QR Codes

This QR code links to the Reddit inspirtation page. I am a fan of Reddit and wanted to use a website that corresponds with the theme of my blog. Enjoy!

Keep Calm

Since my blog is an inspirational/motivational blog, I had a few types of memes that I could chose from that related to my theme. The first was demotivational memes that look like the motivational posters with the black outline, a picture, a large one or two word caption followed by a quote- you know, the ones that you’ve all probably seen hanging in your high school guidance counselor’s office. Even though some of them are pretty funny, its the complete opposite of what im trying to promote- so I crossed those off the list. Then, there was Motivational Mike- a guy sitting in a chair outside in the nighttime with no shirt on and sunglasses with some ridiculous motivational quote- but they were intended to be funny and I didnt really think they were and I dont think they were a very successful meme because I never heard of them and KnowYourMeme only had 2 of them.

So, I decided to chose a form of the propoganda parody of “keep calm and carry on.” We are all aware of this meme and im sure seen about 371897421 versions of it. It relates directly to my blog because the original “Keep Calm and Carry On” is an inspirational message. KnowYourMeme gave a background of this quote which I found pretty interesting. This was a propoganda poster that appeared during World War II to strengthen the British morale. It also related with my blog because it says “Keep Calm and BLOG on”! I don’t think I could have found a more appropriate meme for my blog!

I also like this meme because there are so many different versions of it that we can find one that we can specifically relate to, and if we can’t, then we can easily make one that does.

Creative Commons

When I searched “inspiration” on the creative commons website using Google I got pictures of cruise ships, nature landscapes, a bunch of pictures of some random girl dancing in a field, a lot of people on bikes and some other useless nonsense. There were only about four photos that actually pertained to what I was looking for, and I didn’t like any of them. (I’m really picky.) I guess I should have expected there to be much less of a selection, but these pictures sucked. I changed my search to motivation pictures and found these three pictures. I used Pixlr to put the three images together and alter the coloring a bit. Maybe this will inspire some of you guys to go on a run (or walk) in this nice weather 🙂

According to the Fair Use Checklist, I can post these photos because:
– Comment
– Important to favored educational objectives
– small quanity
– No significant effect on the market or Reasonably available licensing mechanism potential market for copyrighted work

These pictures are being used for educational purposes and will not make any sort of profit. I am commenting on the fact that these are inspirational pictures that match the theme of my blog. I am only posting it once, so it is being redistributed in a small quantity.

Enjoy!

Pay it forward!

Hey everyone!
My goal of this blog is to help people stay motivated when times are rough by sharing moving stories and quotes. I would love for you all to be a part of the movement and help spread the inspiration! I want to share these touching stories with as many people as possible, and you can help! What’s more rewarding than brightening someone’s day? It’s easy, all it takes is a click of a button. Feel free to reblog my video and picture posts, share them on twitter or share them on Facebook. Support me, support your friends and spread the loveee! If you know someone who could use some inspiration, refer them to my blog!
Also, I can gain more views and followers by connecting my WordPress to other social medias such Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I will hopefully be setting this up soon, but for now feel free to find me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram! (lindsgum)!
Thanks everyone!

New and improved

New and improved header ! Here’s the old one:

Never give up !

This is a shout out to all my fellow classmates who may be struggling with finishing up all your blog posts or any other midterm stuff you got going on. I have to say, these past two weeks have been the most stressful midterm week of my Rutgers undergraduate student career. 1 project, 1 paper and 1 test down, 2 papers and another test right after spring break to go. But all this hard work, time, and money spent on college will be worth it one day.. Right..?

Here’s a website I found of 50 ways to destress during midterms! If only I had time to do all these 50 things.

http://waylandstudentpress.com/2013/01/21/50-ways-to-de-stress-before-midterms/

My favorite is number 21. Snuggling with my dog is probably one of my top favorite activities. Its basically how I deal with all my problems. Besides going to Miami over spring break, I can’t wait to beable to see my puppy everyday. Meet my best friend Rambo:

And of course, number 26 is pretty great two. I can never turn down chocolate.

Well, good luck to everyone who is still finishing up midterms and have a great spring break!

Screencast!

Creating this screencast was fun and easy! Jing is a really great tool to use, especially because it is so simple. It took me a few times to record the screencast because I kept messing up my words and studdering alot, so I decided to write down a few notes on what I wanted to say. That helped me get my thoughts together and make it through the whole 2 minutes without messing up.

I found this blog by searching Google for designing blogs. When I saw this particular blog, I remembered that my web authoring professor from last year used this same blog as a good example of web design, and I completely agree.

Screencasts are extremely helpful when making tutorials (Im sure most of you can agree, considering some people needed to watch some for this class). This can also can come in handy in the virtual work force. Since working from home is becoming more common, screencasting can be used by companies to teach employees how to use the latest software without needing to be in the same physical location. When watching a screencast, its extremely easy to learn how to do something because you are watching it be done, step by step, and you can easily follow along. This is a great teaching tool.

Here it is:
http://www.screencast.com/users/Lindseygumann/folders/Default/media/7b2ad355-2eba-49bb-943a-0272f569f699

Blog Commercial

Overall, I enjoyed this project, but at times it was, of course, extremely frustrating. I’ve done music mixing like this before because I did gymnastics my whole life and I used to make my own floor music using a program called Mixcraft. I have a garagebandless crappy Dell, so I figured I would use the Mixcraft program again. I haven’t done it in a while, so I had to refresh my memory on how to use the program. It was working great until it was time to save my work and I could not save it as a mp3 file. After some freaking out, and trying everything possible to convert my project into a file that sound cloud would support, I had to resort to playing the file and recording it on my ipad, then emailing it to myself and uploading that file onto sound cloud. It worked, but it sounds kind of muffled and not as good as the original, so Im pretty annoyed about that. I plan on playing around with it some more and improving it. Also, there were numbers going across the top of the program which I assumed meant seconds but apparently it doesnt considering when I uploaded the finished program it was a little longer than I expected..

I can’t make a commercial for a inspirational blog without some words of wisdom, so I searched youtube for my favorite motivational speeches and movie clips and took little snips from each to form my own motivational mashuppp haha. This took alonnnngggggg time, but Im pretty satisfied with the way it came out. The one thing that bothers me about it is in some videos it already had background music which you can still hear in the clips, and it doesnt mesh very well with the songs I chose to play in the background, but I dont think theres much I can do about that.

Here it is, hope you enjoy !

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0D3_C03lnNcc2JiZDd3dndubUk/edit?usp=sharing

Creating a header!

When we were first told we had to design a header that corresponded with our theme, I had no idea what I was going to make. The first thing I did was Google “inspiring” to get some ideas. After sifting through a million pictures of sunsets, trees, and oceans with motivational quotes I finally came across the “my inspiration box” picture, and knew that it would be something that I could work with. I also saw a picture with the quote: “she turned her cant’s into can’s and dreams into plans” and I fell in love with it and knew I wanted to somehow incorporate this quote into my header. I also wanted to make sure that the picture reflects the quote.

I made the paper airplane fly around the Earth to portray the idea that you can do anything you set your mind to. The paper airplane started as an idea coming from the inspiration box and traveled all the way around the world, “turning dreams into plans”. This was also my way of expressing the quote into a picture.

I have to admit, I struggled using the Plxr program and it was extremely frustrating ! I already had the design in my head, and since i didnt know how to use the program i was having a problem making the pictures do I what I want to match the vision in my head ! . I ended up combining the pictures of the inspiration box, the paper airplanes, and Earth on Paint, then uploading it to PLxr to add effects to it and to add the words. I’m pretty satisfied with how it came out!

I plan on messing around with this program so that I can use it to its full potential some day! I enjoyed this assignment and I will probably use the Pxlr program for future projects.

Connor and Cayden

Connor and Cayden Long won the Sports Illustrated Kids Award, but I agree that they are the real sportsman of the year. At only 9 years old, Connor has more maturity and compassion than most adults. Connor is a perfect role model for all kids and the bond he shares with his little brother is incredible. He defines the role of a big brother. Although Connor and Cayden come in last place every race, they are true winners. Sports to these boys is not about winning or losing; it is about teamwork, dedication, happiness and creating bonds- which is something we all could learn from.

Connor says in 10 years he sees a Long Brother’s flag on the moon, which shows that he his big dreams for his future, and of course his brother will be by his side. He truly believes that him and his brother can achieve anything, and that attitude will bring success in his future. His ambition, positive attitude, and dedication is extremely inspiring. Connor says he tells his brother “it doesn’t matter what he looks like on the outside, what matters is on the inside,” which is something we all learn at a young age, but may not practice to its full potential.

As Connor comes to tears when receiving his award, you can see how much he loves Cayden and his sport. “When I see him smiling and laughing, I know he’s having a good time.” Connor is inspired by his little brother, and will do anything to make him happy. It goes without saying that Connor is Cayden’s hero. I idolize Connor’s strength, selflessness, and compassion.