Aspiring Creativity

Music Memories: The Influence of My Dad

2012-02-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

Music Memories is a series of blog posts that include musical memories and the role that music has played in my life. To see other posts in this series, click here.

My Dad has been a big influence in my life. Especially musical influence. My dad loves music and some of that love for music has brushed off on me.

The first concert I went to was Boston with my dad. My aunt Lana bought tickets. We had floor seats. Everyone on the floor stood up the entire concert. I was 12 or so and not very tall. I couldn’t see a lot of the concert. But I do remember a cool spaceship thing above the stage that was lowered down and it moved. I also remember an organ solo.

My dad listened to the Beatles a lot growing up. I am a big fan of the Beatles, especially Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The first album I remember owning was given to me by my father. It was Weird Al Yankovich in 3D. He gave to my brother a best of Men at Work CD. I also remember convincing my dad to buy me a collection of cartoon theme songs.

Riding in the car and listening to music with my dad is fun. He knows a lot of music and will sing along and even harmonize with many songs.

Other musicians that I claim to know about and love thanks to my father include: The Who, Billy Joel, Peter Gabriel, The Eagles, Joe Walsh, Elton John, The Cars, Pink Floyd, Wings, and many others.

Huntsman Holiday Card Contest

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

I created the Holiday Card in a very short amount of time.

The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business is doing a Holiday Card Contest. The school is looking for holiday cards that they can use... I suppose to send to alumni or whomever they feel like. Students create a holiday card and upload it via a Facebook app. Then people will vote for the card that is the best. I wasn't going to participate in the contest, but late Sunday night I noticed a Twitter post from the Huntsman School say their was only 45 minutes left to enter, so on a whim I decided to create the greatest holiday card the world has ever seen.

(You can vote for my card here.)

I used a picture that I had drawn in the margin of one of my notebooks that I had colored and scanned. Then I used the built-in Creative Kit in Google+ to play with some of the color and contrast settings and add text. Here is my finished product/submission:

If you would like to vote for my submission to win the prize, you have until Friday, December 9. You can vote once every 24 hours. I have decided that if I win the grand prize, I will send a holiday card to everyone who voted for me. Here is the link to vote: http://bit.ly/vF8hJK. Thanks in advance.

And happy holidays.

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

2011-10-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

I have never written a novel. But that doesn't mean I can't try.

I just signed up for National Novel Writing Month (http://www.NaNoWriMo.org).

One time I started writing a novel. I wrote the beginnings on one of those free notebooks that they have on side tables at hotels. I think I kept what I wrote, but I don't know what I ever did with it. I bet the idea was worthy of a best selling novel.

Have you ever taken part in NaNoWriMo? Do you have any advice for writing a novel? My friend Jen (who invited me to take part in this - Thanks) gave me the advice to don't edit, rewrite, or criticize until the month is over.

I think this could be fun.

Everything's Going to Get Better

2011-09-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

2011-09-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation | Video on TED.com

2011-06-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation | Video on TED.com

5 Creative Reality TV Shows

2011-05-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Love it or hate it, reality television has become a part of our media culture. I remember watching the first season of Survivor. It was quite the experience. My mom even watched it. It is crazy to think now that Survivor is in it's 20 something season. There has been many reality TV shows come and go since then. Some great shows have gone away too soon while other shows have come and lasted way too long. Some reality TV shows have showcased incredible creative talent. Here is a list of the one's I find most interesting (competition reality shows are a bit more interesting to me).

1. Clothing/Fashion - Project Runway

I think Project Runway is the clothing design reality TV competition. It has been going for quite a few seasons. Clothing is more interesting than models to me.

2. Food - Chopped

There are a variety of food reality shows. Some are much better than others. The creative shows are focussed on making food, making restaurants, and making chefs. Chopped is my favorite because of the framework and simplicity of the show.

3. Special Effect Make-up - Face Off

There is no competition in special effects make-up reality shows. I like this show because it is really interesting to see how special effects make-up is created. It is not a creative medium that I previously knew much about.

4. Interior Design - HGTV Design Star

One thing they do on HGTV Design Star that I really like is the white box challenge. It is fun to see different designer's personalities, ingenuity, and resourcefulness. This show really gives a variety of ways and means of design.

5. Business - Shark Tank

Like Chopped, Shark Tank is simple. It is not as much of a competition as the other shows are, but it is fun to watch and gives good insight into how people come up with ideas and how they can make ideas profitable.

There definitely needs to be more shows where creativity is the star. These shows are inspiring and really makes me want to go and be creative myself.

What do you think? What shows or categories did I miss?

MS Psychology School Counseling

2011-05-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

The first two semesters of my Master's degree is almost over. I have learned a lot about school counseling.

The final in my Intro to School Counseling class was a comprehensive essay where I had to tell everything I know about school counseling. It was pretty rewarding to be able to look at the pages I wrote and see what I have learned over the course of the semester. It wasn't like other finals I have taken where I hoped I guessed the right answer or felt gypped that the information wasn't covered or even the finals where I was happy because I had studied (crammed) all of the right information. I truly felt that I had learned something and I had pages of information to prove it. I have a good foundation and I can move on from here and add more information and knowledge.

I sat in the same seat the entire semester. Sometimes I would draw pictures.

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of talk about New Years resolutions. Here is mine:

LEARN TO SPEED READ AND READ MORE BOOKS.

I have other ideas on what goals I would like to undertake, but it's important to keep things simple.

Here are some links to my inspiration:
The Happiness Project
The Blog of Tim Ferriss

Here are some other goals of mine:

watch less TV
check my email less often
meditate & focus
plan & prioritize

Here is a link to more blogs that I enjoy.

4 Poems You May Read At My Funeral

2009-11-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

... not because they are about death or dying, but because I like them.

[I recently acquired a book: 101 Famous Poems. It was my great grandma's.]

Opportunity by Edward R. Sill

How Did You Die? by Edmund Vance Cooke (I guess this is about dying.)

If by Rudyard Kipling (There are a lot of videos of this poem online.)

I Shall Not Pass This Way Again by Eva Rose York (I can't find a video of this poem... maybe I should make one.)

Robots, Cyborg, Namedecoder

2009-07-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

Get Your Cyborg Name

Collage: Logan & Utah State University, Places & Friends

2009-06-11T00:13:00.001-07:00

Happiness is All the Rage

2009-01-13T10:17:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think that depression is an epidemic. There are way too many depressed people in the world. I say this with the belief that different people have different difficulties and that difficulties are a good thing because of what people can learn from them and what people can really gain from overcoming them. I became really happy when I discovered this blog: http://happiness-project.com/.

Wordle

2008-10-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

http://wordle.net/

Good Information to Know

2008-10-03T07:30:00.001-07:00

1 minute, 9 seconds

Partners In Business Seminars

2008-07-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

Coordinating Seminars and selling to businesses the opportunities to go to those seminars. Determining topics and speakers. Talking to people in charge of business training and helping them to understand the benefits of attending seminars and being partners. Researching new developments. Talking to professionals. Trying to make the seminars the best they can be. What an experience!

http://www.partnersusu.org

CouchSurfing

2008-04-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

I read about this in a magazine and thought it was such a great idea.

CouchSurfing

If you have a open couch that you don't care if someone crashes on or you need a couch to crash on for a while, you should check it out.

It's probably not a good idea for a honeymoon though...

Entrepreneurship

2008-04-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

This is what I learned today in my Management class:

The Entrepreneurial Process
1. Idea Generation
2. Opportunity Recognition
a. need for product or service
b. means of fulfillment
3. Assemble Resources
a. capital
b. people
4. Launch/Growth/Management
5. Harvest

Transparent backgrounds look the best

2008-04-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

I made the background of my passport photo transparent using Adobe Photoshop. It is actually pretty easy, especially when the background is all the same color in the first place. I just used the magic wand tool and selected the background and then pressed delete. Amazing and incredibly simple.

Thanks for not laughing too hard at my picture.

Freecycle

2008-04-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

This is a really great idea. You should check it out.

Freecycle

It kinda goes along with my previous post.

The Value of Art

2008-03-31T14:20:00.001-07:00

Here is a really neat npr article about a creative person and the value of art.

Treasure or Trash?

Radio's future at Utah State University

2008-03-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to an article I wrote about radio at USU.

http://www.hardnewscafe.usu.edu/artlife/features/031808_radio.html

Dannon is my name, but this post isn't about me

2008-02-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

Press Release to stories

The following is an analysis of the transformation from a press release to a written story. It deals with a lawsuit that was filed against the Dannon Company, Inc. A copy of Dannon's press release can be found here.

January 23, 2008 - Reuters - Dannon sued over "probiotic" bacteria claims

Of the three articles that I reviewed, this is the only one that was written prior to the press release. It actually states in the article that the Dannon Company was unaware or the lawsuit that was against them. It is pretty interesting that the same phrase "the claims of our products and the clinical studies which support them" is used as an initial reply to the news and also in the press release that was published a day later. In this article there is very minimal use of Dannon official statements. Most of the resources and quotes came from the lawsuit. Because of this the article seems to have a bit of a negative tone.

January 24, 2008 - AP - Woman says Dannon overstates benefits of some yogurt products

This article is much more positive for the company. It came out on the same day as the press release and the press release is used and quoted many times in the article. Even the title makes the article seem more positive for the company. It puts focus on what a woman says rather than on what claims are against the company. Unlike the third article I reviewed, this one had scientists saying positive things that agree with the claims of Dannon. Even the last sentence of the article makes the claims against the company look like a joke.

January 25, 2008 - ABC News - Dannon Yogurt Faces Lawsuit Over False Advertising

This article has the most balanced amount of information for both sides of the issue, but the way it is presented makes it seem a little more negative. It at least has a little more question or controversy associated with it based on the way things are worded. As aforementioned it also includes a doctor's negative statements concerning probiotic bacteria that go against the claims of Dannon yogurt. In some ways the doctor's statements agree with and support the lawsuit brought against Dannon.

Overall Analysis

I found this assignment to be very educational. It was very interesting to see the difference between the article written before the press release came out and the article that was written on the same day as the press release. The article was definitely affected by the press release. When dealing with something like a lawsuit, I suppose it is very important to get a statement out as soon as possible. Because if there isn’t any official statements from the company, the only thing the press has to use as a resource is the claims made in the lawsuit or material that the company may have that isn’t current or specific to the case.
The press release is simple and direct. It has firm statements that the company and the company spokesman, Michael Neuwirth stand by. Even when given extra questions the spokesman goes back to some of the same things that are written in the press release. The press release states the research that supports the claims of their products and even goes as far as to give resources as the where the scientific research can be reviewed. The press release really showed how confident the Dannon Company is in their products and the research that supports the benefits of their products. That confidence makes for some good quotes that reporters use in their articles.
A press release can certainly direct (or redirect) strong media attention. The press needs information to write stories and the object of a press release is to make sure that at least some of the information that the press has comes from the company and puts the company in a positive light. Press releases give the public something that a company wants them to believe.

Wikipedia and an interview with the Founding Director of MicroMuse

2008-02-20T12:42:00.000-08:00

"I'll have to look it up on Wikipedia." How often does that phrase come up on a daily basis? Wikipedia is a top hit and top return on search engines. It is used as a starting point for information and a place to general knowledge about a wide variety of topics. Many students don't think twice about the credibility of information on the site, despite the fact that most teachers will not allow Wikipedia as an official academic source for research. How credible is Wikipedia?
Dr. Barry Kort, a long-time science and technology researcher and educator, says there is no place in the world of academia for Wikipedia. He says that Wikipedia is a good source for looking up items of pop culture or for finding citations to primary sources, but that it isn't very reliable and you need to double check anything that you find there. Kort isn't the only person that criticizes Wikipedia. Multiple websites, such as WikipediaReview.com, have been set up pointing out the faults and fallacies of the way Wikipedia is run. Even Wikipedia's co-founder, Larry Sanger, has since left Wikipedia to start a competing site, Citizendium which "aims to improve on Wikipedia's model" according to Citizendium's website. Why is there so much controversy? Is there something wrong with Wikipedia's model?
"Wikipedia is an example of a site that lacks ethics" says Kort. He says that Wikipedia is out of control and that it lacks a functional governance system. Wikipedia is known for being editable by anyone but Kort, who is also known as Moulton on the web, says that "Wikipedia is not a democracy. It's an oligarchy." A group of administrators help with the maintenance of Wikipedia, including blocking users and deleting pages and entries created by others. Administrators’ true identities remain anonymous and have a policy of protecting their identities. According to Kort, Wikipedia will kick you off if you disclose that information. Because of this, it is virtually impossible to prosecute Wikipedia or an administrator for slander or false information on the site.
Wikipedia has a list of rules that prevent subject matter experts from contributing to the site. Wikipedia doesn’t allow original research to be added to the site. For this and other reasons, other sites have been created that build upon the ideas of Wikipedia but do it in a manner that contributors and editors are identified and subject matter experts are valued. Examples of these websites are Citizendium, Scholarpedia, and Google’s Knol. These sites are written and edited more like the way encyclopedias are and despite the popularity of Wikipedia, Kort says that the better designs of these sites will eventually supplant Wikipedia.

Positioning Myself

2008-02-07T00:14:00.000-08:00

I have been a Public Relations student for a while now. When I tell people and they usually ask, "What do you want to do with that?" My answer seems a little lame; "I'd like to work for an organization in public relations." And the conversation usually ends there. People generally have heard of public relations, but they don't know what someone in public relations does. Sometimes they might think of someone that represents a person or organization that answers questions at a press conference. And if someone is a little more educated they might associate writing press releases. I have to admit that I don't know everything there is to know about public relations. I chose the major because I love to work with people and I figured I would be working with people in a major called Public Relations. The longer I have been involved in the major the more I learn about and love it. The opportunities to be creative really excite me.

I have considered myself a peacemaker and someone that likes to make sure people are happy. Being in public relations gives me a chance to represent an individual or organization that I believe in. I will help people see and understand the value within an organization or individual.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, public relation jobs are increasing quickly, but so are the number of people trying to enter the field. College graduates who are trying to enter the industry have a much higher chance when they have related experience. Careers in public relations are growing especially quickly in technological and other specialized areas. I have set some goals in order to be better prepared to enter and be successful in a career in public relations.

The Public Relations industry is one that is full of niches. It is growing as the internet has made connecting to the public so much more possible and as companies are realizing the importance of their relationships with the public through the internet and other new media venues. My first goal is to become familiar and proficient with different new media (blogs, website design, social networking groups, etc.) My second goal is to build a diverse portfolio of items that will show my proficiency. Then I will display my portfolio and network with others through the internet and face-to-face contacting. During this networking, I will become familiar with different agencies and organizations that will help to find out where my skills and talents will fit the best and where I can do the most good.

The Ultimate Flying Disk

2008-01-30T11:20:00.001-08:00

My brother always gives the best gifts. One time he made me a puppet set. It had all sorts of puppets; some you could move their mouths and make them talk and others had Popsicle sticks on the back and you could make them move around. Thought and effort was definitely put into that gift. This past Christmas my brother gave me a website. I can make it into anything I want. I have thought of quite a few things to do with it, but I haven't done anything with it. I gave him a Frisbee.