Photography isn't just about nailing the perfect exposure, I've learned. It's extremely beneficial to take chances and experiment. This is how I became so comfortable and confident in my technical skills. Slow shutter photography is a style that opened my eyes to the artistic expression of photography. It's not just an exact science. It's about being creative when the machine in your hands. It's about playing with the mysteries of time and capturing movement. It's about learning from experimentation. Once the shutter closes, I never know what to expect. Camera's have an amazing ability to visualize the world in a way the human eye simply can't. The photos that follow display my experimentation over the years with what happens when man made, artificial lighting, slow shutter speed, and the darkness of night combine.
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Student Life
28 Daily Thoughts of College Students
"I want to thank Google, Wikipedia, and whoever else invented copy and paste. Thank you."
10h
621
Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash
I know every college student has daily thoughts throughout their day. Whether you're walking on campus or attending class, we always have thoughts running a mile a minute through our heads. We may be wondering why we even showed up to class because we'd rather be sleeping, or when the professor announces that we have a test and you have an immediate panic attack.
1. I'm so tired. I need a nap. Maybe I can sleep with my eyes open in class? Or pretend I'm not napping?
2. We have a test today? Why didn't anyone tell me? Did I know this?!
3. Can I quit school yet? It's only October, and I need a vacation.
4. The struggle is so real.
5. I'm so broke. SOS.
6. Stressed? Eat everything you own in your pantry and stuff your face with all your feelings.
7. "Did we have anything due in class today? Homework? Quiz? Test?" "Not that I know of..."
8. I need food. Where is the closest place to get food? I need it stat.
9. This is the longest day of my life. I need a drink, or two, or three.
10. Sleep? What is sleep? What a foreign concept.
11. When someone suggests going and studying in the library, let alone studying in general.
12. When the cafeteria or student center is packed and you can't find a seat anywhere so you literally have to sit in an abandoned corner.
13. When you see someone you used to hook up with. They see you, and approach you; so you have to pretend like everything is normal.
14. When you get your exam and realize you didn't study as much as you should have.
15. When you crush it on an exam or paper that you totally bullshitted.
16.
I need a grande, extra strong coffee to get me through today.
StableDiffusion
17. When the professor announces you have a project due the following week with no instruction on what it's on and how to do it.
18. Is it Friday yet? Where's the weekend when you need it most?
19. It's freezing in here. I feel like I'm sitting in an igloo. I should have brought a jacket or worn long pants.
20. Did I remember my book? Damn, I forgot the book, and of course I need it for that quiz in class.
21. I would pay a million dollars to not go to class today; or actually never again.
22. I need a hoverboard to ride to class. Maybe then I wouldn't be running 15 minutes late to class every day.
23. Oh she/he's cute! I wonder if they're single. Who are they texting? They're BF/GF? I wonder if they think I'm cute. Could they be a potential new bae?
24. Why is there never any parking? I pay thousands of dollars a year for one parking spot to be open.
full parking StableDiffusion
25. When it feels like you've been in class for an hour and you look at your phone and it has only been five minutes (I'm crying on the inside).
26. When the professor asks if there are any more questions at the end of class and someone raises their hand.
27. When you get assigned the most incompetent group of people possible for a group project.
28. I need a comfort dog so I can avoid all life and school responsibilities.
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Lifestyle
The Great Christmas Movie Debate
"A Christmas Story" is the star on top of the tree.
17 December
1971
Mental Floss
One staple of the Christmas season is sitting around the television watching a Christmas movie with family and friends. But of the seemingly hundreds of movies, which one is the star on the tree? Some share stories of Santa to children ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), others want to spread the Christmas joy to adults ("It's a Wonderful Life"), and a select few are made to get laughs ("Elf"). All good movies, but merely ornaments on the Christmas tree of the best movies. What tops the tree is a movie that bridges the gap between these three movies, and makes it a great watch for anyone who chooses to watch it. Enter the timeless Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story." Created in 1983, this movie holds the tradition of capturing both young and old eyes for 24 straight hours on its Christmas Day marathon. It gets the most coverage out of all holiday movies, but the sheer amount of times it's on television does not make it the greatest. Why is it,
then? A Christmas Story does not try to tell the tale of a Christmas miracle or use Christmas magic to move the story. What it does do though is tell the real story of Christmas. It is relatable and brings out the unmatched excitement of children on Christmas in everyone who watches. Every one becomes a child again when they watch "A Christmas Story."
Everyone has experienced the feeling of wanting one thing for Christmas more than anything else in the world. For the young Ralphie Parker, played by Peter Billingsley, this gift is the Red Ryder B.B. gun. No matter how much he is dissuaded by adults, with warnings like “You'll shoot your eye out,” Ralphie wants no business with any other gift. His eyes are fixated on the gun and anything less than that under the Christmas tree would be a disappointment. The way Ralphie feels about the gun is real and relatable. Watching this movie brings out the child in every adult who spent the Decembers of their childhood being extra nice to further entice Santa Claus to bring them the item at the top of their Christmas list. While "A Christmas Story" follows a nine-year-old and his Christmas dreams, everyone who watches struggles along with Ralphie in his quest to get a gun from Santa Claus.
If getting the top item on the Christmas list is the highlight of Christmas for children, getting clothes is the low point. No child wants to get clothes. Ralphie is not the exception. One of the first gifts he opens is a pink fluffy bunny suit from his aunt. The unhappiness is palpable. Under pressure from his mother, Ralphie puts on the bunny suit and smears a half-hearted smile across his face. After given permission to take it off, the nine-year-old sprints like no other up the stairs to put back on his pajamas and resume opening up other gifts. To children, ripping off the gift wrapping and opening the box to see clothes is the ultimate letdown. Kids, like Ralphie, want nothing other than
myriad different toys. "A Christmas Story" perfectly portrays this feeling. Kids watching pray that they do not find clothes under their trees, and their parents can sympathize as they were these kids years ago.
Finally, what makes "A Christmas Story" so great is that it shows that every Christmas cannot be perfect. While Ralphie did end up getting his Red Ryder B.B. gun, that might have been the only thing that went right for the family that day. Mr. Parker loved nothing more than a Christmas turkey. But when his prized possession was eaten by the neighbors’ dogs, all the light is taken from his eyes. He laments that, “The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone! All gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey hash! Turkey a la king! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone! All gone!” Instead of canceling Christmas, the whole family takes a trip to the local Chinese restaurant for a Christmas duck. This famous scene is what makes "A Christmas Story" so great. It does not try to sell you a perfect Christmas. It shows the reality that while everything may not be perfect, if you are together with your family on Christmas, that is all that matters. After all, family is what the holiday is here for.
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Student Life
15 Thoughts Going Through Your Head Before Finals
Who isn't stressing out over finals right now?
17 December
1012
StableDiffusion
As this semester wraps up, students can’t help but be stressed about finals. After all, our GPAs depends on these grades! What student isn’t worrying about their finals right now? It’s “goodbye social life, hello library” time from now until the end of finals week.
1. Finals are weeks away, I’m sure I’ll be ready for them when they come.
2. Wait, we only have a week of classes left before finals?
3. When are my finals even?
4. I hope the schedule for finals doesn’t interfere with my Netflix time.
Photo by Jovan Vasiljević on Unsplash
5. Okay, now I’m stressing about finals.
6. When did we learn all this material? I wish I had been paying more attention in class.
7. Oh no, not another group project instead of a final.
8. I’ll just take a “quick” break from studying.
9. Why is that girl watching Netflix in the library right now? Isn’t she worried about her finals?
10. Ugh, I wish I was carefree enough to be watching Netflix in the library right now instead of studying.
11. I wonder what my final class grade would be if I didn’t do well on this final.
12. Is anyone else as stressed out as I am right now?
13. I need another chocolate bar. I wonder if i have enough quarters for the vending machine.
14. I can’t wait for this semester and for finals just to be over already.
15. Ugh, I hope I studied and know everything that I need to.
So as we're all studying (panicking) for finals, I wish you all the best of luck with your upcoming exams! And remember in a few weeks, we'll be back at home without a worry in our mind. The end is in sight.
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Librarian Lavender
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is one of my personal favorite holidays because of the Christmas traditions my family upholds generation after generation. After talking to a few of my friends at college, I realized that a lot of them don't really have "Christmas traditions" in their family, and I want to help change that. Here's a list of Christmas traditions that my family does, and anyone can incorporate into their family as well!
1. BAKE ALL OF THE COOKIES
Every year since I was a little girl, my mom and I would bake cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Here's a link to some awesome cookie recipes!
2. Make Gingerbread houses
This is a personal favorite of mine. My grandmother used to buy the standard Gingerbread kits but we would make our own icing and use our favorite candy as decoration. Of course, I would always end up eating a window or part of the roof off later when she wasn't looking (hehe).
3. Hallmark Ornaments
Okay, so I have to explain this one a little bit. There's a Christmas tree in my house dedicated specifically towards me. The ornaments are from my parents childhood, as well as mine. Every year my mom has bought 3-4 Hallmark Christmas ornaments of my choosing to add to the tree. It's really funny, because you can tell how old I was each year from the type of ornaments I would pick out (let's just say Barbie Princess was a big hit from 2000-2005ish).
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
4. Watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
It's my dad's favorite Christmas movie! This 1964 classic has been a hit in the James family for literally over 50 years. Honestly if you haven't seen this movie, I don't know how you could possibly have Christmas.
5. Christmas Eve Family Dinner
After the Christmas service at church, my family always comes over to my house to have a Christmas Eve dinner. We spend this time just enjoying each other, opening one present before Santa comes, and enjoying the true meaning of Christmas.
Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash
Although these traditions may not seem the most original, they mean a lot to me and Christmas wouldn't be the same to me without them. After all, Christmas isn't about how many presents you get or the long break you get from school. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and giving back to others. Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy New Year.!
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Gurl.com
It’s here; that time of year when college students turn into preschoolers again. We cry for our mothers, eat everything in sight, and whine when we don’t get our way. It’s finals, the dreaded time of the semester when we all realize we should have been paying attention in class instead of literally doing anything else but that. Everyone has to take them, and yes, unfortunately, they are inevitable. But just because they are here and inevitable does not mean they’re peaches and cream and full of rainbows. Surviving them is a must, and the following five phases are a reality for all majors from business to art, nursing to history.
Phase One: The “I got this” phase
It’s a few weeks before finals, and you’re the good living life. You say to yourself: “Hey dude, let’s starting studying early and kill finals this semester.” For a few days you think it’s all good, and study a little here and there and are proud of yourself for starting early. Starting early is a great idea, but let’s be real; this stage is short lived.
Phase Two: The “I have time” phase
It’s maybe two weeks before finals and you think to yourself: “Hey dude, it’s two weeks before finals! We have time. Don’t panic. Relax. There’s so much time left!” All of the studying you started before stops, and late night Netflix binges have resumed. Why stress yourself out more than you have to now? Let’s just wait a little longer. It will so be okay.
Phase Three: The uncontrollable sobbing phase
It’s now the last week of classes and it’s hitting you hard. Your professor starts prepping you for the final and it’s like time stops: “What do you mean I have a week before class? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” The anxiety starts to set in and life gets real, real fast. All those late nights watching Netflix are now catching up with you and while finishing the entire series of "House" in record time is impressive, it won’t get you a 4.0.
Phase Four: The “help me, I've fallen and I can't get up” phase
IT’S HERE. THEY’RE HERE. Late nights in the library become early mornings, and eventually the librarians know your entire life because you never leave that one table in the back and you’ve claimed it as your land. The copious amounts of study guides overwhelm your life, and at one point you start to question of your education is really worth this. But alas, you push through because...
Phase Five: The rejoicing phase
As you sit down to take your last final, you are praying that your brain does not turn to mush halfway through the exam. You scribble your last answer in the blue book and try not to run to the professor’s desk. You almost trip over countless backpacks and the nasty looks being shot at you from the poor souls who are struggling are burning a hole through the back of your head. This is it: the last exam of the year is in your hand, and you drop it on the professor’s desk and mutter “thanks, Satan” and practically skip out of the room. REJOICE! IT’S OVER. Congratulations, you’ve officially made it through finals. Until next year…
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