Music

I just wanted to saying that I love the music project so far. I’m finding it fascinating how the war has influenced music so much. It’s nice once in a while (or more often!) to take the time to really break down a song and think about it. I wish I had more time so I could look at more songs and see if they connect to a war in any way; I think a lot of stuff would.

I’m willing to bet that everyone in the world has been influenced by war, even those who don’t think so. We think about war from a mostly political or ethical standpoint, almost never from a musical one. This project we're doing really goes to show that war creeps in and infiltrates each potion of our lives, leaving nothing untouched. Music is more than humming in the car, it’s more than a tune, it’s more than poetry; it’s a part of life. As much as breathing and sleeping and eating, music is there. So it makes sense that if war is in life and music is in life, then music and war will go hand-in-hand. It’s only a matter of time.

Still, even though it makes sense in that way, it doesn’t make sense completely. How could you sing about something that had been so painful? For some it might be that they have to sing about it, but for others I think it would be really hard. It’s like the dancing girl in The Things They Carried, she was able to dance even when life was basically awful. In those times, it’s possible to dance, just as it’s possible to sing, but not everyone can do it. Realizing this makes me have even more respect for the musicians who put their hearts to music. We will always be indebted to them.

I can’t wait to see everyone’s presentations, they should be awesome!

Food, Glorious Food

I’m hoping you all have seen the movie Ice Age 2, otherwise my title will not make sense. It wasn’t the best movie ever, but that’s beside the point. I’m not here to write a movie review, I’d actually rather talk about the essay “XXXL,” which was Taylor’s choice essay. I loved the title and the sub-title; they were just plain funny, but the rest of the essay really wasn’t. Granted, it was written with a somewhat funny tone at times, but the content was no laughing matter.

Our addiction to food has reached colossal proportions (literally). We just seem to NEVER stop eating. It’s more of a habit than anything else, really. We just tend to keep doing it without thinking at all. That’s probably our biggest mistake. We eat and eat and eat but don’t always keep track of how much we are consuming or what’s in the foods. It would be so easy to completely ruin your health without even fully knowing what’s happening. I’m guilty of being a nervous eater, and a bored eater. It’s sometimes more of an activity than a necessity. That’s not how we were designed to live. My mom once said that there are two kinds of people, “those who eat to live, and those who live to eat.” More and more, we are becoming the second type of person.

There are lots of kids’ movies where they talk about our obsession with food. (I know because for some reason, my dad loves for animated movies, thus I watch a few more than I care to.) There is Ice Age, like mentioned above. The song those irritating little vultures sing is actually quite true of humans today. We just love food and can’t stop thinking about it. Another movie I think was called Over the Hedge. When one of the little critters was showing the other little critters around “Suburbia,” all of his descriptions centered on food. He described front doors and “the portal for the passing of the food,” and tables were, “the altar where they worship food.” Of course, it was simply a scene with a pizza delivery guy and one with a family praying, but the whole thing packed a punch. To those on the outside watching us, it does seem like our lives revolve solely around food. We may think our lives are centered around sports, or facebook, or even homework, but is that really the case? Maybe we should all examine what we spend our time doing and thinking about.

October Musings

I was amazed at how well Susan Lampert Smith hit our society on the head in so few words. We are plagued with “semi-apathy” maybe even full-on apathy. More and more I’m noticing that people, including myself, just don’t seem to care. It’s not like that all the time, but it seems to be occurring more often. I think a lot of what’s different between now and the 60’s is that people value different things. In the 60’s, they had just come off of the civil rights movement and being politically active and forming opinions was important. Today it seems like technology is the most important thing, thus putting TV shows above politics. Now, I’m not saying that politics should be the most important thing for all of us, but I am saying that TV definitely should not be the dominant thing in our lives today. There is so much more we can do that would actually be worth the time we spend on it.

I’m not saying that technology is bad, in most cases it’s extremely helpful and enjoyable, but only in moderation. When it blinds us from the rest of the world and the things taking place all around us, it is detrimental, not useful. So in that point I agree with Smith.

During class, as we’ve watched “Two Days in October,” and read this article, I’ve found myself almost wishing I could have been there that day. Obviously, I wouldn’t enjoy being hit over the head with a club, but I wish I could know what was going through the minds of the students. I want to know what their motivations were and how they reacted and why. The movie did a great job and covered some of it, but like the man also said in the film, history gets corrupted. They only way we can truly know is by being there. That’s why I would love to go back to that time, so I could understand and know for sure how it all went down. It was an important day and I’m really glad we took the time to learn about it because the effects are still being felt and talked about even 40 years later. It is not something we can or should, ever forget.

Too Many Questions, Not Enough Answers!

I obviously don’t know what it’s like to be deaf; there’s no way I could. I don’t even know anyone on a personal level who is. Therefore, my judgment may be a little lacking in perspective. However, I’ll try to be as unbiased as possible.

The man in the story, Peter, I believe it is, was talking about how he had been successful even though he was deaf. While he was talking about this, he mentioned that it had been harder for him because of his deafness. Then he went on to say that he didn’t want the cochlear implant for his daughter because he succeeded and knew she could succeed too. My only question is: why wouldn’t you want to make it easier for her? I do believe that she can be successful, but he already admitted that it was harder for him than it presumably would’ve been for a hearing person. I don’t understand why he wouldn’t want to help smooth the road for his daughter. Isn’t that what every parent wants? I know hardship builds character, but isn’t it still a good thing to help out your child any way you can? Maybe not, but its something to think about, especially when the problem is as serious as deafness.

I also don’t understand why they would move to the deaf community. I see how it’s a good thing that the people accept them more than in the hearing world, but if their children are brought up in a place so far removed from the hearing world, then they won’t know how to function when they move away. It’s a temporary solution, but it won’t help in the long run. To me, it seems that they’re running away from a difficult situation. I understand their response to the problem, but I don’t agree with it. Or perhaps I just don’t understand it well enough.

If you can shed any light on my many questions, please comment! (But you can comment even if you don’t have any answers!)

Thoughts on the First Half of AP Comp

It’s been pretty interesting so far…..

I’ve been loving all the writing assignments. My favorite was definitely the personal narrative. I love storytelling in general and I’m always looking for ways to become better at it, so this was a really fun assignment for me. I also really enjoying editing other people’s narratives, they were all very interesting to read (in a good way!) Aside from the narratives, the rest of the writing has been great as well. The critical analysis was different from anything I’ve ever written before, which was excellent. And the College Admission Essay, although I’m only a junior, was a good way to practice. Now I just need to make the corrections…

As far as the discussions in class, well, they’ve been interesting too. At least, that’s one word for it. Don’t get me wrong, opposing viewpoints are a good thing. Even arguing is acceptable to a certain extent. The only thing is, these heated discussions make the environment a little tense and make it difficult for others to jump in the conversation without fear of being ridiculed. I think maybe we all just need to take a nice deep breath.

The reading assignments have all been fascinating for the most part. I have to admit, Frederick Douglass lost me somewhere along the way, but the part I understood was definitely worthwhile. Actually, all our reading assignments have been worthwhile. They’ve been different and some are more interesting than others, but all have had at least one redeeming quality.

So the verdict is a good one. Parts of AP Comp are better than anticipated; some are just different from what I’d been expecting. But it’s going well and I’m enjoying it.