“Eventually you ascend the stairs to the street. You think of Plato's pilgrims climbing out of the cave, from the shadow world of appearances toward things as they really are, and you wonder if it is possible to change in this life. Being with a philosopher makes you think.”
- Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City
For this blog entry I am deciding to write a piece of a story in the second person after thumbing through the pages of Bright Lights, Big City which is one of the few novels written in the second person. I am specifically trying to capture the inner monologue that Mc Inerney creates by writing in the second person, to capture that weird notion that you have a very vocal super ego that is telling you what to think and what you are doing. I am trying to establish the footing as being one where the narrator is an all knowing voice in the reader's head that controls what they think and do.
You fucking hate buying pants. It ranks up there with finding a flaming bag of dog shit on your front porch and being chased by a roving band of poop slinging capuchins as being one of the worst things you can go through. Every time you need a new pair, you end up spending hours in the mall trying on different pairs of pants only to find out that the only pair that fits costs 60$. "Fuck me in the beard" you think to yourself as you drive out of the mall's parking lot furious that you aren't coming home with a brand new pair of slacks.
You don't want to put up with that stupidity again so you decide to order a new pair of corduroys off of the Internet. You Google men's pants and press the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. You are brought to Bonobos', the premier men's pants brand, website. You don't see a tab for corduroys so you click on the pants tab at the top of the page. The computer screen you are looking at displays hundreds of pairs of pants. You read off some of the names of the pants: "El Khakitans", "The Grape Wall of Chino", "Panta Marias", "Captain Planet It", "The Provolone Ranger". "What the fuck is this shit" you think to yourself, feeling as lost, confused, and violated as every kid who grew up in the 80's did when they found out that Pee Wee Herman was caught wanking himself in a porn theater. You are frustrated that you can't find a single pair of corduroys in the midst of all this ridiculousness.
Beaten down and hopeless, you give up on Bonobos and decide to try looking for a pair of cords on Old Navy's website. “Thank the Lord Jesus!" you think to yourself as you find out that they do indeed have cords for sale. You try to add a pair to your cart when it asks you what color do you want. You can get either "Toasty", "Coffee Grounds", or "Barnswallow". "Fuck everything" you say to yourself as you give up on buying pants and relieve your stress by walking out onto the street and punting the first small dog you see.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
New Yorker Cartoon Caption
"When I left Princeton, I spent a summer briefcasing in Europe"
I felt inspired by this wonderful use of anthimeria in a New Yorker cartoon and decided to come up with a bunch of my own sentences using anthimeria, which is when “a writer substitutes one part of speech for another – usually a noun for a verb” (Holcomb and Killingsworth 101)
" Jeremy was totally Gatsbying on Susie last night at his party when he put on all that swaging bling, told her he could play guitar, and showed off his collection of very expensive exotic furs."
Gatsbying (v) - When a male invents a fake persona, acquires much currency, and throws many parties in order to impress a girl.
" My mom needs to stop asparagusing my diner plate, there’s only so much asparagus one boy can take."
Asparagusing (v) - The liberal, plentiful, and most often excessive placement of asparagus on another’s or ones own plate.
"Oy mate! you wanna come sheep with me? Old Man Jenkin's got some lightning fast buggers we can ride on."
Sheeping (v) - Engaging in the highly dangerous sport of racing and jumping through flaming hoops on full grown male sheep during the winter solstice, which has become a favorite sport of pre pubescent male Kiwis in New Zealand.
" Would you stop idioting around?"
Idioting (v) - Engaging in actions that could be considered intellectually questionable.
" I think I'm going to Fonzie Susan in order to impress her."
Fonzie (v) - To try to appear attractive to a member of the opposite sex (usually female) by wearing a leather jacket, slicking your hair back, and seductively winking at them.
" Man, Jacob is Space Jamming right now, I wish I could offer him a job at the office but my boss won't let me."
Space Jamming (v) - When ones career has gone so far down the pooper because of a misguided change of profession that they are forced to act in a Looney Tunes movie in order to make money. Origen: After Michael Jordon failed to succeed as a baseball player, after quitting basketball, he was forced to star in Space Jam to recoup his losses.
" I'mma spork you!"
Sporking (v)- The act of savagely stabbing someone with a spork when there is a shortage of other sharp objects.
"Dude you need to see a doctor, your Edward Cullening right now."
Edward Cullening (v)- When a male is sparkling.
I felt inspired by this wonderful use of anthimeria in a New Yorker cartoon and decided to come up with a bunch of my own sentences using anthimeria, which is when “a writer substitutes one part of speech for another – usually a noun for a verb” (Holcomb and Killingsworth 101)
" Jeremy was totally Gatsbying on Susie last night at his party when he put on all that swaging bling, told her he could play guitar, and showed off his collection of very expensive exotic furs."
Gatsbying (v) - When a male invents a fake persona, acquires much currency, and throws many parties in order to impress a girl.
" My mom needs to stop asparagusing my diner plate, there’s only so much asparagus one boy can take."
Asparagusing (v) - The liberal, plentiful, and most often excessive placement of asparagus on another’s or ones own plate.
"Oy mate! you wanna come sheep with me? Old Man Jenkin's got some lightning fast buggers we can ride on."
Sheeping (v) - Engaging in the highly dangerous sport of racing and jumping through flaming hoops on full grown male sheep during the winter solstice, which has become a favorite sport of pre pubescent male Kiwis in New Zealand.
" Would you stop idioting around?"
Idioting (v) - Engaging in actions that could be considered intellectually questionable.
" I think I'm going to Fonzie Susan in order to impress her."
Fonzie (v) - To try to appear attractive to a member of the opposite sex (usually female) by wearing a leather jacket, slicking your hair back, and seductively winking at them.
" Man, Jacob is Space Jamming right now, I wish I could offer him a job at the office but my boss won't let me."
Space Jamming (v) - When ones career has gone so far down the pooper because of a misguided change of profession that they are forced to act in a Looney Tunes movie in order to make money. Origen: After Michael Jordon failed to succeed as a baseball player, after quitting basketball, he was forced to star in Space Jam to recoup his losses.
" I'mma spork you!"
Sporking (v)- The act of savagely stabbing someone with a spork when there is a shortage of other sharp objects.
"Dude you need to see a doctor, your Edward Cullening right now."
Edward Cullening (v)- When a male is sparkling.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Conan O'Brien
"If life gives you lemons, make some kind of fruity juice. "
- Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien, in this quote from his talk show, proves that he is one of the wittiest hosts on the late night talk show circuit. O'Brien, ever since he started writing for The Simpsons back in the early nineties, has a reputation for being one of the wittiest television writers in the business and this quote serves to show how deftly he can craft a one liner to create humor. This quote is a play on the proverb "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade", which is another way of saying make the best out of what life gives you. O'Brien twists this phrase into an epigram by providing a witty and satirical twist on the traditional proverb in the second clause. Instead of saying what we expect to hear whenever we hear this proverb, the traditional ending "make lemonade", he says, "Make some kind of fruity juice" in order to surprise us which is humorous.
In music, some of the most interesting and pleasing moments are when a musician deviates from or delays the conventional patterns of resolution that are present in any piece of music. For example a traditional piece in the key of C is by virtue of music theory supposed to end with the V chord (G Major) resolving to the I chord (C Major) because it is what everyone’s ear expects and wants to hear. Musicians play within this structure by doing things like playing the V chord and then the IV chord and then resolving to the I chord which creates a notable tension in the listener's ear because they expected to hear the I chord after the fifth and instead they heard the IV chord. This creation of tension is the main tool a musician uses to create an interesting piece much in the same way that a writer deviates from convention in order to create a more interesting piece through the tension they establish in their deviations. This notion is important to understand the humor in O'Brien's quote.
O'Brien is playing off of what we expect to hear at the conclusion of the quote. Our ear wants to hear "make lemons" we've grown up hearing this many times so we expect it to conclude with this. O'Brien brilliantly creates an unexpected tension by instead resolving to, "Make some kind of fruity juice". This tension is what we call humor.
On the textual level O'Brien's quote operates as an epigram because of its witty twist at the end. In the cultural arena O'Brien's quote operates as a play on our societies use of the “if you have lemons…” proverb in every day speech.
- Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien, in this quote from his talk show, proves that he is one of the wittiest hosts on the late night talk show circuit. O'Brien, ever since he started writing for The Simpsons back in the early nineties, has a reputation for being one of the wittiest television writers in the business and this quote serves to show how deftly he can craft a one liner to create humor. This quote is a play on the proverb "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade", which is another way of saying make the best out of what life gives you. O'Brien twists this phrase into an epigram by providing a witty and satirical twist on the traditional proverb in the second clause. Instead of saying what we expect to hear whenever we hear this proverb, the traditional ending "make lemonade", he says, "Make some kind of fruity juice" in order to surprise us which is humorous.
In music, some of the most interesting and pleasing moments are when a musician deviates from or delays the conventional patterns of resolution that are present in any piece of music. For example a traditional piece in the key of C is by virtue of music theory supposed to end with the V chord (G Major) resolving to the I chord (C Major) because it is what everyone’s ear expects and wants to hear. Musicians play within this structure by doing things like playing the V chord and then the IV chord and then resolving to the I chord which creates a notable tension in the listener's ear because they expected to hear the I chord after the fifth and instead they heard the IV chord. This creation of tension is the main tool a musician uses to create an interesting piece much in the same way that a writer deviates from convention in order to create a more interesting piece through the tension they establish in their deviations. This notion is important to understand the humor in O'Brien's quote.
O'Brien is playing off of what we expect to hear at the conclusion of the quote. Our ear wants to hear "make lemons" we've grown up hearing this many times so we expect it to conclude with this. O'Brien brilliantly creates an unexpected tension by instead resolving to, "Make some kind of fruity juice". This tension is what we call humor.
On the textual level O'Brien's quote operates as an epigram because of its witty twist at the end. In the cultural arena O'Brien's quote operates as a play on our societies use of the “if you have lemons…” proverb in every day speech.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Poetry: Lawrence Ferlinghetti's "Constantly Risking Absurdity"
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/184167
- "Constantly Risking Absudity" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti from A Coney Island of the Mind
In my opinion this is the most brilliant poem of the 20th century due to the fact that it functions on two distinct stylistic levels. On one level you have Ferlinghetti trying to capture the image and feeling of an acrobat performing, which he accomplishes through syntax the use of imagery. What Ferlighetti has done, in the words of Holcomb and Killingsworth, is that he has established a strong image that he is going to use as the focal point of the "vignette" that is his poem (Holcomb and Killingsworth 135) .
Ferlinghetti chooses to structure the poem the way he does in order to exploit syntax in a way that mimics the back and forth movement of an acrobat trying to balance himself or herself on a wire. He also uses enjambment to create a tension between each of the lines to mimic how the acrobat feels on the high wire and the tension he feels building up to his eventual leap of faith at the end of the poem. Ferlinghetti also uses extensive imagery to mimic the acrobat. One particular image that always leaps out to me when I read this poem is " with gravity to start her death defying leap...spread-eagled in the empty air of existence" because I can easily picture that in my head.
The second level that this poem operates on is the extended metaphor of the poet being like an acrobat, delicately balancing on a "high wire of [their] own making" in deciding what to write with the ever-present eye of the audience bearing down on them. Another extended metaphor is used in describing the audience as looking up at the poet performing, which Ferlinghetti uses to capture how most people, when they read a poem, feel like everything the poet has said has completely gone over their head. In this way Ferlinghetti takes advantage of the power of images to establish more than one narrative (Holcomb and Killingsworth 142)
In this poem, Ferlinghetti's style consists of manipulating syntax and using vivid imagery in order to transcribe the feelings of an acrobat onto the a poet’s act of writing poetry. Ferlinghetti's poem serves as a perfect example of how free verse poetry isn't as "free" as people think it is, it conforms to certain standards that nearly every single free verse poem adheres to. Since free verse poems lack the rhythm and meter of structured poems, they must find a way to create the same tension a rhyme scheme creates in different ways. They accomplish this by using vivid personal imagery in conjunction with varied and unusual syntax (a deviation in style that draws emphasis to itself), which most commonly comes in the form of enjambment due to its innate ability to either slow down or speed the pace of the readers eye between to lines of a poem. Ferlinghetti conforms, like many other free verse poets such as E.E. Cummings and William Carlos Williams, to these tenants of free verse poetry in this poem, in another example of how free verse poetry isn't really a blank check to write what ever you want and call it poetry.
- "Constantly Risking Absudity" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti from A Coney Island of the Mind
In my opinion this is the most brilliant poem of the 20th century due to the fact that it functions on two distinct stylistic levels. On one level you have Ferlinghetti trying to capture the image and feeling of an acrobat performing, which he accomplishes through syntax the use of imagery. What Ferlighetti has done, in the words of Holcomb and Killingsworth, is that he has established a strong image that he is going to use as the focal point of the "vignette" that is his poem (Holcomb and Killingsworth 135) .
Ferlinghetti chooses to structure the poem the way he does in order to exploit syntax in a way that mimics the back and forth movement of an acrobat trying to balance himself or herself on a wire. He also uses enjambment to create a tension between each of the lines to mimic how the acrobat feels on the high wire and the tension he feels building up to his eventual leap of faith at the end of the poem. Ferlinghetti also uses extensive imagery to mimic the acrobat. One particular image that always leaps out to me when I read this poem is " with gravity to start her death defying leap...spread-eagled in the empty air of existence" because I can easily picture that in my head.
The second level that this poem operates on is the extended metaphor of the poet being like an acrobat, delicately balancing on a "high wire of [their] own making" in deciding what to write with the ever-present eye of the audience bearing down on them. Another extended metaphor is used in describing the audience as looking up at the poet performing, which Ferlinghetti uses to capture how most people, when they read a poem, feel like everything the poet has said has completely gone over their head. In this way Ferlinghetti takes advantage of the power of images to establish more than one narrative (Holcomb and Killingsworth 142)
In this poem, Ferlinghetti's style consists of manipulating syntax and using vivid imagery in order to transcribe the feelings of an acrobat onto the a poet’s act of writing poetry. Ferlinghetti's poem serves as a perfect example of how free verse poetry isn't as "free" as people think it is, it conforms to certain standards that nearly every single free verse poem adheres to. Since free verse poems lack the rhythm and meter of structured poems, they must find a way to create the same tension a rhyme scheme creates in different ways. They accomplish this by using vivid personal imagery in conjunction with varied and unusual syntax (a deviation in style that draws emphasis to itself), which most commonly comes in the form of enjambment due to its innate ability to either slow down or speed the pace of the readers eye between to lines of a poem. Ferlinghetti conforms, like many other free verse poets such as E.E. Cummings and William Carlos Williams, to these tenants of free verse poetry in this poem, in another example of how free verse poetry isn't really a blank check to write what ever you want and call it poetry.
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