Micro Project 2

I feel that my final image shows some of the things that interest me. If someone who didn't know a thing about me were to look at this image they would get a pretty good idea of what kind of person I am and what kind of things I like to do. What this image doesn't show is that I'm not as materialistic as this makes me seem. On here I have quite a few items of high value (oakleys, tv, PS3, iPhone) but that doesn't mean that I only buy expensive things or that I'm loaded. One would not be able to know from this how much I value the nice things I have or how hard I work to have these nicer things.
My Football. My football is important to me because football is my favorite sport. I played for several years and it was always my way of being able to release stress and be aggressive without getting myself into trouble. Playing football was my high. Two words to describe this-Stress reliever.
My Oakleys. These are one of my most prized possessions. They are more than a really expensive pair of sunglasses. At my summer job (Kings Island) me and some guys I consider to be like brothers to me all started the trend of wearing Oakleys to work and eventually the entire park started wearing them. This is a symbol of our close bond. One word to describe these would be brotherhood.
This is a picture of a shoe but what I'm really focused on is Ohio State as a whole, not the shoe. My entire life revolves around being an Ohio State student and I always feel a strong sense of pride when I tell people that I go here. I honestly couldn't see myself at any other school. One word to describe this would be pride.
My car. My car isn't the most beautiful, nor the most reliable, but it's mine. I bought this car with my own money with no help from my parents and it will forever go down as my first car. This is very significant in me going from a kid to an adult. One word to describe this would be independence.
My computer. My computer is what really keeps me connected. I keep tabs on what's going on in the world by getting on my computer and surfing the internet. It also is my workhorse. Without it, I probably wouldn't get much done. One word to describe this would be connector.
My TV. My TV is big and glorious. It serves as one of my main forms of relaxation and it goes hand-in-hand with the relaxation I get from my bed. I could easily live without a TV, but there's no way I could live without relaxation. One word to describe this would be relaxing.
My PS3. This is my primary form of entertainment. While my TV is there to keep me relaxed, I usually turn to my PS3 when I want to do something fun. Whether it be watching a show on Netflix, or shooting up some people on Battlefield 3, my PS3 never fails to keep me entertained. One word to describe this would be fun
Nikes. I am a self-proclaimed sneakerhead. What that means is that I have an unhealthy love for sneakers and Nikes happen to be my favorite kind of shoe. Sneakers aren't JUST shoes, but a way of expression. I may wear a different pair of shoes depending on what kind of day it feels like to me. Also, having different types of sneakers makes me feel like an individual and that I stand out from the crowd. One word to describe this would be expression.
My iPhone. My iPhone is probably my most prized possession. I'm literally attached at the wrist with my phone and that's probably very unhealthy. I turn to my iPhone for literally everything. It provides my music, my gps, my entertainment, my news, and my camera. My phone is my everything. One word to describe this would be versatility.
My headphones. My headphones are my second most prized possession. Music is a huge part of who I am and I feel naked if I leave the house without these on my head. When I'm listening to music I feel like it's the one place where I can be alone and away from people, even if there's someone sitting right next to me. One word to describe this would be isolation.

Micro project 1- Mapping

For my project, I started with Ohio Stadium as my primary layer. The reason I chose the stadium is because clearly, it is my arrival point; It is my destination. The reason that I have the stadium blurred out (other than the fact that it looks cool) is because walking there is a blur. I walk to Ohio Stadium so often that the path I take feels so normal, almost like I don't have to pay attention to where I'm going. It feels as though I leave my house, look up, and I'm just there.

As for the picture of Drake, music is a big part of who I am. I can't walk any long distance, or drive for that matter, without listening to music. I chose Drake over everything because I listen to his song "The Motto" every morning as I'm heading to class. For some reason that song just gets me pumped up and ready for the day. I think listening to music may be part of the reason I never remember walking to the Stadium.

Lastly, the sign that points out where the class room is pretty self-explanatory. On the first day of class, I had no idea where to enter at for a class in the stadium. I allotted an extra 30 minutes in the morning to give myself time to find the class room. This sign was extremely helpful in getting me to class without being late.

We all have a very unique way of getting certain places and these maps are significant of that. They also in a way show what is important to each person as they make their commute.

Kimmelman

I'm not sure if I missed something or what, but I feel like the title of the article was never really clearly explained. I feel that Stephen Metcalf mentioned the title in his initial letter but there was never any explanation of the title. I felt this was hard to connect with because I haven't read Michael Kimmelman's book. Reading through these is almost equivalent to joining in midway through a conversation. Once you've missed something, the rest really doesn't make sense.

What I did like is even though Stephen Metcalf is (as he says) the farthest thing from an artist he was still able to connect with the book. I feel that if I were to read the book, having close to no art experience myself, I would find a way to be able to connect with the book just as Metcalf was able to.

Walker/Barrett

What I liked about the Walker article is the comparison of a theme to a big idea. The author gives very good examples showing how the theme and the big idea of an artists’ work can either be the same or they can be two completely different things.

I think that the author could have done a better job of explaining how a big idea and the subject matter are different. I feel like he just wasn’t as clear about this point as he was on some of the other points he made. Another thing I disliked was how I had to jump around the pages to make sure I read only the things that pertained to me and not read irrelevant information such as teaching tips.

In the Barrett article I thought it was overall great. I liked how they referenced the breaking down of things such as the magazine cover into 3 different messages; denotative, connotative, and the linguistic message. I also found it amazing that the person doing these studies could get kids as young as 3 and 4 to point out denotations and connotations without them even knowing that they were doing it.

I would have been interested in seeing how high school aged kids interpreted connotations and denotations in images and other things. In the article, they just skipped from graduate students to middle school-aged children. There was no in-between.

Cheese monkeys/ Heresy of the Zone Defense

When I read through Cheese Monkeys, I thought it was slightly confusing. The way the author jumped around from topic to topic made it really hard to keep up with. With the whole "left to right, top to bottom, big and small, and in front of and back of" it took me a bit of time to figure out what point was that the author was trying to convey.

What I did like about Cheese Monkeys is how cerebral it was. It was something that truly made me think about how when we get one concept in our head, such as the form of something, we forget about all other aspects of what we are observing.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Heresy of Zone Defense. I thought that basketball was an excellent analogy for the author to use to get his point across that the rules should enhance life, not govern it. I also really liked the Julius Erving story. It was a very good way to grab the attention of the audience and make them want to read on.

I didn’t like the story about Jackson Pollack and being able to drip paint. I felt that this story was uninteresting and didn’t really fit the overall theme of the reading. It didn’t really go with the idea that rules were needed to enhance the quality of our life activities. I also would have liked if the author had expanded more on some of the original rules of basketball laid out by James Naismith.

Introduction

My name is Keenan. I'm a junior majoring in City and Regional Planning. I love my major. One of my favorite things to do is listen to music. I almost never leave my apartment without my headphones on. My favorite genre is (good) hip-hop. I don't get to watch very much TV but some of my favorite shows on Netflix are How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, The League, and Jersey Shore. When I do get to watch live TV it's usually a sporting event such as a Bengals game, a Cowboys game, or an Ohio State basketball game. I've worked as a rides operator at Kings Island for 3 summers and as a rides supervisor for the past 2 summers and I plan on going back for another summer as a supervisor. With that being said I have a strong love for riding roller coasters. The top 5 roller coasters that I have ridden go as follows: 5. Diamondback at Kings Island (Cincinnati, OH) 4. The Voyage at Holiday World (Santa Clause, IN) 3. Titan at Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington, TX) 2. Millennium Force at Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH) 1. Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion (Doswell, VA). Another strong interest of mine is taking trips on my motorcycle. So far I've traveled to Chicago and Myrtle Beach.