When I first heard that the author of the freshman common reader, The Glass Castle, was coming to Ball State, I was a little reluctant to attend. I had some mixed feelings towards the book. I did enjoy The Glass Castle, but I thought that it eventually got to be a little too much of repetitive tragedy. All in all though, I did enjoy the book and decided that I should pay my respects and indulge my curiosity by going to see Jeannette Walls speak at Emens Auditorium. Upon arriving to Emens on the 21st, I found that the lecture hall was completely packed. I did not expect to see so many people attending the discussion. I had to find a seat way in the back.
When Jeannette Walls first came onto stage, I was very aesthetically surprised. She was nothing at all what I figured she would look like. In the book she portrayed herself as very lanky, tall, and quite ugly. She turned out to be none of these qualities (granted that I was very far back in the auditorium and couldn’t see her up close). As much as I was surprised by her appearance, I also found her sounding nothing like I imagined. Her voice was much smoother than I thought the tone of the book led on.
I was really happy with the content that she covered in her discussion as well. Ball State took the theme of poverty in America as the most important message in her book. I did not read too much into the idea of poverty as the main theme when I read The Glass Castle. Jeannette Walls supported that statement by discussing a plethora of different themes and motifs. It seemed to me that Jeannette Walls never really considered herself or her family to be impoverished. She looked at her situation as more of an adaptive way of living on a tight budget. Her poverty gave her and her family character and helped them in the long run by making them stronger and allowing them to learn to fend for themselves. Walls said that everything in life is a blessing and a curse. I would completely agree with this ideology. Although her poverty put her and her family in many rough situations, it brought their family much closer to each other.
I particularly enjoyed the way that Walls spoke. There was a personal feel when she was talking. Seeing and hearing her in person made the book more than just a story to me. Being able to see the woman who went through everything in the book talk about her reactions and feelings towards the events made the book much more than just a story. It also seemed like she was on the same level as the rest of us. She was very humble as well. I expected nothing less of her though after reading the book. Walls also shared with us a wonderful sense of humor. She was not afraid to find hilarity in her humilities, which I find to be an admirable quality.
One issue that she discussed that stood out to me, and most likely many others, was how her mother reacted to reading her book. In The Glass Castle Jeannette did not express the most optimistic of impressions when speaking of her mother. Her mother’s main concern about the book was how Walls portrayed her driving. I found that to be quite funny considering all of the psychotic representations she depicted.
Despite my initial reluctance to go and see the author of the freshman common reader, I was very pleased with my decision. Jeannette Walls was an amazing speaker that touched on many important issues that were relatable to almost everyone. I would not hesitate to go see her again if given the chance.
Cultural Event Report 2: Letterman and Maddow
I have always been a fan of David Letterman. I watch the Letterman Show every once and a while and find it to be quite entertaining. I am also a very big fan of Rachel Maddow. I love her satirical humor that she emphasizes on her MSNBC show. I also watch the Rachel Maddow show from time to time. So when I heard that Letterman and Maddow were going to be visiting Ball State to together, I decided that there was no way I was going to miss this event. On the day that the tickets were released I over slept and wasn’t able to go to the box office until after my class at two o’clock. I was convinced that there would be no tickets left since I had been hearing so many rumors on how fast they were going to given out. I heard stories of people waiting in line for up to two hours to get tickets. When I showed up at about three thirty there were only five people in line in front of me. I finally got face to face with the box office, and to my surprise, got two tickets with ease. I was super excited. I decided to invite my dad to go with me to the show since he is a very big Letterman and Maddow fan as well.
My dad and I got to Emens a minute before they shut the doors to stop letting people in. We found our seats and settled in for the discussion. President Gora opened for Letterman with a lengthy speech that I thought would never end. Letterman then took the stage. He told a few stories that were quite hilarious and entertaining. He told a very humorous one about going to the hardware store to buy duct tape. After a few more amusing stories, Rachel Maddow was introduced to take the stage.
It was interesting to hear Maddow say that this was the largest crowd she had ever talked to. She said that she is only used to being in her studio with a few crew guys. Another astonishing thing to find out was how incredibly smart she is. I knew that she was a very bright woman, but I did not realize to what extent. Maddow went to postgraduate school at Oxford and became a Rhodes scholar. I was incredibly impressed to hear that.
Letterman and Maddow discussed many different media and political topics during the discussion. President Gora would jump in from time to time as well. They discussed everything from Dave’s drinking habits to the potential republican presidential candidates.
I was more than surprised to find out that David Letterman had a severe drinking problem. He has been sober now for almost thirty years. As much as find that very admirable, I would never have pinned Letterman to be an alcoholic. On a lighter note, Rachel Maddow got President Gora to admit that she is a drinker. The crowd seemed to love that. I found it pretty funny myself. Gora said that she likes wine “in moderation”.
I really enjoyed Letterman’s and Maddow’s thoughts on the republican presidential candidates. Letterman went as far as to call them pathetic. Maddow’s comments on Herman Cain referencing quotes from the Pokémon movie were extremely funny to hear. Both of their comments on the idea of Donald Trump being a moderator of a debate got the audience’s laughter roaring.
One aspect of the discussion that I really thought made it stand out was the level of interactivity it incorporated. During the discussion people in the audience were able to tweet or text questions to Letterman and Maddow from their seats and have a chance to have them answered. I thought that was a really neat way to incorporate technology in to the lecture to make it more personal.
I really enjoyed my time listening to the discussion between David Letterman, Rachel Maddow, and President Gora. It was an intellectual discussion amongst very funny people about current news and politics. I learned a lot from this event and really hope to see Letterman come back to Ball State next year.
When I first heard that the author of the freshman common reader, The Glass Castle, was coming to Ball State, I was a little reluctant to attend. I had some mixed feelings towards the book. I did enjoy The Glass Castle, but I thought that it eventually got to be a little too much of repetitive tragedy. All in all though, I did enjoy the book and decided that I should pay my respects and indulge my curiosity by going to see Jeannette Walls speak at Emens Auditorium. Upon arriving to Emens on the 21st, I found that the lecture hall was completely packed. I did not expect to see so many people attending the discussion. I had to find a seat way in the back.
When Jeannette Walls first came onto stage, I was very aesthetically surprised. She was nothing at all what I figured she would look like. In the book she portrayed herself as very lanky, tall, and quite ugly. She turned out to be none of these qualities (granted that I was very far back in the auditorium and couldn’t see her up close). As much as I was surprised by her appearance, I also found her sounding nothing like I imagined. Her voice was much smoother than I thought the tone of the book led on.
I was really happy with the content that she covered in her discussion as well. Ball State took the theme of poverty in America as the most important message in her book. I did not read too much into the idea of poverty as the main theme when I read The Glass Castle. Jeannette Walls supported that statement by discussing a plethora of different themes and motifs. It seemed to me that Jeannette Walls never really considered herself or her family to be impoverished. She looked at her situation as more of an adaptive way of living on a tight budget. Her poverty gave her and her family character and helped them in the long run by making them stronger and allowing them to learn to fend for themselves. Walls said that everything in life is a blessing and a curse. I would completely agree with this ideology. Although her poverty put her and her family in many rough situations, it brought their family much closer to each other.
I particularly enjoyed the way that Walls spoke. There was a personal feel when she was talking. Seeing and hearing her in person made the book more than just a story to me. Being able to see the woman who went through everything in the book talk about her reactions and feelings towards the events made the book much more than just a story. It also seemed like she was on the same level as the rest of us. She was very humble as well. I expected nothing less of her though after reading the book. Walls also shared with us a wonderful sense of humor. She was not afraid to find hilarity in her humilities, which I find to be an admirable quality.
One issue that she discussed that stood out to me, and most likely many others, was how her mother reacted to reading her book. In The Glass Castle Jeannette did not express the most optimistic of impressions when speaking of her mother. Her mother’s main concern about the book was how Walls portrayed her driving. I found that to be quite funny considering all of the psychotic representations she depicted.
Despite my initial reluctance to go and see the author of the freshman common reader, I was very pleased with my decision. Jeannette Walls was an amazing speaker that touched on many important issues that were relatable to almost everyone. I would not hesitate to go see her again if given the chance.
Cultural Event Report 2: Letterman and Maddow
I have always been a fan of David Letterman. I watch the Letterman Show every once and a while and find it to be quite entertaining. I am also a very big fan of Rachel Maddow. I love her satirical humor that she emphasizes on her MSNBC show. I also watch the Rachel Maddow show from time to time. So when I heard that Letterman and Maddow were going to be visiting Ball State to together, I decided that there was no way I was going to miss this event. On the day that the tickets were released I over slept and wasn’t able to go to the box office until after my class at two o’clock. I was convinced that there would be no tickets left since I had been hearing so many rumors on how fast they were going to given out. I heard stories of people waiting in line for up to two hours to get tickets. When I showed up at about three thirty there were only five people in line in front of me. I finally got face to face with the box office, and to my surprise, got two tickets with ease. I was super excited. I decided to invite my dad to go with me to the show since he is a very big Letterman and Maddow fan as well.
My dad and I got to Emens a minute before they shut the doors to stop letting people in. We found our seats and settled in for the discussion. President Gora opened for Letterman with a lengthy speech that I thought would never end. Letterman then took the stage. He told a few stories that were quite hilarious and entertaining. He told a very humorous one about going to the hardware store to buy duct tape. After a few more amusing stories, Rachel Maddow was introduced to take the stage.
It was interesting to hear Maddow say that this was the largest crowd she had ever talked to. She said that she is only used to being in her studio with a few crew guys. Another astonishing thing to find out was how incredibly smart she is. I knew that she was a very bright woman, but I did not realize to what extent. Maddow went to postgraduate school at Oxford and became a Rhodes scholar. I was incredibly impressed to hear that.
Letterman and Maddow discussed many different media and political topics during the discussion. President Gora would jump in from time to time as well. They discussed everything from Dave’s drinking habits to the potential republican presidential candidates.
I was more than surprised to find out that David Letterman had a severe drinking problem. He has been sober now for almost thirty years. As much as find that very admirable, I would never have pinned Letterman to be an alcoholic. On a lighter note, Rachel Maddow got President Gora to admit that she is a drinker. The crowd seemed to love that. I found it pretty funny myself. Gora said that she likes wine “in moderation”.
I really enjoyed Letterman’s and Maddow’s thoughts on the republican presidential candidates. Letterman went as far as to call them pathetic. Maddow’s comments on Herman Cain referencing quotes from the Pokémon movie were extremely funny to hear. Both of their comments on the idea of Donald Trump being a moderator of a debate got the audience’s laughter roaring.
One aspect of the discussion that I really thought made it stand out was the level of interactivity it incorporated. During the discussion people in the audience were able to tweet or text questions to Letterman and Maddow from their seats and have a chance to have them answered. I thought that was a really neat way to incorporate technology in to the lecture to make it more personal.
I really enjoyed my time listening to the discussion between David Letterman, Rachel Maddow, and President Gora. It was an intellectual discussion amongst very funny people about current news and politics. I learned a lot from this event and really hope to see Letterman come back to Ball State next year.