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The "Carpe Diem" Cliche
Submitted by Chloe on Wed, 07/28/2010 - 12:30Every time I hear “carpe diem,” or any message related to “seize the day,” I shudder at its utter cliché quality. My problem doesn’t lie in the message’s meaning, but in the fact that that it’s just too short. The phrase does not even demand explanation, and so people just schlep it around like nobody’s business. Without an explanation, I don’t feel any substance in the meaning of “carpe diem.” But despite my aversion to this well-worn cliché, I have created my own explanation of “carpe diem” that I actually like. In other words, personalizing a way to think about an old cliché has made the cliché meaningful and persuasive.
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The Dream Job
Submitted by Julie on Tue, 07/27/2010 - 12:28In our childhood, most of us seem to at one time or another dream of being an actor or singer. As we grow older, most of us realize how impractical these types of career goals can be, and we find new pursuits that are more realistic and more in-line with our adult personalities and goals. As a woman in the prime of my quarter-life “crisis,” I'm relishing the unique opportunity to reassess my past goals, present skills, and future plans. My 25th year may in fact be the very best time to look back at the dream jobs I've yearned to pursue in the past, and how they may yet apply to my future.
Forget Regrets
Submitted by Hillary on Fri, 07/23/2010 - 12:30If I Were Really Free to Move About the Globe
Submitted by Matilda on Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:30I am a continentally well-traveled citizen. Over various road trips and relocations, I have seen a nice chunk of the purple mountains, the amber grain and the shining seas. Other than a few hours spent south of the border and a quick visit to the Bahamas, this girl has never gone international- in the grand sense of the term. No plans have been set in stone to study abroad or make any other passport-required ventures. This does not hinder frequent dreaming of my turn on the London Eye (no matter how outrageously priced the admission) or my maiden gondola voyage. Money, time and my irrational flying anxiety aside, these are some dots on the globe I’d want to expand upon:
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The Moderate Homemaker
Submitted by Natalie on Mon, 07/19/2010 - 12:30The internet has been all abuzz over the recent Salon article entitled “I am a Radical Homemaker failure," in which the author, Madeline Holler, describes her aversion and inability to commit to the recent DIY, eco-friendly, homesteading sustainability movement. She is tired of feeling pressure to bake her own bread, drive an old car, grow her own food, and do a variety of other activities that have been deemed “socially responsible.” Among other complaints, she describes such a lifestyle as time-consuming, anxiety-inducing, and just plain exhausting. Where modern innovations have saved homemakers time and energy, the “radical homemaker” movement looks to fill that time back up with manual labor. While I have been a big personal fan of the practices of sustainability over the past few years, the article made me aware of some of my own bitterness towards this movement.
Where We're Going, We Don't Need Roads... or Friends, Apparently
Submitted by Matilda on Tue, 07/13/2010 - 12:30Over my academic life, I have been required to read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein twice, for two separate courses, two separate teachers leading separate class discussions. The first was for AP Literature in high school, the second was for a freshman seminar in college. Students of every level have been unable to escape a curriculum void of the novel for generations not just for its classic status, but its relevancy. In a world where the scope of technology is expanding more frequently than people Tweet, there is sound reason to worry about a day when being human is not only inferior, but detrimental.
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