Project Proposal

In the last few months, I have taken a big interest in cooking. At the beginning of the summer, I spent some time with my grandma, who is an AMAZING cook. She taught me to make drunk chicken (and introduced me to lemon pepper seasoning - LOVE IT) and we talked a little about cooking in general. I then spent another summer at a camp where we cooked a couple nights a week on a campfire, and in order to keep from eating the same thing every week, I learned a bit about preparing food. The week or two I was at home this summer I spent wishing I knew more about cooking than pancakes and spaghetti.

So here is where my project comes in. I am going to learn to cook. I mean, I know some, obviously, but I want some sort of repertoire of recipes in my brain, and I want to eat some good food this semester - the nest is killing me, and I don't even want to think about seaco. I have a bunch of recipes I have saved from bettycrocker.com, a couple magazines, and some family/friend recipes. I am going to cook one entree a week and one other dish - an appetizer, a drink, a dessert, etc. I will post where I got the recipe from, take pictures, evaluate, say what I changed when cooking or what I would in the future, and be descriptive as I can in the process. The last two or three weeks I would like to cook my food without using a recipe - therefore using the knowledge and experience I have gained in this process.

I went to the store today and bought food to make Mexican Shepherds Pie and Fresh Peach Salsa - food for week one, care of bettycrocker.com. =]

Audio Story

Audio Story!
Camping is fun!

By:
Morgan @ tomatolemonade.org
Stephanie @ blog.gephy.info
Jessica @ blog.jhouck.info


Credits:

banjo
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=91983

footsteps
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=23708

owls
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=64544

final roar
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=33568

fire sound:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=40699

match lighting:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=29678

weird growls
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=23387

University of Texas, through twitter

First of all, I'd like to send out my prayers to everyone at University of Texas and say how amazing it is that no one but the shooter was hurt. For those of you who haven't heard (because no one I have talked to seems to have any idea . . ??), just after 8am this morning a man with a gun fired shots into the air and then ran inside the UT library. Campus was put on lockdown and several emergency messages were sent out to students. The gunman shot himself in the library and died. For a long time, this was the extent of the knowledge about the event, and when I walked into the Underground around 11am, that was all CNN was saying. Because of varying reports about the gunman's description, there was an extensive search for a second suspect, but the UT police, SWAT teams, and ACP have finally announced the all clear and are opening parts of campus back up one by one.

Now, what does this have to do with this blog, twitter, or class in general? Well, as I sat in the underground and received little information on what was happening, I decided to get on Twitter and see what people were saying. It was amazing. The amount of information (though clouded by well meaning people sending their concerns and prayers) was incredible. Students locked in buildings were tweeting and retweeting updates, saying they could hear helicopters, see SWAT teams, or were just generally frightened. I knew exactly which buildings the police were investigating at that moment and even when specific people were being released and evacuated, just because they posted on twitter. Eventually, someone posted a link to a liveblog being updated frequently (which you can now see here and follow the timeline) that was very specific and continues to seem accurate. I followed the general #utshooting hashtag as well as a few specific twitter accounts (UTComm, The Daily Texan, and FoxAustin) and through these sources stayed very up to date as to what was happening on campus. Someone posted a picture of a text message they received from the school and someone else posted a picture of the email sent out to all the students. At one point they suspected a second person to be involved and to be barricaded in Calhoun Hall. Somehow, people inside were able to communicate their position outside the walls of the building and an article showed up online giving details as to the situation inside. I am not sure how that happened but it was incredible to read. There is an great compilation of pictures here. Mostly, I was amazed at the difference in information that CNN was giving (very little) and what I could simply read online, especially through twitter. I have saved a few of the interesting ones here:

• Escorted out by the SWAT team. Was in the Welch Building - so glad to be off campus and out of lockdown. Super scary morning #UTshooting


• #utshooting Police: Students pointed the way for officers following shooter, who killed himself on 6th floor of library http://bit.ly/cYyvSL


• I have to say: thank God for social networking. Twitter and fb were tremendous sources of info and comfort during all of this. #utshooting


• There was a #UTShooting everyone's fine, but still shaken up. I almost left for class early, but got a text about the shooter. Thank God.


• They released us from my class. Eating lunch with friends. God bless UT and the poor guy. #utaustin #utshooting #Texas


• The loudspeaker man clarified a few times. All dorms are open. #UTshooting


• Breaking News: UT RELEASES phone number for info on shooting 866-657-9400. #UT #UTShooter #UTshooting


• News outlets tweeting where SWAT is abt to look 4 2nd. #utshooting STOP he could have smartphone #facepalm


• Despite the all-clear, my sister is still stuck in Belmont. Hoping the evacuation team gets to her soon. #ut #utshooting


• if you hear things about weapons in a car it's b/c a guy in my class has a airsoft gun in his car, they're escorting him out. #utshooting


• #utshooting #utshooter very nice and polite SWAT guy just came through the office


• My advisor was also caught in hall by SWAT, questioned at gun point. Have been emailing with him. Await word on encounter. #utshooting


• Scratch that, police escorting us out of class towards mlk. #UTshooting http://plixi.com/p/47644008


• Kvue news is currently talking to a boy in my class who came in late and saw the gunman outside our classroom. Thank god I wasnt late today


• Guy in my class who encountered the gunman says he was laughing and waved his gun at them. The types of people in this world frighten me.

Daily Shoots - A Collection of Favorites

Daily Shoot 1

by Lindsay
I love black and white photography in general, but the idea of showing 'green foliage' without color was really interesting to me. There is little actual plant life in the picture, but I think an important part of nature is the environment it is in as well. The bike shadow is just really striking and I like the original take on foliage.

Daily Shoot 2

by Jim Groom
Nothing turns me back into a cooing five year old like an adorable baby, and this picture is just full of it. =D This picture and this one are also incredibly adorable!! Anyway, I thought the contrast between an adult and a child was an interesting take on the 'complimentary objects' prompt - no one else included anything alive in their posts, but if you think about it, there really isn't anything more complimentary than family. =]

Daily Shoot 3

by Edward
I really enjoyed this picture because of the 1) pig and 2) the framing is really cool. I love the actual look into the jean pocket, and the contrasts between what is in focus and what isn't is really captivating to me. The colors, though there aren't many, are very vibrant in this picture.

Daily Shoot 4

by Jim Groom
MEOW! Something about this picture just kind of exemplifies cats to me - the whole attitude of 'guh what are you doing to me just let me alone and let me sleep somewhere warm' is entertaining to me, and yet they can get away with being that way. haha. I think this picture captivates that attitude in addition to deliciously softness that is cute animal fur. A feline looking anywhere but the camera, held against a gorgeously blue sky - yeah, I love it.

Daily Shoot 5

by Sadie
Again with the black and white pictures, and again I love it. The slightly out of frame, simple environment of your car, half face in half out is just so pretty.

Daily Shoot 6

by Stephanie
I particularly enjoyed this picture because of the story that is promises to become. Stephanie says she is working on making a porcelain doll, and this picture shows just one step of many along this journey. It makes me really want to see her finished product.

Daily Shoot 7

by Gretchen
I really liked this picture because as soon as I saw it, I thought of the Hogwarts library in Harry Potter. =] Secondly, I really like antiquey stuff and dark wood, and this picture really captured both of these things.

Daily Shoot 8

by Lindsay
This shot was my favorite because it didn't focus on just books like most of the other ones, but it also showed a diversity of lines and handwriting. I love handwritten things a lot more than typed ones, and the variety of colors and textures in this picture really appealed to me.

Daily Shoot 8 - Books

I love big bookcases that are just stuffed full of reading material, and I noticed that this one had a lot of orange, which is uncharacteristic of most books. My camera has a function where you can have everything be black and white except for one color you pick, and I love playing with it, so I focused on those orangey books in this photograph.



"Make a photo of an interesting stack of books or magazines. Consider how you handle repeating lines in your composition."

Daily Shoot 7 - Symmetry

"Symmetry can be calm and soothing. Make a photo today featuring symmetry, either in subject or composition."

I am going to continue doing this assignment throughout the semester, I am pretty sure. =]

Image Story 3

A Dog's Life















Oh boy!! SmellLikeFoodMan brought me to the water place again! yay! I love to run here! And play in the water! SPINNING DISC DISC DISC RUNN WATER AAAHHHHH!!!!! I like this pla-AH A BALL RUN RUN RUN RUN -slobber- yesss. I love this place. I am happy. I am tired. zzzzzzz.