Beauty in Silence

Remember when I went on about the beautiful simplicity of 1950's films and when I gushed about my tiny obsession with West Side Story? Well, this weekend I was diving into my Spanish studies so I thought WSS in Spanish was a perfect way to relax. Being so intent on comprehending the foreign language, the moments of silence are starkly evident throughout the film. They say that 85% of all communication is non-verbal, but the wonderful part about that is that it leaves room for a myriad of interpretations. I've seen the film hundreds of times, literally, and yesterday new thoughts and ideas about it's concepts and pieces expanded within all the moments of silence. Like the silence that separates the Jets from outside sources--for most of those boys, their gang really was all they had. It kept them safe, protected from the hurt and disappointment of the world- minus some bruises and bloody noses. And it reminds the viewer why they pull together after Riff dies. Silence can protect and insulate, but it can also alienate and isolate. It's a powerful tool we need to be mindful of wielding.

Silence sometimes can say more than all the dictionaries in the world and other times it allows us the time to find the right words. And when all the words, in all the languages, fail us, silence just lets us feel.

In the view of the galaxy above, for each of the million points of light from stars or planets, there are probably another billion points of darkness (at least to our human eyes). Not of emptiness or dead space, just unknown or unable to be seen by our frail eyes and sometimes even by our advanced technology. Just maybe the most beautiful complex galaxy yet to be discovered lies within the "empty" space we so casually dismiss at times. And for all the explosions, collisions, black holes, meteor showers, etc- for all the sound out there..... there is also a measure of silence.

In our lives, our daily conversations, in our relationships, silence has it's place. Not as an obstacle of communication or as a punishment for perceived wrongs. We each need our silence, our quiet time, our secrets. Because what we think about and not say, what we hold close instead of spilling out says just as much about us as does all the blabbing. And as I'm sure many of you know, I could keep writing on the topic, but I'm embracing the silence.

Carl Bloch, Conference, and Congrats!

It will come as no surprise to those who know me when I say that I am not artistically gifted. I have many talents, but art is not one of them so I love LOVE studying those you are artistically inclined. Sometimes I study certain artists or art movements, but I tend to frequent the BYU Museum of Art exhibits whenever possible. In fact, last year I shared my favorite painting from there in this post. This year at the museum a special exhibit is showcasing the work of Carl Bloch (1834-1890), a religious painter, including 5 large alter pieces and numerous smaller works. I went with some friends this last week and spent almost two hours studying and learning about these masterpieces. Many of his works are familiar in to Christianity such as:I especially love this second one entitled, Christ Healing the Sick At Bethesda. I learned some of the meanings within the painting, such as the man in the red cap sitting between the waters of men and the Living Water of Christ looking back as if decided which to trust. And the man almost hidden behind Christ who has no legs, but has his hands in his shoes in an attempt to pull himself to the water. Are we willing to work that hard for what we really want? I know I want to. To see more of Carl Bloch's works or to see the exhibit, check out the website.

Also, this weekend was one of my favorites of the year as it was our annual conference weekend in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For two days, in five different sessions, our beloved prophet and apostles (the leaders of our church) speak to the worldwide membership about the challenges we face and the principles and practices we should improve upon. To learn more about this conference and to listen to various talks check out this site. This talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, one of my favorite apostles, is an excellent talk.

Finally, I want to extend some congratulations. First to myself: My first volume of poetry is now available at Barnes and Noble website entitled Journeys of the Soul. The first volume deals mostly with achieving dreams, inspiration, and believing in yourself. The second volume will be coming shortly dealing more with loss and hardship. All poems are available individually as well! Yeah!

But mostly, I want to send out congrats to my best friend, Emilee, on her recent engagement to the her perfect man, Hunter. I was able to meet him for the first time this weekend and spend time with her for the first time since Christmas (since she lives in AZ)!!! Best 4 hours I've had in a long long time. Back to Emilee. Sweet, loving, intelligent, funny, and a fantastic listener, she deserves the best. I had feared that upon her engagement I would be sad, mourning the loss of my best friend to that wonderful institution of marriage. But instead, upon hearing the news I was overwhelmingly overjoyed for her!!! They have set the date as July 8th and I will be going down for it--I'm already counting down. Congrats Emilee!

Operation Amazon Warrior

I am a strong woman. No apologies for that. Recently, a friend on mine recommended a book, The List, that gave me an idea. In the book, the woman makes a list of things to do before she gets married to prevent herself from marrying too young and (in her mind) not living her own life. That's not my worry. My list is to keep me preoccupied from being lonely and it has already proven to be interesting.( And this is separate from my overall bucket list) So here it is.

- Live alone in an apartment/house
- Learn how to change a tire and basic car maintenance
- Own my own tool set
- Have a dog
- Learn how to make sushi
- Run a marathon
- Learn basic figure skating tricks
- Learn “ I love you” in 50 languages (working on it)
- Learn to play the piano fluently
- Go skydiving
- Go bungee jumping
- Visit the Seven Wonders of the World
- Visit Disney World
- Have my own garden
- Publish my book (almost there)
- Make my own quilts- jean quilt
- Read my classics list
- Watch classic and international films list (quite fascinating)
- Buy a great piece of art
- Invest in the stock market
- Watch the sunset on every coast in each country I visit
- See a Broadway play
- Attend a Yankees game
- Attend a Superbowl (incredibly difficult)
- Climb a volcano- Paricutin
- Ride a gondola in Venice

Wish me luck!

Books Books Books!

Call me an oddity among students, but I LOVE buying my new (and used) books for each semester. Except for the price, but this is not a rant about the budget of a college student.

I moseyed through each aisle reverently taking in all the textbooks, novels, and packets, gradually filling my basket with treasures. For my British Literature class: Emma by Jane Austen, Adam Bede by George Eliot, and The Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol. 2. Three beautiful books full of exquisite writing, some tears and heartache, some laughs and even more smiles. Stories of small farm towns and bustling cities, carpenters and scientists. Women and men, poems, short stories, and novels. I'm already excited for this class.

For my Statistics 121 class: The Basic Principles of Statistics, the Stats Portal CD, and the Lecture Notes all bound for me already. I'm a little nervous about this class since I haven't had math in several years. I'm okay at math- I mean, I went all the way through Calculus. But I enjoy a challenge and I'm going to work my tail off in the class.

For my New Testament class: A working blank copy of the Bible, a student packet and this beautiful book called The Four Gospels: Verse by Verse. I already know that I don't want to sell back that last book. Throughout my BYU career I've tried to have a religion class every semester and I'm finally getting to the New Testament. Plus I have Dr. Ogden!!! I have a love for the New Testament already and can't wait to gain new insights.

For my Biology of Plants: a solitary textbook titled "Biology of Plants" with a Van Gogh painting called "Peach Blossoms in the Crau" gracing the covers. I fell in love with this book right away with its slightly worn pages and scientific diagrams as well as it's obvious deference to nature and the beauty of plants. If this person were a book, he would be a gardener with acres of land filled w ith orchards and gardens with dozens of varieties of plants and even with some plants of his own creation. We are going to be friends- I can tell.

For my Insight Magazine staff class there are no books besides the magazine issues we critique and edit. I'm continuing on the staff from last semester and just adore this class. Sister Earl is one of my all tim favorite professors (I had her for Greats Works of Literature of WWI my freshmen year)! Plus the staff is amazing, the writing is varied and fascinating, and the creative design new and challenging. This semester we will be working hard to get the magazine to print and putting it on the web for the first time ever!

For my Islam in Contemporary Society class: No textbooks have been listed yet, but I already have my Qur'an from last year. While I'm no longer minoring in Middle Eastern Studies, I am fascinated by the Islamic religion, the Muslim culture, and their role in the world today. As a child of the 9/11 generation, 9/11 being what Kennedy's assasination was to my grandparents, I learned that the world is so much more than my American and Mormon beliefs. Rather the world is fun of distinct viewpoints and diverse cultures and I cannot call myself educated, not to mention considerate, if I do not learn about the 6 billion others I share this planet with.

That seems enough, right? Well, I was browsing the discontinued textbook shelves in hopes of finding more fascinating treasures. And I selected three books/packets that I will study independently this semester/rest of my life. They are: Human Physiology Powerpoints ( a class packet that will help to prepare me when I take that class shortly.), The Student Atlas of World Politics which I got for $2 ( a must have reference book with maps of everything from GDP to literacy rates and dependence on trade!), and finally, drum roll please, Art History in two volumes covering art from the 14th century to the 21st century. My good friend Kelly is an expert at Art and Art History and has interested me enough that I want to broaden my horizons and learn to appreciate and objectively look at art work.

Plus this semester, since learning more about OpenCourseWare and all the schools that offer classes online I am going to look up other university's versions of the classes I'm taking. Does MIT offer a Stats class that could help me? Does John Hopkins have their Biology of Plants class online? Will I find a podcast about Islam in contemporary society from Berkley? I will keep exploring how I can supplement my education...

While I read my glorious new pile of books!

Iconic Propaganda

Though I am saddened that in my Digital Civ class we have glossed over World War II (my specialty), I am sure that I will revisit the topic in the future, especially with my new book.

As we have started to read and discuss the Atomic Age, I've been drawn to the media and images associated with this age. At this time, images become iconic, sending messages separate from the words.

What do you think of when you see these images?

So many images today are associated in our minds with other ideologies and feelings. The Statue of Liberty, a national flag, Marilyn Monroe, protestors, Jane Goodall, Eiffel Tower, and many other images. Are they important because we say they are, or are they important regardless of our personal opinions?

Mr. Bowditch and Sketchup

So for my mini-book club I read Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham. Though considered a children's book, it masterfully turns a mathematical genius into an understandable guy. And it gave wonderful insight on the history and emotions of the time period. After some discussion in my group about what book to choose, we were deciding between books on the Great Works list, a book that we wanted to learn from and then be able to share, and one that wouldn't overwhelm us in the week allotted to read it. Hence our choice, thanks to Maggie's suggestions. You can check out my group's presentations if you'd like more in-depth on the novel with Kevin's Prezi, Maggie's book review, Brian's post, and Megan's posts.

In deciding what to do for this project, I wanted to try something challenging and something I'd never attempted before. Hence I stumbled upon Google SketchUp, the ultimate (at least for me) 3D modeling program. On the Google homepage, click on more then go to even more. You will find SketchUp under a list of tools/programs. Then you can download a free version and watch numerous tutorial videos on all the finer points. The basic premise of the program is to draw shapes and then pull them up into 3D. Originally designed for interior designers, architects, and engineers, it is fairly simple to use. You can create basic sketches of buildings and to get the "general idea" of something. Or you can make elaborate crazy designs. Click here to check out their amazing gallery. I set out to build a ship, not by divine command, but by my our initiative. I was able to find a preexisting model and work off of that. The only problem now is that as I try to upload the image of what I did, other formats are not meant for 3D or the .skp format. So I used previous tools such as screencast to capture an image of what I did.


Ta-da! Not the best image quality compared to the amazing 3D work within the program. Additionally I uses many of the descriptions from the book to try and make it accurate.
Go try it!

Mona Lisa Smile and Romanticism

In my Digital Civilization class we have moved onto the Romanticist movement. A movement focused on the experience of nature, on emotion over reason, imagination, art as a divine outlet, rejection of form, importance of self, and the sympathy for the common man. Whew, now that the bulky definition is out of the way, what is it really? Romanticism was that generation's way of interpreting and understanding the world around them as they built off the Enlightenment.

As we discussed Romanticism and hackers today in class, I was reminded of the movie, Mona Lisa Smile. It is the story of an art teacher, Katherine Watson, who goes to teach at a conservative girls college in the 1950's. It is years after the Romantic movement, but you can still see the ideology. The following video has three clips from the movie, all of which are wonderful. The third one (starts at 5:14), however, is the one that I thought of in class today. Ms. Watson is discussing Van Gogh and paint-by-numbers.



Near the end of the movie, she walks into her office only to find a paint-by-numbers painting by each of her students. This is their way of saying that they are unique individuals though they choose to live within the lines. They are "hacking" Van Gogh", but discovering themselves.

Do we not do this today? Take what came before and interpret it based on our bias and understanding? Then we take that interpretation and try to create something new.

Triplus, Number Three

This is one of my favorite paintings that I've found in the BYU Museum of Art. Though much richer in person, the red and white cloth and the three different shaped bowls as well as the contents of those bowls, holds me captivated every time I see it. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Ripples...

Tuesday in class, Dr. Burton and Dr. Zappala mentioned that they were concerned that we weren't bringing in enough outside reading/research. I couldn't even comment because I was so shocked- I'm spending between two and three hours a day for this class between researching history, technology and other blogs. However, I can't post about everything else I'm viewing and finding or else I would be posting novel length posts four times a day. And if I try to cram all my sources and ideas into a short post it sounds like a list of sources without analysis. So I wanted to take a moment to introduce some things I've been doing outside of class but in relation to the Digital Civilization course.

John Milton has always fascinated me. Maybe it's because he was a forerunner for many of our commonly held notions today. So, several weeks ago when I noticed he was coming up, I decided it was a good time for me to read the famous Paradise Lost (yes, in actual paper form). The past two weeks have been interesting as I've fought with Milton. Can we empathize with Satan? Is that allowed? Yet, I agree with the idea that Satan was an essential part of the plan, enabling the fall and allowing the atonement. In reading Paradise Lost, I discovered Milton wrote an-almost-sequel, Paradise Regained, which is a much shorter poem about when Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness. To me, these epic poems reflected the climate of the Reformation; it was a time of rethinking traditional doctrines and practices, a time to think for yourself outside the Catholic Church, yet still reflecting and emulating the classics.

Another tangent I've explored a bit is that of the evolution of art. When talking about metadata, data, and the printing press, the idea came up that with format change there is often a cultural change. So I pondered about the change of artistic mediums and formats from oil, charcoal, pastel, ink, pencil, to photographs, clip art, and abstract art. In the Museum of Art, there is currently an exhibit of the First 100 years of Art at BYU. I walked through and couldn't help but see the sections of development. At times, a person or thing is the focal point. Other

times, the style and format is what the artist emphasizes. Now I'm not an artist by any means, but I wonder how technology has revolutionized art? One hundred years ago, a photograph was just that, not a work of art or skill. Now photographs document our lives instead of portraits. We've taken sketches and turned them into cartoons and animation. Recently, several modern/abstract exhibits have been shown. Pipes, a board full of duck sauce packets, foam peanuts, are now all considered art. And our culture has changed along with it. Fascinating.