The Future will Hold Butterflies

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A lot of people have been asking me “what do you plan to do next year?” and “what school are you going to?” and I know they all ask with good intentions but even after only a year college I feel as though I’ve already been given new insight as to what I’d like my future to look like. In my Digital Story Telling class, we would constantly look into the evolution of the multiple platforms digital story tellers would use to express their tales. In this I realized that things are always, constantly changing with the world and the people around it. And that although there may be things planned out and created ahead of time, not everything will make it to success. I believe most people have also come to realize that life’s never as simple or as destined as going to school, getting married, buying a house, and dying. We all deserve to live the life that makes us truly happy, whatever it may be.

I recently watched a TSN interview with a 14-year-old boy who lives with a rare skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), where the flesh on the body is extremely vulnerable, almost like the wing of a butterfly, and the way he talks about living is by far the most inspiring thing. Though treating his skin is a process which can take up to 3-hours-long daily, and though eating and drinking leave blisters in his throat and make it nearly impossible for him to ingest anything, he continues to be quite the avid hockey fan, as well as a beacon of hope for others not just living with this illness but for people globally who find it hard to even just carry on living. His story really made me rethink the way I was living and hopefully it made others reevaluate the delicate nature of our lives and bodies, as well as the certainty of our futures. Most people who have EB do not see beyond the age of 30, but our boy continues to live in both realism and optimism, he figures it’s his life and he intends to live it as fully as he possibly can, a way of thinking that we all should be striving towards.

Synthetic Drug Revolution

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I found this article on the Vice website, a widely known and popular news and culture magazine. I really enjoy their columns and the many channels they have, I find it an excellent source for digital story telling to take place. You can even watch the HBO short film on our subject matter.

Recently in these past months more and more people, specially American adolescents, have become swept up in the fascination regarding that of synthetic drugs. A global intrigue over synthetic substances that most consumers can’t even identify are now seeing themselves, specially those American teens, overdosing because of them. To shed some light on the subject synthetic drugs refer to drugs that are man-made and are often designed to mimic the effects of other illegal drugs. Most of these substances are created by mixing common and/or illegal substances in with the specific doses. This doesn’t mean that these drugs are “crazier” then real legitimate drugs, although most media (maybe even this one) would have you believing otherwise. The reason for even first producing synthetic drugs was to provide a therapeutic, stimulating sense for the buyer without the buyer having to make a sketchy, back alley drug exchange, just so they can have their thrill. It’s because users will handle the drugs without concern or enough intelligence leading to further uncertain outcomes.

China, New Zealand, and much of whats Europe currently have quite sophisticated, large manufacturing sites for these drugs. From the origins of New Zealand and China is the dangerous new drug called K2 that has been responsible for the string of overdoses in American teenagers. This could be the results of users over abusing the substances they purchase but one has to also think about the way these drugs are being regulated and sold to the people. And with the amount of concern synthetic drugs bring about, why has regulation and proper buyer-seller transactions not been enforced? The market for these drugs is a very small and specific type of people but realistically anybody with a curious mind has the ability to walk into a store selling the product and can purchase it right off the shelf with as much ease as actually taking the drugs.

This is the End.. Already?

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So this is weird.. I only remember being young and dreaming of this moment but now its happened and it’s already coming to a close. Going to college always seemed like that something you knew was eventually going to come along. You wait so long and work so hard just to make it there, though once you get in the thick of all the homework and studies you kind of almost wish you had left it off for a little while longer. Now that I’m almost finished my first year, however, I’m beginning to feel very mixed emotions about leaving. I’d really like to be over and done with it, but like anything you spend time with you end up growing an appreciation and accustomed to it. My Media Fundamentals program at Sheridan College only lasts for year anyway, which I knew about starting the course, and I’d decided that once this year was finished I would take a year off to earn and work a bit (I know most people would think this risky but I also just read today that some 16-year-old girl plans to sail around the world by herself so I could actually care less about what people are thinking or doing) which I hope will go well until I plan to return to school. I have ideas of where I’d like to see myself next and the school I’d liked to attend once the time comes but plan or no plan my life will always continue to surprise me in every way. I just hope now that with all this new found knowledge I’ve acquired I might actually be prepared for some of it.

My Definition of Digital Story Telling

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I feel like the first website that ever really gave me a good understanding of what digital story telling was was definitely the website, Pottermore.com. For those who have no idea what that even means, Pottermore is a digital story telling website that focuses on the unknown parts of the Harry Potter series by re-telling the iconic tale in an interactive, visually stimulating way. I had read most of the Harry Potter books when I was younger so when I had heard about the launch of the Pottermore website, I and my sisters practically had ourselves simultaneous conniptions. It was completely nerve-tingling the first time visiting the website. Before the site had only been open to a certain number of people globally who had, I guess, auditioned or had pleaded for an exclusive Pottermore insider position. Course I and my sister’s weren’t as fortunate to land ourselves an elite position, but on August 4th, 2009, J.K. Rowling had announced she was opening the site up to everyone, after almost six months of being initially released.

Pottermore.com is really quite great, you’re able to sort yourself into your own Hogwarts house, collect magical objects, cast and learn spells, all while learning interactively about the insides of the Harry Potter stories. I remember logging in almost everyday, multiple times even to see how I was doing in my house and the game or what else I could be doing to improve my character’s ranks. I got really obsessed for a while there, slowly though, with more homework and responsibilities falling in my lap, I had to pull away from my Pottermore obsession. Now I really only visit the website to see if it still remembers my account, thankfully it does. Even after all this time… which is why I recommend you now to visit, maybe sign up an account, and witness the excellence of the digital story telling masterpiece that is Pottermore.com.

Simple Living: The Dan Miller Project

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Try not to think of this project as devolution, but rather insight into a less then technical world. For his senior project, Dylan Miller, senior English and philosophy student at Juniata College, decided he would build himself a hut and for 8 months, since September, he has been living in the woods, as part of a final research project on simple living. He built his camp about a half-hour’s walk from the college campus to learn more first hand about living with only the necessities. His one-room structure sits on the campus’s Baker-Henry Nature Reserve. With the help of some tree logs and rope he’s managed to form a sound little dwelling that’s well insulated with plenty of vegetation. His oak plank floorboards came from a friend’s barn.

What initially impulsed Miller to start his project were the thoughts and writings of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson and their ideas on basic living. His 21-page proposal regarding the project provided a lengthy reading list that featured works by both Thoreau and Emerson. His assistant professor to his English program, with great certainty approved Miller’s project saying he ‘thought it was a fantastic idea.’ For the project to be approved, though, Miller had to follow a set list of campus and state requirements, including having a portable toilet and cellphone incase of emergency.

From what Miller describes, living in the hut off the candle light and the land isn’t as horrible as we would probably think it to be. He hopes his assignment will teach him as well as others in our generation a simpler way of living, through ‘fronting only the essentials in life and living it firsthand.’

Biohacking: Our Next Human Evolution?

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Much like digital story telling, biohacking is a technological advancement that has built up a more popular stand in these past couple of years. What does it mean though, biohacking? Biohacking is a practice of engineering together biology with the hacker ethic. It encompasses a wide spectrum of practices and movements ranging from “Grinders” who design and install do-it-yourself body-enhancements such as magnetic implants to do-it-yourself biologists who conduct at-home gene sequencing. For those who are currently involved in the process of further developing biohacking, work is being done on barcoding plant DNA and 3D printing organic tissue that will soon make it possible to have organs created on call.

Biohacking to some people can seem rather extreme or quite too extraordinary to comprehend and envision. I’ve always been fascinated by the thought of incorporating the human body with todays technology, but for those in the medical industry they look at biohacking as unethical, and at these early stages of wearable technology, there is only so much we are actually capable of testing and improving on ourselves. Our own human evolution is already struggling to keep up with that of technology as it is. It makes sense for some people to want to evolve along with it, if not for our own evolutionary benefit.

I always come back to saying this but I’m really sure that with the modern thinkings of today’s society, with the added improvement into biohacking and it’s research, wearable technology could be or become the science of optimal living. Most if not all bio-hackers do what they do to they’re bodies because they believe it will assist them to preform at the level they want or expect to. I think what biohacking does is it finally lets us have that control over technology we always yearn for and equalizes it by integrating it into ourselves physically. And with the way that things seem to be progressing in the field, biohacking could possibly become more accessible to everyone in later years to come.

My Tale of Prom

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Everyone’s parents were calling for countless pictures and I turned towards my date for cover. My friend nudged me I realized I was going to prom dressed in a killer dress. What the hell was I turning away for? I’m being modest when I say that my friends and I were the greatest group of (very attractive-looking) individuals at our Prom.

To recover from my previously egotistical comment; although it’s a little cliche, I had a really good time at my prom. I was wearing the nicest dress I’ve ever worn in my life in front of a ton of people that I only had mediocre conversations with and a handful of others who’d made the last two years of high school fantastic. Our prom was carnival themed which included a photo booth and a gazebo made of balloons. We had decent food and the DJ played some “hits” from 2008-2010 which made some students holler with nostalgia. We even played a couple of little games which some students went along with half-heartedly. My group and I were turned inward towards the centre of our table laughing and talking, remembering all the crappy things we did and didn’t do in high school. And when Bohemian Rhapsody, our groups proclaimed anthem, rang through the speakers we all mustered up the courage to dance (we ‘moshed‘ really) our legs off for the remainder of the evening.

My prom was pretty conventional in many ways. It came and went simply. But my friends were there beside me throughout it all. My prom date actually attends the same college program I do, and obviously we still keep in touch, so my night of prom remains present, but always in the fondest memory.

Why Deny Aliens Are Real

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Outer space, some imagine it to be completely empty, aside from the stars, planets, moons and other inhabitable parts of the galaxy. For me I’ve always believed that our universe seems too vast and capable for there to be no sign of other intelligent life or civilization out there. But could aliens really exist? Could we as humans adapt to living with extraterrestrial life? I like to think the answer would be yes for both. For presently, there are both biochemical and evolutionary theories, as well as scientific searches and eye witnesses that conclude the possible existence of aliens.

Recently, as of October 28, 2014, Dr Boyd Bushman – who used to work at Area 51 – revealed aliens are in fact real. Boyd opened up about his career in studying UFOs and alien life at the secretive area 51 base in a short documentary film, just before he died. He explains that while their eyes and noses are different from humans, they still have five fingers and five toes and stand about 5 feet in height. They do have the ability to read minds and can communicate to us through telepathy.

It’s exciting learning this information and idea of what they’d be like, I think some parts of humanity could withstand and eventually become used to possibly living alongside extraterrestrials. However, in our current state, the world may not be prepared to accept and invite aliens onto our planet, we seem to have enough difficulty learning to deal with each other. But space has provided us with so many advances and has always had some part in Digital story telling. In fact if it wasn’t for these discoveries we made in space we wouldn’t have access to the many technological innovations we have today. Ultimately, I imagine our world will at some point become so technologically advanced and society so modern, that we’ll eventually accept and welcome the idea of having/living with an alien presence.

The Art of Hand Poke Tattoos

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Something I’ve always considered taking up in my spare time is learning to perform the exquisite technique of hand poke tattoos. Just a bit of background information, hand poked designs contrast from pieces preformed by machine. Built up of dot by dot to create subtle and delicate tattoos, needle groups are bound into the end of a short hand-held stick tool and ‘poked’ into the skin from close quarters to create the hand poked tattoo. As a little child, I would remember seeing those other adults with their whole bodies covered in permanent drawings and thinking to myself, “I want to learn how to do that too.” I began researching and looking into tattooing when I was still in elementary school. I would always focus more on mechanically applied tattoos but only somewhat recently did I begin taking more interest into hand poked tattoos after discovering the work of the very much talented Grace Neutral. Her work consists of a lot of astrological/Wicca/medieval magic symbols as well as many intricately formedmandalas, all of which she is easily capable of poking into her clients skin. Her work and style surpasses my own skill set by light years, but if a once aspiring ballerina can manage to become a brilliant, full fledge, hand poke tattoo artist then I believe we all can. I’ve provided a link to a seemingly safe procedure on how to mix and apply your own hand poke tattoos. I say seemingly because although it’s sterilized and simplified, they are risky and permanent. It also does hurt and depending on your pain level it may hurt too much. So may you apply at your own risk!

The Story So Far: A New Semester

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During the time leading up to my first week of college, I was constantly redeveloping my idea of what the college experience might feel like. Before graduating high school I had built up the mentality that it would be just like going back but to a building that was much larger and filled with more people. Obviously, I wasn’t thrilled about college being the same as high school, but the familiar thought seemed to provide me with a peace of mind. When I actually began my first week, things were as I had expected, very vast and quite intense. I didn’t make friends immediately, most of my classes seemed reiterating, and through-out it all it felt as if I couldn’t ever get a good grip of things because of how nervous I was. Over sometime, though, I began to just settle into the new environment. In doing this I was able to start appreciating what my program had to offer, as well as meet new people, and explore and learn about other career possibilities. Now in my second semester of college, writing this blog entry for my Telling Stories in Digital Media class, I’m starting to feel that same sense of familiarity high school used to give me. Only this time my ideas appear a lot clearer to me, and in starting this blog I can now express my thoughts and interests in a more modern, interactive way. And although things will never be the same, I guess we all learn to accept what we’re given eventually.