Source Citation for Shifty's Parking Blog

Journal Article:

Kim, D. , Rury, J.L. (2011) The Rise of the Commuter Student: Changing Patterns of College Attendance for Students Living at Home in the United States, 1960-1980. Teachers College Record, 113(5), 1031-1066. http://0-www.tcrecord.org.helin.uri.edu/library/content.asp?contentid=16088

Article:

Troop, D. (2011) Taming the Parking Beast: The options for Colleges. Chronicles of Higher Education, 58(7), A10-A10. http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/detail?sid=cdfd3cd9-400e-471e-b774-5de6d0f8c982%40sessionmgr4001&vid=25&hid=4114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=66670140

My Brother, from the other side of Earth

 

Look. You see this tall man smiling directly at the camera, all dressed warmly for chilly weather. He's leaning on a wooden bear statue; that is clad in a purple dress and holding a hanger of pink flowers. There is a girl to the other side of the bear, dressed warmly as well. She has dark hair and is openly grinning. She's appears to be younger whether it is because of her height, her jeans with converse, or the fact that he has a beard going on. They are both smiling and happy. They are somewhere.

 

***

 

Reader, let me be quite frank with you. My brother is a white boy hillbilly. He has pale skin that often burns in the sun, dark ginger hair, and the green eyes that change depending on what he's wearing. Often he's wearing green, a woodsy green that often derives from the brands Cabela or L.L. Bean. He's tall and pretty solidly build, always enjoys the outdoors and tractors as the majority goes of any boy who has grown up around the woods and country side. A place from the other side of Earth from where I was born.

Back then my hair was completely dark as well as my eyes. Not ink black. I didn't have soulless pits for eyes without pupils, but more like a dark chocolate brown. Long hair, that complements my light tan skin. I'm small, just slightly below average and my ethnicity is Asian, of some sort. No one knows for sure, but they conclude Chinese because China was where I was adopted. I have the eyes that mark me as one of them, but they're not completely slanted and I don't have monolids [type of eyelid feature]. But I was born somewhere around there, on the other side of the Earth from where my brother was born.

Fate or life decision of some sort determined us to become siblings at some point in our early lives. Indeed we were meant to be siblings. We argued with each other. Ignored each other. Fought with each other. One time I locked him out of the house. Another time he duck taped me in a box. Other times we yelled or placed blame, whether false or true, on each other. It's what siblings do. Usually.

There came a turning point in this chaotic sibling relationship. Someone we both loved, died. Someone, who today, would be quite pleased to know that my brother and I have learned to get along and love each other. This turning point, is not something can be easily described, but it's a point where something inside of you changes. You learn to be more patient and accepting. More importantly you realize. I came to realize and appreciate my brother. As well as, depend on him, as family should, and as a friend.

***

 

Look again. They are at a fair. But you cannot see that they are, or the people around them. You can neither see the animals through the open door behind the girl, in the white building behind everyone. You cannot see that the building behind both of them. You could not assume for fact that they are brother and sister, the man and the girl. You cannot have known the years it took for that rare photo of just the two siblings to have taken.

 

The photograph cannot tell you all of that. But I did.        

 

Still Life Reflection

Reflection

It's another life,

reflected in the mirror.
In the mirror, in the window. The bare window.
Off the silver tinsel, that entwine with unseen lights.

Photos cluster,
 in a collage upon the blue wall.
In the the mirror, there are drawings on a white wall. Half a white wall.
Snow, cold, falls behind the two owls that guard.

Blue hues are everywhere,
In the mirror, behind the mirror, and the mirror itself.
Cool tones, cold tones, toned distant and sad.
Organized chaos that is left untouched.
It's another life.

 

Exploring the Perspective Angles in Clase de Snapshots

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting to have to deal with photos of myself in my First Year Seminar class "Snapshots." Except there was nothing wrong with hoping that I wouldn't have to, but of course the first assignment involved bringing in eight photos of myself. The second second assignment, yours truly this very blog, where I was required to allow myself to be taken photos of. There is nothing wrong with the photos, these two in particular I liked, therefore I think the photographer did a good job. I just felt really shy and awkward, feelings that I am glad the photographer was able to capture within the photos. 

 

In photo one, she took this photo from a particular angle called the Bird's eye view, which is probably the first time I have seen myself from this angle. Gotta say, I am really glad I decided to get highlights 7 months ago because the whole ombre effect is kicking in nicely. Also, this photo does not show my face; which I'm relieved about because the whole entire time I had no idea what facial expression I should have had on my face. However, if an observer wanted to guess, perhaps they would speculate that I am bored. After all, it is quite a universal position where one may will have an elbow up on the table and their head propped in their hand when they are often bored or tired.

As for this second photo, to the left of this article, taken from a Worm's eye of view. I strongly believe that a worm has never seen me type on computer in general, but it would have an interesting angle. This is another angle I have never seen myself, but I liked this one as well from the variety of photos that had to be taken of me at different angles. In comparison to the first photo, to a viewer, I look more industrious as I am leaning forward with both my hands on the keyboard; typing out something on the screen.

I cannot really say that the perspective of these photos change the way I see myself though. My face is not showing at all so there is no self analysis I can do on my emotions other than body language, which I had already pointed out, displayed signs of discomfort (Face turned away in the first photo, legs crossed over beneath the desk).  

Blogging Pics on the Go

A Snapshot Analysis Assignment on Olympia

Manet, Edouard. Olympia. 1863. Oil Paint. Musee D'Orsay, Paris, France.

 

In 1863, Edouard Manet created an intriguing oil painting titled "Olympia," that I have recently been analyzing in my college photography class. The painting portrays a nude woman laying on a bed with a dark skinned person holding flowers in the background and a black cat. One of the questions that we speculated in class was who the woman in the painting could be, in general. I believe that the woman commands a certain status of wealth or power because of her body language and the objects of luxury depicted within the painting.

First off, the woman is nude and physically exposed; which could be looked as being open and vulnerable. However, her body language says other wise because she appears relaxed and reclined upon a bed with huge pillows. The woman's legs are crossed over each other, a sign that can be interpreted as discomfort or insecurity, yet her facial expression appears almost bored. If anything, the woman appears at ease with her nudity and her eyes appear to see right over my head, as if my discomfort at her appearance is of no concern. I have also recently been getting a sense of sadness from the thought that she may also be simply looking over my head out to the distance, lost in a troubling thought that she cannot be helped in. Also, her eyes just show dark pupils as if her lids were hooded; a body sign that people often have if they are tired or sad [seriously, how many sad or tired people are often wide awake, showing the whites of their eyes or light reflecting off of them?]. If I am correct to presume that she holds wealth or power, people of that status often had carried secrets and burdens alone, and she could be no exception. Other than her body language, there are also objects within the oil painting that could allude to her wealth or power.

There is a large bouquet of flowers,a white bed with large white pillows, and a blanket with golden tassels. Starting with the flowers, they are not simply within a vase but are in the hands of a dark skinned person; who appear to be offering them to her. The act that these flowers could be an offering show a display of giving a gift to another person that is deemed worthy, important, or powerful in comparison to the person giving the flowers. Then the bed and large pillows, are signs of some wealth, because back in the 1800's the average commoner may not have had access to such comfort items. I have also analyzed that bed and pillows are both white, a symbol of purity, as well as a show of cleanliness. Cleanliness back in the 1800's would have been difficult without washing machines as they would be hand washed; thus needing a cleaning product as well as access to clean water that the average person may not have afforded to have at their expense. A blanket with designs and golden tassels had to also be an object of wealth because of the amount of effort and material that would have gone into creating it. Again, I am going to say, that the average commoner in the later 1800's probably could not afford to have this item either.

While analyzing this painting, or any painting, I strongly believe it is important to keep either the time period that the art was completed or the artist's intended time period, in mind. There are always going to be some sort of social classes or power rankings in all civilizations and in the painting "Olympia," I strongly believe the woman held a status of power or wealth. I am aware of the speculated fact that Edouard intended the portrayed woman to be a prostitute. Even if she was a prostitute, she had to have some connections or power that entitles her to be surrounded by such objects of wealth. Overall, I believe her body language is the most important because she exhibits confidence with herself lying nude and airs superiority; if not command. A person can buy and surround themselves with riches and wealth, but a true person of power is able to exhibit it through their body language and actions.

Online Photography

[http://favim.com/orig/201108/25/artsy-beauty-camera-colorful-photography-Favim.com-130177.jpg]

There are only a couple of ways that I have participated through online photography and that is through Facebook and Instagram. Both of these sites I have used primarily for socializing and keeping up with friends, especially now that I am out of high school. Therefore during high school, I often posted up photos, which I think were good for sentimentality reasons and memories. The same goes for when I am going through my news feed, I am able to look at the photos that my friends posted up of their lives at college. Although I keep in touch with a lot of my best friends, it is nice to see that my other friends from high school are enjoying their lives. How I participate with photography in Facebook is basically the same reason for why I have an Instagram, although I personally find Instagram more fun. I love playing around with the filters or seeing how cool or pretty other people's photos will look. Of course there are hash tags; that are both amusing and obnoxious.

 For sentimentalness and memories, I think photography on social networks can be important to remind the users and their friends of the good times they have had. In general online photography is beneficial because people are able to see places they have never seen, people they have never met, or look at things in a different perspective. After all, there are many breath taking and stunning photos people take of their travels around the world or explorations in nature. Then there are people you hear of in the news, people you have never met, but there is often a photo of them included in the article that allows you to see who they are. One of my favorite parts of online photography is when people choose to take and post pictures that have been taken at an artsy angle or had been filtered maybe a certain way; a reason why I spend a lot of time on Instagram. Overall, online photography is beneficial because people are able to see what they do know or could not have expected.

There are certainly downfalls in online photography though because if someone posts up a photo, that photo is always floating around there in cyberspace, even if they delete it from the online site. Online photography can be regrettable later on in life because it may seem harmless at first, but someone else can take it as inappropriate or offensive; this someone else could be a potential future work boss. In some regrettable cases, the photography could be cruelly made fun, and is often shared. One alarming aspect I personally find about the internet, is how quickly a photo can get around even if it is just a harmless meme of grumpy cat. The sad concept of this, is that there are people who commit suicide because of photos that have been posted up online, whether they chose to post them or not.