Sonny days

In the story “Sonny’s Blues,” by James Baldwin, the narrator of the story discovers from a newspaper that his younger brother, Sonny, has been arrested for selling and using heroin. His students, he realizes, could someday end up like Sonny, given the obstacles and tough times they face growing up in Harlem. At the end of the day the narrator heads home, but he notices that one of Sonny’s old friends, who is always high and dirty, is waiting for him by the school. The two men walk together, talking about Sonny. Time passes, but the narrator never writes to Sonny in prison until the narrator’s young daughter, Grace, dies. Sonny writes a long letter back to his brother in which he tries to explain how he ended up where he is. The two brothers then stay in communication. When Sonny gets out of jail, the narrator, his brother, is there for him. He takes Sonny back to his own family’s apartment. The the narrator takes us back to an extended flashback, Sonny told his brother about his dream of becoming a jazz pianist, which the narrator dismissed. Although Sonny loved the music, the rest of family had a hard time bearing his constant practicing. After having Sonny live with him for a few weeks, the narrator debates whether he should search Sonny’s room. As he paces back and forth, he sees a street-corner revival occurring outside. Eventually Sonny comes home and invites his brother to watch him perform later that evening. The two brothers go to a small jazz club where everyone knows and respects Sonny. He watches all his brother’s struggles come pouring out as he plays, and only then does he finally realize who Sonny is and what he’s made of.  

In this story I noticed that back then a lot of musicians got into heavy drugs, and Heroine was a popular one at the time. So I wonder if Sonny being a musician caused him to get into the drugs or was it the life he lived growing up in Harlem?

"A Grief Observed" 3-4

The last two chapters of “A Grief Observed”, begins with Lewis wondering to the page whether the feeling of something being wrong and nauseating about life will be the new state of things in his perception. He notes that old familiar things either hold new senses of wrongness or are missing their old sense of goodness and expresses fear that his grief will merely settle into bored acceptance of this new "dead flatness". Lewis then becomes Frustrated at the failure of thinking in that way, he shifts his focus back to rationality. He wonders what promise has been broken that was once made him, or what new question has it introduced to his contemplation of the universe.
Then in the final chapter, it opens with Lewis thinking that once he fills his last empty MS book, he will write no more on the subject of his mourning. He observes about the process that while he had set out to describe a state of sorrow he discovered instead that it is a process with no distinct end. Rather than having some moment at which he could emerge and stop his writing, he discovers new things to write every day. Instead of being on a linear journey, he finds himself tucking back in on his old route at random points out of order. This book was very sad, and became personal to me as my mom is going through cancer. I would have preferred not to have read it, but I managed. I went to the Lakeview, Roselawn and Tiger Flowers cemetery complex for this fieldtrip, and I stayed there for at least 40 minutes. Going to the cemetery after class on Tuesday was interestingly weird. I would have never pictured myself going to a cemetery to maybe read, think, ponder and observe. I am the type of person that gets easily “creeped” out when even looking at a cemetery when driving by, so to walk onto one and observe head stones and read them, I began to see real people that were once alive and not just a thought of corpses. Although I probably wouldn’t do that again, I found a new respect in the place that I didn’t before.

"A Grief Observed" 1-2

Chapter one and two of the Book “A Grief Observed” talks about C.S. Lewis, the author, In the process of grieving for his wife, who died of cancer after three years of marriage. He keeps a journal throughout the months immediately following. He describes his anger and confusion at God, his world without her, and his process of moving in and out of stages of grieving and remembering her. He then gets the ability to live gratefully for the gift of a true love as long as he was enrolled in that particular education.In the second chapter, Lewis scolds himself for, having reread his journals to date, having focused so much more time on the effect his wife's death on him than on her suffering. As quickly as he determines to think more about her and less about himself, he realizes that it is not going to be the easiest task. Some of the pains, hurt, and confusion Lewis is going through reminds me of the story Happy Ending, because I’m sure Lewis would have probably wanted to have had a bell that could change the ending to his tragic love story. As much as he enjoyed his time and days with her, he would have probably wanted to change the whole story due to the ending. Because loosing someone you love must be the worst pain a person can ever feel in their life. We as people seem to always try and think of a better ending to our situations in life, but never look at the beginning or the middle, where those moments could have been the best in our lives, but we are too focused on the tragic ending. I really enjoyed the first two chapters. I felt like the writing in “A Grief Observed” was very poetic, not so much like a novel or a book.

The book of Joel

Rereading the book of Joel made me see things a little bit differently than I did before. I started to have mental pictures in my head that I hadn’t gotten while reading the first time. I could see each line being played in my head. Going outside during class on Tuesday, really made the experience a whole lot better by seeing God’s creation outside and to read his scripture was surprisingly peaceful and calming to say the least. I have never really thought that having that type of scenery would make the reading come alive. I always heard about people saying that it’s great to read outdoors, or just sit outside, but I never felt lead to try it. So standing outside on Tuesday and looking out into the lake and the sunshine with the cool breeze made this whole reading experience personally better. If that wasn’t assigned to me I probably would have never done it. For myself, I absolutely love to read, indoors that is, but to read outside was nice.

            As I read the section on the first page where it talks about the splinters on the fig tree really stood out to me as I read on Tuesday and even again today, I became more connected on the lines that talked about nature because right in front of me was God’s very own creation. I began to look at the details of the trees and flowers, which I would have normally would have just walked right passed instead of looking at detail. Although I didn’t look at a fig tree, I looked at a palm tree but still saw the similarity in it and began to correlate the writing from Joel and the Palm tree that stood before me. Furthermore the experience of reading the Bible more than once in front of God’s very own nature was a great experience and I saw many different flavors in this text that I hadn’t before.

Joel

Although the couple of sentences I thought was beautiful read aloud were very intense and not very peaceful. I found it to be intriguing and beautiful in an artistic way. The couple of sentences I picked was on page one that says: “For a nation has invaded my land, Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness. It has made my vine a waste and my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have become white. Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth. The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off…” The beginning of this section talks about how this nation has invaded a land, but the detail describing how the land was invaded was poetic. I could not have described something like that in such an intense elegant way. The way he describes the invasion as teeth like a lion’s, I just imagined the pressure and force and edge this nation had coming into this situation. As Joel continues to describe the invasion, the usage of texture through his words were put together nicely by describing the fig tree as full of splinters; unpleasant and not really wanting to touch.  They have been stripped away and cast off as a group. And to me, reading the last few lines about the virgin and the bridegroom and the beautiful color of white so pure and clean was the decline of the climax, it seemed to  ease up and be relaxed not so much intense anymore, but calm and peaceful. It shows the beauty of the “bridegroom” giving of herself, being selfs to join another. This piece I picked was filled with detail and intriguing to me. It may be the fact that this “beauty” I picked wasn’t a stereotyped beauty, but an edgier beauty that most don’t look at as beauty.  

A story about the body

“A story about the body,” was personally a very touchy story for me. Although though this story was written very nicely, I have had experience with her situation with someone in my immediate family. So her pain and anger she felt at the end of the story was very understanding in my own opinion. I had a lot of sympathy for her. I loved the detail and the text Robert Hass gave to his audience. I loved how he connected the story into a fluid motion. He describes her work as an artist; as her body movement and the way she moves and uses her hands in an intricate way. At the beginning of the climax towards the end of the story, I became very confused when the two characters finally connect together at the same moment and feel for one another equally. But the very moment they feel this connection it is interrupted quickly by a statement the woman makes about herself. All the feelings the man had for this woman was quickly dispersed. It’s as if she had a contagious disease. He didn’t even give her a chance, she had a problem in her past that was taken care of and he walks away. I do admit her does it politely, what it seems like to his ability. At the end of this story I feel for the woman. I can feel her rejection and her pain and even humiliation that whole conversation may have had on her.  I personally think that the both of them could have handled the situation a little bit better than they did. She should have known that not all men would have been okay with her situation, and probably shouldn’t have disclosed that with him at such an early date. As for him he could have been more sympathetic and not have let his shocked face show so much. He could have tried to be understanding and maybe have taken her on a date the following instead of what he was originally planning on doing.

Short Story

Wanting something to eat, Ava searches earnestly through her kitchen cupboards trying to find something semi edible to fill her uncontrollable growling stomach.  As she kneels down to grab bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, her long brown hair with soft curls falls perfectly over her shoulder.  She opens the bag and smells inside, and her stomach instantly turns inside her giving her that nauseated feeling right before one throws up. She quickly puts it down and decides to settle for a piece of fruit. She walks over to her fruit basket on the counter and realizes that the only fruit she had was a bunch of bananas that had turned all brown. Disappointed in herself for not grocery shopping, she thinks to herself, “Well I guess I won’t feed my stomach until my blind date tonight.”

Ava a single woman with soft brown curly hair, blue eyes so clear they could be ice. She had the perfect skin; clear and evenly tanned. She was a goddess to say the least. She had a look that intimidated most but yet had a spirit that attracted everyone that got a taste of it. Ava, being 25 hadn’t been on a date in 5 years, probably due to her career in fashion where her job is her life. She worked at Vogue in the Public relations department. She had the vogue look, the shoes, the outfits, the hairstyles, the makeup, and all the accessories to go with it. Her life was going great, she had nothing to complain about. She lived in Manhattan by herself working at her dream job, no one could tell her she was missing anything in her life.

Ava walks away from her kitchen to head up to the second floor of her apartment, which is right smack in the middle of Manhattan. She slowly walks into her room and sees lee-roy. In a baby soft high-pitched voice she asks, “What are you doing on my bed Mr.?” He calmly opens his eyes and looks up at her as if he didn’t care what she said or thought. He quickly closes his eyes again and drifts away into a deep sleep. Ava chuckles to herself and thinks, “This dog thinks he owns this place.” Lee-roy was her best friend he was the one she came home to everyday. Without fail Lee-roy would wait for her at the front door until she came home from work. Ava opens her large walk in closet and tries to decides on what to wear for her blind date tonight. She decides on a black cashmere turtle neck, a black lacey skirt, red stiletto heels, her plaid trench coat, and her accessories to be the finishing touches. She’s pleased with her selection and takes a look at the clock and gasps when she realizes she only has an hour to get dressed and grab a cab to the restaurant that’s downtown. She rapidly goes to take a quick shower, combs her hair, and styles it into a low messy bun, throws some makeup on her face and runs out the door not even realizing she has butterflies in her stomach.

Eric a 28 year old hunk sits patiently at the bar in the restaurant waiting for Ava to arrive. Eric is a calm young man. He comes from good ol southern money and is a fairly new lawyer in New York city. He’s tall and handsome, with dirty blonde hair, warm brown eyes, with an irresistable smile that gives him perfectly rounded dimples. His voice is very smooth, with a velvety ring to it. He’s quite a patient man and longs for someone to share the rest of his life with. Every few seconds he looks behind him at the front door of the restaurant to see if the description she gave him of herself comes walking through the door. As he waits with a drink in his hand sitting on a stool, he realizes he has not one ounce of nervousness in his body and is quite ready to see this mystery girl. He found this to be odd due to the fact that he’s usually a nervous wreck when it comes to first dates.

The cab pulls right in front of the main entrance of the restaurant. Ava, very unlady like tosses the the cab drivers money to him and darts out of the cab. Right before she enters the restaurant she composes herself and fixes her twisted skirt. She looks down at her cell phone and realizes she’s 20 minutes late. Feeling completely awful she walks in and immediately makes eye contact with Eric. In her mind it was unmistakably him. Instantly Ava’s Butterflies are made known to her but are instantly taken away in the same moment as she sees his smile. They both smile at one another and Eric walks over quickly and gives Ava a soft kiss on her cheek and says, “It’s so nice to meet you.” She sheepishly responds and says, “Same to you, I’m just so sorry I made you wait so long, I was running late.” Eric replies with a smile on his face by saying, “It was worth the wait.” Still smiling at Ava, Eric walks over to the front desk and states they are ready to be seated. They sit down for a nice evening filled with laughter and deep conversations and even a hint of flirting here and there. Ava’s butterflies continue to be bipolar and she feels as if she’s on cloud nine. As Eric sits and talks about his journey of becoming a lawyer, Ava stares into his eyes and wonders where has this kind of guy been all her life. She feels as if she’s known him for years and feels totally comfortable in his presence. 

The evening comes to an end and Eric calls for a cab to take Ava home. She thanks him for the wonderful evening and gives him a soft kiss on the cheek. She turns to leave and enter the cab, but Eric grabs her left hand and turns her around and asks her if she would go out with him the following Friday again. Although she had already made plans with her girlfriends she couldn’t resist his charming smile that he gave to her. With a smile and a wink she says yes, hops into the cab and drives off. Looking back at him through the back window of the cab she sees that he continues to stare at her cab until it is no longer in sight. She turns around in her seat and smiles to herself, she looks down at her cell phone as she gets a new text message from Eric, it says, “Thank you for reminding me that there are still beautiful sweet women out there like you, I couldn’t have asked for a better evening.” As she enters her apartment that smells of sweet cinnamon apples, she sees lee-roy at her front door, she picks him up and whispers in his ear, “There was something definitely missing in my life, and I think I just found it.”

This Blessed House: Character description

I decided to write about the character Sanjeev from the short story “This Blessed house” by Jhumpa Lahiri. Sanjeev is the one with the personality that craves strict order! Jhumpa Lahiri spends a great amount of time showing us the reader just how much attention Sanjeev pays to organization and neatness. The me, reader is introduced to Sanjeev as he kneels “on the floor, marking, with ripped bits of Post-it, patches on the baseboard that needed to be retouched with paint” (Lahiri 53). Any reader could take this seemingly simple science of marking parts of the floor that need a touch-up as a normal activity for a new owner of a home. In the story, Lahiri writes that Sanjeev organizes “his engineering texts from MIT in alphabetical order on a bookshelf” (Lahiri 54) and works his way “carefully through the major composers that the catalogue recommended…” (Lahiri 60). The Post-its and the precise way in which Sanjeev places them over the rough spots in the floor seem like an attempt to fix every small imperfection. Sanjeev keeps his life as orderly and precise as possible. He tries to control his life by controlling the things around him, such as arranging his books or following a list of composers, instead of choosing names at random. Sanjeev now lives in manhattan, but is from Calcutta

Sanjeev has only been married once unlike his wife Twinkle who has been married twice including this marriage.  Sanjeev seems to be on the more traditional side, because he married an Indian woman the first time. Sanjeev does not understand why these items are of such interest to Twinkle, because they are both Hindu and he finds no meaning in them himself Sanjeev, stuck in his need for everything to be neat and have a purpose, is at odds with Twinkle and her unpredictability. Sanjeev himself says that “Twinkle, was like that, excited and delighted by little things.  It was a quality he did not understand. It made him feel stupid, as if the world contained hidden wonders he could not anticipate…” (Lahiri 57). Sanjeev does not understand why Twinkle finds delight in little things that have no meaning, and Sanjeev used to understanding everything. Understanding is the key in any marriage, and neither of the pair understands why the other one thinks and acts as he or she does. This leads to a push-and-pull conflict of interests and also resentment. Twinkle and her desire does not fit into Sanjeev’s orderly life, he is not able to understand why Twinkle does the things she does.