Last Thoughts

I haven't written a blog post in a while, and this is not because I did not want to, or had nothing to say, it was because I became caught up in so many other things regarding final projects and work and really just life that I just didn't have the time when I remembered or had access to a computer. I truly wish this class didn't have to end and ironically, I rarely say this. Most often I can't wait for my courses to end so I can move on. I feel connected, even if only in a small way to everyone in the course because of the conversations and moments we all shared over the semester. I enjoyed getting to know Beth and admire her honesty and courage every day.

For my final project I worked with Taylor and together we wrote "Under the Influence." The song began with the title "Trekno," but we changed it to its existing title because our lyrics are under the influence of our fellow classmates. Originally we were just going to write the lyrics together, but when we actually started talking about it, we realized that was plain and same 'ol same 'ol. Next we thought we would just randomly choose words somehow to make up our lyrics, but even that didn't seem to fit the criteria. Finally, we both agreed that incorporating our classmates' words from their blogs as our lyrics would be perfect because we would be hiding them in our song essentially. The only way they would ever know is if we told them so. And that's how the lyrics came about; we went through each person's blog and chose a sentence or statement we felt was profound or significant. I sang the lyrics we agreed on and Taylor composed the instrumentals prior to recording the vocals. When writing the lyrics, the amount of lines fit perfectly and ended right where we needed them to. I really am proud of our results. I think Taylor composed a beautiful song, so right off the bat I think we were headed in the right direction. I really felt the inspiration and desire in this as well, so that could have something to do with why I feel it was a success. So, here are the lyrics! Thank you all for your contribution to our project :)

"Young again, under the influence (Chris)
Go outside, there's a world awaiting (Thomas)
Was I just in an octopus garden? (Jacob)
I am pleased with just being (Justin)
Identity is a series of instances or behaviors that shape us, define us. (Katherine)
Time to get real, the beginning of fear (Kyle)
The main thing that inspires me is courage (Will)
Honestly for once, I don't have a lot to say (Ross)
Ask your inner self, I can't choose what's right and wrong (Sean)
Rain makes me lethargic (John)
Nobody knows who the hell they are (Christina)
No symbolic metaphoric bullshit, just a statue to my god of laziness (Dylan)
This shit is genious (Zach)
Speaking of pickles (Lloyd)
I couldn't help but think about the secrets I keep (Julia)
I have come to the end of me (Ben)
The whole time I was watching I was holding back tears (Joe)
I have always held it close to my heart (Travis)
I'm trying to pull it all together (Bill)
I finally have one, a new place to start (Dara)
Time, it's a gift (Kara)

Undertheinfluence by goodnightlights

Inspiration-in this moment

At this moment, I am aware of the whirring of the fan in the computer modem and the cars passing on the wet 82nd St. pavement because it has rained. My fingers are the loudest, pounding the keys quickly as I type these words. I receive a text message, and my cell phone beeps five times in a row. When I turn or move slightly, my nylon vest has something to say. The wind picked up enough for me to notice just a second ago. I scratch my head for a moment, it's so much louder than it should be. And this is quiet...

Inspiration

Many things are inspiring to me. The exhibit "Notes to Nonself" was very inspiring because there were so many positive ideas, phrases and quotes included in the work. Photos are can also be very inspiring to me, such as this one. It inspires me to find views like this to photograph. I found this picture in 2009 on a blog called Le Love. All of the author's entries are about love in one way or another and I enjoy reading her posts. Another Blog I love reading is The -Ed Chronicles. In fact everytime I read her posts, I feel enlightened or inspired by her attitude and approach on life. Most of the photos she posts for her entries are also inspiring. Here are the links to both blogs in hopes you may find something inspiring from them.
http://the-ed-chronicles.blogspot.com/
http://leloveimage.blogspot.com/

Response 11/15

I really loved Kara's project. It was extremely creative and in my opinion original. It was interesting to see what everyone came up with for their projects and there were a bunch of different approaches taken. I would like to elaborate on my project because what I created to me is only the beginning of what it could turn in to. I would also like to read more of Dante, which Beth suggested. In high school, we studied a small portion of his literature, and I remember being fascinated with it then and wanting more. I also liked the song "Forgiven" played in class.

Who the Hell Do I Think I am?

The exhibit "Notes to Nonself" was very positive and inspiring to me, especially from the standpoint of love. One quote that stood out to me was "I will approach with an open heart." Currently I am in a position where I think this advice, to approach with an open heart, will be beneficial to me even if my feelings may be out in the open. A significant part of my identity is that I am a very loving and compassionate person. I often relate my emotions to most things because they tend to effect me and influence me so strongly. I believe very strongly in love and feel it is a necessity of life. It is a wonderful feeling to be loved.

Reaction 11/8

I did not attend class mainly because I recently got a cold. I honestly wish I would have gone anyway because I found out that I missed a field trip to Herron to see the exhibit on display. This was the first session of Beth's I did not go to and it was disappointing because I always look forward to attending. Because I missed the exhibit and because I had not actually ever been inside Herron, I decided I'd go see it on my own today to see what I missed and I'm so glad I did. I was so inspired by all of the profound things I read throughout the exhibit. I loved that it was so engaging and positive. It was also amazing to think about all of the collaborating the two artists did being so far apart yet creating their work of art. I definitely plan on visiting before it is over.

Bliss

I didn't expect this assignment to end up where it did, but was pleasntly surprised with the outcome of my time spent having fun. At first I thought of things that require money, like seeing a movie, or going shopping, but lately money has been tight because of bills so I had to look elsewhere. Finally, Taylor suggested we go to his house and work on some music. This was the first time we had really "collaborated" so I didn't know where it would go. He had told me he was working on some songs he created in Logic, and ended up playing one for me. It has a sort of techno/electronic vibe. I listened to it and really liked it so I suggested I play around with some vocals. I went in his sound booth and improvised about a minute of synchronous humming. When I listened to the two together, I really liked it. It got me really excited to actually complete the song with lyrics as well and gave me the idea to create a song for my final project. I've mentioned before that music is my passion, and to get something going doing vocals for this music genre would absolutely be fulfilling a dream of mine.

reaction 11/1

I honestly loved the fact that Beth assigned a skip day, especially with the purpose of doing something fun, but at first I was a bit surprised. I can't say I've ever been given an assignment like it. It took me a while to figure out what it was that I wanted to do. Money was definitely a factor because lately I've been broke, so I had to think of something inexpensive, but fun and that was a little hard to do. I think most students are so commonly weighed down with homework, jobs, and other responsibilities that sometimes fun takes a back seat to all of these things. I honestly did something very worthwhile and fun in my opinion so I feel that I truly benefited from the assignment. Not to mention, I got a pretty good idea for my final project after my activity Monday.

What is it

I think the point of the exercise in class last week was to let our imaginations wonder. Because we were in a group, there was more creativity generated. It seems there could be a number of possibilities as to what it actually was, but I think the idea was to see how out there and creative the assumptions could get.

Reaction to 10/25

I was very impressed with Dillon's creation for our recent assignment. I've always admired those that can improve photos using certain techniques. I'd like to learn how to do this myself. I liked that he used a photo depicting IUPUI and of course, the title of our class. In fact everyone who presented their assignment did a nice job being creative. I'd really like to incorporate more creativity into my projects. For the 'what is important to you' assignment, I made a poster of the things I had also mentioned on my blog that were important to me, but did not share it due to the class discussion on religion. I'm going to post a picture of it at least so that Beth can see what I did. Class became especially interesting at the end when she opened a package that seemed to contain someone's mail. I think it may be something like a gag gift, but I'm still not really sure. I did not participate in class today, but my mind was occupied with many thoughts.

Open Assignment

To be honest, I was not sure where to start for ideas on this assignment. Then, after remembering a friend's suggestion to go feed a homeless person with her, I realized that's what I wanted to do. I asked Taylor to accompany me downtown, where we parked and began our search for a likely candidate to buy lunch for. Originally I thought we would just pick up a $5 footlong from Subway and give it away to someone deserving, but then I realized that may seem shady. Instead we figured we'd find a restaurant somewhere near our person. We parked just off of the circle on Meridian. It took us less than five minutes to find our guy. He was sitting on the Northeast corner of Meridian and Washington St. I walked up to him, said hello, and asked if we could buy him lunch. He seemed surprised, but said sure. There happens to be a Jimmy Johns right there as well as a Qdoba so I asked which he would prefer. He said Qdoba. Then I asked him what he wanted from there and his response was "What do they have?" I know I've seen this guy sitting in the same spot before, maybe even more than once. I recognized him by a little Scooby Doo stuffed animal he had sitting near him. I figured he was familiar with the chain, but he did not know what Qdoba serves...really? I thought that was kind of sad. This either means no one else has ever offered him food from there, he's never eaten there with money he did have, or just forgot maybe? After catching him up on what kind of food they have, he said he would take a beef burrito but no sour cream or lettuce. I asked if he wanted a drink, but said no and pointed to his water bottle. Taylor and I went and ordered his food and took it back to him. Along with the bagged burrito, I handed him $3. He said thank you and smiled. He still seemed as if this might be too good to be true. Finally we asked his name; it was Anthony. We then introduced ourselves. I wanted to get a picture, but mostly felt it was rude and I did not want to ruin the gesture by labeling the fact that we were doing it for a project. We told him to have a nice day and he wished us the same. On the way back to the car, I felt like a million bucks and was hopeful that maybe someone noticed our act enough to pay it forward, or so to speak. I did notice that two women in a white car watched us as we handed Anthony the bag and the cash. It was really rewarding to do something selfless for someone less fortunate than I. I honestly hope it made his day and warmed his heart.

Response 10/11

I am actually pleasantly surprised things didn't get out of hand with our discussion on religion. I thought that in general everyone was respectful and the conversation was productive. Clearly there are many different views, just within the people that showed up. It was interesting when Beth pointed out that as a class we could be considered a cult; hadn't thought of it that way. To be truly honest I enjoy that we have established a community environment, especially more so than any other class I'm currently taking. I really do look forward to coming to class every week because I always leave feeling fulfilled in some way; I can't always explain why, it just happens. Maybe it has to do with this aspect. And I was going to mention this during class, but I think one of the main reasons this particular course is a success is because Beth teaches it and people love her. I personally love that she encourages openess regardless the issue really. Never have I had a professor that is so accepting and open. Today I learned a bit about Paganism which I previously knew very little about. I thought the film took a very interesting view point too, considering this country was founded on religion. I could not stay for the whole thing, but I have netflix too, so I can rent it and finish it.

What really is Important?

Honestly, there are so many things that are important to me. Being able to appreciate small things is one of them. I suppose for this assignment, I'll only choose a few to explain however. For one, having honest, loving, positive relationships would definitely be one thing that is very important. I can't stand having drama within relationships that is completely uneccessary; this could very well be why I don't have as many girl friends as I do guy friends, they tend to be less dramatic. Most of the girls I am friends with have been long established. I also highly value the relationships with my family. I am extremely close with my mother's side, my mom and dad, and my little sister. When she and I are in a fight, my whole world is screwed up because she's the one person I feel I can be completely honest with no matter what and we have so much in common because we are family, we get eachother. It is important to feel loved. Actually, I guess love might be another aspect. I can't imagine my life without at least one person who loved me. And for that matter, I can't imagine not loving anyone. I think I gain just as much from loving someone as they may from me loving them. I thought I had found the love of my life, whom I thought I was going to marry, but it ended very hurtfully. I don't know that it still isn't meant to be; I could just not be over him yet and not found that person. Regardless, a loving relationship to share things with is important when the person is right. And not to forget my baby kitty, Chevy. Though she is not a person, I feel loved by her everyday and it is a wonderful companionship.
Because of who I am, I also consider success very important. I have worked pretty hard to be where I am and can say that I am proud of my accomplishments. Having the ambition also helped to get where I am. I think that with most everything truly important in life it is important to act with conviction and sentiment. (If you haven't guessed by now, I am an emotionally invested person.) If you don't put your heart into the things that require it most and just half ass, you won't get as much out of your experience. I also try very hard to appreciate everything I have because I am so very blessed and being a good person is also important.
And finally, music. Music although cliche, defines me. I love the way it makes me feel, the way it helps me through some things, and the way it enhances relationships and experiences. When I hear something I think sounds good, I am happy; sometimes it is euphoric. Music helps me express things that sometimes I don't have the words to say. And nothing makes me happier than discovering a wonderful new song.

Response to 10/4

I was anxious to see the rest of the experiment presentations today since there were so many that still had to go. I enjoyed the humor in Travis' blindfolded experiment. The most significant moment for me today was Justin's speech. It took a lot for him to stand up to us and face himself and his fear. I felt so much compassion and empathy towards him, especially when he became emotional. At that point, although awkward I just wanted to give him a hug. I also felt that him being open to being emotional in front of such a large group really set him apart as a man. I don't think it is wrong for men to express their emotions, but many do in our society. Basically the fact that he exposed himself to us was very compelling to me. If I were in his position I would have been terrified. I also enjoyed the brief intro we had with respect to religion and look forward to see where next week's class goes on the topic.

Fear Experiment

Often anticipation can induce fear. In scary movies, music can often trigger the anticipation of something scary happening. The purpose for this assignment was to produce fear in an experiment demonstrated in class. For my experiment, I decided to take three unsuspecting volunteers from the class and have them open a container of biscuits. There were a few reasons I chose this as my experiment. First, I did not think anyone else would perform this experiment, so it would be original. Second, I myself hate opening them because of the anticipation of when the container pops. Ever since I can remember I've hated opening them and when possible I have someone else do it. If I have to open it, I usually jump when it pops, therefore I thought there would likely be at least one other person that would too.
I chose three male volunteers to open the containers. I had each one do it separately because I thought the experiment would produce better results if the volunteers were not aware of their task until the very moment they had to do it. Not one of my three male volunteers jumped when the containers popped (Will, Lloyd, and Travis.) However, I jumped at least once, Beth jumped, and another female classmate, Julia jumped twice which I saw out of my peripheral. My second volunteer, Travis also told me that he used to jump when opening them, but no longer does.
My prediction turned out to be correct, however not in the way that I expected. None of my volunteers jumped which surprised me, but three people present did. I found these results to be interesting because Beth pointed out after my experiment that each person who jumped was female. This could likely be because women generally tend to be scared easier than men.
If I could do my experiment differently, I would have chosen all female volunteers. However, I did not know this prior to the experiment. I definitely think if I would have chosen all females to begin with, I would have gotten better results, especially considering the only people who reacted to my experiment were female. Another possibility to enhance my experiment would be to either heat or freeze the container in order to create a more profound "pop" of the container.

Class Response 9/27

I thought today, although not quite organized, was a lot of fun and super silly. I am enjoying this class more and more, which I wasn't sure was possible. Like I've mentioned, I really appreciate the freedom you give us to do whatever, Beth. Clearly the stories in class signify this. I was glad I not only got to present my experiment, but I was ready and not nervously waiting in anticipation as I usually am with standing in front of a large group of people. It is refreshing to be at such a level of comfort within a class. I've only really felt the same in one other class, P350 with Lewis. I can't wait to see the rest of the projects next week!

Expected Reaction of Experiment

I think at least one person will jump or be startled from my experiment, if not be slightly hesitant to perform the task.

Response to 9/20

I am an animal lover, so of course I enjoyed that you allowed Jake to bring in Gizmo. Although distracting, he was a wonderful addition to our class and oh-so-adorable. I really enjoyed the conversation we had about fear as people shared their personal fears and experiences with fear. If a spider that huge ever let himself down that close in front of ME, I'd certainly wreck. In fact I just might have a nervous break-down because I hate them. I myself am not deathly afraid of open water, but it makes me uneasy because I've almost drowned before. I was nine at a friend's lakehouse and we were kneeboarding. Somehow I got flipped upsidedown and the board was pushing my head down into the water and I could not manage to flip myself back over so that I could take a breath. Most of the people that shared their inventions of a new sense had thought them out well. It was interesting to see what people came up with because when the assignment was first presented, I was at a loss as to what sense I could create that wasn't too much like the five we already posess.

I Sense A Change

Although most people in general have instincts, and they say in particular that women tend to have certain instincts, my idea of an additional sense would be the actual sense of instinct. In fact I think all of the five current senses could essentially support this sense or pinpoint it, but it would be a separate sense. At appropriate times, it would be helpful if you could heighten this sense, perhaps moments when you must make a big decision or possibly when you sense danger. I thought maybe even getting goosebumps or your hair standing up could be two things that could trigger your sense of instinct, which are characteristics belonging to the sense of touch. Another trigger could be confusion or indecisiveness. These triggers could ultimately trip the main reaction, which could be an electrical current from your skin to your brain or just within your brain that you would control involuntarily, like breathing depending on the degree of instinct necessary for the situation.

Re-experiencing Walking Backwards

Walking backwards in a way makes you utilize your other senses a bit more because your eyes can only help you so much. You can see what you are passing, but not what you are approaching. Depending on your location, it can be exciting, annoying, or make you uneasy. When I experimented with it, I was mainly worried about running into someone or something. I practiced around campus, of course not near stairs as directed.

Inspiration: At a Park

I chose to visit a park for this assignment, Broad Ripple Park to be specific. While there I noticed the shelter nearby where I set up my blanket. Generally from my previous experiences there, people use the picnic tables for reunions, parties, and just basically to meet. Occasionally there is live music played on a stage under the shelter. I've seen a few jazz performances myself. I thought it would be interesting to add a giant HD 3D screen that could be lowered over one of the sides of the shelter. Park patrons could use it for video gaming, possibly Wii, concerts (electronic ones would be appropriate for the 3D aspect), or anything related.

Reaction to AVL

I was utterly amazed after touring the AVL lab. I expected to see neat things, but really had no idea our school was so advanced technologically. The most amazing thing for me was the giant 3D submersive game. I could have played it for hours, although I'm sure I would have had an awful headache afterward. It's crazy how so many things are available and becoming available in 3D. The giant computer screen was also awesome.What is even cooler about all of the things we got to see is that most of them are available to us as IUPUI students as long as it relates to a class or project. I am very much looking forward to my next visit, although I am unsure of when it may be. Most likely during this semester, however. Thanks, Beth for taking us to see such amazing things!

Eying the Egg

Figuring out exactly what I wanted to do with the egg definitely challenged me. I didn't want to feel I was doing something everyone else had already done or would do. I thought and thought and came up with an idea I felt wasn't the best I could think of, but was somewhat creative. I decided I'd tape the egg to the bottom of my frisbee and see how a game with a friend might go. To my surprise, the egg didn't really have a negative effect on the frisbee's guided path. However, the egg only made it through about five or six tosses, when the tape detached and the egg crashed to the pavement. If I had used duct tape, I'm sure the game would have lasted much longer, but unfortunately it was not one of my resources. I shall try, though, see if I'm right, and make another post.

First day of Seeing Sideways

Yesterday I realized that N385 may be the most interesting class I've taken yet at IUPUI. It was refreshing how open most of the people in class were, and I think that had a lot to do with many of my classmates already knowing our professor, including myself. The fact that our break was not done in a typical fashion was enough to hook me into staying. Then hearing how open our options are for assignments, it was then clear to me that not only I, but every student has the opprtunity to gain a great deal from N385. I basically concluded that what you put in is what you get out of the course. I personally intend on giving my best effort because I hope that N385 really will change my life.