Monday, December 12, 2011

Journal #10 - SRTE

Hey Ms. S

My angel does not have a SRTE form to fill it.  If there was I would do it.

Love,
Ronnie

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Journal #9 - Self Evaluation

Throughout the course of my first semester in college I have learned a lot about myself, some good and some bad.  I learned that I can successfully survive on my own and live without my parents.  I fed myself, did my own laundry, woke myself up for class, and did everything on my own for the first time.  Honestly it felt great to not have anyone telling me what to do for the first time.  I would come home at 3 o'clock in the morning and no body would say anything to me.  This also taught me how to have a great sense of responsibility.  Even though there was no one to tell me what to do for the first time I had to make sure that I was responsible and stayed out of trouble.  I learned a lot about myself and in the process I learned a lot of habits that I do not like about myself including my uncleanliness and procrastination.  It is hard being on your own for the first time but I think my parents prepared me as best as they could and I was successful in my first semester alone.

I learned a lot about the arts at Penn State through my English class.  I went to an art museum for the first time and I loved it.  I could see myself going back to an art museum in the future.  There is not much of a difference in my writing style since I start in college I have always written pretty much whatever is on my mind but I liked that this class gave me a medium for my open writing.  I learned that art can be whatever you make it and that Penn State is full of art.  In my first trip to the Arboretum I my eyes were opened to the beauty of the Penn State campus and all of the art that it had to offer.  Penn State is a beautiful place to learn and grow into young adults for the first time in our lives and I am happy that I had the opportunity to experience it.

I feel that after my first semester at Penn State that I am a better person on many levels.  I have lived on my own for several months now and I have seen a variety of eye opening things.  I have learned how to stay focused and do things efficiently.  The most important thing I learned this semester is to be yourself. be yourself in your writing.  Be yourself in your everyday life.  Be yourself when it comes to girls.  No matter what it is you have to be yourself in order to be successful.  I am happy with my first semester and who I am today.

Outside Readings

This semester I was not able to go to any outside reading because I am very busy at night time.  Needless to say I was very happy when I saw on the blog that there was an alternative to going to the outside readings in the form of the online journal Qarrtsiluni.  I have no idea how to pronounce that word but it is my savior for fulfilling my outside reading requirement.  It is a pretty easy cite to navigate and it is full of interesting artistic pieces and poetry.

The first work that caught my eye was a picture called Cathedral Forest by Steve Wing.  It caught my eye because I did not really know what it was it is kind of confusing.  At first glance it just looks like some trees but when you look closer you can see that there is a Cathedral in the background.  There is no sort of caption on the picture it is just the picture so it is unclear what the picture is or means.  You can not tell if it is a real picture of a cathedral in the forest or if he photoshopped it or if it is a painting.  I like it because it provokes thought and does not come right out and say what it is.  It creates a sort of surreal feelings when you look at it because it looks like something that does not exist.

The next piece on the blog that catches my attention is a poem called Every Green Growing, http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/11/30/every-green-growing/.  It is an odd title.  What could a poem called Every Green Growing be about?  It sounds like ever green.  Before I even read it I assumed it to be about life and growth.  The poem is very hard to read at first you do not really know exactly what to think.  The last line "life calling life to begin" is very thought provoking because in nature new life continues to create new life.  There is a constant cycle of life.  The poem does its best to describe nature and the life cycle.

The next work that caught my eye on the blog caught my eye because I think its stupid.  This lady Carol Beth Icard made this painting but I have no idea what it is.  Apparently it is not supposed to be anything in particular she kind of just did whatever she felt with the colors and then called it art.  The good thing about art is it can be whatever you want it to be but then at the same time people will just put like color on the paper and then call it art even though it is the stupidest looking thing and does not look like anything.  She calls it Affirmation, whatever floats your boat Carol Beth Icard, whatever floats your boat.
To me it looks like a piece of cheese cake, but hey what do I know...


http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/10/13/while-sitting-in-church/

I really like one of the posts on the blog that is a video called While Sitting in Church.  The first line in it says I was sitting in church but I did not hear what the preacher was saying.  This reminds me of when I go to church I find myself sitting there dozing off and becoming distracted by everything around me.  He does a good job of relating to how people actually think which is what I am interested in.  Maybe it is because he works at a juvenile correction facility he needs to be able to understand how the kids think and write tailoring towards them.  I also like the illustrations in the video they are very interesting.  I think this is one of the better posts in the online journal.

The final post that I really liked is called Hamburger Jesus because I think it is hilarious.  It is like any other picture of Jesus but he is holding a hamburger.  What would make anyone think of putting a hamburger in Jesus' hand is beyond me but I think it is so funny.  It puts a modern comedic spin on something as serious as an old picture of Jesus.  John Sherman Lathram III does a good job of catching the audiences eyes with this picture because if Jesus was not holding a hamburger it would look like every other picture of Jesus and get briefly skipped over without much of a second thought.

The online journal does a great job of bringing art together in a common place for everyone to see.  It is a brilliant collaboration of poems, readings, audio, and videos.  It is a good way to explore art and find new pieces that you have never read or heard before.

Journal #7 - Kiss Me Kate

I have never seen a live theater performance before and I was kind of upset when I was not able to go see Kiss Me Kate.  I forgot when it was and accidentally scheduled a bus to go home that weekend.  It was stupid of me because I have never seen a play and I was wondering what it would be like.  The idea of going to see a live theater performance never really appealed to me, honestly I thought it was gay.  All of my friends would go see the plays that our high schools would have and I used to make fun of them when they went.  I grew up in a house where neither of my parents were big into reading or going to see theater so I never really took the time to do either of them.  I honestly do not think I have ever seen my dad read a book in 19 years.  I'm not even really sure if my dad knows how to read.  I like to write about things that I want to write about but that is about the extent of what I liked about English coming into Penn State.  I am more of a mind person I like to think about what other people our thinking.

I do not really have anything to compare it to but I feel like watching the movie Kiss Me Kate is nothing like seeing the live version of it.  I do not think that watching a movie of anything can compare to the live version of it.  When you watch a live version of a play it kind of comes to life and makes you feel like your a part of it more.  I wish I would have been able to go see Kiss Me Kate live because I feel like seeing a live theater performance is something that you should do in your life.  Maybe I will go see a play in Philly when I get home.  I do not have a favorite musical because I have never seen one and I do not really know that much about them but in middle school and high school I read a lot of Shakespeare for class and I feel like I would like to see one of those plays live.  I have never seen the Taming of the Shrew but I feel like having seen it would have made Kiss Me Kate make more sense.

Although I did not get to see the musical live and I have never seen a live theatrical performance I am happy that I had this experience to get me thinking about the experience and make me want to go see one.  I guess you never really know if you like something until you try it.  This whole time I assumed that I would not like a musical but who knows maybe I will find something new that I enjoy to do.