So much homework!

I've been so busy since school started! All of my teachers seem to be piling on tests, quizzes, and homework.

But, fortunately, I can still manage to be happy because fall is coming! Leaves are beginning to turn orange, the wind is beginning to crisp up, and the temperature is going down. I don't particularly like any one season, but I do love that few weeks of transition every 3 months or so!

Remember me

Remember Me

Remember me when the years have passed,
when wretched aging has taken course
Oh how on rocky banks we’d danced
until our calloused feet were sore.
Laughing in the garden’s perfume,
far away from the bronzed sun.
While admiring the moon kissed tulips bloom,
the quiet calling of the clocks were shunned.
And now, as my ancient flesh decays,
withering into the unknown abyss
I vow to never forget the days,
of which I cannot help but reminisce.
Please, forget me not when I have passed,
for earthly flesh our memories will outlast.

It's been a while

It has been about a month since my last post. AP exams, school, and the thought of finals has kept me most preoccupied. I can't believe that school is ending next Thursday. That's under 2 weeks! Though many are excited for vacation, I am nervous; I only have 2 weeks to bring up my grades. Unfortunately, this semester's grades fall heavily on finals for me. Fantastic.

My Fair... Pygmalion?

I took on the challenge of reading Pygmalion, a play by George Bernard Shaw. It seemed short, easy, and relatively stress-free, so I read it last Saturday. In the middle of Act I, got the brilliant idea of watching My Fair Lady while following the play along in my book. So I opened up My Fair Lady on youtube, hooked my computer up to the TV, and watched. I was surprised by how much of the play was incorporated into the movie. The makers of My Fair Lady really brought Pygmalion to life. However, though there many similarities, some major changes were made to make the movie more continuous and... exciting.

The first major discord appeared in the second act. After Higgins accepts Eliza as a pupil, the movie shows the tedious and rigorous boot camp that poor Eliza is forced to endure. Surprisingly, however, the play does not show her training. Instead, it jumps from Higgins's and Pickering's bet to Eliza's first showcase. I really dislike the play for this. There are random jumps between acts where large chunks of time almost randomly disappear in a void.
This brings me to the next difference. In the movie, Eliza is first tested in high society at the derby. In the play though, Eliza is actually taken to Higgins's mother's house, where she meets Freddy. I personally prefer the derby, for it is far more exciting than tea at the Higgins's. However, it would be rather difficult for a theater to put on a full derby scene on stage. So, for practicality's sake, his mother's house will have to do.
Eliza's second debut also is portrayed differently in the movie than it is in the book. My Fair Lady shows Eliza at a grand ball, dancing with foreign princes. In the play however, Eliza is simply taken to the opera. Oh, and that entire scene where the linguist believes that Eliza is Hungarian royalty? It's not even portrayed in the play. In fact, that entire scene is cut out in the play, which really shocked and disappointed me.
Lastly, and possibly most importantly, Eliza's choice of men is not the same in both stories. In My Fair Lady, Eliza ends up with Higgins. She comes to love his rude and stubborn ways and ultimately chooses him over Freddy. However, in the play, Shaw informs the reader in the epilogue that Eliza in fact marries Freddy because she does not want to compromise her feminine independence. As Shaw put it, Eliza would "rather have Freddy pick up her slippers than have to pick up Higgins's slippers." I think that the makers of My Fair Lady chose their ending to simply make the viewers happy. To be truthful, I would be angry if Eliza and Freddy ended up together.

In the end, I really liked the movie better. Apart from the catchy show tunes, My Fair Lady had a continuity to it that Pygmalion lacked. The play had major time lapses that made the story seem to lack something important.
Anyway, I really enjoyed reading Pygmalion while watching My Fair Lady. It was fun. (:

Blogging White Noise: Part 1 Questions

1. How does Jack's Hitler Studies help him cope with his fear of death?
2. How is Jack's struggle to gain authority shown in this section?
3. What's the significance of Wilder's temper tantrum?
4. How does the motif of white noise appear in part 1?
5. Explain the significance of the scene at the burial plot.

Hamlet Monologue Parody

I came across this cute parody of Hamlet's monologue in Act III, scene i. Sorry it's in an odd formatting.

To eat, or not to eat, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the stomach to suffer the slings and arrows of hunger, or to take mouths and by digesting end them.

To bloat, to eat, no more, and by eating we say we end the stomach ache and the thousand natural pangs that digestive systems are ere to. Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.

To bloat, to eat, to eat. Perchance to fulfill? Ay, there’s the rub. For in that meal of nourishment what fulfillment may come must give us pause. There’s the respect that makes calamity of so long bulimia.

For who would bear the hunger and malnutrition of time? The food corporation’s wickedness, the proud anorexic’s contumely, the pangs of despis’d hunger, the law’s delay, and the spurns that a good appetite by the unworthy takes when you yourself your acquaintance could make with a perfectly good stingray.

Who would fardels bear to suffer under the veil of famine, but that the dread of something after the meal, the undiscovered course from whose satiation no feeder returns, puzzles the will, and makes us rather eat those fish we have, than swim to others that might not taste as good.

Thus conscience doth make dolphins of us all, and thus the native hue of resolution to feed is sicklied over with the pale cast of thought. And meals of great pith and moment with this regard, their ocean currents turn awry and lose the name of action.

Thus conscience doth make dolphins of us all

And thus the native hue of vegetarianism is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought.

Soft you now, fair Lionfish! — Nymph, in thy orisons. Be all my sins remembered.

Blogging White Noise: Discussion Question Response

3. Final Countdown: Is there some sort of irony regarding the main character's odd title on campus? There are many ironies to Jack’s title of chairman of the department of Hitler studies. One is the notion that a man clearly terrified of death is fascinated by a leader who systematically murdered thousands. This discord in Jack’s interests highlights his flawed logic, forming him into a quite unreliable character. Another irony is the general enthusiasm of Jack’s department. The Hitler studies division, Jack’s brainchild, was founded in 1968, around twenty short years after WWII. Rather than being shot down by skeptics, the subject thrived, and a Hitler conference is said to take place the following fall.

4. Quarter Rose: Why would any mother in their right mind force their children to spend their Friday night free-time watching television that upsetted them? Contrary to Quarter Rose, I have to agree with Babette’s unconventional parenting. In addition to encouraging family togetherness (or, regrettably, the lack thereof), the Friday TV ritual dampens the children’s love of television. Thus, the custom strips the false magnificence from TV programs and makes them rather mundane and ordinary. By making TV “unglamorized” and a “domestic sport,” the children lose interest in the “brain sucking” nonsense that TV can broadcast. In short, Babette is preventing her children from wasting away in front of the TV, desiring a false reality that TV so readily presents.

9. Fettuccini Alfredo: Why is the school evacuation played off as not too serious? There is little discussion of it... why? It is odd that only two brief paragraphs are reserved for an event of this magnitude. For one who is overwhelmed by the omnipresence of death, Jack seems strangely nonchalant about this mysterious, and perhaps lethal, happening. I believe that this snippet concerning the disaster serves to enhance the palpable reality of death that begins to pervade Jack’s life. Before this incident, Jack’s life seemed relatively harmless; his anxiety over death seemed almost like a childish delusion. However, compounded with other seemingly inconsequential events such as the toxicity of gum chewing, the school evacuation hints at the ominous truth behind Jack’s qualms. As the novel progresses, this truth becomes frighteningly apparent, ensnaring Jack in a shroud of fatal and infinite darkness.

Watching Star Wars!

I rewatched Star Wars Episode III yesterday. I came by this earlier and thought it was fitting. Enjoy!

Blogging White Noise: Questions

1. What is the significance of Jack's wonder at the station wagons?
3. What evidence of white noise is already evident in the novel?
5. How does death seem to have an omnipotent presence in the novel? What does this signify?
7. How are Jack and Murray foils to one another?
9. Explain the significance behind Jack's almost foolhardy commitment to his Hitler Studies class.
11. What's the deal with the discussion about the fatality of gum?

Coming Soon!

This has been a successful spring break.

Things I did over break:

• Sleepwalked


• Watched The King's Speech (again)


• Watched Beauty and the Beast (for the first time, yes I know. Pitiful)


• Watched Peter Pan (both animated and live action versions) for the first time


• Watched Love Actually ♥


• Watched Eclipse (Ugh. Horrible movie)


• Tumbled like there was no tomorrow


• Ordered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1


• Made it to the final level of my video game


• Went to Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell


• Gained five pounds. : 9

Well, I think that's pretty good considering I was in Fort Fun all week. [:

I think I sleepwalked a few nights ago.

The idea didn't hit me until now though. On Friday, I went upstairs to sleep as usual, but woke up downstairs on the couch. I never go downstairs in the middle of the night, save for the occasional sip of water. I truly have no recollection of ever getting up and physically leaving my room. Weird.

The CUTEST Thing! ♥

I saw this on Tumblr and absolutely loved it. :'D

Floating Trees

Today, I decided to read the poem of the day on poetryfoundation.org. I found it to be quite enjoyable. Here it is:

Floating Trees

by C. D. Wright

a bed is left open to a mirror

a mirror gazes long and hard at a bed

light fingers the house with its own acoustics

one of them writes this down

one has paper

bed of swollen creeks and theories and coils

bed of eyes and leaky pens

much of the night the air touches arms

arms extend themselves to air

their torsos turning toward a roll

of sound: thunder

night of coon scat and vandalized headstones

night of deep kisses and catamenia

his face by this light: saurian

hers: ash like the tissue of a hornets’ nest

one scans the aisle of firs

the faint blue line of them

one looks out: sans serif

“Didn’t I hear you tell them you were born

on a train”

what begins with a sough and ends with a groan

groan in which the tongue’s true color is revealed

the comb’s sough and the denim’s undeniable rub

the chair’s stripped back and muddied rung

color of stone soup and garden gloves

color of meal and treacle and sphagnum

hangers clinging to their coat

a soft while bulb to its string

the footprints inside us

iterate the footprints outside

the scratched words return to their sleeves

the dresses of monday through friday

swallow the long hips of weekends

a face is studied like a key

for the mystery of what it once opened

“I didn’t mean to wake you

angel brains”

ink of eyes and veins and phonemes

the ink completes the feeling

a mirror silently facing a door

door with no lock no lock

the room he brings into you

the room befalls you

like the fir trees he trues her

she nears him like the firs

if one vanishes one stays

if one stays the other will or will not vanish

otherwise my beautiful green fly

otherwise not a leaf stirs

Blogging Hamlet:: Act II, Scene ii

1. Summary: Act II scene ii is a scene of mammoth proportions. I'll try my best to summarize it in a clear and concise fashion, but I make no promises.
This scene opens with the arrival of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, both of whom are Hamlet's friends from Whittenberg. The King and Queen, concerned about Hamlet's lunatic behavior, send the pair to spy on him. Polonius then enters, announcing the return of Voltimand, an ambassador to Norway, who brings news of its aged king. Voltimand begins his tale. The Norwegian king rebuked Fortinbras for attempting to attack Denmark. However, when Fortinbras vowed to never again attack Denmark, the king gave Fortinbras a grand sum of money and urged him to attack Poland instead. Now, Fortinbras asks permission to march through Denmark to reach Poland. Relieved that Fortinbras failed in his attempt to attack Denmark, Claudius hastily announces that he will see to the business later and dismisses Voltimand. Polonius then expresses his own qualms regarding Hamlet. He ironically begins an unnecessarily grandiloquent explanation on the importance of succinctness before finally offering his own explanation for Hamlet's apparent madness: the prince is madly in love with his daughter, Ophelia. After he reads one of Hamlet's many love letters, Polonius sees Hamlet on the balcony and quickly concocts a plan. He decides to send Ophelia to talk to Hamlet. Hiding in the curtains, he, the king, and the queen, will be able to hear the couple's conversation. The King and Queen assent to this plan and exit, leaving Polonius alone with Hamlet. Polonius attempts to strike up a conversation with the latter, but the only result seems to be a display of cold irritability from Hamlet. The prince even calls Polonius a "fishmonger." Polonius leaves, observing that while some of Hamlet's responses were seemingly erratic, they were actually "pregnant" with veiled insults. (Almost done!) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet the unhappy Hamlet who laments his disappointments of Denmark. Hamlet then pressures his friends until they admit to have been sent as spies. Rosencrantz then mentions a theater troupe that is performing near the castle. Hamlet becomes excited and invites his friends to stay at Elsinore. In the castle, Hamlet warmly welcomes the troupe and asks a member to perform an excerpt depicting the fall of Troy and the deaths of the Trojan king and queen. Hamlet is deeply moved by the scene, and accompanies the actor to his room. Along the way, Hamlet asks if the troupe could perform The Murder of Gonzago with a few added lines by himself. The actor accepts. Hamlet then goes to a private room and begins his monologue, which will be explored in the upcoming sections.

2. Quote:

"What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba

That he should weep for her? What would he do

Had he the motive and the cue for passion

That I have? He would drown the stage with tears

And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,

Make mad the guilty and appall the free..."
~Hamlet, lines 518 to 523

I really found Hamlet's monologue to be quite interesting. To me, the passage almost gives off a general air of confused bipolarity. His (perhaps) feigned madness seems to trickle into his speech as he jumps from self-pity to incredulousness to more self-pity to fearful doubt to ravenous bloodthirstiness. Anyway, I can relate to Hamlet in this excerpt as he incredulously observes the tears the actor had shed during his monologue. I'm not saying that I too wallow in self pity, but I understand where he is coming from. These lines effectively depict the internal strife Hamlet is experiencing. I also sense that Hamlet is almost tempted to express his knowledge to others from the way he broods over what would happen if the actor knew the horrific acts of Claudius.

3. Reaction to Polonius:
To me, Polonius comes off as just a petty, unworthy henchman who has delusions of grandeur. Surprisingly, instead of being ticked off as Hamlet is at Claudius's goon, I am finding myself rather enjoying his shallow complacency. I must admit I laughed at his topsy-turvy speech on the merits of conciseness. I also found his intellectual defeat at the hands of Hamlet to be quite entertaining. How can an old man be out witted by a half-crazed college student? Lastly, I loved how the actor from the movie portrayed Polonius during the actor's monologue. Trying to redeem himself after Hamlet chastises him for being philistine, Polonius vaguely says "that's good, that's good" in a desperate attempt to make himself look cultured. Nice try Polonius.

My view of Polonius:

Watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!

There's a Harry Potter marathon on ABC! I just cant' help thinking of Hamlet every time I see Gilderoy Lockhart.

See the similarity? (:

Hamlet Response

I really liked She Said She Said's concise blog post about Hamlet, Act I Scene ii. We shared many of the same thoughts about Hamlet's father's ghost, like why doesn't the ghost speak to anyone but Hamlet? Is he going crazy? These are a few ideas that I also had. Well, great minds think alike, right? :D

Blogging Hamlet, Act I, Scene iv

1. Summary: Hamlet, Marcello, and Horatio stand guard outside Elsinore to watch for the ghost. Hamlet explains the Danish custom of carousing, and bitterly imagines the other countries' negative view of the aristocracy of Denmark. The ghost then appears and beckons Hamlet. Hamlet's companions warn Hamlet about following the phantom, believing that he could get harmed. Nevertheless, Hamlet follows the ghost.

2. Quote: "But to my mind, though I am native here and to the manner born, it is a custom more honored in the breach than the observance. This heavy-handed revel east and west makes us traduced and taxed of other nations. They clep us drunkards, with swinish phrase soil our addition; and indeed it takes from our achievements, though performed at height, the pith and marrow of attribute."
During these lines, I really feel for Hamlet and his kingdom. I understand where Hamlet is coming from; the Danish reputation really rests on the king's shoulders, and by acting irresponsibly, Claudius is soiling Denmark's reputation. This, unfortunately, is taking foreigners' attention away from the merits of the nation and towards its faults. How sad.

3. Reaction to the Ghost:
Finally! Some phantasmic action! Unlike the ghosts and witches in Macbeth, I really enjoyed the ghost in Hamlet. I think my intrigue springs from the movie, which did a nice job of portraying the eerie late Hamlet. In this scene, he is silent, which poses some questions. 1) Why can't he speak in front of Hamlet's friends? This is the second time he has refused to speak to them. 2) If the ghosts didn't speak to Hamlet's friends, is it possible that that he isn't speaking to mortals at all? In that case, is Hamlet hallucinating the bulk of the next scene? Hmmm... seems suspicious.

Poem of the day!

This was the poem of the day on poetryfoundation.org. Enjoy! :)

Elegance
by Linda Gregg Linda Gregg

All that is uncared for.
Left alone in the stillness
in that pure silence married
to the stillness of nature.
A door off its hinges,
shade and shadows in an empty room.
Leaks for light. Raw where
the tin roof rusted through.
The rustle of weeds in their
different kinds of air in the mornings,
year after year.
A pecan tree, and the house
made out of mud bricks. Accurate
and unexpected beauty, rattling
and singing. If not to the sun,
then to nothing and to no one.

Rereads.

Recently, I've found myself rereading a lot of books. Most of these we've read in class, but a few have been personal favorites that I read on my own free time. Here's a list:

1. Great Expectations: I've forgotten how much I truly loved this book. The plot is so cynically twisted that it gives me shivers. Of course, like every reread, I've picked on little subtleties that I hadn't picked up my freshman year. For example, at Mrs. Joe's funeral, Pumblechook yells "handkerchiefs at the ready!" and systematically instructs the mourners to wipe their tears in a rather oddly general-like fashion. These fine points slipped my mind the first time through. I also loved noticing the hints to later events that seemed so blatantly evident my second read through. I became excited at my sort of omnipresence whenever I came across these. It felt that I had some secret that no one else knew about.

2. A Man for All Seasons: I came across this in my room while I was cleaning out my bookshelf the other day. I read it all in one sitting (it probably took an hour or so). I was amazed by how much my PoV concerning Sir Thomas More had changed. I had always viewed him as a martyr, but it was only after my reread that I had fully come to appriciate how he stood by his belifs so whole heartedly. I distinctly remember a fishbowl we had about this book in freshman Block. Someone had actually chided More for beign strong and not giving in to King Henry VIII. I think that if we had had the same fishbowl now, this comment would have not been made due to our increased maturity.

3. Little Women: I absolutely adore this book. It is a perfect, cheerful, light read fit for any leisure filled day. I read it in about two hours and fully understood the playful humor in the book this time around. It was definately enjoyable to reread!

4. Pride and Prejudice: I had read this book and Jane Eyre and Robinson Crusoe in 8th grade when I was over at my relatives' house, bored to death by lack of children my age. We were staying over at their house for a whopping month, and luckily, the my relatives' college aged daughter had left a few books in her bookshelf. Due to my boredom and the availability of books, I read for that month. However, as an 8th grader, Pride and Prejudice's full meaning did not entirely enter my head. This past reread has allowed me to understand not only understand the more complicated aspects of 18th century English, but to understand the major themes in the novel. On a side note, I really enjoyed Pride and Prejudice more than Sense and Sensibility.