hw 37 cool paper

cool has been and idea that many try to immitate. the ideas of cool can be anything that a person ggrew up around or something that a person admires. It is almost impossible to reach the highest levels of cool though, because society doesn't let you. People always find new ways to make cool escalate into a competition in a way. In a way this idea of cool runs our society, especially in America, and mainly New York, where cool can be perceived as anything. cool is like a chain reaction, and our society runs on the idea of cool, mainly on an economic scale, and also a social acception scale.



In America people love the idea of altering themselves to be more interesting or socially accepted. However they try to be noticed, most of the times, it works. Plastic surgery is one of the biggest things that people love getting, they alter their look, therefore seeming more interesting and becoming noticed, which gives them the cool persona that we all desire. With plastic surgery though, it becomes permanent, just like tattoos do. Plastic surgery also racked in millions of dollars last year and is always generating millions of dollars. "In the past, plastic surgery generated over 8 billion dollars for surgical procedures.(ezinearticles.com)" This shows how people alter themselves to seem cooler. Now in this day and age there are so many ways that people can sort of transform themselves. When people do this, they can also influence others to follow in their footsteps, depending on how that person wants to live. Plastic surgery is one way that our country runs. doctors are getting padi millions of dollars everywhere to perform surgery. They end up spending more money on more supplies to keep up with the demands of people. Then those people with surgery consume more things such as accessories to complete their beauty and coolness. So it is never eending, also ffeeding in to our economic situation.

In America, mainly speaking about New York city, fashion is a big money maker. There are signs everywhere telling us to buy this and that, but these billboards that we see always seem to be missing the prices of the items. This is interesting to me. We are intriged with the advertisements until we actually go to the store. We look around and finally see the item, It can be one of the most expensive things in the store, We will buy either this item or an item like it, so that we can walk out with a bag from that store signifying that we have money to spend on these things and also signifying that we are cool. When we walk into a store, we buy things too signify our coolness and our belonging to a group of people. These trends are very visible with the more luxurious brands, such as gucci and louis vuitton. We see these ads, that signify nothing at all, yet we love going to shop at these places because it signifies our financial status and that we are cool. Even though that person just spent 600 dollars on a pair of gucci shoes, they don't care because they know that if people notice, they automatically become a symbol. I read an article explaining why these high end ddesigners price so much and the article states that, " louis vuitton is made of high quality boa, camel and crocodile skin that will be guaranteed to last you many years. (zimbio.com)" Maybe this also explains why people buy into these items, because by buying these rare materials gathered up in one bag worth almost all of an average ameircan's paycheck, you are considered exotic and cool for purchasing something that people only dream of having. These consumptions of clothing and accesories also drives our economic system. It is like a circle. We consume to feel satisfied, the companies make money and put out better items, and we consume them again. It never ends, until we go broke and these corporations are bathing in out money, and it was all because we wanted to feel cool.

In new york city, it is especially common to follow the crowd. Mainly for kids in high schools, is where this is seen. Throughout the years, there has been an evolution of what seems cool and what doesn't. There use to be the dressing in funky colors, which was very popular. It was the old school look that came back in style, then it became a sneaker phase in which the kids with the oldest pair of air jordans was cool, if they were nice and fresh looking. I am still in this sneaker trend which to me seems to be dying out, but i personally don't think i will leave this phase. Now i notice the trend is to dress classy. Now everyone shops in the mainly caucasion stores, such as macys, bloomingdales and a bunch of shops on 5th avenue. This trend of buying polo has taken over. kids now are following the trends that hundreds of other kids follow and continue to promote. It has now become the cool thing to wear, because by wearing polo, you are following the crowd and you are seen as being in a cool state of mind. No matter how many people wear it, there is always one person who wants to follow the crowd, becuase it will boost up their statues in school. When i see kids doing this, i think about the meaning of a 90 dollar shirt, but i would sort of be a hippocrite because i am just like that kid. I wear 50 dollar shirts and 200 dollar shoes, so i can't judge them.

This idea of cool is impossible to get away from. It is what we revlove around. In america, this consumtion of goods, especially during holiday seasons, is what makes these companies able to continue to promote to use and no matter what we do, 99 percent of people cannot resist and this idea of wanting to be cool comes with thousands of superficial items to fufil that want.

hw 36 triangle partner help

stephs main idea: "Depending on your social map and the way your raised you cool is different from someone raised with a different sense of cool"

something that you can add to this main idea of yours is that we have expectations that have to or need to be met. On any level, kids are usually following paths that other people have paved for them. You should read the article that says somethings about how black kids like to buy prada shoes instead of saving for college. Also explore more about how you see it in your life, like how kids now are all into polo clothes and how maybe someone with more polo is cooler than another person. If you check out my blog post number 34 in the last paragrah i talk about an article that would maybe benifit you and give you evidence for your paper. Also i think you should check your spelling. Once you do that, i think your paper will be great.



Leah's main idea: " I feel like we push ourselves to be this "cool" person, but what happens when its over? there nothing more than pure emptiness.

Leah:Yo have a very interesting idea going. I think you should add some evidence. Also add something like, viktor frankl and how he explained meaninglessness as a vaccum and we need to always put things in it to get a sense of a temporary happiness.. If you check out my blog post number 30 in the last paragrah, first couple sentences i quote him. you should read it and maybe add it to your paper. Also check your grammer for any little mistakes. Overall good job.

Ean: "everyone tries to be cool in their own way. sometimes changing themselves completely, but the end result will always be the same having some type of loneliness."

I think your main idea is good. i think you should make it sharper. Maybe you can say something, like, as we pursue this idea of cool, we forget what we value and no longer live our own way, but in a way that was paved throughout the years. This gives us a sense of satisfaction, but also makes us lonely in our lives.

one thing i suggest is to check your grammer, and add evidence to make your points sharp and true. overall, good start.

hw 34 the cool pose

In new york city, it is very easy to be considered cool and most of us are. We are surrounded by things that we want because we think it will give us that notification from others that allows us to be known as cool. the kid that buys prada shoes is cool because now he falls into this category of a kid that "gets paper". We are obsessed wht being stereotyped and stereotyping. meanwhile this kid as fresh as he looks may have many other problems in his life. What i noticed is that almost every year, there is a new thing. Like this year, it is all about polo. whoever has polo is "fresh" because since polo makes nice clothes and is expensive, you buying it makes you seem like you have money to spend on 80 dollar shirts. The kid who has polo isn't cool anymore though, once you wear it, you already establish yourself as cool. It has now become a competition, who can wear the most polo in one day. My friend the other day showed me a picture of his friend who had only polo clothing on. from the dress shirt to the hat, scarf, and shoes. He the says to me, "this kid is madd cool. look at how fresh he is." In the back of my mind i was like he probably doesnt even like the things he wears, he wears those thing to get notice and be accepted, after all he is asian going to a school in harlem with almost 5,000 kids, so if you don't stand out, you will spend your years in high school being unnoticed. Also having marmot jackets is considered cool now. It also highly symbolizes some trouble for some kids. I have seen kids and so has my friend. he tells me that if more than 4 kids with marmot jackets walks up to you, you better start running because they are planning to rob you. He has seen this very frequently. It seems like if you are with a group of kids that dress alike, that is your coolness. You are stereotyped as troublemakers, yet you never get caught and always get girls, and get fresh. You have nothing to lose which makes you cool because you are a badass.



I think that gender and race has a lot to do with being considered cool. If you are chinese, the chances of you being cool is very slim unless you drastically change your appearence with clothing or something to make you stand out. If you are black, it seems that you already have a head start, all you need now is some gucci shoes and some cargo pants, oh and the marmot jacket, then you are cool. You get respect. This is mainly something that men do. For women it can be the smae thing, but mainly for women it is how they look physically and how they interact with others, and sometimes some fresh clothes help.



In the article that i read called " a poverty of the mind", the author talks about how typically black males are flunking out of school and hanging out. This is a problem when people care more about what the look like and what they do in the present, rather than think about the future. Usually by them dropping out and hanging out with your crew everyday seems cooler than learning and being an intellectual and, as Andy said," having tons of money and buying all the prada shoes you want." Instead black kids in society wait for an oppritunity instead of pursuing something. They decide to take the easy way out, and become rappers and make it big. this isn't a problem if you do make it big. But majority who dont have to resort to other ways to make money, such as stealing and selling drugs. It is becoming sort of an epidemic that african americans can only do so much, and mainly follow their culture maps. Sort of like they evolved to follow the norms.

hw 33 outline

thesis- the meaning of cool is something we are always using as a way to escape a natural authentic ways of living

argument 1- the ways that people use body modifications as a way to be noticed.

argument 2- how people use clothing to express how cool or not cool they are

argument 3- how americans are obsessed with following the crowd to seem cooler. like following new trends.

conclusion- sum up all 3 idea.

hw 32 tattoos and the presentation of the self

tattooing can show or represent cool because of what people think they symbolize. Some people think that if you have a big tattoo, it plays a big part of your life. To me, tattooing doesn't signify anything. When i see someone's tattoo, i just think of them as an advertisement. I don't complement them on the tattoo, i complement the creator, the person who inked their skin up to make a very intricate piece of art. I think of a person with a tattoo as sort of rebellious, especially when you ask them why they got that certain tattoo, and they say, because i like it. Most times there is no story behind a tattoo. sometimes people get them and barely see them because they are not in eye sight. just like a tramp stamp. Most girls that get tramp stamps maybe just like them because of what they represent in our culture. They make the girls feel a bit more sexually desired. I don't think tattoos are a good way of representing yourself, but it is a good way to represent an artists work on your body, just like an advertisement, that when people see, are going to invest their time and money in to.

I think that now tattoos have become too popular in american societiy and evryone is starting to grt them. In sports such as the nba, the majority of players get tattoos. Usually for me i think of it as their way of brcoming men and lving a lifedtyle that many people only dream of having. Maybe each tattoo symbloizes an accomplishment in their lives. I think that not having a tattoo is not a way that people feel speacial. There are many other ways that people reject themself from what society offers. I don't think people who don't have tattoos feel speciial, they probably thought of getting one at one poin but just never had the committment that others have to getting one.

I feel that tattoos are ways for people to trap a memory forever and the way they rememebr it is by having it permanently plastered on their skin, in a unique and maybe abstract way, so that when they look at it, they always remember. like one of my teachers has a tattoo of a music note on her wrist. She said she got it when she formed her band and they became serious about their music. I know she's going to remember that tattoo becuase it froze a time in her life by putting it on her body, sdo no matter how old she gets, she's going to remember eveerything that the band had to offer, all she has to do is look at her tattoo.