Stevie Nicks

I love Stevie Nicks. My dream was to go see her at jazzfest... Yeah this virus sucks. Everyone listen to Stevie, she's literally amazing and beautiful. That is all.

P.s. Tanner I don't want to hear ANYTHING out of you in the comments
P.p.s Bella Donna and The Other Side of the Mirror are my favorite albums, I have them on vinyl...no one knows what that is anymore hahahahahahahahaha

                      
                                                      I love her!!!! Look at her go!!!

Quick Check In

Hey guys, I just wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing. It has now been 2 weeks of online school and being quarantined. I am very bored and have been watching a lot of Netflix. I have been playing a lot of card games and board games with my family. Also, I have been cooking a lot. Since we have to eat every meal from home I have been making a bunch of different meals that I have never made before. What have y'all been up to? Did anyone pick up any new hobbies? I miss y'all so much and can't wait for this to be over.

"End of the worlds"

    I just wanted to say how crazy it is that life has changed so drastically in such a short period of time. Just a few weeks ago everything was normal. We were in school, going into public places regularly, and we didn't mind being within 6 feet of each other.
   When thinking of a deadly virus spreading throughout the planet, end of the world movies usually come to mind. We would think of a virus causing society to fall and all the people turing into zombies.
   Obviously, right now we are facing a global pandemic. To me, it doesn't feel like the end of the world. However, some people are acting like it's the end. Why are people so obsessed with the end of the world? It seems like since I was born there have been multiple "end of the worlds." Let me know what y'all think!

We all need to acknowledge reality

We all need to understand that this problem is not going to go away by Easter. We don't know even know if the disease is still spreading because we simply have not even tested enough people to know how many cases of coronavirus there are in Louisiana. The state of Louisiana does not have the hospital capacity to deal with this level of cases. Tulane Hospital ran out of scrubs this weeks and the Mayor of New Orleans had to ask people to donate unused scrubs to the hospital. We are dealing with a crisis on a level that has not been seen since the Spanish Flu 100 years ago. 

Corona Diary 2

almost two weeks in and I've accepted my new life indoors. 

I hardly feel stir crazy anymore. I've fallen in perfectly with my new routine.

The highlight of my day is always school. Going to classes and seeing people is much more exciting than it used to be. Today's group call was amazing. We didn't even have class and we talked for the full 45 minutes. It was special. Mrs. King, you should have been there.

I encourage everyone to play Club Penguin with me. It's free and here's the link.

https://play.cprewritten.net/

Love,

KTDSI

PLEASE answer my movie questions ......!!!!

So we have been talking about movies in Creative Writing and it got me thinking about movies that cause different emotions. Now that we have a lot of free time maybe y'all will watch some new movies. This is random but I wanted to ask y'all, what is the first movie that ever made you cry? For me, it's "Marley and Me" with the cute little puppy. OMG such a sad but good movie. I 100% recommend it. And on the other hand, what is a movie that makes you laugh a lot? I have a bunch but my favorite comedy movie is probably the "Jumanji" movie with Jack Black, The Rock, and Kevin Hart. That movies keeps me laughing!!

WHAT or WHO caused Covid-19 ?

So I had an interesting and somewhat concerning conversation with my neighbor about the coronavirus that I thought I should share...

There have been many accusations of how covid-19 came to be. The biggest one I've heard is that people in China were selling "bat-soup" at a market place and citizens were ingesting this exotic meat. It has been found that some behaviors associated with eating meat can be risk factors in the rise of new diseases, but I haven't heard any actual evidence that this is the case for covid-19. I've also read that covid-19 was created as a "bio-weapon". 

Well, my neighbor has his own idea of how and why covid-19 exists: 

He whole heartily believes that the virus was man-made by the Chinese government. He said they sent it out into their community intentionally infecting thousands of its own people, knowing that there would be travelers that would bring it to the US. He then added that this was China's revenge against Trump for significantly raising tariffs on Chinese imports.

Imagine an old man passionately yelling at you about the "evil Chinese government" trying to take down our President when you were just trying to take your dog for a walk. 

Needless to say, there are many theories of how covid-19 came into existence. I honestly don't know what to think. Are there any theories/accusations ya'll have heard or read about that say how covid-19 started? I'm interested to see what other people think! 

In response to the article

After reading the article Ms. King sent us on "American resilience", I felt like I could somewhat relate to the type of person that the author was describing. When first hearing about the school's closure due to the virus, I immediately found comfort in knowing that places like the mall, movie theaters, and restaurants would still be open (although that has since changed.) I find it odd that in times of crisis, our leaders are encouraging us to seek these types of comfort. My initial thoughts were honestly along the lines of "watch this virus try and stop ME from living my daily life." It's a very selfish outlook, and as soon as I got over myself (it took a couple days) I was very content in knowing that I wouldn't have the option to walk about shopping malls and eateries as I pleased. However, there are plenty of people in America who still can not believe that this "essential right" to shop, eat, and drink wherever and whenever they want is being taken away. The article was completely correct about the American version of "bravery." Instead of admitting our susceptibility to this new "enemy," many of us immediately focused on ways that we could show this virus "who's boss" by proving to it that it can't stop us.

I was wondering if anyone else also related to the article in any way, or just had thoughts about it in general?

Still hope everyone is doing well and I can't wait to see y'all tomorrow.

TV Show Recommendations

Hey Gang, It's me (the King).

I just decided to give you guys a list of good TV shows to watch during quarantine.

Some of these you all may have seen before and that's okay! Watch em' again!

1. Community
2. 30 Rock
3. Brooklyn 99
4. I Think You Should Leave
5. Futurama
6. Arrested Development
7. Little Itty Bitty Babies

Love,
King TDSI

How do you take up the time?

HEY GUYS. I've wondering while staying at my house what everybody else has been doing since we aren't allowed to go to school. I myself have decided to find some hobbies. I've recently fixed up my bike and have been riding it around a lot recently. I've also been able to up my cooking skills since I'm no longer provided school lunch. I can say now that I can cook a mean PB&J and can scramble some eggs. I also have been listening to different artists and finding some new songs to listen to.  Have ya'll picked up anything new?

The silence

So for the past week until yesterday, I hadn’t step outside my house. I didn’t really see the point since there’s really no where to go. For some reason, I decided I just wanted to walk my dog. So I put on her collar and I went outside. It wasn’t until I got halfway down my street when I noticed the silence. Guys, it’s so weird. I didn’t even hear a car. I didn’t hear anything except some birds. It was honestly scary. The world is just so quiet now, but it’s also almost peaceful.

Could we be entering a new era of literature!?!?

Long time no see everyone! I miss you all more and more every day :( The other day I had a bit of a break down (I think everything just hit me at once) and one of the biggest things that bothered me was along with graduation, prom, and many other events we've all been looking forward to, I realized all these events took sooooo much time and preparation and it just made me think what's the point. What's the point of putting so much time and effort into things that are now up in the air. It's very unsettling, but then I remember things like this have been happening since the beginning of time. Whether it be the numerous plagues, economic depressions, or wars, the human race has faced quite a few challenges. Okay let me connect this back to English class. Freshman year, in the journal we had to make for the summer reading Tritico assigned us, one of my creative entries had to do with a quite by Shannon L. Adler where she says, "After every storm, there is a rainbow. If you have eyes, you will find it. If you have wisdom, you will create it. If you have love for yourself and others, you don't need it." With that being said, I think the rainbow she's talking about is a new perspective on life. One where we don't take the simple things for granted. Along with this new perspective come great and new forms of literature, so be on the look out because we might be in the midst of a new emerging era. I don't know, I think it's a cool thought. I always wondered how the emerging modernists, post-modernists, transcendentalists, etc. felt and if this is it, boy do I feel bad for them, but I think we're experiencing something greater than we know just like them.

Also, if you're reading this please give me a book suggestion. I am extremely bored, but also very indecisive!!!

This is Sponsored Content

I have been politely asked (or order depending on how you read the email) by the Mayor's office of Youth and Families to spread accurate information and answer questions about COVID-19. So please ask me questions.

Here's an example and yes this is a real thing that actual people believe:

Can black people get Corona virus?

Yes of course they can. All races are susceptible to the disease.

An Update Regarding The Soviet

Citizens:

Tis I, the noble Lord Stuart Elliot Peyton II. I come before you all today in order to provide unto you all the most recent information in the hunt for the blaspheming thought criminal known as “The Soviet”.

Many have been concerned that this plague upon our houses, presently referred to as COVID-19, would impede my investigation. This assumption has been proven false. As a matter of fact, if anything, it’s increased the speed at which I am able to investigate.

Ever since King Tanner tasked me with finding this vondruke a week ago, I have worked with great haste in assembling a list of individuals with the potential to be the Soviet. However, the list contained 8,734.5 people. Thus I have been steadily working on crossing names off as quickly as possible, and am now down to 10. Here are my top ten people who are most likely to be the Soviet:

10. Amelia Earhart: There must be a reason she hasn’t surfaced into the public eye, and that reason is because she is the soviet pulling the strings behind the scenes!

9. Tyler Li: There is a chance our former ally Tyler may be The Soviet, but considering he is a real one, this may be unlikely.

8. Fyodor Dostoevsky: Our good friend Fyodor seems to have a penchant for making our lives miserable, so it isn’t out of the question that he would be attempting this once again. He has been known to have socialist tendencies before. He was last seen with his two brothers. That’s right, he’s the youngest of three brothers. The birth order goes Alvin, Simon, and finally Fyodor.

7. “michelle scandurro”: If you look at the list of contributors on the right hand side of the screen when you first enter the blog, you will see a list of recognizable names, BUT THERE IS 1 NAME UNKNOWN TO ALL OF US: THE USER “michelle scandurro”. “michelle”, as you may recall as well, has never posted on the blog. She’s an enigma. An unknown entity. A ghost. The Soviet would probably have us believe she used to be the principal at Saint Martin’s and founded the blog and thus could not be removed, but I’m not having a word of it! If any of that were true, why doesn’t she just come forward and post something then? If she truly founded the blog, she could make a post and prove her innocence. 

6. “Mrs. Q”: Everything I said for “michelle” goes double for the mysterious “Mrs. Q”. At least “michelle” was polite (or stupid) enough to give us a real name, Mrs. Q has only given us an initial. What could the Q stand for? Quantum? Quadriplegia? Qaimaqam? 

5. Walt Disney’s Frozen Body: Unlikely he’s the soviet considering how anti-communist (and anti-Semitic) he was, but there’s always a chance. You can’t prove it or disprove it, can you?

4. Salah Brechtel: She just looks and smells suspect.

3. Chris Kattan: This SNL cast member from 1996-2003 could potentially be bitter that his career didn’t take off after leaving the show and is now seeking revenge by mounting a mass insurrection on the blog!

2. Jeff Bezos: The richest man on the planet could easily have the resources to led a coup.

And finally, my prime suspect.

1. Brandon Clementine Stokes: Unfortunately, the majority of the evidence points to community leader and folk hero Brandon Clementine Stokes being The Soviet. “Oh no,” you cry, “this can’t be true!”. Well, my dear fellow countrymen, before you call me crazy, ask yourself this: Have you ever seen Brandon and The Soviet in the same room? Furthermore, it seems as though Brandon is the only one not to interact with the Soviet’s blog posts. I don’t have enough information to make an arrest yet, but soon enough, I will.

To whomestever the soviet may be: Your time is up.

Signed,

Chief Royal Investigator For The Crown,

Lord Stuart Elliot Peyton II.

Today's Class

Today's english class was the first time I've seen most of you since school got shut down. it was nice. It gave me some hope that maybe we can make it through this and all be ok.

- King Tanner Duncan Sykes I

The Saucier House

Yes, I based my title off of Lindsey's post and this post is about to be very interesting. 

So, let me just start off by saying I miss all of y'all and I have never wanted to go back to school more than I do right now. The past couple days have been very interesting in my household. At home it is myself, my mother, and my two younger brothers, my dad still has to go to work :( I've been very sad that we most likely won't return to school and I am hoping and praying that we at least get a senior chapel and a graduation. I would be sooooooo sad if we didn't. But I am trying to stay positive because my whole family is healthy (knock on wood) and I am thankful for that. My mom has been constantly cleaning and worrying about us getting sick. She has the news on 24/7 and won't let us leave the house. Both of my brothers have been playing videos games a lot. Actually I was in a GoogleMeet for a class and suddenly I heard a loud "THIS WIFI SUCKS I'M GETTING SO MUCH LAG." So, that was super embarrassing, but it's fine. I have been trying to be productive so I attempted cleaning my room, but I got bored and only about half of it is clean now. Maybe after I write this blog post I will go finish cleaning!!! I miss y'all <3

The LaForge House

Hey guys! I want to start off by saying that I miss each of y’all so much! I had a break down the other day because I started to realize that we might not return to school. I was extremely devastated, but just decided to keep hoping and praying that this is not the case.

Over the past few days, lots has happened in my house.  As of today, there has been a total of 5 glass cups and 2 glass bowls broken from my brother attempting to get them down on his own. Next, the glass salt and pepper shakers- broken also. My brother Max must have super slippery hands, but we can’t figure out what the deal is. Second, my dad is now obsessed with “facetiming” his friends, specifically Coach Odom. My dad just figured out how to use google hangout/meet and let’s just say he likes it. Third, every part of my house is clean! You can basically see your refection off of any surface. Fourth, my parents are super into exercise so you can guess what we have been doing. We now have a duo bike in our garage that Katie and I have to take out each day. Yeah, very embarrassing. The other day we saw our old friends walking in the neighborhood while we were on the bike. Not only was this the most humiliating experience, but my finger was also gushing blood because I couldn’t get the kick-stand up with my foot. I guess you can say I’ve had an eventful couple of days. 

I would give anything to be back in school! 

Social Distancing

Day 9 of the Louisiana Corona Virus Outbreak.

I am bored. I need something to do. I have my classwork ,but it isn't the same anymore. I miss working on my homework in Study hall only to be distracted by the Yahoo! answers page about men's health. I miss Tanner and Sara harassing Brandon in AP Econ. This is not how our year was supposed to end.

Rapunzel has covid-19 ;(

I really liked Andreas’ suggestion for Ms. King to take this time to educate herself on Disney movies:) As I read his blog post, I was reminded of something I read the other day related to the movie Tangled and I don’t know what to think of it.
So in Tangled, Rapunzel is forced to live a life sheltered and hidden away from the rest of the world. We’re also forced to live this way right now as a means of protecting ourselves and older individuals who could potentially die from the virus. Well…the movie Tangled takes place on an island kingdom called CORONA! This is where Rapunzel was born and grew up in the tower, hidden away from all other humans! YALL she was in QUARANTINE to avoid catching covid-19 !!! This blows my mind for some reason and I think the creators of Tangled were trying to give us a warning of some sort. Although this “social distancing” thing sucks, we should be grateful that none of us had to spend the first 18 years of our life quarantined like Rapunzel:///

Hey Everyone

Hey, King TDSI.

Just writing a corona diary.

I feel bored. Bored out of my mind. I have nothing going on. Not even my online classes are going to make me feel better. Whether I liked it or not, my life revolved around going to, coming from, and complaining about high school. I don't know what to do.

Sincerely,
KTDSI

Suggestions for Ms. King

I have noticed that in English we would make a fair amount of Disney references and Ms. King just would not understand them. I think she should take this extra time to watch some movies, especially the Lion King. What else should she watch?

I have also noticed how certain Disney songs are perfect for our situation.

For the Quarantine:

From Tangled, "When Will My Life Begin," --- (Note: Tangled is about Rapunzel, who is locked in a tower)

Seven a.m., the usual morning lineup
Start on the chores and sweep 'till the floor's all clean
Polish and wax, do laundry, and mop and shine up
Sweep again, and by then it's like 7:15

And so I'll read a book
Or maybe two or three
I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery
I'll play guitar and knit
And cook and basically
Just wonder when will my life begin?

Then after lunch it's puzzles and darts and baking
Paper mache, a bit of ballet and chess
Pottery and ventriloquy, candle making
Then I'll stretch, maybe sketch, take a climb
Sew a dress!

And I'll reread the books
If I have time to spare
I'll paint the walls some more
I'm sure there's room somewhere
And then I'll brush and brush
And brush and brush my hair
Stuck in the same place I've always been

And I'll keep wanderin' and wanderin'
And wanderin' and wonderin'
When will my life begin?

For when the Quarantine is over:

From Frozen, " For the First Time in Forever,"

The window is open, so's that door
I didn't know they did that anymore
Who knew we owned eight thousand salad plates?
For years I've roamed these empty halls
Why have a ballroom with no balls?
Finally they're opening up the gates


There'll be actual, real, live people
It'll be totally strange
But, wow, am I so ready for this change

'Cause for the first time in forever
There'll be music, there'll be light
For the first time in forever
I'll be dancing through the night
Don't know if I'm elated or gassy
But I'm somewhere in that zone
'Cause for the first time in forever
I won't be alone

[Interlude: Kristen Bell]
I can't wait to meet everyone!
What if I meet "the one"?

coronavirus avg. patient age

An article was just released by The Advocate that detailed the average ages of coronavirus patients in Louisiana. I saw that almost half were in the 40-59 range, which is the age of my parents and probably around the age of yours. I think it's scary to realize how at risk even our immediate family members are, and I hope everyone is able to stay safe and clean. I think what we've been hearing most is that we should care for our grandparents, but the article proved that our parents deserve just as much attention, especially since many are still having to go out and work every day. I really am thinking about all of you and I know we will make it through this :)

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/coronavirus/article_ffe97448-689b-11ea-ba97-cf2ea3126450.html

I hope all is well

Hello everyone, I'd like to start off by saying that I hope all of your families are healthy and staying safe. If you have been having an experience at all similar to mine then you are probably very bored right now and realizing how much you miss school. I was wondering what everyone has been doing to occupy their new abundance of time?? I think it'd be nice if we all just shared how we've been doing and what we've been doing as a way of keeping up with each other and staying sane.

Prague's Kafka International Named Most Alienating Airport

King Tanner found this funny. Laugh.

The Masque of Covid-19

Because of my isolation I have started tearing through my library. Of course I started with Edgar Allen Poe because he's a great author with a tragic story and mysterious death. When I found his collection, it sparked a memory from class. So here is the result of that.
The Masque of Red Death is one of My favorite of Poe's stories. Ironically we are mirroring the plot of the story but let's hope we have a better ending than what's in the book. The Red Death is a "pestilence" (inspired by TB) that causes you sharp pains, dizziness, "profuse bleeding at the pores" and death withing half an hour. Metal. Now our protagonist, Prince Prospero, decides that he and his court are going to lock themselves in an abbey and ride out the storm. It's basically one giant party. Considering I myself am lock within my own home would understand wanting to have my healthy friends locked with me. I don't know but read the story for yourselves and tell me there isn't a weird parallel.
Peace out

https://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Red_Death.pdf
here's the story for those who actually want to read it

I’m sad

For the past day I’ve literally not been able to handle the fact senior year has ended up like this. Like online school doesn’t bug me so much. It just that we all had so much planned like our last games, last shows and last lunch leaves. Now I just feel a gaping hole in my stomach. Idk y’all I can already feel myself going stir crazy and I think this is a result of that. I miss English. I miss school. I miss all you guys. And it’s like yeah we can see each other through a screen but that isn’t the same as being able to yell at tanner to his face in front of all of you. I hope we can at least get that week at the end of this because this is not how I want to spend my senior year.
Thank you for my rant I guess I have attachment issues or something lmao good luck and stay healthy

Online School

The concept of online school is a fairly new idea. Personally, I think traditional school is better. And traditional school moving to online school just will not work in my opinion. I feel like academically I might end falling behind in certain classes when they become online. How about y'all?

Mass transportation

So in class we mentioned how one of the major innovations of the 19th century was mass transportation. So clearly mass transport has been very good for the progression of the human race. Clearly, mass transport can also cause major issues. Mass transport is the reason that COVID 19 was able to spread around the world. It has been the reason that all major pandemics have happened. And now we see that is progression of humans it has really been stalled for right now, with major cities and countries being shut down. With mass transport being so important, what are some ways that you think can make mass transport safer ( less prone to spreading disease)?

The Grail vs chalice

After reading and discussing “The Grail,” I began thinking more on the connection between religion and this cup. Although the grail has two “stories” associated with it, I generally associate it with the Last Supper.

When ever someone drinks from this Grail, they are in sense being reminded of Jesus. In many religions today, the chalice, a cup very similar to the grail, is filled with Jesus’s blood. During communion, many drink from this chalice. This act connects both associations with the Grail, the collecting of Jesus’s blood and the Last Supper. 

With that being said, the Grail is capitalized, meaning there is only one. By doing this, the chalice serves as a similar cup with slightly different meanings. The look a little different, but the symbolic nature is very similar!

What do y’all think??

IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY

My royal subjects,

So, I just wanted you all to know that on the Wikipedia article for The Waste Land (you know, the T. S. Eliot poem that we are reading), there is an entire section entitled "Parodies".

This piqued my interest, so I decided to read it.

Turns out that there is a large amount of parodies of The Waste Land by other famous poets. Famous horror writer H. P. Lovecraft did one in 1923 entitled "Waste Paper: A Poem of Profound Insignificance". Don't let the title fool you, the poem was done in good fun. Lovecraft loved the poem and merely wanted to pay it homage with a gentle ribbing.

I'll link to it here.

http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/poetry/p228.aspx

There are other parodies as well. In fact, there is entire section dedicated to parodies of T. S. Eliot on the BBC's website. I'll link to that here as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/listeners/parodies/wasteland.shtml

All of this just goes to show how large of an impact that Eliot and his writing have had on the world of literature.

And to the Soviet scum:

The 48 hours has elapsed and despite my best efforts to show you mercy, you have still not revealed yourself. I am not surprised. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised. I had you pegged as a coward from the moment you first posted, as only a coward would hide behind a moniker instead of standing proud for what they believe.

Citizens of the blog, rest assured that your king is doing everything he can in order to root out the parasitic, so-called "revolutionaries" that are poisoning my- nay, our great kingdom. I have appointed the noble Lord Elliot Peyton to be tasked with tracking down these criminals.

Once they are found, I shall take incredible pleasure in executing them publicly in the Van Slate yard.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

In all of my magnificence,
King Tanner Duncan Sykes I

Oh Apollo...

So today in class we talked about the story of Hyacinth(us) and Apollo. Now me being the literary scholar I am, I am obsessed with ancient Roman and Greek plays and mythology. Let’s just say Apollo has a bad dating history so here are most of his failed relationships and what happened to them...

Daphne- turned into a laurel tree by her father to escape from Apollo’s advances
Castalia- turned herself into a spring to escape Apollo’s advances (translations vary)
Cassandra- Apollo cursed Cassandra with the gift of prophecy but no one would believe her because she wouldn’t sleep with him
Acantha- transformed into a thorn bush by Apollo after she scratched his face due to unwanted advances
Bolina- flung herself off a cliff to escape Apollo
Hyacinth- discus to the face, not directly caused by Apollo but he still died

So yeah, Apollo doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. (Also I’m probably forgetting on or two but these are just off memory)

Initial Reaction to “The Waste Land”

Last night, I was excited to read “The Waste Land” because I enjoyed “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” so much. However. After reading the first couple lines, I was immediately rethinking this decision. “The Waste Land” is nothing like “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” T.S. Eliot uses so much juxtaposition and fragmentation that it was difficult for me to understand what he was trying to get cross to readers.

I understand that T.S. Eliot writes in a very complex way, however in ways I think that is difficult to follow. While reading the first part, I felt as if I was just lost, in both the text but also in life. Maybe this is the point of the title?? T.S. Eliot titles his work “The Waste Land” to show the chaotic world we live in. He portrays this by confusing and overwhelming readers with information that causes them to feel as if they are living in a useless world. 

What were y’all’s first thoughts?

x

MOVIE MAGIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

King Tanner here!

If they were to turn Notes from The Underground into a full length feature film, who would you want to play all of the different roles?

I personally want Danny DeVito in the role as the Underground Man and ScarJo as Liza.

Same question for Metamorphosis. I think Benedict Cumberbatch should reprise his role from the audiobook and play Gregor, but the rest of the casting escapes me.

And to the Soviet; You have until 3:30 today to reveal yourself. The clock is ticking. The calloused hand of justice shall be swift and clenched into a fist.

Aristocratically,
King Tanner Duncan Sykes I

One last thing about A Carcass

So we all experience death but it’s the perspective. Americans celebrate through sadness but other cultures experience through different celebrations. Here’s a link to the most interesting places that celebrate death. https://www.talkdeath.com/cultures-that-celebrate-death/ Enjoy! 😛🤓

The Soviet Returns

Kafka, in his novella "The Metamorphosis," presents Gregor as a man that has been ignored and neglected by his family. His parents have used him as a means to achieve greater wealth.

Kafka's novella is very similar to the central principle of Marxist theory, which is that the bourgeoisie oppresses the proletariat by making their work seem meaningless. Thus, for the proletariat to overthrow the bourgeoisie and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat, they must find meaning in their labor. Gregor's parents do not value his labor, and his parents have fooled him into seeing his work as meaningless. Furthermore, Gregor's parents hid the true nature of their wealth from him. Just like the bourgeoisie, Gregor's parents hid the truth from him and used his job to oppress him.

If we were are to avoid dying a painful death where we are not loved by those around us, we must see Gregor's fate as a cautionary tale. Therefore we must overthrow the bourgeoisie and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Is it a cockroach, beetle, dung beetle, or what!?!?

So clearly we know that the translation of this is german word ( ungeheures Ungeziefer) is not the best. We went over in class that it means like monstrous vermin or “an unclean animal unfit for sacrifice,”. I really wanted to try and find a good description/translation. I also saw another article that says that his creature isn't supposed to drawn. Do you guys think it should be drawn or no?

3 in the Metamorphosis

So clearly we see that the number 3 is very important in "The Metamorphosis." Now I find this interesting because Kafka was Jewish, so therefore would not believe in the Trinity. Why do you think he includes 3 so much?

Kinda feeling like Gregor...

Hey guys, now you might be wondering, "What is Sara doing on this lovely Thursday?" Well, unfortunately, I have an eye infection :/ and I'm really feeling like Gregor right now. Let me paint the picture for you all. As I'm sitting in the living room, lights off (because my eye is really sensitive right now) minding my own business, my parents come home for lunch. They walk into the living room, and as they turn on the lights, I shield my eye. They see me and jokingly say that I should be under quarantine in my bedroom, but I feel the harsh truth escape their voices, so I head to my room as they watch television and eat their lunch. Have any of you ever felt like Gregor?

Phobias

After reading Kafka this week I have found that many of you in my class suffer from Entomophobia (a fear of bugs). And then it got me wondering, what other phobias do you guys have? I can tell you I have a genuine fear of horses and open bodies of water.
Are these irrational? absolutely!

IF I WERE A COCKROACH

King Tanner here.

Sara made an interesting comment in English yesterday. She mentioned that she was pondering what her reaction would be if she had awoken from a troubled sleep to find that she had turned into a cockroach.

I am wondering what everyone's reaction would be.

I would be absolutely terrified and would likely faint out of sheer terror.

Tell me your thoughts below!

Sympathy for Gregor

I just finished reading The Metamorphosis and I am not quite sure how I feel about it. I actually really enjoyed reading it, but I feel very bad for the main character, Gregor. Especially at the end, his whole family just gives up on him and wants to kick him out of the house because he has turned into a bug and they see his as disgusting. Throughout the story, the father doesn't really care about him. The mother and Grete do care about him but as it gets to the end they all don't like him anymore and they wish he would leave. Gregor ends up hearing all of their discussions and ends up hating himself for causing their "suffering." I just feel so bad for Gregor. What do y'all think? 

Do bugs have feelings?

I know we talked about this in class the other day, but I thought I would bring it up again on the blog. So, Ms. King asked us what it means to be a bug. I talked about how most people don't care about killing a bug and really think nothing of it. They are also seen as just being gross creatures and things we don't like having around. I mean us humans even have things to kill them like pesticides. And yes I agree with all of this, but on the other hand I started to think about the bug's perspective. Do y'all think bugs have feelings? Do you think they like talk to each other and communicate? Do you think they have a "life"? Please share y'alls opinions! 

"Why Are They Laughing?"

King Tanner here.

I declare that I realized something over break. 

The very special bond that I share with Mrs. King has always seemed familiar to me, and it recently hit me over the head why.

Mrs. King and I have a very Groucho Marx-Margaret Dumont type of relationship.

Groucho Marx was an American comedian and actor famous for performing with his brothers Harpo and Chico (and sometimes Zeppo) in a troupe known as The Marx Brothers. Performing as the Marx Brothers, they made one of my favorite movies, Duck Soup. I highly recommend it. It's only an hour and for a movie made in 1933, it holds up.

Anywho, I digress. Margaret Dumont was an actress who is famous for her work with the Marxes. She is known for playing the straight woman to Groucho's antics. In fact, she was so good at being the straight woman that she didn't even understand any of Groucho's jokes. During the opening of A Night At The Opera (1935), she said "Julie, what are they laughing at?" (Groucho's real name was Julius).

This is EXACTLY my relationship with Mrs. King; I'm hilarious and she never laughs or understands why people think I'm funny.

To wrap this up, I leave you with one of the opening scenes to Duck Soup, where Groucho plays Rufus T. Firefly, a newly appointed leader to the failing country of Freedonia. Margaret Dumont plays Mrs. Teasdale, a wealthy Freedonian widow who has the hots for Rufus. Watch as Groucho rapid fires some jokes at her and she understands none of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSabiG8q8-k

I gotta go! King stuff!

Bye!