Abby Bustin

If you've never heard of op docs they are opinion based editorials. They can be lengthy or short videos that tell a story through words or just through video clips. There are so many different topics, anyone can find one they're interested in. In my class, I've had the opportunity to watch two op docs that I thought were interesting. You can click the titles of the op docs to watch them.   The Gorillas In The Crossfire The Gorillas In The Crossfire op doc made by Orlando Von Einsiedel, a British film director, seems to be about a national park ranger protecting gorillas from a brutal civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but it is also about how Virunga National Park gives back to their country and the relationships the gorillas have with the people. This op doc is a very visual one. It shows pretty in depth how the gorillas and the people of Congo care for each other as well as the environment around them. I found it really interesting how the op doc showed the tr...

Evolving Masculinity or Not?? In the starting of Unit 2, we are in the works of analyzing toxic masculinity. We are studying the articles “The Boys Are Not All Right.” by Michael Ian Black, “Not Your Father’s Masculinity.” by Matt Labash, and the documentary Tough Guise 2 by Jackson Katz.  Jackson Katz, an American educator, film maker, and creator of a gender violence prevention and education program, brought up many important and urgent topics regarding toxic masculinity. Through years of observing and analyzing mass shootings, bullying, homophobia, and gun violence, Katz has been able to gather data and deeply analyze the reasoning for all this.  One of the things Katz said in Tough Guise 2 is that should have a lasting effect on people is that there is a difference between being a man and using violence to prove you’re a man. A big part of toxic masculinity is believing that using violence is what a real man does. Take a fight for example. If two boys are fighting and on...

During and after watching the video 10 Ways To Have A Better Conversation I was so amazed. I loved how she formatted the TED Talk. She told facts, things that famous people said, talked about what usually happens with conversations, and then gave us 10 rules for how to improve our conversations. What she said that I found really interesting was this: "Pure Research did a study on 10,000 American adults and they found that we are way more divided than we ever had been in history, and we are way less likely to compromise. We make friends based on what we already believe." This was a great way to start the talk. Before talking about the 10 rules, in the beginning Headlee made two points that really made me more cautious. These were that a conversation requires a balance between talking and listening. Another one was that M. Scott Peck said "True listening requires a setting aside of oneself." I had many takeaways from the "10 ways to have a better conversation...

While creating my own blog, I thought it was important to research and find other blogs that I could get inspiration from. In this post I inserted pictures and brief descriptions of why they are good to scroll through and why I find them interesting. You should check them out! This is the first blog. It's called Simply Recipes. It shows all different kinds of food that are cool to make.    https://www.simplyrecipes.com Simply Recipes is a good mentor blog because it is very organized. I like how they chose a color scheme of Teal and Red, colors are important in blogs.  My family and I love to cook but we never know what food to make. I never realized there were blogs that show ideas for what to cook. That's why I love this blog. They have different tabs for what people look for which is very helpful. I'm already doing this with my blog which I like, it looks professional. Also for the different recipes this blog has pictures to represent what each one looks like. This is ...