Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Music


Introduction
            A wide variety of music has played a very big role in my life.  I didn’t really realize this until I read the assignment for this unit.  I was born in 1946 and my life had spanned many musical era’s from Big Band to Contemporary. For this assignment, I thought it would be fun to write “The Symphony of My Life” because the assignment has four sections and a symphony consists of four separate sections.
1950’s and 1960’s
            In 1950, I was just 4 years old. Most of the music I heard during my early childhood was on the radio and at church. My mother listened to an Easy Listening station which consisted of music from the Big Band Era, Show Tunes and singers like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Pat Boone and Rosemary Clooney. I loved the children’s songs from my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). Fun songs like “"Popcorn Popping" and "Give" Said the Little Stream and religious songs like "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and "I am a Child of God"
I was lucky to live through the birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Although I was only 10 years old when Elvis first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, my parents watched it regularly on Sunday nights.  I didn’t know what to make of him at the time, I do remember seeing him.  What I remember more vividly was The Beatles first performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in the mid-sixties since by that time I was in High School.  Again, I didn’t quite know what to make of them; but soon came to love them. One singer that had a major impact on my life during my teenage years was Ricky Nelson.  I grew up with him on the The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.  We didn’t get our first TV until 1956, but I watched it from then until the end of the show. I loved his music and still do.  It was so neat to see him perform live on the show. My peers thought I was weird because I preferred him to Elvis! Another singer whom I loved during adolescence was Donny Osmond. Since the Osmond’s are “LDS”, you can imagine how I looked up to them.  Even though Donny was nine years younger than me, I loved his songs even the teeny bopper ones. I especially liked The Donnie and Marie Show.
            Also when I was a teenager, I started taking ballet lessons and this exposed me to some of the great classical music.  We did a ballet production of   “Cinderella” and I was the Fairy Godmother.

1970’s and 1980’s
            I married at the age of 19 in 1966. My husband was in the music business in Los Angeles; so he exposed me Rock Music for several years until we divorced in 1976. Being part of the music scene in Los Angeles during this time was very interesting. My first husband, Ron Lewis, worked with and I got to meet some of the major DJ’s in Los Angeles radio. I met Casey Kasum, Robert Morgan, Jay Stevens and Roger Christian. Roger Christian wrote the Beach Boys “car songs”. He also co-wrote some of Jan and Dean’s songs also mainly car songs. I listened to so much music during that time that I got burnt out on it. So much so that when I was by myself, I didn’t listen to much music. But, Donny Osmond along with Barry Manilow continue to be favorites of mine and luckily they are both still performing and doing new songs. 
             
Comfort
            The first song that comes to mind when I think of comfort is Frank Sinatra’s "My Way". During the time that the song was popular, I was going through the collapse of my marriage to my first husband. He was a very controlling person and wanted me to do everything his way from cleaning the house to how I dressed.  When I heard “My Way”  sung it spoke volumes to me; because all I wanted was to be able to do something my way.
            The hymns of the “LDS” church have also been a source of much comfort in my life. Songs like "Families Can Be Together Forever" which speaks of the belief that you can be with your family in the afterlife helps me when someone dies. The knowledge that I will see them again someday is very comforting to me. "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" is one of my favorite hymns and it speaks volumes about the Savior’s role in my life. My very favorite hymn is "I Stand All Amazed" because it talks about the atonement and how the savior atones for everyone even the rebellious sprits like me.
Happiness
            When I think of songs that bring me happiness today, church songs and the songs of the 50’s and 60’s still come to mind.  I am also enjoying going to live stage productions of musicals now.  The first play that we went to recently was “Mary Poppins”. I remember seeing the movie and nothing compares to seeing it live.  We also have been to see “The Lion King”, “Grease” and “The Nutcracker”.  I had never seen a live performance of “The Nutcracker” and I really enjoyed it and could appreciate it because I took ballet as a teen. We also went to a local production of the “Music Man” and really enjoyed it too.  The first live theater production I remember going to was as a pre-teen. I went with my school to see “My Fair Lady”.  My husband and I are really big movie buffs and I enjoy movie scores. We are also reality show junkies and shows like “America’s Got Talent” and “The Voice” have exposed me to new singers that I probably would have never listened to had I not watched those shows.            
Conclusion
            There is much more I could say about “The Symphony of My Life”, but I have run out of space. This assignment has been a wonderful reflection. .  Until I really stopped to think about it, I didn’t realize how much music had influenced my life. I had thought that because I never learned to play an instrument and cannot read music or sing well that it didn’t really influence me much.  Well, I was wrong and I will continue to write “The Symphony of My Life” for many years to come. 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

A Moral Dilemma


Would I blow the whistle if my employer was acting unethically? This is a hard question. I think that most of us would like to think that we would.  But if truth be told, I think it can be agreed that it would be a hard decision.  There are many factors that I feel need to be taken into consideration. I think that first I would have to consider the depth of the potential harm that would be done. Second, I would consider how hard it would be to get heard.  Third, I would consider how much harm would come to me or my family. Fourth, would it do any good to blow the whistle.  Fifth, how long it would take. These are just the things that I can think of off the top of my head. The biggest factors that I would need to consider before I would report what I know would be how much harm would be done to other people if I did not report it and how much harm would come to me or my family. These two factors would be the biggest factors that would prevent me from acting, along with a basic fear of confrontation.  I was a very shy person when I was younger and am still that way a little. Although I have learned to be more assertive and to stand up for myself and my family, being a little fearful still is a factor in making these kinds of decisions. How much do you think your personality would help or hinder your decision? Do you think your basic moral beliefs would be a factor? 

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Poetry Review

In this post, I am analyzing two poems that I read for my Humanities class. To view the poems that I am talking about click on the titles:


My first choice is Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes

I found this poem very easy to understand. The example given were well thought out and described. To me this poem is reflective.  I think Mr. Hughes is trying to justify why America does not live up to the ideal.  The problem with that is that reality never does live up to the ideal. The founding fathers had a vision when they created this country and wrote the Constitution and The Bill of Rights, but if truth be told America has never lived up to their vision of what it should be.  I don’t think it ever will because humans are human and also because we keep changing the Constitution and messing with their vision. Admittedly, some changes are for the better but on the other hand some are not. I was surprised that this poem was written in 1994, because the things that he talks happened many years before that.  He talks about the slavery’s scars, although I realize that even though we no longer have slavery that the black ‘s still bear the scars.  In some parts of the poem when he talks about things that happened in the past, he uses terms from that time which no longer apply.  For example, he uses Negro in one part when that is no longer the correct term and I believe it wasn’t even in 1994.
Do you agree with my interpretation that Langston Hughes is trying to justify an ideal America?

My second choice is The Lanyard by Billy Collins
I found Billy Collin’s poem easy to understand also.  This poem was more of a narrative as it told a story. It was written in poem form, but it could have just as easily been written as a short story. I love his descriptions and feel that they are an important part of the poem.  Aside from that the idea behind the poem is that we can never repay our Mom’s for all they have done for us.  The only time we can come close is if we end up taking care of them in their later years. Even then those few years still would not make up for them having giving birth to us.   Accordingly, to the biographical data he wrote this poem as early as 1995, but this poem is timeless . The data also says that “the central theme of poetry is death”  (Collins, B.  2005).  Personally, I don’t see that as a theme in this poem. Do you?

Reference:

Lyden, J. (2005). Billy Collins 'The Trouble With Poetry'. Npr books. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4990320 

Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Lost Beautifulness

The Lost Beautifulness is a story I read for my Humanities class.  You can click on the link and read the story.  What follows is my review of it:

I really enjoyed Anzio Yezierska’s story. “The Lost Beautifulness” was a poignant story about Hannah Hayyeh’s quest to add a little beauty and happiness to her hard life. I had a great deal of sympathy for her. Painting her kitchen gave her so much happiness and it was great how her neighbors enjoyed this joy with her. I love the language they used to describe how impressed they were with her attempt. Their exclamations of wonder and joy were priceless. I also loved her relationship with Mrs. Preston and how much pride she took in doing her laundry. Mrs. Preston’s opinion meant so much to her and for her to call Hannah a laundry artist is just precious.  I love Mrs. Preston’s definition of an artist and how she tells Hannah that she expresses her love of the beautiful as a laundress the way a painter expresses it with paint. They relationship is so rich because of Mrs. Preston’s appreciation of her passion for beauty.  I felt sympathy for Mrs. Preston when she tried to help Hannah in the only way she knew how and Hannah could not understand or accept her gesture.  I disliked her husband because he could not appreciate or understand Hannah’s quest for beauty.  I especially dislike the landlord and her greed and for the pain that he caused her gentle soul.  I can’t believe that this story was written in 1920.  It is timeless and has universal appeal. The writer appeals to emotions that I think we all have felt at one time or another.  I know I have felt the despair of not knowing where I was going to come up with the money that I had to pay and did not have.  With the recession more and more people will be feeling it also. The end of the story touched my heart as her son came home after fighting so hard for his country and found his mother in such a desperate situation.  It was such a contrast to what he was expecting.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Preventing Childhood Obesity-What Parents Can Do

Power Presentation for Final CC2 Project

Art and Architecture Project

Art and Architecture Project Unit 2 project for HU 300

Introduction
            On Friday July 15, the City of Longmont held an event called Art Walk – Longmont. This event is held is held three times a year along a three block area of Main Street. It is a free evening of art exhibitions, music, live theatre, dance and children’s activities.  The ArtWalk turns several businesses in that area into galleries and helps promote the cultural arts for the evening (ArtWalk Longmont, 2011). My husband and I attended this event and I will be discussing one of the artists featured and a historic home that held an open house the evening of the event.
Part I
The work of art I have chosen for this part of the assignment was done by Julie Petro.  The painting that I chose is located at:  http://www.juliepetro.com/2011/05/adagio/. I especially like this painting because it is of a ballerina and when I was a teenager I took ballet. Ms. Petro calls herself a contemporary realist. The painting shows a ballerina at rest, but her pose almost looks staged. She looks serene and happy.  The colors are muted, which contributes to the serenity in the painting. The ballerina’s face is almost chiseled which is accomplished with the shading.  Fine detail is shown in her tutu and ballet shoes even showing the folds and the bottom of the sole of her shoes making the painting very realistic. The sheerness of the fabric in the tutu is shown because you can see her arm through it. Although the way she applies paints, seems more Impressionistic to me because it is soft and flowing. There is also great detail in the wall and baseboards.
I wrote a Haiku which reflects the emotions that this painting evoked in me:
Wishing I could dance,
Had my young, agile body back;
Not this betrayer!
Part II
While walking the three block area during ArtWalk Longmont, we noticed a sign stating that the Callahan House would be holding an Open House that evening.  The Callahan House is two blocks off Main Street and is one of the most historical houses in Longmont. It was built in 1892 and is a Victorian-Queen Ann style home. The interior contains cove moldings, hand-painted floral designs on the walls and ceilings which reflect the Louis XVI style.  They also have baroque molding and bas-relief ceilings. There are two watercolor and gouache painting in the house which were original to the home and belonged to the Callahans which were donated by Alice Callahan Evans in 1999. They are titled: “The Quarrel” and “Seascape”. The dining room has a Tiffany style light fixture over the dining room table. The sitting room has a crystal chandelier which was original to the house. Also in the dining room is a lion-carved buffet. The windows in the house feature curved glass on the top which is beveled and leaded plate glass. There is a stained glass window in the center of the staircase and another faces east in the back hall. The bathroom contains original tile and fixtures. The top of the tiles are beautifully decorated. There is an 1893 Steinway piano upstairs which was fully restored in 2002. Where floors can be seen in the parlor, library, music room, dining room, second floor hallway and bedrooms there are at least eight different patterns of parquet inlay work. In 1902, Mr. Callahan purchased the first automobile in Longmont and in 1904 the Automobile house was built. It contained a turntable in the floor to enable the car to turn around without backing it out. The turntable has been removed. The Italian style gardens features Victorian iron fencing with cement posts. There are four cement cast busts that represent mythological Greek figures.  A fountain is central to the garden. Here are several pictures that I took of the Callahan house with permission.
            A little history is appropriate to fully appreciate why this home is so important to Longmont. The home was owned by Thomas Moran Callahan, Jr. and Alice Barnett Callahan. They opened the first retail store in Longmont in 1889, a small notions store called “The Golden Rule”. The business was soon expanded to include general merchandise and many branches were opened in the West. It was in Longmont that James Cash Penney learned the new “cash” concept of merchandising while working for Callahan. The first J.C. Penney store was in Longmont.
ArtWalk Longmont came at a perfect time for this unit and was a rich resource. I wish I could have included more of what I saw that night because there are many historic buildings along the stretch of Main Street where it was held.

Virtual Tour of Callahan House click here to see the pictures described in the project. 
Photos by June Saxton 
References

Art Walk Longmont (2011).  Welcome to ArtWalk Longmont Retrieved
Julie Petro. (2011). Adaigio/JPFA. Julie Petro Contemporary Realist. Retrieved
City of Longmont. (2011, July). Callahan House Tour Guide, Walking tour of Callahan House,  312 Terry Street, Longmont, CO
Janaro, Richard, P. & Alshuler, Thelma, C. (2009). The Art Of Being Human. (9th Ed.). Boston,    MA: Pearson Learning Solutions

Virtual Tour of Callahan House click here to see the pictures described in the project.