“. . . when I talk to people I really like to talk to them, and not just exchange pleasantries and wonder which of us is going to try to get away first.”
― Edward Gorey

Though I’m documenting my online socializing as a part of exploring Social VR, I have not donned my headset nearly often enough recently! While I want to remedy that in the near future, I’ve had my hands full with different projects. I didn’t stray beyond Zoom last week, but I did take part in a delightfully coordinated social event.

I’ve been taking part in…

As a writer studying Integrated Digital Media, I come to most projects with an agenda in mind. How can I integrate the written word with digital media in new, exciting ways? How can I create visualizations or experiences that relate to the written word somehow?

I really do believe that combining the written word with digital media might just be the key to getting people to read more, to engage with valuable stories more often. …

In the past few weeks, my social calendar took a hit in favor of focusing on final projects. I’m wrapping up my first year of grad school. After spending three long application cycles trying to find the right grad school, working hard on what I create is a very big priority for me.

Nevertheless, with one class done, another almost done, and just one big project left to conquer, I took a step into VRChat again. Back in March, I had a pretty ridiculous tale of fail in VRChat, so I wanted to give it a whirl again and iron…

“My father taught me that you can you read a hundred books on wisdom and write a hundred books on wisdom, but unless you apply what you learned then its only words on a page. Life is not lived with intentions, but action.”
― Shannon Alder

In the unlikely setting of a community college, gen ed history class, I got some of the best life advice I’ve ever had. My professor was an older gentleman who served in the army before walking the path of academia and becoming a professor. …

I’m starting to make decent headway on my first kinetic typography project, but I still have a ways to go. This week, I got into the nitty-gritty of really bringing my storyboard to life with transition animations

When figuring out my accent text, I initially just used different colors of Rick and Beth’s respective fonts. However, this was just a simple way to create contrast and I didn’t really think about the thematic value of the contrast formatting. …

“And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues strong
It’s always darkest before the dawn”

—Florence + the Machine

This song, Shake It Out, has been one of my anthems for bad days, jobs, and relationships for the past 7 years. I’ve scream sung it on my way to work, poised to be demeaned by sexist and sociopathic men. I’ve cried the words as I told myself I would someday be able to get away from my enmeshed, codependent family.

Clinging to an uncertain hope for a better life has always been my life raft.

Hoping for better was how…

At the beginning of this semester in grad school, when I started keeping track of my virtual social calendar, I decided to establish a monthly Catan night with my friends who are also into board games. Even though we can’t physically get together to play without significant effort and planning put into quarantining, it’s still pleasantly reassuring to have that date on the calendar when we get together to play, voice chat, and have a good time.

This week, I’ve pulled my storyboard of this project into After Effects. This is my first time using After Effects and I’m quite excited to finally learn the missing puzzle piece in my knowledge of Creative Cloud’s most common applications. For a little bit more on what brought me to choosing this scene from Rick and Morty to turn into a kinetic typography video, I’m including my first update on this project below.

I watched Title Sequence Designer Saul Bass’ short documentary Bass On Titles before I dove into revising my storyboard for this project. …