Christmas with Family

Mom said something to me on Sunday that I just can't stop thinking about. She said, "Autumn, make sure you soak everything in and enjoy this time, because you're not going to remember it. You'll think that you'll never forget, but it's all so busy that you will."

Of course she's right, because she's my mom and she's always right. December has been an absolute whirlwind with college graduation, Christmas, and the fast approaching wedding and honeymoon. I probably won't remember most of this stuff. It'll all just be a big, happy but vaguely stressed blur.

So this weekend while Logan and I visited family, I made sure to actually take pictures.

At the Smiths' we played the worst game ever -- Aggravation. Somehow I managed to win, but it was as frustrating as all get out

When we opened presents, we found out that Logan's mom accidentally bought his brother the same exact sweater she got him last year. Which he was wearing that day. Hilarity ensued.

At the Shulers' we played a super intense game of Settlers of Catan, which Logan got for Christmas from his parents. My parents had never even heard of the game, but both had a pretty good time and came very close to winning. Unfortunately for them, I was the champion.

Poor Logan had a terrible game, but made the most of a bad situation by recreating Stonehenge out of Catan bits.

All in all, it was a great Christmas weekend with family!

Final Wedding Plans and a Wedding Band

Yesterday was a blur of driving and wedding plans. I went back home to get all the final details for the ceremony and reception down, which was simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying.

I'm getting married in a week!

I'm getting married in a week!?










The excited side is waaaaaay stronger than the scared side though. And Nola Ann at The Prizing House was super nice and made me feel assured that yes, everything was indeed taken care of, and no, I didn't forget anything huge and important.

Afterwards, Logan and I went to get his wedding band and to eat! That's a monkey off our back, because we weren't sure the ring was going to get here in time. But all is well, and we celebrated by going to The Pub.

It seems that we've been eating out a lot lately, but the end of November through now has been full of celebrations, and food is certainly how we celebrate.

Janelle Monae

Recently, my friend Emma showed me this video:



I fell in love with the song and the video as soon as I heard/saw it, but only today did it occur to me to look up Monae on Spotify.

I like all of her stuff.

I'm not one hundred percent sure what it is about her music that speaks to me so completely, but I am completely hooked. I'm especially digging The Electric Lady, her newest album, and the one that "Q.U.E.E.N." comes from.

The Electric Lady's radio show sound makes a great album even more interesting and rewards listening to the entire thing as a whole rather than just one or two songs at a time, which I appreciate. There's a cohesiveness there than really gets me going.

I'm so glad I heard Monae's music and I'm happy to have a new artist to get into. I sense a binge session of her music coming on.

Generational Fear Gap

Lenora's final presentation today was eye-opening for me. I had an epiphany.

Older people think I'm really good at technology. I'm not. I'm just not afraid of it like many of them are.

For example, my last boss and I started Twitter accounts at the same time. Neither one of us had any clue what we were doing, but he just assumed that because I was a twenty-something, I would "get" it and then could teach him. I was fighting off questions about what makes a "good" tweet, how to use a hashtag, and what the heck all the @s were.

Because he was worried about all this stuff, my boss wouldn't try anything. His Twitter account sat stagnant while mine started somehow gaining followers. The difference was that I just tried stuff to see what worked. My strategy with digital writing -- any writing really -- is just to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.

I think this is a common theme between the generations. Older people that didn't grow up with ridiculous amount of technology are afraid they'll "mess it up" or "break" it, but my generation knows that it can always be wiped and started over.

Social Engagement

Today was my last meeting with my Writing for Social Change class in Over-the-Rhine, and I'm having very mixed feelings about it. I'm excited because that means I'm one step closer to graduation, but I'm also bummed. That class got me thinking about social issues in a way that I never would have before, and for that I'm grateful.

I'm aware that I could always go out and continue engaging myself in social issues outside of the class, but it was so nice to have some guidance. I feel like that's a big part of all the problems we have in the world. People want to fix them, but aren't sure how. It's overwhelming to tackle social injustice and not knowing where to start something can make you feel like you'd be no help at all. At least, that's how I often feel.

There's no real point to this story. I don't know what my next step is as a socially engaged citizen and I'm not 100% sure how to figure it out. I just wanted to share my feelings with you with the hope that maybe you can help me stay engaged. Leave me a comment and let me know.

Professionalism on the Internet

Katharine's final presentation in Writing in the Digital Age focused on professionalism in digital writing. This concept is one that both excites and terrifies me.

I mean, on the one hand, we're more visible than ever before, which means it's easier to connect with others and share our experiences. On the other hand, if an employer deems a topic that we've talked about unsavory, then that can be held against us in the workplace.

I'm not one that does much that anyone would deem inappropriate, but I still think about this stuff. For example, I don't curse on the Internet, I don't talk about alcohol on any of my social media sites, and I don't get political as often as I want to. All for the sake of professional appearance.

A common argument I hear against making these kind of changes is that you don't want to work for someone who would hold those types of things against you anyway, and that's a fairly good argument, but not one that can always be followed. Sometimes, an employer wouldn't want to hold something against you, but it isn't always up to them. Often there are official rules and protocol to follow for the sake of the company at large, and I can appreciate that.

What are your thoughts on professionalism on the Internet?

Practicality of Digital Writing

Abby's final presentation for Writing in the Digital Age was a redefined rubric for the class focused more on practicality of projects, and less on the theories and motivations behind digital writings.

While I'm inclined to agree with this sentiment, being a big fan of practicality myself, I enjoyed talking about the theory behind digital communication. I like knowing, or at least thinking about, how and why things work. Plus, the beauty behind so much of what we've been talking about is that it's best figured out by just doing it!

That being said, Abby's presentation was beautifully said and we agreed on a lot of what we liked about the class.