Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Outlier Behind the Magic.

         I always think of an outlier as someone with a unique mind. A person who is bursting with creativity and the power to think outside the box. Someone who embodies these qualities the most is the one and only Walt Disney. Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. From an early age Walt Disney was interested in art and was constantly encouraged by his mother to practice his talents. As he got older took every opportunity he could get to practice and improve his art. In high school he took classes in art and photography as well as taking classes at night at the Chicago Art Institute.
       After dropping out of school Disney joined the Red Cross and took a job driving an ambulance in France. Upon his return, Walt's brother Roy got him a job as a newspaper artist at Pesmen-Rueben Art Studio. During his time here Disney made friends with experienced cartoonist Ubbe Iweks. Walt, his brother Roy, and Ubbe tried to start their own studio producing short cartoon series but they quickly fell into debt and had to declare bankruptcy. Not willing to give up the three moved to Hollywood and started The Disney Brothers' Studio. The company survived but wasn't a huge success until the creation of Disney's famous character: Mickey Mouse. In 1923 Walt Disney made the cartoon "Steamboat Willie" and from then one Disney's career sky rocketed.
    The work the followed "Steamboat Willie" showed Disney's creativity. Walt Disney pushed boundaries and did things no cartoonist had done before. He created his first feature film "Snow White" which is now considered the best animated movie of all time. From that point on each film did things that none had before. Fantasia combined color and sound. Bambi used realism and detail. Mary Poppins was the first movie to ever combined real life actors with animation. Then Disney created Disney Land "the most magical place on Earth".
     Walt Disney follows many of the rules of an outlier. For the 10,000 hour rule he took classes and practiced his art form a young age. In Malcom Gladwell's book "Outliers" he says that the time where most people reach their 10,000 is when they're 20 years old. Walt Disney produced his first successful cartoon "Steamboat Willie" in 1923 at the age of 22. For parentage and patronage Disney was constantly encouraged by his mother and siblings. Even more, his brother Roy gave Walt financial backing numerous times and helped Disney create his companies. As for special opportunities, Walt Disney befriended Ubbe Iweks while working at Pesmen- Rueben who he learned from and went into business with. Finally for intelligences. There is no denying Walt Disney's creativity but he also had recognizable practical intelligence. Everyone during that time admired Disney and his skill for storytelling. He had a way of speaking to people that would keep them interested and he talked in a way that people could understand and relate to. He could pay attention to detail without drowning the listener. Overall Walt Disney, the man behind the magic, was a true outlier.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Joyas Voladoras

This piece of writing really makes you think but at first not exactly in the most positive way. In fact, the entire last paragraph seems discouraging. The way that I interpreted it was that no matter what precautions you take your going to end up heart broken and hurt. After reading that I was left thinking "well than whats the point of getting close to someone". Later as I was rereading I realized that loving something is natural. It's impossible to keep your heart locked away. Like whales. They are these massive mysterious creatures. We know next to nothing about blue whales but what we do know demonstrates how natural it is for a heart too want to be connected to something. Blue whales travel in pairs because they want to. They are so large that they really don't necessarily have to for protection. They need the companionship just like the humming bird needs food. Their entire hearts could stop within seconds if they stop. Stop moving, stop eating, they get too cold and then their whole life just stops. So they live fast paced making every heart beat work for them. Brian Doyle weaves his message in between medical terms and animal references but its still there. I feel like he was trying to say that if you can't protect you heart  indefinitely than what is the use of putting up walls at all. Our hearts naturally want to love so we shouldn't try to stop it.

Quotes

Personally I love quotes. I'm not sure but I always like looking for quotes. Here are some of our favorites:
"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die tomorrow." -unknown

"I'm not sure what I'll do, but- well, I want to go places and see people. I want my mind to grow. I want to live where things happen on a big scale" -F. Scott Fitzgerald.

"We are all a little broken and that's okay"- Unknown

"Why fit in when we were born to stand out"- Dr. Suess

"Live life for th moment because everything else is uncertain"- Louis Tomlinson

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.” - J. K. Rowling

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Sunscreen

There were a few peices of advice that I really liked. I especially liked the part about not worrying about not knowing what you want to do with your life. I have no idea what career path I plan on taking. I also liked the advice about not wasting your time with people who aren't careful with your heart. Its like don't waste your time on the insignificant people. A piece of advice tht i want to add to the list is don't show other people how scared you really are. You could be terrified but that doesn't mean you have to let the rest of the world know that.

Monday, May 6, 2013

What's Worth Knowing?

You can't teach a person everything they need to know. School teaches us the skills we need to have  successful careers. But what is worth knowing can't be taught, it has to be developed through experience. The things that aren't taught in school can't be just taught. Is like telling a person how to react to a certain event. Say your fish died for example. Some people could feel a tad saddened but they flush the fish and continue with the day while I on the other hand cried and made my mom get rid of it. You cant teach that. What determines the right way to react. Whats worth knowing is how to live life. How to be happy with what your doing. How to be a good person. How to work through the pain and keep trying no matter what others tell you. These skills have to be picked up along the way. These skills are also different for each person. Not everyone deals the same way just as not everyone has the same favorite color or the same friends. You can't teach the skills that are worth knowing. You just have to continue living life and you will develop the skills along the way

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Waste Land Response

     The moist memorable part of Waste Land was seeing the people's reactions when they saw themeselves turned into art. I loved seeing how emotional they got when they completely understood all that Vik Muniz was trying to do. I learned not to assume the worst. I expected the people to be very negative and ashamed of working at Jardim Gramacho because it seemed like people only worked there as a last resort. But the people were proud that they were working their way towards a better future. They faced each new day with a positive out look and a lot of the time they looked happy. It showed that I shouodnt just automatically assume the worst.
      As for the people whos lives were completely changed, I could'nt imagine how that would feel. Their jobs that they did everyday turned into somthing bigger than that. It must have been overwhelming (but in a good way). I think that if I was in their shoes, I wouldn't believe that it was really happening. To go from being just one of the many people pulling recyclables to people working towards making a difference. I think it would just be so surreal. If it were me I would also be honored to represent such a huge group of people.
      This art is very unique and very powerful. My life isnt like that. I represent basically th average person my age. My life is full of school, sports, and expectations. Art I think has to tell a story and nothing in my life at the moment needs to be told. I don't really think anything in my life could really lend itself to art similar to what was documented in Waste Land.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Outside


 
The first one is a picture of a bush nd there is a tree you can see behind it. Im not sure why its upside down. The next one i chose because I like the wat the sky was bright but also felt stormy like it had a meloncholy feel. Again not sure why it is angled wierd