Rosen Journal #2

Part One: Me

My name is Ethan Rosen, from Cleveland, OH. I'm eighteen years of age and exploring majors at OSUM and OSU in general. I'm a dynamic person, and by that I mean I'm interested in many things that may not usually go together. To begin, I love writing but not reading. I hate reading actually (Trying to get better at that). I love to create graphic design and in honesty all form of art because ever since I was a child my favorite word has been "Create". Another interest of mine is film because I love to create videos and match music up with it to the beat or just if I like the song with it because when I'm creating film I am also thinking of music with it. This brings us to my favorite thing in life; Music. I love to sing and play around with any instrument I can. I'm not good at the instruments necessarily but when I hear a sound I like I make more of it. I've been singing for five years now but I've never really had issues with it, I just sing and hope that it sounds good. When I was in high school I was in every choir (besides the women's choir) for all four years and this consisted of a men's group, a mixed group, an advanced chamber mixed choral group, and a swing and dance group. Overall I love singing and music and if I could do that for a living I would in a minute because I want to create music to help others in response of the artists they've helped me through painful times. I don't care about money really, I like to create things for myself because I love to learn more about anything because that's what life should be to me. Learning, living, helping, and learning more. A fun fact about me is that when I was fifteen I had the chance to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City with a big choir where I was the lowest bass. Which reminds me, I have a disgustingly low ranged voice and if I'm ever tired I promise I'm not mumbling, were just on different frequencies.

Part Two: Mary Oliver readings thus far

Mary Oliver is a very real and fluid writer. By this I mean that she makes the reader comfortable by relating to the reader through the language that she uses. Usually, I'm the type of person to like bombastic and colorful books with elaborate characters in specifically drawn realms - and this, this is non-fiction. Now, I love history so don't think I think non-fiction is boring or the bane of my existence. It's just not my first choice. For Mary Oliver's "Poetry Handbook", she relates with the reader in the poem explaining how for artists and musicians there's certain things you can't just learn, but rather that it's customary to your life and its a mystery. "Something that is essential can't be taught; it can only be given, or earned, or formulated in a manner too mysterious to be picked apart and redesigned for the next person." (Oliver, Pg 1) And I agree with this. But then she goes on to say that writing can be the same way but its the extra essentials you must learn in order to find greatness. This inspires me because I'm a musician and I need to learn more the essentials before I can really get to a place I'm very comfortable.

Part 3: First poem

My first poem is about my late dog Molly. I came up with the concept fairly quickly after the prompt was given. Until this class I never realized I wanted to write about my old dog but I was quickly inspired and it took me maybe 30-45 minutes to write my poem. For me, writing comes pretty naturally, but I don't want to use that as an excuse to become complacent. I want to get better and in the future I want to revise this poem to make it better (Unless I like where it is). And I know that it doesn't matter how long you spend on the poem because a good poem is a good poem no matter how it got to where it is. Some of the greatest poems I'm sure only took 30 minutes, but for me I want to go back just to be sure there isn't a place I can fix or make better. This poem is actually pretty sad but I think it's good that way. It lets me release my "emotional freedom" like Oliver says in her book.

This is me (Right) with Mac DeMarco, my favorite music artist and idol.