My Florence Blog, and Likely My Last Post On This Blog

So - I'm in Florence, Italy - or, Flo-town as the locals say. Just kiddin', they don't say that.

Anyway, here's a link to my new blog which you can read to follow my latest European experiences.

http://florentinetimes.wordpress.com/

Enjoy!

Steal Your Sentence

As a short exercise for my writing class, we took a sentence from a famous piece of literature. Mine below is from The Great Gatsby.

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. Let me take you back to my days in grammar school.” A hectic time flashed before his eyes - lots of learning and trying to fit in and observing life all around him in a totally new way.

“ ‘Son, whenever you’re speaking in front of a lot of people,’ my father told me, ‘just remember to think about what you want to say, and then say it. There are other kids that will be more nervous than you.”

“That always takes me to this one day after class I’ll never forget.”

“But, but Mrs. Willows I prwomise I’ll do better next time. You just need to give me one more chance”

“Now Nicholas, I’m sorry but I can’t do that. If I gave you another chance to present your story, I would have to do the same for all the other boys and girls.”

Nick sat up from his recline and gazed out the window. The sun reflected off a moist glaze filling his eyes. “I remember starting to cry, and as I brought up my hand to hide the tears Mrs. Willows took hold of it, looked me in the eye, and said I would be allowed another chance, then wiped the tears off my face.”

At this point Dr. Burgess raised his chin at Nick with discovery. “And you think this may have been the start of your depression?”

“No, no good sir. not at all. I started feeling this way back in the late of ’22.” Nick explained with self-realization: “Like I said, the one relationship I had, which I ruined by the way, was with a girl so superficial I myself didn’t notice it until she was gone. And aside from that my only real friend was murdered.”

“But you’ve always had a privileged life, excuse me, a sheltered life - safe from common disadvantages. You yourself - ”

“Ha!” Nick blindly cut him off. “A real friend I said. He wouldn’t even tell me half his story!”

Catchy Title

So I know you few who are true to my blog must be asking yourself, “Jake! What classes are you taking?!” Well, fret no more as the list is here by popular demand. Yes that’s right - I take requests. Forget this intro - here’s the body.

Philosophy of Human Nature

Gonzaga being a Jesuit school, there’s a reoccurring theme of philosophy that nags at us every year. I got my 100 & 400 level classes out of the way last year. Now I’ll do my 300-level in the springtime which leaves - yes you guessed it - my 200-level at the moment. So what is the philosophy of human nature? Well that’s why I’m taking the class aren’t i? Haha, see what I did there. So far we’ve read Socrates’ Pheado and we’re going to be reading something called Discourse on Methods and Meditations on First Philosophy by Descartes. And don’t assume for one moment that I will not purposefully pronounce the author any other way than that which it is spelled. “Dess-car-tess.”

Creative Fiction Writing

I’m in the Writing Track of the English major and so I am rather excited to be taking this class as it is the first of my concentrated classes for my major. We do fun exercises, some of which I’ll be posting throughout the semester.

Romantic Literature

This is not about romantic literature like Pride and Prejudice or Twilight. It’s about the English (& German) writers and poets of the late 18th to the early 19th centuries; the precursor of the American Transcendentalist movement (thank you Sean Conlin). Sadly we’re not reading Wordsworth but I don’t mind as much because I’ve been reading his poetry on my own accord. Books for this class are: Faust, Part 1 by Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe, The Robbers by Schiller, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful by Burke, Poetry and Prose by Percey Shelley, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The class is different than other English classes because we discuss the works very philosophically - it’s cool.

Introduction to Theatre Arts

This is my first actual theatre class, and my first theatre-participation-type-involvement thing. Sure, I did stage crew in high school for a bit but this is different. I actually acted and improvised in the class - something which I have never done before. I rather enjoyed it, but we just played shorter roles and I could see myself really getting into method acting if the character has more significance and endurance than just a short classroom exercise. Other than that it’s a theatre survey class so we’re reading Oedipus Rex for the fourth time in my history of English classes.

Studies in Drama

This teacher is okay. I think she’s a bit too cheery for my taste. But alas I have been tainted for on the first day of class she declared the fall of the Roman Empire to be directly caused by Christianity. Now, I wrote a rather large term paper last year about the fall of said empire and I guarantee myself that Christianity did not appear anywhere on my term paper, notes, or research documents. But the class should be fun nonetheless. I’ve been assigned to read Oedipus Rex for the fifth time in my history of English classes.

Basic Drawing

It’s drawing - what can go wrong with this class? Besides, it will allow me to take painting in Florence in the springtime. Oooo - I like!

This is the conclusion.

101 Word Fiction

These are some flash fiction stories I wrote for a contest where they had to be exactly 101 words.

College Education

Each and every fall and spring green hearts hang on what it might bring. All the students flock to the schools in hope that their minds might become tools. Their beds are made, bags unpacked, alarms are set, books are stacked. Pens uncapped, they hang on every word. Eyes to the front and ready to absorb. Study, study, study until four in the morning, stop to pause and feel that yearning. Four years later and there they are, eager for the future, it’s not too far. But what do they see that astounds their eyes, a million waiting and no replies.

Hypotheticals

“All I’m saying is imagine how much more space we’d have in this world if there weren’t so many roads,” I said.

“But what about the cars? How would people get around?”

“I don’t know I’m just making an observation, I’m hypothesizing is what I’m doing. Maybe we can make better use of the railroad or something. Maybe people will get more exercise.”

“Yeah, and maybe we can all have horses and hitching posts. Just think of it; a hitching post with a meter. A hitching meter,” Julie shot out with a sarcastic tone.

“Really, hitching meter?”

Snoops & Gossip

“Oh Charlotte I wish you could have seen it! We danced and we held each other and oh it was just so romant - Charlotte, do - do you see that?”

“Why, Elizabeth I do see that! Is he…?”

“Yes, he is. He’s spying on us! That little snoop! Putting his nose into other people’s lives.”

“I absolutely hate it when they do that. When they just peer into our lives for all of just a few pages and judge us!”

“Don’t those readers have any respect for privacy?”

“Come on Elizabeth, let’s go into another room where we can’t be disturbed.”

“Creepers.”

Who I Am, for English Class

This is my first writing assignment for my English 101 class. We were told to talk about certain aspects of our life and what makes us who we are in general and in each day.

My mother has always been interested in history and so naturally she has lead my brother and I through the United States to all sorts of history wherever we could find it. I tended to excel in the history classes I took but I always found the Italian Renaissance to be the most magnificent, at least for me. They sought improvement in life, mastered the art of perfection, and then improved that. So when I am asked what I want to do with my life I’m reminded that I have too little time in this life.

Being the optimistic person I am I find comfort in that conclusion in that it’s better to have plenty of options, then none at all. Yet my eyes are too hungry and I set my sights on many fields: Architecture, environmental law, public service, art, writing, screenwriting, and then my hobbies: backpacking, rock climbing, physical fitness, reading, playing the guitar or any instrument, and understanding politics. And from this ideal of the Renaissance man, I take it further and obsess over mastering each of them just like Leonardo da Vinci who could pick up an entirely new skill and become a master of it. There’s so much that appeals to me because when I like something I see, I’m never satisfied with just that, but I become obsessed with replicating my own innovative version of whatever it was I just came across.

As of now, I am majoring in English writing. I like this major because it’s good for life, will help me if I chose to go to school, or help me if I chose an MFA program for screenwriting or something related to that. I was minoring in political science to help me with law school, but as of yesterday I switched to a minor of art. Last Sunday I saw a magnificent home in Pasadena, California built in 1908 by Charles and Henry Greene called The Gamble House. It exemplified the attention and perfection of every detail where form truly follows function. And so my architectural interests were revived once again as they have been so many times since I first though about what I would be when I grew up. While Gonzaga does not have an architecture program, studying art will give me adequate satisfaction until the chance that I go to an architecture school for my masters.

Yet, I’m still growing up and so my mother reminds me that I have so many opportunities to be fortunate for and that I’m at a pivotal time in my life. She says I need to keep and eye on the future, but to focus on living in the moment and in what will soon become ‘the good old days.’ I understand what she is saying, and so I try to remember that advice and to control my obsession over life’s opportunities and to learn to accept what it gives me at the moment. What I can remember, is that I know whatever I do, I will be good at it and I will be happy with it. I’m confident in my ability to form new and creative architectural ideas, my ability to get the most out of being a lawyer for the protection of the environment, and my ability to be creative and highly communicative in my writing.

In the book I am reading right now, Bill Clinton’s autobiography “My Life,” he says that life is not only shaped by the opportunities you accept, but also by the ones you don’t accept. As Bill Clinton took guidance from Abraham Lincoln’s saying “I shall study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come” I will remember this too.

I Hate Mondays

Every night while I lie in bed I always review my day and think about the progress, both short-term and long-term, that I have made in that day. Then I think about the next day and find things that motivate me and will get me out of bed with excitement for the day. I try to make these motivators a constant for me time, so a weekly motivation is best.

I cannot seem to find anything on Mondays that really motivates me. Sure, my Young Democrats meeting every Monday is fun, but it is not really fun and exciting.

Tuesdays I have rock climbing class which I love!

Wednesdays I can watch the latest episode of Running Wilde on Hulu.

Thursdays I go climbing again for class and the latest episode of Modern Family is on Hulu.

Fridays are big days! I go climbing again, outside of class and Hulu, the latest episodes of Community and The Office have been posted. Furthermore, it’s Friday.

I like Saturdays and Sundays, well, for obvious reasons. It’s the weekend and I get to sleep in. Plus on Saturday nights I go to Crosby Student Center with friends for Trivia Night and win prizes.

And now we’re back to Mondays. Nothing. Well Mondays, I guess you’re just plain out of luck. That age old tradition stands; Mondays suck - I hate Mondays.

My First Month Away at College

Well my friends, it’s been over a month that I’ve been away at college at Gonzaga and I’ve certainly been getting a lot out of it.

I have been offered the positions of editor for three Gonzaga publications but I only accepted one as it worked with my schedule best. I’ve been on the cover of the school newspaper twice.

I have memorized all the names and faces of the students in my classes. Twice my history professor has called me out in class to explain the downfall of the Roman Republic and the innovation of the Roman Empire.

I keep my room as clean and orderly as possible. While my bed is as comfortable and relaxing as a hot bath, I make it with enough perfection to bounce a basketball off of the comforter. The girls in the room above me then use the basketball to play a game of 2-on-2 in their room on the weekends. The noise is bothersome so I occasionally take long walks out on the campus and draft essays in my head for which to improve humanity. Because of this, though, I only sleep a few hours each night, but you know what they say - the night is only half the day.

The committees for academics, athletics, and campus security have all sought to recruit me. Though I am underage, the Board of Trustees frequently invites me to their wine and cheese socials. Being a transfer student, I’m not eligible for the honors program, yet I have been offered an honorary degree by them anyway.

Every other Saturday the custodians and I repel down the sides and the steeples of the church to clean its exterior with a fine brush while we watch the sunrise.

Each Sunday, after church, I have brunch with the President and his cabinet. Afterword, we discuss the future of the university. In the springtime, the university and I are launching a line of college apparel in the student store as to promote a more classy college environment. Although elections are not until next spring, I have already been elected president of the student body for the 2011-2012 year.

Despite my lack of completed classes for my degree, the university offered to accept my application of graduation for the spring of 2011. I respectively declined.

Needless to say I’ve been enjoying my first month away at college. I think I like the way this is going.

Above When You Go Beyond

This was written as part of a scholarship application. The question is not important, but here's the answer, my answer.

The purpose for education is to advance one’s knowledge and capacity for success in life. I believe a student's status, or any one in general, should not be judged from where they have been, but where they are going.

I personally have my own dream to venture into the world of environmental law by the highest and most prestigious means possible. Not just possible for myself, but above and beyond myself. When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing left to lose, so why not take the endeavor to succeed in what’s beyond possible.

What I plan to do in environmental law is as limitless as a starry sky, and just when you see a shooting start, you say to yourself, “That’s where I want to be.” But the thing is, that shooting start has been and will go to many places. Still, you go where ever life takes you, and leave your memorable mark for all the people on the planet who can appreciate something as beautiful as a shooting star.

The Nature of Gravity

Sitting in the library as I was distracted from the book I was reading by a man riding a bicycle outside on the pathway, I couldn’t sway my thoughts from putting myself into his shoes.

My mind went first and then I was lifted above gravity itself as I felt the motions of what it is to ride a bicycle. Pedaling down the endless path with no destination but my own satisfaction I suddenly veered to the left.

An explanation I cannot give you except for the sensation of the smooth turn against the very nature of gravity. Why I turned left and not right I cannot say but I would never turn right for the satisfaction I want.

It will always be a left.

Opinion on Dead Poets Society

Last Tuesday I watched Dead Poets Society and while I have seen it before and found it intriguing, this time was different, very different. When I last saw it I believe it was in class during junior high or maybe even my early high school years. The point is it was a long time ago and so I was not as mature as I am now.

For those of you who have not seen this movie I would strongly recommend it and I would advise not reading on any further. I would not want these thoughts about the film to sway your own assumptions and expectations. We need to be clear on why I am writing this thought. Ever since last Tuesday when I saw the movie I have been deeply stirred up about things like conformity and following your dream or should I say “carpe diem.”

You see, in this story in 1959 Neil Perry is in his fourth and final year at Welton Academy, a college prep. boarding school, and we come to learn that his parents, particularly his father, are extremely strict about Neil’s future. He is to graduate high school, go to Harvard, and then to medical school - no question. But through many occurrences in the story, he pursues an acting role with all of his life’s passion as Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream against his father’s command. Neil acts in the play and is greatly praised for his outstanding performance by everyone except his father. Later that night his father tells him that he will be leaving Welton, be sent to military school, then go to Harvard, and then to medical school. Neil is utterly distraught as the viewer is too and through a series of somber motions, Neil uses his fathers pistol to take his own life.

This is where I am left. There is part of me who thinks what happened was good because it’s what the father deserved but a greater part of me longing for Neil to have just run away from home so that he may act another day and follow his life’s passion and seize the day. This greatly disturbs me because I can surely assume that things like this have happened plenty of times and if only it wouldn’t have happened, that would be encouraging. That conformity and blindness were not so overwhelming and restricting on the youth, that would be encouraging. That we and they, the youth, were not so weary and discouraged by society’s one-way streets, that would be encouraging. That open-mindedness may prevail over the harsh circumstances that come to place fault amongst the innocent and the innovators of time, that would be encouraging.

Hard Work

Prelude

The importance of these stories are implied for the purpose of personal fortune in wealth and wealth alone.

Hard Work

Marcus grew up in a middle class household with a good amount of financial freedom, but not too much.

Marcus decided against college and went into the sales industry. To get by with what was asked of him, he would make his sales quota for the week. But instead of working from nine to five, five days a week like everyone else, he would work from nine to seven on on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then from nine to six on Thursday. Now Marcus could have one extra day on the weekend.

"All with some good hard work" says Marcus.

James grew up in a middle class household, not too different from the one Marcus grew up in, and although more financially flexible than others, he still had his obstacles. But he always trusted the cause for good work.

Struggling to do so, James was a straight A student throughout all of high school and college. He graduated at the top of his class and went into the business of business. In less than ten years, overcoming countless personal triumphs, James had made his way to the top. Only 30 years old and already he had his own successful business, a mansion on Long Island, and enough fortune to support him and his family for the rest of his life.

"All with some good hard work" says James.

To Appreciate Peace

“Finally! We have those bastards out of the trenches and on the run.”

“So you’ve heard the news then?”

“How could I not! It is everywhere!”

“Hey, hey Franck! Did you hear the news!

“ Oui! It is a good thing they are leaving. Enough of this war business in our backyards and I would have left!”

Artillery burst overhead of Saint-Mihiel as roof tops crumbled to the ground and the streets were torn up. Germans came scattering through the town as one after another were swept off their feet for an everlasting sleep by the bursts of artillery. A frenchman stood up out of anger not for the Germans, “Aye its the French Army for god’s sake! Hey! General! You’re not out of France yet! What’re ya doing blasting through a perfectly good town!”

More artillery barrages hit the town hard. And so the town threw back more insults and complaints at the French Army.

The barrages ceased to be and the town regained themselves and without a word went to work sorting through debris and burying the dead. Not Franck though. Franck got on his bicycle and made his way to his house and when he saw that what was a house was no more he kept walking, without missing a step. He gathered whatever of his he could find and carry, stuffed it into a rucksack and rode right out of town.

He rode on south to the high meadows of the Swiss-Alps and he made a camp by a lake where he found peace. Over the years his camp became increasingly more permanent and to the day he is still there and will never leave.

Closed Encounters with a Foreigner

Taking a vacation like true vacationers my family and I took our time to wake up and get some breakfast aboard the Monarch of the Seas, a large cruise ship, so by the time we were finishing up with breakfast the room thinned out very much and we were just about to do the same. But before we did so an important looking Norwegian crew member stepped over to our table and made some friendly conversation with us. He looked out the window towards the shore some distance away and saw sunny Southern California. But that was all he knew about his view. Because when he saw large cluster of white buildings covering a mountain ridge he saw snow covered mountains and asked, "is that..how you say..Big Bear?" We disagreed with him and said it was only a cluster of white buildings and to keep things simple, left out obvious details from a Southern Californian. Soon after, the conversation ended and we went our own ways.

For a while my family and I joked about it and imitated his question. Then it was forgotten.

Looking back on it now I can see his logic, or at least that the question was not a foolish one. Seeing white on a mountain side can look like snow very much, especially if you're from Norway. But most certainly not if you're from Southern California. And, we all know that Big Bear is not located on the sunny coast of California. But Norwegians do not.

I would not expect myself to be any more knowledgeable about Norwegian geography than that man.

Reasons

My most recent adventure took me to the elusive mountains of Nepal, the Himalayas.

Before any more information is given away I have to come forward and say that even though mountains and slopes and ravines can be called 'treacherous' it is merely describing the ordinary. Yes they're treacherous but no more than freeways and Walmarts on Black Friday! You gotta look at the positive things in life! Challenge yourself to be optimistic! If you think a mountain is treacherous you shouldn't go near it, and if you do that you won't ever learn to know the mountain so how could call you judge it? Now take a moment to regain your self-esteem and confidence if you lost any.

Back to my mountainous excursions.

I lied.

I've never been to the Himalayas. But I've walked enough ravines, I've swam enough lakes, and I've climbed enough mountains to confidently say, I know my mountains.

But that's not the point of this story. The point is to know what you speak and challenge others to it.

If you don't agree with whatever it is I write, challenge me! But know that I will defend my point unless or until proven otherwise.

That is my reason for this.