How I compose a piece of music

How I compose a piece of music: 1) listen to what you hear inside your head, 2) anything else isn't music, 3) find inspiration, 4) don't listen to what others say about you if it's negative, 5) find some kind of method to shield yourself from your own music if you find that you can't get that tune out of your head, 6) never lose faith in yourself, 7) listen or read what the great composers before you have done/said/experienced, 8) you are your own person/entity/unique individual, everything you write will reflect that, 9) once you've found your inspiration, the longevity of the piece will last as long as you listen to it, 11) don't give one ounce of care to whether anyone dislikes/likes/or doesn't care about your composition.

The Orchestral work.

I'm being true to what I hear inside my head.
But at the moment, I can't seem to make it go anywhere.
It just get's worse and worse as I progress.
And if I replay it from the beginning I'm already sick of it.
Especially towards the end,
Which is where it's supposed to have some kind of romantic melody.
It doesn't sound like it's coming from me.
It's coming from random pretty patterns I see on the screen with no musical depth.
Perhaps I need to sleep on it before I can come up with a memorable melody.
And maybe it needs to last shorter than twenty minutes.
I'm starting to mix up the pop music I hear on the radio.
Is that remaining true to myself?
I'm not sure,
If I borrow other melodies from other composers it's not like it hasn't been done before.
I just don't want to be reproducing exactly what I've heard before by accident.

I have to keep asking myself:
What is it saying?
What feelings am I trying to evoke?
Are there superfluous fluff I'm adding onto it?
If so, delete the notes right away.    

The American

There I sat on the chair in front of the table

Sipping my diet coke.

She was using the cash register
It was nighttime and the bar was filled with people,

I was sitting next to my dad 

We were talking about philosophy.
As soon as the waitress came over,

I was asking something but I cannot remember it now.

She looked at me

As if to say,

You can talk to me anytime you wish.
She has many men who talk with her,
And my thoughts played tricks on me,
What a mirage is to your sight.
She had a grin on her whitish face.
I tried to get closer,
But it was to no avail.
There I sat on the stool in front of the bar
My mind was cool though uncollected.
It was impossible to look
Because she was hidden behind a pillar

But I caught a glimpse.

My dad and I talked with her often,

But I found out from the cook,

She was engaged and left to Chicago.

I returned to the bar in the future,

The glimpse is fading,
I want to hear her again.

Coping

How are you coping?
What is bothering you?
What is the biggest regret you ever had?
What is the biggest happy moment you ever had?
How many boyfriends have you had?
Are you a lesbian?
Do you speak your nation's language?
Are you bi-lingual?
Do you love to read books?
Do you like my poetry?

there is something uncannily hidden from view,
None of us can make it out.
it is warmer than average in the middle of winter.
There's a glass mostly empty and a mug full of tea.
I'm too lazy to reach over and grab it.
It's just the right temperature, too.

What are your interests?
Tell me who you are in a single sentence.
Do you like big crowds?
Do you like to sing?
Where do you exercise?
What keeps you going
And interested in school?
Do you like the fact
That I love your nation's music?
Your name sounds so... Russian.
Do you think I should stick to ABAB format?

You don't think you're unknown to yourself do you?
I can't make it out whether you hate me or love me.
I'm on a computer that has a big screen.
There's a coke bottle it's half full and my wallet's on the table.
I thought somebody might steal my money
but I left and returned it was still there.

Sitting at a cafe. Thinking about the end of Time.

Where's the Marxists,
The real communists when you need them?!
Where are you fighters for worker's rights,
Fighters for unions,
Where's the fighters for women's rights?
They've all been crushed.
They're all silent.
Their dreams have become nightmares.

It's gone.
It's over.
I'm a walking automaton.

"The West"

In the 1920s, gender politics in Europe continued to change following the transitions of the 1910s. During WWI, many European women had had their traditional roles abruptly changed because it became necessary for them to work in order to provide essentials for the men who were serving in the military and for their families. For this reason, in the second decade of the century, the feminist idea that women deserve equal pay and a greater say in the realm of politics (the right to vote) had become very popular.

In the 1920’s, however, European women’s roles changed little and in some countries became more limited. While socially in the 1920s European women were looked on in art, film, fashion, as more akin to men, economically, women’s income compared to men’s was still significantly lower and in some countries (such as Nazi Germany) educational reforms were rolled back for women. This was because many traditionalists were offended by the social changes that challenged their world views, and many thus voted conservative party leaders to counteract this trend (this happened in Italy and, later, in Germany). So countries like “France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain” outlawed contraceptives (pg. 832). In the United States and Britain, however, women were able to achieve greater education and the use of contraceptives was not outlawed. Also, the new policy of Eugenics among nations confirmed or dis-confirmed the already standing dislike of persons different from one another depending on “class” and “race” factors (pg. 832). Eugenics encouraged or discouraged women from producing children.

Regardless, overall, society changed, though more slowly, in favor of women’s independence. For instance, in the 1920s European women were able to practice “family limitation” in countries (such as England and the United States), which allowed for the improvement of standards of living for women (pg. 831). One of the unique countries that was able to legalize divorce and civil marriages was Russia, after the Bolshevik revolution took place. Also, a fundamental change in women’s roles took place, solely in Russia, and that was the removal of household chores for women by providing “child care centers, laundries, and dining rooms” for working mothers (a practice common in France to this day). It was the growing awareness of women’s conditions in the sense that they were previously expected to only bear children and perform simple tasks in the home that led to these comparatively abrupt changes.

In the 1920’s in terms of the reconstruction of national politics, many European nations underwent tremendous, revolutionary change while others went to the brink of upheaval. In Russia, the Bolshevik revolution took place, which wasn’t really a Marxist revolution; it was Lenin’s belief that an authoritarian rule of the proletariat was needed because workers would otherwise be unable to fight for their own rights, as had been predicted by Karl Marx. Germany, which had undergone a civil war right after World War I, had a shaky political foundation for its Weimar Republic, and regrettably the politics of Germany gradually shifted to the extreme right. The Treaty of Versailles further weakened the Weimar Republic due to the fact that Germany had to pay reparations, which led to widespread discontent at home. This problem wasn’t addressed until 1924 by the Dawes Plan, but hyperinflation never was solved. On February 24, 1924, the Beer Hall Putsch (led by Hitler), whose sole purpose was the overthrow of the waning Weimar Republic, failed miserably (pg. 829). Unfortunately for Germany and for Europe, Hitler’s punishment was trivial, the trial was public, and the publication of his book led to further promulgation of Hitler’s view on Jews as enemies of the state and of democracy as a failed institution. In Eastern Europe, with the exception of Czechoslovakia, all the democracies that had been set up earlier had turned into authoritarian governments (pg. 825). Europe was once again sent into a state of bleak hopelessness. 

The Savannas

 A savanna is defined as a grass-land with predominantly C4 photosynthesis grass, which is slowly replacing C3 grass due to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere (Ulfstrand).  Savannas are found predominantly in four regions of the world:  Africa, Australia, Asia, and South America from largest to smallest in area.  I will follow this order in discussing the topic.   I should note that there are some savannas in the world, including the United States, that are part of lawns and golf courses, etc.  It is interesting to note that savanna in the United States is recreating the African savannas were humans originally evolved. 

The African savanna is significant to human history in addition to its seemingly simple ecosystem, because the “first, homo erectus… then later our own species, Homo sapiens…” originated and spread out from there (Ulfstrand).  As a direct result of Darwinian evolution, the Savanna was the soil in which the cultivation of the human species occurred.  Before technological advances in weaponry saw daylight (during prehistory), the climate, various predators, the coexistence of other similar primates in the hominid group must have prehistorically given form to the first primitive religions in the savanna.

In general, savannas can be found in multiple climates, and there are three types :  grass savanna, bush savanna, and woodland/forest savanna (Ulfstrand).  For instance, Australia has the largest woodland/forest savanna in the world in the tropical climate zone (Savanna).   The three types are dichotomized by their relative amount of grass to bushes and trees ratios, in obvious respects.   The world’s continents and islands has approximately 20% savannah, and the largest chunk in any continent is in Africa (wiki).   In East Africa, “’niyaka…’ is the word for bush savannah…” (Ulfstrand).  With regards to the various bush species, in the niyaka, many bushes have evolved thorns and poisons to ward off bowser species or species that consume vegetation.  And since at the lower ends of the food change, plants, (which “…are sitting prey,”) are able to regrow lost limbs and leaves and still reproduce after being heavily consumed by bowsers (Ulfstrand).  At an even lower end of the food chain, we have grass, which as aforementioned uses C4 photosynthesis primarily. 

Biologically, C4 is a more sophisticated method of photosynthesis within plants than C3, which allows for the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to oxygen.  It is interesting to note that grasses in the African savanna have evolved no defenses towards grazing, but rather, have “adapted” a means of “…regrowing bite friendly” rather than becoming chemically or physically inconsumable (Ulfstrand).  This can be explained because grasses are more “concerned” with competing plant space than grazing, which they have already adapted to.  In Africa, all three kinds of savannas can be found, and in woodland savannas, “miombo” is the word “…used when describing the specific vegetation type” of a certain type of tree species that is “…expansive…” (Ulfstrand).  Miombo can be “found in Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe” (Ulfstrand).  

The largest threat to all three savannas (that are in Africa at least) is agriculture, desertification, fires (both natural and human-made), and then bowsers.  Agriculturally, Africa, “as is well known,” has many starving mouths to feed (Ker).  The failure to feed their mouths has been because of excessive dry seasons, causing failed harvests (Ker).  Poverty is also very high (the average GNP is $700), meaning, agricultural equipment is lacking—they still use first industrial revolution tools.  So, because of this, farming isn’t as productive as it can be, and most of it is self-sustenance based anyway.   Regardless, while 71% of people who live in Africa live in rural areas, the remaining few live in cities.  And cities are increasing in size at the fastest rate in the world, which is 5.3% annually (Ker).  While this seems to have no effect on the declining savanna, it is, because with more mouths to feed, more land is needed for agricultural purposes. 

Bowsers can consist of pasture animals like cows.  In North America, the Native Americans had repeatedly burned the woodland savanna down (because of the fire resistant plants that had evolved) to clear large areas for primitive farming (wiki).  Fires have actually been used to created savannas, which were started by “pre-Columbian Native Americans” in the north east United States, Australia, New Guinea (by aboriginals), and India (wiki).  Fires aren’t detrimental to trees in the long run, but are disruptive of other species that need trees as an environment to live in.  Also, fire, which typically occurs at the beginning of a savanna’s respective dry season, is a big-time antagonist towards bushes, and is helpful towards grass (Ulfstrand). 

There are other factors to why African savannas are disappearing. Besides agricultural development and human-induced desertification (by introducing grazers that inadvertently deplete the soil’s nutrients, causing the soil to erode), climate change in general is changing the landscape.  Climatically, like the sun cycle that is every eleven years, rain also has a periodic pattern to it where it can either be excessively dry or wet, which has an ecologic impact on various species that depend on rain for survival.  This trend towards a warmer climate, as has been discussed in the classroom textbook before, is one that is causing the savannas to become more arid, causing desertification by non-human means.

Because trees are highly flammable due to their natural oils, they often die completely in a fire.  However, they have spread their seeds so completely that the now barren landscape, which was the result of the fire, is now highly nutritious for the young seeds to flourish and there is more space for trees to grow when the old ones have died.  Despite the bushes’ and tree’s seeming lack of adaptation to avoid being burnt over, they were the first vegetation to engage in chemical warfare, which is a survival mechanism for “[repelling] grazing” (Ulfstrand).  In the cells of these plants, they are able to in their “normal metabolic” processes create horribly tasting and simultaneously, poisonous substances if they are eaten (Ulfstrand).   

There are many species within the animal kingdom that exist in African savannas, such as the elephant, rhino, giraffe, African lion, termite (and their higher ups on the food chain such as aardvark, pangolins, aardwolfs, and honey badgers), ants, various species of grass, bushes, and trees, and unique birds.  Termite eating is also an African delicacy.  Unfortunately, we humans are having a detrimental effect on the count of these various species that used to live there.  For instance, elephants have declined by 80% over the last 100 years due to their desirable tusks, which make good keys for pianos or good ornaments, jewelry, etc. (Ulfstrand).  If one observes the elephant, one can write whole stories about them when observing their families, deaths of loved ones, and maybe even religion.  Though one can’t exactly verbally communicate to one, they communicate through the touching of trunks between same genders, opposite genders, older and younger (the wiser seems to guide the younger one in most adventures).  And, a cub’s mother is very protective of her children, and they always try to adhere together.  Even the death of a herd member causes emotional response, one would assume; “…they seem particularly interested in the head and tusks… I would guess they are trying to recognize the individual” (Ulfstrand).  One can only conclude that they have a concept of death, but not a graveyard (Ulfstrand).  Although hunting them is outlawed in many countries, illegal bands still get their tusks through their murder.  It is interesting to note that when an elephant makes a threat, he or she means it, and that the murder of a carnivore may result (Ulfstrand).  

There are many interesting facets of our ancestors’ former home (the African savanna), which is disappearing, and radically, our original ecosystem is being preserved to some extent as awareness of their disappearance increases (Ulfstrand).  Mostly, due to the forces of human development, African savannas, which are being replaced by agriculture, are slowly dwindling; we are effectively eliminating the “natural” animals and species that exist.  This is due to the need to feed the mouths of a growing African population, which in Africa is growing at the fastest rate in the world.  This is because of the undeveloped economies and third world status of most countries, (whereas in developed nations, people have adopted a different lifestyle, preferring a smaller family to a large one).  While numbers are painting an accurate picture of how Africa lifestyle must be like, let us not forget that they, too, want a higher standard of living and that their economies are improving especially as political entities are rising from the ashes of post-European colonialism (Ulfstrand).

Bibliography

Wikipedia. 2011. 24 Nov 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savanna>

Savannas.  2011. 24 Nov 2011 <http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/savanna.htm>

Ker, Andrew.  Farming Systems of the African Savanna: A continent in Crisis.  Ontario:

 International Development Research Centre, November 1995. 

Ulfstrand, Staffan.  Savanna Lives: Animal life and Human Evolution in Africa.  Oxford: Oxford University                               Press, 2002.

Hallucinatory poetry "Beauty"

I wish to find what makes me happy,
and I'm already isolated with my life,
So I'll play piano in a cell,
To satisfy the ear of my future audiences down the road.
And I'll forget the failed relationships.
I will create something original,
Wishing my eyes were the color of green grass.
I buy the Jasmine tea all over 'gain for what I don't have,
As an illusion I will die by natural causes.
I will care about the things most important to me,
My health, skin, and future, and other issues.
No one outside of my family cares deeply enough,
Or finds my manliness at heart desirable.

Hallucinatory poetry "Deathly tanned."

In my imagination,
I come knocking at your door.
You see me,
You slam it shut.
I knock again,
So you cry.
Though I was deathly tanned and love was real,
foreign as can be.   

Hallucinatory poetry "Dust."

Dust is like an enigma,
It settles on the Earth,
But becomes rock after epochs.

Hallucinatory poetry "The Illusion"

Studying was like an illusion,
I waited for my loved one at the Cafe,
Only to come out in despair.
I pursued schoolwork and she warned me,
To never see her again.

Hallucinatory poetry "The Reflection,"

I’m certain my mind is already made,

After hours spent in the cataclysm of hell so to speak,

I will climb from the depths of despair toward some bright ray of hope,

Though in time I've learned that all I felt was made up in my mind,

For in the end of all these steadfast, fleeting thoughts, 

What has passed was between me and you.
That infinite realm of the Universe can shed light,

Although her thoughts are more negative than positive,

I'm in a state of thought I could wait forever till your moment arrives,

Though I should have thought clearly what I was going to say,

That I should have thought about you,

Despite the conclusion we're irreplaceable.  

-Dedicated to Ariel.

"A History Question and Answer"

            In the areas of science, religion, culture and human sexuality what were some of the significant discoveries or developments?  How or in what ways did they encourage human betterment or encourage anxiety or pessimism.  In what ways do those developments still influence us?

            In science, various discoveries were made during this time period.  In medicine, it was a scientific paradigm that diseases were caused by “bad blood,” and that this could be solved by placing a leech on the body to suck the blood out (Levack 752).  Fortunately, as this didn’t solve the issue, the scientific discovery of bacteria replaced the old paradigm.  The practice of medicine changed as this knowledge (for the practitioners, in particular) of avoiding the transference of bacteria, such as washing hands, was implemented.  In geology, the belief that what is observable today can explain what happened long ago or uniformitarianism was developed by Lyell.  This replaced the Bible’s Genesis doctrine for many except fundamentalist Christians.  In biology, the creation of Darwin’s theory of evolution, which directly challenged the importance of humankind in the image of God since it would imply later by the publication of The Descent of Man that humans descended from lesser, species by the process of natural selection.  In 1895, the discovery of the X-ray, which was an accident, removed the assumption that solid matter blocks everything from the electromagnetic spectrum.  And lastly, Einstein’s theory of special relativity in 1905 was developed that said energy and mass were interchangeable by the equation E=mc2.  These scientific discoveries opened the door to more paradigm shifts in the West.

            Sociologists used rational thought in analyzing human behavior during this time period.  Sociologist Lebon’s generalization of crowd behavior and classification of non-educated workers as being more emotional than rational, led to the promulgation of his pessimistic paradigm on the unworkability of democracy.  Lebon believed that rationalism was in itself limited, like romantics before the modernist movement.    Max Weber saw bureaucracy as a positive development in the modern age, who believed in the meritocracy of the work place.  He was more positivist than Lebon.  Freud believed that there was a struggle between the unconscious and conscious mind and that the unconscious can sometimes win.  Another way to put it is that the apparent negative emotions of the unconscious are suppressed by the conscious, which in the extreme case that the unconscious wins, suicide may result (since he worked with mentally-ill patients). 

            In terms of religion, while governments had been secularized, Christian fervor remained the same in this time period except in secular activities (Levack 765).  As evidenced by the continued support for Christianization abroad and the continual support for churches in England and elsewhere, the superior religious zeal over Islam and other religions didn’t wane .  Moreover, religious tolerance wasn’t a paradigm in the West at this time.  Before the First World War, the Polish found their adherence to Roman Catholicism part of their cultural identity and they found this to be a reason for “national sovereignty” (Levack 764).  Uniformitarianism came into conflict with the doctrines of the Bible in that the world wasn’t 6,000 years old.  And Darwinists promulgated that species weren’t created by God as we see them today, but evolved over time, which came into contradiction to Christian doctrine.  Catholics at this time were coming under fire due to positivism and scientific paradigm shifts, and they implemented papal infallibility to their avail, which essentially granted them the divine right that previous monarchies had enjoyed.  Perhaps as a result of this, anticlericalism ensued throughout France, for instance, as liberals were pitted against the Catholic conservatives in heated debates (Levack 765).                

            Culturally, the modernist movement, which strayed further from the traditional forms of classicism and the individuality of romanticism, was accepted by those who believed in the progress of art.   Artists in Spain developed a new style of painting called cubism (Levack 763).  And more broadly across Europe there was an expressionist movement, which believed in the expression of the individual’s intrapersonal perspective on the environment.  There were unlike previous non-expressionists who tried to copy what they saw exactly or as close as possible to what was in the environment. Many artists existed in this time period who stuck to the forms of the past and yet were “different” than their predecessors were still accepted as being valid, like Rachmaninoff.  He wrote romantic stylized music, yet was a post-Romantic.  Social Darwinism was prevalent in the culture of the West during this time period.  It also introduced a different paradigm of human behavior.  Wrongly, social Darwinists concluded that negative as well as positive habits, such as drug addiction, would be passed down from generation to generation due to genetic inheritance, leaving little room for an alternative explanation—the choice of the individual in explanation of his or her actions (Levack 755).  Today, sociologists know that behavior is shaped by one’s environment. 

            In the West during this time period, many people had the mental condition known as homophobia or fear of the homosexual male or female.  And there are few mental illnesses that have been proven to be hereditary, and this one isn’t.  In the realm of scientific rational thought, social Darwinism didn’t take into account the other “irrational” aspect of the human mind.  Science defines the correct practice of sex as between a man and woman, which many conservatives applauded since it wasn’t in direct contradiction of church doctrine (Levack 759).  Today, fewer people are as intolerant as before, but many take a conservative stance on social conduct, believing in the contagiousness of homosexuality as akin to the spreading of Cholera by unforeseen, unscientific means.  Homosexuality, however, is now recognized by psychologists that it is by sexual preference that determines identity.  Same-sex marriage is not-allowed in many states, Iowa being one of them, though historically, it has been accepted.  Homosexuals are now being suppressed by the general will of the majority in my view.      

            In terms of pessimism, fin-de-siecle, or anticipation of the new century, fostered fears of a person’s respective society (Levack 757).  Some novels depicted society as twisted and sinister, such as, Nana and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  On the other hand, economically due to positivism, European empire powerhouses were usurping the resources of other countries, exploiting their manual labor, converting them into Christians.  In some ways this can be seen in an optimistic light, that things couldn’t be looking any better for the West, at least until World War I.       

Bibliography

Levack, Brian et al. The West: Encounters and Transformations. Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson Education, Inc., 2011. Print

"WW1"

World War I was like a pan-European revolution in the sense that new nations emerged or preexisting nations changed vehemently.  Prior to the initial outbreak of total war or revolution, there were societal changes, economic, and political that was the undercurrent to the pretext of total war.  Europe had gone through the second industrial revolution, which had improved upon various techniques of manufacture.  The manufacture of a 15-round rifle improved the odds in combat versus indigenous peoples around the world tremendously.  Because Europe had carved out Africa and parts of Asia rather easily, though Germany felt left out, economic conditions were better than ever after the agricultural depression that shed prosperity on Europe.  The Europeans defended their position as “superior whites” and subdued the African and Asian indigenous people in the name of Christianity and social Darwinism.  Little did they know that this was backwards in itself, and this mindset of oppression would carry on to their new political entities shortly after the aftermath of the revolution that was World War I. 

Like in France, where the subsequent revolutions after the first were attempted to be suppressed, Europeans in this instance formed their allies and enemies to prevent change.  In Europe at the time, politically, the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance was formed.  Thus, the timber for the flames had already been laid out when Austria decided to invade Serbia due to the assassination of their infamous King by Serbian terrorists.  The end result of this was that Russia, England, France, Italy, and later the United States and others entered the war against Germany, Austria, and the Ottomans.  The total war was not only economically feasible, it was socially acceptable. 

So, not only was World War I a massive bloodbath in trench warfare, but it shifted societies in directions they’ve never been before.  In other places, besides Russia, there were economic and societal changes that all sort of culminated in a boiling pot.  In England, women were working in necessary positions for the “war effort”, subsequently leading to Women’s suffrage there.   “Social relations” between classes had begun to relax due to the unanimity of the war effort.  In Russia, on the hand, they were lagging behind the rest of their European counterparts.  It was much like the revolution that occurred in France in that the people were in the process of removing the Tsarist monarchy, (essentially the Old Regime), and the aristocracy to transform it into a democracy.  This failed however, because of soviet Bolshevik party gained control, who tempted the Russian people with an alternative, communist model of how society should operate.  The United States, England, and France sent their forces there as the “Whites” versus the Russian “Reds,” but this failed and consequently a new issue arose, the Cold War.     

At the aftermath of World War I, Russia had already become a communist nation after seceding territory.  New nations were born as a result of this: Czechoslovakia, Iraq (in the Middle East), Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria (which were divided) and Poland.  Germany was stripped of its privileges among the ranks of European colonial powerhouses. 

The formation of the League of Nations paved the way for the creation of the United Nations, however, it did not do its job as Woodrow Wilson intended and his 14 points for a national self-determination paradigm went unheeded. 

Book analysis of "Non-violent Communication: a Language of Life"

“Non-violent Communication: a language of life” is not just a book for diplomats, or politicians, but a book for everyone who wishes to improve their well-being, behavior, and outlook on life.  NVC will be my first term that I will compare and contrast with the term, “interpersonal communication,” from the classroom textbook (Chapter 1).  The second term that I will look at is “public communication” in relation to an example of public communication that my book’s author has given (Chapter 1).  The third term that I will look at is the “horn effect” in comparison with the explanation from my book (Chapter 3).  The fourth term that is “values” with relation to Rosenberg’s values as described in his book (Chapter 2).  The fifth term that I will analyze from the text book is “perception” with an example of perception given in his book (Chapter 3).  And lastly, the sixth term that I will look at is “enculturation” in comparison with an example by Arun Ghandi given in Rosenberg’s book, “Non-violent communication: a language of life” (Chapter 4).

Non-violent communication, or NVC, is a term used widely in the book and it seems most similar to the concept of interpersonal communication offered by the classroom text book.  NVC and interpersonal communication both seem to describe communication as being culturally necessary for our day to day lives in order to be healthy emotionally, intellectually, and ethically.  Both suggest that people might die, which can be the end result of poor communication.  However, the major difference is that NVC just by what I’ve read includes a whole different outlook than just “interpersonal communication,” and is by appearance, more complicated than it looks.  NVC appears to have a four-step process that involves a lot of self-analysis.  My book starts of describing the NVC process by saying to paraphrase, we first start out with being subjectively self-aware, which has an impact on our own wellness; second, being objectively self-aware about our emotions within our environment; third, look at what creates our emotions culturally and individually; then lastly, looking at what actions we take, which can either improve or deteriorate our daily lives (pg. 6 of NVC).    

In the text book, public communication is communication given to an audience (not via EMC but via face-to-face).  In a public speech that Rosenberg gave to a large audience of Palestinian Muslim men, there was a man who was vehement against American action in Palestine (page 13-14 of NVC).   He decided to receive questions from him that were angry and pointedly anti-American.  In the end, he invited him to have food at his home for a Ramadan dinner because he ended up explaining his reason for being in Palestine.  NVC can be found in the form of public communication, so they are similar terms, and NVC tends to be primarily a human form of communication.  The fact that he let him vent his rage was a sign that they could understand each other despite being from different regions of the globe, and that culture is not a boundary but a unique difference that is to be cherished. 

The horn effect, from the text book, is what happens when we attribute a negative emotion or quality to a person we dislike.  NVC goes one step further to ask us how we should respond upon hearing a negative comment from someone we dislike or like if the tables were turned so to speak (pg. 49-50 of NVC).   There are apparently four ways in which we can respond interpersonally.  Firstly, we inwardly respond in a negative manner to a negative comment, or, we essentially blame ourselves.  This in effect prevents us from responding in the correct manner, and should be avoided, according to the principles of NVC.  Secondly, we might blame the sender of the message, or we blame others.    This, again, should be avoided, because like blaming ourselves for our actions, we in effect accept the judgment that we have received.  Thirdly, we accept our own emotions and intrapersonal thoughts and merely respond in a seemingly less menacing way.   This is better than the first two because, it accepts responsibility for our actions whether they be right or wrong.  Fourthly, we respond in a way that is sensitive to the other person, avoiding any menace altogether.   This is the best method for responding to a negative action, because it in effect takes responsibility and we get what we want because we make it clear what bothers us and we are more respectful. 

According to the textbook, value is simply a bipolar quality of there being something right or wrong with a particular idea.  While Rosenberg assumes we understand what value is in this book, he explains how to avoid “moralistic judgments” or judgments based on our own values when comparing them with someone else who appears to not share the same values.  Rosenberg coins a new term, called Life-alienating communication or LAC, which is different from NVC, in that it may cause us to behave violently toward each other and ourselves if used.   Drawing comparisons with other people in terms of achievement or physical appearance is also life-alienating as well as denying responsibility.  Value judgments on the other hand are not to be confused with moralistic judgments, because deciding what is valuable and not is a part of life, while moralistic judgments are made on people “who fail to support our value judgments” (pg. 17 of NVC).  

Interpersonal perception, according to the textbook, is a process of understanding other people and seeing what they’re like.  We give meaning to their actions.  NVC requires a lot attention to interpersonal perception, which, when given the chance to be perceptive, might be in the end a misperception.  In a case between a co-worker and a student of Rosenberg’s in Rosenberg’s book, the co-worker is infuriated with the level of teen pregnancies that are going on statistically (pg. 62-63 of NVC).  But at the end of the dialogue, she becomes less infuriated and more understanding because the student has used the principles of NVC, making the co-worker feel that the two of them weren’t “’worlds apart’” (pg. 64 of NVC).  The co-worker was in effect having a misperception about teens, and she in fact didn’t connect with relationships between young teens. 

In the classroom textbook, enculturation is the process of creating a cultural person through “learning.”  In Rosenberg’s book, he gives an example by Arun Ghandi of how he was before he became nonviolent, (or before the NVC process), when he was growing up.  He was subjucated to constant beatings by white and black men for his color in South Africa, which instilled a lust for revenge in him.  This was a part of his culture at his time, racism that is.  And so, when he was finally sent to visit his grandfather (the actual Ghandi we read about in literature), he learned how to lose that part of himself that was violent and he changed his attitude (pg. XV of NVC).  Change has to come from within ourselves in order to further the cause of peace.  And he gives plenty of examples of how things “are not enough”, such as building a huge nuclear arsenal that insinuates peace through fear, and amassing powerful armies or subjugating our workers using passive violence.        

In conclusion, NVC is a process that should be learned by everyone.  It is a process that mostly requires one to empathize by employing a simple four step process.  There are negative consequences that can appear in our lives when NVC isn’t used, when we don’t follow the examples of great people, such as Ghandi.   If we don’t go through a process of learning the NVC either through trial and error and rediscovering the processes for ourselves, there might be a huge learning curve for us in the future. 

"What is an Ecological Footprint?"

Wrote this for class, if anyone is interested in understanding what it is, read!



An ecological footprint is what I leave behind because of my existence on the Earth. It is the affect I have, or a population, has on the environment in terms of land water to dispose of their waste and to eat, transport, live, use services, and buy things. The affect I have on the environment is measured in terms of carbon waste, hectares, and number of earths I would need if everyone lived the same way I do, in order to understand how I fall in place with each other relatively speaking and to understand how to live more sustainably.

The statement, “the population problem does not lie entirely with the developing world,” is true, because in wealthy nations, despite there being a slower growth rate due to laws or other factors than in developing nations, people in 1st world countries have a much larger footprint overall, considering, we consume a lot more and live a lot more extravagantly. And countries like China already have a population problem and are almost entirely developed. So while we are living in our big homes and using our fancy technology, poorer nations, though growing at a faster rate, are leaving behind a smaller ecological footprint, relatively speaking.

Hallucinatory poetry, "Star Hatchery."

There's a former waitress who's cooked up some plans.
I'm a scientist and a lover. 

And if this were science fiction,
There's a star waiting to be born in the hatchery.
So I go after it.

I'm possibly fed up with my Queen since I go away.

With a call to the higher authorities she's sure.

But after reevaluation I've decided I'm too feeble.
I don't become the Star.
There is no justice when there's no judge to be seen,
But any attempt at success will go unrestrained, unabated.

I'm no match for the Star's strength once it's hatched,
But time will be stolen from it when it's been fully and fairly treated,
Or so she says.
On a ship I believe I can reach the Star before it's too late,
Because there will be star harvesting,
And like while you may or may not believe aborting a fetus is right or wrong,
It is my choice, in the end, because I'm paving the way for humanity.

We're arriving and we wonder how we may be warmed by the Star,
Whenever its weather changed we kept on wanting to be a star.
Though our hearts are too large to be contained and used,
They're beginning to be made of metal.
The Star's gravitational attraction catches our eyes.
We think as we come closer and judge it,
That she ran away and never came back again.

If this were science fiction,
There's a star waiting to be born in the hatchery.

Hallucinatory poetry, "Whenever we said Judge for Yourself"

Whenever we said judge for yourself,

Like there was a part of us we could make better,

And whenever we smiled and talked,
We always wanted to sound better.

So after we left the store we were gone,
'Till one day the waitresses decided, one by one,
To never see or talk to us again.

Hallucinatory poetry "Life."

Life's like a video game,

You hold weapons pointing from your breasts,

Though they're wine glasses for your customer.

And though you're in the army,

You're really actually peaceful,

In bed.

After you desired me gone,

I don't know if I'd find love again.

Hallucinatory poetry "Brightness"

Her face is bright like a light-bulb,
And she's analytical with her hands.

The definition of schizophrenia,
Is implying I'm dumb like I'm not sure whether it's real,

I'm mad, because I threw my laptop across the floor,
Like I hold on to the notes of a piano piece.
And though I'm doing my daily business
Of analyzing poetry,

When the psychiatrist hears what I have to say,
It's like my love had swallowed a bullet,

because She knew what it really meant,
Where the poem says, "..put a bullet inside his head."

But without my knowing,
She takes pills instead.