Food at GS

              To describe my experience of the food at GS in 400 words is a little difficult. Not because it wouldn’t be able to fit all the rantings I have about how bad it is, but because I really haven’t thought about it that much. For me, the food has always been above par, or at least right on it. I’ve never been one of those hypocritical complainers talking about how bad the food is as they shove it in their mouths. I’ve just gone in, sat down, ate my food, and got out. That’s how it’s been for the past year and I have yet to be disappointed. In other words, it’s difficult, and maybe pointless, to write a 400 word paper expressing “meh”.

                But, maybe there is more to talk about here. Maybe the dining hall is more than just a place where animals get what they need then leave. After all, we’re humans, so practically everything we do has some sort of social aspect woven into it. Remember the whole “soy-nut butter” incident of last year? Part of me sometimes wonders if the protesters were having more fun yelling about it than they actually cared about bringing peanut butter back. We, as teenagers, are like unlit fuses of confusion and frustration. Any kind of change in the usual routine that lets us release these things will light that fuse, and so it did last year. Let’s think about what would have happened if this situation went down at a typical office. You can no longer get butterfingers from the vending machine. How would the workers have reacted? Maybe at first, politely asked the boss to bring them back, to which he would say something about the budget and shoo you out of his office, and that would probably be the end of it. Adults, more pessimistic about their worldview as they realize their age, wouldn’t have the same, self-centered rebellious spirit as teenagers would. They would suck it up and order something else from the vending machine. That whole incident of last year demonstrated that here at GS, we are free-thinking, non-passive beings who do not view the “boss” as the controller of our lives. This is the danger of liberal, Quaker teenagers.

                This brings me back to the complainers. Just as the peanut-butter protestors didn’t care as much about the issue as they said they did, maybe they don’t really dislike the food as much as they say. By exaggerating and sharing their ideas with others, they can all insult the food to their heart’s content—but still have to eat it. In this way, the dining hall is a kind of social punching bag that never takes any offense and will always be there for another zinger. It allows us to decompress, not just by giving us nourishment, but also giving us the enjoyment of making fun of it. We can all pretend we’re in this awful situation where we eat nothing but junk all day, and make ourselves the hero of our own tragic story. It gives us the motivation to continue, to rise up, and to rebel.

                So, all in all, I am appreciative of the dining hall. I thank it for the spirit it gives, and for playing its role as the perpetual villain we create to make us feel better about ourselves. I thank it for every bland dessert, and for every soggy piece of tofu. For every bone I find in the chicken, and for every food I’ve never heard of on its menu. And finally, for every time I go looking for a utensil and find none, eventually having to use a bendy plastic fork to try and cut a cold turkey meatball. Thank you.  

Religion In Class Essay- Mindfulness

          When comparing the poem “Mindful”, by Mary Oliver, and the bag scene from the movie American Beauty, one similarity comes to mind. In both of these artful expressions, key focus has been placed on the mundane. The normal, day to day commonplace of life holds a special meaning for both the poem and the movie. I believe that is because the writers wanted to show their audience what mindfulness really is. We always pay special attention to the beautiful things. The things that come rarely are always looked at more closely than everything else. This gives life a sputtering quality, sleeping during every normal day and jarring yourself awake for every special one. Living life in this way, like most of us do, makes us miss more important things than we realize. What is argued in both the movie scene and the poem is that every moment has a special meaning to it, and that being aware of every moment can make it more meaningful. Being mindful makes life more fulfilling and satisfying, just as slowly chewing and swallowing food is shown to be better than swallowing it whole.

                 Paying attention to every moment, though, is difficult. We are all so conditioned to conserve our energy, to ignore certain things and sleepwalk through life. Sometimes, especially when I’m tired, I find myself in a dreamlike state where nothing seems real, and I’m only drifting through a scene already played out in my mind. This kind of living is what makes us miss the truly important things.

                I would like to appreciate a simple thing, as the man in the movie scene did. But during regular life, it’s hard to see the true meaning behind every moment. How can the present be important? What was the point of staring at that bag?  But you have to realize that this moment will never happen again, and that once that bag floats away, you’ll likely never see it again. Every moment is like life. During its existence, it tries to effect as much as it can and be as loud and energetic as possible. But, even though it doesn’t know it, it is transient. Soon, the moment disappears, replaced by another, and another, until the day we ourselves perish. That’s why every moment and every person you encounter must be appreciated.

Macbeth- "The Time is Free"

     For me, the way I first interpreted this line is that Scotland is now free from the curse it was under during the reign of Macbeth. Like a spell being lifted, a burden has been lifted off of the people's shoulders, and now there will be good times ahead. Another way to interpret this is that time itself was kept prisoner under Macbeth's reign. With even nature reeling from Duncan's murder, it must have seemed like time was frozen during this nightmarish state, like it would never end. Now, time is free to move forward and go on like it's supposed to. Another way this line can be viewed is that the era of tyranny is over, and now the time of more freedom and order has begun. The time is now free, it is the beginning of a new era for Scotland. One final way this line can be thought of is that now there is no king to rule. With Macbeth dead and Malcolm not having yet assumed his rightful position on the throne, the government is in a bit of an anarchy. In other words, perhaps Macduff said this line to tell Malcolm to hurry up with making himself king, as there is no ruler currently.

9-24 Religion Assignment- Coltrane

     Coltrane’s spiritual revelation is very much related to the ones we hear about in Walsh’s book. Coltrane thought that he, as many spiritual stories say, is but God’s instrument. Like in the story about motives from our book, his motive was to give to others the greatest possession he had: his music. He played to make other people happy, he saw it as his gift to the world. During his recovery from his heroin and alcohol addiction, he promised God that if he could play music again he would be “a preacher on his horn”. I think this meant that he would follow good spiritual values from then on, and try to teach others to do the same through his playing. Overall, he was giving people his ultimate possession for them to enjoy: his music. This is a very humble way of living life, which Walsh would say is good for you spiritually.

            I admire Coltrane for having such dedication in life. Despite at one point being addicted to drugs, he had the willpower to bring his life back around to focus on what he really cared about. He let go of some of the attachments that were controlling his life. From then on, he didn’t let cravings of those things take away from what he really wanted to do. He knew that his purpose in life was to play, and I envy having that kind of knowledge. Never having to wonder what you want to do in life must be nice. Coltrane was sure that he was fulfilling his purpose in life and doing as much as he could. He knew what his passion was, and made his life revolve around it. I don’t know if Coltrane was happy in life or not, but if he was then I believe he fulfilled his purpose in life. He did what he loved, tried to help others, and was happy. As far as my view on life goes, that’s all you could ever want.

             

Macbeth Hamartia

     I think that Macbeth's hamartia is his lack of patience. Right after the witches gave their prophecy, Macbeth himself said that maybe if he just waited it out he could become king. Why, then, did he kill all these people to expedite this process? It could be argued that this is because of his wife's pressure for him to take action, but I believe it is because Macbeth doesn't have any patience. It seems he had faith in the fact that the witches prophecies would come true, but yet he still couldn't just sit around and wait for people to crown him king. This tragic flaw makes sense looking at Macbeth's background. He is a warrior, and warriors don't tend to wait around during the heat of battle. They're supposed to take action immediately, without forethought. I believe that this kind of way of dealing with problems reflects on the way Shakespeare has Macbeth act during the play. He doesn't really spend much time to stop and think, he just goes for his goal. This unwillingness to wait, among other things, could be the reason that some people see Macbeth as dim-witted.

English- Macbeth

     I believe that Lady Macbeth uses a baby in her argument because she may have already had a husband. Perhaps Macbeth was not Lady Macbeth's first husband, and she had a baby with the original. I believe this because if she had had a baby with Macbeth (which they clearly no longer have), then it would not be a guilt trip for Macbeth for her to mention it. It almost seems to me like Macbeth somehow took the baby from his wife, as she seems to imply that it is his fault she no longer has one. It could either be this, or she is trying to say that she has been through just as much hardship as Macbeth has, perhaps more. This brings me back to the other husband theory. It could be that the child died before it could grow up (this happened often in those days), something Lady Macbeth would have had to deal with but Macbeth hadn't. This could be how Macbeth's wife is trying to guilt-trip him into killing Duncan. She's saying, "You think you're having a hard time with this decision? I lost a child!" This could be wrong, but overall I have a strong feeling that this baby (which is not even confirmed to have existed) is a tragedy that Lady Macbeth went through, but Macbeth did not, or was somehow the cause of.  

Excersises to Reduce Craving

This is the edited version of another paper written for religion class:

9-14- Exercises to Reduce Craving Tyler 
     I really love unhealthy foods. Specifically, foods with ridiculous amounts of butter, oil, or salt. I know that this is unhealthy, and even though I don’t think I have an addiction to it, I figured I’d probably be better off if I at least tried to stop eating it so much. So to eliminate craving for salt and butter, I decided to try out exercise number 5: Indulge your Craving.

      My breakfast started out with a nice and greasy ham and cheese omelet, with some melted butter brushed on top. While eating it, I examined what I felt. I thought it was delicious, and couldn’t see how I could ever get tired of the taste. Lunch arrived, and I had two nice slices of oily pizza. Again, I did not feel any displeasure as I rapidly took bite after bite. But then, dinner came. We were having chicken and mashed potatoes. I grabbed all of the fatty dark meat I could find, and poured salt on it. Then, I put some potatoes on my plate and put a large chunk of butter on top of it, along with some more salt. Again I ate happily, but perhaps, I thought, I had put on way too much butter. As soon as I finished eating the Grand Finale of my salt-and-butter pig-out day, I began to feel sick. I felt bloated and unhealthy, and had a headache similar to one you get when you stare at a computer screen too long. I realized that this uncomfortable feeling of nausea was a result of all of the junk I had eaten throughout the day. The total change in feeling from pleasure to pain was surprising.

      From this day of indulging my craving for fatty, oily foods, I learned firsthand that too much of anything is bad for you. I felt so unhealthy after the experiment, and even now I certainly don’t see myself ingesting anything salty soon. Even though this method of getting rid of cravings seems illogical, it certainly works for many kinds of attachments.