Stretched Thin

Oh man...
too much to do and too little time. (cliche I know, but true)

Being pulled in about 8,000 directions at the moment. School is definitely piling up right now. We're right at the end and it's just that last stretch that seems nearly impossible to complete. And then to add to it, gotta work. taking on 4 shifts this week. Man I'm going to be tired... but hey that's $.

Still looking for a local job... starting to get more and more worried about the wear and tear on my car due to the constant commuting.

Oh well, this blog began in a poetic-ish style, but dissolved into complaint. Ah...
things don't go the way you plan them it seems. They go what the opposite. My head's much to full. too full to let my sleep... to quote the good old Bob Dylan "I've got a head full of Ideas that are driving me insane!"

I've got at least 20 half-baked ideas fighting to get to the surface.
Rewrites for my tv show.
Songs for the concert scene in said tv show.
Becoming a real video-production business, acting "professional."
A "Hagar the Horrible" short film.
a combination of Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 short film.
My magnum opus: an epic sci-fiction movie about Time and the universe.
and more!


But sleep should be attempted, dreams should be had.
good night void

Style

    My online style is diverse. My online style has range. My style is dynamic and adaptable. My style is not just a style it is styles. When I get online, there is not just one format to communicate in or medium to work through, so I must adapt and tailor fit my communication to each specific mode I come across.

     The first mode of online communication that I, and most of us, come across is email. Email requires a personal style. It’s sort of like writing a letter. But it can also requires us to be formal or business like, albeit still striving to sound personal. One such instance could be submitting a resume online via email. But for the most part, email is a way to stay in touch with friends and family so my emails reflect a very personal style in which I share my thoughts.

     Another mode of communication we commonly bump up against is the social networking aspect. This can divided into a few different things within itself: messages, comments, status updates and instant messaging. Messages are essentially email within the context of a social networking site, so my style reflects that of an email. Comments are quite different than messages, where as messages are private between sender and receiver, comments are public. I go for a quick and humorous style in my comments that everyone can enjoy, not just the intended receiver because comments due to their public nature have an audience. I keep comments short sweet and to the point. Status updates much like comments are public and should be audience centered. In fact status updates are wholly audience centered because there is no specific intended receiver. Status updates function more like a news broadcast just out there for everyone to see. My style of sharing my status with others is that I limit myself to either humorous remarks, or things that are actually newsworthy. Nobody (but your narcissistic self) cares what type of cereal you had for breakfast. Finally that leaves us with instant message. Instant messaging is all about short little messages. My style is like sending a text message, trying to condense information into fewer words. Although unlike the complete back and forth ping-pong style communication we call texting, instant messaging is more conversational. My style of instant messaging is a conversational style, I simply write what I would have said in a verbal conversation (plus smiley faces for emphasis).

     That brings us to a third style of online communication, which is one of my favorites, public relations. I use the language of advertising and public relations to promote my business throughout various avenues online. This involves social networking, web design, email and blogging. I use an official sounding tone to give my business presence online in social networking sites. I use the same language to give out information on my website. I shamelessly self-promote through tweets and status updates that keep people involved in what’s going on with my business. I use email to send newsletters that are informative and entertaining. I use blogging to give a more detailed behind the scenes and personal look into what’s going on, which brings me to the final mode of online communication I’d like to discuss.
 
   Blogging, you must be familiar with it. You’re doing it right now. My style for blogging is a personal stlye. I love to embrace narratives and metaphorical language to bring my thoughts to life. I treat my blogs often as a sort of journal or diary for my thoughts on various subjects. The blog is one place where I am more likely to embrace stream of consciousness writing and worry less about structure. When the creative juices just flow like that, that’s my favorite style.

Subjective Nature

In 1909, The National Board of Censorship controls the film industry. They censor topics such as prostitution, childbirth and masturbation. In the 1930’s, the film studios hold to a production code to ensure proper content. This self enforced censorship included several tenets such as “evil can’t go unpunished,” ‘no profanity,” “limited scenes of passion,” and “no inter-racial romance.” Filmmakers such as Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock pushed the envelope and challenged the boundaries of what was allowed. Orson Welles’ film “A Touch of evil” broke nearly all the rules, it was violent, the Sheriff (played by Welles) was actually the bad guy, and the lead character was a Mexican detective (played by Charles Heston) married to a white American woman. The production company actually chose to re-edit the film to take out all the bad stuff while Welles was in Europe working on another project. He wrote a long letter explaining how the film should have been properly cut and from that letter the film was reconstructed in 1998. Alfred Hitchcock was infamous for pushing his movies to include dirty things just as he is famous for having cameos in his films. He got in the most trouble with his famous movie “Psycho.” The shower murder scene was extremely provocative because of the violence and nudity (albeit cleverly barely hidden). The film was rejected by the production code, and the studio told Hitchcock to make changes. So he waited a couple months and sent the film back, unchanged. They believed he had made the changes and thanked him for doing so and the movie made it to the theaters intact.

The government once again got involved with the film industry in 1939 when the US Department of Justice tried to break-down vertical integration. This meant that studios could not book a whole block of films together because they would mix a few good films with a bunch of worthless ones and that the studios could not own theaters. The Government struck down unjustly in 1947 when the Un-American Activities committee black listed 100’s of people in Hollywood because they were considered t be communist sympathizers. In 1968 the production code is terminated and is replaced by the current MPAA rating system. The MPAA rating system is a voluntary system that filmmakers comply to. The system is determined by group of families who oversee reviewing and rating the films. This systems works because it does not censor any content or topics, but rather acts a a warning label for viewers. A viewer can know what to expect in a G, PG, PG-13 or R rated feature. It also works because anyone that wants to make money of their films understands that people want to know what something is rated, and if the filmmaker understands his target audience the films content and rating will fit the needs of that audience.

The current system of MPAA rating looks to be the best solution. It is done without government intervention, or any cost to tax-payers. The rating system warns customers of explicit content. The only problems have to with the actual standards used to rate a film. Often filmmakers will include just enough bad language or just one brief shot of nudity to get the R rating for their feature. A movie like this doesn’t really seem to be the same R rating as a movie that has constant cursing and nudity. The problem there isn’t necessarily the rating system though, but rather the subjective nature of people’s tastes and attitudes towards sexual content, graphic violence and foul language.

True Education

I sat down for dinner with my father the other night at Chili’s. As we ate we talked, and he complimented my blogs. He says my writing is improving, but stays honest (critical) and tells me I still need to proofread better. Such is the life of a English teacher's son.

I have noticed an improvement in my writing and I feel that the blogs have contributed to that very much. Writing creatively at least on a weekly basis has made it much easier to get started on my essays. I will even admit that I have even begun to enjoy many of the assignments; when you enjoy what you’re doing you do it even better.

I have started to love writing even more because these blogs really bring my thoughts to life. I start to get into the writing and before I know it I am past the 500 word minimum. Before I would stress much more and do a word count about every 2 minutes. Writing is less about fighting the words and meeting all the requirements. I have started writing more because it is simply interesting.

The various assignments in this class have not only improved my interest in writing but also my skill and proficiency of writing. The group projects have helped me to communicate more fluently through the written word. I am much more comfortable communicating with people online through discussion boards and emails. The group projects essentially push you or force you to figure out how to communicate through an unfamiliar medium.

What I believe to be the greatest help in writing during this class was actually reading the chapter in our Exploring Language book about writing. The tips found in that chapter have proved to be indispensable in all of my writing projects. The two essays that stood out the most to me were Richard Lederer’s “The Case for Short Words” and Linda Flower’s “Writing for an Audience.” Lederer’s essay has spurred me to be more crisp and clear in what I write. Flower’s essay has made me think about the audience more and reminded me to consider what their knowledge, experiences and situations are when I write. This essay has only added to my intense love of the concept of context.

Not only does this improvement in my writing aid me in this class, but it also enriches many other areas of my life. Undoubtedly what I have learned through all of the reading and practice will improve my writing outside of the class. As a film-maker writing is something very important to me. Being able to shape stories through language will be a major key to my success. The creative assignments, especially the blogs, contribute the most to developing my story-telling skills.

Many of the critical thinking questions in the Exploring Language textbook have helped me to think of more stories because they ask for examples from personal situations. This often helps to give me an idea to write about as an example in my blog.Then the blog comments serve as a final step where I can receive feedback on my writing allowing me to adjust my style and tailor my writing to be more audience centered. As with all true education, the combination of these many elements work together to improve me.

Rediscover, Reflect, Reinvent

Where to begin on what I got out of reading "Reading Lolita in Tehran!" First I think I may need to preface this with a confession: I just finished reading the book two days ago. I am a slow reader. It took me five weeks to read what I should have in two! But, I don't really feel bad about it because I enjoyed reading it so much. I savored each page of the book. I learned from each little story, each little anecdote full of wisdom. I reconnected with the power of literature in this book. I took away the feeling of being human. The feeling of being able to survive through the worst of moments, like living in fear of dying from bombs and being harassed by morality police. I took away the strength to cope. I took away the ability to find beauty in every situation. One of the best lessons in this book is the lesson to look at things from a different perspective. Nafisi's magician kept telling her to think about how frustrated the government must be with her. Nafisi shares with us all of the different view point of all the girls in her reading group. She contrasts how all of the different girls, well women really, have different views about everything. This is just one of those human things, and that really connects into literature and that people are people and no matter what they are going to have their own thoughts and opinions. I also connected with the aspect of people being united against something too. The women in this novel are united against the strict rules of the government. I also took away lessons about complacency and how we in many ways allow other people to shape our lives. We allow them to have power over us. I think that lesson is really important for anyone, especially if you have concerns about the government and politics, which I do. It's really hard to find just one thing that I took away from this book, because this book is not packaged up in a nice little way that you can separate out all the elements and lessons and define them. This book is so intertwined and intermingled and messy that I just have to keep naming all the little things that it did for me. Just like Nafisi says near the end of the book, she can't write about Austen or Nabakov without writing about her life in Tehran. The lesson there is that context matters, that everything touches everything. Things affect us and become a part of us. We can't go through life without being affected. The places we go, the people we meet, even the random acquaintances, or the people you see once or twice become a part of you. What Nafisi teaches us is that we can take all of that and write it all down again and share it. Her lesson is about rediscovery and reflection and about reinvention. I took a lot away from this book, and I think it's a part of me now.

Social Pressure

I would have to agree with Harvey Silvergate’s view that “the first amendment should protect your right to say what you wish, but that you are not immune to what happens after that. You may be subjected to angry retorts, public shunning, and social pressure, but you should not be officially punished for your language.” Its pretty obvious that social pressure will always be much more effective at influencing what people say than official mandates or rules. Our natural tendency is to censor ourselves according to our social surroundings. If you walk into a church you’re not going to be shouting the f-word because you know that it would put you in a very uncomfortable and awkward situation. You wouldn’t try to tell a bunch of sexist jokes around a group of women or a bunch of racist jokes around people of that race. Being an offensive person is just not very socially acceptable so people will more naturally avoid it.
Hateful language eventually just fails because it is wrong and people either have personal conviction against it or are afraid of the social consequences. No one wants to be perceived as a bigot, so they avoid using words that would make them look like one. Undoubtedly the same may be true that when a group of people agrees that a racist or sexist attitude is okay that they won’t change their language, but this is usually only in the case that the group is very exclusive, and such language would most likely be limited to the group where it would feel safe to use such language but not in the whole of society.
Take for example the act of flag-burning. A lot of people are offended by someone burning the American flag. The fact that most people will hate you for burning the flag is a much bigger deterrent from burning the flag than if there were a law against it. Restrictive laws and rules about what you can or can’t say tend to bring out a rebellious nature in people that will make them just find a more creative way to avoid getting caught rather than convicting people that what they are doing is wrong. Usually rules don’t make you feel bad about what you did, the disapproval of people around is what can make you feel awful and seek to rectify the situation on your own.
So, leaving natural consequences to take care of things seems the simplest and smartest thing to do. Why put extra effort into tracking down all these offenders when they’re just going to end up learning their lesson on their own anyways? It just seems like a waste of resources to be out policing what people say. Let public opinion and social pressure be the censor, let people censor themselves accordingly if need be. People will because it helps them survive and fit in with their environment. Let people make their own battles and figure out what is appropriate to say or not say.

Read it.

Pour yourself a big cup of coffee, sit down and lose yourself in Reading Lolita in Tehran. This book is a wonderful window into another world. It tells a story of human struggle that anyone can identify with. It is bustling with relevant modern themes and timeless wisdom. The book eloquently weaves the political, religious and revolutionary settings together to create a world that is foreign and nightmarish, a startlingly real context in which its story can enfold. Above all this book is a work of art that sheds light on what it means to be a woman in the Islamic Republic of Tehran, and further more what it means to be human.
This book has special relevance in today's world. Iran is one of the most talked about Middle Eastern countries currently. The news is always a buzz about new developments in Iran. Most of these updates have to do with the alleged plans to build weapons of mass destruction. Iran usually comes up in the terms of a "what should we do about them" type of debate. Iran is primarily viewed as being a problem that the Western world has to deal with. Meanwhile we form our opinions about this country and its people in total ignorance. Most Americans have no idea what language the people of Iran speak much less anything relevant about the Iranian culture. As Americans we have little to no understanding of Iranian history, or about who the Shah was or what the Islamic Revolution is. This book is extremely relevant because it discusses these types of things.
Reading Lolita in Tehran gives us a look at the Islamic Revolution from the inside. It takes us into the lives of those affected by the change brought about by it. It gives us a radically new perspective on a familiar topic which we are ill informed about. This book discusses what happens when religion becomes a political force, or when political forces use religion. There is an extra layer of brilliance to this book being that it is from a woman's perspective and deals with the right's of women in a male-controlled society.
However more interesting than the politics discussed in this book is the discussion of literature. The book steers away from reality and politics and takes root in literature and philosophy. The book is much like reading the author Azar Nafisi's mind. We can hear her thoughts and musings about life through the words she writes. This is where the book excels. It is much like a diary and Nafisi is able to always maintain an intimacy with the reader.
I can definately recommend this book. It will challenge you. It will challenge you to peer into another world. It will challenge you to identify with human struggles. It will challenge your understanding of the Iranian people and culture. It will challenge you to think and ponder about politics, religion and revolution. It will challenge your ideals and your ideas. It will challenge you. Enjoy the challenge.