Hack! Choppety chop!

When to comes to a profession, I’ve never had employment per say but I have had my share of volunteer work and the occasional odd job. In terms of actually earning anything, the only work was during high school, where I was paid 10 dollars an hour to essentially hack a gargantuan amount of weeds. My boss was a former friend’s father, who needed able bodies to chop away the overgrown mass and set up something in the backyard that I can’t remember for the life of me. He hired me and a friend. My weapon…or tool of choice was a machete sorely in need of the grindstone. You wouldn’t think it at first, considering the dullness but it was pretty fun just hacking away at all that brush. It was frustrating though when the occasional weed just wouldn’t go down.

I was grateful for the work and the money to be sure. It was just something on the side to do, for about 3 hours every couple days. One of the perks was being able to take breaks a lot and use the refrigerator as a resource. Ultimately though, the weeds ran out and we switched gears to more detailed work. We started laying down some sort of piping that I’m not sure what was for. It was a very ephemeral  experience that seemed to end as soon as it began. Perhaps, he couldn’t pay us anymore because we certainly didn’t finish whatever do-it-yourself project he had in store. In terms of skills or lessons I learned, honestly there weren’t many. I suppose following instructions and some communication at times. For the most part, it was solitary labor. He told us to get rid of it. I would just put on some Maiden and go to town.

The Depressing Truth

No matter the time period, one thing that you can always be sure of is the growing disparity between the wealthy and poor. Diego Rivera’s mural, Frozen Assets and The Occupy Movement share a lot of similarities. Frozen Assets is composed of three distinct juxtaposed parts. At the top is the easily recognizable skyline of New York but the colors and overall atmosphere is bleak and dystopian. Moreover, numerous cranes are visible but construction seems to have halted. Countless people, who look more like nondescript shadows are crowded into a station platform. This theme continues on down, as a steel shelter makes up the middle piece of the mural. Several men, faceless and equally nondescript, resemble corpses as they sleep in mass with an ominous looking figure standing as guard.

Even today, Frozen Assets is a metaphor to the events of present day with the Occupy Movement. In the mural, the people are dwarfed by the very thing they helped create, since most the labor in industry comes from the masses but progress can’t continue without the workers, hence the “frozen” construction. This is similar to the We Are The 99% basis of the Occupy Movement, since they also make up the vast majority compared to the 1% of the wealthy and are the main cog in how society functions.

The shelter in the middle piece resembles the “shantytowns” during the Great Depression and the Occupy Movement correlates to this with the tents they set up in protest. The recent violence is akin to the Bonus Army Conflict of 1932, albeit on a smaller scale. The comparisons with the mural, Frozen Assets from 80 years ago and the present day Occupy Movement is quite telling in how society still has an ever growing gap between the rich and poor.

Soul-uplifting and Body-destroying

When something is "soul-uplifting and body-destroying", what do you interpret that as? This description is a perfect summation of my experience from seeing the band, Swans back in early March.

Now, I haven't been to many gigs but after seeing another live performance from a band that are legends in their own right back in mid January, I had the feeling that it wouldn't be topped. How wrong I was.

My inspiration comes on the rainy night of March 1^st, at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. It started out rather unspectacular, to be honest. There is always support before the headliner. Personally, I feel sorry for them because I sure wouldn't want to be the lead in for this band. After about some 30 odd minutes, they finished up and we waited. Some people I talked to who had seen Swans before their deformation were rife with anticipation and surprisingly, a bit fearful. 

Where was the band? A loud drone filled the air and the lights above circled hypnotically. This continuous drone continued to build and grow louder for about 20 minutes. Finally, a band member came out and added to the drone, it was a deep and piercing note from a steel pedal guitar. It continued like that for some time until another appeared and started playing tubular bells. A guitar came into the mix, followed by pounding drums and a thunderous bass that vibrated the ballroom. The incomparable Michael Gira then took center stage and seemed to be in a swaying trance as he began to play.  

With a massive stomp of his foot, the sound was complete. This man is in his mid fifties but displayed an intensity that no one could predict. Men half his age couldn't hope to muster this kind of control over the audience. The music was so vibratory and loud that earplugs were practically irreverent and it stayed that way for over 2 hours.

What can I say? What's my inspiration? It was life changing. Something I'll never forget.

We were a worm on the anvil and Swans was the sledgehammer.

Prewrite for Essay

I've never really been in any communities such as clubs at school or church but there is one in particular that I owe a great deal to. In the form of a private "faction", this select group focuses mainly on music. The Reaper's Immortal Faction, is geared towards Extreme Metal. (Genres like Death, Black, Doom, etc) A specific application process is required to join. One must enter favorite bands, genres, bands within those genres and opinions on other music genres. A user's app is then voted in inside the faction and later responded to. The rules have become a lot more lax as of late, due to key members being inactive or some other reason.

I really enjoy this community because of the music news and bands that are discovered and shared every day. We discuss what concerts we go to, what merchandise we've purchased recently, etc. Other activities include polls, top 10 lists and annual tournaments. Most of the members are very open minded towards other types of music. Before I joined, I was mainly into bands like Maiden, Priest and Sabbath. This community has really evolved and shaped my tastes. However, it's not just music that this faction is about. We have threads on various other topics as well. (subjectless, games, movies, etc)

Some disadvantages are being called elitists by users whose app doesn't make the cut and members changing their taste to something the faction is against but not being able to be kicked because of their seniority. Another disadvantage is since the Extreme Metal genres are for a niche group, there are not a lot of members since it's takes a unique understanding of knowledge of those genres as well as understanding for other music genres as well.

I've been in this community for over 2 years and while it's not the same as it used to be, it's the only reason I remain with it's parent website to continue being a member.

Reflections on Module I

I really surprised myself as both a student and a professional during Module I. I say that because of being the top performer in Tech class and tying for 1^st place in my elevator pitch. I just did what came naturally, which was completing all of my assignments on time. I never expected to earn such a high grade for my major tests and overall grade in Tech. I am proud of my own dedication to my work such as my note taking and staying up as late as possible/getting up early to get my work done.  I am also quite proud of earning no infractions for Module I.

I was disappointed by the procrastination that I did to complete certain assignments. I would be easily distracted, whether it was by a game, TV or something else. Because of that, I would have to stay up late or get up early or worst yet, do it on my commute over. It’s a growth area that I seek to improve for not only this next Module but life in general. 

Anywhere I Lay My Head...

I am who I am. Those are powerful words. I’m referring specifically in correspondence to the various homes that I’ve called my own. To be perfectly honest, I’ve never really felt completely at ease in any of these locations. I could add on and say that I am who I am despite the neighborhood/s I lived in. I grew up in Forest Park, Georgia in a small house at the bottom of a hill. Before I was born, I’ve been told that there was a forest next to our house and things were great. However, the trees were chopped down and the government installed a cul-de-sac where they stood. I’ll be frank, some low level people moved in and quickly showed their stance to my family and I. They were racist, mainly against my mom but that hate spread to all of us. It never got too violent but there were several incidents. We did have a very kind neighbor next to us, so it wasn’t all bad. We packed up and headed west to California when I was seven.

Next was London Street in San Francisco. After staying with my grandma for a bit, we got ourselves a place, courtesy of my uncle. This place was very trying for my family because of next door neighbors, their dog, and things between my uncle’s family and my mom. We got out to Vallejo in the early 2000s.

Springhill Garden apartment complex certainly had its share of incidents in the seven years I lived there. “Scenarios” but I leave it at that. We moved just up the hill to another complex called Avian Glen after that. Like all of them, it’s been interesting and just like all of them, started off good then got worse. There have been some sketchy “situations”, so to speak.

So that’s it. Those are my homes. I haven’t really felt connected to any of them, so they haven’t shaped me. They’re given me experiences but my family has been the main thing that matters and continues to matter. It doesn’t matter where I lay my head.

Deconstructing thoughts on the "Poverty Business"

This week's reading was very telling on how the poor are taken advantage of by companies, regardless of stature. They prey on these people's desperation and ignorance. One such instance is Vincent Humphries, who attempted to buy a “top-of-the-line” PC from a company called BlueHippo. When he realized the terms of payment, he tried to opt out but was given the run-around. Even he admitted had he been more sagacious about it, this wouldn't have happened. Of course, it's not just his fault nor is his situation unique. These companies have honed in on millions across the US.

They have literally developed a system that has categorized countless financial statistics on a person, evaluating their “vitals” so to speak. These people are targeted specifically. One company even adjusts their prices for the individual, a clever ploy to reel them in. What these people fail to realize however, is that “if something is too good to be true, it usually is.” I understand that they have run out of options and their only saving grace comes in the form of mail for a credit card or loans but they have to know their boundaries. It certainly doesn't help when said interest or loan fees are fed into a stove upon arrival. I definitely don't agree with these companies' business practices but the poor aren't helping matters.

The opportunity divide continues to widen because of this very issue. The poor obviously can't cross it given their situation and any attempt is brought down by their lack of restraint fed upon by underhanded and devious business methods. They lure them in with aesthetically pleasing logos or low prices at first but then reveal the true nature by burying them in huge interest rates and fees. These companies don't care about ethics, all they want is profit. This cycle will continue unless the poor are educated. Perhaps some kind of free or affordable government issued financial consulting or classes would alleviate matters to an extent. It goes without saying that the companies would have to be more lenient with their extravagant rates and fees.