Thoreau the Transcendentalist

Out of all the readings we've had to read for this unit so far, I've liked the Thoreau ones the best. He was a brilliant man, and revolutionary too, going into realms of thought that hadn't even crossed anyone else's mind. His time at Walden and in jail, like we read in our book, were two prominent experiences in his lifetime that helped him to develop his thoughtful opinions about the world. I especially like Walden. I used to live in Lexington, 20 minutes away from Walden Pond, and we would go swimming there. It's really a beautiful place, isolated but not too isolated, and you could really see how Thoreau would choose there to be alone with his thoughts. I think, in today's day and age [and also back then because that was the middle of another time of great change, the Industrial Revolution], it's important to remove yourself from your fast-paced life once in a while and just be alone and think about things, which is exactly what he did. A lot of his philosophies agree with my personal ones, such that the individual has the power and it's important to recognize this in order to create a functioning society.

Although Civil Disobedience seemed more serious than Walden, his idea that we are all cogs in the machine of the government is one that still holds true today I think, and has since the time he wrote it. One can really see the path his life takes- he went into the woods because he wanted to be self-sufficient, to not be a cog for a brief period of time.

I think we can all learn something from Thoreau, and his view on what it means to be an American is a very unique and though-provoking one.

King Still King?

Although Martin Luther King Junior is still a holiday [as it rightfully should be], is it truly a day off for him? Sadly, I think the answer is no. I mean, I'm not going to complain. I love a day off to do absolutely nothing and to make up all the homework I didn't do because it was a three day weekend. And yes, it is a day dedicated on paper to him. I guess it all depends on what you do that day to actually make it dedicated to him. One could do a National Service Day.

In grade school, we always read these nice picture books that explained what Dr. King did for America and civil rights, but in a way that was appropriate for young children. As we got older, we learned what he truly did and how it impacted the world, but also the events that lead up to it, with no filter. However, now in school, it merely gets mentioned, maybe with a brief praise of King but not usually.

The short answer of what I'm trying to say here is that yes, King is still a King, but less so than he was in the 60s, or after he was assassinated. Most legacies fade over time, and even though Dr. King is not most people, it happened. Also, it depends on the time period. It took awhile for America to become desegregated even after laws were passed and Dr. King died for his cause. Racism is still prevalent today, but I would say that the US is less racist than it has ever been. It is, of course, still really important to remember what MLK did for the US. He literally broke down barriers no one had even dared to approach in the past. He got things done. And he did so without violence and brutality, a peaceful fighter. I wish we still made a bigger deal out of this day being a day specifically for him.

Children of the Sea

Edwidge Danticat has a unique writing style. She tells it just how it is, no BS, but yet even though she is blunt, her words have a certain poetic flow to them. She is great at imagery, and while reading Children of the Sea, I was able to create some extremely powerful and vivid visuals. Children of the Sea was not only an interesting and genuinely good piece of writing, I learned about Haitian life as well.

The characters in the story grew up in Haiti underneath the Duvalier regime, a dictatorship. She describes some of the horrors her neighbors and friends experienced during that time. In the other part of the story, she wrote a character on the boat, escaping away from life in Haiti if it was the last thing he did. I didn't imagine the characters to be that much older than us, so I tried to imagine growing up in a place like that, and not knowing if my friends were in Haiti, dead or had escaped somewhere else. It's a very scary thought.

To both of these characters, America represented a new start, and hope. Anything was better than in Haiti, and if you had to die trying to find a better place to live, so be it. The Haitian attitude toward death is something I found very intriguing, and I like it. Times are different now, and I'm saying this having lived in the US my whole life, but I think people these days have such a negative view on death. I'm not saying it's happy, but maybe we as Americans could try to make it seem less... bad, overall. Anyway, back to what America represents. No one knew exactly what they might run into when they got there, but they flung themselves out into the ocean with only hope carrying them forward. Hope is what kept them on the boat. These people had great faith that something great was out there. I'm not sure what to call that quality, but it certainly is admirable.

I look forward to reading more of Danticat sometime soon. Any suggestions, Mr. McCarthy?

Music Review

Ah, the assignment I've been waiting four months for. It was hard to pick just one album, but I have to give the runners up some credit. They are just as good as the album I chose, but I didn't really want to write about them. But you should still listen to them because they are really good. In no particular order: Coconut Records' "Nighttiming," Born Ruffians' "Say It," Belle and Sebastian's "Write About Love," Matt & Kim's "Sidewalks," and Girl Talk's "All Day." Right there, you have indie acoustic-ish, indie alt and kind of random, soft indie rock, overly catchy synth and lyrics, and a sweet mashup. But I digress. **If you don't want to read my full song commentary, read the following paragraph and the last paragraph. I won't take offense.**

When you first hear of the band Los Campesinos! they sound like a cool Mexican mariachi group (a campesino in English is a peasant). Alas, they are not. They're something even better. They are a wonderful indie pop group from the UK. The band formed in 2006 at Cardiff University in Wales, but none of the seven members are Welsh. Los Campesinos! is made up of Ellen, Gareth, Harriet, Neil, Tom, Ollie, Rob and Aleksandra. They are all known to perform with their real first names and then "Campesinos!" as their last names (like the Ramones, kind of). Sound good so far? It gets better. The name of their EP I'll be reviewing is called "Sticking Fingers Into Sockets." Everything is written by Gareth or Tom. Without further ado, the songs.

It opens with an extremely catchy yet kind of dark song (We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives), with a nice synth-y riff that walks down the scale and has some supporting drums, and even a glockenspiel played by Gareth. Gareth's lead vocals are really substantial, very British with a little harmony and chorus help from Aleksandra. The lyrics provide the subtle darkness with lines like "there's red stains all over the place/but they're not blood they're cherryade." This is my favorite song on the EP. "It Started With A Mixx" comes next and this one has the best lyrics: "trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop" and "it started with a mix/I think it always will." It has some really nice violin plucking, guitar and bass guitar. "Don't Tell Me to do The Math(s)" has some cool glockenspiel work and another catchy guitar riff, with bits of fitting violin sprinkled in between. "Frontwards" is alright, by this time on the EP, everything was beginning to feel a little repetitive. Aleksandra and Gareth have really good vocal chemistry. The fifth song "You! Me! Dancing!" is considered to be the band's hit, but it wasn't my favorite by a long shot. It starts off with slow guitar, then builds to muffled guitar and finally full guitar, glockenspiel and drums. Gareth's voice was alright in this, but true to the name, the song makes you want to dance. The last song "Clunk-Rewind-Clunk-Play-Clunk" is just to play the EP out, it sounds like a nice jam to be played at the end of the credits of a happy movie.

Well, if you've stuck with me this far, thanks. Los Campesinos! is a nice blend of indie pop, random instruments (like glockenspiel), delicate female vocals and solid male vocals. All in all, I give Sticking Fingers Into Sockets 7 out of 10. It was good albeit a tad repetitive-seeming. As I was listening (especially to "Frontwards" and "You! Me! Dancing!") I was reminded of another indie pop UK band with a slightly more grunge sound, Johnny Foreigner (Gareth actually did a song with them called Criminals- click here to listen to that). If you wanted to see them in the US, too bad. They were just here at the Metro, with Johnny Foreigner coincidentally. I'm bummed too. I hope this wasn't too long (actually it probably was). But I had a lot of fun writing it. Have an awesome break guys, and don't forget to listen to Los Campesinos!

*edited* Winter Poem

Holding Arctic Air

The sky is thick and gray, a heavy wool blanket

Draping the world in chills and shivers, instead of warmth

Muffling cautious boots on the sidewalk

And almost all is white and quiet

These flurries that we say are unique and beautiful

Spin down from the clouds, exotic dances around our faces

Landing gently on eyelashes, jackets, ponytails and gloves

Little pieces of kaleidoscope wonder melting on pink tongues

Snowflakes are not beautiful, they are awkward

Clumped together randomly like they are huddling for warmth and waiting for the Lincoln bus

Which arrived in a squeal of wet wheels and dirty slush

A leftover present from your faithful neighborhood snowplow man, free of charge

Oh, and when we walk our streets at night

Naked trees wearing nothing but thin frosty coats

Glaring yellow bulbs stand guard on the hard wet curb

We slip and fall on that invisible ice, shrouded beneath dirty footprints

Frigid air bites and freezes the end of our noses

Raw pink, and we inhale a rush of brisk exhilaration

There's something giddy and magical about winter nights

Holding arctic air in our numb hands, palms up, fingers outstretched and we feel so alive

Looking through fogged up windows transforms the streetlights angelic

Clean white halos against the dark night canvas

Pure beacons of warmth in a cold Windy City

Glowing through the night

Jay and Nick

Ah, Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway, the best of friends. Or are they really? Let's take an in-depth look at their relationship [ick I sound like a trashy magazine].

Nick Carraway: an honest bondsman. He's kind of cynical, he comes from relative money but not huge amounts of money, went to Yale and is pretty sure of himself. He does not seem to fit in with all the East Eggers: they are all super rich and pedigreed, while he's from somewhere in the Midwest, Minnesota I believe. But he is cousins with Daisy and friends with Tom, so that will make him a key player in the chapters to come.

Jay Gatsby is an entirely different story. No one really knows where he comes from, so instead they make it all up. He's apparently a distant relative of Kaiser Wilhelm, or his parents died and left him a lot of money, but Jay tells Nick himself of his background. He was born in the Midwest, orphaned and left money and educated at Oxford. Or so he tells Nick, which doesn't necessarily make it true. But even though Gatsby is fabulously wealthy and has a huge house in which he throws parties in every other day, yet he lives in West Egg, the Egg with the less prestigious reputation of rich people. So everything is not what it seems with Mr. Gatsby.

Their relationship starts when Nick moves in next to Gatsby, but it is a while before Nick is invited to one of his parties. They meet in an odd way and strike up a conversation. Everything is all right, and Gatsby seems like a cool guy, kind of ordinary, served in the war, the usual [except of course, for his mysterious past]. All is well. Gatsby invites Nick to go fly in his airplane with him, male bonding, yippee. And then Nick learns why Gatsby is really interested in him: Gatsby is in love with Daisy Buchanan. They themselves have some history, and Gatsby has never stopped loving her. He knows Nick and Daisy are cousins, and Nick learns from Jordan Baker than Gatsby wants Nick to invite Daisy and him over, but is too cautious to ask because he might come off as rude. Nick does not mind and does it, and that's about where we have gotten to in the book.

Our initial impression of Gatsby is not what we thought it was. However just because he did one manipulative thing does not make him a bad person, really. I think we as the readers don't really know what to make of him at this point in the story. As for Nick and Jay? They are still forming a nice relationship, albeit with some mystery and tension. How will the story end? Well fellow classmates, we'll just have to keep reading.

The Trick of Writing [not a winter poem]

Edline says we are writing a winter poem but the sheet says we are writing about the trick of writing. So I'll compromise: I'll paint a nice wintry scene for you all, and then I'll write about writing. It sounds fair to me.

Picture this- you, sitting inside your warm house, a mug of hot chocolate by your side, an orange fire crackling in the fireplace. Snow is falling from the thick white sky, as if the whole world is under a wool blanket and the flurries are just part of the material. Outside, the wind blows and you see people walk by with red noses and flying scarves, but you are safe and warm. Winter. I can't much explain my love for it other than it's really comforting, and the wreaths and lights are beautiful downtown late at night, and going ice skating by the Bean is fun. Winter is that time where, I think, you feel you can do whatever you want, because with the snow and the cold air comes a giddy feeling of freedom and excitement unlike any other season. So without any further ado, the trick of writing.

Writers are modern day magicians. Save for the fact they can't make food out of thin air [although I guess, neither can the magicians, food is the first of the five principal exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration- huge Harry Potter fan, anyone?], writers cast spells over the readers, draw them into a world of new and wondrous proportions and keep them trapped there until the final events have unfolded. Writing is a type of magic. Okay, call me corny, but I like to write. A lot. The whole idea of this imaginary world where the author had complete control over, it fascinated me. But enough about me, onto the tricks.

For me, the word "tricks" implies some deceitful means of achieving the result you want. Or it could also mean tools of the trade, tips you need to know to be a successful writer. I prefer the latter definition. The trick of writing, you see, is just that: to draw the reader in. Once you've gotten your reader hooked, keep them on their toes. Make the story interesting. Make the reader want to keep reading. That, I think, is the most important trick of writing. Make them want to stay in your world.

But how do you get this enticing beginning, this worm of an opening paragraph to reel the reader in like a hooked fish? Many ways, at least that I know. A question, the end of the story, a random plot, dialogue between the characters- the options are virtually endless. Forgive me for not listing more, it's almost nine and I haven't started geometry.

Sorry this was really long, but I hope I fulfilled the requirement adequately. So good night to all, and happy second night of Hanukkah! :D