Spring Break Guide to Podcasting

Hey everyone! Well, for most of the students at the University of Texas at Tyler, our Spring Break period has come to and end. What then,dear reader, does this mean I was doing the whole time? Well, one thing I have always loved has been audio podcasts. What is a podcast? Many might know them as a series of audio or video productions released over a series of time as a means to cover some particular subject.

The Adventure of World Building Part #2

In the previous blog I spoke about one of the foundational elements of world building - weather! Weather is more than just set dressing, it allows us to explain food and crops, religion, and it can also impact the mood. This next blog will deal with another foundational element - money! While you don't need to completely grasp economics, the following thoughts might help you along ...

So, this one might seem a little weird, but bear with me. In settings that rely on a re-creation of the modern world economy, the US dollar or other forms of currency might be used. This is only logical. Still, other kinds of settings might not only require different fashions of currency, they might also not even use money at all (ala Star Trek) or they use things we might not consider 'money' at all.

The larger point here is that you need to understand what it is your characters do, how they justify their living, and (if you are doing a non-typical setting) you need to account for what/how things get done. Does your awesome photo-journalist investigator drive a Focus or a Jaguar? Do we actually see your main character, the free-lance captain of a space-ship ever get paid when we keep hearing he is debt? For all its faults, Star Wars at least showed what happens when you default on your loans to criminal space slugs.

EXAMPLE: Seeing as how I mentioned I was basing some of my own novel's ideas/plots on a setting very
much like ancient china, I had to be aware of how people paid for ... anything at all! I found out (very interestingly) that silk was so prevalent at a certain point in the history of the Han Dynasty that people actually used it as payment. Sheets of silks were historically a kind of "bond" people paid to other people for goods. I decided an interesting plot point was two different kingdoms use different dyes for their silks (red and blue) to distinguish one kingdoms "money" from another. Each kingdom guards its silk production facilities and the trees that feed the silkworms. This sets up awareness of where/how money is set up. It's not meant to be the biggest point but it is meant to afford the setting some kind of verisimilitude.

In the end, focus on knowing how your characters and how money works. I can't work for free and unless your character happened to inherit a staggering fortune which is held in a goblin bank, know how he/she gets paid. Work from there to see how your character acts when he/she looses his or her job, or when their globe trotting adventure to save the world from space ants has them return to an eviction notice.

The Adventure of World Building Part #1

As an English Major one of the things I am confronted with is the dreaded question - what do you want to do with your life? I long ago decided on Academia as my passion, but I have other passions to vent desires and needs that grading papers and academic level writing cannot fill. What might that be? Writing books!

How to talk to girls at UT Tyler

       Hey guys! So I was doing some thinking about what exactly I should blog about, and I got an idea when I saw a couple of people talking to one another. And I understand that there may be some of you that find it difficult to talk to girls, so today I'm going to give you some super helpful tricks and tips about how to get to know them!

       First of all, don't be afraid to be yourself around a girl. If you really want to get to know them, then you need to be able to be yourself. Trust me, if people can tell that you're comfortable with who you are, then people are much more likely to want to be your friend. When I started to be more comfortable with who I am, I noticed that people seemed to be more interested in how I am. Be confident!

       Have good hygiene. Brush your teeth. Take a shower. This is actually something that you should live by anyways, daily. Because it's important to take care of yourself. Nobody likes to be that person sitting next to the guy who has really bad body odor. If anything, put on some deodorant at least. It works pretty well, and it makes you smell like you MIGHT have showered, so at least there's that. But seriously, dress to impress.
 
     Be mature when you talk. And by this, I mostly mean avoid saying any of those pick up lines. Girls don't like when you treat them like a joke. Be serious in your conversation with them, and they'll be that much more willing to talk to you!

But don't let being mature keep you from being funny sometimes. I try to make people laugh and smile pretty much any time I can, and it actually works!

But like I said, steer clear of anything that could be taken as degrading or insulting! Try to think about what to say before you say it.
      So there are a few tips that you could use to try to talk to girls. Basically, treat them the way you would want someone else to treat you! Girls are just people! It's not that difficult to do. Good luck!

     Do any of you have any extra tips? Leave us a comment below and let us know! :)

F.A.Q: How to See Your Enrollment To-Do List

New students and applicants, this one is for you. I’ve explained many, many times on calls to my perspective student friends how you can check if you still owe the University of Texas at Tyler any of your paperwork or items so that we can finish processing your application and you can get a quick response from the university about whether you have been granted acceptance.

While I still have no problem explaining how to access this fabled to-do list, I thought it might help if I could give you a visual step-by-step instruction post on how to find it!

Step 1: Locate your email you should have received with your login information and open it so you have the information ready.

Step 2: Go to the My Uttyler webpage pictured below and enter your information OR set up your account if you haven’t done so.

Step 3: On the next page once you have entered your info, click on the “Student Home Page” tab

Step 4: When the sections have loaded, click on the “Student Center” link under the System Access box at the top right.

Step 5: Congrats! You’re on the right page. Now look on the right side and see if it says “No To Do’s.” If not, we still need whatever’s listed there!

Tips:

• ! If you get an “error has occurred” screen, refresh your page and try your information one more time. If that doesn't work, send an Email to itsupport@uttyler.edu  or call them at (903)565-5555
• And remember you should never send your password.
• ! Email any other technical issues you may send them into to the same email.
• ! If you need help with any of your To Do list items, call the One Stop Enrollment Shop at (903) 566-7180
• ! If you need any advice or suggestions, comment below or call us any time at the Admissions Call Center.

How To Lose a Potential Valentine

I know I should only be focusing on school and classes, but with Valentines Day approaching, I figured this post was very much appropriate.
In college you're going to meet all sorts of people and talk to a lot of people interested in dating you. This guy made it very easy for me to decide that I wanted nothing to do with him.
So, here is how to get rid a potential date, readers, as experienced by me.

1. Say "lol" after absolutely everything.
And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING.

2. Blow up their inbox.
Sometimes people are busy. Sometimes they're sleep. They're not always ignoring you, I promise.

3. Be condescending.
You can be younger, older, smarter, not so smart, whatever. Take into account that the other person might know what they're talking about.

3. Not be yourself.
You shouldn't try to mold yourself to the other person's interests. Just be yourself!

4. Unneccesarily argue.
If we're already arguing, that's not a good sign for the future.

5. Be flaky.
Stick to your word. When you say you're going to do something, do it. If you say you're going to be somewhere at a certain time, be there at that time.

Basically, just be good to the person you're interested in. Treat your Valentine well. No need to be extravagant or extra-cheesy (unless that's what you like).
And remember that chocolate and compliments go a long way ;)

How to make a club and influence people ... and stuff

   One of my more rewarding college experiences (outside of passing my first Dr. Strong test … seriously … it was euphoric!) was the creation and administration of The University of Texas at Tyler Game Club. Let’s rewind a little with our DeLorian-esque powers and look at how on earth I was able to make a club based around card, paper, and board games. I promise not to re-cast myself as somebody like Jude Law or Ewan McGregor in this flashback.

   When I first arrived at the campus I had come from three other universities, one of them a BIG campus in a major Texas city, and the other a film school. These college experiences were good or having taught me the inner workings of a trade-style university, and a university where the campus was so big you’d never see all of it, but this one was different. The University of Texas at Tyler was small enough to give me more interaction with people on a social level, as opposed to simply hobnobbing about with people before class only to see them all rush off once the TA was done teaching class, the style of interaction I was used to from “the bigger university”.