Before beginning the play, I was aware that we were going to see it read aloud. Therefore, I read the play while, in my mind, each character took on a different voice to have a better picture of what I would see in a few day’s time. I had never been to a reading of a play, and it surprised me that this play was set in a part of New York City that was very familiar to me, located only a short distance from my neighborhood. While reading the play, I was able to understand all of the jokes, comments and stereotypes described about Brooklyn. In reality, the play was unlike anything I had read before.

The play is, in a way, shocking and definitely has the ability to provoke a response. I found our discussion in class to have brought up many questions that I had previously not given a thought to, which were then answered by Stephen Garcia, the writer of the play at the end of the reading.

I had not expected the reading to be so powerful. Somehow, when I found out that we were attending a reading of the play, the word “reading” downplayed my expectations. I was pleasantly surprised. The actors’ facial expressions, emotion-filled voices, and gestures allowed the members of the audience to become immersed in the play and thoroughly forget where they were located at the time. I enjoyed following the progression of the play live more-so than I did while reading it at home, because even though there was no setting created and the actors were simply reading the play, it came alive before your very eyes. I did not, in any way, expect a grown man to portray Little Joe, an eight-year-old innocent young boy, so well. Furthermore, I didn’t expect any of the actors to depict their respectable characters so well because, once the question and answer portion of the night began, it seemed as if you were broken away from  a dream and these weren’t the characters in front of you, but simply the adults or students who had played them. You were suddenly taken out of the trance.

The plot was very unique in my eyes and the actors were able to provoke reactions from the audience that Mr. Garcia had intended while writing the play. I definitely enjoyed the reading and will definitely keep my eyes open for similar events throughout the city in the future.

I was looking forward to attending the American Ballet Theatre performance on Thursday night. Even though I had attended ballets before, this one was different from the ones I had attended before for numerous reasons. I learned that the ballet was subdivided into three ballets, and I became even more excited because the ballets I attended before were long and depicted a single story. Moreover, the music of Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Shostakovich was always something I enjoyed listening to. Furthermore, the physical abilities, fluidity, and gracefulness of the ballet dance art are unlike anything else in the world. Not only do these dancers dedicate their whole lives to this perfection, but they also perform unparalleled things with their body while on stage.

The first performance was something that I enjoyed and expected. It was a classic portrayal of a ballet, with the classical music, typical choreography, “traditional” costumes consisting of tutus and tights. Although the beginning of the first third was something that I found to be archetypal of a ballet, the end of the first third, when all the dancers emerged onto the stage and danced in perfect synchronization was something I thoroughly enjoyed.

The set of the second third of the performance was amazing. The details of the set and the amount of time and effort that probably went into making it were evident. The costumes, set, and the story as a whole fit well together and even though I did enjoy watching it, the third and final part of the performance definitely took my breath away.

Finally, the last third of the performance was probably my favorite. The contrasting colors of the scenery and the body suits, along with the way that they flowed together fluidly as the performers danced was impeccably done. It was unlike anything I had ever seen performed before. While the first portion of the ballet can be compared to soldiers being completely in-sync with one another as they marched, the third part of the ballet can be compared to a more modernized and interesting art form.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed the night and the American Ballet Theatre performance.

The visit to the 9/11 Memorial was one that I will never forget. Although I watched the Freedom Tower being built over the years, I never entered the grounds of the World Trade Center after the Twin Towers collapsed.

After the security checkpoint and after going through the winding pathway, I entered the memorial and the sight of it took my breath away. It captured all of your senses. The whole site was silent except for the ongoing sounds of rushing water, which blocked out all the sounds of the city. The crisp, cool air enveloped you and the site of greenery everywhere was somewhat surprising. You could see exactly where the buildings once stood, as well as read the name of every person that lost their life that day.

The Freedom Tower stands as the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere alongside the two monuments that were constructed at exactly the sites of the North and South Towers. The two perfectly symmetrical square monuments are identical, except for the names inscribed along the edges, and the depth to which the water fell was unperceivable, no matter how much you tried to see down to the bottom. Each name was illuminated and, each day, a white rose is placed in the names of the individuals whose birthday would have been on that day.

Standing there, it is almost as if you feel closer to the people that are no longer with us. There seemed to be warmth radiating from the names that affected you despite the day’s chilly weather. The more I stood in silence, simply letting the atmosphere engulf me, the more closer and empathetic I felt.

Overall, this experience was a memorable one and, as someone who was personally affected by the events of 9/11, I hope that that day will remain in our memories and never be forgotten in the generations to come after us. I intend to visit the memorial again in the near future.

For the in-class discussion, our group had to think of three truths about poetry. The group consisted of Elizabeth, Tatiana, Danielle, Renee and Siena. Our truths were:

1. “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

2. Expresses pure, honest emotion.

3. Poetry is entirely of your imagination and your emotion. It exists entirely inside of you, in your head.

4. Poetry is eternal.

5. Poetry is deep. Over time, as you read and re-read a poem, it only attains a deeper meaning.

Photography is an activity that I never necessarily tried to engage in at every conceivable chance, but I love to take dozens upon dozens of pictures when a camera is given to me, hoping that a few would turn out well. I was excited to go to the International Center of Photography because this would be my first visit to ICP and I was curious to see what other photographers were exhibiting. As I took my time walking through the galleries and observing the photographs on the first floor, I did find a few of them interesting while others I found to be bewildering. The basement of the ICP housed old, black-and-white photographs and a few colored ones from the time that JFK was president. I enjoyed viewing those as well.

The picture above, named Walking Wawa Parking Lot, taken in Philadelphia in 2008, was one of the photographs that I found to be exceptionally interesting. It was hung on the side, next to the entrance to the room with the projector, and could have been easily missed. At first glance, I saw a man walking on fog or clouds above what looked to be buildings, it seemed, with mountain tops on the right and clouds above. It seemed surreal to me, and it didn’t fit with the theme of the other pictures, and I took a closer look. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the whole image was the result of the reflection off of wet concrete. The ridges at the top of the painting were not the result of debris in the air or the camera lens being dirty, but rather, it was the particles of the concrete emerging from the water. At the bottom of the painting, where the subject’s feet are, you can see the cut-off of the actual person’s feet, with more detail visible on the sneakers because while the image was distorted due to small ripples in the liquid, the actual image remained intact.  The objects at the right of the photo, what I had mistaken for a mountainous ridge of some sort, was actually the reflection of the Wawa store, a car, and other parts of the parking lot. I found this picture to be interesting because unlike the other photographs that had “covert” meanings or symbolic messages, this one caused me to imagine something entirely other and surreal for a whole three to four seconds before seeing the reality. Additionally, the circumstances of the photograph was something that I found to be original because while most of the pictures I’ve seen of reflections tended to be reflections in the mirror, this one was a reflection from wet concrete, a perfect symbol of the city in which it is located and displayed.

Overall, I enjoyed this experience and look forward to numerous ones like it and to visiting ICP on different occasions in the future.