Inspiration...

My art gallery actually did inspire me to do something that I have not done in years.

I was looking through the pictures, some from a few years back...and it reminded me, I once tried lightening my longer bangs/front half of hair. Not only was it a bit scary since I'd never done it before, but it was damn fun to do. Maybe I felt if I did that again now, it would bring back those happy memories, perhaps also lighten my mood in the process. The greatest part is that it never quite turns out the same every time you do it, kind of unpredictable like life is.

Here's the result of that:



I know I could have selected a ton of different ways to show how I am inspired, but this is the most recent that I had done based on an inspiration. I am surely never just inspired by the past or older things, but I feel they are connected to you, they never really leave you...

My "Art" Gallery...

Was hidden right in front of me. My experience happened to be quite unexpected, and it's just now reflecting on it that I chose this as befitting of this assignment. I will happily defend my position if necessary.

Yesterday, I was chatting with a friend who was creating this awesome book of photos for her friend here. She had been saving and gathering all these pictures, and then you can have it made into all sorts of things, a book or calendar for instance. I was getting somewhat sentimental, and it made me think about how thoughtful of a gift it was. What better gift than to revisit the past, especially fond memories?

This then made me think of my twin sis Mandy, who is out in North Carolina and I miss her a great deal. I wanted to do something thoughtful for her, and so I was compelled to go grab any older photos of us together, and maybe put together a book of pictures that she could enjoy.

I don't formally have a proper place for my photos, as the day I'd arrange them all in albums got put off quite a bit. They just live in a box. I went on a mad hunt to find it, and when I did, it was like a treasure chest full of mysteries and delights. I had forgotten about all the different pictures in there, from when we were younger up to right when digital cameras came out (I know this is when the actual pictures I had developed stopped since it became so easy aka: lazy to store only online). As I went through all the pictures, a plethora of emotions came out like cracking up in laughter to kind of sighing like I wonder what happened to this person and how they're doing to happy to almost sad.

Some of these pictures were taken by others, but a great deal were mine. It made me realize this really is my own little box of art, maybe even if someone else found them, would that not be art to them? If I selected a photo I took from out of there at a party or event, I could also think of say 3 other various people who might have taken a picture at the same time, but the outcome would of been different. Why? Framing is probably my best answer, but isn't the camera lens like our own view on the world...and isn't art just an expression of that viewpoint?

Anyway, I may not have set out to purposefully fulfill the assignment in this manner, but low and behold it happened nonetheless. I enjoyed looking through all the old photos that make up my life. I hadn't done that in a very long time. It also made me realize that I need to stop and document life more often. I need to print out more of my digital pictures. I don't want to be 80 and regretful because I was "too busy" to stop and do this, because I realized it really means a lot to me to be able to hold the picture in my hand vs. viewing it online. I want to smile and remember those days, whether they be good or bad.

Pros/Cons of our Brainstorming...

Brainstorming...I can hear the thunder claps and see light flashes going off already. *boom bang fizzle snort jumpstart boom!* Actually I happened to be pretty tired that day. I'll try to write what I recall from it. This is going to be hard to do with my cat draped on the back of the computer chair snoring. LOL

One major benefit I feel to brainstorming is to let loose while reigning in. Think. Dream. Whatever first comes to mind, write it down and edit things out later. It's like a haircut, better to take off less vs. more at first in case you change your mind - it might be too late. I can only imagine how much people might miss out on if they do not incorporate the fun, whimsical, outrageous ideas in with the totally rational, affordable, and toned down ideas. So many factors go into your planning that you should keep them in mind but try not to dwell yet until you've had a chance to explore.

As far as the group's parade idea - Shutting down Michigan Street for a giant parade. It was chock full of mechanical elephants, pants cannons, projector floats, nude people that had something to do with spraying on new media related designs somewhere on them, green screen setups, synthesizer marching bands, moon and cloud advertising using high powered projectors and lasers, mascot that is a digital pirate, and so on and so forth. I know I did a great deal of listening, as I was having fun trying to imagine it all before I could spout out a ton of ideas. Okay cat is still snoring this is hilarious, I didn't know cats could snore this long! Anyway where was I...oh.

Ah yes, now as to the pros and cons of this brainstorm session. I think it was important for us to go above the stars and blow up the moon while we're at it, if we've got the time because we need to sort out all the possible options to get people's attention, what's not been done before (or at least if it has, not to overkill point), or what could be right down the alley of New Media, and how do we incorporate that into raising it's awareness. I think every avenue of the field was explored from sound to video to illustration, etc...

Well, now we enter into the cons...*dun dun dunnnn* such as if it's legal or budgets or time allotted to do it. Parade costs could be hundreds or thousand of dollars+, who knows for sure! Maybe some students for capstone could even do a documentary about it, (ooo that'd be fun) hell the sky's the limit on cutting out some of the too expensive ideas. I think utilizing all the students around us would be key to this parade, because everyone would want the experience so cost would go way down to some degree.

To sum up: (because despite tons of editing I can't seem to condense myself at this point) I think this idea had a great deal of potential, but ultimately you must take into account budget and timing and what is of course legal mumbo jumbos and even what the companies and clients want. If the parade was maybe a smaller scale, legal so no lawsuits, and still had an edge of some kind, it would be viable. But even more so, I think this would make a great film/video short done digitally and that solves so many problems we would encounter. :)

What the Bleep indeed...

Here's my thoughts on this movie. I think the beginning started off good, asked some interesting questions such as do we really see with our eyes or our brains? And with that in mind, what is reality considered? They use an example of stubbing your toe to explain this, saying that if you stub your toe, your toe hurts, but really what hurts is your perception in your brain of ow, my toe hurts now or something like that...So it appears it's about perception and quantum physics start to come into question next.

The comic book guy bit was actually pretty interesting. The whole idea of the interference patterns happening on the two slits with the waves and the pieces of matter...Also, what was really freaky is when he talks about how the matter knew or maybe was aware it was being watched, and behaved differently when they tried to measure/observe which slit it went through! Whoahhhh dude, that was something I never thought about, and more so had never heard of this before.

The film goes on to discuss how we bring our actual experiences into manifestation by our consciousness, and all the possibilities involved. That atoms are tendencies and not things...it definitely makes you think really hard. I think that the film at this point, the storyline of it, is kind of getting a little spooky or too out there - and maybe it's just the subject itself, or the way they chose to edit it with the story lines...

The next part was also interesting...the message in the water bit showing how two same pictures of water were taken, but one of them was blessed, thereby changing how it appeared. The thought or intent was the driving force by how the water changed it's appearance. But that lends to wondering, how on earth does water know what he taped to those bottles? A guy there comments, "If our thoughts can do that to water, imagine what it can do to us" Verrrry provoking thought. I don't know what I think about it, usually the first reaction is to deny it, and think there's gotta be something hidden about this, but maybe -because- there is an unexplainable reason for why the water did this is the very reason I'm even questioning it. They mention our bodies are made up of 90% water...is that such a big stretch to believe this was really possible even without an explanation! (because let's face it all sorts of things happen for no reason we can explain...) Hmmmm.

You know what this is all reminding me of? There's this movie called "The Secret" which explores the idea that what happens to us is based on our attitude or thoughts...the very act of being negative will surround yourself with negative things happening. It could start off with being late to work, which then you spill your coffee all over the desk, maybe do really bad on a presentation, then missing the bus home or something...It was to sum up, explaining that you can control what happens to you or what you can do based on your thinking, just as if you are positive, it will reinforce positive things happening or vice versa. Basically, everyone IS The One (Keanu Reeves). hehe. This is just as hard to wrap your head around because a lot of us, myself included, have a hard time thinking rainbows and sunshine when really bad things are happening. It's hard to even believe that we are in control of each thing happening, because it's much easier to surmise okay, this happened but I couldn't control it. It begs to wonder, what was I thinking before I broke my foot? And I mean, didn't my foot hurt? Was it really my brain hurting by thinking OW that hurt, this is where things get a little sketchy. I'm pretty sure my foot itself hurt regardless...though...maybe it wasn't. ARGH. And then along the lines of these films you'd have to think...was I being negative, did I attract something negative to happen thereby attracting a bad circumstance like breaking my foot? LOL I know, it's such a long stretch to swallow, and I'd like to think this is not the case ALL the time because I'd like to meet the person who can always be positive 100% of the time, but the film is begging the question....

So before I write a novel on this movie, I'll end by saying this:
Quick summary: Very matrix-like thinking involved, far as you can only stop yourself from the impossible. If you wanna jump from one building to the next, but your fears or capacity don't believe you can do it, or your awareness cannot comprehend....well. That's up for debate but you get my drift I'm sure. It's basically I think explaining that the very act of living and observing in this universe is what changes and molds the universe you "see." That there are endless possibilities that only come to fruition when they bump together...or when you focus on something essentially. That your consciousness is way more in control of what happens, what you see than you may think or have the capacity to understand. That our brains process way more than we actually are aware of, but why? That there's 1 universe but many simulated versions that we "see" because it's only what ours fears and perceptions stop us from "seeing"...oh wow my brain hurts now. Beam me up, Scotty. THERE IS NO SPOON!!!!!! HAHA!

My Seven Senses!

Day One:
Touch/Feeling. This sense is definitely the first one I thought to blog about.

I feel the movement of my lip ring, because I've gotten in a habit of moving it back and forth when I'm thinking about things. I never really payed attention to how that honestly felt because I've been doing it so long. A simple gesture, like how guys rub their mustache while in thought. (ps: mustache is such a weird word, I can't recall the last time I typed or said it) The metal actually stays a bit colder than my body temperature. Every moment I try to forget there's a cast keeping my leg/foot hostage. But forcibly, I feel the hardness of the cast around my ankle and it makes it feel a bit claustrophobic. Yes, I have claustrophobic feet. While I was on my way to the car to get my blood work done, one of my crutches got a bit caught on a chair leg. This sent me into a delicate and not very graceful attempt to re-balance myself. I never noticed JUST how important toes are! Because mine are forced straight in this cast, I cannot bend them to help counter the stumble. This in fact almost caused me to tumble forward even more so. I also thought back to a time when I accidentally slipped a bit on a damp floor, and my leg stretched out in a funny position, it's a little ironic how it didn't feel good then, but it feels good when it's my choice to stretch, which I've been doing much more lately than I paid attention to.

I just cracked my knuckles in my fingers. I do that sometimes without thinking while at the computer. Felt good, like a small pop of air being released in a balloon. While I was working on homework later, my nose itched badly for some reason. Do you ever stop and think about why people in public try to find the most polite way to itch their nose without making people think they were picking it haha or are some kinda crack addict? I just rubbed it a bunch and that felt so much better. I've decided there's no better touch I think than relieving an itch with a scratch. Wish I could say the same for my foot in the cast when it has an itch. I had to get creative with that.

Day Two:
Taste.

I recently drank a coffee in an effort to wake up, and later on I could still taste the residual flavor of the beans and milk. The weather today has been nice with a cool crispness to it. There's a breeze coming in right now...I have always thought that autumn air had a taste to it...Maybe because of the leaves piled on the ground, dirt mixed with someone at night burning leaves and twigs, and a touch of something else I cannot quite describe, maybe it's moisture in the air? After taking a shower, I sprayed on some perfume. Of course not with my mouth open!! hah, but the lingering mist of it makes the air kind of taste like black cherries and a sandalwood candle mixed with something else unnatural, like you've just eaten some lip balm or glue as a kid and realized it was not made for eating. It's funny over the day I noticed a bigger correlation between what you smell, and also what you might taste from it. I know certain animals actually smell better by tasting the air too...interesting! Taste also involves feeling the texture in your mouth. Mouth-feel they'd call it. Creamy or crunchy, these also intertwine with touch because of how the food feels. No one wants to eat something if it feels slimy or hard as a rock...well, some might! But it affects my sense or opinion of taste no doubt.

I also found when it came time to take my pain meds today, I never noticed just how bitter Percocet is! This happened because I popped them in my mouth before opening my drink, and pitifully I could not get the damn cap off before they started to dissolve a little. YUCKKKKY!

Day Three:
Hearing.

I love to multitask. I would say at most times, I'm reading something while listening to the tv while playing my character on the computer in an online game - switching between them all at intervals. While I was playing a game on the computer, I remember hearing this show on tv talking about what if humans all disappeared, how would the Earth fair? The fan was blowing in the background bringing in the cool air, and I'm focused on browsing Etsy with one headphone on my ear listening to the sounds of the online game. It actually made me stop doing everything to focus on the show as it trickled in and caught my attention. I don't know what made me stop, maybe it was the outlandish idea perhaps. Maybe it's because it gave me an odd slightly scared feeling and paired with the voiceover talking about the Earth without humans, it made me also start thinking really hard about that. I adjusted my leg absentmindedly while thinking, and heard the scraping sound of my cast again the chair. As much as I -try- to forget my leg is in a cast, the distinct clinkclop sound is hard to tune out. Huh, funny as I thought I'd get used to hearing it by now.

Latier I'm hungry for a snack, it's quiet in the room and when I went to grab it, the crackling sound was SOOO loud. I know it's not me just being sensitive. I never really thought about it, but have you noticed how just about EVERYTHING snack wise or food wrappers are freaking crackly? Who on earth thought let's cover food with the most annoying cellophane type substances that crackle loud...It made me think about how in class or at the movies, you can barely eat anything because if it's quiet, all people would hear is the loud crackling noise of the wrapper. And how you sneakily try to open it slowly to get the snack out without everyone noticing. I think it's because the sound is out of place in that environment, and they're so focused on either listening to the professor or the movie that it disturbs it. Overall, I would hear things I normally tune out. Humming of the computer, the fan blowing, little noises people in the house make while moving around, and yes, wrappers on food hehe. Lastly, music. If one couldn't hear, music would not really matter. But music evokes emotion for most people, otherwise what's the point? It can make you happy, sad, tense, out of control, it helps us pinpoint an emotion we love or hate, and I think that's why we love or hate particular styles of music too.

Day Four:
Smelling. Oh what a nice sense to have.
I was laying in bed reading and trying not to focus on feeling somewhat icky today. I have been into this series called Twilight, and my boyfriend had just run out earlier that day to buy the next in the series because I read too fast (a blessing and a curse I always say). I hadn't always paid attention, but new books really do have a smell. Old books definitely have a smell too I guess more noticeably. But the new book smelled almost woodsy, mixed with glue and kind of a print press room smell. Like if you walk into a Kinko's there is this smell of ink and warm paper from copiers. I was near the window, and again thankfully feeling fall-like, there was a nice breeze in the air that kept blowing the subtle scent my direction which made me take notice of it. I guess you may have noticed I always have a window open, sometimes even in winter on less cold days as I enjoy fresh air in my room vs. stale air. Yeah stale air, it really has a smell too that normally I guess most people don't notice, but to me it's kind of musty dusty depending. Like on an airplane, if that helps. Late, I was taking a nap, and I remember waking up buried in the covers. We have a down alternative comforter, and I could smell this cottoney fabric softener smell that lingered on it from our linen spray. Most food tastes good because we also smell it beforehand. Who can withstand the fresh smell of popcorn in the microwave, or pie cooking in the oven, or chai heating over the stove top? GAH! Yummies. Candles wouldn't be so successful if we didn't have a good sense of smell either. Nor air spray, nor perfume. The list goes on and on.

Day Five:
Sight.
Still on my reading kick, I noticed that if I read for a very long stretch, like for two hours, and then finally looked up and away from the book, my eyes were kind of blurry. It would take several seconds before my sight felt focused again. I wouldn't even realize how long it had been until I actually did this. While typing this later, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a reflection on my water bottle of the light. I never realized how many shiny objects are in this room, that reflect back objects or things in the background behind it. From a soda can to the cell phone to my brush and on, I can see all sorts of light reflected off it. I never knew shiny was so pleasing to my eyes, haha, or I wouldn't have so much of it in here I think. Even this balloon with helium leftover from the hospital is showing up in one of the reflections. I never really paid attention to that. Colors also affect my sight. I have been collecting these mini works of art called ACEO's. I have them hanging down off the top of my computer desk taped together. It creates the most vivid and unusual color combination when I stare near or at them to relieve my eyes from being tired staring at the computer screen (it works! heh) The colors sort of blur together and make my eyes happy. Possibly because it also contains lots of orange and purples in some, two of my fav colors. If I lost my sight, these would not have much meaning to me. People could describe them to me, what they were, and I could hold it in my hands yes. But it wouldn't be the same as seeing them again. Some of my favorite sights are of my lazy 'tubtub' cat sleeping curled up on my bed, leaves blowing around in the air during autumn, the way my boyfriend smiles, it goes on and gets very sappy, but sight helps us understand things around us. Expressions would be useless if someone could not see them.

Day Six:
Gut Instincts.

That feeling in your stomach, tipping you off something bad is going to happen, something is truth or fake...I definitely believe this is another sense. It's a sense I have for sure, though I may not always listen to it. I can usually rely on it to help me figure out if I'm about to do something stupid, or if someone is only being nice to me for a particular underlying reason. I like to think my gut instincts helped me get either out of trouble or avoiding a particular situation. It may not be the most unique sense to think up for the sixth sense, but I think it's important. It helps me out when I play online games too like Warhammer Online, the kind where you fight other real people playing characters vs. computer controlled characters, where you have to guess where they might come from, or how many, or how they'll attack. There's nothing much predictable about it either. Yes, I couldn't possibly be more nerdy explaining this, and I don't care. :P If I didn't have gut instincts, I would miss it. Then I'd have to rely on guessing, my magic 8 ball, throwing salt over my shoulders...haha.

Day Seven:
Cat-like Senses.
(Update: After much consideration, I had a few ideas for new senses. We're always losing the remote to the TV, lighters, Aaron's hat) So I think I'd like to have the ability to locate lost objects such as these hehe!)
Seeing in the dark, really good hearing, being agile and jumping or climbing up high places, sleeping 16 hours a day lol...I would absolutely LOVE having the senses they do all wrapped up into one. It would be fun to not worry about stairs since you could jump much farther than normal (and usually land on yer feet when you slip n fall not so gracefully). No matter how many countless carrots I've eaten, I'm pretty sure cats can see way way better than I can in the dark. I hate trying to go down the stairs feeling around in the dark until I reach the light switch, so I would probably like being able to see good in the dark the best. It's almost a tie between graceful feline footing and seeing better in the dark I'd say. If I could do that, down goes the electricity bill atleast. I could see what was in the fridge even if the light burned out. Trust me, I tried today to find the salad dressing w/ no light, and it was frustrating to paw and dig through there, grasping bottles that felt like it, and turned out to be something else.

My version of bliss...

Starts with a pillow, and ends with a big ol fluffy comforter pulled over my head with my hunter green blinds drawn shut against the light.

We sleep every night and probably think nothing special of it. That's me, too. But to me, there's something about taking a nice long nap right smack during a time when I "shouldn't" be...there's too much to do, I gotta get this done, when your body or mind is tired, and it really does not care so much - it wants a break. How often did I ever indulge in this though?

I think back to my younger years, when you forcibly have to lay down for an hour like around noon or something. The act of just shutting your eyes and saying okay, I have to take a small break in my day seemed like a hassle. Now flashing back to the present, I look at it like some wonderful prize, not quite attainable when I want it the most. A quiet, peaceful retreat inside my mind where if I can shut up the voices long enough, the nagging reminders to do this or that, as well as the mindless chatter brains like to do at the worst possible time...I truly and wistfully believed if I managed to konk out that I would awake feeling somewhat like Sleeping Beauty or some crap. All refreshed and ready to tackle everything.

Do I actually get to do it that often? NO! bleh. I daydream more about it than I actually DO it. I'm realistic though...like I sometimes in the past woke up feeling a bit worse, super groggy, or even more tired than better, I'd think Nah it's not going to help, and I'd put it off. However, I will say the times that I did wake up feeling good is what I should have considered. I'm a night owl, horribly distracted by either movies, gaming, or browsing my fav sites...Somehow, somewhere along the line...I've gotten used to feeling tired, exhausted, zombified all the time. I even find myself staying up when I'm totally ready to drop into bed...why I wish I knew. Sleep has turned into this precious commodity that I can't even choose to rightfully get, and here I was, for 2 and 1/2 hours (heh okay maybe it was really 3 *winks*) just totally and "blissfully" unawares of all those worries. Worries? Screw em. Homework? It can wait. Someone's calling the cell? GO AWAY! I mean it was awesome!

Doing this, giddy as it sounds, renewed my love of letting go and taking a nap. Also, maybe I can't handle everything the way I dreamt I might pre-napping. The important part to me was the actual act of just plunking down, clothes and all, breaking off anything that needed to be done, to curl up mid day to just let go of all the stress, even if for just for a few hours.

Now admittedly, I've been stuck at home a great deal between all the stuff I've went through. You'd think, gosh, how on earth is taking a nap blissful for someone in her position. Let's just say konking out from pain pills is a totally different experience than just letting your mind shut down. I don't feel restful when I wake up feeling like I had too many drinks or something. This was such a better experience. It's like cheating on a diet with a really good dessert, calling off work to stay in your pajamas, or like watching an old episode of Roseanne that people would laugh at you about were they present. Honestly, it was somehow the thought itself magnified by the act, more blissful the moment I said in my head "I'm doing it! I don't care! Everything can too wait" That's the moment when bad things would happen to anyone that gets in your way should they interfere. I hope I remember naps are not evil groggy things that tempt me, and that they really help me for staying sane and feeling human again!

WTF assignment -What if comes to life!

What if people's eye color meant that those colors stood out more to them when looking at objects?
(Lauren Ewing's post) Question #25.
I wasn't thinking about your typical eye colors per se when I read this question. Sure I thought maybe go with my eye color, but it changes a bit depending on what I wear from green to blue to a blue-green. Then, I immediately thought how cool would it be to see things in a different color...let's see like those cool contact lenses you can get for Halloween, only what if it DID really affect how you saw things. I began thinking of how it might be to see things in orange and black. What about everyday things you'd see, such as a tree w/berries, only it's in those colors instead. I think it adds a completely different mood to it, maybe a whimsy even. Now if I saw -everything- that way, hmmmm....that's what I tried to convey in these pictures below. :) I guess at first I really ran with the idea of this question, going even further by seeing everything in those colors. This made me decide I will also post two pics, a before/after, of the original what if I just saw orange and black enhanced, too. Then you have two different versions and answers to this question :D Wheeee this was fun.

BEFORE - Serene Spring Tree

AFTER - Haunted Whimsical Tree


BEFORE - Kitty + Pumpkin


AFTER - Pumpkin + Kitty Enhanced


In these two pictures, it may seem a tad more subtle at first, but I tinkered with hue, saturation, levels and other things to make the pumpkin and black cat appear very rich in color (ty magic wand!!! haha) and imagined well, if these two colors stood out, the others would fade away in the background a bit. And there you have it. :)

The two last classes...

The last class you guys had I guess involved pudding!? LOL. And someone had to feed someone else pudding, which apparently was boring, so someone got pudding up their nose and ears. The other person got a cupcake to get back at her, and he crumbled it in her hair and crumbled it in Beth's hair, and apparently I missed a funny funny class. The whole idea of the class was about senses. Seems like some really liked it and others were a lil bored, but overall had some sort of fun at some point or was interested.

The last class before that, I wasn't there, but my friend was, and I understood you rode around on chairs wherever you went half of class or something.

Curses. That would have been fun HEHE I'm always joking about being too tired and would someone just give my chair a lil push in the direction I needed to go...

It's really weird blogging about classes you weren't present for, though...hehe.