Well, I would have to say I am most thankful for Hammy and Nikki the most. I can count on these two for pretty much anything, and they've been there for me since freshie year.
I'm thankful that Nikki is so very blunt and honest about a lot of stuff, she's been keeping me grounded for four years. Also, we have had some pretty great adventures, and I'm thankful for those memories. Last, but certainly not least, her bottomless stomach deserves some appreciation. I can not tell you how many times she has saved me from wasting food. What more could you ask for in a friend?
Hannah - I'm sorry - Hammy, has been a wonderful literature buddy (our third lit class together). But that's not why I'm thankful for her. We've had some rough patches together but she's always been there when I needed her the most. Whether it be to help make sense of my life, to make fun of me, or to tolerate the boys I date, Ham has always been a true friend and I'm very thankful for that.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Open letter to Cormac McCarthy
By the way, I misread the topic for the blog when this was due and accidentally wrote you a letter instead mr. Mccarthy, which is why the blog is late.
Dr. Mr. Cormac Mccarthy,
Your book, the road, made me depressed. I mean don't get me wrong, I thought the subject matter of your book was very thought provoking. But at the same time, I found my self feeling a bit gloomy when I read it. Also, I became confused a lot because you chose not to include quotation marks. Don't worry; I get it, the whole writting the book in a style that compliments the tone of the story thing. That was actually kind of cool now that I think about it.
If I were to describe the tone of the book with a color, I would choose grey. When I was imagining it in my head I saw a lot of grey. I think that color tells a lot about the book, its sort of ambiguous. I suppose you could look at the book as being a reminder of hope, or criticizing the very principal of it. Representing both Optimism and pesimism, the color grey does wonders in describing this book.
P.s. Even though I think of your book as depressing, I actually really liked reading it, the story was intriguing. Kudos.
Dr. Mr. Cormac Mccarthy,
Your book, the road, made me depressed. I mean don't get me wrong, I thought the subject matter of your book was very thought provoking. But at the same time, I found my self feeling a bit gloomy when I read it. Also, I became confused a lot because you chose not to include quotation marks. Don't worry; I get it, the whole writting the book in a style that compliments the tone of the story thing. That was actually kind of cool now that I think about it.
If I were to describe the tone of the book with a color, I would choose grey. When I was imagining it in my head I saw a lot of grey. I think that color tells a lot about the book, its sort of ambiguous. I suppose you could look at the book as being a reminder of hope, or criticizing the very principal of it. Representing both Optimism and pesimism, the color grey does wonders in describing this book.
P.s. Even though I think of your book as depressing, I actually really liked reading it, the story was intriguing. Kudos.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Dinosauria, We
I feel like there is rarely something that I see that makes me sit and think about the magnitude of certain things going on in todays world. The poem “Dinosauria, We” paints the picture of what our world is and will become if these “things” continue to happen. Charles Bukowski brought up many problems within todays society; for example, at one point in the poem he says
“Born into this
Into hospitals which are so expensive that it’s cheaper to die
Into lawyers who charge so much it’s cheaper to plead guilty”
There is absolutely no possible way to look at those words and claim them as lies in today’s society. These specific examples illustrate the ways in which we have made “solutions” into growing problems. The more I read this poem the more convinced I am that he is talking about how we as a race cannot live without ruining what we have. That we are the keys to our own destruction. What killed the dinosaurs, won’t kill us. He also addresses the fact that we look for something or someone to blame all our troubles on. When what we find doesn’t fulfill the ache or pain inside us, we search for something artificial that will temporarily relieve us from our problems. Once again showing that our solutions are not really solutions at all.
“The Fingers reach for the throat
The gun
The knife
The bomb
The fingers reach towards an unresponsive god
The fingers reach for the bottle
The pill
The powder”
The society we live in is constantly evolving and becoming more and more sophisticated -which- is going to eventually bring about the apocalypse. The idea of sophistication will not matter in the end, Bukowski mentions “As the supermarket bag boy hold a college degree” and “And the Banks will burn, Money will be useless” bringing about the question how much value do the things we strive for mean when there is nothing? After reading this, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this happened.
P.S. I really liked this poem.
“Born into this
Into hospitals which are so expensive that it’s cheaper to die
Into lawyers who charge so much it’s cheaper to plead guilty”
There is absolutely no possible way to look at those words and claim them as lies in today’s society. These specific examples illustrate the ways in which we have made “solutions” into growing problems. The more I read this poem the more convinced I am that he is talking about how we as a race cannot live without ruining what we have. That we are the keys to our own destruction. What killed the dinosaurs, won’t kill us. He also addresses the fact that we look for something or someone to blame all our troubles on. When what we find doesn’t fulfill the ache or pain inside us, we search for something artificial that will temporarily relieve us from our problems. Once again showing that our solutions are not really solutions at all.
“The Fingers reach for the throat
The gun
The knife
The bomb
The fingers reach towards an unresponsive god
The fingers reach for the bottle
The pill
The powder”
The society we live in is constantly evolving and becoming more and more sophisticated -which- is going to eventually bring about the apocalypse. The idea of sophistication will not matter in the end, Bukowski mentions “As the supermarket bag boy hold a college degree” and “And the Banks will burn, Money will be useless” bringing about the question how much value do the things we strive for mean when there is nothing? After reading this, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this happened.
P.S. I really liked this poem.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Father-Son, Father-Daughter, Mother-Son, Mother-Daughter
First two thoughts that come to mind are “daddy’s girl” and “momma’s boy”. the two extremes that initially distinguish the difference between genders in a family. I can honestly say that i fit the definition of a daddy’s girl pretty well, but i have to wonder how my relationship with my father might be if i were a boy. The father daughter relationship tends to generally be a protective and doting one. I know from personal experience that in my case this is completely true. I will always be thought of as my dad’s “little girl” no matter how old I get. It seems to me that the daughter is always treated more special or favored by the father and the son is always doted on more by the mother. Momma’s boys sharing the same sort of complex daddy’s girls have with their father. However, I feel that i have a closer bond with my mother just because she goes through or has gone through the same things i will or have and its easier to relate to her. I also think of my mom as more of a role model than i do my father. Because i don’t have any brothers and I’m not a boy, I can only speculate that the relationship between a father and his son is like the one I have with my mom. I cant say all father-son, father-daughter, mother-son, mother-daughter relationships are exactly how i described them, but i think a lot of them consist of the same characteristics.
Friday, October 8, 2010
God in 2010
In this day in age I feel god plays a less important role in the lives of many people. It might be the fact that I was raises catholic and as soon as I had my confirmation I haven't gone to church since that could promote me into thinking there is less of an impact of god. I believe my own personal experience with religion as persuaded me into thinking that god isn't as important as it was when I was little.
Even though I know there are still very many people who are very serious about their faith and treat it with the utmost importance. For example, my grandmother. She is still very much involved with her church and beliefs. I commend and admire her for this, but I have to say I rarely see strong examples like her in today's younger generations. Media generally tends not to focus on religion due to the fact it could be potentially offensive. Public schools -which I have attended all my life- cannot teach religion because it would be considered uncostituional. Even at award ceremonies I have seen less of a persuasion of god. Years ago I can remember everyone getting up on the stage and wanting to thank god as soon as they could. That idea has seemed to fade a little in our society.
As a modern day teenager I must admit the idea of god isn't really on my list of high priorities. I take what life gives me and work through what I need to with out the thought of god entering my mind. Perhaps this will change as I grow older and I devolope different mind sets, but for me right now god isn't really present in my life.
Even though I know there are still very many people who are very serious about their faith and treat it with the utmost importance. For example, my grandmother. She is still very much involved with her church and beliefs. I commend and admire her for this, but I have to say I rarely see strong examples like her in today's younger generations. Media generally tends not to focus on religion due to the fact it could be potentially offensive. Public schools -which I have attended all my life- cannot teach religion because it would be considered uncostituional. Even at award ceremonies I have seen less of a persuasion of god. Years ago I can remember everyone getting up on the stage and wanting to thank god as soon as they could. That idea has seemed to fade a little in our society.
As a modern day teenager I must admit the idea of god isn't really on my list of high priorities. I take what life gives me and work through what I need to with out the thought of god entering my mind. Perhaps this will change as I grow older and I devolope different mind sets, but for me right now god isn't really present in my life.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Modern Day Socrates
In this modern day society we have very few people that can be considered to be like Socrates. Someone who questions a person’s or a group of people’s thoughts and beliefs. Someone who makes the audience think and question their own thoughts and beliefs. To be able to discover a certain truth “truth”. Bill Maher can certainly be described as a modern day Socrates, especially in the controversial world we live in today.
What makes Bill Maher so much like Socrates is that his show “Real Time with Bill Maher” is set up deliberately to discuss current controversies with in the american society. He has people representing from both sides and will play devil’s advocate with his questions at times to get both sides to reveal either faults within their arguments or show how strong they are. Even though Bill Maher is known for being a strongly voiced liberal, he allows his facing opponents -if you will- the opportunity to address the issue from their side and share their opinions on it. Which, he then tries to weaken by questioning their answers.
Referencing a specific episode i saw back in the summer, Bill Maher completely tricked a conservative who was completely against healthcare reform to admit that it would be a good thing. This is just one particular episode out of many that continuously address major issues and try to weaken the opposing sides argument. Because this is what the show is about and this is how he finds the “truth”, it wouldn’t be outrageous to think that Bill Maher is a modern day Socrates.
What makes Bill Maher so much like Socrates is that his show “Real Time with Bill Maher” is set up deliberately to discuss current controversies with in the american society. He has people representing from both sides and will play devil’s advocate with his questions at times to get both sides to reveal either faults within their arguments or show how strong they are. Even though Bill Maher is known for being a strongly voiced liberal, he allows his facing opponents -if you will- the opportunity to address the issue from their side and share their opinions on it. Which, he then tries to weaken by questioning their answers.
Referencing a specific episode i saw back in the summer, Bill Maher completely tricked a conservative who was completely against healthcare reform to admit that it would be a good thing. This is just one particular episode out of many that continuously address major issues and try to weaken the opposing sides argument. Because this is what the show is about and this is how he finds the “truth”, it wouldn’t be outrageous to think that Bill Maher is a modern day Socrates.
Friday, September 17, 2010
The Unexamined Life
“The unexamined life is not worth living”. What Socrates meant by this was, why would you want to live a life where you don’t question the meaning of it? I have to agree. There really isn’t anything special about a person who is just living their life to get through it. For the person that never analyzes their life, would never completely understand it. In order to know yourself and who you are, i think the processes of “self examination” which Socrates mentions, is vital to living a full and complete life. In a sense, living life as a robot -so to speak- is a complete waste to yourself and your peers. By going through the motions and not really caring or thinking about who you are along the way, you could be depriving the world of something really great, and you are losing the chance to better yourself.
There are certain qualities and talents that make every human being different, more unique. Whether it be a yearning to help people or passion to create, each of us have something that we found out through some sort of self examination. Dying and having nothing to show for it would be a tragedy. I believe possessing and striving for goals or dreams is a good indication that someone has looked at their life and acknowledged that is not the fullest it could be. They want something more, something to define their lives. Goals keep people motivated, or in other words, they are living for something and not just living to live. Our society has revolved around setting goals for yourself, even if they are menial. Most of us really do want to live our lives with some sort of purpose behind it.
There are certain qualities and talents that make every human being different, more unique. Whether it be a yearning to help people or passion to create, each of us have something that we found out through some sort of self examination. Dying and having nothing to show for it would be a tragedy. I believe possessing and striving for goals or dreams is a good indication that someone has looked at their life and acknowledged that is not the fullest it could be. They want something more, something to define their lives. Goals keep people motivated, or in other words, they are living for something and not just living to live. Our society has revolved around setting goals for yourself, even if they are menial. Most of us really do want to live our lives with some sort of purpose behind it.
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