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Top 5 Space-Related Events of 2012
“PIRATE BLAST!” (Roller Coaster Description)
“Grown upness is wasted on grown ups” -Liam Digby, Cosmic
If I was an adult for a day, I’d… probably not do much really. I mean, this is mainly due to time restraint. If I had a month or two, I’d settle down in a house, get a job, earn a good salary, and eventually use my earnings to have fun. To be honest, I don’t really like this quote. This is because while yes, you can to anything you want, but you need to think about it long term. Adults have freedom, but they also have more responsibilities that weigh down their freedoms. In fact, I’d dare to say that “Grown upness” is not as good as youth or adolescence. When you’re young, you also have responsibilities, I am in no way denying that. However, those dilemmas are partially solved by people in your life by people that are more wise. In other words, your parents. When you’re an adult, you’re given a driver’s license, told how credit cards work, and there, that’s it, you’re on your own. I know I’m dancing around the topic here, but the story would be incredibly uninteresting, for aforementioned reasons. Whatever age you are, you always want to be a different age. It’s a “The grass is always greener” type of situation. Kids want to be teens, teens want to be adults, and adults want to be kids again. What I’m trying to say with this is that I don’t like this quote because it feels like it’s coming from someone who doesn’t understand how the world works.
Quote is from “Cosmic” by Frank Cottrell Boyce.
My Ending to the Lady or the Tiger Continuation
Nasher Museum
Image credit: http://nasher.duke.edu/blog/?p=5354
One of my favorite pieces from our trip to the Nasher museum was “Porträts” by Thomas Ruff in the Jason Rubell collection. The reason that this left an impression is, for one, how different it is from everything in the collection. It’s not amazing beautiful art, it’s not abstract and open to interpretation, it’s just a collection of faces. What I find interesting beyond that is that the faces are not showing strong emotions. The viewer is meant to guess what the person in the frame is like based on their appearance.
Here is a compilation of facts about Thomas Ruff, the piece, Jason Rubell, and the collection.
- Thomas Ruff had previously drawn landscape paintings. The piece was meant to capture the flatness of his previous works in human form.
- Ruff currently works in Düsseldorf
- The pictures are meant to imitate a picture of someone on a passport.
- Ruff has been awarded 4 honors for his work in both his home country and others.
- Jason was influenced to start the collection by his parents, who were also art collectors.
- He grew up in New York City
- His parents liked to take him to art museums and have him write reviews of the art he saw and what he thought of it.
- The first piece in Jason’s collection was gifted to him at 13 by Keith Haring.
Information credit:
http://nasher.duke.edu/blog/?p=5354
The Peaceful Eastern Realm, A Custom Wisdom Tale
There was once a nation in the east that lived calmly. The citizens were happy and food and entertainment were plentiful. These traits, however, were not as strong in the west. Most kingdoms were led by war-mongering and greedy rulers, and those that weren’t were barely standing from the attacks of their neighbors. The eastern kingdom was not concerned with conflict. Its ruler was well aware of the battles in the west, but he never seemed to show concern for them. “They’re much too busy with fighting their immediate neighbors to worry about us,” he would say to comfort himself. The nation’s army was less than satisfactory, and many soldiers as well as citizens had objected to how little the emperor seemed to care about their safety. He did not heed their warnings. One day, a man from the realm was going out to catch some fish to feed his family, and he saw enemy soldiers coming in from the west. Thoroughly horrified, the man rushed to the emperor’s throne room. Guards tried to stop him, but he violently shoved them out of the way. “My l-liege, th-there’s, there’s..” “Spit it out, or else you will be punished harshly!” the emperor spat impatiently. The man finally managed to say, “There’s enemy soldiers rushing in from the west!” There was silence throughout the entire room. The emperor finally yelled at a guard “Round up the troops!” The servant obliged, and the news spread quickly of what was happening. The nation was in complete and utter turmoil. After not too long, the enemy arrived at the gate. Things did not go in the defending kingdom’s favor. They tried their best to fight off the hoards, but their attempts bared no fruition. Those that survived were taken in as prisoners and turned into slaves. What little remains of the once industrious land is a testament to why you should never ignore potentially dangerous things. Always be prepared.
I’m Thankful For… (Late)
Wisdom Tale Comic: Empty Cup Mind
Cuil Theory
Picture credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28702899@N02/2712851003
Let’s talk about Cuil theory. Before reading this post, read the original text (Be careful navigating the website, there’s some non-school friendly material in some of the other pages): http://cuiltheory.wikidot.com/what-is-cuil-theory. I strongly recommend reading it all the way through. It’s hilarious and gives history to how it was imagined. Now, let’s try to do some creative writing inspired by Cuil theory. Of course, I doubt any of you(including myself) will be able to successfully reach the level that the original Cuil theory did. We can try though. I’ll give the starting point, if it reaches it’s peak, we can start a new one (I will be the one that decides when something reaches that point). Alright, here we go: a man takes a trip to England to visit his cousin. I’ll often be participating, this will be fun. BEGIN.