Reflection on Time and Goals

What is the most important thing in your life?

The most important thing in my life is knowing that, at the end of the day, I have accomplished something that I know I could not have done the day before. I strive to constantly become a wiser person and a more positive influence to those around me.

How does discussing that make you feel?

I think it's a good thing to discuss my personal expectations with others because I don't believe that other people view the world the same way that I do. In class I don't feel that the other students or the professor truly understood what I was trying to say (I am not the best at explaining myself verbally). What I meant when I said that I don't consider family and other outside sources to be a measure of success would've been more easily understood if the other people knew that I compartmentalize things. For me, work and family do not mix, just like church and family do not mix. But I understand that most people lump things together so it is hard for me to explain myself to others.

How does it make you feel about your goals when you think about the amount of time you might or might not have in which to achieve them?

My personal goals are not the most important things in the world, so I really don't get worried about not achieving them. Life is about sacrificing yourself for others; if I have to give up my own dreams to help somebody else then I would happily do that.


What are your thoughts on the idea that you are in charge of how much time you actually have in a given day?

I am a firm believer that stress is self-inflicted. This is another one of those questions that I don't think people would really understand my answer to. Honestly, I don't ever feel rushed and I always feel like I have time to do what I want to do. And, since I have a job in a career that I enjoy, I don't even think about the time (I often don't even know what today's date is).


What are the limitations you place on yourself?

I don't like taking advice from others when it comes to design techniques. I would rather experiment and find my own ways to solve problems that listen to someone tell me step by step what to do.


What are the limitations that are imposed on you by outside sources?

I'm currently living in Indiana, which I will be moving out of as soon as I graduate (I can't stand cold weather). I also can't get jobs in certain companies because I don't have a degree yet.


What can you do about any of this?

I can choose to not let my limitations get the best of me. I could mope about not going to other colleges because my parents don't have the money to send me to them, or I could do my best to be among the top students at the college I am at. And I choose to not let life's setbacks hold me back.

How to "read" a book

What is it that stands out to you? Large book titled "Financial Peace" by Dave Ramsey.

Why? It wasn't put back in properly, so the cover is showing instead of the spine.

Choose a red book and open it to page 6. Close your eyes and put your finger on the page somewhere.
What did you find? The page is completely blank.

If your finger landed on a paragraph, how many times does the letter P show up in that paragraph? N/A

If it landed on a picture, how many straight lines are in the picture? N/A

If it landed on white space, what is the white space surrounding? It surrounds nothing; the page is completely blank.

Can you imagine the white space as a sea and the other parts (words, pictures, etc.) as islands floating in white water or space? No, there are no words or pictures to imagine as islands.

Using your other senses, explain what the paper feels like.

Is it slick or rough? Smooth like vellum paper, but not slick

What does the cover feel like? Like wax paper

Can you feel the ink of the words if you close your eyes? No

Do different colors feel different with your eyes closed? Yes

What else can you discover about the paper? The ends of the pages are cut to make it look like it is torn

What about the cover? The cover is paper that wraps into the book itself; it isn't a traditional cover.

Without destroying the book, unless you own it and want to, see if you can figure out how the book was constructed.

Is it stitched? Yes

Is it glued? Yes

Is there any cloth on this book or is it all paper? All paper

Is it a hardback or paperback? Hardback

Does it have signatures? (Hint: you may need to look up what signatures are in the context of making books…) Yes

If it has signatures, how many pages are in each and how many signatures are there in the whole book?
8; 28

If it does not, look at the glue on the ends of the spine and describe what you see. N/A

Flip through the pages and look at the end papers.

Is there any writing in the book, other than the printing? No

If so, what does it say? N/A

Why is it there? N/A

Who wrote it? N/A

If you do not know, then imagine who might have written it. N/A

If there is no writing in the book then how does it make you feel to know you are the first person (possibly) to think about it? It's surprising there is no wording actually because I feel that most people would put their name in their books.

Examine the book more.

Are there any stains on the book? No

Are there any fingerprints? No

What do they look like? N/A

How might they have happened? N/A

Look at the pages of the book.

What is the color of the pages? I bet they are not really white. Off-white

How would you describe the color? Is it warm or cold? Bright or dull, etc. Warm; dull

What other visual things can you explore with the book? The endpages are red.

Think about the history of this book.

Can you see any other evidence that someone else has handled this book? Yes

What are the edges of the pages like? Describe them. They were cut so that it looks like they are torn

Can you imagine what someone else might have been thinking as they read this book? Seeking inspiration at overcoming the difficulties of life

Do you think anyone else has used this book like you are right now instead of reading it? No

Flip through the pages quickly.

Can you hear the sound? If so, describe it. Yes; like someone flipping through a deck of cards

If not, what is your experience like?

Can you feel the breeze? Yes

Can you move something with the wind generated from the book? No

Could you use this book to win a game you created using the book's wind power? No it isn't as prominent as some other books; the hard cover makes it difficult to flip through the pages quickly.

Drop the book on the floor.

What did you experience? Sounded like something dropped on tile even though I dropped it on carpet.

Did you sense the vibrations the book made? No

Did you feel it in your feet? No

Take your shoes off. Now drop the book. Was there any difference? No

Hold the book between your hands with one hand on each cover and the book closed. Close your eyes.

Is the book cold? Hold it like that for at least one minute. Yes

Now feel the cover. Can you feel the temperature change from where your hands were to where they were not? Yes

Have you ever been aware of this before when you were holding a book to read it? No

If your heat transfers in this situation and you noticed it because I asked you to, why do you think you have never noticed it before? I don't hold a book's cover with my hands while reading; rather, I keep it propped open by using my pinkie finger and my thumb on the inside of the book.

If you have noticed the temperature of a book you were holding before, describe why you noticed it. N/A

Smell the book.

What does the smell make you think of? Glue

If you can't think of anything, describe the smells you can sense. (Interesting fact: Did you know that I have friends [many librarians, actually] who choose their books partly based on how they smell? Honestly.)
I do not recommend tasting the book for health and safety issues… :-) N/A

Now, finally, read the first page. If it is just pictures, read the story of the pictures.

What is the title of this book? The Circle Maker

Based on the first page, explain why you think the book was titled that. The book probably is about dissecting life into the small parts that make us who we are, and then trying to improve in each area individually.

Reflect back on this entire exericise.

What is your experience like with the book now that you have experienced it differently? It makes me think of reasons why the author would want the book to be created with these specific materials instead of something else.

Do you still find books to be boring, assuming you did in the first place? I love books so I can't answer this one.

What, if anything has changed for you in regards to books? More appreciation of the craftsmanship of the book instead of just reading to enjoy the story itself.

Now think about this class.

How did I "fishbowl" this assignment? I had the preconceived notion that I love books for the stories they hold, and that the contents of the books were what was important, rather than the appearance of the books themselves.

What do you think the point is of this exercise? To open up our minds to recognize just how many choices are made about books that have nothing to do with the stories they hold.

What can you take from this exercise that might help you with future projects? Don't get caught up in the super tiny insignificant things, but don't disregard their existence either. Find the balance.

Class Recap (Sept. 24th)

Today we discussed what we had learned so far in class and what our best memories of class had been.

We also talked about the importance of making connections. We explored this through a "connect-the-dots" activity on the board, during which each classmate had the opportunity to do "something" with a dry-erase marker. I decided to play the role of "that guy" that decides to not conform to the rules and I just passed the marker to the next person.

I brought in my Pillsbury Doughboy cookie jar to discuss, but I never got to show it to the class because I had to leave early.

Senses

For me, a cookie sounds like the Pillsbury Doughboy. Similar to Ivan Pavlov's conditionalization of his dog, my sister and I were "conditioned" to the sound of the Pillsbury Doughboy cookie jar that my mother had purchased. We actually happen to still have the jar out in the garage, so I will be bringing it in to show to the class.

Rules! What are they good for?

For this project I decided to break two of my most cardinal sins of graphic design: auto tracing and using the Comic Sans MS font. These two components can add up to one tremendous eyesore, but perhaps they can be modified to become something halfway decent (honestly, I don't have a lot of faith in that, but who knows)?

Memories

I would have to say that the project I remember the most is the origami butterflies.

I will never forget when my drama director told me, "The serious productions get all of the acclaim because they are memorable. Comedies are funny in the moment, but people will not even remember the jokes the next day."

The butterflies were memorable to me because I used to love creating origami creatures when I was in middle school, so I could relate to them. The fact that I had a tangible item that I could take home with me and continue to look at also makes the memory last longer.

Wow us!

For this project, I have to decided to bring in a scrapbook about my life. I want to be able to show the class a little bit more about me, because it's so hard to really get to know people when you only see them once a week for one semester. The scrapbook contains some of my fondest memories of my life so far, and I think it will be fun to share these memories with the class.