Weekly Summary-Week 3-All the Generators! and Weekly Summary-Week 4-Noob
Week 3
As classes go along in the semester, sometimes they get harder. Other times, stay the same or even get easier and you get more used to the class and how it works. I would say that, for at least this week, I had an easier time.
Saturday
On Saturday, I looked over the weekly assignments and started to plan out what day I would do what. I also looked over the Daily Create. I also started to think about what my character would be like.
Sunday
On Sunday, I browsed through all of the writing assignments on the website and chose the four I would do. The number of stars total for all four assignments turned out to be 12. In addition, I started to look for a featured image for my character, as I knew already that she would be a cryptozoologist.
I also received the information I needed from my mom to log into our Verizon Fios account to watch a Lost Tapes episode on the Animal Planet website. For whatever reason, I originally couldn’t log in on my computer, though it worked on my phone. After some research on Monday, I was able to pull up the video when I switched to an incognito window for whatever reason. I didn’t actually watch the episode on Sunday. I just wanted to make sure I could and get it set up for whatever day I actually watched it.
Monday
On Monday, I worked on my assignments.
The first assignment I worked on and published was a video game article. I haven’t played video games much in recent years, but I used to play them all the time growing up. So, I chose one of my favorite, most-played childhood games-the computer game Zoo Tycoon 2. It was fun to reminisce on the game and the good times I had playing it. The hardest part was remembering the mechanics, such as the game modes. However, remembering the annoyances of the game, such as the annoying zoo visitors, was pretty easy! I wish my computer could a. handle the game and b. had a disk drive because writing this review made me want to play again, even if the score I gave wasn’t extremely high.
Another assignment I also worked on a published was creating a superhero from using phrase and proverb generators. This was a fun assignment to do. It definitively involved some creativity, as the generators I used were the ones given as examples by the assignment that didn’t mention superpowers, looks, names, etc. There are generators online for superheroes, superpowers, etc. but I thought that would be a bit cheat-y, as the goal is to create your own, not have a generator make one for you. The hardest part was writing the fight scene, as I had never written a fight scene before. I’m not sure how happy I am with it, but it was great practice and I (hopefully!) will get better. At least the generators I used for the superhero name and the motto, which I used for the personality, were a great help and really inspired everything about the superhero. I am also just really fond of the picture I found for the featured image for it. It is just so cute!
The third assignment I worked on that I actually published was using a random generator for 10 words, choosing an animal, and then incorporating the words and animal into a short story. In all fairness, apparently I actually published the assignment at 12:21 on Tuesday, according to my blog, but as I hadn’t gone to bed yet that day, I’m going to count it as Monday. The words I got somehow (perhaps because of the word “moonbeam”) reminded me of medieval times and those stories, which made me think dragons. So, the animal I chose was dragons, which fit perfectly into the theme of legends, myth, and folklore. So, that criteria of the weekly assignments was done, even though my last writing assignment also features the theme. The words themselves weren’t too hard to fit into the story, except for the word “essence”, which was the last word I put in. The hardest part of the story was just finding the names for the characters. I really wanted the names to first be Anglo-Saxon, to fit with the setting, and to have meanings somehow connected to the characters. I also just wanted to make sure the names were real, since I never know if the naming websites are actually accurate. Ultimately, I am quite satisfied with the names and my story.
I also started my post “This is the time for caution, but not for fear.” The assignment is to use the generator to randomly get a phrase or proverb and write a story around that. The title of the post is the proverb I got. However, I didn’t do anything else beyond this, as I wanted to wait until I got my character and her friends sorted, as I knew that she was going to be a cryptozoologist and this phrase seems like one that fits really well with that job. This post is linked below on Wednesday, as that is when I really worked on and then published it.
I also worked on my character. I already knew that I wanted her to be a cryptozoologist, and writing the narrative was rather easy. My main character and her friends, with their personalities and jobs, came pretty easy to me. However, I had a hard time with her and her friends’ names. I really didn’t want to give her a name of someone I know, as that complicates writing a character, in my opinion, and I wanted a name that had a meaning related to cryptids. As I said before, I am wary of most naming sites, since they don’t give any sources or reasoning behind the meaning of the names. I actually ended up writing the narrative and just putting “blank” in red letters as placeholders until I figured out names. I ended actually going to bed without finding names I liked and thus I didn’t publish it that day.
In addition, I also commented a couple times. One comment I made was to an assignment that was a haiku about yoga. Just reading the haiku calmed me down and made me feel better, just like I’m sure yoga does (I’ve never actually been).
I also comment on a post about sushi. While I’ve only eaten sushi once in my life and it was late at night, I did make me want sushi!
I have noticed that both comments say that I wrote them between 2-4 in the morning. I did not! Even I, the perpetual night owl, am in bed by then!
Tuesday
On Tuesday, I completed my first Daily Create for the week. It was the one for 9/11, when at certain times you post two hashtags and have a minute of silence at 6 times of major events/moments that day. I don’t remember 9/11, as I was two and half then, but watching the footage from the day and hearing and reading the stories about those who lost loves ones or their lives, as well as about the brave men and women on that day and afterwards, still makes me cry. My dad was actually in the Pentagon when it got hit, on his second day at his new job. Luckily, he was on the side that wasn’t hit and was able to follow his boss out of the maze that is the Pentagon and got out safely. My family just moved to Arlington this June, and we live less than 10 minutes away from the Pentagon. It’s hard to imagine this impenetrable fortress-looking building destroyed, with people inside it. I figured the least I could do was tweet those hashtags and have those moments of silence. I didn’t add any words. Everything I could or would have said has been said before in so many different and better ways.
#MomentofSilence #911Day@ds106dc #tdc2435 #ds106
— Francesca Maisano (@FCMaisano) September 11, 2018
I also posted those my character post and the assignment post that I worked on Monday but didn’t finish.
For my character post, I went with the Italian last name Segreti, as that was the one last name that I found, liked, and verified the meaning of. For her first name, I decided to use Maria, as an Italian homage to Mary Washington. Her friends’ names I found were names that I found that were specific to their home countries, even if the meanings, if they have any, don’t necessarily match up.
I then worked on that last assignment post with the proverb. In my character post, I alluded to the fact that the characters are going on an expedition to Australia to try and find the yowie and the bunyip. I figured this prompt could be a nice continuation of that while building on my characters more. I decided to go with the bunyip, as it offered a certain locale, a swamp, that I couldn’t find for the yowie. Writing this wasn’t too difficult. Dialogue is something that I still struggle with, so that was the hardest part.
I also commented a couple more times. I made a comment on a parody poem abut pizza. I thought that the poem mimicked the original poem well and it also made me want pizza! I think for both the sushi and pizza poems, really for any food poem, is that it should make you want some!
I also commented on an assignment post about a recurring dream about zombies. The author is so nonchalant about the zombies in the dream. I think that could make for a funny or interesting character in a show or movie. It could also fulfill the trope of the hero always winning, which the dream has.
Wednesday
First thing I did Wednesday was create my second Daily Create. It is the one where you make a badge with the help of the link provided. I decided to make one for my bathroom door, that is, in a weird way, not able to be close. It closes so well that is it extremely hard to get open again. I can only be opened by shoving extremely hard on the bathroom side of the door, as the door swings open into the dorm room. If both my roommate and I are in our room, we have to either get our suitmates to let us walk through their room to reach the bathroom or get one of them to shove it up. As I sit writing this, the door is currently ajar, as it has been for weeks now. We are still too afraid to close it!
The door between the bathroom and my dormroom gets so stuck that my roommate and I, if we're both in our room, can't open it. After getting trapped in the bathroom several times each, we don't even risk closing it! (Yes, this badge is sarcastic)@ds106dc #tdc2436 #DS106 pic.twitter.com/GNAqyk2owC
— Francesca Maisano (@FCMaisano) September 12, 2018
I also started working on this blog post. With Hurricane Florence coming, I’m worried about losing power and/or WiFi. This way, most of this blog post will be done, so I don’t have to worry as much about it if I lose power for parts of Thursday or Friday.
Finally, I started to work on my post “Lost Tapes Chupacabra-Just as Scary Now?”. It is somewhat ironic that, besides the final Daily Create, this was the last thing I needed to do, even though it was first on the list! I read and watched the readings and video linked on the weekly assignments page, and then I watched the Chupacabra episode of Lost Tapes on the Animal Planet website. I took notes of what I noticed so I could work on actually writing the post the next day. This wasn’t a hard task to do, considering I used to watch Lost Tapes all of the time!
Thursday
On Thursday, I wrote the post, using my notes and with help from the questions that the weekly assignment page mentioned and what the readings mentioned, especially The New Digital Storytelling: Creating Narratives with New Media Chapter 1, “Storytelling for the Twenty-First Century”, and all of its talk on characters and audience. It wasn’t too difficult to do this post. The hardest part was getting all of my thoughts down in an organized, logical, understandable way. The post is a bit long!
Friday
On Friday, I created my last Daily Create about doing something “artistic” with your food or a sandwich bag. I am not artistic, but I do have goldfish, so I made a smiley face out of goldfish in homage of the smiley crackers and their motto. It’s kind of creepy looking!
The snack that smiles back! Goldfish!@ds106dc #tdc2438 #ds106 pic.twitter.com/GWC72gnGVa
— Francesca Maisano (@FCMaisano) September 14, 2018
I also finished up this weekly summary, even if it won’t be submitted until the next week in combination with the fourth week’s weekly summary.
Overall, this week was enjoyable for me. I like to write, especially about topics, such as our theme, that I am interested in. I am also proud of the character I created and the various assignments that I created
Week 4
As I said for Week 3, classes can get harder or easier as the semester goes along. While Week 3 was easier, Week 4 was harder!
Saturday
Since the weekly assignment post had not been posted yet, I just looked at the Daily Create
Sunday
On Sunday, the weekly assignment post was posted, so I looked over that and tried to plan out the week. I then searched through all of the visual assignments and found 4 that would satisfy the 10-star requirement.
Monday
On Monday, I did my first blog post for the week. It was #1 on the weekly assignment post, and was about my experience in photography. This wasn’t a hard post to make, as it required no research or anything, just my own memory!
Tuesday
On Tuesday, I did my first Daily Create. It was about pre-internet memes, or according to Merriam-Webster “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture”. The word “spread” reminded me of fire, and using fire is an idea that spread (I think) so that it what I went with. It was also my first time using a GIF from Twitter on Twitter (or anywhere in general). I found it by searching “fire” where you can click on Twitter to find a GIF.
Fire! An idea that "spread" many, many years ago!@ds106dc #tdc2442 #ds106 pic.twitter.com/sLTh0Ytpsc
— Francesca Maisano (@FCMaisano) September 18, 2018
I also completed all four of my visual assignments for this week on Tuesday.
First, I created sticky notes from/for my character Maria Segreti, a cryptozoologist. I picked this assignment specifically because it would tie in nicely with my character, since one of the requirements for the assignments this week is that at least one of them has to involve your character. It was straightforward making these, and I’m sure with some more experience I could make them look better.
Then, I used the website http://weavesilk.com/ to make abstract art. I’m not really sure how it looks to other people, but I do like it. I like the colors I achieved, which I got to be so bright by left clicking and holding down. The website was fun to mess around with too! Of course, since I like to overthink things, the picture also has a deeper meaning.
My third assignment was to make a collage of one of my pets. I chose my cat Oreo, who has many nicknames that I list on the post, and I used https://www.befunky.com/create/collage/. This was an enjoyable activity to do, as I got to look at pictures of my pets and talk all about them, which I love to do! The collage-maker was also easy enough to work with, though having so many options behind a paywall did spoil some of the fun. I did include my other animals too, as it didn’t feel right not to include them!
My final assignment was to create a wanted poster. As the assignment description mentioned a cryptid (Nessie) I thought this was the perfect assignment for this class! I went with the bunyip, as a tie-in to my character Maria and her friends, who in another post are searching for it. A further tie-in was using the same picture that I used for the Featured image on that post in this wanted poster (I also used this image because it was marked for reuse, as I didn’t want copyright issues). After, this was not too challenging. The wording was fun to make up! I downloaded Paint.net for this assignment, which I had some trouble with, mainly as I couldn’t figure out a way to add a border without me drawing it in, which would have been a disaster. Otherwise, I do think I got more used to the program, which may be useful later in this class.
Finally, I posted the #3 assignment about making a “What’s in your bag” for your character. Since Maria is a cryptozoologist who travels a lot, I figured her backpacking backpack would be more interesting to work with than or purse or something. The hardest part of this was figuring out what she needed and the specifications and everything, since I don’t backpack myself. I used REI.com for getting all of my information and the majority of the items and pictures (except for a few things, like the playing cards, which I found on Amazon.com). I am also indecisive, so deciding on all of the items which option to go with was tough. With this assignment, I wanted to be able to go back and use these objects to reference to in later assignments and blog posts I make. Overall, I think I learned rather a lot about backpacking, even if I’m still not sure how sound all of my decisions are!
P.S. On my website it says that I submitted it on Wednesday. Perhaps, as I am a night owl, I did submit it on Wednesday, but as I worked on it Tuesday and hadn’t gone to bed yet Wednesday, I’m counting it as Tuesday.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, I made my second Daily Create. The point was to talk like a pirate. I really tried to add in all of the words and such that are so iconic to pirates-“Arrrrgh!” “Ahoy, matey”, “thar be”, “landlubbers”, and “booty”. I also used my second-ever GIF. This GIF, which I found when I searched “pirate” on Twitter where you find GIFS, is so cute! I wish my cats let me dress them up!
Arrrrgh! Ahoy, matey! Where thar be me map? Those landlubbers must not get the booty! @ds106dc #tdc2443 #ds106 pic.twitter.com/4sxFbxxv3A
— Francesca Maisano (@FCMaisano) September 19, 2018
I also did #2 on the weekly assignment post, about watching some media related to the theme and analyzing it for those points, after you read those materials given. I chose to watch the Lost Tapes episode “Skinwalker”, which on the Animal Planet website came right after the “Chupacabra” episode I watched last week. The hardest parts of this were screenshotting the pictures, which was hard to do as I had to get the timing right, and actually identifying all the points, since I am a photography noob. I do think that I learned a lot about cinematography from reading those articles and practicing trying to identify it in the episode, though I still have a lot to learn!
I actually starting working on the Week 4 parts of this post on Wednesday, since I didn’t know how much time I would have Thursday and Friday.
Finally, I also commented a few times. I accidentally commented on three blogs from the same person. I hope she didn’t find that creepy! I was just going through what had been submitted in the past week and it just so happened that I found her posts interesting.
So, first I commented on this post. I found the edit pretty, especially since I can’t relate, as my brothers and I have the same color eyes!
I also commented on this post. The picture she took was pretty, and she managed to tie it in with our theme too!
Finally, I commented on this post. The fact that it was Indiana made me notice it. I thought it was interesting how she managed to find all of the points we were supposed to in one image, something that I didn’t even think about!
Thursday
On Thursday, I did my third Daily Create, about a horror sound. My sound isn’t that scary, but as I explain, there is some horror to it!
The sound of a door opening is a classic in horror movies (I think! I don't watch horror). My closet door certainly sounds a bit strange. It also sounds a bit like a goose, which can be scary! Geese are mean!https://t.co/rV1CJj1qCS@ds106dc #tdc2444 #ds106
— Francesca Maisano (@FCMaisano) September 20, 2018
I also did my Photobliz. It was actually easier to find all of the images than I thought it would be. Knowing the campus definitely helped. I just wish that, though all the pictures were taken in 20 minutes, I was able to add my caption within that time too. I forgot to mention-I used Paint.net for the editing of the “news headline” pictures. It wasn’t very hard to do.
I also commented a few times.
I commented on this post about guessing what the picture was. I guessed that it was hair or fur, maybe from a pet, and the author responded that it was a dog. I was right!
I also commented on this post about the creators two orange kitties. I just mentioned how cute they were and the orange cats that I’ve known. It honestly cheered me up looking at the cute cats!
Finally, I commented on this post, also involving a cat. Apparently Thursday I somehow commented just on pictures with animals! I thought that the story and its execution was creative, and again, the cat was cute!
Friday
I commented a couple more times.
First, I commented on this post. I love Halloween, so naturally this post attracted me. This post really made me feel all Halloween-y, even though the school just sent out emails about the high humidity, which seems so not fall-like!
In addition, I also commented on this post. I really like the title of it, to begin with, and the way the author describes how she tries to and finds meaning in her pictures, even if maybe others might not see it. I thought the way that she described some of the meanings was really beautiful.
Just Because You’re Not Good At It, Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Enjoy It
P.S. For whatever reason, both comments say that I commented on 9/22, not 9/21. I did comment on 9/21. I’ve noticed this with other comments I’ve made. I wonder why it often says that the comments were made hours after I did them. Maybe its a WordPress thing or a I-should-probably-stop-waiting-to-comment-until-9-or-10-at-night thing.
I also finished this post and turned it in!
Overall, this week was a bit harder for me than Week 3, only because I have writing experience, and I do enjoy it a bit more, than photography. I might download Gimp for later weeks if I find Paint.net not powerful enough. I did enjoy looking at everyone else’s work, and I do think I learned a lot this week!
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