Frankl-y Speaking

This lesson of the holocaust and man's search for meaning was really hard. I mean you can see the devastation from the war and the 2 men's outlook on it. I really want to talk about Life is Beautiful. This may just be me but it could be others too, but Life is Beautiful had a bigger impact on me than Man's search for meaning. I guess it would be that I saw Guido develop and in a way I sort of got to know him. 

At the beginning of the movie, or at least towards the beginning, I saw it more as a three stooges kind of comedy where it would be like physical and Guido would get himself into sticky situations and use his wit to get himself out. I saw that his antics would be very clever and very quick thinking and he would use this even later inside of the camp. 

He picks up his princess and he starts a family, very sweet loving. They actually could have ended the move at the scene where his son, who's name escapes me, is running out of the garden, and it would have been a great comedy and I would have accepted the happy ending, but as it goes on I start to see all the hate and discrimination he gets for being a Jew and all the precautions he takes to keep his son's eyes blind from this. Let's move on past the trains and they are already inside the camp. What keeps him motivated throughout the camp, like man's search for meaning, the thought of his wife. At every chance he gets, he tries to call out for her or play the music from the opera they went to. Throughout his stay he continues to keep his son's eyes innocent. This would be the best way to keep his boy from being depressed or scared, he answers all his questions with 'the game' he comes up with. He had it, he would have made it too. I guess for us to see the real horrible side of the holocaust our protagonist had to die. It was a great story overall and very well told.

Mucus? No, Music.

Once again took me a while to sift through my old CD collection and really find something that actually meant something to me. I couldn't talk about my music that i'm into today such as Coldplay, Wiz Khalifa, I Set My Friends on Fire, and of course the Mighty Boosh (which I was considering doing but ehhh their songs really aren't long enough to really get a decent blog going). What I stumbled upon was my old Carpenters singles album, dated 1969-1981. I remember in middle school when I'd come home from practice and I'd really need to relax and do homework or something, I would always pop this disc in and just relax, I know what you're thinking, "Man, there's no way that Trevor likes the Carpenters!" but I do. My mom got me the album when I was younger and I don't think I even opened the packaging until 8th grade. Really my favorite 2 songs on the album are definitely "Close to You" and "Top of the World." Top of the world is a really upbeat song of theirs that is really happy and very catchy. Close to You is one of their most famous songs You've all probably heard it whether you realized it or not. I'll put both song on here and let you decide

Alone

I know this blog took particularly long for me to publish but I've been thinking a couple of them over. Alone, a big concept to contemplate. Some see serenity, peace, others may see exclusion or punishment. You could really look at it either way. I love to be alone really to an extent, if I'm trying to concentrate or relax or just think then yeah being alone is the goal, but being a social creature humans crave interaction. Sometimes when one is left alone, he can create some characters in his head to be his interaction even though he's just talking to himself.. Anyway! Siddhartha and Chris both set off alone to really find themselves and in both cases reach (in their own way) a state of enlightenment, and really they needed to set off alone, without any teachers, distractions, or guidance to really get to that state. It is something that I could try for sometime, but I honestly don't think I could finish or go through with it..sadly.

This Has to Mean Something

It seems we all have that one thing that means everything to us. If we lose it, its devastating. This can be a meaningful memento, jewelry that may not have much monetary value, but sentimental value. I really don't know how exactly to explain this one because I'm pretty sure that we had a different blog that was pretty similar, but anyways, what really means a lot to me is my grandfather's ring. He has been my role model my entire life, his witty humor and kindness kept me coming back to visit, it really wasn't that hard with him living around the block but still. My father was never there for me when I was a kid, and i never connected very well with my step-dad so my grandpa was always there for me. When he gave me his old ring, it may not have meant a lot to anyone but it is my most prized possession. He is the most meaningful thing in my life, I really don't know what I would do without him.

Be Thankful

Thanksgiving has to be my favorite family holiday. Around this time of year really has a sentimental value to me. I love to see all of my family and relatives all under one roof and enjoying each other's company. What I'm thankful for is definitely my health and my family. They mean everything to me. I've lost two of my uncles and one is fighting cancer, but I'm sure happy he's still with us. I want my grandparents to be around as long as possible, they always find a way to bring a smile to my face. I really do have a family of characters but honestly I wouldn't change it for anyone else. We are very close and a very forgiving family. That's all this time of year is about; family. You have to enjoy them while everyone is still there.

Direction of the Class

Throughout all of the first quarter, I really enjoyed much of the discussions and arguements we had in class. It was entertaining and it helped me understand the material that much better. It also helped me see it from someone else's perspective. As for the next upcoming quarters, I'd say lets just continue with what we're doing. Keep the discussions flowing, the group work coming, and the blogs online. I really don't know much else that could be added or taken away from the class that would make it better.

Camus and Voltaire's Vote

Both Camus and Voltaire showed their views toward aristocracy. Voltaire satirized the higher powers throughout most of his literary works. So his vote would be hard to consider. If he was alive to vote during the upcoming election, if he wouldn't stay home that day, I believe he would vote for the party with the least government power. If I know my politics right, the party that he would vote for would be the libertarian party candidate, Gary Johnson. Before that vote, I believe that neither would vote.

For Camus the same story almost goes for him. He would oppose the aristocracy in his country and would not vote in an election to give one man the magnitude of the power of the president, it would go against the things he belived in. If he was forced to vote I would say the same as Voltaire, however, due to their previous ideas and views, I believe that they would refuse to vote. If I could ask them, I'd be curious.