Journal 3-Description

Tucked away, in the back of a strip mall, under an apartment complex there is a cookie store unlike any other I've ever been to. Insomnia Cookies offers fresh, warm, deliciously large treats at almost any hour of the night. I discovered this sweet tooth safe haven one night as i wondered aimlessly in downtown State College. The store itself is lets say, cozy, for lack of a better word. As you walk through a tight door your eyes immediately meet the counter only a few feet away. The small open floor where the line forms is tile similar to that of an ice cream store. Speaking of ice-cream, Insomnia has over 10 flavors with the ability to "build your own ice cream cookie sandwich". This allows the customer to pick two fresh cookies and their favorite flavor of ice cream and combine the three in an amazing late night treat. A cooler sits to the left of the counter offering many cookie complimenting beverages such as a nice cold milk. No matter what time of the night, Insomnia caters to the snake seeker in everyone and is certainly something everybody should experience.

The Vaudeville Act by Everett Shinn. Oil on Canvas, 1902

An oily canvas with covered in shades of reds, greens, and grays depicts an early 20th century theatre where two performers are on stage with an orchestra pit directly beneath where 3 men sit. They appear to be discussing the music that they will play in upcoming scene. The last character depicted in this piece is a man who appears to be apart of the audience, he is turned away from the stage positioning his body and his eyes directly at the viewer of the piece.

I found this piece to be rhetorically interesting for many reasons. Firstly the pure amazing artistic skill is amazing in and of itself. The use of dull gray with the sharper and vibrant reds and greens make for a fantastic visual display. The next thing i found to be interesting was one of the performers on stage. There appears to be a male and a female character however male character seems to be played by another woman. One with red hair very similar to her female counterpart. This could possibly speak to lack of women's rights or it could simply be the style of theatre in this era. If any political statement is being made i would say Shinn is talking more about the entire culture of theatre goers because he depicts not only the stage but the pit and part of the audience. Possibly that these people are less important than they fancy themselves. 

The pathos appeal of this piece is quite interesting. First off this piece makes me very intrigued and wanting to know more. It makes the viewer feel as though you just walked into the performance with no prior knowledge about what is happening on stage. The view of the painting makes it seem as though the viewer is standing in aisle rather than sitting is a seat. The setting appears to be high class as if the artist wants the viewer to feel out of place in this theatre. 

I believe that the first thing that gives Shinn credibility is this piece is simply the artistic skill that he exhibits. There are so few people that can create such amazing pieces of art such as this one. After some quick research i can see that he has many other famous pieces that depict similar scenes in New York, his home. He also was apart of group of artists called "The Eight" who worked to depict real life as they saw it. 

If believe the claim being made by Shinn in The Vaudeville Act is the life of luxury that some people are living is not as grand as somebody poorer than them may think. In my opinion the viewer is supposed to feel as though he or she just barged into something they were not supposed to see and has now discovered that the life of the privileged is much more dull than it appeared. 

My overall experience at the Palmer was very positive. I really enjoyed all the wonderful pieces and feel that i need more exposure to art in my life. I certainly can imagine myself going back because it was just an enjoyable experience. As somebody with merely no artistic ability i become so fascinated with those who have so much talent.

Journal 1 supplement

Because i forgot to include the art in my last post i felt i needed to supplement it with this post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVk1HOlkq_o This is a hyperlink to a video for the song "Levels" by avicii. I came across this song this summer on a music blog and immediately fell in love with it. Although not everybody appreciates this type of music I believe this song is "art" because it is pure creation. It is something i wish i were capable of creating. I challenge anybody to listen to this song and not feel the urge to dance.

Journal Response 1

Hello and welcome to my blog, Thank you for coming.

As i reflected on my past experiences as a writer i began to think about my experience through high school. However the more i thought about this part of my academic career i dove deeper into my past. Thinking back to the days of jr. high and even elementary school i can see how where my current strengths and weaknesses developed. Creativity has always been an area of concern, not only in writing but in many other aspects of my life. I've always considered myself to be more of a math and science kind of person other than english. Thats not to say that i did not enjoy the english courses that i have taken though. Thanks to some of my favorite teachers and an exposure to some great literature english very much grew on me in the 11th and 12th grade. One of the writing styles that i enjoyed in particular trying to emulate was that of Ernest Hemingway. I really took to the irony and certain comedic sense that he wrote with and feel that it was a type of writing i could get used to. Some of the writing styles i tend to struggle with are those with more artistic feeling such as poetry or pose. This is just do to the nature of my lack of creativity. When it comes to the actual conventions of writing i believe i have a very strong foundation in at least the most basic level. My high school emphasized greatly how to structure and format all kinds of academic writing. Everyone in my graduating class was even presented a little booklet from the english department to be use to help us with college writings. Many of my weaknesses in writing lie in organization and time management. This is something that i will certain have to work on here at Penn State. I often found myself up all night working until the start of school whenever a large assignment was due. Procrastination will most likely be the end of me. I am so easily taken off of track when i know that there is work to be done. However i almost always was pleased with the grades i received and although i was left tired for the next day i experienced the greatest feeling of relief. I believe that this course will help me to write in a way that is different from the simple analytical style that followed reading a novel that i have been so accustomed to in high school. I think that i will possibly grow in the artistic sense that i have lacked so much up until this point. I look forward to learning a lot from this class and growing as a writer in next semester.