Response: The American Life

Overall, I thought that Ira Glass made it clear what was missing from the business of story telling. I could definitely relate to how he said that everything being put out is made to be bad. No one is trying to bring a better way to do things, but rather fit a pre-made mold. I also got what he was saying in terms of making anything interesting. He said something about how if you're going to present something, even if it looks mundane, there is a reason you chose it, so don't treat it as if you have nothing important or relevant to say about it. It's funny, because sometimes we pick topics that are 'easy' because they are broad, but are still uninteresting. What we've done is paint ourselves into a corner in terms of our creativity and what we are able to do.



I also liked what he said about anecdotes:



"The Power of the anecdote is so great...No matter how boring the material is, if it is in story form...there is suspense in it, it feels like something's going to happen. The reason why is because literally it's a sequence of events...you can feel through its form [that it's] inherently like being on a train that has a destination...and that you're going to find something..."



This reflects how important it is to engage an audience with a climax. It's apparent that we are drawn to something that is tied-together. I liked how he went on to say that we don't abandon crap enough. We continue with the pre-made standards set for us, while innovating and producing novel ideas falls by the way side....



NEMESIS:



Oh my nemesis. My nemesis. or nemisisses are real. The way I saw them is as shape-shifting humans who alternate between good and evil. The good hooks you in, and then the evil proceeds to take over. All together, I see my nemesese (I don't know the plural) as mostly real but with (maybe) fictional attributes. Ira talked about how you have to get through the crap in life, and I think my nemesis story narrates a point through which I had to sift through a moment in time and try to get away with goodness.

Open Mic Night

I liked it. :]

It was cool to see everyone go up there and become a performer for a few minutes. I enjoyed watching everyone present something they felt a connection to. I think the venue was a bit too large and it didn't accomodate well in terms of sound projection. Lighting and room-size would be something to change next time around. I think Kochoff Hall or the lecture room in CASL would be good places to have the event. The room needs to be dark, with a spotlight on the speaker. Also, in terms of publicity, I think it needs to be made a bigger deal. More people need to know about it and as an incentive maybe some kind of panel of judges should watch and judge in order to award the best performers. Competition always brings people out of the wood work. When it comes to the performances, it was nice that they were varied. Everyone brought a different flavor to the table and thats what made it entertaining. All together, I would definitely do it again, we need more activities like this at UMD.