Zen Career Guide

"People who view the current game as placing human survival in jeopardy are attempting to rewrite the game rules. They see the current consumption and hoarding model as a dead end, leading to the end of all play on earth. Increased population and the fact that more and more people from traditional cultures are playing this game every year put tremendous pressure on the earth's life support system(221)."

The figurative language in this book is a bit overcoming, but that is to be expected because the title of the book is Zen and the Art of Making a Living. The entire 573 page books is all about how to make a career off of being a creative human being. Essentially the book contains tricks to creating a calm successful career in various areas of art. And since I would like to become a photographer this book is coming in pretty handy. A lot of people assume that majoring in art or attending an art college or university contains aspects of egotism, but after sifting through this book, which seems to resemble an encyclopedia, egotism isn't the first thing that comes to mind when considering art. This book talks about how people view the working world. How the average Joe would think purely about money, but in actuality (according to the Zen guide) money is the last thing people should think about when considering a job. As the good Zen book says, money will follow joy must come first. Most people try to "rewrite the game rules" but if we just follow them and pay our dues, giving and taking when necessary people will put less pressure on the worlds support system. Instead of earning as much as we can as fast as we can people should focus of joy and center towards happiness. By doing this not only will everyone be happy but the world will fall into a more balanced equilibrium.

Recap of Atonement

I've just recently finished reading Atonement and cannot get over how much I love it. Yes, it does fall under the classic love novel category but it's so much more then a love story. The whole while I was reading it I couldn't help but feel the deep regret and remorse Briony felt her entire latter half life. The fact that her sisters life and the one man she ever truly loved was ruined because of her overpowers the reader and captivates them into a series of emotions. The ability Ian McEwen, the author, has to characterize each character in the story, the reader feels as if they are more than characters, but living breathing people. Even from the first sentence, "The play for which Briony had designed the posters, programs and tickets, constructed sales booth out of a folding screen tipped on its side, and lined the collected box in red crepe paper(1)..." Without even allowing Briony lines the audience can already tell what kind of people she is going to be. An overly tedious child who must have great talent because, at only age 11, she has written a play, made the tickets posters, and even a sales booth. It's novels like Atonement that really inspire me to try to write, or even try my hardest at anything. The fact that one person's mind has the ability to create not only a story but the characters inside of it with ridiculous believability just amazes me, and makes me hope that some day I could put this much effort into whatever career I have when I'm older.

Three Cups of Tea

"I was born between trying quickly to learn how to pray like a Shia and making the most of my opportunity to study the ancient Buddhist woodcarvings on the walls," Mortenson says. If the Balti respected Buddhism swastikas and wheels of life, Mortenson decided, as his eye lingered on the carvings, they were probably tolerant enough to endure an infidel praying as a tailor had taught him(142)."


This book, Three Cups of Tea, by co-authors (I think...) Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, is essentially about a man, Mortenson, who sort of accidentally came across an unlucky and unfortunate Pakistan village in Karaokam mountains. Mortenson tried to climb Mt. Everest but failed and after staying in this village is compelled to help out the inhabitants. Mortenson tells the villiagers that he will return someday and do whatever he can to help, and in his case he helps by building a school. Starting with just one and than moving onward to build up to fifty-five schools. A majority of the schools are for women, which amazingly touches the readers. The conditions for women in Pakistan along with other middle eastern countries are utterly horrible. Although they are slowly growing better the way that women are treated is both shocking and horribly depressing. This book reminds me of a little of the Kite Runner, but has tremendous resemblance with A Thousand Splendid Suns. Having already read both of those books I consider myself at least slightly educated about the conditions of life over seas, and too read another book about the trials these people deal with it really makes me think about what I have and how lucky I really am. I mean, I can leave my house alone and return whenever I want, I have independence that other women in other countries just don't have and it really makes me sad to think that.

Mr. Dust

"Five...Four... For a full second his mind is frozen. Three... And it's then that Giovanni lets out a squeal of laughter, kicks himself upright, and throws himself toward the crowd. Two... Ann reaches out to catch him, presses him back into Cosmo's chest, and the two of them watch as the baby raises his hand in a gesture of benediction, forefinger to thumb, blessing the carnival before him-the grimacing faces, the misshapen, the empy, the parodic, the profane, as if he can see through it all to the sacrd life beneath. One... Behind him there reads a field of blue enamel, golden stars (270)."

This book is called The Madonna of Las Vegas and is written by the author Gregory Blake Smith. The book is a story about a mans life and his realization of his shortcomings as the new millennium approaches. The main character Cosmo Dust (yes that's his name) hates that the ages are changing and catches himself lost in the casino life, especially one that is trying to recreate the Sistine Chapel in their ceiling. Cosmo is a painter, and he is good. But recreating a world renown timeless classic? A work of art that is so amazing people travel from all over the world to just crank their necks and absorb the aged talents of Michelangelo? Oh dear. Cosmo is about to quit his job and just move into something that actually means something to him, rather than art that is a copy. But unfortunately he becomes a suspect for a murder. Cosmo goes on somewhat of an adventure mixing ties with the local Vegas mod scene and all hell seems to break loose. All in all Cosmo makes is to the countdown and eludes himself from a very messy crime investigation. I really enjoyed reading this book and I really enjoys the ending, which is the passage I choose. Whilst reading the book the reader sort of feels like everything is a fast pasted rat race, if you will. But the end ties to an calm realizational moment. It's the beginning of a new year, filled with new year resolutions and promises of a better year. Cosmo Dust starts a new year, a new adventure while also saying goodbye to the last.

Buccaneers and Privateers

"From the decline of the Roman Empire until 1500, Europe was burdened by the termoil of endless and pointless wars in which rival noble factions fought one another to exhustion in a cimpetition to expand their personal power. Imperial rulers enlarged their domains primarily by pushing their borders outward throug the military conquest of contiguous territories. The vaguished people and thier lands were brought under the central military and administrative control of the city in which the ruling king or emperor resided (58)."

You always talk to us about how we need to sound knowledgable and aware of all apsect of the subjects we talk about, and as I read through this book it became very clear how helpful it is to sound like you know what you're talking about. This passage is, again, from the book Agenda for a New Economy and as you can see this passage doesn't really have much to do with today's American economy. But that's the novel of it all. The author is giving his audience a sort of background foundation for everything he talks about so that his audience not only trusts what the author tells them, but also has the ability to follow along to all of the reverences. This whole chapter talks about ancient economies and how they grew and didn't grow. All of this comes in really handy knowing that I need to sound this knowledgable in my research paper, and seeing all of this in practice the task itself doesn't feel as daunting. If this author can write an entire "reseach" book than I can certainly write a six page research paper.

Atonement

"But hidden drawers, lockable diaries, and cryptographic systems could not conceal from Briony the simple truth: She had no secrets. Her wish for a harmonious, organized world denied her the reckless possibilities of wrongdoing. Mayhem and destruction were too chaotic for her tastes, and she did not have it in her to be cruel. ... Nothing in her life was sufficiently interesting or shameful to merit hiding; no one knew about the squirrel's skull beneath her bed, but no one wanted to know(5)."

I feel like everyone wants there life to have some aspect of drama, and mystery. This character Briony, her entire life is orderly and in place, she knows where everything is, behaves well, and has an encredible brain. But sometimes that's not enough, in many cases I would say that's not enough. But this passage doesn't only chacaterize, this passage forshadows much of the plot of the book. "Her wish for a harmonious, organized world denied her the reckless possibilities of wrongdoing." Except, everything that happens in this story is because of Briony's wrongdoing. Even her organization couldn't keep her away from making this mistake. Her love for writing and fictionizing blinds her from the reality of something she "think" she see's. "Nothing in her life was sufficiantly interesting or shameful to marit hiding..." Practically every word in the quote foreshadows. It's sort of amazing how some authors have that much control over their writing. I remember reading Toni Morrison both freshman year and last year and being awed by her power over her writing. It just amazes me bacuase when you read something you don't really think about how much work it is to write successfully, meaning that a lot of people don't realize what writing is and perhaps that's because it's in some ways an intangeable thing.

Agenda for a New Economy

"If we look upstream for the ultimate cause of the economic crisis that is tearing so many lives apart, we find an illusion: the belied that money-a mere number created with a simple accounting entry that has no reality outside the human mind- is wealth. Because money represents a claim on so many things essential to our survival and well-being, we easily slip into evaluating economic performance in terms of the rate of financial return to money, essentially the rate at which money is growing, rather than by the economy's contribution to the long-term well-being of people and nature(1)."

As it were, one of my moms friends is out of town fo thanksgiving and she's having me take care of her house and her dogs. And as I was feeding the dogs I noticed a book she had about the economy. And since I really know nothing about the economy and our economic crisis I descided to pick it up and give a quick look over. So, I had just finished woking on my reasearch paper and was having a little bit of trouble thinking up an intoduction, then I took a short break and picked up this book. I probably wouldn't have ever expected the intoduction to have this sort of Dr. Phil sounding tone to it. And in some ways it didn't really relate to the rest of the chapter. Of course, there were the obvious key points made; this illusion that we create about money amounting to our wealth, I get that part, but then when they talk about how this illusion effects the well-being of not only people but of nature as well... I didn't really see were that part was coming from. But this sort of got me think, an introduction doesn't only talk about the key points of the rest of the paper or book, it also has to draw in an adience, convince said person to keep reading rather than put the book down. It didn't bother me that David C. Korten (the author) was talking about nature and it didn't even really bother me that he sounded like Dr. Phil.

Bono

"We're gonna give these kids a ride," says Bono. I look over my right shoulder at the girl from Austria, and I am able to see what it looks like when someone's mind is blown out of her skull; I can almost see her brains and blood splattered across the rear window. The car takes off; Bono drives recklessly, accelerating and braking at random intervals (23)."

It's sort of shocking how much power celebrities have. They're just like normal people only along the lines they made certain career choices and now they're completely separated from normal life and normal people. I feel like this passage sort of embodies the power that Bono has. He can make teenagers go weak in the knees but just like everybody else he used to be a teenager. Klosterman is probably my favorite non-fiction writer, clearly because I use him so often in my blogs. And I think it's because he really knows how to capture an expression. Sure a reader wouldn't really be able to tell that this passage is by Klosterman, but if there were to read the rest of this essay they would realize the clear style that Klosterman has. Even in this short passage about a celebrity, that I personally think is being a little ostentatious, Klosterman expresses the power that Bono has over people through his celebrity.

No one belongs here more then you.

The Man in the Stairs.

"...He was walking in the slowest possible way. He seems to have all the time in the world for this, my God, did he have the time. I have never taken such care with anything. That is my problem with life, I rush through it, like I'm being chased. Even things whose while point is slowness, like drinking relaxing tea. When I drink relaxing tea, I suck it down as if I'm in a contest for who can drink relaxing tea the quickest. Or if I'm in a hot tub with some other people and we're all looking up at the stars, I'll be the first to say, It's so beautiful here. The sooner you say, It's so beautiful here, the quicker you can say, Wow, I'm getting over heated (34)."

I chose this passage because the author's rhetoric sort of pulls the audience into the position of the character portrayed in this story. Or at least when I head this I felt as though I could have been the character. I tend to drink my "relaxing tea" pretty fast and sometimes I feel as though I'm rushing through things. Instead of just creating a character that the readers can learn to understand the author creates a character that resides in each person. And this "man in the stairs" can, in some ways, represent the fear that people might have to realize all of this. It won't hurt to be the last person to get out of the hot tub, or to drink your tea slowly. By the end of this story you realize that this "man" isn't actually there but the story still depicts the chatacter to face him head on, feel his breath, but then she tells him to leave. She faces this fear that she has.

Mitch

It was too bad the movie theater went bankrupt, thought Mitch. If the theater was still in busines, he could buy a ticket for the 7:30 showing of a Saturday-night horrow movie and slip out the rear exit during one of the scenes that were set at night, because the theater would be pitch-black and no one would notice his departure. He could then leave his car in the parking lot and cross town by foot, arriving at Laidlaw's house at 7:55. John Laidlaw was Lutheran, but his wafe was Catholic, and she always wnet to Mass on Saturday night. This would mean Laidlaw would be alone, probably watching Love Boat or Fantasy Island. Mitch could enter the house through the garage, creep into the living room through the kitchen, pounce up from behind the La-Z-Boy, throw a potato sack over Laidlaw's skull, and bash him over the head with a brick. He'd hit him twice, or maybe three times. All the blood would stay on the inside of the bag. Then. while Laidlaw was unconscious, he would drag him down the stairs and tie his (crucifixion style) to the Nautilus machine in the basement; Mitch knew the family owned a Nautilus machine because Laidlaw talked about it all the itme. He would rouse him by throwing ice water in his face...ect (Klosterman).

So... yeah. I found a bit shocking. It completely changed my out look in the character Mitch. At first he seems like this average, maybe thougtful, high school quarter back. And then... he just imagines this randomly. (Laidlaw is his football coach as well as english teacher) The book slightly hints that Mitch doesn't care too much for Laidlaw but never has it gone into such detail like this before. This part is right at then end of the chapter and when I finished it I didn't really know how to react. Theres another line that says, 'The crime would be so brutal that a boy such as himself would be above suspicion.' And that couldn't be more true. It's just so random that a kid like this would have suck a terrifically horrible thought. As soon as I was done with his chapter I wanted to read past the other two characters just so I could know what happened next. How he felt, why he wanted to kill this adult figure. I mean it does say that Laidlaw had a relationship with one of his students and Mitch does mention that that is one of the reasons he hates Laidlaw so much, but that couldn't possibly be any sort of notion to create such a day dream. I will admit that I've some bad thoughts about teachers and my mind does wonder. But never have I thought about a planned and callous murder of one of them.
So, I just thought this was really profound and intense but that's also part of the reason I like it so much. It add a whole new level to Mitches persona and it leaves me, as the reader, wanting to learn more about. I am extremely intrugued to read more chapters about Mitch. He's is probably the most interesting character right now.

Horace

"Doesn't matter," said Marvin. "Doesn't matter what person Columbus was. Doesn't matter how many Indians he killed or didn't kill, or if he was or wasn't an asshole. From what I've read, Columbus probably was an asshole. He probably deserved to get hung. But heres the thing: He didn't get hung. The man climbed on a wooden watercraft and collided with North America by accident. It doesn't matter what happened afterwards or what his motives were. He found it. It happened. He's what history is. It was his destiny to be that particular man, and it was his destiny to do those specific things. But nobody at that newspaper cares about anything that happened before they were born, which is why they don't give space to things like Columbus Day. Which is why I stopped reading the newspaper in '74. After they busted Nixon, it all became bullshit and advertising" (Klosterman).

So I know the name 'Horace doesn't come up in this passage but this is one of Horace's friends talking to him. This passage reminds me of how everything is publicized. Like politics and what not. The election for instance, the media has so much to do with people's perception of everything. Democratic newspapers bash on the Republicans and visa versa. So I just thought it was interesting how Klosterman made a character in this book that, in a way, lives above the media. This passage is very true, I think, because a lot of people don't pay attention to things that aren't relevant to them or things that pertain to them. I hardly know anything about Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK and even Christopher Columbus for that matter. And like this passage says it has a lot to do with newspapers (and media) because they don't talk about things like Columbus Day. When you think about it, having the Owl newspaper push coverage of Columbus Day aside is completely absurd, without Columbus Day they wouldn't be writing ANYTHING for ANY newspaper. I chose this passage because I completely feel the point of view Marvin is convoying.

Julia

In Owl, people did not date; if you went on a date, you were dating. If you went on two dates, it was an exclusive relationship. If you went on three dates, it was a serious relationship and there was potential for marriage. You could hang out with members of the opposite sex whenever you wanted, and you could get drunk with them in public, and you could even find yourself having clandestine sex with one of them, possible on multiple occasions. But you couldn't make plans. Going on a proper, recognized date was different; when someone asked you on a date, they were actively asking if you'd be interested in a committed relastionship. When all theose curiously nicknamed men asked julia to see movies, they were really asking if she might consider sharing her life. Because-if a shared life was the life you wanted, and you wanted to share such a life without leaving Owl- there were no other options. If Julia didn't like you, no one could ever say, "Well, there's a lot of other fish in the sea." There was one fish, and it lived in a lake with no tributaries, and all the completing villagers read Field & Stream with extreme prejudice. The arrival of an unattached female teacher was a romantic race against time. And no matter how much she enjoyed her insular celebrity, (and regardless of how nicely these desperate, lonely men seemed to treat her) Julia knew that was perverse. She thought about it all the time
(Klosterman).

I chose this passage because it reminded me of Decatur. Decatur is some what the same. You can't really date someone unless you really plan on going out with them. And nobody really dates. In the beginning of every relationship you call it dating but there are never actual dates involved. There are certain steps to a Decatur relationship (and I guess an Owl relationship also). You hang out for however ling it takes, your friends begin to relise that your spending and uncanny amount of time with this one person, then your friends start asking you about it and you eventually call it dating. I guess this passage just reminded me of how Decatur really is a small town. A small town that just not in the middle of nowhere like Owl. Of course no one in Decatur High is really expecting that dating someone will lead to a life time with them but in a way thats kind of what happens. I've gone out with different people but I've only ever been on two actual dates and that relastionship lasted for about 5 or 6 months. So maybe the auther wanted Owl to seem complex (and maybe it is, and the only reason I can read between the lines is because Decatur actually is a small town) but it's not really. Everybody knows every, or has some restated impression of them, and normally that restated impression leads to how you feel about them up until you actually meet them. This related to Owl because Julia has two friends and every time one of these men asks her on a date, gets declined, and walks away, her two friends always give her the feed back on that person. Which is EMENCLY like Decatur. I just wonder why Decatur students try to act to adult, I mean all the adults in the midwest seem to be doing the exact same thing.

Mitch

"Mitch will you intercede here?"
This was Mitch's deepest source of personal pride: For reasons that had never been clearly defined, he was universally viewed as the intellectual authority on who would win an imaginary right between Grendel and Candy. It might have been because Mitch had spent more time thinking about this theoretical conflict then anyone else, or it might have been because he just seemed like the kind of person who would spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about an event that had never happened. But regardless of how this assumption came to be, Mitch loved that it was believed to be true. He loved that this was an issue that everyone had an opinion about, but-somehow- his opinion counted more. Whenever people discussed the Grendel vs. Candy Hypothetical, he never had to interject himself into the conversation; he always knew someone else would eventually ask him what he thought.
"As I have often noted int he past," began Mitch, "context is everything. If you locked Grendel and Candy in a room and said, 'Okay, start fighting,' I'm sure Candy would win. Locking him in a room would be more then enough motivation to make him go wolfshit, because he wants to die. If you locked up Candy in him kitchen and said, 'Okay, start fighting,' he would beat the shit out of the oven. That's just who he is. He's like Gordon Kahl. But we have to assume this fight would be happening for a reason. Something would have to be at stake, and it would have to be something Grendel was extremely emotional about, because he doesn't have the capacity to get pissed off intellectually. SO if this ight did happen, it would have to be because Grendel went insane. And if Grendel was insane, I don't see how anyone could stop him. Candy could hit him with a bottle. Candy could hit him in the chest with a sledgehammer. It wouldn't matter. Grendel would always win."
"I dissagree," said Curtis-Fritz.
"This conversation is over," said Drug Man. "Vanna has spoken."
(Klosterman)

I find this passage funny, mainly because the feeling that his friends are giving him is just random satifaction. He, along with his friends, don't really know why Mitch has been bubbed the most intellectual but they just know he is. Mitch is the kind of guy that doesn't really get much recognition for a lot of what he does, and when his friends just assume that he is more intellectual. Sometimes my friends think I'm just good at something and even if I'm not it just feels good to now that they think I am. I play soccer and my friends always ask me if I'm good at it,and the way they say it you can tell they assume that I am (and I'm really not). But its just satifying to know that they think I am. And I feel that Mitch has that same feeling in this passage. His friends just know that he would be best to really anylize who would win the fight, and Mitch (being the person he is) uses big words and miticulous descriptions on his opinion. Because he doesn't want his friends to realise that maybe he really isn't the most intellectual, because theres not really much else that he could excel at. Leaving him with the sense of satifation. Simple, random, satifaction.
I guess my only question would really be to ask what would happen if his friends realised that he wasn't intellectual. And how Mitch would then feel.

Curious Dog #4

"It's like computers. People think computers are different from people because they don't have minds, even though, in the Turing test, computers can have conversations with people about the weather and wine and what Italy is like, and they can even tell jokes.

But the mind is just a complicated machine.

And when we look at things we think we're just looking out of our eyes like we're looking out of little windows and there's a person inside our head, but we're looking out of little windows and there's a person inside our head, but we're not. We're looking at a screen inside our heads like a computer screen(64)."

As I have pointed out Chris functions extremely different than most other people. He views thinking and the mind differently. He bases decisions very little off of emotions or feelings. He tends to always make logical decision using his abilities with math to decide what is the best route, kind of the way a computer works. However sometimes he finds loop holes through instructions given to him by his father, and knowingly disobeys him, but only when he can find a loop hole.

Curious Dog #3

"The next day I saw 4 yellow cars in a row on the way to school, which made it a Black Day, so I didn't eat anything at lunch and I sat in the corner of the room all day and read my A-level maths course book. And the next day, too, I saw 4 yellow cars in a row on the way to school, which made it another Black Day too, so I didn't speak to anyone and for the whole afternoon I sat in the corner of the Library Groaning with my head pressed in to the join between the two walls and this made me feel calm and safe. But the third day I kept my eyes closed all the way to school until we got off the bus because after I have had 2 Black Days in a row I'm allowed to do that(53)."

This passage characterizes Christopher, in that it shows how he copes with every day. It shows the reader that unlike most other people who just go day by day letting what ever happens to them happen, he likes having a control over his days, and he controls his days by the color's of cars. As the passage says if Christopher sees 4 yellow cars his day is a black day which basically entails that he purposely makes it a gloomy day. He does not talk to any one at all during the day and he just keeps to him self. Christopher enjoys having so set rules over his every day life, he does not seem to enjoy out of the ordinary occurances, or talking to strangers.

Curious Dog #2

He said, "where have you been?"

and I said, "I have been out." This is called a white lie. A white lie is not a lie at all. It is where you tell the truth but you do not tell all of the truth. This means that everything you say is a white lie because when someone says, for example, "What do you want to do today?" you say, "I want to do painting with Mrs. Peters, " but you don't say, "I want to have my lunch and i want to go to the toilet and I want to go home after school and I want to play with Toby and I want to have my supper and I want to play on my computer and I want to go to bed." And I said a white lie because I knew that Father didn't want me to be a detective(48)."

I picked this passage because not only does it help the reader understand how Christopher's mind operates, It also helps in characterizing him. As this book progresses you begin to understand that Christopher is very different from every one else and that because of this he gets into trouble more often than not. He often views and uses things differently than us like a white lie for instance. However, even though Christopher differences from other people some times get him in trouble I am willing to bet that he will solve the mystery of Wellington the dog's murder only because he sees and views everything differently.

Curious Dog

"you seem very upset about this," he said.

He was asking to many questions and he was asking them too quickly. They were stacking up in my head like loaves in the factory where uncle terry lives. The factory is a bakery and he operates the slicing machines. And sometimes a slicer is not working fast enough but bread keeps coming and there is a blockage. I sometimes think of my mind as a machine, but not always as a bread slicing machine. It makes it easier to explain to other people what is going on inside it(67)."

I picked this passage because the narrator of this book obviously functions mentally very differently most people, and this passage does a good job of showing how his mind works. He seems to get confused easily and looks at things differently, he looks at things some what numerically. He also does not seem to understand simple emotions given by people around him, he is unable to understand why certain actions evoke these emotions. Because this is a murder mystery, and is some what of a puzzle, we need to be able to interpret correctly all of the information that is given to us, and sense all of the information and clues in this book will be coming from Christopher John Francis Boone, the narrator, we must understand how his mind works.

Klosterman Blog #4

"Still, we are are products of our environment, even if we like to pretend otherwise. So let's say you are the smartest sixteen-year-old in town; let's assume you're reactive and introspect and philosophical. You still have finite number of social intellectual qualities to the redneck paradigm that already exists. You may indeed be having "deep thought," but they're only deeper versions of the same idea that are available to everyone else.
This is were Axl Rose fits into the equation. Musically and visually, Axl stayed within the conventional metal zone. He had a Jagger strut and a Plant howl, long hair and leather pants, and he got quoted in Kerrang! As a musical, Rose appealed to the same contingency that was rooted in Toys in the Attic, British Steel, and Theatre of Pain. Axl existed within the one artistic paradigm that a midwestern white boy was going to consume: Far lack of a better term, he "rocked"(38)."

Klosterman is tying together determination in with his theories on Axl Rose. And I must admit he does it pretty nicely. Through one huge theory Klosterman is creating his own. Generically Axl Rose is the crem de la crem. He basically optimizes what heavy metal rock stars are supposed to look, and act like. But as a musician Rose blew that out of the water all whilst creating his own individual metal persona. Not just rednecks listened to his music. Not only city folk played it on the radio. A variety of listeners liked and valued him.

Klosterman Blog #3

"This paradox is what I find so perplexing about the way young males perceive verbal messages in heavy metal. I'll never understand why music that only made me want long hair is the same product that made some kids want to die. Normal people don't care what Ozzy has to say about anything; however, it seems the handful of people who do care inevitably get confused and kill themselves. And since the mood of the music tends to be more persuasive then the actual lyrics-and since the words to most rock songs are almost impossible to understand-kids are forced to interpret heavy metal in any way they can. This is a substantial problem, because the kind of kids who truly love heavy metal evidently suck at artistic interpretation(47)."

The meaning, or interpretation, I took from this passage is some what comical (but with a rather dark sense of humor); unfortunately, there are teenagers that listened to this heavy metal music and decided that the next best thing for them to do was to kill themselves. Which, realistically, appears to be a complete misunderstanding. And although these poor kids comitted suicide because of, what seems to be, a musical misunderstanding, Klosterman slyly cops in humorous undertones. The people that care about this music don't seem to have the capacity to fully take in it. And, as Klosterman states, "...it seems the handful of people who do care inevitably get confused and kill themselves." Klosterman really controls the readers mindset. Meaning, the humor keeps the readers attention on the music analysis rather then allowing the readers thinking to veer off into the reasons that the music may or may not have influenced kids to kill themselves. By treating these suicides will little emotion Klosterman is allowing himself to talk more about the music and inevitably stay with his purpose, which is to explain to me (or just the reader) what heavy metal really is.

Klosterman Blog #2

"But sometimes what seems obvious is not, particularly when you're trying to categorize what an artist represents culturally. That certainly seems true with Ozzy Ozbourne, who doesn't seem obsessed with power at all. In fact, he seems more obsessed with weakness, particularly his own.
As a public character, Ozbourne is the wildest of wild men. During the height of his career, he was constantly chomping off heads of birds, pissing on historical landmarks, and generally acting like the most berserk, messed up lunatic in the universe. It's not an act, either; what's more unique about Ozbourne is that many of the stories about his behavior are at least partially true. But as he's grown older, another side of Ozzzy has become more and more obvious: He is an incredibly vulnerable person who plainly lacks confidence(33-34)."

I chose this passage because it's just strange to read about the ultimate prince of darkness being characterized as "vulnerable". Another thing I noticed which I have never really been clear on grammatically is the capitalization after the colon in the last sentence. I've never been taught to capitalize after colons. Now I know. This passage is in the middle of a chapter but it also introduces a new subject. So, the first paragraph is close to an introductory paragraph and the second paragraph could therefor be categorized as the first bulk paragraph. This might come in handle when I start my annotative bibliography.

Gene and Pual

"There's one glaring irony in the Paul-Gene power axis, however. Of all the songs KISS catalog, the one that stands out most clearly as a power anthem is "God of Thunder" from 1976's Destroyer (it even surpasses "War Machine," because "God of Thunder is more epic and archetypal). Simmons carried the vocals, and it ultimately defined what his onstage persona was all about: he usually did his infamous blood-spitting routine during the song's introduction. But what's compelling is that it was written by Stanley, who fully intended to sing it. Simmons likes to insist that Paul was deliberately writing a "Gene song" and always knew he would eventually handle the lead, but Stanley says otherwise. "You want to heal the real story, or do you want to believe the rumor?" he told me in a 1997 interview. "That was totally [producer] Bob Ezrin's idea. He thought it came across better with Gene's vocals." In other words, Simmons's powerful image was a better fir for the song's powerful imagery; Paul's androgynous Girl Power would not translate into menace. At least in this case, the tenuous connection between heavy metal and power was completely conscious in the minds of the people who made the record(33)."

The first thing I noticed when reading this paragraph was the diction that Klosterman used. Unconventional words are used very with this author. It seems like Klosterman's style of writing is very unique and modern, although he witty enough to add classical references. The second thing that pops out to me are the parallels he draw's between various bands and the members in those bands. Thus far Klosterman is still trying to explain the meaning of heavy metal. How it varies from rock 'n roll and "glam" metal. In this passage the author is trying to explain the differences between the meaning of "power" heavy metal. The example used here is the difference between Gene Simmons, a metal sex god who does just about anything he wants to do, and Paul Stanley, who apparently had more of a "Girl Power" approach to things. Meaning, he didn't treat woman like dirt. Here the importance of power metal is exemplified by showing how one "menacing" song written by Paul Stanley had to be sung by Geme Simmons because Stanley's voice was powerful enough and it didn't fit hit persona. It's strange to learn all of these facts about a genre of music I have never taken seriously before.

Fargo Rock City

"So there you have it: a hard rock band that wasn't ponderous and trippy (like Vanilla Fudge) or poppy and sloppy (like the Ramones). Instead of the Hammers of Thor, it was an assault from a thousand guerrilla warriors, all consumed with getting laid. Though the term wasn't yet applicable, those first two Van Halen albums created a future where metal would be "glamorous," both visually and musically. Marc Bolan knew how glam rock was supposed to look, but Eddie Van Halen invented how it was supposed to sound (22)."

This passage concludes another chapter in Fargo Rock City, and once again I find it very helpful. Klosterman states the differences between the first chapter (which was strictly about Montley Crue's style of heavy metal) and also helps outline his own growth as a heavy metal fenatic. I especially like the authors last sentense, "Marc Bolan knew how glam rock was supposed to look, but Eddie Van Halen invented how it was supposed to sound." Not once during this chapter did Klosterman say this yet the whole chapter was about this. It's very intersting how he saves his thesis until the end of the chapter. I noticed this structure change in the Meena Alexander essay Fault Lines we had to write about in class. In the oppening paragraph Klosterman tells the reader exactly what he's going to discuss during the chapter, which he does for the duration of the body of the chapter and then for the conclusion he explains the meaning and purpose of the things he has just talked about. I am finding this book very helpful becuase I feel like organization is my biggest flaw as a writer and already I am feeling better about essay structure.

Fargo Rock City

"It's easy for me to recall the morning I was absorbed into the cult of heavy meta. As is so oftem the case with this sort of thing, it was all my brother's fault.
As a painfully typical fifth-grader living in the rural Midwest, my life was boring, just like it was supposed to be. I lived five miles south of a tiny town called Wyndmere, where I spent a lot of time drinking Pepsi in the basement and watching syndicated episodes of Laverne & Shirley and Diff'rent Strokes. I killed the rest of my free time listening to Y-94, the lone Top-40 radio station transmitted out of Fargo, sixty-five miles to the north (in the horizontal wasteland of North Dakota, radio wanes travel forever). This was 1983, which-at least in Fargo-was the era of mainstream "new wave" pop (although it seems the phrase "new wave" was only used by people who never actually listened to that kind of music). The artists who appear exclusively on today's "Best of the '80's" compilations were the dominant attractions: Madness, Culture Club, Falco, the Stray Cats, German songstress Nena, and-of course- Duran Duran )the economic backbone of Friday Night Videos' cultureal economy). The most popular song in my elementary school was Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue," but that was destined to be replaced by Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" (which would subsequently be replaced by "Raspberry Beret")(7)."

This is the only book I haven't read by Chuck Klosterman and I think the best lesson I've learned about writing from him is to just relax. I always seem too formal when I write. But as it turns out great writing can "informal". Writing has very slim guidelines just so long as you follow gramatical rules. I contemplated blogging about the conclusion again but I figure the best way place to start writing better conclusions is to analyze introductions and work my way to the end of the essays (or chapters). The first thing I noticed from the inroduction (excluding the introductory first sentense) is how Klosterman lists all of the information he is going to talk about throughout the chapter. Of course every english teacher I've had tells me to use this method but seeing it used in a successful and entertaining book is sort of a slap in the face; organizing my essays will help me write a better essay.

Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman

"Whenever social pundits try to explain why glam metal died, they usually insist that "It wasn't real," or that "It didn't say anything." Well, it was certainly real to me and all my friends. And more importantly, to did say something.
It said something to us(5)."

I know this is short but I choose it because it is a conclusion. I think my biggest problem with essays are my conclusions. I feel like I babble on without really knowing what to talk about because I've already talked about it in the body of my essays. Here, the conclusion is short and sweet. It gets the point across without adding too much redundant information. It states the purpose of the essay (or chapter); metal rock was real and it said something. I will definitely keep in mind that conclusions are best when they are short, and clearly state the purpose of the essay.

Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman

"To me, rock was everything. As a skinny kid on a family farm in North Dakota, it seemed to be the answer to all the problems I thought I had. I couldn't sing and I played no intruments, but I knew I had the potential to rock. All night long I slapped Montley Crue and Ratt cassettes into my boom box (which we called a "ghetto blaster," which I suppose would not be considered rasist) and rocked out in my bedroom while I read Hit Parader and played one-on-none Nerf hoop basketball. Clearly, I was always ready to rock-but I needed the hair. I didn't care if it was blond and severe like Vince Neil's or black and explosive like Nikki Sixx's-I just needed more of it. It would have been my singular conduit to greatness, and it was the only part of my life that had a hope of mirroring the world of the Crue: They lived in L.A., they banged porn stars, they drank Jack Daniel's for breakfast, and they could spit on their kitchen floor with no repercussions whatsoever. They were like gods on Mount Olympus, and it's all because they understood the awe-inspiring majesty of rock. Compared to Nikki and Vince, Zeus was a total poseur(1-2)."

First off, this paragraph has a good introductory sentense, "To me, rock was everything," even though it has a 'be' verb. Klosterman has a constancy of using complex sentenses in the beginning of the paragraph, when he is describing himself and how great rock was to him as a child. He does a good job of connecting the his writing. Meaning, he connects all of his paragraphs by adding just a little bit of old information into a new paragraph without feeling redundent. "I was always ready to rock I just needed the hair." The paragraph before this is all about how he needed long hair although for his whole life he has had short hair. When he tries to convince his mother that he needs long hair he spits on the floor in frustration, he again add this cleverly "..and they could spit on their kitchen floor with no repercussions whatsoever." Klostermans diction stays constant with his rock-theme. I noticed he used Crue instead of crew, and by saying that Nikki and Vince understood the awe-inspiring 'majesty' of rock he is enriching the comparison to Zues.

Book blog #8

'Even chance meetings' . . . how does the rest of the go?"

" 'Are the result of Karma.' "

"Right, right," she says. "But what does it mean?"

"That things in life are fated by our previous lives. That even in the smallest events there's no such thing as coincidence(33)."

I had to back track a little, to try and figure things out. After flipping onto this page, there was a bit of confusion. This story seems to be all

about fate; finding fate, following fate, hiding from fate. Except this passage sits on the opposite end, Karma? I believe Karma to be personal

acts that affect the world around you. It's peculiar that Murakami would add Karma and fate into the same story, with the same character. I can

decide if I should think of this book in terms of fate, or in terms of karma. Looking at this book with a fate stand point, the characters have no
control over what is happening and they just have to rough it out until the end. In terms of Karma, the things that will happen to the characters
are determined by the action they do throughout the story. I'm trying to see how Karma and fate fit together as the book progresses; "that
things in life are fated by our previous lives." Maybe the way the characters spirits live will predicts how the physical body exist. It's very strange
how this will all fit into a story about a boy who ran away from home and is now living in a library, and the other character; an old man who used
be able to talk to cats and is now traveling on pure whim without any direction.

Book blog #7

"By the way where are we?"I ask

"I have no idea," she says. She cranes her neck and sweeps the place with her eyes. Her earrings jiggle back and forth like two precarious pieces of ripe fruit ready to fall. "From the time I'm guessing we're near Kurashike, not that it matters. A rest area on a highway is just a place you pass through. To get from her to there." She holds up her right index finger and her left index finger, about twelve inches apart.

"What does it matter what it's called?" she continues. "You've got your restrooms and your food. Your fluorescent lights and your plastic chairs. Crappy coffee. Strawberry-jam sandwiches. It;s all pointless-- assuming you try to find a point to it. We're coming from somewhere, heading somewhere else. That's all you need to know, right?"

I nod. And nod. And nod.

The whole theme of this story is unveiling its self to me more and more as I read. Kafka is trying to change who he is, or he is trying to change his fate. He has been working all through junior high for the day that he can leave his home and start his "new life", as he calls it. He has been building up muscle, becoming as strong as he can, and he has made his mind like a sponge absorbing all the knowledge he could throughout junior high. This passage is very interesting because it is almost a metaphor to life, assuming that you believe in fate. She tells Kafka that it does not matter where they are because they will still end up in Takamatsu. In other words, it does not matter what you do in the middle you will still go from point A to point B. Assuming that fate is real, in Kafka's case this means that all hispreparations and hopes for a "new life" are meaningless because no matter what he will ultimately meet his fate, and he cannot change who he is. This is Ironic in away because she tells Kafka this and he nods, agreeing.

Klosterman Blog #2

"But sometimes what seems obvious is not, particularly when you're trying to categorize what an artist represents culturally. That certainly seems true with Ozzy Ozbourne, who doesn't seem obsessed with power at all. In fact, he seems more obsessed with weakness, particularly his own.
As a public character, Ozbourne is the wildest of wild men. During the height of his career, he was constantly chomping off heads of birds, pissing on historical landmarks, and generally acting like the most berserk, messed up lunatic in the universe. It's not an act, either; what's more unique about Ozbourne is that many of the stories about his behavior are at least partially true. But as he's grown older, another side of Ozzzy has become more and more obvious: He is an incredibly vulnerable person who plainly lacks confidence(33-34)."

I chose this passage because it's just strange to read about the ultimate prince of darkness being characterized as "vulnerable". Another thing I noticed which I have never really been clear on grammatically is the capitalization after the colon in the last sentence. I've never been taught to capitalize after colons. Now I know. This passage is in the middle of a chapter but it also introduces a new subject. So, the first paragraph is close to an introductory paragraph and the second paragraph could therefor be categorized as the first bulk paragraph. This might come in handle when I start my annotative bibliography.

Book Blog #6

"Listen-God only exists in people's minds. Especially in japan, God's always been kind of a flexible concept. Look at what happened after the war. Douglas MaCarthur ordered the divine emperor to quit being God, and he did, making a speech saying he was just an ordinary person. So after 1946 he wasn't God anymore. That's what Japanese gods are like-they can be tweaked and adjusted. Some American chomping on a cheap pipe gives the order and presto change-o-God's no longer God. A very postmodern kind of thing. If you think God's there, He is. If you don't, He isn't. And if that's what God's like, I wouldn't worry about it(286-287)."

This passage was a little irrelevant to the story line, considering the two characters that are interacting happen to be steeling a small rock. Although, it is very interesting. This passage sort of lets the reader into either the characters point of view towards God, or the authors point of view, either way they are probably about the same. Coming from an American stance on God, this seems like a much more relaxed way of looking at God. I'd have to agree with the book though, God does seem like a flexible concept, but at the same time a very strict concept, depending on how you look at things. Whether your religious or not this passage kind of puts you into whichever category. It is also interesting to see an Asian writer give an impression of god or even religion for that matter. It would seem that such a different culture would also have a different view of god, and also this view seems rather liberated, the view is still close to my American view of god.

Book Blog #5

"But the most interesting part of the story is that Lady Rokujo had no inkling that she'd become a living spirit. She'd have nightmares and wake up, only to discover that her long black hair smelled like smoke. Not having any idea what as going on, she was totally confused. In fact, this smoke came from the incense the priests lit as they prayed for Lady Aoi. Completely unaware of it, she;d been flying through space and passing down the tunnel of her subconscious into Aoi's bedroom. This is one of the most uncanny and thrilling episodes in Genji. Later, when Lady Rokujo learns what she;s been doing, she regrets the sins she;s committed and shaves off her hair and renounces the world (225)."

This passage gives us an example of a spirit that is both inside and outside of the conscious body. As the reader progresses into the book questions such as; who is Kafka's family, where did they go, has he perhaps found them without knowing it? And better; is Kafka fulfilling the prophecy that his father predicted. Has or will Kafka be with his sister and mother? Not only are these questions intriguing in and of themselves but atop of all his family issues Kafka is beginning to realize the lapses in his memory are perhaps crimes he just doesn't remember. He wakes up somewhere and doesn't realize where he is, how he got there, and what he did. There 'lapses' are also happening to other characters in the story, only he becomes part of their lapses, he gets involved with these lapses.

This passage begins, just slightly, to translate by examples how these acts of his spirit moves outside of his conscious mind. They let the reader know that somehow these unexplainable incidents happening to the people in this story did in fact happen. This passage is one of the first clues to finding out one of the misteries of this book.

Book Blog #4

"You sit on the edge of the world,
I am in the crater that's no more.
Worlds without letters
Standing in the shadow of the door.

The moon shines down on the sleeping lizard,
Little fish rain down from the sky.
Outside the window there are soldiers,
steeling themselves to die.

Kafka sits in a chair by the shore,
Thinking of the pendulum that moves the worlds, it seems,
When your heart is closed,
The shadow of the unmoving Sphinx,
Becomes a knife that pieces your dreams.

The drowning girl's fingers
Search for the entrance stone, and more.
Lifting the hem of her azure dress,
She gazes-
at Kafka on the shore (227-228)."

I suppose this song foreshadows the entire book. So far a few of these things have happened; fish falling from the sky, girls in azure dresses staring at paintings. But there is also a lot that seems random still. An unmoving Sphinx? A sleeping lizard? I'm still a very confused as to how this will all fit together in the end. My best guess is that the song is telling Kafka, the main character, that he sit on the edge of the world. Eventually Kafka will sit by the sea shore, thinking about how the world moves, who is mother and sister actually are, because they left him and his father when he was much younger. This song is written by a woman that works that the library that Kafka lives at, and Kafka believes her to be his mother. I can't tell whether or not this woman could be his mother, but there really is nothing that I can be sure of with this book. The authors best quality is his ability to make the reader second guess everything they may think about the book, and what may or may not happen.

Book Blog #3

"The next day's the same. Birds wake me up a little after six. I boil some water, make a cup of tea, and have breakfast. Read on the porch, listen to music, go fill up the water pail at the stream. And I walk down the path into the woods, this time carrying my compass, glancing at it every once in a while to get a general idea of where the cabin is. I found a hatchet in the shed and use it to chop simple hatch marks on trees. I clear out some of the underbrush to make the path easier to follow.
Just like yesterday the forest dark and deep, the towering trees forming a thick wall on both sides. Something of the forest is hiding there, in the darkness between the trees, like some 3-D painting of an animal, watching my every move. But the fear that made me shudder isn't there anymore. I've make my own rules, and by following them I won't get lost. At least I hope not (136)."

There is a metaphor hidden in this passage; make your rules and live by them. Once you start following yourself there is nothing to fear. It feels like when Haruki Murakami started writing this book he didn't plan it out, he just went with it. Meaning, everything he writes he makes it seem vital to the story but so far hardly anything fits together. I'm beginning to figure out that the parts of this book that seem arbitrary are either metaphors or characterization, or both. This passage stuck out to me because teaches a lesson. Although it does get rather confusing, I find myself taking note and trying to remember everything that happens in this book because Murakami's style of writing insinuates that every part is vital to the story. It's a lot to keep track of. Murakami also has this ability to make everything he writes feel important to the story, it's up to the reader to remember it all. The imagery Murakami uses when he describes them as a wall because they are so dense, and how he allows the reader to imagine how trapped the character is in nature. So far nothing in this book makes sense. Everything seems to be random and out of place. It will be surprise to see everything come together in the end.

Book Blog #2 Kafka On The Shore

"Man alive, how'd you get all that blood all ever you? What the hell were you doing? But you don't remember a thing, do you? No wounds on you, though, that's a relief. No real pain, either - except for the throbbing in your left shoulder. So the blood's gotta be from somebody else, not you. Somebody else's blood" (71).

Kafka On The Shore is a book full of mystery. This fact becomes clear from 10 pages in. This passage is short but the mystery theme is presented clearly. This passage comes from the subconscious of the character Kafka. Unlike my blog before this one this passage is very straight forward and to the point. Kafka has woken up in the middle of a shrine realizing that he is covered in someone elses blood and his left shoulder is throbbing. Can you get any more straight forward then that? All signs lead to that he has committed a crime. There are no metaphors, similes, hidden messages. Finding prominent straight forward passages in this book seem to be rare commodity. This passage also leaves the reader asking himself; where did this blood come from, why is Murakami leading us on with such little information? It is good writing. In some ways you could call this part of the book, this passage, a mini climax. Of course, more question arise throughout the rest of the book, but this passage orientates many of those questions to come, at least the questions pertaining to Kafka. Haruki Murakami's style of writing is all about anticipation. From this point onward anticipation grows and grows which employes the reader to continue to find the answers. If writing has any trick to entertain, it is anticipation. I feel that all good novels have this elimental chicanery, and Haruki Murakami definately knows how to use this writing device to his andvantage.

Book Blog #1 - Kafka On The Shore

"Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change directions but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn't something that blew in from far away, something that had nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do it give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step. There's no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That's the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine (page 5)."

This passage exemplifies the essence of fate. There is no way anyone can avoid it, and yes, in some ways fate is a sandstorm. It can be good, and it can be bad. This passage also exemplifies the essence of Kafka on the Shore. The book is about fate; how so many characters, throughout the world of fiction, try to avoid their given fate yet no matter what they do, no matter how the reach it, their fate will come true. After reading further into Kafka on the Shore I realize that this passage, as told from 'a boy called Crow', does a good deal of foreshadowing. The fact that fate is a constant resonates through the characters because they are all tied to one fate that will eventually, and inevitably, bring them together by the end of the book. This passage also teaches the reader about fate. Haruki Murakami's style of writing has an extreme philosophical twang in which emanates through this passage. His style leaves out mundane details that allow the reader to further the though for themselves. The character of a boy called crow parallels that of the angel and devil that sit on everyone's shoulders. The voice in the back of everyone's mind telling them what to do. This voice peaks through in this passage because the boy called Crow is telling Kafka, the main character, what fate is and how it is unavoidable. Learning the characteristics of fate it a valuable lesson for the reader of this book as well as the characters inside of it. We are all fated to something, and whatever it is we have to deal with it.