Monday, April 30, 2012

Final project

I thought the final project was a unique idea.  It was very difficult to think of something that was a secret that I didn't mind sharing with the class.  There are lots of really good secrets I could have shared if I didn't have to include my name to the entire class ;).  (That might be a good experiment - take secrets from a class with their names and then secrets from a class anonymously. . .?!)  Anyway, for my secret I chose:  CNN wanted to buy my video - but giving it away instead was just as good

I chose that because it is a good secret but does not reveal too much about the secret =)

Monday, April 23, 2012

recycled thoughts on today's class

I enjoyed the end discussion in class.  My favorite part of class was discussing the final project.  I think it is interesting the concern people have over sharing a secret that no one in the class will know if it is true or not.  I have some pretty good secrets I could tell if we were sharing anonymously - as I'm sure many people in the class have.  However, saying my secrets would make them not secrets anymore!  (lol)  There is a way to reveal a secret without spilling your guts.  I found it fascinating watching people muddle through the process.  As far as the project impacting my new media work, I think it is important to realize that there is nothing new.  There are no new ideas.  The only thing you can do is take an idea and make it your own.  I thought this class was a good reminder of that.  I also enjoyed the idea of "play".  It is something I should take more seriously.  My idea of play is lame, really.  It is something I should do more often, for my own well-being.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Fear

    1.    Examine the situation.
              This is what I asked you to do in the beginning of this assignment. What is fear, etc.?
Examine what makes you fearful. 
Many things make me fearful.  For me fear can be described as a "what if" situation. What if someone I loved died?  What if something bad happened to someone I love?  What if I make a mistake?  What if I upset someone?  What if my secrets were no longer secrets?  I think the fear of the unknown or the fear of loss of control are my worst fears. It's a broad statement, but it encompasses many situations.

What is fear? 
"an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat"

What does fear keep you from experiencing?
Relief, relaxation, freedom from worry, balance, peace, joy at times, 

What is the use of fear?
protection from danger, keeps you thinking forward of next steps, allows me to see obstacles that could get in my way, it keeps me focused

 Really give this some critical thought, just like you did for the senses. How does fear affect your life?
I think it keeps me from enjoying life to the fullest.  I'm always playing it safe or worrying that if I'm not careful something bad could happen. Maybe this is from life experience or learning from the experience of others.  I think I have worked so hard for the people, places, and things I have in my life that I don't want them taken away by something I could have prevented.  I want to be the protector of those I love and keep them from experiencing stress or pain


    2.    Formulate an experiment.
               Play with the idea of fear and come up with an idea for something you can create (or do)  that explores your thoughts on this idea. The fear can be your own fear, or the fear of others, or even the general idea of fear...
My ideas plays with the general idea of fear. My idea is really an expression of what fear means to me in my life. I took pictures of my fears and hen lit them on fire. This was representing some of the fears in my life I have overcome.  Other fears I only burned partially.  This represented the ongoing process of fear. I do not believe I could ever live fearlessly. Even if I overcome some fears, new ones will arise and others will fade on their own.  This is a natural cycle of life. The next step in my project was to put the burned fear pictures inside a matchbox.  I taped the partially burned fears to the outside of the box. I chose to put my fears in the matchbox to represent the control one has in life. If you are brave or crazy enough you can burn your fears and move on.


    3.    Hypothesize the expected outcome.
How do you think people (your classmates) will react to what you came up with?
Write this (but not what you are planning to do or create - just the reaction you expect) on your blog.
Note: this is the only blog publication you will create prior to sharing what you did with the class.
A blog entry should be posted before class on March 19 with just your expected reaction from the class, nothing further - do NOT submit your URL at that time.

I think they will think it is "therapeutic" and a good way to process fear. At first I was doing my project based on why we have fear.  Now I am at the place where I want to explore what you do with that fear.  I hope the class finds away to use my take on the project to explore their own thoughts.


    4.    Conduct the experiment.
               Share/present what you came up with in class during class on March 26. Some people have actually devised experiments based on their ideas of fear and conducted the experiment during class, using the people in class as the test subjects... Others have shared deep fears they have had. The approach is completely up to you, regardless of what others have done or will do. This is a journey of discovery for YOU. But make sure that you do not put anyone (including yourself) in real danger. If someone refuses to participate in your experiment, you must respect that decision. But that gives you lots of things to think about if that happens... Remember when planning your experiment, NOTHING THAT WOULD GET YOU OR I KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL!

    5.    Observe the reaction.
               Take notes of how people actually did respond to your creation (or whatever it was) in class. Somehow document your findings so you can refer to them later.
The observation that stuck with me most was the comment from Cody. He was doing his project base don the fears of the class. He asked what my fear was because I did not call out a specific phobia. 

    6.    Analysis of hypothesis with actual outcome.
               Compare your notes on the actual reaction you got from your class mates (and me) with what you expected would happen.
I found that I really did not get much of a reaction. I don't think I explained my project as well as I would have liked to. I am terrible at speaking in front of people. I usually talk fast and forget to say about half of what I was planning on. I think the class was slightly confused because my take was vague and I did not specifically spell out what my greatest fears are.  I took a different approach and should have explained my thought process more instead of just explaining my project.

    7.    Propose changes to your idea based on what happened in class.

After class when you present your experiment to the class, post the rest of this to your blog, including what you shared in class. Make sure to include points 5-7 in your blog entry. Take the week after you present to consider how you would change your project based on how people actually reacted to what you did. Really analyze your project and how it was received and think critically about what should be changed. If you don't think anything should be changed, then explain why you think it went as you predicted and how you might be able to massage the experience to get a different reaction from the one you predicted. Be sure to post these thoughts and observations to your blog.

After considering my project and how I could change it I decided that I liked what I created because it was very true to myself and the essence of me. I think I could have explained myself better.  I should have had notes to refer to and really talked more about why I did what I did.  If I was in a different place (mentally not physically) I could have really talked about my fears and why I chose to burn them.  That would have defiantly created a stronger reaction. But, talking about your fears out loud makes them more real than I even like to admit.  This makes my project what it was.  My fear is definitely in exposing myself to others and even myself at times. I'm not sure I really messaged that well.  I think maybe half the class picked up on it.  This is definitely something I already knew about myself.  Through that I did learned that this isn't something others may have even considered.  Knowing that, I would have explained myself so everyone could see where I was coming from.  There are many fears in this world people never think about because they do not have them.  I really enjoyed gaining that new perspective on fear.  Without perception, there is no reality.


Then discuss the experience/presentation from class which you responded to most strongly, be it yours or someone else's. 

Answer these questions on your blog.
    1.    What was it and who did it?
I really responded to the project where everyone drew on the girl who brought in the markers.  She brought in a pack of sharpies and gave up total control to the class, knowing that she would have to walk home wearing whatever message the class put on her.  That was brilliant and was definitely experimenting with fear on many different levels.
    2.    Why did you respond to it so strongly?
I thought her idea was incredible. It was such a unique and creative idea. It presented a fear I have that I had never even considered. I could not imagine have a group of people you don't know very well so close to you and writing on your body.  That took a lot of courage. The scary part for me wouldn't be giving up control of what someone wrote. Markers wash off, it's not permanent. However, having other people so close and "in my bubble" would freak me out. I couldn't even go draw on her because it was too close to someone for my comfort level. 
    3.    How does it impact how you see your own project?
Her project made an impact because I could not believe how vulnerable she was. I really respect and admire her for that. It makes me want to be that bold in other situations. I am typically a very private person emotionally and otherwise.  I usually don't even let the people closest to me get as close as she let her classmates.  Her project demonstrated her bravery in a very create and inspiring way.

We will discuss all this on in class after everyone has presented, so make sure you have everything posted on your blog regarding this exercise prior to noon the class after you present. As always, to get your points, submit the URL here. You can do this in one giant monster blog entry, or you can break it up into smaller entries. If you do that, just submit the URL for each post here. 

This project will be graded according to the rubric listed above instead of just whether or not you did it. 70 points for the scientific method listed in the first part, 30 points for the discussion of the most successful (in your opinion) presentation during class...

Consider this the midterm project if you would like

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Hypothesize the expected outcome

As the week went on, I continued to think about this fear assignment.  I pushed it further than what I had thought about doing before class last week.  That being said, I would like to change the expected reaction because I have a new angle on the assignment.  I think the class will still find my take interesting.  I think they will think it is "therapeutic" and a good way to process fear. At first I was doing my project based on why we have fear.  Now I am at the place where I want to explore what you do with that fear.  I hope the class finds away to use my take on the project to explore their own thoughts.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Reaction about fear assignment

I think the class will find my perspective unique and interesting.  I want their reaction to be that they learn something and to maybe give them something new to think about.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

What has stuck sideways?


What are 3 things you remember from this class thus far?

  • The first thing would have to be the fish bowl.  I really have realized how much I like to be "fish bowled".  Expectations are easier for me to process and complete when I have them laid out for me.  The lack of a fish bowl has definitely been a challenge for me.
  • I really enjoyed the book assignment.  I love books and really enjoyed taking the time to look at one in different ways.  I never thought that the reason I love some books so much could have been because of the way the paper felt or the way that the book smelled.
  • The third thing that comes to mind when I think about what I remember from class so far is the video we watched about the guy who makes pottery.  That video was very cool and I really liked his perspective on creativity and art.


How has your experience in this class been different from your experiences in other classes? If it has not been different, explain what is similar to your other classes.

  • The experience in this class has definitely been different than that in other classes.  Honestly, I would say this class is more difficult for me.  I think this is because going to school for me is a checklist.  My mindset has not really been "what can I get out of school" but has been "what is on the list that I need to complete to meet or exceed the expectation."  I have a career and I am not in school for career advancement.  I make enough money I can pay a mortgage, car payment, tuition without taking any student loans, vacations, save for retirement, etc.  I am in school only to get that piece of paper.  This class has been challenging because there is not a checklist for me.  My assignment is to take an idea and "go do something" with it.  That is so ambiguous.  It is a challenge because I feel like I have to personally invest in what I create, not just make a website that contains x, y, and z or write a paper.  I think this class has shed a new perspective so far.  My attitude in school has not been what can I learn, but what do I need to complete.
What would you like to get from the rest of this class?


  • That is a good question.  I am not sure what I want to get out of the class, I had not thought about it in those terms.  It goes back to my normal mindset of what does the course expect to get out of me.  I guess I would like to continue to explore creativity in this class and learn about ways people have challenged creativity and pushed it farther.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Unexpected improv

For this assignment I put my totem (an Eiffel tower keychain piece) into a candle. I also scented the candle myself with vanilla and hibiscus oil. What I think is awesome about what I did is that as the candle burns, more and more of the totem is revealed - kind of a cool concept!! Finally, when the candle is completely burned, the totem is free again. I like the concept of this being like a cycle, full circle.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Totemic bliss

I may be cheating on this assignment. I'm spending more than one hour doing what I love. I am currently writing this blog post from: Disney world!! :) (I will not be back for class today) BUT I will be in totemic bliss!!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Take Away

I had a couple of take aways from class today.  My first take away was just how varied and interesting the projects were this week.  It is neat to see what people do when they are not fish bowled.  I liked seeing the differences: videos, tattoos, cookies, etc.  The second thing that stood out to me is that we need to be more aware of the difference between each of us in order for us to appreciate each other's work.  The videos we saw were great, however, it is important to keep in mind how everyone else will see your work.  Sometimes your point could be lost.  I think it is very eye-opening to consider those who are hearing impaired or may have another disability such as dyslexia.  When we create anything, for school, work, or pleasure, we want it to be able to be enjoyed by all.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Tyger tyger burning bright

I found this project to be slightly challenging at first.  The lack of a "fish bowl" is almost overwhelming.  I thought about a few ideas before I came up with the one I settled on.  My first idea was to compare my cat to a tiger and do something with that (yes, I may be a crazy cat lady).  I thought about the time one of my cats was held "captive".  He is typically an outside/inside cat and loves roaming the neighborhood.  Keeping him inside makes him angry and depressed.  One day he came home injured (not sure what happened to him).  After a visit to the vet it was decided he had to wear a cone and remain inside for one month while he healed.  This made him feel so distraught and upset, probably similar to the way a tiger in captivity feels.  But, I decided that maybe a difficult connection to make in class in our two minute presentation, so I started reading through my 50 questions and wanted to make something based off of those.  What was difficult here is that I could not come up with just one question to use.  So, what I did was made a collage based of half of the questions I asked.  I went through every other question and put something to represent it in a collage.  Once I settled on this idea, it became a lot of fun and somewhat challenging to find a way to represent some of my strange questions.  I would say that this assignment was more difficult than the book assignment just because it was like the bead assignment, very open.  I continue to be amazed at how it is challenging to come up with something given so much freedom.  Below is my collage.




What if Questions

What if that tiger could talk?
What if that tiger was free?
What if that tiger was lonely?
What if people didn't put them in cages?
What if I never saw a tiger face to face?
What if no one did?
What if tigers were extinct?
What if no one ever killed a tiger?
What if we didn't crowd them onto smaller pieces of land?
What if we never built what we built by crowding them onto smaller land?
What if we live in zoos?
What if our houses are cages?
What if our houses are a refuge?
What if you can't tell them apart?
What if its both?
What if a tiger liked his cage?
What if he could choose his cage?
What if we could cage our choices?
What if our choices are cages?
What if we thought like a tiger?
What if that made us uncivilized?
What if we aren't civilized?
What if tigers are civilized?
What if tigers wore clothes?
What if tigers were like apes and could learn sign language?
What if tigers felt shame?
What if tigers had personalities as varied as people?
What if some liked to show off at the zoo?
What if some hated finger pointing?
What if they hated camera flashes?
What if they felt like celebrities?
What if we knew?
What if tigers could fly?
What if tigers could swim?
What if tigers could drive?
What if tigers could ski?
What if tigers could build buildings?
What if tigers opened their cages?
What if they put us in cages?
What if tigers had to ask 50 what if questions?
What if tigers wore shoes?
What if tigers wrote books?
What if tigers told stories?
What if tigers were green?
What if tigers were friends?
What if tigers were vegetarians?
What if tigers had super powers?
What if tigers could create?
What if tigers could paint?
What if tigers could tell us their dreams?

Monday, February 13, 2012

Bookv2

After watching the video on ted, I looked up the definition of "book".  It is as follows: a written or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually onsheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.  It seems to me this definition of "book" is outdated.  I think a book's definition could simply be a collection put together by one or more authors.  Then I started thinking about all of the different types of books there are and how they are changing with technology.  I began to re-envision the different books I had on my own bookshelf.  I started thinking about the "traditional" books I have.  Then I looked at the next shelf over and saw my own personal photo albums and scrap "books."  This got me thinking about how scrap "books" can change with technology.  My idea is to have an interactive "life store book."  I included a page to show some of my ideas.  There could be a family tree showing a child their lineage.  When you touch the person's photo, whether it is an aunt or a grandfather, a video of that person could come up where they are talking about the child.  From there, it could expand to them talking about their family or their life.  It would be so cool to see panoramic pictures of your childhood home.  Then you would be able to show that to your spouse or your children.  I know I would love to see an interactive book from my own parent's childhood.  You could swipe through pictures and see them on each of their birthdays or see what they looked like every year on Halloween.  Having this available in a digital document would be priceless for future genealogy.  It could be sold if it belonged to someone who later became president, then introduced into history books or digital biography books.  It could be shared digitally among family members as well.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

How to "read" a book


The book from my own library that caught my eye is one called "this book wrote itself".  It caught my eye because it is a simple book, black and white cover, with what looks like a spiral binding printed on the edge.

On page six I put my finger right in the middle of the page. My finger landed on a sentence that read "my father meditates to my right". The letter p is seen five times in this paragraph. 

The paper is smooth and feels thick. The cover is thicker and has a roughness to it.  I cannot feel the ink on the words. There are no colors on the cover. Even through the paper seems thick, I can see trough it when I hold the page to the light and see the letters on the opposite side. The cover can be seen through as well. 

The book has been stapled together it the middle.  This is a book a bought from am independent poet traveling through town a few months ago. It is a paperback book.  This book does not have a signature and it has no glue on the spine.  This book was stapled together.

This book has no other writing in it than the printed words. It is exciting to be the first one to write in it. I typically always highlight or underline lines or phrases in poetry books that I find inspiring. I like knowing that any notes I make are mine, for my own personal reference.

There are no stains on the book. The edges of the pages have some wear and dirt to them. I'm sure this happened in transit of the traveling poet. This boom has no fingerprints, it has had a very delicate life so far.

The pages are fairly close to white. The have a little grey to them, but overall they are a very, bright close-to-white color. The other visual element I really enjoy is e spine. While it is printed on the cover, it looks like the spiral of a notebook. This makes you feel like book is very organic, like it came directly from the author's hand without edit.

The only evidence I see that someone else handled the book is the wear on the edges of the pages. It really can only be seen when a section of the pages are examined together. I'm sure other people who have read this book thought it was very unique and a personal look at the author's thoughts. I do not think anyone else has examined the boom in the same way I have today.

The sound of the pages flipping is a low, quick flip. I feel the short breeze coming from the pages moving.  I was not successful at moving another object with the book. It is very small and does not create much of a gust.  I do not think I would win any games with this book's power (unless the game was flip the pages and don't move anything).

The book barely makes a sound when dropped. It does not leave any vibrations for my feet to feel. There was no difference when I removed my shoes.

The book does not necessarily feel cold.  Surprisingly I did notice a temperature change. I have never noticed this before. I do not think I have ever noticed this because I never thought about it. I think I thought more about the content of the book and what I was reading than the way it looked and felt.

The book smells fresh and clean. It almost smells like laundry soap, that freshness of a dryer sheet.

The title of this book is "this book wrote itself". Her first poem is a response to Allen Ginsberg. I think is fits the title because the first poem because it wa inspired by another person. The poem she wrote was a response to someone else that naturally flowed for her experience on that day. 

I think the biggest new experience I had was smelling the book. That had absolutely never occurred to me to do that.  I have NEVER found books to be boring. I am somewhat of an addict and love them immensely!

You fishbowled the assignment by giving us specific things to focus on when looking a specific item. We had to get a book and we had to look for particular things and respond to particular questions. I think the point of this exercise was to get beyond the cover of the book and to explore a book further.  As we move to more and more digital books, I think the point was to see the romance in an actual book.  My takeaway is just that sometimes there are new ways to look at anything that you are very familiar with. No matter how much you know about an object (or anything) you can always learn something new.  

Monday, January 30, 2012

what enslaves you?

Assignment Instructions
Thinking back on our conversation today about freedom and limitations, take some time to imagine and reflect upon projects you have created. Focus on one project (it does not have to be in new media - it could have been a project you wanted to do on your own, like clearing off your old copies of files from your hard drives, or even writing that song you have been thinking about.) But here is the deal, think of a project that EXCITED you when you first thought of your idea. What was it that was so thrilling to you about the project? Describe some of your thoughts about that project (your ideas, why you were excited, etc.) on your blog.
·       The project that comes to mind when thinking about something that really excited me was putting down new hardwood floors in my house.  When the idea was first being tossed around it seemed overwhelming.  But, when thinking about what the end result would be, I got very excited.  The floors in our house were very old when I moved in and needed to be replaced.  After living in the house for a couple of years, it was hard to imagine what it would be like to have the floors replaced.  The main ideas that came to mind were color of the wood, kind of wood, size of the plank, and what would look nice against flooring in the adjoining rooms.  I also had to figure out how I would learn how to “do it myself.”

Now, compare what you were thinking when you first started the project, and then think about what you actually did. Were they different? How. Explain on your blog.
·       When I first started the project, I was on a very high, positive note.  I was excited thinking about the end result and how fun it was going to be to have new flooring that my boyfriend and I put down ourselves.  However, this changed very quickly as I started on the “do it myself” project.  I knew it would be a lot of hard work, but once I started the project I could not believe how much work was involved.  The walls of the house were crooked and the project became so much more complicated than I originally thought it would be.  I thought I would easily be able to just glue the planks together, however, we had to cut them to the proper size due to the angles of the walls.  The one word that comes to mind when I think about how I felt during the project is “deflated”.

Here is the meat of the analytical portion of this assignment. What were the limitations that forced your project to change? List those on your blog.
·       Not being able to move the walls of the house so that they were straight
·       Keeping my boyfriend working on the project and not giving up and walking away when it became very stressful – the feeling was so deflating.
·       Having to cut and recut boards to fit and line up against the wall

Now switch to the bead. When faced with the bead and complete freedom to do ANYTHING with it, but not direction on how to do it or even what to do, what were the limitations that popped up for you? Discuss this on your blog.
·       Making a decision when so many options existed
·       Wondering if my idea was a good idea
·       I changed ideas a few times, I had a difficult time deciding which idea was the best idea, since there was no standard or set of guidelines
Finally, and hopefully the fun part, look at your list of limitations. Choose one. Create something that expresses how that limitation feels to you. Document it on your blog and bring it to class to discuss next week.
·       The limitation I chose for my project was the feeling of being deflated.  It is so hard to become reenergized after that feeling set it.  When it seems like there is a new limitation around every corner, it is difficult to stay on task.  For my project I took a photo of what to me represents being deflated.  I took a picture of a church in my neighborhood where the roof fell into the building.  I set this photo on top of a picture of the wood from the project where I chose my limitation from.

Monday, January 23, 2012

group role

The group project was interesting. While deciding what to make the other group do, we decided to just give them the same fate they gave us.  This seemed the only way tone fair. I think the project worked out really well because it got the class talking, laughing, and interacting. I ink that was the ultimate benefit to the project.

class memories

Today's class was about whether or not too much freedom has its own set of limitations. A "fishbowl" keeps choices restricted and can set ones mind down a path of clarity by doing some of the "work". Without a fishbowl, one must define a goal.  This is done with experimentation, problem solving, research, and making connections.  This process can be overwhelming and daunting, however it keeps you from staying safe which equals burnout.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Bead

I used the bead to add to the decor of a little character I had.  I think this little guy is very fun and I decided to add to his outfit.  I put the bead on a wire and put a flower on the wire.  I wrapped it around his arm so he was holding it.  After I took the picture, I added a color filter to the photo and then I put on a border.  I wound up with this fun little shot!

Monday, January 9, 2012

N385 class reflection

The first class was great. I have always enjoyed creative expression and I am looking forward to this semester. I liked the open format in the class and the enthusiasm in the room. Everything about this class seems non traditional, from the syllabus to the field trips, and I am really excited to see how "seeing sideways" challenges me to think and create differently.