Camera Obscura -- Art History Project

What a busy semester it has been! Now that things are finally winding down, hopefully I can put a little more time into my blog, and less into the Kaleidoscope. I can't believe that I only have one issue left!

For my Art History class final project, my teacher gave us two options. We could either write a research paper, or we could build a camera obscura. A what? A camera obscura.

This video explains what it is really well.

So basically, light is freaking weird. If you take a room in your house, make it completely dark, and then let in just a tiny hole of light, all the rays of light will bend and project a picture of whatever is outside, inside. It applies to Art History because it is believed that is how Vermeer painted his paintings and studied color.

I guilted Austin into helping me. He didn't believe it would work. Honestly, I didn't think that I could get it to work either.

But guess what?!

It worked!!!!!!!!!!!

How cool is that? Mine isn't quite as bright or as clear as the one in the video. I think it was too cloudy outside to really get a good projection. I'm just happy that it worked!

So what do you guys think? Have you ever seen anything like that before? What was the coolest project you ever did in school? Tell me in the comments below!

So I've Been Thinking...: Staying healthy for school, work, and life

     The following was published in the September 10, 2012 issue of the Kishwaukee Kaleidoscope.

      I was one week into school when it happened. Everything had been going great. I felt like I was really on top of my classes and my homework at the end of the week. Thursday, the last day of my school week,  I went to got to bed for the night, laid my head down on my pillow, and immediately my ears began to hurt. "That is strange", I thought to myself. I got up, went downstairs, cleaned them  out, and tried to go back to bed, even though my ears were still hurting me.

     I woke up the next morning feeling absolutely awful. I reached up and felt my lymph nodes. They were swollen and tender to the touch. My nose was running, my ears felt like they were full of water, my throat was raw, dry, and scratchy, and to top it all off, I had a pounding headache. "Oh no!", I groaned. I knew right then and there that I had a caught a cold.

     At that point there was nothing I could do but finish getting ready and head off to work. I just had to deal with it. I hoped that maybe I could muscle through it and still have a productive day, so I popped some cold medicine and headed into the office.

     Work that day and for the next two days was torture. I sat in front of my computer and got very little accomplished. The whole time I was at work I longed to be home sleeping. I was just flat out miserable.

     As I write this I can honestly say that I feel much better. After sleeping for hours, taking whatever cold medicine I could find, and basically being more useless than your average vegetable for three days I feel much better and I am even getting some things done. 

     After this little incident, I know that I am going to be much more careful in taking care of myself. Just because school has started and I'm very busy doesn't mean that I should ignore my health. Kougars, learn from my mistake and start taking care of yourself now, before you get sick.