Strong Claim vs. Evaluative

Book About A Book "Ryan's artwork, distinct in style and whimsical in ideas, instills a childlike gayness and a twirling bliss in the eyes of all who see it."

Vivir, Sonar, Leer "The radical range of color schemes, discombobulating object scale, unusual item combination, and drastic angling of geometric shapes combine to form a divine harmony in the middle of a flustering discord."

"Jim's overwhelmingly awe-struck portfolio probably had the potential to make a rather dull and boring collection if he left each picture be it's own without making a collage out of them."
I think the submission about the photo was talked about nicely, except it was more evaluative than an analytical argument.

"Lunch Bag Art is a tumblr that is very unique and worth looking at."
This one was too personal and gave too much of the writers feeling toward the piece rather than strongly analyzing it.

Deadly Little Secret

Do you remember that awful feeling you get when you hear about amber alerts and kidnappings?  The sick and twisted person who tortures someone for their pleasure should be permanently in a straight jacket for the rest of their lives.  The impact that they put on the victim, but also the family and community is huge.  All the love and care for the poor victim poors out and search groups spill out all over.  In Deadly Little Secret, sadly Camilia has to be the victim. 

Camilia fights as hard as she can to scream and beat at the wall to escape the enclosed area she is trapped to while her ex-boyfriend (the sick and twisted kidnapper/stalker) pretends to be innocent while at school.  However, no matter how hard she screamed she was in the middle of a torn up trailer park.  Luckily, the boy who had the prescience of the kidnapping ever since he laid eyes on Camilia could sense where she was and saved her.

In real life, things don't happen like that.  People go missing for years and families and communities come together and never forget about the loved one.  It is so sad and heart breaking that stories like this happen in real life.  I wish, though, that in real life people could sense the future and figure out hiding places of the kidnappers.  Truly, I wish life was fair and that there was no corrupt people in the world.  It's simple; world peace would solve everything. 

Spartan Reader: Hunting for Art

Everyone loves elementary school art.  No matter how much one can deny it, getting messy with paint can be a great time.  However, the watercolor paint is difficult to master and usually used on an 8.5x11in paper that's easily recyclable.  It obviously needs more skill than a little kid can provide because of the hard to create images of indefinite lines and pastel colors.  Fortunately, the world is blessed with artists like Cate Parr, an expert and fashion illustrator with watercolor paints.  Most of the time it's hard to find artists and brag about them, but The Cool Hunter does a nice job of displaying the exotic art that they find.

In Cate Parr's portfolio of about six watercolor paintings, the subtle vibrant colors and free flowing strokes of paint highlight the vulnerable passion for beauty.  The reocurring paintings of women suggest the common feeling of the importance of fashion.  Specifically in one of the paintings, the wild and vibrant hair looks difficult to tame and ready to burst into an afro.  Her almost hidden, pale face is hidden in the background of the blaring hair and complicated necklace.  The choker style of the bulky necklace covers the whole neck and neckline.  It has many geometric shapes consisting of circles and rectangles, rarely filled in with a dull shade of green or yellow.  The choice of colors and shapes of the necklace may suggest the materialistic mindsets of the women today.  However, her extreme hair and exotic necklace screams a new trend that women could latch onto after the boring flat, straightened hair accessorized with Tiffany's heart lockets.  The style of many of the women painted contradicts the popular fashion today.  Cate Parr's portfolio may be a handful of iconoclastic images that are going to set a new trend and create larger parameters to beauty.

This American Life: Notes on Camp

In this episode of This American Life, listeners will get opinions and commentary about camp.  This episode specifically takes place at a pair of camps in Michigan--Lake of the Woods, a girls camp, and Greenwoods, a boys camp.  Although the camps may have separate names and may brag they are better than the other, they function as one whole camp--they share many of the same fun activities.  While listening to This American Life, one will hear a major theme of camp people verses non-camp people.  Once one heads off to camp, their life has changed forever.  Also, this episode has two highlights about the popular icon, David the counselor, and about the fearful ghost stories by which the camp is haunted.  Just from spending a short amount of time with the camp kids, This American Life gathered a quick list for Notes on Camp.

The first episode, Mr. Popular, opens up with a quirky guitar strumming song that introduces the long living camper--the boy who has participated since he was eleven years and grew up to become a camp counselor.  His name is David, but often referred to as Davey by his small, yet obsessed fan club.  David claims that "the best moments of his life are with campers.  Two weeks in the real world is about a day in camp.  It's almost like a time warp."  Because of camp, David strongly admits that it changes peoples lives for the better.  While observing the lunch room (known as the mess hall), loud screams, singing, and chanting fills the air.  The atmosphere is booming with chaos, but David somehow can control it all.  "David is the force, the one people turn to.  He is the man."  His ability to calm drama and stir up humor allows many of the campers to relate to him and claim he is the "number one counselor."

This American Life successfully observed Mr. Popular, but they also observe a certain type of fear among the campers.  In the second episode, the kids lack of common sense is tested.  As always, each camp has some time of horror story.  Several kids are eager to share this camps story.  As they tell the story of Turtle Man, each person's details in the story can change and influence the story a different way.  The bottom line is that the Turtle Man takes its new victim each fourth of July.  The children's curiosity with the ghost stories and their want to get scared is surprising since they are currently living in the woods.  A group of boys' gullability and curiosity gets the best of them when testing the legend of Bloody Mary and chant "Let's get scared!"  The anxiety and focus that the listener hears in the young boys is humorous when the legend is finished.  The need for the ghost story to be true is evident as one of the boys swears, "I felt a baby in my hands! It worked!" 

The two segments of This American Life share an innocent story of campers having a good time over the summer.  The fact that David is the one all campers are envious of suggest the need of a role model to the immature boys and girls to look up too.  The fun atmosphere that is fulfilled by the singing and chanting creates a loud area for the campers to express their inner personality, let go of nasty stereotypes, and have fun being a kid.  The simplicity of a camp is amazing when is brings so much joy to the many campers.  Both of the episodes illustrated the innocent lifestyle of children and how life can be more fulfilling through goofy games and stories rather than materialistic ways.  People need to learn a lesson from Notes on Camp and start living the fun life--start camping!

Short List 2.19.12

Masterpieces of the Natural World: Visit the most innocent and untouched places of the world.  People often overlook Earth's beauty and ignore the many things in nature that are ineffable.

Incredible Tree Houses: As a kid lounging in your ammature treehouse, or even your swingset, have you ever dreamed of living in a real tree house?  If you visit the door-nob site, there are plenty of custon tree house plans.  It's incredible the detail and variety of tree houses that are offered.  And to think, all of that design and hard work up in a tree.  Better test the trunk real well--wouldn't want the tree to fall!



The Cool Hunter- Art: The Cool Hunter found an artist that paints from watercolors that captures vulnerable fashion.  All of the paintings are focused on women and a certain style.  It takes a few seconds to recognize the fashion statement that is trying to be portrayed, and I think that is the point of it.  I think the artist wants to have the average person stumble upon the images and have to interpret them in their own time. 

Deadly Little Secret

It's crazy to think that people have stalkers. Legit stalkers; not just fan clubs, or wannabes, but people who may threaten your life.

In Deadly Little Secret, the main character Camilia has an ex-boyfriend who wants to get back together, a goofy jokester best friend, a drama queen best friend, and a mysterious lab partner.  On top of it all, she keeps getting creepy and suspicious messages.  Sounds like a stalker to me.  The intense scenes in the book can be scary with the suspicion that someone is always watching.

From what we know (after reading about 70% of the book), Camilia has a very suspicious lab partner.  I can't tell if the author is trying to blame the stalker on him and surprise us, or if he is the one.  However, the lab partner, and new boy in school, is named Ben and he has a thing for Camilia.  Not only does he want to keep touching her, but he needs to touch her to see the future. He has a thing called psycho.... (a long term for being able to see the future).  With it, he can sense the future and according to him Camilia's future is not pleasant.  Actually, her future is fatal.  This is where the mystery comes in and the intense suspicion among the characters is measured. 

Ben's background isn't the cleanest and most innocent, but would the author really make it so that he is the obvious victim, or could she stir things up and surprise the reader who the stalker/murderer-to-be is?  Thank goodness this story is just fiction because creepy stalkers and a lab partner with psycho-future seeing skills is not a great way to peaceful sleeping--talk about nightmares. 

Notes on Camp response

Going to camp may be the best thing that happens to young children.  They participate in so many activities and games to create inside jokes with their new, yet best friends, and their life changes from that point on to becoming a "Camp Person" rather than a "Non-Camp Person."  In the episode of Notes on Camp by This American Life, segments titled Mr. Popular and Fear engage the listener by hearing the humorous and exciting tones of the campers.  David, also known as Davey by his small yet obsessed fan club, is the long living camper; he first went to the camp around age eleven, has clear blue eyes, and claims "the best moments of my life are with campers."  This American Life describes the powerful icon; "David is the force, the one people turn to; he is the man." He has set trends, made cheers, and passed along many of the scary legends.  The scary legends, such as the Turtle Man, are said to be true among the worried campers, not faithfully believing where the line of fiction and non-fiction is.  Listening to the eager chants and worried screams illustrates the emotions that the creepy legends create.  Both of the segments, Mr. Popular and Fear, suggests a fun and exciting camp.  The set of campers from both segments were eager to be interviewed and share their opinion of camp.  An underlying statement by many of them: Once a camper, always a camper. 

"Really Cool Art"

The artist, Henk Hofstra, creates a new type of art that one does not come across on a regular basis but when it meets the eye it leaves quite an impression. In Drachten, a public art piece called "Urban River" is a blue road that has been repainted to portray the artist's mood. From a bird's point of view the road looks a lot like a bright and vivid river, as if one could sail right through the middle of a non-polluted city. In the dull and lifeless city, the bright blue forms a unique and eye popping image. Each building is gray, square, and uniform; the addition of the "Urban River" adds diversity to the view. In one of the captivating shots, a car has been smothered in blue and positioned to look as if it's diving into the welcoming river. It is possible that Hofstra wanted to capture the image of fun and silliness by showing the car taking a dive into the water like it is relieving its stress from the hard work it'd done that day. The blue road may be a sign of advertising diversity, or it may be a sign to relax and have fun; no matter how a person looks at "Urban River" it is a prime example of Really Cool Art(http://www.crookedbrains.net/2008/03/really-cool-art.html).

The Death Cure

Last winter, I traveled to Denver, Colorado and drove up the mountains to spend a week skiing and snowboarding. I had a great week spending time with family and enjoying the time with no stress from school. I know it sounds random that I'm talking about my favorite family vacation, but as I read The Death Cure it’s so hard to imagine that Denver, Colorado is one of the only safe cities in the world for the Gladers.

At this point, the Gladers have bravely escaped WICKED on Jorge's berg and miraculously arrived in the safe haven of Denver. Dashner does a great job in captivating the reader's attention because it's almost like he has experienced the chimerical events himself and he knows what the emotions rolling through the characters minds should be. His captivating words paint a picture and describe intense scenes that seem so real.

With Dashner's help of describing fear from the Flare, the reader feels the importance of the city Denver. However, rumors around town say that the city of Denver isn't as safe as it is meant to be and Thomas and his group is looking more and more suspicious --and it is definitely well-known not to advertise that they are Munies (Dashner's lingo of Immune).

I'm almost half way through The Death Cure and I'm crossing my fingers that the ending answers all of the questions that I've been pondering since The Maze Runner. One topic that Dashner keeps foreshadowing is the fact that Thomas had a huge role with WICKED before he got put into the trials. Will the reader hate Thomas once we find out his role? I really hope that is not the case; if I were able to write the ending from this point on, I would somehow wrap it up so that Thomas finds the cure and everyone survives. Personally I love it when everyone lives happily-ever-after, although it is very rare to see a conclusion like that after reading about so many tragic deaths in the middle of the story.

Short list #2

The Cool Hunter: Basically this site hunts down anything considered to be cool.  I have only checked out the architecture page so far, and have stumbled upon inverted warehouse houses that have a modern twist and make them extremely homey.  Many pictures and descriptions are displayed for easy and interesting browsing.

Crooked Brains: Crooked Brains is a weird site that displays "really cool art" in their opinion, and I would have to agree.  You will come across yellow streets, bright blue buildings, abstract paintings, and more.

Craziest Gadgets: Today's craziest gadget is color changing mood lipstick.  Many people have heard of or even owned a mood ring, but lipstick?  How is it possible that the color of it changes according to your mood? I'm not exactly sure, but scientists sure are inventing crazy gadgets.

Betrayal - How to Forgive

Betrayal, also known as disloyalty.  The worst offense a friend or loved one can do to you.  The act of betrayal can just rip you up and set your emotions on fire; to say the least, it's not the best feeling in the world.  Have you ever been betrayed by a best friend or loved one?  Is it even possible to forgive them after an act of treachery? Personally, I never have but James Dashner's words in The Scorch Trials illustrate the deep meaning of betrayal in friendship.

When Thomas was struggling to survive physically, Teresa emotionally murdered him.  The act she put on was cruel and violating to their trust.  Not only did Teresa physically beat Thomas up with a staff and sword, she showed affection for Aris - and kissed him.  I think it would be very hard to betray someone physically, but right when she kissed Aris on the cheek, the pain that drowned Thomas' heart was more severe than any of the pain caused by the sword. 

Thomas didn't just get his heart broken and a few deep gashes in his skin for fun, but after he was healed he was expected to forgive and forget.  When Thomas came back into conscience, Teresa greeted him with a bear hug.  (Ummm, I don't know about you but after being betrayed by your best friend and girl friend, I don't think a big hug will do the trick.)  Is Thomas just suppose to forgive Teresa and believe it was just a mission set out by WICKED?  Was it Teresa's true intentions or did she regret every word and punch that she forced upon Thomas?

I think it would be extremely hard to forgive a loved one who betrayed me.  To regain the trust and the emotional bond would take time and a lot of patience.  My heart goes out to the fictional Thomas; James Dashner's words in The Scorch Trials seem so real and portray such great scenes that it keeps the reader on the edge and hoping for more.

The Spartan Reader

In early elementary school, possibly first or second grade, many learn the term endangered species in science class.  Although everyone knows what endangered species are, it's very hard to wrap the mind around the thought of a species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction.  Browsing through North America's Most Endangered Animals highlights a top list of lonely animals trying to complete the extremely tough but selfless act of surviving. 

The most endangered animal, according the the Smithsonian Magazine is the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle.  The lonely turtle and dark colors of the weather exaggerate the melancholy mood.  In 1947, 42,000 of these innocent turtles were filmed nesting on a beach in Mexico.  They were performing a normal task of laying hundreds of eggs in just one nest.  Unfortunately, cruel and careless humans dug up many of the eggs and stole for selfish reasons.  Not only were the turtles nesting sites attacked, but many turtles were getting tied up in left over fishing line and nets. Not even forty years later did the amount of turtle nests in the same nesting range decrease to the lowly number of 702. 

Luckily, rescuers all over are out to help the turtles safely nest their eggs and their efforts have been successful.  In 2009, the amount of turtle nest increased to about 8,000.  The need to help animals is getting more severe because careless and selfish humans will ruin habitats without realizing it.  After learning about the many endangered species Smithsonian offers, the next click on the internet should be a site helping to save the endangered species.