Lovely theme, eh? It’s called Color Paper and it’s FREE from Smashing Magazine.

That is all for now… stay tuned – cool things should start to happen soonish ;)

Very nice. Had to save this one :) Get Your Cyborg Name

Well, maybe I’ll go for more of a tumble log type setup – that way I can be short, sweet and simple.

Then again… how would that be any different from my Twitter account ?

Well, maybe I’ll post soon… maybe not. I make no promises, but I’ll try harder.

Ciao

Well, since I don’t really have a lot of time to write more than one blog post per month, I figured I’d link you all to my Twitter page where I have the chance to post once or twice a day.

You can find me at twitter.com/jewlofthelotus. Add me if you’re a Twitter-er (?), too. :)

I don’t tweet too often and I don’t necessarily tweet about what I am doing. But if I have something meaningful to say in less than 140 characters, I’ll tweet about it.

And so I give in to this Twitter thing.

Jewls

When I came to MSU, I thought that the music industry was where I belonged. I knew performance was definitely not the path for me, so I took the production route. MSU offers two courses in audio production, both of which I passed with flying colors, but neither of which left me with a strong sense of confidence or inspiration to jump into the business. This was not the fault of the professor. It just turns out that I’d rather just listen to music and appreciate it, than create it on my own and push it into a market that I won’t waste time critiquing at this time.

Last spring, after finishing both audio classes, I spent a lot of time worrying that I was headed down the wrong road. As I finished up my last audio class, I watched my boyfriend, Adam, code away and make websites. I liked his freedom and I liked that he was making something that people could use. With music, people can absorb it – listen to it, dance to it, appreciate it. With the internet, you can interact – with people and with applications. It only became clear to me recently, but interaction has always intrigued me. I guess this comes from my fascination with determinism – I enjoy observing interactions and the effects of those interactions. Human interaction is particularly interesting. In my interactions with people, I’ve always liked to play a mutual role – lots of different groups of friends, never taking sides in a fight. I’ve also always enjoyed entertaining people – throwing parties is one of my specialties, you know. I like a lot of different types of people, I don’t like fighting, and I like to make people happy. Plus, I enjoy interaction. So, how do I make a career of this? Well, I had a whole summer to figure things out. So, I headed to Europe and forgot about the future. I also signed up for a few web-related classes before I left.

As you may have heard, Europe was incredible and completely life-altering. I came back to Michigan eager to do something enjoyable with my life (as well as, return promptly back to Italy). So, I gave into Adam’s praise of Ruby on Rails and spent the rest of my summer working through RoR tutorials and reading Agile Web Development with Rails. When school started back up, I had a Computer-Mediated Communications class as well as an Interactive Media class. From there, I built ExpressiveConnections.com for my Interactive Media class, and learned a lot about online interaction in the CMC class. It was a good semester.

My Scripting Web 2.0 class this semester is great. My “Is God Dead?” class has allowed me to explore determinism among other things more. And the other classes are, well, okay.

So, I’m enjoying the internet. I really enjoyed making Expressive Connections. I want to learn more, and I want to be really good at it all one day. I’ve only been doing this web thing for eight months, though. So, I feel like I have a ways to go. I also feel like I missed out on a lot during the first three years of college….I could have been taking programming courses and database classes. (It especially irks me that when I was in high school making websites for rock bands (the faces of greenwheel) and templates for Diary-x journals, or Freshman year of college when I made an online portfolio, that I didn’t recognize my interest in the web then. I guess I can excuse myself in high school since the characteristics of today’s “Web 2.0” (like interaction, participation, customization, and collaboration), weren’t quite there yet. I didn’t see the full potential of the web, then. And, I guess I can excuse myself for Freshman year because I built my portfolio site using Adobe GoLive and it was a frustrating experience, to say the least. However, looking at the old source code today gives me a good laugh.)

So now I’m going to graduate and need to figure out what I’m going to do with myself after that. I think I’ve almost come to some sort of clear rational decision, but I’m not there yet. Here are some things I’ve been thinking about:

1. Grad School – Human-Computer Interaction at U of M
2. Freelancing…
3. A real job somewhere…

I like freelancing because I can be my own boss and work on my own hours. I’m hesitant about getting a “real job” mostly because I have only been doing this 8 months. I barely have a relevant resume. And, I feel like there’s a lot more that I should know before going for a “real job.” Finally, there’s grad school. Honestly, this program at U of M sounds perfect. And applying is 90% positively in my near future, however, before I apply – I need to get Michigan residency. No more of these Out-of-State fees, thank you. When I am able to get residency, though, will determine which semester I am able to apply for. If I wait to get a place in Ann Arbor after graduation and then get residency, the soonest I could apply for is Winter admission. So, then I’d need to find something to do on a full-time basis between May and January. Whether that would be freelancing or a job or an internship – I have NO IDEA.

Sigh. But that is where I am now. Trying to make decisions. Excited about the future, unsure of how I’m getting there. I’m good at planning, though. So, hopefully it will all come together soon.

If you read this far, please leave a comment so I can bake you a cake.

Jewls

• TC448 – Scripting Web 2.0
• ADV456 – Interactive Advertising
• REL491 – Is God Dead? Pantheism, Nihilism, and the Pursuit of Divine Knowledge
• PSY330 – Personality from a Psychoanalytic Perspective
• CAS380 – Job Search Strategies

Two of my classes are relatively related to my field, Scripting Web 2.0 goes over Ruby on Rails, MySQL, and Apache, and is taught by Kurt Demaagd, co-founder of Slashdot and board member on the Perl Foundation. So, needless to say – I’m pretty excited about that one.

The other class potentially beneficial to my future is Interactive Advertising. The class is centered around a group project in which we have to develop a predominantly online advertising plan for a local business. My group is working with John Kodeski of Relish Culinary Boutique. Now, if you visited that link – you’ll see that the site could use some work and this is where our group comes in with a plan (and also where I come in with my web skills – if he likes our plan, maybe I’d be the one to redesign the site, eh?).

The “Is God Dead?” class, is one of my more enjoyable courses. We’re currently discussing the viewpoints of the Dutch philosopher, Spinoza (Pantheism), and the German philosopher, Jacobi, who argued against Spinoza’s views. It’s pretty interesting stuff, if you’re into deep philosophical thoughts of God and the freedom of man, that is.

Next, there’s Personality from a Psychoanalytic Perspective with Bertram Karon. Pretty smart guy, pretty interesting stuff – however, I had him before in Abnormal Psychology and already I’m hearing the same stories . Still, interesting stuff.

And finally, Job Search Strategies. I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do.

Additionally, I’m taking introductory yoga classes at Center for Yoga in East Lansing. Those are pretty nice. Good stress relief.

Between all of these classes, I have been working on the site – which will probably be in some sort of alpha mode within in the next few weeks. Once finalized, I’ll of course post it here. I’ve also been working on a portfolio site for myself, once that is up – I’ll post it here, too. And on the weekends, I spend time with Adam. And that’s pretty much life.

Some other random thoughts over the last month:

• iPhone is AWESOME.
• I should have said this back in November but Incubus’ new album – Light Grenades is AWESOME.
• Going back to Europe in July will be AWESOME.
• And if you’ve read this far into my post, YOU ARE AWESOME.

I’ll stop now.

Take care now, bye-bye then.
Jewls

Coming VERY soon – My First Rails App :)

To sum it up:

The MPAA defines a home theater as any home with a television larger than 29” with stereo sound and at least two comfortable chairs, couch, or futon. Anyone with a home theater would need to pay a $50 registration fee with the MPAA or face fines up to $500,000 per movie shown…

The bill would require that any hardware manufactured in the future contain technology that tells the MPAA directly of what is being shown and specific details on the audience. The data would be gathered using various motion sensors and biometric technology…

‘Just because you buy a DVD to watch at home doesn’t give you the right to invite friends over to watch it too. That’s a violation of copyright and denies us the revenue that would be generated from DVD sales to your friends,’ said Glickman.

mcatrage’s digg comment explains why we were so easily fooled:

Sad part is would you really put it past the MPAA to actually try and do this?

…man, I was REALLY pissed off for a second there.

Here’s a new video, taken by a student’s camera phone, displaying similar police brutality, again, in Los Angelas. The student was asked to leave the library when he could not produce an ID. As the student was headed towards the doors, an officer grabbed his arm (I would assume to “escort” him out) at which point the student began yelling “Get off me!” A second officer approached and it was at this point when the student was tased for the first time… Let’s hope that this video can generate enough attention to prompt another FBI investigation in LA.

In an article on Yahoo! about the first instance, it is said that:

Legal observers said the public has become somewhat desensitized to questionable police tactics caught on tape because such videos have become more prevalent since the King beating. In many cases, officers have been exonerated.

“The first reaction by people is one of outrage,” said Eugene O’Donnell, a professor of police studies at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. “But the more you see police officers using force on tape, the more you get used to it.”

I sincerely hope that people don’t just “get used” to seeing this sort of thing. It should make you sick to your stomach, and if it doesn’t – I would wonder if you’re really human.

Aside from the Friday the 13th induced bad weather, I’ve discovered that both of my cats have fleas. And, Gibby has a hole poked into her abdomen. So they’re both on flea medications, and I get to vacuum all the carpets and furniture, and wash all of the sheets and blankets, and spray to kill all the eggs. And, I have to give Gibby antibiotics and keep her from licking her wound. If she keeps licking it – we have to buy her one of those white plastic shields that go around the head. She’d love that.

I can only assume that this bad luck will continue through tomorrow, I will keep you all updated.

Maybe since the Spartans are already having a horrible season, the bad luck of Friday the 13th will have a reverse effect and we’ll beat #1 Ohio State… I could also be dreaming.