Mediascape 5 years from now

Loralei Hurlock

11.30.10

Lit & Media Studies

I believe that in 5 years Facebook will be an everyone, everyday kind of thing, which probably means the Newspaper will be on its way to becoming extinct. 3D T.V's will most likely be a lot more popular than right now, because they were just released not too long ago. I also think blu ray's will be more popular, as well. Although, they may start becoming the new dvd to vhs, as in Blu ray would be in and Dvd's would be out. I think books will still be around, but may not be as wanted. I know a lot of people love reading, but kindles are on a rise. The more they become liked and popular, the word will spread and people will still want the newest, quickest piece of technology. It's almost like people will be like well if it's here and easier and really cool, why wouldn't you want to use it?

In 15 years, I'll be 34... I really hope I can keep up with technology, but I think things are going to be a lot more advanced then in 5. The design of vehicles will be different, probably houses and all our everyday things. We cannot tell if any natural disasters will alter our lives, so that may change the way media works. I do believe media will still have control over the younger generation and be able to brain wash them. Books may or may not exist, perhaps they'll be collector's items, which I personally hope doesn't happen. There will have to be some sort of new phone, although I cannot tell what they'd be considering we already have smart phones and they basically do everything you need. It's just a matter of finding out a more simple way of putting it, because that's what people will keep wanting in the future.

In 50 years, I can't even fathom what will happen. I do possibly believe, because our generation's so advanced, that when we're in our 60's we may not act or seem as old as people of that age in previous generations. I say this, only because we keep advancing in medicine and technology and such, so what if we found the cure for cancer by then, then people would possibly live longer, because not as many are dying from disease. I think we could possibly fly by then, instead of driving, although I don't know if they'd get rid of driving or if you had the option, which is crazy to think about. Clothes will probably be different looking, but I can't think of if we'll dress very futuristic or rotate back to fads that were popular 'back in the day', because for some reason fads die and then 15 years later, they arise again.

Beautiful Katamari

Loralei Hurlock

Gaming Literature

Lit & Media

11.26.10

I played a game I purchased while I was sick this summer called Katamari. I would not say it is a piece of Literature. Honestly, it almost doesn't have a purpose, but it can keep you entertained for sure. A katamari is a ball like structure that your little person rolls around collecting things, just anything. You learn the basics in a level, but they usually start you off in a room and you can only collect small things, but the bigger you get the larger the object can be. Also, that bigger you get the more places you can explore. For instance, you can start in a toy/candy store and have to pick up things in that room until you reach a certain size, it'll allow you to leave the room and explore some more. However, the overall objective is to roll up planets, stars and moons by doing these levels and achieving the task (I'll explain that in a minute) and get them as large as you can, because in the final level it all ties up together. You basically start off at the start, but you end up having to roll the entire galaxy up, in hopes that your Katamari will be big enough to plug up the black hole. It's quite a ridiculous game with a funny Japanese Pop-ish soundtrack and the there's also a couple ways to achieve the tasks. For instance, in some levels you have to make it a certain size within a certain time limit. Another one specifically, you have to roll up hot things to make it 10,000 degrees K, but if you pick up cold things you lose heat and if you fall into the water you automatically fail. Most of the levels show you specific things to pick up for example: Japanese, Riches, Food, Plants and things of that sort. It's a very addictive game, I think because it compels people to achieve a goal, yet they are so simple and mindless. I know my competitive side wants to redo all the levels to get a bigger Katamari, but I wouldn't put that in the category of Literature at all. It doesn't even follow a story line or connects with anything else I've ever played or read.

Analyzing Facebook

Loralei Hurlock

Lit & Media Studies

Extra Credit

11.17.10

I decided to analyze the largest social network of the internet, Facebook. Facebook, according to a study done in January 2009 compete.com, is the largest social network with more than 500 million users as of July 2010. The crazy part of it all is that Facebook was only launched in February of 2004. That's 6 years of time for it to become so popular, but it makes me wonder what happened for this website to get so large so rapidly.
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, with the help his roommates and fellow computer science students. Initially, Facebook was limited to Harvard students and then spread to other colleges in the Boston area such as the Ivy League and Standford University. After a while, it opened up for high school students and eventually it became a website for anyone over the age of 13 to join. Facebook has the most worldwide active monthly users, followed by Myspace.


Facebook, employing over 1,400 people and having 8 offices, gathers most of their revenue through advertising, which is another unique thing about Facebook. It does not bombard you with advertisements, except for some on the sides, which pertain to your interests. Most people don't want to deal with pop ups and annoying ads, so Facebook dodged a big bullet with their easy to operate design. Facebook has also been banned in several countries and in most working environments, including schools, it has been banned due to it being so distracting.
Personally, I used to use Facebook. I knew people who had accounts and swore that I would one day give in and make an account. Unfortunately, they were correct, as I was trying to fight the media and the urge. But to be honest, the way it's presented and how easy it works, with all the options it allows you to have make it a lot better than Myspace. Even myspace realized that Facebook had a certain something that was attracting all of the users and began doing the little options you could do on Facebook, but not on Myspace. At the beginning, I would keep in contact with my friends and family back home in Toronto, Ontario in Canada after I moved, which was an easy way of having them close to me, although not physically. After it started becoming the new best social network, Facebook began to expand more so on the photo aspect, games, quizzes and the style of the entire site. It's now read like the paper, everyday, to a younger generation, yet even the adults have sprung an interest to this website. I can firmly say that my entire family on my dad's side has a facebook, which is a lovely way to keep in touch, but there are always consequences.
There used to be something called privacy. It's quite rare now and I almost am not sure if it exists anymore. For example, Twitter is a site where you can update what you're doing all of the time, which to be blunt, no one really cares what others are doing every ten minutes, so whats the need? We've glorified diminishing privacy and then complain we don't have any. All in all, I think Facebook will be the top social network for a good amount of time, unless we decide more privacy is a good thing.

Modern Media-Original

I kind of made these so the image is about the media the quote is applying too, but they're both about how times have most definitely changed and everyone is guilty of using the technology and being sucked in by the media, whether we think its negative or not.

A Woman's Body Image

This photograph is well known, at least in my department of Photography and Digital Imaging, because it’s so over photoshopped, it isn’t realistic at all. A Ralph Lauren advertisement of Filipaa Hamilton, which if you’ve ever seen her, isn’t this stick thin or awkwardly shaped. When I look at this, honestly, I’d like to believe it’s a mistake, but this is a very good example of media pushing its limits with body image. Unfortunately, there are young girls and woman who base themselves off of these images, and they just aren’t realistic. I see a sick woman in some nice clothing and that’s about it. But people with body issues, see a beautiful girl that is skinny, beautiful, and well dressed. I think people have been trained to see these kinds of images and believe them. I’ve recently actually been astonished to find out that friends of mine had no idea you could touch up skin. This is faulty representation of what woman are supposed to look like. For example, Marilyn Monroe. Although, she wouldn’t have been as big of a celebrity if she didn’t die at the time she did, she was a real representation of a beautiful woman. A size 13 has never looked so good and she wore it well, which reflected the women of that time and how people felt about themselves. I think the magazine’s intentions were to use their product, along with a female, to portray a certain feel or outcome of there product. For example, if you use Ralph Laurens product you will be this beautiful, skinny, “perfect looking”, I guess.

Modern Media- Redo

I created these pages with the intentions that the image would explain the quote and vise versa. The first two are about how much we depend on technology and that times have most definitely changed. Everyone is guilty of using technology and being sucked in by the media, whether we think its negative or not. I thought the other day, how weird it is that my generation's kids won't have to even have to know what a VHS is, even though they weren't from THAT long ago. I feel materials are depreciating like books and newspapers, we technically don't even need to watch the news to receive the daily happenings of the world. So the quote about Jesus, I found a little comical, because it would probably be very true.






This page would be directed more towards an audience of my generation or even a bit younger, where everything in media revolves around being obnoxious almost, or just being loud and seen. I felt this picture of Perez Hilton was a perfect representation of what I am talking about and it pertains to the quote, as well. He is such a loud, obnoxious, drama filled person and that's what the media is glorifying for some reason, but they aren't the right role models for younger audiences. I don't necessarily agree with this at all, it isn't fair that people who are just as smart or smarter don't get heard, because they do things properly or are just normal and quiet. For example, when there are elections it always becomes a he said she said war, which isn't the point at all. I rather be told why I should vote for you, not why I shouldn't vote for someone else. We spend too much time worrying about everybody else and the media only glorifies it.




I wrote this one about Violence in the media as of late and how it's been on a fast rise for some time. Before the rise, there were violent movies, video games, and books, but it wasn't excessive. For some reason, it's become who can be the most extreme or best in everything, so we just keep trying to make the new scariest, grossest, most violent stuff we can think up. It makes me sad, because I don't think there is anything we could do to get rid of what we've done or even just moderate the violence. Moderation is key, and my dad taught me that, I just wish the world would feel the same way.



I decided to make one that wasn't necessarily negative towards the media, although it focuses more on the fact that we're feeding the media. The only reason it's still around is because we're being sucked in and are allowing ourselves to do so. I agree with this quote all the way, we feel it's this big bad thing, which is it, but we invented it and are keeping it alive. The human race tends to create things and then realize that it wasn't that great of an idea. Media unfortunately, I feel, will never disappear, especially with the younger children. I remember being 12 and 13 buying those teenie bopper magazines, because everyone wants to know whats "in" and who is the biggest celebrity at the moment, not to mention the fashion trends. It's a vicious cycle that we created and I doubt we can stop it. There's always going to be young teens who want to know what's in, or how to look that pretty, or that want to see cute pictures of the opposite sex, because that's when you start becoming interested. On the other hand, you can't completely give the media no credit, after all they do know what strings to pull to encourage the viewers to buy the magazine every week.

Federico Fellini- Director Essay

Loralei Hurlock

10.13.10

Lit & Media

Fellini Essay

Federico Fellini was a well reputable Italian film director born on January 20^th 1920 and died on October 31^st 1993. Although, he has passed away he is still and will be considered one of the most influential directors of the 20^th century. He has a certain style, although his movies vary from comedy to tragedy, they are very baroque styled and very fantasy/dream filled. The three movies of Fellini's I chose to watch were La Strada (1954), Roma (1972), and Amarcord (1975). After watching all three, I have been able to discern similarities between them, but they also each had many differences that made that movie unique and memorable.

First, I watched Roma, which is very fast paced. I'd like to start by saying he definitely is fully involved with his films, wether he is directing it, or acting as well. He's very autobiographical, which I noticed a lot with Roma. It's a film about his youth in Rimini, Rome and is a collective of a series of random episodes of his life. There were two stories going on throughout the movie, which made it a bit confusing for me. One is him as a young man in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The second one is of the director of a film crew creating a film about Rome. Another Fellini technique I observed was that he switches a lot between reality and things that have already happened, or between two narratives like this one. It makes it very interesting, but it was hard to keep up sometimes.

Secondly, I watched La Strada, which is strange to compare to Roma, but I enjoyed both. La Strada is a film about Gelsomina, played by Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina, who was sold to a gypsy Zampano by her mother for 10 000 lire, in order to take place of her dead sister, Rosa. She's entirely adorable and just wants to be an artist and appreciated. Zampano and Gelsomina travel as a circus type act to different towns for some cash. Throughout the entire movie she was faithful to him and would do anything for him, but he increasingly depreciates her and resorts to cruelty to maintain his dominance. It's a rather sad story, even though still comical, it was quite a change from his other movies I watched. He got the idea from a man he remembers frim his childhood of the character Zampano, once again drawing from his own experiences, specifically childhood memories. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, it was easier to follow, because it was a lot more slow paced then his other films. He is more linear with his shots, compared to Roma or Amarcord, which he used a lot of panning.

Last, but not least, I watched Amarcord, which was very, very random at times. It's a comical drama film with some references of his youth and coming of age story. This movie, like Roma, was quite fast paced. I feel like it was more confusing, only in regards to how random things were and as to why certain things were happening.

Overall, I really enjoyed his films and would like to watch more and broaden my experiences with older films. Fellini is a very egotistical person, not necessarily in a bad way, but it shows in his movies. The films seems to generally include memories, dreams, fantasies and desire, which makes it easy for everyone to relate to, as well.

Loralei Hurlock

Lit & Media Studies

09.28.10

Screenplay Notes

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The major underlying theme in Fear and Loathing is the 'American Dream' so-to-speak, or American Culture. It would be very important to incorporate that theme in this movie, especially American culture of the 1960s, because then you can understand where they are coming from and the setting of the movie. They are determined ultimately to discover the 'American Dream' at all costs. Although, they do it in a very osbcur way. They use pretty much every drug you can think about, all the time, to deter the American Dream, as they're finding it. I know that sounds strange, but their crazy behavior depicts how their generation felt, basically, very restless and involved with the mess of drugs. A line I would could in mind while direction this movie would be “permanent cripples and failed seekers”. They just tend to keep going, even though you would believe they would have died from a freak accident or over dosing.

Also, another obvious theme are drugs. There are almost too many to count that they list, but that is the second largest subject in this screenplay and in the film. In a movie though, although the descriptions in the book of 'bad trips' seem horrible, the movie portrays them as a negative thing, but still a bit appealing. He creates an alternate reality, which is appealing in a movie, yes? It is a lot different reading about drugs intertwined with the story, but the movie looks like you're on something most of the time, which is a major emphasize on hallucinogens.

Another theme of Fear and Loathing I would like to portray in the film is Idealism. He tends to have many points of view, and it's hard to tell what is real and what isn't in this screenplay. I would want to portray the flashbacks, in a way where people could tell it wasn't now or reality, but it wouldn't be an uneasy transition. It's comical, because they mention the American dream, but then they go to Las Vegas, which symbolizes the coarse ugliness of mainstream American culture. Unfortunately, Fear and Loathing didn't get published until 1971, therefore the time had past for innocence and emerging drugs. People wouldn't understand now, they wouldn't be as 'in' to it. Although, many people could remember by watching the film, or reading the book/screenplay, he wanted to glorify the heroes of that time. For example,Muhammad Ali, Bob Dylan, Timothy Leary, but it was a bit too late by the time it was published. After reading this screenplay, I feel this movie would have to be uniquely epic. Different from any other movie, even the ones involving drugs. The plot is just so out there and everywhere, that the movie has to be able to follow the plot without losing anyone, but at the same time, the point is to be as much of a crazy mess with a mission as you can possibly be. I also wouldn't change the actors from who they already have been casted, because I think they're perfect.

Cast List:

Raoul Duke - Johnny Depp

Dr Gonzo – Benicio Del Toro

Hitchhiker- Tobey Maguire

Waitress at Cafe – Ellen Barkin

Highway Patrolman – Gary Busey

Lucy – Christina Ricci

Ron Bumquist – Michael Jeter

Lacerda – Craig Bierko

Themes and Motifs:

-American culture

-Heavy Drugs/ Drug Use

-Insanity

-Difference between Illusions & Reality

-Determination mixed with Disillusion

The Morality of Lolita

Loralei Hurlock

Lit & Media Studies

09.21.10

Lolita

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a novel from 1958 and is only one rendition of the novel. It's about a middle aged man, Humbert Humbert, who has a certain fascination with nymphets, his Lolita, and Dolores, or "Lo". The only reason that this is completely immoral, is due to their ages, usually dealing with mid teens and younger. Nabokov has admitted there's no morality to this novel and I completely agree. Not only can he mentally abuse these children, he can physically abuse them as well. On top of that, it's extremely illegal.

Morality is a choice. Humbert yearned for purity and true nature, something almost inhuman. For the majority, he did not act upon his desires. Only until Dolores came into the picture, did he obsess like so and be sexually driven by this nymph. He even explains his choice for what it's worth, [...] the number of true nymphets is strikingly inferior to that of provisionally plain, or just nice, or "cute," or even "sweet" and "attractive," ordinary girls, plumpish, formless, cold-skinned, essentially human little girls, with tummies and pigtails, who may or may not turn into adults of great beauty[...] (Nabokov p.?) This is completely immoral and he understands that, because he explains how he can manipulate situations and their decisions. [...] Talking fast, lagging behind my own breath, catching up with it, mimicking a sudden toothache to explain the breaks in my patterand all the while keeping a maniac's inner eye on my distant golden goal, I cautiously increased the magic friction that was doing away, in an illusional [...](Nabokov p 59). Society would definitely not approve of this and manipulation has never been encouraged.

Not only would Humberts actions go against the law (which they did), but also physical abuse is a large factor. Humbert is usually very delicate with his muse at the time, or Dolores, and uses a certain way of speech to lure in his 'prey'. [...] Every movement she made in the dappled sun plucked at the most secret and sensitive chord of my abject body. After a while she sat down next to me on the lower step of the back porch and began to pick up the pebbles between her feetpebbles, my God, then a curled bit of milk-bottle glass resembling a snarling lipand chuck them at a can. Ping. (Nabokov p.41). This tactic lures them in, not knowing that it can turn into any kind of abuse. Humbert isn't too violent of a man, except for one situation, with his wife of the time. [...] I demanded her lover's name. I repeated my question; but she kept up a burlesque babble, discoursing on her unhappiness with me and announcing plans for an immediate divorce. "Mais qui est-ce?" I shouted at last, striking her on the knee with my fist; and she, without even wincing, stared at me as if the answer were too simple for words. (Nabokov p.27) Although, this was a woman and not a child, any form of abuse is immoral. Furthermore, along with sexual and physical abuse, emotional abuse can be deteriorating to a child's childhood.

Obviously, if Humbert decided to persist, she would end up being a little different, but in Lolita, I feel her mother, Haze, causes her more emotional abuse than anyone else. Halfway through the book, Haze asked Humbert if he would like to come help her choose a gift for a friend and so they were about to leave and Lo joined, as well. "This is intolerable," began Haze; but Lo had scrambled in, shivering with glee. "Move your bottom, you," said Lo. "Lo!" cried Haze (sideglancing at me, hoping I would throw rude Lo out). "And behold," said Lo (not for the first time), as she jerked back, as I jerked back, as the car leapt forward. "It is intolerable," said Haze, violently getting into second, "that a child should be so ill-mannered. And so very persevering. When she knows she is unwanted. And needs a bath." (Nabokov p.50) This could do a lot of damage to someone emotionally, especially when Haze is supposed to take care of Lo, as her duty as a mother.

Lolita is a tragedy and comedy narrated by Humbert, a smart, good looking man. Humbert is a wonderful spirited person and will do anything to be near his Lola. Although, his suave attitude and offers seem romantic and sweet, it is completely and utterly immoral to do so with Lo, a sweet child. She wouldn't be able to grow up as she was naturally supposed to, both mentally and quite possibly physically. That is a lot of confusion to pour onto a young girl, especially his Lolita.

The Long Goodbye

Loralei Hurlock

Lit & Media Studies
09.13.10
The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler is a mystery novel, with a hint of romance, which is most likely what help me choose this one. Philip Marlowe is a detective, along with being the narrator of this novel. Marlowe is a friendly and straight forward person, who gets caught up in a sticky situation while helping a stranger. He drove his friend Terry Lennox to get away, but little did he know, Lennox was leaving a lot of drama behind for Detective Philip to deal with. This novel was placed in the 1950's and reveals the pros and cons of social stature. At the beginning of this story Marlowe is his own person, a regular Joe, until he is introduced to the social scene, which brought social criticism.

The Long Goodbye begins with Marlow and Lennox not ever known eachother before, until Lennox, a writer with writers block and a drinking habit, stumbles out of the club The Dancers and into Marlowes life. They begin to slowly form a friendship and occasionally go out for drinks, until Lennox randomly shows up at Philip's house to ask him to drive him to the Tijuana Airport. After agreeing, yet stating he does not want to know of anything going on, he gets interogated for being a possible murder suspect of Lennox's wifes death, which was found dead before he fled to Mexico. Finally, they release him, as they allegedly found Lennox's death a successful suicide attempt. After Philip gets released from jail, he is asked to cover a case in which Roger Wade, a very bright writer, has formed a drinking habit and has been missing for three days. Wade's boss and wife have asked Philip to investigate, therefore he did just that and found him at a run down detox facility in the middle of the desert. While investigating, Wade weakly attempted suicide and his wife attempted to seduce Marlowe. A reoccuring theme of Corruption lingers in this book, which is pretty much the underlying theme. As well as, social observation, which occurs throughout the entire novel within little situations. Mrs Wade, an unfaithful and devious woman, gets questioned by Marlowe, until he convinces her to admit she killed Terry Lennox's wife. Even though she tried to blame it on her husband Wade, who manages to succeed in his second attempt of suicide.

I wouldn't have usually chosen a mystery novel, but it was quite fast paced and I agreed with the theme of Corruption, as Chandler knew how to create a clear thought of the cycle of positive people being nice to help others and then usually getting in trouble, put in sticky situations, and/or killed. This novel was definitely dramatized for the film with the purpose that viewers will be able to really get hooked into each troubled scenario, because movies don't explain in detail, as well as the book will. I believe this book also reminds people that even though this book was situated in the 1950's, doesn't mean don't still have the same issues. It's an ongoing theme and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

21st Century Fairytale =]

09.08.10

Loralei Hurlock

Lit and Media Studies

21^st Century Fairy tale

Steiling

You can never be too careful, but should not come to accusations that everyone is out to get you. It is common courtesy to be nice to strangers, as you hope others would treat you the same. But in some cases, like this one, you cannot be too cautious.

In the town of Bradford, where there is little to no crime and most people knew each other, unless you were the new family or couple that moved to town. There is one man in this town, Bruce, who has so many rumors stirring around about him, that he doesn't even know what to make of them anymore. Bruce is a middle aged man, in his 40's, with dark brown hair and green eyes. Taller than most, but a bit round in the belly. He looks like your regular friendly neighbor, but apparently has to be watched very closely. See, there was a young boy in the backseat of his mothers car and she figured she only needed one item, so she would quickly run in. Unfortunately, by the time she was back, her back window had been crammed open and her son was gone. Some say they saw a tall dark man, who resembled Bruce, but how do you prove something when no one else sees it? He has been accused by towns people for over more than half of the kidnappings in Bradford and the town lives in fear for their children at times, rightfully so.

Let me introduce Michael and Emily, they are brother and sister, who moderately get along. She is 10 and he is 8, so they follow the usual pattern of brothers and sisters. They were very close when they were little and gradually began to pick on each other and put that on repeat. Emily would tease him more so than Michael teasing her, because Emilys friends like to pick on him too for no particular reason. But that's just what kids do. One day, their parents asked if they could go to the grocery store and pick up a few items from a list for them. After some moaning and groaning, they finally came to an agreement that they would do this nice thing for their parents, but only as long as Michael doesn't get “annoying” requested Emily. They received money and took the list and were almost on their merry way. “Michael and Emily, if you two separate, we will be more than cross and you two will not be allowed to play video games or use the internet, if we found out you've lied. After promising they would obey their parents rules, they took off for the grocery store, which is about 15 minutes walking distance from their house. “I wish they would just trust us to walk a small distance, I'm a big girl and you're a boy, you can just punch somebody and they're done!” said Emily out of frustration. “I see your point and I agree... but don't you think there's some truth to what they're saying?” Michael questioned. Emily was tad thrown off that she had to defend her point, but she continued, “Mike, if I get into freshman year of high school and they don't trust me, what am I going to do!? Michael sighed and concluded, “ You're being dramatic about this, that's 4 years away. But hey, do you feel like we're being watched?” He had seen the same man walking parallel to them on the other side of the road for the past 5 minutes and thought it was a tad strange. Emily quickly looked over and said, “ Just keep on walking, we have 5-10 minutes left, we'll be fine. Besides, he looks harmless.”

After Michael and Emily retrieved their parents groceries, they exited the grocery store to wait for the cross walk light to turn on. Instead, they found Madison sitting in her car waiting right outside. “Madison?” the kids asked in unison. She was their 30-year-old babysitter from back when they needed one. They adored her, as she adored them. “Hop in the backseat and put your seat belts on, quickly! I'll explain in a moment.” They never doubted Madison, so they fastened their seat belts and waited for an explanation. Madison safely, but assertively drove away, as though something had been going on, yet the children had no clue as to what it was. Madison calmed the children down and began to tell them how their parents asked her for a favor, which was to follow the kids to the store in her vehicle. Only because they were concerned about the man who had gotten a title as child kidnapper/molester. Madison continues to tell them that the man had stalked them for about 10 minutes and was waiting for them to walk back home, until she intervened and drove them home. They both could not believe what they had just heard and how close they came to being kidnapped, when they just thought it was a regular walk to the store. “I'm so angry they didn't trust us.” Emily said, still a bit confused. “Emily, I'm younger than you and I know what they did was good. We could have been in big trouble without Maddy!” argued Mike. Madison agreed and managed to get Emily to see the brighter side of this situation.

They arrived home and Madison explained what had happened to their parents. Emily and Michael ran up to their parents to give them large, grateful hugs for looking out for them. They explained that they weren't trying to bother them, nor get in their business. Furthermore, when they hear something about somebody abducting children randomly, they feel the need to protect their children and to take the extra precautions. Sometimes that's all it takes, is being a little more safe.

Stoner Times

First year gone, three to go.

I can't believe my freshman year at Ringling is already over. Sometimes it seemed as though it would NEVER end. But i found myself being very motivated second semester, so I find myself super bored without work this summer. I'll be adding some of my stuff up as the summer goes on of stuff from freshman year and the summer ,as well=].