Writing In & For Digital Environments

For my blog I want to focus on the theme of happiness. I hope to publish a combination of stories, quotes, interviews, challenges, images, videos, conversations, and reflections on this topic.

Last semester I studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, which was recently ranked the happiest country in the world by the United Nations. While I was abroad I became very preoccupied with this idea and curious about what the Danes might be doing differently from the rest of the world. Maybe there isn’t one right answer to this question, but it seems to me that it is something worth exploring. One way I would like to explore this is by simply asking people what makes them happy. I intend to do a number of interviews and for this blog to showcase a variety of different voices and opinions. I am also very interested in figuring out what kind of little things people can do on a daily basis to make their days a little happier.

I have additionally always kept a folder on my laptop with pictures, videos, stories, etc. that I can use to cheer up people when they’re having a bad day. I envision this blog as becoming an even larger extension of this folder and something I can go to when I want to brighten someone’s day.

Quite a few of the blogs I examined while researching current trends in this field of “happiness blogging” focused a lot on the field of positive psychology. Positive psychology is essentially a field of study dedicated to helping people become happier. My blog may differ a bit from several that I examined because unlike some of the blog authors I do not have any background in this field. I think because of this my posts may be more informal, and less academically based. For example, one blog I looked at called, “The Happiness Institute” was created by a professor who has three degrees in psychology and a PH.D. However, seeing how these bloggers incorporated positive psychology into their posts has motivated me to see if I can learn more about this field and use its principles in some of my own posts.

Furthermore, I think my blog will differ from the majority of blogs I looked at because I want images to be a large part of my blog. For example, blogs like “Delivering Happiness” were very textually based and had few images. This blog had very long articles, and each post was formatted in a very similar way. In my blog I plan to vary the style and length of my posts.

The blog that I would most like to model mine after is “The Happiness Project” because this blog has a very colorful, yet simple and clear layout. It additionally does not have any distracting advertisements and all of the different sections of this website are clearly labeled. It also has a lot of creative little features that have provided me with some inspiration for my blog. For example, there is a feature that allows you to sign up for the “Moment of Happiness: A daily happiness quotation in your inbox”. There are also “projects” you can sign up for that challenge you to be proactive in creating your own happiness. I think that this is a great model for me to follow because it makes this blog very engaging and it challenges readers to participate in the authors project.

Liz Bruno

When first brainstorming my ideas for my class blog I was torn about what to focus on. In high school I created a blog all about my experiences with the college search process. I thought about continuing this on with my new perspective having doing some work with the admissions office at Dickinson. However, at the end of the day this idea left me pretty uninspired. So back to the drawing board I went. I considered what kind of blog I would want to read and my mind automatically turned to HONY. The field of photojournalist blogs fascinates me. Personally, as a blog reader, I always feel overwhelmed when a blog has too much text. I envision my blog to be a spin-off of Humans of New York but in the setting of Dickinson. While this school does have a close-knit community, this closeness brings with it cliques and stereotypes. I want this blog to be space to celebrate individuality and to break down some of these stereotypes. Growing up with two parents as photographers, being behind the lens is a place I have always been comfortable and curious. This blog would be a fun and inspiring way to get back into photography. I plan on using only disposable cameras for this project because I love their genuine quality. They come with a sense of mystery; you know never when a sun flare or two will make an appearance. I appreciate that there is no room for editing or manipulation of images. It will help to capture an honest portrait of those featured on my blog. So as not to directly copy Humans of New York, I will also write posts about my experiences of going up to people and asking them personal questions. I am really excited for this portion of the project and will hope to develop a set of questions that will stir up some good personal stories.

Humans of New York:

This a photojournalist blog that is primarily image based. Although there are many colors and images to focus on, it somehow still looks clearly laid out. There is a small amount of text on the website and none of it is personal to the blogger himself, which makes it unique. By placing the text under the images (instead of above or side-by-side) the images stand out on their own and are further enhanced by the text. I like that you see the image first and read the text second, it adds a sense of mystique. There are six categories on the header of the webpage that you can click on. These have a layout that is again very focused and user-friendly. I like that there is an archive feature so that you can search back to see how the project began. The blog page is also linked to Facebook, which allows the readership to increase.

Humans of New York. Humansofnewyork.com. 2013. Web. 15 Sep. 2013.

CollegeFashionista:

CollegeFashionista is another image heavy blog. Although I am not planning on focusing on fashion for my class project, it will be an entity of my blog. CollegeFashionista is interesting because it takes content from a slew of bloggers who each go to different colleges. This allows the photographs and the text posts about fashion to each have their own style and voice. Some of sassier than others while some are more informative and straightforward. This is a blog that appeals to a lot of different readers and also relies on reader-participation to thrive.

CollegeFashionista. Collegefashionista.com. 2013. Web. 15 Sep. 2013.

The blog I intend on creating for class was partly inspired by my own anxieties and future career path in the entertainment field. I want to become a television personality/host and so much of my interests (professionally) lie in celebrity news, fashion, music, etc. One of the realities of what I want to do professionally is that I will have to sacrifice one of the life’s most sacred things, privacy.

It is inevitable that I will enter into this world and has always been my goal to help society (friends, family, etc.) understand the fact that celebrities are normal, everyday people. They experience many of the same struggles, trials, and hardships that everyone else does. However, I think that people often forget that and that is why I want to create a blog called “Just Ordinary People”. The goal of the blog is to remove celebrities off of the critical pedestals fans often hold them up to and make them more relatable/human.

How will this work? I will be paying close attention to celebrity’s news (as I already do) to find incidents in which a celebrity is being criticized for a personal choice. I will then do one of two things. Either interview someone who has done or experienced something similar in their life and get the back story to get the details. Or I will use my creative mind to come up with my own story but readers will basically be reading a narrative about a specific occurrence in a mystery person’s life. They will not know who the person is until they reach the end of the story which is when they ultimately realize what celebrity story mirrors the one being told. Hopefully through this I will be able to help bring light to the more humane side of celebrities.

The two blogs I frequently read for celebrity news are:

TheYBF is an online celebrity news, fashion, and music blog which was founded in 2005. The site is managed by Natasha Eubanks who originally created it because she saw a lack of gossip sites that focused on African Americans. Therefore, It primarily focuses on the happenings amongst the African American figures in Hollywood and does an amazing job at giving the reader a well rounded story. In addition to that, the voice she delivers her content in is so down to earth, straightforward, and relatable that it keeps the reader coming back.

NecoleBitchie is an online blog that focuses and features celebrity news and interviews. Necole Kane started the website in 2009 and is currently the sole author of its content. This blog in particular inspires my interest because of Necole’s ability to be so up close and personal with the celebrity world. Through her posts readers are able to gain a better understanding of individual celebrities and can find common ground. The layout she has is very attractive and gives me the feeling that I am apart of a secret society of celebrity gossip.

“It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it… and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied… and it is all one.”  – M.F.K. Fisher

Gastronomic Permaculture is not simply an idea for a blog, but rather gastronomic permaculture integrates ourselves, our food, our community and our earth and recognizes that every meal is accomplished in an ecosystem, and it is the convergence our our three basic needs: nourishment, security and love. The Gastronomic Permaculture Manifesto outlines the basics of how to source, shop, cook, eat and design in a way that is not only good for the environment, but in a way that is good for your mental and physical wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of everyone else you come into contact with inside your intentionally designed food system.

The purpose of the blog is the inspire, educate and provide resources to those who are either already familiar with Permaculture or those who have never encountered Permaculture, but are interested in cooking and eating in a regenerative fashion. The eventual goal is to also start a conversation amongst the blog community as to the nature of cooking and eating sustainably and hopefully have it begin to take a life of it’s own, allowing others to change and adjust the principles in a way that they think fulfills the ethics and principles of Permaculture more directly.

For the duration of the school year, a post a week with the addition of a guest post is the goal for frequency of updates, but with each post fulfilling one of the three goals of the website. Photos, illustration and video would all be key elements to posts, making the schedule rather ambitious. During break, the schedule would potentially change to two a week and two guest posts.

Because of the nature of Gastronomic Permaculture, the guest posting is actually a rather key element. Since certain aspects of Gastronomic Permaculture are rather abstract, having multiple writers allows for the reader to have a fuller understanding of the flexibility of the principles and how it’s possible to cook and eat following the ethics and principals of Gastronomic Permaculture in any situation, be it in a college residence hall, a home with limited kitchen access, or even with no kitchen at all. It is also an important element because it takes what is normally a very lofty and academic definition for both Permaculture and Gastronomic Permaculture and makes it more approachable, through having multiple people explaining why it’s easily done simply through thoughtful and intentional purchasing and choices.

Over five months of research has gone into the work I currently have and have collaborated on with Ema Williamson. Throughout those five months of research, I have failed to find anything that combines Permaculture and cooking in a well researched and debated way, let alone takes those principles and makes it accessible for the average, food-enthusiast reader.

There are many other blogs that talk about these subjects separately, Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen, Green Kitchen Stories, Kelpie Wilson’s Green Your Head, David Holmgren’s Design site, and Geoff Lawton are all bloggers and authors who have approached cooking and Permaculture in ways that have been influential in their particular field, but none have combined the two in a way that is thoughtful, meaningful and useful. None have entirely pieced together the full idea of how to create a sustainable food system that fully realizes the potential of a regeneratively functioning food system.

Perelman, Deb. Smitten Kitchen. Martha’s Circle, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. http://smittenkitchen.com/

Frenkiel, David, and Luise Frenkiel. “Green Kitchen Stories » The Healthy Vegetarian Recipe Blog.” Green Kitchen Stories » The Healthy Vegetarian Recipe Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/

Wilson, Kelpie. “Green Your Head.” ‘Green Your Head’ N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. http://www.greenyourhead.com/

Holmgren, David. “Holmgren Design.” Holmgren Design. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. http://holmgren.com.au/

Trying to figure out an idea for my blog is proved to be pretty difficult. Nevertheless, I finally decided on focusing on writing about exercise and health. For the past eight year I have been an avid gym goer. I would not in the least bit consider myself to be a professional or trainer. However, I do have a lot of knowledge in regards to exercises and eating healthy, which still proves to be difficult in college. Especially when your options here are the quarry, the snar, or … the café.

Even though I am not a professional, I know the struggles of trying loose weight. Not many people know this but when I was a twelve I weighed 120 pounds, the normal weight for kids that age is 85-90. So basically, I used to look like a ball with appendages and a head as a kid. It took up until middle school when I became serious about loosing weight and living a healthier life. However, I had to do that on my own by researching new work out plans, cardio ideas, and different diets to get me to my target weight.  Through this blog I wish to share all the knowledge I have to help out anyone who is looking for ideas of how to become healthier.

The ideas I have for the layout of my website will probably be filled with some of my favorite motivational quotes. These quotes I plan to change not daily but often. Along with the quotes I am probably going to decorate the layout with logos having to do with sports, the gym, supplement brand names. I have not really thought that much farther but I am trying to in a way mimic layouts like elitedaily.com and menshealth.com.

Along with the layout, I plan to upload videos covering the more advanced exercises I would recommend people to try.  As Brian Carroll explained it, short clips usually are preferred on blog site, also visual aids will assure that each exercise is executed perfectly.

My blog covers both exercising and dieting. For the dieting aspect, I decided on attaching hyperlinks onto my blogs with how to make certain meals. Each post would describe the best type of meals to have after work out. The posts will even include meals to have after a weekends when everyone is having / feeling a fat day Monday. Each of the hyper links I post for the meals are going to include the meal I delineate in the post.

As I mentioned before I am not a professional at this, and I am always learning different routines and diets every day. However, I know how hard it can be to loose those few extra pounds to get ready for beach season. The hardest part about any routine is starting trust me I know. However, as soon as you start incorporating this into your lifestyle, making it a proclivity of your life it becomes easier in the sense of gaining the mindset to attain your goal. Through these posts I am hoping to provide people with tips of where to start and how to keep pushing through.

I plan on creating a blog focused on playlists called “Playlists for the People.” I was inspired to make a blog like this by my passion for making music, listening to music, and collecting music in general. On “Playlists for the People,” I would create and post weekly playlists featuring a variety of different genres. Each playlist will have a theme and act as a soundtrack for everyday life. Some playlist ideas include: songs for a lazy day, songs for when you just need a break, songs that will make you have a better day, songs about the sun. The goals for my blog to are to be universally appealing and relatable, and to provide readers with new music to listen to for every mood or situation in life. In my search for similar blogs, I found it very difficult to come up with one centered around playlists. However, I perused a couple of music blogs in general, and one called Gorilla Vs. Bear especially stood out. Gorilla Vs. Bear focuses on up and coming bands and artists, and features youtube videos and soundcloud links to songs. While the site was very busy and confusing to navigate, the actual music content was easy to access. It also is updated frequently and has a good following online. I wish Gorilla vs. Bear would give more textual descriptions of the songs they feature because I don’t want to click on a song that I wouldn’t like to hear. I felt as if the blog had no real voice or personality to accompany the music posted. The website that is most relevant to my project is 8tracks. 8tracks is a very popular music sharing website in which people post playlists rather than songs. On 8tracks, you can search playlists according to what mood you are in or what music appeals to you. It is extremely easy to use and navigate, serves a specific purpose, and attracts all types of music listeners. I tentatively plan on using 8tracks to upload the playlists I post on my own blog.