Browsing Archive: July, 2010

Honor our Children

Posted by Sarah McCann on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, In : Youth 
I saw a man reprimanding a young girl today, she must have been about 9 or 10. He said "I am the authority and you had better respect me." and proceeded to lecture her on how she had to respect adults, not give attitude, and about how lucky she was to be attending his program for free because otherwise she would have nothing to do this summer. He then told her that she could not come back to class. She sat on a chair outside the door for the next 4 hours. What had this girl done? She had refu...
Continue reading ...
 

A Puzzle for the Sake of a Puzzle

Posted by Sarah McCann on Friday, July 16, 2010, In : Entertainment 
An ending that caused the whole theatre to gasp. I will not spoil it by giving any further details, but I must question whether the ending of Inception is just a puzzle for the sake of a puzzle. I suppose this kind of ending could leave one to posit that the movie is up for our interpretation, but is it true? In the creation of a movie, aren't we as viewers trapped in the structure of the director, screenwriter, cinematographer and all others who helped in its fabrication, much as the charact...
Continue reading ...
 

Mates of State at the Ottobar

Posted by Sarah McCann on Thursday, July 15, 2010, In : Personal Experience 
I love when bands tour with other bands that they love and seem to have a genuine good time with. I had the pleasure of attending last night's Mates of State show at the Ottobar. Free Energy opened for them and both bands were great. They also shared a joy throughout the evening that I do not remember from many of the concerts that I have seen in the past, especially when I was living in New York. Maybe I am making a huge jump here, but there is something specific to Baltimore that I find pro...
Continue reading ...
 

Children and Choices

Posted by Sarah McCann on Tuesday, July 13, 2010, In : Youth 
Children need choices. They need a structure to these choices, yes, but above all, they need to be able to make decisions about their role and activity in the world. Not having choices results in children feeling powerless and thus acting out, being defiant in order to prove (probably only to themselves) that they do have the ability to control their lives.

As adults, we may not always understand or see the reasoning behind children's choices and I have seen this lead to many adults making fun...
Continue reading ...
 

On Guns

Posted by Sarah McCann on Monday, July 12, 2010, In : Personal Experience 
I recently had the opportunity to shoot a gun, actually several guns. I wasn't hunting, all I shot were some empty paint cans, but the experience was memorable and worthy of writing. I am glad that at 29, this was my first experience with fire arms, I am not sure that I had the seriousness, respect or confidence necessary prior to this that is needed to use a gun with care. The weight of the gun was what struck me, both in the physical object and in the damage that it could do if accidentally...
Continue reading ...
 

Don't Drive People To Think Less Interesting Thoughts

Posted by Sarah McCann on Monday, July 12, 2010, In : Creativity 
I have been reading Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee and it is where today's blog finds its inspiration. Elizabeth Costello is an aging Australian writer. She is at the point in her career where she is invited to lecture at universities, on cruise ships, etc. In one lecture she chooses to speak on the subject of animal rights rather than her novels. She speaks of the experiments performed on apes to see if they can think and reason. Her analysis of an experiment on an ape in which, the ape ...
Continue reading ...
 

Is the Eccentric Genius the Only Genius?

Posted by Sarah McCann on Thursday, July 1, 2010, In : Power 
I have written previously on the myth of genius in this society and how it often leads bright, intelligent, creative people to paths of self-destruction, partially because of the media's portrayal of genius as damaged, addicted, and at the fringes of society. A recent conversation about the eccentric genius, has led me again to consider what genius means and whether it necessitates some sort of eccentricity. The conversation ended in the person telling me that I was arguing semantics and mayb...
Continue reading ...
 
« Back to posts
 

My blog


This blog will address issues of communication, art, and life from my point of view. It is a means for me to keep writing, thinking critically, and finding meaning in my life and work.