Peyton’s The Name, Bloggin’s The Game

The Sound of Being Throughout the world there are many different stories of how the universe came to be. These various creation accounts span all types of works including cultural mythology, historical theory, and fiction, and each brings a unique perspective of the key forces involved in the formation of the earth. Many cultures of old passed down tales of creation stories, and these tales often had common themes, but there were also many unique ideas in each, and each perspective highlights different attributes of the powers involved in creation. These different attributes, through examination, can often add to our understanding to give us a wider and fuller appreciation of nature and the less noticed qualities within it. J.R.R. Tolkien, in his creation myth for his fictional world Middle-earth, “Ainulindale”, highlights certain aspects of creation, and uses colorful and creative images in his writing to describe these different aspects in new and unique ways. While his creat...

Everywhere is Underground Imagine a life that isn’t life, a love that isn’t love, and a man so conflicted in his own head that he thinks himself into being less than a man. These images paint the picture of the main character in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground . The main character, an unnamed man referred to here as Underground Man, is the narrator of this story, which basically serves as his memoir to an unknown audience known only as “gentlemen.” The narration contains a collection of events from his life lived in a dark corner he calls “the Underground” and his own thoughts about these events. He uses a disjointed and inconsistent voice in his discourses which portrays his constant shifting sentiments, nonetheless, some raw moments in the narrative can be spotted, and these raw moments allow a glimpse into his mind and heart. Underground Man possesses a raging struggle within himself because he constantly overthinks, this internal struggle causes him to struggle with...

The Misanthrope’s Mean There are many questions that plague the human mind as one attempts to go about one’s day. These can range anywhere from the meaning and origin of life itself to questions of destiny and the future to inquiries of what method of cooking toast is most effective. However, one question that I often find plaguing my own consciousness is the question of how best to live. How is a human supposed to conduct themselves in relation to other humans when they are trying to live morally? What type of attitude should be adopted when interacting with others? The immediate answer that springs to my mind is an attitude of understanding and charity with others, and this answer seems to suffice in most situations when life is clean and easy. But what about when life is messy? What about when, despite your attempts to live a good life and share it with others, they make choices that your spirit chafes against? How is one to react in situations such as these when others live im...

Musings from a Curly-Haired College Kid Perspective . Despite all that we think, do, and experience, look up at the night sky. Every light represents its own star, each one at least the size of our planet, continuously burning and roaring about its business, emitting light, sound, and energy millions of light years away as if we didn't exist. The same goes for quiet mountain streams on the other side of the world, blind cave fish gliding in the unknown deeps of the earth, and wind tousling grass and everything else it touches as it ceaselessly sweeps over the world. It all continues about its business, unaware that we are conscious beings thinking about it. Observe the intricate details in the lines of a single fingerprint. How carefully carved out every curve is. Beautiful people . Why do people find it easier to like and have sympathy for people that they find attractive? If someone we consider beautiful approaches us and asks for help, we have a natural inclination to help th...

Greetings everyone. On this past Tuesday, November 12, I attended the Alabama ACDA Collegiate Choral Festival. Several college chorus groups from all around the state performed a wide variety of pieces, and it was a very enjoyable experience. There were pieces ranging in language from Latin to English to African, and the styles of these pieces varied as much as the dialects. I remember one group in particular from, I believe, Jacksonville State that sang a piece that sounded like it was African, but it had a neat interlude of sorts in which they all started swaying, humming almost inaudibly, and performing a range of vocal percussion noises. It was very cool, and stood in contrast to the African piece Faulkner’s chorus performed, Indodana, which is a slower spiritual meant to express wailing and pensive sorrow. Overall, there was a wide spectrum of tone qualities, song choices, and performance styles that added together to make the festival a unique and enjoyable experience. Thanks fo...

Hello everyone! Once again, I come to you with a summary post of a lecture because I am in need of a GB Favor. Today's summary is based on a lecture on the Electoral College, brought to you through me by Michael Maibach. Mr. Maibach is a former Vice President of Intel Corporation, along other accolades, and possesses lots of background experience in the economic and political realm. He examined some of the history of America's founding, explained the problem the electoral college attempts to solve, and demonstrated how it does solve it. Here is a brief overview. The founding fathers tried to create a Rome that worked, one without the flaws of the original. One of the biggest inspirations for their government model was John Locke's Second Treatise on Government . From this they drew the conclusion that the people should be the supreme source of authority in government, that there was no “divine right of kings”, and that men have “natural rights”. Another big inspiration f...