TOW #16 - The Gilded Razor (Sam Lansky) 2

In Sam Lansky’s memoir, The Gilded Razor, Lansky recounts his almost lifelong struggle of dealing with severe addiction to multiple drugs. A rather talented writer for multiple outlets like Time and the New York Magazine, Lansky tells the reader of his story in vivid and explicit detail in order to show the true horrors of addiction and the devastating effects that it can have on a person. To do this, Lansky utilizes intense personal anecdotes.

In the final pages of the book’s eighth chapter, Lansky tells of a time that he had gone to meet up with an old acquaintance of his at his New York apartment. As he entered he wrote, “a pile of cocaine sat on a silver mirror. ‘Have some candy,’ he said. I did a line. ‘More,’ he said. I did another.” (Lansky 232). At this point in Lansky’s story, he has been struggling for many many years and he is quite aware of his struggles. However, despite this, he is unable to break from the peer pressure that he experiences when entering the apartment. This is only one way that Lansky’s intense addiction is displayed. It becomes more obvious just how affected Lansky truly is when he states that he chose to do another line of cocaine, showing that he could not tell himself no after doing one. He needed more. The struggles of his addiction are highlighted in more detailed images of his past.

Towards the conclusion of the memoir, disaster strikes Sam’s family when his father suddenly has a heart attack. Sam tells the reader how he felt at this time stating “I woke up every morning with a tunnel vision that I found perplexing but didn’t think to question. The only goal was to get high and change the way I felt, which was lonely and afraid.” (Lansky 253). Through this horribly depressing statement, it is clear how desperate Lansky found himself at this point. Because of all that he had experienced, all that he had to endure, he was broken. He did not care for his well being or anything else. All that concerned him was getting high. This truly highlights just how drastically the drugs had affected him.

Thankfully, Sam Lansky did eventually come clean and no longer suffers from the severe drug addiction that he experienced. His memoir not only shows readers how horrible addiction is, but it also shows that it is possible to get help and to improve if one is already struggling with addiction. Overall, I really did enjoy reading this book and would absolutely recommend it to anyone.

TOW #15 - JB Poster

On November 11th and 12th of 2016, Wissahickon High School held its performances of the annual fall drama. The show this year was titled JB and followed a successful, but god-fearing man who has everything taken from him in order for him to appreciate the things that he has in his life. In order to advertise the performances, the drama department hung posters for the show around the high school and the surrounding areas nearby. The posters use dull colors in order to show the dark tone of the show and also provide information about the performances to convince a viewer to come to see the show.

The most obvious features of the poster that can be easily seen from a distance, are the dull colors that it utilizes. The poster includes a black rectangular border that goes around the expanse of its edges. In the center, there is a grey/black radial gradient with the center being the brightest gray, and the edges being the darkest. The use of this dark to light transition is used in order to symbolize the dark and emotional tone of the play’s story. On the outside layer of the plot, it seems as though everything that exists in JB’s life is a horrible and depressing reality. However, as the story progresses, things begin to change for the better, primarily as his family returns to him. This is the metaphorical “light at the end of the tunnel” for JB. On top of this, the poster also features a large red calligraphic lettering of “JB” to symbolize the sophisticated nature of JB and how he was able to retain this nature despite how bad things got for him. This sort of symbolism could create an emotional response within a viewer that they may feel able to relate to, so they will feel more interested in coming to see the show.

In addition to these colors, the poster also features red lettering at the bottom of the poster with all sorts of information about the performance. This information includes the location, showtimes, and ticket prices. These are included obviously as it provides the essential information that an audience member would need in order to see the show. This ultimately convinces a viewer of whether or not they can go because they will be able to plan accordingly.

Ultimately, I do believe that this poster effectively convinced people to come see the show as there was a good turn-out of over 150 audience members each night.

TOW #14 - What the Muck of Walden Pond Tells Us About Our Planet

In What the Muck of Walden Pond Tells Us About Our Planet, frequent editorial author for the New York Times, Curt Stager, speaks of how the various layers of soil of Walden Pond in Massachusetts can reveal information about the way that human interaction affects the environment. Through his use of detailed facts as well as personal anecdotes, Stager is able to convince the reader that humans must be conscious of the ways that they impact the world around them to secure a healthier future. Stager begins his editorial piece by speaking briefly about the history of the pond and how it was made famous primarily by the famed philosopher, Henry David Thoreau. He then proceeds to talk about his own time spent at the pond writing that, “in 2015, two students and I lowered weighed plastic tubes through 45 feet of water near the center of the pond and hauled up several sediment cores [...] Tiny shells of diatom algae glittered like frost under the lens.” (Stager 5). By telling the reader of this specific type of algae cell that he and his students had uncovered below the pond’s bottom, Stager reveals that this type of algae has since been covered up by many layers of different types of sediment. This is hugely significant as diatom algae is most typically found in cool clean lakes, taking in sunlight. With this algae no longer actively appearing, it can be inferred that Walden Pond is no longer a cool or clear pond. And unfortunately, this is exactly the case, as Walden Pond has been subject to human development of boat houses as well as contamination from humans swimming in the waters. Not only did humans affect the pond through contamination by building but also, if you “thrust your hand wrist-deep into the mud, your fingertips would brush a layer that emits radiation. It is laced with cesium-137.” (Stager 9). This fact is not only somewhat terrifying, but a blatant display of how humans have been ignorant of the global impact throughout history. The reason this soil contains cesium-137 is because it is a byproduct of nuclear fallout that is created by the detonation of nuclear weapons during the massive number of tests that occurred through the 1960’s and later. The people of this time were more concerned with creating more and more powerful weapons without stopping to consider the adverse effects that they would have on the environment, which seems to be a general theme that is shared by all of mankind. Ultimately, I do believe that Stager was able to effectively display some of the ways that humans are able to impact the environment, and I personally hope that more and more people become conscious about their footprint on this planet.