Gowns of Greece- folded flaps of history

Post picture

Look at this image... Its a tree and it seems to be dancing. I chose this picture because I think it has a lot in common with the post. Look at it this way, in this case, this is the tree of life. The tree of all of us, together. It is dancing, and seems so peaceful and balanced. The happiness and balance spreads everywhere and the tree looks powerful.

(: Where the HELL is Matt? -really... where is he?

Matt. Where the hell are you? Mr.Harding! I can't seem to find you! Are you in London, Paris, Tokyo, Gurgaon, Mumbai, STOCKHOLM? Well, wherever you are I know what you're doing... with the way you dance, not many people can ignore you.

"Same, same but different"

Matt Harding is like any other man. He can dance terribly, with awkwardly swinging arms and convulsive legs, all in one, messed up motion. I happen to be extremely good at it, learned from the best (:P ilu great-grandpa).

We are all same and different at the same time. A peculiar, contradictory yet terribly true fact. We have become so smart that we now believe that it's okay to think with our brains and not our hearts. We humans enjoy the warmth and closeness of being together as one... It just takes someone to start it off. This is where Matt comes in.

I really love the way he describes himself, as a primitive caveman-like creature, eager to fit in the world. He takes facts from the base, at their simplest. Take...um...( see, Im writing down my pauses because Im typing as I'm thinking so if my brain starts to slow down... I have to continue typing, hence the pause.) Ah, yes, take mind quota. To sum it up, our brains were created to inhabit a fairly decent network of people. After a while... the number of people in your "social-networking mind quota" starts to get on the verge of "overwhelming". I love his objectivity towards human nature and his simple understanding of life.

And in most cases, I believe he is right to think that way.

This makes me think of the day before 6th grade ended. We are from different nationalities, yet, that doesn't mean anything. We all said goodbye the same way, waved the same way, hugged the same way, and smiled "Aurevoir" It's our diversity that makes us thrive individually, its our sameness that makes us a family.

The video was hilarious. I LOVED IT! All these people, joyously prancing about, pure bliss. It's like watching a bunch of children playing with a toy car, rag dolls, a brand new toy truck. Going back to our simple "primate" ways.

Do you think we could do that? Go around the school, making total fools of ourselves for the sake of happiness.

The benefits of laughter (my opinion):

*Smile lines (totally hot)- Just kidding. I enjoy the presence of smile lines on people's faces. Traces of a happy life. Trails of fun across faces.

*Ripped abs- Laughing strengthens abdominal muscles, when you laugh, your abdominal muscles contract. Therefore, every time you laugh, its like a little stomach workout.

*Exercised diaphragm

* THE RUSH

*The fantastic physical release

Smile of Compliments- A literary response to an act of kindness :P

The last compliment I got was after lunch, this one sixth grade kid came up to me and said he liked my shorts. The shorts 150 other girls were wearing. Still a compliment. I guess thats the queer thing about compliments like these, even if they could apply to a million other people, they make YOU feel special. Praises and compliments make you feel important and boost your self esteem. If people were truly conscious of the powers of complimenting, we'd probably be complimenting on our blog, other people on the streets, family, friends... pets even! I don't remember the last time I complimented someone, I think it was at lunch, I told one of my friends she had a gorgeous smile :P Im pretty sure she was very flattered because I got a giant hug and a glamourpose. I think the compliment guys are fantastic. A quick and easy way to make living... better. I wish there were a couple of guys doing that around the school. And yes, its true, we don't really do nice things for each other any more. For example, some people were so "not-used" to being randomly complimented that as soon as they were, they assumed it was fake and insincere. I think it's wonderful that some people are willing to give up some of their time to make people's days. I'm still on the idea that we should all go to the Pavilion for an hour and complement people, just as an experiment. We tend to forget the small things in life because we are so overwhelmed. Big issues fill our heads until the small joys of life seem unimportant. We run after satisfaction and ignore the road as we run, we have become overly focused on unnecessary elements. Every detail counts, happiness is everywhere. Small acts of kindness can reshape a saddened nation as it is the small details that can make the biggest changes in our daily life. Spread the news! Make a difference... like those guys! The Free Hug campaign is yet another terrific example of spreading joy across a nation of saddened souls :P

Teesha Moore-ness

Serious with a chance of laughs- by me

A queer quartet of laughing lips

Enough to rend an amateur tearful

Not forced, or pushed

Teetering tongues click

Warm ripples of knowing smiles

Grins begin to wobble

Visible, a few veiled flinches

An ominous shake at the bottom lip

Pompous pouts tremble

And suddenly

A hilarious current of laughter

Shocks everyone in the room

Deafening dozens of laughing lips

Sighs of mere exhaustion

Gasps of seriousness

Exhales of imposed concentration

Followed by yet another outburst

Zipping across the room in a joyful hurry

A fast current of sheer delight

But that was enough

To brighten up twenty faces

My name- a weird little story with a happy ending

My Name

My name has always be a source of trouble. Too long, too hard to pronounce, not like me. When I reached the age of seven, I grew quite weary of my name. My name became my stalker. A lurking shadow, an unwanted guest.

And just like paparazzi, my name knew everything about me yet I didn’t know anything about my name. As I searched for the meaning of my name, I broke down into a hysterical yet purely sarcastic laughter. Beautiful? Ahahahah… Sincere? Barely… Caring? I’m not even going to start that one… Every time people said my name it was sort of like hate mail. My name was a fresh breath of sarcasm.

I always longed for a shorter, simpler name that would suit me. I’m going to tell you the story behind how my name came to be. As a writer, I should be able to obliterate details that would reveal how pathetic the story truly is. My mother is an avid reader. Eight months pregnant, she stopped by a bookstore (probably the only one in Mauritius XD) She wandered around the great labyrinth of books, picked out the ones on baby names and went home.

The first one she started was a book on Indian names. My mother flipped through every page, pausing occasionally to underline names she liked and disliked the most. But to be truthful… all the names were pretty…horrible. I suppose my mother did not enjoy the thought of her daughter being names Aravagadesa or Chenchi- Hoprigrad. Dakshina was the one name she fell in love with. My mom knew right that instant that that’s what she would name her little baby daughter. A cute, interesting, yet simply tongue-twirling name…Dakshina.

More reasons for me to hate my name. But strangely, as the years went by, my name became more or less a very big and important part of me. My name is an agenda with constant reminders of who I am. This is what people know me by. Dakshina…sort of like a tight pair of jeans that you just can’t seem to fit in. I was used to just following my name around, making it something I had to adjust myself to. I did not want it like that. So I made my name suit me. Negatives morphed into positives, well, most of them.

Length became a sign of uniqueness, while pronunciation gave my name an exotic weave. Whether or not I was sincere and serious (qualities I clearly did not master), it didn’t really matter. After a while it becomes tiring telling everyone you’re name is, like, Leila but your MOM likes to call you Dakshina, just like that (most obvious lie yet) My name is Dakshina…and that’s actually really cool.

Dakshina, a peculiar little gift

A gift. Dakshina is a thousand different things but mostly, a gift or offering. This picture is quite simple, a minute little gift box. To have my name is like a gift... I wish. My name is not that complicated if you really think of it, its three syllables, DAK-SHI-NA (dahk-shee-nah) A complex name with a simple meaning, simple difficulty...my name is an oxymoron. (: I really like this picture because it has an element of truth to it. A gift is usually thought of as something great, a wonderful present, a fabulous reward and yet...its so simple. This is a black and white gift box, no designs, just a ribbon. It reminds me of a sort of Think-Actual oxymoron. Contradictions. That's it. My name is based on contradictions, Dakshina is open-minded yet she likes her ideas better, she is a fantastic listener but she talks a load. This picture is perfect for who I am AND who my name represents. It's quite funny if you think of it in a way that, my name is sort of like Pandora, it is a gift and offering and if you open it out comes evil and a glimmer of hope. hahaha... Dakshina is a name that quite fits me because...well...I'm quite full of contradictions, whether good, bad or just plain hilarious, this is who I am and who I've always wanted to be.

William Blake- Flying by

Quote of a journey within

"No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings" - William Blake

I chose this as my new blog title because of the inspiring message in Blake's quotes. I agree with William Blake on the intended message, I too believe that you never go too far in life if you do it by yourself with your own means. I chose the picture because I thought that it was really well-made. The music notes in the background, the bird in front of the blue pentagon (the sky). I think this quote also relates too self confidence because you need to trust yourself and believe that you can make things happen in order to succeed (soar higher). The snapshot of the bird in the picture is fantastic because he is in mid-flight, therefore, going higher. It is a great, yet subtle and simple way to represent this quote. I chose this quote also because I think it has a lot to do with honesty. If you know to remain fair and be honest to yourself about what you do, you will be able to soar with your own wings because you can tell what part of things you are doing. I also think it has to do with Independence. Do things on your own, if you aren't in need of help ,do not ask for it, be your own person because only you can get yourself where you want to be. Do you know what caught my eye in the picture? The bird in the blue, in the middle of the quotation. No bird soars to high if he, and then the picture of the bird is in shown, sort of like an introduction and then, soars with his own wings. Our eyes then fly back to the image the analyze the bird and how its flying. Its like a guessing and observing game. I love it:B

xoxo

Dak

China's one child policy vs. Octomom

Today I put my postit note close to the middle but more towards the china one child policy. I did this for a few reasons. China's policy is needed to keep the population stable. Of course it goes against human rights but without it China's overpopulation problem would have become unmanageable and there would not be enough resources to support all the citizens.  If it were lifted for no more than one night, chances of a baby boom would be huge as many couples who wished for more sons or just liked children would rush home to "CELEBRATE". China's rule has prevented 300 million births and has been incredibly helpful in the effort to reduce china's overpopulation.  I think that it is needed and I agree that it should stay. Now, i am against octomom. First of all, she has no husband and a very low income, she has a three bedroom house, she lives with her MOM in the three bedroom house, she already had SEX KIDS!!! The birth cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, something she will never be able to afford. I am totally against Nadya. Her choice was wrong. You should not have 14 kids unless you have a WHOPPING income, a giant house, a sane mind, a husband and father to your children, and the means to support their lives and future. She has none of those. I believe that the government should provide counseling and impose some kind of maximum. It was her choice, I agree but her kids will suffer the consequences.  I think that the one child policy is RIGHT-ER than the OCTOMOM.

Kid Krazy Nadya enters our fishbowl.

Today, in class, Mr.McQ gave us an article about Nadya Suleman and the octuplets. I had already heard her story, she was having eight kids and she was super happy about it. I thought that maybe she really loved kids and the idea of a family of eight with her husband in her big house full of toys in a pretty neighborhood where her kids would be healthy babies. 

Then, while reading the article I found out she was living with her mother in a three bedroom house, she had divorced her husband, their income was of eight thousand seven hundred something a year and has had six kids before the octuplets. Also, her kids were all in intensive care and the costs of everything added up to a few hundred thousand dollars. Her mother said that she had been absolutely obsessed with kids since her teenage years.  How could the world et her have so any children if she was not going to care for them? This kind of controversial issue had to be taken inside the circle. Should Government impose laws on this. I thought that the government should calculate the income and then set the maximum. If Nadya has still been with her eight thousand seven hundred something a year earning husband, her max should have three. And so KID KRAZY NADYA entered our fishbowl for a fresh topic of debating

China's One child policy

Today, my line was " China's one child policy, keep it or leave it" Keep it or leave seems a little like an offer, something that you would say when you give someone a choice.  I think I kind of got it wrong because its not really the people who have the say in wether the one child policy should be kept or left. I personally think China should keep, even though it defiles the Human Rights is has to be done. Over population may cause China's economy to crumble. There are also chances of a giant baby boom and nobody knows wether China can support that. The one child policy has prevented three hundred million births. Now imagine a baby of three hundred million babies. I think that the people should not really be able to decided whether the rule should be kept because most people would vote for what is convenient and not think about the chain consequences that follow. The choice is for the Government to make. So basically, my headline is generally directed to the Government. I think that the Government knows the impact of lifting the rule for even one hour! In 1 hour thousands of babies will probably be conceived around china. I think that the Government should maybe have a 2 child maximum policy, to regulate population and to find a good middle. So now it is up the Chinese Government, the one child policy, keep it or leave it?

My interpretation of the sonnet

Today I was asked to post a post (haha) on my interpretation of the sonnet. I dont really know what to do because my first post is basically my interpretation. The post I posted about my understanding of the sonnet 7 was all about MY interpretation. If that had changed over the course of the day, I supposed I would not be as befuzzled as now on what I should do... My opinions and views are still the same. I still believe that this sonnet represents the daily pilgrimage of the son and links to the life time of a man. The end of the sonnet is a lesson for te man, taught by the sun, USING the sun as an example. I have been reading Shakespeare since the age of seven. It did not take me long to understand that you had to vary your interpretations on his writing if you wanted to fully understand. Although I remind myself of that, I cannot help but think that I am somewhat right, there are all too many clues that tell me that this sonnet is based on the rising and setting of the sun. I am not too sure what to do so I am just telling you, dear blog, and everybody else reading, the truth.

Shakespeare sonnet 7

I would like to talk to you about Shakespeare's seventh sonnet. We were asked to read this sonnet in silence and then aloud. After that we were assigned the task of rereading this much complicated sonnet and personally decipher the meaning of it and its sent message. Right away the conclusion slapped me in the face. I began to make numerous inferences toward related Ideas and connecting the clues and details that matched. To me, the sonnet is verbalizing the daily journey of the sun. I have many clues that led me to this verdict. Now, I will show a personal and mental analysis that I did during class while observing all fourteen lines of this poesy.

Looking at the first line: "Lo! in the orient when the gracious light" The first thing I did was convert this sentence into a type of paraphrase, one that would facilitate my understanding on this poem. Also, to make my "personal" paraphrase, I created it by keeping the base of the line stuck to my idea of it being the sun. I imagined and conjured up my interpretational evaluation of this sonnet following that line. When I observed: "Lo! In the orient when the gracious light" I thought, "*When the first rays of sun emerge from the east" Orient is another word for east. What inferred me to comprehend it this way is that I had the knowledge that the sun rose in the east and set in the west. Also, if I followed my line of meaning on the sun, that sentence would represent the beginning of the sun's journey through the day.

Now onto the second line: "Lifts up his burning head, each under eye" This small line painted a vivid image in my mind. I thought,» And the sun hoists up his flaming head under the eyes of watching men" I could clearly imagine the illuminated sun, rising under the awed eyes of men, shining in eternal prosperity. It was as if I could feel the intensity in Shakespeare's words. It is not the intensity of the ACTUAL words, it is the intensity if the message overall, the painted picture of the flaming ball rising in an imperious glide across the morning sky. It is intriguing to see how simple words can burn with meaning, these words just represent the action and they are not exaggerated, they speak for themselves.

Now, the third line: "Doth homage to his new-appearing sight" This line was a little more onerous than the others. One problem was that I did not quite completely understand his usage of old English. I assumed that doth was a word for do or give. I deduced that this line probably meant " When I said they, I was unsure because I was not aware about whether doth was a word applied to the plural form. This line made me reflect on modern mentality. No longer to we applaud and praise the rise of the sun. No more are we flustered by the rise of the sun. We have begun to take for granted what was given to us.

The fourth line: "Serving with looks his sacred majesty" I could not immediately make sense of this so I decided to pursue my scrutiny by "scrutinizing" every word on its own or with a second word. I decided to take the easy words that were easily deciphered first: Serving that was quite straightforward, it is still used in modern language. With looks, okay, so I knew they were serving with looks. So, I envisioned the looks on the people who were serving as they served their lord. I could see looks of praise and admiration, faces of worship with a tint of perplexity (and so on). And of course, his sacred majesty, to me, it was obvious Shakespeare was referring to the sun. Of course his words were not speaking literally; it was a figurative way of speaking to say that these people worshipped him and his very presence as a god/lord. "Serving their king, the sun, with looks of awe and amazement" could be a descriptive way to translate his line.

The fifth line: "And having climb'd the steep-up heavenly hill" This was quite complicated for me to penetrate the context and of course, the intended mean. It sounds like "And when the sun escalades the steep hill to heaven (where he ascends into the sky)" Of course, I am no genius, but I find William's arrangement of words quite bizarre. For me, a heavenly hill would be a type of empyrean hill or something, used as a word to describe. Heavenly is a word I use to describe something but I don’t believe Shakespeare was trying to describe the hill, looking at his style and trend in the sonnet.

The sixth line: "Resembling strong youth in his middle age" I am quite fond of this line. For me this says "The sun resembled a strong and youthful being, even at the "middlemost" of his life" I like to think that this applies to him and us. I wonder, if line applied to the glory of the sun as he is youthful for ever more even as his life moves on, it was said as a godlike quality to have. Is that why humans, older people in general, take such when said that they look so youthful. Was this complement very sought for in olden times, to make people feel that they shared the same qualities as god?

The seventh line: "Yet mortal looks adore his beauty still" This line does not challenge me. But I am somewhat befuddled. I am torn between two interpretations of this line. I wonder if this means that "Mortal looks (meaning the sun has a look of the mortals, in the sense of the look of his fragility, his character, basically his resemblance to humans) adore the sun's beauty still (Meaning that these looks cherish his beauty and add to it)" Or whether it has a different interpreted message and it means that "Mortals worship him, the LOOKS, meaning what the mortals are seeing and how there looks adore and revere the sun's beauty." I suppose the second choice sounds a lot like something Shakespeare would use in his language, but even then, the first choice fits perfectly in this poesy. I wonder...

The eighth line: "Attending on his golden pilgrimage" I quite relish his usage of words, especially using the word golden to describe/glorify the word pilgrimage. I deduct that this short line narrates his pilgrimage across the sky. What I mean by pilgrimage is his daily routine. To rise or not to rise, that is NOT the question. Every day the sun does the same thing, light up the earth with happiness and gifts of sunburns. This can be called a pilgrimage, everyday he harmoniously sets out across the sky to recommence his crusade. The word golden has a double meaning, golden as it is precious and to be thankful for and golden because of his golden rays/shine.

The ninth line: "But when from highmost pitch, with weary car" I get to use one of my favorite words for this line. At first, I was not so sure about car meant. Then I clearly remember Fabian going, "Dakshina, tell me if I am wrong, I really do not think that cars where invented in the 1700's!" Consequently, I laughed very hard and assured him that the brilliant but ecologically damaging car had not been invented yet! Then, DING! Of course they did not have cars, but they had chariots! That's what he must have meant by CAR. He must have been referring to a chariot, probably pulled by "heavenly" horses. So I came up with this translation, my favorite word is in bold. "But from the sun's pinnacle, with weary chariot/ horses" I am inclined to think it is the horses that are weary and NOT the chariot.

The tenth line: "Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day" I found this line touching and somewhat sad. When he says feeble age, I think he refers to when the sun grows older and limps away from the day. If you think about it, so he is talking about old and feeble age when you are about to die, and then, when you do die, you stagger away from the day because your death has made you part this day. So what I put on my translation was, "Like old and feeble age, the sun limps away from day" He limps away, to set, that is.

The eleventh line: "The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are"
At first, I did not quite fathom the meaning of this line and how to convert it. So I decided to use my word by word method. The Eyes, which Shakespeare talks about, are probably eyes of men. 'Fore Duteous means that before they were dutiful. Now Converted Are, means that since they are converted, they do the opposite, they now turn away from the sun as he sets.
My translation is: "The eyes of men, before dutiful, now turn away from the sun as he sets"

The twelfth line: "From his low tract and look another way" So following the preceding line, the men are now looking away. This basically means, adding in a bit from the last line, "The men turn away from his route in the sky and look otherwhere"

The thirteenth line: "So thou, thyself out-going in thy noon"
A lot of old English here. I know that thou stands for you. So I can judge that thyself probably means yourself. I believe that what he means by out-going in thy noon, (with a tiny bit of help from an anonymous cousin of mine) is that "So you, yourself on the way to old age"

The fourteenth line: "Unlook'd on diest, unless thou get a son" I will not give you much explanation for this one. I’m sure you can figure it out.

"You shall die unlooked, like the sun, unless you bear a son"
Don’t you find this unfair, I do! This makes me think that even though Shakespeare was advanced yet modern in his style of writing and poesy, that does not change the way he viewed things, the same as other people.

So this is what I understood while reading this poem:

When the first rays of sun emerge from the east

And the sun hoists up his flaming head under the eyes of watching men

They paid tribute to his renewed emergence

Serving their king, the sun, with looks of awe and amazement

And when the sun escalades the steep hill to heaven (where he ascends into the sky

The sun resembled a strong and youthful being, even at the "middlemost" of his life

Mortal looks (meaning the sun has a look of the mortals, in the sense of the look of his fragility, his character, basically his resemblance to humans) adore the sun's beauty still (Meaning that these looks cherish his beauty and add to it)

Everyday he harmoniously sets out across the sky to recommence his crusade

But from the sun's pinnacle, with weary chariot/ horses

Like old and feeble age, the sun limps away from day

The eyes of men, before dutiful, now turn away from the sun as he sets

So you, yourself on the way to old age

You shall die unlooked, like the sun, unless you bear a son


Now I know that this is about the rise and set of the sun and also links to the life of a man.
So this is all the explanation I have to give you about Shakespeare's seventh sonnet. Did you know he died on his birthday?
I also think he made 154 sonnets.
I hope you are happy William, asking me work like this!


By dakshina