Reflections

The Boston trip was overall really good. I didn't think i was going to like the city of Boston but it wasnt half bad. The part of the trip that i liked the most was learning about colleges because it got me thinking about where i want to go, and also some questions i should ask. As far as fall trips go, this was a lot of fun and spending time with my classmates was a bundle of fun!

THE LAST DAY OF THE BONDING EXPERIENCE

Today was interesting because it's already the last day, and i predicted that we would all killed each other or assembled a hanging by now, and yet, somehow, we are all still alive (if not on the verge of biting the heads off of the people around us).
Salem was the first thing on our agenda today, and it was cool except that it gave away the ending and the last bit of motivation to read the book. Now we know what happens. Sarah Good is hanged. John Proctor is squished with big rocks. Rebbecca Nurse is hanged, and honestly, she had the most sympathy from me because it makes me crazy to think that someone as good as her could be hanged for a so-called crime she didn't commit.
But i was also thinking (oh and by the way, Matt, i'm sorry i dont capitalize my "i"s and i hope you dont mark me off considering i am writing these entries SO LATE AT NIGHT), how do we know for sure that the supposed witchcraft wasn't actually real? I mean, of course most of us don't believe in that sort of thing, but i guess its always good to question things in life to avoid making such black and white decisions all the time. The people of Salem left no room for gray areas, you either believed in the witchcraft or you didn't, and if you didn't you were shunned. I dont know if i necessarily believe that the witchcraft in Salem was actually happening, but i do believe its important to think about in order to draw conclusions. Is man really that twisted and sick to believe that supernatural things are going on around him? Or is there some basis for this thinking; something that we passed over or possibly are unable to see at such a later date in time? I want to believe that there was no witchcraft, because it would bother me to know that there were forces that i have no control over; it would bother me to know that i was being controlled by something so vague and seemingly unreal. I can relate to the people of Salem, and yet, i am not considered evil or a witch. I can understand the thinking that led them to create something to blame; they did it out of fear--fear of losing control over their lives and their families. Its interesting how much weight we put on this event in history, and how we seem to overlook the basis for this event and learn from it. The people let fear take over their life, but all we talk about in our english classes (joe, i'm not dissing your class btw) is how stupid the decisions they made were, with little or no focus on the mindset and thinking that led to their assumptions and false accusations, and how, by changing that thinking, we could have avoided the situation completely, and not lost so many lives.
So that is my little (ha) rant about the witch trials...and i'm tired and i want to go to bed now and someone is banging around in the hallway and the ice bucket is almost all melted so goodnight all, sleep well.

Shannon.

HOW VAIN IT IS TO SIT DOWN AND WRITE WHEN YOU HAVE NOT STOOD UP TO LIVE.

We went to Harvard today and a lot of other surprisingly interesting places. Its amazing being in the exact spots where all these famous people were a couple hundred years ago and being in buildings that were built hella long ago too. 

My favorite place was Thoreau's hut, here are some quotes i found of his...

"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something."

"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live."

"In what concerns you much, do not think that you have companions: know that you are alone in the world."

"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth."

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

tuesday

Today i took a lot of rad pictures and went to some cool places like this church which i also donated a dollar to because i found the whole experience very interesting and the day was pretty fun and the lunch was free which was good because i like clam chowder in bread bowls a lot and yada yada yada the cruise was especially fun and also searching for bathrooms in the world trade center where we really werent supposed to be...end.

p.s. i'll write more later but i'm TIRED so sorry this is short matt...

France would be more fun...

JUST IN CASE