the internets.

I’m online 24/7, whether that would be checking my status on Facebook using my phone or having a good time with friends playing video games at home; the Internet has always been there connecting me to people. I am an avid video game player, that’s where most of my time goes. When I’m not hanging out with my friends in real life, I can be found on party chat with them on Gears of War 3 over Xbox LIVE. It’s all I do, I just open my laptop screen and I’m already there, same browser open to the recent page I was viewing, it is almost like I never close Firefox.

I’ve been using a computer since I can remember. I was about 5 or 6 when my dad and godfather had one and shown me the basics, web browsing, email, etc. It had a large bulky monitor and a gray tower with Windows 95. All I used it for was to search for video games pictures, Pokémon or Dragon Ball Z episodes, and cheat codes, if I was having trouble with Metroid for NES; and for many years it was basically only that.

I went though a lot of different websites over the years. First it started with the Cheatcc.com or Nintendo.com, and then it moved on to the “kid” sites such as Nickelodeon.com and Disney.com. I still remember those shockwave-based games these sites have hosted that keep me glued to my screen for hours. I remember having a class in grade school that we simply titled, “Computer Class,” and all we did in there was browse the web and play games, such as Oregon Trail and Kid Pix.

At about the age of 10 or 11 at a summer camp, I was talking to a group of kids about general funny things, jokes, games, and of course websites. One website that a kid mentioned would be my hangout spot for about 5 years. He went on saying, “Yeah they make fun of everything there: Pokémon, Britney Spears, everything!” Very intrigued I went on the site later that day. That website is called Newgrounds.com. A site home to numerous flash-based shorts and games, such as Pico Goes to School or the classic, All Your Base R Belong 2 Us. I want to say from that point on, I acquired the “Internet Addiction.”

That website became my whole adolescence, listening to pop-punk music, like blink-182 or Sum 41, drinking Pepsi and eating chips every day, and watching anime and laughing at stupid flash movies and games any chance I can get. I even downloaded Flash to create my own movies, but it just wasn’t meant to be for now. I was so into this site that I really wanted to talk and share my experiences with it, so I made an account and joined the site’s forum, NGBBS. There I would talk with fellow NG users and talk about basically anything. The NGBBS years of my life where the most fun and the interaction with thousands of people were incredible, it felt like a second home; people knew me and I knew them.

Though this was my main site, I also browsed many other pages such as: Gaia Online, Neopets, deviantArt, Albino Blacksheep, and YTMND. Gaia Online was another one of those forum sites that I spent a lot of time on, but it had a fun side to it. You get to have an anime based-avatar and use “gold” to purchase clothing and accessories for it. Then there was YTMND.com, the site for the cheap laugh. A database for user created pages only consisting of a single image or .gif and music in the background. From there I branched out to the often called, “Internet hate machine,” 4chan.org, an image board which has been my current site to talk about random junk and other interests for about 6 years. The website is very easy to navigate, everything is right in front of you and is extremely faster than any forum that I have been to.

Nowadays what I mostly do on my computer is browse 4chan, YouTube, and Facebook or playing online multiplayer games either on my PC or Xbox 360. Although there are times you can find me off my butt from a computer chair, I can ensure you that I am always connected through my phone, looking at the same sites, getting cheap laughs, receiving information, sharing my experiences with others, but in a smaller format in the palm of my hand.

Living Out Loud

As a 20-year-old art major, I’m probably not the target audience for Richard LaGravenese’s 1998 romantic comedy, Living Out Loud. In this film we catch a glimpse of the lives of Judith, played by Holly Hunter, and Pat, played by Danny DeVito, both looking for a new identity and going through their own set of problems until they find each other at the perfect time.

Recently divorced, Judith Moore is set out to find what see really wants to do in life. Pat Francato is looking for the same, but is going through different problems. After 20 years of marriage his wife kicks him out of his home due to gambling issues, not only that, but his daughter becomes very ill and passes away. After Judith’s unusual night at the local jazz club, Jasper’s, the two meet in elevator at her Fifth Avenue apartment, also the place of work of Pat’s character. From there we see a relationship form between the two, both going through issues and both wanting the same things in life, but it becomes very much one-sided as Pat starts developing feelings toward Judith. After another night at Jasper’s, we begin to see another friendship form, Judith and the local jazz singer, Liz Bailey, played by Queen Latifah. A little hostile at first, but soon after they become good friends. Later in the movie Judith hires a male masseur, but what’s really important was what happened after. We get to see how a jealous Pat really feels for Judith as he tells her that he wants to be with her. Quickly shot down, they remain friends, but you can sense that he doesn’t want to give up. A dance scene and an elevator fight with an ex later, Judith and Pat share a final dinner in which they both ultimately decide to go their separate ways and pursue their goals.

There are quite a few memorable scenes, but one that stuck out the most for me was the dance scene at the lesbian club, The Confessional, where Liz took Judith for a night of fun. Though a little ridiculous, it showed a mix of reality and the fantasy that’s going on in Judith’s mind. This scene also left me questioning Judith’s sexual orientation due to how much fun she was having and perhaps contributing to her final decision not to be with Pat over dinner a couple days later.

Although the overall acting was great, this movie left me feeling confused. To me, this movie seems to be only a glimpse of the lives of the two characters and I would’ve liked to seen more. It’s not a yearning to see more, but the feeling of what really happened for a better understanding of what was the purpose of this film. Though the main character was Judith, I felt more of a connection to Pat. He seemed to have been going through a lot more than Judith’s character and it would’ve been nice to know more about him. The main problem I had with this movie, besides the plot, was Judith’s fantasy scenes. I felt that in the first half of the movie they were very rampant, but later on they disappear until one was had at the very end. Overall this film’s strengths are the believable characters and jazzy, cool and calm soundtrack. While this may not be the best romantic comedy/drama, it is certainly not the worse.