Her...Land

To free myself from the depressing depth of A Clockwork Orange, I decided to start Herland, an apparently interesting story on a self sufficient and entirely feminine population. Although short and hopefully easy to read ( I haven't finished yet), Charlotte boringly maintains a passive voice throughout. I would like to have seen a more exciting novel, because for every page I read I remain right here in my seat, unmoved and just reading a boring book. Honestly, It it is so boring. I have to force myself to read, it honestly does not entertain me. But even still, while reading this book, I'm quite amazed by the fact of an entirely female country. You look around, and even though women have gained much more power and respect, there are still a lot of people who look down upon women. Herland does a great job reminding those whole look at women as lesser people (they probably wouldn't read this book anyway) that women are equal and possibly better then men as whole. There I said it; it is possible that women are overall much better people then men. Women can run a country, a business, a family, or anything just as good as men can. And with the elections coming up containing a female candidate, this raises an interesting debate. Though I don't support Hilary's interests, I believe that she is 100% able to run our country. And this is coming from me; I barely follow the political games and races (i try to catch some debates here and there on CNN because all other network programming has been pretty crappy lately). Back to Herland though. Sure it's boring, but not everything in life can be fun. And I appreciate the efforts made to reestablish the high capability of women in society. Also, even though this is completely random, it reminds me of some type of Disney cartoon, where everyone is happy, loving and goodhearted, and living life is simple. Believe or not Herland reminds me of The Lion King. Although the Lion King is fairly depressing, there's something about Herland that keeps bringing up images of the Lion King (the original of course) in my head. Maybe I'll go see it again on Broadway.

growing old.

We were much more creative when we were younger.
Things came so easily, lived life nearly problem free
And I’d hate growing older
When everything you once loved
No longer serves its purpose anymore
This is what it feels like to be withered and old

A boy once said I don’t wanna grow up…Stay young forever
Where your heart and curiosity are the only things that guide you
Were money and material are nothing big as long as you have fun…
And fun consists of everything you can imagine
But now, as we grow old, we realize it’s not the same anymore.

I used to be the good example
Amused by anything, laughing at everything
Now I can’t even pay for gas,
And everything I do reflects the money that I have
And I can’t have fun unless I listen to the man
Follow rules stick to the plan your parents made
Not I though, because I’m still just a kid
I’ve got seventeen years under my belt but I feel like I’m in third grade.

So all you people strapped down by growing old
Take a single minute
Just let your spirit soar
They say we only live once and it’s this once chance or not
So embrace the joys of life and give it everything single thing you’ve got
Because anyone here can count the grey hairs that come with age
But it takes real personality to be expressful and remain.... young.

First Official/Gradeworthy Post... On Youth and Violence

While reading A Clockwork Orange, the idea of violence keeps coming up. Everything this gang of trouble makers does, in someway or another, is driven by lustful and violent urges. They fight, they rape, they steal, they pillage. They do drugs. They have no regard or moral perception towards life or other people. As I continue reading, the direct correlation of the development of violence in fiction to the desensitization of the youth of society becomes more apparent. Without diving in and analyzing any particular character because the passionate violence is horrifically widespread (whether it be within Alex's own gang or any other), its hard to imagine these graphic scenes actaully happening (Stanley Kubrick's movie makes this much easier and discomfortinging though). The youth of our country is highly desensitized towards violence; this is clear in the popularity of movies watched by "tweens" and younger people. Successful entertainment productions all revolve around violence. Rap music is fueled by violence. Movies are driven by violence and action. Even clothing promotes violence. This all might sound very repetitive but it is in fact true. www.capmag.com does a great job in bringing up and discussing the influence of violence on the youth of America. It's quite a smack in the face to anaylize the ethical viewpoints of the future of society. If not for anything else, the article is a good read, for personal knowledge, and brings up many rhetorical questions about violence. I'll get off the soft-core soapbox now.

Something that came to mind...

I was just reading, continuing my excursion into the futuristic world of adolescent hate and violence, and I look outside on the humid winter day. It is Tuesday morning, 9:40 to be exact. I looked to my right, out the big ugly windows of our room and noticed a heavy fog; a depressing fog. A fog so thick I can barely see across the courtyard, twenty five feet away. There is silence here now. I feel like the farther I delve into A Clockwork Orange, the more depressing my actual surroundings become. There is really no reason for me to interpret the fog with such pessimism, but considering the state of thought I am in right now (from reading of course) I'm feeling veddy gloomy.

A Clockwork Orange.... Chapter One

I've just finished reading chapter one of this graphic novella, and I am already disgusted by the behavior of main character Alex and his friends. While reading the scene were the four beat on the old man, I started thinking of common gang violence. The actions portrayed are very realistic and happen all the time, in both urban and suburban settings. This book is a fictional account of a futuristic city state, but aside from the weird fashion and customs everything happening is also going on now. Violence fullfills the lusts of these individuals; and still, the night is young.