Blog #8

Obama and Franklin both share difference and similarities, but I think they are both fairly similar and here is why. Franklin D. Roosevelt always spoke to the people, for the people. Instead of hands off government like Hoover and saying that the economy would fix itself, he actively participated in plans to mend the economy. This is just like what Obama is trying to do by passing bills and being active. Both FDR and Obama give a warm feeling, a feeling of hope to the people. They both wanted to aid the public instead of let it do what it wants. The funny thing is, they were both also popular. Obama was more popular during the election and Franklin was popular overall which is why he had an easier time passing bills through congress.

Blog #7

Predict how companies or industries similar to the one that you worked at during internship would have fared during the Great Depression. Would your company have thrived or sunk? Why?
I'm actually not sure if there were cleaning referral agencies back then. Even so, I think it would be in trouble because there were more of the house-wife kind of people who may think getting their house cleaned is a luxury. However, knowing the confidence of my mentor, she would still find a way to keep to the surface. Even so, I think all the companies suffered during the Great Depression. It was mostly affecting small businesses too, so I definitely think my internship would've been affected. It actually may have been better off then other businesses though because Christine did make a great point about mothers going to work and the house not getting cleaned.

Blog #6

Choose one character from The Grapes of Wrath and list four important quotes said by or written by this character. Explain what you believe these quotes reveal about the character.

The preacher
"Every kid got a turtle in some time or other. Nobody can't keep a turtle though. They work at it and work at it, and at last one day they get out and away they go-off somewheres. It's like me. I wouldn't take the good ol' gospel that was just layin' there in my hand. I got to be pickin' at it an' workin' at it until I got it all tore down. Here I got the sperit sometimes an' nothin' to preach about. I got the call to lead the people, an' no place to lead em'."
I think this was a really good quote because it shows a lot of things about the actions the preacher does. I think having the whole comparison with the turtle at first made you go, "Uhh.. what?" but in a way, you respect the preacher a little more for at least noticing the trends he was following. Instead of blindly following something, he turned his whole life around by thinking about it and going, "I was pickin' and workin' at it, but didn't know what to preach about." In this sense, I like that he observed that about himself and changed that to better fit his need.

"Goin' someplace. That's right, he's goin' someplace. Me-I don't know where I'm goin'. Tell you what-I use ta get the people jumpin' an' talkin' in tongues, an' glory-shoutin' till they just fell down an' passed out."
I thought this was a short segment about the direction that he wanted to go. This is more of a future thought or like an insight on the future because it seemed like the preacher had a new idea and he was in the middle of testing that idea. I'm not quite sure how to say this, but it kind of gives me a message that he wants to go in a direction, he just doesn't know what direction yet.

"I was thinking' about ol' Tom Joad when you come along. Thinkin' I'd call in on him. I used to this he was a godless man. How is Tom?"
This was sort of a small detail of the preacher. I was running out of quotes, but this when sort of made you think, "Does he know Tom Joad's dad?" I think it was interesting that he picked "godless" to describe Joad's dad. It stood out to me because I believe that the preacher was really big on the whole God and church thing, but he just wasn't cut out for what he did. Even so, deep down, pulling out that adjective of all things was a little different to me.

"Nobody seen me. I went off a line, an' I sat and figured. The sperit's strong in me, on'y it ain't the same. I ain't so sure of a lot of things."
I think it's cool that he knows about himself. He knows that the "Holy Spirit" is in him but he knows he's not sure of a lot of things. It's like telling people about what he knows, what he's not sure of, and what he wants to find out. I thought this was an interesting aspect of himself. One of the things I've noticed about some people and myself is that we don't often observe our own actions.

Blog #5

Emilie's Blog
I think this one was laid out very well. Even though it wasn't a PDF or like.. a large file, it still looked organized. I think she made good use of her photos and the way she placed her text. She didn't have much leeway in designing but she was really good with where she placed quotes, how she incorporated them, and how they worked together as a whole. It wasn't cluttered or anything, which I think is a tough thing to do when you have such limited design space.

Lupe's Blog
There was one thing I liked about her photo essay the most. That was the overall mood it was able to portray. I think it was subtle but it was more of this deep message sort of feeling. I think she captured the mood of music. music is sort of a way to express oneself and throughout her photos, you can tell she personalized them. All the pictures portray people with instruments and they are all playing. This gave off a sweet and creative atmosphere which I experienced even before I read the photo essay. I also like how the beginning started with a sketchy picture of one person and then broke out into pictures of multiple people.

David's Blog:
Added him because he was so proud of his work. His writing was mostly straight to the point which I always think is a good aspect to have. He was clear about where everything was placed, making sure to label the sections clearly and make the sub-sections in a smaller font. People would argue about the smaller font being there, but I sort of like it. I think it says something like, "This is important. But not as important as the big picture."

Internship Photo Essay

Picture 1: As anyone who has spent a productive day in the workplace would know, there are basic resources in the office. At the start of a new day, Audrey looks at the material she is presented with. This picture represents that office sort of setting where there are randomly placed batteries that lay around and keys that haven’t met there partnered doors yet. However, this scene represents something else, something that goes beyond neatly stacked piles of post-its and blank labels that are yet to be used to categorize. This represents the things that go on in a company or, even on a wider scale, the company itself. There are organized things in a company, like the CD’s in the cylinder case. But there are also unorganized things like the jumbled pens and pencils that are usually carefully hidden towards the back of the shelf to avoid everyday eyes. Even so, they all prove their use when it comes time. Companies are resources and whichever way you choose to incorporate them in your work will determine their significance to your final product. So you see, I stood in front of this shelf of assorted items and thought to myself, “What do I use? There are so many options...” With my laptop bag on the right arm and pad of post-its and a stapler in my other hand, I returned to my desk to start working on my project.

Picture 2: Before my final project started, I chose the resources I’d be using to complete it and one of them was a calendar. When you start a project, assuming it will take more then a week, it is best to use a calendar and plan the process of your progress. This was something I chose to use because of its organization. In my case, I used an online calendar because my laptop was the main resource I had with me since the beginning of internship and it was the most effective for good reason. This online calendar posed as my guideline for the full 3 weeks I was at internship because it mapped out what I would be doing day in and day out. Since I was doing a marketing plan, the calculator in the picture was also an optional resource I chose to incorporate because I had to do quick calculations. These items were the ones I started with because I knew they would be supportive during the course of my project.

Picture 3: As random as it may be, the water cooler was perhaps the highlight of my working experience. As you need resources like paper to print things, humans need water to function. Do not underestimate the worth of hydrating your body—I assure you it will thank you. The water cooler, aside from the occasional hums, sat discreetly next to the door and every once in a while, someone would push back their chair, pick themselves up, and wobble towards the water cooler for a refreshing cup of cold water. At least, that was the common experience around the office. Just the thought of having fresh cold water at your mercy any time of the day gave ease and tranquility to both the work environment and yourself.

Picture 4: This picture may look like it has little relevance, but in fact, it advertises one of the most important resources I used. On the outside, it may look like a little box with a string going through it, but it serves the purpose of refueling. Just as your body gets tired of working, so does the technology you use. My computer was a trooper and had to withstand a minimum of 4 hours of work a day. Unfortunately, water isn’t exactly hydrate-friendly to technology and if I were to try to feed it water, it probably would spark and burst into flames soon after. I took a picture of my laptop charger because it shows that even resources need resources. My internship needed me, I needed my laptop, and my laptop needed the charger. This is the connection between the users and the used—person and resource. Through this active incorporation of resources, I could work efficiently and keep my mentor and my laptop happy.

Picture 5: This picture represents the outcome of time, resources, and creativity. In the previous pictures, I showed the different relations that resources had and that there are many different resources that are available. As I had said before, the shelf of office materials is like an overall company. When resources are meshed together and work together, the company grows as a whole. I started out with a lone laptop and charger. I was provided with more resources like the water cooler, the calculator, the calendar, and even some I didn’t mention like the phones and the past paperwork. With the help of these items, I developed a product that is helpful to the company, organized for public viewing, and easy to understand for my mentor Christine and the general manager Israel. Resources are everything, whether you have a grainy laptop camera you use to document work or a ten thousand dollar camera you use to document the same work. Perhaps you don’t have the best resources, like pens that keep holding back ink, discolored papers, or stickies that have lost their ability to stay on a wall, but it all depends on how you use them. No matter how horrible, there is always a way to accomplish.

Blog #4

Post your personal goals, hopes and ambitions for your class' production & publication of this book.

There are a few things I want to accomplish:
- See what other people can do when put in front of a large task
- Be part of something bigger then myself
- Produce a product as good as last year's and better then the calendar

Personally, I hope to write a deep article/ reflection about:
- Human nature and productivity
- Common misconceptions of success
- The showing of a product
- Wanting something to do and actually doing it
- The best things about accomplishment

That's basically some key goals of mine.

Theme Ideas:
- Resources that lead to success
- Office resources have many more uses they appear
- Little aspects of accomplishment

Pictures/ Caption Ideas:

- This shows the final product
- The accomplished piece (What could be accomplished)
- Something that brings all the resources together
- How things can add up and create a product


- How I'm always thirsty and need water
- How something as simple as water can energize
- How natural resources help us
- How keeping your body hydrated and happy can definitely help your work as a whole
- No matter how much you work, you need to take care of yourself


- Symbolizes me having to plan well for the project
- Shows how I had to do other things while I was planning my project
- What other jobs I did: Pick up the phone, write notes, talk to clients, calculate statistics, etc.


- One of those simple pictures that tell a story on it's own
- Add to the feeling that as I need to keep hydrated, my laptop also needs energy
- The lighting was slanted a little so it looks like the middle of the day where technology may need charging
- Abstract meaning of both people and technology gets tired xD


- Show the basic resources and talk a little about their uses
- Show that cluttered resources hold SOMETHING that could be useful
- Also shows how busy the office can get
- Symbolizes how the office is but in a small scale
- Symbolizes that the office is busy and each thing needs a different resource

Blog #3

Another rough draft.

The two way door opened with a familiar screech at 7:30am, announcing that someone had arrived to the small and quaint office on the corner of Iowa Street. The office was already acquainted with the woman that had shuffled in. The same clean cut neckline on her style of dress and bouncy blonde hair that framed the smile on her face. She quickly scrambled to her desk, looking back at me to say a warm and friendly "good morning!" I would momentarily glance away from work to look back and say, "Good morning Christine!"

An A-B student in high school, Christine McDannell never officially went to college to get a degree. Her experiences in college only ranged from two semester classes she took during high school. Even with full financial support towards getting a degree, she chose to make it on her own. "I mean, why go and spend the four years and have my dad spend all that money when I could just spend those four years in the working world, learning how the world works." For the first 5 years after turning 18, she took a job as a leasing consultant, sold real estate, and took up property management, managing 32 unit portent complexes. At 23, she dreamt of having her own company. After days of going from bank to bank for a loan to buy her own business office, she returned home empty handed. By working with two employees for a year and a half, cleaning supplies in her hands and a cell phone latched onto her hip, she obtained thirty five thousand dollars to buy her company. Now, her company stands strong with the passing of its 6 year anniversary last December.

Through her dedication and determination, she brings new meaning to her motto, "I'm going to do whatever it takes". After years of surviving the recession and total company revamping, Cleanology has climbed the ranks in high quality cleaning personnel services in San Diego County. "Satisfaction guaranteed" is not only a statement when it comes to her. As threatening as the situation may be, she is quick to communicate, easy to talk to, provides positive solutions, and makes sure to understand all aspects of the problem before hanging up the phone, leaving clients feeling reassured.

Second Semester Blog #2

Rough Intro:
Christine McDannell, much like her character answering the phone, displays cheerfulness and positivity in the most dreary of situations. She follows true motivation that has helped her climb the ranks in high quality cleaning personnel services in San Diego County. "Satisfaction guaranteed" is not only a statement when it comes to her. As threatening as the situation may be, she is quick to communicate and portrays a sense of understanding, leaving clients feeling reassured.

An A-B student in high school, Christine never officially went to college to get a degree. Her experiences in college only ranged from two semester classes she took during high school. Even with full financial support towards getting a degree, she chose to make it on her own. At 23, she went from bank to bank for a loan to make the company she dreamed of, but no investment resulted. By working with two employees for a year and a half, cleaning supplies in her hands and a phone on her hip due to her realtor job, she obtained thirty five thousand dollars to buy her company. Today, her company stands strong with the passing of its 6 year anniversary last December.

Questions:
1. Should I write more information?
2. What other things do you want to know?
3. What questions do you have when you read this? (Holes in the writing)
4. What sort of Q&A do you expect from the interview from this intro?

Second Semester Blog #1

One high quality interview I thought was interesting was the one with Gini in Pixar. Another one I liked was the interview with Jan who wrote and directed "Geri's Game" which was a short Pixar film.

I think professionals create interviews by incorporating a lot of small aspects. I think wording is the thing that is looked for the most in interviews. Even if you change one word in a sentence, you can throw off the whole meaning of what the person was really trying to say. The responses to the interview questions also have personality. What was purposely left in there are times were little side notes saying that the interviewee might have been laughing at the time or they might have done an action while saying something at the time. I think this is important for the interview in general because, to me at least, it lightened the mood to the interview. Instead of just nodding going, "Uh huh.. uh huh.." I would actually smile if he laughed a little while he was making a joke.

I think another thing is making sure you get the meaning correctly. Getting back to the person you interviewed can bring light to better ways to word things since interviews are difficult when it's on the spot. Another thing I found interesting was how it flowed. When I read it, it was more like they were telling me an opinion of theirs and less like, "Well, it's definitely like this." which led room for you to agree or disagree. I think that personalized reading a little more. Also, when someone is talking about what kind of work they did, of course they'd be proud of it! I'm sure the interviewee wants to give out a feeling of accomplishment or how they felt working on it through their interview and sometimes adding little sounds or overall wording in it is a way that sets a good tone that helps the reader.