guYS I WANT A TATTOO OF SOMETHING BY E.E. CUMMINGS FJOIEJFFFFFFFFFFFFF
ok yes
thank you
bye
Friday, May 10, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
In which I'm still learning who I am.
I have not had much time to read for fun lately. I legitimately can't remember the last book I read for fun.
We did, however, begin to discuss Islam in World Religions yesterday. I thought this would be the religion I'd be the least interested this semester, but it has turned out to fascinate me way more than I had originally believed.
My mom grew up in a country that, although predominantly Catholic, also has a very concentrated Muslim population. Many of the words in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines, are actually borrowed from Arabic, like Salamat-po which is the most common greeting- "Salam" is Arabic for "peace." My dad has been teaching at the English Language Institute at the University of Delaware for a few years now, and this year, his students are predominantly from Saudi Arabia. This has also increased HIS fascination with the country, its relationship with the religion of Islam, and the effect of Islam on the culture of the nation.
Yesterday during my free period, I began to read the Qur'an. The first chapter was strangely captivating, and honestly I found it much easier to read than the Bible. I don't know if that's just because I have grown up with the Bible and all the stories contained within; they have been drilled into my head since I was a little girl, and I'm a bit tired of them. To experience a completely different point of view and fresh(er? I mean, it's not BRAND new...) take on monotheistic religion is pretty eye-opening to me.
My favorite verse comes from the second chapter, verse 28:
How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned.
I don't know what about this verse struck me so much. This whole year, I have been trying to find meaning in life, and it's been a very difficult journey. In a way, I have completely lost my faith, but now that I've (hopefully) gotten through my tiny atheistic existentialist oh-holy-poop-there's-no-meaning-why-not-just-kill-myself-and-get-the-purposeless-suffering-over-with phase, I am searching for a new faith that really speaks to me. Not to say that I'm going to convert to Islam. Also not to say that I won't. I don't know. Right now, I'm just searching and trying to find myself and find something that I feel gives me meaning.
I guess what strikes me about this verse is that I have spent this entire year in lots of doubt and disbelief. It gives me a bit of comfort to think that maybe this god, Allah, has caused all of this for a reason, and at the end of it all, I'll be returned to him. Like, of course you should believe! Because you exist! It'll be okay. He'll get you through it. Strangely, this is exactly what I wrote about after the car accident, but on the opposite side of things- arguing that god does NOT exist. But for some reason, the way the Qur'an has been putting everything, as opposed to what all of the people from my church had been saying about "giving up my problems to God," has gotten to me more.
In any case, I'm determined to get through the whole Qur'an. I don't think I've ever even read one whole book in the Bible. I've tried, but never succeeded. I'm hoping this turns out well, or at least helps me discover SOMETHING about myself and my own faith, whatever it may be. I'm still learning.
We did, however, begin to discuss Islam in World Religions yesterday. I thought this would be the religion I'd be the least interested this semester, but it has turned out to fascinate me way more than I had originally believed.
My mom grew up in a country that, although predominantly Catholic, also has a very concentrated Muslim population. Many of the words in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines, are actually borrowed from Arabic, like Salamat-po which is the most common greeting- "Salam" is Arabic for "peace." My dad has been teaching at the English Language Institute at the University of Delaware for a few years now, and this year, his students are predominantly from Saudi Arabia. This has also increased HIS fascination with the country, its relationship with the religion of Islam, and the effect of Islam on the culture of the nation.
Yesterday during my free period, I began to read the Qur'an. The first chapter was strangely captivating, and honestly I found it much easier to read than the Bible. I don't know if that's just because I have grown up with the Bible and all the stories contained within; they have been drilled into my head since I was a little girl, and I'm a bit tired of them. To experience a completely different point of view and fresh(er? I mean, it's not BRAND new...) take on monotheistic religion is pretty eye-opening to me.
My favorite verse comes from the second chapter, verse 28:
How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned.
I don't know what about this verse struck me so much. This whole year, I have been trying to find meaning in life, and it's been a very difficult journey. In a way, I have completely lost my faith, but now that I've (hopefully) gotten through my tiny atheistic existentialist oh-holy-poop-there's-no-meaning-why-not-just-kill-myself-and-get-the-purposeless-suffering-over-with phase, I am searching for a new faith that really speaks to me. Not to say that I'm going to convert to Islam. Also not to say that I won't. I don't know. Right now, I'm just searching and trying to find myself and find something that I feel gives me meaning.
I guess what strikes me about this verse is that I have spent this entire year in lots of doubt and disbelief. It gives me a bit of comfort to think that maybe this god, Allah, has caused all of this for a reason, and at the end of it all, I'll be returned to him. Like, of course you should believe! Because you exist! It'll be okay. He'll get you through it. Strangely, this is exactly what I wrote about after the car accident, but on the opposite side of things- arguing that god does NOT exist. But for some reason, the way the Qur'an has been putting everything, as opposed to what all of the people from my church had been saying about "giving up my problems to God," has gotten to me more.
In any case, I'm determined to get through the whole Qur'an. I don't think I've ever even read one whole book in the Bible. I've tried, but never succeeded. I'm hoping this turns out well, or at least helps me discover SOMETHING about myself and my own faith, whatever it may be. I'm still learning.
In which I have a bit of a meltdown.
So I had a bit of a meltdown on Sunday- last concert at St. Mark's ever! ;-;
I don't know how to deal with this. Ogod. Halp pl0x
I don't know how to deal with this. Ogod. Halp pl0x
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
In which I write a P.S. to Mrs. Healey.
P.S. Can we please talk about E. E. Cummings in class because FEOISM;LKDFMGV;AOIHEG;HIOAEHGTALEKJF please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please
P.P.S. Yes, this is how I (productively) spent my free period.
P.P.S. Yes, this is how I (productively) spent my free period.
In which I write about Richard Wilbur's opposite poems.
So the original reason I chose to write about Richard Wilbur was not because I'd ever heard of him or found him fascinating, but because when I was around twelve years old, my favorite aunt gave me a signed copy of his book Opposites, More Opposites, and a Few Differences. Partially because of the fact that signed books seem to be a bit more impressive and mostly because I do really love the poems in this book, I figured it'd be about time to do a bit of research about this poet and who he is. (Yes, he is still alive.)
I discovered, to my dismay, that his "more mature" poems are...exactly that. More mature. More serious. I don't know why I was expecting to find a plethora of only short, witty poems. However, in reading, re-reading, annotating, and analyzing his other poetry, I have found a deeper respect for Richard Wilbur and am actually quite impressed by his ability to have two completely different, yet both expertly and well-done writing styles.
But for now, I just want to talk about the poems I enjoy the most- the poems from the book I was given, Opposites, More Opposites, and a Few Differences.
Some of them are extremely succinct, yet the shorter poems seem (to me, at least) to be the most funny of the bunch.
For example:
39.
The opposite of opposite?
That's much too difficult, I quit.
Many of his longer "opposite" poems contain more than one opposite for a single item or action. This is sometimes due to the dual meaning of certain words. It makes the poems all the more funny, as they now have two different punch lines.
For example:
1.
The opposite of duck is drake.
Remember that, for heaven’s sake!
One’s female, and the other’s male.
In writing to a drake, don’t fail
To start your letter off, “Dear Sir.”
“Dear Madam” is what ducks prefer.
In snowball fights, the opposite
Of duck, of course, is getting hit.
I think it's fitting that Richard Wilbur wrote an entire book on opposites. He himself seems to have a dual nature, as well as often writing even in his more "serious" poems about opposites and antitheses. Though I had regretted it at first, I am really finding myself enjoying Wilbur's poems more and more.
Which I'm happy about.
Phew.
I discovered, to my dismay, that his "more mature" poems are...exactly that. More mature. More serious. I don't know why I was expecting to find a plethora of only short, witty poems. However, in reading, re-reading, annotating, and analyzing his other poetry, I have found a deeper respect for Richard Wilbur and am actually quite impressed by his ability to have two completely different, yet both expertly and well-done writing styles.
But for now, I just want to talk about the poems I enjoy the most- the poems from the book I was given, Opposites, More Opposites, and a Few Differences.
Some of them are extremely succinct, yet the shorter poems seem (to me, at least) to be the most funny of the bunch.
For example:
39.
The opposite of opposite?
That's much too difficult, I quit.
Many of his longer "opposite" poems contain more than one opposite for a single item or action. This is sometimes due to the dual meaning of certain words. It makes the poems all the more funny, as they now have two different punch lines.
For example:
1.
The opposite of duck is drake.
Remember that, for heaven’s sake!
One’s female, and the other’s male.
In writing to a drake, don’t fail
To start your letter off, “Dear Sir.”
“Dear Madam” is what ducks prefer.
In snowball fights, the opposite
Of duck, of course, is getting hit.
I think it's fitting that Richard Wilbur wrote an entire book on opposites. He himself seems to have a dual nature, as well as often writing even in his more "serious" poems about opposites and antitheses. Though I had regretted it at first, I am really finding myself enjoying Wilbur's poems more and more.
Which I'm happy about.
Phew.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
In which someone answers the question "Why did the chicken cross the road?" in a complicated way and it blows my mind.
The real simple reason the chicken crossed the road, was because it was there, in its way. The chicken would have gone that route whether or not the road was even there, just because it was the route it was taking. Chickens do not know about sides or reasons to cross.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
In which I share my favorite poem.
You are tired,
(I think)
Of the always puzzle of living and doing;
And so am I.
Come with me, then,
And we'll leave it far and far away—
(Only you and I, understand!)
You have played,
(I think)
And broke the toys you were fondest of,
And are a little tired now;
Tired of things that break, and—
Just tired.
So am I.
But I come with a dream in my eyes tonight,
And knock with a rose at the hopeless gate of your heart—
Open to me!
For I will show you the places Nobody knows,
And, if you like,
The perfect places of Sleep.
Ah, come with me!
I'll blow you that wonderful bubble, the moon,
That floats forever and a day;
I'll sing you the jacinth song
Of the probable stars;
I will attempt the unstartled steppes of dream,
Until I find the Only Flower,
Which shall keep (I think) your little heart
While the moon comes out of the sea.
e.e. cummings
(I think)
Of the always puzzle of living and doing;
And so am I.
Come with me, then,
And we'll leave it far and far away—
(Only you and I, understand!)
You have played,
(I think)
And broke the toys you were fondest of,
And are a little tired now;
Tired of things that break, and—
Just tired.
So am I.
But I come with a dream in my eyes tonight,
And knock with a rose at the hopeless gate of your heart—
Open to me!
For I will show you the places Nobody knows,
And, if you like,
The perfect places of Sleep.
Ah, come with me!
I'll blow you that wonderful bubble, the moon,
That floats forever and a day;
I'll sing you the jacinth song
Of the probable stars;
I will attempt the unstartled steppes of dream,
Until I find the Only Flower,
Which shall keep (I think) your little heart
While the moon comes out of the sea.
e.e. cummings
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