Sleep Control

Since I was young I have always been a out of control sleeper. Ever since I was a baby I would do strange things when I woke up or while I slept. My out of control sleeping was re-emphasized this weekend on a canoe trip. My friends back home always told me about the ridiculous things that I did and said when I was sleeping, but this is the first incident in Vermont.
First of all back home I did weird things like sleep walking, talking, and the two were usually combined.
One of my friends told me about one instance where I stomped around my basement(and his head) screaming profanities looking for the bathroom, in my own house, while he laid frightened below me. My parents also noted one instance when we were on vacation in Wyoming and they thought I called someone in my sleep just to yell every profanity know to man at this imaginary caller. Every time something like this has happened I already know the people. Even sometimes though with my best of friends my odd sleep habits can be embarrassing. For instance once I woke up with my hands grasping each one of my best friends butt cheeks. Of course it was very surprising to my friend to find my hands on his butt. Still I know him very well and it is hard to really surprise him. Camping this weekend I definitely did not know everyone.
While camping we slept in a row of six under a tarp on the ground. I rolled out from under the tarp three times during the night. All three times it happened to be raining slightly. Waking up three separate times mildly wet was not what I expected. All three times I fondled the girl that was sleeping next to me(in this case above me) legs looking for my flashlight. When the girl woke up to this guy she did not know touching her legs it did not look like I was looking for my flashlight, that was embarrassing to say the least. The worst part I don't even remember, I was just told by the girl that I assaulted. During an obviously deep sleep I rolled on top of the girls legs and stayed there until she eventually woke up because she lost feeling in her legs. She pushed me off and I continued my psychotic slumber. I don't know if these odd sleep habits will ever be a real problem but I will continue to freak people out I do not know while I am gently sleeping.

Phase One Complete: SetLasers to "Mildly Disinteresting"

The title of this post doesn't make sense, but only because it would have been odd for me to say "set lasers to stun" as the video isn't stunning. Still, considering how much I hate Macs and had to use iMovie, it could have been worse. Much worse.

Stewart v. Colbert: Why the Controversy?

I know I am posting a great deal of blogs. I apologize, but I kind of got behind and am making up for lost time. I know you have all been anxious for updates (and even if you haven't, a white lie never hurt anyone!).

Okay, so there are two major comic news shows on Comedy Central right now. They are called The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. There is, despite the friendliness between these two hosts, much controversy and even animosity over which show is better than the other.

Some, such as correspondent Casey Rock, prefer The Daily Show. Jon Stewart's comedic routines and hilarious commentary on important news items. Casey did go on to note, though, that an irritating fact about Jon Stewart is that he wrote a somewhat disparaging book about America (Called America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, published in 2004). This is interesting to note, as many rather enjoyed the book, but is also rather irrelevant to this post. So I won't speak further on it.

I personally like The Daily Show because, well, it's a classic. I have watched it for several years, and Jon Stewart is a very funny man. I would have his babies, except that I tend to lack of a uterus and he's already married to Tracy McShane and has 2 children. His commentaries on the war in Iraq as well as his current commentary about the presidential elections keep me laughing and begging for more.

On the other hand, Stephen Colbert, who began on The Daily Show, is also a rather funny man. He is a pseudo-uber-conservative who's daily guests on the show cause me intense happiness and an inexplicable sense of fulfillment. Chris Teel, another corespondent, prefers The Colbert Report (pronounced "Col-bear Re-pore") to The Daily Show. I cannot argue that Stephen Colbert is fantastically funny. He portrays himself as intense, but this is evidently not so. His dry, satirical humor is enough to sustain a small nation. Chris Teel is actually such a fan that he knows off-hand where Colbert was born (South Carolina). That impressed me.

In any event, both of these shows are on friendly terms and at the end of each Daily Show episode "hands off the baton" to The Colbert Report. Stewart and Colbert get along, so now I think it is time for the fans to reconcile their differences and make friends. Embrace both shows, I say. If you choose to embrace one show more than the other, that's alright. But both are definitely well worth watching.



Let's just get along ;)

Bringing Burgundy Back, or Ron's Return

I am fairly certain that everyone everywhere has seen Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. If they haven't, I am not sure why. I mean, obviously developing countries won't have watching this smashing comedy as a goal, but anyone else ought to have seen it! It is, in my opinion, the best comedy released within the last 5 years. Will Ferrel, playing Ron Burgundy, a very popular San Diego news anchor, causes me to rock with mirth every time I watch that movie. His over-the-top acting style usually makes me slightly ill, as in Old School, but definitely does the trick in this film.

As awesome as that film was, though, I am not actually campaigning for it tonight. It does that for itself. I am actually concerned for the Anchroman legacy. There are plans in action for the production of an Anchorman sequel, due to begin production in just a few years. Generally, sequels suck. If you don't believe me, watch Scary Movie or Mulan (or any other Disney movie, really. Toy Story II? C'mon...). So, in light of the fact that Anchorman was such a smashing movie, I am afraid that if I watch a sequel, I will be turned off on both of the movies.

I don't want that. At all. It would make me sad. In a bad way (as opposed to the good way?) I say no to another Anchorman movie. I know that even if it isn't as good as the original, it could still be phenominal (half of infinitely funny is still infinitely funny, but more finitely so. That doesn't make sense? Too bad.). Even with that knowledge, I don't want thissequel to sully the pristine name of Anchorman. I will watch the sequel, have no doubt. But I had better not be forced to regret it.

As an aside, the production of the sequel was announced on May 5, 2008 (my birthday, just so you know. It's also Karl Marx's birthday). How do I know that? Wikipedia!

By the way, I found this image today. I find it hilarious. I hope you do too.



You don't find it funny? Get out. Just kidding. But no, seriously. Leave. If you want. Now.

Live From New York....!

I watched Saturday Night Live on, you guessed it, Saturday night (into Sunday morning, but who really cares about such pedantic distinctions?) and I must say that, even as a long-term fan of Will Ferrel with his voice immodulation as a news reporter, I must say that I absolutely love the Judy Grimes skits.

Judy Grimes is a very nervous reporter who is terrified when on the news and responds to everything that she says with "just kidding" and then launches into another lie. Over the course of the skit, these rapid lies become hysterical. No one that I have shown the video to has avoided laughing for the entire segment. And I mean laughing and not your average giggle, chuckle or even guffaw.

Reproduced below is the skit. We have it courtesy of hulu.com.



I find the video very hilarious and have probably watched it ten times. The speed with which she thinks of her lines is remarkable, and the amount of stuttering or mumbling is minimal.

It has been presented to me that she wasn't thinking of the lines as she went but had memorized them previously. I don't think this is so. She looks up and to the right in the video, which is considered a standard sign of someone trying to perform creative or inventive thinking, as when they fabricate a story, especially visuals. Information about this can be found on interesting sites such as this one.

Anyway, that about wraps it up for this post! I hope you enjoyed it!

Digital story

This is my digital story about my need for travel and the importance of it. At the beginning of the story I talk about my long time love for natural beauty. Then as the pictures progress my love evolves to more then just natural beauty, it evolves into a need for travel. My ending message is to keep close ties with the people that you already have, but use travel to widen your horizons. Also I want to convey the message, get out in the world as my main theme.

Some Old Friends Never Get Old...Sometimes

What to blog about this week? Well, I posted a great picture of my friend Hallie from high school on Facebook and, of course, tagged her in it. Why wouldn't I? It was an epic picture of her making the most ridiculous face I had ever seen in my life. She has a double-hinged jaw, so her mouth opens really wide. I know what you're thinking. No. It opens even wider that that. She could comfortably chew a watermelon. Whole.

But I digress. Hallie, upon realizing she was tagged in the photo, untagged herself. Facebook, (unfortunately) has the feature that whenever someone is tagged in a photo they are made aware of the photo. That sucks. Some cool features are that when someone has been tagged in a photo, that photo goes into their profile under "Pictures of ______" (the blank is, of course, filled in by that person's name. Well, that made it funny because this picture that everyone except Hallie thought was outrageously funny was in her album. Until she untagged herself.

Sad face.

I tried to re-tag her in the photo, but Facebook would NOT allow me to do so as she had untagged herself previously. That blew. So I took down the picture and reuploaded it. I tagged her again. She untagged herself.

Well, I am no quitter. I was determined to get her good. So I put the picture as my profile picture for a while. Any time I SuperPoke'd anyone, posted on a wall, commented on a status or sent a private message (among thousands of other instances), the picture of Hallie was shown anew. Victory!

But Hallie convinced me to take it down. How? Threat of physical and/or emotional violence (That may or may not be true. I can't remember. Go under the assumption it is true, though).

But now months have passed and, frankly, I had entirely forgotten about the picture until just a few days ago a friend was e-ambling through my pictures and saw it. And commented. And that made my day! The old picture of an old friend, like when it was new, brightened my day (that really didn't need too much brightening, come to think of it). Now there are many messages about the picture. Facebook really does spread joy. MySpace, on the other hand, spreads STDs. Or spreads like one, anyway. But I digress again.

Actually, I don't digress. I finish. But, just for having made your way through this post that, while interesting to me, probably isn't interesting to you, I leave you with a couple of things. First, a request to post a comment including any similar story (if you are so inclined to share) and also a copy of the picture itself, reproduced below in all its splendor, for you to behold.






Oh, I forgot to mention. Hallie doesn't normally look this gross. She was tied for Most Attractive girl in our class. She wasn't expecting that.

The log book

This weekend I went camping on the long trail in the breath taking mountains of Vermont. It was my first experience with the outing club and the wilderness of Vermont. The place that we camped at was a beautiful hut overlooking everything all the way to the Adirondack mountains. In this hut lay a notebook log of all of the hikers/campers that had stayed at the same hut. It was really amazing to read a first person account of the history of the place that we were staying. In one account a women moaned about french Canadians, while in another some one wrote a violent poem about revolution.
In the first log entry I read there was a women that was obviously hiking by herself and stayed a night with a group of eight french Canadian women, that apparently would not stop jabbering in french. The women kept repeating how foreigners get to her, and how she could not stand the consistent jabbering in another language. The part that I really found interesting about this entry was that later in the log the women wrote a p.s. basically about how much French Canadians get to her. I think I enjoyed reading this log entry so much because through the ladies writing I could imagine how she talked, looked, and even her beliefs. The best part about being able to imagine all of those things is that, I knew that this women, that had a strong distaste for French Canadians was really out in the world some where. I am not sure why that is so appealing, because I don't think that I would get along with the women writing but I like to imagine her through the writing. Also acknowledging that I have slept in the same place as her.
The second entry that was extremely interesting was an entry in which someone wrote a poem involving Molotov cock tails made from nalgene water bottles, some how relating to some sort of revolution. This article left so much room for the imagination to wander. I could either go about dissecting this article in a cynical way, by thinking the poem is just silly and disregarding the weird content. Or I could dissect the poem and truly imagine what this person was like. So I took the second method and imagined a whole story about the deranged person that wrote the poem(even though the person was most likely not deranged).
Finally I do not why I felt that these a accounts of different people were so interesting. Maybe it is because I was just board in the woods and was letting my imagination wander. Or may it was because I really did like reading the history of the 1930's hut that I was staying in. Either way if you ever go camping and stay in some sort of shelter I recommend reading the log book.

The Adventure of "Steve"

The following events are entirely true and can be verified by multiple eye witnesses

It's a Saturday night at Harris-Millis and you know what that means. Hordes of variously impaired students are filtering in and out of the dorms, either coming or going to further achieve cerebral enhancement of some form. I had already made it back to my floor at around 1:30 and was "straight chillin" in a friends room with four other people, probably about to call it a night when a knock came at the door. It was not particularly alarming as my friend Joe was expecting another guest. 

 However more than one new person entered the room. One was the expected acquaintance and the other was a fairly nondescript guy who looked at least a little out of it and had no shoes. This in itself was not too surprising as it would have been perfectly normal for my friend's friend to bring along a couple people. This was not the case and the guy promptly dropped his bag and then curled up and passed out on one of the beds. After some inquiry it was discovered that this guy was not invited and had just followed his way into the room. 

After attempting to wake this unknown dude who had crashed in the room, he declared that it was "His bed, and shouldn't have to get up" We followed up the question of his name and were granted the following response:

"Right now..................its Steve" At this point it became clear that Steve's night had clearly been enhanced by something a little stronger than usual, in other words, he was tripping hard. The expected questioning ensued: "Where are your shoes?", "What are you doing here?", "Where are you living?". Apart from asserting that he lived "here", it became clear that Steve was in no mood for answering these terribly prying  inquiries. After he continued to assert that we were all dick heads for trying to make him get up, it was decided that Steve's stay on Millis 3 low had to be ended.

Tyler and I then guided him down stairs to the lounge where we set him up on a couch. We also noticed a random pair of shoes and socks at the entrance to Harris/Millis. One mystery had been solved. With Steve now safely on a couch we thought that we had fulfilled our responsibility to our fellow student and we were sure that Steve's quest had come to an end.

We were wrong. Maybe twenty minutes later, traveling through the lobby again. We saw the intrepid Steve had switched locations to the local ping pong table and used two pizza boxes in the place of pillows. I can't make this shit up. 

By now there was a small group formed around him attempting wake this mysterious fellow. Steve did finally come around and he was born a new man entirely. Invigorated with sudden energy, hed suddenly decided that he had to make it back to his dorm which we discerned was on the "Back Five" of Trinity Campus. For those not familiar with geography of University of Vermont, it is a friggin trek to get back there from Harris/Millis. 

Despite the protests and alternate suggestions from the onlookers, Steve headed out the door into the vast and dark campus, determined to finish the trip back home.

 I'm sure that the events that I witnessed were only a small portion of Steve's epic quest that night, and I honestly have no idea how it ended but I sincerely hope he made it to wherever he was headed in one piece.

It's Time to Face New Facebook...

Yeah. New Facebook! w00t!



I am fully aware that everyone has decided that new Facebook layout blows, but it is just time to face facts. At the end of the day, we aren't in control. Facebook is. They own Facebook. They control Facebook.

The old Facebook layout was cool and was pretty user-friendly and we knew how to use it and everything was well and good.

We miss those days, right? When old Facebook was standard, but if you felt a bit adventurous you could 'try' the new Facebook and see how you like it. Now you clicked it just to give it another shot and they took away the option to change back to the old Facebook! Those jerks (?) !

The campaigns have begun already and are in force. Thousands upon thousands are members of groups designed to restore Facebook unto its former slightly-more-disorganized glory! How dare those bastards who thought up, funded and put together Facebook tell us what is best for the site about whose inner workings we know next to nothing? They are no one! Rise against! E-lobbyists, prepare your cyber petitions! Rail against the system! If not enough people sign the petition, make up names and type them in! No one would ever know, right? Besides, I am sure there is someone, somewhere named Charlene Demple, right?!?

Go forth and be fruitcakes! Err, fruitless! Nono, I mean. Um. I lost the thread of that thought. Sorry, I never really was good at zeal.

The point is: give it up. Turn your frown upside down (or at least into a quietly pained grimace) and get used to the new Facebook. Srsly.

When you think about it, what have we lost? We still use their program for free! Sure the new layout isn't as comfortable as the old one, but as soon as you clock a hundred hours using it (which should only take a few weeks) you will know it better than your own endocrine system! Seriously. No joke. By the way, this is what your endocrine system looks like:

If you're not sure what each of those glands (ductless organs) does, then you should spend less time on Facebook and more time in biolofy. Just saying.

But I digress. The New Facebook is actually kind of cool when you take the time to actually examine it. It has all the applications along the bottom of the page to keep them out of the way on the left. Changing your status is just as easy and the fun features like updates and chat are still intact. Profiles look different, but really they just moved the wall up to the top of the page so that you can get to it more easily instead of scrolling through endless applications. Facebook has allowed us to prioritize. That isn't accurate, actually. Facebook has prioritized for us the things that we meant to set in order but never actually got around to setting in order.

Facebook is like a teenage friend who decided a lime green mullet was a great idea. Sure, you disapprove of the new looks and behind that friend's back you snicker a little and make small groups planning to do something about things. But now just as then you will do nothing and your friend Facebook will just have to learn the hard way. Not that there is a hard way.

Facebook has your back. Why don't you have its?

Only one construction

Almost anyone you talk to will say how much better college is then high school,and how many more unique experiences there are in college, I usually agree. One of the few cases that I disagree with this notion is with finding unique experiences. The construction class at Decatur High School offered no knowledge in the subject matter, but did offer many exciting and truley unique experiences unlike any I will ever have again.
Construction pushed the limits of the typical "bad" class. In this class the teacher and students frequently got into wrestling matches throughout the day, the doors were nailed shut with three pieces of wood, the desks were stacked to the ceiling for no reason at all, every light in the room would be turned off multiple times a day purely to cause utter chaos, and the list just keeps going on with more ridiculous acts. The reason all of this was so much fun is because you could feel a since of freedom by rebelling against the strict guidelines of high school. Honestly I feel bad for Coach Shep(the teacher) he was innocently not a talented disciplinary. Coach Shep was supposed to teach the class construction, but the most construction the class ever did was nail the door shut to lock Coach Shep out of the room. When Coach Shep finally did gain entry to the rowdy class room the students would physically wrestle him to the ground, and then cause more chaos. An example of the chaos in coach Shep's class was boom ball. A game invented to destroy and disrupt. It involved punching a large rubber ball found in the class room any where as long as it stayed in the air. The game does not sound destructive but when the lights were out in a small classroom full of breakable objects, Boom ball made the class look like it was hit by a bomb (hence the onomatopoeia BOOM ball ).
Thinking back to this class is all I will have in the future, because I will never have an experience as close to anarchy as I did in construction. Also I do not know if many people will ever have an experience quite like this one either, or at least not at Decatur High school. Coach Sheppard was fired and the construction program is now gone leaving just the stories from the graduating class of 2008. My memories of high school will always incorporate this wild class because it is a once in a life time experience.

Interview of the Famous James

I interviewed James about the his favorite digital story.
drrogers: What is your favorite Digital Story?
James: "M.S.K Running " by morne Solomon

drrogers:could you summarize your favorite Digital short story?
James: It is told from the perspective of Morne Solomon who had a troubled child hood. His father left when he was a baby. He was part of a big family, his mother was there to take care of him. He focuses on sports and other activities to keep his mind off the turmoil in his home life. He wants to set a good example for other children.
drrogers:Why was this your favorite?
James: It was Straight forward and to the point. I could relate to some of it like sports to get your mind off of stuff. I could see the kid in me.
drrogers:What was your least favorite part?
James:He seemed naive in some of his statements. His commentaries at the beginning were a little unnecessary.

Last thoughts: Interviewing is really hard to quote accurately.

drrogers Interview

I interviewed drrogers about the digital stories that we recently read. The substance of the interview is based upon which video he found the most interesting and why. Also a "least favorite" part

Q: What was your favorite Video?

drrogers: I like Healing by....... I don't know her name. I thought it portrayed a way to cope with cancer and not be completely miserable with it. It was like empowering. Also it was straight forward, put that.

Q: Care to summarize a bit?

drrogers: Well its about this girl, whos like 19 and she got a cancer that has like a 95% cure rate. But she's into a real natural approach to healing. She uses her own methods as opposed to conventional practices. She eventually went through Kemo and her immune system, got like mssed up. But she eventually took some more stuff to get better and can like surf and go in the ocean now. Also she didn't like being a tearjerker poster girl for like cancer fundraisers.

Q: What was your least favorite part of "Healing"?

drrogers: I generally liked all of it but if I have to nitpick....I'd say some of the background music. I really can't think of anything significant that I didn't like about it 

~

Interview with a Damn Liar (haha weak pun...I=hateme)

I interviewed Austin Underwood about the digital story "Rituals." Aside from not remembering what the Story was about at first, here's what Austin had to say:

C@: Alright, so which was your favorite digital story?
AU: Rituals... wait. Was it shoes? No, no, Rituals. I am certain.
C@: (Yeah. Right.) Go ahead and summarize it for me.
AU: Alright, this woman's talking about how her mother-in-law (hyphens added. He didn't pronounce them) was healthy and then got sick and died really quickly. Like in weeks. She also said that death rituals aren't for the dead but are for the living and help the living to cope with the dead being dead. There was also something about a sisterhood. But I don't know what.
C@: ...Okay. Why is this your favorite digital story?
AU: Well, I mostly liked the music at the beginning and end.
C@: Oh yeah, it's from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou (Yes, I did pronounce the title in italics).
AU: Is it? All I remember about that movie was John Goodman and a frog. Or something.
C@: No, no. It's totally in there. At the scene with the baptism at the river. You know...? Anyway, it was in there. What was your least favorite part of the digital story?
AU: Um... (under breath) oh, snap... *Nervous chuckle* (twice). Let me watch it again... Oh, I didn't like the woman's voice. I forgot how annoying that was. Maybe this was actually my least favorite video.
C@: Yeah.

Austin is a blogger himself. His blog is called "Royale With Cheese" and if you go there you will see many of the aforementioned Royale with Cheese.

If you'd like to watch the digital story that Austin watched and subsequently forgot, it's called "Rituals."

Name of the Game: Procrastination

I have always considered myself an expert procrastinator, finding the smallest things to prevent me from doing my work until the last possible second. The fact that I am making this post this afternoon, merely hours before class, is a testament to my legendary reputation concerning the putting off of work. 

Take for example last night, this current post was my only pertinent assignment and I vowed that it would be completed before the end of the night. Well after returning from my truly dynamic and thrilling Geology lab I had the entire night to complete a measly blog post on the topic of my choice. Next thing I know I've already gone to the Marche (FYI, the best place to eat on campus, Ralph) and am now sitting in a room down the hall watching other people play poker. For those not familiar with the process or who have never flipped through ESPN2 to accidentally catch the World Series of said activity, I can tell you that when the thrill of potentially winning or losing your money is removed, it is a decidedly dull event. But fear not, a new distraction came in the form of the Redsox-Rays showdown taking place on the tube.

A truly epic battle, the contest between the two teams was still locked in a tie going into the ninth. The general consensus was that such a well fought and played game should be seen through to the end and that each subsequent inning should warrant a certain celebration. The apocalyptic match between the forces of Boston and Tampa eventually dragged into the fourteenth inning where Timlin was brought in and promptly allowed a three run homer. So much for a universally well pitched game.

Following a near Boston comeback, I mozy down the hall, in a less than stellar mood, exhausted, and inexplicably my mind is wandering. 

Time to make a blog post!

Yeah right. 

cook commons vs. The Grundle

So which cafeteria has the best food, the infamous grundle nestled between Millis and Harris... hence the name; or cook commons with no nasty nick names. Both have there advantages and disadvantages. Before my time the Grundle has been known as the worst cafeteria. While cook is considered to be the best, once again before my time.

Why is the Grundle considered in such poor regard? First of all I spoke to upper class men about the Grundle, all of them seem to believe that it is obviously the worst dining hall on campus advising me to go to Cook commons if I want to eat well. When I have spoken to freshman, all of them seem to think that the Grundle is perfectly fine. Is this just because the freshman are young and inexperienced with cafeteria food, or has the Grundle changed? I believe personally even though it may be bias (me being a freshman) that the Grundle is the more efficient place to eat, and the food is just fine. I say this because there is more space and the line is not usually as long. Sitting in the hot line for too long can force a person to eat the pasta and marinara everyday(no body wants that). The Grundle does not let any one do that, because the lines are much shorter. I have theorized to why it is less crowded. The Grundle theory is because all the upper class men do not eat there because last years food was bad, but now the food is better. The lines are shorter because all of the upperclassmen believe that the food is still bad based the Grundles food last year. It is a small victory for the freshman.
Even though I have been boasting about the Grundle, cook is not bad either. The main advantage to cook is that the food is better. Cook gives many more options and higher quality food. The disadvantage to having higher quality food is that the lines are much larger because everyone wants to eat the better food. during the lunch and dinner rush cook's long lines force me to eat what ever item of food does not have a long line for instance, the dreaded pasta and marinara sauce line. The key to eating at cook is too go either before or after the main rush. The optimum time to go to cook is either between five and six or between six thirty and seven. It is a small window of time but if there is time then cook is the better option.
Finally the better dining is to be determined by the eaters mood, patience, and time. If you have time to spare then eat at cook. If you do not have a huge window of time and a great deal of patience to stand in line, then the Grundle is perfectly fine. There is one other cafeteria on the red stone campus... but that is just plain out too far.

Confusion by the Slice

I read Slice just now. Yeah, whatever, I procrastinated. No, actually, I didn't. I wanted it to be super-fresh in my mind so I saved it especially for the last minute. That's right.

Anyway, I could make neither heads nor tails of the ending. I read the Twitters, and I even went to the friends' links on the Twitters and checked out almost all of the blogfriends from Lisa's blog. After all that investigation into the ending for this story, all I am left with is three letters. WTF!

The story was interesting, once I got the hang of the format and started reading from to bottom and working my way toward the top of the page. I read eagerly. I finished reading angrily. Who is this author (actually, who is the author? For real? I don't remember his/her name...) to leave me hanging so cruelly? It just isn't right. Instead of a warm, fuzzy feeling that I have finished a book and know how it ended I am left with this:



Did you see that? That's right. I am left with this:







Yep. A whole lot of nothing.


I dislike people who like to deform the plot triangle. It is a good formula. It has always worked. How is it an upgrade to make it look like this:

It doesn't look nicer to me.

UPDATE: I did a lot of searching, and apparently after the posts went up an update was posted for a short while before being removed. It read:

Turns out that dream fairylands also contain nightmares.
As soon as I got
back I found this note in the kitchen. Ma and Pa have gone down there! I wish I
had time to say more, but I've got to go back and find them. It's so easy to get
lost there, places shift around and change, and you lose track of time.
I
haven't called the police. What are they going to say to a wacko american girl
with some crazy story about a rabbit hole? And I don't think Jacomo would be a
happy bunny if a team of detection dogs came down his burrow.
What really
happened to Mary Jane? First mom said it was a car crash, with a strange animal,
then she starts telling people it was a plane crash.
It's stupid, I've
wished enough times that my parents would disappear forever, and now all I want
is them back here, yelling at me about insignificant, normal life problems.

-We Tell Stories, Slice - Despoiler - We Tell Stories found on 09.09.2008 at: http://wetellstories.despoiler.org/index.php?title=Slice<

Interesting, neh?

Thoughts on "Slice"

I Just finished reading "Slice" by Toby Litt, I definitely enjoyed the format and layout of this alternate way of forming a narrative. The end was extremely abrupt however,  and leaves little answered and much to the imagination. I think I'm going to skim it again to see if I can pick up on anything else that might shed light on the sudden conclusion.

I'm still not quite sure about how I feel about the ending method as I like that it leaves so much to your own interpretation but I would've liked a little more personal closure to the plot. Apart from the conclusion I would say that I enjoyed reading it less for the content but more for the experimentation in a new medium of storytelling. The dual perspective offered by both of the blogs was also pretty cool, although I felt like the parent's blog really didn't add that much substance

I also found myself doubting the probability that a middle aged married couple is going to keep that kind of blog. In fact the more and more I think about it, the more I realize that the secondary blog was mostly fluff and kind of a waste of time.

One aspect of Litt's piece that I really did appreciate was leaving the exact circumstances that lead up to Slice's situation were left somewhat in the dark to the readers. Specifically what she had done to warrant such a dramatic move for the family. Overall I found the piece to be interesting but there was definitely a lot more that this story could have delivered.

Slice a new form of literature?

In a narrative book the audience has the option to finish the story when ever they want to. Also the audience is forced to imagine the objects and setting on there own. Slice shows a new modern way of telling a story. This modernized form of story telling is unlike any other types of literature that have ever been available. This blog is a hybrid of many different forms of literature making a new modern way to tell a story.
Slice is a mixture between the type of literature that a book uses purely based on the fact that it is written, but it is almost easier to compare to a television series. In a T.V. show the audience has to wait until next week to see what happens in the story. In Slice the readers have to wait until the author posts again to see what happens next. Also the obvious similarity between Slice and a Television series is that slice shows images, unlike a book in that the reader has to imagine all the things described. In Slice the reader can still dissect major themes in the story similarly to that of a book. The thing that Slice does differently in this aspect of dissecting a story, is that Slice also uses visuals as symbols along with the text. For example when Slice is talking about the Diary that she found a picture is also shown that has a drawing of a hare on it. This drawing is a major motif in the story because the death of the family that lived in the house before slice, was caused by a hare running in front of the families car. The way that slice gives the setting and tone of the story is also radically different then a narrative book. Instead of revealing her mood through the style of writing the girl in slice just tells the audience with a mood indicator at the bottom of each post. Also the way that the writer conveys the setting and her feelings on the setting is through a link to Google maps. For instance the writer named the place she was on Google maps hell allowing the reader to infer the writer's feelings on the setting. This blog reveals the same things as a book would but in a more modern since and allows the reader to truly feel what the writer is feeling.
Finally the main difference between a book or a T.V. show and Slice is that slice relates to the reader in a very real since. By posting as if the story was actually happening it helps the reader to feel as if the story is real. By making the reader feel that the story is real it helps the reader understand, relate, and enthrall them selves in Slice. There is even another blog posted that is done by slice's parents helping the reader get a truly real since of the story and see all sides of what is going on in the story. This hybrid of litterateurs creates a literature all to it self showing that there are many different methods to telling a story.

On The First Day of Classes...

College is a very new experience for most (if not all) first years at UVM. The first night on campus and the last night before classes start were, for me at least, tense. I stayed up too late and got up way too early. I went to my first class at 2 pm (rough, I know. I really had a hard time keeping my head off the desk), and I didn't know what to expect.

Here's what I expected from my first day of French class: Go to class. Be too early (I am freakishly paranoid about being late). Listen to a lot of boring talk about the syllabus. Leave. Perform a small amount of homework.

Here's what happened: Went to class. Was way too early for class (35 minutes early!). Tried to listen to a lot of talk about the syllabus and the class (but the professor spoke English only once. To make a point.). Left the class. Wrote a 150 word essay, read 7 pages in a book in French and performed a long survey about my views on writing and an exercise on how to translate the word "way" in its many diverse meanings as well as tricky English idioms into French.

As if that weren't enough, French was quickly followed by English. The professor seems a bit odd upstairs, but the class ought to be alright. We are all participating in writing blogs, as a long-running project. We are hoping to explore what the word "Literature" actually applies to. Professor Parent promises that we won't come to any real answer. At first that might seem to make the class into a giant waste of time/money, but sometimes the most important questions don't have absolute answers, right?

You might be curious (but are probably not) about the professor. Yeah, he really is odd. He's odd like the number 7. Here's a picture:

Yeah, I do know what you're thinking. I thought it too. It's true.

Meet the Te@m

Welcome to the C@-amount blog. This blog is written by Ralph Rogers, James Kennedy and Kaleb Thompson. Even though we produce the blog, we really can't make any promises about quality.

Read at your own risk (physical, mental and otherwise).