Goddammit. God... dammit.
I'm going to do the place thing. I'm going to record scenes from my everyday life here in Cincinnati, here in this house I rent and think about what they all mean to me. Going to record my walk to school. Going to (try to) record my bike ride to school. Going to record the concert I'm having at my house. I'm going to....
Wish I could show you North Carolina. By god, I wish I could show you that place. I'd have too much to say about it though.
My home at the present shapes me because I fucking hate it. I can't stand it here even in the slightest but.. I'm trying to make the best of everything. I hold on to the friends I've picked up, I drive myself places.. I held a snake today. That was nice. Caught it and everything. Wish my childhood home was close enough for me to film.
Look, this is my "pitch" I suppose. I don't want to give away the whole premise of this video before I even make it. It's going to be about how the fact that i hate this place makes me who I am right now and all the elements within it that aid.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
An Apartment for Women
Shitty title. Not sure where I'm going with that.
I want to tie the two readings together. The first by Whitehead describes how places know you better than humans ever will because you're always around them. The unfortunate thing is that they can't talk. I'd love to reminisce with the walls in my childhood home and ask it what my favorite toys were or who my friends were.. I can't remember at this point. Woolf talks about how women need a place of their own to write effectively. Combine these two. If a woman has a place of her own, spends time with the place, talks to the walls in her spare time, holds festivities within its confines, and reflects back on what she's done in that certain space, writing flourishes. She remembers what she said to whom and can use that information to write. Right now, I feel like the place and the experiences that take place around me strongly influence my writing. While sure, I hate where I live and can't wait to get the fuck outta here, knowing that this is where I am and this is where I'm going to be for a little bit longer, develops what I say. My education influences what I say. I feel creative and knowledgeable because I'm a journalism student, but I'm super cynical because sociology points out that everything is a construct of our minds and nothing really exists for a purpose. Ta da, my writing style. This outlook reminds me that at the end of the day no one is really thinking about the fact that I said "fuck" while on the clock at my part time job except for the fact that the social construct around the phonetics that make up the word "fuck" are deemed "bad."
Oh, the places you'll go. I haven't liked a place since my childhood home. We moved when I turned 11 so my brother and I wouldn't have to share a room, and I fucking hated that place. My parents got divorced in that place and after my dad got the hell out, my mom just let the walls around us deteriorate. I think they'd be crying if they could talk. I wrote with a fury when I was younger to get out the anger that I held for the place. I wrote in fictional text-based RPGs but when I realized my writing was very stagnant, I stopped for a while. Then I turned to college and after dicking around my entire freshman year, I started writing again. Hey, what's up?
To answer every question on the prompt, I wasn't really confused by anything I read. But this is certainly my analysis and what combining the two made me think about.
I want to tie the two readings together. The first by Whitehead describes how places know you better than humans ever will because you're always around them. The unfortunate thing is that they can't talk. I'd love to reminisce with the walls in my childhood home and ask it what my favorite toys were or who my friends were.. I can't remember at this point. Woolf talks about how women need a place of their own to write effectively. Combine these two. If a woman has a place of her own, spends time with the place, talks to the walls in her spare time, holds festivities within its confines, and reflects back on what she's done in that certain space, writing flourishes. She remembers what she said to whom and can use that information to write. Right now, I feel like the place and the experiences that take place around me strongly influence my writing. While sure, I hate where I live and can't wait to get the fuck outta here, knowing that this is where I am and this is where I'm going to be for a little bit longer, develops what I say. My education influences what I say. I feel creative and knowledgeable because I'm a journalism student, but I'm super cynical because sociology points out that everything is a construct of our minds and nothing really exists for a purpose. Ta da, my writing style. This outlook reminds me that at the end of the day no one is really thinking about the fact that I said "fuck" while on the clock at my part time job except for the fact that the social construct around the phonetics that make up the word "fuck" are deemed "bad."
Oh, the places you'll go. I haven't liked a place since my childhood home. We moved when I turned 11 so my brother and I wouldn't have to share a room, and I fucking hated that place. My parents got divorced in that place and after my dad got the hell out, my mom just let the walls around us deteriorate. I think they'd be crying if they could talk. I wrote with a fury when I was younger to get out the anger that I held for the place. I wrote in fictional text-based RPGs but when I realized my writing was very stagnant, I stopped for a while. Then I turned to college and after dicking around my entire freshman year, I started writing again. Hey, what's up?
To answer every question on the prompt, I wasn't really confused by anything I read. But this is certainly my analysis and what combining the two made me think about.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Biking instead of walking.
I walk everywhere. As long as I'm not going more than 5 - 10 miles out of the way, I'm walking. I try to drive as minimally as possible, and usually only get in the vehicle when I'm going to my job in Kenwood or riding down to North Carolina. I drive everywhere in NC and while I'd love to write about a walking trip there.. I'm not there. Living in the city makes walking so much easier, I'm going to walk the shit out of the mountains when I get home.
So, as the warmth of the season has picked up, I decided to bring my bike here to Cincinnati. On a walking day, I'm confident in my ability to get on campus in around 7 - 10 minutes and then into class in 3 - 5 minutes. Well, the bike makes the trip to campus around 4 minutes, then I still walk to where ever the class is simply because the hills and architecture of the place is completely un-biker-friendly. With that said, this bike riding thing was no easy task. While I bragged about the awesome condition my legs are in to anyone who'd listen, I didn't realize that walking legs do not equal biking legs. I had to figure out the route to campus like I'd never done it in my life.
The first morning I biked, I took an entirely wrong way. On a very chilly Monday morning at 9am, I decided to go up a hill around the EPA instead of just cutting through like I would had I been walking. Never, ever realized how steep that hill is. I can walk it and usually be slightly panting when I hit the top.... but with the bike.. I didn't even make it halfway. I have to reiterate: walking legs DO NOT EQUAL biking legs. I learned that quickly. So, I decided to resume my cutting through the EPA parking lot. While, yes, this worked out better, my legs still weren't conditioned and I had to figure out how to get across the street and ride up the sidewalk in the most courteous fashion possible. I realize riding a bike on the sidewalk is usually a no-no, but I decided to give the rules amiss for the sake of my trip.
After a while I learned about the most subtle differences of altitudes. I now know which ways to turn to find a downhill that will later serve to propel an uphill. Uphills don't even give me too much trouble anymore, but I take them as infrequently as possible. I ride mostly uphill to my campus job but that's simply because I know the trip back will be mostly downhill and the exhilaration of the wind whipping past my face is something I crave enough to struggle as much as I can before I give myself over to the evil exhaustion-gods. I've also discovered that my own street is a slight downhill when on the return home. It allows me to coast at a great speed so I can remove my feet from the pedals and stick them into the air.
I love that bike thing. It's been a passion of mine since I was young. Used to ride into town when I was 17 via the bike path. Didn't mean to, but lost around 12lbs in two weeks.. but I was in the best shape of my life... Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. I suppose there's always room to be that way again. My dad got me started on the bike when I could barely walk let alone ride a bike. He strapped a small plastic seat to the back of his large yellow bike and pedaled us down to the DQ where I was then spoon-fed an Oreo Blizzard. Still my favorite blizzard.
I'm always worried I missed the point. I didn't walk, sorry... but me and the bike have a cute little past and present.
So, as the warmth of the season has picked up, I decided to bring my bike here to Cincinnati. On a walking day, I'm confident in my ability to get on campus in around 7 - 10 minutes and then into class in 3 - 5 minutes. Well, the bike makes the trip to campus around 4 minutes, then I still walk to where ever the class is simply because the hills and architecture of the place is completely un-biker-friendly. With that said, this bike riding thing was no easy task. While I bragged about the awesome condition my legs are in to anyone who'd listen, I didn't realize that walking legs do not equal biking legs. I had to figure out the route to campus like I'd never done it in my life.
The first morning I biked, I took an entirely wrong way. On a very chilly Monday morning at 9am, I decided to go up a hill around the EPA instead of just cutting through like I would had I been walking. Never, ever realized how steep that hill is. I can walk it and usually be slightly panting when I hit the top.... but with the bike.. I didn't even make it halfway. I have to reiterate: walking legs DO NOT EQUAL biking legs. I learned that quickly. So, I decided to resume my cutting through the EPA parking lot. While, yes, this worked out better, my legs still weren't conditioned and I had to figure out how to get across the street and ride up the sidewalk in the most courteous fashion possible. I realize riding a bike on the sidewalk is usually a no-no, but I decided to give the rules amiss for the sake of my trip.
After a while I learned about the most subtle differences of altitudes. I now know which ways to turn to find a downhill that will later serve to propel an uphill. Uphills don't even give me too much trouble anymore, but I take them as infrequently as possible. I ride mostly uphill to my campus job but that's simply because I know the trip back will be mostly downhill and the exhilaration of the wind whipping past my face is something I crave enough to struggle as much as I can before I give myself over to the evil exhaustion-gods. I've also discovered that my own street is a slight downhill when on the return home. It allows me to coast at a great speed so I can remove my feet from the pedals and stick them into the air.
I love that bike thing. It's been a passion of mine since I was young. Used to ride into town when I was 17 via the bike path. Didn't mean to, but lost around 12lbs in two weeks.. but I was in the best shape of my life... Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. I suppose there's always room to be that way again. My dad got me started on the bike when I could barely walk let alone ride a bike. He strapped a small plastic seat to the back of his large yellow bike and pedaled us down to the DQ where I was then spoon-fed an Oreo Blizzard. Still my favorite blizzard.
I'm always worried I missed the point. I didn't walk, sorry... but me and the bike have a cute little past and present.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
This I Listened to
First I listened to Ben Williams' "This I Believe." It was a really good broadcast as his as mine were very similar. Loved that he was able to point out a transitioning phase from listening to the same stagnant music all the time to actually opening himself up to something that he could appreciate and understand. It's always good to be able to appreciate the music you listen to and not just listen because everyone else is, too. The fact that he really detailed the "power of music" was a great insight as he pointed out how it can make us really happy, sad, and sit on the edge of our seats in a movie theater. That truly is the power of music. I know when I drive alone, sometimes a song comes on that makes me think about a completely different thing than I was before.. Or it can make me remember a situation that I forgot had happened to me.
Next I listened to Corey's. First of all, I loved the voice effect and the instrumental "Imagine" in the background. It was a perfect suitor to his topic of believing in coming together and achieving world peace. His insights on how when he was young he just did what he was told and then a transition period when he realized it was time to start thinking for himself, sounds like something everyone ends up going through. It's a huge life-changer for people and that point of change is brilliant to hear about. Corey seems to have a lot of hope for the human race. This is impressive as I do not. While I feel it would be great if there was literally NO war ever, I just don't think it's something achievable. There's always going to be the psychos that kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand and blame on an entire country. People's minds do weird things and if maybe we can all remember to take a step back and observe, I'd definitely say less war is achievable.
Next I listened to Corey's. First of all, I loved the voice effect and the instrumental "Imagine" in the background. It was a perfect suitor to his topic of believing in coming together and achieving world peace. His insights on how when he was young he just did what he was told and then a transition period when he realized it was time to start thinking for himself, sounds like something everyone ends up going through. It's a huge life-changer for people and that point of change is brilliant to hear about. Corey seems to have a lot of hope for the human race. This is impressive as I do not. While I feel it would be great if there was literally NO war ever, I just don't think it's something achievable. There's always going to be the psychos that kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand and blame on an entire country. People's minds do weird things and if maybe we can all remember to take a step back and observe, I'd definitely say less war is achievable.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Digi-Comp homework 04/17
My experience with the class workshop today was rather helpful. While I didn't understand why I needed three copies of my rant, I suppose it kind of came in handy when one guy (who wasn't even my partner) asked for a copy of mine. I was glad I sat with a fellow journalist to help me really collectively and concisely tell my story. My partner really thought I did a good job at telling my story even though I was about 85 words over the limit. That's something I'll be working on tomorrow. I think my strengths (as detailed by my partner) is the imagery I'm able to evoke but my weakness is that I tend to get too wordy. Usually the best way to take care of it is to remove a few "that"s or repetitive statements.
What I wanted to do with this piece was give a sense of how being alone in a car can really be a chance to contemplate and reminisce on life currently, past, and (sometimes not so successfully) the future. I tried to show how driving alone allows for the complete opening up of oneself to what's going on without outside influences keeping us in check. The outside influences even dictate our music choice, which is apparent in the music one chooses to listen to... Something I may try to mention in my piece now that it came out.
The only thing that really got in my way was the word limit. Usually when I get a story with a 350 - 500 word limit, I can't think of anything to say. With this, however, I had too much to say and wished I could just get it all down.. Although, I understand for timeliness, it's better to be able to say things concisely. Overall though, I felt I accomplished everything I set out to accomplished.
What I wanted to do with this piece was give a sense of how being alone in a car can really be a chance to contemplate and reminisce on life currently, past, and (sometimes not so successfully) the future. I tried to show how driving alone allows for the complete opening up of oneself to what's going on without outside influences keeping us in check. The outside influences even dictate our music choice, which is apparent in the music one chooses to listen to... Something I may try to mention in my piece now that it came out.
The only thing that really got in my way was the word limit. Usually when I get a story with a 350 - 500 word limit, I can't think of anything to say. With this, however, I had too much to say and wished I could just get it all down.. Although, I understand for timeliness, it's better to be able to say things concisely. Overall though, I felt I accomplished everything I set out to accomplished.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Been Thinking About Things (TIB pitch)
So because I'm going to work on a "This I Believe" style approach to the project next week, I've been thinking about what Marisa believes. What does she believe? My two ideas have been:
1. I believe in driving alone for long lengths of time with nothing but music as company.
2. I believe in being challenged by every aspect of your life.
The first one... I travel five and a half hours to North Carolina at periodic intervals throughout the year. Each of these five to six hour drives allows me to be completely alone with nothing but my music at my side and maybe a couple Milky Way Midnight bars and a can of Nos. The first year I went to NC, I heard my music in a place where I had never heard them before. I was traveling through the unknown with pop, indie-pop, and rock 'n' roll as my soundtrack. When I actually got a chance to listen to the singers time and time again say how much they were SO over whats-his-face, and how much they wanted to "drink up in this club," or say the same sentence for 5 minutes made me think about something. People can really be defined by their music. It shapes who you are and what you're doing at this current time. If you like being associated with the club and the drama of getting Romeo to come home with you, that's exactly what you'll do when you have a minute. I did it. I was there. However, I came across a group of performers one day.. Their lyrics touched me, "Most of all, the world is a place where parts of wholes are described within an overarching paradigm of clarity and accuracy. The context in which makes possible an underlying sense of the way it all fits together, despite our collective tendency not to conceive of it as such." When I heard that, it was a music changer for me.. a life changer. I realized there's a deep side to music that goes beyond just jamming around at the club and getting over that guy who made you feel like crap when you were 17. Not that I didn't already realize a world of music like that was out there, I was just conducting my life in a different manner that, in a way, exempted me from the beauty of music. Traveling alone with my music made me realize that there's a side of life I haven't touched. There's beauty way up on the mountain I just spent 3 hours hiking - enjoy that. There's parts of life that are indescribable and that is just okay. If your life doesn't traverse past the club and alcohol, your music will reflect that. If you can take the time and know the bits and pieces of every band, album, innovation, and song lyrics, your life will reflect that. Take some time and drive alone with your music - reflect on your life.
As for the second one.. Being challenged. A life should be challenged on a daily basis and this is something I firmly believe in. If you're not challenged, you're either living too easily or too lazily. More often than not, it's the latter. This is why I've taken up journalism. It challenges me to find out about the unknown and know as much as I can enough to tell someone else about it. It's how I've always needed my life to be. If I'm not challenged by a situation or person in my life, I grow bored and confused... Sometimes, I even spiral into a depression and refuse to do anything. I've given up countless friendships, relationships, even homework and career choices, just because of the lack of challenge. If I do the same, mundane thing every day, it removes me from who I am and causes me to act out in such a way that's against my character. That's probably why I've embraced my retail positions. They're so painstakingly boring, that I love it when I get there. I'm disgustingly happy and cheery and really get into the role of picture perfect cashier. However, when I'm off the clock, yeah, I'm happy and cheery, but I'm also snarky, rude, and don't care to tell people how it is. I can tell when someone doesn't like to be challenged by the ways they react to my initial challenge. It's almost like I dip into Jack Nicholson's role of Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men when he screams, "You can't handle the truth!" If you can't handle the challenge, then why am I wasting my time? I've got to move on. Challenge is scary, yes, I'll admit. But without challenge, the United States wouldn't be what it is today... And because of the absence of challenge, the United States has become what it is now. Challenge yourself and don't let anyone stunt that challenge you deserve.
The End.
1. I believe in driving alone for long lengths of time with nothing but music as company.
2. I believe in being challenged by every aspect of your life.
The first one... I travel five and a half hours to North Carolina at periodic intervals throughout the year. Each of these five to six hour drives allows me to be completely alone with nothing but my music at my side and maybe a couple Milky Way Midnight bars and a can of Nos. The first year I went to NC, I heard my music in a place where I had never heard them before. I was traveling through the unknown with pop, indie-pop, and rock 'n' roll as my soundtrack. When I actually got a chance to listen to the singers time and time again say how much they were SO over whats-his-face, and how much they wanted to "drink up in this club," or say the same sentence for 5 minutes made me think about something. People can really be defined by their music. It shapes who you are and what you're doing at this current time. If you like being associated with the club and the drama of getting Romeo to come home with you, that's exactly what you'll do when you have a minute. I did it. I was there. However, I came across a group of performers one day.. Their lyrics touched me, "Most of all, the world is a place where parts of wholes are described within an overarching paradigm of clarity and accuracy. The context in which makes possible an underlying sense of the way it all fits together, despite our collective tendency not to conceive of it as such." When I heard that, it was a music changer for me.. a life changer. I realized there's a deep side to music that goes beyond just jamming around at the club and getting over that guy who made you feel like crap when you were 17. Not that I didn't already realize a world of music like that was out there, I was just conducting my life in a different manner that, in a way, exempted me from the beauty of music. Traveling alone with my music made me realize that there's a side of life I haven't touched. There's beauty way up on the mountain I just spent 3 hours hiking - enjoy that. There's parts of life that are indescribable and that is just okay. If your life doesn't traverse past the club and alcohol, your music will reflect that. If you can take the time and know the bits and pieces of every band, album, innovation, and song lyrics, your life will reflect that. Take some time and drive alone with your music - reflect on your life.
As for the second one.. Being challenged. A life should be challenged on a daily basis and this is something I firmly believe in. If you're not challenged, you're either living too easily or too lazily. More often than not, it's the latter. This is why I've taken up journalism. It challenges me to find out about the unknown and know as much as I can enough to tell someone else about it. It's how I've always needed my life to be. If I'm not challenged by a situation or person in my life, I grow bored and confused... Sometimes, I even spiral into a depression and refuse to do anything. I've given up countless friendships, relationships, even homework and career choices, just because of the lack of challenge. If I do the same, mundane thing every day, it removes me from who I am and causes me to act out in such a way that's against my character. That's probably why I've embraced my retail positions. They're so painstakingly boring, that I love it when I get there. I'm disgustingly happy and cheery and really get into the role of picture perfect cashier. However, when I'm off the clock, yeah, I'm happy and cheery, but I'm also snarky, rude, and don't care to tell people how it is. I can tell when someone doesn't like to be challenged by the ways they react to my initial challenge. It's almost like I dip into Jack Nicholson's role of Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men when he screams, "You can't handle the truth!" If you can't handle the challenge, then why am I wasting my time? I've got to move on. Challenge is scary, yes, I'll admit. But without challenge, the United States wouldn't be what it is today... And because of the absence of challenge, the United States has become what it is now. Challenge yourself and don't let anyone stunt that challenge you deserve.
The End.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
15 minutes.
I'm just going to say something 15 minutes before this class starts. Got a response on my writing style and apparently someone isn't too happy about the voice I choose to write my responses. Makes me pretty sad. I write as I talk and sometimes I think people can't hear me and therefore do not like my writing. Unfortunately, that's not about to change. My prompt was to "Write a 500-750 word response about your listening experience and post
to your blog. Be sure to link to the stories you listened to. Your
response should strive to respond to the stories as a group, not individually." If my previous post was anything less than my experience about the "This I Believe" stories, please do not hesitate to say so. I posted my complete and total feelings from the heart and I did in fact say what I thought the broadcasts were all about: Soothing NPR voices with a touch of people expounding upon the ways they conduct their life around a miniscule occurrence or scenario that pronounced itself in their past. If I didn't say that, coupled with my experience listening to these, I don't know what I did. I'm sorry if my voice wasn't an appealing aspect of the piece, but my content was there.
I realize how I misunderstood the part I misunderstood and here's what I can tell you about that. I like the broadcasts that dealt with topics I was also interested in and I'd probably talk on how I believe in running my life around not doing as your told, but at least still being good for yourself. There's a part of me that wants to live lawless but not be evil about it. Possibly a Robin Hood lifestyle, just less bows and arrows. Something about living within your own being and realizing society is all a fabricated collection of things created by humans who need to feel in control of something, is exciting.
I realize how I misunderstood the part I misunderstood and here's what I can tell you about that. I like the broadcasts that dealt with topics I was also interested in and I'd probably talk on how I believe in running my life around not doing as your told, but at least still being good for yourself. There's a part of me that wants to live lawless but not be evil about it. Possibly a Robin Hood lifestyle, just less bows and arrows. Something about living within your own being and realizing society is all a fabricated collection of things created by humans who need to feel in control of something, is exciting.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
It's gotta have passion.
How do you learn about writing? Passion. Passion of your soul and words to say what pisses you off, what made you speechless, what was beautiful about your journey. If you're not passionate, you can't write.
And that's what I came here to say. I haven't written this blog because I wasn't passionate about the assignment. Since Thursday, I've been stewing over the idea of dropping this class to hell and below, but now that I have a moment, here I am. I've been staring at the Schedule page on the wordpress blog for a while now but every time I sit down, I find myself wondering off with my camera or receiving a call from the journalistic world putting me out on an assignment. Fuck excuses any way.
What the hell did these broadcasts all have in common? Soothing NPR voices. Damn those voices remind me of my grandfather listening to his classical favorites, or the summer days I'd spend in North Carolina with my uncle cleaning his entire house for a Benjamin. It took time, but I suppose it was worth it. Yeah, nice NPR voices... Also, I suppose you could say they collectively contained some sense of what that individual's belief on life was about. It made me realize that we all have our own way of saying, "This is life as I see it. Let me try and personify that for you, or bring it home with an example." I thought all of them we're overly sappy and grasping at straws except for the god one. Of course, I agreed with the man completely because I'm passionate about a world without gods, so that's probably why it's the only one sticking in my mind right now. I know there was one about pizza (which only did enough good to remind me what I can't have) and there was another about baseball. I fucking hate people who are overly passionate about sports. Get over it, it's a game, remember? You're not helping by screaming at them, or wearing a mock-up of their jersey. Let 'em lose. Christ. I picked two with topics I was passionate about: Books and dogs. Holy shit, there's nothing better in life than books and dogs. Maybe sex. Maybe. Books about sex? Nah, they just say the same things over and over again. Oh, also music. Music wins all. Music can be about books, dogs, and sex. I digress.
I picked books and dogs. Okay. The dogs one almost brought me to tears because I miss having dogs so bad. I had 10 at one point. A poodle, a beagle, an Australian Cattle Dog and her 7 puppies. That was the life. I was rolling in puppies. Maybe I just really liked those puppies. Dogs are, by far, the best animal to evolve yet. They come to you, they're funny, they want to make you happy, and above all, they don't care who you are - the just want to be your best friend and maybe eat away at that tennis ball in the meantime. Dogs, man. My boyfriend gets mad because the majority of my dreams contain dogs in some form.
Then there's the books. My favorite band's name is The Books. They're like a book. They use sound clips behind their music to create the story. Even with that useless knowledge, books are great things. Currently, I'm reading three fiction books. The Complete Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes, Flowers for Algernon, and DragonLance. Without books.. I'd never have a way to leave this world. I want to throw all the nonfiction and textbooks I read against the wall. I can't stand that crap. If I'm about to read 500 - 1000 pages of you rattling shit off, it better be entirely made up and contain dragons or murder - preferably both.
Maybe I'm stubborn. I don't like being told what to do. I'll do the opposite. Sometimes I'm asked to clean the floor. Well fuck you - I'll clean the floor when I can't stand it anymore.
... I'm not sure that's on topic at all.. If I'm passionate about it, I'll do it.
Once again I don't understand the entire prompt of this blog. "The goal of this assignment is to identify what appeals to you about each option, what you think you might like to choose, and what you think you might like to say." No idea where the context of that is from. I think it's referring to the "digital tool" we'd like to research on and I already know I'm doing 8tracks.
Oh, and one last point - I have no idea how to use that DALN site. What the hell was that?
(broadcasts I chose: http://thisibelieve.org/essay/10598/ http://thisibelieve.org/essay/68795/ )
And that's what I came here to say. I haven't written this blog because I wasn't passionate about the assignment. Since Thursday, I've been stewing over the idea of dropping this class to hell and below, but now that I have a moment, here I am. I've been staring at the Schedule page on the wordpress blog for a while now but every time I sit down, I find myself wondering off with my camera or receiving a call from the journalistic world putting me out on an assignment. Fuck excuses any way.
What the hell did these broadcasts all have in common? Soothing NPR voices. Damn those voices remind me of my grandfather listening to his classical favorites, or the summer days I'd spend in North Carolina with my uncle cleaning his entire house for a Benjamin. It took time, but I suppose it was worth it. Yeah, nice NPR voices... Also, I suppose you could say they collectively contained some sense of what that individual's belief on life was about. It made me realize that we all have our own way of saying, "This is life as I see it. Let me try and personify that for you, or bring it home with an example." I thought all of them we're overly sappy and grasping at straws except for the god one. Of course, I agreed with the man completely because I'm passionate about a world without gods, so that's probably why it's the only one sticking in my mind right now. I know there was one about pizza (which only did enough good to remind me what I can't have) and there was another about baseball. I fucking hate people who are overly passionate about sports. Get over it, it's a game, remember? You're not helping by screaming at them, or wearing a mock-up of their jersey. Let 'em lose. Christ. I picked two with topics I was passionate about: Books and dogs. Holy shit, there's nothing better in life than books and dogs. Maybe sex. Maybe. Books about sex? Nah, they just say the same things over and over again. Oh, also music. Music wins all. Music can be about books, dogs, and sex. I digress.
I picked books and dogs. Okay. The dogs one almost brought me to tears because I miss having dogs so bad. I had 10 at one point. A poodle, a beagle, an Australian Cattle Dog and her 7 puppies. That was the life. I was rolling in puppies. Maybe I just really liked those puppies. Dogs are, by far, the best animal to evolve yet. They come to you, they're funny, they want to make you happy, and above all, they don't care who you are - the just want to be your best friend and maybe eat away at that tennis ball in the meantime. Dogs, man. My boyfriend gets mad because the majority of my dreams contain dogs in some form.
Then there's the books. My favorite band's name is The Books. They're like a book. They use sound clips behind their music to create the story. Even with that useless knowledge, books are great things. Currently, I'm reading three fiction books. The Complete Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes, Flowers for Algernon, and DragonLance. Without books.. I'd never have a way to leave this world. I want to throw all the nonfiction and textbooks I read against the wall. I can't stand that crap. If I'm about to read 500 - 1000 pages of you rattling shit off, it better be entirely made up and contain dragons or murder - preferably both.
Maybe I'm stubborn. I don't like being told what to do. I'll do the opposite. Sometimes I'm asked to clean the floor. Well fuck you - I'll clean the floor when I can't stand it anymore.
... I'm not sure that's on topic at all.. If I'm passionate about it, I'll do it.
Once again I don't understand the entire prompt of this blog. "The goal of this assignment is to identify what appeals to you about each option, what you think you might like to choose, and what you think you might like to say." No idea where the context of that is from. I think it's referring to the "digital tool" we'd like to research on and I already know I'm doing 8tracks.
Oh, and one last point - I have no idea how to use that DALN site. What the hell was that?
* * *
Upon further review of this blog post, I'd like to elaborate on something I've been thinking about.
I choose dogs and books and loved the broadcasts because I felt like I had something in common with the speakers, however, the fact that all of the "This I Believe" speeches are essentially about the same exact, "Here's-an-experience-of-mine-and-how-it's-manifested-into-a-minute-principle-I-think-should-govern-my-actions" guidelines, I find the broadcasts very.... unimpressive. A couple here when someone has a really interesting perspective or outlook should probably make the program, however, when I looked at the URLs of the broadcasts I picked, they're already on 68,000+ of these things. Penn did, what, number 34? Slow it down, NPR.
Which leads me into another problem. There are so many of these where's the passion anymore? Where's the passion to find that one unique outlook and broadcast it for the world? Are these 68,000+ broadcasts even differing really in subject matter anymore? TV shows don't usually last more than 200 - 250 shows, how can we have 68,000 people all telling us something different about life? I'm sure 35% state something about how we should all just slow down and 25% tell us about how kids can teach us something, while another 15% or so discuss educations benefits or a revelation someone had one day. Then the remaining 25% are probably unique enough to stand out. And then how far is someone really going to take this random advice given by random people. I mostly listened and said, "that's nice, cool bro," and moved on. How many people are doing the same? To really have that passionate impact, I think an amount of carefully selecting what you want to say, selecting the cream-of-the-crop, the Grade A plays a part. I wouldn't take the first 25 pictures of my 1000+ frames and say, "Here's my finished work, sir." I go through and stare at each individual image. I think over it's strong points, point out it's weak ones, debate over what I should and shouldn't include. I also don't say, "Here's 1000 pics, sir." How exasperated would you be trying to look at 1000 pictures while trying to understand the story? NPR's got a good idea with these broadcasts but there are only a certain number of experiences that can happen to a person. You can understand a type of person by understanding what sort of experiences they've had. That's what makes that "type" of person. While sure, they'll vary in their minute details, overall their grand picture of life is the same. Where else would we get political parties, civil rights movements, or romantic novelists?
This update brought to you by a Journalism major/Sociology minor.
(broadcasts I chose: http://thisibelieve.org/essay/10598/ http://thisibelieve.org/essay/68795/ )
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Digital Compostion and it's Attempt
As I watched these various videos laid down by the teacher, I begin to wonder - are we really at this apex of beautiful digital composition, or are we just trying to pick flowers out of the rubble? I agree with what Miller says, what "why teach digital writing" says, with Informational R/evolution says (although, I still never figured out why revolution has a slash in it). My issue with all of these is just that this "world" of information isn't as grand as we think it is. Sure your Wikipedia is humongous, but after having ten classes in a row telling its students to stay the hell away from its information because it has 200,000+ contributors, does that really make Wiki a good thing or is it simply just a neat concept to stem from the digital world? There are plenty of neat concepts to come out of this digital age, but does that mean we need to strive to reach them? Or does that mean we need to be the next person to think up the new concept?
The internet is huge, and yes, a really cool way to find things out..... Yes, we should know how to use it so we know how to get to the valuable sources and aren't floundering in a world of "You're the 1,000,000th visitor! You Win!" I firmly believe in that. But with these 5000 ways to do one thing, couldn't we say that being a digital composer mirrors this? How can we define what makes a "good" digital composition when the digital world proves there's no one right way, one "good" way, to do anything?
I'm not sure how you can have "teachers of writing" and how they can create "consequences for students" if there are a 1.7 million different ways to have something detailed, found, interpreted. For a class to consider itself a "teacher" of digital composition, I don't think having "consequences" is a way to conduct class. Maybe if the goal was to let every student develop their own style and create something totally their own on their blog, or whatever medium they choose to use, sure. But I don't think there can even be a definition of "consequences" when barely anyone with their own style and is a well known identity on the internet suffers consequences. To me, writing is a compilation of your own thoughts fueled by the input of others. I'm a journalism major and if I write but fail to interview anyone, it's not a good piece. Just running around saying "this is what digital is" is about as powerful as someone with no expertise telling me about the newest breakthrough in medical vaccines. If you don't know, you don't know. If you want to know, go ask someone in person who's really got the knowledge you're seeking. Don't bother the internet unless you're doing basic research. And I mean basic. Like how to pronounce a word, or what exactly a medical term means before you start walking around spouting bullshit like an idiot. I write for other people. Not to make myself feel like a glorified prince among peons. I don't know anything better than the average person and I write so they know just as much as I do and can interpret or take away what they will from there.
Honestly, I'm not even sure if I answered the prompt for this blog. The arbitrary guidelines don't leave much room for concrete thought. You've either got to have a topic, or you have nothing at all. It's not just "writing," its developing and creating through your findings and discussion with others. Maybe I'm missing the whole point of all of this but it seems so frivolous the roundabout way the videos and website go about talking about "how" I should do something. How can you be an expert in a world where everyone and no one is as expert simultaneously?
The internet is huge, and yes, a really cool way to find things out..... Yes, we should know how to use it so we know how to get to the valuable sources and aren't floundering in a world of "You're the 1,000,000th visitor! You Win!" I firmly believe in that. But with these 5000 ways to do one thing, couldn't we say that being a digital composer mirrors this? How can we define what makes a "good" digital composition when the digital world proves there's no one right way, one "good" way, to do anything?
I'm not sure how you can have "teachers of writing" and how they can create "consequences for students" if there are a 1.7 million different ways to have something detailed, found, interpreted. For a class to consider itself a "teacher" of digital composition, I don't think having "consequences" is a way to conduct class. Maybe if the goal was to let every student develop their own style and create something totally their own on their blog, or whatever medium they choose to use, sure. But I don't think there can even be a definition of "consequences" when barely anyone with their own style and is a well known identity on the internet suffers consequences. To me, writing is a compilation of your own thoughts fueled by the input of others. I'm a journalism major and if I write but fail to interview anyone, it's not a good piece. Just running around saying "this is what digital is" is about as powerful as someone with no expertise telling me about the newest breakthrough in medical vaccines. If you don't know, you don't know. If you want to know, go ask someone in person who's really got the knowledge you're seeking. Don't bother the internet unless you're doing basic research. And I mean basic. Like how to pronounce a word, or what exactly a medical term means before you start walking around spouting bullshit like an idiot. I write for other people. Not to make myself feel like a glorified prince among peons. I don't know anything better than the average person and I write so they know just as much as I do and can interpret or take away what they will from there.
Honestly, I'm not even sure if I answered the prompt for this blog. The arbitrary guidelines don't leave much room for concrete thought. You've either got to have a topic, or you have nothing at all. It's not just "writing," its developing and creating through your findings and discussion with others. Maybe I'm missing the whole point of all of this but it seems so frivolous the roundabout way the videos and website go about talking about "how" I should do something. How can you be an expert in a world where everyone and no one is as expert simultaneously?
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