2nd Event - The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie was put on at the Playmakers theater on campus. Tom, Amanda, Jim and Laura are the four main characters in the play played by Ray Dooley/John Tufts, Judith-Marie Bergan, John Brummer, and Marianne Miller respectively. Tom has a low paying job in factory and wants to get out of town but can't because he has to support his mother Amanda and his disabled sister Laura. Amanda continuously reminds Laura of the importance of courting and finding a man. Amanda asks Tom to find a man for Laura and Tom brings home a friend from work Jim, a boy Laura had a huge crush on in high school. Jim used to call Laura blue roses. Laura is playing with her glass figurines or her glass menagerie when Jim comes in to talk to her, they begin to hit it off and dance. Laura's favorite glass figurine, her unicorn, gets the horn broken off and it is no longer "unique" so she gives it to Jim. Jim kisses her but freaks out because he actually has a fiance. Laura is heartbroken and Amanda gets mad and blames the whole ordeal on Tom. Tom ends up leaving.
This was the first play that I have attended here on campus and it was interesting to see that in the audience there were actually not that many students in attendance. I observed a lot of older individuals in the audience. Looking back, i see this older group who attend plays as their own microculture of Chapel Hill. Also, when reading through the playbook before the play it was interesting to read about the background of the actors and actresses. The man who plays Jim in the play, John Brummer, is actually a student in the Professional Actor Training Program here at Chapel Hill and the man who plays older Tom, Ray Dooley, is actually a professor here in the Department of Dramatic Art. I have been to many broadway plays before and this play was put on very well. As a student, I would definitely see another play or performance here at Chapel Hill in order to broaden my educational experience.

My first trip back from the south.

I was born in Pennsylvania and moved to North Carolina when I was four, living here ever since. Most of my family resides in Maryland. Maryland is where my brothers and sisters grew up. Throughout my younger years my "accent" (if i even had a northern one) never really changed. One event that sticks out in my mind though is when I went to Maryland for a family reunion the summer that I was 7 years old. Whenever I would talk to a member of my family who lived in Maryland they would say that I've "converted to the south" and that I "sounded like a true southerner". I hadn't even noticed this at all but I really took offense to all the people telling me that my accent had changed. I was never made fun of my accent in North Carolina so I couldn't understand why I was made fun of for my accent in Maryland. I remember thinking why is this such a big deal to them. Now that I'm older I don't get made fun of for my "accent" by my family members and I actually think they have a "more country" accent than I do. I never understood the separation between the north and the south. My family from maryland is to me, the epitome of a southerner. They live in rural parts of town, they say "yes ma'am and no sir", they go hunting, my Grandma makes the best fried chicken I have ever eaten. For my parents and I who have lived in North Carolina for a little over 14 years, Harris Teeter makes our fried chicken, we live in a big city, and besides my dad, none of us go hunting. It's just really funny to me that I used to get made fun of for my accent when I was younger by my Maryland relatives.

Response to C of C

My first reaction to Cats of the Confederacy was "these people are crazy." I couldn't understand why these group of people couldn't leave the past behind. I started to look into the reading more deeply and realized that these people used the Civil War as a connection between them and their family members. They have may have taken the aspect of the civil war too far for today but I could definitely see why they still believed in the war. I thought Tony Horwitz was very respectable to the individuals that he met yet when he wrote about them you could definitely tell that he thought some things were outright outrageous too, like the actual "cats of the confederacy" and "children of the confederacy". The whole time that I was reading this chapter in the book I kept thinking I was reading observations from 50-100 years ago. It seemed so old timey and as if the war had just ended. (I'm guessing that was the point Horwitz was trying to get across). One thing that I really enjoyed about this chapter was when Tarlton was talking to Tony and said the the sons of the confederacy was a place where many different individuals, such as doctors and farmers, acted as one and were all so respectable to each other. I really like how although these groups are so strict they are an opportunity for different people to come together.

Observation #3

For my third observation I observed the homeless people from 5-6 p.m. during the dinner rush on Franklin Street. During this time the passersby looked more to be students than professionals walking by and getting a bite to eat. The guitar man from the second observation was out again at this time and he sat in his chair and quietly played his guitar, not bothering anyone surrounding him. People were very generous in giving him money at this time a day for some reason and his money jar was more full than in my second observation. The streets did also seem to be more crowded too. A group of homeless people were again out at this time of day and were interacting amongst themselves, laughing and talking to each other most of the time that I was observing. They would stare at certain individuals walking by and those individuals would seem as if they were uncomfortable and move to the opposite side of the sidewalk then where the homeless people were. No particular homeless person asked for money. The group of homeless people stayed on the bench in front of starbuck's and on the corner of Franklin and Columbia for the whole time that I was observing with a few of them walking aimlessly down the sidewalk for a little and then turning around. These people seemed to have no particular destination and just walked back and forth with the flow of traffic. 4 cops came up to the homeless people at around 5:30 and focused on the ones that were walking by themselves. They looked to be asking them questions or having a conversation with them. But when the police were having contact with the homeless people the avoidance of the passersby seemed to go down and more individuals were walking closely to the homeless people and would even look up at them as the walked by. One man even smiled and waved.

Observation #2

My second observation was done between 12 and 1p.m. to observe the homeless people during lunch time on Franklin Street. I was still observing from Starbuck's and various other places on Franklin Street and kept my distance. At this particular time there were more individuals than in my first observation and they were all walking fast and seemed like they had some certain place to go. There was a group of homeless people today rather than single individuals on Franklin Street with a couple of people on their own. The people on Franklin Street seemed like they worked in a professional field and their were very less students at this time than during my first observation. The homeless people seemed to recognize the professional attire and were more aware of the individuals surrounding them this particular day. There was a different homeless guitarist outside today and he was sitting in a chair playing for passersby with a money jar in front of him. Compared to the guitarist in my first observation he was less invasive and never harassed people for money. He seemed to receive more money from people walking by this way. The group of homeless people were laughing and interacting amongst themselves and some even walked up and down Franklin Street with the flow of traffic. The citizens seemed more concerned with these people and tended to avoid them by moving away from them or talking on their cell phone as they walked by. The larger group of homeless people didn't seem to mind these individuals that avoided them and seemed to even laugh at these particular people.

observation uno

Yesterday I observed the homeless people on Franklin Street from the Starbuck’s window and the street itself. I went from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. I was interested to see that what I perceived to be the norm for their community was actually quite different. Normally they are all mostly found on the corner of South Columbia and Franklin but on this particular day I found them to be more alone and as partners spread out than as one big group in one location. One particular homeless man was playing the guitar by himself and walking up and down the Franklin Street sidewalks approaching the people walking by for money. The people seemed comfortable with him nearby until he quickly came up to them playing his guitar and singing a song. The passersby were startled and quickly walked away or moved to the side so as to avoid him. A ,male and female, homeless couple were together on the sidewalk by the bus stop on Columbia staring down students and workers getting on and off the bus. Many people either ignored or avoided them all together but they didn’t seem to mind and kept a smile on their face and even laughed at certain moments. I was surprised to the see during my observations that the homeless people really did not hoard people for money and with the exception of the guitar player they pretty much kept to themselves and did not seem to notice much outside of themselves. The homeless people community seemed to be strong within themselves and usually unaware of different people

SPRING BREAK!!

- I'm going on a cruise.
- Key West, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman!
- This is my first cruise
- I was required to only pack one suitcase.
- I usually bring two home for just a weekend visit :/.
- I spent so much money buying clothes for this trip.
- I now have no money for important things, like eat
- I have around 15 mini bottles of shampoo and body wash and stuff.
- Good excuse for two new bathing suits!
- There will be swimming with sting rays involved.
- Steve Irwin died from a stingray :(
- I think I may just have to watch.
- There's putt putt.
- I dominate in putt putt.
- I will have to skip the safety lesson to go watch the Dook game!
- I'm pretty sure an orange life vest isn't go to save me anyway.
- I'm going to run everyday.
- I can barely run on non-moving surfaces.
- 24 hour buffets!
- Hope everything still fits.
- The water slide is calling my name.
- No technology for a week.
- No school for a week.
- No emails from teachers adding more assignments for a week!
- Hopefully my paleness doesn't blind anyone.
- I'm hoping to come back tan and relaxed!
HAPPY SPRING BREAK EVERYONE!!

Feeder 2.2 Revised

The microculture that I plan to observe is the homeless people that are out on Franklin Street. This group of people are usually always on the benches outside of Starbuck’s, in the alleyways, or next to the bus stop. This microculture tends to look disheveled, yet happy. They tend to all stay together and converse among themselves. I have never really had contact with this microculture before; just walking past when I am trying to get somewhere on Franklin Street. They pique my interest because they seem to be such a close knit group, that even when times are hard they still have their friends, who know exactly what they are going through, to help them out. Students and citizens of Chapel Hill don’t really pay them much attention as they are walking past, except for the occasional man or woman who will give a dollar or two to the homeless man playing the guitar. My hypothesis of this microculture is that in their presence, people feel uncomfortable around them and go out of their way to avoid them, such as walking on the opposite site of the sidewalk, or ignore them all together. They are such an isolated group that there are hardly other reasons for their lack of interactions with the community. The reason why I would like to do this study is to understand the social aspects of the microculture itself and how they react to people who avoid them. How much do they care about individuals avoiding them? This study could be of importance to the community because the homeless people make up and are Franklin Street. They sit outside everyday and there hasn’t been a day when I have been on Franklin Street that I haven’t seen a homeless person just sitting or talking to his or her friends. I think they need to be better understood in order to prevent individuals from being so judgmental.

Microculture Hypothesis

The microculture that I plan to observe is the homeless people that are out on Franklin Street. This group of people are usually always on the benches outside of Starbuck’s or next to the bus stop. They tend to all stay together and converse among themselves. I have never really had contact with this microculture before, just walking past when I’m trying to get somewhere on Franklin Street. They pique my interest because they seem to be such a close knit group that even when times are hard they still have their friends, who know exactly what they are going through, to help them out. Students and citizens of Chapel Hill don’t really pay them much attention as they are walking past, except for the occasional man or woman who will give a dollar or two the homeless man playing the guitar. My hypothesis of this microculture is that in their presence, people feel uncomfortable around them and go out of their way to avoid them. They are such an isolated group that there are hardly other reasons for their lack of interactions with the community. The reason why I would like to do this study is to understand the social aspects of the microculture itself and how they react to people avoiding them. How much do they care about individuals avoiding them? This study could be of importance to the community because the homeless people are Franklin Street, they sit outside everyday and there hasn’t been a day when I have been on Franklin Street that I haven’t seen a homeless person just sitting or talking to his or her friends. I think they need to be better understood in order for people not to judge them so much in the future.

Disrupting a Space

The space I had observed previously was the Agora in Granville. As I said, in the corner of the Agora is a big screen T.V. where many guys (few girls) sit around and watch some type of sports game. As I was sitting in lunch, a golf game was on and around 10 boys had their eyes glued to the T.V. I walked up to the T.V. and changed the channel to MTV (Room Raiders was on) and sat down right in front of the T.V. and began to watch it. The guys watching the golf game yelled were very surprised and didn't exactly know what to do but just stared. Some guys behind me yelled at me to change back the channel. One even started to get up to come and change the channel himself. It was just so funny to see how people reacted when I changed the one thing they ever really did in the Agora during meals. Instead of sitting dumbfounded at the T.V., they all sat dumbfounded at me as I watched something other than sports.

This was fun.....I think I'm going to disrupt more spaces!