Curiosity

I'm thinking this will end up being one very long post or two separate posts.

Curiosity is a trait that lies within each of us. It even is observed in animals. This is something that is just built into our wiring. We can't avoid it. It is interesting that if you think about it, but curiosity and fear have a lot in common. They are quite similar to the other. However, it is this curiosity, not fear, that has lead me to writing this post.

As many of you who read my blog most likely know, I graduated from college in mid May. I started working at an internship right outside of Minneapolis and set up a temporary home with my aunt and uncle. Allow me to explain what has happened, and why.

I accepted the internship knowing that 'if' (although I went into work just wondering 'when' rather than 'if') the company made me an offer, I would become a Business Analyst and travel to another state for a year to work on a project. This was appealing to me and I was looking forward to it. It was because of this possibility of moving that I didn't get an apartment right away. I didn't want to be paying rent on an apartment that I wouldn't be living in. As time went on at this job I realized that while I did like the company and the people I was working with, I felt like there was a job out there with a better fit for me.

I ended up applying to a company that serves a different industry and ended up receiving a full time job offer, only to find out my internship was days away from providing me with an offer as well. I accepted the new job and have been working since June 25. Four whole days at my new job already and I have to say, I very much enjoy it. I still keep in touch with my coworkers from my previous job which is really nice. My new job employs seven people currently, me included. Since it's so small, I get to have a huge impact on the company and I get to wear many hats. I really enjoy this since I have so many interests and curiosities. I'm now working in the middle of downtown Minneapolis (something I always thought I wouldn't enjoy since it's such a big place but I really love it). I'm moving into my own apartment this Monday and I'm super excited. I found the perfect area, just a 9 minute bike ride to work and I'm not even living in downtown!

Since I have graduated, I have found that while I still learn some knowledge here and there, it is nothing like being in school. I'm not the biggest fan of college learning only because I have found that I personally enjoy teaching myself things or learning them on my own to be much more rewarding and successful than college ever was for me (as far as classroom stuff goes). Don't get me wrong, I learned so much at school and I'm very happy I went and feel fortunate that I was able to go despite the loans I'll be paying off over the next two or three years. So I had this problem where I wanted to continue learning and I needed to solve it. Sure, I could read some books to continue to grow my knowledge but that wasn't enough for me. I might try this method in the future more than I do currently but for now I've found my happy way of learning. Podcasts. I listen to podcasts whenever I'm on the bus or driving in my car. I find that I get so much enjoyment out of them. Whether I'm listening to something about history, culture, someone else's life (famous or non famous), quantum mechanics and beyond, I love it. If you really know me, you'll know that I very much enjoy learning about quantum mechanics. That stuff is mind blowing, I tell ya. That will probably conclude this post except for one last thing... If you're interested, I've compiled a list below of all the podcasts I'm listening to lately. You can find them all in the iTunes store.

• APM: On Being (the episode on autism is very very interesting)
• The Critical Path
• The Dave Ramsey Show (it's about managing your money and so great)
• Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (it's a lecture podcast from Stanford)
• Get-It-Done Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips (about anything from how to think big to how to be less judgmental)
• Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips
• IT Conversations
• Legal Lad's Quick and Dirty Tips
• The Math Dude Quick and Dirty Tips
• No Agenda
• The Random Show
• Stuff You Missed in History Class
• Stuff You Should Know
• TechStuff
• WNYC's Radiolab (BY FAR MY MOST FAVORITE)
• 99% Invisible (one that stands out to me the most is called "Feltron Annual Report")

That wraps things up this evening. Hopefully if you decide to try any of these podcasts out, you find as much enjoyment in them as I do. I'd love to hear about what's going on in your life and what you think of any of the podcasts! Let me know if you have any recommendations as well!

Thanks for reading.

Sunday Evening Setting Sun

I was working at my desk on Sunday evening, with my back to my window. I turned around for some reason and saw a beautiful scene outside. I had the nice SLR camera sitting next to me from work and decided to photograph what I saw. I'm very lucky to have this be out my window:



Thanks for reading.

I Made A Mini Cooper! :)

Hey Y'all!

I wanted to update you on my latest project that I'm quite proud of. I created a Mini Cooper in Adobe Illustrator. Check it out below! Feel free to comment on what you think. This is not a 3D model, it's a 2D image of the vehicle.

Thanks for reading! You just flew the Coop.

Opera 2 by Vitas

This is an excellent song and the guy can get his voice so high. I'm not sure what they lyrics mean since I haven't looked them up yet. I just wanted to share it with you and let you hear the crazy high pitch he can make his voice go. Rushed and abbreviated post, but a new project will be posted as soon as I get around to photographing and writing it.

Coop.

"The Canary Islands are actually not named for canaries, but dogs. This is because they found a large population of dogs on the island, and it comes from the Latin root canaria."

2D Design - Map Project

Project Info

Grade: B-

Time: No idea

Description:

The assignment was to create a diptych from maps using the Google Earth application using graphite. The top half of my project is Janesville, WI because I have lived there longer than anywhere else in my life and the bottom half is Rockford, IL because it's near my birth-town and has the same river flowing through it as Janesville.

Final Product

If I were to do this project again I would make it darker. I didn't realize how light it was until I hung it on the wall in class for our critique and saw it next to other student's work. Lesson learned.

Thanks for checking it out.

Lighthouse : Design Fun

Here's another design thinger I made just for the fun of it this week. Not sure why I keep doing these but I do enjoy it and learn new tecniques in the program as well as ways to improve my compositions. Check it out.

Thanks for reading.

Cooper

“A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.”

—Oliver Wendell Holmes

Cell Phone : Design Fun

I wouldn't quite say:

"I had some free time, so I created this."

since I have barely slept this week due to tons of projects (14 hours in 4 nights) but I just really wanted to make it, so I did.

(My wording may be a little awkward too from the lack of sleep but I really wanted to post something so the time gap between posts is smaller. It's also a little cliffhanger.)

Last week sometime I got my second 2D design project back with a grade. I am still in the process of writing that post so it'll be up within the next week hopefully.

Anyways, back to the main topic of this post. Below you will see two images. The first is a scanned drawing I made (yes, very very rough) and the second is an image I made from the drawing. I think it's kinda cool that I took such a rough sketch and created what I did. I'd love to hear your thoughts on my cell phone! I did this just out of interest to see what I could do without having any training in these programs and without any design principles taught about rendering an object like this.

Thanks for reading.

Cooper