Tuesday, January 22, 2013

First Post

My background:

I got my undergraduate degree in computer science from Texas A&M - Corpus Christi (TAMUCC), I am now a second year Viz grad student.  That's pretty much it for the boring background.  I grew up in California until I was ten and then moved to Ft. Collins, CO where I lived until I graduated high school and moved to Corpus with my family.  My interests lie in camping (which I didn't take advantage of Colorado nearly as much as I should have with that), knitting, art, movies, books, and video games.

I knit whenever I have free hands and also enjoy spinning my own yarn (though I'm much slower at that and don't do it nearly as often).  I like the process of things, so even though it makes more sense to buy yarn I like making something from scratch (which is why one day I'll own and Alpaca and then it'll REALLY be from scratch!).  I like most kinds of art, except for installation art and performance art.  I just don't get most of those, there are of course exceptions.  I will watch pretty much any movie, even if it's terrible I will not turn it off.  Generally I go for supernatural horror, though.  I'm a total sucker for the paranormal activity (more like CRAPtivity, eh? eh?) series and resident evil movies.  I play way more minecraft and sims than I should and also indulge in pretty rpgs like skyrim or less pretty turn-based strategies like Rome: Total War.  Oh, and I read mostly fiction.  Mostly fantasy fiction.  Though if I'm feeling particularly motivated I'll tackle a classic (except for Dickens, I can't read his stuff to save my life) or a more grownup novel.


Physical computing projects I find interesting:

http://vimeo.com/2090913 
I thought this was neat because it combined nature and sound AND technology.  I don't know if those are real flowers, I'm guessing not, but the idea of it being real flowers is really cool.

http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/2006/09/04/open-burble/
This one I liked because I love big public interactive projects.  Add in lights, balloons, and tons of colors and I REALLY like it.

http://www.smoothware.com/danny/woodenmirror.html
This one is a wooden mirror, which just in the name it sounds like two things that don't go together.  I like how something mechanical can be as warm and beautiful as a wooden sculpture.

http://www.plankman.com/projects/tuned_stairs/http://www.plankman.com/projects/tuned_stairs/
I like these because they're just plain fun.  I love user interaction and large pieces, like I said above.

http://www.shine-sy.com/wavesofleaves/
I like this one because it's pretty.  It's not very complicated, but I think it's beauty is in the simplicity of the design and movement.