What keeps me Bee-sy...haha

When I learned we had to do a toy-hack for our make cycle 3, I really was not sure about what I was going to use for it.  At first I thought that using Legos orPlay-dough was a good idea, but soon I realized that that was not what I really wanted to do.  What I really wanted to do was make something on my own from something that I already had.  So, for some odd reason I was sitting in class last Wednesday when it hit me: I could use one of the small footballs I had to create something interesting!  So that was when my toy-hack was born; Bert the Bee was created.  I wasn't really sure how to make the soon-to-be Bert and I honestly thought it would be really complicated, but once I got my head around what to use I was set with a solid idea.

Using my crafty-crafting skills, I turned an old foam football into a lively buzzing bee.  When I was done, I just kind of sat back and thought, What was I really building for? Did I have a reason for making Bert? Well after some thought I realized something.  I made Bert to show people that it's alright to be different. Just because Bert had an extra-large stinger didn't mean that he was any less of a person, even though his fellow bees seemed to think so. The same applies to us, humans. We shouldn't be judging those who aren't perfect, and expect them to change because of our words towards them. Personally I've experienced a lot of this in my life, directed towards me mainly in my high school years, and It hurt to be told that you aren't "perfect" and that you need to change. All of this make was a great way to not only create something I wanted to, but also express myself through my work as a maker.  Other than that, I don't really have anything else to say, so until next time, see ya!

What Time is it? Reflection Time!

For this midterm assignment we had to kind of reflect on the blog posts we had already done, and sort of discover what it is that we exactly do in these. I guess a better thought would be we had to find a pattern of sorts.  So, upon reading my other blog posts I did notice that they are evolving, if that is a good term to fit it.  At first I didn't really know what to do, and was only beginning to discover the expression known as blogging. I was so lost to be honest. But now, I actually think I have an idea of how to blog! My blogs are beginning to get better, have more of a flow, and be more personal or reflective I think.

I liked this assignment for a midterm too. It let me read about myself and ponder what I was and what I am becoming in relation to my blog. I also noticed that in my blog posts that I can sometimes be a bit stiff, and by that I mean I don't really express myself, but more like, I express the assignment I was given. Noticing this made me want to change it of course. I don't want to be a robot, I want to be an alien. That's why I'm hoping that I will keep getting better about creating my blogs, and learn to be more free about expressing my own thoughts.

As far as looking at my own blog goes, That is about it! Once again I really like reflecting on myself, although I am not too sure if this is how it is done.  I'm sure there are people who are fantastic about reflecting and can see the deepest of things at a simple glance, but I'm not one of those people, but hopefully I can become one of them! Alright, that's about all I have to say, so until next time, see ya!

Reflecting on Make Cycle 2

For my second make cycle, I decided to create a three-dimensional treasure map. I created the map with paper, tape, crayons, and markers. The map represents the journey that I took to develop my internal thoughts. Each landmark and obstacle represented a certain event or subject that molded my mind to the state that it's in today. Looking back on creating my make, I realized that it had a lot to do with the one pagers that we have done over the past few weeks. I found a sort of correlation between the thought of adventure and learning. Taking a trip every now and then and learning new information to build up a new perspective is just like taking a personal journey to build up my own state of mind. Initially, I thought that the idea of creating a treasure map was a little absurd and childish, but I was comforted knowing that my idea was actually creative and interesting when my writing group and my girlfriend supported my idea. Overall, I thought that this make was very interesting and compelling and overall a fun activity to produce.

The image above is the complete treasure map that I created. As you can see, it's filled with colors and interesting figures. There's even a little booklet that explains every landmark and obstacle on the map.