In The New York Times's magazine Upfront, the article "Trying Times," Patricia Smith is arguing the hard-to-swallow fact that jobs are getting more scarce by the day. College is not only getting more expensive with each passing day, but jobs after and during college are getting harder to catch. Now, when money is needed by so many, we can not find it.
Kacey Herring, a 21-year-old college student, says, "The end goal is to work in entertainment marketing, but at this time, in this economy, I just need a job." She needs a job, so obviously she is having quite a hard time finding one, reinforcing the fact that gaining a job is scarce and harder to accomplish. These "trying times" are forcing some to take drastic measures and most will probably end up abandoning their hopes and dreams just to be able to pay for neccesities.
Carl Van Horn, a labor economist at Rutgers, adds to my delima by stating, " Today's young people are very foucused on trying to work hard and to get ahead, I don't think this is a generation of slackers." It is being bluntly said that working hard to get a job just is not cutting it. Generation Y is not made up of slackers, but people with depleted resources. This hard truth is something that is not helping anyone.
Barak Obama himself had trouble paying his debts. He told us about it when he said, "Michelle I know had at least $60,000. I had at least $60,000. So when we got together we had a lot of loans to pay. In fact, we did not finish paying them off until probably we'd been married for at least eight years, maybe nine." Wow. Even our president that is now in his second-term has had trouble with paying off school-loans. Who would have guessed that? It is hard to think of him anything less than a celebrity, yet it is now obvious that he is just as normal as you and I.
I can actually make a connection of this article to myself. I have been worried about college and how I will pay it for quite a bit now. Just making money is hard for me. Getting a job has been so hard for my brother and my best friend. Just being able to pay for gas is hard. It is really insane how someone can have better luck being eligible for disability than actually being able to get a job.
Noticing the current things in the working world taking place, I have a feeling there will be troubling times in the kingdom of GenerationY. Seriously, this is really sad.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Third Quarter CC#3: Callaway Channels Streisand at LA's Disney Hall
Josh Getlin, a reporter for Huffington Post, describes in his article entitled "Callaway Channels Streisand at LA's Disney Hall" on February 8, 2013 that a very gutsy jazz singer approaches the classics with confidence.
He begins the article with the lessons many jazzy singers know from the beginning, "It's an unwritten rule in the cabaret, jazz and Broadway worlds: If you're performing a solo show, think twice about singing classic songs associated with Barbra Streisand. Approach Liza with caution, and beware of Judy. " It is obvious that the classics are the ones that made it famous and let's face it, everyone normally talks about how someone tried to cover it and failed. There is one gutsy girl that knew the rule from the beginning and she is tired of being scared. Yes, Miss. Ann Hampton Callaway will be preforming the famous Barbra Streisand this Sunday.
Callaway explains her rather large leap by stating, "At my stage in the game I have dared myself to take risks with songs that I love, but previously stayed away from because I was so well-behaved." If she were to fail, what will become of her career? That is a fact that is not known yet. The research will be finished this Sunday, after she preforms show tunes like "Don't Rain On My Parade". Why is it that this girl has decided to take these songs made famous by Barbra, rather than others made famous by Judy of Liza? Maybe there is a close connection between the two.
It appears that there is a connection, when Ann reveals her secrets by saying, " I'm not just putting this show together out of thin air. All of that background has helped me create a performance that now truly reflects my own personal experience," and when Josh types,"The legendary singer has recorded two songs written by Callaway.." There is a deep bond between the two of them, then. Callaway has written songs for Barbra, one of which became Barbra's wedding song. Callaway wrote "I've Dreamed Of You" for Barbra, a show tunes extraordinaire. The connection seems to have given this performer her confidence to preform the classic show tunes, possibly a few of the ones that she wrote.
A connection I can make this to is to Anna Kendrick in the movie Pitch Perfect during auditions for Capella groups. She preformed a song called "Cups(You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone)" that was originally made famous by Lulu and the Lampshades. This being a sort of classic song, it was a big risk for Anna to sing it, but amazingly, she pulled it off great. I am sure that the gutsy singer, Ann Callaway will do the same.
In conclusion, Ann will more likely than not, nail this performance at Disney Hall on Sunday. Props and snaps to this girl for taking on the big leagues of jazzy show tunes! Look it up on YouTube and you decide, did she get the gold?
He begins the article with the lessons many jazzy singers know from the beginning, "It's an unwritten rule in the cabaret, jazz and Broadway worlds: If you're performing a solo show, think twice about singing classic songs associated with Barbra Streisand. Approach Liza with caution, and beware of Judy. " It is obvious that the classics are the ones that made it famous and let's face it, everyone normally talks about how someone tried to cover it and failed. There is one gutsy girl that knew the rule from the beginning and she is tired of being scared. Yes, Miss. Ann Hampton Callaway will be preforming the famous Barbra Streisand this Sunday.
Callaway explains her rather large leap by stating, "At my stage in the game I have dared myself to take risks with songs that I love, but previously stayed away from because I was so well-behaved." If she were to fail, what will become of her career? That is a fact that is not known yet. The research will be finished this Sunday, after she preforms show tunes like "Don't Rain On My Parade". Why is it that this girl has decided to take these songs made famous by Barbra, rather than others made famous by Judy of Liza? Maybe there is a close connection between the two.
It appears that there is a connection, when Ann reveals her secrets by saying, " I'm not just putting this show together out of thin air. All of that background has helped me create a performance that now truly reflects my own personal experience," and when Josh types,"The legendary singer has recorded two songs written by Callaway.." There is a deep bond between the two of them, then. Callaway has written songs for Barbra, one of which became Barbra's wedding song. Callaway wrote "I've Dreamed Of You" for Barbra, a show tunes extraordinaire. The connection seems to have given this performer her confidence to preform the classic show tunes, possibly a few of the ones that she wrote.
A connection I can make this to is to Anna Kendrick in the movie Pitch Perfect during auditions for Capella groups. She preformed a song called "Cups(You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone)" that was originally made famous by Lulu and the Lampshades. This being a sort of classic song, it was a big risk for Anna to sing it, but amazingly, she pulled it off great. I am sure that the gutsy singer, Ann Callaway will do the same.
In conclusion, Ann will more likely than not, nail this performance at Disney Hall on Sunday. Props and snaps to this girl for taking on the big leagues of jazzy show tunes! Look it up on YouTube and you decide, did she get the gold?
Monday, February 4, 2013
Third Quarter Book Review #1: Twenty Boy Summer by: Sarah Ockler
"Nothing ever really goes away--it just changes into something else. Something beautiful." Something like mermaid tears, they turn into sea glass and we find them on beaches; something like Matt, Sam, Frankie, and Anna. Matt, the beautiful memory; Sam, the beautiful vacation; Frankie, the beautiful mermaid that is strong and sensitive; Anna, the holder of secrets and the mermaid tears she has collected throughout the years. Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer inhaled my being and twisted it all around, giving me a respect for those who have lost, for they have had the power to stay here and they did not need, nor want, pity to do that.
"Anna from New Yawk," a girl, a friend, a daughter, a secret-keeper, someone to hold you when you can not hold yourself up. She held Frankie, a mermaid of colors and wishes, for so long while she wept for Matt, her deceased brother. Anna said, "Weeping is not the same thing as crying, It takes your whole body to weep, and when it`s over, you feel like you don`t have any bones left to hold you up." She was right. She was there to hold Frankie, but she did not show Frankie that she needed to be held as well. Matt was her First Love and as far as she knew, he was also her last. From her birthday, where they first kissed, to the last night of the "before," where it ended. It did not end with a "goodbye" or a "we should just be friends," it ended with the sound of metal on metal colliding with asphault, grass, dirt, and a pole. A pole that Matt's car wrapped around. A pole that split Frankie's left eyebrow into two pieces. The pole that ended Matt's life. The pole that ended Anna's love's life. She said that, "When he died, I saw-- nothing. There was nothing left to see." She said that, "My eyes were closed and his mouth tasted like marzipan flowers and clove cigarettes, and in ten seconds the whole of my life was wrapped up in that one kiss, that one wish, that one secret that would forever divide my life into two parts." It was so hard for Anna to cope. One year later she goes on vacation. The vacation that he had been going on his whole life, every summer. The vacation that brought her the jars of seaglass, the postcards and stories. California. Where she and Frankie made a bet, that bet was called Twenty Boy Summer. They, together, would find twenty boys. Anna only found one, though and he called her "Anna from New Yawk." His name was Sam. He was the one to hold her. He comforted her when she needed it, at least for the three weeks they had together. He asked her what was wrong when she was so used to thinking, "I'm fine, thanks for not asking," but she was not fine. She was not okay or happy. All she knew is that Sam had walked into her life and began to help her put back the pieces. He made her think, "I accept the hard reality that I maybe might possibly be just the slightest tiniest littlest bit kinda sorta interested in him." That scared her, but she liked it.
California, a beautiful place where three weeks are spent. A place that helps put back the pieces. When Anna and Frankie went to California, Anna was not Modest Anna, Scared Anna, or Broken Anna. She was Crazy Anna. She was the Anna that tempted Frankie, rather than the other way around. It changed Frankie into a softer version of the Frankie from before instead of the Broadway-worthy mermaid from after. They met boys, they fought and they broke-down. They got closer, they spread further apart than ever before. California changed the scenery, brought back memories, and changed personalities. California definitely did not erase the past.
Sarah's style could not have made this book more realistic. It was already such a tear-jerker. If any other person had wrote this book it would not be nearly as good. The tears of joy and the tears of happiness brought it all together so seamlessly that it was almost like a movie that I stared in as Anna. She narrated it with such a emotional point of view that it is just perfect. I do not know any other way to describe it.
Read this amazing book. It will swallow your world with you in it, then it will spit you back out. "It breaks your heart and puts it back together again," spoken by Jo Knowels. Those are true words of wisdom. Read this book and you will truly know what Anna means when she says that weeping takes your whole body.
"Anna from New Yawk," a girl, a friend, a daughter, a secret-keeper, someone to hold you when you can not hold yourself up. She held Frankie, a mermaid of colors and wishes, for so long while she wept for Matt, her deceased brother. Anna said, "Weeping is not the same thing as crying, It takes your whole body to weep, and when it`s over, you feel like you don`t have any bones left to hold you up." She was right. She was there to hold Frankie, but she did not show Frankie that she needed to be held as well. Matt was her First Love and as far as she knew, he was also her last. From her birthday, where they first kissed, to the last night of the "before," where it ended. It did not end with a "goodbye" or a "we should just be friends," it ended with the sound of metal on metal colliding with asphault, grass, dirt, and a pole. A pole that Matt's car wrapped around. A pole that split Frankie's left eyebrow into two pieces. The pole that ended Matt's life. The pole that ended Anna's love's life. She said that, "When he died, I saw-- nothing. There was nothing left to see." She said that, "My eyes were closed and his mouth tasted like marzipan flowers and clove cigarettes, and in ten seconds the whole of my life was wrapped up in that one kiss, that one wish, that one secret that would forever divide my life into two parts." It was so hard for Anna to cope. One year later she goes on vacation. The vacation that he had been going on his whole life, every summer. The vacation that brought her the jars of seaglass, the postcards and stories. California. Where she and Frankie made a bet, that bet was called Twenty Boy Summer. They, together, would find twenty boys. Anna only found one, though and he called her "Anna from New Yawk." His name was Sam. He was the one to hold her. He comforted her when she needed it, at least for the three weeks they had together. He asked her what was wrong when she was so used to thinking, "I'm fine, thanks for not asking," but she was not fine. She was not okay or happy. All she knew is that Sam had walked into her life and began to help her put back the pieces. He made her think, "I accept the hard reality that I maybe might possibly be just the slightest tiniest littlest bit kinda sorta interested in him." That scared her, but she liked it.
California, a beautiful place where three weeks are spent. A place that helps put back the pieces. When Anna and Frankie went to California, Anna was not Modest Anna, Scared Anna, or Broken Anna. She was Crazy Anna. She was the Anna that tempted Frankie, rather than the other way around. It changed Frankie into a softer version of the Frankie from before instead of the Broadway-worthy mermaid from after. They met boys, they fought and they broke-down. They got closer, they spread further apart than ever before. California changed the scenery, brought back memories, and changed personalities. California definitely did not erase the past.
Sarah's style could not have made this book more realistic. It was already such a tear-jerker. If any other person had wrote this book it would not be nearly as good. The tears of joy and the tears of happiness brought it all together so seamlessly that it was almost like a movie that I stared in as Anna. She narrated it with such a emotional point of view that it is just perfect. I do not know any other way to describe it.
Read this amazing book. It will swallow your world with you in it, then it will spit you back out. "It breaks your heart and puts it back together again," spoken by Jo Knowels. Those are true words of wisdom. Read this book and you will truly know what Anna means when she says that weeping takes your whole body.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Third Quarter CC#2: 'Women Don't Paint Very Well.'
Spiegel Online interviews Georg Baselitz, an egotistical male artist, and he states the quote of the moment, "Women don't paint very well." Spiegel writes an article revolving around this, noticing the worst pieces of this mysogenstic man.This may be the reason and purpose for this article.
Baselitz blantly states, "Women don’t paint very well. It’s a fact." Just the sexism is so strong in this and it makes me want to puke. I do not understand how the gender has anything to do with the artistic abitlity. Maybe one day, this man will realize his wrong doings and apoligize. Yeah, that is a thought.
Spiegel, an online interviewer, wonders, "Maybe this whole interview is a desperate ploy to revive the tail end of an unfulfilling art career? Nevertheless, it puts a pit in our stomachs when a museum-level artist can make such offensive statements and the whole trainwreck is simply referred to as "unfortunate commentary."." This is the part where Georg realizes his mistake. Maybe he just wanted to baffle the world and readers. We may never know. This man is, however, a very mean man that I would like to call mean words. Unfulfilling, a word that we are using to describe this man's career. Maybe that is why he is saying that women do not paint very well.
Spiegel types, "In an wildly insulting interview with the online German publication, the artist "smiles mischievously" while unloading shockingly curmudgeonly cranky sexist statements." Sexist is a word that even Spiegel uses to describe the infamous Georg. Saying something that he wanted you to know that he was thinking, I would say this is some "voice" being added by Spiegel. You can really tell that he is saying his mind, even if he crosses it out.
A connection to my friend, Sarah Rudd. She is the best painter I have ever seen. She is also a female. If Georg believes that "women simply don’t pass the test," he has obviously never seen Sarah work. When you watch her paint, it is like a magical trance in the way that she moves her hands with the brush. Every stroke makes it look closer and closer to being nearly perfect. You just can not say that this woman can not paint very well. Painting is her life, art in general is her life.
The type of writing used in this article is insane. I love that Spiegel wrote this article, it gave me room to vent, something I needed to do. All of the different offensive statements that this guy uses is just flabberghasting. Really, he thinks he can get by with these harst statements? I am ready to show him why they say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
Baselitz blantly states, "Women don’t paint very well. It’s a fact." Just the sexism is so strong in this and it makes me want to puke. I do not understand how the gender has anything to do with the artistic abitlity. Maybe one day, this man will realize his wrong doings and apoligize. Yeah, that is a thought.
Spiegel, an online interviewer, wonders, "Maybe this whole interview is a desperate ploy to revive the tail end of an unfulfilling art career? Nevertheless, it puts a pit in our stomachs when a museum-level artist can make such offensive statements and the whole trainwreck is simply referred to as "unfortunate commentary."." This is the part where Georg realizes his mistake. Maybe he just wanted to baffle the world and readers. We may never know. This man is, however, a very mean man that I would like to call mean words. Unfulfilling, a word that we are using to describe this man's career. Maybe that is why he is saying that women do not paint very well.
Spiegel types, "In an wildly insulting interview with the online German publication, the artist "smiles mischievously" while unloading shockingly
A connection to my friend, Sarah Rudd. She is the best painter I have ever seen. She is also a female. If Georg believes that "women simply don’t pass the test," he has obviously never seen Sarah work. When you watch her paint, it is like a magical trance in the way that she moves her hands with the brush. Every stroke makes it look closer and closer to being nearly perfect. You just can not say that this woman can not paint very well. Painting is her life, art in general is her life.
The type of writing used in this article is insane. I love that Spiegel wrote this article, it gave me room to vent, something I needed to do. All of the different offensive statements that this guy uses is just flabberghasting. Really, he thinks he can get by with these harst statements? I am ready to show him why they say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Third Quarter CC#1: Woman Bites Her Own Wrists
The author, Anonymous, describes the actions of the woman in the Izard County Jail in, Woman Bites Her Own Wrists. This irked me a bit, so here I am. Irking people is, I am guessing, the author's way of getting your attention. The article seems to be implying that the woman, a lady named Michelle, is actually possessed rather than mentally ill.
You may be thinking something along the lines of the movie, The Devil Inside right now, so let me clear something up. This woman was admitted into a "treatment facility" later on. According to our Anonymous author, "A Viola woman who bit her wrists while in jail restraints was rushed to a hospital for massive bleeding, and now faces felony charges stemming from her conduct." Does that not seem crazy to you? I think that sounds really crazy. When I first looked at the article, I thought, "Definitely about a possessed lady." I was proved wrong. The way that the article is phrased, it makes the woman appear to be possessed. Maybe the author believes that she is.
As stated by Tate Lawrence, a sheriff at Izard County Jail, " Michelle Alaine Batterton was being held in jail as the result of minor charges from Fulton County, but when she began screaming and hitting her head against the door of her cell officials placed her in a restraint chair in order to prevent her from doing bodily harm to herself." This is still pointing the the idea that the author might be trying to say that the woman, a crazy lady, is possessed. Maybe she is. The things that she is doing to herself and others seems to make it out to be that way.
Author then types, "District Judge David E. Miller set her bond at $5,000 and granted her a conditional release for admittance to a treatment facility." What better way to end the article? The judge seems to believe that Michelle, the crazy woman, is only crazy. I still believe that the moot point of this was to imply the possession of Michelle. Is that not just the best thing?
I would like to connect this to The Devil Inside, based on the assumption that the author wanted us to believe Michelle is possessed. In this movie, the mother is possessed and she does all kinds of weird things. Including screaming and hitting her head on the wall of her cell until officials of the facility had to pull her away from it. Do you want to connect her cuts for her? The cuts were on her wrist, as were the "cuts" or puncture wounds from Michelle's teeth. Maybe she wants someone to connect her cuts. All she could make them with was her teeth.
The idea of possession is scary to many of us and tends to be cast out of eyesight. The author is attatching the innuendo that casting something under the rug is not the way to go about things. Everything needs to be dealt with and then packed away in an organized file cabinet.
You may be thinking something along the lines of the movie, The Devil Inside right now, so let me clear something up. This woman was admitted into a "treatment facility" later on. According to our Anonymous author, "A Viola woman who bit her wrists while in jail restraints was rushed to a hospital for massive bleeding, and now faces felony charges stemming from her conduct." Does that not seem crazy to you? I think that sounds really crazy. When I first looked at the article, I thought, "Definitely about a possessed lady." I was proved wrong. The way that the article is phrased, it makes the woman appear to be possessed. Maybe the author believes that she is.
As stated by Tate Lawrence, a sheriff at Izard County Jail, " Michelle Alaine Batterton was being held in jail as the result of minor charges from Fulton County, but when she began screaming and hitting her head against the door of her cell officials placed her in a restraint chair in order to prevent her from doing bodily harm to herself." This is still pointing the the idea that the author might be trying to say that the woman, a crazy lady, is possessed. Maybe she is. The things that she is doing to herself and others seems to make it out to be that way.
Author then types, "District Judge David E. Miller set her bond at $5,000 and granted her a conditional release for admittance to a treatment facility." What better way to end the article? The judge seems to believe that Michelle, the crazy woman, is only crazy. I still believe that the moot point of this was to imply the possession of Michelle. Is that not just the best thing?
I would like to connect this to The Devil Inside, based on the assumption that the author wanted us to believe Michelle is possessed. In this movie, the mother is possessed and she does all kinds of weird things. Including screaming and hitting her head on the wall of her cell until officials of the facility had to pull her away from it. Do you want to connect her cuts for her? The cuts were on her wrist, as were the "cuts" or puncture wounds from Michelle's teeth. Maybe she wants someone to connect her cuts. All she could make them with was her teeth.
The idea of possession is scary to many of us and tends to be cast out of eyesight. The author is attatching the innuendo that casting something under the rug is not the way to go about things. Everything needs to be dealt with and then packed away in an organized file cabinet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)