No impact man

Celebrations are in no way a small event in my family. When we celebrate something we bring out entertainment in a form of a DJ (if at all possible a band), a caterer armed to the teeth with a variety of salsas and meats. We spare no expense, after all not everyone is a certain age everyday. Although my family is not shy to indulges in the parties many splendors, they are not ignorant to the fact that, if you take away the food, dancing music, and booze; the celebration is for a certain someone, or just as important is everyone there. It s this sort of mentality that shines on at our Christmas celebrations. No extravagances to accompany it. Every family member brings food they made and a present for a secret Santa. The night is filled with home laughter brought by old home movies, song brought by an old radio set to the Christmas channel, and warmth brought by us all. We enjoy each others company until midnight where we exchange gifts. We smile at our present regardless of expectation, hug, give thanks and take a pic. Its a warm tradition and in my opinion the most memorable way we celebrate. Although I never thought of it before but celebrating in this sort of way can be beneficial in terms of minimizing waste, as well as pain from my shoulder from carrying bags loaded with pounds of crushed cans. The electricity used to power a PA system is shrunken down to power a radio. Catered food is not only free but its home made and doesn’t create as much trash. All things considered, its the bear-bone approach, to mark a date by means of enjoying friend’s company instead of extravagances, that really reflect its weigh on resources.

Seeing page 145

1)    In the painting the House by the Railroad, Edward Hopper directs our attention to the gaunty house in the middle of what looks like an empty plain, accompanied only by an abandoned train rail. The house itself looks old. The window shades pulled down half and the shadow that dominates the left side of the house gives it an eery feeling, almost like it doesn't want anyone looking in or at it. Despite it’s intimidating structure it is a spectacular figure for its surroundings, three stories tall in the empty plain it stands out, perhaps out of place. The railroad tracks seem as abandoned and old as the house does. They are red with oxidation and as desolate as mars, they too look out of place in the painting. The sky is pale around the house its only when it reaches outward that it turns blue.It has no clouds or birds no horizon behind the house, just a pale background. It would seem that the tracks and the sky both correlate with one another, they have the same attributes and they all surround the focal point of the painting which is the house. I tend to look into the windows and the porch because that's where the people usually are, but with the window shades being shut and the porch engulfed by shadow I am forced to believe that it’s empty.
2)     Hirsch touches upon the house’s roof, porch, windows and even the house’s presence giving them all human-like characteristics through personification. He describes the house like something of a plague ruining its surrounding landscape, or a downer at a party. He sets the mood, although melancholy, in a nice manor. By repeating words like ashamed, vacant, empty, desolate, and gawky Hirsch has recreated loneliness in his poem; which would have stayed true even without the painting on the page.

He gives the house a character one that seems to drive people and shrubs away, one that MUST be horrible because it simply looks so. Then he flips it around, instead of the house being the one to look at, the house looks at the man. The house observes the man and sees him no different than the man saw it. “...And somehow The empty white canvas slowly takes on The expression of someone who is unnerved, Someone holding his breath underwater.”  Hirsch made a comparison to the house and the onlooker (Hopper). Hirsch compared them both by their nature of being desolate and ashamed of themselves. Then cleverly changes his poem into an introspective towards himself by putting himself into Hoppers shoes, being the painter looking onto the house which, in essence, is himself. Which makes me look at the in a whole new way. Instead of seeing the house as a plague to the land Hirsch saw it as a victim ashamed of what it is.           

Page 127 Seeing #1

    I think Akiko Busch answered her own question best when she mentioned the incident involving the FBI agents snatching a piece of rubble from the World Trade Center. Victim families outrage towards the agents for taking a pieces of concrete, metal, and various nicknacks that would otherwise be a just that without the incident. Its the history that the item held. The emotional and personal girth that compelled the families to protest was the same properties made the agents want to gather such artifacts; to remember catastrophe and reteach it, not to sensationalize it. To hold a piece of history that would otherwise be an intangible to people who weren't there can prove to be valuable tool for learning.  I find this to be the most compelling argument, no matter how monumental or personal an event is, the object that accompanied us through it will be cherished as bookmarks to the past. Though I did think that Ms. Busch covered the more personal exchange of objects from one to another. A necklace, watch, ticket stubs, or even notes, are some object people hold dearly despite what they truly are. Take the note for example, its message can hold a beautiful poem from a loved one or a simple goodbye from a close friend; the word choice and illustration of the message is completely irrelevant to the actual action of the exchange. Its the thought that counts, if taken in a humble sense of the expression, it is the value behind cherished objects       

Seeing 1&2 page 94

     1. The first thing i noticed in the room was the bed. It looks out of place in the spectrum of sports memorabilia constricting the room. Its filled with photos of a family; in the head of the bed; the mantle and even on the pillows spread along the bed. The bed sheets and comforters draw my attention specifically because my mother happens to own one just like it; and coming from a Hispanic family i see these kind of sheets like these in relatives homes quite often. The number of basketballs peaking out of every corner and the shiny trophies on top of his mantle, under his lamp shades suggest that basketball plays a big role in his life. Not just basket ball but baseball, kung fu movies, and arrays of music. From Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon," this room is cluttered in 90's pop culture. Where as the Puerto Rican flags and family portraits; tie in his personal culture; his personal life to the cocktail.
  2.  Osorio's attempt in recreating the look of a teens room was missing a deeper connection to the boy's individuality. Sure, we see is favorite basketball team, his favored movies, and even his footwear; but all of these things are hyperbolized to the point where the humbleness of an individual human is lost in the posters and mirrors rather than what the posters mean to him. Fiction to me stops on the border of the bed. Where the mirrors on the floor end and familiar portraits of homelike faces start; pop turns to personal; fantasy to family.           

pg. 42 seeing 1&2

1) Peer Menzel's photographs depict what might be the out of the norm for some. The scarce volumes of food available to the Aboubakar family from Chad may be believably slim to first world cultures such as America. Vice versa, if you where the Aboubakar family gazing in wonder over the rainbow of packaged food that the Ukita family have the most fortune to enjoy on a weekly basis; you'd be pretty shocked to say the least!
                   Diversity isnt bound by the shear volume of food but, the food itself reflects upon the families environmental conditions, as well as their economic status. For example, the Mendoza family's plate is composed of mostly vegetables, fruit, and grain which suggest that their home is heavily vegetated; which can be confirmed by the leafed vines growing on their wall and the rolling hills seen out their window. Because of the heavy vegetation on their land and abundance of vegetables on the table it could be inferred that they are a farming community. An inter weaved community where no name goes without a face and tradition is the beating heart of an otherwise neighborly oriented society. Their wardrobes full of color and almost in uniform with the others gives insight of how much tradition plays into their lives. I myself, being from a similar type of community can imagine them going to a village wide ceremony, one where every villager regardless of age or complication goes down to a courtyard in the middle of town. The courtyard would be fenced with colorful decor, sealing in the clamor, keeping it from escaping the yards rumble.
           Each photograph's summery helps complete the image  economic stance, as well as that of their community. In the Aboubakar family's case, it adds a whole other level of depth to their lives. They are refugees, a life that we can only imagine living and in no way can infer.

2) Peter Menzel's photos o different culture's "full plate," or full week of food, captures not only the families culture and food groups, but also gives insight to their environment and it's conditions. The pictures background gives as much information as the food itself. For example, the vast, dry camp ground behind the Aboubakar family is an obvious hint of why they have a surplus of water in the gas containers next to Souleymane. Compared to the cramped living parlor that houses the Ukita family shows that they might be living in a crowded city where space is limited and space is compact. The amount packaged food that the Ukita family bought is a near opposite to the rationed grains, fruits and vegetables that the Aboubakars family was given and further expresses the economic polarities cultures around could have.