For a week I wanted to be a veteranarian. For most of grade one, I wanted to be a ballerina. For most of my middle school years, I wanted to be an animator.
I have had my heart set on coming to Cre Comm for many years. I took graphics althrough high school and got my hands dirty (sometimes literally) in everything from screen printing and photography to creating videos and cartoons. I competed in the video production competition for Skills Manitoba and filmed and photographed my schools fashion show for 3 years (being behind the camera and not actually sewing anything may be part to blame for my lack of fashion sense...). My class took a field trip to the Princess campus of Red River and we were informed on the Cre Comm program, among others. Then they let us make a few fake news broadcasts where we got to just goof around, but it was awesome and I loved it! It was something I had to sign up for. And so far the waiting has paid off and the first couple of weeks have been a blast, a little strenuous, but well worth it. I love the possibilties that the program has to offer and it seems to be just my style, except for the whole not being a slacker thing, I'm still working on that, but hey, I'm getting better!

Now, let's assume this does not work out (heaven forbid!). Here is a list of my back up career choices:

1. Esthetician: I love painting my nails! I love manicurs and I love pedicures and I love nail polish and hand lotion and the list goes on. Other people's hands and feet don't gross me out (unless they're oozing out places they shouldn't be).

When I was younger, I used to paint pictures on my nails. It was usually my left thumb nail (I'm right handed and thumbs are the biggest canvas). It sounds wierd, I know, but it actually is. Once I drew Snoopy, another time I drew an alien and a space ship. At Christmas it was almost always a snowman. There have been an infinate number of flowers. I think I did a beach scene once. Whatever I was inspired to do, provided I had the right colours, that's what I did. It was definately wierd but my friends were always interested and it was a great excuse to stay up late.

2. Pastry Chef: More of a pastry decorator than anything. I love being really creative with things like cakes, cupcakes and cookies. There are endless possibilities! Have you ever watched "Ace of Cakes" on the Food Network? The stuff they do is amazing! All you need is some cake, some icing and a little imagination and you can whip up something that people will not believe is made almost entirely out of sugar. During the summer, I work at a restaurant at The Forks called Muddy Waters Smokehouse. The menu consists primarly of wings, ribs and burger (yes, I've had vegetarians leave when they realize that their only options are a salad or a plate of carrots). There is one burger called the "Double Muddy Burger." It's more or less a nice, big helping of clogged artery with a side of heartattack. Chilli. Cheese. Bacon. Four hamburger patties. It's big. And it's one of those things that if you eat the whole burger in one sitting, you get a gift certificate and your picture put on the wall. Probably wondering where I'm going with this? Well we had our end of summer staff party tonight and a couple of days ago, my manager convinced me to make a cake that looked like the burger (apparently I'm building up a repuatation, you make spaghetti and meatball cupcakes once and it's assumed you can make anything). I'm am all for these kinds of things. It combines two of my favourite things. Sugar and being creative.

Here are some pictures of the process and the final product. I thought it turned out pretty cool, look like a big gnarly burger, and everyone at the staff party loved it.

Buns: Vanilla Cake

Patties: Chocolate Cake

Fried/Pickles/Tomatoes: Sugar Cookies

Bacon/Cheese: Fondant

Lettuce: White Chocolate dyed green

Chilli: Chocolate icing, Cloddhoppers and jelly beans.

I even made a little photograph of my manager to go with it.

My best one so far. I'm pretty proud.

3. Stunt Car Driver: I like to drive fast. Don't worry, my dad's a traffic cop so I know better than to actually gamble more than I can spare, but I'm not a Sunday driver either. I drive a Pontiac G3 Wave. It's no fancy sportscar, but it's a pretty cool little car. It's also "Inferno Orange." My favourite thing is to take the turn on over passes and see how far I can get around them before I have to apply my brakes. It sounds dangerous, but it's not. I'm not going at any kind of reckless speed and I have never come close to running off the road. A little cintrifical force feels good once and a while. I also love parallel parking, what does that have to do with it? And my dad has tought me to be a pretty evassive driver. Now that I've said all this, I'll likely get 3 tickets tomorrow. One for speeding, one for reckless driving and one for parking in front of a fire hydrant. Seriously though, I am a good driver. I think...

4. Storm Chaser: Lightning is by far one of the coolest things on the planet. I could watch it for hours on end. There's a gravel road along a field near my house that for some reason is always the perfect place to watch lightning. It's really quiet too so thunder sounds awesome. There's been a few times where I've seen flashes in the distance and actually gone for a drive towards them to see if there's a good storm going down on the horizon. I've even attempted to see a funnel cloud. I thought I saw one once and got a little nervous, so I turned around and went home. I kind of have the feeling that some kind of science degree is needed in order to be a storm chaser, so that might be a little hard (I'm not the most amazing scientist) but it's still pretty fun. The adrenaline of possibley being stuck in a terrential downpoor is exciting and the way that kind of nature works is really poetic and awe inspiring. I also just love the thrill of the chase. Just kidding. But seriously...

5. Mascot: It's like acting but no one knows it's you! I love goofing around and just being as silly as possible, but for some reason, it often gets me some funny looks. Mascots are expected to be silly and goofy and fall down. I love making kids and adults laugh but I'm not that funny (I love puns). Mascots are always funny though! Who doesn't want to run around a football field or a baseball field and fall down and throw props around and get a whole crowd cheering? I've seen a few interviews with a man called Kevin Clash. He is the puppeteer and voice of Elmo from Sesame Street. I've heard him say that when children come to the show, they don't hide themselves from them as they are performing their characters. Children's imaginations are so huge that they don't make the connection between their favourite character and the person with his or her hand up it's back. I like the idea of being able to be something that is totally wild and entertaining yet still be myself. Maybe I actually want to be a puppeteer. No, mascot. Maybe both.

Basically what I'm saying is I have a plan. If this doesn't work out, I'll find something equally as entertaining and nerve-wracking as this. If you are ever at a sporting event, and a mascot starts to approach you, before brushing them off, consider that it could possibly be me, fullfulling my life goals and living to my true potential.

Hopefully I pass Cre Comm...

With all the recent stir from the Kanye West, Taylor Swift and Beyonce incident, we haven't heard a whole lot about the real purpose of the VMAs and that's the videos themselves. Music videos have changed dramatically since they killed the radio star a couple years ago. The effects, the dancing, the costumes and the stories. Almost anything has become possible. From Michael Jackson dancing with zombies in "Thriller" to Britany Spears nearly nude in "Womanizer." The awards show on Sunday was devoted to "The Best" videos in a variety of categories. Have you ever considered the worst video? If you search for "worst video ever" in YouTube, you get this:



I personally don't think this is the "worst" video ever. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty terrible (note the dancer carrying what looks like a cat at around 2:06) but it's probably the best cheesy video I've ever seen, it should at least win that award. Beyonce and her dancers have nothing on this dance crew. I also wish that bell bottoms and low, low, low cut v-neck shirts on men were still a fashion trend. Just kidding. And don't forget the forever classic "couple drive away in floating car." What does all of this have to do with the VMAs? Absolutely nothing, I just really want everyone to watch this video and have a good giggle. Hopefully when music videos have gotten out of hand, because there's a good chance they will, we will still have simple little gems like this to bring us back to reality.

How To Annoy Yourself.

There are two small pet peeves of mine that I am about to annoy myself with.
First of all, it bugs me when people gossip about something that everyone else is gossiping about as if they heard it first. It also bugs me when people strongly share an opinion about something as if it were some sort of amazing, life altering epiphany that no one else has come to the realization of and expressed. Both of these become even more bothersome when they are applied to celebrity gossip. I'm sure I'm not the only one that resists the urge to roll their eyes in at this kind of thing. Here I go anyways...
Anyways, did you hear about the whole controversy with Kanye West, Taylor Swift and Beyonce last night?! I could go on and on and on with the "how dare he"s and "what an jerk"s but instead I think Beyonce should get the attention. The number one word to describe her in the whole situation is "class." If you didn't like her before, how can you not, at the very least, respect her now? For all I know this was all a set up (and knowing the celebrity world, there's always a chance), but if it was not, than that is pretty much one of the nicest things I have ever seen anyone do. While Kanye pulled another "stir the pot" stunt, Beyonce came to the rescue and made him just look like a jerk (as if he didn't do that on his own). It reminds me of an ad to stop bullying, where some kids are making fun of a small kid with red hair and an even older, more intimidating kid dyes his hair red to make a point to the bullys. It's not quite the same but right idea. I also think that Taylor Swift was very brave for coming out and finishing her speech, despite being insulted and humiliated in front of what I'm sure was millions of people.
So now that I have talked about a couple of big celebrities like they were my close personal friends, I'm going to drop it before I make my own eyes roll right out of my head. Hopefully next time, I'll have something a little more educational to say.

Intro

My name is Melyssa Ward and I am a first year Creative Communications student at Red River College. I'm looking forward to the next couple years of learning about the industry and exploring what it has to offer for me, as well as what I will potentially have to offer back. I'm hoping to broaden my knowledge of politics, current events and media. I plan on sharing my progress, as well as my take on what I learn as I make my way forward.