Through Pen and Lens

Don't you think that's a cool title for this entry? Doesn't matter. I didn't make it up. Now we are getting to the stuff I know - popular media. Well, the late 50s (before I was born) to probably the last decade. I've been a little busy lately. But what is funny (probably just to me) is that although I was there when rap first hit the scene, I know little about the artists making it today. So, when the assignment was to create a rap from the theory, I texted Chelsea (my middle daughter) and asked her to recommend some artists (my other two kids - Ashley and Wesley - know less about rap than I do). She suggested Steriogram (never heard of), Common, and Missy Elliot (knew them but only a couple of pieces from each). Also, Karen sent us "Rap Poetry 101," a chapter from a book she found, which helped a lot. (Thanks, Karen!) Here's my rap. It's called Popcorn Venus . The reference is to Gaunlett's text, not Dr. Venus Opal Reese, although I didn...

Oh, my freakin heavens! Sonnet plus theory. One without the other can be insane in the membrane, but both together? Just shoot me now... I'm only half serious. By the way, happy birthday Dr. Reese (9/23). If I ventured a guess; actually, I wouldn't try to guess. As Oprah is fond of saying, Black don't crack, so there's no way of knowing. But she can't possibly be as old as me, and I'm not ready to say how old that is. Yet. (For those of you who already know, keep your mouths shut.) And to the rest of us, happy first day of autumn (same day). Finally, it just might cool off. I had no idea Dallas gets hotter the Houston. So, on to sonnets and theory. How about first, I compare thee two (he he he). Shakespearean sonnets have specific rules. Three quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end for a total of 14 lines. The quatrains' first and third lines rhyme as do the second and fourth. Each line of the sonnet is in iambic pentameter. Very structured. Theory...

I love finding contextual clues in other artists' works. There's that concept again - intertextuality. But not everyone will be coming from the same context. There in lies the breakdown in communication, that is, if we expect those same cues to register with the receiver of our information. I know this; I know this. I know this! So why do I always forget this when I'm working on assignments for this class? I think maybe it's the whole creative element. See! I said I was going to regret not having to write traditional papers. This time we were to make a collage of images that represent the elements of Butler's arguments from The Psychic Life of Power: Theories in Subjection . Great! I think in images anyway, so no problem. BIG Problem. As usual, I was too abstract. I decided to take images from The Breakfast Club to show things like ambivalence, power, interpellation. But apparently the images could only work if you saw the film, and for most people, recently. M...

I've recently figured out something about myself and my photography. I like to take pictures of "events," for the lack of a better word. If I take photographs of people, it is generally while they are doing something other than posing, most often without their knowledge. I'm not a voyeur (or maybe I am, in a sense). I just like to record things others might miss, moments that are gone and too soon forgotten. While people are doing something other than posing, they often let their guards down, and you can catch some of the most revealing identities, I mean images, ones that may never come again.  Houston to Dallas, 7:30a.m. Forget the date  The same with clouds - the never coming again part. They can change in seconds. I'm the duck that walks outside, looks up and says, "Gorgeous! Wish you were here!" or simply, "Bravo!" Also with clouds is the recording of things others might miss. Most people want sunny skies. Might look good in color, ...

So, we presented our first assignment, the legal brief. OMG! Well, actually, the advice I got from Daddy was right on the money as for what should go into the brief except for the - well, you'll see... I think mine was the second one read. Dr. Reese said that I was a concise writer (lol - I know you want to. Daddy's suggestion, by the way). And she picked up on - no! She read me like a book when she said that Austin frustrated me, that it showed in my writing. For those who might know the professor at UHCL who has a habit of talking in circles as he tries to explain theory (I'm not going to say what kind of theory - that would be giving away too much, as if I haven't already), sitting in on one of his classes would be a cake walk compared to Austin. Not that the professor at UHCL is all bad. Really, he is brilliant and knows his stuff backwards and forward and wants to make sure his students "get it." However, he explains things so many different ways th...

Okay, so I'm blocked. I can't come up with any new material. Part of it is because the apartment is so disorganized with all of the boxes, and all I can think of is how to get rid of the roaches! I'm not used to this. I'm sure that will eventually find its way into something, probably poetry. Ooh, maybe some photography. But do I really want to remember this move that much? Other part - I can't focus, and now my left wrist is hurting and digits 4 and 5 are tingling on my right hand. I think I must have slept on my arm all night, therefore on the nerve. This is the shoulder I dislocated in high school (There's a memory). Too long. Will be in class shortly. Sitting in the hall outside the room now. I find that a girl (Stacy) from last night's class will be in this one. Looks like a lady I had class with Thursday will also be in class because she just walked up. Anyway, from the description of the course, it should be interesting. Here goes... Venus Opal Re...