Who would have dreamed this? You couldn't mean this

Chapter 24 talks about time and how there’s two versions of it. Time in a mechanical sense that chugs forward at a steady pace and time as we perceive it where it acts as a feeling that flows.

The people that passively perceive it as a feeling have this idea that time is a heavy weight when you’re troubled, or a light breeze when things seem perfect, it’s a constant flow that works against them. When things are rough the days get long and the years pass by in a moment. These people live for moments, and everything in between is pointless. Other people, see time as a strict guideline for how to live. Wake up at 6:30, eat, go to work by 8, eat lunch at 12, leave at 4, and watch the same T.V shows over and over from 5 till you pass out. They are aware of time so much that nothing else is as ever present. Life is lived only for death and every great feeling in life is just a mix of chemicals.

(this kind of writing reminded me of my favorite album Because The Internet)

Hopelessly Devoted to Family

Family is Peachy keen, jellybean. <- click for vid.
It was pretty hard making a video with no story because that's all I've ever done, and fitting the value of family was difficult until I decided to just not think about it. The cloth was easy to put in there honestly.
I put the cloth around the closest thing I have to family here, which is my friends.
I watched Jane the Virgin because it's the best american hispanic T.V show while drinking Jumex. (A hispanic brand of drinks) I love Jane the Virgin because I relate to it so much. Family and heritage are a big thing for it and it's a parody of Mexican telenovelas, so the idea of family is a constant for me whenever I put it on.
Finally I recorded me talking to family on camera. It was all real reactions and words, I just muted it so it wouldn't clash with the audio.
 I put in Chet Bakers Almost Blue and a conversation with my mom I recorded for audio. I talk to my mom every day and talking to her or any family member is almost always the highlight of my day, but right after is when I always feel the worst. When the call ends I'm always left in my room, alone, and I never know what to do next. That's what the song represents, the mixing of the two are the highs and lows of my day.





My family always gives amazing advice right when I need it, it's what I think back to every time I'm in a rough place.
"It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's what you do with your dancin' shoes."

This was the first pattern type thing I drew. The idea is that each planet and it's surrounding objects were families surrounding the center of the family. (Which for me it was always my grandma)

Fighting with my sister has always been a fury of dumb insults that I love.
"Oh, bite the weenie, Riz."

Then I repeated it a lot of times over on a smaller scale to see if it would look like a pattern. I kept the same sun in the middle, made the planets more random to have variation, and had constellations at the top left corner and bottom right that were somehow a story related to family.




My name was supposed to be Daniel but my dad (who was drunk at my birth) wanted my name to be Christopher, so I'm Christopher Daniel Cepeda.
"That's my name, don't wear it out."

After, I cut out 15 small for each planet and consolation. (Which made me pull an all nighter) I had a really hard time getting systems to line up so I made this for class because I needed something for the next day. I really Don't like this.




The only person I'd ever actually fight was my cousin when we were kids and way too into WWE. At one point he pushed me into a wall so hard my butt caved the wall in, I just covered it with a poster and no one found out for years.
"You're cruisin' for a bruisin'"

So after critique someone gave me the super smart and obvious answer to my problems. Put the basic pattern on a block of wood and glue them to make sure it'll always line up, and then fill in the pattern with random planets.




Working at my dads car lot helped my work ethic way more then I'd ever like to admit to him.
"Why, this car is Auto-matic. Its System-matic. Its Hyyyyydro-matic. Why, its Greased Lightning!"

This is what I ended up with. It went wayyyy easier this time around and was actually fun. I watched Friends and listened to Ray Charles the whole time.




No mater what I know My family will always be there for me.
"We'll always be together (Chang chang chanitty chang sha-bop)"

Where you lead, I will follow Anywhere that you tell me to.

Family is the most important thing to me. Is it cliche? Yes. But true nonetheless. I call my mom every single day, my sister and dad whenever I can, and I’m constantly talking to random cousins or family friends. I have them to thank for everything decent about me.

When I was in elementry school I was not cool at all. Shocker, I know. I was a dweeby kid with a Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Disk and one friend. (shout out to Oscar) One day I was playing Kingdom Hearts II on the PS2 and the title song Dearly Beloved was playing. I loved it so I kept it on for a bit and I noticed my grandma sit down and just listen. My grandma only speaks spanish (and I didn’t at all) and while we love eachother more than anything we had nothing in common so it was hard for us to just connect. Until that day. I did my best to ask her what she was doing and she told me that she liked the song and wanted to sit and listen. I left it there and though the language barrier we talked about it. After that I thought if me and someone who is over 60 years older than me and speaks a whole other language can find something small in common, then I could do that with anyone. And from that’s the first step to finding out more about them and before you know it you become friends. It took a while but that thinking helped me change for the better. And without my grandma, I wouldn't've been able to have that moment. My family has also given me life lessons way more directly. “Don’t do it for anyone but yourself. The moment you focus on what you want to do and do it for yourself is when you’ll grow and be better.” My dad told me that when I first started my A/V class and I was worried no one would like my videos. I figured he just didn’t “get it” but it stuck with me and eventually I didn’t even know what I meant by “get it.” What’s there to get? I should make what I like and if people don’t like it then they’re not who its for. My family usually gave simple answers to complicated questions and it always frustrated me but they were always right. I remember I was talking to my mom about someone I hated being around and after I complained for a while she just said, “if you don’t like them, don’t talk to them.” Incredibly confused I asked her, “So i’m just supposed to ignore them?” She looked at me funny because I didn’t get it even though it’s pretty simple. “Don’t ignore them but surround yourself with people you like. Avoid the ones you don’t. It’s pretty simple.” And it was simple. Why should I be around them? I didn’t need to talk to them. I liked talking to other people more. After that my life became a lot more fun.

Also just being around them has shaped who I am so much. Having such a huge family that loves each other unequivocally is way more rare then I knew. I always took it for granted, and I feel guilty about it. I love my family, and I know they all love me. All the holidays or random reasons we made up to get together are my best memories. The food they cook, the alcohol they drink, stories they tell, and the games they play at 1 A.M are etched into my memory, and whenever I’m sad I can just think back to those moments and it makes everything alright.

My cousin Lalo and I have gone to each other's houses almost every week since we were 8. He’s like a brother to me and I would do anything for him. Coming here, everyone talks about how distant they are to all their family and it shocks me. I ask them who they went to when they were sad and they said they just stayed in their room or talked to a friend that they now haven’t talked to in years. I ask them about their parents and they don’t know anything about them and never spent time with them. Since I was a kid I’ve always sat with my mom or laid next to her and watched ABC’s Gilmore Girls and we’ve seen the whole show together over 5 times. We talk about who we think Rory should end up with (Logan obviously) and small details you only get to talking about from watching so often. Me and my sister are inseparable and know how the other thinks. I always head over to her room and talk about the things I can’t with anyone else. I would always tag along with my dad whenever he was going to drive somewhere and we talked about random things and I learned more about them each time we went out and I always remember those conversations when I drive. I think that’s why I love driving so much. I can’t help but think about those moments every time someone says they haven’t talked to their family in weeks.

My family are my heroes. My dad is an immigrant and has lived the american dream in an age when people say it’s impossible. He has done everything for us and I can never thank him enough for it. His hard work and determination inspires me and makes me always push myself further. My mom always does everything she can for our family for no other reason other than the fact she loves us. It makes me feel like I have someone to count on and helps me appreciate everything I have. My sisters absolute love for me and how dependable she is has always made me want to be there for other people the way she's there for me. Because everyone needs someone like her.

Family is the most important value to me. Always has been, always will be. Without them I’d be a shell of who I am today. I owe everything to them and will always love them.

Tis But A Scratch!

Here's the video. You have been warned.

OK, if you haven't listened to Beastie Boys, what have you been doing all your life?

Beastie Boys - Intergalactic 

Beastie Boys - (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)

Beastie Boys - Sabotage (Song used in video)

And while I have your attention I guess I can talk about the project real quick. All you gotta know to understand the process are these phrases I said in my head too often during the past week.
"Ugh, another cut? Do I really need to clean it? The first aid kid is allllllll the way over there."
"Ok, this sucks. Gotta redo it."
"Ok, rude. Yes Netflix, I am still watching. Stop judging me "
"Texas really is the best state there is." (I had a lot of time to think about random stuff while coiling up wires.)
And finally, "Ouch."

Film, and Animation, and Creative Writing. Oh My!

This symposium was kind of a trip. I mean we sat there as they showed us some crazy animation and then did a round table discussion on it. While I loved the stuff they showed us I didn't connect as much to the symposium as I had hoped to. They gave us a paper to fill out and while it had some cool stuff on it, it also made me feel like they didn't value movies that weren't philosophical or poetic when sometimes I just want to zone out and enjoy a simple movie. The world needs Paul Blart Mall Cop, The Inbetweeners, and other works that are just meant to be funny. Getting people to turn off their brain after a long day and getting a laugh out of them is beautiful and is art. Maybe I'm taking it out of context but it's still a good thing to say none the less. I really hope for more symposiums that talk about writing of any kind.