Cat's Cradle

Just wanted to say that writing this paper is reminding me how much I love Cat's Cradle and Vonnegut's writing in general. It's such an intricate puzzle. One of my problems with this paper is that I could probably write an analysis of Cat's Cradle longer than the actual novel. and that is before I even touch the other novel I am connecting it to. It really embodies everything that this course is about.

Thoughts on this class

You know.. one of the things I love most about this class is that we actually get something from it beyond the texts we read. I feel as if I don't even get something from the texts in other classes (I won't mention names), and it makes me question why those unfulfilling classes should even be a class in college (or how the teacher bullshitted their way into the position). In my opinion, yes college is about becoming more intelligent, but it's also about finding yourself. and Janelle has tirelessly tried to make us think for ourselves (by paradoxically leading us mindlessly toward thinking for ourselves). It's amazing that we need to be TAUGHT how to think for ourselves. Are we really that conditioned that we just accept what we are reading/experiencing/seeing? I love that the class/Janelle have provided a paper on morals to be taken from the books. It is truly a time to reflect, as well as another opportunity to hone some writing skills! :)

pertaining to memory

While on the blog I noticed that I have chosen the same exact quote as someone else, from the novella Aura.

"You don't look at your watch again, that useless object tediously measuring time in accordance with human vanity, those little hands marking out the long hours that were invented to disguise the real passage of time, which races with a mortal and insolent swiftness no clock could ever measure."

Memeories are everything. They shape us. Locacted within time, Memories contain the very esscence of "life". Smells, sights, events, all your fondest things.Stored in an Organ in your Body? I have been trying to wrap my mind around this transcendental concept for a while now.

At first I was satisfied with the reality that memories were in fact within us. After several years I found this a little hard to swallow, among other theories, I even posed the question....Since memories were not totally of the physical world, Could memories be stored within another dimension surrounding us, accessable by our brains?

This brought me to isolate certain concepts of memory supportive of my question. Thoughts came to me concerning the fragmented nature of memories, manner of their developement, as well as, their illusive....their illusive.....thinking.....illusive what? feeling....notion.....vibe....& it hit me! Aura. Memories all have an Aura. Something, a feeling or notion, that developes within us as we participate in remembering.

After that, I began to see memories and the act of remembering as spiritual; sacred. I began to see the significance of participating in memory.

I began to view memory with great signifigance, as Tradition.