Day of the Dead Altar

A couple of years ago my father passed away of cancer. I've had a difficult time trying to deal with his death. He was only 60 years old and I was only 27 years old. I felt like I was robbed from many more memories at an early age. I was not ready.

When I read this assignment my father came to mind. I felt like I needed to the Day of the Dead Altar for my father.

The Day of the Dean is a beautiful ritual in which Mexicans happily and lovingly remember their loved relatives that have died. This holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friend to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died. The celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day which take place on those days. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

Many people believe that during the Day of the Dead, it is easier for the souls for the departed to visit the living. Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

My father's birthday was on October 31st, so this assignment was done on that day as I celebrated my father's memories. First I placed and old black and white picture of my daddy and his family. He loved his family and took care of me, my two sisters and my mother. He was a hard working farmer in this small town, but he knew how to laugh and have fun when the time was right. Every evening when my father got home from working, he had a table in this house where he emptied his pockets. This is the table and the coins represents what was in my father's pockets. He loved hunting and fishing, so I included a fishing lure and a duck. You can not see it, but I left his favorite candy in the tin can...he loved orange slices (gummy, sugar things). I also included an angel because I know my daddy is an angel looking over me and my family.

This was very peaceful and in a way very calming. While making the altar I was able to a share memories of my father with my husband and little boy. We shared a couple of laughs and then I prayed for my father.

I enjoyed doing this project and it also gave me a little piece of mind.

Irish FoLkTaLeS

"Folktale" to mean a characteristically anonymous, timeless, and placeless tale circulated orally among a people. (www.anestry.com) I honestly can say I have enjoyed reading the Irish Folktales.

I will describe these folktales as outlandish adventures. With no sense of time nor travel.

I started with "Ushen's Return To Ireland." Tir-Nan-Oge, "that place where you'd stop for a thousand years and be as young as the first day." Usheen gets "caught up" in this new place Tir-Nan-Oge, as time goes by slow and the real world where he lived was going by really fast. I decided a moral of this folktale was cherish every minute with your friend and family don't let any place or thing stand between that because something unforeseen can happen.

"Dreams of Gold" was very interesting. I read it at least 10 times! I took from this folktale as if you should continue to dream. Don't let anything get in your way.

"The Man Who Had No Story" was another Folktale I read. Brian O Braonachiain had no story until he went east and thenwent west and experienced many different talents he had. He was going out to make a living for himself and his family cutting rod, when he started to realize he had many talents, so he never cut another rod ever again.

"The King Of Ireland Son" was my FAVORITE Folktale. The loyal, honest, and giving king's son in Ireland set out to find a wife and all the way to the eastern world he helped pay a dead man's debt. After paying this man debts he was joined by many different people, that in the long run helped him get his wife. A wonderful story with great morals. He helped someone and that someone helped him. It's all about taking your time and living every minute. Exploring different places and meeting others on the way that change your life.

"The Birth of Finn MacCumhail" was the last one I read. Honeslty I had a hard time reading it. Again, I believe these folktale discuss the importance of family and friends, loyalty, and determination.

All of these Irish folktales and morals. They tell a "far-fetched" story, but it has a meaning and anyone can relate to it. These folktales gave me much insight of the Irish culture. They value family and friends and speak of the value of time.

Kani Yamabushi and Kamabara

I found the plays Kani Yamabushi and Kamabara very interesting! The first thing I noticed was that they did not put any emphasis on background or props. The emphasises was put on the actors/actresses movement and that is what caught my eye. They exaggerated their movements using high steps and stomping noises when their feet hit the ground. The structure and stage balance was important and it made me wonder what the actors/actresses were going to do next. The actors/actresses vocals was exaggerated also.

Both plays included maybe one-three characters that speak loud and very profound. Some repeated lines over and over again like a poem. You have one main character and other supporting characters...none of them are dressed very extravagantly. Very simple. The movements help keep the viewers attention.

The main thing I see is the structure and formation of the play that makes them important. A balance of characters, no flashy colors, just straight and to the point. Each play does start out kind-of slow and speeding up in the end.

WHAT MAKES ME LAUGH!

So many things make me laugh...where do I begin! When my 18 month boy laughs I have to laugh. A good show on tv like Reba...makes me laugh at an end of a stressful day. A good funny joke or e-mail. Just getting a bunch of girls together talking...always results in laughing. Working with kids always makes me laugh. Memories of loved ones always bring a smile and laughter. So many things make me laugh and the list could go on and on. I make an attempt to laugh everyday...it just seems to make the day go by better!

My first ImPrEsSiOn when I think of JAPAN!

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Japan is their beautiful characters, traditional Japanese clothing...kimonos, fine cuisine such as sushi, and tea. I see Japanese characters everywhere. And I didn't know that they were introduced to Japan by China. I see them on clothing, as tattoos, and I see them as wall hangings. These characters to me are what I call art. They express feeling, they are interesting shapes that catch your eye, and they have a meaning. They are beautiful!

HOTEL RWANDA

The movie "Hotel Rwanda" was an intense and emotional movie. So many emotions I had during this movie from laughing at the scene where they were in the shower hiding, to crying from all the innocent people especially children being killed. What kind of world are we living in? It completely frightens me! My only question was why didn't anybody come to help when they needed it so very badly. Can our so called worlds not come together and make peace? I believe we are going about it the wrong way. The only thing that relieved me of any emotional stress from this movie was the girls dancing my the pool. For one short minute I felt peace and reassurance. Children are amazing creatures. They seem to communicate in their own way, they don't judge others, and for the most part they can be friends with anybody. I believe we can learn something from them.

Views on AFRICA

Do you think of Africa as a country or a continent?

To tell you the truth this question stumped me because I do not think of Africa often, but the first thing that came to mind when I read this question was that Africa was

one large land mass--a continent.

What images some to mind when you hear the word Africa?

...Bright colors...drums...hunger...malnutrition..poor...uneducated!

Why do you think I think of Africa in this manner...

THE MEDIA!

All you see of Africa in the media is war, those starving children, the music they play on those drums and the bright colors they wear!

BUT I KNOW THERE IS MORE TO AFRICA AND I WILL POST AGAIN SOON...

DaNcE as a cHiLd

Oh what fond memories of dancing I have as a child. Growing up I entertained myself most of the time! I spent many hours outside pretending to be somebody else. I fondly remember dancing all over my yard with a ribbon imitating the ribbon dancers from the Olympics. When my parents would leave the house I would turn up my stereo within the house and DANCE all over it pretending to be the dancers on their videos. I was the child who started the dancing at those awkward birthday parties where the boys sat on one side and girls sat on the other. There I was in the middle of the circle of all those girls dancing.

You can say that music still continues to affect me today. I love music and I was blessed with the ability to listen to all types of music. Music gets me up in the morning, music gets me to work, music gets me through my day, and also music takes me home!

I was at a very peaceful funeral yesterday with beautiful music and I found myself tapping my feet to the beat. So YES I am affected by music and its rhythm!

"The World is a rEfLEcTiOn of YOURSELF"

There are some days when everything seems to go wrong from the moment we wake up, usually begins with one bad event that we allow to affect our state of mind. That event leads to another, and then another and before you know it, the world looks like a horrible place in our eyes. Even though, nothing in the world created our misery...it was our response!

I grew up in a very rural county in NC. When I say rural I mean a county of only 5,000 people. Things seemed to move slower in my hometown and when you left the county and traveled 50 miles you were in culture shock! I left home to attend college and found myself back to my hometown where I now have made my home. I felt out of place when I left home. I was oblivious to the things that were going in the world because I was being sheltered in my own hometown. I was finding my self judging people that I did not know just by their dress and actions. While in school I associated with people who I went to high school with and really not many other people.

My personal experiences have affected me as a whole person! Edward T. Hall has stated it perfect in his book The Hidden Dimension, "how people are feeling toward each other at the time is a decisive factor in the distance used." "We sense other people as close or distant, but we cannot always put our fingers on what it is that enables us to characterize them as such." I found myself recalling some situations this week that were stated in The Hidden Dimension. For instance, on page 123, Hall describes social distance at the work place. With an office of three agents we have a lot of people coming and going asking questions, so they sit out front with our administrative assistant until we are ready for them to come into their office. I see now why our administrative assistant feels awkward when someone is sitting in those chairs. They are sitting too close to her desk! "A proxemic feature of social distance (far phase) is that it can be used to insulate or screen people from each other..."if the receptionist is less than ten feet from another person, even a stranger, she will be sufficiently involved to be virtually compelled to converse. Needless to say we moved the chairs.

Also in The Hidden Dimension, Hall discusses semifixed-feature space. He has a diagram of a table with six different distances and orientations of the bodies in relation to each other. The "across the corner" conversations were the most frequent, then the "side by side" and then the "across the table." After reading that I started studying myself and others during lunch, meetings and just studying other peoples houses. Me and my husband sit at the dinner table "across the corner, " children at my workshop this week spoke more to the person "side by side" and hardly ever to the one "across the table." My furniture in my living room is set like an "L" with a couch and a chair (like the "across the corner"). WHY IS THIS? Is it because it is my husband that I am talking to at the table and is it because the kids sitting side-by-side are friends! No matter what structuring of semi-fixed features can have an effect on behavior.

Photos

Pictures are the most amazing creation in the world!

Just being able to capture memories on a small piece of paper is unique to me.

After looking at the short video so many memories

came to mind...

The first black and white picture of the naked baby reminded

me of April 11, 2007. This was the day I gave birth to my little

baby boy! What an unexplainable, but wonderful experience that was!

The next picture that really caught my attention was the picture of the baby on the man's shoulders. This reminded me of my dad. My dad passed away a couple of year's ago with cancer. Seeing this picture reminded me of all the wonderful times I was able to spend with my dad and what an incredible man he was!

All together...these pictures showed laughter, love, friends, family, and most important MEMORIES!

Each and everyone of them brought a smile to my face and a memory into my heart