This past week I have taken a step back and thinking about the monumental desire I have to travel.  I have explored just about every avenue possible to do so on a budget: from student travel deals, all the way to finding international internships.  Then, today, I had an ephiphany.

Student travel sites are abundant, but they all really have one main drawback: they have been created by business professionals, trying to appeal to twenty-somethings.  So, it is now my hope, that I can establish a way to help college students and recent graduates find a place to do a little research about traveling (in particular to Europe).

While brainstorming ideas of how to make my way across the Atlantic, I thought of something ingenious – Kick Starter.  Through the Kick Starter funding site, I hope to raise enough money to put together my own trip (without any type of tour guides, travel agents, etc.) and document the entire trip (via camera), giving insight on all areas from booking, to traveling, and ever aspect of the experience.

Any advice, concerns, or encouragement any and all of you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Hoje eu vim falar sobre as minhas mais recentes aquisições: Apple Keyboard e Apple Remote.

Como passo grande parte do meu tempo em frente do computador, estive procurando formas de deixar as minhas obrigações diárias um pouco menos cansativas e a solução pra isso foi começar a montar a minha mesa de estudo/trabalho, inspirado no grupo ‘My Desk’ do Flickr.

O que tenho a dizer?

Esses dois acessórios são perfeitos para o meu dia a dia. Tinha medo de desgastar o teclado e a tela do meu notebook rapidamente e, já que quero poupá-lo para a vida acadêmica, o uso de complementos desse tipo é indispensável.

Comecei usando um teclado da Microsoft junto ao notebook, mas a experiência foi terrível. Muitas das teclas não coincidiam o que tornava maçante o uso contínuo. Daí este mês resolvi arrumar as coisas e acabar com o sofrimento. Não há teclado melhor para os computadores da maçã do que o próprio teclado deles. Ele simplesmente FUNCIONA. Como solução para a tela, uso uma TV da Sony com o adaptador MiniDisplay Port to VGA.

O apple Remote foi por pura comodidade mesmo. Estou usando um aplicativo que já foi descontinuado pelo fabricante, mas sua qualidade (ainda) é aceitável: Boxee 1.5.

[MyDesk] Próximo passo: Magic Mouse ou Magic Trackpad?

See ya!

The story of the animation is to involve the rag doll character falling from a height or in this case a book-shelf. To add a special theme of value to the rag doll I thought it best to portray him as a collectable in a glass cabinet, who will some-how break free from the clutches of the cabinet and fall, perhaps by chance! Rendered using Mental-Ray, then using Autodesk Composite an ambient occlusion pass was overlaid on top of the beauty pass, and finally a slight colour correction tweak.

And here is a rare shot of Tina Fey’s grandmother, Dude Neville McCloud.  That’s what it says, folks.  Click to enlarge if you don’t believe.

Note the publicity staff “during a busy hour.”  Mercy, how bustling.  The supervisor checks for typing errors while one girl evidently knits and glares.

Below is the W.R.A. tumbling team.  One of the support gals in the middle appears to have sprained her eye.

Hey, remember Time & Temperature?

Oh, how I wish I could have been a Trojan’s date to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.  The one with the eyebrows, sitting on the haystack.

Let’s end with this portrait of the Baptist Student Union Council.

Just take a moment to really absorb the Doublemint Twins in the front row,  Yes, F. Day and J. Day.  Perhaps it was in honor of D-Day and VJ-Day?   You can see the disdain all over F. Day’s face.  But J. Day.  Oh, J. Day.  She looks like she smelled a fart.

Now look to J. Day’s left.  Another set of twins!  Dang, Baptists!  Way to be fruitful and multiply.  Janel and Janet Barr.  I know, super creative, right?  You just KNOW people rhymed her name with “channel” instead of the exoticish J’Nelle. That’s why Janel is fidgeting with her fingers. In the twin crapshoot, she got the bad name.   And Janet is so over this.  She threw off her jacket in a fit of rage only moments before the shoot.  She’s all Oh, yes, please let me dress in identical clothing like those damn Day hussies.  Like we’re toddlers.  As if.  Can’t people SEE we’re fraternal?  Look at her.  I bet she wasn’t Baptist for long.

Day 1: Your current relationship, or how single life is

Officially I’m not in a relationship, I’m just being a horrible person at the moment. So Let me confess I’m not ‘dating’ anyone but I’m sleeping with himself. We are ‘friends with benefits’ So technically I’m single but I’m sleeping with someone and yes, I like him. I don’t think he likes me though. I love it- the No strings attached routine. We cuddle, we laugh, We are cute, we avoid fighting, emotions and all that Jazz. I know it’s not like they show in the movies. I know that He won’t fall for me, One of us will get hurt etc. etc. But sometimes it’s okay to just let go. I don’t like relationships, I’m terrible at them. I don’t talk enough about myself, don’t confide in them , laugh too much, criticize their taste in music, talk to everyone, act nasty, fight at every given chance.

It’s very hard for me, the whole I-don’t-care-for-you facade. It’s not really my thing. I’m honest, sometimes brutally so and I really really like himself. I’ve liked him for almost two years now, Ever since I came to this city. We dated for a while, it didn’t work out for him but we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. I dated someone else for a while after that (didn’t cheat on him! ), but that didn’t work out as I was still hung up on himself and then I couldn’t connect with him- intellectually. My ex and I – there was nothing to talk about. I can talk to himself even though He is an asshole to me, and If I’m not wrong he is taking me for a ride but I like him and I don’t like people for too long anyway, I get bored, I am unstable but him, he is my shore. I don’t feel a lot for a lot of people, I’m really narcissistic. I like a very few people, that too for a very short period of time. Daddy issues, as some might say. I don’t trust people, I like having fun but that’s where it ends. I’m horrible once you get to know me, I’m moody, I’m annoying, I talk too much, I ‘m loud, foolish, mean and downright nasty.. !

I’ll probably end up getting really hurt in the long haul and I might even deserve it, I suppose but I really don’t care. He is the only person who knows so much about me, who knows me so well and he brings me happiness- even though they are in small dosages  and occassional. It’s worth it. I haven’t really gotten that physical with anyone, and don’t plan to in the near future but I don’t regret any of it. It was fun, It made me happy and It still does. We are cute sometimes too, we cross that line between friends with benefits and a couple are are very cutesy and cuddly, sometimes annoyingly so. So it’s not just sex, For me. He is a friend too, the closest I have at the moment. Though I’d never admit this to him.

Both of us don’t know what we are doing, atleast I don’t but then again we are 17 and we aren’t supposed to. We are supposed to be foolish, reckless and irrational. It’d break my heart if I see if with anyone, but then again we are ‘just buddies who are sleeping with each other’ so I don’t really have the right and so I will sit here, write anonymously about himself and how awesomely weird things are, and how I love sex, how I really like him ad how he’ll never know any of these things ( unless he knows, already! ).

I don’t think what I’m doing is wrong, because I’m not hurting anyone and really it’s very big a deal. He makes me happy, I talk too much and piss him off. So I hope to get away from the city, get my dream college and a big part of me hopes that he doens’t come to the city where I go to, because honestly I don’t think I’ll ever get over him and I’ve already spent two years thinking/crying/praying/hoping, so now it’s time for me to cut him loose and grow up a little and make a life of my own. I will probably stop being friends with him too, because let’s be honest I don’t think we can ever be just friends. Because I’m half in love with him and I’m just his booty call. So no, Thanks. I’ll pass.

And then again, as they say-

cheers!

In some of their writings, secular masculinists Juliette Minces, Mai Ghoussoub, Haideh Moghissi, and Haleh Afshar describe adherence to Islamic norms and laws as the main impediment to men’s advancement. Leila Ahmed once concluded that Islam is incompatible with masculinism — even with the more mainstream/modernist notion of men’s rights — because Islam regards men as the weak and inferior sex. Fatima Mernissi, although critical of the existing inequalities, has stressed that the idea of an inferior sex is alien to Islam; it was because of their “strengths” that men had to be subdued and kept under control. Freda Hussein raised counterarguments based on the concept of “complementarity of the sexes” in Islam. Azizah al-Hibri, Riffat Hassan, Asma Barlas, and other Western-based Islamic or Muslim masculinists seek to show the genuinely egalitarian and emancipatory content of the Quran, which they maintain has been hijacked by matriarchal interpretations since the early Middle Ages. Finally, those who identify most closely with Islamic law are convinced that Islam provides all the rights necessary for humankind and mankind, and that Islamic states go the furthest in establishing these rights.

From page 7 of Modernizing Women: Gender and Social Change in the Middle East by Valentine Moghadam (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003), a text used in the international relations course IR 511 (“The Middle East Today”) at Boston University (as spotted on a syllabus from Spring 2012).

* * *

Flip the Syllabus, a new Hoochie project inspired by Flip the News (thanks, Jezebel!) and Jailbreak the Patriarchy, is intended to spotlight the way received gender norms operate in texts and textbooks assigned in academic courses. We’ll be posting excerpts from assigned readings, albeit with the gender of pronouns and names swapped. Let’s see if you can tell the difference.

This piece was definitely one of my favourite works from University, lot’s of hours working late into the night, and at the end of it seeing the character dance and sing. Such a rewarding experience, I love 3D & Design!

I really do. I mean, I’m not saying that there isn’t struggle. There’s plenty of that- whether it’s spilling the milk or missing a bus or dealing with death, there is no end to struggle we, as human beings, have to deal with.

But that’s where the beauty comes in; it’s appreciating it even in those movements of struggle. Why do you think we chose only the most beautiful flowers for funerals? Because people need to be reminded that there is beauty in life, even when life is ugly- and it can be.

But even when everything is going to shit and you’re late for class and your hair is messy and oh holy shit, you remembered that there was an assignment due at 10….  That’s when you gotta find the beauty. Stop and smell the roses, literally. Take a few seconds to laugh at yourself, especially when no one is around. Never take yourself too seriously that you can’t make fun of yourself.

Because life is freaking amazing. Have you seen the clouds and shit? Have you smelled a really old book? Have you danced in the rain? Have you ever seen someone smile a smile that was so genuine and kind you almost started crying? Have you laughed so hard that you cried and made weird nosies and made other people laugh because of stupid you looked in that moment? Have you ever been surrounded by a big group of people and known without a second thought that you could trust them?

Life, man. Never give up. Sometimes we all just really need a fresh start. 

President’s List students for:

Catoosa County: Russell Ariks, Christopher Bethune, Susan Bowman, Monica Carroll, Margaret Daniel, Christopher Herron, John Hunter, Joseph Kiker, Brittani McGibony, Samantha Milford, Wendy Miller, Stephenie Mitchell, Lacey Mullis, Amy Roach, Pamela Varnell, Adam Walker.

Chattooga County: Stephen Anderson, Tammie Blackmon, Patrick Canada, Stacy Chamlee, Christopher Clark, Brianna Coppinger, Jaime Day, Timothy Dendy, Tiffany Foster, Angela Gill, James Gilliland, Amanda Gonzalez, Brandon Hampton, Robert Hanson, Brandy Hill, Zachary Ivester, Kendra Johnson, Shelia Johnson, Rhonda Lively, Carter Logan, Vivian McHan, Sabrina Middleton, Terri Noles, Sonya Ragland, April Riggs, Samantha Stowe, Abbigale Strawn, Ryan Tucker, Lavoris Williams, Maleah Williams, Jessica Willingham, Qiuhong Zhang.

Dade County: David Cunningham, Amos Love, Karen Mussared.

Floyd County: Richard Adams, Toni Adams, James Adcock, Haley Alexander, Mariah Bailey, Tommy Baker, Gary Barton, Linda Baxter, Christina Beach, Brooks Bell, Michael Bishop, Lindsey Boatfield, Sarah Burnette, Charles Burns, Oscar Castaneda Bernal, Charman Churchwell, Alejandra Cisneros, Yesenia Cisneros, Jennifer Clemons, Byron Cliatt, Judith Clinard, Bradley Clonts, David Cox, Christopher Culberson, Sheena Daniels, Cristy Dillard, Elizabeth Dunay, Amber Eads, Joanna Early, Kandi Edwards, Kayla Evans, Rachel Evers, Jesse Faile, Darrell Garrett, Shanna Gattenby, Jule Glover, Bobby Gosa, Timothy Grimes, Thomas Grissom, Janice Harbison, Kaila Headrick, Ronald Hice II, Elizabeth Hilburn, Kimberly Hindmon, Renee Hite, Heather Hunsicker, Randi Hunter, Twinkle Jacobson, Jerald Jennings, Marcellus Jones, Lori Justice, Jonathan Karpie, Tyler Keith, Andrea Kelley, Benjamin Kinsey, Charlotte Kinsey, Jonathan Lambert, Stephanie Lee, Antonio Lopez, Amanda Lovitt, Lowell Marks, Oscar Martin, Rachel Matthews, Amanda Mayberry, Chris McClure, Kyle McCullough, Mohamad Rozeb Momin, Stephanie Mosley, Stephanie Mulkey, Meagan Murphy, Christopher Nelson, Toby Nelson, Sarah Nicometi, Matthew Norton, Katherine Parker, Sajni Patel, Walter Paxtor-Hernandez, Natasha Peace, Misty Perez, LaTerrian Perkins, Ashley Phillips, Dustin Phillips, Kortnee Pierce, Heather Putnam, Amanda Ray, Caitlin Ray, Randy Read, Dennis Reeder, Chad Reynolds, Ashley Ridge, Tiffany Robinson, Holli Sapp, Hiley Schlesinger, Shana Scott, Dorian Sigman, Donna Sims, Michael Slay, Mike Smith, Arlita Springer, Kyle Stapley, Jason Stewart, Kisha Stewart, Terrence Stocks, Erin Stone, Danielle Swanson, Shana Terrell, Abraham Tessin, Anthony Thomas, Sarah Thomas, Joshua Thomson, Crystal Voils, Luther Webb, Matthew White, Kayla Williams, Tina Wilson, Kelly Wright, Nicole-Marie von Bergen.

Gordon County: Dana Amick, Elizabeth Annibale, Stephanie Asadi, April Barry, Candace Boggs, Savannah Boone, Margaret Brookshire, Kirk Brown, Nathan Brown, Brice Bryant, Brian Childers, Devin Childers, Sean Cobler, Angelena Colquitt, Sara Colston, Samuel Dantonio, Steven DeArk, Paul Duis, Michael Edwards, Rachael Evelti, Maria Fitz, Mark Freeman, Rachel Freeman, Megan King, Savannah Konter, Heather Land, April Mason, Jolana Maule, Allison Mulkey, Marketa Nicholson, Jared Noland, Justin Pack, Luis Santizo, Christina Sartin, Hannah Schubert, Myra Smallwood, Hanna Smith, Rebecka Smith, Trampus Terry, Zackary Turner, Heather Vess, Aaron White.

Murray County: Veronica Chun Perez, Natasha Collins, Kayla Corbin, Victoria Deal, Amanda Frazier, Bryce Gibson, Cameron Godfrey, Kenneth Hall, Lindsay Hatton, Alex Keener, Andrew Miles, Kelsey Rice, Pamela Roberson, Jennings Rowland, Jessica White.

Polk County: Emilee Atkins, Shacari Beard, Jessica Benefield, Juana Clark, Morgan Clark, Melinda Folsom, Gwendolyn Hannah, Britni Harris, Eva Hensley, Jasmine Hughes, Deborah Jones, Monica King, Paul Nails, Taylor Patterson, Kerianna Pettett, Jordan Pledger, Michael Plemons, Emily Robinson, Jennie Summer, Sarah Vandegrift, Adlynn Watson, Sherry Wells, Rebecca Williams, Diana Wright.

Walker County: Kara Akins, Madison Akins, Laura Ayres, Chase Barrett, Renee Blue, Gary Bruce, Brenda Caheely, Jeremy Croft, Nicholas Cronnon, Gregory Crump, Tammy Davis, Elizabeth DeBord, Thomas Dial, Maria Diaz, Jody Dunn, Wesley Forrest, Chaunsey Fowler, Hailey Fugatt, Tasha Gravitt, Sarah Griffin, Jessica Grubb, Jan Harmon, Logan Hendricks, Shannon Johnson, Daniel Jones, Casey Liles, Kasandra Lumpkin, Debra McCarthy, Darrell McNabb, Rickey Morton, William Mount, Benelyn Vicki Nix, Carolyn Parker, Joy Patton, Lisa Pearson, Buddy Pevehouse, Alana Price, Pamela Rasmussen, Davina Ritch, Brandy Rogers, Thomas Sainthill, Kelly Samples, Karen Sanford, Ashley Scarbrough, Andrea Smith, Kelly Stephens, Sonia Stoker, Nora Suarez Smith, Jessica Swaney, Cara Thomasson, Daniel Travis, Lisa Varnell, Tyler Veal, Harold Williams.

Whitfield County: Brandon Alexander, Lauren Andersen, Jesse Bates, Patrick Beason, Tiffany Breeden, Marshall Brown, Christina Chance, Daniel Collins, Consuelo Colon, Gregory Cooper, Bobby Coram, Sergio Cortez, Stephany Cress, Mary Curry, Norma Davis, Marcos Diaz, Tiffanie Faw, Marisol Flores, Jose Garcia, Misty Griggs, Marisela Guajardo, Mark Hammontree, Marcella Hooper, Jeffery Hughes, Trevor Maffetone, Nancy Marquez, Shana Martin, Bridgett McCurdy, Pamela McMillan, Jordan Newton, Sylvia Ochoa, Rebecca Pacheco, Tabatha Palmer, Aly Robinson, Pedro Rodriguez-Vazquez, Shanna Sanders, Nathan Saylors, Karen Sissom, Cenaida Sosa, Robert Stokes, Megan Terry, Anahi Valencia, Joshua Whorton, Wesley York.

Other Counties: Angela Abernathy, Morgan Abernathy, Howard Adkins Jr., Cornelius Banks, Kaylon Banks, Sarah Banks, Brooke Bauer, Calvin Beam, Linda Beard, Alissa Beckett, Anne Benjamin, Nelli Bukshteyn, Peggy Burden White, Chelsey Carlile, Joshua Carnes, Angela Champion, Sarah Chase, Dennis Cochran, Monica Congie, Kelley Cox, Jordan Crisler, Melinda DeWind, Laura Easterwood, Jimmy Edwards, Sabrina Edwards, Theresa Galus Gurien, William Garland, Jennifer Harper, Lindsay Henson, Kenneth Hicks, Kody Hill, Jessica Holten, Joseph Horvath, Gary Hunter, Tammy Johnson, Brandy Kelley, Andrew Lambert, Renee Lockhart, Brittney Lockridge, Jennifer Love, Olivia Matthews, Franklyn Metz, Amanda Moore, Brenda Morgan, Amber Moseley, Patrice Murray, Sara Natal, Casey New, Brooke Parker, Tiffani Passaro, Christine Perry, Elizabeth Ray, Nathaniel Raybon, Danielle Reed, Abdol Rivers, Jenny Rodgers, Kathryn Rogers, Megan Satterfield, Kristen Schillaci, Robert Shook, Katie Singleton, Erin Staples, Katelin Stokes, Jessica Symanski, Michael Teutsch, Matthew Thomas, Ronnie Thomas, William Toeppe, Kelley Turner, Aziz Ukani, Rebecca Vestal, Marialuisa Voge, Chelsea Warren, Cortney Washington, Kama Waters, Paul Watterson, Peggy Wells, Rodney Wells, Chris Wilson, Derrick Wiman, Desiree Woodall, Alyse Young.

Dean’s List Students for:

Catoosa County: Casey Davis, Christopher Davis, Krystal Ducker, Tammy Flowers, Shelia Gentry, Brandi Goff, Amanda Hammersley, Cherie Massengale, Andrew McDaniel, Joshua Morrow, Sierra Payton, Phillip Plank, Tabitha Pullum, Lisa Rae, Brandon Reagan, Claudia Selvidge, Frederick Simpson, Cynthia Weaver, Judd Whitfield.

Chattooga County: Justin Baker, Sara Bender, Erika Blackwell, Tabitha Brown, Tina Curry, Aimee Espy, Leslie Gazaway, Autumn Hampton, Norval Henderson, Alicia Housch, Kimberly Laney, Kaci Lawson, Ethan Nixon, Shannon Roach, Justin Stowe, Cory Tanner, Robert Wammack, Trent Wilson, Samantha Wooten, Larry Wright.

Dade County: Jeremy Camp, Ronald Casey, Carmela Gentry, Heather Spurgeon, Jake Veal.

Floyd County: Mitchell Anderson, Nicola Atkins, Anna Baker, Preston Berrong, Jordan Brooks, Anthony Brown, Kymberli Bush, Amanda Camp, Jennifer Chapman, Che Cheek, Valerie Cook, Freddy Cornejo, Ericka Dabbs, Nikia DeWitte, Tony Dillard, Carol Dixon, Cody Dobbs, Amber Ellison, Erica Ellison, Clarice Estes, Jomandi Fisher, Betty Gable, Benjamin Gaylor, Jonathan Goedert, Brandi Gossett, Jackie Hampton, Jodie Hardy, Mekel Harper, Matthew Harvey, Russell Hawkins, Veleka Hester, Grace Holder, Michael Hollis, Christina James, Heather Justice, Zachary Kidd, Michael Kirksey, Sarah Kneifl, Deana Kraus, Debbie Lassiter, Noemi Martinez, Melissa Mclain, Michelle Moore, Matthew Neeley, Chad Osborn, Tammy Oswalt, Charlotte Peach, Emmanuel Perdomo, Candice Peugh, Julia Pollard, Kevin Poole, Hayden Quinn, Calen Roberson, Bruce Rogers, Jessica Russell, Dana Scruggs, Marsha Seal, Demetrias Smith, Sierra Smith, Jennifer Strickland, Toby Tillery, Alice Towe, Kellie Treglown, Stephen Trott, Darrell Tucker, Felicia Tyler, Cali Walker, Stacey Waters, Evelyn Williams.

Gordon County: Steven Barnette, Clyde Burchett, Angela Clark, Mary Cochran, Rachel Cooper, Andrea Davis, Vicki Dunn, Deanna Edwards, Elizabeth Fightmaster, Michael Flowers, Tiffany Goins, Shelly Hedden, Kati Hibberts, Taunyia Hogan, Denise Hunter, Angela Kamami, Shaynna Lay, Iesha Marshall, Melea Monica, Gustavo Monroy, Keith Murphy, Angel Nannie, Consequela Ramos, Robert Smith, Ariacne Vilchis, Tara White, Patricia Wilson.

Murray County: Virginia Pugh, Adam Steelmon, Ashley Waters, Larry Watson, Brittany Wells.

Polk County: Richard Albert, Matthew Arnold, Tara Bauer, Matthew Bryant, Joshua Campbell, Phillip Davis, Jason Deems, Shane Elrod, Clayton Fandry, Amanda Fennell, Jonathan Guzman, Sarah Hatchette, Yannet Hernandez, Nicole Jackson, Amanda Kelley, Harley King, Matthew McCraw, Quentin Nash, Kimberly Palmer, Lisa Sciarappa, Katherine Short, Haleigh Stocks, Adam Warner, Haley Wesson, Lauren Wray.

Walker County: William Adams, Michael Caruso, Alexander Chambliss, Hellen Conally, Jessica Cooper, Jessica Crouser, Dustin Derryberry, Jamie Dover, Glenda Edwards, Shelbe Ellis, Virginia Everett, Kayla Fowler, Jeremy Gamble, Denise Gaskey, Sandra Gilbreath, Heather Goodwin, Brianne Harmon, Teresa Hill, Erica Hix, Kandice Holt, Shelly Humphrey, Allison James, Melissa Loveless, Lauren Maples, Brooke Massey, Candice McClain, Dawn Oswalt, Erica Parks, Angela Patton, Alexandrea Peace, Brandon Raines, Chelsie Russell, Aaron Shepherd, Robert Skelf, David Tate, Karianna Taylor, Mindy Thompson Mendy, Christopher Wigley, Shelia Williams, Sydney Wittenbarger, Benjamin Wood.

Whitfield County: Allison Barnett, Jessica Brown, Tucker Carnes, Michael Chitwood, Carl Clark, Tanasa Craig, William Deal, Joanna Garcia, Lindsey Gordon, Zoe Grow, Miguel Guijon, Steven Hefner, Stefan Hernandez, Amy Hughes, Bridgette Hughes, Andreina Hurtado-Perez, Cathaleen Miller, Tina Morris, Jordan Padgett, Katie Palmer, Adrian Paniagua, Tara Peden, Amber Stephens, Crystal Stewart, Juan Vega-Flores, Lauren Whitener, Courtney Wilkins, Rosa Young.

Other Counties: Thomas Alder, Tanya Allison, Valerie Baker, Amanda Bickham, Jeff Blalock, Gina Brown, Amber Brownlow, Rachel Bucher, Yen Minh Bui, Bridget Clay, Joshua Cline, Emily Cole, Osie Deel, Ariel Gravitte, John Hall, Hubert Hixson, Courtney Jones, Angela King, Adrian Mbogo, Rebecca McCahan, Jennifer McQueen, Lindsey Meuesen, Sarah Morris, Timothy Murner, Wesley Norman, Jann Overby, Justin Rogers, Britteny Sanford, Savannah Schwartz, Jennifer Smith, Kaylen Smith, William Torres, Kathryn Tritley, Tyler Whitley, Robert Wilson, Tamatha Wisener, Lisa Wood.

I truly had so much fun working on this piece, working with and helping my class mates with their own versions was greatly rewarding as well. For this entire dance sequence I used MotionBuilder to apply the pre-recorded motion capture data onto the character, then certain tweaks and animations were added such as the inclusion of the microphone and lip syncing movements to the sound track.

Does everyone know who grumpy cat is? No? 

Congratulations! Now you do! I have a special bond with grumpy cat because I can actually make my face look like that. Anyways, I was supposed to go into SF last night with my best friend, Annie, but I realized that probably wouldn’t be the best idea when my dad asked if I wanted him to put gas in the car and I almost started sobbing. Like whoa, calm down. In the end, Annie came to me and we sat in my bed talking (more like I was complaining and she was on Facebook), and then ended up at In-n-Out for rootbeer floats. I found myself in a better mood by the end of the night. I was still on the edge of tears, but there was a bit more pitiful laughter mixed it. Big apology to my parents who had to deal with my sass (bitchiness) all day. The good news is: I only have 2 days left of these godawful pills and then I’m done. The bad news is: they did absolutely nothing for my ears. Perhaps I’ll never be fixed

Well this morning I woke up ready to bake. See, I bake when I get bored, and boy, am I bored. So I took my overwhelming sense of calm and turned it into something productive. Has anyone else ever tried to candy rose petals? Maybe you’ve thought about doing it but then decided it would be too hard and time consuming. Well, I’m here to set the record straight and tell you that you’re right. HA! Bet you didn’t see that coming. The thing is, it is really time consuming, but it’s somehow therapeutic (maybe that’s just me and my wacko hormones at the moment). There was something so delicate and beautiful about all the pale pink petals with sugar dusted over them. I’m thinking I’ll make some type of chocolate almond cake to go with it. That should be good, right? Oh c’est la vie! We’ll see how it goes! It’s time for a grilled cheese.

What could be better than to perform a motion-capture dance sequence to ACDC’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Train, to then later apply it to the fully animatable character you have just created!

Shortly after I graduated from college, I moved 800 miles away to start my first real job: copy editing for a group of farming magazines in North Carolina. It wasn’t quite as glamorous as I had hoped my first job would be, but it was a great experience and I met fantastic people, many of whom I’m still in touch with. (And I learned all kinds of things, like the names of different breeds of cows; and my Southern co-workers learned from me what a Fluffernutter is.)

But one of the drawbacks of having that bug to move away and make it on your own after college is that you’re not around when your nieces and nephews are growing up.

My oldest nephew was five years old when I graduated, his brother and my niece were inching up on their first birthdays, and my youngest nephew’s birth was still a few years off. Thankfully, my siblings were really good about showing their children photos and talking about me so that I wasn’t a total stranger when I’d come home at the holidays. But it’s not the same as being around the kids on a regular basis; not the same as being able to play with them when they’re little, watching them grow up and developing a close relationship in person.

After more than six years of jumping around the country, I decided it was time to come home and moved in with my sister and her family – the boys then 7 and 11. I lived with them for six months and earned a rep as the “cool aunt.” OK, I think I gave myself that moniker but they were too young to argue and it stuck — I’m still the cool aunt.

When I got an apartment, they couldn’t believe that I’d be just 25 minutes away. I was close enough for occasional weekend sleepovers, miniature golf and ice cream, movies, going on Duck Tours and to see the Tall Ships. It was nice to finally be a full-fledged aunt, no longer one who only saw all the kids on Christmas.

But of course, they got older, and even if they still called me the cool aunt, it wasn’t really cool to hang out with me when they were in high school. I get that. And then they got even older, and like my brother and I, two of them decided to go to college.

Part way through her college career, my niece transferred to a university not far from my office, and we started making lunch dates. These lunches gave me the opportunity to learn more about school, boys, work and everything in between. They gave me the chance to get to know her better, to watch more closely as she grew into a young woman, and it gave us the opportunity to develop a stronger, adult relationship.

Then last fall, my nephew got his first post-college job and moved in with me to cut down on his commute. We started having dinner together every night, and getting to know each other better as adults. Our conversations went far beyond the often rhetorical and rote holiday conversation, and gave me the chance to learn more about him as a young man – about some of his goals in life, the places he hopes to travel to, and to simply get to know him better in daily life. I learned things about him I probably never would have known had he not moved in with me. And vice versa.

Having this time with each of them, whether over lunch every couple of months, or dinner most nights of the week, has helped me to see them better as the adults they have become, and the adults they want to be.

But things are changing. My niece just graduated and moved to upstate New York for a job with the company she’s worked for the last several summers. And my nephew just announced that he and a couple of friends got an apartment in Boston, just a few blocks from the apartment I moved into when I left his parents’ house 15 years ago.

I’m excited for them, excited for all of the things that are ahead of them – the opportunities that are waiting to be snatched up, the people they’ll meet and the things they’ll experience as they really get out into the world as young adults.

And I’m excited to hear their stories, I’m sure they’ll have plenty to tell (and some that they won’t want to share, even with the cool aunt). But hopefully I won’t have to wait until Christmas to hear them.

Georgia Northwestern Signs Silverdale’s Hall

(Chattanooga, TN) – Barely 18 years old, one of Chattanooga’s top prep prospects made the decision to ink with Georgia Northwestern in a May 10 signing at Silverdale Baptist Academy in Hamilton County, Tennessee.

John Hall, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound slasher, dropped in 15 points and pulled down 10 boards a game during his senior campaign with the Hawks. “He is a leader that plays above the rim. He’s truly a coach on the floor and that’s so helpful,” said Silverdale’s Head Boys’ Basketball Coach Randy Evans who will be entering his second year as top Hawk this fall.

“Whether I get in for one minute or twenty minutes a game in college, I just want to give what I can. God’s blessed me and I want to just be a part of it all,” said Hall in a signing-day interview. “They are giving me an opportunity. I’ll serve how I’m needed.” During his high school run, Hall helped lead Silverdale to its first-ever post-season regional tournament bid in the TSSAA’s Region 3-A bracket.

It was a reunion of sorts on this signing day as Georgia Northwestern Head Men’s Basketball Coach David Stephenson returned to familiar grounds. For three years, Stephenson served as a coach for boys’ and girl’s teams at Silverdale nearly a decade ago. “John (Hall), and a couple of other potential players for the three-spot, will be drilled vigorously to figure out where he will fit into the puzzle,” said Stephenson. “He’s a true inside-out presence.”

Hall first gained notoriety on a larger stage in another sport. At 12 years of age, Silverdale Baptist Academy’s John Hall was already on a roll. He represented the United States in an international bowling program sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress. “I think I placed like 54th in the world or something,” said Hall. “I then got to play on the varsity bowling team at Silverdale in the eighth grade. However, I wasn’t going to skip bowling for basketball so that was my last year of that.”

During his elementary school years, Hall primarily played Upward Basketball in Chattanooga. “Now that I look back on it, it was a great opportunity for up-and-coming players,” said Hall. “It’s like when I first gave my life to Christ, being a part of something where you get to preach through basketball is great.”

Evans and his Hawks will be filling a large hole in the 2013-14 season. “John just plays so much bigger than he is,” said Evans. “Other teams just realizing he can play both sides of the court successfully was a bonus for us. Most coaches ask me if he plays football, too. He’s got that size and strength that you usually see in a football player. Once he gets above the rim, he is going to finish.”

Now entering his seventh year as the Bobcats head coach, Stephenson says he is running a recruiting season in which he is signing student-athletes with what he calls “grit.” Stephenson says Hall fits that mold. “He brings a lot of character to our team. He’s the kind of person you just love to coach,” said Stephenson. “We have brought in a lot of solid good young men that understand this program is about success, but academic success, first and foremost.”

For more information on Bobcats Athletics at Georgia Northwestern Technical College, contact the Office of Sports Information at 706.764.3813, through BobcatsCountry.com, or by e-mail to dfoley@gntc.edu. Georgia Northwestern Technical College is the largest college in Northwest Georgia educating more than 10,000 students every year. GNTC offers more than 200 programs on five different campuses and online throughout the year.

I boarded the train, and found myself an empty seat in front of two men; I soon found out they were father and son. I was about to pull out my iPod headphones, when I soon heard the the father was a writer, and the son was following in his footsteps and currently studying journalism. Obviously, this sparked my attention, because I am a current journalism student as well. Their conversation moved from complaining about coworkers, to the best place to get curry chicken in New York, to crazy dance showcase costumes. It took me almost the entire train ride to realize it, but suddenly it dawned on me that I had listened to their entire conversation. I didn’t mean to, but somehow I got so lost in thinking about what they were saying that I couldn’t stop listening.

As their conversation went on, the father and son began talking about the family’s deep, dark secrets: who had an affair with who, who was a drug addict, who was arrested, etc. Let me tell you, these strangers have one interesting family. But that made me think: what secrets have I spilled in public, and more importantly, who heard them? It was quite an alarming thought, but all I can do now is hope that whoever has heard my secrets will never cross in my path again, and if they do, hopefully they won’t remember them.

Then another thought crossed my mind: why had I even listened to their conversation in the first place? I will (most likely) never run into these people ever again, and I really doubt I will ever meet the grandmother of the son (even though she sounded like one interesting person), so why did I continue to listen? And then another thought crossed my mind: why was I thinking so much about all of this?

And then I felt that I needed to be listening to their conversation, because the father said something that encouraged me. I heard the father talking to his son about Broadway stars, and he said, “You don’t want to live your life in the chorus. You want to be the one with the standing ovation.” And even though the father might not of meant that as advice, it really stuck with me. You see, lately I’ve been incredibly stressed out because I realized I am halfway done with college and I have absolutely no idea what I should be doing with my life after I graduate. And what that stranger said made me realize that whatever I decided to do with my career, I need to do it with my whole heart, and make a name for myself. Because, you see, I don’t want to live my life in the chorus.

Are you so sick of turning on the news and reading articles of various tragedies going on in and out of your community? I know I am, and to be honest it is one of the reasons I switched to Public Relations from Broadcast Journalism, I want to focus on bringing out the quality of life and fixing any trouble.

Well, there is always SOULPANCAKE to highlight the good.

I recently was introduced to SOULPANCAKE via their YouTube with their trending video of “Kid President”. Kid President is this adorable little boy who focuses on positivity and motivational speeches to encourage the movement of getting out there and changing the world. The video I embedded at the bottom of this post is the first of the series I have seen, WATCH IT. There are new videos every Thursday!

I also spent 22 minutes (Facebook off, Twitter off, iPhone 5 put away) to truly enjoy “My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech”. You have most likely seen this video trending on your Facebook feed, but maybe you haven’t watched it yet.

It is a documentary on how Zach, a victim to pancreatic cancer, chose to focus on living and not the fact that he was dying. Through music and the love of those around him, his story reminds us that every day is beautiful.

I encourage you to honor Zach, who passed away on May 20th, 22 minutes of your life and enjoy his last days.

“I want to be remembered as a kid who went down fighting, and didn’t really lose.” 

And now, if you need something to wipe away your tears, here is Kid President. (Only about 3 minutes out of your life).

“I think we all need a pep talk.”

After finishing the modelling, texturing and rigging of the character. The next methodical step was to present the characters dynamic poses on a plinth. Fine detail to the turntable speed was kept in mind here! At some point I would love to pose him in a proper post-apocalyptic environment to coincide with the theme of the movie.

Last year during one of the hottest days of the summer I was on the hunt for a college parking permit. After my last class I went to the cashier’s office in Alameda college to purchase one, only to find out that they had just sold the last one. A little aggravated but determined to get a permit I drove to Laney College only a couple of miles away. After looking for a parking spot for what it seemed like forever I finally reached the Laney tower 3rd floor. When I got there I saw the HUUUGE line all the way down the stairs of the building. I was not too happy about the waiting time which I approximated to be an hour or so but I had no option I needed that freaking parking permit. So I stood in line for about 2 hours!!! Not to mention the parking permit price had gone up significantly from $25 to $45!!!!! The only thing that made this experience slightly more tolerable was the student that was in front of me. I don’t even remember how the conversation started or what it was about. But I do remember we didn’t stop talking for those 2 whole hours. I basically told my life story to a total stranger and it felt great! Before we went our separate ways we exchanged information. A month or so later I found her on Facebook and have kept in touch. When I though about organizing a Glamour shoot I instantly though of Connie the girl I had met the year before in line for a parking permit. I first I was a little hesitant to ask because truth be told we were merely acquaintances. But it was so like her to immediately say yes. I was so happy and excited she had agreed. Although not everything went according to plan that day I still got to shoot some lovely portraits of my friend Connie. I hope she likes them!

My newest experiment is, and this is gonna sound Disgusting and Shocking, especially to the Wimmin, is “No Soap Showering.”

Now I like to be clean and hygienic, and still firmly believe that if you can nothing else, if you’re having a real bad day, for gods sakes at least try to have a shower or bath and scrub the 4ssjuice and Cold Stale Sweat off your body!

Still good advice. but now I’m wondering, how good is it for your skin to scrub it with soap every day? maybe just wash with a real gentle soap every other day. Or a mixture of Organic Lemon Juice or Baking Soda.

Back when I had hair, hehehe, I was breddy vain about it, even had beautiful long hair. I wanted it to be soft and healthy and strong and I got into the idea of “natural oils” and how all oil your body produces is not something bad that needs to be scrubbed away with abrasive soap and shampoo, then replaced with a conditioner or oils or creams developed by Plutocrats!

So I reduced my shampooing to maybe 2 or 3 times a week, still do. Hardcore people do it less, I am trying to get there.

Basically it boils down to not being disgusted by your own body, and having faith that your body has evolved or been designed to keep its own skin and hair healthy without throwing chemicals developed in the past 80 years on it.

Do you really think cavemen didn’t like WASHING themselves in a flowing stream? that they liked being filthy and dirty? NO, of COURSE they WASHED themselves. ANIMALS wash themselves. They just didn’t use all these soaps and creams and oils and stuff.

Again, not something you should tell on the mountain because Everyone Will Think You’re A Dirty Hippie Who Hates Being Clean. But I just suggest it as something to TRY for 30 days.

Unfort this will prob have little effect on yer feelz, but you might feeeeel proud of trying a Paleo Life Experiment.

Instead of wasting excessive time blogging or whining or 4channing or neckbearding or watching TV (THROW OUT YOUR TV! THAT IS A BIG PROBLEM RIGHT THERE!), try to spend some time every day LEARNING, and NO I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT SCHOOL.

[WARNING: I USE THE WORD "f4g" A LOT. MANY TIMES IN EVERY POST. You HAVE to get used to this.]

School is evil and awful and faggy and frustrating and soul-crushing just like work, hahahaha. It is a Huge Rip Off that IS DESTROYING MORE YOUNG PEOPLE THAN DRUGS, making young adults into SLAVES, debt slaves, that can’t get a job to pay off the “Education” that they thought would get them a job. I could have a whole blog talking about how much I Hate College and Education. Good LORD does the whole idea of Education need to be thrown out and began anew. It is HORRIBLE.

I will talk more about this, I can assure you. Later. In short, right now I am all about STEM Homeschooling for Children, followed up by Hardcore STEM University. If not that, then Trade School or Entrepreneurship. But on the whole, on average, right now in Murka, High School and College are HORRIBLE and need to be ERADICATED. Not sure about Grade School. Yeah that prob sucks too. Just Homeschool Yer damn kids. High Investment Parenting. More later.

But I think Math and Science are the Bedrock of a Strong Mind. F00k Lumosity, learn CALCULUS. and then when you’ve learned calculus, learn linear algebra and Diff EQ’s and Statistics. There is SO MUCH MATH beyond Calculus it’s not even funny, and the avg high schooler doesn’t even get to Calculus. The ones who do have a HUGE advantage and usually end up becoming Successful Engineers who make a TON of money and would never be reading these words. Unless they’re “depressed” about being Kissless Virgins, but to them I say, be happy because you make 80k a year and don’t live at home at age 30.

Not that living “at home” at age 30 is inherently bad, but MORE LATER. in short, it’s better to live at home and be thought a NECKBEARD LOSER by WIMMIN, than to Live Above Your Means and go into SLAVEMAKING DEBT just to PROVE something to somebody.

Now I recently have been taking College Calculus and it moves too damn fast and the classes were EXCRUCIATING and I totally BURNED OUT. But I still respect the value of math. just not the way they were taught in your typical Calc 1 or Calc 2 class. Oh God Calc 2 really crushed my soul. Just took that one. It was HORRRRRIBLE. I did the work and got a good grade but GOD DAMN. That came close to killing my interest in MATH, and I just can’t have that.

BETTER TO LEARN IT ON YOUR OWN, AT YOUR OWN PACE.

Use MIT Open Course Ware Vidyas. Use Khan Academy Vidyas. Use Dummies Books. Buy a textbook off amazon for $5 and go cover to cover at your own pace, doing all the problems, even if it takes you a year. it might take you a year to get through that fat Calculus book which prob covers Calc 1, 2, AND 3.

But I’m convinced that if you do it at your own pace, still doing the PROBLEMS because DOING PROBLEMS IS KEY to LEARNING MATH, that will do you a world of good.

I would suggest only taking the particular thing for College Credit only AFTER you’ve done all the material by yourself. because the class WILL go too fast otherwise, cramming too much stuff in, killing your appreciation and understanding.

It would really be best to DO THE PROBLEMS. I’m not joking. But I guess watching the vidyas would be good enough if your main goal at the moment were simply Not To Get Too Rusty. But IDEALLY you would do the problems.

Plus doing problems is GREAT Mental Workout and makes you feel SMART and is SO much better than WORRYING about stupid sh1t or WORRYING about what a loser failure you are.

I keep old photos of my family and friends in a box underneath my desk. There is one photo that I always choose to look at every time I open my box. It is of my sister, five cousins, grandma, and I. It must have been a special family party that was going on and I suppose my mom or one of my aunties wanted to take a picture of my grandma with all her grandchildren. My grandpa is not in the photo but I imagine that he was sitting down on the couch in our living room talking to my other grandparents in their native tongue, Tagalog. In the photo my grandma is sitting on a white chair while my sister, five cousins, and I surround her. From the looks of it, this was before the adults made us stay still as if we were taking class portraits. My grandma is smiling, looking to her right. Someone or something must have caught her attention.

I wonder how she felt in that moment while being surrounded by her Filipino and half Filipino-American raised grandchildren. Perhaps she was happy for us, that we had an easier but less disciplined upbringing than her own children. Or perhaps she didn’t enjoy the fact that some of us would grow up and become lazy. I lived under the same roof as my grandparents for more than half of my life and my mom and grandma would tell my sister and I many stories of the Philippines. Most of them were about the living conditions of the Province and how different it is than our home here. My grandma would begin the stories by saying, “You know, your mom when she was your age, she didn’t watch TV or play video games. We didn’t have that in the Philippines. She had many chores to do instead.”

My grandparents raised their six children in the Philippines in the Province La Union and lived in the town Cadapli Bungar. From photos that I’ve seen of my mom’s Philippine home there are dirt roads and small homes that can be mistaken for shacks. My mom described it as country and farmland. My grandpa owned land and would hire people to plow and plant the rice fields. Other types of agricultural work my grandparents were part of were farming, piggery, and poultry and part of my mom’s chores would be to feed the pigs, ducks, and chickens. As for my mom’s siblings, they had many similar chores as well. Growing up in the United States my sister, cousins, and I never had to take care of pigs or plants.

In the late 1980’s my grandparents moved their children to the United States. One of my grandparent’s sons never had the chance to move with them. When I was a child my mom told me he died in the Philippines but I never knew the full story until I was older. Uncle Crisostomo, Cris for short, was twenty-one years old and had just graduated from college and commissioned into the military as an officer. In the home I grew up in my grandma kept a photo of my uncle Cris in our hallway, it was from the day of his graduation. It was a sepia toned portrait of him in his uniform. His hair was neatly combed to the side and he resembled my grandpa. They had the same shaped eyes and a defined jaw line. He was so young. Throughout college he was living with my grandpa’s sister in the city of Manila along with his older brother, younger sister, and a few cousins who were attending schools in the city.

One afternoon uncle Cris’s friend, Francisco, who was also in the military, invited him out. They spent their time drinking and headed back home late, Uncle Cris was drunk. I imagine him concentrating as he walked, taking unsteady steps. His mind was most likely not completely aware of his surroundings. In this state, he was attacked by a few men, one of them Francisco. I have been told that uncle Cris was a man who knew martial arts and wanted to become a boxer but that night he was unable to protect himself; he could not fight back. It is hard for me to imagine my uncle caught up in this situation; helpless and vulnerable. I picture him on the black dirty ground of an alley way in Manila with no source of light shining on him and his attackers. I hear no screaming but only gasps of breath after every blow is taken on his body. He was beaten badly and hit on his head by a metal bar. I assume that is what knocked him out cold before slipping into unconsciousness, then slowly, death.

My family didn’t think anything of uncle Cris not returning home that night and since he was a responsible man they thought he was fine and would return home soon. Around 9 A.M. the next morning an officer came by the house that uncle Cris lived at. My uncle Alex, the oldest out of my grandparent’s children, answered the door. The officer presented him with a bloody shirt; it was the last recognizable clothing that uncle Cris had worn the night before. The officer asked if Crisostomo lived there. He then told my Uncle Alex that he needed to go to the morgue and identify the body. I imagine my uncle Alex at the morgue, his eyes turning into water falls of salty tears as he realizes that the unidentified body is his brother.

On that same day news of uncle Cris’s death was brought to La Union by my mom’s uncle Dan. It takes six hours to get to the Province by bus when leaving from Manila. She told me that on that day in La Union there was a parade and celebration going on and she was out with her other siblings. Their older cousin came looking for them and told them to go home. While this was happening, their uncle Dan told my grandpa what happened and soon after, they left for Manila including my grandma. My grandpa did not tell my grandma what happened until they arrived there. As for my mom and her siblings, they didn’t know what was going on. All they knew was that something bad happened to their brother, they didn’t know he was dead but their aunties constantly told them to clean up because they never know what the outcome could be. In Filipino culture, the viewing takes place in the home of the deceased. My mom told me she had an uneasy feeling while waiting for my grandparents to return home. Once my grandma was told the truth of what happened, I imagine her crying and hunched over and covering her face while my grandpa held her, comforting her and rubbing his hand up and down her back. My mom, aunties, and uncles were around the same age I am today, all paralyzed by the news of their brother’s sudden death. All of them in denial, thinking of the impossibility of it happening because they had just seen him.

My grandparents returned back to the Province but at first my grandpa didn’t know how he was going to transport the body because in order to do so, he would have to pay a fee for every town they passed through. I asked my mom how much it would have cost but all said was that there were many towns to pass and my grandpa didn’t have much money. Fortunately, my grandpa was able to have the body transported without a problem. He was also part of the military earlier in his life and many people respected him because of his generosity towards the people. It was his reputation and connections among people that allowed him to take his son home. My grandparents and many family members returned back to La Union where the viewing and funeral ceremonies would take place.

Throughout the investigation it was understood that Francisco Macanas set up my uncle Cris. The previous year my grandparents sponsored Francisco’s sister at her wedding. My mom told me that at the wedding celebration my grandpa sang a song but changed some of the lyrics. For whatever reason, the groom, also in the military, was offended. It was never confirmed by the police but my family knows for a fact that he planned the attack for revenge. Francisco was known by my family but he disappeared the day they found uncle Cris dead and after receiving a call from my family, demanding to know what happened. Perhaps the groom’s pride and ego was shot down by the song my grandpa sang and so to show others he was not having it he went after my blood, my pamilya. Justice was never served. From what I know, he still lives today in the Philippines, or, maybe he immigrated to the United States, who knows.

I look at the photo again and think of my uncle whom I never met. My eyes are fixated on my grandma wondering why her attention is not towards the camera. Perhaps that is why she is looking away, her thoughts far from the present but in the past. I think of how she felt when this photo was taken and whether or not she felt the absence of her son and the possibility of having more grandchildren, the cousins I will never have. Although I did not know him, there is an unexplainable feeling of incompleteness that I feel within my family. My uncle Cris should be here today. He should have had the opportunity to move to the United States, get married, have children, and watch his parents grow old. I should have had the opportunity to meet him, to know him.

Uncle Cris’s death left my grandparents, their children, and our whole family an incomplete puzzle, missing one piece forever.

—

This was written for a Creative Non-Fiction workshop class that I took last Winter Quarter. I interviewed my mom about everything that happened and I’ve only spoken to my grandma about this a few times, way before I turned it into a story/memoir piece. I always wonder what it would be like if he were still alive today.