Dear Tom and Adrian,
Another month gone and one more month closer to graduation. Where has all the time gone? As I was trying to write this letter, something hit me. I don’t feel like I am able to fully get my personality across in these letters and most importantly, in my blogs. I am an outgoing, funny, sarcastic (at times) person. My blog defiantly does not display that. I guess I just always thought that my personality would come across naturally in my writing, but that is not the case.
I think it is a lot more work than I ever anticipated to be able to display your true colors in a blog post, at least with the knowledge and time that I have.
My friend asked me the other day what I blog about. I wasn’t able to give him a straightforward answer, which was interesting to me. I could have just as easily directed him to my blog, but I didn’t. It is not something I am entirely proud of. I like it and it has served my purpose of being an online journal, but it isn’t something I would put in my writing portfolio. It’s not that I am not trying or putting an effort forth, it’s just that it’s not my most favorite piece of work. Yes, it’s nice to use as a journal, but before my blog, I only wrote in my journal when I had time. The same holds true for my blog, if I don’t have time, it gets neglected and not up to its fullest potential.
Aside from all of the images/graphics, video and phone postings you can add to a blog, how can I properly express my personality in just my words? Do you guys think both of your blogs properly display who you are?
Have a great weekend and enjoy the weather that may look like spring is actually on the way—keep your fingers crossed!
Sincerely,
Bridget
Friday, April 13, 2007
Letter 3
Posting the reflective letters here makes sense to me.
Dear A & B,
Another 4 weeks has sailed by. How can a semester go by so fast and seem to take so long at the same time? The paradox of time.
I have realized how easy it is to get sidetracked from blogging and struggle getting back to it. Not that I have been that consistent with it anyway, but since break I have floundered even more. The lesson I take from this is that maintaining a blog doesn't hold any interest for me. If I had readers leaving comments and an active dialog I would enjoy it more. That's the catch 22, in order to have an active dialog I need interested readers. To have interested readers I need to post regularly. To post regularly I need interested readers.
A strong topic is also essential to a good blog. I am most definitely lacking that. Outside interests and hobbies are very low priority at this point. The things I am interested in have active forums and websites. Starting another blog seems redundant. I am more interested in taking part in an ongoing, active dialog than trying to create one from whole cloth. Which sound like excuses not to blog but are valid to me. I will maintain a blog for this class and after that I don't see myself returning to it. I don't rule it out. If I get passionate about something that needs a voice then a blog is an option.
Another concern of mine is the employment angle. We have touched on this a little in class. At this point I don't know where I will be applying after graduation. How much do I need to worry about potential employers looking into my past? Let' s just say that my past is checkered enough without adding an outspoken blog. I hope and believe that anyplace I want to work won't do that kind of digging but the future is uncertain.
I will do some more work on the photshop handout this weekend. Try to flesh it out a little more. I still think 2 pages is enough but if more are needed I can add them.
Regards,
Tom
Dear A & B,
Another 4 weeks has sailed by. How can a semester go by so fast and seem to take so long at the same time? The paradox of time.
I have realized how easy it is to get sidetracked from blogging and struggle getting back to it. Not that I have been that consistent with it anyway, but since break I have floundered even more. The lesson I take from this is that maintaining a blog doesn't hold any interest for me. If I had readers leaving comments and an active dialog I would enjoy it more. That's the catch 22, in order to have an active dialog I need interested readers. To have interested readers I need to post regularly. To post regularly I need interested readers.
A strong topic is also essential to a good blog. I am most definitely lacking that. Outside interests and hobbies are very low priority at this point. The things I am interested in have active forums and websites. Starting another blog seems redundant. I am more interested in taking part in an ongoing, active dialog than trying to create one from whole cloth. Which sound like excuses not to blog but are valid to me. I will maintain a blog for this class and after that I don't see myself returning to it. I don't rule it out. If I get passionate about something that needs a voice then a blog is an option.
Another concern of mine is the employment angle. We have touched on this a little in class. At this point I don't know where I will be applying after graduation. How much do I need to worry about potential employers looking into my past? Let' s just say that my past is checkered enough without adding an outspoken blog. I hope and believe that anyplace I want to work won't do that kind of digging but the future is uncertain.
I will do some more work on the photshop handout this weekend. Try to flesh it out a little more. I still think 2 pages is enough but if more are needed I can add them.
Regards,
Tom
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Reflective Letter #3
Hey Cats and Kittens,
Just today I learned my blogging lesson of the week: Rolin's bunny peep art is better than mine. If you haven't checked out his blog recently you should do so cuz there are good things going on.
Aside from that, I've learned that making things simple is a very complex effort. In GD2 I had to find a way to make something as simple as the daily planner seem new and different. This was a complex process. Now it's just a busy one.
We also learned this with our presentation. Photoshop, on the surface, is fairly simple to use. But, once you get into how much stuff you can actually do with it, it's pretty much the most complicated thing ever. Just picking what to talk about and address as "the basics" is a task. There's an awful lot of "basics."
It reminds me that you can never knock anything as being "simple." My planner is a big foldy piece o' paper and to make more precise folds I'm using a folding bone. My friend Jeremy was like "that's unnecessary." I scoffed. Something as simple as folding can be pretty difficult. You need to think about the weight of the paper, the direction of the grain, what kind of surface you're doing it on, and be careful where you put your fingers. Also, the secondary fold/pressing is essential. I don't think any of us ponder too hard about folding a sheet of paper, but yes, there is something called a folding bone. And people who know how to use it. (btw, it made me laugh at first too).
I don't think I ever really thought too hard about this class, as far as the style of class, until that film crew came to record our class (and put boom mics in our faces). We're a self-directed class. We're a mix of face-to-face and online. We deal with the not-quite-so-fangled-anymore newfangled internet. This class addresses a current, niche trend that really has penetrated our society, but could very well be a quirky footnote hundreds of years from now. "Did you know people used to relentlessly post their lives and political affiliations online?" "Did you know that Lincoln slept with his slaves?" "Did you know etc?"
The traditionally-concerned could academic could question the validity of this class, but we're still learning things. Classes like this fit into a modern consciousness and a modern schedule. The kind where we're trying to run our lives 25/8 instead of just 24/7. It's helped me to try to keep on top of my journal, which had been otherwise left to the side cuz of all this homework nonsense. So, big woop, a class that reminds and pushes me to write about myself. It always about ourselves, but for those of us that focus our blogs on such things, is that a bad thing? Sometimes the only person who's along for our whole lives is ourselves. lol. Self-documentation is an important thing. Which is probably why I'm writing my paper on it.
Wait and see. I'll sell selfishness. For only twenty bucks a pop.
Just today I learned my blogging lesson of the week: Rolin's bunny peep art is better than mine. If you haven't checked out his blog recently you should do so cuz there are good things going on.
Aside from that, I've learned that making things simple is a very complex effort. In GD2 I had to find a way to make something as simple as the daily planner seem new and different. This was a complex process. Now it's just a busy one.
We also learned this with our presentation. Photoshop, on the surface, is fairly simple to use. But, once you get into how much stuff you can actually do with it, it's pretty much the most complicated thing ever. Just picking what to talk about and address as "the basics" is a task. There's an awful lot of "basics."
It reminds me that you can never knock anything as being "simple." My planner is a big foldy piece o' paper and to make more precise folds I'm using a folding bone. My friend Jeremy was like "that's unnecessary." I scoffed. Something as simple as folding can be pretty difficult. You need to think about the weight of the paper, the direction of the grain, what kind of surface you're doing it on, and be careful where you put your fingers. Also, the secondary fold/pressing is essential. I don't think any of us ponder too hard about folding a sheet of paper, but yes, there is something called a folding bone. And people who know how to use it. (btw, it made me laugh at first too).
I don't think I ever really thought too hard about this class, as far as the style of class, until that film crew came to record our class (and put boom mics in our faces). We're a self-directed class. We're a mix of face-to-face and online. We deal with the not-quite-so-fangled-anymore newfangled internet. This class addresses a current, niche trend that really has penetrated our society, but could very well be a quirky footnote hundreds of years from now. "Did you know people used to relentlessly post their lives and political affiliations online?" "Did you know that Lincoln slept with his slaves?" "Did you know etc?"
The traditionally-concerned could academic could question the validity of this class, but we're still learning things. Classes like this fit into a modern consciousness and a modern schedule. The kind where we're trying to run our lives 25/8 instead of just 24/7. It's helped me to try to keep on top of my journal, which had been otherwise left to the side cuz of all this homework nonsense. So, big woop, a class that reminds and pushes me to write about myself. It always about ourselves, but for those of us that focus our blogs on such things, is that a bad thing? Sometimes the only person who's along for our whole lives is ourselves. lol. Self-documentation is an important thing. Which is probably why I'm writing my paper on it.
Wait and see. I'll sell selfishness. For only twenty bucks a pop.
The Weekenders
I know I said it in class, but I shall say it again.
My Graphic Design class is gonna be gone this weekend to Chicago to do some designery type stuff so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to access the intarwebs. Regardless of when you guys finish the paper stuff, just e-mail it or post it here or something. I'll review it on Sunday night when I get home and then be ready to rock on Monday morning. I know this stuff pretty ok so I wouldn't worry about it.
Oh yeah... now to write that pesky reflective letter before I start packing and doing other homework.
Have a good weekend guys, <3.
My Graphic Design class is gonna be gone this weekend to Chicago to do some designery type stuff so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to access the intarwebs. Regardless of when you guys finish the paper stuff, just e-mail it or post it here or something. I'll review it on Sunday night when I get home and then be ready to rock on Monday morning. I know this stuff pretty ok so I wouldn't worry about it.
Oh yeah... now to write that pesky reflective letter before I start packing and doing other homework.
Have a good weekend guys, <3.
Handouts for presentation
I have a draft of the handouts completed. I will email it to both of you. It is 2 pages right now. I don't want to get carried away. keeping the images large enough that they show detail is taking up space however. We can add pages and images if I missed something. Do we want to add a cheat sheet with keyboard shortcuts?
There is so much to Photoshop that I am having a hard time limiting the information.
There is so much to Photoshop that I am having a hard time limiting the information.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A bit more on Photoshop...
The school of continuing education on campus is offering a few Photoshop classes. The two that I thought might be more interesting and pertain to our class were *Photoshop CS2 Level 1 and *Photoshop Elements for Photographers.
Photoshop CS2 Level 1
This course costs $279. It is basically formatted to teach the basics: size & format, creation of art, manipulation of photos, painting, retouching, enhancing images, layers, modes, color space, file types, compression, cloning, gradients, filters, etc.
Photoshop Elements for Photographers
Simple secrets to give your photo a high-quality professional look. This course teaches you how to turn bad pictures into masterpieces. It costs $165.
I will have to look back on the website to see when the courses are offered.
On Monday we talked about Tom writing up some step by step instructions maybe telling students how to get a picture and how to open it in Photoshop.
I found a website called photoshopsupport.com that directs people to any sort of help they may need on how to use Photoshop.
This is just a brief re-cap of what we talked about on Monday. I will post keyboard shortcuts on here as soon as I can.
Photoshop CS2 Level 1
This course costs $279. It is basically formatted to teach the basics: size & format, creation of art, manipulation of photos, painting, retouching, enhancing images, layers, modes, color space, file types, compression, cloning, gradients, filters, etc.
Photoshop Elements for Photographers
Simple secrets to give your photo a high-quality professional look. This course teaches you how to turn bad pictures into masterpieces. It costs $165.
I will have to look back on the website to see when the courses are offered.
On Monday we talked about Tom writing up some step by step instructions maybe telling students how to get a picture and how to open it in Photoshop.
I found a website called photoshopsupport.com that directs people to any sort of help they may need on how to use Photoshop.
This is just a brief re-cap of what we talked about on Monday. I will post keyboard shortcuts on here as soon as I can.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Photoshop Presentation
So, as far as I know, our group presentation on Photoshop is to be given tomorrow. I know that we found a picture to use to demonstrate some Photoshop capabilities in class, but I just want to make sure that we know who is going to do what. Any ideas?
I know that we mentioned that I will do letter i. on the assignment sheet and letters a. and b. would be done by you two. I don't know if we really decided to stick to that, but that is what I went by to prepare for tomorrow.
If there is anything else specifically that you guys can think of for me to do, please let me know--Thanks!
I know that we mentioned that I will do letter i. on the assignment sheet and letters a. and b. would be done by you two. I don't know if we really decided to stick to that, but that is what I went by to prepare for tomorrow.
If there is anything else specifically that you guys can think of for me to do, please let me know--Thanks!
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