Quotes & Stuff

(The last one is by Sarah Kay)

Famous First and Last Lines

“This is the saddest story I have ever heard.”

                The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford begins with this sentence. Published in 1915, the book is set around the time that World War One was occurring and it tells the story of a seemingly perfect marriages and how they fell apart due to human error. The entire book sounds really sad, which I anticipated because of the first line of the book. Death and tragedy are scattered throughout the novel and Ford leaves his readers with a question that he doesn’t answer. Ford (17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was from England. He was mostly a journal critic before he wrote his books. Although he didn’t write many books, The Good Soldier is considered to be one of the greatest novels of the 20^th century and of all time. I do think that I would like to read this book. I’ve always been attracted to sad stories or books that don’t have a happy ending. I think that Ford was a realistic writer because he wrote about the struggles that people faced and how those problems could make or break them.

“This is not the scene I dreamed of. Like much else nowadays I leave it feeling stupid, like a man who lost his way long ago but presses on along a road that may lead nowhere.”

                Waiting for the Barbarians was written by J.M Coetzee in 1980. Coetzee was born on February 9^th 1940 and is from South Africa but now lives in Australia. He is a distinguished writer and has won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003. Waiting for the Barbarians is about a small colonial town that is under attack by the indigenous people that surround them. After a Colonel capturing and killing some of them, the Magistrate has a change of heart and decides to help a barbarian girl who was hurt during the attack. He later falls in love with her and asks her to stay with him. Throughout the novel, the Magistrate is trying to do the right thing and help the barbarians while the Colonel hunts and kills them.  This book doesn’t seem that interesting to me and I don’t think that I would like to read it. I don’t usually read books about adventure and I like books that are more realistic. However, it reminds me of King Kong, but in reverse. 

Writers as Readers

When I read Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, I found it really easy to see what literal meaning to it. Obviously, a cage bird knows nothing other than singing. It does not have freedom, therefore, all it can do is sing. At least, that’s what we think its doing. We often think of singing as something that someone does when they are happy that helps them express what they feel. In reality, I think that the bird is screaming. It is isolated and alone. It longs to be somewhere other than in a cage. A bird doesn't belong in a cage. This all relates back to how we often think that people are okay even when they aren't. Just because someone is smiling, doesn't mean that they aren't going through something else in their head. We are so quick to over emphasize want we want to be true and we downplay the negatives although that can hurt us because we aren't seeing the truth and even if we are, we choose to not accept it and we go on living a lie. So, someone who hears a caged bird sing would probably think that the bird is singing out of happiness when it actually isn't. But I guess that’s just what I believe.

When it comes to dreams, I do think that they tell the truth about us. Instead of us telling the truth to everyone around us, our dreams allow us to be honest with ourselves even if we don’t want to be. I also think that our dreams warn us of what is going to happen in the future. I've often had dreams that actually end up happening in real life. Or I would have a dream and then I would find out what it could symbolize and then I would realize that it was relevant to what I experienced. A lot of my dreams have to do with me being in a lot of stress and although that sounds like a bad thing, I’m glad that my subconscious mind can be honest with me because I’m not very good at accepting how I feel.

 

I've always been a person that wasn't good at remembering every single thing that I probably should remember. But at the same time, I've always remembered things that were important to me. I can remember something that someone said to me five years ago but I sometimes forget my best friend’s birthday. I’m not good with names but I can probably remember that the person I’m thinking of has a problem when it comes to making eye contact when they’re talking to someone. I tend to forget the things I should remember and I always remember the insignificant things.

Angst

I know why my parents raised me the way that they did

They wanted the best for me

They didn't want me to make the same mistakes that they made

But I don’t know why they won’t let me make my own mistakes

Let me learn for myself

How cruel this world can be

But also let me learn for myself

How marvelous this world can be at the same time

I've learned to be fearful of everything

I don’t want to be afraid anymore.

If I Were in Charge of the World

If I were in charge of the world

I'd cancel Fox News,

Lonely Friday nights, persuasive essays and also

cauliflower.

If I were in charge of the world

there'd be a lot more feminism,

free shipping, mixtapes, and 

an unlimited supply of Earl Grey Tea.

If I were in charge of the world

you wouldn't have to change who you were to fit in.

You wouldn't have sadness.

You wouldn't have destructive criticism.

Or "You could have done better."

You wouldn't

even have a reason to doubt yourself.

If I were in charge of the world

a cup of black coffee would be a vegetable.

All songs would probably be acoustic

and a person who sometimes forgot that their best is always good enough 

and sometimes forgot to smile

would still be allowed to be 

in charge of the world.

Dream Threads

I can see myself laying in my bed and I try to wake myself up but it never seems to work. No matter how hard I shake myself, I cannot be awakened. I can hear the clock on the wall ticking away second by second. I see the moonlight coming in through my window. Everything seems so calm and I have forgotten why I wanted to wake myself in the first place. All I know is that I have an uneasy feeling inside because I can see myself being vulnerable and helpless since I am asleep. But at the same time, I feel like I’m watching over myself. So am I safe or am I in danger? Can I save myself or will I watch myself suffer without being able to do anything? I guess for now, it doesn't matter because I am not in danger at this very second. It’s just another night and morning is on its way. I've always been the kind of person that worries even when nothing is wrong but I have a feeling that something will go wrong this time. I turn around and look into the mirror but this time, where my face is supposed to be, I see fire.  

Dreaming and falling and dreaming and falling

Often, I have a dream in which I’m falling. I could be doing anything and all of a sudden, the floor would give way and I would fall through it. When I think of what is below our feet, I think of the Earth. But when I have dreams like this, I would be falling through the sky. I can remember how helpless I would feel because I had nothing to hold onto that would stop me from falling. As I got closer to the ground, I would give up on trying to save myself and a feeling of calmness would come over me. But just as I am about to hit the ground, I wake up. Most of the time, I would go back to sleep but sometimes, I can’t fall back asleep. I've always thought that dreams have a deeper meaning to them. Perhaps they are trying to warn us of things that will happen in our future. Or maybe it is our minds being honest with us because sometimes we try to act like a different person than who we actually are and that can be damaging in the long run. I think that dreaming is a way for us to be ourselves even its hard for us to say what we think or how we feel when we are around others. Either way, dreaming can help us be honest with ourselves even when we don’t want to be. Dreams have always been one of those topics that I wish I understood but I will probably never fully understand, but I do think it’s nice that we can dream because we can get away from everything even if it’s only for three to five seconds.