Blog Final: Visual Arts

My class proposal is for a Photoshop class, which would make it an art class but there's an english twist!

Assuming we have the resourses and the technology, the class would be provided with computers, a PS program (preferably a newer program. i.e: CS, CS2, CS3), and Wacom tablets. The tablets make it easier to work the photoshopping programs as it allows the students to draw as if with pen and paper. The class purpose would be to teach students how to utilize digital media, especially with how much it is used today. We would start with the basics like how to work photoshop (very important) and then we'd learn different techinques used in photo manipulations and coloring techniques.

In this class we would use such texts as PhotoShop CS2 in easy steps by Robert Shufflebotham or Classroom in a Book: The official training workbook from Adobe Systems.

Photoshop CS in easy steps recognizes this fact and is specifically designed to take you step by step in a logical, structured sequence to a detailed understanding of the software. It uses concise explanations and copious screen shots to simply and effectively create a clear, logical path to understanding and mastering the software.

The book focuses on key features and techniques designed to help you understand complex processes with the minimum of effort. The early chapters set a framework that will underpin your work with digital images, starting with basic colour theory, then introducing the working environment and a range of essential features that get you started working with digital images.

Further chapters cover image file formats, making and refining selections and there are chapters covering the essential painting and editing tools - including the new Colour Replacement tool.

More advanced areas of the software are covered with chapters devoted to working with layers, paths and the pen tool, channels and masks as well as colour correction techniques.

The final four chapters address the increasingly important area of web and multimedia images, covering features and techniques such as slicing, image optimisation, animation, rollovers and image maps.

Classroom in a Book is the official training workbooks that have been developed by Adobe's staff. The beauty of this series is that they assume you know nothing and work from there. Step-by step lessons are very detailed with impressive fine-tuning and complicated features explained well. The books come with a CD-ROM that has all files required to complete each example. Both the start and end files are provided so you know what you are working toward as you go along. Each lesson has screen shots of the example so you have that as a guide to keep you on track.

Of course, we wouldn't read these books cover-to-cover because, well, that would be pretty boring. Both of these books, though, would be totally relevent to the class study because they both essentially break down step-by-step the process of using PhotoShop. Another thing that would be particularly useful to this class would be tutorials including visual guides to lead the students through different techniques. Here are a few examples:

-Photorealistic puddles

-Blending images

-And the use of the Liquify tool

There are thousands of other tutorials out there to be found and a lot of them can be pretty useful in a jam. But as well as the boring, drab instructional books the students would be able to use a fiction/non-fiction book of their choosing. As a final project the students would then use their photoshopping knowledge to create a piece of art based off of the book they chose whether it be a character visualiztion, a poster, a concept used in the book, etc. I would want the students to be able to visualize the action going on in the text rather than the words on the page. And with the increasing use of digital media a little know-how about the program would be nice especially if a student is planning on looking in to a career in the digital arts, advertising, and other similar topics.

Me Talk Pretty One Day.

"Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities."

In this chapter Sedaris introduces his father, Lou Sedaris, a conservative computer engineer who uses a concoction of vodka and jazz to melt away his daily stress. In fact, in this portrayal, Lou doesn't just sooth himself with jazz music, he is obsessed with it.

Sedaris recalls an evening during his childhood when his father takes him and his sisters, Gretchen and Lisa, to see the musician David Brubeck perform. It is notable that on this particular night, Mr. Brubeck is accompanied by his sons.

Shamelessly, Lou is the most active listener in a crowd of quietly observant fans. Unlike his quiet counterparts, he beats his head and chest wildly to the music, embarrassing his children.
During the ride home, Lou begins to daydream aloud about having a family jazz band. He then forces his children to pick up instruments.

David gets the guitar, even though he has no interest in playing the instrument. His teacher, a very short man, tells David the importance of a musicians instrument and that he should name his guitar and be devoted to it like a lover. David says he wants to give his guitar a name like Oliver but his teacher discourages this.

After a while of not practicing and lack of interest, David stops taking guitar lessons.

Observations

I've been thinking a lot lately. My grandfather had a heart attack recently and was in the hospital for about two weeks. He's fine now but my entire family's daily lives were thrown out of control. I while my mom was out at the hospital with her dad, I got left with a lot more responsibilities that I'm not used to. This all made me think about what I'm going to do with my life after college as well as thinking about my physical health.

I want to go to an art college and after I graduate I want to go into an ar career. But art colleges are very hard to get into. And with college competition and rising tutition, I'll proably end up at OSU or OU. More likely OU because its cheaper. I'm striving for CCAD but I need to keep my grades up or else my GPA won't be high enough and I won't be accepted. And this is me worrying just about getting to college. Afterwards is entirely different and far more negative.

And then there's my health both physical and mental. I'm average size, average weight, but my family is always pressing me to do more, more, more you're not doing enough to keep your weight off! And it makes me feel bad about my self, like I'm overweight. And I'm not. All my friends say that I'm not, and part of me says that I'm not but there's the other half of me that says that I am. I understand that I need to keep active because my family has a history of heart and weight related health problems but I feel that what I'm doing right now isn't good enough. I walk at least four miles every other day for more then two and a half hours. That's good, right? But my mom and my youngest sister, my sister especially, say that I do nothing but sit on ass and do nothing. Not only does this make me feel like heavy but it leaves me feeling very pissed off.

Sorry for the bitchfest. But now that I've said I feel much better.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent.

Because of the advancements in today's medical and criminal-related fields, I have a feeling that there are a lot of men that could be exonerated now when they couldn't have "back then". These articles, the ones Jen posted, could mean men that have spent the majority of their lives imprisoned on false charges can finally be free and live their lives.

T-shirts...?

I can't think of anyone, that I know, in their right mind that would wear a CNN t-shirt. Now if the headlines actually sounded funny or clever, I might consider buying one, but this, though, is a great example of our capitalist society wringing money out of the public in every way possible.

Honestly, CNN t-shirts.

In today's world, I don't think there isn't a thing that we can't sell. With internet access, a little money, and a creative/perverse/deranged mind, you could make and sell almost anything. My friend, Katie, once found a battery opperated yodelling pickle. No joke.

Me Talk Pretty One Day.

"Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris, one of his many entertaining autobiographies.

Chapter one: Go Carolina

David Sedaris begins this series of autobiographical essays with a story from his early childhood. While he is sitting in his fifth grade geography class, an unfamiliar teacher unexpectedly calls him out of the room. His mind flashes images of television shows where secret agents come knocking on doors in pursuit of a criminal. He then quickly runs through a list of crimes for which he might be punished. It is immediately evident that even as a child, Sedaris uses pop culture as a source of reference for many real life circumstances.

Further on in this chapter Sedaris talks more about how embarassing it is to be in speech thearpy. He says that only people in speech therapy boys that keep movie star scrapbooks and collect rose petals for use in a fragrant potpourri, addressing that a more proper name for the Speech Therapy Lab would be Future Homosexuals of America.

Sedaris also talks about the tactics he would use to avoid using his s's. Words such as "please" became "with your kind permission" and "yes" became "correct" or "affirmative". At the end of the chapter, it comes down to Sedaris and his speech therapist. His therapist is leaving for the year and wants to celebrate with cookies. She then starts to talk about her personal life and about how much of a failure she is at being a speech therapist. With teacher seemingly on the verge of tears, Sedaris says "I'm thorry." at which point his teacher looks at him and responds "Haha, I got you." She then signs him up for another session of speech therapy.

OC#1: Laptops at School.

I see why teachers would be concerned with students using their own computers rather than using the school's. It can be a waste of free time. For me that isn't a problem because even if I were to bring in my laptop, I still get all my work turned in and I maintain high grades, so bringing a laptop to school wouldn't affect my grades. Now, I can't say that for everyone. There are some kids that probably should be using their free time to do homework rather than surf the internet.

Do Not Want.

After reading the Tipping Point and nearly forcing myself to finish it, I'm not so sure I want to read another Gladwell book. The Tipping Point was, well, boring and I'm not entirely sure if the Blink book is going to be any different.

OPP

The Price in Right (Kyle)
OC#2: Interim week.

That's really cool, Kyle! I remember you talking about that last year. Isn't the movie "Reservation Road"?
Anyway, I have to agree with you, interim is a great learning experience for the students at Linworth and if there is anyone at the AP who isn't doing an interim simply because they "don't feel like" they have no idea the opportunities that they are missing out on.

Interim.

For interim next week, my friend and I are going to do a self-guided study/ mentorship. For three days (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) we are going to be working at the Carriage Place Rec. centre with a pottery teacher. There, we will be working with clay and paint. As well as pottery and painting, we will also be writing as a self-guided study.

Planning was complicated because we had to come up with what we wanted to do first (also because of parents disliking the idea of a joint interim) and it took us past the packet due date. Luckily, we were able to get an extension.

I like interim the way it's set up now. Students, for the most part, take advantage of the time given to them for their interim. The only main problem I've seen the past two years that I have been at Linworth, is making a final descion on what to do during the week of. I guess having some volunteer work (like what Jen used as an exmaple) as an option would be good. The list could help or hinder students, really. The whole "coming to a final descion"-thing again. But having it avaliable would be nice.

War.

Ever since we stopped getting the newspaper here at home, I've been a little behind on the events in Iraq. I do read on it every now and then when there's an article on the front page of Yahoo! but that's about as involved as I get. But all that one really needs to know is that war is costly in both money and lives.


So far my stance on bringing the troops home is that we'd have to do it over an extended period of time because if we pull out to fast we could have another Vietnam or Korea situation (they basically fell apart because our troops were withdrawn to quickly).

Now, know that I do not support McCain, nor do I support Hillary or Obama, but like John McCain said, we could be there for the next hundred years. But NOT in a combat situation. We still have troops over in Germany sixty years after WWII but not in a combat situation, so there is the possiblity of us being in the Middle East for quite so time, too. We "put" Saddam in power and we took him out, so now we're dealing with the consequences of our own imperialism. We went and got ourselves far too involved with someone else's business.

Reading & Reflection

I thought The Tipping Point was alright.

The chapters, I felt, were dragged out with lots of detail, too much detail. Most of the examples used seemed to be very bland and uninteresting. The Stickiness factor was hardest for me to get a grasp on because of all time he put into describing the studies on the kids and Seasame Street. I didn't make the connection until he sumed up his point in the end of the chapter. Almost every chapter was like that for me.

If it weren't for all of the "pointless" detail the author put into this book I probably would have had a better time reading. The context as a whole seemed very dry. I almost had to force myself to read at times. Also I would get so lost in all of the examples Gladwell would give that I would forget what the overall purpose of the chapter was and the point he was trying to make.

I felt this book could have been better. But, on the other hand, it did give me a wider perspective of trends in society.

Honestly, though, I'm glad we're finished with it.

More Foamy, plz.

I love listening to this guy rant.

http://www.illwillpress.com/

Some of you may be familiar with Foamy the Squirrel. Well, he has a homepage.
Originally, this flash series appreared on a website called "Newgrounds.com" but has now evolved into a sort of online trend. Though it has died down, isn't big, he still posts on this site and sells merchandise like CDs. Often he posts rants (as voice recordings) relevant to current topics like politics and such, but he does have a few random animations that are funny to watch.

I encourage you, if you're into dark humour and angry ranting squirrels, to go to this website.

OC #1: Prescription drugs.

Could this possibly the next drug epidemic?

There's a prescription drug for almost every little defect in the human body. What concerns me most about this is the fact that almost everyone nowadays is on some sort of prescribed somthing or other and that doctors will pass out prescriptions to almost anyone who asks. Almost anyone.

Now, I do know that there are some people that do need these medications to function properly, like myself for example. But its the potential of abuse/addiction that comes with the drug. And the risk is high amoung young adults. Whether it be peer pressure, side effect of the drug resulting in dependency, or just flat out abuse.

Here's a website that I found with information on prescribed drug abuse: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/prescr_drg_abuse.html

And if you're interested in a little humour: Foamy the Squirrel "Drugs in Your Head" http://youtube.com/watch?v=3rTthxiDsbQ

OPPs

Michelle on "Materialism"-

Okay, the "" marks weren't intended as being bad.

This post is a strong one. It's very true. You are right, today in modern Western society we have become, if you will, comfortably numb. We emphasize the importance of material items like electronics, clothes, money. If you turn on the TV, 24-hours a day, advertisements for stuff is in your face again. Billboards and street signs flash this as well. The more stuff you have all the more happy you will be! I don't find this to be true. Sure I'm no better than the average American about hoarding things, but I could be better.

Like you quoted: "That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. -Thoreau".

R&R: Power of Context

The Broken Window theory is a theory established by criminologist to explain why and how crime epidemics happen.

The Broken Window theory summarizes anarchy. If a window is left borken and unrepaired, passersby will assume that no cares and that no is in charge. Soon more windows will be broken, which will spread to the neighborhood the building faces, sending out the signal that anything goes. This is what some theorize to be the cause of Bernie Gonez's shooting the four black boys. That scenario at the beginning of this chapter was bizarre but in a way justified. Did he know they were criminals? The book doesn't mention this. The shooting would made far more sense had the boys pulled out the weapons mentioned. It seems to me, though, the man, Bernie, was unstable. Some use the Broken Window theory to explain why he did what he did, saying that because of the car's dingy atmosphere it was likely to happen. While others say that because of his upbringing, a sort of predispostion causing him to be mentally unstable, that "he would have shot those four kids if he had been sitting in a Burger King."

The "dingy atmosphere" of the cars was one the problems David Gunn sought to do away with. When he was put in charge of the sunbway rebuiliding program he pledged to do away with graffiti and fare-beating which to him symbolized the decay of the system. To me, this is a reasonable place to start. Start with the small problems and slowly begin to work to the bigger ones. He dealt with the situation accordingly. He did this by placing a number of undercover officers in the station platforms with the most fare-beating problems, arresting anyone who skipped paying their fare and in the process (surprise, surprise) rounding up large groups of miscreants with criminal backgrounds carrying knives, guns, warrants, and more. As well as rounding up fare-beaters, he had teams clean the subway cars to discourage vandals. By taking care of these misdemeanours and taking control of the situation before him, Gunn was able to trigger a large anti-crime movement in New York.

Now, I can't recall witnessing a situation like this, but I think for the most part it would work. Working on the small problems before moving onto the picture of chaos.

Changes to Blog about.

So far, I haven't seen the need to change anything major about this class. It's fun and interactive and it gives us the chance to get in touch with current news. The research and linking though, I think, shouldn't just be restricted to other blogs. And another about research and linking, no more political blogs, please? That killed me. And I would be fun to be able to blog about "whatever" every now and then. Not as a weekly assignment, but just thrown in every so often because one: it's fun and two: it would help the students get to know one another a little better. But other than that, I think the class if fine the way it is.

Like I said before, I don't think there is a need for any major changes at all.

School Shootings.

Here, where I go to school, I don't feel the need to worry much about school shootings. But then again, I'm pretty sure the victims of Columbine, Virginia Tech, the Amish Schoolhouse, and NIU felt the same way before the gunmen showed up to school armed. Though, the shootings have taken place in schools states away and even though I live in a good, safe community, you can never be sure when that "potential" gunman is going to snap and come to school packing.

School shootings and what provoke them are absolutely astounding, almost frightening. The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, for example, is one of the most frightening I've seen or heard of. He had a background of no friends, of being a stalker, and all sorts of creepy stuff that they found out about him. He was deranged. So, out of curiosity, I did a little research and found some statistics for school shootings/other school related violence: http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/national-statistics.html Looking at these stats make me think that, even though they have levelled out, we can't take the chance of letting them rise again. Thorough background checks should be done, to prevent future incidents.

Other methods of shooting preventions would be arming school staff. The methods, I have been told, that teachers are supposed to use when dealing with an assailant are two things: don't make eye contact and do what the assailant says. But in most shootings, it seems, the assailant is there to kill and only kill. Negotiating won't do you much good if you're dead. So, I believe that teachers should be armed. Possibly armed with guns that fire rubber pellets or bean bag (which are both effective methods that are used by the police force to stun and disarm criminals) or even tasers. Teachers would go through training and background checks before obtaining these because when students are at school, they and their safety are the responsibility of the staff, am I correct? And I believe staff should be trained to protect students if necessary.

Looking at all of this, I believe there's something more to these shootings, something psychological. Have we become desensitized by the media? Does the "hands-off" approach to raising and educating children have a say in this? Could it be the lack of respect for authority? And could these shootings be on a rise again in the next few years? As we are bombarded with 24-hour News coverage of every little criminal act on television and as we've become further immersed in these violent and gruesome images, our society has begun to crumble as we know. In this age, nobody cares. Because it's all about the proverbial "me, me, me". Instant gratification. When there's something in a person way, blow it over and keep going.

And that's not were it ends.

We have unlimited access to infinite amounts of "perverse" knowledge on the internet, the kind of knowledge that could contort the mind of an already unstable individual. Also, family and social settings have changed drastically. In todays world, divorce rates and the number of single parents have skyrocketed, leaving children of these singles alone the majority of the time that they are home. Going hand-in-hand with the loneliness at home is rejection by peers. Looking into the backgrounds of these gunmen reveals that the majority of them were ostracizied in their social lives. Estranged from the community because they were different. Essentially leaving them on their own. This in combination with the lack of love at home and the pressures around them, would have led to a break down and put them in a corner where they had no other way out. But on top of taking their own lives, they are going to take all over those responsible for their suffering down with them.

My Opinion on...(a re-write)

(Due to misinterpretation of this specific post, I have taken the liberty of revising it so that it makes coherent sense and that it portrays more positive ideals.)

It's cute, it's trendy, it's all the rage.

I'm talking about fashion trends, of course.

Amoung the mainstream gaints of the fashion industry (teen fashion that is) are the stores Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, and Aeropostale. They're big and popular and are stores for teens to be teens, right? Of course, with the exception of the few guys and gals floundering about in the "trend trap", but other than that, kids go there just to be themselves. Now, I may not be a regular shopper at these particular clothing distributors, I do own a few of their jeans and hoodies. And, yes, they are high quality. Who ever said looking good was cheap?

But am I really getting my money's worth?

It's high quality but is it good looking, too?

Yes, they have some pretty cute shirts and hoodies but, to me (and I know I'm not the only one out there who thinks this), their clothing looks pretty much the same. Now, I like to sport around the considerable "artsy"-look and so I prefer clothes of the "unique" sense, so I shop at stores like Kohl's, Hot Topic, and Tropical Trends for my shirts and jackets. Sure they're cheap but I continue to visit these stores frequently. But I only go to Abercrombie or American Eagle when I need new jeans. They're jeans are very nice, but I feel a lot of the time that these stores in particular aren't the best place to find the funky shirts that I like. And to prove this to myself I went on their main sites to surfed around a bit to make sure that I wasn't missing any details. Being a girl, I looked at the girls clothing these stores had to offer and from what I saw a few cute things and browers full of basically the same material.

In my mind, they need to mix it up a bit and be a little more creative with their outifts rather than making their customers an army of walking billboards. Of these stores, I'd have to say Hollister is the worst about that factor, so I avoid this store all together. Abercrombie & Fitch aren't as bad, but are still guilty, so I just buy their jeans. Aeropostale is okay. And I'd have to say that American Eagle uses the "billboard" method the least. So if you're looking for high quality shirts that are "unique" I would suggest American Eagle. But for now I'll continue shopping for my cheapy ten-dollar-tees at my favorite stores.

Hollister: http://www.hollisterco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10251&catalogId=10201&categoryId=12552&langId=-1&cm_ven=site&cm_cat=homepage&cm_pla=shop_tab&cm_ite=bettys

Abercrombie & Fitch: http://www.abercrombie.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10901&categoryId=12203

Aeropostale: http://www.aeropostale.com/home/index.jsp

American Eagle: http://www.ae.com/web/browse/hp_womens.jsp?catId=womens

Whiny Butt Munches.

Alright here are a couple of things that piss me off.

Cheapskates.

And whiny drama sluts. And there are a couple of particular monkey-sucking-turd-lickers I'd like to bring to everyone's attention. Focusing mainly on the "attention seeking", though.

First one: Gemma Wilson, a.k.a. Snapesnogger. Now, you're probably wondering, 'Who the hell is that?' Well, I'll tell you. She is a hot-shot artist on a mainstream website called DeviantArt. DeviantArt is a website for artists, both potential and professional, to post their artwork so that it can be critiqued/admired/whatever and she's (somehow) one of the top dogs. Here's her homepage: http://snapesnogger.deviantart.com/

Now, back to Gemma.

The only reason, I repeat, THE ONLY friggin' reason she got to be so popular was because of her B.S. doodles of the Harry Pothead character, Severus Snape (hence her username 'Snapesnogger'). And what worse: she isn't that good! With her popularity came hordes of ass-licking-weeabu-fangirls who band together and ban any user that had the gall to comment negatively about her work.

All because she can't handle criticizism.

Now, you're probably thinking, 'You're just jealous.'
I am not.
And to be blunt, I don't give a damn. What bothers me is the fact that she has her head up her fat---well, anyway.
Here's one example of this. I am, too, a member of this website and I had been following her little online escapades (which are good for a couple of giggles) for some time. She would rant and rant in her public journal about how hard it is being her and how mean people to her, (which to tell the truth, there are some people that do need to back off because they are incredibly rude). So, one day, when she finally posted a journal entitled 'What do you REALLY think about my art?', I jumped on the opportunity to critique, not to harass her but to give her a few pointers that might help her. I pointed out a few areas she might want to look into to improve in and reassured her that, with her talent, she could easily excel and improve. Nothing rude or negative. And after a few days, I finally got a reply to my comment.

And I was appalled. She had chewed me out, called me an "insensitive bitch" and on top of that, she blocked my user!

...

WHAT!?

I was furious. She asks for peoples' opinions and critiques, and, instead of going, "Okay, thanks! :)" for their help, she stabs them in the face with rude replies? What kind idiot does that? Then, about two and a half months later, I am told by a friend that she finally up and left DA, emptying her gallery and everything. Why? "Because I can't handle this pressure anymore! You all are rude and stinky!" She's such a cry-baby. But, now she's back. Almost three months later and she's selling her pencil doodles at $60 a piece...and people are actually buying them?! She sells them saying that, because she's been having a hard time making money on her art, she's had to raise the prices per commision...to $60?! For a box-eyed hermaphrodite worm-baby?!

Oh, yes. I forgot to mention her OCs, or original characters, which she has been taking heat for as well. This is the best part. She has these naga-snake-worm-thing characters that she posts about their stories on DA. Her two main characters are Asp, a naga prince, and his lover, Mercury, a hermaphrodite naga that is capable of bearing children. She said one time, and I quote, "Well, Mer, is actually 40% female and 60% male, but he/she/it can still have babies." That doesn't even make sense...but then again a lot of what she posts doesn't make sense.

Now, don't crap on me for posting this saying that maybe I was insensitive or whatever. But, maybe I'm overlooking this. Maybe she's emotionally unstable or something. Whatever the case, she still gets on my nerves. And no, I'm not "hating on her" because she blocked my user, I didn't like her much before she did that. But I liked her even less after that little fit she threw in her reply to my advice.

Another thing that gets on my nerves are people who purposely stereotype their own "social label". Take this girl for example. Her name is Tara Gilesbie...or Glesbie, she can't even spell her own last name. Her link: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/999831/XXXbloodyrists666XXX
She thinks she's gothic, or as she would say 'gottik'. And if you look up 'worst fanfiction ever' her name will be #1 under a story called 'My Immortal'. She wrote a story based off of the Harry Pothead series. No, not the books. The movies. She butchers every aspect of Harry Pothead, as if fanfictions don't do that anyway, and she labels herself for such an atrocity as being 'goff'.

First off, learn to write legibly and second, you are not goth. You are, as you have called so many sensible people, a poser. Though, I may not be a goth (but I am labelled as such by others) I can tell you right now, that you are getting your social labels mixed up. Emos and goths are not the same. (Emos cut themselves while goths cut other people. Just kidding.)

Goths are, for the most part, intelligent and literate. (I'm not saying that aren't stupid goths out there, though) Which you have proven that you aren't. Another thing is, though goth may be a fashion statement, it is also an attitude which you lack completely. Thus making you: a poser. Goths don't have to dress in all black or prove to others that they are gothic. People usually register that themselves through a person's actions, behavior, and all that other psychological mumbo-jumbo. And I have registered you as: a poser. I'll say it again, a poser. You give real goths a bad name. "...one of my frenz has 3 earrinz..." my ass. That has nothing to do with being a goth. I have four 'earrinz', what does that make me? So what, my wardrobe may be relatively dark, does that make me gothic? I listen to Good Charlotte, My Chemical Romance, Evanescence, Linkin Park, and Marilyn Manson. Am I goth, yet? Possibly, it seems, according to Tara.

And if you have to post a petition so people "believe dat I'm gothik", you've got to be kidding me. Gothic? I think not. Here's her "proof" that she's 'gothik': http://www.petitiononline.com/tararox/petition.html

Your stories make you seem dumber than you probably are. But if you want to write a story and get religion involved in it, get your facts straight! God forbid me saying this, but you give Satanists a bad name as well! If you need to look up the facts on your own friggin' religion here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanism. Despite how ignorant and unintelligent she may seem, she has still been able to maintain a fanbase. How? I will never know! http://community.livejournal.com/tara_fanclub According to her fanclub, as I interpertted, her story was so bad and in need of referencing from the actual books, that it actually increased the sales of the first five Harry Pothead books. Uh, what?

In short, don't talk to me about whiny-attention-seeking-butt-munches who pass their crap off as artwork, goffft pozrz (or however the hell she spells it) who think they can write a brilliant and shining story without reading the actual story itself, and Harry Pothead and its fandoms. That may seem like only a few things but, trust me, the list goes on and on. And though I don't speak up much, I've got a lot to say.

Alternative Schools

An alternative middle school? I'm sure most of you out there have heard about this new Phoenix Alternative Middle School program-thing they've got going on over at Perry.( http://www.phoenixms.org/faqs.htm)This school is basically a mini-LAP. They have flexible block scheduling, student forums, student voice/opinion, and other various features in common with Linworth. Alright, cool. But there is one key feature that sets us apart from Phoenix. The students are graded through a Mastery system. As it states on their websites the students at Phoenix are expected to get a 90% or above or they will have to repeat the assignment with limited time until "mastery" is achieved. This is one feature I both like and dislike. I like this because it forces students to keep up and do their best on their work. And I dislike this because, looking at this from a students point of view, it would be very stressful. But then again I don't know the kind or the amount of work that they recieve daily.

Another alternative program that peaked my interest was the Columbus Alternative HIgh School (http://www.cahs.info/) This school, again, offers the benefits as Linworth. Students go between their "home school" and CAHS for their courses. They don't have an athletics team, like Linworth, and they have block scheduling. All is fairly similar except it's "Interim/Walkbout"-esque program. At CAHS, the students begin this system their sophomore year and is continued throughout their high school career. Throughout their last three years at CAHS, CAHS students go to an internship position every Wednesday rather attend to their regular courses. Personally, the whole "every Wednesday"-thing is a bit of a turn off for me. I can't pinpoint why, but it just seems a waste of school days.

R & R: Sesame Street is Politically Incorrect

Chapter 3 The Stickiness Factor: Sesame Street, Blues Clues, and the Educational Virus In this chapter, Gladwell does an overview of educational children's tv, its relevance, and how they make it "stick". Ah, yes, Sesame Street. I remember those days. And Blues Clues, too, but that's because I have a sister six years younger than myself. I did know for some time that a reasonable amount of research a put into researching the productivity of children's shows. I mean you have to test the product, right? Now, being a little A.D.D. kid then is way different from being a little A.D.D. kid now. Then, I more than definately wouldn't have watched the show had the Muppets been separate from the real people. The "deep" conversations, as Gladwell mentioned, originally featured on the show would be too confusing to a little four-year-old. It's a "no duh!"-situation, but I noticed too while babysitting for a couple down the street. Their girls, two and four, wanted to watch the movie Shrek, I put the DVD in for them and sat down with them to watch it. The humour in the movie went right over their heads and they asked to watch something else instead, like Dora. Which brings me to my next topic. Blues Clues and Nick Jr. Nick Jr. is an early morning program (and now tv channel) made specifically for toddlers and the younger age group with shows such as Dora the Explorer, her cousin Diego, Lazy Town, and of course the ever-popular, Blues Clues. This show features a wide variety of colouful characters, easy to understand concepts, and is just entertaining to little kids. And looking back and compairing Blues Clues and Sesame Street, Blues Clues, in my mind, would be a lot easier for younger kids to understand. Plus, you get to help Steve (now Joe) solve the puzzles! Fun! The shows on Nick Jr. are all relatively the same. Colourful characters, simple concept for kids, and that entertaining to kids. It's a wonder they like those shows! Which is probably why they like the Disney movies so much. Now, the original Disney movies. I grew up with every single one ever made, well, almost...but then my mother sold all of them for $5 at a garage sale. Aside from the undetectable innuendo in them, they're pretty good.(Alice in Wonderland was one of my favorites.) I believe that little kids get the stories because, for the most part, the movies are based off of revised fairy tales that they get read to by mom or dad before bed. So it's not completely over their heads. And I think they lthink the whole fantasy-faeries-and-princesses-and-knights-in-shining-armour-thing is neat or pretty looking. (Plus, they're too young to understand that that kind of stuff doesn't exist.) I think little kids are very creative and imaginative and are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. But getting inside the mind of a child is very hard because their unpredictable and always learning something new. At least we were happy when we were ignorant of the world.

R & R: What Failed to Tip

A more recent version of the "stickiness factor", in one particular area, would be all of the campaigning done for the action/sci-fi/thriller movie, "Cloverfield". The epedimic began when the first of several previews for the Blair Witch-esque movie was shown in theatres. When the first preview was presented to audiences, no movie title was given with the preview, just a release date. So it leaves you confused and wanting to find out more. After this, the viral campaigning exploded. Profiles were made on MySpace.com as part of the campaigning. False satellite images of the beast and other strange happenings "invovled with this event" were released. Rumours, code names, theories. A little trail of hints and clues left curious viewers wanting more! What could it possibly be? Is it another War of the Worlds movie? Was it Godzilla again? King Kong? Or as some speculated, giant mutant sewer gators? What is this thing attacking New York City (again)? The information, at least believeable information, was near impossible to find. This stuck. Like glue in my mind. I remembered that preview for the longest time and couldn't figure out what the movie was actually called until almost a month and a half later. I wanted to see the movie for one thing. To figure out what on God's green earth this monster-thing was. And that is what made me remember this particular for the longest time until it finally came out. And, luckily, I wasn't disappointed, what with all the hype and all. Little hints and clues in suspense movie advertising stick best with me. I see the movie out of pure curiosity (which is a reason they advertise like that, duh.) Now, if someone tries advertising a cereal brand like that though, 'What could possibly be inside of this box?' there is no way in hell I am eating that cereal. You see, I like the hype for movie, though their campaigning can be a bit over done, I sitll like the little info hunt that you have to do to find out more. Those types of ads are most memorable to me than other movie ads. That's because they get me interested and almost force me to get out for more information. Now away movies and onto everyday 'me' life. Everyday, I am plugged into my iPod. Almost all the time. It's compact, it carries a lot of music and movies, it's got quality ear buds, it makes that neat little clicky noise when you scrole up and---anyway, it's great. Practically everyone I know has one. Now, this a big trend! But let's look Apple's late iPod models. Take the Mini, for example. This little bugger had problems out the wazoo. It would freeze constantly, it had limited music storage space, poor quality battery, it lacked video compatiblity, and it was chunky. It had all kinds of problems. I had one before the one I have now, same with my two sisters. All three of our iPods had some sort error or defect. In fact, Minis were recalled and put out of production prior to the release of the iPod Nano, the smaller, slimer Mini counterpart. These are only a few reasons that I believe were involved in the Mini's failure at tipping towards popularity and most favorable. As for future iPod products, well, I'll just say that I'm happy with my new iPod, 100% Perfection.

Politics, plz.

The Republican: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/ This blog talks about politics here and around the world. She rants, she's analytical (though a lot of what she writes about is opinion based), she covers it all. She writes as if she were having a conversation with the reader using sarcasm and humour to express her distase of the other party. A lot of what she writes is interesting to read and she knows what she's talking about. The Democrat: http://kos.dailykos.com/ This is yet another hate blog. Very liberal with little humour. When he writes he makes his point very clear and very blunt. He knows what he's talking about but he twists his facts a lot. This gu is obviously very serious about what he does. He's a bit of a liberal attack dog and comes down hard on anyone who disagrees with him. If you're looking for a humourous democratic blog, I would suggest http://blog.alfranken.com/. He talks about the serious topics with a sense of humour to keep it reader friendly. Much like a liberal AtlasShrugs, he uses sarcasm and humour to poke at the opposing party. "Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects." - Lester B. Pearson

Smile. It confuses people.

Though I couldn't find the original video they're all over YouTube now. FREE HUG campaign videos. If only people would take the time to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. With everything going on in life right now, it's hard to so it's videos like these that always make my day better. They make me think and see that even though times may be bad, there is still some good in the world. Sure it's just people giving hugs, but a single hug or a good feeling can change the way a person goes about their day. They make eveything seem a little better.These videos always make me smile and I hope they make you smile, too.http://youtube.com/watch?v=3jG5XwRKDVc

OC #2: Target

Target is a family friendly store. But it needs to get with it. Honestly. Target has strictly focused its advertisements on television viewers and radio listeners, but has failed to pay attention to one the fastest growing trends around the world, the internet. As the internet grows so do communication connections, especially in the blogosphere. And for this mainstream store to ignore a customer on one of the biggest advertising centers on the planet is really very, well, stupid. To conclude this, Target needs to rethink its treatment of its bloggers and get with the times.

OC #1: Free Schools

This would be great except I don't see much of a point. Sure I don't like tests and grades (grades especially) but I think that they are necessary to getting a good quality education. This "free school" system, though, is just too laid back for my taste. I wouldn't get anything accomplished there for one and another thing is, well, the kind of stuff I do in my free time (basically what they are doing all the time) is just for fun, it's nothing to make a living off of. Sure I'm just a high school student, but I realize the importance of education for the future, especially if you want to go to college and get a good job. Now, compairing this system of education to our AP education system, I did see a few similarities. They have a lot of the same freedoms we do and more. At LAP, we still have classes and expectations to up-hold like using our free blocks and sign-out time wisely. Their environment, on the other hand, is entirely unstructured. Like I said before, it's too laid back for my taste.

R & R (part 2)

"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

Chapter 1: The Three Rules of Epedimics
In this chapter, Gladwell focuses widely on crime and the spread of STDs. He talks about several cases in which the result of a wide outbreak of a crippling disease was caused by only a few small factors. One was an outbreak of syphilis in Baltimore. The reasons for the widespread outbreak were numberous but it came down to a single fact that an epicenter for the disease was eliminated. There were several housing complexes that held a vast majority of people infected with the disease and that when the housing developements were demolished, and the residents forced to move away, was when the disease spiked.Another case discussed was an outbreak of gonorrhea. When there was an outbreak of gonorrhea, the source was a single area consisting of a few neighborhoods. In both of these cases exemplify what economists talk about as the 80/20 Principle in which 80% of the "work" will be done by 20% of the participants. This meaning that because of a few promiscuous infected persons having sexual relations with three or more partners, who in turn go out and have other sexual relations, was the case of these outbreaks.In the third section of this chapter, Gladwell discusses the "bystander problem" using the Kitty Genovese stabbing as an example. Genovese was persued by her assailant and stabbed to death on a street corner in a period of a half an hour. She had thirty-eight witnesses, none of which called the police. This was sort of group psychology was dubbed the "bystander problem", meaning people in a group of three or more are less likely to respond to a situation than a single person alone. Scenearios were staged in which a student alone in a room would have epileptic fit. They found that 85% of the time, when there was one person next door, they would respond. But when subjects thought there were more overhearing the fit, they came to the students aid only 31% of the time.Gladwell came to the conclusion of saying that because of this group mentality, had there only been one witness, Kitty would have had a chance.

R & R (part 1)

"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

Prolouge
Gladwell has used two examples through both of these reading: one positive and one negative. In his prolouge he used the example of the Hush Puppies popularity increase. He stated that the rise in popularity of these shoes was because some kids in Soho, wearing the shoes when no one else would, just so happen to catch the eye of fashion designers who liked them and wanted to use them in their collection. Because the fashion industry endorsed these shoes, they became popluar across the country. And because of this endorsement, the producers of Hush Puppies were able to come out of their economic slump. This was a positive impact of an epidemic.
After that example, Gladwell talks about the rise in crime rates in New York. Over a period of five years crime rates had dropped a total of 64.3%. Before this drop, the police force was lacking and serious crimes soared to 626,182, just in 1992. But due a change in policing, crime rates dropped dramatically.
These two examples are examples of the Three Rules of Epedimics. One is contagiousness, two is that little changes have big effects, and three is that it did not happen gradually over time but all at once in a short period of time. The rise in popularity of Hush Puppies and the rise of the Anti-crime movement in New York both spread quickly and increased rapidly in a short period of time.

Heath and Kanye

Should I care that Heath Ledger is dead? Why is it news that Kanye's mom died? Both were front page news on CNN.com. Why are celebrities (and now their kin) newsworthy?

Well, the way I see it is because they're celebrities. They are our American gods. People idolize and worship celebrities. (Though I really don't see the purpose of that.) My parents were having a conversation about this subject the day they found Heath dead. My mother made the point of saying, "Because their celebrities and because everything they do is publicized, after a while you almost feel like you know the person." Though that isn't necessarily true, I can see where she's coming from. But after a time of hearing the same story over and over again, though, people eventually begin to say, "Alright! I get it! Their dead!" Take the Anna Nicole Smith death for example. That was so over done and debated about for such a long time that her body began to decay and they couldn't embalm her because of the controversy that was going on over her corpse. Now, I don't know a whole lot about Anna Nicole, but I knew that she had a drug and drinking problem and with that fact in mind I thought they didn't even need to do an autoposy! We all saw it coming. We all knew it was drug overdose! Case closed.

My point is; some people care while others simply don't. And that's fine because I for one don't care. Yes, it is sad and yes, Heath was a good actor but he's dead. While they could have been reporting that 44,000 children in Africa died of starvation that day they chose the story that they knew would get them more air time. I'm sorry, but that's how it is.
...
And yes, I do care about the children in Africa...):

Hygeine, plz?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22827499/

That's a little gross. If I ever had to make sure my doctor washed their hands, I think I'd chuck a spaz. That's just...I can't even describe. But at the same time, this fact doesn't surprise me much. I've known people, though, who had serious hygeine problems. She didn't bathe. At all. The most she would do when it came to bathing, I was told, is that she would simply wet her hair to make trick her mom into thinking she had taken a bath. And what worse is that I was too nice to tell that she smelled. I was afraid I would hurt her feelings because she was a very emotionally unstable person to begin with.

I believe hygeine is important, yes, but I'm not some sort of germophobe or anything. But when it comes to hygiene in the work place or at school, I think that washing your hands in the restroom, especially when you work in a profession that requires you to be clean at all times, is very important. Now, I'm not so worried about people waching their hands at school (but I should). But in a hospital?! That's unsettling.

Hate Blogs?

Link #1: http://www.myhateblog.com/2007/02/27/i-hate-myspace/

Alright, here's angry person saying angry things. Her message is very negative and anti-MySpace. And, personally, I have to agree with some of the points she's made because I myself do not like the ever popular MySpace. Now, just because I agree with a few of the points posted, doesn't mean I agree with all of them. 'What is the point of MySpace?' is one question asked frequently on this site and one that I wonder about. Some of what the blogger is saying in this blog, though, makes them seem immature and unitelligent but for the most part they get their point across in a somewhat sensible manner.
Quote: "...Friends Requests - what the fuck are all these about? You get hundreds of random strangers a day/week asking if they can add you to their friends list. Why? They don’t know you, they don’t give a shit about you. Is there some kind of contest to see who can generate the most number of FAKE friends?..."
Not the most brilliant piece of information ever, is it?

Link #2: http://drhelen.blogspot.com/2007/03/is-blogosphere-one-big-bitch-fest.html

Now, this wasn't a very long post but the majority of the answers were in the comments that the subject of the blog got. 'Is the Blogoshpere a bitch fest?' In a way, it is. But it is also a way for people to vent in a harmless cybernetic way. The same goes for video games. Some people believe they are senseless and are a negative influence.
About the comments, they were, for the most part, well constructed and to the point. Obviously comments from older/mature readers, unlike some other blogs which literally are 'bitch fests'.

So Far, So Good

Well, at least I know that my computer doesn't reject this website like it rejects MySpace.
My future posts are currently pending, so keep alert!