The Power of Books

For the longest time, I would not touch them. No matter if they were school books, or books people get me as gifts. It was not until the summer after fifth grade, when I took a speed reading class, when I really looked into reading. After that summer, I started reading more and more until I was constantly carrying a book with me everywhere I go. It wasn’t until high school that I started noticing patterns or groups of books that would capture my interest at different parts of my life. Depending on what kind of book it is, I realized that I should just buy it from the bookstore if possible. There is a list of books that I keep rereading time and time again.Sometimes I would reread the whole book, and other times, just certain passages of the book.

Thinking back to some of the unofficial groups I categorized books into, they change when my mood or stress change. The quick change does not really faze me because I already know how the book ends most of the time. But it is really annoying when it is a book I am reading for the first time. At first, I did not really understand why it happens. When I am really interested in a book, it seems like the pages just fly through, and after an hour or so, I am almost or totally done with a book. But when once my interest shifts, and I continue with the book, the story seems to stretch out, and the plot seems really boring all of a sudden.

Looking back to instances like that, I can see how reality came in and changed my overall mood all of a sudden. Some of the shifts were easy to see, and realize the reason for the sudden change, but most of time, I have to stop and really think before I am able to identify why I want to read that one group of books all of a sudden. The most obvious one comes out really strong during finals, midterms, or when school just seems really difficult for me, I would tend to read books where the main character has to deal with school, factors the author decides to write about, and finally triumphs at the end of the book or series. To me, the unconscious message is that I can overcome the obstacle, and finish my academic work, just like the characters in the book. While not all of changes can be identified like that, they are all really similar in what they convey to me unconsciously.

Perpectives

When trying to relate to people whose actions or beliefs I do not agree with, it really depends on the situation and the person. For people I am not really that close to, it is really easy to just brush or just ignore the action. Coworkers, or more casual acquaintances, it is more of a watch and learn from them kind of deal. Whereas for closer family members or friends, I would spend some time to see if there is a logical link that they see, but I did not at the time. As for beliefs, they really depend on what kind of belief.

A lot of times, when I see a complete stranger do something I do not really agree with I would just observe them and try to learn from what I see. On a semi-drizzling (or super foggy depending on terminology) day, I parked near a high school to finish eating before heading out to class. The next thing I know, a car pulls up next to the one I was in, and bumps into my car while getting out. I looked up, and saw that her body bumped into my car, but she did not seem to notice because she was busy yelling at the person who drove her to school. Watching that scene unfold in front of me like that, I realized how lucky I was in high school when I was able to get rides home. At first, I could not believe that someone would be yelling at the driver like that, especially when the driver probably had to

change their own schedule to drive her to school. Even though I did not get out of the car to approach her, I took note of how bad of an impression she left on me. There were times during high school when I was able to get a ride to my destination through family and friends, especially when it was raining. While I did not yell at them for the ride they gave me, I know that there were times when I forgot to thank them for helping me after a few rides. Through this scene, I realized how nice it would be for the person helping, if I thank them for helping me. Personally, I do not really yell at people (I may rant, but never really yell… yet) so I do not think I have to worry about me yelling at people, but there were times when I got a ride from someone, and just got out of the car when we got to the destination. From watching the way strangers act, I take notes on what I should or should not do in different situation. I know that there are times when I might act in a similar way to the people I observe, but I hope that the mental image of how it looks to an outsider will keep me from repeating their actions.

That is different from what I would do when it is a coworker or a friend (who is more like a casual friend). With the people I work with, I try to pay attention to my own obligations before really commenting on what other people do (at least at work). A few years ago, I ran into an elementary school classmate who was volunteering at a facility that I was interested in helping out in. She started telling me about which positions I should go for, because it is ‘easy’. There are some positions that would give volunteers more time to surf the internet and such while volunteering. She really liked the department she was volunteering in, because she was dealing with one child at a time, and more volunteers were allotted for the job than was needed. I listened while she was telling me about her experience in the different departments, nodded my head, and thanked her. After thinking about what she told me, and the way her life is, I realized that she was using the volunteering opportunity to relax and distress. When volunteering, or offering my help to people, I like to feel productive. So when I was ranking which departments I want to work with, I made sure to rank my friend’s suggestions last.

In general, I want to try to keep an objective perspective when doing things (when possible). That seemed like a good idea in the beginning, but later I realized how hard it is to actually follow through with that idea. I remember a saying someone told me that states something similar to: use the standard you use apply onto others (when looking for faults) on yourself, and use the standard you use for forgive yourself to forgive others. Keeping that saying in mind, I found that it was easier for me to remember that other people have their own reasons for doing things the way they do. It is through the combination of different perspectives that new ideas are developed. This semester, I was able to see how different ideas and perspectives can be combined into a better representation of a situation as a while.

Transitions

One possible reason for reading “The Guest” right after Fromm is the way the story shows a different way to look at life, or starting from small to big when trying to tackle our personal outlooks when it comes to life. With the reading from Fromm, we worked more on the feeling of love, and started to take a closer look at the events that are happening around us. For me, Fromm got me to stop and really see what goes on around me. Over time, a lot of the details get lost on us, and we have to pause, and see things without the blinders that we normally look through. The reading from Fromm’s book The Art of Loving got me to pay attention to what is happening now, where “The Guest” seems more focused on morals, and the consequences of our choices. After reading the story, I started to wonder why the story was ended the way it was. Going from focusing on our views/morals, to looking into how we might use them in a situation where our responsibility and personal views are at odds with one another. Not only that, but we are reminded that reality tends to change our original view of life or plans. There are so many different elements that change and influence our decisions at different times. Love and the way we interpret it is very personal, a reflection of what we see now, and in an ideal world in a way. Ideal, as in focused on one person, without really having to factor in reality, or the hardships that we might have to face in the ‘real world’ or the future.

Another way of looking at it, is going from analyzing only one perspective, to having to take into account the outside factors that come into play. In The Guest, I feel that the way Daru feels, and what he would prefer to act with the prisoner is changed, because of his job. Watching as he tries to justify his actions and decisions, before letting the prisoner choose for himself. Showing us, that we have to think through our choices, because they all have consequences, we just have to choose the one that seems best for us. A really good way to remind us to think further down the line when it comes to any choices we make in life. The story seems to start at a point that is really similar to the ‘third act’ in Shakespeare’s plays. Because almost much all of the important decisions have already been made; nothing the character does during the story can change the ending (another way to put this, doomed from the beginning).

We transition from talking about our personal views through Fromm and developing them further, to acknowledging that there are different influences that come up when we make our decisions through Daru.

Practicing Love...

While I was thinking of what to write about for the last blog, this one came to mind, but I was not sure it really fits in with the prompt. Since it keeps coming up, and I wanted to get it out.

This past week, I have been hearing a lot about a special event called 311 Love Beyond Borders that took place in Hong Kong for the Japanese people. It was interesting to watch clips of the events, and the responses of the actors and actresses had as they were planning the event. One reason why this kept coming to mind is the theme music that was chosen. The music and video has been playing in my mind for a few days now. Over the break, I remember hearing one of the artists being interviewed about the song. The song itself was already written, and was selected to be translated into Japanese for the event, and checked to be sure that it makes sense. Because the people singing the song do not speak Japanese, they found teachers to ensure that the pronunciation is correct. They chose to have images of folded paper cranes in the event because of the Japanese belief of folding a thousand cranes would help a person’s wish come true. It is interesting to see how many details are in the plans for the event.

Multiple voices and people taking part in the event, reinforces the clo

sing comment on the video, that they are not alone. Having different people singing different parts of the song before coming together as a larger group for the chorus adds to the appeal. It brings to mind a song that I used to listen to as a child. The words can be roughly translated to ‘one stick of bamboo can be bent easily, but it is hard to bend several bamboo sticks at once. Having so many people working together behind and in front of the scene shows how important this is to the people in the production. Being able to recognize most of the people in the video shows me how many of these actors, actresses, and singers care for the people this quake effected. A lot of the people shown are people who are well known and famous, yet they get together to do what they can for the people in Japan. Knowing that they probably took time out from their schedule to work on the song and video makes me want to go out and do what I can to help.

I do not know if it is the video, music, or a combination of both that really catches my attention. Seeing so many people working together to do what they can to remind the people in Japan that they are not alone, leaves a really big impact on my mind. While I do not know exactly what the song is about (until I looked up the English lyrics), it still gave me a feeling that I am not alone in the world. This video reminds me not to make judgments about a person because of what they do, and to pay attention to the events that are happening around me now. Focusing more on the present than the past or future, because you never know what can happen in a split second. Not only that, but to concentrate on using what I have and what is available to accomplish tasks, instead of what wishing for something that I do not have. I really like how the event shows everyone that love truly has no boarders. While writing this, the quote about if you truly love someone/something let them/it go, and if it was meant t

o be, they will come back to you. Sometimes, we have to step away from what we have before we realize how lucky we are to have what is around us. From this, I am going to try to take notice of the people around me, and help who I can with what I have. I will give the concept of working with various people in a group setting another chance while keeping an open-mind, because a group of people working on one thing is better than one (depending on what it is….).

When it comes to love, I feel that it is different for me at different points in life. Drawing from some lyrics (with a rough translation) “What is love? You want to know, and I want to know the answer, and in the end we will go crazy thinking about the answer.” combining that idea with something I read recently, where someone states 'Romance is not an idea, but a state of mind,’ seems to describe the way I think about love.

The Horrors of High School

For this experience, I will be going back to my senior year of high school. That year, my friend and I kept up with all the clubs and activities because of how much fun we had the year before. Student government that changed so much, that it became overwhelming for a small group of us (four of us who ended up with everything). Planning events turned out to be more of a chore than anything else. It was as if there was an invisible checklist for the planning process. A of people (mainly the president and her friends[for this group I’m just going refer to them as *president*] ) come up with the script and plays the main roles in the assembly, while a smaller group (me and my friends) gets stuck running around for supplies, making posters, and filling in the details. What kind of details you ask? Getting supplies, running the sound system, checking dates with the moderators, and cleaning up. Don’t get me wrong here, I don’t mind cleaning up after the school events (ripping up the posters is a great stress reliever) but doing so with a small group of people, while others are sitting around doing nothing.... That is a different story.

(I know that this will turn out to be a rant, so feel free to skip this paragraph, maybe skim the next and really start reading the paragraph after that). For the annual Christmas school assembly someone (who only goes to the meeting once a month), came up with the idea to throw ‘snow’ off of the catwalk (up high, over the audience section) to make it seem like it is snowing in the theater… So, the week before, my friends and I went around the school emptying out the hole-punchers for snow while the *president* stays in the office, and ‘iron out the details’ on the script of the assembly. The morning of the assembly, no one in *president* was there to help set things up, instead they stayed in the office to work on the details some more. So, my friends and I ended up setting everything up with the help of the moderators. The actual assembly turned out pretty good for the most part. The people sitting near the front loved the snow, while the people in the back wondered why they did not have any snow…. Little technical difficulties that came up as the plans were put into motion. Other than that, everything else went smoothly. Once the theater emptied out, my friends and I cleaned up what we set up that morning and went to lunch (we had lunch time right after the assembly and class afterwards). We were done…. right?

About ten minutes into our lunch, the student body president marches up to our table, demanding to know what my friends and I were doing, eating lunch instead of cleaning up the theater. The clean up details for this event got left out of the planning stage (AGAIN!!), so she has to walk around and get people back to help clean up the mess in the theater. We thought we already did, turns out she meant cleaning up all the snow from the seats, because another school was coming in at the end of the day to use our theater… Most of us assumed that the rest of clean up will take place after school, when we would have more time clean. Nope, we had to go clean up right this moment. So my friends and I left our lunch with some other friends and went to work. Half way through the lunch period, the president had to stop because she was getting sick from the dust. So she and her friends go to the office to ‘clean up’. That left the five of us (me, three friends and the moderator) to clean up the mess while sneezing our heads off (turns out 3 people are like me, we sneeze a lot when it gets dusty). We were not really done when we decided to stop cleaning. Our teacher (my friends and I have the same class after lunch) was waiting for us, before he wanted to start teaching because of how important the lesson was. The moderator decided to give all of us a break, and stop there. When we get to the office to pick up our stuff, turns out when we were cleaning, the *president* were busy having a party in the office, and made a bigger mess out of the stuff than was there originally.

During all of that, I know for sure I was not really open-minded, because I was so angry at some of the people. Now, looking back (thank you for letting me get that out of my system), I learned a lot from that experience, and from later events that stem from this original one. It has helped me develop being open-minded more. Not only reminding me that open-mindedness includes listening to other people’s views and opinion, but their interpretation on different events/directions. Now, when I ask other people to do things, I try to make sure to show them how much I appreciate it. Or, if it is something that needs a group of people, I try to stay and do the work with them. That year alone taught me how humble people in student government (or any one with some power) can be. No matter how hard one tries to plan things, the plans fall part, and how hard it is to please everyone in a group of people. While this experience is not one of my favorite moments in life so far, I feel that I have learned a lot from it. I have learned how I do not want to treat people, reminded how easily responsibilities can be forgotten, and how humility can help pull people together sometimes.

It is now a little easier for me to remember that the world does not revolve around me. Even before the clean up event, I do not think I was really self-centered but now, I feel that I am more aware of the people around me. To try to put the needs of the people around me before focusing too much on what I want/need. From this experience, I realized how important it is to consider how the people around me will see/think about my actions before actually acting.

The Subject Song

Having to pick through multiple songs to finally choose one song to represent a part of life is a lot harder than I first thought. One of my first obstacles I faced was to find the name of the (English) songs I liked listening to. Most of the songs I listen to are through the radio, so for most of time, I don’t know the singer or the name of the song (I only recognize the song itself). The second hurdle, was finalizing on ONE song to write on. With so many songs to choose from in the beginning, I wished to cut and paste certain parts of different songs into one to represent different parts of my life (that probably has something to do with listening to DJ Shadows recently). For this writing activity, quite a few different songs that came to mind at first, but since quite a few of them are sung in a different language, I was reluctant to use them. Music and song seem ‘relative’ to me; relative to the moment I choose it (kind of like cooking for me, when making one recipe, different amounts of different ingredients is used to match my expectation of the taste I am looking for at the time.) While I feel that they represent certain parts of my life. I finally decided on one of my favorite songs on the radio to describe my mode of life at this moment.

Wonderful World by Sam Cooke is one of my favorite ‘happy songs’. Hearing this song on the radio always brings a smile to my face. The song as a whole is really uplifting. Even listening to it now as I am writing, it is hard to describe exactly what it is that makes me smile. It is probably a combination of the music and the lyrics working together that makes this song so enjoyable. The beats seem to be at the correct tempo to make the song happy, but not fast enough to overcome the lyrics of the song. Somehow, just listening to the song seems to make everything feel better for me.

I remember hearing this song on the radio when I was younger. The lyrics of this song really caught my attention. Perhaps it can be the list of different school subjects that really made me pay more attention to this song than others. Having the different subjects in the song made it more relatable as a student (which lead to me unofficial name of the song to be ‘the subject song’). That and the fact that the lyrics admit that ‘I don’t claim to be an A student, but I’m tryin’ to be…’ got me to feel a little better about school as a whole. For the longest time, school was just something I had to go through because that is what is expected of me. So each school year, I would drag my way through all the subjects and do enough to just pass the class. After getting to meet some good teachers, knowing the reason behind school, and learning things that I had more interest in, got me liking my classes a lot more.

The focus of life for an individual is a reflection of different people’s (likes someone who they look up to) ideas of what is important in life. As a student, we have to get into certain classes and be able to pass with a certain grade. This song reminds me that grades are not the most important thing in life. Loving people, and having people love you back is really important too. Subjects are stressed too much sometimes in life. In high school, I took Spanish for my foreign language requirement (I was not really good at it, but did enough to pass the class with a descent grade). Now that I am in college, I can still remember some of the words and phrases I was taught, but most of it has been forgotten. As a student, a lot of the subjects and tool that are mentioned are important things to know (well, not a slide rule any more…), but as long as one has tried their best; and that should be the most important thing.

Being on the receiving end of love makes the world wonderful is true. This song seemed perfect for me right now. Midterms and tests are being given almost left and right recently (the subjects), and while I cannot say how well I did in them right now, I know that I tried my best. Just as the lyrics from above match up with my mood right now. The stress of tests, quizzes, and homework seems to lessen by the end of the day, and dramatically decrease when talking to loved ones. Wonderful World reminds me that knowing everything in life is not the most important (although being knowledgeable helps in life). The title of ‘most important thing’ saved for loved ones.

Part of me knows that this is a rather simple and naive way of looking at things, but it counters the other ways I live my life. After saying all of that, it is just one of the ways I try to live life. Just like how difficult it is to pick one song to describe the mode of life, it is hard to live life through one mode. While some modes are more unique than others, it is the different ways we combine them that makes us the unique people we are.

The Time of Change-Midnight

Music is a good way to get people’s attention. If it is catchy enough, it is able to get people’s attention to other things that we might not really notice if otherwise. To tell the truth, at first I did not really like the first few songs on the disk. It was not until the end of the disk, that I found myself liking different parts of the song, and later really got to enjoy the way the different pieces came together for the later songs.

It is hard to decide between the last three songs, but I think I will go with ‘Midnight in a Perfect World.’ For quite a few songs, I liked the beginning section of the song as a whole. The beginning of this song gave off a nice and calm feeling. Beats in this song seem to really catch my attention a lot more than the others. Subtle changes in the beats keep things interesting, enough to keep one’s attention but not so much that would alter the mood of the song. When the voices come in, it adds a earthily feel, and adds to the feeling of being in a ‘perfect’ environment (or at least a semi-heaven like one). One thing I really liked about this is the ending. The way midnight is the last spoken word, and followed by the sound of a clock ticking, reminds listeners that time plays a part in the song as a whole.

This disk as a whole was quite a surprise because at first I did not expect to really like any of the songs. So, it was a nice surprise to find some of the later songs on the disk.

The Path & Cave

It takes a long time for Phil to make the full transaction. The most obvious observation of this path, is how long, and time consuming it can be. Even when Phil knows what will happen on that one day it still takes him quite a few tries before he really gets it right (and only after he starts paying attention of other people around him). I feel that his path to enlightenment is a lot shorter in the movie, than it would be in reality. Part of what speeds up the process is the knowledge he has of the day. Whereas for most people, we have to get things right the first time since there is no chance for people to try again. The path of enlightenment is really similar to Plato’s cave and a lot can be used when looking at the two analogies.

Taking a step back, the path of enlightenment is filled with little dead ends, or smaller caves that trap people until they realize they are going in the wrong direction, and head by over to the correct path. When Phil first finds out that he is living the same day over and over again; at first he is in denial, that the day is happening again. That seems to be the point where he starts to realize that he is stuck in a cave. After thinking that he knows, he starts acting reckless before realizing that it is not what he really wants to do, then starts to work on his relationships with women. When he tries a few different approaches (with varying results) he seems to realize that it is not what he really wants, and changes his actions the next day. The reckless actions and his attempts to work on relationships are the side caves and dead ends people encounter when working to the path of enlightenment.

By the end of the movie, when he works on improving himself, and taking note of the needs of others on that day, he reaches the end of the path. Working to improve himself as a person is like reaching the mouth of the cave, and observing the world in a new perspective. Using the knowledge he has on the happenings of the day, Phil goes around town to help people, and that is the final and ultimate step when on the path of enlightenment.

Groundhog's Day

As a whole, I really like watching Phil's character develop through out the movie. He goes from a shallow character who is focused on himself, to someone who actually looks around, and cares for other people. My favorite scene in the movie, is towards the end; when he starts to help the people in the city. Since he knows so much, it was nice of him to go through and help who he can. I really liked that scene, because it is what sets every thing up for the end of the play. While it does not really say what he did to get the day to stop repeating, and the auction was a funny switch from the beginning.

Of Heights and Floating Stairs

When growing up, certain types of stairs and heights really scared me. Most stairs are more solid, and have something covering the distance between steps, but those are not the ones that terrified me. The ‘floating steps’ seemed as if they would move apart or closer to each other at any time. Combine that with the fear that the gaps between the steps would allow people’s hands to get through and drag me under the step, where I would fall and roll down the stairs. My fear of heights probably steamed from that fear. With heights, I was alright when standing on high solid ground. The fear only comes out when I am high off the ground, and can see what is under me. While I know where my fear of heights came from, I still don’t know why a specific type of stairs would scare me so much when I was younger.

Both fears stayed with me for a long time. Over time, I made attempts to overcome the fear and it took a lot longer for me to finally break free. That did not happen until high school; I really started breaking through the fear because I was really interested in the theater (the plays, dance ensembles, and musicals). While I did not like being on stage, I found that being on the technical crew for the performances were really fun and enjoyable. In the second performance of the school year, they needed a person to run the spotlight. The teacher who was running the show (and did not know about my fears) asked me if I was interested in working more with the lights, so I agreed (not knowing what I was getting myself into). Going up the first time, and walking over the catwalk (where the stage lights and spot light are placed), while being able to see all the chairs under me the first time was really nerve wrecking. I treated it more as a ‘if she can do it, then I can do it too’ moment since there was someone there to show me what is up there, and what I have to do. The first few times going up by myself felt like it took a lot longer than I expected. Climbing up really steep ‘floating stairs’ that you can see through, then passing through furnace room to get to the roof of the building before getting to the squeaky catwalk. After a while (I got to spend a lot of time after school there for a month or two), I started to really enjoy the catwalk. Looking down at the stage gave me an unblocked view of the stage, and because I was so isolated up there, I was given a headset to stay in contact with the stage manager. After running the spotlight that time, I found that I can go up the ‘floating stairs’ and heights were not a problem with me anymore.

I had so much fun that time that I volunteered to run the spotlights when ever needed. Thinking back to it, if the teacher did not ask me to go up there, I would have been missing out on a really interesting learning experience. Going up there taught me a lot about the different lights that are used in a performance, and to challenge myself when possible. After getting that little nudge to face my fears, I was able to find how much I liked working the lights, and got a glimpse into what I was missing because of my fears. Looking back, I am glad that I did not step down from the offer.

The Truths Around Me

The discussion about true person, true love, and hard truth in class today got me to change some of my thoughts this post. I really like Abraham Lincoln’s quote “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed but I am bound to live the best life that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right and part from him when he goes wrong.” The quote itself reminds me of the Special Olympics. For the Special Olympics, people prepare themselves for their events, just like how athletes prepare for the Olympics. Although the participants do not necessarily win in the same way as other people, they still try their best to participative as best they can. Through the process, the athletes seem to be able to enjoy their lives to the best of their abilities. Watching people I know try as hard as they can in these kinds of events, along with the dedication of their helpers and the organizers of the event reminds me of some of the qualities I think are needed to become a ‘true person’. Being around people, who are so dedicated and positive, really makes my day sometimes.

When it comes to the quote, “The pursuit of truth will set you free; even if you never catch up with it” by Clarence S. Darrow, I choose to interpret the quote a little differently. For the idea I have in my head right now, I am taking ‘the pursuit of truth’ as digging for the truth or more information in this case. With that in mind, the saying can be used in a lot of different contexts. There were a few times when I tried to look up information about my family as a side project that started from a school project a while back. It is a lot of fun when I find out new things about my family. Part of me knows that I will never find out everything about my family; because as the family grows, and some of the older documents and facts get lost and forgotten, it makes me feel like I will never ‘catch up with it.’ Or, when taking the quote a little more literally, for an innocent person who is accused of a crime, when the truth of the situation is found, they are set free.

This post is really got me thinking, and looking more closely at the words and events around me. When thinking about these quotes in a deeper level, it reminds me of how many things I take for granted a lot of times. Combining these two quotes, and some of my own life experiences, I remember how important it is to live the best life that I have.

Some Truths About Me (original post-ignorable)

While reading over the quotes on the page, I was surprised to see a quote that I can relate to easily, and another one that describes what I want to do. After breaking up the quote into smaller parts, and taking some parts more literally than others (and even ignoring some parts of the quote), for the quote “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed but I am bound to live the best life that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right and part from him when he goes wrong.’ When I was younger, it was pretty much a fact that I will never win any of the competitions the teacher gives the class. For ‘true’ in the quote, I took it as meaning not cheating, even if the authority figure in the situation is not paying attention. Out of the whole quote, I feel that the second sentence relates the strongest to a personal experience for me. Although we might be limited, and might not succeed in what we originally set out to do, I feel that it is more important to enjoy and learn from the process. Going back to the physical education class, the hurdles were my nightmare. When I was younger, I twisted my ankle, but it never really healed properly, so a lot of times when I have to do hurdles, I would end up getting injured. Even though hurdles meant my down fall, it was something I tried my best at doing. It is interesting to see how this quote is similar to how I want to live my life.

For the next quote, ‘The pursuit of truth will set you free; even if you never catch up with it’ by Clarence S. Darrow, I am choosing to interpret the quote a little. There were a few times when I tried to look up information about my family as a side project. It is a lot of fun when I find out new things about my family, but part of me knows that I will not be able to truly find out everything I want to for my project. I know that this project will never be completed in a way; because as the family grows, and some of the older documents and facts get lost and forgotten, pretty much making it an impossible project to finish.