The Color Purple – Quiz #12

1) A lot of times the director needs to change parts of the book to the film due to time constraints. Also for the movies certain events are made more emotion or more confrontational to keep people interested in the movie.

2) I think the color purple symbolizes hope. The ability to not be held down by anything and have the courage and strength to move against adversity. The will to live, the will to survive, and to be your own person.

3) I believe Shug Avery to be the caregiver, when she was at the house with Celie she would always help her. She explained to her that because she never had a positive experience with sex, that she was still a virgin. She was always there to build her self esteem. Shug and Celie had kind of a mother-daughter relationship / close friendship.

4) I feel that I’ve had my moments where I’ve been put down and felt like I could not move past where I was at (belly of the whale), just like Celie. I’m still working towards moving on and getting direction in my life, and I hope to be able to gain the courage and will to fight past my obsticles, just like Celie.

Tableau – Poem #22

Walk into the woods
A trail used before
The way is now clear
I remember this
My home is in sight
I am finally here

Sedoka – Poem #21

Never understood;
Confused and still forgotten,
He will never to return.



His trials are unknown,
but acceptance awaits him;
We will wait with our arms open.

Magic Flight – Blog #17

The hero has reached the peak of his journey and he now must return home. During his return he must dodge those he has angered throughout his journey to reach his home. During this period, a protector accompanies the hero to ensure safety.

When I decided to leave the air force, I packed up all of my belongings and started the twelve hour ride home. My protector was in the passenger seat, a 12-foot albino Burmese python, making sure everything went smoothly (true story). On a more serious note, I believe just the image of being able to be home with my family and friends again would be my “protector” for my return home. With those people in mind I felt calm and at peace for the return home.

I feel that at some point everyone takes that trip back to where they are from or what they call home. If it is a year or fifty years from when they last visited. There is a pull a person feels to their origin and it needs to be revisited atleast once after leaving.

The Refusal to Return – Blog #16

When the hero has completed his task he can now return home. The hero though might feel that he will no longer be accepted back at home. Because of the trials he had faced he feels that his home will not understand him now.

I have experienced this same feeling when I returned from being active duty military. My experiences were completely different from those of my friends who were in college. I felt that when I would come home I was more mature than my friends, and how I acted would cause conflict with how my friends were.

I also felt that my parents wouldn’t understand what I had done. My perceptions about the world changed, and I felt that might cause some conflict with the way my parents viewed the world. It was a stressful time, thinking nobody would understand my journey.

Characters – Blog #14

Gilgamesh and Enkidu stood trials from the gods, and battled beasts together to save the city of Uruk. Beowulf left his people as a young hero to help the Danish King Hrothgar slay Grendel, the beast terrorizing the Danish King. Dr. Jekyll creates a potion that when taken brings his darker side out, and over time it becomes harder to keep this darker side contained. When his supply of potion runs out and he tries to recreate it, he finds out that it cannot be recreated so he must commit suicide to slay his beast Mr. Hyde. Elle was facing her beast, Chutney Windam, at the trial she was presiding over as a lawyer, trying to prove herself.

In all of these stories, all of these characters face a beast or a trial in their journey that sets them apart from those around them. It’s one high point in the hero’s journey, but not the end. In defeating their beasts, these beasts it allows them to do more and larger things during their journey.

It’s the same in our lives. Consider those beasts as a threshold. Each threshold takes you out of your comfort zone but you gain knowledge to take back when you return home. It’s another step our journey, and in order to defeat a larger obstacle we must work up to that point.

Carpe Diem (Poem #19)

Take the hill gone are they
We survive yet another day
A night of rest deserving
A can of whoop-ass we’ll be serving



Tomorrow again trials ahead
Most of friends lost and dead
I’m still here

Minute Poetry (Poem #18)

Consumed by knowledge of the world

Wait to unfurl

Share with those gone

Thoughts never withdrawn



Lost in those who want to  listen

The sun glistens

Welcoming minds

Enriching the kinds



Surviving through darkest of dark

Reaching the mark

Minds fulfilled

The young we build

Knowledge – Blog #13

Finances.  I’ve learned the hard way over the years that finances are not to be taken lightly.  It’s to easy to get side tracked and focus on what you want instead of what you need.  Especially when you have a job and a check is coming every month.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy yourself something every now and again.  What I am saying is set aside some money so you have a fail safe.  The ability to be able to afford something in an emergency (this means not having to use a credit card – bad idea) is such a huge weight off of your shoulders. Living paycheck to paycheck is no way to live.

The ability to manage your money well allows you to live your life with out the great stresses that would accompany debt.  This would allow for a more productive and enriching lifestyle.

Cast Away – Quiz #9

Wilson is created using anthropomorphism, which means giving an inanimate object human or animal like characteristics.  In the movie Wilson is also Chuck’s (Tom Hanks) familiar.

During his trip off of the island, Chuck encounters a whale, which symbolizes a “belly of the whale” situation.  He’s taking a chance leaving the island, a place of safety compared to the ocean, crossing that threshold into the “darkness” of the open ocean. Now this situation could also be consider his Magic Flight, and I would consider Wilson as his protector (or really his sanity).