I Have THE Worst Luck

I finished my blog post and was just putting a few finishing touches on it and when I was about to correct an error when the whole blog got highlighted and by the time I noticed it was too late, I hit the backspace button and my whole blog was deleted. It was a long blog too! I guess thats just karma for missing 2 weeks. I'm sorry but this blog is going to be significantly shorter if I want any chance of getting sleep tonight.
-I've been thinking a lot about our portfolios and I have a few ideas that I think can come out really well if I can pull it off.
- I've been wanting to see Welcome To The Riley's but I think its already out of theaters so I'll just have to wait for it to go on DVD.
-Our movie script is coming along well, we just have a few changes to make then we're done, and I can't wait to start filming! Going out and filming is always my favorite part, I love using the camera and acting.
- Workshops with Carl have been awesome! I didn't know that people actually made their own books, I just kind of assumed everyone went you and bought them like I do. It's very time consuming to make them but I like the idea of having my own personalized book that I can make look like anything I want. I cant wait to start passing the books around and fill them all up.
- Metropolis was actually the first silent movie I've ever seen and it was a weird experience. I'm so used to hearing people talk and just immediately know whats going on because theres dialog explaining it but with this you had to watch closely. You couldn't even take your eyes off the screen for one minute to send a text message or to get a glass of water without getting lost.
-Tell No One is now one of my favorite movies of all time!  I'm trying to get a copy of it to show my brother and dad because they would really appreciate it.
- I've been really enjoying STAC art but I kind of miss having an art class and drawing everyday. My skills are getting a little rusty because its been so long since I've been able to sit down and work on a drawing. I'm hoping to get back to drawing as soon as I find the time to do it. Art has been neglected for awhile now because I have so much going on, but I'm planning on starting a journal and just drawing whatever I feel at the moment in there.
Thats all that really comes to mind at the moment. My minds a mess, I'm sleep deprived and am just hoping I'll get to go to bed before my body takes over and does it for me.

My New Favorite Place, Alphabet City.

Can I just start off by saying that I want to move to Alphabet City? In my neighborhood there isn't very much uniqueness, every house is the same as the one before it. In Alphabet City it's the complete opposite, every street and building has character, peoples personalities shine through and theres always something to look at. I've been to the city hundreds of times since I was younger so the bright lights and craziness of it all lost its effect on me. It's been awhile since something in the city really amazed me but Alphabet city was like nothing I've seen before. there was so much culture and creativity put into every inch of it that I was left in awe. Something as simple as a coffee shop had that wow factor. Stores were painted neon colors and buildings had murals on them.

The community gardens were amazing. They really help make Alphabet city something special. They were beautiful, creative and sometimes a bit confusing. You'd be walking down the street look to your right and see  chickens, and now here I am standing on the sidewalk thinking "What the hell are these chickens doing in NYC?!" Thats what Alphabet city does to you, just when you think things are going to be normal then BAM! a chicken shows up. Each community garden was different none resembled the one before it. I became a bit attached to the gardens I didn't want to leave. I wanted rent one and start working on it right then and there. Now this got me thinking, we have so many courtyards in our school that go unused cant we just take one and make it into our own community garden? I think it would be a great experience and really give the school some character. Let's make it happen!

I almost forgot about the people watching! At one point while the rest of my group were taking pictures I just sat down on someones porch and watched people pass by. One minute you see a man walk by in skinny jeans and a leather jacket and the next you see a man in a suit with a brief case. The people who live there really show the transition the area is going through. Alphabet city used to be a place for people that I guess you call "punks?" and now wealthier people are moving there changing the city. Oh! how could I forget about the freaks?! from old ladies doing yoga with there dogs and people sitting on benches with their faces completely covered, you see everything.

I want to add some photos, maybe I'll do that another time.

Be Kind Rewind

I've heard a lot in the past about Be Kind Rewinds and I've seen a couple too, but I didn't expect them to be so much fun. This week we finally got started on them. We had an hour a day to work on them which isn't very much considering how much planning goes into making a film, no matter how short they are. Our daily schedule went a little like this:
Wednesday: We split up into groups, my group consisted of Matt, Alex, Zach, Mairead and Ellen. We worked really fast compared to other groups because we went into the thought process with a basic idea of what we wanted to do. Alex and Matt have had the idea of Mortachai Christ for a long time so we got started planning right away. By the end of the hour we had our whole story and characters down.
Thursday: We went location scouting to see where in the school is available and what periods we can use them during.
Friday: The most hectic day. We got to STAC sat down and quickly ate then we were off to go filming. The looks on peoples faces when you walk by dressed in togas is priceless. Freshmen would take one look at Zach and wonder "what the hell are these people doing?" It was the opposite with all the seniors, We were filming near the lounge and no one questioned us. I'm sure they're used to STACies doing crazy things by now.
Either than filming watching all of the other groups movies was my second favorite thing we did all week. I really had no clue what he other groups were doing for theirs so seeing all their props got me excited to see what they would be for. I'd love to do another Be Kind Rewind.

Titles really aren't my thing

In STAC art so far we've been learning about Bubsy Berkeley an looking at his different musical numbers. I auditioned for STAC with just a art portfolio of some of my drawings I've done over the course of the year, so I was excited to get started in STAC art begin creating art. When I first found out that we were doing art inspired by dance I was caught off guard. It wasn't anything like I expected us to be doing but I was intrigued as to how we were going to create artwork out of a dance. On Wednesday and Thursday we really got an idea of what we're doing. In many of Berkeley's works he would film dancers from above creating kaleidoscopic images that we are using as our inspiration for art. We pick a theme and create a kaleidoscope based off of that. I didn't come up with my theme until I had already drawn my first few shapes, but in the end it worked out. I can't wait to use color and maybe even make a sculpture inspired by his dance routines. 

This post is a little shorter than usual but I'm sure next week I'll have a lot more to say.

In These Blog Posts I Always Have A Lot To Say And This Week is No Exception.

I usual cover every day of the week but I think this time I'm just going to write about Friday. I've heard a lot about STAC trips and how much fun they are but it was much more than I expected. We went to MoMA (Museum Of Modern Art) to see Matisse and La Cage to see cross dressers. 
I've been on field trips to museums plenty of times but I've never been to one like this. On normal art field trips I'm stuck in a group with a bunch of immature high school kids who know nothing about art and really could care less, that was not the case this time. We arrive at MoMA and are given complete freedom, we got to choose who we were with, what we saw, how much time we spent there, it was great. Even though we were there to see Matisse it wasn't the exhibit that comes to mind when I think of that day. I really enjoyed all the photography because I like seeing the world through a lens. Every detail that went into making that picture what it is fascinate me. There was another section that looked like you just walked into Ikea, at first it confused me but after walking around a bit I realized how much work went into making those designs for all of those household appliances. I haven't ever walked into a Museum and have been excited about a piece of artwork that I see, Friday was the exception. We walk into a room see one of Andy Warhols Marilyn Monroe Paintings, look a little to the left and we see the Campbells cans he drew. And now this was what really got me excited I turn around and I see Roy Lichtenstein's "Drowning Girl". Last year in art class I did a project on him which involved a lot of researching and looking at his paintings online so finally seeing one of his paintings in person was amazing. I freaked out just a little bit. In that same section we saw a painting that just simply said "OOF" It was kind of dumb but in a brilliant way. It made you stop and look at it you couldn't just walk by. It was also the inspiration for my groups chant OOF OOF OOF!

Last thing I want to write about is screaming. While looking at all the paintings we would occasionally hear the eco of a scream coming from somewhere else in the museum which was a little concerning. We finally make our down to the first floor and see a single microphone in middle of a large room filled with people. We ask the security guard if we're allowed to go up there and scream he replied yes but only one at a time. One after the other my group gets up there and screams at the top of their lungs. meanwhile everyone in the room stops and stares at the group of high schoolers taking turns screaming. It was one of the weirdest and greatest feelings I've ever experienced. Getting up to that unplugged microphone and screaming when all our lives we've been told that in museums we need to act maturely and keep our voices down. All eyes were on us and if you looked around the room people had their cameras out and were filming us screaming. One thing I found really interesting was that even when given the chance to get up there and scream no one took the chance, even after seeing a group of teenagers do it. In the car ride home I was telling my dad about it and he was confused as to how that was qualified as art and what people don't realize is that the art is the people. It's an interactive piece of art, it make people step out of their comfort zone and feel something that they haven't felt before. It takes a certain type of person to get up there and scream.

My awesome group OOF OOF!

Liminal Spaces

(Edited!)

This assignment took a lot of researching for me to even begin, I needed help badly. On one of the websites I visited I found this explanation "Think of liminal space as the place where you arrive after you leave one room and have not yet entered another." This instantly made me think about life. Nothing in life stays the same, things change from the time when you're a baby, to a kid, to a teenager and ultimately an adult. It's the transition between these different stages that make count because thats what will decide how you turn out. So I decided to go out of my house and look for things showing transition and change.

I like to think of my driveway  as a portal and the first step from the safety of my house into the outside world.Without leaving the comfort of your own home you may never be able to go out and experience everything that you need to grow up.

The people selling this house are at a transition in their lives. They're in between houses, they're leaving one house that they have lived in to move into a new home. 

People are going in transition to new places and the highway is the in between zone of where they were and where they're going.

This house is in between the old and the new.

I found this house interesting because it has a mix between seasons. They already have Halloween decorations up but right next to it theres purple flowers that in a way represent Summer.

The 2 basketball hoops one big and one small show growing up in a sense

I always found it very odd that there was a cemetery right next to the elementary school I went to. The contrast between life and death in such a close space interests me a lot. I remember playing on the playground when I was in kindergarten terrified by what was right next to me.

One day you could be riding a bike with your dad and before you know it you may be riding with your own kid.

College has been on my mind a lot recently. My brother who is a senior in high school is in the process of applying for colleges and deciding what he want to do for the rest of his life. It's around the time where he needs to start becoming an adult and leave all the video games and childhood things behind 

The only way you can go in liminal space is forward

I Think I'm Going To Start Writing Down On Paper What We Do Everyday.

So as I am writing this I am currently on a train home from a long day in the city, although this blog wont be up till later tonight. This week I've been unbelievably busy, its unlike me. One of my friends is the president of our grade so I was sort of inclined to help out with homecoming. Our grade doesn't have many artistic people so I had a lot of work to do, but in the end I guess it paid off because we won 1st place for banner! I'm sorry if this blog is a little late I've had virtually no time to sit down and write it. My brains a little bit of a mess so I might have a tough time remembering what happened this week, so lets give this a shot:

The spy game we've been playing made me want to check into a clinic for the mentally insane. On Monday my team started an inbox on facebook to communicate, after an hour or so I stopped getting messages. I kept checking for days to see if I got any but it just wasn't happening. Thursday was when the game really got interesting, during 5th period I found out that my team thought I was the mole, and they were all planning on killing me later that day. After enough convincing, I finally got them to trust me. On that same day we had Mr. Ganes come in to show us some of Bubsy Berkley's work (I'll address my thoughts on that later in this blog) we were all gathered around the TV screen watching, I was sitting next to Bobby and Leah was sitting behind writing something. Bobby tells me that he thinks Leah is going to kill us. We freak out and go sit somewhere else, taking our bags with us because we were so paranoid someone was going to kill us. After class I was able to find red teams drop box which wasn't so hard since I saw someone use it. On Friday the game was declared over which was a sigh of relief because now I can roam the halls without the worry of getting attacked.


Now onto Bubsy Berkeley! I don't know much about dance, but I do know that I'm horrible at it. Dancing was just something I was never into but I am a sucker for good camera work. I loved all of the overhead shots and transitions they made from one scene to the next. Each part flowed into the next flawlessly and gave me some ideas for future projects I can work on. You can tell there was a ton of work put into creating such a master piece.


The last thing I want to talk about is our trip to the community center where we did some acting. I haven't done very much acting so I didn't really know what to expect. I knew shyness wouldn't be a factor in my acting because I'm pretty comfortable in who I am and I'm okay with others seeing that. I had a problem with the exercise we did where we had to start a movement and make that into a character, but I'll get the hang of it eventually. One thing I really enjoyed was the exercise where we had to imitate the character our partner was playing. my first partner was Molly, things were going smoothly up until she said something that was really funny and I couldn't help but laugh. She of course followed me and began to laugh as well, this went on until we ended up playing a character that ended up being an over exaggerated version of myself. Another partner I had was Bobby (who actually talked about this in his blog) and somehow it turned into a scream off getting gradually louder till the point where we couldn't breathe (having asthma doesn't help either). It made me loosen up a bit more and I'm ready to do more acting!


Thats all I can remember for now, next week my mind will hopefully be a lot clearer allowing me to write more in depth. Oh and I'm so ready for the trip this Friday!

Pyschogeography

At first this assignment felt like it was going to be really easy, but man was I wrong. I had no idea what mine was going to be about until I got home after a long day day of taking pictures. I sat down and looked through all the pictures I had taken to see if i could see some sort of a link and I think I've figured it out.All of these pictures are from different environments and make you act and feel different when in them.

I feel a bit creepy taking a picture of someones house but I
just could not resist. I found this house just so inviting, from
the archway to color and the design it made me want to walk in
and sit down for a cup of tea. It made me wish my house was more
 like that.

When I was younger I used to love this tree.  I
used to go into my backyard and swing whenever
I was feeling down or angry. I still do wonder how it
ever grew that way, and seeing it reminds me of simpler
times.

This was an area that we found in a park. it was set up so people
could go there and play chess. When we saw it all of the wooden
planks were gone and all that was left was concrete.
It seemed like it was forgotten and abandoned and just by standing
there you could feel it.

Okay, I'll admit I didn't take this picture this weekend, but I did
take it one of the more recent times I was in the city. When in
Times Square you get a feeling like no other. You could go there
1,000 times and never get rid of that feeling. When there you
can't help but look up in awe at all the lights and signs.

The way the front of this store was set up invites customers
to come in. Inside the widows theres colorful butterflies and
flowers hanging. 

On Sunday there was a street fair on Hillside Avenue
where they had a small carnival area set up with a few ridesand
games. Seeing all of this reminded me of when I was young(er)
and all it took was a few rides to put a simile on my face for a
whole week. It made me feel like a kid again and instantly made
 me happy

This is a picture I took in my friends backyard. Not only is it
beautiful but it reminds you that theres something outside of
your little computer screen.

My parents decided to take me to Port Washington to see
what kind of pictures I could get since I was having trouble.
This picture ended up being my inspiration for this series
of pictures. (The feeling this environment gave me will be
explained in the next picture)

If theres one thing I noticed while in Port Washington was
the effect a beautiful environment can completely change a
person. I'm not one to be quiet or calm but as I was walking
I found myself walking slower, talking lower and saying less.
The last time this happened was when I caught laryngitis in the
4th grade. This environment had a strange calming effect on me
that cannot be described

This is a picture of the street I live on. While ago my Dad told
me that these trees were the reason my parents bought the
house we live in. He told me that the way the tree branches arc
over the street gave him a feeling of safety and isolation that
is exactly what he was looking for. If it weren't for these trees I may
not be living in my house.

Sucessfully Survived My First Full Week

As of today I have officially finished my first full week in STAC and I have finally become comfortable in the class. Now that I have gotten to know more people and they've gotten to know me better I feel like I can stop being so nervous, loosen up a bit and be myself. I think that this week gave me a better idea of what STAC really is because before that I really didn't know what to expect or what exactly we would be doing.

I think the best and most efficient way to reflect on my week is just to go day by day so lets give this a shot:

Monday: On Monday, I believe we watched an episode of The Prisoner. This time the plot was a lot easier to follow but still had that "Prisoner" feel to it (if that makes any sense). The plot in this episode was much simpler but still had its twists and turns. Although the thing that really interested me was the conversation we had after watching. We talked a lot about the way it was filmed and the techniques used to create the feeling of being watched. Film has always been something I'm interested in and I pay a lot of attention to camera angles and camera movement in general. I'm always looking for someone to talk about it with, but usually none of my friends are as observant as I am or even pay attention to the camera work.

Tuesday: Theres not really much to say. we had to pick a partner that we know nothing about or have never met and write a pantoum about them. My partner and I created out poems through random facts about each other. They didn't come out amazing but they were defiantly fun to write.

Wednesday: I was really looking forward to Wednesday because it was our first day of STAC art. We met Mr. Ganes and spent 2 periods on introducing ourselves which seems like a long time, but I think it was worth it because it helped with getting to know other people. We worked on some t-shirt designs which I had a lot of trouble with. I don't think I know STAC well enough yet to design a t-shirt about it.

Thursday: We played a spy game that was a lot of fun which is a lot for me to say since I hardly played. Since I died in the second round I didn't get to do much but it was still fun to watch people and how they act when being accused of something. One thing that could be improved on is the length of each night time phase, we can fix this by playing with 4 groups instead of 8 that way things could move along a lot faster.

Friday: Today we received our project for the weekend which requires us to take picture in a psychogeographic manner I guess you could say? I'm still unsure of what it means I still have a lot of research to do before I can chose what I want mine to be. We also planned a play in 20 minutes which wasn't very easy, I ended up having to make my character on the spot because of a misunderstanding that occurred getting rid of my character completely. I saw the opportunity to get a line or two in so I made the decision on the spot and became the 3rd girlfriend. In the end the play came out good for something planned in 20 minutes. We got a few laughs so I guess mission accomplished?
Did I mention the fact that I was the only one to die? I was dumb enough to leave my agenda book out of my gym locker even though I knew there was a fellow STACie in our class out to get me. On the inside my book I had my combo written so she was able to open up my locker and put a note and a little ducky bomb informing me that I just died. Dying is quite possibly one of the worst feelings you can experience, especially when it's the first day and you didn't even get to kill someone yet. The feeling is indescribable. It's like getting a box of cereal and finding out that your brother took the toy before you even have the chance to. The moment you see that white slip of paper knowing what it is and not wanting to read it because you know once you do your "life" is over. You go through the stages of shock, confusion, anger and denial. I refused to accept the fact that I was dead, I had a whole killing spree planned ahead of me and was eager to see the look on my victims faces, but with one tiny slip of paper that was all over. Luckily Luke announced to the class that we're restarting the game and I'm alive once again. I'll need to be super careful this time because I'm sure a lot of people will try to get me on the first day just to mess with me one last time.

Hm... Where to Start?

I woke up this morning feeling excited, depressed, and sick to my stomach all at the same time. I was excited to start the new school year, meet all my teachers, find out who's in my classes and see all my friends from last year who I wasn't actually close enough with to hang out during the summer (you know what type of friend I'm talking about). You can't help feeling depressed knowing that your summer and freedom are over leaving only 180 days of book reports, home work, essays and tests until you see that glimpse of freedom once again. The last and most dominant was feeling sick to my stomach. I'll admit I was pretty nervous to walk into that STAC room at the end of the day, so nervous in fact that I made Matt walk with me because I didn't want to walk in alone. The only thing I wasn't nervous about was finding a place to sit because I already had a lot of friends there that no matter what I'd find a seat. I think I was mostly nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I was talking to my friend the night before who graduated from Herricks 2 years ago about what to expect in STAC since he too was once a STACie, the best advice he gave me was to not worry and that I'll love it.

Once I walked in and sat down that sick feeling automatically went away. I was a little timid to say anything but just give me a few days and that'll go away. We Watched the first episode of The Prisoner and I don't really know what to think of it... At first I knew what was going on and then I was lost, then I would figure it out again and then I was lost yet again. This went on till the end of the episode where I was just left with the feeling of what the hell just happened. I really cannot wait to see more. The last and most exciting thing we did was receive our missions which I am super excited for. All I have left to say on that topic is BRING IT!