OR blogger 1

The book I am reading for OR this semester at school is called Riding the Bus with my Sister. This is the story of Beth, a mentally retarded woman, who rides the buses of her small Pennsylvania city every day. She is occasionally visited by her older sister, Rachel, a professor with a busy schedule and no life to call her own “My life, I told myself, bore little resemblance to the lives of other workers in corporate America…But who was I kidding? I was like most of my peers: hyperbusy, hypercritical, hyperventilating” (Simon 7). They are perfect opposites, despite the fact that they were born only 11 months apart “I struggle awake and into my clothes: black sweater, black leggings…She owns a wardrobe of blazingly bright colors and can leap out of bed before dawn” (Simon 3). During one of her infrequent visits, Beth asks Rachel to ride the buses with her for one year. Reluctantly, Rachel agrees, and takes a journey with her sister that changes her life forever.
On the matter of the bus riding, Rachel confesses “Some days its sheer oddness baffled me; other days I was disheartened by her choosing to master bus routes rather than doing something productive, like a job. I had long embraced eccentrics in novels and iconoclasts in the newspaper stories, yet I was too dismayed by Beth’s particular devotion to the busses to be willing to acquaint myself with her life” (Simon 11). She is clearly ashamed of her sister and ashamed of herself for feeling that way. For Rachel, Beth has always been an “oddity” who she cannot accept into her own organized life.

Simon, Rachel. Riding the Bus with my Sister. New York: Penguin Group, 2003.

OTW

In On the Waterfront, there are two extremes as to the answer to this question: what is the difference is between a traitor and a whistle blower? On one side, we have Ede; a pure girl who stands up for what she thinks is right and never questions her morals. She knows what is right and what is wrong, and has a large sense of justice when the rules are broken. Ede would be the first to report any injustice, hoping to change society for the better. She thinks that anyone who stands up for their ethics and tells to help society is a whistle blower. On the other side, we have the mob boss, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, however he can. If the cost of his happiness is the life or happiness of another, he could care less. A selfish, evil man who keeps his secrets close. If you were to betray his trust and spill to the cops, then you’re as good as dead. Anyone who tattles on the mob gets the title of traitor and is punished like a traitor.
I take Ede’s stance on things. Take this example: I see one of my friends cheating on a test. Do I tell the teacher? Yes. The friend might be angry, as I have officially “tattled,” but I would feel justified in saying that I did it for her. If she just copied off of other’s tests, how would she learn? I would have just one regret in turning my own friend in, if she was doing something wrong and then called me a tattle tale. It would be the loss of a good friend.

blogger Q numba 2

There are several characters in All My Sons that base their decisions on personal and family gain rather than for the good of society. Joe Keller is the most obvious example of this act of selfishness. He allows his partner, Herbert Deever, take the blame for selling damaged goods to the army, thus escaping jail himself. Later in the play, he justifies his actions with this argument: “They came with handcuffs into the shop Chris, what could I do? Chris…Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you” (70). He tries to excuse his desperate actions by telling his son, Chris, that if he had taken the blame, the business would have gone up in smoke and there would have been nothing left for Chris. Keller’s son replies with: “For me!-I was dying every day and you were killing my boys and you did it for me? …Is that as far as your mind can see, the business?”(70). These two characters, Chris and his father, Joe, are opposites when it comes to ethics. Joe is fine with committing unlawful or otherwise disreputable acts as long as it benefits his family. Chris, meanwhile, is a regular crusader, striving to tell the truth wherever he goes. The two ends of the spectrum collide in so close a family connection, allowing the reader to see the differences between father and son clearly.
I personally side with Chris on this argument. The damaged airplane parts cost many young fighters their lives, all so that Joe Keller could retain his family business. The price tag on my happiness does not exceed another person’s life, and I could never ship off broken parts to the army if I knew it could put other men and women in danger. In this situation, I believe it was not appropriate to put the needs of my family and self in front of society’s. The cost would be too high for my conscious to bear. If another, less extreme case of similar moral complications arose, I would defend my family rather than society. For example, if my family was starving, and to get them the food they needed I would have to steal money from some rich neighbor, than I would take my family’s needs into account instead of what society thought was right or wrong.

AC/DC vs. HSM

What would you say if i told you that america's favorite teenagers were beaten at their own game by a group of graying men? You'd say I'm crazy, right? Wrong. Only a few days after its release, AC/DC's "Black Ice" topped the charts, beating High School Musical in the amount of copies sold. They sold over 784,000 copies in the first week of sales, even after making their soundtrack only available through Walmart and their website. It is astounding to think that "Black Ice" won second place for the 2008 biggest album debut, considering the dwindling number of people who remember listening to AC/DC as they were growing up. Today's generation is so focused on rap, hip hop and alternative rock, rarely is there time to think about the classics. That is one of the reasons why this is such a shocking leap in music sales; the classics are coming back with a vengence. Now AC/DC is being compared to the Eagles and Journey, two bands know for their outrageous sucess and landmarks in history. So when you find yourself with the latest HSM song stuck in your head, stop, shake it out, and plug in some good, classic, AC/DC in honor of the #1 album in sales.

Assoiciated Press. "AC/DC's 'Black Ice' beats out 'High School Musical'" CNN.com october 30 2008. http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/30/acdc.cd.success.ap/index.html

The Journey of the Magi

"The Journey of the Magi" is an English poem written by T.S. Eliot. In this poem, Eliot describes the journey of the Magi as they seek out the Christ child in the manger. Though their heads say that it is a stupid quest, that all of the hardship it takes to get there is not worth it, something in their hearts urge them to continue on. Through many a town they pass, and can derive no information for the locals regarding the place where they were headed. Finally, not a moment too soon, they reach the manger, and witness the birth of Jesus. Though satisfied that it is indeed a holy child, there is something not right, as if it were not only a birth they saw, but a death. This was the death of their former attachment to physical belongings. Even after they return to their high castles, the Magi are no longer content with mere possessions, and would rather be without them if it would mean spiritual freedom. In this way the poem reminds me strongly of Siddhartha’s journey. He also sought out the answer to all of his questions, the Buddha, and from that meeting on could not be content to live the life he had before. He was not content to stay with those who clung blindly to their gods, and decided to start on a path to enlightenment that was eventually fulfilled.

T.S. Eliot. “The Journey of the Magi.” PoetSeers.com 10/9/08 http://www.poetseers.org/themes/nobel_prize_for_literature/t__s__eliot/library/the_journey_of_the_magi/

Is the concept of Kleos relevant for a contemporary society?

I believe that the concept of Kleos has changed and grown to become something more than what it was back in the days of Odysseus and Achilles. In ancient times the only way to be remembered as a hero is to prove yourself in battle, like Achilles the great warrior, whose accomplishments are still talked about today. Now, there are many different ways to be remembered in our society, so the drive to win the glory that only victory in battle can bring has lessened dramatically. One of the ways that Kleos has shrunk in our world today is the fact that now humans have found other, though not necessarily easier, ways to be remembered in our society. Instead of being remembered as a great war tactician, like Odysseus is, you can be thought of as a brilliant scientist or the greatest author of your generation or even as being the best teacher in the world.
For a dwindling few, however, the urge to excel, to become famous, to be remembered is still too great a lure to remain within the confines of the mundane. These are the people who go on to sign up for the Army, the Navy, or the Air Force. These are the people who risk their lives every day and are remembered not only for their fighting prowess, but for the fact that they died defending their country. That is how the concept of Kleos has adapted in our society to remain relevant through the ages.