A blog of classroom activities and discussions. A place where rhetoric rocks!!
Spamming RSS Feeds
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Yes, I am spamming your RSS feeds to let you know (or perhaps remind you) that I've moved the blog on to bigger and better things. See the post below for more detail. Later! Dr. B.'s Blog
Ok, I am taking the plunge. I have procrastinated and made excuses, but now it is done. I am switching over to the Drupal blog as of today. Thanks to Charlie for helping me out with a template (yes, I need to go slow) so that it at least looks the same to me for a bit. If something is wonky or you totally hate it post it in a comment and let me know. I will leave this site up and active for archival reasons until there is a way to migrate the posts and comments over smoothly (or I get off my lazy butt and do it manually). The new blog is on a different server, but to make it easier there's an RSS feed and I'll link it to my vanity URL samanthablackmon.net The New and Improved Dr. B.'s Blog | A blog of classroom activities and discussions. A place where rhetoric rocks!!
The rumor of the suicide of female bloggers (post election) is just that, a rumor. I think that a lot of women have been spending their time plotting...I mean contemplating the future or just dealing with the present. I have been quiet since the election, but I was quiet during the campaigning as well because I am teaching a class that focused a lot on the election and I didn't want to influence any of my students or have them thinking that they had to agree with my politics in order to get a good grade. That was a very, very, very difficult thing to do. Anyone who knows me knows how hard it is to shut me up.
Thanksgiving vacation is over and I am revved up and ready to go. One more day of relaxation and then it's nose to the grindstone time.
A collection of essays and lectures on feminist theory and technology is available online at the gender_cyber_archive. I'm excited! (Really!) First on my list? Angela Thomas: Girls and Computer Games
There’s now a video remix of a track from Danger Mouse’s Grey Album: The Grey Video: an old Beatles video remixed with a Jay-Z video, plus assorted special effects (John Lennon busts a move; Ringo scratches a high hat that turns into a vinyl lp).
Interesting, but no time to really blog about it I'm off to a late start today! via datacloud
Been pretty productive today. Put in 5 solid hours of work and need to put in 5 more, but I am really feeling to pull of a nap! I am really in need of Thanksgiving break and a recharge. Our students tend to think that we are some soulless automatons who exist solely to make their lives a living hell, if only they knew that we get as tired, stressed, and overwhelmed as they do. Is it the weekend yet?
The New York Times > Technology > Pentagon Envisioning a Costly Internet for War
Saturday, November 13, 2004
The military is taking their marbles and going home. The NY Times is saying that they have their own GIG (Global Information Grid) a secure and protected internet of their own. So, nah!
Why did I have 4 emails from GWB this morning thanking me for my support? Obviously, W doesn't know who I am. :-P
If you haven't voted already. GET OUT AND DO IT!!
I finished the game theory and race piece last night and sent it of to the editors. That was a relief. I hate being up against deadlines!! Now I can go back to my self imposed manuscript deadline which has been moved to Thanksgiving. *sigh* No rest for the wicked.
It's stuff like this that makes me glad that I'm not back on the meat market. Some of these interviews had me rolling! It may just be the fact that it's doing anything other than what I am supposed to be doing. If you are on the market this year. beware. 9 interviews via lots of people in the blogosphere including Clancy
Like jazz, many distinct and seemingly discordant pieces come together to form something beautiful in my mind, free thought. Here's some of the stuff that I've been reading about the upcoming election today. Reading when I should be writing.
GOP fails in effort to move polls in Philly where white folks were afraid to go to the polling places in the black neighborhoods because they thought that they would get "a knife in the back".
Not a huge fan of Eminem, but am digging his new Mosh video because he may actually be speaking from his own damn experience this time rather than misappropriating someone else's. It truly is a powerful piece. I'm down for voting, I've been half jokingly saying I wanna do it twice, but it looks like some folks are beating me to it.
Michael Moore wants to enlist you in his video army. Take video of any suspicious activities. See that guy running away with the ballot box? That's weird. Hell, 60,000 (ok 58,000) ballots are already missing in the F-state. Deja Vu? < sarcasm> But they did try to fix it < / sarcasm> Some folks think that Ohio (another swing state) may be bucking for the F-state's position of honor this year. If that doesn't work you can always pass out cigarettes like they do in prison. Oh yeah, there's even madness in my home state.
I want to know the fate of the next 4 years before I lay my head down on Tuesday/Wednesday, but that may not be the case. Justice Thomas doesn't want to have to get into it again, yeah right.
That should keep you busy for a while, I'm going back to work.
BBC has released a new version of the hitchhiker's game, but now it has a graphic component. Adding graphics to old text based games feels much like Ted Turner's colorization of old films fiasco. I was an old school gamer, I liked the text based games. I liked figuring things out spatially without someone showing me what the room looked like to them.
That being said, I still must play this game. It just feels wrong and it destroys a big part of why I like the idea of using text based games in the classroom. I used MOOs for years because there was only text. I never went over to EnCore MOO with it's text/image split because it ran counter to the was that I used MOOs in the classroom and I'd never use the "imagized" versions of free standing text based games for the same reason. But, that being said there is something interesting to be said about asking a group of would-be teachers to evaluate this according to say Gee's 12 principles.
Will others follow? I've been on the Creative Commons bandwagon for a while. It just made sense to me that rather than locking up our knowledge (research and writing) for our own use we should be sharing it with the world so that people can learn from it and build upon it. I needed and wanted something that allowed me to do that will still getting credit for the original idea. CC gave me that so I decided to CC license all of my teaching and research materials online. Today Kairos announced that they were going to give people the opportunity to CC license the articles that they published in their journal. Way to go Kairos! Announcement: Kairos Offers CC Option for Authors | Kairosnews: "Based on recommendations from Charlie and Clancy, Kairos is pleased soon to offer publishing with a CC license as an option for all authors who so choose. "
BBC NEWS | Technology | Games 'deserve a place in class'
Thursday, October 28, 2004
BBC NEWS reports that : "Academics from the Institute of Education at London University found that 'games literacy' was a key skill for youngsters." Are Brits ahead of the game? The article also suggests that the study found that girls weren't into games (or were excluded from playing them) but didn't offer any suggestions on countering this problem. *sigh* Maybe not so much ahead of the game.
As some of you may know we got hacked (HARD) last week. Because of that I was without email and couldn't blog...really. There was lots of interesting reading going on on my end, but I couldn't tell you about it because I couldn't blog. This week I am working like a mad woman to get my racial representation and game theory piece done, working on manuscript revisions, working on a collaborative book project, and working on the Drupal/Civic Space (ha! I beat feedster) project. There will be little sleep and much caffeine in my house for the next 3-4 days. Pray/Chant/Light candles/send good vibes/lay hands on me/sacrifice to the pagan gods for me!
Ok, I know that I am supposed to be reading game theory stuff, but I was looking for something else and happened upon this essay from ItB that I hadn't read yet. I often find myself talking with students about blogging community and the criteria for inclusion so I was drawn to this one. I was surprised to see that Wei uses the Knitting Blogring as the focus of her study. I find phenomena like the rapid increase of bloggers in previously tech-light communities fascinating. On so many levels knitting blogs are bringing women (and men, but predominately women) together in ways that they have never been before. They find themselves with voices more powerful than they could ever imagine. Knitters like Wendy Johnson of Wendy Knits! has found herself elevated to goddess status after the now quintessential knitting book Stitch 'N Bitch mentioned blogging knitters in 2003.
Is an assortment of game theory and game history books that have been aging on my desk for far too long. They promise a full bodied and mellow day of reading while we get our first real rain in 2 months. Titles and initial reviews(?) later.
I have found that there is a way to making listening to interview CDs bearable. I have about 3 hours of interviews to listen to today so I decided to knit while I listened. Keeping a notebook and a pen nearby to jot down specific sections that I want to go back and transcribe and the time at which they occur on the CD. Technology is a wonderful thing. During the first hour and a half I finished a hat for Lisa. If you see her around town sporting a damn fine hat just know that I made it :-) I have an hour and a half to go so I guess I'll work on some charity socks, unless the interview gets too intense then I'll switch to something simpler.
Open source networked learning helps writing students excel at Purdue University | The Open Source Development and Documentation Project: "West Lafayette, IN -- October 13th, 2004 -- The Professional Writing Program at Purdue University has implemented an evolution in service learning called the Open Source Development and Documentation Project (OSDDP). As members of a community formed to integrate learning with the open source development model, students, teachers, and clients are working together to develop documentation of and related to open source. Through their involvement in the project, students are gaining valuable experience in collaboration much needed for professional development while building business and technical communication skills"
Real live students do real live work with open source, go figure!!!
< RANT> After spending the last couple of weeks preparing and giving what I thought was a damn good talk on diversity, retention, and recruitment at CPTSC last weekend followed by a paper at Watson on tangentially related issues, I found myself in the position of having to deal with racist rednecks at a restaurant in Louisville on my way home. Let me just say that the theme for the next Watson is going to have to be fanfuckingtastic to get my black ass back in that neck of the woods. < /RANT>
I saw this scroll across the bottom of the screen during a game while I was in Louisville, I couldn't believe it. I thought that there may have been more fanfare. I guess I really do think people value academia more than they do.
Blogging from Louisville where we have decided to stay an extra day and do some outlet and yarn shopping. Gotta check out yarn stores wherever you go, right? CPTSC was good. I always hope that what I have to say gets heard. Watson was good. It was fun and a lot less stressful than CPTSC because there were other folks on the panel. Need a day or two because returning to WL means returning to deadlines. Things that I want to get done by the end of the month: manuscript revisions, GTA/game theory piece for Cindy and Gail, and a lurking book review. Having the conferences out of the way leaves room for life to return to normal. Charlie and I are still working on the configuration guide for CivicSpace, the Drupal based CMS. Check out the guide development site and feel free to post feedback here or on the CivicSpace Labs site. The storyboard of the project can be found here. I broke down and let Charlie create a Drupal 4.5 site for me. I will eventually transition from here to there as soon as I have the time to transition and the new server is up and running. In an attempt to play devil's advocate I set a blog for my local knitting group using WordPress in order to see how the install and configuration went. They weren't as simple as I think CivicSpace already is and will be even more so with this new iteration. WordPress is good for a blog for those who have intermediate CSS and database skills as it requires database hacks for many of the includes rather than just installing modules like Drupal. It also doesn't allow for things like user tracking, which I find invaluable for class blogs and enjoyable for personal ones. More on blogs later.
I'm still alive. The time is drawing nigh. My speech is done for CPTSC (unless I trash the whole thing) and I got a good bit of Watson written at Starbucks this morning. Now I just need to type it out and see what I actually have :-(
There is so much to say and I hate trying to put it on paper. How much will I end up ad libbing? So often I prefer just giving 5-10 minutes of facts and then just opening it up to discussion. Isn't that what people want anyway. I know conferences would be so much better to me if people would just throw out the facts and their main points and then let people hash it out. I get so much more out of it if it's left open like that for me.
Because of CPTSC I won't get to hear much at Watson anyway. I won't be getting there until Friday. I am one of the last sessions on Saturday so it may just be me and the other panelists. I hate it when that happens, but I actually had to request that time so that I could do both conferences. Ok, back to the work that I should be doing. Geez, I'd really rather be knitting!
It had to happen, there is an upcoming machinima sitcom made from Sims2 Footage. The trailer is amusing enough that I might have to peek. The Strangerhood
Now we have the opportunity for "real time" political conversation online. The makers of the virtual world software V-Zones have created a V-zone environment for the discussion of politics, Virtual Votes, and lo and behold, it's free! Virtual Votes is "a free virtual world where anyone can go to discuss the upcoming U.S. election, the candidates and anything else related to the election of a new U.S. president." The general idea is that Virtual Votes serves as a no-hold-barred forum for real-time political debate in which regular moderation rules will be lifted in order to promote a freer discussion of political issues and candidates. CEO David Andrews says, "In the Virtual Votes world, we intend to let the visitors take off their gloves and duke it out.?
Robert Greenwald, the director of Uncovered: The War on Iraq, has made the original interviews from the film available for free download under Creative Commons licensing.
The film, which has drawn attention for its pointed criticism of the Iraq war, consists largely of interviews with former government officials such as John Dean, Madeleine Albright, and Admiral Stansfield Turner. Program Details for Uncovered: The War on Iraq - Interviews via Joi Ito
An Open Letter to Bob Rohrman on Black Folks and Cars
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Dear Mr. Rohrman-
Not every car being driven by a black person is stolen. Black folks do buy cars and sometimes (brace yourself) we buy new cars! Novel concept, eh? While this may not be news to some people, it is obviously news to your salespeople.
On two separate occasions I have gone to your dealerships (Kia and Toyota) to look for a second car (yes, I bought the first one too). Both times my partner and I were ignored for a minimum of 1/2 hour while we looked at cars, climbed in and out, and talked about which car might best suit our needs. While doing this we noticed the wonderful sense of collegiality that exists in your businesses. The predominantly white salesmen made themselves busy joking about cars, sports, and whatever struck their fancy. Don't get me wrong, I understand the idea of "hands-off, no pressure" sales, but there is something called overkill.
In defense of your salespeople I must say that after 20 minutes of looking at your Kia dealership a young salesman of color did come to assist us. He apologized for our waiting so long, and then informed us that the white salespeople at your dealership don't like working with African American potential customers because they "don't buy cars". I'm not sure if he was angry and venting to what he thought might be a sympathetic ear or if he was simply trying to play the "I feel your pain" card in order to make a sale. Either way it didn't work.
In closing, I would like to reiterate, BLACK PEOPLE DO BUY CARS, BUT THIS ONE WILL NEVER BUY FROM YOU!!! And neither will any other person I know if I have anything to say about it!
I'm alive, really I am. I have just been insanely busy. CPTSC and the Watson conference are just around the corner. I have to be prepared to talk about diversity (or a lack there of) in one breath and WPA issues with teaching writing with technology in another. I am so not looking forward to next week.
I will be back to full blogging snottiness soon, I promise!
I'm sure that other folks have already blogged this, but I've been a bit busy lately. Students can now view (certain) CliffsNotes online for free. This doesn't bother me as much as it would some because when I do teach a lit course I use mostly contemporary stuff that doesn't have C-Notes :-) Not only are students more engaged, but they actually have to read the book. Go figure! It makes for better classroom discussion. Perhaps technology will bring an end to the canon (a grrl can always hope, right?)
We Have Sims2!! This is an interesting game for a number of reasons. I'll list a few now and come back and talk about it more later.
1. Sims can now join as well as marry. 2. Each neighborhood has a narrative. 3. You can edit the narrative of each neighborhood by adding and deleting screenshots and writing and deleting the accompanying narrative. (There's a pedagogical possibility!!) 4. The Sims age! 5. Sim parents not only contribute their DNA to their offspring, but they show "genuine" affection for them. I know, I sound nuts saying CG people show genuine affection, but I thought it was sweet when one of my Sims walked into a room, smoothed the hair and kissed the forehead of a sleeping Sim child. (Will Wright on psychology in the game) 6. Sims are getting scandalous and they want to be! Don Lothario had the aspiration of sleeping with (also called WooHooing) 3, count them 3 different Sims. Now his little aspiration chart didn't say Sim women so I may have some fun with him. 7. and probably most importantly, this game is far too addictive. 8. Don't tell Charlie that I am playing the Sims when I should be working on our CivicSpace project. If I sleep less I can satiate my Sims' desires and get the CS project done too. CliffsNotes The Sims2
Since Lauren showed off her Noro beanie I thought now might be the time for me to show off my Noro cap. I can't have her beating me now can I? feministe: Apolitical Post About Fuzzy Things
There are pictures online, but I thought I'd offer a teaser. There is narration.
Finishing the HP scarf wore me out. I woke up in just enough time to work with little ones and knitting. Abraham is too cute with his needles. The scarf is such a hit that both Michael and Tammy wore it as well.
You're an agitator! Your kids have grown up on the front lines of rallies and pickets, and chances are that you boycott at least one company for its bad business practices. Your kids are learning what matters to you and how they can change what matters to them.
Women Gamers/Game Developers- The crisis hits the mainstream
CNN.com has a story about the lack of woman designing video games and interviews one of two women in the new game design program at Southern Methodist University's Guildhall school. Will this kind of coverage draw more women into the field? CNN.com - Women gamers making small inroads via grandtextauto
I'm excited. I pre-ordered it forever ago and now it's almost here! Tomorrow I can put my hot little hands on The Sims 2!! This is supposed to take god games to a whole new level. There is DNA, birth, death, and a whole lotta life (supposedly). I am interested in seeing how different things get handled in this version. In the last go round folks made their own same sex couples and then EA chimed in and said "Yeah, we left it open for things like that." There was a huge call for that kind of thing. Now the interesting thing was I couldn't allow my SSL Sims to marry but with enough time they could adopt a baby (which inevitably got scooped up by protective services for neglect while one of the Sims slept). Let's see what Will Wright has in store for us now!! There may be a delay in knitting, grading, eating, sleeping, etc. while I do all of these things virtually for a while :-)
For now. I still feel as if I need some significant rest.
The marathon is over and things went well. We did not have one reader without an audience, and I don't mean an audience of those from LARA or us. The middle of the night sections were actually well populated! I was fun, but there has to be a way to reduce the stress and if I do it again I will definitely find a way to reduce that stress.
I was productive during the marathon. I did more that just consume too much sugar and caffeine. I did some knitting. I finished my Harry Potter House of Gryfindor scarf early on and then started on a hat that was more difficult than I anticipated and so I ended taking the whole thing apart 5-6 times before I got it going right. Do you know how hard to is to concentrate on readers, audience members, refreshments, and knit when you haven't slept in 20+ hours and have been really WORKING the whole time?
Janet took lots of pictures so I'll get them from her ASAP and post them for all to see. Ok, back to bed.
9 hours in and we are fading fast. We are about a third of the way through the book and have had a full house most of the time. Even now we have about 13 people, 3 of them children. Send more coffee!!!
Mourning in the blogosphere, Aaron, of Uppity-Negro has passed away. Details unknown (and in my mind unnecessary). From one uppity Negro to another, rest in peace my brother.
It happens every time something big is coming up. The morning that I am leaving for a vacation, a conference, or any kind of travel, the first day of school, anything that I have to speak at, and now...the morning of the reading marathon. I always get a friggin' migraine!!! I admit, this time it's not the paralyzing don't move me, block out the sun, and deafen me now or I may just toss my cookies variety but it was enough to make me wear sunglasses in the grocery store this morning. I just came home, took something, and plan to relax for an hour or so before I get back to work. Just about everything is done, and if some of the little details aren't perfect....so be it! Sorry folks, the bitchy migraine woman is back.
The reading marathon is tomorrow! The devil is in the details. I am trying to keep it all together without turning to hard liquor (beer doesn't count, right?) There is less sleep (note the time) and more anxiety. 5:00 p.m. on Saturday can't come soon enough for me. Don't anyone ask me for at least a month if I would do it again, okay? Like childbirth...give me time to forget the pain :-)
Getting ready to go out knitting around, but I spent the day reading all of the assignments that my 304 course turned in last week and prepping for class tomorrow. The marathon is coming up soon and I am working on something special for that. I may show you pictures later, if I am feeling friendly. I also spend some time going through my regular blog readings and saw a link to this:
at jill/txt. Yeah, maybe I do have too much time on my hands. I don't know what I'll do with it yet, but it was cute so I had to try it.
I am thinking that my posting may slow down for the next week. We are at T minus 6 and counting for the reading marathon and, as they say, the devil is in the details. We (Janet and I) are dealing with decorations and logistics right now. We still have about 20 spaces left for readers. Most of these are in the middle of the night and we are actively recruiting for these spaces, so if you are in the Greater Lafayette area (or want to be) and are a night owl check out the schedule and email us. We will be able to supply you with coffee and snacks to keep you going during the wee hours :-)
I've been model world leaders, model women, model sci-fi characters and now I am knitting needles...
You are bamboo. Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You love the craft and beauty of traditional things, and you value the comfort and experience of knitting as much as the results. But while you are reveling in your warm cozies, don't get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is the whole wide world!
If he wasn't offensive enough the first time Arnold was < sarcasm > bright < /sarcasm> enough to do it again. What is it with him and girlie men? Or harassing women? Maybe it is an indication that he has issues of some sort with his own masculinity. What the hell is she rambling about you ask?
Last night at the RNC, the Terminator warned consumers against being "economic girlie men". Some California delegates are trying to capitalize on the term "girlie men" and were wearing buttons that had the term "girlie men" on them with a slash through it. One of those things that makes you go, hmmmmm..... What the hell is going on in California?
The Republican National Convention has an interesting line up of African American speakers this year. Colin Powell and Condolezza Rice are conspicuously absent, but there will be a Lt. Gov., the Secretary of Education, an old football player, and an ex-beauty queen. Makes you go...hhmmmmmmm....
So tonight I finished my first knitting project in a couple of decades. Not because I have 5000 unfinished items lying around the house, but because I haven't done it for many years. It turned out pretty well and I am working on a second one and starting another tomorrow. I will post a picture of finished item one as soon as I recharge the battery in the digital camera. :-)
9/2/04 I finally got around to taking some pictures. Here they are.
There is a piece in the NY Times this morning that is claiming that Kobe Bryant's celebrity status has helped him to transcend race in the rape trial. Talk about faulty reasoning, the article claims that a generation ago:
the fact that Kobe Bryant is black and the woman who has accused him of rape is white would probably have been enough to reawaken at least a few of the ghosts that rattle around America's racial attic. Many men have been lynched on the basis of lesser accusations.
Is this guy, Kirk Johnson, actually saying that those same ghosts aren't rattling around now? This case has been detrimental in so many ways. I can't tell you how many times I've argued with folks on this one. I don't know if Kobe did it or not.
I don't know if his accuser is lying or not, but in the grand scheme of things does it matter? Her name has been "accidentally" released, her sexual history called into question (as was his), her mental state interrogated, and so much more. What this case has done is set back the judicial process for rape cases 50 years and in the name of celebrity and scandal it has been allowed. Regardless of whether she is a rape victim or if she made up the entire thing women all over the US are going to pay for this one.
I don't blame the accuser or Kobe for this, but I do blame the US judicial system. I just wish that people would get their heads out of the tabloids and watch their rights going straight down the toilet. How many women who have been raped are going to forgo pressing charges for fear that they will be publicly named or have their sexual histories exposed? This more than anything saddens me.
It's the first day of my undergrad course and I am thinking a lot about how the course will unfold. This morning it invaded my shower. I was thinking about presidential rhetoric we might want to look at (Chris Rock, the prez from the really bad movie with Halle Berry, my favorite prez Martin Sheen, JFK, Nixon, FDR, Clinton, George W. Bush, and prez hopefuls Howard Dean and John Kerry). Maybe more to come. Thinking montage.
The UN has created a game that seeks to teach children about world hunger. The game is due to be released for Mac and PC later this year and will be available as a free CD or download. Link
Fresh faces, fresh teachers, and fresh white tennis shoes. Oh wait, that was childhood. But, things never really change do they? This is the day that I get to sit in my office and listen to my new TAs tell me how they ACTUALLY survived their first days. :-) My first day with my second class isn't until tomorrow so I don't know if I'll actually survive that one yet.
I am feeling excited and refreshed. The weekend in Indy did seem to help, even if I did get hijacked into furniture shopping on the way home. We saw animals, played games, and ate everything deep fried we possibly could.
Corn Dogs: A long time favorite (but I now prefer the veggie kind) Elephant Ears: Nothing better (but it's got to be the original with cinnamon sugar and never with chocolate frosting or fruity sauce) A bite of Lisa's fried twinkie: Neither of us could even swallow that vile mess!! And the thing I had been waiting for.... The infamous fried Snickers: That is a dangerous thing. It was hot and melty and super sweet. Coulda done without the powdered sugar and coulda used a little vanilla ice cream to cut the sweetness.
It has been a long and rewarding week. Monday begins the new semester and everyone is going to be nervous, of course, but they will all do well. My other class meets on Tuesday and Thursday so I'll just hang around on Monday to hear about how well everything went :-) This is usually my favorite time of the year, that moment when new teachers realize that it's not as bad as they thought it would be and that they will survive this semester after all.
Now for my reward, we are dropping the beast off at the kennel and going down to Indy for the weekend. We will go to the State Fair and indulge in all of the fried fare that Indiana is famous for (oreos, twinkies, snickers, pickles, corn dogs, elephant ears, funnel cakes). I can feel my arteries hardening and my butt widening already!!! Have a great weekend all!
I love doing mentor group and I love meeting my group for the first time. I think that orientation week is a great time for us to start to bond, but dang it wears me out!! After working for 8 hours straight I come home and pass out! I am looking forward to some down time before school starts next week. Lisa and I planned a long time ago to go to the State Fair this weekend and to spend the night in Indy to sleep off the corn dogs and fried snickers. I am just hoping that the weather holds out for us.
Yep, I am rambling...it's the lack of sleep (or the need for it).
Today was my first day back to work and I had to go from shorts and sandals to slacks and sandals :-) for the first day of new TA orientation and the meeting of my mentor group. I have a very eclectic bunch this year (Literature, Creative Writing, American Studies, and Comparative Literature... I hope I covered them all). I am looking forward to this one. Because of the hectic pace of orientation week blogging and/or blog reading might be slowed down a bit :-(
I mean really old machines. Like the ones that you can't give away or repurpose because they are too old or just plain broken? Office Depot is taking them and recycling them for free, but just until Labor Day.
I sit here blogging and knitting even though I know I have to wake up in 4 hours (yes, I do need to fall asleep first). I guess that's what happens when you wrap up a caffeine rich day with a soy latte at 11 p.m.
But I digress, as I sit here knitting and watching TiVOed episodes of X-Play I remembered that the 14th of August is my blogging anniversary. I started my first "professional" blog for academic/classroom use 3 years ago today. Wow! That was a long time ago!
There's an article in the NY Times online that talks about racial representation in video games. The article draws attention to the upcoming GTA: San Andreas, 25 to Life, and Def Jam Fight for New York which all portray African Americans in ultra violent, urban situations. Interestingly enough the article also picked up on NBA Ballers where the gamer must not only exhibit their on court skills, but must also acquire enough off court bling (and groupies).
I have often turned to home improvement and crafty kinds of things to relieve stress (or to avoid work). Since I moved and lost my pottery buddy I have also given up on other domestic arts. Today I was driving down Main Street and I say the sign....it read River Knits. Now, I crochet occasionally now, and learned to knit decades ago. I haven't knitted for years, but I thought it might help relieve some stress so I stopped. I picked up a knitting book, some yarn, and some needles. Now I find that knitting isn't like riding a bike (which I hate) and it's taking some getting used to again. Then I found out that Clancy is going home instead of coming here and remembered that Lauren is in the middle of a move so I am looking for a knitting teacher. I may have to call upon Lauren to return teach me something for a karmic repayment of what (I hope) I taught her years ago :-)
So today I sat down and finished my syllabus for ENGL 304: Intermediate Comp. and the syllabus and all of the assignments for my mentor group's ENGL 106: Introductory Comp. class. Now all I have to do is figure out what we are going to do for 6-8 hours a day for 5 days of orientation next week. Hmmmmm...how about long naps? All of this stuff will be up on the web once I figure out what for I want it to take. I am thinking blog/CMS at this point, but am too tired to deal with it.
My 304 is gonna focus on presidential rhetoric and news. Our main text is going to be the NY Times and RSS feeds of other newspapers. We are also going to read from Into the Blogosphere and We the Media. I am looking forward to this, but right now my laptop battery is dying so I'll have to post more later.
With the reading marathon quickly coming up I think that I am getting a little stressed. Last night I dreamt that the marathon was happening in my basement (which is currently in a state of disarray because we have just removed the carpet) and that people were just lounging around on sofas watching TV instead of reading!! *SIGH* Reading Marathon 2004
As a side note, I received a gift of a bumpersticker yesterday. It says "Republicans For Voldemort". I think it is absolutely hilarious!
On my way out to Cincy to go to Jungle Jim's. My partner and I are a couple of foodies so trips like this are a real treat! I dreamed of mile long aisles of hot sauce last night. Ok, not really, but it sounded good, right?
For those of us who grew up listening to the likes of James and Teena Marie this is a sad day. Rick James has passed away. He is Rick James! He recently performed the megahit "Fire and Desire" at the BET music awards with Teena Marie, it brought memories of times past with cut off shorts and tube tops *sigh* The New York Times > AP > Arts > Music > Singer Rick James Dies at 56
Sitting here buzzing from too much coffee...again. No epiphanies yet, but I did see something in the paper that disturbed me. Not sure of what was most disturbing, the questionable ethics at work here or the thought that all of my hard work might only be worth $150 O.B.O. *sigh*
Dan Gillmor's new book, We the Media, on democratic journalism is available for download under the CC license. It looks like an interesting read and includes work on blogs :-) It might be an interesting text to consider using for class. oreilly.com -- Online Catalog:
Testing Meme Propagation in Blogspace: Add Your Blog!
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
This posting is a community experiment that tests how a meme, represented by this blog posting, spreads across blogspace, physical space and time. It will help to show how ideas travel across blogs in space and time and how blogs are connected. It may also help to show which blogs are most influential in the propagation of memes. The dataset from this experiment will be public, and can be located via Google (or Technorati) by doing a search for the GUID for this meme (below).
The original posting for this experiment is located at: Minding the Planet – results and commentary will appear there in the future.
Please join the test by adding your blog (see instructions, below) and inviting your friends to participate — the more the better. The data from this test will be public and open; others may use it to visualize and study the connectedness of blogspace and the propagation of memes across blogs.
The GUID for this experiment is: as098398298250swg9e98929872525389t9987898tq98wteqtgaq62010920352598gawst (this GUID enables anyone to easily search Google (or Technorati) for all blogs that participate in this experiment). Anyone is free to analyze the data of this experiment. Please publicize your analysis of the data, and/or any comments by adding comments onto the original post (see URL above). (Note: it would be interesting to see a geographic map or a temporal animation, as well as a social network map of the propagation of this meme.)
INSTRUCTIONS
To add your blog to this experiment, copy this entire posting to your blog, and then answer the questions below, substituting your own information, below, where appropriate. Other than answering the questions below, please do not alter the information, layout or format of this post in order to preserve the integrity of the data in this experiment (this will make it easier for searchers and automated bots to find and analyze the results later).
REQUIRED FIELDS (Note: Replace the answers below with your own answers)
* (1) I found this experiment at URL: http://wrt-brooke.syr.edu/cgbvb/archives/000319.html * (2) I found it via “Newsreader Software” or “Browsing the Web” or “Searching the Web” or “An E-Mail Message": Newsreader Software * (3) I posted this experiment at URL: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/blackmon/blog * (4) I posted this on date (day, month, year): 03 August 2004 * (5) I posted this at time (24 hour time): 11:40:00 (UTC-5) * (6) My posting location is (city, state, country): West Lafayette, IN, USA
OPTIONAL SURVEY FIELDS (Replace the answers below with your own answers):
* (7) My blog is hosted by: myself (Blogger on university server) * (8) My age is: 35 * (9) My gender is: Female * (10) My occupation is: university professor, writer * (11) I use the following RSS/Atom reader software: Bloglines * (12) I use the following software to post to my blog: Blogger and Blogbuddy * (13) I have been blogging since (day, month, year): 14 August 2001 (wow! 3 years!!) * (14) My web browser is: Firefox * (15) My operating system is: Mac OS X (10.3.4) & Win XP
I am contemplating buying this t-shirt. Lately I've been drawn to t-shirts that will make people look twice. Far too often we overlook the sexist, misogynistic t-shirts that teenaged boys wear or laugh and say "Boys will be boys". Well, I've taken to buying them and wearing them for the heck of it. I want to challenge socially constructed gender roles and notions of acceptable behavior. I want to get people think about what society thinks is okay for men, but not for women.
The last one I bought was a retro Beaver Cleaver looking boy's face on a t-shirt that says "Chick Magnet". Even in Chicago mothers grabbed their children close :-) I can't wait to see the response the first time I wear it in corn town. Other head turners: FBI (Female Body Investigator) & Got Vagina? (Vagina Monologues). This one doesn't strictly fit the guidelines, but it makes me giggle.
*Sigh* So my summer is over. This summer I took a writing retreat. I retreated from my teacherly duties (courses, committee work, dissertations, directed readings) and focused solely on my scholarly work. I didn't recognize until this morning how much I actually enjoyed that! Don't get me wrong, I love teaching. Ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you it's true, but being able to focus solely on my scholarly work for the first time sense writing the dissertation was an unparalleled experience. And today that experience ends. I have dissertation chapters piled to the ceiling in my office and directed reading students awaiting my direction (not to mention courses to concretize). Oh well, there are three weeks before classes actually start, right?
Feeling a bit under the weather today so I am doing my New York Times and coffee at home this morning. My confession for the day is this, grits make me feel better. Yep, the hot breakfast cereal that tons of people seem to hate. I'm a country girl at heart and grits always make me feel better. Not the instant or quick stuff that northerners seem to be so fond of, but the cook for at least 30 minutes kind of hearty breakfast cereal that should always be served with butter and salt and NEVER sugar. Pair them up with some cheesy scrambled eggs and it's the black folks answer to Jewish chicken soup. More later :-)
I wrote a news tip for the university media service a couple of weeks ago. In a nutshell it said, don't worry about grammar and mechanics if your kids are blogging IMing and emailing, these genres can help kids develop critical thinking skills and a love of writing. Hell, it's a lot easier to deal with things like grammar and mechanics in the classroom if critical thinking skills and a love of writing is already in place. I thought it made sense and then today a crackpot sent me an email, I really hope he wasn't trying to piss me off because it just made me laugh. Here's the text.
madam i had read ur article and i fully appricaite ur article the teen could better communicate with one another with pcs madam i also had a prob madam i write english properly andhear too but cant do it verbally , madam could u pls hellp i will be wating for ur reply. mdam pls help
Gotta love a crackpot, they make you giggle, if anyone wants to help this guy with his communicashun skills his email address is devinder54@yahoo.com. Let me know in the comments if you do.
