Arts/Cultural Blog Post #3: The Arboretum at Penn State

I absolutely do not think of myself as a nature lover at all. I think part of it has to do with where I come from. Being from south Florida, it is hot and humid all the time, making it a miserable experience to be outside for an extended period of time. On top of that, palm trees can only be interesting for so long. Nature was never something I could truly enjoy, as I just became bored with it way to easily

Surprisingly, I enjoyed going to The Arboretum. This happened to be my first time going there. The walk was a bit of a trek from my dorm, but it was a nice cool day and gave me a chance to experience what fall actually feels like (we don't really have seasons in Florida). When I began to approach the Arboretum, I saw just a ton of green. From a distance it looks like just your average field. As I walked up the hill, the vivid colors of the garden started to come in to view. When I made it up to the Overlook Pavilion, it stunned me just how large the garden is. I was immediately drawn to the map of Penn State's campus just outside the Pavilion. I thought it was extremely cool once I realized what it was that  I was looking at. I stayed with the group as we walked around the garden, walking under what seemed like a massive arc made of trees to get to the outer edge of the garden, where I took the picture above. I think the fountain was a real nice touch too, as it added a sort of tranquility to the center of the Arboretum.

Overall, I enjoyed the trip. It was very eye opening on how beautiful nature can be when it's outside of your normal enviroment. I'm not quite sure if I would go back there on my own time, but I would not complain if I was with a group of friends and they suggested that we go back there. It was a cool experience and something I will always remember.

Arts/Cultural Blog Post #2: Palmer Museum Visit

No piece at the Palmer Art Museum caught my eye in quite the same way as the sculpture above did. The sculpture is of a Peruvian monkey, and the artist is unknown. It stems from the Moche culture and was made during the early intermediate time period. It was given to the museum as a gift by Dr. and Mrs. Kehl Markley. The piece seems to be something that the artist decided to make on his or her own time. I do not believe there is much of a social/political aspect to it, but there definitely has to be some sort of cultural background to it. If I had to guess, I'd say the artist was of a the Peruvian background and these types of monkeys are common in his or her local area.

The piece really connected to me on first glance. It was the first piece of art in the museum that made me think back to something back home in Florida. It immediately made me think of my younger brother and sisters. As strange as that sounds, I vividly recalled some inside jokes between the four of us centered around a monkey. It touched me emotionally in that way, making me think about my family back home and wishing they could've been there with me. It made me think about how much my sisters would've enjoyed the experience of going to the Palmer Art Museum. If I dig deeper into my emotions, the piece sparked the values instilled within me of family first. It reminded me that even though I am far away, my family is still with me in my thoughts. It really was a great feeling.

There is almost no credibility on this piece of work because the artist is unknown. It could've been anyone who made it. It could've been a man or a woman, a boy or a girl. It could've been a masterful sculptor or a young student. That is part of the mystique behind this piece, not knowing exactly who made it, why they made it, or what else they made. Still, I believe this piece was very well crafted and the artist absolutely knew what he or she wanted to do with it.

The piece persuades me to look deeper into it, to see if there is a deeper meaning than what it shows on the surface. At first glance, I believe the claim to this piece is strictly cultural. I thought it intended just to show that the monkey is a part of Moche Culture. Then, as I thought about it more, I came to the realization that the claim this piece is making may be about how great of an animal the monkey is. It could be speaking about how intelligent it is, and even how us humans were at one point on the same level as it. There can definitely be more than one claim on this piece of art.

Overall, I'd have to say I surprisingly enjoyed my experience in visiting Palmer Art Museum. Normally, I'm not a big art guy. It was like pulling teeth to get me to go to an art museum on any given day. I'm not a great artist myself, so I never truly had an appreciation for the time and effort that goes in to making these pieces. Being that it was my first time here, it was refreshing for me to realize that this museum was different than most museums. It was refreshing to be able to take pictures of the works and in some cases be allowed to touch them. I don't know if I'd go back on my own time for leisure, but if I had to go back to the museum for another class or for this class again, I would not complain. Considering most of my peers in the class had a similar view point to mine on the arts, it was nice to have them along with me. I do not believe I would have enjoyed this experience as much if I would have gone by myself. Having friends there really made this a memorable experience for me.

Arts/Cultural Blog Post #1: What We Talk About When We Talk About Blogs

Template: I wanted to go with a pretty basic template for this blog. I wanted it to be easy to navigate and have the information pop right out at you. I also think having a navigation bar on the top is a huge help in keeping the blog easy to use. I also added a picture of me playing hockey in the background to make this blog unique.

Title: I wanted to go with a title that was a play on words. The saying "Picture Me Ballin'"has become popular among the basketball/rapping community, so I slightly changed it to "Picture Me Bloggin'" to come up with my blog's title. I thought it was catchy.

Color: I went with basic black and white on this blog. It meshed well with the picture in the background and it made the text easy to read. I feel like the white on black pops off the page.

Font: I'm not to creative when it comes to fonts, but I liked the way the "Lucky Guy" font looked on the top page for the title and description. For the text in the blog itself, I want with the basic "Times New Roman" to show professionalism and clarity.

Pages: I'm still trying to figure out exactly how the pages work, but I like having them accessible through the top of the screen on the navigation bar.

Sharing/Finding: The archives are available on the right side of the blog for easy finding of information.

About Me: In my About Me page I included some information about myself. i want everyone to know why I'm here, where I came from, and what I enjoy doing in my spare time..

Overall, I like the way my blog looks and believe it is easy to navigate. let me know what you think!

About Me

What's up guys? My name is Austin Luboff, I'm 18 years old and I'm from Parkland, FL, which is located about 20 minutes west of Ft. Lauderdale. I decided to move away from Florida and come up here to Pennsylvania for many different reasons, ranging from the chance to play hockey for this school to getting out of the hot Florida weather. So far, I think I've made the right decision.  

My main hobby is ice hockey. I've played competitively for as long as I can remember, and I've put in years of hard work to get to where I am today. I couldn't be more honored to be part of the hockey program here at Pennsylvania State University, and I hope to help build the program into one of the best in the nation.  

Aside from hockey, I enjoy other sports like basketball and football. I also enjoy music, specifically the hip-hop and rap genre. My favorite artists to listen to are Big Sean, Drake, J. Cole, and Wiz Khalifa. I love meeting new people and making new friends, so feel free to introduce yourself to me. Oh, and I'm obsessed with twitter... follow me @luby3131!!  

I hope I can keep this blog interesting, and will try to post more than just class assignments on it. I hope you enjoy it!