Going Under The Knife

This piece was was beautifully crafted with artful language; I loved every bit of it. Selzer describes the knife by ways of describing his job as a surgeon; they are one in the same, the knife helps him complete his work. For him to do this gives detail and new images. It's not like he is saying the knife is this, he's saying the knife is like a surgeon who is like an executioner and here's why. Then he goes into a story to back it up. It really does grab the reader's attention.

There were some stories that I wished I knew the ending of. For example, by the end of the first story I wanted to know if he got the tumor out without killing the woman. Or even what happened to the Russian man with the hernia. His stories came to life with the conversational language that he used. Sure there were some words that I had to look up, but that was mostly medical language. Everything else was as if he were telling the stories to me at dinner. I do have family members in the medical field, so these stories aren't too far off from what I'd hear over dinner.

One story that he told that was quite interesting was the one where the knife takes a life of its own. This scares me a bit. It's almost as if he is questioning his own ability to use the knife. But then it also has the sense that knives are unruly and it's a surgeon that must tame them. It's just the line, "in a surgical operation, a risk may flash into reality: the patient dies...of complication. The patient knows this too..." that bothers me (713). He seems conflicted that if he were to lose control of the knife and let it do what it wants then he also loses the patient.

Which anyone who has gone into an operation has had this terrible feeling that it's possible they were never to return again. It's a feeling that Selzer addresses quite well, although he looks at it from the surgeon point of view. I had never before thought that surgeons get nervous about an operation, but that should go under the same absurdities like seasoned actors and singers never get nervous before going on stage or tenured teachers never get nervous before they meet a group of new students. It just shows that everyone is human and we do all have the same emotions.

What is "Good"?

Good art is difficult to define. What may look, sound, taste, or feel good to one person could be horrible to another. Take the ever popular dispute over the band Nickleback. As I've learned, never mention this group to a bunch of community college students; they will chew you out, condemning you for ever liking that band. But the group has managed to continue to make music and successfully. So what is it about the sound? It's different, the lead's voice is gnarled as if he's screamed too loud and the guitars compliment that. The music is strange but that's not saying that it's bad.

Art in many forms take on this, sculptures and paintings that are abstract are deemed "good" because of how different they are. Differences bring out beauty, it brings out the tiny details that are sometimes overlooked. In this way they are not just good but sometimes great.

A blending of meats and vegetables would never have given us stew if one person didn't first think that it might be a good idea. Colors on canvas to form a picture that stirs emotions in people would never have happened unless one person decided that it looked good. What deems that something is good? It's more of what pleases the senses, what is different that no one has ever tried before, and what else is there to try.

The Emblems of My Life

1. Burnt Popcorn: When popcorn gets burnt it’s often a surprise; the microwave was too hot or the bag was too small for how long it was put in for. But this isn’t a problem for me. There are pieces that still have butter flavor to them. They are sweet and good to eat; the entire bag isn’t ruined just because some of it is burnt. I can see my life in this analogy because I have burnt pieces. There are parts of my life that I would rather throw away. I would like a brand new equilibrium, for I have the worst motion sickness in the world (and I’m not exaggerating); but there is still good through my messed up, burnt pieces. I can’t be thrown away because there is a reason that I’m slightly burnt.

2. A Straw: Everyone knows what straws are used for, to get liquid from a cup to your mouth. But straws can also be used for blowing bubbles in chocolate milk or biting on the ends until the round shape is no more. My life comes in bits and parts as if through a straw; I’d like to throw it away and drink straight from the cup but then I’d probably dump water down the front of my shirt. Through my straw I’m able to get out tensions in my life and enjoy little things.

3. Knit Blanket: Well, these blankets are usually made by hand and although I’m not skilled in making blankets or quilts I have a deep appreciation for those that can; especially when I wrap myself in one on a cold night. I do own one that was given to me when I was an infant (I still use it on occasions), this blanket reminds me of home. Where ever I am, if I hold it close and smell the fabric I am instantly reminded of my family. This blanket is a mental connection to my family.

4. Chopsticks: I’m not Chinese; there isn’t an ounce of the culture flowing through my veins. I would like to say that I am since I have a cousin that is partly of this descent. There is one thing that I can claim; I know how to use their utensils. The slow methodical pace needed to use the sticks keeps me steady. It’s a balance that I can feel in my life. There’s that struggle to want to throw the sticks down and grab a fork; exclaim that nothing is working the way that I want it to. But to keep at it, that’s the main point. There are days that I want to do that with school work or other jobs. I just want to grab my car keys say screw this and drive back home where I don’t have to deal with anything. But that’s not how it works. I have to keep pushing, keep slowly working at things until I get them.

Silence Discovered

The true definition of silence is the absence of sound, to not mention as in concern, or to be forgotten. However, it also is a word that affects on many levels. Silence is used in debate, when used correctly a debater can seem to overpower the opponent. It is used in music to add drama and allow a greater impact to melodies. In science there are DNA molecules that are silent, meaning that they won't affect a person until later in life; that is if they even start to become active. Gestures can indicate for a person to be silent; the main one being the index finger over the lips. Cultures also use silence in worship services; it is used as prayer and meditation. Silence is a sort of warning signal between animals. When one stands completely still, it is a sign to the others that there is a danger around. Between humans, silence is similarly a warning. Most humans don't like long periods of silence and so they fill it with talk or music.

A study was shown that the brain, when a person watches a silent movie, can pick up sounds. This is a bit backwards from silence but it still tells that humans relate more to sound than they do to silence. There was a statement that some scientists don't believe that silence is possible; for silence would be the absence of all sound, even thought. For that to happen would mean that a person would have to die. However the deaf live in supposed silence, for they can not hear. There is also the fact that most of nature in our world is losing places of silence to technological advances and automobiles. This would be nature's silence or the sound that nature brings and the silence from the modern, traffic filled world.

Walking

Thoreau's piece "Walking" is about his reflection on getting out of the house everyday and getting lost in the woods. It's not just getting lost but enjoying the beauty of the woods once one is there. He blatantly states that it is unbearable for him to sit for long periods of time and he can't understand how anyone can do so. It is only when he goes for walks that he truly feels at peace and can think. The idea of walking he expands upon by bringing in other thinkers and writers. Other writers, like Wordsworth, claim to have their study outside where the world is bright and crisp. It's a place that they can think and aren't bogged down by the everyday duties and politics of the world.

The main idea of walking is something that is greatly understood and used in today's culture. Not everybody may do so but there are quite a few people that make sure they go for a walk everyday; even if it is for health's sake. Walking just a little bit everyday helps the brain work properly, or so I've heard. It's something that is almost taken for granted but when you can't do it any longer, you really begin to miss it.

Whether in Nature or Everyday Life

In Annie Dillard's piece "Seeing," she reflects on how she wants to see the world for what it truly is. She wants to see the little things in life that people so easily overlook. Artists and writers show these things in minuscule detail but when she goes to find them, they disappear from her. What she has come to discover is that when you look for it, you don't find it. It's only when you just happen to be in the area, without really paying attention do the wonders of the world pop out and amaze.

These things happen all the time and not just in nature. Whenever I want to find my favorite quote, I'll scan pages hoping it will jump out, but it won't. If I've lost my phone I'll search my room but I won't find it. The things that we want to find won't ever become prominent until we stop looking for them. That's just how it happens, whether it be for nature or for everyday life.

On "Entrance to the Woods" and Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry's essay titled "An Entrance to the Woods" shows a man that has decided to leave his city life and come to the woods for a few days. Although the stay is short, the man has a sense of feeling renewed and being in tune with nature and the past. Sitting on rocks, he can feel the generations that has passed before him, that have sat on that exact spot. The same goes for walking down unmarked and untrod paths. He can only wonder as to who and what stepped in the same places that he is. Berry also remarks on how fast the world is moving. That it is moving so quickly not because we have sped up a clock but because machines, like cars, have brought us to those places. Our minds were built for a slow, methodical pace, Berry states, and machines hurry us along. In the woods, our minds are able to slow back down.

This piece had a familiar tone to it; it was almost as if I was reading a short work by Thoreau. They both decided to go to the woods just to get away from the world. Berry's piece wasn't exactly like Thoreau's for Berry wasn't trying to make some huge political statement but it was methodical, paced, and quite descriptive. I felt as though I was in those woods with him, walking along the same paths. I understand why he went to the woods, to get away from the hustle of the world for a bit and that is something that I think everyone needs to do. There are days that we all get caught up in the world and the fast movements, we forget to slow down; that our brains aren't always with us. But we can't necessarily stay there, and Berry points that out as he ends his essay. The next day will most likely be better than the one before but we have to return to the world of machines. It's what we are meant to do.