Second beyond class assignment: TyRuben Ellingson

For my second beyond class assignment, I went to the event here at Richard Bland. The Honors Program at RBC hosted a guest speaker, TyRuben Ellingson. He talked about his career, how he create his designs from shapes, and his skills as a special effects artist. His background in design and talent has led him to work on movies such as: Avatar, Elysium, Casper, The Flintstones, Pacific Rim, Jurassic Park, and so on. He has a master’s degree in fine arts and currently teaching at VCU in the Communicative Arts department. It was interesting to see the designs and special effects he came up with. He also mentioned how he likes working with cheap ball point pens like the ones in a bank or hotel rooms.

            I was impressed when he mentioned about Avatar and the amount of time to finish the work. It took him about 2 years, focusing on details, designs, and this and that until it was finally approved. I appreciate people who devote their time into something they really like to do because the more time they commit, the better they’ll get. It’s really about focusing, commitment, having a great confidence, and networking with people that got him to where he’s today. It was a great event to attend and click on the link if you would like to know more about him.

http://www.alieninsect.com/

Beyond class activity: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

I went to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for one of my beyond class activities. It was college night and students came from VCU, VSU, John Tyler, and of course RBC. I liked how they had popcorn’s, drinks, and games. Also, while eating and drinking we got to see different artworks from different schools and states through a huge screen. For the games, they offered postcards and we had to cut it out into pieces and design them to make some kind of art and they gave prizes so that we can stay motivated. It was interesting and unique since I never visited an art museum. The museum galleries were amazing but it’s more than just paintings in there. They have ancient icons from different countries and cultures they also have abstract pictures, which were very interesting. It was hard to understand what all those pictures meant but they all have their own meanings and are unique in their own ways. VMFA has jazz nights every Thursday. Since we went on a Thursday night, they had a room where people could just go in dance and enjoy their time listening to a live jazz. It was more than what I expected. For people who like art or for those who aren't really into arts, I suggest you go and see for yourselves. 

Hills like White Elephants

      

      This story was kind of interesting because in class we got to be creative and come up with an ending since it didn't have one. We formed a group and discussed about the story and how to come up with an interesting ending. Overview of the story goes like this, the American and his girlfriend are in Spain inside a train station. She express her opinion on the hills that surrounded the station saying, "the hills look like a white elephant." The American seems like he’s more in control of situations throughout the story than she is. He mentions about an operation. More of like an abortion. Instead of taking responsibility for herself, it seemed like she was more concerned if he will still love her, live with her, and their relationship in general after the operation. They talked about it but neither of them listen or understand the other’s point of view. Besides their communication issues, she seemed really uncertain about the abortion. By the end, he goes to the bar to get a drink and she stays at the table which foreshadows no future relationship between them. Therefore, we never get to tell if she had the abortion or not. Our ending was more of like a life lesson. As a group, we came down to a decision that she gets hit by a bus and dies but doctors save the unborn child. Since the American is the father, he had to raise the baby. Now that all the pressure was on him, he learned the hard way raising a child by himself as a single dad which made him look back and wish he was there for her on the first place. 

Everything That Rises Must Converge

Everything that rises must converge is a story written in 1961 by Mary Flannery O’Connor. It was written in the middle of the American civil rights movement. Julian's mother has refused to take the bus alone since integration. So Julian escorts his mother to her weight loss class. They board on the bus where Julian’s mother is happy because there's only white people on the bus. Soon, a black woman and her son get on the bus. The little boy seat next to Julian’s mother and the woman seat next to Julian. Both mothers and sons got off the bus at the same time. Besides, Julian didn't like the idea that his mother will try to give the little boy a nickel despite the fact that she does this with all kids. As she looked in her purse, she only found a penny. Ignoring Julian’s warnings, she calls after the little boy, Carver, and gives him the penny. Carver’s mother gets mad and swings her purse and knocks Julian’s mother onto the sidewalk. As she got up, she stumbles off. Julian reaches out to grab her arm then soon sees a strange expression on her face. She tells him to call Grandpa or Caroline, her nurse. Julian starts to run for help but returns quickly as she crush to the pavement. He rushes towards her and finds out that she actually had a stroke. He felt bad after he realizes it and he couldn't help her since it was too late.  

The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie is a book and movie that’s narrated by Tom Wingfield which takes place in Wingfield’s apartment in St. Louis, 1937. Tom is part of the play as Amanda's son. Like most mothers, Amanda, worries about her daughter Laura, who wears a brace because she has a bad leg. The other reason why Amanda worries about Laura is the fact that she's not attracting any men because of her shyness.Tom provides for the household since he's the only one working. He works at a shoe warehouse and to escape his routine, he goes to the movies and drinks alcohol. He always have an urge to leave the family so his mother made a deal with him. If he can find Laura a husband then he can be free of his responsibilities. He brings a friend called Jim O’Connor, to dinner. Laura actually had a crush on Jim in high school. Jim and Laura have a conversation in the living room. Laura was nervous and shy at first. However, she started opening up and mentions how she liked him in high school. She also reminds him of a nickname he called her -blue roses. Then she shows him her collection of glass figures and her favorite glass animal, a unicorn. They started dancing in the living room and Jim accidentally knocks over the unicorn, breaking off its horn. As a souvenir, she gave him the broken unicorn. He kisses her and he admits he has a fiancée and can’t contact Laura anymore. Amanda turns to Tom and accuses him for not knowing Jim was engaged. Not long after Jim’s visit, Tom leaves Amanda and Laura for good just like his father, who abandoned them at a young age. On his last monologue, he mentioned how guilty he felt to leave Laura in that situation. Tom should have comprehended, that guilt will always haunt him down no matter where he goes before deciding to leave them. 

The Yellow Wallpaper

           

      They yellow wallpaper is a very strange and unusual story we read in class. Her husband, John, is the narrator’s physician and as a couple they don’t have a good relationship. She appears to be depressed. She was restricted to bed rest in a yellow wallpaper room. She hallucinates and sees images and a lady trapped inside the wallpaper. She stared at the yellow wallpaper for long hours. Thus, she felt anxious and more depressed. She was also restricted from working and writing which led to her having a secret journal. On her journal, she described the yellow wallpaper in the bedroom as it spins around her. She also mentions details of the wallpaper and the room in general. She sees a figure behind the wallpaper. The figure was described as a woman who stoops down and creeps around, shaking the bars at night, and creeps during the day. The narrator, John’s wife, also mentions that she creeps around sometimes. This statement made it clear for me that theirs a connection and also that she resembles the woman in the yellow wallpaper. She felt like John and Jennie (his sister and her nanny) kind of had an idea about the wallpaper therefore she peels it off.  However, in her head she felt like she freed the woman who was trapped in the yellow wallpaper. Once she destroys the paper, she felt like she herself come out of the trap. John faints when he catch a glimpse of what she has done to the wall. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, left the ending open. Personally, I think she killed him but we can’t tell from the story. 

The chrysanthemums

   The setting for this story says it all. It’s winter in Salinas’s valley in California -1938. Elisa Allen, an intelligent creative woman forced into unhappy existence on husband’s ranch. Henry Allen, sells cattle to meat companies. She worked on the ranch gardening and planting flowers. The story is more descriptive of how she takes care of her chrysanthemums. The flowers symbolized Elisa and how strong, beautiful, and thriving she is. Therefore, while planting her flowers she felt really protective and happy but aside from her flowers she felt insecure and trapped. A tinker approached her on the ranch while she was working on her flowers. He’s a gypsy (looks for jobs while traveling) fixes pots, pans, and so on. She felt the most free when the tinker appreciated her flowers. Elisa believed for once someone was interested in her life. She felt change from masculine to feminine so she starts removing her hat and gloves. Elisa wishes she had his life but more of his freedom. As he speaks to her, she felt feminine and after he leaves with the flowers she gave to him, she strips down, bathes, put on makeup, and a dress. But while she was on the car ride with her husband, she notices a dark spot on the side of the road. She takes her coat and covers her face and teary eyes. Seeing the flowers she gave to the tinker on the side of the road, made her feel insecure, not free, used and thrown away. The story was kind of interesting, not too bad.