Getting to Know You

Class yesterday was fun and different. It was cool to get to know another classmate. I'm not sure how easy it is to dial down to the identity of a stranger with an hour, but I think I got some sense of who he is.

With the warm weather dwindling, it was great to sit outside and chat rather than be in a normal class getting a lecture. But not much about this class is 'normal' anyhow. In a good way!

We are the....Sick as a Damn Dog.

Well, I'm sick and it sucks. I won't be in class today, which is stressful in itself. Even illness doesn't relieve my anxiety over missing class.

For the exercise, I thought of many things, none of which I had the ability to physically create. But the thing that I thought about the most is the following...

A little background... I turned 30 this year. Thanks to Facebook, I'm in touch with a lot of girls I graduated from high school with, over 10 years ago. Back when I was in school, tanning was just becoming way popular with teenagers. All these years later, some of these girls are still tanning non-stop.

I agree that a tan looks great. But years and years of tanning doesn't wear well. So many of my beautiful friends look aged beyond their years. And how ironic that they would destroy their looks in search of "beauty"! Not to mention the health risks for overexposing themselves to all those UV rays.

Anyhow, I wish there was an easy tool that would show women what kind of damage they are doing. To try to keep it New Media related, maybe a filter in Photoshop could be applied to an image that would accentuate the sun damage. I've seen these types of effects done on TV for illustration but I don't think the average woman has access to it. I was going to try to create something like this myself this weekend but have been in bed. Which is exactly where I am headed back to.

I wish I was going to see what everyone did today but will have to check the blogs instead. Bummer. :(

Class in a Nutshell

It was a good class yesterday. It wasn't the most impactful class for me. At some point the conversation got redundant and kind of watered down. I like to hear all the different experiences of everyone, but there's just not time to individually relate to each point. Most of us could offer a story or personal insight to each and every conversation, but it just doesn't always add value. Ha, I had a real shitty night last night and it seems to carry over into my blog today. So I'll just cut my bitching short for now. Happy Tuesday! :P

Breakin the Law!

I thought about this challenge to 'break the rules' using a new media tool. I thought back to Photoshop class with Beth...and one dire warning we were given to NEVER resize fonts using the transform tool. In fact, we were told that if she ever saw us doing that, she would KILL US.

So, now that the threat of death is off the table, I thought I would do some transform resizing of some letters in Photoshop. For extra kicks, I ran some text vertically, I think this was another one of Beth's pet peeves.

I also threw any regard for complimentary colors out the window. I have to admit, the resulting image isn't pretty.

Janice + Senji = Bliss

For the bliss portion of this exercise, I decided to bond with my dog, Senji. First, we took a long walk along the canal near my house. As the warm weather is dwindling, this was a good excuse to be out in the fresh air. I didn't take my phone or ipod, just left with me, my dog, and a key. We didn't encounter any people or any dogs, not even the turtles were out that day. It was just me and my boy, which is pretty much perfection.

When we came home, I spent almost two hours grooming him. This was surprisingly the more 'blissful' part for me. Even though we were back in the house, and this task seems to be more of a chore, it was very relaxing after the activity of the walk.

I heard once that things you do on autopilot can be very meditative. A good indicator of this is when you find yourself finishing something and not being conscious of all the individual parts along the way. Like when you are driving and you don't directly think about each turn you need to make, you just find yourself at home without noticing each leg of the trip. Or when you start to wash the dishes and all of a sudden they are done, because you've done it so many times that you don't need to concentrate on each tiny step.

Anyhow, this is how I felt when I was brushing Senji's coat. I was aware of doing it, but not directly focused on it. I let my mind wander to other things in my life. By the time I was done, I had a beautiful dog and a relaxed mind. And a giant mountain of hair.

I included a pic of the end result. Just because it's so damn cute!