The Last Blog

As the end of the course nears I find myself looking back at everything I have learned. Before this class I considered myself a part of the lowbrow group, being too afraid to venture to the highbrow end of things. And now, at the end of it all, I find myself at a new beginning with an urge to explore all the wonderful readings that the highbrow world has to offer. With the gibberish rhythmic workings of Finnegans Wake constantly bouncing around in my head, I know that I am not the same person I was at the beginning of this class. I do have to admit that my favorite reading from this class is T.S. Elliot's Four Quartets. I am not much of a poetry person, but for some reason those poems have reached me. From Haroun and the Sea of Stories to The Following Story, this class was filled with a wide variety of literature, yet it all was linked as one in the end, with the five themes of the class jumping out at us from every novel. Who knew that lowbrow and highbrow could actually be connected and that you cannot have one without the other. Throughout the weeks of this course I have been filled up with the makings of this class and now, I fear, it is time to empty myself out and to begin the process over on my own.

Thank you Dr. Sexson for opening up the world of highbrow literature to me!

Nearing the end

Monday's presentations were amazing as usual. The song and dance were amusing and very mind opening. And I liked the connections to the comic books, I thought that was very original. As I was going through the newly written blogs this morning I came across Bizz's and found it very interesting. She talks about not being able to fill ourselves up until we empty ourselves out. And then she compares everyone to a toilet paper roll, how interesting. She then goes on to say that because of this we are able to flow between highbrow and lowbrow literature rather than just being polarized to one end. I found that to be the most interesting, because that is how I feel about literature now after taking this class. I once only focused on lowbrow literature, but now I am able to flow between the two and experience what both worlds have to offer.

Presentations

So far I have been amazed at all the interesting things people have been talking about in their papers. I really like how Bri did a rap about hers. I also really liked Sarah's story, very powerful. And everyone else has brought up many interesting thoughts and ideas that they gained from the class that hadn't even crossed my mind yet. Much like the blogs, every person's paper offers a unique understanding of the class and by being able to hear them, like we are able to read the blogs, allows everyone to experience each person's point of view on the class. Although I dread presentations and always manage to screw mine up some way or another (much like I did today) I think that they are a helpful and fun way to end the class and I am glad to have mine done :-)

Presentations

I really enjoyed the first presentation today. How they each picked different clips from movies to demonstrate their parts from The Four Quartets, I thought that was really interesting and a unique approach. The movies ranged from ones that I have seen to ones that I have heard of but not seen to ones that I have never even heard of and I thought that each of them really captured what was being read at that time. Overall I think they did a really great job. The second group's presentation today was very unique as well. I thought it was awesome how they each wrote their own lines and how they captured the meaning behind their theme. Both groups did a great job today and I really enjoyed them both.

First Group of Presentations

The first day of presentations was highly entertaining. I was in the first group that went, which was the theme World as Myth and Dream. Even though we had a few technical glitches, I think it went pretty well. I was nervous to get up and preform our skit, but I was glad that the class found it amusing as well.
As for the group that did the theme Life as Fiction was amazing. It was so entertaining and well put together. I loved the movie and all the little quirks it had to offer. My favorite part was where they were putting the stones in their mouths, that was really well done. They really set the bar high. And I can't wait to see what everyone else does.

Pg 148

This is the page that I did from Finnegans Wake. As I was reading it over and over I began to notice a lot of references to bedrooms and sleep. In the first couple lines it states "Tell me till my thrillme comes! I will not break the seal...", this makes me think of someone having a dream until it reaches that one climax moment (thrillme) like when one starts falling and they suddenly wake up from their dream. And she is staying that she "will not break the seal" which, to me, means that she won't wake up and ruin her dream. One line states "ye author, to explique to ones the significat of their exsystems with your nieu nivulon lead..." Ye author, to me, sounds like you author, explique (or explain) the significat (significant) of their exsystems (this makes me think of dreams) with your nieu (new) nivulon lead (maybe livelong lead?) but basically it is the author trying to explain the dreams to the dreamers, or at least that is what I got from it. It also states "river again" which makes me think back to the beginning when it is talking about the "riverrun". It also makes makes a reference to "dark nets" which makes me think of night and being asleep. Then further on it states something about a "white life" which makes me think of light and being awake. There is also the reference to the twinkly stars she has painted on her ceiling, much like I have twinkling stars on my ceiling. It is interesting how there is a little piece of everyone hidden throughout the book.
I feel like I could spend years working on this one page and still not get everything there is to get out of it. It is packed full, just like every other page in the book, with interesting metaphors and references. I feel that I have just begun to scratch the surface of what this page has to offer to its readers.

Paper Topic...Possibly?

So I have been toying with different ideas that we have discussed in class trying to come up with a topic for my paper. This has led me no where except back to where I began and unlike the Alchemist I did not find what I was looking for and I sit here empty handed. Yet, while I was working on another blog earlier this evening I came across some lines in the Four Quartets that really stuck out to me. They are "What we call the beginning is often the end and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. And every phrase and sentence that is right (where every word is at home, .....) Every phrase and every sentence is a end and a beginning, every poem an epitaph." I think that I would like to base my paper around this idea of our beginning being our end and that we must start from where we ended. I was thinking that I could relate this idea to that of the theme of Dolce Domum and the book the Alchemist (for all his ends lead to all his beginnings). I am not really sure if this idea will work or if I will stick with it, but for now I think it sounds like a good place to start.

The Following Story....

So I just finished reading The Following Story for the second time and I have to say that I definitely understood it a little more the second time around. Yet, there are still parts that have me running circles trying to figure out what is going on. Rereading it I have come across the different themes that we have been studying in class. I really liked how he ended Part 1 "I could see that the man in Amsterdam wanted to wake up, he was thrashing about, his right hand groping for his glasses, but it was not he who switched on the light; it was me here in Lisbon." There were many good parts throughout the book that often surprised me and caught me off guard. He makes a lot of references to time which I found interesting. For example on page 32 he is talking about the building with the clock on it and how it is the law. "that my magisterial hands indicate the ephemeral, nonexistent now, as they always do." I like how he says "nonexistent now", and how he goes on to say that his is the "only true now." This makes me think of the theme Life as Fiction and Language in that he is the one in control of the now and what is and what is not, or at least he is for the time being. To be honest, the first time I read this book I did not like it very much. And although it is still not my favorite book I have ever read, I feel like I am able to take more away from it this around then the first time I read it.

Eenie Meenie Miney Moe

So I have been slacking with my blogs and decided today would be my catch up day, here it goes. One of our blog assignments was to talk about which blogger was most helpful for me. I would have to say that every one's blogs have proved helpful to me in some way or another in that each person has their own unique understanding and pondering about each of the texts we have read in class. It is interesting to be able to look at each one of them and see and compare how other people in class understood or thought about a text to how I understood and thought about it. It really adds a new perspective to discussing the texts. This is my first class where I have had to blog about readings and I have found it to be quite helpful. I would have to agree with Bizz and Christina, there is no way to pick just one favorite when each blogger has something unique and special to offer to the discussion table.

The Alchemist

So, much like Sam, I couldn't stop reading The Alchemist and ended up reading it in a couple hours. I too gave away my version of the book, wanting to share this book's message with others. When I first started the book I had my doubts about it, but those doubts soon were whisked away and were replaced by complete enjoyment.
The book is obviously about Dolce Domum and it fits into this theme in that the boy returns to where he began in order to find what he was looking for. I also noticed that this book linked in with other ideas that we have discussed in class. It makes a reference to our life stories and the history of the world being written by the same hand, which made me think back to Beckett and how he believed everything was already written for us and this ultimately relates to the them Life as Fiction. The book also made a reference to "a thousand and one nights" on page 88, which made me think back to Haroun and the Sea of Stories and the first theme of the Myth of the Eternal Return.
I really enjoyed this book and all the life quotes it had to offer. I would definitely recommend this book to just about anyone, and I have actually recommended it to several people already.

The world of myth and dream

So last night I decided to finally give in and go see Avatar since it is now in 3D and all. As I was watching it I began thinking of how it related to the world of myth and dream and everything we have been talking about in class. Throughout the movie the main character, Jake, switches between his Avatar being and his human self. In order to become his avatar self though, he must go into a sleep like mode. The alien race, called the Na'vi, call the Avatar beings dreamwalkers, or something like that. As Jake gets further and further into his mission he states that he is begining to lose sense of what is reality and what is the dreamland, he says that he is begining to feel that the dreamland is the reality and that reality is the dream. The alien world, Pandora, is very mythical in the way that everything functions and how the alien race views life. They have Gods and mythical creatures that they worship. The mother of the Na'vi clan reminds me of Prospero, in that she has almost magic like abilities. She is almost like a Shaman of sorts and is able to communicate with the spirits. Overall, this flim had reminded me several times throughout the three hours it took to watch it, of the theme of myth and dream. I once again find myself relating the highbrow literature we are reading in class to the lowbrow flims I find myself being drawn to, something I never would have done before this class.

What is the Matrix?

So the question of the day was what is the Matrix. Having never seen the movie, except for the selections we watched in class, I was wondering the same exact thing. I decided to google it to see what would appear.

Here are some definitions for Matrix

• An enclosure within which something originates or develops (from the Latin word womb)


• The thick tissue at the base of a nail from which a fingernail or toenail develops


• A rectangular array of numbers (see below)

Basically from what I have read about what a Matrix is is that it is something that is contained within something else or where something else can grow from. This relates to the movie, I believe, in that the world has been surrounded by a simulated world. Which results in "reality" and a sort of "dreamland" that is contained within the "reality". The "dreamland" ultimately is growing inside of the "reality".

These ideas relate back to the idea of myth and dream in that it makes you consider what is real and what is dream and if it is ever truly possible to wake up from a dream like Shelby talks about in her blog. Where does illusion and dream meet reality and is it ever possible to truly be able to say what is illusion and what is reality? If so, how?

The Matrix, The new Alice and Wonderland, and The Tempest

******Forewarning~ if you have not yet seen the new Alice and Wonderland this may or may not ruin some of the plot line***********

So last night my roommates and I decided to go see the new Alice and Wonderland in 3D (I highly recommend it by the way). Little did I know that this movie would ultimately be linked to the current theme we are studying. In the beginning of the movie Alice has these dreams (or nightmares as she calls them) about talking animals and other strange happenings. Later in the movie she once again falls into the "rabbit hole" where she is reintroduced to all the animals and beings from the first Alice in Wonderland. They are unsure if she is "the one" and are constantly questioning it. The whole movie Alice believes that she is just in a dream and she has a conversation with the Mad hatter that went something like "this is all just a dream, I am just making it up in my head" and the hatter is very upset over this and replies "so I am not real then? I am just something you came up with?" This scene made me think back to the movie Stranger Than Fiction when he realized that he was being made up by someone elses ideas. There was also a part in the movie where they showed this calendar they had that showed what was to happen in the future, stating that everything had already been written for them.

In the movie the characters keep referring to Alice as the one, much like Neo is the one in the Matrix, the Savior of sorts. Ultimately it is Alice who saves everyone in the end, much like I assume Neo does since I have yet to see the whole movie. Throughout the Matrix movie, they make references back to Alice in Wonderland when they talk about the rabbit hole and "follow the white rabbit". I also feel that Miranda is "the one" in The Tempest, but she also does not know it. She, much like Neo and Alice, lives in two different places reality and dreamland. Her father controls her dreams in a way by controlling when she is awake and when she is asleep, but also because she is so naive from having only experienced life on the island he can manipulate what she holds to be real. All these dream states also relate back to Finnegans Wake in that the whole book was about being in a dream. And they also relate back to Samuel Beckett's novels in that someone else has already written what is and they are just living it out. It was crazy to me as I was sitting in the movie theatre and all these similarities began popping out at me, making me think back to the highbrow readings we have done and how those influence the lowbrow movie that I was currently watching, something I would never have done before taking this class.

Beckett and the Prison

As I was researching Beckett I came across a play that he wrote titled "Happy Days" which is about a woman who is buried in the ground up to her waist in the beginning and then as the play progresses she gets deeper and deeper until she is up to her head. She is all alone except for a man named Willie, who she is constantly talking to and he is no where to be seen until the very end of the play.
As I was researching the play itself I came across a YouTube video about a women's prison who used the play in a creative arts project to relate it to their own lives. One lady makes a reference to the gun and what it represents in her life and what it represents in Winnie's life. Another talks about the forgiveness in the play and how that is all that we really want out of life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvJnl6KYaM8

This video really made me think about the way I relate to different texts and plays and the effect they can have on you. It is crazy how someone elses words can reflect your own life almost exactly without them having ever met you. It also makes you think twice about your own life after watching these women talk about their lives.

Truth vs Fiction

Throughout the three novels by Samuel Beckett he is constantly reminding his readers that this is just a story and not truth. Five instances of this are:
1) pg 35 "The house where Lousse lived. Must I describe it? I don't think so. I won't, that's all I know, for the moment. Perhaps later on, if I get to know it." Here he is pulling the reader out of the story by saying that he is not going to describe it right now, but maybe later.
2) pg 52 "But instead of trying to satisfy this wish I stayed where I was looking at it, if I may say so, looking at it as it shrivelled up and finally disappeared, like the famous fatal skin, only much quicker." Here he is letting the reader know that this is something that is being written by saying 'If I may say so'.
3) pg 61 "And backsliding has always depressed me, but life seems made up of backsliding, and death itself must be a kind of backsliding, i wouldn't be surprised. Did I say the wind had fallen? A fine rain falling, somehow that seems to exclude all idea of wind." Here is is pulling the reader out of the story by 'forgetting' what he had written and then asking the reader "Did I say...?"
4) pg 91 "I had forgotten them. I saw the sheep again. Or so I say now." In this section he is basically telling the reader that he is fibbing about what he is writing in this story.
5) pg 13 "he didn't seem to be in a hurry, he was loitering, I've already said so, but after three minutes of me he is in a hurry, he has to hurry." Beckett is bringing himself into the story again as the writer by saying 'I have already said this'. This pulls the reader out of the story and reminds them that this was written as a story.

The 20 minute lifetime

So as I was reading The Four Quartets I came across a passage that reminded me of a 20 minute lifetime. It goes "You cannot face it steadily, but this thing is sure, That time is no healer: the patient is no longer here. When the train starts, and the passengers are settled To fruit, perioficals, and the passengers are settled (and those who saw them off have left the platform) Their faces relax from grief into relief, To the sleepy rhythm of a hundred hours. Fare forward, travellers! not escaping from the past Into different lives, or into any future; You are not the same people who have left that station Or who will arrive at any terminus," (41)
This made me think of a twenty minute lifetime because it is as if these people are on a time traveling train, experiencing a new life that will seem like a lifetime, but is in actuality only a mere couple of hours. They will be taken away to experience something new and will end up at the next station the same people with this new lifetime experience in their mind.

Studying all these different experiences of twenty minute lifetimes makes me wish that I too had a story to tell of another life within my current life, but sadly I do not. The closest I believe that I have come to having such an experience is in my dreams, most of which I can never remember. I am still crossing my fingers, though, that one day in the near future I will be able to retell a twenty minute lifetime experience of my own.

"The Inner Light" and The Four Quartets

One passage from the Four Quartets that reminded me of something from the Star Trek episode we watched in class was on page 15. It goes "The dance along the artery The circulation of the lymph Are figured in the drift of stars Ascend to summer in the tree We move above the moving tree In light upon the figured leaf And hear upon the sodden floor Below, the boarhound and the boar Pursue their pattern as before But reconciled among the stars." This reminded me of the episode because they planted a tree in the center of their city that represented life (Ascend to summer in the tree We move above the moving tree) they all looked to the tree for hope. Also they studied the stars and were able to determine that their time was coming to an end (The dance along the artery The circulation of the lymph Are figured in the drift of stars) They could see their life in the stars. And in the end they all "reconciled among the stars".

G Day

On the ordinary, yet not so ordinary day of February 2nd, which just so happens to be Groundhogs day, I awoke at 6am to my alarm clock or rather my cellphone blaring ring tone number 17. I groggily rolled over and turned it off thinking off all that lay ahead of me for the day. After laying in bed for another fifteen minutes or so I finally got up and started my day. I did my usual morning routine, shower, get dressed, fix my hair, go and make breakfast (a bowl of captain crunch berries), make myself lunch (a roast beef sandwich on wheat bread with mayo and mozzarella cheese), fed Skeeter, brushed my teeth, and then I packed my backpack and got in my car and drove to work. As I drove to work my favorite song came on (Civil Obedience by Sage Francis). As I listened to it I reflected on all the memories that are brought back to me by this song.

Once I got to work I once again followed my usual routine, turn on computer, go put mail away, unlock the doors, either wait for my boss to give me something to do or start working on a task that I had been working on from the day before. On this particular day I had nothing to do, so I sat and waited for my boss to arrive. As I waited I checked the news and discovered that on this particular Groundhogs Day that Phil the groundhog saw his shadow, which meant that six more weeks of winter lay ahead. After messing around on the computer for nearly an hour, my boss finally arrived and told me that she had nothing for me to do for the time being. Lucky for me though a lady in the business office needed me to run stuff across campus for her, so I grabbed my backpack and the stuff that needed to be taken across and started out towards Montana Hall.

Along my walk I slipped on the ice several times, luckily I always caught myself before I fell. I thought to myself though that if I were in the movie Groundhogs Day that this would have been like him stepping into the puddle, and hopefully I would eventually learn to avoid those patches of ice.

After dropping everything off at Montana Hall I made my way over to Wilson for my two morning classes. I thought that if I were able to repeat this day over and over I could learn all the material for my classes and more and make myself seem extremely smart. After sitting in the same room for nearly three hours it was finally time to head back to work.

At work I sat at my desk and enjoyed my lunch that I had made that morning, and checked my e-mail. After eating my lunch my boss needed me to help her with some spreadsheets. I worked on those until it was time to leave at 3.

Once I was done with work I walked to my car and headed home to work on homework and do chores. I did laundry, cleaned Skeeter's cage, straightened up the house. I then set up my computer at the kitchen table and got to work. At 5 I made dinner (quesadillas) for my roommate and myself. After dinner and homework we sat down to watch some t.v. As we were watching t.v. a commercial came on for Sears and there was a girl running around with a red scarf on. For some unknown reason this reminded me of a story my sister use to tell me when I was little about a girl in a green scarf. I hadn't thought of this story in many years and I still don't know why this particular story brought that memory back up.

After watching t.v. I got ready for bed (brushed my teeth, got into my PJ's). I turned off my lights and got into my bed and stared up at my stars as I drifted off to sleep.

Lists, lists, and more lists.

On page 116 of Finnegans Wake I stumbled upon what I believe to be a list of things. It states "For if the lingo gasped between kicksheets, however basically English, were to be preached from the mouths of wickerchurchwardends and metaphysicians in the row and advokaatoes, allvoyous, demivoyelles, languoaths, lesbiels, dentelles, gutterhowls, and furtz, where would their practice be or where the human race itself were the Pythagorean sesquipedalia of the panepistemion, however apically Volapucky, grunted and gromwelled, ichabod, habakuk, opanoff, uggamyg, hapaxle, gomenon, ppppfff, over country stiles, behind slated dwellinghouses, down blind lanes, or, when all fruit failes, under some sacking left on a coarse cart?"
Although I am not fully sure of what is being listed, it is apparent that he is listing things.

A glimpse into my kitchen

Here is a list of things that you will find upon walking into my kitchen, which is rather small and very cluttered:

Refrigerator, popcorn maker, bag of onions, stove, over mitts, egg beater, knife rack, spice rack, microwave, coffee maker, flour holder, sugar holder, brown sugar holder, scale, paper towels, sink, sponges, soap, utensil holder with several utensils in it, fish tank with two goldfish and a cleaner fish, fish food, 50's style radio, ipod speakers, gloves, George Foreman, several different kinds of bread, a black rug, three bar stools, a kitchen table with four chairs, a vase with colorful flowers, penguin salt and pepper shakers, a deck of cards, a little man with a tennis ball for a body and grass for hair (kinda like a chia pet), a giant stuffed penguin with a black Famous Stars and Straps hat on, a pink milk tin chair thing, a hand vacuum cleaner, and that is about it for my kitchen.

Finnegans Wake and Kelsey

As I was writing my blog about what I see before I go to sleep and when I wake up little did I know that I was speaking the words of Finnegans Wake. On page 148 it states "not for all the juliettes in the the twinkly way! I could snap them when I see them winking at me in bed." In my room I have different colored, sparkly stars all over my ceiling and they light up my room each night "winking at me in my bed". Who would have ever thought that I would share something in common with Finnegans Wake and all its craziness!

It was all just a dream!

I was walking down the mall with my friend Haily on our way to class. We were busy chatting away about the normal, random stuff we always find ourselves talking about. We entered into Reid not really paying attention to anything around us. As we made our way further into the building we began to notice that we were not in Reid, we began to freak out as we took in our surroundings. Just a few feet in front of us was a giant dinosaur eating the leaves off a ginormous brightly colored tree. We quickly began to walk backwards, our eyes fixated on the giant dinosaur. We were able to find a rock to take cover behind. As we sat there trying to figure out what had happened and what we were going to do, the ground began to rumble and a loud roaring could be heard, growing in intensity as it got nearer. We slowly and cautiously peaked over the top of the rock and saw a T-Rex making its way towards us at a very quick pace. We quickly dropped down to the ground, freaking out. Just as the T-Rex was nearing us, I rolled over and found myself back in my room, safe in my bed with no T-Rex in sight.

The lingo of a Water Genie

So here I am perched, seated, relaxing in my cozy, comfy, overstuffed chair thinking, debating, considering on how to approach the extensive, overly wordy lingo of the elusive, mysterious Water Genie. I am not sure, a smidge wary, one hundred per cent doubting my abilities to take on such a task. Although I am finding, discovering, uncovering that it is more fun, entertaining, one hundred per cent amusing to use a hundred words instead of the simple, easy as pie, straight to the point single word. I just hope, pray, wish that this the correct, proper, accurate way to take on the Water Genie's lingo.

A Rainbow of Stars

Every night as I lay in my bed waiting to drift off to dreamland, I look up at my ceiling and see a rainbow of glittery, brightly glowing stars. I awake to the same rainbow of glittery, glowing stars, fading as the morning sun over powers their light. On the wall at the end of my bed is a white board with a hot pink border. Written in black ink is the quote "Be who you are, Say what you feel. Those who mind don't matter, those who matter don't mind", surrounded by pictures of my friends and family. Hanging next to it is a black and silver star with an assortment of my favorite necklaces. Below them sits my black desk with my laptop buried in a sea of papers. I roll over and see a picture of my sister, who passed away two years ago, in a metal flower frame . Right next to her picture is a wooden angel with metal wings and no face, it is a remembrance angel. On the wall to the left of my bed is a pink bulletin board covered in pictures and other memorabilia from over the years. Sitting next to my bed is my pet rabbit Skeeter, she is a white dwarf with red eyes. Scattered on the floor in front of her cage are extra blankets and pillows that really serve no purpose, but to take up extra space in my already tiny, cramped room.

Taking on Finnegans Wake

The page that I have chosen at random to be my own is that of page 81. The passage that I have chosen to attempt to memorize is on page 226, it is as follows; "Catchmire stockings, libertyed garter, shoddyshoes, quicked out with selver. Pennyfair caps on pinnyfore frocks and a ring on her fomefing finger. And they leap so looply, looply, as they link to light. And they look so loovely, loovelit, noosed in a nutious night."

"The End"....Or is it?

Upon concluding Haroun and the Sea of Stories I find myself wishing that it could continue on with no ending. It was a wonderful story and not at all what I expected it to be. I liked how the majority of the story, which seemed to be taking place over a long period of time, actually only took place during one night. I also liked the idea of light vs. dark or rather "good" vs. "evil" and how each "city" had its own powers in each state of lightness or darkness.

And so it continues...

The more I read the more I think to myself that this would make an excellent children's movie! One like Shrek where little kids find it funny, but there are underlying jokes for the older audiences that the children don't understand just yet. There are so many clever ideas in this book, such as their army, the Library with their pages, chapters, and volumes. I also love all the names of the characters, such as Blabbermouth and Princess Batcheat. Even after nearly 150 pages, this book still has managed to keep my attention. I can't wait to see how everything turns out for Haroun!!

Ready, Set, Read!

When I first picked up Haroun and the Sea of Stories I thought it was going to be a boring book. Little did I know that it would turn out to be so entertaining. I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover!

Thoughts on the course

Well another semester has begun and I am excited to get started. I am anxious to see what this class holds for me to discover. I think that the themes will prove interesting and I can't wait to start reading. I hope that this class will help open my mind to a new way of thinking and a new way of reading.