Trust

In Caucasia, one motif I've come across is trust. Throughout the novel, Birdie is constantly at war with herself whether to open up to someone and tell them the truth or hold back and hide behind a mask of lies. On pg. 76, Birdie even goes as far as admitting "Lies had become my only comfort." The idea that she had come to associate lying with safety was a direct result of her mother drilling the concept into her head when they were on the run.

At several points throughout the story Birdie is caught in the act; however, she never sees that all of the lying is preventing her from coming to peace and accepting her true identity. She only confuses herself. One example of this from the reading is when Birdie tells the younger children at the beach that she is an Indian Princess. Jim is furious and blames Sheila. "Sheila, I don't know what your child-rearing methods are, but allowing her to lie like she does just isn't good for her. You know that." By this point in the story, Birdie has come to enjoy hiding behind masks of characters she makes up and imagining what she would like her life to be like.

When Shiela opens up and tells the truth of their story to Jim, Birdie is furious. She feels betrayed by her mother and hurt that this man who isn't her father is being brought into her inner circle of truth; however, this creates the possibility in Birdie's head that maybe it would be alright if she opened up and told the truth now too. Finally on pg. 342, Birdie has a revelation and opens up to her long lost friend Ali. "But I kept talking, telling this truth, and it felt unnatural to do it." Her truthfullness is rewarded when Ali's father Ronnie reveals vital information in Birdie's search for her father and Cole.

Caucasia opening reflections

The opening of this story is overall more enjoyable and less confusing than both metamorphasis and Slaughterhouse 5. Birdie and Cole's parents are clearly both involved with politics having to do with the issue of race; however, Deck Lee seems to be focusing only on theories and his book while Sandy is actually taking part in some obscure plan and plot. I found the part where Birdie and her dad were in the park and he poice were brought over by the old couple interesting; one wouldn't think such harsh action would be taken when a man and child who don't look to be the same race are near one another in a public place. A couple other points I fornd interesting were the Elmeno language connecting Cole and Birdie, the Nykumurah black pride school, and the reoccuring importance of both Cole's hair and Sandy's weight. I'm thinking each of these may reoccur as themes throughout the book. I'm also quite curious as to what exactly Sandy did which caused the family to uproot and run, and also what exactly Redbone is up to.

Squirrels out the Window

As amazing as it would be if I could stretch this whole blog out to be about the squirrels that briefly entertained our class yesterday, there's not much to say on the subject. I guess I'll just have to comment on the different tounges story instead. :(

One of the main ideas of this short story was how complete strangers can sometimes ban together and support eachother. Not everyone in the world is self-centered. The first time this theme was explored was in the scene where the bus driver drove off without a passenger who was still in Burger King and then proceeded to mock him by slowing down and then saying "psych" and speeding off again. The other passengers on the bus were outraged by the cruelness of the bus driver and all yelled until the bus driver finally let the poor man back on. Then they cheered and brought this stranger back in welcomingly. I think part of the reason the strangers on the bus banned together was because they knew it could just as easily have been them running along side the bus; however, some of the peope probably actually cared for the man's well-being, for the time he was on the bus anyway. There are so many humans on earth all going in a billion different directions that we can't all possibly care for one another on a personal level, but it is always a happy thing to see strangers caring for one another.

Another time this theme comes up in the text is in the ending scene with the prostitutes helping Tia escape Dezi. Although reluctant at first, they eventually give her some money (with persuading from Marie) so Tia doesn't have to resort to their way of life. It is without a doubt impossible to make a difference in everyone's life; however, it is the little things that count, so rather than just walking past every random person we see, at least smile. Give a little. :) We are only strangers before we say "hello."

soldier letters

Although the three soldier's letters I read and interpreted were from soldiers of three different wars, there were definitely some similarities among them which I would not have expected. The first thing I noticed was the common theme of a sense of optomism. Although two of the three soldiers were in bad health, they all seemed positive. One was saying he was sorry for missing hunting, but looking forward to next season. The soldier was confident in the fact that the war would be over soon and that he would be alive and well. Another soldier didn't seem to concerned in the fact that the war was going on, but instead focused on how he was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to a nearby farm and get warm milk each morning. The third soldier who was writing to his cousin was basically telling an adventure story full of bugs and bumpy roads, but suprisingly little gore and actual battle scenes. He was very proud of their record-breaking travel day, and I'm pretty sure he would love to direct a motion picture film of his life story. The other interesting component that was similiar in all the letters was the uncertainty that the letters would reach their intended destination. The soldiers hoped the letters reached their family, but knew there was a good chance they wouldn't; therefore, I think writing the letters was a nice break from the whole war scene and they rather enjoyed the break. I guess it makes sense that the soldiers were so positive since otherwise they would go crazy with all of the horrors of war, but the light-heartedness definitely caught me by surprise. Not one soldier complained- probably so they wouldn't worry their families.

My War

When I was in 8th grade, my soccer team was in the final game of the maysa Cup tournament. We had worked our way up through the bracket that weekend, and the next couple hours would decide who got the golden first place trophies and who world cry as they held their little silver tropgies. It was a bruttle game. Both teams were increadibly even as far as skill level went, and we were back and forth and all over the field. The parents were going crazy; the ref. had to go over and threaten to send them to the parking lot if they couldn't cool off. One rough point of the game was when Emily was knocked out of bounds and broke her arm- a sacrifice. At the end it was still a tie, so we ended with a shoot-out. After four out of the five people shot, it was still tied. Then their player missed and opened up an opportunity for us. Our player kicked, but the kick was weak and their goalie took a step forward to pick up the ball. This was an illegal move since the goalie can only move side to side, so our player got a second shot, made it, and we won!

Absurd old ladies

Last summer when I was helping out at a vacation bible school in New York, I came across severals absurdities. One day we took the kids to a nursing home to sing and give tissue paper flowers to the residents. In the middle of one of out little church songs, an old lady bursts out and starts singing a patriotic tune. Some of the little kids looked nervous while others just wore a "what is that crazy old lady's problem" expression on their faces. It seemed like she was probably a decent singer back in the day, but this was just absurd. While in China Town on the same trip, our youth director pointed down the street at an old lady approaching us and exclaimed, "Just look at the culture!" The lady was wearing a long skirt, shawl, and head covering, and was hobbling in our direction. As she approached, we could see that her teeth had rotted out, and she was swearing like a sailor about loosing money she had bet on a soccer team who had just lost. We laughed at our youth directors exasperated expression as she realized she probably should have picked a better example of culture to point out.

journal entry- my bbq experience

With boxing matches, pants less closes, and sprayer wars, McDonalds is a very entertaining place to work. What I have learned from working there for two years is that you can get paid for socializing. (and doing a some occasional work) I've got quite a few interesing stories from the past two years of service there, but I'll focus on last Tuesday. At the beginning of my shift, I took a few orders. Then I sat in the office and talked while eaing leftover Halloween candy the store had handed out. After that I learned how to make a funnel cake... take a pancake, fry it put on sugar, whipped cream, and chocolate topping, and enjoy! We've come up with several tasty concoctions that don't appear on the menu. Another lesson I learned that evening is people tend to react negatively when you pour barbeque sauce on their head. They may react by head-butting you and getting bbq all over your shirt. Ahh, the memories. Most people are repulsed by the idea of working at McDonalds, but it's really not that bad.