Daily Archives: December 10, 2013

Another Original Poem: 9/11: NYC tragedy

The poem below is called ‘Not Today’, and I recited this poem as a rap on stage in high school for a 9/11 Memorial Event my high school did on 9/11/2011. However, I wrote this poem the previous year, on 9/11/2010. The reason I had to write this poem was because I felt really bad after hearing the conspiracies about the incident. Many people claim 9/11 to have been an inside job, sparked by the American government, so that we’d have a reason to be in the Middle East for the oil. Many believe that the it was all just a scheming, selfish plan, and that the media have been lying to the public the whole time. Because ultimately we must think: is the news really what we think it is? Is that really the facts, or 0.0125% of the facts? Its not fair at all! And in my anger, this is what I jotted down in my journal:

Not Today

If the pain brings me down, let it bring me down

but it ain’t no reason to keep this frown.

The dream won’t break cuz the colors are fake

whether the black claim they’re white or the white claim they’re brown.

You could hear the gunshots and see the blood drippin’

The battle’s not over, if you think so, you’re trippin’.

Half the people here still look back until they fall outta track,

and you’ll know they’re slippin’.

Death takes us up, down, out, and away

until a bomb shuts them up and they just could not say

anything more but “stop” or “get out of the way”

cuz we refuse to die today.

The fight won’t stop until we win the fight,

Caught a fit in the cockpit but it’s alright.

People don’t know that by the end of the night,

the bullet bites harder than a damn termite.

God can’t bless a country so racist

when people here are born with so many faces

terror proposed purposely in places

leaving no more empty spaces

Red, white, and blue,

what the hell did you do?

Take the flag down

its lost its value

They still hug, kiss, and throw their peace signs

when America’s flooded with nothing but hate crimes

Back-up, shoot, get out of the way

there goes a terrorist, blow him up today

I refuse to run, I’m gonna have to stay

yeah..okay…I’ll be gone..but that day’s not today.

 

 

 

Style is to Fashion what Graffiti is to Art

 

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Last weekend I went to Urban Outfitters with my friend and while I waited for her to try on clothes, a book caught my attention. The book was called “Street Fashion Photography” by Dyanna Dawson. This book was full of photographs of random New Yorkers that the author/photographer encountered and found interesting because of their outfits. All the participants had a street style that which I can’t really define. Street style can range from sneakers to heels and from Iooking preppy to looking really cool. I think street style is to fashion what graffiti is to art. its that underground movement that changed the common perception.

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Complexions

Complexions was the first ballet performance I’ve ever been to! I was really excited! I always wondered how a ballet show would be like. I was really curious how it would turn out from seeing the videos in class. I wondered if it was going to be similar to the videos. I was surprised how strict they would be that we couldn’t even take pictures. I didn’t know that they would be that strict. I really liked how I was in the front though.

As the music started, I was surprised by the outfits. It was tight clothing that I could see the muscles of the dancers. I was glad we went over some of the performances in class. I realized that as they danced, their muscles were emphasized and I realized that it was part of the dance. That was one of the main points. I was interested in the second part of the performance which was the one with no music. I felt like it was tap dancing. Also, the parts when they stomped their feet were cool. I never knew ballet could be like this.

My favorite part was the last part. I really like how they wore clothing that people would wear these days. Also, they had music with lyrics. I didn’t know if that was allowed but I was excited. The upbeat music with the dance and lyrics was perfect. I clapped along to the dance. It was fun to watch and it told a story as the dancers danced to the lyrics.

I’ve noticed or felt that the parts all had to do something with love. Maybe, I was the only one who felt like that. Also, I really loved the passion of all the dancers. They danced and acted and their face showed how much they loved what they were doing. I even felt that their sweat helped with their dancing as they showed their passion. It was a realyl interesting performance and I’m grateful that I had a chance to see it.

A Glimpse at the Originals

For the archive project I was lucky enough to have been given the chance to go and have the interview at a place where Irma Ostroff, an artist, had worked before to create her pieces of art. After the interview was over I got the chance to talk to her more about many of her pieces and to my surprise, she even had some of the original works within the residence. When we walked into the common area I immediately noticed a piece of art hanging on the wall which had a unique style, that was of course the work of Professor Ostroff. It was titled Plan C and was made using a pattern of stamps of varying colors among other techniques all of which contributed to the final product. That’s when I remembered something that Professor Ostroff had told me during the interview where she had said that she made the work because she enjoyed doing so, and she herself knew that it had value. To believe in yourself is something that doesn’t only have to be limited to art; it is something that everyone should strive towards accomplishing and surely will allow you to move forward and aspire toward any ambitions you may have.

Abraham Lincoln: Gay?

On tenth avenue, there are a whole bunch of galleries, and last week I happened to walk into a really cool gallery called the C24 Gallery. This isn’t just any normal exhibition that I saw. There was a whole built in house in that gallery, and inside, the stairs lead to the bedroom of Abraham Lincoln. There were newspapers dating back to the 1800s, and old candles, and hay in the bedroom. Skylar Fein put this bedroom together with the help from his research when he went down to Kentucky. Historians have confirmed that Abraham Lincoln shared his bed with Joshua Speed in the 1830s. Joshua Speed had his hardware store downstairs, and the bedroom was upstairs. Therefore, many speculators, like Skylar Fein, have questioned Lincoln’s sexuality. Was he actually gay? No way! I don’t believe that. Historians argue that Springfield, Illinois was a frontier town, so the two men didn’t have much choice. But when I came to know that Joshua Speed was the son of a wealthy plantation owner, so he actually didn’t have a shortage of beds, and that Lincoln rejected the offer of having his own bedroom in the house of a wealthy lawyer but still chose to have a shared bed with Speed, it scares me.

I felt really uncomfortable as I walked into the bedroom. People came and saw the bed, and walked out to see other things in the gallery. I spent some amount of time looking at the primary resources in the bedroom. I didn’t even care if I was allowed to touch things, because not only did I touch things in that room; I started smelling things, like the candles and blankets. Because these things that were displayed were 200 years old. I’m living in this time, 2013, yet I still have access to things from the 19th century. Its depressing and awesome at the same time. I was happy to be there, although the room was creeping me out, and then I just became really sad to think that people would actually think a respectable man like Abraham Lincoln could be gay. What an experience!IMG_20131205_131058[1]IMG_20131205_130856[1]IMG_20131205_131117[1]