Journals
Friday, March 25, 2005
The Beauty of Nature - Jamie
In “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” by Annie Dillard we are painted an extraordinary scene of nature. Her descriptive chose of words she uses keeps the reader in tact as the sail through the article. Dillard describes nature that surrounds her at Tinker and Carvin’s creeks. Her most descriptive part of the article that caught my attention was her meeting with a frog. The frog was very small, but the way she portrayed the frog with its collapsing skull to her comparison of it to a football kept me locked the whole time while reading. Dillard continues to illustrate the nature around her.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Response-“Give Casey Martin a Lift”
Alison wrote about the article “Giving Casey Martin a Lift” in her journal entry and I found that her quote spoke very true in how I feel about how the PGA has treated Casey Martin. The quote was “Shame on every greedy Tour pro who won’t budge an inch of tradition to fit in a spoonful of compassion.” She believes that the executives of the PGA would act differently if one of their friends were injured like Mr. Martin, it is my belief also that they would give them the necessary items to let them continue playing golf. The sport seems very rigid on their tradition in the professional level.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Walden Pond
According to Lauren Winner, Henry David Thoreau, the author of Walden Pond, has two aspects to his legacy. First, he is remembered as a political activist, “advocating nonviolent resistance to civil government.” Secondly, Thoreau is considered a great nature writer and an environmentalist. However, there is one more aspect to Thoreau that is often overlooked, his spirituality and the cultivation of the self. For example, “Thoreau not only traces the history of the apple tree, he also writes lessons about good living from “hardships” the crab apple must endure to “bear a sweet fruit.” Moreover, “His natural history is also a reflection on moral formation and an environmental allegory.”
Monday, March 21, 2005
Comments Coming…
This blog is now equipped to allow comments from anyone signed in with a Calvin College user name. Keep things polite and respectful, but go to it!
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Response to Bird by Bird
“We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so very little.” Anne Lamott opens her piece Bird by Bird with this telling line, off which she bases much of the book. She tells us that we write to learn about who we are, which sounds pretty easy at first. She goes on to tell us though in this piece that it is not that easy at all. Our thoughts on ourselves come out in incoherent blurbs that often have no distinct beginning, end or logical timeline. Our writing starts off confused, Lamott says, and that’s ok. This piece goes on to tell us how to refine that confusion into something that is logical and understandable, and does in fact tell us who we are. It is often a long and arduous process, but it is one worth completing.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Entry Roundup - February
Here are direct links to individual journal entries in our first batch of postings, in (reverse) order of appearance:
Edirin: Adrian vs. Edirin
Amanda: perverse corpse art
Nate: My best date ever
Megan: Waiting
Lucas: Church and community
Lauren: surprise endings
Allison: Casey Martin and the PGA
Dan: 90-minute dating
Misty: Be proud of your testimony
Evan: Waiting
Dave: My summer trip
Jamie: Thanking the alphabet
Stephanie: DCM on the Holocaust
Cara: The infatuation of February 14
Matt: the NHL season cancellation
Drew: failed expectations
Meg: smelling the roses
Tyler: Athletes overlooking academics
Tim: Age comes, time goes
Adrian vs Edirin (response to Jim vs James)
“Sorry, what was your name?”
“Edirin”
“Eh…what?”
“Edirin”
“Adrian?”
“Edi…”
“Can we just call you Adrian?”
“Um…okay…”
Adrian. Adrian Ibru. That’s what I was called for a good five years of my life. Not because I particularly liked the name but because that’s what was given to me. And I was honestly too passive to care. It all started when I began attending the American International School in Nigeria during third grade. Up until that point all the people I had come in contact with were either Nigerian or British, and the closest I had ever been to meeting an American was watching Rambo or the Fresh Prince of Bellaire on TV. Perhaps it was the culture shock and shyness that came from suddenly being plopped in an entirely American classroom that made me hesitant to correct my teacher.
German artist Gunther von Hagens and Corpse Factory
I recently read an article about the German artist Gunther von Hagens, who displays real human bodies with their skin stripped off as a work of art, and plans on creating a factory in a small town in Poland, near the German border, to mass produce his art. The art in itself is just odd and disgusting, and for instance one of von Hagens displays, which was “the corpse of a pregnant woman, complete with a dissection of her womb.” This just seems wrong and unnatural, and as most people would agree, this has lead to von Hagens has being tried in several countries for breaching laws about dealing with corpses.
My Best Date Ever
All this Valentines Day talk got me thinking about my past dating experience. Although I never have really had any real bad dates, I have had one school date that seemed as if it was just awful, but ended up being one of my best dates ever. The whole thing started when my friend Jill asked me to take our friend Rachael to our high school prom. To me this was not a big deal because I wasn’t dating anyone at the time, and she was a fun girl. The main reason Jill asked me to ask her was because she really liked this other guy and was going to wait for him to ask her. This guy apparently wanted nothing to do with her, so Jill thought I should ask her so she wouldn’t get left without a date. So I asked her.
Waiting-Megan
When I look at the quote by Henri Nouwen about waiting, I can not help but agree to an extent. The society that we live in just completely hates to wait, take a look around us, we have our fast food chains, expressways, and the do-it yourself check out lanes and Meijers. We want everything done quickly whether eating or driving somewhere. When we are waiting to leave to go out for the night, if we by chance end up getting ready early we will sit and put on the television, just so that we do not have to sit and wait.
Church and community
This past Tuesday night, the 22nd, I visited my old friends at a drama group called HEARTS. It stands for Helping Educate Abstinent Responsible TeenS. It was perfect to see all my friends again; however, the best part was afterwards, when we went out to eat. We spent some time at Applebee’s. We had a really great waitress. After we talked to her for a while, then we all decided to go smoke the hookah at our friend’s house. After several questions about what the hookah actually is, my friend Brad realized it wasn’t a drug or really bad for you at all. So we all went into a very small room, and sat in a circle. We talked about several different things, and played a game or two. The discussion ended up getting really serious, and we all learned from one another’s experiences. It was by far the best night I have had in a while, and it was also the most rewarding night I have had in a while.
C’mon ‘Baby’—Let’s do the twist-about suprise endings- Lauren
The article I chose to read and write about is called C’mon ‘Baby’—let’s do the twist. This article talked about how people like surprise endings. It began by talking about how there is a plot twist at the end of “Million Dollar Baby” and how if a critic spoiled the ending for people he would be in big trouble. People get extremely angry at critics who spoil the ending of movies. The article went on to discuss how people strive on surprises; they like the fear and suspense feeling that keeps them on the edge of the seats. People also enjoy suspense in real life. Sometimes they wait for the twist for so long that they miss the rest of their life.
Cassey Martin-Allison
In the article “Give Casey Martin a Lift” Rick Reilly talks about how the PGA Tour officials would not let Casey Martin use a golf cart. Casey Martin has a leg that is too small and may break if he steps on it wrong or steps in a hole. He has a rare circulatory disorder that his doctor’s say is worsening. Casey Martin’s doctors say it is just a matter of time before the leg has to come off.
The PGA does not want to give Casey Martin because they protect the “tradition” of the game. The PGA is afraid if they allow Casey Martin to have a golf cart that they will have to give it to anyone who says they need it.
A lot to do in 90 minutes
This article reports on a book available called “How to Make Someone Love You Forever! In 90 Minutes or Less” and the humor that such a book even exists. It then very briefly summarizes the book with the various things it teaches the reader how to do and gives a quote from the author.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Be Proud of Your Testimony-Misty
LOFT’s message last night (February 27) was very thought provoking and interesting. Professor Rottman spoke about Timothy. He talked about how Timothy was ashamed of his testimony because he, unlike Paul, had not had a life changing/ faith altering experience that made his walk with God “interesting.”