Overheard Writing Center

 We all know the atmosphere of the writing center lends itself to some wacky and bizarre conversations. Talking to friends about a salad you had for lunch can devolve into a conversation about the deep seated fears that arise from watching too many Veggie Tales episodes as a child so now the idea of eating a tomato invokes a weird response that I can only compare to stabbing a voodoo doll of your friend because in your formative years you formed an parasocial emotional attachment to Bob the Tomato. Also other, slightly more normal conversations that just catch people a little off guard, like the board question that asked what inanimate object people would want to be. Beyond the board, the writing center itself is packed to the brim with personality. 

From the walls of weird drawings everywhere:

 

To Our Friend Abe™ over in the corner:

The CWC is a place where few topics are off limits and weird conversations encouraged. The following are anonymized quotes that have been overheard in the CWC. Enjoy!

• 1: I’m a hoarder for tabs

2: Me too! The iphone limit is 500. I know that because I’ve hit it several times

• I am doing *unwell*

• For a cave dwelling creature, I don’t like insects

• I don’t eat tomatoes, but not for veggie tales reasons

• From whence a rat back to rat

• You want to do cocaine with Stephen King, we are not the same person

• I don’t think they’re going to make you live in Murray if you have a whole baby

• I like her instagrams, she likes mine, that’s our relationship now

• There are tons of flavours of Goldfish… I have real homework I should be doing right now

• She said she could fix him. I don’t know how she’s going to fix anemia but ok. 

• We’re playing limbo with the devil because this is rock bottom

• other than suspenders, what does Louis contribute to One Direction?

• If you're describing someone's teeth, they're the villain

• Everyone loves mugs and if I was an inanimate object I would want to be loved.

• Does a corpse count as an inanimate object?

• no ethics, just vibes

• sometimes you have to take things to a higher power. That higher power is always their mom. Act like an adult or I will treat you like a child

• Lie to me you little robot. Good Job!

• I feel like I'm set up for failure every time I walk into a kitchen

• Playdoh was originally made as a wallpaper cleaner!

• I’m easily bribed, but not to do surveys

• I don’t know about you, but I feel like maybe leaving cream cheese out on a table from 8am to 11pm is a bad idea

• everytime I run into David Hayes on campus I try to open my eyes bigger to match his

• If soulmates do exist, Jeffery Dahmer doesn't deserve one

• I have no idea how I'm going to explain this to my therapist... ya know, she has enough going on I won't even try

• It's unethical, I know that

• the unfiber, if you will

• It scares me that you were able to find a song because it plays for 5 seconds in Cars

• Ok, to go back to infanticide

• [being president of a sorority] is like being a teen mom, you'll rise to the occasion.

• 1: I don't really play games where I get hurt physically.

            2: Just emotionally?

            3: Just emotionally.

• My dad texted me a play-by-play commentary of groundhog day this year

As a side note, if I haven't inflicted this upon you already please enjoy:

Have a great day:)

 

The Life and Times of a Newbie Theater Kid!

About Theater Production

Have you ever wondered what goes on in those creepy dark corridors behind the stage of a play? Well I sure have – so much so that I conducted an investigation. It was simple really, they asked if I wanted unlimited access to intimate knowledge on the inner workings of play production and I said yes.

In layman's terms, I agreed to be a dramaturge this semester for the Coe College production of “Roadkill Confidential”. It was the first play I had ever had the pleasure of working on in my entire adult life. Obviously that’s only been two years and before that I did write, produce, and star in a play entirely conducted by middle school children with single mothers incapable of picking them up immediately after school.

What!?... is a Dramaturge

I had what could possibly be called the second nerdiest job in history (the first being intern at a video development company). A dramaturge is someone who studies the informational context around a play. “Roadkill Confidential” was a particularly interesting topic of study as its motivational topic was performance art. Performance art is a style of artistic expression characterized by its expressive, typically physically involved, and boundary pushing artists. In particular I studied two interesting characters.

Bob Flanagen and Cassils are performance artists of great acclaim (or rather unfortunately, were, in Bob’s case, RIP) who I was tasked with studying and putting my findings on display. My studies started in class, a P&P class (no I don’t know what that stands for), as part of my role as dramaturge. I took this class to learn about the history of performance art including Bob and Cassils’ place in it. Independent research was also conducted outside of class by me. If you were to go to Dows to witness the school’s rendition, you could also find trifold presentations of many performance artists – including trifolds of my own creation depicting Bob and Cassils.

The following is just a snapshot of the construction process of the display for Cassils.

Surely You Did More?

Yes, I had other responsibilities as a dramaturge. Namely I was a sort of assistant director, mainly observing and inserting the occasional idea during rehearsals. I also practiced as an understudy and helped with props. Furthermore, I was listed as an understudy but that mainly proved a formality as I was rarely called upon during rehearsals and (as of the time of writing) never asked to actually perform.

The final job I had was as a puppeteer, which made up the bulk of my performance work. These puppets were crafted by another volunteer credited as the puppet designer Lex Corrigan. Here you can see the expert craftsmanship in this next image.

Very cute yet still utterly disgusting. It’s supposed to be an animal that was run over for those that didn’t see it.

What did I Learn?

I met and fraternized with the professors and instructors in charge of the theater department. Namely Dennis Barnett and Ben Schmidt who proved amicable and pleasant. I also met with student leaders such as S Walker, Giana Akins, and Olivia Hornyak who were the stage manager, assistant stage manager, and proprietor in that order. They proved experts in their craft and were invaluable to my gaining of experience.

The production process also taught me stage vernacular. Slang for important parts of the stage, and rituals for rehearsal. I learned what a vom was and how they were numbered similar to a clock. New traditions for me to partake included pleasantries like “Thank you five” whenever the stage manager informed us of the length of our break. Other examples include "Thank you places" when we were called to places. Basically it was thank you, whatever the last thing the stage manager said.

Finally and most importantly I got to meet and get to know my fellow crew members and actors. The cast list included names familiar to the writing center like consultant Lincoln Johnson, and obviously S Walker.

Takeaways

Thus concludes my daring investigation of the dark secrets hidden behind the stage, and boy do I love them. I hope to continue my career as a theater kid in the foreseeable future and next time maybe gain a bigger role.

The Bizarre Creations Scrawled Upon the Walls of the Writing Center

If you've ever been to the Writing Center and have taken a look around the room, you may have noticed the wide variety of doodles, scribbles, and drawings scattered about the walls. During their less busy shifts, consultants will create their own unique additions to the ever-growing collection of whacky and wonderful art.

The main art form that I'd like to highlight in particular are the post-it notes. Instead of using post-it notes for their intended purpose (writing down notes), the consultants have instead opted for putting doodles on them. Post-it notes are very useful in this regard because there's no tape necessary and they stick to most surfaces! Most of them can be found on the glass wall beside the beaver desk, but there are many others placed around the room.

Here are the post-it notes that can be found by the beaver desk:

Among                              

                               Us?

General Mow Approaches

Monke.

The Council Will Decide Your Fate.

You may have noticed in these photos that some of the drawings have responding notes from other people. Not only are these post-it note doodles a way to showcase creativity and collaboration, but they create a conversation as well!

Moving on to the other places where sticky notes are hidden...

The bulletin board!

Oh no! I'm under a tack!

Who doesn't love a good pun? But, there's something different about some of these post-it notes..

A secret language? There's more.

I have been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty.

Hello? Hellooo?? Is anyone home?

"What are these bizarre symbols? What are they from? What do they say?" All these questions and more I have heard from other consultants and clients alike when they spot these notes around the writing center. Nobody knows who's been writing these, nor if they came from one person or multiple people communicating with each other in code.

A few consultants have tried their hand at translating what some of them say, and there is actually one where they were able to! I was lucky to see this happening in person during a quiet shift one night and everyone had fun giving suggestions and guessing as to what each letter was.

"you're cool!"

So are you! :)

And it's not just on the bulletin board these secret language notes can be found...

Here we have Carla, our resident haunted puppet. Nobody really knows what Carla is nor where came from. I have no idea who named her Carla either. But anyway, if you happen to stop by the writing center, pay her a visit. And be nice to her! If you aren't she will probably curse you or something.

We have two more secret messages posted on her coat rack:

Perhaps they warn against upsetting Carla. Who knows? I do.

All in all, there is something to take away from this: the writing center is a safe space to be creative and share ideas! Everyone in here has their own unique quirks and these doodles portray that quite well. I believe these also add to the overall feel of the room itself. The brightly colored post-it notes add a layer of vibrancy and liveliness to the walls of the writing center, and always make me smile when I see them. I implore you to add your own, as I have plenty of my own post-it note drawings up there as well!

Next time you come down to the writing center, make sure to keep a look out for any new doodles that may have appeared!