So yeah, it's a blog, so I guess I'm supposed to spill my guts on virtual paper, or at least something of the sort. Sorry I haven't been keeping up with the rest of the class, I've just been sick for the past week or so, and I tend to procrastinate heavily with matters such as these, but right now I happen to be in a good mood, so I'll tell you all a little about me and my various thoughts/aesthetics.
Well, to start off with, I love music more than anything in the world. I have mucho respect for all forms of art, but there's something about music's capability of expression through such an expansive medium as space and sound that makes it superior to everything else, at least in my opinion. For one thing, music requires you to use your imagination. I mean, I don't care how shallow and passive you are as a listener, organized sound demands a bit of the imagination if one hopes to derive any sort of pleasure or meaning at all. Another reason why music kicks so much ass is that, like all forms of art, it's so incredibly diverse. I mean, I know painting had its revolutionaries and evolutions in style, but it still seemed to have its limits. Also, when you view a painting, its entire meaning is already laid out before your eyes. Music truly puts the fourth dimension to good use, unlike painting or sculpture, which is little more than color confined to a sort of static field. I'm a pianist with a strong background in classical music, and I am always trying to find the inner meaning of a composition whenever I sit down at the keyboard to play. It's definitely not the only type of music I love; jazz, metal, and electronica also hold a special place in my heart. These various genres each display something very synonymous with one another; they tell a story. The plot, setting, drama, suspense, denoument, it's all there for anyone willing to invest some patience and effort to seek it out. Well that's about all I have to say for tonight. I'm about to take a swig of beer and nyquil to help lull me to sleep, so I guess I'll be signing out now. I wish everyone a good night.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Prime Directive
The story takes place the evening before Halloween, and as most people have probably mentioned, there is definite symbolism in this story concerning masks. Despite having been desensitized to the notions of symbolism courtesy of sparknotes.com, I happened to really connect with both the message of this story.
The main character is a lonely guy who desperately seeks a good, drunken time as a means to quell his unhappiness with life. From the very beginning, we sense a desire in him to roleplay as a means to escape reality and make friends. He ends up going to three different Halloween parties that night, each one varying in both character and mood. The first party is set in the spirit of a nerdy Star Trek Convention, which soon turns into a full-out philosophical discussion suggesting that the governing system of the Star Trek universe is a representation of our own. The second party is a typical portrayal of various members of generation X looking to drown their sorrows in cheap booze and corny music. The narrator considers doing a Captain Kirk impression in front of his friends, but ultimately lacks the confidence. It's clear that the narrator isn't enjoying this party any more than the last one, and begins to think of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and the black women in rap videos being portrayed as sex objects, and how both serve as models of American degradation. The final party is an untimely let-down. Like so many things in American culture, it sounds fantastic on the outside, but is ultimately a disappointment. It is at this party, however, that the narrator discovers a ghastly side of himself. His friend shows the narrator pictures of him posing with a guy wearing a sack over his head, and it becomes painfully obvious that both the narrator and his friend take great amusement in reinacting the various scenes of torture that took place at that prison.
The next day he snaps back to reality, and realizes the shameless act he had committed the night before. He realizes that although he was disgusted at reading about Abu Ghraib, he had no problem making fun of it and giving in to his carnal desires, just like the soldiers had done as well. The story effectively ends when he tries to scare the kids with his mask. One kid asks "Is that a real person?" and the other kid says "Kick him and find out." This is a prime example of the aforementioned symbolism towards masks, and how people tend to hide their true emotions and desires behind a mask in real life.
The main character is a lonely guy who desperately seeks a good, drunken time as a means to quell his unhappiness with life. From the very beginning, we sense a desire in him to roleplay as a means to escape reality and make friends. He ends up going to three different Halloween parties that night, each one varying in both character and mood. The first party is set in the spirit of a nerdy Star Trek Convention, which soon turns into a full-out philosophical discussion suggesting that the governing system of the Star Trek universe is a representation of our own. The second party is a typical portrayal of various members of generation X looking to drown their sorrows in cheap booze and corny music. The narrator considers doing a Captain Kirk impression in front of his friends, but ultimately lacks the confidence. It's clear that the narrator isn't enjoying this party any more than the last one, and begins to think of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and the black women in rap videos being portrayed as sex objects, and how both serve as models of American degradation. The final party is an untimely let-down. Like so many things in American culture, it sounds fantastic on the outside, but is ultimately a disappointment. It is at this party, however, that the narrator discovers a ghastly side of himself. His friend shows the narrator pictures of him posing with a guy wearing a sack over his head, and it becomes painfully obvious that both the narrator and his friend take great amusement in reinacting the various scenes of torture that took place at that prison.
The next day he snaps back to reality, and realizes the shameless act he had committed the night before. He realizes that although he was disgusted at reading about Abu Ghraib, he had no problem making fun of it and giving in to his carnal desires, just like the soldiers had done as well. The story effectively ends when he tries to scare the kids with his mask. One kid asks "Is that a real person?" and the other kid says "Kick him and find out." This is a prime example of the aforementioned symbolism towards masks, and how people tend to hide their true emotions and desires behind a mask in real life.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
This is part 3 of our group story
Pebbles immediately took to us, and expressed a love that was truly unconditional. The human condition is so messed up in general; I think it's safe to say that a great deal of "love" is artificial. People often act nice only for personal gain, but dogs seem to express a very authentic love towards their owners. We fed her, played with her, picked up after her, and gave her a place she could call home, and that was it; what more does a simplistic animal need in life than the fulfillment of these very basic desires ? We tried to teach her tricks, but to no avail. She was too hyper and stubborn, or perhaps she realized somehow in her tiny dog brain that she was being degraded to some sort of object of amusement.We eventually quit trying , and no longer did we seek entertainment through the frivolous obediance of a pet. Besides, how would humans feel if they were forced to perform tricks for somebody? We let our dog do as she pleased, as long as it brought no harm to any of us. Her sweet and innocent face somehow managed to charm and delight even the most cold-hearted people. It is humorous to point out the fact that the single greatest thrill in Pebbles' life was her daily stroll around the neighborhood. It shows how little it takes to satisfy a dog, and how spoiled humans are for requiring such large doses of mass media and extravagant forms of entertainment to keep themselves happy. She was an integral part of the family, and her passing away left a large hole in our hearts for many weeks. We eventually got over it though. We smiled and knew that we had given her the best life a dog could ever have.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
My dog.. (free-write list)
-Isn't particularly special, at least not in the traditional sense. ( No fancy tricks)
-He's usually reserved and quite these days
-He's 10 years old
-He Fills an important spot in the family home.
-My house feels incomplete without him
-He loves my mom, dad, and me with unconditional love
-His favorite food is filet minot.
-He's usually reserved and quite these days
-He's 10 years old
-He Fills an important spot in the family home.
-My house feels incomplete without him
-He loves my mom, dad, and me with unconditional love
-His favorite food is filet minot.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
"Night Shift Nightmare"
This article is conveniently titled "Night Shift Nightmare," which immediately sets
the tone for what is to come. It's about how dangerous it is to visit the emergency room
late at night. The exposition begins with a scenario involving a fifteen year old boy named
Lewis recovering from surgery to correct a birth defect in his chest. The author explains
that the condition is completely non-life threatening, and then mentions how smart and
academically successful he was. From these words alone the reader can infer that the
outcome of this kid's fate will be tragic. There is an undeniable sense of
foreshadowing and implied guilt towards hospitals, one of the few places most people
place their full trust in. Next follows the steady downfall of Lewis. He begins exhibiting
abnormal symtpoms such as high heart rate and low temerature at around two in the
morning. The condition worsens when the understaffed ER is unable to give him the
attention he deserves. The author says that "His eyes are hollow, his skin is pale, and
he's sweating cold buckets." The reader is suddenly filled with fear of what is to come.
Just before the outcome is revealed, however, the author throws a cliffhanger that reeks
of tension. Lewis's mother screams for help, and a doctor finally comes to aid. He
screams the boy's name, but his shouts fall on deaf ears.
The second section helps to add both venom and plausibility to the writer's
ranting diatribe against the ER. It relies on statistics, empirical observation, and cold
hard facts rather than anecdotal evidence. No longer constrained to the narrative
perspective, the passive pessism exhibited by the author in the first section suddenly
becomes, well, quite active. He begins with a recent study that discovered that babies
born late at night at sixteen percent more likely to die than those born in the daytime,
showing that people of all ages are in danger. He then shifts his criticism to the
erroneous nature of these medical skeleton crews, showing that in a review of
pharmaceutical and patient records, there were more medication errors made at night.
The most chilling bit of proof, however, is shown when the author shifts to the
perspective of a nurse, who explains that a number of patiens have actually called
911 in their hospital beds due to a lack of any medical attention whatsoever. By the
end of the second segment, any reconciliations the reader might have had initially
have probably been all but destroyed.
The author finally reverts back to Lewis's hospital predicament. The medical
staff is depicted as "frantically trying to stabilize him," and at this point most readers
are probably strapped to their chair in a state of frantic anticipation as to whether or
not he will survive. The attempt fails, and an autopsy shows that Lewis had bled to
death from an ulcer caused by an excessive amount of Toradal, a painkiller he was
given post-surgery. Had there been doctors present, Lewis would have probably
survived.
Overall, the author's tone is shaped by the subject matter itself; it's negative
in that the writer places full blame on the emergency rooms for the cause of so
many preventable deaths. Although there are several places in the article that make
effective use of diction, there really isn't a specific voice that can be attributed
to the author, except that the material is presented in a manner that is very
straightforward and to the point. The structure is interesting in that it is in an "ABA"
format. The first section is the beginning of a story, the second section concerns
itself with facts, observations, and evidence, and the last section is the continuation
and conclusion of the story.
the tone for what is to come. It's about how dangerous it is to visit the emergency room
late at night. The exposition begins with a scenario involving a fifteen year old boy named
Lewis recovering from surgery to correct a birth defect in his chest. The author explains
that the condition is completely non-life threatening, and then mentions how smart and
academically successful he was. From these words alone the reader can infer that the
outcome of this kid's fate will be tragic. There is an undeniable sense of
foreshadowing and implied guilt towards hospitals, one of the few places most people
place their full trust in. Next follows the steady downfall of Lewis. He begins exhibiting
abnormal symtpoms such as high heart rate and low temerature at around two in the
morning. The condition worsens when the understaffed ER is unable to give him the
attention he deserves. The author says that "His eyes are hollow, his skin is pale, and
he's sweating cold buckets." The reader is suddenly filled with fear of what is to come.
Just before the outcome is revealed, however, the author throws a cliffhanger that reeks
of tension. Lewis's mother screams for help, and a doctor finally comes to aid. He
screams the boy's name, but his shouts fall on deaf ears.
The second section helps to add both venom and plausibility to the writer's
ranting diatribe against the ER. It relies on statistics, empirical observation, and cold
hard facts rather than anecdotal evidence. No longer constrained to the narrative
perspective, the passive pessism exhibited by the author in the first section suddenly
becomes, well, quite active. He begins with a recent study that discovered that babies
born late at night at sixteen percent more likely to die than those born in the daytime,
showing that people of all ages are in danger. He then shifts his criticism to the
erroneous nature of these medical skeleton crews, showing that in a review of
pharmaceutical and patient records, there were more medication errors made at night.
The most chilling bit of proof, however, is shown when the author shifts to the
perspective of a nurse, who explains that a number of patiens have actually called
911 in their hospital beds due to a lack of any medical attention whatsoever. By the
end of the second segment, any reconciliations the reader might have had initially
have probably been all but destroyed.
The author finally reverts back to Lewis's hospital predicament. The medical
staff is depicted as "frantically trying to stabilize him," and at this point most readers
are probably strapped to their chair in a state of frantic anticipation as to whether or
not he will survive. The attempt fails, and an autopsy shows that Lewis had bled to
death from an ulcer caused by an excessive amount of Toradal, a painkiller he was
given post-surgery. Had there been doctors present, Lewis would have probably
survived.
Overall, the author's tone is shaped by the subject matter itself; it's negative
in that the writer places full blame on the emergency rooms for the cause of so
many preventable deaths. Although there are several places in the article that make
effective use of diction, there really isn't a specific voice that can be attributed
to the author, except that the material is presented in a manner that is very
straightforward and to the point. The structure is interesting in that it is in an "ABA"
format. The first section is the beginning of a story, the second section concerns
itself with facts, observations, and evidence, and the last section is the continuation
and conclusion of the story.
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