End of the Semester

Today I took my first final of the semester. It will probably be the worst of them all.

This week I have a research paper  about e-paper due, 3 or 4 CSCI projects, 3 finals... Maybe I'll get to sleep sometime this week, but it's unlikely.

Next week I'll be finishing up a 1-minute ad for DIFD. Will post after completion.

I finished up a paper about Laurelwood Cemetery and Grandview Memorial Park, both located in Rock Hill, SC. It was very interesting and I found myself enjoying the peace of the cemeteries. They're very beautiful places. I'd like to visit Laurelwood again and take some pictures. It's an old place, created in 1872.

Finally Some Accomplishments

Today I finally finished my kinetic text project. Here it is at Vimeo. Rorschach's Journal. October 12, 1985. I feel like I will always know the words to this journal entry! I can't count how many times I heard each sentence over and over for hours on end. It feels good to finally finish it. There are things I would like to change, of course, but it was finished enough to turn in.

I got a grade on my Pulp Fiction project yesterday. I made a B! Very exciting!

Tomorrow I have both a usability report on the Winthrop website testing we did and a research paper on electronic paper/ink due. I've gotten a good start on both but will have to sacrifice some sleep and/or work really hard in the morning to finish these up. I'm feeling good about the end of this semester! I really have to get to work to finish everything up on time.

Leadership

So last week I was invited to join a new branch of the STARS Leadership Corps being created here at Winthrop. I'm very excited for this opportunity to meet and mentor local high school kids and become more involved at Winthrop. In a couple of weeks, we are attending a STARS meeting at UNCC to see how things are done. If everything works out, we'll be attending the STARS conference in August in Orlando for a few days. Exciting stuff!

In other news, today I was appointed the president of Winthrop's circle of Omicron Delta Kappa for the next academic year. One of the things I hope to accomplish next year with ODK is increasing attendance rates. I've never seen more than five students at an ODK meeting! It's pitiful. Also, no one knows who we are. I'll try to fix that.

Nearing the End

The semester is nearly over with less than two and a half weeks of class left. Next week I have a kinetic text project due and two papers. The week after there's a presentation to give. It's a very busy time!

I started a deviantArt account to show off some of the things I've been doing. You can find it here.

I'm really enjoying my kinetic text project for VCOM 363. We had to choose some text that would take up about 2 minutes of time and I choose one of Rorschach's journal entries from the classic epic Watchmen. :)

"Rorschach's Journal
October 12, 1985

Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No."

Stood in firelight, sweltering. Bloodstain on chest like map of violent new continent. Felt cleansed. Felt dark planet turn under my feet and knew what cats know that makes them scream like babies in the night. Looked at sky through smoke heavy with human fat and God was not there. The cold, suffocating dark goes on forever and we are alone. This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It’s us. Only us."

-Rorschach, Watchmen

I also found audio for this, which is here.

This project is due on Monday so I won't be sleeping much until after then.

In DIFD 322, we're testing paper prototypes of the Winthrop web site in order to determine usability. We've finished testing and have a paper about our findings due on Thursday. I also have a research paper to write for CSCI 327 (ethics) that is supposed to be 10-12 pages long. It's also due on Thursday. I've decided to write about electronic paper and electronic ink. I did a technical report on e-readers and the technology used in these devices sounds really interesting to me.

I didn't sleep last night so I could have more time to do homework so I'm going to go try to catch up on some of that now. :)