Comments by Jon Hurley Most recent public comments by Jon Hurley https://nowcomment.com/users/94489 Compelling line https://nowcomment.com/documents/231819?scroll_to=2342407 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231819?scroll_to=2342407 I take this line Thu, 18 Feb 2021 23:30:11 -0500 Usefulness https://nowcomment.com/documents/253210?scroll_to=2306748 https://nowcomment.com/documents/253210?scroll_to=2306748 Brother Jack has throughout knowing the narrator consistently displayed his unease with the narrator engaging in some different things, one of them being the narrator singing a spiritual. With each time Brother Jack has dissuaded the narrator from participating in things, even things as culturally relevant as spirituals, one must wonder what Jack's motives really are. Tools are useful, but people can be so much more. Does Brother Jack view the narrator as a tool instead of a person? If so, a tool for what, given that he denies spirituals while claiming to fight for equality for all. Mon, 01 Feb 2021 19:27:58 -0500 Jon Hurley (Room 407: Indiana) https://nowcomment.com/documents/247448?scroll_to=2299025 https://nowcomment.com/documents/247448?scroll_to=2299025 In the past few days, I have been working on persisting. Over the course of months, I have been attempting to develop my own hobbies and skills, seeing that I am unable to leave my house for many of the days. Getting stuck in a complacent routine without developing has been a struggle, but I have created different incentives and goals for myself to improve on something as best I can moving forward, however that may be. Different strategies of doing this have been rejected over time as I attempt to build a better work ethic for myself. Thu, 28 Jan 2021 12:08:16 -0500 Jumping the gun https://nowcomment.com/documents/247448?scroll_to=2298993 https://nowcomment.com/documents/247448?scroll_to=2298993 This sort of progression we have looked into more and more over the past few weeks. We read about the perception that the ideal thinker is one that already knew what to do, did not have to think further, and has already begun acting to solve the problem. We learned that it has not always been this way, but more recently in our culture the man chosen for a job first is the one who does not need to think about it. We have morphed thinking first and acting later into a sign of weakness. If you don't move fast, you will eat the dust of your fellow man. Clearly, this mentality that is still pushed not only inhibits success, but even more importantly, it inhibits creativity. Thu, 28 Jan 2021 11:53:18 -0500 Alex Jacobs - Trudell https://nowcomment.com/documents/252045?scroll_to=2292985 https://nowcomment.com/documents/252045?scroll_to=2292985 The poet I selected for my general comment was Alex Jacobs, a Mohawk visual artist, spoken word poet, and freelance writer that resides in New York. Before living in New York, he lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico for 27 years and continues to visit there to work on art and attend Indian art markets. The poem he read for the Living Nations, Living Worlds project was "Trudell." This poem is a list poem in essence. Alex lists his own fears in the beginning, and they all involve his identity, something so basic and important. Without identity, people can become invisible. But he remarks that despite his own fears he is strong. Strong for his people, who all may be facing their own conflicts and issues in incredibly dire ways. He wants to be strong for those who struggle with their own identities and lives. He is strong because someone has to be strong for them, where much of society has not been. He refuses to lose his own identity and is strong for others no matter how gripping his own fears are. This is in harmony with Joy Harjo's message that indigenous people are still America, and they will not falter to rumors of demise. They will be strong for each other, and no identities will be lost to the fray. https://www.loc.gov/item/2020785201/ Tue, 26 Jan 2021 12:27:11 -0500 Thin Chance https://nowcomment.com/documents/252045?scroll_to=2292948 https://nowcomment.com/documents/252045?scroll_to=2292948 What really draws me to this line is its simple way to make a claim more powerful than something that could be written with much more vernacular. "We were the heathens, but we needed to be saved from them -- thin chance." The flawed nature of this mentality is obvious: seeing the indigenous people as heathens and wanting to save them is nothing more than fear of a new culture and the desire to assimilate that culture. All of this is done through the rose-tinted lens of being some savior. Clearly, what was never done was an attempt to understand the culture, only that it was different, and therefore could never begin to understand what removing aspects of their culture for the purpose of assimilation would mean for these people. It is a gross misunderstanding that has caused the degradation of such valuable perspectives and traditions. Now, I have gone and said all this, but what is said directly after in two words holds even more meaning than this explanation: thin chance. It expresses everything that I have said and so much more in two simple words that stuck with me as a reader. Tue, 26 Jan 2021 12:13:49 -0500 An uphill battle https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285271 https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285271 It almost feels like an easier said than done type of thing. On an evolutionary standpoint, we are herd animals that prefer strength in numbers. It makes it a battle, a necessary one, but a battle nonetheless for the making of a more cosmopolitan society. Fri, 22 Jan 2021 12:39:19 -0500 Freedom in choice https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285268 https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285268 This is where a person's individuality comes in. They should make themselves more aware of other perspectives and options, but ultimately they get to decide what they should choose to believe. This is a beautiful thing, as it keeps the world wholly individualistic and new, allowing for that creativity to flourish. Fri, 22 Jan 2021 12:36:34 -0500 Should we follow others? https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285266 https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285266 The message here is to ensure that you are disturbed, so as to come into contact with more perspectives, events, subjects, etc. If you are following someone, chances are you agree with this person, or at least understand their goals. Should this be avoided to allow for more provocation? What role should leading and following play, if any? Fri, 22 Jan 2021 18:20:04 -0500 The crave for disturbance https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285263 https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285263 Last year I was rather interested in why people enjoy things that traditionally would be horrifying. Essentially, the takeaway was that people enjoyed feeling the rush of a new experience. That instills some hope for myself that there is a very real chance this could become more of a status quo amongst the general population. Fri, 22 Jan 2021 12:30:11 -0500 The world is quite perplexing https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285262 https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285262 I cannot help but wonder in a general sense when the sentiment that the world was knowable ended. What ended it? Did it ever truly exist? Fri, 22 Jan 2021 12:27:28 -0500 My THIS https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285257 https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285257 This principle was the fulcrum of my THIS project last year, where I asked that same question, and findings are interesting. There are studies that exist where people choose something that they know will be bad over something they do not know about, simply because they fear that lack of knowledge more than something negative they know about. It is a difficult challenge being called onto us, but a rewarding one. Fri, 22 Jan 2021 12:25:00 -0500 What are cultural norms? https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285253 https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285253 When I hear things in this context, social norms feel like such a far fetched concept. I remember talking about houses and how they have changed. Once they were more boxed in, but now the stress is on openness. I was wondering when that changed, and whether people recognize those changes in society. Or do we just sort of go with the flow? Is anyone leading anyone? Or is it just chaos with a thin veil known as cultural normality? Fri, 22 Jan 2021 12:21:09 -0500 Confusion as a means of fear https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285221 https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070?scroll_to=2285221 For myself at least, there can be a very real fear in beginning something new to myself or engaging someone in a realm of conversation in which I lack a great deal of knowledge. I fear that in a public setting confusion could simply be considered ignorance to the subject, and I at least can assume that ignorance will be met with unrest amongst the people that have been much more involved in the activity or topic at hand thus far. It is honestly quite relieving to hear that confusion breeds creativity. Fri, 03 Sep 2021 09:47:22 -0400 Beginning of the End https://nowcomment.com/documents/240008?scroll_to=2186547 https://nowcomment.com/documents/240008?scroll_to=2186547 For so much of this movie, Jack struggles to reveal that he is leaving. This moment has been a long time coming. An announcement has been "announced" as it were, and Jack struggles to get anything out. Lucien saying "You done, Jack?" may be a signal, beginning the end of Jack's relationship with the four of them. He "is done." Fri, 06 Nov 2020 10:26:12 -0500 Pseudo Affirmation https://nowcomment.com/documents/240008?scroll_to=2186530 https://nowcomment.com/documents/240008?scroll_to=2186530 All this time, Bob has almost completely refused to acknowledge Barry's existence. He repeatedly belittles his very existence, all the way up until Barry suggests that he has accomplished something that Bob deems normal or successful. Is this an affirmation towards Barry at all? Or is it some comfort that Bob gives to himself that something has gone "right" with Barry? This affirmation is not a true, sincere acknowledgement of Barry. Bob cannot comprehend the intricacies of Barry's life. He only cares about achievement. This "affirmation" is was a hollow exchange. Fri, 03 Sep 2021 09:47:20 -0400 The perspective of a point of view https://nowcomment.com/documents/238340?scroll_to=2175066 https://nowcomment.com/documents/238340?scroll_to=2175066 What I immediately wonder after reading this is "what happens next?" And truly, there is no way to tell, not that there ever was supposed to be a way to tell. Part of the beauty of the piece is how this is designed for a broad and diverse audience. Even with that in mind, I cannot help but wonder who is talking to who. The seemingly most obvious answer is the narrator is talking to his or her self. Like our article of the week, perhaps it is a meta moment of reflection. Another thought is that this is coming from a caring individual. Perhaps a friend or even a paternal person. Another thought is that it is from an adversary. Though I know this may not be pertinent, it shocked me how much the tone of the poem changes. It transforms from something caring and hopeful to something snide and harsh. This is just the ramblings of a thought I felt interesting. Fri, 30 Oct 2020 09:54:05 -0400