Blog...Blog...Blog....

     Well, I just finished assignments for Pod #8!  WOO HOO!! I am pretty excited because I am ready for a little break (and a trip to Boston J), but I will admit that I will miss this class.  I’m pretty sure it was my favorite class.  I need to get a move on the blogging though to make the deadline next week but I seem to be suffering from some type of brain overload :)  I just can’t force myself to blog every day.  I thought that if I did, it would make me a better blogger, but it didn’t.  I struggle with it and don’t update it for weeks.  I looked at it as another chore, like laundry, that accumulates in a pile of homework and housework that need to be done.  I think that the times I sat down to blog I just felt lacking in the creative area.  Everything over the last few days has been feeling strained and not really representative of who I am.  So, with that being said, I am going to post a few of my favorite quotes today and try again tomorrow…..hopefully with a little better luck!

Just living is not enough.  One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.  ~Hans Christian Anderson

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."  ~Erma Bombeck

Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.  ~Arthur Miller

Life is like a coin.  You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.  ~Lillian Dickson

Can Women Be Immortal?

I ran across this poem and it reminded me of the woman that Fitzgerald portrays in his work, “Winter Dreams”.  When I read it, it made me visualize Judy and her encounters with Dexter.  How she mesmerizes him and holds him captive.  I thought I would share it.  I think it is beautiful!

Immortal

by Daniel James Burt

She is forever standing at our secret pond beneath our loving tree. Welcome late-spring breeze lifting summer dress and hat ever so slightly. She is dropping a rose frozen forever in time it cascades from her hand. Around her, the pond, the cat-tails, the bird song, all captured deliciously. She is smiling playfully as rose follows petals to rest amidst lily-pads. A buzz of bumblebee, breeze dancing leaves above, mid-morning sun seems to kiss her. She laughs hearing her name turns with anticipation burned forever is the sight. Even as life continues - for that split second her beauty is immortalized.

Gatsby Jazz Era!

The Roaring 20’s! The Jazz Era! Prohibition! This is the grand setting for The Great Gatsby and an era where social and moral values begin to decay.  It was a time of decadent parties and wild jazz music.  Gatsby and his lavish parties reek of cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure.  This type of lifestyle resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals.

Jazz was originally a mixture of Blues and marching band music and was played by African-Americans on old U.S Army instruments.  It was mostly improvisation, because most of the jazz musicians weren’t able to read music. Soon the white man started to play and blended together with the African music culture and a new style of jazz was born. Jazz bands started the musical revolution.  The music provoked close and intimate dancing which many believed led to rebellion and other socially questionable activities.  Parties like Gatsby’s which featured this music were typical for this time period. The extravagant festivities required charm, notoriety and good manners as a social asset.