Oh, Twinkle.

            I was expecting a more of a directly conveyed moral to eventually arrive when I first started reading this story. Instead, I found myself making lots assumptions about and changes to how I thought the character felt about each other. I’ll highlight the notable parts of my thought process:

            At first I felt like the couple was playfully in love, bickering almost flirtatiously. Then, as the bickering seemed to grow in clashing, I started to feel like Twinkle was oblivious and Sanjeev was impatient and irritable. As the story continued, Twinkle grew more and more captivated by the various religious paraphernalia throughout the house, and, understandably, Sanjeev grew more frustrated and cynical.

            Just as I begin to question the security of the marriage, I was informed that Twinkle and Sanjeev had only known each other for six months, and the Sanjeev was beginning to really notice some of Twinkle’s more annoying habits. I thought this was interesting, because as both of these characters develop in my eyes, they were developing in the eyes of one another as well.

            I wondered if Twinkle was open to exploring the Christian faith. At the start of the story, she refers to herself as a “good little Hindu.” This statement seemed slightly sarcastic, and it seemed more important as she continued to make other similar statements such as, “Face it. This house is blessed.” This could also be sarcastic, but on the whole, Twinkle seems to be a intrigued by Christianity, at the least.

            Later, Sanjeev questions his love for Twinkle, and love itself. This part of the story seems pivotal to me. If Sanjeev isn’t sure about love, how can we reach conclusions about how he really feels? I would venture to say that we might be able to analyze their relationship and reach a conclusion that even they seem unable to reach.

            The story ends on a note that places a surprisingly clear picture in my mind. I can see Twinkle genuinely appreciating her husband, even though she doesn’t always show it. I could almost see Sanjeev chuckle in amused submission to his wife’s odd behaviors, realizing that he can see himself spending his life with her, and all of her “unique” attributes.

            A much shallower thought about the story: I liked the way it was written. Clear and interesting descriptions abounded, and interactions between and feelings of characters were noted in ways that seemed unfamiliar but fitting.

My thoughts done got provoked.

     Thoughts on Pearson:
     I exercise significantly more than most (although I eat enough to disguise it), and I do well in relating to analogies that involve physical training. Whenever I begin a new style of physical training, it can be hard to be “get into the groove.” For example, when I first started weight lifting, or Taekwondo, the movements were awkward, painful, and difficult to master. I can feel this way sometimes when it comes reading large portions of literature. I’m excellent at reading small texts with good focus and interest, but I just can’t seem to keep focused on large portions. I’ve never thought about that from the perspective of simply needing to practice. I like thinking of it like that, because I know I’m capable of bettering myself. I look forward to “practicing” my “reading endurance.”
     Thoughts on McAloon:     McAloon speaks about lectio divina, and I must say it kind of excites me. I believe I’ll have to give it a try with some of the Psalms or Proverbs for the next few mornings. I plan to integrate the idea of looking into the world of the text, the world behind the text, and the world before the text into my meditatio and comtemplatio.
     The idea of poetry offering us words, worlds, and wonders rings very true to me. And, I believe that are very closely related and intertwined. I feel like the words lead to wonders that guide us to other worlds. Quite possibly, too, texts could lead us to worlds that show us wonders and allow us to see words in a new light, I’m sure. I imagine these three factors could interact in any number of ways to bring the reader in and change them.
     Thoughts on Corrigan (The essay, not the man):     “The practice of facing darkness is . . . where we lose our false religious hope and find an authentic hope in the God of truth beyond answers.” This line hit me. I had a wave of understanding about the level of faith it would take to truly sell all of my possessions, abandon the life I’ve got set up for myself, and follow after Christ. I really felt a rush of blood when I read this. Maybe I’m crazy, but I felt like it was one of those amazing obvious secrets in Christianity.

     How interesting that facing darkness is about hope. Although, I suppose most negative things are about facing them with their opposites. Does this mean that as long as we look to Christ as our hope, we will also be faced with darkness? Where is God in the darkness? Is it in the darkness that we can most clearly see God? Is it that in the darkness we should see God most clearly?

Love is simple enough.

            Ahhh, love. What is it exactly? I dislike that question because it is so quickly abused as a cut and paste piece of “philosophy.” But I like it, too, because it is easily the deepest question known to man. This is a topic very near and dear to my heart. If you ask anyone about love, there is never little to say. Perhaps, while one may initially have a brief summary of what they think love is, it only takes a minor stoking of the fires of this surprisingly controversial topic to initiate a complex conversation about love. In fact, of the many conversations I had about love, I have never completed any of them.

            I enjoy writing about love. I almost feel dutifully called to do so. God is love after all, what is more important than learning about than Him? There are many different ideals of love in this world, from many different perspectives. In the field of Psychology, for example, some see different forms of love as various combinations of intimacy, passion, and commitment. I like to research these different ideas and concepts of love and see how they interact with one another, all the while working towards my own theories about love. Because of this little passion of mine, I absolutely loved reading this piece from Ray Carver.

            What is Carver’s hidden message? What is he trying to say? What is the symbolism here? Is this story like a traveling onion or a French feast in anyway? These were the questions I approached my blog with. This was wrong of me. I realize now that there isn’t really “the right thing” to get out of this story. To respond properly, I must consider what exactly I thought about as I read this story:

           

            What do we talk about when we talk about love?

            This seems like a silly question. This answer is love, of course, right? Maybe the it’s not so simple. The problem with discussing love, is its mystery. Few agree about the many aspects of love, so what are we really talking about when we talk about love? We’re talking about our ideas, very likely heavily influenced by our experiences. When we talk about love, we discuss possibly the most biased topic around. Carver shows this splendidly. Even just the differences in the concept of love between the two lovers, Mel and Terri, illustrate this well. Both of their ideas of love stem from largely the same person, but they each have very different perceptions because of their very different perspectives.  When Terri thinks of Ed, she thinks of a man that loved her, but was troubled and misguided in the manifestation of his affection. When Mel thinks of Ed, he thinks of a man that troubled and misguided about most things, hardly capable of love.

            Nick and Laura seem nearly to be quiet observers on the outside of this “struggle” about what love is between Mel and Terri. Nick and Laura often communicate silently with glances or touches, almost as if they know something, but they know better than to interject. Terri seemed much like a confused infatuated youth in her idea of love. Mel, while he did have a number of ideas about love, seemed to be yearning for truth. At times, Nick and Laura seemed to quietly have all the answers. Perhaps, they were hoping to lead Mel and Terri to an epiphany with their guided questions. Then, at the end of their drinking, they sit at a silent impasse, each waiting for the other to succumb to their ideas. Nick and Laura are slightly uncomfortable with some of what has been said. Mel and Terri and both a little frustrated behind their cool facades. Laura finds Mel captivating, but cynical at times. Nick thinks Terri could learn to offer her input in more appropriate ways, and finds her sarcastic. Mel fantasizes about loving Laura, and explores his theories about love coming and going. He gets a small bit of satisfaction when he isn’t harshly disagreed with, and it allows him to imagine a life with Laura. Terri often pushes Mel’s button, but only because she likes it when he is harsh towards her. Ed made her feel alive by physically controlling her. Mel won’t do the same, so she elicits verbal control from him by acting slightly annoying.

            No one wants to go to out to eat. They all feel strangely uncertain of themselves.

            This is indeed how many feel after difficult discussions of love. After all, if your idea of love has been completely wrong, your life is likely quite upside down from where you thought.

            If I had the time (I mean weeks, not hours), oh, how I would like to write more about this story. But, I will instead save that and my further thoughts for other writings. I write about love as it is, this story is simply fuel to my fire. Someday, if your interest is piqued here and maintained, you can discuss with me what I think of love. Either directly or through actively reading what I write about it. Until then, 1 Corinthians 13:4-13.

Reading the right way

            This text makes a great deal of sense to me. When I first read this prompt, I immediately thought of reading attitudes. That is to say, a person who goes into a text thinking it’s a task and that it will be boring or difficult to read, will most likely struggle with it. But, those who enter into it with excitement and anticipation will likely get more out of it. How can we solve this problem though? If something seems boring or taxing, how can we change our thinking? Well, psychological science says—and I emphatically vouch for this from first hand experience—that our perception and chosen attitude of a situation influence how we respond to it more than our actual initial feelings. Meaning, if we force on a positive attitude, realize we can get something out of a text, then we can. It’s a difficult concept to put into practice, but I believe it can be life changing, especially in our reading.

            Still, as applicable as I feel attitude is to getting more out of reading, this section spoke more on methodological reading. Rereading, note taking, thinking, researching, and similar things improve the quality of your reading. I believe this is true. For one example, I can think of numerous times that I’ve read something once through, then a friend asked me how I felt about a quote or an idea from it, and I had no idea what they were talking about. Either I had missed it, or I had missed its significance. In order to properly understand a text, I find it’s best for me to reread sentences or sections I don’t understand, often taking note of them and dialoguing with others about those sentences. I can’t stress how beneficial dialogue is to understanding texts. Reading something to someone, then offering your thoughts on it and asking for theirs will often go much farther than expected towards your comprehension of the material.

            Personally, another method that I find extremely beneficial is writing about the material. Many times I’ve written out of a desperate search for catharsis, and ended up with revelations of all sorts. Most recently, battling confusion and infatuation over a female, I began to write about it (got some good songs out of it too.) until I received clarity. I then talked with my peers about the situation, what I had written, and my revelations, and received even more revelatory feedback. All that to say the most important thing I can say: Reading actively will change your life radically.

            I hope I can live that throughout my life, because it would really be a shame to forget it.

My literary profile

            My family considered literature a large and important part of child rearing. I remember that we would always gather together in the evenings in order to read stories from the Bible together. After our scriptural readings, my sister and I would each split off with one of our parents (on a weekly rotation), and do individual literature readings, most usually with a parent reading to us.

            Weeks when my father would read to me, I vividly recall relaxing on the big brown down comforter of my parents’ bed to listen. We mainly read through volume upon volume of the Hardy Boys (My sister was being read Nancy Drew). Sometimes, as a break, we would read some of the comics of Calvin and Hobbes while taking turns speaking the dialogue for different characters. Once I got a little older, my father began to introduce more advanced literature, such as Great Expectations.

            My reading today generally stems around books of thinking. When Skeptics Ask, for example, is a book that says the Christianity is not merely faith with reason, but looks at why Christian faith is the more rational, logical, scientific, and moral way of thinking. As this picture shows, my library has quite bit of weight in books of scholar, but my more “literary” section does include some of my favorite books such as The Inferno and The Sum of All Fears.

            After reading Literature Is a Thing You Do as Part of Life, I am indeed excited about the course. After learning more from Corrigan’s English composition class than I feel like I have from any other class, I am very excited about improving my ability to engage with literature. Corrigan says that just as our life’s experiences influence how we perceive what we read, so does our reading influence our lives. Assuming this statement is true, as I do, how exciting that he also believes, as do I, that you’ll get as much out of reading as you put into it. Just think: Reading affects your life in relation to how you’re reading, and you can learn to read (or engage other form of literature) better and with more depth! This means you can absolutely change your life in huge ways by engaging literature properly!

            One of the most important things I see in this essay is a distinction made at the beginning of the text. “[L]iterature is a thing to be actively engaged, and it does—or at least can—matter for the lives of all sorts of people.” Can. The only thing that will stop anyone from changing their lives and edifying themselves is themselves. I will not stand in my way.


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Photos of me? Hmm. I don't take very many normal photos. I suppose this is the most recognizable image I have of myself currently.

Working at Anchor Blue before they close (I was 18 here).