the Beginings of Installment 2

Regarding.
"Each one, Teach one...
Not just surviving, but succeeding!

we hear the call,
above the sound of the bouncing ball,
above the groan of a city's deathly pall,
above the old mercedes' second stall.
we hear the call,
"Above all, Stand tall"

we know the road
that it will be long and the burden is old,
that it is well-weathered, as the story is told
that it is a gauntlet, inviting mockers to goad,
we know the road,
that he who finishes, to him glory is bestowed.

we have seen the truth
of selfish men, ruth-
-less in their pursuit of it,
of real MEN and their sacrifice, legit-
-imated by those words in their remembrance,
Each one, Teach one.

Now as I look,
I see the old helping, teaching the young,
lifting, guiding the son,
to what great heights?
to such great heights.
success is spelled out by the light in the sky
which the eye
of the young now spys.
But not without the height afforded by the old,
the surviver, the succeeder, the teacher

Smile, i do,
hoping that the young will do
the same someday too.

first installment. Real Talk 101

i got some fire i need to spit:


The MAN says "take note"
and as i look down at these keys
i realize it could be any note from a flat to d.

The MAN says "here are the keys"
and as i feel the keys in my pocket
i realize keys can open a door- but they also lock it.

The MAN says "follow your heart"
and as i look into my heart
i realize what is in a heart worth following?
the urge to surge forward after these mortal things?

And i realize "follow your heart"
should read, "follow your heART"
for the beat that it comprises
is your life that rises-
and falls accordingly
if only
if only Kanye wasnt so heartless.
only the woman?
NO
just as two hearts must make one.
only TWO hearts can make none.
Kwest knows that it takes two to tango.

moving on.

the lyrical idiocy of the modern world.
using the spoken word as pearls
given to swine.

the light that did show
dims to a faint glow
woah
the foe
is greater now the befo
integrating that which once was light, now a light called "notlight", into the fight for the mind
inspite
of resistance (which is futile)
but will continue without respite.

and we all respond with "Aight."
AIGHT?
aight to the word nigger, aight to the word rape, and these words in their full meaning thrive. wherein the first can be defined by the second in regards to culture and life.
aight to the word Change. Change here meaning the attempt to change standards to coincide with the downward flow of secular culture.
aight to poverty
aight to suffering. not personal of course, but the course is set before us
a four course meal,
while others beg to eat that orange peel
we say aight.
well wat if you died tonight.
aight then?
but that is why i pick up this pen.
provoked thought
fighting against the rot
of our minds
overtime.
the melting, bubbling, fermenting, churning pot that is the mind, my mind.
it can find some form here.
finale

in this season of cheer
let love peace and ___ be near
why blank?
go into your mindtank
insert what for you should be near
that hasnt been so far this year.
and then take it from this paper here
transfered to the life you live
transfered to the vibe you give
transfered.
be careful not to let it wane,
as time progesses forward again
be your own judge, throw down the gavel
dont lose your head, keep it level
aight--HA see even i do too.
its enough here that i preached at you.
but truly to myself most of all.
like paul-
LLWG
JSSG
-dweazy

Break...Awesome! but...

Hey yo watt up world. this is dweazy actually taking up the prof's recommendation to keep the blog alive...who would've guessed. HAHA But no, real talk, i do enjoy writing as a past time, i just never have enough past time at hand to allocate some to free writing. UNTIL NOW. Christmas Break 2008. For the last four years of my life this time has been filled with increased working hours at the local Nugget supermarket here in town. And then there was the annual associate appreciation party, which was always somewhat weird because it was the one time that you could see everyone outside of the work environment. Those of you out there that work in the corporate world know exactly what im talking about. But the party was always cool because there was always good food, good prizes, somewhat good entertainment, and the ALWAYS good bonus check. But this christmas break, there is none of that for me. Lament not! Change is good. I stopped working for Nugget Market inc. in august of this year because the demands of school as well as the rigors of football devoured all my time and energy. Nugget and I parted ways on good terms and i could probably get my job back if i really needed too. The current economy however has prompted the corporate office to put a freeze on hiring for the time being. At least that is the word on the streets...
Anyway, here i am. unemployed, with loads of time on my hands. Thus my current situation...sitting in my empty apartment, listening to my itunes on shuffle, while writing this blog. The song currently playing is "DJ play a love song" by Jamie Foxx Feat. Twista, from his album "Unpredictable". I recommend it to any and all. OK I'm about to watch the new house episode.....OK just finished it. Good episode. House actually attempts to be nice. But Foreman made out with the bisexual (albeit hot) doctor at the end... i expect better Foreman....
Anyway, enough rambling. To sum it all up, its been awhile since Ive had this much time on my hands, but its not all bad. this free time allows me time to actually think. Life flies by at shutter speeds unimaginable, and often life thrives on more impulse then thoughtfulness. This holiday season i aim to think on this past quarter; what i can take away from it, what i should leave behind. Also i aim to be a more thoughtful person. In this time of giving, i hope to learn to better give through the way i live.
That's enough for now. its been good. i aim to make a habit of placing my thoughts here on the world wide web for all to see if they wish... its also a place to save them and look back. But now i outta here. I'm gonna go get busy doing pretty much nothing. Peace salaam asalyakem shalom....

The END has come my friends...Let us REFLECT

Well, its been a jam-packed 10 weeks to say the least. As i look back, what first comes to mind? Probably observing all the faces on the first...no the second day, which was my first. And at that time i thought to my self, for i remember thinking the thought, "which ones out of this group will i know that much better at the end?" And now, i realize what i did realize then: It is the travesty of the quarter system; relationships only truly begin to bud. And now at the end i am again reaffirmed i nthe fact. A few good friends i have made, a few more aquaintances...but in the end, almost all these fellow students i would have liked to get to know better, but this is the world that we live in. Any way, since the full reflection on this blog is optional, i just figured id share a few thoughts instead, not necessarily linked with the final group project.
The truth of it is simple. to learn, one must humble himself enough to admit that there is still material yet to be learned. Although this may seem an obvious fact at first but when it comes down to it, in the classroom this is why some students do fail. Realizing that you actually have things, practical things, that you need to learn will make all the difference. When i started here at UCD about a year and a third ago now, i hadnt learned this lesson. Now, i know, i have learned the hard way, but im better for it. so, i thank Mr. Hageman, for his teaching this quarter, i thank all my fellow students for a great quarter. Hit me up! ill be around.
PEACE! and merry christmas people! Here is the link to our online youtube final group project:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkfpWm2m8pc

Antigony..agony as an afterthought?

"make straight your own path to destiny."
this is a bold statement by one Antigone. In these first 400 lines or so, the most consistent picture we see of Antigone is one of intense familial loyalty. Albeit her family, being far from a model of success as one, doesnt deserve that loyalty from her. Nonetheless, antigone develops a rash judgement to risk her life to bury her already disceased brother. In this time and age, the authority of women is pretty much nothing, so any action taken by a women will be looked upon much differently then if a male did the act. The voice of reason spoken into Antigone's seeming madness comes from her sister, the only family that she has left. This is where i belive greif has clouded antigone's better judgement. In her passion, she disregards the fact that she should probably try to salvage the only family remaining to her and not sign her own death warrant. But even after her sister ismene's many admonishments and warnings, this is what Antigone says to her, "make straight your own path to destiny." Destiny is the interesting word her, besides this statement sounding like it is straight from Obama's speech at Grant Park, it carries significance if we note the religous status of the times. The Gods and their relationship with the mortals was much like a dog and his master. If the dog disobeys, he may get a warning. Does it again and there is punishment. People were kept in fear of the Gods and took actions of nature or stupidity in this case to be messages directly from the Gods. In her statement ..."your own path to destiny.", antigone seems to suggest that possibly their entire family are doomed to similar fates of death, thus she would pefer to go out doing right by her brother. Thus all in all, from my prespective, Antigone's actions are rash and hasty. But i also take into account her emotional state and the times. So in a way it is understandable but not beleivable; such tragedy compiled all at once seems to be a thing of the theatre more prominently during those times.

1 friend request...DENIED

Now having a picture of the real and true bartleby, as described by the big boss dog, i am not sure if he would be one such a person to set up and use a facebook account. But i will forgo my opinion and imagine bartlebys facebook. Pertaining to the narration of the story and the method with which the boss does find out most of the information about his scriveners, it is aonly appropriate that i take on the boss and his visage and one day happen upon Bartlebys desk and his laptop which he forgot to shut down. Minimized window....Facebook-Bartleby-Profile...
The first thing that meets the eye and struck me(the boss) as particularly odd was his profile picture. It was a picture of the meeting of two walls into a corner and a hand in the foreground for perspective. Bartlebys hand, i imagine. Oh, i must mention that i am looking back on this in hindsight with a slightly tainted vision of things given Bartlebys recent passing. His status on the last day was "I WILL NEVER". when i looked on his status history, almost each one for about four months preceding was "i would prefer not to". which, now makes my laugh as i reminesce on my interactions with him. moving down to the friends list i was both shocked and then not so shocked to find that he only had 10 friends. Ginger Nut, turkey, and nippers i saw there, and the rest seemed to be family. On the describe your friends application Bartleby was in one word,"passive". I disagreed with that but for the lack of a better word, i could see how one would say so. And as i continued to browse i was overcome with sadness and remorse for Bartleby in his death. I wished he were still here, although some of his mannerisms i could do without. I felt a surge of much feared guilt, that perhaps i could be in part responsible for bartlebys death, or on the other side that i could have been the catalyst that could have saved him. But no. i consoled myself in the fact that i am only a man doing his work and i should not be to blame. i could read no longer so i logged off.

Gods Grandeur [revised]
The line “Why do men then now not reck his rod?” from Hopkins’ Gods Grandeur has undergone much scrutiny over time. Some believe that this line as the main turning point, or vulta, of the poem, serves to show that this poem is centered in God and his relationship to his people. They see this poem being full of poignantly biblical imagery to reach the overall theme of the poem, which is the unconditional, ultimate love of God for his creation., Others see God as man and science in the naturalistic sense. Through some careful analysis, I believe that it becomes plain that Hopkins is indeed showing the love of a creator for his creation. As we work through the poem discussing diction, symbolism, and meter, the claims of a supernatural inspiration for Hopkins work will become clearer.
Gods Grandeur is filled with symbols which help to express the anguish of the worlds darkness and the joy of knowing God loves in the world even though people forget him. The sacrifice of Christ and Gods ongoing work of creation is eluded to in line one of the poem. Hopkins refers to the world as charged by the glory of God. “Charged” conjures images of electricity or a spark that implies that the world is continuously vitalized by the energy that is God. In lines three and four, Hopkins speaks of Christ as oil, “gather[ing] to greatness, like the ooze of oil”. At the time of Christ oil was at its height in value. And in the next line, “Crushed”. Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for humanity when he was “crushed” on the cross.
Following these symbols showing Gods awesomeness, Hopkins contrasts them with symbolisms of mans delinquency in forgetting God and his goodness. To show this Hopkins uses the demise of the world when people live for themselves. Here is the turning point marked by the line, “Why do men then now not reck his rod?”. Reck his rod here refers to heeding the authority of God according to our Norton literature anthology. Following this question Hopkins answers it as he laments the “generations” that have “seared with trade;bleared, smeared with toil”. The natural world is literally “smeared” and wears the “smudge” of mans industry, so much so that now even the “soil” is bare. And her Hopkins also comment on the “soil” or the “soul” of man. All these endeavors have made mans soul bare and have shod his feet without him knowing. “nor can foot feel, being shod”. The opposite of shod or bound is freedom. Man has unknowingly gone into slavery away from the freedom found in God. “Just as feet with shoes cannot feel the earth, so a soul distracted loses its closeness to God.”
In the concluding sestet, Hopkins uses bright and refreshing imagery to show that despite mans shortcomings, God still loves the world deeply. After seeing the mans destruction of the natural world, Hopkins looks to the supernatural Lord in whom, “nature is never spent”. And in that Lord lives “dearest freshness”, speaking to the eternal, never dying aspect of God. Although humans are capable of great destruction, we cannot destroy our inner nature, which mirrors the creator. Hopkins strengthens his image of Gods supernatural power in this final sestet by rhyming in a more soft way. By changing to the more soothing, C D C D C D rhyme scheme. Whereas in the first section the pattern is A B B A A B B A, a rhythm showing the pattern of mans folly, this final departure from that pattern gives a sense of reassurance and comfort even in the face of mans destruction. In the final two lines of the poem, Hopkins uses the symbol of the bird to describe God’s care for the world. God, over the world, “broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings”. Hopkins uses the image of a bird, nesting over her young, keeping them warm and embracing them with her wings, to describe God’s unconditional love for mankind. In this we can truly see, I believe, Hopkins true mission in this poem. He has taken a seat in the theater playing the feature titled, “the tumultuous relation between the Creator and the created”. In that last line we find that Hopkins has finished the film and “ah! Bright wings.” The film has a happy ending.
“God’s Grandeur” finds fulfillment of mankind’s universal desire for unconditional love. The symbols and word choice, are used throughout the poem help to illustrate the poem’s central idea. Though the world turns its back on the glory of God, God continues to embrace and soothe the world. Dark and painful symbols, and unpleasant cacophony help to illustrate the pain and great error in humanity turning its back on God. Similarly, beautiful symbols of the natural world, euphony, and smooth, flowing meter add to the poem’s rejoicing in God’s unconditional love for the world.