I just love this video.

 

This Guy Hears Color

http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_harbisson_i_listen_to_color.html

This I Believe

My Essay is about finding the good in all situations. The title really tells it all, plan for the worst things to happen but hope that they never do. I wrote a lot about my father and his illness and that it is important to keep a positive outlook in the worst of times.

Plan for the Worst, Hope for the Best

            While planning his own funeral my father looked up at me from his papers and very casually said “Well, it sounds like it’s going to be a great party…too bad I’m going to miss it.” That is just the way he was, nothing ever got him down, not even the fatal brain tumor growing inside his skull. If I learned anything from that man it was the simple idea of optimism. “Plan for the worst and hope for the best” he would tell me. Keep a positive attitude and live life to the fullest regardless of what may go awry during the journey.

           We have a bit of tree farm land in Mississippi and my father and Granddad took a weekend and went down there for a routine survey of the area. My Granddad was getting older and losing some of his ‘sense of self’. He turned to my dad in the car and said they needed to stop at a ‘dry-goods store’. My dad asked him why and my Granddad explained that he had just soiled himself and needed a new pair of underpants. My father chuckled and stated that he had a few extra pairs of underwear that my Granddad could borrow. “Lew!” my Granddad exclaimed “Now how did you know to pack an extra pair of underpants?!” My dad replied “Dad, we are going away for three days; of course I brought a change of underpants!” My Granddad, relieved, stated “Lew, you always were the boy scout.”  My dad rarely met a situation that he was unprepared for

         Planning was also big in his life. I remember how he would go on business trips and the night before he would lay out all of his clothing, separate piles for separate days, and he would try to figure out everything he would need. I on the other hand was never much of a planner. I feel that if something is going to happen it will. But to this day, before any trip, I lay out my clothes and try to pack anything and everything I will need for any situation. The result is not the lightest packing but at least nothing is forgotten. This practice is reflected in most things I do. When cooking I get out all of the things I will need for the dish and do not put them away until the meal is completed. When packing my bag for school the next day I put in things that I may not even use or look at that day but there is comfort in knowing I have what I need for anything that may happen.

           Even when he got sick, my dad stayed positive. The day he came home from the doctors with news of his cancer he delivered the update to us in a nonchalant way. He had confidence in his team and trusted that they knew what they were doing. That confidence never faded even when the news went from bad to worse and there was never a sense of bitterness or regret. Through those tough times I always looked to him and found that the silver lining never leaves, it gets thin and gray at times, but it never leaves.

Random Thoughts/Word That Speak To You

Words That Speak To You 

            The piece I chose to examine was taken from one of my favorite movies The Boondock Saints. The movie is about a pair of twin brothers that believe they have been recruited to carry out the Lords work and rid South Boston of scumbags by killing them off one by one. There is a family prayer that the twins say after every killing so as to bless the victims. I picked one of the final dialogues of the film to analyze because I feel it conveys the message the brothers are striving for best.

            I think these words are best spoken or listened to because the brothers alternate sentences and then finish by speaking in unison. However, since the assignment was to read and analyze the words I will do just that.

            Essentially the brothers are declaring that they are not asking for the meek so as to help them directly but for the crooked to be taught a lesson, that lesson being death and the brothers acting as the reaper. The words used are forceful and strong without being riddled with profanity however there is mention of killing and rape in the same sentence: “Do not kill, do not rape, do not steal, these are principals which every man of every faith can embrace.” This shows the principles that the brothers are fighting for as well. An example of the vivid imagery used is as follows: “With every breath, we shall hunt them down. Each day we will spill their blood till it rains down from the skies.” This line also shows the lengths they will go to in order to “carry out thy command”; complete the task they have been asked to do by God.

         Although they are fighting against the immoral the brothers do not insist that they be viewed as moral “There are varying degrees of evil, we urge you lesser forms of filth not to push the bounds and cross over into true corruption, into our domain.” They fight for what they feel is a good and just cause while still knowing that they too are doing bad things.

            The construction of the writing is very much like that of a religious sermon, speaking of the poor, hungry, tired and sick and ending with a catholic prayer: “And shepherds we shall be, for thee my Lord for thee, power hath descended forth from thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. We shall flow a river forth to thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti (In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit).” This prayer structure conveys the meaning to the reader that what the brothers are fighting for is a just and good cause. The religious undertones express salvation and pardon from wrongdoing and not only save the brothers from God’s wrath but also punish the victims for their transgressions.

Inquiry

This is a blog based assignment, we are to create a blog that focuses on our inquiry topic and question.
My inquiry topic is language use in drama. I have not come up with a solid question yet but I feel it will have something to do with how there are no topics in the dramatic arts that are off limits. Please let me know what you think and how I should approach this quandry.