Ok, so its not technically a book, but I want to review it because it's so inspiring.
I have decided to try operant conditioning to make my life better. I buy myself things I want but have no reason to buy as a reward for overcoming one of my flaws for a specified period of time (like a month, or 10 days in a row, etc.) I wanted to stop getting parking tickets (and late fees) so I decided if I could go a month without getting a parking ticket (its actually hard where I work) I would buy myself a CD. For reaching my goal during the month of September I bought myself Mozart's Requiem. I sang it in a choir a few years ago and I loved it.
A requiem is a Catholic mass for the dead, that has become its genre in choral music. A requiem follows the Latin lyrics under these titles:Requium, Kyrie, Sequentia, Offertorium, Sanctus, Benidictus, Agnus Dei, Communion, etc.
I like the Seqentia part, where the painful feelings about life, sin and death reach a catharsis. The music leads you into the very jaws of Hell, "Confutatis malidictis flammis acribus addictis..." (when the accursed have been confounded and given over to the bitter flames)
but then you are led to safety in arms of God, "Voca me cum benidictis....Gere curam mei finis." (Call me with the blessed...safeguard my fate.)
I also like the Agnus Dei "Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem" (Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest.)
But even if you don't understand the words at all, the music is powerful enough to convey the message. The music is so beautiful when you are listening to it that for a moment you find yourself reaching for perfection, and touching perfection lightly with your fingertips.
The story of a requiem is one of facing the reality of death and sin, pleading with God for mercy, feeling the fears and pains of the world, looking to God, remembering God's promises to us, praising God, attaining the mercy of the Savior, and rejoicing that God has rescued us from death, sin, and fear.
When I listen to a new piece of music, I get really into it and listen to it over and over until it seeps into me. Because of some of the choral music I've sung, sometimes phrases come to my mind in Latin. Agnus Dei..Dona eis requiem.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A Change of Venue
I've decided that this blog will be more about my experiences in graduate school and less about book reviews. I will try to keep it interesting anyway.
I am attending the University of Phoenix Masters of Mental Health Counseling program.
The last class I took was the portfolio class that is how they do the admissions process. If you pass the class you get into the program. It think having a portfolio class was a good idea because now that I have passed the class I have a lot more confidence in my ability to be a graduate student, and it also helped me to get a feel for how it works.
Before each week of class we have to read about 300 pages from the textbook and journal articles. It is so great, I love it. The material is so interesting and I am finally in a situation where I can share my thoughts about what I read without people getting bored or telling me to go away.
The class I'm taking is about family and human development. This week we learned about genetics, childbirth, infancy and attachment.
Teen girls who get pregnant often get pregnant not because they are unaware of the risks but because they are confused about attachment. They don't have the feeling of attachment with parents or other adults, so they look for it in boys. They get sexual attachment confused with parental attachment and look for it in the wrong places.
Infant development is on a continuum and there is a bell curve of normalcy. The average age for infants to start walking is one year old, but that is within a range of normalcy. I commented in class (because it was the best example) that my sister started walking at 9 months (or maybe 10) and I started walking at 15 months but that we are both within a normal range. I said that it was because we had different temperaments as babies. But then people in the class commented that maybe the difference was in birth order (which is probably true because I'm the youngest and I didn't have to walk because my siblings carried me all the time)
My professor said maybe your sister had a bigger cerebellum
My sister and I were both born in February. Maybe it was because my sister learned to walk in salt lake city and she could play outside in November. I learned to walk in Wisconsin. Winter is really cold there. Maybe I didn't walk until 15 months because I was too cold and wanted to wait until spring.
That's whats so interesting about psychology. You can study a common trend but within that trend each individual is different for many reasons. There are so many factors that make up an individual: nurture, and nature. And about free will, intelligence, resiliency, interventions, even things like nutrition, outside environment, medications, choices of other people, or public policy?People are so very cool.
I am attending the University of Phoenix Masters of Mental Health Counseling program.
The last class I took was the portfolio class that is how they do the admissions process. If you pass the class you get into the program. It think having a portfolio class was a good idea because now that I have passed the class I have a lot more confidence in my ability to be a graduate student, and it also helped me to get a feel for how it works.
Before each week of class we have to read about 300 pages from the textbook and journal articles. It is so great, I love it. The material is so interesting and I am finally in a situation where I can share my thoughts about what I read without people getting bored or telling me to go away.
The class I'm taking is about family and human development. This week we learned about genetics, childbirth, infancy and attachment.
Teen girls who get pregnant often get pregnant not because they are unaware of the risks but because they are confused about attachment. They don't have the feeling of attachment with parents or other adults, so they look for it in boys. They get sexual attachment confused with parental attachment and look for it in the wrong places.
Infant development is on a continuum and there is a bell curve of normalcy. The average age for infants to start walking is one year old, but that is within a range of normalcy. I commented in class (because it was the best example) that my sister started walking at 9 months (or maybe 10) and I started walking at 15 months but that we are both within a normal range. I said that it was because we had different temperaments as babies. But then people in the class commented that maybe the difference was in birth order (which is probably true because I'm the youngest and I didn't have to walk because my siblings carried me all the time)
My professor said maybe your sister had a bigger cerebellum
My sister and I were both born in February. Maybe it was because my sister learned to walk in salt lake city and she could play outside in November. I learned to walk in Wisconsin. Winter is really cold there. Maybe I didn't walk until 15 months because I was too cold and wanted to wait until spring.
That's whats so interesting about psychology. You can study a common trend but within that trend each individual is different for many reasons. There are so many factors that make up an individual: nurture, and nature. And about free will, intelligence, resiliency, interventions, even things like nutrition, outside environment, medications, choices of other people, or public policy?People are so very cool.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
in a different voice
by Carol Gilligan.
When I got this book I was very enthusiastic about it because it had been cited in several other media I was interested in. It was cited in Eve and the Choice Made in Eden, which I also wrote about in my blog. They also discussed in a different voice on one of the episodes of the college courses they have on channel 9, Ethics and Values.
In this book, Gilligan revisited some studies about moral reasoning and development in children at the age of 11 and then age 15. In the study the children were asked the question called Heinz's dilemma where there is a man whose wife is sick needs a particular medicine or she will die. The medicine costs $2000.00 but Heinz has only has $1000.00. Should he steal the drug? The boys in the study usually answered either yes, he should steal the drug, or no he shouldn't steal it. The girls usually went around the question and came up with different solutions such as having fund raisers or lobbying the government etc. The girls thought about the relationship between the man and his wife. If he steals the drug and she doesn't die then if he goes to prison he will not be able to take care of her.
When the study was interpreted, the boys were seen as having higher moral reasoning than the girls because the answered the question posed: yes or no, and here's why. The girls appeared not to know what they thought because they didn't answer the question directly but went outside of the perameters.
Gilligan's reinterpretation of the study was that the girls had a different moral reasoning style than the boys. The boys think in more black and white moral terms, while the girls think in terms of relationships, negotiating what brings the greatest good to the most people.
Another study that Gilligan conducted involved asking the children questions about themselves, how they reason, and how they see themselves in the world. The boys' language was more hierarchical and autonomous and the girls' language reflected connectedness and relationships.
In another study the participant is to look at a picture and write the story they think it portrays. The men described the pictures with a person alone or in competition as positive and the pictures with connected people as violent and threatening. The women described the pictures with the person alone or in competition as violent and threatening, and the pictures with connected people as positive.
She concluded through these studies that men relate to the world in a hierarchical manner, while women relate to the world in an interconnected web-like manner.
I think in general this is true, however, I wanted to see this study done in a more scientific manne. She used mostly case studies to illustrate her point and I would have liked to see a larger sample size.
I loved the first three and the last two chapters of the book but I didn't like the middle as much because I am pro-life and she did studies what led women to come to the decision to have an abortion. A less controversial issue would have been a better way to prove the point about how women make important decisions. However, it seemed to me that, like the studies above, the women made decisions based upon relationships. The ones that decided to go through with the abortion had no support from their parents, boyfriends, or counselors to discuss their options. They felt cornered because of the relationships that had failed them. So I think a pro-life activist would get better results from treating abortion as a social problem rather than a moral failing, and offering these young women more support for them and their babies.
I am glad I read this book because of its insights about the difference between the moral reasoning and values of men and women.
When I got this book I was very enthusiastic about it because it had been cited in several other media I was interested in. It was cited in Eve and the Choice Made in Eden, which I also wrote about in my blog. They also discussed in a different voice on one of the episodes of the college courses they have on channel 9, Ethics and Values.
In this book, Gilligan revisited some studies about moral reasoning and development in children at the age of 11 and then age 15. In the study the children were asked the question called Heinz's dilemma where there is a man whose wife is sick needs a particular medicine or she will die. The medicine costs $2000.00 but Heinz has only has $1000.00. Should he steal the drug? The boys in the study usually answered either yes, he should steal the drug, or no he shouldn't steal it. The girls usually went around the question and came up with different solutions such as having fund raisers or lobbying the government etc. The girls thought about the relationship between the man and his wife. If he steals the drug and she doesn't die then if he goes to prison he will not be able to take care of her.
When the study was interpreted, the boys were seen as having higher moral reasoning than the girls because the answered the question posed: yes or no, and here's why. The girls appeared not to know what they thought because they didn't answer the question directly but went outside of the perameters.
Gilligan's reinterpretation of the study was that the girls had a different moral reasoning style than the boys. The boys think in more black and white moral terms, while the girls think in terms of relationships, negotiating what brings the greatest good to the most people.
Another study that Gilligan conducted involved asking the children questions about themselves, how they reason, and how they see themselves in the world. The boys' language was more hierarchical and autonomous and the girls' language reflected connectedness and relationships.
In another study the participant is to look at a picture and write the story they think it portrays. The men described the pictures with a person alone or in competition as positive and the pictures with connected people as violent and threatening. The women described the pictures with the person alone or in competition as violent and threatening, and the pictures with connected people as positive.
She concluded through these studies that men relate to the world in a hierarchical manner, while women relate to the world in an interconnected web-like manner.
I think in general this is true, however, I wanted to see this study done in a more scientific manne. She used mostly case studies to illustrate her point and I would have liked to see a larger sample size.
I loved the first three and the last two chapters of the book but I didn't like the middle as much because I am pro-life and she did studies what led women to come to the decision to have an abortion. A less controversial issue would have been a better way to prove the point about how women make important decisions. However, it seemed to me that, like the studies above, the women made decisions based upon relationships. The ones that decided to go through with the abortion had no support from their parents, boyfriends, or counselors to discuss their options. They felt cornered because of the relationships that had failed them. So I think a pro-life activist would get better results from treating abortion as a social problem rather than a moral failing, and offering these young women more support for them and their babies.
I am glad I read this book because of its insights about the difference between the moral reasoning and values of men and women.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
I'm still here!
I have not written in my blog for a long time because I have been busy trying to get into graduate school. I want to attend the University of Phoenix Mental Health Counseling program. The admissions process involves taking a 6-week portfolio course and if you pass the class they let you into the graduate program. In two more weeks I will know.
I have read a few interesting books lately. I re-read The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger institute because it was what I chose for my ward's book club, and I was the reviewer. I had a different perspective on it the second time because I am responsible for more people now because I teach Sunday school children and I want to be a therapist.
I was very eager to find the book, in a different voice by Carol Gilligan. It wasn't in the library! Why? It is such an important book! Anyway I had received a gift card for Christmas so I bought it at Barnes and Noble. I rarely buy books so it is a big deal. But since I own the book, I still haven't finished it. It is a book that revisits studies on human development that had previously focused on men and excluded or downplayed development of women. It points out the difference between men and women in development, moral reasoning, and decision-making processes. I want to study this further in school some day--maybe expand the study.
What else have I read? Hmm... I don't know.
Anyway, not to get all sentimental, since I haven't officially gotten into the program, but I am glad I have made the decision to read a book every week after I graduated from college. Let's see--that was 6 years ago when I graduated--times 52 weeks, that's more than 300 books. I just want to say that I was definitely not ready to go to graduate school back then, I think I am now. I hope, anyway. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The third Chapter: Passion Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years After Fifty
By Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot.
I became interested in this book because the author was interviewed on the Diane Ream Show on NPR. A lot of people called in and talked about all of the great things they were doing during their 3rd chapter of life.
By writing this book Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, wanted to dispel some of the misconceptions about the generation currently in their 3rd chapter. Perhaps we are thinking that the years between retirement and death should be spent quietly, and protected from stress, on the golf course, remembering the past. But she gives examples of people who learn new things, and achieve their life-long dreams after retirement.
Some learn new skills, such as art, music or business-- things they had always longed to do but didn't have the opportunity or the patience until their later years. Others leave careers to become activists for causes they had always believed in, or perfect the abilities they were unable to improve before.
Unfortunately, only those lucky enough to have financial stability, support from others and spacecan achieve their life-long dreams in the 3rd chapter. Lawrence-Lightfoot emphasizes the need in society to offer more respect and admiration to those who are aging but not yet old. People in the 3rd have more time, expertise and wisdom, to bring great benefits to society, and satisfaction to themselves in a new season of learning and growth.
I became interested in this book because the author was interviewed on the Diane Ream Show on NPR. A lot of people called in and talked about all of the great things they were doing during their 3rd chapter of life.
By writing this book Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, wanted to dispel some of the misconceptions about the generation currently in their 3rd chapter. Perhaps we are thinking that the years between retirement and death should be spent quietly, and protected from stress, on the golf course, remembering the past. But she gives examples of people who learn new things, and achieve their life-long dreams after retirement.
Some learn new skills, such as art, music or business-- things they had always longed to do but didn't have the opportunity or the patience until their later years. Others leave careers to become activists for causes they had always believed in, or perfect the abilities they were unable to improve before.
Unfortunately, only those lucky enough to have financial stability, support from others and spacecan achieve their life-long dreams in the 3rd chapter. Lawrence-Lightfoot emphasizes the need in society to offer more respect and admiration to those who are aging but not yet old. People in the 3rd have more time, expertise and wisdom, to bring great benefits to society, and satisfaction to themselves in a new season of learning and growth.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Ella Minnow Pea
By Mark Dunn
This is such a fun novel. It is about an island nation off the coast of North Carolina where the citizens highly value the spoken and written word. Unfortunately, they distrust science and technology. They hold the author of "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" Mr Nevill, in a prophet-like, almost God-like regard. So when a letter on the statue in his honor falls to the ground, they have no choice but to banish that letter from their daily lexicon. If the citizens use a word with the offending letter they face serious punishments. As the novel progresses, more and more letters fall from the statue, and therefore out of the novel which is written in letters between people.
This is a really funny and ingenious novel. The townspeople who write the letters have such large vocabularies and when they are challenged and their words are diminished they become even more resourceful.
This is such a fun novel. It is about an island nation off the coast of North Carolina where the citizens highly value the spoken and written word. Unfortunately, they distrust science and technology. They hold the author of "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" Mr Nevill, in a prophet-like, almost God-like regard. So when a letter on the statue in his honor falls to the ground, they have no choice but to banish that letter from their daily lexicon. If the citizens use a word with the offending letter they face serious punishments. As the novel progresses, more and more letters fall from the statue, and therefore out of the novel which is written in letters between people.
This is a really funny and ingenious novel. The townspeople who write the letters have such large vocabularies and when they are challenged and their words are diminished they become even more resourceful.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Flash and Dazzle
By Ronald Anthony
This book won the reader's choice award in the Salt Lake County Library System.
I really enjoyed it because it appeals to my generation X post-modern schema. Another reason why it is appealing is because there are a lot of novels about friendship relationships between women but rarely novels about male friendships.
Flash and Dazzle are the nicknames of two guys who met in college. Flash is a copywriter, and Dazzle is an artist. They worked together since their freshman year of college and find a jobs together at a hip advertising firm in New York City. They live the ideal young bachelor lifestyle. They have access to the best restaurants, girl friends to go out dancing with, disposable income and high tech games in their apartments. When Flash discovers the illness Daz had been hiding, their relationship based on games, girls and fun deepens. Flash finds out things about his friend that he had never known, and reframes his focus to the things in life that really matter.
The thing that's so cool and post-modern about this novel is that it has a built in soundtrack. It is framed around the CD's of mid-90's pop songs that the characters listening to at different points in the novel. A play list is included in the end note.
This book won the reader's choice award in the Salt Lake County Library System.
I really enjoyed it because it appeals to my generation X post-modern schema. Another reason why it is appealing is because there are a lot of novels about friendship relationships between women but rarely novels about male friendships.
Flash and Dazzle are the nicknames of two guys who met in college. Flash is a copywriter, and Dazzle is an artist. They worked together since their freshman year of college and find a jobs together at a hip advertising firm in New York City. They live the ideal young bachelor lifestyle. They have access to the best restaurants, girl friends to go out dancing with, disposable income and high tech games in their apartments. When Flash discovers the illness Daz had been hiding, their relationship based on games, girls and fun deepens. Flash finds out things about his friend that he had never known, and reframes his focus to the things in life that really matter.
The thing that's so cool and post-modern about this novel is that it has a built in soundtrack. It is framed around the CD's of mid-90's pop songs that the characters listening to at different points in the novel. A play list is included in the end note.
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