The arts have changed my life. They shape the way I think , speak, and live. Here are the top four reasons I’m thankful for them this year:
1.) They force me to try things I never thought I would try.
Growing up, I never dreamed that I would be able to live and study in cities across the country and the world. From Los Angeles to Chicago to New York, I have gotten to explore so many new places. The people I’ve met, the food I’ve tried, the experiences I’ve had surely would not have happened if I wasn’t dancing.
2.) I am constantly discovering new things about myself.
The arts constantly push me to be the best version of myself. I am constantly striving to be better than I already am, and in doing so, have discovered that I am capable of so much more than I ever imagined.
3.) They’ve taught me the value of patience and hard work.
Improvement doesn’t happen over night. Practice feels tedious after a while, and it’s easy to get frustrated when you feel like you’re not making any progress. I’ve had to learn that hard work takes time, and patience will help you reap those benefits.
4.) They’ve made me into the person I am today.
The arts inform everything about me: the way I dress, the way I speak, the way I think. I would not be the best version of myself without them in my life.
Celebrating the American Experience With the Symphony Band
Last night, people of all ages flocked to Hill Auditorium to watch the symphony band perform. My best friend and I made an event out of this, dressing in our finest clothes, calling a chauffeur (uber) to the venue, and dining like royalty beforehand. The show began with mezzo-soprano vocalist Joan Morris. She sang four songs to the audience, though her delivery accentuated them to be more than just songs, but stories rather. I call them stories because she wasn’t merely singing the words. With her confidence and animated character, she brought the words to life in a such a way that enveloped you in the sound. She owned the stage by fully immersing herself in the stories, throwing her arms and reacting with facial expressions to the drama within each story. This kind of confidence takes the wall down between the performer and the audience because you forget it’s a performance. There are no nerves in the way, or segregation. Instead, everyone in all of Hill Auditorium was level. Because we were all level, we could all see the same long black jacket and broad black hat that she described in the song of Black Max, for example. Following her, we heard a some incredible pieces. Like Morris, every musician embodied a character on stage. The clarenetists and the flutists had a timeless presence. Maybe it was the first chairman’s jet black hair and rounded classes, or maybe it was the bob haircut. While still maintaining focus and performance, the two bass cellists loosening up the atmosphere with their goofy back and forth with each other. I wonder how someone gets involved with such large, obscure instruments, and furthermore, what it’s like to be somewhat separated from the larger body of musicians. It seemed though that they were closer. The show closed with a song for the seven band members whose last performance was that night. Leonard Bernstein’s composition, his story, called “Make Our Garden Grow”, captured the sense of leaving from one place with a hopeful leap to the next.
Shout out to the conductor Michael Haithcock…the show was spectacular!
Stay tuned for the concert band performing at Hill on December 6th at 8:00pm.
DIY Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is the middle holiday between Halloween and Christmas, that most people choose to skip celebrating besides take the day off and eat food. As soon as Halloween is over people start decorating for christmas and wishing for snow. Most don’t go all out on decorating the house for Thanksgiving, but they do put a lot of effort into making the food. This year, instead of having no decorations when family comes over for Thanksgiving, decorate the house with fun last minute Thanksgiving decor.
An easy way to decorate for Thanksgiving is to just re-use your Halloween decorations. The best way to do this is to repurpose pumpkins. You can just keep mini pumpkins and gourds around the house and kitchen area as decor. The only pumpkins that won’t work for Thanksgiving is jack-o-lanterns. You can also take a pumpkin and gut it, then put flowers and other other decorations in the top of the pumpkins to create a centerpiece for your dinner table(pictured up top). You could also paint the pumpkins or paint some festive words on the pumpkin to create a more festive Thanksgiving environment.
A good craft that most people know about and children do in school is a
turkey made from a hand. Either by putting paint on your hand or by tracing it on a piece of paper and cutting it out, which makes the turkey’s body. Then, you cut out feathers from construction paper and staple or glue them to the hand/turkey body. There are other turkey crafts as well. You can make a turkey windsocks out of a can, paint, googly eyes, and streamers. You paint the can brown, and glue the eyes on. Then the last step is to glue long strings of confetti that hang downfrom the can. This also a nice decoration because you can put it outside so that others see your Thanksgiving decorations and get inspired. Another turkey craft that is fun and easy is a rock turkey. All you need is rock, feathers, and construction paper. There is two easy steps to make this: first you choose which side of the rock to be the front, and second you just glue the feathers on the back to stick up and the eyes and nose construction paper pieces on the front.
An easy way to decorate for Thanksgiving is to just decorate the house for the fall season. This is much easier because there are many options to decorate for fall, and many of the crafts only require leaves, which are very easy to require. One easy craft is to modge podge some leaves to a mason jar and put some candles in it to put on the table or throughout the kitchen and living room. Another easy leaf craft is to glue some leaves to a wreath made from twigs that you can put on any door throughout your house.
You can now take your Halloween decorations down and put up these new, fun, and easy decorations for Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving!
Favorite Places to Study on Campus?
Which campus do you like to study at most? North Campus? Central Campus? Or do you not stay on campus to study? Either way, as exam season is here right before and after Thanksgiving Break, Let me suggest five great, non-obvious places to study!
Arts and Architecture building (North Campus): there are computer labs, if you are in need of using a computer other than your laptop, there’s regularly a cafe cart where student groups sell hot chocolate, coffee, juice, and bagels if you want food as you study, and there are tables situated on the second floor, and some on the first (ground) floor as well! You can enjoy the scenery as you work here, and it’s usually never dead quiet (unless if you are here at 3am).
Fishbowl of the M.A.T.H. Complex (aka Mason-Angell-Tisch-Haven Complex of Central Campus): there are computers here as well, and there’s many people here working of all backgrounds- architecture, Engineering, and English majors! This place is open 24/7 and is also never dead quiet! Also, there are convenient vending machines (for both food and electronics) around the corner 🙂 There are also tables and benches right outside of the Fishbowl. And if that atmosphere isn’t your thing, there’s the general Posting Wall space of Mason Hall that has electrical plugs, so if you just want a casual sit-down place that isn’t usually lonely, that’s a great place to stay! There are also random desks on each floor of any of the buildings in the M.A.T.H. Complex, so feel free to explore and find yourself a new place to study, as desired!
Dana Building Commons (Central Campus): If you’re an early bird, you’ll find that this building always has a seat to welcome you! The tables here are nicely placed so you should have a plug next to you, and if you need computers, they have a computer lab on the second floor!
The BBB of North Campus: This is a fun place to work in! There are several computer labs, so if you need computers, they’ve got you covered! There is also a mini arcade in the hallway, and there are also ping-pong tables in the main lobby area too! The main lobby area also has several desks and whiteboards, perfect for your individual use, or for a group setting. They also have group rooms with functioning whiteboards and projectors that you can use, if there are no reservations for it!
(May seem obvious at first but…) Any of the Dorms!! Yes, on both campuses!!: Generally, any M-card should let you into the locked front doors of any of the dorms (other than if you go to dorms that have dining halls during their designated hours) before midnight. Dorms are great because usually your friends may be there, so you all can team up to study (because two brains is better than one, right?!), or you can just study alone in any of the several lounges, or even in the dining halls- where you can just have unlimited access to cookies and tea and all that other good stuff!
Alright, well, hope you found that some of these study spaces were good ideas, or even just a fun place to explore if you did not already know that they existed! Happy Studying and have a great, safe Thanksgiving Break!
Passing By
I am walking to class again. It is the middle of November and by now, I know the route well. It is a carefully planned path, borne of the experience of the last two months. Perhaps it is too well planned, because I am craving Starbucks and have set no time aside to stand in line for an overpriced hot chocolate. Instead, I had left the library with exactly ten minutes to spare for my journey across campus. By the time I approach the Diag, my time in the library has already become a blurry memory. Had I accomplished anything? I decide the answer has to be ‘Yes’, if only for my sanity. Of course, I am not the only person walking through the Diag on this wintery day. But I ignore the other people around me. It is the time that matters. I should have five minutes left. Still, I sidestep a pair of blonde girls. Their voices wash over me as I hurry past. They are walking too slowly for my impatient mind. Maybe they are going to the coffee shop to continue their conversation. Maybe they could buy that imaginary hot chocolate. Soon, I can’t even hear their words anymore and their existence seems to fade just as easily. Entire people gone, evaporating into the chilly air behind me. Our worlds intersected for the briefest moment and then separated just as quickly. Perhaps we all exist on the periphery of someone else’s world. Anonymous faces, barely even recognized, quickly forgotten. There are so many people at the University of Michigan and simply not enough time. For some people, we take the time, slow our steps, and talk. But for most, we only make tiny impacts on each other, slightly altering the paths of the people around us. We walk towards each other. We walk behind each other. We pass by.
I wonder if I have passed by these other people before. After all, I have taken this path so many times. They probably have a routine too. This is my path and theirs. Some of them might even be going to the same class, to the same crowded lecture hall. I am approaching my destination now. Someone opens the door for me and the warm air is weighing down on me, squeezing the cold from my bones. I say, ‘Thank you’, without meeting his eyes. I am not sure it is even a ‘him’. All I can see is the classroom and the ninety minutes of eternity awaiting me there. Then, my mind stretches beyond even that, to the evening ahead. I decide that I will make myself some hot chocolate then. And I have already forgotten the walk. Perhaps I will remember again, next week when I take the same path.
Our lives planned ahead. Our steps pre-destined. I only exist in the possible future. You only exist in my past. The present is forgotten as we walk towards something else. We pass by others as time passes us by.
When Comedy Films Are Scary
I love a good laugh, but I’m a tough critic. As a result, it can be hard for me to find a nice comedy to watch when too many that get heavily promoted are gross or overtly problematic. What has shocked me in my question to find smart comedy is when the comedy doesn’t look like comedy at all.
My first experience with this paradox was in 2003, when I was around four. One afternoon my parents, cultured as they were, mistakenly rented the French animated film “The Triplettes of Belleville” for me and my even younger brothers to watch. They had rented “Finding Nemo” as well. I clearly remember my parents leaving my brothers and I with my grandmother with the request that we try to watch the French film first since we had already seen so many Pixar movies. I eagerly put on “The Triplettes of Belleville”, wanting to not only obey my parents but to watch that little clownfish be found by his dad again.
I was horrified by the French film. The bleak world depicted by animator Sylvain Chomet was depressing, and most of the characters looked evil. The French song featured in the film “Belleville Rendez-vous” was unintelligible to me at the time, but the wailing notes matched with the nightmarish art of the movie was enough to send me over the edge. I stopped the movie within five minutes and made my case that he movie was horrifying to my parents. I watched it all of 14 years later at age 20 and was again scared watching it, not surprised to learn that it is rated PG-13.
The plot is notably minimalist with little if any dialogue: a presumably French cyclist raised by his supportive grandmother has his chance to make his dream of becoming a champion cyclist come true, until he is kidnapped by what looks like the French mafia and held captive in Belleville, a faux New York City filled with stereotypical fat Americans. His grandmother comes to his rescue, accompanied by three aged, former singers known as the titular triplets of Belleville.
What kept my attention throughout the movie was the varied yet scary character designs. They are hellish, from the deformed cyclist’s incredibly muscular legs legs somehow connected to his terribly thin torso, to the closed eyes and hunched shoulders of the witch-like triplets of Belleville. The dark colors and sketchy figures present in this world, from sexualized prostitutes to grim-faced gunmen who kill in cold-blood, added to the fear factor. And yet, to my surprise, the film is labelled a comedy! I concede that the whimsical way the plot is developed in “The Triplets of Belleville” explains its classification.
I believe “The Triplets of Belleville” is an anomaly as far as comedy films go, as other comedy films I have watched that have been questioned for their humor have made me laugh. One is this year’s smash success “Get Out”, which has recently stirred controversy because it was entered as a submission to the comedy category for best picture at the Golden Globes. The plot was so nuanced and developed that it did not feel like it depended on humor to succeed per se, but it did make the film incredibly unique by masterfully intertwining the two genres. And, every joke was uproariously on point. But it is a horror film at heart, and I can understand why the comedy label may feel a bit of a stretch, even though there is no horror category that it can be submitted to.
This made me think of another film that was deemed too dark for a comedy: the 1971 film “Harold and Maude”, a romantic comedy-drama about a 20-year-old man obsessed with death and a 79-year-old woman who loves life (an old manic pixie dream girl, if you will). Roger Ebert panned the film, giving it one and a half stars out of four saying: “Death can be as funny as most things in life, I suppose, but not the way Harold and Maude go about it.” I was horrified by the beginning when our protagonist simulates hanging himself, and would jump when I saw how his subsequent suicide “attempts” become increasingly outlandish as he scares off potential girlfriends arranged by his unfazed mother. And yet the comedy of seeing the varied reactions from the interested girls was captivating, and built up to the climax when (spoiler alert) Harold loses the love of his life to suicide. This was the moment I learned the meaning of black comedy, as I pealed with laughter at the same time I cupped my mouth in horror and sank in my seat out of sadness. I respect Ebert’s opinion informed by his near-encyclopedic knowledge of film, but I do believe more credit is due to a movie that pulls off such a remarkable feat.
In conclusion, I do not know what to make of these comedy films that struck me as unusual. Their dark styles do not hinder the message of their plots, but still made me uneasy while watching. I believe this is symptomatic of merging different elements of the comedic with the tragic, and I look forward to seeing even more genre-bending comedies as I continue my quest for a good laugh.
