Old News Sonnet

Although sonnets are really old news and we're on to bigger and better things, I have to tell this story because I couldn't actually believe it myself. So firstly I got in a huge fight with my girlfriend the other day... So big that I thought that we were probably going to break up over it. I was supper upset and anxious and I didn't really know what to do so I sat down and wrote, but instead of writing a journal entry all that I could think about was rhyming so I decided to write a sonnet. I wasn't sure, but in the end it actually made me feel way better. I can't really believe that it worked. I mean I was super skeptical about it in the first place but I liked doing it, and it calmed me down a ton. More so than doing that though it made it so my girlfriend wasn't mad at me anymore. This was honestly one of the coolest things that has ever happened and I will remember it for the rest of my life. Instead of even trying to talk it out with her I just gave her the sonnet and didn't say anything. After she read it everything just seemed to be okay. I don't really know what happened but I guess that it just some how made her realize that it isn't worth fighting about anything. What I'm really trying to get at is that even if you write a sonnet for your personal well being (not being stressed out), give it to the person that you are writing about. I think that they will, every time be touched in some way that you actually wrote, a sonnet (not a poem) about them. Not very many people get hand written personal sonnets in their lives, so if you give one to some one they won't stay mad at you I guarantee it. Plus the sonnet helps you get past the hard part in your life.

The brothers K

Right now I am rereading book 5 to try and come up with an idea for my paper. I think that what I want to write about is that although Alexi is suppose to be the idealistic spiritual begin this should title should actually be given to his brother Ivan. The reason that i think this is because Ivan is not worried about the inner workings of god but rather the sufferings of man. I know that it is supposedly more idealistic to give up ones life for doing goods work but it seems as though Alexi has not ever really thought about why he is doing it. Ivan seems to be doing something that he feels as though can change the persecutive of man kind where Alexi is just following duty. How is it idealistic to blindly follow anything. Ivan makes the point about the little girl in the out house and this is what I feel like stings a cord that create a paper on. Rather than talking about the little boy getting ripped apart by dogs the little girl is a more powerful image because she lives afterwards, and that is the beginning of her fait to just become another human that is going to do evil in the world. During this conversation Alexi can barely deal with the ideas that are being brought up, he can barely talk and a feel as though this isin vocative of another human that is willing to allow suffering to happen in exchange for happiness. Which Ivan also brings up. Really I think that the thesis of my paper is going to be that Ivan instead of Alexi should be the ideal character not because he is not confrontational, but instead because he is willing to be confrontational to try and understand the problems in the world.

Bad Day

The assignment for the class this weekend was to have a bad day, I tried my hand at this and failed miserably. I thought that if i did a bunch of really terrible thing that it would force me to have a really terrible day. First thing in the morning I woke up and temporarily broke up with my girlfriend, but when I did this she begged for my forgiveness over nothing. This proved that she actually does really like me and I guess it kind of made me feel better not worse about my self. Since I was unsuccessful in emotionally hurting myself I figured that the only way that I could have a super bad day was to physically scare myself. I don't have the guts to actually harm myself I tried to get another person to do it for me. I went into the street and tried to get hit by a car but they all just swerved around me. Then I tried to get someone to hit me in the face, but that didn't work either.
It was weird when I was trying to have all of these bad things happen to me only good results came out of it. For this reason I decide that I don't agree at all with the tragic since of life. I feel as though there are way more happy moments than sad ones. The only reason that sad ones are more prevalent in stories is because they always make for a better story. It would be terrible to hear a story about a great day, but it is amazing to hear a story Oedipus Rex killing his father and having relations with his mother. I feel as though the idea of the tragic since of life was created by someone that was just in a really hard time of there life. Even if life is terrible it is still vibrant rather than the monotony of blackness. Although in the end I'm going to be buried in a hole, and am probably never going to have any sensation again I am glad that I was at least given the chance to have sensation in the first place. Dying is alright, living at least at this point is better, but not witnessing the majesty of life at all is terrible.


P.S. I'm really jealous of Garret because he actually got to fulfil the assignment, and successfully scared himself.

In class the other day the was a discussion about how Alexi was not the hero of the Brothers K, because of his inability to be a dynamic character. He is the hero for this reason though, and I think that this is why Dysoski choose to say that he was the hero. The reason for this is because all of the other characters kind of take a life of their own. The other characters in the book are not interested in helping the reader get through the book, they are only interested in getting by on their task. I feel as though Alexi is there to keep the reader engaged, and that is why he does not really change. The reason that Alexi so pure is because he is the only character that the author could keep control of. Without Alexi the book would be like watching a reality TV show instead of reading a novel. It would be watching the lives of people going through dramatic events, instead of reading a novel with complex thoughts and idea hidden throughout the text. It is noted that most of the really important metaphysical conversations are related through Alexi not any of the other characters. If Alexi wasn't the pure lovable character the other characters wouldn't relate to him and so there would be no deeper meaning in the book. Alexi is the authors only control over the book while all of the others characters are going wild. Alexi forces the book to be more than just the abridged version that would be there for only the sake of finding out the mystery. This is why Alexi is the true hero of the book. 

the temptress and the love of my life (sonnet)

To the great masses that besiege thy name

You are impervious to their assaults.

With an aura that inflicts numbing pain.

Yet men will jump into your deadly vault.

More potent then the darkest of the rose,

One touch will steal the workings of a soul.

The irresistible caress of thy nose,

Forces men, to buckle to ash and coal.

See, thy beauty is that of the gods.

With more guile then a wise auburn fox.

Men try to prod at her with sharpened rods,

But she stands tall, like the majestic rox.

For you my beauty, I have fallen too,

Lets see if a divine love may ensue. 

Found it!

EAT!

EAT!

EAT!

Day 9

EAT Plant.

Prevention Day

Eat. 

Eat.

Eat.

a Day,

DAY 9,

DAY 9,

Eat. 

Plant Prevention 

This is my found poem it was found on a public service announcement about eating more vegetables. The original said plant prevention eat 9 a day.

Sonnet a Lovers Tool

This class is the only thing that has ever really exposed me to sonnets. In the past I have learned about  the 3 quatrains and a couplet, and how the structure of a sonnet works, but this class has really made me realize what a powerful tool a sonnet is. Firstly in a sonnet so many secret meanings can be embedded into 14 lines. I know that this is true for any form of writing, but in a sonnet the author has to be far more keen to be able to say what they really want to without giving anything away. Not only does the author have a great task of writing secret messages into the sonnet, but the reader has to be far more deceptive to really understand the authors true feelings. This was obvious when I recited a sonnet to that fair maiden and she just kind of blew it off... maybe even took it the wrong way. 

A sonnet is also a powerful tool because of its length and rhyme scheme. For these reasons it can be easily memorized. There really is no better pick up line than reciting some poetry to a girl. A sonnet is ideal for this because the even if the want to be lover doesn't understand the jumble of mixed up words that you are saying, she will at least get that its a poem because it rhymes. If a free verse poem was recited she would probably just look at you, slap you, and call it a day. She wouldn't have ever recognized it being a poem, she would have probably just thought that you were some schizophrenic ranting at her. Although I can't find the beauty in a sonnet it is at least a really good way to pick up chicks.

P.S. That last line was a joke... Kind of

Tell a Story

Last night I was told to tell someone a story to help them fall asleep. Since there was no book on hand I just had to come up with something on the spot. In the beginning it was hard to be charismatic and make up characters and events that would be interesting enough to hold someone's attention. As the story went on though it began to flow easier and easier. Really i just started to think of Fydor Karamazov (My favorite character from the brothers K) and it became pretty easy to come up with different interesting situations and ideas as I was talking. I made it so the main character Sylvia would purposely make herself look like  moron to see how people would react to her. Eventually I had to end the story, so i figured the best way to do  was to blind Sylvia. She ended up saying the wrong thing to the wrong lady, who just happened to cast spell that sent Sylvia into eternal darkness. What I just wrote really has no meaning to any of you, because none of you were there, but what trying to get at is that once engrossed into a story i think its impossible to get away from these archetypal ideals. It's way to hard to try and come up with something original, and lame to try and steal someone else's story, so i just borrowed from other people. I think thats what all authors do though. This may be the point of this class. To teach us that everything is a story and that all stories are just part of one bigger story. I guess that our entire society is based off of some type of story. I don't really know, all that is obvious is that 99.99% of stories follow a form that anyone from the western culture will understand. If you don't believe me try and tell someone a story that you are making up on the spot. I guarantee that it will not be done without using some form of archetype... Or it could just be a terrible story.

Summers Day

The long awaited video of sonnet 18 is going to have some technical difficulties... my camera was stolen this weekend after the video was taken. Although this experiment will be repeated, so everyone can see the exact reaction on the girls face, i figured i would blog early and tell everyone about my first experience.  

 I really thought that this was going to be a good idea. I figured that it would just make some girl fall madly in love with me... I mean that is what was promised by Dr. S, but i guess on the same hand you live and learn.  In doing this experiment I  just went up to the prettiest girl that I could find, grabbed her hand,  and looked deep into the inner workings of her soul. This, I thought would create an explosion of emotions. Instead it caused her to be a little bit creeped out from the beginning. Not very many people can penetrate a soul the way that i can. Anyways as soon as I started to recite she acted like it wasn't the most romantic, beautiful ,thing that has ever happened to her... Seriously, I was telling a girl that her eternal beauty is the only thing that keeps me alive and she seemed insulted by this. I was flabbergasted! The entire time that I was reciting the poem this girl thought that she could pull her hand out of my own, making it back to the comfort of her boyfriend. Of course I'm stronger than some girl... especially with Shakespeare on my side. When my piece was up and it was my maidens turn to speak the reaction that I received  was maybe not the one that I expected. Instead of having a ray of sunshine hit our complexions and instant love to occur. My fair maiden stormed off, so exhasturbated that she didn't even have a clue what to say. Her boyfriend was waiting with open arms, giving me very dirty looks the entire time I must add. 

In telling everyone this, I am left with some questions. Firstly: How the hell does Arnold Friend do it? (pun intended) I figure that I'm about as good looking and about as smooth as him, so why is that he get all of the hot chicks and i just get rejected. Also I really began to wonder what archetypal character am I? I mean of corse the hero, but I feel like I somethings went wrong,  such as the wise old man leading me astray (Dr.S).  Who is the girl? platonic ideal or temptress, that one is hard. She just sucked me in and spit me out. Maybe I did put her on a pedestal... but the way that she moved. I just couldn't help myself.  Well hopefully one day my dream will come true... A girl will at least acknowledge my existence. 

Generic Archetypes

In class we keep on talking about different archetypal characters, from the hero to the crone, the wise old man to the misfit it seems like every base that any one could come up with would be covered. There is something in common about all of these characters though. They are all larger than life, they all have some role to play that creates a story around each individual charter, but what I'm really wondering about is can there be the archetypal neighbor or towns folk or in-laws.. Someone that is noteworthy enough to put into the story yet plays no real part.

There are reoccurring themes of all of these character in all sorts of literature one that really sticks out to me it farmer Maggot from lord of the rings. Although this character doesn't really drive the story in any way he is shown as being a gruff old neighbor which is seen in literature through out the world. I mean any modern date movie what do the people say about the in laws... "Do we really have to go they... They hate me." So these types of none main characters are scattered throughout the literary world. IN novel they outnumber the heros ten to one. So all that I am really wondering is are these archetypes? They follow the definition, but seem to be insignificant. Is that part of the archetypal definition, does something have to be significant for it to really be considered as a reoccurring theme? Overall in my mind I would describe these types of character as archetypes and if anyone else has any others ideas please comment.