Hello, my name is Andrew. I'm from Janesville, Wisconsin and am currently studying Computer Science as a freshman at the U. I like Computer Science because I enjoy thinking analytically and being able to create unique things. I enjoy all different types of media. For me the four major types of media I consume are music, movies/television shows, online content (YouTube, Twitter, Instagram Reels), and video games. I enjoy starting my day by listening to music as I workout, I feel this combination helps reorient myself towards my goals and give me the motivation to tackle the day. My Spotify wrapped top 5 artists were Future, Richard Wagner, Guns N' Roses, Morgan Wallen, and Arctic Monkeys. As you can tell my musical taste is quite all over the place. I would say that my listening genre changes by the day, but I mainly stick with classical, country, rap, rock, and indie. Movies and television shows are great decompression resources for me. I find myself planning out when I will have time to sit back at the end of the day and watch an episode or movie. My top 3 favorite movies of all time are Chinatown (1974), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and the Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Jack Nicholson is one of my favorite actors and he does a phenomenal job in Chinatown. I love movies like Chinatown because the plot keeps you on your feet the whole time and you are unable to anticipate the plot-twists. It's also one of those types of movies which is enriched by multiple viewings, and the more you rewatch it, the more details you catch. For TV shows I don't really have any ranked favorites, but I have enjoyed Silicon Valley (HBO), the Sopranos (HBO), Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO), Band of Brothers (HBO), Rome (HBO), Freaks and Geeks (NBC), Mad Men (AMC). I don't really watch a whole lot of TV, though. I found myself as I've gotten older as having to justify to myself spending time watch TV, rather than doing more productive things. Same thing goes with Video Games. I rarely play them as much anymore, but when I do I enjoy Fallout: New Vegas, Cities Skylines, and playing JackboxTV games with friends.
Introduction
Memoir
"A week after finishing the path, I was searching through a drawer for some Chapstick when all at once and without any warning, my balance failed. The world began to roll and spin. I was suddenly a very small boat in the very high seas" (Green, 9).
Research
"The Anthropocene is a proposed term for the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity" (Green, 12).
Reflection
"It has taken me all my life up to now to fall in love with the world, but I've started to feel it the last couple of years" (Green, 14).
General Impression
I think that it's very helpful and good to reflect and think about our place in the world. I think that as a society we often neglect this in favor of only thinking about the small picture of our day-to-day lives. When we analyze ourselves and humanity as a whole it can give us closure and help us deal with the isolating feelings we deal with in modernity.
Lascaux Cave Paintings
Memoir
"I remember my son's face as he lifted his hand and looked absolutely shocked to see the shape of his splayed fingers still on the paper, a semipermanent record of himself" (Green, 39).
Research
"At Lascaux, there are also some "negative hand stencils," as they are known to art historians. These paintings were created by pressing one hand with fingers splayed against the wall of the cave, and then blowing pigment leaving the area around the hand painted" (Green, 41).
Reflection
"You can go to the fake cave we’ve built, and see nearly identical hand stencils, but you will know: This is not the thing itself, but a shadow of it. This is a handprint, but not a hand. This is a memory that you cannot return to. And to me, that makes the cave very much like the past it represents" (Green, 43).
General Impression
I like how Green kept connecting hands as a symbol for humanity's unchanging nature. Although the world around us and what we create changes, our nature stays the same. Humans of yesterday are the same as humans today. And vice versa to the future. I thought this was a powerful motif.
Piggly Wiggly
Memoir
"In 1920, according to census records, my great-grandfather Roy worked at a grocery store in a tiny town in Western Tennessee" (Green, 102).
Research
"Piggly Wiggly stocked less fresh produce than traditional grocery stores. Prepackaged, processed foods became more popular and less expensive, which altered American diets (Green, 103)
Reflection
"Today, food prices are lower relative to average wage than they've ever been in the United States, but our diets are often poor. Clarence Saunders didn't make any of this happen, of course. Like the rest of us, he was being pulled by forces larger than any individual. He merely understood what America was about to want -- and gave it to us (Green, 106)
General Impression
I thought the story about a poor impoverished boy who grew up to create the first national grocery change that gave Americans access to cheap and available food to be interesting. Seeing how much work he did to create something good, but he ended up being corrupted by his success and would lose his creation. I also liked the connections Green made about the introduction of processed foods into our diets via the supermarket. I agree with Green that this was going to be inevitable, and Saunders was just the first to deliver it. We can't really blame, him. We have to examine ourselves because we were the ones with the demand for it.
Manual Transmissions -
I feel very passionaelty about the fact that manual transmissions offer a superior driving expierence over automatic transmissions. I would like to share my experiences and why I arrive at this conclusion.
Culvers -
Culvers is my favorite go-to fast food restaurant. I think its the best fast food chain in the country, and I'd like to go over it and give my review.
2001: Space Odyssey -
My favorite movie of all time. Such a groundbreaking film that predicted both successfully and unsuccessfully our future. Very intriguing story that has two layers. Would like to go over and review it because I feel so strongly about the film.
I think the strongest element to my writing were my appeals to pathos. I talked about pretty universal experiences such as first time driving, and the excitement of owning your first car. I think also my connections and writings about human nature and our past also fit in with appealing to pathos. One challenge I had while writing my review was trying to keep my words concise, while also still getting my message across. My personal writing goal for next project is to hold myself accountable and stick to deadlines. Setting firm and concrete deadlines for finishing my work helps me to be more productive and to also have better material produced. I think I can definitely use more help with effectively using higher level vocabulary. I think technology has rotted my brain to the point where it's harder for me to use higher level vocabulary and still manage to be articulate. I would say help with sounding articulate while also sounding sophisticated is my goal and something I need help with. Overall I would give myself a B on this project. I put a lot of effort into my work. I also think I did some thoughtful and thorough analysis that showed higher levels of critical thinking. However I wouldn't give myself an A because I was behind for some of the project and it took me longer to finish then the desired deadline.
Will we have 3D Printed Food in the future?
I chose to deep dive into what our food will look like in the future. I will be researching and discussing both social and physical effects of having a new diet. I personally believe that 3D printed food could lead to a lot of positive physical effects, food prices could be lowered, and nutritious healthy food could become more available and help fight obesity in this country while also reducing food insecurity and nutrition deserts. Although I could see 3D printed foods as leading to a dystopia where family dinners are a thing of the past, and we continue on the trend of everyone being isolated as they eat and consuming food Infront of their futuristic screen akin to the people in the Pixar film Wall-E. I am excited where innovations in food could lead us, however I am also pessimistic that it would be completely equitable, as well as socially positive.
https://cen.acs.org/food/food-science/3D-printed-foods-enter-kitchen/100/i5
I plan on interviewing my Uncle who is a Chemical Engineer at Quaker Oats. He is very knowledgeble about the food industry, and the massive chains of production that go into it. He would be a good resource about how having instant 3D printed meals would change costs / access.