「Media」は何ですか？

Media. It means so many things! Like "McDonalds" or "Imogen Heap" or "Harry Potter" or even "Chowder." Media is advertisements to articles, books to magazines, you get the idea. To me, media is something we process, something that influences us. It tells us what to eat, what to do, what not to do. If the news say we can't eat chips anymore because they lie and say it'll kill us (which eventually they will, if you only eat that for the rest of your life) then we won't eat chips anymore. Media is bigger than us, even if it is just a picture or sound. As humans, we tend to think and reason with ourselves, using media as evidence to fight for one thing or the other thing that we want to do. It manipulates us. What we wear is media, what we eat is media, what we live in is media. All of it. Pictures after the jump.

Stupid filters

Now that my POLs are done, I can finally kick back and relax; do whatever I want, right? Not completely true. The only option, since our Director wants us to look productive, we can only go on computers as of now, instead of play cards or board games. And since my computer use consists of watching videos and listening to music, and maybe even the occasional blog reading, I can't do ANYTHING! I want to sock the guy in the stomach that came up with the Internet filter. GAWD, there's nothing to do. I was going to read AppleMilk1988's Japanese blog, but I'm not sure of the exact URL. "To Google, and away!" said by my friend Anja. Well when I search up "applemilk", it's blocked. WTF?! What's so wrong about it? Do these people have like nasty minds or something? So now I can't read it. These filters are too strict! I am sick and tired of coming to school and using the internet only to have the dreaded gray and red screen come up and stop whatever I was doing. It's annoying! /annoyedrant

Lets start again

You might've noticed that the last two posts aren't really my style. A poem and some other thing that I can't remember; some New Year's celebration. So lemme tell you whats going on in my life so far: I'm 14 now, which means I'm the same age as some of my classmates, for now at least. I was watching Eagle Eye when the new year came. We watched the ball go down of course, but it kinda felt odd watching it, the ball being in New York and all, being 3 hours ahead of us. And I'm guessing the West Coast is probably the last people to celebrate New Years, but I'm not sure. But hey, I'm alive aren't I.

Anyways, school started again. POLs were stress factors. They're just a presentation in front of a few people and my teachers about how we "grew" in the habits of the Heart and Mind. I passed, yay! Other people didn't though, for dumb reasons like not sounding like themselves or not having enough evidence. So yeah, that's past.

The reason behind my poem last time, was because my friends transferring to a different high school. His mom's pissed because our school doesn't have proper P.E. which is like total bull. He's a great guy, even if he is a little on the dark side. The story kind of tells our story. Just yesterday, we went to watch Bedtime Stories, and stayed at the mall for like 5 hours. We played Egyptian Ratscrew in the manga section of Borders. The cards are from Hot Topic and have Domo on them, awesome! He keeps saying he's going to leave, but he's at school the next day. So now he tells us that he's going at the end of the semester, which is next Wednesday. Sigh.

I don't think I have anything else to talk about now. But I did find a new, well new to me, webcomic. http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.html. Go to the first strip by mashing at the left arrow until it stops. All for now.

Gone. A ranting poem.

We started out silent
Never speaking to each other
Having only our iPods to listen to

Then he left us alone.
20 minutes. Then it happened.
We became friends, just like that.

Another person to have random babbling with
Another person to have inside jokes with
Another person to have a laugh with

Weeks passed then months.
We seemed to get closer and closer
My views changed

A new person, you became
I wanted to be with you
But I had others

Now you're gone
A gaping hole in my body
It's your fault

You left us
I don't hate you
I hate that you left us

Feelings cloud my mind
I like you
That way or in that way?

But I can't
You aren't like that
But I kind of am

We were so close
It seemed like it
But were we really just friends?

Who's going to ride the car with us 2?
Who's going to fill the void that you created?
Who's going to be you?

Now you're gone
One less smile in our trio
An empty seat

"I feel a weakness coming on"
"I don't want to feel like this
So it's all your fault."

But I don't blame you.

Journal post of readingness of the weekend.

For my reading journal this weekend, I chose to read a short story retold by Eric Carle called the Wild Swans, originally by Hans Christian Anderson. I like this story in particular because it has those basic fantasy elements, but Carle tells it in a way that isn't too fictional, and it shows off his writing style. The story goes like this......There was a king with a queen with 11 sons and a daughter, which is kind of disturbing, once you think about it. They were very happy, but the queen died. So he remarried a year later. But that queen was a witch who wanted the king for herself. I don't know but it sounds like she didn't get enough love and/or attention when she was young, and now she's acting like a spoiled brat. When the king was away, hunting with his friends, the queen turned the sons into swans and told them never to return. The daughter, Elisa, became depressed. So then her father sent her off to another country, so she can learn about them and get over her depression. But the evil supposedly attention-deprived witch of a queen told the man driving the carriage to dump her in the forest and leave her there. Which was what he did. Naturally, she started crying. But then, she must've been a good girl or something, nature came to her aid.

After gobbling up an apple and a nut and finding a cave to sleep in, and a river, she stayed there for years. One night, in her dreams, a fairy told her to follow the river downstream. She went and waited till sundown. Then you'll never guess what happened. 11 swans came and turned into the same 11 brothers that she lost that one day. They were very happy, and they decided to take Elisa to the main land again. They made a net and put her in, and flew out to sea. It turns out that they only stay as swans when the sun is up, and it takes 2 days for them to reach the mainland. Shouldn't their wings be stronger? I mean it has been several years since she was dropped off at the forest. But a swan can only fly so far. They reach a rock then stay the night. Then they go again. They reach the mainland and stay in a cave where the brothers have been staying. Again, the fairy appeared. She told her to make shirts out of nettles for her brothers, so that they can become whole again. But she couldn't tell anyone about it or the deal will break. Kind of reminds me of Howl's Moving Castle, a movie by Studio Ghibli. A young girl was turned into an old woman by a witch, but she couldn't say anything since there was a spell on her. It hurt, but she persevered. (Oh geez, the habits are really catching up with me...)

Unfortunately for her, she was taken, or rather kidnapped, from the cave by a hunter/prince. She still made the shirts but she still didn't tell anyone. She runs out of nettles and goes to the graveyard, a place with monsters, to get more, but she is followed by the prince and minister. They think she's a witch just because she's going to a mysterious place and gathering nettles, which backs up my "People are stupid" theory. She has a trial and all they say is "You are a witch, you die now." (Another point for my theory) She can't say anything still so she goes to jail to await her fate. She completes 10 of the shirts and another one with out sleeves. Then she goes to the stake. But before she is burned, she throws her brothers their shirts. The youngest one takes the sleeveless shirt, which makes him still have his wings. She confesses about the evil queen and her brothers. The people believe her and the wood from the stake pile became a rosebush. She and her brothers go into the castle.

I like this version of the story, half because I like the art that Eric Carle does, half because I like the way I told it. Another half for the story itself. It's wierd how people are programmed to judge people based on their actions and even color! I really want a shirt that says "My opinion? People are stupid. Have a nice day (:"