There is a radio show called This American Life that recently did a show entitled Animal Sacrifice. The second act of the show was about rabbits that were kidnapped from the Portland Meat Collective. The segment addresses ideas about vegetarianism, different opinions on killing animals, and human connectedness/disconnectedness from the food we eat. I thought this was very relevant to what we have been discussing in class

Here is this link if you want to listen: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/480/animal-sacrifice

You can listen to the whole thing or just act two.

Sitting behind Rhodes with the clouds looming overhead was an unfortunate way to end my sight sit postings. Watching flocks of geese fly south reminded me of how quickly time passes, and left me wishing that I had appreciated time more. When I say "appreciated time", I'm not referring to my first semester at Bryn Mawr specifically, but rather to the appreciation of time in general. I don't like that my first semester of college is nearly over, and it feels like it has been no time at all. I realize that it's not ideal to fixate on every moment in life, but I'm hardpressed to find a way to savor my time--especially as a college undergraduate. I don't want graduation to roll around and feel as disoriented as I do now, with finals looming ahead, wondering how I got here and feeling almost as foggy as the weather. I have a strong desire to validate my feelings of dissatisfaction with time's passing with my freshmen peers, but unlike the character Elizabeth Costello, I do not find myself having the power to "think" myself into another person. Therefore, I'm left with a lack of affirmation, and a lot of studying that will most likely make me feel hazy and exhuasted. Looking ahead to break has also been surprisingly disarming. Looking around right now, I don't know how I feel about leaving. This is my home, but don't I already have a home? I'm in limbo, and am hoping to find some much needed clarity during the next month. 

I totally forgot to post my image and caption with my second Memo so here it is now:

I had been thinking a lot about the disconnect between how our incarcerated classmates see themselves as responsible for their positions vs. what we know about the injustices of the Prison Industrial System. In my memo I went back to the Graphic Novel (or whatever you call it), "Prisoners of a Hard Life" and in particular Ramona's story. She feels like she is to blame, like everything is her fault when in reality she is a victim of the system. I want the women we know to understand that, and at the same time I don't want to take away their agency. This is what I was grappling with in my memo.

I keep coming back to Linda Susan Beard’s brief comments on children -- or on being a child and knowing what you want from life. She told us that she felt drawn to Christianity as a child so strongly that her mother thought she was fanatical. Her desire to be alone with Christ as often as possible caused her to want to join a Convent when she was only nine. However, her mother would not allow her to.

Are we better at listening to ourselves as children? Professor Beard attributed the accuracy of her early calling to the order to the contemplative nature of children, and she told us that many of her friends who are now monks, nuns, or priests knew that they wanted to be just that when they were five or six years old.

Hello All,

During our trip to Ashbridge Park, not only did I have a good time, but I noticed how effectively our class has cirlced back to the objectives of our class stated during the first few classes. I remember we wished to gain a greater understanding of the region of bryn mawr and the location and history surrounding it as well as an ecological understanding of our world through various perspectives (through fiction, poetry, feminism, nonfiction). I found that our experience in Ashbridge Park served as a holistic "Wrap up" to our course - we learned about the history of the creek as well as the geography of it in relation to our campus and philadelphia as well as efforts of environmental conservation and renovation - and of course - some poetry! We had also made the day friendly and actively serving to refresh and renew us all through good, healthy food (fruits) and de-stress chants, movements, and shouts!

My favorite aspect of the visit, however, was the group poem at the end. I found that activity to really ground me in the present moment and elevate our overall experience in the park through the eyes of each one of us in our particular contribution to the moment, and the year overall.

I thought I would share this story as a reflection on how sometimes finding voice in an environment that is not yet ready to listen can be more turbulant than silence. And only through the death (or the infinite silence) of an individual do we appreciate just how precious that voice was. 

Jenni Rivera, a famous Mexican-American singer known for her work in Mexican banda and norteno music, passed away in a horrible plane crash. She was infamous among her female fans (including myself and my mother) for speaking out about the violence she experienced in her relationships with men through her music. She was also named spokeswoman for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She however, was judged a lot by many of her "enemies", as she would call them, because they did not necessarily agree with her strong and effervescent personality. She was constantly mediatized as loud and obnoxious.

Her story complicated silence for me, and reminds me of Icouldn'tthinkofanoriginalname's post: /exchange/procrastination-turns-productivity-and-deep-reflection-incarceratedlifers#comment-139771 in that it is through her death/eternal silence that she is glorified and heard.

Lost for Now

            College. The word elicits many different responses, reactions, and connotations. However one important and often overlooked aspect of the college experience is that of being lost. There is an unrealistic expectation, whether unspoken or otherwise, of college students to know what they want to study when they enter college. Not only is this expectation unrealistic for 18 year olds, it is also detrimental to their learning experience. But what does it mean to be lost? And how does it interact with academia? Moreover, what can be gained from it? Rebecca Solnit cites the Old Norse definition of los, from which lost comes from, as the disbanding of an army (Solnit, 7). As Solnit says, this suggests falling out of formation, or going beyond what one knows. In the academic sense, this is exactly what being lost implies. College is a time for students to go beyond what they know, to dabble in as many things as possible before discovering their passion. Being lost academically has value, it can help one find themselves academically as well as personally, shown through Rebecca Solnit’s Field Guide to Getting Lost.