Observational Dialogue

An exercise from earlier in the semester was based in observing every day conversations of strangers. These are the notes I took while spending an evening at a coffee shop. Things get a little jumbled, but I think the conversations are interesting regardless.

1. Are you listening to Pandora? 

No. What are you listening to?

...Nothing. (laughs quickly)

I keep getting stuck on that one (math problem)

Three and four. Did you get it? 4 + 4 + 4

Because they can't 

Did you get it?

So...

it says what is the minimum. It says the minimum is less than 88. 

Because the minimum

ok the maximum is the highest point, but the minimum is less than 88. Do you know how I got 12?

yesss.

Whatever number has to be...uh....88? Is the highest?

Less than 88 and less than...whatever the minimum, is less than 88? Do you get it?

Yes. 

Well it doesn't matter what number you get. 

IF you move this on this side, it makes sense.

Do you want to come through this, and then come back to it?

**

Yeah, I mean, I saw him for a little while but it didn't work out.

**

Oh you get internet here?

1. Yeah.
2. Oh, cool.
3. Yeah, ...welcome to the 21^st century.
4. Blank page. I can't find an ending. I can't find a clever, clear ending that relates back to the beginning. Here is the thing the ending needs to be satisfying, needs to relate to the beginning somehow...there was something else...oh it has to be surprising, unpredictable. 
5. -Is this the scarecrow?
6. Yes. This is the scarecrow. He is trying to scare away crows, it's his job, So what does he do? I mean maybe he does manage to scare it in some unexpected way

**

Like, HERE IT IS!

In the air.

Right!

It is

**

Like, we hung out non-stop.

**

And then I'm going to ___in St. Pete. 

It should be fun, one of my friends is dancing. 

Cool.

Ok talk to you later.

**But I don't want to

Yeah?

**

You can finish by the time we leave.

But no one cares.

**

What was he thinking?

But yeah like she said it wasn't right anyways.

Paris wouldn't say that about anyone. 

He can't help it.

I would never, I would never force someone to buy jewelry.

I don't like gold. I had it for like three years and it was turning gold, like yellow.

Really?

Yeah like with all the oils and everything.

What was yours? Solid gold?

Uhh it was like ___ it's hanging up somewhere. It's all beat up.

I had ordered Chad's ring, but it dind't come in time for the wedding so we went to Walmart and bought like, a titanium one. I was like this is a ring to put on your finger. 

Right now like, that when I had the hand carrot done, and those are so expensive alone and, uhm they were like we will give you money for that. 

I have my mom's ring. It's all there. It's a flaw a diamond, like, A DIAMOND. 

I got it way smaller with the diamond and uh, it was terrible. 

Way smaller? 

Yeah I mean it was like. I got it like really really small. And it defnintely like, sparkled.

Yeah thats like my uh my wedding and engagement band, they were smaller but it was completely flawless. It was always really really sharp. I used to tell ted too I was like on anniversaries or anything be like you know, because I never got a real proposal, propose to me like how you envisioned you would have proposed to me. Oh yeah he was right on it. 

**

The first time I ever got published, I didn't get paid.

I've got all kinds of magazine work, NEVER been paid. However the last windy day when , they did vive me something.

But uhm, oh wow that was fast

I think the reason we get a lot more work than them was timing. Even now, the magazine work is different. In sarasota, they did a spread on the house. 

What was it like, 500 bucks a month?

Yeah it was

You're getting paid to do a cover right?

Uhmm,m yes, uh yes. 

2 for a cover. I thought it was 550 for a cover.

Actually I guess it depends on the budget, it changes all the time, they come in and tell us what they need.

You know who's been getting published a lot in sarasota is jeanie.

They're so much uhhhm, so much more. 

That's because he works with rachael.

Where id you see that at? Facebook?

Would you like to get it framed?

I just I was uhh a little more cautious with him. 

We came back form st armands circle and he was like oh you should have checked your facebook. I was sitting in starbucks alone for literally like four hours. I had lunch by myself and this old guys came up to me and was like I don't wanna rush you but, how much longer are you gonna be? I have a party of six that wants this table. 

Yesterday I did go to

Where was that?

Oh she said she was doing a workshop in askgfhahg

Do you have a __now?

I am seriously considering it. 

And I'm like I;ve got a classroom toilet.

You open it up and it's like AAAAAHHHH

Yeah like lets keep it on the DL

I love it.

Wel hey at least your'e keeping it real.

I took a bunch f notes. She's like really into it

is that the chick you shot? No no nono

oh my gosh she called me yesterday and was like actuallu we want someone with dark hair, and yeah she was like no it's not her it the marijuana. 

Collaborative Superhero Story

This is a story that John Carvajal and I wrote together concerning the lives of our superhero friends. We were given a poster with the choice to include any of the characters pictured, so we chose Silver Samurai and Carnage, because they are badasses.

It is early morning. Silver Samurai and Carnage have just returned from a long night of creating chaos to bond over brunch. Silver Samurai recently took some cooking lessons as a hobby, and is anxious to show off his recently developed skills. They walk into their loft apartment, and silver samurai heads into the kitchen, ties an apron around his waist and gets to work. Meanwhile, Carnage gets busy doing the Villain Post’s daily crossword puzzle.

He asks, “Hey, what’s a five letter word for ‘everyone loves it’?”

“Hmmmm…..CHAOS!” Silver Samurai responds as he shakes the hand that is holding the spatula in the air, “Oh, and how do you want your eggs?”

Carnage, being very particular about his breakfast food, states “Over easy, but MAKE SURE that the yolk is runny, that’s my favorite.”

“Yeah yeah, don’t worry about it, I took a class especially for making over easy eggs,” Silver samurai dismissively assures him.

With that, he gets back to cooking, and the two chat about the chaos they had created the night before.

“I can’t BELIIIIIIEVE the look on Spider Man’s face when we demolished that bank!” Carnage chuckles.

Silver Samurai laughs along as he cracks the eggs into the hot pan, remarking “Yeah man, that was perfect.”

“We make such an epic evil team silver Samurai, heh heh, MUCH better than when I was with venom, that wuss.”

“A great night of pillaging, sharing this sweet bachelor pad with my bro, and now a delicious breakfast- what more could we ask for?”

“Nothing, man. We are living the high life.” Carnage agrees.

Silver Samurai laughs, and turns back to the pan. With horror, he sees that he has left the eggs over the heat for too long, and the yolks of Carnage’s eggs have solidified. Unsure of what to do, and too proud to admit his cooking mistake, he decides to serve them anyways. They were having a great morning, “He will understand,” Silver Samurai cheerfully thinks to himself. With that, he places the eggs on a clean china dish, pours a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and butters some toast (which is slightly burnt) and delivers the carefully crafted meal to Carnage, who has almost completed the crossword.

“Wow Silver Samurai, looks like those classes are paying off!” He grabs the toast, “Oh, I mean, this toast is a little crispy, but HEY I’m sure the eggs are perfect. MMM I can’t wait.”

With that, Carnage decides to dip the toast in his egg yolks. His face turns cold, as he pokes the center of the egg with the hardened bread and realizes that his yolks are not runny!!!!!! He clears his throat, “Silver Samurai. My egg yolks…are not runny.”

Silver Samurai, who was busy preparing his own plate, didn’t hear the remark. “What’s that, Carnage?” he sings.

Carnage’s face begins to contract in utter anger. “I SAID,” he throws his coffee mug at the wall and it shatters, “MY EGG YOLKS ARE NOT RUNNYYYYYYYYY!” He stands up, and sweeps everything off of the table with incredible force with both of his arms. Silver Surfer turns around in shock to see Carnage standing over the table, and glaring at him.

“Well I wouldn’t be so tired if YOU had held up your part of the deal, done the job, and gotten us back here on time!” Silver Samurai shouts.

They continue to hurl insults at one another, until a physical fight breaks out. The two romp for a full twenty four hours. All day and all night they shouted, destructed, and completely obliterated their loft apartment. They began strong, but slowly became tired, and by sunrise the next morning the were both laying on the floor, and could only muster enough strength to toss small pieces of rubble at one another.

“Uhhhhhhhhh…” Carnage moaned pathetically, “Silver Samurai…I’m….HUNGRY uuuuuuhhhh.” He clutched his stomach, curled up in a ball, and rocked gently from side to side. “Can you like, make me some eeeeggggs?” He whimpered.

Silver Samurai lifted his head, and saw the sorry state that the apartment was in. He too, was hungry, and wanted to resolve the conflict. However, their kitchen was gone, and he did not want to risk another egg mishap.

“Hey Carnage, let’s just go to that diner down the street,” he suggests. He stands, helps Carnage to his feet, and they head to the diner.

One their food arrives, Silver Samurai excitedly takes an enormous bite of his pancakes. Suddenly, he stops chewing, and says, “I…asked for BLUEBERRIES in the pancakes, and these are CHOCOLATE CHIPS!” He seems furious, but then relaxed and smiles. “Eh, it’s cool. I LOVE chocolate.”

THE END

Biosphere Consciousness

For the final project on biosphere consciousness I am going to focus on the parallels between an individual life and that of the common community of the universe. In other words, the format of the comic will simultaneously follow the paths of a human and then organic matter that both begin from the same abstract shape at the beginning of the comic. Throughout the middle of the comic, the two "worlds" will interact in some panels, showing the interdependence and unity of the universe. For example, one world evolves into a plant, the other evolves into a human, and the human will be breathing oxygen from the plant and eating it. In the end, the two worlds join together into the same shape once again, completing the message that every aspect of our environment is interconnected.

Family Story

I was home for four weeks. It was Winter Break and the solaces of being home had found a place in my life once again. That year it was different though. Things weren't as bright. I returned home to remember that my grandparents were living with us through the Winter months to escape the Minnesota chill: their presence affected all of us in some way. "I know it is a little hard to have them around," my mother would tell us in one of the rare moments of quiet, "but they love to see us...They love it here." I asked what good that is for if they are the only ones enjoying their trip. 


I answered the phone driving home late one evening. My mother's words quickly sent me into haziness. Sam, my brother Jeff's best friend, had a sudden brain aneurism a few hours earlier and was being kept alive by life support only until my brother's hockey team returned from Denver. The coaches were waiting until after the game to tell my brother and his teammates why Sam was not with them to play.


My hands shook slightly, a gentle stream of tears rolled down over my lips. Jeff didn't know yet. He is the most important person in the world to me, and on the brink of tragedy and out of my reach there was no way for me to protect my little brother. Throughout the night of being at the hospital, seeing Sam's family, and crying with strangers, my thoughts were focused only on Jeff. The first time I saw him after the news I pushed through the crowd to find myself in his arms, squeezing tightly, feeling his chest heave with sobs. He had not cried in years. In that embrace I sent all of my love to him, trying to let him know that in all uncertainty, he can at least find solidity in the company of his sister.


The next week was a disconnect. My parents and Jeff did all that they could to help Sam's family after that night. We kept busy as an attempt to keep distracted, but were all faking composure and retreated into ourselves. My grandparents felt the need to interject as well, to participate in the grief, and took it upon themselves to become involved in the funeral. My brother was a champion enduring consistent questioning from my grandparents asking if he was alright, and giving him scripted comfort like "Well, he is in a better place now." In a tragedy that was something that my family shared, it seemed insensitive of my grandparents to force themselves into the heart of the issue. That was the problem for the time following Sam's death: my mom, dad, brother and I needed to confront the pain as a family but my grandparents left us no room to do so, so we each shielded the reality of our emotions.


This pattern finally broke at the burial. My brother stood blankly with the other pallbearers by Sam's family as they lowered the casket. Staring at him, I was reminded again that I was powerless in my desperate desire to take Jeff's pain away. There was nothing I wanted more for him. As the crowd began to disperse I turned to hug my parents silently. Moments later we saw Jeff walking quickly towards us with fresh tears covering his deeply sorrowful expression. He shrunk into us and my parents and I wrapped around him with our heads tucked together. I found my brother's hand and clutched it sturdily. Twenty minutes passed and none of us moved or said a word. It was finally the four of us, experiencing the rawness of our feelings, weeping, snot covered, huddled in the snow. We remained still and were eventually alone. Our grips slowly loosened, and we drifted back to our cars. 


We have never talked about that afternoon, but we walked away from that situation a different family. We were equals. We saw each other not as parent or child, man or woman, but merely as a human who struggles, who can't fix every problem, and who needs others. Prior to that day we had never shared such intense love and companionship all together, and I carry that moment with me every day. 

Slice of Life Script

A man and a woman sit across from each other at a small table outside of a coffee shop. They shift uncomfortably in their seats and stroke their coffee cups to fill the lull in conversation. 


"Yeah but like I said it wasn't right anyways," the woman said.
"I don't even like gold. I had it for like three years and it was turning like, yellow."
"Really?" the man questioned.
"Yeah, with the oils and everything. What was yours? Solid gold?"
"Uhh, yeah kind of. It's hanging up somewhere. It's all beat up."
The woman quickly continues on. 
"I had ordered Chad's ring, but it didn't come in time for the wedding so we went to Walmart and bought like, a titanium one. I was like hey this is a ring to put on your finger."
The man perked up and suddenly seemed more engaged with interacting with the woman. The awkwardness of the silence has disappeared. He gave his side of the topic. 
"I had my mom's ring to give. It's a diamond. Like, A DIAMOND. I got a smaller one."
"Way smaller?" she asked.
The man responded "Yeah I mean it was like, I got it like really really small. And it definitely like, sparkled."
"Yeah that like my uh, my wedding and engagement band, they were smaller but completely flawless. It was always really really sharp," she paused, "I used to always tell Ted too on anniversaries or anything be like you know, because I never got a real proposal, propose to me like how you envisioned you would have proposed to me." 
The conversation quickly trails off, and the man and woman lean in for a prolonged kiss.

Dream Scenario part II

Anxious from the alarming encounter, the girl and her dog decide to move faster: neither of them wanted another disturbance. The path begins to steady decline which is a restful change from the earlier unpredictable hills . The jagged cliffs hovering over the pair seem to soften, and the forest trees slowly spread apart from one another. 


The dog, recovered from his worrisome emotions, sees the changing landscape as an opportunity to continue exploring. The dog's confidence cheers the girl up, who unclenches her muscles and embraces the urge to swing her arms freely as the clunky hiking boots on her feet hit the ground. Before long the trees and rocks have shifted dramatically and the girl realizes they are in the middle of a vast wheat field with the mountains left far in the horizon. 


Despite the drizzle, the wheat emanated golden light which created a sickly green colored sky. The tall crop made it difficult for the dog to keep track of the girl, however they could feel the buzzing line of energy between their eyes which would readily lead them back to each other. As the dog continued to roam through the open space, the girl gazed upward to see clouds billowing directly overhead. The drizzle turned into large puddly raindrops. The girl was perplexed to see that the water did not fall to hit the ground but hovered above the wheat in mid air. The clouds continued to spew floating spheres of water which began to clog the open space. 


Soon, the girl lost visibility and could not see more than a few feet in front of her. The spheres of water pressed against her skin, and it became harder to fill her lungs with each passing breath. She tuned in to the energy she felt from her dog, who she could feel was somewhere behind to her left. She did the best she could to duck between the stalks of wheat and evade the multiplying raindrops as she shuffled towards the dog. The golden light shining through the water made it impossible to see, and the entire field was now an acrid mustard color. The girl held her breath and shuddered at the thought of water filling her lungs. Blindly she continued on as quickly as she could, following the line between her eyes and the dogs. Finally she felt his warm fur, and climbed inside the dog's stomach as he opened his mouth wide. 


The girl took a deep breath to replenish her longs, and gave the side of the stomach a tender pat. She was safe now, and took comfort in the fact that they could now travel more quickly since they didn't have to depend on the girl to walk. She couldn't see outside, but it felt like the dog was swimming. The sky must have flooded, the girl thought. She settled down into the warmth of the dog's stomach for the rest of the journey.


The girl perked up when she could feel the rhythm of the dog's movement returning to a walk. The dog let her know that they were finally there, and opened his mouth for her to climb out. They were high on a mountain again, but it was made entirely of large slabs of stone. The air was cool and crisp: the sun was low in the sky and they took a moment to admire the first clear view that they had seen for days. They then got to work. The dog knew the exact spot they were looking for, so the girl pulled a pick axe out of her canvas sack and began to chip away the rock with his direction. 


Just as the sun touched the horizon they uncovered their find: the girl pulled a silver dish that had been fossilized in the rock and gently turned it over in her hands. The dog was focused with much intensity, he had been waiting so long to see the dish. With that, the girl pulls a bottle out of her pack, sets the dish down in front of the dog, and fills it with water. At the sign of her smile, the dog laps up every last bit of water, wagging his tail ferociously. The sun sets, and the pair settle down to rest for the night before they begin the journey home in the morning.

Dream Scenario

A girl trudges along a rainy mountain side with a large dog by her side. She wears a canvas bag, and plain clothes that cling to her skin because of the drizzle. She walks slowly, not seeming to be in a rush but deliberate enough to make it clear that she has a destination already in mind. She looks weary, her eyes slightly cloudy from thinking too much, or an inability to cope with a discouraging event. 


The mountain lies directly next to a coast line. The water is a stormy grey, and waves crash against the rocky shore just violently enough to make the girl nervous. The dog is not on a leash and wanders slightly to explore the muggy surroundings but is careful not to lose sight of his owner. 


The girl gasps and stumbles as she looks ahead to see a grotesque creature a ways ahead on the path. He has set up camp and appears to be living directly in the path that the girl must take. Crude weapons lay within his reach, and his slimy skin, grunts, and harsh demeanor make it clear that he is not to be fooled with. She urgently catches the attention of her dog who runs to her side. They deliberate the situation, and try to find ways to get to the other side of the troll's station. The terrain makes it near impossible to scale the cliff on one side of the path, and the water is far too rough and cold to swim in. 


I can just be very quiet and slip through the trees, the girl thinks. But upon sign of any movement closer to the path, the troll growls, and scans the woods for any intruders through his slit eyes. The quiet approach is out. The girl can feel herself beginning to panic, she knows that they won't bode well in the rainy night if they don't keep moving. 


She and the dog move slightly towards the shore to find a safer place to collect themselves. As they settle down, she peers over a ledge of rocks and sees a pathway made of large stones that have been placed in the water to create a loop that takes them to the other side of the troll's hideaway. Thrilled, the girl carefully makes he way along the large loop unseen by the troll. The dog follows, but does not need to go on the rocks and simply stretches his torso across the gap to reach the other side and the pair continue on their way in the grey and the rain.