A Depiction of Huck Finn

In class, we looked at different depictions of Huck and Jim.  Here is an interesting, to say the least, depiction.

Why do you think the author/artist created this comic and portrayed the characters in this way?

Meta-Post Numero Dos

This quarter, I included a LOT more music into my blog.  Some of the songs were just relating to an issue, as in Make That Change!, while others were complete lyric analysis such as in Is there life in America?.  Another way I incorporated music into my blog was referencing something about music and a subject that is very near and dear to my heart.  In my post High Five Chorus!, I mentioned briefly how music can have such a positive impact on people and then posted an article and a video explain what High Five is.  (If any of you have a few minutes, I urge you to watch the video and read the article.  It is quite inspirational.)

Also, when I was looking through my blogs from this last quarter, I realized that a few of my posts are MEGA post.  Some of them are so long, that I would even question reading them, and I wrote them!  For the next semester, I definitely want to work on the conciseness of my posts.  As I said in my first meta-post, I'm a ranter, and it definitely comes through in my blogging.

I tried linking to other sources as well this semester.  In one of my posts, Make That Change!, I linked to Olivia, another girl in my class' blog.  Another post, Post Secret: Childhood, I decided to post a "Post secret" that seemed to fit in with out discussions of childhood.

Also, I should probably work on spreading my posts throughout the quarter, as this one became a little cramped at the end.  This quarter though, I became almost obsessive with commenting.  I'm pretty sure I commented multiple times each week.  I would log into my account with full intent to put out my own blog post, and next thing I know, I'm commenting on my fourth post of the day.  I don't know what it was about commenting, but I sort of became addicted to it.

**Please read A Day in the Life

This post was one of my favorite ones to write.

Post Secret: Childhood

I was just about to write my meta-post, when I found this post secret.  

I found it very fitting, as we have been discussing what age a person becomes an adult at.

See more at http://www.postsecret.com/.

Make That Change!

I just read a classmates post, and found it really interesting and wanted to write my own blog about a similar topic.  Check out Olivia's blog!


Her post was all about what prayer does for a person.  Olivia wrote; "It won't make your life better in any way unless you do something.  Take action and make your situation change."  This first of all immediately reminded me of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".  The lyrics go; "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change".  Both the post and the lyrics say the same thing.  If you want to change something, do it yourself, make the change.  I agree with this, if you want something fixed, you have to do it yourself.  If it is something that you can fix, don't mope, get up and go.


For me, I don't go to temple for the service (and to be honest, I rarely go to temple).  But I see it as more of a community.  When I think of Judaism, I think of faces.  I see the faces of the people that I have met because of it, and the people that will always be a part of my life.  I don't think of the prayers or Torah passages and honestly most of the things I learned in Hebrew or Sunday school I can't remember.  I think  of how everyone came together when there was a terrifying situation for one of the families in the community.  I think of the support I got and kind words when I butchered a Torah portion I chanted on Yom Kippur one year.  No one cared that I messed it up, they just were happy I tried.


These are the things I remember from my temple community.  These were times that we came together to help out another member of the community.  I don't really pray because as Olivia wrote, I believe more in fixing something and getting it done rather than praying for it.

I do think that prayer can be a healthy outlet for people though.  I'm not really a religious person, but in hard times, people need to find whatever they can to help them get through it and for some people it is religion that they turn to.  If there is stress of a sick family member, it can really weigh on a person and each person must find what it is that can help them.  For my mom, she starts cleaning.  For me, I go run until I can no longer run anymore (not run away, go for a run).  Each person has his or her own way of dealing with things, but at some point, we all need to stop trying to deal, and start trying to fix.

Are Kohlberg and Maslow linked?

The other day in class we were discussing Lawrence Kohlberg's Moral Stages.  These stages he created explain moral reasoning development.  There are six stages, but eventually he stopped using the sixth stage to categorize people into, because it was such a rare stage to find a person at.  The sixth stage, universal principles, included people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.

Kohlberg's Moral Stages

This idea of moral development levels reminded me of another set of stages I learned about in my freshman english class, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  It has four levels that must be in tack to make it to the top level of the pyramid, or "self-actualization".  The first thing listed under the self-actualization section is "morality".  Are Maslow's and Kohlberg's ideas linked?  If so, do you have to be at a certain one of the stages to reach self-actualization?  Though Kohlberg's stages do not have a hierarchy, the sixth stage is clearly the stage Kohlberg found hardest to reach, and those who did were extraordinary people (so there is some sort of hierarchy).

This being said, can a stage one person, if they have all of Maslow's basic needs covered ever reach self-actualization?  Or is self-actualization as difficult to reach as Kohlberg's sixth moral stage?

Sunny Days and Rain

In class we've been talking a lot about childhood and when does childhood end.  We've also discussed the "myths" of childhood.  Some examples of the myths are that childhood is the same for everyone or that childhood is carefree.  The consensus seemed to be that there is no certain age that makes someone an "adult".  Yes, legally 18 makes someone an adult, but that doesn't necessarily make someone "grown up".

The song "Still Fighting It" by Ben Folds tackles the myth that childhood is carefree.  The song says; "Everybody knows it hurts to grow up".  This obviously goes against the idea of a carefree childhood by saying, it does "hurt", it does "suck" to grow up.  (The lyrics change later in the song from "hurts" to "sucks" to grow up).  Later in the song, Folds says; "It was pain, sunny days and rain".  Like anything else in life, there are ups and downs, good days and bad days, sunny days and rainy days.  Childhood is not an endless time of sunshine and butterflies.  In growing up you need to experience everything, and learn how to navigate for yourself once you become this so-called "adult".


I think this has a lot to do with the idea that the grass is always greener on the other side.  When you are in the present, you feel the good and the bad, and experience both.  But when looking back, your mind sort of has a way to forget pain, or block it out as a defense mechanism so the main memories will most likely be a "sunny day".  That's why people sometimes want to revert to their childhood, or an earlier part of life.  The song says "the years go on and we're still fighting it".  As each year passes, there is more time in the past that contains the sunny day memories, and so some people may never feel they have reached that greener pasture.

Is there life in America?

The other day, I was listening to one of my favorite songs, "Life on Mars?" by David Bowie, and realized I had never really thought about the lyrics before.  I could sing them backwards, forwards, practically in my sleep but didn't ever think of what I was listening to.  As I thought about it, the song is really commenting on what America has turned into.  Let's take it line by line. (Lyrics are in blue)

It's a god-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
So far there is a small problem involving a ordinary or "mousy" girl.
But her mummy is yelling "No"
And her daddy has told her to go
But, even though it was a small affair, her parents seem to be blowing the incident out of proportion.  It is showing how in America we focus too much on little things, rather than the big picture and over react to unimportant situations.


But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
Not as she envisioned it.
To the seat with the clearest view
And she's hooked to the silver screen
I think here she is watching her life.  She is watching everything around her go by, and is not really apart of it.


But the film is a saddening bore
For she's lived it ten times or more
We live in the age of anxiety, because there is so much going on around us, that we tend to get bored extremely easily.  She is watching her life, but starts to get bored and distracted and doesn't want to stay on path.
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on
Has to be told what to do.

Now here's where it gets interesting.  This is really when it starts to talk about how our nation is run.
Sailors fighting in the dance hall
This is saying that we are really fighting ourselves.  We are our own enemy.  And by saying fighting "in the dance hall", it makes it seem like a foolish fight.  A dance hall isn't a place to fight, and it makes the fight quite insignificant.
Oh man! look at those cavemen go
Cavemen. Just let that one sink in for a second.  The connotation of calling someone a caveman is that they are uncivilized and incapable.  It is saying that Americans can't do anything for themselves, and act without regard of their actions.
It's the freakiest show
A country that takes so much pride in itself is made up of cavemen?  Freaky.


Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Unjust.  Punishing the wrong people, fighting the wrong nations, entering the wrong wars.  Still very relevant to today.
Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best selling show
But what do the people do?  They stand around and watch.  They put their money into these efforts or issues, but don't do anything to stop them.  As a whole, there is a lack of a stance.  No questioning of authority.
Is there life on Mars?
America is Mars.  There is so much talk about what is and isn't on Mars, but what about what's here.  What about Earth.  Maybe we should focus more on fixing our own planet before tainting another.


It's on America's tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Mickey Mouse, a little mouse, growing up as a huge cow clearly resembles obesity in America.
Now the workers have struck for fame
Everyone seems to be out for the money and fame.  Just think about baseball.  Originally, players got paid very little and were required to have another job, aside from baseball.  Not only was it financially necessary, but it was required.  Also, players usually spent their entire careers playing for the same team. Now, you see athletes turning down multi-million dollar contracts and switching teams every couple years.  Baseball, like many other aspects of America, has become less about the love and the passion for the game, and more about the money and the fame.
'Cause Lennon's on sale again
This song was released in 1971.  Lennon married Yoko Ono in 1969.  Fame can be rekindled by an event, like a controversial marriage.  Controversy can stir many emotions.


See the mice in their million hordes
From Ibiza to the norfolk broads
There are millions (well actually billions) of people all across the globe.
Rule Britannia is out of bounds
To my mother, my dog, and clowns
But people still remain powerless.  Some will never be able to have control.


But the film is a saddening bore
'Cause I wrote it ten times of more
It's about to be writ again
History writes and rewrites itself, but nothing ever changes.  The script stays the same.  Mistakes keep reoccurring.  We are not learning from our past.
As I ask you to focus on
And again, people don't care.  Mistakes reoccur but people turn a blind eye and let them happen again.


And then the song finishes with the chorus once again.  This song shows such an interesting view on America.  It shows disappointment with how things have become.  Maybe one day, there will be another song called "Life on Mars" with no question mark, when people actually live on Mars.  Hopefully by the time that song is released it will be commenting on how much things have improved.

High Five Chorus!

High Five Choir was recently featured in the Chicago Tribune.  Since my blog is a sort of a musical blog, I thought it was fitting, because the article, and video, show how music can have a such a positive impact on people.  It shows the way that music connects people, as it does everyday in High Five.  It is truely an amazing experience to be apart of such a diverse and accepting group.

Here is the article

Here is a video of High Five.  The girl who is speaking is Angela, my co-facilitator in High Five.