State of the Union Address

I had never watched a State of the Union Address before so I had no idea what to expect. I also didn't have a set opinion on if I supported or disliked Obama. One thing they mentioned before he began his speach was how the democrats and republican were not split up on each side. Many had their opinions on this unusual setting but I believe it really didn't do much. If anything, it shows that maybe we can work together as Americans.

He starts off his speach by recognizing the shooting in Touson and telling how we have been affected because of it. Then he slowly moves into his new idea on curing our country's issues. He said he is determined that in order to make change for the positive, we must work together. I completely agree. Although the mixing of opposite opinions is basically arguing for debate, if we get past that, things can be taken one at a time and thoughtfuly TOGETHER. To put a bright side to the recession, Obama says that we must look at the progress instead of dwelling in the past. This might be true but along with our progress, we must see what needs to be fixed. I like how he focuses on the future rather than the past but what about today. I think he must put his "plans" into play now!

Obama also talked about his nifty "3 steps" for improving America. One was encouragin innovation. Change must happen constantly. Although we are in debt, we are still the leading power in the world. This has a lot to do with our innovation. America is full of genius scientists. The trick is to mesh all their ideas and knoweledge together and innovation could be unstoppable. But my question is how will it improve anything besides beating other countries in inventions? We must sacrifice to go through change but it calls for a great outcome. Next step was education. Everyone knows that with good education comes good products. With Obama's new action of  "Race to the Top" will heighten the standards in highschools. Many students drop out every year and that is unacceptable so I agree with him on that. But If we heighten the standards of learning, will that make a new reason for unsuccessful students? It weighs heavily on the parents as well. Lowering tuition at colleges, giving more credit to teachers and working on immigration will also affect the learning process and he plans on making changes in this area too. Lastly, Rebuilding America. Haven't we heard this before! He states that we are slowly but surely becoming partners with other nations. We have made agreements with India, China, etc. Highering exports as well. What's the goal here? I think we just need to slow down and look at what we are considering. I agree with most things but have my opinon on many. That's our president for ya!

Health Care!! No one will be rejected because of their conditions or past. Everyone deserves it. We can't do anything about taxes for wealthy people but we can sure make things better in this field. Debt is what people are waiting to hear about from him. He said that he is willing to freeze salarys and reduce spending. Now salary cuts are important but over exaggeration is unnecessary. (so is under-cutting). Think also of the retiree's. Notice that Obama didn't mention anything about this until now. He has talked about other things but went 34 minutes without mentioning America's debt. Weird? I think so.

Other things about the speech are that the news anchor's mentioned that standing ovations were not constant like they have been in the past. Is it because of the unsual split? I think that has a lot to do with it. Especially since he wasn't expecting it. You could tell in the way he was talking that he is use to people standing during that part. (or it might just be the untrendy way he talks). He begins to close up the talk with the all famous "American Dream" saying. It is what drives us. We might be little people, but we have big dreams. That.....is what shapes.......America today. It is because of our people, no our family, that makes us such a unique country.

I do think that a lot of what he stated is true and worthwile but it will take time and a lot of patience. I will take a while for people to hop on board, and especially to steer the boat. He believes it will happen. We'll just have to see......he's got 2 more years.

"We.......are a nation......a union......a family of change.......we can do it.......we have......the future."- Obama

On Writing 2

"I didn't know what else I might find to do once I got out here, did I? It's best to have your tools with  you. If you don't, you're apt to find something you didn't expect and get discouraged." Isn't that a true statement. Through King's metaphor of a toolbox, he here gives us a glimpse as to why this section is called that. That toolbox hold tools while King's toolbox hold the tools of writing.

From his funny stories to his memorable advice, King continues to write with ease. One major thing that kept me interested is his wit and humor. As he compares adverbs to dandelions, I sensed a type of humor behind it.  He mentions that it is important to have something different than all other writers so you can hold your position. Humor is one of his. I learned some things I didn't know as well (grammar wise).

Reading this book I have come to the conclusion that Stephen King doesn't care if what he says is offensive. In some cases, I would've said the same thing. This helps him connect with the audience. His style of writing is very blunt as well. He likes to get his point across. Although, many times he includes details that I could live without.

So without a doubt, King knows what he is sayinig. Some things I didn't fully agree with but I see what he means. Can't wait to finish it!

On Writing 1

     I'm not a big reader so I didn't know what to expect from this, especially since I had never read Stephen King before. I thought it was gonna be more than just his stories but that is basically what it was. I like how he interprets his stories to keep the interest of the reader. I seldomly got bored and wanted to read more. One thing about his experiences is that he has good detail. He has a point with each description as well. This way it's not just oh hey let's read about King's past, but it's how his past relates to where he is now, and he succeeds in showing how they pertain to his point. For example, King talks about how he loved movies. He continues on to explain how that connected to his writing by him writing about the movies and selling them to classmates at school. In this, we also see King's good humor (which we see throughout the book). He also is good with connecting with the audience through his experiences. That might be the key to keeping the readers' interest because of his stories. The one thing I find negative about the read is his language. Yes, it could be a lot worse, but in many cases, it's not necessary. In fact, I think it weakens a passage because you know he can find higher language to use other than those certain words. It's not as bad as i anticipated, though. His transitions between stories weren't the best at times but easy to understand. After reading his stories, i believe he knows what he is talking about and he likes writing about it. He gives off a sense of a relaxed vibe which makes is easier to read. All in all, it has been a good book so far. It's only the begginning though! Hopefully it will continue to be good.