Nationwide Hokie pride.

I know a lot of people that currently go to Virginia Tech or have recently graduated from there. I also know many high school students planning to attend as well. A large community here in northern Va. has been affected greatly by this tragedy. Even before this event occurred, students always had Hokie pride and expressed love for their school. Now Columbine seems too close to home.

It made me realize how quickly things can change and how Internet use can be crucial at these times. The best way to contact my two cousins (who are brothers) and friends at school was through Facebook. Cell phones tend to be busy and it may not be a proper time to call. Facebook allows quick updates that gets the news out there to everyone. There are groups and notes written in support and I'm glad those I know turned out OK.

I've been watching the news constantly and sometimes I feel overwhelmed and stop watching. I cried again. But then, I started to check online updates at washingtonpost.com, nytimes.com and vt.edu.

There are also Mason Web sites for more info: Outreach and President Merten's letter.

Everyone should watch the Convocation video clip, especially Nikki Giovanni's address. Here's the transcript:

"We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech."

Brand spankin' new.

Anybody out there like the new look?

I was getting bored with the old layout so it was time for a change for the blog and my Web site.

Check out:

• A more organized layout featuring top news headlines
• New photos of GMU's campus and events, my artwork and some cute stuff
• Videos powered by Google (relating to art and design), which will play at the top of the page after a selection is made
  
• A more condensed page only featuring the most recent entries to avoid excessive scrolling down
  

Hopefully I'll get some positive feedback. =) I should get back to my art history paper/project now. I'm totally procrastinating and I've only written one sentence so far.

Coke's new rap.

Shawn Carter, more widely known as rapper Jay-Z, is the man behind the new design for Coca-Cola Cherry.

Click here to read more.

The hip-hop entrepeneur has worked on other projects including his record label: Roc-A-Fella, GM vehicles, Budweiser Select and Rocawear apparel.

Apparently, he has a reputation for bringing flavor to his side projects. As for me, the new style is cool but sometimes I feel that it confuses people. By the text reading as: Coca-Cola Cherry, people might assume that it is Coke Zero or similar to Diet Coke.

I've also noticed the deeper colors for the new design. Instead of the usual red and black, there is white across hints of magenta.

It's cool to see how Coca-Cola has evolved throughout the years. A classic remains timeless even with changes. Let's take a look of some of the styles over time of the signature line. There have been cocaine, lime, cherry, vanilla, black cherry vanilla, blak and other limited edition fusions.

Somewhere out there...

Here's an interesting blog I found. It's about Dr. Charles Simonyi, who has donated millions of dollars in exchange for the trip of a lifetime. Well, actually it's only about ten days long.

He will be reaching the International Space Station and will return on April 20.

Simonyi was one of the founders for Microsoft applications like Word. He is a billionaire (no surprise) and the fifth individual to travel in space.

He has been documenting his travels through his blog entitled, Charles in Space.

Simonyi answers questions about space travel and the six month program where he prepared for the trip. There are also videos and updates about his voyage.

It's definitely something exciting to check it since Thursday was the anniversary of the first astronaut in space in 1961.