Weekly Assesments

I liked having one assignment to do weekly, because I knew what I had to do and when it had to be done. And they weren't hard, and the readings weren't long. It was much better than indefinite assignments, or multiple ones throughout the week like the ones I got from other teachers.

Using Google Drive

I was already familiar with Google before this class, and had an account and used Gmail. But I LOVED that the prof required everything to be Google Docs! I don't have Word because I can't PAY for it so when teachers require Word documents I have to use online converters and it's a lot of extra work. But using Google Drive makes it 100% easier to turn stuff in and collaborate on group projects.

Blogging

I like blogging in this class. I never had before, nor did I follow any blogs that weren't on Tumblr. But this has led me to interesting profession blogs, and it also helped me make some friends in the class through comments and posts. Overall I think it's a cool idea.

Doc3 Peer Quotes

I related with Erica Barbour's Doc3 posts the most this week. Her writings on "My inability to do stuff on time" describe me very well. I feel for her not being able to "do anything with my topic of choice". I'm right there with ya Erica! Why did I think I could find sources? Or do anything right? Ever? WHY?! *bangs head against wall* Literally I just keep procrastinating this paper. I'm sitting here with the tab open watching Cake Boss. My week has been so long. I'm ready for some naptime.

Aaaaaaaaand Another Post About the Uncertainty of My Future

I did go to Nashville last weekend to see Belmont University. I've also toured Mercer (not going there though) and Georgia College & State in Milledgeville.

So the question is, will I go to a school 45 minutes away from my house, or 6 hours? Six hours seems like a long time when you're in the car. What if I hate college? If we're being honest, I'm a total baby. I cry so much. And I don't really think it's that bad, I just have a lot of feeling and it comes out in tears. I mean, sometimes I cry when I watch a really good movie, or think about how amazing it is that we are specks of dust in the universe who know how to love. But what if my roommate doesn't get that and just hates me? What if I can't live without my mom?

Belmont is definitely a better school. It's also more expensive. And it has a BFA program, but... I don't know, there are a lot of rich white kids there. And I wouldn't know anyone is Nashville. And getting my degree in four years would take a lot of work. Plus, I don't know if they credit internships there, like the Disney College Program, an experience I'm obsessed with having.

The fact is that Belmont would be way more of a risk than GCSU would, and it scares me. I don't know whether to do the safe thing or choose a potentially scary choice. Being a senior isn't as laid back as I thought is was going to be. It's okay. I'll figure it out.

I feel like a lot of my posts end with "I'll figure it out", because that's the place I'm at in my life, where I'm constantly figuring it out, so I 'll end on something different today. Pancakes. There ya go.

The (Peer) Reviews Are In!

I really like peer reviewing in this class. Some people think it's a lot of work for the students, but you know, it'd cool to hear someone who's not the professor give their opinions on your papers. No offense, Professor Hamon. I also like giving advice because it feels like I'm helping someone finish something, and then it's kind of my victory too, you know?

Doc3 (WEE!)

Doc3 has been really hard for me. After I did the Mind Map, instead of starting on it right away, like I usually do with assignments, I had to put if off because I was simply too busy to worry about it. It was tech week before opening night of Annie at Theatre Macon, which meant I was in three-to-four hour rehearsals every night, and then I had my college visit to Nashville, and I could make excuse after excuse as to why I was too busy. I looked up and it was the 15th and I had no draft! I have to say, the most important part of college seems to be time management. Guess who's really bad at time management? Yeah. So that's probably been the hardest part of writing it, not the actual content. Like I said, I've had an outline since the beginning. However, I have no idea how I'm going to turn that outline into a paper and find academic sources (for The Muppets. Yeah. It's a challenge.) in like two days?? I know I'll get it done, I always do. God, I can't wait for break next week.

Favorite Blog

Honestly, my favorite blog was my own. I am pretty charismatic and funny. And I have those cool fish you can feed at the bottom of the page! I feel like I agree with myself on a lot of subjects too, such as in my "Right To Bear Arms" post, when I said "I think life would be easier f all the guns were taken away and replaced with real bears". What a humorous and current point to make. Like Emma, I also read a lot as a child, so I feel that we have a lot in common. I'm so glad this course helped me connect with Emma.We will be best friends forever.

Rewriting Documents

I love that we have the chance to rewrite in this course. Some of us are unclear on expectations the first time around, and it's useful to have another try. And some of us also have group members who inexplicably seem to be dead, who won't write their parts of the paper and won't respond to emails. So the whole "having another try" thing gives me time to cover for them by doing their work...again. So that's fun.

I'm sorry this is really passive-aggressive. But being aggressive-aggressive didn't work with this person who hasn't been in class in two months. I saw him on campus yesterday going to my other class, and he had the gall to look at me and smirk. And I just stared at him with the passionate heat of a thousand suns, burning him slowly to ashes.

Rainy Days

I love this weather so much!! I can't stand humidity, which isn't good if I want to work down in Florida and everything...yikes. But I like hot summer rains, when it feels like the whole earth is letting out a drenching sigh of relief, and I like winter-fall rains, when it's cold enough for sweaters and foggy breath and great blanketed skies. And we're finally getting appropriately-November-cold.I felt like I was being cheated out of autumn, a little.

Also I'm excited because I'm doing a COLLEGE VISIT this weekend to Belmont University in Nashville...I'm going to look at their performance degree, but I don't really think I want to get a degree in performance, I want to do theatre management. I think Columbus State has theatre management, but I also want to go out of Georgia. Idk, on the other hand, Nashville is all artsy and cool but something like seven hours away. Not sure if I'm ready to be that far away. It's really hard to think about all this. Living on my own and stuff. I feel like there's no way I can ever be prepared for something like that. But it's coming! Woo.

Child/Adult Conflict

There will always be some level of conflict between children and adults. Both have the uncanny ability to be completely themselves: children never think of when they will be adults, and adults have trouble picturing themselves as children. This creates a kind of gap that can't really be filled unless the two meet in the middle.

"Childhood Games"

So did everyone but me play hopscotch or red rover as a kid? I most definitely did not. I had more important things to do. Instead, I actually spent 85% of elementary school reading.  I believe this came from having an English teacher for a father and a women's studies teacher for a mother (she has a degree in literature).

Yep, this was me at fourteen months.

Don't get me wrong, I had Hi Ho Cheeri-o and Candyland (I always cheated so I could get the Queen Frostine card), but the shelves in my room were stacked with books. Dr. Seuss, Curious George, and Maisy the Mouse were my friends in preschool. My mom told me that before I could read, when I was a toddler, I would take books off shelves and flip through them, looking at the pictures and pretending to read words I didn't know out loud in gibberish. And it continued in the same way throughout elementary school, really, with me always having a couple books with me. I brought books on field trips, in case we had down time. I read on the bus and at lunch.

I think it was really a way to escape to wherever I wanted to be. I used to reading as a way to control my environment. If I wanted to be in a fantasy land, then I could open a book and be there. But that fixation also made me a romantic, and a general purist. When I got to high school, I thought life could never be enough for me or measure up the way books did. And maybe that's true, that life will never be like a book. But I am really glad I loved reading for so long (still do! I just don't carry three to five books on my person anymore). I think it's made me educated, and it did give me a way to escape in the darker points of middle school. At some point, I had to wake up, right? To the real world. Those were my childhood games- the ones I played with reality.

Writing With Empathy

Writing is a way to communicate, and as such, you need to approach it with communication skills. I believe writing with empathy is one of these skills. Empathy in writing comes across as respect for different points of view. Respecting your audience and maybe not throwing your own opinions in their faces. We practiced this some in our Wikipedia articles, but that was just for the sake of professionalism and contribution to an unbiased source. It's good form to incorporate into all your writing.

Right to Bear Arms (ROAR!)

Can you believe the people in the South who would rather lose the freedom of religion than their right to keep deadly weapons that cause millions of deaths every year in the U.S. in their homes?

I think that question sums up my opinion on the matter.

I think life would be easier if all the guns were taken away and replaced with real bears. They would be significantly less dangerous in the hands of Southerners. I couldn't be that cruel to the bears, though.

Family conflict

Family life can be hard. Not for me, but for some people, I'm sure. Like Sarah Vowell.

My parents are both democrats. They may not understand some of the new gender and sexuality plectrums, but for the most part they're accepting of them. They don't like gun violence, they're feminist and unbiased. So we get along pretty well. 

A family that isn't mine.

One time I really wanted a magic spinning fairy wand from a booth at the fair and they told me "Maybe later", so I tried to get them to go back and buy it for me when we were walking to the car, and they said no. That wasn't a fun day for me. But I was seven, so it wasn't as traumatic as you might think.

"Nuclear" family

I know nuclear means immediate family, but I have a great, uneventful relationship with my family, so I thought, what if I compared them to a nuclear explosion? They're not, of course. We are some of the calmest people you will ever meet. We are all artists, writers and illustrators and singers and actors, but like I said, we have a constant, even relationship. If anything, I was the nuclear explosion a few years ago. " ", writes Manning. I've got to say I know a little about what that's like. I was a lit fuse ready to blow in my self-identity crisis when I was thirteen and fourteen, trying to dye my hair black and understand the secrets of the universe. No, my family has always been supportive and patient, even through my "hatred" phase (don't lie, we all had one). They were my gas mask in the nuclear disaster of growing up. Wow, that sounded a lot better in my head. No, that was a lie, it didn't. It sounded just as bad.

Others' Posts?

A lot of the posts I saw were pretty sad, and I realized I'm pretty lucky that I'm very close with my family and have two parents who are still married. I could relate to a few: Matthew Griffin wrote about his relationship with his sister, which "could get heated at times", but when she left for college they hugged and knew they loved each other. I have a younger brother that I fight with sometimes, but I know he loves me.
Another one I could relate to was Tiffany's post about how close she is with her family. She writes "A lot of people think I'm weird for not wanting to move out." I still think the world is a little scary, and I'm excited of course, but also a bit nervous to move out next year for my real freshman year.

Info from my Wiki Article

I really don't know what I'm going to write about for this paper, and it's kind of freaking me out. My topic I wrote about was the Muppets in Disney theme parks (I want to work at Disney World while in college, and after college I'd like to work for Muppets Studios, so this was kind of a combination of both of those). I did find out a lot of information (the future of attractions according to the VP of Muppet Studios, for example), but I don't know how to use that for my paper. Maybe I'll argue something from the Disney side rather than the Muppets side. An academic paper about Disney World...I could do that. But what do I argue??

Writer's Block & Tattoos

One of our assignments was to write about two of our classmates' posts. I enjoyed reading a post from Erica Barbour about writer's block, in which Barbour describes the feeling as an "unfortunate disease". I'm not sure why I found that phrasing so funny, but I laughed for a while. She goes on to capture pretty well the frustrations that come with writer's block.

The other post was about tattoos, and was written by Mariah Cummings. Cummings generously included pictures in her posts that show beautiful sketch tattoos of flowers and an eye. Her favorite, and my personal favorite also, is a watercolor tattoo, with beautiful coloring and a wolf. Cummings says under the picture that watercolor is her "favorite kind of tattooing". I agree; I really think watercolor lines and blending are beautiful in tattoos.

Effective Intro to Wiki

A Wikipedia introduction needs to be, above all, informative. The hook that engages the reader can often be new information provided; I've found that works well to captivate the reader and keep them...well...reading. An opening just generally needs to reinforce what they're about to read in the meat of the article, so I'd say keep in simple, interesting, and informative.

Wiki Editing

I think it's not as much what I learned from the research (which was a good bit...now I'm thinking about maybe studying business for my field...that would be a pretty big change though, I don't know) as what I learned about editing Wikipedia - a very useful skill to have, for you and for others- and academic writing in general. This was good practice for learning to write in a specific tone and style appropriate to the situation. A lot of students out of high school are used to writing persuasively, and it's important to know how to get away from that. Wikipedia has served as a writing window, sort of as a professional practice field for our writing.

Hoodie Ideas?

I just got this new hoodie that's plain and light-grey, and I'm trying to figure out how to make it cool. I really like this collar idea.

Look at how cool that is!

I might splatter-paint it. That would be cool. But I don't love splatter painting. Then again, it may be the easiest option...

Another website has a way to take an old quilt a sew a patch on from it. That's definitely something I never would have thought of.

Pretty cool, but I don't have all the time in the world to do something like that to it. I still have to finish my Doc3.

Well, I'll think of something. 

Wikipedia Organization

I've already talked a little bit about my article and its lack of sufficient information. The subsectio. Of the article only features the Muppet movie at Disney World and Disneyland and the audio-animatronic roving lab deployed in Hong Kong. That leaves a lot to cover. In addition to revising those sections, I'm adding information about

• Muppet pins sets dating back to 1990
• Current closure of the MuppetVision attraction at Disneyland California Adventure due to the Frozen Celebration show
• The rumors and fear that Disneyland's MuppetVision and Hollywood Studios' Muppet area may be closing permanently to make room for expansions, and the interviews with Steve Whitmire and the VP of Muppet relations with Disney that address these rumors.
• The Give A Day Get A Disney Day campaign

I might do some more work, but I am working on finishing up my reading list and sources. Yay!

Find The Humor

Life is pretty short, and a lot of the time your control over situations is pretty limited. So my thinking has always been that I want to live well and fully, the best I can, and with a positive prescence. Trying your best to be happy will often actually make you feel better. And, personally, I'm a really empathetic person, so making other people happy makes me feel better about myself! I want to leave the world a little better than I found it, even if it just means making a few more people laugh.

So, having this philosophy, humor is your best friend in awkward situations. If someone's going to laugh at your mistakes, why can't you? Life is too short to take yourself so seriously.

Stereotypes

So I guess this post is supposed to be about gender stereotypes? Great. This'll be fun.

First, gender is a concept made up by men, sort of like the idea of time-- it keeps everything orderly and pigeonholed, but it doesn't really have any logical reasoning behind it. It's a huge spectrum. Female and male doesn't begin to cover it. Transgender, genderfluid, and agender all exist, too. So I just wanted to point out that gender is much bigger than male and female. (And by the way, none of these have to do with a person's sexuality, either: gender is who you are, and your sexuality is who you are attracted to.)

And now, male and female stereotypes. I understand that men are also sometimes stereotyped. And I hate that men aren't seen as emotional, or think they have to work out to be conventionally attractive, or something, but if you EVER believe that male stereotypes are more hurtful than female, you are KIDDING yourself. And you are living in ignorance.

Female stereotypes- weak, docile women who are never in control. Never leaders. Don't have the brains or bodies to hold power. Only exist for male satisfaction, or servitude, or anything. This thinking is what has created rape culture. This thinking is the reason that every two minutes a person is sexually assaulted. This thinking is the reason girls ages 16-19 are FOUR TIMES MORE LIKELY than the general population to be victims of sexual assault (x). While some men are tired of trying to act tough, thousands of women are being assaulted and killed every day because of what we call misogyny. Why? Because boys have not been taught that respect and consent are basic human rights. Because people ask questions like "What was she wearing?" Because women who are assaulted are scared to go to police for help. Because people think "the friendzone" is A REAL THING. Because women who choose to have sex are sluts but women who choose not to are prudes. Because of the lengths media and pop culture will go to to promote objectification. Because women are suffering and the men who are the cause do not seem to care. 

Women are not objects. A woman is not a "piece of ass" or a "She's got a nice rack". Women are people. Women are complex, and layered, and so, so different from each other. Strong, sensitive, funny, angry, brave, cowardly, neat, messy, nervous, tough, heroic, evil, well-rounded, real.

Women are important. And women have nothing to do with men's expectations.

Reading for my Wiki Topic

My Wikipedia topic research has been a little difficult. I'm writing about the Muppets, so naturally my academic sources are lacking. I am having to stick to video sourcing and professional blogs. I typed "Muppets" into Google Scholar, and apparently MUPPET is an abbreviation for Maryland University Project in Physics and Educational Technology.

I'm actually pretty excited about updating the Wikipedia. It is in serious need of one. My paragraph is pretty specific, but if I want to know information on the Muppets in theme parks, someone else SOMEWHERE must too, I hope.

Incredibly messy

In some aspects, I am a very neat person. I do my laundry once every week or two, I make my bed in the morning, all the trinkets on my desk are always lined up. But as a person, on the inside, I'm very messy.

The lines in my head are blurred, about what's the most important or what I dedicate the most time to thinking about. In some of my classes, I can't focus enough to take notes because I can't help thinking about a band or a movie. But something that's been snagging me lately is my messy, strewn-everywhere thoughts about college. Where am I applying? When do I have to do it? I'm going to do poorly on the SAT, I should study, I can't study, What do I want to do? What's my major? Will I be able to get a job that I like? That I love? Who am I? What can I do? Sometimes I feel like I don't even know myself.

It can all be overwhelming. This is what my anxiety, my panic feels like. All these things build up, and have you done your homework have you cleaned the kitchen did you remember to get gas? And it suddenly feels like a lot, even though (real) college is a year away. I can't control everything whirling around in my head, and it gets tiring to try.

But there are things I like about having my thoughts as messy as they are: I can make things. I create, I act, I have ideas every second. Ambitious projects that I'll never start on, crazy trips that I don't have money for. I can count on my head to come up with new things, things no one else can see. And I love that. I love being an artist. Inside, even though it might be easier to be a lawyer or banker, I have passion, and oh how I use that passion in liberal arts. A whirlwind of color, of beauty, of new eyes, showing people new ways to think. My scary, deep, uncontrollable mind is an ocean, vast and rich and untamed, wild and free, beautiful chaos. And I wouldn't trade that for being left-brained or file-cabinet-oriented for anything in the world.

Value of MLA Style

As we know, different citations and methods of citation are used for different subjects (and assignments). For liberal arts academic papers, the MLA format is often used, which is more simple than some other forms. It often does not require a title page, and sometimes you may not even necessarily have to have in-text-citations or footnotes. For these reasons, it can be easier for a beginner to use than APA or maybe Chicago formatted citations (which are used for scientific or historical papers).

Wikipedia writer's voice

Your writer's voice in Wikipedia needs to be professional. It is the equivalent of a modern, all-encompassing encyclopedia, after all! Use correct grammar and punctuation. Only write relevant material that's important to the article. Write in a business tone, always use sources, and make sure to use the space for your topic efficiently. Most importantly, withhold your own opinions and write only unbiased facts.

Gay Marriage Essays

Gay marriage seems like a weird thing to look at in class, with how controversial it is, but I did like the essays. Well, the second one. The first one was annoying. And my reasoning in that is, right off the bat Colson claims that queerness only began when the sexual revolution "led to the decoupling of marriage and procreation". When has marriage ever only been about procreation? If humans were only here to make more humans, why bother with marriage at all? Everyone just have at it, with every man and woman you meet. The more the merrier.

Marriage is a bond that is not sex. Marriage may not have always stood for love and support, as it does (in most cases) today, but it has always represented unity and partnership. And I'm not sure why Colson thinks allowing people of the same gender to marry is capable of "destroying" the idea of family. Allowing people to get married brings families closer, it makes new ones, it creates nothing but good possibilities. Maybe it's only Colson who thinks of marriage as a vice for procreation. Infertile couples, elderly couples, couples who don't want kids, all marry happily and freely. I believe Colson needs to stop making excuses for his discrimination and see that marriage is about hope. It's about happiness. And it's about love.

Wikipedia Topic

**THIS WAS A DRAFT I MADE ON TUESDAY AND FORGOT TO POST. I WROTE THE ENTIRE POST ON TUESDAY.

I've decided the topic I'm going to edit is the Muppet page. This isn't just a trivial fan-editing for me, because it IS a page relating to my profession- I want to work with the Muppets, puppeteering for the Jim Henson Company. I would really like to work with The Muppets Studio in the style and creative team of the Muppets' standings in Disney resort parks. And on the Muppet page, the subcategory of ties to the Disney company through theme parks needs A LOT of work and editing. There's almost no information, and what is there is outdated. So that's what I'm going to be working on! I'll have t research official ties with the Disney Parks, including attractions, merchandise, entertainment, and general presence.

Handling Doc 1 Thesis

A thesis, as we learned from the book this week, can really be the most important part of a paper. All scholarly papers have one. It's a really good way to sum up your ideas and all the topics and points of your paper into one summary, and a good thesis can really round out a shaky paper.

What we did for our Doc 1 thesis was actually wait until all the paragraphs of our paper were finished. I then went back and, looking at all of the main points of our paper, added them all in to make a thesis that expressed our paper properly! This helps me a lot when looking for ways to write one. I used to get a little overwhelmed trying to think my entire paper through to make my thesis first, but I've found saving it for last is very helpful and can be more effective, too.

Handling Doc 1 Readers

Handling someone who is editing your paper is similar to your approach to editing someone else's paper. Both require courtesy and respect. I've seen some people stay on their documents and hover while peer editing is going on, or try to tell the editors they don't know what they're talking about, how dare they attack my amazingly great paper! The reality is the peer editors are just trying to help and do their assignment, and their advice could be pretty helpful! So being respectful and listening is important above all else.

Wikipedia Reader

The thought of someone reading an article that I helped write is pretty cool to me, even if they are a stranger. I can hardly picture thousands of them. I knew Wikipedia had a user-friendly editing system, but I kind of pushed that knowledge to the back of my mind and assumed it was the Internet fairies that came up with the sources and information.

But it's not! It's real people like us, in college around the world (as wiki editing is becoming more and more common as secondary education assignment work).

So I'm really intrigued by a Wikipedia reader viewing my edits and work. I think it's important to not only be professional, but use reliable sources. Giving information is a privilege, and you can't abuse it.

Wiki Topic

I'm a bit nervous about choosing a wiki topic, as I have never edited a Wikipedia page before. I may choose one on theatre, but I'll probably try to stick to puppetry. The Jim Henson page gets quite vague the further down you scroll, so maybe I'll edit that one. It's all a pretty interesting assignment; I assume we'll have to find scholarly sources and that sort of thing. I'm excited!

Profession Blogs: Walt Disney World

I'm posting about Disney World today! ...and not just because I'm going on Saturday and I CAN'T WAIT ONE MORE SECOND. I titled this as a profession blog because I DO want to work there, but I didn't really go into specifics here. This is just a little on why I like the park.

I've been to Disney three times, and each time I've been a little more crazy about it. Not crazy in the I-have-all-these-Disney-movies crazy; I didn't really even watch the Princess movies growing up. I think I could see Aladdin, Mulan, and The Little Mermaid II. (My parents didn't want me to have body image issues later on, they say.) What I love is the theme park. It takes a real observer to notice it (and if anything, I am an observer), but Walt Disney World is so detailed. You can see something new every time you visit if you look closely enough.

The ride queues are so intricate and have so many hidden gems in them. There are Mickeys paved in the roads. Each cast member (employee) at the park has a role to fill, a way to act and dress based on where they're located in the park. Disney focuses on the little things rather than the overall experience, and it can make a huge different on a guest's experience. And I think the way all the tiny gears come together and make something wonderful is a really incredible thing.

Have you been to Disney World? Did you like it? Tell me why!

Writing To Learn

Something I really like about this class is the writing requirement. I know that sounds crazy; I don't mean I love having homework. But I think the best way to become a better writer is to practice. The best way to become a better anything is practicing. With writing especially, you can't sit down and know. It's not facts, it's art. Making the words smooth, letting them flow properly.

My dad's an english professor with published poems, so it's kind of a big deal for me to know how to write. I even thought I wanted to be a writer, for a little while (before I realized I couldn't sit still for that long...but acting isn't far removed from writing, it's just telling stories with your body instead of with your words). But I still believe writing is so important. It's a way to communicate. It's always changing and expanding and evolving, and it can change people as much as people change it. And that is really what "writing to learn" is all about.

Adjusting

High school wasn't very much fun for me. I didn't have a lot in common with the people I was with. I wasn't 4.0-enough to hang with the smart kids, or drunk enough for the football-team-and-cheerleader crowd, and I didn't have enough facial piercings to feel at home with the "alternative" crowd. I was kind of stuck. I rotated between the groups, never fitting into anything, hanging out with everyone a little. My teachers saw that I was drifting, and several told me the same thing again and again: "You'll do great in college".

So I guess I've been waiting for college like it was the promised land, full of parties and Fall Out Boy playing at 3AM and boys mature enough to date, a mixed bag of independence. I didn't think once, among all my different fantasies, about how much schoolwork would be involved.

I'm so glad I decided to go the MOWR route and experience my first college classes as a senior, because I think I would lose it if I jumped next year into a new state, new town, new room, paying bills and health insurance, grocery shopping, driving everywhere; even parallel parking (!!!)...AND having 5 or 6 rigorous academic classes a week. Because in addition to figuring yourself out, college is a lot of work. You make your own schedule, and procrastinating can drive you into the ground deeper than any "I didn't do my homework because I didn't feel like it" could in high school.

At the same time as feeling a little overwhelmed, I'm kind of proud. I'm trying not to let anxiety run my life. I went out to dinner last night and ate chocolate lava cake with a friend, and I didn't feel like crawling into a hole and dying from shirked responsibility. So this has shown me that I think I'll be ready next year. Everything moves fast when you're a teenager. But if you breathe and have time to get on Netflix every little while, it will all turn out alright. Probably. ✿

Doc 1 Topic

I actually have learned a lot from our Doc 1 assignment. I already knew it wasn't a good idea to post incriminating or inappropriate content, but looking up information for the paper has made me realize you also need to have an active educational image of yourself online. I hadn't updated my Google+ profile since eighth grade, but a lot of sources say it can help a lot to list your resume or achievements on public websites on the Internet, so something can represent you besides your personal life on social media.

Profession Blogs: Puppetry

I know my last post was about not having a profession and all that, and it's true that I don't know what I'll do or get a job in...but I realize I do know what I'm passionate about. I'm not completely lost; there are some fields I know I could enjoy working in. And my first one, my dream-big-little-pig one, is puppetry.

Hopefully, unless you've been depraving yourself of true happiness since the late 60s, you've seen these guys before:

The Muppets! Jim Henson's foam-and-fur creations are familiar to millions around the world. Which brings me to a not-so-secret obsession: I want to be a puppeteer. I love acting, and I'm almost always part of the cast of a musical at Theatre Macon, but making money off of stage acting? It's a very competitive field, based almost 90% in New York City and LA, and nearly impossible to get regular jobs in. Not to mention the dramatics (naturally) of actors in the field, the back-stabbing and stealing parts, and crazy commitment and devotion. If you audition for a Broadway musical, you're giving up any social life, chance to go out, friends, or love life for a year and a half minimum (although you may have to sleep with the director, so there's that).

Anyway, I've always liked Jim Henson's Muppets and movies. I like the whimsicality and the hidden jokes (poke past all the flowers and glitter and unicorns in my brain and you'll find I'm rather cynical at heart. Under the cotton candy surface, I love a good dose of irony). And when I started volunteering at the Center For Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, something clicked. I know I want to work there. It's such a fun environment, and when I do the workshops with the kids they have, I just love it. I must have some mothering gene, because I feel most comfortable when I'm hanging out with kids ages 4-10. 

So...that's what I like doing. I'm following muppetshenson, a blog dedicated to current Muppets news and Jim Henson goings-on, and puppetmuse, which is a general blog dedicated to and run by real-life professional and amateur puppeteers working around the world. These will keep me up-to-date with all the news, including maybe openings and experiences, of the community (which surprisingly is not a small one!)

Thank you and goodnight. Raise your glass to all of us hopefully being employed out of college.

(P.S.: I can name all the ones in the picture (not nearly all of them- there are over 2900 if you include The Muppet Show, the Muppet movies, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and Jim's other projects. He had been making original puppets since he was a teenager.) From top left: Dr Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, the Swedish Chef, Statler, Sam the Eagle, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Kermit, Waldorf, Janice, Animal, Pepe.)

My "Profession"????

Let me start this post off by saying I don't believe in growing up. I don't think anyone really does it, it's just make-believe nonsense to me, like the purity myth created by the patriarchy or Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Sure, I know some of the things I like doing, but a lot of them aren't "viable career options" because no one knows if I would be able to live off them.

Having a constant "job" to stay with forever is so scary to me. As a young adult and a child, it took me a long time stumbling through puberty to finally realize that the only constant is change. And then becoming an adult is this huge symbol for becoming steady or settling down or figuring everything out, somehow. Maybe in twenty years I'll have grown so sick of theatre I'll refuse to watch the Tony Awards. Maybe in five years. Maybe next month, I'll want to be a psychologist or a florist or a missionary. Those things have interested me, too. I'm drawn to anything interesting with bright colors that doesn't involve sitting in a cubicle.

I just want to learn. I want to find out things that I don't know, and see and do things that make my time in this place awesome, in the most literal sense of the word. Hike up a mountain, go to Europe, do a real cartwheel, find out why I dream what I do, help someone. That's my "professional goal". Maybe I'll figure something out soon, and maybe not. But either way I'm hoping for experiences.

Meet Me

I'm Emma. I am considerably short, fairly annoying, and extremely cute. I love glitter. I have a countdown to Halloween (doesn't everyone?). My Netflix account is my best friend; I watch a lot of NBC shows. If you ask to hang out, I will take that as coming over to my house where I will cook pasta while we watch Parks and Recreation. I like pleasure reading, and I'm usually in a show at Theatre Macon downtown. I'm majoring in Theatre, hope to get a BFA in Musical Theatre, and ultimately want to work with kids as a puppeteer, maybe on Sesame Street. Outer space is cool. I think I'm pretty fun. Several people have sarcastically asked me if I have been in a Disney movie. I believe this is because I try to see everything with sparkles in my eyes.  Regrettably, though, I have not had the opportunity. Also regrettably, and in the interest of honesty (no friendship can be built on half truths), I happen to be 17. And I'm quite impartial to David Bowie in 1986's Labyrinth. Nice to meet you!