As the indie film “The Good Guy”, which was released on video June 22, 2010, opens up, the narrator, Tommy, is drenched from the rain, locked out of his apartment, lost his wallet and keys, says this night has been the worse night of his life, and needs money. He pleads with a girl, Beth, for help. She finally answers and says she feels sorry for him. Without knowing much about these characters, one may infer that Beth is Tommy’s ex-girlfriend and Tommy is now heartbroken. But as the movie continues, it is clear that the good guy, the narrator, may not be who he says he is.

After the movie notifies of a change in time of six weeks earlier. Tommy asks the audience if they have “even been lied to by someone you trusted completely” and had their heart tossed around. He then narrates that he was “totally blindsided” by the whole ordeal, without specifically saying what, although he works with the best liars in his job for Wall-Street. This speech by Tommy led me, and probably most audience members, to relate to him and to keep waiting for something catastrophic to happen to him throughout the movie.

When a co-worker unexpectedly quits, Tommy gives Daniel, a computer technician, a promotion. Daniel does not fit in with his co-workers; he does not tell vulgar jokes and is not popular with women. Rather, Daniel is polite, likes to wear his own style of clothing, and enjoys classic works of literature like by Charles Dickens. Because of this, as Tommy becomes Daniel’s guide for work, he becomes his guide to life as well.

He tells Daniel that what he wears is a statement for women and that he looks like somebody working at Blockbuster. Tommy takes him clothes shopping to find “sexy” clothes, to Daniel’s reluctance. Daniel believes that clothes are arbitrary and should not be a defining factor in meeting someone. Later, Tommy, his two raunchy co-worker friends, and Daniel party together and then go to a bar. While partying among themselves, Tommy tells Daniel that “what women hate is getting lied to by guys who are just trying to sleep with them.” Unlike the others, Daniel does not just want to sleep with girls and actually wants a committed relationship.

While at the bar, Daniel is prodded to flirt with women but he is too shy to talk to random girls at the bar. But he watches Tommy do it with ease to set an example. Tommy has a girlfriend, Beth, but he wants to show Daniel how to meet women. As Tommy talks to a girl, Brooke, she becomes interested in him. Flash forward in time and the narrator, Tommy, says “Things started getting complicated. Brooke lost her purse that night at the bar, her phone, keys, everything. She asked if she could crash on my couch and call a locksmith in the morning.” He then goes on to say that trust is the single most important thing in a relationship but since nothing happened, he decides not to tell Beth.

Meanwhile, Beth is offered a job in San Francisco and hasn’t decided if she will stay or go yet. She also officially meets Daniel at a work party dinner that Tommy brings her to. Daniel tells Beth that he loves the book “Pride and Prejudice” and other classics so she invites him to a book club she organized with her girlfriends. Their reading list consists of “Lolita” and “The Good Soldier”. While discussing “Lolita”, Daniel describes the main character as hopelessly in love and “That’s what love is, anything else is just a distraction.” The girls, especially Beth, are awed by his sentiment. Later, while discussing “The Good Soldier”, Beth is bothered because the narrator isn’t trustworthy but Daniel likes this about the book because in real life, people sometimes aren’t who they say they are.

Although Tommy is the narrator of the movie, it doesn’t solely focus on Tommy. The audience becomes emotionally attached to Beth and Daniel as well. Although Tom is the narrator and seems like a good guy in the beginning of the movie, one wonders if he really is. The contrast of personalities of Tommy and Daniel leads to comparisons made by the viewer and asking themselves: Who is the good guy of this movie? Trust, fraud, and first impressions are shown to not always be what they seem at first glance. This movie is a romantic drama with a plot twist and a web of deceit, allowing the viewer to keep guessing who the good guy is. As this movie slowly reviews itself, the audience realizes what they thought to be true was not and what they wanted for the characters is actually something else.

Ryden, a recent college graduate, thinks she has her life all planned out. But plans do not always unfold the way one intends, and sometimes that is for the best. “Post Grad,” an indie movie released on video Jan. 12, 2010, explores one girl’s journey after completing college to find a job to start a new life while in the process, discovering the person she wants to be.

The film starts with the viewer watching Ryden talking by means of an online video. She is smiling and excitedly looking forward to graduation to fulfill her checklist of plans. Ryden is receiving a degree in English with a minor in communications. Throughout her life, her plans have been to get high grades in school to receive scholarships and then to keep high grades to keep those scholarships. Her next big plan is to have an English degree related job with a publishing company – she already has an interview lined up soon after graduation with Happerman and Browning in Los Angeles. There is no doubt in her mind that soon – Ryden even applies for an expensive apartment because she assumes that soon she will working at a publishing company – her life will be set without any roadblocks in the way.

As to be expected, Ryden’s life isn’t sugarcoated with perfection. Her best friend, Adam, drives her to an interview and gets into a small accident. When Ryden finally gets to the publishing company for the interview, to her surprise, sees an entire room filled with people awaiting interviews for the same position. This final part of her plan wasn’t as easy as keeping good grades and scholarships. As a recent graduate, it is difficult for her to find a job she wants to put her foot in the door for a career. Ryden goes through multiple interviews and gets discouraged but always has Adam to be with her in times of need, sharing ice cream sandwiches and listening to him play music, having written songs about her. Her family is always there for her too – allowing her to live with them and offering a retail job selling suitcases where her father works until she gets on her feet – even if they embarrass her constantly.

Through an unfortunate event, Ryden becomes associated with her neighbor, David. He directs infomercials and offers her a small job on set for a day. While becoming acquainted with David, Ryden loses sight of what’s truly important in life and is still convinced to stick with The Plan. David tells Ryden, when he met her, he saw “a girl that has the whole wold on her fingertips and she doesn’t even know it.” Meanwhile, Ryden’s best friend has possibly gotten into law school. Opposite of Ryden, Adam does not like making long-term plans. He is not even excited about opening the acceptance letter. Rather, he is more interested in the fact he is playing music at a club in a few days. Unlike Ryden, he takes life as it comes and does not try to force it. Ryden’s dad tells her that perhaps she is setting her sights too high at first for a career immediately. Later on in the film when Ryden asks her father for advice, he says, “The world’s a screwy place. It doesn’t play by the rules.” Throughout the movie, everyone is offering advice for Ryden about a career and showing her how they live life, oftentimes without a clear plan in mind.

As Ryden is too busy worrying about a career, she loses sight on what’s most important in life – the people you surround yourself with. She eventually is able to obtain a job at a publishing company although it isn’t all the glory she had imagined and does not begin to search for “the next great American novel” immediately, rather is put to the task of data entry and lots of filing. Adam decides to attend law school in New York. David decides to go back to Brazil to be with his family who he hasn’t seen in years and tells Ryden, “What you do with your life is really just one half of the equation. The other half … the more important half, really is who you’re with when you’re doing it.” Ryden takes this advice to heart and debates whether to stay near her family with a prestigious job, although she is unhappy there and lonely without her best friend or to take a risk and move across the country to be with Adam and discover new opportunities in New York City. When Ryden asks her dad what she should do, he tells her that no matter where she is, his daughter is smart enough to find favorable circumstances.

Although mainly a romantic comedy, this movie rings true for so many college graduates trying to discover a new career, finding their identity and a new life away from family. While some are lucky and get their foot in the door immediately, many are like Ryden and have to wait or make choices of what to do next in their life, whether it was on the original plan or not. Careers and people in Adam and Ryden’s lives are important to them, and sometimes they must choose career over friends or friends over careers. Both make risks after they graduate, one way or another. While at times the movie may be overly silly or romantic, many moments are still very relatable to the college graduate.

An older movie that was released on video January 29, 2008, “The Nines” has three parts with seemingly different story lines with similar themes, yet they all somehow converge. Each part consists of different characters, not related to the other parts of the movie. But each part still has the same main set of recognizable actors … only playing different characters with first names that start with the same letter as the other parts. As each part ends and a black screen announces the subsequent part, one is lost in wonder if these parts will ever relate or are just separate vignettes.

The movie first opens up with a close-up, with a white background, of fingers making a green bracelet made of yarn. It is not revealed who is doing the creating or why. But all three main characters in each vignette are shown to wear this green bracelet: Gary, Gavin, and Gabriel.

In the first part of the movie titled “The Prisoner”, a man named Gary is a TV star in a show titled “Crime Lab” in which he is a police officer. His presence is godlike, with giant ads on buses and billboards. But off the set, he sets his house on fire and buys crack. He then starts hallucinating. After police bring him in, he is forced to go under house arrest by a publicist by the name of Margaret, to divert media attention from his fall. Gary finds a floppy disc titled “Knowing” which allows the piano in the house to play by itself a certain tune. He attracts the attention of his neighbor, Sarah. Soon after meeting her, nines come into his life. After exercising one night outside, he comes inside to find a sticky note on the counter that says: “Look for the NINES.” Among other instances of the number nine, his answering machine beeps and repeats: “NINE, NINE, NINE …” and every single time he rolls the dice for backgammon, he receives a combination that totals the number nine. Gary gets freaked out and runs away and sees a sign for the TV show “Knowing” and a little girl tries to communicate with him but can not. Gary pleads with Margaret to tell him about the nines; she tries to explain although he does not understand and becomes confused and tries to escape again.

The second part of the movie is titled “Reality Television” and a reality show is capturing a TV writer named Gavin, who has a brilliant idea for a new show called “Knowing” where a husband disappears and the wife believes their daughter is a key to a dark conspiracy. He loves being a writer because it is like playing God with his characters. The reality TV crew shows Gavin playing the piano, making music for “Knowing” and saving it on a floppy disc. Gavin’s house looks the same as the one Gary was under house arrest in. Gavin specifically wrote a role in “Knowing” for his best friend, Melissa. Gavin is told during testing for the show that 9s matter, so he writes on a sticky note in his kitchen, “Look for the NINES.” The vice president of drama development, Susan, tells Gavin that the studio does not like Melissa for the pilot episode and either Melissa must go or the show is done for. Gavin is lost and must make a choice – his show or the friendship of Melissa, who he has known since he was young. After Gavin decides, disasters occur and he escapes to a busy pedestrian crossing. He lashes out at the realty TV crew and says that he is not their puppet to play with anymore. As Gavin gets lost in the muddle of people, three-dimensional numbers appear above everyone’s head – the number above Gavin is a 9 while everyone else has a 7.

“Knowing” is the name of the last vignette. It starts off like the pilot of Gavin’s show “Knowing”, leading one to wonder if this vignette is the pilot or if this is strangely coincidental. Gabriel and his wife, Mary, and daughter, Noelle, take a day trip into a canyon. When they try to leave, their car will not start. Mary and Noelle stay behind while Gabriel tries to find help. When he reaches the main road, he meets a woman named Sierra. He follows her in hopes that she will help his family. As Noelle waits in the car, she looks through the footage that was taken that day on the video camera. Suddenly, the footage turns into a scene between Melissa and Gavin and then into a scene between Gary and Margaret. Gabriel is a video game designer and Sierra comments that he is godlike creating rules for players and their characters. A tattoo of the Roman numeral 9, IX, is seen on the back of Gabriel. As Sierra takes Gabriel deeper into the forest, he realizes she isn’t helping start the family car. Sierra then reveals the secret of the nines and Gabriel is able to find his family and his car is able to start. When they make it home, the house is revealed to appear the same as Gavin and Gary’s home. At the end of the film, Gabriel releases his green bracelet that all three lead male roles were shown to wear, leading to the end of any discontent he or any of the others were feeling …

Admittedly, this film was a bit confusing to watch and leaves with more questions than detailed answers one might desire. Much was the same about each vignette: same actors, the same house, and small details that seems to overlap such as the piano music, video camera footage, and sticky note scribblings. At times, it was difficult to tell what was real or not real nor what was connected or was merely coincidence. Each part of the movie seemed to focus on the main character, Gary, Gavin or Gabriel, becoming lost physically or mentally. Gary became a lost TV star, succumbing to destruction and drugs. Gavin, lost making the perfect TV script, forgot what was important in life and felt forced to choose between his best friend or his TV show. Gabriel became physically lost with his family in a canyon and lost again with Sierra. All three struggled with personal identity: Gary was a TV star with fans, a man getting over a breakup with an ex-girlfriend, and a nine; Gavin was a reality TV star, a TV writer, a show runner, a best friend, and also a nine; Gabriel was a video game designer, a father, a husband, and a nine as well. Without revealing what a nine is exactly, I will say it is not a coincidence that Gary, Gavin, and Gabriel all had careers where their role is to create in a godlike manner. Being creators and becoming lost in our struggles of identity is a role every viewer can identity with. It is easy to get lost in such a busy world like Gary, Gavin, and Gabriel but as they found their identities as nines, we must all find our own.

Following a road to a better life is the premise of a father and son of the film “The Road”, released on video on May 25, 2010. Simultaneously, this path is a road of identity for the young boy. He realizes what type of person he is and that he is a different person than his father. The movie is based on the book “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. I have not read the book but watching this movie has caused me to put it on my reading wish list.

The movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where there is no visible plant life or animals running around. Trees are dead, crackling, and falling down. It is impossible to raise any crops in the film’s present location and it is said that they wouldn’t survive another winter if they stayed. The goal of the movie is to find where life is thought to be better with no more worries. While the father and son are traveling and following the road, there are no visible animals, only dogs traveling with people occasionally. Dark colors encompass the film. There are never any vibrant colors in the film, no attractive articles of clothing. Everything is earth tones, embracing the gritty environment in the grim future of humanity and setting the mood for the entire film.

Further giving the film a feel of loneliness, nobody’s name is revealed. Not even the central characters of the father and son. Having a name implies importance and that others care about your survival. The father and son care about each other’s survival but they do not have high hopes for survival. As the credits roll when the movie finishes, the actors’ names are listed next to roles such as “Man”, “Boy”, “Old Man”, “Veteran”, “Motherly Woman”, “Woman”, “Bearded Man”, “Thief”, “Gang Member”, and “Well Fed Woman.” Even when the father loses the boy for a short period of time, he screams, “HEY!” This loss of names along with everything also lost in this post-apocalyptic earth is truly depressing where the opposite is true of the TV show “Cheers” theme song: where nobody knows your name.

The audience never finds out what exactly happened to create such a desolate earth. But this missing information is irrelevant because the focus on “The Road” isn’t about the circumstances that led to a devastating environment; the focus is on the emotional bond between the father and son and their character development while on the road. The father has given his entire heart to his son and nothing else matters in the world to him. He feels as if he must take him south to the coast where he hopes a better life awaits. Even if he is wrong, he feels he must try for the hope for his son to live away from devastation.

Throughout their journey, the son repeatedly asks his father if they are “the good guys” and the father repeatedly tells his son “we are the good guys.” But the father’s actions seem to prove otherwise and the son questions his father’s actions. This questioning is the son’s journey to his individuality and shows he is not like-minded as his father.

For example, the father and son find a house which contains a cellar where other humans are kept, like a pantry, for a cannibalistic group of humans. The father and son enter the cellar without knowing what is in there. They see the humans in horrible shape. The father pushes them away and leaves the cellar with his son, escaping. They could have tried to help and all try to escape together but the father is only looking out for himself and his son.

Another time, the father and son find an elderly, nearly-blind man on the road. The son has extra food and wants to offer it to the elderly man. The father is reluctant and only allows his son to share a small portion. If the son was the leader of the expedition, he surely would have adopted the elderly man as part of their party.

One more instance that I will mention, although there are more in the film, is when a hungry man steals the father and son’s food and belongings while the boy is sleeping and the father is away looking for more goods. The thief isn’t very far away so the father and son manage to catch up to him. The father aggressively takes back the goods and degrades the thief further by forcing him to strip off all of this clothes while the boy pleads with his father to stop. The father believes he is teaching his son the best way of survival by looking out for himself. But the boy wants to help all he can by providing food to who he can when he has extra. This clash of ideas leads the audience to ask the question: Who are the good guys?

The boy continues to ask his father who “the good guys” are and asks himself the same question. As the boy continues on the road for a hope to a better life, his mind is on a road to his own individuality, different than his father’s reasoning. Toward the end, the boy is given the chance to make a pivotal decision on his own, without his father. “The Road” is a good movie if you enjoy being questioned and thinking during a film. “The Road” is not the right film for you to watch if you don’t like depressing stories. There is also no eye-popping visual effects that many blockbusters contain. What matters in this movie is the story and character development in a devastated landscape. Rather than a mind numbing film, this is a film to provoke the mind, to question actions and thoughts of characters, and hope for a better road for the boy.

I graduated from Western Wyoming Community College with an Associate of Arts in 2006.

I graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2008.

I am the Rocket-Miner newsroom proofreader and enjoy my job.

But, I truly desire to be a librarian.

My 3rd rejection letter from the library system has already been blogged about recently.

Well I tried again, because the person who got the full-time reference librarian was a full-time circulation librarian, leaving a full-time position open for only internal applicants again.

……………………..

Dated, April 27, 2010, I got my 4th rejection letter from the library system.

“Dear Ashley,

We thank you for your interest in the Sweetwater County Library Circulation Staff and for your time and effort in making application for employment. We regret to inform you that you were not chosen for the position; we had many qualified applicants which made our final decision quite difficult. Thanks again for your continued dedication to the Library System.”

It is so frustrating because:

I typed up a three page cover letter/transfer request explaining my desire for the position.

I had two letters of recommendation from two teachers I respected and they respected me.

I wore a suit I bought for interviews.

I prepped for my interview by writing down questions I thought they may ask considering I remembered the questions from the interview two weeks ago and had a previous circulation interview and practiced being clear and calm with my boyfriend.

……………………

After the interview, I was told by a reputable source that they thought I improved 100 percent from my last interview two weeks prior.

I was also told it was a hard decision and they finally decided on a deciding factor – the interview and NOT education.

The person who got the job I desired is a librarian’s daughter.

I am not blaming nepotism or anything although it’s hard not to have my suspicions.

I am frustrated by the point that this person doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree and won over me.

I feel like of course she was more calm during the interview … she grew up in a library environment.

I did not; it’s not something I grew up into, but something I truly desire.

It feels wrong to lose to somebody with less education.

………………………….

My whole life growing up, teachers told me I need a college degree to get a good job.

My family told me college is very important.

My dad stressed that a college degree is the deciding factor for a job if two people are equally acceptable candidates.

Those are what I was told if I asked “What is the point of higher education?”

They were wrong.

Yes, I suppose there are the psychological reasons to being in college such as becoming more confident about who you are and personal satisfaction.

I had personal satisfaction doing well on hard-worked papers and writings and was brought to tears when a couple professors at the end of my senior year told me they were proud of me as I stood in a small classroom, presenting my Senior Thesis on Pan’s Laybrinth and theories of Foucalt in front of a group of seated students, visitors, and professors and trying my best not to shake and stutter from nervousness.

My professors were proud of me at that moment and told me again as I walked across the stage with my diploma, embracing me for possibly the last time I see them.

………………………………

Yes, she has more experience, working part time and volunteering at the library system during her whole life.

But it still bothers me.

Thankfully, I completed my degrees with mostly scholarships. I only have a few grand on my school loan left and I plan on paying that off with part of the large rebate check I should be getting for being a first-time homebuyer.

If I did not have academic scholarships and had a much larger school loan like my boyfriend, the pain would be worse because like most people, I am not a fan of wasting large amounts of money.

Unfortunately, rather than about education, obtaining a desired job seems to be based on who you know and presentation.

All about presenting yourself in one hour of your time.

Prep. Prep. Prep.

Still inevitable that I will be nervous around people I don’t know staring daggers at me and me intricately trying to form a response to their questions in words that they want to hear.

Which comes to who you know. People who know all of the library staff prior to interview will of course be more comfortable.

So I guess the main question is, have I wasted my time completing my bachelor’s degree?

…………………………..

Sure, I enjoyed college, meeting new friends, having enjoyable colleagues, having conversations with professors who love books as well, practicing writing, and reading excellent books I probably would not have thought to read otherwise.

But did I need it?

I could have practiced writing in a journal every night about things I read and experience.

I could have went to a library and browsed their fiction and nonfiction displays and pick out books from there.

Or read blogs and find books that are recommended on sites I enjoy and check those out as well.

I could have made new friends at library activities such as Poetry Jams, Poetry Slams, LAN parties, and much more.

To obtain the job I desire, theoretically I could have not completed a bachelor degree and instead volunteer and sub at libraries, and possibly obtain a part-time job at one while I lived with my parents.

My friend tells me I should apply again if an opportunity arises.

And work on my PRESENTATION.

I may consider it but it depresses me an awful lot that education wasn’t the deciding factor and presentation was.

………………………….

So higher education, what is the point?

You tricked me into believing that I could do anything I desired with my degree with perseverance.

Well I persevered and was better than three other candidates but in the end, my higher education was irrelevant.

My friend told me that she knows people with multiple degrees in higher education and still have not gotten a job they desire.

My friend also has said she has obtained a job as well over people with a higher education than her.

What about them?

The ones that have multiple degrees … and have wasted countless sums of money.

………………….

So higher education, what is the point?

I feel that there is none besides to create a sinkhole of depression for me (and others who have multiple degrees, have school loan debts, and others without those accomplishments win).

……………………

Nothing changes the fact that education wasn’t the deciding factor.

I am able to suspend my anger, frustration, stress, sadness, etc. while playing these games.

These games that I love consist of:

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequels

Dragon Age: Origins and its sequels

Neverwinter Nights 2

I love the fact that its so versatile and you can really do what you want in those games.

Choosing alignment of what kind of person you are, good evil, etc.

And even if you pick one, your alignment sways with what you say in conversation.

I love picking from a huge selection of what to say in the dialogue with anyone from main story points, to NPCs, to other party members.

And having what you say, have a cause and effect reaction.

I love how I can choose from a multitude of selections for feats and so on for my character.

I love these games so much because I am playing them as I really would if this other world were real.

And it feels real enough that I am choosing what I say, doing what I want, and picking and choosing everything.

They are my escape out of choices in one life into a life where I also have choices and consequences but I enjoy it and dream it is real.

I desire to work in the library system, keeping busy, picking out books to order, helping people, and being heavily involved in the community.

Sure, I can be shy at first. But I warm up. Soon I feel at home.

Felt that way at the Rocket-Miner. Super shy in both interviews.

I don’t try to be. I just feel all the pressure and the weight of every answer that comes out of my mouth leading to first impressions and immediate like or dislike.

Usually, I don’t care what people think. But then, I have to and want to say the exact things they want.

Maybe, I just suck at interviews. I even wore a suit I bought this time.

Don’t get me wrong, I love working with the newspaper. But I have a special place in my heart for libraries.

A whole room in my house is a library. I feel the importance of tangible books and the freedom of knowledge.

If I was able to work in the library system full time, I would continue my education.

I would obtain my masters in library science. (MLS).

I suppose I could while at the Rocket-Miner as well …

Although would be pointless to incur more debt if I don’t get a full-time job in the library system.

I have already taken my GRE so I know my score is high enough to apply for the progam.

It is just debatable.

The tone of this letter I got today was kind but nonetheless, a rejection letter …

Makes me want to try again sometime, because, hey why not …

My friend/Public Relations Librarian Janice encourages me.

Says that she knows people that were rejected eight times before getting a full-time job there.

I am only on rejection three I suppose so I shall try whenever an opening that I desire occurs.

At least I am on the substitute list so I get mailed all of the job ads that are internal.

Perhaps, I will be called upon to sub again this summer on Saturdays.

Here goes the body text of my letter word of word:

Dear Ashley: Thank you for your interest in the Sweetwater County Library Reference/ILL position and for taking the time to visit and interview. The entire interview team enjoyed talking to you. While you have many of the qualifications we are looking for, we have offered the position to another candidate and she has accepted. I encourage you to watch for future openings in the Sweetwater County Library System and to apply. Your application will be kept on file for six months. You only need to call the business office to activate. Best of Luck.

Interesting tone for a rejection letter … but still, I am a tad depressed about it.

I tried harder than I had previous, making a cover letter, wearing a suit, and asked a question when they asked if I had questions at the end when usually I don’t.

Maybe it just isn’t my time yet to be at the library.

Maybe it will never be my time at the library.

Maybe it’s my fate to take care of the Rocket-Miner.

Being its eye, trying my best to fix all mistakes.

I feel the weight of its importance; I am dearly needed.

People tell me the newspaper is much better with me there.

It is noticeable apparently.

I just wish I had a computer at my desk and then I could write when bored at work

And research ideas from the Internet.

I just don’t want to beg for a computer and rather wish it was given to me instead.

As just a random surprise one day in that matter.

Perhaps I could start a column.

Maybe be a food critic like in Ratatouille … although I’m not a food expert.

Any ideas, let me know.

I’m a boring person and don’t really do any extracurricular activities.

Hmm … I like books, role-playing games, anime, dragons, cats, all wild animals especially wild cats, reading the news, discoveries in science (all branches of science: astronomy, geology, evolution, biology, etc.), and eating food.

I was a young blond girl, nearing the end of age ten.

I wanted a puppy to take care of and give my love.

My brother was my pretend puppy for a while.

I had a robe sash “leash” on him and told him to go “ruff, ruff”

Needless to say, this did not cause my mom or my brother to smile.

But I wanted a real live dog so I scanned every daily classified ad.

We looked at Shi Tzu puppies but we didn’t much care for those.

Then was an ad for Shetland Sheepdogs/Sheltie puppies found by my dad.

Dad and I drove out to the country to look at the four week old pups.

Three were mostly black like their mother, Rascal, but not the one I chose.

She was mostly brown like her father, Rowdy; so small now … just little lumps.

We could not take her home yet until another two weeks when she was six weeks old.

I was so excited, I could not stop dreaming of playing with her and taking her to talent shows

I planned on teaching her a multitude of tricks and her doing everything that she is told.

We even got a deal one her too since he was sable and not tri-colored like the rest.

But being the cheapest puppy did not mean she wouldn’t be the best.

After the monetary item and the doll from the 1960s, she became Penny Brite.

So small at six weeks, watching her crawl under the coffee table was quite a sight.

She slept in my room and I took her outside teaching her to use the grass as her toilet

I was diligent in cleaning up, pooper scooper ready, even as her business was still wet.

She learned very fast, barely having any accidents in the house at all

Penny loved to play; she was good at playing fetch with her favorite ball.

We also played hide and go seek where we would both start off in the garage and I would leave her in and close the  door

And I would run and try to find a place to hide fast as Penny would leave the other way finding me and eager for more.

The summer flew by fast and soon it was time for me to go back to school and finish Heart River with the sixth grade

Little Penny did not understand and howled like a coyote as I left and she stared – looking for her Ashley – waiting to see.

And return I did every morning through the back door walking home and all of Penny’s sadness would fade.

One day, Penny slipped out the backyard and without me knowing, went to the school to find me.

What a surprise that was to be in the schoolyard and my puppy coming toward the playground

There she found me among all my friends spinning each other on the merry-go-round.

I scooped her up in my arms, took her back home,  and told her not to follow me anymore

I promised her that I would always come home to play with her after I was done with my school day.

Every day at about 3 pm, I would rush home and Penny would always be waiting excitedly by the door.

Little by little, her snout grew longer, markings changed, and her hair was no longer short like back in May.

The claws of this beast come.

Not certain exactly how.

Coming closer to stop airways.

So fast now almost within days.

Creating a huge lump on his neck.

This is an escalating interstate wreck.

Then the drugs come of ABVD.

It’s said that cancer claws will leave.

But immune system will be shot.

At least cancer claws were caught…

ABVD may cause hair loss as well

This is like entering a living hell.

ABVD may kill idea of little ones

But cancer should be killed off by their guns

My brother is awesomely amazing.

Avid football fan, college freshman, just eighteen.

I wish I never had to leave his side.

I wish this was all a dream and could just hide.

I hope he’ll get through this although the next 12 months will be rough.

But for him I will be where he is when he wants  just to be with him showing my love.

She was asleep in a simple sort of boat.

Darkness enveloped the sky around her

With the exception of the twinkling of a multitude of stars

There was no land to be seen from any angle

She was lost but surviving somehow

Watching…waiting for some sort of sign or signal

Days passed. So did weeks.

Soon months passed as well.

Some days the water was filled with tranquility.

Some days waves crashed upon her knocking her over.

Surviving somehow, she didn’t know what for.

For whatever reason, her eyes opened suddenly

The stars twinkled about her

But there was something else

A light house…a sign?…a signal?

Should she follow the light?

Or would it be better to only have the stars above?

While she pondered this thought,

The shadow of a young man appeared.

She veered at him on the shore

And wondered if he was alone as well.

Like pages from a book

It sways from one direction to another

There is no planned agenda at all

Never knows where to go next

Where does one go next?

There is no precise plan

But whatever one chooses

Is there a correct and incorrect path?

What if both paths appear welcoming?

Wyoming wind chooses both directions…

But if this is not possible, what then?

If only life was easy like the wind

Rather, Seclusion is so inviting

Escaping from everything

Residing alongside my laptop

Was my favorite class.

Unfortunately, I am not featured so talked into a microphone very nervously for nothing. Oh well. Actually a reference to lying and fear are mentioned so that could be an indirect reference to me. They are good reportings nonetheless. They start from news articles and then the different sites and blogs that have picked up on it become quite interesting…

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wpr/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1277164

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0515/p20s01-woam.html

http://www.topix.com/city/laramie-wy/2008/05/creative-writing-for-extraterrestrials

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4873966&page=1

http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=1879

http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2008/05/nasa_funds_girl.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/1989062/Nasa-sponsors-course-on-how-to-talk-to-aliens.html

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/20/what-would-you-say-to-et/#comment-21032

http://www.ourstrangeworld.net/?p=12310

http://www.alienmindbook.org/ <– This author contacted my professor notifying him that he had read about our class

The number of weeks until graduation is now just one
I will be so glad when all of my tests and papers are done

On Friday my greatest loved ones will come
Perhaps I’ll celebrate with some Malibu and rum

Now I must stop my procrastination and write
Although can’t seem to find my Inspiration Light

Then on Thursday I will be officially done
And then will be able to have worry free fun

That night is the English department dinner
Where perhaps I will feel as if I’m a winner

And I’ll play WoW and joyously celebrate
As for my guests, I patiently and excitedly wait

Tap Tap Tap goes my laptop keys
For my professors I must please

As I listen to my music and daydream
Of me and my cat leveling up as a team

And of seeing James! among other happy things
Besides a multitude of well-earned dings!

Now enough procrastination already
Soon will also see my best friend Lee

The number of weeks until graduation is now just one
I will be so glad when next weekend I have lots of fun

Humans and their Masks

Dear E.T.,

I need to make a confession about my species.

Humans lie.

A lie is a statement or allusion to something untrue that is meant to deceive someone.

A primary human weakness is that everybody feels that they are forced into lying.

Some lies have negative intentions while others have positive intentions.

A couple common reasons that people lie are to gain power and to please others.

This confession of humans lying bothers me.

I have a friend, Rick Stotts, who has written a blog concerning this subject.

Immediately, my reaction was anger but then I realized I was angry because I knew the validity of this truth.

So I must tell you the truth about lying…

For example, corporations lie in order to convince people to buy their products. Each company says that their product is the best although there can be only one “best”. When I am shopping for food, each cardboard box of crackers claims to be the most nutritious and the tastiest. I grab the one which I believe is the “best” even when the other boxes exclaim that their product contains even better crackers. These boxes along with all other advertisements are masks. They hide the reality that they are not the best but the market forces them to deceive us.

Workers within these companies lie. They must sell the product within their store as effectively as possible. I know from first hand experience. I work at Hastings which is a store that sells entertainments such as books, music, movies, and video games. The store must meet a certain amount of sales or else workers will be unable to work very many hours. I want to sell as much as I can, so I convince customers to buy what they are interested in. Workers at every job put on a mask. Even if they are not happy, they put on a mask with a pleasant demeanor in order to create a pleasant environment for the customers that promote sales.

Many females of my species wear make up. Make up is decoration upon one’s face to appear attractive or different. Some females wear a small amount while others wear an abundance, creating exotic appearances. Make up has the possibility of creating instant beauty and desire. In essence, wearing make up is lying because one is lying about what they look like by wearing a mask.

When children are about five years old, Machiavellian intelligence is introduced into their lives. This is a concept in psychology that describes how children begin to be capable of lying convincingly. Previously, children do not realize that there is more than one point of view. When they understand that more than one point of view is acceptable, they are able to tell lies to avoid punishments. When children first learn about lying, they may tell unbelievable lies that are impossible since they may not understand that their concept is impossible. Also, children do not initially understand that lying hurts people…hurting primarily in an emotional sense. But as they grow older, they learn by observing people around them.

Children lie to please their parents and to keep away from trouble and chaos. Some lie if they had a bad day because they do not want to be questioned. Some lie to protect their privacy for children are taught to not answer direct questions from an unknown person about where they live among other personal details. Some humans are dangerous and lying is necessary for protection. Children may like to keep away disappointment or trouble to themselves from their parents. When asked if a child did well on a project, he or she may reply with a “yes” even if this is not the truth to avoid bringing disappointment to their parents for the time being. Children may also commit crimes or disobey parents causing them to lie as well. I hope that not all children feel that it is necessary to lie to their authority figures such as their parents. But I know many that feel it is necessary at times. Adults also lie to their children. They may lie to them about fidelity with their mother, their amount of money, or their tainted past to name a few examples. Children put on a mask for their parents so that their parents will be pleased with them but like the children, the parents put on a mask for their children to gain a higher degree of approval as well.

In the past, I have lied to my family in order for them to stay pleased with me when I know my course of action will disappoint them. My mask is nearby.

Similar to a child not wanting to be questioned, some people lie in order to put aside conversation and to be left alone. Somebody may be having a bad day and when inquired if they are doing well, may say “yes” in order to avoid any more interaction.

When somebody is already having a bad day and makes dinner, the recipient may lie and say the food is delicious when it really isn’t in order to allow the cook a moment of happiness at least. When a person works very hard to look nice or create something attractive, a person might lie to make the other feel that the labor was worthwhile. We protect one another’s feelings with lies. We call these white lies because they have good intentions. While still a lie intending to deceive someone, these lies cause positive emotions rather than negative.

Most human societies have created ethical, religious, or legal codes against lying. When one human is discovered to have lied, he or she may not be considered trustworthy again. That person may lose close interaction with other humans…humans called friends.

Lying could be said to be a part of evolution in a way.

When species evolve, they develop strategies to give them an advantage in life.

Some insects pretend to be leaves or sticks.

Some change color to blend in with the environment such as chameleons.

Some pretend to be dangerous by mimicking others such as the Viceroy Butterfly appearing to be a Monarch Butterfly.

Lying has the possibility for giving humans an advantage in life by allowing them to be desirable when they would normally not be.

Desirable for financial purposes: lying to gain that better job to receive more money.

Desirable for sexual purposes: lying to gain affection to feel loved or to just have physical contact with a lover just for one night.

Some lie in order to enjoy what they want and have freedom such as lying to their boss by feigning sickness. I admit I have done this in the past because I wanted a break from the chaos of my job.

Politicians will lie about certain subjects or not tell the entire truth so that they will become elected and powerful. Also, as people rise up in companies, they may lie in order to gain power.

Lying gives humans power above others who believe the lies since the liar knows the truth while the listener only believes what is false. But once one is discovered lying, all of their power can be completely lost. So lying is a risk. Some are caught while some are not. And the size and nature of the lie matters; small lies by politicians and others are often considered part of their role.

Lying is like watching a performance and believing in the veracity of a character. But once the character’s mask is removed, the validity of the story is forever removed. We feel hurt and disappointed. Possibly even angry. People kill one another over lies.

Like actual masks, some lies are believable while some are just silly and impossible to conceptualize. If they are truly absurd, we may not even consider them a lie but a tall tale, which makes us laugh rather than become angry. Rather, they are used for entertainment because these deceptions are so obvious. An example of a tall tale is when somebody tells a story about a massive fish that was caught that could not possibly be true. Some masks, also like lies, are transparent while others are not.

Lies that are transparent to adults are used upon children when they do not understand the transparency. Examples are Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. Those three creatures do not exist but are told to children that they exist in order to make seemingly boring days of Christmas, Easter, and days when baby teeth are lost into something exciting. Adults could easily replace the role of the mythical creatures but they do not. Instead, the adults enact the roles but still tell children that these creatures exist. When the children become adults, they laugh at this tall tale because they realize the obvious deception.

I feel that it is important that you know one of the prominent flaws of humanity. I want you to know our flaws. We are not perfect. Nobody is. But is lying a defect that humanity shouldn’t contain? Should humans feel comfortable removing their masks? Perhaps not…because not all lies are harmful such as white lies to prevent harm and lies that are said when one is not yet ready for the entire truth such as when a small child inquires about death when a family member dies or where babies come from.

Some people believe it is not possible to live in a society without lies. They believe lying is necessary for happiness. This is similar to the movie The Matrix where each human lives a lie constructed by computers. But when some realize they are living a lie, they regret this knowledge and realize that ignorance is bliss. Perhaps only a few have enough strength to hear only the truth and accept it.

Could a society without lies remain possible? Perhaps this would only work if we only asked what we wanted to honestly know. Humans would be unhappy if others passed by them and told them what they honestly thought such as that they were ugly or stupid. So perhaps a happy society is not capable without lies.

Although humans are liars, this does not mean we are an abominable race. We are insecure about ourselves so we lie to protect our delicate self image or to protect others from harm of the truth. We may lie to you and say that we have great accomplishments and not tell you about their negative drawbacks such as our energy resources that unfortunately cause large amounts of pollution, our economy that creates wealth but it is an unequal distribution causing few to have far too much than they need while many lead difficult lives striving for necessities, and religions that generate compassion while simultaneously leading to prejudice against others leading to wars lasting far too long.

Come to Earth. Write to us. I can’t promise that the human you next hear from will be honest.

But forgive our need to please while wearing masks.

We are afraid of not being great or even merely acceptable to you without a mask sometimes.

Do you ever wear a mask?

Would you tell us?

Could we even be sure?

This is a piece that was inspired by an assignment in my American Studies “Culture of Nature” class. We had to design our own perspective of what the word nature means. I enjoyed this assignment because I discovered my own insights of what I thought the word meant. This also led me to wonder how the perspectives of nature would differ for an ET. I realize that the concept of nature is different for each person but I wonder just how different nature would be for ET. Would they even have a concept of Nature? By the time I was finished, it turned from a piece about Nature into a piece of Escaping. Hence….

Escaping

Dear ET, one of my favorite activities in life is to escape to Nature. Perhaps the concept of Nature is totally foreign to you. But I would like to share with you what I mean about Nature because it is an important concept to me and many other humans as well. If you don’t feel the same way about organic matter, it would be interesting to compare and contrast our differing perspectives.

I tell myself that Nature is everything, since each item has a bit of Nature as a foundation. For example, I am using my laptop and drinking out of an aluminum pop can. These objects are not natural objects meaning that I can not find them alone somewhere untainted by humans. Humans did not create these objects. But at their simplest level they are made of elements from Nature such as aluminum, silicon, and petroleum to form these man made objects. I can not judge these objects as totally apart from Nature since all of their elemental components originated from pure Nature. When I say pure Nature, I mean what is not created by humans. Many times humans harm the environment such as taking organic material away from its natural environment by cutting down too many trees or emitting harmful substances into the environment. You may wonder if humans are a part of Nature as well, since we are biological creatures like the animals around us. Yes, but we are unlike other biological creatures. Some people kill other biological creatures intentionally without permission such as shooting a deer out of season which means the incorrect time to shoot deer. This is called poaching. But not all humans are like this. Some hunt and fish for specified animals when they are permitted. The animals could be used for food and clothing. Sometimes fish are released after caught because humans just love the thrill of the catch. Humans also may sit back quietly and enjoy observing animals within Nature without touching them at all.

Do you eat other biological creatures and if not, how do you gain energy? Some people do not want animals harmed and become vegetarians or vegans. But plans are also biological creatures as well. So if humans did not eat any biological creature, they would die.

Humans kill other humans and other species that they consider lesser beings. Humans kill other humans in war because they have a desire to obtain something they don’t have. Often, these other humans are considered lesser beings as well since the more important matter at stake are the prizes of war including land, oil, water, food, or minerals. Minerals such as aluminum that creates my pop can. Could a war have been fought for this aluminum?

Many times, this desire is for more land or natural resources that they do not have or want more of. So Nature is the basis for the deaths of many. Humans generally believe that they can conquer Nature and want to claim all that Nature provides for our own purposes. Since many humans believe that they can do what they please with the planet around them, they feel that they can use animals, plants, and microbes anyway they like to their benefit as well. These species are eaten but this is not surprising since humans are omnivores. But these creatures are also used for clothing and scientific experiments as well. Many animals are killed simply because humans believe that too many of them exist and they compete with us or interfere with out lives.

How do you treat other species, if any, on your own planet?

But not all humans are intent on corrupting nature for their own benefit. Many are strong believers of leaving nature as it was in its untainted state. Nature is everywhere and should not be taken for granted since it may be so easily damaged by us. Some find intrinsic value in Nature. These people find comfort and peace here where they able to find a place where they the only human for miles. Others are concerned about conserving and protecting the practical value such as production of oxygen, water cleansing, attempting to decrease the hole in the ozone layer, and trying to “fix” global warming.

Are there natural resources on your planet? If so, how do you use them? Do you preserve, conserve, or simply consume them?

I do not think that that industrialization, making aluminum cans for example for I could not drink my refreshing pop, could cease completely but we must be careful in how it effects the environment. I think that Nature should be respected. Some cultures of human beings, such as Native Americans, revere the environment because Nature is seen as an elder to us human beings…like a mother…Mother Nature. Native Americans believe themselves to be connected with Nature and that all lies in balance. They do not believe they are at the top of a hierarchy. We are all merely citizens of our planet: Earth.

Are you like the Native Americans who believe everything is connected and valuable or do you believe that your species is in charge of your planet?

As humans are young, we are continuously taught to treat our elders with respect. Well, I view Nature as one of these elders that we need to treat with respect. Nature was here before the evolution of humankind. Nature was here from the beginning of Earth’s creation as a planet. Humans did not arrive until billions of years later. In this way, humans are Nature’s children and Nature is our mother. Humans were created by events unfolding in the world around us. As we evolved, Nature took care of us by providing food, drink, and shelter. Finally when humans industrialized, many humans had the strange belief that Nature wasn’t necessary anymore. But this would be like shunning and killing one’s own mother. We forgot that even our creations depended on extracting material from Nature and also depositing our trash here as well. For instance, aluminum is mined, creates my pop can, and is ideally recycled. As Nature took care of humans in the past, humans should take care of Nature as well through a reciprocal relationship.

Did your species evolve many years later after the creation of your planet? Were you always there or is your planet a second home to you? Does your planet have mothers? If not, how do you form? Do you form as a part of your natural environment as well?

The Riverside Greenbelt is a walking path next to a stream surrounded by plant life. This is a human constructed area, similar to a garden, but I enjoy being near what is growing in the soil even if it did not always grow there. Some of the plants are native as well. This “garden” is like human society: mixed with what is native and manually constructed. As plants have roots in the soil, I feel as I have roots in the Earth and will flourish if my planet is just like the plants. They will only flourish if their soil is taken care of. But I do not mean this in an individualistic sense. Instead, I mean it in a collective sense. Personally, I will surely survive if I do not take care of the planet around me. But if every human felt the same way, humans among other creatures will suffer. Earth will probably live on since it has survived billions of years. It may not be the same Earth but it will continue orbiting the sun. But it could an Earth that is difficult for us to endure.

Do you fear that your species will cause your planet’s destruction? Do you regulate the use of your resources so that your planet will stay suitable for your existence in the times to come?

As I walk along the Riverside Greenbelt a block away from my Laramie home, I feel at peace. Nature is my true mother; in a sense Nature gave birth to me through evolution that gave rise to my species. As I walk along the path, I find discarded plastic bottles and aluminum cans….among other small pieces of trash from apathetic human beings who do not understand that Nature is their mother. If others knew that Nature was their mother as well, they would not throw trash upon her like she was worthless. I walk over to the littered ground, pick up the Cola can which I crush and bring home so it can be recycled without having to dig further in the Earth as would have happened if I had only placed it in the garbage can. At least the river alongside me is safe for now. While at home, I try to take care of my Mother as well such as recycling and reusing much of my trash. I close my eyes and dream of a world as it should be with humans a part of nature without tainting it. There would be efficient regulations to keep industries from contaminating the water, air, and soil. There would be one rule regarding Nature: The Golden Rule. One would always ask if one was treating Nature as if how they would like to be treated. This perfect world may never happen but I am hopeful that progress can be made to create a less tainted Nature. Perfection is impossible and small harms are better than large harms. For instance, when fewer pollutants are emitted, this isn’t perfection but this small instance causes us to be better than we once were. We can always be better. Maybe it’s a bad idea to strive for perfection since nothing is perfect. Humans make mistakes such as harming the environment too much intentionally but we must learn from those mistakes. Creatures make mistakes too, revealing their camouflage, giving them the potential to be eaten soon. But these creatures learn from these mistakes as well. Not even in Nature is there perfection.

Is your planet clean? Is it dirty? If it’s clean, how do you take care of it? Will you help humans take care of our planet as well?

Many strive to leave society for some time so as to find Nature as a way of discovering themselves and the peace that it brings. I enjoy camping in the wilderness, fishing, and walking in Nature away from society. I understand as I step into wild Nature that danger from other animals and weather are possible. But this danger is necessary because this means that I am a part of Nature rather than the ruler of Nature and its creatures in a hierarchal chain of being. I am one with Nature. I am a child walking alongside my mother. She may not always be actively there for my protection but I understand that she is always there to welcome me with open arms as the trees and leaves sway in the wind beckoning me away from the paved road that brought me to the edge of pure Nature. I am capable of feeling that there is still a part of Earth untainted by humankind and pure. And this gives me a peace of mind knowing that if we are cautious and attentive there will always be a part of Nature that is original and not manipulated by humans.

If your planet has troubles with the environment, do you ever have a desire to escape as well? If you want to escape, what are your reasons?

When stars fill the night sky, I feel as if I want to escape into the cosmos. I want to travel away from the Earth and its problems. I know this isn’t a viable solution but the desire is always there. When I was younger, I visited family in Houston where we visited the NASA Space Museum. I was and still am intrigued with the prospect of traveling to other planets or even just outer space to a space station. This is the ultimate escape from society and into Nature. Outer space is not polluted or damaged by humans. I want to escape into outer space and see Earth through a window…maybe Nature will appear smaller and more fragile than I ever imagined. I wanted to travel to space as a career but wasn’t sufficiently motivated given the extensive work involved training to be an astronaut. In addition, I feel that this venture is too dangerous, especially being in my car listening to the radio on February 1^st, 2003 as Columbia STS-107 lost its passengers. If I felt safe leaving the realms of Earth, I would definitely escape…

Now I watch imaginative stories acted out by people about meeting a variety of alien species in outer space and for the most part getting along. I have a desire for this world to be real. I want to escape the troubles of my planet – the wars caused by the fighting over Nature. This is not abandoning my Mother because she may be extended to include the universe since my planet was created from this universe as well. So the Universe could be my Grandmother since Earth was somehow once created from this vast space. I want to escape in the arms of Grandmother Universe and find a species that I am able to communicate with somehow.

Does your species have wars among each other as well? Or are you a peaceful species? Is war inevitable to all species? Do you want to leave your planet too?

E

S

C

A

P

E

Escape into the depths of the planet…..

Escape into Nature where there are no humans….

Escape from the feelings of my species…..

Escape into a space ship…..

Escape into outer space……..

Why is the feeling of escape always present, even when I thought I have already escaped?

I have escaped my family and moved to Laramie to gain an education.

Now I want to escape Laramie once I graduate shortly.

Perhaps human beings seek to communicate with you because they desire to escape the boundaries of our home planet. Perhaps it is human nature to escape in order to be free. First we escape to untainted Nature and then we just want to escape further and further. We want to have freedom. In society we are have limits. There are laws guiding us what we can and cannot do. But the most important limit upon us is money. Money is what leads us with a desire to escape since money creates boundaries among people on Earth. In space there is no money so we would be free to escape. I’m sure it would cost money to leave the Earth’s atmosphere but money is what we desire to escape from. There is no money in space. There are no boundaries in space. There are possibilities to go anywhere.

Is your species bored with your planet? Do you like your planet? Will you help us escape our boundaries and find some place new although we are never satisfied with what we want? Will you forgive our craziness of never being completely satisfied? Are you ever completely satisfied? If you are, what causes your satisfaction? If not, what do you crave? Will you help us to be happy?

The song Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry was important enough to be included on the Voyager message into space. I desire to tell ET what us as humans experience while hearing the same. Perhaps ET will feel the same way. But if not, at least he, she, or it will know how we express ourselves when we hear this music.

As you listen to this song, imagine a moment of happiness. Singing along with enthusiasm no matter how horrible you believe your voice to be, for we are rather self-conscious about our voices.

Catchy Phrases – easy to sing along with. Causes you to feel in control and feel comfortable in

knowing the words. This knowledge frees one’s resistance to dance, for we are also rather

self-conscious of our bodies as well.

Dancing. Moving your arms, legs, hips, any part of your body as if it doesn’t matter if others may think you look silly. Some dancers appear synchronized with the rhythm while others do not. Dancing with long time friends, new friends, acquaintances, family, lovers, and hopeful lovers as well. Rush of nervousness but mostly an overwhelming sense of excitement.

No fear. Just a desire to have fun – leaving behind all other emotions such as anger, stress, frustration, and sadness, even if it only lasts for the duration of this short song.

I find this song impossible to not move a part of my body to, even if it simply nodding my head or tapping my foot back and forth. The music enters my body and releases me from myself. I become free. I am an individual without concern of what others think of me.

Music = Safe Intoxication. Like consuming alcohol, we lose control and may dance as well without concern of what others will think of us. Unlike consuming alcohol, music will not physically harm or kill you. Perhaps just emotionally if people tell you that you are a bad dancer or singer. But being a bad dancer or singer is much safer than drinking too much.

DaNcInG

Little movements. Large elaborate movements.

There are no rules. Sure, many dances have rules. But they are not strictly enforced…there are no dance police. Also unlike alcohol, there is no limit to how much you are allowed to dance, especially before driving. So move your body any way you want. Any way the music directs you. No pressure. No cause for feeling of worry. You are not the only one looking silly. Everyone does…so nobody does. Each person is dancing in their own unique manner.

Dancing is fun because everyone is moving they way they want to.

Without restrictions physically and mentally.

FREE!!!

This piece was inspired by an in-class exercise describing a human condition. I am assuming ET does not know what Fear is and what it means to experience this feeling. I am not describing what fear feels like but rather what fear is.

The Paradox of Fear

What does it mean to have fear?

Humans may say they are afraid of an assortment of circumstances:

Being at the edge of cliff

Falling and not being able to catch oneself

In an amusement park ride roller coaster just before “the big drop”

Swimming in a vast body of water with the potential to lose oxygen and drown

Alone in a new house when the power has just gone out

Stepping into dark corridors

Becoming sick with a disease that is difficult to cure such as cancer

Thinking one hears voices while next to a campfire while nobody else should be around

Supernatural events such as ghosts

A spider crawling on the surface of a bathtub

Snakes slithering in the garden near the garden hose

Receiving lower grades than expected or even failing

Not being able to find love

Unable to have children

Of losing loved ones – friends and family

Becoming lost – physically without a map and mentally without an idea of where to go next

Living a life without a job that brings contentment and or success

Having little money and unable to support oneself as well as a family without help

Some may seem like silly reasons to have fear but each one causes a person to feel that they have no control.

One has fear when there is no control of a particular situation.

Some gain fear when they are alone because they do not believe that they are capable of controlling the situation whatever may come on their own.

Some do not have fear while alone. They are capable of being in control themselves.

Fear leads people to perform actions that they would not normally do:

Screaming

Running

Urinating oneself

Fainting

Increase of Heartbeat

Fast Paced Breathing

Submission

Sacrifices

Fear allows control by others. Some recognize a factor of fear and use this recognition to control the lives of others.

Institutions created by humans use fear to maintain their power.

Retirement Accounts

Health Insurance

Pet Insurance

Life Insurance

Necessary Automobile Insurance

Social Security

Military Forces

Wiretapping

Spying

“News” Networks

Radio programs

Television programs

Airport Security

Torturing

Governments use fear to prevent an uprising of the people that the government controls. People afraid of the future put their trust in a government that says that they will erase their fears.

The government may or may not be honest but nonetheless, people find it necessary to believe in them since they have a need to feel a sense of control.

Many religious institutions also effectively use the fear of people as a sense of control. Long ago, humans were afraid of natural events such and said that these came from gods.

Rain

Droughts

Floods…especially large floods resulting in a story about a flood that covered the world in “Noah’s Ark”

Disease

Lightning

Storms

Earthquakes

Volcanoes

Plentiful Harvests

Sterile men and or women

Once these events had a superior being in charge, the people were less afraid because they believed somebody to be in control.

Primarily, many religious institutions are used to control the fear of death. Nobody wants to die although it is inevitable. With this death, no one wants to lose control of their mind. Religious institutions ease this fear.

Salvation

Heaven

Purgatory

Hell

Reincarnation

Release

United

Together with lost loved ones

Life is only a journey to life after death

Possibility of a Better Place

Therefore no fear of death

Fear is caused by the loss of control.

Fear is used to control others.

The paradox of fear.

I am telling ET what Heartbreak feels like in terms of chemical reactions. Being not a chemist and familiar with water, I chose to relate Heartbreak to the different states of water in hopes that ET would understand this complex emotion.

Heartbroken is a feeling that is comparable to ice melting. Prior to being heartbroken, one feels stable and solid like a block of ice. But when heartbreak occurs, it is like hot water is wrongfully poured on this ice block. The ice almost instantaneously begins to melt. This melting is what a human’s mind feels when heartbroken. There is no longer a sense of stability for the ice block or human mind. Like it will take time for the water to become ice again, it will take time for the human mind to feel solid again and willing to open up to other relationships as firm as the ice block used to be.

Newton’s First Law: a body at rest will stay at rest or continue at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force (use as metaphor for sex). I wrote a short poem about the fulfillment of a body at rest being acted upon by an external force.

On her side, she reads her textbook

Almost over – 20 more ridiculous pages

He slides next to her

Brushes her hair with his soft hands

Kisses her gently on the forehead

Her heart beat races

Her breathing stalls

She flips another page

She doesn’t want to feel easy

But she loves being touched

She can not hold back

She turns her neck

Their lips meet

Touching all over

Caressing bodies

Desire to be intertwined

Desire to be in motion as one

Her rest was interrupted

But there is no desire for rest now.

Emotions fully charged

Fulfillment of being wanted

Fulfillment of being desired

English 4600

Susan Aronstein

5-1-2008

Recovery Power of Spirited Away

Many works of Japanese animation – anime – contain fantastical elements and often contain a primary and secondary world within. Thinking of anime that I merely own, I can share a couple examples. One anime, titled Fruits Basket, is about a teenage girl named Tohru who is taken in by the Sohma family who is changed into their zodiac animal when a member of the opposite sex embraces them. While initially appearing to be an ordinary drama with comic elements, fantasy elements are introduced. The fantasy serves as an important role in the story as well. While not physically in a secondary world, the Sohma family could be said to be a secondary world since they inhibit a curse marking them rather different from the rest of the society that could be said to be the primary world. Another example is the anime Inuyasha which has a few hundred episodes and movies as well. Like Tohru, Kagome is a seemingly normal teenage girl in Japan. There is an ancient well in the yard of her family. She inadvertently falls down the well and finds herself in a physical secondary world. While not a completely different world, this new place is in the time of feudal Japan among warring factions and permeated with demons. She befriends a few others in this secondary world and ventures on a quest. But she travels back and forth with the well causing much interaction between a primary and secondary world. There are also much anime films in the spirit of fantasy and other worlds, my favorite being Spirited Away. Hayao Miyazaki, director of Spirited Away, creates interaction between a primary and secondary world in the eyes of a young girl. This interaction causes many changes to occur and shows the power of what fantasy can bring. While I would love to explore all the anime series I love such as Fruits Basket and Inuyasha as well, I have chosen to singly explore Spirited Away because besides possibly ending up inadvertently writing a book, Spirited Away shows how one benefits from fantasy and gains consolation and recovery.

In the beginning of the film, a young girl by the name of Chihiro is traveling in a small vehicle with her parents because they are moving to a new neighborhood. Chihiro is clearly apathetic as she is shown lying on the back seat without any safety belt and is clutching a good-bye card from one of her classmates. She is yet unable to find any positive effects of the move but is only able to discern negative effects such as being away from her classmates. As her parents drive, they pass a series of shrines. Chihiro’s eyes increase in size with wonder. When she asks her mother the meaning of these structures, her mother replies by saying, “Some people think little spirits live there.” Since she replies with the word “some”, this indicates to me that she isn’t included showing that she has lost the traditional values of Japan. The family finds themselves lost in front of a tunnel leading to an abandoned theme park and venture inside. Chihiro feels that this is not acceptable but her parents push her away and regard her as acting ridiculous. They cross a dry river bed and discover a bunch of abandoned carnival stands. But one appears to not be abandoned. While there is no person or figure of any kind in this booth, there is an abundance of delicious food. Although the viewer can not physically smell the food, the visual imagery of the food and animations of heat rising cause the mind to imagine this great smelling irresistible food. While Chihiro resists temptation and attempts to plead with her parents to resist as well, her parents again brush her off and indulge in their appetites and temptations. Her father tries to calm Chihiro telling her, “Don’t worry. You got Daddy here…He’s got credit cards and cash.” Since they have money, there is not much concern for Chihiro’s behalf. Excess materialism has seemed to replace Japanese tradition. While there is no longer a belief in the little spirit houses seen on the side of the road, there is a certainly a belief in money. As lovers of immediate excess materialism, Chihiro’s parents remind me of Edmund from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because Edmund immediately indulges himself in Turkish Delights from the White Witch without thinking of any further consequences besides immediate satisfaction caused by those Turkish Delights. While Chihiro goes against her parents by not indulging herself as well, this independence away from materialism saves her life.

Chihiro wanders away and finds a seemingly normal boy named Haku who tells her, “You shouldn’t be here. Get out of here now.” While yet unaware that she has encountered a secondary world, boundaries between the primary and secondary world are being established. Humans like her do not belong in this strange area that her and her family has encountered. A bit confused, she returns to her parents to encourage them to leave as well but they are still eating and have turned into pigs as well. Without the ability to speak, her parents squeal and appear as if they have forgotten they were ever human. Ghostly apparitions begin to appear as well. Chihiro is then justifiably afraid and attempts to return the way they came. But this task is found to be impossible since the dry river bed that they crossed has suddenly been filled with water. A ferry is seen crossing the river filled with ghostly apparitions as well. Chihiro sits at this newly created river band and cries because she believes that there isn’t anything that she is capable of doing and tries to convince herself that this is a dream. After all, she started her day off moving to a new house and was now suddenly seeing ferries full of ghostly apparitions. Chihiro begins to repeatedly say aloud, “I’m dreaming! I’m dreaming! It’s just a dream.” But this secondary world is not a dream. J.R.R. Tolkien would not have considered this fantasy if it was a dream either. As Chihiro opens her eyes, she finds her body appearing to disappear as well to become like the ghostly apparitions. She is an intruder onto this secondary world and needs a purpose or capability so stay. Haku finds Chihiro on the river bank and comforts her and gives her a piece of food from the secondary world. Chihiro is a bit afraid since well her parents turned into pigs after eating food from this secondary world. But unlike delicious appearing and smelling food, what Chihiro receives from Haku is more like a ball of medicine. By her facial expression, the viewer is able to tell that this is not a pleasing food at all. In addition to almost becoming invisible, Chihiro’s body has become rigid but this is easily fixed with an incantation by Haku. This rigidness of her body could be taken as a metaphor of how Chihiro is apathetic and selfish in the beginning regarding her move.

There is a bridge that Haku and Chihiro must use to access the bath house but if a human breathes during the crossing, their appearance is revealed. Chihiro fails at this task and as seen as an intruder. Humans are looked down upon in this secondary world and they are thought to have a horrible smell. This secondary world is full of ancient Japanese tradition. Bath houses were once all over Japan as a way to cleanse oneself physically and spiritually. But as modernization increased, these bath houses have almost disappeared. Chihiro is a product of this modernity and is initially rejected by members of tradition. She is later accepted into this community when she grows as a person by accepting traditional values of Japan such as not putting herself first and having confidence. After escaping from the bath house, Haku gives Chihiro a mission. She must travel by way of numerous stairs to the boiler room to find Kamajii to give her a job. Chihiro continues to sigh while travelling down the stairs and ends up falling, along with screaming into the wall. Her wariness leads to extreme nervousness leading to her stumble perhaps. When Chihiro encounters Kamajii in the boiler room, his employed workers consist of magically transformed soot. The soot was transformed into little black puff balls with arms, legs, and eyes. These soot balls are immediately seen as cute and a secondary world critter that a human from the primary world or viewer could perhaps relate to; they reminded me of black cotton balls with movable eyes from a craft store. As Chihiro watches the soot balls hard at work, one of them drops a rock on its way to the boiler. Automatically, Chihiro goes over to help it displaying her sympathy. She then performs the task for the soot ball, leading to the rest of the soot balls desiring for Chihiro to complete their tasks as well. It is impossible for Chihiro to help all of them so she must learn to pick and choose who to help. The soot balls are already a large group that helps one another even if it isn’t immediately clear. They do not need help from another world to perform their duties. While the prospect of a job may seem modern and materialistic in nature, this is not what a job for Chihiro is meant for. Chihiro has no desire to earn money at this job or earn materialistic commodities. Rather the only purpose for Chihiro in wanting a job is to escape the secondary world eventually and to save her parents. While being forced to do the dirtiest work at the bath house, Chihiro learns that having a job shouldn’t be about money and the ability to access more excess materialism. Rather, a job, no matter what it entails, should be focused on helping out one’s particular group – in this case, helping out Chihiro’s parents.

While in the boiler room, Rin enters and Kamajii tells her to take Chihiro to see Yubaba to receive a job. Rin appears to be human, but the audience is quickly reminded that this is not the case after Rin vocally announces her disdain for humans and has a large appetite for roasted newt. With Rin’s directions, Chihiro finds herself at Yubaba’s door. Decorated with elaborate tapestries outside the door, the viewer knows that Yubaba is important, rich, and a lover of excess materialism as well. After being pulled in by the magical wind of Yubaba, Chihiro and the audience see Yubaba as a menacing figure. She refuses Chihiro a job and then tells her that she’ll give Chihiro the worse job imaginable. Suddenly Yubaba’s baby is heard crying and Yubaba rushes in the nursery to calm the baby. This shift in personality of Yubaba shows that evil is not clearly defined in this secondary world. Yubaba literally zips up Chihiro’s mouth with magic but soon after, talks softly to her baby. After Yubaba finally consents to giving Chihiro a job, she is sent with Haku – Yubaba’s apprentice. But this Haku isn’t the purely sweet Haku that Chihiro remembers from earlier. Instead this personality of Haku tells Chihiro to remain quiet, address him as Master Haku, and tells the others of the bathhouse that “Three days of eating our food and her smell will go away.” He also says after this time, they may do what they want with her such as roast her…like a newt. In this way, Haku has lost his angelic qualities and now seems partly evil as well. Chihiro does not understand yet why Haku is acting like this and breaks down and cries. This film works on showing the dualities of good and evil and rather than having an ultimate good or an ultimate evil, there must be a harmonious balance. And hopefully the audience would take this into account for their own lives and rather than jumping into an excess of greed, there would be lenience towards harmony instead.

When Yubaba finally consents to providing Chihiro a job, Chihiro’s name is changed to Sen. Sen is an alternate reading of the same written character of Chihiro but this transformation of the kanji signifies that Yubaba owns Sen since Yubaba forces upon her a different recognition of those same characters. The literally meaning of Chihiro relates to the story and finding oneself in this fantasy story. Chi refers to the number 1000 while hiro refers to “inquire, fathom, look for”. Taken together, Chihiro could mean “looking deeply” or “inquiring after many things” which is rather fitting for this character (Boyd 2). Chihiro is forced to look keep within herself and find what was once hidden such us the ability to save her parents, courage, and her name as well as the true name as Haku later on in the movie. While watching this movie as well as other fantasy media, we are often founding looking deep inside ourselves to see if we would be capable of performing what the hero or heroine has done if the possibility was real or not. Recovering one self’s true identity as well as recovering the identity of others is an important theme of this movie. Chihiro almost forgets her true identity and might have if she hadn’t had that good-bye card still with her from the class mate, also showing that the primary world and secondary world are connected. Chihiro also rediscovers Haku’s name as the Kolaku River because of a memory from the primary world. Chihiro had been swimming in the Kolaku River and lost her shoe but Haku in his river spirit form has pushed it to shore. The most important case of identification is when Chihiro must discern which pigs are her parents that Yubaba places in front of her. Somehow, Chihiro is able to recognize that none of these pigs are her parents. “The film’s denouement revolves around one final form of recovery through recognition, the scene where Yubaba gives Chihiro a final trial to see if she can recognize her parents among a mass of pigs. That Chihiro passes the test, correctly recognizing that her parents are no longer among the pigs, attests to her new clarity of vision and signals that she may now begin the voyage home” (Napier 308). Through her time in the secondary world, Chihiro learns the value of self identity and discovers a stronger sense of perception after the fear is exposed that identity has the ability to be lost.

While working in the bathhouse, a “stink spirit” appears that needs a bath. Chihiro and Rin prepare the largest bath for this repulsive creature. Although one can not smell the television screen, it is apparently that this creature smells disgusting because of the looks of the other creatures in the bathhouse. Chihiro attempts to cover her mouth but Yubaba tells her that she must be polite and keep her hands to her side. As Chihiro successfully prepares a pleasant bath for the “stink spirit”, she discovers what appears to be a thorn in the creature’s side and tells Rin to help her out. Yubaba, as she is watching from above, overhears Chihiro say that there is a thorn in the creature’s side. Once Yubaba realizes what the problem is, she shifts to a pleasant demeanor and magically creates rope out of nothing to have everyone pull on the rope in order to assist the “stink spirit”. As the thorn is lifted, rather than a thorn being released, a bicycle is pulled out of the creature as well as a multitude of trash. The “stink spirit” is actually a river spirit that had been heavily polluted. Like Tolkien, Miyazaki fears what is happening to the natural environment. As a compliment to Chihiro, the river spirit says “Well done” and gives her a ball of medicine. When the river spirit says “Well done” to Chihiro, I think of these words as appreciation but since they are so simple, this task seems like something she was supposed to do rather than something that is an astounding accomplishment. Rather than being praised for cleaning up a river or land area, this should be something that should be done regardless of any praise at all since we live on the earth and should take care of it since it provides our home. This scene from the movie was actually inspired from a real life experience. From an introduction for the movie on the DVD, the narrator says that Miyazaki had cleaned up a polluted river in his past with a bicycle in it as well. The river spirit was in the form of a dragon with a Noh mask. Noh masks represent traditional elements of Japan’s past from the time when modernization wasn’t prevalent and one would probably not find such a polluted river like the “stink spirit”. Haku is unable to find his true identity as the Kolaku River Spirit because the actual Kolaku River in the primary world has been drained and filled with apartments, causing Haku to be lost. Scenes like this offer recovery because it is possible to also assist a river that has been harmed from pollution in the primary world and to see actual places where river areas have been drained to assist modernization. In his essay “On Fairy-Stories”, Tolkien says regarding recovery that “And actually fairy-stories deal largely, or (the better ones) mainly, with simple or fundamental things, untouched by Fantasy, but these simplicities are made all the more luminous by their setting.” Spirited Away deals with pollution and modernization which doesn’t need a fantastical setting but causes the story to become more intriguing and perhaps causing the viewer to seriously listen to the message.

In addition to recovering from pollution from the environment, Spirited Away desires the viewer to recover from greed. A central character that embodies greed is the phantom like creature by the name of No Face. He is lonely and doesn’t know the correct way of making friends besides being materialistic. Like the other seemingly bad characters like Yubaba and Haku, No Face has a dual personality as well. He desires to be good and be Chihiro’s friend but he appears bad because he does not know the correct manner of making friends. Regarding Shinto religion, No Face is “one whose energy [ki] is inki which means one whose heart is closed (kokoro o tojiru)” (Boyd 5). On a rainy night, Chihiro invites No Face inside the bath house because she doesn’t know what kind of creature he really is. Like No Face, she tries to perform good actions but doesn’t understand that her action will lead to trouble. As Chihiro and Rin work on giving the “stink spirit” a bath, Rin asks Chihiro to obtain an herbal scent card from the foreman. No Face is quietly standing behind the foreman as well. The foreman refuses to give an herbal scent card to a human no matter how much Chihiro pleads. As the phone rings and the foreman answers, No Face hands Chihiro an herbal scent card. Chihiro thanks No Face and proceeds to use the item. No Face then steals the entire basket of herbal scent cards to hand over to Chihiro. She then says to him that she only needs one and doesn’t need anymore. No Face now appears upset and confused. He believes that more is better and doesn’t understand why Chihiro wouldn’t want them all. As the “stink spirit” is cleansed into a river spirit and leaves, he leaves an abundance of gold. No Face witnesses the excitement surrounded by this gold and thinks that perhaps gold will be his key to Chihiro’s friendship. No Face magically creates gold causing greedy excitement from all in the bathhouse. When Chihiro wakes up, everyone is downstairs feeding No Face. He says he wants to eat everything. The crowd is enormous and wants more and more gold. Rin’s friend says that they should get more gold and Rin exclaims, “You bet!” No Face does not know the meaning of satiation and even devours three creatures. Chihiro passes No Face as she passes through the bathhouse on the way to find a bleeding Haku. No Face offers Chihiro a large handful of gold but she says, “I don’t want any but thanks. I’m sorry but I’m in a really big hurry”: No Face does not understand and is upset. But the safety of Haku is much more important to Chihiro than gold. Chihiro is finally able to lead No Face out of the bathhouse and he comes along with her to help out Haku. While at Zaneba’s house, No Face learns to sew and find happiness with a friend without an excess of indulgence. Although creatures like No Face do not exist in the primary world, greed is at the heart of this problem and the viewer is able to see how ridiculous an excess of materialism is while having just enough and happy is the key to a good life.

Chihiro becomes more and more selfless as the movie progresses. In order to save the bathhouse from No Face, Chihiro feeds him the last half of the medicine from the river spirit. She had planned on giving the medicine to her parents in hopes that the medicine would cause them to become human again. But she decides that the safety of the bathhouse and No Face’s need to understand the danger of overindulgence overrides her desire to save her family. Chihiro also makes a sacrifice as she takes the train ticket from Kamajii. The train ticket is a one way ticket since the train only travels in one direction. Still, she accepts the ticket in order to save Haku with the recognition it will not be an easy journey. Love is the reason for her sacrifice. She loves Haku and is willing to put herself at risk in order to protect him. Zaneba tells her that the only reason that the spell she had placed over Haku was erased was because of love. “Miyazaki is possibly portraying Chihiro as being in a genuine, authentic relation with the kami presence of the Kolaku River. In Shinto terms, such an occasion is called shinjin-gouitsu, a ‘uniting of kami with the human spirit’ which occurs only when one approaches the other with the ‘sincerity and purity of one’s heart’” (Boyd 5). An important message of the movie seen in a fantasy realm between a young girl and a dragon is that a good life is guided by love which definitely carries over to the audience and the primary world.

I was reminded of C.S. Lewis while watching the film again because he believed that children were pure in heart and would be able to open themselves up to fantasy, unlike adults. This is true in Spirited Away as well; Chihiro is a young girl able to successfully cross over to the secondary world and also remember it as she returns. But her parents do not successfully cross over as humans and they do not remember the secondary world at all as the movie closes. They still have the same demeanor and did not change at all. But Chihiro remembers and it was not a dream since she is still wearing the hair tie Zaneba had given her. Although Chihiro seems to remember her time in the secondary world, she still clings to her mother while exiting the tunnel so how much she remembers is uncertain. There is the possibility that the memories of the secondary world are stored in her unconsciousness. “What happens in these dark parts of the brain may not always be consciously remembered but may serve at some level to promote action in the real world” (Napier 309). Her new outlook on life will surely cross over to the secondary world while the minds of her parents will stay the same. Like Susan from The Chronicles of Narnia who grew too materialistic and selfish to return again to the secondary world of Narnia, Chihiro’s parents are too materialistic to ever cross over. It is essential to be pure of heart, like children, in order to open up one’s mind to a secondary world.

Another case where the importance of simplicity rather than overindulgence is after Chihiro sees the large pig pen early in the film accompanied by Haku and is unable to discern which pigs are her parents. In order to comfort Chihiro, Haku gives her onigiri which are Japanese rice balls. It is a basic food that is often wrapped in seaweed and may have a flavor such as salty salmon or sour plum. These rice balls were often connected with home and used in family picnics. “The onigirii eating episode thus becomes a classic representation of cultural boundedness, constructed as a vision of the restorative powers of eating pure, homey food to stand as counterpart to the scenes of excess consumption that follow” (Napier 307). Soon after, No Face is seen indulging in dish after dish as he provides gold and disaster results since he is soon chased out of the bathhouse. Previously Chihiro’s parents were turned into pigs for overindulging. But since Chihiro only consumes simple food that contains a reminder of cultural tradition, she does not have disastrous results. This lesson could be extended to audience members to, again, not to overindulge in materialism and the best life may be one that is simple and based in tradition rather than progression to a globalization lifestyle.

Throughout the film, Miyazaki reaffirms cultural and Shinto traditional religious values by showing that “there is ‘a kind of life to everything’ and that certain customs such as cleansing both the external environment and one’s internal kokoro from pollution are practices to be reaffirmed. Likewise, Chihiro’s contribution to Haku’s sense of identity suggests that those of us in the contemporary world who are ‘inquiring after many things’ can assess and critique our inherited traditions and reappropriate those values that have been forgotten or covered in the way the Kolaku river had been.” (Boyd 6). Although the film could be seen as a reaffirmation of Japanese cultural values to benefit society, the film relates to audiences in a universal manner. Like Chihiro questions her materialistic parents, it is important for all to question their backgrounds and to find what philosophy they believe in independent from their parents, whether it may be the same philosophy or not. “The trope of excess consumption, however, transcends Japanese society, functioning as an important signifier throughout contemporary industrialized societies in which capitalism ‘prioritizes consumptive practice’….” (Napier 291). Chihiro teaches the viewer to reexamine themselves and especially check how materialistic and selfish they are.

Works Cited

Boyd, James W. and Tetsuya Nishimura. “Shinto Perspectives in Miyazaki’s Anime Film

‘Spirited Away’”. The Journal of Religion and Film. Vol. 8, No. 2, October 2004

Miyazaki, Hayao. Spirited Away. Studio Ghibli, 2004.

Napier, Susan J. “Matter Out of Place: Carnival, Containment, and Cultural Recovery in

Miyazaki’s Spirited Away”. Journal of Japanese Studies. 32:2

2006 Society of Japanese Studies, University of Texas at Austin.

Tolkien, J. R. R. “On Fairy-Stories”. Tree and Leaf.

I wanted to share because it is neat and encourage everyone to give it a try.

Unfortunately, you can not create your own symbols for the Glide language but I wish you could. Also some other features I wanted in the program as well are the ability to rotate symbols and to morph horizontally rather than always vertically.

This would be a neat program to create your own screensaver with the morphing and animating of your own symbols.

Go to the Glide website
Select “Glide Language”, Select “Collabyrinth” and then launch it and well the rest is explained in text.

I made a version of the first stanza of William Blake’s “The Tyger” with Glide and captured the screen image. Of course I couldn’t capture the animations I did forming the glyphs for “burning bright” and “forests of the night” for example but if you go the website, you’ll be able to see what I mean. It is rather amusing.

No More Shakespeare Movie Reivews.

Also, just realized that Office and Scrubs appear online nbc.com so I don’t have to worry about missing them. So I am watching them currently.

Then back to reading Shakespeare articles. 8D

So I’m pretty stoked about new Office and new Scrubs.

Probably the only weird enough person to drive across town to secure an individual TV at school to watch new Office and Scrubs while on laptop….

I love Scrubs, my number One Show, and Office, my number Two Show.

J.D./Turk clip from the new episode!

If you haven’t heard Alison Sudol, it is a must.

This is her first headliner tour. She is beautiful, so nice, talkative, has a sense of humor, and interacted with audience. Also, her dress fit her very well and she drank tea on stage.

She sang her entire album, I believe, and also sang cover songs of two of her favorite bands: “I will follow you into the dark” by Death Cab for Cutie and “Across the Universe” by The Beatles.

Katie, Ashlee, and I leaned on the stage the entire time.

Afterwards. the band came out to meet people who stayed around. We had actually seen one of the members at a coffee shop before the show and he remembered seeing us so that was neat.

All three of us purchased shirts of different designs and Alison said I looked cute in mine. I was a bit flattered.

Since we had arrived at The Bluebird early, we picked up free posters. She signed each of ours personally. Well actually I had mine signed for the assistant manger of Laramie Hastings – Jeremy since he loves A Fine Frenzy but was unable to attend. I knew he’d love it. And well although other workers may think I’m a kiss ass, I receive a purge of pure joy causing others moments of happiness. I know Jeremy will be excited and this will bring me a moment of happiness as well.

I did ask her to sign my favorite hat on the white strip inside that could be used to hang it on a hat rack possibly. And well she did personally as well on that small space. Oh man so awesome…Alison Sudol’s signature in my favorite hat addressed to Ashley with a small message as well…

Katie, Ashlee, Alison, and I had our picture taken all together and I’m holding onto Alison. Picture was taken with Ashlee’s camera and well here it is:

Also learned something awesome about the name “A Fine Frenzy”. One of the shirts – the one that Ashlee purchased – had a couple birds and a quote from Shakespeare with the band name inside the quote as well. I asked Alison where the quote came from and she said from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. I thought that was pretty awesome…so this blog did after all relate to English major material.

I have five classes…five final projects.

All of a sudden, I feel a sense of apathy and wish to not do any more reading or writing. But I know I must in a sense of drudgery. I question why I’m even in school and question what I will even do with my degree. For the latter, I am uncertain but while I don’t have a clear destination in mind, I know I’m in school because I got a scholarship while I was in high school for tuition for four years in WY and I couldn’t pass that up. I thought about grad school and extending the same scholarship but as frivolous as it sounds…

I really need a break from classes (especially classes that I do not express much interest in), reading material that I have no desire to read, writing about ideas I have no concern about, frustration over not finding a parking spot that is free by the school, questioning why parking next to the school would even cost money anyways, tests that are a big part of showing what kind of student you are, projects that make you or not, and grades in general.

I also feel a sense of drudgery at my job in Laramie that I work at a few days a week so I can pay bills. While I do not always do the same tedious thing, I have a horrible sense of apathy there as well. But I linger there since only about two months left until school is out.

I want some job that could utilize my reading and writing skills and then play WoW when I’m not working…

Kubler Swiss Absinthe Superieure mixed with Cherry 7 Up…..

Is Delicious!

I don’t know if any of mine are that great but would be really awesome if one was recognized besides for SETI use….for a people audience other than an ET audience. haha

The Ultimate Consolation

When I think of the greatest consolation known to mankind, I certainly do not think of an apocalyptic moment. When I think of death, I think of an escape from life and being connected with nature. I do not think of death as a joyous occasion unless it is an escape from pain and suffering. Although I do not consider daily life full of suffering, Lewis and Tolkien, while devout Catholics, considered life full of suffering and that the end of times would be the ultimate consolation from this pain.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis creates a world where time as the inhabitants know it is ending. They are under the rule of a witch with a high degree of surveillance under them. She has made life in Narnia harsh with perpetual winter. She also manipulates others to perform actions for her own benefit such as how she attempted to trick Edmund into bringing his siblings to her so that she may destroy them. In this manner, the White Witch is analogous to Satan of the Christian religion. She reminds me of Lucifer in the tale of Dr. Faustus who makes a deal but is actually gaining a soul for himself without any care for Faustus. As Narnia is in peril, the land is transitioned to visual imagery of springtime. This transition occurs as Aslan, the Great Lion, returns to Narnia. As Edmund is riding in the Witch’s sleigh, he notices “every minute it grew foggier and warmer…the frost was over…and now the snow was really melting in earnest and patches of green grass were beginning to appear in every direction.” White not seen as apocalyptic signs for everyone, they are apocalyptic signs for the Witch. The presence of Aslan has already made her reign less powerful. Aslan is blatantly an allegorical symbol for Jesus Christ. Aslan sacrifices himself for the sinner Edmund and able to return to defeat the White Witch just as Jesus Christ is said to have sacrificed himself for all sinners and returns as well. Lewis creates a world in which when suffering is plentiful, there is always hope that the ultimate goodness will come to the land in the presence of a eucatastrophe.

A eucatastrophe is a word coined by Tolkien that may be applied to his stories as well as Lewis. Tolkien says in his essay On Fairy-Stories that “the eucatastrophic tale is the true from of fairy-tale, and its highest function.” This eucatastrophe performs as the greatest consolation because “in its fairy-tale – or otherworld – setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur.” As Edmund is watching Narnia immediately transition into springtime, he is able to witness a powerful effect caused by the eucatastrophe. Tolkien says that, “In such stories when the sudden ‘turn’ comes we get a piercing glimpse of joy, and heart’s desire, that for a moment passes outside the frame, rends indeed the very web of story, and lets a gleam come through.” Edmund is tied up, pulled by a rope, and being whipped a he walks. But the eucatastrophe of the changing seasons allows Edmund in his miserable state to receive a piercing glimpse of joy as Tolkien would have approved of.

Contrarily from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis actually places an apocalyptic moment in his book The Last Battle. This apocalyptic moment fulfills the ultimate consolation of the children and the inhabitants of Narnia. Aslan returns to Narnia at the end of the novel because there is an overwhelming amount of pain and suffering. His people have been manipulated by a false god and some have lost their faith in him. Aslan and Lewis see this loss of faith as the ultimate suffering even if disbelievers do not realize their suffering at the time. Aslan creates a brand new Narnia that is better than before. Everyone, dead and alive, is reunited. Tirian is reunited with his father King Erlian who is now full of energy in the new Narnia. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy are also able to be with their parents as well. Aslan tells them: “There was a real railway accident. Your father and mother and all of you are – as you used to call it in the Shadowlands – dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” The children seem to contain no sadness about realizing that they are dead. In this manner Lewis implies that to achieve the greatest joy, one must forsake finding joy on earth and recognize that the greatest joy will come when one is “dead” instead. To Lewis, the greatest eucatastrophe takes place in The Last Battle when all is well as the new Narnia is created without suffering and only those fit to live in it are accepted under Aslan.

As Tolkien discussed the ultimate joy in “On Fairy Stories”, he seems to contain approval of the blatant biblical eucatastrophic moments that Lewis created. Tolkien was a devout Christian and believed that everyone should have this same perspective. He says, “The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy…There is no tale ever told that men would rather find true, and none which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath.” To me, Tolkien seems a bit harsh when he proclaims that to reject the New Testament eucatastrophe leads to unhappiness. Lewis displays this perspective from Tolkien at the end of The Last Battle when Susan doesn’t return to Narnia because she has rejected her faith in Aslan/God and instead has welcomed materialism and commercialism into her life. Tolkien also said that the greatest joy leading to a eucatastrophe “has the taste of primary truth.” Since Tolkien believed in the truth of biblical stories, fairy tales that included eucatastrophic moments representing biblical “truths” would lead to the greatest joy for the reader.

While Tolkien placed eucatastrophic moments in The Lord of the Rings, he did not create allegorical images such as The Resurrection of Christ from the New Testament and The Second Coming of Christ from Revelation as Lewis did in his books. Instead, he placed images of great joy occurring when all hope is seemingly lost. Although not blatantly Christian images, the images could be interpreted in a Christian manner since Tolkien believed that God will be there to assist when all hope is seemingly lost. An example of a eucatastrophe in The Fellowship of the Ring is at the end of Book One when Frodo arrives in Rivendell. Frodo is in dire need for elfin medicine as the Black Riders are chasing him across the ford. But as Frodo believes himself to be dying, Gandalf conjured up white foamy riders amidst the ford. Gandalf tells Frodo, “You were beginning to fade. The wound was overcoming you at last. A few more hours and you would have been beyond our aid.” Although Frodo doesn’t literally die like the Narnia children, he believes himself to have died. His save consoles him not to be hopeless just as the Narnia children are saved by Aslan by a new Narnia when the old Narnia remained hopeless. In each part of The Lord of the Rings, there is a breathtaking eucatastrophe that fills the reader or viewer of the movies with joyous tears.

As Frodo is saved in The Fellowship of the Rings, the combatants of Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers are saved when all hope has been lost as well. Theoden has just dressed himself for battle to finish his life alongside his men. But, Theoden’s life is not lost because of a eucatastrophe: “The White Rider [Gandalf] was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness. The wild men fell on their faces before him. The Orcs reeled and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear. Like a black smoke driven by a mounting wind they fled. Wailing they passed under the waiting shadow of the trees; and from that shadow none ever came again.” There are also a multitude of eucatastrophic moments in Return of the King resulting in a bittersweet ending. Tolkien says, “it is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give a child or man that hears it, when the ‘turn’ comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to tears, as keen as that given by any form of literary art, and having a particular quality.” With eucatastrophe after eucatastrophe in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien shows that all hope is never lost even with overwhelming dreadful circumstances. This hope could be placed with God as Tolkien would hope or it could be placed elsewhere by the reader.

During the time that The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia were written, Europe was experiencing the after effects of war. Modernization did not seem like such a good idea anymore since modern weaponry was able to destroy many more lives than previously. Also, as both Tolkien and Lewis experienced war first hand they knew about overwhelming dreadful circumstances with a chance of hope since they both survived. Lewis and Tolkien are both effective in conveying that the end of times is not something to be so dismal about. When I say end time, I am referring to the literal sense in The Last Battle as well as other end times such as the seemingly end of times for the people of Narnia and Middle Earth from the way of life as they know it. These people are always saved somehow and consoled that hope is not lost. Branching out from fairy tales and reaching to practical real world application, the genre of fantasy is able to provide consolation concerning the end of times with each eucatastrophe saying that there is always hope.

But not all humans are intent on corrupting nature for their own benefit. Many are strong believers of leaving nature as it was in its untainted state. In each of the books we have read for this class thus far: Seeing Nature Through Gender, To Love the Wind and the Rain, and All Our Relations, there have been instances of people fighting corrupted nature, pertaining to humans corrupting nature and nature corrupted by corrupted humans, and bringing back pure nature which infers to both nature untouched by corrupted humans and educating humans so that they will not become corrupt towards nature. Nature is everywhere and should not be taken for granted since it may be so easily corrupted by the biological creature known as humans.

While many groups taint nature, many groups work to save Nature from being tainted or to return nature to a pure state. But nature is tainted in various ways and not just in the physical fashion one may automatically think of when one thinks of Nature polluted and destroyed for a human ignorant benefit. Even if not physically, groups are able to psychologically taint Nature. Men have tainted Nature saying that nature is symbolic of a patriarchal society while females have rebuked this claim. White Americans, those that controlled American Society, psychologically tainted nature for African Americans because African Americans were banned from a multitude of parks and outdoor recreational areas. Furthermore, Native Americans were not wanted on their original homes. They were forced out by White Americans physically out of their homes and not allowed to practice their traditions in their natural setting. But I see this more of a psychological tainting because the Native Americans are conflicted whether to risk following their own traditions in Nature or to follow rules imposed on them by White Americans. While environmental groups are immediately thought of as those who combat pollution, they also work to create a nature where everyone is welcome and is equal. Nature in its pure and untainted form should not be tainted by the corruption of society’s culture and discrimination. Therefore, there should be no discrimination saying who has privileges to access and or understand nature.

Concerning the trouble with gender and nature, there has been an American tradition saying Nature is fit for strong men with no mention of women. During the 1930’s, posters were erected that said “Spirit of CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)” and “Activities Build Men” that depicted young, muscular, and powerful men. The CCC performed beneficial projects such as constructing millions of erosion control dams, planting 1.3 billon trees, and spent over 6 million hours fighting forest fires. The posters tainted Nature for women since they were seemingly not invited to participate in this course of action. Biological research on animals also tainted Nature for women. Scientists assumed that male birds to be in control as male humans were thought to have had control over society. Scientists formed the opinion that male zebra finches have affairs although they are said to have a life time partner. But, Virginia Scharff envisioned a larger role for the female zebra finch. She thought that it could be possible for female zebra finches to have affairs as well. If both male and female zebras were thought to have had affairs, the theory could be stretched that both sexes of birds share equality in nature. Since the birds are equal in nature, males and females of the human species should be equal as well since humans are a part of nature as well. Women fought to bring back nature to everybody in a fair manner while also physically working to create an untainted nature as they formed an alliance with women who had gained cancer from contaminated sites to prevent the occurrence from happening again. Prior to enrolling into this course, I never thought that women were discriminated against concerning issues of Nature. When I bought the book Seeing Nature Through Gender, I was rather confused because I didn’t understand what if any nature had to do with gender. But after reading the collection of essays, I see people had attempted to make Nature a patriarchal conception. But Nature is like a new born baby without prejudices. Society creates discriminations but Nature as it is away from society is always accepting to anyone who desires to exist alongside it.

African Americans, like women, are faced with dealing with discriminations of Nature. For African Americans, Nature was especially sacred because it was a place away from their masters who were usually cruel towards them. Slaves enjoyed fishing and hunting small animals in the nature around when they had sparse free time. But the slaves’ hunting of small animals was actually a win-win situation for the slaves and their masters since they hunted pests according to the slave owners such as squirrels. Nature represented a sense of escape for the slaves because it led them to an untainted nature like they wished to be a part of; they wanted to be an untainted people without the duty as slaves. Mart Stewart said in his essay “Slavery and the Origins of African American Environmentalism” that Nature was a strong desire, especially for African Americans. He says, “For African Americans, ‘wilderness’ was not a place in which the preservation of the world could be found, but a site of healing, a highway to kinship, a place where a decisive edge of resources could be added to meager plantation rations, and a place where salvation could be gained…for African Americans, nature was negotiated, it was kin, and it was community.” Nature for African Americans was their community because their nature as human beings was tainted by being forced into slavery. While together away from slave owners, they felt connected with the surroundings around them and untainted by slavery even for the time being. Later after slaves were emancipated, race tensions were still high and White Americans did not want African Americans to have access to the same nature as them. Riots such as the Chicago Race Riot were initiated by different races wanting access to the same lake. African Americans were also discriminated against concerning where they lived compared to whites n the same city. Nature should be fair and balanced. Like the patriarchal view of nature, there was also a hierarchal view of nature putting White Americans on a pedestal. Efforts were made to decrease and cease discrimination of nature towards Native Americans. I consider Nature used to deliberately show bias towards a particular group of people to be corrupted Nature caused by the corrupt nature of human beings. But it is important to remember that not all humans have a corrupt nature about them although all humans are capable of showing corruption. Some choose to realize this corrupt nature about them while others submerge this corruption and try to cease other corruption from occurring.

Unlike white European women and African American women, Native Americans originated as a part of the untainted Nature of the land now known as America. Native Americans did not consider themselves separate from the land. Instead, they believed to be a part of the land. They did not corrupt Nature because as they used land, they used caution to not upset Nature around them. Native Americans also believed that the existence of animals alongside them was of high importance. They believed that both humans and animals emerged from the land in order to co-exist with one another. When an animal of high importance was decreasing in number because of the corruption of Nature, American Indians felt as they were tainted as well. As the fish of the Mohawk people, panthers of the Seminoles, and the buffalo of the tribes of the Midwest disappeared, the nature of the traditional American Indian peoples began to disappear as well. Traditions of the American Indian can not exist without untainted Nature around them. As their homes were contaminated by pollution, bans erected not to hunt or fish on their land, their animals killed by white people, among other dreadful circumstance, groups fought back to bring back untainted Nature to the American Indians. For example, efforts have been made to restore buffalo to its rightful place alongside the Buffalo people o the Midwest with groups such as the Knife Chief Buffalo Project and the Seventh Generation Buffalo Cooperative. By allowing buffalo to increase their population size, the Buffalo people along with their traditions will flourish as well. The American Indian perspective of what Nature is greatly differs from what many white people see as Nature. Many white people view land as able to own while American Indians view land as something to co-exist along the side with. I believe that if all white people had the mindset of Native Americans that tainting land and Nature is like tainting other humans as well, there would be plentiful attempts to cease the contamination of nature. I’m not saying that industrialization should cease but the progress of industrialization should be careful in how it effects the environment. Nature should be respected as Native Americans respect the environment because Nature is like an elder to us human beings. As we are children, we are continuously taught to treat our elders with respect. Well, Nature is one of these elders that we need to treat with respect. Nature was here before the evolution of humankind. Nature on Earth was here from the beginning of Earth’s creation as a planet. Humans did not arrive until millions of years later. In this way, humans are Nature’s child and Nature is humans’ mother. Humans were created by events resulting in the Nature around them. As they evolved, Nature took care of them by providing food, drink, and shelter. Finally when humans industrialized, many humans had the strange belief that Nature wasn’t necessary anymore. But this would be like shunning and killing one’s own mother. As Nature took care of humans in the past, humans should take care of Nature as well with a reciprocal relationship.

As I walk along the Riverside Greenbelt a block away from my Laramie home, I feel at peace. Nature is my true mother; in a sense Nature gave birth to me allowing for evolution to occur causing the rise of my species. As I walk along the path, I find discarded plastic bottles and aluminum cans….among other small pieces of trash from apathetic human beings who do not understand that Nature is their mother. If others knew that Nature was their mother as well, they would not throw trash upon her like she was worthless. I walk over to the littered ground and pick them up and place them in a garbage can which will be taken to a dumpster eventually. At least, the river alongside me is safe for now. While at home, I try to take care of my Mother as well such as recycling and reusing much of my trash. I close my eyes and dream of a world as it should be with humans a part of nature without tainting it. There would be efficient regulations to keep industries from contaminating industry. Also, Nature would be accepted according to societal norms to everyone such as both genders, all races such as African Americans, and American Indians especially. There would be one rule regarding Nature: The Golden Rule. Besides treating nature with respect, one should ask oneself if they are treating nature as if how they would like to be treated as well. This perfect world may never happen but I contain hope that progress shall be made to create a less tainted nature if not completely untainted.

Many strive to leave society and find Nature to discover themselves and the peace that it brings. A famous example that is widely known because of the Oscar Nominated Film Into the Wild is the trek through America’s wilderness by Christopher McCandless. This is one of my favorite movies although it brings me to tears when McCandless searches for peace throughout Nature as well. Although not as drastic, it reminds me of my personal treks into Nature. I enjoy camping in the wilderness, fishing, and walking in Nature away from society. I understand as I step into untainted Nature, danger from other animals and the elements of weather are possible. Corrupted nature such as the nature of industrialization may sometimes be considered safe although being safe could be considering hiding from fear. But this danger is necessary because this means that I am a part of Nature as well as I step into this untainted terrain and am not the ruler of Nature and its creatures on a hierarchal chain of being. Rather, I am one with Nature. I am a child walking alongside my mother. She may not always be actively there for my protection but I understand that she is always there to welcome me with open arms as the trees and leaves sway in the wind beckoning me closer and away from the paved road that my car has been driving on attempting to find peace and an untainted Nature; I am capable of feeling that there is still a part of Earth untainted by mankind and pure, giving me a peace of mind as well that there will always be a part of Nature that is original and not manipulated by my species.

Johnson defined in The Rambler the importance of portraying virtue in a work of literature. He did not believe in works of fiction that did not represent moral values to the readers. He says, in The Rambler No. 4, “In narratives, where historical veracity has no place, I cannot discover why there should not be exhibited the most perfect idea of virtue; of virtue not angelical, nor above probability, for what we cannot credit we shall never imitate, but the highest and purest that humanity can reach, which, exercised in such trials as the various revolutions of things shall bring upon it, may, by conquering some calamities, and enduring others, teach us what we may hope, and what we can perform.” It is clear that Johnson believes that all forms of literature that is not historical fact should relate to the audience in this manner. Johnson even goes on to say that “virtue is the highest proof of understanding and the only solid basis of greatness…” Understanding the elements of virtue allows one to understand the world because when one understands virtue, one realizes that there is a boundary between moral principles and free will. It is understood that men have free will but when one understands how to use their free will in a flawless manner, they are then considered great. In Rappaccini’s Daughter, Rappaccini loves his daughter but because he does not understand the elements of virtue, he is unmoral and indirectly destroys the life of Beatrice, his daughter.

Rappaccini had an obsession with science and it controlled his life, overriding any moral principles he may have once had. He had a garden full of laboratory made plants of death, seeping poison. When he had a daughter, he seeped her veins with poison allowing her the capability to embrace and care for all of his plants in the garden. Seeing his daughter alone in the garden, like God seeing Adam alone in the Garden of Eden, Rappaccini sought out an unsuspecting male to become her mate. Giovanni was able to view the garden from his window and watched Beatrice and her father in the garden. When Rappaccini noticed Giovanni as an observer, he was the perfect target for his daughter. He allowed Giovanni into the garden without him knowing that he would once begin to be seeped with poison once he stepped in. Rappaccini had no concern for Giovanni since science had overshadowed his moral principles.

Johnson was a scientist and loved to practice experiments. One of Johnson’s entries in his dictionary for the word “experience” was “practice; frequent trail”, inferring experimentation leads to gaining experience. Johnson had high regard for observation and experimentation. But, he expressed caution regarding one who likes to experiment. Johnson expressed danger about any obsession such as the obsession with science. Johnson believed that, “the scientist becomes contemptible when he neglects moral duty or when his researches are insignificant and useless. But to those temptations all students, whether their subjects were human or natural, have at times succumbed (Hagstrum, 11)”. Johnson’s remark about the danger of scientific obsession plays a central role in Hawthorne’s story Rappaccini’s Daughter. Doctor Rappaccini is very intelligent in the art of science, comparable to faculty of the University concerned with medicine. But, he was not a suitable physician since he had no concern for people. A member of the University faculty, Signor Pietro Baglioni, describes Rappaccini by telling Giovanni that “he cares infinity more for science than for humankind. His patients are interesting to him only as subjects for some new experiment. He would sacrifice human life, his own among the rest, or whatever else was dearest to him, for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard-seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge.” By becoming obsessed with science, Rappaccini became contemptible just as Johnson predicted one would become if one became obsessed with science.

Hawthorne, like Johnson, had great concern for the morality of mankind. He made it a point to incorporate virtuous values into his works of literature. In Arlin Turner’s book Nathaniel Hawthorne: An Introduction and Interpretation, he notes that “the suggestion which Hawthorne jotted down for stories were moral in their initial form, and unless they lent themselves to some moral application, he was not likely to find a use for them…it came natural for Hawthorne to search out moral implications, and in the main he offered in good faith the moral statement he supposed his readers would welcome…whether he impaled his story with its moral or allowed the moral to reach the reader by subtler means, Hawthorne considered a moral essential to any sketch, tale, or novel.” Hawthorne, like Johnson, believed virtue to be the basis of greatness. Hawthorne definitely shows his compelling need for a moral tale in Rappaccini’s Daughter. Initially, the tale seems to be a pleasant fairy tale that will have a climax towards a happily ever after ending, especially when Giovanni receives the antidote for Beatrice’s poisonous prison which he plans to give her in order to enable them to live a happy life outside of the solitary garden. But, the unexpected occurs and the antidote is fatal when consumed by Beatrice. Beatrice is not able to be saved because she is so succumbed by her father’s poison. The last full paragraph of Rappaccini’s Daughter describes Beatrice’s fall upon the taste of the antidote as, “and thus the poor victim of man’s ingenuity and of thwarted nature, and of the fatality that attends all such efforts of perverted wisdom, perished there, at the feet of her father and Giovanni.” Rappaccini’s rather unmoral nature kept Beatrice from living a fulfilling life and he had pumped so much poison into her, Rappaccini’s unmoral nature had ceased Beatrice from living at all. The morality of science is presented in the story and shown that once a scientist performs an unforgivable act such as Rappaccini experimenting upon his own daughter, it may be too late for an act such as this to be forgiven. Rappaccini’s unmoral maniacal obsession with science cost him the life of his beautiful daughter, creating a lesson for all to not let an obsession overshadow one’s life.

Another interpretation of Hawthorne’s Rappaccini’s Daughter is that Beatrice contained moral attributes and the act of Beatrice dying at the end of the story shows that Beatrice’s soul was never touched by Rappaccini’s evil poison. She was only physically evil although her soul remained untainted. Beatrice was born innocent without sin and the only sin she was guilty of committing was that of which her father had interposed upon her. Beatrice had caused Giovanni to become tainted with poison as well but it was not her crime since she had not intended her poison to spread. It was only because of the strong poison induced by her father in her that she was so toxic to everything around her. Without this effect, Beatrice was pure and innocent like Eve in the Garden of Eden. She was even more pure than Eve since Beatrice did not succumb to any sin in her short life. Richard Harter Fogle, author of Hawthorne’s Fiction: The Light and the Dark said of Rappaccini’s Daughter, “Hawthorne intends to tell of the greatest conceivable moral involvement which shall yet be consonant with the ultimate triumph of order and goodness. Beatrice dies saved, her soul untouched by the poisonous evil with which her earthly life has been so intimately entwined.” Beatrice gains no opportunity to explore the world outside her secluded garden and her soul remains moral towards Giovanni. When Giovanni expresses his anger towards Beatrice for causing him to also to become toxic, Beatrice feels much sadness for she had no want for such harm upon him. Once Giovanni realizes he has the same poisonous power as Beatrice, he exclaims towards here: “Thou hast done it! Thou hast blasted me! Thou hast filled my veins with poison! Thou hast made me as hateful, as ugly, as loathsome and deadly a creature as thyself, – a world’s wonder of hideous monstrosity!” Giovanni becomes unmoral as he is quick to anger but Beatrice expresses that she never had any desire for harm as she distressingly tells him, “It is my father’s fatal science! No, no, Giovanni; it was not I! Never, never! I dreamed only to love thee, and be with thee a little time, and so to let thee pass away, leaving but thine image in mine heart. For, Giovanni – believe it – though my body be nourished with poison, my spirit is God’s creature, and craves love as its daily food…But it was not I! Not for a world of bliss would I have done it!” Beatrice had done no wrong according to her since it was her father who had implanted the poison into her, leaving her faultless. Beatrice’s pleading exclamation to Giovanni makes her the only truly moral character in the story since she was innocent throughout the story.

Everything erroneous comes back to Doctor Rappaccini in the end since he is the cause of both Beatrice and Giovanni’s pain in the story. He causes Beatrice’s pain by forcing her to live a secluded life without intervention and causes Giovanni pain by Beatrice’s poison because Giovanni is unable to become truly united with Beatrice without becoming toxic himself. Turner noted that “Dr. Rappaccini’s sin, in Rappaccini’s Daughter, the greatest of all in Hawthorne’s hierarchy, is the particular sin of pride in which the head is given ascendance over the heart. In a cold search for knowledge he has so violated the ties of human affection that he has condemned his daughter to a poison-enforced isolation and later, though unintentionally, to death.” Since Hawthorne’s greatest offense is becoming overwhelming prideful, his belief of morality is quite similar to Johnson. Johnson would also have the sin of becoming too prideful on the top of his hierarchy of sins. He preached about the importance of moral value in The Rambler and believed it was unmoral to become prideful of oneself above all else. Becoming prideful of oneself will involve obsession over a particular field, such as the field of medical science that Rappaccini was so involved with. There is no concern for anything else when one is so prideful such as the mad scientist pumping toxins into plants and even his own daughter. According to the mind of Johnson and Hawthorne, the heart should control one’s actions and not one’s head. The heart is a conscience that knows what is morally right and morally wrong. If Rappaccini would have listened to his heart and not his head, he would have spared his daughter from his cruel experimentations.

Rappaccini’s Daughter is an excellent portrayal of what occurs when one purses too far into experimentation. But, not all experimentation is frowned upon. It is only when one becomes obsessive without any concern for others. Both Hawthorne and Johnson believed that literature should provide a moral lesson for the reader so that one would be able to reach the aim of becoming truly virtuous. Although a century apart, both authors wanted their readers to reach this ideal standard. When one reads Rappaccini’s Daughter with the knowledge of Johnson and Hawthorne or not, one is able to perceive the moral implications expressed throughout the short story. It is not too improbable to have been an actual event if one understands how obsessive scientists are capable of becoming. The possibility of this event have being actually real especially forces the reader to pursue Johnson’s and Hawthorne’s dream of everyone pursuing the highest virtue available to mankind.

As Eliza describes her apartment where she is usually “within call of her mistress”, it is entirely possible that she could be a white indentured servant. She has the speech of an educated woman with high religious values. African Americans were conceptualized as having an irregular speech pattern in an uneducated fashion. They were also thought to have beliefs in spirits and witchcraft. Eliza does not fit in to this stereotype since her religious values and speech patterns seem to be one of a young white Christian girl with a bit of a Southern accent. Eliza speaks very proper English with the exception of remarking “Well; I am so glad you’s come!” But, one grammatical error alone is not going to conclusively decide that Eliza is an Africa American slave.

There is absolutely no indication that George and Eliza are African American slaves until the fourteenth paragraph. By this time, the reader is already through an entire page of the chapter. In the preceding paragraph, Eliza tells George to be patient with his hard master. But, it is conceivable for indentured servants to call their employer, “Master”. But in the next paragraph, George tells Eliza that his master had taken him away from his job at the factory. This realization of the fact that George and Eliza are slaves comes quite sudden because up until now, there was no direct allusion that they were slaves. An employer for an indentured servant would not take one away from his or her job since they are under a contract. Also, employers do not simply “take away” other people. People “take away” property. Since slaves were understood to be property of white men, George and Eliza are understood to slaves since they must follow their master’s wishes even if it undesirable for them.

A master’s commands upon a slave are even shown to be unmoral. Eliza had given her husband, George, a dog to be his companion. George was feeding Carlos, the dog, a minuscule amount of food from the kitchen. When George’s cruel master witnessed this event, he ordered George “to tie a stone to his neck and throw him in the pond.” Animals are connected with sensibility because animals are full of innocence, only follow the laws of nature, and there is no just cause for an animal to suffer needlessly. George, as a moral person, refuses to murder Carlos. But his master murders him heartlessly and then whips George for refusing to murder Carlos. This is clearly unmoral behavior even if a slave and animal are considered property. In their Christian society, everything is created by God. Since everything is created by God, slaves and animals are also created by God. It would be unethical for an American Christian to harm God’s creatures although the slave owners contradicted their beliefs by harming animals and slaves.

Concerning animals yet again, the white men show indifference on how they are treated in another striking example. George, being a man of moral quality, can not bear to witness cruelty to animals, even if the animal isn’t personally his. Carlos was his personal companion but George also had affections for animals not even belonging to him. As George was diligently working, one of the animals used for labor was being abused. George told Eliza that, “as I was busy loading stones into a cart, that young Mas’r Tom stood there, slashing his whip so near the horse that the horse was frightened.” George then begs again and again so that the cruelty would stop. But his master only moves on to the mistreatment of George. The way George presents this event to the reader is filled with auditory, kinetic, and visual imagery leading to sensibility in the text. Also, the use of the pronoun “I” adds to the effect because it causes the imagery to become more personal. George describing the horrendous event says, “I asked him to stop, as pleasant as I could. – He just kept right on. I begged him again, and then he turned on me, and began striking me…” The vibrant mental images of George being whipped and his plea for the kindness to the horse show the contrast between George as full of compassion wanting to cease harm to an innocent horse and the white master who indifferently strikes the horse and George without any remorse at all.

Initially, American Indians were thought of as Savages and uncivilized while the common American white man was believed to be civilized. But in this novel, roles are reversed and the white man is described like an Indian would be described. As George is describing his master’s thoughts about Eliza’s master he says, “he [George’s master] hates Mr. Shelby and all his tribe, because they are proud, and hold their heads up above him…” The word “tribe”, especially in the 1800s which is the time period of the novel, may connote a group of savage Indians. It is ironic that a group of white people would be implied to be savages and uncivilized since the whites were thought of to be the most civilized and the “colored” races to be below them.

It is the slaves that use the diction of White Americans. When George expresses his desire to become a runaway slave, he talks as if he could be a soldier of the American Revolution. He says, “I won’t be taken, Eliza: I’ll die first! I’ll be free, or I’ll die!” Taken alone, there in no indication this exclamation was from a distressed slave. It could very well be taken from the register of a soldier wanting freedom from British rule over America and willing to die for his country. George is now analogous to an American hero fighting for freedom. Black and White are seen as having the same idea, wanting freedom. It is well known that Americans will fight to their death, considering the American Revolution was a century earlier than when the novel was published. Since a typical black slave is presented as having the same ideas as a white man, a reader would see no difference between races and that a black man is capable of the exact same thoughts as a White Man.

Furthermore, Stowe shows the universal human nature of love to one’s children regardless of race. Slave children and families are relentlessly separated from each other by the White Men without thought of their emotions since they are “property”. But Stowe clearly disproves this thought by displaying the slave family no different than a happy White American family. Both parents of Harry, George and Eliza, express their admiration for the child like every parent feels for their child. Eliza says “Isn’t he [Harry] beautiful?” which is the question that has no need for an answer because both parents know that no other child could compare to their own. The father then displays his affection for the child when “drawing his child on his knee, he gazed intently on his glorious dark eyes, and passed through his long curls.” The adjective “glorious” is carefully chosen because the world “glorious” usually falls under the register describing religious ideas. When Catholics pray the Rosary, they may mediate on the Glorious Mysteries which include five high points of Catholicism: the Resurrection of Christ, Ascension of Christ, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption of Mary into heaven, and the Crowing of Mary in Heaven. Harry’s dark eyes are described as glorious implying that that he has eyes are as remarkable as those preceding Catholicism points. Harming Harry in any way would be like ridiculing the Glorious Mysteries. It would not be acceptable. Harry’s “glorious” eyes show that slaves should be considered children of God although this idea contradicts the traditional belief that only the white races were children of God.

Religion, as coming from Harry’s eyes, emanates from the entire slave family. Religion plays a pivotal role in their lives even if they are only slaves in the minds of white people. White people may call themselves Christians although they are hypocritical in their conduct with slaves. White people “say” they are holy and are religious but their words are just that, merely words. Their words do not advance to actions. Eliza uses religion to condone her obedience to her white masters. After George tells Eliza upon the cruel ways laid upon him by his master, she replies in a mournful manner that, “I always thought that I must obey my master and mistress, or I couldn’t be a Christian.” Eliza is brought up well and educated. She doesn’t do hard work; she is more like a servant. She is unlike her husband who has to do hard manual labor and whose master discourages an education. Eliza says that “if you trust in God, and try to do right, he’ll deliver you.” This is not comprehendible for George because he tries to be good and do the right thing such as saving the horse from being mistreated and not drowning Carlos. But, George is definitely not delivered by God. For his good deeds, he is not rewarded but punished by his master. There is no benefit in believing in God, for George, since it does no good to him and he is still whipped needlessly. Eliza, on the other hand, believes in God and no harm has ever come to her. Since the belief of God produces vastly different results for George and Eliza, religion proves to be useless. It was common for white people of the time to believe God to be their Savior and help them through hard times if they would only believe. Slaves such as George and Eliza are capable in believing in God and performing good actions such as white men would but no help would come to slaves.

The worst pain a husband and wife may experience is that of an unwanted separation. George and wife experience this; although their marriage isn’t lawful, their experience is one any reader can sympathize with because there is no hope that they will ever see each other again. Stowe uses a simile to convey this hopelessness as George and Eliza experienced “such parting as those may make whose hope to meet again is as the spider’s web.” Threads of webbing rarely meet one another, especially if two individual threads are far apart to begin with. No one in love with their spouse wants to lose them. In this way, Stowe is able to convey how the emotions of slaves are exactly the same. White people would have the exact same experience if husband and wife separate if the husband must go to war. The chance of ever meeting one another again is also quite hopeless. The emotions during these partings in no different if one is another color, white or black.

Throughout Chapter Three of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Slaves are shown to express the exact same emotions as White People. They are capable of love, expressing piety, and showing compassion for God’s creatures. Even the white people are not capable of such devotion. The White people are portrayed as devilish. They abuse slaves and animals without any regards for how this is affecting them. When it is obviously shown that George and Eliza, as slaves, have love for one another and have a little boy who they cherish with “glorious eyes”, it is astonishing to realize that Whites ruthlessly separate them, causing the greatest heartbreak of all, losing an entire family. The misconception that Blacks do not have feelings is shown to be incorrect for their love and compassion is shown to be strong as a direct contrast to Whites who are shown not displaying any.

When Robinson Crusoe decided to view the coastline with his Perspective-Glass, he instantly discovered that his island was being invaded upon. Immediately, he recorded in his mind an inventory of his invaders of “one and twenty Savages, three Prisoners, and three Canoes.” It is important for Robinson Crusoe to keep track of what enters “his” island precisely because the island defines him. He would be nothing without the island; without it, he most likely would’ve drowned in the ocean. It is only because of the island, that he survives. Since the island saved his life, Robinson Crusoe feels indebted to the island and must keep track of all invaders to the island. As Robinson Crusoe is still veering through his Perspective Glass, he notes that the Savages had “landed not where they had done, when Friday made his Escape, but nearer to my Creek, where the Shore was low, and where a thick Wood came close down to the Sea”. Robinson Crusoe uses the possessive pronoun of my when referring to a creek nearby his shelter. He takes possession of the creek since he is the only human on the island and he feels he has the right to claim ownership to portions of the island. Robinson Crusoe has clearly recorded that this particular creek was his although there is no legal record that it is his. The fact that he has claimed possession of an entire creek shows his thoughts of superiority towards anyone else that comes across the shore of the island.

When Robinson Crusoe prepares for battle, he contains no worries at all because he believes that he is superior to the Savages. Even with twenty one others to battle, Robinson Crusoe had barely any qualms about killing them all. He notes that, “I do not mean that I entertained any Fear of their Number…for as they were naked, unarmed Wretches, ‘tis certain I was superior to them…” Robinson Crusoe thought of a battle with the Savages merely as a slaughter of creatures. The depiction of the battle with the Savages reminds oneself as a man killing off wolves or any other wild savage animals that happen to be in his way while in the forest together. As the so called creatures are being slaughtered, he says that the Savages “run about yelling, and screaming, like mad Creatures, all bloody, and miserably wounded, most of them…” This visual imagery of the blood, olfactory imagery of screaming, and kinetic imagery of running of the Savages could be used in the context of surviving a wild animal encounter if nothing else was known about the rest of the image. Portrayals of wild animal encounters such as wolves, even if it isn’t how they actually occur, are typically aggressive and without justification. While the Savages do not initially confront Robinson Crusoe and are not aggressive towards him, it is Robinson Crusoe who confronts the Savages aggressively like a territorial wolf with his gun. The Savages are on “his” island and he instinctively wants to act territorial towards them since he believes only he may possess the island.

Although Robinson Crusoe is initially outraged at the cannibals landing on the shore, he does not choose to kill them until he discovers who the victim is. At first, Robinson Crusoe decides that “unless something offered that was more a Call to me than yet I knew of, I would not meddle with them” and that God did not cast him as, “a Judge of their Actions, much less an Executioner of his Justice…” When the prisoner is revealed, Robinson Crusoe changes his mind completely. The prisoner happens to have the appearance of a European Christian. Since Robinson Crusoe was also a European Christian, he felt compelled to save this man although there was no provocation from the Savages for Robinson Crusoe except he did not approve how they lived. This wickedness about to occur on his island is justification enough for Robinson Crusoe to destroy the Savages. Previously, Robinson Crusoe had stated that he would not be a judge towards the Savages unless he was compelled. Robinson Crusoe wanted to save the European Christian because he felt it to be wrong since the prisoner was a good Christian causing him not to deserve to die. Since the island is symbolically in possession of Robinson Crusoe, he creates the rules to be followed. When the rules are broken, the causation of that event must be destroyed. The Savages broke his rule of destroying Christian humans. Since Robinson Crusoe was first to the island, he feels superior and his rules must be followed.

Besides believing that cannibalizing a Christian European to be against his rules, another reason for not letting him die and initiating a slaughter is to possess the Christian European. It is odd for somebody to desire to take possession of another human being similar to oneself but Robinson Crusoe was lonely and only had a slave boy by the name of Friday whom Robinson Crusoe also possessed. It is clear that Robinson Crusoe possesses Friday by the way he talks to him. Friday is an obedient slave and does anything that his master tells him to do. Friday even lets Robinson Crusoe know that he would die for him. Robinson Crusoe directs various directions towards Friday during the slaughter, not allowing Friday to think for himself very often at all. A few examples of Friday performing Robinson Crusoe’s bidding without question are, “I took my aim at the Savages, bidding him to do the same…I shouted as loud as I could, and bad Friday do so too…I turned to Friday, and bid him step forwards, and fire at them”. Friday is the exemplar of the perfect slave because he is obedient without question and performs his duty with an excellent quality. Slaves are people that are unfortunately possessed by other people. Robinson Crusoe used his idea of superiority when he saved Friday’s life at an advantage for himself. Friday was indebted to Robinson Crusoe so Friday became his slave. Although Robinson Crusoe enjoyed possessing Friday, he also desired to possess a friend he could talk to and relate to who was also a Christian European. Although it is a quite selfish reason for initiating a battle, the main reason for it was that Robinson Crusoe desired to possess a European Christian friend and would do anything to claim him as his own.

A particular number that occurred over a multitude of times was the number three. Three is a significant number in Christianity. Robinson Crusoe would probably know of the significance since God was close to him always as an avid Bible reader. He had also debated with God whether it is right or wrong to kill the Savages and had decided he would wait for a sign from God which turned out to be the Christian European that Robinson Crusoe desired to possess. Examples from the Bible of the number three being significant would be three wise men giving baby Jesus three gifs, Jesus rising from the dead on the third day, and the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Just as the number three is significant in the Bible, the number three was significant to Robinson Crusoe concerning the battle. First of all twenty one Savages had landed and twenty one is a number divisible by three. There were also exactly three prisoners and three canoes. While preparing for battle, Robinson Crusoe gives Friday “three guns upon his Shoulder” while Robinson Crusoe also took three guns. More than once, the Savages fell in threes as well with words such as “wounded three more…whereof three more fell quickly after…” The Savages even tried escaping to their canoe in threes such as when, “…three more of the rest made the same way… [Friday] killed two of them and wounded the third…” Friday was even able to use his hatchet to kill the Savages and Robinson Crusoe notes “…with that he dispatched those three…” Three proved to be a very significant number because it was exactly a number of three that were killed in their first shot from the tree and three that were killed by the Spaniard who was the rescued European Christian prisoner whom Robinson Crusoe wanted to possess as a friend. The number three symbolizes Robinson Crusoe’s superiority since three is a number greater than any other numeral because of its religious significance.

When the battle ends, Robinson Crusoe creates an account of the number killed by whom and the number escaped. One keeps records of a past occurrence if they wish to remember a particular event. The record is in an orderly fashion in chronological order. It was important for Robinson Crusoe to take in account all of the Savages, even if a few had escaped. Robinson Crusoe most likely felt like this was important so he could precisely know for a fact that all of his intruders had left his island. Robinson Crusoe did not want to possess more Savages so he killed them or forced them to leave to maintain his superiority. There is no indication that Friday or the Spaniard kept a detailed account of the preceding battle like Robinson Crusoe had. Robinson Crusoe maintains his records in an orderly manner so that if the battle is inquired upon, he will be the only one possessing a detailed record of the battle, maintaining his superiority on the island.

Throughout the text of roughly five pages, superiority above all and possession are clearly important to the life of Robinson Crusoe. He uses possessive adjectives while describing natural occurrences on the island such as “his” creek. Robinson Crusoe also possesses his Savage Slave whom he calls Friday. Robinson Crusoe causes him to perform various deeds for him without complaining. Robinson Crusoe strives to possess a Christian European friend since he has none; he has only Friday to converse with which amounts to barely anything since Friday is a slave without intelligent conversation. Most importantly, Robinson Crusoe possesses power over others that come to the island because he feels obligated to be superior over them since there is one else on the island causing Robinson Crusoe to mentally possess the island and everything it includes.

Why do people write blogs?

When I read them, it is like seeing how some one else thinks but I also have this eerie feeling that I am prying into someone’s private life like I am reading their diary.

But really…I shouldn’t feel this way because obviously if they are writing a blog, they know it has the possibility of being read by anyone.

And well the subject of blogs: I could make blogs and rant about something that irks me at the time. But I could have strong feelings about this one day and not another. So then I would feel that I should delete that blog because my feelings would not be aligned. But this makes no sense either. What we think changes from one day to the next. What I think now is not the same as I thought a year ago for example. In my Writing for an Extraterrestrial Audience class, we wrote a letter to ourselves on futureme.org which will send you the letter in 3 months at the earliest. It will be interesting when I receive it in April. But since it is true that peoples’ minds change over time, maybe blogs show people how they have viewed particular subjects over a period of time. That could be interesting.

I hope to not create a lame travelogue of Moltzan’s journey through life but hope to think of certain topics that I feel compelled to write about. After all, I am a writer by heart. I love to read and write, just not when I have to in a short time span for school. Should be graduating May 10th with a B.A. in English. I say “should be” because it is two months away and for some reason I am just really nervous about it although I will more than likely be graduating since I do my school work ultimately even after I heavily procrastinate. What I will be doing after I graduate is uncertain but I heavily feel I am ready for a break.

Well I feel I am breaking my title of “blogs” so I will end this blog and appear again soon with whatever my thoughts provoke me to write.