Kurt Halsey

Art lacks a satisfactory definition. Art is the eye of the beholder. Everybody has different opinions on what is art or not. Art can create emotions of many different perspectives that you have never experienced throughout your life. Therefore, also could form picture to relive a moment. This picture created by Kurt Halsey fits my definition of art. This fits my definition because it brings back old memories that i will never forget. Sometimes in life we have to remember what we have forgotten in the past to create something better for ourselves in the future. Which this picture evaluates all together for me and maybe many other people. I may never know if people see this picture as art like i do but im pretty sure im not the only one. To people it creates a emotion of love, Which is something everybody wants or has in life. So why couldn't love be expressed as art?

"Pay It Forward"

Did you know that all stories are one story? Well if you didn’t, it’s true! This theory was based off of Joseph Campbell, a pioneer in mythology. He referred that every story comes in many forms of steps. There are three stages, but seventeen steps. In the movie called “pay it forward” covers many of the steps.

                The first step the movie goes through is the call to adventure. A twelve year old boy Trevor McKinney received an extra credit assignment in social studies class. The assignment was; Think of something to change the world and put it into action. Trevor’s idea for the assignment was to do three good deeds to someone and they can “pay it forward” and so on for them to also do three good deeds to other people. Trevor didn’t just do the assignment he actually put his idea into action. This action he created started in Las Vegas and proceeded all the way to Las Angeles 

                This caused the second stage called the refusal of the call. After school he brought a homeless drug addict man to his house and he helped feed him and let him take a shower.  Not only did he do all this he also gave him his savings money. He told the man to use this money and start a new life and get back up on your feet, but not allowed to do drugs. Later on that week Trevor went to go check up on the homeless man and found out that he went back to his old life of drug abuse. This made Trevor believe that he will never be able to do this and just wanted to give up, because if he can’t pay it forward to anyone how will they continue to pay it forward.  

                After attempting to help him out he goes through the stage called the crossing of the first threshold. Trevor leaves his old world of not being able to pay it forward and letting his anger get a hold of him into a new world where he doesn’t give up and keeps trying to help two more people.  This leads to the next step of roads of trials, where his next person to help out is his mother and a classmate.

He helps out his mother by hooking her up with her teacher Mr. Simonet. He does this because he thinks that he will make her become a stronger person and stop drinking because he doesn’t drink. He also does this so his dad won’t come back and abuse his mom and maybe soon him too. The next trial was when he was riding his bike home he saw one of his classmates getting bullied, so he went to help. He rode his bike in between them to stop the bullying and then they stopped and went after them. Trevor quickly rode away with them fallowing them, but luckily he got away time… Trevor did this to also protect himself but he wasn’t going to stop to help him classmate from getting bullied.

The next step in the movie is called apotheosis. Trevor soon realizes that he is a hero by a reporter that has been searching for him all the way from Las Angeles. The reporter never thought just a young boy could start such a huge movement just through a social studies class. As he interviews Trevor he asks “Why don’t you think it was possible that you started such a thing?” Trevor says, “Because it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses.” That’s why Trevor knows the people who our bullying his classmate aren’t going to stop, they are just going to keep going. So he knows he has to keep protecting him. This leads to the next step.

This step is the rescue from without. Right after Trevor’s interview he saw them pushing his classmate. Trevor ran to go help him, he went up and knocked the bully on the ground. He got up and as they were fighting and stabbed Trevor right in the stomach. How could this kid stab another kid in the stomach? Especially one trying to help another, to help pay it forward. Right after being recognized for what he started he lost his place in life, but he will never be forgotten.  

Sergei Prokofiev

This was the first time I have ever heard of the name Sergi Prokofiev. He was one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century and a very multi-talented person. His music compared to the music I listen to is very different. This music is relaxing and calm with sudden rushes of sounds that reveal your inside feelings emotionally. This music makes me want to fall asleep and not finish this essay. But compared to the music I listen to  makes me not want to fall asleep and gives me energy. It’s more upbeat and vibrant!

               

             One thing I noticed about this CD and what I listen to now is they both remind me of my past life and memories. For the good and bad things. All their beats are like sudden rushes of memories wondering throughout my head in Sergei’s music. While the lyrics in today’s music bring up memories like the artist went through.

Sergei’s music is something I would not want to really listen to again. I don’t like relaxing music because I am the kind of person that really likes relaxing a lot. But once in a while it wouldn’t hurt to listen. It’s always good to listen to a new different type of music and maybe I’ll start to like a different genre of music. 

The Ugly Duckling

Do you remember reading fairytales when you were younger and thinking nothing about the real meanings? If you look closely into almost every fairytales, you will find a true meaning. Some meanings are good and some bad. An example of a fairytale that provides both good and bad meanings is the ugly duckling.

            In this story, a duck is made fun of because he is different than all of his brothers. One day he gets so upset that he leaves his family and adventures off to find a family that will accept him as he is. As he traveled, he met a old woman that was going to accept him but didn’t because she realized the duck was a male and couldn’t lay eggs. The duck then came across a hunter that tried shooting him. Everything was going wrong until one winter when a farmer found the duckling almost frozen in the snow. The farmer took the duckling in with the responsibility of showering the duckling with care. Eventually the duckling got big and the farmer had to let the duck go. The farmer let him go by the pond; once the ugly duck was left alone he gazed at himself in the water and realized that his looks have changed. Next in the story the duck came across a group of swans and realized that he is really a swan and not a duck.  He becomes part of the swan family and one day he hears a child say “look at that young swan, he is the finest of them all.”  

The bad part about this story is, it shows children that adults can be very selfish. “Don’t judge the book by its cover” this theory is broken thought the story. Everybody judges the duckling by his looks. It shows that many people do not accept other people for who they are.  Another bad example in this fairytales is, the ugly duckling did not accept himself for what he was. If the duck had accepted his differences, he would have been happier.

The good meaning of the story is it shows that nobody is perfect and that everyone should be accepted as who they are. Another good meaning is even when you are going through something tough in the end everything will be okay.

http://ivyjoy.com/fables/duckling.html
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/uglyduckling/index.html  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lapDmCnZN3A