Best Fraaand

This is Caleb, my best friend at DU.

We went shopping downtown and this was taken on our journey back home on the light rail.

The End.

Updates

Natalie
A rainbow over DU
Before the storm
Downtown art
Gangster rabii
Ketchup plate
Tracks
DU

So I haven't done my blog in a while because I've been super busy with classes and evening activities. I'm not sure what to say about these last 2 weeks that I haven't done my blog because there's too much to say. So I'm not going to say much and I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

In Plato's Cave

In Plato’s Cave

Despite what anyone says, photography is a form of art. Unlike a painting, a photograph is an artifact with no faults or alterations. Paintings, drawings, and sculptures may be noticed as a form of history, but is everything in that work of art exactly proportional and realistic? A historic photograph on the other hand will always be the truth. When taking a picture, there is no way to change the outcome unless the lighting or the camera angle is altered. Either way, a photo will always be the exact representation of what really was in front of the camera.

Plato’s Cave is an allegory where reality is created by man’s imagination. As prisoners were tied up by their necks and legs, allowing them no movement, a fire burned behind them. A high wall stretched in front of the fire and behind the prisoners, casting the shadows of the subjects upon the cave’s wall. These prisoners could only imagine what these subjects looked like until they were freed and were able to see reality, though some of them were not freed. To these prisoners, the truth was nothing but what they were able to see on the cave’s wall.

Perceiving the world this way was nowhere near truth or reality. The shadows of the subjects casted on the walls were only an outline of what may have been a person or animal. But by believing that these shadows were replicas of the subjects only made reality more exciting. Any shadow is only, and will always be, one color. The image will always be proportionally larger than the subject and there will be nothing but an outline; no details will be involved. So these people had no rights to what features each shadow really had, they were only able to envision a large dark outline. Only to a blind man would this be considered seeing.

A photograph is a paused segment of time featured on photo paper. There are infinite pictures in the world to be taken, and each picture has infinite opinions from the public. Historical photographs: these are ways viewers can see the past, but is everything they see real? There is no way to forge a photograph, but what about the story behind it? Some pictures can make a person completely biased towards a story or myth in history. Why? Because there are no words to explain the frozen subjects or actions, so one’s opinion is less likely to change unless another photograph is more powerful.

What else are photographs used for? Photo albums are special keepsakes to a family because they may include the last memories they had with a relative or friend. They also may include photos from a family vacation just so the special trip is never forgotten. Along with vacations, many photographers travel the world to show people, who do not have the ability to travel, what the rest of the world looks like and what is going on in other places around the globe. While traveling, most of the time people will take pictures of what appeals to them and what they find interesting, unique, remarkable, or beautiful in some way. To a percentage of the viewers, the same image will emotionally appeal to them in a special way, just as it did to the photographer.

The first picture of a baby when he or she is born, his or her first steps, as a toddler, the first day pre-school, elementary school, middle school, high school, graduation day, college, college graduation, wedding day- all of these pictures are important to a person if they want to look back on their past. Taking pictures of ones self shows growth and how that person physically changes over the year, and it is always interesting to look back on those photos.

Framed, published, or printed, a picture is only one viewers perception of what was in front of the camera- the photographer’s. He or she is the only one able to understand the picture completely because no one else experienced the evidence the way he or she did. Each other viewer of the work of art will, without a doubt, create some sort of opinionated response to the picture, may it be fair or negative. A person will always believe what they see versus what they hear. In this case, a photograph will be more emotionally appealing than writing because of the lasting visual image they will have in their minds.

Printed material, like magazines or newspapers, can spread a story very quickly, but it is more likely that a person will even start to read an article if there is a picture attached beside the facts.

A photograph overpowers television because the viewer is able to create his or her own story behind the picture. In television, a story is told with footage to follow, leaving no room for one’s imagination to wonder what is going on. Also, in news, a selection of video footage may be cut out of a segment, changing the storyline. Is it possible to cut parts of a photograph without ruining the image? The vividness of a photograph will never be changed as much as video footage because there is only one piece to a photo.

Photography is one of the many arts, but it is the only one that will always be completely true an honest about what the work of art is about.

Posters

This is on my wall in my dorm, isn't is adorable? Hahaha

Today on the bridge there was a huge poster sale so I ended up buying this along with 2 other large black and white posters of pictures of cute children doing cute and/or silly things.

Today was also my first day of classes! I had Sociology at 8A.M. which wasn't too bad, and then I had spanish at 10 which couldn't have been easier! So I had a nice simple day of academics and was finished by 11 A.M. with all my classes and so I took a nap and then had a lot of time to work out. I started reading the first chapter of my sociology book and it began to drag so I had to take a break from taking notes. But I believe I'm about to go back and try to read again right now.

Sunsets

September 12, 2010

J-Mac; my new home.

A sun sets and reflects in the windows of Johnson Macfarlene. I'm pretty used to my new home now which is good. I can actually find my way around campus too! I'm pretty surprised!

Today I finally went to the gym and worked out for the first time since at DU. I think the altitude got to me because I got a nose bleed and had a hard time breathing at one point. But I feel so great after doing more activity then walking around campus for hours a day!

September 11, 2010

Caitlin Whitney facts:

Her major is HRTM because she wants to travel.

She takes photos for fun.

She's only 17, which is young for a college freshman, but she loves it!

She played basketball, lacrosse, and cheered in high school.

She has an older brother and she loves her family.

May those who were lost 9 years ago on this day R.I.P.

Field Trip!

Today my Personal History of Photography class went on a field trip to downtown Denver. Starting out by jumping on the light rail, we headed to the Denver Art Museum. We walked around for 2.5 hours taking pictures of interesting art and photography. This photo was taken from the Asian Art exhibit. We then ate at the museum restaurant, which was way too fancy for me. The menu consisted of calamari and lamb types of food, which I've never eaten. So I ended up getting macaroni n cheese with grilled chicken. It had like 3 different cheeses on it and it seriously was great! But I couldn't finish it so I took it to go and gave it to a homeless person on the street.

After eating, we went to 2 more photography exhibits and then jumped back on the light rail back to campus where I took a nap for about an hour and then just hung out with friends. Tonight was definitely the most fun night I've had so far. All I did was watch a football game, eat s'mores, and hang out in a friends room just talking and meeting more people for literally like 5 hours.

My favorite part of the night included a neighbor named Sam, who we now call Joseph Sam because of a joke, decided to go to the restroom. Unfortunately, he believed the men's restroom was too far away, so he just went in the girl's restroom and did a cartwheel afterwards into the hall. I can't even count how many laughs I had tonight; that's when you know the night was great.

Sites

My new daily view; I love it.

Walking back from the art building towards my dorm, this is what I get to see. Beautiful.

So far, I've had a great time at DU. I've made countless friends and basically just had a good time doing a bunch of "nothing". Orientation is so chill, yet so hectic. The days are full and busy, but I've managed to make it through each day without taking a nap and only sleeping 5-6 hours each night, which is a big deal for me because I always sleep at least 8. But as of now, 3 days in, I'm still awake and ready to socialize.

All moved in!

September 8, 2010

CHILI'S! Actually, though the name says Alan, I actually colored the beautiful piece of art work and added his name. After a really, really long day, me, my mom, and my friend Alan went to eat at Chili's before my mom left for Houston tomorrow morning. We had to be back on campus at 6:45 for "Know the Code" so we took our food to go and ate in the car on the 5 minute drive back to our dorm. I said goodbye to my mom with a hug, and headed to the activity. I'm tired.

September 7, 2010

This would be what the car looked like right before moving in. 5 luggage, 3 big drawers full of smaller drawers and other small accessories. I thought it would only take like 2 hours to settle in with all of my stuff, but it actually took most of the day. I was VERY surprised that everything fit in my room with a bit of extra space in some drawers; that's definitely an accomplishment!

Last day of shopping

...and this isn't even all of it!

Today was a full day of shopping, my favorite thing to do, but I actually got a bit stressed out during the process. The breakfast room at the hotel was full of students, and I introduced myself to some of them. For others, it was awkward and they kept quiet, but I'm not really shy. After my lovely bagel and yogurt, me and my mom headed to Bed Bath & Beyond, where we picked up most of my dorm stuff that we had previously ordered back in Houston a few weeks ago. Interestingly enough, I ran into my roommate there, who I'd actually never met before! So that was exciting. After purchasing, we went to The Container Store and Target, where we bought the rest of my "stuff".

This picture is most of my junk that I bought today. We brought it up to our hotel room so we could basically re-pack everything and make more room so everything could fit into the car for tomorrow.

Chinese food. Yum. My mom and I walked across the street with my new friend Ross and his dad for some late dinner to this small Chinese restaurant. It was tasty.

But that's basically the end of my day. My lips are chapped and I want to take a shower. Wake up tomorrow: 8:30 AM, though I'll probably end up awake before that! EXCITING!

I'M HERE!!!!

Flight attendants, please be seated for arrival.

I'M HERE!!! Finally, after 18 years of living in Houston, TX, I'm now in Denver, CO, my new hometown. I'm so excited because it is SO real now. My maid cried when I left the house this afternoon and my grandparents looked upset, but I was too excited to frown.

GAAAH I'M HERE!!!! Wow, it's so crazy! Since December 2009, I've known that I'd be coming to DU this fall, and now I'm here! That's the topic of this post if you hadn't noticed.

This picture was taken with my iPhone while landing in Dtown, but I actually like the picture a lot for some reason, I think it's probably the reflection in the wing along with the orange/blue color contrast.

I'm so excited. Shopping tomorrow!

WEENR

Finally, my last day in Houston! So I spent the day with my best friend Candice and we went to the Galleria to shop for nothing important. We ended up buying matching purple Kate Spade friendship bracelets and I got some jewelry and headbands, which is pretty much all I've been getting lately because I've never known how to match jewelry with clothes so I never wear it!

When we left the Galleria around 9:30, we went to pick up my developed pictures since my friend Alex was working at the photo department tonight. On the way, we saw the Oscar Meyer Wiener car, which was really exciting, so we stopped to take a picture. I took her home after that because she has to wake up early in the morning. But my friend Jackie, who was back in town from TCU for the weekend, was going to IHOP with some other people, so I joined and got home right before 2AM. That's about it, I cannot wait until I leave!!!

(Oh, and the title of this post was the license plate on the picture.)

I'm a Smarty

This is Junior, my mom's smart car. She bought it for her own birthday almost 2 years ago and it's basically our fun car. I wasn't planning on bringing my car, a Mercury Mariner, to college, so my sister ended up taking it to her school, WASHU in St. Louis. If I end up needing a car, I'll end up buying one in Denver because I'll need a 4WD.

So since my car is gone, I've been driving this thing around all day every day and all of my friends love it! It's also a convertible, which is pretty nifty. That's about it for the car.

Today I actually packed for college! So far, I've filled 5 luggage and I have yet to pack my comforter and pillows. Most of the stuff in the packed bags is clothes, which I know I'm bringing way too much of, but it's better to have too much then not enough!

Screw It

After 6 years of aching pains in my mouth and this is what I get?

No, just kidding. That's just the implant I got a while ago. Actually, I can't even remember how many oral surgeries I've had because I lost count after the 8th. I think I had 11, but it could have been just 10? Why so many, you wonder? Well it started in 6th grade when I got braces. Then, in either 8th grade, one of my teeth wouldn't come down from the gums so I had my first surgery to attach a chain to my tooth to pull it down. After the third attempt in a year or two (meaning I had 2 more surgeries to pull the tooth down), we decided to change dentists because we felt like the one we had at the time had no idea what he was doing. So I switched dentists and orthodontists and added a bunch of new doctors to the family.

Of my understanding, this is basically what all of the procedures ended up doing when they found out that the tooth was rotten in the middle: pulling down the tooth, taking the tooth out, cutting out the gums in the area to create space, building bone in the space where the tooth was (during multiple procedures), a root canal on the tooth beside it, realizing the root canal didn't work because the other tooth was rotting from the inside, cutting that tooth off, taking the root out, inserting an implant with a screw, screwing the teeth onto the screw, cutting and elevating my gum line, and whitening my teeth. That's basically the outline of what was done in the last few years. Intense eh? I believe so. My teeth and gums are so incredibly tender and sensitive that eating anything hard, cold, or hot will definitely be a little painful. So that's pretty much every day. But now, my teeth are COMPLETELY FINISHED!!!! At the dentist today when I was leaving, the dentist took pictures of me and my new perfected smile, along with jumping into a few photos with me just for fun. I'm so ecstatic that I'm done with all of those appointments!!!