Sentimental Sentiments

     After reading over all of my blogs from this year, my first thought is "Why didn't I figure out how to monetize this thing sooner." (I encourage you to click on the ads placed on the right side bar for your convenience. The more you click, the more I make) From what I can tell, in the majority of my posts I make an attempt to answer the prompt in a manner that is unusual or somehow out of the ordinary. However, most of my attempts at finding deeper levels of meaning in the material discussed in the posts just come across as pretentious.
     As I went over all of my old posts, a couple clear themes emerged. First of all, I noticed that my blog is saturated with deep thought provoking answers, as well as clever insights, and unique perspectives. That's when I realized I was reading Sherwin's blog. I knew something wasn't right. In all seriousness, my blog follows two major trends. There are the posts that are somewhat intelligent, and look at the topic being discussed in a new light. Then there are the posts that I did just for the sake of doing them. It's like aestheticism, except for the sake of a couple points, not art. To insert a quote that may or may not be present just for the sake of a grade, I would like to quote H.R. from the Bad Brains and say "Just another damn song."


        Although this song is about commercialism in music, and is saying that at some point, themes become cliches, and your just writing another damn song, and that often music is written for the sake of money, not the themes that are discussed in the lyrics. I feel that that it can also apply to the blogs, and school in general. It is very possible that I am just cynical, but I look at my classmates and sometimes it seems that they are so focused on points that they overlook the meaning in what they are doing. However this is somewhat hypocritical, as I am guilty of doing the same thing. I have done posts this year that have been insightful (my favorite was the Lobsters post), but there are also posts that I just did for the points without touching on any deeper level of meaning.  This whole thing seems to be a paradox: for teachers you can't evaluate your students performance without points, but there is such a big hype over grades that many people do their assignments just for the grade, without ever really understanding. Or maybe, I'm just ranting to fill space. (Think about it: go on a rant about how people do their work just for the sake of their grades without understanding any of it, and no ones going to notice that you're doing the same thing)
     To conclude, my blog is pretty much what anyone would expect. Some of the posts are intelligent and insightful,  others are pointless and unenlightened., and some are just boring. Some parts are much better than others, but as a whole I believe it isn't bad. Not amazing, but also not bad. I would like to close with a reminder to click on the conveniently placed advertisement before you grade me down for deliberately wasting space.

Poetry Experiences

     Since I can't think of an example of how poetry has affected or made a difference in my life, for the purpose of the assignment I am going to assume that a song is a poem set to music. After all, many songs have some sort of rhyming scheme and even those that don't still have have rhythm in how they are sung, similar to a poem.
     One song that is important to me is Dramamine, by Modest Mouse. I can listen to this song on repeat for hours, and unlike many songs, it doesn't cater to any specific mood the reader is in; it is just as good as when your happy, sad, or anywhere in between. There have been many times when it has either cheered me up, or added to a good mood.
     Additionally, I love to play the song. I have spent many hours playing along to the recording, as well as playing dubstyle versions with different friends on drums. As a result, the opening has some level of sentimental value, and whenever I hear it I think of all the times I have played it.
     One of the great things about songs is that the music, as well as the words can have connotation. In some ways music can influence people in ways that poetry can't for this very reason. In addition to the composition of the riffs, different keys and scale patterns can be used in a song to create feeling without ever using words. An artist can evoke darker emotions by using minor, and blues scales among others.
     Poetry has never been something I have gone out of my way for, but I have always had some level of appreciation. However, I do spend probably too much time listening to music, which I say should count for something. I tend to enjoy songs more than poems for the reasons I mentioned earlier. The lyrics hold value and create emotions, and often the accompanying music adds meaning and emotional value to the song.