lights out

Hey to anyone still updating/checking the blog spot..

I'm three finals down, three to go. It's funny, 4 weeks ago I felt like the semester would never end, 2 weeks ago I moved to Connecticut and wished my life would end. Am I the only one who felt like it all went too fast? I can't believe I'm stuck in the middle of finals already. 

I am kind of sad this semester went by so quickly... and disappointed. I have become so used to posting and reading/ waiting for everyone else to post, I'm finding myself sad that it's all over. I really enjoyed everyone in this class semester... despite random sexist comments, tough reading material, and having to rearrange desks every class! 

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks and good luck. You have all been fantastic and I'll miss those of you who are lucky enough to be graduating (i.e. Terance. and for the record, I still think your t-shirt with the cat and the turd is gayer than Wham! Lovekins)

Final Project

skipnotes...

has anyone noticed the footnotes? 

I have been reading through them and noticed that the Authors name is spelled out by the first letter of ever footnote between 27 and 42. Upon completion of his name spelling, the footnote reads "Then in fact all Troy seemed to me to sink into flames... and Carthage must be destroyed" (37).  Any thoughts? Is he turning himself into an unseen character? 

New and Improved SKIP IT from Tiger Toys...

Jessica is frustrated. She has read through it all and pushed herself and said "Danielewski is the anti-christ". Jessica has skipped everything after the first two times of skipping nothing (Jessica doesn't like to not understand). Jessica decided to stop reading the footnotes; she found them an annoyance as she started checking them for complete understanding. Jessica has OCD. Jessica does not appreciate Danielewski's vision at the moment. 

Jessica however, loves the book. She LOVES the fact that when characters are panicked or trying to get away from something there are only one or two words on a page causing her to flip pages quicker. She thought that was a brilliant move by the author. Jessica did not read any of the red print as it made her eyes hurt because she lost her glasses and found it embarrassing to ask her younger classmates to help her read it. Jessica felt old. She HATED the sections about Echo. She found them boring and skipped through all of it. She also didn't read the lists of names. Jessica liked that some of the footnotes were turned into waistnotes but only turned to novel to see what they were and she moved along and chuckled at her discovery of "waistnotes". She is still chuckling. 

Jessica had a phone call while writing this blog and during the call referred to herself in the 3rd person and decided that it was time to stop. 

Video

"Architectural space certainly exists independently of the casual perceiver, and has centres and direction of its own." I think the house holds a different experience for each person in it; however, the one common feature the house holds for each person is its ability to create a sense of smallness and panic.

A House is not a House

 I think the house represents the family dynamic of the 21st century. The dissolution of a solid relationships within this century is expressed through the ever growing home. Maintenance of the outward appearance rather than the structure itself is causing a chasm between the individuals sleeping under its roof. 

The expansion and maze of the home is for me, the hopelessness of individuals that cannot find a means of communication. I like Prof. Lennon's example, I think the house is a metaphor for failing relationships. Constantly banging your head against a wall until it breaks only to find another wall standing strong behind it. 

But maybe the house doesn't represent something negative at all. Perhaps the house is the beginning of something new, a relationship perhaps. Long dark hallways, fear of the unknown, leaving the safety of the living room to explore something just to understand it. 

OR can the house just represent the individual? The experience of life, death, love, whatever...

House

I imagined the house as part of a levittown street. Perfect on the outside but horribly dysfunctional and corrupt on the inside. "Karen spent every night of her fourteenth year composing that smile in front of a blue plastic handled mirror" (58). I can't imaging a has-been model living anywhere that doesn't aesthetically fit in with it's surroundings. 

Character Sketch

Karen:

Karen is in denial. She is consistent in trying to maintain a sense of normalcy throughout. "She challenged its irregularity by introducing normalcy: her friends presence, bookshelves, peaceful conversation" (37). 

I found her general existence a falsity. I don't believe anything she has to say and her emotion is meaningless after finding out that she has been unfaithful: "Refer to footnotes 19 and 20 concerning Karen's infidelities" (83). 

I hate her character. She seems like a cookie-cutter wife/mother with no regard for anything but herself and her appearance. "I don't care, stop drilling holes in my walls" (30) 

visual literature

i think this novel is something that should be studied over the course of a semester. I have been reading it for 5 days and literally can not get past page 46. i want to sit in a normal sized bathroom and turn on the water and sit in a normal sized tub... only to rock back and forth....

the stories are fantastically interesting, but i can help but read through everything, which then equates to a poor reading of everything which then forces me to re-read everything all over again. 

my thoughts at 1am:

This book wasn't meant to be read, only seen.

argh..

This book makes me feel stupid. 

i have read and re-read 90 pages. 

      i have 

  s    

         k    

 i   

         p 

p  

      e

      d 

through and  

jumped 

around and i still feel dumb. i'm not quite sure i am reading this correctly... or have i been reading incorrectly my whole life?! 

i have lost track of characters and am finding myself reading the beginning over again to re-learn who everyone is. 

i am falling behind in the reading and am freaked out. 

I have never read anything so harrowing. 

The 21st century is kicking my rear.

Can anyone offer any insight or help get through this properly?!

selling bombs

Does anyone else feel like Banksy has "sold out"? Is there a connection between Banksy's selling his tags to the social elite and "Greenburg" being sold the financially elite? This leads to the question : what is the point of graffiti? Are there class boundaries for the writers? Or can Donald Trump decide to "bomb" the West Side Highway and be respected among the rest of the graffiti writers?

complicated houses...

I think House of Leaves is fantastic, smart, and extremely creepy... but just a thought:

In a time when society is based around convenience and easy entertainment, to put forth a book so aesthetically complicated seems like a risk. If people today could have coffee through I.Vs to get to work faster, they would. I just can't imagine people flipping this book upside down and right side up on the F into the city. Was this a smart move by the artist? Or does it even matter? 

In response to Barry's last post:

I love the connection to Memento; I agree, I was equally as frustrated. I think it's the point, however. This play is forcing intellect; it can't simply be read for entertainment (like other stories). I think this is the brilliance of the writing. Like the gibbet story, this play is a puzzle.. the only difference: there are too many solutions, too many opinions, to many ways to analyze. 

A couple of thoughts I wanted to bring up in class:

-I thought it interesting how Michal, childlike by nature, killed children.  

-Why the murder of children? It is representational of the death of innocence?

Tonight's class was great. I love the free discussion; it is great to shoot ideas without the threat of torture.

kill the babies

So I've been mulling over killing babies. Well, only the babies that are planning on killing me from their pastel colored cribs. I feel like I'm in a pool of jelly; it feels interesting, but I'm not quite sure it's normal. 

Perhaps I'm a conditioned American; aren't we guilty until proven innocent? I feel like the giant pillowman killing children is underestimating humanity. Do people not have a choice when it comes to their destiny? (and yes, I know using 'destiny' is pathetic)

Anyhow, my final thought: if we were to adopt the pillowman method, America would have to rewrite it's Constitution. Because unless its it the fine print, killing babies (even evil ones) isn't exactly what Framers had in mind. 

PS: Prof. Lennon, I definitely had the same Ghostbuster imagery. 

playing catch-up

I've been catching up on everyone's blog tonight... "Rob Boombotz" said something that stood out: military personnel drop what they are doing just to do something for our country. Does that imply that it is a completely selfless act?

Hm... Some thoughts on that:

Do soldiers not get reimbursement for joining and serving in the armed forces? Isn't it their chosen profession, fatal outcome or not? I don't mean to sound anti-military, but couldn't I also say that I stop my everyday life to put my life and health at risk when I walk into Beth Israel Medical Center? Because I come face to face with the most egregious disease processes in the tri-state area, shouldn't I be hailed as an American Hero? 

What makes the military so honorable? Is it because they risk their lives for the rest of America? Interesting, I've never killed someone for the health and progress of humanity... isn't that as equally as honorable? If so, why aren't there graphic novels written about the selfless Radiographer? 

rest your head on this pillow

I have been completely engulfed by this play. It is has just the right amount of humor and darkness to moisten my literary palate. I agree with Professor Lennon, at some points I was so wrapped up in the individual stories told by characters I couldn't remember what I was reading. 

My only complaint: It was slightly predictable. From Katurain's false admission, I could feel where the play was going. Regardless, I feel like this would be a show I would love to watch and hate to see end. 

I would love to hear how everyone in class connects this work with the work we have read. Or can we connect it? Interesting....

Highway to Hell...

Is this 21st Century intellect?

scene 1

Scene 1: Incredibly mind-blowing!! 

the back and forth banter throughout this scene forces the reader to place himself in the cell with Katurian. Smelling his faint odor caused by fear, for himself and his brother. While reading this work, I was bombarded with lines from Orwell's 1984. So enthralled by the work, I had to force myself to put the play down in order to get work done from my other classes. 

Anyhow, so far... it's mind-blowing!!

my midterm questions:

Does war change you? If so, how?

Why do people join the military?

What are the criteria for a "good" soldier? 

How does media impact public opinion of the war?

where is my art?

I've been thinking about literature in the 21st century and the comments made last class. Is war really what has become the framework for literature for this century? Is today's art the reflection of the art of survival? Is the beauty of all the art we read found in the triumph of one life over another?

I'm not quite sure I like how art is transforming. I feel like we are regressing; this literature is dominated by macho, brut, male perspective. Where are the female artists? Have they all crawled under a house after swallowing handfuls of sleeping pills? Where are the Marianne Moores and Gertrude Steins of our generation? Have their voices been crushed under the weight of fallen towers?