belrose

Drama.

Hmm... I don't mind getting up in front of people and making an absolut twat of myself. Usually. But I've never been one to ACT. I'm terrible at learning anything that isn't lyric off by heart. And ask anyone - I'm the worst liar you'll ever come across. I go red straight away. Even white lies... I'm really horrible at it. I don't know if that's a bad thing... but anyway...

So yes, Drama in Literature 104... Our group is doing "the Cuban Swimmer". I signed up for it not having read the play and laughed so hard when I found out it was mostly in Spanish. I often put my foot in my mouth when I haven't read something and just assume things... Here I assumed a play in an English book would be in English...wrong. And like in year 9 when I cleverly made the call, "But why are the pigs on the cover in a home office?" when 'studying' Animal Farm. Ah yes. Wrong... ANYWAY: I'm doing "eermm props, sound and lighting?". Better that I keep my mouth shut sometimes, which I am doing here as to not let the whole group down... 
We're taking the religious allusions in the play to life, and doing the whole Jesus thing. That's it really. Yeah, I'm articulate... 

Anyway, in terms of a 'substantial' or at the very least, sustained piece of writing for this week, I guess I'll just blurt out a little bit of a internal dialogue that stemmed from quite an ordinary conversation and landed kerplunk in my commonplace book...


...Jamie asked me how long my course is at uni. When I told her it was four years, she looked surprised and said, "Oh, only?" 
ONLY? Well I suppose it is shorter than school... but a lot can happen in four years. I sort of just walked away from that conversation and flitted into my own mind thinking about how much can happen in just one year, as opposed to 'only' four.

In the last year:

*Kings of Leon finally shaved and suddenly found huge success. 

*I have met someone rather lovely and significant. Prior to this, I vowed not to be this deeply emotionally involved with someone for a great deal of time. And woosh, there. I love him. What an idiot. Me, not him.

*John Farnham is back... AGAIN. That man is like a cockroach

*I have also pulled great feats, excuse the French, out of my arse. I became living proof that if you never do your homework, or study, or go to class during year 12, you can still get a better HSC mark and UAI than an asshole who told you several times during the duration of the year that you were likely to fail. 

*The world has given up on Britney

*Russell Brand became really rather famous, and then made a huge mistake that the media blew up out of proportion, ironically making him even more ridiculously famous. 

*I lost several friends. It's ok, they didn't die. They just disappeared into 'the Land After School' 

And hell yes, there is quite a bit more that went on that was a lot more important than my tiny little sphere of existance... ONLY four. Psht. How dare she. 

That isn't even a substantial piece of writing. Oh, whatever... Done.
Bel

Apparenlty (and now this is burning me) I WRITE like a HSC student. Now my problem in regular Adv English at school was that my essay structures were "extension structures"... Now that I'm at uni, my critical responses are apparently in "Adv English structure". Here's my thoughts; I write how I write and it rarely fits into a "structure". I blurt it, from my mind to a page, and particularly if it's meant to be a serious, extended response, there isn't that much thought into the structure of my word puke.   

And I'm also now being told in both Theology and Literature that I write too largely and that I should stop using big words and sentences. Pity that's the way I've been writing since I learnt how to write. I got that same feedback in Kindy when my teacher was trying to correct my spelling of Pnemonia; she couldn't remember how to spell it either, and asked me to use "flu" instead. I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but it's not even the same flipping illness! I'll bloody well use words that have a definition that explains what I'm trying to say, thank you very much. 

This aside, I'm starting to wonder if I now READ like a HSC student. And I think it's sometimes yes. I tend to be watching a movie and go to myself "oh look, there's a high camera angle. That belittles the character... SHUT UP AND ENJOY THE EFFIN FILM!"  This makes me sad. 

Can we no longer just APPRECIATE literature as escapism and be done with it; or do I really have to sit here and make a list of the meanings and applications of literature, with references to several authors thoughts and their works. 

*Checks Uni unit outline*
 

Not so unlike HSC now, is it?

 This week, I found the play "Andre's Mother" to be deeply moving. In the tutorial, I really enjoyed seeing how the interpretation of the play brought it to life in different ways. I think that it is always important to understand that anything that is read/interpreted has an individual lens placed upon it by the reader, who instills a meaning into the piece because of their own experiences with the world. 

I thought I might post some random stuff directly out of my commonplace for this week, as time has escaped me, and considering it was checked yesterday, it's probably a good time to reflect....

i. (On waking up early)
There is something seriously wrong about any time before 10am.

ii. 
Don't know what else to be but entirely under-whelmed...

iii.  (On KOL)
If you turn up to a concert with earplugs, who are you? An avid fan who doesn't want the busted eardrums to prove it? Pfft.

iv. (On drunken phonecalls)
Early mornings should not be broken with a pitiful call from someone who wishes that they had clawed a little bit deeper into your skin.

v. (On an idiot)
He used to be lovely
But now he's a twat
I liked him much better
When he thought he was fat

Now at the clubs
Cos the girls ask his name
He's realised he's hot
and has become stupidly vain

(lol)

vi. (on my money box)
My gnome is fat with what seems like lots and lots of money. In fact, he's only harbouring $82.35.

vii. (On theology)
I think that Abraham needs a good talking to about the literature that has been written about him.

viii. (Self explanitoray)
Was daydreaming about my first real pay check and have decided that I'm going to rent a new release movie and order in copius amounts of Thai. This is how I know I am 'poor'. WOAH DREAM BIG!

Conclusion: I'm claiming insanity...
 

Alyssa! Johnny Farnham! lol

I really like this post. It's very heartfelt and honest; I'll make sure that you don't think I'm boring. Thanks for being inspirational. 

Bel

http://lizkaras.livejournal.com/5974.html?view=9558#t9558

i've got goosebumps, liz.... admittedly, it is cold today, but that was toe-curling-ly good =] i also really love that you had maccas in mind. i know a few people that are convinced that cheeseburgers are laced with a drug that makes them addictive. lol dark and mind-drawing. well done, and thanks, as always.

Just the Two of Us by Tomioka Taeko is an effortless poem that depicts the joys of true love. It describes the couple constantly making simple meals for each other; “You’ll make tea, I’ll make toast.” The tone insights the lack of monotony in this repetition, and rather focuses on the warmth and familiarity of the task as the couple devote everything to each other whilst the persona notes they wait to “bury you”. In conversational first person, the persona invites the audience to be the other half of this relationship. It is in this way that the historical and biographical context of the poem becomes unimportant as the plot is suddenly entrusted to the audience as their own story; it is their interpretation that writes the meaning of love into this account of a relationship, as drawn out by the author’s depiction of the banal task that depicts such strong, harmonious coupling, bonded until the death of a half leaves “one left, sipping tea,” inconsolable and “refusing fiction”. The significance of the poem is solely placed upon the reader and does not provoke questions about the historical or biographical context of the author, therefore rendering the context unimportant in the interpretation of this text and of the theme of love.

As corny as it sounds, Just the Two of Us reminded me of my relationship with my boyfriend... mainly because we're self proclaimed nannas. We love just being lazy and have this odd obsession with making and drinking tea. And before Robert goes to work, I usually make him a couple of pieces of toast with avocado. We're entirely lame, but entirely comfortable.

Anyway, on closer inspection of the poem, I found that the warm and fuzzies that it was rainbowing put me in a fantastic mood. I love how literature can do that; it's like music. Bash out to My Chemical Romance, if you will; Sway to Velvet Underground - heck why not even get arty farty; Have a spaz dance-jump-sing-scream fest to the Grates; ...and have a cuddle reading Just the Two of Us.
 
It's funny how that works for me.

HAPPY EASTER!!!



 

Dan,
Gotta love Bloc Party as masters of poetic lyric... and of performance really.

Enjoyed your poem. The physical structure made it even more interesting to read. The repetition of the word "embrace" had a very nice effect, and allowed me to pause and reflect. Reminded me a bit of "Enter Without So Much as Knocking" by Bruce Dawes. You'd probably like it; it's fairly heavily satirical in the same sense that you are here. Read it here: http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~dksjb/knocking.htm  
Been one of my favourites for a while, so the fact that you reminded me of it is a big compliment =]

Have a good week
xBel


This is the poem that I'm talking about: