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Hello, my name is Nathan Hendricks. I'm 26 years old and am an English major at UWM. I've been playing fingerstyle guitar for about 12 years or so. I am a believer in the incredible power of music's ability to heal and inspire. I had to have spinal fusion surgery (because of Kyphosis) last fall which was completely life changing...music, as always, has helped me cope tremendously. Music and the study of time and sound are such a large part of me...One of my major goals in life is to be able to compose intelligent and beautiful pieces that are filled with original and complex musical ideas. I want to contribute to the on going study of the unknown and hopefully be able to put a brick in the great wall of musical knowledge. I am always hungry to learn more; to listen and explore what will enable me to express myself through more detail and accuracy in the art of music. Some examples of what I'm listening to right now would be: Sergio & Odair Assad, Bireli Lagrene, Pat Martino, Pierre Bensusan...
I enrolled in this class for more or less two reasons. A) As mentioned above, I had to have major surgery last semester and am still on the long road to recovery. I am grateful to be able to continue school through online classes. I am also a bit nervous because this is my first time participating in one. B) I love to read and analyze literature. This class seemed especially interesting because I have Irish heritage. My ancestor John Bennett immigrated from Ireland to North Carolina in 1753. I am named after his son. I want to learn more about Irish history and explore their struggle to find identity.
My experience in English starts in a wide variety and time period range of American Literature. I love reading anything written from the colonial writings to the contemporary. I have also read a lot of philosophical literature including many writers Plato, Emerson, Thoreau...the list goes on. I have also studied Japanese literature and really enjoy reading the poetry of Matsuo Basho. I am somewhat familiar with British Lit. I have also taken religious studies classes analyzing various religious texts. I used to be a History major. One of my favorite classes was studying 16th century Europe and exploring original European fairytales (much more brutal than the Disney representations we see today). Anyways, I've covered a wide variety of English and History...my brain has a hard time keeping track of all I've learned.
I tend to be drawn to anything fictional that is told through an original perspective and is non-linear. One of the most difficult books I've ever read is The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, but also found his writing style fascinating. I also enjoy many American nature writers. My favorite, hailing from my homeland of Kentucky, is Wendell Berry. I love his concept of Bioregionalism and his ideals of being a good stewart of the earth.
I have a little knowledge of Irish Literature. I am familiar with William Butler Yeats' works and accomplishments. I also recently read the play The Hostage. I liked it very much. It was similar to the subject matter in The Wind that Shakes the Barley in that it explores and portrays the long and bitter history of animosity between the people ,who are now know as Irish, and those who are now know as English. I have a broad knowledge of Irish and English history but need some major refreshing. I know that both are extremely intertwined. I hope to accomplish this in taking this class as well as relearn many things I've forgotten about the history of Irish Literature.
I do not belong to many online communities. The only one is Facebook which has shown itself to be a blessing and a curse. I'm sure everyone who has an account there knows what I'm talking about. It also happens to probably be the site I visit most frequently. I like it because I am able to keep in contact with friends and family and rekindle old friendships.
I have many places that I want to visit. On top of the list is India. I am fasinated by their culture, history and especially their music. One of my favorite musicians from india is the amazing tabla player Zakir Hussain. I have always wanted to see the Tag Mahal while the sun rises. Here is a picture of its beauty:
I would also like to see Europe, New Zealand, Africa and Japan. I also need to do more traveling and explore in the United States. I was born in and am originally from Kentucky. I have been all over the south and the east coast. However, the farthest I've been west of the Mississippi river is Minneapolis. This is something I hope to remedy in the near future. Hopefully I will be healthy enough to go on a western road trip this summer.
YOUTUBE: Here is a video of a unique and interesting bass player. His name is Michael Manring and he is from California. What I find interesting about this video is the unique customized bass he uses. It has an extended fretless fretboard which reaches almost three octaves. It has a dual retuning system which no one else on earth has used. It has four modified extender keys on the head stock (for individual string retuning) and a custom bridge that allows all four strings to be retuned simultaneously. In other words, he can change the tuning of his instrument an infinite number of times while he is playing. As far as I know, no one has ever done this. His compositions are interesting and fall into some genre of their own... somewhere between jazz and something else that is alien (best demonstrated in another of his pieces called "Greetings, Earthings!"). He is an excellent example of forward thinking in music and exploring original musical concepts. Anyways, this will probably sound weird to most of you. Here is "Helios":
