Bridget Post 1: *Our Blog's Aesthetic*

Writing through media... What exactly does that mean? Well, at this point I have come to understand that it can mean virtually anything you want it to mean as long it pertains to this notion of literacy, orality, and electracy. Which is essentially the embodiment of life as our generation knows it. This blog itself is an example of writing through media because it thoroughly combines the elements of literacy and electracy, while allowing us the opportunity to become authors of our own "mystories" that will be accessible by the masses to read, analyze, and draw their own conclusions.
My roll in the design of this blog was finding the image. Well actually the image found me and thus, became the icon around which our blog was created. This image was so appealing to me because of the irony it displays both through what it depicts and its play on words. It is something that we feel really exemplifies the state of education and learning in our society today. Just as Jordan said, we are interested in the question of how do you turn education into intelligent action? What does it really mean to be an educated person in a society that is constantly changing and advancing?
Obviously cats can't read,"edumacation" is not a real word, and "learn me a book" breaks the simplest rules of sentence structure, so where do you draw the lines between what is acceptable and what isn't? What's truly intelligent and what is not? The real and the fabricated? The literate and electrate? Can lines even be drawn at all? Who knows?, but we sure do hope to use this blog to explore the possibilities of it all.
We chose this simple black background because it meshes very well with our picture, of course, but it also gives of an air of traditional simplicity. Some of the most influential and powerful people in our history didn't need too much to get his or her thoughts across, and neither do we.
The image that I chose this week was another one that just found me and was our inspiration to name our blog "Mindsight". Since this blog is simply a documented insight into my mind as well as the other two members of my group, it made perfect sense to add that title to aesthetic we wanted to create. My image really relates to the freedom that we have to dream, be exposed to images, and draw our own meaning from it all. Yes, we live in a system where we are required to go to school and be taught whatever it is that they want us to learn, but this image gives off a feel that we don't have to simply absorb what others teach us. No, we actually have the intellect and the means to delve further, challenge things we do not agree with, find clarification for what we do not understand, and simply make sense of this complex world we live in.
What stuck out to me the most, besides the words, was how the man in the main portion image seems to be powerfully soaring over the ocean either not knowing that he is being watched by another or not caring. Whichever the case may be, this image exuberates what it means to have the freedom to choose your own destiny, draw your on conclusions, and interpret the world around you in any way you wish. And I hope this blog can be a testament of that freedom.
Finally, I, too, am interested in seeing what kind of responses we get for our thoughts. So if you have anything to say at all, please do not hesitate to post. This has been and will continue to be a learning experience for me and I hope it can be one for anyone who reads this as well.
I am finally a member of the world of blogging and I feel as if this is going to be a beautiful, FREE, and enlightening experience. Don't you? ;-)