The idea that I had was to take all of my blogs and write the title of each on the same piece of paper, and then below each name of the post, to find the major themes of the post, and take this idea, and find someway that all of the ideas connect. Admittedly, before I started working on this project, I had no idea how the posts would fit together, I had some thoughts in mind (one I remember in particular was all of the posts arranged along the outside making up a circle and on the inside all of the topics) of how this would come up, but was dedicated to it being a fluid idea, one that could adapt and change as I was working on it.

My first step was to write out the titles of all of my posts, and the major themes addressed in each. The pictures of those are below.

and

After I had finished this step is where the real brainstorming came in. I had to think of a way that could best represent what this blog represented, and how in one post I could sum it up. I started by taking all of the major themes and seeing how many of them overlapped, which turned out to be a lot. Since I saw that compared to the number of posts, the number of themes was much less, so I started thinking back to this idea of having the themes in the middle, and the posts on the outside. So I started thinking about what shape, or what configuration would best represent what was in the blog. The idea that came to me was to have all of the themes arranged in the middle lined up, and then the post titles on both sides. My resulting configuration is shown below:

What things in this represent this blog? Well it was built from the middle out. The themes are arranged from the one most referenced (personal impact) in the middle to the ones least referenced (overlapping meaning) on the outside. The posts were arranged from the middle out as well, but by date as the guiding factor. This represents how the blog was built, I started at the beginning and added posts that helped to fill out the bulk. As can be seen, this mapping is a complex systems, where there is a system of connections, and much overlapping between topics. I think this arrangement best suited my blog because the 'neatness' of the arrangement appeals to me as an engineer. I also found it very interesting that there is no post that is completely isolated from the others. Each poem can be related to all the others through the themes.

This picture represents several things. The representation was to try and convey the fork as a weapon, which we likened to a Trident. A trident also conveys a source of power: that which yields the fork, yields the power. We included the negative of the trident to express that the trident doesn't just take this form, but it is shaped from a different existing shape.

The next picture, that can be seen below, shows several things.

This picture is more a representation of our group, and the forces behind how we came up with the ideas that stood for the fork. The 4 spheres serve to represent 2 things, since our group was made of two girls and 2 guys, we had two different perspectives going into the fork ideas. The two groups of different sized spheres represent the positive and negative forces (the two genders, I won't specify which is positive and which is negative) that came together to create the ideas. The wheel contrasts the separation of the spheres, and shows the unity that our group found in collaborating on ideas that we all agree best represented the goals of our assignment.

The next two pictures show two different perspectives of one creation.

A side version:

A version that gives a bit more perspective and definition of the whole:

The pictures above show the fork as a chair, this has multiple meanings. The first, and most obvious is the literal meaning. But the representation also serves as a fork being a place for ideas to rest. I felt that this has been a valid point for me, as the semester has gone on I have found that blogging (or forking) has provided a way for me to express things that I think about, most often the things that are going on in my life currently has an effect on what I choose to blog about.

The next picture is of a computer, which represents the programming command fork().

The representation of fork() shows an arrangement of the word fork, which is a situation of fork. In programming, a function was thought of, and the best way for programmers to remember what this program did was to give it a very common name: fork(). What this command does is to represent a process that copies itself by forking or branching out.

The final picture that we have is a diagram that is easily recognizable, and it is a fork as a utensil, or a tool for eating.

We felt this last idea captured and pulled together our whole ideas' of a fork. The utensil is the most most used situation of the fork, which is why we kept and presented it last, as it is the thing that is most recognizable.

A young man, twenty eight years old, on a vessel from Tenos,
Emes arrived at this Syrian harbor
with the intention of learning the perfume trade.
But during the voyage he was taken ill. And as soon
as he disembarked, he died. His burial, the poorest,
took place here. A few hours before he died,
he whispered something about "home," about "very old parents."
But who these were nobody knew,
nor which his homeland in the vast panhellenic world.
Better so. For thus, although
he lies dead in this harbor,
his parents will always hope he is alive.

To better understand why this poem means so much to me, I need to share a little bit about my family history.

Family Origins

There is so much that I can say about my families origins, I'm going to try and keep this history to the point, and not get sidetracked too much. My family is of Greek descent. (My fellow student Henry is also of Greek descent, which may seem like quite the coincidence since we both went to high school together, and come from the same hometown, until you know more about the Greek community in Canton, Ohio. Many Greeks settled in Canton and the Greeks within Canton are a very close knit community, which also can help to describe Henry and I's great friendship, on the basis of similar cultural and family backgrounds.) The Greek side of my family is my father's side, which helps to explain why I am so close with this side of my family. My both sets of great-grandparents on my father's side of the family immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s, from what is now modern day Turkey. Now when is say this, most people think 'How can you be someone of Greek descent if you're from Turkey?' Well, up until the early 1900s, when my family moved, Greeks were spread all throughout Greece and Asia Minor. Greeks lived amongst the Turkish people in Asia Minor, until the Turkish government decided to start persecuting the Christian Greeks and either killed them or forced them to leave their homes. My family, and many of the Greek people in Canton are of Pontian descent, and originate from the Pontic Mountains on the Northern Shores of Turkey, along the Black Sea. Because of their location so far into the mainland of Turkey, and so far away from Greece, the Pontians were persecuted harshly. Many stories of my childhood were about how all the people in the villages were forced to leave their homes and everything they knew, and find a new life where ever they ended up. Many times family's were split apart, sometimes being rejoined, other times not. I heard stories of how certain family members would take all that the family owned to sell and come to America, that whoever had the best shot at finding a way to make money to save the rest of the family was given all of the items a family possessed to make that happen. One specific family that my grandmother still tells to this day, is of how her father traveled back to Greece after he had settled his family in America to find his brother, but when he went back to his old village it was completely gone, and never being able to find his brother.

When I first read the English form of this poem, I knew that it resonated with me, and had meaning. It is the story of a man from Greece that is trying to do better for himself. But bad luck falls upon the man and he becomes ill and dies, and those who he is around when he dies has no idea who his family is, or anyway to let them know what has happened. This poem represents so much more than the words that are written on the page. For me, it reminds me of the history of my family, and the history of the Greek people. It brings to mind that along with the struggle and success there was also failure.

The man comes with rich dreams to a land which is unknown to him, but to which he has journeyed for the promise of hope. His dream ends abruptly, and since he has come with nothing, he is recognized in a quick and cheap, an almost anonymous burial. But even though this man has the anonymous burial, he is being mentioned in the poem, as a representation of many people who have suffered similar fates. As the man is dying, he speaks of his family. The poem shows the futility and hardships that some people experienced when they left their homes by leaving the names and locations of his parents anonymous. Even though their son has died, the dream lives on with the parents that he has come to something better, so regardless of their knowledge of their son, they are able to go about their lives more peacefully without knowing that he is dead.

This poem was originally written in Greek, and although I am sure it is much more eloquent in the native language to someone who has a solid grasp of the Greek language, the words of this English translation are what mean the most to me. It reminds me of the pride that I have in where I have come from, but also helps to not let me forget all of the sacrifices that were made so that I can be where I am today.

"What can you say about intention when the poam melts, floats away, collapses, is carried away in its components by water, etc.?"

When I read this, several thoughts came to mind and inspired some reflection about why things are made, and their purpose behind them. I have talked in previous entries about the purpose behind writing poems, and I feel like many of these things apply to the making of poams. It depends on the intended audience, but I feel when poams (or poems) are analyzed, a great deal also matters what the intention was in making the poam. The quote above, by saying 'melts away' immediately made me think of snow men (since it is winter). What is the purpose in making a snow man? How is this a poam? Snow men are usually just made for fun, its snowing outside and what better way to enjoy it than make the likeness of a person out of snow? Another poam that has been created every year I've been at UM has been the project that is conducted in the diag every spring. I'm not sure who does it, but there are many parts that come together into many different parts of the diag, all expressing different things. But the things that are built and put together are not permanent, so what lasting impression is there when the things are taken down, or are destroyed by the harsh spring weather?

Lasting Imagery

The example of the snow man seems one that is much easier to analyze. Its made as a product of finding a way to enjoy the cold weather and the snow with other people by making a piece of art out of the snow. Most intend to make something that is unique and that people will recognize and remember. Since I've seen many snow men throughout my life (since I'm from Ohio and snow isn't something that is new to me) it takes an extraordinary snow man to stick out in my mind. My point: I've seen hundreds of snow men, but when I think of a 'snow man' the only ones that stick out to me are those that were unique, ie huge ones, really small ones, ones with distinct features.

This same idea applies to the work of art that has been in the diag. Since I have seen it for 3 years now, I have been exposed to it enough that it is not something that is new to me, and I am not particularly shocked or taken aback when i see it appear in the spring. What does stick with me are the individual aspects of it that are unique: one year a geometric design of windmills covered one open area of the diag.

Not all things are intended for a last impact. In fact, I would assume that most of our current monuments where not designed with the intention of lasting hundreds or even thousands of years. They were designed for the impact and functionality 'right now' (whenever that 'right now' may have been). The monuments and poams that have outlasted their functionality, ie the Parthenon, or Stone Henge, serve an auxiliary purpose for us by still being there. Their design was mainly functional, and lasting for as long as these things have was mainly a product of their construction and chance. Any of these things could have been torn down or destroyed by a natural act, but weren't. Some things are designed with the knowledge that they will only last a certain period of time (the snowman lasting throughout the winter, or many even just a few days), but the difference between the effect that a poam has 'right now' can be the same whether the poam is a building intended to last a certain amount of time or one that has lasted throughout the ages.

I also found interesting the quote by Claude Debussy at the bottom of the relationship between music and color and the ways that they express ideas. When I saw the name Claude Debussy I immediately knew of one of his most famous piano suites, 'Clair De Lune,' which I know means 'Light of the moon' or 'moonlight.' Was this piece that he created a way of expressing what moon light meant to him? I did some searching around and found a very interesting transient poam of Claude Debussy's 'Clair De Lune.' This work takes the piano score and visually shows the song as it progresses. There is also an interesting representation of color in the piece, which helps to remind of Debussy's quote about color, music and ideas.

Enjoy!

Before I attended the production tonight, I read the poem several times. The first time reading the poem I didn't have a good sense for what was going on, and what was being described, because the poem is longer than most I am familiar with and has a unique way of describing what is being talked about. After rereading the poem several times, I started to gain an understanding of what was being described. The poem talked of the last days of life of an individual, the things that were observed and then the journey to the afterlife, and the experiences of this person there. Many things are described in detail in the poem, of what I interpreted to be those last days on earth of the individual and the interactions with the things around that person. After just reading the poem, I can't say that I had any specific illumination, because it was hard for me to relate to the poem. The poem to me, seemed general and not specific enough, which has always been a tough concept for me to grasp. But then I attended the show.

I want to first preface what I am going to describe by saying that it is very rare for me to attend a production like Sunday Morning, whether that is due to apathy or ignorance I cannot say, but I am glad that the circumstances fell into place for me to have the opportunity to attend, because the production was wonderful. This was exemplified by the fact that when I read the poem before I attended I couldn't relate or make any connection to it, but after I saw the production I was able to better understand the groups interpretation of it. They made it more personal, it was the story of a certain person moving from life to afterlife, and his experiences before and after he was 'living.' They also added a comedic element to the poem which made it even easier for me to relate to. Seeing the poam as the man's journey and interactions his last days on earth, instead of just an individuals journey had a lot more resonance with me. When I think of the poem Sunday Morning, instead of relating to the words of the poem, I will make a much stronger connection to the poam because it was so visually appealing and took advantage to the fullest the positives of a 3D mapping. Being able to see and hear left much more of a profound impact on something I was already familiar with than the words themselves did.

The properties of a fork (both plural and possessive) seem to originate from the different situations of a fork.

More to come on this idea after next Monday's class.

Several weeks ago, right after the elections in November, I got a phone call from one of the teachers I had in high school who has Alex in his history class right now. After talking about how I was doing, and how my teacher was doing, he congratulated me on having such a great brother, and couldn't stop with the compliments about what a great person my brother was. My initial reaction was, as you can imagine, shock, although I know my brother to be a very personable individual person with anyone that is not his own family, I didn't think someone's personality alone could garner such complimentary remarks. So then my teacher explained it to me. A representative from the Stark County Board of Elections had approached my former teacher trying to find students who would be interested in working at the polls and getting paid, since the county had a shortage of poll workers. He then explained how my brother, in addition to signing up to work, had taken the idea a step further. Alex approached his Speech Team adviser (who also teaches speech class at the High School) about this as a potential fund raising opportunity for the Speech Team. The Speech Adviser told my brother that she thought it was a good idea, but that if he wanted to do it, he would need to organize it. From there, my brother made contact with the director of the Board of Elections, who gave him the okay for the idea. Then, Alex made a presentation to all of the speech classes at the high school about the idea, and got somewhere around 20 people to sign up to work at the polls, and in addition to that got each of those 20 people to donate all of the ~$100 they would make in the day to the speech team.

I didn't know what to say. I still have trouble describing what I feel about it, other than to say that this was an illuminating moment. The fact that my brother had this idea, and saw it through to completion is still amazing to me. To through this one act, that even though he is a much different person than I am, he is still able to be successful was an illumination.

History

I didn't know much about this phrase before watching a recent HBO Documentary on the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry. I knew who had said it, and that it was intended for the football team, but didn't know the context in which it was applied. One of the first things that Coach Schembechler did when he was hired as the head football coach was to put up the phrase 'Those Who Stay Will Be Champions' in the locker room. When football practice started, and the workouts were intense players started to quit, he referred to the quote he had put up in the locker room. If you know anymore about Coach Schembechler's first year as head coach, he lead the Michigan team to a huge upset victory over Ohio State, fulfilling the phrase that 'Those Who Stay Will Be Champions.' A nice write up about the phrase with an attached picture can be found here.

So how can something that was introduced 40 years ago to a football team still carry meaning today? Anytime I get on AIM or Facebook, its hard not to find someone from Michigan that has this quote in their profile or on their Facebook page. Although the quote was originally intended for the football team, it carries for so many people here at the school. It is probably the most widely used and recognized quote that I find that students can relate to at the University. For me, it also holds special meaning. When I came to the University, I really didn't know what to expect. I thought I had attended an above average high school, I knew that I was going to have to work and wasn't completely sure what to expect but was pretty sure that nothing was going to beyond my abilities. After my first round of exams, I had one of the rudest awakenings of my life. All the work that I had put into my classes to study hadn't been focused on the right things, or to the depth to which I needed to understand. By the end of the first semester, not much had changed, I had tried to change my study habits with little positive result. At the end of the first semester I was seriously considering transferring schools. When I was able to go home for Christmas break I was able to talk with my parents, with my dad giving me the strongest advice. He reminded me of what I had accomplished in high school, and how I had achieved those things. He helped me to look at the bigger picture, and helped me understand that instead of looking at my first semester as a huge setback, I should look at it as a stepping stone. He gave me his perspective on my situation, but left my decision up to me. I could transfer schools if I wanted, but I was accepted here for a reason. I obviously decided to stay and used that first semester as a challenge to myself, and to what I believed in and am now on the verge of graduating from one of the best Engineering schools in the country, with numerous job opportunities. The phrase 'Those Who Stay Will Be Champions' has certainly held a lot of weight with me, and held true for me as well. I feel like it is something that I will keep with me the rest of my life, and something that I will use to fall back on in times of conflict, whether it be with a job or whatever. This phrase carried me through my time here at school which up to this point, has been one of the biggest challenges that I've had to overcome. This is way I look at this as one of the most influential 'illuminations' for me.

An illumination is: an idea that captivates my mind, something that I never considered before or something I thought wholely impossible.

An illumination is: Something that, given the context of the situation, rises above what would normally be expected

An illumination is: A visual display that not only draws attention, but begs for additional consideration, and sticks in the mind

An illumination is: A moment where a significant realization, good or bad, but best defined by a realization that opens the door for most possibilities in the future to consider things beyond the expected

So, over the past week since the last time I was in class, I started to compile a mental list of things that I found illuminating, and will be sharing them in subsequent posts.

My first illumination that I am choosing to share came on Thanksgiving morning. I was at home in Canton, Oh, where it was a not too toasty 35 F outside, which can be a very hard environment to experience an illumination in, which makes it all the better that I did.

This Thanksgiving morning was the 11th annual Perry Rotary (Perry is the township I live in, and the high school I attended) Turkey Trot. So why would a Turkey Trot, a 5k to be exact, be illuminating? If you've ever been to a cross country race, you might know. In all my experiences of different sporting events, its the only one where everyone is cheered for, there is no negative cheering (against another team), everyone that finishes is congratulated by the spectators, and thus, my illumination.

On the cold Thursday morning, each of the roughly 1200 runners was congratulated by the group of spectators (myself being a spectator, and we were far outnumbered by the participants), from the runners sprinting to a finish after a short 16 minutes, or the slower, yet still determined joggers/walkers that started funneling in after a half hour. Each was greeted the same, with no more congratulations for the winner, and no less for the people struggling, but determined to finish. To be part of and experience such a positive event on such a cold and dreary was truly illuminating. To see a sporting event that so sharply contrasted those which we are used to was illuminating, and for anyone who has not been to a race, I suggest standing at the finish line of one at your next opportunity.

Exciting, I know.

So is this good . . . bad?

At the same time, I both a major advantage and a major disadvantage (from my point of view) to writing a poem in this form. The major advantage being that the poem is focus around one thing, the story that can be told by your same selection of words, they resonate throughout the poem, but can be used in differing ways throughout, depending on your level of creativity. The major disadvantage is directly tired to this: the poem is based around that set of words that you chose. For someone like myself, for which writing poetry can be quite a challenge, any limits or rules for the form in which the poem can appear makes the task increasingly more difficult.

Comparisons?

The one major difference for myself between the two poems is that the Fish using many different words to describe one thing, the fish. Whereas Sestina is using the rest of the words in the poem to describe those words that were chosen to repeat throughout. I feel that the mapping (form) of the Fish is a lot more free, and is able to fall together in a larger number of ways than the Sestina. The Sestina though, has the backbone of the poem that is set up before the rest of the poem has come together, providing direction for which the form will take. Both showcase a different way of mapping, using distinct styles.

I looked into his eyes
which were far larger than mine
but shallower, and yellowed,
the irises backed and packed
with tarnished tinfoil
seen through the lenses
of old scratched isinglass.

When I read and try to analyze this section of the poem, I notice that at least for myself, the emphasis of each line is at the end of the line. The poem is describing the eyes, how they're larger than the writers (mine), shallower and yellowed, with tinfoil, seen through lenses of scratched isinglass. It is interesting to note that when I read it, I don't feel there is an emphasis on the irises, even though this is what is specifically being described in the subsequent lines, because of the location of the word and how I read the poem. What I take away when I read, is that the important part of each line is built around what it is describing at the end of the line.

When I look at the corresponding lines of the poem in the reconfiguration, my understanding of this allness becomes drastically different.

Overall, the reconfiguration conveys The Fish much differently than the original poem. Its interesting to see the effect that changing the spacing can have on a poem. In the first poem it was written and presented in such a way as to emphasize certain words and objects that were being describe. With the addition of a few tabs and extra spaces, the meaning of certain parts of the poem, like the one I described above, can be completely changed.

To an average observer, it might just appear to be a short video clip with bridges building, rivers flowing and other organisms crawling around, but of course it is much more complex than that. For myself, the realization came after the initial wow factor wore off. Once I got a chance to think about what was happening as I was watching is when the biggest revelation came, and my engineering background took some of the fun out of watching everything crawl across the screen. The things that were 'crawling' and 'building' were just the result of a series of chemical reactions. When watching the video a first time, things seemed to move about with a mind of their own, each piece thinking by itself and working together to accomplish a goal. But then I was reminded of the title, and what was actually happening. My limited understanding of BioChemistry limits me somewhat, but with that basic understanding, the reason that everything is moving the way it is, and doing the things that they're doing, is all driven from the chemistry behind it.

Mapping???

The clip with an explanation of what is going on at each step can be viewed below.