reflection

This has been a long semester for me, and one of the hardest times in my life. I have been through a lot, learned a lot, and grown a lot. I have veered away from seclusion and a controlling relationship, and learned to be happy with myself. My writing has changed with me. Personality is reflected through writing, and my personality has changed so rapidly that it can actually be seen through out the semester of English 1020.

At first my pieces were about a game, a game I wasted months on because it was what my ex-boyfriend liked. My writing was styled articulately, rigid, and slightly formal. My writing followed the criteria to a tee, so to speak, and was written in a very textbook manner. Looking back on the piece I can see how absorbed into it I really was, but not for me, I wanted to be the best so that my ex-boyfriend would respect me. “Mass messaging also allows leaders to post attack targets for dominant enemy accounts so that members with accounts in range of the targets can assist in diminishing those accounts with assassinations and attacks, thus weakening enemy forces and helping the alliance reign supreme. Think about it, don’t we all have the internal desire to reign supreme?” Looking back on this I almost have to laugh at myself. “Don’t we all have the internal desire to reign supreme?” more like external desire. These writings were motivated not from myself, but from my ex.

After that, my writing lost most of its personality. Kiwi was analyzed through my knowledge of graphic design and film literature and composition. “…the clip doesn’t terminate all curiosity of the viewer with the medium shot, by not utilizing an establishing shot… the clip also uses a sufficient amount of anticipatory setups…” The writing is dry. Unemotional, and impersonal.

My work about Market Street Station I enjoyed quite a bit. Its not exactly the writing I enjoyed though. It was having the chance to sit back and relax and just watch people, and observe. This is something I would not have taken the opportunity to do on my own, and to my surprise it was rather relaxing. Since I truly did go and observe, where as some others clearly didn’t, I had some pretty descriptive observations. “…None of [the] people notice the janitor mopping around the slabs, using muddy water, and making the grimy situation of the floor worse, rather than improving it. She drags the mud across the tiles sloppily and in an unsystematic pattern adding a layer of dirt on top of the hundreds of layers previously set… one young boy stands nose pressed against the glass of the doors creating a tiny ring of fog that ungulates simultaneously with his breath… the lady is one of those readers who move their lips to form the words they are scanning the pages in their book, as if to sound them out.”

Following this piece is a story a tale of the most influential moment in my life, or rather in my death. This was the most difficult piece I have ever produced. It was a time in my life that for once I truly opened my eyes. I didn’t get the greatest grade however, for my writing was a narrative, which is not what was assigned. For this assignment however I didn’t care about the grade, I wanted to share my story, my experiences and revelations to the world. “Life is fragile. Life is something that people take for granted each and every day. Everyone has heard this before, myself included, and yet no one really thinks that they are personally like this. The only way for the importance of something to become apparent is for the loss of it to threaten you. I have learned the value of life the hardest way possible, not through the loss of a loved one, a pet, or a family member, but through the death and rebirth of myself.” This is my favorite quote from all of my writing, it is the most personal and thought out piece of any of my writings for the semester, in my opinion.

Another piece I didn’t get such a good grade on, I assume, is my piece about the Enigma of William Tell. I put a lot of thought into this one, and I mean a few hours before even beginning to write. It Is very insightful. “Sexuality and death may appear an irrational pairing, they did to me before I studied Dali’s paintings, however when given thought, these two concepts go perfectly hand in hand, a match made in heaven, or rather in hell.” I think that this analysis is done very well, however I had a bit of a family emergency and didn’t have time to add in my sources cited, and the rhetorical terms throughout my writing, so I know my grade isn’t to great. This paper though would have been impossible to write though if I hadn’t experienced the tough times in a relationship.

Overall, throughout my semester I have learned to be more personal in my writing, and in life as well. I have learned the meaning of rhetoric, for the most part, of which I previously knew nothing about. I have grown quite a bit in my writing abilities, but I still need to perfect the art of following criteria, that would be my biggest weakness.

The Enigma of William Tell by Salvador Dali


The understudy for The Enigma of William Tell by Salvador Dali

Sexuality and death; words that are usually unassociated come together with close relation in Salvador Dali’s piece The Enigma of William Tell. This painting was created using pathos to affect people in sense of their emotions. This piece also makes one attracted to the strange and unusual pairing of two emotions that are rarely brought together in the same setting. Salvador Dali has portrayed an image with exaggerated sexuality, while simultaneously enforcing an over all sense of malice. In creating this work of art, Dali has attempted to enforce his controversial belief that sexuality and death are in close relation to one another.

Dali begins enforcing his perceived relation of sexuality to death by incorporating an enlarged buttock an exaggeration of a part of the body that “Most consider to be sexually attractive” as part of a dark image in which a man is eating a child’s head with a deranged look upon his face set against a dark back ground. Further more, Dali adds a piece of raw flesh draped over the buttock to more closely relate the two, and draws attention to the area by applying a red tint on a lighter portion of the painting, also he ads birds waiting for the flesh to fall to frame the scene. The overall tone of the painting attempting to represent a saddened emotion is created using relatively deep hues along with monotonous repetition of similar colors.

Dali was a painter known for ironic pairings such as the comparison of death and sexuality; it was simply the way he perceived things in his life. “His whole life long, and throughout his work, Dali was as obsessed with sexuality as he was with the quest for the absolute. When he saw the shaven armpit of a woman for the first time, he declared, he was looking for heaven, just as he was looking for heaven when he poked a rotting hedgehog with a crutch. Sexuality and death are close companions in Dali.”

Irrational is a word that comes to mind along with insanity for pairing two such unrelated things. The thought process of Dali seems that of a mad man, which many would assume he is. However Dali was rather a man of emotional genius as he relayed his life story through his works, and if in the series of events in his life paired death and sexuality, that is what he set out to portray through his artistic and creative geniuses.

The inspiration for this painting came during a time in Dali’s life when his sexuality or relationship with his divorcee wife instituted the death of his relationship with his father. “For a long time, Dali [a usually openly public figure] was secretive about the origins of the breach with his family, for the reasons why he was expelled from their midst; and doubtless the motive for his secrecy was consideration for his father. His 1933 picture The Enigma of William Tell (p.201) suggests an explanation: “William Tell is my father and the little child in his arms is myself; instead of an apple I have a raw cutlet on my head. He is planning to eat me. A tiny nut by his foot contains a tiny child, the image of my wife Gala. She is under constant threat from this foot. Because if the foot moves only very slightly, it can crush the nut.” The painting shows Dali settling accounts with his father, who had disowned him because he was living with a divorcee (i.e. Elaurd’s ex-wife, as Gala was by then.)”

Sexuality and death may appear an irrational pairing, they did to me before I studied Dali’s paintings, however when given thought, these two concepts go perfectly hand in hand, a match made in heaven, or rather in hell. Consider this; how many hearts are broken and relationships ended because of one party being unsatisfied sexually, or by one party seeking sexual satisfaction elsewhere in the form of adultery or cheating? How does cheating relate to death? One must think in an abstract manner for this to make sense, for Dali was an abstract painter. Death must not be literal in its meaning, it must be abstract, the death of a relationship. Sexuality can become a demise for it is a drive within humans that we as a race are often times not consciously aware of. We do not consider the consequences of our actions, we consider only obtaining the satisfaction we set out for.

Death can be literal as well, but one must think outside the box, or perhaps before the box, the death of an unborn child. The drive of sexuality often leads to the consequence that is an unwanted child, and a reaction to that is occasionally an abortion, a death an ending of a life before its existence, before it’s birth.
The painting is a single frame. The concepts of sexuality and death stand together as one. Dali used a single frame so that the viewer sees these concepts simultaneously, as one. The images in the work are given high priority over the text for it is far more of a simple task to paint the images from the abstract corners of the mind than to explain them in words. The only text incorporated in the image is the title, meant to simply inform the viewer of the setting, of the event, of the occurrence within the painting.

Looking through the eyes of a person in today’s culture, one may not understand the meaning of this work of art, look through the eyes of an artist or a person during the time of the surrealist movement and a meaning is established, a connection, the connection of sexuality and death in the abstract. A connection that has been present through out the ages, a timeless concept, an idea about life, death, and rebirth, a thought pertaining to all of existence. It is a universal philosophy, a revelation: the association between death and sexuality.

Red Bull

This video utterly amazes me, the artistic ability, the editing, the filming, the sketching for the rhythm, and above all the creativity. Simply put, this video is one of absolute excellence and is a sterling piece of entertainment, both visually and sensibly.

I find it a bit odd that the video was an entry for "Redbull Art of Can" a contest sponsored by the energy drink Red Bull in 2005. It is a contest in which participants create sculptures made out of Red Bull cans, which is why I did not find this video to be commonplace. It does not contain any form of tangible art.



Yet, it is a true masterpiece.

This video makes me extremely thirsty for Red Bull especially in the ending, I think that it should be a commercial for Red Bull in that it is extremely memorable and it makes the product appealing. The video would make a better commercial though if it was shorter and maybe if it had female hands so that it would appeal a bit more in using sex to sell. The male hands assist in using sex to sell, from a female standpoint, but I believe that more men than women are the consumers of the energy drink.

I think that the use of blending and overlay is absolutely perfect in the video, the creator was of editing genius, and that is a certain understatement. They use every aspect of filming and art, in a way that not only attracts artists but everyone equally.

I admire the sound sketching abilities the creator of the video has, it must have been virtually impossible to create a video in which there was a rhythmic and “catchy” beat since the can makes sounds in pretty much the exact same frequency range.

When I think about the overall effect of the video and my true appreciation of it I can’t help but to consider my background and my bias in the review of the video clip. I am getting a minor in graphic design, I have taken a few film classes, I have been doing art and have been very fascinated in it for years, not to mention that it runs in my family, and I also have a background not only in playing music but in composing it as well. I can not help it, I have to appreciate the effort that has been put into the video, but I wonder if other people appreciate it in this manner as well, especially those who have no background in the visual or musical arts.

Considering the number of 5-star reviews the video received it must have been appealing to many people, however those people may have all been artistic.

*Please, would someone who is not artistic leave me a comment stating whether or not you enjoyed this video and further more whether or not you considered the work involved in creating it when viewing it for the first time. I would greatly appreciate it.* ~Thank You!

Freewrite

Neurology is a field I’ve been fascinated with since I was freshman and opened my eyes to see my classmates staring at me in horror. I assumed I had fainted, but couldn’t decipher the looks I was receiving, had none of my peers ever seen anyone faint before? I assumed not, it wasn’t until paramedics arrived and began inquiring as to what had occurred was I informed that I had just experienced a seizure.

At the hospital they injected me with seizure medications that were meant to treat epilepsy, they made me hallucinate a bit and as I got frightened, I went into my second set of convulsions, which the medication should have prevented. The doctors tried a second epilepsy medication, and again, it failed; so they called in a team of neurologists to run some EEG’s.

Everything seemed to be just fine, and then my mother noted that I had the seizure when I was scared, so they put on a scary clip of a movie, and sure enough out I went. Since the EEG was run during the moments before my seizure the neurologists were able to see that there was more activity in my left hemisphere than in my right, since the amount of electrical currents traveling from the left to the right was so much greater than the amount traveling from right to left, my brain attempted to reset itself, by momentarily shutting down and resetting, thus resulting in seizure activity.

Next I went on a "journey with these neurologists and watched them figure out what was wrong with me. The effort they put into their work and the passion they have for it is similar to the passion that I have for neurology. This even is the reason that I am attending UCDHSC, and the reason I am doing this free write for english 1020

Treadmil

Obsession

This add is disturbing and yet it is extremely true. Bulemia Nervosa is a serious condition that many people have, mainly women. This add uses the name Obsession, the name of a cologne and uses a model hunched over a toilet. With out the toilet in this image, it looks almost like a normal add would. Thus the shocking reality of it all.

The woman in this image is about the same size, even a bit bigger than a lot of the models that they use today, and clearly she is very unhealthy and has an eating disorder. The girls in advertisements are role models for all women, they set a standard. If the models have eating disorders, there is no way to achieve that look, unless you have an eating disorder. Therefore Calvin Klein, Gucci, Chanel, Dolce Gabbana, and Victoria’s Secret are all promoting not only their make up, perfume, clothing, and accessory lines, they are promoting anorexia, bulimia, and also combinations of the two.

Until recently the companies refused to note this connection and kept their models starving to advertise their products. I am happy to say that the skinniest of the models as well as the models that have eating disorders and keep fainting are being banned from modeling currently, mostly in France, until they gain weight and establish a healthy eating routine. This is something that should have been done long ago, because the millions of girls these models have affected world-wide have already been psychologically and most likely physically

Calvin Klein, Add

This add is a very appealing one. First of all, the man Mark Wahlburg, better known as Marky Mark is basically a sex icon, such as Marylin Monroe. Marky Mark is such an icon for he is a great actor and he is also a rapper. The use of icons in adds is very effective in that many people will recognize the face and it is therefore a use of ethos in that Calvin Klein chose to utilize a person that we are familiar with. Also the name Calvin Klein itself is a usage of ethos along with the symbol or logo “cK”.

This add uses sex to sell in that it shows an attractive male with out a shirt. His body position is also effective in this add because it is suggestive in that he has his thumb resting on his pants, which is folding them down a bit. Also the fact that the jeans and boxers are in such high contrast in comparison to the rest of the photo, that draws your eyes to that specific area, which is the area that induces sex appeal.

This ad is very effective in grabbing the viewers attention, however, it is not so good in my opinion at actually selling the jeans, for in this particular photograph you can not even see the product other than from the zipper up. This add however is a bit effective in that the name stands out quite a bit and that it has a certain ethos to it, as does the image of Mark Wahlberg.

Photograph analysis; a tradition shattered.

Observation:

This is a photograph of an Asian porcelain doll being broken in to millions of tiny pieces on the ground. The head, face, shoulders, and body of the figurine are still intact while from the knees down the figurine is smashed. The doll is holding a brown basket in her left hand that is filled with what appears to be light pink or mauve flowers. In her right hand she is holding some sort of a white violin. Her “hair” is jet black and is pulled up in a traditional and conservative style. The woman has the same type of flower in her hair as the flowers that are in the brown basket in her left hand. The doll is mainly glazed plain white porcelain with very few colored details and the background of the photo is white as well. The figurine is in the very center of the photograph. The image is very well lit and it is very bright. This vivid light source causes for some pretty extreme shadows. These shadows make it possible to distinguish the various parts of the image, which otherwise would be a very difficult task when taken into consideration that the image components were made with all white. None of the skin in the image is colored other than the cheeks on the face of the woman. The eyes and lips of the doll are very thinly and finely detailed with precision, giving an intricate appearance to the figurine.

Reflection:

I believe the figurine to be a geisha, an Asian prostitute, but unlike American prostitutes, geisha’s are very upstanding and classy. Geishas are usually owned by only one man, and they must have many skills and a high level of elegance to be purchased. I believe that the photographer used the crashing geisha to show how old Asian traditions are slowly but surely disappearing, such as the geisha. I believe he used the geisha to represent Asian tradition because, like tradition the porcelain geisha is very beautiful, and fragile. I believe that old traditions in many cultures are slowly disappearing. I believe this is due to the integrating of many cultures and also due to the way in which the United States tries to “Americanize” the rest of the world. I believe that it is very cruel to do things like this and that we are assisting in loosing the diversity in the cultures of the world. The figurine is also clearly made by hand, as it would have been traditionally and is not mass produced by machine. This is clear when you look at the details in the eyes and face of the geisha. Details that intricate and precise could have only been done by hand, there is no other way to accomplish bush strokes with that level of finesse about them. The photographer clearly staged the fall of this figurine and I believe that it is a shame to destroy such a beautiful doll, however doing so did get the point across quite clearly.

Analysis:

Due to the fact that this image is mainly white the fine details in the face and hair of the doll are in great contrast to the rest of the image; these details being mainly central along with the aforementioned contrast makes the face the focal point of the image. The direction of the falling doll attracts your eye downward across the image to where the breaking is occurring, this area is also attractive to the eye because in contrast to the rest of the image in that is contains a great amount of sharp shadowing. The doll is very central in the image, and the background is plain white, making the figurine into what is basically a render. The way that the action in the image is frozen by the photographer by using a high shutter speed is something that cannot be captured in film or in print. This freeze makes for a breath taking photo in that it is such a quick activity in real life, that we never really get to see it. This attractiveness is effective in catching the viewers attention and giving them a moment to consider the message in the image. Instantly the message is clear that something fragile and elegant is being destroyed, however it takes a moment of further analysis to realize that the thing that is being destroyed is not simply the doll, but the geisha, and furthermore old Asian traditions.

The Death and Rebirth, of Myself.

Engl1020 Reflective Essay: The Death and Rebirth, of Myself.

Disclaimer: This essay is personal; if you are the type to judge, please do not read it. If you do read it, do not become the type to judge. I have made a mistake; people make mistakes, accept that, that is all that I ask.

His grip was firm on my hand, yet gentle and kind. He watched me like a hawk, watching my chest rise and fall with every breath, watching my pupils dilate and contract, feeling my pulse in the wrist of the hand he was holding. I kept his gaze as he kept mine, never breaking it for even a moment, while he talked to me, slowly and sweetly. The tone in his voice was calming, yet I recall not a single word.

My mind was busy racing like a train on a light rail. My little sister came to my mind, her innocence, the way she always looked up to me, the heartbreak and pain she would have to endure without me. My mom, the effort she had put into trying to raise me right, and the meaningless waste it would all become. My father who would hate me more than he already does. Then him, the one I fled to for help, the one who caused this in the first place, he would suffer for all of eternity, drown in his guilt, and for what? He would be in pain for doing something that people do everyday, for leaving their girl. Regret flooded my thoughts. I felt as if I was the most selfish person in the world for doing what I did. I realized all the things in my life I cared for, and he was merely one part I would have lost. Now, because of my panic and my actions, I could loose everything. My past, my present, my future.

Dizziness increased, room spinning faster, the floor beginning to flip over my head. I couldn’t regret any longer, I had to put those things out of my mind, and put every ounce of my strength into my life. Stay alive. Don’t die. Regret later. Breathe, focus on breathing, in and out, in and out. Relax slow your heart rate, calm down. Stay awake, don’t black out, stay conscious. I repeated over and over in my mind.

“Where’s the ambulance?” I questioned, “How long till it gets here?”
“I haven’t called one, your going to be okay, just wait you will get better.” Was his response.

My head throbbed, and the twinge my stomach recurred with all its might, I started vomiting profusely as the nightmare began. The slow and steady thud, thud, thud of my heart quickly turned into an irregular and rapid thud thud thud, thud, thud thud, thud. My chest aggrieved with every panicked breath, bringing in almost no air. Wait, relax, breathe slowly, breathe deeply. I kept forgetting in my panic.

“Call 911, I’m getting worse.” I begged.
“Alright,” he replied, looking down at the scattered light pink pill fragments intertwined in my vomit, like blueberries laced in a muffin.



I began shivering. I was colder than I could bear, goose bumps sprung up on my limbs in a wave. My fingers were aching, and stiff. My teeth kept chattering, the sound echoing in my head. My sister, my little 15 year old sister, this would change her forever, crush her innocence, break her heart. I had to keep going, all I wanted to do was let go, but I couldn’t for the sake of her. I had never realized what she meant to me, and what I meant to her until I could loose her forever. Life is cruel in that way, it is hard for people in this world, including myself to realize the importance of others until they are gone, or until they almost slip from our grip.
“Where’s the ambulance?” I asked, once again.
“What?” He questioned.
“Where is the ambulance?” I again asked, slowly and clearly.
“I can’t understand you.” He replied.

I figured the ambulance wasn’t so important, as long as it was on its way. His grip tightened, he told me to hold on for a little longer, and everything would be okay.

“Please don’t let me die,” I requested. “My sister needs me.”
“One more time.” He replied. “I can not understand you.”
“Please don’t let me die!” I yelled, with every ounce of my energy. “My sister needs me!”
“I… I’ll do my best.” He replied following a short pause, as he moved from my side holding my hand, around to my back and wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me tight. I realized how important he was to me, and that because of my actions, I may never see him again. Not even in my thoughts, nor in my dreams because if I ceased to exist here and now, I would have no thoughts or dreams, I would have nothing.

Continuously he talked to me, but I could no longer understand his words. His voice was merely a metallic echo in my head. I could not understand my own thoughts any longer. My chest suddenly held an unbearable pain, and my arms went numb, then my world blurred and slipped away.



Vomit, charcoal black vomit, covering me, things still spinning, no idea where I was, tube in my nose going down my throat. My stomach heaves, I vomit, black, it is then that I realize the thick tar is coming from me. I was attached to everything, six IV’s, EEG, EKG, amfibulator, O2 monitor, oxygen line, and a few dozen circle stickers with wires attached, I felt like a desktop PC. From the observation of these things I concluded I was in a hospital, and alive. I made it, I was told that the overdose made me have a heart attack, and my breathing had ceased. I was dead, for 15 minutes, I died, I had killed myself, done what I set out to do. But, I was revived, I was given a second chance. Even through all the pain and agony I felt, and would feel for days to come, I rejoiced, and felt a true euphoria. I was given a miracle, the gift of life.

Life is fragile. Life is something that people take for granted each and every day. Everyone has heard this before, myself included, and yet no one really thinks that they are personally like this. The only way for the importance of something to become apparent is for the loss of it to threaten you. I have learned the value of life the hardest way possible, not through the loss of a loved one, a pet, or a family member, but through the death and rebirth of myself.

Stereo Gum

When you visit this page the first thing that comes to your attention is the horrible clash of the orange-ish showing an eye wearing brown background with the sky blue foreground. Across the top, a moving add banner a crown set in the center of the six members of a band known as The Cat Empire. As soon as the eye blinks the banner switches to the info for The Cat Empire. This info includes the band's myspace address, their web url, and the release date for their new CD.

Underneath this banner on the left is the low quality logo for the page, two tone, no effects, no filters, no layers, no nothing. The logo is also placed awkwardly within the space given. Amateur artist, at the most. They should visit this tutorial.

To the right of this terrible logo is the Gum Buzz Index. This index consists of various TV shows, music artists, and Famous people written in various colors and in various font sizes. The smallest words are virtually impossible to read, not only are they about a font size 8, they are also an untypical font, a script font that is hard to read in general.

To the left of the Gum Buzz index is a list of the Bloggers for the site, Scott Capative and Armit Singh. Below that, a Contact Us heading, with a link to tips at stereogum.com, the page your already on that, does not work. Under that, Information for ad rates and press. Next Syndication, stereogum RSS, and finally Our Theme Song, by Roger O’ Donnell… don’t click that link, trust me, worst song I’ve ever heard.

Under this menu is a Google search bar that you can use to search ‘Gum or Google, finally something I would actually consider putting in my blog. This is by far the best part of this page because it has the capability to take you away from it.

The rest of the listed items are pretty much self explanatory, Categories, Under Review, Download MP3’s, Latest Comments.

Then there are the links for the Myspace site and YouTube site for Stereogum.

Following this, the Recent Posts, and The Cool Kids.

The main content of this page consists of an array of pictures, television clips, videos, music, and music video’s. The posts are not really related other than the fact that they all have to do with entertainment. There is no true organization to the posting order, or at least none that I can see. I believe that the posting order might be going by current events, but I’m not positive.

Last but not least, the credits for the hosting, designing, logo maker, and moveable type.

In this site I found nothing other than the Google search bar, that I would want to put in my site, with only one semester of high school web design under my belt I’m a better web page designer than the creators of stereogum.com. Although they may have more info on their site, their organization and eye for graphic design is terrible.

What does this image represent? Many things can be said about this image, it represents the most basic elements of brutal human nature, yet at the same time it shows an immense amount of frailty coming from the individual with a gun at the side of his head. We must ask ourselves who these men are and how have they come to this point. In what appears to be a good sized city, one man holds the life of another in his hand while others rabble about attending to whatever task they may be involved in. One mans life, the culmination of everything he has ever accomplished and done, is about to end. What has this man done to deserve such a fate? What can this man possibly be thinking, knowing that his entire life will climax at this very point, where a seemingly remorseless man with a revolver will execute him point-blank in the middle of a most likely war-torn city?
When contemplating the powerless man on the right, the mind begins to wander towards the man with the gun. The eye follows the shining barrel down the frail arm of the man and onto his camouflaged jacket and finally up to his blank expression and balding head. You might also wonder who this man is and what he has done to be where he is at this very moment, executing a clearly suffering and powerless individual. Is this something some are destined to become? Can we become the executioner or the condemned?

Engl1020: Observational Essay

Market Street Station looms at the edge of Sixteenth Street with its triangular architecture and cold rusted steel composure. Stamped out of the metal are windows, the shine of the glass hidden with the dirt and grime of the structures existence. At the mouth of the building some commuters hustle into the building, as others emerge glancing up and down Sixteenth while deciding which direction they want to travel. Those entering the doors are met with the descent, a twenty-step escalator heading away from the light of day into the underground darkness.



Lit by only a few dim lights strewn about the rafters and the handful of lights lining the terminals, it takes ones eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness. When the adjustment occurs a trivial concession stand comes into view, the products displayed in an un-orderly fashion, differentiated from one another by nothing other than the occasional empty shelf. Various pastries and baked goods toward the front, hanging bags of chips wrapping around the sides, and refidgerator cases hidden in the back filled with energy drinks, juices, sodas, and cold, clear water. At the wake of the stand is a display of approximately fifty various tissue paper like pamphlets topped with bus route numbers. The final kiosk in the station, far greater in size than the preceding structures, is an off-white building covered in sparsely applied plaster, with black glossy script reading Information/Sales. The face of the Information building has two bulletproof windows containing speaker boxes. Behind the glass an information/sales associate sits awaiting customers, that rarely come. These three insignificant structures are all that fill the center of the large room, the true importance of the station lines the walls.

Grave glass doors trimmed with black metal frames stand at the entrance to each terminal, which lead away from the station like veins leaving the heart. These doors, along with dividers of small rippled glass squares, like those of the North Classroom Building at UCDHSC compose the “walls” of Market Street Station. Above each terminal entrance a lofty black board with red lighted writing, which lists the departure times for the bus of the given terminal. The commuters waiting for their busses continuously look up at these listings every few minutes, all the while knowing that the information will never change.

The commuters waiting sit on round concrete slabs; cold, hard, and glossy, placed in an orderly fashion on top of a floor lined with 4 in. tiles of various colors. None of these people notice the janitor mopping around the slabs, using muddy water, and making the grimy situation of the floor worse, rather than improving it. She drags the mud across the tiles sloppily and in an unsystematic pattern adding a layer of dirt on top of the hundreds of layers previously set.

Nearby a man with a mass of keys on a large brass ring walks across the station to a brown change machine with bold white lettering, and an orange ‘out of change’ light gleaming; followed closely by a rather husky security guard. The man bends down slowly to fill the change as the security guard stands, chest puffed, nodding at passers by. Making friendly comments such as "hello", "good day sir", and "hi there madam"; to assert his presence. Change refilled the man closes up the machine and the orange light goes dark; he and the officer walk away smiling and chuckling.

Whilst the men disappear, they pass a group of people, all in their early- twenties, exchanging packages. Couriers, they have come to assemble, a purpose of Market Street Station that many do not think of. As they uphold their meeting, they share food from a nearby restaurant, Noodles & Company, with the traditional green cups and triangular rice crispy treats. A woman looks up at the standing couriers from her seat on the stone slab and smiles, probably directed more at the food then at the couriers themselves, and then turns back to her reading. The lady is one of those readers who move their lips to form the words they are scanning the pages in their book, as if to sound them out.



Suddenly, the rumbling of a bus is heard, the lady, the couriers, the janitor, and the commuters all look up at the terminal simultaneously as the bus passes, as soon as it fades in the distance they continue with their activities. At least most turn away, one young boy stands nose pressed against the glass of the doors creating a tiny ring of fog that ungulates simultaneously with his breath.

Ten minutes until the bus arrives at terminal eight, people begin lining up at the doors, the line always starting at right and going to left. Strange, considering it is opposite the direction that American’s read. Shortly the RTD bus begins rumbling down the terminal, comes to a slow stop at the entrance, and releases the air pressure in the doors to open them. Commuters begin boarding the bus, some flash bus passes and student ID’s, while others drop change into a funnel. The seats are set up in sets of two, with an aisle straight down the center, like you would expect in an airplane.

Oddly, the passengers sit one person per every pair of two seats before any two people will sit next to each other, as if to leave a “buffer zone”. A few passengers go so far as to sit on the outside seat so no one can sit next to them. One young man parks himself on the outside seat and immediately pretends to be asleep, so no one will try to disturb him.

As everyone finds their seats for the trip, the bus shuts its doors and begins rolling forward, traveling down the terminal. Leaving Market Street Station the bus ascends from underground up a ramp, and bright light fills the bus, the passengers squint. It’s as if the few moments they have spent underground have made them forget how the light from the real world looked. Everyone looks forward towards the next destination, never glancing back to notice the triangular peaks of Market Street Station dissipating in the background.

Engl1020: Post 5

Randomly Selected Words: Alchemy, Brontosaurus, Cantankerous, Dodo, Extrapolate, Frigate, Gypsy, Hypnotic, Ibex, Jigger, Kaleidoscope, Lemur, Mobster, Necrophiliac, Opaque, Penguin, Quetzal, Roulette, Sansevieria, Toxin, Ungulate, Vulgar, Walrus, Xanthic, Yokefellow, Zealous.

Over 90 megabytes online of information on alchemy in all its facets.

The dinosaur genus originally known as Brontosaurus is now officially designated Apatosaurus. Please see that article for more information.

Ill-tempered and quarrelsome; disagreeable: disliked her cantankerous landlord.

The Mauritius Dodo (Raphus cucullatus), more commonly just dodo, was a metre-high (three-foot) flightless bird related to the pigeons that lived on the islands of Mauritius.

For the journal of speculative fiction, see Extrapolation (journal). For the John McLaughlin album, see Extrapolation (album).

Frigate is a term which has been used for several distinct types of warships at different times: the term has referred to a variety of ship roles and sizes.

Gypsy (also gipsey, gypsey, gypsie) is a sometimes derogatory term for the following ethnic groups:

Hypnotic drugs are a class of drugs that induce sleep (which differentiates them from the sedative category), used in the treatment of severe insomnia and in surgical anesthesia.

Maybe tonight is the night I die.

A jigger is an indispensable tool for the budding bartender.

Kaleidoscope is the ultimate in user interface customization for the Macintosh, letting you switch between completely different interface designs provided by plug-in modules called "Schemes".

Lemurs are members of a class of primates known as prosimians and make up the infraorder Lemuriformes.

"Mobster" is a slang term for a person who participates in organized crime, which is known as belonging to "the Mob".

Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia and necrolagnia, is a paraphilia characterized by a sexual attraction to corpses.

Opacity (optics), describes opaque material, impenetrable to visible light.

Presenting the Graphic Classics—timeless works of literature featuring amazing one-of-a-kind cover illustrations from some of today's best graphic artists.

Quetzals are beautifully colored birds of the trogon family (Trogonidae) found in tropical regions of the Americas.

Roulette is a casino and gambling game named after the French word meaning "small wheel".

Sansevierias is a group of about 60 Agave related species from India, Indonesis and tropical Africa. A couple of species are common as house plants.

For a list of biologically injurious substances, including toxins and other materials, as well as their effects, see poison.

Ungulates (meaning roughly "hoofed" or "hoofed animal") are several groups of mammals most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole bodyweight whilst moving.

3 entries found for vulgar.

Money for crimes committed at residential schools may be forthcoming, but problems with the reserve system remain…[more].

a. yellow; yellowish. xanthochroid, n. & a. fair-haired and pale-skinned (person). xanthochroism, n. condition in which all skin pigments except yellow and orange disappear.

The purpose of YokeFellow is to further the cause of Christ through involvement in the Great Commission by using member's God-given gifts and talents.

One entry found for zealous.

car accident

Engl1020: Post 4

Originally I had intended to write this post about Buffalo Wild Wings Bar & Grill where I had planned to go to watch the Super Bowl with my boyfriend and some friends, however, on the way there from work something happened . . .

I was driving out from my work, going straight through an intersection when a car turning left, coming towards me nearly side-swiped me. I laid on my horn knowing I had the right-of-way, irritated I continued through the intersection, and then I woke up.

I thought it was morning and I had just come into consciousness, but I noticed that the familiar sound of my alarm clock was absent in the background. I opened up my eyes and noticed a silver Honda symbol. My throbbing head lifted and I saw that I had been resting my forehead on my steering wheel.

I looked up at a shattered windshield with a teal colored Geo Metro smashed onto the front drivers-side of my brand new car. Devastated, I closed my eyes.

I felt a falling feeling like when waking up from a nightmare, I opened my eyes to see my boyfriend, boss, some paramedics looking back down at me. I was already strapped to a cold yellow backboard with a head stabilizer and I was being lowered to the ground from a standing position. Explains the falling feeling . . .

I was lifted onto a rolling cart, I call it a cart for lack of the proper word (I’m still heavily drugged). In the ambulance the paramedics were asking me my basics, name, age, location, address, parent’s contact’s etcetera, most things I could remember, however, to my astonishment, some I could not.

When I arrived at the hospital I was told that I had called my boyfriend, and told him about the accident, and since he only lived a block away, he got there quickly. The other driver had called the paramedics, and my boss, who saw the accident from work called my parents. I didn’t even remember getting out of my car or calling my boyfried. If I was coherent I believe that I would have called my mom second, and 911 first, but I didn’t call either.

I also learned that the person at fault was 14, did not have a drivers licence, was not a legal resident of the United States, and had a stolen car, with expired tags.
My insurance would have to pay.

Thank god for full coverage.

Without it, I would have been done for.

My observational essay will contain my experience at Good Samaritan hospital for their link click here.

For the link to my insurance company and their policies click here.

For the link to my car including it’s safety features click here.

I apologize to anyone reading this post, I am ashamed of it to say the least I was rushed, and I am under the influence of heavy pain medications.

Kiwi!

Engl1020: Post 3

“Kiwi!”

One word, that is the entire intro one receives to the content of this clip. If you are anything like me your mind probably led you to think brown fuzzy fruit with a sweet/sour green center speckled with seeds. Well, you and I alike would be dead wrong. The music picks up gradually with a low pitch slow tempo melody, as we come to the opening scene. The clip begins with an extreme close up of brilliantly colored orange bird feet. This close of a shot instills a bit of confusion in the mind of the viewer as to who or what the character is. Then the frame pans out to a medium shot where the entire character is shown. “Ohhhh, it’s a kiwi bird.” Thus, meaning is added to the title.

However, the clip doesn’t terminate all curiosity of the viewer with the medium shot, by not utilizing an establishing shot to show what exactly the kiwi is pulling the viewer stays focused on the clip. The clip also uses a sufficient amount of anticipatory setups in order to establish a small amount of impatience and anxiety in the audience.

Although the director of the clip does not immediately show the viewer what is going to happen, he/she uses cutting to continuity so that the audience does not loose their attention span. For example, you do not have to watch the kiwi hammering every single nail, sliding all the way down the rope or climbing back up the rope again.

Finally, the creators of the video give you the insight as to what the kiwi was doing; nailing tree’s to the side of a cliff…

But why?

The music stops, embedding anxiety into the minds of the viewers, the “hold your breath” feeling is incorporated with this technique. The kiwi takes a plunge, we should be frightened, but a high-pitched, slow tempo music kicks in, making the viewer feel a fleck of comfort.

Answers flood the viewers minds soon enough. All that’s left to interpret is why the kiwi would die to feel like he was flying just that one time, and furthermore, did he actually die?

Why do the producers of the short animation clip not provide these answers?

Because this clip is meant to provoke thought, to stimulate a further look into the film and to encourage the viewer to seek the insight of friends and family, spreading the clip and increasing it’s popularity.

This clip has definitely gotten my attention and I have viewed it far more than once, therefore it appears that the creators of this clip have met their goals, to spread their animation experience, hard work, and dedication to a mass of the public.

Click the play button on the embedded video below to view “Kiwi!”


I realize that this video doesn't quite fit in my profile, if you would like to see it without the edge cut off, click here.

Engl1020: Post 2

Have you ever visited a website that a friend was completely infatuated with and thought to yourself, this site is completely incomprehensible, disorienting, confusing, or bewildering and left thinking it was a waste of time? Well, perhaps it was a waste, or perhaps you simply didn’t have the background knowledge to understand it.

Having even a basic understanding of the cultural contexts of a site will assist in giving you a better understanding and appreciation of what you are looking at. Who? What? When? Where? Why? These are important questions to ask when looking at a new site, especially if that site is of unfamiliar genre. In order for you to get a basic understanding as to why I appreciate Dark Throne in the way that I do, I will enlighten you to the cultural context of the MMORPG. Don’t know what MMORPG means? Click here.

Dark Throne is a game consisting of players of various cultures, ethnicities, and nationalities, who speak different languages, and believe in different religions. It is a world created for all people; this Internet based site knows no skin color, no gender, no language barriers, and no socio-economic levels; simply people.

This fantasy realm is a text based massive multiplayer online role-play game, where you can create your own custom account with a personalized avatar, and individualized profile. In this world you can create an army, recruit citizens, accumulate gold, and create friends and foes. Dark Throne is a place where your fantasies rule and you take fate into your own hands.

Dark Throne is set in a medieval scenario/time period. The site was created approximately three years ago with the alpha version; currently the beta version is in use. Dark Throne Time is used as the rule for all users, no matter what time zone you live in. Dark Throne Time makes it possible for all users to use a standardized time system, so they have the capabilities to efficiently schedual meetings, initiate organized attacks, and view when messages were posted and sent out. Dark Throne Time is in military time format and appears in the gaming scroll to the left of your screen when you are logged in.

Access to Dark Throne is available to anyone with internet access at the web address www.darkthrone.com.

The majority of gamers on Dark Throne use the web page as a means of personal entertainment. Users spend time improving their characters and their rank in the game, as well as making friends and some enemies as well. The site was developed because it afforded the creators a profit given that some users took the advantage to become Legend members or sponsors in order to reap the benefits.

Without the basic understanding of the game principles and commands, one may find the site confusing and turn the other cheek. However those who have taken the time to learn the contents of the site will have their eyes opened to an amazing dream world shared by thousands across the globe.

Open Your Eyes To: My Fantasy World

Engl1020: Post 1

Where do I spend my time hours a week? Online, with my head buried in the MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role play game), Dark Throne. This fantasy realm set in the medieval era is my escape from reality, my fresh breath of air when life just keeps getting in my face. This website is a world shared by thousands and yet, it is all my own. It is an alternate reality where I shape my destiny; I am in control, not my parents, my teachers, my friends, or my luck. In this universe, knowledge, strategy, leadership, skill, commitment, and drive have comprised who I am and will determine who I will become.

This addictive fantasy world instantaneously captures the viewers focus and attention with an emerald backdrop. The backdrop is topped by a radiant gold heading spotted with small droplets of crimson blood reading the label “Dark Throne”.

On the left of this heading is the image of a warrior with a glowing gaze that seems to be staring right through the computer at the viewer of the page.

Once the viewers’ attention is initially captured, their eyes will automatically wander to the black box at the heart of the page. The black box was intentionally meant to be a focal point of the page because this my friends, is where you sign up, interested? Click here to experience the magic of Dark Throne!

Dark Throne is an online based communication of multi-cultural and multi-national players based on teamwork, cooperation, diplomacy, negotiation, skill building, and resource management. It is a text-based webpage and adheres to the basic coded standards of any site, with ad’s, sponsors, tabs, graphics, a comprehensible layout. However, in the field of altering conventions Dark Throne provides users the opportunity to cooperate with each other as well as the chance to compete against each other whether players choose to do so individually or banded together.

Traditional print/paper-based writing can be used to communicate with individuals with the creation of letters and notes or to mass communicate with newspapers. However, with the advanced technology in internet based mediums you are able to communicate with people in relatively small amounts of time. In Dark Throne you are able to communicate with fair sized groups in small amounts of time via open forums; and instantly with individuals via messaging. For Dark Throne alliance leaders, such as myself, there is a feature called mass-messaging in which the user can send a message to all members of a given alliance instantly.

This capability assists in tactful, well planned, and organized attacks on enemy alliances; which in turn strengthen the given alliance and in turn promotes membership. Mass messaging also allows leaders to post attack targets for dominant enemy accounts so that members with accounts in range of the targets can assist in diminishing those accounts with assassinations and attacks, thus weakening enemy forces and helping the alliance reign supreme. Think about it, don’t we all have the internal desire to reign supreme?