Reflections on Black Boy.

I was really excited to read this book again, I read it in eighth grade but I definitely don't remember all of it. Richard Wright writes with a nice, flowing poetic style and is not boring whatsoever, at least, not at where we are right now in the book. And his story really is interesting. Some of the more interesting parts for me are Wright's opinions on religion and God, and how his opinions deeply affect the lives of him and those around him. He doesn't really believe in either (which explains why he makes some important decisions, later on in the book), but here he is thrust into this world of going to religious school, and a granny that is determined that everything except the Bible is the work of the devil. Pretty intense stuff. So we have Richard, who loves reading which will later lead to his writing, but his granny forbids him to. This is why he sells the newspaper- to read the stories. Unknowingly, the newspapers are pro- Ku Klux Klan, but he is too wrapped in the stories to pay attention to the actual news. This is one example of how his rebellion leads to greater consequences than he could imagine. Another situation is Aunt Addie. I really really don't like her. She's totally unfair to Richard and completely flips out whenever he does a little something wrong. And then she goes crazy and tells him she's going to kill him while he sleeps. So frankly, I can't blame him for taking out a knife in defense. I would be really scared too. The conflict first started when Richard stuck up for the religious boy about the walnuts, because he had been raised by his group of friends to cover for other people. Then Aunt Addie starting beating Richard, but he stuck up for himself, and then the conflict greatly escalated. Maybe this is something the author Wright thought about while writing the book, maybe it's a little creative license or maybe his family was just quick to jump to conclusions. Well, it's a good book so far, and I wonder what will become of Richard's adult years.

Hungry for Attention

Every little kid craves attention. You did, I did- we all did. Little kids don't yet have the experience one attains as they mature- that everything is not about you all the time. I mean, as we get older, some people still act like that, and let's face it, it's nice to be the center of attention. But to little kids who just want instant gratification, it's natural and they think nothing of it. We've all had to pretend to our younger siblings that the story they're telling you for the fifth time is so interesting and so funny and great! We have not let them know that what they're saying isn't exactly what they think it is. As they grow up, they will mature and hopefully, drop this cute but somewhat annoying habit.

Richard's parents never gave him this fake interest. Even though it may be fake, the kid doesn't know that, and it's not too much to ask to pretend to be interested. But Richard's dad was tired and frustrated with him most of the time, and his mom was too worn out by dealing with him and his brother and everything else that needed to be taken care of around the house. I can definitely understand why it would be hard to give Richard some attention. But a brief minute here and there couldn't have been too hard, right? At least, I don't think so. I feel bad for Richard because he never had that feeling that his parents were genuinely listening to him, and so maybe that's what affected his personality in certain ways later in life. We haven't gotten that far in the book yet though. And that's why he went to the saloon- because even though those grownups were drunk and amused by him, they were paying long-denied attention to him, which was more than his parents had done.

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