So, 2011 is ending.

If we follow our local Mayans, we could possibly interpret some of the things they've written down as that this is the last full year ever.  Fuckin' awesome.

That's probably a load of crap though, so time to review what's been happening lately. Since...I guess this is just a normal blog now. If you define normal as someone drawing and talking to himself. Which, in blog language, is pretty normal. 


Anywho, new year, comes with new problems. Sort of.

As most know, this blog came from my stay at Southern. Now, I want out. Like, super-badly. I'll take another semester commuting and no more...I think. However, this brings me to finding a new place to go.

UConn is an extremely appealing choice to me, but then something dawned on me after trying to find more information. I'll need a portfolio to transfer from Studio Art at Southern to Communications Design at UConn.
With a portfolio.
By Feburary 1st.

Southern hasn't even put me in an art class yet! Even when I get in, I have a week or two to have that help a portfolio for a major I don't even fully understand.

Now, why would I be in a major I don't fully comprehend? I'll get back to you. Which is also why I'm considering changing my major before I'm in over my head.

Of course, the logical manner is to simply design things beforehand, and pray they like it.
Or, play it safe and change my major. Which is more "avoiding rejection" than "safe".

Either way, it's going to require a lot of thought. Which isn't coming to me.

It's bad.

I think this blog is turning me into a 13 year old girl (or a perfectly respectable blogger), because this is pretty soothing. Also, people like reading me talking to myself. It's also keeping me drawing, even if it's low-quality doodles of myself.

So, major decision crisis, lack of productivity, and lack of caring. I should probably do something about that.

Perhaps a New Years Resolution is in order?
Nah, fuck it. It's not like I keep my own promises.

I'm going to go take a shower. I smell.

The Last Assessment

So....it's over. Forever.
I'd like to thank the academy-
Wait.

Wait, no it's not. Shit.

As the self-assessment is necessary, I guess I must pick apart my college experience so far. What have I learned? Well, truth be told I am not productive, and have taken little to no initiative to be a part of my community. My work process involves procrastinating through the last half of the semester, and this probably affected my grades at the end.

My biggest challenge involves getting up the morning. Not in a depressing sort of manner, but just for the fact that commuting is awful. Some mornings I just don't want to go in. I'd prefer to be waking up, and walking somewhere with much less effort than I put into my current mornings. I get up at 6 to get to reach classes at 8. I'll be doing that all next semester, and that's going to be worse than just a M-W-F schedule. Unfortunately, I can't just sleep in through all my classes, so I just get up. That's how I deal with it.

The one thing I can be proud of this semester is...well, probably this blog. Along with the efforts I've put into my English 112 essays. These are the two moments where I am using all my creative magic powers to do work that I am satisfied with. I have yet to find work that has been at a college-level of effort, but these make me feel like I'm working slightly harder than high school. Though, my grades aren't all straight A's, I'll admit that. This may be due to the fact that I haven't taken this work as seriously as I should have.

Through all of this must come change, yes? Well, probably. I need to make sure I don't go down a slippery slope here. As the next semester starts, I must learn to utilize time management skills that I'm pretty sure I learned once in this class to ensure I get work done on time. I'll also be more excited to do the work, as I have classes I got to sign up for. Except...maybe two English classes isn't a good idea. I'll work it out. Trust me.

What have I learned this semester? Probably information that I'll have to recite one day in some conversation about anthropology. Or remember Algebra all over again. Truth be told, I haven't learned a lot that I'm interested in, but I have re-learned more old information as opposed to learning more than I have previously. Granted, it's my first semester, but a lot of this is forgettable.

I don't know what else to truly say about this first semester of college. I'm keeping the blog after all of this, if that interests you at all. The time I've spent so far has been uneventful, granted, but I've learned a lot outside the classes that taught me a bit about life. It's not about these grades, but more along the content that you choose to produce. This blog is a pretty good example of that. Though I'll admit I am more than likely recycling phrases I've already said to fill out the word count requirements, but that's okay. For me, anyway.

After using a word count tool, I've gotten towards 531 words, so that's starting to sound like it's time for this lovely farewell to come to an end. It's been interesting, writing for particular topics, but now I'll handle this from here. Good luck with the rest of the semester, and if anyone else makes a blog with pictures I will fight them.

THE VIDEO...AGAIN.

REDONE. PARTIALLY. With hopefully more clarification.

WOAH-HO, A VIDEO

It's done.

The final blog will be done after my math final tomorrow. Which I'LL TOTALLY ACE...

Now I should probably go study.

Group Time is Best Time

While that title may not be grammatically correct, this sentence rings true in regards to this learning community of ours.

You want to know what I'll miss most about seeing these people every day?

Seeing these people. That's it, plain and simple.

The learning group is one thing that I think Southern has done right by me. Putting a group of kids together and having them go through the same classes is a wonderful idea. I found people to find out about homework, and general conversation.

Admittedly, these are the only people I have socialized with. Honestly. I think I had a countable amount of conversations outside of class in clubs, etc. You shouldn't be able to count your social interactions after roughly three months.

However, seeing these people everyday gave me a social life! Call it what you will, but I've enjoyed being torn apart slowly by our well known class beforehand. It's anthropology, in case you didn't catch that. That was an awful learning experience. It's nice to have bonded through hating a class though. People relate more through empathy, and oh dear god, did we have enough empathy to go around.

I got to find out work that I missed, learned to strategically 'cut corners' around certain things that I may or may not have read or done. Of course I helped do the same, since we were all in it together. It's good to make the best of it, instead of crying and never doing work. Though I do not admit to being consistent with my work in any classes. Doing this for legal purposes. Or to make myself feel better.

I've made friends through this. This whole experience has been what kept me going throughout the weeks. I looked forward to hearing whatever nonsense I had to come back with a horrid amount of sarcasm.

Also sometimes being an asshole. I don't mean it. All the time, anyway.


When the time comes to end this semester, I'll be sad to know that I'm leaving a lovely Tuesday and Thursday schedule. Now I'll be waking up at 6am every morning and going through the days without having to hear about Margaret Mead ever again.

So, cheers, learning community.

...AFTER college? There's such a thing?

Well, when asked "What is my ideal life?" in general, that question is fucking mind-boggling.

By this time, I've lost most of my hair due to the
boggled mind issue.

Day by day, month by month, things change. The people we love talking to, our hobbies, and hell our entire outlook on life can be twisted or altered! Through all these changes, my ideal life's little details are altered.

What I'd love to have is a job, preferably freelance graphic design. Have my old code-monkey buddies start up a business with me, and make a silly amount of money out of it. This is all ideal. For now. Then again, this brings into the question if ideal has to mean that 'everything is really well off and you have perfection'. One day I could wake up, and want nothing more but to work some job that pays the bills, and want to live out my life with someone I love. This throws two entirely different scenarios and interests into the fray.

Now, who is to say you can't combine them? Me, that's who. My ideal cannot be perfect. Oddly enough, I don't think I can live in perfection where I have everything I wanted.

In the first scenario, I'd have to have the one who got away. The one who started and sparked my inspiration, and now for whatever reason isn't in my perfect picture. Maybe they are there on the sidelines, or maybe they died in a horrific crash, adding a back-story to my character's reason to keep going.

...did I just try and turn my ideal life into a story? Well, I'm not surprised.

In the second one, of course love would keep me company, but at what cost? Surely something or someone must have had to be left behind in order to keep this, right?


I guess my more realistic and happier scenario would involve making a small business with old friends of mine. It could be making games, websites, or maybe even become famous for creating art using poker chips. (It can happen.)

The people I have met already in my life already astound me, though I'm sure I'm bound to meet more unique characters to twist my ideal life.


Now I'm almost fully aware this isn't exactly what the guidelines wanted this blog post to be about, but choosing one exact answer for an ideal life after college is almost impossible for me. Part of me wants to run away, live with someone who I've developed an indescribable, yet confusing relationship with. Another bit wants to stay nestled in good old Connecticut, and make everyone come back to work with me. Or, maybe I'll take a stab at stand-up comedian. I'm supposedly funny. Worth a shot, right?



Aren't they all worth a shot?

Writing Is Hard, and Shouldn't Be Done Twice. (#13)

So, for ENG 112, one of my last assignments was to revise my previous three essays. The requirements that followed it involved adding a page of content, and adding in a source for each one.

I have never revised an essay in my life.

I needed help.

So, I found the local writing center in Southern, and demanded (politely asked) that they help me make my essays the best revisions that ever existed. They sat me down, and we talked. I explained my situation, and they were happy to help!

I was skeptical of getting writing advice from others, but it was surprisingly helpful. What areas could use a little more content in it, where a new paragraph should be put in, all that junk. I took it all home, and made it all come together.

I really hope my essays get a decent grade.

Video!...

Part 2.

Here I go again!

Essentially, this is a rough copy of the format of how I'll be going about my video.
It's a combination of short video conversations with me, followed by me talking more, but with pictures to help things get by easier.

What you see is only one  of roughly 4 key parts that help commuters find their social life!

Oh so many issues with it :(

WIP, will be prettier in time.

I Am Making A Video

Well, I guess I need to give you some formatting.

An issue that is happening to me in college is that being a commuter has given me little to no social life. Whoops.
Something's clearly wrong here, right?

How can the normal commuter get involved with the college community? How can one achieve the perfect college experience? Well, I'm going to try and throw some tips and tricks that I probably need to follow.

I'd be doing an informational narrative 'thingy', to use the business term for it.
It will be in a skit of sorts, with different methods of how to blend into the college life without having to live there.

Everyone knows I have the ability to talk for a long time, so this should fulfill the requirements and work on teaching all the commuters how to live it up.

It will be creative, and it will blow your minds.
Or just make you laugh.

Have this robot that will help me make the videos.

Yeah. That's nice.

Social Awkwardness Inbound.

In

3...

2...

1...

Oh no! The socially awkward ghost!

Ruining college for everyone!

College is a time in which you must combine both academic and social skills to produce an ideal environment for work and play. You can guess where social skills are needed there. Pro-tip, it is not for work. 

However, depending on certain situations, we may either succeed or fail horribly and wish you weren't born so you wouldn't have to experience this moment. Not that I would know anything about that...for today, anyway.

One must be ready to fight that ghost, and talk it up!

"HOW CAN I DO THAT?" someone must be thinking, or maybe even yelled if they're so confused by it.

One should try to take a casual tone and conversation topics with people you are unfamiliar with, to gain some common ground and getting to know each other by name. Remembering names is really important. I'm not good with names, so my bad Susan (If your name IS Susan, you should feel all warm and fuzzy I remembered you name, Karol). 

Try to see what events are going on around campus, and see if anyone you've developed conversations with will go with you! You can bond and all that good stuff with the lovely things Southern has set up for everyone.

Clubs are also good! Unless you're a baby seal. 

They can help develop a group you see on a weekly basis, slowly warm up to each other, and share your common interest! The diversity of clubs can almost assure you that you're bound to find something that remotely interests you.

Let's Play the Dating Game!

That's what everyone does in college, right?

No?

Man I am in some other dimension or something.

Let's talk about dating. No, don't walk away from me, I see what you're doing. It's time we talk about this.

You're going through a lot of changes, and now you're free and on your own. You may want to party and have sex with anything, right? Well kiddo, that's all well and good, but I can't give two fucks about what you do.

Just play it safe.

To slightly move away from that personal and clearly deep conversation, I think that when it comes to hooking up, as long as they use protection it isn't going to hurt them, unless they think it's their way into an honest and deep series of relationships. That's when you need to get it together, and look for women outside the bars. Unless that's your type. I ain't going to judge you. I might when you're not around, but eh. Anyways, try and make time for dates, do away with some party time and work in some date time with the respective man or woman of your current affection.

So, you may also be in a long-distance relationship, and it can seem like the odds are against you. I've been there, and let me tell you.

Let. Me. Tell. You.

I'm telling ya', you better listen.

It can work.

Keep in touch, trust one another, and work at it day by day. The internet does wonders for video calls. Skype, MSN, Oovoo (or however you spell that) are alternatives that can help you see each other's faces every day. If you care enough about each other to stay together despite not being close, then you've got something special. 

So, you know, keep at it.

Or don't.

Do whatever.

I DON'T CARE!

This Generation Is Silly.

Grandma-

Grandma no

None of those are even things

WHO USES MYSPACE ANYMORE, COME ON GRANDMA.

*Ahem* Anyways.

Kids Parents these days, having to deal with their kids growing up on them ipads, xbox 360's and them Disney channel original movies. The third thing is an oddly specific and not very concerning example, but I just like pointing it out. Phineas and Ferb is a pretty good show though. I don't care what people say, that show don't rot your brain.

Though lots of television is pretty distracting. Also apparently bad since parents aren't strict enough with their kids on what kinds of TV or internet services they have acquired or something. Well, some are, but most aren't. I know growing up my mother just let me do anything.

I ended up PRETTY good, if I may say so myself.

However...this new bunch of kiddies seems to be doing so much more than I had when I was younger. I had a windows 95 to experiment with from time to time, but these guys have ipads that they just need to TOUCH to make something happen. No need for any other train of thought. Touch a thingy, colors change. Sounds pretty good for a kid. Except they all have ipods. Like, elementary school kids are plugged in all day. I didn't get an ipod until my freshman year of high school. Maybe I'm just weird.

While all of these may be fresh and new tools for learning, they should be done within moderation. We do live in an age where the TV is our host come dinnertime, and we don't talk a lot. If that happens to kids since they are BORN, then not only do we lose that idea of a traditional family dinner, it kills conversation in the household.

Though, technology can still benefit kids, and teach them the tools that this new age brings us.

If you're okay with him discovering porn, then it's fine.

When I'm 80 and using a laptop with a drawing tablet, I will be mocked for not having the mind-reading-tablet.

Eating Is Important. IS THIS TRUE?

Wait, what?

It was supposed to say Eating Healthy Is Important?

That can't be right.

Wait. Oh. I see my mistake. Though I like my version better.

College has all those crazy rumors going around. Like, if you stay up all night in some place some ghost may come and haunt your ass. Or that since you've gained college, you are going to make all the wrong choices and gain weight too. Those are just rumors, of course. Don't ask where I heard them from. 

Freshman fifteen is a scary topic I guess, especially for those who are particularly worried about their weight all the time. You may stop eating right without guidance, but you don't care, you are your own man and/or woman! These nifty articles provided about them do plan out some good ideas to help everyone eat a little bit better.

Though I am never asking anyone at Conn Hall "Where the steamed veggies at?"

While reading through these, despite being a commuter I can see myself making sure I do all the little extra things to make sure I'm healthy. Though, surprisingly I've lost a couple of pounds since I've started college. I mean, I MAY have not had lunch sometimes when things started out, but I'm working back into a healthy eating habit.

I still endorse my weight loss program: Commute. 

Preferably with me, so you can pay me gas money.

I have no job.

Anyways, I think that if everyone just sets limits or even keeps track of what they eat once every 2-3 weeks, it's small steps to a healthier you. Then again, I'm not at the peak of healthiness, so maybe you should aim a bit higher than that. Do what those articles told you. It'll help. 

I'm finding loopholes in some of their alternatives, though.

Exercise and Books. (#2,#7)

Two things I rarely use!
*laugh-reel*


Well, let's get this thing started!
*Applause*

Wait, this isn't a TV-show.

Whoops.

Alright, so for this week's double-safari, the first thing I did is head on down and look up some information on the gym. The hours vary by day. On Mondays-Thursdays, the hours are 7am-10pm. Friday is 7am-8pm, Saturday is 9:30am-4:30pm, and Sunday is 2pm-7pm. It is normally $60 for a semester, but it seems after October 17, the price is reduced to $35. 

There are ~20 various exercise machines, free weights, and a locker room complete with showers! 

I think I'm glad I'm a commuter with a personal shower and the ability to walk on my own. That's enough of a workout for me anyway. 

         The day I join the gym, this will be my attire each day.

Now, onto important reading. From ENG 112, an excerpt from the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey is part of the course packet for this class. I wanted to read more of the book, but I figure skimming through it will be the same effect. 

Let's find this book!

Well, don't worry, I found it eventually.

Well, I skimmed through it, and reread the segment from class. It's an informative, and inspirational book that has many different phrases and definitions that expand the '7 habits'. Among this, ideas of taking initiative and being proactive are encouraged in one area. Flipping through I also see the phrase "emotional bank account". Sounds heavy. It wasn't very hard to find, and seems like it actually had a lot of useful information for anybody in need of a pick-me-up.

SCSU ADVENTURE! STARRING ME.

Are you ready to go on a relevant and interesting adventure involving the lovely Southern Connecticut State University?

Well let's go back in time then, to about three days ago:

Say Louie, what are you doing?

Well that's gross.

Say, what's that in that there computer-gizmo?

OH BOY, A TALENT SHOW! THINK OF ALL THE THINGS YOU CAN DO!

So then I went down to the local multicultural center, to get an application to be in the show. Or form, whatever. Either way, I wasn't sure whether I'd try to sing in public, do stand-up, or apply for the 'Mystery Host' they mentioned. I feel like I could use this to branch out, or make a name for myself as a mystery commuter.

So, how did this go you ask?

Surprisingly well! They seemed excited to have me, and I was polite and hopefully seemingly nice!

Now, time to enter it, right? Let's see some things here-

Wait,what?

"NO profanity or vulgar lyrics in any vocal performance or dance music. This is a family show!!!"

You didn't sign up for this! Oh well, you'll still sing or something, right? You can do CLEAN jokes!

What? That's silly. Why wouldn't you?

Alright, so I'll break the comic flow to show that this, in fact, what went through my head as I decided to never go back to audition. Life is, and always be confusing, and with college starting I've been in a bit of a rut. 

However, today, that's changed.

Today, I've learned to forget about having fears of rejection or not being instantly liked. I just need to love me, dammit, and then anyone else who is pretty neat or important.

So now the world is my talent show, and I'm the 'mystery host'. That was really dumb and cliche but it sounded nicer in my head so I'm keeping it there. I'm finally going through a change, and shockingly it's thanks to Southern. Now I begin slightly-anew.

Interesting things...

What can I find interesting for everyone? I mean, I already had power issues/lacked the ability to find out that we had another blog to do for Monday...and I'm terribly sorry for that.

Well, I can't find or think of anything that isn't something stupid I've drawn, so I'll start with that:

Haha! It's a zombie complaining about life.
Irony.
Or something.

Anyway, have this video that caught my eye a while back:

SUPER-WARNING:

HE USES BAD WORDS.

A LOT OF THEM.

I AM SORRY IF THIS OFFENDS YOU ALSO.

It's entitled "It's Only Sexist When Men Do It", and it provides a startling realization about double standards we hold today.I must point out I don't agree with his methods, as they are made somewhat harsh and blunt for the sake of a persona he plays on a youtube channel, but still provides interesting information. However, I found myself agreeing with him by the end of the video, and began to think of any double standards I might be holding against people. I found out I did, and whoops, guess I'm a bad person.

But wait

What if

Double Standards aren't bad?

I have no real answer for that, just food for thought.

Also, if any of this didn't settle with you, here's a corgi puppy learning to go down stairs for the first time.

Simply adorable.

Heavens, Where Has Time Gone?

I don't know where it went, but like magic it's half-way through the semester. Hence, midterms.

Midterms aren't too bad, so far.

...as long as you're fully aware of when they're happening. Not that I experienced anything like that. That'd be tragic.

Anyhow, I'm doing fine and am very satisfied where I am except for one class. CSC 101 or some number, but basically doing lots of stuff in excel that I hate and never want to do in my life! I've got about a C in that class, apparently. Though my grade's supposed to get better in the long run? My professor is confusing, and also doesn't really teach, and learns when we're learning the material. Very frustrating.

Besides that, I'm doing fine academically, and just need to make sure I don't slack off anymore than I have started to already. I'd like to have a high GPA to start with, then leave room for slacking and possible failures along the way. 

Also, GOALS? YOU WANT 'EM? YOU'VE GOT 'EM.

1. LET'S NOT PUT OFF WORK. PROCRASTINATION IS A NO-NO.

2. MAINTAIN SOME FORM OF POSITIVE ATTITUDE WHEN DOING WORK. (ALTERNATIVE: FEIGNING INTEREST.)

3. PUT MORE CREATIVITY INTO MY WORK, AND DO IT TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES.

4. DO GOOD. 

5. DO SUPER GOOD.

6. WORK ON CREATING COMPLETE SENTENCES. ALSO GRAMMAR IN GENERAL.

7. Take off the caps lock key- oh hey I did it

Alright, good work today team. Let's pack it in for the day, and go get some ice cream.

GET SOME POPCORN EVERYBODY.

Well, I'm writing this as both Windows Movie Maker and YouTube publish the movie.

It's been a good run, and I worked totally hard on it.

I am exhausted.

LET'S BREAK BOUNDARIES.

There's...SO MUCH POTENTIAL HERE.

I should go crash in some club

Or go talk to stranger

Maybe make some new friends

Even ask a girl out! Or a guy. Either or. I'm not picky.

None of those things happened today.

I'm sort of sad.

Well...I guess it's best to talk about the next big thing I've done. I have never been one to be open about my art in public, but I felt the need to send in my comics to the school newspaper to see if they'd get posted.

Sure enough, it did.

Now, I DOUBT anyone is going to confront me about it, or will I have any kind of life-changing experience from doing this, but it's nice to have some comics to keep doing. 

I mean, I was on the front page of the first newspaper, and nobody was like "YOU'RE THAT GUY ON THE PAPER!" "Why yes, yes I am. Let's go do cool things."

This is a very short, and possibly bitter blog.

I'm sorry :(

I'll Be Honest With This One.

Louie.

Louie what have you been doing.

You idiot.

Alright, so my time management on this is pretty awful so far.

Brainstorming took some long period of time. It may still be going on as we speak.

I've spent maybe an hour on interviews.

Photos/art ideas have probably been an hour and a half, maybe longer.

Windows Movie Maker has come easy to me, and I've been using for a while. No problems there.

All the other categories are probably in a two hour block of mess.

I swear this will look appealing to the eyes of others.

How Do I Make Video

Haha, the title is only in pure jest of course.

Jest. Yes.

Okay, you see, making videos may be moderately difficult feat, especially when one uses windows movie maker.

What's worse?
Well, a lot of things.

Drawing with it is one of those things.
I'm still working on a 2 1/2 minute conversation, and having to edit time lengths to precisely using movie maker's editing system that can annoy you heavily when you're working on so many pictures. My alternative? Finding some other way to incorporate drawing into the project.

If all else fails, I'll do something like so:

By all else fails, I mean failing this project.

I also have/had sound quality issues, mainly it being too quiet. My computer had poor quality sound and video, and my one long interview with my professor feels odd to use. I may end up just putting his words into text. Except, he talks a lot.
So it'd be like...an intermission of words. I'll throw some fresh beats respectable music in there to help everyone out.

I'd also love to find some way to add comedy, like SUPER-HUMOR or something into the video.

I don't know how to fix this.
Someone help me.

I'll pay you.


In hugs.

Okay but really, I am considering an entire makeover of the video. The windows formula is taking quite a while, and I'm more used to iMovie from a class I took senior year of high school. I'm still debating it, and probably by Wednesday I will have made the final decision on it. It'll still be good though.

If there's anything I've learned, it's that if I ever go into another class that requires making videos, I tell everyone I have no artistic talents and I'll make Linkin Park all of the intro songs to just add onto that idea.

The Library Has More Than Books Apparently. (#10?)

It also has art shows!

Now, I don't know which number this is exactly. I'd consider this an artistic performance, but an art gallery wasn't specified and I am incapable of thinking deeper into that.

The only reason I have heard of this is because when I went to go meet my library adviser, she suggested I stop by the gallery. She also mentioned free food.

Art? Food? Oh man, it's like two of the best things ever.


So I go down there nice and hungry, but must stop myself from eating before I eat foods.
They had a beautiful arrangement of constructed books into a neat art form. I forget the specific name, but some were folded in a manner that if you compressed them, an image was formed to resemble something the passage was talking about (a space shuttle, an old biplane, etc.).

So I liked the work, but it wasn't all that exciting.
UNTIL I ran into this lovely comic book.

Comic book? Oh dang, I want in on this action.
If you cannot fathom why I'd be this excited, then YOU'RE CRAZY.

But anyways, so this student took these old 1950's cartoons and rewrite them about the cliche love stories about men and women. Even changed the advertisements! It was called something simple, like 'Love and Romance', along that line.

I couldn't even fathom where they'd come up with that idea! It's pretty hilarious.
I mean, I bet if I tried to google an image for you, it would never be able to show...

Oh. Wait.

Never mind.

Oh well, I'm not one to judge.

Anyway, the art gallery was small, but lovely.

VIDEO DOWNLOADING...15%

Okay, so I have a start-up video.

I made a silly intro, but I plan on making a serious one to start everyone off.

I will be blending both drawings and real life. By that, I mean I'm going to abuse my ability to trace images.

Whoops. I wasn't supposed to admit that.

Also draw other things to make it silly and enjoyable despite some awful images.

I have one other undergraduate already interviewed, and plan on rounding up the rest of the necessary crew in due time. Don't ask me how I'm going to draw so many frames, but I'll do something to hopefully look better than what I have now. My good friend Mike somewhere in the INQ room plans on having me talk to a few older students in hopes we can interview them. Go teamwork!

VIDEO TIME, GO!

Did you like it?

Tell me you liked it.

:(

Think, Think, Think...

Alright, so now it's time to do away with the pretty pictures for a blog. Time for some serious thinking.

As serious as I can get, anyway.

Critical thinking, it's the concept we've got two classes trying to ensure we have a basic grasp of it. Now, what is it? Really, it's a huge idea that is used by everyone, everyday. When we need to figure out a problem, we got about a thinking process.

"Uh oh, is Stacy flirting with Hernaldo?"
"Oh, that hussy. I'm going to punch her out."

Uh oh, trouble is brewing over here. What can be done? I think Nancy needs to go through a more logical thought process in order to decide how to deal with Stacy being a total bitch. That's where critical thinking comes in!

In an article by Yi-Chun Hong, these everyday problems are given the definition of "design problems", and gives three "dimensions" to them. Nancy's thinking is listed as a "solution-driven approach".

 "The aim of the designers who are rooted in the solution-driven approach is to achieve a satisfactory solution,

not an optimized one."

Now, punching out another human being isn't an ideal solution, but it is a solution. Also hilarious.

This is only one process to connect with critical thinking.
In The Ethical Practice of Critical Thinking, Martin Fowler makes a valid point about thinking: "In real life, premises aren't pre-labeled as 'true' or 'false' as they are in critical thinking exercises. These practices of discovering and confirming are partially about figuring out whom and what to trust, and under what conditions. It's a social quest." He's right, to me anyway. Critical thinking, in our everyday lives is up to us to decide. We can make tons of attempts at solving something, and we can either stop trying or find the ideal situation.


Or again, punch someone out. You didn't hear it from me.
Also, I lied about being serious. Oops.

Sports Times is the Best Time (Well not really) [#5]

So, I attended the football game against UNH.

I was reluctant to go, but I wasn't prepared to do anything else for my weekend blog. 

So I go, I watch the game with my buddy, and we watched it for a bit. Not much else to say, it was football.

It slowly turned into this:

I would have posted a real picture, but my friend has a really old phone that doesn't know what internet is, and my phone knows what the internet is but is reluctant to try it out. By reluctant, I mean it just sits there and hates me and wishes it wasn't with me.

The final score was UNH 59, SCSU 38. Not too bad of a loss, but ah well. I'm pretty indifferent to sports.

I don't know why I did this.

I'M STRESSING.

Okay, so I am really tempted, but I feel like this would be the worst thing I have ever written for school ever. So, I think I'm going to write about something a little more tame.

Music.

Music is pretty chill. Sometimes.

It effects all sorts of people in all sorts of ways. When it comes to stress, I use it to find some tranquility from all the yelling in my head. It happens more often than it should, so I've had many different genres to try out and see what works.

What Are Friends For - Reel Big Fish

Reel Big Fish is one of my favorite bands of all time, and it's a popular Ska band. For those who don't know, Ska is a form of punk with big brass bands to go along with it. They've got some great songs, and I put one up above because I care. It's not a very 'chill' band, but it certainly knows how to calm me down.

Now, this song. Sweet lord, this song. Now, truth be told I'm not sure if this is the right mix, but this song can make me relax in an instant. If you're ever stressing, come back here and listen to this for a while. That saxophone takes me to a place I cannot describe.

Would I ever steer you wrong? Probably, but never on purpose.

So I won't stretch the blog with tons of songs that I like, so I'll leave the rest upto you.

Not a music person? Then I recommend something else entirely.

EDIT: I wrote some really short crap about sitting and doing nothing at all. That was bad. I must fix.

Try talking to yourself.
Now, I know that sounds crazy, but do it.

There is...peace, with discussing life with yourself. Whatever's on your mind, just say it. If you can't talk out loud, just have a conversation in your head. Think everything and anything out. You'd be surprised how much you can get done, and how much easier some things can seem when you take a step back to evaluate to yourself.

Sure, you could talk to other people, but perhaps you want to know how to solve it from only your perspective. It's funny, you can actually accomplish so much if you put your mind to it.

Back to hours of being on the internet then!

What A Fine Day to Get Better. Or Not.

With all these busy schedules and such, when can we fit in time to be sick???

What?

We can get sick ALL THE TIME anyway?

That's bogus. Like, super-bogus...who even says bogus anymore.

So we need to work on staying healthy, right?

Hopefully you say yes. To yourself. Not out loud, this is just a blog and I can't hear you.

SO LET'S WORK ON THEM STRATEGIES:

NUMBER ONE: EAT BETTER OKAY

So now that we have no one to tell us to eat our vegetables, you must be like "Fuck you vegetables, I'm going to eat worse things!" This breaks vegetable's heart, and now you might go down a road you'll regret later. Now I know I'll never follow this, as you'll see me come into class with some form of snack and that is my lunch. Don't do what I do, I'm a bad role model. Seriously. 

Try to eat at Conn Hall and go for the nicer foods! Make your own food from scratch! You can go buy from a market or whatever is nearby. Make a friend who can cook create better meals! Get that food pyramid in proper order! Or...just fill it with bacon, that's okay too. Bacon alone isn't good, but who am I to question bacon.

NUMBER TWO: DON'T PARTY TOO HARD

Okay, so this next bit is all hypothetically speaking, of course. Say you're a freshman, and you have your parties and you do some things you aren't supposed to do. You know what I mean. I know what you do.

Okay, no, I have NO idea what happens at college parties.

Seriously though, if you find yourself pulling all-nighters with your friends or (hypothetically speaking of course) getting really drunk that night and having a hangover the day of an exam, then you need to slow it down. Even if you dance all night and sleep the next day, that's not a healthy sleeping schedule. Try to have small portions of fun. I know it's hard, but it will make you less likely to feel like total shit.

NUMBER THREE: GO TO THE GYM OR SOMETHING

What better way to keep your body healthy by keeping your body fit! Head down to your local fitness center and get your muscles or whatever you've got moving! Make it a routine, it's essential to being totally healthy. A weekly schedule of exercise can really make a difference in your life.

However...it's not for everyone.

Oh dude, are those sweat marks? Gross, get out of here.