The Next Best Thing

Ghost World is a graphic novel written and illustrated by David Clowes, an American cartoonist, and illustrator. It centers around the lives of two teenaged, best friends meandering around the makings of a suburban town. Highly acclaimed, a true masterpiece of art and script, possibly Clowes' best, Ghost World made it to the big screen with a slightly astray plot.

The comic has a specific-color-only vibe and explores friendship; what makes it, breaks it and everything in between. It is still a major favorite of the masses out there and inspires its readers even today.

I feel like it was one of the best graphic novels I have ever read—it is a total must read.

Here are 5 things Ghost World teaches us or reminds us of that we should totally stick to.

Warning: Spoilers ahead. 

1. Friendships Don't Last Forever.

True to the core. Rifts form between Enid and Rebecca, friends we assumed would always stay friends. They begin to drift apart and eventually, by the end of the series, Enid leaves. Even the best of friends can find themselves tangled up in complicated webs of mild jealousy that may cause irrevocable consequences.

There is much speculation as to what the ending of the series meant. But one is all too obvious, the Ghost Girls from Ghost World were no longer as much of friends as they previously were. 

2. There Is More to People Than They Let On.

Enid and Rebecca go about observing people, this is usually followed by a comical mockery of the subject of their scrutiny. They are probably right about the people around them most of the time. But as friends, they do not know all of each other. Both girls hold on to some things the other has no clue about.

Taking people as they are, especially when they are not your friends (unlike these two) can be a dangerous game to play.

3. We Should Be Grateful for the Things We Have.

To my understanding, these girls break up over a crush they both share and a prospect of a better future. While one explores the unknown (an entrance exam, really) to give a meaningful life a shot, the other longs to accompany her. This is not reciprocated (it is and kind of isn't) and the resulting consequences shatter the foundations Enid and Rebecca's friendship stood on.

Wishing, probably, for things to go back the way they were, we see Enid at the end looking at Rebecca with the boy they both have feelings for and then walking away from the life she knew.

4. Sometimes, Your Parents Are the Friends You Need.

Both girls find solace in the company of their parents—or a guardian, was it, in one case?—when they least expect to find it. We see Enid with her father comforting her as she cries into his lap—or was it his shoulder?—when Rebecca isn't there for her, or rather is an indirect cause of the situation itself.

Never take your parents for granted.

5. Always Embrace and Accept Yourself the way you are.

Enid is met by rude remarks—such as "dyke"—and is often portrayed as the rowdie, rebellious one of the duo. And yet we see her owning it all. The head mask, the sassiness, and everything. Owning ourselves the way we are supposed to is kind of the whole point of making it out there? Aye, it is.

I definitely would recommend more of Daniel Clowes. 

I am not much of a photographer myself and you'll probably find better resources to go about this hobby as a beginner. But I feel like if you're creative enough, you can understand the basics of almost anything and really rock it out.

Planning and implementing are cores to almost everything out there. Probably everything. And that is kind of what I thought, too, and came up with these:

01. Start at Home. 

Much like the proverbial charity, Photography also begins at home. You can't just buy yourself a fancy camera and escape into the unknown. You first need to break it in. Get a feel for it. Learn how to use it.

You'll be surprised at the level of creativity you can implement as an at-home photographer. There are a thousand things! You can take candids of your siblings (don't take bad shots, though), close-ups of your room—only if it's nice, and a lot more. Do a whole My Room When I Was Eight project. Scatter up your childhood collectibles, make an indoor castle with bedding, and whatnot. You can make book-buildings, too. Just for fun.

Once you have started taking good images, you can move outside.

02. Make a Photography Notebook.

Something people don't do? I guess.

You might be into making to-do lists. This is kind of something similar. Buying, or making (go crazy DIY) a notebook is the start. Take a picture of the kind of shot you want to take. Or just write, in big-ass capital lettering, what the picture is going to be about. For instance, a close up of ice-cubed fruit. Then write whatever you'll need for this project with cool checkboxes and all. Assign this project a date and time. Once you have absolutely everything you need, take this picture and maybe even paste a printed copy into this notebook. Make it a notebook-scrapbook.

You will be surprised at the amount of learning this will give you. Also, this is kind of a mixture of other cool hobbies like making bullet/doodle journals and scrapbooks. Oh, the fun!

03. Do Nature.

Almost every beginner does this. Well, probably every beginner.

I got into photography for this very purpose. Observing sunsets was kind of my thing. I used to write poetry to kind of go with my observations. And then this one day I figured I could probably do more.

Start with sunrises and sunsets. Do gardens or go out in the wild doing wildlife. This is better suited to photography enthusiasts who travel comfortably and frequently; wouldn't want you to specifically go through the trouble of going outdoors just to take a few shots.

And what better way to 'do nature' than to go to the beach?

04. Read the Instructions Booklet.

You'll probably spend the first few days trying to figure out how to actually use your camera. I kind of asked around, it was mostly internet surfing, and found out that that little booklet, the instructions manual that comes with that you probably tell yourself to avoid? That is what you should read. Inside. Out. You'll learn way faster with this booklet than you will on your own.

Another thing you can do is take multiple pictures of a single object by changing the settings. Notice the changes and the quality of each picture. Note these down and try to figure out why the results differ. This will help with understanding the camera settings.

05. Edit Your Photos. 

Another thing newbies don't look into, I know I didn't at first, is photo editing. You can't tell by merely looking at a picture taken whether it is good or not. Not until you properly look at it on your computer. Moreover, you can turn a bad photo into a good one by simply applying basic filters and going about it with Photoshop. There are a thousand tutorials on YouTube that explain how you can fix your pictures and impress the hell out of everyone.

If you find Photoshop a bit too intense, try Lunapic online or download from Playstore a doable, photo editing app.

Takeaway. 

Guys! Practice and consistency are the two things you need to focus on. So long as you stick to these, you'll be taking awesome-ass photos in no time.

Happy photographing!

It is finally here! Mostly, students find it hard to spend their semester break productively. One day of procrastination leads to another. And then another. And soon, you take a look at your phone and figure out that you're left with not many days.

Bummer.

If you're an introvert, however, you'll have every day—every moment planned. Don't despair if you're not, this post is for introverts and extroverts alike. 

01. Journaling.

Pretty cliched. I know. You're probably done with all your life's journaling by now. However, there is more than one way of journaling. Some people prefer doing a weekly journal; they record an entire week with whatever they can commit to memory and recall. Some people write every day. 

You could try bullet journaling for a change. It's this whole new minimalist trend that has been getting pretty popular. People even post their bullet journaling ideas on Pinterest and Instagram. Do check those out. Finding where these ideas shouldn't be a problem. 

Learn to web browse. 

Why just stick to those fancy leather journals? Download a journaling app! There are tons of those on Play Store.  

When it comes to what you will actually be writing, you don't need much input. Do you? However, here is something new for you: Try writing a people's journal? You can describe encounters you recently had with new people and how they made you feel. Or how you generally see a person. Using cool metaphors, or even poetry, ought to spice it up a notch. 

02. Photography.

Not the most introvert-y of things people from the introvert cult can do. If you think about it, Photography is something that mild introverts can have fun doing. And isn't that the whole point? Of photography? I think of it as this self-involving hobby where you get to explore more of the world around you. Through a camera lens. And most importantly, you get to explore yourself, too. You see yourself in the pictures you take. 

Self-exploration is what drives us.

Here is what I suggest: Try a whole new angle on your usual targets. Have them printed. And then cover an entire wall or something. Like a pictorial mural. You could always post your shots on Instagram. Or start a blog. 

The best thing about this one is that if you're good enough, you can get paid. 

Cha-ching! 

03. Scrapbooking. 

I have been wanting to start this one. Too bad I am left with only a single week before my classes resume. 

You would need a lot of material for a scrapbook. I recommend an entire art-supply-shopping-spree. People stick to just pictures when it comes to scrapbooks. That's just plain boring. You can get as inventive as possible. There really is no limit. It is just you. And how much you like to experiment. 

You can use spray paints! Break crayons and oil pastels and stick those to the cover to fancy it up. Cut empty soda cans to make borders; you should probably use toothpicks and matchsticks, too. Some walnut shells ought to give your scrapbook the homemade look people opt for. 

I like being resourceful. 

Now, what to scrapbook about? As far as scrapbooking goes, it is literally about anything you can think of. But here is something different—if you haven't tried it already: Make a scrapbook of all the cool new songs you have listened to so far. Put in some album arts, add in the lyrics, and finally, your interpretation of those lyrics and the songs as a whole. 

04. Reading!

The best one yet. 

I tried doing one of those reading challenges. But never got around to completing any. There are some books that you just will never touch. And that kept me from this one challenge completely. Currently, I am preoccupied with four books at once. That is challenging enough for me.

So, how to make this one interesting like the rest? 

I recommend doing a character map? What's that? Something I just made up. I think another best thing about reading books is that you may come across the characters IRL. If not, then there might be something familiar in the people you see. Writers adept at making good characters end up teaching you a lot. You can then learn to interpret how best to protect your interests when dealing with... personnes difficiles. In the real world.

Not narcissistic at all. You should try this map thing. The originally intended meaning of which was writing about the characters you read and trying to understand them with your point of view instead of that of the author.

05. Coding.

Took you by surprise, this one, didn't it? I personally loathe coding. Probably because I never got around to getting good at it. However, if you want to avoid all interaction, enjoy your own company, then you should code.

I like cryptography. And ciphers. And encoding and decoding messages. This does fall in line with coding, somehow. Okay, maybe it doesn't. But they do teach you this in all the computer bachelor programs.

To make this one seem outside the box, you should try duplicating already made software into some code of your own creation. That might rile it up for you?

Computer programming is getting very notorious nowadays. And in a good way. You could also benefit from freelance coding. And earn!

These were my five picks for spending this time's semester break. I honestly feel like I had to write a post. Having been away for a really long time. Most of what I've written might not even make complete sense. I did notice some rampant casualness in the content, though. I kind of like it, too. Keeping it simple makes it easy for everybody.

I hope you enjoy doing all these five, people who never read much of my blog.

Until next time.