Music For Me Essays - Greensleeves, , Term Papers

Music For Me ?He says, ?Son can you play me a memory?I'm not really sure how it goes,But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it completeWhen I wore a younger man's clothes.'? I sat in the kitchen of my uncle's quaint, cottage home on the English countryside. The subtle house seemed as though it had been built according to a description out ofWuthering Heights. The late-afternoon sunlight shone through the adjacent windowpane, sparkling through Uncle Adrian's silvery hair. I marveled at the majestic viewfrom that window; it was like a still-life painted by the hand of God. Theautumn-stricken trees, the cobblestone walkway, the way the green, grainy vines hadcrept up his surrounding wood fence, it was all so poetic. The short, stocky, andtremendously kind-hearted man slumped over the piano next to me and sang and playedBilly Joel's ?Piano Man?. I continued to gaze out the window, relishing the harmonybetween the piano and the still-life. Simply beautiful. The music stopped. Uncle Adrianfixed his eye s on mine, and I looked up at his face, youthful at the foundation but wornby time, and I said, ?Play it again, Uncle Adrian.? He was always my favorite uncle, andthat day we had bonded through the universal language, music. I was a seven-year oldchild then. And that day, that moment, I resolved to myself that one day, I am going tobe a ?piano man? just like Billy Joel and Uncle Adrian. That winter I got my wish. The ice on the windows of my New Jersey home created a translucence thatreflected the blue, red, and white ribbons adorning the Christmas presents that layuntouched under the tree. My mother to my left, drowning in the stupor that inevitablyenvelops all parents on Christmas morning, looked on as I ripped into the well-wrappedpresents. Oh my! My eyes could hardly focus, I was so excited. I had just opened myfirst present and, with equal excitement, I ripped the box open so fast that the musty,stale odor of ripped cardboard rose into the air. Inside the box, I found a ?Casio E-Z PlayKeyboard?. The keyboard was about a foot and a half wide and had keys about an inchwide. This was fine for me because my small seven-year-old hands probably couldn'thave handled anything bigger anyway. I remember the ivory keys being so glossy, that Icould look into them and see my innocent, careless face looking right back at me. Thered and green lights above each key would light up each time I turned it on. There was asmall cartridge in the upper, left-hand corner with the large words ?GREENSLEEVES?etched on it. When I flicked switch in the upper right corner into ?E-Z Play Mode?, itwould teach me how to play ?Greensleeves? by lighting up the red or green light insequence over which keys need to be played. Apparently, one could buy more cartridges,but ?Greensleeves? was just fine for me. For about a year after that Christmas, a normal afternoon would consist ofpushing my cold, lifeless He-Men action figures aside and sitting on my green,pin-striped, twin-sized bed with my ?E-Z Play? in hand. I was captivated by the music,and even more enthralled that the sounds that emanated from the tiny speaker werecoming from my hands. Simply beautiful. I would play ?Greensleeves? over and overand over, so much so that my mother would open my door and huddle herself over meand ask if I ever got tired of playing with my keyboard. I would say, ?No, Mommy,? andcontinue to play. Eventually, I taught myself how to read music, and how to play by earon that very same grayish keyboard. However, I started to retrieve it less and less. Mymind soon became filled with things like girls, homework, and the rigors of adolescence,that my musical interest and my ?E-Z Play Casio Keyboard? took a backseat for a while. Just recently, my mother bought a majestic, black Kawai piano. I'll sit at thepiano and look into the keys, but now I see the face of a teenager plagued by naturalteenage problems who needs a release every once in a while. Music, for me, issometimes magical, and always mystical. I play the piano now to forget about thosethings I once dwelled on, girls, homework, and the

Free Essays on Long Days Journey Into Night

Eugene O’Neill In Long Day’s Journey into Night, widely regarded as his last and greatest true masterpiece, Eugene O’Neill gambles with his skill as an objective playwright by drawing potentially explosive material from his own life. Fortunately for both audiences and the author, who knew well the frustration of producing failed experiments, rather than being swallowed in sentimental self-pity and recriminations, the play contains much of O’Neill’s finest writing, and it maintains its reputation as a pinnacle in American theatre. The highly concentrated work deals with the serious personal issues of four family members as they unsuccessfully grapple with their individual failings and collective deterioration. Although external agents have introduced corruption into the Tyrone family, O’Neill uses his characters to show that withholding mutual support and efforts to understand one another in times of crisis brings sorrow and further familial decay. Although the y sincerely love each other, the characters in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey isolate themselves from each other and the reality of their problems, and consequently they are unable to counter the corrupting influence of their personal demons. The pervasive central image in the play, suggested as early as the very title, is that of the approachingand finally envelopingnight. This night, and the fog which accompanies it, physically embody the sense of isolation that smothers the Tyrones’ house. Although the sun shines through the windows in the morning (12), Mary knows in the first act that the fog will return with the night (41), and by early afternoon the haze is collecting over the nearby water (82). Mary identifies her loneliness with the fog when she tells her husband, â€Å"It’s very dreary and sad to be here alone in the fog with night falling† (112). In addition to symbolizing natural isolation, the fog also comes to represent Mary’s... Free Essays on Long Days Journey Into Night Free Essays on Long Days Journey Into Night Eugene O’Neill In Long Day’s Journey into Night, widely regarded as his last and greatest true masterpiece, Eugene O’Neill gambles with his skill as an objective playwright by drawing potentially explosive material from his own life. Fortunately for both audiences and the author, who knew well the frustration of producing failed experiments, rather than being swallowed in sentimental self-pity and recriminations, the play contains much of O’Neill’s finest writing, and it maintains its reputation as a pinnacle in American theatre. The highly concentrated work deals with the serious personal issues of four family members as they unsuccessfully grapple with their individual failings and collective deterioration. Although external agents have introduced corruption into the Tyrone family, O’Neill uses his characters to show that withholding mutual support and efforts to understand one another in times of crisis brings sorrow and further familial decay. Although the y sincerely love each other, the characters in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey isolate themselves from each other and the reality of their problems, and consequently they are unable to counter the corrupting influence of their personal demons. The pervasive central image in the play, suggested as early as the very title, is that of the approachingand finally envelopingnight. This night, and the fog which accompanies it, physically embody the sense of isolation that smothers the Tyrones’ house. Although the sun shines through the windows in the morning (12), Mary knows in the first act that the fog will return with the night (41), and by early afternoon the haze is collecting over the nearby water (82). Mary identifies her loneliness with the fog when she tells her husband, â€Å"It’s very dreary and sad to be here alone in the fog with night falling† (112). In addition to symbolizing natural isolation, the fog also comes to represent Mary’s...

How might the U.S. relationship with Asia be different if the U.S. war Essay

How might the U.S. relationship with Asia be different if the U.S. war in Iraq ended What about Afghanistan - Essay Example Pulling out of Iraq and perhaps even Afghanistan will perhaps lead to some form of ease in the countries neighboring the two. Pakistanis and Iranians are ill at ease with the Americans so close to their borders especially since the American drones are constantly crossing borders to bomb targets in the Pakistani tribal region (n.a 2010). Pulling out of the two occupied countries will definitely help the US focus its resources in areas that need it. The economy of the nation is staggering and needs to be focused and prioritized and perhaps the pulling out will also help relations with Asian nations who don’t feel that the close proximity of the American troops is a sign of concern. Works Cited Liang, Yan. US looks to Asia after Iraq withdrawal. September 2, 2010. http://opinion.globaltimes.cn/commentary/2010-09/569748.html (accessed February 14, 2011). n.a. "22 drone attacks in Pakistan in September." GEO. September 29, 2010. http://www.geo.tv/9-29-2010/72082.htm (accessed Febru ary 14, 2011).