Casey's Casual Conversation Corner

The Giving Tree has always made me sad, but it's an amazing children's story. The tree in the story is an overt metaphor for a parent. The boy, the only person in the story, gets everything he needs from the tree. When he was young, he played with the tree and spent much time with it. As he grows up, his needs change, and he only returns to material things, like the branches of a house. The book portrays the child as a bit of a spoiled brat. At least, that is how I interpreted it as a child. I was committed to being better than the boy, and the book made me cautious of being inappreciative. Looking back, that was definitely the purpose of the book. It genuinely made me a better person. As I get older, I'm starting to see that "brat" or "spoiled" may be the wrong words to describe the boy. Now, I feel like "taker" is more accurate. A central point of parenthood is raising your children to be independent and not need you anymore. He still returne...

One of my favorite songs ever made is “Helplessness Blues” by Fleet Foxes. It's difficult to describe this song in the grandeur that I believe it deserves and adequately convey what it means to me. Nonetheless, I will try. The emotions I feel while listening are a mix of hopefulness (ironically, given the name), melancholy, and, most palpably, longing; longing for more than the world seems to be able to give sometimes; longing for an impossible sense of purpose and belonging. The instrumental starts sparse, with a simple acoustic guitar chord. Quickly, the opening line sets the tone perfectly: "I was raised up believing / I was somehow unique." The first time I heard the song, I was instantly drawn in and planted firmly in singer Robin Pecknold's state of mind. This feeling of uniqueness or, perhaps more accurately, a yearning for individuality and self-expression is central; however, the theme isn’t fully laid out until Pecknold candidly states, "And now after...

The aspect of English 198 that stands out above the rest of my classes is the fun we're able to have in the class. Most of my classes have no room for discussions, and it's disappointing as I find that to be the most enjoyable part of classes. That's a problem that I don't have to worry about in English. The people in the class are great too. No one takes themselves too seriously, and it's just a good time. I realized how much I enjoyed the class when class got canceled on Wednesday. I'm not saying I was emotionally ruined, but I wasn't as thrilled to be missing a class as I would've been if any other teacher canceled. The class also makes a lot of sense format-wise. We discussed some topics, and the relatively informal discussions made the information stick in my brain better. With classes that aren't fun and feel like we're being forced to listen, my brain is actively unhappy learning the information; it just takes more to grasp concepts. Engli...

I think my writing process has been effective. I started writing on drafting say and continued making progress throughout the week. I went to the library Friday and really focused on getting a good rough draft made. I still would have liked to go to the library to make more meaningful progress before Thursday (the day before the peer review), but that deadline inspired me. Now, it is Sunday, and I'm at the library again. I plan to make any final changes to my draft and record it tomorrow. Again, waiting until now to work on revising my rough draft wasn't the best idea, but I am happy with my progress. My writing process has always been procrastinatory, and my best results have come from setting smaller deadlines for myself. Or, more accurately, when my teachers set smaller deadlines for the class. I just can't focus when the threat of turning the assignment in late is urgent. I tend to do my best writing late at night, but there are so many cases where I can immediately tel...

Later today, I will be having my first band practice in college. To say I am excited is, of course, an understatement. I want to take this DIY blog to reflect on my relationship with music up to this point. Or at least, the SparkNotes version because this would be a really long blog if I was unnecessarily long-winded. I liked music when I was younger and had several bouts of attempting to take piano lessons, which I hated. When I was 11ish, I picked up the piano again to learn songs from video games. Learning from YouTube, I got way better at piano and eventually, I went from learning video game music to Billy Joel, Elton John, and other more retro stuff. That's around the time I got really into listening to music. And yes, it was also my "born in the wrong generation" phase. I cringe thinking about it. My brother (I think partially inspired by me) started learning guitar soon after this point, and I stuck with piano. Then, the quarantine happened. Around May of 2020, my ...

One of my favorite TV shows is Game of Thrones, which is nice for this prompt because it can essentially be boiled down into a family drama. There are also a lot of very different portrayals of family, with probably the only healthy one being the Starks. The show basically involves the great families of Westeros as they fight to maintain power and/or gain more power. As I said, the Starks are probably the only family with a decent dynamic. I say decent because it is certainly not perfect. The main patriarch is Ned Stark, a highly honorable man who does his best for his bannermen and family. Although a stoic and sometimes emotionally distant man, he is a good father, teaching his children honor and how to be good people in a not-so-good world. He has 6 children, but a lot of family drama comes from particularly Jon Snow, who is Ned's illegitimate child (later, it's revealed that Jon is actually Ned's sister's child whom he promised to keep secret and take care of). Ned...

My name is Casey Bir. I have three older brothers and a dog (Golden Retriever). I'm from just south of Cincinnati. Some of my hobbies are music, video games, and movies. I play guitar, piano, bass, and sing, and this summer, I put a setlist together and played out at a country club and festival. My top 3 favorite artists are always fluctuating, but if I have to say right now, I'd say The Strokes, Beach House, and Big Thief. I'd recommend all of them, but Big Thief can be...an acquired taste, so go in open-minded. Some of my favorite video games are Skyrim, God of War (the newer ones), and recently Mario Kart, which has been a great way to have fun on my floor and meet new people. Some of my favorite movies are Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (also maybe an acquired taste), Zoolander, Interstellar, and Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.  I hated writing and thought I was terrible at it early in my high school career, but my junior-year English teacher was excellent, and ...