Monthly Archives: November 2011

High school went by very fast. i went to mid wood high school, 10 minute walk from my house, can’t get more convenient then that,.the first day of high school was on september 4th 2007. I’m not a loser i just know that because it was my 14th birthday.

i walked into room 454, guitar class. i was only 30 minutes late. i thought i was on time, see someone told me that period 5 started at 10:45 and i didn’t care enough to check the day before. my teacher wasn’t happy about the lateness, but he’d have to get used to get used to it since i was either 20 minutes late or absent to his class every day. come on, why would they make my first class a guitar class ?? and then lunch? i ended up getting a 95 in that class.

that kinda set up how i would treat the next 4 years of high school.i was class of 2011 and that seemed like a long time away so i figured id eventually get serious about my classes. i never really did. i always just did enough to get decent grades. decent enough to get into Baruch apparently. junior year was probably the year i put in the most effort because for years people would always tell me that that is the  years colleges look at. so i got myself into the “gifted” classes at mid wood and got above a 90 average for the first time ever. i wish that junior year mentality would have stuck with me, but it didn’t. we all know how hard seniortitis hits you. most work i did senior year was dealing with the college office and applying to colleges.

now I’m here at baruch and just haven’t taken any of our classes seriously. i want to, but when i go home i either nap or watch tv of hours. thats really bad since we actually have to do the readings we get here just to know whats going on in class. i think I’m just going to barely have a c average at this point. hopefully i ll get serious soon, hopefully.

Allen Meyerovich

FRO 1000

11/15/11

The Dancing Ganapati is gold figure displayed in the Ruben Museum of Art.  The dazzling multi-colored metal design sought my interest because seeing an elephant god with many arms is kind of weird.  Ganapati, the deity is an All-seeing lord which is compassionate in Buddhist Culture.  The sculpture makes use of several alloys and turquoise inlays, it looks fancy and expensive.  I’m sure this is normal because all gods should be seen as rich since they are respected.  If the people who believed in Buddhism wanted the God to do something good for them, they better appreciate the God the right way, or else.  Ganapati was described as a “powerful wealth-bestowing deity”.  This means he was very popular to devoted Buddhists, because being rich is usually seen as better off than being poor.  Red was the Elephant-headed God’s main color and its twelve arms are ready to serve the people who worshipped it.  I chose Ganapati because this God stood out the most when I was walking around the Ruben Museum of Art.

Our LC and I went to the Rubin Museum as an out of class experience. There, we appreciated the artwork displayed to us.

One work that caught my attention was the Wheel of Dharma and Deer. It was a wheel with two deer on each side. It is said that this piece was displayed at the gates of all Buddhist temples and monasteries, so it became the most well-known icon of Buddhism as an institution. The piece belonged to the Alice S. Kandell Collection.

The entire piece was painted in a gold shade of color; the material was gilt copper alloy. However, it was not the color that attracted my attention the most, it was the wheel. It reminded me of a ferris wheel as well as the “wheel of fortune”—not the game show—the tarot card. Interpretations of the card include, but are not limited to: turning points, opportunities, fate, surprises, life cycles, etc.

Perhaps, it was fate that it caught my attention?

During our trip to the Rubin Museum as an LC, we were able to walk around and absorb the art. One particular piece that caught my attention was the Ganesha artifact. The fact that he has an elephant head intrigued me and made me want to find out more about the hindu God. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom, annd wealth.

Ganesha’s head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya or the earthly existence of human beings. The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality. What intrigued me the most was how Ganesha got his elephant head.

Once goddess Parvati, while bathing, created a boy out of the dirt of her body and assigned him the task of guarding the entrance to her bathroom. When Shiva, her husband returned, he was surprised to find a stranger denying him access, and struck off the boy’s head in rage. Parvati broke down in utter grief and to soothe her, Shiva sent out his squad (gana) to fetch the head of any sleeping being who was facing the north. The company found a sleeping elephant and brought back its severed head, which was then attached to the body of the boy. Shiva restored its life and made him the leader (pati) of his troops. Hence his name ‘Ganapati’. Shiva also bestowed a boon that people would worship him and invoke his name before undertaking any venture. There are multiple versions of how Ganesha got his elephant head which adds to the curiosity.