Writer Spotlight: Andrew Fallon

Name: Andrew Fallon (just "Fallon")
Grade: Junior (Class of 2010)
Age: 16
Writing Style: Random. Is the Mike FM of this blog!
Writing Topics: Comedy, sports, randomness, et cetera.
Political Leanings: The quiz says I'm a Libertarian.
Fun Fact #1: Is a bass guitarist
Fun Fact #2: Is the grandmaster with the three MCs
that shock the house for the young ladies
Fun Fact #3: Is a religious supporter of WHSTV15
Fun Fact #4: Enjoys photography
Fun Fact #5: Likes to take in the occasional (read "every") Red Sox game.
Fun Fact #6: Was recommended to write here by longtime friend Ben Tan.
Fun Fact #7: Is a George Carlin fan boy if there ever was one.

See Andrew's posts!

Writer Spotlight: Matt Hurton

Name: Matt Hurton
Grade: Senior (Class of 2009)
Age: 17
Writing Style: Depends on which of my multiple personalities is posting.
Writing Topics: Anything that catches my eye/is interesting in the news; possibly ranting.
Political Leanings: Moderate
Fun Fact #1: Joined wtf.com after Glen and I looked it up as a joke in business class sophomore year and has been a member now for over a year.
Fun Fact #2: Is starting to get seriously irritated by people calling him valedictorian a year + before graduation.
Fun Fact #3: Resident Internet meme-ologist.
Fun Fact #4: Has begun wearing "nice" clothes to school occasionally, though mostly because he has no other clothes. Maybe Glen is rubbing off on him.
Fun Fact #5: Is a member of the PVnRTs.
Fun Fact #6: No, you don't know about the PVnRts.
Fun Fact #7: Has actually contributed to the site before this, though mostly through a certain someone using stories he heard from Matt. Though he won't name any names, Glen.

See Matt's posts!

Writer Spotlight: Brian Li

Name: Brian Li
Grade: Sophomore (Class of 2010)
Age: 15
Writing Style: Unknown
Writing Topics: General News, International News, Science/Technology
Political Leanings: I'm not sure.
Fun Fact #1: Came to America from Hong Kong when he was five years old.
Fun Fact #2: He's been playing piano for many years.
Fun Fact #3: He can speak Cantonese fluently.
Fun Fact #4: Enjoys playing Playstation 3 because it's cool.
Fun Fact #5: Takes 5 Honors and Wind Ensemble.
Fun Fact #6: His Playstation Network name is bb714.

See Brian's posts!

Student Spotlight: Peter Costa

WHS senior Peter Costa is one busy guy. His current schedule is comprised of four AP classes, an honors class, and an art class. He works at Kelly's Roast Beef. And like all seniors, he's getting ready for college.
PC: I'm usually up until 1 AM on weekdays, then work usually Friday and Saturday.
WÉ: Ouch
PC: It's more than ouch, it's exhaustion.
Peter gave me a big list of colleges he's looking at, which included Caltech, NYU, UVA, RISD, and Brown. He's visited every school on the list, except Caltech and NYU.
PC: My sister went to UVA, so I didn't actually see it myself, but I know what it's like.
WÉ: I see. What major/minor you thinking of?
PC: Engineering for most, Computer Science for Brown, and Architecture for RISD.

WÉ: So would you say art is more a hobby than a potential career?
PC: Yeah. Architecture would be the most artistic thing I'd do.
I was a little surprised by his response, since art is such a big part of Peter's life. After all, his screen name is insanedoodle58. On his Facebook, he's drawn plenty of quality doodles for his friends with the application Graffiti. He has a page on deviantART. Did I mention he has his own website? See, this is why I put Peter down for Most Artistic Male. So did he, at first.
PC: I'm actually going to change it. Who will I put down? I'm going to put down Kevin Dwyer-Heidkamp. He's amazing at art, and has a unique perspective as well. In general, he's very inspiring when trying to draw weird angles. Ask him to see the sketches of cars, they're amazing.
WÉ: I put Caitlin [Lang] down for Female Class Artist. You too?
PC: Yeah, I feel as though she's going to get it. She does so much art that it's unbelievable. And she's amazing at it too.

WÉ: So, how long have you been into drawing?
PC: I've been into drawing for about as long as I remember. My parents always said that when I was little I had the pencil in the correct position, and was drawing on the walls. But I still find drawings today from when I was 3 or 4. Let's just say it's a blessing that I've improved.
WÉ: So, I'm guessing you watched a lot of cartoons way back then?
PC: Well, I grew up watching cartoons as a kid, but the main start of my drawing was when I started watching anime itself. I'd catch whatever show was on TV, but I do remember watching the Pokemon series as a kid, as well as Digimon. Both heavily guided me towards the anime/manga style.

WÉ: Did you get a lot of how to draw books and art kits?
PC: Actually, I despise the how to draw books, it ruins your own style. As for art kits, I assume you mean supplies. If so, then, I mainly got crayon sets when I was younger, and used my sister's supplies. She's the artistic one.
WÉ: So, would you say you've learned more in the school's art classes than say, a how to draw book?
PC: I believe so. It's more so getting critiques from other art students than from your friends. While your friends will sugar coat something, strangers won't. Also, a person is often more helpful than a book. I must add that I actually taught myself the majority of my artistic talents. A lot of it was from seeing other pieces of art and becoming inspired.
WÉ: Watching a lot of anime and manga?
PC: ...moreso looking online. That really sparked it. deviantART was a major factor, but watching anime and reading manga helped. Most of the American anime is bad though, so I download them instead. And I only started to watch anime and read manga about three years ago.
WÉ: Now, I'm not big into anime, but I've seen a couple Miyazaki movies, and I went through the same Digimon/Pokemon/DBZ phase everyone did a few years ago. Specific movies/series that had an impact?
PC: Okay, so first off, Miyazaki is God. His movies are awesome, and I wish I could draw like him. Ha ha. Now for series, like I said Pokemon and Digimon had an impact, mainly because they pushed me to think more. Now, as crazy as it sounds, I had seen a few episodes of FLCL when I was seven or so, something you shouldn't see at that age. I recently watched it, and it is amazing. I try for that style all the time. Bleach really inspired me to draw more action poses.

WÉ: Favorite deviantART artists?
PC: Oh, that's a tough one. I have a list of like 50 or so. Ha ha. Hmm, if I were to pick a few, I'd have to pick:
http://ethereal-mind.deviantart.com/
http://hail-nekoyasha.deviantart.com/
http://jc-of-the-redflame.deviantart.com/
http://lysol-jones.deviantart.com/
http://nedashi.deviantart.com/
http://roboto-kun.deviantart.com/
http://tehryu.deviantart.com/
http://tobiee.deviantart.com/
There's more, but those are definetely some of my favorites.
WÉ: Tell me what led you to designing websites and LJs.
PC: Well, actually, it's quite simple. My friend, Steve DeCosta, actually told me to try making a LiveJournal layout, which is like a design. So I did, and I enjoyed it. Slowly, it progressed, and I eventually entered a few online competitions, getting past the preliminaries, but losing in the first two or three rounds. I then formed a community with Steve to display our layouts [http://lookitslayouts.livejournal.com], and it slowly grew. Soon we decided to try actual web design, which is a lot easier if you've already had experience with LiveJournal, because it's mainly the same thing.
WÉ: What led you to designing the art department's page?
PC: Mrs. Batt asked in her graphic design classes if anyone had web design experience. I told her I did, and it went from there.
WÉ: What program(s) do you use for designing?
PC: It depends on what I'm making. If it's logos or cleaner images, such as the bookmarks I made, I use Adobe Illustrator CS2. Lately, I've been using OpenCanvas 1.1 and Painter 9.5, both for cartoony works.
WÉ: What [tablet] do you use?
PC: No, I actually don't have one. All my art is done by hand, scanned in, then everything from there on in is done with a mouse. I've looked into getting a tablet, but they were too expensive, and not probable for the amount of artistic income I make.
WÉ: So those tablets cost more than what Kelly's Roast Beef gives you?
PC: Uhh, no, actually, I could easily buy one with one week's pay check. I have other expenses though, and need to save my money. And I'd rather buy a domain for my website.
WÉ: Tell the readers a little about Project Elev3n. Exactly what is it?
PC: Okay, this is going to be hard. Project Elev3n is a story concept for a manga that I was going to make over the summer. It's based off the idea of genetically altered humans, kids actually, who possess superhuman abilities. They are dormant, until they are one day needed to help save mankind from evil robots and such. They are numbred from 1-77, using 1337speak to number them. For example, Jo1t, a teen who controls electricity, is number 1. Number 2 is Ra2e, a German foreign exchange student who has great strength. It then goes Sk3tch, 4rcher, Gho5t, 6ale, Hea7, 8east, 9uake, Cyc10ne, Chi11. Then there are others, Met41, Avi47or, 49ua, Im46ine, 61oom, Ro53, as well as others.
WÉ: Love it. Not to put any pressure on you, but, any plans to revive the project and release it sometime?
PC: Yeah, I actually want to have some pages done by the time Anime Boston 2008 rolls around, but I definetely want to release it. My main worry is that I can't draw backgrounds, and the pages will look bad. I'm sure I can come up with something though.
WÉ: Any advice for aspiring artists?
PC: Don't lose hope. A lot of people will look down on your art, but just keep drawing. Draw what you want to, not just so you'll fit in. It's really cheesy, I know, but, its true. Also, students should join the Art Club. I'm an officer, and its fun. Join it. We meet every other Wednesday.

Writer Spotlight: Ryan Suh

Name: Ryan Suh
Grade: Junior (Class of 2010)
Age: 16
Writing Style: Undefinable
Writing Topics: Random topics that interest most people (I think/hope)
Political Leaning: Currently leaning towards the Democrats (It's Bush's fault!)
Fun Fact #1: A serious Gosu (pro) at Starcraft (not anymore, since my CD broke inside my CD-ROM because of playing it too much. This just proves how much I played the game.).
Fun Fact #2: A video game addict.
Fun Fact #3: Was born in South Korea. Yes, I speak Korean.
Fun Fact #4: Has quit the very addicting and time consuming World of Warcraft a few months ago.
Fun Fact #5: Loves to play RPG (MMORPG) and RTS games.
Fun Fact #6: Uses the Internet for mostly online games (such as Starcraft, Warcraft, and etc...)
Fun Fact #7: Was one of the top posters on www.portforward.com.
Fun Fact #8: Many call me Tsunami and Suh, even though my last name isn't even pronounced
"Sue". It is pronounced "S-uh" like the "S" in the word Starcraft and "UH" in the word UHHH! So it sounds like S-uh, but together. Like in my Korean name "서동민" or Chinese translated "徐東珉"
Fun Fact #9: Lived in Canada for about 4 years until 5th grade in which I moved to the US.
Fun Fact #10: Believe it or not, I'm a Buddhist =).
See Ryan's posts!

Writer Spotlight: Chris DeCarlo

Name: Chris DeCarlo
Grade: Senior (Class of 2009)
Age: 18
Writing Style: Rant/Whatever I Feel Like Writing
Writing Topics: Songs of the Week, Music, Film, Literature, Philosophy and others
Political Leanings: Maverick
Fun Fact #1: Legend
Fun Fact #2: Frequent poster/reader on the IMDb message boards.
Fun Fact #3: Immense knowledge of music, film, culture, etc.
Fun Fact #4: Favorite band: The Beatles
Fun Fact #5: Dresses in a black leather jacket, blue/black jeans, a shirt (associated with music) that is typically black, with a few exceptions. Nothing fancy.
Fun Fact #6:Believes that we are all one consciousness and one day we will live in peace, with no wars, no countries, and no violence. But the demons need to be stomped out first!

See Chris's posts!

Writer Spotlight: Ben Tan

Name: Benjamin Tan
Grade: College Freshman (Class of 2012)
Age: 18
Writing Style: Conversational and sarcastic
Writing Topics: General News, Darfur, Movie Reviews, Songs of the Week
Political Leanings: Social: Libertarian; Fiscal: Moderate
Fun Fact #1: Can play the T-Mobile ring tone, the Colbert Report theme, and the song from the "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" commercials on the piano.
Fun Fact #2: Hasn't been to the movies ever since Spider-Man 3 and Disturbia. Sad, I know.
Fun Fact #3: Has been an obsessed fan of the Beatles since he was 4 years old. No, seriously.
Fun Fact #4: Wears the same dark blue sweater jacket every day in fall, winter, and spring.
Fun Fact #5: Uses a handkerchief, because he's too cool for Kleenex.
Fun Fact #6: Takes 2 Honors, 2 AP, and 2 electives
Fun Fact #7: Ran for Student Council back in 5th grade, and came in third out of three, even after, according to the teacher, giving "the best speech." Hasn't bothered with Student Government ever since.
Fun Fact #8: Has bed head, and likes it, even though few others do.

Your turn, Liz.

See Ben's posts!

Writer Spotlight: Glen Maganzini