Final Reflection of LYC

Letter to a Young Contrarian was an interesting read. I have never been so challenged to think while reading a book. The novel goes over many aspects of life and the authors views of them, but it also makes you think about your own views compared. Although this book did not connect to the class, I think it was a good read to keep our mind racing while learning about other subjects in the classroom. The many political, radical, independent, views that are discussed has made me really think about my own personal views towards the subjects that are brought up. The main takeaway from this book for me is to view things from all angles and to make the correct decision on why you view things in certain ways.

LYC CH 9

The first quote I would like to bring to your attention is that from Thomas Jefferson, "I tremble for my country when I remember that god is just." This quote means that there is a great deal of corruption going on around the speaker and there is only a matter of time before the consequences show. People tend to forget there moral stand, and only think upon themselves.

The final quote I will bring up from this book is, "A true believer must believe that he or she is here for a purpose and is an object of real interest to a Supreme Being." This chapter is about religion and the authors views about it. With this quote we can recognize that many in religion we see people acting out their lives for a being they have never seen before. I am not trying to offend anyone with this, but the truth is spoken. We live our lives as if some higher power is judging our every move, and what do we really know about this higher power? Only what we read.

LYC CH 8

The only quote I thought was really thought provoking from this short chapter is, "All the news that's fit to print." This is a quote that is printed on the front of the New York Times and clearly means, that the news inside of the article is not necessarily what is important, but what is going to be discussed intensely and sell to a wider audience. In my opinion the New York Times is extremely biased, and is not always "news that is fit to print". Although it does discuss important topics there are plenty of other topics that can overpower the articles that are "wanted" by readers.

LYC CH7

The first quote I will bring up from this chapter is, "Very often the hardest thing to see is what is right in front of your nose." I have heard this quote throughout my life, and it is one of the truest things I have ever heard. We tend to overlook things in order to get something done quickly or getting something done in a frantic manner. We need to take every detail into consideration, and then maybe we will find the answers. I believe this is true with all reasons of living, even just trying to find your keys.

The second quote I will discuss is, "Innocence will only take you so far." This quote is another one to remember in the back of your mind. Innocence is something associated with children, and we grow older we tend to lose that presentation. As children are ones who do not know any better they can get away with wrongs very easily. As they mature we tend to see them get punished and learn what is wrong and right. The innocence is then slightly lost and we see it then as a rebellion. As adults we can portray ourselves as innocent and conservative, but in actuality no human adult is as innocent as they appear. Everyone lies, cheats, fights, and breaks rules, it is all a part of being human. With that being said the innocence will get you where you need to start because you will gain trust, but then you have to show power and that is how you become successful.

FINAL REFLECTION OF THE CLASS

I enjoyed this class so much this semester that I can honestly say this is my favorite class. Before this class I did not know too much about social media, internet privacy, media news, basically everything related to the internet itself besides being able to upload a picture onto Facebook or Instagram. This class has taught me how to make a podcast, vines, YouTube videos, and fully express myself and things I am interested in online. With that being said, this class has also taught me the downsides of being able to post all this information on the internet. It will always be there no matter how many times I hit delete. I have become more aware about what I post online for the ENTIRE world to see. You think your Facebook is private? Think again!

I have never been one to care about what I post online, and still I do not care too much because I am an open book. My mom has always been on my case about what I post online, but if I don't post it online I'm just gonna say it in person to someone, and with people nowadays you can't trust if they will or will not tell someone. Why not take it upon myself to post my opinions and thoughts online? That being said, I still must be careful with what I say online because the government, and every other country's government is watching me. That cool though, learn about my boy problems and the issues I have with my roommate! While I may not be posting something "important" online, people like Aaron Schwartz and Edward Snowden. These are two gentlemen we have talked about in class whom have leaked classified info, or just downloaded too many scholarly works. The restrictions of the internet along with the freedom are not well managed as I can tell from discussions in this class.

In conclusion this class has taught me to be a better "digital citizen" and how I can benefit others and myself through the internet.

Project 4 Reflection

For project 4 I realized how difficult it truly is working by yourself when filming. I realized this in project 3, but with project 4 I have made the full realization. After trying to record myself on my phone several times, I came across this wonderful app on my computer called windows movie maker. This saved my life, I was able to record my intro without my camera falling over several times! It was also difficult to get another work done for the final video. The artwork itself didn't take much time for the test print, but for the send print it was taking forever to make a full design. I ended up not showing the progress in the video because I didn't want to show the making of one design and bring in a different one. Overall I really enjoyed this project and made my first DIY video! I also learned how to create a pin on Pinterest which will come in handy for me when I start more DIY crafts.

DIY Sharpie Art Com 242

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335307134733352656/

Final DIY Sharpie Art Images

LYC CH6

The first quote I will bring to your attention is, "You can't hope to change human nature or Human Nature...because Nature is a given." I chose this quote because although nature is a given it is something that is also taught. There have been past encounters with children whom have grown up in the wilderness, and have been completely unaware of a human's lifestyle. This is due to the fact that they have no one to show them the nature of a human being. So although nature is a given, it is something that needs to be taught at a young age, and the rest will then come easy.

The second quote I will address is, "A truth that is told with bad intent, beats all the lies you can invent." This quote is one of George Orwell, an English novelist. I love this quote and agree with its contents entirely. When one tells another of a truthful event or subject with the intent to hurt that other person will realize that what they have done is worse than telling 1000 lies. To take advantage of a truth is to take advantage of oneself or someone else.

LYC CH 5

The first quote I will bring up from this chapter is, "In a phrase, they decided to live 'as if.'" This means that people are living there life with thoughts in there mind that they should live "as if" they were to be surrounded by a different timeline. I use the word timeline because although we only know of one lifetime there are many possibilities in life, and you must live "as if" you are the outcome of all these possibilities and "as if" you can change them. "Live 'as if' you were to die tomorrow." is a great example of this because you never know when your fate will come, and so you must live every moment to the fullest.

The second quote I will bring up is, "You can't achieve 100 percent control over humans, and if you could, you could not go on doing so." I think that this quote related to technology is incorrect. As we get more involved with technology we are starting to see it take over. It may not be literally, but in a few years technology will definitely take control over humans. I am not sure if the last half of the quote will follow in if technology will successful surpass us or if it will turn into a terrible ending for human beings.

The test piece (Week 2)

I have completed the test piece and below is a photo of the test. I did not get any photos of the process...well not good quality at least. Now time to begin the video. I have now spent 3 hours getting this project started and making sure that it is doable,

Week 1 Blog entry

(I had saved this entry, but not published it...SORRY!)

For this project I will be demonstrating Sharpie Art. I have purchased all the supplies needed to begin this project, and plan to do one test art before completing the final video. I have not experienced any difficulty so far besides trying to record myself making the art work. I have not begun the piece thus there are no photos to share at this moment. So far planning and purchasing the supplies I have spent 30-45 minutes on this project.

Terms and Conditions May Apply

To be completely honest I have no emotion or thoughts towards the fact that Google does not have their user agreement online. I have never really put too much thought into it, and I probably never will. I don't care what websites know about me because they know it about everyone. If a site claims to want my immortal soul then go right ahead because in actuality the will be getting nothing but a source of energy that will find a new host whether it be living or electric energy. I will probably never complain about the way corporation work with others to learn about me because I really just do not care.

Vine Reflection

Creating these vines was a challenge because in working by myself I also had to record everything in selfie mode. I chose to make my vines about winged eyeliner because I get asked a lot how I get the perfect "cat eye". The stop motion was especially difficult because I couldn't see the screen well, and I didn't know if I was going to mess up (which I did...quite a bit). I enjoyed this though because in making a six second step by step video I realised, these would have been nice when I was learning how to make that perfect cat eye. I hope these videos make learning the perfect cat eye easier for other girls out there who have struggled or still struggle with this makeup trick.

Vine: Namasammy

Viral Video

Animal Voice Overs

I chose the video of Animal Voice Overs because it always cracks me up, and I could quote the entire video. Although it is long it is a compilation of short videos and it keeps your attention. The title is short, but the video is a bit long at 4:34. The voice overs are hilarious, and they are in a british accent, and for us Americans that makes everything better of course! This video also makes reference to a popular song, and even has a chipmunk beat boxing. Some of the references the animals make are also relatable which is hilarious because it personifies these animals. 

The Internship and Teamwork!

In the film The Internship the team that we follow is a group of rejects that form together to make their own Google group. Their rival team is a group of smart and attractive higher education students who are fighting to win the Google internship program, and prove the rejects are not worthy. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are a part of the reject team, and are older men who are trying to get their lives together. They are not as smart as the students that are in their group, and therefore in the beginning are told to stay out of the way when working on projects. As the movie goes on the group becomes close, and we find out everyone's strengths as a part of the group. The rival team is a dictatorship, and although they are winning more competitions they are not forming a working bond with each other. Teamwork is all about togetherness and working together to figure out what each individual excels at. In the end of the film we see how that gets a group to succeed over the dictatorship rival group. The film hit Google's core values spot on. In the end the group that showed most if not all of the values was the one that one the Internship program, and got jobs at Google.

You are shrunk...

If I were to shrink to the size of a nickel and thrown in a blender there would be on of two options for me. Option one would be to lay completely flat against the base and the blades will never touch me. Does that mean I am stuck like that forever though? If I am stuck like that forever then option two would be to become Spiderman. I would then use my webs and spider-like abilities to climb out of the blender to safety. Plus, wouldn't it be cool to be Spiderman?

The Internship and Google

I thin that due to the fact that the movie uses the real Google headquarters as there setting really encompasses the feel of how Google culture is. Although during the film they seem very harsh to the interns I believe it is a true feeling of how Google is, due to the competitiveness of the corporation. I believe that Google basing their whole corporation on data is evened out with the perks that employees receive while working for this corporation. I don't think that they are dehumanising their employees due to the relax and fun environment that the employees are surrounded by. Employees at Google have everything they need to survive right in the Google complex! I think that the environment we see the Google employees working in relates greatly to how Google regards its customer base. We have all this data right at our fingertips, but we are introduced to it with fun images or animation of the Google home screen, and even interactive home screens! In my opinion Google understands how people work, and ways to relieve the stress of work to make it easier for the employee of customer.

GPS Art Refelction

For the GPS art, Sally and I originally had a plan to create a smiley face with a top hat and moustache. In the process we fund out that we cannot pause the run and begin a new line, but rather it is all one continuous line. After we decided the smiley face wouldn't work we decided on creating a snail, but again failed with that attempt, and turned our GPS art into a rose. Our art was very small, and I wish it was larger, but to create amazing GPS art takes a lot of time and practice I have found out.
There was nothing easy for me in learning about this app and how to use it, but I can tell you the difficulty of not knowing the app got easier as we explored the use of it. I will definitely be using this app for my walking and running, and I may continue on trying to create amazing GPS art.

Meme Analysis

Although this meme can be very funny most of the time (like the last one I posted), it is also used to discuss governmental issues. To me it feels less stressful seeing a funny meme used to discuss political and governmental issues, well not really discuss them, but help bring up the topic of discussion. If this meme was studied, I think the study would need to be of why the meme makes one feel more relaxed about a serious topic, and how does that affect the person's thoughts on the topic. This meme demands action in an obvious manner, and begins the debate of any topic it "brings up." 

Internet Art CH 1

The first artist I will bring up from this chapter is Heath Bunting (Britain). According to irational.org, a website he himself created, he is "co-founder of net.art and and sport-art movement, and is banned for life from entering the USA for his anti-genetic and border crossing work." He is also known to be the world's most famous computer artist. From what I have read about him he is an activist that shows his thoughts on borders in physical space and online.





http://irational.org/cgi-bin/cv2/temp.pl

The second artist I will discuss is Alexei Shulgin. Alexei is a Russian artist who started in photography, but soon made the change to internet art. He invented Form Art and aided in the findings and creations of other websites and internet art forms. Form art is almost like a game of clicking blank boxes on a screen and proceeding to the next "level" or find yourself at a "you lose" page. 

Internet Art Intro

The first person I will discuss is Nam June Paik. Nam is most known for being considered the founder of video art. As an artist Nam would take television sets and make music and sound flow with images on the screen or even mess with the electronic forces in a colour television. This absolutely amazing, who would have known that you could make art out of a television set, or a few television sets stacked on top of each other. He was also known for his making of robots from these television sets.

Another artist from this chapter is Cindy Sherman. I have learned of Cindy Sherman's series "Untitled Film Stills" before, and absolutely love the serious of photographs she has produced. Each photo looks as though it is a still from a film, you would never guess that it was just another photograph. The characters have such emotion, and the perspective always gets you right in on the action. She was a feminist, and shows this in a lot of her photographs, In her "Untitled Film Stills" she depicts how she sees women in today's society.

LYC CH4

The first quote I want to bring up from chapter four is that which appears in Sigmund Freud's memorial in Vienna, "The voice of reason is small, but very persistent." (27) I absolutely adore this quote because the truth that cradles it. Everyone has their own voice of reason, and it the voice that guides us through everything we do. This is the voice that helps us make our decisions and helps us rationalize our decisions after we make them. You cannot run away from this voice because it is a part of you. You can choose to ignore it, but are you really ignoring it?

The second quote I will shed light on is that of which George Orwell said, "Prime responsibility lay in being able to tell people what they did not what they wish to hear." (29) I choose this quote because it is our responsibility to others not to tell them fantasy, but to explain the truth behind their own actions. Just because your voice of reason tells you to tell one a lie about their own actions, do you do it? You may, but is that beneficial at all to the other individual? Not even slightly. Everyone else can see what they are doing, but people put up barriers to their own actions, and do not always believe what they do, but listen from others, It is our responsibility to tell these people their actions and help them improve on themselves,

Sammy and Sally's Lunatic Soup

Sammy and Sally's Lunatic Soup

LYC CH 3

Chapter three of Letters to a Young Contrarian was an interesting chapter in my opinion. The first quote I want to bring up is, "Wherever life exists, there also is inconsistency, division, and strife." (19) This quote really makes me think because it is very true. There is never a time in one's life where one doesn't face a struggle, or has a disagreement being with someone or with themselves. We will never agree with everyone, and everyone will never agree with us. We must accept the inconsistency, division, and strife. It's all a part of existence, and without it do we truly exist?

The second quote that caught my attention is, "...in life we make progress by conflict and in mental life by argument and disputation." (20) This quote relates perfectly with the first quote I chose with the whole concept of argumentation. We argue with ourselves about every action we take, "Should we do this? No? Maybe?" We fight to the top for better schooling, a better career, the perfect family. Life is a huge argument that will never end, but we stick our points will can keep winning the battles.

LYC Ch 2

Chapter two in Letters to a Young Contrarian was a short chapter, and therefore only one passage really stuck out to me.

With much less eloquence, this is what I have been telling writing classes for years.

You must feel not what you want to but that you have to. It's worth emphasizing to, 

because here is a relationship,inexact to be sure but a relationship, between this desire

or need and the ambition to rely upon internal exile, or dissent; the decision to

live at a slight acute angle to society.

I chose this quote because this one line really stuck out to me especially in the state that my life is going through right now. "You must feel not what you want to but that you have to." One's feelings and emotions are uncontrollable and even if you may think you are controlling your feelings on the outside what is going on inside your mind may be completely different. That is what we get with writers, what they write is the actual feelings they experience and not the feelings they "want" to experience. One will not make up their feelings about something to write what they think people want to hear, but in fact they write about what they are actually feeling and the audience can interpret it and dislike the writing or like the writing.

Project 1 Review

I enjoyed working on project one because it was a new way to express myself for a class with something that I express myself on everyday. The only two challenges I really faced were the questions of who am I and how am I going to make something that represents me as a person. Well after scrolling through my personal Instagram I realized what really makes me who I am, and that is when I began taking photos for the assignment. After taking so many photos though I thought, how am I going to make a physical item that brings one of these photos to life? I went through my apartment and picked up an empty alcohol bottle and my crafting supplies and began to work. I ended up taking three things that make me who I am and morphing them into one product. Alcohol, the beaches of Isle of Palms, and crafting are what made my final product. Looking around myself and what surrounds  me is what I realized makes me the person I am, and having tragic event take place in my life while working on this project also helped me realize who I am and why I am who I am. I've learned a lot about myself in the process of completing this project, and I would not want to be anyone else except for who I am no matter how much I don't want to be a part of my own life sometimes.

Instagram Idea List

1. My closet
2. Necklace from Aliah
3. Food
4. Barbie
5. Make-up
6. Vogue
7. Fashion
8. The dogs
9. Utampa
10. South Carolina
11. Florida
12. Family
13. Cars
14. Football
15. Singing
16. Art
17. My Apartment
18. Surfing
19. Being Vegetarian
20. Coffee
21. Close-up of animal print
22. Most shots come from my apartment
23. Full closet shot shoes, clothes, purses, etc
24. Photo of my apartment number
25. Decorations in my apartment
26. My dad influenced almost everything that makes me, me
27. Alcohol has had a positive and negative affect on me
28. The ocean if I can make it to the beach
29. Netflix
30. Lots of close-ups
31. Michael Kors
32. Victoria's Secret
33. Take photos at or after a mall trip
34. Carly, my best friend
35. Sweets like candy
36. Bayshore
37. Boating
38. Shoes Shoes Shoes!!
39. Gianni Bini
40. Crafting

LYC Ch 1

"Another observation from antiquity has it that, while courage is not in itself one of the primary virtues, it is the quality that makes the exercise of the virtues possible." (9)
I chose this quote because it really caught my attention. I had it in my mind what is was saying to me, but it took me a while of breaking the sentence down in order to explain it, and why it caught my attention. What I get out of this quotation is that courage is not what makes up our virtues, it is one of the stepping stones on the path to honor.

Other that this quote honestly no other quotes in this chapter stood out to me or caught my attention. As I read it again I may update this post or create a new.

Generation Like Response

After watching Generation Like I believe it is true to say that "you are what you like." I believe this because whatever you like on the internet has to be something that is of your interest in reality also. Liking something on the internet is a quicker way of a face to face interaction with someone ofr something. If someone is to post an #OOTD (outfit of the day) photo and you do not see them in reality that day you can still tell them, "Hey, I love your outfit" simply by clicking a button on your computer or the screen of your cellphone.

Personally I am not concerned with someone making money off of my online data unless is has a direct effect on me. I post things on the internet knowing that they are going to be open for other internet users to view. My profiles on all my social media are public because no one is trying to find me and target me specifically for anything. I have had people try to pretend they were me on social media, but the people I'm close to already know who I am online, and know not to believe these fake profiles. I do believe that making money off other peoples information is exploitative, but what are we going to do about it? By myself I can not target a huge company and take them down for using my information in a way that does not have a direct effect on me.

Selfie Update #3

Art and Music are two things that I have been taught since I was able to read and write. My father was a musician, and my mother preferred the visual arts. If it wasn't for them I would not be in school right now. I came to school for the arts and to pursue a life as an art director or designing my own clothing. Music has been a major influence also because I have just recently pursued a dream by auditioning for America's Got Talent. I may not have made it, but that gives me the motivation to keep getting better at the things that I do, and that is what motivates me to wake up every morning.

Selfie Update #2

These are all of my dogs, and the one on top and the one on the bottom left I have grown up with. Today Wilbur (bottom left) passed away, and I added him to this project because he has influenced my love for animals. These guys have helped me through tough spots in my life. They are why I'm an animal rights activist, why I work with animals, and most importantly why I'm such a caring person. R.I.P. Wilbur Michie February 8th, 2015 6:23pm.

Selfie Update #1

These photos are all related to my love for fashion, and what I want to do with my life. I have always enjoyed shopping, and when I was growing up my mom would take me to the mall when I was upset to buy me something special. I've always associated this act as the beginning of my love for fashion. I have had a dream for the past four years to become an Art Director for Vogue magazine, and to succeed in the fashion industry. 

YouTube and the Shared Phase

Personally I do not watch many YouTube videos, but i do enjoy watching TwentyForSeven and Pentatonix's music videos. They are two different music groups whom I enjoy greatly, and have shared almost all of their videos to my Facebook page. I have not gotten into sharing videos on social media until recently, and the only videos I do share are of animals being cute. I am a big fan of dogs, and cannot tell you how many videos of puppies I share to my Facebook friends a week. I remember my first semester freshman year I watched videos of goats, cats, dogs, and many other animals being funny with one of my really close friends. I did not realize how much I didn't have a life until I caught myself watching a twenty minute video of goats screaming

My Internet Identity

When I had Googled myself as Sammy Michie all of my social media popped up on the search page, as well as plenty of photos and even YouTube videos. It was kind of scary that even photos of my Facebook friends showed up in the Google image search. Today, I believe it is very important to have an online image. Many people can find out a lot of information about another individual through their online profiles, and this could be helpful to possible employers, colleges, etc. This is how everyone worldwide is connected to one another, and it wouldn't be possible without social media and our presence in it.

Something to consider when creating your online presence is, does it accurately represent who you are. You do not want to create this fake presence online because once someone meets you in person they will discover the truth, and take you as a liar. Also, posting raunchy photos or statuses will show possible employers or colleges that you are not the type of person they want to represent their company or school. It is very important to tell the truth about yourself online, and save the raunchy material for your personal knowledge.

Who am I?

My name is Sammy Michie and I am a sophomore at the University of Tampa. I study Fine Arts with a focus in Digital Arts and I study Communications with a focus in Advertisement. I am originally from Isle of Palms, South Carolina, but have been in the Tampa area for roughly four years now. Right now I am a server at Hattrick's sports bar in the heart of Downtown Tampa, and that is what consumes my life, besides school of course. I want to work in the fashion industry when I am older as an Art Director for a fashion magazine. It is my dream to pursue a career with Vogue magazine or Victoria’s Secret. Right now I design my own clothing and have my own brand called "Eyes on You". I am also a painter and enjoy producing works that focus on the ocean and its marine life.

My first impressions of this class were that I was going to enjoy it, but it was not going to be an easy class. I have never made a blog before so this is completely new to me, and I am already struggle with figuring out the technology behind it. I have never been a tech savvy person, and do not post on social media as much as the average college student. That is exactly why I am in this class though. I hope to gain knowledge on advertising through social media, and to better understand how social media works for our society as a whole.