The Special Places in my Home

Both of these pictures are in the first level of my house. When we first moved in, my mother set then up to show all company that entered our house how proud she was of her parents and children. The first picture is dedicated to my grandparents. On our mantle, when have the flag that we got when my grandfather passed. He was a WWII veteran, so they gave him the proper burial complete with a 21-gun salute and flag for the family. Since that day, we’ve kept his flag in its case as a sign of respect and remembrance for my Pop-Pop. In front of the flag is my grandmother’s urn. She died when I was a sophomore in high school. She requested to be cremated and buried in Jamaica with her mother. My mother followed her wishes and took her ashes to be buried in Jamaica next to her mother. But because she didn’t want to let her mother go completely, she kept just a little bit of her and placed it next to her husband’s flag. So while in our home, my Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop will remain next to each other. The mantle also has other touches of remembrance for my grandparents. Gifts, a grandpa and granddaughter in a rocking chair figurine, native Jamaican wood sculptures, etc., that we bought our grandparents for special holidays are up there, as well as grandma and grandpa Chinese figurines that match our Chinese chest in the Family room. To give the feel of being in at my grandparents’ old house in Florida, my mom puts up pictures from special events in our lives like they used to do (hence why my prom picture and my sister’s, Mayne, high school graduation picture are there).

 The second picture is in my Living room. This is the first room you see when you enter my house. My mother changes this special place in the house every time there is a graduation. No matter who graduates, both Mayne and my picture stay up on the sides of the table; they only change if a new picture is taken. My mom decorates the center of the table with our diploma, graduation program, and any other mementos from that day. Usually, there is a vase of flowers and a lot of glitter on the table (both my sister and I like glitter!). She does this primarily for the party that comes after the graduation; the table remains set up this way until the next graduation. This is my mom’s way of celebrating our accomplishments and appreciating our efforts.

These are pictures of Mayne’s and my room. When we first moved, my mom allowed us to set up our own rooms. We both wanted to celebrate the accomplishments that we had achieved throughout our young lives. We asked our mother to get us bookcases that we could fill with our trophies from track & field, cheerleading, dance, and scholastic honors. As the years went on, we added more trophies and medals from high school. Eventually, we were able to put our varsity letters and graduation caps on display. Mayne’s senior year, our poms team won 3^rd place in short pom and 1^st place in hip-hop at state competition. Since Mayne was our captain, she got to take home the trophies so they sit on the floor by her bed since they were so huge. We look at our trophy cases as a way to celebrate ourselves. Something to show our children of all the honors that we have been awarded.  

Nailed it !: Nail Art

One of my favorite hobbies is painting my nails. It all started so long ago; as a child, I always wanted to be just as pretty as Mommy. She was always made up with jewelry, purses, perfume, and freshly painted nails. I always loved how there were so many colors to choose from. It seemed like you could never wear the same color twice, but you could sport every shade of pink that there is for 3 months straight. My fascination grew so much that I turned my 10th birthday party into a nail social. My mom bought about 20 new colors for the party and that marked the start of my collection (which now has expanded to 189). Over the 10 years after my party, I have perfected my nail polishing skill. I look to the internet for inspiration for new designs from people who have created blogs in dedication to nails (this means I'm not alone in my obsession, lol). It takes a lot to execute a perfect manicure, even without designs. Making sure all of the brush strokes are in the same direction and stay within the lines makes me feel like Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I try layering glitter coats on top of creme colors to see the polish in new ways. When I really want to be expressive, I try my hand at designs. It's a way of painting a picture on 10 tiny canvases. Honestly, painting my nails is like a release for me. Just the same as when I paint pictures or pottery, painting my nails is a rush of artistic freedom that puts a smile on my face and others.

My nails

Designs I found on the internet

 

How I Met Your Mother: Season 6

How I Met Your Mother is a sitcom set in 2030 when the main character, Ted Mosby is telling his 2 kids the story of how he met their other. The majority of the show's action takes place from 2005 to the present. The season that I most recently watched from start to finish was season 6. It was set in 2010/2011 and was centered around the gang's, Ted, Barney, Lily, Marshall, and Robin, personal lives. Ted gets in a relationship but for once, chooses work over love. Barney meets his father and considers settling down with one of Robin's co-workers. Lily finally gets pregnant but has to help husband Marshall cope with the loss of his father. Robin quits her on-air job to take on a researcher job at a more respectable news channel. The season ends the way it began, at a wedding, which is revealed to be Barney's wedding, and the best man Ted is needed for assistance.

I like the show How I Met Your Mother because of its plot. It's full of mystery because the main character, Ted, dates so many women so it's a guessing game as to which one he actually ends up with. I love how they weave common elements from the story line into all of the episodes, yet, there is always something new going on. Another reason I like this show is because it is quite allegorical. They always make reference to later episodes so it just keeps me wondering how that part of the story will play out.

I love the way the characters relate to each other in this show. The chemistry on screen, although it is scripted, seems so genuine. My favorite character is Barney, who is played by Neil Patrick Harris. The reason I like him is because he commits to his character. In the show, he portrays a womanizer who is interested in sex and money. Love and marriage do not exist to him, that is at least up until the sixth season. But in real life, Harris is an openly gay man who lives with his domestic partner and their children. I love how he can make his character so believable without losing himself in the show.

my favorite, Andy Warhol.

My favorite artist so far is Andy Warhol. I have always loved his work. I feel like he uses colors to his advantage. One thing I look for in paintings is a nice color scheme. Warhol uses colors and color patterns to interpret the subjects of his paintings. I enjoy how he uses his works to give his very own definition of art. When everyone else doubted whether or not his Brillo box was art, he stood by it. That beef in himself is what aided him in becoming one of the pioneers of an art form, pop art. I watched a movie, Factory Girl, that was based on his studio, The Factory, and it showed me how much of an innovator he really was. He had the courage enough to live as an openly gay man and live by his own rules. I believe the reason I love his work is because most of his subjects are commonly know people or objects that he interprets and paints as he sees fit. It's like he's giving the viewer of his works a first class ticket through the inner machinations of his creative mind. It allows you to see how he views the world that we are all a part of.

Thirteen. Unlucky indeed.

Thirteen. 2003. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Written by Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed.

This movie is a story about teenage angst and self-destruction. It takes you into the lives of two teenage girls, Tracy Freeland (Evan Rachel Wood) and Evie Zamora (Nikki Reed), and shows you how tough growing up and fitting in can be. Tracy starts the movie as a honor roll student in middle school who just wants to fit in with the popular kids. Once Evie let's her get a taste of rebellious the cool kids live, Tracy never turns back. The movie follows Tracy and Evie on their path to self destruction through body mutilation, piercings, drugs, and other harmful means. Not only does Tracy shed her good girl shell through her new clothes, she begins to but heads with her mother and all the people who are trying to help her. 

As I stated in class, I like movies that I can feel myself being a part of.When I first saw this movie, I was only in sixth grade and 12 years old. This afforded me the privilege to "grow up" with Tracy and Evie. I was able to put myself in their shoes and contemplate on how I would have handled the situations that they were presented. When I re-watched the movie, I noticed that I have grown to appreciate the camera work. The fact that they did not just use a tripod or a traditional camera set up to shoot this movie made a huge difference. I like that it was shot as if any person from off the street was just video taping what was going on. It made the movie seem more real, their lives and story seemed more believable. It was as if this was a home movie of someone's thirteenth year. Although none of these events happened to me when I was 13, I was able to connect to the sincerity of the movie.

After watching the movie this go round, I googled it to find out some interesting facts. Apparently, the movie was loosely based on the life of it's co-star, Nikki Reed. In real life, she was Tracy's character who was just trying to fit in but ended up taking a wrong turn and spiraling towards disaster. Another fun fact I learned, was that this movie had some parts that were too racy for its underaged actors, Woods and Reed were both 14 during taping, that they had to keep paid social workers on site to make sure everything was appropriate.

If you wish to know more about this movie, visit the Wikipedia website and read the synopsis. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_(film)

Citizen Kane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcDJhXSIesI

I chose Citizen Kane, partly because we just watched it in class. Partly because there was one scene that I found to be executed quite perfectly. I chose the scene where Charles Kane's mother told him that he would be going to Chicago with Mr. Thatcher. The scene is about 4 and a half minutes long and falls toward the beginning of the movie. The scene was a tool that was used to give a little back story on Kane's life. It showed us where he got his start in the newspaper industry and who his mentor was. The reason I was drawn to this scene was because Wells used pathetic irony when filming it. Mary Kane, Charles' mother appeared to be kind of a star-offish mother. She was sending her son away to grow up in a different part of the country, without her, for money. He had no choice in the matter, he was just informed that that was how it was going to be. The pathetic irony comes in because the scene was set in the snow. It kind of gave a visual look at the way the situation was being handled, very cold heartedly. It was also like they were ripping Charles' childhood away from him; he had to grow up and begin to perfect his trade. This is literally evident when his sled, Rosebud, is taken from him and left in the snow to be virtually forgotten. The scene ends with the sled sitting in front of the house getting covered with snow. This is somewhat of an allegory to the mystery of Rosebud that the whole movie is spent trying to uncover.

back in the day when art was POPular. Lichtenstein, Warhol, Fisher.

Crying Girl x Roy Lichtenstein (1963)

I enjoy pop art pieces duet their use of dots. I admire how artists create different figures using countless red dots that blur together to create the illusion of a flesh tone color. What i was able to notice about Lichtenstein when I visited the MoMA was that he arranges the dots on his canvas first, then paints around them to create the outline of the person. In most of Lichtenstein's other works, he utilized caption bubbles in order to give the picture a different meaning. I like this one because there is no caption bubble. He managed to get across the emotion of being either sad, scared, or upset without "cheating" and telling us, point blankly, what the woman was thinking. He used her tears and body language to the best of their ability. The wrinkle by her nose makes it seem as though she is worried about something, which may be the cause for her crying. These inferences allow you to make up a story about the subject's life and that level of interaction is what i most enjoy about Lichtenstein's work.

Jackie Kennedy x Andy Warhol (1964)

Shot Blue x Andy Warhol (1964)

These two prints are from Andy Warhol. What attracted me to him was that he took real pictures of these two famous ladies and put his own spin on the images. I feel as though he painted them the way that he saw them. That speaks volumes because he painted the two drastically different. Marilyn Monroe has kind of a glamorized look. He saw her as kind of a pop icon that lived for the glitz and glamour. Jackie Kennedy is painted with more regal colors. His view of her seemed to be a more serious, political one.

Standard Gauge x Morgan Fisher (1984)

I was attracted to this picture because the caption fits ever so perfect. "Scene Missing" written against an empty square of film strip is just so simple. I like that it is just straight to the point. Simple works are another simple pleasure of mine because every now and again, I like to look at something and just know what I am looking at.