Ghost and Entities

According to the story “Ghosts and Entities” by Lauren Groff, she begins by telling the reader how she vents. Throughout the story, she explains everything she observes. She never quite gives any details of the exact sights she sees while she is out venting. The imagery she creates in the readers mind is created out of general terms. 

Referring to the beginning of the story, Groff portrays the narrator as the main character who tends to go on runs to vent. Is venting a good thing? In a way, isn’t it like running away from problems? For example, when she came home and found her husband satisfying his sexual desires, she went on a run. Nowhere in the story, does she confront her problems. She continues to go on runs. Perhaps, she felt the need to remove herself from situations so she could think rationally an avoid making the problem worse. 

I believe, part of the reason she covers up the problem because of society. Her neighborhood, is covered by a happy go lucky exterior. Although the houses are superficially happy, when she runs, she observes more of the hidden flaws of the perfect neighborhood. She sees a fat boy running on a treadmill, a couple arguing, and an elderly woman walking a dog. During the day, all of the houses give off a perfect image and keep their problems hidden in the night. It’s possible that she was able to see these people as possibilities for herself. The fat boy running on treadmill with the sad expression on his face could be representative of how she continues to vent on a constant basis and continues to run away from her problems, but just like the fat boy, she is stagnant and her situation is not changing. Additionally, the couple arguing is her viewing a consequence of addressing the situation with her husband. A confrontation such as this would lead her to nights of arguing with her husband. The elderly woman can be interpreted as a result of the confrontation. She may never be married again but she won’t need to be tied in this relationship.

Additionally, Groff refers swans and nuns. She is symbolizing the swans and nuns as contrasting points. Swans are often used to represent love and companionship. The nuns are included to symbolize independence, purity, and love for the church. Each symbol, faces the same type of end. The swans and nuns, both face death. In a way, this could be her way of realizing no matter how she lives, she will still face the same end. One way she will die with her husband, the other way she will die by herself.

Focusing in on the author, the story itself was extremely vague. I would describe it as a descriptively vague story. Although she does include that it was based on the Duckpond of Gainesville. Similarly to one of my previous blogs, the author adds to the idea that each house and each family has its own history. No story is exactly the same. Although both the swans and nuns faced death, they lived completely different lifestyle. One was more animalistic, whereas the other was more based on human community. Both had different identities and therefor different lives. In the same way, the narrator, had an opportunity to take actions that would alter her lifestyle. 

In conclusion, no matter what lifestyle you choose, we all face the same end. Death is inevitable and people are free to do as they please. Before taking action, one should still consider the possible results of their actions.

Santa Fe Dance Show

On Wednesday, October 28, Santa Fe College was hosting a dance show that I attended. The performances were all student choreographed and each dance came with its own storyline. Some of the dance s included, Human, Carried Away by Love, and Thriller. Each of these unique pieces portrayed a story that was expressed through each dancer. 

Human was a dance involving several people. Throughout the dance, there were 3 people who were synchronized. The other dancers around them were dancing more liberally and on their own movements. The music of the dance was very dark and was likely chosen to evoke strong feelings of grim actions. Dim lighting and slight color changes added to the feelings of mystery and danger. The dance itself was very contemporary and abstract although it had a powerful message. 

The inspiration for this piece, according to the student choreographer, said that she was inspired by a piece of art. She elaborated and described the picture saying that it was full of average people, but something about their eyes inspired her to create her piece. The student choreographer suggested that her interpretation of the art was expressed through her dance. She wanted people to realize that in relationships or even when walking down the street, the strangers and everyone else, “they see you, but they don’t really see you.” Although she explained the original story of the message, she left the detail of the dance up to the audience to interpret.

I agree with her message. I believe that people tend to have more of a superficial communication when encountering another human being. You can never really tell how a person will react or what they are truly capable of. Despite the relationship you have with someone, you never know their true intentions. Often times, people even hide their own intentions from themselves. This makes it hard to truly determine the character of a human being. Despite this, we can all still be certain that humans in general have some sort of insidious quality to them. It is suggested that this intangible quality exists in every human being. 

During the dance, I interpreted the independent, liberal dancers as stranger who walk by and are sometimes affected by others but not affected enough to change their entire life. The synchronized dancers showed that through relationships, we are able to be a part of the community despite our true self. There are certain action we do on our own but, in certain relationships, your actions, no matter whether they are good or bad, are affected by the people around us. 

Personally, I believe dance is a great form of expression and a beautiful way to communicate your feelings. The only thing you need to do is determine how you feel. Despite the way someone acts, they only have a vague idea of who they are and what they are able to accomplish. Their actions only give people around them an vague idea of what kind of person they will truly become.

Chinese Art Exhibit

On Wednesday, September 9 of 2015, I attended an art exhibit at Santa Fe College. The exhibit Florida Impressions, by artist Dr. Runa Peng, reflects her observations and feelings about her experience in Florida from 2013 and 2015. Her printmaking expertise and Florida experiences show in all of her pieces displayed in the exhibit. Of her many beautiful pieces, two of them stood out to me.

The first striking piece was called “Lake Alice I”. Dr. Peng created this 21”x 42” piece while she was located in China during 2014. I found this piece extremely bold because of the contrasting colors she used within the piece. Her varying nuances of blue also created an effect to separate the body of the lake from its setting. The black represents the trees and gives off a woodland forest feeling to the artwork. Additionally, her use of colors including orange and purple allow one to have an idea of the sky giving off vibrant colors towards the end of a beautiful day. The focused area of light blue above the body of water is presumed to be some sort of building, such as a house on a lakefront. This house is also reflected in the water and should the surrounding colors allow the house to be a part of the forest area even though it is not a part of nature. The setting gives off calm emotions, a sense of serenity, and a hint of mystery found in the black representation of the forest. Overall, the picture personally puts a clear image in my head of returning home, after a tiresome day, to my comforting home where relaxation fills the air. I feel that Dr. Peng was portraying home as a sort of safe haven during days of large amounts of stress.  It was extremely interesting to see the way she portrayed home though a small house on a lake.

The next eye-catching piece I observed was call “Make A Wish”. This 34”x 20” piece was made in 2015 while she was visiting Florida for her second time. In this piece, Dr. Peng uses blue as a contrast color again. This time, she uses it to create a shadowy effect for her main color, green. With a blue emphasis, Dr. Peng uses green and her main center to create an abstract genie in the bottle image. The muddled green and blue towards the bottom of the piece create a cloudy image that can be considered smoke coming out of a genie lamp. This creates a mystical aura for the picture which adds to the supernatural feeling. The solid structural lines create a strong and powerful feeling that genies usually have. Dr. Peng’ also includes a yellow background that puts great emphasis on the green center genie and allows the vapid image to catch complete attention. The image itself creates a feeling of hope because of the yellow background. Dr. Peng is able to also create an unsure yet eager feeling of anticipation throughout her piece. She is also able to continue her sense of mystery from the last piece and incorporate it into her “Make A Wish” piece. Through this piece of work I can imagine a powerful, confident genie emerging from an ancient golden lamp or bottle. Dr. Peng used this to represent her eager anticipation during her second trip to Florida.

Conclusively, I saw and felt Dr. Peng’s excitement to be in Florida and experience the new culture. She was able to experience the home living of the average American. Her “Lake Alice I” clearly showed her point of view from where she visited. Her image of the house in Florida also revealed how she may have felt hints of homesickness while visiting Florida. In addition, Dr. Peng was able to express her excitement during her visit through her “Make A Wish” piece. Additionally, she was able to display all of this through Chinese print making, a traditional art style. She was able to express her experiences clearly in her pieces put on display in the exhibit

Duckpond

The Duckpond of Gainesville is a beautiful place. 

Upon arrival, my friends and I were greeted by loud quacking. We were surrounded by a beautiful neighborhood with a pond right in the center of several houses. Of course, we responded to these animals by tossing bread to them- as we had seen some other girls doing as we arrived. There were white, brown and multicolored colored ducks. In addition, there were two beautiful black ducks with red beaks, one in the water, the other hidden away by the tree shade. 

After feeding the ducks, we all decided to explore the nice little neighborhood. The roads around the pond itself are confusing to navigate when in a car. Personally, I had a more difficult time locating different landmarks when I was in my car. Also, while enjoying the serenity of the pond, a woman in her late 40’s/early 50’s pulled up to my and companions and me asking for directions to a particular place we were unsure of. Unfortunately, we had told her that we were unfamiliar with the area and we were just visiting. The woman thanked us and continued on her search. One of my companions, Andre, convinced our group to walk around.  The more we walked, the more little quirks we noticed. For example, several of the houses had plaques on them with the year. It seemed as if each house had its own unique appearance. None of the houses were the same but none stood out too vapidly. The Fagan House was constructed in 1910 but renovated in 1982. The original owners of the house, the Fagan family, owned a downtown shoe store. The house itself sticks out because it is on the corner of the boulevard and has beautiful shades of blue and white that show off the house's own antiqueness. 

Based on my observations, most people in the area walk. They are able to go to the downtown area without relying on buses or automobile transportation. Seeing bicycles was also very common. One of the benefits of walking is avoiding having to find a parking spot. Also, the houses are less than 15 minutes of walking distance of the restaurants and little shopping areas. 

Despite the closeness of the restaurants and boutiques, a majority, if not all, of the houses had cars. This infers that the residents usually have to drive to a work place that is too far for walking. Additionally, many of the residents had a variety of beautiful plants.  Several houses my friends and I passed had fruit trees such as lemons and papayas. The fruit all seemed as if they were begging us to pick them, but that may have just been our hunger teasing us. 

Subsequently, we started walking toward the downtown area to find places to eat. On our way there, we found a park that had a few families in it. We had stopped at the park for awhile and began to absorb the scenery. There are several different structures for children to play on and it is a very safe environment out in the open. There is much shade from the trees in the park and there are also benches to rest. The children who came to the park were around 6-9 years old. The parents who accompanied them were in their late 20’s, early 30’s. The families all seemed content with the park but mainly kept to themselves and kept a close eye on their children. The park’s vibrants colors oddly enough didn’t contrast the the more calm colors of the surrounding houses. The laughter of the children seemed to echo through the relatively empty streets. 

The further we traveled, the more busy the streets became. As we continues, we began seeing buses, busy cars, and mopeds. We passed through an event that was occupying one of the streets. There were tables set up and little carts selling cheap hot dogs, chips and icees. Some of the tables set up were selling trinkets or jewelry and other tables were set up to promote politics. For example, one of the tables set up was to gain support for Bernie. As we reached the end of the street, we saw some people dancing and singing and just celebrating. There were people on the grass near them sitting on blankets eating foo for just watching and having a great time. Although the event was fun, we still hadn’t found anywhere to eat. 

Around the corner, my companions and I decided on a small pizzeria to eat called Big Lou’s. The outside tables were mostly full so we seated ourselves inside. Big Lou’s tables were wooden and seemed like it was a little old fashioned but still flourishing. The waiters were running around frantically serving guests. Everyone there offered amazing service and had a great attitude. The food was especially good and came in generous serving sizes. Although there are other places to go to eat, I look forward to returning to Big Lou’s and sitting outside with the other customers who were taking advantage of the great weather.

In conclusion, places as simple as the Duckpond can have their own uniqueness underlying the normality of everything. This place was more than just a nice little neighborhood. Sometimes, its hard to see the beauty in places or things as simple as a Duckpond. I believe the Duckpond of Gainesville is a beautiful place. It is full of character and has little quirks that add to its overall beauty. I look forward to returning there soon.

Destiny

Oedipius Rex is a twisted story about a boy who kills his father and marries his mother despite being told his future. The entire story revolves around prophecy. This story brings up the question: can you change your destiny?

When you look at the story of Oedipus, the whole reason he was given the opportunity to kill his true father is because he left his home, Corinth, to avoid killing his father.  At that moment he planned to leave and choose his own life by denying his destiny. As you progress through the story, Oedipus is faced with another choice. He meets strangers while he is traveling to Phebes (his original hometown). During this encounter, he is infuriated and rashly murders all the strangers except for one who escaped. Unknowingly, Oedipus continues on his travels and marries the Queen of Phebes. Together they have several sons and daughters. Soon, Oedipus finds out that he was truly the one who killed his father. 

At first, he denies this truth and further investigates. Despite everything he had done, Oedipus continues to search for answers. He reveals his past murder to the queen, who then realizes the  horrific truth, and continues his search for understanding. Once he discovers the truth, Oedipus tears his own eyes out and exiles himself.

Referring back to the question (can you change your destiny?), is it possible that if no one knew the prophecy that the whole situation could have been avoided? If the King of Phebes had not known the prophecy, he would not have any need to order his servant to kill his son. Again, if Oedipus had not heard the same prophecy, he would not have left Corinth. Therefore, this would have avoid the entire story of Oedipus, because he would not have encountered his real father. 

In our lives, can we change our own destiny? Personally, I believe the only true destiny that we can count on and truly anticipate is death. Since the beginning of life, people has been creating their own destinies or at least putting twist on them. Jesus for example, was supposed to be the Messiah born into riches and of high class with lots of wealth. Jesus was supposed to come in as this great power with and bring a lot of religion changes. Surprisingly enough, he came in through a lower class family. He was born in a manger and suffered a horrid death. Despite what the pharisees expected, the Messiah did come and die but just not how they expected and Jesus did choose the lifestyle of a lower class citizen. 

In conclusion, destiny can be altered but the final outcome cannot be changed. 

Service Learning Project

On September 19, 2015, I participated in the 2015 Gator Plunge. I volunteered with Alachua County Animal Services for 4 wonderful hours. Alachua County Animal Services promotes adoption, sheltering, and rescuing of animals with all sorts of backgrounds. They serve the community by encouraging the safety of the public and animals.

Furthermore, the Alachua County Animal Services are partnered with Puppy Hill Farm Animal Rescue, Pet Harbour, Paws on Parole, and other organizations in order to promote the welfare of animals. On their website, Alachua County Animal Services shows statistics from 2001 through 2011 on their animal intake, return to owners, adoptions, and euthanasias.  According to the Alachua County Animal Services website, their mission is to promote public safety for the welfare of citizens and animals. Their goals include increasing the awareness of their presence and their mission. The Alachua County Animal Services encourage the adoption mostly of dogs and cats. They serve the human and animal population through their inexpensive adoption opportunities. Not only do they prepare the animals for a new home, but they also spay/neuter, microchip, basic veterinary care, rabies vaccinations, and shelter for lost animals.

On arrival, we were introduced to the volunteer supervisor, Hilary Hynes. She explained to us that Alachua County Animal Services takes in as many animals as possible and has several dogs transferred to the Paws on Paroles program for training. Many of the dogs that participate in this program find new homes quickly by getting adopted by the inmates who trained them. Mrs. Hynes continued on to explain how they are always accepting new volunteers to help out with the animals. Next she informed the group on a few basic rules for everyone to follow. Subsequently, Mrs. Hynes handed us over to Lola, one of the volunteers, who gave us a tour of the facility. We were given time to take some of the animals out of the cages and give them time out in the open yards. Many of the dogs were extremely excited to explore the yards, play with chew toys, and have time to interact with people and other dogs. There were a few dogs who were more timid but still eager to explore the yards. 

One of the dogs I saw in the cages caught my eye. Not only was this dog out of place because of her breed (Pekingese, whereas the other dogs were pitiful, american bulldogs, or mutts) but also because of her lack of energy. Wendy, the Pekingese, had extremely long hair and was not a puppy like her fellow canine orphans. Her black hair was covering her face and matting on her body. I immediately decided to take her out into one of the yards to give her some fresh air. Once we took her out, she started limping and Lola and I noticed how bad her hair condition appeared. Her white paws had a nuance of yellow and were turned out and she had knots on her ear, stomach, and all over her body. When Mrs. Hynes saw the condition of the Pekingese, she was delighted that I offered to help give Wendy a bath. I was allowed to help Lola groom Wendy by assisting her with a refreshing bath, quick hair cut and removal of all of her matted knots. 

After Wendy was cleaned up, she looked much healthier and happier. Her mobility was increased because there were no matted knots to cause her pain. Also after her grooming, one of the female workers decided that Wendy needed a foster  home. Wendy is currently residing in a foster home but she is still available for adoption. She is just one of the many animals in a foster home who is one step away from being adopted.

The root of the issue being addressed by Alachua County Animal Services is the problem of stray animals with untreated health problems without owners. This not only leaves a window open for these animals to reproduce, but also spread whatever diseases they have. The Alachua County Animal Services has shown a increase in their adoptions of dogs and cats. For example, the number of dog adoptions in 2001 was 1,071 and the number of cat adoptions in 2001 was 887. Since then the average number of dogs adopted has increased to 1,500 and the average number of cats has increased to 1,200. If Alachua County Animal Services and their partners are able to continue this increase of adoptions, there will be fewer occupied kennels and less stray animals wandering around.

In summary, by promoting adoption from places such as Alachua County Animal Services, this allows them to open up more kennels to take in more animals and reduce the amount of stray animals. Also, by encouraging donations, people can provide funding for more neuters and spays to reduce the rate of reproduction. These generous donations also pay for basic treatment for these animals including rabies treatments. This will allow the amount of strays animals  to reproduce at a slower rate therefore the future population of stray animals will decrease. Ultimately, the Alachua County Animal Services is making a huge impact on the animal and human society. 

Latino American History

On September 24, I attended a screening and discussion of the documentary, Latino Americans, 500 Years of History Episode 1: Foreigners in their Own Land (1565-1880) at Santa Fe College. This event was lead by Dr Bill Little. He is a professor of Romance Languages and Latin American Literature and has a rich background involving Latin American history. He has taught at California University, West Point, and currently teaches Latin American Studies at Santa Fe College. He has studied abroad in countries including Spain and Mexico.

When it comes to culture, Dr. Little has a lot to say. He believes culture is powerful and we cannot avoid it.  According to Professor Little “It precedes us accompanies us, and pushes us forward.” Culture helps us cope with the present and helps us create the future. In terms of Spanish culture, Dr. Little suggests that we are the foreigners to their land who have made them feel like foreigners in their own land. He elaborates on this idea by giving examples of Spanish missions that occurred between 1565 and 1823. Dr. Little mentions the missions in New Mexico and Texas but he gives a little more detail about the missions in Florida and California. He informs everyone about how the missions in Florida were scattered without any true pattern. In California, the missions were founded all along the coast. Professor Little jumps back to New Mexico and states that it is a bilingual state. He continues to elaborate on this fact by promoting multilingual skills. He suggests that learning more than one language is extremely human. By this, he is explaining how people have branched from one common language to several different languages and from those languages, hundreds of languages have resulted. The human desire to communicate is astonishing. Due to the variances in language, translators have come about to reconnect and allow easier communication. Overtime, Spanish, and English have combined to form a sort of in-between style of communication known as Spanglish.

Back to Latin culture, the first European language spoken in the New World was Spanish. The British, French, and Russians all came after the Spanish branched out in the New World. Along with every single Latin American, the Latinos from the PBS showing were robbed of their property because of racism. Once colonists and other Europeans began coming to the “New World”, the Spanish government decided to send out more people on missions. They spread all throughout Florida, Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Unfortunately, after Mexico won its independence from Spain, the Mexico American War had a huge loss for Mexico. Mexico had to surrender half of its territory to the foreigners who were expanding and robbing them of their hard earned land.

During the PBS video, the lives of proud Latinos, who were wronged by Americans, were discussed. Each of them profited from their Latin missions but once Americans moved in, their lives were shattered. Many of them lost their wealth or power status due to Americans. One of the people in the film was a Latina who originally gained two ranches from Mexico and was able to purchase a third. When the Americans colonists invaded, she was forced to abandon her property and live in poverty. Several of the other Latinos in the video had similar experiences. All of them involved some sort of mistreatment from the American mostly due to racism. Each situation shared similarities but the most prominent similarity was the fact that they were treated like foreigners in their own land. Their Latino hospitality was abused and they suffered for welcoming these American aliens.

Personally, I feel that Latin American history is the root of American history. We cheated them out of what was truly theirs to begin with. Not only were they judged racially, even thought they were the original owners of the land, but they were also kicked out of much territory. They should be the ones kicking us out of their land. Latinos were nothing but hospitable to their fellow human beings, who in turn made the Latinos subject to racism. I find all of this an outrage! I think the least we can do is put forth a little more effort to bridge the gap between the American and Latino communities.

Conclusively, Latin American culture should be more welcome in the United States. Professor Little supports and encourages more understanding and unity between the American and Latino culture. Rather than having such a great social gap between Americans and Latinos, more unity would provide for a stronger society and create a greater bond between people despite their cultural background.