Pirates Are Awesome!

Happy belated Imbolc everyone!

I haven’t been feeling well and I’m still healing from the oral surgery. It’s taking a lot longer than I thought it would take. Plus school has started up again (last semester WOOHOO!).
Great news, I’m back at Arches again! I’m so excited because instead of just being a reporter I’m also an editor of an entire section! And the coolest part is that I get to do a review of a new exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum, you might have heard of it…National Geographic Real Pirates!

Today I got to go through the ENTIRE exhibit all by myself and it was the most AMAZING experience of my life to date. I’ve lived in Milwaukee all my life and have been to the museum dozens of times that I can pretty much tell you where everything is without looking at the pamphlet map you get at the Help Desk. I have to admit, the museum went all out with this exhibit.

You are introduced to the exhibit with a 4 minute intro movie of the history of the pirate ship The Whydah accompanied by piratey-mood setting music and lighting effects of thunder and lightning. Finally, as the movie ends and the lightening still flashes, in comes this great crescendo of music and the wall where the film was just playing rises and opens into the exhibit, The first thing that you see is this gorgeous iron bell seeming to float in midair in a halo of golden light. I must have stared at that bell for a long time because it was a thing a beauty to a history buff like me.

The rest of the exhibit goes in chronological order of the history of The Wydah as it started out as a slaved ship which then was captured by pirates and then sank in a storm nearly two years later off the coast of Massachusetts. I got to touch ACTUAL pirate silver, learn how to tie sailor knots (not very well), walk in the hull of a ship and talked to ACTUAL PIRATES! Well…pirate actors, but still pirates!

I so wish I could have taken pictures but there was a “No photography” rule, which sucks but is understandable.

If you’re in the Milwaukee Area and love pirates, history or just cool stuff I recommend going and checking it out for yourself since it’s going to be at the museum until May 27 of this year. I’ll put up a link to my article when it gets published next month.
Blessed Be everyone, type you soon )o(

Hot off the Presses!!!

Hi everyone, it’s me…and I have something for everyone!!! As everybody knows I’m a college student getting my bachelor’s in English Professional Writing, to help improve my writing style I have been a reporter for my school’s newspaper called ‘Arches’ for the past two semesters. And I want to share with you my recent published work 🙂

Angel Brings Joplin to New Audience : I got the chance to interview Ms. Ann Angel, author and professor at my school about her new YA book titled Janis Joplin: Rise up Singing. She is a fabulous person and there is even video for her singing karaoke at her book signing!

Vampires Go Home!!! This is for a section we have called ‘Lite Life’ where we prove that life is funny. I did a spoof article on the mega vampire franchise going on now. Wait…I love vampires as much as the next teenage girl so I’m not bashing anyone, this is written with love 🙂

Also, Arches is starting a section where we introduce the press and my friend and editor Mandy chose to write an article about me! (Thank you Mandy!) I’ve shown it to you but it’s not on the website yet but picture this…Little picture of me and Mandy going over story ideas and below is her story about me volunteering last semester for Arches and taking Arches for credit this semester, and how I’ve changed and everything. (Cool!)

You can see my past articles at www.archesnews.com, just type in Samantha Stanford into the search engine and you can see my other Lite Life and profile articles I’ve done. Have a great day and Blessed Be.