FIFTY!

So this is going to be my final blog post. I'm pumped that I'm officially done with this class the second I press Publish Post. How liberating. I had fun in 103. I learned a lot. I made some friends. No big.

I really enjoyed the fact that this wasn't a conventional class. Stony Brook really needs to focus on this type of learning. I think Prof. Baldwin is the first professor that I've actually spoken to and have seen out of class and has recognized me. SBU does a good job of making you feel invisible here. I'm thinking of minoring in theater, so I'll probably end up in another one of Baldwin's classes. Which really can only help my gpa out so why not? But for now, it's time to peace out from this blog and this semester. It's been chill.

What I've Learned.

Thr 103 - Introduction to Theater Design and Technology. From the course description, I assumed this class was going to be incredibly boring. I only took it because I wanted to switch out of something else and this was the only DEC D being offered during some free time in my schedule. I'm pretty glad it wasn't what I thought it would be. At first, I was kind of nervous by the amount of technology and computer stuff we were going to learn about. I'm a luddite. I will always prefer a pen and paper to my laptop. Typing is so unnatural to me.

Anyway, I'm really glad that I know how to use programs like Sketchup and Bryce. Personally, I'm really creative and into art, so I just like any methods of creating things. At first I would get really frustrated with the programs because they ran so slowly on my computer and I couldn't figure out how to manipulate them properly. I practiced though and now using sketchup comes easily to me. Since I'm going to have a degree in something that will essentially get me nowhere other than another classroom (whaddup historyyy) it will be pretty beneficial to have these skills. When class began I was really indifferent and would get annoyed when Prof. Baldwin would mention how we needed these skills to get us out of the pink collar and all that crap, but now that I realized I don't want to be a teacher and I don't want a 9 to 5 job in a cubicle as a nameless zombie behind a desk, these skills can really help me. I'm excited to see how I'll use them in the future.

Fall 2010.

Not as good as Spring '10, but wayyy better than Fall'09. I'm really glad that after tomorrow it will finally be over, but I really can't believe how quickly it went by. I still feel like I need to roll out of bed at 9:30 to make it to this class at 9:50. I'm amazed that I never missed a single one of these classes. Like really, 9:50? Next semester I have a 9:30 and that is going to kill me. Classes shouldn't be allowed to begin until 10:30. For my major there were classes I sort of needed, but they were only offered at 8:20 or something stupid like that. I was trying really hard to be able to graduate Spring'12 which would be an entire year early, just because I have the credits, but I can't handle early morning classes. I know for a fact I would do poorly in them, so I'm just not going to bother with it. It would be really sweet if this college offered more classes or actually allowed me to take some. There's really no reason for upper division History classes to reserve like 5 seats for transfers when only 50 people can enroll in the first place. I know there probably aren't too many history majors out here, but they offer so few classes that I feel like it's impossible to get into them. Sometimes I really hate the way this school is run. I liked the way Prof. Baldwin ran our class; I'd like to take more classes like this one. Because really, I'm a history major and everything is straight up lecture for nearly two hours. It's rough.

Blogging.

I actually really liked that basically all we had to do for this class was blog. I've become pretty interested in setting up my own blog, considering I read so many fashion blogs. They are really versatile. I can see how having one to post your work can lend itself to being a portfolio. Some of the blogs that I read have lead to the writers getting book deals, or jobs with magazines. I am a pretty decent writer when I try, but I enjoy creating things more than writing. If I were to start one it would probably involve fashion and art. If I was trying to have a career in writing a blog would definitely be a great place to start. I've always kind of wanted to work at a fashion magazine or something along those lines, so maybe I should just start up my own blog and go from there. The hardest part would be establishing a good concept for it and finding an audience. Even though I would love having a "what I wore today" styled blog, it seems a bit narcissistic to publish photos of yourself daily so other people can see your outfits. Who knows, maybe one day I'll jump the gun, have a successful blog and land a really sweet job because of it.

The Show.

Overall, I did not find that the show met my original expectations. I suppose that can be attributed to the professors seemingly grandiose plans for it during every class. But the projections were pretty lame honestly. It looked just like in class when you set up the laptop to the projector and you see all the programs on the big projector. I feel like it would have looked much better if they had found a way to zoom in on just the work being displayed so you didn't see the rest of the screen. Also, it could have been my seat, but I found it difficult to even make out what most of the stuff on the screen was. There was too much light hitting the screen and everything appeared sort of dull. The work shown also had nothing to do with what was going on. I understand that this was an awesome way to get our work displayed to a large audience in Manhattan, but it didn't make any sense. Why are we seeing sketchups of people's dream apartments during a performance of Hamlet? The whole concept just seemed so much better than what it was. I didn't get to take part in the manipulation of what was going on onscreen, but that as well just seems a little confusing to me. I get it, the next step for the audience is to become interactive with the media in the performance, but when does it become too much? If everyone is focused on when it's their turn to change the music or change the images, who is going to pay attention to the show itself?

Hamlet & RUR.

I liked the performance of Hamlet a lot more than RUR. Since they were actually acting, I was more interested. During RUR I couldn't pay attention because there was no movement and I had already been there for awhile so when they were on it just felt like it was never going to end.

I was really impressed with the acting in Hamlet. The opening scene immediately drew you in for the rest of the play. They were really animated, as opposed to the people reading in RUR. I suppose a reading was chosen as some sort of reflection of what the play stood for and all that jazz, but to be honest, most people just found it boring. I really am not terribly interested in watching people sitting around and reading off a script. It's such a dull concept and is not what I was expecting from the show. All semester the professor kept talking about how things are changing and the theater is changing and the audience is going to be interactive instead of passive. I could not have seen a more passive audience than the one during RUR. No one cared what was happening so no one was going to interact. It seemed to be a really outdated style.

The Tank.

To be honest, I was a little surprised with how small the theater was. In class, the professor kept mentioning that we needed to invite a ton of people and get a huge turnout, and I mean, for the space we had it was a good turnout, but nothing that I would have expected. I haven't been to that many theaters in the city, so I have no real comparisons. Most of the venues I've been to are standing room and are for concerts, not plays.

I kind of liked how small the space was. In general, I just don't like overwhelmingly large places. Probably because I'm so small :) It was kind of rustic and worn out. Some people find that look to just be dirty or gross, but I think it's pretty neat. Like the place had some character. One thing that I found to be pretty disgusting though was the upholstery on the seats, it was badly torn and stained. I understand that people are going to spill things on chairs and seats get dirty, but really, every seat was ripped up. That's just dirty to me.

Another pretty awesome aspect of this theater was the refreshments. &that'saboutit.

after the show..

since I was in the city, I went and saw the tree. Every year I always get so amped up about going to see the tree, but then every time I go I just get annoyed and cranky because the people there can be so obnoxious. It's really pretty and helps put you in a more festive mood if you're in the area and shopping, but really, how long can you hang out and look at a tree?

It looked nice though. I might go back into the city with my boyfriend at some point and go with him and take obligatory "hey look at us in front of the Christmas tree" photos, because why not? They can go right next to the "look at us holding the Montauk lighthouse up with one hand" pictures and eventually the "pushing the leaning tower of Pisa" pics. It's obnoxious, but who doesn't love awkwardly posed, uncomfortable photos? Isn't that why facebook was invented?

more pictures.

These are from RUR. I only took four photos because there was so little movement, it seemed unnecessary.

some pictures.

This set is from Hamlet.

some pictures.

These were taken while everyone was setting up for the show.

some pictures.

Oh you know, just totally creeping on people from class during the show.

Finals.

I just took two finals today and I have another on Thursday. All I can say is, I'm really thankful the final for this class was to go to the city. It sucked that it was a Saturday so I had to take off work when I only work two days a week, but for an A, it's no big. And yeah, I guess it sucked that I missed out on a whole day of studying for my two finals today, but to be honest, I probably wouldn't have studied anyway. It was actually really nice taking the train and being able to clear my head of all the stonybrook crap it gets filled with every week. Even though I know the city really well and don't get lost, I was worried about meeting up with people, because I'm really neurotic about showing up to places alone. I don't know why, I just really hate going places myself, but it was really nice being on the train by myself. I hate sitting so close to other people and feeling awkward for an hour if a conversation can't last the whole time.

Anyway, I've seen a couple of complaints from other students on here that they wasted a Saturday, but really, would you rather have a class where you have to study for days to maybe get an A on the final or show up to an event and get an A in the class? I think the Professor did a good job with this, rather than a boring exam that we ultimately won't remember any facts from, we were a part of an interesting event. I don't see why people seem so bummed out about this.

video.

just making some more sketchup videos, nbd.

I just wanted to play around more with colors than anything else, so I kept the actual model simple by making a bunch of overlapping cylinders.

Virtual Dating.

So with the Kinect, instead of simply online dating, you could use it for virtual dating in which you dot actually have to meet in person with your date and could meet them in a virtual setting. This could be helpful to people who are concerned with their safety when meeting strangers on the Internet and could also help people be unfaithful in relationships since they technically aren't physical with another person.

The downside to this, of course, is that you aren't physically connecting with another person. There are so many emotions when you're on a date that a virtual date could not pick up on. Chemistry isn't felt through a virtual world. Pheromones can't be smelled through a screen. I suppose technology can be developed for that, but nothing can compare to talking to a cute guy and having him put his arm around you or kissing you goodnight. Actually feeling/touching other people is really important in a persons life. Seriously, I don't see my boyfriend for four days and when I finally see him I feel like starved for hugs. Real human contact is so necessary for survival that it's absurd to believe that technology can replace it. If it does get to that point, it would only be temporary and people would revert back to a simplistic nature.

Bryce.

I've tried using Bryce several times and every time it just goes so slowly that I always give up. But, considering the Jets are a failure and I don't really have any other work to do, I gave it a shot. Here's what I came up with in the meantime. I'm gonna try and do something more interesting once I get more used to the setup.

video.

this football game sucks, so I made a sketchup video real quick.

MNF.

Right now it's halftime. The Jets are losing BADLY and I have lost all will to live. Except not really, but this game blows. I really hate the Patriots and this game is going to make me cry. The Jets have not even shown up and I would really like to know how Nick Folk got a job.

Now, to make this relative to class, I feel like there's no way technology can replace this. Playing football through a kinect system or wii will never be like playing actual football or even watching a game. I just don't think anything can compare to being an avid fan and seeing your team win. Although, I'll never feel anything other than disappointment because the Jets and the Mets are REALLY good at disappointing fans. However, the Mets aren't as disappointing because I never have any expectations for them. &Game's back byee.

The Big Other.

Everything lately is always being documented. If you google my name, the search engine automatically fills in "Allison Sekur...senior, levittown." The first google page shows my twitter page, people that I follow on twitter, the list of AP scholars I was on, the list of my graduating class and even my posts on this blog. There's even a terrible song now by a dumb housewife called "Google Me." All you have to do is google someone and you can find out so much information about them. It's disturbing really. I keep most of my information private, my entire facebook page is blocked, my twitter is blocked and so is my personal blog. All it takes is one hacker though to hack my stuff and publicize everything. I could be entirely wrong with this big other thing and may have missed what the professor was getting at, but I feel like it's the internet and the mass communications of everything. Also really super creepy, if you just type my last name into google, the second link listed is my facebook page.

I just feel like with all of the new technology that's being developed, privacy becomes less important and everything is out there for everyone to know. I don't like the idea of someone putting my address into google maps and being able to see my house and street. I mean, if someone was that curious they could always literally come and see it anyways, but still, it's just so unnecessary for it to even be out there in my opinion.

Kinect.

The Kinect could be a pretty great tool for security systems. Since it has facial recognition, the kinect could be programmed to only allow certain people to unlock buildings. Personally, I think this would be awesome to have installed at my house. It always takes me awhile to find my keys and would make my life so much easier if I could just walk up to my front door and get my face scanned and the door would just open for me. I'm sure some stuff like this already exists, but with the kinect it could be more accessible. It would also be pretty sweet to have one in my car and it could only start once it scans my face. This type of system would make it difficult for other people to be able to borrow my car, but it could also help if it were stolen. When I was younger my dad's car was stolen and I'm pretty sure we eventually found out its location like months later, but if there was a device in the car with a reading of that person's face we may have been able to get that person arrested. Or if someone tries to break into a house that has a kinect it could recognize the face. Obviously, there are surveillance cameras and security systems that people have that can do this, but this new system seems like it could be more available for people.