The Power Team

I found this idea of "The Power Team" to be very corny.  I like to think of myself as christian and even though I do not attend church, I still have my own beliefs.  I think that religion should be personal and you should believe what you truly feel inside instead of believing what people tell you to believe.  There's nothing I loathe more then people who try to push things upon others when they are clearly not interested.  I think that people who do not have much self esteem or are weaker mentally then others fall victim to being pushed into things instead of standing their ground on their own beliefs.  This is why I thought The Power Team was very cheesy and pushy.  This article reminded me of a documentary call Jesus Camp.  It was about Evangelist children that are raised ultra super conservative Evangelist christian, taught that if something that does not have to do with God they should not it and shipped off to a camp of crazies that pound God into their heads, most of the time to the point where these young children cry because they think they have be touched by God.  If you want a good laugh, I would suggest watching it.  I was shocked, much like I was by this article that talked about how these guys get people to believe in God by showing their amazing "strength" and saying that god gave them these gifts.  When really, these feats are actually fixed and its all a show and people with low self esteem feel like these people really connect with them and therefore they want to belong.  When really, they should learn to become independent and learn to think for themselves.

"A Plague of Tics"

At first I thought that this was a sad story about a kid that has OCD and a first hand account of what it was like.  After reading the whole thing and talking about it in class I realized that it had more humor in it than I originally thought.  I think that it was very interesting because he was explaining exactly how many peppercorns he counted or how tightly the mayonnaise lid was on.  It just made me think about what has to be wrong with someone's head for them to obsess of this kind of stuff.  I watched and read thigns about OCD before but this was a little more personal because it was almost like the reader was in his head.  I was also surprised at how mean people were to him; I guess that is why I thought it was a sad story.  Like I have a hard time believing that people could not realize that he had something wrong with him and they could not just sympathize and let him lick the light switch or touch the mailbox. 

Research...

1.  I intend to answer the question how is art therapy useful and why should it be used as a more common form of therapy.
2.  Art therapy can be used to treat a wide spectrum of people and should be a more common form of therapy.
3.  Art can be therapeutic for people and is a lot of the time a better way to bond with someone and learn about them rather than sitting them down in a room with someone they don't know and having them try to open up.  It can be used to treat head trauma patients, autistic people, unruly kids and any other issues dealing with the brain. 
4.  I need to find out more about how to get an art therapist.  I need to know how accessible they are so that I can see how widespread they are and if this is becoming a big thing or not.
5.  I think that some arguments could be that art does not affect people, it could not possibly show what's inside someone's head and that art itself is not very important in the modern world.

6.  Emery, Melinda J.  “Art Therapy as an Intervention for Autism.”  Art Therapy: Journal                        of the American Art Therapy Associated.  21.3 (2004): 143-147.  CINAHL.  EPSCO.  Web.  1 Mar. 2011.

Sutherland, Judy, Gwenn Waldman, and Carolyn Collins. "Art Therapy Connection: Encouraging Troubled Youth to Stay in School and Succeed." Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association 27.2 (2010): 69-74. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.

Baron, Penny H.  “Fighting Cancer With Images.”  Advances in Art Therapy.  (1989): 148-167.  Print.

Response to Chuck Klosterman's " 'Ha, ha,' he said 'Ha, Ha,' "

I found this text very interesting because I often thought about laugh tracks and why there are used.  I never did watch many shows with laugh tracks on them but I have seen enough of them to know that they are extremely corny and do not help me to laugh.  My theory on the laugh box was that it was there because I feel that it is easier for people to laugh when they hear others.  For instance, watching a funny movie with a roomful of laughing friends makes the movie a lot more hilarious than when watching the movie by yourself.  Watching it by yourself, laughing seems almost strange because you are in a room by yourself, laughing to yourself.  I have noticed when I watch something by myself I will only laugh unless something is so absolutely funny that I cannot help it.

Klosterman went into detail about why networks and TV shows use laugh tracks and it made a lot of sense to me.  He talked about how insecure Americans are and how its sad that we need to be told what to laugh at and when to laugh.  I thought it was very interesting when he talked about the time he visited Germany and became aware of when he would laugh, it would be at nothing that is funny.  He realized that he was laughing to be polite to someone when Germans only laugh at things that are truly funny.  I then began to think about the things I laugh at.  When I am at work, people will tell me things and I almost always laugh even when its something informative or not remotely funny.  I realize that I am doing to to show kindness and good customer service.  This is why people nowadays are so fake, because we are told we must pretend things are funny and act the way society tells us. 

I think that this article had a lot of great points and I agreed with almost everything.  I think that it will make people aware of how they abuse laughing.  It's interesting that people use laughter as a filler or in an awkward situation.  I always smile and laugh when I do not know what else to do and I have always wondered about why I do that.  I think a lot of this article helped me to understand why this happens to me; TV, media, and even writing with the use of exclamation points has shaped society to use laughter in a way that it really should not be used.

Research Topic

I think that for my research topic I want to do art therapy.  I did a small project on it before and did a little bit of research and I found it very interesting.  I would really like to know more about the subject because I believe it really works.  Art therapy is helping out people with mental challenges such as autism, brain injuries, anyone who has trouble communicating or opening up, etc.  It can help a wide range of people old and young. 

The creative process deals with psycotherapeutic theories and psychological aspects.  Many believe that art has healing powers because it is relaxing and stress free.  People are more able to express themselves through what art they make rather than having to talk to a strange psychologist that they do not know.  Instead of analyzing the person's thoughts, art therapists would analyze their art to know what's going on inside there head. 

I think that this subject would be great to research.  I think that I could research the pros and cons and find out if this new therapy is going to grow in the future or not.  I should find out what the range of people that this therapy can help.  What kind of degrees would and art therapist need would also be something to look up.  I could answer a few of the questions plus more and create a very interesting paper.

Annontated Bibliography

Duncum, Paul. “Studies in Art Education.”  Visual Culture: Developments, Definitions, and Direction for       Art Education.  Vol. 24.  Winter 2001.  101-112

Your Brain on Computers

After reading "Your Brain on Computers," an article by Matt Richtell, I realized how much people truely are attached to technology.  While reading this article, the first thing I thought about was my boyfriend Troy.  His brain is definitely hooked on technology.  He has his Droid, laptop, computer, PS3, Xbox360 and a 52 inch TV all in his living room.  A typical day is us sitting on the couch, him checking up on every sport that exists, Facebook, email, Ebay,  Craigslist, etc. all on his laptop, while his phone blows up with texts and updates, while watching TV, while I sit there and wonder why he can not unplug and just spend time with me since we only see each other twice a week. 
Thinking that if we go out to eat or on a date that he will forget about all things technology and focus on me, we sit down to eat at a nice restaurant and I will begin to talk.  After finishing my story I will hear silence.  That silence is the sound of Troy and his phone and not hearing one word I had just uttered.  Don't get me wrong, I have my Droid smart phone, Ipod touch, laptop and so on, but I can't stand to be on them while were together because I feel I am wasting my time with him. 
Upon reading the article, I began to realize that he is not the only one with these issues.  Many people today are going through the same technology addiction that he is.  I thought the part of the article that talks about the effect on multitasking that technology has had was very interesting.  I have noticed that I am very good at multitasking whereas my parents can usually only do one thing at once.  I never really connected that to the technology that has been offered to me growing up that wasn't to my parents.  They never learned to be connected as our generation is. 
I think that technology is important in our society today, but I wish people could learn to limit themselves.  Not only the people you wish you could spend more one on one time with to limit themselves, but also the people that run into you while texting and walking.