Bloggers and Politics

     For those of you who know me, politics is and never has been my strong point. I do not engage myself in any political activity or during election years. It's not that I do not want to, rather that spare time doesn't exactly exist for me right now. If I'm not working, I'm doing homework. If I'm not doing homework I'm eating or sleeping. If I'm not doing any of those things then I am doing nothing because I am burnt out from work and school and learning about politics is the last thing on my mind. 
     Due to all of this, I have no background or standpoint on anything. I have no idea if I lean to the left or to the right. And I will fully admit that the constant news reports, TV commercials and ads are overwhelming my mind. So, let's analyze some "easier" to follow blogs about the campaign to ease my boggled mind.
     The first blog I came across was one written by a man named Harry Brown. Harry posts a new blog about the "political arena" almost every day. What I really liked about this blog is that he seems to be rather neutral. Sometimes his captions do seem to sway one way or another, but each day he posts the most current event of the election with a short summary that simply explains what is going on. Although Harry's blog is so easy to follow, he doesn't have many followers or comments. Most likely due to the fact that his blog is just a compilation of articles that you could find anywhere and not so much opinionated enough to the point where it could cause a big conversation.
     Next I came across Big Sky Political Analysis's blog. This blog was created by professors of political science at Montana State University. These professors have been blogging about politics since 2008, however they haven't created much of a following crowd. What's interesting about this blog, though, is that they analyze the current national political events with an effort to be as opinionated and loyal to the political parties of Montana as possible---this means that they speak as right-minded republicans at all times. As this makes for a great blog for those who think equally, it's hard to keep an open mind because they are trying so hard to sway the reader's beliefs to how they believe things should be.
     The last one I came across was a blog written by Jonathan Bernstein, a political scientist who enjoys blogging about American politics. He has been blogging since 2009 and posts a few blogs per day. Although he posts blogs about both presidential candidates, the way he expresses and analyzes each topic is most definitely swayed to democratic Obama favoritism. For example, yesterdays blog talked about Romney's economic program. He writes this blog in sort of a funny to read way. He starts with the facts and ends with "WRONG" and his opinion. It's quite entertaining and very straight forward. However, this is definitely not a blog you want to write if you're looking for a neutral opinion. He does have hundreds of followers who comment daily on his blogs, though, so you can still get the opposing side's opinion as well.

Regardless of the "overwhelming-ness" that politics causes me, I will soon have to learn and make up my mind. But for now, I will laugh at these ridiculous photos I came across during all of my searching. They both look so nice, I don't know how I will ever choose.

     
    
    

Online Art

    This week I searched videos and pictures galore for my new wikispace page on Susan Komen. What did I find? Well, nothing on Susan herself of course. Although I do wish that there was more about the reason the Komen Foundation was created, I did find numerous videos about the organization itself. Most of which I was already aware of. Such as the huge commotion that occurred this past 2012 year when the Foundation decided to defund and cut ties with Planned Parenthood. I remember this happening, however I didn't really think much of it at the time. During my time watching the videos, I was surprised at how many people supported the Foundation's choice to cut their ties. Why I was surprised I am not sure because I am fully aware of how many people disagree with abortions and Planned Parenthood in general. I think what I am most surprised about it how ruthless people can be. I am just not the type of person to nationally complain about something or a person who would rally for a cause. I admire these people who do however, because their perseverance really does and did pay off---the Foundation reversed their initial decision and once again became affiliated with Planned Parenthood.
    This week I also browed a few different websites in regards to art and online art galleries. Throughout my search, I found that I had an interest in realism art work. Realism in the art world is exactly as it sounds. The pictures and paintings are created to depict people as they are considered to exist in an objective third person reality. This I just love. You look at a painting of people doing ordinary things, such as standing in a pasture, and you are left with your imagination to decide what kind of person the artist was thinking when they created it, who is that person, why do they look sad or happy? It's fantastic and interesting to analyze. Throughout searching for realism artist, I came across my new favorite whose name is David Kassan. David creates life-size realist portraits that are so incredible you could mistake his paintings for actual photos. Each portrait says something about the person he is replicating. Whether it be a saddened scene or a facial expression, it is up to the viewer to interpret. The life that he is able to bring to a bunch of tediously placed paint colors along with the fact that each painting has such a deeper meaning that I am able to interpret is why I enjoy his artwork so much.

    Online art galleries are somewhat of a new thing. Some people may believe that it takes away from the experience that traditional art showings in museums hold. However, online art galleries allow millions of people to view and experience something beautiful that they may have never had to the chance to do it if weren't for the Web. These sites also have an added bonus. Many of them allow viewers to post comments on the artwork which brings people together and allows for many different views to be understood and expressed---after all, that is the point of art right? Artists create these masterpieces to share with the world. What better way to do that than over the Web. But these comments can have an even larger impact than just on other viewers alone. They can impact the artist. They allow for the artist to see, read, and analyze how their viewers view their work. If they feel viewers are getting a message different than what the artist is trying to depict, he or she can alter what they are doing to achieve that goal. So in essence, what people say about the art over the Web impacts the development of art because it may alter the artists desires.
    Some artists and websites create their pieces to send messages and opinions about many current day issues. An example of this would be the many artists who paint to express the ever growing issue of poverty. Most of these artists indirectly relay their message through their work. They don't paint in huge letters, "poverty." Rather, they express it through the scene and leave it to us to understand what they are trying to say. Although with some artwork this can be difficult, directly giving the world artwork depicting poverty could be rather negative due to the sadness of the topic.

     As amazing as the online arts may be, it can also change people's perceptions, cultures, and society as a whole as compared to traditionally viewing artwork. Some people believe, as I have stated, that it is a negative change in perception because it takes away from the reality of the work. However, I disagree. Our world is ever changing and technology is the leader. Digital media allows people to be more involved in the work they are viewing. They can offer their opinions to millions of other viewers or express their dislike, therefore altering and strengthening the art trend into something that calls out to it's viewers. It also brings cultures together in a way that may have never happened before. It allows people to understand other cultures and beliefs and hopefully allows those who were previously unwilling to have interest in people of a different race or culture to have the desire to expand their world and their understanding.

Expanding My Interests Technologically

     This week I joined iVillage and Foodspotting, which are two interest-based communities that I wanted to explore. These two sites have been a little more challenging and not as interesting as my current en devour with Pinterest.
     Setting up my profile for iVillage was extremely easy. I just had to follow the steps, add a picture, and answers a few questions if I wanted to, and adjusting my privacy settings. The privacy settings are not as indepth as most sites. You have two options in three categories---either make you profile, pictures, and like available to everyone or no-one. It was as simple as that. Although this may seem nice, I have grown to not enjoy it because I believe most people choose to not share anything with anyone, which takes away from the "community" aspect of the site. I have had extreme difficulty in finding anyone who allows me to view their profile. However, I can still communicate with them via responses on articles. So in a way, users are still interacting.
    The entire site is like a million different magazines thrown into one. You can find articles on almost anything and there are a lot of add-ons such as contests and iVillage rewards that enable you to connect with other users and unlock different things throughout the site. iVillage also connects with the outside world through their rewards. iVillage rewards are earned by subscribers in various different ways, such as by posting your opinion on articles or participating in contests. These rewards unlock new content and site experiences that one would normally not encounter unless they are active throughout the site. I earned a point just for logging in for the first time! The fact that you have to be active to earn points pushes users to connect.
    Due to the topics that are available on iVillage, such as pregnancy or hair and make-up, a vast majority of the users are females. This would make sense, however, since it is an interest-based site!
    My experience with Foodspotting has been not so user-friendly. I found the site through google when I was looking for a site that related to food because I enjoy finding delicious recipes online. Creating a profile was difficult alone. During the process of creating your profile, you can add your favorite foods and meals so that it connects you with those types of recipes. However, if I wanted to add something that was already a "choice"---such as when you begin to type a friend's name into Facebook and it automatically pops up---it would allow me to save it at all! I had to pick something that was already there. For example, I wanted to put down Strawberry-Mango Moscato as my favorite drink and that was not a choice and it would not let me save it as a new one so now I do not have a favorite drink at all. After my difficulties of creating my favorite food's list, the difficulties continued when I went to add my favorite restaurants. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner restaurants, all of which were not ready-made choices. So now, I have no favorites in that category.      
     After this I went to find places and people to follow. How this site works is that you can find specific dishes that people ordered at restaurants and they post these pictures, places, and meals on their profiles. Then other people who like those same types of dishes can find and follow them and ideally go visit that place to eat that delicious meal! As you can see, this entire site is about connecting with the outside world. However, in my searches, most of the places were more highly populated areas like California and New York. I have yet to find any places or foods that are in Maine. Therefore, this site has been rather useless to me.
    Hopefully the more a I browse through the sites, the more I will figure out and learn to enjoy them and gain something useful from them!
      

My Weak Spot

    Pinterest. For someone who spends as much time on it on daily basis as I do, I do not need to elaborate further on how great and what meaning that one word holds. However, for those of you who are not Pinterest Freaks, I will continue.
    This is my weak spot---sadly. I tried extremely hard to stay away from this site because I knew I would love it and not be able to stop. However, I was persuaded by, well, every single one of my friends. It is the simplest of social sites and that it something that I think I am drawn to most. It is also a complete woman's site. Although this is not a requirement, I can not say I've ever seen a man post pins before. The moment when I decided I would become a part of this site was when I was at my friends house and she had made the most beautiful tapestry wall art I have ever seen. I asked her, "how did you ever come up with that," (knowing that she lacks almost any artistic ability one could have) and she said, "I saw it on Pinterest and it gave me directions on how to do it." Boom. That was all I needed and within minutes I was sitting on the couch looking at Pins of art projects.
    Pinterest is something that I am drawn to because, in my opinion, it leaves all the gossipy, talky, silly stuff out. Not that I do not participate in that on other sites, but I enjoy having just one where it's just about me in the simplest way. I also have the application for my phone, so I can look at Pins whenever I am bored or have some free time. Pinterest also is more than just the site itself. If you like something, you can click on it and it will usually bring you to another site so you can either learn more about it, or learn how to do it. My Pins can reflect anything I choose---my interior decorating sense, the clothes I would love to own, the art projects I will some day complete, the wedding dress I will find, the food I like. It is everything about me without me having to write one word. It's fantastic.
    This site is probably one of the only sites that I enjoy and utilize into my daily life. It gives me dinner recipes, art projects, and outfit ideas that I have all executed in real life. All of my friends are on Pinterest. Although I will say that most of my favorite things have come from other people's profiles that I have searched. It is also the only site in which I am not afraid to interact with someone I don't know or share my profile with them. I feel this way because it is so simple and it makes me feel safe in the sense of the onlien world.
    I would say, in my experience, there are no leaders or power structures. I can't think of one instance or one individual that I would say "leads" Pinterest. Everyone is equal in the fact that power is not what Pinterest is about. It's about sharing your interests with the world. There is no drama, no wording, no bashing, no dating, no statuses, no nothing. Just you and your Pins.
   Besides Pinterest and all of the common social networking sites that our class is involved with, I can not think of any other online community that I actively participate in or observe. To be honest, I do not know why. I think it's something that I have never had the urge to find. Before this class, I already had a Facebook and Pinterest that I actively participated in on a daily basis, so becoming a part of something more was not something that striked my fancy---or something I had time for unless I never wanted to put my phone down. I go on Pinterest at least ten times a day for varying amounts of time depending on what I am looking for. Whether I am just browsing or I am looking for a specific idea such as a hair style, I would say I am currently addicted.