Sorry Mom -From Kookie

I'm Kookie. Just a 19 year old boy. I always want the most modern kinds of clothes. I want stylistic shoes. There's no end to what I want. When there's a celebrity wearing something that catches my eye, I want it. I need it. And of course, the first person I go to to ask for all these endless items is my one and only...mother. In the present state of mind I live in, I know that "literally and truly, one cannot get on well in the world without money"(Hazlitt 1-2). Dressing up in the most modern clothes makes up who I am. I constantly have the desire to wear what others are wearing and appear to be simply "cool". Looking back on myself for all these years and my crazy obsessions over my fashion-only being one branch of the numerous ways I begged my mom for money-I feel very ashamed at myself for "the fickleness of taste"(33) and I noticed that my mom had given me so much "extravagance in [my] youth"(35). Whenever I asked, my mom eventually bought it for me. I now know that the term "want" isn't necessarily needing but lacking. However, I didn't need any of these trendy items. I wasn't really needing or really lacking anything at all. In the end, all these things are worldly possessions. After death, nothing will literally stay with me to the end. So I truly want to express how even though I may have asked for so many modern items that I want to wear, I understand that ultimately, I don't "need" any of it. It's just my over-obsessive craze. In conclusion, thanks and sorry mom for dealing with my obsessions over such worldly items and helping me understand that the things that money can buy can't buy my happiness for eternity. Maybe it would during the time I live on earth, but afterwards, everything would become nothing.

It's Not Okay for Kookie to Be Consumed

Two lobsters were enjoying a regular fine day one evening. Sitting around doing nothing, hunger slowly crept into their stomachs. Opening their fridge they took out a "fresh"(669) human baby. Babies being "slightly cheaper"(669) than the full-course meal of a human adult, the lobsters had no choice but to pick the baby over the adult because of the overly expensiveness of it. They pondered and constantly thought about how they should cook up their meal. To "bake, broil, steam, grill, sautée, stir-fry, or microwave"(669). After a while they thought that "boiling, the most common and easy method"(669) should fix up their meal well. Not being able to think straight at this point-because of their increasing hunger-they hurriedly filled their kettle with about "2.5 quarts of water"(670) and "add[ed] two tbsp of salt per quart"(670). Once the water started to boil, they put in their "food" into the irresistibly hot water. The two lobsters were desperately waiting to eat their finalized meal but "hear[d] the cover [of the kettle] rattling and clanking as the baby trie[d] to push it off" and live to see daylight again.

Before going on any further into horrifying details, how does it feel to read this passage in the perspective of lobsters killing and eating humans? Humans dominate this world more than any other species and they think that eating anything they want isn't considered merciless to the food(even though at some point in time, some foods were living things, living normal lives like the humans). While people read this, they are probably horrified about how the merciless lobsters-if they were the rulers of the world-could eat humans so easily as if it's no biggie. It's obviously not considered as bad of a thing nowadays because many people eat meat such as beef, chicken, and pork normally. However, people should consider altering their idea that killing and eating any living thing to eat for their own satisfaction is always alright.

Kookie Wears Makeup Too

Why are women only classified to have tons and tons of varieties to express themselves? Even in Tannen's piece, she doesn't really focus on the role of how men portray themselves in society and says that "the men's styles were unmarked"(8). Women are known to have so many different ways to accessorize and make up who they are. Using makeup, wearing different types of shoes(comfortable/sexy), wearing revealing/concealing clothes, keeping their hair up or down, changing their hair color or not. The list goes on and on. Society expects women to dress or appeal to them by expressing who they are in different ways, however, men can express themselves in whatever way they want to as well. 

Let's consider the pop industry as an example. Men using makeup such as eyeliner, lip treatments, concealer, and blush is known to be more common in society than it was a long time ago. Makeup is obviously a product that people use to enhance their appearance. Just like why women use this product, guys are starting to use it as well. Stylistically, there are differences to how they use it, however, they both use it to sharpen their looks and express themselves in society to be more intriguing and interesting. Framing men by saying they are "gay" and such isn't correct to do just because they are using a simple product known to everyone. People should just take it as a way as men trying to express themselves in a different way. All the more, this ties into Tannen's opinion that men are marked just like women. It's not right to "say that men didn't wear makeup in the sense that [people] could say a woman didn't wear makeup"(15). Of course, it's different and sort of odd for men to wear makeup, but it's still a possibility open for them to use. It's just society's perception that formed into thinking that certain things men aren't allowed to do, but women are. Makeup is just one of the many things that men apply to their lives nowadays to try and show the public another side of themselves.

Kookie's "Haters"

Although this world is composed of many optimistic viewers, it's packed with haters and negative thinkers. The term hater is just a harsh way of saying someone who strongly hates someone or something. One of the reasons that relationships can be broken apart and disrupted is because of how people view the opposing person or what they do. Vowell says that "all [her father] cared about were guns"(Vowell 6). If people tried a little more for the relationship and even made an attempt to try and show interest in the other person's hobbies, the bond between the people would most definitely become stronger and tighter.

People bring out the different qualities of a person continuously although it's unnecessary. It has become an unconscious action and it can even be exaggerated to be a judgement against someone. It's funny how people characterize others negatively when they aren't even perfect themselves. Everyone has his/her own interest or hobby. This world would be a much more peaceful and loving community if and only if people built strong relationships with people and didn't create enemies. Inside, people are all alike if they choose to be. A person you thought who was totally different from you can turn out to be like your very own twin. It's all a matter of how people perceive others. Vowell declares that "[her] dad and [herself] are the same person"(Vowell 29). After a person goes through certain stages of maturity, people's mentality levels change and they understand that they just chose to perceive the certain person in a judgemental way. Regrettance certainly follows a person around for the rest of their lives when they realize this too late. People need to catch onto the fact that everyone has certain interests and judging them for it does them no good.