letter to my younger self

I hate it when my mom picks out books for me for Christmas. Every year I tell her not to and every year she does it anyway, this year was no different. One of the books was called What I Know Now, Letters To My Younger Self. The title intrigued me. So I read it. I loved it. Weird. My upcoming turning of decades has me thinking alot about the past. I also spent the afternoon with my ailing grandfather at the hospice. Over and over I keep thinking what would I say in a letter to my previous self and at what age, knowing what I know now. I would write to myself at age twenty on the brink of twenty-one. Fresh off of a big break up and about to plunge into a disaster of a relationship and a string of uncertanity once that was over.
Dear Annalea,
I know things have been rough lately, but hang in there. That little voice inside of you is telling you that this is the right choice. Your life is changing now, embrace it, but don't ever stop listening to that little voice. When from the begining of your next relationship that little voice says not to take this one too seriously listen to it. But you won't because listening isn't one of your strong points. When you get in this relationship and that little voice tells you to leave. Do it, the first time and don't look back, because your gonna miss out. This is the time to be wild and free and do the things you want to do and have the experiences later in life you will regret not taking. Had you had taken that time you might had learned some lessons about people you wished you had learned before thirty. Learn to let go of the people who don't tell you how wonderful you are and make you feel it all the time. Don't hold on to the wrong people for wrong reasons. Learn what the right reasons are. The thing about this relationship is that it's gonna make you a fighter and not a smart one. You are strong but, your just throwing fists blind because you feel like you have defend yourself against everyone. Your gonna come out of this. After this relationship is done your still not gonna get it right until you learn to trust yourself. That voice is gonna be askew because you ignored it for so long. Your will have regrets about the one you let go and more regerets about the one you choose to keep around. Either way your instinct will get you where you are supposed to go. You will find the soul mate you've been looking for, in the place you least expect it. So I say to you, listen to that little voice, and getting to a happy place in life would be a much smoother ride.
With Love,
Anna

A Fat Tax

New York Governor David Paterson wants to pass an "obesity tax" on sweetened soft drinks to help close the state's $15 billion budget gap, The Daily News reports. Diet drinks would be exempt, so a Diet Coke could end up costing 15 cents less than a regular Coke. Milk and bottled water would also be exempt.- New York Times

Soda drinkers are probably going to hate me but I think this is a great idea. I think it should be extended to candy bars as well. There are addtional taxes on alchol and cigarettes because they have been proven to be bad for us. Especially when consumed in excess. The same is true for sugar. So why not add an extra taxes to these sweet treats? Hopefully it would help people to think more about consuming them in moderation, the same way raising the price of cigarettes helped some people quit.

Why Women Work and Wash

It seems there has been an unequal shift in society. A woman's job used to be solely in the home. Cook, clean and keep everybody comfortable. June Cleaver was everything a woman was supposed to be. With more income needed to support a family and a certain lifestyle women have become and integral part of the work force. Mom's are now almost always working outside of the home. What's odd is that with this shift in responsibility for income, the role of the woman around the house doesn't seemed to have changed. If the responsibility for income is now become a mutual responsibility why have household chores not become the same? The rate of women with heart conditions is on the rise and a major contributing factor is stress. What makes guys think that half of these household chores aren't their responsibility??? My boyfriend sometimes tries to opt out of chores by saying I have higher standards of cleanliness than he does. Therefore because of my higher standards the cleaning becomes my responsibility because I am the one that wants it that way. Given the chance he would probably live in a barn and be just fine with that. I think all women need to stand up and make a statement about this. Time has changed things like racism and women's rights but it does not happen if you stand quietly by. Maybe we all boycott homemaking duties for a week. Maybe longer. Rest our poor little hearts from trying to keep everybody happy all at once.

Draining the life from me

A sure sign that you have taken on too much in life? You fall asleep sitting up in front of your computer. The good news? You eventually slump sideways onto your boyfriend who is sitting next to you on the couch and very kindly proceed to drool all over him. Even the pit bull sitting on the other side of him was nice enough not to drool. I believe though that the pit bull's life is a lot less stressful than mine. This semester has been like a vampire slowing draining the life blood from me and turning me into something I don't recognize. Through my many experiences in life from bartending to business, art has been the one thing I enjoyed consistently. This semester has changed my mind. In looking for a new career I wanted to do something I enjoyed and I looked to art for the answer. With five classes this past semester I discovered that art under pressure isn't enjoyable for me. When forced to create under time constraints I find it to be like test anxiety, my mind just goes blank. I have never experience it until this semester when I have been under pressure to create so much in such a limited time frame. The frustration levels when art is so much work has me thinking that maybe this isn't for me. When your job is to create your mind can't go blank. Nothing is set in stone so I will see what tomorrow brings. All I know for sure is next week will bring me time to sleep. Hopefully for several hours while laying down, in my bed.

Athlete Junkies

Seems like any more you have to do drugs to stay competitive. Not the same kinds of drugs your parents did in the sixties. There is a new breed of drug addict and I think the message they are sending to our youth is almost just as bad. I'm talking about athletic and fitness competitors. There are two schools of thought on this. The first is: What is the Harm? You do what needs to be done to stay at the top of your field. Performance enhancing drugs, steroids, they are just training tools. The second school of thought is, well, the first school of thought is a bunch of crap. We tell our children to look to the athletes and fitness competitors as the superstars. We tell them to follow in the athletes footsteps with the hope that keeping our kids involved in sports will keep them off of drugs. Yet today it looks like no matter which way you go your going to wind up doing drugs. You either a regular junkie or a sports junkie. The current athlete is setting unreachable standards. Look at bodybuilders, fitness competitor, even actors preparing for a movie (Brad Pitt in Troy) who use steroids. Awesome specimens of human flesh that no matter how hard you ever work you will never be able to look like that unless you use drugs. I wonder where is the line? People, especially need to be aware, in order to set obtainable and reasonable expectations for themselves. Should there be a disclaimer on every ad, this person used performance enhancing drugs in preparation for this event? How do we make our kids aware that images are photo shopped? An asterisk, is that the answer?*

AAR Ring #1

Things I did well:
I feel like I really starting to learn how to control my soldering. The tubing was small and thin. It heated fast, the flux would bubble and push apart pieces that I needed to stick together, moving my solder ball. Overall I feel that it turned out well. The solder placement was controled and not all over the place and the delicate pieces were firmly put together.

Things I could have done better:
That being said, I would like to learn how to control my soldering even more. I would have like to be able to turn some of the pieces so the were not all flat and on one plane. It gets tricky though because the tubing did heat so fast it would reflow areas of solder I did not want to flow if I was not very careful.

What if's:
What if I had used an even smaller torch tip? What if I had yellow ochre'd each section after I completed it? (I had tried that in the end, it seemed to work but also left alot of dirt on my piece) What if I had two third hands that I could use to hold pieces together and still have a free hand to solder with.

Market, I mean Merry Christmas!

I almost want to stop celebrating Christmas. I know. It's shocking. It's not Christmas I dislike, it's what Christmas has become. Christmas is about spirit. It's about loved ones and cozy fires and good times. It is not about shopping, retailers, or their profit margins. I think what Christmas has become is a symptom of the current American problem with spending. Retailers count the days leading up to every black Friday shopping blitz and it can make or break their profit margins. Do you really think that is what S. Claus intended? I don't think spreading cheer had anything to do with making sure some CEO has a golden parachute. A couple of years ago our family dedcided to change things up a little. Everybody brings a wrapped gift with no one person in mind and the spending limit is twenty dollars. The first person picks a gift from the pile and opens it (we draw numbers to see who goes first.) The second person goes, they can either take the first persons gift or open a new one. The game goes on like that gifts taken, new gifts opened, til the last person goes. Its a great time. Somebody always gets stuck with the worst gift ever. Like the year my twelve year old cousin Jake got the fondue pot and we all laugh about it. The games create laughter and stories for years. No one worries about who spent how much money on who or if they have enough money to shop for everyone this year. That is what Christmas is all about. Memories of family fun and sharing. So screw the retailers and how much money they made this year and how that affects the market. My wish for everyone this year is to celebrate Christmas in and with the spirit it was meant to have, no matter which way it takes for you to find that. If you can do that, no matter how much money you have, you can always have Christmas.

Is CAD safe, my thoughts while cleaning the bathroom.

I am taking a CAD class this semester and I love it. As artists we are always pushing the envelope for the new and innovative. I think CAD is a great medium in this era that everyone should know how to use. While I will always prefer the tactile CAD forces you to think in a different way. One of the great parts about CAD is the rapid prototyping and the ability to print in 3D. We just learned about it today so I know if I tried to throw around all the acronyms for the different printing systems I would butcher it, so I am not even going to try. CAD designs can be printed/created in metal, nylon, and other plastics based materials and they are so cool!! But the social designer in me says wait a minute, what is the environmental impact of heading in this direction. I know its a little late now considering all that we already do in plastics. Yet I am still wondering that in this great technology is there a better way? For the first time ever man has the ability to manipulate the environment to create things that do not naturally occur on this earth, what effect is that going to have? I got to thinking about trees. Trees start from a seed and grow through a biological process into what we know as a tree. When the trees lifespan is over the hard wood can be broken down and used by the earth in all sorts of ways. If we have the ability to create plastics, why can we not create a material that imitates the characteristics of wood? Wouldn't be cool to be able to print my CAD design in a material that I knew wouldn't harm the earth if it got tossed into a dumpster. My hope would be that nobody would toss my design into a dumpster, but hey, things happen. Obviously I am new to CAD and printing so I have no idea what could even work. Yet I stand strong in my idea. We have all this wonderful technology why does the thought of sustainability take a back seat to innovation. In this world I think they should go hand in hand.

Glassblowing

Just some pictures of a couple of pieces I have created so far this semester

Slumps and Bumps

The New York Times today reports the technology industry is beggining to slump. This is just yet another sign of the economic trouble our country is in. I wonder as technology slumps how this will effect design. Everything ebbs and flows, there will be another boom in technology. Who is going to create the next big boom? What have we learned from the last wave and what are we going to need to sustain in the future? Is technology slumpping because we have move too far ahead of what our culture needs to survive? Our current state of economic affairs brings alot of questions to my mind. I wonder how we as artisit will use this?

After Action Review Jewelry project 2

Sustains, things I did well:

Complete the project on time and with all the required bits and pieces, internal framing, hinge, clasp. It was my first ever working pendant of the sort and it works. I was really proud of myself. I did not get solder everywhere and was impressed with myself on that. Otherwise I would have lost a lot of texture having to sand it out. I got a nice texture on the bronze from rolling it through the mill with sand. I like how I adjusted my design after initial reactions to still get my message across without looking commerically funded. I liked how the shininess of the metal and the shape combined gave a feeling of reverence (church triptych) because that is kind of what the place I was thinking of when I made this makes me feel. Not like church, but reverent.

Improves:

Learn not to scribe to deeply. The hinge was a mite looser on the pin than I thought it would be. I think that happened a little bit along the way. Even though I had a work pin in I think all the opening and closing might have opened the holes just enough to make the difference. The loop on which the pendant was to hang from I should have used a thicker gauge wire, but I did not have one available. In hindsight I could have twisted two pieces of the thinner gauges together for more stability.

What ifs:

What if the piece was slightly smaller? If I had a do over I feel I would go in that direction with some more technical precision (scribing) in my work. Megan's suggestion of the sanding stick I liked because the metal did get slightly sunken in the middle. I might also consider a texture on the left hand side. I would not cut into it though because I think you would loose the sense of moving through the piece from front to back as in a door or window.

After Action Review Social Design Problem 2

Things I did well:

I thought my concept was good and fully developed from all angles. I not only considered the containers but the lunch box, and the recipes as a whole. Even though all might not have agreed I thought my cookies were pretty good for no sugar. They work much better as mini muffins though due to the lack of crunch.

Improves:

My outcome with the plastic containers. With two more weeks I think I would have gotten a lot closer to what I was looking for. The failure at vaccumforming taught me a lot and I would have been better off starting with a heat gun rather than trying to use ovens.

What ifs:

What if I had a bit more time and money? I think I could have gotten as possible without injection molding. The best parts of the projects were def my cookies. It's a lot of work to make any sort of desert without flour, butter or sugar. There are no recipes I could work off of, it was all trial and error.

Goggling the Flu

NY Times today has an article about how Google is being used to track outbreaks of the flu. Turns out when people get sick they often Google to check their symptoms before making an appointment with their doctor. So where the flu is being Google'd the most can be reported to medical centers ahead of time, hoping to help control outbreaks of the flu. I think that is awesome! Technology is being used in a positive way to help people. It turns out that it also can predict where mortgage forclosures are rising. When people are getting in trouble with their mortgage they are turing to Google for help, googling forclosure. It makes me think what other trends could we predict with Google and how could we use them for good?

The whole world is covered in a thin film of fecal matter, get used to it.

Ever find yourself obsessively cleaning? I do. Turns out being too clean may not be so good for our health. The business market would have women believe one of the keys to a happy life is a spotless house and they give you plenty of harsh chemicals to do it with. Getting rid of all that bacteria around the house though may be making our immune systems weaker. Turns out kids with more exposure to dirt and grime had less incidents of asthma and allergies. It makes sense. Our bodies need to be exposed to these things to build up defenses. Turns out too that obsessively cleaning is a sign of anxiety. Helps us feel in control when we cannot control the things around us. The article on MSN today brings up several great points about how being too clean really isnt good for us. It does say not to take it to the other extreme. For instance don't touch raw chicken and then put your fingers in your mouth. The article was great, talked about how women bear the burden of most household chores still even though both parents may have a full time job. It really makes you think about priorites and it makes sense. How could your body possibly defend against any sort of germ warfare if it can defend against the common cold? So the next time it rains I will happily stomp my feet in some puddles and feel no guilt about a little dirt.
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/mental-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100218913&page=1

New show at the Guggenhiem

‘theanyspacewhatever’ at the Guggenheim

The NY times has the images and review in it's arts section today. The author entitles the article "Museum as a Romantic Comedy." I find it fitting. It's kind of like "Friends". All of the pieces work well together but none could survive as their own spin-off. Sculpture, Installation work and things of that nature are not my favorite types of art. One of the works is a room with bean bag seats where the artist has videos that were previously banned in the US playing. Interesting thought, but I don't even really sit down at watch TV at home. This type of work to me just seems absent of any sort of craft on the part of the artist. Like I said, this type of work is just not my thing. I do have to admit a particular love though for the work by Maurizio Cattelan It is a large, full-color version of Disney’s beloved Pinocchio floating face down in the Guggenheim’s elliptical pool. For Halloween I wanted to be a dead fairy tale. Perhaps Snow White with a noose around her neck. I really want to explore this idea in some upcoming work. How fairytales no longer exist in our society, the kinds of effects they have had, and the kinds of effects the lack of them will have. Back to the exhibit and it's goal of relational asthetics. Roberta Smith writes "The goal of “relational aesthetics” is less to overthrow the museum than to turn it upside down, wreaking temporary havoc with its conventions and the visitor’s expectations of awe-inspiring objects by revered masters. The larger point is to resensitize people to their everyday surroundings and, moreover, to one another in a time when so much — technology, stress, shopping — conspires against human connection." It's very much conceptual. Concepts can be cool, I'm just more of a concrete kind of girl. Read the article, check out the slides. It might not be worth the trip but it is always fun to see what people are doing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/arts/design/31gugg.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Mind your manners

When we first started our social design class one of the social issues we talked about was manners. How people treat other people seems to be a deteriorating courtesy. Check this out http://cityguides.msn.com/citylife/cityarticle.aspx?cp-documentid=11520000 an article today on MSN entitled "Mind Your Manners … Your Waiter is Watching
Servers dish about discourteous customers -- and how they take their revenge." Being in the service industry myself for over a decade now how we treat those around us is one of my pet peeves. I am not your dog, do not snap, whistle, or yell for me. Just because I choose a position of service, because I actually at times enjoy it does not make you better than me. That attitude of entitlement is infuriating! I'm working on my second college degree so don't assume that I can't or am too stupid to have a better job. Often I do my job knowing there will not be an adequate tip at the end of my duties. Tipping is not a city in China. You don't work for free why should I have to just because you have the option? If you don't have money to tip, don't go out. We do watch people like hawks and are keen observers of human behaviour. You learn to do this to make the best out of a situation. The more enjoyable you make someones experience the more money you earn. In a way it's like being an actress and playing the role the customer wants. I will even pretend I like you hitting on me, but don't be fooled, it's my job. Do we really take revenge? In subtle ways, sure. I can only recall one well deserved instance of food modification though. The moral of the story is be nice to people around you. Food service errors can come from several different points of ordering through preparation so be patient and I will be happy to help you. The point is to treat your server or bartender the way you would want to be treated. Attitude? Check it at the door.

Check it out

www.craftser.org


Fun, funky and original stuff

the vessel

I have been working on my vessel for jewelry project 2. I don't know if the liqid light process is going to be able to come in to play like I want it to. So I have been thinking about other ways to incorporate the image of Groton into my project. I used a sand, rock and shell mix I have from the shore of Groton and pressed into the outer layers of bronze. I have die formed those outer layers. They are turning out well. I am now debating about what to do on the inside. I have a design i will pierce on the front of the outer shell. Yet i still want to be able to incorporate a piece of Groton on the inside. I am thinking about using a small contact print suspended in an epoxy or resin perhaps on the inside. I also am considering the possibility of incorporating one or two of the small shells I have within the internal framing. I really like the image more. Off to more research I go to see what works best.

The countdown begins

One week until the presidential election. The post today has several articles realting to the election. One on McCain slinging mud at Obama's camp trying to call him unqualified once again. They try to serve fear to the public about the possibility of having Democratic houses and a Democratic president. I am non-partisian but I don't see how that is scary after seeing what damage a republican president has already done. Another article debated whether or not McCain made the wrong choice having Palin as a running mate. Especially on the tail of the news of the money spent to upgrade her image and wardrobe. Of course money should be spent on her wardrobe. Image is everything and people will judge on what they see. The same way they judge celebrites on the red carpet. It's the same concept. Would anybody have even noticed that expense if she were a he? I don't think any running mate McCain could have chosen would be enough in either direction. It's ninety percent about the presidential candidate. I may be wrong but we will see. Either way I am happy to say I have made up my mind. I can't wait to see what next week brings.

On a personal note

Something I heard at a funeral service today. "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well reserved body, but rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming---WOW--- What a ride!

Jewelry skill set

If I had a resume these are the skills I have developed so far:

1. Sawing
2. Welding
3. Sanding
4. Filing
5. Finishing
6. Drilling
7. Piercing
8. Soldering
9. Hydrolic Die Forming
10. Internal/External Framing
11. Hinge Making (getting there)
12. Imprinting (using the rolling mill)

You could go so far as to say:
1. Brainstorming
2. Design research
3. Project Themes and Concepts
4. Sketching
5. Maquettes
6. Prototyping

Channeling Sex and the City

So it wasn't an article I read on some sort of global social issue. I was just driving in my car thinking about life. Thinking about whether or not I had grabbed my cell phone because I knew if I forgot it I would be in BIG trouble with my guy. We are both busy a lot so we stay in touch all day by text message. I got to thinking about technology and I wondered if technology makes it easier or harder to cheat? Let me first say that I am NOT thinking about cheating. I was just thinking about the days before cell phones, when we were not tied to them. I know that if my boyfriend texts me there is a certain acceptable time frame I need to text back in or he will think something bad is going on. There are the exceptions when he knows I am at work or school, that I may be busy and my response may not be immediate. He is always texting. Sometimes I worry. One of my friends had a sort of affair while she was married. She had text sex with a guy. For those that are wondering it's like phone sex, but they are not actually talking. Just typing. He worries too. About me on the computer. If I am talking to ex's or chatting with people I am not supposed to be. My friend who had the affair, her husband was addicted to computer porn. She couldn't get him off of the stuff. She could check the computer history to see where he'd been. She even caught him in the act more than once. The accessibility to other naked women put huge holes in her self esteem and their marriage. They are now getting divorced. It makes me think. In a time before we had all these gadgets we didn't have so many ways to cheat. Where are the lines for cheating drawn? Is watching porn really cheating?

Cheating can be emotional or physical and both kinds are scary. I think technology has made cheating easier. Before all these gadgets your fantasy's were only in your head and no one else ever knew about them. Now the fantasy's are available at some keystrokes. Include your significant other in these fantasy's otherwise unfaithful you will be. These keystrokes leave evidence, don't forget to delete that text or your computers history if your aren't going to share. These modern marvels might make your fantasy's easier to reach, but it makes it easier to get caught too.

Design research Jewlery project 2

The essence of the project is a vessel that is a wearable pendant. When I started this process I started by thinking about what I would want a wearable vessel to hold for me. I would want it to hold something precious. Something dear. Something that in my worst of moments I could look at and it would bring me to a happy place. I then thought about my happiest of moments. This past summer my boyfriend and I spent a week in Groton Long Point CT. One of the best things about Groton was that we stayed at a house that was practically on the beach. From every window in the front of the house (and there were a lot) you saw the beach. But what made that view better than every other beach I have been to was the quiet sense of community and home. It was not the neon party town of Ocean City, nor the foreign tropical shores I had traveled to. I am a beach girl, it stirs my soul, and this trip in particular bonded me to another human being in a way I will never forget. So I wanted to hold that with me. I thought about they types of vessels at the beach. A lot of them (seashells, sea life, sandcastles and pails, etc.) are cliche' and cute. The beach is a place a lot of people love and these themes have been done a thousand times. Then it came to me. Every morning I stood in the doorway and looked at the view. The doorway was the vessel that held me in Groton. I would use that shape as my die form. So I looked a the shapes that doors and window come in. I know that Anderson is a company that makes windows and doors so I checked out their site and began sketching. www.andersenwindows.com I showed those sketches in class and something Jan said stuck with me, "It looks like the window company is funding Anna's project." That hit home because I was trying to stay away from the cliche'. So I went back to the sketching and began going through my images of Groton and I googled Groton and went through the images to bring the memories closer. I kept the window silouette for my die but the piercing pattern on the front is now not going to be so literal as to depict a window. I changed the piereced pattern to something more abstract. I also thought about the eye as the window to the soul and how if you turned my die form side ways it looks like half of an eye.http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=eye%20as%20window%20to%20soul&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Groton Long point: the view every morning.










I also really wanted to combine mediums in this project. Black and white photography is one of my favorite mediums. I took a lot of black and white photos while in Groton. I wanted to use a product called Liquid Light and contact printing and place an image from a black and white negative with a view like this inside of the pendant. I don't know now between the hinge making and the clasps if I am going to have time for this process in addtion to finising the piece. I did alot of research though on Liquid Light and how to use it. You can use it on a wide variety of materials to put prints on. Some useful sites were:
http://www.alternativephotography.com/process_liquidlight.html

http://www.rockaloid.com/

http://www.merrillphoto.com/Projects.htm

Home made vacuforming

I have been brainstorming on how I am good to make my new food containers for social design problem 2. I don't think the oohmoo mold is going to work. I am looking for a crisper look than I think I can get with that. I found a great site on a DIY vacuform with pictures, models, details etc. Just wanted to share. Check it out at http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/jw_vac.htm

At last!!

This cracks me up so I just had to share. Google has come up with Mail Goggles. A program to keep you from drunk emailing. You know we have all been there. After a break up or a bad day at work we have a few cocktails to release some of that bad day and in the process think of all the things we should have said. It has many a night I have taken a girlfriends phone to keep her from drunk texting something I knew would be toxic later. I never thought to lock down her keyboard too. Come to think of it, I could have used Mail Goggles at one point too. A few cocktails in I typed an email to an ex with liquid courage to flow all of the things I should have said. I wouldn't take that email back. I still have it. I saved it to make sure I remembered all the reasons I wasn't in that relationship anymore. Yet it sure would have felt a little stronger to do that sober and fully aware. So Mail Goggles has you do a few math problems in a short period of time if you are emailing between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am on the weekends. Sobriety check point. Officer, I swear I've only had a couple, I can email! So funny! Check out the story http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/fashion/19drunk.html?ref=fashion It makes some very valid points about this type of communication and the testimonials will make u giggle!

My creative Process

I have been spending some time thinking about how my creative process works. I work in cycles. I would call myself a constant observer of life. On my morning walks, when I am working, as I am driving I am always looking at the world around me. Not only form but processes, the designs of nature and people. The observations are sometimes subconcious as I proceed with my activity. These are my unconciously creative times. Then there are the times when I conciously create. When I sit down and focus, I draw, I color, paint or experiment with whatever medium I have been thinking about. Alot of times I like to work from partial observation so I normally have my computer near by. I google images and I surf and use them in my work. The other day I was working as the merch girl at a concert and in my down time just sketching from the observation of people and distorting them. Most of my ideas come to me when I am not thinking about them. In those moments when I am just letting my mind wander, it finds what it was looking for.

Design Problem 2 Research

So after the group brainstorming session I narrowed the topic to childhood obesity. I looked at the causes of childhood obesity. I found them a nice list at www.annecollins.com/child-obesity-causes.htm. The top 5 in order were insufficient expenditure, excessive snacking, fast food diet, family behaviors and body image. On mayoclinic.com I looked at some ways to target changing family behaviors. They recommended to start small, set goals, recognize triggers, and celebrate success. I decided to continue to target kids lunches. I had to ask myself some questions such as what age range can children take a fully active roll in their meal preparation and planning? Kraftfoods.com has children with the neccesary skills such as use microwave, prepare simple recipes, and using an oven and knife with supervision at ages 9-12. I narrowed my focus to that age group because we want to get them started as soon as possible. I then thought about what kids that age are interested in. I looked at some reading lists on amazon.com. It seems to be the age of Harry Potter. Kids like magic and mayhem, erie and unnatural, superheros and superpowers. I then surfed around for portion sizes and needs for kids in that age range. www.theportionplate.com/kidsplate had some good examples kids could relate to, such as a pack of crayons, a yo-yo, half a tennis ball or a CD. Finally I surfed around for what is out there now. The only thing really offered is the Bento Lunch Box on lunchboxes.com. It is BORING!! Nothing like what kids this age would find cool. I have decided to possibly narrow the field to just a girls lunch box at the moment, because I want to use fun shapes. I want to make them cool. Like a Harry Potter lunch box that all the kids want.

Inner Beauty

I absolutely love Dove's current marketing campaign "Real Women, Real Beauty." Their recognition of the ridiculously thin and overpaid supermodel, as a role model for women, as the worst idea ever has encouraged me to try their products. I liked some, not so much others. But the social issue here isn't Dove's products. Denise DiFulco posted an article on Dove's website entitled "The Essence of a Person." In it she talks about how all women posses beauty and none of it has to do with physical attributes. I wish we could all remember that a little more often. Some of the physically pretties girls I know are the meanest, nastiest, petty people I know. Most of the greatest women I know run themselves ragged between their own lives and giving all that they can to other people. DiFulco's article reminds that even inner beauty needs upkeep. You can't share the best parts of your personality and character when you are not taking care of yourself mind, body and spirit. To the author that meant taking the time to do the things she loves the most. For her it was ice skating on her lunch hour pretending to be a professional figure skater. While I wouldn't ice skate I understand what she means. As we hit the mid semester crunch and we have been running on empty for a couple weeks now with a couple more to go, it's a reminder to recharge. So I made myself a cup of tension tamer tea as I typed this blog. Later tonight I am actually going to take some time to relax. As we spend hours creating objects of beauty lets not forget to take care of our own inner beauty. I bet it comes through in our work as well.

Up in Smoke

We all know that cigarette smoking is bad for us. In my lifetime I have definitely seen the acceptance levels surrounding smoking change. As a small child my grandparents smoked like chimneys in the house with everyone around. They smoked in the malls as they took us shopping. Now I don't know anyone that smokes in their home, even my friends that are dedicated smokers. The laws have changed and you can no longer smoke in public places, not even bars. I started smoking as a teenager. In a small town with not much to do one of the most rebellious things to do was smoke. I became a full time smoker around 18 steady until 21. After 21 I reduced it to social smoking, only really smoking as I was having cocktails. In my head that's gotta be better than full time smoking right? It's got to have some sort of benefit. A University of Georgia report today published it's findings in a journal, the findings of which were feature in a New York Times article today. Guess what? Doesn't look like social smoking really has any less effect than smoking. The scariest part of the article for me states, "The researchers said the lasting effect of occasional smoking on artery health was surprising. “Most people know that if they have a cigarette or two over the weekend that it’s not good for their arteries,” said study co-author Kevin McCully, a professor of kinesiology in the University of Georgia College of Education. “But what they may not be aware of is that the decrease in function persists into the next week, if not longer.” I haven't had any alcohol or cigarettes in almost two months as a part of some personal goals I am putting myself through. Yet I know some day I will have a drink again. When I think about I have wondered wether or not I will have the urge to smoke again. I thought if I did it would be no big deal. Occasionaly imbibing in alchohol doesn't have ill effects on the body, what harm could the truly occasional cigarette have? I think after reading this article I am going to have eliminate that as an option.

You are my oyster

I love oysters. I love them raw or Rockefeller. I love them in Oyster shooters!! I love that they are a local delicacy and the stories I read as a child tie into the oyster industry in Maryland. Then going to Ocean City, Assateague or Chicoteague and being able to see the things I read about. This morning the Baltimore Sun talked about a study conducted to seed the effects of introducing Asian oysters to our bay population and what the effects may be. I don't think I am on board with this idea. I understand that the decreasing oyster population is having an effect on the incomes of local fisherman, my greater concern though is the effects on the bay. Everything about our society is so money driven. I think we need to learn some patience and focus our efforts on bringing our local oysters back. Eons of natural selection have made them work for our area. We need to give them some time and attention and a break from over harvesting. If then they don't come back then we can talk about importing other oysters. To the local oyster man, I'm sorry, but I think this is natures way of firing you, or at least a lay off. I know it's harsh but these are the times. Ever think about writing a book?

Presidential Debates Tonight.

The New York Times headlines today proclaim that the candidates campaigns have shifted to attack mode on the eve of the debate. The race turns personal. I think in a way this is a good thing. I don't promote mud slinging or slander but I think part of what will influence me in my decision making this year will be character. Candidates can say anything they want to to get then elected. Even flat out lie. Then once they are in office things change. What they can't change is what they have already done. Something about a little cliche'- actions speak louder then words. What they have done up until this point is indications of their character. We need a really good president this time. We need to come out of the next four years and be like wow, that man did really good and noble things. A Winston Churchill type. While I think I may be stretching it a bit because morals are far from what they were in the past, we will see what this brings. So debate away and break out the dirty laundry. If your laundry got dirty because you were playing around on the job, well that tells me something about your character. Let's see what they throw at each other and how they defend it. Debate away gentlemen, debate away. I'm watching.

Social Design Problem II Status Report and Creative Caffeine

For my second social design problem the issue that interested me that I wanted to focus on was obesity and/or nutrition. I decided to narrow the field to the American issue of obesity and nutrition. For my creative caffeine I surfed the web checking out facts as well as just observing the general public. I google'd "American Obesity Epidemic" I found a great sight with lots of information such as the percentages of the population that is obese and what areas obesity is most prevalent (the south). Check it out www.obesityinamerica.org

Once I had some facts I began to think about design. I got a little bogged down in what I have the ability to create in relation to the field because I don't have a lot of of science or technical background. So I kept googling. Wikipedia's entry about industrial design is what set my mind at ease and got me on the right path. The entry stated, "Products design was about asthetics and usability and not so much about the technical, that is for the engineers." Whew.

Then looking for inspiration from great designs I google'd famous product designers designs and flipped through the images. I found the egg chair and lots of great designs that in my head said, keep it simple, just get some ideas flowing and let it go from there. I found two great quotes in some more reading. "If you want to build a better mousetrap, what can you do on the first night to make sure the world needs one?" If I am going to make something I need to make sure the world needs it. That it is going to have an impact and do something good. For me to be able to do something like that seems like a pipe dream then I came across the second quote that struck me. "It's tempting to sit on a bench and dream of a better world, but better worlds don't come to those who are unwilling or afraid to put their dreams to the test. They come to those who are willing to ask the questions and do the work." Check out this guys blog to read more:http://andrewhargadon.typepad.com/ there is alot about desing and entreprenuership on his site.

Another great blog that helped me more when thinking about the attitudes that surround obesity : thegreatfitnessexperiment.blogspot.com
The author makes a great point in the past it was difficult to be round because food was scare, so round was beauty. In the present it is a feat to be thin when food is found in plenty. It got me thinking. It's not about fat or thin. It's about fit. Because when the apocolypse or the epedemic comes it will be the fittest that survive. I guess that's just the way I think about it. From there I started to brainstorm. Because I brainstormed in pencil it wouldn't really scan from my scanner but below are a couple of the things that sort of came through. I got a little stuck so I am hoping the group brainstorm tomorrow will help hone me into my goal.

Iconic design

Wikipedia defines and icon as: icon is also used, particularly in modern culture, in the general sense of symbol — i.e. a name, face, picture, edifice or even a person readily recognized as having some well-known significance or embodying certain qualities: one thing, an image or depiction, that represents something else of greater significance through literal or figurative meaning, usually associated with religious, cultural, political, or economic standing. Iconic design would then be defined by the design process that generates these icon's. There are many examples of 3-D icons. The first ones that come to mind for me are most attached to historical religious culture such as Michelangelo's David or even the cross symbol many people wear as a pendant. There are cultural symbols today that can be three dimensional or two dimensional a lot of time relating to business icons such as the golden arches of McDonalds or the apple of IBM. People can also be icons such as the way Andy Warhol used Marylin Monroe in his work. We definitely have icon's all around us, we just don't really see them because we are so used to them.

Social Design Problem I Review.

My first social design project addressed the issue of increasing local recycling. One of the main reasons people don't recycle is laziness. I wanted to make it even harder for them to be lazy about this issue. I came up with a way to make at home containers for holding recyclables with items you probably had at home. I created a website with step by step instructions on how to make the boxes. I also emailed the county asking them to add a link to my website from their website. I feel like the most successful part about my project is that it met my goal of being an easy to do, fun, family project. It was brainstorming and discussing my failed ideas with the people around me that ultimately led to my success in this area. The area where I felt I could improve the most was in the decoration of the boxes. I wanted them to appear simple so people would be encouraged to try to make them at home but I feel I may have over simplified. If I had it to do over again I would have done some more experimentation with construction paper cut outs, rubber glue and other products to make the boxes slightly more aesthetically pleasing. For instance creating a pattern that may go with the decor of the room the box would occupy. I also like the suggestion of the use of vinyl table cloths someone made in class. Overall the project for me was a success, I like the box I painted the best, given more time I would have tried more decorating ideas .

It's Debatable.

I watched the Vice Presidential debates the other night and a little bit of the after coverage. Everyone always questions at the end who won the debate and who did better. I never really think there is a winner and a loser in most of the debates I watch. I feel this way mainly because I never feel like the candidates give straight answers to the questions. I watch to gain information and all I felt like I heard was the same cliche's over and over again. When Palin was asked how her platforms plans were going to be different than the previous administrations I want to hear specific answers. I want details. Not generalizations and off topic pats on the back. I also don't want to feel like it is a contest to see how many times you can say Maverick in a two hour period. I am still on the fence about my voting choice. I watched the debates for answers. Something to sway me. I got nothing. Either way voting in this election will be voting for a change in leadership. What I really want in order to make my decision is some straight forward answers. Own up to your past decisions and justify them. Everyone is entitled to change their mind for the right reasons. If you can stand up and give me answers, wether I like them or not, you've got my vote.

The Social Issue for me is Local Recycling

In my previous post I made a list of social issue that plague our world. For class I had to pick one and focus on what I could design to make a difference with this issue. I picked recycling and narrowed the focus to local recycling as I would like to make a difference in my immeadiate world that affects me most. I chose to focus on Baltimore County Recycling. The main reason people do not recycle is that there is no program in their area or if it is provided it is at a cost. Luckily Baltimore County does provide a free curbside recycle program. The question then becomes, why isn't everyone recycling? It seems to be a matter of attitude. The two main reasons is that it is too hard and it requires too much effort. So my mission is to address what makes it hard to recycle in our area and how I can make it easier without adding any expense. Changing attitude means showing recycling in a postive light with a fun twist rather than as a chore. Check out my new blog to see what I came up with.

http://homemaderecyclebox.blogspot.com/

Project II for Jewelry

I am pumped about this project. I have been wanting to using a combination of materials combining photography and metal or glass for awhile now and this project gives me the venue to do it. There is a product called liquid light that creates an emulsion layer on a material of your choosing and into that you burn the image you want. I want to create some sort of locket that keeps a precious image close to your body. I think the outside or die form will be copper and the inside plate with the image will be silver. I have mapped it all out in my sketchbook. In the morning I am going to call the local supplier to see if they carry the product, if not I will order it online. I have several different ideas on how to incorporate the image into the form, certain ideas may cause some distortion we will just have to wait and see! I have a back up plan if this blows up in my face. I call it the Anti-vessel, but I am saving that for back up. I can't wait to see how this turns out. I love the idea of wearing a literal image that is important to me. You provide the image, I make them. They make great Christmas presents!

The mortgage bailout, from a former employee

The first time I graduated college my degree was in business. My first job out of school was in the Mortgage business. ( I will keep all company names out of this in the interest of fairness) I worked in the mortgage industry as sales through underwriting for five years during the housing boom and the beginning of the wain. I have seen a lot. In the beginning it was great because there was lots of money to be made for me and most of the time I was helping people refinance and save money. It was a win win situation. As my career progressed and time moved on the loans began to change and there was a huge market for BCD loans as they are called, high risk loans. Borrowers with very low credit scores buying houses with little money down or refinancing almost all or over the equity of their home. Most loans we did were 2/28 adjustable loans meaning they would begin to adjust after the first 2 year period. People were barely qualifying on the intial low rate. I saw so many shiesty things go on. Income was pushed up, debt pushed down, comps that weren't really the best comps but we needed the value and other things of other sorts. We pushed through loans that I knew in my heart people would soon not be able to afford. It no longer felt good to do my job. I was combing through pages and pages of bad credit reports to try and give people loans they weren't going to be able to pay. It was false hope. I watched this go on for a while before I moved on. I knew this was coming. The situation we are in now with tons of bad mortgages and a $700 billion bail out plan as the NY Post proclaims today, is no fault but our own. If I saw this coming then those who are many years my senior and wiser than me had to see it too. But we pushed for every last dollar we could make, until most of the companies I used to work for are now out of business, people are out of their homes and America's finances are in a very bad place. All over the headlines every day is how this bad debt is effecting our economy. I hear people around me discussing that they haven't seen things this bad since the depression. In a way I hope so. I hope this pushes us back a little bit and maybe forces us as Americans to see things in a new light. To learn to live more simply and spend less. That we don't always need more, bigger, and better that we can be happy with the small things and it is not our possesions that will bring us the kind of joy we are looking for. I hope the CEO's loose their ridiculous salaries and their excess lifestyles. I hope hope hope we can all learn from this.

Die forming, attempt 1, review.

Well my first die forms came out OK. I wouldn't write home to mom about the form itself but my goal was to learn the basics well and that I think I achieved. I blew out most of my first set of pressings and after some research I learned that I wasn't annealing properly. I was afraid of pushing the metal to far with heat, in reality I wasn't pushing enough and I was causing more blow outs. I ran out of 24 gauge metal because of my early mistakes and in the rush to finish the project I had to switch to 20 gauge. The funny part about that is that I found the 20 gauge easier to work with and I could push it deeper than the 24. Again fear of the 20 gauge metal kept me from it, and then in the end it worked better!! In rushing to get done I pressed too many front sides and not enough back sides so I wound up one form short of where I wanted to be. Being sick for four days threw a monkey wrench in my schedule so I focused on the quality of the forms I had rather than pushing for one more and leaving my finishing completely sloppy. In the deconstruct of the form I think I did keep my cuts conservative and predictable. I did so intentionally in the interest of lack of time, If I reached out to far and completely screwed something up I did not have time to go back and start a new form and fix it. I'm ok with where I wound up. The final forms were simple and clean. I think I gained alot of knowledge and skill. I think (hope) I am done with any illnesses for the semester. I am ready for the next project to take these new skills even farther, I've got all sorts of ideas swimming around my head.

to anyone who watches what they eat or their weight

great article in the NY times today. I have done various diet and exercise program through out the years. About a month ago I finally went to a nutritionist and all the foods I eat now are whole foods, nothing processed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/dining/17diet.html

weekend update

After 3 days of a fever of 103 and a miserable existence I am back on my feet. I blew out 3 out of 4 of my die pressings last week. I think because I was a little bit over aggressive, but that tends to be my nature. In adding my brass plates to my die i made a bad cut. The marker tends to smear on the brass, I think i should have sanded it a little first, so I had to alter the design slightly. I wonder if that will make a difference in the pressing. I am going in to try it today.

I would like to add to my bug list, even though this is not a product so much. CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS! The Dr.'s office, the cable company, the retail stores. I think it goes back to attitudes, but man people are bad sometimes. Leaving you on hold. Asking me to call my insurance company to figure out the co-pay (lady I'm sick isn't that your job, sure, let me breathe on your phone, HA!) and just a general overall sense of incompetence and lack of caring. It's a rare treat, such as when I went to wal-mart yesterday. The check out girl flagged me to her empty lane even though it was express, she had the items bagged and in my cart before I could finish my credit card transaction, her mannerism were polite and thoughtful. I could have hugged her. CHEERS! To you Miss Customer service lady who does her job well, you are a bright spot in my day.

I loved the post on Scrapper Bikes. What a positive and uplifiting story. Why do we not here about more things like these in the papers in the news??

Social Issues and BUG list (so far)

My top ten social issues

1. US Economy/Housing
2. Election
3. Health, epidemics, obesity, diabetes, etc.
4. Basic standards of living for all countries
5. Learning to live together peacefully
6. Waste/recycling/sustainability
7. Attitudes
8. Education
9. Long term effects of genetic modificaitons
10. Code of Ethics for mankind

BUG List
1. Kitchen scrubbers and sponges. They sponges get stinky and don't last. Propose making something like a bath poofy that has enough texture to scrub but can be hung to air dry and does not collect mold and mildew.

2. Budget making software

3. Hair ties (rubberbands) they always break! They always stretch and break at the seam. Propose that we make them in one solid piece out of a better longer lasting material.

desing thinking, skills and creativity

Design thinking is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that look for an improved future result. There are 7 stages to the design thinking process:

Define

• Decide what issue you are trying to resolve.
• Agree on who the audience is.
• Prioritize this project in terms of urgency.
• Determine what will make this project successful.
• Establish a glossary of terms.

Research

• Review the history of the issue; remember any existing obstacles.
• Collect examples of other attempts to solve the same issue.
• Note the project supporters, investors, and critics.
• Talk to your end-users, that brings you the most fruitful ideas for later design
• Take into account thought leaders opinion

Ideate

• Identify the needs and motivations of your end-users.
• Generate as many ideas as possible to serve these identified needs
• Log your brainstorming session.
• Do not judge or debate ideas.
• During brainstorming, have one conversation at a time

Prototype

• Combine, expand, and refine ideas.
• Create multiple drafts.
• Seek feedback from a diverse group of people, include your end users.
• Present a selection of ideas to the client.
• Reserve judgment and maintain neutrality.

Choose

• Review the objective.
• Set aside emotion and ownership of ideas.
• Remember: the most practical solution isn't always the best.
• Select the powerful ideas.

Implement

• Assign tasks.
• Execute.
• Deliver to client.

Learn

• Gather feedback from the consumer.
• Determine if the solution met its goals.
• Discuss what could be improved.
• Measure success; collect data.
• Document.

This was of thinking offers no judgment and out of the box thinking is encouraged. It is a fresh way of re-framing everyday projects and problems, involving creativity.

Creativity is defined as a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts.

The design thinking process involves design skills, where the designer considers aesthetic, functional, & many other aspects, requiring research, thought, modeling, adjustment and re-design.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_thinking

http://www.redhat.com/magazine/019may06/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

What about social design?

What is social design? A design process that contributes to human well being and livelihood, causes change through good design, and takes into account sustainability. (It's is NOT as some links led me to, the design of fabulous parties, and weddings, and the bashing of Vera Wang designing for Kohl's) Social design also to me seems to be a collaborative effort, not the brain child of one CEO, but the contributions of many people, from many places in life who these designs will affect. It is not about charity work, but a profession that will benefit all. Wikipedia is a great starting point with plenty of further links that will take you all around the field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_design

Social design is a growing phenomenon and the list of Who's Who is not very small. Some names I recognized from in class and reading:

David Kelley, Mike Nuttall, Bill Moggridge- the founders of IDEO. A leading desing consultantcy who's logo is "We create impact through Design" It is their brainstorming platform we just reviewed in class. Check out http://www.ideo.com/

Bruce Mau. The author of "Massive Change" which I read most of over the summer and we are scheduled to use for class. He founded The Institute With Out Boundaries and ID Magazine, both influential factors in social design.

John Thackara. Author of "In the Bubble Designing for a Complex World" In my reading one of my favorite excerpts from the book, "What purpose is served by the technology we are releasing on the world?"

The following sites that were great to learn about some high profile examples of social design, depicting how social design can and has impacted social issues.

http://www.socialdesignsite.com/

http://www.design21sdn.com/

From the above site:

DESIGN 21 asked Jeffrey Sachs about how design fits into his global fight to end poverty. Here’s what he said:

D21: Solutions to the epidemic of extreme poverty require cooperation and collaboration across many disciplines, countries and borders. Open source collaborations seem key to creating comprehensive solutions; not only can they create more informed “products” (based on the comprehensive knowledge of many), but they create a sense of collective morale, a sense of togetherness and unification. How can you see design tapping in to open source initiatives in the quest to end poverty?

I did the work on my first die form for Metals and Jewelry class, and I blew it out..... I like the form and am going to keep it, now I just need to work on finding the right PSI's for optimal form. I would like to rant for a minute; there must be an easier way to cut things out rather than using a jeweler's saw!!! The blades are ridiculously flimsy and I think I broke 5 just cutting out the Plexiglas. There has got to be a better way to do it. I understand the purpose of the jeweler's saw, the precision it offers. Yet,in this instance where the form is relatively simplistic, there has to be some way to do it that is less time consuming. Time is to a college student what water is to a man in the desert!

The Penland chapter on die forming was amazing. My mind is thinking so simple right now and to focus on developing the skills to create a minimal form. I had no idea it could go so far. I strongly agreed with the statements about the natural desire to ornament the body. I do it mostly through my many tattoo's, my jewelry is normally rather simplistic. I had never thought about jewelry as such a spiritual statement before. Adding in the salt element for some reason endeared it even more to me, I am trying to find the words to explain it. My favorite thought from the second reading was "High quality show pieces with the added capability of limitless production." You can have both and shouldn't be afraid. Awesome.

I have been eating up all the coverage on Gov. Palin. It's funny I find having a woman involved has gotten me more interested in what is going on in the election. I find a lot of the coverage about her to be superficial. Most of it questions whether a woman can be vice president and have a family. I don't think that is a question at all. Gender rolls and stereotypes of the past need to be left there. We live in an age where one-legged men can become track stars thanks to the advances in technology and the will power of men who will not be beaten. I can't wait to see what the coming months are going to bring.

In the begining

In the beginning, there was only darkness. That's how I feel right now. Stumbling, running, fumbling in the darkness trying to stay ahead of whatever is behind me because I know it will hurt me. It's been a whirlwind couple of first days back to a new semester and Sr. year. I just know if I get far enough ahead now, I will find the light, and things will settle in a little better. Not only back to school changes but so many life changes going on right now too it's CRAZY!! All of it for the best though. I am not the kind of person who functions well on five hours of sleep and that is how it is right now. I am looking forward to it all though, no matter how bad the stress is right now, because this is what I gotta do to get where I wanna go. Eat my dust!