Blogs

Hey guys, so below I am posting all of the places the different codes from the mural sent me. A few are audio clips, it's pretty cool!

http://familyinterruptedproject.com/topics/uncategorized/

http://familyinterruptedproject.com/

http://familyinterruptedproject.com/audio/EXOFFchoices.mp3

http://familyinterruptedproject.com/audio/MIMICfailedasaparent.mp3

http://muralarts.org/

To break the silence

is murder! (of sorts) and a thousand liberations- but also

I have no idea what you're talking about

Maybe if we weren't silent, we would understand?

Said the teacher to the class.

Then She looked out the window

Her words brought the class to its full attention, they wondered if they could keep going.

She did.

Hi. What?!

I love sitting in silence with you guys. Love it!

I love sitting in silence, but I did get more and more anxious as the paper moved around

She exuded privilege.

Her language spoke to wealth dating back as far as the eye could see in her lineage.

But what kind of wealth was it? She felt rich of possessions, yet lonely and empty.

I feel a kind of turmoil I cannot clearly articulate or define but the need for expression of this turmoil is so overwhelming

I just want to know what's going to happen next,

but please tell me in silence.

Hi ladies,

Soon after our fishbowl activity, I expressed my thoughts on my wordpress blog (for those who do not know, I blog for Bryn Mawr). I wanted to invite you all to read this post in hopes that you will express your own sentiments and always be reminded of the special moments we had during that activity.

360 love,

Esty

The link is also here just in case the embedded one does not work:

http://banteremaitre.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2012/09/18/reflection-on-my-stormy-day/

Deborah's point about the consumerism that fuels our need to constantly upgrade our devices was definitely true -- coming from
Hong Kong, a place notorious for it's materialistic citizens, I cannot get over the long queues at the Apple store everytime a new
iWhatever comes out. That said, I'm not sure that Deborah's consequent point about the difficulty of having to constantly upgrade
our "toolkits" to be able to use each and every new device quite stands.

We're at an interesting point in time where technology is moving at a faster pace than at any point in history. But what we some-
times neglect to remember is that rather than to work in order to use individual devices, we should really focus on being able to use
a variety as new technology keeps pouring in. This means getting to the core of how these new tools work: our toolkits should really
focus on being able to intuitively switch between different mediums as well as be able to anticipate/adapt to new forms.

So obviously yesterday was an emotional class for me.  Part of me wants to do what was described in the reading- tell you all "I'm not crazy" or that it must have been a combination of stress and lack of sleep, but part of me knows that’s not it, at least not completely.  I know (and as I’m writing, my thoughts are less confident because they are permanent…I’m tempted to say I hope) that a lot of people on campus feel the same way as I do:  that they are never good enough,  that everyone is seems everyone one else was given these secret codes and you missed the memo.  What makes us feel this way? Part of me knows issues of self esteem really needed to be worked on from within. But if this a general campus feeling, than it is not just us, and what could be done to start to fix this?  How can we create an environment where we are confident in our intelligence? I don’t mind being challenged by my academics, but it’s another thing to feel beat up by them.  I’m also curious if this is the case within the Tri-Co and other institutions similar to Bryn Mawr?

I'm having a hard time telling you why I chose to use this as my avatar.  It wasn't a verbalized choice, but more an impulsive one.  The kind of choice you make that feels good for good reasons and doesn't come back to bite you in the butt.  This image may have to do with what I imagine silence to look like (see web event 1), but I do think that it also has to do with a certain amount of peaked interest one gets from the anonymity of the person in the cap.  It definitely reveals my aesthetic choices and what I find attractive.  I also just think it's a good picture.

Like most forms of self-expression, this avatar is one that I hope people to draw they're own conclusions from.  One through which people can better understand me and as the semester goes on, perhaps get a better sense of why I made this choice.  I hope to do the same as well.

If someone really wants me to explain myself in class, I'll try.

Here's the passage from the Adrienne Rich poem that I mentioned (and mis-quoted!) @ the end of our discussion today, about the "permanence" of our taking a stand (in barometer) or in writing (especially on-line). It's from "North American Time," and seems (to me) to have resonances for voice, silence and vision:

"Everything we write
will be used against us
or against those we love.
These are the terms,
take them or leave them.
Poetry never stood a chance
of standing outside history.
One line typed twenty years ago
can be blazed on a wall in spraypaint
glorify art as detachment
or torture of those we
did not love but also
did not want to kill

We move but our words stand
become responsible
and this is verbal privilege...."

As was visible from class on Wednesday, I was pretty frustrated with the Bohm reading and our conversation about it.  I interrupted a bunch which is immature.  I am sorry.  I thought about Wednesday’s class when I was at my sit spot yesterday evening and into today.  I think I’ve figured out two causes of my frustration:

I saw this video over the summer and it really affected the way I view arrests and policing in cities. I think in many ways it relates back to "The New Jim Crow" readings we did. I'd love to hear any thoughts you have in the video – it's not too long, and definitely worth watching.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/06/12/opinion/100000001601732/the-scars-of-stop-and-frisk.html?ref=nyregion