Favorite Topic in Class

I found the surveillance and "Big Brother" topic to be really interesting because I strongly believe that as Amercians we should have the ultimate right to privacy. My favorite video that we watched was "PoliceState" where the remote controlled cars were linked to a police scanner that once it detected certain radio codes having to do with terrorism it would make the cars move a certain way. The video itself wasn't visually interesting, but the idea and concept behind it makes it a work of art. The idea was to make the "police become puppets of their own surveillance." It signifies the role reversal of who has power over information and who should. 

Pinterest Project- FINAL POST

Final Project:
How To Repaint Laminate Furniture

Time Spent

Prep- 1 hour

Sanding- 2 hours

Priming- 1 hour

Painting Coat 1- 1 hour

Painting Coat 2- 1 hour

Total- 6 hours

Before

1) Sand everything down. No need to sand it to the wood, but just enough where the shiny finish is off. I suggest using a hard item (I found a decorative wooden block) to help speed up the sanding process. Sanding with just your hands takes twice as long and at some points it burned me from the friction. Another suggestion to expedite the sanding process would be to sand in a circular motion. As Mr. Miyagi would say... wax on, wax off.

Sanding

2) Time to prime. Priming is essential to the process because without it, your paint won't stick and may come out uneven. The nice man at Home Depot suggested I get something called Gripper. It is a primer and sealer in one. (I used White Glidden Interior/Exterior Gripper) I bought a quart but only used about 1/2 of it for this specific dresser.  I used just a plain ol' angled paint brush and covered every inch. It is much thicker than paint, so keep that in mind and try to cover it using the thinnest layer possible. This will make your paint look a lot smoother.

Priming Materials

Before Priming (bottom) After Priming (top)

My Signature ;)

3) Let it dry. I suggest letting it dry overnight even though the gripper seemed to dry pretty quickly. Better safe than sorry.

After Priming

4) Paint it. I suggest using semi-gloss interior paint. It came out shiny and professional looking but not laminate-like. (I got a quart of Glidden "True Turquoise" Semi-Gloss Interior Premium Paint) I bought a quart, but I only used about half of it.  Use a small foam roller brush. The foam part is important because it will create the smooth, even look you want.

Paint Time!

5) Let it dry for an hour or so and go ahead and put a second coat on. Applying the second coat was definitely worth it and made a huge difference in the intensity of the color.

Before and After Painting

6) Let it dry overnight. Paint needed longer than the gripper did to dry. Make sure its not "sticky" before you mess with it too much or it may mess up the paint.

Letting it Dry

FINAL PRODUCT

Before and After

Before, Primed, Painted

I have always been a fan of Pinterest and DIY projects, so this project was really enjoyable for me. I like to be creative and therefore the Give-Back portion was my favorite aspect of the assignment. I learned through this project that there is a cheap way to make ANYTHING. I also came to realize that putting all of these unique ideas in one place makes Pinterest a very useful application.  I also was introduced to the Instuctables website which is something I can see my self utilizing at some point.

I achieved my first home renovation project by taking on the difficult task of redoing my dresser.  The dresser is now an eye-catching piece of furniture instead of an eyesore. I’m happy with how it turned out and I am excited that I was able to contribute my art and craftsmanship into the room. It makes the room feel much more personal. I will definitely continue creating DIY Pinterest inspired projects in the future!

GIVE-BACK

Longboard Cup Holder

Pinterest Post

Supplies

- Bendable Aluminum

- Coozie

- Guitar Capo

- Longboard

Step by Step

1) Take aluminum and cut it (if its not already) into a circle slightly larger than the coozie. 

2) Fold the edges all the way around the aluminum circle so that it fits snug into the bottom of the coozie. This creates more support for the cans and cups.

3)Take the capo and use the long end to go through the two gaps in the bottom sides of the coozie.

4) Clip it to the board where your feet won't hit it.

5) Stick your can in the coozie, and enjoy the ride!

Scientology

A pro about Scientology that I found interesting is the idea of thetan. The entire "religion" is based off of the idea that your body and mind make up you. They believe that the mind has limitless possibilities and knowledge is power. There are many cons that can be said about the church of Scientology. For instance, their secrecy is widely disliked and has caused them to be considered a cult. They conduct a lot of research that is never shared outside of the organization. Scientology is also known for attacking opposition and critical questioning of the organization. In Clearwater, FL the church of scientology has built their "spiritual headquarters" which they call the Flag Building. On the official website for Scientology, it says:

"Here is a place where we can now realize L. Ron Hubbard's vision for a better world at a magnitude commensurate with the technology itself.

This is the cornerstone of that new and better world.

This is the majesty of Scientology.

This is our cathedral."

Finding out that the Scientology headquarters is in Clearwater is interesting to me, but also not surprising. Being from Ohio, I really never saw Scientology churches much and when I got to Tampa I saw them everywhere. It makes sense that they would build the headquarters where a large majority of their followers are from.

Pinterest Progress Check 3

My DIY Pinterest idea that I want to share with others is alternative cost effective decorating ideas. For example, decorative bamboo was costly, but I found $2 placemats which I figured could second as wall decor. This is only one of my ideas for what I will give back to the internet. I plan to decorate my entire room in a cost effective and stylish way for this project. I will try to use my Gasparilla beads, natural items, and other cheap materials as home decoration.

In Class Vine Project

The rising action begins with a biker and a innocent civilian texting and not paying attention. The climax of the story is when he is hit by the biker. The resolution is him getting kicked while he's down and no getting back up. This story follows Freytag's Model because it contains a beginning, a tension-filled middle and resolving end.

Working as a group was inspirational because we all contributed unique ideas. We all worked very well together. Haleigh Purvis, Liz McGovern, Marcus Mitchell were in the group. Haleigh filmed, while Liz and Marcus acted in the video. 

Pinterest Progress Check Two

• What steps you worked on towards realizing the project's completion
1) Paint Sample Chip Project
-I cut various colorful paint chip samples
-Glued them to index cards
-Placed them under the glass of my side table to give it a new, bright, colorful look

Pinterest Inspiration

 • Share pictures & reflections on difficulties and/or your experience thus far
Throughout the progress this week, I didn't encounter any difficulties. After completing the side table project I started to think that I may want all of the colors to be the same, but in different shades (like the pinterest inspiration photo above). I may redo it and see if I like it better that way.

• Provide an approximate duration of effort to date
1) Paint Sample Chip Project; Side Table=2 hours


Running Total= 8 hours

We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists

I really enjoyed the We Are Legion film because I never knew exactly who Anonymous were or what they had done. Recently I drove past a group of Anonymous members protesting outside of the Tampa courthouse. I was really creeped out and I remember it initially leaving a bad impression on me. Later that week my roommate came home and told me he talked to one of the Anonymous people and asked who they were and what they stood for. The person ignored my roommate completely and everyone at the protest were very rude to him. At the beginning of the film I was not a fan of Anonymous soley because of the members in downtown Tampa. I had no idea going into the movie about anything they stood for, so actually hearing their story for the first time caused a change in heart. The idea of Anonymous is not only brilliant but revolutionary. The thought of building an army of people from all over the world that believe in the same ideals is something that is hard to comprehend. No matter the government, culture, language, you can be a member of Anonymous if you believe in one simple thing: freedom of speech. This platform for free speech and international revolution is something that I believe has potential to be the way that the power gets back in the peoples hands and out of the governments. Of course the Anonymous people have made choices that I disagree with, but in any group there will be extremists.