Green Architecture

I quite enjoyed class on Monday when we talked about how the architecture of a building told stories about it and of the school.

When we split into groups to discuss a certain building on campus, our small group took Regents, and we focused a lot on Green Architecture. When we were done with this, we compared Regents Hall to the science building at Oberlin.
This isn't entirely related to architecture, but the fact that we are so awed by solar panels is kind of interesting. They give off the appearance of being very earth friendly and conscientious of the environment. It actually takes a lot of energy to manufacture and maintain solar panels, and a lot of the chemicals they have to use in solar panels is very harmful.
There are a lot of energy resources that we think are sustainable, such as ethanol, that are really not so sustainable. I suppose at the time when the Oberlin building was built, they were more excited about the alternative-ness of the energy, and they might have even believed that they were greener. It is true that solar panels are better for the environment than fossil fuels, but there are much better ways to be green conscious.

While that doesn't have much to do about architecture, I thought it was interesting.

NaNoWriMo! ...And other stuff.

And, as Day 13 of NaNoWriMo draws to an end, I achieved 50,029 words. Oh yeah.
I finished less than half way through the month. And, I think I may just write a second novel, because... I'm not entirely sure.

And, the other stuff.
I guess I'm a little confused as to why we didn't discuss architecture when we discussed landscape. They go together, and most of the time, the architecture of a place reflects the landscape and values of a people inhabiting the land. I thought class discussion on Friday was very interesting when we talked about Thomas Jefferson's architecture, and what that reflected about his personality.
I like how an architect's work can really display their personality and what they value - especially in present times. If a building's architect likes conserving energy, there are a lot of tricks they can do that will optimize this. And how one modern building, such as the University of Virginia's Rotunda, reflects the history of centuries before with its similarities to the Roman Pantheon.

It's kind of late, so I just want to end by saying that I'm excited about talking more about architecture next week, and that I finished NaNoWriMo.

Harmonic Dreams.

Spring Awakening and AmCon

So, after a lot of waiting, memorizing the words to most of the songs, and parking my butt in Barnes & Noble for a day and reading the script, I finally got to see Spring Awakening. It was amazing.


The rock-musical musical is based off of a controversial German play written by Frank Wedekind in 1891. The music was done by Steven Slater and Duncan Sheik, and the Broadway Original Cast featured Lea Michelle and Jonathan Groff as the leads, who are both characters on Glee (Rachel Berry and Jesse St. James). While slightly inappropriate, the music and story conveys a very strong point - which I'll get to.
While seeing this, and even before, I was struck by how much the plot resembled what would have happened if the debate of the Textbook Wars would have gone the other way. The story is focused on teenagers who are discovering their sexuality, a subject which is extremely suppressed by all adults.
 
Their education is so incomplete on this subject that the opening song and its reprise (Mama Who Bore Me) depicts the lead female, Wendla (Michelle), followed by the rest of the girls, expressing their desire to know where babies come from. The boys aren't doing so well either with their sexual identity (The B**** of Living). Melchior (Groff) seems to be the leader of the boys, and helps another boy, Moritz... well... discover himself. Both groups struggle to express their feelings towards the opposite gender (My Junk).
As the play continues, the two lead characters, Wendla and Melchior, have sex together (I Believe, The Guilty Ones), and unknowing of the consequences, Wendla becomes pregnant. Later, she dies in an abortion attempt, done very shadily and forced by her mother (Whispering). Wendla appeals to reason, explaining how she loves Melchior and didn't know how pregnancy happened because she was never told.
Another recurring theme in Spring Awakening is the idea of questioning authority. The adults in this play are all very strict. They discourage individualism, and try to beat them back into the pack (All That's Known, Totally F*****). They're all almost the same character themselves and they're even played by the same three actors. The adults are even oppressive, leading to the sexual abuse of two characters by their fathers (The Dark I Know Well). Moritz fails an exam, and his father kicks him out of his house. When failing to get money to travel to America (And Then There Were None), he eventually commits suicide (Don't Do Sadness).

Well. That's depressing. Despite the very helplessness of the story, the characters still find hope in each other (Those You've Known). It ends on a bittersweet note with a very hopeful song (The Song of Purple Summer).


The themes of this play shows the opposite of the American ideal of Freedom of Speech. It presents an example of a society that is very distorted by the lack of this freedom. I'd also like to note that it was banned in Germany for quite a while because of its controversial material, such as the portrayal of suicide, sex, child abuse, homosexuality, and masturbation. It presents an image of the Great Textbook War Debate gone the wrong way. Though it's a very extreme case, it is still very frightening.

Here are the songs I recommend listening to - don't worry, these ones are appropriate:
Mama Who Bore Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSOsz4-J-_8
     Same song, with the reprise and video, not as great quality or performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvS3POd1YYI
All That's Known: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v9Ut1IcEqg
The Latin in the beginning is a passage from Virgil's Aeneid. This is the only video I could find with good sound quality.
The Guilty Ones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V68D-NeeJIw
Whispering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QF6qVrcpL4
Those You've Known: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj7zI8uZ1EU
The Song of Purple Summer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrw1p6OdcSs

If your okay with a few swear words, I highly recommend listening to "Totally F*****": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIx7yW9FMfw
I think it best represents the argument between the teenagers needing freedom of speech and their suppression.

Post Secret

If you've never been to PostSecret, you should someday. (http://www.postsecret.com/) It updates every Sunday.

The idea is that anyone can send in any secret on their own postcard, anonymously. Then, the world can see it. St. Olaf had a similar thing earlier this year with all of the secrets on the walls of the Boe Tunnel. Though I've never sent one in, I can imagine the experience being very freeing. Some of them are sad, some are thoughtful, some of them are cheerful, and some of them are just plain weird. I think the most meaningful thing about PostSecret is reading others secrets, and realizing that other people might be suffering and feeling the same things you are. That you are not alone.
I can barely explain how much this means to me, and this freedom is very rooted in the American Dream. It's the ultimate form of freedom of speech - the whole country will sympathize and share your feelings, even if they're anonymous.

The All American Rejects used PostSecret in their music video for "Dirty Little Secret" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPDcwjJ8pLg&ob=av3e) It shows a good variety.

That said, here are a few of my favorite secrets that I've collected over the past year or so. Click on them to make them bigger.

  

Current Word Count : 12,853. Think I'm shooting for 100,000 this year.

Stewart - Colbert Rally

This weekend, on Saturday the 30th, there was a Colbert/Stewart rally on the National Mall to restore sanity. One of the focuses of many people was against the Tea Party extremists. There was an estimated attendance of about 215,000 people. Though a lot of people went to demonstrate their political beliefs, there were also many people who claimed there was no political focus for the rally.

I have a few friends that went and said they had a lot of fun, and I just felt like sharing some of their pictures.

Two of my friends, their costumes, and their signs.

The Stage

Some other people and their signs

Also, NaNoWriMo has begun. Word count - 4015.

30 days to go.