Week 5 top links

1. Long Exposure Photography
A picture like this makes one wonder what methods are used to create such a cool shot.  I wonder what is the glowing orb featured in the picture shown, and what was used to create the mess of luminescent lines?  This site has a surfeit of incredible images capturing amazing shots.

2. National Geographic Best Trips
As I think of what Fort Wayne has to offer and look at the examples of paradise featured in Nation
Geographic it makes me want to start packing.  Especially this time a year, a beach side hammock has never sounded more appealing.

3. Noemie Goudal
Amongst the crinkly brown plant life this artist was able to see beauty, an uncommon talent.  What's even more impressive is their ability to portray their vision with the outside world.  Allowing us to look into their mind and what they see.  Sharing with us a part of them.  Looking at this image and exploring more into the provided website I notice time slip by as I'm locked into the obscurity.

Mistborn cont.

     I often times find myself magnetically attracted by my book, however no longer due to its appearance but by the content lying underneath its cover.  Most commonly I'm able to find the time to read before falling asleep at night.  In the morning I always have the privilege of playing "what impossible location did my book teleport to once I fell asleep reading it."  This is probably my favorite game and can be played in many varieties using phones, wallets, or iPods.  Due to this pattern of passing out while reading Mistborn my dreams have been filled with the movie my mind has created for the book.
     As the book unfolds Allomancy an element of the story formerly surrounded by an air of mystery is now a huge factor of the book.  An ability only supposed to be possible for nobility and impossible for skaa, allows for feats that shouldn't be possible for normal humans.  "Allomancy.  The mystical power held by nobility, granted to them by the Lord Ruler some thousand years before as a reward for their loyalty."  The basics of Allomancy is that in internally burning different metals you can harness different powers.  For example in burning tin you gain heighten sense, pewter increased strength, and steel allows you to push or pull metals.  While nobility are supposed to be the only ones capable of these ability there are half-bloods of nobility and skaa who have lived despite the Lord Ruler's people hunting their kind.  Allomancy is weird in that you either have the ability to use one metal, or can use them all.  Specialized users of one type of Allomancy are called mistings, while users of all the types are known as mistborn.  These are extremely rare, especially among half breeds.  Our protagonists, Kelsier and Vin, the only half bred mistborns in existence, plan to do what hasn't been attempted in centuries, overthrow The Final Empire.  Vin, motivated by the dream of freedom, and Kelsier, driven by the desire to take revenge on the Lord Ruler personally after taking the life of his wife and nearly taking his as well, are raising a small faction of the best Allomancers dreaming of freedom available.  Thus far in reading Mistborn I've been very captivated, Sanderson captures the action of whats going on perfectly while maintaining a lighthearted and humorous side to things.

Article Ideas

Rainymood - The simple ambient sounds of rain.  While doing homework, browsing, or doing nothing, I always require some form of white noise.  When music doesn't entice me, rainymood is the perfect substitution.  Rainymood also couples nicely layered on top of music to add a relaxing mood to your favorite tracks.

League of Legends - An online game I've been playing for around a year and a half.  A game where two teams of five clash to destroy the other team's base.  Internationally there are over 32 million accounts as the game is rapidly growing in popularity.  The community surrounding the game is what makes it most fun as they create a microcosm in every game and never cease to puzzle me.

None Like Joshua - A man pursuing his dream of rapping.  Rapping out of his makeshift studio in his home, Joshua began producing music for fun and is now slowly transferring this hobb to career.  He got started by taking songs he likes and remixing over them for fun and uploading them to his youtube and these raps gained a small following.  He raps over a range of genres of music from dubstep to more acoustic tracks.  He also creates his own original albums which are equally as enjoyable to listen to.  His original tracks are the kinds of songs that you listen to alone and internally reflect upon. I always enjoyed his remixes but his first album "Maniac Devices" is what hooked me.  Josh uploads about one song per week on his youtube while still working and producing his own albums.  His latest album "The Impermanent" will be available January 31st.  Eagerly awaiting his new album I find my self listening to his music nonstop.

Standing Out Blogs

Reading, Reflecting, and More Reading - http://rrr-nans.blogspot.com/

The set up of this writer's profile is clear and eye catching.  The diction of this writer is one that is original and flows well.  When I read the posts of "nans" I find myself interested in what they have to say.  The line reading, "Why in exploding diversity do people feel the need to conceal differences and create equality?" caught my attention the most and was very thought provoking.

 Much Madness Is Divinest Sense - http://curmudgeonsareus.blogspot.com/

The name of the blog is what caught my attention.  What I enjoyed most is that the writer made their posts a bit more personal than I would be able to.  "I came across The Picture of Dorian Gray some time ago, having been aware of its existence for years (the consequence of being raised by an English major, I suppose), and it was always one of those titles that I knew I wanted to read, really should read before I get too far in life, but never got around to it".

More Cowbell, Please - http://kaleidoscopeeyes00.blogspot.com/

The response looks much deeper into the intro of Dead Poets Society than I could ever hope to.  This writer connects the tolling of the school bell to the impact of the Black Death.  "The bell tolls, signifying the end of childhood, like a Black Death sealing away the life that they once knew."  This response made me wonder what inspired the writer to think of this connection.

Launching Into Mistborn

    I won't equivocate,  I couldn't wait to complete the reading of Things I find Funny by Judd Apatow once I got my hands on Mistborn: The Final Empire.  The worn edged embody the many hands that have held this novel before the eyes that indulged in its contents show tribute to the quality of what is to come.  The warm inviting scent of library beckoned me the instant I came into contact with this paperback gem.
    Rushing into the story I wasn't sure what to expect other than that I was into fantasy genre.  I began reading and was told of a plantation owner in a world where "ashfalls (from the sky) weren't that uncommon".  The skaa are an oppressed people who are used and abused in order to complete the farm work under these horrendous planting conditions.  The Lord Ruler is a terrible ruler who has taken over the world.  We're introduced to the criminal mastermind and free thinker Kelsier.
     The first 150 pages moved a bit slowly.  There was a lot of background as to why the darker situation is the way it is.  Though I suppose this can be expected in an unconventional book as this one.  The whole chain of order is flipped upside down from the norm with an evil Lord Ruler oppressing the protagonist right from the beginning.
     The story thus far has reminded me of the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust.  The Lord Ruler signifying to me Hitler.  The way the Skaa are an oppressed people forced to be beaten and working the fields.  At times Skaa are even beaten to death by their owners simply to make an example so the others work harder to tend to the brown and brittle plantation.  Mistborn is quickly picking up in pace and so far is looking to be a very thought provoking and interesting read. 

Dead Poets Society

      In the genesis of the Dead Poet Society, the lachrymose look of the fragile newcomers under the sharp symmetrical architecture emphasize the castigating voice of the professor.  The army of suits sits in agony while parents look on at the vessels that will carry on their successes.  The delicate silence surrounding formless murmurs is brutally lacerated by the serrated caterwaul of shrieking bagpipes.  Teachers aggressively glare at the new more youthful teacher, as if he alone took the proud banner representing "Tradition" and stomped it into the dirt.  Underclassmen look at the robotic mechanics of the already brainwashed upperclassmen and know soon the oppressive environment will morph them into zombified shells of their former selves.

Response

Perpetually waiting on Mistborn: The Final Empire, I picked up I Found This Funny  by Judd Apatow to complete my minutes and pass the time.  Going into this book knowing very little other than the fact that Judd is the writer of many enormously funny movies I expected a very light and humorous read.  After reading through the intro sharing background info and stating how humor is subjective I jumped into the first tale, "A Mother's Tale".  This story caught me a bit off guard.  A young calf rushes to his mother wonder what happens to the cows who are round up and taken off on a train.  "I imagine it's very nice,"(Apatow 16)  she falsely explained to comfort her children.  Another theory arose from a cow that escaped from where the train took then and he told of a much more horrendous location.  The mother comforts them in telling "It's an old old legend... We use it to frighten children with," (Apatow 32).  The short story concludes with the youngest calf asking "What's a train?" to keep things in a lighthearted mood and remind us that yes, this is indeed a story about cows.
     Expecting a carefree comical relief story to follow "A Mother's Tale" my perception of what this book was about was total thrown off-kilter.  I feel this isn't the proper venue to go into details over the subject over the next section titled "No Contact, Ass Hole" (Apatow 33-37)by Jonathan James.  The story was very unique and interesting.  In retrospect I believe it was placed in the book following a story of a loving mother to throw off the reader on purpose.  Somewhere Judd is sitting there laughing at the though of the look on his reader's face.
     I'm not able reflect on every short story in detail as this would become a book of my own, however I will present to you my favorite of the bunch.  The one that caught my attention the most was actually not a story.  A series of sketches by Hugleikur Dagsson (pages 115-121) had me audibly chortling (embarrassingly breaking the amicable silence of study hall).  The humor of it is the kind that when asked by Mrs. Rowe what was so funny I had to lie and conjure up some pseudo truth up I'm sure she didn't believe in the slightest, had I told the truth I'd probably be enjoying a detention.
     While this book isn't what I expected in the slightest it's very entertaining and most definitely worth the read.  Even if I obtain Mistborn prior to completing this book I think I'll delay reading it until finishing this "ultimate bathroom book" (Apatow 10).

Nighthawks Analysis

Setting
Characters
Action
Style

- City
- Dark
- Night
- Dismal
- Gloomy
- Diner
- Old Keeper
- Young Couple
- Young Loner
- Laconic Conversation
- Lonely Lethargy- Grainy
- Fuzzy Lines/Strokes
- Coarse
-Middle of the night

 This caliginous piece by Edward Hopper captivates with it's hazy look on the sleeplessly lethargic agendas of inner city insomniacs.

Literacy Narrative

    My reading habits that I have today have roots beginning fairly early in my youth.  Before I could read my mom would read to me before bed.  Once I had the ability to read myself she would have me reading on the same nightly schedule.  The books I read were determined by whatever she would buy me and whatever I'd check out from the school library.  My favorite books were any fiction or fantasy.  I liked reading out of the ordinary things as they're something unique from my day to day life.
    I continued reading for fun on my own throughout my earlier schooling.  The first book I recall earning the title as "my favorite" and one that I read countless times was Danger In the Desert by T.S. Fields.  I first found this book in the school library in Fourth grade and repeatedly would check it out and renew it.  As I got a bit older and books became assignments my interest in reading began to debilitate.  In Seventh grade I picked up Eragon by Christopher Paolini from a friend and this was the second book I considered one of my favorites.  After reading that series I haven't read many book worth noting outside of school required readings.  I still read however, mostly online reading of stories and fan fictions written by friends.
    Since beginning this class I've been more motivated to pick up my old reading habits and begin reading nightly again.  I'll be beginning with Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson and will be reading that series.  Currently my list of books to read after completing the Mistborn series is as follows:  A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  This list may be subject to change and is very open to additions.