Lanyards hold things.
Keys, cards, trinkets;
So many things
in such a small space
Still; they are purposeful
for what reason would they be there for?

Of course, I’m still open to having more of them
A lanyard can always have more.
More rings to hold keys, and more keys to unlock...locks.
Their weight may take some adapting, but I can respect that
Because sometimes their purpose
needs time in order to be discovered.

But by the time I’ve harbored them for years
Using them for everything every day
Some things may be forgotten
No; some things must be forgotten
In order to be efficient
In order to have...perfection.

Photo by Coby Shimabukuro

    Perspective is what most distinguishes one person’s interpretation of a good life from another. As such, it’s difficult to bind its definition since some individuals do not see things in the same light as others. What is certain though, is that a good life is possible. Some may complain that there’s too many things to worry about, and that it stops them from enjoying what should be enjoyed to the fullest. In the poem “A Coney Island Life” by James L. Weil, this very concept is portrayed. It describes the worry that many have about what they haven’t yet accomplished, their regrets; the things in which they’ve spent too much time doing. It provokes readers to stop worrying about all of these “problems” and instead to truly live in the “now” as time is not of unlimited supply.
    Within the life of the individual within this poem (as it is written in their perspective), Weil writes “Having lived a Coney Island life On rollercoaster ups and downs…” within the first two lines. What Weil establishes is the metaphor that compares life to an amusement park; it’s games, the roller coaster, and all that makes up the amusement park of Coney island. The positives and negatives; the high points and the low points a person will experience through life. Notice though, that this is said in past tense, as Weil writes: “Nor arms filled with dolls I threw so much for…” This is up for interpretation, though what Weil describes is that this person (who has aged and is looking back) has already achieved a lot of “dolls” within life. Dolls at an amusement park are nice to have, but serve little purpose after winning them. This can be comparable to a number of things in life, but what stands out most is the mundane achievements that people spend a lot of time trying to achieve, but don’t necessarily enjoy it.
    As such, all lives dread one same thing; their demise--their death. Weil writes that “I take perhaps my last ride on this planet-carousel…” meaning that this person’s end is nearing. As previously explained, this person has satisfied him/herself in a technical sense, but not in a figurative sense. And now, since that time has already been lost to putting so much effort into acquiring those technical achievements, very little time is left. And now, this person asks; “How many more times round I have to catch that brass-ring-sun before the game is up.” This individual is still fixed on the idea that there is still time to achieve what this individual really wanted to achieve. Something they really wanted to direct all of their previous effort towards: to live in the “now”.
    Again; no one person’s perspective of a good life is the same as another's. However one must realize the difference between achieving something “just because” and achieving something one really wants to do that satisfies their enjoyment; a priority one should make. And so, that is what Weil is attempting to teach from this poem. Forget about the dull and tedious achievements one seeks to achieve. Forget about the regrets one has made so far; what matters is to live in the present, for lives do not last forever.

Photo by Josefa Holland-Merten

Before reading, this assignment was done on paper but was never put on this blog until now. The date in which this was written was on November 6.

    Balance is essential to sustain a limited resource. In today's world, such a concept is difficult to grasp; and this is especially true for the life on Earth's waters. Due to a heavy amount of demand from people all across the globe, populations of the most popular fish people eat are depleting. The scarcity of marine life is becoming more apparent than ever, and it's taking a harsh toll not only to the fish themselves, but also to the environment and the people. Overfishing is a severe issue that has led to the struggling sustainability between people's demand and the environment.
    Satisfying the increasing demand in the short term is certainly going to mean a problem in the long term, especially with fishing. Stephen Columbia, a Stanford University marine biologist, lays out that long term concept, that "None of us regular folk are going to be able to afford seafood". This is the problem that the average consumer of seafood is going to face, given the current overfishing practices. It's clear that scarcity of a resource--fish--will lead to the price of it increasing. Not only this, but places such as Hawaii, where the reliance on seafood is strong, can suffer consequences. Molokai activist Walter Ritte, whose island is being faced with the introduction of Oahu fishers, explained that "...people are coming to Molokai because their resources are depleted on their island...where we've been working really hard to...managing the resource..." This conflict affects fishers too through situations like this. It is comparable to that of homeless sweeping; taking them out of the community will only make it a problem for another (except in this case, the environment suffers.
    However, no other group apart of this problem suffers more than the fish and the environment itself. According to a study, "at least 29% of fish species have collapsed, and the trend is accelerating." The way in which they collapsed stems from overfishing. By losing the biological diversity of an ecosystem, that ecosystem becomes more susceptible to collapse. Due to that reason, destructive overfishing has caused "about 90% of the ocean's big predators--like cod and tuna--have been fished out of existence." This is huge, especially due to how much bigger the fish export trade has become. The deprecation of marine life can be traced to overfishing since it causes such an imbalance to the marine ecosystems.
    Thus far, all of the sustainability and environmental issues that marine life currently face are direct consequences of overfishing's destructive force. Overfishing has in turn created those issues that both the environment and people struggle to face. A continuation of such practices would mean a lot of problems in the future of fishing.

Photo by Josefa Holland-Merten