Poem 3

For bill evans

In the beginning of the poem, it seemed like the man had fallen in love with music, he caught his eye, and most importantly it caught his heart. He was addicted always wanting more, and never could have enough. Everyone admired him and was amazed by his talents, he could do wonders with a strike of a cord, and the music was like heaven to everyone sitting in the room. Not a grey day passed while the music was playing, unfortunately what he was playing wasnt music, he didn't have songs, the strokes and riples was his life passing him by everyday. He my friend was addicted to cocaine

Poem 2

Dave brubeck

I like the quote that you used here, it's insperational and powerful, because it sets peoples belifes for something higher than they originally planned. Usually we set a goal, and the goal is only half of what we can really achieve, instead of reaching high and far, we usualy stay close to home.

"and there is a time where you can be beyond yourself.
you can be better than your technique. you can be
better than most of your usual ideas."
dave brubeck

Poem

For Charlie haden

I believe this poem express a man becomeing one with what he loves to do. He doesnt fear what other people tell him, everyone has their doubts and belifes about where they are headed and what they will do in life. But instead of worrying all the time, the begin to live life. Which is what the speaker is talking about, as he becomes one with his instrument the rest of his worries don't seem to matter anymore, and he continues doing what he loves.

evaluation

This has been an interesting class; I understand the structure of how you designed the class from the beginning now that I’m at the end. I understand why we had to learn about the paradigm shift before you could introduce us to different cultures, and ways of living. I really enjoyed the lesson on paradigm shift a lot because it’s a way to expand and grow, not only through education, but also by expanding and growing through yourself. I’ve learned that you might think what you are doing is the best thing, because that’s all you’ve learned how to do. As a person we learn to protect ourselves and ourselves alone, but through different cultures we learn things different ways. And not everyone is always out to protect themselves; others are willing to help people because it was something they were raised to do. Along with different cultures, I’ve also learned that people have to agree to disagree; this is referring to a lot of the cases, on which people believe happened, and in the way it happened. When I learned that not everyone believe that the holocaust exist I was terrified, it actually scared me to believe that there were people who didn’t believe that such a drastic event like that could happen. I then looked at it from a different perspective; I had to see it from another angle which was from the KKK. A lot of people believe that the KKK had died a long time ago, that is doesn’t still exist today. Well those people are wrong, as much as people don’t want to believe that things had happened, and that there are things that still do happen they should face reality, but they won’t. People are a lot happier believing what they believe goes on outside, and what they feel that they should seclude from themselves as well as others, just to live a normal, decent life style. Professor Mcnair, is a great professor. I’ve had him for two semesters now, and I wouldn’t change him in the upcoming semester. Coming into the school, I random picked a professor, who was Mcnair. That semester everyone told me how hard his class was, how everyone was dropping out to another lady. I just looked at them and thought to myself, if they think he is hard, imagine going to a University. Mcnair, might be a little rough on the edges but he does it because he cares, and because he knows there is more potential in you then you lead to believe, so he tries to pull it out as much as possible. Over all Professor Mcnair is a wonderful professor and I’m glad to have a Professor with such talent and charisma as he does.

Reflection 21

I’ve never opposed to anyone having feeling about another person, same sex or not. I don’t see why it should be anyone else’s business to prop around in people’s lives and declare who they can and can not have a relationship with, unless its your parents, and even to that extent they really don’t have any control over it. I’m not an atheist, I do believe that there is a higher spirit that has control over what happens to us when we die, and the only thing we can about it now, is to live our life and make mistakes. Though I do believe that religion pushes people so far out of the edge, that they are not themselves anymore, they are what they want people to perceive them as, which is anything that is holy and innocent. But why is same sex or even heterosexual love looked down upon? If G-d doesn’t discriminate against races becoming intimate with one another, then why would it matter if the same sex, or heterosexual as people develop a relationship within an intimate level with each other. I don’t think G-d has anything to do with who hooks up with whom, and who someone falls in love with. I believe that society doesn’t believe that same sex as well as heterosexual love should be accepted because it isn’t a social norm, there for it isn’t right, and what their doing is a sin. I think people have such nerve’s to go in and talk about same sex as well as heterosexual’s love out in the open, because it’s basically talking about another person’s business and putting it out so the whole world can talk about it. Plus, why not allow someone the experience of a life time. Love isn’t only for a certain race, or class. Love happens all over, and it shows your responsibility and helps you grow as a person. Why wouldn’t you allow someone the opportunity to find love, base on whom they love? At the end of the day, I don’t believe race, or gender can tell you who you can or can not fall in love with. Everyone believes that the same sex as well as heterosexual will go after people who are not attracted to their same sex, yet society believe that they will force people to believe what they believe, and do what they do. Which is not true, they just want to be like any other person with the freedom, and future of having a life with the person they fall in love with and choose to marry.

Reflection 16

This was the hardest response I had to deal with, just because the graphic level of what actually happen, was too grooms for me to handle. I don’t understand the human mind, and how some can be full of love and kindness, and other full hatred and murder. The biggest Genocide and ethnic cleansing we’ve encountered and known about world wide would be the holocaust. But that wasn’t the only one worth talking about, during our history years I’ve never seen anything so gruesome, or rather never chose to see something as gruesome as the Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur genocide and ethnic cleansing. In Bosnia many women have been raped, men and young boys have been beaten and used for hard labor, and worst killed because they do not fit the stereotype of a pure ethnic group. Hearing this I was astonished and appalled how someone could, anyone want to be apart of something that can destroy humans because they don’t fit into what you believe to be the perfect ethnic group. It tares me open; I can’t seem to find anyone who even closely resembles perfection. Never mind wipe out millions of people, because they don’t hold up to your standards. Who are you to decide who lives, and who dies? And who are you to decide, what type of characteristics and physical traits one must have so that they can survive. As well as Dafur, why would you capture blacks from villages just to massacre them? These things aren’t normal, and I thought that after what happened to the Jews almost wiping out a whole religion, that no one would ever think about doing such G-d awful things because we learn from our history, so our history won’t become our future. Though apparently this isn’t true, I’ve learned that history is known to repeat itself if it’s in the hands of wrong doers. I never really understood why people do the things they do, especially when it’s something as serious as this. Though I have learned that just because we don’t know it happens, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Many things have been kept hidden for obvious reasons, but mainly because if anyone really does know what goes on 100% of the time, then no one would be safe, and everyone would run around paranoid. At a sense ignorance is bliss, because what you don’t know won’t hurt you, and at the same time, you already have you own stuff to deal with.

Extra Credit Haiti Retreat

I didn’t know what to say about Haiti when the earthquake hit. To my surprised I didn’t think we would do anything, because in all honesty we haven’t. I was acting on what, I’ve been taught to act on, and that is always question everything we do even when were doing it. I understood why Haiti needed help but I never really understood why we were helping them. America has really never helped Haiti unless it was to benefit them and make them look supportive. When I went to the Haiti Retreat presentation, I was baffled. I didn’t know what to expect, but what I didn’t expect is exactly what I encountered. I enjoyed the music that they played, and the talent that they possessed to play such wonderful and enlightening music. I also wondered how they could play with such force when it sounded so passionate. I also watched how everyone, even though they didn’t know the words to the song, and perhaps it was their first time hearing the song, moved to the beat. There was even a point and time where everyone got up and danced together, and that when I knew you have to make the best of with what you got, even though what you got, is not a lot. Then it hit me, that’s what Haiti has been living with, they barely have anything, and when something so tragic as an earthquake happen they have less than what they originally had, which wasn’t a lot. And it isn’t the greed or the spite of America to look like the hero to help them out, but the caring consciousness that everyone has to lend a helping hand when someone is in need. That night it showed me, that everyone can come together, despite the differences one might have, or the conflict. Just for one night, people can come together and put their differences aside, and enjoy themselves, for who they are, and for what is to become of them and their surroundings.