The title is a reference to the popular kids show Spongebob Squarepants and also completely irrelevant. I just finished reading the John Hughes short story and am slightly disturbed. I'm not sure if that qualifies as humorous.. it seemed dark. I recognized the parts of a comic piece such as throwing in the monkey wrench and then making it much, much worse. I also recognized the irony at the end when the mother was pleased with the airplane flight when it was her idea to drive across country. I didn't appreciate the story though, especially the part about the dog being dragged behind the car. I did not laugh at all, rather, I wanted to cry. I guess I'm confused about how we are going to discuss the humor in that piece. I will simply have to attend class and find out!
In other learning avenues, I have been discussing the digestive system in anatomy. Essentially we discuss how poop is made for about two weeks. It's beyond thrilling. However, if anatomy is boring than biology is just death, we're discussing invertebrate anatomy and I could care less about the internal organs of a sea slug. I know that doesn't seem compassionate towards the poor sea creature, but did you know that when provoked, a sea slug will excrete all it's internal organs in hopes that the predator will eat those and leave it alone to regrow? There's your fun factoid of the day. As much as I complain about biology, I have to admit, parts of it are interesting. I enjoy learning about sharks and huge mammals, but it's difficult to be enthralled by plants and fungi.
One major thing I have learned this semester so far is time management. I think I might have involved myself too much this semester and it's been a challenge to commitment 100% to everything. But, I do think it's important to be goal-oriented and one of my goals is time management. Being under slight pressure all the time is good for me, I think, because it keeps me on my toes and forces me to be efficient in all that I do. I hate to sound cheesy but I think this semester has been one of tremendous growth for me as an individual.
First off, love your title of this post… it made me picture Ms. Puff trying to teach Spongebob how to drive! I definitely feel similarly about the John Hughes "Family Vacation" piece. There were funny parts because of how completely ridiculous it is, but it was just a little too much. And the part about the dog made me sad - that part wasn't funny to me either! On another note, the fact about the sea slug is actually super interesting! But I can see how learning about bigger mammals would be more interesting. Personally, I'm don't like science that much but I do enjoy learning random facts from it (like the sea slug and his questionable defense strategy). Time management is something that I have been learning about (through experience) as well… It is so important to be on top of things and have goals! This is perhaps one of the biggest things that many freshman (including myself) learn when coming to college, and I know it is something that I will continue to need to work on throughout my college experience.
ReplyDeleteThis post is classic. I was also instantly drawn to the blog after the title.. Gotta love Spongebob. This was just a funny read over all. You bounce around a lot but that's what makes it good. You seem like you take a diverse set of classes.. biology sounds rough. I could never do that. Studying sea slugs? I don't even really see how that can relate! But atleast you find what you are studying interesting, that's always we strive to do as students, and that also puts you ahead of me! With college time management is always a struggle. Takes a lot of time just to understand yourself and work ethic, just takes time.
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog post, Kira! It’s totally relatable; you drew me in with the Spongebob reference, especially—and the cognitive shift about it being irrelevant made me want to keep reading even more! I, too, was confused by a lot of the John Hughes story. I almost cried at the dog part, too (I’m sure I would have cried if I hadn’t been sitting in the middle of the BLUU). I also couldn’t bear the death of the aunt and didn’t find it funny at all. I couldn’t get past how awful that would be if it was true, so I couldn’t let myself laugh. Indeed, I think laughing at dark situations requires certain dissociation from reality. Maybe that’s why people find relief in self-deprecating or dark humor—because it’s an escape from reality.
ReplyDeleteI identify with your other learning experiences, as well. Often in my classes, I find what we’re discussing completely uninteresting. However, there are times when I take a step back and realize how valuable certain lessons can be. Also, I can usually find at least one valuable takeaway from each lesson. Maybe everything isn’t my favorite or applicable to me, but it doesn’t mean it’s not helpful or enjoyable for others in the class. For example, we touched on “otherness” and how we identify ourselves by terming or describing someone else as “other,” or different, in class the other day. We explored the exact same topic in my Race, Gender, and Mass Media class as well as my Shakespeare and Marlowe class in the recent weeks. It all connects, and time for reflection is helpful in recognizing that. I also could not relate to you more about time management. I’ve seen a lot of improvement in my time management from last semester to this semester, and I hope it continues to improve next year. Thanks for such an interesting post!