final post

i wanted to finish my blog with a great quote by Orhan Pamuk, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006. In his lecture he said these great and inspirational words; "I believe literature to be the most valuable tool that humanity has found in its quest to understand itself. Societies, tribes, and peoples grow more intelligent, richer, and more advanced as they pay attention to the troubled words of their authors." This statement holds true in our class as well. We are paying attention to the words of classic writers, but as we know, 'all that is past possesses the present.' Many of the presentations today focused on that concept-and how appropiately. I think we as a class have finally come to the understanding of just how true and tangible that statement is. yes, we are obcessed with language in its written form, being english lit junkies and all, but this statement touches people across the board. every country, group, tribe, family, person. every century, decade, and day. reading is the best way to gain knowledge of the world and human experiences. i hope we will all continue to cherish our love of reading and sharing it with each other.

thoughts on scapegoats

i found myself very inspired by Monday's scapegoating presenters. the concept of a scapegoat is as old as the human race itself and that is very extrodinary. for centuries, since the dawn of time, we humans have been unable to admit our own fault and take responibility for our actions! that is absolutely incredible to me, yet the evidence is there...every single country at some point has placed blame on a certain group of people...the nazis blame the jews, the americans blame the blacks-the list goes on forever-everyday we let someone else fall for our doings...even drinking a beer after a long day of work or a bad day in general-we can't quite make it without letting someone else take the fall. i admit after a hard day, i will drink a beer without hesitation and feel better by taking out my frustrations on that beer. think about it, everything we use to de-stress is some-sort of metaphorical scapegoat, think about that next time you sip a bud or a scape goat pale ale from our very own big sky brewing...

presents

i will admit my fault right off the bat...at first i was extremely annoyed at all the presentations required for this class. i am one of those people that like to work on their own and finish it up on my own time and schedule, but after seeing all the group presentations and today's individuals, i have seen the light-i had an epiphany-so there dr. sexson...it's finally happened! all semester i've waited for this day and now it is here. someone told me today that my presentation of my term paper inspired them on a subject for their own paper. then is struck me like lighting-so this is why dr. sexson has all these presentations and places so much emphasis on them-they are amazing. they can enlighten and entertain...they can teach and experiment, and most of all, they can inspire. they can inspire in more ways than we 'asses' will ever understand. we have all taught each other so much this semester-what a smart class we are! but we'd be no where without the guidance of good ol' dr. sexson (p.s. i'm not trying to such up to get a good grade on my blog...im being serious here!) thank you very much for structuring this class in such a way that we can teach and be taught!

listen to this

well my last name starts with a Z...therefore i have the pleasure of A. turning my paper in first, and B. giving the very first individual presentation. needless to say, it is monday afternoon and i am sitting here trying desparately to start my term paper. but we all know that procrastination is an english major's best friend and we have all pulled papers out of our asses the day before they are due, so i am not too worried about my current situation. i have already decided on my topic and have spent the last hour roaming the internet for research and inspriration. i have previously posted information on an organization called the Lysistrata Project. since we have studied this play, it is very pretinent to the class and also the world. if you travel to their website, you will be enundated with all sorts of information regarding the war in iraq and women's rights to peace and safety. as i was searching for more modern day Lysistratas, i found a really interesting article on NPR's website and i should hope that you all take the time to check it out. on March 4, 2003, the Lysistrata project helped organize a world-wide reading of the play to advocate peace, women's rights, and an anti-war compaign. Readings of Lysistrata were heard all over the country and ranged greatly in their style and audience. They even performed a short, child-friendly version in New York. You can actually listen to the airing of this story and it only takes about 5 mintutes. here is the website:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1182859
i highly recommend taking a few mintutes from your day to listen to 'All things considered' Lysistrata 'Ancient' War Protest...

No one knew...

I was sad today...I have been looking forward to this day for a week and today I realized that no one even knew why today is so special...TODAY IS EARTH DAY!!!!! yes, that's right-April 22nd, 2007-EARTH DAY!!! i wish the hills were alive with the songs of earth day, but alas, the only hill that's alive with noise around here is atop peet's hill where the bulldozers are working around the clock to ensure the eager home buyers will get their subdivision special with all the views. unfortunately they are not celebrating earth day, but rather spoiling dog-walker's peace as they attempt to enjoy the long-awaited spring weather. it is no mistake that earth day is in the spring, as spring brings with it a feeling of spiritual and physical growth as the new buds form and the flowers spring up from the once frozen ground. and since we are all english literature freaks and also happen to be currently immersed in the study of classical literature, we know that the first spring, just as the first rock concert, happened many many years ago with the return of Persephone. Demeter was just so overjoyed when she finally saw her daughter again that she couldn't bear to keep the world in its permanent winter and the great goddess of the earth renewed its like and fertility. today let us celebrate the beauty of this earth and please try to remember this date. it is really important because this world is in a major state of crisis and it disappoints me so that no one even realized this date. at the coffee shop today (yes, i also work at a coffee shop...rockford coffee) i made a sign reminding people that today was a special day and asked everyone to contemplate what they do on a daily basis to reduce their footprint on this earth (i suggested to start in the morning with a reusable coffee mug instead of getting a paper cup everyday) . i will ask you all to do the same because if you don't celebrate earth day than your mom (mother earth that is...) and demeter (the goddess of the earth and mother of spring...) will get angry with you. and so will i!

I know what I know-I'll say what I say

has anyone ever heard the paul simon song 'gumboots?' it is #4 on the album graceland, one of my favorite...anyway, the title of the blog is a line from that song. i was humming it silently to myself and thought about the presentations today-actually, to be honest i was pondering my very own presentation. i participated in group#2's rendition of some of the stichomythias in the plays we've studied this semester. although the modern day actings of these lines were loosely based on actual events, they were fictional and came from our heads. dr. sexson asked us how hard it was to relate g.w.b to these stories, and the truth was-it was extremely easy and almost fun. so to the internet i went in search of some concrete connections between greek comedy/tragedy and our awesome president, and just what did i find? a lot, but an article in arab news struck my fancy in particular. M.J Akbar states his opinion quite boldly: "There is an incidental, but entertaining, connection between Greece and the George Bush presidency." he found it rather humorous that the intellectual group responible for helping Bush into power refered to themselves as "The Vulcans," whom we all know as Hephaestus-who was a cuckold..."The Odyssey narrates the story of how Hephaestus (Vulcan) trapped his wife, Aphrodite (Venus), when she was making love to Ares (Mars) by ensnaring them in his net."
doesn't bush know his classical greek literature?? doesn't bush know that all that is past possesses the present??? mr. Akbar blames this blunder in name choice to many of the contraversial issues in bush's administration: "Why on earth did George Bush’s intellectual mentors name their group after a cuckold? And what happens when a Vulcan tries to emulate his wife’s lover, Mars? Is this an explanation for the misadventure known as the Iraq war?"
he also mentions lysistrata with some interesting comments-this one i really enjoyed: "Lysistrata won the day by shutting down the night. Anyone, incidentally, who thinks boyfriends are a modern idea should read the ancient Greeks." just another one of the numerous connections from classic literature to modern day. perhaps george should read up on this material to get some ideas for his infamous "plan B, " as dr. sexson says, every story is just another retelling of past stories. we all know that george has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth, in fact sometimes it seems as though he puts them both in there at the same time, shoes and all...but as we saw today, george has the right to articulte his thoughts and "he is the decider." just as paul simon does in 'gumboots,' george knows what he knows and he says what he says. the only difference is he doesn't have as nice a voice as paul and soemtimes he doesn't know very much-so what he says sounds really dumb, as we all say today with the many bush quotes sprinkled into our dialogue...if you're interested in reading more of the articule, which i highly recommend, here is the web address: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=66318&d=3&m=7&y=2005

Browning's Cupid and Psyche

Elizabeth Barrett Browning-such an important name in literary history. We have discussed the many people influenced by Apuleius's "The Golden Ass," but Browning's name was never mentioned. I was searching the interent for some interesting blog material and struck gold when I came across another blog by a women whom is in love with English. She was giving a speech of some sort and planned on reading Browning's beautiful translation of Cupid and Psyche in a small cemetary. Apparantely Browning translated the story into poem form in the original Latin, but I was able to find it in English as well. She did this while good old Robert was courting her. this is her translation of the part where psyche first sees cupid:

Then Psyche, weak in body and soul, put on
The cruelty of Fate, in place of strength:
She raised the lamp to see what should be done,
And seized the steel, and was a man at length In courage, though a woman!
Yes, but when
The light fell on the bed whereby she stood
To view the ‘beast’ that lay there, - certes, then,
She saw the gentlest, sweetest beast in wood –
Even Cupid’s self, the beauteous god! More beauteous
For that sweet sleep across his eyelids dim.
The light, the lady carried as she viewed,
Did blush for pleasure as it lighted him,
The dagger trembled from its aim unduteous;
And she . . . oh, she – amazed and soul-distraught
And fainting in her whiteness like a veil,
Slid down upon her knees, and, shuddering, thought
To hide – though in her heart – the dagger pale!
She would have done it, but her hands did fail
To hold the guilty steel, they shivered so, -
And feeble, exhausted, unawares she took
To gazing on the god, - till, look by look,
Her eyes with larger life did fill and glow.

Very beautiful indeed, i have always loved her poetry. if you would like to read more of her amazing translation, check out this website; http://www.florin.ms/apuleius.html#english
i know you will enjoy it.

the meta of butterflies

psyche means soul and a butterfly represents soul. i pondered this for quite some time after class today and did a little research. i was amazed at all the information i found linking butterflies to the souls of the deceased in many different countries and cultures. first off, some artists depict pysche herself as a butterfly or a women with small butterfly wings. many cultures believe that the butterflies represent transformation and change and love and joy, which is all too perfect in psyche's situation. psyche must transform from a small and ignorant fool in love into a smart and savvy young women ready to meet her lover in an equal union. the aztecs believed butterflies to be a symbol of immortality, something psyche finally obtains after her journey and transformation. she arrives back where she started, in the arms of cupid, but just as t.s. eliot and dr. sexson say, she is different and can see things in different shades of light.
in africa butterflies are the symbol of the human cycle of life-we grow and change and undergo many metamorphoses of the mind, body, and soul. if psyche did not experience the great sense of loss and realized her mistake, she would not have journeyed to her mature status and thus her love to cupid would be less pure. they both understand how much they love each other, but without the changes in both, their love would like the cocoon of a caterpiller. with their new maturity, the true beauty of their love is finally seen by the world and of course, read by us in this class. their love is truly a materpiece in storytelling and is depicted as such in the many artistic rendition of their beautiful love.

Rumor has it

such an interesting task to select one story from an entire book of stories-it's almost daunting. there are so many strange, twisted, and intriguing stories to choose from, but i found one that struck my fancy immediately-well not quick immediately, as it is on pages 398-399. several hundred of pages of reading and i found the short story of Rumor...rumor has it she lives atop a mountain gathering the world's secrets and sharing them with the swarms of people "forever coming, going-fills the; mingling with the true, the false reports." perhaps my favorite line is "no quiet and no silence can be found; and yet there is no clamor-just the soft murmur of voices, as of rolling waves when heard from far away." i tried to desparately to find a painting or some kind of artistic representation of this beautiful image, but alas, no luck. instead a scanned a picture of a child i nanny for-she is at the top of a slide-it is difficult to see-not a quality scan, but you can still get the idea that rumor's house "is built of sounding brass, each word that's spoken in the world rebounds; the brass vibrates, repeating every sound." such a silly concept but it struck my interest because it is such a pretty allusion and an interesting way to view rumors...

oldies but goodies...

after reading lysistrata, i have been quite intrigued about the whole concept of women out-smarting the men by using the power they have to get what they want. the women want peace, and peace they shall get when they combine power numbers and ideals. i was conversing with a fellow student about the idea and he mentioned to me that he heard of some nowaday parallels to the play. i did some research and the best example i found was recently in Brazil. nearly 30000 lives have been cut short in Brazil from urban violence and gang trends. in 2001, on Mother's day, how apporpriate, Viva Rio, an organization not associated with the government, decided to launch a campaign to combat the violence and called on the women of Brazil to step it up by using this slogan "Choose gun-free! It's your weapon or me!"
I also stumbled upon this site: http://www.lysistrataproject.org/aboutus.htm it is a great website-very interesting, informative, and even hopeful. the project began just after 9/11 and is going strong, please check it out, i think you'll enjoy it. it just goes to show the impact of such an amazing concept. yes-it's a comedy, but the idea is serious and people are applying it to serious current events and making changes.

wheat!

well i happened to look at the television last night, it was completely by accident...anyway-to the point. i caught sight of a movie preview for a film called 300. this film is about the Battle of Thermopylae and follows the struggles of the lowly 300 spartans-i haven't seen it yet, but this is what i got from the trailer. the point is, in the trailer there were many images flashed quickly past the screen that included a women, the mother, and her child, the maiden, in a field of brightly lit wheat grain. then i recalled the film 'the gladiator' and it struck me that the gladiator's memories of his wife and child are always set in a brightly lit field of grain-well needless to say...i put the two together and dememter just popped her grainly little head right into mine...all that is past emcompasses the present-well even though the films are sent in antient greece, they aren't about demeter, yet she somehow is all tied up within them and now within me. perhaps ill watch the film 300, although most likely not, as i'm not the biggest fan of extreme violence. okay that's all

Phenomenology

Can you pronounce this word? Hegel and Steiner can...How does Sophocles' Antigone and Hegel's Phenomenology of the Mind connect to one another-Perhaps Steiner can answer that question for us. Upon opening Antigones to a very random page and proceeding to read it, I have learned quite a bit about Hegel's most philophosical piece. Steiner deams that although references to Antigone in Hegel's Phenomenology have "not been studied in detail," he points out that it is the strengh behind Hegel's dramactically constructed first six sections: "it has a great drama as its core of reference." After reading (and re-reading, of course) I felt in order to do this page justice, I needed to understand what Hegel's Phenomenology of the Mind acutally is. Phenomenology has been studied by several different people, but Hegel was one of the first. Here is what Wiki has to say about it: "he(Hegel) maintains, we must examine actual knowing as it occurs in real knowledge processes. This is why Hegel uses the term "phenomenology". "Phenomenology" comes from the Greek word for "to appear", and the phenomenology of mind is thus the study of how consciousness or mind appears to itself. In Hegel's dynamic system, it is the study of the successive appearances of the mind to itself, because on examination each one dissolves into a later, more comprehensive and integrated form or structure of mind."
Interesting...by the way, if you are interested in this material, check out page 28

Too many distractions

As I sit here to write this, a terrible noise is traveling to my ear and disturbing my brain. It is the sound of a basketball game on television-how awful that I am stuck here listening to this as I am trying to expand my knowledge and complete my homework. Two minutes ago I sat in silence working diligently on my blog, and now I am accompanied by the terrible, evil black box that most of America is completely glued to. Dr. Sexson is very right-no one reads anymore. Most of my friends stare at the billions of blinking lights flashing sumbliminal messages with pleasure-they are more than content not thinking for themselves to expand their mind. I feel like I read for most of my day-of course I am in school and an English Literature student, but nonetheless...Why is society today okay with letting others think for them? Why is it so difficult to pick up and book and let the eye move from left to write over a series of words that create a sentence, a paragraph, a page, a chapter, and finally a book. Any comments...

new blog

hello classical foundationers-this here is my new blog, i am sorry to disturb all the lists you have made, but please edit your link with this new address. my old blog address was giving me lots of trouble-i couldn't access it for some reason. thank you