Narrative and Technology

We are the web

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:04:00 +0000

I thought this was a cool video I stumbled across that deals with a lot of the questions we discuss in class. Feel free to take a look.

Either click on the title or click on the link below. Same video either way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

Barack Hussein Obama: 44th President of the United States, My Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:59:00 +0000

So as you all know, this day is far from over, although it has been two, technically three days for me. It's easy to say that I'm exhausted after the biggest journey possible today.

1. Discover your now best friend in the whole world has been holding a ticket for you for the Inauguration!
2. Pick up that ticket, attend the gala, and arrive back at hotel around 1:00am
3. Change and stay overnight at the metro station, only to not be let in until 4:15
4. Rush the station, and catch the first train out; arriving at the capitol at 4:30am
5. Depart from cousin and his friend, to find own seating for over 2 and a half hours
6. Instead of being first in line like you would have been if the guards knew what they were doing, you end up squeezing between the halfway point, pretending to have always been there.
7. Due to no sleep and lack of food proceed to get sick
8. Attempt to leave to go to Union station only to be blocked in
9. Rejoin the throng of people where you are even closer than before, where you also find out that the reason you are not getting in is because the Silver people have breached security! Great....
10. Be stuck in the throng, unable to get out, when they allow only purple ticket people in; that's you!
11. Get pushed and shoved to a point that you are no longer in control of your own feet, but are actually being pulled by people through the gates.
12. Rush through the "intensive" security, due to being on capitol grounds and run as you get ready to hear the speech.
13. Fight with people but alas, get a spot in order to hear the Inauguration speech, 2 minutes before it starts. Then leave promptly to avoid traffic, ha!
14. Having lost batter to both cell phones, proceed to use verizon phones from their store until a now extremely pissed cousin finds you.
15. Get on numerous trains in order to get back to your metro spot, then take the car all the way back to the hotel, pick up McDonald's and do homework.
16. Don't attend any of the balls because by this time you are dead.

This is a run through of having to wait for over 7 hours in freezing cold weather to go inside the gates, but in the end it was definitely all worth it, although it doesn't show from here.

17. When you've come back from your initial exhaustion, actually celebrate the fact that you have a new president. The first amazing, black, cool, awesome, fantastic, 44th president, who has a brilliant wife; Barack Hussein Obama!

After all of this I'm definitely going to be out of it for a while, but it was all worth it. Every second. To hear the people screaming when he accepted the title and then his speech...It was just unbelievable, and before you knew it most of us were hugging and giving out high-fives all around. It was like the day he had won the election, accept only better; because plenty of us had been holding our breaths till this point. There were no threats and overall it went smoothly for him. Now he is the President of the United States and all I have to say at this moment is to give him time! He can do it with our help but only with us working as one!

Anyhow, that's an overall, and it was amazing. I'll bring back pictures, videos and the actual ticket that I was given to go in. I got to meet Oprah and Jessie Jackson on the way, talk about awesome! I was able to ride the metro with Wyclef Jean! And now I'm back in my hotel room, packing up for an early flight back to school, attempting to do the homework I haven't had a moment for, and looking forward to sleep on the plane. Alright, see you guys next week and night night.

Some Thoughts, By Eric Kane

noreply@blogger.com (Kazimir) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:56:00 +0000

Hello all it's your classmate and peer, Eric Kane just here to talk a bit see what's the going ons of the time. There was that plane crash where a flock of seagull caused an engine to fail, I was surprised and delighted to see that the pilot was trained enough to maneuver the plane through the City into the Hudson Bay. Hearing that made me a much more comfortable flyer, not that I ever had problem flying, but now there's proof that the Pilots, well, at least that one, is very competent.

Also did I forget to mention OBAMA'S INAUGURATION! Regardless if you were or were not a fan of Bush, I was not, no one can argue that we're in for a world change. I don't say this because of his cheesy slogan, I say this because with our economic crisis, and all the turmoil in so many places in the world regardless of whether or not Obama coined the catchphrase "change" it would still come.

So, those are just two of the many things going on right now, just thought I'd share my thoughts with the class, if anyone would like to add something or comment, please feel free.

We Are ONE....Freezing in the Cold

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:58:00 +0000

The alarm did not go off, and so when we awoke we were off like organized chaos. Breakfast half eaten and our stuff half packed as a flurry of limbs walked the cold three to four miles to the nearest train station.
So when we arrived to discover that the train we needed did not run, and received our tickets for another train, only to be deterred in this as well, I had become quite agitated. In the end we ended back up at the hotel and left with both cousin and his friend, who had extra sleep and much more rested than we.

Now, for the biggie! Yes, the concert, featuring tons of artists to come speak and sing for the Inaugural to come. We had to walk for over 2 hours, to finally succumb to our exhaustion with pushing through the crowd and being situated with not over several hundred thousand as the media had stated, but over a million people.

This was definitely a time to remember, as the quick two hour production had various speakers talk about Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr; Rosa Parks and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The speeches were captivating, and left us breathless and cheerful despite the cold. The theme throughout all of the speeches was the idea that "we are one." One united people, one collective group, one America. It was a lot like Christmas in this sense, where everyone smiled and was rather polite to one another, knowing that we were all down there for the same reason.

However, there always has to be a dark cloud shining in the brightest of days, and this for the particular event (besides not getting a hug from Obama), was due to the random people around the area protesting against him. A group of people of a variety of races held papers and magazines out that they had written, screaming things such as, "We now have a black man on the seat of white power."

In the end, we just had to laugh as everyone pushed by, not wanting to hear it because we had all come there for Obama. More people than imaginable had shown up today, and I found myself engaged in conversation with people who had traveled from Russia and France in order to see Obama.

If this means anything at all, then it represents the faith we have in this man, and the belief that with his help he can begin to guide us out of the issues we face today. Years and years it will take, but we can do it. But not only does America have faith in him but other countries as well. We stand not only as one America, but one united world, and for once, it looks like change is going to come.

DC with Obama!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:25:00 +0000

So, I'm here in DC, after hectic plane rides, freezing cold weather, and the Oprah crew on my plane. Yes that's right. O-P-R-A-H! It was pretty cool, despite all of the suspicious eyes roaming around, trying to figure out who was famous, who was important, etc. Al Sharpton was also at the airport on his way here; surprise, surprise.

So anyhow, we get here, with a fairly sweet hotel room thanks to my wonderful cousin Christopher and we grab a bite to eat then head down to listen to Obama speak. Let me just say amazing! If it weren't for the cold whipping at my eyes there might have been tears, but alas I was freezing my ass off.

However, the speech was amazing and just absolutely empowering. People all throughout the crowd were cheering and taking pictures; hugging each other and recording everything. All around there were shouts ranging from, "I can't believe he's done it," to "I'm never washing my hand again because Obama shook it." The whole spectacle was brilliant and although it is only the first day, the celebrations have begun as if he became president today.

After the speech, the 3500 and plus people dispersed. Along the way we talked about Obama's plans for our future and everything he is currently doing. Our biggest concern was that people don't realize that he's not capable of being some 'higher being,' and to stop the expectations from sky-rocketing to such extremes. Unfortunately, we know the expectations will always be too high, but I know with time they will all be met.

For the time being I'm simply content as having him as president, and shouting, "Goodbye Bush, Helloooooooo Obama!"

Collaborative Creative Criticism: WikiCreatiCrit - Shelley Jackson

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Skye Bianco) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:05:00 +0000

A brief reiteration of your collaborative WikiCreatiCrit Shelley Jackson assignment, though many of you are well on your way:

This week, you will author 3 lexia in our collaborative Creative Criticism on the class wiki: http://narrativeandtechnology.pbwiki.com/Creative-Criticism-I%3A-Shelley-Jackson.

The constraints (rules and styles):

At least one lexia must be posted by Saturday at noon (Jan. 17).

Each of your three lexia must link with three individual lexia authored by your peers (no you cannot link to yourself).

Your link, which is made in the lexia of your peer, should not exceed 5 words.

You must write each lexia based on a selection of text (single lexia) from Shelley Jackson.

Your lexia must be written in the same style as this lexia.

Your lexia must be relevant to the linked text from your peers' lexia.

You must, in your own patchwork syle, include contextual discussion, analysis, description, interpretation, theory, conceptualization, argumentation, etc. This is not an exercise in random stuff... You are creating a DIWO (do it with others) mash-up or cut-up (to use Burrough's term) with Jackson's stuff. So great care must be taken in collaging your textual elemets to work in the lexia itself and in the context of the wiki, course, class discussion, world (yes we are live!) and in Jackson's fictive worlds and styles. So read each other's lexia carefully.

You may NOT draft over another peer's lexia...(until a later assignment)...only create links in your peers' lexia.

And remember to read the completed WikiCreatiCrit on Monday night, because all lexia must be completed by 6pm on Monday Night (Jan. 19).

Make this rock!

Patchwork Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:44:00 +0000

My Brain is Babeled.. And Can't Be Patched Back Together

noreply@blogger.com (NickN) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:45:00 +0000

After reading the Library of Babel i've come to a conclusion that i may need to take a vobaculary class if there is such a thing offered at Pittsburgh. It seemed like every 5 seconds i was typing a word into my Google search tab that i didn't understand or know the meaning of. Thank goodness we were reading this online.

This work was not an "interactive" narrative and i think that fact that we read it digitally was not much different than reading it in a hard copy. But i guess the imagine wouldn't have had the same effect if just printed and handed out on a piece of paper.

The concept I think was the focus of the Library of Babel was on that was not necessarily out of my frame of thinking, and i could even go as far as to say that it is a concept which i enjoy and truly believe in. (if anyone actually read my last blog). That the world is an endless array of books, hexagonal rooms, never ending staircases, or connected drawers, drawers inside of drawers, mysterious, and never ending. The universe encompasses everything i like the work said, biographies, futures and pasts.

I guess the concept i had trouble wrapping my head around would be how there are works that differ only by one character, and that there were infinite copies of these works throughout these rooms and that if one was destroyed, the other copy could be found almost identical. I did enjoy the comparision of a god, to the librarian who has seen the book that explains all other books and i believe that the god i believe in is like that librarian, the one who knows all.

I also read a bit of Patchwork Girl and that is an adventure all in itself. I dont know if im reading the right sections in the right order, even if im doing anything right. But hopefully as the time goes on and after this weeks class i will be able to grasp a better understanding, or at least some understanding of that work.

Until we meet again.

My contempt for machines runs deeper...

noreply@blogger.com (jaymill) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:45:00 +0000

There are times, like when I'm stranded somewhere and a cell phone becomes immensely convenient, when technology is a godsend, something I can't imagine living without. Other times though, not so much.

For example, I've been trying to get this Patchwork Girl CD-ROM to work and I've had little success. For some reason it doesn't want to go beyond the first progress bar. A minor dilemma, right? Well considering I just got the disc TODAY the situation has reach urgent. So I call a friend, ask if I can use his computer (because the problem must be with mine, the disc worked for others). I walk across Oakland, get to my friends house, after a brief conversation I pull out the CD-ROM.
"Whats that?" he asks. I tell him its why I came over.
"Oh, well all I have is a laptop without a CD-Drive."
FAIL.

So I call others, no answer, or the "I won't be home for awhile" excuse. Excellent, all according to plan.

If you feel bad for me now (and you should), then my second anecdote will make you consider opening a Foundation in my name. On Saturday I tried to listen to the Coover lecture on evolving narrative technologies . I'm all prepared when I click the video and...my speakers stop working. So I had to figure that shit out real quick (which lead to me borrowing speakers). No worries Jamie, I still got to listen to the guy talk about how the novel I'm writing will be obsolete in 25 years. Word.

Not trying to break the theme of underachieving and misfortune or anything but I did read my body- a wunderkammer. Here are some thoughts that I jotted down in my journey.

-a lot of the writing seems to stem from childhood memories, which I guess technically would make this a memoir
-a tail...really?
-and you friend did WHAT with it?
-I've never thought I'd encounter anyone trying to romanticize leg hair
-that urine is tagged at an unbelievably fair price.

Overall an enjoyable and interesting read. Shelley Jackson really seems to love to put herself out there. There were a few details I read that shocked me thoroughly. At least it wasn't the most embarrassing thing I've seen a woman do with her body (was that in bad taste? If I have to ask shouldn't I know?).

'my body' delight to my mind

noreply@blogger.com (Jonny) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:20:00 +0000

Right now it's just one of those days where you know you have tons of work to do and absolutely no desire or drive to do it. The fact that today is Monday doesn't help much either. Nevertheless, I have to dive right into this "my body" piece.

I liked this right from the start. A picture of a body with somewhat disjointed body parts immediately screamed at me "click on me!" so I obeyed. I loved the interconnectedness of it all. How the brain leads to the eyes, how the eyes leads to migraines, and so on. The whole "choose your own adventure/body part" aspect of "my body" reminds me of my own thought process, lying awake at night jumping from one thought to another. The speaker in "my body," however, is a little more eloquent than me. Then again, there are sections like the "erogenous" section where her language near the end had me very surprised. I loved the imagery of this piece and it was incredibly interesting and fun to read. Unfortunately I did not leave enough time for me to blog in detail more of my thoughts on this work due to my own procrastination on Patchwork girl, but I promise not to make this mistake again. I now realize that I need to be putting more effort into this class than i had previously thought.

-Jonny Allen

Borges' epigraph: full text

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Skye Bianco) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:15:00 +0000

By this art you may contemplate the variations of the 23 letters...
The Anatomy of Melancholy, part 2, sect. II, mem. IV

Nay, what shall the Scripture itself? Which is like an apothecary's shop,
wherein are all remedies for all infirmities of mind, purgatives, cordials,
alteratives, corroboratives, lenitives, &c. "Every disease of the soul,"
saith [3356]Austin, "hath a peculiar medicine in the Scripture; this only
is required, that the sick man take the potion which God hath already
tempered." [3357]Gregory calls it "a glass wherein we may see all our
infirmities," _ignitum colloquium_, Psalm cxix. 140. [3358]Origen a charm.
And therefore Hierom prescribes Rusticus the monk, [3359]"continually to
read the Scripture, and to meditate on that which he hath read; for as
mastication is to meat, so is meditation on that which we read." I would
for these causes wish him that, is melancholy to use both human and divine
authors, voluntarily to impose some task upon himself, to divert his
melancholy thoughts: to study the art of memory, Cosmus Rosselius, Pet.
Ravennas, Scenkelius' Detectus, or practise brachygraphy, &c., that will
ask a great deal of attention: or let him demonstrate a proposition in
Euclid, in his five last books, extract a square root, or study Algebra:
than which, as [3360]Clavius holds, "in all human disciplines nothing can
be more excellent and pleasant, so abstruse and recondite, so bewitching,
so miraculous, so ravishing, so easy withal and full of delight," _omnem
humanum captum superare videtur_. By this means you may define _ex ungue
leonem_, as the diverb is, by his thumb alone the bigness of Hercules, or
the true dimensions of the great [3361]Colossus, Solomon's temple, and
Domitian's amphitheatre out of a little part. By this art you may
contemplate the variation of the twenty-three letters, which may be so
infinitely varied, that the words complicated and deduced thence will not
be contained within the compass of the firmament; ten words may be varied
40,320 several ways: by this art you may examine how many men may stand one
by another in the whole superficies of the earth, some say
148,456,800,000,000, _assignando singulis passum quadratum_ (assigning a
square foot to each), how many men, supposing all the world as habitable as
France, as fruitful and so long-lived, may be born in 60,000 years, and so
may you demonstrate with [3362]Archimedes how many sands the mass of the
whole world might contain if all sandy, if you did but first know how much
a small cube as big as a mustard-seed might hold, with infinite such. But
in all nature what is there so stupendous as to examine and calculate the
motion of the planets, their magnitudes, apogees, perigees, eccentricities,
how far distant from the earth, the bigness, thickness, compass of the
firmament, each star, with their diameters and circumference, apparent
area, superficies, by those curious helps of glasses, astrolabes, sextants,
quadrants, of which Tycho Brahe in his mechanics, optics ([3363]divine
optics) arithmetic, geometry, and such like arts and instruments?

A new look to "My Body"

noreply@blogger.com (John Harley) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:31:00 +0000

This story seemed to be a short read in the beginning, but i was very wrong about this. Although this was VERY short compared to patchwork girl. I thought my body- a wunderkammer would be a very boring read. I was also wrong about this. I couldn't believe that I actually found myself laughing at some parts. The part about stealing merchandise was priceless, or maybe thats just because I'm a guy. And as most guys would agree, some parts were particularly better to read than others. :)

I was unsure about where to start, but I found myself starting at the brain, and although the story was not in chronologial order, I am finishing up the story now at the toes. Although I am still unsure if I have hit every part haha. I have never read a hypertext before, and it was very different from what I had imagioned. I figured it would be just like reading a book where the sequence of events would unfold in a certain order. I loved the way I was able to pick which part of the story that I wish to view. I hate reading books though so a bit of a change was good for me. It is time for class now so I am signing off, and I hope to get a longer post next time.

The Never Ending Story: Patchwork Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Hannah Pilling) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:42:00 +0000

I’m going to be perfectly honest here: I thought, hoped, and prayed I would never have to read patchwork girl ever again. I was wrong. Very wrong.

Allow me to fill you in on my last experience with this lovely piece of writing: Assigned to “read patchwork girl,” my classmates and I were unaware of exactly what this meant. After spending 3 hours standing in line to vote for Obama, laptop in hand, and arms aching, I realized that I had barely scratched the surface of the story. Then I went to discus the story with a classmate and thought that either they were reading some other story or I had gotten something seriously wrong. The stories we were describing to each other were extremely different with the exception of one or two small details. It was at this point I finally understood just how complex this style of story telling can be.

Upon revisiting this piece, I am still feeling the same way. However, (!) I have a new found respect for the complexity of style. My second experience produced yet another order of text and, therefore, another story.

I still feel however, that hypertext narrative, with the effort required by the author and reader, has been utilized mainly by people who are “out there” with their style of writing. Not that there is anything wrong with this, I am just feeling strong connections between Patchwork Girl and My Body - A Wunderkammer. I would like to see some other example of this style that would be more widely accepted and applicable to the more conventional style of reading. How, for example, do you discuss the story within a classroom setting if each student experiences the story differently?

Patchwork Girl: Like Navigating The Bermuda Triangle

noreply@blogger.com (EmDeLeo) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:27:00 +0000

Reading through PG is quite the trip for me. After sitting through a one and a half hour lecture about chromosomes and genetic defects and cellular suicide, Shelley Jackson amuses me through - what seems like - a million small bits of information in one file.

I was kind of confused as to what to do at first. So I clicked. I don't know what I clicked, I just did (looking back on it, probably not the best tactic), though I am pretty confident it was the "graveyard" section. Being taken by each click to a different part of the story (a different story about how one body came from many), I became a little aggravated with all the links that took me to the same place (maybe I just have bad choices with words to click). I also feel like there's a ton to click on, but I'm just not doing it right. Frustration.

After finally getting the hang ot the program, I immediately thought of the game I used to play in the computer lab...the one where you sit next to a friend and you both start on the same wikipedia page (for example, a page about "Lucky Charms") and you both have to make it to another page (for example, a page about "ghost hunting"). The rule is though, that you can only use the text links inside the page to navigate through wikipedia (the first person to the designated page wins, of course). If you haven't played this game yet, I highly suggest it, it's a brilliant time waster and really shows you how so many things can be inter-related.

Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm more amused with how the story comes together with technology than what the story is really trying to tell me. Blame my short attention span, but the whole "six degrees of seperation" theory is way more interesting here than the details of zombified remains and resurrections. I can't seem to stop clicking, so much so that I think the people next to me in the Cathedral are getting tired of the 'tap tap tap' on my laptop.

Though fun, I tend to prefer more methodical ways of accomplishing things. Since I keep backtracking to the same page, I feel like I'm wasting time that I could be spending actually reading the parts that I haven't hit yet. I mean, I could go on to another section of the story, but I don't want to move on if I haven't quite gotten everything from the first section.

Geez...this feels like it's going to take forever to get through. Well...here I go, back to the realm of PG.

For Excellence, For Girls and Why I Normally Can't Stand Feminist Writing... But this was OK

noreply@blogger.com (Hannah Pilling) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:53:00 +0000

Feminism has found yet another abrasive outlet with Hypertext fiction. Having graduated from a high school with the motto: “Springside School: For Excellence, for Girls,” where the typical uniform skirt and blouse was traded for a more “dynamic” skort (skirt with shorts) and polo shirt, I still struggle accept feminist writing and even art with a fully open mind. I was reminded of this while clicking my way through My Body - A Wunderkammer.

Feeling as if I was reading the life story of this woman, I couldn’t help but feel that I was missing large amounts of the writing. Somehow, and if I had paid attention I could tell you how, I made it from the tattoo to the vagina in what felt like less than 4 clicks. Needless to say I was not surprised. In fact, how did this completely female part not sneak directly into my first encounter with this text? The answer is unique to this new medium of expression: hypertext fiction makes the linear pathway to talking about female parts into a web of talking about female parts. There is less of a build up, it’s very hard to predict when your going to stumble upon it, and you can find yourself at the same page over and over… as I did with the description of the paper and the… vagina.

As much as I will complain about reading feminist writing, I have to say, this has been one of the most enjoyable of the myriad of female texts that I have read through the course of my all girls school years. Perhaps it was because I had the ability to chose and carefully filter which links I wanted to click based on the words highlighted in blue, or perhaps it was the actual style of writing – to look beyond the technological aspect of this piece. I would also like to point out that I have spent more time with this piece than I do with most school readings.

I kept finding more descriptions or reflections that are written with the most accurate and relatable descriptiveness of any feminist writing I have yet encountered. THAT’S RIGHT! I’M ACTUALLY ENJOYING IT! I even giggled at the description of the nose piercing that I stumbled upon after clicking a completely non-related link. It reminded me of the saga that has been getting and keeping my nose piercing.

I told my father – the more accepting of my parents – that I was planning on getting my nose pierced. I did this over Thanksgiving break so as to have come home from college at least once without facial piercing. He was fine with it saying that “[I] am my own person now… just no tattoos or I’ll beat you.” (KIDDING he’s completely kidding I promise!) So, upon arriving back to Pittsburgh following the break I got my nose pierced. After I did it someone asked me what it felt like and I had difficulty describing it. That is until I read this:

“My nose is pierced on the left side. The operation was quick and antiseptic, an ink dot placed, wiped off, replaced, a smooth little wooden rod up my nose, a deep breath, the needle plunged through. The ring slid in and pushed out the needle. The only raw and beautiful thing about it was the sudden hapless surge of tears to my left eye, which instantly overflowed down my cheek.”

The relationship between that part of my nose and my tear duct was a mystery to me… The saga of the nose piercing continued with my nose completely rejecting the relatively tame stud that was, at times, unnoticeable. This was a terrifying ordeal that involved a hole in my nose and a stud that wouldn’t stay put. So I got a ring. I really liked the ring. But, knowing it would not be “mother approved” I once again called my dad. “You’re going to get so much shit on Christmas from the family! You should probably prepare a phone conversation or something to let your mother know.” Well… I didn’t. I figured it would be more traumatic if I told her about it and she wasn’t able to see it. I was wrong. We are all familiar with that look of disappointment. Multiply that by 100.

As I grew to really like my nose with a small silver ring on the right side, my mother’s spite, which I swear has some magical power over my life, once again forced the alignments of the planets to disrupt the normality of my life. I’m not saying that her spite sent me to the hospital for a week, but I ended up there over Christmas. While the doctors scrambled to figure out what was wrong, my nose and I were put through multiple tests including the MRI. For those unfamiliar, that’s the one with the magnet. So not only did I avoid the “shit” on Christmas by not even being there, my mother got her wish and I was forced to take the ring out or get it ripped out by a giant magnet.

The point of this story, other than procrastinating many other things I should probably be doing right now, is to say that now, with a small red healing dot where once there was a ring, I have a story. This type of story telling – where one story reminds you of another and so on – appears to be the style in which My Body - A Wunderkammer is written, reflecting how well this style matches this medium.

Today's class

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Skye Bianco) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:51:00 +0000

We meet in CL423!!!

We will begin with Patchwork Girl and then move genealogically through the other texts...be prepared to write when you arrive at 6p!

See you tonight!

Thoughts of an Exhausted Insomniac

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:32:00 +0000

So I'm sitting/laying here watching skateboarding as I navigate my way through Patchwork girl in order to not give in to much needed sleep. Besides the labyrinth of links and information that I'm currently wading through, the melodramatic hum of the wheels of skateboarders mixed with the music beats is both helpful and hell. I find myself flipping back to the skateboarding as much as I find myself immersed in Patchwork Girl.

I realize that I still have some of the same thoughts and ideas that I did before when I began to read/navigate Patchwork Girl, but they're becoming enhanced and extended to the max. Perhaps it's because of the ridiculous time that I'm writing this blog at, the lack of sleep or whatever; but I'm finding more connections to other texts and anything possible than before.

At the same time, I'm becoming more confused. It's opening so many doors of possibilities that it's insane. It's exciting in itself (plus Nyjah nailed the bigflip front board and the switch heel!). Anyhow, as I'm multi-tasking, now also taking a look at 'My Body - a wunderkammer,' a lot of it is clicking. The ties and relations to the body as a story, a narrative and our life. But that's just a piece of it.

I also find it interesting that when it starts off, at least from where I started it was fairly innocent. In a sense it was childhood, that sense of being a kid when you're curious about everything, but it soon develops into this obsession and obscenity. This ridiculous image of things that make no sense but are intriguing because something is making me question her thought process and ideas.

I begin to look at what each piece of this means a a greater whole now, than simply this kid discovering her anatomy and attempting to decipher it. It becomes more of a growing process and also opens to questions about the mind and what it does. In a way I feel like this ties to the whole technology idea; our mind as a child of its own, the information put into it shaping how we act and what we do, and how much we come to rely on technology.

And just how this information is relayed to us and the meanings of all of these things. It's pretty far-stretched at the moment no lie, but it still makes sense (at least in my head it does). The web is just as much as labyrinth of information that you can't even think of bridging as "My Body" and especially Patchwork Girl. Although you think you've gotten far, and perhaps you might have even 'finished' it, you really haven't. Because there are other ways to approach it, other locked doors still, filled with vast amounts of overflowing tumultuous information and the more I read, the more I fill like I'm leafing through the thousands of google pages when it brings up a result for something like art.

There's too much, so much that it questions everything. In one way this is great, in others it is simply complex. I wonder what this says about our media, about everything that we use, etc. All of this information, all of these things, this technology, just, what does it say about this and us. Anyhow, I am definitely going on numerous tangents here so I'm gonna stop. But these are just the sprawled thoughts of an overly exhausted girl in need of better thought process and at least 10 more brains.

Let's Just Call it My Own Version of the 'Left-Hand-Wall Rule'

noreply@blogger.com (mtelh) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:55:00 +0000

When confronted with the image of the woman's body with all of the 'clickable' parts, I decided that I wouldn't be able to get through this without some kind of a system: so I made one up. I decided, quite arbitrarily, that I would start at "the brain." It seemed like a good place to start: why not just go straight to the top and see what's on her mind? From there, I read the entirety of the page a link would take me to, then scroll back to the top of the page and click on the first link that I hadn't already been to.

It was going smoothly until I got stuck at the ears.

That happened a few times. I'd get stuck on a page with no links, or a page with links that I'd been to already. Sometimes I had to backtrack quite a bit. Finnally, I started running into so many dead ends that I had to pull the plug: I went back to the picture and just clicked on all the parts I hadn't been able to get to using my system.

Those links were strange sometimes, weren't they? Some made sense, like a comment about tanning would take you to the skin page. But others seemed a little wayward: I think it was something about rollerskating that took you to the arms page. Some starting making sense after reading many of the pages, but still others just remained mysterious.

It became almost like a game after I discovered a few of the "secret pages." I was curious to see if I could spot links that would take me to more. I think I was able to find them all.

Again, a very interesting, and curious, piece. When you put all of the pieces together it makes for an intriguing autobiography.

Literal Girl Lost in Library of Babel

noreply@blogger.com (EmDeLeo) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:48:00 +0000

Catchy title, right? I tried at least...everyone else's titles were fun and imaginative, and being the literal one that I am, I did what I could with the whole "creative" thing =)

So, after the busy weekend of preparing for my future classes & junior/senior year/grad school, playing in the pep band at the men's and women's basketballs games (I'm a Pitt trumpet player - full of the ego and onoxiousness if you've ever met one), watching the Steeler's work their way to the superbowl, and dropping/adding classes for the sake of my own sanity, I finally got the chance to handle this blogging and write a run-on sentence for everyone to read.

As I sat down to read this "Library of Babel" text, I saw the picture at the top of the page and stared at it for a few minutes and asked myself..."Oh man, what am I about to get myself into with this?' The picture blew my mind. It immediately reminded me of those Escher pictures that don't contain an ending or a beginning. I kind of went with that theory for the rest of the story (in combination with the first line reference to the "library" being synonymous with "universe).

The Library of Babel is/was a tough read for me. It was a real stretch trying to even picture such a place in my mind, let alone trying to put myself into the story as if it were all happening to me (I like to do that kind of thing when I read, it makes it more personal - though I guess not one of the better tactics to tackeling reads like this). Maybe I missed some sort of deeper meaning - which wouldn't be surprising - but I just took this story as a reference of one man's attempt trying to find the answer to questions about the universe almost as (ready for this?) a labarynth of impossibility.

Oh, I like that: a labarynth of impossibility. Sounds all....mysterious and intimidating.

Finally, I will say that this story frustrated me a little bit. I am not a fan of philosophy - being the literal scientist that I am - which this story tended to touch on (or maybe in my ignorance may have even been the theme). It just wasn't my cup of tea.

Let's just say, I'm ready for the reading, "My Body," which deems itself to be a little more of my style.

-EmDeLeo

My Body to My Body.. and beyond...

noreply@blogger.com (NickN) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:58:00 +0000

Well here I go. I'd like to make it known that this is my first blog ever, so take it easy on me. I've enjoyed reading all of your blogs however, and if i don't live up to your expectations... well then I'm sorry. ha ha.

When i first began reading, i would click on a body part and read the section, then hit the back button and click on another. Pretty stupid of me is probably what you were all thinking. But i guess let me start from the beginning. One thing about me is that athletics use to define my life. I am a transfer here from Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. At Lafayette i was on a football scholarship and playing Division 1-AA football my freshman year and getting what was a $50,000 dollar education for free!! I know, why would i ever leave that you are probably asking. Actually it was because of my body.

Not my body in the sense of this reading, but my body in the sense of my being pretty much turning against me. At Lafayette i suffered a sever shoulder injury that was going to cost me 2 years of my career, several surgeries, what i was told "almost unbearable pain", and inevitably, my scholarship. So i guess my body is why i am here, and 'My Body - a wunderkammer' is why you are all reading this.

Where to even begin when talking about 'My Body'. My expectations were, well lets just say i thought i would go into this with an open mind. But after beginning to navigate my way throughout this work my mind instantly flashed back to the reading we did in class 'The end of books - or books without an end' and the idea of "interactive" or "participartoy" text because i feel like My Body was a shinning example of this. (Hannah i loved/still love those goosebump books)

So naturally i began with the shoulder and learned that any expectations or thoughts that i had in my mind about these body parts should immediately be thrown out the window, because this was not your usually anatomy lesson. The style of writing was intruiging, offsetting, thought-provoking, appaling, and sometimes just flat out wierd. But you feel a desire to read on and after i began using the intext hyperlinks the reading experience completely changed. If i was sitting there with a book i would read the title to my new chapter and have a least a good chance of guessing what i would be reading. But in this work you have no shot to use context clues to imagine what part of the body you could be headed to next. Examples that stuck out to me were:

"Trigonometry" led to 'Leg Hair'
"School Report" led to 'Hips'
"A Trunk" led to 'Toes'

Which adds a whole new dynamic to the reading experience in my mind.

Also, the length of these links or "chapter titles" i guess you could say varried in length. At times they would be one word, and at other times i ran across one that was three lines long! And last but not least to finish my rant on these blue-text, underlined mysteries, is that different links would lead you back to the same place. So even if you thought you were going to get something new because you've never clicked on a particular hyperlink before, you didn't even have that guarentee.

But the part i think i enjoyed most about this work was when i ran across a certain section i was lead to that talked about the body as a "cabinet of wonders" or "cabinet or currosities". And how each drawer has school reports, pictures, experiments, tips to go to other drawers unlabelled keys, and drawers that had drawers. Because you never really know what you could find in a persons "drawer". Everyone is different and unique, and thats what makes everyone fascinating. As Will said, when you look at the title "My Body - a Wunderkammer" i think it means exactly what he said "My Body - A cabinet of Wonders or Currosities". My german is no where like your's Will so thanks. Ha ha.

But i think the Quote that appealed most to me was not only referring to the body as a cabinet of wonder, but also to a way i have found to approach life. "I have found every drawer to be both bottomless and intricately connected to every other drawer, such that there can be no final unpacking. But you don't approach a cabinet of wonders with an inventory in hand. You open drawers at random." Thoughout this piece there are connections that seem complicated and made possible by this digital interactive piece. If i was reading a book and i read "for Triginometry (go to page 112)" i would never go to that page because i hate trig. But the interactive text allows you to explore and to experience the reading in a way that the author wants and makes the piece work as a whole.

But i begin to feel like i am rambling and am all over the place. So ill wrap this up by applying this quote to life as well. In life i feel like everything is connected (six degrees of seperation and all that jazz). But some connections are easy, some are complicated, and some may never be discovered. But in every aspect of life there are endless possiblities with every decision, ever move you make, every person you meet, every class you take, literally everything, that it is impossible to make a plan that will take you through life. The best way to live life is without an inventory, to take chances, maybe open a drawer you usually wouldn't, and see where it leads.

Pitt Basketball is Number 1... and the Steelers are Stellar

Ongoing impressions on the Library of Babel

noreply@blogger.com (Jonny) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Right now it is Sunday night and after hours of football it's about time to settle down and read some Library of Babel. I did not know exactly what to expect out of this piece, and I was surprised to see that it consisted of just an image and some text. I was a little disappointed by this realization, but it made sense that our first assignment would not stray far from traditional literature. Other than the linked footnotes that take you directly to the notes and the fact that the user is reading the text from a computer, the text does not utilize technology in a way that makes the use of technology indispensable. But enough about the small stuff.

Right from the get-go The Library of Babel flat out says "The universe (which others call the Library)." To me that screams out "THE LIBRARY IS A METAPHOR FOR THE UNIVERSE!!!" so I treated everything that follows as such. As I read on, there seems to be a growing distinction between science and religion. For one, the title of the piece is called "Library of Babel." The word "library" relates to science while the word "babel" refers to the tower of babel which originates from the bible. The speaker likes to think of this library as infinite even if the evidence disputes it. The speaker talks about mystics claiming that "The Library is a sphere whose exact center is any one of its hexagons and whose circumference is inaccessible. " The line "whose circumference is inaccessible" popped out to me (maybe because I'm an engineering major and math terms strangely catch my interest). The circumference of a circle (2 times pi times the radius) is inaccessible due to the fact that pi's digits go on infinitely with no repeating series of numbers. The fact that one could calculate the digits of pi for an infinite amount of time and still never come to that last digit reaffirms this notion of infinity. It also ties in two seemingly unrelated topics: science and religion. Personally, I cannot simply state that the existence of pi is evidence of the existence of God, but thinking about it makes me wonder. Anyway, back to the library!

After reading the axioms, it became clear to me that the speaker wants to get the idea that language, in the form of books and "25 characters", made man able to communicate, evolve, and create order. But also for every coherent sentence, there seems to be a sentence of incoherence. The second axiom was a little hard for me to understand so if anyone wants to discuss what they thought it meant please do so.

After the axioms the speaker seemed to be retelling certain times in human history but under the metaphor that the universe is a library, of course. "In the vast Library there are no two identical books." This simple statement states a lot. Just repeat that in your head for a little. In my head, multitudes of ideas pop up. Thoughts like "No matter what or who you look at, he/she/it is unique in some sort of way," or "The universe is made up of primarily the same material, but everything in it is built uniquely." Lines that can make someone sit and think for half an hour before continuing to read, to me, are what makes a literary piece interesting. So anyway, back to the literature! It was really interesting to see how man's search for the answers to life can be retold as a metaphor for "inquisitors" trying to reach the intangible.

I have just finished reading The Library of Babel at this point and I just now realize the connection with the Tower of Babel (took me long enough, eh?). The librarians seem to be reaching for the intangible, but due to the differences in language it couldn't be done. The bible story had God punishing those trying to reach Him by creating the different languages so they could not communicate properly to finish building the tower to God. The speaker, however, does not see the intangibility of finding the "one book" depressing. The speaker in fact still hopes that the library is still infinite and that "if an eternal traveler were to cross it in any direction, after centuries he would see that the same volumes were repeated in the same disorder." The speaker, and maybe even I, am gladdened by this.

Wow, so I really liked this work and I will definitely be giving it another read or two. I am completely aware that I could have misinterpreted a lot of the meaning in this work and I am open to comments, criticisms (be gentle please :) ), or anything else anyone wants to add. The good/bad thing about this blogging business is that it allows ANYONE to see what I'm writing. This encourages me not to half-ass whatever it is I'm working on, but it also gives me great anxiety about what others are thinking about my thoughts. I am deathly afraid that I will be seen as ignorant, especially on the internet. But then again, I'm pretty sure that my post is a little bit more intelligent than any youtube video comment. Thanks for reading and expect my exciting thoughts on "my body."

-Jonny Allen

"Girl look at you bloggin...you know I love you."

noreply@blogger.com (Hannah Jo) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:29:00 +0000

I went to Maryland for the Pitt vs. Navy football game a couple months ago, and one night when we were out eating our waiter told the guys sitting at the table that the only way to keep a girl was to compliment EVERYTHING, even our breathing. Since I am oh-so-fantastic at doing all of my school work, on time, my boyfriend decided to throw that line out there which I then decided to use as my title.

Excellent intro, I know. I still have to tell you about my weekend though. I spent all Saturday afternoon at an ice rink with our Panther, ROC, about 25 other mascots from around Pittsburgh, and a huge number of small children. It was a somewhat bizarre and interesting experience. I met Abraham Lincoln. I don't think many people today could say that. ;-)

So I finally started reading My Body. I really liked the picture with all of the body parts, probably because I'm a crazy Anatomy fanatic. I of course started reading this story by clicking on the head. (I seem to like a lot of things standard and in order, and starting anywhere else on the body just seemed wrong!) There was only one link which took me to the page about the eyes. I loved this part! My strange childhood self did everything she talked about, especially sitting around closing one eye and then the other to see the different perspectives. I also probably squinted many times to look through my eyelashes. I know, I was cool. Now, this page did bother me a little. When a story is online the author or creator can use any background they want, and the background on this page was not helping my reading.

Does anyone remember those special edition Goosebumps books? At the end of each chapter it had 2 options and it let you choose the path/storyline you wanted to take and therefore you were skipping around the book from chapter 3 to 21 to 11. My Body reminded me of those Goosebumps books, when there were multiple links to click on. I knew I would end up reading the whole story and I think it's interesting the way I could eventually make my way around the entire body.

Well these are all my thoughts spilled out for now. OH!! Except for the BASKETBALL game today?! Heck yeah, let's go PITT! (...had to get that out there!)

First-time Thoughts from a First-time Blogger with Unimaginative Names for Titles

noreply@blogger.com (mtelh) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:39:00 +0000

First things first, I'd just like to say how glad I am that browsers have a zoom function. I hate reading large volumes of teeny tiny text, whether in print or on a screen (especially on a screen). So, if I could only pick one thing I like about digital technology, it would be the ability to blow up the text to a size that won't give me a migraine from trying to read it. It's a good example of how digital technology can transfer control of the experience to the reader.

I've just gone over "Library of Babel" and I can't say if reading it online was any different from reading it on the pages of a printed book. What did make the experience different was Google. With my Firefox browser, a Google search bar is right up there in the corner, waiting for me to use it when I needed to get a better understanding of what I was reading. If I was reading print I'd have to get up and go to the computer or a dictionary, or something that was not on hand. That would take much longer to do. But with reading it online, Google, Wikipedia and anything else are already right there in front of you just waiting for you to need to use them. So looking up references and such definitely happens much faster, and even contributes to the experience much better than if I was reading a printed version. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm able to remain comfortably seated.

Overall, "Library of Babel" was an interesting, stimulating read. While I was reading, it began to turn into a logical exercise; as I went about digesting the library, its books, and the theories of the inhabitants. Whether or not it's all a metaphor for something, an allegory or some other thing disguised as another thing, I read it as if it was an actual place that exists somewhere. It's fun for me to imagine that something like this actually exists: books containing all possible combinations of all possible symbols; all of the implications and theories that flow from this one idea; and the people of that world trying to find the best way to understand it and live in it.

Thanks for all of you who have jumped right in

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Skye Bianco) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:42:00 +0000

For those unfamiliar with blogger:

You have two options for posting your blog entries.

1. New Posts: In the upper right hand of the screen, click "new post." This will initiate a new thread (like the two I have created with the readings for weeks one and two). Give it a zippy and relevant title in the title box, enter the body of the text in the main "box," and make sure to click "publish post" to send your words to the public blog.

2. Comments: Beneath each thread (like the two I have created with the readings for weeks one and two)(like the two I have created with the readings for weeks one and two), you will find the word "[#] comments." This will take you to a new page that begins with the original thread and includes the bodies of all comments made thus far. At the bottom of the comment already made is a text box in which you may enter your post. Make sure that the "Comment as..." menu (directly below the white text box) has your accurate avatar/userid indicated and click "Post Comment" to make your words available as a public comment.

Please post any questions or concerns you have to our course listserv @ s09nat@googlegroups.com

:-))

Babel as Biblical, Literature, or neither

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:32:00 +0000

So I'm currently reading the Library of Babel, and the first thing that came to mind as I started was the Babel in the Bible (Tower of Babel). Not to say that it has any actual reference to it, but looking at it in that way provides many different perspectives.

When the author/narrator points things out such as "inexhaustible stairways for the traveler and latrines for the seated librarian, can only be the work of a god. To perceive the distance between the divine and the human" it seems to not only be talking about books, but the actual distance, or the building of the tower. In a lot of ways this can be taken as a philosophical or scientific approach to the creation and thereafter destruction of the Tower of Babel.

Although the narrative seems to be talking about the useless information of books in which the narrative is still insistent that there is an important book there, and perhaps a book that ties one to God. I still feel that there are many connections to the religious text.

Another passage, focusing on the language, begins to pinpoint the idea of mixed languages and as the level rises more confusion. "the first librarians, used a language quite different from the one we now speak; it is true that a few miles to the right the tongue is dialectical and that ninety floors farther up, it is incomprehensible."

This passage hits at the different dialect, the varied meaning of words and phrases, much like the jumble of talk after the tower has fallen, and God made it so that people could not understand one another. It explains why all of the information seems to be useless although there is certainty that it is not. It also explains how one of the texts seems to lead towards a direct tie, or equality to God.

Finally, there is a passage that talks about vindication, or the wish to get high enough to find their vindication. "Thousands of the greedy abandoned their sweet native hexagons and rushed up the stairways, urged on by the vain intention of finding their Vindication"

Here it shows the struggle, and the push to be the one closest to the Book that makes one man more equal than the others. The search for what they cannot find amiss the pile of seemingly nothing.

Although it focuses much on the texts and the inability to understand the books, rather than the Bible story, there are many ties to it. Including that of the name Babel. The name Babel is this exact story, and/or a confused mix of sound, which could be voices. This said, tying it in with library is what places this as a more scientific or philosophical understanding/comprehending of the religious text.

However, both still leave the questions why the mixed voices/languages?
Why the search or desire for vindication?
And why is there failure?

There are answers for both paths, either biblical or not, but they continue to intertwine. Like these staircases, so similar to the "staircase to heaven" seems to be perceived in a thematic way towards this original biblical ideology or even the simple universal connection or tie through language in order to obtain a certain goal. It seems there will always be why's to this work, but Babel remains a break down of borders.

But as a work in this new media age, I also see it as a direct tie to the constant stream of all that is the technological world today. Here lies the central focus, language, which ties all of us together and keeps literature and new media alive.

Through text or speech language, regardless of language connects the whole world. And it leaves me to think that the one text that they all searched for, was that universal language. It was a specific source that they could all identify with, and this is why it left them as a direct tie to whatever higher source.

So I'm going to end here before I begin to yap on. Still have plenty more reading to do, till who knows what ghastly hours.