A Concise Story

          “Beeep!” The acute sound of the referee’s whistle sounds, and even though I am on the ground, grass 
stains on my white jersey, and cleat marks on my red socks, I’m in the box. Penalty kick, extra time, and the only thing I have to do is put the ball in the corner. But it’s never that easy. As the referee puts the ball on the twelve yard spot, my mind starts racing. Flashbacks on all the two hour practices in the rain, all the shots against the brick wall in negative degree weather, all the hours put into something that happens in a matter of seconds. Then the flashbacks turn into negative thoughts. Thoughts about how if I miss this penalty; there is not a championship, there is not a state cup trophy, there aren’t any bragging rights. These thoughts turn into pressure that sends chills through my body. However, with all this deep thinking and second guessing myself, a quick, confident smile is still able to appear on my face. The chills that I once had are now gone. And finally, when I lock eyes with the goal keeper, I realize that all the long hours put in are going to give me a deserving result. Then the whistle blows, I pick my spot, and go…

Rest my Chemistry by Interpol

When analyzing Rest my Chemistry, I see two main ideas. The first is how drugs are ruining his life in multiple ways. The first is every time he does drugs he feels very regretful, and this feeling of regret is causing him a lot of stress. He also feels that he is losing his friends because he is spending all of his time taking drugs, or that the friends he has are his friends only because of the drugs that they or he has. This idea of regret intensifies when he realizes the opportunities that he is missing. This feeling of regret makes him temporarily stop taking drugs (“rest my chemistry”). You can see these examples in the song on lines 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, and 14.

The second idea is that he is using drugs as a metaphor, and he is really talking a girl or a relationship. This girl obviously the right girl for him, however, he still keeps going back to her, as he would with drugs. While with this girl, he is losing friends, and missing out on opportunities. He feels that the relationship was once a good one, that they used to have great experiences with each other, but now their relationship is preventing him from being a better him. Resting his chemistry would be like taking a break from their relationship.

I haven't slept for two days

I've bathed in nothing but sweat

And I've made hallways

Scenes for things to regret

My friends they come

And the lines they go by

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

I live my life filled with no pain

Just some rage and three kinds of yes

And I've made stairways

Such scenes for things that I regret

Oh, those days in the sun

They bring a tear to my eye

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

But you're so young

You're so young

You look in my eyes

You're so young, so sweet, so surprised

I see a sign, it says �okay�

Gotta take a ride, just recline in the faraway

Got to take some time to realize

That my friends they come

And the lines they go by

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

But you're so young

You're so young

You look in my eyes

You're so young, so sweet, so surprised

You look so young

Like a daisy in my lazy eyes

So tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry 

Propaganda

            Merriam Webster defines propaganda as the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. However, this definition changes from blog to blog. What is similar about the blogs though is that propaganda is very bold. It is a lie that someone or some institution has spread and in the 2011 society it most likely has gotten spread through mass media. The sole reason for this propaganda is competition. As long as there is competition there will be propaganda to relegate the opposing party. Whether its politics, legal rights, or where to buy the greasiest burger.

            In 2011 we see many examples of propaganda. There has been propaganda with the issue in Egypt, where Vodafone has promoted pro-government messages. There is propaganda in the mayoral election where every single commercial has to deal with the faults of the other candidate and not with the strong points of the actual contender. Even with cell phone companies like Verizon, who insist that their phone gets better service than AT&T (true). Additionally, the biggest that I have seen this year has been the propaganda between car insurance companies, when one says that you save more money with them and the other says the exact opposite. So, is propaganda just a white lie, or is just a notion that will be with us forever?

Passion in Beat Street

            Beat Street was a very interesting movie and it really opened my eyes to an era that I have not seen before. In this day in age communication between teenagers, and adults for that matter, is an email, a Facebook, a Tweet, or a phone call. However, in Beat Street we see real friends, who enjoy each other’s company. In Beat Street we see kids break dancing in subway stations, people creatively mixing and putting together real hip-hop beats and sounds, and we see the true artist in everyone especially Ramo. We see the passion that is in everyone character in the movie, a passion that is not really seen in our society today. I think that one of the main things that made this movie so cool was that it was filmed in New York City. I think that if it was not filmed in a big city the whole concept of passion, dance, music, and struggle would not be there. So, Beat Street has been a great movie so far and it keeps getting better and better.

Hungry

          In Black Boy, the main character Richard is hungry for many things. In the beginning of the book we see that he is hungry for attention, when he sets the house on fire. We also see that he is hungry for knowledge also. He wants to learn how to read and write, and he seems to want to learn what his piers know. Also, throughout the book we see that Richard is hungry, for food, and most importantly love.

          However, Richard is not the only one hungry. Richard's brother also seems hungry for attention when he tells on Richard all the time, his mother seems hungry for attention, but she doesn't publicly display it like Richard does. I also believe that Richard's dad is hungry for a better lifestyle, which is why he leaves his family for a different one. Also, I believe that everyone, in the book or in reality, is hungry for something, but some express their hunger in different ways

King Still King

I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. is still King. King has yet to be forgotten and his movement still affects are society today. Without Martin Luther King Jr., many of the leaders in the African-American community would not have much inspiration. They look at King as an icon and many of these leaders base their methods and ideas from Martin Luther King’s. Also in recent years, Barack Obama has been compared to Martin Luther King Jr., which shows that he has not elapsed from our memory.  I feel that if the African-American community did not have an icon to look up like Martin Luther King, the things that we stand for would be brought about in a very different, perhaps more violent way. The way Martin Luther King Jr., moralized his message in a very peaceful, and organized matter, which made him a very unique figure and person that will never be forgotten because of that trait. 

Children of the Sea

             For starters, the new section that we are doing has been my favorite so far. Short stories cannot have a boring build up because they are meant to catch the reader’s eye from beginning to end and I felt that Children of the Sea by Edwidge Dannicat did that exact thing. Dannicat really painted a picture in my head about what was happening. The concise, but vivid details- as opposed to long, insignificant details that are sometimes seen in regular novels- makes Children of the Sea a better read. In addition, the unique style she used to write the story in journals helped portray the lives of both people through their thoughts, and ideas, allowed us to understand how they felt from one another, and gave us information about the experiences that they had to undergo. Lastly, one of the main reasons I enjoyed this short story was because it was half non-fiction, which put more emotion into the story and kept the reader interested.