Luke Zayas

Kurt Cobain is a widely known musician throughout the globe. His band and music heavily influenced the 90’s era and future generations of music to come. Although his angst-fueled songwriting widened the thematic conventions of mainstream rock music, I feel that the negative parts and end of his short life should be spoken about. Cobain was born at Grays Harbor Hospital in Aberdeen, on February 20, 1967. He was born to Wendy Elizabeth and Donald Cobain. By the age of nine, Cobain’s parents divorced.

This event profoundly impacted Kurt’s personality which his mother noted. Fast forward to adult Kurt. By 1991, Nirvana had become extremely popular worldwide. Cobain and his band were already producing hits. Their most well-known hit was Smells like Teen Spirit, which was their first single for their album cover. “Nevermind.” Regardless of his success with his band, Kurt was still hurting, and his favorite way to find relief from his pain was narcotics. Kurt regularly used cannabis and even used acids such as LSD on many different accounts. Heroin was by far Cobain’s first choice drug. He mainly used it to relieve himself of stomach pain and chronic bronchitis.

This would eventually lead Cobain down a dark path. Although this is not relevant to the topic, heroin is extremely addictive; once one is addicted to heroin it is difficult to refrain from using it. Heroin is by far one of the most addictive substances. Nevertheless, Kurt’s addiction caused him to overdose twice in two consecutive years, those being 1992 and 1993. When Kurt Cobain experienced his first near-death overdose, he was resuscitated by his wife, Courtney Love.

Kurt Cobain did not have the most pleasant life. His childhood trauma and chronic pains drove him to the point of drug abuse and eventually suicide. He was a heavily influential musician with fans worldwide. Although he was successful in the music industry, he still lived in pain.

            I am no musician, but my love for music is never ending. I have no experience with instruments or with anything that produces music. This may be true, but my passion for music will always be strong. The way I think of it is through my emotions; and my mood. The song I choose to listen to usually reflects my mood. Also, I listen to certain songs to place myself in a certain mood. That is what music is to me, and what it does for me. I guess I can say my music defines who I am in a way.

            Sometimes, it is difficult for me to show my emotions or to say how I’m actually feeling. I really think that through music all that escapes. Music is an amazing way of expressing your opinions or feelings towards things wether they are directed towards yourself, others, or even society itself. It is so much more than rhyming words and interesting sounds.  It is raw emotions, meaningful words, poetry, and art. Personally, I feel so understood when listening to my favorite songs. It is almost as if the artists of the various songs I enjoy every day wrote them for me.

            Music is something that has largely affected me. It is part of my character and basically who I am. It allows me to free my thoughts and feelings throughout my day without even having  to say a word. One thing I love about that is I can feel like myself even in front if people which is important to me. It is absolutely so wild how I could feel this way for certain songs, and how certain songs make me feel. I thank God for music because it helps me get through my day. Thank you for reading.

I am creating this post because I believe that aside from all the events that occurred in this book, I think we should recognize that the four African American women that participated in NASA’s greatest successes did all this during the fight for civil rights and when racism was at its worst in the United States. The fact that Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, were four black women says a lot. During this era in America, women’s rights weren’t really a thing and the fact that they were black makes it more difficult for them to have been able to obtain an education to do what they did. In other words, all the odds were against them, but they still made it happen.

Patience in the face of discrimination are what it took to get the four women to success. Women today who strive to live Christ’s gospel can take powerful lessons from these women’s examples and also find strength to persevere and experience the peace and power made available to disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Bantu people are vastly spread across the continent of Africa. Places with Significant Bantu populations are the African Great Lakes, Central Africa, and Southern Africa.

The Bantu face issues from armed factions. They have been denied assistance during famine and are the victims of looting and civilian abuse.

How can we help?

1. Donate food and supplies to areas with significant populations of Bantu speakers.

2. Provide housing for Bantu speakers.

3. Increase the level of farming and agriculture.

4. Protect Bantu people from hostile tribes and clans.

5. Create reserves for Bantu people.

Entry#1. The purpose of this blog post is to inform and to educate the reader on the organism I have chosen to write about. I am writing about the chimpanzee because this animal has always interested me. I don’t have any experiences with Chimpanzees I think they just interest me because of how intelligent and strong they are.

The common name of my organism is the Chimpanzee (you already know this I just wrote a whole paragraph on why I like them). Pan troglodytes is the scientific name for the Chimpanzee.

During today’s lesson we discussed a couple of different terms and learned about different biomes. I learned what parasitism, mutualism, commensalism, and symbiosis is. I thought today’s lesson was very interesting because it surprised me how much different organisms benefit each other in many different ways.

Chimpanzees are Heterotrophs. They are omnivores which means they eat plants and animals. They also ingest food to fight diseases. Chimpanzees are found in savanna woodlands, grassland-forest mosaics and tropical moist forests. Chimpanzees thrive in forest biomes. These areas usually have a tropical temperature/climate with regular precipitation as you would expect in a rainforest for example.

Chimpanzees are located in Africa in countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

Entry #2. Chimpanzees have a mutualistic relationship with the African Nutmeg plant. They are involved in commensalism when a chimp consumes an apple from a tree. It is commensalism because the chimpanzee benefits by having something to eat while the tree isn’t harmed. Chimps are commonly infected with nodular worms. The Chimpanzee is both a predator and prey. It hunts small monkeys, birds’ eggs, small antelope, wild hogs, and baboons, and insects. Being an omnivore, its main diet consists of fruits, nuts, stems, and leaves, but depending on location and availability of food, they also hunt other small mammals. Chimps have several types of predators such as leopards, jaguars, cougars, and some species of eagles and birds of prey.

Since Chimps are omnivores, they eat insects,animals, and plants. If they were to go extinct it may cause an increase in some populations, but not a huge impact. We would also have no more chimp pelts or meat for African cultures.

Entry #3. The population density of chimpanzees is estimated to be around 0.32 individuals/km2. Chimpanzees’ dispersion type is clumped because of the 30-50 individuals that each group consists of.

The chimpanzee is listed on the IUCN Red List as an endangered species. Around 170,000 and 300,000 individuals are estimated across its range.

Chimpanzees are K strategists because of their long life span and number of offspring. Chimpanzees can live up to 40 years old. Chimpanzees usually only have 2 offspring in their lifetime.

Entry #4. The current known chimpanzee population is estimated to be around 150,000 to 200,000 individuals. The chimpanzee is classified as an endangered species. The main threats to chimpanzees are habitat loss, disease, and hunting, especially for bushmeat. enforcing stricter rules regarding tourists and park personnel’s contact with chimpanzees; and mobilizing the international conservation community. As God’s servants we are supposed to care and protect His creation.

No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.” – Martin Luther

This quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is important to me because as a Christian we know that Jesus Christ died for our sins. If He died for us then I think we should die for the ones we love or anyone for that matter. What I am trying to say is if we really take something to heart then we take it to the grave. We must be willing to die for what we believe in. Martin Luther died for his fight for equal rights. This should motivate us so we can carry on his fight and legacy.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton