Sarah's Cross-Atlantic and Cross-Country travels are documented in this blog, from a semester in London during her undergrad to her graduate work in Savannah, Georgia. It may also contain the occasional griping about mundane things in her everyday experiences; oh, how we do love our double meanings.
My apologies for the delayed posts! I have been extraordinarily busy. I finished my internship with Fast Web Media, spent Easter weekend in Belgium visiting my good friend Aurelie and helping her move into her new house with her boyfriend Bastien. Then I returned to London where I said my goodbyes, and finally I came home -- where I promptly got sick, and spent three days getting caught up before leaving for Washington, DC for Arts Advocacy Day where I lobbied with Washington State Representatives about the arts. Anyway, I am back now, and will promptly get caught up!
First; on Monday of week 10, I took some great photos from the plane as I flew from Berlin to London. So those photographs are my contributions for week 10. In week 11, I worked on a report for Fast Web Media and I put my findings into an infographic. And last week was week 12, where I spent some time working on branding materials for my PY // Art from Parkland's Youth project.
So here are my creative contributions, and now that I am back in Tacoma I will be back to updating regularly!
PY // Art from Parkland's Youth design work can be seen throughout the website I put together. Additionally, here is the logo I designed for all future promotional materials.
This post is tenth, eleventh, and twelfth in a series of 50 weekly posts, as part of my 50 Weeks of Creativity Challenge for 2013. To see every post and creation from the series, click here.
As promised, this week's post comes a bit late. I spent the weekend in Leipzig, without my laptop, and so was unable to update about my weekly creative explorations. I am here to go back in time with you, though! This week, I put together an infographic containing a checklist for the SEO process. First I compiled my list, and then started playing with possible design ideas before deciding to go with a lovely circle chart to represent the cyclical nature of SEO. I've since shared my infographic all over the place, and will re-share it here, now. It's gotten some positive response, which has been lovely. It's also up on my Behance portfolio.
SEO Checklist Infographic
In addition to my infographic work this week, I also took some pictures around Leipzig. I didn't bring my DSLR camera with me, so these are from my basic point and shoot, but there's still some fun ones.
Federal Capital Building, Leipzig
Statue of JS Bach outside Thomaskirke.
Thomaskirke
Nikolaikirche
Pink flamingos at the zoo
Gorilla
Finally, in closing, here is a video of the silly armadillo running around like a mad armadillo thing at the Leipzig Zoo on Sunday.
This post is ninth in a series of 50 weekly posts, as part of my 50 Weeks of Creativity Challenge for 2013. To see every post and creation from the series, click here.
The quarter is winding down, which means the weeks have been quite busy. But the good news is that this week is finals week, and I'm off to Leipzig this weekend to celebrate spring break! So expect a delayed 50 Weeks Post for week nine as a result.
This week, I experimented in the kitchen again, and came up with a delicious macaroni and cheese recipe thanks to a cheese find in the grocery store. I already blogged about that, so check out the link for that recipe!
The other creative contribution I have for the week was a trip to Brighton on Sunday. It was extremely cold, but I braved the cold for a bit of time on the pier taking photographs (by the sea, Mister Todd...). I also thought I'd treat myself to a delicious crepe by the sea, but the birds thought otherwise. While I was enjoying the atmosphere, I got bumped from behind. Assuming I had just been bumped into by a stranger who wasn't paying attention, I carried on. But then I realized that the crepe in my hand was gone, and I was only holding an empty cup. And suddenly screeching birds were swarming me, and it was a bit startling.
Then I realized why. My crepe was lying on the dock a few feet in front of me, and seagulls were frantically fighting over it, and I was in the midst of it all. A seagull had intentionally flown into my head and stollen my crepe from my hand. I was attacked by a nasty bird for my food. It looked a lot like this:
I hate birds, for so many reasons. I've since dubbed Sunday as The Great Crepe Caper. Well. All excitement and bird-hating aside, I did take some nice photographs.
The Royal Pavilion from the street
Approaching the pier
Brighton Pier
The last photo I captured before The Great Crepe Caper
Jubilee Arch to the Lanes
Hmmm. Well, let's end the note on a slightly more positive note, shall we? This song was in my head the entire time we were in Brighton (except maybe during the Great Crepe Caper). I sang this song once during my voice lessons in college.
This post is eighth in a series of 50 weekly posts, as part of my 50 Weeks of Creativity Challenge for 2013. To see every post and creation from the series, click here.
Ahhhh week seven. It's been quite the busy week! The Technology for Marketing & Advertising conference/trade show took place in London, and Fast Web Media presented weatherFIT there. I got to hang out, look at the other businesses and their services, and just have a grand old time. I did put together a Vine to promote the weatherFIT booth though, which is never quite a simple task. You have 6 seconds to put together an interesting story. Recording the video isn't particularly easy either, as you have to know exactly what you will film and for how long. But inspiration struck, and I made my 6-second sale.
I had to do some graphic design this week for my promotions class as well. It's nice when you have a graphic design degree and you're not in a design class. Expectations for your work are considerably lower, and people are impressed with what you threw together in a matter of minutes. I mean, uh, spent all week sketching out and meticulously editing. Yeah, that one. Anyway, I created a postcard for my marketing materials.
And lastly, I went on a couple of excursions this weekend and brought the camera along once again. I went back to Camden on Saturday and snapped a few shots (mostly from the bus on the way there, but a couple by the Camden Locks). Then I went out to Hampton Court Palace today, and took plenty of fun photographs all over King Henry VIII's old stomping grounds. And not once was I compelled to sing my favorite Herman's Hermits song ever:
Wait. Can we take a moment to acknowledge how adorkable that guitarist is?! If he were 50 years younger...
Anyway, good ol' Henry VIII. What a guy. He had a nice place though, so I'll give him that. I leave you now with pictures of my weekend wandering about London.
Riding the bus to Camden Town.
The Camden Locks
Hampton Court Palace
Choir boys preparing for chapel.
The Fountain Courtyard
This post is seventh in a series of 50 weekly posts, as part of my 50 Weeks of Creativity Challenge for 2013. To see every post and creation from the series, click here.
Week six...feels like an eternity ago (probably because I took nearly a week to get this post up). But it was another week busy with content creation for Fast Web Media, and I spent the weekend driving around the English countryside. There seems to be some unwritten rule that every time I come to London, I must go to Stonehenge. So the time came last weekend that I went to Stonehenge once again, and assured that the rocks were all still standing undisturbed in the middle of a field. After an hour there in the freezing cold, we went to Bath, where I...did all the same things I had done the previous time I went to Bath. Ah well, c'est la vie.
So, what have I got to show for this last week?
First, my blog contributions for the week at BIGprofile:
Also, while on the subject of blogging and content creation, I have big news: I wrote a blog about using Facebook's new graph search along with Google, and it has been accepted as a guest post on a marketing blog! (I'll share it later)
Finally, in closing of this blog, here are some pictures from my weekend at Stonehenge and in Bath.
A landscape of Stonehenge.
A portrait of Stonehenge.
The birds! It's like something out of a Hitchcoke movie.
Tourists making their way to Stonehenge
The Roman Baths
Bath Abbey in the background of the Roman baths
A father-daughter moment at Bath
View of Bath from The Crystal Palace Pub
Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey
This post is sixth in a series of 50 weekly posts, as part of my 50 Weeks of Creativity Challenge for 2013. To see every post and creation from the series, click here.
Sorry for the delay in posts; it's been a busy week, plus a busy weekend, which I will write about in a separate post. But first, the exciting conclusion of my three-day weekend with my Canadian cousin Kaitlyn.
The weekend had already been busy enough, so I was starting to fall behind on homework. Kaitlyn and Alison decided to go to the British Museum on Sunday, so I sent them off and stayed home to do my homework instead. I got a little work down but looked outside, saw it was gorgeous and sunny, and decided I didn't want to be cooped up.
So off I went to meet them at the British Museum. It turned out those silly girls hadn't seen the Elgian Marbles yet, and were about to leave! So I gave them an art-major lecture and took them to see the Greek stones, explaining the story behind them. I didn't seem to impress them, but at least they've seen them. Maybe someday they'll appreciate the experience...
A fun shot from the Science Museum.
Anyway, after getting a bite of lunch, we headed to South Kensington where there are three museums located right by each other. When leaving the Tube, you can walk through a foot subway to each museum, rather than dealing with traffic up on the street. I managed to slip on the escalator and bruise my thigh big time, so I spent the rest of the day (and most of the following week) hobbling about, as I felt the bruise right in the muscle.
First we visited the Science Museum, which is extremely cool. Obviously, I love art museums. I have one art degree and am working on my second, with the intention to work in an art-related field: including, potentially, museums. I love museums. And the Science Museum is no exception, because there was so much art and stimulus in there! My absolute favorite exhibit was on The Sound of the Internet. It's an award-winning exhibit, and after sitting through it twice, I can see why. If you have the opportunity to visit the Science Museum anytime soon, definitely do, because this exhibit was incredible. Words will not do it justice, so here is a video clip showing part of it:
This exhibit completely mesmerized me, and I may well have to go back just to experience it again. I also enjoyed the technology section, and there was an interesting exhibit about the "code breaker" during WWII.
The only dinosaur I've ever seen at the Natural History Museum.
After the Science Museum, we visited the Natural History Museum. This is a museum I want to like, I really, really do. But it does not interest me at all. I think it's geared more towards children, first off. The exhibits are a bit cheesy. Plus everything is about rocks and bugs and there's a room full of taxidermied birds. Basically nothing remotely appealing to me. Plus I hate birds. Blech. I would love to go see the dinosaurs exhibit, but apparently that's the most appealing part of the museum to everyone, and so there is always a half-hour wait to get in!
Finally, we concluded the day at the Victoria & Albert Museum, which I have spent the most time in of the three. I love the V&A, because right when you walk inside there is a glass chandelier that was commissioned by the V&A from Dale Chihuly. Last time I was in London, I wrote about "a touch of Tacoma pride". The V&A is a fascinating museum; it's full of all sorts of collections. I don't even know how to compare it to other museums; it has art, it has artifacts. It has everything, basically, and it is fascinating.
British Pop exhibit
I had been telling the girls about the theatre exhibit, and a photography exhibit featuring famous actors in live productions from the last time I visited. The photography exhibit was gone, but in its place was a photography exhibit about the rise of pop music in Britain, which was very interesting. We also looked through a photography exhibit from contemporary Iranian artists, which was also fascinating. For such a traditionally censored culture, the photographs made some striking commentary on their own culture as well as Western culture.
Anyway, Sunday ended without any excitement. We parted ways with Alison in Hammersmith, and Kaitlyn helped me make dinner (read: Kaitlyn did the majority of the work while I played British pop music). I came through the weekend with a bit of a war wound, but otherwise unscathed.
To conclude this post: my brother claims there is a Monty Python clip for everything in life, and I believe he is right...for here is a clip of Monty Python in an art gallery, to complement the museum post:
This past weekend, I traipsed about London with my Canadian second cousin Kaitlyn and her (also Canadian) friend Alison. A quick recap of Friday: Kaitlyn and I did silly walks all over Leicester Square, bought geek souvenirs, and saw a movie in Polish. Good times.
On Saturday, we met up bright and early (it was 10:00 AM, which on a Saturday is bright and early as far as I am concerned, thankyouverymuch). We took the bus to Camden Town, which had been recommended to me by a stranger on the phone at my bank, no less. Who gives better advice than a stranger at your bank, handling your personal finances thousands of miles away?! Anyway. We took a bus to Camden Town, which I am still not entirely satisfied was not in fact located in the Twilight Zone, or an alternate dimension, or possibly the futuristic world in which Firefly takes place.
Camden is probably a place where I should spend more time of my life, though. It's a world full of bohemian-hipster-hippy-young people. There's no end to the tattoo and piercing parlours, the sci-fi market stalls, the goth clothes, the food stands...it's like Bumbershoot every day. With less live music and comedy, I guess.
We wandered aimlessly throughout the stalls, investigating and discovering. Getting lost and finding the street again and delving into other dimensions and through time portals and everything. Until we stopped for lunch, anyway. I had a delicious crepe, because when there are food stands around and I'm expected to eat my food standing in the middle of a market, I always opt for crepes.
After lunch and Camden, we decided to pop over to Baker Street (probably because I told them how terrifying I find that station to be). Baker Street, of course, is home to the world's most famous psychoticly lovable detective Sherlock Holmes. So naturally, we paid a visit to 221b Baker St.
There was a long line out front, but a lady near the front told us she had only been in line about 20 minutes, and it was only 6 quid to get in anyway, plus The Beatles Store was right next door, so we decided to wait in line. I took that opportunity to peruse the Beatles store, and am still seriously contemplating going back to purchase a yellow submarine ice cube tray.
The museum itself is a little silly, and a bit small. It's full of dummies posed to recreate famous Sherlock cases. At least I got to dress up like Sherlock and say "I say" and "elementary" a lot. Still, I can now add Sherlock Holmes' house to my list of famous houses I have been to (he joins the likes of Charles Dickinson, Shakespeare, Anne Hathaway, and Paul Revere).
Before leaving Baker Street entirely, we had to stop in at The Rock 'n' Roll Shop (I know it's only rock 'n' roll but I like it), across the street from 221b. Naturally. As I was buying a Sex Pistols fabric poster, the sales lady asked where in America I'm from. I told her Seattle. So naturally, she was like "oh cool, I'm going to New York." That's cool, it's only 3000 miles away. There is something about non-Americans, you guys. They hear I am American and they want to tell me all about their trips to America, even though none of them have ever been to the same part of the country as me. Never mind the fact that America stretches the entire width of a continent, it's all the same country so I must have an opinion on a place, right? Fortunately for this particular lady, I have actually been to New York, so I was able to suggest things to do and places to go. The night before, my Australian bar-tender informed he was going to LA. At least that one's on the same coast, eh?
So we departed from Baker Street and worked our way to Piccadilly Circus. We were strategically working our way back towards Hammersmith, so our commute home would be shorter. In Piccadilly Circus, we experienced a gay pride/free love type rally, and then split up for an hour to wander around Chinatown. I wandered through the M&M store, got a beer at an Irish pub, and bought a caramel shortcake in a coffee shop (something I discovered in Scotland and am now officially addicted to).
Finally we returned home where we said goodbye to Alison, and Kaitlyn and I got ready to go see (spam, spam, spam, spam...) Spamalot. We got dinner in Trafalger Square before heading to the theatre for a night of Monty Python humor. It was utterly amazing, you guys. The show has everything from classic Monty Python to contemporary jokes (including horse-riding Gangnam Style and jokes about good ol' Boris).
Saturday has now been covered, so stay tuned for Sunday. In the meantime, I leave you with this:
Another week has flown right by, and that means it's time for another creativity update! For this week, I was very busy working on copywriting for Fast Web Media. The four most recent blogs on the BIGprofile website are all written by me. So that is the first entry for this week's posting (not to mention some helpful and interesting resources for anybody interested in digital marketing):
I suppose it could be argued that writing up articles isn't the most creative. I could defend that, but there's no need! I have more to show for this week.
Over the weekend, I wandered around Camden Town, Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown, and the museums at South Kensington. I brought along my cameras, and so I have some fun photography to show for that. Here is a selection of some of my favorite images from that excursion:
Part of a display in the Science Museum
Capturing an up-skirt of this model was easy; she was hanging from the ceiling of the Science Museum.
I'm attracted to anything retro/futuristic. Science Museum.
Traveling in style.
A great exhibition at the Victoria & Albert on British Pop.
Terrifying giant horse head right in my face. Thanks, Camden.
The Theatre Wing at the Victoria & Albert is inspiring!
Having breakfast with Sherlock and Watson at 221b Baker Street.
Happy Year of the Snake!
Gay pride rally in Piccadilly Circus.
Entry to Chintatown
To see all of my photos from the weekend (and my time in London in general), check out my Facebook photo album For Queen And Country. Alternatively, I have a few photos from that excursion over on Instagram.
Not enough creativity just yet for you? Well, the good news is that on Sunday, Kaitlyn and I made dinner. It wasn't anything particularly new; more Laughing Cow alfredo sauce and avgolemono soup. We did add chicken to the soup this time. Plus a delicious homemade salad with rocket, carrots, cucumber, and dried apricots. So I leave you with a picture of dinner.
This post is fifth in a series of 50 weekly posts, as part of my 50 Weeks of Creativity Challenge for 2013. To see every post and creation from the series, click here.
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