Sunday, April 11, 2010
Mr. President, would you join our Art Directory
Friday, April 9, 2010
Absurdist Fiction
Thursday, April 8, 2010
User Testing, the site editor
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Always check your parachute before you jump = iMove tutorials from Apple
I had never heard of iMovie before today. I don't make short films about my life or about skateboarding accidents, I'm talking to you U-tube. I'm sure most of you have already seen or thought of this but if not then I'm glad to help. Besides I'm tired of blogging about autoimmune diseases and the fun time had by sneezing on strangers at the MVA.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Old tools in a new medium
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Why I like to sneak up on myself, and how I avoid catching myself by surprize.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Angry at the Pics
I can't seem to be able to get my profile picture to show up on other people's blogsites. I guess I'm not a natural blogger. Of course it doesn't help that I have no interest in keeping an on-line journal. The whole thing is to egotistical. I don't expect people to give a crap about my daily wanderings. I don't even care that much. I hope to learn more about posting pics in class tonight, because if I don't then why am I paying for a course when I can look everything up on-line myself, besides I tried that already. I'm to frustrated to talk about this so I'll be back when the smoke clears.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Why do short cowboys aim for the knees?
To answer the question posed within the title of this post I say...to get you (the reader) to actually stop click, click, clicking away into the oblivion of the Internet and read this post...gotcha sucker. Well why you are here you might as well give me two good and opposing reason why short (under four foot) cowboys always aim for the knees? Maybe it's cultural? Maybe it's functional? Maybe it's a bad rumor and your ashamed to hear that I'm spreading this stigma. Please give me something that will entertain me for thirty seconds. Thirty seconds is all the time I have before my hummingbird attention span and demanding boss kick me off of this sight and onto another boring task. I leave you (the reader) with this question and image, what is the best (as in most awesome) way to paint a building? Kevin's answer is a series of dive bombing hawks trained to carry water balloons full of paint. This theory could also work with siding, which is even more awesome if the Hawks can find a way to make it stick.
Monday, February 15, 2010
What if people started turning into Bruce Lee?
My reasoning for blogging this, the same reason I write. I was bored this morning and wanted to laugh at a ridiculous concept. It's a strange story line but I watched ZombieLand and Black Belt theater back to back this past weekend with my father in law so this morning I started juggling the Bruce Lee rampage idea around in my head as a joke, but copyright is pending so hands off.
About blogging, I've noticed a trend that I'm not going to indulge in. I'm not searching the web for links or profiles or blogs for the reader to check out. The reader doesn't need my advice. They are smart enough to do it on their own. You should be working on a creative project of your own instead of surfing the web. Make the project awesome or serious, make it "Robot Chicken," or "Master Piece Theater." If you really want the born masses to check it out, make it a bit of both. I site Pride and Prejudice and Zombie's by Jane Austen and Seth Graheme-Smith
as my example. See that's not a link, but a site, of the non-web variety.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
On the Yukon Tundra, AKA my driveway.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
John Layman’s
http://themightylayman.blogspot.com/
The site is mostly a blog space that won the bloggo award in 2006. John’s site boasts a unique style at first look. He uses a digital photo of himself smushed into a piece of bread as part of the sites wallpaper. This site is loaded with humor. Even the title, instead of reading in the traditional internet fashion of “.com” it has been turned into a clever play on words reading “dot calm.”
John own profile on the site refers to him as “crusher,” a 98-year-old man who is a Scorpio and loves “nice kittens.” The design and set up of the site is pretty straightforward. More Flash could be added and it would be nice to have more interactive features for a visitor to use. This website feels more like self produced venture by an author and not a graphic designer. The site leans to a reading only venue. Luckily the stuff John writes is hilarious. Mr. Layman is a comic book author and his site doesn’t take much seriously, although it is well crafted.
This site is mostly a promotional site for the author. His most successful comic to date, CHEW, is doing well as a graphic novel. Chew: Taster’s Choice, is currently rank #7 on the New York Times best sellers list. It has some links to other sites but nothing outside of Mr. Layman’s own ventures. The archive section dates back to 2004.
William H. Coles website
www.storyinliteraryfiction.com/
William’s web site not only offers original short stories, but helpful insights and essays on Literary Fiction. It has a more educational feel to it. Providing essays in every aspect of narrative development. The site also has forums for discussion and links to others helpful sites for reading stories and tips on writing. William site provides short stories that can be read, downloaded for later, or listened to.
The site has interviews with notable authors and teachers. They give advice and provide insight into writing. The site has more photos than some other sites and uses them in clever ways. Some time the photos of authors being interviewed are lined up or stacked one on top of another to give the illusion of motion, like in a film or comic strip.
A robust commentary section allows for feedback to the interviews, essay’s and stories posted on the site. William has a detailed Bio as well as a section set apart for review of polls taken from commentators. Recommendations are made for books on writing. The site also provides the reader with material from the website itself for purchase in the traditional book form. Advice from workshop leaders fills another section of the website.
I found the website lacked in anything innovative or provocative. It wasn’t designed to make you think, it was designed to provide information. The same old colors and page set up’s dominated the site. It was easy to use, almost to easy. No flash animation can be found anywhere on the site as well as no humor. I was interesting to see the website but not entertaining.
Author, Aimee Benders site
http://www.flammableskirt.com/menu.html
The site’s entry board is a flash based animation of a person with a pumpkin for a head taking their dog for a walk, but the weird part is the random Bee that buzzes by…eerie. Aimee Bender is the author of several notable books. Her most recognized work is the short story book title “The Girl in the Flammable Skirt.” This is also the title she uses for her personal website. She has also published several other books including “An Invisible Sign of my Own,” and “Willful Creatures.”
Upon entering her site the user finds it to be completely flashed based with very rudimentary animations depicting the different area within the web page that you can address and explore. When entering a section of the site an access bar appears at the top of the page depicting all the other sections of her site. There is no search bar, but the reader does have access to her interviews, links, exercises, and news. Visitors to the site are encouraged to sign the guest book and read a short Biography about the author.
Using only flash as the sites multimedia browser is energetic looking but not very creative. It also limits the accessibility for the inexperienced reader and looks tedious after three clicks.
Number One, engage
I asked my girlfriend to marry me Tuesday night and she said yes. I took her to the brick pier in Fell’s Point, the one that looks out over the harbor. The snow was gently falling when I got down on one knee. It was very peaceful and serene. Afterwards we had a reservation's at Kali’s Court (a nice seafood/Mediterranean style restaurant) where we had dinner. It was a perfect occasion and I couldn’t have wished for a better moment. We haven’t set a date but we are thinking of sometime in the fall. My fiance's name is Navara. Her parents are from Thailand. Navara is a doctor at Mercy Hospital. She loves her job there. She says it's because of the interaction with her patients. I don't have much else to comment on. This has been a big week for me. Probably one of my finest, but now I have more to think about than myself. I now have a partner to plan with. It is strange how I have gained a whole other person, and yet I feel somehow lighter.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Drawing out inspiration
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Even blind bats don't hit the cave walls.
On the topic of writing, I am at a loss. On the topic of blogging, well honestly no one cares, unless it's a train wreck. Twelves years ago I could have wrote about the Tijuana hookers and the back alley strip club I passed out in. It was three in the morning (me and my two friends all passed out together around midnight, still sitting by the stage) and when I came to with my wallet was gone and my wristwatch was in hot pursuit. Thank god the border guards recognized the three of us. This must have happened to alot of young sailors out of San Diego. The guard was cool. He even let me throw up in his trash can. Sweet guy that guard. The twelve mile walk back to base took care of my hangover and gave me time to think how to get back onto the base without a Military I.D. I decided to get onto base in the tradition of Mexican tourism, I hopped the back fence. This was pre 9/11, so most bases in the U.S. just left the back gates open for the drunks to wander in...yahh homeland security.
Now a thought on "Homeland Security." Since everyone in the U.S.A. (san the native americans) is an imigrant. What homeland should I be securing? I guess I should be looking out for the territorial interests of Ireland?