Culture and Keeping Up

I am not quite yet a grown up, so when I was recently informed that I would have to wear "adult-y" clothes for work this weekend, I knew that my closet wouldn't be any help whatsoever. I dreaded what this newfound work requirement meant – a trip to the mall to supplement my admittedly unsophisticated wardrobe.

 I try to stick with online shopping and generally do my best to avoid the mall; although we can’t deny my completely irrational fear of dressing rooms, the real reason why I stay away from retail centers has more to do with my addictive personality – once I shop, I really don’t want to stop.

Maybe it’s a rush from spending the money I’ve worked hard for; maybe it’s a matter of spoiling myself. Maybe the culture in which we live inundates us with so many consumable goods that we’re not only prone to purchasing, but we’re primed for it. Or maybe the effects of shopping elicit an even deeper psychological thrill. Whatever the reasoning behind it may be, very few can deny that there is a case to be made for retail therapy.

We all know that my foray to the local shopping mall didn’t end with dress slacks. I unwittingly came away with far more than I intended, and my bank account will surely be sulking for weeks. I guess the best course of action in the future is to avoid the temptation altogether…that is, until I get home and realize that I now need an adult-y pair of shoes to match. 

Fighting Nemo

As winter storm Nemo bears down on the East Coast, media outlets are in a frenzy trying to warn their readers of the frosty, impending doom. The blogosphere is a-flurry with updates and information on this Nor'eastern, and the entire country waits with bated breath as, ironically, Nemo begins to find us.

Different blogs are bringing different information about this storm to light. The New York Times published a post about the nomenclature of Nemo, whereas The Daily Beast is delivering real-time weather updates in a Twitter-style format.

The rhetorical implications of the differences in topic between these two blogs is curious - one would expect that The New York Times publication would provide relevant, necessary details about what to expect in the impending storm, as well as bits of information about what the New England region and its officials are doing to ensure their citizens' safety. However,  what we see instead is a report centered entirely upon the interesting choice of name for this weather woe. Unexpectedly, The Daily Beast provides us with the better source of pertinent information about the preparation for and likely effects of our nefarious Nemo.

The specific syntactical formatting of the two blogs is interesting to note - whereas The New York Times delivers its report in standard paragraph form, The Daily Beast intersperses its real-time updates, with time stamps and screen shots of different Tweets from news sources and city officials. However, the standard formatting of The New York Times blog post and the social media layout of The Daily Beast blog post do not reflect the nature of the content of the blogs. Rather, the whimsical structure of The Beast's post contrasts the important information contained within the Tweets and real-time updates.

What are your thoughts, feelings and fears for winter storm Nemo? For my local readers, how happy are you that we're already experiencing warmer weather? For anyone in the Northeast who stumbles across this post, WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING ONLINE?! NEMO IS AFOOT! BEWARE!

Culture and Spoken Word Poetry

In any piece of spoken word poetry, the poet, whether knowingly or not, incorporates the beliefs and behaviors of his or her culture into every stanza. Speaking publicly and performing onstage comes with an innate responsibility to both the culture you bring to the stage and the culture to which you present. 

Spoken word poetry evolved as a means for the fringe groups of society to explore self-expression in a unique, creative environment. It has since exploded into a competitively practiced, widely revered craft that many people utilize to inform, to teach, and to connect with one another through free verse.

Now, anyone with the inspiration and inclination to spit poetry has all of the tools they need to create and share with others. With this massive influx of new poets and poems, I have to wonder, does this help disparate cultures transcend geographic and social barriers to connect over commonly shared values?

In performing spoken word poetry, the goal is to connect with listeners – but if you inadvertently permeate your performance with patterns of thought specific to your culture alone, are you accidentally accomplishing the exact opposite? In an attempt to share with others, could you actually be alienating yourself even further if you fail to relate to the shared experiences and beliefs of your audience?