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Here ya go, ya'll.



In other news, I bought a ukulele online. Yay for distractions!

Goals for Summer Quarter

There are a few specific things related to my design skills and abilities I would like to work on this summer...

Communicating about design...but in a verbal sense. Being able to discuss design and relate to someone why a design is successful or unsuccessful is almost as important as being able do visually communicate a design, especially in the professional world. I had the opportunity to practice this a little bit on my last co-op, but I think our group project in DesComm and also our Studio project will help with this.

Creating form with meaning beyond funtion. Much of my form decisions thus far have been functionally based. I would like to learn more about form from a sculptural, emotional standpoint.

Representing my thought visually. How do I present what occurs in my mind on paper? There is so much that goes into each project that it is hard to know what is important for others to see...and much of it is so abstract and metaphysical that it is difficult to represent.

sounds of summer-passion pit

when I think of last summer, I think of MGMT and M.I.A. I have a feeling when I think of this summer, I will think of Passion Pit.



even better, they are from boston! I love boston :)

goals for this quarter

As the beginning of summer quarter nears, I have a couple of things I would like to work on.....

1. I need to push my project and design further than I have before. I think the chair will be a good project to learn about aesthetics, emotional design, and function and is a project I can really get into. I always work hard at all of my projects, but I really want to step it up this quarter in terms of my work and the quality of the product I produce.

2. I need to get healthier and lose some weight. There is no excuse!! Every quarter I start out going to the gym at least a couple of times a week, but then end up getting consumed by school later in the quarter. Hopefully I can keep something up this quarter, if nothing else, maybe I can at least eat a little better.

bird on branch

bird on branch
Originally uploaded by art.crazed

Well, I am back in Cincy after spending a nice weekend in Boston with Mom...it is a lot hotter here than in Boston! (90 degrees today!) Yeesh. Anyways, I am actually pretty excited to start this quarter at school, the chair project should be pretty awesome...as long as we can do pretty much what we want! It will be nice to have a project that is more open to interpretation. I already have some ideas buzzing around in my head...

Rainy Day

Rainy Day
Originally uploaded by black*jj

Today is my last day at the First Years for this quarter...sad! I am coming back in the fall though, so it is all good.

My Boston journey is coming to an end, only a few more days! Mom comes in late tonight, and then we have a few days to have some fun before its time for a long drive back to Cincy.

Its been a wild ride, I am so happy that I got to come to Boston and have some great experiences! I have made a lot of new friends and have grown as an individual, I think.

Here's hoping that this summer is a good one!

Storming the Cape

What a wonderful weekend I had! Steve, Megan, Aaron, and I took an epic journey to Cape Cod, where much fun and adventure was to be had. Here is a brief chronicle of our adventures:

Day 1: In which I get sand in my Fig Newton and bike about 20 miles

The Cape Cod Adventure began with lunch on the beach...it was a little cold and overcast, but I think that worked to our benefit because the Cape wasn't super crowded as I had expected.
"Either my fig newton is crunchy, or it has sand in it."

After lunch, we rented some bikes in P-town and headed to the bike trail, where we ended up biking about 20 miles in a few hours...way more than I have ever biked before, I can tell you that...but it felt great! The scenery was beautiful and very diverse: beaches, sand dunes, and forest.

That night we went back to the beach, where we had a campfire, cooked hot dogs and smores, drank beer, and played truth or dare. I managed to ruin a hot dog and a brat in the sand with my terrible campfire cooking skills.



We stayed in a little place called the "Outermost Hostel," and due to it being towards the beginning of the season we got a little cabin all to ourselves. Not bad for 25 bucks!

Day 2: In which we bum at the beach and get sunburned

Our second day began with the beach. We had a good time enjoying the sun and playing frisbee, even though the water was a little cold to get in. We all were silly and got a little sunburned, though.

Air-ron goes for the catch

After the beach, we ate lunch in P-town and browsed the strip, which was quite interesting to say the least. Provincetown is famous for its diversity and colorful inhabitants and shops.

Which brought us to the end of our mini vacation, and almost to the end of the quarter!! How quickly it has flown by! I feel so fortunate to have had the experiences I have had here in Boston, and I am so happy that I had a great group of people to hang out with. Thanks, guys!

Lampadaires de Paris

Lampadaires de Paris
Originally uploaded by Ωméga 1

so simple, so cute.

happy friday everyone! headed to the cape tomorrow, should be fun! hopefully the weather turns around, it is rather dreary today....

while we are on the subject of the brain...

Something has been on my mind lately:

Everyone has different tastes, whether it be in food, music, art, books....you name it. How is it that we all like such different things?

For example, let's think about music. Why do I gravitate towards indie/alternative, while others like country, or hip hop, etc?

I know that part of this is environmentally based: how we grow up, what we are exposed to, what our friends like. But how much of preference is based on environment and upbringing? Is there a scientific aspect to it? Is there something about the brain that will make one person like rock and another like rap?

Another thing that got me thinking about this was the fact that I didn't like UP as much as most people I know who saw it (except for Steve). Now anyone who knows me knows I love kids stuff, and Pixar, and silly things. But UP was too silly, too ridiculous for even me. Why did I not like the movie as much as so many other people did?

Interesting things to ponder, and I could go on all night about it, but now it is time to read.

More music for you: M. Ward: Never Had Nobody Like You

the brain: hidden motives

I was excited to see that episodes of Scientific American Frontiers with Alan Alda are currently on Hulu.com. In this episode about the hidden motives of the brain, Alan takes an interesting test where he is shown a variety of products, ranging from what many consider "cool" and "not cool." When comparing the brain's response to these images to a survey that Alan later fills out about what he thinks of each product, it is determined that Alan reacts negatively to things he feels are not cool, with not much brain activity happening when he looks at a cool object. Other people tested are the other way around: their brain activity increases when they see something they think is cool, and stays fairly normal when they see something uncool.

I wonder where most designers fit in? Maybe we are a combination of both. If you have a few minutes to spare, I reccommend watching at least the first segment of this video...very interesting and relevant to design.