Arguin' and Controversy

[FarmerYoda]

stories teach us to expand our minds

stories teach us how to relate to humans, nature, UFO's, etc...

stories teach us to trust the hard times

stories teach us that we're not alone

stories teach us that life is tragic

stories teach us that dreams come true

stories teach us that life is ugly and hard and unkind and hopeful and beautiful

stories teach us that you can captivate people by making shit up

stories of the greater things... fill your heart and soul with  tears

stories of the greater years... what's in here won't disappear

why do books teach us that? can't we learn that as life goes on?what makes people think we're going to believe stories? why do authors spend years putting themselves into situations that they've never been in to "teach" us these things? and why do we enjoy reading about things that aren't true?

[ycartrob]

why do books teach us that? can't we learn that as life goes on?what makes people think we're going to believe stories? why do authors spend years putting themselves into situations that they've never been in to "teach" us these things? and why do we enjoy reading about things that aren't true?

Authors have no choice but to write. It's coincidental (and not important) if their work gets read.

Birds don't sing for approval or to teach. They sing because they are birds.

Everything is true; that is to say, if anything is real...

[FarmerYoda]

*sigh*

you're too quick. i know what i'm trying to say , and although i don't agree with everything i am saying, you have to admit i raise a good point... i have acutally been wondering a lot about this... and i don't know what to say anymore.

[ycartrob]

*sigh*

you're too quick. i know what i'm trying to say , and although i don't agree with everything i am saying, you have to admit i raise a good point... i have acutally been wondering a lot about this... and i don't know what to say anymore.

yes you do.

you know exactly what to say, you just don't know how to say it....

perhaps you should write it? Maybe make up some story that relates to how you feel, something you have never experienced before yet would feel it would totally (most excellently) explain your feelings in this situation.

we call it, "trudgin' across the desert"

[MMJ_fanatic]

No, I said it the way I meant it. The Red Sox suck for trading Nomar. I could care less about the World Series. They screwed around and tried to get A-Rod, Nomar said screw you idiots (as well he should have) and he quit playing. The older I get, the less and less I like pro sports. Haven't watched 1 baseball game this year...

I believe Nomar was playing just as many games about whether he was coming back or wanted to be traded--the paintbrush goes both ways in Baseball as well as other Pro sports.  There's no love lost in New England for Nomar BELIEVE THAT!

[ycartrob]

I believe Nomar was playing just as many games about whethewr he was coming back or wanted to be traded--the paintbrush goes both ways in Baseball as well as other Pro sports.  There's no love lost in New England for Nomar BELIEVE THAT!

right, and no love lost in Dallas after they fired the franchise Tom Landry and won Super Bowls in the 90's. Loyalty, class, gamesmanship and honor are all words that used to describe pro sports; today, it's strictly a business, and that sux. Money changes everything and this business aspect of pro sports has lowered my interest. It's disheartening.

 I'm just glad the Saints were able to stay in New Orleans.

[tomEisenbraun]

art moves us. whether it be writing, visual media, or music, if done correctly, it can evoke certain emotions that cannot be expressed with any form of simplicity. or even not at all. i've read Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" several times, but not for a few years before last semester. When I read it last semester, I pulled so many things out of it. I damn near cried. I was overjoyed, I was able to empathize with the people he was writing about. Not because they were real, or because I felt sorry for them, but because I found that what he was presenting was not just a great fictitious character, but because what he was presenting was a figment of reality that we all know. We all seek security, we all know what it is to be homesick in some way or another. Even if you hate your home, your family life sucks, don't you still have that longing for somewhere safe? (Not directed at anyone, just kind of a big rhetorical "you")

I see the whole book as kind of a dissection of that homesickness, in all kinds of different ways. People trying to understand their world as they are placed in a new one, people desparately seeking truth, and those who would trick themselves out of it at all costs in order to feel "secure", but secure only in a lie. Some of the scenarios are outrageous, but if you look at the heart of the matter, it doesn't matter that the story is on Mars or with a landscape we can't comprehend. It's not about the setting. And in fact, the way that the setting is so far removed from what we're familiar with gets you to hone in on the subtleties of our humanity even more. Where you begin to see our little devices and strange interactions, the little things that don't make sense logically sometimes, but the way we're stuck very much on "what we can know" a lot of the times. It's heart-wrenching, in that you see a lot of humanity for what it is, which is broken and hopeless in a very big way. You see people falling back on their guard, and being very pretensive because it keeps them safe. They come to this new world, not knowing the history or anything, wipe out the inhabitants unpurposefully and unkowingly, and then are hatefully scared to death of them when the spirits of the Martians try to help them out. It's ignorance. I could go on for a few days about this book. I think I'm going to find a way for it to be in my curriculum when I'm a teacher.

I've got so much more to say, but I won't, because I could teach a week's worth of class on the different chapters of this book and what they bring to light. Thank you so much for asking that. Because:
a) I need to read more fiction. Or just more books in general
b) i'm ridiculously excited about teaching again

[SMc55]

b) i'm ridiculously excited about teaching again

Go Tom!!!

[FarmerYoda]

art moves us. whether it be writing, visual media, or music, if done correctly, it can evoke certain emotions that cannot be expressed with any form of simplicity. or even not at all. i've read Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" several times, but not for a few years before last semester. When I read it last semester, I pulled so many things out of it. I damn near cried. I was overjoyed, I was able to empathize with the people he was writing about. Not because they were real, or because I felt sorry for them, but because I found that what he was presenting was not just a great fictitious character, but because what he was presenting was a figment of reality that we all know. We all seek security, we all know what it is to be homesick in some way or another. Even if you hate your home, your family life sucks, don't you still have that longing for somewhere safe? (Not directed at anyone, just kind of a big rhetorical "you")

I see the whole book as kind of a dissection of that homesickness, in all kinds of different ways. People trying to understand their world as they are placed in a new one, people desparately seeking truth, and those who would trick themselves out of it at all costs in order to feel "secure", but secure only in a lie. Some of the scenarios are outrageous, but if you look at the heart of the matter, it doesn't matter that the story is on Mars or with a landscape we can't comprehend. It's not about the setting. And in fact, the way that the setting is so far removed from what we're familiar with gets you to hone in on the subtleties of our humanity even more. Where you begin to see our little devices and strange interactions, the little things that don't make sense logically sometimes, but the way we're stuck very much on "what we can know" a lot of the times. It's heart-wrenching, in that you see a lot of humanity for what it is, which is broken and hopeless in a very big way. You see people falling back on their guard, and being very pretensive because it keeps them safe. They come to this new world, not knowing the history or anything, wipe out the inhabitants unpurposefully and unkowingly, and then are hatefully scared to death of them when the spirits of the Martians try to help them out. It's ignorance. I could go on for a few days about this book. I think I'm going to find a way for it to be in my curriculum when I'm a teacher.

I've got so much more to say, but I won't, because I could teach a week's worth of class on the different chapters of this book and what they bring to light. Thank you so much for asking that. Because:
a) I need to read more fiction. Or just more books in general
b) i'm ridiculously excited about teaching again

this was a good example. i've often times thought about why we reread books. i mean, why reread? you know what happens. isn't it just a waste of time? i do it, i'm just curious why. i love rereading books i enjoy, because i...well... love them (which brings me back to the begining of the circle - why do i love it? but i wont get into that). but also, i guess it's just the same reason why you'd listen to an album more than once... each time you reread (or listen) you discover something else you love about it and pick up on things you wouldn't've picked up on because you know what happens and how it unravels...
i don't know. it's really hard. :(

[EC]

storytelling is the earliest form of teaching, too.  everything that remains from the oral tradition of ancient history is told through stories and metaphors.  depending on what you believe, many religious books can be considered stories that teach.  reading is also a really good way to understand the structure and patterns of language and helps your brain think in new ways.  i always find that it takes me a while when i'm starting a new book or a new author, because i'm kind of integrating their patterns and styles subconsciously, and once i "get" it, then i'm right into it.

i don't know what i'd do without books, and especially novels.  

now, having said that, if i were in charge, i'd DEFINITELY revamp the reading lists that most highschools use to teach with.  and i wish they would explore writers beyond shakespeare, too.

[BH]

is tv just a book on tape with lots of pictures?

[TEO]

oh my god.  like jaimoe, i am literally melting in my chair.  my chair is uncomfortable, my hair refuses to dry, i'm hungover and stressed out.  it is so hot here that people are finding it hard to breathe, and the air quality is very bad, and the smog keeps the humidity and heat at this inhuman level.  

but god fucking damn, i disagree with you teo.  i loved those puppets so much.  i loved the idea of them, i loved the big dude behind patrick, the giraffe, the whole thing.  i felt like people actually cared about shit when i saw the puppets (ie, going beyond the usual way of doing a show, and trying to do something different and fun.)

let's see.  i'm not sure i got it in me to be controversial today.  i'll think about it, though.

gotcha' goin'   ;)