CrazyMissSarah

Yay!

2011-03-27T21:29:00.001-07:00

So I figured out how to sync the blog with my phone. Awesome. I <3 android.

First on the Floor - StarBurnedSky

2011-03-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

<br><br><br>rap

Our new version of First on the Floor! Electronic hip-hop music is so fun to do. Instrumental produced by Timothy Adamack from AdamakBeats.

Magazine Rant

2011-03-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

easy abs, get shiny bouncy hair, 8 foods that zap belly fat, 50 CHEAP splurges, the best way to lose weight, look leaner secrets! OMG magazines are the most useless piece of literature...emphasizing societal fears and playing off them to engage your desperation, and loading your mind with advertisements that whisper in your ear *hey you should be like THIS* while every paragraph is based off of someone's respectable (for an unknown reason) opinion with nothing else to substantiate it. What lovely, subversive fiction. And it is so often passed off as fact.

And here I was wondering how humans have created a reality based around constructs that, if abolished, would send first-world countries into an existential crisis. Almost everything that gives us some semblance of purpose (religion excluded) was created by us within the last half-millenium. What would life mean without magazines, facebook (or the collective forum called the internet, for that matter), television programming, or radio?

I'm interested to hear what people can think of, because so often I myself draw blanks. Try and imagine a life without all of that. What would take it's place, if anything? Is it our nature to create symbolic constructs and extrapolate meaning from them, or is there really something underneath it all? And I feel I can include religion in that statement as well. Did we actually create the facebook, magazines, radio, television, social networking sites to fulfill our needs or did we create the needs to go along with them to some extent?

/rant

A Toast to the Beginning

2011-02-27T20:32:00.001-08:00

If you painted me on white canvas
Maybe I'm not the only fool
The ticket you sold me well I still have it
But I never promised to be on time for you

Take it any way you like it
Take it any way you like it

I miss the miles that gave way between you and me
I miss the darkness in the room, space between the sheets
you had me, you had me, you couldn't leave it so
you had me, you had me, if only you could know

Hold the gates; St. Peter just called my name
I'd hate to see another perfect night go to waste
Can't you take back the brushstrokes of common misperception?
I've got a picture of you too, your eyes the wrong direction

Take it any way you like it
Take it any way you like it

I miss the miles that gave way between you and me
I miss the darkness in the room, space between the sheets
you had me, you had me, you couldn't leave it so
you had me, you had me, if only you could know

take it any way you like it
I'll give it any way you like it
take it any way you like it
if it makes me sick you like it
and I am not so simple.
I am not so simple.

I miss the miles that gave way between you and me
I miss the darkness in the room, the space between the sheets
you had me, you had me, you couldn't leave it so
you had me, you had me, if only you could know
you had me, you had me, if only you could know
you had me, you had me, if only you could know

If it makes me sick you like it
and I am not so simple.

Whatever Happened to JoJo?

2010-04-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

The young starlet came out at 13 with huge singles and album sales, and then in 2007 she all but disappeared. A little while ago I stumbled upon her first single, Leave (Get Out) and I started to wonder what happened to her?

Turns out she's had a lot of legal trouble with her label putting her on hold, so she's had to negotiate with another label to distribute her new album, now set for release this year. Rumour has it there's a single coming this summer!

Anyways, there's a few songs available to listen on YouTube, and they sound much heavier and grown-up, for sure. Still has the same youthful voice, but the promo pics are knockout-status. Here's a single off of Timbaland's new album, Shock Value II feat. JoJo.

NoNo GaGa

2010-04-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

We love Lady GaGa, even if it's a love-hate type-deal. She has extraordinary fashion statements, and while many slam her for it, it's something that's been done since the beginning of pop-celebrity stardom. The statements of the past seem less dramatic today since we've already seen it, but GaGa is really doing nothing new as far as stand-out celebrity status is concerned. We watch her videos, see her pictures, and sometimes we can't help but go 'that's so cool!' or, more often, 'wow...how...weird...'. It seems like nearly every famous fashion-conscious woman has evoked the same feelings.

However, Lady GaGa is unique in that she goes there. Further than Degrassi. Need proof?

Yes, those are Kermit the Frog animals all over her. With that look on her face we almost want to say 'aw, how cute!' except that she's 23. Instead, we say 'no, GaGa, no.'

Here are some other no, GaGa, no's.

Is it shameful that we still love her?

I think not. I was bored of Taylor Swift and Britney Spears a long time ago. Besides, that sparking boob thing is kinda cool.

Another Ke$ha Lyric Gone Wrong

2010-04-26T20:18:00.000-07:00

Boom Boom Bang

[Rapper] I know you wanna ride the camel till its pocket wing (me?)
[Kesha] No boy, I'm sharper than a drop inside cactus leaf
[Rapper] You tryna to front and tell me that I don't provide the boom?
[Kesha] Nah boy, I'm sayin' that I bring it hard so make the room

Don't even get me started on that first line. But Giiiirrlll. The drops inside the cactus leaf are the sweet, wet, smooth part. It's the spikes that are sharp. Idk have you even seen a cactus?

Fat Cat of the Week 1

2010-04-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

Just for you guys, I'm starting a 14 week-long blog series to brighten up your week. I'll be posting these on Mondays, to start your week off with a chuckle or full-on LOL! Here's your star of the week:

I call him Albert.

How To Write a Novel in 30 Days

2010-04-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Is it possible? Thousands of NaNoWriMo participants say so.

First Draft in 30 Days, by author Karen Weisner, seems to be a straight-up workbook for the novel-writing process. In 6 steps she claims that you can go from brainstorm to first draft in only one month. Her attempt is valiant to be sure, and while the book contains some not-so-common advice for plot work, the huge array of worksheets in the back of the book (it takes up almost half of the book itself) seem like cotton candy, aimed to please the English teachers out there who are looking for a simple method to teach without any real efficacy. By the time I reached the end I wondered: "Karen, did you write your drafts in only 30 days? No wonder I've never heard of them."

Alas, while this method seems designed for massive sales based on the title alone, the content is rather shoddy. However, I won't leave you writers out there diffused. I have a book for you from someone who knows what they're talking about, because a) they've implemented their own method to great success, and b)tens of thousands of other people have.

If your goal is to bust out a draft in 30 days, here is the book for you: No Plot! No Problem! by Chris Baty, one of the founder of NaNoWriMo himself. Reading through this book will bring out a chuckle or two, or even a hearty laugh unless, of course, you're an author with NO humor. I don't believe they even exist...

Well Baty doesn't claim to teach you how to make a story. There's thousands of other books that will do that, and probably better than he ever could. What's so great about this book is that he will encourage you and tell you how to just get it done. He has a grain of wisdom that is so lacking in the writer's reference field, and that is that every person has a story. Every future novelist sure as hell has something to write about, and Baty thankfully skip right over the piece of creating that story. He assumes you already have a story to tell, and he tells you how to sit yourself down and get to business, completing your first draft in 30 days.

He admits that you'll have some serious editing to do, but you could pay someone else to edit it for you. You can't pay someone to give it life. He gives you a solid technique that will motivate you to really write your book in 30 days. It might not be genius quality on day 30, but you can always add that in later. You'll have written a novel in a month, remember??

How to Deal With Mustache Hair??

2010-04-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hey girls, most of us have mustache hair and usually it looks a little unsightly. But PLEASE heed my advice: do not shave. There's much better ways to go about it. You don't wanna be the girl I knew in the 8th grade who had the bright idea that since she didn't want the hair above her lip, she should shave it. It grows back fast and thick and if you don't do it everyday or even twice a day, it looks dreadful. If you've already tried shaving it and don't like your results, you can still turn back now. Check out these methods.

Option 1:
Bleach. It's easy to find facial hair bleach at your local WalMart, Walgreens, or CVS. It keeps your hair blonde and not so on-your-face like it would otherwise be for about a month, a little longer if you have slow-growing hair.

Option 2:
Nair. Meet my face's best friend, her name is Nair and she takes good care of mustaches. She actually has a special type just for facial hair. Put a little of that on (don't mind the smell) for about 5 minutes and rinse off clean. This will make your hair GONE for about two months. It might take some getting used to having no hair on your upper lip, but after a couple days you wont' want it to grow back. Oh, and make sure you're not allergic by trying it out on your arm first. You'd rather have a rash on your arm than on your face. That would be worse than a mustache.

Option 3:
Laser hair removal. It's how you get rid of unibrows, pesky leg hair, and of course, miserable 'staches. It's convenient because you only do it once. Out of all these options, this one will fix your problem up fast and for good. But if you have the money to go this route, I don't know why you're even reading this post. Clearly it's the most efficient option. Slightly pricey though, but if you spend $12 a month for bleach and plan to for the next five years, perhaps you should invest in Option 3 anyways.

Seattle's Best Coffee at Borders

2010-04-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

So did you know that if you are a Border's Rewards Member (which, by the way, is FREE) you get a free beverage for every 5 beverages you buy in a month.

Now, there seems to be a catch, right? What size beverage do you get? What's the max price beverage you can get? Well here's the thing: You can have anything. Any size, any tea or coffee. It's wonderful. They really aren't trying to rip you off, and that Border's Rewards Membership really does reward you.

If you like good coffee, you should hit up the nearest Border's cafe where Seattle's Best lives. If you like free coffee, join the Border's Rewards thing. It's worth it. It's free.

:)

Yet Another Ke$ha Lyric Gone Wrong

2010-04-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

"Comin' out your mouth with your blah blah blah.
Just zip your lips like a padlock

and meet me at the back

with the jack and the jukebox."

And I was like: 'Girl, you don't zip a padlock.'

PyramidCollection's Eclectic Style

2010-04-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

Ever wanted to find a clothing site that seemed to have it all? One of the best things about the Pyramid Collection is that is covers so many bases. Steampunk? Got it. New Age? Got it. In fact, you can search your style by themes. From Goddess to Egyptian, from Angels to Vampires, you can find your style. A few of my personal picks:

Paisley Dress - $49.95

Midnight Garden Dress - $99.95

Kimono Top - $79.95

Check out the rest

Art and Vanity

2010-02-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

¡¡¡Viva Pinata!!!

2010-02-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

Viva Pinata is the best game in the world!

You get a seemingly endless amount of cute, awesome little animals (sometimes big ones) to come to your garden and play around and look cute and eat stuff, and sometimes when you get new ones they have to eat one of your other ones to join the garden like the bird has to eat your worm and such and there's cool people that help you out and run around your garden and the best one is Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise.

Don't mind that it's for ages 3 and up. Your pinatas can fall in love with another one of their same species and then they get hearts above their heads when they walk around. Then if you get them a little house they go inside and do a romance dance that is usually really cute but sometimes a little weird. It's really awesome though because then they have a little egg (even if your pinata is a mammal species...I don't really get that but the eggs look cool) and it will hatch into another pinata.

In this version of the game, Trouble In Paradise, there's an evil doctor who sends evil pinatas to your garden and you have to scare them away. This is the evil doctor, he has just graduated from evil school it seems.

When your pinatas get to the maximum candiosity (they are FULL of candy) then you send them off to a party and some parties send requests for certain pinatas and you get bonus points for getting those ones but you shoot them off in the pinata cannon so they go off to the party.

I was so excited and happy to play this game, but when I was telling my friend about it she says:

"Sarah, you know what they do to pinatas at parties, right??"

Philosophy Degree

2010-02-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

I used to be chasing a Philosophy degree.

Then I decided I had to change it.

I just couldn't stand all of the hot air and running in circles. The best arguer always wins, and I was way more inclined to questioning than arguing.

Besides, all of the philosophy majors I've ever met were all frustrated, conflicted people who simply could not find the true worth of anything. It seemed too sad to want to join them.

And all that logic they told you never seemed to have any real-life applications anyways. Every time you asked mama why you couldn't spend the night at Mimi's house, the answer was always "because I said so." There's never any logic to why you have relationships with people, and there sure as hell isn't any logic in how the governments rule over people and the lands or how society has its trends and mores. Culture itself has no absolute validity, truth, or soundness. Trying to be logical about it seems so silly. Arguing about that logic even more so.

Don't get me wrong, maybe the hot air warms the people with cold boredom or something, but let's face it:

I'm just not that bored.

Ke$ha "Tik Tok"

2010-02-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack
Cuz when I leave for the night I ain't comin' back
I'm talkin' pedicure on our toes, toes
Tryin' on all our clothes, clothes
Boys blowin' up our phones, phones

I heard that song and was like:

"Where else would you get a pedicure, bihh?"

Junk in the Trunk

2010-02-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

So I baked my boyfriend and his friends a bunch of peanut butter cookies for their road trip a couple weekends back.

Long story short, his car ended up breaking down in nowhere GA, it cost too much to fix it (more than that old Honda was worth) and they didn't even have time to wait the weekend for the mechanics to be able to fix it. So they sold it to the mechanics for scrap parts and had to take a greyhound bus all the rest of the way back up to TN to see their friend, the reason for the whole trip. They had a long trip, had to carry everything they had packed with them on their person as they took the buses, and had to deal with weird people and heavy traveling. He was telling me all about this adventure as the guys were waiting for the bus, and I had the picture of a few guys with a huge pile of bags and junk he had to salvage from the car, tired and stressed. After all, how was a pizza delivery guy supposed to work?? He suddenly didn't have a car!

Days after they finally return, I get a text from him saying that he had been going through his bags. He told me my cookies were still great, even though they were a little stale.

I was like

Of all the things to salvage from you car you made sure to save my cookies??!!??!!

That's when you knew you got one of the good ones.

Writing the Breakout Novel : Review

2010-02-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

     This book by Donald Maas is by far the best writer's resource book I've ever read. I borrowed this book from the library was was impressed with just the introduction. By the time I had reached chapter 6 (about halfway through the book) I had realized with growing intensity that I was going to read this book many times in my life. I knew I would return to it every time I embarked on a writing project or reached any kind of block in my work. I couldn't resist. I went out and bought it for myself.

     Every paragraph in this book is helpful. Having much writing experience and having read through countless writer's resource books you may glance at the chapter titles and say to yourself 'yeah, I've heard that before. Stakes, conflict, theme, characters, plot, blah, blah, blah,' and the author recognizes this fact. He doesn't tell you what you've heard before. He tells you the truth, the real techniques of a breakout novel, and specifically how to implement them complete with exercises (also with a separate workbook for those so inclined) and a checklist at the end of every chapter.

     If you doubt that any book on writing books will actually help you out, think again. Not only is it worth a read, it's worth a buy. I knew not even halfway through this book that I could toss out all the other reference books on the topic on my shelf and be perfectly prepared to embark on a novel-writing quest destined for success. Even if you feel you've got a great idea in your head, and maybe even a good draft, this book will be essential in many respects. If you've got a good idea, this book will make you make it better. If your manuscript is struggling, prepare for a shining new draft when you finish this book.

     I'd recommend this to anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel, or would even be interested in being an editor, agent, or publisher. This book tell you what to look for and how to make it better. Don't settle for a mediocre book, when every writer is capable of writing a breakout novel. This guy has sold numerous breakout novels, had years and years of experience as a high-profile literary agent, and has published fourteen novels under a pseudonym. He knows what he's talking about, and it shows.

Disenchantment with Patriotism

2010-02-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

You know, back when you were in like 5th grade you learned all those songs about America? About how America was the land of the free from sea to shining sea and stuff like that. They always capitalized on the land of the free. They made sure you grew up knowing that you were the most fortunate kids in the world, because you had all the freedoms in the world.

Well, that was true when you were young, when the only rules you really had to mind were the ones your pesky parents made up. Then you get older.

Now I was a cultured young kid, I knew about other cultures and such, and I was well aware that there were a lot of places in the world that were a lot worse off. Americans really do live the high life, all of us. So I still bought into that 'land of the free' stuff they always drilled into our heads, and thought that this was a free country.

Then I learned about property tax.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

My mama's grandpa (or great-grandpa) built a little cabin on a lake in nowhere, Maine many years ago. Built it with his own two hands. Made his own little self-sufficient cabin (not using government provided power or water sources and such) and that's where the family takes turns vacationing. I discovered that the adults of the family have to split up the bills for the place so we can keep going there.
I said "What bills?"
Mama said: "the property tax, of course."
I said "So the government owns the land?" She nodded.
I said "How?"

I realized the family would be paying for that cabin until the day it is gone only because it is on a piece of land that the government somehow think it owns.

There seems to be no way out. It's illegal to live in your car, or on the side of a road, or in an abandoned place that no one else is living in. You have to live in a house, and you have to pay the government to live there or else it's illegal.

THIS SHIT SUCKS2 by ~Aeris144 on deviant ART

"So you call this your free country, tell me why it costs so much to live?" - 3 Doors Down

3 Keys to Enjoying Literature and Getting the Good Stuff Out of Reading

2009-12-17T11:31:00.001-08:00

Reading is by no means the most popular pastime of today's youth. To most who are not active readers, there is the perpetual notion that there isn't much to be gained by reading, or at least nothing that can outweigh many other activities like movies, video games, or other forms of entertaining media.

Well, it's sad but true that most are also sadly mistaken. A story is a story is a story is a story, right? Wrong.

While originality is a myth when it comes to stories and literature, real value and entertainment are not. You hear of the classics in school like Shakespeare, Lord of the Flies, Count of Monte Cristo, Dante's Inferno or Divine Comedy, Picture of Dorian Gray, Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and countless others, but those titles and authors inevitably become synonymous with BORING.

Well, there are 3 keys to enjoying those classics of literature and getting some real entertainment and value out of your readings. These books don't have to be boring, in fact they can be life-changing when these simple keys are applied. Reading won't be a burden anymore, at very least it will be a pleasant pastime.

Key # 1:

Symbolism

This is probably the most important key to keep in mind when reading. It might even be handy to have a little literature symbolism dictionary around, like Ferber's Dictionary of Literary Symbols which I would personally recommend. But, even without a symbolism dictionary, just think about what possible meanings certain things that stand out could have.

For instance, once a friend came to me who was in a different English class, and was extremely excited about this book that her class was reading. So, I asked her to tell me what it was about.

The first thing she said was that it was the story of a girl who had Leukemia.

Now, I stopped her right there, and asked her what Leukemia was. She told me it was cancer of the blood.

So, I told her that I could tell the story was about a girl who had a disease that was going to tear her family apart. She stared at me, amazed. She asked how I knew that.

Well, it's quite simple really. Cancer is a disease, it makes the body eat away at itself. Blood is a symbol for family, as people who are family have the same blood, or the saying 'blood is thicker than water' attributed to familial relationships. So, she has a cancer that is affecting her blood = She has a disease that will eat away at her family or family relationships.

The book was My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, which personally I haven't read. But, applying the basic concept of symbolism to aspects of a story or character can shed a whole new light on what's really going on in the story.

Key # 2:

Recognizing Motifs

Motifs are recurring important ideas or images throughout a work. The way these can enhance the pleasure of fictional reading is the subtleties they convey.

For instance, let's take Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. In Macbeth, blood is an outstanding motif. It appears in the story only when something important beneath the surface is taking place. More specifically,in Macbeth, blood appears when a character reaches a 'point of no return'.

It's important to pay attention to what is a motif in a work of literature. Because the reader recognizes blood as a motif, the reader can discover what that motif applies to, and it can shed a different light on whats happening in the story. In this case, the reader can recognize that when blood appears in the story, a character has reached a 'point of no return, and the reader can then understand in greater depth what causes the character to do the things they do in the rest of the story.

Key # 3:

Choose a Genre

Starting off trying to read the classics can be daunting. The third key to enjoying literature is to find a niche that sparks your interest. If a type of book bores you, find a different kind.

Literature is divided into genres as well as time periods. I had a Literature teacher once who could not stand Victorian literature (i.e. Jane Eyre, or anything by the Bronte sisters), because of the style of writing and morals portrayed, but she still taught a few of the works to us.

Personally, once upon a time I happened upon the Picture of Dorian Gray, and became infatuated with Decadent Literature or literature from the Aesthetic movement. From there I learned about similar types of literature, and came to enjoy many types of books.

So, just find a type of book or niche that might interest you, or something that is very popular like Clockwork Orange or Hitchhiker's Guide o the Galaxy that have had movies made based off of them.

It's okay though, if you don't like a book, even if you try and apply these keys. There are just some books that will have a flavor you like, and some that are hard to turn the page in. The third key to enjoying literature though, is to just find the right genre to start. Once you find one type that you like, you will naturally open up to more and more types that are similar, and soon enough you will find great pleasure and value in reading.

Distortion in Literature

2009-12-17T11:20:00.001-08:00

How the use of distortion in literature can affect it's meaning and the way it is perceived by the readers, sometimes sparking vibrant cultural trends or movements

Literary realism can be the most drab way of analyzing or criticizing our human condition, so the wonderfully effective antidote is distortion. What makes distortion such a wonderful fix is that instead of pointing fingers and telling it like it is (which can flip the 'off' switch faster than it can make a lucid point) it is entertaining and can sometimes unconsciously have the reader empathizing with a point they might have otherwise found distasteful.

    For instance, the distortion of Victorian ideals in Alice in Wonderland had some shaking their heads (at the time it was published) with the apparent ludicrousness of the story. However, every kid (or kid-at-heart, we call them the progressives) wanted to jump down the rabbit hole with her. Why? Because the harsh reality of Victorian society was that the elders and influential people sprinkled the same old pepper on everything and told them all to eat cake. When the youngin's of the time sneezed and decided they didn't want to play croquet with the Queen anymore, change was welcomed in society.

    See, without distortion to make the truth of the matter clear, Alice (or the youths of the time) would still be spectating on irrational systems of conduct, unaware that they had a choice to even play croquet. Distortion in literature can hum the solid tune of societal change.

    In the book Fear and Trembling, distortion of consciousness and mood within the story lead the reader unwittingly down a path that in common religious practices would lead straight to hell. The reader thinks that the narrator's rather harsh female boss is just hazing her new, awkward employee out of jealousy and sick humor, but this conception doesn't quite fit the actions. The narrator is forced to cleaning bathrooms (a janitor's work, not a secretary's), re-copying hundreds of files over and over, one by one, and her boss is still just so enchanting.

    The reader sypmathizes with the narrator in her victimization, but by the end of the story the reader realizes they have just walked the path of a girl who falls in love with her sadistic lesbian boss. And you thought you could relate to her, didn't you? As the haze of distortion lifts and the reality of what has transpired throughout the plot (the hazing being a distorted form of the sexual, sadistic adventures of the two), a relationship commonly ignored and condemned in society has just been given very real and undeniable justification to the reader.

    The Stranger, by Albert Camus is another great example of the merits of distortion. They don't consider this a definitng tome of existentialism for nothing. By seeing through the narrator, Mersault's, eyes, the reader takes a walk on the existentialist side of the road. Now, this may seem a far cry from the way we live our lives, but as Mersault tells his story we walk with him through it and see through his 'distorted' (this is the existential) perspective of the world. Nevertheless, we come to understand the situation of the world as radically different from ours as it may be, and the respect gained for our existentialist guinea pig by the end of the book is more than adequate, just as our understanding of that philosophy has become. Mersault ends up dead, but we end up wondering.

    Another case of distortion in this text is the way Camus tells of the actions and at what point they occur. This is a very powerful tool, as the reader is never quite sure from at what point in the flow of events the narrator is speaking of how long this particular event actually lasts. This kind of distortion implies the irrelevancy of time, and allows the theme of the story to be applied to any time in history; in other words, it is therefore immediately applicable to the reader's point in time and point in life through the distortion of time in this novel. We don't know how long Mersault is in prison on trial, but frankly, we are led to not care. The time it happened or how long it took to pass doesn't matter, only that it happened: a major theme of existentialism.

    Distortion is, as Flannery O'Connor once said, 'the only way to make people see'. Alice would be the first to testify that our perceptions of reality are always too big or too small, but with a little distortion (or chunks of giant mushroom) everything is just right and we can finally get into the garden wherein the root of our quest resides: an understanding of our human condition.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead: A Religious Allegory

2009-12-17T11:19:00.001-08:00

An insight into the religious allegory and symbolism contained in Tom Stoppard's work

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, by Tom Stoppard, is a vivid work that addresses humanity's need to believe in or follow a higher cause. It begs the question: Are we lost without a God?

    The answer would be yes, if it were that 'a God' could be construed to mean any type of higher ideology as well as some sort of supreme being. Without something to devote ourselves to, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern demonstrate that we are lost and wandering, much like they, the protagonists of this play, are.

    The story begins with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern flipping coins. No matter how many times they flip it, it always lands on the same side. They sit on a bench somewhere at some time of day in astonishment, just trying to fathom how this could truly be the case. This coin they are flipping represents the belief in a higher purpose. It is unclear whether or not there is an alternative side to this coin or not; much as there is no clarifying whether or not there is an alternative to the existence of a higher power.

    They try to reason that it is chance that the coin lands on the same side one hundred percent of the time, but even chance dictates that this could not be the case. One insists to the other that there are indeed two separate sides and that the coin is not weighted, so this puts them at a bit of an intellectual loss. The two fellows try to fathom what kind of forces could be making this phenomena occur, while at the same time it is becoming blatant to the reader that this scene is utterly pointless. This unexplainable event whispers the possibility of a force beyond their understanding; beyond our understanding, and it is not until the Tragedians (who represent the voice of a god, or the intimations of a higher purpose) happen upon the scene that the play takes a more meaningful turn.

    The role of the Tragedians is relatively important to understanding the predicament of our main characters. They are seen and watched, but their words fall on deaf ears, so to speak. Their display is witnessed but seldom taken seriously, and the true meaning of what they say is lost on the people watching (there is an exception in Act III, but the actual "Murder of Gonzago" is not portrayed in Stoppard's play). This is related to the 'voice of God' in that what they are saying has an impeccable relevance to the situations of the onlookers, but they are dismissed as simple actors, whose words are meaningless. However, the topic of individuals being open to the influence of higher purposes is not a point of this discourse, so we continue on with the journey of the twins.

    Eventually, (with the aid of the Tragedians, of course) the clueless pair stumble upon the twisted world of Hamlet. They are caught completely unawares of the true events going on that are the topic of Shakespeare‘s play. This represents the ambiguity people in general experience when they are confronted with religion, be it of varied definitions. There's no knowing exactly what happened in the beginning of time or, for that matter, even in the time of Jesus or Muhammad. There is no knowing the real validity of the sacred texts, and there is no knowing concrete answers to questions of faith. Nevertheless, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent on a mission to take Hamlet to a place far away. They are not fully aware of what their task means (and indeed this does fit the archetype of The Task quite well) and it is the display of their faith in their Jesus figure, Hamlet, that they carry out this task unquestioningly.

    They do not question this task, for the task itself inspires a deep faith in them, and it gives them a purpose. The significance of this newfound purpose is that they were never previously told what to do, and thus their lives before the task seemed erratic and meaningless.

    The irony of this newly found purpose is that once they are alone on the boat on their way to England, they begin to questions their mission. They ask each other where they are going, why they are going, and what they will do when they get there. They find each other at a loss for answers. The questions they ask all refer allegorically to rather Christian questions such as: Is there a heaven? How will I get there? What is beyond the Pearly Gates? They ask each other then why they believe in Hamlet (Jesus) and their simple answer is the root of Christianity: because they had grown up with it. Hamlet had supposedly known them since they were adolescents; because the bible says so, because God knew who we were before we were born.

    There is no proof of a childhood with Hamlet, much as there is no proof of the validity of the Bible, or the Koran, or any such text or prophet. Their unquestioning faith begins to waver because there is no proof. Suddenly, some pirates come in their unwitting absence of faith and steal Hamlet from the ship. Naturally, they now forget where they are going. They wander aimlessly, once again.

    When we lose our faith in a higher purpose, we begin to lose our reasons for doing the things we do. Be it a god or ideals, when their presence in our life is either no longer felt or is ignored, our efforts are utterly aimless. There are always two sides to a coin, but it is not only luck that determines the outcome of the toss. A certain accountability for the results lies in the factors of faith, and the presence of a belief. This is an implicit theme of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

The Outline Summary of the Hamlet

The Symbolism of Terrain in Tom Rob Smith's Child 44

2009-12-17T11:18:00.001-08:00

An analysis of the meaning of terrain in Tom Rob Smith's Child 44.

In Child 44, Yuri is a devoted officer in the Russian military, and in many ways the cold, harsh Russian terrain symbolizes his family, his career, and his journey to self-realization.
    Yuri starved as a child. His poor, diminished family was stuck living on the back-burners of a war-driven, communist country in a town all but forgotten by the government, where in the dead of winter people killed each other over a stray cat.
    Out in the forest, in the snow, as a child he takes his younger brother to hunt said stray cat. The fact that they venture into this forest for the cat (which could be a symbol of survival, since this is what will supply their sustenance) foreshadows that he will lose his brother, and that is just what happens. The forest they venture into both foreshadows and symbolizes how they become lost as well as the loss of each other in the hunt or quest for survival. They take each other for dead in the cold night and as they emerge from the forest they are each forced out of their adolescence and into the darkness of the world.
    Yuri flees the town after the 'death' of his brother and becomes a stern officer in the KGB whose cold rationale perfectly matches that of the Russian winters. Coincidentally, his younger brother becomes cold to match the terrain of the land in a much different way. Seeing his successful brother on the cover of war posters and knowing that his high-ranking brother knows nothing of his existence, he is driven to gross serial murders to get his attention.
    The way that these murders are carried out is of great importance given the early symbology of the forest and the cat. He takes his victims and feeds their stomach (an organ perhaps representing his ability to digest the circumstances of his life) to his pet cats and drags the bodies of the victims into the snowy forest. This is his way of trying to drag his brother back down into the cold darkness with him to realize he's there. It takes many, many murders to catch the attention of the KGB, but it works. Yuri is the officer delegated to investigate these murders.
    The terrain then turns to represent the Russian government itself and the social prison Yuri begins to find himself in. When Yuri realizes there is a serial murderer, the government shuts him down, because under the communist rule, there is no crime, no fear, no one outside the rules. The snow (representing the cold blanket of lies and harshness) encases everyone. The government even goes so far as to arrest any person on the street who is slightly out of favor and charges them with the next murder and tortures them until they confess.
    When Yuri has had enough and runs from his commander who begins to order these innocents to death, he runs through a forest (ironically) and across a white, snowy field until he falls into the river. After nearly freezing to death, he comes out of the nearly frozen river alive, no longer lost in the web of government lies. Everyone knows that being submerged in water and coming out means rebirth. He has been reborn into moral innocence.
    Without a career, instead he has a new determination to find the truth about the murders, he is forced to live on the streets, running from the ruthless government while being surrounded by them constantly, like the snow in the villages. Without a home he feels the stinging bite of the winter, the bite of corruption more than ever. He realizes he used to be a part of this winter: ruthless and cold, covering everything with a blanket of white lies pretending to be an innocent truth.
    As he slowly discovers the truth of what happened in the forest when he was a child, and the truth of the bodies found in the forest; that his brother is alive and is vengeful, the circumstances of the past are frozen as the present's reality. His brother is still dead to him, even though he is found to be alive. They say it's always winter in Russia.

Dialogue 'Self-Knowledge'

2009-12-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

I have one last question for you, Sir.

Yes?

Who Are You?

Who Are You?

I am Joris.

You are a name? A sound, a mere utterance?

Well I am my memories, as well.

You are a vision of the past seen through an infinitely small peephole?

Well I am my body, I suppose.

Then why do you call it yours? Are you a possession of your self?

If I keep giving you answers, will you only reply with questions? How can I define myself? Can you give me a real answer?

He smiled. 'Who' is not the more pertinent question, indeed. You know very well who you are. Do not let you fool yourself. Your knowledge does not stretch only as far as you are able to define and put restrictions on an abstract something. Do not be daunted by having no definite answer, for one can only define the finite. You can never answer 'who' somebody is. Therefore, I cannot answer your question.

How shall I know you, then?

The way you know yourself.