SLANG and other words…

“FORE WE HIT THE ROCKY-ROAD LET’S SLITHER DOWN AND BLITZ MARY, THE GRAPEVINE GIVES SHE’S STACHIN PEPSI COLA”

My favorite part of visiting the special collections unit at the library was being able to flip through the old issues of the Skiff. It was documented history, but also a document to life and what certain events were important to those who attended TCU 60 years ago. However, my favorite part was all of the old advertisements. From the movies being shown at the theater to this Pepsi Cola add, they all captured my love for nostalgia and the art of advertising. Then I started to think of this class more. Images are not the only way visual culture is communicated, but words contribute to the experience as well. The women’s attire and the way this add is drawn contributes to dating this piece and heightens to the confusion I feel trying to understand the slang words used within it. I have read the quote over and over again, but still fail to truly understand all of the words, even with the “English Translation’, which I believe does little help.

Slang is an integral part of our everyday interaction with the world. It connects and separates generations. Advertisements today use slang in their works. I wonder if these phrases so foreign to me in this Pepsi add will be the same for those 60 years down the road analyzing the slang we choose to put into out adds today. This advertisement is not special because it is selling Pepsi, it is special because it is connecting to an audience who interacts with this language and visual culture on a daily basis.

-Madison Burke

Lets Be Game Changers

Recently, an Instagram star, Essena O’Neill, quit social media. Before this controversy, i had never heard this girls name. I have probably seen her photos floating through the internet, but she never crossed my radar. I am not an avid user of Instagram and I do not pay much attention to accounts that become famous. However, her frustrations are interesting and her story is one of bravery and self acceptance

Essena is 19. At 15 she created her account and started to gain followers. She is a beautiful girl who is thin and possess all the qualities that girls today label under “goals”. Her captions and photos had always been thought out and meticulously created to give the viewer the pleasure of seeing her at her effortlessly best. However, with the huge following and admiration from her fans, she was not happy. This month, she started to delete hundreds of photos off of her account and re-caption photos that were left

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Her theme: NOTHING IS REAL ABOUT THIS!! In each photo she describes the horrible and self-degrading process of what it took to be her on a social media platform. That so much time had been wasted on trying to be perfect for others and not her self. We have been talking a lot about social media and identity recently and this reminded me of the Tattoo article. That millennials need proof of their existence and identity and that they must claim it to the world even if it is not true. This girl has an image, yet she is desperatly trying to fight what she created because she knows it was not real. She says this:

So what is social media to you? Is it taking away the validity and true beauty of life? Is your online identity really you?

-Madison Burke

I went home for fall break to spend time with my family and soak up the beautiful California weather. I love where I am from and every time I come home I beg my parents to go into San Francisco with me. Its charm is always pulling me back and each time I go, new memories are made. I convinced my parents that we had to go and we set our family day trip to the bay. It was a busy day and it seemed the whole world had congregated in the streets of my city. We made our way through the crowds, and my mood was shifting from being thrilled by the magic of San Francisco to feeling defeated and angry with the masses of people. I was focused of myself and my own frustrations. My mom suggested that we eat some food, sit down, and rest our feet from trying to fight for steps on the sidewalk. We chose a little cafe named La Boulange, one of my favorites. We ate outside because the day could have not been more beautiful (75 and not a cloud in the bay). As we began to enjoy our meal, I began to relax and people watch. I started to notice again why I loved and missed home so much. Then I looked up. “TAKE A TRIP AND FLY AWAY”. It was if words were forming in the air, no trace of a plane or human touch. Above us, enticing phrases were being written into clouds. I quickly told my parents to look and these writings became the topic of our lunch. In the hour that we sat, it circled around San Francisco four times and each time with a new headline.

Sometimes we forget to look up because we are too engrossed in our own world. I look at this photo now that does very little justice to the awe that I felt, but I try and think about all of the people that did not see it and why. There are so many things happening in the world at once, but it is good to take a step back from the craziness. We miss the little things in this big world because we choose not to become distracted by taking our focus off of our goals. So I encourage you to look up once and a while, you will never know what you might find!

-Madison Burke

Steps to Success

The other day, I was finally able to breath and fully explore and appreciate the new library that just opened on campus. I begged my best friend to walk around with me and take a minute from the stress of studying. I was so curious to see what changes were made and to hopefully find new study spots. We ended our journey at these stairs. It did not mean much at the time, but throughout our exploration I was taking photos to send to my mom. She quickly responded back with her comments, but also added a photo of me and her at the steps of the old library that was taken during our tour of TCU. I was surprised she had even remembered taking the photo because I had not. Though, I was glad we had snapped a shot two years ago and not for the memory, but as a capstone to the past. We were standing in the same spot, yet the scenery and environment had evolved. I came to TCU seeking more that just academic knowledge, but the knowledge of life. I chose to open this chapter of my life to try and experience all that I could. I couldn’t help and stare at the photo and think of all the moments that landed me to stand on these new stairs. For the first time here at TCU, I felt as if I truly had a clean slate. Both moments are symbols to the steps I must climb, and even when I feel like I have not succeeded, I a much closer to the top than I was before.

-Madison Burke