Cigarette-3 sides story : Revised!!!

Cigarette

:::SARAH:::

Here we go again. I smell cigarette in this bathroom. This is a public women’s bathroom that says “NO SMOKING” on every door of each compartment, for God’s sake! I feel this great urge to yell at her, but I just swallow my anger inside. They always do this.

Most people are stupid enough to think that when they’re smoking, they look cool or these damn cigarettes would just let them get rid of stress instantly. They never really realize that these cigarettes are actually full of thousands of extremely fatal substances. Whoever invented the cigarettes should be put into death penalty right away, because he is responsible for millions of deaths in England alone.

Now enough of the crap, I just hold my breath, wash my hands real quick, then swiftly run out of the “Smoke-filled bathroom,” and exhale deeply. I catch my breath again, straighten up my shoulders, and head off to my office that says, “Advertisement Department.” I know everybody envies me for working in this department so early in my career life, especially when it’s “Calvin Klein,” but I’ve got a problem here with my boss and my co-worker.

*             *             *

:::BOSS:::

After lunch, he sits in his private office staring at the cloudy, dark sky outside his window, as usual. He thinks he wants to travel to California, where warmth bundles up under the bright sun, just hating the weather here with all these cloudiness and rain all the time. Then he looks down on the street, as two drivers fight in front of the crashed cars. He giggles at the sight, when his employee knocks and comes in, and he comes back to the reality again. As soon as he encounters her, he gets all stressed out again, of the work he has to get finished by today, so he tells her,

“I’ll just head off to the loo for a moment, if you don’t mind,”

“Sure, I’ll show you my ideas on today’s assignment as soon as you come back.”

God, she’s a hard worker. She always shows up with such great ideas I can never keep up with. All she talks about is work and how much she likes her new job. It should be a good thing to have a person like her around, but all he gets from her is stress. It’s a sad thing that he can’t fire her for working so hard. He needs her to keep his job. Every time he sees her, he gets outside for “fresh air” with his other employee, who smokes and talks about work in a far less professional way.

*             *             *

:::SMOKING COWORKER:::

Yeah! Told you he likes me better than her. Haha! 
You become so excited to spend your private time with the boss again, talking about your ideas on ads. You immediately know what his boss means by “head off to the loo,” he means, “Let’s go smoke, for god’s sake!” Of course, you are having quite a hard time getting accustomed to smoking, but you think it’s worth it if you can dominate your boss’s love. Other than this, you'd love to exclude Sarah in these conversations, because she is such an ass. She thinks she is the most talented person in the world, with all those great ideas. Although you admit that she IS talented, you are still not very fond of her.

*             *             *

:::BOSS:::

Wow, wow, wow! Haven’t felt this in a long time! 
Although it’s only been like a few hours, he breathes the smoke as if he hadn’t been smoking for years. He closes his eyes and feels the smoke slightly touching his lung and coming out of it.

This feels amazing.

His employee is saying something over the smoke, but he doesn’t hear it. He just wants to tell him to shut up, but the smoke interferes with him again.

*             *             *

:::SARAH:::

By “having a problem,” it’s not that we were having a quarell or anything, but it’s that they both smoke. Well, THAT I can handle, but I’ve got this feeling that they’re keep on getting away from me, and it seems like they’re smoking in the smoking room. Like this morning, for example, as soon as I entered the office, both of them told me they will just head off to the loo and didn’t come back for half an hour, finally coming back covered in smoke all over them. At first I was okay with this, telling myself, ‘Well, they’re just smoking outside together, that can’t mean anything. They must be having a chat or something. They may get to be friends, but that can’t interfere with our work, can it? No worries.’ However, it turns out that they were always discussing the ideas on advertising together, and just make decisions there without me! As I was infuriated as soon as I became aware of this, I start to develop ways to join this conversation.

A great idea just flashed across my mind.

*             *             *

:::SMOKING COWORKER:::

Oh my god, what’s SHE doing here? Isn’t she supposed to be in the non-smokers’ area? What? How? What?!?!

You are suddenly aware of your coworker’s presence, and you don't like it. You suddenly feel danger and ask,

“Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you didn’t smoke. What’d you come here for?”

“Well, actually I DO smoke, although it’s been a few months since I tried quitting. I just felt lonely and gloomy that I couldn’t bear it anymore, so I just decided to smoke again…”

No, no, this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be!
You panic, not knowing what to do. She comes up to her boss and all of a sudden starts talking about the ads trend of this year, explaining her great ideas. She really is a conversational wizard, and you could tell by the way your boss was looking at her.

You're doomed.

But then, she suddenly leaves the smoking room, coughing and all.

*             *             *

:::SARAH:::

All right, I’ve got to change my plan. I can’t bear it anymore. I can’t bear the horrible smoke, these fatal substances going into my lung and poisoning my body. I thought I could just pretend to be smoking there without breathing in much of it, but it doesn’t work, no.

Oh, why don’t I suggest them to quit smoking? I know that my boss is willing to quit if he can, because he has been complaining about his wife telling him to quit, and the fact that he actually wants to, but he won’t be able to bear the pain. Why don’t I help them quit, buy them nicotine patches and other stuff people use to quit.

The next morning, as I walk into my office, I talk to them very nicely and comfortably, as if a mom is comforting a child, about quitting it. Quite surprisingly, they agree with me pretty well. RESULT! Now I don’t have to worry about them making decisions without me!

*             *             *

:::BOSS:::

'God, she is driving me crazy. I want to smoke, all right? I have no intention to quit at all! Smoking is my life, if it’s gone, I can’t live.'

He has TWO nicotine patches on his arms, TWO! But still, he imagines himself smoking, in the pouring rain.

'All right, I’ve had it enough.'

He casually slips out of the office, telling everybody he is just going to get a coke from the vending machine. He sends this signal to his smoker-employee to come with him, who immediately recognizes it and comes after him.

'Wow… Well, even if I die from cancer because of my smoking habit, I’m willing to. I’m willing to devote my body for smoking. I’m miserable and vulnerable, and I need cigarettes to keep me go on with this horrible life without committing suicide or causing any trouble.'

He feels the pleasure deep in his lung, and again, breathes out as much air as he can.

LET'S ALL QUIT SMOKING!

Macbeth

Macbeth Analysis: Act 1.

Macbeth starts with the emergence of “Three Witches” meeting to predict the future. The three witches are in the bleak environment, which is represented by a wild Scottish landscape. Particularly, the imagery of witchcraft and chaotic weather intensify this feeling.

On the next Scene, the main characters start to appear. Here, Macbeth becomes a hero, with the execution of the Thane of Cawdor, a very treacherous character. Thus, Macbeth is ‘nominated’ to obtain the position of the Thane. In this sense, the hero Macbeth is compared to “Valour’s minion” (the servant of Courage) and “Bellona’s bridegroom” (the husband of War), the metaphors that reinforce the ‘heroism’ of Macbeth even more. Another evidence of portraying Macbeth as a hero is shown on the similes of the Captain’s second report, comparing Macbeth and his fellow-captain Banquo to “eagles” and “lions,” while their enemies are compared to “sparrows” or “hare.” However, all of this, describing Macbeth as a superhero actually is a device to emphasize the tragedy of Macbeth’s death at the end of the play. In the lines, “unseam’d him from the nave (center) to the chops, And fix’d his head upon our battlements,” Macbeth’s death is foreshadowed.

On the third Scene of Act 1, the Witches reappear. They make prophecies that “Macbeth shall be named as Thane of Cawdor and then king,” while Banquo will be the “father to future generations of kings.” With the Witches’ reappearance, the Scene recalls the first Scene, when Macbeth says, “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” The prophecies and words of the Witches can be summed up with a word, ‘unpredictability’. Macbeth is likened to a ‘sailor’, since the sailor is the captain of a ship, in the same way that Macbeth is to become “captain” of his land, which foreshadows the fate of Macbeth.

Other than Macbeth, Banquo also shows up and become the very first to actually spot the weird sisters, remarking on the Witches’ weird appearance, saying they “look not like the inhabitants of the earth, / And yet are on it.” (I personally found this very funny; I laughed for this for quite a long time and my friends stared at me, asking me how could I possibly laugh while reading Macbeth.)

When the Witches say all the ambiguous things, which suggest a more unpredictable future, both Macbeth and Banquo are confused and show incomprehension. Also, when Macbeth is announced to be the new Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth is confused , casts doubt on this, but is not criticizing too much: “This supernatural soliciting / Cannot be ill; cannot be good”, while Banquo is quite sure the “Devil” is interfering here: “oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / The instruments of Darkness tell us truths.”

On Scene 4, King Duncan delivers formal thanks to Macbeth and Banquo, but announces his successor to be his son Malcolm. When Duncan says, “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face,” he means ‘never judge a book by its cover’, which implies that he wasn’t able to predict the treachery of Cawdor, while Macbeth did. And this probably is said to compliment Macbeth. Of course, Duncan sees Macbeth as a potential successor: “I have begun to plant thee, and will labour / To make thee full of growing.” This creates a perfect irony, because Duncan says these things, while formally announcing his son to be his successor. This irony fuels the ambition of Macbeth to be a King. So, Macbeth gets angry and says, “Star! Hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires.”

On the next Scene, Lady Macbeth turns up and simultaneous the Scene gets darker very rapidly. When Lady Macbeth finds out that Macbeth would be meeting with the Witches, she decides to carry out the murder of the king herself, in order to hasten the prophecy. At this point, Lady Macbeth herself has virtually become an ‘agent of Fate’. She thinks Macbeth is “too full of the milk of human kindness” to commit murder, so she, herself, transforms into a man. Judging by these evidences, Lady Macbeth can be said to be one of the most powerful female characters in literature, filled with the imagery of death and destruction.

On the sixth Scene, King Duncan finally arrives at Inverness, while Lady Macbeth becomes a perfect hostess for now. The castle, from the outside at least, appears to be a paradise, and the King is well entertained, but this place will soon turn into a violent place. Here, the cunningness of Lady Macbeth is shown rather explicitly, with her elaborate greeting.

On the last Scene of Act I, Macbeth is now bothered by self-doubt whirlpooling inside his mind, still very much in confusion, and Lady Macbeth is still guiding the way where Macbeth should go, representing a very strong figurine. When Macbeth admitted to Lady Macbeth that his golden reputation might lose its “gloss,” she sets out to strengthen his mind by mocking his perceived weakness by calling him a “green,” “a coward,” and “poor cat.”

Catcher in the Rye

Back to myself

I left KMLA a month ago. Actually, I was kicked out of it because I exceeded 80 points, the limitation the school said it could ‘take’. All I did was I ordered some chicken when I really wanted to eat some, didn’t clean my room because I was out having a barbecue party, brushed my teeth or ate some squid during the self study time, skipped the morning exercise because nobody woke me up and stuff. I didn’t go to court because I committed a crime; I was just being myself.

Even Mr. Ganse agreed with me. I visited Mr. Ganse just before I left the school, and I immediately started to like him a little bit more because he talked about how much improvement I’ve made throughout my school years, and the school cannot be more stupid to just let me go like this, just because of those penalty points, which is not even important in our lives.

I immediately went to a place where I can learn music, as I’ve always wanted. I’ve wanted to learn music composition, guitar and more piano. I really missed singing all the time and playing the piano. It’s been quite a while since I really enjoyed music itself. I’ve been stressed by all the performances I had to do successfully every time, just for the good of my NAB club.

I could finally learn professional music, by a professional musician, Mrs. Grendell. She is such a nasty person, but a great musician, though. When I first came to this place, she required so much money so that I couldn’t learn from her. I begged her for like a week until she finally accepted me. I think she did that because I was driving her crazy, following everywhere she went, trying to convince her that I was eligible to become her student. Again, she was extremely harsh on me the minute I became her student. Every time I learned a little thing, she scolded me for not knowing it. Her voice was always in maximum volume, probably due to her outstanding singing ability, and with that huge voice, she shouted right into my ears. However, what mattered was not her voice, but the humiliation I got every time she shouted at me. It was always in front of everybody else whenever she scolded me, with the great combination of such hurtful words. Every night, I cried with my face buried in my pillow, for I didn’t want anybody to hear me. But then I comforted myself, telling myself I could someday be a great musician. The same thing happened to me every day, so I eventually got dull with such harsh scoldings.

Yet, I was holding on to my only hope; becoming an international musician, until I heard the news that a selected trainee at SM entertainment, a student of Mrs. Grendell, was excluded from the group she was supposed to join.The reason I was shocked at the news was because she was, in a nutshell, ‘perfect’. She had been a trainee at SM for over 6 years now, and I recognized her as soon as I came in, as the most talented student of Mrs. Grendell. I didn’t understand why she was excluded. She simply had everything; fantastic voice, greatest dancing skills and one of the most beautiful faces I’ve ever seen. She said her boss told her she didn’t have ‘potential’ to succeed in the entertainment world. Well, she didn’t need potential; she already ‘had’ everything! I was infuriated at the news, but at the same time, gave another thought about my future. Until last month, I was in KMLA, the so-called the most prestigious high school in Korea. I was enjoying the school life along with all my extra-curricular activities, got fairly nice GPA, wanting to be a marine biologist. I was working on it, but then I suddenly deviated from my ‘path’, towards music, which I’m not really an expert in. I was an idiot.

Now I realize studying is the easiest way to have a better life in the future, especially if you're not particularly talented in an area that you can kick everybody's asses without much effort, or you would die for working in that area.

The Intouchables (2011)

A true story of two men who should never have met - a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident and a young man from the projects.
-From imdb


Just watched this movie last weekend with my family at CGV.
to be continued...

Brainstorming - 3 points of view

Unifying incident, thought, theme, or question that is central

Connected with cigarette
all of them on the rooftop of the cigarette company

Manufacturer (CEO)-rich, white man in America-perhaps England 왜냐면 여기서 담배에 대한 단속이 제일 심하니까 힘든 정도를 나타내기 위해 영국으로? (제일 잘나가는 곳에 사는). 물론, 담배가 건강에 해롭다는 것을 알지만, 이 사업을 지속시키기 위해 수단과 방법을 가리지 않는다. 사실 속으로는, Feel a little guilty but has to do this to sustain his position and income, salary. 정부가 막을 때마다 엄청난 로비를 해서 겨우겨우 삶을 이어간다. 가끔 그만둘까 생각도 해보지만 집에서 내가 돈을 가지고 들어오길 목 빠지게 기다리는 가족들 때문에 그럴 수도 없다. 그런 자신의 상황을 몰라주는 시위하는 사람들이 얄밉기만 하다.

smoker (customers of cigarettes)-담배 애호가인 employee. 우리나라 담배 맨날 피는 삶이 힘든 아저씨. 담배를 고등학교 3학년 때 친구들의 계락에 말려들어 피기 시작했는데, 그 후로 삶이 점점 더 힘들어져 끊기가 거의 불가능했다. 점점 더 힘들어질수록 하루에 피는 담배의 양은 점점 더 늘어났고, 그럴수록 건강이 걱정됬지만 끊을 수가 없다. 딸들로, 아내도 담배 좀 끊으라고 수많은 닥달과 잔소리를 늘어놓고, 나도 끊고 싶은 마음은 굴뚝같지만, 그들 앞에서만 피지 않고 어떻게든 다른 곳에서 담배를 핀다. 결국은 암 선고를 받고 입원한다.

non-smokers-a girl who hates smokers. 자기 건강 엄청나게 끔찍히 중요시 여기는 employee. 담배 피는 것을 살인이라고 생각할 정도로 극단적으로 여기며, 특히 학교에서 금연 교육 받은 것 중 담배를 피는 사람보다 담배 연기를 맡는 사람이 더 니코틴 섭취를 많이 한다는 사실을 알고는 더욱 싫어한다. 또, 담배를 만드는 회사와 사람들을 매우 혐오한다.