Today in class we covered a variety of different topics, from the main characters Japhy and Rey of Dharma Bums to today's society and how the current generation is perceived by older generations. Our professor asked us how the Dharma Bums characters evolved into who they are today and who they think they are. After this discussion and when our class decided who Rey was currently, I realized that sometimes I feel similar to Rey. Aside, from the alcohol abuse I feel like any young person who has gone through changes in their life can relate to seeking for meaning of who you truly are. I feel as though through the past four years I have become less like Rey and more like Japhy feeling like I have maybe not become all knowledgeable by any stretch of the imagination but like I have gained some wisdom to share with others.
In my opinion the most interesting topic that we came across in today's discussion was whether or not standardization and efficiency in both work and school is positive for individuals. Although I believe that taking standardized tests in order to measure abilities on an equal playing field across a large number of people is helpful, I find that it often doesn't take into account whether people learn in different ways, or have unique abilities. I can not tell you how many people I know who scored unfavorably on those tests who are now in med school, or have amazing business jobs that require social skills rather than book smarts. I feel as though those tests discourage young adults more than anything else - which may be one reason why our generation looks apathetic. When our class was discussing efficiency I remembered what I had learned in one of my business classes. In terms of generating novel and innovative ideas there will always be a trade off between efficiency and creativity. I truly believe that in order to come up with a truly unique and groundbreaking product, service, or company in general time is needed. Not to mention the great amount of capital required to push this idea to success. Countless ideas are needed to be tested and exposed to target markets in order to see if it will really work.Success doesn't happen overnight and when I think of efficiency I believe that people may push ideas too quickly.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Dharma Bums Chpater 11
In class we were asked to take 30 minutes of our time to rewrite a portion of Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums in the perspective of a different character. Throughout this novel I have found that Japhy s an extremely interesting and dynamic character so I chose to rewrite the beginning of chapter 11 in his perspective. The chapter describes how Morley, Ray and Japhy begin to climb a daunting valley. While Ray feels his enthusiasm begin to fade into fear, Japhy being an experienced climber is way ahead and most likely feeling confident in his ability to conquer this mountain.After a while of climbing the group reaches a lake in which Ray suddenly expresses his feelings of being capable enough to climb the remainder of the mountain, however Japhy cuts Ray off in reminding him that to climb the rest of the mountain means that he has to climb one thousand feet more. Although this is going to be a difficult task Japhy decides to climb to the top as quickly as possible, and the naive Ray decides to follow. In just a short amount of time Ray feels as though he has made a mistake in deciding to follow Japhy due to the fact that he is tired and afraid of the height he has reached. Finally after a miserable climb Ray finds a edge to rest on as Japhy continues to climb to Matterhorn's peak. As Ray rests he believes that Morey is the most intelligent of them all for staying down by the lake.
When I was rewriting this scene from Japhy's point of view I imagined that he would spend a lot less time complaining about the difficulty of the climb and describe the beauty of the mountain and other images he sees along the way. I believe this because Japhy is an experienced climber and clearly had no problem at all making it to Matterhorn's peak. Also I feel like Japhy is a person with less emotion, he is more of a straight forward character and is less relate-able to the audience, at least in a college class.
One of my favorite lines as told from Ray is, "suddenly everything was just like jazz...I looked up and saw Japhy running down the mountain in huge twenty-foot leaps, running, leaping, landing with a great drive of his booted heels...and in that flash I realized it's impossible to fall off mountains you fool and with a yodel of my own I suddenly got up and began running down the mountain...." I like this line because it shows Ray's innocence and young-spirit. He has ultimately found his rhythm again and shows a great amount of enthusiasm.
When I was rewriting this scene from Japhy's point of view I imagined that he would spend a lot less time complaining about the difficulty of the climb and describe the beauty of the mountain and other images he sees along the way. I believe this because Japhy is an experienced climber and clearly had no problem at all making it to Matterhorn's peak. Also I feel like Japhy is a person with less emotion, he is more of a straight forward character and is less relate-able to the audience, at least in a college class.
One of my favorite lines as told from Ray is, "suddenly everything was just like jazz...I looked up and saw Japhy running down the mountain in huge twenty-foot leaps, running, leaping, landing with a great drive of his booted heels...and in that flash I realized it's impossible to fall off mountains you fool and with a yodel of my own I suddenly got up and began running down the mountain...." I like this line because it shows Ray's innocence and young-spirit. He has ultimately found his rhythm again and shows a great amount of enthusiasm.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Taking a Closer Look at Lil' Wayne's lyrics
Over the break a popular song that was being played on the beach, at parties and essentially everywhere my roommates and I went in Florida was Lil' Wayne's "6 Foot 7 Foot". Although the majority of Lil' Wayne's music may be viewed as vulgar, mindless, and pointless music from the majority of older generations and non-rap listeners, I find his music to be fun to listen to and energizing. However it wasn't until I got home and downloaded the song off iTunes until I realized that aside from the various vulgarities some of the lyrics I find real meaning in. Not to mention the fact that the song has a great beat and rhythm that makes me pumped up and ready for working out or having a good time with my friends.
"So misunderstood, but what is the World without enigma?"
I feel that although this is just one line it is very true. If the world was always understood and simple to comprehend then the meaning of life which I believe we are all in search for would not be sought after.
"Life is the bitch, and death is her sister
sleep is the cousin, what a f-ckin' family picture
you know father time, we all know mother nature
it's all in the family, but I am of no relation"
I am not the best with deciphering meanings of artist's works but I think Lil' Wayne is just reiterating how life is hard but no one wants to die, and the only thing in-between is resting. Also, he talks about father time and mother nature and what I believe is he feels that he has no control of what happens to him, so in that way he is not within the family.
Those were just two of my favorite parts of his song, but I find that many of his lyrics are clever and have some meaning behind them. On the other hand I find that although some of his lyrics do have glimmers of meaningful phrases, the majority of the lyrics are rather jumbled and need to be more combined if the song will inspire or interest a wider audience.
"So misunderstood, but what is the World without enigma?"
I feel that although this is just one line it is very true. If the world was always understood and simple to comprehend then the meaning of life which I believe we are all in search for would not be sought after.
"Life is the bitch, and death is her sister
sleep is the cousin, what a f-ckin' family picture
you know father time, we all know mother nature
it's all in the family, but I am of no relation"
I am not the best with deciphering meanings of artist's works but I think Lil' Wayne is just reiterating how life is hard but no one wants to die, and the only thing in-between is resting. Also, he talks about father time and mother nature and what I believe is he feels that he has no control of what happens to him, so in that way he is not within the family.
Those were just two of my favorite parts of his song, but I find that many of his lyrics are clever and have some meaning behind them. On the other hand I find that although some of his lyrics do have glimmers of meaningful phrases, the majority of the lyrics are rather jumbled and need to be more combined if the song will inspire or interest a wider audience.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
"I'm Hip"
The song played in class entitled "I'm Hip" by Instant Party and several other artists are doing a little research, actually made me laugh. I thought it was a really cute song, with a catchy beat and I liked how it made fun of those people who are constantly trying to be the "hippest" most "cool" person around. When in actuality those people are almost too hip which just make them "posers". For some reason I really liked this one stanza of the song,
"I'm hip, but not weird.
Like, you notice, I don't wear a beard.
Beards were in but now they're out.
They had they're day. Now they're passe.
Just ask me if you're in doubt,
'cuz I'm hip."
I am not exactly sure why I like this part of the song so much, but it might be because I find it to be most funny. Although we haven't gone to deeply into this style of music yet in class I have to say that I am excited to start it because I think that this type music is easier to connect with today's music that I find more enjoyable. Also, I believe that during this type music people are beginning to talk about more "taboo" subjects that they may not have talked about in earlier decades. Just as Allen Ginsberg opened up the doorway through the creation of "Howl". I have to wonder if music artists that were popular during the same time Ginsberg wrote "Howl" were influenced or even read his poem. Did any of them take bigger risks in their songwriting because they had seen that Ginsberg had in his poetry? Or were music artists then like the ones of today, who (I believe) are less concerned with the creation of modern poetry? This is definitely a topic/idea that I would like to further investigate.
"I'm hip, but not weird.
Like, you notice, I don't wear a beard.
Beards were in but now they're out.
They had they're day. Now they're passe.
Just ask me if you're in doubt,
'cuz I'm hip."
I am not exactly sure why I like this part of the song so much, but it might be because I find it to be most funny. Although we haven't gone to deeply into this style of music yet in class I have to say that I am excited to start it because I think that this type music is easier to connect with today's music that I find more enjoyable. Also, I believe that during this type music people are beginning to talk about more "taboo" subjects that they may not have talked about in earlier decades. Just as Allen Ginsberg opened up the doorway through the creation of "Howl". I have to wonder if music artists that were popular during the same time Ginsberg wrote "Howl" were influenced or even read his poem. Did any of them take bigger risks in their songwriting because they had seen that Ginsberg had in his poetry? Or were music artists then like the ones of today, who (I believe) are less concerned with the creation of modern poetry? This is definitely a topic/idea that I would like to further investigate.
My Generation
In Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" his first line is "I saw the best minds of my generation..." In class Mr. Duemer had us do a writing exercise which would start in the very same way. I thought that this was such a good idea because too often is my generation criticized for how we act or what we have done, so I like the idea that I can think about some of the ways my generation has succeeded in their own way. I saw the best minds of my generation be the first to do many things our parents and older generations would never dream of. My generation has learned to master technology in almost any form; computers, laptops, MP3 Players, cell phones, tablet devices, etc. I can imagine that my generation will continue to develop these technologies in ways that I can't even imagine. We have taken technology that was introduced to us and incorporated it into our day-to-day, minute-by-minute lives.
My generation has banned together in many ways. We participated in voting a black man into presidency, organized charities for 9/11, Haiti, and oil spills, my generation has taken some of the first steps into bettering the earth's health, has accepted homosexuals in the norm of every day life much more than generations before us ever had. (This last comment of mine had been briefly discussed in class. Someone had said that the acceptance of homosexuals is barely in existence. Although I have to agree that the fact that a homosexual couple cannot get legally married is absolutely unacceptable and should definitely change. I feel that as soon as our generation is in some sort of greater power there will be a tremendous move for the legalization of gay marriage to occur. Furthermore I believe that no other generation has ever been as accepting of homosexuals as my generation is today.)
Although there are probably a million more ideas I could attribute to my generation, I feel as though I have hit upon two of the largest topics that I see on a daily basis.
My generation has banned together in many ways. We participated in voting a black man into presidency, organized charities for 9/11, Haiti, and oil spills, my generation has taken some of the first steps into bettering the earth's health, has accepted homosexuals in the norm of every day life much more than generations before us ever had. (This last comment of mine had been briefly discussed in class. Someone had said that the acceptance of homosexuals is barely in existence. Although I have to agree that the fact that a homosexual couple cannot get legally married is absolutely unacceptable and should definitely change. I feel that as soon as our generation is in some sort of greater power there will be a tremendous move for the legalization of gay marriage to occur. Furthermore I believe that no other generation has ever been as accepting of homosexuals as my generation is today.)
Although there are probably a million more ideas I could attribute to my generation, I feel as though I have hit upon two of the largest topics that I see on a daily basis.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Wow! I have to admit that the first several times I read this poem I was in complete and utter shock. I couldn't believe some of the phrases that were actually printed in a well-known, and respected poem, "with dreams, with drugs, with waking nightmares, alcohol and cock and endless balls." I don't think I have ever heard anyone say "endless balls" until I read this. Although during my first read I thought "Howl" was confusing, vulgar and essentially just a rambling of words from a drugged out man, I have definitely come to not only understand a little more of the poem but also actually enjoy it. The movie with James Franco helped me understand more of the poem and I think the main reason why I now enjoy it. I though the "documentary" was done extremely well, even though I could have gone without some of the visual aids throughout the movie. I think that those people who don't like this poem should definitely give it another read and try to understand where Ginsberg is coming from. I think that "Howl" was brutally honest, restriction-less, and most importantly Ginsberg is truly writing from his heart. In the movie Ginsberg as played by Franco who said that he never meant for this to be published and seen by the public eye, or how he said it "I wouldn't want my Daddy to see this." I don't know why but I think that that phrase makes this poem all the more special because when people write things that they don't expect anyone else to see it is an entirely different style of writing. Proof of this is Ginsberg's style of writing in "Howl". I really can't describe how much I like this poem. I wouldn't say that I love all of the obscenities or references to gay love, however I do love the honesty and blunt way in which he writes, the poem is literally saturated with the two qualities. Overall I would have to say that I am glad this poem was a part of our curriculum and this could one of the first poems that I have actually enjoyed.
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