In the section "Adopted Town", Melissa Holbrook Pierson is talking about a town that she moved into at the middle of her life. From my understading, this section is all about how she feels this new town of hers has become somewhat of an "adopted" town to her. This just means that this is not the town where she grew up, but it has taken on the role of her hometown, since she can no longer be in the real place. This new town seems strange to Pierson, and she knows it will take some getting used to. She talked about how you could tell who the other "misfits" were because they did not blend in with the rest of the community, but after a while she got to know the traditions and started to blend in more, and more. This is when Melissa Holbrook Peirson realized that an adopted home was better than no home and that it could not replace her childhoood home, but she could feel compfortable in this new adopted town of hers. I can't quite relate to Pierson at this point in my life. I have lived in the same place all my life and I have not had the full experience (not counting college) of living in a foreign place just yet. The final sentence in this section, "Because when I reach my goal at last, I would be filled with hope, that everything was about to change." really made me understand the purpose of this section. Melissa Holbrook Pierson is upset that she has to leave her hometown, but knowing that she has acheived her goal by moving out of her comfort zone, gives me hope that when it comes time for me to move, I will accept the challenge and feel compfortable doing so.
Salem has in a way become my adopted town. I would say this because I spend the majority of my time here trying to break away from my compfort zone and expand as a person. I have spent the past two months away from everything that I know. My hangout spots have changed from the small town of Melrose to the somewhat large city of Salem. I have left my childhood friends since middle school, and been thrown into a community of unfamiliar faces forced to make all new friends. I never want to forget where I came from, but the truth is that I have to make Salem my new adopted town, in order to make my college experience a full one. Salem State University, I would say is my adopted home because my reality is that I spend 24 hours 5 days a week here, and this is where my new adopted family is. It will take some getting used to, but I have succeeded, and will continue to suceed in breaking out of my compfort zone and making this place my new adopted home.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
The Place and Memory Project
http://placeandmemory.org/index.php?title=Larry%27s_Restaurant_and_Bar
I chose this place because the person who posted it spent a lot of his childhood in this bar and it reminded me of my uncle's bar. My grandfather and my uncle Ricky built, and owned a bar together in New Hampshire, called Richard's Pub. When my grandfather passed away, my uncle still continued to manage the bar by himself. My whole family would go visit at least once a month and I have a lot of childhood memories in that bar. There was a loft above the bar where me and my sisters would play while the adults were downstairs drinking. However, we did occasionally get to join in on the fun. My sister was the only 10 year old bartender in the state of New Hampshire and she was actually pretty good, so I was told. My big moment came when I was six. I got to participate in the weekly open mic night with my aunt Valentina. I sang "I am so beautiful" and the whole bar cheered me on. I still have the tape of that performance and it is one of the greatest memories of that bar that I still have in my possesion. Richard's Pub held a lot of family events, including Thanksgiving until my uncle couldn't handle on his own anymore. The bar is still in the same place, but it's been redone a few times and it's just not the same that it used to be. I miss Richard's Pub, but I will have the memories with me always.
I chose this place because the person who posted it spent a lot of his childhood in this bar and it reminded me of my uncle's bar. My grandfather and my uncle Ricky built, and owned a bar together in New Hampshire, called Richard's Pub. When my grandfather passed away, my uncle still continued to manage the bar by himself. My whole family would go visit at least once a month and I have a lot of childhood memories in that bar. There was a loft above the bar where me and my sisters would play while the adults were downstairs drinking. However, we did occasionally get to join in on the fun. My sister was the only 10 year old bartender in the state of New Hampshire and she was actually pretty good, so I was told. My big moment came when I was six. I got to participate in the weekly open mic night with my aunt Valentina. I sang "I am so beautiful" and the whole bar cheered me on. I still have the tape of that performance and it is one of the greatest memories of that bar that I still have in my possesion. Richard's Pub held a lot of family events, including Thanksgiving until my uncle couldn't handle on his own anymore. The bar is still in the same place, but it's been redone a few times and it's just not the same that it used to be. I miss Richard's Pub, but I will have the memories with me always.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Is Nostalgia Such a Bad Thing?
1. "How many times have you heard someone say they’ve gone back home and it’s changed or it’s gone? I mean, people weep over this. Is it sadness or is it nostalgia?"
This was the first quote that really stood out to me. This comment by Melissa Holbrook Pierson is what I think that she is trying to say in the first part of the book, A Place Called Home. She does not like the progess and change that is being made in her town and she makes it very clear in her writing. This comment, however, is very true. I know that my town is always changing, even if its just adding yet another pizza place to our ver small town. My grandmother owned a coin store in my town, but she had to sell a few years ago, and that store has been changed and bought out about 5 times since then. Everything is always changing, but is it always such a bad thing?
2. " If you really loved where you came from, if, in essence, you really loved yourself—because that’s what created you—how can you not want that to exist?"
This quote also makes a lot of sense, but what MHP doesn't understand is that just because the memorable places in your town are changing, doesn't mean that you have changed. Of course you would like things to stay the same, but those memories will always be with you, no matter what gets torn down or replaced. MHP's book is all about how she hates progress, but she just needs to realize that her memories aren't changing, and new memories can form with progress.
3. "These are the photographs, the albums, the history—my father was really good about keeping that kind of stuff, but now I can’t—he’s not alive anymore so I can’t go to him and say, 'Daddy, who was this?'"
This quote stood out to me because MHP has all of these memories of her past buried in her house, but still she is dwelling on the progress. She has the ability to share the memories of her past relative through these photos, but yet she still complains about the change. Does she not think that things have changed since 1882? Not everything can stay the exact same, and somethimes it's a good thing that it doesn't.
Is nostalgia such a bad thing? I don't think its a bad thing at all. I do believe that the past makes you who you are, but just because the past has changed doesn't mean you have. I am all about living in the present. If change is what needs to happen to make the town a better place, then thats fine with me. I have already made my memories, and i love to revisit them, but i am ready to make new memories with the progress that has been made in my life. I will never forget my past, but what's important right now is the present and making all new memories to last a lifetime.
This was the first quote that really stood out to me. This comment by Melissa Holbrook Pierson is what I think that she is trying to say in the first part of the book, A Place Called Home. She does not like the progess and change that is being made in her town and she makes it very clear in her writing. This comment, however, is very true. I know that my town is always changing, even if its just adding yet another pizza place to our ver small town. My grandmother owned a coin store in my town, but she had to sell a few years ago, and that store has been changed and bought out about 5 times since then. Everything is always changing, but is it always such a bad thing?
2. " If you really loved where you came from, if, in essence, you really loved yourself—because that’s what created you—how can you not want that to exist?"
This quote also makes a lot of sense, but what MHP doesn't understand is that just because the memorable places in your town are changing, doesn't mean that you have changed. Of course you would like things to stay the same, but those memories will always be with you, no matter what gets torn down or replaced. MHP's book is all about how she hates progress, but she just needs to realize that her memories aren't changing, and new memories can form with progress.
3. "These are the photographs, the albums, the history—my father was really good about keeping that kind of stuff, but now I can’t—he’s not alive anymore so I can’t go to him and say, 'Daddy, who was this?'"
This quote stood out to me because MHP has all of these memories of her past buried in her house, but still she is dwelling on the progress. She has the ability to share the memories of her past relative through these photos, but yet she still complains about the change. Does she not think that things have changed since 1882? Not everything can stay the exact same, and somethimes it's a good thing that it doesn't.
Is nostalgia such a bad thing? I don't think its a bad thing at all. I do believe that the past makes you who you are, but just because the past has changed doesn't mean you have. I am all about living in the present. If change is what needs to happen to make the town a better place, then thats fine with me. I have already made my memories, and i love to revisit them, but i am ready to make new memories with the progress that has been made in my life. I will never forget my past, but what's important right now is the present and making all new memories to last a lifetime.
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