Hw 32- Tattoos

Everything to us is symbolic. Titles are symbolic of status, which is symbolic of our position in life and how we view people. Tattoos act the same way. For some people, tattoo makes a great fashion statement, while others use it to reveal certain aspects of their personality. For some people, it is an expression of feelings of lovethat they have for another person. They reveal to people a part of who the tattoo wearer is or who they want to be. Many messages we get when we see tattoos stem from preconceptions people might have about tattoos. Whether true or not, it tells a story about the person, much like every action/non action a person does.


It can represent a part of who you were at a certain time as well. Like John Fanning's friend in Florida who got the rat tattoo. He wouldn't cover it up because doing that would be like denying the part of himself who got it at the time when he was a fifteen year old boy. People can get tattoos for as much as any other thing. For some people its about identity for other it may be about fitting in or it can be both. I found it interesting that it was an armour for Fanning because he had it, no one touch him because he knew who he was. Which relates to the identity thing too, its a physical representation of that. Its concrete and because of a simple thing like a tattoo, it protected him from whatever someone else may think of him because they didn't really get him and he knew who he really was.

A tattoo is like an idea in print. At the time that he got it, the times was different and it was something really out there, whereas now, its almost commonplace for people to get one. But a tattoo was and still is an act of rebellion. I think it means something different for him now then it did then, now its like a map of his experiences. His memories of the period he got them are attached to it. For his strength through wisdom tattoo, it helped him through his surgery and the message it meant was comforting to him. I thought he was really open sharing this with us and it was brave.

For me, I never really wanted a permanent tattoo but when I was in elementary school I used to have temporary tattoos, which are those paper ones that you sponge on and come off by rubbing. I didn't do it often but I remember it being fun at the time. The reason I did it was simple because I was more simple, it was a design that I liked and they appealed to me because they weren't permanents and when you're elementary school, that's good, because you're changing all the time and nothings too permanent. So for me, at that time, it was just expressing myself but I didn't want to keep it because that self was changing all the time.

Tattoos are pretty interesting. For other cultures it maybe a talisman or charm to protect the person or ensure happiness after death, but its revealing for the most part in American culture because its not required and those who choose to do it want to reveal in a conspicuous way something about themselves to other people.

Extra Cred- Tolstoy Cool

a. How does Ivan's quest for status, advancement, prestige, and generally the approval of others endanger his chance to live a more meaningful life?

In this story Ivan Llynch is a man who has chosen to live life of status and decorum. Its a lot about the inner life and the outer life. He conforms to the values and rules of society and admires those with high social status and wealth as a result Ivan is fixated on obtaining material things. His social interactions, even with his own family are very proper. In the novel social prestige depersonalizes human relations necessary to living a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Even though Ivan is able to obtain those knick knacks, it doesn't make him happy, when his death bed he reflects on his life and the things he has now and it seems very fake and artificial to him. No one in his family is able to confront the fact that he is dying. The only person capable of facing death at all with courage and grace is Gerasim, Ivan's nurse, who accepts that this is something everyone must face someday. Gerasim is the only character in the story that can interact with people in an authentic and meaningful way. He breaks down isola†ion and creates meaningful bonds. Gerasim is able to comfort the dying man and interact with him and develop a meaningful relationship. Gerasim, who is a peasant is content with his social standing and what he has and he is able to develop mutually fulfilling relationships that give him the courage and strength to confront death. That is why it is not a coincidence that Ivan questions his life while looking on Gerasim's face.

"His mental sufferings were due to the fact that that night, as he looked at Gerasim's sleepy, good-natured face with it prominent cheek-bones, the question suddenly occurred to him: "What if my whole life has been wrong?" "



Because Ivan was so focused on obtaining social standing and material items, he pushed other more important things to the side, like developing meaningful human relationships. "It is as if I had been going downhill while I imagined I was going up. And that is really what it was. I was going up in public opinion, but to the same extent life was ebbing away from me. And now it is all done and there is only death."

The pain in his side comes from his body's rejection of the way he has been living life. In the end he realizes that none of the social gain made him happy, that he was happiest moments were before he obtained any of it and that the more he is able to gain materialistically, the less fulfilled and empty he felt. He realizes that he has actually been traveling opposite direction intended in his life. When Ivan realizes his mistake and comes to a fuller understanding of the nature of life, he is reborn spiritually and experiences extreme joy. This novel shows how Ivan's quest for advancement and prestige endangers his chance to live a more meaningful life because he misses the point to what life is actually about, compassion and developing an emphatic connection with other human beings.

Hw 31

Part A
One of my old friends- very low key, wears makeup but its not that noticible, its sheer most of the time, she's pretty open and honest I think.

Can I ask you some questions for my humanities class?
Sure. Go ahead.

What are your reasons for dressing in the style you do?
Its the style I feel comfortable with. That I learned through watching and trying out. It depends on my mood too, sometimes I feel like dressing up but most of the time I'm very low key.

When did you start wearing makeup?
Hmm.. I don't really remember when, it was awhile ago. I saw my mom wearing it and you know how kids are, they want to be like their mom and dad.

Why did you start?
What I said before and I wanted to look good. Partly for other people but mostly for myself. When I think I look good I feel good so that's why I started wearing makeup. Its just like an addition to my little routine. I'm fine without it too but I usually don't feel like wearing its when I'm feeling lazy or not like doing anything. Its just part of my "ritual". Make up isn't much different from clothes, its still another method of adorning yourself. Some people feel comfortable in certain clothes and stick to that style and other's like to change it up.

Her answer was kind of the "because I like it" answer but she admits that part of it is for vanity. I think her answer is true too that it is for herself as well as for other people. I think when you're only looking for one answer, then that's the answer you'll get, like if you expect people to have the "because I like it answer" you only see that one. But I think it could be true too that its a way that she expresses herself because she said she also uses it to show her moods. Which I have generally observed that she does.

Part B
I think I do sometimes is cooking. Cooking to me is interesting and so I assume other people will find it interesting too. I like the learning aspect of baking because you can always try out a new recipe and its like a little experiment. When I see the finished product I feel happy because its like "look I was able to do it". I feel like I accomplished something especially if it was a harder recipe. When I made popcorn with a kettle and kernels for the first time I felt that way. It wasn't hard but it was new and I kept burning it the first few times but when I was able to get it right I felt pretty good. I get to learn and develop a way to make it. That's exciting for me. I like being able to learn new things and try them out and baking lets me do that. That's why I find it worthwhile for me to do it. Its something I can share with people too. When I bake something that I'm proud of I want to share with my friends and have them try it out too.

I use to play the piano and I'm not an expert but I can play a few songs. I started because I saw a movie when I was younger and in the movie a character played the piano really well and that made me want to learn it because I wanted to be able to do that as well. I think that sometimes I do that to aggrandize myself because having a skill like being able to play an instrument is something people usually think of as cool. When I'm playing around other people I think I try harder not to make a mistake than when I'm playing alone. I think if they like how I play or think its good then I think I'm good. When I was younger and I first started, I kind of played to impress other people. They heard the song and they liked it so I kept on playing it. But the effect kind of wore off on me. When I play now, its usually because I'm in the mood to play even with other people are around. I'll try a little more to get it right if they around but when I don't, I don't mind too much either.

HW 30- Psychological and Philosophical

Humans instinctively crave to be filled. They want to fill their stomachs rather than empty because that means hunger, like their stomach this is a hole that continually needs to be filled. This might be filled by a (constant) stream of love (don’t people feel empty when someone they love dies?), being needed, creating a sense of themselves, or a type of heroism. Some things fill the hole better and longer than others. The hole is like your stomach, you have to keep feeding it, because after it digests whatever you feed it, it’s “empty” again. But defining emptiness like this, it can be seen as a need, that we need to be met and when its not we’re looking for things that will meet it. Emptiness is then interpreted as a lacking.

Buddhism however believes that the emptiness and acceptance of emptiness is enlightenment. Emptiness is a key concept in Buddhist philosophy. Buddhists define emptiness as a state of mind. Once your mind is empty you can see the world clearer, better, and deeper. So in Buddhism, rather than seeking to be filled, Buddhists seek to empty out their minds so their mind has space to fill more things. Like drinking a cup of water, you need the cup to be empty to fill it with more water (Fu). Meditation is an important tool used in Buddhism to achieve this state of mind. In Buddhism, emptiness is defined as a state of being rather than nonbeing (nothingness).

This kind of emptiness is interpreted differently than the kind we have been talking about in class. That’s the problematic and magical nature of words; they often hold more than one meaning to the one saying it and to the one listening. The kind of emptiness we’ve been talking about in class is more emotional. It wasn’t clarity of mind, but a need that wanted and needed to be filled: for attention, for love, for someone to believe in you or look up to you. It really depends on what sense of emptiness we are talking about. In what sense is it used? In what sense does it mean? What sense do we hear it? What sense is it interpreted? The answers to these questions will be different if we are talking about different things.

Sigmund Freud believes the source for the sense of emptiness we have been discussing in class stems from separation from the mother at the womb and the trauma of being born. That the kind of attachment a child forms to their mother or caretaker is instinctual and being separated from them causes them to feel anxiety. What the child seeks afterwards is a sense of connection again. Anna Freud, his daughter and a psychoanalyst herself has some similar points. From her own observations, she found that although babies are completely dependent on a mother-figure, they did not seem to need a particular person to fulfill that function and quickly re-adjusted after separation. It is only when they are around 3 years old that the effect of separation was found to be particularly traumatic. They then externalize their grief from their separation and seek out to meet this need by finding substitute affections among peers when parents cannot give them this. Anna also observed that being buried under rubble was not as tramatic for children than a comparably brief separation from the mother. This reaction and feeling of emptiness is primal and biological, rather than learned, and it’s a instinctive need that people have to have a connection. Both Anna and Sigmund Freud argues that this feeling’s origin comes from the separation from the mother-figure.

HW 29- Merchants of Cool

The way the media works and the way the media sells kids a product is not for the kid's best interest, its for theirs. To be truthful, everyone is very impressionable. Everyone is influencable. No matter what they say they are affected by what they see and the thing is; influence is power. It isn't used wisely in our culture. It is used carelessly to promote whatever product they can, usually in a way that is socially degrading and makes caricatures out of everyone. But what they do is effective. It's popular and its attention grabbing. People will still want to see it.

I think what the way the WB did these shows, was done in a more thought out way because it wasn't done in a way that degraded sex or sexuality instead what they did was acknowledge that this was a topic that was relevant for teens and they took it and said this is what happens, these are the consequences, good and bad. what MTV does is it shows sex as this one big party fest with no reprecussions and no strings attached. In a way all these ads have desensitized teens to seeing this.

Sex sells, and marketers will do whatever sells the fastest and attracts the most people. So what we have now is an oversexualized culture. Britney Spears type media, her audience was actually mainly preteen girls. The ones who are most impressionable and hardhit by this is this age group. "They are taught to flaunt their sexuality even though they don't even understand it yet". Should it have been done? No because it spreads the message that this is how kids/girls should be if they want attention. But coporations would have done it anyways despite the consquences because that is how marketing work. They find a point of interest and exploit it as best as they can to promote what they want.

I don't think kids are stupid though. They have just been shown one option of being and they attempt to reanact it at times but eventually they have to decide for themselves if that is really what they want to do and be. Sooner or later they get wise to all of this or they risk staying in this art mimicking life mimicking art loop.

Hw 28- Informal Research

Blair aka juicystar07 "How to curl your hair: Celebrity Inspired" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn0hFQCyL1I Youtube. 27 November 2009
On youtube there are "gurus" which are basically people who show you how to do certain things and give tutorials. Coolness is associated with fashion and style and celebrities have a little following where people want to do things that they see celebrities have done and try to emulate them. This clip shows you how to style your hair and is inspired by celebrities. On the sidebar are the list of the products so people watching can easily buy the products and recreate the look.

This youtube clip exemplifies that part of our culture where people want to get the "celebrity look". Clips like this have hordes of views (this one has almost half a million) and it goes to show how popular clips showing people how to get a certain look are. Having your own style is associated with being cool but people tend to follow popular trends as well, which is one of the paradoxal natures of being "cool". How can you be cool when most things people do are fairly homogenous? In the grander scheme of things, anything you do is fairly homogenous as there are 6 billion people on earth, doing something that hasn't been done before is relatively one of the harder aspirations of coolness for people.


TV show- Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana is a popular kids show on Disney Channel and ABC a bout a girl leading a double life of being a famous singer and a regular girl. She is especially popular with preteen girls. Younger girls emulate people like Hannah Montana by dressing like her because she is depicted as cool, kid. Cool connotes a bit of celebrity and they want that. Why do people aspire to be cool? Because when people think they're cool they feel valued versus being uncool. People notice them and admire them. As a star, Miley Cyrus has fame and because of that plot, Hannah Montana so appealing to the kids who watch it, because Hannah Montana is just a regular kid but she's a star. Kids want that too. They want to stand out while fitting in.

Shampo, Diana "How to be cool at any age." http://www.ehow.com/how_5688564_cool-age.html Ehow. December 7 2009
This is four tips on being cool and its basically how cool people act. They don't say they're cool, they're interested in other people. They don't "fly off the handle" in a bad situation, they don't use language that's not their own, like slang.

I think cool is a certain attitude. If you're corny and you use slang to be corny and you know it, then its okay. If you're earnest in being who you are and being who you are doesn't hurt anyone, then it doesn't matter whether its cool or not and that's cool right?I think the trying to keep yourself calm and not flying "off the handle" is a good tip. She uses an example of a ten year old trying to steal your purse. If you freak out at a little kid then nothing gets solved and it justs looks pretty bad because you didn't handle the situation well. I think by that age, if you're an adult and yelling at a little kid....that's not that great since there are other ways to go about it. I think showing interest in people other than yourself is a good tip is a good tip because you're more open to the world and you might learn a thing or two.

Vognar, Chris. "Plano Resident's book argues that the concept of cool is yesterday's news." http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121309dngdcool.3ffff0d.html. The Dallas Morning News. December 7 2009
-Ted Gioa
Ted Gioia, the author of The Birth (and Death) of Cool argues that cool is dead, that blunt earnestness has made cool obsolete. He cites Pop culture as one area where he sees the fall of cool. He argues that on reality TV shows, like American Idol, uncool earnestness (Taylor Hicks) often triumphs over celebrity cool (Katherine McPhee). Cool is "uncool".

"There are always new styles and fashions," he says. "But now people are drawing them more from their own group of acquaintances rather than these corporately endorsed cool trends. It's a fundamental change."

That's interesting that having a "blunt earnestness" trumps being "cool" and that may be because when people see someone openly working hard on a goal they think its admirable. But for his second argument, that status brands are not as cool to have as it was a few years ago because its mainstream, that cool is dead it means something else is cool. That now, being anti-cool is cool.

-Steven Soderbergh, Made Ocean's Heist Movies
For Soderbergh, cool isn't what you buy, watch or listen to. It's what you do.

"Doing your own thing is always cool and always will be," Soderbergh says in an interview. "Even if whatever you're doing is no longer interesting to anybody, to continue to do it well is still cool. That's different from hip, and it's different from popular.

I find this true too, Soderbergh defines cool differently from Goia. People admire people who can do their own thing. For Soderbergh cool is like a "personal earnestness". If you do something you personally find interesting, that's important to you, than that's cool. In general "cool" is different for everyone. Its a very subjective and broad term and may not be the same for everyone. "Cool is where you find it and what you make of it." One person's cool can be another's square (Vognar).

Hw 27- Informal Interviews

Strangers:
The first person we interviewed was a man in his thirties holding a cup of coffee. He wore a med-length brown coat. Seemed in a hurry on 23rd and lex. Remy asks him "What makes a person cool?" He replies, "What does?" I tell him we're asking him that to see his pov. Then he says "Popularity."
"Do you think you're cool?"
"No, I'm too old to be cool" I don't think that's true, older people can be cool too.


The second person we interviewed was wearing darkwash jeans. Had a hoodie on and a cap, and plug earrings. Seemed to be in his twenties. "Do you think you're cool?" "No." I asked him if he thought other people thought he was cool and he said 'Oh yeah.' Which made me think he thought he was cool but didn't want to admit it. He told us he taught music and I asked what kind of instrument he taught he said "rock and roll guitar" and that he was in a band and traveled the world. I kind of thought he wanted to make himself seem more important because he mentioned his band and playing "rock and roll guitar". I thought that the part about his traveling seemed more interesting. Jia Min said. "That's cool." I think people are just narcissists by nature because people feel that they are important when they get notice, which is fine. Its apart of the human nature that is stronger in some than others but everyone has their moments.


The third person we asked was a girl who seemed to be a college student. Around 19-20 maybe older. She had a tan jacket on carrying a brown bag. She was fiddling with a table hook which was kind of interesting and Jia Min and Remy asked her about that. Remy asked what is cool. She said "Confidence. And age" and that personality was important but some people pretend and you don't always know if they are. One of asked who is cool and she said "Everybody can be cool" which I thought was interesting. She differentiated cool from popular which was different from what our first interviewee thought. "cool and popularity are different things. Like an unpopular person can be cool such as someone who draws and is really good at it and is passionate about it."When we asked her if she thought she was cool she said "I think I am really cool." then she laughed and said "No." I guess it seems pompous to people to just say they are cool and they don't want other people to think that.

I asked her why some people thought cool was important and she said "Because its idealize in the society, and its a positive thing that people want to think about. Since everybody wants to be cool. It also depends on our own interpretation."


Friends:
Jo- She's a girl from my after school program and it was an in person talk
What do you think is cool? A nice person. I don't know. (I think she's pretty nice)
Do you think you're cool? I don't know (People never use their own definition of cool when I ask them this...)
Do you think you're nice? I don't know



Reggie-I asked this in person. She seemed kind of apprehensive with the questions.
Do you think its important to be cool? I don't know
Do you think you are Cool? No
Why not? Because I don't.
Why? Because I don't. This conversation is getting nowhere.
(Agrees and wonders why she won't tell me a specific answer. Every one I asked for this question will without exception say they don't think they're cool. I think its because people think its uncool to say you think you're cool since it might seem like they are full of themselves.)
Can give you give me a specific reason? I don't know because there's a set system
What is cool in this set system? I don't know being beyond norm but maintaining a connection to the norm.
What is the norm? Something established by society but viewed as something right. I don't know. (Alot of people seemed to do that as well, add "I don't know" after making a statement. I guess this topic kind of makes some people more guarded)



Curly
I talked to my curly-haired friend online and they seems more comfortable with the topic.
Can i ask you some questions for my humanities class
What do you think makes a person "cool"?
Hmmm....I don't no any cool people ._. (I thought his answer was interesting because that was the first thing I thought when we began this unit. I didn't really think of anyone as cool, just as different kinds of people.)
who do you think is the coolest celebrity?
I don't think there r any cool celebrities cuz if i think they're cool than that makes me think I'm lesser then them and I don't think I am so I don't really think anyone is cool.
What makes a person uncool?
LYING (thinks this is the first time I heard someone said this, wonders if he is referring to being true to yourself and all that since that's technically lying to yourself if your not)
About what? Anything. Well little white lies are okay and lying to not hurt people as long as it ultimately hurts no one thats okay but other than that any lie sucks.
Is there anything else that makes a person uncool? Um ya being clumsy is okay, but clumsiness in excess that's not cool (thinks I can get pretty clumsy, wonders if bumping your head into multiple objects counts as excessive) and I don't mean just lying not being true to yourself is a better way of saying it.
mm..Do you think being cool is important to people? To other people yes. To me no.
why? well theres no being cool for me there's only being uncool and if your uncool then I don't like you by my means of uncool not other people's.
What about for other people? Why is it important to them? Other people's view I don't care and its important to them for social ranking.



Family: Is talking to my cousin over the phone, who happens to be at a very noisy club...(surprisingly) but is nice enough to find a quiet spot(s) to answer my questions. There are many what?? moments that I didn't include in the transcript. They are in college.

Hi. Are you busy?
No. Its kind of noisy though.
Can I ask you some questions for school?
Sure.
What is cool? Is this my personal opinion or what society says?
You can do both.
You have a weird school. I personally find libraries to be very cool. Yes I like libraries and computers too.
What about people-wise?
A person I find Cool?
Yeah.
I find. Damnit. Who do I find cool? Tom Delay.
Why do you find him cool? Because he was an asshole.
You like assholes? Because he bullied people I don't like.
Who is that? Democrats (He used to be a Democrat by the way. Now he considers himself a Republican with Democratic values)
Hey!!
I'll make an exception for you since you're my little cousin.
Alright. *he is deaf*
What do I think is cool? Extremist people who don't go along with what everyone thinks because that's what they're told.
Do you think being cool is important? No.
In what way? No its not important to be cool, its very important to rich and then you will be cool.
What qualities do you find to be cool? There are alot. Intelligence is very important and Wealth.
Why do you think being cool matters in our society? It doesn't. Because people are dumb. When you are older you will realize that cool isn't the most important thing. *thinks briefly that he's is being slightly patronizing *
I know that already. Do you think you are cool? Yes, because I have money.
What are difficulties of being cool? The difficulties are obtaining enough money.
I feel like you think cool is synonymous with wealth. It is. If you have wealth you can buy anything.
Laughs. That's not true.
If you were in a store with someone and they bought you everything wouldn't you think they were cool?
No I'd think they're a piggy-bank and are trying to buy me with money.
If it was as a gift.
A gift? noo...still... *thinks that is alot of gifts for someone to have..*
What do gifts require?
Compensation? (was thinking in terms that you have to give something in return like reciprocating with another gift)
My little cousin has grown up so fast.
-laughs-
*background friends are in the subway*
Oh do you have to go now?
Yeah. I'm in the subway. Ask me any last questions.
So far, most people when I ask them if they're cool, all the people I asked said no and you're the only one to say yes. Why do you think that is? Those people are losers. Because they are losers and they know it.

My cousin's pretty funny. I think he is cool because he's not typical in his comments, he is in other ways. Even though he said that cool means wealth, he wasn't really being stuck up, he likes making extremist statements. I think he does mean it though, at least partly.