Hello from 12:01; it’s officially Friday! Why is Jill writing this so uncharacteristically early you ask? Well, Amy and I are going to the Smokey Mountains tomorrow/today! We’re going on a trip with our Ecology class for the weekend, and since we leave around 11:30, I didn’t feel I’d have enough time to write a blog in between then and coming back from bird observations. So, now is a good a time as any to write something for you guys.
I need to interrupt this blog for a moment to tell you that apparently Amy talks in Chinese in her sleep. I have no idea what she just said, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't English.
Tuesday night Amy, Sara, and I went to a magic show on campus!!! (yeah, we skipped fencing, but it was totally worth it. The event was called ‘The Maze’ and it was amazing! I highly recommend you guys seeing it if you ever get the chance. If you do plan on trying to see this guy and don’t want to know some of the stuff that went on (not that I’ll really spoil anything), skip this paragraph. It started out so intense with dim lighting, pounding music, and a voice that said that we were about to be basically part of social experiment. The person on the speaker told us we stayed to watch the performance we were consenting to interact in any way with the show. He actually gave us fifteen minutes to make up our mind if we wanted to leave, after which the doors to the theater would be locked. The show itself was so cool. The Magician, Jim, was hilarious. And of course very good at his job. I’ll only mention two of his tricks, my favorite two. In part of the show, he brought up two people onto the stage and said something to the effect that he was going to psychically link them. He had them stand apart from one another with their eyes tightly shut. Then he went up to one of them and nudged their shoulder a few times. He then stepped back and said to raise your hand if you felt something touch you. And they both raised their hands! And then he asked them to point to where they felt the touch and they pointed to the same spot! Oh man, I just reread that. The description simply does not do it justice. It was awesome to watch in person. I should also mention another awesome aspect of the show: it was sponsored by the BCM. Jim’s a Christian, and in some of his acts he makes these cool connections between the trick and life. There was a cool analogy made, that I would fail horribly to retell, when he was levitating a metal pipe. It had to do with people knowing what he’s doing is fake, you can’t actually make a pipe fly, but they still choose to believe it’s something magical or supernatural. Blaaahhh. Words. It’s hard to express in writing the awesomeness of the show.
Awkward transition.
You guys should pick my minor for me…….
I’ve been thinking a lot this week about what to minor in and I’m so indecisive. I spent Wednesday night just searching through the list of available programs trying to decide on one. I do kinda have a top 4 that I’ve been bouncing between the last few days: Anthropology, History, Religious Studies, and American Sign Language. At the moment, I’m thinking History is out because it requires more hours, but I’ll probably be reconsidering it later anyway. Blleeeeccchhhhh. I don’t like decisions. What input do you guys have? Oh, and the one bright point of this is my discovery that apparently Western has some program called Canadian Studies! Sadly, I haven’t been able to find any information on it other than that it exists.
And I would like to take this time to respond, somewhat, to one of Sara’s answers on Tuesday’s blog.
I need to interrupt this blog for a moment to tell you that apparently Amy talks in Chinese in her sleep. I have no idea what she just said, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't English.
Tuesday night Amy, Sara, and I went to a magic show on campus!!! (yeah, we skipped fencing, but it was totally worth it. The event was called ‘The Maze’ and it was amazing! I highly recommend you guys seeing it if you ever get the chance. If you do plan on trying to see this guy and don’t want to know some of the stuff that went on (not that I’ll really spoil anything), skip this paragraph. It started out so intense with dim lighting, pounding music, and a voice that said that we were about to be basically part of social experiment. The person on the speaker told us we stayed to watch the performance we were consenting to interact in any way with the show. He actually gave us fifteen minutes to make up our mind if we wanted to leave, after which the doors to the theater would be locked. The show itself was so cool. The Magician, Jim, was hilarious. And of course very good at his job. I’ll only mention two of his tricks, my favorite two. In part of the show, he brought up two people onto the stage and said something to the effect that he was going to psychically link them. He had them stand apart from one another with their eyes tightly shut. Then he went up to one of them and nudged their shoulder a few times. He then stepped back and said to raise your hand if you felt something touch you. And they both raised their hands! And then he asked them to point to where they felt the touch and they pointed to the same spot! Oh man, I just reread that. The description simply does not do it justice. It was awesome to watch in person. I should also mention another awesome aspect of the show: it was sponsored by the BCM. Jim’s a Christian, and in some of his acts he makes these cool connections between the trick and life. There was a cool analogy made, that I would fail horribly to retell, when he was levitating a metal pipe. It had to do with people knowing what he’s doing is fake, you can’t actually make a pipe fly, but they still choose to believe it’s something magical or supernatural. Blaaahhh. Words. It’s hard to express in writing the awesomeness of the show.
Awkward transition.
You guys should pick my minor for me…….
I’ve been thinking a lot this week about what to minor in and I’m so indecisive. I spent Wednesday night just searching through the list of available programs trying to decide on one. I do kinda have a top 4 that I’ve been bouncing between the last few days: Anthropology, History, Religious Studies, and American Sign Language. At the moment, I’m thinking History is out because it requires more hours, but I’ll probably be reconsidering it later anyway. Blleeeeccchhhhh. I don’t like decisions. What input do you guys have? Oh, and the one bright point of this is my discovery that apparently Western has some program called Canadian Studies! Sadly, I haven’t been able to find any information on it other than that it exists.
And I would like to take this time to respond, somewhat, to one of Sara’s answers on Tuesday’s blog.
“Is a picture really worth a thousand words?
In fact, it is only worth 999. People are just lazy and
like to round up. Really, though, I tend not to subscribe to this
particular philosophy. I would much prefer a thousand word story to a single
measly picture. I guess I’m probably a little biased, though- I mean, you guys
have seen my attempts at “artwork” :P I’m sure there are plenty of people who
could spend well over a thousand words describing a single picture. I’m just not
one of them.”
In fact, it is only worth 999. People are just lazy and
like to round up. Really, though, I tend not to subscribe to this
particular philosophy. I would much prefer a thousand word story to a single
measly picture. I guess I’m probably a little biased, though- I mean, you guys
have seen my attempts at “artwork” :P I’m sure there are plenty of people who
could spend well over a thousand words describing a single picture. I’m just not
one of them.”
I don’t really know why, but this question got me thinking. Not really about anything big, but just pictures that I’ve seen and like. I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned it to all of you, but I have the tendency to save images I come across on the internet for various reasons. Sometimes it’s just something funny, but others are more the type to evoke emotion. I like some because they show human cleverness and others because they tell a story without any words. Or they snapshot a story where you don’t really know everything. I know Sara said she’s not very good at drawing (I consider myself far from the best as well), but that shouldn’t stop an appreciation. Shall I give a little gallery and you all tell your opinion on how many words they’re worth?
(I'll go ahead and apologize now to the creators of these pictures in the incredibly unlikely event that they are reading this. I didn't save the info on where I got any of these so I am unable to give credit to the source if it wasn't already stamped on the picture.)
(I'll go ahead and apologize now to the creators of these pictures in the incredibly unlikely event that they are reading this. I didn't save the info on where I got any of these so I am unable to give credit to the source if it wasn't already stamped on the picture.)
(Click the image to make it bigger)
This is the first thing I thought of after reading Sara's answer. I know I've shown this to at least of one you before, and I'm pretty sure I got weird looks for saying I liked it. To me, this as an instant emotional affect. Granted, I can't really form any words when thinking about it. I mean, I could technically. It'd be fairly easy to come up with a story to go along with it. But I was thinking the real power behind it (if it even has an affect of anyone else) isn't really in descriptive words so much as the feelings. Of course, this picture is a little unfair since it includes words on it.....
This is the first thing I thought of after reading Sara's answer. I know I've shown this to at least of one you before, and I'm pretty sure I got weird looks for saying I liked it. To me, this as an instant emotional affect. Granted, I can't really form any words when thinking about it. I mean, I could technically. It'd be fairly easy to come up with a story to go along with it. But I was thinking the real power behind it (if it even has an affect of anyone else) isn't really in descriptive words so much as the feelings. Of course, this picture is a little unfair since it includes words on it.....
This one I just found incredibly cute.
And here's one I wouldn't mind trying to duplicate at some point.
Something tells me this one could be well over 1000 words...plus some musical numbers.
It seemed only right to include some actual artwork among all the snapshots.
And here's the last picture I'll share because I feel this has basically turned into my own personal show and tell. It's called Glaucus atlanticus. Pretty, right?
There are so many more I could have included, but I've come to realize that my favorites all have some form of writing on them. Best of both worlds maybe?
Anyway, I'm not really sure what I'm trying to get at here. Maybe that pictures are perfectly capable of being of equal importance to 1000 words? Thinking back on childhood memories, would you rather have one good picture of that memory or a 1000 word summary? That's not a rhetorical question by the way, I'm curious what you guys would prefer. All that being said, I am also partial to written stories over pictures.
And speaking of artwork (look! An actual segue this time!) ‘tis the season for the Fine Arts kids to have their fun on campus. There are several art projects outside that I’ve come across in the last few days, most of which are…odd. Figured I’d share them with you (why not go all out with a picture-tastic blog?).
Anyway, I'm not really sure what I'm trying to get at here. Maybe that pictures are perfectly capable of being of equal importance to 1000 words? Thinking back on childhood memories, would you rather have one good picture of that memory or a 1000 word summary? That's not a rhetorical question by the way, I'm curious what you guys would prefer. All that being said, I am also partial to written stories over pictures.
And speaking of artwork (look! An actual segue this time!) ‘tis the season for the Fine Arts kids to have their fun on campus. There are several art projects outside that I’ve come across in the last few days, most of which are…odd. Figured I’d share them with you (why not go all out with a picture-tastic blog?).
Some saran wrapped trees. Although I at first just thought it was really weird and kinda wasteful, it ended up being somewhat interesting. The little sign on it talks about evoking a sense of play in viewers, inviting them to touch it or, for the more adventurous, crawl inside it (which of course we did)
Amy ___________________ me
This one, a bar-code in the grass, was described as a discussion on land owner ship and whether it could belong to people.
And here we have a pile of cow bones. Easily got the most weird looks from what I could tell.
This one had something to do with Zen Garden, but I can't really remember because the main thing this reminds me of is Amy's reaction upon realizing they used grains of rice instead of sand: "They're wasting food!!!!!"
There were a few others, but I want to go to bed now so I'll cut it off here. Amy and I'll be sure to film some stuff up in the mountains for VEDA next week.
Love,
Jill
P.S:
Love,
Jill
P.S:
RSS Feed
