Final

Last night after I finished my video, I took some time to review my study guides. I feel that I am pretty prepared for my final. The video editing came out fine, just a little bit embarrassing. I'm not the video blog type. I can't wait till next week. I'm ready to further my knowledge in my field, as well as do more projects and practice exercises. I am still waiting on my new laptop to come in. Once this comes in I will definitely have a chance to do more at home projects and expand my limits.  In this class, I learned some basic html coding, Photoshop, Premiere, Indesign, and Flash.  I'm ready to take these programs and apply what I have learned. New designs to come for me.  This class has brought me back into a positive light mentally. People began to miss the old version of me. This has been therapeutic.

Video

Last night I recorded my video for my vidcast. I am definitely not a "record me" kind of guy. I did not like sitting in front of the camera talking to myself. I was standing in my kitchen cooking a roux. A roux is a thick gravy base used in making gumbo. Recording the video wasn't so bad. My problem was watching it afterwards. It seemed like I had a problem  any interruption that you could imagine.  I would get the camera on and my mostly quiet secluded apartment turned into a hot spot. I had a neighbor knock on my door in the middle of shooting who I have never officially met. This is strange to me because both of us tend to stay to ourself. Once I finished shooting, I uploaded the video to my laptop only to realize that the Adobe CS6 trial I had on it doesn't have Adobe Premiere. Needless to say I didn't finalize my video yet for class.  Today is a fresh day and I am ready.

Adobe Muse

Yesterday, I had a chance to play around with Adobe Muse. This is a web authoring software that was designed for graphic designers. It requires no knowledge of html coding. It's simple user friendly interface is similar to Adobe Indesign. The first step to using Adobe Muse is the planning stage. The program allows the user to layout and name the pages to be associated with the site. The basic design of the pages is saved on master pages, which make it easier when designing pages with same background image and layout. I had a short experience with the program due to technical difficulties, but I am excited to give it another go when my Macbook comes in.

Forgiveness

Sometimes life presents us with some challenges brought on by other people. These challenges have a way to affect us for a long period of time. People will do you wrong if it means that they benefit from it. This is a sad reality. I am a believer that you will get back what you give.  However, this is not why I am the kind of person that I am. I genuinely care about people and their well being.  My question is, "How much are we suppose to take?" If you are of christian faith, Jesus teaches that if someone slaps your cheek, you should turn to him the other so that he may slap that one also.  He also teaches that you should forgive that person as many times as it takes.

I try to help everyone as much as I can, even those who have wronged me. My problem is when the people you are helping constantly asks for help from you but refuses to help themselves. My wife is a good person also, but she will let people drag her as far as they can before cutting them loose.  Next time that person needs help, she will replay the entire situation and let them drag her down again.  I guess my point is, forgiveness only goes so far. One must want help to truly benefit from it, otherwise it is a waste of time. Forgiveness is not forgetting. It is just moving on.

tough times

One of the great things about studying to become a graphic designer is the fact that you can work from home.  This week has  been rather challenging for me.  I have a great design team and we pretty much have our ideas laid out and have began employing them.  Thanks to cell phones and social media we are able to communicate and share our work so a missed day while an obstacle, isnt too hard to overcome.  Guys know that I am not flaking out on you but I am hard at work from the house.  Id much rather be there working along side you, but I can't.  Good luck on your portions and you can find me on facebook, cell phone, and now google plus

More on Hurricane week

I spent  a little bit of time last night finalizing a portion of the Hurricane card and am not kinda at a stand still creatively. Im totally exhausted from the single parent and sick baby thing that has been going on.  Run, Run, Run is all I have been doing lately. The wife will be home soon so I'm hoping that she will be ready to jump in and take some of my responsibilities.  Once Ashlynn, my daughter is better then I'll have more time to do what I need.  It seems like as soon as I get started someone needs daddy.

This morning I printed out the 1st side of my card and tweaked it a little bit.  Overall I think it came out great.  I dont wanna share pictures just yet because this is a competition.  I have uploaded in a few places seeking any criticism.  Looking to hear something back soon.

Hurricane Awareness Week

Coming from New Orleans, hurricanes are nothing new to me. Some of the worst storms in history have made land fall on the Gulf coast. I have seen first hand the power of every aspect of these storms.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Morgan City, LA.  Andrew packed some pretty violent winds, although it wasn't as strong as when it made landfall in Homestead, FL. Andrew moved rather swiftly as it came ashore on the Louisiana Gulf Coast which spawned a massive tornado outbreak. These tornadoes and the strong winds from Andrew proved the power of the wind.

The 2005 hurricane season was a worst case scenario.  Storms such as Katrina, Rita, and Wilma caused so much mayhem.  Katrina however was by far the most devastating. Katrina became a category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico almost over night. The huge tidal surge caused by the amazing wind speed swept through the unprotected Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf coast. Katrina shortly before landfall dropped to a category 3 storm, but the damage was already done. The 28 foot tidal surge flooded the lakes and rivers. The levees failed because of the huge surge in water and caused a flood of the city. Katrina was one of the deadliest storms in history.

Now, I try my luck in Florida.

Facebook Cover

Finally finished with my facebook cover photo project.  I think it came out better than the previous attempt. I had to make a few changes in order to get it to work for me. I changed the picture of myself to an updated higher resolution image to get rid of the pixelated image that I originally used.  I also moved the typography around. I adjusted the size of my picture to look more realistic, instead of the tiny picture size that I originally used.

I have received feedback from numerous people and for the most part I have received good reviews. I have enjoyed both the good feedback and the criticism. My wife is the most critical because she has an issue with me having a picture behind bars. I explained to her its a metaphor but it doesn't matter. The bottom line is that I like it. I enjoyed doing it and look forward to doing more projects.

Final copy as seen on facebook.

Original copy as seen on facebook.

Quiz time

All the fun and projects are now on put on hold so the wonderful faculty of this fine school can evaluate us through a quiz.  I do understand that a grade is to be determined and that there is information that we must know to move on as a graphic designer. However, not including myself, there are some people who can know the craft well yet not do well on tests. I am ADHD and currently unmedicated. It takes everything for me to focus on long lectures or to extract pertinent information out of a book. This class has allowed this to not be a factor because of the constant changing going on in our daily routine and the projects we work on enabling me to stay on focus.  Tests are something that I do well and quickly. Because of the ADHD I am able to purge information from my mind quickly and accurately. I am so glad that this isn't a boring book driven class. I'm curious as to how my creativity and focus will be once I begin a new medicine regiment.  My focus will be increased to what sacrifice.
Anyways, back to the topic at hand, I sure hope I have retained the information that is required for this quiz.......

week2

Time to change up for a second and make this post a little different. I am now in week 2 of my first core class for my design and multimedia program. We have had some fairly challenging projects to do mainly because they were about police officers, which is something I am not too fond of. I have been challenging my creativity in an attempt to get outside my normal  mindset. I think that once I get started things end up working out well but getting it to kick off has been trouble at times. This may just be because of the "love" that I have for the police affecting my thought process.  I am looking forward to doing different types of projects. At the end of the month I am going to break down and buy my first Macintosh computer. The Mac Mini will be my portable desktop until I can save the money for a top line Macbook.  Practice will be coming my way soon and that will be just fine to me.

Gun Control

     With the recent surge in violence in America, such as the Boston Bombing and the Mother's Day shootings in New Orleans, we tend to see a trend of people blogging about gun control. Too often I come across an article saying that we need to have a gun ban of some sort. These people feel that if we take weapons out of the hands of the people then we will have less violence. What happens to the everyday hard working American when his right to bear arms is stripped from him?

     The 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution, which grants our right to bear arms, is often misunderstood and misinterpreted. This right to bear arms was not granted to Americans so that they could go hunting or shoot skeet. This right was not granted so we can be gun collectors. This very important right was granted so that the people of this country can arm themselves in event that they had to rise up and overthrow a tyrannical government, much like the British in the revolution.

     The sad truth is a gun ban will do absolutely nothing but give power to the criminal. A criminal is one who disobeys laws. So, by definition we have just shown that a criminal will not obey a gun ban.
Anyone from the streets knows that you can get a gun easily on the black market.

     THE SIMPLE TRUTH.."Gun bans will only disarm the honest American"
   

Murphy's Law

"If something can go wrong, It will." Murphy's Law

Many ideals are drilled into your mind when you go through the military life. These ideals are there to prepare you for rapid action. One of the ideals that stick with me most is Murphy's Law.  This law is used in to prepare soldiers for the "worst case scenario."  Once this ideal is instilled into your head it is hard to let it go. For instance, things in my life have been on a positive spin. Good karma has brought me through some tough times. I completed my first class last month on my road to becoming a graphic designer. I am now in my first core class, which has totally stolen my attention. Last friday, my babysitter didn't show up to watch my infant daughter. Being a soldier, I was prepared for this and had a back-up baby sitter. Unfortunately, Murphy's law jumped out and bit me in the ass. My back-up baby sitter turned her phone ringer off and was also not available. My wife had to be at work because she had an important meeting to attend.  Being the hands on father that I am, I had to risk getting behind in class to take care of my daughter. Things happened to work out okay for us because my instructor was understanding. However, missing this class caused me to have to reschedule a doctor's appointment that I had scheduled for a future class date.

Another ideal that I embraced is that life kicks you when your down. For example, This morning I wake up and look at my phone only to see a text message from my dad saying my aunt passed away last night. So here I am gung ho about catching up my work at school only to have another heart breaking experience.

By far the most important ideal that I have embraced is resiliency. When all planning goes is exhausted, ones ability to adapt and overcome will carry you through. We are taught that only one thing is for certain, and that is change.  

Go away Kardashians

For what seems like the longest time now, our society has been plagued by the most untalented people.  First, It was Paris Hilton in her rise to stardom through her iconic stupidity. Now we have roaches that we can't get rid of. How many crappy shows do we need following a couple of spoiled rich girls who have never had to work for anything in their entire lives? From homemade sex tapes to 2 month long marriages, how much are we suppose to sit here and take.

A celebrity, like it or not, should be a role model of some kind. Now ask yourself a question. "Would you like your daughter or son for that matter to engage in such risky behavior?" These girls are roaming all over the world, doing whatever they feel like because our voyeuristic society thinks its entertaining.
Here we all wanna live drama free lives, yet we invite this type of behavior in our life because we are so bored with ourselves.  Try something new America.  Lets get rid of this garbage and find a new way. Try spending time with your family and not the Kardashians.



check out my other blogs at www.jojo466.blogspot.com

Escape to Creativity

When I decided to go back to school, I had no idea on what I wanted to do.  I weighed the obvious options such as finance and marketing as well as other such as psychology and radiology.  Some things in my life kept me from going those particular routes, but one door was left open.  Graphic design was always something that I wanted to try.  I have a close friend of mine that is a graphic designer and another friend that shared a fascination for Photoshop with me.  My life has been in disarray because of things that happened spurring from personal issues that resulted from a previous marriage and from my time spent in Iraq.  The Army trains you to think and act one way.  This is not necessarily good for civilian life.  It makes it tough to transition to a more relaxed lifestyle.  Nothing is worse than looking at everything to see what could go wrong or how this could possibly be used in a negative way.  After a week in my first graphic design class, I have rekindled my love for Photoshop.  I am now using my observation skills for something artistic.  This creative jolt has actually given me an outlet for my thoughts and turned a negative outlook into a positive one.

Veteran's in Pain

 

Veteran’s Affairs Backlog

As a fellow disabled combat veteran, this issue I hold near to my heart. My friends and fellow combat veterans are coming home relying on a flawed system to assist them in transitioning back to civilian life. Recently the US Senate has expressed an interest in helping to resolve this issue.

In a letter sent by senators to President Obama, the senators state that there is a VA backlog of over 600,000 veterans.  This letter states that average wait time is in excess of 316 days and in larger cities almost 2 years.  In some worst case situations, the wait time is closer to 3 years. 

           The VA budget has been increased and continues to do so, but this does not affect the backlog. These veterans that are affected by this are being disgraced and disappointed. Many are relying on the system to help them supplement their income during this tough transitional phase. These tough times play a huge role in the number of veteran suicides, which have also increased recently.   
          
         I am unsure of a solution to this problem but hope it can be resolved quickly. I urge you President Obama to make this a priority.  The people who have served their country honorably now need their country to serve them in the same manner.