3rd Soloist Post I think?

At this point in the story, it seems as though things are trying to come together for Nathaniel. Steve Lopez has found him an apartment at Lamp and it’s not half bad. Well not half bad to Steve. Nathaniel seems to hate it. He claims it’s too quiet and confining. He would much rather be where he was before, on the streets. He somehow comes to the conclusion that it is safer out on the streets than to live in that apartment. For some reason he really doesn’t want to be there. Maybe this is because he’s been through so many unsuspected changes in his life that he doesn’t want to try anything new. Maybe he subconsciously automatically shuts off all things unnatural to him so that he will always feel secure and protected. I think this is very interesting. If my guesses are wrong, then why would he rather be on the streets? The apartment is obviously safer than the streets but his thinking process is completely different from a normal person’s.
It is also strange how he seems to resist what Steve Lopez asks of him but eventually he folds. It seems as though he has built a great deal of trust with Steve. This is a good sign because it seemed as though Nathaniel wouldn’t be accepting of much of anything. And to see him warm up to Steve so quickly is a good sign for him. Even though Nathaniel hates his apartment and hasn’t really slept in it, he is showing signs of great improvement.

The Actual Movie

As I watched the movie, The Soloist, I noticed a few differences between the movie and the book. The movie was quite interesting, and it felt familiar. This is because I’ve been reading the book. As I watched the movie, I felt like I knew what was going on the entire time, and I felt like I’ve seen it before. As I watched it, I felt like I knew what was going to happen next, but in some situations I was wrong. The movie changed a few things from the book that I noticed.
The first thing I noticed changed was the fact that Steve Lopez worked with his wife. In the book, I believe he had a wife and a child, a little girl. But in the movie, he had no little girl, and his wife, or girlfriend (they never specified) worked with him at the office. In the book, I don’t even recall any conversations between him and his wife, yet in the movie, they were constantly talking and going out together and things like that. Another difference I noticed is how quickly Steve Lopez got into Nathaniel’s life. In the story, he always talked about trust between them and him trying to connect with him. But in the movie, their relationship grew fairly quicker than it did in the book. In the book, it took time for Steve to think about the situation when people were shipping him the instruments for Nathaniel. He thought about it and told Nathaniel about what was going on before he brought them. In the movie, he just one day showed up to Nathaniel with a new cello.
Another thing I noticed and liked about the movie was that I got a chance to visualize all that I’ve been reading. It was nice to actually hear Nathaniel’s playing and see how much he loved and got into his music. And even though it was a horrible sight, it was nice to actually see skid row as described in the book. Not good because of what was happening there, but good because it helped me realize what the place was really like and how hard life was to live there. Overall it was just nice to see everything I read.
In short, I enjoy reading the book, and even though there are obvious differences between the book and the movie, I still enjoyed the movie better.

Sharing My Thoughts

It seems like Lopez likes to talk and think about other people and their issues. He talks a lot about issues that a lot of other people have to deal with. he likes dive jump in their minds and find out all he can about them. Maybe this is because he is a journalist, and his second nature is to dig deep for the "scoop." But at the same time, he does this subconsciously. He subconsciously asks people about their lives and wants to know all about them. He is a very curious person, yet generous at the same time. He risks his relationship with his family in order to make sure Nathaniel is okay everyday, when he could be at home with his family.

Nathaniel seems to trust Lopez, yet distrust him at the same time because he doesn't want him to take his new instruments to Lamp.

The video clip adds to our reading because now we know how Nathaniel is doing now and how his life has been after the book. Without the video clip, as of now, I would have no idea what Nathaniel Ayers is doing now. I would have many questions like, where is he? Is he still on the streets? What is Steve Lopez doing now? Did he ever help Nathaniel the way he wanted to? Reading the book with all of these questions in my head would make me want to read the book even more to see if I could answer them, but because I know the answers to these questions, I now read the book in order to find out what happened leading up to today.

Questions I have now that I do no yet know the answer to are things like, does Nathaniel stay at Lamp? If he does, for how long? What ever happened to all of his instruments? Does he still have them?

The Soloist by Steve Lopez so far seems to be a pretty interesting story. If I didn’t know this book was based on a true story, I probably would have thought it to be fiction. So far, the story of Nathaniel Ayers seems to be sad yet inspiring. Sad because he has lost everything and is now on the streets, but inspiring because you see that even though this man has lost everything, he still sticks to his passion and wouldn’t give it up for the world. Even though he is on the streets and needs to try and find a job or a place to live, he really seems to not be concerned with any of it. He doesn’t even try to play his violin for money. He plays just for the sake of playing, and just because he loves it.
Another surprising element to this story is the fact that Nathaniel Ayers once attended Julliard, one of the most high profile schools for music in the world. Who would think that a person living in the streets playing a two-string violin once attended Julliard? No one. Even after hearing him play and the level of his skill Steve Lopez still couldn’t believe it and had to research it. Ayers even knew some of the world’s most recognized musicians like Yoyo Ma and a few others.
I look forward to reading the rest of this story and seeing what happens next. This is actually one of the few, if not the only book we’re had to read this year that I actually want to read. I guess because it deals with music and I love music. Or maybe because it’s a true story. I like to read about or watch movies about true stories because it makes me think about if I were in their situation what would I do? I hope this book keeps me thinking. I look forward to seeing what happens in the end and finding out more about Nathaniel Ayers.

"Phonies"

For this week’s English post, I have decided to write about the Cather in the Rye, and Holden’s opinions about “phonies.” Holden, the main character of the story, talks about how he dislikes “phonies,” or people that feel one way but act another. Near the beginning of the book the two phonies he talks about are Ackley and Stradlater. He talks about how Ackley acts annoying and loud because he is insecure and thinks that he is unpopular. In Holden’s mind, Ackley is a phony because he hides his true feelings and acts like someone he is not just because he is insecure.
Holden also shares his thoughts about Stradlater. He really doesn’t like him very much but is nice to him anyway. And that brings me to my next point. In my opinion, Holden is a bit of a phony. I think he is a phony because he himself feels one way about certain people, but acts differently towards them. For example, how he feels about Ackley. Holden dislikes him and points out all of his flaws, but at the same time, he is nice to him and doesn’t let him know how he really feels about him. He acts like everything is fine and dandy. And it’s the same situation for Stradlater. Holden doesn’t like him either but is still nice to him and continues to do favors for him. These are fine examples of a phony to me.
In short, even though Holden says Ackley and Stradlater are phonies, I think he is also a phony and just hasn’t realized it yet. If Holden didn’t spend so much time worrying and thinking about how much Ackley ans Stradlater annoy him, maybe he would come to realize that his is in some ways just like them.

Die the Death of A Salesman

How many still die the death of a salesman? In my opinion, hundreds maybe thousands every day. Business back in the 1920’s was pretty rough, but I think business today can be just as rough if not worse. In so many situations today I see people get let go from jobs they thought were secure. Even before the recession, business is never truly safe. With the way the world is these days, everything comes back to business, everything is about business. From television to school, and everything in between, business runs the world.
With the country in the state it is now, business is defiantly not a secure topic. The recession we are currently in has put thousands out of jobs. My own mother for example got laid off her job a few months ago and is now looking for a new job. Since she got laid off, more and more people from her company also got laid off, and now the entire business is set to go under some time soon. This could happen to anyone at anytime from the looks of it. I would not want to be involved in business right now, especially in knowing that I could possibly lose my job at any time. Back in the 1920’s, I don’t think they had to cope with a country wide recession. I don’t know what I would do in a situation like this. Maybe I would look for other jobs out there as something to fall back on just in case my business goes under.
In short, I believe business today in the 21st century is defiantly more difficult to deal with than business in the 1920’s. The recession defiantly plays a huge role in making business more difficult. The recession has made it easier for people to lose their jobs, and therefore made it easier for more and more people to die the death of a salesman.

Blog about Blogging

Blogging for the past few weeks has been surprisingly easy and useful. When it was first introduced, I thought it was so complicated and thought that we meaning my class should have just stuck with the Google forum. Now, after weeks and weeks of blogging, I think it is defiantly way better and easier than the Google forum.
Has blogging been valuable to you as a student, thinker, reader, and writer? I think it has. Before blogging, posting my work was a “project,” meaning it wasn’t as easy. On the Google forum, there always seemed to be an issue and it was difficult to figure out. Sometimes I would post work and not see it and have to post again. Or other times I ended up posting on the wrong thing or posting multiple posts of the same topic. Now that I have been blogging instead, I find things way easier. The process is simpler and everything is more organized and easier to see. And before, looking at other people’s work was boring. Now everyone has their own profiles which are all different and visually appealing. I actually enjoy going onto someone else’s profile and commenting on their work. Especially since I get credit for it.

Is this work different from other experiences that you have had in English classes? Blogging is defiantly something that was new to me. In all of my past English classes, we would have to submit written homework almost every day. This year’s English class has been way better in terms of how I turn in my work. It’s much more enjoyable blogging your work once a week as opposed to bringing in homework and textbooks every day.
In short, blogging my work has been an enjoyable experience. It is easy to do, and it makes it fun to post and look at other people’s work. It also saves a lot of paper.