IRP Post 3 - Link

How To: Climb Mount Everest

This link will show you just how painful and exhausting climbing the highest mountain in the world can be. In chapter 9 Krakauer became too cold to climb any further, at least for a little while. He had underdressed because he had accounted for more solar radiation. It simply amazes me how when you are under extreme conditions and circumstances, the slightest mistake or miscalculation can be the difference between life and death. Fortunately he was fine and recovered but the consequences could have been devastating.

IRP Post 3 - video

This is just an example of how something that someone does can have a great effect on everyone in the family. Because of this child unleashing on property and breaking things he was tazed and is getting national attention. This family will be greatly effected by this event just because people will recognize and possibly harass them.

IRP Post 3 - Cited Passage

"By the time Linda had drove me to the airport she had long since seen through my prevarications. She sensed the true dimensions of my desire, and it scared her. "If you get killed," she argued with a mix of dispair and anger, "it's not just you who will pay the price. I'll have to pay, too, you know, for the rest of my life. Doesn't that matter to you?""

"I'm not going to get killed," I answered. "Don't be melodramatic."" (110)

I chose this quote because it shows how much of a toll a risky life can have on other people. You never really think of the effect that actions will have on other people and how everything you do is greater that just you. I think that is an important theme in this section because he puts just not himself but his family at risk also. This is also a good connection point because I the family of someone who got arrested for robbing a liquor store and basically the family has suffered even though it is only the one person that is in jail. There was a news story about it and it was in all of the local newspapers so their family was questioned and ridiculed all because of something that is totally out of their control.

The Motorcycle Diaries: RAFT

Assignment:

5 twitter posts from me to Ernesto about Chile...

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: Why do you people always think it is alright for you to come into other countries and just take over??

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: So you guys are even taking over the copper mines even though that is all Chile has, disgusting...

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: You guys are part of the imperialist gringo domination, leave us alone!

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: People like you don't understand, all that is being done is repression of a communist way of life.

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: I look out for the people that I care for and for the people that believe in what I believe!

IRP Post 2 - Video

Everest Disaster Video

- This video of the 1996 Everest disaster basically outlines the book I am reading and gives insights into the horrors of that tragedy. Some key questions come up when reading the first few chapters and within minutes of watching the video. Why did they not turn around? The guides knew of the pending weather and how extremely dangerous it would be to treck on. The book starts out with him on the top of Everest and at chapter 3 goes in chronological order from beginning to end. So we know that he made it but some didn't and others came back leaving a piece of them on the mountain.

IRP Post 2 - Image

-This view from the top of Mt. Everest is one of the most beautiful things in the world. My family and I went to Yosemite this summer and stood at the top of half dome which was one of the most amazing things I had ever experienced. Although standing on the top of Everest is probably 400 times better, I can still relate to the adrenaline rush and feeling of standing on top of the world, looking down upon everything else.

IRP Post 2 - Cited Passage

"Later-after six bodies had been located, after a search for two others had been abandoned, after surgeons had amputates the gangrenous right hand of my teammate Beck Weathers-people would ask why, if the weather had begun to deteriorate, had the climbers on the upper mountain not heeded the signs? Why did veteran Himalayan guides keep moving upward, ushering the gaggle of relatively inexperienced amateurs-each of whom had paid as much as $65,000 to be taken safely up Everest-into an apparent death trap?" (Krakauer 5).

-This is an important quote in the book because it brings up many questions and hits key points. First of all this brings up many key themes already in this book. A theme that comes to mind is, sometimes when you are faced with the greatest obstacle known to man all you can do is forget about the money and resources you have put toward the journey and just push through. For many of the people climbing money is not the object, the feeling at the top and knowing that you have done what few have is better than anything else. A key symbol that can be picked up from this passage is storms, signifying death and destruction (at least up to this point). A couple key people that we meet in this first section are Jon Krakauer who witnessed and wrote about all of the horor of this expedition, Rob Hall who is the head guide, and Andy Harris who helps guide alongside Rob. All three of these men play important roles of leadership and courageousness in this first section.

IRP Post 1 - Title/Author

Into Thin Air

By: Jon Krakauer

(same author as Into The Wild)

180˚ South Reflection

On your blog, please choose 1 of the following quotes from the documentary and compose a post in which you reflect on its meaning in terms of:
1. the film & Jeff Johnson's journey;
2. your own life and what journeys lie ahead beyond high school.

--"Books are a great start, but there is no substitute for just going there."--

This quote perfectly sums up the movie as a whole. Their quest to Patagonia was one of meaning and self enlightenment and they found everything they were looking for and more. Just reading about Patagonia and the various peaks and mountains may give you good perspective on the area, but going there gives you a chance for you to discover your true being and inner self. This can lead into our own lives because we may read about an event, a place, or even a college however, going there or experiencing the real thing is special. You get your own personal insight into this place or college and can create your own ideals and opinions based solely on your personal experiences. There isn't much better in life than just getting up close and personal with something of interest to you.

This is a picture taken this summer when my family went to California. Here we are at Yosemite National Park with Yosemite Falls directly infront of us and El Capitan directly to our left (out of the picture).