Part One:
Overview: Subject is a female, young 20s, medium height. She is Caucasian, with brown hair and blue-grey eyes.
Physical Appearance: She has tanned skin, with a few freckles on her arms. Her hair is wet, except for her bangs which are styled and side-swept. She is wearing little make-up, but it appears there is a little mascara and eyeliner. There are numerous bruises on her shins, and several scars on her legs. She also has a 2 inch long scratch on her right arm that looks pretty recent. This could signify abuse, but due to the lack of bruises on her upper arms, probably is just a result of clumsiness.
Clothing: She is wearing a black dress, short sleeves, cotton knit fabric. It fits loosely from the empire waist downward, and stops just above the knees. It has a relatively deep scoop neck with button closure, and some ruching at the bust. It looks as if it were chosen for comfort mostly, and also to go along with the style of wearing dresses in the springtime.
Accessories: She wears no jewelry except for a small silver chain bracelet on her right wrist, but is wearing silver strappy sandals. They have no heel, though, so were also probably chosen for a mixture of style and comfort. Her toenails are unpainted, as are her fingernails. There are no idealogical symbols anywhere on her person, such as political buttons or religious jewelry.
Items: She is carrying a backpack, and has a wallet, keys, cellphone and computer charger in her hands. It is strange that she does not put any of those things in her backpack to carry them. Her wallet is large, black and rectangular, with red accents and interior. This may suggest a slightly racier side. Her cellphone is very large; it looks like a pda device of some kind. Her keychain has at least 15 keys on it, signifying that she has access to a lot of place. The computer charger she is carrying is for a Mac, so that means that she probably owns a Mac, which means she is doing fine financially. The backpack is blue and grey and is a Jansport bag. It has a lot of pockets and looks well used, although it isn't particularly full on this occasion.
Part Two:
So, I'm wearing the dress, because I made a pact with myself to not wear pants except for on days that I have to: namely, Tuesday and Thursday when I have organic lab. However, it's been about 3 weeks since I've done laundry, and I'm running out of dresses and skirts to wear. I can't really remember when was the last time I wore anything, so I'm hoping that it was long enough ago that it is socially acceptable to wear this dress again. It's really comfortable and is decently cute. I wore it to work the other day at the Gap, and some girl asked me if I got it there, cause she wanted one. (It's not from the Gap.) I could have gotten it in other colors, but I'm not sure that I'd want to wear a bright magenta version of this.
I'm in love with my shoes. I bought them in both silver and black and they're really comfortable for strappy sandals. Really, I bought them because we're not going to be allowed to wear flipflops in Rome, and I needed to find some cute shoes that I can walk all day in.
For some reason, I'm not a big jewelry fan. I have a silver bracelet that I'm always wearing, but I don't really like earrings. They give me migraines and make my ears itch. And I don't wear necklaces because I don't want a tan line from the necklace.
I don't have painted finger or toenails because my best friend hates chipped nail polish, and I'm so rough on my hands and feet that polish usually doesn't even last a day with me. I try to keep them nice looking, though.
On the subject of my tan... It was really nice this weekend, and I wanted to wear shorts, but I never wear shorts, but I bought a pair of shorts, but I wasn't going to wear them unless I got a tan, so I went and got a fake tan, and then proceeded to get as much sunshine as was possible.
I'm not sure why I was carrying all my crap in my hands when I had a perfectly good backpack on, but I think my thought process was something along the lines that I needed my keys to lock my apartment door and my cell phone to check the bus schedule, and my wallet for my upass, and I forgot my computer charger, and had to run back in for it, and I was too lazy to take off my backpack and put them in. I was going to catch the bus, but I missed it, so I ended up walking to school anyway, with all my crap in my hands. It was a nice walk, though.
Oh, and by the way, I'm bruised and scarred because I am the absolute klutz of klutzes. I bang into things so often that I don't even know where my bruises are from. The cut, though is from the wall at the Gap. It got me.
Anyway, comment if you want me to explain anything else.
Showing posts with label Close Read. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Close Read. Show all posts
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Observations:
University Village (an arcade of sorts)
Sunday Afternoon around 4:30
I chose University village because it combines a lot of aspects of many different spaces: outdoor shopping, mall, restauraunts, and grocery stores.
Because it was raining, I focused on how the space was being used, in contrast to other times I've been in the Village.
First, the entrance:
We can see that there is a lot of car traffic going in and out. There aren't too many pedestrians walking out, although there are 5 different bus routes that service the area. The signs are uniform and dark green, and generally inobtrusive.
We can see that the parking lots are full, with few spots. This is a bit busy for a typical Sunday afternoon around 4:30. So, we can see that the rain does not keep people at home in the area.
Most people stayed under covered areas. This is interesting because UVillage is an outdoor shopping center. In the rain, we can feel the tensions that the rain causes. All of the outdoor furniture is unused and wet. We can see the parents watching their children play on the playground toy here. There were a lot of families out with their children.
Interestingly, UVillage, which generally has a lot of dog owners walking their dogs, did not have any pet owners that I saw this afternoon. We can also see the one biker I found while walk around the area.
It was interesting to see how few people were walking around with how busy the parking lot was. In this picture, we are looking at one of the biggest crosswalks that bring pedestrians from one side of UVillage to the other. On nice summer days, it's almost impossible to get past this walkway without stopping for at least 30 seconds.
Here's another covered walkway and main thoroughfare. There were significantly more people here than in the more exposed areas, even though the more famous stores were in the exposed areas.
Analysis:
Research Question: How does weather affect use patterns in outdoor/indoor spaces?
Research Methods: Ziesel Environment-behavior method (watch people use space over time and with different weather), close read ( look for clothing selection, how displays are designed.)
University Village (an arcade of sorts)
Sunday Afternoon around 4:30
I chose University village because it combines a lot of aspects of many different spaces: outdoor shopping, mall, restauraunts, and grocery stores.
Because it was raining, I focused on how the space was being used, in contrast to other times I've been in the Village.
First, the entrance:
We can see that there is a lot of car traffic going in and out. There aren't too many pedestrians walking out, although there are 5 different bus routes that service the area. The signs are uniform and dark green, and generally inobtrusive.
We can see that the parking lots are full, with few spots. This is a bit busy for a typical Sunday afternoon around 4:30. So, we can see that the rain does not keep people at home in the area.Most people stayed under covered areas. This is interesting because UVillage is an outdoor shopping center. In the rain, we can feel the tensions that the rain causes. All of the outdoor furniture is unused and wet. We can see the parents watching their children play on the playground toy here. There were a lot of families out with their children.
Interestingly, UVillage, which generally has a lot of dog owners walking their dogs, did not have any pet owners that I saw this afternoon. We can also see the one biker I found while walk around the area.
It was interesting to see how few people were walking around with how busy the parking lot was. In this picture, we are looking at one of the biggest crosswalks that bring pedestrians from one side of UVillage to the other. On nice summer days, it's almost impossible to get past this walkway without stopping for at least 30 seconds.
Here's another covered walkway and main thoroughfare. There were significantly more people here than in the more exposed areas, even though the more famous stores were in the exposed areas.
Analysis:
Research Question: How does weather affect use patterns in outdoor/indoor spaces?
Research Methods: Ziesel Environment-behavior method (watch people use space over time and with different weather), close read ( look for clothing selection, how displays are designed.)
Monday, April 7, 2008
Blog Response
Amsterdam: Sathi Maiti
http://sathimaiti.blogspot.com/
This blog has an interesting mix of casual and formal content. Typical conventions in punctuation and sentence structure are followed, but capitalization is used more loosely. A blog is a unique medium because it has elements of familiarity and a relaxed atmosphere, but writing in a blog for a school assignment creates a conflicting mix of two different attitudes: the formal writing style which is expected for assignments with the casual, conversational style usually taken on a blog. I know Sathi from high school, so I thought it would be interesting to look at her blog. This gives me a perspective that mirrors the conflict found in a blog: both familiar and formal.
Sathi picked the third template and didn't change the presets on the appearance of the blog. This could be seen as a lack of personal buy-in on the blog, because there wasn't a lot of time spent to personalize the structures of the blog. Her name isn't capitalized in any of its appearances on the blog, which may say something about her self-perception, but also might be because of the “coolness” of not capitalizing in online media. There is a progression in the titling of the blog posts from formal capitalization to non-capitalized and more “train of thought” blog titles with a couple of humorous titles thrown in. Additionally, the posts become longer and more casual as time goes on. There are more references to personal feelings and attitudes, with questions written out in the paragraphs, several at a time. This could be construed to be Sathi's increasing familiarity with the blog and with posting in it.
My favorite post was “i hate pants,” where Sathi wrote about a study on herself. The first part has the formal observation of herself, which could have been written by an outsider. Then she writes a somewhat self deprecating, sarcastic and funny personal explanation for what's behind the outside appearance. This was a good reminder for me about research in general. There are a lot of observable attributes of a study, but then the personal story behind it is always much deeper than what is said or seen.
http://sathimaiti.blogspot.com/
This blog has an interesting mix of casual and formal content. Typical conventions in punctuation and sentence structure are followed, but capitalization is used more loosely. A blog is a unique medium because it has elements of familiarity and a relaxed atmosphere, but writing in a blog for a school assignment creates a conflicting mix of two different attitudes: the formal writing style which is expected for assignments with the casual, conversational style usually taken on a blog. I know Sathi from high school, so I thought it would be interesting to look at her blog. This gives me a perspective that mirrors the conflict found in a blog: both familiar and formal.
Sathi picked the third template and didn't change the presets on the appearance of the blog. This could be seen as a lack of personal buy-in on the blog, because there wasn't a lot of time spent to personalize the structures of the blog. Her name isn't capitalized in any of its appearances on the blog, which may say something about her self-perception, but also might be because of the “coolness” of not capitalizing in online media. There is a progression in the titling of the blog posts from formal capitalization to non-capitalized and more “train of thought” blog titles with a couple of humorous titles thrown in. Additionally, the posts become longer and more casual as time goes on. There are more references to personal feelings and attitudes, with questions written out in the paragraphs, several at a time. This could be construed to be Sathi's increasing familiarity with the blog and with posting in it.
My favorite post was “i hate pants,” where Sathi wrote about a study on herself. The first part has the formal observation of herself, which could have been written by an outsider. Then she writes a somewhat self deprecating, sarcastic and funny personal explanation for what's behind the outside appearance. This was a good reminder for me about research in general. There are a lot of observable attributes of a study, but then the personal story behind it is always much deeper than what is said or seen.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Email Close Read
Email Posted with permission of the Author
Hey Lauren,
I hope your break is going well!!
I know you're in Spain so I don't know if you're checking emails but can I get the student group application link so that I can just finish up the application and get this reservation confirmed? I'm worried we're actually going to lose it.
Thanks, see you soon!
****
--------------------------------------
This email is a typical correspondence of a student who is trying to coordinate an event and is waiting on completion of a task. There are 5 divisions: the greeting, the personal message, the inquiry and explanation of the task, the closing, and the name sign-off. This email is written in a casual manner, with the use of exclamation points, the word "Hey," and a loose grammatical structure. The inquiry into the completion of the tasks has four clauses in one long run on sentence, showing the train-of-thought structure of the question. It also emphasizes the urgency that is felt in the situation and shows some of the frustration felt by the writer. She is unable to proceed from where she is, but would "just" like to finish up and close the situation.
Even in the casual format, courtesy is extended with starting the email with a personal inquiry, and giving notice of understanding of the situation which may have lead up to the task not being completed. The frustration is widespread, and not necessarily directed at me, but more at the general situation. The use of the word "just" implies an ongoing, drawn-out process that has been unnecessary, and the writer would like to conclude the saga.
It is interesting that the writing is clear and concise, except for the greeting at the beginning. There is a conflict between the friendliness of the double "!!" after the greeting, and the businesslike tone that the questioning takes. The relationship between the sender and recipient can be assumed to be a friendly one, but there are also elements of being colleagues, and working towards a goal. But the friendly relationship frames the conversation, giving the panicked middle a positive start and end; although, the ending has a bit more of the rushed feeling, with the comma splicing the two thoughts, "Thanks" and "see you soon" together.
Hey Lauren,
I hope your break is going well!!
I know you're in Spain so I don't know if you're checking emails but can I get the student group application link so that I can just finish up the application and get this reservation confirmed? I'm worried we're actually going to lose it.
Thanks, see you soon!
****
--------------------------------------
This email is a typical correspondence of a student who is trying to coordinate an event and is waiting on completion of a task. There are 5 divisions: the greeting, the personal message, the inquiry and explanation of the task, the closing, and the name sign-off. This email is written in a casual manner, with the use of exclamation points, the word "Hey," and a loose grammatical structure. The inquiry into the completion of the tasks has four clauses in one long run on sentence, showing the train-of-thought structure of the question. It also emphasizes the urgency that is felt in the situation and shows some of the frustration felt by the writer. She is unable to proceed from where she is, but would "just" like to finish up and close the situation.
Even in the casual format, courtesy is extended with starting the email with a personal inquiry, and giving notice of understanding of the situation which may have lead up to the task not being completed. The frustration is widespread, and not necessarily directed at me, but more at the general situation. The use of the word "just" implies an ongoing, drawn-out process that has been unnecessary, and the writer would like to conclude the saga.
It is interesting that the writing is clear and concise, except for the greeting at the beginning. There is a conflict between the friendliness of the double "!!" after the greeting, and the businesslike tone that the questioning takes. The relationship between the sender and recipient can be assumed to be a friendly one, but there are also elements of being colleagues, and working towards a goal. But the friendly relationship frames the conversation, giving the panicked middle a positive start and end; although, the ending has a bit more of the rushed feeling, with the comma splicing the two thoughts, "Thanks" and "see you soon" together.
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