CLASS REVIEW PART ONE

Here, we find ourselves nearly halfway through yet another semester at dear ol' Columbia College Chicago.

So far, this class has proven to fit my writing style far more than the average writing/english class.  I cannot describe to you how much I detest the usual trudgery (taking license to make up words) associated with writing drafts, revisions, essays, and journals on shit I quite honestly don't give a flying flog about.

I love that this class allows me to explore something that I'm actually interested in as opposed to writing about a given subject.  I think this has really benefited everyone's writing, along with the class discussions which come with it.

This style of writing forces me to think in a new way about writing, escaping from the confines of the "School Paper."  While I could, these days, write your typical Paper standing on my head, half-drunk, I prefer not to.  I'd much rather engage in a discussion with a group of intelligent peers (YOU!) and throw around concepts which actually have something to do with our future lives and careers.

I am having some trouble keeping up with posting, I feel I'm falling a bit behind.  While I could whine about how much work and stress I'm under, this is something everyone could complain about.  What it comes down to is needing to set aside time to really bite into this blog business.  Thankfully, all the time I've spent ignoring my blogs, I have spent producing work.

WHAT'S THIS MEAN?

That means you all can look forward (or not) to multiple entries on my PWP in the coming week.

I'm still working out some design/layout/navigation kinks in my blogs.  I hope that these can be ironed out by, say, midterms.

Overall, I've found this class to be very refreshing and titillating.  Jeff, you're a wicked professor with a great sense of writing style and an effective way of communicating what we're supposed to be learning.  Keep it up!

Alright, kiddies.  Time to get back to this painting.

PROFILE ME? PROFILE YOURSELF

In this era of digital expansion, everyone has some kind of presence online.  This presence is often represented with a profile and/or avatar.

In my history of presence on the virtual web, I first began representing myself with a Xanga.  I was in 7th grade, and Xangas were all the blog rage for pre-teeny boppers such as myself.  It flashed with multicolored lights and music and mused about my most recent boy interests or what was pissing me off at the moment (lyk, omg, mom.)

From here evolved a knowledge of basic HTML codes used for decoration of websites.  The hottest thing to spring up after Xanga was Livejournal.  I just never got into it; it was not customizable enough for me.  But then, AHA! MYSPACE.

Myspace was the tremor giving way to the true social networking explosion: Facebook.  Myspace was cool for a few years when the general user range was high school students, but was eventually seen as a passing fad.  I was a massive scenester in the age of Myspace, and therefore rabidly accumulated "friends" as a status symbol.  By the age of 16, I no longer found an interest in showing my worth by digital friendships accomplished by the push of a button.

Once Facebook rose to the scene, initially touted as a college-only type of network, everyone joined.  My mother, grandmother, little cousins, and family pets are on Facebook.  Facebook has become the digital representation of physical self.

I have evolved my own Facebook into a means of platform and marketing.  I use it not only for connecting with friends and family members and planning events, but also to offer insights to my thoughts, be them funny, poetic, or to-the-point.

Facebook revolutionized the internet as a connection tool.  Creating an addictive need for connection means everyone spends even MORE time on the internet, linking and browsing pages often connected to one root source:  The Almighty Facebook.

In many ways, this could be seen as the beginning of the end.  When our world finally shifts to being entirely computer based, what happens to our physical self?  Does it deteriorate into disuse, oozing from our waistbands and decaying in our minds?  I think that's up to the individual.

What about you?

TEMPLATES

What's going on, peers.

I will begin by forewarning you that my punctuation and capitalization skills may be lacking in this post, i'm kind of exhausted.
As you can see, it's saturday evening...and i'm obviously a raging socialite, because i'm sitting inside (waiting on friends to swing by) writing a blog entry for class.

I thought i'd toss this blog up real quick as i'm thinking about my PWP and how i can apply a template to it.  I'm still having a bit of difficulty focusing my posts down from journal-like banter to something people would actually enjoy digitally biting in to.

:F

That is an example.

SO.  What do we know or think about inspiration?


INSPIRATION- 

1.

stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc, to special orunusual activity or creativity. inspiration appears to be the root of all new and innovative paths of thought, discovery, and creation.  It is thoroughly lacking in the society of today, a place in which you are encouraged to mindlessly consume substances of control and consumer cannon fodder. While our government aggressively protests the use of natural mood and mind altering substances such as marijuana, psilocybin, and dimethyltriptamine (three substances proven to have little to no negative side effects) with one gun-brandishing fist, it shovels dependency-forming alcohol and pharmaceuticals such as ritalin, adderall, and xanax down our throats (instead of solving our own problems) and brashly takes the money made by drug companies on millions and billions of government funded addicts.  These drugs often only intensify the problem they are intended to treat, as by weakening the natural production and transmission of chemicals. the answer is inspiration, in many ways. STEERING THIS BOAT BACK DOWN THE RIVER... The best way to flesh out what's inspiring is to ask some fundamental questions, which will lend themselves to my template.  I think each post should include one each of the following, to give a substantial posting. SIGHTS:  Describing visually striking and inspiring imagery. SOUNDS: Keeping you up-to-date on the freshest, most creative and unique tunes, or simply sound-related inspiration SMELLS:  i don't know about you, but i f*cking LOVE great smells.  Not much inspires me more than something which smells really intriguing.  This sense deserves more attention. TASTES:  have you ever had a sandwich which was truly INSPIRINGLY good?  cause i know i have. FEELINGS:  both of the tactile and emotional variety, feelings play a very important role in how inspiration is interpreted. SO WHAT?:  what's really at the heart of this inspiration, when you get right down to it?  the meat and potatoes, the place for poetic verbage and flowery descriptors. SO I DID:  if inspiration inspires nothing, then i'm not sure it really counts as inspiration.  do you call an aborted fetus your child? i think not.  (well...maybe you do. i wouldn't.)  The inspiration behind each post i make needs to feed into something, some piece of art i'm working on.  This may range from a simple doodle to a painting to a sculpture.  I'll give you some SHORT words on it, but mostly (to me) art is for YOU to figure out.  All i can do is put it in front of you. :] Alright, i think that just about wraps things up for this evening.  Your feedback is greatly appreciated! You all have yourselves a merry rest-of-weekend.  BE WELL!

MATERIALITY [in text]

This week we're thinking about the THING-ness of what we read.

Anymore, it seems like we're accustomed to decoding text on a light screen, which I personally think is harsh on the eyes (especially this black against harsh white contrast.)  But where did we start?

We began with wedge shaped reeds on clay tablets, Cuneiform.  Ancient civilization and development being of interest to me, I've explored the evolution of writing since this time.  The basic gist of it is an evolution from relief sculpture and pictoral representation to simplicity of line on flat screen.  Though, as we see it, our screens tend to be recessed into a metal or plastic box.

It seems to me, to be physically engaged with an object (as you are with a book) requires more mental activity and creates more and stronger neuro-pathways in your brain.  This allows whatever you're reading to sink in far deeper than scanning over a screen we are programmed to have very little interaction with tactilely.

To solve this dilemma in our blogs (as this tactile interaction creates more brainpower) we include pictures and links for the user to interact with differently than the plain text on the screen.  I feel like this break up of space and change of environment is most essential to any online post aiming for success.

Well.  Keeping it short for today, there's my 2 cents.  Let me know your thoughts in response!  See you all tomorrow.