The Secret Life of a Real Halloweener [Interview]

The Secret Life of a Real Halloweener [Interview] Something unbelievable happened right the week before Halloween! Searching the internet weve bumped into the real Halloween idolator. Yup, he does exist. His favourite holiday is Halloween and not without reason. Apart from being a Halloween fan, Jonathan Wojcik is an artist, a toy collector, an armchair biologist and owns a monstrous blog. So, this extraordinary person is our next interviewee and we are going to find out as much as we can about his unusual Halloween philosophy. And if you missed our previous interview about Halloween with Katy Gilroy, dont forget to read it right after you finish with this interview! What to start with? Lets start from the very beginning, actually! How did you happen to become the fan of Halloween? I was born on Halloween, and all my life took an interest in strange creatures, whether fantasy monsters or real-world insects and marine life. Its just been that way as long as I can remember! Now, its clear. Halloweener by birth! I guess, your attitude to the celebration is different from others. What do you think is the main idea of Halloween? People have always enjoyed things that scare them, especially children. Halloween is a celebration of horror and fear, which are as important to almost every aspect of human culture as anything else could be. Entire civilizations revolved around the mysteries of death and the supernatural, and ghost stories are one of the oldest narrative genres known to man. Have you noticed some evolution of Halloween celebration through the years? Did you like the old traditions better? Or do you find some new trends more interesting? Halloween has grown a lot in popularity since I was a kid. Its much more often celebrated by adults than it was just twenty some years ago, although many forms of celebration have strayed from what made it so fun in the first place. Adult costumes tend to be either sexy or an attempt at humor these days, or pop-culture references. Dressing up to look cool, creative and scary is a rarer art. What was the most memorable Halloween celebration for you so far? Probably, just trick or treating as a child. I had to be taken to other towns because we lived in the middle of nowhere, and I always had the most elaborate, creepy outfits most houses had seen. I always picked out the big, freaky monster masks and combined them with a lot of other things, like real bones and tattered cloth. I am sure you dressed up a lot, but can you remember your best and favourite Halloween costume? Only last year I made a full-body brain creature with giant eye stalksI just didnt really have anywhere to take it. Lets move from the costumes to the places. What do you think is the best city to celebrate Halloween? I love the haunted houses and hayrides in Maryland and Pennsylvania where I grew up. Otherwise, I havent often had the chance to attend any big, public celebrations. And the food do you have your favourite Halloween food? Reeses Peanut Butter Cups are my favorite year round, but the Peanut Butter Pumpkins are even better. Theyre plumper, with a higher peanut butter to chocolate ratio. Now, reveal us some of your personal Halloween traditions. You must have those, unique and different from common ones? Beside doing articles and artwork online, I have a tiny little coffin decoration that opens up to show a skeleton inside. I leave it closed until August 1st, which is the start of Halloween season for me, and close it back again in November. As youve already mentioned the artwork what kind of Halloween craft do you make? And what is your favourite kind of Halloween art? I have a method of making gooey monster sculptures out of insulation foam. They were even featured in an art show once! I may be sharing the process soon as a seasonal blog post. Sounds awesome! So, you make up a lot (like, thousands) of spooky characters. Do you have your favourite monster? Every iteration, reinterpretation, homage and parody to The Fly. Flies are possibly my favorite animal with their weird looks and habits, and theyre so unlike humans that mashing them together always results in something weird and fun. And the final question is simple what are your plans for the upcoming Halloween? This year I debuted a new comic online and will be sharing some special art and writing on Halloween itself. Otherwise I think I was invited to a party, but Im not a huge party person. Mostly, I like to stay in and watch horror cartoons! Thanks, Jonathan, for sharing your unique view on the Halloween phenomenon! Got interested in Jonathans Halloween artworks? You are welcome to leave comments, ask questions and suggest ideas below!

Create a Perfect Study Environment Around Yourself 12 Tips

Create a Perfect Study Environment Around Yourself 12 Tips Create a Perfect Study Environment Around Yourself Student life is rather engaging and at times offers much fun. Being young and having lots of friends†¦ Is there anything else you need for happiness? A friendly student community and an exciting extracurricular environment may offer a high fun factor; however, many students experience difficulties when its time to get ready for exams or complete a major project. College and university studies require preparation to build up a well-rounded education. Self-motivation and the ability to organize your time and activities are to be considered first. Here are 12 tips to help students create a perfect studying environment! Choose a proper place for your studies Find a place which will suit your studies regarding all key factors: lightning, comfortable sitting and a table. Try to avoid using the same place for studying and napping (Cohn, 2013). The place where you study should help you concentrate, not fall asleep! Get equipped with everything you need Choosing a place and getting right to work is one thing, but its also essential to sort everything out around you, and make sure you have all the necessary tools and reference materials so there’s no need to search for things every single moment (Cohn, 2013). Keep your studying place clean Keep the place where you study tidy and clean it regularly. Wadded up papers and stained coffee cups are likely to bring disorder into your mind. A neatly ordered table and plenty of fresh air in your room can boost your mood and enhance your brain power! Reduce the number of distractions Stay away from noisy places. A few experts think that soft background music benefits your concentration and, at the same time, boosts your academic studies; but there is also evidence to suggest that hearing a familiar tune and humming along with it is more likely to distract you from your studies (Flavin, 2015). Use the library Go to the library and spend time studying there. Find and use books related to your topics. Being surrounded with a dozen books will give you a better insight into the subject matter of your studies, and the library itself will also serve as an inspiring environment for you. Include regular breaks into your studies Once you’ve organized your working environment and escaped all disturbances, you can immerse fully into your studies and let the whole world forget about you until the next holiday. No way! Dont forget about work/rest balance! Take regular breaks to recharge your batteries and get some inspiration (Cohn, 2013). Go out for a while and breathe some fresh air or have a snack. You’ll notice that these short pauses can make your studies more effective and stimulate your mental abilities! Leave your gadgets aside for a while Make a decision to avoid using your iPad and mobile phone while you study. You may think that you cant do without them a single minute, but in fact, its not true! Unplug your devices or turn the silent mode on. This will help you concentrate on the exam or project, instead of non-stop useless chatting. Moreover, being silent for some time will help you generate new ideas and get a better insight of the subject you’re dealing with (Flavin, 2015). Keep in mind your motivation Always remember the goals you want to achieve through studying (Cohn, 2013). Its important to understand why you need to get good education, so envision a major goal that you dream about and find something to represent this dream to yourself that you can hang on your wall or put on the cover of your notebook. Have a look at this image each time you start losing your enthusiasm. Remember, all your studying means something! Be persistent Dont get discouraged if some task seems rather challenging. Divide tough tasks into chunks to cope with them easily (Cohn, 2013). This way, if something seems too difficult today, it will get much easier tomorrow! Make the list of tasks for each day No matter how many issues you have to deal with, or how many pages you have to compose, its impossible to do everything in just one day (Cohn, 2013). Analyze the amount of work you have left to do and make a list of things to accomplish each day (e.g. to find the needed sources, to read\write 20 pages). At the end of the day, cross out all the items that you’ve completed. Using such approach will make your studies well-timed and better-organized, and you’ll avoid problems with due dates. Choosing time for studies – an early riser or a night owl? Studying both day and night before an exam or typing the day and night before handing in a term paper is pointless and exhausting. Choose a time when you are able to read a lot, analyze information, compose thesis, so that your scholarly work is the most effective (Flavin, 2015). It usually depends on your biological clock; so morning or evening hours for studies; you’re the one to choose. Make your studying environment suit you! Along with acquiring good knowledge and getting excellent academic results, its very important to enjoy your studies! Try to organize you study-place just the way you like it. Get a new comfortable chair for yourself, or put a nice plant on your table. To summarize everything above, let’s state simply that your study environment, if organized the right way, will boost your mood and raise your grades. 1. Flavin. 12 Tips to Create a Perfect Studying Environment for You. 18 May. 2015. http://rasmussen.edu/ 2. Cohn. 10 Tips to Create a Good Studying Environment. 22 Apr. 2013 http://examiner.com/