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AshleyShell
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Name: Ashley
Country: United States
State: Missouri
Birthday: 1/2/1985
Gender: Female
Interests: people, music, traveling
Expertise: writing, French horn, saying the alphabet backwards in less than 5 seconds
Occupation: student
Industry: what does this mean?
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  AshleyShell343
Member Since:
11/21/2005
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| I've been reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays lately in my American Lit. class, and while I think a lot of his ideas are pretty unrealistic (not things I'm writing about in this note), a lot of the things he says are things that I find go well with conclusions that I myself have reached. Although writing about him does seem a bit contradictory to the very ideals I am about to applaud, I think some reflection is permissable and necessary in order for me to apply the things he wrote.
I will say this first: this is the post I accidentally deleted, and it was impossible to construct it in the same way I did the first time. But Emerson wrote about even this--he wrote that once a thought has been thought, it is gone. You can do your best to represent it by writing it down, but it cannot possibly be exactly the same. But I will try to make what I write meaningful still.
The thing I like most in Emerson's writings is the idea of not just mimicking or echoing past genius, but instead finding and expressing one's own voice--one's own contribution to the flow of eternal human thought. "Insist on yourself," he wrote in "Self-Reliance," Not possibly will the soul all rich, all eloquent, with thousand-cloven tongue, deign to repeat itself; but if you can hear what these patriarchs say, surely you can reply to them...."
Emerson even extends this idea into the area of religion, which I think is where you definitely have to be careful about rejecting the past, because a lot of truth that was found in the past is still true today. But then again I don't think that he IS saying throw out the past. I think it is important is to study the past with an open but critical mind, then argue with it, revise it, or embrace it. But own it. Make it what YOU think, not what you choose to blindly accept.
This idea can easily apply to media of creative expression other than just literature. During Emerson's time, similar innovations were taking place in art and music. Much of Beethoven's genius lay in the fact that he was both building on and rejecting traditional conventions. In fact, think through most of the famous names throughout history and it becomes evident that this concept is a common factor with people who truly impacted humanity. In art, from DaVinci to Rembrandt to Monet to Picasso to Warhol, we find that each pivotal period is sparked by someone who was willing to be different. And not just different, but genuine. Not rejecting the past without replacing it with something new.
Now we have media for artistic expression that were not possible during Emerson's day. In current music and movies, for example, we continually feel the conflict between popping out the hit songs or forgettable blockbuster movies that will sell, and an artist pouring his or her heart and soul into something that will have a real impact the minds of a few. On a somewhat related side note, lately I have developed a pet peeve for hearing in a song use any two or more words (a word image) previously put together by somebody else. For example, an overused phrase or metaphor such as "fall like rain" (talking about tears, for instance). This is what steals from words the power to transmit thought.
This philosophy about generating something new and meaningful is why I decided long ago not to be a music major. I did not have the dedication to find a way to add something new to the world of music, so how could I devote my life to somebody else's passion? My utmost respect goes to those people who ARE willing to reject the easy path (in whatever field they choose, or like me, if they are still waiting for their niche)--who will search until they find a way to communicate (transmit from one mind to another) their own thoughts in an individual way that is unlike that of anyone else. These people are the world's true geniuses.
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| Has anyone else noticed how if you do a quick tally of the various major conflicts going on throughout the world they sort of sound like WWIII is simmering? I mean, we're wrapping things up with Iraq in the midst of a still-volatile Middle East, plus we have Taliban-ish type activities popping back up in Afghanistan, and the on-going conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and now North Korea??? with China emerging as a major factor (with uncertain loyalties--1940's USSR anyone?) to boot. It kinda reminds me of my 10th grade history textbook--only it's like the third installment in a trilogy. It should be interesting to see what happens. | | |
| Have you ever thought about how in the United States the founding fathers are sainted almost as much as the patriachs of Christianity? No matter whether you're a Democrat or a Republican or what, from the time you are in Kindergarten coloring pictures on President's day right on up we are taught to honor and revere the sacred words of Washington, Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Madison, Adams, etc. And with good reason. I still maintain that the founding of this country was pure genius, and that the creation of our constitution is just about the best that humans have been able to come up with so far. Of course we are human, so there are definitely unforeseen problems that have cropped up despite the excellent planning, but we still have a lot to be proud of. That said, it is kind of strange to think about the money we have coined and huge memorials we have built to honor these people who actually had some ideas that were really wrong. The main thing I am thinking about was their attitude toward slavery. I don't know the views of all our "Founding Fathers", but consider these excerpts from some letters written by Thomas Jefferson, all regarding Blacks and slavery: "The first difference that strikes us is that of colour....Is it not the foundation of a greater or less share of beauty in the two races? Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of colour in the one, preferable to that eternal monotony, which reigns in the contenances, that immovable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race?" Other criticisms Jefferson has of Blacks: - They stink - they seem to require less sleep as they'll stay up all night when they get a day off to rest - they are brave due to a lack of foresight - their desire for females is more like lust than love - they are deficient in imagination, artistic creativity, musicality, and narration - they are driven by senses rather than reflection - And look what he wrote about Phyllis Wheatley, who is the first celebrated female African-American poet: "Religion indeed has produced a Phyllis Wheatley; but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism. The heroes of the Dunciad are to her, as Hercules to the author of that poem. Jefferson was an advocate for the humane treatment of slaves, but he certainly had no problem with the institution of slavery. He thought that some people were just destined to be slaves, and that in many cases they were probably happier that way. All that said, I'm okay with building monuments to these guys, because we are honoring them for the great things that they did accomplish. Just because we appreciate their contributions to our nation doesn't mean we have to overlook their faults, but on the other hand, just because they had faults doesn't mean we have to ignore their contributions. It kind gives me hope for myself--that maybe I don't have to be perfect in order to make a difference. And it inspires me to be a little more forgiving to the people that we currently expect to be perfect--from our parents to the President. Nobody's perfect; maybe we should give them a little credit for what they are doing RIGHT. I certainly hope that people will have that attitude toward me. Maybe I no longer view the Founding Fathers as sauntering down the streets of Colonial New England with halos on their heads (okay so I never really imagined THAT exactly). But in spite their blindness in some areas due to the influence of an unjust culture, I still respect them, because they still managed to be revolutionary in founding a nation where one day, those who were wronged would have the mechanisms in place to rise up under the leadership of people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and claim that equality and freedom which is the right of every human. | | |
| I had one of those little experiences today that doesn't happen just any day and puts a smile on my face. I met this guy (whose name shall remain unknown in order to protect the innocent :P) at a restaurant that I frequent quite often. I stopped there for breakfast a couple of weeks ago and he made my breakfast--he works there. :) I sat at the bar and ate, and we visited the whole time since there were only a couple of customers there. Well today I stopped by that restaurant for lunch, and as I was sitting and reading King Henry IV by Shakespeare, I heard "Hey Ashley!" It took me a second to think of his name but I got it pretty quickly. Throughout the course of my meal, he told me that he had gone to Fun Acre mini golf course on my recommendation and liked it, and he also proved how many things he remembered about me, which I did as about him as well.  Then he took his lunch break and sat and visited with me, and the other servers (all female) FLIPPED OUT b/c they thought he was sitting down to eat with a random customer (which he sort of was ). To me, they said, "PLEASE tell me you know him." I was like, "oh yeah." And he said, "Me and Ashley go way back." Then under his breath, "At least two weeks...." To him I said, "wasn't it back in the third grade when we met?" Well, after a few minutes, by a strange twist of fate his ex-girlfriend came in to give him something. When she stepped back outside, he told me who she was, but then she came back and plopped down on a barstool near us and announced that she was gonna wait there for a bit. I was lauging out loud in my head, because it was clearly an awkward situation, except that it wasn't because it was funny to me. And because he's a funny laid-back person who covers well. He was like, "Uh, this is Ashley." *awkward pause* "We knew each other in third grade." (At this point I can't keep a straight face.) Ex-girlfriend: "Wow! That is so random! So do you live down here now?" Me: "Yeah....I go to Missouri State...." Then they talked for a while, and she stared at his plate until he gave her some cheese fries, and I figured she probably thought I seemed a little cold for having known this guy my whole life, but of course I didn't really know him and I was just there to eat lunch really. Finally she left, oh and the other servers harrassed him the whole time he was eating because they didn't know he was on break and thought he was just being lazy, then I had to leave, and he was sad, but I had class, so we said goodbye. It was fun. 
P.S. The assistant manager of the Kum & Go I work at every other week asked me out today. Totally unexpected as we've barely ever talked. I am usually quicker on my feet in those situations but I was definitely stammering and sounding like an idiot. I HATE turning guys down. | | |
| lol tonight some high school age boys were hitting on me HARD CORE at a stop light. They were revving their engine, honking, rolling down their window and blowing kisses, etc. After an eternity, the light turned green just in time for the next one to turn red. But I can't deny it; I like the attention. And even though I know those kids probly thought I was also in high school, I sort of don't mind. It perpetuates my Peter Pan syndrome and makes me think, okay, I'm not so old that teenagers think I'm old. I wonder how long that will last? | | |
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