Picking Up The Pieces: A Look into Maud Newton's "Cleaning Up Christmas"

Do you have those family members who you see once a year, more out of obligation than an actual desire, and the other 364 days of the year you see whoever you please? Why has this become the situation in so many families, that not even the same blood coursing through veins is enough to tolerate each other? I never refer to my extended family as being close and always was astounded when I watched movies like The Godfather, where family was everything, even worth dying for. I often wished we would prioritize in my family and all get together a couple times a year, but everyone is always, “too busy.”

This is one of the ideas in Maud Newton’s blog post, "Cleaning up Christmas," where she visits her dad for the first time in awhile and when he leaves, ends up cleaning out all of the stuff that has accumulated in the house over the years. Maud symbolizes her dad’s loneliness with his decrepit bathmat, which she thinks shows the deterioration of his life. Her father’s house is also described as looking empty and sometimes asked if for sale. She craved to see him not because she wanted to be in his company, but because she felt guilty since she is the only family he has left. Maud’s writing made me feel such remorse and sadness for this man whom I have no connection to whatsoever.

What I liked about this piece is that it has a tremendous amount of heart. Despite Maud depicting her relationship with her father as tricky and describing him as a workaholic lawyer, I could tell that she has a fondness for him. Although she seems to describe him almost as a stranger in some ways, (when she mentions his many girlfriends and that he would leave in the middle of the night when she stayed there) it is evident that she has no anger towards him. As Maud is going through his things, she is reminiscing about her childhood, fondly rather than negatively.

I would recommend reading this because I think this situation is relatable. You cannot expect to get along with everyone in your family, but when all is said and done, they are still your family. This is the kind of story that makes you re-think your feelings towards your family. It also shows that there is hope maybe not to completely fix things, but to make them a little better.

Maybe not to this extent, but I always admired the loyalty the Corleone's had to each other

Photo Credits

An Afternoon with Maud Newton

This picture came from Maud's personal tumblr

In the latest installment of “Digital Commons” --the course I am taking that prompted me to create this blog-- we had the wonderful Maud Newton visit our class via Skype (Isn’t it amazing what technology can do for us nowadays?). Maud has been and is everything from a book critic to a personal essay writer, a blogger to a genealogy enthusiast, a Southern inhabitant to a residing member of the Big Apple. All of these experiences are what make her such an amazing, down-to-earth, and knowledgeable person to talk to. This is also the type of person who admitted “One day, I actually just realized I was a writer.”

One of the most important things to me that Maud discussed was how she always maintains a healthy dose of voice in her writing. I have found, as have others I am sure, it is difficult to find the balance between very opinionated or neutral. How does Maud expertly always have a presence of voice, but not so that it is overwhelming and in-your-face? She said herself: “I keep asking myself, ‘Why do I care about this?’” And to me, this just clicked!

It is not only about the author caring, but if the author evidently cares, then the reader will care too. This made so much sense to me and is a technique that I am going to try to use when I am writing. Most papers I write nowadays are for courses, but that does not mean I should just write blandly. If I do not have a spark for the topic, I should find a way to get one! I think asking this simple question could vastly improve my writing in the future, and potentially make mundane essays more fun.

Maud also brought up one of my favorite topics— change. This was brought up when Maud was asked about whether the rise of technology and social media would have consequences in the future. She responded: “There is always a danger we are changing this for the worst, but we also could be changing it for the better.” When change happens, remaining stagnant is not going to make it go away, and being anxious will hurt the person more than anything. Many changes probably did seem bad at the time, (think about the invention of airplanes or the American colonies separating from England) but now are just a part of life. This is a great attitude to live by.

Overall, this class was very enjoyable, and it was such a pleasure to have Maud Newton visit us! Thank you to Maud and my professor for providing the class with this wonderful experience!

Rolling Kryptonite Did Not Stop These Guys

Disability. It is a topic that rarely comes to my mind on a daily basis. It occasionally crops up when I see someone in a wheelchair, on crutches, or with a cane around campus and I think how difficult these hilly and stair-induced surroundings would be to maneuver. Never have I thought about disability rights as something that should be discussed on par with women and gay rights. And yet, when we spent a whole class talking about disability with our guest Professor Bill Peace, I realized it is something we should be talking about.

I remember my first encounter with disability as a child. It was in 2004, when the beloved actor and icon Christopher Reeve passed away. I remember pictures of him all over headlines and even though I had never seen him as Superman, I knew that he was pretty important. I especially remember my dad explaining to me that he had been “paralyzed”— a new vocabulary word to my nine-year old self— because he had fallen off a horse and damaged his spinal cord. He had been in a wheelchair ever since the accident. I remember feeling a sense of gratefulness for being able to do something I took for granted every day— being able to walk.

Bill described several occasions when people with disabilities were treated unfairly, poorly, or plain not even thought of. He recounted a moment when a conference about disabilities was taking place in this one location that had no wheelchair accessible entrances. The people in charge clearly had not thought that people with disabilities may want to attend a conference on disabilities, is how Bill worded it. It is little things such as this that I had no idea took place. In my eyes, why wouldn’t we make places wheelchair accessible and help out our fellow humans? But for some, I guess this is a burden, like bus drivers who break their chair lifts so they do not have to take extra time or effort to pick up people in wheelchairs.

I am so inspired by Bill Peace; not only for his undying effort to gain equality for people with disabilities, but also for his passion to live life. He has not let his disability bring him down. (His love of skiing is one thing a klutz such as myself finds amazing) Bill Peace is truly an inspiration because he stands by what he thinks is right, no matter what the backlash. I can only hope that I will someday do the same for something I am passionate about.

Bill Peace and Christopher Reeves are both leaders in disability activism and although the latter played this role on the big screen, I would say they both deserve the title “Superman.”

For more information about Bill Peace, check out his incredible blog, “Bad Cripple.”

For more information about Christopher Reeve’s legacy, The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, click here.

Action Shot! Taken From Bill Peace's Facebook Page

Christopher Reeve

Hunger Claims

My roommate Aryanne (I guess she brings out the ‘public intellectual’ side of me) asked me and my friend the other day: "Do you like Jennifer Lawrence?" I automatically and enthusiastically replied with "Yes," which led her to say, "Why?" I said that she seems to be one of the only real people in Hollywood and is a good actress. The way the conversation progressed after this really made me think.

Aryanne then said that yes, Jennifer Lawrence talks about not caring about what she eats, but she is skinny. She looks fit, which makes me skeptical about how much this can be true. This made me realize how hard it is to look up to celebrities.

Jennifer Lawrence goes on a talk show, discusses her love for food, and hatred of diets. This is out of the ordinary and almost taboo in the Hollywood world. However, this is not an overweight person saying this: this is a young, attractive, bow-wielding, sometimes big-haired, Oscar-winning icon. She does not have the physical attributes that we associate with “eating a lot.” I think she would be viewed as less of a role model if she was overweight and more of someone who needs to develop a healthy lifestyle.

She has also been quoted saying “We see these unobtainable perfect bodies and that’s what we are comparing ourselves to.” I hate to say it, but her body is like that. Most people would kill for how slim and lean she looks. As much as she seems to be rebelling against Hollywood life, she is not too different from the rest. Although she doesn’t talk about her love of yoga or eating healthy, she still IS fit. I find it hard to believe she does not care about how she looks, especially since she tried to play off the major training that was involved in the filming of the Hunger Games movies. She had to work for that role.

In a recent issue of Glamour magazine, actress Charlize Theron said “When someone tells you they never have to work out, they’re lying.” This is what I think is the more realistic way to see things. What celebrities may say in interviews is not necessarily true. In an industry that has a heavy emphasis on looks, it is hard to imagine someone as successful as Jennifer Lawrence being so nonchalant about it. Maybe I am completely wrong, and Jennifer Lawrence eats exactly what she wants and trains only when she has to. But then this calls to ask if she is just naturally skinny, which also falls under “unobtainable perfect bodies.” Although I still appreciate Jennifer Lawrence’s acting abilities and random, hilarious quips, I am hesitant about how much of what she says is actually true.

A few of Jennifer Lawrence's red carpet looks

“When someone says they want to die, all of the support comes out.”

This was said by our guest speaker from class on Tuesday, William Peace, and I found it to ring true about our society. It all cycles back to the question: why do we wait to act until something bad happens? Legislation gets passed not for precautionary measures, but after a crisis happens. I feel that many of us are responsive instead of proactive, which is fine, but not when lives are at stake.

Chris Hedges is a crippled veteran, who made news headlines when he spoke about his plans to kill himself with the help of his wife. For those who are unfamiliar with this term, (I myself was before this class) this is called assisted suicide— when a disabled or crippled person is so unhappy that they choose to die with the help of someone, usually a doctor or loved one.

Without delving into the legal and moral issues at stake here, the media and public went crazy and showed undying support for Hedges. I have a feeling that he may not have made the news if he did not threaten his life. We are a society obsessed with drama and making headlines. Fortunately, he is alive, well and living with his wife in Seattle.

This can also be tied to the recent death of Robin Williams. There may have been warning signs and there may have been things ignored, but why did all of the information about how bad his depression was only come out after his death? In articles afterwards, it discussed that he had a long history of struggling with depression and yet, this was the first I heard about it.

I think a problem here is our society’s obsession with drama and consumerism. We could make a lot of change if we start at the root of the problem when it first starts showing signs. A person’s life is not something that should be put aside and if there is ever the slightest notion of doubt, the expression “better safe than sorry” rings absolutely true.