What do you do when you’re feeling down and out? What does anyone do in that case? Well, if you’re anything like Amanda Lotko, your answer will have something to do with music. I chose to interview Amanda because she’s the only one from all of my friends who relates to music as much as I do. She could be having the worst day ever and her favorite song will come on the radio, and she’ll go crazy from excitement. She’ll completely forget that she was just angry or upset. I’ve heard that music can change moods and calm nerves and I know that not everyone will agree to this, but Amanda knows it’s true. I asked her how she would feel if for some strange reason, all of a sudden, there was no more music to listen to. Her response was, “I’d probably be depressed all the time. You know how I sometimes have my bad days where I’m just angry for no reason? Well, those would turn in to, like, bad weeks or months or something.” Shoot, I think it would be worse for me than her, seeing how I’m her friend.
We’re both from Hamtramck, and it’s a little 2.5 square mile town with not much to do. People here drive around for fun. Yeah that does sound pretty stupid, but when you’re in a car full of people, singing along to loud music and acting like a child, it’s actually really fun. It’s times like these that show how great music can be. Amanda said, “I like when we drive up to people, stop, and start singing random songs. Not only is it fun for us, but it gives them a good laugh too, and if they were having a bad day, we just brightened it a bit.” Music doesn’t always change your mood to a better one, though. Sometime’s you’ll hear a song and it’ll remind you of an unpleasant situation. Amanda recently got out of a long term relationship and is still coping with her heartbreak. Every time she hears a love song she gets quiet and starts thinking about the past; what could have, should have, or would have happened. “Sometimes when I hear a new song, and actually pay attention to the words, I get goose bumps. I feel like I’m listening to my life story,” says Amanda. It doesn’t even have to relate to your life to give you chills. It happens to me when I hear an extremely good song.
“Music get’s me through my day, I could never get tired of it,” says Amanda. She falls asleep to music, gets ready listening to it, and even works around music. She’s a waitress at the Harbor House downtown, where they always have music playing, and on the weekends they have live bands. “Work is so much more fun when there’s a band, we get to dance,” she exclaims. When I asked her what she thinks makes a song a “good song,” she said it was the lyrics and the beat, not necessarily together. She believes a song can have a good beat but the words will be really pointless and it will still be a good song. On the other hand, the beat can be very bland but if she likes the words and can sing along to it, she considers it a good song.
Amanda also loves to write. She has a whole book of poems. She has anything from free verse lyric type of poems to two-line rhymes. Instead of keeping a journal she shares her thoughts and feelings through these poems. They’re pretty personal so I can’t give any examples but they’re amazing pieces of writing. She won’t let the public see because it’s a part of her, “something that no one else should see, unless they’re close friends.” They could definitely be published as songs though.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Sorry my digital camera is broken so the pictures I took were from my phone. [Not the best camera phone]
[left]
Amanda singing in the car. Too bad she doesn't have tinted windows cause she always looks like this!
[right]
This is her life right here. She takes this ipod EVERYWHERE she goes.
[left]
She was pretending to go through her poem book, trying to hide it.
[left]
Amanda singing in the car. Too bad she doesn't have tinted windows cause she always looks like this!
[right]
This is her life right here. She takes this ipod EVERYWHERE she goes.
[left]
She was pretending to go through her poem book, trying to hide it.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Reading response #2 [chapter five]
exercise one!
In this passage by Julie Charlip, she clearly distinguishes her views from others. She starts off by saying “Marx and Engels wrote,” and then quoting a passage of theirs, which is clearly not her own view point but that of Marx and Engels. Then she says, “if only that were true,” meaning she doesn’t agree with it. So, right away the reader knows her view point is different than that of Marx and Engels. In the second paragraph she talks about a sociology professor’s opinion on the subject. She uses signal phrases like “he said” and “his definition.” Lastly, she poses questions on the issue. In the beginning of the passage she stated that things would be more simple if what Marx and Engels wrote was true, which implies that she’s sort of confused on the matter. The questions definitely assure us that she’s not sure of the answer, and we see her view point clearly. She says what the average American or her father would “think” but she finishes off by sharing her opinion and using “I.” So, in the passage it was clear whose view point each statement was from. She used very good signals to keep the reader conscious of the view.
Exercise two!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of all sorts of music, from Rap to Country, disrespectful or praising. That’s not the sort of material I’m offended with. Certain songs are aimed towards a certain group of people and when they talk about “Bitches and Hos” it’s usually not about every woman on the planet. Joan defines these “Bitches and Hos” as, “Women who reaffirm their depiction of us on vinyl. Backstage, the road, and the ‘hood are populated with women who would do anything to be with a rapper sexually for an hour if not a night.” It’s pathetic, really, as if these women have no morals. Take, for example, R Kelly’s sex scandal with underage girls. He’s not the only one at fault here. The girls themselves should have known better then to sleep with someone only because they’re famous. They’re throwing themselves at him for what? Because he’s seen on the big screen? He’s still a perfect stranger and in cases like this it’s hard to refrain from using the term “Bitches and Hos.” Since most of the women rappers meet at concerts and tours fit this description, it’s only common sense for them to rap about it. Why? They do it simply because they don’t have the least bit of respect for these women.
This was a passage from my previous COMP class’ essay. The title of the excerpt was called, “From Fly Girls to Bitches and Hos,” which is why I used quotation marks when I used the terms. I think I did a pretty good job letting people know what the author’s perspective was because I used quotation marks and such. On the other hand, even though it’s obvious what my opinion was, I didn’t really use any signal phrases. I probably could have said “I think it’s pathetic” after I quoted the author, just to let the reader be positive that it’s my opinion. Also when I said “since most women rappers meet….” I made it seem like a fact. I could have restated that to, “I’m sure the women rappers meet …” to make it sound like my opinion.
a.) I engaged in two perspectives.
b.) I could have included perspectives of some friends I know who are getting into the music industry.
c.) I summarized others’ views by using quotation marks.
d.) I used clear voice-signaling phrases when I was quoting other view points, but not so much on my opinions.
e.) I had the options of saying “I think” or “I believe.”
f.) Either one would have been fine, I just stated my opinion as if it were obvious.
In this passage by Julie Charlip, she clearly distinguishes her views from others. She starts off by saying “Marx and Engels wrote,” and then quoting a passage of theirs, which is clearly not her own view point but that of Marx and Engels. Then she says, “if only that were true,” meaning she doesn’t agree with it. So, right away the reader knows her view point is different than that of Marx and Engels. In the second paragraph she talks about a sociology professor’s opinion on the subject. She uses signal phrases like “he said” and “his definition.” Lastly, she poses questions on the issue. In the beginning of the passage she stated that things would be more simple if what Marx and Engels wrote was true, which implies that she’s sort of confused on the matter. The questions definitely assure us that she’s not sure of the answer, and we see her view point clearly. She says what the average American or her father would “think” but she finishes off by sharing her opinion and using “I.” So, in the passage it was clear whose view point each statement was from. She used very good signals to keep the reader conscious of the view.
Exercise two!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of all sorts of music, from Rap to Country, disrespectful or praising. That’s not the sort of material I’m offended with. Certain songs are aimed towards a certain group of people and when they talk about “Bitches and Hos” it’s usually not about every woman on the planet. Joan defines these “Bitches and Hos” as, “Women who reaffirm their depiction of us on vinyl. Backstage, the road, and the ‘hood are populated with women who would do anything to be with a rapper sexually for an hour if not a night.” It’s pathetic, really, as if these women have no morals. Take, for example, R Kelly’s sex scandal with underage girls. He’s not the only one at fault here. The girls themselves should have known better then to sleep with someone only because they’re famous. They’re throwing themselves at him for what? Because he’s seen on the big screen? He’s still a perfect stranger and in cases like this it’s hard to refrain from using the term “Bitches and Hos.” Since most of the women rappers meet at concerts and tours fit this description, it’s only common sense for them to rap about it. Why? They do it simply because they don’t have the least bit of respect for these women.
This was a passage from my previous COMP class’ essay. The title of the excerpt was called, “From Fly Girls to Bitches and Hos,” which is why I used quotation marks when I used the terms. I think I did a pretty good job letting people know what the author’s perspective was because I used quotation marks and such. On the other hand, even though it’s obvious what my opinion was, I didn’t really use any signal phrases. I probably could have said “I think it’s pathetic” after I quoted the author, just to let the reader be positive that it’s my opinion. Also when I said “since most women rappers meet….” I made it seem like a fact. I could have restated that to, “I’m sure the women rappers meet …” to make it sound like my opinion.
a.) I engaged in two perspectives.
b.) I could have included perspectives of some friends I know who are getting into the music industry.
c.) I summarized others’ views by using quotation marks.
d.) I used clear voice-signaling phrases when I was quoting other view points, but not so much on my opinions.
e.) I had the options of saying “I think” or “I believe.”
f.) Either one would have been fine, I just stated my opinion as if it were obvious.
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