Written, very poorly, in March of 2001… I think I must have been drunk, because this is terrible.
John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” is a short story about a farmer’s wife, Elisa, who feels trapped in her daily existence, which centers on the role of the women of her time. She lives a restricted life, lightened by one gift that gives her feel a sense of pride: her “planters hands” (289). Throughout the story, Steinbeck uses symbolism associated with the Elisa’s flower garden to show the strength and resilience that she exhibits, living in a male dominated world, and also the healing process she is experiencing. (more…)
Written around October 2001
In “The Prince,” Niccolo Machiavelli’s view of governing a state was drastically different from that of his contemporaries, the humanists, of the late 1500s. In it, Machiavelli explained how a “Prince” or ruler should be the sole authority in determining the policies of the state. These polices, he instructed, must be designed to the benefit of the ruler, but only though benefiting the state. Machiavelli strongly promoted a secular society and felt morality was not necessary but in fact often stood in the way of an effectively governed principality. Though in come cases Machiavelli’s suggestions seem harsh and immoral, one must remember that these views were derived from concern for then Italy’s unstable political condition. (more…)
Hahahah – I wrote this in November of 2000. I guess the more things change the more they stay the same.
As I write this I am downloading three different versions of “Lightening Crashes,” a song by a group called Live. One is an acoustic version, one was recorded in concert, and the last was probably ripped off their second album. By the time I have finished writing, these selected versions, along with a queue of almost a hundred other music files, will be waiting on my desktop in a special folder marked “Greg’s MP3s”. (more…)
Justin: I think short girls give better head
Justin: I’m not basing that on anything I actually know
Justin: just common sense
Steve: ?
Steve: what?!
Justin: I don’t know… seems logical
Steve: how so
Justin: they are are more appropriate height
Justin: plus, like I said, its just a hunch
Yup, with a baby buy-in of only ten bucks, we’re getting the pot up to $160 or so almost every time. Next stop, a full table!
Edgar Degas was one of the greatest artists of the impressionist movement. The movement’s beginnings are attributed to Manet, while the name “Impressionism” was derived from Claude Monet’s “Impression: Sunrise”. The movement’s leaders included Manet, Monet, Suerat, Cassat, Renoir and Degas. The artists all knew each other, spending their days talking, drinking and painting together. However, Degas did not fit nicely into the Impressionist definition. His style was not that of short dabs and dashes in an attempt to capture light. Instead he was lumped with the Impressionists because they shared the same philosophy: to move artistic expression towards modernism. Contrary to his “fellow” impressionists, Degas had never really wanted to be completely detached from the past, and his artistic challenge was always to build a link between the “old” and the “new”. Out of the group, Degas was the strangest. His contemporaries labeled him as eccentric and bizarre and made no efforts to gain any sympathy either from strangers or his critics. (more…)
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