December 2007
5 posts
technology
The technology we have here at marist in just about every classroom, if not every one, is really amazing. I was used to high school where we might or might not have an overhead projector. I’m getting really spoiled, which isn’t good since I want to be a teacher. I’m going to have to work aroudn major limitations in terms of technology, especially if I work in an urban school...
selfishness
Why is selfishness designated as evil? Sure, I have some altruistic sentiments, but I need to make sure my own needs and even wants are filled before I can cater to the wants and needs of others. Why is it the social norm and aspiration to disregard your self and put others’ happiness before your own? I know I do this, often agreeing with what my friends want to do rather than asserting...
random
I wonder how many whiteboards were ruined in the process of perfecting the dry erase marker? Why can’t they get rid of the smell that gets you high? Who decided which colors were to be the standard ones while others just a few shades away from the “standard” are considered unusual and given names like “neon” or “pastel”? Who invented the dry erase...
observation
It is amazing the extent to which people can ignore their surroundings. The rapidity of the seasons changing is one example. I felt oblivious, looking at the ground beneath my feet as I walked to and from class every day. If I noticed anything, it was that there were more and more leaves crunching underfoot. When finally I looked around campus, actually observing rather than letting my eyes...
Plan for Final Project
I plan to do my final project on Lefebvre’s dialectics of everyday life, which talk about how daily life is composed of commodities. Therefore, I will construct a life from a catalog. Once I find my catalog, I am going to cut out pictures, glue them to a posterboard and write out a description of the life of my constructed individual.
November 2007
1 post
Weathermap of Feeling
To create my “Weathermap of Feeling” I collected information twice every day for two weeks. I searched for happy and sad in Google News and Google blogs, I recorded the weather, and I jotted down my current feelings. At first glance, even organized in Flash under buttons for each day, the amount of information is staggering and doesn’t appear to follow a particular pattern. ...
October 2007
6 posts
Midterm Grades
A- !! I can live with that, even though it’s my lowest midterm grade (I know, I’m such a nerd). I need to get it up to an A by the end of the semester to preserve my 4.0 GPA. If this class blows it (if I get a 3.9 or something) I won’t be too happy…
“Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and...”
– Terry Pratchett
Midterm Project
The project was really annoying. I would have done the arcades project with second life, but for the fact that I couldn’t get the video recording thing to work. That may have been a result of my incompetence with computers in general and unfamiliar programs specifically. So, i was stuck with doing flash, which I really suck at. I worked really hard to get a video that really sucks, and I...
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not...”
– Albert Einstein
chapter 5
I really didn’t understand this chapter. Highmore kept throwing names out that I didn’t know anything about. I understood the trash concept when we mentioned it in class, but in the book it kind of went over my head. Or something.
September 2007
25 posts
Audit of Personal Items
A Walk in Poughkeepsie, Main Street 12:41-12:56 PM...
The weather is sunny, warm and breezy. The buildings are all connected, typical for a downtown area. I notice a building that stands out because its facade is tan with arches for windows and the doorway. It looks as if it belongs in a Spanish or Mexican village, rather than here on Main Street in Poughkeepsie. There is moderate traffic. There is a building on my right with old looking...
Arrogance?
I hope this doesn’t sound too arrogant, but I really look forward to the day when my group members in one of my classes realize that I generally know what I’m talking about, at least in terms of the assignments for the class. At the moment they don’t trust my judgment and hold to their answers, even after I back up my (correct) answer with additional reasoning and explanation. ...
Projects
I would really like to do at least one of our projects on movies, maybe the everyday in a couple movies of our choice (from a pool that you select ahead of time or something). The only time I wasn’t bored in class today (9/19) was when we watched the clip of Children of Men. At other times, no matter how hard I try to stay focused, my ears kept listening but my brain doesn’t register...
Question...
What does Art of Culture have to do with fine arts? I don’t understand how this class counts for fine arts core. Not that I’m complaining and want to take a boring art history course. I guess I’m saying I’d rather be vaguely confused by all the ambiguity of this course than bored to death by memorizing random pieces of art, artists and dates.
Interests
Fencing I started last year, at Marist. It’s great exercise and it’s lots of fun as well as a great stress release to be given permission to beat the s*** out of people with swords. In case you’re wondering why I’m always quiet in Art of Culture, it’s mostly because I just came from fencing :) Reading/Movies I’ve always loved reading for fun. I like to...
“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”
– Dorothy Parker
Textbook
It really took me forever to get through the first two chapters of Everyday Life and Cultural Theory. I wish the author wrote in a more down to earth style. I feel like his lofty diction left me behind around page four. I hope the other chapters are better, but I really doubt it. Still, I’ll do my best with it and try to get the reading out of the way as soon as I can.
