11/2 Poetry.

http://poems.com/poem.php?date=14563

The poem that I chose to read is called Robert's Lake. This poem is short and simple. It talks about a small fish caught in a small pond that ended up being part of the family. It uses lots of imagery and symbolism and makes me visualize the events in the poem. The flushing of a dead fish turned into "circled the porcelain vigorously on his way down and out of this

dazzling world.." Another reason I like this poem is because it relates to my life. When I started reading, I

imagined myself in Alabama at my grandparents house fishing in the pond thay have on their

land :) It was one of my favorite things to do back in the day. I don't get to do it much anymore

because as I've gotten older, life has become more complicated and busy. The whole family is

getting older and we all have less time for the simple things in life. Another thing I thought about

while I was reading this poem, was all the times I had to flush my dead fish down the toilet. It

was always sad, but neccessary. I think that poetry has lost a lot of importance in the modern

world. Not as many people care to read or write it anymore. I'm not exactly a huge fan of

poetry, but that is probably because I can't write a poem to save my life :( I wish I could, but

I can't, and it bothers me..

10/26 Music Genius and Insanity

The "tortured artist." We've all heard about it multiple times. We've listened to the crazy stories on the radio or watched the E True Hollywood story about the musician with the trouble past and the badass attitude. I believe that extroidinary musicians have a different kind of mind than the everyday average person. If they didn't, then the whole world would be able to bust out with a remarkable tune whenever they wanted! Musicians have a certain passion and love for their music that only they can understand. In the case of Sidney Bechet, he loved his music so much and had the desire to prove that HIS notes weren't wrong that he challenged another man to a dual. He was willing to die for what he blieved in.
Musicians are funny that way. They're kind of like UFC fighters. They're so confident in themselves that they don't really worry about the consequences of losing. They just assume that they're the best and that they can't be wrong. This may be for many reasons though. A lot of musicians have troubled pasts. They use their rough experiences and struggles to inspire their work. So do I believe that insanity and talent can be directly correlated? Yes, in some cases. Their troubled minds make them great.

10/30 Halloween

I've never been a huge fan of Halloween..until this year. Of course when I was a little girl, my parents would dress my sisters and me up like barbie princesses, disney characters, Barney, or witches for this "holiday." I guess it was fun for me back then, but I was so young that I don't really even remember going trick-or-treating or meeting up with the little family we have that lives near us. I do vaguely remember the days before Halloween which were actually enjoyable because of all the decorations and trips to the pumpkin patch. I loved the hay-rides and petting zoos, but as I got older, I realized I didn't enjoy these things as much as I used to. The middle school days rolled around, and I just never really got very excited about Halloween. I hated the idea of dressing up in a bunch of uncomfortable costumes and running around to a bunch of strangers houses just for them to give me a couple pieces of candy..if that. Most years I didn't even dress up! If I went out, I went out as a noraml everyday student. My family never gives out candy or decorates for Halloween. I've never even carved a pumpkin!
I don't really consider Halloween to be a legitimate holiday, but it's fun and entertaining for most people in America, so who am I to say it isn't important. Yes, candy businesses and costume/decoration producers earn a lot of money during this time, but I think that is true with any "holiday." Americans usually try to find reasons to spend money and have a good time. Plus, it gives a lot of families good bonding time. Halloween is no different than Cinco de Mayo, St. Patricks Day, Valentine's Day, etc. Why not let people enjoy themselves and declare October 31 a holiday. It isn't bothering me.
The only good thing about Halloween was candy, until this year. This year was different..I guess because it's my first year of college. I had so much fun :) I dressed up as a sailor! I don't really have a specific reason other than the costume was one of my teammates old ones, so I got it for free! Anything free is good with me. Honestly, if I had another choice, I probably would have gotten another costume that covered more of my body :/ but it was really cute, and most girls looked just as uncovered as I did, so it was okay. My Halloween started Thursday night, and I partied with my friends all weekend, except Friday, because I went to visit my sister at West Georgia. I loved every minute of it.

10/28 Music

I love music. I cannot imagine the world without it. Music has been an important part of history and entertainment for people all over the planet. Slaves used music and spirituals to cope with their everyday struggles. During the 1920's, new innovative music styles and jazz created fun dance music for flappers. And who can forget the disco era? Music can be traced throughout history and identified with different important time periods. Music also varies widely in the different parts of the world. People in Africa are listening to different music than people here in the United States. There is a huge culture difference in different areas or regions of the world, and music helps demonstrate that.
I believe that you can tell a lot about a person just by knowing what kind of music they like to listen to. I'm not saying that certain kinds of people only listen to certain kinds of music, but in many cases, you can determine moods and personalities of individuals just by going through their iPods. I know that when I'm upset or sad, I like to listen to rap or rock to drowned out all the million different thoughts I have going on in my head. The music somehow takes my mind off of everything going on in life and gives me an alternate reality to live in for a little while. When I'm feeling happy and everything seems to be almost perfect, I listen to country or upbeat tunes. It is waaay too depressing to listen to sad love songs when I'm already half depressed and discouraged with life, so I might even want to listen to an inspirational or motivating feel-good song when I'm upset, just to remind me that there will be better days.
Music is an important part of society. It can be heard everywhere. In cars driving down the road, movies, elevators and lobbies, restraunts, etc. The world would be a very boring and sad place without it.

10/23 decisions..

When it comes to making decisions in life, I am definitely not the best. I can't decide what to wear in the morning, what I want to eat, what I want to do in life, or pretty much anything else that requires choosing. I am pretty sure that I get this character flaw from my mother. I love her to death. She is a very intelligent lady, but she can't make decisions to save her life. If we go out to eat as a family, and we all try to make her decide, then we'll just sit on the side of the road or continue driving in circles until one of us finally decides to make the decision for her. I am a lot like her in that respect, but I'd like to think that I'm not as bad about it as she is. I've been trying to work on it. Other people in my life have even tried to help me because it is such a problem. Unlike other girls, I hate shopping. This is not because I don't like clothes or looking nice. I don't like shopping because when I go to the mall, there are sooo many choices (clothes, shoes, purses, perfumes, electronics, etc.) that I get overwhelmed and have a small anxiety attack! It's ridiculous! What the heck is wrong with me?! Why is it so hard for me to choose between the apple or the orange? It's not like my world is going to drastically change if I decide to eat the apple instead of the orange, and I know this, but sometimes I just can't realize it until after I've already spent so much time agonizing over the "right" choice.
I have recently realized something about decisions though: sometimes the hard choice and the right choice are the same. When this happens, man does it suck :/ but what can you do? Life is full of trials and tribulations, laughs and cries, success and failure. Without the difficult times, the happy times wouldn't be so great. Life isn't always fair, but it isn't fair for anybody, which kind of levels the playing field and in turn, makes the stuggles in life, normal.

10/12 "Art" Video

The video that I chose to watch and write about is called "Romance." The video showed several different arists and their style of art in the form of romance and why they saw it that way. The first chapter or artists had a passion for puppets. She liked to create a short film or story using these animated puppet characters that she had created on her own. She even had Meryl Streep star in one of her films. It was was about the romance between a puppet and a live woman. The artist wrote the songs and created the storyline. One of the songs was called "Lyric to a Melody" and it reflected the emotional flow of the film.
The second part of this video was about a woman who liked to come up with and direct plays. She saw beauty and meaning in things that other people would consider unimportant in love or romantic scenes. She had many "objects on legs" perform and audition for her plays. She picked the pocketwatch to be the main character over the beautiful and graceful cake. She believed it represented the starting/stopping of time, and showed regret is a prevailing notion. It leaves in the audience a feeling of "what might have been if one had a chance."
Another interesting artist in this video was a man who like to paint unique, bold works of art. He believes that his work is not confined to one demographic or audience. His artwork is very, very detailed and abstract and shows the problems and issues that occur in our contradictory world, such as homosexuality.

10/21 Stax Records

I had never heard of Stax Records until I had to research it this morning. I learned that apparently Stax Records had a huge influence on music culture and the music that we listen to today. It started in Memphis, Tennessee and soon became one of the most important recording studios in the world. Musicians such as Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, and Booker T. & the MG's were all recorded and established at Stax Records. This recording company was actually founded by a white American couple, but they allowed people of all colors and ethnic backgrounds to record and produce music there. Although Stax was only around for about twenty years, the studio played an important role in the creation and distribution of southern soul music styles, although they also released gospel, jazz, and blues records. It went bankrupt shortly after 1975 when it failed to beat its rival, Motown Records. But it is still remembered to this day and is considered an establishent that went against the odds in a time where most people saw everything as white or black, not both at the same time. It successfully helped integrate African-American music into a world of discrimination and prejudice.