CHRIS HERREN EVENT

 

                                  Chris Herren is honestly one of the best motivational speakers out there and I am happy that I went to this event.  He came to my high school last year and I was surprised how he turned his life around when it went spiraling out of control. Drugs are bad.........

Citations

 

Tortora, J. (2014, February 14). Is food insecurity on the rise among college students?. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/02/14/is-food-insecurity-on-rise-among-college-students/

 

Eltman, F. (2014, March 15). Food Pantries on the Rise at US College Campuses. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/food-pantries-rise-us-college-campuses-22924910

Family Photo

This is a picture of my four yearold cousin sitting on my lap, even though that is hard determine. By her being a child, I had to take about ten photos of us because she would either look away, blink, smile after the picture is taken and move around making the picture blurry or distorted. The viewer can make the assumption that my cousin and I are sitting on the couch somewhere in a house, but it not clear which room we are sitting in or if there are any other people in the area. I am at my Dad's neice's house (cousin) sitting in her living room where to the left is another couch with my younger cousin's older and little sister are sitting. On the left side diagonal from me is a big TV and stand. In my cousins hand she is playing a game on her mom's iphone. My sweatshirt is hard to read since it is covered, but it says "Dream Big". My cousin's shirt says "Santa Loves Me". This photo reminds me of all the great times me and my little cousin had. It is a great feeling to see someone grow from when they were a baby to attending in pre-school. It reminds me how time just flys by and that everyone should cherish who and what they have in their life.

Trapped in Space

Sometimes I want to grab my helmet and blast off in my non existing saucer.
Just go far away to the moon.
238,900 miles away from earth.
Stay up there until the bad times fade.
Stare up at the stars
and look deep within the vast infinite darkness that's surrounding the whole constellation.
Sit down, close my eyes,
look deep inside my soul
and blast off in an astral projection traveling with the speed of light back to earth. 

Still Life of Me

Perspectives

A simple photograph of someone can tell the viewer something about that person, whether or not it is true.  The way someone is dressed in the picture can cause the viewer to make assumptions such as; "Oh man this person has a great style!" or "Why are you wearing that...?" Sometimes the way someone is dressed can tell you about their personality, for an example: If someone is wearing bright vibrant colors the assumption would have the viewer thing that the person is a happy person, where as a person who wear dark and gloomy colors would have the viewer think that the person is not the happiest person in the world.  Facial expressions is another factor that can define someone in the picture. In the first picture it looks like I  was caught off guard  since I am looking away from the camera as if I am talking to  to soneone or just staring at something.   It is obviously a sideview of me , but I was not caught off guard at all even though it seems like that. Someone could also make the assumption that I didn't want my picture taken since I am turned and smiling. In my second picture which is the snake eye view my eyes are looking up with my mouth opened where there can be the assumption that I was either surprised by the person taking my picture, I was not ready, or the person was standing high above the floor taking the picture. The actual reason was that the photographet was standing high above me while standing on the chair taking my picture where I looked ready for the picture unlike the first photo where I was pretty much caught off guard.  An individual can make many assumptions about a photo of someone else based on their facial expresson, and body posture.

Venus of Urbino Response

             In class we had a long detailed discussion about two very unique paintings, in regards to what could be seen, the meaning of the painting, and how it makes you feel.  The painting that caught my eye and really made me think was the piece done by the Italian oil painter Tiziano , called Venus of Urbino, which was made in 1538.  The naked woman laying down on the bed is supposed to resemble the Goddess named Venus who is staring into the eyes of all her viewers who are studying her promiscuous body language.  When I looked at this painting I was confused because I did not fully understand what the story was and why the woman was naked.  In this blog entry I am going to explain what the painting meant to me, then I am going to explain what is actually going on after I did some research of my home to better understand this fascinating oil painting. 

              This oil painting is clearly erotic and when I was studying the piece I noticed that the woman was quite pudgy with a bushel of grapes in her hand.  I started to think that she was just some spoiled rotten woman that loves to seduce people because one: she is pretty plump and has a bushel of grapes in her hand (Not sure if those are actually grapes in her hand) Two: her facial expression honestly has that “I want you here in my bed” type stuff.  Also, in the background there is a woman standing and a teenage girl kneeling and that made me think that the woman standing is some kind of maid that punishes the naked woman’s children for her while she sits back and relaxes all erotically and what not eating her heart out with God knows what.  I was also thinking what the adolescent girl was praying, but why would she be praying behind a naked woman?  Doesn’t that seem a bit strange and just plain weird?

              When this painting popped up on the screen in class I sort of felt weird and awkward because more than half of the class is girls, so I just felt funny that there would be a naked women shown in front of all the females in the class.  I then got the idea that maybe this painting is showing how the female anatomy is beautiful no matter what size or shape since the woman in the oil painting is not in the best shape.  I understand that we still continue to live in a society where women can be seen as sex objects because of MTV and all that erotic modeling stuff, but this painting just reminded me of the society we live in regarding how women can sometimes be seen by men, which is not right at all.  The only sculpture that I know about that shows a naked man is the David piece made by Michelangelo.

              The real story behind the Venus of Urbino oil painting is that it was made for Duke of Camerino Guidobaldo della Rovere in regards to his marriage.  It is believed that the painting resembles marital love and intimacy since the naked woman is holding a posy of roses which symbolize love. (Not a bushel of grapes)  Also, the sleeping dog is believed to resemble fidelity.  The females in the background are both maids that are looking for clothing for the naked woman, most likely a trousseaux.  I was surprised when I found all of this out because I was way off with my conclusion about the painting beforehand.  It was not odd to find a lot of paintings and different types of work to have a naked woman laying down erotically during the renaissance period.   

 

 

Research:

 http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/venus-of-urbino.htm