Flash Drive users beware

Yesterday when I woke up and was planning how to organize my work for the day I did not factor in the possibility that other plans had already been made, just not by me. I arrive at the computer lab and unpack all of my things. After checking my email i plug my flash drive in to start work on project II. Nothing pops up on the desktop, i think that maybe i just didn't plug it in firmly enough and try again, still no icon. I start to freak out a little but reassure myself that it is just this particular computer it's not working on.
I ask the lab monitor if he has been having a problem with this particular computer, he says no. I frantically try two more computers but nothing. Now i am freaking out because in an ideal world I would have everything that i have created over the last couple of days backed up somewhere, but this is not the case. The lab monitor tries his flash drive just to prove that it is not to any fault of the computers in the lab, his icon pops up right away.
I look up and ask why? what did i do to desereve my day starting this way. Tears start to well up as i realize due to my inabilitliy to consistently back my work up that i will have to start all over for the magazine layout. Fortunately i thought to check the computer i had last used to work on this project in the lab and was able to recover some files that were still in the trash. I had to go to Best Buy and they basically said they weren't sure what happened but they had to wipe it clean and re-format it. As of now it seems to be working fine, and although i lost a lot of stuff nothing was irreplaceable. Last night after a rough start to the day i went home and backed up everything from my flash drive to my home computer. Let this be a lesson to all without actually having to go through that horrible heart dropping feeling of it actually happening to you. Always back your work up.

My Campaign

So since I am reading the Food Revolution and getting all revved up about the issues it brings to light I have decided to do my campaign on being a vegetarian. I guess it could be the positive effects of being a vegetarian, and I am not even going to do saving animals as one, since first it is overused but secondly i believe Stephanie mentioned something about no harming animals this year, understandably. So I am thinking of how being a vegetarian reduces your risk of disease, helps in our efforts to combat global warming, helps the environment, helps end the world's food shortage, helps stop wasted resources. As you can see I have to narrow things down and get a more streamlined concept. As i have noticed in some other's post I too am nervous about the large size of the poster and also having three different elements to work on. There is a lot to do...

Show and Tell

These are both from The Food Revolution by John Robbins, which i recommend everyone to read! These are examples of compare and contrast. He uses this throughout the book, taking a quote from someone in the meat/dairy industry and then comparing by contrasting it to a quote for a person who is in the health profession/science, animal rights etc... As i read this book there are many things that are upsetting about it. How eating meat effects animals, our world, our environment and our health. What upsets me the most though is that these people who are in the meat and dairy industry can put out information as if it was fact. That is what I find wrong with this picture, how can they say things that are not even remotely true? You can't blame people for making choices when they don't have all the facts. Either way this has inspired me for our third project, which i was a little overwhelmed with at first. I will save it for my next post.

INEEDSPACE

ITISAMAZINGHOWWHENYOUTAKEAWAYSPACE
MEANINGISMUCHHARDERTOFINDYOUNEEDSSPACE
TOHELPUNDERSTANDTHEWORLDAROUNDYOU

six-word memoirs

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How to Write

Between Sin and Syntax and Revising Prose I have never thought so much about every word that I put down on the page. Even as I am reading other's writing I find myself over thinking. I admit that I do not come from a writing background and that in fact my grammar skills lack, but reading these books makes me see that I can change this and I will. I would like to recap here the Paramedic Method that is outlined in Revising Prose, it is fundamental to good writing.

THE PARAMEDIC METHOD

1. Circle the prepositions.
2. Circle the "is" forms
3. Ask, "Where's the action?" "Who's kicking who?"
4. Put this "kicking" action in a simple (not compound) active verb.
5. Start fast-no slow windups.
6. Write out each sentence on a blank screen or sheet of paper and mark off its basic rhythmic units with a "/"
7. Mark off sentence lengths in the passage with a big "/" between sentences.
8. Read the passage aloud with emphasis and feeling.

GOOD

I have chosen the publication GOOD for this profile project. I interviewed a raw foodist and I think that this magazine can use a profile like that as well as the other elements I am adding. I was debating on doing it in Saveur or Bon Appetit or even VegNews, but Good was one of the choices and the more I thought about it the more I realized that it would work. Good is interesting in it's design and layout, it tends to do 4/5 column grids but it uses lines to denote the separate areas. It creates a less glossy, finished look, but it fits the style of the magazine, it is not trying to be high-class.

Profile

This is a profile that I looked at from Nylon. I liked it because of the different elements on the page and the profile is nice and short which is what we need for this assignment.

Show and Tell

I brought in a book of Letters and Alphabets that inspire me due to their design aesthetic. I also have always been fascinated with the alphabet and one can find it scrolled in all of my notebooks. I have the tendency when I am bored or on the phone to write the alphabet. This book makes me feel better about being obsessed with letters.

Interviewing

I found a great book called, The Art of the Interview, by Lawrence Grobel, although he seems to interview celebrities he notes in his book that his lessons work for interviews of all types. I just got it today so as of now the best piece of advise I have read is to go into the interview as confident and studied as you can. The interviewee will respond to the confidence and will be impressed that you have done background research prior to the interview. I know that I am a little nervous about interviewing my person because I have never conducted one before but I hope that reading this book helps.

Quote

"But why should discrepancy possess an interest? I believe the answer is this, that discrepancy of size is a form of distortion, and all forms of distortion shock us into attention: The inattentive and jaded eye, passing through a world without interest, helplessly perceives that something in the bland panorama is not as it should be." - Steven Millhauser

Found

Walking down the street today i saw this and decided to take a picture, i love seeing street art and find that aesthetic pleasing and inspiring.

Bon Appetit

I just spent some time at Barnes and Noble and am excited now that I have reason to give into my obsession of buying magazines (since it is now my job to become proficient in them). I must say although I have always loved to buy, look at and read magazines, I think that I have for the first time read a magazine cover to cover, (every word) in one sitting and I must say I loved it! Although the magazine that I chose was Bon Appetit and was initially being used for another purpose (class) I found it very applicable to my words and images class as well and this blog in particular since I found that it inspired me in both design and writing. In particular it is the first time that I have thought of working for a food magazine. I have always imagined working for an art/design magazine, like Print or Juxtapose, but now I see that there is much more out there that interests me and I am very excited!