THANK YOU 167!

Thank you for standing against the "debt ceiling increase." As for the other 260, I am ashamed.
So...
 ...it's back to the trough so graciously supplied by the Chinese.
May God have mercy on us. May He have mercy on our children and grandchildren. May He grant the desire and opportunity for repentance to those who would see America conquered and subdued.
Stand firm Americans!
Once we are unshackled in 2012 we can repay the debt and hand our posterity something better.
Yes! This we can do.

The Home Stretch!

I was looking forward to Pod 8! Not that it was the last Pod, but that we got to explore some of the later writers of the 20th Century. A couple of the stories were good. But then... ew.

I am aware of a great many perversions out there, but a *racist* pervert? Really. C'mon. I'm sure America can produce better writers than that, that can tell vastly better stories. I am *extremely* disappointed E.A. Poe gets bumped for this tripe. If anyone read "Goin' to Meet the Man," I suggest you hurry out, right away and get "An Evening With Edger Allen Poe."  Better yet, here is part 1 of Vincent Price's rendition of "Tell Tale Heart" and here is part 2.  This will cleanse your mind!  A truly masterful author being recited by a truly masterful actor. Now...

Don't you feel better?

I knew you would :)

Anyway, I'm sorry this semester is drawing to a close. I thoroughly enjoyed this class!  I enjoyed the work, the Pods, the blogging, the teacher and my classmates!  I want to thank all of you guys!  This has been my fave class so far :)

As for my blog...

I'll prolly keep posting to it, although it most likely won't be strictly about Lit. I keep running across news stories I want to save but my fav folder is getting so big I needa do something with it. So maybe I'll sort my faves file into my blog.  If anyone is interested in Religion or Politics, this might be the blog to check every 6 months or so LOL

Anyway, thank you Mrs. LadyBug.  I appreciate your dedication and patience. Thank you classmates for making this class lively and fun! May God bless your labors :)

Desire, the streetcar

Ok, here was one of those rare occurrences where the movie was better than the book. ~*~SPOILER ALERT!!~*~ I noticed that the movie changed some info. For one, the reason Blanche's husband committed suicide was changed. In the print version, it was because she had found out he was homosexual and told him she had lost respect for him. In the movie with Brando at least, the reason her husband committed suicide was merely because she lost respect for him. Another is, in the written work, no one seemed to really believe Stanley raped Blanche. In the movie it seems both Stella and Mitch believe her.

There are three things I would like to point out. Firstly, the relationship between Stanley and Stella. Their relationship thrived on violence. It didn't come out so much in the book as it did in the movie. The way Stella approached Stanley after he smacked her around, she comes down the stairs in an almost sultry manner then leaps into Stanley's arms. For them, their violence is a prelude to romance. Along with this thought is the idea that Blanche was raised to flirt. She was raised as a Southern Belle. Trained to read a man's desire and dangle it just out of his reach. Without knowing it, Blanch invited Stanley to rape her as soon as she broke the bottle she intended to defend herself with. This of course was no excuse for Stanley's actions, but perhaps looking at this moment in Blanche's life we see perhaps her upbringing did her no favors.

Secondly, Blanche's bathing. I don't believe she bathed for her nerves' sake. She was trying to get clean. She had become the sort of person she loathed. She wanted very much to be the Southern Belle, the Lady of the Manor but all she really had left after her family died and left her homeless was her training as a Belle. And, I tend to believe, not even a complete one. If I were to judge Blanche by Scarlett O'Hara, I'd have to say someone forgot to teach Blanch quite a bit. Anyway, no matter how many times she scrubbed in scalding water the effects only lasted a short while.

Lastly, Mitch. The "good guy" of the whole sordid affair. Even though his purpose in life was to please his ailing mother, he didn't mind trying to get his little piece of Blanche once he learned the truth. "Too dirty" to be in the presence of his mother. So much for Mitch.

All in all, the best part of the story was the music from the local bars, but then I'm a sucker for Jazz :)

Yikes!

I love blogging, but it wouldn't appear that way by my sporadic posting.

We are finishing up with Pod 6. I'm finding that Mr. Fitzgerald wrote for therapeutic reasons. We can glimpse that which ailed this poor man through his stories both short and long. The man dreamed of those things which he had lost and longed to capture time in a bottle. I wonder if he ever understood how his demons left him known as an author of note on the pages of history. Ironic. Some seek the happiness being a published author would bring in that measure of success. Some gain that measure of success through what they see as their failures, pains and struggles.

It seems if the authors themselves aren't in some way damaged, their characters are. At least Mark Twain's Huckleberry was seeking to become "normal" in the face of all the "normal" people around him being somewhat less normal than himself.

Maybe that's why I loath a bad ending. Happy endings are so scarce, not only in story and out here in reality. I'll never forgive Stephen King for ending "The Gun Slinger" badly. But ENGL 223 is at least allowing me to search for endings to make up for King's lack. Without much success I'm afraid.  Cinderella is still my favorite story :)

Pod 5!

Wow, another American classic I missed!  I think of this story more in line with Pulp Fiction.  I know I keep referring back to that, but some stories are just... terrible, but they are told in such entertaining ways one must respect how the story is told.  Sad ending...

Yuck.

And what's worse is the callousness on top of it.  It's like rubbing salt in a wound. I suspect the nice thing about it is the ones the salt would hurt worst aren't around to enjoy yet one more kick in the gut from the Buchanans.

If these people were real, I would expect their daughter to grow up acting much like Lindsey Lohan or Paris Hilton. All I can say is, Fitzgerald can paint an entire scene with a single sentence.  Truly remarkable writer! And...

If I were Nick, I'd cross the cousins off my Christmas card list.

Golly~

Ok, I must admit, I keep putting off doing my blog entries because they are such guilty pleasures.  I am knee deep in MATH right now and I keep thinking, "I need to blog!!  Goodie!!  Um, no, can't ... must... master... vertex..."  Anyway, the coast is clear and I can let my cat outta the bag now...

My daughter published a book!  Well, she used Blurb.  She has written a fantastic story for her friend as a gift.  And, instead of just sending her an e-copy or printing it out on the home printer, she sent it to Blurb and get her friend and herself a copy!  She took the pic for the cover, edited it, formatted it, the whole nine yards.  I am so very proud of her!  She did an awesome job!

Ok, now to ENGL 223...

It's the Poetry Pod!  Yippee!!  I love good poetry.  Ok.  So, "good" is as relative to poetry as it is other forms of art.  I waded through some of the stuff I have heard my entire life being lauded as "master pieces", and guess what?  As a college student, I can now, without question label this stuff as, "icky".  I can say without compromise, "I really don't like ________'s writings."

Sort of like Bob Dylan.  Some people love the man.  I'm sure he is a nice fellow and I respect him for his labors.  But, I just can't appreciate his art as it "should" be appreciated.  And so it is for elliot.

But!  On the bright side, I found Brooks and Hughes!  What awesome works of art!

To end this blog post, as it's almost time form Pronto!  (Yeah!!) I'd like to share a well known author's lesser known poem.  From a novel titled Weaveworld by Clive Barker:

The agony of families
Is not conginital disease
But feet that follow
Where the foot
That has preceded
Them was put

That's the best I can do from memory, as I no longer have the book :(  So if I got it wrong, please let me know :)

Pronto!!

...Gently Replaces the Ancient Scroll of Crane

Ok, so today I need to stop by the library to drop off The Red Badge of Courage.  I read my teacher's entry on this book, and I think I'm stuck in her "pre enjoyment" days.  It was a quick read, true, and I liked how it ended, but, yeah, it's one of those gutsngloryboybooks. The whole time I kept thinking of Andersonville.  So, in regards to American history and the homage paid to one of the saddest times in our past, I respect the book.

Our next Pod is poetry!  *~Woohoo!!  I'm glad we get to delve into it :)

Poetry seems to work in my mind more like math.  It's best when I'm not directly thinking at it.  I'll read it and then it works itself out while I'm focused on other things.

Something I noticed while flipping through our Lit book was an absence in the Art section of such American icons as Normal Rockwell and Charles M. Russell.  But, as a student in 223 I have just corrected that glaring absence, at least to my satisfaction :)

V-day!

I'm almost done with my ancient manuscript :)  So far it's been rather depressing with Henry bailing out after only his 2nd encounter.  Hopefully it will get better.  I'm at the point where it looks as thought he's going to get back into the game.

In a few days, I've got big news to share, but I don't want to let any cats outta the online bag just in case :)

All I will say is, I can't wait!  And I am very proud of my daughter {{{Big Valentine Hugs}}} to mi hija mayor :)

Now... back to the Red Badge...

Got It!!

First I looked up stairs, in the "big kid" books, and it wasn't there.  Then I looked downstairs in the "little kids" books, and it wasn't there.  So then the librarian looked in the "West Storage" and... lo and behold... I have a copy of The Red Badge of Courage!  I am now the proud borrower until the second of March :)

It's green, with a lively pattern that appears to incorporate Chinese characters, a print found on an African shield and a pinapple.  It's hard back and it looks older than me.  When I first opened it, a large plume of dust issued forth and the very edges of the book began to crumble.  I only hope that I can get this read before it turns to dust.  I feel as though I need some special "ancient scroll" handling gloves and a pair of tweezers with which to turn the pages.

Apparently at the time this copy of the American Classic was created, printing presses left a gap of about three inches at the bottoms of every page.  While this book boasts a beefy 267 pages, one could easily imagine, with better utilization of space, barely reaching 150.

Tonight, I read :)

It's Been Days!

Wow!  Last week was rough!  I can only imagine my English teacher thinks I am the biggest airhead she has ever had in class!  I *think* I have everything done, copied, stapled and sown up... only to find out I've forgotten half of what I need to do.  I may be old, but I am far too young to be losing my mind!  AGH!  The Yellow Wallpaper *is* out to get me!!

Along with my studies, I am also homeschooling my oldest daughter.  She, now being 16, is old enough to enjoy some of the film "classics". Last night, we enjoyed "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Unfortunately, I missed my Pronto Session because of it!!!  And, there won't be a Pronto Session for Pod 3.  boo.  I really enjoy the discussions.

Anyway, I now have until the 18th of February to read and respond to "The Red Badge of Courage".  I need to see if anyone has beaten me to the Library :D  I shall endeavor to post my thoughts about what I glean from this novel.  I look forward to reading it :)

So... I Took the Weekend Off

I think it's going to be hard for me to blog on the weekends.  Perhaps I should just focus on trying to get a few posts in from Monday to Thursday.  It seems the weekends are when I do the most studying.  Anyway, on to Lit!

So far, I think I like the men better!  We have a wide selection of authors in this Pod, I'm going to try to read all of them this time around.  I would like to be exposed to more variety than the last Pod.  I was trying so hard to get through Twain I missed out on a lot of other stuff.  But... summer is coming! :)  I won't curse my instructor by doing *all* of the discussion questions or papers, I just want to do the reading.

It seems almost to be a prerequisite for great authors, or authors of note to have a hard childhood or a rough life.  The story I am reading now "White Heron", was written by a woman who's childhood was actually nice.  I can't wait to finish the story to compare how one's cynical views of life stack up against someone who has a more even keeled worldview.

So far, I can make one comparison between stories.  "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "Yellow Wallpaper". I liked both for the same reason, they were different.  I like "Occurrence" for the same reason I liked movies such as "Angel Heart", "Memento", and "Pulp Fiction".  (A word about "Pulp Fiction", I didn't like the movie for it's content/story, but for the way the story was told).  I liked "Wallpaper" for the same reason I like many of Stephen King's stories.  He has a way of taking an average, ordinary person and completely turning his/her world upside down.  I don't want to get into any more detail about "Wallpaper" in case my classmates start blogging and replying this week before they get the story read.  I will say, however, it was almost like watching "The Snake Pit" in reverse :)

Day Two

In my excitement to create my very first blog, I forgot to give the link to the cool little piccy I have of the bird I'm using as my avatar. No, this in not an excuse for my lack of attention, but rather an opportunity to correct my oversight.  So here it is:

http://weedoom.com/tag/nom/

This is where the picture originates from.  I could not get the link to open, so please beware if you intend to open it, for I do not know what sort of site it is.

Now that business is taken care of, on to Lit!

Last night I read Editha. It's a good thing too, as I thought I only had to read through CH. 24 in Huck Finn! Imagine my surprise when I realized I was 4 chapters short! Not as if Mr. Twain won't get a thorough reading, it just can not be done in the time allotted.  Catastrophe averted!

We also received An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge from Net Flix yesterday. Seldom am I impressed by what is created for the screen from what should be created in the imagination.  I believe this has only happened once, that being Pet Cemetery.  Although the movie was extremely close to the book, one just can not convey some of the thoughts of a doomed man outside of his own head.  All in all though, it was good dinner entertainment.

I've already begun to work on the next Pod.  So far I've read all three stories by Kate Chopin.  I believe I was introduced to her in ENGL 111, unfortunately I do not recall the title of her story, but I remember it was about a woman who died when she realized her freedom had been cruelly snatched away by the survival of her husband.

Personally (as if I can speak for anyone else :) ), I loath tragic stories.  I gripe all the time to my husband about the sad endings to his beloved Martial Arts movies.  If I want to read tragedy, all I must do is read a newspaper.  Relating that outlook to Kate Chopin, of the three stories, the last, Désirée's Baby was the best.  The characters just seemed a bit deeper to me.  They had actual feelings outside of their own britches.  As I read some of these stories, I suspect some may find my comments a bit more prudish than Clarisse :)

Very First Blog Ever

This is the beginning of my Midterm Project for ENGL 223.  So far this class has been the most fun I have had since coming back to school.  The teacher is awesome and my classmates are suppah-cool :)


I know I am supposed to keep my blog posts to the subject, so this may be my only opportunity to share my two most favorite poems :)

Ultimate Haiku

The only problem
with Haiku is that you just
get started and then

- Author unknown

The other is by Edgar Allan Poe:

A Dream Within A Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

 

And with that shared, I have come to the end of my very first blog post ever :)