TED Talk

A preview or review? I may be a little late on this. Anywho...

Kaitlin, a senior English major at Saint Joseph's University, discusses the film genre that has stood the test of time, musicals. She reveals her love for musicals and begs the question why these films are so popular. She discusses how musicals can communicate and tell a story in a way that no other film genre can.

Meaning in Musicals and All that Jazz...

SO...I think I finally landed upon an idea for my Final TED Talk.

I decided to talk about one of my favorite film genres of all time: musicals!

Musicals have so much more depth to them than what appears on the surface. The stories and songs have so much value and meaning to them, and I would love to share this with class in a 5 minute presentation. I figured one of the main components of any TED Talk is passion, and I am most certainly passionate about musicals. I am not passionate about public speaking in the least bit, but I always found it easier to talk in front of a group of people when it's something you actually care about.

Not too sure on the specifics of my talk yet, I'm still working out the kinks. But I can tell you that I am excited!

Case Study: Twitter

Here check out my slide presentation on Twitter:

Kaitlin Twitter Presentation

View more presentations from ksouth24.

So for the past month I have started using and experimenting with Twitter. Before I didn't really understand Twitter...at all. What's the point of having a total seperate site with Facebook statuses, when you can get that on Facebook? But alas I was proven wrong...Twitter ain't too bad. I've learned by writing my own little blurbs under 140 character or less for my classmates to read turned out to be kind of fun. Then again, I'm easily amused. Following my classmates as well celebrities ranging from Britney Spears to Mindy Kaling can actually be pretty entertaining. Also it's yet another website that will help me procrastinate and distract me from doing anything sort of productive.

Celebrities especially love to use Twitter and I emphasized that in my presentation. It's such an easy form of promotion! And I'm all of it, because it's kind of honest in a way. For the most part these promotions come from the celebrities themselves, and plus I choose to follow them in the first place. Nothing's shoved down my throat.

But Twitter can hold more value than just a form of entertainment. This is another point I stressed in my presentation. Twitter is becoming a whole news source in itself. Anyone can be a reporter through the use of the internet and I find that amazing. People can protest Prop 8 or Iranian elections. Victims of the 2008 earthquake in China can warn others quick and fast.

So is Twitter successful? Yes! Very much so. In fact, Twitter's success only continues to grow day by day. And honestly? If Twitter became the new Facebook like Facebook became the new Myspace, I don't think I would mind too much. After all, the only reason why I even go on Facebook nowadays is to read other people's statuses. I could do without the constant invitations to Farmville and the notifications of people being tagged in photo albums that I won't look at. Oh this girl I went to grade school with got drunk this weekend and took over 500 pictures of herself? I don't care. I've had my fair share of Facebook stalking, and I'm pretty over it by now. Twitter seems to be a more healthy and convienent way to stay in contact with other people.

And the only way to have fun on Twitter is to follow others and have others follow you! This is what I tried to illustate in my visual map.

Social Objects

Something that never fails to fascinate is how we're all somehow connected to each
other by some sort of fashion. From listening to Jyri Engestrom's lecture on social objects, I find he embraces the subject in a way I've never thought about before. He believes we're connected through "social objects", whether it be through photographs online or potatoes. It's very interesting and something I will love to talk about once I get the chance. Until then, here's a video of his lecture:

Imma do the things that I wanna do

I look back at my use of the internet since I was a wee lil' 8 year old, and realized that my main purpose of using the internet was for social purposes. Remember the days when people still used and paid for America Online? I do. I especially remember not even being able to instant message people, because my dad unfortunately signed me up for "Kids Only" settings. So I had to resort talking to my friends through e-mail and chat-rooms. Ah...memories.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that what seemed like a useless form of entertainment at the time, now serves as a permanent form in memory. Why? Because my use of the internet and the social tools out there have made major and not so major impacts on my life. I can still remember some conversations that took place 5 years ago through IM. Some of these conversations back in the day would have to take place face to face, but I resorted to having these conversations online. I can still remember unnecessary "drama" that took place between my friends that came up in the first place because of MySpace.

My generation pretty much grew up online. We most definitely part of the "Content Nation". It's fun to think of what we were able to experience as a result of social media, but at the same time it's still a whole new frontier to take on as there are no mistakes from previous generations to learn from. The Star Wars Kid we talked about in class is a perfect example. Another incident is about this one teenage girl a couple of years who committed suicide over a cruel prank played on her on Myspace. It's really no question that social media has brought both positive and negative consequences into our lives.

One good thing about YouTube? Music videos. Like this one from Weezer...

Group Videos

So I'm really upset that I wasn't able to go to Friday's class and see everyone's videos! I was really looking forward to seeing what all the other groups were doing and how their hard work paid off. I know me and my group worked hard on our video, "Beauty". I'm really proud of my group and our video, and I wish I got to see everyone's reactions and their feedback!

Xtra Cool Interview

Hey y'all. I really dig this website where it lets you make movies for free (Mostly). Check out my group's video:

This is adorable.

So, I never like most people haven't seen or heard of this Youtube video until tonight's episode of The Office. (Pam&Jim married! Yay!) So I had to look up this video, and I can't enough of it. I think it's hilarious. I don't see myself doing this at my wedding, but never say never.

Group progress

So far me and group, Amelia and Kai, are making pretty good progress on our digital story. We have decided together on a question, "What is beauty?". We feel that everyone has a different definition of beauty and we want to illustrate it. We keep changing the exact storyline, but we have some definite ideas in place. Namely, we want to compare models and celebrities to everyday people. By doing this, we want to put down the general defintion of "beauty", and show that everyone makes up the meaning for themselves. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"...kind of what we're aiming for. I was able to meet with Amelia today, and we're hoping this weekend to all get together and film footage for the video this weekend!

My blog critique

As for my use of media, I could probably take more advantage of what's out there. My blog could stand to use some more images here and there instead of blocks of words and paragraphs. I know yesterday I posted a link to a video from Dirty Dancing, but I'm not sure exactly how to embed a video.

Again, when I look at my blog, it's mostly just a vast amount of text with no visual or appealing images which I could definitely use more of.

Right now I'm using a selected template design from the site, but I eventually want to figure out how to put the site into my own design or find sime outside HTML to use. Right now, the text and the colors work, but I still want to find something more creative and exciting. I would say my blog is pretty conventional. I kind of landed upon the title "rants and ramblings", but I'm considering changing it. Also, I need an About section!

Select your dream kitchen...

I have a confession to make. One of my favorite things to do when I was younger was to peer through IKEA and JCPenny catalogs and pick dream furniture for my dream home. I revisted this interest as I came across a 2006 nominee for Visual Design. IKEA lets you browse and circle through "dream kitchens". I have to say I became entranced and played around with this site for a good ten minutes. Check it out.

Creativity vs Society

The TED talks with Ken Robinson and Elizabeth Gilbert really struck a chord with me. Robinson beautifully expressed my exact frustrations with the education system today. In today's world, we're trained to not mistakes. Standardized tests are now a staple of the American education system, especially with No Child Left Behind in place. These standardized tests under the No Child Left Behind Act penalize schools for failing. The way I see it, mistakes are a necessary, if not mandatory, part of any education. Robinson brought up the concept of "genius". No one is a genius. People are experienced. They had to screw up and fail until they reached any kind of success. Schools not only discourage making mistakes, but they also downplay any classes that require creativity. And my question is...why? Subjects such as mathematics and science are extremely important, don't get me wrong. But why should subjects such as art and music be placed on the back burner? Students should be encouraged to do whatever they like to do, even if that means being a musician over an accountant. As an English major I can't help but identify with Elizabeth Gilbert. When I tell people I am an English major, I never fail to get the blank stare with preceded question, "What are you going to do with that? Do you want to be a teacher?".

I'm not sure exactly what I want to do, but I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm alright with trying my hands at a few things until I finally land upon a career where I will be able to wake up in the morning with a smile on my face.

I just started a PR internship at Lost Records label in Elkins Park, and I am enjoying my time there so far. They have a blog as well, and sometimes I write on it, so you should check it out!

Suggestions?

I'll be honest, I don't follow many blogs. And when I say I don't follow many blogs I mean I don't follow any blogs whatsoever. I've been trying to browse some blogs but I haven't found any yet that really catch my interest. I'm still looking though, so hope is not lost.

Someone brought up Lost in class the other day. (Forgive me I don't exactly remember who, I'm still in the process of matching names to faces! Sorry!) As a huge Lost fan, I would love to find a good Lost blog to read. The only site I found interesting so far is Lostpedia (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page), but I don't know if that necessarily can be considered a blog. But I really dislike spoliers or any information about future episodes, and this is only site I found so far that refrains from ruining the upcoming season for me. Although I was excited to read that Boone and Charlie will be returning. Sounds like this season will be a lot like the first season!

I'm a huge fan of television, so if anyone happens to know some good blogs about their favorite shows let me know! My other favorite shows include Scrubs, The Office, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Or any other blogs not related to T.V. that you like, I'm really open to anything. :)

So the videos we watched in class brought up a rather scary topic. What will our future look like with the advancement of technology? The first issue that came to my mind is that it seems like in the years to come there will be no need for human interaction. Hovering around on a Lazy boy chairs like the charaters on Wall-E could very well become a possibility. There are already systems in place today that inhibit real social encounters like Facebook and Myspace. Facebook can be a great thing .It allows you to connect with people you haven't talked to in years. It also makes it easier to organize social events. But although the whole purpose of the site is to connect with other people, there is still an impersonal feeling to it. Rather than meeting people face to face or even picking up the phone, a great deal of conversations take place today on people's Facebook walls. Not to mention that these conversations don't necessarily go one way, it's now open for your entire friends' list to read. It brings up another scary issue, will we have any sense of privacy with the onset new rising technology? One of the videos brought up the possibility of a new computer product that could track anyone's location at any time of a day. Of course these videos are all conspiracy but it really makes you think about how dependent we are on technology now and how it will truly affect us in the future.

First blog entry!

First entries are always the worst, I never know what to say. I always just want to set up my blog and get it over with! I've had a couple of blogs that I shared with my friends since high school, so I think it's kind of fun that now I'm required to do it for class. I'm a senior English major who doesn't want to graduate anytime soon. The communications studies program sounds really interesting, and I'm considering minoring in it as well. I'm not exactly sure yet what direction I want to take this blog, but I promise you it will be exciting.