Change of Mind: Painting

         Doing all the artistically oriented mindbook entries has got me thinking about painting. Painting is something that I have never tried to do but looks so complex and difficult. I am decent at drawing but doubt my abilities to apply my artistic flair to painting. All year I was posed with the question, “Sammy have you ever tried?” by my art teachers and my lousy answer was always “No”.
       All year round I have been surrounded by amazing artists in my AP art class and I love to observe the amount of talent that comes so effortless for them. I have learned some basics from Ms. Self though.

Front to back.
Dark to light.

        Thinking about all these doubts and listening to a TED presentation about dissecting fears has gotten me to make a decision. I have taken it upon myself to embark in painting this summer. I have decided why not try and just feel out the medium myself instead of living in doubts of the way my product might turn out.

Painting, here I come.

An Inconvenient Truth: Apologies

        You can never make someone apologize. Its something they must muster up, to right a wrong, or misunderstanding. That rubs me the wrong way because they waste my time. Wasting time that I will never get back with that person, making memories, having laughs. Life is so short that it makes me angry that they don’t take the time to realize what they did wrong and just own up to it. It really is the simplest task but a very gentle and complex one.

       It just surprises me in some situations because I am always aware of the things that I say and do to people (my actions) and take responsibility for them. I make a conscious effort to make sure that I am not hurting anyone’s feelings while still being honest. My intentions are never to do someone harm, its just not in my character to go out of my way and say and act in a hateful way. I think it takes a lot more effort to be mean to someone. I know what it feels like to be in certain situations and I know when to back off because you cant “kick a dog when its down”.

       One might say I’ am holding a grudge but why try making something work with a person that doesn’t put in the effort. It really does take two to tango. I hate using that phrase because everyone knows It so well but it really does make sense in this situation. I will probably never come to terms with it because I just know that one day they will regret not apologizing and I wont be able to get the time wasted back.

BLOGGGIN AROUND: DOUG and SPENCE

Blogged on Doug’s blog about his chill fourth quarter and how excited he is that it truly is calmer than previous quarters.

I Blogged:

          I totally agree with Doug/Marlee about how insightful the "Do you mind" questions can be. They help me remember all the things that I take for granted or forget through a stressful day of school. The two questions I remember the most are, "What are three questions you wish someone would ask you?" and, "Who do you wish would apologize to you?"

       Though these questions are super personal and I wouldn’t dare answer them in front of everyone I do enjoy them because they are things that you don’t usually get to think about or talk about on a daily basis and those are personal questions that are only answered with your closest friends or in a deep conversation.

        I am jealous of how carefree your fourth quarter is. Even though I only took 2 AP's I am going to go crazy. I must admit that I haven’t had homework in like three weeks which is the greatest thing in the world.





I also commented on Spencer’s blog about his confidence on his TED presentation and what he thought of his performance.

I Commented:

        I thought your presentation was wondrous as well. No worries, no cockiness. What caught my eye was your picture and it looked very similar to one I saw in a gallery I went to last Friday for art. The artist had a map of the world and had sarcastic, blunt, or arrogant words over countries to show the misconceptions that Americans have. For example, over the Middle East region, the artist wrote terrorists and over South America the artist wrote Mexicans and we all know that there are NOOO Mexicans in Latin America. I thought it was interesting that you posted this picture because I also enjoy it.

Keep being hilarious Spence,
Sammy

Best of Week: Fear of an Audience

         As Beccas’ TED presentation suggests if we dissect our fears we can use them to conquer what makes us anxious. I have experienced this to be true on many levels with my attempt to dissect my own fears. I had a massive fear of performing in front of people, I was scared of others criticism because I didn’t believe in myself. My family, even though I hate to admit it, are huge critics when it comes to people or current events. What your wearing, the way you walk, and the things that you say, wow do they pick people apart inch by inch.
         I came to the realization that it’s just anxiety that shakes me up and nothing physically harmful. As a result, I was able to tackle my fear of large audiences by trying out for De La Cru. As my first performance came around the first couple weeks of junior year, I reminded myself it was the same music and movements as I had practiced the whole summer before, all I had to do was show my intensity so that others felt the same. Instead of freezing up, I slowly became confident and was able to not care what others thought because I knew that at that moment I was having a great time and hoped the audience was too.
          After two years of performing in front of the whole school I needed to dig deeper into this fear, yes I could dance in front of people, but singing was a whole other ball park. I was only able to sing in front of my dance team in the middle of senior year, scared of what they would say about my tone of voice. Hesitant as I was I tried out for my own act in Hip Hop Coffee House. “Let Me Love You” by Mario. I knew if I didn’t take this opportunity I wouldn’t be able to have a chance like this ever again. Practicing in front of the crew was the most awkward but every time I got a chance to hold that microphone it started to feel more natural. I guess exposure really does help the fear fade. The best decisions of my life have been the ones to make me feel the most out of my element.

LOVE- Letters to a Young Poet Mashup

 1)

 

   

2) “I waited in vain to hear my name on my wife’s sweet lips: “And then my dear husband came into my life”—something like that.  But I heard nothing of the sort” (218 Carver).

3)

4) “The boys are ugly, they are failures, they will never be loved, they enter the house.  Boys enter the house and kiss their mother, who feels differently now they have outgrown her” (148 Moody).

5) “You are so young, so much before all beginning, and I would like to beg you, dear sir, as well as I can to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to have the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language” (34 Rilke).

6) “Don’t write love poems; avoid those forms that are too facile and ordinary: they are the hardest to work with, and it takes a great, fully ripened power to create something individual where good, even glorious, traditions exist in abundance” (7 Rilke). 

7)

8) “It is also good to love; because love is difficult for one human being to love another human being; that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.  That is why young people, who are beginners in everything, are not yet capable of love: it is something they must learn” (68-69 Rilke).

9) Robert Indiana

10) “I believe that love remains so strong and intense in your memory because it was your first deep aloneness and the first inner work that you did on your life” (79 Rilke).

11)

12) “The monk and the lover inside him, each a powerful and conflicting presence, were never able to merge” (xiii Rilke).

13)  “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds” (1 King).

14) “Perhaps everything that frightens us is in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love” (92 Rilke).

        Work Cited

Carver, Raymond. Cathedral.

King Jr., Martin Luther. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." Letter to Fellow Clergymen. 16 Apr. 1963.

Moody, Rick. Boys.

Rilke, Rainer Maria, Franz Xaver Kappus, and Stephen Mitchell. Letters to a Young Poet. New York: Random House, 1984.

Best of Week: TED Presentations

       Hearing the TED presentations of the week it almost seemed like they all had food in common.  There is so much talk of going green and organic foods that for me there is no emotional connection to the problem at hand.  Buying from local farmers or having my own garden all seem do-able but why doesn’t anyone really go along with these smart ideas? Americans are lazy, if it’s not convenient then passive people are not about to get out of their homes and search for these local farmers.  We need to invent an easier way for people to be able to get in contact with these farmers.  If local farmers would create an online website for people to buy their meats and produce online I am sure people will start ordering.   

        The internet is accessible for most families so why not have a sort of yellow pages just for local farmers.  These local farmers could also put ads for their meats and produce at grocery stores so that their names become  known so that those that are interested can become clients.  Local farmers need to become more tech savvy to make their mark in advertising and become active in their approach.  Active online farmers would  not only create jobs but be a new way to connect with a locals and also reduce that avg. 1300mile trip that most produce make.  Fewer miles would also contribute to less gas consumption and would ultimately reduce the cost of organic goods.   

Blogging Around

1)Blog owner: Ben 

Bens Point: Placebo effect of a dream-catcher

My Comment:

          Funny how you mention dream-catchers guys cause I have one too, but I never got around to hanging it up.  My mom loves the Native American culture so for her its so natural to buy me them. 

        In Psych we were just learning about the sleep stages and what happens to the brain/body in each stage.  I learned that you only dream in the REM stage of sleeping which is the deepest stage(5) of a cycle.  I also found it extremely interesting that when the brain is awake the brain waves are similar looking to the brain waves of someone who is in REM sleep or Rapid Eye Movement sleep.  How can being awake and being in the deepest sleep be the same for a brain? 

             I just don't understand how dream-catchers became so famous for protecting you from having nightmares when it really is as Ben stated, "A placebo effect".   

2)Blog owner: Jon

Jons Point: how interesting poetry can be if one takes the time to analyze it

My Comment:

        I agree that poetry can be quite misunderstood but it can also be the most amazing way to express oneself such as this poem.  I had the same initial reaction as you but when taking the time to really analyze and look through the clues and meanings of why the author chose to make certain fragments and certain letters paired together the beauty of the falling leaf can be found if one chooses to look for it.

           Power of poetry, can be much more than just squiggles and that make up words, sentences, paragraphs.  Language it epic and allows us to communicate in so many different ways.  I love poetry have you ever written a poem?