My plans for the summer

Well, the summer is looking very promising. I leave for Greece in 6 days. I haven't started packing yet, but I know just about everything I plan to take with me. One of the few "comforts" I'll be carrying is a small bag of golf discs. A fellow golfer informed me the other day that my golf has reached across the ocean to the Mediterranean. On a separate, but equally exciting, golf note I placed in my first golf tournament this weekend. I placed low, but I placed, won two frisbees too! Back to Greece, it's looking to be a promising trip. I'll see much of Ancient Greece, and as an added bonus there's a topless beach less than a mile from the hotel I'll be in for the bulk of the trip. There will be learning as well, but this opportunity offers much more than a book education. It's total immersion. Greek food, greek customs, greek women. My sister even talked me into the Byzantine rights offered by the Greek Orthodox Church. I'll be back this fall!!!

Wish I had been on Beale Street

So I'm a little displeased that the one and only trek I missed this semester was on Beale Street (a fallacy I plan to correct just as soon as I finish these last few assignments). So instead I'm gonna blog about the end of my semester.
Aside from the mad rush to play catch up, the end of the semester is going extremely well. All of my finals are now finished and, with the exception of E-mailing my final assignment for Honors Inquiry, I have finished everything on my to do list. All of my professors prepared their classes extremely well. I feel confidant about all of them and all A's for the semester is an in-reach dream. I've finished my FAFSA and registered for the fall semester. Also, I'm applying for a tutoring scholarship for the fall. I now know the wang short form of tai chi, some quantum and nuclear physics, more about Memphis, and more French and Spanish than when I began. I am very pleased with the semester and how I am finishing it.

Beale street trek

We were asked in the very beginning when we met up at Local to decide if Memphis had become a tourist attraction and I have to reply with an emphatic yes but only in some degrees. Beale street to me was sad, I walked in disdain from shop to shop looking at crappy souvenairs at exubereant prices. I walked in bars and listened to some live music by famous people. Maybe I didn't find the right store or bar to listen to some good home written music but for me I felt like was just walking around somewhere that wasn't home. Beale street just felt like it was here it wasn't overly interesting or exciting. But riding the trolley, going to some of the art displays and looking at the lorraine motel was nice. I enjoyed the home grown art and the history that was here. I enjoyed getting into a discussion about the art and music that was played, the people we saw. Even though we could see the bright lights of Beale, it was more enjoyable for me to be in the streets outside of it, barely lit up by street lamps.

Old Forest Hike

I love nature, all of it. From the beautiful trees to the grimy mud that feels great in between your toes when you run in the woods barefoot after a light rain. I have grown up in the woods and don't know much when it somes to the innerworkings of the woods. With this hike we learned about trees, animals, the history of the forest itself. We smelled interesting plants and listened to the heartbeat of a tree. The hike became repetitive after a time, which goes to show that the forest is small in size, which disheartens me. Industry is good for industries sake but you have to have a place to go hide from the world and if this is all the ctiy of memphis has to offer in this aspect then it's sad. I do want to go to live in a big city in the future but I still want to be able to go back to my country roots. Even as I live in my plush suburban neighborhood, the one thing that keeps me sane is that when I need my alone time to think and just do some hard labor I am just a short 45 minute drive from munford. In 45 minutes I can go work in a barn, just cleaning or I can go to some woods and cut down some firewood for the house and to sell. I seem to get alot of my thinking done when I am doing repetitive hard labor and can just be by myself and enjoy the solitude. A happy life for me is one where I can work hard physically but enjoy the fast paced life of the city is that too much to ask?

Playing catchup (sun studio/nathan bedford forest park)

I thought the sun studio tour was intersting as much as it was funny. The tour guide knew his information and even though I have grown up in memphis and love music I pretty much have no idea the extent to which it goes. Everyone knows the famous one, Johnny Cash and Presley to name a few but even then I barely know any of Elvis's music and the only reason I know Cash is because I've been listening to it for as long as my parents have been funneling it through their tape player. Even though I learned a good bit of information sun studio it hasn't really pressed me to learn more. The only thing I wanted to learn more about on this trip was the city itself. Since I have started this class I have learned more about the city itself. I have never been to beale until this class or even midtown. As far as the trip to Nathan Bedford forest park, the question that persisted the most was; why is the park under so much controversy? It isn't like it is in the middle of a massive park, and it isn't like it isn't in the middle of a major part if memphis and other than the history that is behind the man. I do not see the reason for the controversy.

not elmwood

I had fun at Elmwood, but since I just wrote my reflector article on it, I really don't feel like saying anymore on the subject. Instead I am going to write about my upcoming trip to the Czech Republic. I'm really excited because I've always been interested in photography and I will finally get a chance to start developing a new skill in an environment full of wonderful subjects and a conclave of professional photographers that I will have the privilege of interacting with. This was also the perfect excuse for me to splurge on a professional camera. Initially I found the mix up with my plans to go to Italy quite irritating, but since become just as excited to about my expedition to Prague. One event I am particularly looking forward to is our visit to a museum made of bones. some might consider it a bit creepy, but I think its actually pretty wonderful. Why are all the most intriguing things buried? Everyone with the least bit of curiosity has some kind of interest with death. It is, after all the only thing no one can speak on with certainty. I am a bit worried about the thieves. Half of the time I'm stumbling around in my own world and these thieves are supposed to be able to steal from the most cautious travelers with out rising suspicion. I'm also a little worried about the Icelandic volcano that has already caused some disturbances in airline schedules. Keep your fingers crossed that the volcano calms down.

The Brad Watson Reading

Overall, I suppose the event was a success. We did, after all, hear a literary reading by a short story writer. But the small things do add up. I liked the author's literary style. His almost plain linguistics were somehow molded into a very articulate model of how literature should be written. He was very plain, very controlled, not at all what I was expecting from the author of a book titled "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives." My complaints would all be geared toward the way the event was held. The chairs were small, hard and uncomfortable. I'm sure that the author was less than pleased to have his reading interspersed with squeaks and creaks from chairs as his uncomfortable listeners shifted. Also, with the sun beating down from just behind where he was standing, the audience was forced to sit blinded in the heat. This is twice now that the facilities of Burkes Books have proven less than adequate. They really do need a larger store.
On a separate note, dinner at Celtic Crossing was a treat. The food could have been better, but the company couldn't. I thoroughly enjoyed eating, drinking, and discussing poetry with my intellectual peers. I think my favorite part of the night was getting to show my professor something on a poem he had chosen for us to elucidate. It's not often the student gets to do the teaching.

misogynistic?

I'm not really sure. While certainly, many of the characters in Hustle and Flow were misogynistic, the movie itself was in some ways, and in others seemed to be quite the opposite. When I think of all the movies I've watched where prostitution played a part, only two cross my mind where a prostitute was both an important and positive character that managed to get out of the situation she was in on her own (the other being paprika). To me it seems that if the movie itself was misogynistic, the females would not play such a integral role in the success of the main character, or appeal to the audience as individuals deserving of reaching their potential and attaining a better sense of self worth. Even when they show a clip at the end of the prostitute that was kicked out, although she was clearly unhappy with the fact that she did not play a part in the music production, she was in a school which gave a sense of hope as to what her future would hold. There were only a few parts that gave me pause like where Yevette shows up with sandwiches after her husband publicly disrespects her as though she was the one who should make amends. It was also a pretty harsh spin to say that one of the girls left DJay when he clearly kicked her out. Some scenes, I'm not even sure what I really think of. When Nola and Shelby come to the consensus that refilling vending machines is worse than prostituting. I noticed that inflated egos were rampant among the male characters and while this may be a hint misogynistic, I think it could also simply be a mixture of Shelby's ego and Nola's diminished sense of self worth.

Good, Bad, Good.

Overall I suppose I enjoyed Brad Watson's reading last Tuesday. I think he is a great talent and surely an asset to his community, both locally and to writers at large. His wry sense of humor is very much in tune with my own and I'm sure that I would greatly benefit from taking a class of his, though I don't know that I will buy his book, nor do I think I would ultimately decide to take a class of his if the opportunity were afforded to me. Ray made a comment in his post about how Watson's sense of humor was refreshing in light of the status quo's palate, a palate that tends to prefer dick jokes over high-brow dryness. I agree with this generalization but beg to differ that Watson himself writes at a caliber far above it. I noticed a pattern in his writing that seemed obsessed with gleefully describing phalli in great detail, and I cringed at his entirely unecessary description of a young girl's vagina. Call me a puritan if you want, that's fine. I just couldn't help but be instantly turned off by the superfluous peppering of perverse references, and found myself fidgeting in my seat, eager to once again be in charge of what I choose to be an audience to. Perhaps I should have asked him about his infatuation myself, but frankly the guy creeped me out and I wanted to leave.

I was happy to reconvene with my classmates over dinner, as I had found myself missing them during our time away from each other and my absence at the Art Tour the previous weekend. I had never been to Celtic Crossing before that night, but I will just say this: some might complain about how we "always" eat at the Deli when we're out in Cooper-Young, but do we not now have a more acute understanding of why that is? If fries are not appealing, might I humbly suggest Cafe Ole, the Beauty Shop, or Jasmine next time? The Beauty Shop is fabulous. As for reading Don Share's poetry, I can appreciate being forced to do my homework on a writer I am not familiar with. However I think my recalcitrance was due mainly to my own feelings toward poetry, which are not usually positive, I must admit. Share, to his credit, is an exceptional writer and I am looking forward to meeting him. However writing poetry MUST be an organic process for it to be done well in my opinion, and so analysis of poetry should be similar, logic would dictate. When I am forced to analyze on command I get a little shy. Give me a research or position paper and I will edit, analyze and produce an exquisite criticism like a dog sits for a treat. I am just very linear-minded and so poetry has never appealed to me. upon further examination of Share's work on my own time I did discover immense beauty, diamond-cut wit, and a deep understanding of what makes him tick. I look forward to turning the mirror on him when he is in Memphis, intellectually speaking.

once upon an unknown

If he was starving, I'd cut off my fingers to feed him;
And in not knowing that he defied logic.
For a months I was homeless;
And in not knowing I defied logic.
How can a city break your back?
In not knowing Memphis defies logic.

How will I ever find a way to finish?
The day?
School?
Work?
Planning a trip I still haven't convinced myself is happening?
Impressing your mother?
I HATE YOUR FUCKING MOTHER!

Imbeciles devour the streets and fill the bellies of poverty.
In not knowing, the world defies logic.

Would you like some propaganda cake?
Open wide; here comes the train to plow through your good sense.
Not to worry, you were always a whole to invalid thought;
And in not knowing, you defy logic.

Brad Watson

This reading was the perfect end to my otherwise awful day. The experience screamed "Buy this book!", and if only my bank account wasn't stamping out that sound with a more resounding whisper "I'm empty!", I would have. I will most definitely get "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives" once I have the funds as Brad Watson's delightfully dark sense of humor is more than satisfying to any mind that craves more than the social standard for written entertainment (take that all you tired old critics).

I can't stop thinking about that magnificent toe, or the way the mother screamed in vein to wide eyed children who clearly had not a clue what she expected. My absolute favorite was the story excerpt with the couple when the wife leapt on top of the man's back and he flipped her off in the yard. It's much nicer to view such mishaps in a comic light rather than the frazzled, tense mood in which it is experienced and generally displayed. The subtle sense of humor that sneaks up on you just when you need it the most shines a light where a dark emotion usually prevails. Where exposed nerves once dwelled Brad Watson found laughter. Only the best of writers can unveil the humor within such tense moments so organically. Another thing that I enjoyed was his explanation of his process. All things come from personal experience and you can't write about what you don't know. I like the fact that many of his stories begin with an idea that stems from his own life and the relateable situations he incorporates into his work. "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives" is the book that those look for lightheartedness in the worst of times have been waiting for.

Brad Watson Reading

I have not attended many readings, but this one was excellent. Mr. Watson was able to clearly convey the passion he had for the stories in his reading. He said that this book was the most fun for him to write, and it was evident in the emotion he put into the tone of the characters. I liked that he read us the first couple of paragraphs of his stories because sometimes it feels like the authors try too pick excerpts that will appeal to there audience even though the excerpts may not represent the true theme of the book. Mr. Watson choosing to read the first couple of paragraphs gave a a feel for the mood and themes of his writing. He basically said "This is what the book is like, and I hope you like it. If not, oh well."
I really do not understand why the critics did not see the humor in his writing. Thinking back on the imagery from a few of the scenes I am still laughing out loud. One image I cannot get out of my head is the scene where the young boys are staring slack-jawed at their mother who is yelling about being under-appreciated. If it was a movie I can imagine the scene as the camera cuts back and forth from the mother yelling to the children hearing only the vacuum. His humor is not something you would find in today's pop culture that is obsessed with cheesy comedy and dick jokes. It is dry and very grotesque. Even his story about his meeting with the doctor made me laugh out loud. I knew I should not be laughing at a baby being torn apart, but the idea that the doctor was telling them the story three days before she was due was just so absurd that I could not help it. I plan to buy the book once it is out on paperback (cant afford new hard-covers on a student income) and hopefully I can send it to his office at the University of Wyoming for an autograph since I missed it this time.

My project at present

To be completely honest, I'm not too awfully fond of how my project is going. Partially procrastination, partially overexertion, I have only written about 2300 words of my 6000 word goal. The book is unfolding quite nicely, and my notes are adequate to make my way through the next chapter, but the actual writing is not progressing very quickly. I will have to really apply myself to make my goal by the deadline. The writer's workshop was very helpful, giving me a new viewpoint stylistically as well as helping me come up with a systematic unraveling of the plot-line. All in all, I am pleased with my work, I just wish that I was farther along.

Italy's Little Memphis, Venice in the Age of

The old forest hike was a very nice walk. The wind was brisk, the air clean and cool. I think the smell of the forest air was my favorite part, a smell I have missed since my childhood. I played catch up for the first quarter of a mile or so, but once I got caught up the hike was slow and informative, a nice pace for a trek through Memphis history. I saw my grandmother. I chatted with friends. We made dirty jokes and watched our teacher hug a tree. But the names of the plants were forgotten the second we walked into the Brooks Museum of Art. Lunch was extravagant, the crepe was delicious, the French beverage I drank was grotesque, and yet it somehow complimented my brunch. The camaraderie added a nice overtone to an already pleasant day, but the real magic was when we stepped into the exhibit. The paintings were very Memphian. They portrayed a dirty, lived-in city in the prime of its degradation. You could easily see that some of the paintings were done for money while some were done for artistic expression. My favorite was the painting of the centaurs. There was an extravagant beauty to the painting when witnessed from afar, but a closer examination revealed its truer nature. The centaurs raped and pillaged the grotto scene as the men fought tooth and nail, literally biting and scratching, to fend them off. I spent as much time examining this painting as I did most of the others combined. I saw my home. I saw myself. I saw my life. It moved me in the way that only art can, and I am very glad I got the chance to experience it.

The paradox of Prose

I like Wanda Rushing's book. A lot. She knows her Memphis History well. She seems to have a love/hate thing going for the city, something to which I can very closely relate. It was a little slow to start. The first few pages were very droll, but the book very quickly picks up speed. It reads like a novel, not an informative book. More like prose than an informative text, I like the forward momentum the book carries. Once it picks up speed, it's a hard book to put down. I'm behind in my reading, as I am in my blogs, but everything I have read so far has been easy to understand. I can't say that everything she has written has been to my liking, but then again not everything in Memphis is to my liking. My one big complaint with the book is the idolatry. She idealizes Memphis. She paints Fed-Ex as this big saving grace economically avoiding the fact that college students drop out of The University of Memphis to make an easy $40K a year doing mindless labor. She points out all the good things about Memphis and, although she does mention the bad side, she tends to focus less on it. You can't have the Yang without the Ying and I just wish she had focused a little more on what makes the city part of the "dirty south" today. She does a very good job in this regard when it comes to the founding and formation of the city, but the negative side dies off later in the book to make way for a dreamer's vision of what the city is and what it can be. Memphis is Memphis. Memphis has always been Memphis. And Memphis will always be Memphis. There is no salvation, no drop of water to cool its tongue.

The Personal fulfillment of Sun Studios

I have always been a child of music. When I was still a young child, my older brother and I shared a room and some of the few occasions that I ever stood up to my seven-year senior were for my music. I grew up with Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. My short-stayed step-mother had the house littered with Elvis Plates and other memorabilia. A saxophone, a piano, a bass, and a distorted guitar are capable of providing every range of music from the sexiest ballads to the sweetest lullabies. Walking through the door into the lobby, I felt none of that. I saw commercialization in the form of coffee cups and tee-shirts. I didn't feel like I was sharing a moment with Perkins or Orbison. Sam Phillips was gone from the place. But the second I got upstairs and the tour began, I felt my Memphis coming back to me. Seeing the "portable" vinyl press and tape decks Phillips used to lay his first tracks was an intense sight. Listening to the sounds of Memphis music from its beginnings was intoxicating. Watching a video of young Elvis even brought back a small piece of the childhood love of Music I had listening to Elvis and Watching old Elvis movies with my dad. The studio its self was exactly as I thought it would be. A mixture of new and vintage equipment sprawled out, the ceiling falling apart, masking tape marking the floors. And then my personal piece de resistance: I played my harmonica, albeit not too well, amidst the souls of Cash, Lewis, Perkins and Presley. For just a few seconds, it became the million dollar quintet.

Frost/Nixon

Saturday night we attended a great play at the NEW Playhouse on the Square. Frost/Nixon was a superb production that changed my view of Nixon. I am not saying that I like the guy now, but I see him as a man, weak and fallible, and not as the horrendous villain that many of my generation may believe him to be. My knowledge of Nixon has mostly come from personal accounts of my family members, and they did not like him much. So my opinion of him mirrored my families. After seeing Frost/Nixon, which was not especially sympathetic to Nixon, I came away with a little more understanding of who he was, what he did, and why he may have done it.
The acting in the play was great. The gentleman who played Nixon, Bill Andrews, was especially outstanding. The play is not a comedy but there were quite a few one liners interspersed throughout to loosen the suspense. The comedy was used in a way that someone in a tense situation would use a joke to put things at ease. We laughed but at the same time we knew that really there was nothing funny about what was going on.
Frost/Nixon runs through April 3rd, and if you are a fan of theatre I highly recommend it. If you are not a fan of theatre but you are a History person you will also thoroughly enjoy this play because of its unique view of one of the most traumatic times of U.S. history. I hope some of you see this play, and I would love to hear what you think of it.

Progress on my project Regaurding the Integration of Spanish-Speaking preschoolers in the Memphis Area

When I spoke to Mr. Branch about my project on Tuesday of last week, I was prepared to speak on the progression of the Spanish-speaking preschoolers I had, and continue to volunteer with at the Kid's Corner across the parking lot from Southwest's Macon campus. I was not however prepared to speak well on the rising population of Hispanics in the city or the fiscal roles they play. In addition to addressing these issues, I have also been looking into references in response to academic development in Spanish youth who learn English as a second language. From the profiles of U of M faculty and staff that i had previously scanned I found a book edited by D. Kimbrough Oller, PhD, "Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children", which I intend to use, and an e-mail address I can contact him through. I also found a guide from the White House Initiative on Education that details where a child of four to five years old should be concerning language development. I can use this as an arbitrary method of gauging further progression, and with the comparison of the children who speak English as a second language to those who are monolingual in English. While my project's focus is on the development of a second language in preschooler's, in a study I read regarding the subject I learned that suggests that children who learn to speak multiple languages have greater cognitive capacity and flexibility in comparison with monolingual children and that further research on the subject may help better define positive affects of bilingualism and how a child's brain interprets language and writing tasks. With the high influx of Latinos, Memphis has a unique opportunity to expand its intellectual market and improve its educational standing by studying this occurrence.

Old Forrest

Our hike in the Old Forrest was perfect. Being that i have no car I am an avid pedestrian and have always enjoyed walking in the woods behind my home in Bartlett with my pet dog, Ivy. Unfortunately, she tore the ACL in her left hind leg about six months age and cannot do a whole lot of walking anymore. because of this and a full schedule I have allowed my once daily treks through the woods to dwindle down to a couple short visits a week. It was great to get back out there and breathe some fresh air. Since then I have been trying to make more time to go for a walk and clear my head, as the easy access to nature is one of my favorite things about the Memphis area.

I think that Naomi was a wonderful guide and I was impressed with the volume of knowledge she displayed regarding the Overton Park's vegetation. When she talked about the way it made her feel to be well-versed in said knowledge, it made me want to know more as well so I dug out my old book on common plant-life and have been taking it with me on my walks.

A Learning Experience at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

Hi, classmates! I am, first, want to apologize to you all for my absentee to hang out with you all at the Old Forest Hike, Overton Park. Prior to the upcoming event that we are schedule to meet at the Old Forest Hike, Overton Park, somehow, I was caught a cold, and then, I was become ill for several days. I was felt better on Sunday, March 14. For this missing assignment, I will eventually plan to visit the Old Forest Hike sometime during this semester whenever I have have a chance. I am do not sure when I intend to go, but I will let the classmates know as soon as possible when I will intending to make my visit.
Because I have miss this project, on Sunday, March 14, I visit the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art for the makeup assignment. It is really interesting to visit the Brooks Museum if you have not yet been to the place. The museum was located close to the Overton Park. You will see the sign of it when you enter the curve driveway where you actually have to enter before you can get into the Overton Park and the Memphis Zoo. This place closes on Monday, Tuesday, and major holidays and open from Wednesday to Sunday. It is best to go on Wednesday because the admission is free to everyone. Otherwise, the admission ticket will be $9.00 for adult and $5.00 to any students on Thursday to Sunday.
In the Brooks Museum, you will see many interesting arts and items that was dated from the Medieval period to our modern world. The museum subdivides into three floors. As soon as you walk into the entrance where you have to purchase the ticket for the admission before the actually tour, this is the middle floor. In this floor, it contains variety of art forms like paintings and artistic silks like a piece of garment, which dated from the Renaissance Era, and a few pieces of sculptors and materials such as antique table and silverware. In fact, most of the arts in this museum are mostly paintingsand most of the paintings are painted with oil on canvas. One of the painting that I like the most in the middle floor is the painting of the Church Interior, ca. 1620 from Francois de Nome known as Monsu Desiderio which wad dated from 1593-ca. 1630/44. This painting was somehow special for its uniqueness of the expression on the art. The Church Interior is a cathedral, and this is the biggest cathedral in Europe, Italy. One can imagines that the church is really big by looking at its width and long column of the inner entrance of the church. Furthermore, the bottom is what I consider to be the most exciting section of the museum. Still, there are a variety of paintings in this floor as well, but what is cool about this section is the event of the Venice in the Age of Canaletto and the surprising of seeing the painting "The Last Supper," which I was heard about and see it in the art magazine in the past but not actually see the real painting. The Venice is really interesting because it have a preview of the video on the Venice in the bottom floor. The Venice was built over 1500 years ago, and this place was built on 118 islands linked by 416 bridges which cross over 200 canals in Europe. In addition, not just only a preview of the city by watching the video, there are several paintings of the city of Venice for one to visualize and appreciate the artistic looks of how the city was built on water instead of land. On the third floor, there is nothing new about it except the artistic masks from anciet Africa. These masks are represent the cultural tradition of the African heritage which dated thousands of years ago. Overall, I would consider that this is a new experience to enhance my knowledge to live in this world because our world is full of meaningand we can view it like how you would visualize it to take it into reality. I would want to recommend to my fellow classmates who have not experience the artistic works of the Brooks of Art Museum to take a chance to take a trip to Brooks Museum.

Memphis: Paradox of Place

Well to be perfectly honest, I wasn't too happy with the book myself. Although there were lots of wonderful facts and juicy details about Memphis that are worthy of contemplation and debate, I found it to be very difficult to follow even though I knew the meaning of most of the vocabulary before starting the book, and all of the vocabulary by the time I was finished reading. I almost feel like she built a wall between the information her book held and the general public with sentence structure and wordage. I don't feel like I retained nearly as much as I would have liked, however I did find what Wanda Rushing said about the yellow fever outbreak to be quite illuminating. I suppose that "Memphis: Paradox of Place" just wasn't my cup of tea. I don’t know if the book is above my average reading level, or if I just got stoned one too many times in high school. All I can say is that, while Wanda Rushing was clearly qualified to speak on the ins and outs of Memphis as a place, I found myself struggling to find her meaning through all the words. By the time I finished a sentence, I had already forgotten the beginning of it. I hope I’m not the only one who had difficulty with reading this, but I guess I’m probably the only person in this class that considered senior English nap time, so it would make sense. Maybe I need to brush up on my reading too.

Sun studio

I really enjoyed the Sun Studio tour we took last week. As a musician, I am very interested in the development of music through history, and the romanticism of cultural nostalgia that floods the mind where older music is concerned in Memphis. I never would have guessed that Ike Turner's Rocket 88 was the first rock'n'roll song recorded. The first thing I did when I got home was dust off my electric Santana SE and slip a dollar bill between it's neck and strings.

I also really liked our tour guide. He seemed to have a good sense of humor and those glasses were radical! I can't believe I've been in Memphis for the past decade and missed out on Sun Studio until then. The experience made me want to start playing my guitar and buy a pawn shop piano to replace my old one. I've been letting my hobbies stagnate and kind of got into a rut the past few weeks with work, school, trip planning, and volunteering. No more, I say!

"Memphis and the Paradox of Place: An Effective Book for Understanding Memphis"

First of all, I must consider that the book "Memphis and the Paradox of Place" is truely a remarkable source for understanding Memphis. Before reading this book, I thought that I knew Memphis and its place very well because I lived in Memphis for approximately twenty years. However, I did not realize that there are more historical significant events in Memphis that I do not know until I have actually read the book. Wanda Rushing, the author of this book, have done an outstanding job of describing Memphis as a place. From the historical background of the Yellow Fever and the Civil War to nowadays events, she thoroughly explained and defined Memphis in details including the significance of the economic events. In fact, the central purpose of this book is to enhance the readers why it is important to understand Memphis, why its place is matter, and why important it is for a person to understand Memphis. A person who do not have any knowledge of Memphis might defines interesting for reading the Rushing's book while a person who thinks that he or she might knows pretty much about Memphis will eventually surprising with the little knowledge that he or she knows about Memphis. As a matter of fact, "Memphis and the Paradox of Place" impress a person in such a way that it makes a person wants to learn more about Memphis by visiting its city.

What impresses me after reading the entire book is the history of the Confederate general, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and the economic events in Memphis. In the past, each time that I past by Union venue, I saw the statue of a guy who was mounted on the horse. I was not even realize what is the symbolic meaning of the statue. At this time, I thought that the statue was placed in the center of the Forrest Park for only recreational amusement for its visitor to see and enjoy while they are at the park. For almost twenty years, I was miunderstood the meaning of the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest and his horse until I actually read the book and make a first visited to the Forrest Park. Furthermore, the economic events of Memphis is what I also consider to be interesting. Can anyone imagine a Memphian who do not know any backgroundof business places where he or she have to go to shop for grocery? Indeed, I consider myself as one of the Memphian who felt into that situation. When I was young, my family and I used to go to shopping at Piggly Wiggly, but I do not know who was the founder of the business and where it originated from. I have to credit Rushing for giving me such a useful information to know the history of Piggly Wiggly. As a result, I was full of knowledge of having a better understanding of knowing Memphis like a person who just finishes his or her meal at a buffet restaurant after reading the entire book of Memphis.

lets play a game

the name of this game is called "where was I when I wrote this..."
here's the poem:

In periodic retort do shallow minds dwell
and to periodic passion do the unenlightened swell
for in frightened, feeble courage the faceless surmount
leaving waste on the walls as they beckon waste out

the winner will receive an ocean front bodega in Macedonia.

"A Valuable Memmory Lasted for Life"

Could anyone imagine and realize how musics have a great impact toward individual daily lives? In fact, music plays a major role in several dimensions of the human development as well as the essential part of the daily lives of today society. For instance, if a person just break up with his or her boyfriend or girlfriend, or even divorced, he or she might feels lonely and do not want to share their sorrow or grief to anybody, and in this case, he or she probably demand more to listen to music for relieving his or her mind from anger, hatred, and depression. Not just only listen to music when he or she encounters a hardship, eventually, people listen to music regularly when he or she drives to work or get back from work or even when he or she have free time. Especially nowadays, musics was not designed to take for granted, and no one can fully appreciate music without knowing the root of it and where it come from. So, one can have a better understanding of today music if he or she willing to take a shoot of becoming a visitor toward the Sun Studio. At the Sun Studio, it will guide you through and explain to you all of the documents and photos and recordings of early rock and roll in detailed. As a matter of fact, rock and roll is important toward today music because all of the music's forms are connected with the modern music style of rock and roll, such as hip hop, trance, and any form of rap. The Sun Studio, in Memphis, was famous nationwide in the U.S. because this was where the early recordings of rock and roll was taken place.

I mention the Sun Studio because I was never appreciated, until I took an actual tour to the Sun Studio. It is a valuable memory for my learning experience, which it will last for a life time. In other words, I do not know much about music that I listened in the past. In the past, I kept listen, but I do not know exactly what is the root of it. When I got out of the Sun Studio, my mind was full of music knowledge like a full stomach of foods. So, I would sincerely thank to the Honor Academy of giving me an opportunity to experience the meaningful of music at the Sun Studio. As a result of a learning trip toward the Sun Studio, I would like to recommend tp those who have not yet visit the Sun Studio to take sometime of your time to visit the excitment of the world of music.

Mystery Train

"Yeah, and when you're dead, you don't get to sleep ever again. Which means no more dreams." - Mitzuko

On the whole I enjoyed this movie, as I have most Jarmusch films. Perhaps it's just me, but I felt the theme of dreams was more pertinent to the soul of the film than the reoccuring symbolism of the train. I won't go as far as others to say that the symbolism of the train was irrelevant; I believe it was. However, the theme of dreams in the city of Memphis resonated far more with me than anything else, possibly because of my own experience with dreaming in Memphis, both literally and figuratively.

While the quote from Mitzuko that I used to open my post was in reference to the literal act of dreaming, their relationship to the theme at hand was more existential. They seemed to be idealistic teenagers like any other, except that they were the product of a hyper-industrialized nation that through it's culture and ideology, one could make the argument that it lacks "soul" in the way that the American South does. Something about this "soul" and it's products (in this case, Memphis rock and roll) spoke to them in a way their own culture did not. Their dream in this case was to finally be in the midst of a culture they idolized, hence their journey through the American South that began in Memphis. On our handout, Doug posited the following question: "What did the Japanese couple come to Memphis hoping to find? Did they find it?" I would argue that the landmarks they sought out were what they were looking for specifically (Sun Studios, Graceland, et al), however to view it in a more broad manner, I think they were looking to find a culture and society like they found reflected in the music of Elvis, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison. As their ennui and polite disappointment displayed, I do not believe that they found what they were looking for.

Then there is the Italian woman. She had no direct connection to Memphis, nor any intention to find herself in it. (The reader will recall the phone conversation she had in which she stated that she was there due to a mistake on the part of the airline.) Her link to the theme of dreaming in Memphis is quite literal - Elvis appeared to her - quite by accident - in a dream during her one and only night in the city. Frankly I have no idea what that incident had to do with anything, save for a possible connection with the idea that we can be made believers in just about anything through a single sincere experience (her dream) amdist so much that seems contrived (the farfetched story about the spirit of Elvis by the man who only wanted her money, the convenience store owner who swindled her into an absurd amount of magazines, and the "hospitality" of the hotel clerk). One could go out on a limb and wonder if this experience injected a little faith in her during a time in which it seemed she had lost so much of her life (e.g. the death of her husband).

Then there's Deedee (Didi?) and Johnny (played by Joe Strummer, one of my favorite people of all time). Their connection to dreams should be rather obvious as it is an age-old cliche; the dreams of starting anew together in the exhilarating experience of "true love". This could also be connected to Charlie, Deedee's brother. His dream of having a successful business in Memphis with his family and (false) in-law close by. Dreams of love are often shattered and the reality of heartbreak and being alone is debilitating. Interestingly, this is a common theme in the music of the Sun Studios artists, particularly Elvis. One has to wonder if Johnny's loathed nickname (Elvis) was more than a resemblance. Was it also perhaps a prophecy of sorts?

Forgive the intense stream of consciousness in which this was written; it's been a rough week. Yes, I realize it's only Tuesday.

The Music of Mystery Train

The thing I liked most about mystery train was, which should be made obvious by the title of my post, was the music. Not Elvis or Roy Orvison or any of the other main strem hits that came out of Sun Studios, but the background theme that was revisited throughout the entire movie. Immagine, for a moment, a couple of vagabonds hopping train to train in the 1930s living out of cloth bags tied to the ends of sticks. They travel wherever life takes them, they venture in and about anywhere living life vicariously through themselves. They are constantly writing the soundtrack to their own lives. This is the theme of mystery train. I didn't see much of the train's importance to the plot of the movie. But aurally, it never left. Whenever the main-stream music subsided, whenever there was walking or traveling of any kind around the streets of Memphis by all three parties, whenever no one was listening, the train was there in the background. I heard guitars, basses, harmonics, bongos, drums, and even an eloquent slide guitar motif all of which constantly echoed the beating of the train. Take the "chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga" and set it to 4/4 rythm, add some instruments, and you have the basic beat for 12 bar blues. If you remove all the racial and criminal stereotypes, the charactars, the statues and scenery of memphis, the words and plots and take only what is left, what you have is a musical exploration of what would have been like to walk the streets of memphis in the 30s and 40s during one of the most expansive eras in the history of music. The instrumentations added suspense and intrigue and filled the gaps where the story line and dialogue were left in abandon. The idea that this "train music" filled the empty spaces to be overlooked, I think, speaks wonders to the history of music in Memphis. We Memphians may take Memphis music for granted, but how many of us could immagine Memphis without it?
On another note, just because I like the parallel, Mitzuko wakes on her second day in Memphis to say "When you're dead you don't ever get to sleep again, which means no more dreams." Compare this to Wade Garrett's (Sam Elliot) take in "Roadhouse" when he says "I'll get all the sleep I need when I'm dead." Both movies made in 1989, they have very differing opinions about the natures of death, sleep, and dreams. Maybe an insider v. outsider perspective or even foreign v. domestic. But that's probably too lengthy a topic to cover in just paragraph. Maybe a rant for another blog.

Memphis in motion

What I most like about "The Mystery Train" is the lack of definition. It refuses to allow a simple explanation or guide minds to a predetermined view point, but instead shows several vantage points to the same event, incorporating new ideas and information in each of its three segments. In doing so "The Mystery Train" allows these ideas to breed and grow organically in the mind of the reader as he or she watches and continue to develop even after the movie ends.

I believe the main idea of the of the film is growth. The train moves, the people move, ideas move, and time touches each character leaving many of them wishing for more. I think that this is where Elvis fits in. Even in death he remains embedded in the perception of the out of towners and in the recollections of the natives. Elvis is a reminder that however we may grow we will always be revered for a rich history and burdened by its mark. The past molds way of living and in turn, affects those who visit, such as the Roman lady.

To be honest, I don't like the idea of defining the film or the city of Memphis as postmodern or modern. To me it seems that they are both in flux. In the movie, I see the female native and her brother as a representation of postmodernism, and the other characters as the promise for a more modern existence. The woman who leaves her boyfriend seems wide eyed and child like, and her brother, refusing drink represents his own resistance against progress. His hairstyle, dress, and even his work environment appears to be out of date, and his surprise at the fact that his sister had not actually married the European man suggests that they believed him too old fashioned to accept their arrangement. He also exhibits a fear of the city when he goes to pick up the man he believes to be his brother in law. On the other hand, the Asian couple and the European man represent change. The moment the Asian arrives they are able to communicate with a man from Memphis who thanks them in their own tongue, and as they sit outside in the city, the man describes it as being like their own with less buildings, suggesting room for growth that was not present where they came from. Later in the movie he admits that it is nothing like their origin and says that it was cool to be young in Memphis, amplifying a since of uncertainty for the future of Memphis and at the same time revealing a positive view of it. The European man plays the catalyst of change, moving all of the native characters forward. When he shoots a cashier, he changes the lives of his supposed 'wife' and 'brother in law' in addition to the black man and himself in one fail swoop. None of the characters are completely progressive or resistant to change. Though the native girl is child like and admits a lingering since of sentiment for the European man, she still moves out of the city, and eventually her brother does drink the liquor. While the Asian couple does manage to communicate with the man who needed a light and the motel workers, their attempt to speak with a fellow passenger on the way to their next destination fails. Similarly the European man is still haunted by the stigma assotiated with his hair and Memphis's history. I think this whole movie is stuck between postmodern and modern styles. and that Memphis is transferring from one style of city to the next. In a lot of ways, what happens to the brother is tragic, but at the same time, he illustrates an idea rather than humanity to me and he at least does not die. In fact the constant movement to me suggests that his wound is similar to the pruning of a rose bush, designed entirely for growth.

I enjoyed this movie because it seems like a movie that you could discover a new idea in every time you watched.

"The Hidden Tragedy of Mystery Train"

In the movie "Mystery Train," the primary goal of its is to interpret and give an overview of Memphis and what is significance about Memphis. The Mystery Train is truely a remarkable source for those who are not familiar with the city, Memphis including its geographical location of famous places and events. During and throughout the film, I treat myself as an observer rather than using the film for entertaining, so I could see what is really going on and what type of relationships does Memphis have. Somehow, the Mystery Train is different than all of the other movies which I had have watched in the past. The movie subdivides itself into three parts; in additiom, each part have similar settings and different characters, except the two African Americans who employ in the hotel near the downtown of Memphis. When the movie is over, I realize that the settings and the characters from the three subdivisions of the video are formed into a sum of theoretical argument for an underlying hidden tragedy of Memphis. Because there are underlying facts regarding a hidden tragedy in Memphis, I have to take a closer look of what are the factors, which I consider the outcome of the Mystery Train to be an argumentative tragedy.

First of all, the characters and the settings in all three subdivisions of the video are played a major role in defining the argument of Memphis. People who are not familiar with Memphis along with its historical, famous people might only knew and heard about Elvis Presley due to the fact that Elvis was the king of rock and roll. The phenomena of Elvis appears to be the same conflict in all three subdivisions of the video. To be specific, the Japanese couple from Yokohomain the first subdivisioncome to Memphis because the couple wants to visit Elvis's home, Graceland. However, the couple unaccomplishes their goal of what they come to Memphis for. As a matter of fact, the couple only see the statue of Elvis and take a few photos of the statue and a few photos of Elvis's pictures in the hotel, where a couple spend their night at. The couple seems to be disappointed of visiting Memphis, especially the Japanese lady.

In the second subdivision, the Roman lady incidently have to spend a night in Memphis since her flight back to Rome is delay. The first time of being a visitor in Memphis is the most unpleasant tour for her. All that she know is Elvis as well. Almost to the middle of her scene, the stranger in the restaurant informs mostly about Elvis, and this is all she know about Memphis since she do not give herself a chance to visit elsewhere in Memphis. In addition, she also see the picture and the ghost of Elvis at the same hotel, where the Japanese couple spend the night. This is also the setting which the Roman lady also have to spend her unpleasant night. Because of the little experience which she, the lady left Memphis for her flight back to Rome and know a little about Memphis. Moreover, the characteristics of the characters who live in Memphis are seem to be ugly and unpleasant, which implies Memphis as an ongoing tragic argument. Eventually, the traits of the Memphians make other visitors who would like to visit Memphis to think and feel that Memphis is an unsafe place to visit. The hotel's employees, for instance, are seem to be dishonest by the way they look and when they collect the room's fee. The subdivision of the video, unfortunately, was the most violent part of the movie since it gives the ideas that Memphis is a city, where most of the crimes are located. In this case, the third part of the movie explaining the meaning of how disorder is Memphis, which other needs to consider. As a result, the summation of the entire movie, to me, is defining Memphis as a chaotic place that leads to a long-term tragedy and prevents visitor from visiting the place.

Relief for Haiti

So Helen and I have been sitting outside the cafeteria on campus to help raise money for Haitian relief and have gotten a myriad of responses. Among the regulars are "I've already donated" and "I don't have any cash," but there have been some real winners interspersed. "Not right now" is fairly common, obviously connotating that they plan to give at some undisclosed place and time. One of my favorites is "Do you take credit cards?" One passerby actually actually took a Burger King receipt out of his pocket, circled the $20.00 with which he paid for his meal and told us to "Write that down as his donation" all the while disregarding the $12.50 he got in change less than an hour before that any rational individual would assume still sat in his pocket. Some have asked for change for various bills. Others have passed by, ignoring our requests which vary from polite asking to shouting at specific people all the way out of the building. It's odd how people can wear a $300 outfit but not afford to give two bucks to help dying, starving people. But maybe that's just me.

conference

I really enjoyed the honors conference this weekend and many of the presenters did a wonderful job of explaining and stirring interest in subjects that I would normally never think of in such depth. Ever since thoughts of the development of linguistic context and changing interpretations of masculine/feminine interrelatedness have been swirling through my mind. I have to agree with Ray. Two of the best presentations were given by Brian Bowman and Chase de Saint-Felix. Something that I would have liked to have heard more on that was mentioned in "The First Sex and the "F" Word: A Male's Response to Feminism" is a new trend in androgyny that has become more and more prevalent in modern times. In today's world, it can be very advantageous to posses skills that are deemed both feminine and masculine. On a biological level, the quintessential male and female are quite different. I am not referring to the obvious differences that we all know of, but some those that originate in the brain. The female mind is generally more equipped to excel in linguistic, creative, and ocular differentiative skills (hence the never ending shopping) while the male mind is often better at mathematical, scientific, and reproduction of already existing art. As honor students we don't fall into these constructs so easily because we are exceptionally qualified on an intellectual level and in order to be such we have adapted skills that would not necessarily be related to our biological sex. I would have liked to hear some of Chase de Saint-Felix's thoughts on this though they did not quite fall into his subject of choice.
Katherine was great too! I think I'm gonna buy The Scarlett Letter and S.

Honors Conference

I am not sure about the rest of you guys but I had a wonderful time at the honors conference. Most of the presentations were good and a few were great. My favorite of the day was a Chase de Saint-Felix's "The First Sex and the "F" Word: A Male Response to Feminism." He was one of the few presenters that was confident enough in his knowledge of the subject to present without having a written presentation to refer too, and he pulled it off well. The presentation itself was focused and he developed his points thoroughly. My next favorite was probably Brian Bowman's "Idiolect: Arbitrariness of the Terms 'Language' and 'Dialect' in Describing Linguistic Variation." Brian was a natural in front of a group. He had the mannerisms of someone that had been teaching for years and I would not be surprised if that is what he ended up doing. Third on my list is a tie between Kevin Tolliver's "Campaign Spending and Voter Behavior" and Jessica Hawley's "Seurat and the Theory of Optical Mixture." I enjoyed Kevin's presentation on campaign spending because it was informative, right in my circle of interest, and he totally rocked the pink tie. Jessica's presentation on Seurat was eye opening. Until now I was only into surrealist art, but I will be adding Neo-Impressionism to my list of artistic interests and I can not wait to make it back to Chicago where many of Seurat's works on on display. So I would like for those of you that attended to post what your favorites were and why. Maybe you saw something that others did not. Well too bad I will not be around to go to next year's with you guys but here is hoping Prof. Branch can get us included in the Oxford trip.

I don't know about "simpler" times

Your not kidding about the accountability of electricity out there in T county.Even though I can completely understand your point of view about evil electronics, I can not completely agree. I myself sometimes long for simpler days but when I start to try and decide when the good old days were, I remember how they were really only good when you were a kid. Just 50 years ago we were a part of some of the most destructive times trying to create a better city for blacks in the civil rights movement. Sixties we were still dealing with civil rights and the Vietnam war, plus all of those anti-war protests. Then the seventies we were have the watergate scandal. Yeah i think the simpler were times were simpler because we were kids.

The Evils of Electronics

I hate being late. Tardiness is one of my biggest pet peeves. Having said that, I think it’s also important to note that I have an extreme dislike for pretty much all consumer electronics. From iphones to androids on up the proverbial ladder of profitability to laptops (define irony) and LCD big screens. The reason I abhor these things has nothing to do with their natures. No, it is their use that bothers me, or rather their overuse. We, as an American Society, have become so reliant on consumer electronics that people actually have panic attacks for no other reason than that they left their cellular at home. We have become so used to the instant gratification of information they provide that patience has become a past time, an obstacle to be overcome with a new wave of “next-generation technology.” Point of fact: exactly how many generations can Apple have in a single year? People toss technical innovations out the window every day because the latest and greatest just hit the market. What’s the point of coming up with a new invention? Even if I did, it would be mimicked within three months, made cheaper and smaller by Chinese children working for $0.12 an hour within six months and obsolete within twelve. We have lost touch with one another. Why hold conversations face to face when we can “facebook” and text? Electronics have been forced into our lives whether we want them or not, which brings me back to my original idea. I hate being late. Unfortunately, I live out in the woods of Tipton County. Our services are so reliable that a squirrel fart is powerful enough to knock the lights out. Imagine what little it takes for us to lose the internet and, whoops, I’m late on an assignment all because of the fallibility of “necessary” electronics. Makes me wish for simpler times.

scatterbrain

It's official people... I'm spending my summer in Italy! I am so excited. Now all I need is a job so that I'll be able to eat when I get there, and I am sooooo open to ideas.
Montrose, I went to Ebos, an occult shop. It was illuminating as I knew it would be since there is such a distorted view of it and those who chose to relate themselves with "The Craft."
I was wondering if there by chance was a facebook page for us because we should definitely get one if not and if we do i'd like to know. It might be a quicker and more effective way of transferring quick group messages.
Where did all that snow come from!?! It was amazing. I've lived down south my entire life and I think that's the first time that I ever thought of it as beautiful. I spent the entire day tromping through the woods in big rubber boots with my camera and had a magnificent time.
Hey Cathlynn, easy on the hippies man. If I ever get out of this place I might just slide into Austin, hop on an old school bus covered in stars and grateful dead bears and never look back. Then you can say you know one;)
On Tuesday the 16 of February and Thursday the 18 of February I will be at macon campus from 11:00 to 1:00 volunteering for Hope for Haiti if you would like to see me and make a donation. If that doesn't work into your schedule there are plenty of other times you can come and if you are interested I will let you know in class when that is.

Reading Memphis Response

Tuesday's class gave me a lot of hope this semester. There is always one class every semester that keeps me from committing seppuku inbetween classes, and I think this one is it for Spring.

It seemed to me that everyone did a pretty decent job at picking things WAY out of their comfort zone and taking a lot of positive things (like phone numbers, holler Drew!) from it in the process. Drew was very brave and obviously very secure in his masculinity for going to a nail salon. Hau set aside typical Southern fare for an evening in India, which was much to my delight as Indian food is one of my favorite things in the world. Not just favorite food, but favorite things. Chana masala all day, please. And Charles? Disc golf? Really, dude? Though it was for a good cause and the weather qualified it as being definitely out of comfort zone, I still have to cringe slightly at so many bad memories of spotting loathed hippies in Overton park, reeking of Nag Champa and contraband. At least the St. Jude Tournament sounded interesting. Hippies are just boring and smelly. I don't trust anyone who owns that much corduroy.

I am honestly really excited for the rest of this semester and even more excited at the prospect of making some new friends in the process. To continue the trend of corny blog entries, I think we're going to learn and see a lot of new things over the course of the next several months, and few things cement the bonding process like experiencing the unfamiliar in a group setting. Just please don't ask me to play disc golf.

P.S: I got conned into going BACK to Stella Marris on Friday night. Within 30 seconds of walking in, I saw a fight. It was AWESOME.

Sneg (snow)

I don't know about you guys but I love snow with one exception. I hate how in Memphis, the whole city shuts down and theres nothing to do but stay home.

Cancer Club

So here we go, what I liked most about last Tuesday was not the reading of the papers themselves but what happened after they were done and class was over. I liked how I got to talk to mostly everyone ( and I will eventually get around to everyone) about their papers personally. After hearing everyone talk, it kind've brought the class closer together. The papers were like the icebrealer for everyone. We had went somewhere out of our comfort zone or had relived a good old one and in that unity we got to drop the weird awkwardness that usually lasts most of the semester. This paper alone will bring us closer together which will make it that much more memorable, did that sound a little corny to anyone else? Oh well, I'm not taking it back. Heck, already I can't wait to go play disc golf with charles and go to a mosque and get to talk with cathlynn and her boyfriend. I also want to talk the Hau about his experience and ask him questions about his culture. I also want to hear Helen's paper and see what she was up to. I hope that this Friday and Saturday goes well and i hope we can get a beer afterwards and go have a good time. Peace ninjas catch ya'll this weekend. Oh yeah in case you guys are curious I'm listening to Ready Steady Go! by L-Arc-En-Ciel.

In response to Cathlyn's Reading Memphis paper I have to say that I have about the same view of such places and tend to avoid them for this reason. I thought she had a wonderful and very articulate response for her the experiences she encountered. I felt like I was listening to an am radio station and think that her ability to express herself so well could land her in a public speaking job easily some day. I think she might have a better time, if she were to venture out to a club again, at the Rumba Room. Last semester I took a salsa class at studio 108 and had a lot of fun doing so with a good friend. However, you do not need a partner to do so and after a few lessons you can go to the club with a very basic knowledge of salsa and have a lot of fun there. I certainly did. They also have free lessons at the club before everyone gets there. Its a bit different since they have a theme and sometimes actually play some decent music.
I was also interested in Hau's project. One thing that really stuck out in my mind was when he said that he was more comfortable with the place because there were mostly upscale white people. I always get the impression that a lot of white people feel that a way but I've never heard that from another race and it did make me realize that Mr. Branch was right... there is usually a lot of talk about white and black and not much about other cultures in Memphis. I asl thought that it was strange that the prices were so low and yet the consumers seemed to be upscale. It made me wonder why lower income families were not present , and what drew the white collars in.

My final project idea (TA DA!!!)

Not to completely copy Cathlynn, but I as well am interested in the Muslim community here in Memphis. Specifically a devout muslim family here in Memphis. For my project I present that I would like to go to a Mosque and talk with a family about their life here, leaning more specifically towards a family with a highschool senior as he/she prepares to go to college. I want to interview them about how they are able to practice their religion in school and what discrimination they might or might not go through there. I'm going to flesh out more of this in time but I want to think on it as well. While doing this project I hope to not only get to learn more about the family life, see how they go about their daily lives as well. I also hope to get a better sense of the Muslim religion itself. Yes, I am a christian but not very devout, in one sense you can say I'm a christian by trade. I don't know if I would convert but it's always good to learn more about this world and what better way than to learn about something completely different from what I've already learned.

Wow I'm late

All right yeah I'm late but what you gonna do. My name is Mckenze Drew Graham, yeah yeah get your laughs out of the first name now. I was born in Memphis and at the age of five moved to Munford, Tennessee and lived there till I was eighteen and then moved to Bartlett to live with my father and step mother.I gradutated from Munford High school in 2007. I was an active FFA member (Future Farmers of America). My favorite thing to do in High School was to get out of class and go work in the barn till it was time for me to go to work. It wasn't that I wanted to be alone but I like the simplicity of the work, yes it was backbreaking and tiring but nothing felt better to me. I could sit in the barn and do this monotonous work and think about life and what I wanted and I could also sing as loud as I wanted and no one cared and sometimes I could get the sheep to BAAH! along. The thing that caused me to move to Memphis was my mother, she decided that we were going to move to Lauderdale my senior year in high school, and to make a long story short I pretty much said "later" and moved in with my father. Moving in with my father and my stepmother was different at first because I had only seen this side of my family once every two weeks for 13 years but I came to like it more than Munford. While living in Memphis there was so much more to explore, so much more to do. I found out that I really love to watch soccer, its now my favorite sport and can not wait to watch Italy participate in the world cup this June and win again. While I already loved music, I was able to get a guitar and see that I loved playing it as well and writing music for it, even now I'm listening to Snails by The Format. Another big interest for me, now that I have the means to study it, is my family history. If you were curious as to why my name is Montrose, it's because my family are the Grahams of Montrose from Scotland. We can trace our family back from Scotland to the present day. If your ever curious I can show you the Grahams of Montrose coat of arms, seeing as I had it tattooed on my right arm. For me in the beginning of the semester, I just wanted to take this class because I needed another honors class. But after writing my first paper I think I really want to explore this city a little more and I want to learn more about people here in this city.

Reaction of the Presentations

Regarding the presentation of "Reading Memphis" introductory essay, I thought that all of the fellow classmates have done a great job of sharing his or her new learning experience in Memphis. There were two out of four topics from the presentation that I considered the most attractive event to my interest. First of all, I would not imagine of how it looked like for a male customer to visit any particular nail shop to have their nail done, which was a experience event from Montrose. To me, I did not have the nerve to do the same thing like Montrose because I feel shy and a liitle odd to walk alone in a nail shop. I have the the odd feelings because I did not wanted the nail technicians or anyone around the place to think that I am a homosexual. Montrose described that he have a great time for spending his two hours at a nail shop because of a foreign looking shop. However, I did not felt the same way as Montrose. I wanted to mentioned this because most of the nail employees have high self-esteem and egoism , especially when they know my identity and that I am an educated Vietnamese customer. To be specific, nail technicians thought that their career was the most prestigious job than most educated Vietnamese since they made high wage and salary. In other words, They always thought that money was the most beneficiary rather than education. Because of the issue of egoism from the nail employees, I did not liked to interact with them, which also caused me from visiting a nail shop.

Furthermore, the event of the first visiting to the Bartlett Club, somehow, grab my attention and made me wanted to visit the place to learn more about the place and the way that each individual interacted with one another. Cathlynn have done a great exploration of desrcibing the environment of the place. I have not been to such a chaotic club like the Bartlett Club. Cathlynn was taken a risk chance to meet unfamiliar people at the club, especially where it used to be a strip club. In addition, because of this fact, I thought that most of the male members at this club wre not seem to be really nice, but I wanted to take a risk trip to the Bartlett Club as well to see if this was really the case of what Cathlynn has informed. In the past, I been to a club called "Senses," and it does not seemed to be a chaotic place for meeting new friends. Perhap, individual at this club semed to be nice and havetheir own world of socializing with their friends or couples. When the music was turned on, they just danced or drank without bothering anyone pieceful enjoyment. So, the club that I went to was nothing like the Bartlett Club. As a learning experience, I would want to try out to go to the Barlett Club for my own learning knowledge. As a matter of fact, Cathlynn was one brave lady, who took a dangerous visiting to the Barlett Club and willing to share her hardships at an unfamiliar place.

My Memphis: City as Text

As my “Memphis: City as Text” final project for Honors Inquiry I am going to begin writing a book about growing up white in urban Memphis. The work will not be directly autobiographical in the sense that it is a story about my life. It will, however be taken partly from my experiences and from the experiences of people I knew growing up. The format will also be autobiographical, told from the first person perspective. I have chosen this style of writing because most of the human condition is kept within the confines of the human mind. Writing a story from the perspective of “I thought” rather than “he thought” should offer a more personal, less strictly-factual image of growing up as a poor white person in an environment socially-run by black people. I’m not sure what sort of response to expect from being the author of such a book, but I am hopeful that those that read it will take it in the spirit with which it is written, and not read too much into the white/black references that will no doubt fill its pages.

A Little Bit About Me

My name is Charles Bryan Matthews. I am a native of Memphis and its outlying areas. I was born to a farm in Arlington, just northwest of the city limits in March of 1984. I have moved almost 40 times in my life, never leaving the Memphis area so I have lived in most parts of the city at least once. I have driven trucks for three service companies, each catering to separate parts of the city, so I can find my way from almost anywhere to almost anywhere with relative ease. I went to Alturia, Macon road, and Raleigh-Bartlett Meadows elementary schools; I graduated from Craigmont High in 2002. I had my first full-time job when I was 16, pre-wiring houses for electricity and learning as much as I could about Electrical Engineering. I went back to electric work when I graduated high school, but focusing instead on low-voltage technologies and electronics. I have worked with computers, cameras, security systems, fiber optics, access and lighting control, audio/video, and home automation. I took a year off to take care of a sick father and spent another year working in a concrete factory. I didn’t start college until I last summer; I was 25 at the time. Come the end of this semester I will have completed 45 hours of coursework, working toward two degrees in Physics and Philosophy. I love my city and the heritage of being one of most influential cities in the creation of the south. What I don’t love is the tension that still creates racial boundaries and the uncleanliness of the city’s more unscrupulous denizens. I’m not sure exactly what I plan to learn from this class, but I hope to learn much of my city from what should prove to be an outsider’s perspective.

Thematic Inquiry Proposal

My project this semester centers around the Muslim community in Memphis. For a multitude of reasons, this community and the larger community it is a part of is close to my heart. Islam is as beautiful as it is misunderstood. My inquiry this semester will focus on: what it means to be a part of this community, how this community contributes to a greater Memphis, and some of the obstacles this community faces in achieving the voice they deserve. I also intend to offer solutions to some of these challenges that will be illustrated in the conclusion of the project's presentation. I will conduct ongoing interviews with citizens who contribute proactively to both the city of Memphis and their respective Muslim community, provide factual evidence by trusted scholars and research institutions to disseminate the most common myths surrounding Islam, and use parts of my own spiritual quest to shed light on an overlooked facet - what it means to be a Memphian working toward becoming a Memphis Muslim.

project

While I was in Spanish last semester I participated in a project aimed at making the language gap less difficult for the preschooler in the volunteer based division of the Macon Cove Campus Kids Corner. Even in situation where the child is aware of a fair amount of English, socializing and keeping up with assignments can still be hard. Think about what it's like to learn a new language as an adult. Processing the information fed to us into something we can understand takes a great deal longer than regular interaction. In addition to this, children at this age have developmental issues that interfere with there ability to pick up a language in the same fashion as adults. In many cases children who are in a situation were they must learn a new language go through a period of time where they refuse to speak the second language, and in some cases, will refuse to speak at all. While some might consider this to be a set back, if forced to speak against his or her will, it can be devastating to a child's future ability to communicate with others in both languages.

As my main goal last semester was to comfort the students with a language barrier, I propose that this semester I take a closer look at the affect and progression of language in Latino youth in Memphis. The Latino population in Memphis has risen greatly in the past ten years and they are a prevalent part of the community. As a student interested in Spanish and psychological studies, this is something that has intrigued me from the moment it was presented.

Poverty in Memphis

Well, I am actually still hesitaing choosing a topic for this big project, which should be broad enough to be interesting, but narrow enough to be manageable. I am a no good writer ever. It was so stressed out whenever I was assigned something like this...
However, I think "Poverty in Memphis" is something appealing enough for me to do research about. It has come to my attention that there are so many homeless people around the city. You can surely catch the sight of someone, here and there, standing hopelessly at the corner of streets wearing IM HUNGRY signs, or waiting miserably at McDonald entrance asking for some money...I may go to shelters to talk to people, volunteer at shelters to gain some idea of how their life is...

That is all what i can think of so far. I will be putting some more thoughts in it very soon, and keeping you posted.

Well, it turns out i am not the last one posting..

Hello Mr. Branch and class,

Finally, I am able to launch my very first entry to this blog. It usually takes me much longer time to do something like this than anything else.
As you guys may be able to guess, I am from Viet Nam, which is 27-hour-flight away from US. I will be twenty-two in April. I cannot imagine i am twenty something now! My first semester went pretty well, I hope this second would go smoothly as well. The compelling reason that drives me to take this class is that I want myself to be exposed to its policies of being proactive and creative. It should be so nervous for a kind of person who would rather be "backstage" like me! I am adjusting... And, I hope I will find out more what to love about Memphis after graduating from this class.
Having been living Memphis for 20 months, I don't think I have spent much enough time in Memphis to have a fairly good understanding about it. The City is very much a new “book” for me. I still don't know where Beale street is, or Fedex Forum....I have not ever participated in any downtown activities; more accurate, I have not really been there. It is funny that I keep telling my friends about my living at Elvis Presley's hometown while I have never been to Graceland once. The most tolerable reason for that is: I did not drive until last fall, my first semester. I was, occasionally, taken to some rare places for recreation by my uncles and grandparents during my non-driving life. My uncle used to love the buffet at Casino's very much. I ended up having quite a lot free meals joining him. Another funny thing is I really know quite a bit about Casino's, better than telling something about Brook museum, which is very close to my house! I must confess that I don't know the City very well. So, it is going to be either a huge challenge or big fun for me to conduct the assigned project!!!
On the first day when I was actually here, what I heard on radio, 104.5 the River, was Memphis came in second 2008's ranking of metro area by rate of violent crime. It was not something anybody, as a newcomer, would like to hear about their hometown-to-be. The next year, Memphis topped the ranking. I had never heard something like this about Memphis before when I was in Viet Nam. At first, I was slightly shocked and frightened. Everyday, news on TV is all about deaths, shooting, assaults, domestic violence…I gradually got into the habit of counting how many deaths on news each day! Things go easier when I get used to it. In fact, you would, eventually, become not too terribly worried as you are being in the heart of dangerous zone. That is the thing I don't like most about Memphis.
Excitingly enough, I just recently find out one place that I feel peaceful when going there. That is the Memphis Public Library on Poplar, which i was once recommended by a good friend, wonderful place to read, to study and to meditate.

I think it might be enough for a first entry. Apparently, not anything interesting was mentioned in my entry. At least, I did respond to some questions by Mr. Branch.

Hau Planning Project

In this second blog, I would like to inform to Mr. Branch and my fellow classmates, regarding the planning for the major, class project. On the first class meeting, I have the feeling of fear when the class was informed by Mr. Branch that we have to carry a major project. At that time, all of which I thought was to be a tutor, but I do not know where to start and how I can find information about volunteer tutor. Furthermore, I go everywhere and ask my friends and professors, who I associated from last semester and this semester. They gave me advice that "tried to call the Memphis City School (MCS) to see whether they still needed tutor or not." Therefore, I think that this is a good project to start because it will be an opportunity to improve my knowledge and use the knowledge to help other students.
In addition, the advice of being a mentor also reminded me about news on television that I watched in the past few weeks. Many news reporters discussed the issue that the MCS needed more improvement to help the students to enhance their learning. To be specific, the MCS students encounter a hard time with math and reading subject. In this case, I called the Board of Education to see whether they needed volunteer or not. The counselor of the volunteer tutor program answered yes. So, she arranged with me that the first orientation would be held at Rhode College on January 28, 2010 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. If this workout successfully, I will start to volunteer at any local MCS as a math mentor. Consequently, I consider this will be a good starting point for the project.

Hau Tran Blog 1 (Introduction of Myself)

Hello, classmates. In this first blog, I would like to introduce myself and talk about the relationship that I have toward Memphis. Like many of the classmates have known me from the first class meeting, my name is Hau Tran, and I am twenty-three year old. To characterize myself, I am a friendly person and love to do things that I would think to be challenging, such as taking honor classes in college, like Honor Inquiry. Furthermore, whenever I have free time, I am relief my body and mind from stress and school works by enjoying drinking wine, liquor, or beer. However, I spend most of the time wisely to study and voluntarily help the Vietnamese people by being a volunteer translator to any elder Vietnamese and to other Vietnamese that cannot speak much English. In the past, for example, I have taken many Vietnamese residents, who cannot speak, read, or write English, to government facility, such as hospital, human services, Memphis Shelby County Court, or any site as they needed.
Subsequently, I will inform to the classmates a brief scenario about my origin, how I get to Memphis and what the feelings that I have toward Memphis are. My nationality is Vietnam; my family and I immigrated to U.S.A. in October 14, 1990. When my family and I first land our feet on American soil, Memphis was a place that we lived in 1990 to today date. Hence, I lived in Memphis for most of my life since I was three year old. In young age, I thought that Memphis was a great place because my school teachers and friends were very nice to each other and me. However, when I became older, I have different viewpoint for Memphis. It seems to me that Memphis was a disorderly city. African American and White American and other minority were not quite interacting with each other. In this case, I think Memphis was a dysfunctional place because there is some kind of hidden segregation from the inside of most individuals, which I cannot view or see through. Anyway, Memphis was an interesting place when I was growing up until now, because there are several events and recreational facilities, such as the Beale Street. From Honor Inquiry class, finally, I hope to know more about the city of Memphis and have a different aspect toward it.

who

I was born in Oklahoma and later moved to Mississippi, but the first place I truely called home was Macon, Georgia. From the beginning of trusted memory my best friend, Tracy Yang, to whom I was two years senior, and I climbed trees, drew pictures and read books with one another. As an only child, I considered her my sister, and as a young girl on her way to Memphis, Tennessee I knew I would never have as good a friend to which I still can attest. It did not help that my mother was not there to help me adjust to the move or smooth things over between me and my tyrant of a father, as her mother had fallen down the stairs in her sister's home in El gin, Texas. For three months Stokes (my father) lived in a motel near the Wolfchase mall and I was tossed between that motel and my dying grandmother. There were some advantages to the move from my perspective however. Since my father was getting a better job with more pay, we could afford to live in what seemed to me, a mansion. Better yet, we had a pool.

That's not what I really love about Memphis though. The things that I grew a true affinity to were the parks... four within walking distance of my house, and the woods directly behind me. I love all the space that, of course isn't limited to the Memphis area, but was lacking from my previous residence. For this reason, once I have the opportunity to move, I will. I will search for all the things that I grew to love in Memphis in a place without all the things that I cannot stand. Things both personal to my own experience and those shared by the public... crime, political corruption, awful race relations. I can't say that i see the same things as Cat when I think of interactions in Memphis however. What I see is a person who looks at me with disgust without even knowing my name. What I hear is "no offense" after the realization hits someone that a Caucasian is present. What I feel is an elephant in the room that is inappropriate to address, and is pushing me into a corner. I will happily leave that feeling behind as I have experienced it in no other place. As for the things that are personal, I suppose I will keep them that way.

No one likes to be first.

It's not so much that I'm trying to be brave; more like I am attempting to whittle down my To Do List this week.

I'm Cathlynn, but for the sake of simplicity I have gone by Cat since I was very small. I am an ardent supporter of simplicity in most things.

My relationship with Memphis is and has always been tenuous at best and bitter at worst, though by means of age and experience I am learning to appreciate the few things here that are very dear to me. Interestingly enough, almost none of them are things I would have expected to hold dear when I was younger. I moved to Memphis in 1996. It was summer then, though the oppressive humidity was paltry compared to my birthplace of Houston, Texas. My mother and our side of the family are from here, so she made the decision to relocate my younger sister and me in the wake of some life decisions gone sour. I graduated from White Station in 2003 and though at the time I longed for a more "refined" private school education, in retrospect I could not have been better suited anywhere else. I still believe that school is one of the few grade schools in the city or county where you will not be questioned or berated for using A People's History of the United States as supplemental material for your American History textbook - I never was (Rest in Peace, Howard). I left Memphis when I was 19 and moved to Indianapolis, where I remained until this past July when I was lured home by the shiny carrot of free tuition courtesy of my parents' grave concern with my "5 year plan" celebrating it's 7th birthday.

I'm going to be honest - I've never liked Memphis. That is not to say that I do not appreciate some aspects of this city and its effect on my upbringing, for I most certainly do. However, I simply don't enjoy living here. When pressed for details, the first thing that comes to mind is the unique brand of passive-aggressive racism. I imagine that you are raising your finger in indignant protest. Put your hand down, please. Let's call a spade a spade, shall we? It is neither pretty nor pleasant to talk about, I get that. Few people here will openly admit to being any shade of prejudiced. However, if I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone within city limits utter the phrase "I'm not racist, but..." I could have rendered unto Indiana University what is Indiana University's, and continued to post up in the 46208. There is something in the drinking water here that not only makes it delicious, but also makes its drinkers particularly adept at the art of blame-shifting. It's 2010 and we still whisper the word "black", lock our car doors when we find ourselves south of Highland, and feel sorry for those "poor, oppressed" women in hijab we see in the mall. But it's "totally not our fault. If people would just stop living up to stereotypes..."

There are things about living here that I enjoy however. I like that it takes 20 minutes to get almost anywhere in the city, as long as you don't plan to take 240 between the hours of 3 and 6pm. I like that in all my travels around this marvelous country, I have yet to find Vietnamese food that even comes close to touching Pho Hoa Binh. I like that even after being away for 4 years, the family who owns that establishment remembered me when I came back. I like that even amongst negative civil relations, political corruption and other disappointing products of humanity, we have a hospital that refuses to turn away any child and his or her family for any reason. I like to think that St. Jude, in addition to performing miracles of health and science, also tips the karmic scales in our favor every now and again. I like that we are blessed with a rich cultural and political history, even if we sometimes forget that history is only useful if we learn from it. I like our unofficial culinary motto of "If you can eat it, we can fry it." Actually, change that to love/hate. And I suppose that along with all of these, I love that even if I haven't always liked Memphis itself, I've liked that it's where home is.

All I hope to get our of this class this semester is an opportunity to see why other people love it here so much, and perhaps also to share what makes it bearable for me as well.

A Test Entry

Hey, class. I'm just making sure this works ok. Hope we have a great blog this semester!