Advanced Writing Workshop
Creating "Chelsea, Cake and other things that start with "C" was not the experience I had anticipated. The thought of maintaining a blog that could potentially be shown to peers and employers was a bit nerve- racking. Art (writing, music, photography, painting) has always been a personal pleasure for me, and the thought of having to alter it in order to suit viewers seemed irritatingly conformist, acknowledging how hipster that may sound. Alas, I've realized the challenge of creating a more professional front while maintaining my stylistic voice has allowed me to improve as a writer and intellectual.
Blogs have a natural feel, often responsible for grass root ideals and campaigns. The structure of maintaining our blog in such a way seemed extremely appropriate. Each "thing" allowed me dive deeper into something I was familiar with (Twitter, RSS Feed), and still discover amazing new resources (Wordle, Visuwords) that I have already utilized for other projects and assignments.
I currently maintain two twitter accounts: @maverickymarlow and @chessandmerlot, but enjoyed analyzing the function of Twitter... remembering a time in high school when I could not comprehend why anyone with a life would maintain a profile about nothing but 140-character thoughts. Profile assignments allow my blog readers to understand my perspective on currently maintained social media profiles and tools, then assisted me in developing and solidifying my experience and opinion.
My favorite blog post is Corn & Grain Elevator. As a tour guide for my Iowan college I often tell similar stories to explain my transition to the agriculturally-based lifestyle. The post is readable with colorful texts and pictures. It gives my blog readers a better insight into who I am as well.
My favorite post to produce was Collage of Chords. It allowed me to fully express my journey with guitar up to that point. As I've discussed in previous posts, it's nice to find an online audience interested in similar topics. Though my friends enjoy my guitar playing, the mash up produced a detailed account of my inspiration and story.
Wordle proved to be the most eye-opening task assignment. It was a trend I saw a few months ago on tumblr.com, though I had not tried it until recently. This Wordle about my blog shows that its purpose was most largely associated with analyzing the functions and connections a blog maintains.
