bcu-callumford-blog

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Exploring meaning through Narrative Evaluation

For this project we were tasked with creating a book based on the theme of eavesdropping for a travelling library the we would be running ourselves as a way of promoting our work to the masses and getting our work out into the real world. It will also be preserved in an archive at our school as a representation of us at this very moment. The point of this project was less to do about making for other but to rather make it for ourselves to promote our work and art into the city and start to develop a presence in the real world. I did give my project an audience though which was young teenagers who are just starting to use the internet and don't know the positives and negatives of anonymity in the online community. The way in which I research this particular project was to go out into the online world and look at various social networking sights to eavesdrop on conversations. I mostly looked at website tumblr for the conversations since they were the most diverse in terms of different identities and origins. Some of the most interesting ideas that came from my initial designs was the idea of creating a serialized set of images based on the various conversations I overheard using characters that weren't human to represent the people talking to each other so that their identities remained anonymous. I had the idea of making them into both animals, morphing blobs and even basing the character designs of the anonymous profile icons you would find on various social media websites. The way in which I developed my ideas was to get out my sketchbook and start drawing out the ideas that I had going through my mind and then analysing them to see if I liked them enough to continue with them. During this process thought I often thought about how this particular idea was still sticking to my theme so that it stayed relevant to the project. I also started my research based upon these pursuits of idea development that I had made. Most of the practitioners I researched came from an internet background so that it stuck to my theme of online eavesdropping. One of the first ones I referenced in this project was the still-running web-comic Cyanide and Happiness which was deeply rooted in internet culture and humour. Another one that I used for reference was Scott Pilgrim because it carried it's themes of an ordinary youth life through fantastical elements which is what I wanted my comic to be as well. The editing process for my ideas came down to which one I thought to be the most interesting and the one with the most potential. I singled out the idea of having a world where people turn into monsters when they expressed themselves more as I felt it could produce a potentially compelling story. And unlike some other projects that I had seen developing under this brief it would have a proper narrative with a beginning, and a resolution that would bring beneficial advice to the youth of today. The methods in which I prepared my comics were very similar to how I usually work but there were a few minor differences between the techniques that I used previously and the ones I used in this project. For starters, I still used the technique of sketching on paper and then scanning in the image to start my image off like in the other images that I have composed for these projects but instead of actually finishing them off, I did the line art on my computer with my new graphics tablet which I need to practice with because I want to become more dependant on it since it will make my work more professional looking. I then coloured in the human/monster subjects and added some tone to make them pop out from the background. I also used a different colour scheme for each character so that they had their own identities. The next thing is to create a panel for the comic to be framed in so that I can give it a sequential order in which it will flow. I did this by making sure each line that was added t the panel was the same thickness as the others and then from their it was down to choosing the appropriate lines for each separate section of the comic book. The backgrounds were assigned the colour blue because my main character was assigned the colour scheme of yellow.  What I found to be most successful about this particular project was the overall idea for the comic strip, it's story, and the way that it has been published. I thought that the idea that I used for the comic was probably the most interesting part of the comic as the use of monsters as metaphors for the difference in human identities is not something I usually see in other forms of media. The story for the strip was short, to the point, and had a understandable moral that is compellingly told without being unsubtle about it. Finally, the printing job for the comic gave it a professional look and the consistency of a publishable work. If I was going to say that there was something unsuccessful about this piece is it's shaky style. I wish I had time to create more character studies for this piece so that I could get a solid style that would flow through the entire piece. It's more the colouring I have gripes with than the actual line work but the line work is a bit too simplified as well. The cover was also a bit generic and bland for my own personal taste but overall I think the comic was passable. I think what I need to do I future is dedicate more time to developing my ideas and initial sketches so that I can create a compelling and consistent art style. I also need to experiment on the computer more so I can create better looking artwork.

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The Body as Narrative and as Image

In this final lecture about the different ways of constructing and analysing narrative, the lecturer focused on the way in which the human body can be used to achieve a narrative or meaning. She brought up the philosophy of Cartesianism which proposes the idea that the mind and the body are two separate entities. The mind is transcendent, expansive, and pure while the body is a reminder of our animalistic and mortal connection to this world. She brought up that, in the art world, the body was often portrayed as feminine rather than masculine. While the male body in western culture is portrayed as whole, pure, and perfect, the female body is treated as an object of lust, temptation, and earthly desires. She also noted that all of these bodies were always portrayed as perfect, and whole which does not represent all types of bodies and people. Marc Quinn saw this injustice and counter-acted this problem with his sculpture Alison Lapper Pregnant, which portrayed his peer a disabled woman who was missing her arms and her legs stunted because of an odd chromosome count. She was also heavily pregnant at the time, yet this sculpture was put on a plinth in Trafalgar Square among British war heroes. His intention was to highlight a different type of hero that people often choose to ignore in our society which was the disabled and our mothers. It was also brought up to show how any body can be beautiful, whatever the circumstances. This sends a really powerful message to those who are quite lucky in their lives to be born in a comfortable living condition that everybody is valid and should not be ignored. In fact they should be celebrated for their diversity rather than being hidden away because they can not conform with the majority.

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Bryan Lee O'Malley

Bryan Lee O’Malley is the artist and writer of multiple famous graphic novels such as the Scott Pilgrim series and Seconds. His art is very simplistic and cartoony but it opens up to a great potentials for comedy and expression. His stories are also often sourced in pop culture and his own personal experiences living in Canada. What I like most about his work is his playful story-telling and the use of pop culture references disguised as story elements to create an atmosphere within his stories that let’s in the more surreal, comedic aspects whilst also keeping it human and relatable. This is the tone I want to come out of my own story since it features similar themes.

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Comic Draft

Here are my rough sketches for the production of my comic. The reason why I prefer to sketch on paper and then scan it in to do the final copy is because I feel I have more control over the pencil and paper in terms of the sketching then I do over sketching directly into the computer. The people that I sketched for the protagonist’s friends were all based on people that I saw across my university since they were probably the most interesting and diverse people I see. The comic’s layout is drawn specifically to get the reader to flow naturally through the comic  as well as look visually appealing.

The use of monsters in my comic is used as a metaphor for outward expression and our own inner identities. The human form is actually the most suppressed form of people’s identities as it is only surface deep. The more anthropomorphic form you can see from the monster couple and the one monster friend is the most comfortable form people can take as it expresses their inner-selves with some restriction. The full-on monster form is used as a metaphor for over-expression and the more darker aspects of our personality's that even we don’t want to show. The design is also a bit trollish to reflect the existence of online trolls. The reason why most of them look like animals was because it helped to give the monsters a more friendly and cute look to them so that they appeared non-threatening.

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Still Lives: The Narrative Potential of the Object

The lecture that we had today was about exploring how narrative can be expanded through the use of included objects and how these individual objects can be used to tell their own story. She listed an old historical reference to the cabinet of curiosities that rich eccentrics would have in the past. These cabinets would be filled with various items of interest that were significant to the individual and were often used as status symbols for rich people who could indulge in whatever they feel like. I find this subject interesting because it shows what lengths people in old times would do to indulge themselves when they were bored. It's also interesting to look over these collections and wonder what significance they had for the individual who collected them. Did they have a particular memory tied to them, or did they just find it particularly fascinating? Either way it brings up some interesting discussions. We also talked about one of the most famous western paintings in history, Hans Holbein the Younger. The reason that they discussed that particular painting was because it was an example of object significance to relate to a undercurrent theme. In this case, the object of a skull represents the eventuality of death and was used in a lot of old portraits at the time to represent a more human or more relatable visage of the person within the painting so that they appeared more humble to the viewer. The execution of this trope was the most interesting though, since it utilised the technique of anamorphic image to obscure the skull in a uncharacteristically odd way. I do wonder why the artist chose to obscure the image like that as it seemed unnecessarily specific to be a casual idea. Maybe it was a specific choice that was commissioned by the person who paid for it.

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Sample Page

Here is how my comic should look-like by the end of the module, barring some text and some minor fixes and details. Overall, I like how this turned out. I like how the colours clash making the protagonist pop out and there is enough detail that you know what is going on without being to complicated that it takes too long for me to finish it. Hopefully, after a few more experiments involving type and other things within my comic, I’ll be able to start the comic off properly with this image being the base for all future comic strips.

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Sample Page Production

To start off, I create my comic’s frame so that I know what dimensions I’m working in. I then choose a background colour to work off. I chose blue for this page since it takes place in a dark environment and it contrasts with my character’s colour scheme.

Here is my background that will be used for most of my sample page. I overlaid the initial sketch so you can see the differences between how it looked before and after at the same time. The reason why everything is blue and unshaded is so that my protagonist always stays in focus and is not overshadowed by heavily detailed backgrounds.

Here you can see me starting to sketch my main character typing at his computer. The design is simplistic so that it does not take me a long time to draw each individual character and so it has it’s own identity. I draw it rough and loose at first so that I can get a feel of where my sketch is going and so I can make mistakes without fear of losing my progress. 

Here is where I coloured and shaded my character in, adding depth and life to his colourless form. I used the colours from my reference so that I can keep him consistent with the rest of the eventual comic that I am going to illustrate.

Here is one frame from the comic that is almost finished. As you can see it looks pretty good with a good style and some complimentary colours that makes it stick out to the viewer. Next post I reveal how my comic will hopefully look-like in the end.

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Character sheet

This is a rough character sheet that depicts my protagonist in a relaxed position. I also sampled the colours that I used in colouring him for future reference. This is so that I can practice with how my character is going to look, move and pose. I decided to give him a yellow colour scheme so that he can stand out from the background and also help the reader easily spot hi by paying attention to his signifying colour. The sketches and main pose is a little rough here but it’s not meant to be a final look and is going to mostly be used for a starting point when I draw my character. I also need to consider a name for my comic/book as I’ll need to start drawing it as soon as I can.

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Jen Lee

This is a sample from Jen Lee’s web comic “Thunderpaw” which centres on two dog-children during a apocalypse. As you can see the unique feature of this comic is that it is animated through the use Gifs. This gives it a unique edge and rhythm that sets it apart from other web comics. The subtlest of gestures and facial twitches can be detailed and can give new insight into our characters emotions and personality. I also enjoy the art-style which is simplistically styled with a unique colour pallet. I also need to take into consideration how my comics colour scheme is going to work and how I’m going to set it apart from the rest. Maybe I could borrow the Gif idea if I have time to do it.

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Ezra Butt

Ezra butt is a indie comic artist who works primarily on tumblr producing comics like the ones above featuring animals talking to each other like humans. Why this is so unique from the other webcomics featuring animals is the sense of style which is illustrated like old children’s books you’d find in the early 20th century. The dialogue is surprisingly modern and the animals can be quite expressive. I really like the work by this artist because I find their technique amazing and their sense of humour is on point. Their dialogue also flows naturally which is something I want to capture in my own work.

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Identity Conversations on reddit

Today, I’m going to look at reddit for some conversations as I believe that it will be much easier to find cohesive conversations within it’s format. I’ll be a bit more relaxed on the subject of identity in these ones to make room for more humour and to focus on conversations that are worth illustrating. They’ll still relate to the theme but their context doesn’t matter as long as it relates to the subject of identity and individuality.

Convo 1: “I checked my messages and saw I texted myself "Where are you"” “dude”

Convo 2: “I suddenly become self conscious of how I am walking, every step seems more weird than the last and then I forget what to do with my arms.” “Oh f**k and then you start walking stiff legged like there's a stick up your butt. I swear to god this happens to me at least twice a day. I need to stop thinking about how I walk”

Convo 3: “When I was 15, I was always worried about what other's thought of me. Now that I'm 37, I realize most 15 year olds mostly think about what others think about them. Now that I'm 37, I don't care what others think about me as much as I care what I think about me.” “Good for you (not being sarcastic). This is one of my biggest regrets as well. I'm only just now starting to overcome this and I'm 28 years old.”

Convo 4: “I really feel uncomfortable in my own skin. I often feel that there is something else within me that needs to come out of me.” “It’s your skeleton answering the call of war. Shed your skin bag and let your skeleton go free!” “I don’t think you understand my situation.”

Convo 5: “I hate it when people oppress my freedom! They keep telling me not to express myself and I just... UUUUUUGGGGGHHHH!!!” “I know what you mean, man! I keep telling people I want to be a dolphin but they say it’s “unnatural” and “impossible”! They seriously need to check their privilege at the door.”

Convo 6: “Sorry, I can’t human today, so I’m gonna unicorn.” “wut.”

People seem to be a lot more unrestrained and expressive online. They also like to make jokes and be as weird as they can. It’s sort of a common occurrence that more diverse and richly different people truly express themselves through the anonymity of a online persona. They seem to craft this alternate identity that they never use in public and only online. Sometimes they even change aspects such as gender, overall appearance and, in some extreme cases, even species. The problem with too much expression in one place is that there is a lot of conflict and hurtful behavior that can both damage and corrupt people. And with the internet being the only way to express themselves truly, it’s all concentrated into one place where prejudice is common and even encouraged. The question is, is there a solution to all of this?

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Cyanide and Happiness

The Cyanide and Happiness web comic strip is a satirically, dark comedy series that revolves around clever, dark writing and minimalistic design to sell a quick laugh. What is unique about this comic strip is it’s often dark type of humour which can revolve around such controversial subjects such as racism, political conflicts, and death. What I like about it, is it’s simple presentation and often poignant punchlines which are often subversive and self-referential. They also take things to their limits and cover the most taboo of subjects in a comedic light that remains morally neutral. They even go as far as making an entire special series about making sad, depressing comics that have no punchline apart from the fact that they are very depressing. What influences me most from this strip is it’s minimalistic approach that keeps everything on the same level and minimises the amount of disturbance if it had a more realistic style. I need to translate this technique in “cute-fying” these comments about identity and existentialism.

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The Use of Narrative in Fashion Editorials and Advertising Campaigns

Today in our lecture, our lecturer told us the basics of marketing to specific cultures and how using different key principles within that marketing strategy can help you to effectively market to a large audience. He first talked about how some images need to be censored in some countries due to cultural customs. He pointed to a D&G advert which featured a pose that replicated the western visual trope "The Deposition of Christ" which was seen as inoffensive but then revealed that image had been cropped by censors which revealed that the piece had more  subtly satirical messages about religion by having a monkey and a scantily-clad man in the background (cropped in the censored) version. The obvious implications of the image was the themes of evolution and carnal desire overshadowing the image of Christ. It's interesting to see how such a subtle cue can be picked out by the censors and ultimately find it offensive to the culture that they are censoring for. It's also funny to see what can be censored like a commercial for KFC was censored in the UK because it depicted people singing with their mouths full of food and was considered bad taste.He then talked about the themes that are used most to appeal to a certain culture which included Biblical, Historic, Literary, and Fantasy themes. Each of these themes play in the marketing towards a place or a culture. An example of each being used to appeal to an audience is the deposition of Christ in the D&G advert, the use of British history in the Hovis "Go on lad" advert, the Disney-styled animation and story-telling in selected adverts on TV, and the surrealistic performance of the Cadbury gorilla commercial. Each of these different techniques of marketing help to appeal to a wider audience.

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Identity Conversations on tumblr

After my recent tutorial with my group I have come to the decision of expanding on these eavesdrops of tumblr conversations to sampling entire conversations between people about their identities. I’ll be careful to focus on entirely conversational posts so that there is dialogue between two people. In the future I might look at conversations on facebook and twitter about the same subject so as to expand on my samples.

Convo 1: “Okay, people will hate me for this and especially some of my friends but I have to admit that sometimes I’m not interested in a fictional character’s sexuality or orientation. Imagine what you like to imagine if it makes you happy. But they’re fictional so they don’t have to be anything in specific, those things really don’t matter to me.” “While I have a couple sexuality/gender identity headcanons, I understand why someone wouldn’t because it really doesn’t matter in the end. In fact, I don’t get it when people obsess over these things, myself. I mean it’d be cool in terms of representation, but that’s about it.”

Convo 2: “I have a hard time knowing what others think of me. It’s like looking into a mirror with no eyes.” “same.”

Convo 3: “You'll find someone! You just have to be yourself!” “who dat doe”

Convo 4: “if the word “woman” didn’t descriptively address the way society treats me I would probably jettison it completely at this juncture in my life honestly” “Ayoo”

Convo 5: “I can make myself into anything you want if you just give me the chance” “Yup”

Convo 6: “I think I might be anything but straight, and it's terrifying. I don't know if I want to label myself but I feel like I have to for the people surrounding me. Let me not have a label if I don't want to. Let me live. I don't know where to go from now. “anon, you most certainly don’t have to label yourself and there is absolutely nothing wrong with not being sure of your sexuality or anything else in life.”

These conversations are a good start but I need more conversations and I can’t just sample them from tumblr. In the next few posts I’ll be looking at conversations found on websites like reddit, youtube, facebook, and twitter.

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Eavesdropping Tumblr pt 2

Continuing with my research on eavesdropping social networking sites,I have decided to focus on tumblr since I find it to be overall the most interesting in terms of the diversity and the uniqueness of it’s users. I’ll be looking at more specific tags on the website to narrow down my themes and ideas that I would like to explore in my book piece.

Comments found in the #identity tag:

“Okay, people will hate me for this and especially some of my friends but I have to admit that sometimes I’m not interested in a fictional character’s sexuality or orientation. Imagine what you like to imagine if it makes you happy. But they’re fictional so they don’t have to be anything in specific, those things really don’t matter to me.”

“It’s not cool to have an idea, attach it to your identity and get possessive about it. An idea (+knowledge) IS your identity. You are a process of ideas. The cool thing is when those ideas are shared because the essence of who you are is shared. And that feels good to have your ideas spread."

“I have a hard time knowing what others think of me. It’s like looking into a mirror with no eyes”

“I am one of those people who spends their entire life becoming the person someone wants/needs them to be in that moment. So when I sit alone in my own company, I am unsure who I really am…”

“It’s tempting to visit our homeland shortly after moving abroad. We think that this will make life easier for all of us, alleviate our homesickness and their mourning. But becoming an expat wounds us and those close to us. Wounds need time to heal. We need time to adapt to our new life and those back home need time to move on, to carry on with their lives without us. Our presence in our hometown for a few days only reminds everybody that we aren’t part of that life anymore. Our stories of newfound happiness and adventure only confirm what our loved ones feared: that we had no compelling reasons to stay. Not even them. That’s the kind of hurt we need to worry about.”

“You know you found your true self when you decide your profile name and you see it hasn’t been taken.”

“For a long time I thought I had an identity crisis, because I thought there was no personality of mine that existed outside of how I acted/what I did to help in the eyes of others. Maybe that doesn’t have to be the case. Maybe helping others can be a part of who I am now. It does give me genuine satisfaction to be of use to people (which probably explains some deeply personal desires/parts of my psyche), and while that used to confuse me, now I feel like I am in a place to accept it wholeheartedly.”

“I am disabled, and that is not a good nor a bad thing. It is simply a thing. It is part of my identity. A part of my identity that I do take pride in, just as I take pride in many of other parts of my identity. Those other parts are not good things or bad things either. They are simply, again, things. I am white. That is thing. I am a ciswoman. That is a thing. I am a Chicagoan. That is a thing. I am the child of immigrants. That is a thing. I am disabled.That is also a thing.”

 “At what age did I realize that my parents had names? That my teachers existed outside of the classroom? That others had inner selves as unique and complex as my own?”

“So something that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is for one my own gender identity as well as my predestined roles as a woman. Like I am a female I dress in “girl clothes” etc. And I’m fine with that but one thing I’m stuggling with is the thought of being motherly in the future. Like the idea of making a thing that is half me and half my live interest is amazing but I don’t want to be the one to always have to care for it and be maternal. I don’t have that in me. I wish I was able to take the father role if I were to have children I brought this upto a friend and she said well as a woman there are some things that your husband just can’t do. This makes me really sad and not want to be female anymore. I don’t want to fully be male either. I kind of don’t want to be either or anything. Like I am a girl but I don’t really want anything to do with the roles of being a girl. Help.”

It seems a lot of people nowadays are confused about who they are and what they look like to others. There is this hesitance to really speak about ourselves in a lot of people as they fear they’ll be judged by everyone else. Then there are others who are so confident in what they are and don’t care what people think of them despite the looks of strangers. We seem to be in a middling point of progression in humanity were we are speculating on how people should present themselves and what is acceptable to the masses. We seem to keep categorising identities and people together because it’s easy and leaves less time to analyse individuals. What is the solution to this transitional period? Will this ever be solved? Or is this this the same transitional period we’ve been experiencing for centuries? These are interesting questions to ponder. 

Comments found in the #humanity tag:

“I find humans funny. We say we will do this and do that yet, we wind up not doing anything of the things we said. I am not calling anyone a hypocrite. I just find humans very funny.”

“ Why can’t I consistently love humans/life? One day I’m in love, another day I am so cynical and over it. Actually, this change of heart happens within the day too...”

“If empathy is humanity, then I am not human. What am I, but a monster?”

“We are all so very different, yet so much the same.  Don’t mistake our similarities and differences for each other, for there must be a differentiation between the two.  Our similarities are what unite us, our differences are what define us.”

“How has tumblr given me more and also less faith in humanity?”

“I love giving hugs to people. Its a special way to connect with another human. To me a hug mean a lot of things and one of them to me is letting the other person know that I’m here for you and I won’t let go. Another is just holding the person not knowing they needed that hug or not.”

“Humans are stupid. I’m over it, I wish I was a house cat instead.”

“Being human includes being real, why try fake being something else?”

“I believe all humans are born with evil tendencies but its a matter of a choice if they choose to be so or not”

“Is it possible to dislike humanity but love humans? I used to hate everyone, including myself, thought all people were innately selfish and stupid. Then, I saw love in everyone and now I’m somewhere in between… It just feels as though there are more bad people out there than good these days… ow does everyone else feel, and why do you feel that way?” 

It’s interesting how people now separate themselves from humanity more often now even as going far as identifying as a non-human to further separate themselves. It’s quite distressing seeing how much people separate themselves from the rest of us just to isolate themselves from others. People need to be reminded that everyone experiences these existentialist nightmares and we are not alone in our individuality. I think there needs to be a reminder of that fact. We are all unique but we are not unconnected. 

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(De) constructing Landscape and the Narrative of Place

In today's lecture we had a discussion of how locations and landscapes play into our favourite narratives and how we can use landscapes both real and fictional to create meaning and stories. One of the first quotes that she brought up in the lecture was from a photographer called Liz Wells who said "Landscape is a social product. Particular landscapes tell us something about cultural histories and attitudes. Landscape results from human intervention." What they are basically trying to say is what we as a species define what our landscapes are and what they mean to us. Humans also alter those landscapes to our needs, which injects our own identities into our landscapes giving it culture whilst also becoming a part of our culture. This is important to me because it shows how much our environments shape us whilst also being shaped by us. We almost have a symbiotic relationship with our landscapes (although we could be considered parasitic nowadays due to our current treatment of our natural environment). She then went on to describe how Landscapes can be used within a narrative context. She mentioned 3 principles of landscape narrative which were transformation; which means when an environment reflects the change of themes in a narrative or a character's evolution, Desire; when an environment reflects the desires of the characters or the narrative, and Lack and Desire: when an environment reflects the undesired themes of the narrative or of the character's intentions.Discussing these story-telling techniques reminds me of how I can tell stories differently and also expand on narratives in a more subtle way. I need to try more subtle approaches in my art's narratives to create more layers of depth to piece. One more thing that was brought up was the idea of inserting things into an environment to change their context e.g. Noemie Goudal's photography which is an interesting concept to explore because it can completely change the narratives for both the environment and the new addition.

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Eavesdropping Tumblr

We are tasked with eavesdropping people for our starting point for ideas. I thought I’d do something a bit different and eaves drop on social-networking sites like Tumblr to see what people like to talk about on these platforms. I’ll be using the tag search to narrow down my results and specify the subjects that I’m most interested in.

Comments found in the #random thoughts tag:

“I really really really hate my speaking voice. It’s rather high-pitched and sing-songy. The comments I get from strangers every other day is not that I have a nice voice. It’s that my voice sounds like a voice actor’s.”

“It doesn’t always take a long time for people to turn around and change their opinion. It can take words, or actions, or just a matter of circumstance.”

“Looking back at old memories, I begin to cry. I’m crying because I’m so happy I was able to experience them but I’m also crying because I know there won’t be anymore of them.”

“If it was possible for bears, tigers, lions etc. to be fully domesticated I’d totally own one of each, and you can’t stop me.”

“I don’t really care where I’m going after I die, as long as there’s nice music and free wifi” 

“What happens to ants, or any bug for that matter, when they hitch rides on cars and are taken to far off places? Do they journey back? Do they know how far they are from home?”

“Ok but am I the only one who doesn’t like the term ‘in the closet’, like it just reminds me of the monster in the closet, and queer people aren’t even close to being monsters”

“I wonder if that burning desire to help others is a coping mechanism for being unable to help yourself. I’m sure it probably is.”

“I find looking at old broken houses very interesting. I mean just think what that house witnessed before it was left; all the lives that were lived in it. Stepping into one is almost like stepping into hundreds-maybe thousands-of families pasts, and that to me is so mindblowingly cool”“I’m getting random aches everywhere and it feels like my body is trying to attack me every time I move. What did I do to deserve this?”

It’s interesting to see what goes on in people’s minds when they are thinking absently. The way in which people’s minds can flip from existential questioning to cheery, weird thoughts is quite entertaining. There is a certain uniqueness in each of these people’s thoughts that defines them individually.

Comments found in the #storytime tag:

“In 6th grade we had this girl in our class called Erica and she was kind of chubby and always used to insist that it was all muscle and we shouldn’t mess with her. So all the guys always made fun of her because they��re assholes and one day she just flipped out and was like “YOU WANNA SEE MUSCLE??” “ITS ALL MUSCLE” and started throwing chairs at us and they had to evacuate like 3 classes because she literally would not stop throwing chairs.” 

“When I was younger and all I wanted in the world was to be a writer, my mom gave me this sage advice: “What do writers do? They write.” Now, many years later, I work in a different medium, but that sentiment still holds. So I’ve updated the advice a little. What do creators do? Create.”

“when I was primary three/nine years old in primary school I was walking down from the second floor hall to the ground floor canteen and on my way down I saw two p6s playing with real live hamsters in hamster balls. One told me to go away and I did. this memory sticks with me”

“In my first year of university, I was taking a class that had around 500 students in it. I’ll never forget one lecturer who I had who asked the class lots of questions, she had this amazing ability to turn any student’s answer (no matter how wrong the answer was) into the correct answer to save that person the embarrassment of being wildly wrong in front of 500 people.

In the same class, I had another lecturer who would often pick on students and make fun of people (especially their degree choice) and I remember skipping her classes to avoid the anxiety of being in that lecture. It made me see how much our actions affect other people, from their self-esteem to their education. Its my reminder to always be kind, you never know what it could do for someone.”

“I went on an adventure today. I actually went to school today. I went to my first class and then I left right after. I met up with my friend Jang. We did some catching up because I haven’t seen here for a long time. I lied to her saying I was going back to school. I didn’t. I took a cab to CJH and started my walk and it felt pretty awesome to be alone. I had good music playing and the air was fresh. It felt good. I stopped at the log Nikko and I rested on the first time he brought me there. We jogged. I started reading Gege Severo’s book and holy shit its good. It made me cry. Hahaha i knew i was going to cry anyway. I blocked the numbers of all of my friends today. I didn’t want to be found. I actually almost took my life again… I know what a stupid thing to do! But guess what? I’m still alive! Good job me. I’m happy I went on that little adventure alone. But I’m also sad because I have to go back to the real world. I didn’t want to leave…”

It’s interesting to hear about the little events in people’s lives that they usually they don’t talk about. Whether they are talking about a weird childhood memory or a relaxing little experience, it’s nice to hear about what goes on in people’s lives. Reading these comments reminds me how different our lives are to others and how hearing about these little pieces of their lives and personality reminds me of how vast humanity’s diversity really is. I like exploring these themes of difference and individuality. It might make a good theme to explore for my book.