At the end of episode 4, following Alma’s death, Beth orders a Gibson drink on the flight. This was the same drink that Alma routinely ordered throughout this series. While it was a very subtle detail, I think it foreshadows and symbolizes alot. Not only is Beth emotionally affected by the passing of Alma, she seems to want to keep her spirit alive. It also shows us watching Beth continuing on with destructive behavior, especially since Almas drinking habits largely contributed to the decline of her health and passing. It makes me wonder how in future episodes we will see Beth cope with this loss and whether she finds a healthy way to deal with the loss.
Author Archives: nz223
How Childhood Shapes Adulthood – QQ Episode 1
This semester I took a course, HD 1170, which explores human development during the adolescent stage. In a lot of ways, I noticed patterns in Beth’s childhood story that may give me clues about what she is like in her adulthood. The series starts with Beth running late and dousing a couple of tranquilizer pills. From this first episode, we start to understand Beth’s dependency on pills in her adulthood. At the orphanage she is given the pills for the first time to control the orphans but Beth realizes its abilities to get her mind focused on chess and away from the pain of losing her mother. One of the main themes in HD 1170 was that every little aspect of our environment during childhood and adolescence have the ability to shape us as adults. I think this look into Beth’s childhood thus did a great job of portraying this idea to watchers.
Crochet Progress!
At the second crochet workshop, I ended up completing my first row of stitches for the scarf. I was really proud of being able to follow the video and instructions. I did notice some places where I felt like the stitches could look more uniform and consistent. There’s always room to improve and I hope I can spend the summer strengthening my skill. As a pre-dental student I am always looking for fun ways that I can strengthen my manual dexterity. I love that with manual dexterity can be improved in so many ways— not just practicing shaping teeth or suturing. One of the reasons I love dentistry is being able to be creative and productive with your hands so I hope that crocheting can help me practice that before I actually get to dental school!
A Blast from the Past
When I was in elementary school, I joined a crochet club that met on weekdays at lunch. It was an old women who worked at the school that first introduced me to the art of crochet and I have been fascinated ever since. As life got more hectic, I found less time to actually work on my skill but have been wanting to get back into crocheting. At this first crochet workshop, I was surprised at how quickly I could recover the muscle memory of chain stitches and slip stitches. It showed me that just because you haven’t done something in a while, it doesn’t mean you’re not capable of picking up the skill or interest again. You’d be surprised at how quickly out brains and bodies can remember your talents and skill.
Growth Mindset – QG Episode 3
In the third episode, Beth is faced with her first loss in a chess match. Probably the biggest contrast from pervious episodes that I noticed was how frequent Beth talked in this episode vs earlier episodes. Her speech is passionate and upbeat and confident whereas I felt like in episodes 1 and 2 most of her lines were one or two word answers. I felt like her newfound confidence came with her skills at chess improving. She was now recognized all over the country and had one countless titles. But all good things come to an end and Beth loses her first match, leaving her speechless and extremely upset at herself. This episode showed viewers the importance of having a growth mindset. When you’re really good at something and everyone around you is telling you the same, it can take over your mind and make you feel like you can’t survive the losses. Moreover, when you have a fixed mindset, it can make you feel inferior in other areas and that you aren’t able to succeed at new things. You can see this in Beth’s confidence when it comes to men. While her demeanor during chess games is confident, it seems that her romantic feelings are a weak point.
Beth’s New Chapter – QG Episode 2
In the second episode, Beth gets adopted by a couple who live the apparent suburban dream. However, reality becomes clear first and the couple are completely disconnected and the wife is suffering with her mental health. Beth quickly realizes that this adoption is really a chance at freedom—specifically to play chess. When Beth wind a tournament, her adoptive mother realizes Beth can make them money from winning after they were left by her husband. It almost seems as if the relationship between Beth and her mother is on the basis of exchanging resources. Beth has the ability to play chess and her mother has the chance at sustaining their home and life with prize money. While, it’s too early to tell if this relationship will stay rooted in an exchange of resources, the relationship reminded me a lot of the real world. Whether you’re a student, a celebrity, or a millionaire, it’s often hard to find people who genuinely want to make relationships that don’t guarantee some type of gain like fame, popularity, or money. I’m interested to see if Beth and her mother’s relationship bypass this harsh reality about our world.
Learning About Tremé
The documentary in Tremé was eye-opening to the injustice faced by the black community for so many years. I actually learned that New Orleans was one of the only states to allow slaves to buy freedom, own land, and eventually allowed black citizens to vote and hold office. When the Reconstruction movement was shut down by the Supreme Court, Tremé saw all the historical progress they had made in their neighborhood get taken away from them because of the white supremacy that continues to plague this country. One thing that caught my eye was how jazz became an outlet for black people to keep their culture alive, express their pain, and have artistic freedom. As a former member of jazz band, I can attest to how difficult it is to play jazz music and improvise. The people of Tremé were endless in their musical talent and it shows just how perseverant the these people were even when everything was taken from them.
Breaking Down The Intricacies of Art
In my freshman year, I took a really interesting art history course that gave me the opportunity to visit the Johnson’s Museum frequently and observe some of the amazing art pieces there. This workshop with Daniel Schwarz really took me back to the type of analytical skills we used in this class to digest the true meaning behind art. For instance, with the first sculpture, “The Crossing Man” he pointed out details that you wouldn’t generally notice if you just took a quick glance at the sculpture. For instance, the walking gait was actually not representative of someone who could walk and the sculpture lacked genitalia despite representing a man. He also went into the historical context and discussed how the emaciated body was representative of the global struggles caused by WWII, specially the death of millions of Jews, the hunger faced by those in concentration camps, and the aftermath of the nuclear bombs on the Japanese people. As an artist myself, analyzing other art really helps to inspire me to create more intricate art. I love creating pieces that tell a story and have small details that add up once you start looking closer. Seeing how artist do the same, especially with different motifs, colors, and historical contexts, I hope to try to make my own art more detailed and story-telling.
Professors Going Down Memory Lane
At this week’s Rose Buzz, it was so inspiring to see Professor Samuels and Schwarz talk about their journey to becoming a professor and finding passion in their fields. Professor Samuels discussed how she attended UC Berkeley at a young age and she remained confident through her academic career because of her ability to work at the same time as attending school. She said that because she knew she could work, she was confident that even if graduate school failed, she would be able to push through life. I resonated with this because I’ve also had to work from a young age and my work experiences have showed me that I can be hardworking and efficient while managing school. I too plan to attend graduate school so it was inspiring to hear a story that felt familiar and to see how successful she has become since.