DTC 355 Post Two

My name is Maribel Madison and this is my embarrasing story.
About ten years ago when I was in high school, I used be part of the cheerleading team at Kennewick High School. Every year the team participated at the Benton Franklin County Fair Children’s Day, and we would do a short 3 minute performance.

The first three years of high school memory performances at the fair are a complete blur to me except for my senior year in high school. It was a hot Wednesday afternoon. I was wearing the typical cheerleading uniform: a short pleated skirt, spankies- what looks like boyshorts - and a thick restricting shirt known as a shell. The usual routine before a performance for the team was to check each other and make sure you were wearing the right attire as sometimes there was miscommunication between the girls and some end up wearing the wrong uniform. For others it could have been simply overdoing their make-up and needed a little assistance from a fellow cheerleader. The purpose of this routine was to keep us all uniformed.

This year’s fair performance started no different than the rest. I felt a little nervous in the huddle as I visualized the entire cheer routine in my head- making sure I had it down. The last few seconds before we went on stage for the performance, I bent over to make sure my cheer shoes were tied. I did not want to embarrass myself in front of the crowd by tripping on my laces. While I was so busy concerned with my laces, a bee stung me right on my butt cheek- making it swollen and red the size of an apple.

I knew it was an extremely short notice to be removed from the performance or for someone to swap spots with me, and- of course- I was in the front center. Shortly I hear the crowd cheering us on. The music begins! All the cheerleaders move to their positions and I move rapidly to mine. I pulled through the entire routine with pain and a familiar smile that you had seen on the movie “Bring It On”. And NO! this smile was not an intentional one. I was trying so hard not to show my pain.

After the performance, I told my coach what had happened to me. She took a look and ended up sending me to first-aid to get an ice pack. I spent the rest of the day walking around the fair with my friends and an ice pack on my swollen derrière. Despite the pain and discomfort, I was not about to let a stinging bee ruin my day.

#2 the dangers of amplification through simplification is that "As we continue to simplify our image. We are moving further and further from the "real" face of the photo(4. My understanding that these simplified images become one exaggerated layer of the entire picture. And the question is did the right one get represented? which to me becomes the danger in the simplification.

McCloud, Scott. The Vocabulary of Comics. Print.