"A summer's past" part 1

Every night at about 10:00pm I return to the house where I am living over the summer. It is a colonial style house built here by a political big-whig who had too much time on his hands.


There always seems to be too many ppl in the house but somehow everyone fits. Here lives a priest, a bearded lady retired from the circus, a door to door salesman, a single mother who somehow is also able to be a stay at home mother, a janitor at a large corporate office, a Baptist preacher, a drug dealer- turned lawyer who has recently gone back to drug dealing, a woman specializing in breeding two-legged dogs, all of her two legged dogs, a spy, a sailor who plays the trumpet in a local band, a firewoman, and of course, myself. These of course are all the people that I know of that live in the house, the exact number of occupants seems to change quite often.
When I first moved into the house I had a choice between two rooms. I was told by someone, their name escapes me now that each rooms had its share of pro’s and con’s. The room upstairs is located adjacent to a bathroom and in between the sailor and the stay at home single mother. I was told that the room had a great view of the empty asphalt lot just outside and sometimes when it rained the smell of the damp asphalt was sweet enough to lull anyone to sleep. The latter part was particularly pleasing to me because I knew I would only be at the house at night anyway. The cons that came along with this room was that the sailor practiced during the day for his gigs at some local club that he now always pressures me into going to and the stay- at- home mother’s children, who seem mild-mannered but often ran, jumped, and played in their apartment creating a sandwich of laugh, screams, B-flats, staccatos ,c-majors, bumps, but and scrapes for me to deal with. This might have been a problem for most ppl but like I said I was always out and about during the day and only entered my room at 10:00 pm at night

The other room was smaller but had its own bathroom and was very old, at least that’s the conclusion I came to considering the peeling floral wallpaper and the undeniable smell of old people that filled every space of the room. It also fit perfectly with the story I’ve heard from the other ppl who live hear about the house so it didn’t surprise me much. It had that “lived-in” look that I hear many people hunt for when searching for a home but I didn’t want or need a home, I all I wanted was a single room. This room was the last room in the hallway but was across from the lawyer/drug dealer and next to the Baptist preacher…….to be continued.

Dreams just outside of the window

Tonight, like many nights I am inspired by music. I listen to a lot of music and a lot of genres, my favorites being House/Dance and Trance music. I particularly enjoy trance music because it does just that, puts me in a trance, another place, I am able to go anywhere I want and be whatever I want. Often times i sit in my room, lay on my bed and listen to the likes of Tiesto, ATB, and Above & Beyond for hours. What inspired what is being typed at this moment is a song called "Hold me till the End" by the DT8 Project, Also known as Darren Tate. When listening to this song I couldn't help but think about and visualize airports, yes airports. Believe it or not despite the very few airports I have visited I have always been amazed and fascinated by them, their architecture, tile and wall patterns, gift shops, and restaurants, their employees, and the fact that airports are open 24/7, like a little community that never sleeps. I often dream about having a career that lets me travel a lot because of this. One day I hope to go to an airport, SEATAC will do, sit in one of their chairs by the HUGE windows that they have and watch as the airplanes fly away and arrive. A nice clear sunny day, without a single cloud, hear my every thought, and be aware of every breath. I will travel with these airplanes that depart from my visual range and imagine where they are going, and what type of ppl are on these airplanes. I want to walk down the clean halls of the airport, observe the janitors cleaning the floors and windows, I image staying there till the early hours of the morning to sit in one of the restaurants by myself and read a book or magazine of my choosing from the gift shop. People may see this as a peculiar hope and wish but for me the airport is one of the few places where you can never be truly alone , for some reason they provide for me the warm, fuzzy, secure feeling others get from sitting by the fire or taking a good nap. Although its been a while since I have been to an airport, I remember going to drop my grandmother off so that she could go back to Arkansas. We stayed for about 3 hours and while others may have found it boring, I genuinely loved every minute of it. This is the state I am in now, visualizing and keeping in line with the trance, falling deep into every beat, every rhythm, every word,even while typing this is where I am. I realize that eventually I will have to leave, which saddens me,but I know I will be back soon enough......

Also Inspired by:
Kreo-Burn for you
C-Systems-Close My Eyes (Lemon & Einar K remix)
John O'Callaghan Feat Lo-Fi Sugar-Never Fade Away (Andy Duguid Mix)

kaskade will one day be Kwesi

I am here at the final blog post of the quarter and I must say it has been a journey. I admit that I often sat in class in a world of uncertainty but I think this has more to do with the texts we were given to read rather than the structure of the class, which ran much like many of the other classes I have taken from Tony. This class has been much different than the other classes though, why I'm not exactly sure, perhaps it was the subtle changes in my though processes as the class progressed. Indeed this class has introduced me to a couple of new things and mediums in which to communicate my thoughts, these being of course are my blogs and plurk. I have never received so much feedback on my thoughts,emotions, and ideas as I have while using plurk and "writing the small", which at first was more of a struggle for me than some. I know I will continue to remain on plurk even after the class has ended.I stated on plurk that in fact kaskade(my plurk name) is not Kwesi(my real name). Kaskade is a free thinker, one who is not afraid to communicate his thoughts and to also give feedback on the ideas of others, something I, Kwesi has struggled with as long as I can remember. Plurk has allowed me to find kaskade and much like what I stated in my plurk, I realize we are not the same, not identical beings but I know that we will become one in good time.

Busting through walls

As I’ve been reading The Filth I’ve noticed something that occurs more often than I have ever experienced in a story and/or book before. Characters are aware of their surroundings, not only within the story but in the physical parameters of the graphic novel. It is as if they are aware of the graphic novel world that they are living in, are aware of its advantages and also its limits. For example the use of the crack in the book as a wall and references to it as the story progresses such as on page 64 when Harley refers to it as the “page wall”. Also on the top of page 62, which contains one panel at the top Harley states “You have one panel Continuity freeze to join us here in cabaret, herr mercury”.

So I find myself asking, why break the 4th wall, the boundary between fiction and reality? There is a different type of relationship that occurs when characters break the 4th wall. This can open up into a wide range of scenarios. Instead of the reader being an outside observer and not being acknowledged by the characters in the story. Where some may say this eliminates any emmertion one might have in the narrative Characters within the story AND the readers are now aware of each other or at least aware of the outside world, which, i assume is the author's purpose. The reader cannot help but observe the actions and dialogue between the characters, realizing that these characters are even smaller than before, not only are they individuals living in a the large world found in the book but the are a piece of something even greater. As I stated it class I try to read new literature with and open mind, free from assumptions, and this has allowed me to discover and appreciate events and tools such as these that are made by the author. So what does it seem the characters are trying to show? I’m not completely sure yet other than what I stated before, that they are just smaller parts of even a bigger picture not confined by even the barriers that are drawn and written on the page.

Where can random thoughts get you?

Lately Ive been finding myself fascinated with plurk, for obvious reasons. Plurk, unlike anything else that I know of allows me to not only express my ideas but gain feedback and also get the thoughts and opinions of others in my class instantly.The reason why I decided to discuss this in particular is because of some thought provoking conversations I had on plurk recently, each starting on one topic and ending on another as many plurks do.

I had stated: “[kaskade ]
hadn't put too much thought into this "swine flu" thing."

....today I saw that Wallgreens was selling masks for protection against swine flu specifically."

"I don't think Ive seen a better example of a corporation trying to make a profit off of other ppl's fears."

Used as a root of discussion I soon received responses where people stated that they also had seen this and also they had seen people wearing masks as well. They also stated what they believe what the future is concerning what we have seen It is this kind of call-and-response that makes plurk so important, I am able to communicate my ideas, learn, and gain further insight. Its an ongoing process that grows as thoughts develop. Ive always been one to let my ideas expand and grow,to coexist with the thoughts and ideas of those around me and plurk provides a proper venue for such a thing. Whether or not I agree or disagree with others opinions I have still gained insight on what others are thinking.
One thing that was brought to my attention, which I have, in the past struggled with, arose in plurk, which is the separation and to coexistence of the body and soul.
I stated :
[kaskade] hopes the soul remains,even when the body does not. Does the soul need the body as it's vessel? I was instantly given other people’s opinions and thoughts such as one from cephalopod , who stated:


“according to physics, if souls exist then spirits, or souls outside of the body, are plausible because the death rate is higher than the….
…birth rate and souls would recycle themselves because there is only a set number of atoms in the universe that replenish themselves”

This was a take on the topic I had never considered before, the fact that souls take up space in the universe. This statement is one I’m still trying to dissect and completely understand. What is most fascinating to me is that this conversation stemmed from me stating: kaskade was "told if he doesn't think the show "Friends" is funny then he has no soul" As this plurk thread grows I hope to find even more questions and ideas that arise. Is our soul really who we are and can it exist without the mind and/or body? This is just an example of the questions I am now dealing with, but I have always loved questions more than answers.

Culture and Politics become one

Today in class we discussed politics vs. culture, when thinking about this I began dealing with the concepts of how they coexists together and on what level, all issues brought up in class as well. What I started thinking about was how much apart of our culture is politics and vice versa.

The thing that I find interesting is that ones political stand can also be much a part of their culture. What comes to mind is the fact that most minorities, especially African-Americans vote Democrat, now my focus isn’t on what political party they choose to align themselves with but rather the social pressures that they have to vote a certain way because of their culture. Me, being an African American have never even thought about researching or really understanding any conservative views and I feel that it has a lot to do with the fact that I have been not taught or told but at least conditioned to believe that Republicans do not represent me and/or my best interests as an African-American. Because I have never even considered conservative views I do not feel cultural pressures to vote liberal but I know other African –Americans that do. Obviously one can fathom the social repercussions that may follow among the community if it is learned that some one who is African American has voted Republican. Also consider the fact that I’m sure that there are some communities made up of mostly white upper-middle class American who vote republican and would not feel any shame in telling anyone in that community that they did so. I doubt this is not true among communities of American-Americans of the same social class, because the general standpoint among the culture is that you vote Democrat. As I stated before I know that there is an actual reason as to why most minorities don’t vote Republican and I know it does have something to do with their priorities not being in line with issues minorities have to deal with but as far as I am concerned, where my interests are in politics at all I know I speak for many minorities when I say it really is a cultural thing.

The class....The class is ALIVE

As of Friday I am more confused than ever concerning the direction our class is taking, but have never been more excited, so I suppose I am confused, but in a good way. I’ve never seen myself to be either a pessimistic person or an optimist but I rather take things as they come but I am excited to be moving towards the unknown. We are often taught to fear the unknown, but for some reason fear and anxiety are not the emotions I feel as I try to discover where we will take our class in the future and realize the true meaning behind what occurred.

I say "we" because it seems as though we have become the class, an entity, a being. This may sound strange to some but it’s a discovery I’m just now beginning to come to terms with. Personally during Friday’s class I, for the first time saw the people in the class as individuals gradually, consistently thinking, and working together to come to conclusions, conclusions not for self gratification but for the gratification of the class as a whole. With these thoughts we were able to create a learning experience and environment for both those participating and those observing(those not in the classroom but on plurk). We became the class, during this time I realized that class doesn’t have to be a specific time period at which you attend an event but rather we, the individuals can be the class. The class as a being taking in all of the same information. I am now thinking of a question I believe that was brought up in class, can one truly be another? I’m still not sure if even now I fully understand that question but in order for one to become another, a transformation must take place and perspective must be altered and changed.

One cannot doubt that a transformation took place on Friday, though I’m sure that I’m still not aware of its full extent or the impact it will have on the future, but this is where my optimism towards the unknown comes into play. I’m also sure that the experience was different for everyone. I myself have never been apart of something so powerful in the classroom and envy those who have had the opportunity to do so prior to Friday’s class where it had been through plurk or a different source. I admit, it took me a while to adapt to the changes that were occurring in class, for it was a rapid change and I am glad that I had decided to bring my laptop to class to be immediately involved in this transformation. Now I find myself trying to figure out what exactly it was that I experienced.

Was what occurred in class indeed a transfer of power or authority from the instructor to the students and/or the transfer of power from the classroom, a place perceived to be a location where learning takes place to the class where learning also lives? Perhaps it wasn’t a complete transfer but rather a sharing of responsibility. Of course I always knew that learning could come from class discussion and the input of individuals but I have always seen the instructor as the prime source of exactly that, instruction, and also the prime supplier of thought provoking material and saw the students as a secondary path to go down if need be. If we now see the class as a being of its own we were not only put into a situation where self learning from the thoughts and experiences of the class was the primary option, but it was also the only option. So was it a transfer of power that occurred? Perhaps, but a different level of responsibility was also placed on the class. That being said, the question that we have to ask ourselves is, can we now ever go back to the way things were prior to Friday’s class meeting? Can we conduct class on Monday April 20,2009 the same way we did on Wednesday April 15,2009 or Monday April 6th? If not where do we go from here and what steps do we take to keep this responsibility? Also can we and/or how do we incorporate this into our other classes for I’m sure there are individuals who are not comfortable with this style of learning because, like I stated before it is a transfer of power and responsibly, both of which can be hard to obtain and hard to let go of.

The beginning

Through class discussion, reading “ The Invention of Morel” and the selections in “Radical Alterity” ideas and concepts have flooded my mind. Jumbled thoughts in no particular order with reason but with very little rhyme. Because of this I decided to write my ideas in how they appear in my notes, random but they are things I find particularly interesting.
It often seems as though humans are slaves to habit and routine. We take comfort in conformity and often times it seems as though our entire worlds can come crashing down on us due to the slightest change in our uniform routines. We have come to the point where individuals who can adapt to changing routines are admired in not only the work place but also in life in general. Humans who constantly have to change and adapt with an ever-changing world many times fear the most seemingly insignificant changes. Why and how is it that the human race and the Western world in particular is so innovative in the ever-changing, fast-paced world of technology can be so afraid of change and embrace familiarity but fear the unknown? This has been a characteristic of mankind for thousands of years.

The question came up in class, what is the cost to us when we make things more intelligent, what do we gain what do we lose? When thinking about this, a couple of things come to my mind. I believe that the more intelligent we make computers, robots, and machines the greater the humbling affect it will have on us. Through out history we, as humans, have recognized ourselves as the dominant species on the planet especially intellectually. With future technological innovations will humans eventually have to “pass the baton” to machines that intellectually surpass us? Where will that future take us, a society that is already extremely reliant on machines and computers. We put so much love, care, and faith into inanimate, man-made objects. Where will we fit in a world where machines don’t just help us because me may need help with math equations or help us walk again due to an amputated leg, or tell us what the weather is like outside but rather perform tasks that were once believed to be unique to humans, and humans alone? But then again that seems to be where the bar is often set when it come to robots and machines, to make them more human-like than they have ever been before.

We may eventually have to compete as to which is the greater being, a question that has been so easy to answer in the past. Would the fact that we created these beings answer the question appointing us the superior being and if machines do eventually surpass us intellectually what would stop them from creating and innovating like we have, or would we want to stop them from doing so? These are questions we will soon have to ask ourselves in the years to come. There is a fine line between having machines that assist us and being completely reliant on them, a time we are steadily entering. We would like to believe that we will always be able to differentiate a machine from a living, breathing human but it seems as though we are being lead or blazing down the path to this reality. I can’t help but relate this to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, mankind’s attempt to reach heaven or be like God. Could this be a modern day tower, man’s attempt to be more God-like? Each day we get closer and closer to achieving a task that has always been unique to God, the creation of human life.