Paint by Numbers….
A World Through an Artist’s Eyes….The End is Near…
Haha, wow, that sounds like a prediction for the end of the world (which is supposed to be in 2012? Yeah, ok, crazy people..). I promise, it’s not. It’s just referring to the fact that this lovely class is coming to an end on March 21st. Sad day.
So I’m apparently supposed to give a presentation on what I’ve learned or what I’ve taken away from the semester. I think it’s really opened my eyes to all of the ways to market yourself or your issues. Or something. I think what I really want to talk about in my presentation are design issues. First impressions, I suppose you could say.
I guess it helps that before this semester, I had no idea what all of these sites did. Sure, I was an avid Facebook user, a bit of a Myspace user (even though all the young ones are on that, as well as really creepy people), and that’s about it. I could email and surf the web just fine, but I had no clue about all these other social networking sites on which you could advertise yourself. It’s quite interesting.
Being one of those “artsy-fartsy” people, to me, design and looks are everything. I mean, if a site doesn’t look good or isn’t easy to navigate, there’s no point in trying it out, no matter if it’s the next miracle or not. If I can’t easily navigate through a site, then I have no desire to use it. And if it doesn’t catch my attention, I don’t want to explore further. Simple as that. Well, at least, that’s my main point. I’m sure I’ll put some more details into my presentation 
For the Technology-Savvy…
Michigan State's famous Spartan head
Attention all those that have a firm grip on all the technology today: here’s a quick survey for you. Do you know how to advertise a site on Google AdWords? Do you know proper ways of optimizing your search engine results? Do you have any idea what Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, and Delicious are?
Well, if you answered no to any of those questions, I suggest you learn about them! And trust me, it’s worth it. I have a medium for you. The New Media Driver’s License. No, unlike the title suggests, it is NOT a piece of paper that will legalize your consumption of alcohol (not that any piece of paper will actually DO that). It is, in fact, a class offered at Michigan State University: ADV 492, Special Topics. A pioneer class, it offers its students (of which I am one, just so you don’t think I have no background in this) a whirlwind tour of new ways of social networking. This class is offered almost entirely online, which I think fits. I mean, for us to stay connected, we have to utilize the tools that we are being taught. Kind of clever, MSU, kind of clever. So how to we stay in touch? Well, it’s simple, we’ve got a Facebook group and a class website, for starters. And more so, a lot of us connect on all the other social networking sites I mentioned above.
So, for those that think they are technology-savvy, trust me, I did, too. But after only a month and a half in this class, well, I learned that I am only technology-knowledgeable. And since I have to keep this blog post pretty short, due to assignment constraints, check out my other blog and all of the websites I have linked to for more information. And guys and gals, come on, tell your friends! It’s really a great class for some extra learning.
Optimizing my Search Engine Experience? What?
Yeah, that’s kind of a mouthful. I had absolutely no clue what Search Engine Optimization (which is more commonly referred to as SEO) was before I decided to dig into this assignment, which is referenced from a lovely post on our class website. I mean, who really thinks about optimizing their website on search engines? Not me, that’s for sure. I mean, I made my own website last semester for one of my classes, and while I’m officially on the web, I never thought to make it so that people using search engines can actually find it. Although, you would think that somewhere in my brain, it would make sense, right?
So this post we had to read had so many links to helpful hints on how to properly optimize your website in search engine results. It was kind of intimidating, actually… there were so many links! Gave me a bit of a headache there. But I finally dug in, and I think the one post that was probably the most enlightening and helpful was the one by Aaron Wall. Definitely did not know that even before I officially publish my site on the web, I should make an Excel spreadsheet to “visualize my site structure,” which apparently improves on organization and helps you identify what kinds of keywords to start applying to your site. That is not even something I would think about when creating a website. I just thought you kind of plan out where you want things on the page, but I guess that’s the design part of my mind.
Our part 2 of the assignment (because there is always a part 2, thanks, Derek 
) was to sign up for Digg and Delicious, other social networking sites. Well, sort of, anyway. Digg, in my opinion (go check out my profile on there), is kind of a big forum to share cool websites with other people, and I guess that’s another way to network. I mean, if you share favorite websites with other people, you’ve gotta have some common ground, right? Makes sense to me, anyway. I guess Delicious is kind of similar as well (again, go check out my profile). I really didn’t see too much of a difference between the 2 sites, because both dealt with bookmarking in some fashion. But it was kind of cool that if enough people “Dug” a website (no pun intended) on Digg, it showed up on the home page feed. And same with delicious – it showed up on the popular websites. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.
Well, that’s the blog post about this assignment, but there is definitely more to learn about this whole SEO thing. Not something I have completely wrapped my head around yet, but I’m definitely going to explore this a little more. Who knows, if I do this properly, I might end up as a popular hit on Google or something?!
Expanding My Social Networking
This week was all about putting myself out there, in a way. We were supposed to create profiles on 3 different social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Well, needless to say, before this class, I have never even HEARD of Twitter or LinkedIn. Thankfully, the websites were easy to find .
Facebook, for me anyway, was the easiest, just because I already had a profile on there, and it’s really detailed and there are pictures and everything on there. I’m very easy to find, no fancy names or anything, so all you have to do is type my name in the search box and there you go. I’m in the Michigan State and Chicago networks, so just come find me!
I think LinkedIn was also fairly easy. It’s kind of cool, like the Facebook for graduates and people in the working world. I can definitely see why my mom has one. If you are in a company or something, it’s pretty easy to stay connected that way because you can link to everyone in your company and share files and whatnot that way. I discovered there is even an application for you to share presentations with other people in your company?! Now, I think that’s pretty freakin’ cool. I think the hardest part of LinkedIn was fulfilling the 80% completion that we needed. Because I haven’t had too many jobs and adding positions counted for the most percentage, man oh man, that was difficult. I kind of had to stretch a bit for that one, but I was successful! Go me!
The hardest one was definitely Twitter. For me, I think it seemed almost TOO simplistic, so I think I complicated it a lot. Especially since we had to submit an @reply? What is that?! Seriously, I read the Wall Street Journal guide, and I STILL don’t think I understand it. It’s kind of complicated and simple at the same time. Haha, I’m so confused! I can’t say I really see the whole point of Twitter yet, probably because I’m a new user. I’ll definitely explore this one a bit more to see what it’s all about, but for now, I am kind of just left a little baffled by this one.
Experimenting with (Ad)Words
Well, Google AdWords, to be exact. As a side note here, I swear, Google’s got just about every freakin’ online tool imaginable. They need to start selling T-Shirts or something. Sheesh. Although, I am going to admit that it is really annoying. I’m actually not a huge fan of using Google for anything other than web or image searching. And Google Earth
Look! I have an ad!
, just because that is pretty freakin’ sweet.
Anyways, got off track there. Back to the task at hand. So my assignment for this week was to actually play around with Google AdWords, which, as I found out, are those little adds on the far right side of the screen after Google gives you your search results. Kinda strange. Little bit of trivia for you folks that didn’t know what those were called.
I was asked to actually buy an advertisement for my blog here. Yeah, I had to BUY it. For HOMEWORK. Now, I’m sorry, but I am a poor college kid, so I don’t have money to just throw around advertising for myself. In fact, I can’t say I really want people to look me up on Google. Kind of creepy. While I don’t mind buying materials for class, like a sketchbook or paints for an art class, or a notebook to write down everything, this is kind of stretching it. I just don’t have that kind of money to be throwing around. But I begrudgingly paid the recommended $50 per month. This was only after I tried to pay several amounts under $50 and was sick and tired of getting the pop-up that my ad would basically never appear. Which I didn’t really mind, but I figured for the purposes of fulfilling the assignment, I should probably do it. Plus, I had to get a picture of it so I could put it in this post.
I mean, AdWords was easy enough to use and all, because I just went the simple route since I knew nothing about it. But honestly? I really don’t want to have to pay to advertise myself. At least, not while I’m in college and am surviving off of pasta and water. This was definitely not my favorite assignment, Derek. No offense or anything. The ease of use was good, but I just did not like the fact that we had to pay for it. I think one thing I did like, though, was the fact that you only have to pay by the click. So even if someone just sees it on the screen, well, it doesn’t really count unless they click the “ad.” And, you will never pay OVER that set amount, so that is nice, too. But other than that, I am really not a big fan of this whole AdWords business they’ve got going on over at Google.
What Exactly Is Self-Worth?
To answer my own question, self-worth, according to Dictionary.com, is “the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person.” It is synonymous with self-esteem or self-respect.
I was prompted to write this because of a very disturbing event that I overheard last night right outside my apartment door. It was about 3 in the morning, and I was about to go over to my friend’s place to hang out (I am such a night owl). So I was literally at my front door slipping on my shoes when I hear some arguing between a guy and (what I presumed to be) his girlfriend. He is yelling at her, getting progressively louder and angrier, calling her a slut and saying that he gave her everything and all she did was slum herself away. Or something along those lines. I couldn’t really tell because he was rather drunk and he was badly slurring his words. Well, she is crying, telling him to just leave her alone and I guess she must have slapped him to get him to leave, because he says “hit me again.”
She doesn’t, but he keeps getting in her face about it, telling her to hit him again. At this point, they are pretty much right outside my door, and not knowing what else to do, I stood, completely frozen, because I was scared. Not even 2 seconds later, I hear this thud against the wall, and the only sound I thought it could be was a person being slammed against a wall. So I am assuming he threw her against the wall, because she started crying louder and I could here her running away from him down the hall. And then the noises stopped.
At this point, I am shaking so badly and I just want to get to my friend’s house. So I open my door and notice 2 things right away. The hallway wall lamp right across from my door is broken, and 2 feet away from that is a fist-sized hole in the wall. Not a dent, people, a hole. I just run out the back door and walk over to my friend’s apartment (thank goodness he lives in the building behind mine), and I tell him the whole story. He tells me to stay put and runs out the door. He went back to my building to check on things because, as he later told me, he couldn’t just sit there and not do anything. Thank goodness I have friends who have a heart.
Unfortunately, this mystery went unsolved, and looking back now, I wish I could have had the courage to call the police. Or something, just to help the girl out. But this scenario just keeps replaying over and over in my head: I see him coming back when he is not so drunk, begging for forgiveness, saying that he was just drunk and it won’t happen again. And the girl takes him back. And it happens again. And she keeps taking him back. For reasons I don’t fully understand and probably never will. I have seen it. I have seen it happen to people I know and love, and it is a vicious cycle that does not seem to have an end.
It baffles me that girls can allow guys to treat them this way. I mean, hitting? Slamming against a wall? When will some girls learn? They are worth more than this. But some just don’t have that self-worth: they think they won’t get any better, so they are settling for the best of the worst. A message to all those girls out there: if you are in a relationship where the guy doesn’t treat you as an equal (I’m not going to say princess because I think that’s a little archaic), get out. And get out fast. You are worth it and you deserve better. And trust me, there is a guy out there who will love you exactly the way you are. Go find him. Don’t settle for anything less.
Playing with Google
Snapshot from Google Earth
So my next assignment was to play around with some of the Google applications. Now, I’ll be honest, I know pretty much next to nothing about the applications. Yeah, I know how to search with Google, but that’s about it. So, I got myself a good old GMail account…. yeah, all the cool kids have one, so I picked one up. But that’s not the application I decided to write about.
My grandpa (yeah, I know, it’s surprising) was the first person to show me Google Earth. I pretty much thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread, but I’ve never actually downloaded it for my own use. But that changed today. I downloaded Google Earth, people! The first thing I did? Look up my house, of course. I would have put that picture on here, but I haven’t quite figured out how to pull that image from the application yet. Any suggestions, let me know!
So besides being pretty cool, I discovered that G-Earth is actually pretty handy, especially for people that learn more visually like I do. If you are looking for a particular place, you can actually see what it looks like before you go. I mean, to me, that’s helpful, because whenever I’m using MapQuest to find a place, I always end up passing it because I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for. Well, this application eliminates that. It’s got the details I need, and I can even type in the address of the place I’m looking for, see the image, and either put it in a map or get directions to or from that place. It’s pretty sweet, let me tell you.
I think the one thing I don’t like about it is that it gets really pixelated once you zoom in too close. Images just become too unclear, which kind of bugs me. They should really work on that. But other than that, the application is pretty cool. I mean, when I looked up my house, it was spot-on: my dad’s truck was even in the driveway. I’ll probably continue to use this every once in a while, just because I am kind of fascinated by all the details that they include. And I’m sure I’ll eventually discover how to insert that picture of my house. Just to share with you all.
What I Know
Curves and Angles
Okay, so I’ve been taking art classes since 7th grade. That’s when I fell in love with it. I think one of the more interesting things I have discovered about art is Graphic Design, Layout, and Web Design. I mean, these are really the new frontier of art, since everything is becoming digital. A professor once told me that even if you are an advertiser working in print, you are LESS likely to get a job if you don’t have experience in design and CSS formatting. You know, like Adobe Dreamweaver or Flash or InDesign or Fireworks? All those programs that you kind of know about but are intimidated by? Yeah, those.
I have taken a few design classes, and I am fascinated by them. I mean, when you think about it, everything really is design. Those beakers in the chemistry lab? Design. The label on a jar of peanut butter? Design. Even the most minute and insignificant things you could think about have something to do with design. Somebody had to design those. If you are a student at Michigan State with me and are even remotely interested, check out the Art and Art History Lecture Series… there are some fascinating new artists coming to town this semester, and I really encourage everyone to come check them out!
