The Joys of Memoir Writing

I read the memoir "A Guarantee in Life" by Justin S., you can read it here.

The memoir is great, it starts off by clearly stating to the reader what the memoir is supposed to accomplish in a reflection sort of way. He talks about regrets and how everything that those horrible things that happened made you who you are today. He had me right away because that's the sort of mindset I have towards bad things that happen. I think a lot about not having regrets because I have those regretful things to thank for me being who I am, and I can't imagine not existing...because I quite enjoy my existence. Justin (Yeah, we're on a first name basis) did a great job of using imagery and his detailing was just enough to put me right in his shoes. I could feel what he was talking about. When his five year old self got out of the bath tub and put on his pajamas I could feel the way itchy little kid pajamas feel on a freshly bathed body. He was able to tap into my memories to feel his memories. I felt that he could have supplemented his writing with a bit more reflection from his current self back to the memory he is telling. He did a lot of reflection in the beginning and the end but not really  any mixed in. That being said, the reflection that he did put in at the beginning and end was really good and perfectly complimented the story. At the end he talks about his feelings now that he looks back on it and how much he's changed and grown because of his father not being there for him. We also learn that his father becomes a part of his life (however minor that part may be) based on the reflection at the end. The father is expressing regret that he couldn't  have been there for Justin's childhood, tying back perfectly to the beginning of the memoir.

The Vietnam War a brief history

The country of Vietnam was split between the communist north and the anticommunist south and in 1956 the south refused to participate in unification attempts. In 1958 the United States began sending military assistance to Southern Vietnam. By 1968 there were 536,000 Americans in Vietnam which turned many at home against the war.  Richard Nixon withdrew troops from Southern Vietnam to let them fight their own war, which Nixon called Vietnamization (possibly the stupidest name on the planet). He destroyed a communist supply base in Cambodia which violated Cambodia’s neutrality and provoked anti-war protests in the United States. The war stretched on from 1958 through 1973 when the United States withdrew completely. And the 15 years we had troops over there obviously worked really well because in 1975 Southern Vietnam surrendered to the North. So we definitely didn’t waste 15 years making absolutely no progress, that definitely is not what happened…at all.

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/vietnamwar.htm

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/vietnam/index.cfm

"Homeland of the Free"

Langston Hughes is one of the few people who is so widely renowned and deserves every bit of it. He never disappoints. I could read “Let America Be America Again” a million times over and find new meaning each time. My favorite line is “Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath”. It resonates with me for some reason. I feel like patriotism is such a double standard in this country. Calling yourself “conservative” automatically stamps you with an American flag. The right has monopolized patriotism. The tea party is a radical group and they wave around American flags and they’re seen as patriotic. It’s fine for them to criticize President Obama because they’re just exercising their right as citizens. Oh, but if anyone said anything against President Bush they’d be shot down as unpatriotic. I mean, really, how dare anyone criticize a Republican president? Because to be Republican is to be more Patriotic than anyone else in the history of the country…ever! To me, being patriotic is to expect your country to be the best it can be, which can include criticizing a completely out of touch President.

America was built on good ideas but it has never really fully reached those ideals. First the natives were kicked out and then that whole slavery bit, it’s hard to build an equality based country when its foundation is so cracked. America was never America. And I’m not sure it ever will be. Equality is such a hard thing to get to, because part of life is that everyone will never be fully equal. It’s like the first thing we read in English this year, the excerpt from Harrison Bergeron. When do we draw the line on equality? However, when people are hindering other people from doing things, that’s when there’s a need for equality.

Hughes and Fitzgerald have very similar views of the American Dream, that it’s broken. They both go about it slightly different but the fundamentals of the statements they’re making are the same. People at the top are continuously pushing down people beneath them because they can, because it keeps them at the top.

Great Gatsby Scene Rewrite (Gatsby's POV)

I’m rewriting the scene starting around page at 63 where Gatsby comes to Nick’s house to talk to take him to lunch in New York but from Gatsby’s point of view.

 

            Okay, I need to go and talk to Nick. I need to get him to talk to Jordan. Jordan will help him understand all of this. I’ll just go over there and ask him to lunch before he talks to Jordan, yes, that’s what I’ll do. God, he has to say yes. What if he’s loyal to Tom and tells him? Oh God, everything for from the past 5 years is riding on this.

            It’s nine. I hope it’s not too early, what if he decides he doesn’t want to go to lunch? I finally get up the nerve to drive my car the few yards to his house. I look at myself in the mirror.

            “Come on, Gatsby, pull it together.” I honk the horn and within a few seconds Nick pulls open the door, he seems very eager to see me, good thing too.

“Good morning, old sport. You’re having lunch with me today and I thought we’d ride up together.” I say with a cool voice, hiding my anxiety. Everything I want is riding on this singular man, whose eyes seem to be looking past me and at my car.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it, old sport! Haven’t you ever seen it before?” I say showing it off. I’ll admit I’m trying to impress him, but what else am I to do? He needs to say yes.

We head off together towards New York, the car ride is...uncomfortable to say the least. I don’t know what to say to a man who is so important to my fate.  He needs to know who I am, that I’m a good guy, he can’t go around believing all those silly rumors those people spread about me.

            “Look here, old sport, what’s your opinion of me anyhow?” and immediately I regret it, what kind of a question is that? I’m tempted to take it back and tell him he doesn’t need to answer, but part of me wants to know what he has to say. Oh, God he has to say something good. My life depends upon him and he doesn’t even know!

 

The American Dream: on Permanent Holiday

www.huffingtonpost.com/tiziana-dearing/us-wealth-gap_b_1093582.html

I read Where Is the American Dream Today? from the Huffington Post. And my answer is; it's on permanent holiday. Okay, maybe not permanent, but definitely on holiday. There's a Green Day song called Holiday and part of it goes "This is our lives on holiday", and that's exactly how I feel about the American Dream.

According to the article the poverty rate in America is at an all time high (as if that was surprising). It spits out a bunch of data that just reminds us all how much life sucks a ton and that we really have no hope of ever getting out of this. In the recession in the early 90s it took 15 months for the job rate to get back to the rate before the recession, but people that say stuff and we believe it economists predict that it will take 60 months for the job rate to return back to normal this time. And by THAT time those same people say we could very well be in another recession. So really we should be panicking and going around murdering each other, but we can't, we have to keep going about our business, because no matter what it will all be okay, most of the time, unless you're ugly and have no friends (sorry, I'm going on a rant about mixed messages from the media here). Some people are doing something, though. Not murdering, but protesting. Occupy Wall Street is sending a message that all this isn't okay. The article mentions keeping the dream alive, but maybe it needs to die and then regenerate (Like the Doctor. Get it? Anyone? No? Fine.). Occupy is, in a way, trying to reshape the American Dream. The American Dream has gone on holiday but hopefully it'll come back refreshed, rejuvenated, and sporting a rocking tan.

Life In Cartoon Motion- MIKA. A review, but more like a rave.

MIKA

Life in Cartoon Motion


A few years ago I was turned on to Mika by a close friend, and I've been obsessed ever since. I wanted to review an album by someone totally obscure and cool but in the back of my mind I kept thinking about Mika. The best music is the music that just makes you feel genuinely AMAZING, and that's exactly what Mika does, every time. So I figured I'd review a bit of his first album. "Life in Cartoon Motion" is quintessential Mika and my favorite out  of his two albums (the other being "The Boy Who Knew Too Much").

 Mika has been fairly "big" in Europe for awhile now and is beginning to capture the U.S. (I'm just waiting for everyone to realize how amazing he is). He's from London and debuted his first album in 2007. His music's hard to define for me, being a person who recoils at the word "pop". I guess I would describe it as alternative pop. Wikipedia describes him as several things, including pop rock and glam rock. Some of his songs are definitely more "pop-y" than others, but both of his albums definitely have a great range of songs. There are very upbeat songs like "Lollipop", "Love Today", "Relax, Take It Easy", and "Ring Ring". Then there are some more somber and comparatively chill songs like "My Interpretation", "Any Other World", and "Over My Shoulder". Then there are the songs that seem to tell a story such as "Billy Brown". All, of course, featuring Mika's trademark falsetto. Mika is often compared to Freddie Mercury (which I find to be the ULTIMATE compliment). 

Another thing that makes Mika's songs unique are the short bits of dialogue at the beginnings and ends of a lot of his songs, particularly "Ring Ring" where a woman with a thick accent tells her story for the last 45 seconds of the song. The song also features a phone ringing at the beginning. This is just an example of the little unique, creative things Mika does. Everything he does makes me melt, I can't tell you enough, you just really have to listen. The song "Over my Shoulder" makes me hold my breath every time I hear it, it's absolutely beautiful.

This is the music video for "We are Golden", which is on his second album, but it's the video that  really made me fall in love with him, and I hope you do too. (Don't be scared off by his half nakedness)

Cheers!
Gianna

Snowflake Statistics

Snowflake Statistics*

One on top of the other, they pile outside, endlessly. Creating a huge, overwhelming blanket of snow. Just like everything else in this world. It’s no wonder more people do it this time of year.

I’m on the train, looking at these people, these things. They don’t even know, they don’t know anything. They’re all consumed with themselves, it’s a wonder they remember to breathe.

The doctors are always asking me questions, asking me to explain things. But I can’t explain if they don’t already know.

A few days ago I went outside at 2 in the morning in my underwear and lay in the snow. Tears were running down my face but I was laughing too. Why am I so weak?

I’m doomed forever to wearing long sleeves, pants; to hide them. They’re everywhere; arms, stomach, hips, thighs. I was being stupid, I went too deep.

They give me meds. But at some point they stop making a difference. Have you been taking your meds? Of course. But now it’s just like pouring a ton of salt on trillions of snowflakes, it won’t work.

The suicide rate increases this time of year. So I’m just another statistic. It’s all I’ve ever been, and it’s all I’ll ever be…a statistic.

It’s sort of funny. The one thing in my life I can control is the end.

I’m just one snowflake laying on the face of the earth. And what’s one less snowflake?

*For Jules

Thanks guys.
Gianna