1/27/13

If I had the opportunity for a one day all-expense pay trip to either The Great Wall of China or Stonehenge, I would definitely pick The Great Wall of China, because it is incredible that it is 5,500 miles long!  It is also incredible that it was completely manmade!  That is a lot of hard work.  It is the largest manmade cultural relic in the word.  It passes 156 counties in TEN cities!  It was eroded, rebuilt, extended out many times.  It was last constructed in the Ming Dynasty.  That is insane!!  I knew a little bit about the facts of this wall, but when I went into depth with the information I found a ton of interesting facts!!  If all of the walls around China were all put together and measured out, the length would exceed 31,000 miles long!  That is amazing!  They meant business!  The wall runs through, Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai.  The Great Wall (Ming Dynasty) is almost double the length of the United States!  That is ridiculously INCREDIBLE, and that's why I would love to spend a day there, even though it would take a few days than just one to explore it all.

Bodily Gas

Feleisha Antillon
Mr. Gowans   
Language Arts 12
January 14, 2013

Bodily Gas

Some people may think that bodily gas like, farts and burps, are improper and unmannerly, but in all reality it is just plain normal, everyday, bodily functions.  It is actually a good thing to let your gas out.  Any living thing that has a digestive system passes gas, every single day.  

There are many ways that your body will build up gas.  Exercise is a big way gas is developed.  “It’s long been suspected that runners---even moderate- intensity, recreational middle distance runners—are more prone to intestinal  gas than average, non-running adults” (What is normal 1).

An average person produces one to three pints of gas per day, but gets rid of almost all of it in about fourteen to twenty three passes.  Most of the time when you, or anyone else farts or burps, you smell a horrible odor that’s sometimes stops you from breathing…Okay that’s dramatic, but it seems that way sometimes.  But in reality, 99 percent of our bodily gas that escapes is odorless.  The non-harmful gas consists of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen.  We produce those gases while consuming carbonated beverages, smoking, chewing gum, and many other ways.

Not all bodily gas is odorous.  Every living creature has a colon (Large bowel).  Our colons create a tiny bit of hydrogen gas and methane.  The gas is created by the fermentation of the leftover carbohydrates from the small intestinal digestive process.  It forms hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol, and dimethyl sulfide.  You can reduce the smelly gas production by eating less foods that produce high residues of indigestible carbohydrates.  For example, ”corn, noodles, and potatoes, and most foods high in dietary fiber. Fructose, found in artichokes, onions, pears, and wheat. Raffinose, found in asparagus, beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and whole grains, and Sorbitol, found in apples, peaches, pears, prunes, and candies and drinks that use it as sweetener”(Lipman 1).  So basically, I will have to starve myself in order to never have gas, those things are all I ever eat.  Just kidding.  By limiting yourself to those foods, means less gas for you to have to hold in, around your boyfriends/girlfriends.  You can tone down the rankyness by drinking Pepto-Bismol.  Pep to helps fight the smell of the hydrogen sulfide.  It is not safe to drink it everyday though, it is still a medicine.  

Have you ever wondered why our farts are so loud and squeaky sometimes, but other times they’re extremely quiet and deadly?  I have! Especially when I’m trying to hold it in as hard as I can so I don’t embarrass myself in front of handsome boys.  While reading through my information I came upon this, “passing the gas mixture causes the anal sphincter to vibrate, producing a veritable symphony of sounds depending on the force with the gas is expelled and resistance of the sphincter” (Roberts 1).  So, when you fart, the different sounds are caused by the amount of gas you realize, and the different types of gases that are released.

Bodily gases are no problem to the body.  In fact it is good to let one rip when you have to.  Burping is the same way.  Holding in all of those gases at one time causes our tummies to hurt, and eventually it will just slip out, because our stomachs build up a little bit of carbon dioxide on its own, causing you to bloat.  Holding them in will not hurt you long term at all, however it is very uncomfortable.  
    You may think that you burp or fart more than anybody you know.  Why?  You may ask.  It may just be that you eat a lot more than them, or consume a lot more gassy foods than them, but it could be caused by one of these “...irritable bowel syndrome, lactose intolerance, celiac disease, or gastroesophageal reflux disorder. In the vast majority of cases, flatulence indicates nothing more than that the patient is alive and eating a healthy diet”(Lipman 1).
These most likely won’t be the case, but if you just want to make sure, you are more than welcome to I guess.
   
    Our bodies start producing gases from the day we are born, to one, to, two days after we die. I was very shocked when I read this.  I thought that our bodies got rid of everything, a few hours or so after we passed. I was talking to my co-workers the other day, and one used to work with dead bodies, immediately after they died.  She told me when she would go to roll them on to their other bed, they would burp really loud, and it would freak her out.  When we die, our bodies let out all of the gases that were building up in the stomach.  Sometimes we fart and burp, or burp for a long time, or fart many times, after passing.
“It’s completely normal though, just something you have to get used to” Sherida told me.

Burping is completely natural and anything that makes you swallow too much air, such as, eating or drinking too fast, carbonated beverages, dentures that don’t fit properly, chewing gum, getting anxious and hyperventilating, can cause you to burp. Chocolate, fats and mints will make your burps louder, and stronger. They allow your stomach gas to escape by relaxing the lower esophageal sphincter, a ring of muscle that acts as a gateway between the esophagus and the stomach.
    When you really, really have to burp, but you can’t it can be very painful. Drinking some baking soda diluted in water could help solve the problem.

In order to avoid belching, you can remind yourself to eat and drink more slowly and avoid “triggers” such as carbonated drinks, gum, mints, and chocolate. You can also get treatment for any underlying gastrointestinal problems.

Surprisingly, excess gas may not be the prime problem of bloating. Research shows that people with bloating complaints don’t have any more gas than average in their intestinal tract. Overly sensitive pain receptors in the gut, sluggish bowel contractions, gas trapped in the folds of the intestines, gas-filled cysts in the large intestine, poor absorption of carbohydrates, diabetes and irritable bowel syndrome are causes of bloating. You can use constipation medication and remedies to help with your bloating. Be sure to get tested for celiac disease and lactose intolerance if none of the remedies help.

Everyone farts, everyone burps, and everyone can feel bloated. It’s a natural part of life, and every living thing passes gas every single day.  It seems like, you get gas at the worst times...Your wedding day?  Prom?  A first date with your dream girl?  Well on my wedding day I had the worst gas anybody could EVER experience.  While taking pictures with my sweetheart, I was holding in my gas, with all of my might.  Our photographer had this bright idea. 

“Pick her up, and hold her like she’s your princess” She said.  I was thinking oh great, this will be a great way to ruin my wedding day.  “I have to pee”, was the only thing I could think of that wouldn’t embarrass me as bad as saying that I had gas.  “As soon as we take this picture, you can use the restroom” she said with a giggle.  He tried lifting me up as gentle as possible, but still need a little assistance from me.  “Hop up into my arms beautiful”, the love of my life told me.  I jumped up, and nothing slipped out.  Relieved, I told them I was good for a few more pictures.  Flattered, the photographer told us to lye next to each other, but with our heads at each others feet.  We both sat down at the same time and sure enough, one snuck out.  It was loud and very smelly.  Red faced and sick to my stomach, I smile.  Both my husband and my photographer were laughing at me.  I see a bright flash, flicker.  She took a picture of my tomato face.  What a great way to start my marriage off.  

Works Cited

Alan, Roberts. “Blowing It Out.” Scholastic Choices 23.5 (2008): 27-27.Acedemic Search Primer. Web. 11 Jan. 2013.

“Gases of the Gut.” Harvard Health Letter 27.10 (2002): 5, 1. Acedemic Search Primer. Web. 11 Jan. 2013.

Lipman, Marvin M. “Intestinal gas: A right of Passage.” Consumer Reports on Health 19.6 (2007):11-11. MasterFILE Primer. Web. 11 Jan. 2013.

“What is Normal Gas?” Running & FitNews 23.5 (2005): 1-2. Acedemic Search Primer. Web. 11 Jan. 2013.

1/20/13

Have you ever heard the saying "There's no I in team",  or "Your only as strong as your weakest link"?  Well our team discovered that those two quotes are very much true.  This weekend we played a very rough team, at their home court.  We knew it was going to be a rough game, and of course it did turn out to be, but we didn't let their obnoxious fans, their dirty defense, or the crappy refs bring our team down.  We played as a team and worked our hardest to try and stay on top.  We did very well the first half of the game, making very few mistakes.  Third quarter is always the roughest for our team...and again, it was.  We got down by around ten.  But as a team, we discussed the what we could do to turn things around.  We let go of all the bad and talked as a team.  We fought and fought till the very last second of the forth quarter and lost by two.  But still we kept our heads held high, and lost as a team.  We congratulated the other team and went on with the rest of our night.  Yeah we lost but we busted our hind ends to come back, and only lose by one shot....We came back as a team.

Is Everybody Equal? Can Everybody be Equal?

Feleisha Antillon        

Mr. Gowans

Language Arts 12

December 11, 2012

Is Everybody Equal?  Can Everybody Be Equal?

In a society like The Giver, by Lois Lowry, there is nothing but perfection everywhere.  Everything is controlled, and ran smoothly.  There are no emotions what so ever, the community doesn’t feel pain, love, nor hate.  Everyone is assigned a job in the community.  They don’t know what they will get until the ceremony of twelve, and then from then on they are working citizens.  Being controlled as they are, could cause destruction as well as construct the society like in the book Anthem, by Ayn Rand, a young boy by the name of Equality 7-2521 lives in a community where there is a higher power called The House of Scholars, ran by a boy named Collective 0-0009.  Nameless and deprived of love, Equality is still a very ambitious boy looking for success.

            Individuality is a big part of our society today.  We are all our own person, no matter how hard people try to change you, not one person can be alike.  There are brown people, white people, fat people, skinny people, tall people, short people etc.

“Jonas has been selected to be our next Receiver of Memory” (Lowry 60).  Jonas gets the Receiver of Memory, but his little sister, and his parents, and his friends all have different jobs, all to fit their own personalities. 

In Anthem, Equality gets his job as a street sweeper, even though he wanted to get into The House of Scholars.  They don’t get to pick their jobs.

In a society with individuality there are true emotions.  There is love, hate, sorrow, sadness, and tons more emotions I feel everyday!  Sometimes I feel all these emotions at one time.  I love to think my own thoughts and be my own person, I don’t like when someone tries to tell me what to do, or how I should do things. In both books the communities are ran by a higher power, they are all told what to do and what to think.  “For a long time we could not speak.  Then we said: ‘Such thoughts as these are forbidden, Golden One’” (Rand 56).  They are taught not to speak in third person, and only to speak in plural. No individuality at all, what so ever.  Neither Equality nor Jonas were supposed to feel love or care for anybody else.  Equality felt something very special for Liberty he didn’t know it was love but could tell it was special.  Without individuality you can’t know a person as their own person, they wouldn’t have a personality for you to love and admire, or even to hate.

            Equality does NOT exist.  It never will. Everyone is their own person no matter how similar somebody acts, sounds, or even looks.  Identical twins are the closest to equal as anything, and even they are different in many ways.  In the Giver, the committee of elders decides everyone’s jobs.  If the community was equal, everyone would have the same jobs, everyone would drive the same vehicles, everyone would breath the same way at the same time.  It is impossible to have a perfect society, and that’s what I think both authors are trying to get out of these stories.  They both have a higher power controlling the people in their community, trying to dumb them all down so that the higher power can stay in control without any challenges, and by making everybody alike, and having the same amount of knowledge they would stay on top.  A perfect society is not possible. 

            If everybody was exactly the same, no one would have feelings.  There would be no fighting, no violence, and no wars, but what is life without feelings?  That means there would be no love, no hate, no happiness or sadness.  So what is there??  No emotions and no personalities.  But there are pros to having an equal society.  Without love, there is no hurt, without hate, there are no wars.  Not one person is better than another, and there is no pain and no guilt.  In the story The Giver, Jonas’s dad has a job where he releases people from the community, nobody knows what release is really, they just know that once someone is released they never come back and they are never seen again, but as a Receiver of  Memory, Jonas is aloud to find things out, such as release.  “As he continued to watch, the newchild no longer crying moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion.  Then he went limp.  His head fell to the side, his eyes half open.  Then he was still” (Lowry 150).  Jonas discovers that by releasing someone, means killing them.  He watched his dad release a newborn child, but to his father it wasn’t bad to him, he had no emotion, no love, he had no idea that what he was doing was wrong.  He had no guilt.  He came home acting like nothing happened, every single day, and Jonas now wonders how he could act so normal after killing people, just like you or I would look at it, but you and I have emotion, we feel pain and we feel love, and now so does Jonas, he now feels guilt and anger.  He now feels how we feel.

            In the book Anthem, Ayn Rand informs her readers that The House of Scholars wanted to keep control, and stay above everyone, and when Equality invents the light bulb they immediately shut him down, because having somebody smarter than the higher power will destruct everything the higher power was going for.

            Lois Lowry also shows that the community’s higher power wants everything perfect.  Perfection to them was equality, equality in our society today is impossible, there are always going to glitches, there is no such thing as perfection, and that’s what I got out of both books.  Being different is great, we feel love, we feel hate, but when we have both those feelings, and they become strong and meaningful, things begin to fall apart.

 

 

 

                                                    Works Cited

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 1993. Print.

Rand, Ayn. Anthem.Student Edition. New York: Penguin Group, 1961. Print.