I took one hour to watch people around me. One of them is a girl. She was wearing a casual jacket which I can tell the brand and it is expensive. Her paints is black and it is the same color with her jacket. When I looked at her feet, she was wearing UGG boots. When I were watching her, she was holding her big LV handbag and walking to the Lilis hall in a hurry. From her wearing, I can know that she was born in a rich family. She very cares about her wearing and have some tastes about clothes. Her wearing is adorable and fashionable. So she must be young and maybe a freshman here. It seems that she is just 19 or 20. From her features and hair color, she is a Asian people who is possible from China or Korea. When she was walking into Lilis hall, I saw anxiety from her face. Maybe she was late for her class or maybe she had a midterm exam.

The second person I observed was in Starbucks. She is a American girl with long golden hair. She was wearing a Burberry coat and a skirt with high-heeled shoes. Her makeup was fine. When I saw her, she was talking with her friend. From her wearing, it seems that she is not a student anymore. Maybe she has a job with good earnings because not anyone can afford Burberry. Many professional people like this brand, so she may work in a bank or a financing institution. Her age is between 25 and 30. From her style of conversion, she must be well-educated. I noticed that there was a ring on her middle finger, so it is more possible that she got married. She looked relaxed and excited. It seemed that she just got rid of her busy work and got ready to have dinner with some friends or maybe her husband.

The third person I saw is on my way to library. She was wearing a blazer, sports pants and Nike shoes. She is a American girl with blond hair. Her eyes are blue and very beautiful. Also, she has a good figure and looks very healthy. It seems that she cares more about her body shape and loves fitness. The gym is near the library. Combined with her wearing, it is more possible she was ready for excise. We all know that these two weeks are midterm-weeks, but I cannot see any stress form her face. Maybe she is a new student here and is just 20. She looks very energetic. I also noticed that there is a tattoo on her whist. I cannot see it clearly but it is more like a kind of plant. I guess she may believe this plant can represent her personality. Some people like to choose something which can represent himself /herself as tattoos. Like me, I like wings and I believe they represent freedom so I have one on my body.

Deresiewicz, W. (2012, October 26). A Matter of Taste? The New York Times. Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/opinion

Telfer, E. (2002). “Food As Art”. Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philophical Debates.

Taylor-Francis e-Library, 17-26.

The article “A matter of taste?” written by William Deresiewicz shows his concerns about the relationship between food and art. In his article, he uses a word “foodism”. He believes that food has taken the place of art and becomes the mainstream. Young men or even kids, they are introduced by people from the local/organic fare or campus farmlet into the ways of food. Many of them also look to the possibilities of careers in food. Just like the author says “ Food, for young people now, is creativity, commerce, politics, health, almost religion” (para 5). Around the turn of the 20th century, aestheticism took the place of Christianity among the progressive classes. Foodism then taken over aestheticism around the turn of the 21st. Deresiewicz states that people has connected food with the meaning of life. When he talks about this, he says “ Food now expresses the symbolic values and absorbs the spiritual energies of the educated class” (para 9). It seems that Deresiewicz feels unsatisfied about the situation of food, because after this, he shows that food can only be food, it cannot be a story or an idea; although food can evoke people’s emotions, just within a limited range. For Deresiewicz, food is not art and it cannot take the place of art. So in the end of the article, he points out “ Yes, food centers life in France and Italy, but not to the disadvantage of art, which still occupies the supreme place in both cultures. Here in America, we are in danger of confusing our palates with our souls” (para 12).

After reading Deresiewicz’s article, there is something about food he mentions is reasonable. People’s views about food indeed changed and food become more important than before.You can see some performances about food on TV.Some artists even open restaurants and displays some artistic food creations. However, I believe he exaggerates the issues. He believes food has inherited the position of art and American people are struggling their palates with their souls. He is obviously worried about the situation of food excessively. Also, he denies the possibilities that food can be art. In the article “Food as art” written by Elizabeth Telfer, she also feel confused whether we should treat food as art. In her article, she provides some examples and theories to prove this repeatedly. I think some are very useful and can help us to make a decision about this. If we want to associate something with art, we firstly must have a reaction. Telfer gives aesthetic reaction her own definition and it can be charactered as “non-neutral, non-instrumental, having a certain intensity and often accompanied by judgements for which the judgers claim a kind of objectivity”(p11). According to this, most people will agree that there is aesthetic reactions to tastes and smells. We also can distinguish the tastes and smells form approving of the food instrumentally that it is nourishing and fashionable. These can be combined with a judgment like we think this food is good and other people will like it. However, we cannot treat all objects which can give rise to aesthetic reaction as art. About the definition of work of art, there still exists one problem and it is “the phrase of work of art can be used in either a classifying way or an evaluative way” (p 12). It is necessary to decorate or arrange food in attractive ways if the cook intend to make people desire to taste it. So from the classifying way, food absolutely can be viewed as art. But in the evaluative way, some people believe food cannot be art. This view is similar with Deresiewicz’s, they don’t think tastes can sustain art. Tastes indeed are not nobler than hearing and sight because they are more physical.But it does not mean that it cannot be art. Telfer points out that although our senses of smells are less developed than some animals, we still can recognize a range of tastes and smells.Moreover,if we pay more attention on it, more people will cultivate a palate. Therefore, some people doubt the tastes of the food cannot be the reason that food is not art. We only can get a conclusion that art based on food is more simpler. In the article “A matter of taste?”, Deresiewicz also states that food cannot be used to express people’s symbolic values, the emotions which it can evoke is just within a limited range. Maybe this is true, but we cannot deny that food doesn’t constitute a work of art because of this. Like we explained before, food is a simpler art and it is not that complicated.

Actually, food can be viewed as art. Some people try to deny it because they think of food in a complicated way.Food is a simple and minor art, it cannot compare with music or painting. So we have no need to worry that its importance can threaten the position of art and even take the place of it.

For me, food is not just used to relieve people’s hunger, I also sometimes treat them as an art. However, I don’t view all food as art, because the only function for some food is feeding like fast food. From the presentations, all the fast food around the world have the same taste and they are wrapped by some cheap paper bag. They are definitely not aesthetic. But we cannot deny that food is not art because of this. For me, fast food is just an exception. There are also many other kinds of food can provide people aesthetic appreciation. According to the article “Food as art” written by Elizabeth Telfer, if you want to treat something as art, firstly it can give rise to aesthetic reaction. About aesthetic reaction, Elizabeth provides her own definition and she says “The account which I have given of aesthetic reaction will not suit all cases. But I hope I have succeeded in suggesting a range of sense-experiences which fall under the description of “aesthetic reaction”, and which may be characterized as non-neutral, non-instrumental, having a certain intensity and often accompanied by judgments for which the judgers claim a kind of objectivity”(p 11). About the tastes and smells, most people can get aesthetic reactions. When we enjoy its tastes and smell, we also can approve of it instrumentally that it is nourishing and fashionable. When these reactions combined, we can have a judgement like the taste is good and I believe people will like it. However, like Elizabeth says “Not all objects that can give rise to aesthetic reactions are works of art” and she also says “One problem is that the phase “ work of art” can be used in either a classifying or an evaluative way” (p 12). From the classifying way, food is indeed a work of art because a cook not only want their food can relieve hunger, they also hope it to be appraised. Therefore, they will use some approaches to provide a work of art. Eating food is a normal activity that we need to do every day. Elizabeth states “ With food, as with clothes, people have a chance to enhance an area of their everyday lives. So to that extent the aesthetic appreciation of food is not a separate, aliened activity, but an aspect of what is done every day” (p 21). I remembered when I read Ellen Dissanayake’s essay “What is art for”, she believes that art is a normal human behavior. Through this, we no doubt can treat food as an art because eating food is also a normal human behavior and you can get much pleasure from them. There are many forms of art and we have no need to set boundaries. Food is just a special one.

In the book “What is art for” written by Ellen Dissanayeke, she coined a word to expressed her view about art and this word is “paleoanthropsychobiological”. We can separate this word into three part to understand. The first part is palaeolithic which means since the palaeolothic or even earlier, the art has existed and it encompasses all of human history. The second part is anthropological which means art includes all human societies.The third part is psychological which means art is a kind of psychological need and it also has psychological effects.
Making special is a kind of human behavior. People have this kind of behavior because they have some particularly things to care deeply about or some activities’s outcome has strong important significance. From this, we can find that people not only can recognize special things, but they also can deliberately to make something special. The author gave an example in her book, in the hunting societies, when people got ready to hunt, hunters would do some special activities before the hunt like pray, bathe or obey food. According to these activities, the author said “ This control of their behavior and emotions can be interpreted as a way of vicariously demonstrating the control they desire in order to successfully achieve their goal” (p 23). So it seems that the behavior of making special is unrelated to aesthetic.But just like the author says “ When one exerts control, takes pain, and uses care and contrivance to do one’s best, the result is generally what is called artistic or aesthetic”( p 23) From this, we can find that making special is indeed related to art. Dissanayeke then talks about making special in ritual ceremonies to prove that it is relate to human survival. She uses ritual ceremonies as an example because she believes “ the shaping and elaborating of behavior and of the material would that we today call the arts were necessary to the performance of ritual ceremonies” ( p 23). People made the ceremony pleasurable and compelling. This can strengthen people’s feeling of affiliation and it is more helpful for them to unite. So it is essential for them to survive during the hard times.
When Dissanayeke shows us the history of western european art, she identifies many different theories. When she talks about the modernism , she mentions a “disinterested” attitude to appreciate art. She says “ “Disinterest” implied that viewers could appreciate any art, even the artwork of eras or cultures far removed from their own whether or not they understood the meaning the works had for the people who made and used them” (p 18). This can show the “universal” of art. Also, art was not mainly about religion, people gave art another kind of knowledge and this was the idea of art for art’s sake. Dissanayeke says this idea “ suggesting that art had no purpose but to “be” and to provide opportunities for enjoying an aesthetic experience that was its own reward, and that one could have no higher calling than to open oneself to these heightened moments” ( p 18). The theory for pro-modernism is very different from that of modernism. It denied the “ disinterest” attitude. About this, the book shows “ To claim that one can appreciate works form alien cultures is an imperialistic act of appropriation-molding them to one’s own standards while blatantly dismissing or ignoring the standards of their makers and users” (p 19). From this, the art is not universal and not “high”. However, pro-modernism has its own problems, Dissanayeke mentions in her book “Postmodernism abandons the crumbling edifice of modernist authority for an equally uninhabitable and esoteric anti structure of relativism, cynicism, and nihilism thatcher that I claim does not have to be the inevitable outcome of the matter” (p 21). To solve the contradiction between modernism and promodernism, the author provide her own theory. She believes art is a normal human behavior. She introduces a view and it is “ species-centered”. This view “ will regard all humans as alike in having the same fundamental needs” (p 210.She then explains this with a lot of examples. She states that since ancient times, people like to make things special deliberately. In ritual ceremonies, making special is helpful for people to get together tightly and will be help them survive during cruel surroundings. After these examples, she concludes “ If you carry one idea away from my talk I hope will be this: art is a normal and necessary behavior of human beings that like talking, playing, working, socializing, learning, loving and nurturing should be encouraged and developed in everyone” (p 26).

For me, art was always elegant, special and mysterious. If you want to explore the real meaning behind an art of work, you need to have money, time and also enough knowledge. It seems that not everyone can appreciate art. After reading some pieces of Ellen Dissanayake’s book “What is art for”, I decide to change my view for art and think about it in a totally different way. In the beginning, when Dissanayeke talks about art, I noticed that she uses an interesting word to expresse art. This word is “palaeoanthropsychobiological” (p 15). It means art actually have existed for a long time in our history and can include all cultures. Also, art is an expression of people’s emotion or psychology. After introducing this word, Dissanayeke states her views further and she says “My palaeoanthropsychobiogical view is that in order to include human history, human cultures, and human psychology, art must be viewed as an inherent universal (or biological) trait of the human species, as normal and natural as language, sex, sociability, aggression, or any of the other characteristics of human nature” (p 15). So art is not that far away from our life, actually it always stay with us. To prove her view, Dissanayeke then mentions the history of art from medieval times until now. In the medieval society, art was god-centered. As the society developed, people’s self-awareness had a dominate place and art became man-centered. After that, modernism arose and claimed that art is superior and only belongs to people who have leisure time and education. To oppose modernism, postmodernism became popular and stated that appreciating art can be everyone’s activity. Actually, these transforming and development just reflects that art making is a normal human behavior because people inherently like to make things special. The special creation can make people with the same perspective and values get together. Through art, they find the resonance and become more unite. So art can help them to survive during the hard times. Along with human history, it seems that art is a kind of people’s born ability and it is the sake for life. Just like Dissanayeke said “ If you are to carry one idea away from my talk I hope that it will be this : art is a normal and necessary behavior of human beings that like talking , exercising, playing, working, socializing, learning, loving and nurturing should be encouraged and developed in everyone” (p 26).

My ordered list are :
1. Family
2. Health
3. Friendship
4. Personal Development
5. Independence
————————————————-
6. Personal Development
7. Wisdom
8. Wealth
9. Integrity
10. Security
11. Creativity
12. Loyalty
13. Prestige
14. Power
15. Enjoyment
16. Location
17. Expertness
18. Leadership
19. Community
20. Service

Today is sunday. I stay at home almost all day to do my homework and also review some materials about Gmat. I am senior now and busy with graduating. In the mean time, I am trying my best to attend graduate school the next year as planed. Because my major is accounting, further study no doubt is helpful for my own career in the future. What the most important is it can help me to get the CPA which I desire all the time. From this activity, you can find I really pay attention to my own development. On my list, I put my personal development in the fourth place. This place can show its importance for me. Then I put family and health in the first and second place separately. I am an international student here. Even though there is a time lag between China and United States, I still insist calling my parents almost everyday. So after completing my homework, I made a call to my mom today. After that call, I went to gym with my friends. I really care about my health and every term, I will took a lot of time to excise. Since I was a child, my mom always told me that health is the most important thing in the world. So except family, health is the second important thing for me. After excise, I watched movie with my close friend. No matter how busy I am, every weekend I must hang out with my friends. They are an important part of my life. So I put friendship in the third place. After movie, I drove my car to market and buy some stuff. Then I cooked myself. I lived alone, so most of the time, I complete something myself. Now I can take very good care of myself in this unfamiliar nation. This can show my independence and it is in the fifth place on my list.

I think I inherit from my family many beliefs. Since I was a little kid, my parents always told me that money is not that important, the most important things are happiness and health. They also told me that When I determine to do something, just do it and learn to ignore others’ influence. In my mind, these are good believes they give to me. But there is one thing I can not agree with them. They believe it is better for me to go home and find a stable job after graduation. They want to convince me that after certain age, girls need to get married and have a settled life. However, I do not like this kind of thought. I am the girl who like freedom and want to travel a lot during my life. I want to do many things that I believe they are worth to do.It seems that I don’t have goals that I have yet to pursue. Sometimes I will feel troubled because of the difference between my parents’s values and mine. It can create misunderstanding between us. But I know they always love me and one day maybe they will understand.

For many of us, value may be just a simple word that we can talk it many times a day and never thought about its exact meaning. However, after this week’s reading, the first time I feel this word is so different. In this article, the writer mentions that we can form our values depend on four mental modes and they are sense experience, deductive logic, emotion and intuition. Except these, we also rely on two synthetic mental modes, they are authority and science separately.Even though we rely on a combination of these modes in our lives, our percentage of emphasis on these modes is different. Someone may more emphasize emotion. Other people may more emphasize deductive logic. I agree with this view of the author. In the mean time, I also think that people’s experience in their real life can decide their extent of emphasis on each mental mode. Like me, my major is accounting in our university. Most of the time, when we need to get something, we more rely on our deductive logic and sense experience, and then the emotion or intuition. It seems that these four basic modes and two major synthetic modes are mainly the ways or techniques which we can arrive at our values. But actually, they are not. Like the author said “ Sense experience, emotion, logic, intuition, authority, and “ science” are mental modes or techniques through which we form our values, but by adopting and emphasizing one over the other we also turn them into dominant personal values in their own right.” ( Lewis, p13). So among these modes, we will have a dominant one and this one will color all other value choices. This is very interesting. Values are complex, unpredicted and quarrelsome. They have important influence on our lives. With good and objective personal values, we can live well. Thus sorting these value choices out with a systematic way is no doubt very important.

I read a blog named “Is WordPress The Best Platform for Your Startup? “ The reader believes blogs are very important for our startup. Through the blog, people can share your content and help to drive traffic to your website.It also can increase search rankings. Then more people will be attracted by your content. This will be a good opportunity to build connection with others and let people know your business.
After that, the blogger talks about the platform for startup. The fist he mentioned is WordPress. WordPress is used by many people and very popular. The reasons are that it is easy to use and not expensive. Also, it has many amazing features.Then, the blogger also introduces other useful platforms like Medium, Silvrback, Svbtle etc. He believes that maybe WordPress is not the best platform, it is still the right choice.