ENG 2150: Writing Through New York

The Empire State Building had always supported the New York Giants games just like when they put on the blue lights when the New York Giants were playing against the Atlanta Falcons, the Green Bay Packers, the San Francisco 49ers, and the New England Patriots. When the Empire State Building lighting was blue, orange, and blue on February 17, I originally thought that it represented the New York Knicks who were playing at Madison Square Garden that night.  However, I found out from a friend that it was really meant to honor the baseball Hall of Famer, World Series champion, humanitarian, New York Met – Gary Carter who had died from brain cancer.

Tonight, well since February 18 – 20, the Empire State Building lights would be red, white, and blue, in honor of President’s Day.

To check out what the other lightings were meant for you can visit,

http://www.esbnyc.com/current_events_tower_lights.asp

I found it hard to read the section of The American Scene because it felt like a visual overload in my mind. James tries to capture the city as he sees it, but after not being exposed to it for a long period of time.  The use of commas throughout this piece was mind numbing to say the least, but he was trying to describe New York City so I can understand why there was so many of them. The city itself has a “greatness” that cannot be captured in a “single impression” (369). James shows through his writing when he uses lists to describe the characteristic of of the city. At this time James is not a active New York, so it is understandable why the city is overwhelming him. This piece accurately captures the essence of New York because it voices how “irresistible” it is, but in trying to describe it nature overwhelms the reader with all its “energy,” “light,” “nature,” “science,” and “beauty” (370). All these element help make the city we know now, even if this was written over a century ago.

The idea I was most interested in was beauty because it varies from person to person, but James did not assign beauty to a singular place. James spoke of how Trinity Church was once a “visible” beauty, but now it hidden and yet it still remains there. I agreed with the notion that the city sometimes overwhelms itself and can hide its own beauty. Thus the true beauty of New York, does not lie in the “skyscraper” or the “churches”, but in our individual experience. The world may think it has an overall idea of beauty, but they cannot speak for all of us at one time. I like both the mechanical city and my neighborhood, which has preserved some aspects of nature, but the idea of beauty is found in both of them. I could not easily or readily assign beauty to one place in New York. I thought about it deeply though and if I had to pick one place in New York that I thought was beautiful, it would be the strip of Queens boulevard from 52nd street till 40th.

I’m interested in what other people find to be the “single impression” of beauty in our city, or if they can even assign it to one place?

I am sure many of you have already heard about Dans Le Noir, or other restaurants in New York that offer the unique experience of dining in complete darkness. What is so great about having dinner this way, is that you are able to savor in detail every bite, while you try to guess what exactly you are having. That’s right, there is a surprise menu, where you simply choose the general category of what you can eat, and let the Staff decide for you what you are having for dinner.

It’s amazing how paying attention to details can enhance any experience by so much. Sometimes I forget to enjoy certain things, such as a nice sunset or a nice panoramic view of the city. It was Philipp’s picture, which he posted on this blog earlier, that made me realize that many times I overlook these things that can be very beautiful, and free.

Dining in the dark will probably make anyone appreciate the flavors and textures of simple foods such as rice, pasta, tomatoes, or spices that most of the times we just ingest without actually tasting them. Anyways, from now on I will try to fully enjoy anything I do, as silly as that sounds. And I believe that if we ever get to go to dinner as a class we should go to this restaurant!

If I can choose what type of essay to write, I would choose a creative essay. I think it’ll give me the opportunity to explore my imagination and write a well organized essay. I think a creative essay is a chance to write about topics that would be difficult in a personal essay. To be specific, I would choose a fiction-based creative essay. Fiction-based creative essays are not as restricted as essays that are non-fiction. Fiction erases the boundary of one’s imagination. In a fictional creative essay, one can write about anything and everything and it’ll be an interesting story. Of course, it must be written in an organized manner with a clear thesis statement that will be decorated throughout the essay.

If there is a style I would copy, I would copy Ernest Hemingway’s style of writing. His writing is short and distinct, which leaves room for the reader to interpret what is written. Hemingway’s writing is simplistic. It’s true that it is not the most difficult style of writing, but to the extent Hemingway takes it is beyond simplistic. It may not seem like the perfect style of writing for a creative essay. However, I think there is an aspect of Hemingway’s style of writing that will make a creative essay unique.

Hey guys!! Ok so I am without a doubt the the latest post out of the entire class but you know what they say, “It is better to have posted than to have never posted at all”. Well maybe thats not how it goes but oh well.

So basically even though I love NY I was born and raised in the borough of Brooklyn. Most of my life was spent here so you can imagine that I am much more attached to Brooklyn than anywhere else. My second favorite place will have to be Manhattan aka “The city so nice they named it twice”. I really like the city but I definitely would not live there. m not quite sue what it is but I just cant seem my self living there. As far as the other three boroughs go,  lets just I don’t really know much about them even have visited them once or twice. I know that the Bronx is where the zoo is at and Queens is where you go when you want a really nice car (referring to Queens Boulevard), and this may be sad but the only thing I know about Staten Island is that you gotta take a ferry to get over there.

And now ill wrap things up by leaving you guys with a few videos of the best Borough out there.

Brooklyn We Go Hard

Hello Brooklyn

I was born and raised in my two-bedroom apartment on the upper-upper west side. My parents moved into a smaller apartment in the same building when they first met and then into the bigger one when my brother and I were born. Needless to say our foundation is deep rooted in the neighborhood I live. By middle school I was taking the train by myself and by high school I was traveling the length of Manhattan. If there were ever a gothomite criterion, I would embody it.

When I was much younger I hated my neighborhood and hated the city. I’m not sure why, I never wanted to live in a city- I had a white picket fence dream suburbia was calling me. This lasted until high school.

Over the past 5 years that dream has vanished. I can’t imagine myself anywhere but here, I don’t think anywhere could measure up. I wasn’t until very recently when that became very clear. This winter I traveled to England and Scotland with stops along the way. I visited the very famous city of London, and other cities along the way. I fell in love with the UK. I dream of going back, maybe even living there one day, but I would always have to come home. New York has taken my heart, and home is where the heart is and I will die here hopefully. Complete my life Full circle.