This One Is For All My Homies

Since my rap career under the alias "High Stile" is just starting to blossom, I figured that I would hit you guys with a goodbye flow.  But just a few things to keep in mind before you read it:

  1) You have to be dropping a beat before you start
  2) Picture me in my element - on a stage in a crowded club just going hard on the mic
  3) I mean it, there's an actual crowd of fans in the club
  4) I'm going to spell words in the slang way to say them

      and finally... 

  5) There is a reason that my fame does not extend beyond AP English

Alright, so here we go...

This is the end, AP English is all ova,
It all went by so fast, no more papers no more poems.
Not another data sheet, we all have done 'em,
But when we are in college we will be thankful for 'em

These two years, yeah they were pretty tight.
I'll miss analyzing all of my Sunday nights.
Marking up the poem, marking up the prompt,
Underline the matches or you'll be stomped.

I won't forget, swapping lit devices
With my writing partners - a speaking point crisis
Self-deprecation, always one of my vices
But I've grown out of it, no need to roll dices

Now were here, the end of Senior year
I cannot not believe that were finally in the clear
It was a long journey, but no need to fear
AP English prepared us for successful careers.

Dear Anon. Sophomore,

So, you are deciding your fate for your junior year of high school.  Well let me tell you, there may be a couple of difficult choices that you'll have to make, but the choice for English is easy.  If you like puppy dogs and chocolate, then AP English is the place for you!

That was a joke.  I used verbal irony to juxtapose what really happens in AP English with what never happens in any high school class ever.  Oh, I'm sorry, have I lost you? Well, if you would like to keep up with my complex analytical sentences, then I suppose you have no option but to take AP English next year.  You see, remember that packet of terms you received from your teacher at the beginning of the year, but only used sparingly as a set of guidelines of sorts?  Well, get ready to commit them to memory, because for two straight years you will have those babies burned into your brain on a daily basis.  Otherwise, check out the picture on Jillian's blog.  You will feel the wrath of that woman.  And remember your friends? Yeah, those other humans you spend time with? Forget about them. They might as well live on another continent, because you won't be seeing them very often.  Unless they take AP English with you.  Then you will be best friends.

But honestly, AP English is really difficult.  No joking anymore.  I'm going to use my concrete diction and matter-of-fact tone.  It is a challenge, but in hindsight it really is a challenge worth taking.  Believe me, I have actually cursed the class - at points in time very recent leading up to this post.  But there are invaluable benefits to it all.  You will learn to ACTUALLY write.  Think you're pretty good now? You aren't. Trust me. But you can be, and you will be.  You just have to make the effort.  And you WILL make good friends in class.  Well, you're forced to, because you have writing partners, and if you don't like each other than you will have a really awkward time.  But me and my writing partners, we're all tight.  We formed a gang and cause mayhem on the weekends. Sorry, that was a joke that I let slip.  Nonetheless, AP English is worth the sacrifices.  It takes you to a whole other level, but its a level that you are better off reaching for now than in college.  But the choice is yours.  Make the right one for you.  Because Everything ends, and Everything Matters.

Love, Chris (AKA High Stile)

PS, if you get really popular, you even get a cool street name like me

Mistaking Failure For Success

1 Othello: "Look how he laughs already!" (Shakespeare 4.1.11)
2 Algernon: "Yes, but [he] must be serious about it (Wilde 8)
3 Ashoke: "There is a reason for it, you know" (Lahiri 123)
4 Algernon: "I am afraid so" (Wilde 31) 
5 Ashoke: "You forgot to mention that he was also a genius" (Lahiri 100)
6 Othello: "Are you sure of that?" (Shakespeare 4.1.227)
7 Ashoke: "I suppose" (Lahiri 16)
8Algernon: "He has no taste in neckties at all" (Wilde 24)
9 Othello: "Most veritable" (Shakespeare 3.4.76)
10 Ashoke: "What's done is done" (Lahiri 99)
11 Algernon: "Science is always making wonderful improvements in things" (Wilde 42)
12 Othello: "Tis monstrous" (Shakespeare 2.3.216)
13 Algernon: "Sentiment is my forte" (Wilde 1)
14 Othello: "O, thou art wise!" (Shakespeare 4.1.76)
15 Algernon: "If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated" (30)

The Noble Moor

"Is this the noble Moor whom our full Senate/ Call all in all sufficient?” (4.1.264-265)  Why, yes it is.  Between The Importance of Being Earnest, Othello, and The Namesake, Shakespeare's tragic play of the Moorish general which we read in the fall is still my favorite.  I really enjoyed this book for a few reasons.  For one, it was the first we had to memorize quotes for, and so I went overboard on the studying.  As such, I can pull out random quotes in casual conversation like "Reputation is an idle and/ most false imposition” (2.3.267-268).  So I suppose that the book has just stuck with me.  But I also enjoyed the play we went and saw (except for the part when Othello pulled out the gun and killed himself, that was ridiculous).  It made the play much more memorable, and brought the book to life in a way that I (as an ignorant, not very cultural high school boy) never could have imagined.  The play was also a nice break - for one day - from poetry papers, where despite Ms. Serensky's cautioning, "don't make self deprecating comments while you read them out loud,"  I would start off with "This is the night/ That either makes me or fordoes me quite" (5.1.128-129).  But apart from the perks of reading Othello, I actually did enjoy the story quite a bit.  Considering it was the first bit of Shakespeare that I ever read AND understood, it has a special little place in my literary history.  I just wish that I knew exactly how to pronounce "Iago."

(Please excuse the PG-13 content, its absolutely worth it)

Top Ten Plays

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to SportsCenter.  Up next we have our top ten academic plays of Chris L's high school career, because... well... he's not much of an athlete.  Regardless, hold on to the edge of your seats - we got some good ones.

10 - Up first is when Chris got an A on his 10th grade English research project.  Granted that he got to work with two friends of his and play video games as an excuse for homework and research (you could say his "duty as a gentleman has never interfered with [his] pleasures in the smallest degree," but the long hours of writing and the completion of the most daunting task many high schoolers face was historic (Wilde 30).

9 - Next we have the perfect score he received on one of Mr. Kerul's most brutal closed calculator trig tests in sophomore year.  Typically, when it comes to Mr. Kerul's often confusing and overly challenging tests, "they eat us hungrily, and when they are full, they belch us" (Shakespeare 3.4.105-106).  But this 50/50 he received was so mind blowing that he kept it til this day, mostly to brag about the absurd answer of (x - 7/158)^2 + (y - 1 and 139/158)^2 = 885842/24964 to a question about an equation for a circle which he answered correctly.

8 - His 5 on the AP Calculus AB test Junior year.  His second 5, this score managed to continue his streak of mathematical excellence, which was slightly blemished by his admittedly poor performance on the Mock AP test Mix Master Maas crafted for this students.  But after this "[numbed] him, like a poison," sure enough, he turned Mr. Maas's frown up-side-down with his good score (Lahiri 282). :C ---> C:

7 -  Not so much of a triumph, but just a recognizable moment was when Chris had completed his first semester finals of Senior year, the last finals he would ever have to take in high school.  He could finally "Put out the light" (Shakespeare 5.2.7)

6 - The 4 he got on the AP Physics.  While it is not a 5, this score was still impressive for Chris, who was stumped by Physics most of the time.  After he saw the score, he kept thinking "'I don't know.  It's not what I thought it would be'" (Lahiri 252).

5 - The 5 he got on AP Comp Sci, in only his sophomore year.  In a class of mostly Juniors and Seniors, Chris took on the challenge with only 3 other sophomores.  In this rather difficult course, in which "the truth is rarely pure and never simple," he mastered the material under the teaching of the brilliant Ms. Petite, and scored a 5 on the first AP test he ever took (Wilde 6).

4 - Austin Sauey, Alex Kreger, Brian Binder, and Chris all worked together on a Spanish movie project, for a movie to be based off of a story called "El Novio Robado."  The 22 minute epic film also completed a trilogy of Spanish films they had made, of the title "Zapatolones," a name which roughly translates to "shoe-pants."  Upon completion of the movie (in which "the good ended happily, and the bad unhappily," the boys earned 100% on the project, as well as special calls home from Sra. Walsh herself to congratulate us on the excellent (and perhaps even over the top) job they did (Wilde 22).

3 - Near the end of Junior year, Chris discovered that he was accepted to attend the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Summer Seminar, a two week scholarship art program to which he applied (all expenses paid).  It took place in the beginning of July in Colorado Springs, and he meet 20 highly talented artists and new friends.  Often times, he misses this time in which he hung out with new friends and made art all day long, and he curses "O, blood, blood, blood!" (Shakespeare 3.3.448).

2 - In the fall of Senior year, Chris was inducted into the Cum Laude Society, a very prestigious academic honor.  Even so, more hard school work had to be done, because metaphorically, "the muffins are the same" (Wilde 41).

1 - In Mid December, Chris received notification of his acceptance into the University of Cincinnati, at which he will study Industrial Design.  In all of the excitement about college, he could not help but wonder "When would it sink in?" (Lahiri 226).

Poetry............... Redux

Is it ironic that my first blog was about poetry and now here we are blogging about poetry at the end of the year?  Well... situationally ironic at least.  Nostalgia aside, "I will not charm my tongue; I am bound to speak" (Shakespeare 5.2.181).  In my first post about poetry, I admit some of the inroads the art form made in me, such as an appreciation for it... Oh dear, should I really "utter my thoughts? Why, say they are vile and false" (Shakespeare 3.3.136)... Nonetheless, while I still do appreciate it, I cannot honestly really admit that I truly like and enjoy poetry.  A big reason is that still, for the most part, it is over my head (against popular belief, a prowess for English class is not exactly one of my characteristics as the most popular kid in class).  But if I had to pick a favorite poem, mine would be the first sestina we read in class, "Sestina" by Ciara Shuttleworth (the one that went "you used to love my well"). For one, it was short.  I liked that.  Secondly, it was actually pretty amusing, especially to read out loud.  The stammering of the speaker actually made me "LOL" a couple of times.  For real.  But I also was able to understand what was happening... I think.  For instance, If I met the speaker in the poem, I would probably say something to them like, "I see you are eaten up with passion" (Shakespeare 3.3.388), because they were quite distraught in their love life.  I also liked the creativity of the poem.  It took the unique style of sestina and made it even more interesting, by using only one word for each line.  While my taste in poetry is not very refined, my foolish and innocent instinct is to pick the one that I just simply enjoy the most.  So, good work Ciara Shuttleworth.  I hope you make some solid bank on your poetry endeavors.

The Most Popular Kid in AP English 12

I'd never been popular before.  I'd never really concerned myself with the potential of popularity, as I always thought that "reputation is an idle and/ most false imposition" (Shakespeare 2.3.267-268).  Or maybe it was because I was a complete weird-o in middle school, but I digress. It took until about the beginning of senior year for most people to realize how witty, intelligent, talented, caring, good looking, and funny I am (so far, no one has caught onto how conceited, however).  But the one day where the class actually recognized me for my unparalleled popularity, I felt honored.  I cannot exactly remember how this acknowledgement came about, but between all my well timed jokes, my catchy street name (High Stile), and my unmatched mastery of the English language, it was no question that I had the student's ovation and fame forever.  On the contrary, all of this newly bestowed glory was so sudden that I couldn't quite grasp it all.  I just kept wondering, "when would it sink in?" (Lahiri 226).  But now that I am indeed the most popular kid in AP English 12, I cannot keep my peers from fawning all over me.  In fact, I hardly have to keep track of any of my responsibilities, since I have fellow students just waiting for the chance to take care of them for me.  You could say that "my duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures in the smallest degree" (Wilde 30).  Now I have plenty of time for all of my favorite hobbies, like drawing, playing guitar, and bunburying.  So without contention, my favorite day in English was when I became the most popular kid in class.

Capture the Flag

We join Roderigo of Othello and Chasuble of The Importance of Being Earnest caught in a heated Capture the Flag battle in Halo 3.

The Scene: "Last Resort"

Roderigo: Shoot that guy, he doesn't have any shields!

Chasuble: Gosh darn it, I'm reloading!

Roderigo: Well, throw a grenade or something, he's going to get our flag!

Chasuble: OK here... ah ha! Got him with a head shot. Take that, you noob!

Roderigo: Nice work, champ.  I'm playing so poorly, I keep on dying.  "It is silliness to live when to live is torment" (1.3.303).  Alright, I just re-spawned.  I say we make a push for their flag, time is running out and we're tied 2-2.

Chasuble: I agree, but we're gonna need some power weapons.  We cannot simply barge in there with the Assault Rifle, it doesn't do nearly enough damage.

Roderigo: That's a good point.  OK, you go and grab the shotgun.  I'm gonna get real weird with it and pick up a Spartan Laser.

Chasuble: The Spartan Laser? These are desperate times! We can't afford for you to be fooling around with the Spartan Laser! It is utterly impractical to use the Spartan Laser unless you're trying to destroy a vehicle.

Roderigo: Just calm down, I know what I'm doing.

Chasuble: Considering that your kill-death ratio this game is 3-17, I doubt that.

Roderigo: OK, fine, I'm getting a Battle Rifle for my secondary weapon. Since you have the shotgun, you go into their base first. I'll reign down some suppressing fire with my BR, then I'll come pick you up in a Mongoose when you have the flag.

Mongoose

Chasuble: Alright, here I go... Bam, got one.  Oh yeah, there's two!

(Together): DOUBLE KILL!!!!!

Roderigo: Nice, I just got the last guy, I'll be right over there.

Chasuble: "Was the cause of death mentioned?" (26)

Roderigo: Yeah, I stuck him with a Plasma Grenade, square in the face!

A Plasma Grenade stuck to an enemy's face

Chasuble: Haha, now that's more like it.

Roderigo: OK I'm outside with the mongoose, come on, get in!

Chasuble: Here I am, let's get going before they chase us down.

Roderigo: Shoot, they have a Warthog! We don't stand a chance!

A Warthog

Chasuble: Well I need to get the flag back to the base, somehow we must remove of him.

Roderigo: "How do you mean, removing him?" (4.2.228)

Chasuble: Umm, killing him?

Roderigo: Right. OK I'm going to get out, you make a run for it.

Chasuble: But Roderigo, it's suicide!

Roderigo: Don't worry, I have something in mind

(As the Warthog approaches, Roderigo charges up the Spartan Laser, aims it at the Warthog, and fires its deadly laser beam, causing the Warthog and all of the enemy passengers inside it to explode in blaze of fiery glory)

An accurate portrayal

Chasuble: What in the name of Davy Jones?!

Roderigo: I told you I knew what I was doing.

Chasuble: Wow, you certainly were right.  I was wrong not to trust you.  "These are very joyful tidings" (28).

Roderigo: I would hope you never doubt me again... Did you capture their flag yet?

Chasuble: I'm... almost... there.... GOT IT!!! FOR THE WIN!!!

Roderigo: We are most definitely the best at Halo.

Chasuble: That was an excellent game, indeed. We shall do this again sometime.

Roderigo: Agreed. But now, I have to go and plot the death of a Moorish general with a dear friend of mine.

Chasuble: Understandable, I have to go perform a christening for two silly men.  I'll see you later Roderigo.

Roderigo: Piece out, homie.

Gogol's Worst Day

So, you want to know about my worst day in English, huh?  What, do you like hearing me suffer?  Eh, fine, I'll tell you.  But it is awfully embarrassing.  Anyways, this was the day before we were going to read this stupid book, called "The Namesake."  I don't really remember what it's about, only that it's about some whiny kid whose parents move to the US from India.  I didn't really read it, because "to read the story... would mean paying tribute to [my] namesake, accepting it somehow" (92).  So on this particular day, we had a discussion about our own names, and our opinions of them.  Do I really have to tell you why I hated this day?  My name is Gogol, for crying out loud. Gogol Ganguli. To be honest with you, I think it sounds like some sort of nasty Italian pasta dish.  "At times, [my] name... manages to... distress [me] physically, like the scratchy tag of a shirt [I] have been forced permanently to wear" (76).  I mean, if that simile doesn't show you the extent of my internal conflict, I don't know what will.  Nonetheless, I had to talk about my name, and explain that my dad gave it to me because he likes this Russian author named Gogol.  That's all well and fine, but who in their right mind goes and names their child Gogol?  But back to the class, it's bad enough that I have to wear this name around everywhere, but then having to talk about it in front of all my peers?  The memory of it haunts me to this day.  Just meeting new people and introducing myself is miserable.  "[I] cannot imagine saying 'Hi, it's Gogol'... [I] cannot imagine this at all" (76).  But I take comfort in the fact that at least I'm not alone.  This one kid we call the Dark Lord (his real name is Chase) was talking about how "the normal 'e' at the end of his first name makes up for the weird 'e' at the end of his last name..." I suppose he has more of a spelling problem, but you get the point.  Anyway, I have to go back to being and angsty teenager, I'll see you around.

An Evening With Othello

Me: It's nice to be speaking with you, Othello, despite your unfortunate state of being dead.  Although, as merely a fictional character, your death is hardly one that manifests itself in any physical sense, but rather a symbolic, literary one.  I'm sorry, don't mind me.  I learned to talk in that affluent, perhaps even verbose, manner in AP English 11.

Othello: "As if there were some monster in thy thought" (3.3.107)

Me: Oh, no, no my dear friend.  You see, AP English 11 was a trying time in my typically trite life.  You see, because you haven't ever taken a course as rigorous as AP English, I bet you couldn't even push the implications of that alliteration I used in that last sentence!

Othello: "O, blood, blood, blood!" (3.3.448)

Me: Dear goodness, take it easy man! Just put the gun down and relax, I was just joking!

Othello: "Fetch me the handkerchief!" (3.4.90)

Me: What? What are you talking about? I don't even own a handkerchief, its the 21st century.  Just put the gun down and stop making obscure demands.

Othello: "For I know thou'rt full of love and honesty" (3.3.118)

Me: There, now that's more like it. I wanted to ask you if you have ever annotated a book before.  You know, literary devices, interacting with the text.  Because last year, all that was pretty new to me.

Othello: "Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell" (4.2.38)

Me: I don't think you are in a position to make such a claim, who are you to say I've never annotated before AP English 11?  Well, I guess I had, but not in the manner that AP English and Ms. Serensky require.

Othello: "Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned/ tonight" (4.1.183-184)

Me: OK, what is wrong with you? Why are you so violent? Although her methods are demanding, I have to admit that without the rigorous experience of the class, I would not be as intelligent as I am now.  Nonetheless, I think this interview has proved completely futile, and is thus over.  I dread saying this, but is there anything else you'd like to add?

Othello: "Put out the light, and then put out the light" (5.2.7)

Me: Good thinking, it's not smart to leave a light on in a room once you leave it. But at the same time, it isn't smart to kill your wife purely out of suspicion, but we all make mistakes.  OK, OK, put the gun down! I'm leaving!

The Charlie Sheen-pocalypse

I don't know if anyone else finds this recent Charlie Sheen media frenzy utterly hilarious, but I certainly do.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, all you need to do is watch this, both to catch up on what is going on and to realize that this guy is very strange.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5aSa4tmVNM (sorry, but for some reason I cannot embed the video here, but this link works nonetheless)

First off, allow me to add the disclaimer that I pay absolutely zero attention to the comings and goings of Hollywood, because I really couldn't care less what these people do in their personal lives.  I just want to see them act.  It's as if we play pretend middle school drama with the celebrities as some obscure form of entertainment, in which we watch couples get together only to inevitably break up, pass judgments on what everyone wears to awards shows... I could go on, but I'm just saying that I typically do not keep up with the current events of TMZ and all the grocery store check-out aisle magazines.

But I cannot help but to notice this Charlie Sheen fiasco, and the ensuing hilarity that his interviews have, for all practical purposes, guaranteed.  I knew it was bad when I turned on SNL and was absolutely positive that they would mock him a considerable amount, only the see that the first sketch of the show was a parody of a talk show that Sheen could host, called "Duh-Winning!"  Now, mostly what I'm talking about here is not his period of arguably irrational drug use and partying, even though it was the catalyst for all of this, but rather his interview tour that he has embarked on in these recent days after the fact.  Let's be honest, when you are saying things like, "Dying is for fools" and "[My brain] fires in a way that is maybe not from this particular terrestrial realm, " either you must be acting for people's entertainment, or you are just completely delusional.  And the truth is, I honestly do not know which Charlie Sheen falls under.  I figure that we are, for the most part, taking him for his word as he is indirectly recognizing his craziness.  But I also stopped and wondered if maybe he is just playing us, and portraying this loony of a celebrity just for the fun of it.  I suppose we could analyze everything he is doing and possibly make a conclusion, but frankly I don't have the time or motivation to watch hours of Charlie Sheen footage.  But if any of you, my peers, feel this urge, then by all means go right ahead.  I'm sure you will be entertained for the most part.  I know one thing is for certain though, and that is that any publicity is good publicity.  And in that sense, Charlie Sheen is definitely "winning."

My Cell Phone

My cell phone has a mind of its own.  I swear, it does.  Now that I think about it, it must be some kind of revolutionary, scientific breakthrough.  After all, isn't a machine that is self-aware a kind of technology that we have been after for decades?  I suppose with such a bold claim, I should make my case, and justify my phone's remarkable capabilities with examples.  And by remarkable capabilities, I mean horrible errors of programing and design that are immeasurably cruel.

I should first let you know that I have an HTC Droid Incredible -- a very nice, critically well reviewed, competitive, and expensive cell phone.  It was a birthday present this past summer, as I was overdue for a two-year upgrade.  It pretty much does everything you could imagine.  You can do a Google search by taking  a picture of something, you can go on YouTube and Facebook and anywhere else on the internet at what Verizon touts as "blazingly" fast speeds, you can play all kinds of games, you can e-mail, use it as a flashlight, keep a calendar, get automatic weather updates, get turn-by-turn driving directions via Google Maps, and so much more with all of the applications you can find on the App Market.  If you were to ask me, I would say it definitely competes with the iPhone, which needs little introduction.

So, with so many amazing features in what one might call a technological marvel, it would be safe to suggest that it performs rudimentary tasks with efficiency and ease.  And for the most part, it does.  Call quality is excellent, text messages are sent and received quickly, and reception is hardly ever a problem.  But, it seems that capabilities arguably even less strenuous than those are quite problematic for my "Incredible" phone (come on, you saw this pun coming sooner or later).  You see, my phone has adapted this habit of changing my settings and erasing things under its own will, as if it gets bored when I'm not using it.  It has changed my settings for e-mail notification, internet connectivity, and automatic updates, specifically not updating the current weather automatically, a setting I definitely had enabled.  It also keeps me logged onto Facebook, and tells people that I am online and that they can send chat messages to me.  This is not a problem, but somehow it decides that Facebook just isn't important enough, and then doesn't notify me of the message, leaving it unintentionally ignored.

Of course these things aren't so bad, they are merely extraneous issues, and I can deal with them.  But the involuntary erasing of information is extremely frustrating.  Around Christmas time it deleted every single last one of my text messages dating back to when I received the phone.  With a large memory capacity, that's a lot of text messages.  I didn't discover this until I received a text and opened the messaging screen, only to find that unopened text all by it self, completely alone in an abyss of white LED screen glow, once filled with months worth of improper grammar usage and misspelling.  I got over this though, because nothing truly profound was lost.

But the final straw came two days ago, when overnight my phone deleted all of my contacts.  Every phone number I had saved to my phone was gone.  Vanished, as if into thin air.  Needless to say, I was in a fit of fiery rage.  I'd say that having your contacts is up there as one of the most vitally important functions of the cell phone in the modern day.  You would imagine that a phone of this caliber could expend the energy to maintain those contacts on the phone's memory.  Well, after some attempts at reacquiring them with the people at Verizon, my mom let into the woman on the phone at customer service, and two minutes later, they decided to send me a replacement.  Astonishingly, It came to us in the mail in only two days, and today I took it to be activated.  Unfortunately, they could not recover my contacts.  But hopefully this new phone is not a lemon... Or a brilliant technological breakthrough, depending on how you look at it.

Oh, and P.S.
Verizon could not find my contacts... but I could.  They we're hiding in my online backup.  Well, not exactly... I had to look in the ever so convenient "Trash" section, where all of my phone numbers were waiting for me, to be recovered and swiftly synced back to my phone... I still don't know how they got there.

An Honest Appeal For "A Thousand Suns"

Before you pass quick judgment, scroll down and say "oh man, this post is WAY to long," and perhaps overlook my praise as sheer fan-boy obsession, you might need to actually spare the 47 minutes it takes to listen through Linkin Park's latest studio release, "A Thousand Suns."  And specifically for this album, I truly mean it.  Grab some headphones, find an hour of your day to spare, and take a seat, because if you allow the 15 tracks of "A Thousand Suns" to sink into the depths of your mind without interruption, I think you will discover a remarkable body of work, one that will ultimately reward you for you careful listening and patience.

Now, I'm not going out and saying "OMG THIS IS THE BEST ALBUM OF ALL TIME EVER OMG!! <3." After all, I am devoting a precious blog to it.  However, most of what I have to say of "A Thousand Suns" I have to say because of three reasons:

1. The content of this music in the context of the artists who made it is important to recognize
2. I truly believe that individually the songs are tremendous, but even more so, I believe that the album as a whole functions as something greater than the sum of its parts, something hard to find in this age of music where almost everything is managed digitally and the industry revolves around singles
3. Perhaps the biggest reason, that this record is so underrated and has been so overlooked, that it deserves more recognition than it has received

So, here is my case for Linkin Park and their fourth studio album, in order of these reasons I have laid out above.

The number one reason, in my opinion, that most people have overlooked "A Thousand Suns" is simply because of ignorance.  This is the reason most people do not open themselves up to new or different music, because they like what they like and that's it.  Especially in this case, most people who have past over this album have done so because they look at it and say "Ehh, another Linkin Park album? I hate all of their immature, angry, and mediocre music from before, so why would I like this?" Perhaps you yourself have said this in passing.  But it's OK! Because I want you to have a second chance and experience the best of what this album can offer.  In fact, only recently have I become a Linkin Park fan, because most of their angsty, loud, and aggressive sound from "Hybrid Theory" and "Meteora" just wasn't my style before about two or three years ago.  But for some reason, I personally just came to like Linkin Park, all the while accepting their shortcomings in regards to talent and creativity.  Before "A Thousand Suns," when you would listen to Linkin Park, you would know what you were getting.  Which is why I advise that you listen through this latest album the way I did, with no preconceptions of what it will sound like because of who made it.  Whether you love old Linkin Park or hate it, that is simply the way you have to listen to it.

I caution you so much in this manner because the content of this record deserves it.  After you listen to it, and when you take into consideration the band who made it, it presents them ultimately in an entirely different light.  Personally, I was astonished at what I thought a moderately talented group of guys was able to do with this album.  Lyrically and musically, they managed to push not only what the common conception of what "Linkin Park" is beyond its boundaries, but they managed to push modern music in a direction that has not quite been explored, and which I believe will be in coming years.  At their core, these songs are well constructed, not just written.  They seem very thoughtfully planned out and cared for individually, and especially in the larger scheme of the album as a whole.  One of my largest bits of praise for "A Thousand Suns" is that it blends together 15 different tracks that uniquely transcend genres into a cohesive album.  More than most albums that have been made recently, it deserves - even necessitates - the full "front-to-back" play through.

Finally, I blog tonight because I just want you to listen to this album.  I have been a huge proponent of it ever since the day Linkin Park released it back in September, and I have even won over a few of my friends who were doubters at first.  Some of my friends, devout Linkin Park fans, hated it.  One in particular wondered aloud if the album was actually, and I quote, "a joke."  But I encouraged them to sit down and play through all 47 minutes, to save their judgment, and just let the music play itself to them.  And guess what?  Yep, they fell in love with it.  So please, I formally ask you that you find an hour to spare this weekend, perhaps before you fall asleep one night, that you do as I have suggested twice now, and just listen through the entire thing uninterrupted.  As someone with very eclectic musical tastes that are ever expanding, I ask you to trust me, and take a chance on "A Thousand Suns," just as Linkin Park did.  All you have to lose is an hour - nothing in comparison to the two years the six men of Linkin Park spent creating it.

Paper Vs. Data Sheet

I won't sleep well either way

I Don't Like Amsterdam

OK now, take a deep breath.  First of all, this post is called "I Don't Like Amsterdam."  It is not "Amsterdam is the Worst Book of All Time," "Ian McEwan Should Never Pick Up a Pen or Pencil Again," or "Amsterdam Stinks So Much that I am Going to Stop Reading Forever."  This is my opinion, and that is all.

Second of all, I feel as if a person saying that they do not like a book is a bold claim to make - one that is freely imparted all too often, without consideration of its implications.  I've heard fellow classmates exclaim their distaste for particular English books so often that I really want to use that cliche about having a dollar for every time some one said something... Because I would be so wealthy that by now I would have my own yacht... Because a yacht is totally something a wealthy person buys.  But nonetheless, the phrase "I don't like..." is unconsciously tossed around more than that random beach ball in the stands at a football game.  People rarely legitimately support their opinions, and if they did so, maybe they would even see the other side of an argument.

So for one, don't take my expressions personally because they are just my opinions.  No one shares the exact same musical taste as someone else, so no one should share the exact same literary taste as someone else.  Secondly, I plan on backing up my above statement, so don't go calling me a hypocrite just yet.

For starters, I must admit that I have enjoyed what we have read this year for the most part.  Othello lived up to its fame as a classic Shakespeare play, The Namesake was a surprisingly entertaining story, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest proved thoroughly amusing as well as thought provoking.  But when it comes to Amsterdam... well, you know how I feel.  Some of you, my classmates, share this feeling with me, and we have most likely shared this opinion with one another.  We might have different reasons, but these are mine (and since lists are just so gosh darn cool, I'm going to use one of them).

1. Ignorant Claims - You may or may not know I'm the President of the Young Republicans club (thanks, November WAS a nice victory), but now that you do, it's probably obvious that the assertions Clive and Vernon make about Garmondy and the effects of his conservative policies infuriate me.  To just state as simple fact that "'There'll be even more people living below the poverty line'" because of Garmondy is not only objectionable to me, but in a broad sense, is immature (79).  One way or another, drawing severe conclusions like this one do not advance political discussion in any way, and just come off as ignorant and childish.
2. Predictability - Even from the epigraph, the general conclusion of the book can be seen from a mile away.
3. Unimaginative -  In a way, this coincides with #2, as the story line in general is rather simplistic and boring.  Two friends who turn on each other.  As if that hasn't been done before.
4. Unrealistic Conclusion - In a feeble attempt to compensate for #3, the ultimate fate of the characters is completely unreasonable.  We have discussed the novel's ending in class, and as some of us have mentioned, it is rather difficult to believe that they would go to the extent that they would kill each other.  Unless they were both clinically insane, I cannot bring myself to accept that as realistic.
5. Weak, Unlikeable Characters - While this reason is highly subjective, I still feel as if Clive and Vernon, while moderately well developed by McEwan, are so immoral, so distasteful, and so objectionable, that it is overly difficult to not necessarily sympathize with either of them, but to care about them in a general sense.  Honestly, I couldn't really care what happened to them because I just hated them so much.  No matter if this is intentional or not, I personally found it hard to feel invested in the outcome of these characters lives.

I could possibly go on, but since it is rather late and your attention span must be wearing thin, I shall stop myself.  Once again, these are MY OPINIONS!!! I do not discourage you from disagreeing with me.  In fact, I encourage it.  I promise, I won't be offended... I'll just belittle you into either agreement with me, or into shame because of your foolish ignorance... :)

Pillows

What do you typically associate with pillows? Comfort? Relaxation?  Or as an AP English student do you analyze the pillow, and think of the possible implications of the feather and down components in its interior?

Well if you do that last one, you're crazy.  But I normally just like to picture that instant gratification of laying down on a pillow, that feeling of "ohhhh, I'm not getting up from here for at least an hour."  And don't get me started on the other side of the pillow.  Man, oh man, when you flip that baby over and its just the perfect cool temperature against the side of your face.  All the pleasures of life pale in comparison to that moment.  But apparently, there must be some people out there who do not associate well with pillows.  How could this be?  I do not know, but it's true I tell you!

It's true because at least two writers of literature have found it such a vile and objectionable object that it should be considered for use as a murder weapon.  Desdemona of Shakespeare's Othello suffered such a fate, as well as our dear friend McMurphy of Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  To me, it seems pretty strange that of three books we have thus far completed, two of them make prevalent a "death by pillow."  Think about it, what are the odds that two highly symbolic and unrelated deaths are attributed to a pillow and it's capacity to smother?  And why pillows?  Granted, Bromden hardly "kills" McMurphy with the pillow, as the incident was more or less an act of euthanasia to end McMuphy's post-lobotomy suffering.  But on the other hand, Othello doesn't mess around.  He smothers his wife with brute force, not once, but twice.  Even if you might think that this juxtaposition of comfort and death uniquely brought about by the pillow reveals some sort of effort by Othello to kill his wife peacefully, I'm going to have to disagree.  I can't say from experience, but I'm almost positive that suffocating to death is not pleasant in any way.  I think that this pillow murder is viscous.

So what's the connection?  Let's think of what else these works have in common... dig deep, read between the lines, push the implications... what could these two pieces of literature have in comm-- I GOT IT! MS. SERENSKY ASSIGNED THEM TO US!  Bahahaha, you thought you could stump us Ms. Serensky, but we're on to you!  I bet you're trying to sabotage us and get us to hate pillows!  Nice try, but not going to happen!

It's Getting Steamy in Here

Allow me to start by acknowledging the fact that most of us definitely pick up on the subject matter of this post when we're reading our English books.  Whether we talk about it or not, our ears perk up like little terriers whenever we stumble across that certain "steamy" section of the reading.  You know what I mean... you feel yourself losing focus while annotating... and just then... when you least expect it... WHOA. THIS JUST GOT SEXUAL.

Jillian

It's not as if this is a once in a while occurrence.  If you think back to every book we've read, there has been at least one or more passages dealing with the subject of sex or with sexual overtones:

1. Othello: "You rise to play, and go to bed to work" (2.1.14) - Check
2. The Namesake: Gogol's various girl friends and subsequent "encounters" - Check
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: McMurphy's prevelant sexuality - Check
4. Amsterdam: Page 12 quote - Check

So... what's the deal?  Why do all these writers (including Shakespeare, mind you) insist on including some allusion to sex or integrate it into the story?  Is it because they know English students will read their books and and want to create awkward moments in class discussion?  Is it because they thought the book was boring and needed some excitement?  Or maybe because it is such a touchy subject and it will make their book more "edgy."  Thinking with some maturity, I'd say these reasons are incorrect.  Rather, the authors feel that the topic of sex is just another part of life.  How characters deal with it reveals something about them, in one way or anther, just like any other subject could.  So, now that I really think about it, it shouldn't seem very unusual that the subject reappears in literature so often. But nonetheless, I'm not sure if we will ever be able to reach that day as teenagers where the awkward embarrassment we all feel when we read and discuss these sections will ever go away.  But it can't hurt to try I suppose.

They See Me Bloggin', They Hatin'

Well hello there, whoever you are... really, because you could either be Ms. Serensky, a fellow classmate, or a mysterious internet surfer like our friend Cheryl, who felt compelled to comment on Mary Beth's blog.


I know what you must be thinking.  "Chris, why is the title of your blog an allusion to a popular 2000s hip-hop song?"  Well I'll tell you why.  It's because it popped in my head and I thought it was funny, that's why.  A rational which, in a way, reflects a lot of what the blogging experience evolved into.  I'd say that the majority of the effects of the blog project, whether it be their content in particular, the blog banter show, or just discussions in commons along the lines of "did you read so and so's blog?," were that of humor.  The person or people who could make the funniest posts of the night would most certainly receive the attention of our fearless leader the next day in the opening five minutes of class.  And I know that we've all had that objective in our sights at one point or another, because I know that at least I have.  Simply scroll down to one of my first blogs in which I address this desire.  But the fact that so much funny content and previously hidden talent has been revealed by the blogs proves that this project has been beneficial.

Considering that this is a school project, a final exam actually, I feel as if we might have even had "too" much fun with these weekly writings.  I never truly resented signing into Blogger, which is not something I can say for some other school assignments.  So excuse me while I shamelessly brown-nose, but I feel we do owe Ms. Serensky some credit for the creating of this project.  Nice work, Ms. Serensky, and thank you for catalyzing all the good times we've had on the blogs.

The Change

Over the years of high school, one thing that has always blindsided me is the start of the new semester.  With all of my attention focused on studying for finals, turning in extra credit, and finishing off any assignments before teachers submit grades, I always forget that in a matter of two days my whole daily routine from 7:40 AM to 2:50 PM completely shifts.  The people I see, the classes I'm in, the order I go to them, when I eat, and when I get to relax/churn out some last minute homework in commons all see moderate to radical change.  For most students, the biggest change besides single semester classes ending and beginning is when their lunch period occurs.  At least for me, this is a huge deal.  For one, lunch's simple purpose of giving a person their energy through food has a lot of importance.  Without the in between meal, we would all be asleep by 8th period English.  Secondly, that half period (I'm assuming most of us are in an AP science class) usually works as a checkpoint for the day.  When we receive schedules, we typically compare how we have "this, this, and this" before lunch, and "this, this, and this" after lunch.  No matter if it's 4th, 5th, or 6th period, lunch is the midpoint of our routine.

But for AP English students, because we're weird, what we worry about the most is what new students will be in our classes.  Will it be a big class or small class?  Will I be able to talk in discussions?  Will that one person who talks all the time be in there?  Will that one person who always interrupts you be in there?  Who will be in my writing group?  With discussions, yes, naturally the dynamic of the class undergoes a change with the new semester.  But it is also one we should welcome.  Hearing new voices and opinions can be refreshing, and being able to share your views with new people should interest you as well.  So when next Monday rolls around and we find ourselves in new seats with a few new faces, remember to welcome the change, and not waste your energy panicking... because you'll need that energy to panic when we get our next data sheet assigned.

Something Else to Think About

I think it's safe to say that we all had our minds blown by the ending of "Shutter Island."  Despite hints throughout of DiCaprio's character having something a little quirky with him, we almost entirely buy into his story, or Dr. Cawley's story/game rather.  While the film is very well executed and tells the story very well, I believe it plays off of a very important cultural and historical stereotype, one that it would potentially cause it to fail without having.   What I'm referring to is how we all agree that all mental health care in the 1950s was horrific and might have had good intentions, but just aimed to get rid of the "problematic" people in society.  This is of course something that we explored in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, with Kesey's directing his audience's sympathy towards the inmates of the asylum (with McMurphy as the protagonist), and consequently their anger towards the ward (with Nurse Ratched as the antagonist).  Having just read this book, obviously we all had our doubts when it came to the hospital's intentions in the film, not to mention the (now understandable) shady behavior of Dr. Cawley. By playing off of this stigma, the film has great success without a huge risk of plot holes by basing the plot on such a subject.  As such, the end of the film leaves you questioning various things, including if all institutions where alike in their maltreatment.  It shines a light on the origin of their problems back then, that some people truly are insane, however you define it, and the problems they cause require solutions.

Coming Soon to an English Class Near You

After rereading my last post, I'd say that I sound a little whiny and disgruntled.  The exhaustion school imposes and the impending return of it just doesn't get me very excited, because tomorrow is going to be a horribly rude awakening back into reality from this two week long dream.  But nonetheless, I still will have to complete the consistent homework assignments, no matter how much I resent them.  So when I checked in my English binder for next week's schedule and saw "Shutter Island" typed in Monday - Wednesday, my jubilation was immeasurable.  At this point, I know we will have work to do, so I won't even mind if we have to take notes.  It's because movies have this wonderful quality of simply feeding us visual and auditory information that our brains interpret with ease.  No endless pages of words, packets of numbers and symbols, textbooks of terminology and diagrams.  Just images and sounds from the world around us, captured in an artful, entertaining, and potentially educational manner.  But I'm not going to be naive...  You see, I'm trying to accept that school is going to happen tomorrow right now, rather than accept it in the middle of Calculus first period, or maybe never and fail every class I'm in.  So when I say I won't care if we have to take notes and prepare for a discussion, I mean it, because we all know Ms. Serensky has to have a trick up her sleeve.  The relaxing and care free attitude during "The Namesake" has a mere fraction of a possibility of recurrence, so we all might as well accept tomorrows fate now.  Just appreciate the fact that we get to see a (from what I hear) excellent film in class tomorrow.

Uhhhhhhhhhh

Well, here we are again, blogging.  I can't really tell you how many times I told myself "Ya know, I should open up my back pack and do some of that homework we have over break," only to proceed to stare into the TV and play the new Donkey Kong game I got for Christmas, glance at my phone with a text from a friend offering to hang out, and then within a few minutes leave my house and my inclinations to do school work behind.  If I remember correctly, It took me until the first Wednesday to touch my back pack... but don't worry, it was only to move it up to my room because my brother and his wife were coming home to spend Christmas with us.  I later opened it and cautiously peered in on the following Monday, only to be delayed until Tuesday to actually pull out a binder.  I was met with the inevitable.  Biology project.  Calculus holiday assignment.  Data sheet.  Blog.  Spanish reading.  Art projects.  All immeasurably insignificant to me during this time of temporary freedom.  After all, when else could I play these new video games, teach myself the way around this new bass guitar, and hang out with my friends every night?

The first time I actually tried to do some work was actually painful for me.  The thought of doing school work right at that moment was so demoralizing that I just had to step away, compose myself, sit back down, and open up Facebook.  Oh, that was so much better.  But as I tried to figure out why this experience was so difficult for me, especially when I don't remember it being so in the past, I realized the only difference is that this is senior year - what has been the most difficult year of school by far.  The extreme amounts of work and its extreme difficulty had truly taken a toll on my brain, and the equal and opposite reaction was extreme relaxation, and extreme lack of actual thought.  I've been in my own little mental asylum for two weeks, and while temporarily enjoyable, it will be very much regretted tomorrow morning around 7:40.