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Archive for October, 2007
10.28.2007 | Autumn
Fall is absolutely my favorite season. Since I was a little kid, I remember enjoying everything about this time of year. It’s especially true now that I’m here in Ithaca and the foliage is just gorgeous. It’s what sold me on Cornell. Not to mention it’s home to two of my favorite holidays: my birthday and halloween.
Lately, I’ve been driving around a lot. There’s this one road in particular that’s long, flat, and winding. It’s covered in all sorts of colorful trees and you’ll only see another car every once in a while. It’s the most peaceful experience. I’ve been taking trips to the mall just so I can drive along there, probably a little bit faster than I should, with my windows open, my favorite music playing, and the leaves swirling in a wake behind me. You can’t help but have a smile on your face. Considering how hectic this semester is turning out to be, having a place where you can just get away for a little while is crucial. I’m so glad I’ve found mine.
Those many trips to the mall were mostly centered on a: getting some heavy duty tylenol and b: sorting out my halloween costume. I had 3 things I was debating between for this year, but since I had to dress up yesterday for a little party, I had to expedite my costume completion. I decided to go for a clown. I know, I know, I’m ALWAYS a clown, but the costume is just awesome! It was either that or a geek. A stretch, I know. I decided to go for the clown because I’m a firm believer in going all out for my costume. If you can’t complete the character, it’s not worth it. Not to mention, it would be hard to make myself actually look like I was in costume - this place is festering with geeks! (like Dean and Phil).
On the downside, it’s getting REALLY cold! The “feels like” temp for today is 33. Yes, just one degree above freezing. Ahhhh Ithaca.
10.25.2007 | The Perks of Being a Photographer
Earlier this semester, I made Senior Photographer at the Cornell Daily Sun. It’s been a lot of fun meeting a new set of people, getting to know my camera better, and going to events I wouldn’t normally attend.
One of the best parts, that’s coming into play even more now that I have “senior” status, is the privilege of shooting the more sought-after events. Senior photographers get first pick. Men’s Hockey, the Dalai Lama, Stephen Colbert, you name it. Since I started back in February, I’ve had the chance to photograph Bob Woodward, Dr. Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, Ambassador of the Republic of Zambia (who I met personally and accompanied on a tour of Cornell), and Salman Rusdie. Yesterday I got the chance to go to another amazing lecture - Sandra Day O’Connor. Not only did I go to the lecture, but camera in hand, I got to stand right up against the stage - 10 feet from her! I was awestruck to say the least. I absolutely loved her talk. She has such a no-nonsense, sharp, dry wit that knocks you into hysterics in just a few syllables. Awesome.
Despite some camera troubles, I managed to get a few good shots off, one of which appeared on today’s cover. Being a photographer for the Sun has given me a lot of great opportunities so far and I can’t wait to find out who’s next!
10.20.2007 | A Childhood Dream Come True
I just got tickets to the Spice Girls World Tour show in NJ in February. I am SO excited words can’t even explain.
Before you go pinning the “lame” label on me, just hold on…
When I was younger, I was a Spice Girls ADDICT. I mean, I lived and breathed them. I knew every dance move to every song, everything about them, and basically everything else a teenage fan does. The Spice Girls were my world. I still have every poster and every newspaper clipping from that time up on a shelf in my closet. I could never bring myself to throw away such a significant part of my childhood.
As time went on, my addiction faded, but never to the point where I became a Spice Basher. I still listened to them when no one was around and still watched for news of them.
THEN, this summer, they announced a reunion tour. My childhood dream come true. I was too young the first time around to go to a concert, but now it’s perfect! Coupled with my need to regress just before my 21st birthday, the appearance of Mel B on Dancing With The Stars, and my realization that I could rent Spice World from Netflix, my Spice addiction was back and in full force. Marathon showings of Spice World ensued and soon my iPod reloaded with all of their songs. There was only one problem. All of their US concerts were scheduled for finals period. I don’t think my professors would approve of the excuse “Sorry Prof X, I need to take the makeup final because I have to go see the Spice Girls.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
I had kind of resigned myself to the idea that I wasn’t going to be able to go. That is until I checked my email this morning. Subject: “From the Spice Girls”:
Hi there,
NEW YORK DATES ANNOUNCED
Yep it’s finally happening, and we are so excited. We are coming to NEW YORK!!!
This has been an amazing time for us and we are so excited about being in your great city. We will be at the NASSAU COLISEUM, LONG ISLAND from 6th February 2008, and then at the PRUDENTIAL CENTER, NEWARK from 10th February 2008. After this we will be live at MEADOWLANDS, NJ on 13th February 2008.
It’s going be so much fun!
Tickets are available to you exclusively from Saturday 20th 2007 at 10am. To
get your tickets its really simple. Just click on the link below and put in your unique code.LINK: http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/781267
CODE: SGER9BM22YKP
We can’t wait to see you, so don’t miss out and get your tickets by clicking on the link.
Lots of Love
Emma, Geri, Mel B, Melanie C, Victoria
XXXXXXX
Luckily for me, I had my alarm set for 10. I don’t like to wake up too late. Fate finally seemed to be on my side. I immediately logged into Ticketmaster and 1 hour later I am the proud keeper of two rather good seats to the show. The first thing I did after was call my friend of 17 years, Erin and tell her to start saving her pennies, we were finally about to live out or childhood dream. Sure, it’s during the peak of snow season here, but NOTHING will keep me from going to this show. I’ll rent a snowmobile and drive it the 5 hours if I have to. I’m going to see the Spice Girls!!!!
10.18.2007 | The Internship Search Begins
Well, it’s that time of year, ladies and gents. Time to polish up the resume, fire up the browser, and start my search for a summer internship. There’s a lot more pressure to get an internship I’ll really love this year because it’s my last opportunity. After this I’m going to have to find a Real Job. (AHH!)
If you’ve been lurking around for the past few months, you’ll know I spent my summer in California working for Yahoo! and absolutely LOVED it. The thing is though, now that I’ve had such an amazing experience, finding one to match or exceed it is proving to be one heck of a challenge! I learned a lot about what I’m looking for in a future career, but at the same time I’m having a hard time finding things to fit into that mold! I’d love to work for an Internet company. I’d love to do stuff with social sites. I’d love to be able to apply my school knowledge to work.
So where does that leave me? I’ve been digging around for a position that’s something along the lines of “community management” as well as some more HCI-type jobs like user interface/user experience design, but they’re hard to come by! Some companies don’t seem to have gotten the hint that UI stuff is pretty darned important! And I’m not talking about small start-ups either. I’m talking the big guns. No UI internships at all. What’s that about?
Needless to say, I’m feeling kind of frustrated and anxious. Does this mean I’m going to have as difficult a time finding a Real Job?? I’m not going to get too stressed out just yet. I know it’s only October. But still, the clock is ticking!
How about you? What are your plans for the summer?
10.15.2007 | The American Waste Issue
Today is Blog Action Day. There are so many issues I wanted to talk about, but after last night’s all-nighter, my brain isn’t working quite well enough to form cohesive thoughts.
I wanted to write about how college students are killing the environment. We pull more all-nighters than any other demographic. All-nighters mean lights on, computers running at full-force, snacks consumed, and countless other things that would normally rest at night. It was to be an open letter to college administrations. You, sirs and madams, are responsible for our global energy issues. And a lot of disgruntled young adults.
I wanted to write about Apple and how their minimalist packaging methods make Mother Earth happy. Not to mention their computer recycling program. That’s great too.
I also wanted to do a rehash/summarization of a paper I wrote for my Environmental Interventions class about American Consumerism and Waste Production, but alas, summarizing 10 pages into a neat little blog post would have been one heck of a chore. I would have wasted a lot of energy. The planet would not have been happy. So, instead, I thought I’d summarize it into a paragraph or so and link to a PDF of the paper. Do I expect you to read it? No. It’s long and daunting and was the result of yet another all-nighter, but if you’re so inclined, it’s here.. Enjoy.
Now for that summary:
Basically, in order to rebuild the economy back in the 1950s, corporations, marketers, advertisers, etc. devised a plan to make more profits by making things more “short-term”. Things like new car models, new colors on a toaster, and women’s dress-styles were all a result of a plan to make people buy more, more often. The other tactic was “planned obsolescence” - a.k.a. pre-programmed deaths. It’s why your camera shutter dies after a certain number of shots, or your laptop gets slower over time as things start to be less shiny and new. The thing is, it stuck. It became ingrained in our consumer mentality and now we buy things with the expectation that they’ll last us X number of years and then we’ll just get a new one. Like iPods, laptops, cameras, or clothes. Companies even still release things in new colors just to regenerate the buzz (Hello new iPod Shuffles in jewel tones?). How about the Apple iPod or iPhone irreplaceable batteries? Planned obsolescence.
So what does this have to do with the environment? Well, everything. Because once something becomes obsolete, we THROW IT AWAY! And sometimes without using the proper means. (remember: CRT monitors don’t belong in landfills). Technology is made up of all sorts of crazy chemicals and metals that can pollute the land if not properly disposed. Not cool.
There’s a lot to overcome socially - try telling the Apple Fanboys and gals that they can’t/shouldn’t order the a 20GB iPhone (hypothetically) when their current one is functioning perfectly well. Not so easy. But it’s time to address our consumer habits. Time to reevaluate the business models that center around planned obsolescence. Time to stop buying so much just for the sake of buying it. Mother Nature says thank you in advance.