10-12/A Blog: Universal Themes

Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring is, in the broadest terms, about the pioneering spirit in America. I chose to answer the following questions in this blog as required.

1. In your opinion, why does a story about pioneering spirit have universal appeal?

In Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, it was about the pioneering spirit in America and it is universal because every artist, visionary, etc. have to have that pioneering spirit to create or perform their work. This spirit is what everyone who ventures into a new path or direction uses every time they try something new. It is what helps drive us to succeed when doing something new. This story relates universally for that reason. It is the adventurer in all of us that is attracted to such a story.

2. What is another work of art (visual art, music, movie, book, theatre, dance) that expresses a similar concern or theme? Discuss both parts of this question a blog post and support with details.

Star Trek the series is has its entire bases is on "going where no one has gone before". It is the pioneering spirit along with a scientific curiosity that becomes the driving force for the show and their Starship Enterprise's journey. Science is about new discoveries and art is about creating new expressions both require a pioneering spirit to achieve the unknown.  In fact, growing up and finding your way in the world requires a little bit of this pioneering spirit as well. That spirit is what the Star Trek series represents.

U12-Dance-A3-Blog Collaborative Skills

Merce Cunningham has a dance company and Robert Rauschenberg is an artist costume designer. Both of these men should be professionals and as long as they are clear on what each needs from each other to work together then there should not be a problem The dance company needs costumes and the costume designer should be able to design them to the dance companies specifications. Otherwise, if the two cannot respect each other enough to work together then they should not. I would be a good collaborator especially if I had a business that pertained to a potential client then I would try to meet their expectations to deliver what they need from my business. If Robert Rauschenberg as an artist needed only to do his vision for his work then he would not be very good at meeting what the client's vision is and how in this case it would relate to the dance that Merce Cunningham Dance Company designed. It is not personal it's business.

U12-Music-A5 Blog-CPR

The internet and digital players have made it easier to have a variety of music at your fingertips such as Mp3 players or from your computer touch pad, etc. I finally heard Ma Rainey a few days ago on the internet for the first time. I never knew she existed and without the internet and technology, I could have never heard her performance or be able to respond to her blues music. There also is software that can help someone design a song from musical notes they choose even if they do not quite understand what they are writing. That type of technology could open more people to song writing or composing. I have played with some of this type of software and it was exciting to create my own piece of music. The internet gives every artist whether they are popular, oldies, traditional, etc. a chance to be heard by new younger audiences. It keeps their music alive and makes it a part of the vast knowledge known as the internet.

U11-Dance-A3-Discovery Journal Kentuckians in Dance

Harina Churn-Diallo

African Dancer/Artistic Director

Imani Dance and Drum Company Louisville, Kentucky

 

Harina Churn-Diallo grew-up in Louisville, Kentucky. She lived in Park Hill housing project and studied dance. She attended college at the University of Louisville and has degrees in Pan-African studies as well as cultural anthropology. She has studied and performed all around the world in places like Paris, Japan, and Africa. She is an African dance performer and teacher of tap, ballet, clog, Native American, salsa, jazz, and belly dancing. She has choreographed theatre in Louisville and Chicago. She teaches African Dance at University of Louisville. Harina and her husband Yaya Diallo (a world renowned African drumming expert) own the Imani Dance and Drum Company where they teach dance and drumming. She decide to come back to Louisville after traveling and performing world-wide because she recognized the importance of teaching self-confidence and self-worth to African-American children and adults as well as helping others to have a greater appreciation and respect for the polyrhythmic sounds of Africa and the African culture.  In fact, Harina made this statement which basically describes her mission in life “Get a passport and travel the world, so you can bring to your dance company a world base, not this little-bitty myopic view about culture. Music has been a tool of communication for thousands of years. You don't have to be the best dancer in the world. You have to be able to give to your students this knowledge that you have that makes them want to get more knowledge, to understand that their bodies are works in progress. You add sound and props to help give light to your dancers. We're like the light bulb as artistic director. How you get there is on the dancers themselves.”

U11-Dance-A2-Blog Dance Experiments

For this dance experiment, I walk in time to the music and I moved my arm to the music. At first, it seemed ok but after I got into the music it was fun and somewhat easy at first but became a little harder for the full length of the song. I became very determined to continue until song end. It was a little odd to only be moving one body part but it was still fun. Dancing one move is kind of hard and isolating one body part is strange if you like to dance freeform. It does take a lot of strength and skill to perform dance for hours as the professional do it. I applaud their strength, dedication and talent.

U11-Music-A2-Blog Review a Work

One of my favorite songs and videos is Michael Jackson's "Thriller". "Thriller" was written by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones. The song originally was called Starlight instead of "Thriller". Once it was changed to "Thriller" then Vincent Price had a speaking part that was also added. That made the song even more thrilling since Vincent was in so many scary old movies. This pop song is great but when the visual video is added then the song just comes to life. It has a fast heart pounding tempo with a collaborative dynamics and form that really set it apart from other modern music compositions. It is truly a musical work of art. It is still popular today and I think it will be popular for some time to come.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(album)

U10-VisArt-A2-Blog-O'Keefe's 'Red, White, and Blue'

In Georgia O'Keefe's 1931 painting Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue, she gives a good sense of balance with the solid red side borders which transition to the white to blue sections on each side of the cow's skull that was sun bleached white. The skull itself with its eye sockets, horns, and other parts of the skull seems to take you away from the fact that this is a skull of a dead cow. It gives it an almost lifelike quality. The way the red, white, and blue sections are designed using space, color, and shape it gives the skull an almost 3-D quality which brings it off the canvas. These elements along with the contrast created by her design, and her use of variety to give the skull more life makes this painting very unique and intriguing to see.

U10-Dance-A3-Blog Connecting Dance & Photography

The 1938 photo is of people in a place dancing the Jitterbug. It appears to perhaps be a competition or performance of this dance since many people are present and watching the dancers as they perform. There is a girl who is trying to entice her friend or sister to join in the dance by trying to create a performance from what the picture shows. In addition, there is a man and woman who are dancing or performing the dance while many people are watching and taking pictures as well as responding to their performance. All the men are wearing suits to look nice and the girls are either wearing long dresses or long skirts with a blouse. It was the norm for women and men to dress this way when they danced or socialized during this time period. People were expected to dress and act very modest back then or they would have society blackball them or label them as undesirable. The crowd is so big because there was not that many events that people could participate in together so most everyone would come to these types of events. It was a great source of entertainment for the youth when these social events took place in their community.

U10-Overview-A5-Portfolio-A Digital Exhibition

 

Each of the photos below came from the Google photo archives.

I chose the Progressive Era photos because they represent the era they come from in this era. In this era women were uniting for rights to vote and alliances were formed to get things done such as proper meat inspections(left) and children were used as workers and worked long, hard hours with poor working conditions (right). The pictures of WWI were troops going to war (Left) and troops returning home (right). The pictures of the Great Depression were soup lines (Left) and a worried mother (right). The pictures of the Jazz Age were of a jazz band which had a bass, horns, etc. (Left) and flapper dancers (right). The pictures of WWII were of "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" (Left) and the "V-J Day" photo of the nurse kissing the soldier when they heard that WWII was over (right). I choose each of these photos because they captured the essence of the time period; however, these periods were so much more than just two photos can really represent.

U9-Theatre-A6-Discovery Journal A story telling performance

U9-9B-Blog-Music and Dance of West Africa

The polyrhythmic Manjani music and dance of West Africa was a multi-percussion display of music and dance. The instruments played were a lot of different types of drums and bead shaker type of percussion instruments. The people playing the instruments also dance to the rhythm of their song. This song was played at a fast tempo. Each percussion instrument relied on the different instruments timbre to create the polyrhythmic sound. The dancing performed by the musical players relied on the on force to move to the rhythm of the music, on time to move to the beat of their music, and on space so that each performer had enough room to play their instrument and dance at the same time. These slight but powerful movements help the viewer to not only hear the music but fell it as well.

U9-Dance-A5-Blog-Dance of My Choice

I picked the flowing clip of disco from Saturday Night Fever where John Travolta was dancing: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3j1w_john-travolta-saturday-night-fever_music. This dance performed by John Travolta was a type of disco dance that uses the dancer's whole body throughout the dance. In West Africa the dancer include their whole body in the dance such as arms, head, legs, hips, etc. The fact is disco was derived from African influences and it makes a lot of sense that the dancing would also have influences from Africa as well.

Art-U9-Music-A4-Discovery Journal-Put it all together

American music comes from many sources. America is a melting pot of immigrants from all over the world. Everything we are as a country had its influences come from our founding fathers and our American ancestors. This is especially true for the many types of music that is a strong part of our American heritage even though much of its origins were influenced by other countries’ musical styles. Today, our music is a fusion of many different styles such as African, South America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and those uniquely developed by Americans.

Some of the strongest influences happened in the last century. In 1920s, Afro-Cuban dance music and West African became popular in America. In the 1940s, Cubop became popular and it was a combination of Afro-Cuban rhythms as well as American jazz. In the 1950s, bossa nova music was imported from Brazil and Calypso music made it on the pop charts. In the 1960s, the Beatles brought Indian sitar music into the rock style, traditional songs became folk rock, South African folk and pop music was introduced here by Miriam Maketa. In the 1970s, Malian Touré brought a blues sound to African melodies, and Jamaican reggae became popular which influenced punk. In the 1980s, music is becoming more world connected so many other musical influences were introduced in America by popular pop stars. Some of these artists used music from more African styles, Latin American, Bulgarian, etc. In the 1990s, more influences became a part from our culture. Some examples are Afro-Gaelic, punk Ukrainian, etc. As time goes on and the world is becoming more and more united by the internet and social media our influences will surly become even broader as we connect with everyone throughout the world.

In fact, some of the things that I learned in this lesson was how our music has such a strong connection to many musical styles from around the world especially Africa and Latin. It was interesting to see how most of these influences were more recent then one would think but I am sure that technology such as recorders, record players, etc. was part of the reason music could be so widely shared. All in all, now that we can talk or listen to things from around the world in just a few clicks, I believe we will become even more united especially in music

U9-Music-A2-Blog-African Influence

When I consider the types of music with African influences, I like jazz, R&B, rock, and pop which includes almost anything from the 1980's. In fact, some of my favorite songs come from pop such as Michael Jackson's Thriller, R&B such as Terence Trent D'Arby's Wishing Well, and rock such as Duran Duran's Hungry like the wolves. These songs highlight very distinct artists whose works are still unique and forever classic. They are exciting to hear and each of these songs has really good rhythm. Each is very well written and each has original arrangements. They make me feel really good when I hear them but my favorite is Thriller, especially with the video which just makes the song come to life.

U9-Overview-A4-Porfolio:Create a Brochure

Come Explore Old and Modern Panama

Your Adventure is Waiting to Begin

Located in Central America and connecting Central America to South America is the beautiful county of Panama. This land has amazing beaches, rainforest, mangrove swamps, rivers, mountains of which the tallest is a dormant volcano named Volcan Baru. This country has much amazing architecture from the Cathedral of Old Panama dating to the 1500s’ with its solid gold altar to the modern city with its incredible towering buildings.

               

The solid gold altar-Cathedral of Old Panama                    Panama City has many architecture marvels

These pictures are compliment of www.google.com.

 

Panama has a strong arts and culture that is old and new in tradition. It has over ten museums that display many art forms such as pre-Columbian artifacts to modern contemporary art. Its art is a mix of indigenous to modern art pieces. One popular form of art is the Mola which is a woven artistic design on shirts for people to wear. There are also amazing crafts made by the people of Panama such as beautiful woven backets, taqua nut carvings, and many tribal indigenous fine crafts made by the Wounaan, Emberá, Kuna and Ngobe-Bugle tribes. There are many different dances and music which is a huge part of Panama and its festivals. One such form of tradition is the national tamborito which is the highest form of expression of Panamanian folk art which combines dance, music, lyrics, and native costume. This tradition is performed for all festivals and especially in early February when Panama Carnival is going on for everyone to see and celebrate. Panama invites the world to bask in its warm welcoming Latin American hospitality, fine arts, amazing history, architecture, and of course there is that little canal we have as well. Come see our beautiful, tropical resorts, islands, and many tours of the canal, islands, and native ruins.

 

Resources:  http://cultureofpanama.panamamediagroup.com/art , www.panart.com , http://thepanamaportal.com

U8-VisArtImp-A4-Discovery Most Significant Discovery

The most significant discovery in unit 8 was how Realism and Romanticism share the same time period. It was interesting to know that such different styles shared something in common. Realism deals with truth and reality. Romanticism deals with the fantasy. These two styles are almost polar opposites. I guess all in all it sort of keeps up with the Yin and Yang theory or maybe even the Laws of Physics. Each holds an important place in Art just like fiction and non-fiction belongs in literature.

U8-Theatre-A2-Blog-Life or Legacy of Shaw

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

George Bernard Shaw

Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)  

 

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." is a quote by George Bernard Shaw. I agree with this statement. If you never try anything then you may not make a mistake but you also never tried to do more. Therefore, it is more honorable to put forth effort even if it does not yield success then it is to do nothing or accomplish nothing because you never tried. This quote speaks of recognizing realism of the situation, but he also used his sense of humor to convey similar messages as well.

U8-VisArtReal-A2-Blog-Photography as Art

Mathew Brady like any good photographer must be both artist and technician. Every photographer must understand their equipment and what it can and cannot do. In addition, every good photographer is almost always scanning their real life canvas for good photo opportunities. However, if they do not have the right equipment, the conditions are not right for a photograph, or equipment failure then they will not get a good photograph under those conditions. Mathew Brady was able to capture amazing photos of many different things in the new age of photography's beginning.

U8-Overview-A2-Portfolio Whitman's Realism

          My favorite Urban Spot

My house in the city of Georgetown

Beside a school and but near a park

Close to everything anyone might need

Neighbors who are side by side

Surrounded by buildings which make my town

I know I am home when I reach my door.

U7-Theatre-A2-Blog Romanticism Today

A current television show that fits the Romantic Era really well is Adventure Time. It has two really good adventurers who help anyone in trouble and face great obstacles and people many whom are supernatural beings in order to protect others. The show is a cartoon in an amazing land with many good and bad creatures that the heroes have to face to keep their world safe for others. It focuses less on logical and relies on emotion and imagination in telling the story. It is a melodrama since the heroes are completely good, the villains are easy to spot, and good always defeats evil unlike a drama where these things are not so easily defined.

U7-VisArt-A2-Blog Classic or Romantic?

In my inventory, I was more Classicist than Romanticist. I am more calculated and scientific with a level head. However, I enjoy exploring my imagination and fantasy. It inspires my creative side. The survey showed that in questions 1-10, I agreed with 9 out of 10 which meant I am very Classicist but in questions 11-20, I agreed with 7 out of 10 which meant that I am also a bit of a Romanticist. Truly, I believe that I do not like to limit myself to just the rational but also experience the unknown through my thoughts and imagination.

U7-Assignment 3 - Blog Weightlessness/Lightness

In the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, the ballet is performed with such strength and control that is often gives an illusion of weightlessness. The performers have to be very strong, powerful, and graceful in order to perform the ballet with such control and what almost seems effortless. The dancers' movements are designed to be beautiful and graceful. Other dances do not require the same training and discipline as ballet. There is less opportunity in ballet to be freeform but many other styles enable the dancer to change or add their own flare. Even ballroom dancing allows for creativity to some degree; however, the choreography of the Nutcracker must be clean, graceful, skilled, and strong in order to achieve the weightlessness required to perform it consistently and correctly.

U6-Theatre-A6- Discovery Journal

In this section, I learned how satires work to make fun of a thing or situation by using sarcasm, irony, and ridicule. I learned how France used to have very strict laws governing what can be in plays such as tragedies had to be about Noble people and comedies had to be about common people. In fact, neoclassical plays had to be setup in 5 scenes, had to take place in one place throughout the play, and they had to have a plot that always moved forward. These plays could not have any direct or indirect interaction with the audience. Every play must have a strong uplifting moral, also. In addition, all plays must be realistic and never fantasy.

U6-Theatre-A2-Blog: The Age of Satire

On the Looney Tune Show, an episode called "Fish and visitors" is a good example of satire. In this episode, the neighbor Yosemite Sam has to stay over at their house because a storm took his power out so Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck offer Yosemite Sam a place to stay while his home is fixed. During his stay, he eats their food, looks through their stuff, and he will not allow them any personal time because he just barges in their room without knocking, etc. He used all the hot water for his bath as well. Bugs bunny and Daffy Duck are slowly getting angry at him and really wish he would find somewhere else to stay; however, Bugs Bunny feels it would be wrong to ask him to leave in his hour of need. Yosemite Sam just keeps changing everything in their home and never giving them any respect until finally Bugs Bunny's patience ran out and he told Sam he had to go somewhere else, but once Bugs told him then he admitted that his house had been fixed for a while but he just really enjoyed living with Bugs and Daffy. Throughout, people will sometimes use you if you allow them. People borrow money and never pay it back, etc. I feel this satire reflects real life in the fact that if allowed some people will walk all over you. I feel that Bugs should have been honest and laid out some strong rules and if Sam did not like it then he would leave. Tolerance can mean acceptance to those who would take advantage of you.

U6-VisArt-A5-Portfolio: Design a Neoclassical Home

My neoclassical home was one that I designed for strength and simplicity. The exterior of my home was brick which is very durable, strong and easy to maintain. It had a flat dome on top which seems to maximize the square footage and since it is less steep then it would be easier to repair. I picked the Virginia balustrades because I have a slight fear of heights and they look the strongest since they had some solid panels in the railing. I picked the simple pediment which should be easiest to maintain but it still looks good especially with the Doric columns' simple design. They both go together really well. I also chose rectangular windows because they will be easy to hang blinds, etc. They will require some maintenance because they have shutters and decorative moldings that might require painting every few years. All in all, it turned out to be a beautiful home.

U5-Theatre-A3-Blog: Modern-Day Counterparts

In baroque theatre, the stage is decorated to look very extravagant and very detailed with props like furniture, or other things that went along with the story to take the viewer on an elaborate journey. It tries to assimilate the story being told. It used music, lighting, and sound effects as well to capture the viewer's attention and explore their imagination. The theatre is decorated with gold and other rich looking colors. It tried to transport the audience into a fantasy world. A great example of this is the movie Oz, The Great and Powerful. Oz arrives in the beautiful Emerald city with witches, flying monkeys, etc. The viewer is transported to this mythical, extravagant fantasy world where good struggles to conquer evil. The story used great lighting and little people to help the viewer realize that they were not in Kansas anymore but instead in a place that they could never quite envision.

U4-Theatre-A3 Portfolio: Response to play (Letter)

Dearest noble friend,

I just finished experiencing the tragic play of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. My aunt Lady Catherine invited informed me of its greatness after she had previously attended. It was nice to see Lord Albert again. His seat was close to mine. The groundlings, despite standing on the ground to watch the play, must have truly felt they had risen to attend such a great masterpiece. However, I do not quite relate to giving up one's position in society for love of an enemy. The play was romantic in a sense but also careless in the fact that they were willing to abandon their position for love. I hate to give it away but they both die for their love in the end. Tragic but why were they so feeble-minded. I guess that is what happens when you give your sons and daughters too much freedom which can cloud their judgment. I certainly would not let my children see this play even though it was quite good once you ignore Romeo and Juliet's foolish behavior. After all, my children will remain noble as they understand that power is only given to those who have earned it as we have. Anyway, look forward to your visit in the spring.

Best regards,

Lord David

Part 2D - Blog: The Great Wave

 

The Great Wave, by Katsushika Hokusai, is a woodblock print created around 1830 and it currently hangs in the Library of Congress. It uses many of the Japanese elements of art in the painting. It uses reverence for nature in that it has small boats with people on them attempting to survive the waves of the ocean which can occur naturally and can be an uncontrollable force of nature. It focuses in to one giant wave and two boats which helps the viewer to understand the situation so it has both simplicity and sensitivity to space along with bold lines that give the wave much depth. It also uses striking juxtapositions like where it has the two boats and several small waves and areas of flattened space such as the sky that has no definition just color.

3/c-Blog: The Importance of Cycles

Today, we mark our birthdays, holidays such as Martin Luther King Day, Presidents' Day, etc. These events help us to signify our growing as a society and remind us of the past events that made us recognize these people's effect on present society such as George Washington our first president after freedom from Britain, Lincoln where slavery was abolished, and equality that martin Luther King so much wanted to see apply for all Americans. All such events are important to our modern cycles of life similar to how the Hindu and Buddhist cultures placed a strong value on them, also.

Displaying Symmetry In Art

You can see the reflective symmetry in the painting. The two figures are symmetrical.

20th Century Invention

The 20^th century invention that changed my life is the computer it has allowed me to do online school. I picked this one because it has not only changed my life but also has altered the world around it. Nearly everything revolves around the internet today. It has brought the entire world closer.

Caravaggio and his Works

The Caravaggio work I would want to buy the most is Saint Jerome. This painting is from the Baroque era. Chiaroscuro is shown in this painting. The contrast between light and darkness is evident as the man in the front of the painting is contrasted to the dark background. You can see the Verisimilitude of the painting as the man in the painting looks very real. You can also see the Virtuoso of the painter who drew it.

If I had a chance to live at The Palace of Versailles

  If I had a chance to live at The Palace of Versailles I would not. Although the palace seems nice it is really not. It is luxurious but also excessive. I personally do not like the excessive bling. Living in the palace you would constantly be under the thumb of the Sun King. He would keep tabs on you and you would have to constantly look good. I would not want to live in the palace.

First Five Steps of Ballet

In this picture the five steps of ballet are shown.

Baroque Values - Decorative Chair

The chair I am making is a decorative chair that is made of ebony. It has golden floral patterns and ivory scrolls. The seat cushion is made of silk and has lush textured fabric. The chair has the family crest made out of pure silver.

Finding the Horizon in Athens

I looked at Rapheal's Athens.The horizon line is above the two center figures heads. The vanishing point is between their heads. The horizontal lines go from the edges of the painting to the vanishing point. I determined this through using a ruler and looking at the perspective of the picture. The perspective is achieved through the placement of the people making it look three dimensional.

 

Three Instruments That Would Make A Good Band

The three instruments I thought would make a good band would be a lute, a tambourine, and a recorder. The lute is a string instrument whose modern day relative is a guitar. It sounds like a guitar but more high pitched. The tambourine is a percussion instrument we still use today. It sounds sort of like a rattle. The recorder is a flute like wind instrument that sounds like a deeper flute. I picked these instruments because they complement each other in harmony. My band would be called After Medieval Times.   

Signifigant Discovery of Renaissance

The most significant discovery I have made is that the dancing in the Renaissance was that it was divided into two types. There were two types of dances in the Renaissance. There were court dances and country dances. Court dances were either fast paced or slow paced. They were attended by the nobles and required the dancer to be a master. There were also country dances which were enjoyed by the common folk. They could be enjoyed by anyone regardless of skill. I had not known this before and it was interesting to see.

Clothing and Dancing

Clothing and dancing go hand in hand when you wear a tuxedo for instance your movements are more restricted than if you wear a t shirt and sweat pants. Sometimes the clothes can be used for the dance specifically for example a dance can utilize the clothes in an artistic way such as in some ballet or other dances. In this case it is generally the dress of a female dancer. One example would be a colorful dress that makes a pattern when doing a specific move like a twirl.

What Makes A Renaissance Man

A Renaissance man of today should have many qualities. Some qualities are that he should be well versed and understand what is happening around him in his culture. A Renaissance man should always actively try to improve his or her culture. Leonardo Da Vinci and other Renaissance masters did this as well.

Greek Freeze Frame

If I had to freeze frame one sports moment it would be something that is not from a physical sport but rather a video game competition. One time I had entered a competition for a game of Mario Tennis which is like tennis but virtual and with different rules. I had gotten to the end and I only had one team to beat left before I could win. The game was extremely close but when I hit the ball one last time it bounced past the other team. I had won and it was a great moment for me. If I could freeze frame any moment it would be that one.

Codes of Ethics

My own personal code of ethics is to be a good, honest, and responsible person. I strive to be honest and try to avoid telling lies and deceiving people. Being honest means people can trust you without any doubts. I also strive to be a responsible person, which means getting things completed even if it is hard and taking the consequences of your actions. Ever since I was young my dad taught me to strive to be a good, honest, and responsible person. I have carried that moral code since I first was taught it. It means a lot to me.