Self Evaluation

With the semester ending in only a few weeks I can’t help but feel that the last semester flew by.  It might have something to do with it being my first semester in college or that the classes only really meet 3 times a week for fifty minutes, but I feel like college is just going way to fast.  Even though the last semester has felt so short I feel that I was able to accomplished and learn a great deal in the past few months.  Especially in my English class where I have learnt a great deal about the arts, myself, and different styles of writing.

Before English 15 I wouldn’t be caught dead in a museum let alone a play.  But ever since I joined the class we have taken field trips to the Penn State museum, I have attended a play of in the red and brown water, and I have even attended a book reading which is a really big deal for me.  After going to all of these events I realized a lot of things about art.  For one after visiting the museum I realize how beautiful some pieces of art can be.  I was personally intrigued by the sculptures and pieces of pottery that they had.  Additionally after attending the play I was amazed by the actor’s ability to shift the audience’s attention onto the play alone.  This wasn’t the first paly that I have attended but I was probably most amused by this play and I think that it is because I have learned to appreciate the arts more. 

After writing the memoir I realized quite a few things about myself that I have never bothered to think about before.  I realized how worried I was about my future, because I haven’t really been able to find an interest in anything except snowboarding since I was little.  Additionally when things start to get hard for me I have the tendency to kind of stop and quit because I don’t think it is worth it.  Plus I found out that ever since I came to college I started to care more about school because before when I was in school I would have never bothered to do homework, but now I try and stay on top of my school work as best as I can.  I also learned how to manage my time a lot better because of all the things outside of school that I am doing and all the extra freedom I have. 

This semester in English class I completed all of the assignments that were assigned to me in the class and each assignment taught me a lot of things.  The memoir assignment taught me how to write a memoir and how I had to use a lot of vivid imagery in my writing.  It also taught me how I had to expand on all of my ideas instead of leaving them as just ideas.  The visual analysis paper taught me how to use all the rhetoric forms of analysis, when analyzing an add.

http://jspellman94.blogspot.com/2012/09/talking-about-blogs.html?showComment=1354996922735#c8613587440407423743

http://itsblogtimeeverybody.blogspot.com/2012/10/kickin-it-old-school.html?showComment=1354997354795#c7326867001416245834

http://articulatingtheartsatpennstate.blogspot.com/2012/11/artsculture-response-jack-johnson.html?showComment=1354997912235#c2368658524628769340

http://morgannsays.blogspot.com/2012/09/template-as-i-was-thinking-about-how-to.html?showComment=1355000362204#c2625663064738922864

http://knaviello.blogspot.com/2012/10/animal-house.html?showComment=1355000680934#c5981471575251676622

http://artstateofpsu.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-social-network.html?showComment=1355009352214#c2578394013906784314

http://marisacutillo.blogspot.com/2012/11/aftermath-of-sandy.html?showComment=1355081473690#c3116516938920710939

https://cms.psu.edu/section/content/Default.asp?WCI=pgDisplay&WCU=CRSCNT&ENTRY_ID=E1E2C28948144EDCA3621EFDBA4F5AA2

http://quirkyconfessional.blogspot.com/2012/12/greek-sing_4.html?showComment=1355082005555#c5290750031799420600

http://carascornerthearts.blogspot.com/2012/11/extra-blog-post-2-my-photography.html

Hi, Ms. Squillante I completed my SRTE

Greek Sing 

This past weekend I participated in a very big event in Greek life called Greek Sing.  Greek sing is where sororities and fraternities join together to put on a performance for the rest of Greek life.  My fraternity was teamed up with SDT and Acacia and our theme was the Wizard of Oz.  We probably practiced close to three times a week for about a month, and their was nothing more I hated then going to these practices for hours to learn a dance that I hated even more.  But when it came time for the performance I was happy that I practiced that much so that i wouldn't embarrass myself.  We didn't actually win any awards when it was all over, but i was proud to be part of Greek Sing at least once in my life and who knows I might do it again next year.

When I was around ten years old I partook in my first play, and it ended in a disaster I forgot my lines and was extremely embarrassed.  Ever since then I have never set foot near live performances, because ever since my first play I have had a huge case of stage fright.  But since I had to do Greek sing I was forced to go onto stage and to perform for others, and I think that it helped me get over my stage fright.  But most importantly it gave me a new appreciation for the theater.  Now that I have been through it myself I know just how hard anyone in a play works to put on a performance and even though I still might not like the theater I would never go and disrespect the people that put on a play.

In the Red and Brown Water

The story starts off with Oya, who is the main character of the story, going to run a race at her high school.  Of course she came out victorious, and because of her amazing running abilities, a man from states approaches her and asks her to run for his team.  But unfortunately even though she wanted to accept this man’s offer her mother was fatally ill, and she decided to wait one year so that she could be with her mother when she passed.  Unfortunately for her after that year the position on the man’s team filled up and she was unable to join the team anymore.  Feeling defeated she decides to try and make a family.  At first she falls in love with Shongo, but that doesn’t work out and Shango eventually enlists in the army.  After Shango she decides to live with Ogun but she is not happy with him, so when Shango gets back she cheats on Ogun with Shango.  Strangely neither Shango nor Ogun is able to impregnate Oya, and eventually Oya breaks it off with Ogun.  But soon after Oya finds out that Shango has impregnated another girl named Shun; and when Oya goes into her house to get them a congratulatory present, she comes out with her ear cut off and gives it to them like a present.

                The death of Oya’s mother struck me as the most important thing for Oya in the story.  The reason for this is because if her mother didn’t fall ill she would have accepted the offer from the man at the track meet.  If she did this her life would have been a lot more fulfilling and she would have probably ended up happier than she did in this story.  Because of her mother’s untimely death Oya was never able to achieve what she wanted and that was to run on that man’s team.

                I thought that Ogun was a very compelling character, because he starts off the story as a shy guy with a stutter that has a crush on Oya.  But because of his stutter Oya doesn’t look at him the same way he sees her.  Ogun then tries his hardest to fix his stutter for her and is able to convince Oya that he is the right man for her.  But then Oya goes off and cheats on him with Shongo even though Shango treats her so badly.  Because of all the bad things that happen to Ogun and how hard he tries for Oya’s love, even though he will never truly get it, one can’ help but feel bad for him.

                This was probably my second time seeing a live theater performance and because of this I don’t really have any critiques on the play, and even if I did I wouldn’t feel fight criticizing them because of how little I know about theater.  Even though I know next to nothing about theater I thought this play was really well done and I greatly enjoyed it.  It actually wasn’t that long which I liked because I have trouble sitting in one place for a long time and it was always engaging like something new and suprising was always happening. 

When Beanie says “We are going to get so much ass here, it's going to be sick. I'm talking like crazy boy band ass” he basically sets the tone for the whole movie.

Old school is considered a timeless classic when it comes to college movies.  The move takes place near a fictional Harrison University in New York State where one of the main characters Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson), also known as the godfather, was forced to find a new house after he found his wife cheating on him.  But his two best friends Frank (Will Ferrell) and Bernard (Vince Von) saw the house as something more, they saw it as a chance for them to re live there party days.  They eventually turn the house into a fraternity, where they throw amazing parties for everyone in the college to enjoy. 

Being a man that only enjoys comedy movies; I thought that Old School was one of the best moves I had ever seen.  I was constantly laughing at the witty comments, or the hilarious acts that the pledges had to do for the fraternity.    Probably the funniest part in the movie was when the brothers as a form of hazing, tie one end of the string to the pledges balls then they tie the other end to a sender block.  Then the pledges have to trust that the brothers put enough string so that the block will hit the ground before the string ends, but unfortunately for one brother his block goes through a drainage pipe and his balls get yanked. 

I can honestly say that I didn’t notice any bad parts in this movie; the reason for this is that I was either always laughing or eagerly waiting for a funny part. I would suggest that everyone should watch this move if they can.   

Arboretum

Going to the arboretum for English class was a really enjoyable change of pace from the normal grind of a school day.  This visit to the arboretum wasn’t my first visit there it was probably more like my fourth or fifth time there, but even though I had been there so many times I had never really went past the fountain.  Though after looking around for a bit I realized that I was missing out and that there are a lot of places to relax inside the arboretum.  For example you could sit by the manmade pond or under the ivy arch.  I personally am not a huge fan of nature but I do enjoy occasionally going to places like this where I can enjoy the company of friends near nature.  So yea I would probably go back with some friends but most likely only once more since it’s getting cold. 

                While walking through the arboretum I began to think about the trip that my family took to Korea.  The reason for this was because Koreans love their nature, and in every part of Korea there is an area that contains a beautiful garden and temple.  So while taking my stroll in the arboretum I began to remember a certain park in Korea.  I recall walking up a flight of stairs that opened up into a walkway with overbearing trees on both sides that made it fell like a hallway made of trees.  This then led into one of the most beautiful gardens that I have ever seen.  There were flowers of all colors everywhere, and the flowers were planted in such a way that each group of flowers made up a subtle but elegant design.  Then as I walked further into the park the air turned heavy and the terrain turned into a moist swamp like area.  There were huge ponds everywhere I looked and they were all connected to each other by little streams.  But the best part of this area was that not only were there bridges for people to cross over, but there were also stones for the kids to jump around on which made the place a lot more fun.  After I got through that area I encountered a huge area covered in a tarp, and once I entered it the air suddenly turned dry and crisp.  Gazing at the contents of the huge tent I noticed that the tent was desert themed and everywhere I looked I could see a different kind of cacti.  I found the fact that they were able to grow all of these different kinds of plants extremely interesting, because the climate of each zone was so different from each other.  And even now I don’t know how they were able to create this insane garden.  

Arts/Cultural Response: Catch 22 reading

This event that I attended was the marathon reading of the book Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.  Joseph Heller was once an English professor at Penn State, and because of this the English department decided to sponsor the marathon reading of Catch 22.  The even took place outside behind the library, in-between the two walkways.  There was a tarp put up over where the reading was and chairs in rows for the audience to sit in.  It took place on Thursday to Friday and went on until the book was over.  The room felt kind of gloomy because there weren’t a lot of people there and the people that were never stayed to long.  The audience was mostly kids that were getting extra credit from their English teacher for reading the book, or people that seemed to know a lot about Catch 22 and be very passionate about the book.  I personally didn’t participate in the event because I have always had a fear of public speaking, and I was afraid to totally mispronounce a word so I decided against it.  Personally my favorite part of the reading was when my friend went up to reed and kept cracking up because she laughs when she’s nervous.  I have never been to an event like this before and I was expecting it to be really crowded.  But to my surprise there was only five to eight people there at a time and no one really stated for that long they just kind of came to read.  The friends that I went with thought it was a lot of fun mostly because they got to get a free tee shirt, but also because they got a lot of extra credit for going to this event.  

Maria Martinez- author

Pottery bowl- title

Made with clay and slip and made in the 1950s

It was a medium sized jet black bowl that was sand blasted, but there is a serpent design on the bowl that is not sanded blasted over so it is smooth in these areas.  It is made out of a special type of clay that is mixed with volcanic ashes.  The thing that makes the clay special is that it is clay that can only be found on her reservation, and the process of mixing the clay and ashes is very tedious and labors.  

The pot was made in the 1950s by Maria Martinez in San Ildefonso Pueblo, which is a small town north west of New Mexico.  The art of making the bowl was derived from her original culture of making bowls, which she learned as a child, and she also incorporated ancient pottery styles into her bowl making.  Also as a bowl it was made to be both a piece of art and to be useful to the people that owned it.   Even though the pots were made at an earlier time, they belonged to a more historic era because they used designs and styles of pottery from a more historic time. 

Ever since I was little I have always been interested in ancient cultures mostly the Greek and the Romans.  At first when I saw this pot I had little to no interest in it, but after I took a closer look I saw that there was a serpent design on it.  This greatly interested me, and after a little research I figured out that the serpent was called avanyu.  Additionally I don’t really like modern art because I feel like there is no use to it except being eye candy, because of this I only like art that has a use to it or tells the story of some historic civilization.

This piece of art is making the claim that pottery making isn’t a dying art.  I think this because when Maria was starting to pick up pottery it is said that young girls weren’t required to learn how to do it.  But after she started to make her signature pots more and more people wanted to learn the art from her. 

After visiting the art museum I can honestly say that I am not an art fanatic.  Even though it was cool to look at all the different pieces of art, I don’t really get interested by art and I don’t really know how to appreciate the different kinds of arts.  I might visit the museum one more time but I don’t think that I would go out of my way to visit the museum.  Even though I probably wouldn’t go back to the museum I defiantly enjoyed going there, and am happy I went at least once.   

Template- As I was thinking about which template I wanted to use I realized that I wanted it to be something that said a lot about me.  Because of this I chose the template with the grass and the dandelions.  The reason that I chose this one is because ever since I was little I loved to watch cartoons, and I still do.  This template also reminded me of my current favorite cartoon which is Adventure Time.  Furthermore it is very colorful, and color is something that always draws my eyes. 

Title- When thinking about a title for my blog I thought about the in class writing that we did, and how the class was about the arts.  While thinking about this I realized that everyone has their own opinion about what art is.  I chose this title because I want the people that visit this site to know that this site is about my opinion of art. 

Color- The reason that I chose the light blue color is because that was always the color that I wanted my eyes to be since I was a kid.  And then green and white are my two other favorite colors, which is the reason the.  Additionally because the shades of the colors are kind of childish I think that it makes the blog look more welcoming.

Font- I have never really cared for font but when I saw this one I thought that it was just right.  The reason I thought this is because my page was already looking unprofessional with all of the kid like stuff, and I think that this font is really professional which in my mind kind of evens it out. 

Pages- I chose to not use pages because I’m really only going to be posting on the main page because I don’t have that much info to put on the blog.

Link- I didn’t include any