Overall, I can’t complain about this class. It’s fair in both pace and difficulty. I now have complete confidence in my skills of web design and revision. I can’t wait to use them when I remake my old website. Or just make a new one. As with most creative classes, this class improved by innovative practices. Especially in writing for blog posts. While I feel that my story writing could use some more honing, my casual speech has definitely improved. A great victory for me, considering I’m relatively bad at communicating with my peers. I tend to have a bad tendency to speak formally due to preference and upbringing.

The first couple of weeks (August 31st-October 19th) were more to my liking. Not only did our assignments teach us how to make a blog, it did so in one of the most interactive ways: introspection.  Perhaps introspection isn’t the best word to use for what we did, but it’s the closest word that fits the description. The first week’s assignments asked us to make blogs posts that answered questions about blog posts. The “What is a meme?” assignment comes to mind. Being the scholar that I am, I found it delightful to read everyone’s thoughts on the matter as well as research and make my own.

After the first seven weeks, this class started to drag for me. Not to say I didn’t stop enjoying this class, but in terms of the assignment being more towards my liking, it dragged. At the cost of sounding like a broken record, our assignments were essentially something I had already done before. These prompts did allow me to hone my skills in web design. For instance, old Tyler would have never wanted to put memes or gifs in his posts. I would have thought they rendered the atmosphere of my blogs to be more carefree instead of analytical and serious. Note that this was coming from a guy who wanted to talk about the improvement of game design for his favorite series, such as Pokémon and Kirby.

I’m not demanding (at least I hope I’m not), but I have to answer this question. In my heart, I feel like I’ve earned an A, but in my mind, I think that I’ve earned a B to B+. Most of my blog posts are somewhat mediocre, in my opinion. Also, I was probably the least interactive person with my classmates, an old habit from my childhood that will always be reborn.

As previously stated, I’ll be leaving the website I’ve made from this class and the website I’ve made before alone. New start, new slate. With that being said, I’m not the biggest fan of WordPress. Yes, there are different themes that the web builder provides. However, the web builder I’ve used before (SquareSpace) had much more to use right off the bat with the addition of being much more adaptable. For instance, I could put a text block anywhere on my site. From there, I could expand it, condense it, make it an image, etcetera. Neither have a big difficulty curve either.

The Ramos Hold

Ironically, the entire concept of The Ramos Hold is me giving a tour of the website as if I was showing off my estate. Let’s begin, shall we?

Welcome to the Ramos Hold! Pretty empty right now but make yourself at home. Here I plan to fill the library with my works and concepts. There’ll be other things I’ll add here and there, but as of right now, it’s just a library. If you’d like to read my works, you can go to…my works section. As of right now, there’s only one work there. It’s an abridged version of a story I’ve been working on since high school. As a matter of fact, I shared the draft of my novel in my checkpoint assignment for this class.

It was an honor to be in a class with you all. May you all experience great success and prosperity.

I’m going to try to comment on everyone’s websites in a list-like order. Here we go.

1. Shanjida: Nice fashion site. I see you’re more into styling. If I may ask, what does the term modest mean regarding fashion? I’m not too familiar with the term. While we’re on the topic, what’s what of the most horrid pieces of clothing to you guys. For me, it’s crocs and “better” crocs. Just buy some slides or some comfy payless shoes. The only cool thing I can say about them is croc charms. But even then, just get some pins and put them on your backpack or something.

2. Nader: A nice blend of history and photography. My only complaint is that we didn’t get to see a history blog about places such as Cairo Castle (I’m a sucker for castles) and Yemen-dar-al-hajar Palace.

3. Victor: I’m not exactly sure what this website is supposed to be. It felt as if I read into someone’s diary. I don’t say that in a bad way. In addition to that, that flutter video confused me to no end.

4. Brandon: Good job with the music blog. But, I must say you asked a tough question for me in there. Music and I have a weird relationship. I do adore it and understand its value, yet at the same time, I get bored of it very quickly. Most music from radios and artists outside of projects are just flavor to me. Flavor is good but, you have to have some texture too. How does the song smell? What does it look like? I don’t have these questions when listening to music from video games, cartoons, and movies. Not to say that “flavor music” can’t have this effect on me, but that’s primarily because of me. There’s no character behind the notes. To me, it’s just the artist singing or playing their music in my ear. Perhaps this issue would be solved if I learned about the artist.

But anywho, here are some of the songs I’ve been listening to a lot recently.

*Disclaimer: Dream Bqq may be disturbing; I couldn’t find a link that just had the music. Sorry*

5. Alejandra: You and my friend would bond over your shared interest in Clairo and Cuco. Have you heard of Roy Pablo? Anywho, cool personal blog. Glad to know there are other creatives out there, you know?

6. Kiara: I never thought I’d see a hair growth blog.  Is that common? Since I’m currently on a hair-growth journey myself, do you have any tips on some of the better products to get? That’s always what I get stumped on.

Websites:

Jida Styles.

Create your website with blocks

What will this be about?

Good Music

Untitled

Home

I’m back! Been a while, hasn’t it? I have been overwhelmed with readings and essays for English classes. Thankfully, I’ve managed to get myself situated. So let’s get to it.

The Ramos Hold

I’m kind of miffed that so far, the web builder doesn’t aid me in going for the look I wanted. Surely the more I learn as I go on, the better I’ll get at this. But from what I know now, I have this bland/simple-looking website. Although to be fair, that is what my style intends to do.

Previously, I’ve mentioned how I want my website to feel, but  I haven’t said how I want it to look. Style-wise, I want it to look like video game text boxes. I had planned for it to give off the impression of my readers being in an RPG-styled game alongside the illusion as if they were talking to someone. Sadly, the website doesn’t have the font that you see above. My website has more of an MTA-sign feel due to the font.

Why would I want to do that for a blog? Make my blog feel like I’m talking to people. Well, that’s how reading feels. At least to me. It’s all in the perspective the book uses. A first-person view gives me the impression of someone telling me a story they have experienced. A second-person view makes it feel like someone is telling a story or message about me to me. And finally, a third-person view feels like someone is telling a story about someone else’s life. In a sense, books provide a person to talk to.

Aside from being my blog, I want this website also to be a portfolio of sorts. I plan on putting my works here. My study being where you’ll hear my opinion of other pieces of media, and my library being where you’ll find my works. Convenient no?

After completing the setup for my domain and installing WordPress, I must say the process was not as hard as I initially thought. Granted, I watched the class recording whole I did so. However, I’m excited for what lies ahead.

 

As a person who already has/had a website with a given theme to it, coming up with a new name for it wasn’t relatively challenging.

1. TheGamerTree.com
2. TheWanderer’sKeep.com
3. TheWanderer’sTower.com
4. TheWanderer’sHold.com
5. TheWanderingForest.com
6. TheRamosHold.com
7. TheEfrainHold.com
8. TheWanderingGarden.com
9. Vagar.com
10. The T-site.com

One and Two were previous names for the website in the exact order they’re placed in. I want my website to be a mix of my portfolio and my blog. As a future author, I don’t wish for people to view me as being  “greater” than “the everyday person.” I’m just a dude who chose to walk the path of writing because I like myths, cultures, and humanity. Anyone else could have done the same if they wanted to. Regardless, I feel that portfolios and the like give off this feeling of prestige that robs people of viewing me as a person.  I want to discuss my thoughts with people. I want people to know that I’m a person with opinions and beliefs, not just a guy who writes for a living. That may sound contradictory at first, but it makes sense. Trust me. We’re going on a tangent so let’s move on.

“TheGamerTree.com” was meant to represent a place where a lot was held, like how a tree holds a lot (animals, branches, nuts, fruits, flowers, water, etc.). At first, I just wanted a place to discuss ideas for games I liked. But then, I realized I had more I wanted to talk about than just video games. So then “TheWanderer’sKeep.com” was born. The wanderer aspect of the name came from what I had described before. It gives off this sympathetic atmosphere, no? A person who wanders about the world searching for purpose, resources, and people. The keep aspect came from the idea of this Wanderer bringing a guest into their home and showing the guest the relics they’ve acquired from their travels. A man sitting in his robe on a comfy chair with a warm fire burning beside him was what I was trying to go for when thinking of a name. And I think I’ve done a good job portraying that in all of the names listed above.

I’m proud to have taken this class to better my skills as a website maker and owner. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make good use of them. I can’t say if I have a favorite website. I only web surf when I have a question, but if it’s for entertainment, Youtube.

Hours pass by whenever I’m on this app. The myriad of things I’ve learned are thanks to this site. Well, outside of school, obviously.

Before I begin this, I won’t be using that many images for this. I’ll only be doing one. Please understand that I’m doing this out of respect.

I’ve been doing…moderately well in this class. At least, I feel that to be the case. I’ve only missed one assignment, and that’s only been due to my mental health and personal health getting in the way. Speaking of which, I think I went from a solid “A” to a “B.” Luckily, I was able to do one of the two assignments I was missing.  It’s a steady process. (I’ll put a list of hyperlinks at the end of this post). I definitely need to improve on my participation, both in class and in the comments. My issue with participating in the class is that I don’t really feel the need to speak. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always willing to answer questions about how I’m doing personally, but there are never any questions that feel related to the subject of class. Maybe that’s too hyperbolic of a statement to make. For comments, however, that’s entirely my fault. Simply put, I tend not to comment because of poor time management. That included with the notion of me not caring enough to do so—the latter reason not being a good one. Perhaps the lack of care came from my mental issues.

Academically speaking, I’ve learned to make memes, gifs, inputs for faster functions (screenshot, hyperlink, etc.), and other websites for creating websites. While those are good things to learn for my career, I find that this class teaches me more psychological lessons and habits. For example, this class has taught me that being consistent with work does not have to come at the expense of my health. Meaning, I don’t have to, nor should I overwork myself to the point of burnout.  I reference this class specifically because of its fluid work system. Said work system has also helped me with time management. While not perfect, I’ve learned to make compromises with my workloads. The most significant aspect of this fluidity being acceptance. Acceptance of making mistakes. I have a hard time accepting my flaws, as do most people. Yet, this class has a more lenient feel to it. Our professor is incredibly understanding when it comes to learning styles as well as just life in general. He understands that unexpected things happen, which has led me to question my morals about work ethic.

I feel my work for this class is rather stale creatively. It has passion and emotion behind it, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily creative. Begrudgingly, I answer the questions that are provided to me without getting too off tangent or too “creative”. Making the visual aspects is where I tend to get the most “creative.” However, I wish I had more of a hand for drawing, pixel art specifically. Maybe I’m just a tad bit disappointed in my lack of control of the gifs appearance. As of right now, I do not have the time to learn how to make pixel art. So alas,  I’m stuck in my limited creativity.

 

What am I to do then? Well, I did get into this class for storytelling purposes. Perhaps I’ll tell some stories! While I can’t think of anything on the spot for today, I have another treat for you guys. I’m going to share one of my very first written works on the internet. It’s incredibly embarrassing compared to my current work, but that’s a good start for this new work method.

(After looking at all of my posts, I’m realizing I’m missing #3. I could’ve sworn I had done it)

/document/d/1mJ8xH1GYQWzV8eGyg5A_h1xGoaWBAqvFjHV_d6pDY1E/edit

Previous Posts:

Assignment #5- Creative Challenge

Assignment #4- Memes and the Art Scene

Assignment #2- GIF Tales

Assignment #1- What is making me happy on the internet?

A challenge that I’ve seen everywhere (Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) is “Drawtober.” I don’t know why, but October seems to be the month for visual artists to thrive. “Drawtober”, is where you draw for the month of October, as the name would suggest. However, usually, they draw with a certain theme in mind, commonly something horror related. You are allowed to make your own challenge with your own theme.

I’ve held an interest in this challenge for a while now yet, one thing always holds me back: I can’t draw. Not to say that I haven’t tried to draw but I wouldn’t say I’m skilled at it. Yes Drawtober would be great practice but, I feel the most important aspect of the challenge is how the work conveys the concept of the day. So the first thing  that I could do for me to partake in this challenge would be to change it from “Drawtober” to something relating to writing. “Scribetober”, or something.

Other than that, I would make the theme of the month based off of RPGs (Role-Playing Games). I simply adore RPGs. Pokémon, Final Fantasy, Pesrona, Deltarune, all of them.  It would only be fitting to challenge myself with games that challenge every aspect of the player. I would have the daily themes refrence common traditions within the genre. The Hero/Heroine, the first dungeon, all of the classes commonly associated with genre, the possibilities are endless!

This challenge in particular builds the good skill of a working spirit. By that I mean that this challenge helps build a groove for working. A rhythm. No, what I’m describing is not time management. You could plan your day out to be the most productive it could possibly ever be but, that doesn’t you can keep it up throughout the week. This challenge helps with that. Something that I could definitley practice more.

After the week I’ve had, this is necesary. It wouldn’t be that hard either. Just a my computer and time. That’s it. I need to work on feeling comfortable with other people. But, I’ve realized that I’m not really comfortable with myself. Hopefully this fixes that.

Never before have I ever asked myself the question, “Are memes art?” If you had asked me around 2013-2016, I would’ve said no. But now? Absolutely.

If you’re like me and like to go by definitions, the Apple definition of art is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” Beyond the creativity aspect of this definition, I want to tackle the emotional aspect of it. In the video above, the speaker discusses how memes are more seen as inside jokes. Inside jokes and memes both share one trait as the driving force of their appeal: reliability (or pathos if you want to be fancy).

However, if we go by this definition method of defining topics, a meme is defined as “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.” I’m not a fan of this definition. Cause if we go by that definition of a meme, then slogans are memes. By Apple’s definition, Porky Pig’s “That’s all folks!” is a meme. Dunking your oreo’s, or cookies in general, is a meme. Me saying “bless me” to myself because my grandfather taught me to is a meme. To differentiate these definitions, I’ve decided to make a new word to keep the psychological aspect of the meaning and the modern description of a meme alive while being incapable of confusing future scholars. The first word I made was diagmeme, a combination of diagogí (the Greek word for conduct and behavior) and meme—pronounced dee-ahg-meem. The second word is pretty simple, behavimeme—pronounced bee-hayve-uh-meem.

A more interesting question is, what type of art are memes. I believe that memes should have their own category. When most people describe art, they usually have sub-types of art. Abstract art, Horror art, Pop art, Modern art, etc. However, memes also follow this guideline. Above, we have a subset of horror memes deemed cursed images. In addition, there are dank memes, offensive memes, political memes, etc.

Yet, from there, we dive deeper into another web of complicated questions. What makes the image above different from photography? What makes it different from horror art in general? What separates a meme from a comic. So many gray areas.

I typically tend to like memes that poke fun or comment on subjects that I like—specifically, media.

For this semester, I wanted to have a majority of my classes to be beneficial to my career. Even after discussing my courses with my advisor, I still put great thought into these courses. This course will help me with the UI design for my blog. Currently, my blog is incredibly bland. It’s functional, but all in all, it won’t attract people to read my work. Perhaps I’m a tad bit hard on myself.

 

Part of me had thought that I grew out of being nervous on the first days, but yeah, like most of you, I was also reasonably nervous. Luckily I quickly shook it off. Primarily due to the fact of me learning that my professor was deaf. It made me think, “This man has to teach an online class while being deaf?! The heck do I have to be nervous for?” I truly respect his bravery and dedication to his interests. However, I wonder if he was born deaf or if it had happened later in his life. Hopefully, it’s not too personal of a question to ask.

Being a creative, this course’s very hands-on creative teaching style is right up my alley. Truly a much-needed counterbalance to my schedule for this semester. My collection of classes for this semester are a gradual scale of academic flexibility now that I think about it. This course being the most flexible. In addition to that, this course has a great sense of community. While I’m not exactly friends with anybody in this course, I feel camaraderie with my classmates. Mind you, my definition of “friend” is more nuanced than most people. For me, a comrade is an upgraded version of an acquaintance. The difference being, a comrade is someone I see/interact with frequently due to being in a team setting (school, work, sport, etc.). While an acquaintance is someone who I barely see, barely know, but I do know of them. Hopefully, this makes sense. If you’d like to, we could discuss friendship.

Potentially, this course has great potential to be fundamental to our mental. Jokes aside, this course definitely has the potential to form new friendships amongst us classmates. Typically, most students tend to ignore the others if we were on campus, which I understand. Still, it does make the overall class experience rather dull. Covid did somewhat fix this issue. It caused everyone to make a group chat for their classes, which brings in some sort of community but not as potent as this. This feels like we built it, y’know? Even if we don’t end up this way, we could gain the potential of being more efficient when speaking with deaf people.

I hold this class in high regard. This course, class, whatever is the next step forward towards telling my story. Oddly, part of me feels like I’m genuinely progressing as a person because of this class. Maybe not cause of this class but, this class certainly makes me feel that way.

As of late, I have become exceedingly engrossed with the Persona video game series. Specifically, Persona 4. Because of this, I have been using the internet to learn as much about it as possible. And to speak openly, it brings me nothing but joy. It is mind-boggling how much I’ve learned from this game.

You see, the Persona series has a lot of mythological influence in its design. The characters use personas, hence the name, which are based on Gods, demons, and monsters. There are a lot of videos that discuss the correlation between the persona users and personas themselves. Here I’ll share one for you guys.

My personal favorite character, Yosuke Hanamura, has a Persona named Jiraiya. Since I’m a bit of a pragmatist, I like to look at the characters’ stats to see how to utilize them in the game best.

https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Jiraiya

I hope this post makes you interested in the series so we can talk about it together!