My sister sent me this. Apparantly this Tiger's cubs died, so people at the zoo put fake fur on pigs, and she took them as her own. Isn't this the cutest?! Better than Britney anyways hahaha.

What is up with the crazy man?

Ok, now this has been bothering me for quite some time. Every week, on Mondays and Wednesdays walking to class around 10:45 am I see the same crazy man.

You might know him. He wears a trenchcoat, in his 30's I'd say, glasses and a stach. But the main thing that sets him apart from the rest of the wackos on campus is that he is ALWAYS carries those damn juggling sticks. I don't know what they're called.

There are 3 sticks with little tassles on the end and you flip them and turn them and I don't know what else. But he's ALWAYS walking around on Oakland. Flipping. Turning. Juggling.

and it really pisses me off. I dont know why. What the hell does he do for a living? Why is he always wandering the streets juggling those stupid things?

I just want to knock them out of his hand. But I don't. I just give him an evil glare.

what is up with the crazy man?

way to go brit.

Time to blog!

The frequency with which a blogger updates should be consistent above all. Whether it be five a day or once every two weeks, as long as people can know what to expect. I suppose if the frequency increases it isn't that big of a deal but if someone abandons their blog for a long period of time, I think some of their readership might feel betrayed (as silly as that sounds). There should definitely be a consistency to the tone and theme of the blog as well because this helps the readers to know what to expect in a post.

What I Keep Learning...

Like I said before, I really feel that the way a person writes in his/her blogs keeps my attention. Tone and creativity is everything to me, because when I know something has to be as "school work" I for some reason loose the ability to concentrate.

When a blogger has fun writing his/her blog, I find it a lot easier to focus on the content and meaning, than if the blogger was boring or lame.

For my own, benefit, I finally learned how to put in a picture and website. For this weeks personal blog, I will be able to add pictures and pamphlets about the protest I went to again this morning.

nice

okay well the captions are a bit off.. but its an improvement

timing

well.. going off the issue of timing as lea was talking about in her last post..(by the way, i can't see the picture)

there's nothing i find more annoying than when i find a blog that i actually enjoy reading and it's not updated frequently. perhaps i'm showing that i have less of a life than the person whose blog i'm reading, i get annoyed when i check it up to three times a day and still nothing. my frustration doubles when i check it the next day.. still nothing.

i would say that at least one post a day is a good measure to go by. no need for overkill.

now i'm gonna attempt to post some pictures that we all love.


the environment of a square determines its perceived lightness


stare at the center, move your head up and down.


hope those work.

Time is on my side

(hey, we all said we liked pictures in blogs...so I figured on OUR blog I should post a picture. And what better than this adorable chimp?)

After reading each group members' blogs on what they think a good post is, I've come to the conclusion that we all generally have the same views on good blogs. Good layouts, pictures, don't talk techniqually-but like a normal conversation, among other things.

I'm not sure about the time aspect of what makes a good blog. I don't know whether it means the actual time blogs are posted, or the season/month/event in the year.

What I do know is that I think it is very creepy in a way when bloggers update their blogs multiple times a day. Do they really have that much time on their hands that all they do is sit and contemplate life...or whatever their given topic is they like to write about. Don't they have "real" stuff to do? When I see multiple posts a day or updates on one post in particular I think to myself, "next...this person is a weirdo." All I can picture is somebody sitting at their computer desk in their pajama bottoms with pizza boxes all around themselves and typing away.

I'm going to have to think about the other elements of time and write more later. But that's my initial reaction when I think about time and blog posts.

Coherent?

Well I think I am going to be somewhat of an outsider in this group. Gossipy and/or ultra-personal blogs rarely hold my interest very long. I approach blogs as a chance to learn something and find a fresh perspective. This just seems to happen much less frequently on some blogs than on others. Now I don't mean to sound like I would enjoy sitting in the library reading scholarly journals, but I just happen to find myself much more curious as to how people approach the workings of the world than to what they occupied themselves with over the weekend (granted, with many exceptions).

As for visual layout I am on shaky territory when it comes to what I like better, the busy, if well done, background graphics versus the elegant and simple design of text on a color. I definitely appreciate images and will be including more of them in my posts after reading that everyone else's posts had similar enthusiasm for pictures.

I wish I would have had time to work out a more coherent post earlier this week but I was swamped the last 7 days. Much better consistency should follow.

less is more

its true. sometimes with these fricken blogs less is more. then again.. sometimes i find myself getting frusterated at those deathly boring blogs that i know everyone has come across. i literally get crabby. who does that? anyways... i think there are a few common 'rules' that should be followed when creating a blog/blog post.

- be real. write how you speak. no need to be grammatically correct. let your personality come through. people will relate more. no one wants to read about your philosophical bullshit that leaves them wondering what the hell they just read.

- be biased. i'm not saying go off on a fucking tangent about this and that just to make people mad. but don't be afraid to share your feelings. it's what will make your blog unique. people like that. i do.

- as we discussed in class.. be passionate. regardless of what you're writing, you really need to be passionate about it. it will show if you're not and people will appreciate it if you are.

- going off of the previous point.. integrity. we also discussed this in class. you need to have a thick skin. don't be afraid to say 'no' when the whole world is saying 'yes'.

- be active. its important to read and reply to your comments. people don't leave them to be ignored. all good bloggers are aware of comments and will reply to many of them.

as for the blog itself:

- please dont make the background look like barf on a screen. because then when i barf from looking at it, no one will be able to tell how disgusted i was. simple colors are nice.

- a lot of white space is key. otherwise it's boring.

- pictures are fun. who doesn't like pictures?

mmmkay. well thats all i got for now.

Who Can Say Pizazz?!

After reading through all of the different kinds of posts, I have realized one thing... I can't stand anything boring to read. Now, I'm not talking about a single topic, but just in general a way someone writes.

I've read through political, acadmic, and personal blogs and here are a couple things that I found I liked best:

• Humor is key to make a serious topic or situation a little more light hearted and easy to read: If someone is angry but is funny as well, I don't just see them venting but trying to prove a point
• Use some kind of color: Either have it be the text or the window, I feel that some kind of color needs to be present, otherwise it's just white and black and words start running together. I then... result to boredom.
• Pictures explain topics better than words at times: I still am not sure how to put pictures in my personal blog, but hope to do this by next week. I feel that pictures explain things that you can't find exactly how to write down, and it gives the reader something to look at.

Overall, I feel that a lil pizazz never hurt anything, so tie it to your blog and the readers will stay interested longer.

To anybody, when looking at somebody's blog they can say, "this is crap" or "i love this." So when thinking about what makes a good blog, I would say it's hard to pinpoint the exact things that make a good blog for everyone to enjoy, because, everyone is different and has different views on what they like and don't like. Let's take my side, for example:

• I like to view pictures. If it pertains to what you're talking about, share it so we can get a visual. The more the better (but not too many so it drowns out the text...)
• Don't overcrowd the page with words. I will automatically click to the next page or skim through it briefly
• Be creative. Don't use technical terms and try to sound smarter than you are. Write like you are talking to me, in a casual, sarcastic sometimes, tone. I don't want to feel like I'm reading a textbook. I've had enough of that.
• I, personally, like reading what people would call, more like journals. It's what keeps me interested. I love gossip. Celebrity or not. And it doesn't necessarily have to be gossip. I like knowing how other people feel and what is going on in their lives. ( is that nosey? oh well...) But please, keep it on a happy or semi-happy tone. I don't want to read somebody's suicide note or anything.
• And...I don't know, a nice background is nice. Crazy anime's like one website I saw is not cool though. Neon bright colors swirling all over the place like one friend of mine has= not cool also. It hurts my eyes too much. I don't want to have to put sunglasses on to read your blog.

And with that, you have my criteria for good blog posting. For you it may be different, but this is what I like.

rules

Here is a copy of the rules for posting and replying for our group:

Rules of Posting/replying:

Employees will be divided into two groups by the boss for discussion/reply.

Groups will be prompted on what to discuss each week.

The company will hire a speaker to host a workshop on proper blogging techniques annually.

To cut down on lazy blogging, replies from others on the given topic of the week will be invisible until your reply is posted.
At the end of the week, the boss will evaluate posts and replies with a point system. These points will accumulate into vacation time.