Challenging Conventions 2015: March 2015

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Wordling with Gatsby

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Thoughts about Women in Clothes

If it's ok, I'd rather not comment on a particular story, but on the episode as a whole. I know that it's bending the rules, but that's what "Women in Clothes" is about, what fashion is about, at least in part. Although, as in the case of “Staying Home” by Rose Waldman, they can be about having to dress within the rules. Either way, a woman’s style is unique to her no matter which way she dresses, and at the same time, we all have to deal with things like body image and feeling self-conscious. This episode has left me inspired. I feel as if women and clothing are two things that are so intertwined that they will never be separated until the end of time. Maybe that sounds like I'm going too far in an attempt to make a profound statement, but it's true. Every woman has some sort of relationship with clothing, myself included. Clothing is a form of self-expression that doesn't require words. Clothes tell the story of the woman who wears them, and whether I like it or not, I know that my sartorial choices do indeed say something about who I am. After listening to this podcast, I took a look into my own closet. Just like "Magical," each piece reflects a period of my life. It made me very glad that those pieces can't talk because their stories would be embarrassingly personal. I have old Halloween costumes that my mother sewed for me, graphic tees, a tan corduroy skirt with six buttons on the front, party dresses, a few vintage pieces that my mom has saved for, like, thirty years, including some high-waisted 100% cotton jeans sitting on the closet shelf (it's IMPOSSIBLE to find 100% cotton theses days), my Communion dress, a black silk skirt that I bought for a steal at the boutique down the street the very day that I had my interview at Kingswood, suede ballet flats tucked in their boxes, riding boots, a few pairs of lonely track spikes waiting for another race, and a Baroque wig made out of a paper bag that I used for an American history project in the eighth grade. And it's so funny the way that you remember exactly what you are wearing when something happens to you. I remember that when I was four at the church bazaar, I was on a ride where each rider sat in a miniature helicopter that went around in a circle suspended by a fixed arm. I remember muttering an insult under my breath about the boy in the helicopter in front of me driving too slow (of course all the helicopters were moving the same speed because they were all fixed by equidistant arms). I remember wearing a white tank top with an ice cream cone on it, piled high with ice cream, each flavor different, and they were all labeled in tiny font next to the scoop. I felt so guilty that I never wore that top again. I buried it in the back of my dresser and never looked at it. The next time I saw the top, I had outgrown it, and I thought to myself, "You know, you should have worn this again, it's kind of cute." There have been many times when I have wondered about the past life of a clothing item, especially when I visit the second-hand shop. Unlike the story in which the woman with the keen olfactory sense, I don’t have the talent to determine the past owner’s identity by smelling clothes, but her interpretations were amusing to listen to. The story about the woman in Istanbul who was supposed to compliment people on their clothing in the elevator contributed to the notion that fashion, for the most part at least, is a universal language that anyone can understand, and receiving a compliment on an outfit always makes you feel like a million bucks. While each story was beautiful, personal, and fascinating, it was the readers who brought the stories to life. Personally, my favorite reader was Zosia Mamet because of her expressive, young, and slightly gravelly voice. I thought her tone in “Magical” was sentimental because she was reading the story of three dresses that helped to define a woman’s life. Sometimes though, I have to say that I didn’t always like the way that all of the stories were read. I thought that I could clearly hear that some of the readers were using their “reading voice,” which I feel is much less natural than their actual speaking voice. This was evident when you could hear the readers overly exaggerating expressions and clipping the ends off of words. This selection of shorts spoke to me because of its personal nature, and because it evoked so many of my own memories and experiences. Each story and poem was thought-provoking and often humorous. Of course, the subject matter spoke to me as well, because in my opinion, fashion tells so many stories, including the story of women’s history and is closely linked to what it means to be a woman.

(this was originally meant to be a comment, but it is too long)

Monday, March 23, 2015

Party Animals Short

First of all this story appealed to me because of the title. It seemed like it would be interesting and age appropriate. The actual story was appealing because it had humor and wonderful descriptions that made me easily picture the story in my head. The reader brought the story to life with ease. She used pauses, sped up, and slowed down at appropriate times. She also whispered and spoke louder to exaggerating certain words. Also, the reader spoke in different tones to represent different characters. I thought doing this made the dialogue come to life since it sounded much different than the narrative parts. Overall this reader executed their goal completely through the use of volume, tone, and rhythm in her reading.

How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America

I have to say I really liked this story.

Brandon tells his own story about growing up as a black man in the south. It was interesting to hear the story from a 1st person POV. It made the story feel more raw and true, and allows the listener to connect to the teller. Because Brandon is telling his own story, it sounds more informal and less like a narration from an audiobook, which is not a bad thing. I think the informal tone kept my interest. Brandon was also good at changing his pace, and adding dramatic pauses to build suspense.

The story itself was very interesting. Brandon makes the point of establishing that his story is just a jumbled mess of his emotions and experiences, and he couldn't possibly form an inspiring, coherent social justice statement within 30 minutes. One thing that I liked from his narration is when he'd have a time lapse, he'd say, " I was ___ years old, 2 years older than [insert black victim of police shooting] when they were shot. It was a small, yet powerful touch.

I'm not sure if I have digested the whole "killing yourself slowly" that Brandon focused on. It's definitely something to think about.

Women In Clothes: Dress for Success read by Sonia Manzano.

I really enjoyed this story. Although it was a rather short podcast, the reader, Sonia Manzano had a great tone in her voice that brought the story to life. Her voice was powerful and load, but not overbearingly so. She accentuated certain words, she dropped her tone low at points and loader at others as to make certain words more important than others. When she made a joke, she paused, allowing the audience to laugh and once they finished she began again. Her speed of voice was perfect, she did not talk to fast, allowing the listeners to take in all the she was saying. The only thing I wish was different was the ending. I didn’t understand the first time I listened that the podcast was over, I wish her tone on the last few words allowed for the listeners to know, indeed the story was coming to an end.

The plot of the story was very interesting to me. With the over arching idea being the women are the ones who are brutally criticized for their outfits and clothes, but the author brings up a good point, why aren't men criticized for their outfit choices just as much as women? Sonia, when bringing up certain males in particular suits, including Justice Roberts, while I was being unaware of who she was talking about, still gave humor, that made me laugh due to her tone and way of speaking.

Women in Clothes: Magical read by Zosia Mamet

I really enjoyed this story as a whole. The reader, Zosia Mamet for the most part did a good job, allowing me to feel interested in the story. Throughout the story the girl went threw many dresses that she seemed to think defined her life, the reader did a good job at depicting the feeling the character had when wearing such clothes, how they made her feel, who and what she came to find. However, I think the reader could have brought the story a bit more to life, by changing her tone and speed of what she was saying. In general, the reader had a very calm, yet depressing kind of voice. The voice made me feel like the story was sad, but it actually wasn’t. By changing her tone in voice, having a more upbeat, exciting tone in the high points, for example when she found her last dress and how it made her feel, and then a slower, calmer, more somber voice between during the low points of the story, for example when she looses her first dress that she purchased at Urban Outfitters. The differences in tones would have brought the story more to life and allowed the listeners to truly feel how the narrator was feeling.

Women in Clothes: Worn read by Jennifer Lim

This story was good. I didn’t like the plot as much as the other stories, but the reader did in fact do a very good job. She allowed for appropriate pauses, she accentuated correct words, and changed the speed of her voice enough times that it didn’t get confusing or difficult to follow along. One aspect I did like in the story was the power the one ribbon had on the narrator. Jennifer told the story very well, starting from the beginning of her wearing the pink ribbon around her, which made her feel pretty. She mentioned she wasn't sure why she began wearing the ribbon all the time, saying maybe it was the the Bangladesh women who wore pages of the Koran on a leather string around her waist. The tone of Jennifer Lim allowed for the story to not seem boring or as strange as it might have been. I liked that the story touched on the fact that clothes or accessories that people wear doesn't always have to be for show, they can indeed be for other things, like the Bangladesh women, who wore a piece of clothing for her beliefs.

3 Podcasts

Gail Godwin's "St. George" by Jane Curtin
I enjoyed listening to "St.George" because Jane Curtin introduced the characters by taking on their role, as the story progressed. Primarily, she tries to portray the dragon as both a big strong man, and a soft cuddily dragon, as she reads the dialougue between Silas and Gwen. Since Jane Curtin mockingly gives human characteristics to the dragon, such as describing his delightful towards the t.v show, the story was brought to life. Later on, when Silas is buttoning his shirt, Jane is presenting the humanesque aspect of this dragon making it even more believable. Jane created a very unique voice throughout the story by altering it as she speaks as a specific character. When portryaing Gwen who was getting a master's degree, and who wanted to wait to fall in love, she exagerated the encounter between Gwen and the dragon at the coffee shop, by stating that Gwen was searching for someone who she couldn't get attatched to. Additionaly, Jane uses her own emotions, as the third person, to portray her opinion on specific characters. For example, Jane sarcastically describes the dragon's continuos visits to Gwen's home, and with an annoyed tone, she explains how Gwen rambles about "the disease". With these different reading techniques, Jane Curtin brought the story to life, and made it very amusing.

The Trickle-Down Affect by James Naughton
James began the story by intorducing Deb, a young boy who had both an easy, and difficult life. As a young boy, he had two sisters, a famlily ranch, and recieved first pick on horses. Fast-forward to his adult years, the ranch was given to the elk-tooth bank, his sisters were in Oregon, had sadly developed an allergy to chocolate and just within the first minute I had gone on an emotional roller coaster, and James had created a voice for this story that made the listener pity Deb. I absolutely loved how James continuously changed the way he portrayed Deb, because it altered the listeners opinion of him. Sometimes the listener pitied Deb, and sometimes James exlpained his drinking habits, lack of income, and sad broken marriages, forcing the reader to blame Deb for the outcomes. I also liked how James focused on the smaller aspects of the story, such as the drought affecting everyones ranch, causing them to wait for rain like mice. By detering off of Deb's poor situation, it was amusing to hear James make fun of everyone's bad luck. In general, James Naughton cleverly encompassed Deb's character, making this reading very unique.

Gomez Palacio
I didn't like this story as much as the previous ones, especially because the reader was very monotonous. The narrator describes his last days in Mexico, where he lists events that take place, with no real emotion or reaction to them. Although the reader did change his voice when speaking as the main character, he didn't portray his own reaction, or bring the story to life. It is clear through the story, that the narrator disliked traveling through all these cities on his way to Gomez Palacio, but the reader didn't show disgust, or anger in his voice. Only through the context of the story could I identify the narrators true emotions. Although the reader does sarcastically describe, for example the pleasant taste of coffee, this change in tone didn't come often, making this story very dull.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Modern Fables: St. George

The narrator did a fantastic job of going back and forth between a light, whimsical tone, and a saddened, more somber tone. These tones perfectly mirrored the contrasting moods of the story, and made the story come to life. She also did a good job with giving each character a different voice.

The story, about a woman discovering a dragon, seemed silly when I first read the overview before listening to the podcast. However, the mythical, funny aspect of owning a dragon tied in with the overarching theme of isolation and connection. The woman was mostly alone when the dragon came along, and it acted as a companion for her. The story never outright made the connection, but it came across as subtle, unspoken moral, that was hard to pin point exactly- which made for an interesting reflection of the story as a whole.

The one thing that I disliked was the length of the story, but it was not unbearable - ( I didn't realize at one point that it went over 30 minutes )

Podcasts

Party Animals: "Turning"

For the most part I liked this story. There was so much description which created a vivid image in my head what was being presented to my ears. The trio of older characters, met with the young Robert is a very odd group. The older ladies were able to share some wisdom with the young boy such as 'looking within yourself' before making a big decision. It showed that sometimes the youth can find very impactful information from elders of society even in the most uncommon groups of people.

The reader, Christine Lahti, used various voices to differentiate and distinguish between the characters, especially between the young Robert and the older ladies. She made it very easy to follow what she was saying, pausing at certain points and using different tones to keep the listener attentive. Speaking faster or slowing down the speed at which she spoke gave the listener more information; whether or not it was exciting or to allow them to acknowledge what they just heard.

Party Animals: "Goody Bags"

This story was decently appealing to me. It was very relatable, to the sense that it wasn't very formal but rather from someone's personal views and their raw emotions and feelings toward the situation. Wanting to use the "magic" from the Goody Bags, this became a very important part of this characters life by listening to Nama. (I believe that is the correct name) The story became a bit confusing at times, as it seemed to be jumping around too quick for my liking. It was almost as if right when I was trying to acknowledge what I just hear, more information was already being given.

The reader, Amber Tamblyn, is definitely a very excited, peppy person which translated into the reading of this story. She was able to control this and use it very effectively, turning it into a skill. She kept the audience attentive by using different speeds or the pace at which she spoke. She didn't let the listener drift off but rather kept reeling them in making them want to hear what she was about to say because she seemed excited to hear what she was about to say which made the audience want to listen even more.