Oh, Sweet Number Five

       It has come down to the end of the year, and I find myself in danger of not graduating. I'll take the first moments of this entry to talk a little bit about that.
       If I'm being entirely honest here, it's terrifying. I find myself feeling let down, but not by anybody else; only by myself. That might be the worst feeling in the world. I've put so much work into this, and now, here I am at the end of my high school career, struggling to pass. I've truly been careless. I could go into detail about why I got so careless, but that story is one that might end sadly for all parties involved, so I will not delve into that aspect of my reasoning. All that I can say is that I'd rather be let down than be a let down. I will not falter, and I sure as hell will not fail.
       On the topic of what this blog is actually supposed to be about; I have no update on individual reading. Walden is done and I have no book to speak of. I suppose I could talk about my next reading venture..
       In class this week, we started reading the first Canto of The Inferno. I am going to buy a copy of The Divine Comedy for my own personal reading. I love it. That being said, let's move on.

       On the week that this blog was originally supposed to be done in, we were discussing Taoism. This is an intriguing spirituality. I connected with it in a lot of ways, but it seemed to focused on hierarchy to me, and I didn't like that too much. The gist of it is great. It's a peaceful idealism that I truly think more people in this world could take a lesson from. I do not, however, place myself in the label of "Taoist".
        It's getting late and more posts must be made. I will make it through. I will not let myself down, and I will not let everybody else down either.

All Is Said and Done

       This semester has been incredible. One of the most stressful of my life, as a direct result of my past habits, but now it's almost over. I will reflect for a minute on World Literature in specific.
       I think that my favorite thing about this class was that I was introduced to even more great writers. I love classic literature, but now I have a greater understanding of the really old works, and not just those of my own country. My favorite book that we've read is the one we are reading at this moment: The Inferno. It appeals to my strange personality with it's dark atmosphere. My writing tends to take on a similar feeling. It's fantastic. The way it's written is genius as well.
       On a similar note, I must say that if there is one piece of literature that I didn't like very much it was the Aeneid. I didn't like the fact that it was a contracted work that was built to compete with the Iliad. I actually stopped reading it and just skimmed what I needed to for the homework. I thought it sucked.
       Now.. A class activity that I enjoyed a lot is one that I'm doing right now. This blogging has made the class fun. I get to type out my opinions. Writing, or in this case, typing, is slower than speaking, and that simply means that ideas must be thought out more as you go. It leaves room for elaboration and I take great pleasure in going into detail about my opinion for others to see. I love attention more than some might think.
       With this blogging, I have learned something valuable. If I take anything from this class into the rest of my life, it will be that ideas can't be kept inside. This blogging and our class discussion have allowed me to climb even further into the center of attention with my opinions. I don't view this as a bad thing. I think it will make me a better leader and I am thankful for that.
        I wouldn't change a thing about this class. It's as my grandpa always said to me about motorcycles (but I guess it pertains here too): "If the shit works; don't fix it". I truly believe that this class has been among my favorites of my high school career. A career that is now just days from being over.
        I would like to thank my English teacher for giving me the chance to learn these important things.

        It's about time that I planted my roots in the world and stretched my branches into the clouds. This world is going to be mine.

In Conclusion (Walden)

       I'll be blunt: Walden is officially my favorite book ever written. I've never had a piece of literature inspire me as it did, and I have never seen such fantastic writing in any other work I have ever read. Henry David Thoreau is a genius, and is, hands down, my favorite writer. This post is in conclusion to my reading of the book, and I will try to be detailed in my review of it.
       The only main character in Walden was Henry Thoreau himself. It's something of an autobiography. Of course, he goes into some detail about general groups of people throughout the book. These include farmers, citizens of the area and the broad spectrum of people that blindly follow social norms and do not search for enlightenment. Aside from those people, Thoreau is the only main character. I thought that was nice. Usually, the "I" or first person is omitted in literature, but it was a nice change to read about what life was actually like in the 1850's.
       To summarize the plot, it does not suffice to simply say that it's about a man who journeyed to the woods for two years and two months. It isn't so simple. Thoreau seemed fed up with the mundane norms of civilization. He began by elaborating upon his opinions of humanity in general, and used some quotes that changed my way of seeing things (as I'm sure I mentioned in a previous post). After explaining his opinions, he wrote about the way he moved to a cabin that he built by himself using only as much money as an average man of his time would earn in a week or month. In this place, he was rather solitary and lived off the work of his own hands. The book goes into great detail about the the things he learned before he returned to civilization as an enlightened being of sorts. Overall, it was incredibly interesting and insightful and inspiring.

       The significance of the things he writes are undeniable. Though they were written in the early 1850's, they are still relevant. On a social level, this shines through most brilliantly. The first chapter is still the most inspirational to me in that it describes society very honestly. The chapter is called "Economy". It goes into detail about how people are forced to live certain ways. As he said, a man who was raised by wolves and came into the world to look for work would have more options than a man who inherits a farm and equipment. It almost preaches about the importance of choice in the work-life of a man. It goes further into detail about the way people seem to judge others by social class and income. A valuable quote from this chapter is as follows:

"Often times, if an accident happens involving a man's legs, it can be mended.

Yet, if a similar accident were to happen involving the legs of his pantaloons,

there would be no fixing it. For he looks not at what it truly respectable, 

but at what is respected." 

The quote is a great example of how the book seems to focus on the nature of man just as much as how Thoreau attempted to deviate from it. 

       If I were asked to rate this book on a scale of 1 to 5 I would certainly give it a 6. No book has ever been so inspiring or honest in my not-so-humble opinion. I would certainly recommend this book to anybody and everybody who is looking for some food for thought. It's simply the best piece of society-based literature ever conceived. 

Go and buy Walden.

The Human Condition

      I'll keep this short and start this blog post by saying that society is a really terrible place. I have come to realize this through my own experiences and Walden has given me a point of reference. This post is going to go briefly into my views on the ills of society and the imperfections of man-kind, as well as include a short summary of the work we have recently been doing in World Literature class.
       Walden is a book that shows me that the world has always been a place of less-than-fair judgment and money-driven ignorance. I am still in the chapter called "Economy", and this chapter is still a shining truth in a world of, for lack of a better word, bullshit. I never thought I would find a book that represents my ideas so well. It's something outside my own head that I can connect with and that's meaningful to me.
       As I said, I plan to keep this short, so enough about Walden. I'm actually more excited about my class work. Roman literature has always been interesting to me. I enjoy studying old things and hearing ancient stories. I relate to them, because there's something inside of me that connects with all the conflict.
       That conflict which lives in all of us is similar to many of these epics. In the poems, there are several things going on at once. We see the emotions of the characters and the struggle they face in search of an ultimate goal. That's something that everybody deals with in their own way. I also find it interesting to point out that these stories never start at the beginning. It's always a recount of recent events. This can be tied to my previous statement concerning the relation to our own problems in that we never look all the way back to the beginning when we thing of the things we battle in our lives. When we think of things; when we really look back on our lives; we don't start at the beginning. We begin at the start of the problems that are relevant at that particular moment.
       Enough of my chatter. Tune in next time, boys and girls. I'm sure there are some more thoughts floating around my head that somebody might find interesting. In the meantime, enjoy the picture on the other side of this link!

     

ZEITGEIST: THE MOVIE

Every person in the world should be forced to watch this. Open your eyes folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTbIu8Zeqp0

Please, do not ignore this. Very little has ever been as important as spreading this film to every person it can be spread to. Get on it!

The End And The Beginning

       In this blog, I will conclude my thoughts on The Hobbit and begin to delve into my opinions concerning Walden. I'm incredibly happy that I took the time to read both, and I feel as though my thoughts recently have been very much inspired by them.
       On the topic of The Hobbit: I am very pleased to say that I absolutely loved it. The themes of the story are almost prophetic if looked at from a certain perspective. It is easy to discover ideas within the story that are representative of the world we currently live in, or at the very least, parts of it. Allow me to elaborate on this idea as best as I can.
       The story takes place in a world much like ours. Regions are separated and several races exist (not always harmoniously). The Hobbits are rather shy and reserved. They enjoy their beer and food and pipe weed and don't generally go on too many adventures. The coming of Gandalf in the first chapter is symbolic of the call to adventure that we all face at some point. In saying that, I mean that people always have a conflict that we must face in our lives, and that call to adventure is nothing more than the start of something larger. After this first visit, Bilbo Baggins needs some convincing, as we all do before taking a risk. He ends up going out on this adventure and facing all the hardships that can be thrown at him by the world he lives in. He must fight for his life against forces of evil with the intent to inhibit him and his company from reaching their ultimate goal: The capture of the Dwarven city that was taken over by the dragon, Smaug the Magnificent.  My opinion is that we all have dragons to fight in our lives. We need our friends, our band of dwarves to stand at our backs and fight with us. We are all corrupted by our personal rings. Things that we received, perhaps by unfortunate mistake, and must deal with for the rest of our lives as we struggle with addiction, love, loneliness and obsession. In that sense, The Hobbit is a book containing many symbolic clues about the nature of human beings.
       Now, I said in my opening paragraph that I found The Hobbit to be prophetic. I will explain why I got this vibe from the story. Hear me out on this. The idea that everything is always going to be okay is a blatantly ignorant notion. Nothing ever remains as happy or easy as we want them to. Life in the shire was an obvious representative of this. Bilbo's live could not simply stay the same, because nothing ever does. There is always a corrupt force such as Smaug or, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sauron. Bilbo embarks on his journey with expectations that he will not be too badly injured by the world around him. He expects that he will not be corrupted and forever changed as we all are in our lives. The ring is just wealth.Wealth is an idea created only for the mass control of entire populations. In the book, it was introduced by Golem and quickly became a sickness. Wealth, just as the ring did, corrupts people and rots us from the cores of our being to the surface and manifests it's self in expensive clothes to show our social class and monetary status.
       In the end, there is always a battle. That battle is also the start of something new. Smaug stole everything. He took all the wealth and he took all the land. Just as our governments do to us on a daily basis. In the end, it was imperative that he was overthrown. The company of 14, though small, had to fight something much bigger than themselves as individuals. They did so in the name of an idea, and a very righteous idea. This is what we must do. Overthrow and take what belongs to us.
       Those are ideas that I will not be shaken from and will not apologize for. Forgive me if you found them offensive, or rather, stop reading my blog if you found them offensive. I see not one logical reason to give a solitary damn about opinions spawned from uninformed thoughts. If your intelligence is questionable, your time is wasted in reading intelligent thought.
 

       On to Walden! This book is everything I ever dreamed it would be. Henry David Thoreau is a genius. I have never loved a book like I love this one. I'm sure that if my house caught on fire tonight, I would make it a priority to save my copy before diving from my window. Thus, I will make my insights known.
       The first chapter is "Economy". It tells of the ills of society as they relate to money and social class. In our modern world, people judge the character of an individual and anchor their opinions of him or her in the clothes worn or car driven. About 20 pages into the book, you can find a quote that will stick with me for the remaining years of my life:

Often, if an accident happens to a man's legs, it can be fixed; but if a similar accident happens to the legs of his pantaloons, there is no helping it, for he considers not what is truly respectable, but what is respected.

Just A Short Update!

       Hey there! It's been a long while since I posted on this blog. For that, I apologize. I have been busy and under a lot of stress in these past few weeks, and it has taken it's toll on my patience. Despite that, I am back now, and more inspired than I have ever been. Life is well, and with luck, it will continue to improve.
        Things you all can expect in the next couple weeks:
         I will be back on the blog, posting on several different subjects. I will do a post to finish The Hobbit, and move on to Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. I will post on the subject of music and creative works of that sort. I would also like to express political opinion if at all possible. I plan to jump right back into this blog and give the readers I have something to read every week.
         Thank you for taking the time to read this little update. I encourage you all to comment on my posts so that we may start conversations on what topics I choose to express my opinions on! If you enjoy my post, feel free to share them and earn me some more readers. Smile often!


     

Invictus

       In our World Literature class, we're discussing folk music. I suppose we were assigned to write a folk song and to post it on the blog. It was supposed to apply to the present. More specifically, to 2013. Rather than go down a political road (as we all know I love doing), I created this song at a time when I was have some relationship trouble. Who doesn't write a song about that every once in a while?
       With the help of my friend, Alyssa, a recording was created. I'd had this song for a long time and had been waiting to hear what it sounded like recorded, and I'm pleased to say that, although it is a rough track, we're very satisfied with the noise. All the instruments were programmed, and vocals were laid over that track. I shall post a video below, so y'all can check it out!

Lyrics:

My dear, come home. Come home to me.

My time is wasted with every breath I breathe

and these hands; they shake in the memory

of  all you gave to me.

I hope I surely do my best.

My faith is tested.

Here my head does rest, separated from my heart.

My bones aching, skin uncaresed. 

But I won't let my head hang low.

And I will not surrender for no more am I alone.

I'll not be defeated, as the sun comes out to warm me.

No, I will not let myself sink,

until you're home.

I untie my hands, and rise from my knees.

Though bruised and scraped I sing my reverie.

'Neath the bludgeonings of chance I raise my chin,

and and stand this ground for all to see.

For I am here and my heart is elsewhere.

Content amid the sand, as though this were not unfair.

Hold me for as many tides as you see fit,

then come home. Come home to me.

But I won't let my head hang low.

And I will not surrender for no more am I alone.

I'll not be defeated, as the sun comes out to warm me.

No, I will not let myself sink,

until you're home.

It matters not how strait the gate

or charged with punishments the scroll.

I thank whatever gods may be,

for my unconquerable soul.

Hear me. Hear me out now,

I will say this once,

but I will say it loud.

I shall not live til' you are home.

May The Force Be With You

       Has anyone else ever sat and stared at a keyboard, and no inspiration would come? That's what's going on in my life right now. I would say that it's an inconvenience, but instead I will have to say that the Force is not with me today. 

       The Force is a pretty great thing. I believe in the idea of the force. It is my opinion that the world is one living organism filled with many smaller organisms. God is not, in my views, a single omnipotent being. I don't think God is separate from humanity. I believe that everything around us (rocks, trees, people, fish, plastic and books) is all a part of the same thing. I don't think I can describe it as well as I would like to. It's a confusing concept at times. This belief, however, is similar to the Taoist ideas of the Jedi. 

       In our English class we are studying Chinese literature, and thus we must discuss Chinese culture. Are Jedi really just futuristic Taoists? I believe that they are. If you look at many of their ideas, they match up detail for detail. I didn't really pick up on it until we started this unit. 

      

        On a different note. I should probably tell you all what's been going on in The Hobbit. I would absolutely love to tell you how many pages I've read and what's new, but unfortunately, I either work or attend DMACC every day. If there was ever a pain in my ass, this week has made it feel like nothing. 

        So I'm not going to tell you anything about The Hobbit, but I hope this blog wasn't a waste of your time. If it was a waste of your time, I apologize. I'll be less busy in a week or so. Thanks for reading! 

People Are Trolls Too

In the abyss of society,

is the Mordor of the Earth.

There, stain defines humanity;

a mark received at birth.

It grows upon the skin

and plants it's roots down in the bones

of men and women caught in ignorance.

It spreads and makes it's home.

Like trolls beside the fire,

we feast without regret

for what we've stolen from our fellow man.

The lives that we upset.

Our greed becomes our motive.

Our motives decide our course,

and we eat horses at the fire-side.

We show no remorse.

No pity for the broken hearts.

Less care for broken homes,

than the lining of our pockets.

Our ignorance is shown.

Revealed we are as cowards.

We are strong beneath the lunar light,

but in the sun we falter.

Our values not near so bright.

Our stain sinks ever deeper.

No remedy exists

for shot values and selfish morals.

We are nothing more than this.

So in the sunrise, perish.

To stone our vessels turn.

An eternity of nothing,

is a fate we all deserve.

       As you may have guessed, I have taken some inspiration in the trolls of The Hobbit. I draw many lines between their carelessness and stupidity and ours. I suppose not all people are bad. Some people are charitable and decent, to a certain extent. My point is that humanity is flawed, and we don't seem to realize it. At the very least, we place much less value in others than ourselves. Allow me to elaborate.

       The trolls steal horses from the company of adventurers along their journey. They plan to eat them, but they don't care about who they stole them from. They don't care about the inconvenience to the horses' rightful owners. It's plain selfishness. Humanity is naturally the same. We think of ourselves before anyone else. Nearly everything we do, we do for selfish reasons. This wouldn't be so bad if we weren't constantly preaching about helping the less fortunate, which we do at times, but only after our own desires are satisfied. 

       An example: George Carlin, possibly the smartest man to ever live, once revealed an interesting fact about golf courses. (Side note: The game of Golf was invented when Bullroarer Took, during a battle with the goblins, knocked King Golfimbul's head into a rabbit hole.) Golf courses average 150 acres each. If we do the math, we find that within this country we devote space equivalent to two Rhode Islands and a Delaware to a game played by the people who say they want to help the poor. Why isn't any of this land being converted into low-cost housing projects? The reason is simple. There is no money to be made in doing that. We don't care to help anyone else unless we're profiting from it.

       I think I've made my point clear. If I have offended anyone with the views expressed in this particular post, I don't care. My opinion is more important than yours. Tune in next week!

Deeper and Deeper and McKellan.

       The deeper I get into The Hobbit, the easier it is for me to recognize Tolkiens genius. His work is brilliant. As a celebration of this fantastic writer, I want to take a moment to discuss a couple of things.
       First of all: Tolkiens did not just write stories. His characters didn't just appear in the timeline and serve their purpose in the adventure. Nothing "just happened to be". Everything he did had a reason and a story leading up to it. 
       The Dwarves in The Lord of the Rings were constantly in referring to their heritage and bloodlines. Gimli was the son of Gloin, one of the Dwarves in The Hobbit. This was brought up several times in that particular story. In The Hobbit, the Dwarves were constantly telling stories about their home city and the dragon that stole everything from them. Their entire history was spelled out over the course of the story. 
       The Hobbits don't appear to have much history until you compare The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings. The scenes in which Bilbo gets upset and frantic over not knowing where the ring is are exactly like the scene in The Hobbit in which Gollum faces the same problem. The trolls in The  Hobbit are seen and even spoken about in The  Lord of the Rings. Tolkien made sure that things added up to one incredible story. Value was placed in detail, and that is certainly an incredible thing to find in a piece of writing.
       The second thing I wanted to discuss is my own progress in the book over the past week. I am still taking a lot of enjoyment from this. It keeps me engaged and I always find it hard to put down. The start of the adventure has long since passed and the group is now beginning to experience serious challenges with the forces who would stop them from achieving their goal. 
       I understand that it has become cliche to be as huge a Gandalf fan as I am, but he is one wizard that is not to be messed with. His witty comments and general Gandalfiness might be my favorite parts of this book. In the movies, Gandalf was played by Sir Ian McKellan. I just thought I would let you all know that Ian is the bee's knees. 
       I am excited to continue reading The Hobbit and I hope that my thoughts over the connections sparked some curiosity to go and find them by reading the books rather than watching the movies. Books are better, after all. Everyone knows that! Until next time...

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Read

        As a result of an interesting series of events, I have decided to put off my reading of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. It seems like a fantastic story, and I will certainly come back to it in a few weeks, but I found something that I am more interested in. I have decided to read The Hobbit instead.
       While doing some cleaning I discovered this particular book under a pile of other, less entertaining books. I had recently gone to see the movie, but never had I thought to read the original story! I was disappointed in myself, because in the past I read books before I saw movies. I did this with the Harry Potter series, as well as with The Chronicles of Narnia, but not with The Hobbit. Now I am making up for that mistake.
        So far, this book has captured my attention and left me with questions that I feel must be answered. When I am reading it, I forget that I saw the movie. Everything seems just as new to me as they would if it were my first time experiencing the story. That makes me happy. The characters are described well enough to make it feel as though they are real people. The events as they are told make it seem as though they are actually happening. This makes the experience of reading this book a great one.
       Sadly, I have not been able to find as much time to read as I would like to, due to school and work schedules. Despite that issue, I have managed to get a decent part of the story read. As many know, it starts when the wizard, Gandalf, visits the home of a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins and tries to convince him to set out on an adventure. The Hobbit refuses, but Gandalf is persistent and upon the coming of that evening, Dwarves begin to arrive at his doorstep. From there, the the plan is laid out. A plan in which Bilbo, a Hobbit who has never left the Shire, will assist the Dwarves in taking back their capital city from the dragon, Smaug.
       I am excited to continue reading this book, and I am excited to keep you all updated on the goings on. I hope that it is as enjoyable for the readers of this blog as it is for me. I truly am happy that I chose The Hobbit. For those of you that are interested in reading this book as well, I will include a link below to a site where it can be purchased for the Kindle.
The Hobbit: Kindle

Introduction: The Bird Says "Hello"!

       The Blackbird, as it is said in some Native American cultures, ties very strongly into nature and creative energy. What better animal to represent my own personality? With this blog, I am going to be creatively expressing my personal ideas and opinions of certain things that I will be reading for my World Literature class.
       I will be focusing on a book I choose to read, and documenting my thoughts here. I have not yet made a choice on a book, but I have narrowed my list of options. At the moment, I am debating between Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Wuthering Heights. I doubt I will choose the latter, considering that the first time I read it, I found it to be incredibly boring. Granted, it is a classic, but I have read a few classics that I found to be incredibly interesting! Wuthering Heights, I am convinced, was written entirely for the purpose of putting people to sleep. The only reason I might ever read it again is to see if there was something I missed the first time around.
       All that aside: I hope that my blog is enjoyable!