The Last Post

This must be where I make a short reflection of this class and give my farewell. I suppose that's a swell itinerary.

You know what, I learned something this semester. I developed as a student and a person, man. Although I've not yet experienced my final exam, according to my other two exams there was a quite the difference. D to an A. That's perty good, I'll take it. What else? I read, surprisingly, something. My initial plan wasn't to "crack," yet not fall through the cracks, a book in college. But that changed, but there's still a problem. I've yet to finish the heralded B.K. I may have learned something, but learning still takes time; and in my case, a lot of it. I'm still pushing through, but it's underwhelming to have yet finished.

The emotion that surprised me most this semester was actually coming to nearly every class. Not cause I had to, but I wanted to. The teaching and material was engaging, and that's hard to find. I know that our professor is immune to praise, but the complement is there for the taking. Also, what made the class even more tolerable, I mean fun, was the fact that many of the students were active and put their word out there for interpretation and critique. Yes, many were quieter, but that's everywhere. Yet, no one really dominated the room. It was very democratic and socialized. Props, yos.

I hope that I get the grade I want and deserve, but numbers and letters don't mean much in a world of imagination.

A Little Push

What do I get for appealing to the wise? Appealing to authority? Appealing to the man? What do I get out of a radical change in my lifestyle? Hells nahhh, being school oriented? Where's my ends with that? Where's the love, where's the fun? Wasn't I doing just fine before? Really? Was I on the path to happiness? Can I get to happiness without this lifestyle change? Learning to read (faster and gooder) is best? Will this open more doors? Will I want to dig deeper if I enjoy it? How do I know what I think till I see what I say? What's and where's the point? Is there a point? Can I do something without being the best? Am I the best? Am I a bad person? Are these questions answerable? Do these questions have a theme? No? Is this stream of consciousness or is this for real? What do I need to do? What must I do?

Yes or no, all I need is a little push.

Presentations' Reflections

Rule one: don't be in a group with four other, the only others, girls. Naw, jokes on me, I suppose, and pardon my sexism. All's well after our prez. Did we have trouble organizing? Did we have trouble writing? Did we have theme trouble? Did we have many other troubles? Yes. Yes. Yes. Aaand, yeah, sure.

But hey, nothing ever goes according to plan, right? I suppose that it did, I mean didn't, 'cause it sure worked. A true success, did we plan that? Naw. I give all-around props to my group and mates. We did the job, boys and girls. By the way, wasn't my last ad lib in the skit a hail to sexism? No matter, that -ism doesn't exist in our generation, right? Only it's fun remains.

As for my singled-out prez. I thought that went...okay, at least. I'll take it, we'll say. Gotta hand it to them Dixies, they got straight to my point by "Taking the Long Way." Props, mates. I mean ladies, you liberated me. Anywho, they weren't the core point; that was all about my incompetence. Live and learn, yo.

Spoilers

The thing is, no matter which storytelling medium is offered, I hate spoilers. I hate those who ask questions during the middle of the movie. I hate those who tell me the content of a book which I'm behind on. I don't even like when someone reviews a book, film, music album, whatever. You have to figure it out on your own. Get. An. Opinion. Now this class has taught me that I'm not up to the read-speed status quo. Thus, I know many of secrets of, say, The Brothers Karamazov that I shouldn't have known, yet. And because of this, I've stalled. It's hard for me to continue with the novel. I am, begrudgingly, but it hasn't been the achievement that it's been built up to be.

An example, a main reason, I have trouble continuing is that the day I read that Dimitri K. has been accused for the murder of his father I also find out who the real killer is in class. To me, that's a head-shot.

Now I don't know what I have a bigger problem with. Spoilers? Or my inability to keep up? Ain't this quaint. It so appears that spoilers are a part of the class, and so is speed reading. Guess I should get a hobby, and we'll start with reading so I can apply it to my non-traditional lifestyle.

In the meantime, I'll give a shoutout to Generation Kill. Get Some, yos.

Preliminary Thesis Outline

My rough thesis is going to be based off of the story Cathedral and the characters within. In the story the blind man who represents the archetype of the "Old Wise Man" shows the younger less experienced man a different way of looking at life. That's what has happened this semester to me personally. I think something came to me this semester, maybe an epiphany, maybe it's wisdom.

Although my thesis is not set in stone, it's going to examine what I've learned through my semester's experience and the new and old friends and acquaintances who have influenced my personal character development.

Paronomasia

I am true fan of puns. Being a true fan of puns is like being a true fan of the Dallas Cowboys (which, ironically, I am as well), you're going to receive a lot of scrutiny. Since coming to Bozeman, I've advocated the art of the pun and my friends generally seem to respect my opinion of them if I am receiving groans from the "pun wars" which occasionally happen.

Then about a week ago, I'm told by a few friends that they read a fun fact. At least four people in a half-house said, "Spencer, did you know that puns are the lowest form of wit?" "No, really?" I say backtobacktobacktobackto--. How can this be? Puns are so clever, so simple. They shouldn't receive this kind of disrespect. But then I think, where did they get this information? They found that tidbit on "The STALL Street Journal." Hah, get it? The alleged lowest form of wit tidbit is from a source with a play on words within itself. Now doesn't this seem unfair? But this sways the argument in my favor, doesn't it.

Moreover, I reveal this anecdote to my professor who says that puns are numerously, successfully utilized within some of the most important pieces of literature. Therefore, if the "pun" is the lowest form of with then are Hamlet and The Holy Bible the lowest form of literature. Oo, that's debatable.

Backtracking: Traveling versus Reading

I still cannot understand why reading can provide a more vivid experience than traveling or simply checking stuff out. Books have description, and they force you to utilize your imagination, but if you get the chance to experience new places then how do they not supply the experience-ee with more descriptive information?

For example, I lived for six months in a foreign country. Moscow, Russia provided me more of a culture shock and enlightening experience. Not only was I forced to understand a new lifestyle, I was forced to adapt to challenges that a different culture offered to me. It was a challenge, and using my imagination and improvisation skills to get by everyday was essential. There was a barrier which I had to eclipse.

Books provide many of the elements that traveling does, and they force you to expand your mind. I suppose the main difference is the experience of the matter and challenge of it. It's something that I prefer, but you cannot deem one to be objectively better than the other.