Dreams from My Father
by: Barack Obama
Monday, May 18, 2009
Dreams from My Father
My father was born with bronchial asthma. This is a "disease caused by increased responsiveness of the tracheobronchial tree to various stimuli." In short, he was born with asthma. He had to be taken out of school constantly because of his lungs. He stayed home and took care of his animals; chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, fish, dogs and cats and helped his mother with the household chores as a kid. He knew how to hand sew, and sew with a machine, how to scale a fish and how to cook. However, in high school, he was the popular guy, the jock. He played football, basketball, surfed every morning, and was in a club where you have parties every weekend. He longed to go to Idaho for college and become a veterinarian because his childhood was filled with animals. He went to the first semester in college, which stressed him to the limit. He began to have chronic headaches and stomach aches often. He slept all day and with black curtains because the sun hurt his eyes. He'd stopped surfing and wasn't on any college teams, and college was getting to him. His mom made him go to the doctor and the doctor told him he had gastric ulcers which is when the acid in your stomach eats away the lining and you have really bad stomach aches. His doctor ordered him out of college and said just to surf and relax so that the ulcers would heal. He was never able to graduate from college for any degree and began working as a bag boy for the local supermarket. When he was promoted to the highest pay for a cashier, he earned more than his mother, and decided to give her every other pay check. He quit working at the market and began to work for a bread company called Oroweat. A few years after he'd been working there, their company was going out of business because the bosses were taking the money and using it for themselves. He quit that job got a new job at Pint Size Corporation. This company distributed ice cream such as Häagen-Dazs and Dreyers. The people there didn't do their job and the bosses didn't want to fire them because they were all friends. He quit that job and went to work for his friend at a recycling plant in Hawaii. He spent about a month there and decided that he liked working with food. He took a job at Meadow Gold Dairies and worked there for a short while, and quit because he got a better job at Hawaii Food Alliance, or HFA where he currently works about from 2 am to about 6 at night 5 days a week which is around 80 hours.
He wants me to go to college so that I don't have to work long hours like he does. He has let me have rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks, dogs and a million fish, and I have learned to love all of them and I want to complete my father's dream of being a veterinarian.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Who am I?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?
What am I supposed to do?
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?
What am I supposed to do?
The purpose in life is to find your purpose in life.
I read the book Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama. The book is about finding out who Barack was because his father left him and his mother when he was young. The thing that was different about Barack was that his mother was white and his father was African American. Barack had a hard time fitting in with the kids at school and he never found the perfect place to fit in or to be sure of himself. By learning about his father’s heritage, Barack found a part of himself that was locked up inside of him.
Culture:
Finding out about your family history is one of the first steps to figuring out the answers to the ultimate questions. My family history was from Japanese ancestry from my mom and Filipino, Spanish, Chinese ancestry from my dad. Before I was born, my mom’s whole family was pure Japanese. When cultures start to mix, (as it did when I was born,) stereotypes start to fall. Stereotypes fall because everyone is mixed, and you wouldn’t want to be prejudiced against a person from your own family. Culture is also something that is mixed up when a child is mixed races. When I eat dinner, I eat pretty much everything, but most of my diet consists of Japanese or Filipino food because those are the ethnicities that I have the most of. Clothing is also sort of a part of culture because you choose the kinds of clothes that you like to wear therefore it is a part of who you are.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Religion:
Religion is a very touchy subject. You are usually the religion that your parents are because of influence. However, you can choose what religion you want to be, if you want to be one at all. Each person has the power to get up and change their way of life if they feel the need to.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Upbringing:
Here in Hawaii, lots of people are different ethnicities. This helps to make people more open to other ethnicities. On the mainland, people are thought to be very cynical because most of them are Caucasian. They have been brought up only around people that look like them, therefore, when they see someone different, they think they are bad because of their differences. In Hawaii, your neighbor is likely not the exact same ethnicities as you, and probably doesn’t even look like you. This helps children (and adults) to get along without the awkwardness of thinking one person is superior to another because of differences.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Schools:
I have been to 3 different schools in my whole life. It has helped me recognize how superior a school Punahou is. I have been to Unity School for pre-school, Epiphany School for Elementary School, and Punahou for Middle and High School. Epiphany School’s student body was about 127 people when I was in the 5th grade. I had 28 people in my 5th grade class, and that helped shape me because school was a place where I learned a lot because the student : teacher ratio was very good. Punahou, however, is a privilege to go to not only because the new President went here, but because of how much information we are learning and how high-class the facilities are.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Interests:
Interests are a huge part of “Who am I?” I do gymnastics as my interest and that defines who I am because if I didn’t do gymnastics, lots of things in my life would be different. Probably how I conduct my life would be different. The way I do this is I kind of am scared of doing new things, but then I force myself into it, and once it’s over, I’m happy again.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Religion is a very touchy subject. You are usually the religion that your parents are because of influence. However, you can choose what religion you want to be, if you want to be one at all. Each person has the power to get up and change their way of life if they feel the need to.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Upbringing:
Here in Hawaii, lots of people are different ethnicities. This helps to make people more open to other ethnicities. On the mainland, people are thought to be very cynical because most of them are Caucasian. They have been brought up only around people that look like them, therefore, when they see someone different, they think they are bad because of their differences. In Hawaii, your neighbor is likely not the exact same ethnicities as you, and probably doesn’t even look like you. This helps children (and adults) to get along without the awkwardness of thinking one person is superior to another because of differences.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Schools:
I have been to 3 different schools in my whole life. It has helped me recognize how superior a school Punahou is. I have been to Unity School for pre-school, Epiphany School for Elementary School, and Punahou for Middle and High School. Epiphany School’s student body was about 127 people when I was in the 5th grade. I had 28 people in my 5th grade class, and that helped shape me because school was a place where I learned a lot because the student : teacher ratio was very good. Punahou, however, is a privilege to go to not only because the new President went here, but because of how much information we are learning and how high-class the facilities are.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Interests:
Interests are a huge part of “Who am I?” I do gymnastics as my interest and that defines who I am because if I didn’t do gymnastics, lots of things in my life would be different. Probably how I conduct my life would be different. The way I do this is I kind of am scared of doing new things, but then I force myself into it, and once it’s over, I’m happy again.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Ethics:
Ethics is probably the biggest part of “Who am I?” The way you face everyday tasks are different than everyone else in the world. The way you do something shows what kind of person you are such as honest, responsible, sly, or devious. Ethics is a learned process too. You hear a lot about kids that kill other kids through violence at school, and it is usually because their parents were rough on them when they were young. Also, if your parents have high expectations of you, you are most likely to try hard to please your parents, and you may, at one point, even enjoy doing the right thing.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Friends:
Friends are said to be your lifeline. They are the family you get to choose. Friends are your influence, and the shoulder you turn to when you think no one else is there. Friends define who you are because there is peer pressure, but there is also support. Friendship is like the net underneath the tight wire in the circus. You certainly can live without it, but it is really nice to have. It makes life easier to live, or in the circus, it makes you feel more confident that you won’t die.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Fam[ily]:
Finally, family. My dad always says to me, “Friends will come and go, but your family will ALWAYS be there for you.” Family is like nutrients for you to live. It will be extremely hard to live without them, even if you don’t necessarily love them all the time. There are also different kinds of family. There is your biological family, which is the family you go home to every night. There is your friends family, which is pretty much just your friends. There also is your upbringing family which I like to think of as the people you’ve interacted with your whole life, and make you who you are because if one single person hadn’t been there, something would be different in your life.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Who am I?
I am a Japanese, Filipino, Spanish, Chinese, t-shirt/jeans wearing, Christian, Hawaii grown, Punahou, gymnastics taking, ethical girl with friends and family. And I believe that problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Ethics is probably the biggest part of “Who am I?” The way you face everyday tasks are different than everyone else in the world. The way you do something shows what kind of person you are such as honest, responsible, sly, or devious. Ethics is a learned process too. You hear a lot about kids that kill other kids through violence at school, and it is usually because their parents were rough on them when they were young. Also, if your parents have high expectations of you, you are most likely to try hard to please your parents, and you may, at one point, even enjoy doing the right thing.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Friends:
Friends are said to be your lifeline. They are the family you get to choose. Friends are your influence, and the shoulder you turn to when you think no one else is there. Friends define who you are because there is peer pressure, but there is also support. Friendship is like the net underneath the tight wire in the circus. You certainly can live without it, but it is really nice to have. It makes life easier to live, or in the circus, it makes you feel more confident that you won’t die.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Fam[ily]:
Finally, family. My dad always says to me, “Friends will come and go, but your family will ALWAYS be there for you.” Family is like nutrients for you to live. It will be extremely hard to live without them, even if you don’t necessarily love them all the time. There are also different kinds of family. There is your biological family, which is the family you go home to every night. There is your friends family, which is pretty much just your friends. There also is your upbringing family which I like to think of as the people you’ve interacted with your whole life, and make you who you are because if one single person hadn’t been there, something would be different in your life.
Problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Who am I?
I am a Japanese, Filipino, Spanish, Chinese, t-shirt/jeans wearing, Christian, Hawaii grown, Punahou, gymnastics taking, ethical girl with friends and family. And I believe that problems are given to you because the choices you make determine who you are.
Family Tree Pictures:
Married: Haruyo&Hoshitaro; Married: Henry&Miaori
Married: Ayako&Sunao; Children: Richard(&Enid), May(&Paul), Harry(&Amy); Children: Susan(of R&E); Paula, Timmy, Mike, David(of M&P); Scott, Kyle, Wade, June(of H&A)
Married: Harold&Sadayo
Married: Fred&Amy; Children: Dennis, Joyce, Alvin, Karen
Married: Clara&Noboru; Children: Rodney, Aileen, Dale, Warren
Married: Chieko&Ryoichi; Children: Susan(&Russel), Ronald(&Ellen), Wayne(&Debbie), Jill(&Craig), Joan(&Ronald), Gail(&Albert); Children: Morgan, Robyn (ofS&R) Sean [married to Jamie], Christine (ofR&E)
Married: Takeno&Kyutaro; Children: Ryoichi, Yuki (&Gordon, Child:Harry) Married: Soyo&Hichizo [parents of Shichiro] Married: Shichiro&Shizuko Children: Nettie, Albert, Elizabeth
Married: Victoria&Bernaldo [parents of Rosaline] Married: Rosaline&Mariano Children: Delores, Bernaldo, Delfin, Patricia, Neives, Benjamin, Bernabee, Agnes Married: Christina&Anatalio [parents of Benjamin, Edward]
Married: Gail&Albert Children: Edie(&Greg), Wendy(&George), Cara(&Ray) Children: Lindsay, Casey (of E&G), Brett (of W&G), Reed, Hayley (of C&R) 
Thursday, May 14, 2009
iBelieve
I believe in reading.
I believe in reading books,
Blogs,
The nutrition facts label,
Friend’s papers,
And posters.
But, I do not believe in reading instructions.
I believe in reading fire extinguisher warnings,
Soap ingredients,
Sustainability propaganda,
And road signs.
But, I do not believe in reading instructions.
I believe in reading the sides of cereal boxes,
Biology textbooks,
The bulletin,
And the newspaper.
But I do not believe in reading instructions.
I do not believe in reading instructions because I am my own person. Reading instructions irritates me. You open a box filled with pieces of a toy. There lie the instructions. Filled with millions of words telling you how to put together the object. Why do you even need all the words when there’s a picture with arrows on the box telling you where to put everything? It’s redundant, It’s redundant. There are just too many words to read and it takes way too long. I do not believe in reading instructions because I am my own person. Reading instructions is like having someone (that you don’t know) tell you what to do and exactly how to do it. It’s like communism. You have no rights and you are pushed into this forced listening (or reading in this case) to some random person who works at some dirty factory who doesn’t have a very high education and occasionally spells words wrong. Putting things together yourself helps work your brain and lets you have more freedom.
When you read instructions, it feels like you have no control over what you are doing, like someone is controlling you and you are a robot. “Put this here, put the nail in here…” It’s like, what if you DON’T want to put the sticker on the top, because you think it looks better on the bottom! The instructions make it like there is only one option of where to put your stickers or the parts of the toy.
Reading is something that should be enjoyed and not something ruined by reading instructions. Reading books is fun because of the stories and the pictures that invade your imagination. Reading the soap ingredients is fun because you get to learn words such as “cocamidolpropyl betaine” and “ammonium xylenesulfonate” and is where I have learned the longest words I’ve ever encountered. Posters are fun because of all the colorful pictures and information that you gain from them. But is reading instructions FUN? No, it’s just a bunch of words giving you instructions that you don’t need because people can figure out information based on pictures. The pictures even have arrows to say where to put the long nails versus the short ones!
I do not believe in reading instructions because I am my own person. I do not need anyone telling me what to do and how to do it, especially if I already know. I don’t necessarily like to follow in the footsteps of someone else because it seems like I am not living my life. I have not and never will read the instructions on any toy or object probably for as long as I live.
I do not believe in reading instructions because I am my own person.
I believe in reading books,
Blogs,
The nutrition facts label,
Friend’s papers,
And posters.
But, I do not believe in reading instructions.
I believe in reading fire extinguisher warnings,
Soap ingredients,
Sustainability propaganda,
And road signs.
But, I do not believe in reading instructions.
I believe in reading the sides of cereal boxes,
Biology textbooks,
The bulletin,
And the newspaper.
But I do not believe in reading instructions.
I do not believe in reading instructions because I am my own person. Reading instructions irritates me. You open a box filled with pieces of a toy. There lie the instructions. Filled with millions of words telling you how to put together the object. Why do you even need all the words when there’s a picture with arrows on the box telling you where to put everything? It’s redundant, It’s redundant. There are just too many words to read and it takes way too long. I do not believe in reading instructions because I am my own person. Reading instructions is like having someone (that you don’t know) tell you what to do and exactly how to do it. It’s like communism. You have no rights and you are pushed into this forced listening (or reading in this case) to some random person who works at some dirty factory who doesn’t have a very high education and occasionally spells words wrong. Putting things together yourself helps work your brain and lets you have more freedom.
When you read instructions, it feels like you have no control over what you are doing, like someone is controlling you and you are a robot. “Put this here, put the nail in here…” It’s like, what if you DON’T want to put the sticker on the top, because you think it looks better on the bottom! The instructions make it like there is only one option of where to put your stickers or the parts of the toy.
Reading is something that should be enjoyed and not something ruined by reading instructions. Reading books is fun because of the stories and the pictures that invade your imagination. Reading the soap ingredients is fun because you get to learn words such as “cocamidolpropyl betaine” and “ammonium xylenesulfonate” and is where I have learned the longest words I’ve ever encountered. Posters are fun because of all the colorful pictures and information that you gain from them. But is reading instructions FUN? No, it’s just a bunch of words giving you instructions that you don’t need because people can figure out information based on pictures. The pictures even have arrows to say where to put the long nails versus the short ones!
I do not believe in reading instructions because I am my own person. I do not need anyone telling me what to do and how to do it, especially if I already know. I don’t necessarily like to follow in the footsteps of someone else because it seems like I am not living my life. I have not and never will read the instructions on any toy or object probably for as long as I live.
I do not believe in reading instructions because I am my own person.
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