This Class

This has been a great class.  One of the reasons I signed up for it to being with was honestly to get my scheduled adjusted to fit my financial aid requirements while still adhering to my work schedule.  In looking at my options, though, I had a feeling this one would be beneficial to me in my future.  I feel like I made the right choice, too!  Since I am planning on becoming a professional photographer for my career, I'm going to rely heavily on computers and the internet in getting my work out there and getting it to the standard it needs to be.  This class has been an absolutely perfect way to get my feet wet and getting familiar with some of the basics on creating websites and such.  Also, starting to learn it this early on gives me more time to sharpen my skills and knowledge so when I get to the point where I have to have my own website, it will hopefully turn out with a clean, professional look very early on.  Being able to achieve that will help me get work because I won't have to go through that awkward website stage where I'm trying to figure things out.  This will all be a huge advantage to me and make things easier as I try to get myself out in the world.  I have a feeling that, starting out, I'll probably focus on some kind of WYSIWYG website when I first start out.  Until I become more comfortable with HTML, and even more so CSS, that would be the best way to go.  I look forward to learning more about CSS and really being able to play around with styles and the freedom it will offer me.

It's hard figuring out which module has been my favorite.  I've really been enjoying the class as a whole.  I would have to say, though, that the HTML module would have to be the one I'd pick.  I think the main reason being that it was a brand new experience for me over the others.  I've played around with wikis and web sites and blogs before, but not once had I written a single code of HTML.  It was nice getting to finally cross that barrier and play around with it.  And as I said in the module's assignment, I really enjoyed getting that chance.  It was definitely a great opportunity and it's something I look forward to learning even more about.  On the flip side, there really hasn't been a module in this class that I've disliked.  I'd say the one I was least enthusiastic about was probably creating the wiki page.  I still liked the module, sure, but it wasn't something I've been overall interested and invested in.  It's still a good thing to know about, though.  I feel like it's good to know about how wikis work so you can help see what could be resourceful information and not.  In this day and age, where anyone can get on the internet and say whatever they want, you have to be careful when gathering information for anything.  Being able to see that side of a wiki helps when navigating future wikis.

I'm excited about the opportunities this class has opened up for me.  It's been a great learning experience, and a lot of fun.  I felt I made a great choice taking this class, because I'll be depending on all kinds of web publishing a lot once I really get photography as my career.  Creating and managing my own websites will be an essential part of my trade, with the way technology is now.  This has been a great start.

Photo found here

My Blogging Experience

I have had quite a bit of blogging experience before this class.  Most recently being the other Blogger sites I have that I mentioned in the previous post.  The Beaucoup Pop blog, especially, because we worked on a lot of customization to get the site the way we wanted it to look, since we haven't broken out into a full blown website yet.  It gives it a nice in-between look for our listeners and such.  Going back even before this, I had a random personal blog that I believe was on Blogger as well... My account is no longer attached to that one, though, so no telling where it is.  I used it for pretty much whatever.  It started out as a blog where I would review TV shows, movies, books, etc., but after a while became a general nerd-y blog for me.  Going back EVEN BEFORE that, when I was in high school, LiveJournal was the thing.  I was on LiveJournal all the time.  I would post at least once a day.  It was my personal site, and I treated it sort of like an online diary (but not quite as personal).  I think a lot of people did, really.  I also followed a lot of other LJs too.  My friends, of course, but also groups that wrote stories and created graphics... That kind of thing.

Because of all my previous experience with Blogger, I can't say I learned anything new.  I feel like I know this site like the back of my hand, honestly.  This was the first time I recorded my own video that went right onto my post, though, so that was new.  I've embedded YouTube videos before, but never straight up recorded one of my own.  That was pretty cool.

I've always liked blogging.  I'm a writer at heart, even if it's not something I do seriously, so I love writing about whatever.  I love the ability to get into conversations with strangers that might read your blog, even though that doesn't happen very often with mine.  Blogger is a great site for all of this, and I've always enjoyed the layout and the ease of use for it.  Compared to things like HTML and WYSIWYG, though, Blogger is very...limited, I feel.  Sure, there are templates and a bit of customization, but not very much.  Definitely not to the extent of those other two we've focused on in this course.  That's one thing I do dislike about Blogger, and something I prefer now having experience with in the others.  I have more options now, and I like that.  More options to get it more personalized.  After all, when it's all said and done, changing colors and having to choose from a handful of template layouts... It just isn't enough in the long run.

My newest blog!

Yay!  Blogger is fun.  It's a great site and I've always enjoyed using it.  The worst part about it is from a personal standpoint, and something I briefly mentioned in the video.  I really enjoy blogging, but I'm terrible at keeping up with it and doing it on a consistent basis.  I had thought a blog would be a great idea for my journey through being engaged, and everything my mother and I did as we planned my wedding.  After a couple of posts, though, I just kinda forgot about it.  A fail on my part.  These other two blogs I'm involved with can be seen here:
Beaucoup Pop
My Journey to Marriage

I could go on and on about things, but that's actually what my second blog post is going to be about, so I'll refrain myself for now.  Can't get too ahead of myself, after all!

I'm looking forward to Christmas break.  I could do without the insanity that comes with working in retail right before Christmas, but it'll be nice for things to wind down a little bit.  It'll be nice to see my family here soon, and some close friends of mine have a post-Thanksgiving pre-Christmas formal dinner that's kind of becoming a bit of a tradition.  That's this weekend, and it's gonna be a blast.  Everyone dresses up nice and brings a dish or two, and have a great time.

Happy holidays... ^_^