Narmada Gobin, Entry 8

Walking by the river

Walking by the river.

It was that kind of day
With the Spring Sun soft and warm
There was a kind of energy
That moved within my form
I could have walked the whole day long
As I felt me, natures pull
Oh Lord those river trails are beautiful.

I passed a group of roos
Who were grazing by the river
Some Parrots screeched above my head
And set my heart a quiver
And as those creatures gave their calls
A Kookaburra laughed
Oh how I love to walk that river path.

It was that kind of day
That you’d like to last for years
With the country air rich in my lungs
And my mind all calm and clear
I could have walked until I dropped
Along that river trail
Feeling good and living in the now.

16 September 2004

http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/best/environment

Ximena, 7

The term of ecofeminism caught my attention a lot because as a person that believes herself to be a feminist, I could not exactly understand how the topics could relate. I looked up the topic and came across a wonderful ted talk by Julia Mason that delighted and at the same time really disturbed me.

She intertwined the two in a way I had not thought of: we assign our environment feminine characteristics and refer to it as Mother Nature, it is no coincidence that we treat the feminine sex and environment the same. Where men stand high and make decisions in regard of the lives of women and our environment.

This comparison struck me because it made so much sense. I'm constantly annoyed by how misogynistic our every day life is and how much we pollute our planet and this new concept encompassed my concerns and more.

Mason touched on a couple of more points like that one of breast milk. The pollution that surrounds a pregnant mother also contaminates her breast milk which potentially harms the baby she carries. She also talked about the term "pink washing" which reminds me of that reading we did where the term "brown washing" came up. These are similar in the fact that corporations change the color of their products be it green to appease the environmentalists or pink during breast cancer awareness month. However, in actuality these corporations do not wholeheartedly support any of the causes and their products may contain thinks that pollute women's organisms or the earth. It's recommended to do a bit of research before buying yogurt in October or "recycled" school supplies.

Ximena, 6

I have always had a bit of a problem with the use of "I" in an essay. We were always thought to never use it because we weren't professors and it was also not professional. During my second year in Hunter, a professor went on an insane tangent in class in which she talked about how enriching and progressive the use of "I" was. It made sense... I dared to do it in her assignments, but only in hers. In peer review sessions for other classes I cringed reading "I think," "I believe," "I'm convinced." Eventually, I got over the fear of the notorious "I." I mean, the few students that use it, did so in an interesting and intellectual way. It always remained in the back of my mind.
When we did our first peer review session I could not keep this issue to myself and not because it bothered me but because it felt right to bring it up. I'm very excited about our Narrative Essay because I can freely talk from my point of view….without being afraid of anyone really judging my work. Also, these blogposts are something new to me. I've never has to do them for any classes so this is a fun experience.

 

Thank you for your thoughts

All of you have written some interesting and thoughtful stuff on this little digital wall of ours. I want to point everyone to Paul's most recent blog entry. After our discussion about the virtualized absence of waste Paul has written an entry that provides some very useful and interesting information about NYC waste. Here is a video link by philosopher Slavoj Zizek, discussing his concept of "ecology," by which he means, the virtual (imagined) absence of waste, as well as the cornucopian conceptualization of nature by some cultures of environmentalism.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGCfiv1xtoU

Gabriella Grimes Entry #7

I've been thinking a lot about how the environment can warp our perceptions of certain things as well as mood. Spring is often seen as the season of love and rebirth, which makes sense. After three months of harsh cold and grey skies, it only makes sense to want to feel happier and new when warmer weather rolls around. The phrase "Spring Cleaning" still makes me cringe to this very day because I hate cleaning at first and then I get obsessive and won't finish cleaning until about five hours later. But I digress. Nature can seriously mess up how we view things and I feel that most of us aren't even aware of it. On a sunny day, my friends can be the loveliest people to be around whereas on a day on which it is cold and raining, they are the most horribly annoying people I have ever met in my entire life. I'd say that the one time when the environment changed my views of a person the most is the Summer before high school when I went away to Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to study psychology. There was a girl there who I was practically head over heels for. It turned out that she lived not too far from my home in the Bronx as she lived in Brooklyn, but when I saw pictures of her on the concrete rather than the grass, she didn't seem as appealing. It was as if the butterfly I had known fluttering around on the grassy quad had migrated to a street sign and was now a moth. It's honestly just very weird that this can even happen. On the flip side, a guy I dated a couple years ago still looks more appealing on a city sidewalk than in Central Park. Or maybe it's an aspect of what I associate with different environments; for example I wouldn't associate a river with a large grey building, nor a truck with a forest. Maybe my views of nature and the environment in general is constantly morphing to suit new things I've learned or experienced. Huh.

Abdul Moontarin Entry #8

This weekend the weather was great and it started to rain finally instead of snowing. People really get annoyed when it rains but, I find it amazing. I think rain is something that is so calming. Yesterday when it was raining I just went outside and just walked around. It helped me get my thoughts cleared out and it also really made me happy. I can't wait for it to rain a lot more this April. Really looking forward to it. If you ever get the chance try to walk in the rain without an umbrella.  If you do, you will see what I'm talking about. Rain is simply just beautiful.

Laura Mulhearn #8

VERISIMILITUDE & EPISTEMOLOGY

    I have lived many years of my life with the idea of verisimilitude & epistemology. This has made me look at myself and how I can improve my own condition in life.

In regards to nature, the truth is that we need to focus on our environments and really know what really needs improvement. First, as individuals we need to know that our environment is a safe one. We also need to maintain that safety. We also need to know that we can make sure that the environment can actually have organic soil and clean water. This will heal our bodies from disease. There are things that you can do in your daily life to make a positive contribution. This really leads us to the subject of Epistemology.