Steve’s Dancing Martial Arts and New Outlook On Life
by Jordan Rickard
At the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF), Steve Glennie age 22 looked a lot like Jim Morrison with shorter hair and light up nun chucks. Small crowds drew to him as he switched between complex dance steps, break dancing, and martial arts moves. The seizure of lights, techno fanatics, and the Detroit skyline contrasted strongly with the calm summer afternoon and bright red porch that I finally interviewed him on.
The first time Steve danced was at his senior prom. He decided he would go to his first and last dance for him at his high school. He watched 3 youtube videos for inspiration the night before and went to the dance the next day. “I moved and flowed with it. I could make my own dance on the spot,” said Steve. “Everyone there thought I had practiced and been trained.”
Dancing made sense to him in the same way as the martial arts he had been learning since he was 14. Starting at 15 he began training 3 hours a day every day for the next 3 years. Now his training in martial arts and dance take a considerable chunk of his time every day. Since coming to moving to Kalamazoo from Lawrence, MI he has worked on learning new dance styles and types of martial arts and weapons training. “Here I was introduced to modern dances. I quickly took hold to those. Last year I started doing the robot, break dancing, and crip walking. I took off from that,” explained Steve.
Steve was not nearly as outgoing when he was in High School. “My high school career wasn’t very constructive. Being an outcast of the outcasts… That was back in the days when I was autistic and had a lot of learning disabilities that I have overcome,” said Steve. Seeing him talking confidently on the porch or surrounded by a crowd at DEMF it would be hard to guess that he was not always this way. Steve used to suffer from numerous phobias including fear of cars, being around cars, germaphobia, and others. “At the worst point in my life I was afraid to go outside. I was afraid to go out in my yard,” said Steve.
Dancing and martial arts has helped to overcome his autism and phobias. Concentrating on his motions and thinking about the next move while under extreme exertion helps him focus during the rest of his life. “I’ve been to psychologists. I’ve been medicated. I’ve been to brain doctors, but no ever fixed what a good meditative exercise can do,” explained Steve.
Steve hasn’t completely adjusted to being watched, accepted, and admired. The community at Papa Pete’s has been a lot more accepting than the students at his high school in Lawrence. “I’m used to redneck hicks who didn’t understand what I was doing. To them, I was like a 5-year-old spinning around a stick trying to be a power-ranger… but, now at Papa Pete’s it’s kind of embarrassing. I’d rather do what I do and be unpopular than have people enjoy it. I guess I’m defiant,” said Steve.
Now he often locks up the dance floor when practicing his moves during shows especially when he uses his LED nun chucks or staff. “People in the crowd love martial arts lights. I’m glad that they do. It wouldn’t have stopped me if they didn’t, but I’m glad that they do,” said Steve. Steve would dance with a crowd or not, but you can tell that performing the moves he’s slaved over to crowd is at least a little more rewarding to him.
Now, his training, discipline, healthy living, and new outlook on life has expanded his world view. “You realize that the world isn’t just what you have to deal with, but something you can shape around you. You’re no longer a victim, but rather they’re just the lemons that you can make lemonade out of,” said Steve as he rests on the foot of the porch. He’s still sore from the 7 or 8 solid hours of dancing at DEMF. “Right now,” said Steve. “The world is a beautiful place.”
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Future plans
I've found this class has come at a pretty perfect time at my life because I'm in the middle of deciding what I want to do with my future. I don't really feel that much pressure, but I don't like the idea of spending too much time of my life without making what I would call forward momentum. I'm applying for an Americorps job, but there's still the possibility I won't get it. I'm kind of tempted to just drop everything and tried to find whatever job I can in journalism and use it as a vehicle to travel to a new city and try to reestablish myself as a writer. Not that Kalamazoo is exactly stagnant, but I have been here for a while and might need a change of scenery. I've always loved the Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, and especially admire how Thompson left everything and moved to Puerto Rico before he even had a confirmed job with the paper. He eventually became a sport's editor for them and was able to become fully engrained with how running a small paper works. Not that it would be that easy for me, but I'm very tempted to take a big leap like that.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
He's a Fighter REVISED!
“He’s a Fighter”
by Jordan Rickard
Matt looks at driver’s licenses for a living. Matt Stringham is a bouncer. Most nights he stands in the doorway of Rugger’s Up and Unders Sports Bar, commonly referred to as Ups. He makes sure people are 21 before coming in and every now and then throws someone out.
Matt doesn’t identify himself as a bouncer. He plans to professionally deliver head kicks starting this November. He’s a fighter. He’s not a street brawler and he’s not a bully no matter what drunks may think as they’re being dragged outside. “I fight MMA, I have fifteen fights right now, and I go pro in the fall. My record is 10 and 5,” said Stringham. Mixed martial arts (MMA for short) is fought in an arena that features fighters of a myriad of backgrounds with almost no rules except for no strikes to the groin or the back of the head.
For now though, he’s just a bouncer, but that’s okay. “I love this job, it works well for me,” said Stringham. “It’s a power trip.”
Bouncing for bars may seem like the ideal job for a fighter. Stringham is 22, tall, cut, and keeps his hair shaved close. On the street his features aren’t very noticeable, but he’s an intimidating figure to see walking towards your table at Ups when someone is starting a fight or spilling too many drinks.
Stringham isn’t a bouncer because he wants to beat up on drunkards. Being a bouncer allows a surprising amount of freedom. “I like bouncing because I can leave here. There’s no future for me as a professional fighter in Kalamazoo. It’s a job that translates pretty well because I can go to any city and become a bouncer,” said Stringham. He was born and raised in Portage, Michigan, but he is ready to leave as soon as he goes pro.
Ups is supposed to be an Australian sports bar. There’s the occasional drink special on Fosters, but you wouldn’t expect to see any actual Aussies coming in. TVs crowd every wall, and there’s a distinct smell of spilt beer in certain areas. When a Redwings or Tigers game is on it’s packed, but most of the day it’s desolate.
If you saw Stringham sitting on a barstool by the door during off hours you might wonder what he was thinking about. In a way, he’s not thinking about anything at all. “I meditate a lot when it’s just me here. I focus on my breathing and it phases out all of the other distractions,” said Stringham.
Stringham didn’t used to be so calm and motivated. He used to be what you might think a bouncer would be; angry. “I was an angry angry person. I’m such a calm person nowadays now that I get to head kick people on a daily basis. I don’t know why, it’s just something in me,” said Stringham. He looks like he could be an angry person. He’s usually smiling, but when he is in a fight there’s a completely different side to him.
MMA provides a controlled environment that’s radically different from fighting someone outside of a party or on the street. Stringham used to think he was the best fighter around before his second MMA fight when he got knocked out by someone smaller but better trained than himself. There’s a difference between releasing anger when you fight and being an angry fighter. “I don’t like street fighting. In my sport I can shake a dude’s hand, be nice with him and then beat the living hell out of him and try to kill him because I know someone is going to pull me off of him. I unleash everything that is dark,” said Stringham.
Of course, he doesn’t win every fight, but losing is helpful in its own way. Stringham likened to video games he played when he was younger: “did you ever play Final Fantasy VII? Win or lose, you’re leveling up. You’re getting experience.”
This mindset has led him to survive the darker parts of his life, take the experience, and make himself into a stronger fighter and person. “I was a heroin addict for a long time,” said Stringham. “I’ll be four years clean in June. My best friend died in rehab, so I don’t do anything [drugs] anymore.” He will still have a couple of drinks, but he doesn’t drink much when his shift is over like the other bar employees.
Now, Stringham’s goals are set on going pro. He will start getting paid real cash for fights, and if he keeps winning he will be able to retire from bouncing forever. For now though, he still has to keep making money. As a bouncer, he can spend more time training than working. However, training stays in the gym. You might think he would get some practice fighting as a bouncer. Actually, he never does. He’s not allowed to strike anyone, but there’s still use for his skills. “In here grappling is the name of the game,” said Stringham. Grabbing, disarming, and generally getting someone out the door before they can cause more problems is a valued skill set for a bouncer.
“We’re the guys everyone hates,” he said. Some drunk people want to fight, and most drunk people want to watch a fight. Normally, Stringham would too, but not when he’s on the job. He has to stop fights before they happen, and that means keeping an eye out. “You can always spot the douche bags,” said Stringham. “If you’re a jackass when you’re sober than you’re probably going to be an even bigger jackass when you’re drunk.”
Knowing how to fight isn’t just about connecting punches. Fighting is about confidence, diligence, and working the angles. Winning a fight isn’t just the time in the ring either. Stringham has to lose 29 pounds in order to make weight and fight in the 185lb group. He also has to keep making money for now.
Stringham is going to keep bouncing as many hours a week as he needs. You might not want to see him in the ring, but you should feel safer when you see him in the bar because there’s not many people that can touch him there. “Yeah, I could get knocked out with a bare fist, but in reality it’s a video game. I’m a level 10 and they’re a level 1.”
by Jordan Rickard
Matt looks at driver’s licenses for a living. Matt Stringham is a bouncer. Most nights he stands in the doorway of Rugger’s Up and Unders Sports Bar, commonly referred to as Ups. He makes sure people are 21 before coming in and every now and then throws someone out.
Matt doesn’t identify himself as a bouncer. He plans to professionally deliver head kicks starting this November. He’s a fighter. He’s not a street brawler and he’s not a bully no matter what drunks may think as they’re being dragged outside. “I fight MMA, I have fifteen fights right now, and I go pro in the fall. My record is 10 and 5,” said Stringham. Mixed martial arts (MMA for short) is fought in an arena that features fighters of a myriad of backgrounds with almost no rules except for no strikes to the groin or the back of the head.
For now though, he’s just a bouncer, but that’s okay. “I love this job, it works well for me,” said Stringham. “It’s a power trip.”
Bouncing for bars may seem like the ideal job for a fighter. Stringham is 22, tall, cut, and keeps his hair shaved close. On the street his features aren’t very noticeable, but he’s an intimidating figure to see walking towards your table at Ups when someone is starting a fight or spilling too many drinks.
Stringham isn’t a bouncer because he wants to beat up on drunkards. Being a bouncer allows a surprising amount of freedom. “I like bouncing because I can leave here. There’s no future for me as a professional fighter in Kalamazoo. It’s a job that translates pretty well because I can go to any city and become a bouncer,” said Stringham. He was born and raised in Portage, Michigan, but he is ready to leave as soon as he goes pro.
Ups is supposed to be an Australian sports bar. There’s the occasional drink special on Fosters, but you wouldn’t expect to see any actual Aussies coming in. TVs crowd every wall, and there’s a distinct smell of spilt beer in certain areas. When a Redwings or Tigers game is on it’s packed, but most of the day it’s desolate.
If you saw Stringham sitting on a barstool by the door during off hours you might wonder what he was thinking about. In a way, he’s not thinking about anything at all. “I meditate a lot when it’s just me here. I focus on my breathing and it phases out all of the other distractions,” said Stringham.
Stringham didn’t used to be so calm and motivated. He used to be what you might think a bouncer would be; angry. “I was an angry angry person. I’m such a calm person nowadays now that I get to head kick people on a daily basis. I don’t know why, it’s just something in me,” said Stringham. He looks like he could be an angry person. He’s usually smiling, but when he is in a fight there’s a completely different side to him.
MMA provides a controlled environment that’s radically different from fighting someone outside of a party or on the street. Stringham used to think he was the best fighter around before his second MMA fight when he got knocked out by someone smaller but better trained than himself. There’s a difference between releasing anger when you fight and being an angry fighter. “I don’t like street fighting. In my sport I can shake a dude’s hand, be nice with him and then beat the living hell out of him and try to kill him because I know someone is going to pull me off of him. I unleash everything that is dark,” said Stringham.
Of course, he doesn’t win every fight, but losing is helpful in its own way. Stringham likened to video games he played when he was younger: “did you ever play Final Fantasy VII? Win or lose, you’re leveling up. You’re getting experience.”
This mindset has led him to survive the darker parts of his life, take the experience, and make himself into a stronger fighter and person. “I was a heroin addict for a long time,” said Stringham. “I’ll be four years clean in June. My best friend died in rehab, so I don’t do anything [drugs] anymore.” He will still have a couple of drinks, but he doesn’t drink much when his shift is over like the other bar employees.
Now, Stringham’s goals are set on going pro. He will start getting paid real cash for fights, and if he keeps winning he will be able to retire from bouncing forever. For now though, he still has to keep making money. As a bouncer, he can spend more time training than working. However, training stays in the gym. You might think he would get some practice fighting as a bouncer. Actually, he never does. He’s not allowed to strike anyone, but there’s still use for his skills. “In here grappling is the name of the game,” said Stringham. Grabbing, disarming, and generally getting someone out the door before they can cause more problems is a valued skill set for a bouncer.
“We’re the guys everyone hates,” he said. Some drunk people want to fight, and most drunk people want to watch a fight. Normally, Stringham would too, but not when he’s on the job. He has to stop fights before they happen, and that means keeping an eye out. “You can always spot the douche bags,” said Stringham. “If you’re a jackass when you’re sober than you’re probably going to be an even bigger jackass when you’re drunk.”
Knowing how to fight isn’t just about connecting punches. Fighting is about confidence, diligence, and working the angles. Winning a fight isn’t just the time in the ring either. Stringham has to lose 29 pounds in order to make weight and fight in the 185lb group. He also has to keep making money for now.
Stringham is going to keep bouncing as many hours a week as he needs. You might not want to see him in the ring, but you should feel safer when you see him in the bar because there’s not many people that can touch him there. “Yeah, I could get knocked out with a bare fist, but in reality it’s a video game. I’m a level 10 and they’re a level 1.”
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Character Development in Non-Fiction
I still have 50 pages to go on Gail's book, but so far I've been amazed about how engaged I feel on such a dark topic. From page 1 we're aware that the ultimate outcome is going to be a murder-suicide for the two "protagonists", but through how it's written I still myself rooting for characters and trying to envision a different outcome.
There is not character construction in the traditional sense because they are all real people and we're just reading real quotes and information. However, the selection of quotes and placement in the piece are guiding my view of the characters for the optimum dramatic effect. Especially how the story of Neenef and Maggie are told separately at first and we're able to empathize or sympathize with both of them as individuals. I don't think I'm alone in saying that I appreciated Neenef and how he worked to try to get out from under the thumb of his father and establish himself at a progressive liberal college. That is what makes it so tragic when he slowly transitions into the antagonist. This also helps move the novel from a story about 2 people into one about a campus and its reactions. At a certain point we're getting information primarily from friends and faculty. While we care about how their relationship is going, we ultimately are left with the friends and faculty and because they received sufficient attention before the event occurred it remains an engaging read.
There is not character construction in the traditional sense because they are all real people and we're just reading real quotes and information. However, the selection of quotes and placement in the piece are guiding my view of the characters for the optimum dramatic effect. Especially how the story of Neenef and Maggie are told separately at first and we're able to empathize or sympathize with both of them as individuals. I don't think I'm alone in saying that I appreciated Neenef and how he worked to try to get out from under the thumb of his father and establish himself at a progressive liberal college. That is what makes it so tragic when he slowly transitions into the antagonist. This also helps move the novel from a story about 2 people into one about a campus and its reactions. At a certain point we're getting information primarily from friends and faculty. While we care about how their relationship is going, we ultimately are left with the friends and faculty and because they received sufficient attention before the event occurred it remains an engaging read.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
The Spanish Revolution
This is a really cool piece from Men's Health about Spanish cuisine. It's written in a narrative style from the author's experience at a restaurant and then moves on to profile specific restaurants and chefs. Don't read this when you're hungry.
http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/spanish-food
http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/spanish-food
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Profile Piece
“He’s a Fighter”
by Jordan Rickard
Matt looks at driver’s licenses for a living. Though he hopes to professionally deliver head kicks starting this November. Matt Stringham is a bouncer. Most nights he stands in the doorway of Rugger’s Up and Unders Sports Bar. He makes sure people are 21 before coming in and every now and then throws someone out.
Matt doesn’t identify himself as a bouncer. He’s a fighter. He’s not a street brawler and he’s not a bully no matter what drunks may think as they’re being dragged outside. “I fight MMA, I have fifteen fights right now, and I go pro in the fall. My record is 10 and 5 right now,” said Stringham. Mixed martial arts (MMA for short) is fought in an arena that features fighters of a myriad of backgrounds with almost no rules except for no strikes to the groin or the back of the head.
For now though, he’s just a bouncer, but that’s okay. “I love this job, it works well for me,” said Stringham. “It’s a power trip.”
Bouncing for bars may seem like the ideal job for a fighter. Stringham is tall, cut, and keeps his hair shaved close. He’s an intimidating figure to see walking towards your table when someone is starting a fight or spilling too many drinks.
Stringham isn’t a bouncer because he wants to beat up on drunkards. Being a bouncer allows a surprising amount of freedom. “I like bouncing because I can leave here. There’s no future for me as a professional fighter in Kalamazoo. It’s a job that translates pretty well because I can go to any city and become a bouncer,” said Stringham. He is ready to leave as soon as he goes pro.
If you saw Stringham sitting on a barstool by the door during off hours you might wonder what he was thinking about. In a way, he’s not thinking about anything at all. “I meditate a lot when it’s just me here. I focus on my breathing and it phases out all of the other distractions,” said Stringham.
Stringham didn’t used to be so calm and motivated. He used to be what you might think a bouncer would be; angry. “I was an angry angry person. I’m such a calm person nowadays now that I get to head kick people on a daily basis. I don’t know why, it’s just something in me,” said Stringham. He looks like he could be an angry person. He’s usually smiling, but when he is in a fight there’s a completely different side to him.
MMA provides a controlled environment that’s radically different from fighting someone outside of a party or on the street. Stringham used to think he was the best fighter around before his second MMA fight when he got knocked out by someone smaller but better trained than himself. There’s a difference between releasing anger when you fight and being an angry fighter. “I don’t like street fighting. In my sport I can shake a dude’s hand, be nice with him and then beat the living hell out of him and try to kill him because I know someone is going to pull me off of him. I unleash everything that is dark,” said Stringham.
Of course, he doesn’t win every fight, but losing is helpful in its own way. Stringham likened to video games he played when he was younger: “did you ever play Final Fantasy VII? Win or lose, you’re leveling up. You’re getting experience.”
This mindset has led him to survive the darker parts of his life, take the experience, and make himself into a stronger fighter and person. “I was a heroin addict for a long time,” said Stringham. “I’ll be four years clean in June. My best friend died in rehab, so I don’t do anything [drugs and alcohol] anymore.” This is why he doesn’t drink much after work like other bar employees.
Now, Stringham’s goals are set on going pro, but he still has to keep making money until he gets there. He doesn’t fight as much as one might think he would as a bouncer. In fact, he never does. He’s not allowed to strike anyone, but there’s still use for his skills. “In here grappling is the name of the game,” said Stringham. Grabbing, disarming, and generally getting someone out the door before they can cause more problems is a valued skill set for a bouncer.
“We’re the guys everyone hates,” he said. Some drunk people want to fight, and most drunk people want to watch a fight. Normally, Stringham would too, but not when he’s on the job. He has to stop fights before they happen, and that means keeping an eye out. “You can always spot the douche bags,” said Stringham. “If you’re a jackass when you’re sober than you’re probably going to be an even bigger jackass when you’re drunk.”
Knowing how to fight isn’t just about connecting punches. Fighting is about confidence, diligence, and working the angles. Winning a fight isn’t just the time in the ring either. Stringham has to lose 29 pounds in order to make weight and fight in the 185lb group. He also has to keep making money for now.
Stringham is going to keep bouncing as many hours a week as he needs. You might not want to see him in the ring, but you should feel safer when you see him in the bar because there’s not many people that can touch him there. “Yeah, I could get knocked out with a bare fist, but in reality it’s a video game. I’m a level 10 and they’re a level 1.”
by Jordan Rickard
Matt looks at driver’s licenses for a living. Though he hopes to professionally deliver head kicks starting this November. Matt Stringham is a bouncer. Most nights he stands in the doorway of Rugger’s Up and Unders Sports Bar. He makes sure people are 21 before coming in and every now and then throws someone out.
Matt doesn’t identify himself as a bouncer. He’s a fighter. He’s not a street brawler and he’s not a bully no matter what drunks may think as they’re being dragged outside. “I fight MMA, I have fifteen fights right now, and I go pro in the fall. My record is 10 and 5 right now,” said Stringham. Mixed martial arts (MMA for short) is fought in an arena that features fighters of a myriad of backgrounds with almost no rules except for no strikes to the groin or the back of the head.
For now though, he’s just a bouncer, but that’s okay. “I love this job, it works well for me,” said Stringham. “It’s a power trip.”
Bouncing for bars may seem like the ideal job for a fighter. Stringham is tall, cut, and keeps his hair shaved close. He’s an intimidating figure to see walking towards your table when someone is starting a fight or spilling too many drinks.
Stringham isn’t a bouncer because he wants to beat up on drunkards. Being a bouncer allows a surprising amount of freedom. “I like bouncing because I can leave here. There’s no future for me as a professional fighter in Kalamazoo. It’s a job that translates pretty well because I can go to any city and become a bouncer,” said Stringham. He is ready to leave as soon as he goes pro.
If you saw Stringham sitting on a barstool by the door during off hours you might wonder what he was thinking about. In a way, he’s not thinking about anything at all. “I meditate a lot when it’s just me here. I focus on my breathing and it phases out all of the other distractions,” said Stringham.
Stringham didn’t used to be so calm and motivated. He used to be what you might think a bouncer would be; angry. “I was an angry angry person. I’m such a calm person nowadays now that I get to head kick people on a daily basis. I don’t know why, it’s just something in me,” said Stringham. He looks like he could be an angry person. He’s usually smiling, but when he is in a fight there’s a completely different side to him.
MMA provides a controlled environment that’s radically different from fighting someone outside of a party or on the street. Stringham used to think he was the best fighter around before his second MMA fight when he got knocked out by someone smaller but better trained than himself. There’s a difference between releasing anger when you fight and being an angry fighter. “I don’t like street fighting. In my sport I can shake a dude’s hand, be nice with him and then beat the living hell out of him and try to kill him because I know someone is going to pull me off of him. I unleash everything that is dark,” said Stringham.
Of course, he doesn’t win every fight, but losing is helpful in its own way. Stringham likened to video games he played when he was younger: “did you ever play Final Fantasy VII? Win or lose, you’re leveling up. You’re getting experience.”
This mindset has led him to survive the darker parts of his life, take the experience, and make himself into a stronger fighter and person. “I was a heroin addict for a long time,” said Stringham. “I’ll be four years clean in June. My best friend died in rehab, so I don’t do anything [drugs and alcohol] anymore.” This is why he doesn’t drink much after work like other bar employees.
Now, Stringham’s goals are set on going pro, but he still has to keep making money until he gets there. He doesn’t fight as much as one might think he would as a bouncer. In fact, he never does. He’s not allowed to strike anyone, but there’s still use for his skills. “In here grappling is the name of the game,” said Stringham. Grabbing, disarming, and generally getting someone out the door before they can cause more problems is a valued skill set for a bouncer.
“We’re the guys everyone hates,” he said. Some drunk people want to fight, and most drunk people want to watch a fight. Normally, Stringham would too, but not when he’s on the job. He has to stop fights before they happen, and that means keeping an eye out. “You can always spot the douche bags,” said Stringham. “If you’re a jackass when you’re sober than you’re probably going to be an even bigger jackass when you’re drunk.”
Knowing how to fight isn’t just about connecting punches. Fighting is about confidence, diligence, and working the angles. Winning a fight isn’t just the time in the ring either. Stringham has to lose 29 pounds in order to make weight and fight in the 185lb group. He also has to keep making money for now.
Stringham is going to keep bouncing as many hours a week as he needs. You might not want to see him in the ring, but you should feel safer when you see him in the bar because there’s not many people that can touch him there. “Yeah, I could get knocked out with a bare fist, but in reality it’s a video game. I’m a level 10 and they’re a level 1.”
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Kristof
I love how Kristof utilizes Op-Ed to bring in a wide range of topics to cover a story that wouldn't traditionally sound very news worthy. Like "The Power of Mockery" sounds like the topic for an essay or a section of a novel, but he's able to use it in the Op-Ed style to make it relevant and in a short readable form. He brings in the revolutions in the Middle East, anti-smoking campaigns, and a group that worked to stop gang violence to address how violence or police action isn't the best solution. He still provides sources and specific examples, but he is able to use his own voice to weave them together into a more cohesive piece.
Another tactic of Kristof's that I appreciated was used in "What About American Girls Sold on the Street?". He uses Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd as a window into breaching the topic of teen prostitution in the United States. He is not merely copying or condensing her piece, but he uses examples from it to help prove his bigger point. This kind of overlap is cool because he's providing publicity for her book and simultaneously using her expertise to make his piece deeper and have a more human aspect to it.
One trait I noticed about his pieces is that they're all pretty easy reads. I don't mean this in a negative way, but they could be read pretty quickly and there were very few lulls where I felt like setting my computer down or moving on to a new article.
Another tactic of Kristof's that I appreciated was used in "What About American Girls Sold on the Street?". He uses Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd as a window into breaching the topic of teen prostitution in the United States. He is not merely copying or condensing her piece, but he uses examples from it to help prove his bigger point. This kind of overlap is cool because he's providing publicity for her book and simultaneously using her expertise to make his piece deeper and have a more human aspect to it.
One trait I noticed about his pieces is that they're all pretty easy reads. I don't mean this in a negative way, but they could be read pretty quickly and there were very few lulls where I felt like setting my computer down or moving on to a new article.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Non-fiction rewrite
My Franklin outline
Conflict:
-Disconnect between Jordan and I
Developments:
1.Mom announces divorce
2.Jason is more assertive and says he wants to stay home.
3.Jordan ultimately sides with Jason and says no to worlds of fun as well.
Resolution:
-Choosing to not go to worlds of fun in spite of Jordan's desire to go ultimately allows Jordan to transition into I (future Jordan) because of his recognition of the benefits of responsibility to family even if its falling apart.
Worlds of Fun Revised
by Jordan Rickard
Jordan is 15 and he was going to Worlds of Fun. His mom was driving and his brother Jason and Jason’s girlfriend Liz were in the car with him. They were going to pick up his friend Justin. Jordan is me or was me, and will later become me. I write it this way because the person in the story is Jordan Rickard, but he is no longer me. I can see the van and there’s Jordan in the back seat. He sure is excited to go to Worlds of Fun.
Jason had decided to bring his girlfriend and Jordan was bringing his friend Justin. Justin was loud, eccentric, and waved his hands around a lot; perfect for a trip to Kansas’s biggest amusement park.
Very little was being said in the car. Jordan might have been listening to the minor chitchat between his brother and Liz, but I don’t remember them saying anything. Jordan was sitting in the backseat and staring out the windows as the Raytheon base slid by. I think about Jordan’s fixation on the Raytheon base that day because Raytheon would eventually leave Wichita and build planes in France in collaboration with Air Bus. Jordan didn’t know this yet, and no one else in Wichita would see it coming.
Mom rolled through the stop sign at Kellogg and Webb but didn’t take the right towards the turnpike. Jason and I know how to drive to World’s of Fun, but Jordan didn’t so he didn’t notice when Jason gave Mom a questioning look.
“Jordan, can’t we get to Justin’s house by I-35?” asked Jason. I don’t know where Justin lives now, but his old house is right off of I-35.
“I’m not sure,” said Jordan. “It’s on Andover Road.”
Jason looked at Mom and she sighed. She took the next right into a strip mall. The purple van parked in front of the Play-It-Again Sports, which looked closed.
“You can just pull a u-turn and get back to 1-35,” said Jason. He looked at Liz and she nodded without saying anything. I think that’s why they got along for so many years. He liked nods of approval and she wanted some one to follow and agree with. Jordan just thought Jason was too good for her.
“I know how to get Kansas City, Jason,” said Mom as she turned off the engine.
“Should I call Justin and say we’ll be late?” asked Jordan.
“Maybe, just let me talk for a minute,” said Mom. Jordan thought he was going to Worlds of Fun. What’s the catch? I know now, but he wouldn’t have been able to guess. She awkwardly turned tried to turn around at us while staying seated.
“I’m divorcing your father,” said Mom. I notice now how she never called him your father until that moment, but she would continue to do so afterwards.
She probably said more. I’m sure she went into an explanation before she let Jason or I try to get a word in, but those words are the only ones that mattered because Jordan didn’t care if she was unhappy or that his dad had become completely unresponsive. Jordan had smelled the smoke, but just now realized that the house was burning down. It didn’t seem that meaningful and poetic to Jordan, but it is to me and was to Jordan if you ask me about it now.
I think it’s significant that we stopped at Play-It-Again Sports. Hadn’t Jordan’s family been living through a marriage that had been used and mistreated so many times that no one was going to buy it anymore? Jordan had never been inside and wouldn’t have made the connection. There’s nothing more depressing than a store full of barely used treadmills.
If you ask me about it now I will tell you the dance my parents had done for years where my mom sold houses and my dad stayed in the office so they wouldn’t have to talk at work. I’ll tell my closest friends or people who have never met my family how Dad would spend hours in his underwear watching TV in bed. How Mom always left his dinner in the fridge and he would come and eat after Jason and I had gone to bed.
I understand why. I really do, but Jordan did not. Jordan just knew that he couldn’t catch his breath. He sat and gasped quietly in the back seat. He couldn’t even begin to think about what the implications of this were. Would he move? Would he have to choose one of his parents? Most importantly, why can’t he catch his breath? I remember Jordan breathing heavy for minutes while it may have just been a few seconds or even just one. One second where your lungs can’t seem to fill your chest and you can’t think of what the next move is.
Jason was angry. He began to rant and demand answers from Mom. He was angry about being told this in front of Play-It-Again Sports while on the way to Worlds of Fun. I think anger is a luxury. Anger is something you can afford to have when your girlfriend is holding your hand and you’re heading off to college next year. Finally, Jason asked a question that Jordan actually wanted to hear.
“Does Dad know?” asked Jason. Jordan couldn’t see his eyes as he looked at her, but I’ve seen that look of contempt now too and it sears but won’t cauterize.
“I told him to meet a new client at the office before we left.” said Mom. She had turned back forward and looked through the windshield. Jason snorted.
“What does that mean?” asked Jordan.
“I’m having someone meet him there to give him the papers,” she said. Jason snorted louder. Mom turned around and looked at him. Jason stared at her but spoke to Jordan.
“It means she’s having him served,” said Jason. Jordan knew what that meant. He watched television. I now associate this action with real people, but Jordan thought it was something that celebrities did to each other. Not parents who hadn’t cheated on each other or hit each other. I still haven’t heard that any of that happened, but now I think it may have been somehow crueler. Years of the silent treatment while sleeping on the same king size mattress every night.
“Where’s Dad going to stay?” asked Jason after a few moments.
“He has today to get some of his stuff out of the house, and after that he’ll have to make appointments,” said Mom. “He can stay at the office or one of his rentals.”
I still wonder why he was forced out of the house and why she didn’t have to leave. What would have happened if Dad had refused to sign the papers when the “new client” had given him the forms? I won’t ask either of my parents and it would seem like weird real life foreshadowing if I were to do too much research on my own.
“Do you still want to go to Worlds of Fun?” asked Mom. Jordan still did, but not because of roller coasters or overpriced soft drinks. Jordan didn’t want to have to call Justin and tell him they couldn’t take the trip as planned because Jordan’s mom was divorcing his dad. Jordan thought Worlds of Fun would be the almost surreal escape from this mess, if just for the afternoon.
“No, I want to be with Dad on his last day in the house,” said Jason. Perhaps Jason realized the torture it would be to sit in metal chairs and yell whoopee as the world spun around you and know that Dad was off packing his things. The world spins enough on its own.
“What about you, Jordan?” asked Mom. Jason looked at me.
“I don’t want to go to Worlds of Fun anymore,” he said.
My Mom and Dad are happier now. She plays tennis and drinks wine and my dad steals coffee from Panera Bread Company with his buddies. My Dad still brags and glows when he talks to his friends about how we wouldn’t abandon him on the day he got divorced. If Jason hadn’t spoken first then Jordan probably would have went with Mom to Worlds of Fun. I guess that’s the point of all of this. Jordan would have gone, but I wouldn’t.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Great article in Men's Health
I read this article in Men's Health today: http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/man-without-taste
It's called "A Matter of Taste (And How I Lost Mine)". It's about a man who had an accident when he was a toddler and lost his taste of smell. What not everyone realizes is without a sense of smell all flavor is lost when eating food. You can distinguish sweet and sour or salty and umami, but that's all you can distinguish. The difference between vanilla and chocolate ice cream tastes exactly the same to him (except for any textural differences).
It's extremely interesting because he has still found a way to enjoy eating and drinking. He explores things on a textural level and will go through buffets piling different textures into a box and mixing them up as he eats them to see what makes the most interesting combination. He also eats tons of spicy food and finds pleasure in analyzing the different sensations that are induced by different peppers and hot sauces.
I like to cook and eat, but I've always taken food in as a complete package. It's interesting to see someone who's favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip purely because of the cooling sensation that the mint delivers. It's also a good example of narrative because we get insight into the textural differences of food and people who have similar olfactory disabilities to him while following the story of how he lives his life.
He also can distinguish between different kinds of whiskey by analyzing the burn that each one delivers. That's awesome.
It's called "A Matter of Taste (And How I Lost Mine)". It's about a man who had an accident when he was a toddler and lost his taste of smell. What not everyone realizes is without a sense of smell all flavor is lost when eating food. You can distinguish sweet and sour or salty and umami, but that's all you can distinguish. The difference between vanilla and chocolate ice cream tastes exactly the same to him (except for any textural differences).
It's extremely interesting because he has still found a way to enjoy eating and drinking. He explores things on a textural level and will go through buffets piling different textures into a box and mixing them up as he eats them to see what makes the most interesting combination. He also eats tons of spicy food and finds pleasure in analyzing the different sensations that are induced by different peppers and hot sauces.
I like to cook and eat, but I've always taken food in as a complete package. It's interesting to see someone who's favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip purely because of the cooling sensation that the mint delivers. It's also a good example of narrative because we get insight into the textural differences of food and people who have similar olfactory disabilities to him while following the story of how he lives his life.
He also can distinguish between different kinds of whiskey by analyzing the burn that each one delivers. That's awesome.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Non-Fiction as Therapy
I've let a few people read my initial non-fiction piece and it's felt really good. I realize that this is a really simple statement, but it's significant because I don't feel that I'm still upset by my parents divorce or really suffer any lingering effect. It felt good to let people read it because I was able to analyze a time period in my life and let other people read it. It's fundamentally different than me telling someone about it or having a chat about divorce. I was able to hand people my computer and let them read it while I cooked or read something. When it was done they told me that they liked it and maybe other comments, but there was enough distance through the medium that it felt like my writing and not my life was what was being judged. I feel like when people affirm the success or partial success of a piece they are in turn validating my own analysis of my life.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Narrative Journalism and the article I chose
One of my favorite narrative journalism novels is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. In this novel he varies from other authors I like such as Hunter S. Thompson because he removes his presence from the novel. The story is not about him interviewing the killers or traveling through the town in Kansas (woo Kansas!) talking to the townspeople who were effected by the murder. The novel works as a recreation of the events that occurred before the murder and afterwards. It reads like fiction, but is extremely gripping because the reader realizes that the people are real. Capote also works to humanize the killers as well by giving their backstories and what led them to the crime of murdering a whole family for next to no money.
It is because of this novel that I was really intrigued by "Getting It Wrong: Convicting the Innocent". Crimes are usually portrayed by listing the very basic facts (journalism, police reports, etc.). In most newspapers if the killer or victim is of little significance they only warrant a short article that lists the bare facts. However, as Garrett notes these are real people to and the stories of their arrest and convictions are far more complicated than the confessions they eventually made.
If following the stories of the guilty can be heart wrenching then it is that much more so when reading about the wrongfully convicted. Garrett tells the events of Frank Sterling's arrest as though it were a story rather than a police report. By being able to read Frank's complete story and the situation he was put through Garrett is able to humanize the other 250 people he helped exonerate.
The article reverts to a more traditional journalistic approach after Frank's story is completed, but what he says after resonates better because we now have a human face to associate with these crimes, and can better understand what it might feel like to be in prison for years knowing your own innocence (or you could watch Shawshank Redemption).
It is because of this novel that I was really intrigued by "Getting It Wrong: Convicting the Innocent". Crimes are usually portrayed by listing the very basic facts (journalism, police reports, etc.). In most newspapers if the killer or victim is of little significance they only warrant a short article that lists the bare facts. However, as Garrett notes these are real people to and the stories of their arrest and convictions are far more complicated than the confessions they eventually made.
If following the stories of the guilty can be heart wrenching then it is that much more so when reading about the wrongfully convicted. Garrett tells the events of Frank Sterling's arrest as though it were a story rather than a police report. By being able to read Frank's complete story and the situation he was put through Garrett is able to humanize the other 250 people he helped exonerate.
The article reverts to a more traditional journalistic approach after Frank's story is completed, but what he says after resonates better because we now have a human face to associate with these crimes, and can better understand what it might feel like to be in prison for years knowing your own innocence (or you could watch Shawshank Redemption).
Choose Your Own Assignment
http://www.slate.com/id/2291061/
Sorry this is so late. I did the reading and completely forgot I had this due this week until I read the email from Marin.
Sorry this is so late. I did the reading and completely forgot I had this due this week until I read the email from Marin.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Worlds of Fun (non-fiction story)
edit: forgot to write that I this would be in the style if I was intending to submit it to Lives from the NYT
Worlds of Fun
Worlds of Fun
by Jordan Rickard
Jordan is 15 and he was going to Worlds of Fun. His mom was driving and his brother Jason and Jason’s girlfriend Liz were in the car with him. They were going to pick up his friend Justin. Jordan is me or was me, and will later become me. I write it this way because the person in the story is Jordan Rickard, but he is no longer me. I can see the van and there’s Jordan in the back seat. He sure is excited to go to Worlds of Fun.
Very little was being said in the car. Jordan might have been listening to the minor chitchat between his brother and Liz, but I don’t remember them saying anything. Jordan was sitting in the backseat and staring out the windows as the Raytheon base slid by. I think about Jordan’s fixation on the Raytheon base that day because Raytheon would eventually leave Wichita and build planes in France in collaboration with Air Bus. Jordan didn’t know this yet, and no one else in Wichita would see it coming.
Mom rolled through the stop sign at Kellogg and Webb but didn’t take the right towards the turnpike. Jason and I know how to drive to World’s of Fun, but Jordan didn’t so he didn’t notice when Jason gave Mom a questioning look.
“Jordan, can’t we get to Justin’s house by I-35?” asked Jason. I don’t know where Justin lives now, but his old house is right off of I-35.
“I’m not sure,” said Jordan. “It’s on Andover Road.”
Jason looked at Mom and she sighed. She took the next right into a strip mall. The purple van parked in front of the Play-It-Again Sports, which looked closed.
“You can just pull a u-turn and get back to 1-35,” said Jason. He looked at Liz and she nodded without saying anything. I think that’s why they got along for so many years. He liked nods of approval and she wanted some one to follow and agree with. Jordan just thought Jason was too good for her.
“I know how to get Kansas City, Jason,” said Mom as she turned off the engine.
“Should I call Justin and say we’ll be late?” asked Jordan.
“Maybe, just let me talk for a minute,” said Mom. Jordan thought he was going to Worlds of Fun. What’s the catch? I know now, but he wouldn’t have been able to guess. She awkwardly turned tried to turn around at us while staying seated.
“I’m divorcing your father,” said Mom. I notice now how she never called him your father until that moment, but she would continue to do so afterwards.
She probably said more. I’m sure she went into an explanation before she let Jason or I try to get a word in, but those words are the only ones that mattered because Jordan didn’t care if she was unhappy or that his dad had become completely unresponsive. Jordan had smelled the smoke, but just now realized that the house was burning down. It didn’t seem that meaningful and poetic to Jordan, but it is to me and was to Jordan if you ask me about it now.
If you ask me about it now I will tell you the dance my parents had done for years where my mom sold houses and my dad stayed in the office so they wouldn’t have to talk at work. I’ll tell my closest friends or people who have never met my family how Dad would spend hours in his underwear watching TV in bed. How Mom always left his dinner in the fridge and he would come and eat after Jason and I had gone to bed.
I understand why. I really do, but Jordan did not. Jordan just knew that he couldn’t catch his breath. He sat and gasped quietly in the back seat. He couldn’t even begin to think about what the implications of this were. Would he move? Would he have to choose one of his parents? Most importantly, why can’t he catch his breath? I remember Jordan breathing heavy for minutes while it may have just been a few seconds or even just one. One second where your lungs can’t seem to fill your chest and you can’t think of what the next move is.
Jason was angry. He began to rant and demand answers from Mom. He was angry about being told this in front of Play-It-Again Sports while on the way to Worlds of Fun. I think anger is a luxury. Anger is something you can afford to have when your girlfriend is holding your hand and you’re heading off to college next year. This became his speech to the entire office before he was fired and went to enjoy his pension. Finally, Jason asked a question that Jordan actually wanted to hear.
“Does Dad know?” asked Jason. Jordan couldn’t see his eyes as he looked at her, but I’ve seen that look of contempt now too and it sears but won’t cauterize.
“I told him to meet a new client at the office before we left.” said Mom. She had turned back forward and looked through the windshield. Jason snorted.
“What does that mean?” asked Jordan.
“I’m having someone meet him there to give him the papers,” she said. Jason snorted louder. Mom turned around and looked at him. Jason stared at her but spoke to Jordan.
“It means she’s having him served,” said Jason. Jordan knew what that meant. He watched television. I now associate this action with real people, but Jordan thought it was something that celebrities did to each other. Not parents who hadn’t cheated on each other or hit each other. I still haven’t heard that any of that happened, but now I think it may have been somehow crueler. Years of the silent treatment while sleeping on the same king size mattress every night.
“Where’s Dad going to stay?” asked Jason after a few moments.
“He has today to get some of his stuff out of the house, and after that he’ll have to make appointments,” said Mom. “He can stay at the office or one of his rentals.”
I still wonder why he was forced out of the house and why she didn’t have to leave. What would have happened if Dad had refused to sign the papers when the “new client” had given him the forms? I won’t ask either of my parents and it would seem like weird real life foreshadowing if I were to do too much research on my own.
“Do you still want to go to Worlds of Fun?” asked Mom. Jordan still did, but not because of roller coasters or overpriced soft drinks. Jordan didn’t want to have to call Justin and tell him they couldn’t take the trip as planned because Jordan’s mom was divorcing his dad. Jordan thought Worlds of Fun would be the almost surreal escape from this mess, if just for the afternoon.
“No, I want to be with Dad on his last day in the house,” said Jason. Perhaps Jason realized the torture it would be to sit in metal chairs and yell whoopee as the world spun around you and know that Dad was off packing his things. The world spins enough on its own.
“What about you, Jordan?” asked Mom. Jason looked at me.
“I don’t want to go to Worlds of Fun anymore,” I said.
When Jordan might have said yes, I said no. My Mom and Dad are happier now. My Dad still brags and glows when he talks about how we wouldn’t abandon him on the day he got divorced. Jordan would have, but I wouldn’t.
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