Going for a run

Well since today’s weather was fantastic I decided it would be a nice time to go for a run. What I noticed when I went was the beauty of the nature. Sure it's past fall and most people wouldn’t think it to be nice out now but it really is.   

The frost of the early morning made everything sparkle and it looked so beautiful. The leaves have fallen off all the trees but they were decorated white from the cold morning. In the background the mountains were green from pine trees and the sky was pink and clear of clouds.  The cold air wasn’t the only thing taking my breath away.

It was such a beautiful artistic scene that I had to just stop and look at how amazing the picture before me was. Honestly, it looked like it came straight off of a painting, and I can't help but want to go running every morning for the same scene.

Self-Evaluation

1. Self-Evaluation

This semester seemed to fly by!  Throughout it though I believe I have come to be a somewhat better writer, and more appreciative of art. I feel more confident in my writing now and have successfully learned how to blog! I never would have thought I would be learning through blogging but anything is possible I guess. I think the blog actually did help a lot because it wasn’t a big thing we had to stress about every week, but was enough to get us to write every week. I think my blog made me open up as a writer and I’m not as nervous to write about new things now. This class was the first time I ever wrote a memoir and I really enjoyed it and it has convinced me to look for more writing classes to further my writing. I can now use ethos, pathos, and logos to further understand writing by evaluating others and incorporating them into my own pieces.

When I first started at Penn State I avoided any and all art classes. I am proud to say I have found a new respect for the arts and even enjoy them now. I thought the trip to the Palmer art museum was going to be a horrible experience and big waste of time but, I ended up having a great time in the relaxing atmosphere. I never even knew of all of the art activities on campus before taking this class! It has really opened me up to a whole new side of Penn State that I truly enjoy. I have started to attend some of the on campus plays, shows, and on occasion revisit the art museum.  There are even some off campus activities I have been considering going to such as local book readings.

The fact that the class was also a freshman seminar was awesome because it really got into more of the arts of Penn State. Getting to go on trips to the Arboretum was an amazing experience because it got us out of the class room and more into the art of nature. Getting to go to the Palmer art museum was a great experience but without the class I doubt I would have ever gone and I’m glad I finally did go. Getting to see In the Red and Brown Water was something I thought I would hate but was surprised that I actually did enjoy it.

All in all I am really happy that I got a chance to take this class. Throughout it I was able to grow as a writer and an art applicator in ways I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting. Even though the class was a little early, and I never did get used to that, I will still miss it.

 

2. Blog Response Round-Up

 

1. http://knaviello.blogspot.com/2012/09/working-horse-hauling.html?showComment=1348273200501#c6077495178096097747

2. http://knaviello.blogspot.com/2012/09/arboretum-experience.html?showComment=1348885331089#c7004488779826768654

3. http://haileyhere.blogspot.com/2012/09/do-i-walk-by-h.html?showComment=1349658199813#c8091002021422085080

4. http://knaviello.blogspot.com/2012/10/animal-house.html?showComment=1350257003388#c698030299927871707

5. http://theartofanargument.blogspot.com/2012/10/blog-post-4-social-network-movie-review.html?showComment=1351989059453#c8549857144504059641

6. http://jrose412.blogspot.com/2012/11/center-stage-with-penn-states-center.html?showComment=1353206483993#c8501128573230499006

7. http://cheddarbread.blogspot.com/2012/11/in-red-and-brown-water.html?showComment=1354421354201#c8322468165506490114

8. http://rfatherly.blogspot.com/2012/11/in-red-and-brown-water-by-tarell.html?showComment=1355452557079#c1834006513297813353

9. http://colorfulspots.blogspot.com/p/artscultural-response.html?showComment=1355452882514

10. http://the1meltingpot.blogspot.com/2012/11/in-red-and-brow-water.html?showComment=1355453286078#c4968620569518114382

 

3.

Hi, Ms. S--I completed my SRTEs! J

What We Talk about When We Talk about Blogs... again

Since my gmail account was hacked and then deleted I have re-done my first blog post for my new blog! J

Template- Since it is my first time blogging I had to choose something easy enough for me to understand and navigate. I ended up choosing the water mark template because it seemed simple and didn’t look half bad. My goal was to end up with a blog that really reflected my personality that I could successfully operate and the water mark template seemed to be the best choice.

Color- Who doesn’t love pink? It’s a fun color that isn’t so bright it hurts to look at and isn’t too dark so you can still see everything alright. I’m not a formal person at all and didn’t want a design that yells “I’m only doing this for a grade” but instead something that was interesting for my very first blog experience. The design is cute and girly that just makes it an amusing page to look at and hopefully the fun design brings a smile to everyone’s face.  The only thing it’s missing now is some glitter!

Font- “Cherry Cream Soda” is the font I choose for the title and I would be lying if I said I didn’t love the name. It’s big and easy to read and I like the way it looks. For the rest of the blog I choose the simple font “Georgia” because it’s easy to read and doesn’t look to flashy.

Pages- the only other page I included was an about me page. It just includes some general information about me so people can get to know me a little better if they feel like reading it.  I made it a separate page because I personally think it looks cluttered when it’s in the side margin and this way people don’t have to see it if they don’t want to.

Title- My original blogs title was Art Smarts!, because it was enthusiastic, exciting, and kept with the fun theme.  I was hoping to gain some new “art smarts” entering the class because I really didn’t know much about art. After my gmail account was hacked and I had to make a new blog I decided to stay with the name to keep it simple but just added the “Improved” since it was my new and improved blog.

Links- I didn’t include any links mostly because I’m still trying to figure out how to use blogger. Maybe once I’m a little more comfortable with it and know how to use it I’ll include some links to some fun stuff, but until then no links.

I love my blog! It’s pink, fun, enthusiastic, and exciting! I think it reflects me in the way it’s kinda girly. Building the blog was a lot harder than I expected and I think that may just be because I have never made one before. With blogging I’m expecting to gain more knowledge of the arts and improve my writing skills.

Cultural Opportunity

Recently there was a concert in the hub with The Maine, and Mayday Parade.  My friend and I are big fans of Mayday Parade so naturally we had to attend, especially since it was a free concert for Penn State students. After waiting in line for a few hours we went in, the room was very large with a stage set up against the far wall. Like most concerts I have been to it was dark inside and everyone was gathered around the stage eager for the show to start. Once inside we found some more of our friends and fought our way to the front of the stage.

 It started with The Maine followed by Mayday Parade.  The Maine could have been better, they had low energy and so did the crowd. Everyone just stood and watched, asides from the one drunk super fan, and The Maine didn’t seem happy about that and did point it out a few times. They did however, tell some funny stories from their trip that got some laughs from the crowd, such as some trips to down town State College and got a lot of cheers when they kept saying how they loved Penn State. They were the opening act and should have done a much better job hyping up the crowd, but were still somewhat entertaining.

When Mayday Parade took the stage the energy completely changed. They started out with one of their popular ballads and then moved into another one of their popular songs. They had a lot of energy on stage and immediately the entire audience was singing along and dancing. The front man Derek made a few comments about how he loved to visit Penn State and kept thanking the crowd for knowing all the words to their songs.

 

The audience was all college students and it was a very enjoyable atmosphere.  A large guy next to me was screaming like a little girl the entire time and even happily stated he was “a total fan girl”. It was such an exciting experience that when the band was done playing the crowd chanted until they came back out for another song. I have been to events like this one and it surpassed my expectations. My friend said “It was a great experience, the crowd was completely connected to the band and it was a great time!” If there is ever an opportunity like this again I wouldn’t pass it up for anything!