Sense of Place

There’s a place I go back home when I want to be by myself and think. My family calls it the Beach. It is a natural sand beach that sits next to a large creek by my house. There is a small swing hanging from an oak tree that dangles over the water’s edge. It is so nice to just sit there and think about life and your problems. No one else is around and all you can hear is the water flowing past you. There are many trees surrounding the creek and the natural beach. The trees sort of lean over the creek on both sides to create a canopy. The sunlight comes through the branches at random points and makes the landscape look peaceful. The wind sometimes blows through as if it is blowing through a tunnel, straight through without wondering off. You can always hear the birds calling one another, and the leaves blowing together in the wind. Also, in the summer my friends come out and we lie on rafts in the water and soak up the sun rays poking through the trees. This is probably one of the most relaxing things to in Guilford, besides sleep.

Passed Down

My mother once told me a story about how she stole my grandfather’s car. When she was sixteen my grandfather told her she had to earn her own money to buy her own car. She thought this was fair and went out and got a job cleaning the church they attended on Sundays. My grandfather let her use his truck to get to and from work, but that was it. One night she came home from work and asked if she could go to a party at her best friend’s house. My grandfather asked my mom if she had a car to get there. She obviously said no, but asked if she could borrow his truck just this one time. He said absolutely not, and she stormed to her bedroom. My mom then decided that once my grandfather went to bed she would sneak out and take the truck anyways. So at eleven o’clock she snuck out the basement door and took the truck. She made it to the party okay and stayed until two a.m. On her way home a deer jumped out in front of her, scared her, and she swerved off the road. Consequently my grandfather found out that she stole his truck and he grounded her for two months, and made her pay for the damage.
The moral to this story is always think before you act. My mom would always tell my brother and I this story if we did something bad, like take the car without asking, have people over when the parents are out of town, or go somewhere I’m not supposed to be. My mom understands most of the things I do that I shouldn’t have done, just because she has done them once or twice in her day. Yeah, she still gets upset and I usually get grounded, but she will most likely laugh about it later on down the road. After all the times I have heard this story I don’t think it has changed in any way. However, my grandfather might have a different version to tell. My mom wants my family to grow up with good morals and values, and that’s why I think she tells stories like this one.

Julia's Phone Interview/Ovservation

Part 1:
This artifact is Julia's cell phone. It has a silver and black zebra print cover and is pretty long. It flips open sideways for easy texting. It has a camera on the back of the phone. It has six buttons on the outside of the phone. When you open up the cell phone there is a full keyboard. There is a screen on the outside and on the inside of the phone. The front screen has a cartoon picture of Hercules on it and the screen inside has a slide show of hot guys pictures on it. There is a phone charger plug in on the bottom of the device. There are three speakers on it. This object is used to text and call friends and family and take pictures.
Part 2:
This phone looks very nice and is probably real expensive. It reminds me of my own phone because mine used to have a zebra cover on it as well.
Part 3:
Interview:
What is the artifact that you brought in? --“Cell phone.”
What purpose does the artifact have? –“Texting, taking pictures, and making phone calls.”
Does this artifact have any special meaning to you? – “Yeah, it was the first one that she actually paid for.”
Does this object get a lot of use with a lot of different people? –“Not really, It’s kind of a personal item.”
How important is this artifact of your subculture? –“This item is MUCHO IMPORTANTE!”
Does the artifact symbolize anything? …If so what? –“No.”
Does the artifact have a special place to stay within your subculture? –“ It is usually in the left pocket of the coat.”
Part 4:
If I wanted to find out background information on the artifact I would go to the manufacturers online store website. I could look up all the technical information about it, what all it is capable of, how much memory it can hold, if it has the capability of obtaining internet and e-mail.

Observation of an object from my pocket.

I pulled out an ipod from my pocket to observe. It is a silver ipod with blue headphones. It has a black screen that is about an inch on all sides. It also has a menu button, a play/pause button, and a next/previous button. It is a 2GB ipod. It also has a picture of an apple on the back of it. This represents the brand of the item, the ipod. The ipod is a device that lets the user store and listen to their favorite songs. Users mostly use them while working out, walking to class, riding the bus, or to fall asleep with. If you turn it on you will see that it has different categories like album choice, song choice, genre choice, and artist choice. Also, you can play games on it and it can tell you the time and date.