Journals
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Letters as Pictures?
The statement that “letters began as pictures” sounds like a metaphor, but surprisingly it is not. This statement actually goes all the way back to the origins of the first known alphabet, which was created by the Phoenicians around 1000 B.C. The Phoenicians somewhat integrated hieroglyphics with now a day letters. The Phoenicians used letter shapes to describe a word. These letter shapes were not full pictures, but were shaped in a fashion as to signify its meaning appropriately. This system or alphabet made by the Phoenicians first consisted of 22 common noises. This system was then spread worldwide to many different trading partners of the Phoenicians; such as Greece. The Phoenician alphabet was then changed by the Greeks, and soon for Latin. After many centuries, the changed Phoenician alphabet was adapted for the English. This was a very long and intriguing process, and the Phoenician letters A and K are two great examples of how this change took place.
Waiting Isn’t Easy
Henri Nouwen’s quote about waiting is right on track with American society. American culture is very scary because it continually pressures Americans to do things. For teens, it commands that people go to college, get a job, and get married. Waiting just seems to be against what Americans should do, it almost seems evil. If people wait, they are useless and get nothing done. As Henri says, “waiting is not a popular attitude”.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Concepts of color
I have always wondered if everybody saw the same colors. We think we do, but do we really? I might see blue and call it blue, but what you call blue might actually be green to me if I saw the world through your eyes. That’s probably not the way it is, but the concept has always fascinated me. It’s not like it really matters either, but it is fun to think about. Maybe we all see things differently.
Keep it Short
For some strange reason, Anne Lamott decided to write an entire chapter on the fact that she uses index cards. I think that the most intriguing thing about this reading is not the reason why she uses the index cards, but rather the fact that she could take that reason and miraculously turn it into a twelve page paper. The entire article could probably be summed up in one simple sentence that reads like this: I use index cards so I can remember things that I would usually forget.” But I suppose that is why she is the professional writer and I am not. The concept behind index cards is to be simple. It is ironic that she is taking a tool whose purpose is to simplify, and turning it into an elaborate writing.
Give yourself a break!
Perhaps like me, you grew up with the long-standing adage: “Patience is a virtue.” Maybe you have heard it so many times that it has lost its meaning or better still, you are waiting for its truth to manifest itself in your life. Here’s some good news, you are not alone. Henri Nouwen puts words to a well-known fact: “Waiting is not a very popular attitude.” Although common knowledge, the reasons for this phenomenon are less clear-cut. Why is it that we find waiting such a painful thing to do? Nouwen provides a very insightful answer: a time conscious culture. “Time is money” is yet another saying beat into children from an early age. The expectation is that every hour of the day is to be filled with meaningful activity—eating, sleeping and other necessities occupying just enough time to leave the rest of day to other required duties. Clearly in this carefully planned scheme, sitting around doing nothing is equal to throwing time to the wind. More than just a waste of time, Nouwen provides another explanation for this pervasive dread of waiting—fear. According to him, “people are afraid…of inner feelings, afraid of other people and also afraid of the future.”—the things which waiting draws attention to. This is certainly an interesting suggestion which I would not have considered right away. An interesting suggestion, I would not have readily considered this option. Clearly, in a day occupied with constant activity, there is no room for those ugly inner feelings, long exposure to the foul moods of a colleague or class mate or even the uncertainties of the future. It is no surprise then, that people don’t like waiting.
The power of the bulge in my back pocket (or lack thereof if I fold it lengthwise)
Anne Lamott believes in lists and in taking notes, and she believes in using index cards to do both. She stores pens and index cards all over her house so that if she ever needs one, it will be available. She even carries one with her when she takes her dog for a walk. If she has an idea or sees anything worth remembering, she can whip out her trusty index card and record a few words that will remind her of that moment. She explains that one of the worst feelings she can think of is to forget that moment.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
To Infinity and Beyond?
In July of 2001, Cecil Adams takes on a question that has been fought over for many years. It is a mathematical question that has to deal with infinity, a very difficult subject for the finite human mind to comprehend. The question is if 1/3 = .333 repeating, and 2/3 = .666 repeating, then why doesn’t 3/3 (= .999 repeating) truly equal 1? He begins by explaining that repeating decimals never terminate and therefore go on infinitely. Then he says that .999 repeating does actually equal 1 even though it seems that it may never get there. It seems that no matter what, if the repeating decimal is truncated at some digit, there will still be a difference between 1 and the decimal, however miniscule it is. However, that contradicts the idea of infinity. If the decimal itself is infinite, it can’t be truncated, that isn’t allowed by mathematical principles. Another example he gives is pi; the ever popular irrational number used in figuring out many things (circumference, area, etc…) about circles. It never repeats and therefore there is no true numerical representation of it. Only the symbol (π) does it justice.
Vivid words/phrases
One vivid word and phrase I chose came from Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. The vivid word is lackluster. I took this word from the sentence: “On a dark day, or a hazy one, everything’s washed out and lackluster but the water.” I took this word because I think it gives a great depiction of a dark and looming day. It’s a grey and dark word that sets a great tone. I chose the ending phrase “The breeze is the merest puff, but you yourself sail headlong and breathless under the gale force of the spirit”. I chose this because I think it gives great life to the words. It gives a flowing sense of freedom, which livens up the work. The other vivid word and phrase I chose are from Diane Ackerman’s An Alchemy of Mind. I chose the vivid word voluptuous, in the sentence “Its blunt as a skunk, and real gossip hound, but also voluptuous, clever, playful and forgiving.” I chose this vivid word because I think it has a great effect of giving the brain characteristics of a human. Even further it sounds almost sexual, and scandalous. It’s a female personification of something that is nothing like a woman. It’s a great effect and really sets off this sentence, and makes it appeal to me. I chose the phrase: “Sometimes it’s hard to imagine the art and beauty of the brain, because it seems too abstract and hidden an empire, a dense jungle of neurons. This phrase has two really good parts. First saying the brain is an “empire”. I think that’s a great word to describe the brain. The second is calling the brain a dense jungle of neurons. The word “jungle” is a great word that makes you think of the brain as a dense and unpredictable jungle. It has a great effect to bring life to the phrase.
No waiting!
In reaction to the quote about waiting, I would just like to start by saying that we live in a world where everything is instant. Our country is filled with “instant oil changes”, faster and faster internet connections, faster mailing solutions (fed-ex), e-mail (replacement of traditional mail), faster travel options (faster jets), microwaves, fast food (drive-thru), and many other things that make our lives easier by making us wait less and less. People have come to expect faster service and solutions, and less wait time. To every American, “time is money”, so time lost is money lost. They believe they have to do stuff constantly in order to be successful, or to get ahead (or not to get left behind). They are in a constant rat race to get ahead of the next guy in line.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Index Cards
Anne Lamott keeps index cards to help her remember things. They help her remember her everyday things to do. She says “we have so much to remember these days” that we make lists to help us remember them; she just chooses to make note cards. Lamott says she “carries one with me in my back pocket and when I take my dog for a walk”. She can simply pull it out and remember what she had to get done that day. What important calls she needs to make, what things she needs to buy and mail, or what ideas she has for a short story. Index cards also work well in remember people and events. She says that she has Demi Moore scribbled on one because those words captured her. Lamott writes down anything “strange or for any reason worth remembering”. She says that her cards are not well organized; they usually just stack up on her desk. But they help her in her writing career because her record things she saw or heard that she wants to keep with her. Lamott’s cards are a way for her to live her life without the stresses of needing to remember everything. She suggests that the reader tries it too, which is very good advice because they have proven to be such a big part of her own life. Lamott says that eventually she throws a lot of her cards away because they do not seem as interesting and often tend to be incoherent. But she says “what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us”. With her cards Lamott knows that no memory will be lost. In the cards are a piece of her heart and a way that she can scribble down her story.
Images of a Little Girl
Dillard uses vivid imagery in describing her adventures as a little girl. One interesting phrase she uses at the beginning of her essay to describe the marks her cats nightly massage would give her is, “the sign on my body could have been an emblem or a stain, the keys to the kingdom or the mark of Cain.” The biblical imagery here is very effective because Cain was the first to murder in the Bible. He murders his brother Abel after God approves of Abel’s offering over his own. By using such powerful imagery, Dillard is able to vividly show the blood stains are her chest and the symbolism behind this event in her life. Another interesting phrase that Dillard uses is “cruelty is a mystery”. This phrase is open to multiple interpretations but it is interesting that Dillard chooses to use mystery rather then something negative to describe cruelty because cruelty itself is usually regarded as negative. It unleashes the impulsiveness of a child, with little conscious and always seeking pleasure. An word choice that Dillard makes is she describes the mountains as “restful”. This personification gives the mountains an entirely different feel. Often they are described as “great” or “majestic”. They are “powerful” or a source of stability, strength, and unpredictability. By describing the mountains as “restful” Dillard gives the imagery of an elderly man sitting in a hammock, or just laying peacefully. They are still and calm and in them there is a sense of peace. Another interesting word choice Dillard uses is describing the creek as “sluggish”. This is also personification and it is interesting because creeks are not often described as sluggish but by doing so, Dillard paints a picture of an old creek that is thick with mud and algae. Dillard’s specific word choices add to the richness of her essay and the imagery she wishes to convey.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Waitng is the Hardest Part
Time is the space in which we live. Everything happens in time, and nothing happens outside of time. We talk of wasting time, not having enough, and using too much time. In this mix of craziness, in trying to find enough time, there is waiting. Despite not having enough times, there are things that we say we cannot wait for. There is too much time between now and then. In some instances, waiting can just create impatience. There is too much time, and there should be less. However, for more important things than waiting in line, waiting produces anticipation. In waiting for important things, we have time to think about them. Waiting is an act which is not so much tied in with a lack of action, but it is better linked with the process of thought.
Lincoln’s Rhetoric
There were doubts as to whether Abraham Lincoln could excel as a presidential orator because he spoke with a “Kentucky-Indiana” dialect while using colloquial or informal, everyday words. He was known as someone that “wrote for the ear.” This meant that he focus on how words sounded for the ear. He used literary devices such as parallel structures, alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Often times when we think of a presidential voice and especially one of the tall and well built Lincoln we infer that he had a loud booming low bass voice. In contrary, he had a tenor voice, which would sometimes slip into a falsetto or a very high pitch when he was nervous. Most of us speak at around 150 words per minute, but he spoke at around 110 words per minute. For his campaigns he did not speak once, because during that time that would be considered arrogant or haughty. Instead you would have other people speak on your behalf. The differences between the first inaugural address and second inaugural address are that Lincoln grows from being a man that speaks rationally trying to win the argument, to a man that is much more prepared, evocative, ready to use imagination, be emotional, and use religious language. He also started to talk about religion and slavery in the second inaugural. He first said the phrase “by the people, of the people, and for the people” when he gave a special message to congress on July 4, 1861. The difference I see between Lincoln’s second inaugural address and the inaugural addresses of today are that Lincoln is one to talk about God and how He is going to work in the country. He talks about the bible while alluding to many parts of it where inaugural speeches of today often just mention God, if even that. The speeches today instead are trying to tell of what that president will be trying to do during his tenure. They tell where they see the country heading instead of how God will be working. Lincoln’s speeches have endured because he speaks simply and beautifully by using one syllable words to get right at the heart of the matter. He was also one to use religious language that people could relate to and understand.
Life
In this day and age, I feel that we take the pure essence of living for granted. So many of us are concerned with what is going to happen in the future. What we need to do is realize that what we have is right here in front of us. Although it is cliche, it is absolutely true: tomorrow never comes. I think we, at least I know I do, often forget that. We can’t move forward if we don’t fully appreciate what is right in fron of us. Live. Live richly. Yesterday, one of my favorite teachers from high school was found dead behind her desk before the first period of the school day. All over the school the teachers had made posters that said this: “To live is to love. To love is the only way to live. Lady K lived more than any of us could ever hope to. May she rest in peace.” At the end of her life, the legacy that Lady K left behind was love. She lived intensly in the present, loving her life and existing on purpose.
Finding Wisdom
This quote from Calvin Seerveld attempts to explain how one attains wisdom. He says that wisdom is not gained from being taught, but by being around people who are very wise. This may explain why there is no Wisdom 101 class, it’s because there is no foolproof way to give a person wisdom. This is a very good statement to explain the origin of wisdom because wisdom is not something easily achieved.