Hello blog readers! As you very well know, I am Tanner Child, and this post is all about the music I like to listen to, and the songs that have impacted my life. Overall, I like all kinds of music, but most of my favorites are either pop songs or older classic songs. I listen to music all the time, and if you are looking for a good playlist, with a mix of many different types of songs, just type “T-Chi’s Playlist” into the search bar on Spotify. If you want to give it a follow, you will not find me complaining. So, these five songs are my favorite, most influential songs so far in my life. Enjoy.
“Queen Ole” – Peter Breinholt
This was the song of my childhood. In all of my memories, I remember my siblings and I bouncing around our family room, dancing to this song. We also have videos and recordings of our dancing. This song has a special connection to my siblings, and when I hear it I think of them and all of the fun times we had as young children.
“What Makes you Beautiful” – One Direction
I am a big One Direction fan, and I cannot really tell you why. However, one of my friends and I used to listen to all of the One Direction songs every day after school, and this one was both of our favorites. I continue to listen to One Direction, as I love their music and find it super fun to listen to and dance to.
“Love Story” – Taylor Swift
I am a huge Taylor Swift fan and have always loved listening to her music. Love Story is one of my favorites, and it is a song that me and my one good friend, who is at college, loved to listen to. Whenever he would drive me anywhere, mainly during my freshman year, we would always listen to this song, and it made many good memories and an irreplacable friendship.
“Hall of Fame” – The Script
The Script is a band that I love to listen to, but their best song is definitely Hall of Fame. This song is a great motivational song and is enjoyed by many people. I have found myself listening to this song at many sports events. Most recently, at the Ping Pong State Championship this past February, I remember listening to this song right before it was about to start, and it was very motivational.
“Piano Man” – Billy Joel
This song, Piano Man, by Billy Joel, is a song that everyone in my family enjoys. My dad really likes this song and introduced it to me and the rest of my family. Because of this, whenever I hear this song I think of my family and all of the love that I have for them.
With Google Maps so easy and convenient, it is part of nearly everyone’s life.
Google Maps, what a life-changing invention. After being launched in February of 2005, it has changed the lives of almost the entire population. Instead of having to pull out the giant and confusing paper map, calibrate it to match your compass, calculate what you think is the fastest route, and pay close attention to every turn, all that is required now is the push of a few buttons. The simplicity this adds to everyone’s life is remarkable.
However, for people such as me, who have had this blessing for all of our memorable life, it is sometimes taken for granted. We don’t realize how much knowledge and effort it would take us to simply drive somewhere new for the first time without technology guiding us along.
Well, last summer, I was a busy teenager and did not have time to ponder how things had to be done “way back when” my parents were kids, like using physical maps. I did have time to go on exciting adventures with my friends though. So, as part of my busy summer, the boys in my church group, ages 14-18, went on an outdoor trip. Accompanied by a few of our parents and leaders, we went on a road trip out to Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, for hiking, spelunking, and white water rafting.
Upon arriving, we parked our cars in one of the State Park parking lots, which was located right near the trailhead that was the start of our journey. Just minutes after arriving, we left the comforts of our cars with 2 days worth of food, water, clothes, and shelter all weighing us down as we carried everything on our backs. Being teenage boys, we were not about to let the hike be simply a bland walk, but an epic adventure for our self founded gang we named GGA. Everyone who was up for it joined GGA(pronounced Ga-Gah), which stood for Genuinely Grinding Adventurers. I thoroughly enjoyed the GGA group and had fun with each and every person in it.
Ohiopyle, PA. Located near the border of Ohio, Pennslyvania, and Maryland.
In order to make the hike more challenging, the GGA members would race through the trail, periodically waiting for the weaker and slower members of our party to catch up. However, during these waiting periods, we, of course, did not just sit and wait, as that would have been insanely boring. So, prompted by our name, we would adventure and explore the forestage that lay beyond the trail. We were not stupid, as you might be thinking. We never ventured too far, went in pairs, and made sure we had the right equipment. We plunged into the unknown and would find rocks to boulder around, trees to climb, and rivers to cross.
Well, after two days’ worth of hiking, the pace of the adults and slower members of the group was deteriorating, and that left me and other GGA members bordering on the edge of boredom. So, on the final day, we agreed with the adults that, in order to maximize our time and efficiency, some of our fastest hiking members would take the shuttle up near where the cars were and then drive them back to pick up the others. So, Andrew, Nathan, and I went to fetch the cars, with the keys in hand considerably ahead of the adults and slower hikers.
After getting dropped off by the shuttle bus and entering our cars, we made an abrupt and shocking observation. I had no service. Nathan had no service. Andrew had no service. Small predicament, we hoped. At this point, I turned to Nathan and Andrew and asked,
“Did either of you happen to pay attention to all the turns we took in order to get here?”
“I thought about it at the beginning of the bus ride, but lost track after the fifth or sixth turn,” Nathan replied.
“I really have no idea where we are and how to get anywhere, if I am going to be honest,” Andrew admitted.
“Ok, let’s just start heading north. I remember the last few turns we took and then maybe we can see if we remember any of the intersections,” Nathan said.
Of course, none of us had paid close attention. That is what Google maps is for. We got in the cars. Nathan and I were in front with Andrew following behind us in the second car. Well, we started upon our way, and if there is one thing I now know for sure, it’s that forest just looks like forest no matter what part of the forest you are in. I had no idea where to go, and neither did Nathan and Andrew.
As we drove I recognized some houses, which was a good sign and my confidence was building. At least we were going in the right direction. We also spotted two people, roughly 20 years old, in their front lawn, relaxing in chairs.
“Let’s ask them if they know how to get to the Ohiopyle State Park Center,” Nathan suggested.
“Sounds like the best idea you’ve had all day,” I responded.
So we asked them. They said they had been there once or twice. They told us how to get to the main road, and once on the main road we would see signs and it would be easily evident where to go.
Fantastic, all of our problems were solved, I thought. Our lack of cellular service that sparked a slight amount of panic would not make that big of a difference in the end. We were resourceful and solved our problem.
However, we were not out of the water yet. I am not sure if they gave us poor directions, or if we failed to follow them, but one way or another we ended up on a gravel road in the thick of the forest with a large dead-end sign staring back at us.
“I’m not a genius or anything, but I really don’t think this is where we are supposed to be,” I proclaimed.
“Yeah I am with you on that one, we should probably turn around”, Nathan agreed.
Well, Andrew was behind us in his Honda Odyssey Minivan, so we told him we should turn around. This gravel path was only wide enough for one car, so Nathan and I had to wait for him to turn around before we could. As Andrew was in the midst of performing his three-point turn, his back tires hit a really muddy spot and just spun and spun, while the car sat in place.
Well, if there was anything worse than three teenage boys being lost in a state park with no cell service, it was three teenage boys being lost AND STUCK in a state park with no cell service driving cars that did not belong to them. After numerous failed attempts at getting the car rolling again, we came to the conclusion that we might be defeated. GGA might not have been as epic of a gang as we originally thought. At this point, a house, about a quarter-mile of the way back came to mind. At least I figured would it probably have a phone we could use to try and call someone so help us.
So I ran back. Now, I really did not like the idea of knocking on a random person’s house and asking to use their phone, but you know what they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Upon knocking, the door was answered by some people who acted like they really did not have time for me, but thankfully they still allowed me, a stranger, to use their phone. I figured I should call the adults, who would have definitely finished the hike by now and might have service. Thank goodness they answered because I didn’t know how many calls this person would let me make. My dad answered, asked where we were, and told me they would come help. They didn’t have a car, so I had no idea how they would help, but I took relief in knowing we were no longer in this alone. I thanked him, then returned to Nathan and Andrew, who were persevering in their efforts to free the car.
Well, before my dad managed to reach us, our tactic of finding dry sticks and “sticking”(pun intended) them under the wheels to give the car traction actually worked. The car was free, and up and running as before. As soon as we had the cars back to a real road, we ran into my dad and our leaders, who were able to take control of the situation from there.
Now, I wouldn’t say this experience was necessarily fun, but it was beneficial. I learned to open my eyes to how reliant I sometimes am on technology. Technology is a great aid, but it should not override our own efforts to be vigilant and aware of the situations we are in. This experience also gave me hope. Despite not having google layout the fastest route, I was able to find my own, erratic path towards eventual success using my gut as well as my buddies. Maybe I am inching towards adulthood and being responsible.
Occasionally, Tanner decides to speak to his friends in the third person. For some reason, Tanner’s friends get really annoyed. Tanner never knows quite why, and he has never quite understood it, yet despite their constant complaints, Tanner stays strong.
Oftentimes, different perspectives can be used to portray a different message, or the same message differently. For example, when I say “I am thirsty”, it has a different ring and sense of urgency than when I would say “Tanner is thirsty”. Speaking in the third person often gives the author or speaking the advantage of distancing themselves from the story or situation. In my example, when someone hears that “Tanner is thirsty”, they don’t immediately know that Tanner is around and in the situation. However, when saying “I am thirsty”, the listener knows that “I” desire a liquid to quench my thirst.
In The Things They Carried, O’Brien normally uses the first person. As an author, first person gives them the advantage of allowing the reader to get into the book. Especially in this case, telling war stories from the first person allows us as readers to get more into the story. We know what the character is thinking, what the character is doing, and we do not know what is happening outside of the view of that character.
Specifically, in the last chapter, I posted about “Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong”, which was a wartime story involving a soldier flying his high school girlfriend out to the war. For this chapter, it was very effective using the first person, because we as readers were very involved in this chapter, and it was exciting. It allowed us to be constantly involved in the story, and feel close to the characters.
However, O’Brien switched things up in the chapter, “Speaking of Courage”. As you can see, the third person is used in this chapter, as a story is told about Norman Bowker and his experience after the war. The third person is clearly evident, as the text reveals, “Norman Bowker smiled. He looked out across the lake adn imagined the feel of his tongue against the truth. ‘Well, this one time, this one night out by the river . . . I wasn’t very brave'”(O’Brien 136).
This chapter was different than all the others in more than the point of view. This chapter is one that it was easily evident that there was not a positive message at all. Norman Bowker was having trouble recovering from the war, especially a certain experience where he thought he could have won a silver star.
This chapter, the one that was already negative, is the one that was explained by the third person. As I mentioned earlier, the third person is often used to distance yourself from the story, which I found multiplied the effect. A sad story, filled with much personal contemplation and thought, was seen almost as an afterthought.
Because we as readers did not feel into the story, it allowed O’Brien to depict Norman Bowker as even more alone. Not only was he friendless in the story being explained, but he did not even have the readers to draw strength from.
However, this works in two different ways. By making Norman Bowker seem more foreign, the readers ultimately sympathize even more. We feel bad. Really bad. Because Norman is not doing well. So we have sympathy. Although it may seem like it was not the ultimate goal, I feel as though O’Brien was in deed going for that. And he did it very effectively.
O’Brien very constructively used the third person, in many ways, to develop this story. Because of how little he uses it, it has all that much more power.
Now, I encourage all of you, to try out using the third person. Try it out in different scenarios. See what type of response you get. Oftentimes your friends and peers will be annoyed, but maybe, just once or twice, the result will be beneficial.
Just yesterday, when telling a story to my peers, I will now confess that I did exaggerate some of the details. However, the key details were all accurate and true. Despite knowing in most cases that it is wrong, most of us still find ourselves lying and exaggerating details. However, in my case yesterday, the story was very believable. This is not always the case.
In Tim O’Brien’s “Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong”, the character Rat Kiley tells a very exaggerated war story. While fighting in the war in Vietnam, he explains how another soldier flew his girlfriend out to their reserved, isolated camp. She came, stayed with them, learned with them, laughed with them, but was soon changed by the war, in an unforeseeable way. Mary Anne, the “Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong”, started learning too much, and becoming more adventurous and less attatched to her boyfriend. In the end, she leaves all of the men and becomes one with the jungle.
Is this story believable? Well, that differs depending on who hears it. Mitchell Sanders, for example, another character in the story, interrupts Rat Kiley as he tells it, saying that it cannot be true. After attempting to end the story unfinished, Sanders exclaims, “You can’t do that…it’s against the rules, against human nature. This elaborate story, you can’t say, Hey, by the way, I don’t know the ending. I mean, you got certain obligations”(O’Brien 107).
Mitchell Sanders in no way thought the story was true, which he implies when he becomes enraged as the story is not finished. This was a war, and it would seem to be a lot more complicated than Rat Kiley explains it as.
So, by expounding so much, and reaching so far into what seems untrue, does the story become less believable. Some might think it would be a lot less believable, but I for one, disagree.
I think that because what he tells is so strange and bizarre, there is no way he would’ve made that up. When I think of exaggerating my own stories in my own life, there is a limit that I don’t cross, because I feel people won’t believe it. However, when he tells a story that crosses the limit by so much, it becomes different, almost like it would have to be true.
While that is one side of the argument, it almost seems like I might be overthinking it, and the story might just be a straight-up lie. However, personally, I found the story very interesting and would prefer to believe that it is true, even if I have no physical proof of whether it is or not.
This also leads you to ponder, why do we exaggerate our stories? Does it make us feel more important? Are we trying to impress? Or are we just bored, and want to spice things up a little? I feel that all of these can be true in different circumstances. Sometimes there are people we want to impress, other times there are people we want to seem more important than. And when you are with your friends, sometimes you just need to make things interesting. I also feel that sometimes we like to exaggerate just for the thrill of lying, and feeling slightly nervous that someone will catch you. But is it really worth it? That is also a very personal question that very much so ranges in answers, especially given the different circumstances of the stories and such. But when you lie or exaggerate, you must always keep in mind whether it is believable or not.
This topic of understanding whether or not this story is true takes us back to when O’Brien guided us on how to tell a true war story. Going through some of the points, you would almost think this is a true war story. There is no happy ending. The girl, who everyone grows to love and appreciate, turns her back on them, and on society, and becomes one with the jungle. I would certainly not categorize that as a happy ending. Does it have a moral? Well, if one thinks about it long enough, they might see one. However, Mitchell Sanders did not. He thought of it as a story solely for entertainment. However, in its entirety, I feel that this story does fit O’Brien’s criteria for a true war story.
If storytelling is an art, I am most definitely not an artist. I have a lot to learn, but most of the learning I feel will only come with personal experience. So, the next time you have a crazy thing happen to you, and are ready to share it with your friends, keep this is mind.
This collage simply highlights the beauty that can be found illness. When looked upon normally, one often views illness as something discouraging and unfortunate. However, after looking at the images in my collage, you will realize that through illness, the best side of us is brought forth in our caring, loving, and nurturing actions.
Google defines cowardice as “lack of bravery”. According to Confucius, “To see the right and not do it is cowardice”. Ernest Hemingway believes “Cowardice…is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend functioning of the imagination”.
In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things they Carried, cowardice is put in yet another light. Specifically, in the chapter “On the Rainy River”, one begins to wonder if a person can enter a war as an act of cowardice. Going to war is almost always associated with bravery. It is the brave men who serve their country. Breaking down the concept of connecting cowardice to fighting for your country in war often helps.
I believe that the people who fight for our country are undeniably brave, which they have to be in order to find success and contentment in the war. However, the question of whether going to a war can be an act of cowardice touches on a different aspect. In the time period of the Vietnam war, American soldiers were drafted and had almost no choice of whether or not to serve. That being said, the option of going to war as an act of cowardice is opened up, and I believe that one could most definitely go to war as an act of cowardice.
Tim O’Brien is a perfect example of this. In this chapter, he reveals that “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to war”(O’Brien 58). Through the syntax of two, four-word sentences, the reader is able to piece together the information shared in them, and understand that O’Brien feels he was a coward by going to war. The mental conversation he walked us through before revealing that shows that he was a coward by going to war. Instead of going to war as an act of bravery, he thinks about all the things he would be missing. He saw people of importance, both to him on a personal level, and people import in establishing the countries freedom. He also saw his future self, and the all these people yelling at him saying, “Traitor!, they yelled. Turncoat!”(O’Brien 57). And he couldn’t be brave. He couldn’t push himself to do it with all these imaginary people watching. So, Tim O’Brien decided to cowardly go to war.
O’Brien’s situation was very interesting, as he put himself in a position where the assumed trait was contrary to the one he was acting upon. He would have been brave if he did not go to war, and cowardly if he did.
So, personally, I feel that whether or not one goes to war is an act of cowardice or bravery is determined by them and them only. If they choose to enlighten others, as O’Brien did, then only can it be revealed. Without sharing, the individual leaves it up to the world to decide, and in most cases, they are all viewed as heroes, with courage as great as Harriet Tubman, Anne Frank, and Rosa Parks. All of these individuals, including the majority of the soldiers who went off to war, performed their actions as an act of bravery.
To conclude, the situation posed here, I feel, is very similar to one George Jackson described when he said, “Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it’s cowardice”. This is very similar, in my opinion. In both scenarios, there is a very fine line between a positive characteristic and a negative one. Just as it is up to the individual to decide if they went out to war as an act of cowardice, it is up to you to decide if one can.
Hello everyone, my name is Tanner Child, and I am pleased to be telling you all about me. So, first off, I come from a big family. I have six siblings, named Tyler(20), Rachel(18), Anna(14), Ellie(12), Claire(9), and Connor(7). I love my family and enjoy spending time with them. We do not have a pet, as my mom says there are already too many kids, and a pet would overdo it. Our family enjoys many activities, one of which is playing board games. Some of our favorites are Dominion, Settlers of Catan, Pandemic, and Coup. Another thing I love doing with my family is playing ping pong. My family has a had a ping pong table for a while, and my dad, brother, and I are all very competitive, and because of how much we have played, we have gotten pretty good.
Next, another thing I love to do is play sports. At school, I was on the golf team, ping pong team, and tennis team last year, and this year I intend on going out for the bowling team. I love to golf and have played for many years, both through the school and outside of it. I play with a few of my friends, and we have a great time, playing mainly during the summer months. I also love to play ping pong. Going into freshman year, I decided to go out for the table tennis team, because of how much I had played with my family. That was a great decision as I have both drastically improved and had a fantastic time. Both freshman and sophomore year, the table tennis team won state, which was very exciting to be a part of. We are hoping that this year we can accomplish the same feat. Tennis is a sport that I also very enjoy. I picked it up right before tryouts freshman year and was delighted to make the team. Since then, I have improved an unbelievable amount. To go along with those three sports, this summer I have gone bowling a lot. Before this summer, I would consider it a good game if I bowled over 110, but now, a good game would be breaking 200. Bowling is something I am very new to, but I would love to be more involved in that sport. Although those are the only sports I play through school, I also love to play other sports with my friends, such as basketball and football.
In school, I am looking into potentially being some kind of engineer. I prefer math and science classes and find I excel at those, so I think it would be a good career option for me. Now, I guess I will tell you some other fun facts about me. So, my favorite color is orange, hands down, honestly not entirely sure why though. My favorite fruit is mango, and I most definitely do not have a favorite vegetable, unless you cook all the nutrients out of mushrooms, then they turn out alright. My favorite dessert is ice cream, and my favorite flavor depends on my mood. Sometimes I’m really feeling fruity flavors but other times I am just craving chocolate.
Lastly, another thing to know about me, is I am very religious. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I attend church every Sunday and also attend an early morning scripture study class every day before school. Religion is very important to me, as it gives me hope and motivation for everything I do.
So, I hope you found this kind of interesting and learned something new about me, Tanner Child.
