Digital Frankenstein Issue 2.1

LOOKING FORWARD

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LOOKING FORWARD Digital frankenstein 2.1 6

Winter is coming Big Trip Destination Announced

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navigating bliss A holistic cafĂŠ set to expand in SLO

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The Tributari Community: Information Sharing Done Right

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Ideas worth spreading The Power Behind TED Orwell Was Wrong TED: Three Short Letters

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nuts & bolts of diy Have a Punkrockparti

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Fictional frankenstein Yearning Eureka Digital Frankenstein | Vol. 2.1

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STAFF Editor in Chief Kelly Cooper

Creative Director Brendan Lee

Writers Matt McGunagle The Power Behind TED Quinn Hubbard TED: Three Short Letters David Berning Orwell Was Wrong Emilee Tappen Navigating Bliss Will Newhart Yearning Eureka Kelly Cooper Nuts & Bolts of DIY The Tributari Community

Designers Ashlyn Aiu The Tributari Community Eli McNutt Ideas Worth Spreading Winter is Coming Brendan Lee Yearning Eureka Rosie Bubb Navigating Bliss Nuts & Bolts Of DIY

Photographers Kiefer Hackney Navigating Bliss Paige Poppe Nuts & Bolts Of DIY

CONTACT US @DigitalFrankie digitalfrankenstein@gmail.com www.digitalfrankenstein.org

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LETTER EDITORS FROM THE

Hey readers, thanks for stopping by! You’re about to uncover Digital Frankenstein’s third issue, chock-full of stories featuring awesome students, community members and events. The theme of this issue — Looking Forward — hit us instantly upon brainstorming story ideas.

With TEDxSLO making a first-time appearance at Cal Poly, Tributari on the brink of being the next big thing, and stories about local business and people pursuing what they love, there’s an essence of inspiration in the air.

Yet behind the scenes, the issue itself has a back-story that falls under our theme.

Looking Forward is the first edition published under Rosie Bubb and Eli McNutt, the new super-talented and ambitious design team. Passing along the magazine to students will forever remain the goal of Digital Frankenstein, and in a year Rosie and Eli will be doing the same thing. We honor this tradition because we believe in creativity and experimentation.

That was always the goal of Digital Frankenstein, and we knew that we’d have to pass the torch after we graduated. After all, the purpose of the magazine is for students to create their own experience in magazine publishing, whether that’s through writing, design or communication. We couldn’t be happier with all that we’ve accomplished in the past year-and-a-half, and want to thank all of the contributors for donating your time and brain to making the magazine better than we could have ever expected.

With that, we humbly salute Rosie and Eli, and can’t wait to see what they bring to Digital Frankenstein.

Cheers, Kelly Cooper & Brendan Lee

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*

Winter Is Coming Photos By: Central Pacific Ski Club

Digital Frankenstein met up with CPSC to discuss the one thing that’s always on their mind — snow. While San Luis Obispo is hardly know as being a ski town, Central Pacific Ski Club stands impressively as the second largest collegiate ski club in the nation and offers snow sport enthusiasts the opportunity to shred down a multitude of mountains, from Big Bear, California to Blackcomb, Canada.

Earlier this month, CPSC announced their destination plans for their annual big trip. Once again, the crew is taking the party to Whistler, Canada, with passports eagerly in hand.

Last spring, the executive board of CPSC got the chance to head up to the resort early to book the rooms, buy the passes and board the mountains. Here is just a small preview of the powder that members can look forward to this December. * Digital Frankenstein | Vol. 2.1

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Story by Emilee Tappen Photos by Kiefer Hackney

A local holistic café is set to expand its restaurant into a multiuse community space in the heart of downtown San Luis Obispo Downtown San Luis Obispo is known for possessing a diverse collection of restaurants, bars and boutiques within the walkable four-block square. Recently, new eateries have been popping up left and right, trying to compete with popular staples like Woodstock’s Pizza and Firestone Grill, but few manage to go the distance. It is a rare instance when one downtown restaurant thrives enough to relocate to a bigger space, especially when that restaurant is a far cry from tri-tips and beer.

David Fintel was just another college student trying to determine his post-graduate path. His major was Food Science at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, but his passion was people.

“I wanted to start a project that emphasized community, and I think community is built around the kitchen,” Fintel said.

He utilized his education and submitted a permit to run a mobile food facility in hopes of finding his bliss. Only two years later, he is looking to expand the downtown restaurant he currently co-manages, aptly named Bliss Café.

Bliss Café is a low-key downtown eatery that offers an entirely meat and dairy-free menu. Fintel describes their dishes as encompassing an international style with a home-cooked flavor, which pleases both the palette and the physique.

“We try not to have attachments to certain diets,” Fintel said.

“We just focus on the real principle of whole, healthy foods.”

The restaurant’s commitment to serving holistic food options derives from an ancient yoga principle “Ahimsa,” which represents non-violence towards humans and animals alike. This also means the staff pays special attention to sourcing locally-grown, organic ingredients, with the hope of being 100 percent organic in the near future.

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An alternative eating experience is rare in downtown San Luis, and their uniqueness is making them a popular stop amongst road trippers and downtown tourists.

“It’s amazing how many people find us through the Internet, and stop in,” restaurant manager Renee Cloutier said. “We enjoy the groups of people we get to connect with each day and being a support for the community.”

In order to improve their community outreach efforts, which in the past included events like musicians and speakers, Bliss set forth a plan to transform their intimate restaurant into a multi-purpose venue that all residents can enjoy.

“Our space really limits the kind of events we can hold, and we have so many ideas that won’t work in the space we have now,” Fintel said.

Keeping a close eye on newly available downtown spaces, a staff member heard about an opening in the Network Shopping Center (at the intersection of Garden and Higuera Street).

The space is currently an empty extension of Creeky Tiki Island Bar & Grill with an outdoor patio area overlooking the creek.

The staff said they couldn’t have asked for a better area to see their community center

come to fruition. Some components currently planned for the new location are a separate smoothie and juice bar, a small food market for snacks and supplements and an outdoor stage area for musicians and speakers.

The café is also working on expanding their “good karma cuisine” options and diversifying their menu to accommodate any appetite.

Bliss’s menu currently offers nutrient-dense dishes from a range of cultural influences, like Mexican and Mediterranean style cuisines, along with a wide array of nourishing smoothies and juices, and vegan desserts.

“We want to extend an invitation to Cal Poly and the community to take part in all of these positive projects that anyone can enjoy,” Fintel said. “We also want to work with clubs and nonprofits to host more events for more people”.

A tentative soft opening date for the new location is set for November 1st.

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The Tributari

Community Information Sharing Done Right

Photos BY: Tributari Story BY: Kelly Cooper

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Reddit's cooler, classy cousin has arrived.

I

ncubators, venture capitalists, open code sourcing. This was the language Steve

Huffman and Alexis Ohanian spoke as they embarked on starting a social media news Web site. The 22-year-old University of Virginia alumni were soon accepted into the first round of Y Combinator startups, and were officially funded by an expectant seed accelerator. The year was 2005, and Reddit was preparing for launch.

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Today, a group of four passionate young men are doing the same thing at Cal Poly; that is, creating a social media news source from scratch. But this time around, the algorithm is pickier, the design is up-to-date, and the team isn’t chasing a paycheck. Reddit’s cooler, classy cousin has arrived, and it’s called Tributari.

Cofounders Ian Alexander, Bryan Kappe, Stephen Baldwin and Arnesh Mudaliar (all Cal Poly students with the exception of Kappe, a UC Santa Barbara alumnus) all have personal peeves with social media, and Tributari reflects their solutions. Alexander said he rarely finds anything interesting when perusing his Facebook or Twitter, while Kappe dislikes how the judgment of profile pages, titles and pictures disrupts the meaning of If you’re adding value posted content. “[With Tributari,] to communities and you’re interacting and experiencing somebody online based on the people’s lives, you content they share and what they have something that say and not what they look like and what their title is,” Kappe said. can sustain itself.

Another problem it solves: eliminating the gatekeepers. Alexander said Tributari solves this by reversing the topdown model.

“News is curated from the top now. With large corporations and ESPN or CNN or FOX News, it’s a small amount of people deciding what’s important for a large amount of people,” Alexander said.

So how does it break down? Simply, users go to tributari. org to read or post news that’s generated only by user posts.

Community members can go on the site to read the news, spur discussion, or “current” a post (much like upvoting on Reddit) to deem it relevant. The more relevant, the more it moves up the algorithmic hierarchy, jumping from specific 14

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categories (say, recycling in dorms) to broad ones (like Cal Poly) that reach a wider audience.

No promoted posts, no profile pages, just aliased users posting content. Tributari’s secret algorithm facilitates the community’s interest, and the more discussed topics climb the relevancy ladder.

By now it’s become clear that fate of Tributari rests in the hands of the community. The team seems to be comfortable with that, especially after the confidence boost that came with spending last summer in SLO HotHouse (an accelerator program that provides $7,500 in seed funding, an office space and mentors among other perks).

“What we understand deep down and believe is that if you’re adding value to communities and people’s lives, you have something that can sustain itself,” Kappe said.

Although a relative matter, the value is visually clear. Alexander said it took four code iterations and designs to perfect the look of the site, but beneath that, no ads are found, promoted posts are out of the question, and the business model almost seems obsolete.

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“We don’t have ads, and we’re not going to mine data from people that everybody hates about Twitter. You’ll never feel like your being creeped on,” Alexander said. “It should feel like its yours.”

The business model was pushed aside from the start, which Alexander and Kappe admittedly said was a challenge to accept. In startup world, Alexander said, the business model (i.e. how the company will make money) is king.

“That was one of the biggest challenges — to be comfortable with that and know that there are other ways to raise money than ads,” Alexander said.

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At this point, aside from potential grants, the only promise of compensation is the Tributarian program. While it’s not set in stone, and so new that the name is subject to change, it’s a simple subscription service. Users can pay a small monthly flat fee and choose where they want their money to go — some can go to making the Web site faster, a few dollars can go to the team, and some can go to non-profits (Tributari sponsors two non-profits per month).

The team, however, doesn’t expect Cal Poly students rushing to sign up.

“We’re a company that’s different because we haven’t been seeking the instant gratification or striking-it-rich type of outcome, which is more rare than you think,” Kappe said.

Aside from Cal Poly and surrounding areas like Santa Barbara, Kappe said Tributari targets non-profits as a way to supplement the rising cost of a social media strategist. He said Tributari also provides a platform for social petitioning.

And again, as more people discuss a topic, the more relevant the topic becomes, and thus more people are reached.

Trusting their ambition and confident in their mission, the team feels Tributari will be something big.

“We have a pure passion and a team that can do something No promoted posts, trusting with our youthful innovative spirit — we’re the no profile pages, people that you’re supposed just aliased users to be listening to,” Kappe said.

posting content.

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Ideas Worth Spreading Locally

and nationally

renowned speakers offered

the Central Coast a new source

of inspiration as they discussed the

“Power of the Community” at the TEDx

event held at Cal Poly’s Performing Arts Center. Three students share how they were influenced and their thoughts that sparked from this entertaining and intellectually stimulating experience.

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All photos courtesy Experts Exchange

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Dr. Neha Sangwan, CEO and founder of Intuitive Intelligence, inspired the crowd by discussing the impact communities can have on our personal health.

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“The Power Behind TED” Genuinely connecting with people is sadly, a rare occasion. Everyone has their personal preferences as to what they are looking for in a potential friend, and sometimes it seems like there simply isn’t anyone out there who understands you. Over the past several years, I’ve found a key indicator that has rang true for all the people I have truly connected with in my life — they all have an affinity for TED. TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a global non-profit organization with one intention: to communicate ideas worth spreading.

The 28-year-old organization invites hardworking, interesting, and innovative people to give talks about a variety of subjects, from the death of creativity in schools to hallucination.

If you go to the their Web site you will find a treasure trove of videos that will make you laugh, cry, and in the end, feel truly inspired by humanity and excited about our future.

When I heard that a local group was organizing TEDxSLO I’m pretty sure it took me less than one minute to purchase my ticket. Upon arriving

By: Matt McGunagle

at the event I was ecstatic to see the turnout. Almost 800 members of our community paid to sit in a huge dark room listening to lectures while sitting in extremely uncomfortable chairs (according to the ladies I was sitting next to).

The audience listened to a doctor attempting to make holistic methods of healing commonplace in hospitals, a 19-year-old kid from Cambridge who is growing up as a part of online communities and the benefits he’s received from it, the co-founder

“

”

I’ve found a key indicator that has rang true for all the people I have truly connected with in my life—they all have an affinity for TED. of Votizen talk about the upcoming power shift of politics, among other intriguing guests. Going to a TED conference was a powerful experience that I hope everyone gets a chance to have. The organizers of TEDxSLO plan to make this an annual event and I look forward to attending as many as I can.

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Orwell Was Wrong

By: David Berning

Sorry Mr. Orwell, but time has proven you wrong. 1984 did not see the beginnings of a dystopia; rather it marked the foundation towards a brighter future.

In 1984, a group of young idealists embarked on a mission to promote the cultivation and dissemination of ideas pertinent to the era’s most progressive industries: technology, entertainment and design. They called their project TED. Initially, TED hosted a biannual conference in Southern California.

This conference brought together leading innovators from each field and challenged them to “give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less.”

Over time they accrued a spectacular repository of inspiring and thoughtprovoking speeches they called TED Talks.

As word spread, so too did TED’s collection of speakers. Today, TED features the ideas of the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers from every industry. Authors, activists and, yes, even politicians are invited each year to take the stage in order to discuss their ideas for a better world.

TED’s triumph paints a sharp contrast from the world Orwell so 22

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ominously envisioned years ago.

But more important than this coincidental anecdote is the ideal this organization has come to embody.

Indeed TED has proven that the idea of authority no longer persists, that instead our world is governed by a stronger, more democratic conviction: the authority of ideas. #TEDxSanLuisObispo Soon after achieving worldwide renown, TED established an affiliate organization called TEDx. The program was created in the spirit of TED’s mission and was designed to allow communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences.

Although each TEDx event is independently organized, presenters are still challenged to abide by TED’s celebrated format. Thus each speaker is given a maximum of 18 minutes to take the threads of their ideas and weave them into tapestries of thought for the audience to enjoy.

Last Friday San Luis Obispo hosted its first ever TEDx event titled, “The Power of Community.” Its focus

find your flow at tributari.org

was centered on the many ways in which local and online communities function to influence relationships, local business, the workplace and the world.

The perceived virtues of social media within the context of the community emerged as the event’s most visible issue. As one speaker justifiably lamented over its perils, others viewed its power as a force for social good.

In his speech titled, “Growing Up Online,” Matthew Huxtable, a computer science prodigy and Cambridge University student, argued that technology is not nearly as bad as preceding generations believe it to be.

“Surely,” he said, “it has at least served to enhanced modern civilization by providing a means to organize all the world’s information more efficiently.”

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Jason Putorti, a social media entrepreneur and co-founder of Votizen, agreed. In his speech, “Moneyball for Politics,” he laid out the ways in which social media could serve to enhance the democratic process. Specifically, Putorti explained how social media could restore what the Citizens United ruling so callously destroyed by providing average-income candidates the campaign leverage they need to compete with Washington’s high net worth incumbents.

Audience members, meanwhile, were encouraged to join in the debate through the event’s Twitter queue, #TedxSanLuisObispo. This live interaction seemed to justify Huxtable and

Puroti’s belief in social media’s ability to enhance its users social experience.

Other notable speakers that day included Dr. Neha Sangwan, CEO and founder of Intuitive Intelligence, who discussed the impact communities can have on our personal health, internationally acclaimed photographer, Amanda Koster, who demonstrated how she has transformed lives via online storytelling, and Google’s Gopi Kallayil, who offered examples of how social media has emerged as a platform for building communities of interest for people across language and geographical boundaries.

San Luis Obipso: A Model Community It should come as no surprise that the ideas presented in last Friday’s TEDx event provided an insightful look into the true power of community. Indeed nothing less was expected from the happiest city in America.

But the fact that San Luis Obispo delivered on such lofty expectations is a testament to this community’s enduring commitment towards remaining a city upon a hill.

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TED

Three Short Letters.

By: Quinn Hubbard

Yet the organization could not be more revered for introducing educational to captivating concepts in its global conferences.

TEDxSanLuisObispo was no exception, undoubtedly holding up the integrity of the organization’s reputation. On September 28th, Cal Poly’s Performing Arts Center was bustling.

Hundreds of people — students, faculty and community members — gathered to listen to twelve live talks about The Power of Community.

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suggestions for an improved future, every speech was a bona fide original.

My personal regret: learning about the event so late. I found out SLO was going to host a TEDx conference in July. As a self-described TEDaholic, I made it my mission to help; I became the Student Outreach Coordinator. By that time, the speakers had been selected, so I studied the lineup, but the tone and content of the speeches were a surprise.

As it turns out, calling it a “pleasant surprise” would be a criminal understatement.

Jason Putorti’s talk Moneyball for Politics made a cannonball-sized splash.

The message was well-timed given the current politically-charged climate; it imparted both context and an idea.

The context: America has experienced a decrease in its representation of political officials per person. This means an increase in the influence of money on politics. This has lead to an increase in the number of big donors getting a piece of the candidates.

With time, this has led to the vicious practice of buying advertisements with negative messages about a candidate’s competitor. These attack ads buy votes. Inefficient, yet effective.

The idea: Young people need to get involved in politics. (I know you’ve heard it before, but bear with me.)

These blossoming adults have, stereotypically, lacked involvement because the term “bureaucracy” makes them want to dash for the nearest exit… or grab the nearest smartphone. But young people can have a say through a familiar platform: social media.

With social media at our disposal, we can be more influential than anyone would have anticipated a decade ago. Television enables one-to-many communication. Social media enables many-to-many communication. As it stands, a small number of wealthy people determine

the election through the television advertising top-down model. This can be changed. By leveraging social media, a tool with which most young people are fluent, we can eliminate the artificial boundary between a person’s thoughts and the expression of those thoughts on a large scale. We have the opportunity to disrupt mass media by using a less expensive, more effective channel to deliver information and, thus, votes.

With that, I urge you to: Pay attention, Have an opinion, Get involved.

Whatever your opinion may be, tell your friends. Spark a conversation. Get to know the candidates, the issues, the policies. Even if it takes watching The Daily Show and Colbert Report, start caring. This is our future at stake and now, through the viral nature of social media, what you say, do, or post does have an impact.

It takes a minimal amount of effort.

There is no excuse for apathy. At the very least, care.

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THE NUTS

& BOLTS OF Have a Punkrockpartí

B

ack in her middle school days, Paige Poppe was snipping up T shirts and threading her style into preexisting fashion finds. Little did she know that seven years later, she would launch Punkrockpartí, a blog dedicated to do-it-yourself style.

The junior architecture major somehow squeezes in enough time to post everyday on her blog, which she launched about two months ago. Poppe says she’ll snap some photos in the morning before she heads to class, uploads them during a 10-minute studio break and post an entry. While the schedule of an architect can be taxing, Poppe says it inspires her personal style and gives her DIY ideas. She calls her everyday look a mix between feminine and edge.

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Story by Kelly Cooper | Photos by Paige Poppe “In my fashion sense, I gravitate toward structured pieces and utilitarian pieces and geometry, so there’s always that hint,” she said.

When it comes to her own DIY projects, Poppe says she’s most proud of the pieces that are simple and inexpensive, like the project that started with a Dollar Store plastic skull.

“I sprayed it in gold spray paint. And it looks so expensive and nice, and online they retail for 50+ dollars,” she said.

Here, Poppe takes us through a step-by-step tutorial for creating a hardware store headband. All it takes are a few nuts and bolts; get styling!

SUPPLIES 1.5 yard black cord (available at Beverly’s for $3.99 per yard) 6 silver aluminum non-threaded spacers from Miner’s Ace Hardware Scissors Scotch tape clear nail polish 2 silver nuts (optional, also from Miner’s) Cut your black cord into two equal pieces.

Tightly tape the ends of your cords using Scotch tape. This will help thread your cord through the aluminum spacers.

Thread both cords through the first aluminum beads and separate as shown. Make sure the spacer is in the middle.

Taking one of the cords on the left hand side, thread it through an aluminum spacer.

Take the opposite cord on the right hand side and thread it through the same aluminum spacer. Pull both ends of the cord until the spacer is laying straight and there is about an inch of space between the first and second aluminum spacer. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have threaded all aluminum spacers.

Once you have threaded on all your beads, pinch the two cords together about 2 inches away from the last bead and tie a knot.

If you’d like a little extra detail, thread a silver nut through the two cords and tie another knot to secure. Repeat this step on the other side of the headband.

Finally, to prevent fraying, brush clear nail polish on the ends of the cord and twist to secure.

Tie on your headband with a quick knot and you’re set! This is the perfect piece to throw on to add a little added interest to your outfit when you head out for class. Try out other color schemes such as white cord with gold piece to throw on to add a little added interest to your outfit when you head out for class. Try out other color schemes such as white cord with gold hardware (also available at Miner’s) for a look that fits your style!

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Yearning Eureka

by Will Newhart

H

arold never stopped to smell the poppies, he only ate them. It was

his favorite treat back home, but this was Minnesota, and nothing beautiful ever grew here. He would have to wait a full year before he could taste the velvety petals once more. >>

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Fictional Frankenstein Yearning Eureka

“Whatcha doin’ o’er ther?” came the yokelish drawl of Elroy.

Harold turned to see the inquisitive gopher bounding towards him through the weeds. Elroy had lived in Grand Rapids his whole life, with the exception of the four years he spent “down south” in Minneapolis.

Harold met Elroy his first day on the farm, and since then, the bumbling rodent followed him everywhere.

But Elroy was not Harold’s only new friend. Harold had met all sorts of creatures and people when he arrived in Minnesota: bears, wildcats, wolverines, tartan sporting terriers, eagles, blue beelzebubs, and even a cavalier. They were all swell folks, but none were horses.

“Phew! Bless ma soul. Dat field gits abawt ten yerds langer every day. So, ‘Arold, whatcha lookin’ at?”

“I was looking west.” Harold replied.

“Aw, ya gittin’ ‘omesick?” said Elroy with a smirk.

“I guess a little. Mostly, I’m trying to figure out my life.”

They were all swell folks, but none were horses

Elroy chuckled, “Dat’s eesy, all ya gots ta do is eet when yer ‘ungry, an sleep when yer tard. Ther’s nothin’ to et, dontcha know?”

Harold took his eyes from the horizon and looked down at his battered hooves.

“Sometimes I think I’d be happier if just I adopted your view of things, Elroy.”

“Course ya would,” boomed Elroy. “I gots ma folks, ma friends, and ma health. Course dis job don’t ‘urt eether.” Elroy started to laugh, but saw that Harold had drifted off and was looking back across the land.

Elroy stood silent next to Harold, as his friend searched beyond the lakes and trees for the place he left in the pursuit of happiness.

“C’mon, hop up. I’ll give you a ride back,” Harold said, then knelt down and let the gopher clamber up his shoulder and on to his withers.

“You on okay?” Harold asked.

“Like scat on a skillet,” replied Elroy, “Say ‘Arold, whater these swores on yer back?”

“The cart harness rubs a little.

It’s nothing bad.”

“Ya better get it looked at. Ya been lookin’ like crap lately ‘Arold,” said Elroy in a concerned tone.

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Harold let out a muffled laugh, “Thanks for watching out for me.”

“No I’m serious. Ya got to ‘ave more fun. Why dontcha come awt wid me an da rest of da fellas from da farm ta-night? We’ll find ya a gal dats just yer type.”

“That’s okay, Elroy,” replied Harold, “I’m not really into Clydesdales. Besides, I have to watch my feed tonight. Last time I went out, someone broke into my stall and took half my store.”

“Feed, Feed, Feed. No wander ya can’t figure life out. What good is feed if ya never eat it?”

“But I moved here so I could earn more feed, Elroy. I wasn’t eating that much back home. I’m trying to store up enough so I can go back and not have to pull a cart to stay fed.”

Harold winced as a bead of sweat rolled into one of his cuts.

“Why ya want to go back so bad? If ya stay here ya won’t ‘ave to horde yer feed. Yer alreedy makin’ more dan ya can eat eech month.”

Harold could think of a thousand reasons why he wanted to go back: his family, his friends, the hills, the ocean, the palominos with beautiful haunches. But above all, he missed the poppies. The delicious, orange poppies that tasted 32

Fictional Frankenstein Yearning Eureka

I’m trying to store up enough so I can go back and not have to pull a cart to stay fed like ambrosia compared to the bland oats and hay that he had stashed away in his stall.

“Well?” inquired Elroy, “Ya neever answered ma question, ya oaf” “You wouldn’t understand,” muttered Harold.

“I betcha I could! I went ta college ya know.”

Harold felt like crying and, sure enough, his eyes had already begun to water.

“Can we talk about something else?”

“Suits me,” replied Elroy as he scampered up Harold’s mane. “But I ain’t dumb ya know. I can tell ya don’t like it ‘eer. No ones keepin’ ya, an I won’t ‘ave any ‘ard feelins if ya leave.”

“Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t right now,” replied Harold. “I would have to work another five months before I’ll have enough feed to just make it back.”

“Well den quit mopin’,” cried Elroy. “Bein’ sour won’t make time go faster. Might as well enjoy yerself. Ya just might learn sumin’ from us Midwest critters.”

“I suppose you’re right,” admitted Harold as he let out a heavy sigh.

Elroy paused for a moment as he gave the tired steed a once-over, “Fer a draft ‘orse, yer kind of a mess, ‘Arold.”

Harold reared, sending his companion tumbling down his crest and collapsing onto his back.

“What da heck was that fer?” asked Elroy, brushing himself off.

Harold turned his head and looked the gopher square in the eye, “For the last time, Elroy. I’m a Mustang.”

Fictional Frankenstein is a new collaborative section between aspiring and talented Cal Poly writers and Digital Frankenstein that provides the opportunity to publish the best so Cal Poly student and alumni fiction.

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A FASHION D,I.Y. ART ARCHITECTURE

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