King Phillip

My favorite website is because, i love knowing about sports especially NBA. I like hearing and reading about who got traded, who got picked in the draft and just whats going on in the history of sports. I go to espn.com everyday at work and I keep it up till I leave.

Day 9: Michael

in the last american man there is only one main story being told. the story of Eustace Conway can be very understood by the reader, but everyone dosn't agree with his outrageous adventures. his brother and sister for example are some what disbeleivers of what he does. they believe that Eustace could have been average person like everybody else. however, eustace blames the pressure endured by his father for part of the reason of him being the way he is; in some cases i can disagree. in your story can you dig deep enough into the original story and disagree with whats being told?

Day 9: Chris

In "Our America", LeAlan and Lloyd are coming of age, and also becoming more aware of the worsening conditions of their nieghborhood. As the years progressed and The Wells in the midst of an all out Gang War, the boys begin to feel how helpless their neighborhood has become. Have you ever been in a situation that felt hopeless.When? Where? Why?

"Excuse me, can I have a deposit slip?"

Its little things like what site you check constantly that gives proof that your becoming an adult. My brand spanking new favorite site is the “Bank of America” online banking site. It always keeps me up to date on my money and what’s going on in my account. So, if you’re trying to choose a bank that could keep you on point with your “dough,” Bank of America is the answer!

www.BankofAmerica.com

My favorite website would have to be mlb website. The MLB website is a sports website for those who dont know that.the Mlb website has to do with baseball thats what MLB stands for. Major Leauge Baseball it talks about every team in baseball from national league to american league. The reason i like this website is because it talks about the highlights of the games. incase i dont have time to see the game i could just check what happened,who scored and everything else.another reason why i like this website would be because if my tv aint workin or something i can alwasy wacth the game on the computer,no its not free. in order to wacth the game yes you have to be a member but sometimes they have free games in which you can wacth it for free. My other reason would be beacaue you can merobilia from every team not just one specific one like if you like other teams also.

My favorite website www.mlb.com

Lady G

My favorite place to check out on the net is…. XXL Magizine.Com. Not only do I get a monthly annual subscription, I am always checking up on what happens on a daily bases in the game. They have all the latest news, the best opinionated blogs, and the tightest columnists. They offer reviews on new CD’s that hit the stores and have featured sections for up and coming artist. XXL’s slogan is “Hip Hop on a higher level”, and they are right about that. I’m yet to find another Hip Hop magazine that keeps my interested in what’s going on in the game, gives me accurate news on my favorite artist and still manages to maintain a business solely based on the love and passion for music and not just for sales purposes. Magazines like The Source are focusing more on fashion (not that XXL does not offer that also) but the music sections in this music magazine are very dull and not as structured as I feel they should be. I feel like the writers are there for there a pay check and not there to give their full hearted opinion on music and what’s going on with the industry. XXL will always remain my favorite source in finding out what’s happening in a field my life REVALS in.

http://www.xxlmag.com/

there are a lot of web sites that interets myself and others. however, one of my favorites is soudclick.com. soundclick is a sight for local and global musicians to distribute there musisc to the public. i personally havn't put any music on there due to many concerns, but i do observe other artist. i usually listen to a lot of the beat makers to see the different deliveries that they offer; i look for uniqueness. it gives me ideas of how to set a higher bar or just to do something before someone else does.

sub pop

http://www.subpop.com/,

A site that combines awsome music with awsome music news.

Sub pop is home to the best bands that are currently active. They also helped start some of the best bands in the late 80's.

SONIC YOUTH-NIRVANA-MUDHONEY-

NO AGE -GREEN RIVER-L7-TAD-CSS

to name a few.

If you you ever need a break from what your listening to head over to this site and look through the bands they manage and your sure to find somthing new.

Since the begining of this label its been more DIY then some of the bigger labels out there and because of this there artists have alot more control and say in aspects bigger artists do not.

CHECK IT OUT!!!!

Ryan Reed

I visit TicketMaster most often because I like going to concerts. There are many advantages living in between Chicago and Milwaukee. One of those would be the big shows around here.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/

Kendall

http://www.soapcentral.com/

OKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!! I know it sounds a little strange but one of my main internet addictions would have to be SoapCentral !!...it provides me with all the inoformation I would need about my soaps; that I miss because I'm at Summer Bridge lol. My love for the soap operas All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital started when I was at the age of 6. It started to pick up again in 2003 during the summer time. I live and breathe 4 it. My secret life long dream is to be on All My Children. I also love the show because one of the main characters on the soap name is Kendall too !!! So thats a plus 2. You could ask me any qestion about the show. I bet I could answer. I know as much about the show then sum of these women who've been watching for years and years. Its a secret love of mine because of the deception, lies, and betrayal that always take place. Of course the most well known soap character of all time is on the show, Erica Kane. She fascinates me because she's always focused on her and only her. Men swarm to her like bees to honey. Its even better because the 1st black supercouple ever, Jesse and Angie Hubbard, have returned to the show adding diversity to this once ground-breaking show. The show has dealt wit alot of socially relevant and character driven storylines such as anorexia, homosexuality, acoholism, drug addiction, and etc. The show has been around since 1970 and I hope it remains on for many years 2 come.

When I walk down the street especially in our urban environment, I can't help but notice the writing on the wall. Some think of this artistic expression as vandalizism or defacement of city property. If created for the right reasons, these masterpeices really can be pleasing to the eye. As a writer myself, I truely appreciate the time and effort some graf-artists put into their work. So if you have an interest in graffiti or other hiphop related activities (breaking, MC battles,ECT) Check out www.artcrimes.com to take a peak at whats new in graff culture with news, events pictures and more!!! Peep it out..... You will not be disappointed!!!

My most favor site to go on besied myspace and facebook is got to be youtube. why youtbei say because youtube you can get anything of there and watch everthing my there to funny thing movie tv show, to sexy dancing the web site to me is probley the in the top five most seen site in the world wide web

William's fav website

My favorite website is Enjoymymovie.com. Which is a site where indenpendent filmmakers from around the world can premerie their movies. Also a reason I love the site is because I have a Movie on their took forever but I fanilly have one on their. I can spend hours and hours on the site watching film after film. Which range from slient films to short action films that last about five min. as well as full featrues. The best things about the site is you get to see films that take risks that most big corparate films won't. They tackle issues poeple want to talk about but big business hide from. But don't get me wrong some are just good stories others are just damn funny. It's also a great site for networking in and meeting other filmmakers and finding what they think and what they are thinking creativly everyone should go there fuck youtube.

www.enjoymymovie.com

That pic is a promo for my movie on the site, check it out it's under drama, on the last page.

Ryann: Deviant Art!

My Favourite Website: www.deviantart.com

Deviant Art is just a website where local "low key" artists can share their stuff. A bunch of my friends and I have one and you can see things from pretty much all over[the world]. you can meet people comment on their pictures. and criticism is always very welcome. (what artist doesn't want to make their stuff better?)

Everyonce and a while though you always get that jerk that likes to start a fight with you over the internet about how your stuff sucks. No matter what website you go to you can never stop that, and those people are just dumb. They've tried to fight with me all the time =)

Its just a lot of fun to get a bunch of different opinions on what your art and what not looks like. It's not censored or anything so you can put anything on there. I can't really think of anything else to say why i like this website other then it's a lot of fun.

http://youretrocareermelted.deviantart.com/ -Check mine out if you want and make your own!

mines not all that great though, I haven't updated it in a long time. just ignore the crap =)

Day 8: Danielle

We write blogs for Bridge, check e-mails like a crazy person and are on MySpace (or Facebook) every free second. We are all a part of an internet culture. For this assignment, I would like for each of you to show each of us where you like to go on the internet.

Please do the following:

1. Create a new blog post in which you tell us about this website and why you like it
2. Include a link to the website in the post
3. Include a picture in your post
4. Be appropriate!

There are a few rules. You can't use Google, Yahoo, MySpace or Facebook. These are common links that most of us already know about. Try to choose something that is unique and specific to YOU!

My favorite website: http://www.slate.com

What's your?

Day 8: Ryann

In Stranger then Fiction there is a section that talks about a crew of people that spend a few months, about three, stuck in a sumbarine. Some of the crew members bring things that remind htem of home. One of the "First class" Greg Stone brings a Scooby-Doo pillowcase. He calls it his "Security Blanket" What would you consider your own 'security blanet', if not your 'safe zone'? please explain.

Day 7: Darrion

In our Amercia, Eric Morse was kill at the age of five. by to boys over a piece of candy. in this book that i sone of the many mindless thing that happen. what is one of the mindless this that happen in your book?

have you ever had a mindless moment in your life? if so what was it? how did it feel after you did it

Day 7: William

With a matter of seconds the characters in Our America Could be dead so they hold on to every moment with their loved ones. They know all to well about how a person can be two feet away, but the next day no where to be found. Llyod one of the characters in my book speaks of his mother and how he would spend time with her, he never thought she would be gone. Have you ever just sat back and enjoyed the poeple in your life? Can you remember a time when you missed someone who has passed and you thought you didn't spend enough time with said person? Do the characters in your book mis someone important, they don't have to have passed. Maybe a long lost love, or even a thing.

Growing up

I am also reading the book Our America. i think that quote is one of the biggest i think because it represents how badly they live. I actualy had a normal child hood i was never forced to grow up quickly. I do remember living in a bad neighborhood but not as bad as Lealan and Lolyd's. I didnt know about drugs or sex or any of those things when i was a child like those kids in his school in the lower grades. but i do remember i was growing up to fast at my age i was just 13 and i started experiencing everything theses kidas are goin threw. I used to hangout wit the wrong crowd and well i was involved in a bad group wich you know wat it is and i was just a dum kid who didnt care bout otin or no one. I dont blame my family i blame myself because i wanted to grow up quickly i was not forced and it was also cuz of my neighborhood it was all me. I actualy look up to these kids because they havent gone threw the wrong path they know what they want and there no trying to get involved in anything. I allways wish i could go back and change my past change evrything. i would like to have a been a better person well i dont think i even called myself a human back then i was just a nobody thats how i see that part of life. Now that i am actualy grown up i think about kids whp are goin threw the same thing i went threw and i wish i could help them but everyone makes their own choice in life its there decision.

What is age? It’s just a way to structure the chaos around us .It’s Used to keep record of what, when and where. If we didn’t keep track of time, How would we know if we were acting our age? Maybe I’m hitting the topic a little more in depth then I should. The point I’m trying to make is age is just a number, and ones mental maturity can only be established by the way they carry themselves. I know five year olds who act like grown adults, and grown adults that act like children. It’s hard to say that all kids in the ghetto “grow up” faster then children from other areas. That these kids are aware of adult situations much earlier then others, but no child’s brain is fully developed enough to thoroughly comprehend these situations. They may have an external understanding of this subject matter. Only with years of life experience can one fully understand these complicated issues such as sex, drugs, and violence. I’ve experienced the concequences of some of these issues first hand, and looking back on my perspectives as a 17 year old to the present. A few years to develop an idea of my actions made things much easier to understand.

David Gerhard

When it comes to growing up there are usually two things that exert the most force into making the process faster or slower, parents and environment. When I was growing up, because of whatever “privileges” my parents had, they were still children also. They were still learning and therefore could not teach me the proper things I thought later on in life they should have taught me. That gets rid of the first variable. As far as the latter variable, I don’t think a house in the middle of a forest, or farm, where the next neighbor is two miles down, is nessicerly dangerous territory. Don’t take the last couple of sentences the wrong way, I wasn’t some spoiled rich kid, money wasn’t the biggest thing in the factor. My parents just believed I should grow up on my own and experience things the way I wanted to. I didn’t have chores, my parents were like my friends, and I was never taught “proper” money habits. Fast Forward to now, I’m 18 going into college full time; expected now by the world, instead of my parents, to get a job, support myself, and learn the ways of the world fast. Except the world doesn’t care; it’s easier not to succeed then to excel, but I have to try like everyone else. Part of me wishes I was forced to grow up faster in a more structured environment. The next 4 years I am now going to have to work hard to compress a childhood of lessons I should of embraced and searched for, into a quarter of the time, acting as not only the teacher but also the student.

YouTube

And a gratuitous bunny video...

Day 6: Kendall

“Your seven minutes are up”
- Stranger Than Fiction
These words are echoed throughout one specific chapter in my book. It makes you wonder, if we as individuals, have enough time to accomplish all those goals that we have in life. One group of characters in my book has only seven minutes to possibly catch their life dream. But is that really enough time? Are the characters in your book given a great amount of time before the bell finally rings or do they have to make do with the time that is given? Do you feel that you’re given enough time to complete the task in your life? If not, what do you plan to do to make it happen sooner?

I grew up fast as well. I was born with two highly religious parents. My father, Senior Pastor of a popular Dallas church, and my mother, the Director of Corporate Communications and lead journalist for a religious based newspaper. I was always told, “You look just like your daddy!” or I was called “Little Dee.” I loathed being called “little” or “young,” so I forced myself to grow up fast. I started my teenage early by rebelling everything that I was forced to do. By high school, I was smoking and drinking as if I was doing it for decades. I was tattooed (still am) and pieced, but I wanted that taste of adulthood so badly. I even dated men who were so very much older than I was. My path of self-destruction was covered by the only fact that my mind set was stuck on “I’m grown! I’m grown! I’m grown!” Now that I’m an actual adult, I miss those days of my youth and innocence. I can no longer blame my accidents on my childish ways. All because I wanted to grow up.

Day 6: Jenelle

"If only by distorting events,tweaking them for more dramatic impact, exaggerrating them to the point you forget your actual history-you forget who you are-is it possible to expolit your own life for the sake of a marketable story?"

This is a quote from my book Stranger than Fiction, how does it relate to your story? And is it really possible to exploit your own life for the sake of a marketable story? Maybe you have already done so, do you think it would/did have a positive effect or a negative on your life after the story is completed and on the shelves. And finally, not only effects on your life but how did/would it effect you to exploit your life for a marketable story?

Broken Home (Kendall)

Sometimes the road seems so dim that I can barely see. So many obstacles tend to rise that I can barely handle. My main problem right now seems to be my parents getting a divorce. I know it sounds trivial but to me it’s a big deal. All of my life, I’ve always had a great family foundation. I had two hard-working parents who strived for the best. It confuses me that two strong willed people aren’t able to work through their problems. My life seems to be at a pause now because family has always been one of the most important factors in my success. I just wish that I could turn time back and fix the error that caused their marriage to fall apart. Trust me….I don’t blame myself for their marriage being thrown under a truck. But I’ve always had a tendency to want to fix things. Perfection to me is excellence. My parents were young when they got married. They’ve been together since they were 14 and 16 years old. That’s a loooooonnnnnnngggggg freaking time. I understand that times change and people completely change. But why did it have to be my parents? Why couldn’t it be the parents who lived across town? Was it predestined for my family to break away from each other when I became 18 years old? THAT REALLY SUCKS FOR ME. Maybe if they had gotten a divorce when I was younger, maybe it wouldn’t be affecting me like it is now. I’m a fond believer of change, but why couldn’t this one single element remain the same?

Response (ryann)

I guess I wasn't really “forced” to grow up, it was really more of a choice. It was just a lot of a bunch of personal stuff that involved my parents never being around. So it left my sister, my brother (when he was around), and me to fend for ourselves. From then on, our parents just kind of mooched off us, and left us to take care of everything. So I got a job, me and my sister take care of the house and so on and so forth, well our parents do whatever it is they do. Don’t get me wrong, I mean, don't get me wrong At heart I am still a huge kid.
I really don’t know how to fully respond to this, I mean, I didn’t grow up to fast. But I reached a point where it was just kind of like, holy shit, I have to start taking care of myself.

Ps: that's not some random baby, that's my neice when she was a few months. granite she's two now but that was the only picture that i could find on my computer. Isn't she adorable?

mike

just like in the book myself and others in my original community are forced to grow up . with me just saying my "original community" shows a form of growth. where i'm from not any diiferent from anywhere else, if your cought sleeping you might not wake up. meaning that if you don't find any way to transform unto a different stage of life you will find yourself in the same place or worst. my situation is a perfect example. where i'm from most people have the choice of moving forward in only two ways, the right and wrong. you have to find a trade, something your good at, whether it being good or bad, simple as that. as much as people want to do right, the wrong is always easier. you can base your life on school, the streets, or your talent. in my case i had to move forward with my skill. i never was the best student and the streets are easy but there just not for me. me at a young age found the love for entertainment and always planned for it to take me further in life. this has always been one of my main priorities but at some points it wasnt always dependable. theres alot of money out here you just have to put your name on it, once you master this you are the only one that can push you to grow. after years of finding myself i found a trade, i love the developing of enetertainment. once i found a way to apply this to every day life i found a way of growing without being forced by society.

William Colter V

Have I ever had to grow up? Ah yeah! Like everyone has. Like when I turned eighteen proably the wrost day of my life. Now to understand where I'm coming from when I say that you most know that my whole life I've wanted to be a kid. I would like to say that being an artist has somewhat kept me a child but, like must I did have to grow up some. I had to go and get a job, open a bank account, leran to drive, started paying bills, all things I did with a look of disgust upon my face. My mother 'til this very day tells me I need to grow up I reply saying "I'll never grow up I will Forever be 12". So I guess you could say that even now I'm being forced to grow up now. Which sucks alot being here is forcing me to grow and be mature. You know talk about stuff and compromise saying stuff like "you go in the shower frist when I I'll go in after " when I really want to say "me frist and I'll take as long as I want". I must say growing up sucks and I can't wait 'til I'm 80 and able to act 8.

Since birth I was never forced to grow up because my parents instilled core values that helps me mature and grow. Not saying that I havent been through things that have opened my eyes because I have. Those things didnt force me to grow up they just made rethink where I have been and change some things about me. I have never really been introduced to drugs, I know what they are and what they can do to a person. I do live in a gang territory but i have never had to duck or run because, I knew people in the gang. I live where the B.P.S.N (Black Peace Stone Nation) reside in Chatham. They do shoot at people of different gangs. Im Not saying life for me has been great but i really havent been exposed like LeAlan and Lloyd. I do know crackheads from regular people but I dont know personally.

Darrion West

me personaly i kind of was forced to grow up. my life was petty basic, like i did grow up i a semi ruff neiborhood, we had gangs there and drugs by it was just a lil bit of they. but therer wasnt nothing to major goin on there but thing there was easy somtime cause i always had faimly and firends to back me up. the been forced to grow up wasnt my thing. cause if you forced me to do somtihn most likely i wont do it . but in ninth grade i actully had to grow becuase i was to childish and was forced to grow up willy so i gress i was forced to grow up

Answering Phils Q.....

Personally i would say i grew up very fast. One reason why i didnt chose to read Our America was because i knew what the story line was about, and frankly i just wanted something new to read. Born and raised on the south side i just spent 18 years of my life seeing it now in college i wasnt about to read a novel about it. Being exposed to drug dealers, gangs, and sex at a young age in a way gives you an advangtage over some other kids. It depends on the child receiveing that information. Me for example i took my surroundings and learned from them, many other childern may not be as smart with it as i was. Is growing up faster or becoming more mature quickly really that bad? I happen to think not... it helps with descions you have to make on a daily bases. You give a more grown and mature response back.

Ryan Reed

I have was the captain of my soccer team for the first half of the season. It was homecoming week and everyone nominated the homecoming court. I was voted to be the junior class homecoming prince for the first ever dance at Grayslake North. I decided to take a limo with some friends as it was a very special occasion. My friend, Joe, and I brought some wine in the limo to pre-game before the big dance. A police officer thought we were acting shady and pulled us out of the dance. He breathalized both of us and we got arrested. I was kicked off the soccer team and Joe was kicked off the football team. We were both suspended from school for a week. I learned a lesson because that was a chance for me to stop screwing around. I could have left the soccer program completely and kept drinking and smoking with my friends after school. I made the choice to work out after school and pick up activities that kept me away from the decisions that would tear me down. Since I planned on sticking with athletics for Grayslake North, I was drug tested randomly for the next year. That was the athletic department forcing me to grow up.

Day 5: King Phillip

In Our America, LeAlan and Lloyd was called to grow up quick by the streets and the neighborhood they lived in. A quote that comes from chapter two says. "Cause if you play childish games in the ghetto, you're gonna find a childish bullet in your childrish brain". Meaning that they had to grow up even if they didnt want to. They were forced to grow up by society. They knew about sex, different kinds of drugs, and crackheads. Me personally I really havent had to be forced to grow up. Either it was you grew up or something happened that made you grow up.

Have you ever been forced to grow up? If so, why and how? As a child i was exposed to the "ghetto" or things that LeAlan and Lloyd had experienced but not at the age they experienced it.



***Added by Danielle***

For today, instead of commenting, I would like for you to each create your own blog post. So, you will need to click "New Post," answer the questions Phillip asks of you and then add a visual element (either a video or a photograph). Try to respond in at least 250 words.

Day 4: Deanna

In "Stranger than Fiction," the author goes to the extent of meeting different people and experiencing the different physical outer appearences. In your books, describe a certain character's outer appearence and what it says about them. In relationship to the character, how does the outer appearence of people in your community say about them? How does YOUR outer appearence desribe you?

Day 4: David

"People would examine there lives but only in terms of movie and paperback potential. Where a story no longer follows as the result of an experience. Now the experience happens in order to generate a story."

Look at the author for this question instead of the story itself. What connection do you feel the author has to the events and situations there portraying in their books. Where are there motives coming from? A specific question you could ask would be; does my author include the stories and facts to indirectly force a message, or is he/she just observing, and for the most part letting you forge your own opinions?

When you sit down to create art of any kind, do you feel it’s easier to specifically use things that have happened in your life? Or does it come easer to force a feeling or make an event up to convey the message you want?

The Last American Man Discussion

If you are reading this text, this is the place where you can make comments, ask questions and hear what other readers are thinking.

Our America Discussion

If you are reading this text, this is the place where you can make comments, ask questions and hear what other readers are thinking.

Stranger Than Fiction Discussion

If you are reading this text, this is the place where you can make comments, ask questions and hear what other readers are thinking.

Day 3: Darrion

In our America the two main people felt that they did have a word in the world like the government did want to listen to them. how the the character in our book feel that they wasn't listened to?

Can you describe a point in your life that you was ignored by people when you had something to say?

Day 2: Aaron

In Writing & Rhetoric classes here at Columbia, we often discuss this particular dichotomy: insider versus outsider. Our Day 1 posts offer lots of great examples. Danielle and I both discussed the insider/outsider perspective from viewpoints of people who've moved from the country to the city. William's poem "Human Condition" gestures at these notions as well. Ryann mentions that she feels outside the group dynamic of "typical art student[s]." Deanna reckons she feels like a "'Black Sheep'," and goes as far as to underline her thinking with the choice of her image, a sheep. The examples from our first blog postings are too numerous to point out all at once, just as they are in our three texts as well. Here's three short summaries to contextualize further Day 2s writing prompt.

In Our America, LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman go to great lengths to express and illustrate how living in the "Ida Bees" here in Chicago is to live in "two different Americas" (199). LeAlan states soberly: "I've never felt American, I've only felt African-American" (199). Jones and Newman grant us intimate access into their lives, and what we learn, if we didn't know already, is just how painful feeling truly disconnected from your country of birth can actually feel.

In The Last American Man, Elizabeth Gilbert details the life of Eustace Conway, a radical enviromentalist and survialist who lives completely off the land without the aid of modern technology. Conway feels so dejeceted and disconnected by and from capitalistic, materialistic American culture that he buys his very own plot of land way out in the mountains of North Carolina. He names his plot Turtle Island. However, though he seeks isolation, Gilbert relates to us that Conway never seems as home, more himself, than when he's on stage in front of a group of people, lecturing on the virtures of nature and the ability to survive by one's own two hands.

In Stranger Than Fiction, Chuck Palahniuk immerses himself in and vividly details what seem to be odd outisder subcultures like the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival, a small group of folks who build and live in giant castles, and over-the-hill amatuer wrestlers still busting their noses and lips in search of one last tase of glory mixed with blood and mineral ice. Superfically speaking, these groups seem distant from American culture at large. However, Palahniuk's talent is to craft through a written voice of sympathy vibrant concrete details and real-life characters who are so alive by the essays' ends, we readers feel inside these outsider groups.

With these examples in mind, in 250 words or more:

1) Offer us a story from your life when you either felt like a complete outsider or a complete insider. Write and express yourself through vivid concrete details. As you recraft the scenery and people involved in your story, think of your mind's eye as a video camera. Scan your memories, pause on the key details and moments, and really bring them to life through images and vivid verbs.

2) Juxtapose your own story with what you read last night in your chosen text. How is the story you're offering us similar or different to any of the persons listed above, and the stories they're trying to tell? Based on your own story, do you identify with their criticisms of American culture? Do you feel you also truly know what it means to live as an outsider? Or, do you find strength and happiness through the groups of folks in your life that welcome you inside with open arms? Perhaps you've never felt as inside anything as you feel in your head while you're creating your art: making music, taking photos, mixing tracks, writing a poem or article or essay, acting or dancing or performing for live audiences?

Remember, these are your stories. Take ownership of them. Do your life and yourself justice through your words. Following up on our post-lecture lecture, help us see through your words the concrete connections or conflicts you are recognizing between yourself and the subjects of your chosen text. Thanks!!

Darrion west

hi me im im a guy that had to take crap from a lot of people because da way i act .poeple look at me and thing he anit noboby he wont be nobody because of where i come from poeple r consider weak an punkish but let me tell u somthin im nothin like dat i went throught so much to find da person im tday darrrion e west. i was alway jugle by my heigth and weigth im goffy fun to be around and outgoing. i came to chicago 4 a new begaining cause my old live was cool but not great i have fun alot but i need more. my friend and fam alway told me to be me but in today social ive u got to be lik every one else da point im gettin to is be your self but still be lik other people cause beenin an outkast is not fun at all

Deanna

If I were to give a subtitle to this post it would be "Black Sheep." Why, you ask? Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, I had to find every possible attempt available to remove the strange yet intriging image that had been placed to my name. In my neigborhood I was know as " That girl who did that crazy art nonsense." I was a rouge; A person who tried to get her family to understand but had little to no success. I eventually attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. I surrounded myself with people who went through the same situations as I did. My friends were people who stayed up until 6am just to finish a series piece, people who memorized lines 24/7, people who had scars on their feet because they cared so much about what they did. To give a complete short a sweet (no matter how bitter) discription of myself: I would say that I am the girl whose weapons are cameras, pens, spray paint, and paint brushes. I'm always armed.

"The Love a Beauty is Taste, Creation of Beauty is Art."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

michael

well i don't know if this is fortunate or unfortunate but i am a very complex person. do whenever you get dressed and not look into the mirror do you already know what you look like or do you just assume you know? well thats how i come to the realization that i don't always know myself. i know the things that i like but i always dont know if thats what i really really like or is it just for the time being. at the momnet my head is always in so many places that its hard to keep up with myself. throughout my life ive ventured off into many different forms of expression. starting at a young age ive been through theater, dance, sports (without being specific), and most recently music. no matter what the confussion ive always known that i wanted to entertain. ive always wanted the big spotlight but every form of entertaiment dosn't have the biggest spotlight that i always desire. i now see that somethings only entertain some people, and my problem is that i always want to reach out to every person possible. i beleive that my most ultimate satisfaction would be able to have EVERYBODIES attention for however long as possible with whatever it is im doing. i dont wanna sound like a dissaticefied crazy guy but thats just whats been going on in my recent mind, who knows whats next..........

Jenelle V

What's good?

My name is Jenelle, but better known as Lady G. I grew up on the South side of Chicago, born and raised. I am currently travelin every where from 43rd and St. Louis, 87th n Pulaski to way out to 192nd. I ama laid back person, I am very diffrent from alot of people, but problly not so far from all of us at Columbia. I always keep it real, that's just what I am about. Having a good time, always smiling, and stay laughing is what I do on a daily. I hate drama and negitivty, but I love haters and a challenge. I have many goals and alot of ambition, and that's why I am here today. If you would have told me last year I would be goin to a nice college like this I would say you where crazy lol. But with the help of God and ALOT of loans I am able to be chillin here with you all. I can be a quite person but after I get comfortable with my surroundings.... THATS WHERE THE PARTY AT! lol I am majoring in Music Business and Production, I love music, it jus flows threw my heart, mind, and soul....... I ama very cool female, just holla at me....

Lady G

David

choose your own adventure

I've had a lucky childhood compared to most kids; not in a material sense but more creativity, openness, and understanding. While growing up i was never persuaded by my parents to follow some sort of direction, other then basic necessity's to being "productive" in whatever lifestyle i choose to follow. Whatever choices i made, the clothes i wore, the color of my hair, or the music i listened to, my parents supported it.

I was never forced into have religious beliefs or persuaded to take a certain political side. I was taught only to think about the choices i make and to were that would take me. Growing up with this sort of Independence , i believe, makes me feel like who i am and where i will be in the future is because of all the choices i had to make growing up. The things i do now, like attending Columbia, are a direct result of choices that i myself made and come from who i truly am. I believe my personal motto is "choice over destiny"

William V

So like the first thing is like I hate writing about myself so strew this. the F-word is my favorite word, because its the one word that can be used in like every sentence. So i'm 18 from Detroit Michigan, I want to make movie. I write I love writing its like being high. Like when your in the zone and nothing even matters man. Plus my pen will never ever talk back I think that is what makes it so cool. I'm really random, and i say whatever is on my mind. I'm toally the most cynical person you'll ever meet. I love movies, and i love writing and makuing them more. I still hate writing this crap (wanted to say something else) like this because I don't know myself. I Take picture, love, love, LOVE photography. I didn't proof read this at all.

And because i'm bored heres my latest poem.

Human Condition
What Happened to humanity; some say it drowned in our insanity.
Blind Vengeance, causes us to kill our kin to commit righteous men's sin. Have we made war far more important then peace? We listen to the lies, even when surrounded by the truth we've lost our eyes and given away our tongues. The patriot act, a true act of treason in a country that will do anything for any reason, especially when the reason will be pleasing our pocket books. If Jesus walked this earth tomorrow, would we crucify him again just to hide from our sorrow, our sin? The din of a gun's blaze that graces my ears in the form of a voice, the voice of a man who stands to say mission accomplished.
Fuck him Okay
Today is not the day for me to listen to you pray. My cousin fought your war and now his right arm lies next to his left, as he lie in a pool of his own blood. So I stand and say fuck America tomorrow and today, if we were the country of the people so wonderful and free then you would listen to me and the so many others alike. The others that feed peace, a brave beast. See he drinks our tears and eats your false fears. And I'm no longer afraid to say the white house is full of boys who feel like men when the drop bombs on children. While billons are spent on killing, almost none is spent on dealing with homelessness. The 50 stars of the flag ablaze is all I desire. Higher then the lies is the truth. I've seen the other side I've watched children hide as men with guns walk their streets. And if they so much as speak the wrong language their tombstones will no longer be nameless. How much longer will we let September 11th control our lives.
What happened to our humanity? I say it was shot, raped then set a fire by our insanity.
How can it be that we are too blind to see killing isn't the way? As I fall to my knees to pray to a God I hope is listening. I pray for the only thing humans lack,
common sense.

Ryann Figura

Lets' start off with the fact that yes, my name is Ryan, yes I am a girl. Although I am used to the face that every time someone calls my name they are always looking for a guy, people have mactually doubted me and asked for an ID, but after 18 years I had gotten used to it. Being a city girl at heart i have grown up in the subarbs of Chicago, with the typical sister as a role model, the sister that basically raised me. When i was about 15 my grandmother had passed away due to lou gehrig's disease. my sister, Lauren, and my grandmother are one of my main insprations to start a career in photography. In all honestly, not to offend anyone if I do, but I hate the tpyical art student. The ones that have to find a deep depression meaning in a picture of a pencil, I'm not like that, it's actually a pet peeve of mine. One night my boyfriend and i went out to dinner with his parent's and a bunch of his moms friends (Basically he made me tag along so he wouldn't be bored). But anyway, back to my point. I had happened to of run into one of those students, and he asked me what my major was and i told him photography. He responded with somthing along the lines of " well what do you like about photography, whats your meaning behind it?" So, i gave him the same answer i give everyone else. I love to take pictures, or the adventures i take to go on them, developing my own film, being able to call somthing my own that i am proud of and love to do. He gave me a dirty/funny look and said "That doesnt really answer my question" (keep in mind him and his girlfriend are high class snobby theater students that dont accept plays that are below broadway, no offense theater students, i love plays! :) ) Now me, being the extremly sarcastic person that I am, it's fun. Told him that i like to take pretty pictures and push buttons. Needless to say that ended ourconversation for the rest of the night. So, short and sweet: I'm to sarcastic for my own good, but shy as all hell.

Jose

hey wat up my name is jose ortiz i am from the city chitown known as chicago im 19 yrs old i graduated from kelly high school located at the south side. well im just a normal person i sometimes may seem quiet but im not people have to get to know me first then they will know what kind of person i am i usually talk to anyone it really doesnt matter. i look back at my high school years and i sometimes wished i can go back and change some mistakes i made like focusing more in my skoo work dan goin out to partys o yeah im a party person i dont party dat much nomore but i still do. my frnds call me TEQ wich stands for tequilero a person who is a tequila drinker lmao well yeah dats pretty much it about me and who i am if you have any questions well just ask dem ok then well latrz. o yeah im a sox fan.

Kendall

Kendall Aaron Mays has yet to land on that target. Well since i was a young child, I was felt I had a unique sense about myself. I was never the typical stereotyped black boy. I wasnt into playing outside in the middle of the street and yelling outside the window of my home to catch the attention of one of my amigos. I was most definitely not caught with my pants halfway off my behind. That was a big " NO-NO" for me.....these reasons are probably some of the factors of why I've always tried to identify myself as being a superior to my peers.......it seems as if I had hid behind a mask to cover my insecurities that I possessed as a young child. Now as I enter young adulthood...i find myself asking the same questions over and over again.....and those questions are....is Kendall who he wanted to be or is he what they wanted him to be ????????....it REALLY puzzles me..and fascinates me at the same time....Most people see me as a strong individual who can i hold my own with the best of the best... but why shouldnt they feel this way...i come off to some people as a snob or " not in touch with the hood aspect of life"...people expect me to behave a certain way because of the preconceived notions they have from events that have surfaced in the past....I sooooooooo want to show people that they dont truly know me. They only know of the side that I've only shown them...and from what I can see...they haven't viewed much at all.

My minds struggle

I look back on my life, and assure myself that the worst is over. The future looks promising, finally I've developed an indentity from all that I've experienced on this on this long,strange trip. Through all of the difficulty I've encountered, I've realized that my life is what I make it. Having put myself in situations that I really shouldn't have particapated in. I don't regret my actions and the concequences that resulted from them. I will not begin to tell you what I've done and where I've been, but I will say that these experiences have shaped my general foundations of my thinking and who I am today.

Being twenty one years old, having left my home in florida to this wonderful city known as chicago. I am now in an enviorment with many oppurtunities to progress with my music. Music is the reason I'm alive and has been the only thing motivating me to succeed. Everyone has the passion, and without it. You mind aswell get a shovel and dig yourself a grave because life is not worth living with passion. All passion comes along with struggle, having plenty of that behind me. I have a promising future ahead.

Ryan

I'm from Grayslake, Illinois. I live about one hour north of Chicago and ten minutes from Six Flags Great America. I have lived in Grayslake for eighteen years. I have four dogs and one cat at home. My oldest brother, Kevin, attends Western Illinois university. The next brother, Matt, is studying at University of Illinois for graduate school. My third brother, Bobby, attends Western Illinois University with Kevin. My sister, Sarah, is studying culinary arts at Kendall College in Chicago. I graduated Grayslake North High School a couple months ago. I have been playing soccer for thirteen years. I have been playing tennis for a couple years. I enjoy watching movies. I listen to oldies, alternative, and instrumental music. I'll be at Lollapalooza in August! I usually don't enjoy reading books because they don't hold my attention.

King Phillip

Well of course my name is Phillip Williams and I am musically inclined. Since I was born, my mother would dance with me while she listened to music. Ever since then, I have grown to love music. From banging on anything that was in site to actually reading music I developed as a musician. I have come to like different types of music like Rap, Hip Hop, RandB, Christian Rap, Gospel, Jazz, Old and Dusties, and etc.

I play drums and have been playing drums since I was six years old. I am a self taught drummer and I learn from other drummers around me. I have been playing percussion since freshman year. I play Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Cymbals, Mariamba, Bells, Auxillary percussion, and Quads. I have been apart of the band since Freshman Year. From Marching Band to Concert Band. I have been Section Leader, Musician of the Year and Magazine Awardee of the Month. Music is my life; I might be mad at one moment but once I hear music, my day is brighter. Music has played an essential part in my life. I have learned to play piano by hear (just alittle) and I mixed many tracks with Cakewalk, Reasons, Logic, and Acid. My plan is to be a music producer of my own company and to touch people through the artist and music I produce. King Phillip aka the drummer boi!!!

Aaron

I just had a strange experience reading Danielle's post below. My own personal history echoes her life in uncanny ways. I was born in Charleston -- West Virginia's capital city. As I've met many people who can't locate us on any size map, I'll just mention it's east of Kentucky and is definitely also in "The South." I grew up in a region where many folks are plagued by mindsets mired in rampant and vicious bigotry. For example, my great-grandfather was in The Klan. Though, as my mom disclaims continually, there were (and still are) so few African-Americans on Elk River, my great-grandfather wouldn't have recognized an African-American if she or he had walked up and handed him a crisp, new, shiny dollar bill. Spectrums of ignorance to hatred flourish in such places. For example, the real rednecks I grew up with wore KKK themed t-shirts to school and scraped horrid words into their desktops with their pocket knives. I remember one popular t-shirt that featured four or so silk screened white-hooded men surrounded top-and-bottom with the slogan: "The Real Boys in the Hood."

Through my '93 freshman and 95' junior years, I attended Herbert Hoover High School. Needless to say, my being a die hard anti-racist punk kid with pink hair and baggy clothes didn't wash well with most students and staff alike. Feeling the threat of a fight was a daily occurrence. A fight was too often a weekly one, and I was suspended and nearly expelled for myriad shit more times than I care to remember.

What I can never forget is the exact spot where Hoover lies on the banks of the Elk River near the fringes of Clendenin -- a town that, according to the year 2000 census had a population of exactly 1, 116 folks. Now, if you follow the Elk ten miles downstream, you'll pass under the Elkview Bridge, which is just down the road a piece from the three-stored, blue vinyl house my Dad, Uncle, and Grandfathers, some twenty years ago, had huge hands in building. After spending the first eight or so years in a little red brick house on the Elk up in Clendenin, I grew up in that blue house near the Elk in Elkview. Follow it for ten more miles downstream, you'd be dumped out the Elk's mouth into the much larger Kanawha River, right in lower-left ventricle of Charleston's slow-thumping heart. So, there it is. For my entire life, I've felt as if I'm the middle point on a twenty mile stretch between the country and the city. Every person in every car headed south that passed me snagged and caught my imagination under its tires. All those tires wore me thinner and thinner like a hobo's boot heel.

All this is to say, I can explain my wish to escape maybe through the following notion. Ok, I quoted 1, 116 people in Clendenin, right. According to the 2000 census, Charleston had a city population of 53, 421 with a metro area population of 303, 950. 53, 421 divided by 1, 116 equals 47.9. This equation can act as a ratio for how I felt then about my potential as a worker/artist. So, let's agree on like 49:1. I guess I always felt like, maybe if I can get the hell out of Elkview, West Virginia, I could maybe be 49 times the worker/artist I would be if I got stuck on Elk River, forever. I just felt doomed.

But, I do have love for Elk River -- my Elk River -- even with all its faults (akin to Danielle, and maybe even to what LeAlan and Lloyd express about "the Ida Bees" in Our America). Similar to Danielle's quoting of Hugo, I had to leave Elk River to understand my ambivalence for my place of birth. Since, I've managed to learn some cool facts about West Virginia: we were home to hardcore Abolitionists like John Brown, and throughout the 1900s West Virginia coal miners and labor organizers continually fought the United States Army and ruthless mine guards over issues of mine safety and fair hourly wages. And they won! As I come from a long line of coal miners, facts like these tend to make me feel a deep, though conflicted, sense of pride.

I left Herbert Hoover the first month of my senior year, and I graduated from Hurricane High School in 1996 (pronounced "Her-uh-cun" down in southern West Virginia). After Hurricane, I spent three semesters at a community college outside of Charleston, but mostly I just skateboarded, went to punk/hardcore shows with my friends all over the east coast, worked as a janitor on a few occasions and an Emergency Room Registration Clerk, got tattooed a bunch, lived in my parents' house, and spent a ton of time having no fucking clue what I wanted to do with my life other than not live on Elk River and be a janitor, forever. So, a few days after my nineteenth birthday, I moved to Morgantown, WV on the banks of the Monongahela River, 142 miles north of Elkview and my Elk River. From fall 1998 to the end of fall 2001, I was enrolled at West Virginia University (WVU), and I worked some while I studied and finished a double Bachelor's in Journalism and Sociology. While there, some friends and I started a non-profit, Positive-Youth Foundation based in Greencastle, PA, with the aims to teach and support kids nationwide as they hurdled all the obstacles and frustrations they encountered while organizing against bigotry in their own communities and schools. That meant I spent all my free time outside of school traveling two hours over Interstate 68 to Greencastle to work in our warehouse and tour to promote our cause/non-profit with bands like Green Day, Rancid, AFI, No Doubt, Hot Water Music, Blink 182, Alkaline Trio, Bad Religion, many others, and at numerous festivals and festival-style tours, like Vans Warped Tour. I also spoke in front of meetings and gatherings as diverse as the Washington State Women Voters' Caucus and the North American Anarchist Gathering. Through our non-profit work, I traveled through every province of Canada and every state in the USA but Hawaii and North Dakota. I lived and/or spent tons of busy days and rawkus nights in big cities like LA, Seattle, Portland, DC, Baltimore, Philly, and the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. I always liked Chicago the most though. At times, the memories are near suffocating. And, after all this so-called "living," I was worried. I found myself still a touch lost, even though I was off Elk River.

After disagreements with a friend, I left PYF in the summer of 2003 and was feeling pretty much like a waster. To make ends meet, I worked at Ticketmaster taking phone-in ticket orders for a couple months back in Charleston. Then, I moved back to Morgantown and re-enrolled at WVU to study English and Creative Writing. I always knew, if I ever quit PYF, I would eventually return to university to study poetry.

Three years later, it was summer 2006. I've finished another Bachelor's degree, this time in English, and I've moved during another August to yet another city, Chicago. I've spent the last two years completing my MFA in Poetry here at CCC, and I just finished up my degree less than a week ago. This is my second year teaching in our Bridge program.

All these ramblings still leave the following unanswered though: am I forty nine times the person I would be if I'd remained on Elk River? Frankly, I hope so, but I don't know. Though, I can tell you, I've started pondering a new ratio for my possible potential. Chicago's city population of 3 million divided by Clendenin's 1, 116 equals 2,688.2. So, that's a ratio of 2,688:1, which is a big number really.

Well, if you made it this far, thanks for reading all of this. If you skipped down to here from somewhere even in the middle, can't say I blame you. Regardless, I'm excited to get to know all of you. I'm here if you need anything. THANKS to Danielle's post for provoking all this writing!

Danielle

Richard Hugo has a quote that goes something like, "the poem is always in the hometown, but you never find it until you go somewhere else". If there is one sentence that can sum up my whole life, that would be it.

Although I was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and love to bring that up when people try to charge me with being a native Southerner, most of my life was spent south of Kentucky. My parents divorced when I was very young. I spent all year in Mississippi or Tennessee with my mom and the summers in Pittsburgh with dad. Every second of my life in the South was spent dreaming about leaving. I hated the people. I hated the accent. I hated having to explain Hanukkah to a bunch of Christian kids.

As soon as I graduated from college, I left Tennessee for Chicago and intended to never look back. In the country, I always looked at things with a city gal's perspective. When I got to Chicago, it became clear that I was looking at everything through a country gal's lens. The first 20-something years of my life were spent trying to escape the fact that I was a Southerner. I suspect the next 20-something years will be spent reconciling that, in fact, is exactly who I am.

Day 1: Danielle

This is your first Bridge blog assignment. Usually, you all will be responsible for coming up with the blog questions. However, since we are all new to this experience, Aaron and I will take the reigns for the first couple of days.

Your first blog assignment is to attempt to let us know, as much as possible, WHO YOU ARE. Try to go beyond telling us all of the short answer information: age, favorite movie, most-loved vacation spot, etc. Each day you'll be writing fully developed thoughts on this blog. Attempt to start that process today.

You must:

-Create your own blog post in which you write a 250 word response that attempts to shine a light on WHO YOU ARE as an individual. Tell us whatever you want to tell us. Be creative. Be original. Be thoughtful.

-The title of the blog should be your first name. Look at my example for guidance.

-Include a photograph that will deepen our understanding of what you are telling us. This may not be a photograph of yourself (though it can be), but rather a photograph that epitomizes, as much as possible, what you are trying to communicate.

Happy posting!

Breaking in the Blog

Welcome to Bridge 2008! Aaron and I have created this space specifically for YOU. On this blog, we will share thoughts, ask questions and find answers. Here's hoping for a great Bridge experience and many happy posts!