My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

I never gave Kanye West much thought.  I never thought much for his music, which more often than not included vulgar lyrics and poor rhymes. I never thought, at all that he could make a good album.  However, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," proves his genius as a lyrical masterpiece.  From the intricate rhymes to the metaphorical lyrics, West speaks deeply about his own life and troubles, his own thoughts, his own two cents.  I always thought of West as ignorant, however now I realize that he just does not (in polite terms) care at all about what, other people famous or not, think about him.  Every song holds such depth that it has taken me over ten times just to listen to one of them to grasp what he really aims to say.  On the song "Devil In A New Dress" West preaches "We love Jesus, but you done and learned a lot from Satan."  The song primarily focuses on young men and women and their greedy intentions towards one another.  However, the deeper meaning in the song brings up his past events and past relationships, and how certain girls he knew wronged him, and then went on to mess up their own lives.  However, he then goes on to balance out his tone of remorse and regret in that of one of complacency.  He subtly states how good things have come into his life, that it's easier than he at first thought to replace the things he once lost in his life.  Similarly, many of West's song's speak of his feelings towards popular appeal, past events in his life, and prior judgments that many have made against him.  West's album deserves a listen, whether you enjoy rap or not, whether you enjoy Kanye or not (I know I didn't, not before this at least).  So, before you go out and judge something you have not experienced, pay Kanye West a little visit.

Zhang-Mi "Long Rice" Kreger

Zhang-Mi Kreger, or "Long Rice Kreger", enters the world in 2025, right after the marriage of Alex Kreger and Jillian Ertel.  Alex, graduates from Princeton University top of his class, with every single honor possible.  He then starts a medical practice with, "The Thomas Donley."  They both specialize in brain surgery. Jillian Ertel, the mother of Long Rice Kreger, graduates from the University of Michigan with a law degree.  However, she does not work, and in fact she did not even have to go to college, she married Alex.  She put her Asian influence on their child, who grows up with deep resentment of the name Long Rice.  He remains a problem child, first stealing cookies from the cookie jar, then robbing kids of their lunch money, and then getting into some illegal and underage substances.  However, he remains a genius child and goes to college at age 16, already in YZ Calculus, which is like 26 or some letters from AB Calculus.  As a matter of fact they had to invent new math classes for him.  However, despite his parents wishes he does not go into a career with math and becomes a chef at five star hotel in Las Vegas.  As a matter of fact he resents the very existence of his parents.  After all, they gave him the name Long Rice, who wouldn't hate that?  That's much worse than Gogol Ganguli, at least Gogol was actually named after someone.  Sadly, his mother dies, in the Chinese Civil War of 2050, she went back to fight for the home country.  Long Rice then realizes his connections with his Chinese heritage.  He goes back to his dad, and together with Thomas Donley they invent a machine that can bring people back to life. They successfully manage to revive Jillian and patent their machine which sells for trillions of dollars.  They then buy Hawaii from the United States and live in happiness with great weather, dozens of servants, champagne and caviar (like all the expensive stuff that rich people really like), and a machine that can revive them forever.  The end.  Now, this is just my take on what I think might possibly happen in a couple of years, or if Alex and Jillian ever had a child, or maybe it stands as a completely far-fetched story that in all probability would never happen.  Either way, my point remains that if Alex and Jillian ever had a child, it would share many similarities with Gogol Ganguli.  Clearly Jillian's Asian cultural influence would have an effect over the child, most likely in the version of a name.  The child would most likely resent its culture just like Gogol did for no reason (this could be disputed).  However, as Jillian and Alex stand as very intellectual individuals (Alex as a national-merit semi finalist), they would place many great expectations on the child.  The child, just like Gogol would revert to a state of independence and long for something to make him different (like how Gogol went in architecture, and Long Rice went into the culinary arts).  Similarly, the pressure might cause their child to rebel in his or her teenage years and become a delinquent.  Also, as they married young they will expect their child to follow in their footsteps, pressuring he/ she (whom I will now call Alex Jr.) to find a spouse.  This also parallels how Gogol's parents felt a certain way about relationships, however they shunned the practice of conventional dating.  I believe that just like Gogol,  Alex Jr. will face cultural and family pressures, causing him to embark on the process of self-discovery.  Just like Gogol, he will reflect, through a symbol like the "Overcoat," and understand that he cannot escape his past and will just have to take life as it comes.  (Disclaimer: this was not meant to bash Alex and Jillian in any way, and I'm sure that if they had a child it would be the smartest and most wonderful child anyone could ever ask for, no really.  I just thought that somehow, if Alex and Jillian had a child it had the potential to parallel Gogol in a few ways, maybe more so than anyone else, of course this is just my opinion.)

Self-Made, That's an Understatement

I disagree with my past thoughts on Gogol Ganguli.  I should not have ever held him in such a critical light.  After all how else would he gain wisdom if not from trial and error and life's experiences.  I believe Ms. Serensky had a good point when called out the many who too rashly judged Gogol, myself included.  The truth holds that Gogol remains a simple man, with a simple nature.  I judged Gogol for not doing as I would have done, or how I felt most others had done in many situations that surrounded him.  In the case with Moushumi, I would have bluntly asked if I could do anything in the relationship to better serve her needs.  I also would want to know, for instance, if my girlfriend or spouse no longer felt any love for me.  From that point on I would attempt to work out any problems, or if it came down to it, leave the relationship.  But, then again, that serves as to how I would work things out.  I hate having something on my mind that eats away at my thoughts.  I believe it stands as one of the worst ways to feel, a feeling that burrows away in the back of my head like a parasite, only one that taints my thoughts and burdens my feelings.  But, then again that just pertains to my personal beliefs on the matter.  Each person remains different, with different opinions and different thoughts.  Self-made? That's an understatement. One cannot change their past, their actions, the things they have experienced, or their self-worth.  One cannot judge Gogol for things they have or have not experienced.  Gogol has his own life to live, and he stands as his own person.  How can one say whether what he does, or does not do proves wrong or right?

Thoughts on Jhumpa Lahiri

I feel as though this book greatly parallels Jhumpa Lahiri's life in several ways, possibly alluding to events in her life.  Both the Ganguli's and Jhumpa share an Indian background and moved to America from another continent.  In this way Jhumpa shares her perspectives of America through Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli.  Similarly, I feel as though Gogol represents some the experiences, mistakes, and misfortunes in her life.  Gogol's deviant nature displayed toawrds his parents and his smoking pot, might have possibly remained actions that Lahiri also partook in as a youth.  Similarly, Gogol's multiple relationships might have roots within Lahiri's own personal experiences, of which she pulls from.  Also, quite possibly she might have based Moushumi off of herslef, as they both grew up in England, later moving to America.  I believe that Lahiri draws from life experiences, which serves as to why the events in her book prove so vivid and descriptive.  Which, also serves as to why the narrator allows the reader to draw in their own personal perspective to create a variety of feelings and tones throughout the story.  Clearly, Lahiri posses grerat skill as a writer, I believe that wiritng allows for an outlet for her to convey her interesting and diverse life experiences from.

Thursdays Class Discussion 11/11 on Thoughts About Moushumi

I believe that the aspect of whether one felt sympathy for Moushumi in yesterdays discussion proved quite interesting.  However, I disagree with whoever possibly feels sympathy for Moushumi.  I can understand how one might at first feel sympathetic, as Moushumi herself feels "a bit guilty for all these months of studying, aware that...she has ignored Nikhil perhaps more than necessary" (246).  However, as I brought up yesterday, the subtle diction "more than necessary" creates a vile and sneaky tone.  Clearly, if one shares a bond with another through marriage, it should not serve as necessary to avoid them at all.  Although Gogol remains partly to blame, his avoidance of Moushumi's attachment to their relationship does not serve as grounds for Moushumi to cheat on or sneak away from Gogol.  If anything, Moushumi should have spoken to Gogol about her qualms with the relationship.  The fact that she feels as though she needs so much personal time indirectly characterizes problems with the relationship, and that her expectations with the relationship prove unlike what she had envisioned.  Overall, I would have some margin of sympathy for Moushumi, had she approached Gogol in a reasonable manner over her issues with him and the relationship.