Final Blog: My Verse

It was hell?

Year 1
Overall pretty great. I reunited with friends that I'd known since Elementary School, but hadn't see after 6th grade because I transferred to Ligon in 7th grade. This includes Madyson, Kamara, and Cassidy. I joined the JV soccer team, which was pretty fun. Freshman year, easy breezy beautiful.

Year 2
More interesting than Year 1. I endured the hell that was Apes and Chemistry. Although Carson ( a weird hilarious dude) made it more enjoyable.  Alone I Joined the Science Olympiad Club for the first time and that god I did. Again, I was apart of the JV Soccer Team. During that time a soccer goal was dropped on my foot, and I made a playlist to be played during practice that everybody hated.

I was completely naive in deciding to do the IB program. If I knew what I knew then (which of course is impossible) I would not have joined. But I did join, so how was my experience? I'll be honest It was really rough, heck it still is. Although, It was a life changing experience. Plus, I'm glad that I got to know so many amazing, brilliant people that I wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet without IB. I'm glad that this chapter that has been filled with so much unhappiness is coming to an end. I'm ready to start off in a new town with new people, and experience an entirely different kind of lifestyle.

It was a learning experience. That I never want to repeat. It's pretty surreal that this is happening. I moment that I've dreamed of for so long is about a month away.

Iman

Breland

To my closest friends this is for you.

Loved Digital Media content * Warning, this is an extensive list
- & this is mostly for me in the future
Youtube

Julian Smith
Source Fed
JK News
Casey Neistat
bill wurtz  
David Dobrik
h3h3 productions
shane
Just Between Us
Naptural85
Nuclear Family
Philly D
SORTEDfood
SoulPancake
SummerBreak
The Film Theorists
Thomas Frank
WilliamHanesTV

TV Shows

The Office
Jane the Virgin
American Vandal
How to get away with Murder
The Fosters
Girlfriends Guide to Divorce
Quantico
The Flash
On my Block
Scorpion
Are you the one?
UnREAL
Anne with an E
Atypical

Movies 

The Social Network
The Way Way Back
The Big Short *watching this movie changed my life, Highly Recommend

Stuck in Love

Me Earl and the Dying Girl

* I'll update this list when I have more time

Music

Iman 1.0

One Direction
The Vamps
Grouplove
Bridget Mendler
Hot Chelle Rae
The Summer Set
The Cab
Hoodie Allen
The Fray

* I used to mostly listen to Pop, Indie and Alternative music. 

Iman 2.0

BØRNS
John Mayer
Owl City 
Two Door Cinema Club
Twenty One Pilots
Rihanna
Fall Out Boy
Drake
Alt-J 
MGMT
Jon Bellion
The Weekend

Iman 3.0
M83
Bruno Mars
Post Malone
Panama Wedding
Alessia cara
Logic
Ed Sheeren
DNCE
Vance Joy
Adam Levine

Iman 4.0

Boy Pablo
Daniel Ceaser
Peach Pit
Rex Orange County
6LACK
Kehlani
Khalid
Blackbear
Jidenna
Teddy Afro
Bad Suns
Migos
Tobi Lou
Amar pelos Dois - Salvador Sobral

Blog # 14 Witty Walt

                    

STEP 1)  

It was quickly apparent that Whitman's notebook was probably used to make notes in a casual, unsystematic manner. There seems to be lots of random notes and unfinished thoughts. I figured this by the frequent use of question marks and the number of sentences that were crossed out and replaced. The notebook appears to contain names, random notes, poetry, and sketches. A reoccurring theme is a red stamp that says "The Library of Congress. Knowing that he celebrated democracy, and was a published author maybe he was given the stamp?  On page 930 the same red stamp is next to the word Libertad. Libertad is the Spanish word for liberty in English. Maybe, Whitman used the Library of Congress stamp as a symbol of democracy and free speech. This signifies his love of democracy. On the bottom of page 925 he wrote, "Dialogue between WW and "President Elect"". Does that mean that he actually spoke to Abraham Lincoln? Why are the words President Elect in between quotation marks? I have a few theories, the first is that he questions the validity of the Presidential Election, the second is he could simply implying that the dialogue was between him and Lincoln, and lastly the dialogue could entirely be made up. If made up these conversations may have served as inspiration for Whitman's poetry. Near the end, there are a few sketches of Walt Whitman. Although, the sketches get increasingly distorted, perhaps this signifies his vanity. This possibly reveals narcissistic qualities, or that he surrounded himself with other artists.  Also the appearance of the cover suggests that Whitman's notebook endured some wear and tear. I imagine Whitman carried his notebook around everywhere waiting for inspiration to strike. This possibly shows how dedicated he was to his craft.

STEP 2) 

The notes significantly helped my understanding of Whitman's notebook. As earlier stated on one of the first pages there are names, one of the notes explain how one of the names written down is the name of a friend that died in a battle. The note also states that shortly after Whitman volunteered to be a nurse, perhaps the fallen soldier was a former lover? I say this only because I remember Mrs. Genesky mentioning something about Whitman's possible sexual orientation. Regardless, maybe William Giggie (Whitman's friend) along with Whitman's newfound downtime influenced his decision in participating in the war effort. Writing Libertad instead of liberty was probably an intentional choice, and possibly a statement about how liberty and freedom was not limited to the United States, white people, or English speakers. This reveals how he was against slavery, and provides reasoning to volunteer for the North during the war. Whitman uses the well-known metaphor of the ship of state. The notes describe how Abraham Lincoln is now the ship's captain. Also, the notes shed light on the dialogue between Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln. It was not real, it was merely Whitman's imagination; this signifies how Whitman admired Lincoln, and used him to inspire future poems. Earlier, before the Civil War he described America as still and stagnant cesspools of water. Now, he describes fast winds and treacherous storms. This signifies his use of storm and sea metaphors. The storm is the tension built between differing opinions and the ship is the country these opinions pertain to. In addition, he says to welcome the problems ahead, that this war would  show what the nation was made of. He held the belief that war showed a nations true colors in tee rems of strength and philosophy. In his poem "Ship of Libertad" he states, "blow mad winds fall around black clouds-clouds of death". It seems that Whitman welcomes the Civil War. He sees the Civil war as a test of democracy's strength. I imagine that," black clouds of death" relate to gun shots going off (gunpowder) and fires. The most important things to take away from his notebook is his use of libertad, his dialogue with Lincoln, his idea on how the Civil War was a part of a large historical cycle, and his sea and storm metaphors. Although, I believe that most of the notes made in these pages were somewhat random and not super purposeful, he did remain consistent throughout his notebook with its themes and metaphors.