Creative Minds

This week my blog is a reflection for my Language Arts class.

1.  In your opinion, what was the purpose of this blogging activity? (Why did I choose to do blogging instead of more traditional writing activities?)

I think that the whole point of blogging was to get us to express ourselves in a way that most of us never had before. I certainly hadn’t ever blogged or even looked at a blog for that matter. Before this whole activity, I thought that the only people who really blogged were people who don’t have lives and who sit around all day doing nothing but checking on their blogs. I know now, that anyone can blog and get their feelings and ideas out to the world to read. It is one thing writing for your classmates and teachers but a completely different one when writing to a worldwide audience. There are so many more things that you can write about in a blog then in a more structured form and you have complete control about what you are writing. There are no drafts, revisions and hardly any requirements. The requirements that we do have are normally simple to complete like word count and using different and more challenging vocabulary, however there are some that are more challenging like the different sentences that we have to use. Such as, complex and compound-complex, especially if you don’t normally use them when writing. I have also, found that although there were few requirements I seemed to want to write more diverse and interesting topics than we normally do. I think that one of the purposes of blogging was to get us to think outside the box because we were not told what to write about, we had to choose something that we enjoyed and write about it. In the beginning I found it a little daunting to be writing something that the entire world can see but as I began my first blog I began to really enjoy it. Also, one of the reasons I think that we were given this activity was to get other feed back from people of all ages, and not just from people in our classes.

2.  What have you accomplished during your blogging?

I have accomplished many things while blogging. For one, when I started out I was really nervous and scared of writing a blog. I had no idea about what to expect and what to write about for that matter. I was worried about what people would think about my ideas and even if anyone would read my blog and give me comments and feedback. I think that I have actually become more confident in my writing style. Which I think has developed greatly, during this activity I tried many different styles of writing that I normally don’t use, such as sarcasm, I took different techniques out of books that I have read and tried them out in my writing. I found this difficult and yet fun and rewarding at the same time. Throughout my school career, we as students have always been told what to write about or the styles we should be using and this has really helped me expand my writing. Also, at the beginning of this year when we were doing the wiki’s I absolutely hated writing them because I was not really told what to write and I had never really written anything other than fiction. I found this challenging. But, when we started doing the blogs I had some idea about what I should expect and although I was still new and unsure of the whole “write about what you want” idea, I was happy for the change in pace of always writing fantasy, which I really like. For me it is easier to speak my feelings and ideas rather than writing them, I used to find that I could put more expression into speaking. But, after completing this unit, I have discovered that I can put in as much expression as I think that I can. I mean, I guess that I just embraced the different types of writing and began to have fun with something that I once thought was a tedious task.

3.  What key concepts have you learned while blogging? (This can be about writing, research or technology etc.)

One of the main things that I have learned throughout this experience is that you have to know when to be specific when searching for something or be very broad. I can’t count how many hours I spent trying to find information on the Internet, that I knew was there but I couldn’t find. I have always known that pictures and videos are important parts of literature and expression, but I had no idea until I began blogging. Wow, just looking at a page with no color and only words is really boring! For my blog I would post my blog before I had any pictures or anything interesting on it and normally I go straight to find the pictures and such but one time I went to my page first and my eyes actually started watering because there was nothing to look at besides words. Sometimes when you have a lot of text you need the visual to help break up all of the black and white. I also, learned that I think that it is more fun to read something when it looks like the author has spent time thinking and designing the post. The only time you will write anything worth wile on your blog is if you actually have some kind of feeling towards it. I know that if I was having writers block, I would think over the past week and try to find something that I had thought about that was maddening, thought provoking, crazy or anything that I just found interesting. I would try to think back to the feelings that came along with the thought or action and once I was back into the mood that I was in I could write, which I found kind of cool.

4. Based on the skills you learned while blogging, how will this benefit you in the future? This maybe inside or outside of school.

I believe that blogging will help me be more out going and accept new challenges, that I normally would not do like writing a blog for all of the world to see. I also, think that this has helped me expand my learning and writing styles. I am now more confident at writing my opinions and more comfortable with them, than I was when we first started this project. I think that blogging will help me in the future in different ways, some I stated above. I know now that it is nice to receive comments and criticism about my writing, I think that it has helped me become more open and accepting. I used to just take the constructive criticism in class and if I couldn’t do what I wanted with it I would just leave it, but now I try harder to make my writing better and use the comments that were left to improve it. I hope that if I take anything away from this activity it will be to use criticism to improve myself and my writing, but I also learned that sometimes people want you to change your writing more than you se fit and it is okay to not change. Sometimes what you like is not what others do and that is great because everyone is different and if we were all the same and liked the same things this world would be really boring. So, I have really learned to accept differences in opinions during this activity.

Tags: blogging, blogs, books, confidence, criticism, differences, fantasy, fiction, non-fiction, novels, People, reflection, research, sarcasm, self-reflection, wikis, writing, writing styles

Musicals…pointless nonsense or is there something underneath all of the singing? I love musicals, just as much as I love comedies, which is a bonus for me because most musicals are comedies as well. I was watching Hairspray, (yes, patchx21, I watched it after I read your blog on Star Wars), and I started thinking about why some people like musicals and why some people don’t. Is it because in most musicals everyone is perpetually happy? Or is it because there is hardly any conflict between the characters making the whole thing seem trivial and pointless? There are many reasons why people dislike musicals and just as many reasons why people do like them.

I think that one of the main reasons why people dislike musicals is because there is really no point to the plot and the conflicts the characters go through are pointless and trivial, which makes the story line really, really obvious.  I was reading a blog the other day when I came across this thought by patchx21, “In Hairspray (no, I’m never going to get over that super lame movie), it was barely a struggle. I’m not even going to start on how much I hate it. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop if I do. One thing that I should have mentioned before, in REAL movies, there is pain, sadness, or just something bad before the ending, but Hairspray was just about some girl that lived a perfectly good life that wanted something more. I know that I said I wouldn’t complain, but HOW SELFISH OF HER.” Who decided that musicals were not “real movies”, isn’t that like deciding what “normal” is? I like a good tearjerker or thought-provoking movie just as well as anyone but when I am in a lousy mood there is nothing better than a musical to brighten my day. Has anyone ever seen a musical where there is a majorly insightful moment, where the characters have discovered a cure to cancer, ‘cause I know that I haven’t?

In my opinion the whole point of a musical is to make people happy. How can someone not feel happy when they see all of the colors, idiotic costumes and crazy choreography? One of the reasons why I love musicals is because there normally is no struggle, they end happily and everyone goes around dancing and singing and having a great time. But really, that is the whole point of a musical. They are there to make you forget your trouble riddled life, even if it is only for a few measly hours you can let go of the present and just let your mind relax. They aren’t there to make you think or wonder, they are there to make you happy and to just let go of all of your troubles. If every movie was sad and made you want to die or go and crawl into a hole and drown in misery, then are you really getting out of the world that you live in? Isn’t there enough pain and sadness already that you don’t have to watch it on T.V.? I know that a lot of people do not like musicals, and everyone has the right to opinions, but even if they are really stupid isn’t it just as good to laugh at something that might make you happy than to go around and only watch movies that are sad and violent?

I have seen dozens of musicals. Although many of them (NOT all of them), are super silly and they don’t always have the best plot line however,  every musical has a moral. One of my favorite musicals of all time is Moulin Rouge, it has one of the most important morals that I think that I have ever heard and it is one of my favorite quotes also, “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” Eden Ahbez.

 Lots of people think that musicals are just plain stupid as I pointed out earlier. But, there are quite a few musicals that have very serious plot lines and are quite opinionated, deep and serious, just using the music as a way to express the plot and to make a larger impact on the audience. Take Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street as an example, it was originally a play; don’t you think that as Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) is singing as he cuts the throat of Judge Turpin and many others, it is just a little more intense than if he just slit people’s throats? The same goes for Chicago, it is a serious dramatic movie that just happens to have music in it, this movie won 6 Oscars, had 34 other wins and 54 different nominations! Now to me that is not a movie that should be taken lightly. Again, as I said with Moulin Rouge these movies are just as amazing and deep, and suspense filled as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Stardust.

This scene from Chicago is intense, the choreography is amazing, and it tells the story of why Roxy committed her crime and is just down right cool…. watch this and you might just change your mind…

My favorite scene from Chicago is “Cell Block Tango”, I wasn’t sure if it would be okay to post but here is the link to the youtube site, (you should really watch it it’s amazing):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoCZEmfnE-M

My aunt and my mom are like polar opposites when it comes to movie preferences, my aunt likes horror films and hates musicals, where as my mom hates horror films and loves musicals (yes they both like other genres but I wont mention which ones). If you are more like my aunt than my mom then, just maybe you should try to watch Moulin Rouge, it is the only musical that I can think of that my aunt actually likes. So even the people who hate musical are bound to enjoy at least one.

So, I was just thinking that a musical is just a bunch of songs stuck together; it is basically an album with a singular theme. Think about it, if you like music (and almost everyone on the planet likes music), then there is no reason why you should not enjoy musicals. The music and songs in a musical are exactly what the characters would be saying if it was not a musical, if you think about it that way then the singing shouldn’t bother you at all. Most of them are clean and they have happy endings and there are good values and morals in them. So what’s not to like? Next time there is a musical on, just go and watch it with an open mind and you might be surprised, you might actually enjoy it! My advice is to not think to hard during the movie, just let it carry you. You might end up having the time of your life. 

This is a song from the movie Moulin Rouge, all of the songs were previously written are recorded by different groups, which proves my point about musicals being just like an album with the same theme.

Websites:

About Chicago:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299658/

Sweeney Todd…:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408236/

Tags: awards, Chicago, choreography, dancing, Eden Ahbez, Hairspray, Into the Woods, Johnny Depp, lyrics, morals, Moulin Rouge, Music, musicals, nominations, oscar, patchx21, Sweney Todd: The demon barber of Fleet Street

OK, this is just to let everyone know about this amazing book that I have recently read. Now I know that there are millions or people out there who are Twilight fanatics, then there are those who love the series, the people who like the books and then those who don’t understand what is so special about a stupid book about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. And, no this blog is not going to be about Twilight. So, I am about to admit that I love this series, I have read all four books at least three times each (yes I know that is not a lot compared to some but until I read this series I had never read a novel more than once, so for me this is something major). But, this is not about the Twilight series, it is about a book that sent shivers up my spine, made me want to be the characters in the book and hate the people who put them in their situation: “The Hunger Games” by, Suzanne Collins.

The second that I opened up Twilight I was hooked, and this was in the beginning of November I finished Breaking Dawn before the end of the month. And now, it’s May. I have not been hooked on a book since then and The Hunger Games are now all I can think about. I finished the book a few days ago and because I was so hooked on it I actually didn’t sleep because I was wondering what was going to happen to the Katness and Peeta in the next book, Catching Fire, which will be coming out in September in the USA.

Now, I know that most people don’t become as connected to the characters in a novel as I do but because to them the characters are just that characters, to me these characters are people and the events in their lives are just as interesting and important as any in the “real world”. Characters in book are to me as people are in television shows and movies, I want what’s best for them, just like all of the people who are in love with ‘The Hills’ characters, the people who can’t wait for the next episode. In The Hunger Games, I actually felt Katness and Peeta’s pain, their willingness to live; I could see exactly what was going on in the story it was like I saw everything from the characters eyes and the words on the page were just a narritive.

This is what I think makes an amazing author, if they can make me enter the world that they have created then I have nothing but praise for them. Okay I know that you are waiting to hear what the book is about, I have been going on about how amazing it is for a while now: The Hunger Games is basically about 24 kids between the ages of 12-18, 12 boys and 12 girls, who are thrown into a giant enclosure where they have to kill each other, (that is the really short version).  Right now you are either thinking that that’s really cool or that it is disgusting and vulgar and inhumane, and if what I just told you puts you off the book then you are going to really miss out because it is so much more than that. Perspective, everything comes back down to perspective, which is not new, teachers are constantly saying, “What if you were in their shoes, what would you do?”. That is what you have to do for this book, step into their shoes,  I have never really thought about killing people before I read this book I thought that it was all horrible and that I would never do it, but if I was in their position, trying to survive and get home, would I be able to put humanity aside and let my survival instincts take over.

So,  I was reading this book with rapt attention when my mom asks me what it is about, so I tell her. Man! You should have seen the look on her face, I thought that she had a heart attack! Her first response was to tell me that I shouldn’t be reading something as violent as that, and I replied without missing a beat, that atrocities happen all the time, and isn’t it better to read them in fiction and try to put yourself in their shoes, than to see it happen right before your eyes, when you can feel no sympathy for those committing the crime? 

Any who, this book is amazing, it not only involves death but betrayal, love, humanity, morals, survival against all odds, trust, and forgiveness. The characters are likable and easily hated and the Games are brutal and inhumane. It really is a well rounded book, and I think that just about anyone could read it and enjoy it, from middle school all the way up to adults (it has just the right amount of characteristics that boys like and just enough that girls do). I know that I will be reading this book again, and from now on will have a new perspective on life. 

Just a quick note, Suzanne Collins has written another series called the Underland Chronicles, which are absolutely fantastic! Suzanne Collins is one of the most gifted and creative authors that I have ever read, all of her novels and ideas are completely unique and wonderfully crafted. She is without a doubt one of my favorite authors of all time!

http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com

I found this blog about The Hunger Games, all of the book reviews on this site are really good :

http://reallygoodbooks.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/hunger-games/

Tags: Breaking Dawn, Catching Fire, Eclipse, Gregor the Overlander, New Moon, Stephenie Meyer, Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, The Underland Chronicles, Twilight, Twilight series

Until, 1939 it was unheard of to cuss in television or movies, and “Gone With the Wind” changed that fact; now you can hardly see a movie, television show, or a comedic act or listen to a song with out profanity ringing through your ears and implanting it’s self into young impressionable minds. What happened to good-old-fashioned-clean-cut-behavior? What is with the obsession with vulgarity that so many people have succumbed to? I remember the first time that I heard someone cuss who was my age, I was in first grade, SIX years old, and we were already cussing! In my book that’s not something we should be proud of.  I just know that every parent wakes up in the morning thinking that they want their children to hear profanity, and then hear them saying it. How many times have you been told not to say “That word”, or “That’s a potty word” or “Who did you learn that from”? I am pretty darn sure that parents don’t want their kids cussing and falling in with that disgusting trend, why would they want that?

Kids are impressionable.  You always have to watch what you say with children around and most people do up to a certain point, but where does that point reach oblivion? When will it be too much to take? I once read a book called Lionboy by Zizou Corder and in it there was a quote that has stuck with me (now I don’t have the book any longer so the quote won’t be exactly perfect but I will try to get it as right as possible), it was along the lines of this: “If you cuss at everything unimportant, what words will you have left to express yourself with when something really bad happens?” I think that everyone should think like this when it comes to expressing themselves.

I know that right now the trend is to cuss your head off at everything, but like everything else it is a fad and at some point go out of style if people come together and put a stop to it. Who should we blame for this epidemic of  foul language and ignorance sweeping the world? Well, let’s take a look at Hollywood, where almost every trend starts; what was the first time that people heard a obscenity in public, (normal people that is, I am sure that the mobsters used to swear), it was in a movie in 1939, and where did that movie come from?  Hollywood! I know that we shouldn’t blame everything on Hollywood ‘cause we are just as to blame. Instead of seeing this as something that was bad, we opened up our arms and welcomed it in with all of our hearts, at this time swearing was something new and exotic, but now it is over used and under appreciated. It used to be that you only swore if there was no other word to express your emotion, because people used their brains and creativity thought about what they were trying to say, but now if you listen to conversations every other word is an expletives, between “like” and “uh”.  What has happened to the English language??

Even though this trend of profanity first started in the late 1930’s, it didn’t really take off till the 1980’s, where movies contained an average of 81 cuss words, which rose up from 24 during the 1960’s and there was an average of 1.5 cusswords before that. Yes. Sometimes a good cuss word is the only thing that you can say, but seriously, isn’t anyone else tired of the bleeping out of cussing in movies, or radio edits on songs? Wouldn’t it be easier if we just got rid of the expletives and saved everyone the trouble. It’ seems to me that swearing is just a filler because people have a ton to say but don’t know how to say it?  Take the Beatles for example, (now I haven’t listened to all their songs), but how many times have you heard a cuss word in one of their songs? Not many right, and they were and still are one of the greatest rock bands ever.  Now, take Carol Burnett for example (yes, many of you have no idea who Carol Burnett is and I know that), she was one of the most hilarious comedians, whose career ranged from the 1960’s to the 1970’s, and I don’t think that she ever even uttered a profanity on the stage and yet she would make people double over in laughter.

Do people think that because they cuss it makes them look cool? Or do they do it just because they want to fit in?  I know that I have to cuss it just makes me totally uncomfortable, and yet sometimes I feel like I have to utter this word or that in order to fit in and not be completely on the outside. What is funny about cussing, it is just vulgar.

Hollywood caters to what the people want, if we respond to cussing in every movie and show then that is what they will deliver to us but if we all stop seeing shows that we know will contain a lot of cussing and if we decide not to cuss then I think that the fad will end and we won’t be a society that depends on cussing to express ourselves. 

Links and Credits:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/12/nyregion/ban-on-cursing-approved.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionboy

http://www.chiprowe.com/articles/swear.html

Tags: bleeping, Carol Burnett, cussing, English, Gone With the Wind, Hollywood, lack of creativity, language, Lionboy, Movies, Music, profanity, songs, T.V., The Beatles, the Carol Burnett Show, vulgarity, Zizou Corder

Do you dare to disturb the universe? That is what blogging is, right? We are writing to get our ideas out there and to influence the world surrounding us. Not many people know about Poetry Month so I wanted to send out the message. Maybe if more people knew about Poetry Month, they would be able to express themselves in new ways. Not by violence, now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that everyone uses violence to express themselves, but I am pretty sure that even the most pacifistic person has had one moment in their life where they have used brutality to make themselves feel better.

Every April since 1996, when the Academy of American Poets, inaugurated Poetry Month, hundreds of schools around the United States and across the globe have united during April to support poetry in student’s lives. I know that many people have no postulation of what Poetry Month was designed for. The Academy of American Poets wanted to educate the publics’ taste in poetry, poets dead and alive and to encourage people of all ages to read and write poetry. It was also started to increase attainability in the current society where everything is expendable; also to celebrate the wonderful ability that poetry has to sustain all changes in literature popularity and style. The American Academy of Poets had many goals when creating this month of celebration, the most important to me were to make poetry a more important part of the school curriculum, increasing the attention paid to poetry by national and local media, and to encourage increased publication, distribution, and sales of poetry books, nationally and internationally.

Who decided that poetry has to be written down? Who said that poems had to have rhyme? Doesn’t everyone deserve to have poetry in his or her lives? And it doesn’t have to be written down. I think that if every person who could care less about poetry just sat down for one minute and thought about their lives, they would find poetry in it. Next time that you are having a bad day just come up with a little poem about what is bothering you, and I think that it will make you feel better. I don’t know about you, but doesn’t it bother you when you see trash lying on the ground and there is a trashcan two feet away? My advice: write a poem about it. It’s easy, it took me 15 seconds to come up with this and I already feel better:

There, I see it

On the ground,

waiting to be launched into the oblivion

of the pitch black trash bag.

Where it will meet its destiny

Of saving the planet,

recycling.

Poems don’t have to be perfect; they just have to have expression of your voice.

And if you are a person who thinks that you know nothing about poetry, then I hate to break it to you but you are dead wrong. Poems and poetry are different to every individual. To me poetry is anything that moves me (not literally, but figuratively). What is it to you? Whether you like it or not poetry can be your greatest friend. I know what you are thinking, “Why would poetry be my greatest friend?” or “I don’t have time to read some silly poem?” but have you ever used your mind and thought about the fact that poetry isn’t just words written by some old dead person? Poetry is your favorite song; take time to listen to the lyrics and you will be surprised at what you find there. The most basic and elemental aspects of poetry can be found in songs. What is the one thing that everyone thinks a poem has to have? I know this…wait…I know this… RHYME and REPETITION! What is in every chorus? Repetition. You see, poetry is not just for people who are bookworms and hermits (although you might think so), and softies. Some of the most influential poets were men! Right now you might be rocking out to Neyo, Alicia Keys, Hairspray, Taylor Swift the Beatles or even the Rolling Stones, and wait for it… IT’S ALL POETRY (well, it has poetic elements)! So get out there and write or read poetry.

Hero- Enrique Iglesias (with lyrics):

My current favorite poem is by Alfred Noyes, the title is The Highwayman (you can read it here):

http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics/highwayman-orig.html

Or listen to it here:

Over this past month poetry has been spread all through out my school. To commemorate the end of Poetry Month we arranged a Poetry Slam so that poets from all over the school could read their works or read someone else’s. I am now imploring you to get involved with poetry at your school. Disturb your universe. Make a change and next year join in for Poetry Month. Express yourself with poetry; it lets you be you.

http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/47

Tags: Alfred Noyes, April 2009, Do I dare disturb the universe?, expression, lyrics, Music, news, poetry, Poetry Month, poets.org, the American Academy of Poets, the Highwayman, voice

Here are three small facts: I play trombone (and am pretty skilled, but I am not the next Glenn Miller), I love to go onstage and put myself out there for everyone to watch and would do anything for a solo. But lets get this straight right now, not a solo with my trombone but a solo in acting or dance. Here is where my problem really begins and this is my question to the world: Why are people completely confident in one thing and utterly incapable of confidence in another? This sums me up pretty darn well.

I am constantly being told that I am incredibly confident. Well, news flash to everyone: I’m not.  Yes, I seem to be confident and in control but half of the time I’m not and I just don’t show how I truly feel.

 I am generally a competitive person but in band I am happy to finish second. Not third but second. I mean in playing music, for any of you who don’t play an instrument there are different parts for just about every piece of music. I like playing second; I am in my comfort zone there. I don’t like first. Let me just give you the facts here: normally two people play second and one plays first. This is why I don’t like it and I have no idea why. Maybe I am afraid of making a fool of myself, I mean when you are reciting lines and if you make a mistake you can adlib, but music calls for precision and I am scared to death of that. Don’t get me wrong I am a very competent trombonist; I was selected to perform at an honor band conference. Where does my confidence go when I am holding my trombone?

When I was handed the first part on a piece of music I first thought that this was a mistake. Well, I was wrong. My teacher decided that it was time that I took on a more challenging role. With that harmless piece of paper in my hand I felt like crawling into a black hole and staying there forever. I cannot express in words how desperately I wanted to trade pieces with another student. 

I can go up on stage and recite a dramatic monologue with out batting an eye but when I go on stage with my trombone I completely freeze. With drama or dance if you mess up you can improvise, but with music if you make one error that’s loud enough to hear, you can spoil the entire performance for the audience. I think it is because I am so afraid of mistakes that I fly under the radar in band. I don’t want to disappoint anyone.

But, now I ask myself how is that possible? If I never take a chance on anything then the person who I am disappointing the most is myself. I say it’s time for me to change and take on all the challenges in my life with a grain of salt and if I disappoint a few people along the way then so be it, but at least I won’t be letting myself down. 

Tags: acting, band, challenges, confidence, Dance, Glenn Miller, honor band, instrument, mistakes, Music, performance, trombone

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