Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
drugs
There has been a lot of talk about being drug tested to receive government assistance since Florida is now doing drug testing. Many people think that this should be done in every state.
I disagree. I feel like a random home inspection once a year would take care of the problem, as was suggested by a friend. I can see some of the pros to drug testing, but I think that the better solution would be to inspect homes, because then more truth comes to light. Most people can prep for a drug test and pass it regardless, which happens quite often in other circumstances.
What really bothers me about this whole thing is one argument for drug testing in particular. The "I have to get tested for work, so you should have to get tested to not work" line really gets me.
It is a privilege to work. Employers' have the right to expect certain things out of their employees or potential employees. The assistance that is given to citizens by their government should be there regardless.
I disagree. I feel like a random home inspection once a year would take care of the problem, as was suggested by a friend. I can see some of the pros to drug testing, but I think that the better solution would be to inspect homes, because then more truth comes to light. Most people can prep for a drug test and pass it regardless, which happens quite often in other circumstances.
What really bothers me about this whole thing is one argument for drug testing in particular. The "I have to get tested for work, so you should have to get tested to not work" line really gets me.
It is a privilege to work. Employers' have the right to expect certain things out of their employees or potential employees. The assistance that is given to citizens by their government should be there regardless.
Wings
Converation with the girl:
Nora: I can swim by myself. I can swim by myself. I have water wings.
Me: That's pretty cool, Nora. Water wings are pretty awesome.
Nora: Yeah.... But, I can't fly now.
Just making sure you all knew that water wings do not give you the ability to fly.
This post was due Friday, and now I am playing catch-up.
Nora: I can swim by myself. I can swim by myself. I have water wings.
Me: That's pretty cool, Nora. Water wings are pretty awesome.
Nora: Yeah.... But, I can't fly now.
Just making sure you all knew that water wings do not give you the ability to fly.
This post was due Friday, and now I am playing catch-up.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Counting the Beats - Robert Graves
You, love, and I,
(He whispers) you and I,
And if no more than only you and I
What care you or I ?
Counting the beats,
Counting the slow heart beats,
The bleeding to death of time in slow heart beats,
Wakeful they lie.
Cloudless day,
Night, and a cloudless day,
Yet the huge storm will burst upon their heads one day
From a bitter sky.
Where shall we be,
(She whispers) where shall we be,
When death strikes home, O where then shall we be
Who were you and I ?
Not there but here,
(He whispers) only here,
As we are, here, together, now and here,
Always you and I.
Counting the beats,
Counting the slow heart beats,
The bleeding to death of time in slow heart beats,
Wakeful they lie.
The first time I read this poem, I immediately noticed two lovers one close to death. Then I looked at the poem as an image in and of itself, and I noticed that it looks like the lines of a heart monitor, the beating of a heart displayed through words. For me, nothing could be more lovely.
Then I thought about death, about the verb "die." The Oxford English Dictionary says that to die does not only mean physical death, but that it also means "to experience a sexual orgasm. (Most common as a poetical metaphor in the late 16th and 17th cent.)" If this does depict an orgasm, then the climax must happen during the volta (turn), when the narrator states, "Yet the huge storm will burst upon their heads one day" (l. 11). And the idea of such uncertainty occurring at that moment is quite intriguing, from a poetical standpoint.
There is a sort of vague hopelessness inherent in this very intimate scene. The narrator knows that the future will not be good, that like all relationships things must eventually end, for one reason or another. Even though the woman has questions, she is resolved to let them lie, wakeful but silent, as she and her lover lie in the last line of the poem.
Is this piece about the death of a relationship or the death of an individual in the near future? Have they just made love? Is someone being less than honest? Those are all things for the reader to interpret.
(He whispers) you and I,
And if no more than only you and I
What care you or I ?
Counting the beats,
Counting the slow heart beats,
The bleeding to death of time in slow heart beats,
Wakeful they lie.
Cloudless day,
Night, and a cloudless day,
Yet the huge storm will burst upon their heads one day
From a bitter sky.
Where shall we be,
(She whispers) where shall we be,
When death strikes home, O where then shall we be
Who were you and I ?
Not there but here,
(He whispers) only here,
As we are, here, together, now and here,
Always you and I.
Counting the beats,
Counting the slow heart beats,
The bleeding to death of time in slow heart beats,
Wakeful they lie.
The first time I read this poem, I immediately noticed two lovers one close to death. Then I looked at the poem as an image in and of itself, and I noticed that it looks like the lines of a heart monitor, the beating of a heart displayed through words. For me, nothing could be more lovely.
Then I thought about death, about the verb "die." The Oxford English Dictionary says that to die does not only mean physical death, but that it also means "to experience a sexual orgasm. (Most common as a poetical metaphor in the late 16th and 17th cent.)" If this does depict an orgasm, then the climax must happen during the volta (turn), when the narrator states, "Yet the huge storm will burst upon their heads one day" (l. 11). And the idea of such uncertainty occurring at that moment is quite intriguing, from a poetical standpoint.
There is a sort of vague hopelessness inherent in this very intimate scene. The narrator knows that the future will not be good, that like all relationships things must eventually end, for one reason or another. Even though the woman has questions, she is resolved to let them lie, wakeful but silent, as she and her lover lie in the last line of the poem.
Is this piece about the death of a relationship or the death of an individual in the near future? Have they just made love? Is someone being less than honest? Those are all things for the reader to interpret.
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