Facebook = Life

Facebook has modernized inter-human relations, making it easier to maintain friendships.

Facebook is a way for people to facilitate socialization with others. Usually, when we spend time with friends, we don’t mix together people of different subcultures. It is unlikely for a person to be seen hanging out with co-workers and classmates at the same time unless they had class with someone they worked with. Facebook helps collapse those social borders, while at the same time allowing people to be themselves as they lose the notion of the need to behave a certain way according to what subculture they’re dealing with. Collapsing these social borders can sometimes be problematic according to the content you choose to display. You might post information that is not meant for some people to read. For example, posting your cell phone number on your information page with the intention of helping your good friends reach you, when the “creeper” you met at your friend’s birthday party can have access to it. Hence, it is up to the individual with what he or she decides to reveal to the world. Also, the lack of social borders can arouse conflict among people of different beliefs as what is being publicized is not being filtered depending on a specific audience, because such thing doesn’t exist. When we compose visual or written material to display on Facebook, we don’t particularly think of someone in specific to dedicate our message to, instead, it’s like there’s an unknown audience—the world.

“I personally had an experience where several costumers from my job added me as a friend on Facebook, I didn’t find it weird at all, but when one of them crossed the boundaries and called me to a phone number they found on my info page, I realized it was time to take better precautions with what I post.”

“I actually did have a class with one of my co-workers in the past. But when I decided to host a lasagna night and to invite my neighbors, best friends, and roommates, I found myself in an awkward situation, in between people that I shared different interests with. I have to say that social borders are easier to break on Facebook.”

Facebook is a form of memory making and tracking. One of the most significant advantages that “Facebooking” has over other forms of self-expression, like scrapbooking is that it is cost-free. Putting together a scrapbook might cause you about a hundred dollars, if you do a job well done. Posting pictures on Facebook is free, and while you have a limited amount of pages to work with during scrapbooking, you can upload as many images as you want in seconds through Facebook. If for unnatural causes you lose all of your photographs, digital ones will forever remain on Facebook, and they do not take up any space. Also, pictures can be looked at and appreciated by other people. Friends with mutual pictures can share them without having to print out multiple copies and can comment on and cherish special moments together without the need of physical presence. This feedback, among other virtual conversations, whether it be through written text or video, creates new memories for friends to look back at through the Facebook “Wall-to-wall” setting.

“My guy best friend and I used to passionately dislike each other before we became friends. We had a big argument and insulted each other through Facebook. Sometimes I look back at our ‘Wall-to-wall’ and laugh at the stupidities we said. Back then, I would have never imagined that a great friendship was about to blossom a post away.”

“The best roommates I’ve ever had were the ones I had sophomore year. Lisa was out of her mind and well, Allison and I became best friends. Writing and posting crazy videos on each other’s walls were the greatest moments we shared while being bored at home. When we went out, Lisa would always be the designated photographer, and before the night ended, we all had pictures to comment on and ‘untag’ ourselves from.”



1995

 

1996



2008

 

Allison, Lisa and I (2008)



2009



2010



2010

2010

El Yunque (2010)

Tequila and Bailey



Bailey



Tequila & her 1st litter



Maxwell



Watson

What we leave behind when we grow up...

What we leave behind when we grow up...

       Every day after school I would go to their house, watch their TV, eat at their table, sleep on their beds, and play in their backyard. The whole house was covered with smooth, white tile, which would always be cold regardless of the 90 degree weather outside. The coolness of the house mainly depended on the breeze blowing, which was very likely with the big glass doors that led to the backyard and the innumerable amount of glass windows, which also made electric light unnecessary. A ceiling fan decorated every room of the house, and the light coloring on the walls provoked in me a sense of peacefulness and tranquility. I felt safe. It was my home, still is, and always will be. I can close my eyes and still manage to visualize every detail of this house. I can still see that little girl playing on the swing set that Santa Claus brought her that one Christmas, and I can still see my grandma making us asopao de pollo with a side of yellow fried plantains and of course, a nice, cold glass of chocolate milk.

I

“Mucho juicio” (“Have good judgment”) said my grandma every time either my sister or I would leave the house. These words would almost always be followed by an “Oh my god, grandma, I know!” or “Like I already don’t have good judgment!” There were plenty of annoying things my grandma told me, but this phrase was the most annoying one I had ever heard. As a teenager, I could sense distrust, though for the most part it was actually non-existent. I thought, “why on earth would grandma assume that I’m looking for trouble?” and even if she was just worried about me being exposed to it, “why would she not trust me?”

II

“El que no oye consejos, no llega a viejo” (“Those who don’t listen to advice, will not make it to elderly life”) is still one of my grandma’s favorite lines. She uses it whenever she senses that her “suggestions” are not being taken into consideration, and by “suggestions,” I really mean commands. My grandma is indeed a very dominant woman or what in the animal world is considered an “alpha female.” Therefore, she cannot stand when things do not go her way. My grandparents have been married for almost 47 years now, so you can only imagine what kind of personality my grandpa has—of course, the absolute opposite!

III

“God bless you.” Enough has been said. You could say almost every grandma in the Christian world says this to their grandchildren. But I can definitely sense the awkwardness of these words being spoken into my ear as part of the weekly or biweekly phone routine. My grandma doesn’t seem to acknowledge the fact that I have given up the Catholic religion for several years now. I guess she still has hope that I will all of a sudden enjoy attending church again or she just does not understand the concept of someone not believing in God. But even though I don’t believe that an actual god is giving me a blessing, isn’t having a grandma to tell me these things a blessing in itself?

IV

“The Christian Boyfriend.” Of course, my grandma wishes that I found for myself a Christian boyfriend. I believe she assumes that a man of Christian principles guarantees a good boyfriend, husband and father. But can’t someone be all of these things and be Jewish, Muslim, Agnostic, or even Atheist instead? I never really took her seriously for this, since I believe her to be an open-minded person, and I wouldn’t doubt that she would accept anyone I chose to bring into the family.

V

“Without an education, you are nobody,” is probably the oldest quote belonging to my dear grandma. My family places a high value on education, and being raised by my grandmother, I did hear this mostly coming from her. She would always say that you should finish college first before doing anything else with your life. You should not put a man before your education—no marriage, pregnancy, “taking a break from school,” and definitely, absolutely no fooling around or wasting time that could be spent studying. My grandpa and her even have been taking over the burden of paying for my college education to lessen my stress so that I can focus on school.

VI

“You’re crazy like your mother.” My grandma seems to have a problem with my liking of animals. According to her, I am as obsessed as my mom, and have no self control when it comes to getting and keeping animals. She always says that you should only have “as many as you can support,” but even if I could afford to keep twenty dogs, she still wouldn’t be happy about it. Shopping, on the other hand, is another story. If it has to do with shopping, you can never have too much of it with my grandma. Just like my mom and I share a passion for animals, my grandma and I share one for shopping. It is always nice to have a grandpa that is willing to put down some money to complement a perfect shopping experience.

            But these words never had as much meaning as they do today. My grandparents have had a great impact in my life. If it wasn’t for them I would not be standing where I am today. When I think of my grandma and one of her ridiculous quotes, I can’t help but smile, as I remember those days, when I used to take life for granted, those childhood days where all I wanted to do was grow up, but all growing up really meant was leaving moments behind.

***

       As a reader, being presented with just images would leave me troubled. It would make me wonder about where the pictures came from and what is their story and purpose. In this case, my images do not suffice independently, as their purpose is to complement the text and to give it a more personal perspective. Although my images seem to portray a similar theme, they may be misleading. You would expect to see these images as part of a family photo album, without having any particular connotation. By adding images to my narration, I turned the reading of the text into a more interactive, personal experience. As the viewer reads my text, he/she would get a visual image of the main character and setting, which would help in the understanding of the narrative. First-person narration adds to the personal outlook created by the pictures themselves. Finally, by choosing “Claire de Lune” by the impressionist composer Claude Debussy as background music, I am setting the mood for the reader. This song has a relaxing melody that induces nostalgia, and the absence of lyrics help the viewer stay focused.

A closer look at "The Sixth Sense"

Follow shot from accident spot to car. *HER. Enigma: What happened? What is everybody looking at? Did anyone get hurt? The camera movement makes the viewer feel as if he/she was walking in between the cars. We hear police sirens and see policemen speaking with one of the victims involved in the accident. **ACT. Traffic is stopped in both directions, and subject that appears to be walking away from accident scene almost “bumps” into damaged car. We listen as a victim tells an officer that he is o.k. ***SYM. We hear an ambulance’s siren in the background, which means that something serious just occurred. ****REF. Distinct police siren tells us the action is occurring in the United States. Also, we notice houses in the background, characteristic of a suburban neighborhood.


Dialogue between mom and boy while in car. *HER. Enigma 2: What is troubling the boy? Is he mad at his mom for missing his school play? Mom is talking to the boy but receives no response. All he does is stare down. He lifts his gaze and after a few seconds says: “I’m ready to communicate with you now”, which feeds our curiosity. Promise of an answer: shot-reverse-shot sequences of dialogue. Fraud: The boy knows about the lady that died in the accident. Equivocation: He sees the ghost of the dead lady and so do we. Suspended answer: Boy ignores his mom by not contributing to the conversation and then with short answers and long pauses. Partial answer: Boy starts telling his mom about him seeing and communicating with the dead. Disclosure: His mom finally believes him about the ghosts and accepts the reality. **SYM. Camera gets closer on boy’s face, as we go deeper into his secrets. The close-up creates an emotional intimacy with the audience and distinguishes the boy as a main character. Meanwhile, the medium close-up of the mom (camera is farther away) represents the emotional distance between the boy and his mom. The hug at the end of the scene resolves this issue. ***REF. The mom disbeliefs in what the boy is saying. We notice the human tendency of questioning the unknown and the need for proof that characterize human beings. ****SEM. The dead grandma plays an important part in the conversation between the boy and his mom. It brings them together emotionally.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLyYYHqVTsE

"Breeding dogs to death"

I found this image at an informational website called BBC Bitesize as I was researching for images of the Pedigree brand dog food, which I have been told is like feeding McDonald’s to your dog. This image is very conventional in the sense that it portrays dogs mainly sitting down—some of them panting –which is something very normal for a dog to do. On the other hand, there are eight dogs, sitting in a straight line, all looking towards the same point-of-view. It is unconventional for dogs to be positioned the way they are and yet not acknowledge each other’s presence (aka. butt sniffing). We can notice a contrast of the dogs with the white background, and they are all arranged so that we notice a fur color and height difference among them, even though some are equally tall as others and the two on the far ends are the shortest ones. The color and arrangement of the canines create a balanced image with emphasis on the animals that besides being of the same species possess different characteristics that identify the breed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I realized there was something wrong with the previous picture, so I figured I could enhance the comparison and contrast presented through the image by adding words. The text, like the images show a relationship between the dogs, whose personalities can be generally described with the adjectives positioned throughout the image. This technique, consisting of placing different qualities of what people expect from and look for in a dog—in white, which creates additional contrast with the darker-colored fur of the animals—gives us a more personal perspective as we get closer to getting to know the various dogs. But it’s not until we read the captions that pertain to each individual dog that we realize we’ve received quite too much information. All of a sudden we feel somehow repelled by the previously incredibly cute and appealing image. The individual captions present the various genetic diseases that are associated with each particular breed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My additions to the image change the viewer’s perception of the original image. Someone who was considering getting one of the dogs portrayed in the picture might reconsider doing so, which partially fulfills my goal. But what the viewer will not know unless I include and extended explanation with the edited image is that the purpose of the alterations I performed to the original image are for animal advocacy purposes. My targeted audience consists of people that rather buy a pedigree dog instead of a mutt. My inspiration was a documentary I watched on how “purebred” dogs are actually so incredibly inbred that numerous genetic health diseases are expected from a breed. These dogs suffer an incredible amount throughout their lifetime, aside from the rampant medical bills. I agree with Roland Barthes (Mythologies) in that we cannot perceive exactly what the writer intended, especially when it comes to other forms of media that involve little or no writing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related Sources:

"Pedigree Dogs Exposed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O0l0f50AAk&feature=related