The end is in sight

Ok, I'm not sure where the semester went but...here we go in order.

I'm not sure at this stage of university life that I have grown as much as I revisit what I think and why. I write every day, I have a minimum number of words that I allow myself to get away with on busy days but it is something I do. I would rather face a test with a hundred essay questions than fifty multiple guess any day.

I think the last two, Gaimon and Shakespeare were my favorites, Gaimon because he is so sick and twisted,and he has done so much work in so many areas besides the graphic novel genre. And you have to at least admire the work of the masters. Sometimes its easy to read too much into the bard but I like his sense of humor.

 I am not a fan of the graphic novel-at all. I am a writer and everything I read, I examine as an author and ask would this be better served in a regular novel. So there were a couple I really tore apart for that reason, and I still do not like the graphics- sorry Shannon, no convert here-lol.

I wasn't real fond of peer editing, and I have gone over my reasons with Shannon, and I would make a few people angry- not that I really care if they are, but there are others that I would not intentionally hurt their feelings so...and I really do not like poetry.Especially when they are long since dead and there isn't a crystal ball to tell us if they really had a message or were they just screwing with us...

As an English major, I get everything literary wise anyway, I just try to filter that which I do not like(like poetry) so there's less of it to deal with, and I am not real sure what I was hoping for. My advisor changed my schedule and plopped me into this class the week prior to the start of the semester so I was hoping the instructor had a personality- in any "oh God is it morning?" class- that is a huge plus. Then I was a bit curious as to all the 'comic book' materials we had, but other wise I try to go into a class expecting the best that way I usually get it.

the great gobbler

I sat in the great gobblers patch and waited in the freezing cold and when the big bird showed- he granted my wish- which was for new snow tires- as long as it wasn't gravy for him it was a deal...which was good because my 4 hour trip was closer to 8- but thanks to the new tires I made it without investigating any ditches or having to be on a first name basis with anyone in a tow truck. To all who are traveling this long holiday weekend-drive safe, and have a good Thanksgiving.

another nut job

Inside every genious is a crazy person....Gaiman personifies this. I found myself wondering what kind of cheap drugs he was into. I started out thinking Shalespeare was a giant pain in the butt, but over a zillion readings I have come to understand it. I have been pretty vocal about my dislike of the graphic novel and it doesn't change much with this piece of.....work. What we get here in yet another view into what someone else sees in Shakespeare's words. Without the graphics we can let our imaginations do a bit of work and frame the scene in our mind- the graphics take that away and inject the authors viewpoint.
To take this famous work, and then work it into your own warped view does carry some form of genious, but I couldn't get past the crazyness of it all.

act4 scene 1- Oberon

I just love Oberon and Puck- they are like the Shakespear version of Laurel and Hardy-neither have a clue at times...I chose act IV scene I, Oberon launches into this speech.....Welcome, good Robin.See'st thou this sweet sight?Her dotage now I do begin to pity:For, meeting her of late behind the wood,Seeking sweet favours from this hateful fool,I did upbraid her and fall out with her;For she his hairy temples then had roundedWith a coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers;And that same dew, which sometime on the budsWas wont to swell like round and orient pearls,Stood now within the pretty flowerets' eyesLike tears that did their own disgrace bewail.When I had at my pleasure taunted herAnd she in mild terms begg'd my patience,I then did ask of her her changeling child;Which straight she gave me, and her fairy sentTo bear him to my bower in fairy land.And now I have the boy, I will undoThis hateful imperfection of her eyes:And, gentle Puck, take this transformed scalpFrom off the head of this Athenian swain;That, he awaking when the other do,May all to Athens back again repairAnd think no more of this night's accidentsBut as the fierce vexation of a dream.But first I will release the fairy queen.Be as thou wast wont to be;See as thou wast wont to see:Dian's bud o'er Cupid's flowerHath such force and blessed power.Now, my Titania; wake you, my sweet queen.
The version that doesn't make your brain swim on a Monday morning is that Oberon saw Tatianna in the woods and kind of taunted her about being in love with an ass or at least someone with the head of an ass ( so many places to go with this....) she promises to give Oberon the child in exchange for the spells being reversed. Oberon carries through and she is amazed when she wakes up and discovers she'd been sleeping with an ass more or less-Puck is left to clean up the rest of Oberons' mess, because now that she has come to her senses, shes in love with Oberon again- she traded one ass for another but to cover the whole nights misadventures- they are told/decide that the night must have been a dream( shades of Dallas here) and they go on from there. Like I said- its "who's on first" in olde English...anyway.
the language is what it is for the time, its like listening to political speeches- you know there's a point, if you can just shovel enough junk out of the way to get to it.
I think Oberon likes to blame the ills of his world on everyone except him, but there's something about the chutzpah of his chacter that one has to admire.

Oberon gets Pucked

See, this is why if you want something done right- do it yourself, Oberon hatches this great plan(he thinks so) and then enlists Pucks help....dum idea.If he had stuck with plan A it may have been ok, but when Oberon added plan B---welllll, not so good.
Oberon says,"This falls out better than I could devise.But hast thou yet latch'd the Athenian's eyesWith the love-juice, as I did bid thee do?" and Puck,poor Puck, who didn't stop to ask which athenian-bad idea, clarification is good...
Puck is all happy with himself-"And the Athenian woman by his side:That, when I took him sleeping,--that is finish'd too,--he waked, of force she must be eyed."....so in unShakespear- yes I did your dirty work, everyone got the eyedrops and will now fall madly in lust/love with the first thing they see-Tatiana gets an ass-we'll see them on the Shakespear version of judge Judy later, or Maury, Puck has been all over doing Oberons bidding and then......Oberon spots the victims of his interference-
"Stand close: this is the same Athenian."
Puck, then has to admit," This is the woman, but not this the man"......this is where the oh crap line comes in....oopps doesn't even begin to cover it, so while revenge may be best served cold- its better if you do your own serving and not leave to someone else to get totally pucked up

Persopolis

I read everything first and foremost as a writer...its what I do, it is who I am. With each one of the texts we have used in class I look at these and ask--would this have been better served in print only and why. From there I have worked out what I would use for the various assignments. With this book, I think that Satrapi did a terrible disservice to the message she wanted to convey. Most of you, my classmates, are at an age where you were too young to even remember what Iran was and I seriously doubt if it was taught in schools, so here is a whole generation that could have benefited from this story-from the story of her life and the story to be taken away...and instead she hid behind a glorified comic book...yes that is just my opinion but it's my blog so...
The whole 'oh I was a victim' line, I feel, was just a crutch for how she handled her choices in her life. We are all small children with big dreams, and as we age, they usually change, sometimes it is directly linked to actions we take as we grow and mature. The trick is being able to salvage some sense of us and who we are, learn from the "oh crap" moments, and not repeat them.
For me, she was an Iranian version of a spoiled brat-plain and simple. She wouldn't have been happy if her entire family had gone to Vienna( been there, its beautiful,and there is always something to see,do,experience,learn..) she needed something to blame for the choices she made during that time and being in exile from Iran was her excuse.
The back story on Iran and Iraq is where she could have made a difference in the telling, through her words a whole new audience could have seen her homeland through a different perspective. The story of just how the U.S. and England really screwed this one up (which aided in the current mess) is well known there-here in the states its been buried under a zillion tabloid stories of starlets without underwear,who's cheating with who, and who needs a reality show to make a new friend. In the middle east (and many other cultures,)there is a strong oral story telling tradition that we have lost- that is what keeps this tale alive and current for them. It had the potential to be so much more- so for me, it was a giant sized cop out.

Beliefs with an update

What do I believe? Guess that depends on when ya ask...and about what. I believe in me, I believe coffee is the deity's way of apologising for morning, I believe that chocolate makes a test better,that sasha(my puppy) can make me laugh any time, that sometimes the "old fashioned way" is the best, sometimes you really need a good beach to get your head right, crappy weather was invented for reading/writing, I believe that nothing smells better than a fresh loaf of bread on a cold day, I believe that during the past couple of hurricane seasons- mother nature has needed a huge midol, I believe that there is something in the line that there is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man(or woman)

What shaped my belief system?? Life. you live and it happens, somewhere along the way-unless you've been in a coma, things start to make sense and it shapes or changes the way you see things.

Anytime Ihave questioned a higher power there was death involved and my theory after that would guarentee someone in here would not be happy with me. ...it's now Sunday night and after talking with several of the elders- I decided to share a bit of why I am so jaded when it comes to organized religions.
I spent half my life bouncing around the world with my Army dad and the other half sitting on an indian rez. There our religious practices were outlawed, I had several relatives jailed for going against this edict. To thwart this I became an ordained minister- which worked for a short period of time-then the USGovernment decided if I participated in any more of these shananigans I would sit in a federal pen. They based this on the eons of being told by various religions that we were heathens so I am a bit jaded. In the last few years there has been significant changes however, a large number of our practices are still against the law.



After reading the book--I'm not convinced she ever did really accept herself. I think if she had, her view would have come out more in her writing. Her adopted mothers beliefs were never shaken or waivered, which is typical of zealots.

ol blue eyes

There is so much to pull from, just with the icons, its crazy, and some old home remedies that I had forgotten until I started reading the book- I remember classmates who used to get the" Vicks treatment", and then you have to ask her mom didn't you expect her to puke after that?? the dolls, the dandelions- they're weeds that grow where ever they are, kind of like the kids in the story, they grow with no tending into what they will be.
There was a page almost devoted to being put out and being out of doors that I think still has a revelence in todays society.
My favorite is still the passage on family,It is so true, we all have people in our lives that we tend to remember a little better or worse than what reality saw- human nature.

thesis

I think I am going to use the quote on page 34 about family.
"each member of the family in his own cell of consciousness,each making his own patchwork quilt of reality--collecting fragments of experience here,pieces of information there. From the tiny impressions gleaned from one another,they created a sense of belonging and tried to make do with the way they found each other." There is just so much to work with in the story with this-its almost too easy-so The Bluest Eye is it, for me.

envy is ignorance

Just this little piece connected Yangs work and this work by Emerson, it hit it right on the head, by so envying the white kids at his school-even the mean ones, he was being ignorant of the culture that gave the rest of the world so much. He wants to "fit in" but at what cost? Sometimes you have to sacrifice something of you to get ahead, but it should never be the whole of you.

American born Chinese

This one was easier to follow than some of the other texts we have coming up, whether its the color or just getting used to seeing this form. It's, in a way, a classic tale of childhood, any ethnic body could have been substituted and it would have worked...ok minus the monkeys maybe.
On pages 32-33 this kind of plays out. You have the typical play ground bully with his followers, using things he probably heard from a parent (stay away from my dog) and then there is the one who looks like he wants to stand up to the bully, but just doesn't quite have it in him. We see him look back with an expression that almost says 'sorry'. We've seen this play out in reality. We all knew the bully and the kid being picked on. The cultural difference here could have been a physical difference or one of dialect, so the message can resonate through a wide variety of people. The underlying current of feeling left out is one many kids go through.

open message to my classmates

Hi everyone, I apologise if I was snippy this week. When Ike tore through Texas he went through home. I spent last weekend with the weather channel, by sunday I had heard from part of the family, but not from an aunt and uncle that I love and miss dearly. I knew they were low on cash after just evacuating for the last one so no one was sure if they would sit it out or go. The mayor had said stay unless you are water front- that was stupid...as you can see. I just had a phone call from a friend who spent 3 days paddling about the various shelters, she found them and now that I know they are safe-I may return to some semblence of normal. These were all taken between monday and wednesday...I guess the bright side is-no more draught conditions.

Bell Hooks

I can easily see why she chose the selection from Braveheart, there was this belief that it was based on some aspect of history that was factual. In reality there was never a "first night" right used by the overlords,but the movie played out better than the truth of an early death of a king with no heirs.
On the other-hand,I totally disagree with her views that images used to portray violence. even sexual violence against women is in some way related to the images viewed- what a freakin cop out. I can really get on a soap box here but will restrain myself...to some degree. It just harkens back to actually having to take responsibility for their actions-blame something or some one else for the reality is that you ultimately had the choice to make and either made a good one or one that just missed the mark totally. How many times have we heard of some kid who committed suicide and it was blamed on the music they listened to??Too many. Where were the parents? who knows but instead of saying," I never saw the signs" and accepting that they are only human- its easier to point a finger or a lawyer in another direction. And it is a whole generation coming up- self esteem has taken over reality, lets make sure little susie and johnny feel good if they are serial killers in the making or can't read five words together in a simple sentence because we know it couldn't be that they didn't do the work to learn- heaven forbid....yeah yeah I know, I said I wasn't going to climb all the way up on my soap box.lol
If you looked closely at her she was even a contradiction that I feel was done on purpose- cornrows,jewish stars, and an educated voice..I think she likes to confuse those that would simply take her at face value. I think she gives too much credit to white men( sorry guys) and to just what they can make the viewing population buy into. Are there some stereo types in the movies and tv shows, oh yeah, will there always be? most likely.

Bang's American Gothic

 If you look at this in Bang's way, it is total contradiction. The top is cluttered without much room for light, or the feelings she says is supposed to be evoked by this.The building/house is a contrast in shapes that are supposed to signify either a safe feeling or one of some kind of aggression. The house it self is also this way, the more church-like curve to the windows,coupled with the steep pitch of the roof. 

The center is supposed to be the center that draws you to it, however with the extraneous clutter in the surrounding area, it serves more as a distraction almost, like you are trying to see around them. He is done, I think larger, not so much he takes the stand out front as a leader. The woman I almost think is gazing off, in her own little world of might have been. I do think they are husband and wife, from the style of clothing worn, it would place them in a time period where it was not uncommon for men to marry younger women.

 The style of dress too, the colors are similar which is supposed to be comforting,almost come off as foreboding instead. So for me, going on Bang's principles, this is an artist form of double-speak.

in class 2

A real book, other than the obvious of being pages with a bound cover, is the culmination of someone else's dream. They had the idea and took it from this seed through the stages to where it has become this vehicle that can transport one from what maybe a mundane place in their life or a boring day to someplace exotic.

Through a book you can gain an insight into the lives of those not just doing the writing but the ones being written about, through the worlds of sci-fi (which baffles me) and into places and times long past.

It requires one to sit, concentrate, think, even feel and yet it doesn't tell the reader how or what they  should think or feel. It can be an escape, a resource,or whatever the reader so chooses for that experience to be.

A real book holds more than just the plot and characters, but it's what we choose to make of it.

Are some books so chock full of the author that they become tedious- oh God yes!, but that is why we usually have the choice to put that book aside and pick up another. They can be big thick things that would make a great door stop, or something you can stuff in a back pocket, I do not believe that it takes thousands of pages to be a great read. I do believe it takes the careful weaving of the elements by the writer to make you want to know more...that is where the difference lies. For me, a book, a really good book will have this.

Article

Hmmm, I got maybe 5 lines in and began to think"jabberwocky", the methods used to describe the methods was an exercise in double speak...just say what you mean and get over it. There is no way anyone with a brain could imagine that all of us in a class would learn the same way,at the same speed,etc. So with that in mind, one also would have to see it as a given- we each read something and our perseption will color how we view it. I think they are trying to make it more complicated than it truly is.
Maybe I should have thrown something in my profile about being opinionated-lol

What is an American

An American takes pride not just in their country,but in the aspects that make us unique -as a place seen as the mother of freedom,equality(which is still a work in progress)and justice. It is being able to know you can disagree with something the government does or says and not be persecuted. For me, it is also standing behind the military to support not just the men and women who serve but the families who wait at home.
It is our job to find ways to better the nation through bettering our own lives. Taking a stand on issues we see as important, taking advantage of the little things with huge ramifications-like voting. It's finding a way to make a difference not globally but here.
Its easy to go to cliches', I think how we view this depends on our ages, and its not a slam on the younger set,its the times we grew up in that shape how we view the world in general. I remember doing air raid drills, could you even imagine kids in our elementary schools doing this now?? Not hardly.

1st assignment

Historical /biological is a given, I have a book sitting with a publisher now waiting on us to quit quibbling over the contracts, but I do tend to stay with in certain parameters and eras. Recently a friend threw a book at me that is so totaly out of my "normal" areas- and then she added I could write better,which got me to go investigate, so I guess maybe popular culture. These two offer a multitude of options and perspectives also.

Lit Int.

Ok, yes the picture is my big fuzzy baby, Sasha was my early grad present from ACC. I go home;which is about 5 hours away every weekend that I can to see her and harass my guys(aka the husband and son)