Melendez, Maria. How Long She’ll Last in This world.

ART OF COMBAT

"Ponytail out the back of her headgear, She punches air. Swings at the mirror, prepares for eye contact in the ring. Her own eyes now are not her own, they stand in for the opponent. Me, I could never punch a girl. But I might like a girl to hit me. so i could feel the power of the female fist.(pray with me now) Oh, split my lip! But she steps in there alone, leans on the ropes, shoulders back, arms falling slack like water off of stone; checkin' the scene like a king surveying funked-out hinterlands, hands just beginning to sweat in her red leather gloves."

Melendez, Maria. How Long She’ll Last in This world. Tucson: U of Arizona Press, 2006. Pg. 28

While going over this poem in class I Immediately knew I could relate to it. I know what if feels like to be preparing for something that is going to test who you are as a person. Sometimes no matter how hard you prepare you never know what to expect. When you get into the ring or other situation its not just you anymore but everyone and everything around you. You feed off the environment and the energy it gives you. While in the situation you have no idea if you are excited or scared and is more of an internal battle that is up to you whether you are going to step up to the plate when you are against the ropes.

Abbey, Edward. The Monkey Wrench Gang

Pg21

“Docs Car carried other hex signs- He was indeed an decalcomaniac- toward of evil: the M.D.’s caduceus, American flag decals on each corner of the rear window, a gold-fringed flag dangling from the radio aerial, in one corner of the windshield a sticker which read “Member of A.B.L.E. – Americans for Better Law Enforcement,” and in the other corner the blue egale of the National Rifle Association with the traditional adage, “Register Communists, Not Guns.” ”

I found this one particular part not only very funny considering in the previous passage he had a trunk full of items to sabotage what ever he needed, but a funny way of looking at how people disguise themselves from who they really are to avoid getting certain unwanted attention. With the superficial world we live in today people get judged and profiled on the way they look so its easy to just disguise ourselves than have to deal with the B.S. of getting misunderstood. Even though some of us look a certain way it isn’t who we are and it would be a better world if we didn’t have to disguise ourselves all the time.

Abbey, Edward. The Monkey Wrench Gang. NY: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.

Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac

Come High Water pg.25

Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac is a very interesting book that talks and describes about many different things we never think about such as how some tools work and even about geese. In this one section called Come High Water he talks about how farms would get flooded due to the overflow of big rivers. While everything is flooded and animals are going crazy due to the high water levels here come the geese infiltrating the land. He describes the view of the land being taking over by their red tails and yellow bellies and while other animals are struggling they are fine and having fun. It just leaves me a feeling of hope.

Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac. NY: Ballantine Books 1990.

Muir, John. My First Summer in the Sierras

Pg. 17 illustration Horseshoe Bend, Merced River

In John Muir’s My First Summer in the Sierras there is this one illustration entitled Horseshoe Bend, Merced River with a small text included and is just a really neat passage to read. He talks about this how beautiful the sight is that is located in area called Merced Valley in an area called Horseshoe Bend that has a high elevation and it lets you look upon what he calls a “glorious wilderness that seemed to be calling with a thousand songful voices.” I just found that one line really beautiful and it just speaks to me with the way he described it. Looking out at the entire wilderness its like you can feel and hear every living thing around just calling out for you to explore and get in touch with.

Muir, John. My First Summer in the Sierras. Digireads.com 2008.

Powell, John Wesley. The Exploration of the Colorado and Its Canyons

Mesas and Buttes

I found the chapter mesas and buttes very interesting because of the way Powell describes the lands and how each Indian tribe lived on them. This is also very interesting information about these so called “cones” composed of volcanic ash that have been hardened over time located East of San Francisco Peak and was home to many Indian tribes who lived around these rocks. I also found this interesting because Powell thought that this was one of the most interesting areas considering all the environmental wonders and all the different tribes that lived there.

Powell, John Wesley. The Exploration of the Colorado and Its Canyons. NY: Penguin Classics

2003

Journal of Henry David Thoreau

Heaven on Earth Pg 24

Jan 6, As a child looks forward to the coming of summer , so could we contemplate with quiet joy he circle of the seasons returning without fail eternally. As the spring came around during so many years f the gods, we could go out to admire and adorn a new Eden, and yet never tire.

This immediately caught my eye and knew I would be able to relate to it. Being a student and knowing summer is going to come I can’t help but think about all of the possibilities and everything that I have been missing out on. School can be related to seasons considering that the semesters are named after them spring, fall and summer and most of us cant wait for the summer to come and enjoy all the things we forgot about without having to worry about sleeping. Its a like a new Eden a new beginning.

Thoreau, Henry David. Journal of Henry David Thoreau. NY: New York Review of Books 2009