19th Century Russian Literature: How well read are you?

Books continue to roll out on sheets of cheap paper from dirty publishing houses. These books are considered great if their pages morph into money. Fair enough, since books worth reading were usually in the same category, published as serial installments over time in order to generate readers. The difference between great novels of the past and today is theme. Adult themes today, things that grown-ups would appreciate(?), seem to be dark. When looking for truly dark literature, seek out a book written in between 1900-1950 in Germany. Today themes are composed of homosexuality, rape, dishonesty, abuse and murder.
Old books deal with the same themes except they also deal with the opposite. The focus falls on what is admirable rather than terrible. Take the hero from The Idiot, (Dostoyevsky) Muishkin. He is not perfect yet his purpose is to show readers what a truly decent man would deal with daily in modern society.

One passage that I enjoy is about a third of the way through. The Prince is arguing with himself about one of his "Friends" Rogojin. Rogojin is after the same woman, Nastasia, but for more impure reasons. The Prince argues that Rogojin is not only driven blindly by passion, but he does indeed have a human heart. His heart allows him to love Nastasia as a sister, confidant or lover but is often eclipsed by his lust for money, status and power in society.
The Prince is walking around St. Petersburg thinking of Rogojin and recalling a conversation. Rogojin had said to the Prince, "Your Pity is greater than my Love." The Prince then proceeds to internally argue this point and points out that Rogojin possesses pity or true Christian love for the girl. The Prince than thinks this:

"He remembered how he had suffered that first day when he thought he observed in her the symptoms of madness. He had almost fallen into despair. How could he have lost his hold on her when she ran away from him to Rogojin? He ought to have run after her himself, rather than wait for news as he had done...Rogojin attributes her strangeness to other causes, to passion! What insane jealousy!"

This passage is what I am trying to explain. The depth of the character, his inner struggle and outer complications shine as he contemplates his "friend's" feelings and thoughts. Then he kicks himself for not securing the beautiful Nastasia and saving her from the unbridled danger she pledged herself to. Finally, the passage completes its thought and pities Rogojin, the very man who, in a few pages, attempts to kill the Prince. What a submarine dive of human emotion! The rest of the book is fantastic and culminates in a bittersweet ending that encouraged me to think of my relationships.
Now every time I catch myself thinking frustrated thoughts about people I know I try to complete my thought as the Prince would, with empathy. I also realize I do it for selfish reasons. I want the Karma, the payment in the ever after, the respect and admiration of peers and justification for my judgemental thoughts. I only hope that with practice the selfishness will dissolve and leave me a genuinely decent man. Sometimes I am an Idiot.

Implanted Ideas

I saw the movie Inception this summer. Some people didn't and I may need to clarify. But instead of doing so verbally, I will use a video. Watch the clip below, learn that Inception is about dreams and Ideas and Leo DiCap.


Some people actually liked this movie. Others loved it. Case in point, Nelly. This guy ate the dream idea up and I am going to be the first to point this out. His new music video is 100% Inception inspired. How can that be? Easy. Rappers like Nelly go to the movies in their spare time. Sure they do other things too like play golf, go to clubs, make music and claim to drink Krystal, (though I do not believe that because that beverage is VERY expensive) and even shop at Wal-Mart. Nelly has been participating in these activities lately instead of putting new albums out. Thankfully, this inspired a new song and video from the STL rapper. Watch the music video and tell me it is not an ode to this summer's imaginary blockbuster.


Check out this Inception Theme reMix

Blue Horseshoe Loves Anacott Steel

Charlie Sheen,
Thanks for doing a cameo in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps", you almost gave Shia LaBeouf run for his money, not quite though. ; )
Love,
Erin and Rosie

Why your English research paper sucks

I have been hearing about ideas for research projects the past week. Frankly, I am bored of the same old ideas and overdone topics. Are you wondering what topics are way overdone? Maybe you are old and have been out of school for a while or, you are about to do a research paper or better yet, you are only eight years old and reading this blog. Where are your parents?! So here is a list of things not to write about:
Underage drinking. Only people underage write about this and the arguments are weak. Wait a few more years.
Legal Weed. Unless you are addressing the impact legalization of marijuana would have on arable land use in the western united states, pick a new topic.
Flag Burning. I am yawning over this topic because it does not matter.
Gay Marriage. This would be interesting and cutting edge if the paper came out 20 years ago. Now it seems more like a cop out.
Old People. I do not know what one hopes to research on this topic.

Why shouldn't you write about these things? Practical reasons really. Your English teacher has heard these same arguments too many times. You will get a markedly worse grade unless you discover a new cure for aids or economic theory and even then you are scratching for beans in the African desert. The teacher will be so bored they will skim right over the great new discovery and your credit will never come to fruition. Also, if you ever hope to use a professional writing sample to get a job, a paper on the benefits of illicit drug use or economic positives of prostitution will give your resume syphilis. You may think that because Sarah Palin talks about these things on her Twitter page that they are imprtant. Do not fool yourself. I have a feeling that her english grades were not as good as mine are.

I realize that I have worried many of you and shown you how drab your colorful imagination really is. So to apologize I will give a few examples that can earn you an A without any more than a thesis staement.
What really killed the Dinosaurs? Everyone wants to know and you do not need to provide conclusive proof plus, you can put a picture of T-Rex on the cover and your teacher will be too distracted to notice the logical fallicies and ill conceived arguements within the pages.
Brazillian Ethanol and the U.S. tarrifs. This almost sounds like a love story. Everyone loves romance.
Times New Roman as the standard font for assingments. There are books about font design and a reason why Times New Roman is preferred. Find out and I bet your teacher does not know why she requires it.
How Smoking will solve America's debt crisis. This may sound wild but as long as more people in China smoke and become sick, America can hide behind a literal smoke screen of Red Giant cigarettes.

The above ideas will help guide you to a better grade. Papers are easy as long as the system and writer are friends. Remember that and forget about writing on topics the unwashed masses think important.

Mother (2009)

This is a philosophical post. Do not read further if you do not like thinking. PS, It is also a movie review.

Mother (The movie that was made in Korea in the year 2009), is a fantastic focus on the nature of perfect motherhood. The movie itself begins lightheartedly with a few comical scenes but progressively becomes darker. The whole plot revolves around a son who is simple minded, his mother who will do anything for him and a high school girl who sleeps
The movie raised a question in my mind. What is perfect motherhood? To whom can we look and see a paragon of nurture? In nature mothers some mothers stop at nothing to protect their children while others abandon babies to face the challenges of the world alone. What about humans? When should the line be drawn? This movie really made me think about the difficult task of raising beings into this world. around.
The son is egged on after a night of drinking to pursue the high school tramp as a gateway to manhood. The next morning the son is arrested for the young girl's murder. The mother then sets out to prove his innocence. She becomes obsessed with sneaking around and filling in the gaps the police leave vacant. Then twists and turns in the plot create an intricate mystery that kept me guessing until the end when my initial suspicions were confirmed.


Mother raises questions about the purest form of love on this earth, love of a mother for her child. It is love that I had never thought about or questioned until this movie. Now I am stuck thinking about when a mother should disown her child or sacrifice her own life in order to protect the offspring. The dilemma is intense and complex. It is, like most things in life, not black and white but instead a shade of grey. Grey is an uncomfortable color due to its lack of uncertainty. When something so solid as love is painted grey it is an emotional betrayal. Mother describes maternal love as a dangerous beast that must be properly controlled. Otherwise it evolves into a dangerous obsession that affects lives of all involved.


PS. If you were thinking the above painting was Mary Cassatt, you are right. This is a classy blog.

Want to Know What Your Cat is Thinking?

If you guys are like me then you probably do not own a tv and just use your computer for most of your video and television entertainment. And if you spend most of that video viewing time checking out cute cat videos and trying to find a new anime series to watch cause you've already finished two this week then we'd probably get along really well. And I also think that you'll like these next few videos. If not than you'll at least be able to learn a little bit about a cats thought process