miércoles, 18 de febrero de 2009

The Eight-Year-Old-Me

Imagine that you could travel through the time. This would be a very exciting experience in life if you could do it. You could correct all yours mistakes or do something that you would not have done before. I have watched movies about this idea so many times, and I ask myself, what would be the opinion of the Eight-Year-Old-Me if I met him?
Our meeting would be extraordinarily funny because the Eight-Year-Old-Me would start to ask me so many why questions. The most obvious questions that he would ask me would be “why are you not the smartest of class?” I remember that the Eight-Year-Old-Me was a quiet boy. He didn’t like to talk so much because he wasn’t friendly. However, the Eight-Year-Old-Me loved study. He got the highest score in his classroom, in other words he was smart. I still like to study, but I am a little lazy about that. As well, I am not anymore the first in the class. I would answer him answers that I know that he would not like. In this case, I could tell him “because there are people better than me”. In addition, the Eight-Year-Old-Me wanted be a lawyer. However, about being lawyer, that was in the past because right now, I want to become a programmer system. He would said “Why are you studying programming and system and not laws?” and I would tell him “Because when I was in high school I decided to study a vocational school about systems for that reason that all my high school friends took that vocational school.”
I am slothful about study because sometimes I don’t finish my homework, sleep so much, and spend much time to do things that really are not necessary like watching cartoons, listening music, thinking in girls, among other things. So he would ask me another question about my studies: “Why don’t you do your homework sometimes?” “Because sometimes I feel too lazy doing my homework, and I spend much time with girls” would be my answer. Therefore, the Eight-Year-Old-Me would ask me “Why do you think more in girls than in your studies?” In July of 1998, the Eight-Year-Old-Me got his first girlfriend (Jaroly), with who had a relationship among four month. After he finished with Jaroly, he had an utterly bad opinion about relationship. He thought that it was a waste of time because girls distracted him so much in his studies. However, I changed the way that I think about woman. Right now, I consider that girls are the best that there are in the world. Even, I am in love of a girl four years older than me; I talk to her all the nights and think to her all the time. Although I know that he wouldn’t like my answer I could tell him “Because, mmmm…….. I think that you are too young to understand that.”
According to the passage of time, I have lost my abilities like a basketball defense player because after I left basketball, I have been a baseball, volleyball, chess player and also a swimmer which has become my favorite sport. Conversely, he liked sports specially basketball. He played in a team called Mauricio Baez, also he was an extremely good defense player, but he left basketball in 1999 because my mother and his mother in the same time fall sick, and she couldn’t take him to play basketball. Another question that he would inquire about that would be “Why have you lost the abilities of basketball defense player?” and I think that the answer for this questions would be the most passable for him, this answer would be “Because when I left basketball I focus my life to other sports and to study.”
If I met with the Eight-Year-Old-Me, he would find many changes in my lives. I am 90% different than I was before. Obviously, the Eight-Year-Old-Me would think that I am the most pathetic man in that world after he heard my answers, but I would tell him some advices the first one would be “don’t judge me if you don’t know” another could be “when the stage of girls, relationship, and parties come to your life. Please, don’t pay much attention for that” and “always refuse the idea of being lazy.” Evidently, I think that if the idea of can go through the time would be real, it would be fantastic, and the answer of my questions is that the Eight-Year-Old-Me would be astonishing, and he would feel sad because almost everything about him changed.

How Has Arts Influenced My Life?

"Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart" said Paul Casals, a Spanish Catalan cellist and later conductor. Music is an art form whose medium is sound organized in time. In addition, music can influence the life of a person, like Paul Casals said in other words. Moreover, I can say that music influence my life in a few ways.
Music has pressed me to write poetry. While I am not studying poetry, some times when I am inspire specially by woman I wrote poems or lyrics songs. I remember that a half year ago I wrote a poem for my ex-girlfriend, a woman from the Dominican Republic, after I heard a song called “Un Amor Verdadero” by Jerry Rivera. One verse of my poem said “an air plane changed my life, sorry it changed our life. However, someday another airplane will take me to you, and with me our happiness.” That verse means to me that we were separated by distance, but that situation won’t be forever. Moreover, I am writing another verse for another girl. Each time that I hear songs like “Llamado de Emergencia” by Daddy Yankee, “Cara de Niño” by Jerry Rivera, and “Mayor Que Yo” by Los Benjamin, I encourage writing that poem, which I hope to finish soon, because those songs describe my feelings and my way of thinking. Obviously, when I hear music, I inspire to write to girls.
Writing poems is a good skill that music enthuse me. Furthermore, music inspires me also to become skilled at an instrument, the drums. When I was in high school, I used chairs like if the chairs would be drums and I played it and my classmates sang songs with the rhythm that produced on the chairs. One day, Christopher, one of my high school’s classmates, told me an advice about learning to play real drums then I asked my uncle, who knows to play drums, to teach me. A few months later I knew already how to play the drums. Definitely, music has inclined me to play an instrumental musical (Drums). It was not difficult because my uncle tough me in the best way that he could. Music has also pushed me to record songs by other authors with my voice. This is the funniest music influence in my life because my voice is utterly strong and ugly to sing. Sometimes, when I listened to music, there are songs especially of the genre Salsa which motivate me to download the instrumental song, take my microphone, and star to sing those songs. Besides, occasionally, I paraphrase some songs and I recorded with my voice and my words. Unquestionably, the fact of singing with my own tone has influenced dramatically in my life. I know that I won’t become an artist, but I enjoy it so much when I do that.
Therefore, art is a pretty way to express ideas and feelings. As well art has inside it Music that in my opinion is the best element of the art, and influences so much in the life of many people, similar to my life for example, in a attractive way like Paul Casals said.

jueves, 29 de enero de 2009

Censorship

Visualize the world without music. Or imagine a world where people decided what to play, sing, see, and even may listen to in the privacy of our own homes, that world already exists. In more countries that you might think, musicians and composers are under danger, and that danger called “Censorship”, is growing. Day by day, many artists are censored in a variety of ways. I disagree with censorship and I will give you different examples about some artists that have been censored.
Madonna, an American recording artist and entertain, was censored on November 22 of 2006 for a crucifixion scene in “Live to Tell”. The Christian church lobbied in support of censoring Madonna because they thought that these actions were insulting God. Their decision was they still show “Live To Tell”, but used different camera angles so that Madonna isn’t seen until she gets off the cross. This case has been challenged by many religious authorities. However, really, the ban has been lifted. I think that the religious authorities were unjust with her, and they should not criticize her for that crucifixion scene because many other artists have offended God like Madonna, and no one says anything about it. I disagree with this kind of censorship because if we allow that maybe it would destroy the musical image of many artists. In my opinion, this case could have an utterly bad future effect on the freedom of regular citizens because artists can not capable to express their ideas and citizens won’t know the artist’s feelings or opinions.
Madonna’s case is a religious censorship, which has been lobbied and banned by the Christian church. However, censorship can also be political, on November 1st of 2007; Alejandro Sanz was censored by the government for performing in a state-controlled stadium in Venezuela. This happened because in 2004, he was interviewed in the radio and asked questions about Chavez, the president of Venezuela. Sanz said: “I don’t like your president. I don’t like those people from other places either, like Venezuelans who like their president.” For that expression, the government made the decision to expel him from Venezuela. However, the ban has been lifted, and Alejandro Sanz will be allowed to perform at a private concert hall in Venezuela. Obviously, I think that Alejandro Sanz shouldn’t have said that in 2004. However, taking revenge is the worst way to resolve problems so Chaves did it also bad. For that reason, I disagree with the censorship in this case.
Religious and political censorship are not the only kinds of censorship, moral cases of censorship also exist. For example, a Beatles’ photo album called “yesterday and today” was censored in June, 1966 by them because in their photo the Beatles were wearing butcher smocks draped with cuts of meat and cut up to pieces baby doll parts. They thought that their art was being “butchered”. Because of the bloody scene, the Beatles and Capitol records made the decision to design a new cover-image, called the “Trunk Cover”. The original photo never was published and was instead replaced by two other, less compromising for the Beatles, also known as “The Fab Four”. In my opinion, the Beatles were a band powerful enough to really challenge their label executives. I agree with this censorship because if they hadn’t censored themselves, another person maybe could cancel the whole production with a censorship.
Obviously, censorship is based on fear of the authorities. In my opinion, music is a free expression of the ideas, traditions, and emotions of individuals and people. It may express musicians’ hopes and aspirations, their joys and sorrows, their very characteristics as a custom. There are people in the world over who are defenseless by the life of a free exchange of ideas; also, there are those who will stop at nothing to strangle them. Although I do not agree with the ideas of those artists, I will protect their sacred right to express their ideas because if no body protects them the music could disappear by the hands of the censorship.

miércoles, 28 de enero de 2009

My Top Five Most Important People in my life

1-Miriam Almonte (My mother)
2-Yosmarlin Rodriguez (My best friend, a girl from The dominican Republic)
3-Tomas Rodriguez (My best friend, a boy from The Dominican Republic)
4-Marionellys Mejia ("A friend")
5-Nicole Rodriguez (My little sister)

Top Three Ways Music Has Influenced My Life

1-Pressed me to write poetry (I am not studying poetry but when I am inspire I wrote it)
2-Inspire me to become skilled at an instrument (Drums)
3-Push me to record songs by other authors with my voice

My Personal Survey

1-Would you rather be rich and have no free time or struggle with money but have loads of free time?
I would rather be struggle with money but loads of free time.
2-If you were a boss, would your rather be liked or feared?
I would rather be liked.
3-Do you prefer to dress nicely or comfortably?
I prefer to dress nicely.
4-Would you ever get a tattoo? Do you have one?
No, I wouldn’t ever get a tattoo.
5-Who is the most influential person in your life?
The most influential person in my life is my mother.
6-Do you prefer the excitement of a new relationship or the comfort of a long relationship?
I prefer both of them
7-You’re walking down the street with your love, where are you going?
We are going to some privacy place.
8-What is your pet peeve?
My pet peeve is dog.
9-What do you get excited about?
When I was dancing or swimming, in other word when my body is in movement
10What's the last thing you laughed really hard over?
The last thing I laughed really hard over was when I came back to New York my brother smashed with a TV in the airport.
11-Could you live without your cell phone for one week? One month?
In New York, Yes, I could live without my cell phone for one week, one month, or one year. But in the Dominican Republic I couldn’t.
12-What woke you up this morning?
I woke up this morning when my ex-classmate Karla called me.
13-Do you have MySpace or Facebook?
Yes, I have MySpace and Facebook.
14-If you could take one friend on vacation with you, who would it be?
Marionellys
15-Are you scared of spiders, cockroaches, or snakes?
No, I’m not scared of spiders, cockroaches, or snakes.
16-Could you go a month without cursing?
Yes, I could.
17-Does cursing make you uncomfortable or are you indifferent?
Indifferent
18-Do you prefer a wild night on the town or a quiet evening at home?
Depend of the occasion.
19-If you could move somewhere else, would you?
Yes, I would.
20-How many true friends do you have?
I have five.
21-What is something you really want right now?
I want to pass the Act test and take Eng 101 classes no ESL classes.
22-Are you a forgiving person?
Yes, I am.
23-Have you ever thought you were going to marry someone?
Yes, I have.
24-Last person to make you smile?
Gerardo, one of my ex-classmates
25-Do you miss anyone?
Yes, I do.
26-Are you sarcastic?
No, I am not.
27-Is it more important to be honest or kind?
Being honest is more important.
28-Are you a bad or a good influence?
I think that I am a good influence.
29-Is there anyone you want to visit you?
Yes, there is.
30-What time did you wake up this morning?
I woke up at eleven o’clock.
31-What is something your friends make fun of you for?
My stile to talk
32-In one word describe yourself.
Unpredictable
33-Is there anyone you wish could “see you now?”
Yes, there is.
34-What is your dream job?
Owner Company
35-Do you listen to music? How often?
Yes, I do. Almost, all the time
36-What is your favorite movie?
Batman Dark's Knight
37-Who is your favorite celebrity?
Jennifer Lopez
38-Brittany Spears: yes or no?
Yes
39-Michael Jackson: yes or no?
No
40-Tom Cruise: yes or no?
Yes
41-Madonna: yes or no?
No
42-What is your favorite song?
“Yo Te Amo”
43-Are you easily offended?
No, I’m not.
44-What is your favorite book?
Cien Años de Soledad (one hundred years of loneliness) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
But this semester I am reading a verty interestering book called "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby
45-Does the idea of going to college intimidate you?
No, it doesn’t.
46-Do you like change?
No much
47-Are you a control freak?
Yes, I am.
48-What is the scariest experience you’ve ever had?
No one that I remember
49-What is the happiest moment you’ve had in the last year?
When I went to the Dominican Republic and I saw my mother again.
50-Do you consider yourself a hard worker, or are you lazy?
I consider a hard worker although I am lazy right now because I don’t have job.
51-What is your favorite leisure time activity?
Chatting
52-Do you like reading? Why or why not?
No, I don’t like reading because mostly, it is boring.
53-When you read, what makes it interesting for you?
I don’t know exactly.
54-What makes you feel like a successful student?
Learning for life and raise my score
55-What are your plans for next year?
Continuing studying and try to get a job
56-Where do you see yourself in five years?
Using my major and maybe with plans to form a family
57-What is your greatest challenge in English?
Learning speak it
58-What is advice you would give to a friend who wanted to move to NYC?
You can move to New York
59-What is one piece of advice you would give to a friend who wanted to study English at LaGuardia?
I recommend LaGuardia for you because when I came to New York my English was very low, but on LaGuardia I have improved it.
60-What is one piece of advice you have learned in the past year that you will/would share with your children?
Nothing is difficult in the life, when I started Clip program I thought that I would take much time to learn English, but now I think that I was wrong because I could and I did it.

viernes, 23 de enero de 2009

My Top Five Music

1-Yo Te Amo (I Love You) By Chayanne
a) Album: Simplemente
b) Year: 2000
c) Genere: Ballad
d) Memorable Lyrics: “En palabras simples y comunes yo te extraño, en lenguaje terrenal mi vida eres tú, en total simplicidad seria yo te amo”
e) Memory Association: “No tengas miedos ni dudas (chorus) este amor es demasiado bueno que tu serás mi mujer (chorus) yo te pertenezco todo entero mira mi pecho, lo dejo abierto para que vivas en el” This part remember me when I was in love of my ex-girlfriend and I was trying to flirty her I always tell her “You will be my girl”.

2-Cara de Niño (Child’s face) By Jerry Rivera
a) Album: Cara de Niño
b) Year: 1993
c) Genere: Salsa
d) Memorable Lyrics: “Otras mujeres he amado he sufrido y he llorado y he vivido lo mas dulce del placer”
e) Memory Association: “Soy cara de niño con alma de hombre, ven conóceme te reto que hay amor pa´ que te sobre, yo no soy tan niño, tengo alma de hombre” I like this part of this song because it reminds me that actually I am in love and I’m trying to flirty a girl, who is four years older than me.

3-Comerte a Besos (I am going to eat you up with kisses) by Victor Manuel
a) Album: Por Tu Placer
b) Year: 2001
c) Genere: Salsa
d) Memorable Lyrics: “Te voy a comer, a besos, te voy a llegar muy dentro, hoy te voy a amar, muy lento, y viviré las fantasías que soñaba noche y día, con tu cuerpo”
e) Memory Association: “Tanto tuve que esperar por ti, ya he perdido la noción del tiempo, pero conquistarte fue mi fin y hoy se hizo realidad mi sueño” Like “Yo Te Amo” by Chayanne, this song remind me my ex-girlfriend because I spend much time to be her boyfriend.

4-My Heart Will Go On (Titanic) By Celine Dion
a) Album: Let’s talk about love
b) Year: 1997
c) Genere: Pop
d) Memorable Lyrics: “Every night in my dreams I see you, I feel you, that is how I know you go on”
e) Memory Association: “Near, far, wherever you are I believe that the heart does go on” before my ex-girlfriend and I break up, I came to NYC and I hear this song all the time especially this part.


5-Nuestra Historia (Our History) By Roque Valero
a) Album: Cae el Amor
b) Year: 2002
c) Genere: Ballad
d) Memorable Lyrics: “Nuestra historia es de venganzas y mentiras, estrategias y de falsas reconquistas, hay llamadas que nunca han debido hacerse y miradas que el tiempo las desvanece”
e) Memory Association: “Nuestra historia es tan compleja y dispareja, absoluta relegada e inocente, que si tuvo algún pasado no hay presente, y el futuro se me hace inconsistente” This song like many other songs, remind me my ex-girlfriend but this help me to understand that our relationship is in the past so I need to live the present and try to flirty the girl, who right now is the owner of my heart.