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.

Pump Up The Radio, Son! (#6)

Now time to get to drawing radio-related humor!

Wait...

I cannot find my tablet pen, and due to my absent-mindedness, I am out of time to find it.

So, I'm using my tablet's mouse. I hate it.

To add to my foolishness, I had written down 5 show times, and I've lost that as well.

(The moral of this post: Never clean your work area. Ever. I don't care if you've got ants everywhere, name them and BAM, instant pets.)

Anyway, back to the radio station. I have mentioned before that I am interested in joining in on the group and having my own times, but that's for later. The names of stations only went by the people's names, so even if I had the times I know nothing about what I'm going to listen to. Except one guy who has his own 'NEWS' time-frame for an hour. I've been listening since about 10:30pm, and now it's...11:30pm. While procrastination has gotten me again, the radio station is not too bad.

The first song I hear is The Rolling Stones, so I was thinking "alright, I recognize them. Good stuff." As time went on, I did not recognize anyone. It was mainly different forms of classic rock for a couple songs, then this awesome song that sounds like it's out from the era of Dean Martin, Sinatra, etc. I looked up the lyrics to discover it was Buddy Holly. Now I know who Weezer's been talking about.

Eventually, it turned into a bit of rap. I don't MIND rap, but it's probably one of the genres I listen to the least. So, I recognize this girl's chorus part, and she's the one yelling NEW YORK, NEW YOOOORRK. 

I know, I'm the best at explaining songs.

This other guy with her, though, goes off calling himself the Sinatra of his time. I proceeded to hate the song and waited patiently for it to end.

Despite my personal pouting, this station is pretty great. Lots of different songs mashed into together, unique genres that come fast enough so that no one turns off the radio station if they don't like two or three songs in particular. I give it 3 1/2 happy faces out of 5.