demons and angels

So far I have learned a lot about my topic: demons and angels. It is a very interesting topic to study because so many different cultures view them in different ways. For instance, in Buddhism, there are many different ranks of angels-the higher the rank, the more abilities they have. While  in Hinduism, there is only one rank of angels(archangels) who act as heavenly guides. In Egypt Angels are called 'winged spirits' and there were 1000's of them. They would build elaborate tombs and put small windows in them so the angels could get in and visit their dead loved ones. Zorastirans believed that there was no such thing as an angel, just good and evil angels.
Demons in all cultures are of course known as evil and are the opposite of good. What I found interesting was that in Hinduism, demons and angels sometimes worked together in certain stories. In one story, they worked together to achieve mortality. I still have to get much more on the topic, but it is very interesting! :)

Grunge Music so far

I have learned alot about Grunge music so far since studying it and I found that one of the most significant things about it was that it was not as much about how people loved the music of Grunge but that it was used to make money by businesses such as MTV so the lifestyle was advertised. Just because of Grunge Seattle was able to up the prices of flanel shirts to $40 because everyone wanted to wear grunge like shirts and ripped jeans. I also learned that most people who became Grunge music stars all came through the same record company sub pop records because that was one of the only Grunge record companies.

Researching the Buddha

Throughout my research I have discovered a growing interest in my topic of Buddhism.  At first I thought I would pursue research on the different forms of Buddhism and how they developed and changed throughout cultures.  I thought it was interesting how there were so many different kinds of Buddhism and how they changed to suit different cultures.  However, after reading my second book, I became more interested in the concept and belief of karma and reincarnation.  This was interesting to me because it troubled the author for years and he went into great spiritual and mental depth about the concept.  I found that it would be very difficult to write a paper just on this topic, however.  

What I have decided to do my paper on is the ethics of the Buddha.  I have been doing research on the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, and the ethics behind the religion.  I then will connect these ethics with his teachings and Buddhist practices.  I hope to be able to research and develop a complete ethical portfolio of the Buddha and show how these ethics are present in the religion.  I think my research will only make me further interested and awed by the Buddhist religion.

Assisted Suicide So Far

     So far I've learned a lot about assisted suicide.  One of the things I have learned is that there is an almost equal amount of support for it as there is against it.  Generally,  frequent church goers believe that life is a gift from god so assisted suicide is wrong, but some say God gives us free will to choose our own path.  Lots of people also believe that unrelievable suffering is an unqualified evil, but others counter that argument with the fact that a life with suffering still has meaning.  Assisted suicide can also ruin the patient-doctor relationship, some say.  This argument is said to be invalid because by some because doctors can't always be healers.  In a survey, over 50% of people over the age of 65 said they were less likely to trust their doctor if it was legal.  Physician assisted suicide is a hot topic right now and still gets people riled up when it comes up.

This is our town

The second book I read for Seattle grunge music was Everybody Loves Our Town by Marl Yarm. This books gives stories and some quotations by famous Grunge musicians like Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, and Eddie Vedar of Pearl Jam. It gives a lot of information about the formation of Grunge and how people especially in the Grunge business viewed the lifestyle.
The interesting thing about this book instead of a regular styled book this is pretty much a compilation of everyone who was integrated into the grunge scene like band members, producers, journalists, and columns from newspapers like the LA times. This makes it so the book gives very in depth detail om what happened in the era because it is from people who experienced it first hand.

Much of what I learned is an expansion of things I had already read something about. I already know a lot of the information I've found, but that's I've been collecting knowledge about dragons for years, and have inadvertently acquired some information about the cultures they are known from. However, some facts I knew nothing about.  For example, I found that there is a final stage to a lung's evolution, where it actually acquires wings. Now, I am gathering my information together. 

     I am connecting my "belief" information to my "examples" information- that is, connecting the portrayals of dragons to beliefs in the cultures I have chosen. I'm trying to twist it together.  I really enjoy the myths I read while researching this topic. Reading those has probably been the most interesting part. As for the topic- well, the  difference in the ways dragons are treated is really rather astounding. Where one is a ruler, the other is a demon, and where one is mindless, the other is wise. I want to bring in as much of these references as possible, while staying true to the topic. I need to be sure that I don't forget the Humanities part of it! I want this paper to be interesting. I want readers to want to know more about these cultures, their tales, and the dragons. 

Beefheart so far

During my research process I learned answers to questions that I didn't know that I had. I learned things about expressionist artists and the art form itself, but mostly focusing on Don Van Vliet. Going by the alias of "Captain Beefheart" Vliet was responsible for one of the most confusing and experimental albums ever. The album went by the name of "Trout Mask Replica" and it is commonly referred to as one of the best maximalist albums ever. My primary focus was on the album because I had known about it for a while and had personally thought that it was one of the worst things that I had ever heard, so I thought that this research project could be a good way to comprehend what the fuss was about. There was a surprising amount of depth to the album during the research, I had learned that there was so much going on behind the scene that it would be a shame for anybody to listen to the album before learning about it. During my first listen I had wanted to know why everybody in the band was playing their instrument at a different tempo than the others. The answer was that most of the album was polyrhythmic, meaning that everybody played at a different tempo and when their tempo did match up, everyone switched to a different rythim. This forced the listener to pay attention to a single instrument, whichever one they found the most appealing. The listener had a choice of what they listened to, and every time they replayed the song they could choose the way it sounded to them.
In conclusion I developed a lot of respect for Captain Beefheart and his magic band, not only that but also for abstract, and maximalist art.

So Far

Well I have learned quite a few things regarding my topic. Although find information is proving to be a bit more difficult than I thought. Well what I am learning from this topic is do not pic a topic that is completely make believe. Angels and Demons are not real, so anything we know about them is made up. Well I guess that could also make this paper really easy, could just make up everything right? The topic it self is not really anyway. But I wont do that, do not have the imagination or time to fabricate something like that. Any who, my analysis so far is every religion has them in one form or another. Despite the gap in traditions and customs of religion for one to another, there is a pretty uniform role for demons and angels. The names change and the hierarchies alter, but all in all still the same. Not many new questions about my topic for the blog. One of the most interesting things I have come across I believe is the fact that, this idea is able to stay so uniform with so many different peoples using it. What I hope people get out of my paper, well nothing. I would really hope everyone has more interesting plans than to read my research paper. There are so many other way better written and far more interesting to read than a senior's research paper. But of course if one of you get forced into reading it I would hope you would think this. No matter where you go, people believe or used to believe that imaginary creators battle to keep "the balance in the force". That is what angels and demons do, they fight each other. If one side gets to strong the other must balance it off. Or else we get Judgment day and no one wants that. Unless I guess your excited for rapture, but I know I'm not.

The American Flag

     To me, the most meaningful piece of art out their is the American Flag.  It means so much to so many Americans.  The American Flag helps was created by Betsy Ross in 1776 and is still something is something that defines us as a country today.  Stars have been added to it but I know that it still sends the same message,  that freedom is the greatest thing one can achieve.  Many people died fighting for our flag and protecting our freedom and beliefs.  I believe this strengthens us as a nation and shows how much we believe in our country.
    We have multiple days dedicated to this great piece of art, including Flag Day and the 4th of July.  People are excited to support their country and show off their patriotism.  The flag has inspired many artists in its history and will continue to do so.  I take comfort in the fact that our country believes in ourselves and that we are willing to go to almost any extent to preserve our nation.

Assisted Suicide

     For my research project I decided to do the morality of physician assisted suicide.  I read the book Assisted Suicide, by Lauri S. Friedman.  The book talks about all angles of physician assisted suicide including whether or not it should be legal, does it threaten vulnerable people, and is it moral?  Some believe it is not moral because it harms the patient-doctor relation ship.  Others believe it is moral because it is a doctors duty to end suffering their patients have.  Many people have their own opinions on whether it is moral or not and the debate on whether it will be legal or not will continue for a long time.

love is confusing

Love is a very broad word and there are so many different kinds of it and ways to express it. There can be the love you have for a family member, a love you can have for a significant other, or just the love of a good friend.
I believe that all love comes naturally. Love isn't something that can be forced. You either love someone or you don't. Without love in this world, it would be a very dark place. I believe that humans really thrive off love. It's what we depend on and what helps us get through this crazy world in one piece. Whether it be the love you have for your mom, your cat, or your boyfriend, it all counts and is all very important to survive. Love can be the best feeling in the world, but it can also be the worst. Of course with family members that love is usually a bond you are born with and have forever, but with friends or significant others, that love can fade away or become very one-sided which is a very sad thing. Love is confusing.

most meaningful experience of art

    I'm not a really huge art fan so for me to think of the most meaningful experience of art I've had is difficult. To me, my most meaningful piece of art would probably be my skis. Although many people would not think of a pair of skis as art, they are to me.
    My ski's are a work of art and have been and have been shaped to ski to the best of their ability. The cool thing about them is that when my 'art' gets scratched or damaged, it is fixable and I can fix it myself with a little wax. I also like how I am able to use my pieces of art to almost create more art in the fresh snow with my path leaving patterns as I ski down a mountain. Although they may not seem like art to others, they are to me.

Slave Songs or Blues?

     For my second book, I read Slave Songs of the United States, as well as did some outside online research on slave songs themselves. It was very interesting to read the words of these songs, in which a lot of the lyrics came directly from Black mouths. I picked this book because I wanted to try to find similarities between blue's and slave music. Both originated from African Americans in distress, but both are very different in the way those African Americans express their emotions and feelings of distress. The slave songs themselves, obviously, talk about slavery and God and how free they are going to feel once they get off this planet and go to Heaven and meet God and are finally relieved from the brutality of being a black human slave in America. Blues deals with similar topics but has a much more musically oriented tone. Blues songs have a real and raw lyric base with a musically entertaining melody; while slave songs are much more about the lyrics and the unease behind them than about the musical experience.
     After reading about slave songs, I'm honestly not sure whether I want to continue on a more narrow aspect of blues or a more narrow aspect of slave songs and slave culture within music. I'm hoping to get some feedback from you all to try and make my decision for sure. I am really very interested in both so either way, I will have a kick booty time researching.

The reason my grade is a D - Very late Art Experience post

I have always loved art - painting, drawing, really anything I can do to get my feelings on paper. It has always been my favorite subject in school and even though I'm nowhere near as talented as some of my peers, I still very much enjoy doing it. Now, comparatively, I have always hated sciences and maths. My dad, being a chemist, has always tried to explain my science homework to me. When I was younger I used to get really agitated and tune him and my homework out and just draw while he tried to explain things to me. When he noticed how much I would rather be doing art he brought me to the Boston Museum of Science, at about age 8.
Now, I know the Boston Museum of Science isn't really considered an art gallery or anything. Its not paintings and sculptures. But I thought of it as art and still do to this day. It might now be the kind of art that I enjoy creating, but it did have a slight mix of art and science that I thought was very cool. Things were constructed in a certain way and they were planned and crafted. Having things visible and three dimensional for me made it easier to understand, but also it made it seem more real. Walking through the museum I could see the art everywhere, even though some other might have purely viewed it as science. I thought about how much time and effort must have gone into the planing of all of the pieces, especially the ones with exact timing. It made me see more so how almost anything can be made into art if you have enough creativity. I'm not sure if it makes much sense to anybody else, but that was my most meaningful art experience because it showed me how art can be found anywhere you look, if you look deep enough.

Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist

The second book I read on the topic of Buddhism was Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist, by Stephen Batchelor.  This book is an autobiography, and goes in depth on Batchelor and his experiences as a traveling monk.  He was originally ordained as a Tibetan monk after leaving his life in the U.K. at age 18.  Batchelor goes in depth on the practices and life of a practicing Buddhist monk in Tibet as well as discussing the fundamental and intricate beliefs of different forms of Buddhism.  Batchelor refers to himself as a Buddhist atheist because he at first fully devotes his life to the practice of Tibetan (a form of Mahayana) Buddhism, but is skeptical on a certain belief.  This belief being the idea of reincarnation and that souls do not die.  Batchelor meditates on this concept for years and for this reason, and others involving practices of Tibetan Buddhism, he leaves Tibet for South Korea.  Once in Korea, he becomes ordained as a Zen Buddhist monk and begins to learn and practice the ways of Zen Buddhism.
 This book also goes in depth on Siddhartha Guatama, also known as the Buddha.  After Batchelor's many years as both a Zen and Tibetan monk, he went back to lay life and began studying the Buddha.  Batchelor looked in depth at the original texts of Buddhism, the Pali Cannon, which were recorded about 450 years after the death of Guatama.  These texts are in the ancient language of Pali and contained the first teachings and practices of the Buddhist religion.  Batchelor used this collection, as well as other early Buddhist literary works, to uncover the most accurate description of the original Buddha and his way of life. The facts he put together painted a very possibly accurate portrait of Gautama's life and practices, although no official recording or facts about his life actually exist.  Batchelor also used what he learned from these texts and his experiences to create a guide to practical lay life Buddhism.    
Reading this book gave me a much greater in depth idea of the actual practices of a Mahayana and Zen Buddhist monk.  I learned how monasteries modify there own Buddhist practices to suit the culture and needs of the society they are in, often ignoring basic Buddhist beliefs.  I was very interested in the concept of rebirth and reincarnation and how it is a vital belief in the Buddhist religion.  The idea of Karma, the moral and spiritual law, is deeply embedded in Buddhist belief and reincarnation.  This is what I will likely pursue more research on.  

Trout Mask Replica

After reading My second research book I've come to terms with the views that Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) had. This book explained to me what this man was thinking, and why he thought it. Growing up Vliet was always an artistically gifted individual who thought on his own terms, he often referred to himself as "a fish jumping out of the school". When he was young Vliet was an impressive sculptor, so impressive that he was offered to be taught be the masters down in California at a young age. His parents politely declined because they where afraid that they would turn him gay. Vliet's views where entirely his own and his art showed it. Almost all of his art that he had free reign over was expressionist, he described his reasoning by using television as an example, he always preferred television to be in black and white. He preferred this because the viewer could imagine anything on the screen to be in any color, he said that if you are mad you can imagine the walls in the background to be flame red, of if you are feeling happy you can imagine everyone wearing bright colors. This is basically what he did in his music, black and white expressionism translated to song turned out to be very difficult to digest, there was no hand holding, and it was not gentle. But if you let it unravel itself to you you would find the music to be unparalleled. Vliet's new and unique musical sound turned out to be very influential in helping create genres such as Alternative Rock, Progressive Rock, Math Rock, and Post Punk. And most traditional music critics respect this album in its entirety.

The Can That Sold The World

For my second book, I read Andy Warhol and the Can That Sold the World by Gary Indiana. It was very enlightening on the way artists are commonly brought up. Artistic and creative people tend to be more focused and extremely picky when they are children. This creates the demon-like personality of a "holy terror" as Bob Colacello calls it. It describes a coddled childhood that leads to early-childhood qualities of being a revered brat. This then leads to "adult monsters" who end up successful but emotionally incapable of correct social etiquette.

Andy Warhol was able to create some absolutely spectacular works of art that broke barriers and screamed an unheard opinion the second it was publicly viewed. But all this to what cost? Warhol's overbearing mother and often-absent father led to him being closed off, shy, rude, blunt, and generally not an appealing person to have a conversation with. My next question with my research paper is: how has the nuttiness and mental capacity/ability in artists (especially Warhol) affected their art? and what kind of toll does it take on their social life?

Finishing the Ballad

     The book I that I chose to read is decently long, so our wonderful teacher has allowed me to just read it, in it's entirety. Finishing the book was amazing. The author, Daniel Mark Epstein, has a very engaging writing style (God that sounds so cliche). The entire book is divided into four sections. Each one of the sections describes a concert that the author went to, but in between describing the concerts, the author details his family, social, and artistic life. He describes what affects his creativity, performance, appearance...
     One of the coolest parts of the book is when the author describes Bob Dylan's performance at Madison Square Garden, after his motorcycle accident. He was "afraid" of the crowd, nervous, rushing through songs...but he had a reason. Before the concert, he was obviously trying recover from the accident but he wanted  his life to be mostly familial. He gave up being the "prophet" that everyone on this earth knows him to be. He just lived for his family; but he did do very occasional concerts. He then describes how the crowd accepts him once again...Bob was playing as if he wanted the audience to take his songs and so they did, they were theirs. The author describes how the artist couldn't even be heard, it was the crowd who owned that performance.
    I'm not totally sure on what my thesis will be yet, but I have a lot to work with and I'm sure however I go about it the result will be interesting.

Demons

So for my second book I read up on some demons and how other cultures see and uses them. At least I tried to anyway. Ended up read three quarters of a book on demons and myths of the far east and two different sections from a different book each. All full of information just not exactly tailored to what I was hoping to learn. Just means I'm gonna have to write some really good note cards come the 11th. My reading about angles was very precise and it seamed as though my people have wondered about them. Leading to a lot of knowledge about them for me to read about. I thought the same would be true for demons, besides they are cooler anyway, the have no limit to power.

I did learn a few things in my readings, not all was lost. One very interesting thing I learn and thought was pretty amazing. In Hindu mythology demons were not always evil and in fact they helped form the Earth along with the other supreme beings. Would be interesting to do my paper on the nicer side of Demons. But don't think there will be a lot out there on that specific kind of thing. Wont know till I try I guess. Im actually really worried about this paper, normally school projects and crap does not faze me but I have started to slip. Once you fall it can be a really hard time getting back on track, look at what happened to Josh. A soon as I get home I get stressed, do I study of chem that Im not really getting, try and grasp at this wonderful poetry we are given or try and figure out how the hell Im going to write for this weighted 10 paper. What ever that means, oh and them we have finals to thats another great pile of freaking out we have coming to us. Well any who back on topic, yeah demons, not as studied as angles thats for sure.

awakening of music

The only art that has really moved me throughout my life is music. Like most people when I started out I was terrible but there was something to it that drawn me to it even though I was terrible. Once I was good enough to start soloing is when the music really started to move me. To me one of the best feelings is finding a groove you like and soloing over it. It takes me to somewhat kind of higher plane of conscious where my mind is completely empty and all I'm doing is creating music. I'd relate it to kind of like meditation where your mind is clear but in a different way in which your using your emotions in order to create music. Its somewhat of artistic experience that keeps me sane through all stuff we have to deal with in everyday life with things such as school, relationships, and work.

Dragons in Western Lore

For this blog post, I read and drew my information from Dr. Karl Shuker's book Dragons: A Natural History.

     The "typical" Western dragon is an easily recognizable figure- scales, a long neck, legs, and membranous wings. However, not all of these dragons look alike. Some are more serpentine, lacking wings and even legs- others are wyverns, who have wings, but only one set of legs. Still others have no wings, and only one set of legs! Despite their physical differences, these dragons tend to share the same penchant for causing mayhem and inspiring terror. 

    However, these dragons are not considered cunning. When one is attacked with brute force, the attackers are often annihilated. When a heroic figure comes along with a plan, the dragon is quickly subdued. For example, in the tale of the Lambton Worm (worm, in this case, being one of those dragons without legs or wings), the dragon is defeated when it tries to wrap itself around the hero, whose armor is covered in blades. In doing so, the dragon is cut to pieces and is washed away by a river. Interestingly, some dragons need not be slain, but are instead subdued by a religious figure. In this case, the tamed dragon may be led back to the town it had terrorized and tamely accept punishment, even death.

     Dragons are often used as symbols of evil, and especially in the Middle Ages, the taming of the dragon was used to symbolize the power of Heaven over Hell. Think of the tale of St. George and the Dragon- St. George defeated a horrific dragon, saving a princess. In return for slaying the dragon, the king agreed to be baptized. The gentling or destruction of the dragon was the triumph of good over evil. Indeed, some dragons were defeated when the image of a cross was held up before them. 

The Long Shrift.

Since I have done many summer programs at colleges and universities learning art history, studio art, and design in respected classrooms, I have had countless conversations about art and many field trips to museums and artists studios. However, despite the viewing of the irks of da Vinci, Magritte, Rockwell, Dali, Warhol, among many others, the most meaningful experience I have had with art happened over the summer when I saw a play called The Long Shrift. 

It was in a tiny but locally-known theater in the west village, which is where I had been living that summer (apartment sitting for a friend and taking a college course in design theory). Tickets were only five dollars for students, so I figured I would pop in and see if the show was any good, thinking I could always walk out during intermission if it was truly dreadful. I ended up seeing the play a total of three times that summer. The play definitely plead around with hot button topics that many would not agree with, but I appreciated Robert Boswell's (the writer of the play) sensitivity while still being blunt about certain facts. The play was about a young man who recently got out of prison after being accused of rape at the age of seventeen. He goes back home and the rest of the play revolves around his accuser trying to make amends for the pain she caused. The cast was only made up of five people (one of them being Ally Sheady, who starred in the movie The Breakfast Club) and the theater held around 80 seats, but you could feel the tension and realization in the room when the audience realized that the main character did not mean to rape her, he was just confused by her mixed signals. It opened up a whole new idea of understanding and empathy with the 'rapist', and showed that when strong words like 'rape' are used, we all freak out and jump to conclusions without really understanding the story.

 I enjoy art that says something about society or societies expectations. The Long Shrift, though not specifically a 'work of art', moved me as much, if not more, than the many paintings and sculptures that I have viewed during my studies.

Hendrix Experience

          Well since music and arts are pretty much a huge part of my everyday life I really don't have a
'most meaningful experience' but I do have a few pieces of art that I know that have really shown me how music can be so powerful and send such a strong message. The one I want to share is Jimmy Hendrix's own take on The Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock. He played the entire thing on his electric guitar and put no words to it but through the different sounds and effects he made with his guitar he sent such a powerful message to everyone. Some people loved it a.k.a. all the hippies and some people hated it because it was giving a negative message on war and our country even though it was truthful. It caused a big fight on whether or not the people who were offended by it should sue Hendrix for playing it and I believe a group of people did but didn't win. This just goes to show how good musicians don't need words to send a message to their audience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjzZh6-h9fM   This is a link to YouTube that shows his performance in 1969 at Woodstock. If you listen with open ears in the middle of the song he doesn't mess up a lot he's replicating machine gun firing and rockets exploding to symbolize the tragedy of war and even plays Taps which is only played when a soldier dies.

Types of Love

        Love is a difficult thing to put a single definition on. Its definition changes and is molded by each individual human being on this planet. Everyone has their own idea of what love truly is but no matter that definition is, everyone's can fit into these three categories; Eros, Philos, and Agape.
          Eros love is the word that describes the kind of love you have for a lover whether its your wife or just some girl you know that you think is hot. The word eros means "desire and longing for" so this is a more sensual, physical, sexual kind of love. In todays world this love is often abused and not used in the right manner which ultimately ends in complete failure and usually is really emotionally damaging to a person. This love shouldn't be expressed physically in a relationship until way into it when you know you truly are and want to be committed to that person for the rest of your life which doesn't matter to people in our generation. A couple will get together and be having sex 2 weeks into that relationship and people just don't seem to see or care how sex isn't something you should abuse because one day when you do meet that amazing guy or girl and you marry him/her guess what? now you have the fact you've slept with two or three other people before him/her so when it comes time when you and your husband or wife want to have sex its not really as meaningful or special. Now if you are somebody who has already had sex you'll probably disagree with me on this and say no it'll still mean something to me but how special do you think your husband or wife will feel knowing they're third or fourth in line? Its just something to think about.
          The next type of love is Philos. Philos love is the kind of love you have between you and your friends or family members. This is the type of love that is your parents caring about you when you think they are just being controling or not understanding enough. This is expressed through acts of being there for someone when they're not feeling well or going to six flags with a buddy. I don't think there's anyone who hasn't really felt what i'm talking about in this class so just list all the things you love that your best friend has done for you or that your family does for you and those are the kind of things that philos love covers.
             The third type of love is Agape. Agape is a love that evolutionarily doesn't really make any sense at all. Its the type of love where someone does an act of love for someone else when they don't gain anything or quite possibly could even recieve something negative back yet still has no hard feelings for that person(s) and has no regrets. This love is shown throughout the Christian religion as something only achievable by God. This makes sense because we as humans all have our opinions and feelings towards others. I can promise you there has not been a single person on the face of the earth that has not judged someone at one point in their life. Its not badits just natural and is the reason we cannot achieve this love because nobody is going to do something like, for example, get crucified for something they believe in and not feel hate or anger at the person(s) that killed you.
             These three categories of love pretty much as far as I know include/cover all types and feelings and acts of love and if you find an example that is not covered by these i'm sure it is but I just didn't do as great of a job at explaining these as I should have.

Super Late Art Experience

     My most meaningful experience of art in any form was when I was five and my mom took me to see The Nutcracker. This particular performance of The Nutcracker was put on my MoCo, at the time The Moving Company. It was children from ages 10 through 18 and so to me, they were so big and experienced. I watched them dance. I watched the little girl be taken away by the tall boy nutcracker and I watched them dance together. I watched them tell a story through their bodies: using only their bodies, no words. That performance changed dance for me. Their fluid lines, pointe shoes, stamina, strength, facial expressions, love were all amazing to me.

     Prior to seeing that show, I had danced myself. I had already been doing ballet for two years, but I was never sure why I liked doing it so much. I loved to dance, and I put everything I had into it, but I never understood what it was about it that made it so worthwhile to me. The Nutcracker changed that. Looking back on that show, I now know how inexperienced and naive those dancers are. They were all so young. The nutcracker himself being no older than 16. But since The Nutcracker in 2002, I have never questioned why I love what I do. And now it is confirmed to myself that I keep going in hopes that I can potentially alter the life of at least one little kid, just like the nutcracker did me. 

Johann Pachelbel's Canon

     One of my most meaningful experiences of art would be the first time I ever heard the song, Pachelbel's Canon. I was in middle school, I must have been thirteen. We had "Chamber Music" night every couple months for the concert band. I was playing trumpet, this was before I started playing guitar. I have always had an innate gift for music, so it was very boring playing those concerts. But we always had side performances; one of the side performances involved four saxophones. One of the saxophonists just so happened to be the girl that I was completely head over heels for, so you bet I sat extra attentive. The next thing I heard was just pure bliss. The articulate melody, the walking baseline, the perfect movement of inexpressible sound...That's the way I remember it. I became possessed by every detail of the song. I had an extreme case of musicophilia.
      I walked, sang, and breathed to this song. The fact that the love of my life was the one who played it obviously plays a part in giving the song a certain connotation to me, but the song would have had a similar hold on me otherwise. After I learned the basics of guitar, learning the song completely was what I had to do. I spent two whole weeks staring at lines and lines or horribly written tablature to learn how to play it; and another two months of practice to actually articulate every note. The song still possesses me, but the fact that I can play it helps ease it from conscious mind for the most part. This was one of the very first actual songs I learned on guitar so a lot of my writing is similar to it as far as structure goes, but obviously not as far as quality. Pachelbel knows how to build a song, take everything away, and give it back. The song will always be timeless.
     

Fly!

     It's hard for me to think of a specific experience of art that I deem to be most meaningful. I remember certain specific artworks- but as to which one is most meaningful to me, how can I choose?  Each one has meaning. There are, however a few that stand out.

     One of the meaningful experiences I have had with art may be when I went to see a Broadway show for the first time in my memory. The stage itself was wondrous, with its shapes and shadows. The lights dimmed, and the music flew in- racing, dancing, rising and falling. It rolled like thunder throughout the room. I could feel it. It was like nothing else I'd encountered before. Then the players leaped and danced onto the stage- that was when the play began. From the life of the music to the movements of the players and the stage itself, it was stunning. 

Aeroplane

To me my most meaningful experience of art was probably my first time listening to "In the aeroplane over the sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel. I remember hating most of it my first listen, yet feeling strangely drawn towards it, as if it where a candy that started off sour but then turned sweet if you gave it a chance and didn't spit it out. Listening to that album was the first time that I had actually listened to an album in full, without putting the album on shuffle or skipping any of the songs. I remember being confused and slightly appalled by the lyrics and how they seemingly made no sense. I also remember being amazed by how all of the songs where interconnected as if the entire album was just one long song. But most importantly I remember being emotionally crushed by the ending, and while I had no idea what the lyrics told, I knew what they meant. The song was musically simple, being Jeff Mangum (singer/songwriter) strumming basic chords accompanied by his nasally singing. The simplicity in the song immediately struck me because the song before was so loud, energetic, and happy that I knew that something special was about to happen. And right I was  because I was blessed with  "two headed boy pt. 2". I used this album as a gateway into new and more diverse/complex music, and while I've listened to thousands of songs since, "two headed boy pt. 2" will remain among my very favorite.

The Knife

  For my eighteenth birth day, my coach, gave me a six inch long Shun chef knife by KAI. Made in Japan from Japaneses steel and craftsmen ship. For course for a lot is just really sharp knife, but to me it is one of the finest pieces of art I have ever enjoyed. The way it fits in my hand just right and the pattern on the knife it self make it look like it is wood. It is just beautiful it me and puts most of my other chef knives to shame. http://www.cutleryandmore.com/shun-classic/chefs-knife-p16316 Link there to see it, if you chose to. A lot of you probably will not get where I am coming from ,which is fine none of you work in kitchens, but to me it far surpasses the Monaliesa in beauty to me.

All Love

What is love? Well, I can't exactly tell you what love truly is but I can let you into my mad world and the love within. As I see it there are three main kinds of love: the kind that we have for a material item like our car or a favorite blanket when young, second is the kind of love that we have for family, Close friends and pets, and finally the love that makes us go mad, the romantic love we have for a person outside of our family. Those, to me, are the three kinds of love found in the world, there are a couple sub sects of love within those listed but I rather not bore you with a thesis.

To begin, we start with the love for the material. Many may say that don't have this, I personally doubt it, we have all felt it at one time or another, whether it be your car or your favorite stuffed animal when you were a child. It is an odd attachment to something not living that usually gives us a sense of security or pride. The love for an inanimate is one that the depth is often not recognized until the object is gone, it is usually a love that has been lost to know its true significance.

The second, the love of family, friends, and pets, it is an unconditional love that arises from the providing of company and support provided by a living thing. This is most likely the longest lasting love that we will have in our live. Family doesn't usually fade away and truly close friends don't either, they last a life time and give an unmeasurable amount of support, security, and happiness to us through out our lives. This form of love often lasts until death and it is only with death that this love comes to an end, and that is only for the departing party, for the other left alive their love will continue until them meet their end.

The final, romantic love, often the most trivial and brutal of the loves. Hopefully it isn't the shortest love in ones life, but for some it may be. It is the most intense and the most painful, with the extreme joy often comes deep sorrow. But, we'll stay positive and look at the up side, there is almost no end to the joy that can come from this type of love. With that I must let you take what I have said and you can do what you wish with that information. Those are my views on love, and maybe I'm mad, or on point, that is up to you.

On Love

One of the universal things that we all experience is the phenomena of love. What is it? It's an emotion forced upon us by biological evolution or by comedic deities that want to have a laugh. Love can carry people to the highest places or it can leave one completely bitter, and alone. Out of all the things in life, this is what we all want. We crave it. Whether it's just an interaction between chemicals and hormones in our brain, or there really is something there, we can't help but be at it's mercy.

There are obviously all different kinds of emotion you experience when you meet someone. A lot of them could be read as "love" or emotional connection, but sadly most of these are infatuations. These "emotions" are of lust, and are of lower, primitive, biological processes. There are only two types of true love: romantic love, and familial love. Romantic love is what you feel for a spouse, or a girlfriend. If it's true love then each person will mutually feel an unbreakable bond between them. Romantic lovers do anything for the other; they are literally crazy for the other person. Familial love is love for an actual family member, or for a friend. This feeling does not include any aspects of physical expression, or of the "crazy" feeling that romantic lovers feel.

Yet Another Post About Love

     Love is a difficult thing to define. There is a sense of what it is, but it is not easily translated into words. There are, however, different types or degrees of love.  

     The first is based on attraction and want, and does not truly last. Here, even though those involved may believe that they are in love, the relationship is based on lust, not love-for example, Marais's relationship with Madeleine. 

     Second is an unrequited love. In this case, one person is devoted to another, wishes to be near the other in fair and stormy weather, and is capable of being emotionally wounded by the other. This is not the same as admiration or obsession, but is similar to both. However, the other does not feel the same. It is a sad love. For example, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Basil seems to have feelings for Dorian, but Dorian is entirely oblivious. He doesn't realize how much his somewhat- normal actions have hurt Basil. 

     The last love is a mutual love of person- neither lust nor obsession. It varies in its beings, but this true love is a bond. It stands through rage, sadness, and time- even death. Sainte Columbe and his wife, even though they talked about physical love, simply showed a yearning to be together. There is a companionship. One cares intensely for the other.

     Despite these definitions, love does not always fall neatly into one single category. Love is an emotion, by its nature undefinable and uncontrollable. It does not take well to confinement. Humans cannot be whole without love. 

Love Being Defined

     There are three different kinds of.  The first kind is essentially just attraction. This only lasts a short period of time.  It is essentially when you just want to hook up with someone.  This doesn't form long lasting relationships.  The second kind of love is the love that you have for a spouse or significant other.  This last much longer than the first kind, it can even last your whole life.  it can be the most powerful kind of love because it lasts so long but it can also fade away if the two people change to much.

     The third kind of love is the love that you have for your family or close friends.  Most people have spent huge portions of their lives with their family and close friends which builds up a connection.  People would do almost anything for their family because of the bond that they share.  In some cases though, people don't become close to their family because of past issues that they had growing up or when they were raising their own children. 

what is love

Love is as old as humanity itself, and probably the reason why were still around. Love can be the cause of extreme happiness, and suicidal depression, yet is often the end goal for most people. When I think of love in a communal standpoint I think of a quote by the ancient Greeks "Happiness of our race lies in the fulfillment of love". But what is love? Are there different types of it? Are there different concentrations of it? At a scientific standpoint love is when your brain releases a whole bunch of "feelgood" chemicals as a response to seeing of hearing someone you feel affection to, these chemicals include dopamine, adrenaline, and norepinephrine. But theirs more to love than just that, right?
From my understanding theirs multiple types of love, lustful love, friendly love, and true love. Lustful love is when you think you are in love with someone but are only attracted to them to fulfill your lustful desires, commonly felt by high schoolers who mistake it for true love. Next is the love that you feel for your friends, (hopefully) not lustful and not nearly as strong as true love, friendly love is basically just a less potent, and not nearly as damaging version of true love. Finally the third and most sought after version of love is true love. True love is when you retire your ego and put another before you, when that person means more to you than yourself and you'd do anything in your power to protect, and be with them for the rest of your life. True love is the reason why humanity has survived, and the key factor of true, and ever long happiness.

Defining Love

Even though 'love' is really just a bunch of chemicals in our brains responding to evolutionary laws, it really is a quizzical and wondrous thing. The true, pure, absolute love is the thing fairytales are made of and very rarely occurs in real life. It is the love that is unconditional and does more than disregard and ignore flaws in the other person, they love the flaws. Then there is the comfortable love. The love between friends and family, where you acknowledge each others faults and mistakes, but still end up forgiving them anyways. The third one is the most confusing one, it is the love where you think it is meaningful and eternal, but it ends. Usually it is confused for something else, like friendship or lust or desperation. This is the 'love' where it is only felt on one side, or it is not an honest relationship.

These three different types of love will be experienced by everyone at some point in their life. And even though it seems to be a negative thing. It helps grow character, even when the love ends in a tragic way. It is an unfortunate pattern of life, that we all can't meet the true, pure, absolute love right off the bat. But we all need to make a few mistakes in order to find perfection.

Love is...

Love is very complex. There is no one definition for the word love. There are many characteristics of love, though. Most describe love as putting someone else's needs before yours and caring about them to an unfathomable amount. Love is when you would do anything to see the other person happy or when you would sacrifice your own happiness just to get them to smile. Love is when you can go through Hell and back with someone and still look at them and know that you could never in your life stop caring for them, no matter what selfish or terrible things they have done. Although there isn't one true definition for love, there are many parts that add up to create the love that we as humans feel.

There are two different kinds of love, as I see it. There is the kind of love you have with your friends and family. The love where even though your mom slept for half an hour last night she would still make you cinnamon rolls before you go to school if you asked. Or the love between your friends when you are having a bad day and they do something sweet to surprise you. And there are many ways to show this kind of love that people do not always think about. Your dad telling you to put on your seatbelt or your friend texting you to see if you are okay when you didn't show up for school. These are things that are very overlooked in our world but show the true compassion of love for one another.

Then there is the love between two people. The special bond you get when you truly could picture yourself spending your life with one person. This love is hard to find but once you find it you never let it go. No matter what happens you still want that person to be by your side. This is the love where you ache to be together all the time, you crave the other persons attention almost. You would do absolutely anything to make the other person happy, even if it means completely losing your own happiness, or even yourself. This kind of love can be wreckless and has destroyed many people, but it can also be the best thing that you will ever experience. It can be the reason you dont drive into a tree when you feel like life has nothing left for you or the reason you can manage to get up in the early  morning. This kind of love often seems common but isn't, as we can tell by divorce rates. But when this love is truly found it cannot ever be stopped.

Love

Love is all in the eye of the beholder. One person might see something in someone that another might see as annoying. I believe that there are a few different kinds of love that people can feel. The first form of love that people can feel is desire and longing. Someone having a strong feeling for someone else emotionally and romantically. This isn't all about physical characteristic but how this person makes you feel when your around them also affects this kind of love. Usually in the beginning of a relationship this type of love is experienced and when you've met someone that already know that you really liked them.
The other love is a divine love something that you really love doing or something you live for. This love can usually be found in religion because some people devote there lives to doing and being what their religion wants them too. This sort of divine love can also be found in things such as art, music, sports because people can express themselves and their love through these things. Maybe not as much sports but people still dedicate their lives to it and truly love it. People also live through their art and music as well expressing their love through it as well since it can usually express love better than words ever can.

Definition of Love

Love is an emotional state that connects one so deeply with another that it is almost impossible to live without them.  There are different forms of love, however, varying between love for family, friends, partners, and even pets.  Love for a family member is caused from the connection that develops throughout infancy and childhood.  When family members, especially parents, care for and raise their child they develop a love for that child that will certainly last forever in their minds.  The child also develops an intense attachment to those who raise them.  This kind of love hopefully lasts as one's entire life, and consists of feelings and emotions of friendship, dependence, and biological connection.  Love for friends is usually reserved for one two of our closest and best friends.  These friends become incredibly close because they are basically the family that we choose for ourselves.  Friends can be the people who know the most about you, even more than your own family, which connects them with you at a deeply personal level.  Although we may feel that we will love and be with them forever, this type of friend-love may not last more than a few years.

Love for a partner can be the most powerful type of love.  This kind of love begins with an attraction deep rooted in the veins of evolution.  The physical attraction for another is what sets the stage for the mental and emotional connection to follow.  One may argue that beauty does not play a role in the partner they choose for themselves, but when the feeling of true love arises, that significant other is usually seen as the most beautiful thing in the world.  This kind of love with a partner consists of deep and uncontrollable emotions and feelings towards that person.  You know this love when you can not picture your life without the other.  It is possible for this love to last forever, but quite often ends at some point in the couples lives.  This love is perhaps the strongest because it is made up of deep mental, emotional, and sexual connections that flourish within a relationship.  If ended abruptly, this love can cause you to plunge into deep depression and drastically change your life.  For example, when Sainte Columbe's wife, in All the Mornings of the World, died, Columbe's life dramatically changed. He devoted his life to putting his emotions into music and trying to express the feelings he could not express with words.  Love is an something that is essential to the human condition and will without a doubt change your life at some point.

Love Defining

Love is crazy, its one of the most crazy things we humans take part in. It dives people to the edge and back, but in a lot of cases it seems people do not come back from the edge. A lost love or stolen love can utterly destroy someone's life. By becoming consumed by the loss of love in their life, it turns into an unbreakable obsession. Not every love has that kind of power to it though, it is rare I think for a love like that to come around. The most common kind of love I believe is that of family. The bonds of family are some of the strongest bonds out there. Next is the love of someone your in a relationship with. Lastly is the love that seams to drown out the rest of the world except of that special someone.

The most important and one of the most powerful love is that one has with their family. Even if your dirt pore, have no job and seemingly alone, you can always rely one your families love and support. Over time the strength and meaning of loving one's family has altered. Used to be if someone insulted your house or family member you would kill them, in a duel or start a feud. That person had threatened that what protects and loves you. So you must eliminate that threat. But not to many people seam to go to those extreme anymore to protect their family loved ones. Now a days the threats that need warding off are lack of housing, lack of food or job and those can be solved without killing others.

Next kind of love is that which brings some to matrimony or just gets two people hitched. It seams to be pretty common, but what is more common than that is the number of people divorced. So I do not think it is a very strong love, but it is quite a binding love. This kind of love was originally never to actually be about love. Was just a predetermined contract your parents would set up, as a land deal or keep a treaty. Not to bring too love birds together "for ever".  But of course once and a while there is love that is true and unbreakable. The kind of love that has brain washed many girls form corny chick flicks like the note book, lucky one, safe haven ect. They think that this is the standard of all love. Just like how porn has brain washed guys about sex. We talked about this in class, it was pretty funny and true. But never the less I do think once and a while a love like that comes along.

Artistic Perception

Good art is all about what affects our senses. Whether that be physical senses (like food I guess), or emotional feelings. Art, by itself, does not have to necessarily be beautiful. But when art has a motive, it takes a whole new form. The motive doesn't even have to be clear to the viewer, just the fact that it has a purpose is reason alone for that piece to be significant. The whole new form that is achieved is beauty. Art's message is to teach, and at the moment when the viewer understands, harmony between ambiguous metaphor and earth-shattering realization occurs. That harmony is beauty.
Now, since art's purpose was to teach, and once you learned it's offer, you experienced real beauty, beauty and truth are directly related. Things that are beautiful in art do not have to fit the normal stereo-type of the perfect female/male form, or even complimentary colors, they simply have to teach. That's why things that are horribly depressing, can a lot of the time be beautiful. Such as a painting who is depicting loss or death...those can be seen as beautiful. Looking at that painting you're experiencing the unfathomable, the unknown, the end of life as you know it; the very truth of this piece of art. These are very large aspects of that painting that you experience all at once, (gestalt as I remember our teacher saying, haha) so how can that not be beautiful?

Beautiful true art

What is the relationship between art and truth?

Art and truth are directly related because art is a way of expressing the truth.  It may not be the literal truth, but it is the truth that the artist perceives.  Art is created by the expression of the artist, so whatever emotion and meaning the artist puts behind that piece of art is a little piece of truth from that artists mind.  Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is an example of an artist portraying truth in his art.  Picasso expresses the true nature of feminine beauty and prostitution through this rough and almost disturbing painting.  Although art expresses the truth behind the artist, that truth may not extend to the rest of society.  The artistic interpretation of a certain scene or issue may represent the truth in the artist's mind, but not truth whatsoever in the mind of an observer.

Beauty is something that can really influence the appreciation of art.  If a piece of art is aesthetically beautiful, it is usually much more appealing to those who view it than a piece of art that shows no aesthetic beauty.  Although beauty may make art more pleasurable to look at, it absolutely does not make it more truthful.  In some cases beauty can actually conceal the truth.  The truth of something that is portrayed with beauty in a piece of artwork may actually be quite ugly.  Although a piece of art is capable of displaying enormous amounts of beauty, emotion, and meaning, the true nature of the artist is always revealed in his work.  

The Truth in Art and Beauty

      Art and truth are different concepts. That is a fact. They are different. With that being said, they are very much the same. Art is the free expression of one's inner being. Their soul is extended and open for the world to see and interpret. There is something so honest in that. There is truth and integrity involved in the utter immersion of one into their art. All forms of art are expression, therefore, every form of art has truth to it. I think there's no where anyone can be as honest with the world and with themselves as when they are creating art. There's a rawness and a realness to the creation that strips the artist of all preservation of the ideal of who they are and what they stand for and all that is left is the artist and their true thoughts and feelings and beliefs. The absolute truth is an ever changing concept but I think we come closest to finding it in ourselves by constantly digging into ourselves, eventually so deep that only we can know truly what our own truth is.

     Beauty is the concept of the perfect being. I think along with the truth found in art, real art also brings us one step closer to obtaining real, true beauty. True, beauty is seen in the eye of the beholder, but at the same time, not every beholder has an idea as to what their beauty is. I think some people need to go through the self digging and the self realizations to come to the conclusion of true beauty and what that means to them. I also believe there is a subtle beauty in truth. My own personal beauty, I see as honesty, yet generosity. I think someone who is truly beautiful can be both honest and kind, and that's rare within society now. I am just one person, though, and that is just one person's idea. Beauty, truth, and art are all open to interpretation both in my theories about the definitions of these concepts, and in the overall meaning of these terms and how they connect. 

art and beauty

     Art and truth can go hand in hand. Art can reveal a lot of truth within itself. Sometimes the truth found in art can be harsh and hard to look at. For example, paintings of bloody war scenes show a truth that many of us do not want to see. The truth found in art can also be self expression. It could be someone expressing their true feelings that they have trouble revealing any other way than by using art.
     The truth in art can be thought of as beautiful. I think it's beautiful to be able to express your true feelings through something you created. It's beautiful that someone is willing to open up in a way and show hundreds of random people they're personal or intimate feelings through art. Although the truth can be harsh, one can always find beauty in it.

Art, Truth, and Beauty

The relationship between art and truth is viewed differently by everyone, but most people agree on certain aspects. Art generally shows some kind of truth from the life of the artist that created it. The artist is making part of themselves vulnerable to the arts viewers. They are often showing a part of their past or a current emotion that is taking up space in their brain. They are releasing the truth of their life onto some kind of artistic canvas.
Beauty plays a big role in the relationship of art and truth also. Beauty comes out in the artwork that the artist has created. The beauty of the work is the way that the artist has made themselves so vulnerable to the world. The beauty and the truth are fairly similar, but the beauty is more. The beauty is also how other people view the work. Some people will get one thing out of the art while others will get something else out of the art. Most everybody will get some kind of opinion or emotion out of most works of art, even if it is just trying to figure out what the artist was thinking when they were creating it. The beauty aspect ties in with art and truth in the way that although the art could be realistic to some part of the artists life or emotions, the viewer will see it however they want to and will take something personal from it.

Art and truth, where does beauty fit?

      The concepts of art, truth, and beauty are very closely related, we often find works of art that display truth, no matter how disgusting or twisted, to be beautiful. For example, a portrait that has a photo realistic design to it can be appreciated by anyone, but when compared to a portrait displaying a truth turns dull and is quickly forgotten about. Humans appreciate things that we can connect to, and while the concept of beauty is entirely subjective it is generally agreed that meaning outweighs aesthetics.
      Beauty often overshadows truth in art, its well known that aesthetic portraits are more appreciated  by the mass conscientious than an expressive painting. But the reason that paintings similar to expressionism last longer is because while they may look less aesthetic, they convey a deeper meaning and truth to them, instead of looking into a mirror your looking into an artists mind, which to me is far more interesting.

Art, truth, and beauty

Art. Truth. Beauty.
All three of these things are relative, depending how much emphasis the viewer places on it. Beauty and art is something appreciated by all, but is idolized by only those who really understand it. I believe that the same thing applies to truth. If you understand the truth of something on a personal level it will affect you more than the truth about something that you have no connection to. Everything we know about art, truth, and beauty is relative and immeasurable. There are no absolute rules or definitions, it is too personal for anything as simple as that.

The purpose of Art is not to be beautiful, it is to have meaning to the viewer. Comparatively, The purpose of beauty is not to be truthful. A person may have physical beauty but not inner beauty or spiritual beauty. In Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso, the women portrayed are are not beautiful, they are dead on the inside as well as the outside.Truth may be wanted, but not desirable. Beauty is the opposite. It may be desirable, but at the end of the day it is not wanted.

between art and the trueth with beauty

Art is what you make, there does not need to be beauty or truth behind it. Just like the Les Demoiselles d'Avignom, it is not truthful or beautiful. Art is just that art, there can be truth or beauty, just depends upon what the artist is going for. Art can follow one and not the other or miss both or have both. But with art it always comes down to the beholder to think what they will about something. Were some people see beauty others see horrendous, someone might see something as the edgy raw truth while others just see over exaggeration. I also think art and truth can be a ying and yang in the art world. There is what someone sees and creates or what someone feels and creates. Depending upon who views the art, they decide if there is beauty in the work.

Art, Truth, and Beauty

     Art is not always truthful.  Art can depict lies and exaggerations of the truth.  There is no rules or guidelines for art.  It can be truthful or it can filled with lies, it is still art.  Anything that is meant to be viewed is art.  Art is not always beautiful, though.  An example of this is Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.  The painting was ugly and vile, but it was still a great work of art.  Art can be beautiful or ugly, or show the truth or lies, it si still art either way.

art and truth

     Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon shows the truth in the art. I believe that in this painting Picasso was trying to make us think about the Beauty standard in society and what we see as beautiful. Great works of art challenge ideas and this one challenged what we see as beauty in our society. Even though it is a great work of art some people couldn't bear to look at it because they saw it vile.
     Art depending on the viewer can bring out different truths to them, its all about the perception of the person who is viewing it. Some are more obvious than other, but in Picasso's Les Demoisells d'Avignon he is showing that art doesn't have to be beautiful in order to make an outstanding work of art like he did.

Art-Truth-Beauty

  Art is as true as it is observed to be. It may depict truth, ideals, wishes, or thoughts, or may not even have a readily discernible purpose.Without any prior knowledge,  Pablo Picasso's  Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is a challenging piece to understand. It is unlike any artwork in that, while it is "truthful" in its essence, it is not a true-to-life depiction. 

     Art is always, on some level, true, but art doesn't have to be beautiful. For example, unlike his predecessors' works, there is nothing soft, pleasing, or external about Les Demoiselles. The forms are sharp, the gazes piercing- the shapes distorted, the colors heightened and changed. It is awe-inspiring and vivid, but is not, by any conventions, beautiful. Beauty may be depicted in art through shape or subject, and art may truthful- but although they do not have to be woven together, art is not solely one or the other.  

The First Couple Steps

I read the book Buddhism Plain & Simple, by Steve Hagen, it outlines the base of Buddhism. I was interested in the portion about mortality and leaving. It fascinated me how Buddhism has such a pliable and open to the thought of death. The Buddhist view on the end, like the beginning, there is not an end, it is on going and there is an acceptance of the inevitable end. It was immensely interesting to look into another faiths view on the end of ones life. Death, as in Buddhism, is not always the end, it may be just a stopping or just a small event, death may not be the true end.

The Devil's Music

       The Devil's Music is an outline of the history of blues. It covers topics and the effect they have had on the evolution of blues such as slavery and Black oppression. In this book it showed that it was not purely black people who started using blues (a form of jazz music) to express themselves. In fact, white people played a highly significant role in the beginning of blues and the interpretation of blues we have today. It also spoke of blues in certain places, specifically Atlanta, Georgia and Memphis, Tennessee.
       I think I'm going to use some of the things I've learned in this book to further my research in the history of blues in a specific area of the country. I haven't decided which part yet, maybe I will research Memphis or Atlanta or maybe I will go somewhere different and see what the history is in Chicago, Illinois. I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping reading more on the two specific places mentioned will help me decide which place interests me more. I'm definitely leaning toward the history of blues in Atlanta, Georgia and the specific artists that come from there.

The Ballad of Bob Dylan

The book I chose to read for my research paper is, "The Ballad Of Bob Dylan", by Daniel Mark Epstein. This book takes a holistic look on Dylan's family, friend, and professional life. One of the cool things I like about the book is that a lot of the chapters start out by describing a concert. The author sets the mood, then describes the key and time signature of the song he's performing. The book analyzes Dylan by analyzing his song lyrics. I have only read the first half, and so I plan on finishing the book as my "second" book. One of my favorite parts in the book is the description of Bob Dylan and his fascination with Woody Guthrie. Something about these artists just gives my an idealistic view of what life should be like; it makes me nostalgic for past times that I have not even existed in. One of my dreams is to be able to go back and live in the time of the Civil Rights Movement, and experience it along with all of the other social problems we had.

Book #1 on Buddhism

For my first book for my research paper I read The Buddha and Buddhism by Kerena Marchant. It is a book that covers pretty much everything you could ever want to know about Buddhists and the daily life of Buddhism. I have learned a lot about Buddhism as a broad topic, but also the minor details that are so important in the religion. The book went into great depth about rituals and festivals, sacred places and texts, and also the comparison of Buddhism today and Buddhism back when it first started being practiced as a religion.
The information I got from this book will help me out a lot with my research paper. It has helped me narrow down my subject and decide which parts of Buddhism I specifically would like to focus in on. The religion is truly so fascinating to me. I am glad I chose this as my topic and I am glad that I found this book to use for the paper. It is a short book but full of information and very interesting pictures that give a better understanding of what the text is saying. The book has made me feel much less stressed about the actual writing of the research paper!

Dragons in Chinese Myths

 I chose two books for this part of my research- Dragons, Gods & Spirits from Chinese Mythology by Tao Tao Liu Sanders (illustrations by Johnny Pau) and  Philip Wilkinson's Chinese Myth: A Treasury of Legends, Art and History.

     The Chinese dragon, or long,differs greatly from the European concept of a dragon- although prone to rage, long are generally fairly benevolent. They are guardians of water and may be kings of their domains. As such, certain rituals, like the dragon dance, feature the dragon. Each tale about dragons, despite variations, relates to the landscape.

     Many of the myths described in the books are ancient and have been told for many generations- therefore, each tale may have different variations. However, in many of those that are retold, specific places are mentioned. For example, in Dragons, Gods & Spirits, multiple water bodies and cities are mentioned in the tales. As David Abram notes in The Spell of the Sensuous, the setting of a story is integral to the tale, and that "without saying precisely where those events occurred... may alone render the telling powerless" (182).

Grunge Seattle

I chose to do my research project on Seattle Grunge. Seattle was known as a prosperous city with companies like Boeing and Microsoft led the way in Seattle as the biggest corporations there. Seattle is also one of the stranger cities in the United States as well, there are more unsolved serial killings there than any other place in the U.S. Toss in the constant rain and a end of the continent isolation and "countless other ingredients that makes rock and roll reinvent itself every few years, and you have a movement" (Grunge Seattle). That movement was Grunge music. This book explains how something like Grunge music formed in Seattle and the impact that it had as well.

Buddhism

 The book I read was titled, Buddhism.  Upon selecting the book and reading a short description of the book I expected to be reading an informative, but ultimately boring book about the history of the Buddhist religion.  I was pleasantly surprised when I quickly became sucked into the book.  The book itself goes in depth about the three major types of Buddhism, Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, and the beliefs and history behind them.  It also covers the religion's political, social, and spiritual influence and history throughout multiple countries, cultures, and continents.  The book went into enough depth where I actually learned a lot, but not to detailed where it became unnecessarily boring (The pictures helped).  The things I learned from this book give me a much greater understanding of the meaning of Buddhist practices and traditions.  This book has taught me more than I thought I would be able to learn from just one book.  It has introduced many different possible research topics for me as well.  One possible research topic is the development, changes, and interpretation of the religion throughout multiple cultures.  Another could be about how the religion is practiced today in western society.  There are arguments over the religion being picked apart and the true meaning of Buddhism not truly being understood.  Others argue that some interpretations of the religion involve universal Asian practices and are not essential to being a true Buddhist.

Andy Warhol: Artists and Autism

Andy Warhol, known for his Pop Art technique that he used in the second half of the twentieth century, is a famous artist that is one of the most remembered artists of his time. He had several unusual social and mental patterns that match up to having had autism, though he was never officially diagnosed. This is explained in the book I read, Lives of the Great 20th Century Artists by Edward Lucie-Smith. Even though the book covers many artists, Andy Warhol was one that captured my attention the most. Warhol used his obsession with repetition (another symptom of autism) to create his iconic Campbell Soup series.

This new discovery on Warhol lends further evidence for the connection between autistic behavior and artistic talent. There has always been some relationship between the autism spectrum and creativity, but now there is more being studied on how autism can be seen and interpreted through art and music. Warhol would most likely be diagnosed with a "higher functioning" form of autism. Something on the lower end of the spectrum: closer to Asperger syndrome. Autism and Asperger's is seen in artists who are hyper-focused on details and uniformity. It is a common trait of many creative professionals because they find it easier to communicate through art than being in a social situation that requires  talking and making eye contact. Below are some examples of Andy Warhol's most famous pieces. I'm sure many of you will recognize them. He definitely had an eccentric and colorful artistic style.

Assisted Suicide

     I chose to do my research project on medical ethics, more specifically, assisted suicide.  Assisted suicide, or physician assisted suicide, is when a terminally ill person chooses to take a pill that kill them, rather than suffering for an extended period of time just to reach the same result.  I read the book, Current Controversies: Assisted Suicide.  The book does a very good job of remaining neutral on the subject and lists both the pros and the cons of assisted suicide.  Many different experts from around the world all voice there knowledge and opinions on the subject giving you a complete view of it.  One of the pros is that its your life and you should have the right to die,  but one of the cons is that it would push poor patients into choosing a $50 suicide pill rather than undergoing treatment which could be tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Theses are only two of the issues under debate and the book provides an interesting read for those interested.

Captain Beefheart pt. 2

After reading “Captain Beefheart the biography” by Mike Barnes my thoughts on Beefheart and his most famous record have changed. I’ve grown to respect and (almost) understand his “masterpiece” of an album Trout Mask replica and just how much practice, time, and dedication went into it. Some of the neat things I learned about the recording was that for some of the songs Beefheart ( Don Van Vliet ) put cardboard over the drums to reduce the effect and tempo or how that the album was recorded in about four hours, essentially making most of the album a live recording.

I learned a lot about Vliets past too, like how he used to be a sculptor and avant garde artist, or how he came in relation with Frank Zappa (Another one of the most influential, and different artists of their time). All in all I really like Beefheart and his legacy and hope that him or his work doesnt go unforgotten.

A Society of Symbolism

Symbolism, a term used by society to describe the iconic representation of it's various themes, lessons and ideas. Symbolism causes emotions we may observe, experience, and use in our everyday lives. Much like a metaphor, a symbol can contain many meanings at the same time, and more often than not, it holds it's meaning within meaning. For example, the iconic glass slipper in Cinderella represents long lasting beauty and purity of the heart possessed by its owner not only on the outside but on the inside as well. Also the glass slipper represents Cinderella's uniqueness, because it fits only her foot and no others. A lesson that can be learned from Cinderella's story is the true value of an individual cannot be determined by their station or appearance.
A story its self can be symbolic, the Legend of Hercules, the Roman name for the Greek Heracles, represents the journey to manhood as Hercules learns of his father’s identity and his quest to rejoin him on Mount Olympus. Instead of using fame and glory to help him return to the home of the gods, Hercules learns that being a true hero has less to do with impressing the masses and compromising your character for vanity and more to do with listening to your conscience, following your heart and living up to your own standards not someone else's.

Angles

             Well now that I have read my first book, I am quite surprised. I never initially thought that the Christians had the monopoly on angles. But I would never had thought of how many different religions use them and for how many different uses as well. I know religions end up forming orders usually. Did not actually think there was a lot of order with in the religion its self. For those of you who follow what I am saying. There seams to be a very strict hierarchy in place in which the angelic system is run, not just for Christianity too. It is a shared belief that angles operate with higher and lower ups. The watcher or guardian angle was also a common appearance throughout the book with various religions. Now I am very curious if I will find the same kind of connections with demons and their roles in religions.    
            With what I have learned I believe studying angles will be a lot easier that I thought. There is such a variety of angles out there and just about all religions use them one way or another. I just hope studying demons will be just as easy.

Naturalism in contemporary american culture essa

Dillon Chase

Block 4

Nowadays it seems like you can’t change the channel without hearing the word green. In this case, green isn't just a color, it represents the concepts of sustainability, reduce/reuse/recycle, reducing your carbon footprint, and being sensitive to the environment. This generation is more concerned about protecting the environment and reversing global warming, yet might be the least connected to actual experience in nature.

Parents of the current generation heard the dramatic news about the gaping hole in the ozone layer, and their children are taking the first steps forward to fixing it. They are doing this by thinking of new, and creative ways to reduce the amount of global warming and stop greenhouse gasses. The federal goal of reducing factory emissions is driving careers, and education in environmental studies.   

Perhaps one of the biggest and most controversial subjects in the media is genetically modified organisms (GMO’s). Massive seed and chemical companies have transformed almost all of our food into a biological mess, and only very recently there has been an outcry against this.  It seems like everywhere you turn you see the word organic and stores reminding you to buy locally. Buying locally not only supports the town/city that you live in, but also reduces the need to transport food long distances, which reduces carbon emissions.  

Americans are very accustomed to seeing trash stations that come in three sections, trash, glass, and plastic. These can be seen in many public places, and are expected to be there. Recycling is a reflexive habit. For example when a restaurant has only a single trash can, most people will be confused and look for the recycle bin, some even take it with them home to recycle it properly.

As much as today's youth is concerned with preserving the environment, they sure don't spend much time out in it. Most of the american youths experience is probably from learning about it in a summer camp, or doing a “nature walk” around their local park. This lack of exposure might indicate how we've grown distant and more afraid of nature, while believing they feel connected to it when they actually aren't. Most Americans have grown so distant from nature that they really don’t know what it is anymore. A majority of the youth would rather stay inside and play video games than hike a mountain or canoe in a lake.

Nature has played a huge influence in how we've designed some of our modern inventions, for example studies on aerodynamics from bird wings have been implemented in airplane wings and the invention of Velcro being based on burrs sticking to hikers clothes. Even high end modern swimwear mimics shark skin in how its hydrodynamic. Modern designers and engineers have turned to nature to inspire them because most to all of the time nature is flawless.

Radio and television advertisements promote green products and green careers. Whereas one might have predicted a gasoline company would be interested only in gasoline, these companies have image ads lately to express their commitment in taking care of the environment and designing future fuels. Their ads are almost like a challenge for all listeners to reduce their own carbon footprint. Its a subtle message for people be more conscientious to strive to be green, for example by turning off the water while brushing their teeth, collecting rainwater to reuse in gardens, and not littering.

Because of consumers care for nature many environmentally friendly, and green products have become available, such as hybrid cars and biodegradable cleaning products. Look closely at your next beverage container from a takeout restaurant and you'll probably notice that its made from recycled plastics and plant matter.  You can even choose to buy clean energy these days; entire towns are powered by wind farms.

Nature is a facet of American culture and will always influence the way we live. It decides what we eat, learn, and do in our everyday lives. With nature in mind we continue to improve how we use the resources we have available, nature is a beautiful place.