Diverge From The Subliminal

Family goes out!

2009-06-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

We went to Ruby Tuesday's. Here are the blackmail pics. LOL!

Im doing a comic for my portfolio!

2009-04-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

For my portfolio im turning in im going to do a comic (Beyond Our Fears).

So I have a few friends to base my characters from (thanks you Jillian, Emily, Grace, and Elliott!).

It's going to be a 12 page comic in manga style.

Plot will be focused on Cavilla(Cah-vee-yah) who is a 19 year old Abertrinian who chances escape from her planet's tolitarian monarchy. She has no clue that she holds the information to save the Covert Sanctum Regime that is hidden somewhere, 45 million light-years away in the Overt Staunchnar Galaxy.

That is all I will give away for now.

Updates on the 4^th of May.

My Boyfriend

2009-04-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

This little boy is so adorable. This is my besfriends son, Zion. This is his first encounter with a laptop.

Walk around campus.

2009-04-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

Pretty pink flowers! I love these. I might pluck one.

Last week I walked around campus and just randomly snapped pictures near the busstop.
I want to know what you call these. They are so pretty.

Burned by the Night.

2009-04-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

She ran and ran and still she faught the air. She tried to be elusive but the hot grip had her held <>harshly. Her frantic demeanor blocked the oxygen from her breath-singed lungs.

The sun set.
She stopped.

She knelt. One hand on the pavement the other clinched tight to her chest as if she wanted to rip out her heart to save it from her newly distressed body. With her calf muscles drawn tight, she rose and raised her head as if to fight an animated stone lion. She imagined the impossible fight. She would rather fight than shutdown.

She knew either way she would die. Why not complete her book with a fight.

The midnight navy-blue gleamed on her bruised russet temple and she blamed him for it.

He had done nothing to prevent her harm. No heroic rendevouz from the scene. Nothing. In that one thought, precedent had been set for every man she will meet. They are nothing to her.

Her name is Agony.

The Results of Poverty in Haiti.

2009-04-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

HUSBAND ALMOST KILLED WIFE WITH A BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE AFTER FIGHTING OVER A $20 BILL, WIFE IS HOSPITALIZED AND AUTORITIES ARE STILL LOOKING FOR THE HUSBAND.
CLICK ON PICTURE TO PLAY VIDEO

This video demonstrates why we should help.

End to the Stereotypes I Didn't Believe In.

2009-04-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

In my arab film class with Mrs. Sheibany, we usually watch arab films and write papers on what the cinematic elements are. Its a fulfilling experience. This was one of the movies we watched called Arranged.

The Enviramentalist Epidemic

2009-04-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

The Environmentalists' Epidemic
World Malaria Day was observed yesterday, and finally real progress is being made on eradicating this killer disease - no thanks to environmentalists.

Exaggerated fears about the pesticide DDT spread by Rachel Carson's 1962 book, "Silent Spring," prevented this solution from being used for many years. For decades, a million or more people died from malaria annually in Africa, with children accounting for 80 percent to 90 percent of those deaths. When South Africa temporarily stopped using DDT in 1996 and switched to another insecticide, the number of malaria deaths increased 500 percent by 2000.

Countries in southern Africa and parts of Swaziland, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Madagascar led the way back to using DDT. They funded their own eradication efforts to get around international aid bans that forbid using the chemical. Their success was difficult to ignore, and international organizations grudgingly flip-flopped in favor of the chemical. The dam broke in September 2006 when the World Health Organization switched from a neutral stance on DDT to actively backing its use.

Minor measures have a major impact on prevention. Mosquito nets deployed in massive numbers are important, and small amounts of DDT sprayed on walls in vulnerable malarial regions once or twice a year are highly effective in deterring malaria-bearing mosquitoes from entering homes. Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund have started supporting limited use of DDT. Ironically, the Environmental Defense Fund was founded by scientists concerned about DDT.

John Bridgeland, vice chairman of Malaria No More, told this page, "We need all the tools we have to end deaths from malaria by 2015." He is working to bring religious groups and governments together to help end this epidemic. "Faith-based institutions have the ability to mobilize large numbers of volunteers who can hang bed nets properly and ensure that people know what to do when a child runs a fever," Mr. Bridgeland explains.

The United Nations' goal is to reduce malaria deaths in Africa to zero by Dec. 31, 2015. It's a tragedy that millions of victims died before simple, sensible, known weapons were used in this war against disease. In this era of climate-change scaremongering, this is a cautionary tale about acquiescing to the extreme measures environmentalists insist are necessary. Green ideas can kill people.
A very interesting post I found on WashingtonTimes.com. It had a very interesting stand point. Didn't really understand how they came to that conclusion.

My folio is quite lax.

2009-04-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

Since I've been at VCU, I've been working on my portfolio, frantically piecing it together. I want to eventually get into the art school here, but my outlook on that is quite bleek.

I want to talk about this picture and its meaning.

This is a surreal version of myself and the inspiration behind this was my mother and the most important thing I've learned from her over the years.

Raising a child with no self-esteem must have been hard on her. I always remember her being patient with me at the time even though she is not as patient now. I take all of the good and bad things we've been through and try to make something of it in my work.

The expression on my face in this picture is a misgiving. It seems that I am calm--at ease or sure about something, but that is the face I make when I'm being penalized by my mom. In my head I'd always repeat "She loves me. That's why she's angry at what I've done. The lecture shouldn't be too long".

The tiny font in the background says: "ITS YOUR LIFE."
[full size image]

Adidas Fingerpainting Contest.

2009-04-26T01:50:00.000-07:00

DeviantArt.com is having a contest for artists to show off their skill. Which ever entrant wins gets their work displayed in the store. Its a very high honor to get your work displayed at the official Adidas store in New York.

The entries they have recieved so far are very colorful and its safe to say that the work is cut out for the judges because the entrants are talented on a professional level and its really difficult to choose if some artist styles are similar. I imagine that it would come down to the most original piece of work instead of just talent alone.

Patrick Awuah Speaks.

2009-04-26T01:31:00.000-07:00

Awuah is a very smart man who makes you re-asses how you think. Its interesting how he lures you in with a personal story and then immediately asks you to imagine a well thought out society with thoughtful leaders and a cooperative community. He is very enthusiastic and it makes me want to do something about the problems in Ghana.

Worlds Apart and Addicted.

2009-04-25T23:51:00.000-07:00

In this video it introduces you to an addict and his girlfriend and how their lives evolve around heroine. They lost everything to support their addiction and its really upsetting to see.

It's really hard for me to understand how people get addicted to drugs especially when I've been programmed to avoid anything that is harmful or even appears threatening.

I remember as a ten-year-old pinky swearing with my sister to never try drugs or alcohol and buy every Spice Girls album. So far I kept my pinky swear (excluding the Spice Girls end), but its really easy to say no especially when we were taught that drugs and things along that line isn't all it seems and how its portrayed in television is deceiving. Not to mention the paparazzi always have a celeb acting out after a hit.

Problems of the World Today.

2009-04-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

Okay so I tried my best to find something to write about and I failed. I did what America does best. I googled Problems of the World. Thats when it hit me. Why am I google-ing something so obvious and broad. I always make fun of the people who dont use their own mind and here I am doing the same thing.

Google is so easy that it take the guess work out of where to find a source of intertainment or the answers to trivial questions. I mean how else would we know the capital of Mauritania or how fashion week in Japan went?

There are just so many unnecessary things that people search today just because they can. Its also fair to say that Google doesn't help by having a search engine for everything. For example Google has a search engine for most popular searches on their search engine. Thats just a bit much.

The research world has forever change since search engines were created but, its fair to say that Google is the most well-known and used by internet surfers. The statistics prove it.

Contraversial Weight Loss Alert!

2009-04-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

This website may contain material unhealthy for children under 14.

http://www.pro-thinspo.com/index.html

The girls in this video seem healthy but are they? Even mentally? For certain they are quite vain.
I was browsing thorough the webpage. I did not like what I saw..
To put it simply it was motivation to keep thin young women thin.

There's nothing wrong with trying to keep a thin figure but when that thin figure is drowned out by an emaciated body there may be something wrong.

Didj00noe 2poyntoe. (did you know 2.0)

2009-04-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

In a world where our leaders are smart, savvy, and school-aged--technology is key.

Take these megabites, store them to your harddrive because in this computer age... shift happens.

I totally youtube-d this video. It was interesting, but I have no clue what to do with the information in that video.

As an amateur graphic designer myself, I find this very disturbing.

Do I run around in a circle ranting to my lucky stars or do sit and assess my options in this techno age?

Cipher Me Ridiculous

2009-04-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

I find it very hard to write about today's problems with vigor and endurance. Usually I start an assignment because its necessary and I start with enthusiasm and sidle down to procrastination. I love homework because it gives me something to whine and complain about. With that being said--I mean--written, I will continue to be blandly confusing and ridiculously cryptic because I like writing that way. Not to mention my personality is the complete opposite of my writing style, except for the explanatory parts.

Rambling, cryptic, unanimated... doesn't it sound fun?

Extension. You Wont Find This On Television.

2009-04-23T15:19:00.001-07:00

Memory is a funny thing. It makes you remember things that arent there, distorts things, or could have you clueless because you can't remember at all.

The article I read was about false image memory and how you can remember something being close-up or wide depending on how much time you had between the views of that something.

The article reminded me of something I read in my Crime and Science class for a test. In essence, the images we remember are similar to this:

"The observer looks at the first image... that produces an enlarged image (virtual image). The image the eye perceives--a real, projectable image does not exist where the virtual image appears to be..."

(Fundamentals of Forensic Science. Houck, Siegel. 83.)

Confusing? Now is it clear that memory is one of those untouchables that no matter how close you get to an answer, the further away you get from logic and reason.

Laundry's Done. We've Brainwashed the Children, Al.

2009-04-23T15:16:00.002-07:00

I read an article about how the country is brainwashing middle school-aged children to question, squeal, and disobey their parents; and how Al Gore's speach plays a role in it.

After about a paragraph in, I could tell a conspiracy was about to flood any fact-based proof that this article could've had.

The whole thing was littered with Nazi's and Gore's evil plot. There is no point to this article if the children arent affected by this so-called "brainwashing".

Okay. I'll admit that some of his conviction had a point. Example: Gore says that

"You know things that an older person [doesn't] know."

Basically he is saying that kids are more knowlegeble than adults and it could be dangerous but there was no proof in the article-- no statistics to point out that it is dangerous.

All I have to say is why go there? Do you really have to make obsessed people look even more crazy?

His Stories as We Once Learned Them

2009-04-23T15:16:00.001-07:00

Fourth grade was very unforgiving when it came to history, back when history was still social science. Its almost test day and we were learning our presidents. Our teacher, Mr.Conyers had us take our books from our desks to read aloud the chapters. I hated those eighteen ton text books that were so wraught with the ghastly burgandy, navy,and plastic.

I was one of the few kids in my class that wasnt intellectually gifted who had the love of facts and dates.

It was easy sitting there just reading about the second president; where he was from and when he came into office.

I read and read, like it was a Schoolastic. Everyday I read more and more till I came across Bill Clinton. His bit was interesting because instead of reading like 1804-1812, his second date said Present. While letting that one date be the highlight of all my reading, I forgot everything I had studied. I failed the test and I dont know the fourteenth president from the fourty-first.

Why do we have to know them all?

Rainy Fear

2009-04-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

My Sister, My little brother, and I were spending time together, huddled in the dark like we always do.

It was Friday, 2003 I recall. My brother, sister, and I were enjoying our favorite show at the time, Spongebob Squarepants, laughing and yelling lines we remembered from the last eight times we've seen this episode.

"Bring it around town. Bring IT around town."

As we sat there on the floor with my pitiful, flattened mattress anyone had ever seen cushioning us our fun was halted when my mom peeked in to ask us to quiet down.

"Hey! Little people. Quiet down for me, please."

My mother a very stern woman who, forgiving at times, was surprisingly patient speaking to us that time stood there in a bright, red dress that practically swallowed her whole. She meant what she said as she gave us her motherly eye sweet, unforgiving. I remember there was a time when my mother was sugary to us but my younger brother was born and my father did less and less to help her and from that became somewhat bitter feeling obligated to be a diciplinarian with no help from my father.

The lights went out with lightning with thunder immediately following.

"Mommy!"

My brother cried for assurance, then I felt him move from his seat between my sister and ran for my bedroom door where my mother stood.

We moved to the living area and sat on the couch. It was pitch black and sticky hot that was made more dramatic with the lightning and the uneasy whimpers of desperation from my brother who was seven at the time. My mom comforted him with reassurance.

"Its okay, Ashton. Our lucky stars are talking."

It had been forty minutes and forty seconds as told by the lit gentlemans watch my dad wore before the storm stopped.

Every storm afterwards we asked this question:

"What are our lucky stars saying?"

She never answered that question.

Superman threw bricks... "crazy good!"

2009-04-23T14:49:00.001-07:00

A few thanksgivings ago my mom and dad decided to share baby stories with my sister; Ariana, my brother; Ashton, and I. They eventually ran out of stories to tell when we asked them about their childhood.

"Mommy? Daddy? Did you ever get in trouble when you were little," I asked.
"No," they replied simultaneously as if not to incriminate themselves.
Ariana asked "How about anything stupid?"
My mother responded "No--I'll tell you later."
My father said "Well there was a time when I did some ridiculous things."
"Like what, Daddy," we all asked.
"Well, I was about 11 maybe 12 when me and my younger bro decided to go and play in the yard for a bit. It was early--almost 6 am. Me and Uncle Frank played catch in the backyard until one of his friends came over and invited him to hangout at his house. I was left alone so I got bored tossing the ball at the fence. I thought why not try something different. Thats when I went up to the side of the walkway, picked up a loose brick."
"Daddy, you broke a window," I asked.
"No. Let me finish, Aneisha. I picked up a brick and started heaving it like they do in the olympics nowadays. You know. Shotput. We had a forest right behind our house, so at best it would hit a tree."
"Ohhhh!" we all said.
"So as I spun and heaved that brick, I heard my momma call me inside in that tone she uses when she's angry. She scared me so bad, I let the brick go in half spin, ran towards the front of the house and hid behind a car so she couldn't see me. Just then..." WHOCK "...the same brick I let go in half spin flew over the house, past the front yard, over the car, and ever-so-nicely landed on the top of my head."
"Wow! Daddy, that is so cool!. You're my superhero," exclaimed my little brother.

Some stories you never forget, but what makes this particular story special for me was my little brother's reaction.