If last week was “photos, photos, photos,” this week was “audio, audio, audio.” And that’s not me complaining! I’ve been using Audacity since middle school and the software really hasn’t changed much, so jumping right in with the audio story assignment stretched a creative muscle that had atrophied. I expressed some frustration with getting the ideas in my head into the search bar at Freesound, but it just took time.

I said it multiple times in the blog posts for both assignments, but I was so happy this week included some podcasts. I am a self-identified podcast girlie, so this was right up my alley. I wish I had something more articulate or academic to say, but Moon Graffiti was just really interesting and well put together. I had to do a make-up listening of ds106 radio, so I listened to the first two episodes of Limetown on my own time (and will be listening to the rest of the series at some point soon!). Again, nothing too intelligent to be said besides “podcast good.” I’m not sure if my brain just wasn’t on when it came to writing those review/reflections or if I’m just unfamiliar with engaging with podcasts in that way. It could be both!

While I don’t think my bumper would ever be picked up by iHeart Radio, I think it will work perfectly on ds106’s station! I had initially considered using ds106 itself as the backing track, but I think the static-y background I developed ultimately works better.

Finally, I couldn’t forget my dearest friend Bethany! I worked with her this week to develop a playlist of some of her favorite songs, so we can all get to know her better that way.

I appreciated the focus on photography this week, as I have been trying to take more pictures this semester. Perhaps it’s the senior regrets, but I feel like I hardly have any pictures of the last four years! I spent some more time with my course character, Bethany, as I worked on finding her a house that I know she would love! I also took the time to scan in some of her IDs, just to keep them on my laptop in case she looses her wallet. Neither of these assignments required any intense technical skills, as I just used browser based programs for both.

Along with my time with Bethany, I spent some time deciding which of my things I would save in a fire. I discussed this in the assignment post, but I opted to work on my iPad (and in bed) instead of on my laptop (at my desk), so I likely didn’t approach this in the most efficient way. However, I enjoyed reverse coloring much more than the lasso tool!

I could see myself continuing to check back in with the photoblitz tool, as I think the collection of prompts combined with the idea is so interesting! I think it could be fun to do in a bigger city or someplace that I’m unfamiliar with, as this assignement felt more like a seek-and-find than a true act of detection. I didn’t find myself using the whole time because of this, as I already had ideas in my head.

In terms of design, I feel like all I think about is design design design. Lighting design, graphic design, “does this look good on the wall here?”, crafting- the list goes on. I always enjoy reading about these things, if just to fill in trivia facts.