Captured Thought: Oh crap. I'm going to graduate soon.

          It's so damn weird. I've always been used to being in the same community of the same kids- or most of them at least- since kindergarden surrounding me in the same grade. People whose faces have transformed from little first graders to young adults so gradually that I never noticed until I looked at old video tapes of elementary school performances; we all have grown into ourselves. Now we will be going all of our separate ways; some going off to college far away, and starting their lives. I sort of feel like I'm going to be left behind, as I'm staying and going to Oakton for my post-high school education. Other than (hopefully) working a lot and going to school a couple days a week, nothing will change much for me.
          I'm sad that my friends and I will drift apart, as it's already happening. I can only hope that their memories of me will be fond ones, and that their minds will drift to me once in a while. I really don't want to be forgotten by people I have felt so close to at some point in my life. I also hope that they make the right decisions when on their own, I want all of my friends and loved ones to live to their fullest potential. And I suppose I should follow my own advice. I need to come out of the shell of my bedroom, break away from the video game consoles, get things done for once, meet people, and live my life to my fullest potential. All I can say to everyone is good luck with their journeys. Live long and prosper.

           I shall part with a happy image:

                                                                                                              

Inconvenient Truth: Things Can't Always Go Your Way

          I know this may be an obvious statement to some, but it still saddens me. There are many times things haven't gone my way; my prayers and hopes for my best friends' mom's cancer to go into remission and for 
her to live to see her daughters grow up (reading that sentiment from my 8th grade self's letter brought me to 
tears), plans never going right in the end, my continuous hopes for my next birthday to be a happy and 
eventful one (I become increasingly pessimistic for my 18th- my golden birthday next week) and I feel that 
my future may become something completely different from what I want it to be. 
          
           Sometimes this inconvenient truth is a necessary and beneficial lesson to learn in order to become more appreciative of when things do go right, but somedays, I wish things would go differently. But I realize that things happen for a reason. I feel there is no alternative, yet I feel there isn't any predestination either. Things just end up a certain way, and there's no going back into the past. All we can do is hope for the best in the end. I remember my past self crying into my friends' mother's arms when I really weighed the fact that she 
could die soon and telling her that I hope things work out for the best in the end. I would like to think they did. If we think of all the what if's in our lives, we may come up with creative ideas of what could've been, but in the end, nothing will come of it. Still, I've had so many dreams at night where she was just there in the living
 room and I comment on the fact that she should be dead, but she just shrugs it off and we continue talking like we used to. During those dreams, it feels like a known fact that she's not dead. I feel like a part of myself- my past- is restored and I feel at peace.

         And that's what we need to do with the inconvenient truth of things not always going our way: just
make peace with it and carry on.

Blogging Around #3

I first commented on Hana's blog entry about life before the internet. Her reflection on this Do You Mind? question brought back some nostolgic memories:

"I had completely forgotten about KidPix. God, I remember being in the computer lab at Westbrook with Miss Kemper teaching us how to use it. I think I still have a printout of one of my drawings. Thanks for reminding me of a great childhood memory. I don't think we necessarily block these memories, we just store them away in a little time capsule in our brains, which makes rediscovering them even more thrilling and comforting as we remember the little things that made us who we are today."

I then commented on Kayvon's blog entry about the misleading phrase, "America: Land of the Free":

"I feel the whole "Land of the Free" phrase is nothing but a slogan that gets slapped on T-shirts, bumper stickers, magnets; pretty much any sort of purchasable merchandise that the blindly patriotic people just eat up- especially around the 4th of July. I really dislike it when a person uses that phrase to describe the United States of America and they do not take this country's history of hypocrisy and outright denial of a citizen's basic rights into consideration. I don't know. It's just another slogan used by the willingly ignorant. But hell, who am I to judge? I used to be one of those kids who believed whatever was said by an authority figure. For all I know, I may still be one. One can never be too sure."

Best of Week: Copyright Laws Stifling Creativity

          Spencer's TED Presentation really got me to start rethinking the whole crusade on copyright infringement. I believe that using someone's work without giving them any credit whatsoever is wrong, but cracking down on people making fan videos- even when they credit them- is rediculous too. I also never really took into consideration that copyright laws make the younger generation fearful of taking something existing and building off of it and creating something new. The way people who create mashups or use someone's work to make something their own are criminalized, I begin to wonder to what extent are people allowed to be creative. I believe it's fine to prosecute people who actually steal an artist's work and sell it as their own, because if someone did that to my work, I'd be extremely pissed off too, especially taking my crappy financial situation into account, because I worked my ass off on it, and it's wrong for someone to take complete credit for something they did not do. But personally, as long as they are not claiming that they created my work and they credit my work, just a name drop will do, I don't mind a little publicity, and it is flattering to see your hard work inspire something new and incredible. Still, I enjoyed Spencer's presentation, and he did a wonderful job with it. If Mr. Allen doesn't give him an A+, I'll be severely disappointed.

Mashup: Sexuality and Gender

Mash-up: Sexuality and gender

Females and Sexuality: Why is something natural, beautiful, and human so misunderstood by society?

1.)

2.)   Bodily delight is a sensory experience, not any different from pure looking or the pure feeling with which a beautiful fruit fills the tongue; it is a great, an infinite learning that is given to us, a knowledge of the world, the fullness and splendor of all knowledge.

3.) 

4.)   Man and woman, freed from all mistaken feelings and aversions, will seek each other not as opposites but as brother and sister, as neighbors, and will unite as human beings, in order to bear in common, simply, earnestly, and patiently, the heavy sex that has been laid upon them.

5.) How can they find a way out of themselves, out of the depths of their already buried solitude?

6.) There is a realm above this plane of silent compromise.

7.)        Women, have unique talents and emotional lives that have been relatively neglected for centuries, and are only now beginning to find full expression within the mainstream culture.

8.) 

9.)  Women, in whom life lingers and dwells more immediately, more fruitfully, and more confidently, must surely have become riper and more human in their depths than light, easygoing man, who is not pulled down beneath the surface of life by the weight of any bodily fruit and who, arrogant and hasty, undervalues what he thinks he loves.

10.)          

11.)   This humanity of woman, carried in her womb through all her suffering and humiliation, will come to light when she has stripped off the conventions of mere femaleness in the transformations of her outward status…

12.)   

13.)     A monster threatens humanity, appearing as the serpent demon (Satan writhing at the bottom of hell), dragon, gorgon, golem, vampire.

14.)      Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.

Cited Sources

1.)                Nyugen, Khoi (BlackJack0919 on deviantart.com) “Mr Mrs Apple” http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/269/d/5/mr_mrs_apple_by_blackjack0919-d2ziiqq.jpg

2.) Rilke, Rainer Maria. Letters to a Young Poet. 2001 Modern Library Edition. Modern Library, Print. (36)

3.) Trini (artificialXkisses on deviantart.com) “Boy Girl” http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/005/5/1/boy_girl_by_artificialxkisses-d36h8bo.jpg

4.) Rilke, Rainer Maria. (41)

5.) Rilke, Rainer Maria. (73)

6.) Updike, John. “The Angels”.

7.) Wilson, Edward O. Consilience. Print. (234)

8.) Hughes, Adam. “Women of DC”. http://adamhughes.deviantart.com/art/Women-of-DC-91401295

9.) Rilke, Rainer Maria. (76-77)

10.)              Screenshots from Batman Returns http://distractionsoflola.tumblr.com/photo/1280/595439262/1/tumblr_l294ualm9z1qa2ylw

11.)              Rilke, Rainer Maria. (77)

12.)              Concept art of Poison Ivy from Batman: Arkham Asylum http://api.ning.com/files/6KdPbS4y5nxf4p-FAPbmuZGTGoTkJzHxOpflm4d1uzfFq6if4k8lgHH2tafqP8L8FKEgtWmJRL-0aiYkPoyc83LVlxhpTFYi/poisonIVYbatmanarkhamasylum.jpg

13.)              Wilson, Edward O. (244)

14.)              Rilke, Rainer Maria. (92)

Best of Week: Kyle Jung asking Stephanie Gordon to Prom

I know this isn't a subject we legitimately discussed in class, but I thought it was really cool how Kyle set up the Do You Mind??!! question with Mr. Allen to ask Stephanie to Prom. That's the second time I've seen an example of spontaneity and creativity in using Humanities class to ask someone to an important social event. I especially enjoy seeing how creative people get just to ask someone to do something with them, whether it be a dance, a date, marriage, or anything sappy and sweet. I can't help but smile when I see people take risks and put themselves out on a limb publicly like in the case of asking someone to a dance, and sometimes I wish I had the courage to take initiative and do something like ask someone to Turnabout or Prom. But Prom costs money, which is something I lack, and I am a bit too awkward and shy to ask someone I barely know to hang out, and I've sort of given up on being very social, so I'll probably just continue my routine of staying home and playing video games. Perhaps I'm just a late bloomer.

Blogging Around #2

First I stopped by Spencer's Captured Thought blog entry about his fear of singing publicly and I felt I could relate to his plight:

"I sort of have this same fear. And when I do sing in public (or at least around a group of friends), I sing in an over-embellished voice in order to portray myself as silly and try to get people to believe that I don't take myself seriously. I could never do a serious vocal solo because I just lack the confidence to even do one. My voice cracks, I lose breath very easily, and it's just safer for me to act like a fool who doesn't care because I fear judgement. I congratulate you and wish you luck in conquering your fear.
~The Lizard"

Then, I stopped by Marlee's Captured Thought blog entry about documenting at least one unusual event in your day, which I thought to be a great idea:

"Huh. I never thought of that before, at least about documenting strange moments, even if one sentence. Each day blends together with the next and I feel like I can't differentiate between events, or if there even were any. It feels like I'm sleeping all the time, and I'm sleepwalking through life. Maybe I'll try out this method of recording unusual happenings.
4/22/11
Today I found out that it turns out I didn't destroy ALL my playpens as a toddler (about 3), but rather the last one, my brother broke while he got in to take a nap with me. He was 9 years old at the time. Go figure. My parents don't know about this.
The things you learn.
~Liz"

Lit Circles Final Blog

           I read Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson. The main idea of the entire book was about what conditions are needed to come up with great ideas, and the environment best-suited for the creation of these ideas. I found Stephanie Gordon's blog entry to be more cohesive with the idea of this book, as she mentions how in the last section in her book, The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria, the author talks about how "the US needs to think 'outside the box' in order to really be a great nation. Instead of doing things the way we’ve done them for a hundred years, we need to start being creative in the way we run our country." 

          The US is in a rut government-wise, and that our government needs to change the way it is run in order for our country to modernize and adapt to the new rules of the globalized world. They have to get creative, and what better way to get creative than learn how to cultivate a creative environment to brainstorm ideas to get the country on track again and prosper? The American government needs to connect with a network of innovative people and share ideas and receive ideas. They also have to be receptive to criticism, and actually follow through with the promises made during campaigning instead of breaking them. Only then can we become a better nation.

"The Post-American World

Summary: In this final section of the book, Zakaria focused mainly on America’s strengths and weaknesses. The last chapter was mostly about what America was doing wrong as a super power and what it needed to do to continue its power. Zakaria also talked a lot about how the rest of the world’s view of American’s is not what we think it is.

Major Claim: “The United States should be thinking creatively and asymmetrically” (Zakaria 246).

Response: Through this major claim, Zakaria is saying that the US needs to think “outside the box” in order to really be a great nation. Instead of doing things the way we’ve done them for a hundred years, we need to start being creative in the way we run our country. The things we are doing in our economy may have worked really well a hundred years ago, but they aren’t providing the same affect now that they did then. We also should be running our foreign policy the way we have been because as other nation’s rise up closer to our level, they need us to get involved in their personal affairs less and less. He is saying that the people in Washington need to stop worrying about keeping what has worked for a hundred years and start thinking of new ways to help our country grow to its greatest potential."

-Stephanie Gordon's Lit Circle blog entry 

 

Literature Circles Meeting #2

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson

Group Discussion # 2 (pg. 45- 95)

            Environments that can either make innovation happen or stunt its growth can be compared to the states of matter: solid, liquid, or gaseous. Liquid networks are the best environment for an idea to be cultivated in, a gaseous network is too chaotic and no ideas are shared as everyone is doing their own thing, and a solid network suppresses the ideas of others and keeps innovation from happening. Slow hunches, if shared with others, have the capability of combining into an idea that can revolutionize thought or even change the outcomes of events that may happen in the future.

            “We can see Darwin’s ideas evolve because on some basic level the notebook platform creates a cultivating space for his hunches…” (Johnson 83).

            From my experience so far with the mindbook- which is what Darwin pretty much worked on based on how it was described he worked in his notebooks- my ideas aren’t evolving, but rather my sense of identity is.  If anything, since starting it at the beginning of the year, my drawing style has been getting cultivated and has become more consistent since I’ve drawn sketches on blank pages in the back of the book, and I’m seeing improvement. I should probably try writing down my thoughts on an insightful idea I have in my mindbook sometime, as most of my entries rely more heavily on visual elements rather than writing.  If I do that often enough about a specific idea, maybe then I will evolve thought-wise.        

Captured Thought: Penmanship and Drawing Style

          For years now, I've been thinking about the idea that a person's penmanship directly relates to their drawing style. For example, my childhood friend's handwriting is curvy, tiny, messy; almost childish as it seems that it hasn't changed since 2nd grade. Her drawings of people consist of Rugrats-styled head shapes, noses that look almost phallic like our art teacher taught us in Kindergarten, and tiny bodies. My other friend has neat and beautiful curvy handwriting, and when she draws, she draws consistently and even her doodles drawn using the worst possible mediums for an artist to use (any product from RoseArt) are amazing. One of my guy friend's penmanship is sharp and a mix between messy and neat, I can't really describe it, but his drawing style is wonderfully macabre and consists of intricate details. My penmanship is sort of sharp and inconsistent, and I've noticed my drawings are usually a hit-or-miss; they are either really good or absolutely terrible. I can't draw a continuous line that I am satisfied with, my doodles are complicated and detailed, and they end up having ruts dug in the paper from my pencil as I am not capable of drawing lightly with my pencil.
          I'm not sure. These are just things I've noticed for the past couple years. I'll try backing up my theory in my next mindbook assignment with samples.

Connection: Status Quo and "Warning" by Green Day

"Warning" by Green Day


This is a public service announcement, this is only a test.
Emergency evacuation protest.
May impair your ability to operate machinery,
Can't quite tell just what it means to me.
Keep out of reach of children, don't you talk to strangers,
Get your philosophy from a bumper sticker.


Warning. Live without warning.
Say warning. Live without warning.
Without. Alright.


Better homes and safety-sealed communities.
Did you remember to pay the utility?
Caution: Police line, you better not cross.
Is it the cop, or am I the one that's really dangerous?
Sanitation, expiration date, question everything.
Or shut up and be a victim of authority.


Warning. Live without warning.
Say warning. Live without warning.
Say warning. Live without warning.
Say warning. Live without warning.
Without. Alright.


Better homes and safety-sealed communities.
Did you remember to pay the utility?
Caution: Police line, you better not cross.
Is it the cop, or am I the one that's really dangerous?
Sanitation, expiration date, question everything.
Or shut up and be a victim of authority.


Warning. Live without warning.
Say warning. Live without warning.
Say warning. Live without warning.
Say warning. Live without warning.
This is a public service announcement, this is only a test.


-lyrics found on greendayauthority.com



           This entire song speaks about questioning the status quo of warning signs, and asks why we rely on the government to protect us, or make us believe that they are protecting us. Are they really protecting us, or are they really hiding something for the benefit of themselves by keeping us in the dark? This goes along with what we learned about how we become so used to the status quo that we don't believe we can live any other way, or bring change to a stubborn mentality. This song, along with "Minority" by Green Day as well, really spoke to me in the summer I was entering seventh grade during the start of my adolescent cynicism about the world and curiosity as to why I have become accustomed to being pressured into submitting to the whims of adults.

Metacognition: First Semester of Humanities

          To be honest, the only reason I decided to take Humanities was because a.) I was sick of writing papers about books, and b.) I wanted to create a Mindbook. Unfortunately for me, the writing papers part didn't stop, but I'm happy that for once I can write using my own voice, where I can actually use my speech mannerisms, not end up falling asleep because what I'm writing is generic student garbage, and I don't have to worry about an anally-retentive teacher marking off points just because I write in first person, use contractions as I'm <--(see what I did there?) currently doing, and I sound like an actual human being. I've gone into the habit of being myself while I write, math teacher grading a first quarter writing assignment be damned.
           In this class, I finally feel I'm in my element, English class-wise. I love my Mindbook because I am able to try out new mediums of art, like collages of rich color and variations in shapes formed to create an image. I even bought another Mindbook for personal use, like sketching and more. I learn new things about myself, like a bit of how insane I am (my philosophical dream home has padded walls, a super secret panic room with swords in case of attack, and is nearly claustrophobic in my bedroom as it would feel nice and safe), and I can look in this book again in ten years and get a feel of what the hell I was thinking at the moment these entries were created.
         This class also makes me confront the fearsome and unanswerable thoughts I first discovered I had freshman year, what is the meaning of life, is there an afterlife, and what future lies in store for myself and my loved ones. When I started reading Sophie's World, I felt an immediate connection, and I felt that by reading it, I would be able to begin finding my own philosophy and answers to these questions by studying other examples of philosophic thought. I am thinking I may like existentialism, as well as keeping the thought in my mind that humans still have a long way to go knowledge-wise, and we do not know everything, therefore we should not disregard the existence of everything we don't believe is real.
          Blog entries are a little tedious and I tend to do them last-second, but all in all, later on, I'll be happy I did them. 
          I don't have much else to say about this class except, I'm happy I chose this class instead of World Lit. or Rhetoric, where my type of creativity wouldn't be fully utilized.