Well Isn't That Just Iconic..?

The Hallmark Channel is currently filming a movie called "The Class" on Biola's campus. They are literally everywhere; in the library, on Metzger, IN Metzger, the mailboxes, commons... all over the place. It's a pretty exciting and interesting atmosphere.

Today I was sitting outside of the library, just taking a breather and observing some of the filming, maybe secretly trying to get into a shot with my bright red sweatshirt... and I noticed something peculiar. I've noticed this specific thing in movies before and it has always seemed weird but to see it within the context of Biola being the set, was really intriguing.

Now, I don't know what this movie is about, but it takes place on a college campus ("Morgan State College") so naturally, many of their background actors are supposed to be everyday, regular college students. Yet, like in most movies involving high school or college age subjects, the actual actors are not even close. They look like they are about 28 years old and the backpacks they are carrying, casually slung over one shoulder, are pitifully empty, have they ever even been to college?

this is what average college students typically look like during finals..

I just love the fact that this company is filming on a college campus, yet their actors look nothing like the reality they are trying to portray. While this is a small and minute detail of movie making, and, sure maybe in the big picture of things, who cares if they look a little older? This becomes a more serious issue when the images being portrayed are negatively influencing young minds. Or even middle age and old minds! Our media is constantly trying to portray people as older, more beautiful, smarter, more confident and much more put together than the majority of real human beings actually are!

For example, the most recent Miley Cyrus music video for Party in the U.S.A. features her, a fresh 17 year old young girl, flaunting her long skinny legs and flashing her black bra which happens to be sticking out of her shirt the whole time. The backup dancers are all probably in their mid- late 20's, women who are dressed pretty high fashion and acceptably for their age, but definitely not what young teenage girls should be epitomizing.

All of that to say, it's just about finals week, and what kind of student would I be if I didn't have something to rant about and procrastinate with!?

Dabbling in Multi-Media

Among the many things I have gleaned from my classes this semester, I seem to have come out with an abundance of projects! While I was in the midst of it all, I didn't really think about the fact that all of the work I've put forth could be used as portfolio work. Although I'm not a pro yet and most of my work is still considered "novice", I figured this would be a great forum to share my work, even if no one ever sees it. =]

This is technically a multi-media project, combining both photographs and audio and it was initially created for my Intro to Photojournalism class. To capture the audio, I used a handheld Panasonic digital recorder which ended up producing much better sound than I was expecting. For the pictures, I used a Canon Rebel with a 10mm-22mm wide angle lens and shot on Aperture priority.
For final product, I used Audacity to edit the audio, iPhoto to edit the pictures and then compiled it all together with iMovie then exported it to a QuickTime file!

Check it out and enjoy the Christmas Cheer!

It's Blowing Up!!

I just ran across this article today on CNN.com about Yarn Bombing and it made me so excited!!
I've blogged about this particular activity on another blog (read it here), so to see an article on it out in the "big" world was pretty exciting!

I have yet to actually take part in this new and growing form of Urban Beautification, but one of these days, you just might stumble upon some knitted trees or street poles and you'll think of me!

Check out some pictures on the yarn bombing website and give the CNN article a read!

Also, here is a link to the blog of the group that started it all, Knittaplease! Check em' out!

Photo from http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/the-knitta-book/

A Photo-Full Weekend!

This past weekend was a doozy!

It consisted of 372 miles of driving (plus a few for getting lost multiple times), 4 locations, 3 different climates, 3 lenses and 1 camera. While all of that seems pretty exhausting, which it was, I definitely got a lot of really great pictures out of it and I was able to begin building my portfolio with some portrait shots (thanks Tyler, for letting me practice on you)! I got to use a lens baby, so many of the photos I have show a bit more of an artistic side, with a sweet blurred effect!

Makahiki Floor Retreat: Apple Valley & Lake Arrowhead

About 10 girls from our floor made it up to our lovely RA's house in Apple Valley for a weekend of fellowship and relaxation. I drove up late on Friday night, along with Meghan, Chelsea, Emily and Juliet. We got a little lost a few times, missed our turns because of our chatter, but made it there just before midnight. The next day, all of us stuffed into cars and drove up to Lake Arrowhead for the day, where Autumn was in full swing. Beautiful colors in the trees, crisp cool fall air and scarves galore!

Ally's Bridal Shower: Temecula

With an early departure time on Saturday and the most delicious Mocha I have probably ever had in my life, Meghan, Juliet and I packed back up into my car and began the tumultuous drive back down the mountains, Biola bound. About an hour and a half later, we arrived in La Mirada sleepy and probably kinda dirty. I had about a half an hour to re-pack, gift wrapsome lingere and hit the road to Temecula. Ally's bridal shower was great, full of yummy food, good people and laughter.

Tyler's Senior Pictures- Take 1: La Mirada

A good friend of mine asked me a while back to shoot his portrait for him to send out with his graduation announcements. Although he thought I was doing him a favor, he was actually doing one for me! I've been hoping to start doing portraits & photography for students or folks who need affordable quality photos so that I can begin building a portfolio and gaining experience. We decided to do another shoot next weekend since the sun had begun to set and I didn't really come prepared with very many ideas. The few pics we got on Sunday turned out pretty good, I'm excited for take 2!!

That thing called distraction...

It all began with a well intentioned homework trip by Meghan and myself to our local Barnes & Noble and it ended with 2 containers of hand soap, one bottle of lotion, a pair of chucks and one cup of coffee.

Turns out our room is not a conducive atmosphere for sitting down and doing some actual homework, why, we do not know. All I can say is that every time either myself or Meghan have attempted to seriously get something done, we find our selves napping on the couch, watching a movie, knitting/crocheting or doing some other distracting activity. Last night, we concluded this was most likely due to the size and dimensions of our room. That, combined with an extremely comfy couch and cozy ambient lighting, makes for a deadly cocktail of complacency. Our room literally sucks you in and leads you to believe there is no real world.

It also turns out that Barnes & Noble is also NOT a conducive atmosphere for successfully completing homework. After driving 15 minutes to the closest B&N in Fullerton, we wondered became distracted by other venues in the adjacent shopping center. We rationalized that a trip to Bed Bath & Body Works was necessary since we were just about out of our favorite hand soap, and since we were here....
We then found ourselves meandering in a shoe store next door, it wouldn't take so long, right?

By the time we actually made it to B&N, we wandered around for another 20 minutes looking for somewhere to sit but we were only greeted by stiff wooden chairs. The decision was made. We had to go somewhere else and we really needed to start homework!

Starbucks was our answer, a glowing cozy chair and soothing warm cup of coffee.
However, by the time we got settled in, got the homework out, and cooled the coffee off enough to take a sip, the clock had struck 9pm, giving only an hour to accomplish what we had set off to do!

It is now necessary to do either 1 of 2 things (or both!)

1: create a better space in our room for the doing of homework, considering we still have a whole semester and a half left to go!
2: if #1 isn't possible, find a more conducive homeworking atmosphere (library exempt) that is much closer to school & actually confirmed to be so.

and now, in the 40 minutes I have until Starbucks closes, I will begin my homework...
It only took a 15 minute drive and a 2 hour adventure to get here.

This is a tester blog from my cell phone... Wow this world is high tech! Hopefully now i can be more consistent in posts even when im not around a computer!

Finally! I can start being a Student again!

This blog post is a momentous thing!

Not only is it the first post in a really long time (although not my longest absence..) but it also doubles as a symbol of my freedom (don't think too deep into that one, check out "Freed Will" blog for that). I am finally free to be a student, the job I love most! This weekend was officially the end of my summer, although it has technically been over according to most students for about a month now...

My last set of weekend shifts as Splash concluded on Sunday, a day that couldn't come soon enough. As I was explaining to my roommate Meghan, it's not that I didn't enjoy working at Splash, in fact, it's the best job I've had thus far! I love the people that I work with and the management/supervisors are really wonderful at their job and at relating with employees. It's just that once school started back in August, I was really ready to just be a student and jump into school, but since I was still working, my weekends would transform into summer! Not to mention, working 16 hours on Saturday & Sunday alone definitely put a damper on my mental capacity to sit down and do homework.

Let's just say, I'm super grateful that I had the opportunity to work at Splash and I look forward to another summer of chlorine & sunblock baked days, but right now, I am so grateful to be a student! I actually get to do homework and study and drink coffee at outrageous times of the day and submit papers and projects!

It's an amazing time, my friends....