I can’t wait for the island to turn green again.
I’m being a bad student tonight.
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Archive for February, 2008
Because I am constantly reading literature, researching literature, teaching composition, and grading essays, my brain relates most everything back to writing or literature in some way. I turned on the television this morning and saw a Teen News program of some sort explaining how to write a good college admissions essay. I thought it’d be interesting, but in the end I found the commercials to be more intriguing.
Let me give some quick background information…. When learning about the Modernists and Ezra Pound in undergrad, I remember Dr. VanNess talking about the idea of Imagism. He showed one photograph (children playing) and then another contrasting photograph (a child in the hospital with polio) to form a message. This is similar to what Bob Dylan to was talking about when he told a writer of Time magazine that they shouldn’t write stories, but put collages of pictures: “A plain picture of, let’s say, uh, a tramp vomiting, man, into the sewer and next door to the picture, Mr. Rockefeller or, you know, C. W. Jones on the subway going to work.” With this, the contrasts demonstrate a message of the large gap between the poor and the rich.
Anyway, before I get too far away from my main point, I noticed a comical contrast in commercials. The first commercial centered around a girl named Sarah who was getting a lot of attention from boys she didn’t know. Then older men started saying suggestive comments, such as, “What color underwear today?” and “When are you going to post something new?” It was an internet-awareness ad urging teens to consider what they are posting online since everyone can access the inter net. The next commercial was hard to follow at first…. A young woman was writing a letter to Sarah (notice the same name) about how she is glad that Sarah has a nice, happy family. In the end, the viewer discovers that the young woman is Sarah’s mother, but put Sarah up for adoption. So, with the same name, are they both the same Sarah? They looked very similar…. Did Sarah put dirty pictures of herself on the internet because she was distraught over being adopted? Of course, the answer to these questions is “no,” but it is funny to think of. I bet the network didn’t even think of this when they aired the commercials after one another. Below is the internet ad…. I couldn’t find the other one. Drat.
It seems that a lot happens within a week and at the same time, nothing happens. Either way, the weeks fly by a bit too quickly for my liking. On Tuesday we voted…. Not quite super Tuesday, but Obama won big. I was glad to be a part of that. What puzzles me regarding elections is that most everyone is convinced that their vote “doesn’t count” when really each vote matters so much. Hillary and Obama are quite close and so by helping Obama win with a larger margin, he then receives more delegates and makes a difference. Of course, it is apparent that this nomination will go to the super delegates, but what better way to make your opinion known than by helping him win big?
Anyway.
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Chris surprised me with Capote’s The Grass Harp, which I have been wanting for about a year now. It has a tree house! I am very excited to read that.
I have been getting these killer ice-pick-in-my-brain headaches lately. In fact, they have been so bad that I have been going to bed early yet still cannot find sleep. I don’t mind sleeping or resting a lot, but I really haven’t been able to get as much work done because of them. Drat. Maybe it is the weather–which, by the way, was beautiful today.
Chris and I finally personalized our cubicle. It is space themed. I want it to feel like you’re walking into a planetarium when you enter. Next step: lights and space sounds.
Well, yesterday Ron Paul spoke at convocation, which is Liberty’s tri-weekly version of Acquire the Fire. Student attendance is mandatory, but this was the first time that Chris and I went. Oops… Maybe we get out of it since we don’t live on campus and are graduate students. Walking around was a bit awkward for a while. In fact, we walked around the entire Vine Center twice before finding a seat because I think there is assigned seating for undergrads so their RA’s can be sure that they attended.
Everyone cheered a bit at first…. for senseless things, such as the mention of “Pittsburgh,” “Durham,” “babies,” and so on. Then the content became more serious and the cheering (mixed with a few boos) continued with the topic of withdrawing from Iraq. It was all down-hill from there since most of the students didn’t quite understand the Libertarian concept of limited government and so couldn’t grasp the concept of getting rid of the Department of Education. Someone made a Facebook group against him for this trespass as well. I guess most everyone here supports good old Huckabee. I just wish they’d try to understand what was being said before going against it.
This weekend I am aiming to write my 8-page paper for African American lit. No sleep until it is done! It is due on Thursday. Then I have an 8-page paper in Postmodernism due the following Wednesday. Lastly, I have a 15-page paper due on Friday. Time to get to work.