Curious

         When I think of curiosity, I think about adventure and want for knowledge. I was walking down the street and just caught a glimpse of a truck with a design on the side and then it disappeared behind a building never to be seen again, and that made me want to know what was on the side of that truck more than needed. It was now just bothering me that I didn't know what it said. so I got the idea that maybe a bit of curiosity is really just us being bothered with the idea of not knowing something. Just call me Mr. Brilliant.

        I then wanted to think of a way to show this. I came up with a very simple concept to present this. I took a box and slit a hole in the side so you could barely see in it. I then put an item in it to where you would only see a little bit of it at a time. Now all the user has to do is try to figure of what the item is. the thing is, the thing in the box is a mirror. so in reality you are looking at yourself and trying to figure out what it is. And hopefully no one will see this before class so they don't know its a mirror. I hope you all like the idea.

Outdoor Talk

        Last week in class we took the advantage of the weather and had class outside. It was great to do that for once. being a media student and having a full time job its hard to find time to just sit outside and enjoy it.

      When we were all sitting in the circle and going over our projects, someone in class didn't do their project and he was honest about it. I was surprised he was that up front about it and that we had a meaningful discussion about it. I think many people took something away from that small chat and that is what stood out to me.   

       I got to thinking and I wondered  how many thoughts and ideas came from someone not doing something or what hasn't happened because of someone not doing something. Like this post for instance, had he not said anything I wouldn't be typing this and would be typing about something else in class or not be working on homework at all. Who knows, maybe because of this my life is being saved because I am not driving to McDonald's right now and maybe I could have been killed on the way there in a strange accident. But that's getting very dramatic high school teenager on you.  Any who, our history could be completely different just over this simple idea.

       The funny thing is that the ideas or thoughts may not have been intentional. I'm sure he didn't expect to have a discussion about it and I'm sure that's the last thing he wanted out of it. It just makes you think about how much in our lives is changed over the simplest decisions.

       I think that I could use this sort of information in my creative thinking. I think sometimes ideas are created by being at the right place at the right time. It also depends on how aware you are at the moment and what you are thinking. Like for instance, there could be a battle between a mouse and a rat named Leon behind me, I'm in the right place and right time but since I'm looking at my computer screen and not behind me, I would be missing out on precious ideas. So I think I will try to be aware of my surroundings more and more to help break my creative thinking.

Altered Book

For my altered book I went with a old geography book I found at half price books. I didn't have any old books myself to take apart so I wet the used route.

 One thing I love about geography is learning about it be reading. So instead I love to learn about it while being in it. I took ideas I had as made my book into a nature adventure all on its own. Throughout the book here are things to find and see. It is also a type of field guide with "places I've been." I am really happy with it and learned the hard way how to carve a book as well as many others in class I'm sure.

The last section of the book is just a place I put some things I found on my adventure and what I wanted to remember. I hope everyone enjoys it as well.

Short classes

In class last week we didn't stay long. The main thing I learned was that we all need to be more open and talkative with each other. I know I am a person who is ok with talking in front of people but I would rather be doing it on a stage. I am a musical person who has had a few leads and love being center stage. I know I need to get over that fear.  I think that's all I really had to say with a short class comes a short takeaway.

Class Takeaway.

First off. I would love to say how much I try to be creative when thinking of a title for these things but I get so frustrated I just give up and use a lame simple one.

        Last class the thing that stood out to me was when we were watching the video and how the man was talking about books going digital and how he still reads actual books. I was thinking about it and I feel the same way. I have an ipad and even though it is very convenient to read off one, I still miss the texture and smell of an actual book. I am a very digital aged person but I still cant let some old things go. I still write checks to pay my bills. I can stand the idea of them being taken out from my account automatically. I think that it is strange for that to be available. Its like its my money and I will pay you if I feel like it. Don't force it out of me. I think it is a robot taking a bit of control in my life and I don't like that. Unless this robot is going to make the money for me, then it wont be spending it for me.

       I also just realized I have never fully thought that out until now. I have always had the basic thought in my head but never went into depth with it. See this class does work! :)

       I think that we need to keep technology going as well as keep the old traditions alive. I know there will always be the real book readers who buy physical books but I think that we will lose a spark in reading if we take away the pages.

      

My Book.

       I am trying to find out what to do with my book and stil lam yet to narrow it down so I dont have any updates on the work on it. but so far here are my findings on the reading of the book.

Take the book (or object you end up using) for your altered book and open it to page 6. Close your eyes and put your finger on the page somewhere.

·  What did you find?   I found the word Temperate.

·  If your finger landed on a paragraph, how many times does the letter P show up in that paragraph? 19 Times

·  If it landed on a picture, how many straight lines are in the picture?

·  If it landed on white space, what is the white space surrounding?

·  Can you imagine the white space as a sea and the other parts (words, pictures, etc.) as islands floating in white water or space?

Using your other senses, explain what the paper feels like.

·  Is it slick or rough? Slick    

·  What does the cover feel like? Rough

·  Can you feel the ink of the words if you close your eyes? very lightly

·  Do different colors feel different with your eyes closed?

·  What else can you discover about the paper? It is aged and yellowed

·  What about the cover? It has a texture of fabric and it has embossed lettering.

Without destroying the book, until it is time to alter it for the experiment, see if you can figure out how the book was constructed.

·  Is it stitched? Yes

·  Is it glued? Yes

·  Is there any cloth on this book or is it all paper? The cover is cloth like

·  Is it a hardback or paperback? Hardback

·  Does it have signatures? (Hint: you may need to look up what signatures are in the context of making books…) It has many

·  If it has signatures, how many pages are in each and how many signatures are there in the whole book? It is too worn to tell.

·  If it does not, look at the glue on the ends of the spine and discribe what you see.

Flip through the pages and look at the end papers.

·  Is there any writing in the book, other than the printing? It looks like someone underlined a lot in it.

·  If so, what does it say?

·  Why is it there?

·  Who wrote it?

·  If you do not know, then imagine who might have written it.

·  If there is no writing in the book then how does it make you feel to know you are the first person (possibly) to think about it? 

Examine the book more.

·  Are there any stains on the book? It has a few older stains

·  Are there any fingerprints? no

·  What do they look like?

·  How might they have happened?

Look at the pages of the book.

·  What is the color of the pages? I bet they are not really white. They are a cream and the edges yellowed.

·  How would you describe the color? Is it warm or cold? Bright or dull, etc. dull warm

·  What other visual things can you explore with the book? It holds maps I can explore!

Think about the history of this book.

·  Can you see any other evidence that someone else has handled this book? Much use was taken from this book

·  What are the edges of the pages like? Describe them. The edges are wavy and dull. They almost feel ike a birds feather.

·  Can you imagine what someone else might have been thinking as they read this book? The earth and dirt.

·  Do you think anyone else has used this book like you are right now instead of reading it? Only the book knows

Flip through the pages quickly.

·  Can you hear the sound? If so, describe it. It sounds like a bird is flying away from you.

·  If not, what is your experience like?

·  Can you feel the breeze? yes

·  Can you move something with the wind generated from the book? My hair.

·  Could you use this book to win a game you created using the book's wind power? I’m sure I could.

Drop the book on the floor.

·  What did you experience? A soft thud and the sound of pages wrinkling.

·  Did you sense the vibrations the book made? Yes

·  Did you feel it in your feet? Yes

·  Take your shoes off. Now drop the book. Was there any difference?

Hold the book between your hands with one hand on each cover and the book closed. Close your eyes.

·  Is the book cold? Hold it like that for at least one minute. Yes

·  Now feel the cover. Can you feel the temperature change from where your hands were to where they were not? The is a difference.

·  Have you ever been aware of this before when you were holding a book to read it? Yes, while reading harry potter a few years back.

·  If your heat transfers in this situation and you noticed it because I asked you to, why do you think you have never noticed it before?

·  If you have noticed the temperature of a book you were holding before, describe why you noticed it. I laid the book down in my knees in the chair and felt a difference.

Smell the book.

·  What does the smell make you think of? Goodwill. Or the ‘70’s

·  If you can't think of anything, describe the smells you can sense. (Interesting fact: Did you know that I have friends [many librarians, actually] who choose their books partly based on how they smell? Honestly.) I smell must and earth.

I do not recommend tasting the book for health and safety issues… :-)

Now, finally, read the first page. If it is just pictures, read the story of the pictures.

·  What is the title of this book? Elementary Commercial Geography

·  Based on the first page, explain why you think the book was titled that.it talks about how earth makes everything and trading among farmers. I think it is just a basic guide to farming and land.

Rules... or as I call them, my sanity.

        I am a person who like rules, most of the time. I think that other people should follow and that I am the only exception. Like when it comes to driving. I think you need to do the speed limit and I should be allowed to speed past others to get away from others stupid driving skills.
        I have many rules that I live by that my grandpa set to help a person live the best they can. the rules are as follows as told by Tom Bolen,

 Rule number 1: Be the first one to the job site. (He owned his own construction company)

Rule number 2: Do it right the first time so you don't have to do it again later.

Rule number 3: Do work you wouldn't be ashamed to put your name next to. (His company was Tom Bolen Homes)

        He is no longer with us but I still live by these rules. They helped him become the successful man he came to be.

        When given this assignment I wasn't sure where to start and I have a feeling I am going to feel that with every other assignment in this class. I went through and tried to figure out which rule I wanted to break. I thought about it for the first week and then began to remember the rules my grandpa had told me. I am a person who hates to show anyone my work if I don't think it looks professional enough. (Rule number 3) So this is my hardest one to break so I thought it would be best to break this one. I opened Photoshop and just did everything I cringe at. I used a photo of my sister I took over the summer. I decided to just do everything that magazine editors use but in a parody way.


                                                                       Here is my result.
   

 

 

 

 

Here is the original photo.

 

 

                                           And because I couldn't help it.. here is the real version.

 

                                                                    Whew. I feel better.
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