conquer poem

conquered quickly quite the qualm
coming quietly i come calm
saddened suddenly still i sit
secretly saving my sinister smile
telling time to take the test
aware of what approaches ahead
conquered quickly quite the qualm
coming quietly i come calm

poem type:

poem 11/13

asking, questioning
but not understanding.
answers given, my head nodding yes.
but not understanding.
calm doctors, calm air, calm inner self
out of control outer self.
mother nature messes up? you know she doesn’t mess up.
this is real, it’s normal, it’s me
and me is something.

type: free verse

11/13 blogger

Middlesex is turning out to be an excellent book. I’m glad we went over material such as gender vs. sex and queer theory now because the sex and gender correlation in the book. It seems the blunt style used in class to talk about it is also used in the book, which is probably the most direct and best way to go about it. The way the intro of the book started out was sorta confusing at first, and then jumping forward and backward through time didn’t help much.

The idea of someone who is hermaphrodite jumps into mind here whenever I think about this book. I find the idea interesting because I can’t fathom something like that existing. It challenges me to create new ideas about how sex and gender would be like if you had both at the same time. I understand it’s a fairly common trait to have but never heard many real studies or facts about this XXY, XYY stuff.

poem, sex and gender.

Once felt in danger,
once felt opressed.
Never felt stranger,
mind full of stress.

type: epitaph

blog 11/11: sex and gender

Transitioning into the book Middlesex, I am glad that we are learning about the diversity of different sexualities today. I feel like it’s important to know how others live and feel sexually, as I can’t fathom the fact. We learned about how sex differs from gender in class; a subject I never really thought of before and found particularly interesting. I talked about the subject to others who I know differ sexually and found out some pretty cool info I didn’t really care to know before.

What sex a person is has a lot to do with the physical makeup of the body. Obviously guys and girls are made differently, but it boils down to if you have a penis or not. That’s it. The reproductive system is what defines your sex, and little else. Linguistically the two words are used interchangeably today, but it isn’t accurate.

In my own words, gender refers to the social personality a person displays for his or her self. I word it this way to emphasize the importance of what others view you as. You couldn’t have a male gender if there was no one else around to notice it. An example is how it is usually acceptable for girls to wear dresses and not guys, not even gay guys. This shows that sex and gender have a strong correlation, but are still not interchangeable. For a lesbian does not have a male gender, but more a “gay female” gender.

poem 23

Coming
Running
Waiting
Aching
Back home I am coming, running fast.
Now I sit here waiting, aching past.

type: Tyburn

return of the threshold blog

As described earlier on the quiz, one of the biggest ‘return of the threshold’ themes in my life so far was moving from Cal U back to home, Punxsutawney, where I went to a branch of IUP. This lifestyle was so much different because I just learned for the first how t live on my own, and was then thrown back in to my parents house. My friends were away for the school year at different colleges, so I was by myself most of the time.

I learned a lot about myself that semester. I had to cross the threshold of living with my family and having rules set again before me. I learned how to overcome boredom and entertain myself. I also had experiences with relationships then that will always stay with. Many important lessons were learned while I crossed this threshold.

A poem that reflects this idea could be ‘A Dream within a Dream’ by Edgar Allen Poe. He talks about having two different looks on a certain situation. Also, he conveys ideas with sand slipping between his fingers, kinda like how I waiting for the semester to end.

take home quiz

Posting five monomythic moments from my life is both hard and personal to me. Including a soundtrack makes it even more difficult.

One of them would be when I journeyed off to college for the first time. It was probably one of my first ‘Call to Adventure’ moments. I have had many specific ones that I can remember, but this one sticks out to be the most prominent. Both the moment I was accepted, and the car ride there could be two representations of this stage.. A good song to convey this message would be Commander Venus’s ‘My Other Car is a Spaceship’. It’s one song I used to listen to at that age, and fits the car scene perfectly.

When I first started feeling uncomfortable at Cal U, the first school I went too, I could have been placed in the Belly of the Whale category. I felt hopeless and stuck there just having to wait the semester out. I went sooo slow for me, I hated the whole winter. Depressed wouldn’t be a good word to use here, just very impatient with the whole situation I guess. Smashing Pumpkins, ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings’ wreaks of this feeling. The chorus speaks for itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktff3bZpux8 ( embedding was disabled for video )

A good apotheosis that comes to mind is when I learned my first kick-flip on a skateboard. I was young and full of competition with my friends. We always played a game of ‘skate’ (similar to HORSE in basketball) and it drove each other to learn harder tricks. I felt very triumphant the moment I got it down since I could use it in the game. Bad Religion – ‘You’ takes the prize here. It’s a punk song filled with energy making me think of my days when I use to skateboard.

Crossing the Return Threshold is when I came back from Cal U and went to IUP punxsy. I had to readjust my lifestyle to living at home again. Although it was an easier lifestyle, (mom made food) it was defiantly a different one to get used too. None of my friends lived at home during the school year so it was pretty lonely at times. I got into hip hop for a little bit back then. This song represents my attitude pretty good.

I have had experiences with ‘Woman as Temptress.’ A few girlfriends in my life lead my down the wrong path a couple times. Some cases were kind of extreme, but I feel to young to really know what extreme is yet. This song brings back memories of times in my life where I was forced into situations I didn’t want to be a part of.

poem 21

Success, now on my way back.
Free from everything,
using someone ELSE’S
guidance for once!
It’s not up to me now,
but soon another journey awaits.
My time to rest and energize.
To think, to feel.
To be me.

free verse.

blog 17

One of the only things that comes to mind when I think of the magic flight, is the magic school bus. It’s just such a good example for this specific stage in the monomyth. Everyday when the kids enter Mrs. Frizzles class, they end up going on a field trip that takes them somewhere crazy; inside of the body for instance. Whenever they are done and want to return, the school bus transforms back into a bus and they have a smooth ride out.

Another magic flight moment that occurs is when Harry Potter makes the return to Hogwarts every school year. There is many different ways that he does it, but usually they involve the literal form of magic somehow. This part in the series shows the struggle each year for Harry’s return, and usually introduces new types of magic in the series to overcome the obstacle. Rowling puts a lot of work into writing out these parts.

The Beatles’ song yellow submarines reminds me of a car ride all with your friends, perhaps on the end of a long road trip where you just spent the last week or so with them. It’s about having everything you need and want inside the car, or yellow submarine. It is an example of how epic the feeling is after you have accomplished your goal and are on the way home to show it off.