ENGC 1012

Well, at first I sat in a chair looking around for something interesting, something noteworthy, something outrageous. Then I realized that Coffman is not usually the place for this. Coffman is rather the greatest mix of students and teachers and professors and workers on the entire campus. You see every type of person in every form of a stereotype possible. Some people even wear their authentic robes or clothing from their country. Then you have the hard working UDS workers on their breaks chatting up on their cell phones. Then you have the people looking at you realizing that you are totally watching them and listening in on their converstaions. Then you have the professional professors with their wheely suitcases/backpacks. The "then you have" list could go on forever. The number and amount of different kinds of people in the small area of one building is alarming. It is the definition of a melting pot. I love it. I am from a small town and minorities or opinions of any other kind than white middle class america are not extremely high in frequency. Sitting here, I am alarmed and amazed and happy. I love to be able to know that i can learn so much from all of the different people in one building. I bet that from all of the different upbringings and backgrounds and cultures and religions that i could learn a new thing from every person . Wow. I love it.

Posted by Mackenzie Collins at 12:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just like everyone else in this world, I take in many different forms of media. One of my favorite forms is television. I have always loved the television and like most girls of my age, my favorite shows to watch are sitcoms. One of these sitcoms that I watch regularly is Will and Grace. To me, I think that this show puts a positive stereotype into the gay community, or at least more positive than what the hush hush talk is between people. It shows that they have everyday problems with friends and family and divorce and even the workplace. They are ordinary people who live ordinary lives just like the rest of th population. Now, this is a positive stereotype that resounds from this show, but there are also negative ones. The flamboyantly gay Jack is well, flamboyant. Not all gay men are like this and to parade this on such a popular TV show reinforces this stereotype. When it comes to the issue of same-sex couples I am as liberal as you can be. There is nothing wrong, but the fact that many people in main stream and suburb America dont get to see this different type of love shelters them from the real thing and instead of finding ouit what it really is like, they watch shows like Will and Grace and assume that that really is what it is like. Obviously, media never portrays any group of people correctly.

Posted by Mackenzie Collins at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The suburbs are eerie. Everyone waves at each other in town and they all somehow know each other. Mom's are all driving mini vans with their what seems to be happy families. Most of the houses are the same. They all are painted earth tones and anything ununiform stands out like a sore thumb. The grass is nicely trimmed and all of the trees are the same height. No one is unique. They all wear the same clothes and kids look lost. They seem stuck.

This was my entry that i wrote about the suburbs as a city person. I am from the suburbs. I really like this entry because in a way it reflects what I think, just in an extreme way. I like my life in the suburbs and I actually like things like that fact that I know most of the people that drive by and the dogs that are on walks. I just find it interesting what i think actually defines the suburbs.

Posted by Mackenzie Collins at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I had an interesting thought today. I was thinking about the cycles of class. They say that there is a glass ceiling on the people of lower class and that they can never break the cycle of poverty. These kids born into this are born into their families and their families habits and views whether they are good or bad. They learn how people of their class and their background live. The same is with the children born into the upper class. They are born into money and a family with certain views and a certain lifestyle. The funny part is that we look down upon these kids for taking their parents money and live the way that their parents live in their large houses and pools and extravagant vacations. But who wouldn't? Up to a certain point as a teenager what are you supposed to do? You adapt a lifestyle just as your parents live because that is the way that you are raised. On the contrary, we do not look down upon the lower class as being snobby and resent them for living the lifestyle that they do. This is an odd idea and subject for me to write about because I am a huge advocate of education and the doors that it can open in childrens lives and I am part of the white upper middle class I suppose if i really look at myself but I dont consider myself to be that. I am not trying to be stereotypical in any way of any class it was simply an observation that i have made about the way that people view and resent/pity people with and without money. When really, we learn our class and lifestyle from the people around us. Why are the rich kids bad? I do not think that anyone should be treated inferiorly I am just suggesting that we all learn our own prejudices no matter what class we are in.

Posted by Mackenzie Collins at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I agree with both of these articles very much. I am an advocate of the fact that i vehemently disagree with discrimination and prejudice, yet i realize that just like everyone else in this world, i stereotype people. It is as impossible as objective news is. People use stereotypes all of the time and sometimes they are correct.

Not everytime these stereotypes are correct but sometimes they are and for our survival we sometimes need to use them. If you are alone in an alley and someone is in a shadowed corner, you should be scared and frightened by someone that hangs out in an area like that. We have these stereotypes for our survival i believe.

These stereotypes should not be needed to believe that other races are inferior in any way, but they are there for a reason in my mind. And no one can say that they do not use stereotypes because every small judgment you make about someone's style or hair color on as you cross by them in the street is a stereotype. I know that I am guilty. I use stereotypes to feel other people out and figure them out. But the use of them to judge someone as inferior is not correct and is wrong.

Posted by Mackenzie Collins at 1:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As I rode the Campus Connector to the St. Paul campus today, this whole conversation topic that we have been talking about regarding the article came into my head. I was listening to "When Angels Fall" by Melissa Etheridge on my Ipod and just watching everything go by as I ususally do on the ten minute ride. My head began to think about the fact that you can't just break down a song into the words in it. Songs and music are pieces of artwork that cannot be broken solely into the lyrics. I mean, if a painting is controversial no one says..."Yes. That bright yellow color is extremely offensive to me." For the committee to break down a song into the lyrics was not the right thing to do in my mind. Pieces of artwork cannot be broken down into their simple components in my mind because they express a feeling or thought as a whole. Everything must work and blend together in the perfect way to project the idea the artist is intending to project.

Music is such an encompassing and expressive form of art. Lyrics can be equal to poetry or just used for rhythm or anything.....the possibilities are endless.

This whole subject of different races being so angry with one another and generalizing what one person has done to an entire race or color of skin makes me disgusted. People always want others to open their eyes and minds but sometimes they need to open their own. A little hypocritical if you ask me.

I also have been thinking about how complicated things are. I mean really, while I was in class trying to put together all of the pieces of Ice T's song and the different ways to handle things and the right ways and peoples opinions not being taken into account and the art factor and the beauty of America and our freedom....sometimes our little minds just cant put it all together. And thoughts and realizations bring people back down to earth.

Sorry. this was very scattered. I had a lot of random thoughts and the whole essay form wouldn't have worked. haha.

Posted by Mackenzie Collins at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am insanely fond of this article. I have always known that writing can be liberating and a wonderful experience if it is the correct situation. But this article made me laugh out loud. This surprises me because as bad as it is, I usually skim over articles such as these for class, get the jist, take the test, and forget about them. Not with this one though.

The way that she described the idea of a first draft made writing seem like fun. I mean, who doesnt want to write down the free flow of thoughts on a subject and pretend like it actually means something? I do! The idea to let the inner child come out and write whatever you want sounds like such a fun experience. I usually don't this and do my best to write well from the beginning, but the first draft for our art essay I did exactly as she had said to do. My first draft is definitely not my best work, not even near my bad work, but it feels good to know that a professional writer feels just as much pressure when he/she looks at a blank computer screen.

The funny part is that no one has to see her first drafts! That is what she said was the best part. But two people are looking at my first draft right now and I know what they are thinking- What is she thinking? That's OK though. I don't mind. My finished results always turn out well but I just found it very ironic that she didn't have to show anyone else and we do.

Posted by Mackenzie Collins at 9:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the main things that i believe in regarding art is that it is fully open to interpretation from any person. No interpretation is wrong but everyone can have their own and be completely correct. The moment that someone tells someone that what they see in a piece of art is wrong, i believe that the heart and soul of art dies. The glorious part of art is that a painting of an apple can have a different meaning to 5 people standing before it. The artist may have an intended reason to create the piece of art, but I hope that their general reason was to plainly inspire others. I love that when i look around my room i see pictures of friends, flowers, Van Gogh's Starry Night, and hundreds of other images. They eye loves to look and interpret.
I found it very interesting in the first reading that Van Gogh once said that if he wants to accentuate how round a glass is he may make it square. For some reason that makes perfect sense to me as much of an oxymoron it is. I try not to look at art as completely serious because like i saId before, it is meant to inspire. Sometimes gut feelings about images and texts are what matters the most. Introspection into art is not wrong, I just find more inspiration and enjoyment by going with my gut feeling. I know that i will never be smart enough to actually be able to realize all of the symbolism in paintings, so i try to apply it to my own life instead.

Posted by Mackenzie Collins at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)