Nora’s Bag

Nora travels pretty light. She has her keys to her Honda on her Washington Capitals (ROCK THE RED) lanyard with a few other keychains on it. She has her turquois wallet and her macaroon change purse that an adoring fan gave her. She gets a few blemishes every now and then, so she has some cover up just in case. She cant go anywhere without chapstick. She always carries a pen or 2, you never know when you might need one. The last thing is her carrying case for her glasses…without her glasses in them…she should probably go find those…

 

I chose to do what’s in your bag assignment. Solenya is definitely a character, and you’ll really find out what type of person he is from this collage of what’s in his bag. I used google docs to create my collage and then I used the snipping tool to take a screen shot of what I created in order so save it.

I liked the bag, and it seemed very hippie, a bit bummy, and free looking. The bag has no bottom, so when he needs to hide something big or another person they just hop in and disappear. Solenya always carries it around, and in it he always has these main items. He has mushrooms because he likes his psychedelics. He has adderall because there is never enough time in a day to do everything he wants to do, so when he needs it, he pops one of them in order to stay awake for his adventures. Tarot cards are always on hand as something he likes to do as a hobby of new people he meets. His wand of course, and a “Teaching Skills for Dummies” because he mentors his nephew Tade.

Kate was scratched by an animal and woke up with the power to talk to animals. She decides to use this power for good and save animals all around the world.

 

For this, I knew I needed a lot of items animals would need. First, I made a list and thought about what a animal hero would need to carry. I gathered and took pictures of my cats toys and food to use as examples of what ‘Kate’ would have in her bag. I chose to use my backpack because it is super comfortable and it can hold a ton of stuff. I found the animal first aid kit online because this would be vital to have. I also found the animal carrier online because I wanted a folding one to fit in the backpack and used an online picture of keys. All the other items I found around my house and used them because most of them are essential for animals. I then took the pictures to make sure they items were distinguishable and then uploaded and arranged the photos. I really like my character’s story and the items I chose for her bag because they are practical and simple but are extremely useful and are needed for her missions.

 

Until Next Time,

Emily

Now with the way my character is, she has many different items in her purse.

First off, her purse is very basic, but cute. She wanted one that was small, but she could still have it on her wrist. This is what it ooks like:

Of course she has all the makeup essentials in order to look absolutely perfect.

Liquid foundation, concealer, lipstick, etc.

She has plenty of gum to ensure that she isn’t known as dragon breath

My character also has something no one knows about. She doesn’t talk about it because she doesn’t feel as if it is cool enough. What is it? Well take a look:

A single necklace that has the coordinates of her best friend who moved to the opposite side of the US. She doesn’t want people to think she is too gushy.

Along with other items like the typical credit card, phone, hair ties, etc. My character seems to be not very original when it comes to her purse. I guess that’s what a popular girl wants to be like….just like everyone else (but better)

Every good Nanny (or Manny) has a well-equipped bag with them at all times. If you haven’t met Manny yet, meet him here! Manny’s bag keeps him prepared

for all of the regular things children throw at you. He has the “Bag of Fun” that saves the day almost daily. This bag (seen to the left) comes prepped with tons of activities for a variety of situations. There are coloring books with markers (since crayons melt) for when Bryan needed to be quiet and calm. There are punch balloons for when Bryan has way too much energy or is angry to give him an outlet. There are also educational flash cards and books for when Bryan’s parents are around, of course. 

Manny also has another bag that is a little less fun but very necessary. It looks like a first aid kit and is full of the typical medical supplies- gaze, band-aids, Neosporin- but also has a special tool. Manny keeps his “emergency phone” in here, which showed up randomly on his dresser one day. When he picked it up, it only had one number saved. He called the number and it went straight to a woman named “Edna” who said that she is his resource to be used when he needs immediate help only. She said “only call me if something is on fire or someone is dying,” and hung up. So far he has not needed it, but he never leaves without it now.

Aitana Rorcshen was an archaeologist before her fall changed her life. Her bag is inspired by the minimalistic knowledge I have of archeology.

Her bag is green, she chose the color in honor of nature, which is what she always must go through when trying to uncover bones and artifacts. Nature has preserved everything she studies, it has provided her with a job that demands passion for the world outside.

 

The tools inside provide a variety of methods to chisel away at rock. There are small picks, chisels, wire, a shovel, and brushes of all sizes to help her uncover what lays beneath the surface.

She has a flask for water and food, as well as changes of cloths, a flashlight, rain-gear and a small tent.

So, what’s in my cryptozoology backpacking backpack? Well, in no particular order…

Here is my backpack:

It’s a Osprey Aether AG 70 Pack. It is my largest, most expensive backpack. I do have smaller packs as well, but this is the one I use for longer trips.

This is my tent

It is a two-person tent-the MSR Elixir 2 Tent with Footprint. We each carry our own tents (we don’t share tents, as *some* of us snore, we all have different sleeping times, and we also sometimes just want to be alone and work), so I have the tent to myself. It’s a two-person so I can bring my large backpack in with me, since I worry about the vestibule protecting it properly and about animals (including cryptids!) taking it. I also like some more space to be able to work, especially at night or in bad weather.

This is my sleeping bag

It is a The North Face Furnace 20 Sleeping Bag and Therm-a-Rest Trail Pro Sleeping Pad sleeping pad.

Map, Compass, GPS, and Guidebook

I never go backpacking anywhere without these items. I like using a map and compass, as I go to remote places and don’t want to completely rely on technology. However, I do want accuracy in where I am, since it is important to have that when conducting scientific research. My compass is a Suunto M-3 D Leader Compass, and my GPS is a Bad Elf 2200 GPS Pro (Black/silver). My map and guidebook changes with wherever I’m going, which is why they aren’t pictured.

Sunglasses and Sunscreen

The sun can be your worst enemy when backpacking. I am trying to have my eyesight as good as possible for as long as possible, so these are my Smith Parallel Max Polarized Sunglasses. I am also trying not to get skin cancer, so I use  Thinksport Sunscreen SPF 50 – 3 fl. oz.

Headlamp

Headlamps are important if you’re walking around at night, such as if you’re looking for cryptids! This is my Black Diamond Cosmo Headlamp.

My Hat

Hats are also important to keep the sun off your face. This is my REI Co-op Vented Explorer Hat. No, this picture is not me!

Clothes (including extras)

Obviously you need to bring clothes, but it is very important to bring extras incase you get stranded or items get wet or ruined. Moisture-wicking clothing, such as this REI Co-op Sahara Heather T-Shirt – Women’s that I own, is great for when you are hiking, backpacking, or even just exercising.

First Aid

When you’re backpacking for many days, the likelihood of getting hurt is rather high. This is my Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight/Watertight .7 Medical Kit. When backpacking, your can’t take too much, so a light kit is best.

Insect Repellent

When searching for cryptids, you go to very buggy places. Sunscreen such as  Ultrathon UltraThon Insect Repellent – 34 Percent DEET – 2 fl. oz. helps you avoid getting bit and the diseases from the insects.

Food (including extras)

Obviously you also bring food, especially freeze dried items such as Mountain House Chili Mac With Beef – 2.5 Servings. It is important to bring extras, just like clothing, in case anything happens.

Water (including extra) and Water treatment

Again, water is obvious. This is one of my water bottles-REI Co-op Nalgene Wide-Mouth Water Bottle – 48 fl. oz. 48 oz. may seem like a lot, but it’s really not! It is also important to have ways to purify water, such as with Potable Aqua Iodine and Taste-Neutralizer Tablets.

Fire-starting materials

Fire is an essential when backpacking, to cook food, boil water, and keep warm. Items such as UCO Titan Stormproof Match Kit that I use help start the fire.

Knifes and Multi-tools

Knifes and multi-tools are essential when backpacking. I carry with me a Swiss Army Classic Knife and Leatherman Squirt PS4 Multi-tool for whatever I need, a Gerber Gator Golok Machete to cut through the underbrush, and a 14-inch Bowie Knife for  cutting and protection.

Emergency Shelter

Since weather can be unpredictable, an emergency shelter like this Space All-Weather Blanket is an essential, especially if you’ve already set up your tent and are not nearby.

Research journal

Before I go on trips, I like to research to know more about what we are looking for. I bring the journal, this Tooled Border Brown Italian Leather Journal with Bead Tie-( 6″x8′) with me as basically another guide.

Field Journal

Out in the field, I takes notes, which I put in this Bombay Brown Leather Journal with Tie 6″ x 8.5″.

Digital camera

Although Thiago is the cameraman, I do like to take pictures too, especially if I want them immediately after the trip or if I go off on my own at any point. I use this PowerShot SX410 IS Red, which is much less expensive high-tech than Thiago’s equipment.

Cards and Games

When traveling to the destination on plane, train, or car, it can be boring, and if you’re stuck in bad weather or at night, it helps to have fun things to do. My friends and I play many card games, as a single pack of cards, like my LotFancy Playing Cards, can be quite versatile.

Books

I love to read, and again during the down time, it’s nice to catch up on academic reading or simply fun books. Books luke Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Plants and Trees (Dover Pictorial Archive) by Ernst Lehner is somewhat both, and can give me something to think about as I backpack.

Binoculars

 

Cryptids are often shy and reclusive (sometimes, of they have sharp teeth and claws, that can be a good thing). Binoculars, like my Nikon Prostaff 3S 8 x 42 Binoculars, help me to try and spot them, and help me scout out where to go next or if there’s other dangers nearby.

 

Of course there’s many more items, but these are some of the essentials and extras that I always have. Other items are: permits, camp stove, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.

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So, for my character, Maria Segreti, I chose to do her backpacking backpack mentioned in the two posts I made that involved her last week-the character post and the assignment post I made about the bunyip. While it’s not something that she carries around every day, in my opinion it says more about her and what she does than her purse might, and I think it’s just more interesting too!

I will admit that I had to look up some of the information used in this post. I have never gone backpacking, and what little I know is because one of my brothers has and I’ve gone with him when he’s been shopping for stuff. I used several articles from REI, one of my brother’s favorite stores, to help me with figuring out what she would need: https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/backpacking-checklist.html, https://www.rei.com/content/dam/documents/pdf/expert-advice/Backpacking_Checklist_Printable.pdf, and https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ten-essentials.html. That is also why all of the pictures stem from REI. The items I wanted don’t have much in the way of uncopyrighted material, so at least this way I can keep the sources of the pictures the same. I swear that I am not sponsored by REI! It was just one of the first website that popped up for me to look at the backpacking gear list, and I recognized the site from visiting the stores before!

I have put the full names/titles of the items here because I am worried about not doing so, since these are real, copyrighted items. Also, in real life, people would explain what they use, in detail, if they’re talking explaining a hobby or career of theirs. Again, I am not sponsored by any of these brands/companies!

The “ten essentials list” was my main source, as including everything on the other sources would make for a horrifically long post! I used the other sources for the links provided and for a few extras.

However, I did want to add some special touches to make it less generic and more Maria. That’s where the journals come in. She does research before she comes, which is the research journal and has a field journal that she writes in when out in the field. This way everything is separated into two camps: the legend/myth and her experience.

This wasn’t a horribly difficult assignment, just time-consuming. I really wanted to be thorough, especially since I could draw on these items to make appearances in later assignments and posts I do. I am also indecisive, so all decisions on what items to pick were difficult! I first looked for highly-rated items, as I don’t know what’s good, and then price. She isn’t the wealthiest person, but I also imagine that since this is part of her career, she also invests in items, so I went for highly-rated, middle-of-the-road priced items. I still don’t know how accurate this all is, but I tried!

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Though for this week, this isn’t an assignment that counts towards a 10-star goal, but is it’s own separate thing, here is the link to the assignment posting:

http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/whats-in-your-bag/

Here is the link for my featured image:

https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=174832&picture=hiking-path-sign

For my second assignment bank assignment I chose to show what was in the bag.

I chose this to be the assignment I connected to my midweek question. Since my favorite type of story is mystery, I decided that my purse will be full of items as a murderous detective. It was a character that I’ve theorized how they would play out in a murder mystery. Most of the characters in these stories tend to be the main protagonist, usually doing detective work, either by being hired or out of curiosity. We find the killer as someone nearby involved and then its the end. What would it be like to have a killer that was always there but there was always someone else caught, like if the detective was framing people for his own crimes? It would be interesting to see things falling out of the detectives bag that seem normal for someone trying to get into the mind of a murderer, but what if they themselves committed the crime? So I did my best based on what I felt that character would have.

What’s inside this large blue cross body bag:

1- magnifying glass – a detective staple
1- handkerchief –  for wiping off their own prints
1- wallet – to hold id’s and bribe money
1- inhaler – because I’m an asthmatic detective
1- pack of gum –  for nice breath
1- pair of gloves – to not leave behind prints
1- butterfly knife – for “defense”
1- dismembered doll – for ~aesthetics~

Looking through my room and trying to decide what i would want in my bag was difficult, I’m too nice to be a killer so putting myself in that mindset was hard. As I looked around my room and saw different things thats were laying about I noticed the dismembered doll laying in the corner and decided to start form there along with what was already in my bag. I managed to find my cotton gloves and borrowed my dad’s handkerchief. My practice butterfly knife is something I’m always fidgeting with so I decided to put it into the bag and said it was used for defense. I set everything to be touching other things in order to slightly guide your eyes and then took a picture of it with my phone. I then uploaded the picture here.

What would be in your bag if you were the murderer in a murder mystery? Would you be as bold as me, or be more subdued and only keep the basics.

For this 2.5 start assignment, I had to take a picture of all of the stuff in my purse.

Inventory:

• Book I am reading (This one is Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill-Stephen Kings son)
• Phone cord with wall and car adapter
• 15 lip products
• Many pens
• Lots of change
• Movie ticket for It
• Keys
• Wallet
• “Just-In-Case” bag (multiple medicines, chap stick, nail file and clippers, band aides, wipes, hand sanitizer, earplugs, etc.)
• More Advil
• 2 types of mints
• Hair ties and bobby pins
• Cough drops (I am attempting to keep a small cold from turning worse)
• Snacks (for when I am at work since I work during the usual lunch time)
• Lens wipe and cloth
• Blotting paper

Although I generally carry a smaller purse while out on-campus. My main bag is a large over the shoulder. I am one of those people who like to have everything but the kitchen sink on them at any given time just in case I need it (or someone I’m with). I will admit that is is technically an edited version of what is in my bag because I chose to clear out the months of receipts that I had shoved into the bottom and side pockets before taking this picture. Besides that, I think that this a good (and someone horrifying) display of what it is my bag. The first thing that struck me when I finished clearing everything out was how many different lip products I had managed to gather into my purse. Anyone who knows me I generally don’t wear a lot of make up. Yet somehow I ended up with 15 different lip products in my bag. What was especially surprising is that most of them are lipsticks whereas I usually wear at most tinted lip balms. The rest of my purse is pretty standard for me (probably excessive for others). Although I have a lot of pens, I’m sure most of them don’t work because I am one of those people who throw bad pens back into my bag instead of doing myself a favor and throwing it away when I see that it’s bad. I would say that based on my purse contents I look a little over prepared and worried. And honestly that is pretty accurate for me. I would rather be over prepared than under prepared. I really enjoyed this assignment because I feel like it’s a way to let people learn something about me that they may not get to know just by talking to me since I would like to think that I don’t come off as a worrier in-person.

I had to connect one of my visual assignments to the character I created. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that, considering the fact that she’s not real and I can’t photograph her, but then I happened across the “What’s in your bag” assignment. I realized I could document what would be in Little Rascal’s bag, so that’s what I did.

I gave her a backpack, because she needs to be able to carry her laptop around with her (for movie watching purposes). She has her headphones, to drown out other people’s thoughts. She has her wallet, because functioning adults need wallets. She has a Wonder Woman themed reusable bag for the sake of irony, and also to be environmentally friendly. She has a sweatshirt for when it gets chilly, the Silver Dagger her mother gave her, a lighter because it pisses her sister off when she smokes, and sunglasses to protect her identity. She also has a copy of the Dictator’s Handbook, because she’s fascinated by the way people can use rhetoric rather than superpowers to control the minds of others.

This was pretty fun. It was a good exercise for getting inside the head of my character. The challenge was being limited to my own belongings. For instance, I wanted to give her an iPod, but I realized I left mine at my parents’ house, so I couldn’t. You’ll notice I also had to use a kitchen knife as a dagger, because I didn’t just have a dagger lying around, but that had to be included.