| (no subject) |
[Aug. 27th, 2009|02:53 am] |
Currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo. While it may be one of my favorite stories, the writing in it generally isn't that compelling. Then again, Dumas was notorious for fluffing up his sentences to make more money (paid by the word) and hiring apprentice writers to do the boring stuff for him.
There was one piece that I read recently, a piece which immediately elevated itself to the upper stratospheres of my wordly affections.
"A Message from the Emperor" by Franz Kafka (it's pretty short, read it!)
"The Emperor, so a parable runs, has sent a message to you, the humble subject, the insignificant shadow cowering in the remotest distance before the imperial sun..."
( Read more... ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|09:48 pm] |
this may be the most uplifting thing i've ever seen |
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| beene-sho |
[Jun. 17th, 2009|05:53 pm] |
haiku day in creative writing class
old gum lying
stuck on the concrete
black, sticky freckles
delicious green space
cool grass interrupts asphalt.
Fuck! No loitering.
smoke break--
the sky is flat and gray
sound of traffic drowning birds
mottled stone steps
cracked, chipped, and worn
yellow rust stains
old yellow crosswalk
slowly peeling away
older white paint beneath |
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| Why not one more |
[Jun. 11th, 2009|12:41 am] |
an ee cummings poem. i love this man's love poetry, it's so simple and genuine
in spite of everything
which breathes and moves, since Doom
(with white longest hands
neatening each crease)
will smooth entirely our minds
--before leaving my room
i turn, and (stooping
through the morning)kiss
this pillow, dear
where our heads lived and were. |
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| More pretty words |
[Jun. 11th, 2009|12:38 am] |
"Song" by Christina Rossetti
When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 25th, 2009|05:20 pm] |
I just finished Moby Dick. Overall, I thought it to be a pretty enjoyable book. There are quite a few really boring parts, though...he goes on and on for pages about the scientific measurements of whales and other non-story related things. He is also wordy, but his wordiness is part of what makes the book so epic. No detail is mentioned without it impressing a sense of grandeur upon you.
I wish it had been more like Ahab's maniacal rantings near the end of the book. The end really got to be pretty fascinating..I dog-eared a lot more pages than usual
Cut for tl;dr
( Read more... ) |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 14th, 2009|12:26 am] |
tonight was pretty cool at class. our teacher (who is the best professor ever) had us do this activity where we had to take a quote from Emerson or Thoreau (we did transcendentalism today), and then...this is where it gets complicated... imagine an image in our head that represents that quote, and then write down a description of that image. Then we had to write a haiku related to the quote, but we couldn't use any of the words IN the quote.
hm... still with me?
The teacher put the quotes up on the projector and numbered them 1-9. When we finished writing our picture description and our haiku, we all had to read our haikus and let the rest of the class guess which quote it belonged with. NOONE got mine until the reveal, and then everyone seemed pretty impressed. at any rate I liked it, and I don't like much stuff i create.
cut for faggotry
( Read more... ) |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 4th, 2009|11:10 pm] |
Freshman year, I took a basic Reading Poetry class. My teacher was a modern poet fanatic and a huge douche, and he ruined my perception of poetry. Now, in my junior year, I have taken enough literature classes that I can begin rediscovering poetry on my own terms and appreciating it as such. ee cummings has always been my favorite poet, and here is one of his absolutely gorgeous pieces of work:
anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did
Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain
children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more
when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her
someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then)they
said their nevers they slept their dream
stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)
one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was
all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.
Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain
read it to yourself out loud, its god damned amazing |
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| yay |
[May. 3rd, 2009|02:10 am] |
more moby dick quotage!!
"It does seem to me, that herein we see the rare virtue of a strong individual vitality, and the rare virtue of thick walls, and the rare virtue of interior spaciousness. Oh, man! admire and model thyself after the whale! Do thou, too, remain warm among ice. Do thou, too, live in this world without being of it. Be cool at the equator; keep thy blood fluid at the Pole. Like the great dome of St. Peter's, and like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of thine own."
i'm loving this book. if you couldn't tell.
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| book nerding |
[Apr. 28th, 2009|12:00 pm] |
Still working my way through Moby Dick. This book has some fantastic passages;
Cut for your sanity.
( Read more... ) |
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| more litracher |
[Apr. 2nd, 2009|12:42 am] |
tonight we read an essay called "Of Studies" by Francis Bacon. I'll cut it 'cause its tl;dr quality, but its really not that long, and has some great quotes. i predict the only person who may give a shit is ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) gunlord.
anyways:
</lj>( Read more... ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 19th, 2009|10:43 pm] |
Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!
Farewell the plumed troop and the big wars
That make ambition virtue! O, farewell!
Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!
And, O you mortal engines, whose rude throats
The immortal Jove’s dread clamours counterfeit,
Farewell! Othello’s occupation ’s gone!
i love Othello. This is the most significant speech from that play. It sticks out in my mind, even now. If someone tells me something, and it sticks in my mind...it grows into something awful. "Farewell the tranquil mind!" How can you erase a thought? |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 3rd, 2009|01:56 am] |
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if i could make a religion, riding the bus would be like going to church. what profound revelations are made by the bus riders as they travel, their thoughts quickly entering and exiting from view, just like the scenery passing by... |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 17th, 2009|02:59 am] |
"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
it's sort of ridiculous how quotable / quoted "Self-Reliance" is |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|08:59 pm] |
i am feeling very literate today.
If you feel like reading something today, read this.
(from "An Afternoon with Hemingway" by Edward Stafford)
"When you write," he [Hemingway] said,
"Your object is to convey every sensation, sight, feeling, emotion, to the reader. So you have to work over what you write. If you use a pencil, you get three different views of it to see if you are getting it across the way you want to. First, when you read it over, then when it is typed, and again in proof. And it keeps it fluid loner so that you can improve it easier."
[Interviewer:] "How do you ever learn to convey every sensation, sight, and feeling to the reader? Just keep working at it for forty-odd years the way you have? Are there any tricks?"
[H]: "No. The hardest trade in the world to do is the writing of straight, honest prose about human beings. But there are ways you can train yourself."
"How?"
"When you walk into a room and you get a certain feeling or emotion, remember back until you see exactly what it was that gave you the emotion. Remember what the noises and smells were and what was said. Then write it down, making it clear so the reader will see it too and have the same feeling you had. And watch people, observe, try to put yourself in somebody else's head. If two men argue, don't just think who is right and who is wrong. Think what both their sides are. As a man, you know who is right and who is wrong; you have to judge. As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand."
What great writing advice. I've been carrying a little memo pad in my back pocket for moments when I feel inspired to write something down, so I think I'm going to use it to start describing particular emotions that stick out at me. Hopefully this will improve my writing.
I've just about finished all of my gen ed classes here at DePaul, and I've started taking the stuff I decided I was devoted to at the beginning of college; that is, literature classes and education classes. Furthermore, I'm motivated enough to actually do the class readings (for about the first time since I came here to school) and it is awesome. I am really enjoying this quarter so far, even with the nasty, winter weather. I'm in this education class, Teaching Writing, and the teacher is so amazing. She is everything a good teacher should be, and further more, she is good at conveying just that to us, her students. I have already learned so much, and I also feel very compelled to try hard. It's a great feeling. I hope I have the endurance, and the willpower (unlikely) to continue this through the quarter. I guess we shall see. |
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| i kind of like this meme |
[Dec. 31st, 2008|04:11 am] |
Ten things I want to say to 10 different people right now:
1. I still hold out some hope that you'll see me as "the one" somewhere down the line, much as I still see you.
2. You know what your problems are, so go fucking do something about them. No, no excuses.
3. Do I owe you money? Have I pissed you off? You're awesome to live with.
4. You are NOT pretty.
5. Make out?
6. Something about your affection for others makes you seem fake. What are your motives?
7. You are beautiful and awesome! Love yourself like others love you!
8. You are the most real person I know. Thank you for loving me all these years.
9. I miss you!
10. You've always been just a few houses away as long as I can remember. I've treated you very badly these last few years, and yet you still hang around. I'm so sorry, and I promise, I will do my best to make it up to you.
9 Things about me:
1 - My lame mall job has done absolutely wondrous things for my self-image.
2 - I love to stack things at restaurants while waiting for food.
3 - I hate my hair, no matter how it's cut.
4 - I love every girl, ever! It's starting to become a problem.
5 - I spend as much time on my computer as others spend on full-time jobs.
6 - I listen to music ceaselessly and memorize lyrics so I don't have to deal with the thoughts going around in my head.
7 - I can't talk for shit, and end up garbling all my words as I struggle to come up with the next thing to say.
8 - I have two huge surgical scars on my stomach!
9 - A very guilt-ridden upbringing has left me with a deep hatred towards religion.
8 Ways to win my heart:
1 - Smile at me.
2 - Have a pretty face.
3 - Be excited about new music.
4 - Be good enough at conversation for the both of us.
5 - Drink, smoke pot (or be cool with it)
6 - Be enthusiastic about the outdoors (camping, hunting, hiking, biking.)
7 - Sing, play a musical instrument.
8 - SHOW INTEREST IN ME (almost a guaranteed ticket into my proverbial "pants", regardless of theg irl)
Seven things that are crossing my mind:
1 - I WAS NEVER YOUNGGGG
2 - the beat to the song above
3 - Sleep?
4 - Man, I wish I could turn this song off.
5 - How horrible will tomorrow end up?
6 - Cute single girls? I am VERY sick of hitting on maddddd taken chicks.
7 - I WAS NEVER YOUNGGGG
My Five turn ons:
1 - Musical talent
2 - Interest in me
3 - a fetching smile
4 - sex-eyes
5 - the size of boobs in relation to the stomach curves just below them
My four turn offs:
1 - Arrogance
2 - Shallowness
3 - Smugness
4 - Lack of interest to learn
Three careers I considered:
1 - Teacher
2 - Psychologist
3 - Coffee Shop Owner
Two wishes before I die:
1 - Fall in true, true love.
2 - To get into a fight that I (almost) kill the guy in
One confession :
i have a crush on you
yeah, you |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 21st, 2008|09:40 am] |
"So you think Romance would stop in the front parlor and discuss medicated flannels and mineral waters with the ladies? Not for more than five minutes. She would be off upstairs with you, prying, peeping, peering into the closets of the bedrooms, into the nursery, into the sitting-room; yes, and into that little iron box screwed to the lower shelf of the closet in the library; and into those compartments and pigeonholes if the secrétaire in the study. She would find a heartache (maybe) between the pillows of the mistress's bed, and a memory carefully secreted in the master's deedbox. She would come upon a great hope amid the books and papers of the study table of the young man's room, and --perhaps--who knows--an affair, or, great heavens, an intrigue, in the scented ribbons and gloves and hairpins of the young lady's bureau. And she would pick here a little and there a little, making up a bag of hopes and fears, and a package of joys and sorrows--great ones, mind you--and then come down to the front door, and stepping out into the street, hand you the bags and package, and say to you--'That is Life!'"
~Frank Norris, "A Plea for Romantic Fiction" |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 14th, 2008|01:28 pm] |
this made my day, and at least the next few days after this one.
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 2nd, 2008|08:15 pm] |
I am really loving this Shakespeare class. This play, Troilus and Cressida, is very dense and not incredibly interesting, but I just found like snarky little exchange. Check it out:
ACHILLES: ...What's Agamemnon?
THERSITES: Thy commander, Achilles. --Then tell me, Patroclus, what's Achilles?
PATROCLUS: Thy lord, Thersites. Then tell me, I pray thee, what's Thersites?
THERSITES: Thy knower, Patroclus. Then tell me, Patroclus, what art thou?
PATROCLUS: Thou mayst tell, that knowest.
ACHILLES: O tell, tell.
THERSITES: I'll decline the whole question. (i'll recap) Agamemnon commands Achilles, Achilles is my lord, I am Patroclus' knower, and Patroclus is a fool.
PATROCLUS: You rascal.
THERSITES: Peace, fool, I have not done.
ACHILLES: [to Patroclus] He is a privileged man. --Proceed, Thersites. (privileged as in fools are allowed to speak freely)
THERSITES: Agamemnon is a fool, Achilles is a fool, Thersites is a fool, and as aforesaid Patroclus is a fool.
ACHILLES: Derive this. Come. (explain yourself)
THERSITES: Agamemnon is a fool to offer to command Achilles; Achilles is a fool to be commanded of Agamemnon; Thersites is a fool to serve such a fool; and Patroclus is a fool positive.
PATROCLUS: Why am I a fool?
THERSITES: Make that demand to the Creator. (lol) It suffices me thou art...
if you can read it, it's fun. the clowns/fools in Shakespeare have the greatest wordplay and some really witty burns.
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 15th, 2008|01:07 pm] |
last night, we watched this in my education class, and man. what a powerful speech.
check it out, remind yourself that educators are one of the most essential elements of society, and while you may take them (us) for granted, we are the ones teaching your kids how to function in the "real world", how to express their own individual talents, and how to open their minds to the limitless store of knowledge available to us today. Education plays as significant a role, if not more, than parents in childraising today, especially with all the latchkey kids and single parent households.
anyway, check it out.
EDIT
this version is much more powerful
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 15th, 2008|08:50 pm] |
| [ | overhearing |
| | tchaikovsky piano concerto #1 | ] |
Shakespeare loved momma jokes too:
(between Aaron, a moor, and Chiron and Demetrius, two sons of the Empress, who has just had a black baby by Aaron)
DEMETRIUS: Villian, what hast thou done?
AARON: That which thou canst not undo.
CHIRON: Thou hast undone our mother.
AARON: Villian, I have done thy mother.
~ from Titus Andronicus
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| a la dancenurbones |
[Jun. 3rd, 2008|01:41 pm] |
i dunno if this was an invitation
How many songs total: 5712
How many hours or days of music: 15.2 days.
Most recently played: "No Rain" - Blind Melon
Most played: "F.K.O." - Subtle
Most recently added: "In the Beginning" - The Moody Blues
Sort by song title:
First Song: "1 2 3 4" - Feist
Last Song: "Zoot Suit Riot" - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Sort by time:
Shortest Song: (:06) "One Last 'Woo Hoo!' For the Pullman" -Sufjan Stevens
Longest Song: (52:03) "Atom Heart Mother: Father's Shout/Breast Milky/Mother Fore/Funky Dung" - Pink Floyd
Sort by album:
First album: ...Is A Real Boy - Say Anything
Last album: Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer
Search the following and state how many songs come up:
Death - 23
Life - 270
Love - 216
Hate - 15
You - 809
Sex - 34 |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 20th, 2008|12:23 am] |
anyone ever think
that maybe one morning
it would be really nice to wake up
and not have to pee real bad |
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| picture post |
[May. 19th, 2008|10:18 pm] |
this one is kind of short but i haven't really been able to do much exploring over the weekend
if there are "by geoffreybeenes" by this shit i didnt' actually draw it imageshack is just stupid
( click ) |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 7th, 2008|09:50 pm] |
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she got to use what she got to get what she wants |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 6th, 2008|09:59 am] |
whoops i messed that last entry up
here's my friend joice's final again
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| (no subject) |
[May. 2nd, 2008|03:05 am] |
fuck everyone
and fuck me for talking to everyone
anyone ever have these days |
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