Cyber-Writing-Space-Junkie

I've avoided electronic writing for as long as electronic writing has existed. Maybe it was a fear of exposing too much, or perhaps a fear of seeing too much of others due to their self exposure. Wait-- I think it was actually poemophobia. You know, being forced to read every body's really bad poetry on their MySpace and blogs and wherever else they can post it. There's so much of it that even the good poetry in the mix starts to wear on me. However, thanks to a multi-media course taught by Dr. Sarah Pace, I have overcome my fears and have learned to appreciate all forms of the written arts.

I use the phrase "written arts" because I do consider writing an art form, and I also use the phrase to refer to the digital canvas as well as the paper, parchment, stone, wood, or even skin canvases-- whatever medium the artist chooses. In Dr. Pace’s class, we discussed how the web is not always viewed as true writing. In Jay David Bolter's book, "Writing Space" there is a lot of discussion as to what a writing space actually is. Is the printed word and bound book the only real form of writing, or can writing actually include cyberspace or even solely the human mind? Coming from the view of an artist, I say artists choose their medium. Christo used thousands of yards of fabric, Michelangelo used marble,

(The David: www.boingboing.net), Andy Warhol used screen prints, and many others have used whatever the hell they wanted. The viewers may decide that some particular form of art is not for them, and even consider the form sub-standard. Regardless of opinion, it is still art. Does modern art routinely anger me? Yes. But it is still art.

In addition to contemplating the written arts and overcoming poemophobia, in Dr. Pace’s class I did gain a much greater respect for electronic writing spaces. As mentioned before, I try to approach things from the view of an artist, and I had no idea how much I would enjoy combining two of my life’s great loves: writing and visual art. I honestly had never thought about cyberspace as a writing space. Until this class I never really considered my mind an actual writing space either. It always feels like my mind is a clipboard with random ideas crammed under the clip. But why can’t it be a writing space? And why not cyberspace? Cyberspace doesn’t run out of paper, ink, erasers, and it never gives me a paper cut. It is safe from coffee stains, cat claws, teething puppies, and anything else that can wreck havoc on a delicate sheet of paper. A favorite quote of mine from Kahlil Gibran says a lot to me about the traditional paper writing space: “Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky; we fell them down and turn them into paper, that we may record our emptiness.” With cyberspace, we can record all the emptiness and bad poetry that we could ever want, and never have the guilt of felling a tree.

In Dr. Pace’s class, we all created our own blogs. This was a little scary for me. However, this wasn’t a class about writing uber-personal thoughts and bad poetry. It was a class on writing and using all forms of writing, especially electronic forms. I was shocked at how much I loved creating blogs and loved reading the other class members’ blogs. We all learned how complex writing for blogs and websites could be. There are many parts to consider, such as background colors, font colors, pictures, videos, hyperlinks, and of course, how to make our subject matter relevant to the class without boring our classmates to tears. Everyone seemed to immediately understand a different style of writing. The blog posts were witty, informative, creative, and absolutely captivating. I felt like I was able to take a peek into the mind of all these writers-- and I actually wanted another peek.

This class changed my entire perspective on writing. I would take this course every single semester if I could. I conquered my fear of electronic writing; reading other people’s electronic writing, and I grew to understand an entirely new way to write.

To me, the written and visual arts are now a perfect balance, yin and yang, a marriage of soul-mates, coffee and creamer, cake and ice cream, new shoes and a little black dress.

(coffee:www.gbahtavern.com)

The two need each other to be complete. My mind is more open as a writer, and I feel that I have finally found the area of writing that I just cannot seem to get enough of. Thanks to Dr. Pace’s incredibly successful course, I’m now a cyber-writing-space-junkie.

(Yin Yang Bugs: www.walyou.com)

Life Out of Balance

I have been searching for weeks to find this video (see end of blog) after we watched a clip from Coppola's "Koyaanisqatsi." Several of the class members said that the cars moving on the video with their headlights and taillights looked like blood going through the body. Ever since Dr. Pace told us that the title meant "life out of balance," I've been thinking about it. I've thought about how our urban sprawl on the movie did look like the vascular system of our bodies, and it made me wonder if humans are the newest heart of the Earth, pumping populations, pollution, and technology instead of blood. Being a "tree hugger" as one of my high school teachers affectionately named me, I tend to think pessimistically when I consider how out of balance we are. If we are the heart and veins on the planet, then we're probably a cancerous organ. Maybe we're the enlarged heart which will eventually destroy itself. This makes me think of Edward Abbey's quote: "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell."



After watching "The Virus Hunters: It's Alive!" on the National Geographic Channel, I wonder if another species could have taken our place in some ways. The documentary is all about how viruses have altered life and actually sped up the process of evolution. Some findings of theirs were sheep which were not able to carry offspring to term without a certain virus, and rodents that were promiscuous and which happen to be just one virus away from behaving exactly like their monogamous cousins. The researches found that the males in one species of vole would mate until they killed themselves. Animal Plant actually has footage from "Animals Behaving Badly"of the little exhausted critters falling out of the trees and twitching on the ground, then going stiff-legged on their tiny backs. The cousin mated for life. The difference was a virus enabling receptors in the brain to function similar to the human brain in terms of its complex emotions. By giving the virus to the ever-mating vole, he became like the monogamous vole.



So, if another species had developed a different virus, would they in fact have been more emotional, devoted, and moody than humans? Maybe. I just wonder if an evolutionary virus gave us the privilege of being the Earth's heart and veins. Since it may have been a virus that developed us into what we are, then maybe we are indeed also the disease.



My point is that I hope we can find balance, because I do not feel like we have balance in the world. Maybe technology will allow us to find ways to achieve a better harmony with the planet and all its inhabitants. Maybe the next genetically mutating virus will actually make us care that we have life out of balance.

(DNA image from: www.3dscience.com)
(Vole image from: www.bio.davidson.edu)
(Brian scan from: www.nyas.org)
(Virus image from: www.guardian.co.uk)


Check out the viral/genetically altered playboy rats:

Dixie Talk

This is Dixie. Dixie is my 9 year old Yorkie who hates my talking alarm clock. She seems to especially hate it on weekends-- I guess she agrees with me that sleeping in is a good thing on Saturday and Sunday.

My Mom named her Delta Dixie Jo Marshall, the first three names having to do with the show Designing Women. So, in character with the actress, Dixie Carter, my Dixie is a southern diva. And like all southern divas she needs her rest, lots of tasty treats, plenty of pillows, a full coordinating wardrobe, and some attitude. This attitude I speak of is what makes her hate all other animals, because she is not an animal. How dare those vermin sniff her-- especially there! She chases the neighbor's 60 pound dog, and tends to pick fights with cats, even her own cat, Lucy (we got Lucy to keep the other dog company, but Lucy hates him so we say she's Dixie's kitty). They really have cheerleader style fights, though. There's a lot of fussing, swatting in the air, nasty looks, and grudges held.

Dixie is my "head nurse" as my husband says. She has that great doggie sense when something is wrong. She sleeps next to me, or on me, and makes sure that everything is OK. Whether it's migraine headaches, tummy aches, or post-surgery, she is right there with me and ready to make it all better.

So, this is Dixie, doing one of the adorable things she does, which is telling that obnoxious alarm clock just what she thinks (if I can make the video work).

This is a fun site about Yorkie astrology. Dixie is a Pisces.

Teach Your Baby to Read... Or In My Case, Bribe

I love how Dr. Pace and LeErin wanted to read to be able to have the same power that others around them had, or because there was a competitive spirit involved. My husband said he wanted to learn to read so that he could see and understand all the cool stuff that his parents and others were able to. When he did learn to read, he didn't want to read any of the "kiddie" stories or comics. I asked him why-- especially since that's still some of my favorite stuff. He said that since his parents wanted him to read the kiddie stuff, he knew that there must be some really cool, forbidden writing out there. Why would he want to read some stupid comic book when Hemingway was sitting around the house, and his parents were trying to distract him from it. I think that explains why he doesn't like fantasy, sci-fi, and comic book based movies.

I learned to read when I was about four years old. I liked the idea of reading and wanted to learn, but my mom is an overachiever, and was going to put me on the accelerated path to literacy. Even as a kid I loved art. And to a four year old, stickers were the best art I could buy. My mom knew this, and for every book that I could read out loud from start to finish, I got some really awesome sticker to put in my sticker album. One of my favorites that I got for a book was a fuzzy gorilla and a separate fuzzy banana sticker that went with it.

I guess that's where my love for the visual mixed with text began. The illustrations in the books were nice, but the stickers were better-- sort of like print compared to electronic media. There's a different kind of sensory experience and it is more interactive. I got a sticker about the size of a drivers license that had penguins on it. On top of the penguins was a blue liquid that I could squish around on the picture. The fall was a good season for stickers because there were lots of Halloween glow-in-the-dark stickers.

Then there came the holographic stickers that looked animated. The birds now flapped their wings, the pony bent down and ate the grass, the lion ran, and Spiderman swung on his web. Who wouldn't read for that? To make the sticker frenzy even better, scratch-n-sniff came onto the scene. There were stickers that smelled like different soft drinks. Strawberry Shortcake smelled like strawberry shortcake. Stickers with beautiful chocolate frosted cupcakes with sprinkles smelled like the real thing. There were even stickers where I could make my own scene with them, and put a picture together like the interactive-build your own- e-cards today.

I still like reading for the sake of reading and I like the idea of my mind creating the scenes from the book. But I really do like reading on the Internet where I can have the various sensory and interactive experiences along with the words.

(Liquid Disney sticker image from: http://www.scrapbookdiscountconnection.com)

(All other sticker images from http://smilemakers.com)

Cyborgs, Explants & Hybrids

When we were discussing Hayles today, we spent a bit of the discussion on the last page which is about hybrids, implants, and explants. I remembered a segment from 60 Minutes on April 12, 2009 about prosthetic arms that are so technologically advanced, they move like real arms and even use the nerves in what's left of the arm to "think."
This technology is being developed for the soldiers returning from war who are amputees. If you have the time to watch it, watch all the way till the end. It will completely amaze you to see such a true-- and in this case, wonderful "cyborg" development. This is a great example of not hurdling into a cyborg infested future in which we will all be destroyed or plugged into the "Matrix" (although, if I were plugged into the Matrix I'm not sure I would know the difference). If the future is anything like this report, then I'm thrilled to live in a time where man and machine intertwine. I wonder if Turing ever imagined something like this!
I've cried every time I've watched it. I hope you enjoy it as well.


Watch CBS Videos Online

My Space Friends

This is a video of Demetri Martin singing about his My Space friends. I thought it might be appropriate for our social networking talks in class.



I understand this song because I can't keep up with the 20 friends I have on Facebook. I am a Facebook failure. How do we know when someone is writing on our wall and not someone else's? The email notifiers about people writing on the wall is sort of a band aid for me. It doesn't fix the problem of me being confused.

How do people have enough time to create My Space pages that play songs, play videos, display awful poetry, and allow the creator to argue with people making comments? How can anyone keep up with the chatter on Facebook? I am not the best time manager, but seriously, anyone who has an answer-- please let me know what I'm doing wrong. I haven't hung up clothes for 2 weeks; I still have fencing not attached to fence posts; I'm running on 5 to 6 hours of sleep when I need 9; I haven't cooked anything since Christmas; I haven't had enough time to get a haircut in about 8 months; and I still have a mini-Christmas tree from early December that I haven't planted. I have no idea how it's surviving in its tiny plastic cup. I am completely amazed at how people are able to use these networking systems to such a great extent.

But really, anyone out there who works, goes to school, has a non-computer based social life, yet still has time to do My Space, Twitter, and Facebook, please let me know your secret. The laundry is piling up and I'm wearing the same 5 outfits all the time; the fence is unstable; I'm constantly irritated from lack of sleep; my hair is heavy; my husband is hungry; and my tree is going to die.

Lobotomy Movies

I was thinking about our discussion a couple of weeks ago in class about the appeal of fantasy genre fiction, and how some class members seem to find the extra stuff around the actual story distracting. I have had a similar discussion with my husband regarding movies.
My husband says that I like "lobotomy movies." He says they are: "The movies you can watch without ever having to think about anything." Well, I usually tell him that he likes overly dramatic "art films," designed to make people feel like going to their doctor for a prescription of psychotropics.
He also hates fantasy movies because they are unrealistic, and have a bunch of unnecessary parts and graphics to them. We were watching "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." He saw Davy Jones and said, "Bill Nighy is such a good actor. I don't understand why they have to put all the graphics on him." I don't really care if the guy has a squid on his face. It's entertaining, colorful, creative, and visually stimulating.

Luckily we don't really ever argue, but the closest we've gotten to an argument in a long time, was whether or not "The Transformers" movie could be art.

He says no.

I say yes.

The dialogue isn't advanced, and there is some juvenile humor in there, but the story is well thought out and the acting is decent. Besides that, visually-- it was art. The scene where the marines are in the desert being attacked by the scorpion Deceptacon had a beautiful use of monochromatic color, balance, and movement. The marines run down a sand dune at an angle that balances the scorpion's twisting of its body and weapons, which mimics the way the sand flies through the air. Yep...art. (photo from IMDb.com)

For me, regarding movies or literature, I like the creativity of the settings and characters in fantasy. I also like being in another world for a while. After a full day of advising and schedule building, arguing with students' parents, and typing on the SIS system-- I can't wait to see some elves romping through a beautiful forest. Today, I fought apathy,irresponsibility, and saved a schedule from disaster in Beaumont. I wish I were fighting the Orcs in Gondor, saving Middle Earth.

I guess my point is, good stories deserve visual icing. I don't see it as not using my imagination. I see it as appreciating someone else's vision. That's why I have enjoyed all of our assignments and the sites we've discovered on the web. Writing and images... I still say yin and yang.


All things Hobbit, Elf, Dwarf, Wizard, etc...
http://www.tolkientown.com/about_us.php

Trying My Video Camera for Video Blog Week

I've been playing with my video camera that I'm not real sure how to work. So, I was somehow able to post my husband grading papers, and my cat sleeping. Yay for video blog week!

Confused

I sit here with my margarita, wondering if I'm the only one. I hope I'm not, because I will be even more embarassed. I am wondering if I am the only one in the class that has no idea what Donna Haraway is saying in her "A Cyborg Manifesto..." I don't have a great deal of experience with reading modern academic articles, mainly because, well, I have no idea what they're talking about. In Haraway's article I've picked up something about women and cyborgs, but the only thing forming in my brain is a picture of "Star Trek: First Contact." The "Borg" cube is going to keep earth from making their first contact back in the middle of the 21st century, and the main member of the Borg is a woman. Got it. Now all I have to do is seduce Captain Jean-Luc Picard and put some sensory receptors on Lt. Commander Data so he'll join us. I may need to actually join the Borg to understand the article. (photo from imdb.com)
Earlier today, my husband said "We write to communicate." Either Haraway is not trying to communicate with me, or I don't speak her language. "Nor does it mark time on an oedipal calendar, attempting to heal the terrible cleavages of gender in an oral symbiotic utopia or post-oedipal apocalypse." (Haraway, pg. 150). I try to translate, but all I can come up with is: It doesn't mark a date on an incestuous calendar, trying real hard to fix the great big gap of the sexes in a spoken biologically co dependant heaven or the after-incestuous end of the earth. Yeah- I'm pretty sure I'm just not "getting it."

On a different subject, I was thinking about the MOOs, MUDDs, and chatrooms, and how people have very elaborate characters that they've created. During the Super Bowl, a Coke commercial came on that was pretty cool, because it had people shown as their characters. Check it out if you have time.
Coke Super Bowl Ad



This ad has nothing to do with anything, except that I laugh every single time I see it.
Career Builder

Yin & Yang

I was thinking about Bolter's chapter four, especially pages 52-54 and figure 4.2. Bolter talks about the USA Snapshots from USA Today and mentions the graphs and how "we can discern a tension between textual and visual modes of representation (Bolter, p.52)." Bolter also talks about the designer distrusting the viewer's faith in numerical abstraction which is why the designer drew two razors to assist the viewer in understanding the graph (Bolter, p. 52). From an artist's viewpoint, I do not think that there is tension between the various design elements or a distrust in the viewers' capabilities. Designers will make both text and images work with and for each other. I don't see it as tension, I see it as harmony. And although I have to agree that movies such as "Idiocracy" may be a true glimpse into the possibility of a dim, unintellectual future, I don't think we are there yet. I do not believe that there is a distrust in the viewers being able to read a total of three numbers. The design field, especially commercial art (now usually only referred to as graphic design) is extremely competitive. Designers must find ways to be creative with every line, picture, paper, graphic, or whatever else they are working with.


For example, I was in a design class at the University of North Texas and our first written project was due (we were using both text and images). A couple of students turned in their projects early, and instead of being praised for being on top of their work and assignments, they were criticized in front of the class because of a lack of creativity since they turned in their tidy work in a binder. After this display, the rest of us turning things in on time were expected to create something in which to submit our work-- ordinary binders were unacceptable. An hour and a half later, I finished sewing a red plaid notebook, complete with strap and buckle. Our teacher was a lunatic, and did not have her contract renewed after the following semester, but she was correct about the "packaging" of our products/projects. My point is: if this kind of creativity is expected in college courses, it is demanded in the design field.


There are certainly issues to consider as far as how we view the computer as a writing space. However, with texts and images in a society that makes the most of our sense of sight, I find that words and pictures are the yin and yang of our method of communication, whether on a computer screen or in print.
(image from: mor.phe.us/writings/Yin-Yang.html)

Techno-Literacy Memior

I often type away on an assignment, text message, or email and never think about the keys, cords, or codes making it possible. Between the “omg- what r u doing? ” on text messaging to citations for a formal paper worth half of my grade in a nine hundred dollar course, I take for granted the complexity of technology.

One of my first encounters with technology wasn't very technological at all. Disney had produced a miniature fake television in which I would wind the little TV knob and it would play “It’s a Small World After All” and a little picture would circulate behind a warped “screen” to make it appear as if there was more movement than what was actually happening. That was great for a few minutes, but after seeing all of the Disney cartoons and movies and then comparing them, the fake Disney TV quickly lost my interest.


I have such fond memories of the original Lite Brite—with the exception of losing those tiny little color plugs. It was a perforated canvas where I would write out the few words that I could spell, and draw pictures over and over. Turning out the light to see my work glow in the dark basement was beautiful. Well, to a five year old, anyway. (click to play->) litebrite (photo from: ebay)


(click to play->) etch-a-sketch (photo from: ebay)


I got my first taste of gaming technology with my brother’s miniature Pacman arcade game. It was shaped like the actual arcade games but it was smaller than a shoebox. Any Pacman game would have been fun, but to have it so creatively designed with little joysticks and sound effects was absolutely addictive. (click to play->) pacman (photo from: www.maniacworld.com)

Leaping onto the scene next was Frogger. I played this so much that I kept getting the little song caught in my mind. After all these years I have never forgotten the sound Frogger made when he was squashed by a truck or sinking to the bottom of the river. Sometimes it was worth sacrificing Frogger for that noise. Looking back I can see how it helped to develop problem solving skills as well as being hours of fun. (click to play->) frogger (photo from: www.gamefreex.com)

The next memorable technology was the founding father of games as we know them today: Atari. Problem solving and hand eye coordination were developed, as well as an addiction. Atari was also good in desensitizing me in terms of seeing computer graphics like words, images, and interactive animation. Technology became less foreign and much more welcoming.


The Commodore 64 was my first real introduction to computers. I mostly just played the games. I’m not sure there was actually anything else to do on it. My parents had me playing the math long jump game where the little stick figure would jump further every time I got a problem correct and “bust it” when I did not. There was also a hangman game that helped me get accustomed with typing on a keyboard. (click to play commodore 64's top list of games->) commodore 64 games





I have much better memories of the Commodore 64 and typing on it than I do with the DOS systems. One reason that I’m hesitant in jumping right into modern computers with full confidence is because of this torture device. MS DOS made me appreciate type writers. I always felt like if I did something wrong on the DOS systems, the entire thing would just explode and I would have to buy the school a new computer. Or, I would explode, thus killing the machine with my bare hands, and thus still having to buy the school a new computer.



(Meltdown photo from http://www.ahajokes.com/)

("Office Space" photo from: http.blogs.eweek.com/office-space.jpg)

All of the above mentioned technology helped me with integrating technology into my everyday life and also helped with problem solving and in some cases, creativity. As far as creativity and development as a writer, one of the first devices I give credit to is the tape recorder. I had a beautiful baby-piglet-pink tape recorder/radio. My friends and I would record fake radio shows, inclusive of advertisements, music, sound effects, and even the dog breathing. We wrote it all, even the music. Well, I was the only one who could play an instrument, but we found other things for everyone to make music with. This tape recorder was essential in helping me develop a better story-telling ability, diversity in my stories, and better character development. My tape recorder was as important to the development of my writing ability as pencil and paper.

Then there was Nintendo. Wow. Killing hours and hours, but learning problem solving, and patience. Nothing else needs to be said about Nintendo-- it speaks for itself. (click to play->) super mario (photo from: www.onlinesupermario.com/)

The word processor was a gift from heaven for me as a writer. My penmanship is atrocious and I make a lot of errors typing, so I was never the first to finish my typing projects with the typewriter. Being able to rearrange and copy text has probably saved me time in the amount of years from writing and re-writing.


Not to say that I don't have some negative feelings towards some things... (photos from: http://www.ahajokes.com/)


I believe that the word processor has also been valuable in the visual appeal of writing as well. The different fonts, colors, and page layouts are very important in terms of attracting a reader through the aesthetics of the text. It was also very helpful in a poetry class where the professor wanted a visually appealing poem as well as (hopefully) a poem of artistic quality. I am not sure I was able to deliver the latter, but just like the Lite Brite, I had no problem arranging what was on my canvas, be it the plastic holes or the computer screen.

Without a doubt, the Internet has been the most important technology to help me develop as a better writer. I think the Internet, if used correctly, can assist just about anyone with the development of just about anything. Quotes, statistics, databases, pictures, videos, history, literature, dictionaries/thesaurus are only a mouse click away. Information, feedback, help, and examples for writing are piled up in cyberspace waiting to be pulled down onto the screen to assist me in whatever I am writing at that time.

Email is very helpful in writing development. I pay closer attention to everything I write, even if it is to friends, than I ever would have with just pen and paper. All day long I am conscious about trying to be correct and coherent in everything that I write. I am able to get more opinions and proof reading with emailing friends than if I had to track them down and deliver a manuscript. I also find that I pay closer attention in finding the voice of the writer in what I read because of emails. As I read messages from friends, I can pick up emphasis, tone, emotion, and mood because I know these people, and know how they would speak these words to me. However, I am also conscious of this in other people’s emails and writing.




Technology has been a huge part of my development as a writer. Technology: I love it; I hate it; I create with it; and I can't do without it.

Baby Step Blog

I've avoided blogs for as long as I have known about them. Maybe it was a fear of exposing too much, or perhaps a fear of seeing too much of others due to their exposure. Wait-- I think it was actually peomophobia. You know, being forced to read every body's really bad poetry on their My Space and Facebook and wherever else they can post it. There's so much of it that even the good poetry in the mix starts to wear on me. I guess I should just be happy that people are exploring their creative sides and trying to appreciate the written arts. See-- I'm already overcoming my fears.

I use the phrase "written arts" to refer to the digital canvas as well as the paper, parchment, stone, wood, or even skin canvases-- whatever medium the artist chooses. We've discussed in Dr.Pace's class how the web is not always viewed as true writing. In Jay David Bolter's book, "Writing Space" there is a lot of discussion as to what a writing space actually is. Is the printed word and bound book the only real form of writing, or can writing actually include cyberspace and solely the human mind? Coming from the view of an artist, I say the artist chooses their medium. Christo uses thousands of yards of fabric (above is his "Running Fence"), Michelangelo used marble, Andy Warhol used screen prints, and many others have used whatever the hell they wanted. The viewers may decide that some particular form of art is not for them, and even consider the form sub-standard. Regardless of opinion, it is still art. Does modern art routinely piss me off? Yes. But it is still art.

As I listen to my husband snoring in his favorite chair, and my Yorkie snoring on the couch, I think I'll finish up and continue to bore you at a later time.

(Image : http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/)