Asterios Polyp

Reading Asterios Polyp was nothing short of interesting. Due to my busy work schedule, I wasn't able to finish all of it, but its definitely on my summer reading list. I loved how diverse the novel was in the sense that it didn't follow the usual structure of a comic. The page layouts werent all just traditional panels. David Mazzucchelli wasn't confined to a strict formula and stepped out of the box with his designs and I enjoyed it a lot. As for the story elements, that was interesting as well. I would have never even considered narrating a story from a still born twin brother's point of view. At times, it was hard to understand what was going on, seeing as it hopped around so much between his past and current life as well as in his subconscious and conscious mind. I'm pretty sure once I can actually sit down and focus on it this summer I will be able to better comprehend it. Even though it was confusing at some points, I really loved how it was able to move like that around the main character. In almost every comic, graphic novel, or simply a story, everything centers around a main character and we see whats shaped them and where they're going. Its not often that we get to take a look at him while he's looking at himself. It was really cool to see exactly how he sees himself, as well as how everyone else perceives him and on top of that, how we feel about him based on both of those views. But yeah, as I said, I really wanna pick it back up and get the full effect of it once i get some time.

Emerging Culture

To go along with my cool hunting, I thought I'd include something about an emerging pattern cultures, mainly american culture. I'm sure that the desire to become famous has been around for ages and that there have been people since the dawn of time that will do anything to get there. Some people risk their lives just for a chance of stardom, whether its through acts of seemingly sincere bravery or demeaning acts of stupidity. Every day, there are new videos being posted throughout the interwebs of people doing stupid and even dangerous things. And why? Just for a chance to be seen, to be acknowledge in a culture that's quickly going downhill. I'm not trying to sound pretentious, because I've fallen victim to this many a time and probably will again, but its kinda sad to see what people will do just for a few views on youtube. Everyone's looking to be the next jackass or viral video. And whats even sadder are those who aren't trying to seem stupid or completely ridiculous. Take Rebecca Black for instance. She's a girl around fourteen who simply wanted to make a music video/single. I'm not sure of whether she was legitly was trying to get famous or whether she just wanted the experience of being a singer in a music video. Either way, the response to the video has been nothing short of insane. The video was awful and her voice/lyrics were just as bad, but she is a fourteen yr old with now musical training or education. What should we expect? I'll admit, I laughed and made fun of it as well, but there are people who went over the top. Posting that it was awful and that she should kill herself? really? People that pull that kinda stunt are beyond my comprehension. I guess my point of this is, people risk so much for 2 mins of fame on the net, its ridiculous.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/03/who-is-rebecca-black-and-why-do-we-care-about-her-/1

Cool Hunting

I think the next new 'Cool' thing (if it isn't already cool) will be the Frog 4.0. It's a full workstation, complete with built in speakers and a control that adjusts the distance of the table from you as well as several other things. People are having a hard time leaving their desks and work stations already, so this workstation is just a step in that direction. I admittedly don't move from my seat with my computer for hour at a time every now and then and that's in uncomfortable chairs. I can't imagine what it'd be like if it were actually comfortable. I might never leave.

Service Learning Project: In Action

On April 5th, I showed up to the Broach school groggy but anxious. My partner and I hadn't talked since the last class, not to mention I had only slept maybe an hour the not before. Despite working with kids on a weekly basis, I was nervous about not being prepared and generally not knowing what to expect.



Upon heading into the building, I was greeted by a smiling face and waited until my partner arrived. I was relieved from the first smile and began to relax. Sliding into my element wasn't hard after that and once my partner arrived we headed back into one of the several classrooms.



Starting the project was pretty simple. My partner and I passed out the puzzle pieces along with the other supplies and let them get started. We tried not to steer them in any particular direction. We thought it'd be more interesting to see where each of them took it on their own and then after what it looked like as a whole.



Working on collage with kids was very fun. I've done other sorts of art projects with youth, but I had never done anything with collage. It was really interesting to see and hear their thought pattern, especially when it came to cut out the pieces they liked. Some were very careful and precise and others were fast and loose. I think it really echoed their personalities. Some were more talkative than others, but that's pretty normal. I even talked to one about her own personal collages and what she was interested in being when she got older.



Slowly but surely they worked and I chatted as well as helped a few with their 'vision'. I enjoyed it and after a while my partner and I sat down and made our own.



I think the project was a success. The students had fun and so did we. it felt great to be able to share a piece of my world with kids who otherwise might not get a chance to experience anything like it.

Broach School Proposal

For my service learning project, my idea was to create a small jigsaw puzzle with the students. Four of five would probably be a good range and I have been approached by another ringling student to help me. She proposed the idea that rather than just draw on each piece, we should instead collage it all together. She brought up a good point that many of them may not get to ever do collage, so I agreed to work with her. Supplies would consist of scissors, glue, construction paper and magazines. We will provide the puzzle pieces and I'll have them precut. Hopefully it'll be a piece of cake and all of us will have a good time doing it.

Body as a Media

The body can be used as a media in several different ways. When I think of it being used as one, the first thing that comes to my mind is acting and theater. Without convincing acting, whether its vocal or body language, emerging ourselves in the art of theater and movies would be next to impossible. You can use all the CG and special effects you want, but it really comes down to the actors and actresses to make it work. They use their bodies to drawn us into the alternate realities, through costume and make up, by putting on second skins though in realty it's their them that are the over all media.

Lolita

Lolita…this book was a conundrum for me. The way it was written was somewhat over my head and dense and yet, it was a hard one for me to stop reading. As nauseating as the main themes were, the author did a phenomenal job of keeping the reader’s attention. The novel is all about pedophilia and molestation as well as murder and other violent acts. It’s enough to put even the most unfeeling person on edge and yet I find the attraction to the novel hard to put into words. By using an unreliable narrator, Nabokov manages to place somewhat of a veil over the reader’s eyes. The narrator’s view is slanted and he serves to slant the readers’ as well, in order to justify what he did as ok. Throughout the novel, he has somewhat of an inner conflict. He knows that his lust and actions were wrong and yet he often uses the loss of his first love as a scapegoat as well as Lolita herself. His warped sense of reality doesn’t help matters at all, which leaves the reader in a rather uncomfortable state as the book continues to progress.

“Good will! She would mail her vulnerability in trite brashness and boredom, whereas I, using for my desperately detached comments an artificial tone of voice that set my own last teeth on edge, provoked my audience to such outbursts of rudeness as made any further conversation impossible, oh my poor, bruised child.

I loved you. I was a pentapod monster, but I loved you. I was despicable and brutal, and turpid, and everything, mais je t'aimais, je t'aimais! And there were times when I knew how you felt, and it was hell to know it, my little one. Lolita girl, brave Dolly Schiller,”

This passage alone shows the narrators conflicted nature as well as his excuses. He hides behind being a romantic, saying he actually loved her for more than just her body and childlike whimsy. He admits he was cruel and monstrous but excuses it because he knows his ‘love’ was sincere. In one portion of the novel he even claims that Lolita seduced him with her games and teasing, though in this passage he begins to realize that she was more likely covering up her vulnerability with her ‘brashness’ and ‘boredom’. This often caused him to lash out at her, to try to provoke her into feeling something more for him. To feel his passion and lust, though neither were ever truly returned.

“I could not kill her, of course, as some have thought. You see, I loved her. It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.”

“You may jeer at me, and threaten to clear the court, but until I am gagged and half-throttled, I will shout my poor truth. I insist the world know how much I loved my Lolita, this Lolita, pale and polluted, and big with another's child, but still gray-eyed, still sooty-lashed, still auburn and almond, still Carmencita, still mine;”

As mentioned before, the author does a great job of skewing the novel and works the unreliable narrator well. Even though child molesters/pedophiles are the lowest of the low, Nabokov makes the reader want to feel some sort of sympathy toward the narrator. Humbert wants us to believe he’s the victim and some moments in the story he actually achieved it. Overall Lolita is one of those extremely controversial books that make you really question morality. If Lolita had been just a few years older, the book would be something completely different, like wise, if it Hubert were younger or if it were simply in a different era. It wouldn’t have made such an impact on the masses.