I used "Numbers", for Mac, which isn't free but it isn't that expensive; it's part of the "iWork" suite (Pages, Keynote, Numbers), for $69. I gather it's possible to make charts in Excel but it's not as easy.
Thank you, Merely Academic. Let me attempt to describe this.
Magnificent. Before I delve into symmetry and deeper meaning of this work, I must first comment on the colors. A scientist could reasonably select colors to be consistent based on the data set – lighter colors for fun pass times and bluer for work related chores. Such thinking would be inappropriate here because the data decide this for themselves. One color pallet for each set of similar lines is their verdict. To do otherwise is a second degree misdemeanor against aesthetics (60 days, $500 fine).
Make no mistake, my graphically inclined readers, we are not just dealing with a chart. This is art.
My gaze is drawn to the symmetry along both axes of the reading break, then flowing left and right simultaneously. As I sit back, trying to physically take in the graph as a whole, my mind stretches to simply comprehend. The lines falling from the left and rising to the right - a bird. Perhaps not. Might it be The Phoenix?
Ah, but the artist has shown me to be a fool! While I am transfixed by the symmetry, it is not so! The softer colors of grading, facebook, junk food and web surfing stand behind the dark shades and peak too (higher!), though offset from the central reading week. The blue lines are dominant visually but they die. The orange lines exist, like a shadow, and yet the shadow rises as time proceeds. This is a masterful invocation of the life of Tina Turner, initially standing behind Ike but then rising to fulfill her destiny. We have come full circle: The Phoenix!
Beaker Ben, that was breathtaking. Please, can you be a referee on my next article?
Turner Falls, absolutely! It was MUCH more fun than all the grading I'm so desperately behind on, and that's why I was up at 5:30 this morning to tackle that stack of papers. Yet I do not regret it. :)
@Merely: I like your charts. What software did you use to create them? I could use a good free program to create sexy charts.
ReplyDeleteI used "Numbers", for Mac, which isn't free but it isn't that expensive; it's part of the "iWork" suite (Pages, Keynote, Numbers), for $69. I gather it's possible to make charts in Excel but it's not as easy.
ReplyDeleteImagine the life of those of us on the quarter system, who don't even know there is such a thing as a "reading break."
ReplyDeleteWhenever I see an academic chart I think, "Hmmm, time could have been spent better on lesson plans on grading."
ReplyDeleteThank you, Merely Academic. Let me attempt to describe this.
ReplyDeleteMagnificent. Before I delve into symmetry and deeper meaning of this work, I must first comment on the colors. A scientist could reasonably select colors to be consistent based on the data set – lighter colors for fun pass times and bluer for work related chores. Such thinking would be inappropriate here because the data decide this for themselves. One color pallet for each set of similar lines is their verdict. To do otherwise is a second degree misdemeanor against aesthetics (60 days, $500 fine).
Make no mistake, my graphically inclined readers, we are not just dealing with a chart. This is art.
My gaze is drawn to the symmetry along both axes of the reading break, then flowing left and right simultaneously. As I sit back, trying to physically take in the graph as a whole, my mind stretches to simply comprehend. The lines falling from the left and rising to the right - a bird. Perhaps not. Might it be The Phoenix?
Ah, but the artist has shown me to be a fool! While I am transfixed by the symmetry, it is not so! The softer colors of grading, facebook, junk food and web surfing stand behind the dark shades and peak too (higher!), though offset from the central reading week. The blue lines are dominant visually but they die. The orange lines exist, like a shadow, and yet the shadow rises as time proceeds. This is a masterful invocation of the life of Tina Turner, initially standing behind Ike but then rising to fulfill her destiny. We have come full circle: The Phoenix!
Beaker Ben, that was breathtaking. Please, can you be a referee on my next article?
ReplyDeleteTurner Falls, absolutely! It was MUCH more fun than all the grading I'm so desperately behind on, and that's why I was up at 5:30 this morning to tackle that stack of papers. Yet I do not regret it. :)