some shots for class

This is just so sad. The lone fry.
Joe is a Ho Ho
construction in the catacombs
mass consumerism creates mass garbage
did Stephane eat all of that?

does no one listen anymore?

The assignment was to do question phone tag. So I was chosen to start it, and now everyone is bitching at me. I really don't know when it was decided that students didn't have to do the assignments if they didn't want to, because I sure would have opted out of writing those two 3o page papers last semester.

cool maps

I had no idea where to find a cool map, so I just started out on the internet. I tried my township, but couldn't find this poster-map that was a cartoon of my neighborhood with all the businesses listed. I had that in my playroom as a kid, and I always thought it was pretty original. This one kind of looks like it, but it's from Taos, NM:

So then I tried to see if there was a map of the Star Wars galaxy, because I have seen them in the front covers of some SW novels. I found this one: which I think is so cool because it looks like it was taken from a NASA image, and whoever made it went to a lot of trouble to make this fictional universe look real.

this week's assignments for our absentees

1. The "host" (me) has to text message a question to the class. Whoever gives the best answer (or perhaps the most obnoxious answer, since some people are being mean) has to text a question the next day to the entire class. Next host is decided by me, Shannon, and/or Natalie.

2. The other assignment is to find a map/chart of some sort that is very inventive or original.

3. There is also reading that she handed out that you guys can get next week.

>>RING<< Dear John, I'm leaving this voicemail...

So my friend Angelo, who works at a Starbucks, was approached by a deaf man last Saturday night, who slid him a piece of paper asking Angelo to call the number written on it. Angelo did (why, I have no idea), and the woman on the other end of the phone ended up telling Angelo to break up with the deaf guy for her. How's that for modern technology?

what the cell??!!??!

Okay, I never got the text messages, so Natalie and I started our own version of the cell chain. Wha' hoppen youse guys?

San Fran pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/batoracle/sets/72057594057790862/ here are some of the San Fran pics. I have more to upload, just brought the wrong dang CD case. Argh! What's the point of being organized if you grab the wrong organizer?

Just like there’s never a cop when you need one…

…I can’t find a conversation to eavesdrop on. The same day I used my camera in Annenberg (Friday), I attempted to listen to 2 different phone calls on the train into Temple. Since the two subjects were too far ahead of me, I moved up a few seats until I was next to them. I made myself look busy checking out my camera while I recorded with the lens cap on. But if I couldn’t understand them, the audio surely wouldn’t pick it up.

So on Tuesday on my train ride home, the guy in front of me answered his phone, and I tried to catch his conversation. Since the train was packed, I couldn’t very well dip into my backpack and get out any recording equipment, so I used the highlighter I was using for the article I was reading and jotted down the few words I could hear.

The conversation seemed to be about plans for Saturday and then finished up with a discussion about job searching. I missed a few comments because it was very noisy, and the guy was (surprisingly) not talking too loudly. Here's my highlighted words:
This phone hasn't stopped ringing
what's up?
wanna do something on Saturday?
50 inch LCD
come on over
I'll keep my eyes open
check out jobs.com
call you later
Very oddly, I felt paranoid that the riders to either side of me were looking at me jotting down my comments, and that they would think I was stalking the guy on the phone. Here’s one case that if I had any equipment, instead of being invisible, I would feel like there was a spotlight on me. The only way I could “get away with it” would be if I had started the trip with my camera already out, and just started recording with the lens cap on, not looking into the camera at all.

Put something somewhere..but is it seen?

This assignment I chose to put myself somewhere, namely in the Atrium at Annenberg Hall. I wanted to test my invisibility theory in a place where cameras are seen as common objects. But how many people actually would notice me?
Taking my camcorder, I walked around the atrium shooting nothing and everything (I haven’t gotten to digitize the footage though, as I still need to get the video software installed in my computer). I noticed that I was only glanced at, if anyone bothered to turn and look at all. The only person who noted my presence was my friend Ron, who was sitting at a computer on the balcony to the Grad lounge, and he gave me the one-finger salute (a not uncommon gesture of Ron’s). When I went upstairs to shoot down into the atrium, no one even looked up to see they were being taped. I continued around into the studios, and once I got into the Temple Update studio, everyone there looked at the camera to say hi and ask what was up. Here were the people the most comfortable in front of and behind the camera, not to mention they know me, so their interaction was understandable. But just like in Golden Gate Park, I was invisible until I chose to come from behind the camera.

fly on the wall

I often take time to myself to just observe stuff around me. So I chose to write about my solo trip through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

By using the camera, I felt that I had an "excuse" for being alone. It feels like somehow using a camera makes you different from others, an entity unto yourself. Whereas I would definitely feel shy by myself, once I have that camera, I feel I can go anywhere and no one will question me, they just assume I belong there (the fact that my camera is pro-looking being key to that).

Once inside the famous Japanese Tea Garden, I walked around for at least an hour just looking at the flowers, watching shadows, and observing people. One of the photos I framed was the shadow of a young couple. They moved before I completed my shot, so here's where I stepped in to interact. I asked the couple to come back so I could grab the shot, and showed them the image I was getting. At this point, they asked me to take the same picture with their digital camera, and take a couple pictures of them together in the gardens.

So the camera can make me invisible, but it can also prove to be the instrument that allows me to go up to just about anyone and start up a conversation.

Just in case...

Just in case….

Unpacking my (pink) backpack, you’ll note I have a number of things “just in case.” Hana remarked that it was just in case my people had to do another mass exodus. :]

The outside of the bag itself displays a bit of my personality: a Serenity pin, a Sunnydale High pin (Buffy), a Jason Mraz Geek in the Pink pin, and a pin for my most artistic student’s band. I have an outside pocket that has both a pen and a highlighter, so I am ready at a moments notice to write or, well, highlight, and don’t have to rummage through my bag to find them.

The main pocket holds my notebook, the information I just received for this class, and my trusty camcorder in its protective case (which has a number of just in case things itself). I also have a pink Nintendo case that I use to hold my jump drive, my mp3 player, my headphones and my voice recorder for my voice lessons. I tend to keep multiple like items in their own case so that it’s easier to retrieve any number of items I may need.

I also have wetnaps and tissues just in case I need to appease my Monk-ness, or in case someone else needs them. I also keep an energy bar in case I miss a meal, and some fruit snacks in case of low blood sugar. Hmm…you’d think I was a girl scout or something. Nope, just Jewish and a Batman/Batgirl fan (utility belt, y’know?)

I have a number of unlabeled CDs that I have to check to see if they’re blank or what. I figure I’ll get a chance the next time I have my computer with me.

As the class noted, I prefer to be prepared. Ah! But wait! Check out my purse! I have my cell phone (pink of course) in it’s own pocket, 2 pens, lip balm, mints, my clip-on shades (in their own case) and my list of things to do in the exterior pockets. Inside, I have a makeup case that holds lotion (non-flowery scented in case boys need some), lip gloss, lip stick, and powder/mirror case. I also have gum in a plastic container, with 3 different flavors (always nice to have options).

The interior of my purse has my keys (house and car) attached to a keychain that looks like my dog, and also attached to a Kubotan, which is the only weapon you can legally carry unconcealed. Plus, it makes it easy to find my keys when they fall to the bottom of my purse. I have my pink eelskin wallet (it is so soft!) and a little emergency kit. That bag has a 40s pin-up looking chick on it (I love Vargas), and has: a multi-tool flat Swiss army device (that has screwdriver heads, magnifying glass, tweezers, scissors, knife, a pin, and a toothpick), a safety pin (you never know when a bra strap is going to break, and in fact I had one available just yesterday for a girl who was going table to table looking for a safety pin—for a broken bra strap! I also have eye drops, sanitizing lotion stuff (again with the germs), a pink pill box that has ibuprofen, an extra strength Excedrin and pepto tablets. I find myself doing the Jewish mother thing whenever someone doesn’t feel well. I also keep band-aids because I tend to cut my fingers a lot. And hair bands for bad hairs days that require a ponytail. I also have a hair clip on my purse strap in case I need a French twist (it’s more comfortable than a ponytail).

Then there’s my calendar which I am quite proud of. Considering I teach intro to photoshop, which includes the students creating personal collages, I have my own personal collage for the cover. I made a cover that has all of my friends and family on it (and a couple extra of my doggie). I used to carry a (pink) photo wallet with me just to have my family and friends with me all the time. I also have my Temple wallet that holds my ID and my Septa pass. And it’s connected to a pink neck strap.

So all of this stuff shows my personality quirks, things that I love, and things just in case myself or others need things that someone always need, just never think of having with them.