Hokum p. 19 - 36

The short stories from Hokum definitely took me aback with its blatant play off social issues. Each story marked a different sort of social commentary in correspondence with what felt like witty/sarcastic dialogue. While I can definitely find and understand where the humor within each piece comes into play, I couldn't bring myself to laugh at the darkness that was attempted to be made light of. Now don't get me wrong, I was absolutely intrigued with each of the works, but when humor doesn't just allude to discrimination or social injustice and it blatantly portrays the struggle of a minority group trying to make light of oppression, it's really hard to find a connection between that and humor. Predominantly, On Being Crazy struck me the hardest with its glaring discrimination.

On Being Crazy's play on social equality used in a completely inappropriate context really found a place within me. I understand attempting to make light of living in oppression (especially with how many found humor during times of the Holocaust), but this is a direct reflection of somebody living freely, yet still struggling to live in normality. I shudder to think I use this type of humor to make fun of my own minority status. While the sarcasm is present within the piece, seeing the use of racial slurs really took me aback in that a person facing oppression would play off the term that defines one as subordinate to society.

Personally, I couldn't really find myself as a minority within On Being Crazy. I guess, coming from absolutely different backgrounds really plays a definite part of what would be defined as funny in a social context for an African-American and myself. With so many other problems occurring with social injustice during the time this piece was written there were much larger problems to deal with than that of a slur that denotes oppression.

Cat's Cradle

As we keep reading and reading through more forms and different dialects of humor, I'm beginning to keep a more open mind toward what various authors find to be humorous.

While many of these "texts" don't really have the ability to relate to me, I still cannot even begin to connect with them due to language and honestly, because of the date they were written. It's not that I cannot find the humor, I just downright cannot enjoy the reading, in general. Cat's Cradle, however, took me aback with its language and content. I found myself sucked into the reading in a way that hasn't really happened yet. While I, obviously, was very into Morreall because it directly picked apart all aspects of humor, the various interpretations of humor we've read through short stories have lacked any of the characteristics I find to be funny.

Cat's Cradle was, in itself, absolutely ridiculous. I found myself constantly having to re-read the text on the page to fully understand that what I was reading. From the ice-nine to Bokonon, I was thrown into a text that quite obviously didn't relate to myself with its general content, but was able to grab my attention because the content was so ridiculous.

The dark undertones of the novel dealing with greed, religion, etc. all hidden within a ridiculous take on the society is what really solidified my enjoyment of the novel. So much truth was masked by the ridiculousness of the fictional elements of the novel that seem to fake to reflect any portion of modern day society, but is truly set as a social commentary that critiques the various aspects of society in keeping an open mind and the reflection of fulfilling one's desires rather than improving the betterment of society.

From these two aspect of the nonsensical and the true, I wasn't absolutely connected to the novel through the aspect of humor, because I honestly didn't laugh once. It was the context, the setting, the downright oddity that had my interest piqued and connected to the odd personalities presented throughout the novel. It definitely appealed to the senses, just not my funny bone.

First Meeting with Harry / Sept. 17

Meeting with Harry for the first time was definitely an interesting experience to say the least. After numerous emails sent between us and scheduling conflicts we finally decided to meet in front of the Barnes and Noble at an outside table. I grabbed my lunch and headed on over and sat playing around on my laptop waiting for him.

After 20 minutes of sitting at an outdoor table by myself, I looked left and right to see that there were only a few others sitting outside. After 5 minutes of contemplating whether or not to impose on someone's thought, I decided to timidly ask the person looking as if they were waiting for someone, "Hey, are you Harry?" Thankfully, it was Harry, but I couldn't have felt anymore mortified.

He sat down across from me and we laughed about our awkward introduction. He shared with me numerous stories about his home life, and how excited he was to get away from China and be independent from his parents. Harry doesn't plan on leaving for home anytime soon, unless it is for a long break. He enjoys the freedom and different pace of life that he has here in Fort Worth. He currently isn't enrolled as a TCU student, but is in the midst of taking a variety of English speaking classes. He's very fluent, but he and I both realize there are some lapses in his interpretation of some American slang and phrases.

I asked Harry why he chose to go by his English name, when his real name is Rui. He explained to me that as students in China begin to prepare to leave for an international university they are given an English name that would help them better "fit in" with American culture. During one of his classes in China, they had watched Harry Potter and his teacher had claimed that because Harry wore glasses and so did Rui, that his Americanized name should be "Harry". We both laughed at how deep the meaning of his name was, a lot of history and thought behind it.

Conversation was surprisingly very easy for having been assigned this new friendship, instead of allowing it develop on its own. I really enjoyed getting to know Harry for the first time and our next few encounters are just as enjoyable!