Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Digital Life Story
I just recorded my story in the TLC lab! I must admit, I am pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to do it. I used garage band, which is so much more easy than I could have imagined. It was weird hearing my voice play back to me. Tomorrow I made an appointment to add music to my voice track. Just this morning I was convinced this project would be the death of me. I am not technologically inclined, but the guys in the TLC are so helpful and I actually think putting together this podcast will be a lot of fun! Now I just have to figure out where I am going to find all of my pictures...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Othello: Way before its time
I actually had to read Othello last year, so returning to the book isn't as much as a challenge as it was the first time around. I am not a fan of Shakespeare. His prose are hard to understand and his language is ancient. I admire him for his genius, but I have hated suffering through his work. However, reading Othello for a second time is a little easier. Instead of just trying to grasp at what Shakespeare iss trying to say, I am able to really envision what was going on and focus on the underlying issues. Othello is essentially a love story between a black man and a white woman. This topic seems as if it should be an anachronism. Even today, in 2008, interracial relationships and marriages are uncommon. In Shakespeare's time I would think they were unheard of. When Othello is accused of using witchcraft to win Desdemona's love, he explains how the unlikely romance occured:
"...She loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft I have used" (22).
Othello and Desdemona fell in love, regardless of their skin color. Martin Luther King day this year opened my eyes to racial issues and prejudices alive in America today. I attended Viktor Lewis's speech and film, The Color of Fear, for my Psychology class. I was shocked to hear the perils of minorities in America. I was also shocked to realize my own blindness, stereotypes, and prejudices that I never knew I exhibited. Shakespeare really was a master behind his time. He tackled complex issues that have yet to be resolved.
"...She loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft I have used" (22).
Othello and Desdemona fell in love, regardless of their skin color. Martin Luther King day this year opened my eyes to racial issues and prejudices alive in America today. I attended Viktor Lewis's speech and film, The Color of Fear, for my Psychology class. I was shocked to hear the perils of minorities in America. I was also shocked to realize my own blindness, stereotypes, and prejudices that I never knew I exhibited. Shakespeare really was a master behind his time. He tackled complex issues that have yet to be resolved.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Augustine on Life
"Life is a poor thing, death may come at any time: if it were to come upon me suddenly, in what state should I depart this life? And where am I to learn the things I have neglected?" (109).
I truly believe in living life to its fullest potential at each given moment. Too many people spend their lives either dwelling on the past or planning for the future. Regrets are a waste of time; the past has already happened. Planning for the future is smart, but if you are always concerned with what is to come than you never live in the present. Augustine realizes that life is fleeting. He may be talking about the importance of uniting with God in order to meet with him in the afterlife, but this passage is also a reminder that the future is indefinite. It is important to be happy with yourself and the life you lead. My mom always tells me to do the best that I can every day. If you do what you believe is right at any given moment, regrets cannot be made, and each day will be lived in the "now."
I truly believe in living life to its fullest potential at each given moment. Too many people spend their lives either dwelling on the past or planning for the future. Regrets are a waste of time; the past has already happened. Planning for the future is smart, but if you are always concerned with what is to come than you never live in the present. Augustine realizes that life is fleeting. He may be talking about the importance of uniting with God in order to meet with him in the afterlife, but this passage is also a reminder that the future is indefinite. It is important to be happy with yourself and the life you lead. My mom always tells me to do the best that I can every day. If you do what you believe is right at any given moment, regrets cannot be made, and each day will be lived in the "now."
Augustine on beauty
"'Do we love anything save what is beautiful? What then is beautiful? and what is beauty? What is it that allures us and delights us in the things we love? Unless there were grace and beauty in them they could not possible draw us to them'" (66).
What defines beauty? This passage caught my attention because it is almost identical to the conversation we had in my Spanish in Politics and Society class. On the first day of class, my professor asked the question "Cual es la belleza?" (or "What is beauty?") Instantly hands shot up around the room. Answers came from all different directions. People talked of flowers, smiles, nature, and celebrities (all in Spanish of course). I can't remember for the life of me why we were talking about the definition of beauty in a class on dictators, socialism, and revolutions, but, nevertheless, the discussion really got to me. How can you determine beauty? It is completely subjective. A person determines beauty based on his own perspective. Augustine talks about how beautiful things "draw" people to them. It is true. Beauty is something out of the ordinary. It catches a person's attention and sometimes makes him look twice or lose his breath. Beauty touches the heart. Beauty can be found in nature, people, actions, or even inanimate objects. Although cliche, most cliche statements are true. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is a quality that evokes emotion or awe, one that can not be harnessed or defined.
What defines beauty? This passage caught my attention because it is almost identical to the conversation we had in my Spanish in Politics and Society class. On the first day of class, my professor asked the question "Cual es la belleza?" (or "What is beauty?") Instantly hands shot up around the room. Answers came from all different directions. People talked of flowers, smiles, nature, and celebrities (all in Spanish of course). I can't remember for the life of me why we were talking about the definition of beauty in a class on dictators, socialism, and revolutions, but, nevertheless, the discussion really got to me. How can you determine beauty? It is completely subjective. A person determines beauty based on his own perspective. Augustine talks about how beautiful things "draw" people to them. It is true. Beauty is something out of the ordinary. It catches a person's attention and sometimes makes him look twice or lose his breath. Beauty touches the heart. Beauty can be found in nature, people, actions, or even inanimate objects. Although cliche, most cliche statements are true. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is a quality that evokes emotion or awe, one that can not be harnessed or defined.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Augustine on Friendship
"All kinds of things rejoiced my soul in their company-to talk and laugh and do each other kindnesses; read pleasant books together, pass from lightest jesting to talk of the deepest things and back again; differ without rancour, as a man might differ with himself, and when most rarely dissension arose find our normal agreement all the sweeter for it; teach each other or learn from each other; be impatient for the return of the absent, and welcome them with joy on their homecoming; these and such like things, proceeding from our hearts as we gave affection and received it back, and shown by face, by voice, by the eyes, and a thousand other pleasing ways, kindled a flame which fused our very soul and many made us one. This is what men value in friends..." (62-63).
After finishing our first semester at college and first time away from one another since kindergarten, my friends and I reunited for winter break a little apprehensively. We all wondered how college would change us. We anticipated that we would grow apart and make new friends; everyone says the friends you make in college are the friends you keep for life. So what does that mean for our hometown friends? After four months, my friends and I reunited like no time had passed. We actually laughed. Why would college change anything? Friendship is more than just circumstantial; it is a common bond and special gift.
Augustine recognizes the magnitude of friendship. At this point in my life I am realizing how much my friends from home mean to me and that I can make new friends in college as well. Life is about the relationships you make with the people around you. Friends are like family that you get to choose.
After finishing our first semester at college and first time away from one another since kindergarten, my friends and I reunited for winter break a little apprehensively. We all wondered how college would change us. We anticipated that we would grow apart and make new friends; everyone says the friends you make in college are the friends you keep for life. So what does that mean for our hometown friends? After four months, my friends and I reunited like no time had passed. We actually laughed. Why would college change anything? Friendship is more than just circumstantial; it is a common bond and special gift.
Augustine recognizes the magnitude of friendship. At this point in my life I am realizing how much my friends from home mean to me and that I can make new friends in college as well. Life is about the relationships you make with the people around you. Friends are like family that you get to choose.
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