Hollywood

The song "Into the Great Wide Open" is really interesting because of the aspects of the California Dream it conveys. For example, when Eddie gets on the bus he goes to Hollywood in search of opportunity like most people do. The future is wide open for him. He gets a girl there and learns how to play music, eventually becoming recognized. This is something that less people are able to accomplish but still a component of life for some in Hollywood. He eventually surpasses Van Halen on the charts, which would be hard to do at this time. The fame gets to his head and he is consumed by the fallacies of society in Hollywood. This causes him to drop in the charts and causes a relationship failure with the woman that actually means something to him. He ends up right back at the tattoo shop at the end as the result of Hollywood chewing him and spitting him back out.

This theme is something that is present in Day of the Locust because of the same location of Hollywood.  I feel that Todd shares some aspects of the experience that Eddie Rebel had in the video due to the life of Hollywood being filled with ups, downs, and curveballs. The pursuit of something that is hard to attain in a city that is full of falsely lead aspirations is something that is present in the video and the book.

My community

Sage Hill School can very well be defined as a tide pool. Each category of the school represents a different aspect of the tide pool. For example, freshman are the hermit crabs with how timid they are for the most part, besides a few brave hermit crabs. The predators would be considered the teachers by some, but I would call it the overall Sage curriculum. This tends to be hard and the productive and efficient students make it out alive while others are eaten up. The water in this tide pool would be the actual Sage Hill campus itself. It contains us and sometimes restrains us. I think the seniors are the fish that are swimming around because they have a way out soon when the tide comes up: in this case the end of senior year. 

One social group that I am apart of at Sage is the Ocean Club. In this club, I am the leader which is a very honorable thing for me. That being said, the group of people doesn't really even need a leader because we get along so well. The social structure centers around the ocean and we are all equal here. The ocean unites us and provides a backbone for this community.

Gotta get to the sea

Long drives on the road
But where do we go from here?
Just get to the sea

This haiku was influenced by my love for the ocean. It is something that is more powerful than any aspect of life for me. I fear it, I love it, and I am connected to it. California wouldn't be California without an ocean like this.