Vonnegut Field

I must say that I am very happy that I did not turn in my blog log today. We went on a field trip to see my project which was promptly dubbed "Vonnegut Field." I feel that this really captures the essence of not only the giant symbol mowed into it, but also the deeper meaning of what it stands for. Kurt Vonnegut lived to address the problems that faced the world. What he did with his words was more powerful than a bomb, he wrote life changing literature that would be known to influence many people and ideas. This was my first connection between the field and the symbol, the idea of spreading life changing ideas. The location of the VF was at a church, but not just any church a progressive/modern church. The philosophy was to open its doors to anyone and to spread the good word to everyone who would listen. The other major thing that we discussed in class about Vonnegut was the issue of censorship. To him to censor ideas was nothing short of education heresy and should be stopped in the world. At this church people are very against the censorship different ideas, especially within the church. I had a very nice discussion with the pastor Rev. Kerry, who also helped with senior interviews, about how censorship would actually hinder people of a faith from being able to protect themselves from being eradicated. The idea of know thy enemy is not just a battle strategy but also a sociological one. In all I feel that Kurt Vonnegut would be very proud to see his symbol in the field, and he would undoubtedly appreciate its significance in the movement forward to a better world.

This is Ryan Krattiger signing off, Ta taa for now.

Remix

This is my remix of Ali's pixton: http://Pixton.com/ic:x400fe59

Universal dog Code

http://Pixton.com/ic:08y2zkif

The superior law of all dogs. I tried to make it short and simple and this is what I got. The top three things all dogs must do and abide by to be considered dogs.

Lustful Delusions

Flowers are blooming
out in the garden,
But I am stuck here,
entrapped in a trance that cannot be broken
Staring at you makes my stomach flip
and the whole of the world seems nothing but a passing fancy
The light of your eyes are like the sun
life giving to my soul
A blink, the world dark
and the trance is broken and I am free

This poem to me really embodies the relationships that often happen in high school and middle school. There is some connection and infatuation, and then all of the sudden it is over. Unnoticed by anyone, disappearing as quickly as it came. But then of course a new relationship spring up again and again and the cycle seemingly last for ever. The idea of liberation from a love that is too good to be true is important. This is often seen in countries like Iran where  fundamentalist paint a beautiful picture of salvation, and at first it is, but as time goes on the ugly details come out. The unforeseen suffering arrives and people are dissatisfied and the illusion disappears and freedom is fought for. The cynical pattern as comes in these countries, as soon as one dynasty falls another one rises just like the other one. And so is the dilemma of a less educated society.

The Birds

For me it is difficult to find comfort with other people; I have always felt perpetually out of place in groups, even the ones that I have supposedly belonged to. It is like being a bird that is pecking for grain in a field, the bird is part of the world, but it will never find belonging on the ground because it lives in the sky. I am stuck in a world afraid of progress, but I am trying to move with time, and time is moving forward. I live with the birds, working in the world, but trying to push its limits outwards, towards something new.

Junior Year

This blog is my memoir of not only the past term in College Lit. but of all the english I have taken this past year. I must say that I have had very few teachers who have done what he has done for me. I, believe it or not, have not always been so excited about English and literature; in fact for awhile I thought it was the most worthless class ever and that being a mandatory part of the curriculum was no less than cruel and unusual punishment. But this all changed when the deadly duo of Brady and Kunkle.

I must say I had no idea what to expect when I walked into Brady's room for the first time ever, but after the first class I knew I had a future friend in him. He and I would always take to talking after class about words and grammar, I swear I probably learned more from those conversations than I did just sitting in class. Again I was no grammar wiz kid, much less any other part of writing or reading at that, but some how Mr. Brady help me to achieve my first English class "A" ever in my life. Not an "A-" a solid 95sh%. I, needless to say, was thrilled. This was the beginning of my junior year, and what a beginning it was.

The next two terms went by pretty uneventfully, unless of course you count the fifth consecutive swimming state championship. I went to my elective classes...and gym, I ate in the atrium with friends, and chilled out at the pool everyday after school. But this peace was soon to be blown away by the the guy with the thighs, in other words, Uncle Kunkle. I walked into college lit that first day and took my sear in the center of the back side of the room, I would call this seat home for the remainder of the term. If it is taken tomorrow by someone I may cry and through a fit. Anyway, back to the past. So in the class and here comes beard faced Kunkle jamin' into class. From that point on a few things would remain the same: my seat as I said before, Kunkle having music playing to set the mood for class, and all of the minds in the class room were going to be blown by absolute absurdity. I have never read so many mind bending and thought provoking novels, short stories, poems, etc in my life. Above all else I have found my favorite author to date, Kurt Vonnegut. After reading Slaughter House Five I was officially ready to take on the world; I don't know what it was, but something inside me was set in motion and the world made sense. I could talk about all of the other incredible things that have happened this past term, but the immoral censoring I would have to do to fit it into a readable blog post would be unjust. So in the worlds of an Atheist genius, "So it goes."

The Man

The man is here and  he is destroying the world...but who is the man? The man is man kind, and we are of that species. In today's society there are people pointing fingers accusing everyone else for the problems here on Earth, but the real problem with society is not due to a single person, it is due to the fact that people are standing around watching destruction of human kind. We as the people creating war and population and neglect are solely responsible to recognize our errors and work to change what is occurring.

The misconception that it is the governments fault for all of the problems that are happening around us as Americans is completely wrong. Many of us sit around and complain that our government is spending too much money on things, but then do nothing about it but elect more politicians and leave it to them to figure it out, but the truth is that the government doesn't have near the power of our capitalist economy. We as the people must form together and use our capitalist machine to rebuild our nation, we must take on the responsibility to make jobs, not ask the government to do it for us while we send call centers and factories over seas. This is a new era, people are getting lazy, but we mustn't loose the nation that we have fought so hard to keep free.

Stick it to the man, take on some responsibility.

Not Allowed

Humans are considered to be the most innovative and creative species that exist on this watery rock that we call earth, but I for one must disagree. Although my views of our species have already been more towards the negative, I must say that after reading Slaughter House Five by Vonnegut I must say that the image humans, and I, have painted defining how we live in this world with each other is heresy within itself.

One aspect that especially disgust me about people is that some of them are ignorant enough to place bans on literature that many have never read. Among these books that have been challenged and banned in recent years include Twilight, the Chocolate War, Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird, and more. In the last decade alone there have been over 100 books that have been challenged or banned. This type of outrageous ignorant behavior has been leading the way of disgust, offence, and outrage by everyone in the pursuit of knowledge and person growth. Many of these books were written with the message of kindness and love and equality at their core, but in history these values are not upheld, rather smothered under the wrath of ignorants and illiterates.

This type of oppression is equal to that of Hitler and Mussolini and other tyrants and dictators. The squandering of new ideas and disposing of basic morals that guide a person through life, upholding the values of the most prominent document in American history, the Constitution of the United States of America, which state quite plainly that people should be able to have "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..."

Lets Come Together

A movie that I really like that outlines war, although not completely, is Across the Universe. It is a movie that is centered around the Beatles anti-war songs and deals largly with Vietnam and the draft. It is about a brother and a sister who go out and make all sorts of crazy hippi friends, but when the brother is drafted things take a turn that will divide everyone. when the brother goes to the army center, he does everything he can to escape the draft, but in the end he is forced to go. While he is gone his sister goes on some wild adventures with "puff the magic dragon", but throughout the movie it cuts to scenes of him in the war. I don't want to give too much more away for those twerps who haven't watched this movie.

I am pretty sure that this is an anti-war movie because not only is it done to the music of an anti-war band, but it also puts a very negitive display of  war out to the viewer; at one point the charactors tried to burn the draft notices in protest to war. This movies main goals were definatly to bring a stong imagry to the Beatles songs and send the message of anti-war and peace to people. Some connections between Across the Universe and Slaughter House Five are the ideas of children fighting wars, non-linear naration, un-reliable naration, and a grotesk representation of war. I think both the movie producers, the Beatles, and Vonegut all agree that war is a place where adults use kids to settle there differences. For those reasons I think that Mrs. Mary O' Hare would greatly appreciate the message that this movie is sending about war, and she may even become a Beatles fan!

Metamorphosis: Nothingness

When Ryan Krattiger woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a photon. Soon after though he was no longer in bed but out the window, unable to stop but incapable to go faster while traveling at the speed of light. Within the first few moments of being awakened, he had seen most of the country that he had never known to exist, having only ever been exposed to the darkened halls of his torturous high school. Now leaving the village limits, he was beginning to come around to what was going on, "where the heck am I?!?". Alarmed by his proximity to the world Ryan had no idea what to think. Then the idea rolled itself into his mind...or what was his mind. He was a photon. But how could this be? Photons were massless particles of light, simple collections of pure energy. Wait this is amazing, pure energy; never losing, never gaining, just traveling at the speed of light from one one of the universe to the other. "But wait, what about my family? My job? My dog, oh not my dog I can't think of not having my dog!" Ryan, now exasperated in his moment of realization loses focus and suddenly plummets into the burning layers of the sun. At this point there is nothing left to say, photons are never "lost" but it seems that I have lost this photon in the vast sea of photons of the sun, never to be distinguished again. A loss of another little fragment of light, left to go infinitely through space, flying at the speed limit of the universe, never slowing never stopping, only going

Fences: Parenthood

Parents have the most dificult job in the world, they are required to bring children into the world and then instill upon them the values that will help guide their success or failure in life. Every parent has a different ideas on how to best accomplish this, sometimes they work, but more than often they fail in an even more constructive way than was intended. As it turns out in fences, Troy failed more than he succeeded, but as a result his children were better off for it.

Lyons was his first born son, and probably his biggest mistake. Troy would push Lyons to find work that wasn't satisfying to him, to through away his dreams and squander his hopes and desires. As a result of this, Lyons was able to see the kind of man he should never be, instead he was always encouraging the dreams of others and pushing them to strive for their goals. This was very evident with his interactions with Cory, who had the dream of going to college and playing football and earning a higher education. Every time Lyons saw Cory he would give that extra support and encouragement for him to go after his dreams. When he showed up in the last scene before Troy's funeral, he was still asking others about what they wanted in life, and reassuring them that they would surely be able to get what they wanted.

Cory was his second son, and his first and final child with Rose. The relationship between Cory and Troy was more prominent during the play than that of Lyons or Raynell, which allowed for a better look on the influence that Troy had on his son. The first thing that Troy failed at was establishing a work first play later attitude in Cory. Cory wanted to live more like Lyons, chasing his dream of becoming more successful than his father ever was. Troy forced Cory out of sports, out of his favor, and out of his house, but in the process Cory learned what hard work and dedication and duty could do to create a successful future. After he was kicked out of the house, he left to become a marine, and to do so he used the mentality his father helped grow inside of him. Although the mere idea of being like his father haunted him, he actually became everything that made his father good. He was hard working, determined, deontological, and demanding man that would not let another soul control his destiny. This brought him to a higher level, a place where he could now go anywhere with endless possibilities.

Troy's last child was Raynell, but not a whole lot of description or character was developed in the play. But the greatest thing that Troy did for Raynell was not even directly to her, but rather an action that had occured about 15 years before she was even born, and he would later look back and find that it was a mistake, he married Rose. The greatest blessing that he was able to give to his daughter was by giving her a mother who knew what to to for the child, someone who saw what his sons went through to get to the point where they are now, and she would be able to raise Raynell to have the values of hard work that would help her to find success.

Troy was by no means a perfect father, quite the opposite as a matter of fact, but what he did do was help bring to life three amazing children. Despite his many faults and screw-ups, Troy did what he thought was right, he taught the lessons that he  had to learn for himself. Not always in the best way, but every one of his kids learned the same lessons one way or the other.

The Abnormal State

The Outsider

Looking around

every face turns away

Looking down 

I don't belong

Feeling so different

no one to know

Feeling in darkness

for someone to hold

Finding nothing 

But gravel on the ground

Finding something

that knows my pain

Looking up

a new face appears

Looking forward

to a life long friend

The question of what is normal has become the center point on what many high schoolers have been focusing their attention. As a result many people are outcast for a multitude of reasons; whether it be a person's ability to function at a certain mental state, not too smart not to dumb, or just because they look a certain way. This kind of grouping is often referred to as clicks, but, as I know, most of the people who will be reading this blog already know this to be a fact. But the question is, what really is abnormal? Grade school kids put a lot of emphasis on how they perceive others, but the truth is this is too narrow of a window to look at the world.

As I have been going through school I have had a unique perspective on how my peers interact. I like to stay off to the side lines most of the time, looking in on what other people are doing and saying, but then at the same time I decide to jump in to see what it feels like to be in the group. People always seem to feel safer in these groups, but the truth is groups can destroy those who are not part of them...and sometimes even those in them.

"Clicking" forces some people out of groups and pulls others in. This fluctuation is the main source of difference and ultimately abnormality. When people are brought into groups, they begin to share qualities that others share, this soon makes them normal, equal, the same as the people surrounding them. In the same way this also creates difference, pulls people apart and subjects them to scrutiny by peers. This action of emotionless excommunication forces people into isolation, a place where few venture, a place where people become abnormalities in society. Although this occurs by the actions of peers at times, an individual will sometimes choose this path themselves, to avoid having to conform when others feel the need, but in the end, the act of isolation, separation, seclusion, is what makes someone abnormal.

But the thing about abnormality is that it is also about perspective as well. A person who has been shunned from one group often finds another, even if it is the group of people who have no one else to turn to, a group with nothing in common but the fact that very few others seem to share their ideals. Even though many call some strange, some more than naught call many strange. So the truth is everyone is normal, all they need to do is find someone to be normal with...and so is the state of abnormality.

Introduction to Me

This is my first blog ever and I would really like to introduce myself to the world. The number one thing that I want to share is that I really love math and science and engineering. Just the idea that things can be explained and constructed by simple ideas has always excited me. I always feel such an acomplishment when I am able to take different principles and apply them to my everyday life in an intriging way.

But even above engineering I have found a deeper passion for aviation and all things that fly, what ever they may be. Flying to me has always been that ultimate freedom that has put the rest of the world into perspective. Things that once seemed so much larger and important are now mere specs from three thousand feet up. I feel that this perspective has given me a unique point of view on the world.

On a more literature side I love to read novels and listen to music and watch movies. Of the three I would say that movies are by far my favorite type of literature. My favorite movie is impossible to pin point, but my favorite genre of movies is definitely "the struggle for social balance". I don't know why, but I am always captivated into the deeper parts of the movie where characters must over come the hurdles in themselves to conquer the hurdles of society.

One of my favorite bands is definitely AC/DC. They created some of the first heavy rock in the world, and the best part about it is they are still played on major stations on the radio today. The other band, slightly in the opposite direction, that I have found to be a great joy to listen to is Muse. They morph so many aspects of  different genres together to create and entirly unique sound that is completely their own.

So that is a little about me. I hope you have enjoyed reading my first blog as much as I have enjoyed writing.

And I should probably mention that my last name is not O'Brian, but my uncle thought it suited me well so it has become my name for him.