Brooklyn Technical High School - Blueprint Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 31 text:

BALANCED PERSONALITY It is generally considered that anyone who would judge a book by its cover. that is. anything, by its superficial appearance, is something of a fool, yet I heard of an instance in which someone did just this. This person had a friend whom he considered a jovial light-hearted fellow who never thought of anything more serious or problematic than how to get invited to another party. As it happened, they were coming home late one evening when the jocular person became very serious. And this person was surprised! But why? lt is ridiculous to suppose that because a person does not go around spouting erudition and learning, he cannot do it if he wants to, that because someone does not open his heart and soul to everyone he chances to meet, he has no heart and soul, that the majority of the populace of the world is idiotic because it acts idiotic most of the time. Yet this false concept is prevalent among those who serve the public, some magazines and most radio programs for instance, who would never treat their readers or listeners as even moderately intelligent individuals though it meant saving them from bankruptcy. Of course, there is the opposite extreme too. Some people think it sad that every- thing is not deeply sentimental or intellectual slush, and consider all Hippancy unjustifiable. This is as fallacious an opinion as the other. A gold ring which is mostly lead would not be saleable, but a pure gold ring could not be sold either, because it does not wear well . K. H. POINT OF VIEW Some time ago While on my palm I lay below No soothing balm A maple tall and grand, His worried soul could know, When, from the tree, With nervous dread, A sparrow wee Away he fled. Fell upon my hand. I was an awesome foe! He was aware Encounters, then, Of danger there: Of mighty men The unknown, great and grim, With ghastly mystery, For how could he, May, after all So weak, so wee, Be just as small Know what confronted him? As that one was-to me. Kenneth C. Holden, F62 27

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THE BLUEPRINT EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR: Richard Thorpe. ' ASSISTANT EDITORS: Ronald Pond, Nicholas Wilburn, Fred Hirshfeld, Jack Gardner, Gerald Levy, Oscar Levi, Harry Hart, Kenneth C. Holden, Joseph Perry, George Stone, Ralph Stahl, Ted Melnechuck, Daniel McCarthy. BUSINESS MANAGERS: William F. Cavanaugh, Milton H. Kurtz. TECHNICAL: The Marlin Printing Co., Inc., 1,fi7I,lliILgj Scientific Engraving Co.. Engraving, The Arthur Studios, Portraits. DISTRIBUTION: Members of tl1e English Oliice Squad. BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Literary - Chairman, Miss Bennett, Assistants: Mrs. Feldschuh, Mrs. Smith, Miss Buck, Mr. Flaumenhaftg Art- Mrs. Nicol, Business--Mr. Cucker. LOOK AHEAD In these days, few of us look ahead. We are mostly concerned. if we are concerned at all. with the immediate situation before us-an attack here, a small advance there, or a slight retreat somewhere else. Only some favored few are able to keep the world- wide strategy of the war in mind. In our personal, private lives we also have this confusion. We are always apt to attach too much importance to little things, or to see only parts of a problem. Stumbling through life without thinking of a tomorrow that will surely come, we grasp any opportunity that comes our way. We must plan our lives. Yet, you will say, all planning is of no importance now. We are controlled rigidly by the necessities of the moment. But this war will certainly not last forever. By the time the present freshmen, or even the juniors, graduate, the world will in all probability be at peace again. Whatever your plans may be, you will find ways of advancing them, in war or peace. In the services, many oppor- tunities for specialized training are open to an industrious, intelligent young man. However, do not be side-tracked by lucrative, but temporary, offers. Look around. Everywhere are men of brilliant mind rotting away in inconsequential positions, only because they were once, in a weak moment, pushed off their self-appointed path. Or perhaps they had no such road. Think! Where will you be in 20 years? Where would you like to be? R. S. 26

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73 By GEORGE KIRCH. D62 What a delightful cache of miscellaneous possessions are to be found in bureau drawers. Many years ago, I presume, bureau drawers were designed with the express purpose of keeping together a person's haberdashery and clothing. Unfortunately in the course of time fespecially in the case of some small misguided soulsj the bureau drawer has become a first class depository for all kinds of articles, large and small, which eventually displace the articles for which the drawer was originally intended. In the course of my life, I make bold to boast, no drawer of any description has seen as varied or abundant a stream of things as has my bureau drawer. When I was very small, pennies and nickels which were given to me had a way of finding their way into my drawer. These would accumulate over a period of time until I would have a small fortune. But. once in a while the wealth I had saved like a little, hard-working squirrel, would disappear. Imagine the tears-the consterna- tion. Then my mother would appear and, after a few minutes' search in my drawer, the lost would be found. To this very day the situation remains the same, only now I have graduated to the class of quarters and half-dollars. To a youthful idealist, his bureau drawer is his sacred Sanctum. The disordered mixture of clothing and more substantial materials may not look like much, but many a time it is the hiding place for deep dark secrets. Books and jackknives bought without parental approval are slipped between undershirts. Poor report cards rest among the pajamas. In spite of the seeming disorder, a violation of sanctity will be noticed immediately by the indignant victim. Getting back to the original function of bureau drawers, I can sympathize with the hardvworking mothers who shy away from putting clean pressed shirts into a mael- strom such as the ordinary drawer presents upon opening. I canit tell you how a mother feels when she finds her little tyrant's pet turtle crawling around in his clean linen, but I imagine she probably considers anything from forceful objection to capital punishment. When a boy reaches adolescence his drawer still maintains its function as a hiding place, but the character of the hidden changes. Perhaps it's a picture of a movie actress or a girl he admires. Perhaps it's a letter-a very treasured letter. At any rate, he is no longer afraid of punishment, but of embarrassment. When his mother rearranges his drawer for him, the reactions are liable to be explosive, but his face will surely be red. And so, man goes on through life, and when he needs a vault in which to secrete personal foolishnesses, he turns to his bureau drawer. Yes, they're a great institution, bureau drawers, only I donit see why they have to put so much clothing in them. 28