Too much information. Why TMI, you ask? Didn’t I just say I don’t have anything to talk about? Yeah, I did, but what I really mean is that I often have things I want to say that I don’t really feel are appropriate to say. Like, do I share the hilarious FML about how a guy says his girlfriend and her friend compare the size of their excrement to vehicles? (See: http://www.fmylife.com/health/7600232) Yeah, probably TMI. But do I want to write about serious stuff, like, all the time?? Uhhh, no.

So there you have it. I don’t always have stuff to say that really means anything and what I have stuff to say, no one probably wants to hear it! But more seriously, I do want to keep a blog and I do want it to be of respectable content and I’m trying to balance the friend readers and the more professional readers — something which I am trying to take a conscious look at with my Twitter and Facebook accounts as I start to move into social media on a professional level. I don’t want to have a separate account for fun Allison and serious Allison — I want to try to create a presence that appropriate for all audiences.

I guess acceptance is the first step in recovery, right? Here’s to future appropriate blog posts.

Here’s to new beginnings . . .

PhotoSketch: Internet Image Montage

So this has been floating around the tubes this past week and showed up in one of the feeds I read and finally took the time to watch the video that explains the program. Basically you tell PhotoSketch what you want in a picture and it makes it. (Just watch the video!)

Anyway, so the creators have come up with an algorithm that can stitch the photos together to create an image. That’s pretty sweet, right? Of course, but then the photojournalist in me goes waaaaait a minute. (My undergrad was in journalism, with a focus on photojournalism.) Ethics has been drilled into my head and seeing this makes part of me cringe. Yes, this is awesome and it’s rad that they developed the algorithm and yadda yadda yadda, but what are these photos being used for? Are people just going to be making funny images with genitalia and celebrities and random stuff and share it with their friends? Or are students, journalists, professionals going to use this in unethical ways?

Maybe I am thinking too hard about this, but it was honestly one of the first things that popped into my head when I watched it.

What do you all think about innovation and ethics? Hopefully this will be something we address more throughout the program.

I can’t say that I am super stressed out, but I am definitely busy. I think things are going well for the most part, I just hope I can keep things in order and continue to be productive. I know one thing that I have been slacking on is my reading. I definitely need to spend some time this weekend getting caught up.

While things have been going fine for now, I admit that I have have become more freaked out thinking about the coming semesters. I see my classmates talking about their capstones and the readings and critiques they have to write on Twitter and I sort of start to freak out. I think I need to stop and remind myself to focus on the now and realize that I will have plenty of time to do everything, that I won’t be taking all of those classes at once, but my brain gets ahead of me and wants to be done already!

In a way going part-time is nice because I can give myself the time to work through things and not stress out with everything at once, but on the other hand it also causes me to get impatient and feel like things are dragging on forever.

In addition to school work, there is work work, which has become more steady now that classes are in session and everything is in full swing. Luckily I have some great colleagues who understand that I am out of the office for class and understand if I am emailing them back about things at 9 p.m.

Also, my sister and brother-in-law have opened a new ice cream store, so I have been trying to help them as much as I can. My main role now is to be their social media maven. So far they are only on Twitter, but I have started to build a small following. Check it out — http://twitter.com/Hartzells.

While this week has been crazy, I do have some super exciting things to look forward to this next weekend/week – Drew Hastings at the Funny Bone on Friday, Ben Folds at the IU Auditorium on Sunday, and ROBIN WILLIAMS! at the Auditorium on Wednesday!!!

Classes have started this week and I’ve already had readings and project guidelines thrown at me. Since I am only taking classes part time, I have plenty of time (years!) to think of my final capstone (thesis) project, however some things have already struck my interest. During orientation we had the opportunity to hear from lots of the faculty and what sorts of research they are doing. One of the areas that I find particularly interesting is that of technology that aids senior citizens — allowing them more freedom, graceful aging and the ability to be more independent. The program here is called E.T.H.O.S – Ethical Technology in the Homes of Seniors.

While “old people” don’t interest most people, I love them and think it would be great if there were more technologies to help them live more fulfilled lives in their later years. So anyway, I look forward to learning more and hopefully in the rest of my time as a graduate student I will be able to find the time to do some work with the program and perhaps come up with an idea for my capstone that involves seniors.

And I miss my grandma . . .

I don’t really know how they are made, I would assume that there is an easier way than stitching together a bunch of photos, but I don’t know. I am sure a simple Google search would give me all the info I need, but until I have loads of time to kill, I suppose I will leave it a mystery.

Here is one of my favorite recent stop motion videos:

The classes are supposed to be very different — class A is very hands-on, designing, working on group projects, actually doing stuff; class B is mostly reading and discussion, no assignments and the like. So hopefully with the different work loads I will be able to survive the semester.

And if that weren’t enough, I have (again) decided that rock climbing is awesome and that I want to do it on a regular basis. I even ordered my very own harness! So this means that I must try to squeeze in one or two climbing sessions in a week along with everything else.

There are a lot of great things happening in my life — I have really started to realize what amazing friends I have — the group of crazy girls who all live in town, the ones that never fail to make a vagina joke and amaze me with their crafting skills and ridiculous parties. Now I also have an amazing group of friends from school — the group that is always up for going out on the town, loves to hang out together – the boys and the girls, and also having some awesome girl time. It really makes me feel special to be a part of their circle.

I don’t know where the tangent came from, but the point is that I have all kinds of stuff I want to be doing and sometimes there just isn’t enough hours in the day, or week . . . But I am trying to tell myself that I am still young and that this is the time to be doing these things and I need to take better care of myself so I can get by on five hours of sleep and try to pack as much as possible into my life. Part of me also realizes that there just may not be time for everything and everyone and that I need to decide what it really important to ME and makes ME happy.

So that’s the story. Hopefully it won’t take me too far into the semester to figure out how to balance everything. Wish me luck!

See, that was fun, right?

Crazy, I know.

Also:

This is me.

I can’t say that my family is rich, but they have always been well off. My family is upper-middle class, but they worked for it. Everyone had jobs, invested wisely and lived comfortably. I was fortunate as a child to have parents and grandparents who cared about my financial well-being and started me off with savings and college accounts.

When I was 14 I started working a job and every pay check would go into my savings account. I would also babysit some and that money would go to my savings as well. I never got an allowance until I was in high school, but before then I would spend my saved money for my own entertainment, but my parents did provide me with major purchases. My family would give fairly generous birthday and holiday gifts and I would always save that money as well. I guess you could say I hoarded my money. Why? I have no idea.

I continued working through middle and high school and would work during the summers as well. Once in college I was responsible for paying for any of my entertainment, gas money, etc. However, as I said before, my family had been saving for my college education, so along with their help and scholarships, I was able to go to college with no debt.

The summer I stayed in a house in my college town was my responsibility and I paid all of my bills. I had also been responsible for the credit card I got my senior year of high school. My mom always told me not to spend money that I don’t have, and I always pay my credit card in full every month.

I have never considered myself to be spoiled, but I certainly know that I am fortunate and appreciate all that has been provided for me. Now that I am an adult, I don’t receive any special assistance from my family. Besides the usual holiday gifts, I live completely off myself.

After graduating from college I had a decent savings which I lived off of until I was able to find work. Once I moved back to Bloomington I did live with my mom for about a year and I was able to save some money by sharing expenses with her. But after that time I was able to get a down payment together and I bought a condo.

Now I have a mortgage and a car loan, along with the typical bills (utilities, etc.). I am able to pay my bills because I have a full-time job, and I have for almost three years.

So anyway, the whole point of this post is about how I often feel guilt about my “wealth.” People have always made comments about the nice things I have or something along those lines. Yes, I have nice things, but that is because I worked for them and I bought them. I like having nice things, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that as long as I am living within my means.

I am in a different point in my life than many people my age. Most are in grad school or fresh out of undergrad, haven’t yet found a career or are paying off college loans. I didn’t have any loans to repay and I have been working for several years now, and that’s how I am able to live comfortably.

I don’t have diamonds and fancy clothes or servants. I clip coupons, I shop at T.J. Maxx and Target, I love my Kroger Plus card. I pay my credit card bill, make my loan payments. I like to think I am fortunate, but that I’ve also worked hard to be where I am. I guess sometimes I need to stop feeling guilty about that.