Facebook Friends Ain't All What They Seem

So, I took a bit of a different approach to this exercise. Rather than make something, I thought about what in my life is more than what it seems, and might surprise me if I peel back its layers. And I started thinking about my Facebook friends, or "collection" as my sister calls them.

A lot of people on FB have a lot of "friends". But how many of those "friends" are actual friends? I decided to give my list a closer review.

Out of 184 peeps, I would count 13 of them as my close actual friends that I actually care about. That's a measly 7%! Most of the rest are old friends from high school and childhood. Some are friends of friends that I've partied with. Some are just guys that liked my profile pic, LOL.

And there's even one creepy guy that keeps adding people from my class that doesn't appear in not one single yearbook. And yet I keep him on my list!

The point of what I'm saying is that even this "friend" list represents things not being what they seem. I think it says a lot about people, and it basically comes down to their need to belong. Even though I'm not close with 93% of these people, I still like having them around!

I Heart This Class

Class was fun and interesting! In my opinion, it was the best class yet. It was entertaining and thought provoking, who could ask for anything more. And it seemed like more students are engaging in discussion, which furthers our sideways exploration.

There were some unique takes on the pizza/fear assignment. Some were metaphorical, some were literal. Some were serious, some were lighthearted. I enjoy hearing about other peoples concepts more than I like sharing my own.

I'm way looking forward to see what is born from this week's exercise. The concept intrigues me most so far. It's being pondered in a corner of my mind until I hit on something that excites me!

Till then!

I Don't Even Like Pizza

I thought a lot about this assignment and couldn't come up with any clever ideas related to fear and pizza. But I do want to write about my own relationship with pizza.

I've never liked it.

Which sucks, because everyone else does.

So, I'm usually the freak in the group that doesn't like pizza and always has to answer questions about why I'm not American, human, etc.

So while I don't fear everyone's favorite communal food, I dread the suggestion of "Let's order a pizza!"

Plus, I'm really not a fan of everyone's hands all dipping in the same box. It's kinda gross. When Beth mentioned h1n1 after last week's pizza party I took a small pause. I seem to have escaped illness though. :)

Seeing Sideways in the Dark

Today's class was weird. Lots of fun though! I felt much of my initial anxiety over this class start to fade, and am starting to feel excitement take over.

A short recap...we had a group discussion...sat in the dark...had one creepy moment (awesome)...and had a pizza party.

I'd type more but thinking of anything other than football at the moment is just not within my capabilities. Nothing gets between me and my stattrackin.

Down with Brady!

It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane. It’s a Flying Worm!

How can something so easy seem so hard?

When this exercise was first presented, I had no idea how to wrap my mind around it. I’m still not so sure about it. I want to be shorn of the dreaded sheep label, but the semester is young, and I find myself anxious to see how others interpreted this assignment.

Anyhow, on the afternoon of class, as I lay in the grass my eyes were too singed by the sun to see anything. I lay with my eyes squinted shut and tried to take in the experience with my other senses. But with eyeballs scorched and assignment panic setting in, I couldn’t focus and decided to call it a day.

Later in the week I decided to try again. My sister has a quiet backyard with a hammock. I stretched out with nothing to see but a window of sky between my two trees supports. As the clouds passed, nothing stood out, just peaceful drifting shapes slowly gliding by. Then one formation caught my eye. A stretch of clouds had the shape of a worm, with a big upright head and smile. I chuckled at the thought, but it made me think about my first semester in New Media and the first time I heard of the concept of a “worm’s eye view.” And here I was, from the worm’s eye perspective, looking up at a worm that had the bird’s eye view. Interesting, well maybe not so much, but ironic, surely. And maybe there’s some symbolic “seeing sideways” lesson in there. Who says a worm can’t enjoy an aerial view? Hell, maybe my flying worm cloud is up there exacting revenge on the early birds. Can’t prove it’s not!

So, I would’ve taken a picture if I had a camera on me. I did think to myself, I’ll keep my eyes out and will surely see another at least “wormlike” arrangement of clouds in the sky at some point. Ha! I’ll be searching the skies for the rest of my life to ever catch another worm cloud.

Well, I decided to make my own picture for illustration purposes. It’s a little silly and a little sucky. I need to brush up on my Photoshoppin’, but my need for cloud creation skillz is next to zero. But enough disclaimers...
Behold, the flying worm!