March 30, 2011

This morning I made it a point to arrive to class 10 minutes early so that I could begin my new morning routine and be on time for our lecture with Jimmy Moss. Once Jimmy got to class we were asked to move to a classroom down the hall. It turns out that this classroom is one that I already have for many of my other classes so I sat down where I normally sit and felt comfortable and at ease. We had brief lecture about Word press and web terminology and then Jimmy Moss asked us to arrange ourselves alphabetically and take new seats. Immediately that comfort I felt in the beginning of class was gone as I was put completely on the other side of the room, somewhere I was not familiar with. Sitting on the right side of the room got me thinking that this was actually a great idea. Most of us had been forced to communicate with each other in order to find our seats and were forced out of our normal comfort zone. Also, sitting in a completely different place made the room I was already so comfortable with seem new and completely different. Something I liked.

Jimmy Moss talked to us about methodology, process,the differences between concepts vs. thoughts and perception. We ended the class by discussing the idea of what if. What if we could fly? What if there was no money? What if this was the moon? We were all given a chance to ask a what if question and discuss how all ideas start with the same question of "what if". Nothing is developed without questions, trial and error, ideas that start out as small thoughts like "what if we could fly" and develop into humans actually being able to fly in airplanes.

For the remaining time in class we were shown pictures and asked us to describe what we saw in each picture. After the facts were talked about then we were asked how the pictures made us feel. What emotions did the pictures inflict on us and how did the person taking the picture convey those feelings to us using lighting, facial expressions, color, repetition and other techniques. The picture that affected me the most, was one that I had never seen before, and according to our professor a lot of people hadn't seen because we weren't allowed to. It was the picture of the multiple coffins holding dead soldiers from the Iraq war in a cargo plane. These caskets were laid down in rows one next to the other covered with a flags. Immediately anger ran through my body. I believe the photographer who took this picture did a great job because immediately I was disgusted and angry. It was completely opposite of the picture shown before of honor and silence for the fallen soldier. This one made me sad and uncomfortable. It portrayed a reality that is never shown to the public. That thousands of soldiers are dying in this war and they are being stacked up in cargo planes and brought back home as if nothing.


I really enjoyed the lecture from this morning and I look forward what the rest of the quarter has in store for us. We are being challenged to think and communicate our ideas something that most of us have never really had to do.