I think it is pretty clear that there is an overwhelmingly negative consensus about how painful it is to read Sand County Almanac. I was hoping that it would maybe possibly get interesting, that my bad mood the day the class was assigned the first reading of it is what made it so boring and a chore to read. All the other readings are interesting. I love what I have read so far in the “World Changing” book and even the carbon footprint and “Steer’s Life” articles. They are interesting because they deal with daily human life. People live in cities, skyscrapers are a form of shelter and humans eat meat. Shelter (which I read an article on for a World Changing response) and food are two basic necessities of survival. Reading a book about nature, what I see everyday on my way around campus, may be part of daily life but unlike the articles it fails to arouse my senses to notice the lifetime of things around me. The nature book bores me to the point I barely recall what I read. The other readings I recall and will not be forgetting anytime soon because of their positive impact on my sense of awareness and initiative in the environment by appreciating daily life. I could go on for pages about how boring this author’s obsession with nature is, because it fails to call its readers to action but only lulls them into a heavy sleep.
On a more positive note class is becoming more enjoyable. My favorite lectures are about product design, what is happening in the world now and how designers and bringing change. For example, the cage for sea turtles to escape and using a different material in phones so miners do not kill animals. That appeals to me most because I feel like the class then is more catered to art and design students. Once lecture we talked solely about maize, and that was rough. Before ADP I have Extreme Weather. I like going from there to ADP because my science class is also discussing the green house gases, and global warming and carbon dioxide emissions. It makes it easier to focus in class because I am taking what I learned right before and applying it to the next thing. I learn the science aspect of it and then the social aspect. I hope this correlation continues.
I am not entirely sure how I feel about A Sand County Almanac, observational writing is fascinating to read but for the most part I am having a hard time with emphasizing with the author, the observer. There is an obvious captivation with Nature, or else Leopold would not have a book of “Sketches Here and There”. With every drawing there is obvious care and empathy on his part, almost to the point of personification. The section where he holds an interesting interaction, or possibly a one-sided interaction (if that is not an absurd impossibility), with his dog as they go hunting in the woods (pg. 63-65) is probably the second best example of his personification habit while his interaction with “65290” (90-92) takes the metaphorical cake.
The lecture is pretty comfortable for me to stay awake. I mean it is not very boring, but not really exciting. The stuffs that lecture is giving me is very challenging to me because it touches natural issues. However, I enjoyed writing the essay about one plant. It had been really good experience for me to contact a plant. I would never ignore the tree I chose for the essay and put it just as "nature". It had few communication what it was expressing to me. I kind of understood Leopold's poetic writing toward nature. His writing showed that he communicate with lots of trees, animals, flowers and bugs. It was very different my first point of view when I read the book in the beginning. I thought his writing focused too much about expressing his surrounding as dramatically as possible. However, I am not now. The book Culture Jam is very interesting to me in a way that it is trying to wake me up by juxtaposing all common human behaviors that are going toward "disaster" and away from nature. Through lectures, assignments and readings, it is sure that I am being changed. I am not a super environmentalist now, but it is still huge difference for me who never paid attention to anything green. I am getting interested in new field. It is difficult, though, to find connection between what I am learning in lecture and art. I mean I am feeling that my point of view is varied from the beginning. I still don't get how varied idea inspire me in new art or new authentic learning.
When I first started reading the book Sand County Almanac, I was fascinated in how Leopald was able to describe and write what is happening around the environment in a very detailed way. The book itself is interesting; however, after reading few pages of the book, I was getting bored of reading things that are not really related to me. I hoped that the book would get more interesting to read and learn more from the book.
When I first entered the lecture and heard of what we will be learning, I was disappointed in that the class will be another boring lecture that is related to environment. But after going to the lectures few more times and learning about things like how people in different countries consume different amount of meat or how corn has grown bigger since the Mayan time, I have realized that there are still things that I can learn which can be interesting. I was very unaware of all the things that I have heard in the lecture. I never knew that gorillas and coltans, which are used to make materials in cell phones, were related. I was indifferent with these environmental problems that were going around the world, but after hearing what is happening around the world, I have realized that after learning all the problems that are taught in the class, I should try to design products that does not harm the nature, but help nature.
It was interesting to learn about the issues of technology and environment world widely. For example, there are some countries that have highly modified environment and some are not. During the lecture, I was surprised by poor environment and technology of Africa. They try so hard to get water and they obviously know the significance of water. (Women carries 20 gallons of water everyday that is 4miles away!) However, we, who lives in the modified environment, don’t really recognize water’s importance and think that the water is an abundant resource. Because we can buy or use water so easily, we sometimes waste the water. From the lecture, I learned that water is a really important global resource. I was also surprised by the invention of Hippo water roller in Africa. Without this highly developed technology, they made amazing tool to carry the water easily.
Whatever topic we talked about during the lecture, I liked to compare the problems world widely. It was good to see what other countries are like. Especially for the food lecture, it was so shocking to see the differences between average American’s purchase for food per week and other countries such as Ecuador or Sudan’s purchase for food. The massive “Corn” usage was also interesting to know. I couldn’t even imagine that corns were also included in our goods, such as toothpaste, coated paper, trash bags, and even to the vegetable wax.
Today, during the class, we learned about fish farming and the declination of fish industry. We also learned about Cuba’s Organic Revolution and the Issues (power) of scale. (Ex: Walmart) I was mostly surprised by the colors of some salmons and shrimps are not natural. The Fish farmers feed salmons with the fish meals that are died with the color that look fresh and popular to the consumers. Looking at some of Sue Coe’s artworks was also interesting. I am not a harsh Vegeterian like her, but I don’t usually eat raw food or the food that shows the shapes of the animal literally when it is cooked out. So it was easy to catch what she was trying to convey.
After learning about the very high technologies from the lecture, I thought about a book, A Sand County Almanac. Compared to the technologies that we use these days, this book illustrates a pure nature. It describes mysterious and beautiful happenings in the nature. As I read through this book, I once again realized that I had no close contact with the nature for a long time. The stories that I read were not familiar to me. There are many advantages that people get these days from the high technologies, but it also makes people more distanced from the nature. We should realize the significance of the nature, environment, and the issues of the technology.
I think it's really quite sad that nature is now detached from the things that we find interesting and consider something a part of our lives. When did that happen and can it be reinfused with our culture? It's sad because it IS hard to read sand country almanac and enjoy it when really there could be an article as dense and monotonouse about graffiti culture but most people i say would like it. It is true that our world is quite different from those who live in the nature and with the nature but that doesn't mean our interest should be so much less than it is. And it is true that this lack of interest is caused by not having to confront nature on a daily basis and thus this lack of nature is not something that effects our daily lives. But it WOULD effect our lives if it suddenly wasn't there. We're inappreciative of the world we so greedily take advantage of. Everyday in lecture I leave feeling like there is something wrong in every decision I'm making in a days worth of activities. I should be making more informed choices and thinking about the consequences of my actions but I have to do it ALONG with doing homework, thinking about the people around me and going to work/making a living. It seems like another fat duty i have to fit in with my already very busy schedule. It's like (although i know it's not) a decision i have to make between my life in the present and now in the smaller picture or the life that will be in the far future when the planet i live on starts to deteriorate and becomes unlivable! It's seems hard to live without both because in reality it's impossible to try to live without one or the other. So now it's about managing your time and choices you make to come to a livable balance . . . I'm not there yet but I'm going to work on it.
Nature has become part of the background of our everyday lives, rather than a vital element in it. However, learning about the role that agriculture plays in so many aspects of our lives has made me come to realize, even more, how much of the things that we interact with daily are directly correlated to nature. Corn is present in the majority of the foods that we eat and the products that we consume. When we realize this, it is much easier to weigh the potential success or failure that will come out of harvesting corn for other, less necessary uses, such as ethanol fuel. This topic really interests me, because it is an example of a seemingly promising solution to the oil crisis, but once it is put into effect, we see that it comes with its own set of drawbacks. Not only is it taking away from the food supply of many already struggling Central American countries that rely heavily on corn as a major part of their diet; it is also decreasing the supply of corn for our own food and manufactured products.
I am also very interested in the problems surrounding the unnatural tactics of raising livestock that farms, organic and non-organic, have taken on today. It saddens me to see indoor chicken coops where the chickens are packed in so close to one another that they barely have room to breathe. I was astonished to learn that cows have to take an abnormally large amount of antibiotics with their food, because they are being fed corn, which their digestive systems are not meant to digest. In an attempt to improve our economy and our lives, we are slowly but surely altering and destroying the natural ecosystem that keeps our world functioning.
In regards to the two other readings, Collapse and “This Steer’s Live”, there are multiple takes on the similar problem. First the questions I asked myself were, “What are these authors trying to communicate and whom are they trying to communicate with?” A vast majority of the American population hardly ever picks up a fiction/entertainment-based book for leisure much less a book aimed at conveying a message or communicating an academic principle. Even the news is a strange potpourri of worldwide historical drama mixed up with nonsensical superfluous information. The two form a viscous conglomeration that seeps into the viewers’ brain and douses out the synapse connections responsible for triggering the impulse to pick up something and read it. Do the authors insinuate that only the reading population has the power to make the difference? Is it out of their own academic stubbornness that propels them to write books instead of launching tv series that are loosely based off of reality?
I have enjoyed the class, both the lectures, discussions, and readings. The class is bringing to my attention things I wasn't aware of. As the semester goes on I hope to gain more insight on how to use the information to my benefit and others. Right now I am stuck on the question "what can we do as artists and designers?", but I know it will become more clear. It is great that as Joe pointed out that we should first examine ourselves and personal space then gradually move up to the entire ecosystem. This way the task of making a difference isn't as troubling as it seems. I am surprised, but understand peoples feeling about Sand County Almanac. It can be a lot to take in and process, but there is just an abundance of great useful information in the book. I am still struck by the phrase "the modern dogma is comfort at any cost". It is very true and shocking to think he wrote this in the 1940's and that dogma(belief)still rings true today. People and communities in many cases are selfish searching for their own comfort destroying the environment around them without concern. There is also much good being done and this class presents us with opportunity to learn about it and to have an impact ourselves.
The topics covered in lecture are actually quite interesting. When I first read the syllabus for the class I was not looking forward to the topics listed, but I think Professor Trumpey is providing very interesting information that most people never even think about.
We hear about the many dangers of human interference in nature through the media, but we never hear about the methods used to hide the effects of our tampering. For example, the fish-farming lecture informed us of how our ecosystem is changed and the fish themselves change because of an altered diet. I never considered the waste factor in the fish farming industry and how it changes the ecosystem of the local lakes. Also I found the salmon dye shocking and a bit disturbing. It’s strange to think that Salmon are changing color due to the change in diet and the industry is dying them to make consumer feel more comfortable while consuming these fish. If they feel they must dye the fish to make people happy, they must know that somehow, even though it is thought to be completely safe, it is wrong. Why doesn’t the industry just include the fish’s natural food source into their diet instead of covering their tracks? If nature intended for Salmon to consume certain foods then we don’t have the right to change that. Today there are no known dangers of dying Salmon but it doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
So far in the readings of the Sand County Almanac, I find myself getting lost and distracted. I feel like there is no story, its just comments on the earth’s natural assets that humans increasingly ignore. Although I find the concept and structure of this book intriguing, I do not find the literature in the book intriguing or exciting. I feel like I could write this book – maybe not to the same degree of eloquent literature, but when I read Leopold’s writing I find it easy to imagine myself picking up a journal, going out into the woods, and writing the same thing. Leopold seems to go on and on about plants and animals, which are fascinating things about life, however I don’t feel like I understand nature better because of his writings. I feel that he has a better understanding of nature because of his writings, but I think I would learn more about nature by imitating his process than reading his words. I feel like there is nothing specific in this book that I can concentrate on, other than larger issues: natural resources, globalization, animal extinction, consumerism, etc. The book seems like a wash of bigger concepts because the only dependent variable in the book is the author (who he doesn’t talk about very often). Nothing seems to stick out, and I think this makes the book very hard to follow. I feel like this is an interesting topic, project, and idea but it is unfortunately a very boring to read.
Brian Ulrich - http://www.notifbutwhen.com/
ADP 3- Weekly Response
ReplyDeleteI think it is pretty clear that there is an overwhelmingly negative consensus about how painful it is to read Sand County Almanac. I was hoping that it would maybe possibly get interesting, that my bad mood the day the class was assigned the first reading of it is what made it so boring and a chore to read. All the other readings are interesting. I love what I have read so far in the “World Changing” book and even the carbon footprint and “Steer’s Life” articles. They are interesting because they deal with daily human life. People live in cities, skyscrapers are a form of shelter and humans eat meat. Shelter (which I read an article on for a World Changing response) and food are two basic necessities of survival. Reading a book about nature, what I see everyday on my way around campus, may be part of daily life but unlike the articles it fails to arouse my senses to notice the lifetime of things around me. The nature book bores me to the point I barely recall what I read. The other readings I recall and will not be forgetting anytime soon because of their positive impact on my sense of awareness and initiative in the environment by appreciating daily life. I could go on for pages about how boring this author’s obsession with nature is, because it fails to call its readers to action but only lulls them into a heavy sleep.
On a more positive note class is becoming more enjoyable. My favorite lectures are about product design, what is happening in the world now and how designers and bringing change. For example, the cage for sea turtles to escape and using a different material in phones so miners do not kill animals. That appeals to me most because I feel like the class then is more catered to art and design students. Once lecture we talked solely about maize, and that was rough. Before ADP I have Extreme Weather. I like going from there to ADP because my science class is also discussing the green house gases, and global warming and carbon dioxide emissions. It makes it easier to focus in class because I am taking what I learned right before and applying it to the next thing. I learn the science aspect of it and then the social aspect. I hope this correlation continues.
I am not entirely sure how I feel about A Sand County Almanac, observational writing is fascinating to read but for the most part I am having a hard time with emphasizing with the author, the observer. There is an obvious captivation with Nature, or else Leopold would not have a book of “Sketches Here and There”. With every drawing there is obvious care and empathy on his part, almost to the point of personification. The section where he holds an interesting interaction, or possibly a one-sided interaction (if that is not an absurd impossibility), with his dog as they go hunting in the woods (pg. 63-65) is probably the second best example of his personification habit while his interaction with “65290” (90-92) takes the metaphorical cake.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe lecture is pretty comfortable for me to stay awake. I mean it is not very boring, but not really exciting. The stuffs that lecture is giving me is very challenging to me because it touches natural issues. However, I enjoyed writing the essay about one plant. It had been really good experience for me to contact a plant. I would never ignore the tree I chose for the essay and put it just as "nature". It had few communication what it was expressing to me. I kind of understood Leopold's poetic writing toward nature. His writing showed that he communicate with lots of trees, animals, flowers and bugs. It was very different my first point of view when I read the book in the beginning. I thought his writing focused too much about expressing his surrounding as dramatically as possible. However, I am not now.
ReplyDeleteThe book Culture Jam is very interesting to me in a way that it is trying to wake me up by juxtaposing all common human behaviors that are going toward "disaster" and away from nature.
Through lectures, assignments and readings, it is sure that I am being changed. I am not a super environmentalist now, but it is still huge difference for me who never paid attention to anything green. I am getting interested in new field.
It is difficult, though, to find connection between what I am learning in lecture and art. I mean I am feeling that my point of view is varied from the beginning. I still don't get how varied idea inspire me in new art or new authentic learning.
When I first started reading the book Sand County Almanac, I was fascinated in how Leopald was able to describe and write what is happening around the environment in a very detailed way.
ReplyDeleteThe book itself is interesting; however, after reading few pages of the book, I was getting bored of reading things that are not really related to me. I hoped that the book would get more interesting to read and learn more from the book.
When I first entered the lecture and heard of what we will be learning, I was disappointed in that the class will be another boring lecture that is related to environment. But after going to the lectures few more times and learning about things like how people in different countries consume different amount of meat or how corn has grown bigger since the Mayan time, I have realized that there are still things that I can learn which can be interesting. I was very unaware of all the things that I have heard in the lecture. I never knew that gorillas and coltans, which are used to make materials in cell phones, were related. I was indifferent with these environmental problems that were going around the world, but after hearing what is happening around the world, I have realized that after learning all the problems that are taught in the class, I should try to design products that does not harm the nature, but help nature.
Jahyung Shin
ReplyDeleteADP 3
It was interesting to learn about the issues of technology and environment world widely. For example, there are some countries that have highly modified environment and some are not. During the lecture, I was surprised by poor environment and technology of Africa. They try so hard to get water and they obviously know the significance of water. (Women carries 20 gallons of water everyday that is 4miles away!) However, we, who lives in the modified environment, don’t really recognize water’s importance and think that the water is an abundant resource. Because we can buy or use water so easily, we sometimes waste the water. From the lecture, I learned that water is a really important global resource. I was also surprised by the invention of Hippo water roller in Africa. Without this highly developed technology, they made amazing tool to carry the water easily.
Whatever topic we talked about during the lecture, I liked to compare the problems world widely. It was good to see what other countries are like. Especially for the food lecture, it was so shocking to see the differences between average American’s purchase for food per week and other countries such as Ecuador or Sudan’s purchase for food. The massive “Corn” usage was also interesting to know. I couldn’t even imagine that corns were also included in our goods, such as toothpaste, coated paper, trash bags, and even to the vegetable wax.
Today, during the class, we learned about fish farming and the declination of fish industry. We also learned about Cuba’s Organic Revolution and the Issues (power) of scale. (Ex: Walmart) I was mostly surprised by the colors of some salmons and shrimps are not natural. The Fish farmers feed salmons with the fish meals that are died with the color that look fresh and popular to the consumers. Looking at some of Sue Coe’s artworks was also interesting. I am not a harsh Vegeterian like her, but I don’t usually eat raw food or the food that shows the shapes of the animal literally when it is cooked out. So it was easy to catch what she was trying to convey.
After learning about the very high technologies from the lecture, I thought about a book, A Sand County Almanac. Compared to the technologies that we use these days, this book illustrates a pure nature. It describes mysterious and beautiful happenings in the nature. As I read through this book, I once again realized that I had no close contact with the nature for a long time. The stories that I read were not familiar to me. There are many advantages that people get these days from the high technologies, but it also makes people more distanced from the nature. We should realize the significance of the nature, environment, and the issues of the technology.
I think it's really quite sad that nature is now detached from the things that we find interesting and consider something a part of our lives. When did that happen and can it be reinfused with our culture? It's sad because it IS hard to read sand country almanac and enjoy it when really there could be an article as dense and monotonouse about graffiti culture but most people i say would like it. It is true that our world is quite different from those who live in the nature and with the nature but that doesn't mean our interest should be so much less than it is. And it is true that this lack of interest is caused by not having to confront nature on a daily basis and thus this lack of nature is not something that effects our daily lives. But it WOULD effect our lives if it suddenly wasn't there. We're inappreciative of the world we so greedily take advantage of. Everyday in lecture I leave feeling like there is something wrong in every decision I'm making in a days worth of activities. I should be making more informed choices and thinking about the consequences of my actions but I have to do it ALONG with doing homework, thinking about the people around me and going to work/making a living. It seems like another fat duty i have to fit in with my already very busy schedule. It's like (although i know it's not) a decision i have to make between my life in the present and now in the smaller picture or the life that will be in the far future when the planet i live on starts to deteriorate and becomes unlivable! It's seems hard to live without both because in reality it's impossible to try to live without one or the other. So now it's about managing your time and choices you make to come to a livable balance . . . I'm not there yet but I'm going to work on it.
ReplyDeleteNature has become part of the background of our everyday lives, rather than a vital element in it. However, learning about the role that agriculture plays in so many aspects of our lives has made me come to realize, even more, how much of the things that we interact with daily are directly correlated to nature. Corn is present in the majority of the foods that we eat and the products that we consume. When we realize this, it is much easier to weigh the potential success or failure that will come out of harvesting corn for other, less necessary uses, such as ethanol fuel. This topic really interests me, because it is an example of a seemingly promising solution to the oil crisis, but once it is put into effect, we see that it comes with its own set of drawbacks. Not only is it taking away from the food supply of many already struggling Central American countries that rely heavily on corn as a major part of their diet; it is also decreasing the supply of corn for our own food and manufactured products.
ReplyDeleteI am also very interested in the problems surrounding the unnatural tactics of raising livestock that farms, organic and non-organic, have taken on today. It saddens me to see indoor chicken coops where the chickens are packed in so close to one another that they barely have room to breathe. I was astonished to learn that cows have to take an abnormally large amount of antibiotics with their food, because they are being fed corn, which their digestive systems are not meant to digest. In an attempt to improve our economy and our lives, we are slowly but surely altering and destroying the natural ecosystem that keeps our world functioning.
In regards to the two other readings, Collapse and “This Steer’s Live”, there are multiple takes on the similar problem. First the questions I asked myself were, “What are these authors trying to communicate and whom are they trying to communicate with?” A vast majority of the American population hardly ever picks up a fiction/entertainment-based book for leisure much less a book aimed at conveying a message or communicating an academic principle. Even the news is a strange potpourri of worldwide historical drama mixed up with nonsensical superfluous information. The two form a viscous conglomeration that seeps into the viewers’ brain and douses out the synapse connections responsible for triggering the impulse to pick up something and read it. Do the authors insinuate that only the reading population has the power to make the difference? Is it out of their own academic stubbornness that propels them to write books instead of launching tv series that are loosely based off of reality?
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed the class, both the lectures, discussions, and readings. The class is bringing to my attention things I wasn't aware of. As the semester goes on I hope to gain more insight on how to use the information to my benefit and others. Right now I am stuck on the question "what can we do as artists and designers?", but I know it will become more clear. It is great that as Joe pointed out that we should first examine ourselves and personal space then gradually move up to the entire ecosystem. This way the task of making a difference isn't as troubling as it seems. I am surprised, but understand peoples feeling about Sand County Almanac. It can be a lot to take in and process, but there is just an abundance of great useful information in the book. I am still struck by the phrase "the modern dogma is comfort at any cost". It is very true and shocking to think he wrote this in the 1940's and that dogma(belief)still rings true today. People and communities in many cases are selfish searching for their own comfort destroying the environment around them without concern. There is also much good being done and this class presents us with opportunity to learn about it and to have an impact ourselves.
ReplyDeleteThe topics covered in lecture are actually quite interesting. When I first read the syllabus for the class I was not looking forward to the topics listed, but I think Professor Trumpey is providing very interesting information that most people never even think about.
ReplyDeleteWe hear about the many dangers of human interference in nature through the media, but we never hear about the methods used to hide the effects of our tampering.
For example, the fish-farming lecture informed us of how our ecosystem is changed and the fish themselves change because of an altered diet. I never considered the waste factor in the fish farming industry and how it changes the ecosystem of the local lakes. Also I found the salmon dye shocking and a bit disturbing. It’s strange to think that Salmon are changing color due to the change in diet and the industry is dying them to make consumer feel more comfortable while consuming these fish. If they feel they must dye the fish to make people happy, they must know that somehow, even though it is thought to be completely safe, it is wrong. Why doesn’t the industry just include the fish’s natural food source into their diet instead of covering their tracks? If nature intended for Salmon to consume certain foods then we don’t have the right to change that. Today there are no known dangers of dying Salmon but it doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
So far in the readings of the Sand County Almanac, I find myself getting lost and distracted. I feel like there is no story, its just comments on the earth’s natural assets that humans increasingly ignore. Although I find the concept and structure of this book intriguing, I do not find the literature in the book intriguing or exciting. I feel like I could write this book – maybe not to the same degree of eloquent literature, but when I read Leopold’s writing I find it easy to imagine myself picking up a journal, going out into the woods, and writing the same thing. Leopold seems to go on and on about plants and animals, which are fascinating things about life, however I don’t feel like I understand nature better because of his writings. I feel that he has a better understanding of nature because of his writings, but I think I would learn more about nature by imitating his process than reading his words. I feel like there is nothing specific in this book that I can concentrate on, other than larger issues: natural resources, globalization, animal extinction, consumerism, etc. The book seems like a wash of bigger concepts because the only dependent variable in the book is the author (who he doesn’t talk about very often). Nothing seems to stick out, and I think this makes the book very hard to follow. I feel like this is an interesting topic, project, and idea but it is unfortunately a very boring to read.
ReplyDelete