Sunday, October 4, 2015

Week 5: 9/29-10/2

The Book of Wanderings
This American Life Podcast: 
During class this week, we talked about Meyers "This American Life" podcast. I thought it was really interesting and also eye opening. The lady in Meyers story was definitely an extreme, but I really do believe we all have the same tendencies to an extent. We all want to hold onto life as much as possible. I am some who does try to keep track of life through writing or blogging every once in a while. When I started out writing, I was really good about doing it almost everyday, but now it ends up happening once a month or less. Their are two reason I journal. First because I love to look back at past times I've journaled and see how much I have grow or how the things that were so important to me have changed. I think everything has a fear of forgetting the past.

Banksy:
The first thing I wanted to explore further in my reading journal is Banksy. On page 213, Meyer mentions passing a Banksy painting on the Berlin Wall. I have always heard about Banksy, but I've never looked into his mystery. First of all, the background of Banksy is that he is an unknown British artist who goes by the pseudonym of Banksy. What makes Banksy’s work so popular is all of this work has very powerful messages. They are usually very clear and are a social commentary on relevant issues in society. The Banksy piece that I’ve come across before and has stuck with my is the piece that has been named, “Nobody Likes Me” and is in Stanley Park in Vancouver, Canada. It is a painting of a boy crying because he has not likes and notifications from Instagram. This is a social commentary on how society views social media and how it pertains to someone’s status. When I started researching him, the first link I came across when I typed “Banksy” into google was a video. This took me by surprise because I thought Banksy was just a street artist, I didn’t know how did other forms of art. The Smithsonian described him as a, "graffiti master, painter, activist, filmmaker, and all-purpose provocateur." Also an interesting fact about Banksy is he was nominated in 2010 as one of the world's most influential people. This was surprising because nobody (or very few) know his actual identity, but he was still on this list. I really admire his work because of his anonymity. Its very rare that someone who's so recognized would want to go unknown and not be held as a this great figure for his work. He is obviously very humble and just gets pure joy out of what he does.

Dead Sea:
During Meyers journey, she comes across the Dead Sea. This is on page 226 and she says, “I thought about the weight of our bodies depends on the context in which they exist, which seems like a metaphor for something, but the bromide that the salt water released into the air was making me too sleepy to think of what.” Just like Meyers, I don't think I can fully put this thought together, but I thought it was very interesting to think about in relation to the dead sea. When I read it, I kind of related it to the weight of my body in relation to how much stress it endures. As a freshman, the start of college has been pretty stressful and because of this I feel as thought it makes my body heavier and I feel like I'm metaphorically drowning in my stress. In juxtaposition with this, it these last few weeks, I have switched majors, started working out more, and gotten in more of a daily routine. This has eased my stress a little and I feel like I'm able to "float" and I'm not as weighted down. These two different contexts are like how Meyers felt in the Dead Sea. What I got from the reading, is she was in this "floating" state and the Dead Sea mimicked her context. 




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