avoidence of responsibilities

Well, that title probably describes this semester in total for me. Among the responsibilities I have avoided over the last 4 months were my classes and the work associated with them. That definitely includes this journal/blog, which I had hoped would have encouraged me to keep up with the readings (fat chance) or at least pay more attention to what I did read or what was said in class. Obviously, it failed to force me to keep up on the readings, as I failed to complete any of the readings this semester, a first for me personally, and not something I am proud of. (However, I do wish to finish Snow, if only to see how Ka manages to screw it all up.) I really wish I could say that it was simply that the reading was extra hard, or that I was disinterested, but instead I can only point the finger at myself for being both over ambitious in my semester class distribution, and unmotivated to do well at anything involving effort. As anyone who has bothered to read this blog (I'm sorry) can attest, I've been rather random in both my update times and subjects, but that has reflected my mind state this semester. Even now I am doing this instead of something else that I need to focus upon, but I guess it just means I get to pull another all-nighter. Anyways, on to what this is supposed to be about, what I learned this semester, I think.

This semester I have learned that I must be more careful about how I speak in class so as to not mislead others into thinking I'm a terrible human being (I would like to clear this up here and now for good: I DON'T SUPPORT GENOCIDE OR SUICIDE!!!) or a giant prick. I have been known to think too much or to reach too far for my arguments, but eh, whatever. After all, it's a little late to try to change that, now isn't it? I also learned that the English habit of degrading others didn't become as obvious until after they had learned about how to build and maintain an empire from the Ottoman empire. It's kinda funny that these people would learn so much and then dump all over their teachers, without thinking about what that says about themselves. I don't know if that makes sense, but whatever, my night is just starting. There is more I have learned from this class, but I can't individualize or de-integrate any of it and put it into coherent or real words here, so I'll just finish by saying that I already miss the class and everybody in it, even the people that drove me nuts.


Peace

NO MORE!!!!!!

First it was cookie monster, now santa?!? I draw the line here and now! I don't care that Santa is big and happy, and I definitely didn't think that Santa was cool cause he was fat! And who cares in the end, really? I mean people are so caught up in showing kids "the right messages" that they forget that you need to condition them to a variety of people and situations. I mean hey, if Santa's happy, who cares if he's fat? When I was skinny, I wasn't happy; however, it wasn't because of my weight, but because of my life at that time. Now I'm heavier, but happier, and I dare someone to try and tell me I'm the size I am because of fictional characters I encountered in my childhood. People are fat predominately because they choose to be. Some people have Thyroid issues, but they too can still stay below 230, and anyone who gets bigger than that is choosing to be that big by eating what they eat and how much they eat. This is just as ridiculous as those people who blame McDonald's or Burger King for their weight problem. I'm sick of hearing about it, and I'm sick of my tax money being used to "treat" such lazy people who are in denial of their own responsibility for their health, and the same goes for those who I have to support through my taxes because of their Emphezema caused by years of chain smoking, or mouth cancer from chew. It was your decision, no one forced the food down your throat or the cigs or chew into your mouth. In conclusion, just own up to the fact that you chose to do stupid shit, and now you have to pay the price, just like the amateur athlete has to deal with arthritis or permanent injury, without government assistance.


peace

PROCRASTINATION!!!!!

Anyone else watch the Nostradamus thing on the Hitl- er the History Channel? I'm watching it right now, and it's crazy ridiculous, linking a picture of a tower in flames to 9/11. I guess I can see the rather hazy link, but the picture could also be representative of Nationalistic Isolationism and the eventual self-destruction of those nations that practice this foreign policy. The show is also saying that he predicted an Islamic invasion of Europe, and saying that it relates to now, even though the Ottoman Empire was strong at this time. I'm not saying he couldn't have maybe been a prophet, I'm just saying that people have a tendency to see what it is they are looking for. Such as authors that are looking for oppression... anyways, I need to actually start those essays...

EDIT: some guy on the show just said that 9/11 is THE biggest event in world history. period. Are these people serious???

EDIT 2: One of the ladies on the show just now blamed God, no matter your religion, for terrorism and global warming. *sigh* now back to work.

peace


p.s. a couplet I have seen in the shadows of my ceiling:
"The blind followers of the image shall be shown the way
the pictures, moving, disable the men, the words being inane."

these people know not the difference between their holes.

Been awhile for one of these

Halo 3 is fucking awesome!!! If you play the campaign, take the time to go find the IWHBYD skull, as it changes a lot of the interactions with NPC's outside of cutscenes. It gets pretty funny listening to marines, elite, and your enemies scream all kinds of madness. Really, just go get all the skulls and play with them until you find your favorite modification. Mine is: Gold Skulls: Tough Luck, Catch, Famine, Thunderstorm, and Mythic; Silver Skulls: Grunt Birthday Party, Cowbell, and IWHBYD. This combo provides lots of fun events, but normally results in grunts blowing up everything explosive in the level, as well as near-immortal hunters and high level brutes. Have fun blasting everything that moves!!!


peace (lol)

9 parts of desire part 1

I'm only through the first chapter, but this book so far to me is striking a weird balance between criticizing the way Islam has been used to oppress, while also saying that those same actions are enabling the women to live better and more complete lives. The duality that comes across because of this seems to exemplify the feelings of the women she deals with. Or maybe that's just me misunderstanding it all. I don't know. But I'll be updating again when I finish chapter 2.

Lady M

The letters of Lady Montagu are very interesting and informative, and her observations are detailed and actually useful, especially in comparison to some of the other authors we've read. Especially interesting to me is her description of the interactions between the women in the bathhouse. I believe she is right in her observation that women's faces would be less important if they always were naked. In her description, she also tells of how accommodating the other women were to her western sensibilities and initial modesty. Her interactions at the bath are basically
identical to what she is used to having in a coffee house in England, except without any fear of men overhearing or interjecting their opinions.


peace.

Orientalism? In these? never... ;)

I don't know about anybody else, but I definitely see orientalist tendencies popping up all over in these pieces, except for the one by Dallam. In all the others there is a palpable "us v. them" attitude that taints every observation, turns every moment of praise into a double edged sword of commentary on England. Also, the last two pieces, especially the piece by Bashaw, have such a touch of the remarkable as to call into question the reliability of the information that is not couched in religious disgust or backhanded compliments. I can't think of anything else to write right now, but I may edit this tomorrow to include more.


peace

Travel Plans

I guess that my biggest hope in taking this class is to see exactly what not to do if I ever do become a professional writer. I hope that if I am so blessed, that I will not write about anything with such blatant disregard for the truth or take anything as out of context as some of these early examples do. However, I also hope to be able to travel as far as these people did. I also hope to learn a little bit about the culture.

As for my personal experience with people from other cultures, I went to West Bloomfield schools for 6 and a half years, which exposed me to many people from diverse cultures, including Islamic students, Indian students, Jewish students, and Gifted students. These interactions have helped to shape me into who I am today, and my attitude towards other cultures is very much a positive one. However, I have found that I myself have a nasty prejudice against English writers that write about other cultures.

Hmmm...

Blount, I admire that you do not wish to write about the turks without visiting the Ottoman Empire, but shut up about your reasoning already. Also, I like that you said that they were civilized in a different, but not necessarily better or worse way.

Blount, buddy, you lost my respect now in your military section. You didn't go looking to find out the truth about what happens to conquered areas, and instead wrote about what you had heard. I highly doubt that the actions you seem to look down upon in this section are not the norm in all empires of this time.

Ok, now I'm getting sick to my stomach from the lies you're shoving down my throat. I mean, c'mon now, do a little bit of truth telling instead of truth twisting. Also, while I like the concrete imagery, I cannot condone the "These fair works so caused, seemed to me like dainty fruit growing on a dunghill." comment. I understand where your views are coming from, but I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Now I understand why we are reading this: to show a perfect example of the orientalist style of travel writing. It is remarkable to me to see the similarities between Blount and Biddulph in their writing styles: condescending and propagandistic about the Ottoman Empire. Any credit Blount gives to the Muslim peoples, he immediately follows it with the explanation that it was taken from elsewhere and made into a superstition or a habitual action.

I'm glad to be done with that. The misrepresentation of Islam and Islamic rule is rampant, and quite obviously intentional, as the Jewish peoples are shown in a much more favorable light than the Muslim, most likely because they were non-threatening to England and the Christian world.

peace.

Forza 2

Forza 2, for the 360, is a blast to play so far. I've played it for about 9 hours so far, and I love the cars I've unlocked so far. My baby is a 67 Shelby Mustang with a few decals over a nice dark green. I also like the difference in handling between a front wheel drive, a rear wheel drive, and a all wheel drive. I also was surprised at the beefiness of the audio when it came to the old school muscle cars. I'm not a tuner type, so i couldn't tell you if the performance is realistic, but the speed blur is nearly perfect, as are the graphics as a whole. Showing off your car is enjoyable, as is driving it, although after some upgrades it can become more of a game to see if you can lap the entire field before the end of the race. Another nice feature of the game is the ability to tweak the difficulty in various areas of gameplay, from the AI's ability level, to the use of stabilizing systems. The changes to the difficulty are given extra weight in that they affect your monetary reward at the end of each race; for example, with the easiest settings on, you lose about 20% of your winnings, in addition to the cost of any repairs needed to your car. I'll keep playing to see if the later portion of the game is as enjoyable, but I think that's a given.
9 out of 10 only because of some strange speed wobbles that tend to hit late race when the AI is charging hard.

Confusion

I don't know about anyone else, but I can't find the second reading for tomorrow's class. Also, I don't know if I'm supposed to read the part about the captured sailor or whatever. I hope not, because 10-12 pages of olde english is a fun, but eye strain inducing, challenge to read. That said, I am through the account of the organ maker guy, Thomas Dallam, and I found it to be enlightening that the Muslim people openly welcomed and embraced those that could do things that they could not; this in comparison to the reaction of the Christian nations, which tended to be much more ethnocentric and exclusionary in their actions towards their "others".
It seems to me that the Islamic ideal of inclusion but not of forced change is something that America originally aspired to, but ultimately fell short of implementing. Of course, this is just a generalization based on the limited knowledge I have gained so far in class, but I still find it an interesting parallel to make note of. So I have made note of it. Anyway, I'm signing off now to watch some football and read some Shakespeare. Peace.

EDIT: I am dumb but found the other part of the reading. This piece is very religiously flavored, with a severely negative view of Islamic culture and history. Even his observations of his fellow Christians are negatively influenced by his religious views.