Big Fish and A very old man with enormous wings

In both the movie Big Fish and and the book,  A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, the idea of adding 'flavor' to a story is displayed several times. One such example of that is Benjamin Bloom. He added more enticing details to almost every story he told in order to make them more appealing. In contrast, the spider-women who wasn't an angel, drew more people to herself than to the old man due to her story being more interesting than his, (although he couldn't quite speak to them.) "A spectacle like that, full of so much human truth and with such a fearful lesson, was bound to defeat without even trying." (Marquez, 3). Because the story of the angel was less enticing than the spider-women's, people flocked to her-even though he did perform miracles, such as healing Elisenda's child. This is poking fun at people looking for enticing details that will make them hold onto a person's every word. Adding 'flavor' to a story can make it more interesting, but also make a person not believe those stories, as that was what happened with Benjamin's son, Will, in Big Fish.

Siddhartha essay

People encounter teachers all throughout their lives, be them human or not. In Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, Siddhartha is the exemplification of a man who is searching for answers and finds peace within themselves without material possessions. He has many teachers such as: Vasudeva, Kamala, the river, Govinda, and the Buddha. These teachers each teach him something about himself and the world, although not always through words. Teachers are able to be found where, in cities, forests, near rivers, or even in oneself, one just needs to have open eyes and ears to their surroundings.

Love. It is a primal instinct in all animals, but why is it so confusing and intriguing to many? Well, because it can teach people about themselves, help them find things that they did not know about themselves. Kamala symbolized the concept of love and the grasping of material things. "For a long time Kamala kissed him, and with deep astonishment, Siddhartha felt how she was teaching him, how wise she was...anyone can reach his goals if he can think, if he can wait, if he can fast." (Hesse, 51-54). In order for one to reach their goals, they must be patient, and must know how to think in order to reach them. After Siddhartha had finally kissed Kamala, he began to understand love and the emotions behind it. Although Kamala was Siddhartha's lover, she signaled his entrance into the world of lust and greed. "Conducting business was good because it brought him money for Kamala-indeed much more than was needed.” (Hesse, 50). As Siddhartha became more ingrained in city life, he had to earn money for his lover, so he became a merchant. This was a pull away from his original intentions for finding Nirvana and was against the samana way. Although Kamala attempts to teach him about love, he is currently unable to genuinely share it or receive it. When he is told that he has a son, he immediately feels blind love for him. But when the child wants to leave the forest, he believes he does not want to loose him. However, if he is to achieve nirvana, he must accept love and let his son leave because it is making him unhappy. After reaching Nirvana, Siddhartha views love as the most important emotion. "Love, O Govinda, appears to me more important than all other matters." (Hesse, 122). The feeling of love is an almost universal human emotion, and in order for one to achieve Nirvana, they must be able to love their fellow people.

Teachers do not always need to be human or living to teach a person a lesson. The river, an example of a non-living thing teaches Siddhartha. Vasudeva had been the brought up in the book as a guide to those who need guidance and enlightenment. Even though Siddhartha had many teachers, Vasudeva had taught him how to find Nirvana within himself-which is what he had wanted all along. "And once I learned this I considered my life, and it too was a river, and the boy Siddhartha was separated from the man Siddhartha and the graybeard Siddhartha only by shadows, not by real things." (Hesse, 90). Siddhartha had come to the conclusion that life was a river, and that as people physically change, they stay the same. "Isn't it true that the river has many voices  very many voices? Does it not have the voice of a king, and of a warrior, and of a bull...and a thousand voices more?" (Hesse, 91). The river being a non human-or actual physically breathing creature, has seen many people since its creation, and had many consult with it. Because a river can not respond with words, people learn to listen to the ripples of the water and stare at their self. This period of self reflection allows for the person to look inside themselves and search for the roots of their unhappiness or how to achieve Nirvana. The river was the symbol of the path to enlightenment, learning without words, and time. Life is a journey and that as people physically change, they are still the same person. Words can not quite explain experiences, such as happiness, one must search themselves for those experiences, and occasionally, look into the river to see what's looking back at them.

Reflection of the river

Sometimes the best taught lessons and information comes from within the person. When Govinda journeyed to Siddhartha's hut by the river, he did not initially recognize him, but tried to find answers from whom he believed is a wise man. Siddhartha tells Govinda that the reason that he has not found enlightenment is because he is looking for it. "When a person seeks, it can easily happen that his eye sees only the thing he is seeking; he is incapable of finding anything...because he has a goal, because he is possessed by his goal." (Hesse, 117). If a person is looking for a specific thing, and are closed off about everything else but that one thing, they will miss everything that is going on around them, such as new ideas and new people. In the end, Siddhartha had finally reached nirvana, which is symbolized by his smile. "...and this mask was Siddhartha's smiling face, which he, Govinda, at just this moment was touching with his lips. And Govinda saw that this smiling of the mask, this smile of Oneness over all the flowing figures, this smile of simultaneous over the thousand births and deaths, this smile of Siddhartha was precisely the same...this, Govinda knew, is how the Perfect Ones smiled." (Hesse, 126). After a lifetime of experiences, Siddhartha had finally reached nirvana, which was symbolized by smiling-in this case, smiling is reserved for the ones whom have reached enlightenment. All the lessons that Siddhartha had learned throughout his life from various teachers had all come together in order for him to reach Nirvana.

Teachers are everywhere on Earth-not always presenting themselves as such, but offering their thoughts to others and creating a communal bond between them. The different people that a person interacts with in their lives can have a profound affect on their life because of the variation of thoughts between people. Siddhartha's final teaching was to Govinda and explained how everything flowed into one another. "He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha;instead he saw other faces, many of them, a long series, a flowing river of faces...all of them coming and fading away..." (Hesse 125). This is the flow of the world; new faces constantly appear, and the old disappear. Vasudeva and the river had taught Siddhartha how to listen, while Kamala had taught him how to love, and his experiences and knowledge had allowed him to reach Nirvana. The various teachers in life are all able to aid a person in one way or another.

Chapter 10

"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not ever listen, simply wait, be quite, be still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice it will roll at ecstasy at your feet." -Herman Hesse.

I think what he is saying is that you do not need to seek out awakening, you eventually become awakened given enough time, after learning how to listen and think. The world will eventually reveal itself to a person if they act pure and as a good person.

Experiences early on in life can shape how a person acts for the rest of it. In the case of Siddhartha's and Kamala's son, he grew up as a spoiled kid who felt entitled to things such as nice clothing and servants doing things for him. "He began to realize that this eleven year old was spoiled, a mama's boy; he had been raised among all the amenities of wealth and was used to fine meals, a soft bead and giving orders to servants." (Hesse 98). Their child was forced to leave the home while Siddhartha left on his own choice. This child is resentful of his father for keeping him around with Vasevuda. But after his son had ran away, Siddhartha wanted to follow him to try and win him over once more with kindness. "Siddhartha was unable to follow his freiend's advice; he could not give up his son. He allowed the boy to order him about and treat him with contempt." (Hesse 102). Siddhartha wanted to show himself as a kind man to his son. He was raised as a good and kind person, so we wanted to transmit that to his son. The experiences that he had experienced when he was younger had indeed shaped who he became has a person 

awakening

"Enough of all this. I have awoken, have truly awoken, and this day is the day of my birth." (Hesse, 35).

"Siddhartha in the moment of his awakening, on the path to himself." (Hesse, 35).

"This, he felt, had been the final shiver of awakening, the final pangs of birth." (Hesse 37).

My awakening

One night while I had stayed up all night with a friend back in California for the point of having a philosophical discussion, we had both received a spiritual awakening while studying the words of Ram Daas and Bob Dylan. It had taught us to not only be kinder people, but also a more awoken person in terms of a different thought process after processing their words and listening to their messages. 

My second awakening was at a Furthur concert (2/22/13), while looking around at the 10,000 Grateful Dead fans, all singing together in unison, all in perfect harmony and peace, I had truly realized the world's inner beauty. Not only of the beauty of people, but also of the world, and what music can do to connect people. At that moment, I had truly realized the beauty of everything.

The third awakening was when I was sitting in a class watching the snow fall on the window, and feeling trapped inside. Even though I was only a few feet from the window, I could not touch the snow because of it. That sent me into a questioning period with myself asking "Why do I have to be here? I want to be outside." But that itself was temporary as I like learning. It then got more insightful. I began to think "Wow, people are both beautiful and ugly." It's just in the eye of the beholder for which one it is. I then began to think, "Why are we are?" and those sort of questions as everyone does. I then realized that we just are here on this earth, not real point, we just are.

                                                 

Metamorphosis Part one and two

            Both friends and family feed off of their companion's or relative's  success.. Gregor's father, who has not worked in five years is riding off the success of his son, and at the same time, Gregor is paying for his father's debt in order to keep his family afloat. "Gregor's only concern had been to use everything he had in order to allow his family to forget as quickly as possible the business misfortune. And so at that point  he had started to work a special intensity and from a minor assistant had become, almost overnight, a traveling salesman." (Kafka 12). This is just an example of how Gregor shows himself as a selfless man who is putting his head to the grindstone and is sacrificing his life in order to keep his family happy. In comparison, over those five years that Gregor had been working, his father had put on some weight. " He had in these years, the first holidays of his laborious but unsuccessful life, put on a good deal of fat and thus had become really heavy." (Kafka 13). As Gregor is working, his father is enjoying a leisurely life of reading newspapers, eating breakfast for hours, and just plain ol' relaxation. They are the true vermin, not Gregor, he is acting humane towards them by optionally paying for their bills, while the family eats, and enjoys life (exempting Grete because she helps Gregor) This just isn't fair to him as he is spending his life helping to pay off the father's debt. But hey, family or not, people can still feed off their child's or friend's success.

           The ideas of Existentialism are exemplified throughout this story, angst, isolation, and alienation. The feeling of isolation from the rest of the world, goes hand-in-hand with Gregor's new bug body. "But while Gregor could get no new information directly, he did hear a good deal from the room next door, and as soon as he heard voices, he scurried right away to the appropriate door and pressed his entire body against it." (Kafka 11).He is almost in a prison, but in his own house, because he is unable to speak audibly, can not interact with the other's there because of their reactions towards him. He is slowly loosing that human aspect of him, the ability to be social. As Gregor is trapped in his room, he thinks about his old life. "[He] leaned against the window to look out, obviously with some memory or other of the liberating sense, which looking out the window used to bring him in earlier times." (Kafka 13). He's feeling trapped because he does not want his mother, father, or his sister to be afraid at the sight of him, showing his humbleness and humanity. This feeling of isolation coincided with Existentialism because of the thoughts of isolation and alienation from the rest of the world.  Even in modern society, the feelings of isolation are still very prevalent, and cause emotional pain to many.

         

11-23

In canto eleven, Dante and Virgil are still in the sixth circle of hell, the lair of people whom have committed heresy. Virgil describes the heresy of one group in particular, Epicureans, because they pursued pleasure in life because they believed the soul died with the body. The punishment here is that the heretics can only see distant things because they only tried to pursue the near future, or what was right in front of them. In the seventh circle of hell, lies the people whom have committed violence towards one another. However, sodomy for some reason is viewed as an act of violence towards god. The people here are placed in a lake of fire and blood. In the fifth pouch of the eighth circle of hell resides frauds, specifically politicians. In the fifth pouch,  the politicians are stuck in a pool of flaming tar. The tar represents their "sticky fingers" and false deals while in power. The sinners here are guarded by the Malabranche, and Virgil and Dante are assigned an escort of them to the next bridge, but in actuality, there is no bridge and must descend down cliffs. 

I included Pinocchio because he is viewed as an ultimate liar; whenever he lies, his nose gets bigger

3-10

The gates of hell state "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" essentially meaning, if you're here, you've messed up part of your life. The first circle contains everyone in limbo, not good enough for heaven, but have not committed a sin serious enough for the rest of hell. Here, the sinners just walk around the river Acheron, and are continuously bit by flies and wasps for not quite making the decision to be good or evil. In the second circle, contains the people whom are guilty of lust, ironically, Dante should have been placed here because he wrote the Inferno about finding his love Beatriz. In this circle, contains Helen (Trojan war was fought over her) and Queen Cleopatria. Here, the sinners are blown about for all eternity by a powerful wind, symbolizing their never ending lust for another human. 
Here, I have included the picture of the great Jim Morrison, for many hundreds of thousands of girls lusted after him as he was not only a major rock star, but also a sex icon. I have also included the gates of hell, showing the journey that Virgil and Dante are about to encroach upon

Canto 28-34

Ahh, the "sin" of betrayal will land you in the farthest depth of hell, in which Dante details in Canto 34. Here lies the ultimate three sinners (as well as many others), Judas Iscariot  who betrayed Jesus, Cassius and Brutus who betrayed Julius Caesar, and finally, Lucifer for betraying god himself. The sinners here are all trapped in ice, with Lucifer's beating wings constantly keeping it cold, icy, and windy. I personally do not believe the punishment fits the crime because being frozen and not being able to move is a little much for betrayal. However, the three sinners mentioned did commit huge acts of betrayal, so, having them being frozen in ice and not being able to move does prevent them from harming others. Did I mention that these three are constantly being torn apart but never killed by Lucifer? How fun! The other canto in the ninth circle of hell is the 33rd, people who have betrayed their family or their country, and they are trapped in a frozen lake, like the ones in 34. But here's the other part of it, whenever they cry, their tears are frozen to their face, which is extremely painful. The ironic thing is that they themselves cry because of the troubles and tears shed in betrayal. Canto 28, the final canto of the 8th circle, houses falsifiers: alchemists, perjurers, importers, and counterfeits). Their punishment is that they are each infected with some disease because Dante viewed them as a plague upon society

Dantes Inferno Canto Analysis

In Dante's hell, everyone goes there, even him, because we all commit some form of sin: stealing, lying, cheating, trying to look into the future, or harming another human. Hell, I'd even go there! I've lied before, but who hasn't?! Now, in some cantos, the sinner is shown as roasting in their own individual fires for committing fraud, but hey, that's not very clever. What is clever is Canto 20 though, where the fortune tellers and the philosophers, have their heads turned backwards, so they can only see what is behind them. I think that is so clever because it punishes them not so much as physical pain, but now they can't look into the future. But Canto 23 is clever as well, the hypocrite wear extravagant robes, but on the inside, it is lined with led, leading them to slouch.

                                 I chose to show canto 23, the hypocrites, because I thought Dante was clever in his punishment

Hell

       As someone who identifies themselves as an atheist, I do not believe in a hell or heaven, I believe after we die, we stay in the ground, not get judged at the gates of heaven. But hypothetically if there really was a heaven and a hell, one would be the "best" place possibly in your reality, and hell would be the absolute worst. As many religious preaches will say, "You stay in hell" to "pay" for your misdeeds. My hell would be like Dante's hell, fire and pain. And for me, heaven would be a plethora of mountain bike trails as well as a new road a day to road bike on. A hell would be non-denominational, meaning that anyone religious or not can get into heaven or hell.

Hubris

Hubris has got in my way many times, just like many others. In terms of ego, who likes to apologize? Who likes to admit that they're wrong and take a hit to their egos? Not me. People all have an ego, and we like to protect it and buff it up by doing things that make us feel good about ourselves, just like donating to charity. Some do it because they actually want to help people, but some just do it to feel better about themselves.

But for a story about myself: Just like anyone with a little brother close in age (In my case 16 months apart) We had been arguing about who knows what. And it turned out he had been right, and it would have been more polite to have just said "Dude, I'm sorry" or something like that, but that never happened. While no real everlasting damage occurred between us, it is still something I should have said to finalize the disagreement and make him feel better

Fate

       I do not believe in fate, or complete free will for that matter, due to automatic brain umpulses, nerurons firing off. I don't believe in some entity watching over me, pushing me into a specific path or direction, or for that matter, something omnipotent that cares about me. As far as I know, no one sets a specific path for me, only me. I can adjust my life accordingly if something "good" or "bad" happens. Nor do I believe in the principal of karma. If I do something, it can change the course of my life and potentially others. But if I hurt someone or steal something, bad thing may or may not happen because of it. If something happened, it would be because of my actions and how they impacted the world.  I don't believe in luck or something like that. I believe the world just goes on, and things happen.
         Although, I do believe in the words of certain people as "gods" in society: Ram Daas, Timothy Leary, Jerry Garcia, and Jim Morrison, just to name a few. "Turn on, tune in, and drop out" as Timothy Leary famously said.

My advancements

    Throughout this year I have grown as a writer-at least in my opinion. My writing style can be very sloppy if I am not attempting good work. One example of creativity but possibly perceived as a lack of effort could be my story about bacon, pancake muffins "I want to make bacon-pancake muffins."Some may even say that this is brilliant, ground-breaking news, but some very unimaginative people would say that it is a stupid idea. Writing is purely objective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.


       The worst writing I have done all year was when I didn't put much effort into my work, such as "I follow my bliss by mountain and road biking." Now, ordinarily this would be fine, but that was my entire response to the question "How do you follow your bliss?" There was no elaboration at all, just a mostly half-assed attempt at following the prompt. Out of my writing this year, this was the worst job I have done. I could further improve this by working to expand my thoughts of WHY I like those two sports, why they bring me joy. Look world, I didn't get the grade I wanted in my LA class for two reasons, at my best, I would say I'm a good writer, not phenomenal, but pretty good. So on our essays, I was lacking a few minor things here and there. But the other reason would be for some of our blog posts, I didn't go all in, I said it was "Good enough" And that's what killed me, that's why I didn't get the 'A' I wanted, instead, I got a B. Remember writers, being concise and being able to elaborate is key! Be witty in your writings. I may try setting timers to write for "x" amount of time, take a break, then go back in order to focus once more.

What inspires you to do anything you do? Well for me, it's going outside. Going on a hike, or going mountain or road biking. The state of Colorado is just so gorgeous that it is a wonderful place for a mind to brew new thoughts. I follow my bliss by doing things that not only inspire but keep me happy and fulfilled in life. Like I've said, bacon-pancake muffins would be an amazing idea! I just thought of it while on a mountain bike ride while hungry; Ideas can come from anywhere. While inspiration comes to many via psychedelic drug, meditation, or out of no where, as of now, my route of discovery comes via cycling and the scenery of everyday life.




The human mind is full of metaphorical colors and the rainbow of them represent something to everyone. For example, with this picture, Alex Grey painted a human with his eyes shut and colors coming out of his/her brain.These colors are the human "spirit" and consciousness. The baby on the left and right could possibly represent the creation of new ideas.