Thoughts on the new module

~ interview a person I dont know.
~ interview topics I want to learn and get to know.
~ Pick something that occurs in my daly life
~ I want my project to be unique

Subjectivity and Objectivity

Documents, videos, photographs and documentaries are definitely subjective. Subjectivity is based on specific, personal views and opinions while objectivity is the opposite. Objectivity is something that is truthful everywhere independent of personal feelings. Although its all an approximation to a certain extent.

A conversation...

The other day some of my friends and I were talking/discussing about the problems in North Korea. Yeah- the whole conversation was heated to be honest. We were talking about the country's horrible human rights and the way the men, the women and the children from North Korea are suffering from economic and political freedom. With respect to this writing assignment- there wasn't really anything new I learnt about the subject, but rather I was exposed to different views about the subject. There is vital information one acquires from reading, but the different perspectives one gets from a conversation and the arguments or discussions is so valuable I think.

Talking about North Korea, one of my friends pointed out that we live in an era known as generation Y where it is defined by technological advances, online media and social networking mediums. As true as that is, one mentioned that with all the advances mankind has made, our generations lacks the activism that past generations excelled in. I thought this was very interesting.

Manifesto video

Reflections on the Manifesto exercise

Going along with my thought process in figuring out what to do for this project, the first thing I told myself was that this project should be focused on something that affects my life, affects other people's lives. From there, ideas were flowing through my head and suddenly I was narrowing down from the many options I already created in my head to just a few. 

As mentioned above, my topic was definitely an inspiration from my life, from my surroundings. I wanted to focus on something that occurs in people's lives constantly. I would like to ask the audience whether my project was a success.

Central motifs from the documentary

From the documentary, one of the main motifs that I observed was obviously the train as the means of transportation which also portrayed the immense poverty in India. The fact that majority of the lower middle class citizens of India use the train as their only means of transportation even with the intense surroundings and circumstances is mind boggling. Living in India for almost 10 years, India has opened my eyes to the extreme poverty. But I believe that the lower middle class ranks higher than the upper or middle class citizens in terms of population. And this documentary was directed more at the lower class citizens of India

Other secondary motifs I observed were some buildings and the crazy traffic as well. 

Inspiration Box

Some of my inspirations:

1. My friends, my family, my culture, my work and clubs I am committed to.

Some of the movies I want to see:

1. Earth

2. Outsourcing

3. Tropic Thunder

4. Choke

5. Nine queens

Some of the books I want to read: From Beirut to Jerusalem, Choke, Freakonomics

Continued....10 amusing things.

Sept 21st: 

1. Beads on my neck, 2. Cereal but no milk, 3. Babel movie that I saw with my friends for the 3rd time, 4. A broken toilet, 5. Food from flattop, 6. green grass, 7. The undergrad library crowded with people, 8. Flyers on the ground, 9. A friend I ran into, 10. A muffin from espresso royale.

Sept 20th:

1. My alarm clock, 2. My job's binder that I had to look into, 3. My laptop, 4. A rabbit on the street, 5. New members of AIESEC that we recruited, 6. The slideshow of our presentation, 6. Pizza and pop, 7. A burrito from Qdoba, 8. a keg we had to bring 4 flights upstairs, 9. Huge speakers my friend had, 10. Random drunk person.

Sept 19th:

1. The trash can filled with trash, 2. The dishes all clean and spotless, 3. My friend's dog, 4. Dog poop, 5. Car freshener, 6. My car manual that was in my room and not in the car, 7. Friendship bands that I had saved from when I was in India, 8. Intense people arguing at the AIESEC recruitment deliberations, 9. Cake that my friend baked, 10. the clock that read 2AM.

Sept 18th:

1. My CD case, 2. A spoon for eating my cereal, 3. Mail in my mailbox that I hadn't checked in a long time, 4. a lamp, 5. My Math 347 text book, 6. Hot coffee, 7. A guy wearing crocks, 8. A girl with a big slurpy cup from 7-eleven, 9. My phone's sim card, 10. My hoody. 

Sept 17th:

1. Scissors that I used to open a box, 2. Waffles for breakfast, 3. My econ 202 textbook that I was studying for an exam, 4. a very old apple computer at the CPM office, 5. a spider web, 6. Yummy empanadas, 7. Pizza that my friend got instead of empanadas, 8. a cop who pulled over a car filled with more than 8 people (LOL! they were probably drunk too.), 9. My math TA walking on green street, 10. Home sweet home.

My manifesto

I find inspiration through the excitement that this world brings to my life. I find inspiration through people and the surroundings in my life. My work will be directly based on my inspirations and my principles and values. My work will always be sincere and genuine. I strive to create something better than average, as in- I try the best I can to produce something creative. For my goals to be achieved, I find motivation and inspiration with the normal things in life that affects one unknowingly. My work will portray hard work and dedication. I am always open to criticism and suggestions. I will make videos by creatively utilizing the resources I have, and help other with their creative process.

Video upload

Presenting my project!

Presenting in front of an audience is always a little nerve racking. It's the fear of failing or not keeping up to the expectations, I am definitely my worst critic. But on the other hand, if I am pleased with my work then I get a little excited. As mentioned before the risks are not keeping up to the expectations and the biggest one is not being proud of myself after the presentation is done. 

I would definitely like to have honest criticism or comments from the audience with respect to what they thought about the work. I would also want to learn about the positive elements they got from the presentation

Rituals of Preparation

The information from the excerpt by Twyla Tharp makes so much sense to me. My conscious mind had never thought about the creative process, the rituals one does subconsciously before a task, but now after reading the arctile, I couldn't agree more with what she has to say. My biggest fears about the exercise are doing it wrong/not doing what I was asked to do and my project being average. The latter is more of a battle with myself, rather than wanting attention. I like to accomplish tasks in the best way I can, I want them to be great, in a way- extraordinary. I want to have the feeling within myself that I have done the best job I could have possibly done. 

The internet as a whole would be the biggest distraction from the creative process in my life. Since most of my home work is on the internet, and practically everything is done through the internet- I am found being on my laptop a lot. So to procrastinate, surfing through the internet, venturing through different sites, checking email every 5 mins takes up a whole lot of unnecessary time of mine. 

Giving up the internet as a whole for a week wouldn't quite be the smartest thing to do as my life does depend on it in terms of school, work etc., But giving up checking facebook, orkut could save some of my precious time to be more productive and efficient. I don't think it would be unbearable, as I believe in myself that I could do it and as I mentioned above- it would do a great deal for me to be more productive. So thats what's in it for me.  

Daily Rituals

Honestly whenever I heard or thought of the term 'ritual' I always had the sense that it was related more towards something religious. Until this class it never occurred to me that anything, say- our daily habits, tiny aspects of ourselves can be considered to be our rituals. It kind of makes sense to me now.

Some rituals that I can think of right off the bat that I do are;

~ Will post the rest soon. :)

Mccloud's Reading

Distinguishing between the two realms that mccloud is talking about can be somewhat confusing. Atleast that's how I felt when I read his excerpt. I definitely thought it was very deep and gave me a better understanding of how I view the world in terms of my senses. 

::hot inviting websites::

The top websites that I frequently visit have to be facebook.com, deviantart.com, yahoo.com, timesofindia.com and orkut.com. I would say the purpose of the websites attract me to them initially. Obviously if there's no reason for me to be on the above mentioned websites, I wouldn't be there and those wouldn't be the websites that I visit the most. Then comes the functionality and the design that are two vital aspects that attract me to the websites. The above websites are easy to access, user friendly and the designs are very attractive thus creating a whole package for internet surfers.

Zoe and Bios

Truly I would say that I venture towards both Zoe and Bios views of life. There are times when my life is just spontaneous, without much detail but at the same time lots of excitement. On the other hand my heart leans towards the views of bios. I consider myself a perfectionist at times, so I like detail and specific meaning and purpose to something that happens. Not that the Zoe point of view has no meaning or purpose, but I need things to be explained at times, I need to know the details thus I lean towards the Bios point of view.

Creative DNA

11) How do you begin your day?

~ As mentioned before, I don't really have fixed daily routines. I think the beauty of spontaneity works wonders for me. On a normal day in my life, I get up to the loud buzzing sound of my alarm clock. Usually I snooze for the next 10-15 mins, but after that I find myself in the showers. This is where I begin thinking of my day, things I need to do and plan everything in my head. This is followed by a wonderful breakfast where my thought process continues. This is how my day usually begins.

23) When confronted with superior intelligence or talent, how do you respond?

~ In all honesty, people with superior intelligence or talent inspires me. They give a push to my motivation, I feel a tingling sensation in my stomach cause they make me want to be like them, makes me want to be better. I listen to what they have to say and I observe a lot, trying to pick their brains or incorporate some aspects in my life.

26) When you work, do you love the process or the result?

~ I consider myself to be very competitive, so I believe the process and the result are equally important to succeed in your work. I love the process cause I want the result to be the best, so the anticipation of the result makes me want to perfect the process. The process and the result goes hand in hand, if you don't work on the process, you can't expect much out of the result.

29) What is your greatest fear?

~ My greatest fear would be death. My fear is not extreme, I guess it's more of my curiosity of what happens after death, the fear that I don't have no answers. I believe if one fears death excessively they won't be able to enjoy life which is not the case with me. The fact that I do not know what happens to someone after they die, scares me. This comes to my views on heaven. I would want to believe that people go to heaven but I have no proof of it so I only have faith in it and no belief. Thus I fear of what might happen after death. The process of dying is scary to me as well.

33) What is your greatest dream?

~ My greatest dream is to be successful. To make myself proud and my family proud. Success could come in terms of wealth, fame or health. If I feel that I am successful and happy, then that's when I will truly know that I am successful

10 amusing things...

Sept 16th:

1. My sleepy face in the mirror when I woke up, 2. hot cup of tea, 3. my suit that I wore to the business career fair, 4. Lots of booths, 5. the pool at ARC, 6. The interview questions as I was on the interview panel for AIESEC, 7. lots of interviewees, 8. a burrito bowl from Qdoba, 9. A dvd, 10. people drinking at firehaus.

Sept 15th:

1. Check-in computer at Mckinley health centre, 2. My doctor, 3. quarters that I used to put in the meters when I parked my car (parking is more expensive than chicago here.. jeez!!), 4. socks, 5. lots of students dressed up professionally for the business career fair, 6. Deloitte booth at the fair, 7. rocks and dirt, 8. a muffin from Espresso Royale, 9. a squirrel trapped in the staircase of my apartment building, 10. a motorcycle.

Sept 14th:

1. My unwashed clothes lying in the laundry basket from the past 2 weeks, 2. Detergent for my dirty clothes, 3. My friend's camera that I borrowed to work on the video project, 4. Hair gel, 5. tennis racquet that I played with, 6. my friend's wilson tennis kit (I want one), 7. protein shake that I made myself, 8. new ear phones, 9. lotion, 10. Irish spring bar soap

Sept 13th:

1. The first thing I say today was the clock as I woke up late (I was upset), 2. A bagel with cream cheese, 3. My friend who was hung over from last night, 4. bottle of water, 5. My close friend who is here visiting from Holland, 6. Cool art work at a Thai restaurant, 7. the pool at IMPE, 8. The lifeguard that I pissed off when I dived into the pool with no diving signs (that I didn't see), 9. Yummy Indian food from Bombay Grill, 10. My friend's X-box. 

Sept 12th:

1. My pillows without the pillow cases as they were being washed, 2. My messy room, 3. a bird fly by outside my window, 4. a motorcycle, 5. A father and his son walking together, 6. My calculus graded quiz (I didn't do so bad), 7. A girl's disappointed face when she found out she got a score of 1 out of 20 (LOL! she was funny), 8. Lots of kleenex as my allergies got worse, 9. The amazing Seibel Center building, 10. Cup of pop that I got at the cafe at Seibel. 

Sept 11th:

1. Lotion, 2. pigeons minding their own business, 3. My I-home to charge my I-pod, 4. My next door neighbors, 5. An email from a old friend from India, 6. Red hot chewing gum, 7. My friend's tapestries from India at her apartment, 8. My flip flops all soaked from the rain tonight, 9. City of God dvd, 10. My TV. 

Sept 10th:

1. Chapstick, as my lips were dry, 2. My roommate's new laptop, 3. beer cans outside our apartment building, 4. My advisor, 5. paper plates, 6. my wristband, 7. noting things down in my I-book, 8. A burrito from Taco bell, 10. big cup filled with pepsi

Sept 9th:

1. My nail clipper, 2. My laptop screen playing an episode of 'friends', 3. A nectarine, 4. leaves from trees on the ground, 5. A projector used at the info night for AIESEC (student organization), 6. My fellow good looking AIESEC'ers in suits, 7. My friend's gleaming face at his 21st birthday party, 8. Ice cream cake from Coldstone (HEAVEN!!!), 9. My friend's Canon camera, 10. My tooth brush. 

Sept 8th:

1. My roommate making coffee, 2. The fancy coffee maker he used to make it, 3. Hour sofa at my apartment, 4. A girl in a random balcony smoking a cigarette, 5. A dog with his/her walker, 6. The Union, 7. New pledges of Phi Chi Theta, 8. A friend I last saw 2 years ago, 9. dog poop on the side walk, 10. My Ipod playing Beirut.

Sept 7th:

1. Sun rays that filled my room this sunday morning, 2. Penicillin pills for my Strep Throat, 3. several text messages from friends on my cell phone, 4. Pages from "Creativity DNA" by Twyla Tharp that I read for this class, 5. My pillow when I took a nap, 6. a big flat screen tv as my friends and I got ready to watch the first episode of Entourage's 5th season, 7. my friend Vishal's disappointing face as he found the episode just ordinary and nothing special (his words), 8. dairy queen's caramel sundae, 9. a girl walking with her bike that had a flat tire at about 10:20PM, 10. a BMW convertible parked a few spaces from my car.

Sept 6th:

1. The beautiful view of downtown Chicago from my sister's condo, 2. myself in the mirror, 3. my gorgeous sister making me pancakes, 4. freshly squeezed orange juice, 5. the front door security guy, 6. good ol' State Street, 7. ever tall sears tower, 8. the vast corn fields on my drive back to chambana, 9. water leaking stains on our apartment building, 10. the unwashed dishes pilled up from about a week in my kitchen.

Sept 5th:

1. The killers poster in my bedroom, 2. Kleenex as I had a running nose (my stupid allergies), 3. honey bunches of oat cereal as I tasted the crunchiness in my mouth, 4. My Russian calculus professor in class explaining vectors in his thick russian accent, 5. a random person sleeping in class, 6. my new Phi Chi Theta pen, 7. My friend's Ipod connector for the car that didn't work making me furious, 8. the star lit sky at night while I was driving to Chicago, 9. the happiest bride and groom at their wedding ceremony, 10. 4-5 drunk mexican dads dancing on the dance floor at the ceremony which made my night (LOL!).

Sept 4th:

I am an hour late with this post. Nonetheless, here is my list of the 10 most spectacular things I saw today out of the countless objects, images and living things we are surrounded by. 

~the pouring rain

~the dirt on my car

~my math quiz paper

~posters at the union

~hookah 

~my stunning suit

~strawberries fresh from Meijer's

~my black macbook

~men's health magazine

~my roommate's In Touch magazine. LOL!.. He loves gossip.

"I walk into a White room"

~ I will have to be honest, when it comes to working on something, I procrastinate 98% of the time. If its an assignment for a class, and I am not that excited about it- you can count on me either daydreaming, watching tv, sleeping, chatting with friends on the phone or on the computer, checking facebook, eating or something else other than beginning the assignment. Oh! and spacing out is my favorite. If its something that I am really pumped on doing or if its an assignment that appeals to me, then I will procrastinate less but I will still procrastinate. I would definitely like to work on this, but at the same time I believe that procrastinating a tiny bit can work in your favor as it allows you to clear your mind and get focused. 

~ I have no fixed daily routines. I live my life as it comes, so to speak. I do plan and list down the things I want to get accomplished, but sometimes I don't go by the plan and it works out just fine for me.  So to answer the question, my daily routines vary. I wake up when I have to, if I don't have anything to do in the morning I will sleep in. This daily lifestyle works perfectly now that I am in college but when it needs to be changed the necessary changes will definitely be made. A summary of a normal day in my life would follow like this: I'll wake up at around 8AM and eat breakfast. I believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I Take a shower and let my thinking process set loose. This is when I schedule a list in my mind of the things I need to do. Go to classes, the gym, sometimes I take a nap and sometimes I just hang out with friends. If I have a meeting with any organizations I am involved in, I go to that and some days I play volleyball or tennis. In the night, I usually work on homework and study. Bed time varies as well. There are times when I am in bed at 10PM and sometimes at 3AM. 

~I have always believed that some people are born with exceptional talents and gifts. With that said, I strongly believe that everybody has their own "touch of god" talents in one way or the other towards something. Although hard work, dedication and time will make them more better and proficient in their respective talent.

100 questions that I asked myself..

1. What do I want to do in life?
2. What are my goals and aspirations?
3. Where do I see myself in 5 years?
4. Where do I see myself in 10 years?
5. How successful will I be?
6. Will I be married before the age of 30?
7. How many children do I want?
8. How will I contribute to the society/community?
9. What are the most important things in my life?
10. Who do I consider my best friends?
11. Do I have enemies?
12. Will I ever travel to all 7 continents?
13. When will I go back to India?
14. What is my favorite subject?
15. What will I get out of the Art 250 class?
16. Who do I admire the most?
17. Who is my inspiration?
18. What inspires me in life?
19. What keeps me motivated and dedicated?
20. What do I want to do with an economics major?
21. Will I do something related to my major after college?
22. What is my favorite color?
23. What is the next exciting thing that will happen in my life?
24. What would be the one country I would want to do to?
25. How have my parents been an influence in my life?
26. How have my sisters been an influence in my life?
27. Doing high school in India, how do I find education here in the US?
28. Do I like it better here in America or in India?
29. What was the best part about living in India?
30. Will I ever go back to live in India?
31. Will I ever live somewhere else other than America or India after college?
32. What made me decide to go to college here in the US?
33. Why did I choose to apply at University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign?
34. If not UIUC, where would I want to go to college?
35. Do I like summer or winter the most?
36. Why am I allergic to cats?
37. Why am I allergic to dust and the heat?
38. What is my favorite book?
39. What is my favorite movie?
40. Why am I more of a night person than a morning person?
41. Do I like tea the best or coffee?
42. Why am I sleepy right now? lol!
43. Why do I prefer microsoft XP over microsoft vista?
44. What will make me a better human being?
45. I am not religious, why so?
46. Why do I like chicken and beef but not pork?
47. Why do I like short hair on girls?
48. Why do I like blue and black together?
49. Why have I changed my mind so many times when it comes to my major?
50. Why do I like madison, WI but not milwaukee, WI?
51. If the olympics comes to chicago in 2016, how will I be a part of it?
52. Would I want to travel alot for work?
53. Why do I like pressing buttons so much?
54. Why do I not like cologne?
55. Why is there so much poverty in India?
56. How will I contribute to the sufferings in the world?
57. Why do I lie sometimes and not feel guilty, but other times do?
58. Why do I like corky movies?
59. Will I make my parents proud?
60. Will I make myself proud?
61. Will I do good in this class?
62. Who will I vote for? Obama or Mccain?
63. How can I work on my impatience?
64. Which is my favorite sister out of my 4 sisters?
65. Why am I am stuck right now with these questions?
66. How are these questions relevant to this class?
67. How will my 1 year experience as an architecture major play out for this class?
68. How much of computer knowledge would I require for this class?
69. Why am I afraid of heights?
70. What can I overcome my fear of heights?
71. What will I miss the most about U of I after college?
72. Will I go to graduate school?
73. Where would I want to go?
74. Am I going to graduate on time?
75. What is my dream car?
76. How many of my friends will I stay in touch in the long run?
77. Will I get really drunk on my 21st birthday?
78. Will I ever climb Mt.Everest?
79. Am I good friend to my friends?
80. Am I good brother?
81. Am I a good uncle to my nephew?
82. How can I be more productive?
83. How can I be more efficient?
84. Who can I rely on the most?
85. Do I have trust issues?
86. Do my parents know everything about me?
87. Will I give a speech at my sister's wedding?
88. What does my life entail in the near future?
89. How has growing up in India enriched my life?
90. Do I care about the world?
91. if drafted and sent to the war, would I be ok with it? or pretty upset?
92. What do I think about the war in Iraq?
93. How can I contribute if there is another natural disaster in the US?
94. What makes me so special?
95. Do i like my name?
96. Does it bother me that most of the people cannot pronounce my name?
97. Do I prefer the Wii or playstation?
98. When will I own either one? or both?
99. Am I happy now that I am almost done with this assignment?
100. What do I think of George Bush? LOL!
     

COMMON THEMES: I live my life by anticipating the excitement that's going to occur in my life. I always ask myself, what's the next exciting thing thats going to happen in my life?? whether it be going back to college, or me turning 21 in december- those are all events that I look forward to and in the meantime I live my life day by day with the feeling that my life entails something exciting all the time..I am not sure if this is good or bad, but it works for me. So most of my questions are directed towards the future, the uncertainties and a lot about my personal interests including my friends and family.

Definition of literacy in my words.....

Literacy is the ability for a person to read and write, and be educated and aware of the society they live in.