TheBurg

48 | theburg | 03.16 seeInG tHe World In Cubes by ChrIStIAN WItMer M y hands slide over the smooth plastic surface. A steady stream of clicking resonates in my ears. Welcome to the world of competitive Rubik's cube solving. You may chuckle when you hear it, but to some, it's a blood sport. Suddenly, my movement stops, and the cube falls to the table. Hands jolting to the timer, I clock in under two minutes. It's just not fast enough. Fifteen-year-old Jay Ni agrees. He currently holds the 11th place world record in 3-by-3 blindfolded solving and is a close friend of mine. "e highest I ever got was ninth on the chart. As of today, I got pushed down to 11th with a time of 26.71 seconds," says Ni, resigned. As I begin to scramble my cube again, I can only dream of making the international leaderboards. Yet, where does one start in such a small activity, learn the ropes? "I actually don't remember," Ni says, trying to think back. "I started cubing around the summer of 2012, however I wasn't really cubing. I looked up one video. I hated the video and tossed my cube, but I did solve it before I put it away. It wasn't until a year later, when I really tried to get faster, that I became a cuber." I fidget with my cube as he speaks, loosening edges, applying an algorithm here and a shortcut there. ese concepts are greatly misunderstood because of their function and use. Ni and I meet with odd questions from beginners every day, such as, "Do you just memorize the colors?" It's much more mathematical than that. "An algorithm is a combination of written moves to move multiple pieces at once. ere are thousands of algorithms out there, all for a specific purpose," says Ni. A clean solve, as any cuber will tell you, relies on algorithms. With 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possibilities, these equations represented by letters are the only possible way to return your Rubik's cube to its original state. No one solves the cube by luck. e lottery proves easy in comparison. Some people maintain the concept of a simple pattern, but that's just not realistic. Even its roots are complex and mathematical. Created by Erno Rubik in 1974 as an architectural teaching tool, Rubik wasn't even aware he had made a puzzle until he was unable to return his creation to its original state. I lace my cube with specially made speed lubricant and move it in a set pattern (R,R, U,U,R,U,R',U',R',U',R,U,R'). Each letter and symbol mean something vital to a final solve, involving a direction and number of turns. While I finish up, Ni talks through a competition day and how fierce it can get. "On cubing day, you walk to the place where you will register, you give them your ticket, and they let you continue. You walk into a packed room of people who are just like you, with the same interest and hobby. You receive time slots for your competitions. My first time, I only signed up for 3-by-3. I solved an average of five cubes, and my score was based on my times. After competing, there are tons of workshops and other stuff to do. Often, you make friends and stick with each other. Cubing can get very competitive, but it's all in fun. Believe it or not, people almost always respect each other in the world of cubing. However, when competitions start, it gets pretty heated." A small kid walks by us, seeing the movement of our hands, and his jaw drops. Obviously, I don't cube for the attention, but it's still nice. Almost all beginners or outsiders to the world of cubing react in this way. "When you pull your cube out of your bag, the first person who walks by it asks if you can solve it and to show them. When you solve it quickly, they respond with praise. People look at the cube as impossible. Cubers see it as a joy and a passion." Christian Witmer is a freshman at CASA. To read his complete essay, visit www.theburgnews.com. Periodically, eBurg highlights the work of student writers from Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School (CASA). In this issue, we feature four essays. a lIttle More tHan Just Gore by eILeeN reINNAgeL I exit my mother's car and walk on the mushy grass and mud toward Asylum Run, located in Harrisburg. I have a huge smile anticipating a fun night with my Asylum Run family. I take out my purple makeup bag, which holds everything I need to turn everyone at Asylum Run into nightmares. is year, our theme, "Freak Show," required a lot of clown makeup. Some actors just blacked out their eyes because they wore masks. Knowing that I get to do what I love for the next few hours puts me in an extremely joyous mood. I walk over to the shed where we keep our extra makeup and pull out the clear, stacked cabinets. Tonight Raelee, the manager, sits inside, her gorgeous grey eyes lighting up when she sees me. "Yay, you're here tonight! Are you starting now?" "Yep, where do you want me?" I say, champing at the bit to get started. "Behind the shed should be fine," she said. I pick up the makeup cabinet and walk out, ready to set everything up. For some people, makeup is a job, a hobby. In my case, it's a lifesaver. I first discovered SFX makeup at a theater camp in 2014. e camp was held at Harrisburg Area Community College. e camp offered improv classes, making costumes and memorizing scripts. During this time, depression haunted me—I was self-harming and had been hospitalized earlier that year. Doing makeup helped me to become someone else and something different. Knowing that I could do whatever I want to do without actually hurting myself makes me feel free. Whenever I felt sad, I would use glue and create burns. I didn't have most of the supplies I needed, so I used eye shadows for colors and glue in place of liquid latex. Whenever I attempted a makeup with blood, I would use bright red lipstick, but this inhibited me from creating the looks I wanted. Trying to figure out how to make my passion a reality was difficult, but, eventually, I made it work. When I volunteered at Asylum Run, I learned techniques I later added to my special makeup effects toolbox. ough SFX makeup is my favorite type of makeup, I also like to do beauty makeup— kind of like glam and gore. According to www.instyle.com, 86 percent of women in the United States who wear makeup said it makes them feel more self-confident. On average, women spend around $144 a year on beauty. Beauty makeup allows me to transform myself into different people and different things: Kylie Jenner, Lorde, Katy Perry, a man. Doing my makeup SFX or beauty helps me to feel more confident and happy with myself. Knowing I can create something that is beautiful and scary at the same time is pretty amazing. Getting to work with and meet new people, for me, is the best part of doing makeup. Picking up techniques along the way is also a great part of makeup. Anthony Stewart, a professional special effects artist who's currently working on Fox Network's supernatural series, "Sleepy Hollow," stated, "You get to dabble in a lot of different things around the shop, constantly learning new techniques and figuring things out, floating around from shop to shop, and occasionally landing a semi-permanent position." Stewart said special effects work is a hard field to get into. It's all about who you know. "It took me a little bit to come to terms with just how much work it is, but, once I got into the swing of things and working more jobs, I kind of got hooked. Looking for work when one job ends gets easier," Stewart said. Although I want to go into a different field of special makeup effects than his, speaking with Stewart really gave me a clear idea on how to better my career. Being able to be creative is a great part of the job and being able to work with my hands will most likely help me to push myself harder. Eileen Reinnagel is a junior at CASA. To read her complete essay, visit www.theburgnews.com.

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