What do Earthquakes mean to San Franciscans

What does it mean for a San Franciscan to live in a city where the possibility of an earthquake is ever present? It means earthquakes become our miracle workers. Some people might view them in fear… perhaps your landlord would be one of them. But overall, trust me, they are seen as your excuse out of homework, employment, relationships… anything. More than often I’ve heard these, “I wish an earthquake would come and rip open the hardwood floors and swallow that cocaine tray,” or “I wish an earthquake would come and destroy the school’s housing so I would become unemployed again,” and my favorite one… “I wish the big one hits her on the bridge.”

My roommate had this crazy idea that the big one would actually hit us during the San Francisco 1906 Earthquake Anniversary. She was devising a scape route of jumping out from a window, into a bush, and then crawl down to the sidewalk. I, of course, thought all of this was completely ridiculous, until they showed images on TV of our street on fire during the 1989 earthquake. After that, we both freaked out… for the whole night.

My nun friend from England lives in Berkley… cheap nice place, sitting right on the fault. What does she wish for? For the big one to hold off. And ya know, I do too. It would be a shame for all her nice 1950s china to get swallowed by cranky Mother Earth on PMS.

Overall, I think Earthquakes make San Francisco more of a charming city… and I don’t mean this in a touristic sort of way, but from a magical realistic perspective. Earthquakes just make sure the door of possibility stays open. The possibility of your wishes or nightmares coming true at the blink of an eye.

Fall 06 – Interactive Concepts – Mantis in Pantis

After careful consideration, I decided to go with my original idea: Mantis in Pantis. When I first entered school, I entered wanting to develop a cartoon series. In fact, I was at the verge of studying animation… but I soon realized I wasn’t really interested in learning about the craft of animation, but more in developing ideas that were going to be executed in the animated form. So, creating a press kit for my animated mantis seemed like a good idea. Sticking to a dream is easier than trying to commit to something you don’t care for.

The idea is to build an interactive world in which the mantis and the user can interact. It will include clips from the series, that I’ll be creating later on as the semesters progress. It is going to be interesting to develop the characters as I also am creating the content for my thesis.

-Alex

Fall 06 – Interactive Concepts – Researching 5 Ideas

Ok, I should just say… this has been hell. I’m juggling friends, school, and relationships, pseudo-moving, displacement, brokeness… and I still am not getting the hang of it. Is this the proper forum to say these things? I don’t know… but it all needed to be said.

So, like a good student, I spent my weekend between the lab and the library… researching, thinking, wondering. Half of the things I looked for, didn’t get me anywhere… but I guess that’s what’s researching all about. First of all, I decided to visit the magazine section at the library, only to realize the ones who caught my attention the most where related to sociological themes, which brought me to modify my backpackers idea into a anthrofunlogy UGC website.

After that, I made my move into the computer area, where I explored the school’s database and dozens of articles related new media, the web, and marketing through the web. Strangely enough, the database didn’t include anything related to cults.

The next thing was to get books, some I got from the library… others I already owned (luckily, I always show interest in the same things, so 1/3 of the research is done in a way). The books from the library seemed kinda outdated to tell you the truth… but still, even though technical things dont change, the principles behind them pretty much stay the same.

My main source of information, and this I have been doing for a whole semester, is visiting the grad projects desk and take different cd-roms out, and take them on a test drive. This helps me get inspired, and it is the best way to calculate what’s expected. I’m extremely surprised that most grad projects are cd-roms and not real websites or applications. I guess it can be easier in a way… but they run the risk of not being relevant. Who uses cd-roms nowadays anyway… other than kids and institutions in need of promoting themselves? Also, once you see the institution’s cd, you are very likely to not use it ever again. The benefit of the website is just to pass things around and have some fun with them.

Anyway, this has been my weekend. A pretty boring one. Ended up missing the LoveFest and Folsom’s Street Fair. Will I continue missing San Francisco parties because of school? No… because I will do my homework on wednesdays and thursdays from now on… with the sole purpose of going to festivals on the weekends.

So, am I done? Any other questions? Ok, cool. I’ll see you all in class.

-Alex

Fall 06 – Interactive Concepts – Brainstorming

Summer is not just a season, summer can also be a state of mind. During this summer, I didnt take any classes. I was getting reacquainted with myself… Still, I didnt forget to practice on my design skills. Even during summer, growth has to happen.

Now that classes started, I spent a weekend thinking of creative ideas, brainstorming with my friends, thinking of projects that are needed, wondering if certain ideas are even possible to achieve. Still, it is better to think of over the top ideas, and to have to be tied down, than to be encouraged to be more daring.

So, lets be daring. Most of the stuff I thought of was at my apartment, sitting on the floor, being irreverent, writing down on an old notebook, smoking… laughing, living.

Hope some cool stuff can be taken out of this weekend’s brainstorming session.

-Alex

More in these cute creatures. I shall call ‘em… The Inklings!

After seeing I had three, I might as well make 4 and make it even. Unfortunately, a friend of mine asked me to do one adapted to her art site (forest themed), so I’m back at an uneven number. It seems this might become an obsession! I thought of naming them “the inklings”… what do ya think of the name?

This one is my little rastafarian. He’s got dreadlocks and loves to smoke. Yes, I’m all for stereotypes. After this one I might have to make a writer… and don’t worry, I’ll be as truthful as I can be to a true representation, and make him Jewish.

This one is a collaboration for the “El Bosque” art project. You can find them in myspace.com/elbosque . Their theme is basically forest related art, like trees, wolfs, and bears. Be sure to check em out. Basically this last one showed me the possibilities are endless with these little critters.