Monday, January 31, 2011

FOOT: Facebook Article

Having not seen The Social Network, I found the article to be rather interesting. On SNL, Zuckerberg and the actor that plays him in the movie were in the opening monologue. After reading the article, I am curious as to what Zuckerberg was doing during the time period when he was "working on code" for the other social networking website. I think after reading the article, I would like to see the movie and see if it is anything like the article.


I know that I have somewhat of a Facebook addiction, but I do know that Facebook (or as I like to refer to it: Fbook) can be used for good. I have a Facebook Fan page for my wearable art so that I can post pictures and update people as to what activities I'm doing (such as Fashion Week Cleveland). I have the ability to contact my photographer friends, especially Robert Banks since he doesn't have a cell phone, but he has a Facebook. That way we can share images on Facebook and I can show off my wearable art.


(UPDATE: 2/6/2011)
Thinking about Facebook in general, in high school, my Honors U.S. History (HUSH as we liked to call it) teacher created a Facebook group for our class that year. Sometimes it would be used to update the class on what was coming up in class or reminders for due dates. After the class was over, we used it to keep in contact with each other in the class. At least that was how I used it because I transferred high schools at the end of that year. My HUSH teacher was super connected to the internet with his class. He would post videos of himself on Youtube after he went home of the lectures he gave that day, he maintained a website where he posted the Smart Board slides every day, as well as communal blog on Blogger where everyone in the class could post current event articles or pop culture things.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

FOOT: Pleasure Reading of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams


In between class, homework, and sleep, this is one of the books that I am trying to read for "pleasure reading." I haven't gotten very far yet but I really enjoy it thus far. My dad really likes sci-fi books and thinkgeek.com. He has been trying to get me to read this book for ages, and asked for a t-shirt from thinkgeek.com with the number 42 on it. Sometimes if he is trying to be funny he will ask me "Do you have your towel?" Needless to say, he really likes "geeky" stuff and it's rubbed off on me.

Last week, I went to Half-Priced Books (I could probably spend DAYS there and not even realize it) and started looking over the shelves. I went to the sci-fi section looking for some of Issac Asimov's books. Right above the shelf with Asimov's books was The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. So I decided to pick it up. To my absolute delight, the book (unlike the picture's price but same cover artwork) was 2.95 originally so I was REALLY excited to even get half off of that! I will totally be posting later on as I read to tell you what I though of the book. If I like this book, I plan on getting the rest of the series.

(UPDATE: 2/6/10)
So I'm about halfway through the book and I find myself thinking about how, if at all, I could use this in a classroom. Some of the names in the book are rather confusing but I think that it is an interesting read. I'm not sure if I would be able to use this book in a classroom setting unless I was teaching a unit on science fiction. It is rather "lighthearted" in comparison to some science fiction books. I think I might use it as a book that I would have in my classroom library and recommend it for students who might be interested in science fiction.

Here is a movie trailer I found on Youtube for the 2005 movie version of the book

FOOT: Autobiography Update

I really understand WHY we got the instructions for this project so early on. As I'm looking for pictures and videos, I find myself sometimes watching full episodes of old TV shows or listening to the music of my youth.




Seriously. I'm having way too much fun with this project!!!

FOOT: Pleasure "Reading"? Do Duct Tape dresses based off literary texts count as a text?

Hey everyone!
I will be working this spring with Fashion Week Cleveland again and this time I figured "Hey, why not combine duct tape and literature in a fantastic explosion of creativity!?!?"
As promotion for FWC and a potential wearable art fashion show next year, I will be (hopefully) attending the pre-parties and also (maybe) Cuyahoga County Public Libraries during the days of the parties. Everything is still in the works but I'm very excited. I have as of right now 5 designs on the drawing board and would love to hear some input.
I will be basing my ideas off literary works (novels, poems, authors, etc). As of right now I have a "The Raven" by Poe dress, a "Leaves of Grass" by Whitman dress, "The Inferno" by Dante dress, and a few other rough ideas.
Look for updates in the near future and once I refine my designs, I'll try to post them on my other blog. It's called TAPED! by Sadie and if you click on TAPED! it will take you to that site. (Okay to clear up any confusion: For those who don't know this already, I deeply dislike that my name is so common so Sadie is my nickname that I use when designing though people will call me both Sarah and Sadie)

If you just want to see pictures, my lovely photographer friends Tanya Perez and Robert Banks have some sets up on Flickr. For some of Tanya's pictures you can click here, here, here or here. (I know it's a lot of links) The ever wonderful Robert Banks also took some photos which you can view here.

FOOT: Little Brother Post

Personally, I'm unsure of how I feel about Little Brother as of now. I'm still in the process of reading it, but I cannot decide if I like the text or not. The text and the issues presented in the text can be great conversation starters. Yesterday evening, I was in the car driving back from babysitting with Connor and attempting to help a 2 year old learn the alphabet when I started talking to him about Little Brother because we were on the turnpike and using an EZpass. Over the summer at work, we had discussed how whoever is in charge of the EZpass information could tell if we were speeding based on the times you passed through the readers. Last night, I was telling Connor about how in the book, they were using the EZpass-like devices to find out where everyone is at all times. This then started a 30 minute long conversation about how far can and should the government go with invasion of privacy. If that was a theme for a unit in class, this could totally be a book to use.

As for the actual story itself, it took me a while to "get into" the text. There was a lot of technology terminology that I was unfamiliar with. Luckily, most of it was defined in the text but since I had no prior interest in the topic of technology, it was harder to get into. One piece I did find entertaining was when Marcus said he was a LARPer. Wikipedia has a fairly accurate description of what LARPing is. Here is a link to Larp.com for more info and a video about larping.




I also tried to find the Kent State LARPers on the Center for Student Involvement website but the only thing I could really find was the Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow club.
What Is LARPing? - Watch more Funny Videos