Monday, December 7, 2009
music
I always heard when I was in elementary school in music and art classes that music was the universal language. Until the last couple of years I really have not given that a lot of thought, but it occurred to me two days ago that music truly is the universal language. It is amazing to me that you can sit down with someone who knows barely anything about music and just sit there and make amazing music. For example, I have a friend who knows very little about music. He used to play guitar a lot but has stopped the last few years because he has gotten older, more responsibilities, etc… anyway, I also do not know a ton about music but I know a little bit thanks to my previous roommate, who was a music major and I have been practicing my guitar religiously the past year because I have finally found a band/genre that I find very inspiring. Also a lot of my friends that I grew up with and went to high school with, if they did not play a sport; they played an instrument. So I went over to my friend’s house the other day and he had like 3 guitars and a drum set. So we both picked up a guitar and he started playing some chords and I followed and then he would lay something else down and I would run scales, or soloing, over the chords he was playing and we were playing some pretty good tunes, or at least I thought so. The best part was when I decided to get on the drums. He started playing this major chord progression and then repeated it and I picked it up on the drums and we started jamming. It was amazing. We pretty much came up with a whole song, chorus, bridge and everything, without saying a word to each other. It was one of the best musical experiences of my life. Music truly is the universal language.
holidays
I am really looking forward to the holiday season this year. I am ready for this semester to be over so I can be closer to being done with undergraduate school and closer to my ultimate goal of going to law school. Hopefully this will happen. As soon as school is out I am driving to Atlanta to start celebrating Christmas. I am going to be celebrating an early xmas there with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle and cousins from my father’s side. I have been to Atlanta so many times this last month or two because my grandmother has been really sick, but apparently she is doing better so that is a plus. It has also been good because it has helped me build my relationship with my two younger cousins who definitely could use some guidance in their lives. After that, I am going to be working for four days and then Christmas will be here. The day after xmas, I will be going up to Chicago to see my brother and my mom’s side of the family. Then, it will be off to KY to stay at my brother and sister in law’s home for a couple of days. After that, I will be getting home on New Years Eve Eve and then driving to New Orleans with a couple of my friends to spend New Years in the Big Easy at one of my friend’s houses. I am looking forward to the holidays!
homework 12/8
1. Marianne Moore – “Silence”
Reading this poem makes me think that the author did not have a good relationship with her father. I think it starts off by her writing about how her father told her it was good to be silent and not make long visits. It sounds like, to me, that her father did not want to talk to his daughter a lot. It seems that he preferred to be alone. He did not want his daughter to stay long at his home either. So, either the father just really disliked his daughter, or he was just naturally not a very warm or friendly person. At the end of the poem, she says that her dad said to make his home like an inn to her. This could be another reference to the fact that he did not want her to be completely comfortable or stay very long because, as the author points out, inns are not like homes, but rather places you go to and just sleep and spend very little amount of time at. Her father sounds like a man who wanted to spend very little time with anyone except himself.
2. John Clare – “Mouse’s Nest”
I think that this poem is pretty self explanatory from the title. I could be wrong but after rereading it several times, I did not find any hidden allusions or metaphors, or at least I do not think I missed any. This poem does do a really good job of placing the reader at the scene. It is very descriptive and makes it easy to come up with a vivid image in my mind of seeing a mouse’s nest. He does this by using words and images that everyone knows such as hay and wheat. While reading this poem, I imagined myself walking through a barn and seeing something stir. Then out of the corner of my eye I would see a mouse with all her little babies attached to her teats. The mouse would see my and then scramble back under the hay to her home.
3. Carl Sundburg – “Grass”
This was my favorite poem of the three I read for Chapter 15. I liked it because it is not just a straight forward poem, but has a deeper meaning behind it. Sandburg tells the story of grass and how it spreads and grows and eventually covers over everything. It covers things like the dead bodies we have from wars or the trash we leave on the ground. I believe that this poem is all about washing away or covering up our sins. Everyone has things that they have done in their life that they are probably not proud of and I am sure would love to just cover them up and never have to worry or think about them again. The grass is the best thing to do this. We could have a huge genocide one day and not even know it the next if we have the bodies all buried beneath the dirt. It is hard for people to believe things that they do not see. So if the grass can cover up our sins and our mistakes they aren’t visible to anyone so it is like they never happened. This will eventually happen to every human being. We will all eventually be buried beneath the dirt and covered by the grass and no one will know we were even here. The same could be said about cities and countries that were once great and then crumble and fall and are buried and covered by the grass.
Ch. 17
1. Charles Simic – “Fork”
Simic uses very good imagery to describe a fork. I do not think I will look at the fork the same again. He likens it to a bird’s foot, possibly from hell, that we use to stab our food with. This is very appropriate as he includes hell and stabbing food all in the stanza. I will always see my fist now as sort of the head of the bird whose foot is my fork. Like a bird’s head, my fist is bald. Unlike a bird’s head, my fist does not have a beak or eyes. As he is describing the fork, he almost makes it seems as if it is an object used by beasts or cannibals, not an instrument used by everyday, ordinary people. It is amazing how he takes an ordinary object like a fork and attaches all of this evilness to it. The best part to me though is that when you really think about it, it fits.
2. Jean Toomer – “Reapers”
When reading “Reapers,” the first thing that caught my eye was the line about the blade silently swinging. I think that is the most perfect description of the image she was trying to portray. I can see a blade silently swinging; like in the “Pit and the Pendulum” right above someone, waiting to do its damage. I believe the way she is describing it though, the blade is attached to horse and pulley and is used to cut the grass. I think it is very appropriate to include the blade reaching the field rat. I would wonder how you could have a blade in a poem and not have do anything, or hint at affecting an object in some way. After the blade finds its first victim in the field rat, it just keeps on going like nothing happened. It is a machine almost, feeling no remorse or regret, it just keeps on chopping.
3. Arakida Moritake – “The Falling Flower”
I decided to do a haiku for my last poem because although they are short, they often have the most to say. This particular poem is no exception. After reading the poem a few times over, I was able to put myself in position to see what the author saw (maybe). I can see myself sitting in a field or grassy null on a nice fall day. The leaves are falling everywhere so why would this particular leaf be any different, but it is. For some reason or another, this leaf floats back to the tree. On better inspection, it seems that I have been fooled and the leaf is no leaf at all, but instead a beautiful butterfly. I could also see a person interpreting this poem as maybe someone who is not yet ready to leave the nest or home; or does leave home and wants to come back to help or show that they are ready to now leave. They, like the leaf, are being forced from the branch because the tree can no longer offer it life. The leaf goes off into the world, but only to return home a bigger and better object, a butterfly.
Reading this poem makes me think that the author did not have a good relationship with her father. I think it starts off by her writing about how her father told her it was good to be silent and not make long visits. It sounds like, to me, that her father did not want to talk to his daughter a lot. It seems that he preferred to be alone. He did not want his daughter to stay long at his home either. So, either the father just really disliked his daughter, or he was just naturally not a very warm or friendly person. At the end of the poem, she says that her dad said to make his home like an inn to her. This could be another reference to the fact that he did not want her to be completely comfortable or stay very long because, as the author points out, inns are not like homes, but rather places you go to and just sleep and spend very little amount of time at. Her father sounds like a man who wanted to spend very little time with anyone except himself.
2. John Clare – “Mouse’s Nest”
I think that this poem is pretty self explanatory from the title. I could be wrong but after rereading it several times, I did not find any hidden allusions or metaphors, or at least I do not think I missed any. This poem does do a really good job of placing the reader at the scene. It is very descriptive and makes it easy to come up with a vivid image in my mind of seeing a mouse’s nest. He does this by using words and images that everyone knows such as hay and wheat. While reading this poem, I imagined myself walking through a barn and seeing something stir. Then out of the corner of my eye I would see a mouse with all her little babies attached to her teats. The mouse would see my and then scramble back under the hay to her home.
3. Carl Sundburg – “Grass”
This was my favorite poem of the three I read for Chapter 15. I liked it because it is not just a straight forward poem, but has a deeper meaning behind it. Sandburg tells the story of grass and how it spreads and grows and eventually covers over everything. It covers things like the dead bodies we have from wars or the trash we leave on the ground. I believe that this poem is all about washing away or covering up our sins. Everyone has things that they have done in their life that they are probably not proud of and I am sure would love to just cover them up and never have to worry or think about them again. The grass is the best thing to do this. We could have a huge genocide one day and not even know it the next if we have the bodies all buried beneath the dirt. It is hard for people to believe things that they do not see. So if the grass can cover up our sins and our mistakes they aren’t visible to anyone so it is like they never happened. This will eventually happen to every human being. We will all eventually be buried beneath the dirt and covered by the grass and no one will know we were even here. The same could be said about cities and countries that were once great and then crumble and fall and are buried and covered by the grass.
Ch. 17
1. Charles Simic – “Fork”
Simic uses very good imagery to describe a fork. I do not think I will look at the fork the same again. He likens it to a bird’s foot, possibly from hell, that we use to stab our food with. This is very appropriate as he includes hell and stabbing food all in the stanza. I will always see my fist now as sort of the head of the bird whose foot is my fork. Like a bird’s head, my fist is bald. Unlike a bird’s head, my fist does not have a beak or eyes. As he is describing the fork, he almost makes it seems as if it is an object used by beasts or cannibals, not an instrument used by everyday, ordinary people. It is amazing how he takes an ordinary object like a fork and attaches all of this evilness to it. The best part to me though is that when you really think about it, it fits.
2. Jean Toomer – “Reapers”
When reading “Reapers,” the first thing that caught my eye was the line about the blade silently swinging. I think that is the most perfect description of the image she was trying to portray. I can see a blade silently swinging; like in the “Pit and the Pendulum” right above someone, waiting to do its damage. I believe the way she is describing it though, the blade is attached to horse and pulley and is used to cut the grass. I think it is very appropriate to include the blade reaching the field rat. I would wonder how you could have a blade in a poem and not have do anything, or hint at affecting an object in some way. After the blade finds its first victim in the field rat, it just keeps on going like nothing happened. It is a machine almost, feeling no remorse or regret, it just keeps on chopping.
3. Arakida Moritake – “The Falling Flower”
I decided to do a haiku for my last poem because although they are short, they often have the most to say. This particular poem is no exception. After reading the poem a few times over, I was able to put myself in position to see what the author saw (maybe). I can see myself sitting in a field or grassy null on a nice fall day. The leaves are falling everywhere so why would this particular leaf be any different, but it is. For some reason or another, this leaf floats back to the tree. On better inspection, it seems that I have been fooled and the leaf is no leaf at all, but instead a beautiful butterfly. I could also see a person interpreting this poem as maybe someone who is not yet ready to leave the nest or home; or does leave home and wants to come back to help or show that they are ready to now leave. They, like the leaf, are being forced from the branch because the tree can no longer offer it life. The leaf goes off into the world, but only to return home a bigger and better object, a butterfly.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Hamlet
When I was told we were going to have to read half of Hamlet by Tuesday, I thought that it was going to be a lot of work. And then I started reading Hamlet and realized that not only had I already read it twice in high school, but I had also seen the movie version with Mel Gibson in it. I was happy about this because reading Shakespeare to me sometime is like solving a math equation. You have to go over it several times and sometimes decode the old English words to figure out what he is trying to say or what he really means. So this time reading it through was more of like a refresher instead of the agony of having to do like 50 pages of math homework. I hate math. Math is my worst subject and specifically chose a major in college where I would be doing as little math as possible, Thank God. I have always liked the story of Hamlet though, except for the end. I wish that everyone would not die and just Hamlet’s uncle, and well maybe his mom too because she should not have married his uncle. I mean, how could she not see that they guy was so evil and that he murdered his own brother, Hamlet’s daddy, just to be with this women, oh and to also become king. What a tool. And then you have the love of Hamlet’s life in Ophelia and her father thinks that Hamlet is that bad one. It is just amazing the naiviness, if that’s even a word, of all the people who think Hamlet is awful. And then when Ophelia dies you just know that Hamlet is going to take down his uncle for all the atrocities he has committed. All in all I think it is a good story/play.
Football
I, like most people in America, love football. Tonight on Monday Night Football the Saints are playing the Patriots. This is going to be a sweet game because the Patriots are and have been one of the best teams in the NFL for a very long time and they have one of the best quarterbacks, Tom Brady, coaches, Bill Belichik, and wide receivers in Randy Moss. So they are pretty much stacked. And they have also made the playoffs for like 9 straight years and won 3 of the last 5 super bowls. The Saints are more of an up and coming team but they are undefeated and the best team in the NFC. They have one of the best quarterbacks in Drew Brees. He has set multiple records in his career and it seems like every year he just gets better and better. Much like Brett Favre who is 40 years old and playing some of the best football of his career. In fact, he(Favre) just led the Vikings to a win over my favorite team, Da Bears. Unfortunately for me, the bears are just awful this year, which deeply saddens me as I am a die-hard bears fan. It is even more disappointing because they spent all this money on a new quarterback and he has been awful, I mean it is painful to watch him play because he throws a million interceptions. He was supposed to be the qb of the future, but instead he is just awful and a waste of money. The bears have hardly any talent on any side of the ball it seems, as they are being blown out pretty much every week, and they started off the season 3-1. They have won one game since then and lost 6 of 7. I wish they would fire the person in charge of hiring and/or scouting players because he is obviously blind. I did not mean for this blog post to turn out as a rant against the bears and how much they suck and waste my time on Sundays, but its hard not to be so pissed when it seems like every year they say they are going to get better and then blow more than the last year. And I am also a Cubs fan so life pretty much sucks for me.
thanksgiving
I had a really fun Thanksgiving this year. This is one of the first years since I was 12 that I have been able to spend the holiday with my family. Every year since I was 12, I went to Louisville, KY to play in a tennis tournament and I always went with my coach and other players and never with my family. We went to Atlanta because my aunt, uncle, 2 cousins and grandparents live there. My brother and his wife also came down. I enjoy spending time with my 2 cousins because they are both a little younger than me and I feel like they have always looked up to me a little bit. Unfortunately, I do not get to see them very much but when I do, I like to make it count. We all played tennis together and then they took me to this farm where they keep their dirt bike. I had ridden a dirt bike several times when I was in middle school so I figured I could still do it. I was riding in a big fenced in circle and on my second lap I told my cousins I thought I had the hang of it and then proceeded to crash into the fence. I hurt my ankle and hand and also broke off the front fender of the bike and side. I got back up though and after awhile I even taught myself how to ride wheelies. It was sweet. Afterwards, we all played ping pong and I dominated, as I have never lost to my little cousins in any sporting activity, and hopefully never will. All in all I would say it was one of my favorite if not favorite Thanksgivings because I actually got to spend it with my family and we all got a long and had fun.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Decisions
I have a very interesting decision to make regarding Thanksgiving weekend. My parents are going to leave the Friday after Thanksgiving to go to Atlanta. They are going to visit my dad's mom who has been sick for awhile but it recovering, sort of. My grandmother has been on dialysis for three years and is almost 80 years old. It has finally taken a toll on her body and it appears to be shutting down. She was in the hospital for two weeks last month because she had pneumonia and a heart attack and possibly a stroke. We do not know exactly as neither do the doctors. The reason she went into the hospital in the first place was because she refused to eat anything. She was down to 90 pounds and still losing weight. So a few weeks ago me and my family went down there and spent a weekend with her in the hospital and it appeared as if she was not going to make it. My brother's wife, a doctor, suggested that they move hospitals because it appeared to her that she was not being properly cared for. After she moved, she began to eat a little and recovered somewhat. She was then released to her home and my parents went down to make sure everything was going smoothly ( I was at a tennis tournament or I would have also gone). So now she is home and has two different caretakers to help her out, but now she is not eating again and weighs only 80 pounds. My parents said they were going to go there for Thanksgiving to see how she was doing and see how my grandfather was holding up. My parents gave me the option to go with or stay at home, citing that I am an adult who can make his own decisions and I don't have to go if I do not want to. There are some people coming in for Thanksgiving break who I am really excited to see and it would be very advantageous, for several reasons, to be able to have the house to myself for this time. On the other hand, I would feel like complete shit if I had the opportunity to see my grandma before she dies and then dies before I get to see her again. I have asked a few friends and surprisingly they were all on the side of staying home and seeing my grandmother at a later date. But what if that is not possible? I also have to factor in that My uncle and his family live there. My family does not really get along at all with their family especially my aunt. So those times are always really fun. My aunt is this super crazy baptist, I love Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck and everything to do with conservatism and FOX news. So what will I do? Either way I will be somewhat upset that I could not have both, but "You can't always get what you want."
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