Midnight in Paris

After watching the movie Midnight in Paris, I understand why we were required to watch this film. The movie is about a struggling writer who goes to Paris with his fiance and her parents to relax on a nice vacation. On the first night however they went wine tasting with some friends and Gil the main character decides to wander around Paris by himself. Consequently he gets lost and an old car from the twenties appears before him with all of its passengers urging him to join them. He proceeds to do so and he is meet upon the company of the two Fitzgeralds and Ernest Hemingway. He is amazed that he has found these people because they were around in the 1920's and he of course is not. He spends the evening with them and even gets Hemingway to offer to send Gil's novel to see Gertrude Stein for corrections.
When he leaves their company he comes back upon reality and believes he was merely drunk. He makes up a story for his fiance to believe and he proceeds to attempt to go back to this time in the 20's to continue his journey. Now when he goes back, Gertrude has given him ideas for his novel and he meets a lovely mistress whom he ventures through the twenties with. He continues to do this every night, escaping reality and venturing into the past. He meets famous artists as well such as Salvador Dali and Gil is in a near bliss state in the past.
In the present things are not going smoothly. His fiance is sick of his midnight strolling and why he doesn't spend time with her anymore. His soon to be father in law even tries to follow him using a private detective. This does not work at all because the detective ends up missing from the present.
In the end of this movie, Gil decides to stay in Paris and leave his fiance. He then meets the woman from the music stand and they walk in the rain to end the movie. Personally I found this movie very confusing to follow because things in the past and present would happen when he changes time. The time flow still progressed and he did not enter the same part when he returned as when he left. I also did not catch at all how they ended up in the 1890's. This just seemed completely random to me. Also he continued to tell people that he was from the future and no one ever question him or called him crazy. They merely accepted it.

Hemingway

After reading this Hemingway piece, I felt he was a good writer. He wrote about what it was like being a writer and what to write about and how he feels doing it. The first scene was him at a coffee shop with his story writing itself in his own mind when this woman walks into the shop. Hemingway pauses and looks at the beauty of this girl and wishes he can get her into the story.
A big thing that stood out to me in this was when he was talking about writing a true sentence. A sentence that you can always start your writing off of. Simply think of the truest sentence you can possibly think of and write it down. From there he claims you can write an entire paper, and if you ever do get stuck simply backtrack. Go back to the last true sentence you wrote and continue from there until your piece is down.
In this story Hemingway was always talking with Miss Stein. I did not care about her very much. She seemed very pretentious and I don't enjoy reading about how she is better then people or how they are inferior people. She was very particular in what she liked, or what she suggested to have Hemingway read. His work was also almost never good enough for her always saying his work was "inaccrochable". I understood that she was more experienced at writing then him, but the fact she assumed she was some superior person simply bothered me. Also i found it strangely convenient that the authors she supported were  the ones who had supported or backed up her own career in some way. It could be a professional understanding where they keep each other afloat in their careers but i simply feel that it is just a pretentious woman saying only those who have helped her are good writers. The only other person she would mention that was a good writer was Sherwood Anderson and that was simply because of his glowing, warm Italian eyes.
I also would like to continue about how I do not like miss Stein in the story because she truly thought she was better then people. "That's what you are. That's what you all are,' Miss Stein said. 'All of you young people who served in the war. You are a lost generation.'". "'You drink yourselves to death...'". She had no proof of this claim, was proved wrong but still had her bitter opinion till the end the of story. I simply did not like her in the story, and wished Hemingway would have continued about how he was writing in coffee shops and some of his tricks that he used to write with.

George Foreman Grill

The returning year when we arrived back again to visit my mother, we were welcomed at the door with hugs and kisses. She immediately started asking us whether or not we had had enough to eat and if we were hungry. She then began to fire up the george foreman grill until my newly married husband told her he would cook. She was not too pleased with the idea but she let him do it anyway. He was a good cook and always spoiled me with a delicious dinner. All throughout dinner my mother kept pestering us about how she wanted us to take the grill for ourselves. We started making up excuses as always about how we don't have room for it and that she needs it for herself, and also how we would never use it. She was not too pleased with our answer.
After supper we decided to return to our bedroom for some peace and quiet. My husband wrapped his legs around me and made a hissing noise, george foreman grill, george foreman grill. I giggled about our joke. I asked him, "maybe we should take the grill this time"? With his response of, "that's not what you said last year when I proposed the idea". I had changed mind mine since last year, I figured it was time to make my mother happy and take the grill away from her. I fully understood it had been our joke for years but sometimes it's more important to make someone else happy. My mother had always been trying to give us that silly grill because my husband is such a good cook.
The next morning at breakfast, what else should I have been expecting but my mother had the grill out and began pestering us about how we should take it. Then my husband looks at her and says alright. My mother's eyes opened wide and let out a big "really?", as if she was an eight year old girl being told she could have a pony. "Yes really, we will take it from you". She couldn't believe all that we had just said. When the words finally hit her, she ran up and started wrapping the grill as if it were a Christmas present. "Mom, you don't need to wrap it", as she was just adding the finishing touches. She was too caught up in her own world to even hear what I was saying. My mother always remember that year when we came over, because she finally got us to take the grill that we will be joking about for years to come.

Hamilton, Weems, and Walker

To start off Ann Hamilton had some different pieces. Her artwork was creations of random objects using different materials. It all seemed really weird to me. She made some extensive devices such as the human carriage which doesn't have any real purpose but to catch the human eye for a few minutes. Isn't that what art is supposed to do? Intrigue someone to want to see what the artist had created.
The next artist I reviewed was Carrie Weems. She was a photographer mainly who liked to focus on the issue of racism and an attempt with her to aid in the progression of eliminating racism. Her first work that she created was called family pictures and stories. This work told stories about her own family and she had also mentioned that it was about black families moving up north. Most of her later works also included the common theme of racism.
The final artist that I reviewed was Kara Walker. She had wanted to be an artist ever since she was a little girl followed her dream to where she is now. She is most famous for her room sized black paper silhouettes. Each one of her silhouettes tells a different story from many different topics; things like racism or history. She also tended to attacked the topics directly with very grotesque pictures and not being afraid to put it how it really is.
After viewing all of these three artist's work I must admit that my opinion has not changed at all about how I feel about art. It can be nice to look at or decorate your home but I fail to see the importance of it and why it must be analyzed. This could very well just be the engineer in me, but I am not a fan of this type of art.

diaz and moore

After reading the story written by diaz, I wonder about what I just read. This story was literally just how this one guy picks up girls. What he does when expecting them, what things he says and how he expects them all to respond depending on what race they are. It was very open about what went on and seemed like a more modern read. This story was not enjoyable to me; I did not want to hear about this guy moving the cheese out of the fridge because it offends certain types of girls.
Anyway this story puts a lot of detail into what this guy does for a first date and every possible situation that could arise. He determines what will happen based on where they are from, what color skin they have, and who he meets along the way. He even goes on to explain how he expects each one to take his advances and even how their parents will react to him and what he must do in order to not have any complications. Though as detailed as he was in this story, I still did not find enjoyment while reading it.
The other story we were required to read was a bit more interesting in my opinion. It was written in what I find a unique style. It was short posts, each one signifying a year and important things that have happened in each one. The interesting part was the fact that these did not go chronologically, they went in reverse time.
This style of writing really makes the reader think about what he or she has just read. For example, in one post from 1960 she states about how she received money from her fathers will and then in 1959 she is talking about a funeral and you start piecing things together as you progress through the story. This continues all the way to her beginning. It goes through both of her parents dying, her grandmother passing away, a midlife crisis and even childhood memories. I also thought it was unique that in these posts, she always talked about what was important to her then. As if it was a journal kept the entire time. It obviously was not but it gives it a slight impression that it was written at that time.
One major thing I noticed while reading this was that this woman was pregnant at least four different occasions and I don't recall he ever mentioning having children. Did she really get abortions for all of them, or were there some other cause for her never having a child.

Fairy Tale in Today's Words

A fairy tale that I would personally like to throw a modern twist on is jack and the bean stalk. The main plot of the story with jack getting the magic bean and planting it would stay the same. The big change that I would like to make is after the stalk has grown, he climbs it and his story would continue but what about everyone else in the world. With the power of technology and the media in today's world, this beanstalk would never be able to be kept a secret. Someone would find out about it, and post to facebook, or twitter and news teams from all over the country would be coming to see this magic stalk. They would all wonder, where did this come from, why was it planted, where does it go. There would be helicopters and planes circling the stalk unable to understand how high it actually goes. The media would likely twist this phenomena as an act of god or even possibly some form of alien technology. They would put fear into people. Crowds would gather around the stalk for miles wanted to see this enormous plant. The government would get involved and quarantine it from the public. The government would think a long time to as if they should destroy this abomination or find out where it leads for science. Jack would finally end up climbing down the stalk and he would immediately be brought in for questioning.
He would be interrogated harshly by the government but he would tell them everything that is up there. They would climb the stalk to see the giants in person and the media would report that there are monsters above the sky. A representative would be sent up to first to see if the giants would come in peace but after a day had passed they had all feared the worst. The giant had killed the messenger. The army would be sent up to the top of the stalk to wage war on the giants. It would be construed that the giants declared war on america and that we have to defend our freedom. The giants were just minding their own business but the army was sent up to deal with this impending threat against our society.
They waged an awful war, the giants could crush twenty men with just their bare hands. The army equipped with just mobile weapons that they could take with them climbing the stalk. They had no artillery or tanks. Just guns and numbers against the vicious giants. Our army overwhelmed the giants by sheer numbers. They had never stood a chance against a war that they did not start. Even with their immense strength over humans, they were no match for us invading their home. We then proceeded to burn all of their home and make sure nothing was left.
Our army was victorious over the enemy who was never prepared for a war. The media presented that our soldiers were heroic and that we were proud they all defeated this new enemy. The stalk was then chopped down to make sure there was no connection left between our world and whatever remained of their own. A statue was raised and stalk day became a holiday. It was for the few men who died risking their life against the impending doom that was always there from the giants, whom no one knew existed until jack planted the bean stalk.
And for what happened to our original character Jack? He was sentenced to life imprisonment due to him being a conspirator and aiding the giants. He was the one who created the link from their world to ours. Jack the rest of his life in a cell all because he traded the cow for the beanstalk instead of at the market for money like his mother had wanted him to the entire time.
 If there would be a moral or motive of this story it would probably be to be obedient. Listen to your parents and respectable adults. Also don't talk to strangers and especially don't take things from them because it will most likely not turn out well.

Fantastic Mr Fox (Movie vs Book)

     After reading both the book for Fantastic Mr. fox and the movie, I have noticed some major differences in the general plot. First off the movie started off with the foxes moving into the tree when in the book they had always lived there. The next difference was that Mr. fox and Mrs. fox used to both steal food together and he was asked to stop by Mrs. fox after they were caught once. Also when they had finally moved into the tree Mr. fox had one idea and that was to steal from the three farmers. Another big difference was the cider scene. Mr. fox stole the cider and was almost caught by Bean's assistant due to him hiding behind the cider. This happened in both but two key facts really made this different. The first thing is that in the movie Mr fox had to fight the rat in the cellar in hand to hand combat. The next difference is that this entire scene happened before the farmers were out to kill the foxes. In the book this scene was toward the end.
     Other major differences were at the end of the movie. The book simply ended when the foxes had found a way into the farms without ever going above ground and the farmers were said to have still been waiting outside the fox holes. In the movie, when they had figured out a way into the farms, the farmers found out and decided to flood them all out with cider. Then Mr fox decides its time to give himself in, in order to save all of the other animals.
     This is a scene I would like to talk about in depth. Things seem to be at their darkest. The animals are not winning the battle. The farmers have gotten the best out of them. Their home has been destroyed, and they have no real source of food. All because Mr fox had decided that he wanted to steal from the farmers. This scene is gloomy, the music portrays it perfectly. All of the animals are sad and Mr fox knows what he must do. This takes a brave person. He is sacrificing himself for the greater good. When he gives himself up to the farmers, he will save all of the other animals. Though what makes it even braver is the fact that it will not be a heroic death. It will be embarrassing. He will go above the ground and he will be shot on sight. His head will be placed above the fireplace. His tail will be continued to be worn as a necktie and his fur will likely make a nice jacket. It will be humiliating. It is something he must do, though he is not forced into it; it is necessary.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

     The story starts out describing the scenery. There are three farmers of different goods, one with chickens, one with geese and ducks, and the other raises turkeys and has an apple orchard with which he makes cider. There were a family of foxes who lived nearby under a hill beneath a giant tree. Mr. fox would ask his wife Mrs. fox what she would like for dinner and every night he would go out and get whatever she desired from the farmers, whether it be chicken, duck, or even turkey. Mr fox was very clever though and was able to avoid the farmers who were very upset with him stealing their farm goods. "Mr. Fox would smell him out from fifty yards off and quickly change direction, heading for chicken house Number Four at the other end of the farm." 

     Mr fox was careful not to be caught but the farmers were getting fed up with him. They had the great idea of hiding out right outside Mr fox's home and wait for him to come out the next night and shoot him. the wind was blowing the other direction that day and Mr fox could not smell them, when he peaked his head out he heard rustling in the bushes. He decided it wasn't anything and walked out further until he saw the farmers next to him with guns. He then dashed right back into his whole but in the process his tail was shot off. That is most unfortunate for poor Mr fox. The farmers had another idea to take care of the fox, dig him out. 

     They began digging and the family of foxes heard what was going on and began to dig for their lives. "A fox can dig quicker then a man!" The foxes dug deeper and deeper until they had believed they were safe. The farmers then had their next brilliant idea where they would dig out the foxes with tractors. Their ideas have not been bad in the slightest but the execution is what is lacking for them. Also Mr. fox keeps outsmarting them.

     The farmers then proceed to dig out the foxes with the tractors and they gain on the foxes, but days have passed and the farmers decide that it is best for them to wait outside the hole with their guns. They were even smart enough to have all of their workers come out and wait at any possible escape for the foxes.

     The foxes were starving down in their hole and things were looking bad, but Mr fox had this brilliant idea. He just simply needed to tunnel to a specific location which was the farmer's farmhouses to get their goods and bring them for a nice feast. Mr fox knew the entire farm perfectly and could direct himself even underground which was amazing. I personally couldn't find how to turn the television on in the dark and he can dig his way to a chicken coop yards away from underground. 

     Mr fox, on his way to all of his destinations, found Mr badger who mentioned that his family, rabbit's family and weasel's family were all starving. This is actually all entirely Mr fox's fault. If it weren't for Mr fox stealing from the farmers every single night, they would never have been as upset as they were. Then they wouldn't be waiting all over the country side with weapons ready to kill them all. Although Mr fox was the cause, he also presented the solution. He stole from each of the farmers that night by digging a tunnel system to all of their farms and created a feast for all of the animals that were starving.

     Mr fox then realized that none of them would ever have to leave their burrow again. They could all live happily underground and steal directly from the farmers without ever stepping foot on the soil above ground. They even said the farmers were still waiting for them outside their hole. I find this very amusing because it just proves how arrogant and unintelligent the farmers are.

Almost no memory correspondence

     The letter from correspondence did not interest me very much though I am here now talking about it. These letters were from Henrietta a freshman high school student who had a large interest in South America. She was doing her class assignment of writing letters to a pen pal. Her pen pal never did respond throughout the entire collection of letters.
     There are a few messages I feel I can pull out of this. The first is to always honor your word, why would you say you would do something and then never do it? Manoel, Henrietta's pen pal, had his name on the list of people to send a letter to for her class. He never responded to any of the letters. Many months had passed and he had not written back a single letter even though he said he would. This just shows that not following through with your word can hurt people.
     The other thing that this collection of letters can also show is to not hang onto things you care about forever. Henrietta wrote letter after letter without ever getting one back. She cared greatly about other cultures and this was more than just an assignment to her. She waited months and wrote more letters simply hoped for a response from Manoel; she never got one though. She had to realize that it was not meant to be, even though all of her classmates got letters back and she was the one to actually care about the assignment. She wasn't just writing a letter, she was exploring an interest and she had to reach a point where she had to hang it up.
     The next story that I read was about a woman who wrote a story that no center. She was not a religious woman but wrote a religious story about a hurricane that came toward her village and didn't actually hit it. It was also about a man who was very ill and asked her to stop by but none of these three things were highlighted enough in the story to actually be what the story was about. How i feel about this is that you can not spread yourself too thin, because then you will not be anybody. if there isn't enough of "you" to go around then why would you even be doing it in the first place. You need to define yourself as a person by doing things you enjoy, such as her writing a story about one topic instead of too many things.
     In this story one line really stood out to me "blasphemy proved one's belief in God". This line really caught my eye because blasphemy is the act of disliking, disobeying or even not believing in a spiritual entity. That sentence though disproves the idea of even being able to perform blasphemy. It creates a loophole where as if you don't want to believe in a god, you have to first accept the idea that one exists in order to not believe in it.

Fires and The Remembered

I greatly enjoyed the short story fires. This is probably because I was a runner for a good portion of my life and I know how Glenda feels when she runs. There aren't too many feelings like running. I would personally love to go running through the mountains as she did because it would be so peaceful. Even with someone trailing her, they never talked and I envy her for that privilege. People who run are not always running from some problem they have in their life. They run to better themselves, not just physically but also mentally. When I run like that, my mind wanders. I think about goals and dreams, and I don't have any care in the world. Things are just simpler while I'm running. 

What i took away from fires was that you should love what you have in your life, and don't throw it away. On the last page when Glenda said "please love", I feel she was talking about everything around the narrator. She had set a fire to everything around him to show him he would miss the beauty in his world, and on a deeper level, miss her. It is rare to have a connection with someone without talking to them consistently. Their runs were silent, like their bond. Even though he knew that she was going to leave, they still were connected.

The Remembered was a story unlike any that I have ever read. It was about a woman who had the love of her life devolve from his human form into more primitive forms every day. This was actually very disturbing to think about. Her husband became an ape, and then continued this process and became a salamander. On the bright side of the story she always loved him, no matter what shape or form he became next. True unconditional love as great as hers is rare in today's world.

The thing that I took away from this story is to think about things less. Her lover, before the process happened, always told her to think about things less. He would take her out under the stars and tell her there is no space for anything but dreaming. As the story progressed, she did this more and more. She didn't even think about him turning into an ape. She merely accepted it and continued to love him for he was. She didn't call 911; she sat with him and smoothed his fur. People in today's world do think about some things far too much. Then this leads to worrying which is not normally a good thing.

Together both of these stories have a common theme of letting your mind go. Stop worrying about tomorrow and live your life for today, because there are beautiful things around you and you won't know how long they'll last.