Zhanga: March 10, 2005

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Thursday, March 10, 2005 (3 comments)

I am so smart. I passed the defensive driving final exam. With such questions that test in-depth knowledge about stopping at red lights, passing this test truly demonstrates how I am nothing but pure genius.

I've gotten over how bad my poem for Fleenor is, and it's so stupid, dumb, and poorly written that it's funny. So here's for your enjoyment:

Browser Wars
by me

Mosaic was the name of "the big thing,"
A dozen years ago, when DOS was king.
Then one day, Netscape took the world by storm,
In the Windows era that had just been born.
But mighty Redmond wanted sheets of green,
And with Explorer, forced its presence seen.
So Navigator saw a noose, was strung;
The world of freedom, Microsoft had stung.
But Microsoft became a lazy hound;
Explorer turned into a breeding ground.
Unknown amounts of viruses and "things,"
Invaded Mom's and Dad's prestine machines.
Melissa, Klez, I love you, then Sobigs,
Attacked Explorer and its Windows rigs.
Explorer of the vast and deep blue C,
A blue of famous tone: BS of D.
The users of the world began to see,
How awful that monopoly could be.
Our move, as slow and sure as ticking clocks,
Has brought us up to freedom: Firefox.

If you actually read that, I apologize for the suffering. To prevent you from killing yourself after coming to the realization that such bad poetry (aka my poem) exists on the planet, read this...

David Zhang
by Drew Lichtenstein

His body is lifeless in the warm bed
Is it already time to leave this place?
A surging headache meets his rising head
All he can think of is her pretty face.
Why is it every class is so boring?
All he hears about is science and math
It takes an effort to not start snoring
Is there ever an end to this long, slow path?
Who will ask him about his one desire?
He is more than a machine - he has a heart
Will these maddening thoughts ever retire?
For they stab at his soul like a sharp dart.
All he wants to do is hold and embrace
His one love: the girl with the pretty face.

Of course, what good is the poem without its analysis? (This is quoted, errors and all.)

It is important for this author that the intended audience (Mr. Fleenor) can understand the approach that I had when writing this poem. Without the title, the poem simply shows a simplistic idea: a boy's entire day is spent struggling to try to stay awake and to not think about a girl. However, by using the name of a student in your class, it clearly takes on a different meaning.

Most of us actually know close to nothing about David. For instance, I give him a ride to school every day, but all my attempts at small talk are completely re-buffed either by a courteous laugh or a change in subject. His friends notice the same behavior. He goes through the day half-awake (apparently his sleeping schedule is more attuned with Australia than that of the Eastern Standard Time). However, has anyone ever truly tried to stop and ask him something serious? I know that I am one of countless people who have been guilty of asking him for help on a math problem or a chemistry equation. No wonder David keeps to himself all the time: people are simply using him to better themselves. It is the classic reason for why geniuses end up becoming addicted to drugs or become complete reculosues: the isolation they feel from other people. While I am not suggesting that David is going to grow up to become a coke-head or a crazy old man who only lives with cats, I do feel like he does feel isolated from people. I attempted to capture his sense of loneliness by using such phrases as "body is lifeless" and "long, slow path."

The most important idea of the poem is the repetition of the concept of "girl with the pretty face." I believe this is what allows the poem to extend beyond simply applying to David Zhang to becoming applicable for many more people. Despite the best attempts of man, we can not over come our basic natural urges. David maybe a master of numbers, but this does not naturally lead to a comfortablness around the opposite gender. This is why I used an English sonnet. Each question that is presented in the previous stanzas asks a question of why he feels so lonely and separated from other people. He wants to escape from the desparation he feels, be it simply lying in his bed all day or by somehow simply removing his desires all together. However, the couplet makes it clear (as hinted to in the last line of the first stanza) that this is impossible. Not only must he live with the un-ending depression that is his isolation, but his natural urges cause him to want to reach out and be with "the girl with a pretty face."

This poem was not written as a joke and it was not written to simply mock David. David is a close friend of mine (and, yes, I did ask him before I turned this in). However, by using his life as a parallel for the loneliness and desperation to be with a pretty girl that so many of us feel, I believe that I've made my artistic expression much stronger.

The part about "was not written to simply mock David" was definitely the best part.

10:36PM

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