Extending my reach...
I received this fantastic news: "Congratulations again on your selection by The Fund for Public Schools to receive a Library REACH grant to upgrade your library media center. I would also like to inform you that your school is one of 15 schools selected to receive an additional $1,000 Best Buy Gift Card to further improve your library facility. These gift cards are made possible through the generosity of Best Buy and their partnership with The Fund for Public Schools."
Yayyyyy! Computers aren't an option, and a color printer would be too expensive to maintain (not to mention that it would raise all kinds of complications regarding which students could use it for what), so I'm thinking digital camera and video camera for student/project use, flash drives for student use, maybe a digital photo frame to display student-taken photos on a loop in order to draw students into the library... We'll see! It's a fun dilemma.
Here's the class applicable stuff, though, perfectly timed after our discussion last class:
Next paragraph:
"Best Buy takes its commitment to communities seriously. They know that a strong, healthy community is a great place to live and work, and the strength of the community is dependent on the strength of its schools. Best Buy rewards schools like yours that are finding creative ways to engage students through the hands-on use of technology. For more information on Best Buy's focus on teens, see http://www.bestbuyinc.com/community_relations/our_focus.htm."
So now I know! Best Buy is in a genuine partnership with The Fund for Public Schools, and Best Buy really gets me.
I will say this: With $1,000 in my pocket to spend on electronics that I will get to see my students get creative with, I have nothing but appreciation for whatever entity slipped it in there.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
cool. why isn't it cooler?
Two energized 10th grade boys stopped on their way past my circulation desk to check out the pop-up book I have on display called Blood and Goo and Boogers Too! by Steve Alton, Nick Sharratt, and Jo Moore. It's not exactly a must-have for a high school library, true, but you'd be surprised how many kids say, "Whaaaaaaaat? Isn't this for little kids, Miss?" and then spend 10 to 15 minutes flipping through, totally engaged, learning about the human respiratory and circulatory systems... enjoying themselves.
A moment ago, these two boys stopped, amused by the textured cover (the green snot on the cover is gooey and, believe it or not, impossible to resist touching), and said, "Cooooooooooool! I love pop-ups!!"
Then the second boy said, "Does it have sound?"
Really? With all the colorful, complex, interactive features this book, he wanted sound to boot??
A few more words on this dissatisfaction with the pretty darn amazing, a bit more entertainingly expressed, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus
Sunday, February 22, 2009
all together now
If this exercise circulating amongst friends of mine isn't a prime example of ______ involving all of the elements under recent investigation, I don't know what...
It just is.
---
CREATE YOUR BAND NAME & ALBUM COVER:
To Do This
1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.
5 - Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" or "comment" and TAG the friends you want to join in.
---
It just is.
---
CREATE YOUR BAND NAME & ALBUM COVER:
To Do This
1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.
5 - Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" or "comment" and TAG the friends you want to join in.
---
i am where the internet is
I've been sitting at cafe for the past few hours because my internet connection at home went down. I could not do what needed to get done without the internet. It told me where to go and how to restructure my day. Even more annoying than spending hours in an unfortunately chilly place with noisier than ideal strangers is the recognition that I am Connection's slave.
And then...
I made the unfortunate mistake of leaving my copy of Convergence Culture at work, which has been locked up over this last week because of the school's winter break. That reading will have to wait until tomorrow morning, while all of the online-accessible materials were immediately at my fingertips. When I had internet connection. Which has me thinking of internet connection as an almost tangible thing. Interesting!
Another thought...
I spent hours a week or so ago tidying my gmail inbox--from 2,367 unread messages to none...
yet my actual room remains a mess
(though, to be fair, it is roughly shoebox-sized, and looks cluttered even when it's clean).
The Rainie reading on tagging has me thinking a lot about how organized my online presence is. I'm learning, tools are improving, and I'm liking the way my online room is shaping up.
And then...
I made the unfortunate mistake of leaving my copy of Convergence Culture at work, which has been locked up over this last week because of the school's winter break. That reading will have to wait until tomorrow morning, while all of the online-accessible materials were immediately at my fingertips. When I had internet connection. Which has me thinking of internet connection as an almost tangible thing. Interesting!
Another thought...
I spent hours a week or so ago tidying my gmail inbox--from 2,367 unread messages to none...
yet my actual room remains a mess
(though, to be fair, it is roughly shoebox-sized, and looks cluttered even when it's clean).
The Rainie reading on tagging has me thinking a lot about how organized my online presence is. I'm learning, tools are improving, and I'm liking the way my online room is shaping up.
in anticipation of flickr
I love photos (taking them, viewing them, sharing them), and "making" things with them (though I never seem to get around to actually printing photos... Am I doing so less because I'm spending more time staring at my computer screen than I am at, or within, my home walls?), so I'm very excited about our flickr lesson.
In anticipation, I happened upon this incredible site with lots of links to applications that do really fun photo-y things for free:
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/
Here's one example (featuring my boyfriend Brent and friend Megan):
I just spent way too long fooling around with another fun tool, the Magazine Cover maker. See my new profile picture for the fruit of my labor.
Rebecca Blood mentions in her blog posting on flickr (http://www.rebeccablood.net/archive/2006/04/how_flickr_singlehandedly_inve_1.html):
"Flickr slideshow of photos of the French employment riots [Flash required] amply demonstrates that, on Flickr at least, collaborative photojournalism is thriving. That success is at least as much a product of Flickr itself as it is a product of the contributing photographers."
It is clear to me, too, that photojournalism is thriving (as always, I remind my students--and myself--not to believe everything I see in shared photos, no matter how many words they're worth. I'm really interested in consider what trends are born in response to new technologies, and which technologies are devised in response to an expressed need/interest. My guess is that it's almost impossible to tell, and probably irrelevant. Maybe.
Speaking of photo editing software, I just learned (from NYCSLIST) that Sumo Paint is an online image editor that opens in your browser and does most of the things you’d want from Photoshop for free: http://sumopaint.com/web/
Neat!
As I'm reading more about flickr and the "mashups" out there, I'm increasingly excited about the whole thing. My one hesitation, though, is the idea of putting all of my personal photos . Privacy settings, sure, but... they'll be out there for people who know more tricks than I do to access. This general unease is the single reason I've not yet uploaded all of my photos to flickr (my other big fear being that I somehow lose all of my precious private photos thanks to a busted hard drive and a failure to adequately back them up).
A few other reading notes:
- Gail Shea Grainger's "Dewey Browse"
- Howard Rheingold: "My thinking is that activism, to be successful, needs to be visible." (http://www.smartmobs.com/2005/08/16/flickr-based-smartmobbing-the-ministry-of-reshelving)
- This social bookmarking tools site proposes appealing lessons
- Should I create a librarian trading card? Here.
- making sense of tagging / labeling / bookmarking: Lee Rainie argues that tagging is more tailored to individual needs than Dewey's more all-inclusive system.
- I'm not tempted to "label" my blog posts... yet. I will consider if/how it might be of use to me.
In anticipation, I happened upon this incredible site with lots of links to applications that do really fun photo-y things for free:
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/
Here's one example (featuring my boyfriend Brent and friend Megan):
I just spent way too long fooling around with another fun tool, the Magazine Cover maker. See my new profile picture for the fruit of my labor.
Rebecca Blood mentions in her blog posting on flickr (http://www.rebeccablood.net/archive/2006/04/how_flickr_singlehandedly_inve_1.html):
"Flickr slideshow of photos of the French employment riots [Flash required] amply demonstrates that, on Flickr at least, collaborative photojournalism is thriving. That success is at least as much a product of Flickr itself as it is a product of the contributing photographers."
It is clear to me, too, that photojournalism is thriving (as always, I remind my students--and myself--not to believe everything I see in shared photos, no matter how many words they're worth. I'm really interested in consider what trends are born in response to new technologies, and which technologies are devised in response to an expressed need/interest. My guess is that it's almost impossible to tell, and probably irrelevant. Maybe.
Speaking of photo editing software, I just learned (from NYCSLIST) that Sumo Paint is an online image editor that opens in your browser and does most of the things you’d want from Photoshop for free: http://sumopaint.com/web/
Neat!
As I'm reading more about flickr and the "mashups" out there, I'm increasingly excited about the whole thing. My one hesitation, though, is the idea of putting all of my personal photos . Privacy settings, sure, but... they'll be out there for people who know more tricks than I do to access. This general unease is the single reason I've not yet uploaded all of my photos to flickr (my other big fear being that I somehow lose all of my precious private photos thanks to a busted hard drive and a failure to adequately back them up).
A few other reading notes:
- Gail Shea Grainger's "Dewey Browse"
- Howard Rheingold: "My thinking is that activism, to be successful, needs to be visible." (http://www.smartmobs.com/2005/08/16/flickr-based-smartmobbing-the-ministry-of-reshelving)
- This social bookmarking tools site proposes appealing lessons
- Should I create a librarian trading card? Here.
- making sense of tagging / labeling / bookmarking: Lee Rainie argues that tagging is more tailored to individual needs than Dewey's more all-inclusive system.
- I'm not tempted to "label" my blog posts... yet. I will consider if/how it might be of use to me.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
order of preference
I just noted that when I reviewed this week's assignment I viewed the videos first, read the book with varied pictures second, and read the printed, densely paragraphed article last. Upon reflection, I believe I chose to view the videos, the mixed-media, first because it they would take the least discipline, somehow, to engage in.
I wonder, though, if viewing the videos first then made it more difficult to focus without distraction on the printed materials. I noticed long ago that I personally operate less efficiently in the evening after watching TV (so I generally try to avoid it). I appreciate the distinct 'zones' each portion of the assignments put me in.
I wonder, though, if viewing the videos first then made it more difficult to focus without distraction on the printed materials. I noticed long ago that I personally operate less efficiently in the evening after watching TV (so I generally try to avoid it). I appreciate the distinct 'zones' each portion of the assignments put me in.
tech notes
As I write this blog, I'd like to make note of what specific tasks were confusing or difficult for me to accomplish using blogspot. I plan to experiment with adding to this post a note about these difficulties as I come across them.
- I find that I am not able to space postings using the tab key. It's more frustrating than I'd think it would be!
- I find that I am not able to space postings using the tab key. It's more frustrating than I'd think it would be!
medium mulling
Let's start with a definition (and then I'll make a note on what I've learned about definitions not providing enough answers in the instance of media literacy):
medium. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved February 15, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/medium
me⋅di⋅um / ˈmidiəm
1. a middle state or condition; mean.
2. something intermediate in nature or degree.
3. an intervening substance, as air, through which a force acts or an effect is produced.
4. the element that is the natural habitat of an organism.
5. surrounding objects, conditions, or influences; environment.
6. an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished: Words are a medium of expression.
7. one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.
8. Biology. the substance in which specimens are displayed or preserved.
9. Also called culture medium. Bacteriology. a liquid or solidified nutrient material suitable for the cultivation of microorganisms.
10. a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living.
11. Fine Arts.
a. Painting. a liquid with which pigments are mixed.
b. the material or technique with which an artist works: the medium of watercolor.
12. a size of printing paper, 18 1/2 × 23 1/2 in. (47 × 60 cm) in England, 18 × 23 to 19 × 25 in. (46 × 58 to 48 × 64 cm) in America.
13. Chiefly British. a size of drawing or writing paper, 17 1/2 × 22 in. (44 × 56 cm).
14. Also called medium strip. Midland U.S. median strip.
15. in medium, Movies, Television. with the principal actors in the middle distance: The scene was shot in medium.
–adjective
16. about halfway between extremes, as of degree, amount, quality, position, or size: Cook over medium heat. He is of medium height.
I'm struck by the prevalence of environment in this definition, and in McLuhan.
"Environments are not passive wrappings, but are, rather, active processes which are invisible... The interplay between the new and old environments creates many problems and confusions. The main obstacle to a clear understanding of the effects of the new media is our deeply embedded habit of regarding all phenomena from a fixed point of view." (p. 68)
I wonder: what sort of environment is the internet? What kind of environment(s) does it proved? create? deny?
"Environments are invisible. Their groundrules, pervasive structure, and overall patterns elude easy perception." (p. 84-85)
Defining media literacy may not be necessary, or at least it may not provide enough answers. Hobbs acknowledges that broad definitions and range of applications of media literacy leads to diverse approaches that bring conflicts and tensions. Media varies so greatly that so many (deep) understandings of the concept can exist, without one being all-encompassing.
I was struck by mcLuhan, in general. The reading was an experience. Having just viewed the videos, I was considering branding, and what mood the combination of images featured in mcLuhan provoked. The book closes with this quote, bringing the mood to a heightened level: "It is the business of the future to be dangerous." - A. N. Whitehead
I disagree at this juncture with mcLuhan on this point: "As new technologies come into play, people are less and less convinced of the importance of self-expression." (p. 123) I am expressing my personal opinion on this matter, thanks to technology. Just saying.
- Humor teaches!!
- "All media are extensions of some human faculty--psychic or physical." (p. 26)
The quotes I'm mulling for the McLuhan quote assignment:
"there is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening." (p. 25)[This is, I believe, why I'm in this class and profession!]
"The major advances in civilization are processes that all but wreck the societies in which they occur." - A.N. Whitehead (p. 7)
p. 10: unique opportunity to learn by humor (changes perceptions! p. 92)
p. 22: mass audience was
p. 24: Burning Man philosophy!
p. 25: inevitability
p. 26: all media are extensions!
p. 41: extension of sense -> ratios -> CHANGE!
p. 44: Wordsworth: we can't help but see and hear
p. 50: literacy conferred the power of detachment
p. 68: environment
p. 69: multiple models for exploration
p. 70: does over exposure desensitize us?
p. 93: professionalism vs. amateurism
p. 100: student disconnection! education must shift from instruction to probing and exploring
p. 111: music everywhere; visual vs. ear world
p. 113: Socrates! think we'll know everything; know nothing!
p. 123: self expression?
p. 124: no we're adjusting, not inventing; find environments in which we can live with our devices
p. 125: television!
p. 142: propaganda; talk to the media, not the programmers
medium. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved February 15, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/medium
me⋅di⋅um / ˈmidiəm
1. a middle state or condition; mean.
2. something intermediate in nature or degree.
3. an intervening substance, as air, through which a force acts or an effect is produced.
4. the element that is the natural habitat of an organism.
5. surrounding objects, conditions, or influences; environment.
6. an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished: Words are a medium of expression.
7. one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.
8. Biology. the substance in which specimens are displayed or preserved.
9. Also called culture medium. Bacteriology. a liquid or solidified nutrient material suitable for the cultivation of microorganisms.
10. a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living.
11. Fine Arts.
a. Painting. a liquid with which pigments are mixed.
b. the material or technique with which an artist works: the medium of watercolor.
12. a size of printing paper, 18 1/2 × 23 1/2 in. (47 × 60 cm) in England, 18 × 23 to 19 × 25 in. (46 × 58 to 48 × 64 cm) in America.
13. Chiefly British. a size of drawing or writing paper, 17 1/2 × 22 in. (44 × 56 cm).
14. Also called medium strip. Midland U.S. median strip.
15. in medium, Movies, Television. with the principal actors in the middle distance: The scene was shot in medium.
–adjective
16. about halfway between extremes, as of degree, amount, quality, position, or size: Cook over medium heat. He is of medium height.
I'm struck by the prevalence of environment in this definition, and in McLuhan.
"Environments are not passive wrappings, but are, rather, active processes which are invisible... The interplay between the new and old environments creates many problems and confusions. The main obstacle to a clear understanding of the effects of the new media is our deeply embedded habit of regarding all phenomena from a fixed point of view." (p. 68)
I wonder: what sort of environment is the internet? What kind of environment(s) does it proved? create? deny?
"Environments are invisible. Their groundrules, pervasive structure, and overall patterns elude easy perception." (p. 84-85)
Defining media literacy may not be necessary, or at least it may not provide enough answers. Hobbs acknowledges that broad definitions and range of applications of media literacy leads to diverse approaches that bring conflicts and tensions. Media varies so greatly that so many (deep) understandings of the concept can exist, without one being all-encompassing.
I was struck by mcLuhan, in general. The reading was an experience. Having just viewed the videos, I was considering branding, and what mood the combination of images featured in mcLuhan provoked. The book closes with this quote, bringing the mood to a heightened level: "It is the business of the future to be dangerous." - A. N. Whitehead
I disagree at this juncture with mcLuhan on this point: "As new technologies come into play, people are less and less convinced of the importance of self-expression." (p. 123) I am expressing my personal opinion on this matter, thanks to technology. Just saying.
- Humor teaches!!
- "All media are extensions of some human faculty--psychic or physical." (p. 26)
The quotes I'm mulling for the McLuhan quote assignment:
"there is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening." (p. 25)[This is, I believe, why I'm in this class and profession!]
"The major advances in civilization are processes that all but wreck the societies in which they occur." - A.N. Whitehead (p. 7)
p. 10: unique opportunity to learn by humor (changes perceptions! p. 92)
p. 22: mass audience was
p. 24: Burning Man philosophy!
p. 25: inevitability
p. 26: all media are extensions!
p. 41: extension of sense -> ratios -> CHANGE!
p. 44: Wordsworth: we can't help but see and hear
p. 50: literacy conferred the power of detachment
p. 68: environment
p. 69: multiple models for exploration
p. 70: does over exposure desensitize us?
p. 93: professionalism vs. amateurism
p. 100: student disconnection! education must shift from instruction to probing and exploring
p. 111: music everywhere; visual vs. ear world
p. 113: Socrates! think we'll know everything; know nothing!
p. 123: self expression?
p. 124: no we're adjusting, not inventing; find environments in which we can live with our devices
p. 125: television!
p. 142: propaganda; talk to the media, not the programmers
Monday, February 9, 2009
torn
I’m torn as to how to organize my blog. My approach to the project—and that’s what as I’m seeing it as; that or an experiment—is to put it down, get it out, and THEN worry about editing, revising, re-designing. Or not. Depending on how it does, how it reads, how it feels, as is.
Because I am overwhelmed by the finality of turned-in papers, it is a liberating thought to consider this blog an ongoing process.
I’m also torn as to how I feel about the act of blogging itself. I’m at once attracted to the idea of being a blogger, and daunted by it. Why?
Time spent blogging is:
Time spent organizing and articulating my thoughts.
Time spent creating.
Time spent contributing content… to a content-overwhelmed universe?
Time spent apart from real people in real time.
Time spent reaching out to those I otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach.
Time spent initiating a potential conversation with the public, the readers, the stumblers-by.
Time spent wondering of what worth my thoughts are to others.
I have identified an aspect to being online-present that makes me uncomfortable: I feel uneasy considering that people might know when (exactly) I’m seated, staring at a computer monitor. I do not like time stamps. It’s not a privacy issue, not a safety issue... It’s a loss of control-issue, or an exposure issue. I do not want people—at least an unidentified population thereof—knowing what I’m up to at a given moment. I don’t. I don’t want to be constantly connected, or constantly accessible.
I am, in contrast, increasingly comfortable with being photographed and sharing photographs. Much less so with video, though. Video, live footage, is so much more exposing; it gives away so much more. Of what? Of who I am? Of who I am in a given moment? Do I worry about consistency? Is it the same question of audience? Do I worry that the wrong performance will be given to the wrong audience?
Am I hopeful that the performance will hit just the right audience, however small (maybe just me?), in just the right way? Yes. Maybe that.
Because I am overwhelmed by the finality of turned-in papers, it is a liberating thought to consider this blog an ongoing process.
I’m also torn as to how I feel about the act of blogging itself. I’m at once attracted to the idea of being a blogger, and daunted by it. Why?
Time spent blogging is:
Time spent organizing and articulating my thoughts.
Time spent creating.
Time spent contributing content… to a content-overwhelmed universe?
Time spent apart from real people in real time.
Time spent reaching out to those I otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach.
Time spent initiating a potential conversation with the public, the readers, the stumblers-by.
Time spent wondering of what worth my thoughts are to others.
I have identified an aspect to being online-present that makes me uncomfortable: I feel uneasy considering that people might know when (exactly) I’m seated, staring at a computer monitor. I do not like time stamps. It’s not a privacy issue, not a safety issue... It’s a loss of control-issue, or an exposure issue. I do not want people—at least an unidentified population thereof—knowing what I’m up to at a given moment. I don’t. I don’t want to be constantly connected, or constantly accessible.
I am, in contrast, increasingly comfortable with being photographed and sharing photographs. Much less so with video, though. Video, live footage, is so much more exposing; it gives away so much more. Of what? Of who I am? Of who I am in a given moment? Do I worry about consistency? Is it the same question of audience? Do I worry that the wrong performance will be given to the wrong audience?
Am I hopeful that the performance will hit just the right audience, however small (maybe just me?), in just the right way? Yes. Maybe that.
bloggedybloo
“A Blogger’s Blog: Exploring Definitions of a Medium,” danah boyd http://www.danah.org/papers/ABloggersBlog.pdf
I like this: "A study of blogs must draw from the practice of blogging, not simply analyze the output" (p. 2). Well, sir/ma'am, that's the intention. I am most interested in gleaning from this experiment an understanding of what is to be gained from creating this kind of content. Or, I should say, from creating content in this kind of way. Blogging is, after all, "a diverse set of practices that result in the production of diverse content on top of a medium that we call blogs" (p. 1). Diverse content.
I like that boyd recognizes blogs to be the bi-product of expression and the medium itself (unlike radio, which exists only when people's speech/music is broadcast through radio waves).
I like the notion of a medium being "the channel through which people can communicate or extend their expressions to others" (p. 11). Not opinions or wisdoms or experiences, but expressions.
boyd proposes, as McLuhen (1964) apparently did, that a medium be defined "by what it enables and how it supports people to move beyond the limitations of their body" (p. 12). What might some find to be limitations of blogs, though? Writing style? The commonly oppressive Grammar and Spelling and Punctuation?
Is it true that the boundaries of blogs are socially constructed, not technologically defined, as boyd suggests (p. 12)? There is always a fear that a private blog might be exposed, and the contents held against me in a trial of societal fitness. I am more interested (for once, and maybe just for a moment) in the technological definition of blogs. I have a tremendous appreciation for those who develop tools to support specific values and practices (for the iPhone especially, I'll note here). I love that they are motivated to do so--especially those not motivated by earning potential.
boyd writes, "Blogs blur the line between orality and textuality, altering both the mechanisms for performance [sic] the power dynamics between performer(s) and audience. The medium creates a dynamic that is synchronous and asyncrhonous, performative and voyeuristic" (p. 16). Yes! Yes. What is my aim as a performer? Who is my audience? Should what they want shape what I perform? Should I base my content around the stage set-up of the theatre in which I'm performing? Is this too cheesy a metaphor? Do I become the voyeur when I comb a taping of the performance's audience for their expressed and nonexpressed reactions?
If a blog is like a home, who do I decide to invite into it? How much of myself am I exposing to those who set foot inside?
n-to-? Who ARE you, audience?
Who do I want you to be?
Inspired by other bloggers and a life-long aspiration to write regularly as a practice, I stepped up to the plate just about a year ago today, and created a blog. This was my first entry.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Here begins the writing.
I've been a lot of things since 2007 offered its belly to '08...
...including inspired. Maybe even inspired. Something loud and brilliant and confusing and sometimes whispery soft subtle... but undoubtedly present. I've been inspired both to change, and to appreciate being me in this stage of life, as is.
I like knowing that I don't have to make perfect sense in this forum. It's MINE! Maybe even just for me. Being selfish can be an act of responsibility, I think. I do, too. So we're all in agreement. Continue.
I'm looking forward to a lot of things. I'm regretting little. I'm deciding to be a little bolder in the expression department (up the stairs, aisles 9-12), and I'm working on not worrying so much about how what I say or write in a given moment defines me. It's all about the process, man. Oh yeah, and I'm trying to enjoy the writing process, too.
I've no one to lose here, but me. Right? I say so.
Love, beginnings, experiments,
me
This was also my last entry. The blog sits just as it did a year ago. I've visited it a few times since then, and what strikes me is the extent to which, despite the passage of time and the popularization of blogging, my excitement and my concerns--both deliberately expressed--remain.
I published the blog thinking that it'd be a perfect place to consider writing publicly... but to keep it private until I reached that comfort zone. I've checked my profile, outfitted with the cheesiest photo imaginable, which I can only hope--why do I care?--people will recognize as a joke, and I just found it to have had 51 views to date. Apparently my security settings were more lax than I'd intended. I cannot imagine who would have happened upon the blog, or how, or why, but of course it intrigues me. What did they think? What did they think of me? Who is they? And why do I (n) care what ? thinks??
Who do I hope reads my blog? People I know (to know me better? To provide feedback?)? Like-minded strangers, as boyd suggests? I feel as though I have too many people in my life to spend quality time each of them, as it is... could it be that I am inviting the very limited, safe, minimal energy-requiring input of strangers or lower tier acquaintances?
To explore further:
Found digital objects.*
* Okay. Now. I jotted down "found digital objects" because I'm really drawn to the expression, and I'd like to explore it further. Instead of just plopping it down, though, I feel, because of the ? factor in the n-to-? equation, that I have to frame it somehow. It feels like it's my job, whether I've chosen it or not, in this public forum, to make my writing smooth and readable and... beyond for me. That's the best way I can think to say it. Sorry if it's not up to your standards. But THIS IS MY BLOG! :)
I like this: "A study of blogs must draw from the practice of blogging, not simply analyze the output" (p. 2). Well, sir/ma'am, that's the intention. I am most interested in gleaning from this experiment an understanding of what is to be gained from creating this kind of content. Or, I should say, from creating content in this kind of way. Blogging is, after all, "a diverse set of practices that result in the production of diverse content on top of a medium that we call blogs" (p. 1). Diverse content.
I like that boyd recognizes blogs to be the bi-product of expression and the medium itself (unlike radio, which exists only when people's speech/music is broadcast through radio waves).
I like the notion of a medium being "the channel through which people can communicate or extend their expressions to others" (p. 11). Not opinions or wisdoms or experiences, but expressions.
boyd proposes, as McLuhen (1964) apparently did, that a medium be defined "by what it enables and how it supports people to move beyond the limitations of their body" (p. 12). What might some find to be limitations of blogs, though? Writing style? The commonly oppressive Grammar and Spelling and Punctuation?
Is it true that the boundaries of blogs are socially constructed, not technologically defined, as boyd suggests (p. 12)? There is always a fear that a private blog might be exposed, and the contents held against me in a trial of societal fitness. I am more interested (for once, and maybe just for a moment) in the technological definition of blogs. I have a tremendous appreciation for those who develop tools to support specific values and practices (for the iPhone especially, I'll note here). I love that they are motivated to do so--especially those not motivated by earning potential.
boyd writes, "Blogs blur the line between orality and textuality, altering both the mechanisms for performance [sic] the power dynamics between performer(s) and audience. The medium creates a dynamic that is synchronous and asyncrhonous, performative and voyeuristic" (p. 16). Yes! Yes. What is my aim as a performer? Who is my audience? Should what they want shape what I perform? Should I base my content around the stage set-up of the theatre in which I'm performing? Is this too cheesy a metaphor? Do I become the voyeur when I comb a taping of the performance's audience for their expressed and nonexpressed reactions?
If a blog is like a home, who do I decide to invite into it? How much of myself am I exposing to those who set foot inside?
n-to-? Who ARE you, audience?
Who do I want you to be?
Inspired by other bloggers and a life-long aspiration to write regularly as a practice, I stepped up to the plate just about a year ago today, and created a blog. This was my first entry.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, February 15, 2008
the beginning of soMething
TumTUM!Here begins the writing.
I've been a lot of things since 2007 offered its belly to '08...
...including inspired. Maybe even inspired. Something loud and brilliant and confusing and sometimes whispery soft subtle... but undoubtedly present. I've been inspired both to change, and to appreciate being me in this stage of life, as is.
I like knowing that I don't have to make perfect sense in this forum. It's MINE! Maybe even just for me. Being selfish can be an act of responsibility, I think. I do, too. So we're all in agreement. Continue.
I'm looking forward to a lot of things. I'm regretting little. I'm deciding to be a little bolder in the expression department (up the stairs, aisles 9-12), and I'm working on not worrying so much about how what I say or write in a given moment defines me. It's all about the process, man. Oh yeah, and I'm trying to enjoy the writing process, too.
I've no one to lose here, but me. Right? I say so.
Love, beginnings, experiments,
me
-------------------------------------------------------------
This was also my last entry. The blog sits just as it did a year ago. I've visited it a few times since then, and what strikes me is the extent to which, despite the passage of time and the popularization of blogging, my excitement and my concerns--both deliberately expressed--remain.
I published the blog thinking that it'd be a perfect place to consider writing publicly... but to keep it private until I reached that comfort zone. I've checked my profile, outfitted with the cheesiest photo imaginable, which I can only hope--why do I care?--people will recognize as a joke, and I just found it to have had 51 views to date. Apparently my security settings were more lax than I'd intended. I cannot imagine who would have happened upon the blog, or how, or why, but of course it intrigues me. What did they think? What did they think of me? Who is they? And why do I (n) care what ? thinks??
Who do I hope reads my blog? People I know (to know me better? To provide feedback?)? Like-minded strangers, as boyd suggests? I feel as though I have too many people in my life to spend quality time each of them, as it is... could it be that I am inviting the very limited, safe, minimal energy-requiring input of strangers or lower tier acquaintances?
To explore further:
Found digital objects.*
* Okay. Now. I jotted down "found digital objects" because I'm really drawn to the expression, and I'd like to explore it further. Instead of just plopping it down, though, I feel, because of the ? factor in the n-to-? equation, that I have to frame it somehow. It feels like it's my job, whether I've chosen it or not, in this public forum, to make my writing smooth and readable and... beyond for me. That's the best way I can think to say it. Sorry if it's not up to your standards. But THIS IS MY BLOG! :)
amused, alive, altered
Postman, N. (2006). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin Books.
"And, in any case, I should be very surprised if he story I have to tell is anywhere near the whole truth. We are all, as Huxley says someplace, Great Abbreviators, meaning that non of us has the wit to know the whole truth to tell it if we believed we did, or an audience so gullible as to accept it" (p. 6).
"The news of the day is a figment of our technological imagination" (p. 8).
"...it is, I believe, a wise and particularly relevant supposition that the media of communication available to a culture are a dominant influence on the formation of the culture's intellectual and social preoccupations" (p. 9).
"For although culture is a creation of speech, it is recreated anew by every medium of communication--from painting to hieroglyphs to the alphabet to television. Each medium, like language itself, makes possible a unique mode of discourse by providing a new orientation for thought, for expression, for sensibility" (p. 10).
"It has been pointed out, for example, that the invention of eyeglasses in the twelfth century not only made it possible to improve defective vision but suggested the idea that human beings need not accept as final either the endowments of nature or the ravages of time. Eyeglasses refuted the belif that anatomy is destiny by putting forward the idea that our bodies as well as our minds are improvable" (p. 14).
Is it just me, or is the most quotable book imaginable? I am so PLEASED to be reading something so thought-provoking and brilliantly concise… and applicable. Postman, I feel, is dead on. Ahead of his time. And more gush gushings.
This is the first text book in a long while that I have decided to just go ahead and write in. Too many post-its sticking out of each page.
I will be referring to Postman over and over this semester, I know it. For now, as he sinks in, these quotes to address in future ruminations and writings:
"And, in any case, I should be very surprised if he story I have to tell is anywhere near the whole truth. We are all, as Huxley says someplace, Great Abbreviators, meaning that non of us has the wit to know the whole truth to tell it if we believed we did, or an audience so gullible as to accept it" (p. 6).
"The news of the day is a figment of our technological imagination" (p. 8).
"...it is, I believe, a wise and particularly relevant supposition that the media of communication available to a culture are a dominant influence on the formation of the culture's intellectual and social preoccupations" (p. 9).
"For although culture is a creation of speech, it is recreated anew by every medium of communication--from painting to hieroglyphs to the alphabet to television. Each medium, like language itself, makes possible a unique mode of discourse by providing a new orientation for thought, for expression, for sensibility" (p. 10).
"It has been pointed out, for example, that the invention of eyeglasses in the twelfth century not only made it possible to improve defective vision but suggested the idea that human beings need not accept as final either the endowments of nature or the ravages of time. Eyeglasses refuted the belif that anatomy is destiny by putting forward the idea that our bodies as well as our minds are improvable" (p. 14).
Friday, February 6, 2009
thoughts about what a critical librarian’s practice might look like to me
Hmmm. I am, as a librarian, currently thinking critically about this prompt.
Thoughts to come.
Thoughts to come.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Beginning
Beginning is always a challenge. Beginning something public is always more of one.
For now, before the meaty, reading-response posts begin, a few thoughts/notes on issues I'd like to explore throughout this course:
- In considering how to structure my blog, I wondered how strongly format influences content. How much of what we share has to do with the formats in which we're able to do so?
- Why is it so intimidating to write publicly?! Control issues... Exposure issues... Mine are less about safety, I think (not necessarily because I feel safe, but more because I feel that people who are relentless searches for information about me will without a doubt be able to find it somehow; I'm somehow resigned to that reality, and am left to hope that people are essentially good.)
- I have always written with a particular audience in mind. Writing a publicly accessible blog challenges that pattern.
- Why do people like to read other "ordinary" people's writing? Why do we like to know the details of others' lives, particularly of acquaintances-->strangers?
- I am curious about the effectiveness of writing consistently (have always been, in fact, and have always been unable/motivated to do so for an extended period of time), particularly as far as its therapeutic/processing qualities.
For now, before the meaty, reading-response posts begin, a few thoughts/notes on issues I'd like to explore throughout this course:
- In considering how to structure my blog, I wondered how strongly format influences content. How much of what we share has to do with the formats in which we're able to do so?
- Why is it so intimidating to write publicly?! Control issues... Exposure issues... Mine are less about safety, I think (not necessarily because I feel safe, but more because I feel that people who are relentless searches for information about me will without a doubt be able to find it somehow; I'm somehow resigned to that reality, and am left to hope that people are essentially good.)
- I have always written with a particular audience in mind. Writing a publicly accessible blog challenges that pattern.
- Why do people like to read other "ordinary" people's writing? Why do we like to know the details of others' lives, particularly of acquaintances-->strangers?
- I am curious about the effectiveness of writing consistently (have always been, in fact, and have always been unable/motivated to do so for an extended period of time), particularly as far as its therapeutic/processing qualities.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
