What Most People Don't Notice...

I was in Chick-Fil-A this morning working on my English assignment when I had a sort of revelation. I was reading this poem entitled "Musee des Beaux Arts" by W. H. Auden. At first glance, this poem may not seem to be that interesting. But, being an English student, I had to tear apart the poem and write a brief analysis/reaction to the poem and post it on BlackBoard.
Normally these types of assignments are routine. You find a couple of things that stick out in the poem, write about them, and post your response. But in this case, the message of the poem really hit home for me.
This poem was about suffering, and how humans respond to it. It was inspired by Brueghel's Icarus, a painting of the famous Greek myth of Icarus. In painting, Icarus is shown falling into the sea, his wax wings having melted. As Icarus is drowning, the plowman in the field simply ignores Icarus and the ships in the harbor pay him no attention. Auden writes about this ability of humans to ignore suffering in his poem. He writes of how people continue on with their lives amidst the suffering in the world. For the text of the poem and the picture that inspired it, click here. Spend a few moments reading the poem and maybe you'll start to see the deeper meaning of the poem. It took me a few read-throughs, but it finally sunk it. Let me switch gears and tell you a little story about what happened this week.
I found out the other day that my uncle died. He had been struggling to fight lung cancer, and unfortunately, lost his battle. He left behind his wife (my aunt), two daughters, and a son. His son and one of his daughters will be graduating from college this year. His other daughter is still in high school. He won't get to see her graduate. I went to the viewing and funeral with my family this week, and it was quite sad. My uncle wasn't that old, and even worse, his youngest daughter is about my age. It really put things in perspective. It's not every day that you go to a funeral for your friend (or cousin's) father.
As I look back on this experience, I realize how Auden's poem and my uncle's funeral have a lot in common. If you've ever experienced the death of a loved one, you know how it disrupts your life. It doesn't matter whether the death was unexpected or not - it affects everyone. For my uncle's funeral, my cousins flew in from all parts of the country to pay their respects. They postponed meetings, took days off work, missed classes, and flew several hours to support my uncle's family. But tomorrow they will return to their normal lives. Sure, they were probably affected by the loss, but nonetheless they must continue living.
And it's even worse for the family of the person who died. To them, it seems like their entire world seems to stop, but yet the rest of the world keeps moving forward. It seems impossible that amidst all of this suffering people could continue on with their lives. As we laid my uncle to rest in the cemetary, I could hear cars drive by on the road. Whoever was in those cars was continuing on with their daily activities, probably going out to lunch or running errands at the grocery store. You feel helpless and sad, yet you must continue forward.
That's all I really have to say. Auden's poem just made me think of the emotions I've felt at the many funerals I have been too, and it put my uncle's funeral in a new perspective. If you want to share your thoughts, go ahead. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt this way during the rought patches of life.

Fight Club

So, I am sure you've all seen the movie "Fight Club". I, unfortunately, have not, and should probably watch it. But, that's not the fight club I want to talk about. Today I was talking with one of my friends, and he told me about a "fight club" that existed at his middle school. He went back to visit the other day, and found out that the club still existed, and they were taping "fights" and putting them on YouTube. What better way to spend your lunch and recess that video taping a fight between the school nerd and overly confident prepubescent jock, right? Well, it seems that their fun came to an end when the principal found out that they were doing. Too bad I didn't get to see any of these fights before they were taken off the net.
Maybe I'm just getting older, but the last time I checked, kids weren't supposed to be fighting in school; they're supposed to be learning. I remember there being some bullying problems back when I was in middle school, but I never remember anything this extreme. I guess being a private school kid (no, my parents are not rich) "protected" me from the experiences that some of my public school friends had. Now I'm not trying to say that public schools are bad, I'm just saying that, compared to private schools, there are differences in the way that students are expected to behave. Although I will have to admit that even the fancy private schools have their share of unruly students.
So why were these kids fighting in school? Did they not like each other? Did they have pent up aggression that they needed to release? Are there problems at home? There could be any number of reasons, but now's not the time to psychoanalyze the situation. What are your thoughts? Do you see bullying as a problem in schools? Are there ways for schools to help students de-stress and express their emotions in positive, productive ways?

13 Year Old Father

I had heard a snippet of a news story on WBAL about a 13 year old father in London, but I thought it was a joke. After all, it was 5 in the morning and I figured the talk show host was trying to make a joke. But much to my surprise, when I checked Google Reader RSS feeds I found out that this was indeed a true story.
For those of you who haven't heard of this new, young father, his name is Alfie Patten, and he lives in the UK. Alfie impregnated his girlfriend, Chantelle, who is 15 years old. This may sound like a typical teenage pregnancy story, but there's a catch. Alfie is only 13.
Chantelle gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Maisie Roxanne, on Feb. 9. There are several pictures of Alfie, Chantelle, and their daughter posted on the internet. I found this website, The Sun, which has a pretty complete article. Here's the link if you would like to read more.
If you've already heard about this, were you as shocked as I was? How can a 13 year old whose voice has not broken yet impregnate a 15 year old girl? And what parents let their teenage child sleep over at their girlfriend's house?
I have a 13 year old brother, and I can't imagine him having the maturity to raise a child. What makes this British kid any better? I've seen some pictures of this new father and his girlfriend. It looks like Alfie is holding his baby sister, not his daughter.
I know that teen pregnancy is nothing new, both in America and the UK, but this one has received a lot of media attention. When people at school heard about this news story, they were in disbelief. What are your opinions? How did you react to this news?

Bull vs. Mountain Lion

So the other day my friend told me about this argument he and his floormates were having. It went something like this: If you were put in an arena and had to fight to the death, like in ancient Rome, would you rather fight a bull or a mountain lion?
Everyone has their opinions about which would be the "easiest" animal to fight. Some people feel that they would have a better chance of surviving if they fought the bull. Others think that a mountain lion would inflict a quicker death.
My opinion: I would rather fight a bull. Like other people, I feel like I would have a better chance of surviving an angry bull than being mauled by a mountain lion. But if I had the choice, I would rather not fight either one of them. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind living for another few years.
What are your opinions? Bull or mountain lion?

Valentine's Day

So today is Valentine's Day and I thought I should post something. I guess it's a little late now, seeing as the day is almost over, but I've been busy today fixing computers.
In my opinion, Valentine's Day is one of those overrated Hallmark holidays in which the meaning of the holiday gets lost amid the commercialism of American culture. Maybe I'm such a scrooge just because I don't have a significant other to pamper on this love bird's holiday, or maybe the true meaning of Valentine's Day has been lost. The bottom line is: You shouldn't need a special holiday to remind you to tell someone that you love them.
Now, when I say love, I don't mean just love in the romantic sense. I mean love in the sense of the respect and care you have for those special people in your life. Everyone has a person with whom they share a special relationship - a friend, a sister, a brother. Valentine's Day is a time to cherish those relationships we share with other people in our lives and to let them know how much we appreciate them. And to do that, you don't need a Hallmark card or a night out at an expensive restaurant. All you need are three words: "I love you."

If You're Having a Bad Day

My English teacher recently shared this story with our class. It's pretty funny, and it will put things in perspective if you're having "one of those days".

As told by Professor Wilkinson:

This summer my friend went on a walking safari in the African outback. She and the other tourists were accompanied by several native guides. The guides each carried large guns to protect the tourists in case an animal decided to have an early meal. Now, these guides were very experienced and could spot things in the distance that even the most trained eye could miss. On this particular day, though, even the guides would be dumbfounded.
As the group continued on the safari, they noticed an animal-like form in the distance, behind a small bush. The group cautiously approached, not sure what to expect. When they were closer, they could see that the animal was a dead wildebeast - but it was moving. All of a sudden, to the surprise and amusement of the group, a head started to push it's way out of the wildebeast's anal sphincter. The head belonged to a baby vulture, and it was alive.
Now, imagine yourself in this situation. Wouldn't you be a little freaked out? And how did a vulture end up in a wildebeast's ass? Well, here's what happened.
After the lions (or some other animal) finished eating the meat off of the wildebeast, they left the carcass to rot in the sun. Next on the food chain were the vultures, who came to pick off the remaining meat and fat from the bones. It just so happened that a baby vulture had been eating the meat inside of the rib cage, which had been kept open by the weight of the meat on the wildebeast's arms. Because most of the meat had been eaten, the rib cage closed around this baby vulture, trapping it in the carcass of the wildebeast. And there was only one way out.
So, whenever you're having a bad day, remember that baby vulture, and just be glad that you don't have to squeeze through the asshole of a wildebeast.

History Behind the Title

Many of you are probably wondering why this blog is called "Knep Dawg's Kennel". It makes absolutely no sense. As mentioned in the description on the homepage, Knep Dawg was a nick name given to me during high school. It has stuck ever since. It's only coincidence that I ended up going to UMBC, home of the Big Dawgs. The story behind the kennel is a stranger one. Let me elaborate:
One day in pep band during one of the basketball games, I was talking with one of the other trumpet players. I mentioned my nickname that I had back in high school, and told him that it referred to the "gangsta" side of my personality. He laughed. I'm as white as printer paper.
We got to talking and joking about my nickname, saying how I could open up a night club and call it Knep Dawg's Kennel. Very appealing name, I know.
Later that night I checked Facebook, and lo and behold, my friend had made group for Knep Dawg's Kennel. Since then, the name's been stuck in my head, and I thought, that would make a good name for a blog. The rest is history. Enjoy.

-- Knep Dawg

So here it goes nothing...

So I decided a few days ago that I wanted to start a blog. I've never tried blogging before, but I've recently gotten interested in reading other people's blogs and seeing what they have to say. The idea for this blog came from one of the trumpet players in pep band, and so I'm following through on his idea.
Right now, there's nothing much more to say, but I'm sure I'll put more posts up later with rants about school or snippets of "interesting" conversations I've had with people during pep band. Anything is fair game at Knep Dawg's Kennel.