Whatever!

Actions speak louder than words
And your silence is screaming at me.

I find it incredible that you call yourself my friend, spend time in places I spend time in, yet don't speak to me. Except, of course, to give me lots of advice about what I should and shouldn't be thinking or feeling. All of which is actually none of your business.

I don't want to be friends with you, and you've been a terrible friend. So I hope that when you feel like the odd one out cos everyone thinks you're 'weird', not 'funny', or you're standing by yourself and all your cool new friends are talking to other people, you'll remember that once someone did think you were funny and did want to talk to you, and you were the one who pushed them away. More fool you.

Definitions of words in my readings

(All definitions from The Chambers Dictionary, 1995)

Parochial - of or relating to a parish; restricted or confined within narrow limits; denominational.

Apotheosis - a deification; glorification; a perfect example of its type.

Raconteur - a teller of anecdotes

Polemical - given to disputing, controversial.

Ephemeral - existing only for a day; short-lived; fleeting.

*But as you know, drama students aren't that intellectual ;-) *

Literacy troubles

We are currently in the middle of a big debate about literacy, and what we should be teaching, and whether our spelling is gud enough. Mine's pretty gud. At least I don't spell scissors "sizzers".

However, many people are upset (so I hear) about this problem. And there is a literacy problem. The question is, how to address it?

Fortunately at home group last night, Louise (one of my friends) sang me a song that will probably go a long way towards solving literacy problems. (Sung to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands)

A person, place or thing is a noun
An action or a doing word's a verb
An adverb describes a verb
An adjective a noun
Remember all these rules and you're set
Ching ching! (just a nice little way to end the song :-)

That is totally going to revolutionise literacy in Australia.

Intense

I had a great post, but the computer blue screen of death-ed me. So it's gone.

I was just having a whinge about how intense Mondays are. Someone else cried in our drama lecture today. Usually due to subject matter that can hit just a little too close to home. But I suppose that is part of the beauty of drama, as well as part of its downfall. Mind you, it's getting intense - death, murder, grief, leukemia, sex/gender, chauvinism, eating disorders.....can we do a comedy now please!

Critical thinking. I had a lot to say about that, but it's not really important. I just don't like it. I disagree with some of it. Like the idea that we have to be skeptical about anything that claims to be universal truth. Is that a universal truth? They contradicted themselves. But I guess I'm thinking critically about critical thinking and therefore proving them right by proving them wrong :-( I hate that.

Well, too much skepticism is not good for faith. Some is - it makes us question and come to logical, rational conclusions based on evidence. But the problem comes when someone has all the evidence they're ever going to get and is still saying, "I can't believe, because it might not be true." Skepticism. Doubt. Too much of it.

And that's my Monday post.

"Tired and learned"

Right. Now I'm posting on this blog, because on my first blog, right at the bottom, is the "Sweet Revenge" post. And someone may or may not be posting on it. So if they want to, I'm leaving it on there. Hence I can't put anything else on there until they comment. So I'm putting it here.

Today we looked at heaps of stuff in Drama Curriculum 2. It was so amazing, I just wanted to debrief what happened.

In the morning lecture, we did a Greek tragedy workshop, based on 'Antigone' (pronounced Ann-tig-on-ee) and also the story of Rachel Corey, a girl who went to Israel/Palestine to help protect a Palestinian village. The link was that both of them were female activists - Antigone, who insisted on burying her dead brother (even though it was against the law - you'll have to read the play to see why) and Rachel insisted on defending the Palestinians. Both died for their convictions.

I got to play the part of Antigone! Yeah! And she makes this awesome speech to the king about how she's going to defy him and bury her brother and die for it, because she was going to follow God rather than man (burying her brother had to do with her convictions and beliefs). So yeah, she totally stuck it to him!

And one of my friends was in role as Rachel, and we were doing this thing called 'hot-seating' (where someone sits in a chair as a character and answers questions that the audience ask, in character) - and she's actually always wanted to be a humanitarian, and when people started asking questions like, "What do you say to people who say, 'It's not your fight'?" she started crying! Poor thing! But it was so moving......I think a lot of us had tears in our eyes too.

I discovered that drama is not really about drama at all. Drama is actually about life, the universe and everything. For example, in this Greek tragedy workshop we were doing (it was an example of a unit for year 11's), it wasn't about "Teach the children how to act in Greek tragedy". It was actually exploring questions of "Why do bad things happen? Are we responsible for them happening to us, or is it just bad luck? What is the difference between a tragedy and bad luck?" Greek tragedy and all its stylistic conventions (i.e. voice, movement, lyrical style, costuming, chorus etc etc) was a means used to explore those issues - and they're fairly philosophical, I think. So I knew I loved drama for a reason.

The last thing that happened was also about Greek tragedy - looking into the style itself (just for our own purposes) - we did a drama based on Medea and a story of a woman who drowned her two children. It was pretty horrible, actually. I was going to write this to debrief on it, but I don't feel like I need to so much now. The thing I did remember was that one of the purposes of Greek tragedy is to shock the audience and attempt to 'purge' them of the bad stuff by exposing it onstage......hence the absolutely shocking story of Medea who killed her own children to get back at her ex-husband Jason.

Right. So I know that all sounds horrible and shocking, but that's how it felt too! And it's over now. Hooray.

I'm off to do a few things. Please comment on your own personal learning experiences of late :-)

Matt Thiessen (lead singer of Relient K)

Hmm.....I just went and listened to Matthew Thiessen on purevolume.com

He's done a new song called 'Faking my own Suicide' - it's kind of humourous and horrible at the same time (it's not meant to be horrible, I don't think - I just find it that way!)

So yeah - don't listen to it if you don't want to!

Poison Ivy by Matthew Thiessen

Poison ivy
Better condition than I be
Hook me to an I.V.
While I whisper 'Why me?'

In the freezer
Your words give me seizures
And if we take a breather
We'll break up and be hurt

Chorus

I won't let you buy cigarettes
But I'll let you by with regrets
One thing I'll find a sure bet
A caged bird will fly if she's left

And I'll try not to cry
Your fingers dry my eyes
A memory I'll never forget

I've been wronged
Of little defence
And I'll sing a song
Of inconsequence

And my days
With you are numbered
And I'll be amazed
If we see another

Chorus

So
Now you're gone
We always said
That would be the best thing

Now
I fear I'm wrong,
Or at least
That's what my heart is confessing

Cos I miss you
And I wish you
Were someone that I could forget
Cos I miss you
And I wish you
Were not number one on my list
My list of regrets
Now I'm broken up
Because we've broken up
It's all a big 'what if'
What if I'd spoken up
For what I wanted?

Poison ivy
Better condition than I be
Hook me to an I.V.
While I whisper 'Why me?'

Listen to this song at www.purevolume.com/matthewthiessenandtheearthquakes

The other blog

So how are people stumbling across this blog? Perhaps I'll put a link on my first blog to it.

I'm not sure what to use this one for. Maybe sad stuff - the background is kind of moody. Then again, I like to post a variety of stuff on my first blog.

Well, if anyone has any ideas....... I was almost going to delete this one tonight, and then saw Trev's comment. Thanks Trev - even though that was quite a sad song.

I'll post another sad one.

I Hate Christmas Parties by Relient K

Hope it snows this week
A snowflake on your cheek
Would make this Christmas so beautiful
But that would just bring the pain
Cos things can't stay the same
These holidays won't be wonderful

Chorus
I look under the tree
But there's nothing I see
Cos it's a broken heart you're giving me
I can't figure you out
Is this what Christmas is all about?
Cos it's a broken heart that you're giving me

I don't want to talk
I'm sick of all this talking
A broken heart wrapped up in a box
There's tear drops in my stocking

Chorus

I hate Christmas parties
You offer me some punch, but I just shrug
I hate Christmas parties
You and the cookie tray
Both hear me say,
"Bah, humbug."

Fa la la la la la (times 5 million)

Chorus