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Archive for February, 2009

Where the chalk-faced children play

In chalk-faced children, childhood, technological innovation on February 23, 2009 at 4:20 am

Tonight I was reading Charles Edward Russell’s article The Tenements of Trinity Church and I encountered the wording “where the chalk-faced children play.” I stopped reading, looked away from my monitor and thought about how much I miss seeing chalk-faced children play.

The first thing I do in the morning after my bathroom visit is turn on my lap top. Whether I need to check the weather forecast, play a song that has been stuck in my head or respond to an urgent e-mail, I reach for the Acer. Then, the rest of the day is almost entirely spent on Gmail. The scariest part of all, however, is that my current lifestyle serves as an example for the lives of most of my friends, fellow students and, surely, millions of young people worldwide. Where can I see chalk-faced children play?

I was happy with my childhood spent playing hide and seek in the neighborhood or domino on the beach. I have stored these memories in my mind and enjoy returning to them, idealizing them and putting them away as washed linens to be used in the future by someone dear. But what if the time comes when no one uses linens any more?

Recently I talked with a friend about the correlation between technological innovation and human happiness. I argued that my childhood wouldn’t have been truly happy if I had spent it in front of a computer monitor instead of outside in the street. My friend, however, pointed out that modern social needs determine happiness in our childhood activities. So, if the society you live in holds certain values and skills as valuable, you want to capture them and you surely don’t think you are missing out on other distractions. For instance, I certainly never thought I was missing out on travel opportunities because I had never left Bulgaria before the age of 18.

Even though I find my friend’s argument logical, I cannot help but put away another set of clean linens in a back drawer of my memory. Tonight I am storing the image of chalk-faced children playing.

Valentine to my grandfather

In Bulgaria, countryside, grandfather on February 10, 2009 at 5:34 am

When Danielle, my French-Canadian roommate from college, came to visit me in Bulgaria for the winter holidays, I took her to the countryside to visit the village where my grandfather lives. He was excited to meet “a real American.” As soon as we got off my father’s white van to enter the house backyard, my grandfather approached Danielle with shaking hands, hugged her with a wide smile and kept petting her on the shoulder.

This scene well epitomizes my grandfather’s character. He, like many old people in Bulgaria, does not believe in personal space and life without spontaneous affection. He, unlike many old people in Bulgaria, does not understand village gossip or intrusion in the family matters of other people. I would like to think that I inherited these traits from him.

My grandfather loves talking to his domestic animals. He tends to choose hard topics, too. Born in 1923, he feels especially passionate about historical and political events during the Second World War and the Cold War. I often think that if he had the chance to receive a good education, he would have become an excellent historian. But more often than not, he will just think aloud about the pursuit of happiness in family life. Sheep and goats stare him back with their humid eyes when he pours out his soul.

I called my grandfather tonight. Every time I call him, my eyes get teary from my physical inability to be in the countryside with him, hold his shaking hands and let him pour his soul out to me.

Brainwashed

In St. Valentine's Day, media brainwashing on February 6, 2009 at 4:56 am

Next week’s edition of my section in the college newspaper will be on St. Valentine’s Day. A relevant, time sensitive and entertaining enough topic, you would think. Still in the process of editing the articles, I get the same odd idea from most of them–my writers have been brainwashed.

When they write about love and romance, they immediately associated it with the same vision–Mr. Right who plans a romantic dinner, surprises them with a pompous bouquet of red roses, treats them to a gentle massage with lavender oil and whispers sweet nothings to them. This couldn’t have gotten closer to Hollywood’s teachings and marketers’ goals.

Naturally and unfortunately, this scene could be every 15-year-old girl’s dream. But we are not 15 any more. On the contrary, we are enrolled in a higher education institution to learn to think critically about exactly that kind of media messages. Although the younger crowd doesn’t have the necessary knowledge to filter such brainwashing visions, we are equipped with the adequate skills to do so.

Then again, maybe I am exaggerating and generalizing. Maybe it was just a word, a phrase, or a sentence that threw me in that train of thoughts. Certainly, it was another realization about media’s enormous influence over our mindsets.