Opener on Writing Process (a little late)

Summarize Wilco's approach to creating a song.

They throw together a rough first attempt, then strip it down to the very basics and rework and expand on each part.

What is your process for creative writing?

I don't have a process. I just sit down and write. It works because while I'm typing one part, I'm also thinking about what I'm going to write in the next sentance or paragraph. So since my brain can multi-task, I can afford to just do all the prewriting in my head, on the go.

Opener on Nostalgia (a little late)

What is nostalgia?

I believe that nostalgia is a feeling of fond rememberance and longing for the past.

What images come to mind when you hear this music?

This reminds me of my elementary school chorus room, because we actually had to sing "Rock Around the Clock" in 5th grade.

What sights/ sounds/ feelings come to mind when you think of your childhood?

I remember throwing up a lot, which, frankly, is a sight/ sound/ feeeling that I do not like to remember (I had a weak stomach back then). I also remember that I was really impatient and fidgety all the time, more-so than most little kids, and still am a little today. While I'm not all that nostalgic for those things, I do miss getting up early and watching Saturday morning cartoons.

First Reading Response Blog- Poverty

The two authors, Chitra Divakaruni and Peter Singer, have two very different opinions on world hunger and poverty. However it is hard to compare them, because while Singer is discussing hunger and poverty and morals and philosophy and, well, pretty much everything, Divakaruni is only talking about one specific thing: not embargoing child labor. But the gist is, Singer wants you to place basic morals above all else, while Divakaruni wants you to look beyond the heartwarming hypothetical stuff and think about the logic of a problem.

I think that Divakaruni has a more valid point of view. She grew up in India, surrounded by poverty and child labor. Meanwhile, Singer is just a rich philosopher sitting in his armchair passing judgement on the rest of the world. And also, there is immediately a reader bias towards Divakaruni, just because of her third-world-sounding name. However, she seems like the more biased author, with her family having had a child in employment when she was growing up. But on the other hand, of course Singer can talk all he wants about sacrifice and charity; he's a rich and famous author. But to many Americans, even his suggested $200 is still a lot of money, and losing an antique car is just on entirely new level.

Ultimately, I would agree with Divakaruni's viewpoint. I think that while us Americans can afford to be moral and charitable and "free" (I believe no one is truly free, but now is not the time to get into that), in the rest of the world, one has to do the most logical and practical thing, not necessarily what is "right" by our standards. Although one last thing that I recognize as I'm writing this is that I'm biased against Singer. I never have really tolerated armchair philosophers who feel they have the right to judge others. Also, his description said he helped found the animal rights movement, meaning he is responsible to subjecting our world to PETA (ugh). But even with the hindsight recognition of my bias, it does not change my original standing.

First Listening Blog

I think that the musical facts support my opinion that the song is strange.This is mainly because the instruments are synthesized. I always found that to me, synth sounds very weird and off, so any song with a lot of synth will of course sound weird to me. I mostly picked out the synchopation and synth because the song sounded strange, so I picked the strangest sounding things. I might have a slight bias against this song, however, because I don't normally listen to this kind of music, so of course it will sound alien to my ears.