define/refine
Holy new layout! :D
I've been working on this for the last few days; I had to re-familiarize myself with CSS, so it longer than it used to when I still did more design-type stuff. I made the header graphic on a whim last week and decided I wanted to use it for a layout here, and ended up looking around at some of the LJ's and LJ communities that have layout templates that you can use that are usually nicer than what LJ has to offer itself. The original template I'm using for this layout is from
butterflybox, but I modified it a bit. I also figured out how to add those cute little tiny icons next to the entry date and next to the 'feeling', 'hearing' and 'tags' section at the top of each entry - the ones I'm using are from
minty_peach and Free Mini Icons. The equally cute custom profile icons you can see next to any LJ username are courtesy of
passing_girl.
I hope y'all like it! :) Let me know what you think, particularly if anything about the layout looks wonky in your browser, hehe.
++++
The idea behind the graphic I made for this, and the new title (define || refine: a life in progress) are stemming from some musings I've had lately about how I feel about myself and where I am in my life right now. The 'Too Many Choices' photo is probably one of my favorite photos that I've taken, and the article title, combined with the picture of the man standing in a forest of trees with arrows pointing in all different directions is just something that really resonates with me. I get frustrated sometimes with how indecisive I feel I can be, and it's often a sense that there's too many choices.
I've been feeling lately like these last two years and the next year or so are shaping up to represent a really pivotal period of time in my life. Moving back to Chicago, transferring to Columbia and into a different major program, finishing up college, the way I've really been trying to make an effort to break through a lot of the anxieties that I struggle with, etc. In general, this period of my life is very much a period of conscious efforts to define and refine myself as a person - to define and refine my life. To face that sense of 'too many choices' and push myself to whittle away at them, instead of shrink back from them. I still struggle with things, but it is slowly getting easier.
++++
Classes have been going well, but definitely keeping me busy. I have to give presentations every week in my PR Presentation class, and thought the speech anxiety is definitely there, I feel like this class is helping, slowly but surely. The math class is actually pretty decent, given that I hate math - the professor is good in that he recognizes the need to acknowledge that some people just don't innately understand math nearly as well as others. I'm loving my Abnormal Psych class; the material is just fascinating to me, in general, but the professor is also fun because she has used movie and TV show clips to help illustrate certain aspects of some disorders. Just last week, we got to watch a full episode of Monk when we were going over Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. I was entirely too giddy about that, LOL, because I freaking love that show - Tony Shalhoub is hilarious as Mr. Monk, the OCD detective. ;D
In my Composition class, our main focus is working toward what will be a 15-20 page research paper that we turn in at the end of the semester. I would normally be utterly terrified by something like that, but the professor has done a really wonderful job of framing the entire semester around helping us work toward the final draft we turn in. We get writing prompts every couple of weeks - the first one was to help us select a topic to focus on and get us brainstorming about it, the second prompt was to encourage us to think more in depth about the topic we chose, refining the wording of the topic question and analyzing more specifically how we want to approach answering the question. We'll continue having prompts that help us refine and focus on various aspects, and she's put aside several classes where we'll meet in the library so that everybody can work on their research. I'm actually really happy with how she's approaching this, because it's much more direct and specific, with a steady progression toward the final goal. There's enough freedom that I don't feel like it's stifling my individual creative process, but it's also not so open-ended that I feel uncertain about what she may be looking for.
I'm kind of crazy, though, because the topic I've chosen is about how science can possibly explain different levels of emotional, cognitive and/or physical response to music.
Yeah, I'm nuts, LOL. But it honestly is something that I've always been curious about, particularly in terms of what explanations there might be for why some people seem to be less affected than the average person, or practically apathetic about music. I'm going to be looking at a lot of information revolving around music cognition and music psychology. Pretty overwhelming, but I'm geeking out about already, despite that, haha.
++++
I really wish Showtime weren't a subscription-only cable channel. Last year, I got hooked on Dexter when they put the entire first season up on the Comcast OnDemand service I get - they had it put up to watch for free for a short time as a promotional gesture before the second season started.
Just last week, they put up the first season of The Tudors for the same reason. I'm about 6 episodes in, and holy god, I'm in love. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is brilliant as Henry VIII. And Sam Neill as slithery Cardinal Wolsey. And Jeremy Northam as Thomas More. And and and and...I just love the whole thing. GAAAH, LOL. Stupid premium channels getting me hooked on their shows that I can't watch until they're released on DVD or put up as promotional deals like this.
Okay, I'm off for now; math homework awaits. I hope you are all doing well!
I've been working on this for the last few days; I had to re-familiarize myself with CSS, so it longer than it used to when I still did more design-type stuff. I made the header graphic on a whim last week and decided I wanted to use it for a layout here, and ended up looking around at some of the LJ's and LJ communities that have layout templates that you can use that are usually nicer than what LJ has to offer itself. The original template I'm using for this layout is from
butterflybox, but I modified it a bit. I also figured out how to add those cute little tiny icons next to the entry date and next to the 'feeling', 'hearing' and 'tags' section at the top of each entry - the ones I'm using are from
minty_peach and Free Mini Icons. The equally cute custom profile icons you can see next to any LJ username are courtesy of
passing_girl.
I hope y'all like it! :) Let me know what you think, particularly if anything about the layout looks wonky in your browser, hehe.
++++
The idea behind the graphic I made for this, and the new title (define || refine: a life in progress) are stemming from some musings I've had lately about how I feel about myself and where I am in my life right now. The 'Too Many Choices' photo is probably one of my favorite photos that I've taken, and the article title, combined with the picture of the man standing in a forest of trees with arrows pointing in all different directions is just something that really resonates with me. I get frustrated sometimes with how indecisive I feel I can be, and it's often a sense that there's too many choices.
I've been feeling lately like these last two years and the next year or so are shaping up to represent a really pivotal period of time in my life. Moving back to Chicago, transferring to Columbia and into a different major program, finishing up college, the way I've really been trying to make an effort to break through a lot of the anxieties that I struggle with, etc. In general, this period of my life is very much a period of conscious efforts to define and refine myself as a person - to define and refine my life. To face that sense of 'too many choices' and push myself to whittle away at them, instead of shrink back from them. I still struggle with things, but it is slowly getting easier.
++++
Classes have been going well, but definitely keeping me busy. I have to give presentations every week in my PR Presentation class, and thought the speech anxiety is definitely there, I feel like this class is helping, slowly but surely. The math class is actually pretty decent, given that I hate math - the professor is good in that he recognizes the need to acknowledge that some people just don't innately understand math nearly as well as others. I'm loving my Abnormal Psych class; the material is just fascinating to me, in general, but the professor is also fun because she has used movie and TV show clips to help illustrate certain aspects of some disorders. Just last week, we got to watch a full episode of Monk when we were going over Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. I was entirely too giddy about that, LOL, because I freaking love that show - Tony Shalhoub is hilarious as Mr. Monk, the OCD detective. ;D
In my Composition class, our main focus is working toward what will be a 15-20 page research paper that we turn in at the end of the semester. I would normally be utterly terrified by something like that, but the professor has done a really wonderful job of framing the entire semester around helping us work toward the final draft we turn in. We get writing prompts every couple of weeks - the first one was to help us select a topic to focus on and get us brainstorming about it, the second prompt was to encourage us to think more in depth about the topic we chose, refining the wording of the topic question and analyzing more specifically how we want to approach answering the question. We'll continue having prompts that help us refine and focus on various aspects, and she's put aside several classes where we'll meet in the library so that everybody can work on their research. I'm actually really happy with how she's approaching this, because it's much more direct and specific, with a steady progression toward the final goal. There's enough freedom that I don't feel like it's stifling my individual creative process, but it's also not so open-ended that I feel uncertain about what she may be looking for.
I'm kind of crazy, though, because the topic I've chosen is about how science can possibly explain different levels of emotional, cognitive and/or physical response to music.
Yeah, I'm nuts, LOL. But it honestly is something that I've always been curious about, particularly in terms of what explanations there might be for why some people seem to be less affected than the average person, or practically apathetic about music. I'm going to be looking at a lot of information revolving around music cognition and music psychology. Pretty overwhelming, but I'm geeking out about already, despite that, haha.
++++
I really wish Showtime weren't a subscription-only cable channel. Last year, I got hooked on Dexter when they put the entire first season up on the Comcast OnDemand service I get - they had it put up to watch for free for a short time as a promotional gesture before the second season started.
Just last week, they put up the first season of The Tudors for the same reason. I'm about 6 episodes in, and holy god, I'm in love. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is brilliant as Henry VIII. And Sam Neill as slithery Cardinal Wolsey. And Jeremy Northam as Thomas More. And and and and...I just love the whole thing. GAAAH, LOL. Stupid premium channels getting me hooked on their shows that I can't watch until they're released on DVD or put up as promotional deals like this.
Okay, I'm off for now; math homework awaits. I hope you are all doing well!