Design for Journalists Project #4

Good morning/afternoon/evening Bloggy Friends,

The fourth project in my design for journalists class was to design the layout of the front page of a newspaper. We were each given different stories, and were then asked to create either a national, local or international front page. I chose to do a national paper. One of our jobs was to cipher through the stories, to see which ones would be most relevant for the cover.

To get ideas for the layout I went to the NEWSEUM website to check out a few of the front pages across the country. I focused mainly on the San Francisco Chronicle, because it brought back memories.

I was happy with my final product. It's fairly basic, but I thought I incorporated a nice flow to the page. I also took the time to add extra elements like an index and a recycling logo. I felt very accomplished once I printed it out and turned it in. I loved getting a chance to learn these things.

Final Grade: 150/150

I hope you guys have a great weekend. We have a few exciting things planned. Our social calendar seems to be filling up now that the temperatures are getting warmer. We're really enjoying our first spring/summer in Center City.

I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

Michael & Jeremy's Visit.

Hi Mr. and Mrs. Bloggy Friends!

I hope you have been doing well over the past week. I've been totally out of bloggy commission since our friends, Michael and Jeremy, arrived in town last week.

I picked them up from the airport last Tuesday, and we immediately hit the town. We spent the first few days here in Philadelphia checking out different neighborhoods, site-seeing and enjoying a little of the night life. To keep our budgets in check, we decided to eat in most nights. Michael is a fabulous cook, so he kept us full on a delicious array of vegetarian foods. I don't think our refrigerator has ever been so full.

On Friday morning the four of us loaded the BOLT BUS for New York City. This was my first time back since late last summer. Just like always, the energy swept me up as soon as I touched my feet to the warm sidewalk. We stayed in the St. Marks Hotel in the East Village. The room was about as basic as they come, but completely affordable and very well located. This is one of my favorite parts of town, because every block is chocked full of funky shops, sexy bars and a wide variety of vegetarian friendly restaurants and grocery stores.

This was Jeremy's first time in NYC, so we decided to get some of the more touristy things out of the way on our first day. First on our agenda was a trip to Midtown to wander through Central Park. I've been here several times, but the surroundings never cease to tickle my fancy. We only covered a fraction of the grounds, from the Midtown entrance to Strawberry Fields, where we sat around the Imagine monument for a quick session of people watching. We then proceeded back towards Times Square, which is an amazing thing to see, but the crowds always rattle my last nerve. We were pretty beat after dinner and a couple of drinks, so we crashed rather early.

The next day had breakfast in the Village before taking the train back to Midtown to see New York's Museum of Modern Art. As a first timer, I was completely blown away by the collection. There were so many famous pieces decorating almost six levels of galleries. Some of my favorites were works by Picasso, Mondrian, Miró and of course Andy Warhol. I saw his original Marilyn portrait, and the Campbell's Soup Can collection in its entirety. I had no idea there were 32 of them! Later that night we had dinner in the West Village with my friend Mark, then headed to Stonewall for a few cocktails.

Our last day was devoted to shopping. I always have to hit up a few shops on Broadway in Soho, namely one of my favorites, Uniqlo. Alan and I both loaded up with a ton of stuff. Along the way we became separated from Michael and Jeremy, who wanted to head downtown to see Ground Zero and Lady Liberty. I didn't have any interest in doing that again, so Alan and I headed to the New Museum of Contemporary Art to check out the latest exhibit, Generational: Younger Than Jesus. This tri-level installation showcased artists who are younger than 33. It was fascinating to see, because Alan and I could relate to a lot of the inspirations used to create their pieces - since we came of age during the same time as the artists. The pieces ranged from photography, multi-media, video installation and even some live human art. It was absolutely amazing, and a perfect way for us to end the trip.

On our final day together, we attended a Memorial Day cookout at our friend Michele's. We all had a great time eating, drinking and playing some silly games. I didn't get home till almost 3 a.m.! I took them to the airport yesterday afternoon, and came home to an abnormally quiet house. A part of it was refreshing, to have a little peace for a change, but then again it was kind of sad knowing that our guest room was empty again. I had a great time with them. I'm so happy I have friends who come to visit, and who allow me to come visit throughout the year. These are some of the moments I look forward to the most.

I hope you have a great afternoon. If you are interested you can check out pictures from our time in PHILADELPHIA, and then head over to an album of pictures from our trip to NEW YORK CITY. All the photos are brought to you by Jeremy. I didn't hardly pick my camera up at all.

I'll chat with you soon!

Love, Josh

Design for Journalists Project #3

Good afternoon Bloggy Friends,

I hope your week is off to a nice start. We have a full schedule planned for the next few days with our friends being in town. It'll be nice, because I'm already starting to feel restless. I couldn't wait for school to be over, now I don't know what to do with myself!

Today I want to share the third project in my design for journalists class. We were asked to create an infographic, a visual image that displays some type of information. I had a hard time with this one, because nothing immediately came to mind. I started to think of things that I was interested in, and my first idea was to do a graph of Whitney's chart success over the course of her career. That idea eventually led into making a graphic that shows the effect of file-sharing on top album sales over the past decade.

For inspiration I used THIS photo of an audio equalizer. I thought it was relevant with the whole music thing. I searched online sites, like Nielson Soundscan, for the sales of number one selling albums over the past twenty years, and then presented the information as if it were displayed on the screen of an equalizer. I used different colors to draw attention, and a font that gave it an 80's/Atari kind of feel. I indicated the year that Napster was developed, so the viewer could get an idea of the decline in total record sales since it began.

I was really excited about it at first, but after a while it started to feel daunting. I did put a lot of work into it. I spent hours tediously placing each of my tiny images in the exact right spot, but I don't feel like the effort really showed itself in the end. I personally think this was my worst project of the semester, but the teacher thought it was good.

Grade: 100/100

I hope you guys have a nice night. I'm doing laundry and trying to put some final touches on the apartment before our guests arrive. I'll try to keep you updated on their visit with photos and stuff.

I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

Live Long and.... Oh Give Me A Break!

Hi Bloggy Friends,

I hope this blog finds you well. How was your weekend? Ours was nice, but it seemed to go by a little too fast.

Friday night we strolled around the city, trying to discover places we've never seen before. We headed west and found ourselves in the heart of Fitler Square. This is a lovely neighborhood sandwiched between Rittenhouse and the Graduate Hospital neighbohoods, and bordered to the west by the Schuykill River. We both really loved it, and have decided to add it to our list of possible neighborhoods to buy in. It would be moderately less expensive than living in the heart of Rittenhouse or Washington Square West, and still close enough to transportation and all the other attractions Center City has to offer.

Saturday we walked our poor legs to the bone. We intended to head to Queen Village for coffee, only to find ourselves swept up in the lively atmosphere of the Italian Market Festival. We browsed a ton of booths, listened to the amped up street music and enjoyed a chocolate covered pineapple treat. We got there just early enough to avoid the massive crowds I know showed up later in the afternoon.

After that we walked to Old City to check out the Old City Stroll and Sidewalk Sale. I had been looking forward to it all week, because I love a lot of the shops in Old City, but it was actually pretty lame. The merchandise was unimpressive, and if that wasn't enough, it was completely overpriced. I give it a big thumbs down, but thanks for trying!

Later that night we went to University City to see the new Star Trek movie with some of my co-workers. I would usually skip a movie like this, but Alan is a huge fan, so I went to support his interests. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised, but it turned out being just as awful as I thought it might be. To give it credit, though, everyone else that went really liked it. They were able to pick up on the side jokes and references that beamed straight over my head. I'll refrain from making any negative comments, so I don't spoil it for anyone else. Are any of you Star Trek fans?

After the movie we all went to a Mexican restaurant to have snacks and chat about the film. I was so hungry when I went in that I never even took the time to see what the name of the restaurant was. It was good, though! This was my favorite part of the evening. We had a great time together.

Today we did the us(ual). We got groceries, saw two open houses and are now chilling in the apartment. It's cold in Philadelphia today. I don't think the temperatures even reached 60 degrees. The weather has been strange so far this year. I hope it starts to warm up soon.

I hope you guys have a great night. Our friends Michael and Jeremy are coming to visit us from North Carolina this week. They arrive on Tuesday. We're going to spend a few days in Philadelphia before heading to New York City for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing them and to get back to NYC.

Have a great night. I've attached a few weekend pictures below.

I'll chat with you soon!

Love, Josh

The group of us who went to see Star Trek (minus Margaret).



Abigail snoozing on her favorite spot.



Galileo playing peek-a-boo as Doris hops around in the background.

Design for Journalists Project #2

Hey Bloggy Friends,

I'm sure you're happy to find yourself at the end of another week. The weather is great in Philadelphia today. It's a little sticky, but I don't mind it so much.

I've been very productive this afternoon. I took Alan to work this morning, drove to the grocery store to get our weekend shopping out of the way, and took six big bags of clothes to Philadelphia AIDS Thrift. Now I'm just chillin' at home, so I thought I'd share the second of my design projects with you.

This was one of my favorite assignments. We were asked to create a layout for the cover of a magazine. I was inspired by THIS cover while waiting in line at the grocery store, so I used it as a guideline for my own. My goal was to keep it minimal, sexy and informative. We were required to have three headlines, a photo and of course a title.

I decided to use one of the photos from the promo shoot we did for my radio show, Fabulously Focused. I thought it would make it more fun to use images that were personal, and besides, who doesn't want to see themselves on the cover of a magazine? I designed it as if it were a college publication, specifically geared to inform students about the broadcasting projects of their peers.

I was pretty happy with the way it turned out, but the teacher complained that I didn't bold certain fonts to establish more prominence in my headlines. I can see where I should have done that now, but at the time it escaped me. Oh well!

Grade: 85/100

Thanks for stopping by to check it out. I hope you guys have a great weekend. It's calling for rain here, but it was also supposed to rain today and the sun is shining bright. Let's hope they're wrong again!

I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

Design for Journalists Project #1

Hey Bloggy Friends,

I finally wrapped up my semester yesterday. I feel so relieved. The past few months have been rewarding, but I'm so anxious to take a few months off before I start back in the fall.

If you have the time, I'd like to share some of the projects I've been working on over the past few months, especially the ones in my journalism courses.

I'll start with my Design for Journalists class. This course is a requirement for all journalism majors, if you are planning to focus on design as a career or not. The intention is to give us experience in all areas of journalism, so that when we are looking for a job we will have a wider variety of skills to offer prospective employers. I was skeptical about taking this course at first, but now I'm so happy I did. I learned so much about different design programs like Photoshop, InDesign and Dreamweaver. These are tools that will undoubtedly prove to be useful in my career, and at home.

Our first project was to create a photo story, a story that is told through a series of photographs. I decided to take pictures at Iovine's Produce Market in the Reading Terminal, where Alan and I get our produce every Sunday. I chose this location because I thought the vibrant colors of the fruits and vegetables, along with the hustle bustle of the busy atmosphere, would make a visually stunning set of photographs, while also telling an interesting story.

Our requirement in Photoshop was minimal in this project, but the teacher wanted us to at least touch up the photos before we presented them to the class. I enhanced some of the colors, and cropped certain photos to create stronger focal points. I was happy with the way it turned out. I've attached the photos below. I hope you enjoy!

Grade: 100/100

Have a great night. I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh (an official senior!)

IOVINE'S PRODUCE MARKET - READING TERMINAL

Getting To Know Doris.

Hi Bloggy Friends,

Enjoy some of these images of Doris I took recently. I know you don't know her very well yet.

She's an odd little puppy. She's sweet as can be, but sometimes I think she has somewhat of a troubled soul. Bless her heart.

I hope you're having a nice night.

Love, Josh

Mothers Are Our Greatest Gift.

Hey Bloggy Mommas!

I hope you guys are having an amazing day. It's beautiful in Philadelphia. After a week of constant downpour, I am so happy to announce that we've had a weekEND full of clear skies and sunshine.

Are you doing anything special for Mother's Day? We are both hundreds of miles away from our moms, so we have to settle with telephone conversations. My family and I have never put a lot of stock in made up holidays like this, but it would be nice to have her here, to let her know how much she means to me.

I think mothers are THE most important things on earth, and unfortunately the ones who are most often taken for granted. It's amazing how much sacrifice they make in their own lives to devote time to raising us to be the people they believe we should be. Where would we be without our mothers?

No, my mom and I don't always see eye to eye, but she fulfilled her role as mother to the best of her ability. Sure it's easy to find fault in some of the decisions our parents made over the years, but as I get older I realize the decisions that really meant something are the ones that have lasted the longest within me. My mom is supportive, she is caring and she is the one person I can go to who will always tell it like it is. She is my guiding force throughout life. It is with her guidance that I make the decisions that move me through my days. I am who I am because of my mom, and though I have some flaws, I am very happy with who that person has become. Thank you mom. I couldn't have ever done it without you. I love you. I appreciate you. My life is what it is because of you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I also want to take a moment to recognize some of our newer mothers in the house - my sister Alexandra and our good Bloggy Friend Monica. They are both reveling in the joys of motherhood as we type/read. I know they will both make the most amazing mothers. Bravo to you both.

I hope you all have a great night. I'm attaching a few pictures of my mom. I hope you enjoy!

Love, Josh

Mom in 1976, before Motherhood.


Mom getting me ready in 1981. She always liked us to look nice.


Mom with Derek and I in 1982.


Mom in a new role - grandmother.

Birthday Shout-Out: My Sister, Alexandra!

Hi Bloggy Brothers and Sisters!


Today is my sister, Alexandra's, 21st birthday. I can't believe it.

There's a pretty wide age gap between us, so I can clearly remember the day she was born. We were all hoping for a girl so badly. So far in our family there were a bunch of boys - me, Derek and our cousin Billy. I wanted a little sister so I could dress her up, fix her hair, and of course, play with her Barbies.

Waiting at the hospital for her arrival, we were finally informed that she had been born. My mom, however, gave strict orders to the nurses not to tell us what her sex was. She wanted to be the one to let us know. Before I had a chance to see my mom in her room, they brought Alex into the viewing area for us all to see. I still didn't know what she was, but they had a pink hat on her, so I had an inkling. There were two ladies standing next to me saying, "yep, it's a little girl." It wasn't long after that mom told us the good news. I had a sister!

One of the funniest memories I have of Alex is when she started school. I wanted her to be the cutest little girl in her class. I would pick out her outfits (usually frilly dresses), and plan the way I thought her hair should look. Of course mom never let her go to school in those dresses, but a boy could dream!

I did succeed in one thing. I would talk her into letting me put curlers in her hair the night before. I thought I was a pro, but I had no idea about how those things worked. I would brush Alex's hair, wrap the curlers in it the best I could and send her off to bed. Bless her heart. I can't believe I made her sleep in those things. I couldn't wait to wake up the next morning to see how it turned out. Unfortunately, it was usually a giant mess of hair that my mom would have to end up taming on her own.

I eventually gave up on the curler thing, but that's still something she and I giggle about to this very day.

I love you Alex. Have a great birthday!

I'll chat with ya'll soon!

Love, Josh

Alex and I after a rather successful hair venture with the crimper.


Alex with her Barbies, that I named and dressed myself!

I'll Race Ya!

Hello Bloggy Friends,

I hope you're doing well. Can I mix you up a mint julep?

I'm sure you heard that yesterday was Derby Day in Kentucky. It's a busy, exciting time there, especially in Louisville. Growing up, Derby was a big deal. At school we'd treat it like it was a major holiday. The week before we'd decorate our classroom doors, make derby hats out of construction paper and even set up a game where we could bet on their favorite horses. At the end of the week we'd have a derby party where we could show off our hats and sip on virgin mint juleps, which were basically dixie cups of sprite garnished with a sprig of mint. Oh, the memories.

I was shocked later in life when I tasted what a REAL mint julep tasted like. Whoa, Mama!

I hope you had a nice weekend. It's still rainy in Philadelphia. I don't think there was a single moment today when there wasn't a raindrop falling from the sky. We didn't let that stop us from getting out and about though. We saw three open houses, got our grocery shopping finished and.... and... well that's about it.

Right now Alan is preparing Arctic Char with Mustard and Ginger. Instead of Nina, we've decided to listen to Ella tonight. I was shocked when Alan suggested her. I didn't even know he knew who she was. I love Ella.

Last night we were invited to our friends Kaushik and Kaushiki's house in Ardmore. Kaushik works with Alan at GSK. They were also lab mates at UCSF in San Francisco. He and Kaushiki were married nearly a year ago in India. We love spending time with them. They're a great couple.

Kaushiki's been promising to make us an authentic Indian meal for a while now, and last night her promise finally came to fruition. She served an impressive assortment of traditional Indian fare that I can't even begin to spell, but they were so delicious. I'm not sure I can ever be happy in an Indian restaurant again. To top it off she served a wonderful Indian dessert, that I also don't remember the name of, but it was fantastic. I could have eaten all night. We had a wonderful time. It's experiences like this that remind me of how blessed I am. Thank you, thank you!

Before I close I want to inform you about a new BLOG in our midst that I think many of you may find interesting, especially you Mimi. It's called "Unraveling My Tapestry." The author is Bloggy Friend Bill's partner Gary. His interests lie mainly in politics (hence the Mimi recommendation), gay issues, music and art. I am always fascinated at the amount of information he digs up. It's very informing, intelligent and an excellent way to get the news that applies to many of us. Thanks for your contribution, Gary. I've been looking forward to this one! You can find it HERE or by clicking the link in the "Blogs I Read" section. Stop by to say hello!

I hope you have a great week. I'll be working on a final project for my radio class, and taking my first exam on Thursday. Wish me luck!

Enjoy a few pictures from the weekend below. I'll chat with you soon.

Love, Josh

After having one too many mint juleps with our friend Tim.


We all deserve a Miss America moment.


Mary Todd and Doris napping together. How cute is this?

Feel Like Smilin'?

Happy Friday Bloggy Friends!

Do you need a smile today? I think this picture of Doris is so funny. She's such a little cutie. She's growing like a little weed, and doing very well. I don't think she'll end up getting as big as Galileo, though, since she's smaller now than he was at her age.


Speaking of smiles, I can barely wipe this one off of my face. Yesterday was my very last day of classes this semester! Now all I have to do is wrap up a few projects, and take a few exams before I can stick a fork in it for good. I'm so excited. I'm really looking forward to the summer time.

The weather has been gloomy in Philadelphia lately, but still rather nice. I haven't seen much sunshine, but the air is warm. Unfortunately, the forecast calls for rain through Sunday. Let's hope they got this one wrong. I love getting out and about on the weekend.

Last night we went do dinner with friends at a restaurant called, THE LATEST DISH. It's located near Fourth and South in Queen Village. It was really tasty. They had a nice variety of food on the menu, including several impressive vegetarian dishes. Alan and I shared the tilapia dish, and the seitan meatloaf. They were both delicious.

I hope you guys are having a great afternoon. Have a nice weekend. I'll be back to chat in a few days.

Love, Josh

P.S. I'm not sure how many words Doris' picture is worth, but THIS one is definitely worth a thousand. A friend from high school, Danielle, has picked up photography recently and her work continues to knock my socks off. I'm very proud of her. She's available for hire if you're looking to have portraits made.