The Most Powerful Photos of 2011

Saw this link on Facebook and had to share. Some of these are so painful to look at, some terrifying, some infuriating. Overall, it doesn't look like we've had a very good year. Almost made me think that maybe the world will end if things keep on the same track.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-most-powerful-photos-of-2011?sort=posted&z=2NNLJ6

GMMD409 Case Study 2: Transmedia

Transmedia is a developing form of storytelling that involves several parts of a story on different platforms. It is a very broad definition, but the point is that there is no set formula. Through transmedia, an author can take advantage of the many mediums available today: print, web sites, video games, videos, etc. This is different from crossmedia, which uses different platforms for the same content or just extras as an afterthought. Instead, each platform can have its own unique content, utilizing the advantages of each.

Users can acquire as many or few pieces of the story as they would like to personalize their experience. In the case of Michael Grant’s BZRK, people can buy the print book, then download a free app which gives them the option to buy each piece of additional content separately. Transmedia goes beyond a fictional story in a book, and creates an interactive world.

The possibilities are nearly endless. With a story, songs that a character is listening to can be made available, an alternate reality game, and maybe even eventually a social networking profile for each character, can be offered as parts of the story.

Somebody posted a link to this news story on Facebook and it's wonderful. I only see bad parents in the news most of the time, and its sickening. It's nice to see a story about a good, loving mother. Normally I'm constantly adding to the list of things I would never do or teach my future children. Finally, I can add to my list of parents who I wouldn't hate to be like.

"Lessons from Sharing the Story of My (Possibly) Gay 6-Year-Old Son"

On August 16 I learned what viral meant.

I wrote an essay about my oldest son and his love of a popular gay television character, Glee's Blaine, and how this crush led to him telling me he wanted to kiss boys, not girls. I naively posted it to a blog, thinking some fans of the show might think it was cute.

Within 24 hours it had been reposted and "liked" over 30,000 times on the blog's website. It wasn't long before messages started flooding in, other websites began posting it and people were commenting. The response was overwhelming positive. What I thought was a simple story about my kid and our family had clearly stuck a chord with a lot of people.

It also made some people uncomfortable. Of the criticisms, the most common is that my son is six years old and doesn't know anything about sex. While I fully acknowledge this may not be the end-all-and-be-all to my son's sexual orientation, I object to the idea that being gay is only about sexual acts. Our emotions and feelings, our attractions and compulsions, all contribute, not just our body parts. If my son had a crush on the star of iCarly, I doubt people would be saying he was too young to have those sexual feelings towards a girl. I think they would think it was an innocent schoolboy crush, which is exactly what it is.

Plus, for every comment I've read saying my son is too young, I have received multiple messages from adults saying "I knew when I was little, too."

It got me thinking and after awhile I started to feel like I knew this big secret that shouldn't be a secret at all: Every gay adult used to be a gay kid. It's not as if all children start off as straight until some time later when someone flips the gay switch. We are who we are from the very moment we are born.

The horrible and hate filled words of the Michele Bachmann's of the world take on a whole new level of disgusting when picturing them being screamed at a group of kindergartners and first graders. They are unnatural. They are sinners. They are going to hell. They are dirty, wrong and sick.

These people would tell my innocent little boy (who currently wants to be a fireman-ninja when he grows up) he is the biggest threat the American family... because he wants to kiss boys and not girls.

The reality is they are pounding these words of ignorance and hate into the ears and minds of gay children every day. And those children are hearing them. I know because many of those kids are now writing to me. Kids as young as 14 have sent me messages. So many are scared children, who sure as hell did not choose this for themselves, living in fear of their family finding out because they know full well what their mom and dad will say. And they tell me they wish I was their mom.

I want to keep all this talk, all these lies, all this hate, away from these kids. Of course, there is an inherent problem with that. We can't pick out the gay kids simply by looking, and behavior isn't a clear indicator (some little straight girls are tomboys, and some little gay boys love their monster trucks). The only way we can truly know someone's orientation is if they tell us, which for some doesn't happen until well into adulthood.

So the solution is obvious to me. Keep it away from all our kids. It's my responsibility as a mother, as a human being, to stand up and say "No more." No, you are not allowed to say those things in front of my children, not unless you want to deal with me. Because I will not allow any of my sons to be viciously attacked without seeing me defend them. They will never have to doubt for a second exactly where their parents stand, and never have to live in fear of who they are.

Because since August 16, I have learned that hate is the virus we all need to be worried about.

TN Couldn’t Decide Whether Andrea Jones Is Male Or Female, So They Arrested Her

A Facebook friend posted a link to this news story from queerty.com and I had to share it. This is so ridiculous. She had a gender reassignment surgery, so she is a female. End of story. If the social security office recognizes it, why wouldn't the DMV or police? Oh, right, because people let their own opinions get in the way of their jobs... or just being decent human beings.

TN Couldn’t Decide Whether Andrea Jones Is Male Or Female, So They Arrested Her

After Andrea Jones had gender reassignment surgery and was recognized as female by the Social Security office, she went into a Tennessee DMV office to change the gender on her driver’s license—but they denied her request.
So she walked out into the parking lot, removed her shirt and the police arrested her for indecent exposure, though it’s completely legal for men to go around shirtless.
Even the police report refers to Jones as a man, something she has responded to thusly: “If I was a male, I had the right to, when I stepped out the door, take off my shirt. It’s not right for the state to ask me to be both male and female. A choice needs to be made. They cannot hold me to both standards.”
She’s right. In the meanwhile she’s a female to the Social Security Administration, a male to the Department of Motor Vehicles and somewhere in between to the police.

Teacher Caught on Tape Bullying Student. Is a Camera a Kid's Only Advocate?

This is disgusting. I watched the video discussed in the story and it just blows my mind that a teacher would speak to a special needs student, jeez any student, this way. It was a simple request not to be called special. So you don't call him special. The way to encourage and mentor a student isn't to alienate them. And you don't get in his face and threaten him, even more so. People bitch and complain about living in my home town, but at least my teachers never made me feel worthless. This kind of thing never happened where I came from, so I have to give them that.

 

Teacher Caught on Tape Bullying Student. Is a Camera a Kid's Only Advocate?

The New Jersey teacher caught on video belittling his student.

Nobody believed Julio Artuz, a 15 year old New Jersey special education student, when he complained of being bullied by his teacher. So he caught the whole thing on tape. In footage captured in secret on his cellphone, Artuz is subjected to curses and berating from a man who's supposed to be a mentor.

Artuz's teacher says: "I will kick your [expletive] from here to kingdom come until I'm 80 years old."

"Don't threaten me," responds Artuz.

"What are you going to do? You gonna get a chopper and chop me?" asks his teacher as the rest of the class sits rubbernecking the heated argument.

What Jules did do was show his taped account to his parents and a local advocate of bullied students. After an NBC news affiliate in Philadelphia got hold of the footage (you can watch it here), the school immediately took action, placing the teacher on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.

Read more about students who challenged their schools and won
"The actions depicted on the video do not reflect the mission or culture of our school," said Gloucester Counter Special Services Superintendent Michael Dicken in a statement. "Our school district takes all bullying, harassment, and intimidation allegations seriously...we do not tolerate it."

While schools may not tolerate that kind of abuse of power, it takes a lot to make it stop. In a separate incident earlier this week, an Ohio special needs student came forward with an account of long-term bullying from her two teachers. She actually had to attend school wired with a recording device to capture proof of her teachers calling her "dumb", "lazy" and overweight. Another shocking incident this month involved a high school basketball coach who was captured on cell phone video making deeply offensive, racist remarks about students while in school.

"Statistically about 1 to 2 percent of teachers are actually involved in bullying students," says Dr. Joel Haber, a clinical psychologist who runs the anti-bullying website RespectU. "There needs to be a clear policy in schools not just for students bullying other students but for teachers as well. Teachers are humans too and this kind of thing does happen, so it needs to be managed early."

While more schools have introduced anti-bullying codes of conduct for students, teachers aren't always considered a threat.

It's a murky issue for many school administrators. Where's the bullying line when you're managing an unruly classroom? "Its blurry sure but you know when someone wants to make a kid feel bad, or when they're abusing their power as an authority figure," says Dr. Haber. "That's not the way a role model should be managing a student. "

A bullying teacher doesn't just threaten to knock a student's self-confidence, he can destroy a kid's confidence in his school. "Teachers are supposed to make students feel safe," Dr. Haber says. When school becomes a fearful environment because of a teacher, students suddenly think 'well who can I trust then?'"

In Artuz' case, his phone was best bet. It's possible nobody would have listened if they didn't see it firsthand. "When you watch a video like that live, it really creates a different image than if you were to just hear about," says Dr. Haber.

It's a powerful defense, especially for students who don't feel their complaints would be recognized otherwise. It also sends a message to teachers: watch how you speak to your students, someone might be taping you.

Things That Skeeve Me Out More Than I Could Ever Put Into Words

In no particular order:

•  Dirty bathrooms (I expect it from public bathrooms, but private bathrooms... eek.) I've cleaned peoples bathrooms as opposed to just sucking it up and dealing. I know people got shit to do and cleaning might not be a top priority, so I don't judge. But I usually can't leave it alone.

• Hair clippings left on the sink
• Fuzz that accumulates on the toilet water tank cover
• Dirty shower floors
• Dirty toilets
• Dirty fingernails
• Smelly towels
• Moles (not little ones that could be called 'beauty marks' or 'freckles' but the big hairy ones. Anything bigger than the size of a pencil eraser)
• Any creature with more appendages than a person (this is why I dislike lobsters most)
• When a person's nose looks like their nostrils are constantly flared (especially when their eyebrows are slanted down towards each other as well). Pretty much anyone like this dude from Gossip Girl 

 

Shia LaBeouf is another example, I'm sometimes worried that when I go to a theater to see a movie with him in it, I'll be sucked into the black abyss that are his nostrils.

• Anything crawling on me that is not domesticated. I don't like killing bugs, but if it gets on me it's done for.
• Seeing someone's earwax buildup in their ears. Clean your god damn ears, people. It takes 2 seconds after you get out of the shower. Not that time consuming.
• Nose whistlers. I don't want to hear you whistle every time you exhale. Blow your nose.
• Mold and/or rust on dirty dishes.
• Prickly armpits. Growing out body hair doesn't both me, but if your pits are just prickly, I know it's not intentional and it makes me shudder.
• Feeling crumbs, dirt, etc stick to the bottom of my bare feet when I walk on non-carpeted floors. I cannot stand that feeling, makes me feel so dirty. I'll also place dirty feet here. Particularly seeing peoples dirty feet with stuff stuck to the bottom of them.

These are the biggest ones that come to mind. I may add some if I'm just forgetting them now. I guess I can chalk up a lot of these to bad hygiene. These things just gross me out so much I can hardly bare it.

Fantasy Assignment for Digital Photo

Kaleidoscope thing, 'cause I'm not sure what assignment that is due with so I'll just post it with this one for now. The smaller you make it the more trippy it looks.