group project finale

After four months of planing, e-mailing, and facebook messaging, our group finally completed our project for college comp class. Looking back on the project, i honestly can say that it wasn't that bad of a group project. In the begining i thought that it was going to be very difficult trying to change something on campus, especially when it came to the food. I figured "How many people must of tried this, and didn't get anywhere?" I figured that we were the next piece of bait for the beast, and we were all going to go down. Its a good thing that i was wrong, even though i didn't worry about much i figured that we would still have to deal with a lot of trouble from the dining service and its employees.

When we first concluded that we wanted to change the food at south, my first reaction was like "holy crap that sounds expensive." I figured that it would be worth a try and who knows, with all the people that have been complaining about how shitty the food at south was, maybe we could find someway to pull it off. About two weeks later, we realized that changing the food that is offered on campus would be a little to difficult for us. Soon we realized that if we couldn't physically change the food on campus, maybe we could psychologically change the choices that people want to make about their meals. Student awareness was the best possible choice that we could make. It was simple, easy, didn't require that much money or time.

For awareness we decided to make posters and a YouTube video for people to see to hopefully inspire them to change the way we eat. Today our YouTube video  currently has three views, we are defenantly making progress. Some people in the group were so concerned about not having anything done, and failing the project and a lot of negative views. The funny part is that in the end we did fine and we did everything that we could possibly do as a group to make some sort of change on campus.

creativity and games

One day on my ipod i downloaded an app called Stupidness 2. It looked very interesting, and said that it could get a accurate reading of my IQ from taking the test. I'm a big fan of random pointless activities so i figured that doing this would be an excellent time killer and prove to be fun to share with my family and friends. Now creativity has been used for entertainment, self expression and other various reasons but i have never heard of it being used to challenge your intelligence and creative thinking. One puzzle had asked me to tap the numbers on the screen from lowest to highest, the numbers ranged from the thirties to seventies in different orders of height. I proceeded to touch the smallest number on the screen, 31. It told me i was wrong and to try it again so once again i tried 31, and once again i was wrong. I had to exam the picture a little closer to realize that it meant the numbers height on the screen. At the bottom left hand corner was the number 72, i click and it proceeds to the next question. I thus realized that this was something that was going to really bug the hell out of me.

Once i reached half way through the test i reached another one of the few questions that stumped me. Four owls appeared on the screen along with a counter. The question asked "How many owls are on the screen?" I simply looked at four orange owls smiling back at me and i just knew that there was more to what they were showing me. For safety reasons i clicked four on the counter and surely enough it was wrong, what a surprise. I figured maybe if i move some stuff on the screen around the answer would reveal itself. I touched an owl and drug it to the bottom right hand corner of the screen, and another and another. I got to the last one and when i moved him to the top corner, another stood in its place. I moved him over and another one was there, then another and another, what a surprise. There were seven owls total that decided it would be cleaver to hide behind each other, i would of never expected that one in a hundred years, honestly.

The last example i would like to share was a sales sign that said $24.50. The directions said give exact change. At the bottom of the screen it gave me $1, $5, $10 and $20 to use however many times i wanted without going over the limit, but no change. Ok i thought, how the hell am i supposed to do this with no change. I would get to 24 and stop because i was stuck, there was nothing else i could do at that point, and i was getting frustrated. For ten minutes i just glared at the screen, eyes blood shot red as to how i was supposed to over come what had to be the most difficult obstacle of my life thus far. When i was at the end of my rope and i couldn't take it any more i just screamed at the ipod "Why does this 50c have to be here? why?!" and at that moment, with my finger, i jabbed at the price tag and it tore in half leaving $24 as the price. I was in utter awe and complete shock, it was the most stupidest thing i have ever done in my life. Who honestly would of thought of that? Ripping the 50c off the tag was the only way to win.

I'm not even going to get into some of the other marvellous ideas they came up with but i hope that i gave you a good idea as to how creativity is played out in a lot of things these days. It can either be a fun, exciting, and emotional gift or a stressful and annoying weapon depending on how you want to use it. I recommend the Stupidness 2 test to any ipod touch users because despite its random puzzles that will make you want to jump off a cliff, its a lot of fun.

Ted Talk: Elizabeth Gilbert

In this Ted talk a woman named Elizabeth Gilbert talks about the creative minds in the twentyeth century along with their high death rates. She talks about how people throughout the creative field are found to be mentally unstable from their lifes work. She speaks about how if alot of creative artist havent died from their own hands, they died from the work that they do. An example that she brings up is by a writter by the name of Norman Mayler who says " Every last one of my books has killed me alittle more." Today when we here such statements by writters its what we expect. It has become very typical for a writter or another creative person to feel this way about their work. Elizabeth goes on to explain how creativity and suffering are some how linked.

Elizabeth speaks about her research on ancient rome and greece and their ideas about creativity. Elizabeth explains how in ancient rome they believed that creativity did'nt come from within but is givin to someone from powerful spirits. When the rennasance came around, people began to believe that chreativity came from within themselves and reflected who they were. Over time people began to call others "Genius's". Whether it be a musical genius or a artistic genius, the term was used for those who created magnificant pieces of work. To call someone a genius is to label an individual as something more than what they are or who they aim to be. Whenever a writter writes a novel or article their number one concern is if they would ever create a piece that would be just as good, or even better than the one before it. When someone is labeled as a genius, that pressure that may of not been there before now exist in the persons mind. Once that reputation is built, like a writter, the person now believes that they have to create something that was just as good or even better than the last.

Everyone has creativity within themselves and at the same time creative moments can be brought out of us at oppertune moments. In the end our creativity is a gift and should be treated as such. To be labeled as a genius is nothing more than an illusion that takes our nature gifts and turns them into a curse. We should feel special about the work that we put in for ourselves, whether the creativity is there or not doesnt matter. We get so worked up over other peoples opinions that we forget the value and importance that our work has on ourselves.

Creativity and my sister

As i grew up and i begun to engage in different forms of self expression i realized how much creativity ran in my family. At the age of two my little sister had already begun to show signs of artistic abilities. She loved animals and to this day that's all she ever talks about. My sister has told us that she would loved to be many different things but they weren't too different from each other. Being a vet, an illustrator and a story book author. These three things are connected because they usually all involve animals. She would even go as far as to make puppet shows which involved some type of conflict between two different creatures. Her favorite animal is the wolf and any other creature that involves a dogs characteristics. I was never entirely sure as to what got my sister into story telling and drawing but her passion for it is just as strong, if not, stronger than my ambition when i was her age. I remember one day walking into her room and finding dozens of short stories with illustrations scattered all through out her room. I read a few of them and i realized the potential that she has to actually become a story writer. I told my sister that if this is what she loves to do, then she should pursue her dream without a doubt. With all the potential and wild imagination that my sister has, i would hate to see it all go to waste. I want to encourage my little sister to continue to strive for the best, and do what makes her happy.

I honestly can say that with the imagination that my sister posses, she can become a very good artist or story book writer if she wants to. All she needs is the encouragement of those close to her to keep her going. My sister can be a bit of a goof ball at times, but in the end that all just molds into who she is as a person. Her personality is expressed in everything she does from playing, drawing and writing. Her happy attitude is always shown in her work which in my opinion, is what makes it so great. Another thing that i realized is that a lot of her ideas are unique, some of which i would of never thought of such as, the penguin who learned to fly. her stories are usually very short, with vivid illustrations that she added for fun. I hope that in time, she will continue to strengthen her artistic abilities and create more pieces of work that will grab the attention of others.

Ted Talk: Ken Robinson

 Throughout my freshman year of college i have explored and discovered new ideas about myself and the world around me. I have developed thoughts and ways of thinking that i believed to be too complex for my understanding back in high school. I have tried new ideas that have sparked my interest such as playing multiple instruments, drawing, painting murals and martial arts. I have always asked myself  how i managed to obtain these skills and over night loose them. After i have watched Ken Robinson speak on Ted Talk, i have gained a better understanding as to why creativity can come and go within a blink of an eye.

Ken Robinson explained the connection between creativity, education, and societal values. He speaks about how education tends to frighten away creative talents in a child. Children have an extremely flexible mindset that has no limitations or boundaries. Children do not know what it means to be wrong, they simple do as they please and enjoy doing it. If children don't know what something is, they simply just go for it without the consent of what other people think or believe. The unfortunate part about it is that once children go to school the education system tends to slowly break down a child's creativity. This is done so very simply. In education the most valuable subjects are mathematics, languages, humanities and then creativity such as art, music, and dance. This is so because in education it is taught that learning the main subjects are more important than learning and exercising your inner creativity. What children think, feel, and believe is not valued in the education system and so, over time, children begin to grow out of their own creativity. Ken expresses this in more detail with an example of a famous dancer who, as a child, was believed to have some sort of learning disorder. After speaking with a doctor her parents put her in dance school and she turned out to be a professional ballet dancer and a multimillionaire. Ken goes on to say "Creativity in education is just as important as literacy and should be treated equally".

After seeing this Ted Talk i have begun to think about what i can begin to do for myself as well as my siblings and even my future children to help preserve their inner creativity which i also see as a child's spirit. Over time as a child grows and reaches higher levels of education, they get so worked up over the idea of being wrong, and doing things from the educations perspective. They loose sight of their own inner potential and ideas. Ken speaks about how undervalued a college education is today. Our society tells children that if they don't go to school and become doctors, lawyers and college professors, then they wont have a job or successful life at that. Because of this so many people are worked up over getting a college degree which, over time, means very little any more. We should encourage our children to pursue what they love and not allow them to fall under the pressure of discarding their creative aspects because society doesn't approve of them. Our children are the future of our societies and we need to let them know how much of a powerful gift that they are born with.

Creativity and me

Throughout my entire life i have constantly found new ways for me to express myself as a human being. During my early years i was heavily influenced in art and drawing. Art class was my favorite class of the day because it allowed me to escape all of the other classes that i didn't enjoy as much such as science and math. I never really wanted to do much outside of art until i hit high school, but by then i had discovered new interest within myself such as: a love for nature, poetry, music and martial art. Simply having one interest didn't satisfy me at all. I wanted to be more involved with the things i loved and at one point i became obsessed with them. I would draw pictures while listening to my favorite bands and artist, Play my guitar while listening to the rain and trying to catch a beat from it to play along with, Listening to the sounds of nature along with classical and smooth jazz instrumentals. All of these things i have mixed and matched to give my imagination the pleasure it needed to get me through the day. One of my favorite bands that i would listen to for inspiration or ideas for a project was Evanescence. There was something about Amy Lee's voice that put my mind in a trance. Even though alot of her songs were indeed sad, it was the push i needed to bring what lurked deep inside myself out and into the light. The sound of the rain and rolling thunder was a beauty that i could never fathom but in a sense it spoke out to me, and whispered deep secrets to my heart which were dying to be told. I usually wrote what i felt in the form of poetry, but writing short stories was the best way for me to fight my demons. I would have people constantly telling me how good of a writer i was and how i should be a journalist, poet, author etc. Little did they know that they were reading a story about  me and everything good, bad and ugly that happened in my life.

Sadly alot of my talents and gifts that i had are locked up tight on the inside for good and bad reasons. For a reason that i have yet to discover, art has slipped through my graphs for reasons that i am not too sure of. One day in class i simply told myself "This is the last picture that i am going to draw". I worked on it for two whole class periods and it was one of my best works yet. Of course i drew small things here and there since then, but never have i actually put everything that i had into my work since that one picture. I have tried to pick the pencil back up a few times since i came to KU, but it has become a slight stranger to my hand.

Playing the guitar was very odd for me because my skill and abilities was constantly changing and sometimes i could barely keep up with it. There were times where i believed i was no good, and other times where i would sit and play for hours on end. My guitar teacher was a big motivator for me because he helped me stay at it. Ive done a couple of gigs in my two years of playing and my teacher considered me to be a very quick learner in the amount of time that i was with him. Sadly i always felt that everything that i was doing was for him, to accomplish a dream that he had for himself. I soon realized that to be true once he refused to teach me because my father took pictures and recorded me playing with live professionals.Once Mr.Bill left, so did my desire to play.

The art of writing is one of the most powerfulest form of expression that a person can have because with words on paper u can do what you want how you want it. No one can tell you other wise because what you write on paper is what you want to say to your audience, you just do it and the only thing that people can really do is listen or ignore. My writing hasn't really depleted or strayed from me at all, especially since I'm now a college student. When i look back when i was in high school and how i am now, i see a dramatic change in who i am. I feel happier, and better about myself now then when i did back when i was fourteen, fifteen. I was extremely reckless in my early to mid teens, depressed occasionally and i always seemed to put some type of stress on myself as well as those close to me. Writing and poetry helped my get through it until i simply grew out of that stage in my life. Its like a Caterpillar on the road to becoming a butterfly. He has to travel, experiment, learn and fill himself with knowledge and experience that it goes through in its early stage of life. Once it goes through the struggles, it will then mature into a stronger, freer, more independent form of life, and that's with all of us. We are all caterpillars trying to become that butterfly.

Today i have found an extreme fascination with Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do. The art of fighting without fight, way of the intercepting fist, and the art of expressing the human body. I have longed to be a martial artist since i first came into high school. My family didn't have the money, neither did i have the time. When my friend, Terrence Lyles, told me about JKD i was automatically intrigued by it and bought a book on it. The summer before college began i was reading and studying Bruce's philosophy and fighting methods. Alot of the things that I've studied by him i live very closely by, just like alot of the things I've taken with me in life from the Holy Bible. Bruce Lee has motivated me to challenge myself in every way i can, to have no limits as my only limit and not following a specific way as the only way. Today i am currently studying four of Bruce's books and five of his movies. He is the reason why i want to unlock the shackles and chains on my "lost" talents and abilities, he is one of my greatest heroes.

The assasination of creativity Pt.1

What is creativity? Where does it come from? Who has it? These three simple questions hold very powerful answers that we all hold within ourselves. I like to describe creativity as a "monster" that develops inside of us at birth. Now for any monster that may dwell inside of any human being, it needs something to bring it out. Now depending on the monster this can be just about anything from music, to colors, to toys, games, and even being outdoors. Its what the monster brings out of you that holds the beauty of creativity. Children develop a sense of creativity as early as newborn babies. They begin to identify sounds, colors and patterns that are pleasant to them depending on their own unique personalities. This is brought out when children sing, dance or play pretend with their toys.

As children begin to grow older and are exposed to more things in their life, the monster feeds from it and grows faster than the child, hence a child's vivid imagination. Creativity feeds off of everything that we experience in life whether its good, bad, plain or beautiful. These experiences are brought out in a child's personality and are shown in their creative abilities. For example, if a child is exposed to a lot of love in his/ her life then that love will be expressed in a lot of things that that child does.

There are plenty of children who just explode with talents at a young age but on the contrary there are also children who's monster stays in slumber until it finds that one thing that brings it out. Every one doesn't always know their gifts and talents because its something that can naturally happen as well. I never really knew some of my talents until i hit the third grade and my first greatest talent was art. I knew i liked to draw but it wasn't until i met other good artist that i wanted to be a better artist and within six months my artistic abilities had increased enormously. That was only the beginning of it because once i got a taste of art my desire for it began to grow. From there i started to write short stories that i had planned in my mind. Along with it i included pictures to follow what i wanted to bring out. I was extremely happy with my art and writing skills that i was slowly beginning to perfect, and the monster inside could never be satisfied.

There was a huge set back that at the time i didn't see as a big problem when i was young but proved deadly as the years progressed. I remember how obsessed i had become with art and how much joy and energy translated from the essence of my soul to the paper. My grades hit a depressing slope from not completing my homework, class work and mainly for drawing in class. My teacher immediately contacted my mother who was extremely strict when it came to my academics, and punished me for feeding my creative needs. It only put a crack in the heart of the creativity that dwelled inside me, but it only takes one crack to shatter a whole.