Ronald Antone Soares was an amazing man who lived an amazing life. In his spare time he enjoyed working. He was also an avid mechanic, fisher and hunter. Watching Nascar was one of his favorite pastimes. Ronald Antone Soares was my Grandfather, who unfortunately passed away in 2009 leaving behind 3 children, a wife and many grandchildren.
He was "Pop" to me and the rest of the family. I'm not sure where that nickname for him came from but it stuck. We had called him that for as long as I remember. The memories with Pop are only good ones, ones that I will cherish forever. Out of high school Pop joined the Marine Corps, he stayed in this for four years. During this time he traveled the world and in his last few years in the Marine Cops he was stationed on a base in North Carolina, where him and my grandmother had their first child; my Auntie Kim, whom we call Auntie Coco. In the Marine Corps Pop was stationed on boats. His job was to keep the engines maintained. After the Marines Corps Pop went to two years of college for business. Around this time he had two more children with my grandmother, my father; Ronnie, and then my uncle; Richard. Pop then worked at a regional high school as the automotive teacher, but only for a few months. This regional high school is the high school attended. After this my grandfather settled down. Him and my grandmother bought a twelve acre property in Swansea Massachusetts set back far in the woods and built their dream home. He them worked as a diesel mechanic, for as long as I can remember.
I love my Grandparents home. As I said it was set back far in the woods, about half a mile. Once you drive up the terrible pitted driveway you come to a large hill, Sitting on this hill was my Grandparents home, standing in all it's glory. Inside it was always dimly lit and very old fashion, but I liked that about it. One day I hope to own this house and property. When we were young my brother and I would sleep at my grandparents house. We stayed up watching cartoons with my grandparents and slept in their California king sized bed with them. When we would wake up there would be two boxes of donuts waiting on the counter for us. These donuts came from a bakery somewhere in Somerset, they were not like any other donuts I had ever had before. They tasted so much more delicious than an average donut from dunkin donuts. Pop would go and buy us these donuts every time we slept over so we could eat them for breakfast, before he would go to work for the day.
One thing I recall about my grandfather that believe is amazing is how great of a mechanic he was. At the time before his passing he owned a 1948 Chevy Coupe he had restored and a 1969 Ford Mustang Gt Fastback 351 Windsor five speed which he was in the process of restoring. This car is an extremely rare car and my grandfather knew that. His plans were to restore this car to its former glory while leaving it as original as possible. Six years after his death this vehicle sits exactly where he left it. In pieces in his garage. One day I will finish what my grandfather couldn't. Today it is very evident that Pop's love for vehicles has rubbed off on his sons, and me. My uncles main toy in his 2012 Shelby GT Mustang, an incredibly expensive car. My father owns a 1965 Mustang coupe and 1970 Boss 302. He is currently in the process of restoring the 1965, he has owned this since he was 18 years old. One day I hope to help him finish both. I have recently learned of my love for vehicles. I hope to go into field where I can work on vehicles.
On March 31st, 2009 I was in the sixth grade, I came home to an empty home. This was odd since my parents are always home at this time. My cousin picked up my brother and I and we spent the day at her house. When my parents came to pick us up later that night they brought us outside and told us the news. We immediately broke down to what we had just heard. Earlier that day, around 12 O'clock I'd say, after his daily routine of going out to eat and seeing friends, Pop was cutting down a large tree in his yard. He was working on this project with my Grandmother and my older cousin. Pop cut the tree down and sent my grandmother and cousin to fetch some ant killer in the garage because there were some ants. When they came back my Grandfather was on the ground. My cousin proceeded to give CPR but unfortunately it was too late. My Grandfather had suffered a heart attack and was pronounced death upon the arrival of the ambulance.
Only two days before we had visited my Grandparents, this was the last time a saw Pop. That day, in the twenty minutes we were at my grandparents house, I showed my grandfather what I had been learning on the guitar, he seemed so proud. That day I also learned that he had played the bass guitar and he planned on showing me a thing or two on bass. Since then I have become a successful musician in my band, The Fairview. Pop had lived an incredible life, it is extremely unfortunate that we are forced to live without him now. I hope to live a life as great as his, and to one day be as an incredible of a man as he was.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Excellent Deffinitions of...
How does one define normative, culture and ontology at a macro, meso and micro level, separately and as one?
Lets begin with the first, normative. Normative is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as; "of, relating to, or determining norms or standards," (Merriam-Webster.com). Normative to me is something, an action for example, that is regular or done on a routine and / or traditional basis. We can look at the United States of America as a macro level for this definition. In the United States of America we have rules and regulations that are considered normative. For example, Streets rules such a signs, lights, signals etc. . People who obey these rules and regulations on the street are aware of the normative. Without even thinking about it people obey these rules each an everyday because they are considered the normative. Others may be aware of the normative but disobey anyways. Normative is not only restricted to rules and regulations. Like stated before the normative can be something done on a regular and / or traditional basis. For a meso level we can look at our home state of Massachusetts, or even the north-eastern states if you wish. During the winter plowing can be considered a normative for the Massachusetts area. It is a normative because we do it every year, on a sort of routine basis, because if we don't then we are not able to move around. To define normative will use myself. In my house I follow rules of the norm, for example; doing my homework first, taking out the trash, cleaning up after myself, etc. . Normative to me can also be following a curfew at night that my parents set (Even though that may not always be the case).
Moving on, culture can be defined as, "the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time," (Merriam-Webster.com). When I think of culture, what comes to my head is, a different groups of people's habits and characteristics. What defines those different groups are their culture. Looking at culture at a macro view we can look at the United States of America once again. In the United States of America we celebrate certain holidays because it is in our culture; Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving. (Not everyone in the United States may celebrate these holidays but the majority do, it is a cultural norm). At a meso level Massachusetts is a perfect example. In Massachusetts we can look at our Boston sports teams as culture. Everyone in Massachusetts cheers for teams like; The Red Sox, The Patriots, The Celtics, The Bruins, etc., (or at least they should). Finally at a micro level I will use myself as an example once again. Micro and macro can be viewed almost at the same level here. My family and celebrate birthdays. We get together with our entire family for just one day and celebrate a single person or multiple people. I would consider this our culture. Just like at the macro level we can look at celebrating holidays at a micro level as well.
Defining the word Ontology is not difficult. Understanding it is. Ontology is defined as, "a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being". Some people may read that definition and not completely understand the concept of ontology at first. It is not an easy concept to wrap your head around. To get a better understanding of the word here are some questions that an Ontologist may ask. "What is existence", "What is a thing?", "When does a thing and / or object cease to exist", "What other things and / or entities are out there and / or exist". We can look at the United States of America and Massachusetts at a macro and meso level for Ontology. The United States of America is a country of many religions. In religion people believe in a God and / or a higher entity. Some people in these religions may be skeptical of these gods or entities actual being. "Do they actually exist," they may ask. At a micro level we can look at myself or any single person. Fitting perfectly into the category of ontology are aliens and the paranormal. Some may wonder if these creatures and entities actually exist.
Lets begin with the first, normative. Normative is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as; "of, relating to, or determining norms or standards," (Merriam-Webster.com). Normative to me is something, an action for example, that is regular or done on a routine and / or traditional basis. We can look at the United States of America as a macro level for this definition. In the United States of America we have rules and regulations that are considered normative. For example, Streets rules such a signs, lights, signals etc. . People who obey these rules and regulations on the street are aware of the normative. Without even thinking about it people obey these rules each an everyday because they are considered the normative. Others may be aware of the normative but disobey anyways. Normative is not only restricted to rules and regulations. Like stated before the normative can be something done on a regular and / or traditional basis. For a meso level we can look at our home state of Massachusetts, or even the north-eastern states if you wish. During the winter plowing can be considered a normative for the Massachusetts area. It is a normative because we do it every year, on a sort of routine basis, because if we don't then we are not able to move around. To define normative will use myself. In my house I follow rules of the norm, for example; doing my homework first, taking out the trash, cleaning up after myself, etc. . Normative to me can also be following a curfew at night that my parents set (Even though that may not always be the case).
Moving on, culture can be defined as, "the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time," (Merriam-Webster.com). When I think of culture, what comes to my head is, a different groups of people's habits and characteristics. What defines those different groups are their culture. Looking at culture at a macro view we can look at the United States of America once again. In the United States of America we celebrate certain holidays because it is in our culture; Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving. (Not everyone in the United States may celebrate these holidays but the majority do, it is a cultural norm). At a meso level Massachusetts is a perfect example. In Massachusetts we can look at our Boston sports teams as culture. Everyone in Massachusetts cheers for teams like; The Red Sox, The Patriots, The Celtics, The Bruins, etc., (or at least they should). Finally at a micro level I will use myself as an example once again. Micro and macro can be viewed almost at the same level here. My family and celebrate birthdays. We get together with our entire family for just one day and celebrate a single person or multiple people. I would consider this our culture. Just like at the macro level we can look at celebrating holidays at a micro level as well.
Defining the word Ontology is not difficult. Understanding it is. Ontology is defined as, "a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being". Some people may read that definition and not completely understand the concept of ontology at first. It is not an easy concept to wrap your head around. To get a better understanding of the word here are some questions that an Ontologist may ask. "What is existence", "What is a thing?", "When does a thing and / or object cease to exist", "What other things and / or entities are out there and / or exist". We can look at the United States of America and Massachusetts at a macro and meso level for Ontology. The United States of America is a country of many religions. In religion people believe in a God and / or a higher entity. Some people in these religions may be skeptical of these gods or entities actual being. "Do they actually exist," they may ask. At a micro level we can look at myself or any single person. Fitting perfectly into the category of ontology are aliens and the paranormal. Some may wonder if these creatures and entities actually exist.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
The interesting triangle (week 3 blog)
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a very interesting subject to study. It is what I found most interesting in last class. Basically, Maslow mapped out human needs by first having the most basic needs at the beginning and the more "complex" needs towards the end. Maslow's concept is usually portrayed in a pyramid form. (As shown at the bottom right.) Although, it is interesting to know that Maslow never used a pyramid of any form when creating these ideas.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs has 5 categories, is begins with basic necessities of survival at the bottom, for example; water, food, shelter, sleep etc.. It continues with safety, for example; a person's families physical safety, physical self safety and financial safety. Maslow's next category is belonging. One a person has stability in their life and does not have to worry about basic necessities the next feel the need to belong. This can include but not be limited to; friendships and family. Maslow continues with his research and comes up with esteem as his fourth human necessity. After a person does not have to worry about basic necessities for survival, they have personal and financial safety and they have a sense of belonging they feel the need to be respected by others. After reaching this stage a person will want to be accepted by other people. They will have self- esteem. Lastly, Maslow came up with his final human need, Self- actualization. It is extremely rare, says Maslow and many of the people the study his works, for an individual to reach this stage. What Maslow is saying here is, once a person knows what they can become and what they could do in life, nothing will stop them from achieving that goal. Although one can only achieve this by first working through and mastering the previous four stages.
If I could personally ask Maslow a question it would be: Can an individual achieve the last phase of needs, self- actualization, without having the work through and master the first four? This is something I would like to know his opinion about because, for instance, if an individual is born into a wealthy family and does not need to worry about the first four phases of needs, like shelter and security, could they go right onto the last, self-actualization phase? I believe Maslow's answer to this would be no because they have not mastered the previous phases.
Maslow is an interesting man with many interesting ideas. In the future I wish to study his more.
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Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs has 5 categories, is begins with basic necessities of survival at the bottom, for example; water, food, shelter, sleep etc.. It continues with safety, for example; a person's families physical safety, physical self safety and financial safety. Maslow's next category is belonging. One a person has stability in their life and does not have to worry about basic necessities the next feel the need to belong. This can include but not be limited to; friendships and family. Maslow continues with his research and comes up with esteem as his fourth human necessity. After a person does not have to worry about basic necessities for survival, they have personal and financial safety and they have a sense of belonging they feel the need to be respected by others. After reaching this stage a person will want to be accepted by other people. They will have self- esteem. Lastly, Maslow came up with his final human need, Self- actualization. It is extremely rare, says Maslow and many of the people the study his works, for an individual to reach this stage. What Maslow is saying here is, once a person knows what they can become and what they could do in life, nothing will stop them from achieving that goal. Although one can only achieve this by first working through and mastering the previous four stages.
If I could personally ask Maslow a question it would be: Can an individual achieve the last phase of needs, self- actualization, without having the work through and master the first four? This is something I would like to know his opinion about because, for instance, if an individual is born into a wealthy family and does not need to worry about the first four phases of needs, like shelter and security, could they go right onto the last, self-actualization phase? I believe Maslow's answer to this would be no because they have not mastered the previous phases.
Maslow is an interesting man with many interesting ideas. In the future I wish to study his more.
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