Final Grades

Hello again all.

So....first quarter of school is done. I enjoyed it overall, aside from the one class that drove me up a wall. Final grades are in and can now be reported!

Success Strategies - this class was a bit of a bore. I didn't really get anything from it, but it was a required course so - done and dusted.

Final Overall = 108.24%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Written Assignment = 100%
Final Percentage/Grade = 100% A

English Composition - my favorite class this quarter. I really enjoyed it, I got a lot from it, the instructor was great, and I liked brushing off my writing skills and getting back into things. He also gave me some really nice feedback on my grades, so that was really encouraging and helpful.

Final Overall = 99.26%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Final Exam = 100%
Week 11 Final Paper = 100%
Final Percentage/Grade = 99% A

Intro to Computer Graphics - this was a good class too. The instructor was awesome and really engaged with the class, which is saying something for an online course. She was helpful, available, it was a really awesome class and I feel I learned a lot.

Final Overall = 98.47%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Revitalization Project = 92.73% (wish I'd had her Week 10 feedback before I turned in that final project - I could have improved it)
Final Percentage/Grade = 98% A

Typography - oh how I hated this class! I still maintain that in the hands of a better instructor, this class could have been awesome. It's no fun when you know the instructor is dialing it in. Also - this man is so in love with himself that it was nauseating! Constantly pimping his work, which if you've seen video game inspired fantasy art with half-naked females, you've seen it. Nothing original there, but don't tell him that. He believes he's the god of Graphic Design. What an asshat! I will not miss this class. I'm leaving it not knowing whether or not I've truly grasped the principles of typography. We spent the majority of the quarter trying to design things he'd like. Again, his taste is pretty basically male fantasy garbage. But, it's done now. Yay!

Final Overall = 92.44%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Final Portfolio = 100% (yeah, you could've knocked me over with a feather when I saw that)
Final Percentage/Grade 92% A-

So I ended up with an A- in that last class instead of an A, that kind of sucks, but I don't think it will affect my 4.0 (it better not!).

Again, for a first quarter back in higher education, it was a good experience. The online classroom environment made the two design classes a bit difficult, as did not having the Adobe tutorial discs and books that my Intro to Computer Graphics instructor wanted us to have. I feel I could have gained a lot more from having more instruction in those programs. I also think the design classes could have been more dynamic in person. But, I made it through! I'm happy with the results and ready to head into my second quarter.

I'm looking forward to my books arriving for next quarter's classes. According to the UPS link, they should be delivered on Wednesday. My Drawing Design and Art Theory class has three books for it (!), so I'm a bit intimidated by that. I'm not a good drawer by any means, so I know this class is going to be very challenging. I'm excited to start into 3D animation this next quarter too. It will be interesting taking those two classes on campus in the regular classroom environment. I'll have to try to remember how to take notes! :) My two online classes will be E-Commerce and Intro to Business. I have a feeling those classes are going to have real final exams and tests. We shall see. All in all, next quarter looks pretty good. Once I see how it goes, I'll be able to determine if I want to add another extra class the following quarter to try to get me through sooner. I wanted to wait until I took a "real" full courseload quarter to see - - I still maintain Success Strategies didn't really count as a real class this quarter. :)

So....I might blog here again after I receive my books, but for the most part this blog will be a little quiet until classes start again, which is July 6th. My two online classes will be available then, my other two classes are on Tuesday and Friday nights. I plan to continue to blog about the return-to-school experience, so stay tuned! Cheers all and catch you later!

Two Down, Two to Go!

Well....this week is starting off interesting. First, I couldn't sleep for anything last night. Got up and busy early this morning, which was good. Turns out instead of everything being due Sunday as usual, it's all due by midnight on Friday. Good thing I got a head start. I am completely done with my Success Strategies class. English is completed and submitted too. Computer Graphics and Typography require waiting for some feedback, but I am making progress. The end is in sight. If things keep going this well, I should be done with my school week a bit earlier than planned and get a head start on relaxing (and worrying about my final grades). More new postings to come! Laters!

Week 10 - The End, It Is Near

Hey all.

So....pretty crazy week this week. Lots going on personally and then a lot of things going on school-wise.

My classes have been okay this week, just requiring a lot of design work. Intro to Computer Graphics was redesigning the front and back cover of our annual reports. Since we're doing this on real companies and all, I don't think I should post anything just to cover my ass as far as copyright and what-not, ya know? ;) I'm happy with my submissions though - we'll see what my instructor thinks.

Success Strategies was the usual stupid stuff.

English Composition had to do with identifying logical fallacies. That stuff sincerely messed me up, gotta tell you. But I think I did okay. The discussion was posting our final paper rough drafts for peer review. I managed to slog my way through two of them that were written with at least a semblance of knowledge of the English language. Honestly, I don't know how some of the people in that class are going to pass it, just saying.

Typography....ah yes, the bane of my educational existence this quarter. I only got 72% on my brochure from last week. I redesigned it and was going to resubmit it hoping for a better grade, but then he posted something in his usual jerkoff style on the main announcements page and I decided to just wait and resubmit all the redesigned stuff with my final project. I am so sick of this asshole, I can't even tell you.

So....this week's typography assignment is the newsletter that goes with the rest of our portfolio for our mock company. Just as a reminder, mine is a feminist film studio. So....here are the two pages I mocked up for my newsletter:

Page 1



Page 2



So....that's that. We'll see what he says.

It turns out I have a final essay exam in English, a final research paper in Success Strategies, plus the completion of my final annual report project in Intro to Computer Graphics, and the final redesigning and submission of all of my portfolio contents in Typography, plus discussions in all of these classes as well. So....this week is going to be insanely busy. But it is the last week. I shall keep y'all apprised as things move forward. So far, I am maintaining my 4.0, but the A in Typography is just by the skin of my teeth. We shall see.

As always, constructive feedback is appreciated. Cheers all!

Week 8 Grade Results

Hi all.

Things have been a little weird for me this week. I think part of it is just that I've hit a bit of a weird moody time, and part of it was enjoying having the house all to myself. Either way, I've had some motivational problems in getting my schoolwork done this week. Another possible contribution could be that the quarter is winding down and I'm ready to be done. :) Two more weeks and then this quarter is over.

I finally sent off two assignments yesterday (English Comp & Intro to Computer Graphics), and I'm still trying to finish Typography.

English Comp was the rough draft of my final paper. I'm not going to post it here, but I'm happy with it and will look forward to seeing the feedback I receive for it. For Week 10, we're doing peer reviews of our rough drafts so....that should be interesting (or whatever).

Intro to Computer Graphics was designing the logos for our final annual report redesign projects. We had to submit 10 different variations of our brainstorming activities, then our final logo design. Here are my brainstorming ideas:



For my final logo design, I decided to go with a simple typographic design so....here it is:



Typography's assignment that I am still working on is the brochure that goes with our final project. I will be back to post it once it's completed.

And finally, here is the grade breakdown for Week 8:

Success Strategies - Overall Class Percentage: 110.81%
Week 8 Discussion 100%
Week 8 Quiz 93.33% (no indication of what question was missed)

English Composition - Overall Class Percentage: 98.82%
Week 8 Discussion 100%
Week 8 Written Assignment 96.67% (he was supposed to attach
something detailing what was wrong with my assignment
that he deducted, but I still haven't seen it.)

Intro to Computer Graphics - Overall Class Percentage: 99.21%
Week 8 Application Assignment 100%
Week 8 Discussion 100%
Week 8 Revitalization Project 100%

Typography - Overall Class Percentage: 93.02%
Week 8 Discussion 100%
Week 8 Flyer 92% (23 of 25 points)

So....that's the latest from here. I will be back to post my Typography final brochure once I get it completed, which better be tonight! As always, thoughts? - Leave 'em!

Summer Schedule Is Out!

Hey all!

Hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend and thanked a vet! :)

Classes this week are pretty quiet. I guess the instructors decided to give themselves a quieter week with the holiday, so assignments are pretty light. Success Strategies had a dorky quiz and discussion. Intro to Computer Graphics is all about color this week and making up color palettes. Nothing worth posting. For English Composition this week, we have to go online and find two reviews for the same movie and evaluate them. Again, not really worth posting. Typography this week is the flyer that goes along with our Final Project. I will be completing that today or tomorrow and posting it. :) So....pretty quiet week school-wise.

New schedules for Summer Quarter came out today. I've already confirmed mine and new classes start July 6th. We have about three weeks off between quarters. That will give me time to play with these Adobe programs some more, and also to play around on a bunch of different design and tutorial sites that I've found through Twitter. There are some awesome design peeps on Twitter posting some great info!

So....my schedule for Summer Quarter includes my first campus classes. I decided not to take an extra class, but to stick with the standard full-time four-class schedule to evaluate how I do with it before adding anymore. Success Strategies wasn't really much of a class this quarter so....I want to make sure I can handle the real, full course load before adding anything to the mix. That said, my four classes for Summer are:

Drawing Design and Art Theory (campus class - 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays)
E-Commerce (online class)
Introduction to 3D Arts and Animation (campus class - 6:00 p.m. on Fridays)
Introduction to Business (online class)

I think the Intro to Business class will be a bit of a snoozer, as may E-Commerce. I do hope to get some extra ideas from both for help with my Etsy and Artfire businesses though. Drawing Design and Art Theory should be very challenging for me. I'm not a good freehand drawer so....we'll see how that one goes. :) Intro to 3D Arts and Animation is an integral course for my major so I'm very, very excited about that class!

So....Summer Quarter schedule looks good to me. I should be receiving my books for those classes shortly and will be spending my time between quarters studying them, working on learning my software better, and browsing all those good design sites.

I feel I made the right choice in choosing Digital Design and Animation for my major. It's interesting, challenging, and keeps me on my toes. I certainly haven't lost interest in my classes or become bored (Success Strategies notwithstanding). I have been frustrated and challenged, yes - but this is a good thing. School has always been easy for me, so having challenge involved has been excellent. I'm looking forward to moving on with my studies!

That's the latest from here. Back later to post my Typography Flyer. Cheers!

SHAZAM!!!!!

I'm just....wow....jaw on the floor here. I received my grade back in Typography on my proposal from last week and....I got 100%! 100%! On the discussion and my proposal both! My overall percentage in that class is now over 93%! I'm just....wow. Didn't see that coming! I'm excited! Elated! And also - a little weirded out - but that's okay. :)

For my English Comp paper from last week? - 100%! He basically said it was awesome (which it was) so...yay me! 100% on the discussion in that class too. No grade back yet on the quiz.

Success Strategies for last week - 100% on my written assignment, no grade back for the discussion yet.

Intro to Comp Graphics turned up 100% for discussion so far, still waiting for grades on my application assignment and my final project assignment.

So....awesome grades for last week! Yay me! :)

This week, for English Comp we had to write a persuasive letter to a city council lobbying either for or against a book ban. Well, I'm totally against banning books so.....here's my letter:



Dear Council Members:

The American politician and writer Clare Boothe Luce once said, “Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there.” Truer words were never spoken.

Certain amongst our city’s citizens have voiced concern that their children should not be exposed to the content of certain books in our city’s public library. As parents, I agree that they are single-handedly responsible for raising their children to their own ethical and moral standards, and I applaud their determination. However, not everyone holds the same beliefs in our society, and America’s foundation as a nation is one of freedom of thought, expression, and word.

Though I admire the zeal of the parents supporting the book ban, I cannot agree with them or endorse their request. I am a regular patron and supporter of our public library, and am also a fan of the books on this proposed ban list. I am not a child that needs policing, and I take offense to anyone trying to determine what a person in our free society thinks, reads, or learns.

The concerns of these parents can be handled in a very simple way, one that does not require a vote on curtailing the rights of others. If they do not wish their children to be exposed to these books, then they need to establish that regulation at home, not try to force it on the rest of this city’s citizens.

As an educated individual with a passionate love for our country and the freedoms for which it stands, I cannot fathom how anyone could vote to turn back time and deny freedom to others in this society. Censorship at its most basic level is as un-American an action as it is possible to take. We are not in some third-world, clerically patrolled nation that needs some parental authority to tell us what to think, where to go, or what to do. We are free, intelligent Americans who can determine best for ourselves and our families as individuals what is best for us. We do not need a collective to determine what is fit for us to learn and read and what is not.

I sincerely hope that you vote not to ban access to great literature that educates, informs and entertains on the basis of archaic concerns from a radical few looking to curtail the freedoms our forefathers fought for us to enjoy. I hope you choose the right path and vote to keep our public library free and accessible to all who wish to learn and absorb knowledge in all its varied and wonderful forms.

Thank you and have a nice day.


Sincerely,



I think that's a pretty good submission for that assignment. :) For Success Strategies we are doing a stupid topic cubing thing that is annoying the hell out of me. For Intro to Computer Graphics, we have to redesign a movie poster using the 7 essential elements of design. Problem is, I'm having trouble finding a crappy poster to redesign. Seriously, they should be good and representative before anyone lets them be released as promos for their movie, right? So....that's still a work in progress. For Typography, my business card and letterhead for my final project are due this week.

So....that's what's on tap for this week and grades so far. Marvel with me at that Typography one, won't you? ;) Cheers and back later with new posts!

Second Expository Essay

Hi all.

Well, after a whopping three hours of sleep, I was back up and at it this morning. :) I'm a little loopy, but I'm getting things accomplished - yay me! :) I finally completed my second expository essay assignment for English Comp and submitted it. The problem I had with this assignment was that it was on the diversity subject we are using for our final project, except expository. All fact, no persuasion. The problem with that was that all of my research and thought processes on my topic were all from a feminist, persuasive point of view, so it was tough to tone the personal opinion out and focus on the facts. In the end, I'm happy with the result. Let me know what you think.



Hollywood Still Predominantly a Boy’s Town


Each year, Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D., takes a statistical look at the film industry with regard to the status of women, or lack thereof, in its ranks. The focus of these studies is the “celluloid ceiling”, a variation on the typical “glass ceiling” most women find themselves coming up against in the workplace. Her research finds that while some women directors are starting to make names for themselves, Hollywood is still very much a “boy’s town”.

In 2007, women comprised only 15% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films (Lauzen, 2008). In an article in USA Today, director Jane Campion, who won an Oscar for her film The Piano in 1993, and is one of only three women to ever be nominated for an Academy Award, poses the following hypothesis on the lack of female peers in the industry: “I just think this is the way the world is, that men control the money, and they decide who they’re going to give it to” (AP, 2007).

In her report Women @ the Box Office, Lauzen finds what may be a link between her research and Campion’s thoughts on what might account for the lack of higher-ranking females in the industry. Lauzen found that when women and men filmmakers have similar budgets, the resulting box office grosses are also similar. In other words, the sex of filmmakers does not determine box office grosses, but film budget does (Lauzen, 2008).

Taking all of Lauzen’s research into consideration, one possible resolution to the problem of under-representation seems to be one that director Catherine Hardwicke chose when she went to make the film Thirteen. Co-written by herself and a young family friend, Hardwicke had trouble finding the financing and support to get the film made. As an alternative to the standard studio system approach, she went the route of self-financed independent film, refinanced her home, badgered financiers and recruited friends to work without pay to get the film made (UC Regents, 2009). As a result of all of her hard work, the film won the Director’s Award at the Sundance Film Festival and an Oscar nomination for supporting actress Holly Hunter. It also paved the way for Hardwicke to be given the helm to the film adaptation of the movie Twilight based on the popular young adult novel by Stephenie Meyer. That film went on to be the highest grossing film for a woman filmmaker to date.

In addition to going it on their own, women filmmakers also have an opening for assistance with getting their films made from the Women in Film Foundation. The foundation’s Film Finishing Fund supports films by, for and about women by providing cash grants and in-kind donations to independent moviemakers (Murphy, 2009).

As Lauzen’s research numbers indicate, the celluloid ceiling in the film industry continues to be a significant hurdle for women filmmakers trying to get their voices heard. While there are some avenues for female filmmakers to get their messages out in the form of grants and independent films and festivals, for the time being at least, the Hollywood studio system still appears to be a “boy’s town”.
 

References

AP. (2007, May 20). Jane Campion Laments Lack of Female Directors. USA Today. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://www/usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-05-20-jane-campion_N.htm

Lauzen, M. (2009). The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 250 Films of 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from San Diego State University Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film web site: http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2008_celluloid_ceiling.pdf

Lauzen, M. (2008). Women @ the Box Office: A Study of the Top 100 Worldwide Grossing Films. Retrieved April 29, 2009 from San Diego State University Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film web site: http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/Women%20@%20Box%20Office.pdf

Murphy, N. (2009). Women in Film Foundation Empowers Female Moviemakers. MovieMaker Magazine. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from http://www.moviemaker.com/producing/article/women_in_film_foundation_finishing_fund_20090323/

UC Regents. (2009). Women Filmmakers Break Down Barriers. UCLA Today. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/040224closeup_women.aspx



I managed to keep the assignment to the required two page limit this time. We were supposed to use three sources, I used five. Not too over the top. :) Plenty of in-text citations. I think I did okay. We shall see.

So....stayed up all night and did my in-class note taking and lectures and what-not and got my assignments for this coming week. Stupid Success Strategies is actually going to have us do a project as well (dammit!) so I'm going to actually have to do some real work in that stupid class. Shit. Ah well. Lots going on in all of my classes so there will be plenty of new fun to post later. Have great weekends everyone and as always, your thoughts and constructive criticism are welcome. Cheers!

End of Week 6 and Mid-Term

Hi all.

Sorry I'm a bit late in getting on here and updating. Things have been kind of crazy and my brain has not been cooperating with me on functioning and deadlines and that sort of thing. Mother's Day weekend kinda threw off my study mojo too. But I do have lots to report.

So this was the end of Week 6 of classes. Week 6 was Mid-Term. I didn't have any mid-term tests or anything, just a quiz in English Comp. It's also, I think, a good time to take a look at where my grades stand and give a little review of what I think of my classes so far. So....without further ado:

Success Strategies
Overall grade so far: 115%
Week 5 discussion grade: 120%
Week 5 written assignment grade: 100%

The reason my percentages are so high is because you get extra points if you have everything turned in by Friday. Since this is my "bird" course, I tend to do all of that work first, and then I just have my follow-up posting which I do off and on throughout the week. Kinda dull. The course is boring and kind of a waste of money in my opinion. But I can see how it might help people coming to college with no higher educational background. That said, the instructor is okay, but he auto-replies to all posts with the same reply and that is kind of obviously phoning it in. That kind of stuff kinda bugs me, but - whatever. At least it's one class that I can do on autopilot this quarter.

English Composition
Overall grade so far: 98.53%
Week 5 discussion grade: not in yet!!!
Week 5 outline grade: 100%

I am enjoying this class. I love to write and I find that it is recharging my creative writing battery. Some of the assignments feel kind of lame, but they are still good for getting the creative juices flowing. The instructor doesn't engage much, but he puts up great notes every week and gives good feedback. Most of my elective options are writing classes and I hope to have him as an instructor again.

Intro to Computer Graphics
Overall grade so far: 100%
Week 5 application assignment grade: 100%
Week 5 discussion grade: 100%
Week 5 revitalization project grade: 100%

This class has been on one hand good and on the other endlessly annoying. The good: I like my instructor very much. She engages with the class, gives really great feedback, posts awesome lecture notes and you can tell she really likes teaching and wants to help us the most she can. The bad: I wish they had not changed this course and removed the software tutorials and tutorial books from the class. Most everyone is coming into these classes with no training in this software and it's been really hard to get the hang of things. But, overall, I'm enjoying the class and this is another instructor I would love to have further classes with.

Typography
Overall grade so far: 92%
Week 5 discussion grade: 100%
Week 5 written assignment grade: 90%

Typography - yeah. I think y'all are pretty clear on how I feel about this class. I am about five seconds away from having a serious discussion with the Academic Dean about this instructor. His attitude is extremely unprofessional, he pimps himself all the time, he has a really bad ego and I am not paying $430 a credit hour to kiss this guy's ass. Yes, in the work world you have to deal with douchebags. If I'm paying for a class, however, I expect my instructor to teach well, to actually do more than just decide whether or not he likes something and grade on that scale and not the lessons completed, and I expect more instruction and less egotistical asshattery. If I find myself having to deal with this instructor again EVER, I am going to have to have a serious talk with the school. Having worked in higher education and supported part-time and adjunct instructors, I know this guy's type. Most of them get fired for pulling the kind of crap he's pulling. Someone needs to be censured is all I'm saying. And also, he needs to stop posting and pimping his pedestrian naked woman art work that he thinks is so cutting edge and fly. Dude - that's the same shit everyone else is posting - you are not unique. Sorry. Ass.

So...that's the latest from there. Assignments this week were kind of standard. Standard stupid written assignment in Success Strategies. English Comp is our second expository essay that I have drafted, but need to go over again and polish up - I'll post it later. Computer Graphics was all about fonts this week and typography (irony!). Nothing really worth posting, just playing with fonts and then typing up a report on how we plan to redesign our final project annual report. Typography was doing a formal proposal for our final project. I decided to do what I want to do and what will be fun for me, and also play with an idea for a company I hope to have some day so - - I chose my fictional company to be a feminist film studio. Asshat instructor should love that. :) I made up a little letterhead and wrote a business letter proposal. I'd post it but it has personal info on it so....no. :) Love ya Internets, but not that much.

So....that's the latest for this week. New assignments should post here in about 15 minutes and I may just stay up and start classes tonight as I'm wide awake. We shall see. I may post this, take my shower, and feel like passing out. :) Like I said, once I have my essay fully polished, I'll post it here, which should be some time tomorrow. Hope y'all are having good weeks. Take care and be back later! Cheers!

Final Week 4 Results

Hello again all!

My final grade for Week 4 just came in from my Intro to Computer Graphics class. And - it's 100%! Woot! You know, the more I participate in these classes, the more I can see that there really do need to be more women actively involved in the design fields. I am totally and completely on the same wavelength with my Intro to Computer Graphics instructor, a woman. I am on completely opposite wavelength with my Typography instructor, a man. This has all really opened my eyes up to the facts of how differently women and men see things and how it really is imperative for there to be more women in the industry creating content that specifically speaks to women. That's my goal anyway. :)

So....our assignments for Intro to Computer Graphics this week were a discussion, which is done, and choosing the inner pages of our annual report that we are revising. I chose the CEO pages and some pages of data that I want to redesign into graphs - I love doing graphs. :)

Our last assignment for this week had to do with using grids in design. Personally, this was completely new and interesting to me. I got/had to learn a new program for these assignments - InDesign - and I kind of enjoyed it. It was a little bit frustrating, but the practical applications are numerous for publishing. Very cool. (See how quickly once I get the jist of things something I loathe can become something I love?) :)

Anyhoo....our assignment was to do two different grid layouts using text of our choice and sparkling it up with graphics if we wanted. I used my expository essay on how Hawaii became a state for my text and picked up some graphics on Photobucket for the pictures. The first layout I did was graphical and kind of looks like something you'd see as a feature in a magazine. I did it in two-column style and it's one-and-a-half pages. The second layout I did was not graphical and is just your standard magazine article "filler"-type piece. I did it as a three-column piece with no graphical elements. So....without further ado - here they are! (I think they came out kinda cool.). :)











So, there ends Week 4's grades and Week 5's assignments. I have already moved on to Week 6's reading and we are getting our projects for Typography introduced when new lessons post tomorrow - that should be fun (not). Also - our first drafts of our final paper for English are due in two weeks so I'm getting ahead on my reading to get prepared to write that. We are also going to have another expository essay to write this week. No required reading for Success Strategies, just dorky stuff on academic honesty. We're actually studying a typography lesson in Intro to Computer Graphics this week and working on choosing the typefaces we're going to use for our redesign final projects.

That's the latest. Hope you're enjoying the fun along with me. It will be interesting to see how the grades shake out for this week's assignments, especially Typography. :) Thoughts? Leave 'em!

All the Latest News

How-dee all!!!! :)

Okay....lots to share here.

So, to recap a bit - I have completed all of my Success Strategies work for this week, and received a 100% on last week's work - AWESOME! Like I told y'all before, this is kind of a "bird" course, if you will. It's a dumb little requirement course that you can do on extreme auto-pilot. However, this week's discussion is proving very interesting. The scenario we are working from is dealing with an irate customer who calls up, is verbally abusive toward you, then hangs up before you get a word in edgewise - what do you do? It's all under the context of business communication and specifically e-mail communication. What's surprising is that so many people are either a) totally in victim mentality and saying this hypothetical customer is right to call and go apeshit over an 'h' in the wrong place in his name in the second paragraph of a document, or b) falling all over themselves to suck up to this asshat not to lose his business. Seriously people? Seriously? He's okay to call you names on the phone and hang up on you? You're going to crawl on your lips through busted glass just to pucker up and kiss his ass so as not to lose his business? Seriously? Wow! The Day Self-Respect Died! I've lived to see it!

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for preserving the financial income, but I'm not about to sell my soul for the almighty dollar. Sorry, ain't gonna happen. And I'm certainly not going to crawl around sucking up to someone who acts like a petulant two-year-old because someone put an 'h' in his name in the second paragraph of a document that didn't go out to anyone but him for review. But I am shocked at how many other people will just fall all over themselves to reinforce this hypothetical customer's inappropriate behavior. Don't people realize that how you deal with this kind of situation sets the tone for your entire business relationship with them? If he's this much crazy before you get his account, imagine how much crazier actually working with him every day would be - worth it? I don't think so. Not unless he removed his head from his ass and did a little apologizing of his own. But that's just me. I'm all for great customer service and "kill 'em with kindness", but I'm not going to go flagellate myself just to make this jerk feel like a king. Weird how many folks can't wait to though. *shivers* Scary.

My actual response to this scenario was this:


Firstly, I have to admit that people like Mr. Jonson in this scenario really get my back up. I've dealt with them throughout all of my working life and in my experiences, it's never a one-time thing, but the way they normally conduct business. It's an attitude I find completely unprofessional and exceptionally irritating to deal with.

That being said, the standard operating procedure I have always used (and that has always worked well for me) consists of the following:

Step 1: Immediately contact supervisor. Explain in verbatim detail the conversation and the customer's complaints. This allows my supervisor to 1) contact the customer directly to smooth things over, 2) have a detailed knowledge of the customer's complaint(s), and 3) have an idea of how the customer is handling their business relations with our company.

Step 2: Examine the proposal and rectify any issues that there are within it. Send an updated proposal to the customer ASAP with a sincere written apology attached.

Step 3: Follow up with supervisor in writing detailing that the corrections were made, an updated copy of the proposal sent, and also attach a copy of the apology sent with the proposal. This is standard C-Y-A procedure.

Excellent customer service is always the number one priority. Also, in settings where a lack of professionalism and courtesy is shown to you, the best response is to double-up on your courtesy and professionalism - the old "kill 'em with kindness" approach. It's always worked for me to diffuse situations like this.


So....now you have the jist of what's going on in that class. You're glad I haven't posted more about it now, aren't you? ;)

Next up, English Composition. Again, I received 100% for my project and discussion last week. This week's assignment was an outline for our research essay project. This was easier for me than I thought it would be. I'm not an outline writer - I sit down and let the words flow and that's how I work. However, I used the example he posted for us as a guide and I think it came out okay. Here's what I came up with:


Diversity in the Film Industry

Thesis Statement: A more diverse film industry that includes more women in higher level positions will help ensure that the portrayals of women and girls, and their life experiences, are more accurately depicted in films.

I. Introductory Paragraph
A. Current trends in filmmaking
B. Women and girls on film

II. Women in the Film Industry
A. Current statistics
B. Motion picture industry
C. Animation industry

III. Portrayals of Women and Girls
A. Current portrayals in motion pictures
B. Current portrayals in animation
C. Inconsistencies and distortions

IV. Benefits of Diversity
A. Women as peers
B. Accuracy of depictions in motion pictures
C. Accuracy of depictions in animated films

V. Future Trends
A. Women helping women
B. The Twilight effect
C. The next generation

I think this turned out pretty good myself. I may actually even be able to work off of it. :) We shall see.

I have more information to impart, but I will cut this entry here and post a bit more later.

Monday Again? Already??!

Happy Monday y'all!

So...hope everyone had good weekends and that your Mondays are going well. So far mine is pretty damn awesome! :) Got my results from Success Strategies and English Comp for last week - 100% on both - yay me! 100% on my discussion for Typography too. Dunno about my assignment yet. No word on anything for Intro to Computer Graphics. We shall see.

As is every woman's prerogative, I changed my mind and have decided not to post any Success Strategies stuff. It's an interesting discussion and everything this week (for once), but nothing any of y'all hanging around here would give a shit about so...just trust me - cool discussion, nothing major. MOVING ON! :)

So for English Comp this week, we have to submit an outline for our Research Essay Project. Our discussion is a peer review of our thesis statements. Considering the previous peer review adventure, this is going to suck like a Hoover. But, I posted mine anyway. My thesis statement is: 'A more diverse film industry that includes more women in higher level positions will help ensure that the portrayals of women and girls, and their life experiences, are more accurately depicted in films'. You know I'm right! ;)

The problem I am facing now is with the outline. See, I'm not one of those writers who can write from an outline, I just can't do it. So to get the damn outline, I'm going to have to write the whole freaking paper, then pull the outline from there. Ugh! Not to mention, I have three assignments this week in Intro to Computer Graphics, plus my normal torture session in Typography so....it's going to be an interesting week. :)

Anyhow....that's the latest from here. Still trying to keep up that GPA and all. I'll update with more info and assignments as I have 'em. Stay cool y'all! Thoughts? Post 'em! :)