Tattoos: Big Decisions

Many people are drawn to obtaining tattoos to express their individuality; many however,do not understand the scale of a commitment tattoos can be and this often leads to misinterpretations of the tattoo's original message . A tattoo reveals much about a persons life and it does so publicly to anyone who sees it. Often does the tattoo veer off the creator's intentional message and instead open him up to criticism for their mistakes. For example, located in a man's bicep was the tattoo of a heart with two banners under it. Each banner had a name etched inside of each of them. Lisa was listed in the first banner, while Karen was written in the second one. Interesting to note that Lisa's banner was crossed out with a diagonal line while Karen's banner had no prominent features. I can perhaps see the indication that he put this tattoo on his body to express his love for Karen. However, I believe that man has originally made this tattoo for the love of his old lover named Lisa. The fact that he crossed it out makes it questionable as to whether the breakup was due to a foolish mistake or perhaps something more negative particularly to the man's character. Tattoos often bring much attention to an individual; for the shiny colors and the intricate designs often break the monotony of the human skin. However, it also brings to light much personal history that often people never want to portray with their tattoos. In conclusion, tattoos are a work of art and it is due to this that many people will develop many different interpretations that veer off the original creators intentions whether it be positive or negative. So for anyone who considers getting a tattoo heed my advice, do your research and ask many people about what they think about your tattoo design choice before you permanently plaster it to your body. This world has many cynics and observers that rip on the mistakes people make such as myself.

Shrek is love, Shrek is life

“All who wish to feel the warmth of our Ogre Lord, I beseech thee. Hear my words!' the boy's words echoed across the school yard. Here I was leaning on the gate of this empty field, trapped inside Oasis Elementary School in the middle of Thermal, yet never have I felt such a state of importance by being here and witnessing this sermon from this youthful fanatic. “Here!” said the prophet as he rose a copy of 'Shrek The Novel' (written by Ellen Weiss) in the air, it's cover glistening a bright white color like the layers of a onion. It was the first time I witnessed the most important book I have ever had the experience of reading, the very tome that has guided my morality and my purpose for living. “What rest on the palms of my hands is the scripture in which we devote our life to him. You all must read it for it contains the history of our savior, the great and mighty Ogre Lord known as Shrek.” the boy cried out. “You all must read it!” he demanded, shouting a mighty ogre roar to every boy, girl, and man that attended his seminar in the hard concrete floor of his wall less gospel. “You all must aim to please Shrek,” he said with tears in his eyes, “For Shrek is love! Shrek is life!” It wasn't long after his speech when the teachers started to call out the students for the field trip I was supposed to supervise. Nestled in my hand was a copy of 'Shrek the Novel' that the boy had passed out during his speech. I held it close to my chest as though in the very pages of this book I could feel the warmth of our Ogre Lord as he shared his affection to me. I gladly gave my iPod to my younger nephew during the field trip, for I happily was satisfied reading the story of 'Shrek the Novel' and learning the joys and hardships our great Ogre Lord experienced during his great adventure to rescue the princess. “Indeed it is true,” I said to myself as tears flowed down my cheeks, “Shrek is love, Shrek is life.”

Horror: Huge Misconception

Horror is nightmares becoming reality.

Horror is a feeling people obtain from things that psychologically give them duress. It is a feeling that preys on the fears many people have. People often get the misconception that horror is a one night stand with danger. Horror is not just a quick scare or a startle, but it is the envelopment of the accumulation of our fears we have developed throughout our lives. The worst example of what horror is is in the film The Strangers. The movie only utilizes the fear of being attacked in a secluded area you find as safe, but it doesn't develop on many fears. Instead of developing on multiple fears, it proceeds to use the same tactical scare over and over again. The overuse and awkwardness of the scare methods completely left this movie completely devoid of horror.


The Strangers by Bryan Bertino: what horror should not be

Horror attacks us in many shapes and many forms, for horror is a creature that constantly changes to adapt to its ever changing audience. Horrific beings are often a complete unknown to us, there is little that we know on them and our imagination tends to get the better of us on such entities. Some take on the forms that seem other worldly and often break the conventions on laws of reality. Others are completely opposite and are entirely designed to fit within the laws of nature, often manipulating them to twisted and grotesque reflections that seem hardly recognizable as the rules our universe has set in motion. Horror is vicious and relentless, it will never stop trying to come after you till your heart pounds with great vigor. Horror is perverse in its ways as it rapes its watchers with every single taboo our society has given,bathing in our displeasure from witnessing such wretchedness. Such a thing exists in the 1979 film Alien by Ripley Scott.
Alien by Ripley Scott: Horror done right, a instant cult classic

The alien creature from the movie Alien (by Ripley Scott) is the true essence of horror. The alien constantly changes its form always keeping the audience guessing as to what it shape will be like and feeding off the fear of the unknown. In one horrifying scene, we witnessed one of the passengers named Kane start to convulse and his fellow crew members try to detain him not knowing as to what is to come. As time passes on the expression on his face becomes that of a man in unbearable agony and we noticed his shirt start to redden with his blood. Before we have time to understand what is happening, he starts his final convulsions before the alien violently burst from his chest, thus given the name from that point on as the "Chestburster" It is horrifying! This man was completely fine one second then immediately dies a very violent death the next as without no warning as to when it will happen. This is not just it's only form: It begins its form as a “Facehugger”, a creature with long fingers to latch onto creatures and an elongated tail it uses to strangle people to force its victims to swallow the embryo it supplements using it's tube-like mouth. After the “Facehugger” dies, soon it takes on it next form a known as the “Chestburster” and literally does as its name implies. It soon reaches maturity, and takes on its host's main traits such as bipedalism , it's size, and even posture. Its black colored exterior, scorpion tail and its secondary mouth located inside its jaws invoke fear upon anyone who witness it. As one of the main characters Ash once said “It is the ultimate survivor, A killing machine” The Alien, it is a creature from our nightmares and will slash and tear at people's psyche for many more years to come.

This I Believe: Horror is often the ignored genius in the room of film genres. Fear is a common emotion that all human beings face, but many horror films of today do not understand that repetition of a single fear is what ruins the experience for people like me. Horror is game of cat and mouse. You always gotta change your game is you wanna catch that mouse.