Journal 11 - Kyle Smith

In the picture used for the profile of Dr, Hepcat, was a book that by the look of it is about the language he used as a radio host called jive. It was a secret language, used mostly by African Americans that they would use, so the common person didn't know what they were speaking. It was their own hidden language and they would use it on the radio broadcasting. This is important because this was commonly used through the 40's and 50's by jazz musicians and radio shows. 

This is what he was holding on the picture for the profile.

Example of Jive:
     Swellelegant: wonderful, marvelous.
     Flip the grip: to shake hands.
     Homey: a person from one’s home town.

He was also a reverend later in his life after his 15 years in the radio business. He tied his reverend days with his days as a Baseball caster. " I can talk about the lord now just like baseball then" (pg 179) I thought this was interesting because the fact that he even put these two things in the same sentence. Its to show his passion is very great for everything he is done through his life.

In history it was first Colored rights and this mostly effected African Americans and then later down the road it was womens rights. A big thing that happened recently was gay marriage rights but some still are excluded from this. Its hard to live in a society where you are seen as a small person.

An Important theme is the fact he knew he was going to have a hard time as a colored person to make it in the real world. '' Course, you knew it was kind of tough-- to be black on a white mans radio'' This was extremely tough during this time period but he stuck with it and did make it and was very successful. At the end of this profile he says being one of the few to do this he inspired many people. "He says he keeps the door open for people to come along in to make progress into a changing time." also included on this page was. "You cannot stop progress" (pg 180) This is especially true when it is for the greater good and you should fight for what you deserve and don't give up on it.





     

Journal 11 by Christian Poncsak

Lydia Emery:

 Some observations I have made after reading the Lydia Emery profile was that the photo showed her with her doctor's bag and necessary equipment hanging around her that she needs in order to make a house call. She She had a smile on her face within her profile picture showing that even though she's at an age where she can retire she still pursues her career because of the great love she has for caring for people. I also noticed while reading her profile is that throughout the text there are people such as her brother and another female doctor in the Valley tell her what she should do and how to live her life. For instance her brother had suggested that she should become a nurse instead of a doctor. Another instance was with the female doctor up in the Valley. The female doctor had became upset for the fees that Lydia charged because it should that women don't deserve equal pay as men deserve. Lydia didn't care because she truly cherished the patient of hers well being. she wasn't in it for the money. Lastly, I noticed at the top of the page her profile was written in italics that introduced who she was in this world before she told her story. the italicized lettering was an introduction done by the author of holding on, Isay Wang.        

Some connections I had made with Lydia emery's profile had been to my own experience. For instance she didn't know that she wanted to become a doctor at first. She had taught in a one-room schoolhouse for many years after high school before she enrolled in Mennonite college taking pre-med courses.She didn't know exactly what she wanted to do right out of high school which I related to with today's society especially in America. So many people in the United States that come right out of high school don't know what they want to do and in college majors are switched around all the time. no one is set in stone with their life especially older adults that make three to four career changes within their lifetime. Life has a way of surprising oneself. Another connection I made to Lydia Emery was that she wanted to be a doctor to people who where seriously ill or had something wrong where as today many people go to medical school to become a doctor to make lots of money. she wasn't about getting rich. She charged her patients one dollar because she knew about economic hardships. 

A question I have from this profile for Lydia is what makes you overcome fear and what life moments have made you fearful?

A theme for Lydia emery's profile would have to be compassion. she shows absolute complete compassion for others and what she does with her career. She has taught me to do something you love with the soul purpose of the people in the world. Never do something for the money or do something that you love but do it for the people in the world.

Marion Walker: 

Some observations I had made for Marion Walker was that in her profile photo she looked very elderly as if she should be retired. She sat right next to a big type writer which to me shows that she is always willing to work and enjoys working. she doesn't plan to stop working anytime soon. Another observation I made about her profile was the length of her profile. She had such a short profile that her profile made me think the most of what her story was more of than what was written about her. Lastly, Marion Walker to me seems like she wants to be left alone out in the middle of nowhere. She said her general store was out in the middle of nowhere between the Texas-Mexico border. She is a women who takes life simple and has no fancy ways about her life. She seems like she is a calm person as well with the way she comments.

A connection I made to her and the world is that some people don't need fancy things in order to survive in life. They are completely content with what they have given to them. At the general store it talked about how there was a gas pump that hasn't worked in years and there were shelves partially stocked with produce. Most people these days who own a store would fix the gas pump and stock the shelves ASAP. She was okay with how things where at the store.

A question I did have that was the only question I had that kept repeating in my mind was why is her profile so short? What makes it special that it's the shortest one?

A theme I encountered with her story was a theme about hope floats. She is a hopeful minded person in the sense of not going with society norms but instead waits quietly to what her future may entail.  

Journal 11 By Jami Riegel

          

                My first profile is on Mariano and Clara Lucca. They both are Curators of The Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabel Museum in Buffalo, New York. 

                The photo they used for this book looks very creepy. To me, at first glance it looks like the story is going to be about the paranormal. They should have had better lighting or maybe had one done on the deck also. They are both VERY passionate about Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabela but I think that Mariano is the one who likes to talk more than Clara when they are asked questions because he would with no hesitation have an answer right then and Clara would not have a chance to speak. The Smithsonian Institute actually wanted to buy a lot of their memorabilia. Even offered them $50,000 for the ship but Mariano turned it down. They have more in their Museum than the Smithsonian has in their collection. 

                When Mariano was asked about how Columbus is perceived today Mariano goes on and says that now they say "Columbus was a stinker." I says, " You have a constitutional right to say what you want, but I got a constitutional right to tell you when the hell your wrong!"
                We can connect Christopher Columbus today by knowing that even though we were taught in school he was the first person to come to America, we know today he was not.
                Some research I found is that Mariano he ran for congress in the 50's and 60's and then founded the National Columbus Day committee in 1966 and began lobbying congress to declare a holiday for Christopher Columbus. Two years later it passed and started in October 1971.

                My second profile is on Dugout Dick Zimmerman. The owner of The Dugout Ranch. He puts together these little rooms made from anything left over in the junk yard. He started out like a hermit wanting to be alone but soon after he made these little huts he found himself a tourist attraction. The photos are great I think. They capture the essence of who he is, a loner, creative, and sweet old man.
                 I would have loved to stay in them for a night but after his death in 2010 the city took control of the property and after taking his belongings out of them they filled each cave with dirt because they said it was unsafe. Makes me sad to think everything he worked on and lived in for years was all destroyed in a matter of days. 

Patrick Lynch:Journal 11

Percy Brigham's profile was pretty interesting to read since it was about an old form of fishing being lost because of government buying out the land near the river. While reading Percy's profile I found the second image to be really hopefully in showing what scaffold fishing was like. The importance of the picture is it helps the reader get a better image of what is being talked about in the profile. One observation I noticed in the Percy profile that was similar to Lydia's was that they both wouldn't let money affect what they like doing. In the Percy profile he refused to take the three thousand dollar bride to move away from the water at Celilo. Lydia who was a country doctor didn't let people convince her to raise the price for her service because she believe that being a doctor was about the work you do for people not the money you bring in. This is important because it connects the profiles together to share a common theme. My last observation is that Percy's profile is composed mostly in third person and switches to first person to give first hand images of what Percy went through. This is important because it gives more information to the reader while highlighting the important stuff in the first person point of view.

A connection that I made in Percy's profile was that Percy passed on his tradition of fishing. Percy passed it on to his children and know they own boats as well. This reminded me of when my dad taught me how to fish and asked me to help him every once in awhile with raising fish.

A question that I had about Percy's profile were about what made platform fishing special to him? I wanted to know this because it would give a better sense of how much it meant to him.

The research I looked up was how much impact do dams have on ecosystems. Dams affect the ecosystem by disturbing spawning habits of fish which in turn means certain fish start to die off or migrate to a new area. One of big impacts on the ecosystem is it raise water levels and causes certain sediments that carrier nutrients to help grow the ecosystem to dam up and not reach the areas beyond the dam. Causing that ecosystem to die out over time

Journal 11 Ali

The first person that I got was Lydia Emery. After observing her picture she is such a cute little old woman, who looks like she just wants to help others. Observing the text I noticed that authors of the book gave a little background information about her, and then led into her interview. Also within this text I noticed that she was faced with many challenges and opinions about her career. While reading Lydia's story she told me about what a nurse felt about her, "...she was very upset with me because I didn't charge more, that I was "projecting the wrong image", that a woman doctor should make just as much as a man doctor..."(Isay 144). This interview took place back in the 1940's and there is still controversy over women's rights. Men still get paid more than women in certain occupations. Everyone deserves the same pay regardless of their gender; but I agree with Lydia. "...because to me, medicine should be a measure of what you're doing, not how much money you're making"(Isay 144). After reading this passage it helped me realize that work is not all about money. You should be working to help others, not for the money. One question that I had after reading this was "How many women are doctors are there today?" In 2011 there were as many as 14.8 million women in the US were in medicine. The overall theme I discovered from this passage was "don't give up on what you believe in". Lydia didn't give up on her dream of becoming a doctor because most women weren't, and she didn't give up because of fearing her father won't accept her. Lydia was an extraordinary woman who wasn't afraid to go after her wildest dreams. The second passage I read was about Marion Walker. She too was a cute little old woman, but this woman didn't seem as happy and go lucky as Lydia, she seemed to be little more serious about life. While reading this I noticed that this passage was quite short and to the point. After reading this story I learned something, that little businesses like Howard and Walker's have severely declined over the years. Today you only see big business that are outstretched over the entire United States. Big business are what makes the big bucks, causing little shops to disappear. The theme that I got from Marion is," not everyone can take the heat". At the end of the passage this was stated, "A few weeks before we arrived, Ms. Howard retired, leaving Marion Walker to run the store by herself. "Nellie just got tired, I guess". Their business was in the middle of no where and I guess Nellie just simply gave up on the business and quit; leaving all the work to Marion Walker. Nellie couldn't handle the heat anymore leaving it all on Marion.

Journal 11 By Daniel Van Dyke

The two profiles that i will be analyzing are Calvin and Preston. In the Calvin profile we met Ms. Calvin and her son and right away we notice she is having trouble remembering things. the reason for this is she had a few small strokes before Isasy did the interview. Because of these strokes her son did most of talking in the interview. This is important because it shows the reader  how the strokes have effected Ms. Calvin. The next observation in this profile is the picture. Ms. Calvin would paint the mannequin faces so they are life like. With her face not really showing much emotion its almost like shes one of the mannequins too. The last observation i made is in the Preston profile is the passion Mr. Preston has for the Lincoln Highway. He kept track of the different kinds of cars that went by which he recorded 2,720 different kinds. This is important because it gives the reader an insight on what type of person Preston is.

I made a connection with Preston profile todays world. In his profile he has a collection of anything that was ever associated to the Lincoln Highway. One of my moms friends has a collection of model cars but only models of NASCAR. His whole garage is full of them and they were neat to look at. Another connection is with the TV show American Pickers. The travels around the country to buy things from these types of put who have been holding on to stuff most of their life.

In the reading one question I had was is there still people today who paints life like faces by hand? I would think today all that artwork would be done by machines as with technology being mover advance since Ms. Calvin time. The research i did was about Mr Preston town he had his gas station. Belle Plaine, Iowa has about 2,500 people living there currently. The name Belle Plaine comes from the french meaning "beautiful plain". Today there are only about 10 business in the town.

Journal 11

The profile on Bill Seward, owner of the Jersey Lilly Bar and Cafe, was composed by three main points. The profile start outs with David Isay and Harvey Wang Arriving at the ghost town of Ingomar, Montana. Descriptive Writing is used to describe the desolate town and what happens in the town.
The Profile goes on to tell a short overview  of Bill Seward's life story in chronological order.
A total of Two photographs were used in this profile. The first is a picture of Bill Seward leaning out from behind a wall of his bar.