I normally hate taking pictures. I love having pictures of different moments in my life, but I rarely actually take pictures. So many people take pictures only for social media, which there is nothing wrong with, but I have just never really been interested in that. I care more about what a picture reminds me of and how it makes me feel than how it appears to others.
Last semester, though, UMW had a Fall Formal. I went with some of my friends because we thought it would be nice to do something on campus, as we haven’t been able to experience many campus events. The dance itself wasn’t as fun as we hoped (though not as bad as many people claimed), but the night as a whole became one of my favorite college memories.
My friends and I got Crumbl Cookies, where we decided to take a couple pictures using an old bright pink kid’s Canon camera. We took some of the most random pictures and were laughing the whole time. My friend has had that camera for about 10 years, and we were really just taking pictures because they made for funny memories, not because we cared what we looked like.
I feel like this picture captures that night super well. We were pretty much just laughing and jumping around the Crumbl Cookie parking lot, which I’m sure looked ridiculous to anyone who might have seen us. None of us cared, and I think that’s why it was so fun. We didn’t care about anything, we were just doing something that seemed fun, and now I have a lot of silly pictures like this to look back on.
I really don’t know why I was laughing or what was happening in this picture, but I remember how happy I was during this night, even months later. Fall Formal was also around the time when the semester really started getting hard before finals, so I love that I have this picture to look back on and remember a fun moment rather than my homework. I might not remember everything about this picture, but it is a permanent reminder of one of my favorite nights from last semester.
If you need a little pick me up I cannot stress the joy that Googling “Bad 80’s photos” will bring you. Below is what I decided to tile “Who Ya Gonna Call? Dustbusters!” This prompt involved finding a photo and giving it a description or story behind it. After finding the photo I knew I needed a little bit my back story. Turns out, Black and Decker released the first DustBuster in 1979 so I had to assume that this photo was taken shortly after that…. Anyway, enjoy some painfully awkward 80’s goodness…
It’s Christmas 1980 and the hot ticket item is the Black & Decker’s DustBuster. Your mom got one, your cousin Larry got one, your aunt Samantha got one, your uncle Pete got one, and even Grammy got one. Now get out there and rake that sucker over crumbs 42 times before giving up when it doesn’t work!
This week’s assignment, A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, requires you to take a picture and write a backstory behind it, since we don’t always know the context behind pictures.
I knew that I would be able to relate this to the 80’s theme by using a picture from that time, and I thought this assignment was pretty clever. There are so many different ways that you can interpret a picture, so I thought I would give it a shot.
I wanted to choose something that gave me a bunch of different options to work with, so I Googled “funny 80’s pictures” and found this gem.
Jeffrey and Greg have been best friends since they met in elementary school. The two boys formed a close bond while suffering together through the bullyings of some nasty fifth grade boys simply because they had coke bottle glasses. Getting swirlies together in the same stall brought them close.
Into their teenage years, the boys were inseparable, but were still considered to be outcasts. In hopes to fit in, they dressed just like the popular kids with their bell bottoms and their v-necks, but the two were never invited to the disco on Friday nights.
After high school, Jeffrey and Greg both picked up jobs at a construction company and split the rent on a 2 bedroom house equipped with the modern designs of teal carpet and vertical blinds. Since Greg was allergic to anything with fur, the men decided to adopt a parrot that they named Winnie. She was quite the character.
One day after a long shift in the hot sun, the two came home to find separate letters addressed to each of them. It was an invitation for their 10 year high school reunion! Immediately, Jeffrey refused to go. “Why should we go?” he asked. “No one in school was ever nice to us.”
“Jeff,” said Greg, “look at us. We aren’t the same two boys who used to get swirlies in the bathroom. We ditched the glasses for correction lenses, gained a bunch of muscle, and are rockin’ our new stylish haircuts. Let’s go and show them that we aren’t losers anymore!”
After some consideration, Jeffrey decided to go to the reunion. Him and Greg went shopping together to find the brightest and best outfits, as well as get their haircuts perfected for the big day.
Finally, it was the long anticipated night. The men walked with confidence into the old gymnasium, Jeff with Winnie on his shoulder. They couldn’t wait to show their old enemies how much they’ve changed.
“Jeff, look! A photo booth!” exclaimed Greg. “Let’s get our picture taken!”
As the two walked to the photo booth, on top of the world, Marsha, the former Ms. Popular, noticed them.
“Oh my gosh,” she said to her former and current sidekick Laura. “It’s Jeffrey and Greg. Still attached at the hip. It’s been 10 years and they haven’t changed a bit. Can you believe those outfits? Gag me with a spoon.”
This assignment was way out of my comfort zone, but I had a really fun time imagining what could have possibly been the reasoning behind this picture. So many different things could have gone into why this picture was taken. I challenge some other people o try it – push yourself! This one was worth three stars.
This is a redo of the Larger Than Life assignment as well as, A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words assignment! Enjoy!
Larger Than Life 2.0
My roommate’s dog is HUGE! He roams the 5th-floor hallway of Eagle Landing, scaring all who pass by!
HAHAHA! JK! This lil beagle is actually two feet tall! He was just positioned to look larger than life itself! My roommate Stella, helped me with the perspective effect in this picture to make the dog look like it was larger than her! He is actually a sweetie pie!
I wanted to redo this assignment to focus more on the perspective effect, to make this object to actually look larger than life! My first attempt for this assignment was a bit rushed (my original is down below), so I thought I would try again! I feel that my new submission was a much better representation of this assignment!
This here is my 5-year-old cousin, Nora. I was visiting her and her family this past summer in Florida. The context of this picture was simply her asking me if I wanted to see her jump really high. When she asked me, I thought she meant how high she could jump off the GROUND. NOPE. She climbed up, onto the HIGH, queen-sized bed and jumped off, landing with the loudest bang you have ever heard!
This is one of my absolute favorite pictures! Each time I look at it, I am reminded of one of my favorite little cousins. I remember the craziness she had flowing in her veins! And every time I look at this picture I laugh because it just literally looks like she is being possessed by a demon, and trying to attack someone!
I chose to redo this assignment not because I did a bad job on the first picture, but simply because I wanted the opportunity to share the image of my demon-possessed looking cousin jumping off a bed! I hope you got a laugh out of this picture, and my first picture I used for this assignment (you can see the original post for this assignment down below).
This wonderful picture of me was taken in September of last year. I am now having second thoughts about exposing an embarrassing picture of myself to you but it’s all good! The story behind this picture is hopefully hilarious and a bit nostalgic to you.
First off have you seen The Emperor’s New Groove? If not, I’m disappointed. IT’S A CLASSIC! You should stop reading this RIGHT NOW, log into Netflix and watch it! Then come back to this page and finish reading this story!
HAHAHA! Nah it’s chill if you haven’t seen it. The story just won’t make as much sense. By anywho! So the Emperor’s New Groove! Do you remember Kronk?! He was Yzma’s assistant. Voiced by Patrick Warburton. I love Kronk!!!!!
Anyways do you remember the one scene where Kronk is trying to dispose of Kuzco? Kronk was jumping down the stairs (doing his own theme music), Kuzco was in the red bag, then some people passed by and Kronk froze up against a wall and said”Ba-da ba-da ba-da ba. Ba-da-ba.” This scene!
I attempted to recreate this scene at here at the University of Mary Washington, and instead of a bag I had a blue cupcake in my hand for my roommate.
Hopefully, you can hear me saying “Ba-da ba-da ba-da ba. Ba-da-ba” in my picture. I’m obviously not as good as Kronk when it comes to being sneaky and singing my own theme music.
Hopefully, you’re thinking back to good times, when you were a youngin. Watching The Emperor’s New Groove, laughing at how big, dumb, and tone-deaf Kronk was!
This assignment caught my attention real quick, and the first reason why was because of it’s cover photo. When I clicked on the assignment, I laughed at the idea of thinking what situation would lead up to that particular moment. I thought of a 100 reasons, then when I realized I could make up the stories, I just thought to go for it.
Finding the picture was actually pretty difficult. I didn’t know how to search for strange/funny/awkward photos. It took me a really long time to find one, which I ended up finding by searching up “photos that start up an interesting conversation”. I found this photo and laughed hysterically for around 10 minutes straight, which looking back at it, it was probably because of the lack of sleep that made this photo 20 times funnier than it actually was.
Writing it wasn’t hard, I wanted to think of a realistic reason as to why this was happening. I was thinking of making a crazy story, but I then thought against it. Considering I wrote this at 3 in the morning, my small amount of creativity just wasn’t functional for that. I decided to write about it as if I was the guy, and he did something I would do- be the clumsiest person in the universe.
This maybe took me 15-30 minutes to write and a couple extra minutes to edit. This may not seem like the most creative story, but it’s a story nonetheless. Any story I write, bad or good, I’m always proud of. So enjoy the short story behind this wonderful picture I found!
Description: “They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Quite often we see pictures on different social media outlets. They are funny, awkward, or beautifully portrayed moments but we don’t know what led up to that point in time. Your task for this assignment is to find a picture and write a background or short story for it. It can be a photo you took yourself or found on the internet. This story could be based on a true event if the picture is from your personal collection, or completely made up if you are using a funny picture you found online. Be sure to tag it properly!”
My eyes flickered open, and my annoyance immediately peaks as the sun fills my gaze. What a great day to start my day, being completely blinded by the sun. I sit up, stretch my tense body by outreaching to the ceiling, then I question why my alarm didn’t wake me up for once. I quickly grab my phone to check the time. My eyes widen, and I throw myself out of bed.
I’m 20 minutes late to work! I practically shout in my head as I quickly style myself with my work clothes. My workplace doesn’t tolerate late workers, and though, I know I won’t be fired, that doesn’t mean there won’t be repercussions. While trying to figure out what will look best on me, I give into the pressure of time and decide to just pick the first I choose of everything. I’m sure a blue shirt with a yellow tie is in style. There’s not even enough time to brush my teeth or fix my hair, I just have to be out. It’ll take me 20 minutes to walk to work, and with how late I am now, I know my boss will have my head on a stake.
As I’m walking, my anxiety builds, and I decide to full out sprint to work. It’ll take me less time to get there, which means less ammunition for my boss to use against me. The thumping of my feet against the wet pavement causes my heart to race. I can’t believe this is happening, I’m usually never have issues with work. I always make it to work on time, I do all my work flawlessly, I help when I can, and I make sure I look good! Why does this have to happen to me? I’ve been so incredibly off my game lately, it’s not even funny.
I’m so close to work, I can practically smell it. I check my watch and see that I’ve ran 3 minutes. That was quick, I thought to myself, and I felt pride in that, even though I felt like my heart was about to burst. My phone buzzes, and I curse as I notice it’s my boss. I fumble trying to answer the phone, and when I did, I feel my stomach sink with nerves.
“Hi… Boss!” I gasp between breathes, still sprinting to work.
“Where the hell are you? And why are you breathing like that?” He grumbles through the phone, obviously he’s had a bad morning as well.
“I’m so sorry, my phone didn’t ring, and-“
“I don’t care about your excuses. If you’re not here in ten minutes, you won’t like the result. So, be here.” Before I could even respond, he hangs up.
Well that couldn’t have been worse, I think to myself, and run around the corner, still looking down at my phone. Before I knew, I felt a falling sensation as I feel a wash of coldness overrun my senses. I’m quickly realize that I’m completely submerged in water. I had no time to slow down, I was running way too fast. As my head comes out of the water, I gasp for air. I look down, notice the muddy water, and realize I’ve run right into a construction area. I look around bewildered as I take in what just happened. I’m such a moron.
As I look around, I make direct eye contact with a motorcyclist next to me. I become extremely embarrassed and sink more into the water. Well, guess I was wrong, it could get worse.
“Your task for this assignment is to find a picture and write a background or short story for it. It can be a photo you took yourself or found on the internet. This story could be based on a true event if the picture is from your personal collection, or completely made up if you are using a funny picture you found online. “
In reality it was taken on my last family vacation in Montana and is the result of a panorama going work. I chose to write about this picture because it’s one of my favorite pictures and I find it quite funny. I just love the look on my brothers face, I love the setting and I love that the only distorted part about it is my brothers body. I figured it would have a good story to go with it.
Here is the story:
We had been walking all day exploring Glacier National in the mid 60’s air. There was a slight breeze which chilled us further even though it was supposed to be summer. We were more used to the heat. He had been avoiding my questions all day and seemed very off about it. He would explain what he meant by “dismantle.” I kept asking “dismantle how?” to which he would reply “I don’t really know can we just stop talking about it so much it’s not a big deal…” But it bothered me! I was always someone who needed to be in the know. I wanted details, I wanted explanations. I hadn’t gotten any since the accident. Who get’s stuck by lightning and lives to tell the tale? Only him, but he just seemed so different…. and now this “dismantling” that he didn’t care to explain to me. The only details I got were about how it starts which he said includes a change in the air. He said it’s like a chill runs through you but he wouldn’t say much else. I quickly gave up getting more details wasn’t going to happen for me today. So we continued to walk. Once I stopped asking we picked up light conversation to pass the time as we passed through the scenery. We came across a little river with fallen trees that created little bridges across the water. I was focused on skipping rocks when I looked over to him and he was staring at his own arms, the hairs on it standing straight up. He looked nervous and as I looked up to the sky I could see it had gotten dark quickly as if it were about to storm… I looked back over and say him. It was describable other than to explain it as dismantling. his body started to come apart as he looked at me…..
For this assignment, it said to find a picture and write a background or short story for it. It could be a photo that you took yourself or a picture on the internet. If it is a picture that you took then the story needed to be real based on the event leading up to that picture. If it was a random picture, then the story could be made up. I chose a picture from this past summer when I got the opportunity to play summer ball in the Valley League.
This picture shows a group of players who came together in the beginning of the summer not knowing anything about one another. We were all from different schools and grew up in different states and cities for the most part. As the summer went on the relationships that were built and the friendships that were made between us were amazing. We were only together for about 2 ½ months and sometimes players would come and go. But we made the most of the summer, grew fond of each other and enjoyed playing the game we loved together. This opportunity was a once in a life time opportunity for me and it allowed me to meet some of the best people that summer. These were people that didn’t know anything about you, so they wouldn’t judge you for the type of person you were or what your past was like. Which was great, because sometimes people base their judgements on things that they have heard about you, and that wasn’t possible with these group of guys. The relationships that were built were strong, we all enjoyed being around each other and this past summer is one that will not be forgotten. As you can see in the picture, we all enjoyed being around each other, nothing but smiles in that picture. And it was a sad day when we all had to part ways and go back home, but most of us are still in contact to this day.
For my final assignment this week from the writing assignment bank I chose a three star assignment. This brings me to a total of ten stars with my first two assignments being four and three stars. That being said the assignment I chose was called a picture is worth a thousand words.
The assignment asked me to…
Your task for this assignment is to find a picture and write a background or short story for it. It can be a photo you took yourself or found on the internet. This story could be based on a true event if the picture is from your personal collection, or completely made up if you are using a funny picture you found online. Be sure to tag it properly!
I decided to design this assignment around our secret agent theme and the character I created in my character dossier.
To anyone this is just a picture of a car with some mountains behind it. But to secret agent Juliet Stones this is everything.
Juliet Stones is a princess by day but secret agent by night ruling and saving England from any harm. Her two prized possessions are her tiara (duh) and her aston martin (pictured above). While the tiara certainly is important Juliet’s aston martin is far superior.
An aston martin is a car but not just any car. It is a luxury sports car founded by a British independent manufacturer. While it’s regarded as a British cultural icon it also is regarded as Juliet Stones world.
Stones aston martin isn’t like many aston martins. Her sports car does more than just get her to and from places. This precious item of hers serves as one of her secret agent gadgets. Without this car Juliet probably could be dead. Her aston martin is programmed to know where she is at all times and can drive itself to her if she is in need of help or an escape. Along with that it has numerous high tech gadgets inside of the vehicle which help her complete her missions. The car contains numerous radars, guns, computers, cameras, laser, jets, even an expresso machine, and much more.
The photo above is of Juliet’s aston martin resting after a completed mission early one morning in the country side. While many agents may have sidekicks Juliet looks to her aston martin as a sidekick. She even named it, Steel because of its color and inability to be destroyed.
As Juliet continues her journey of being a secret agent Steel will play a crucial role along the way. Stay tuned.
While scrolling through my computer to find a random photo to write about for this final assignment, I came across this picture. Brought back a couple of memories.
This is me three years ago when I was a freshman here at UMW, home for my first fall break. I had brought my roommate back since she lived out-of-state and we had become quick (yet volatile) best friends. Out of some odd desire I decided to take her to my elementary school. We spent an hour or so walking around and hanging on the jungle gym sets. As we walked past a small garden area I saw it: the student mural put up in fifth grade. Now, I’m (still) quite proud of this mural because it started a tradition with each fifth grade class where they would decorate something of the school. My sister’s class, two years after me, painted ceiling tiles. But my class, because we were the first, got the best placing. It’s a large tile mural in the shape of a postcard with students’ self-portraits outlining the card. This photo is of 18-year-old me looking at how my ten-year-old self thought what I looked like. There are some false notions in this piece. My hair was light then but I wasn’t blonde and I didn’t really have that prominent of freckles either, though I desperately wished for that to be the case (still do). I remember I had just gotten glasses and had trouble getting used to how my face looked with them on. In an effort to come to terms with my changed appearance, I included the glasses though I wish I hadn’t because god they just throw off the whole portrait and my eyes (I’m quite sure I did the glasses first then the eyes—what an amateur mistake). I also remember layering the paint on and on because the skin tone was not quite right, clearly forgetting everything darkens in the kiln. So I ended up with a portrait that makes me as red as a lobster. I know the specific cross necklace depicted in the painting as well because I wore it in my fifth grade school picture and nearly every day of that year. It’s small and gold, given to me by my mom.
It should be noted—since it’s not clear in this picture that I had to sneak into this area to take the photo. I squeezed myself through the small gap between the chain-link door and fence, technically trespassing but hey, it was sort of worth it?
