Journal #5

Why did you choose the symbols you did?
The symbols I choose make up who I am as a person. They describe the things I like to do, places I want to go, things about my family and who I am as a person. They are the very essence of who "Tegan Ellis" really is on the inside. For example, I love to play tennis, listen to music and play with my dog. I also love to smile, am proud to be an American and have a birthday in October. These various symbols are signs of those things.

How does your photo differ from your rational and/or symbolic representation?
My photo is very black and white. You can see me and everything that is visual to the outside eye. It only tells simple things like what I look like, my ethnicity, how I do my hair, what clothes I wear and what color my eyes are. Beyond that, there is no depth. You don't know what I love, what makes me tick or what makes me who I am. The picture is very one sided whereas the symbols have more meaning. Meaning which might not make sense to an outsider, but to me they may mean everything.

*pictures were found on Flickr and Google images, not a product of my own

Lester's Six Perspectives for Analyzing Images

For this picture I chose the "personal" perspective.

I first studied the image. My instinctual reaction almost puts me in awe of the picture, realizing this natural phenomenon is seen all around the world.

Primary Words: Lightening, Dark, Tree, Funnel, Clouds, Radio Tower, Sky, Storm, Tornado, Black
Associative Words: Destruction, Fear, Danger, Hide, Wind, Powerful, Shelter, Beautiful, Natural Disaster, Death, Omniscient, Unstoppable, Strike at any time, heat etc.

Pairs: Lightening & Heat, Dark & Fear, Funnel & Power, Sky & Beautiful, Tornado & Destruction

Tornado, Beautiful and Unstoppable relate to me the most. These words explain how I feel about these storms. Personally, I think they are beautiful from a distance yet scary when they get close. They can bring death and destruction and demand "respect" from onlookers. They are not to be messed with, as they cannot be stopped or controlled by humans. No one knows when they will strike, we can simply prepare for what is to come.

My personal story with tornadoes happen when I was a little kid. The day we moved into our brand new house the weather started to get extremely bad. The wind began to increase, the sky got dark and things just seemed quiet. The moving man asked if he could come in out of the rain. We all went to the basement and waited for it to pass. I thought we were going to loose our house before we even moved the whole way in. When it was all over, we came outside to find the spray on grass a mess but the house unharmed.

True or False? Journal Entry #1

After looking over three different photos (which can be found on Web CT) I was able to come up with the following information about each.

The questions were:
A)Are you familiar with the image? If so, how?
B)Do you think the image is true or false? Why?
C)What evidence do you have to support your conclusion?

Photo #1: Air France Crash
A)No
B)I think the image is false. There is no way someone could have taken this picture if the plane was about to crash. They would have been in a panic, trying to save their lives, not worried about the next front page cover for TIME magazine. Plus, the pressure would have been so strong there would have been no way to turn around and get that particular view.
C)The man in the back is flying out of the plane. Realistically, people would be trying to save him. The person taking the picture wouldn't have been able to hold on to the camera if the man in the back couldn't even stay in the plane. I also believe they wouldn't have been able to get to their camera. All their bags would have been blowing around the plane.

Photo #2: Hurricane Katrina Blows Car by Red Light Camera
A)No, although I feel as though I have seen something similar on the news.
B)I think the background image is real, but I feel as though the car was phottoshopped in. The color of the car looks off. It just doesn't fit with the rest of the picture.
C)The level at which the picture was taken would not be where a street light hung. It was too low to the ground. Also, if the winds were really up to 130 mph I think the electricity would have been out, thus resulting in no actual photo being taken. Lastly, the palm trees through me off. I didn't think they had any in New Orleans.

Photo #3: Luxury Yacht
A)No
B)I think the image looks false. It looks like a drawing or a painting an architect drew up for a client.
C)The water is too peaceful, the boat looks to large to have even been built yet and it just looks overall fake in my eyes. It looks like something I would see in a James Bond movie.

These are solely my own thoughts, no research was done in order to come to a conclusion. All my ideas are therefore subjective and could be wrong. What do you think?

ok, so this is a little creepy....

So, I have finally jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. However, I am now hearing more and more about this Second Life or Avitar business. Hmmm...I don't know how I feel about all of this virtual life shinanigans. Not to call anyone out, but let's face it kids. This is a bit creepy, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Now, I firmly believe to each his own but where does the madness stop. I feel like in only a few years down the road kids won't even know how to function in "real life".
Ok, so I won't lie. Back in the day I played a Sims, but I was 15 and had no life. Plus, the people I was talking or associating with were computers not other 15 year olds.
I guess I got really freaked out when I heard actual people are being put on trial for stealing from this quote on quote world and as a result being tried in real life. I'm sorry but that's just sad. What next, are people just going to permanently live at home and create their entire world online? Clearly, I'm not one to judge ;) so what do you think?

Reality TV...Don't we have anything else to do?

So sadly enough I have come to realize that Americans are either too bored or just plain living on auto. The fact that we spend multiple hours each day watching other people live their lives, maintain or in most cases break relationships, recover or fall back into drug and alcohol addictions, and most recently learn how to become a lady or a gentleman.
Just last night I have to admit I sat back and talked about the struggles, life lessons and everyday responsibilities my best friend and I have gone through in the last few months. Catching up on what the other has been up to and just swapping stories. Directly after we flipped on the tube and what else is on at 2 in the morning but MTV.
I can't believe I am actually saying this, but I watched about 4 hours of mindless television while I tossed and turned trying to fall asleep on my old, crappy futon. I watched G's to Gents and T.I.'s Road to Redemption. Clearly, I have my own issues in life, but somehow it's just easier to sit back and laugh at others. It kind of makes you forget how bad or boring your life might be.
I guess I just think it's sad that these days most young adults shadow their lives after those they see on MTV. What does this mean for the upcoming generations? What kind of Reality TV will my kids be watching in 10 years? I don't know about you, but I think the future of television is beginning to leave a shadow on the lives of those to come. Maybe it's just me, but I'm about ready for some real entertainment. What happen to all the artistic and creative minds that came to the forefront of television only years ago? Come back from your little huts in Tahiti and make some decent shows, please. I think the future of television relies on it.

Laughter=a great stress reliver and a nice set of 6 pack abs!

This weekend I think I laughed more than I have in quite a few months. I headed down to Columbus to see a few friends of mine from high school, what a better way to spend a spring break, and got more than I bargained for. Leave it to four goofy, outrageous and unique women to turn a trip to Cheeseburger in Paradise into a therapy session.
Can I just say I never knew what I was laughing about for 3/4's of dinner, but I didn't even care. Just being around people that made me relax and really enjoy life for what it's worth shined a new light on what it means to be alive. College is stressful, lets be honest. However, sometimes I feel like we, or at least I, focus way to much on tests, papers and assignments and really don't just enjoy the fact that I get to experience each day.
We laughed about balloon animals, what time happy hour started and how we all could totally use a power nap after dinner. Cheers to getting old and no regrets. Thanks girls for a fantastic evening and a great ab work out. Perhaps I should head to Columbus more often.

Thanks Mom!

So as I get older and more mature, or maybe it's just older and poorer, I seem to appreciate my family a heck of a lot more than in previous years. It's the little things that get me excited and make me miss home. Like today for example. I was sitting in the PAC Lab working on some last minute studying when I get a text message from my boss. First can I just say I always feel awkward when my boss texts me. I guess it will be really scary when my 60 year old mother (sorry mom, you are young at heart though) sends a text for the first time. Man, where did time go?

Anyways back to my story, my boss tells me I have a "delivery." First of all that word delivery is just sketchy. What exactly does that mean, a card, flowers, chocolates and from who, your boyfriend, best friend, parent or some creeper down the curb. That's right people, you know exactly what I'm talking about. When someone uses the word delivery, you say hmmmm and your mind stars to wander as to what this special delivery could entail.

OK, so let's get back on track. This studying for finals things is totally getting my mind outta whack lately. I get to work and my boss just smiles and tells me "it's in the office." She peers through the window as I open the door, turn on the light and see what my mysterious delivery really is. A big, yellow, smiley balloon, some pretty pink flowers and a card. Who sent it you may be wondering. Was it my secret admirer or special friend, nope my mom. That's right all, be jealous because the card even had a poem. A rhyming poem at that.

How freaking cool do I feel right now! I strut out the door, delivery in hand and announce to the world that I have the coolest mom in the world. That's right, family gets a lot cooler when you get older. Keep them coming mom, I can handle these so called deliveries all quarter long!