time, most people are wrapping gifts. I enjoy wrapping gifts, but what grinds my gears is when you are trying to cut a straight line in the wrapping paper, and it is nothing like a straight line.

I like to be meticulous when I am wrapping presents, so when I try and glide my scissors across the paper to get a straight line, and yet it abruptly stops and leaves a rip or tear, my gears start a' grinding. I even have the wrapping paper with the gridded line to help guide my scissors so I can cut a straight line, but my scissors still snag on something and I get a tear.

My mom said, "Why don't you just cut along the line instead of gliding across?" Well that takes more time, and I already spend enough time making sure the presents look nice and crisp. If my sister can just take the scissors and quickly cut across, why can't I? They even have those special gift wrap cutters that are designed to just go straight across the paper, but I'm sure if I were to use those, I would only cause more errors.

And you know what else grinds my gears? When we get a nicely wrapped present that just looks pretty, we tear into it like a tiger tears into raw meat. I put all of my hard work into making the present look aesthetically pleasing, and then you go and rip it apart into tiny shreds of paper. Nice, that's classy.

Sorry my rant isn't so organized, but I just thought of this yesterday while I was having "fun" wrapping presents."

Let me know if you like these, and hopefully I will start writing some more posts and even publishing them in the Paw Print.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Your Using You're Wrong!!!

You know what really grinds my gears?

There are a lot of people out there (and you may be included) that still cannot use the words "your" and "you're" correctly and properly!!

People, they are two different words that sound alike, but have very different meanings! Those are called homophones, just like by, bye, and buy. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that N*SYNC decided to call their song "Bye, bye, bye," because "By, by, by" would not make too much sense. ("Buy, buy, buy" makes sense, but they are not trying to boost their sales)

Basically, people prefer to just use "your" all the time for ease, as opposed to having to write out an extra letter and even an apostrophe to get to "you're." I know that it is a lot of extra work to write or type out a few extra symbols, but trust me, there is a fine line between ease and laziness.

One of my favorite little ironies of life is when people post status updates and comments on Facebook saying "Your stupid." I am not sure why you need to claim possession of another person's stupid, but your comment only makes you sound stupid.

What I am trying to say is that you should really take time to look at your spelling errors, especially for situations with homophones. "Your" and "you're" may sound alike, but the difference between the two words on paper is the voice of an intelligent person. Neither ignorance nor laziness excuses you from making silly mistakes. If you must write out "you are" for "you're," then please make that a habit. And please, "ur" is never acceptable for "your" or "you're," in any situation.

So I hope that your considering some of you're common spelling mistakes and usage errors. Their are a lot of possible grammar errors out they're, and English teachers are easily willing to take out there red pens to catch those mistakes.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Cameron

Family Feudless

You know what really grinds my gears?

I can't stand the fact that on Family Feud, the game show, every answer given is always a "good answer!"

I mean, EVERY answer is always a good answer. Even the most stupid, dumb, idiotic, and thoughtless answer is always a good answer. Note the absolutes that I used here.

Let me offer an example: Let's say the question is "Name a country where men greet each other by kissing each cheek." Some good answers would be Italy or France. And for these answers, the family is always clapping and cheering "Good answer, good answer!" Then the next girl says Europe.

...Okay, what? Last time I checked, Europe was a continent, not a country. Nonetheless, the entire family still cheers "Good answer!" and the survey, of course plays the loud buzzer noise, and the family still says "Good answer!" (not to be redundant here)

Okay, let's be honest. How many family members really thought that was a good answer? I certainly thought it was a dumb answer, yet the family expects the survey to have Europe as an answer. Now, if the people were surveyed were as dumb as her, I would understand why they were applauding.

Let's cite another example: The question: "Name a country that begins with the letter A, besides America"
Some given answers: Argentina, Asia, Amsterdam

Okay, and all of those answers were applauded and cheered for as "Good answers!" when only one answer was a good answer (which is Argentina, just in case you were unsure. You may think Amsterdam is a great country to visit, but you may be high while saying that (for obvious reasons))

Why a lot of these "good answers" are related to geography, I am not quite sure. There are certainly other questions where dumb, dumb, dumb, and dumber answers were given, but I'd rather not bore you with a recollection of those.

And hey, for those tough geography questions on Family Feud with the "good answers," Miss South Carolina would say that they probably don't own a map so they don't know the other countries.

And that is what really grinds my gears.

Sorry that I haven't been posting blogs often. Hopefully, I'll have a few more blogs out for you to read in the upcoming weeks.

Dumb People Who Act Dumb

You know what really grinds my gears?

There are people out in the world that choose to act dumb, despite being somewhat smart, and they develop this persona for society to see.

I guess I am really asking why? Why do people want to act dumber than they really are? Personally, I want to appear smarter to people than I really am, because I find that intelligence is a desirable character trait. So does society consider acting dumb a desirable trait?

I am choosing to focus on high school students, although I could talk forever about dumb celebrities (Paris Hilton). As an observant high school student, I watch people all day long that make most people wonder why are they in high school? You see, I have a philosophy about all students: All students are capable of learning to their full potential; nobody is born stupid. However, for those students that don't do well in school and do not try to get help throughout the year to better themselves actually try to not do well. Some may say that they are setting themselves up for failure, but I believe that some students actually try so hard to fail, that if they applied the same effort to succeeding, then they would receive great grades.

For the student that gets C in his or her classes, but tries his or her hardest everyday to do well is not at all stupid. I believe that these students that actually try deserve A's and B's, especially when considering other students that completely fail a class because they don't do anything to try to bring up their grade (until the last day of the semester). To go along with my philosophy, I believe that you have to put more effort into failing a class and less effort in passing. What really grinds my gears is that those kids that receive F's in their classes are okay with their grade.

Really? And how is that F a positive thing? It surely doesn't help out yourself or anybody else.

As society continues to sensationalize celebrities that appear to do nothing for all of their wealth, high school students begin to believe that they too can do nothing and still succeed in life. This is a major fallacy, for even those celebrities have had to work very hard for their success.

So after going off on a tangent there, allow me to go back to my original thesis. Some people feel that failure is an okay thing, and they act on this impulse and it develops into their ego. They take their ego, and they let everybody else know it. In my opinion, society is becoming more accepting of failure and acting dumb, which is certainly very bad. But who do we blame? We can blame the parents, celebrities, or the kids themselves. I would rather blame the education in America for being too soft on these kids and letting them get away with a slap on the wrist. Education should reward the good and punish the bad; however I believe that American education does pretty much the exact opposite.

So again, after going on a second tangent, people that act dumb really grind my gears, especially when, in my honest opinion, people are not inherently dumb.

And to repeat, that is what grinds my gears.

Cameron

That's So Cliché!

You know what really grinds my gears?

People that say we shouldn't use clichés when we write. I just think that clichés are a blessing in disguise that should not be ignored.

I am really going for broke with this blog post here, since I know that a lot of people can't stand clichés, but I always say let sleeping dogs lie. Clichés do not hurt anybody, and I feel that they add a special voice to one's writing, so if you can't stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen.

With this blog post, I hope to steal the thunder from strict English teachers and editors to turn the tables on the argument of whether or not we should write with clichés. In my opinion, I find clichés to be common phrases amongst people that can enhance the connection an author makes with his or her audience. However, many people let clichés fall through the cracks, stating that they make the writer sound dumb and uneducated, with which I disagree. A true and successful writer should know the ins and outs of how to use clichés effectively, so that a cliché does not sound, well, cliché. So long that the cliché used isn't ineffective and pointless, all's well that ends well.

So last but not least, I will fight the argument to the bitter end that clichés can have a valid and supporting role in any writer's works. I know I may be preaching to the choir, but it's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and to be successful in writing, you have to be able to stand out and strut your stuff. In conclusion, give it the old college try and add some clichés in your writing. Remember: the sky's the limit!

And that is what really grinds my gears!

Cameron