tengrrl’s thoughts & news on teaching writing, literacy, and literature
March 24, 2006
Download of the Day: Color Cop – Lifehacker—cool tool that lets you sample nearly anything. Use the dropper to grab colors off the desktop, open browser windows, and many applications. It gives you both hex and rgb. It wouldn’t let me sample off a moving video, but it’s let me grab color from everything else that I’ve tried. Should save oodles of time and energy.
March 24, 2006
The strategy for my life finally has an explanation! Increase your creativity: slack off – Lifehacker points to a Fortune story that explains, “People may do their best thinking when they are not concentrating on work at all.” I’m not going to work at all for the rest of the day. Hell, for the rest of the month.
March 23, 2006
I had some crazy dreams during that sleepathon. I was in some crazy house, which I had apparently purchased, and my sister Holli was there helping me. The strangest thing was that the porch was pushing back into the house, somehow jamming into the building. After some investigation, Holli said that I could just push it back out and watch it so that it wouldn’t creep in again. It was as effortless as shoving a chair across the floor, which was odd given that I was shoving a huge concrete structure. There was a second floor on this house as well, which seemed to be filled with unusual furniture that had been draped and otherwise left unattended. Holli wanted to look through it, but she didn’t because, she said, Daddy had told her not to. There was some sort of bay doors off on to a porch with an enclosed glass chamber that looked very Victorian. I remember wanting to get out there, but not being able to because of all the furniture on that floor between where we were and the bay doors.
I have to say that I am fully and completely dumbfounded on what any of that means. A convention dream would have made so much more sense. How can I come to convention and have insane house dreams?
Anyway, I eventually got up and even dressed. I didn’t plan on the first sessions, cuz as anyone will tell you, I’m not a morning girl. I did do a run through the exhibit hall. Actually, it was fairly leisurely, but I foolishly had on my staff nametag so I was a little limited in what I could do. I did identify a couple of books that I was interested in, checked on the tech center, and the pubs booth, which is at the very back of the exhibit hall. Unfortunately, it’s set up in this way where it looks as if you’re already at the back of the room before you get there, and when you do round the corner on one side, you can’t see anyone because the cashier’s desk is behind a huge column. There was no one there at all when I went in yesterday, but I did see my Kit on display, which was marvelous fun. I’m betting they’ll have low sales though. The booth is really not very prominent.
After my exhibit hall tour, I was off to Session C.24: Picture This . . .: Visual Literacies from Zine to Virtual Responses:
The session wasn’t really all that aligned with things I need, but there were some interesting bits. One speaker, Scott Warnock, was using Camtasia to record comments on students’ papers. He mentioned a recent Time article that referred to the rambunctious young kida as GenN, and more interestingly “Screenagers.” He explained that “Technologies are being refined; and we’re gonna use them or they’re gonna use us.” Speaker Jeffrey Maxson talked about “Ethos through Design,” connecting the style and design of riot grrrl sites and zines to intentional questioning of authority. He pointed to the establishment of street cred through their stylistic choices, such as ransom note text, cut-out lines of text, and so forth. Sex Pistols, punk design. What I found most interesting about the entire conversation was that it validated my belief about the entire “MySpace and slow death of the web” discussion on Techrhet. While people were lamenting the horror of students’ color choices and centered texts, I thought those choices might be establishing a communal style. Maxson’s talk would have been a great addition to the implications on the list that those crazy kids just don’t know better. He also shared an excellently fun site: http://www.disgruntledhousewife.com/, with what has to be my new fav new info, Meals Men Like. Now I’ll catch a man for sure.
After C.24, I wandered back to the Exhibit Hall, where I ran into John, Tari, and Bradley. Some brief chat, and then I had to run up to the room to eat something for lunch before I died of hunger.
I attended the 7Cs meeting at 4PM, to provide all the excitement that an ex officio person can. Actually, I think I mainly jumped on my age-old hobby horse. The conversation wandered into plans that sounded amazingly helpful only to tenure track and tenure-interested folks. Generally speaking, the meeting went very well. Especially well, I guess, since I don’t have to do anything. Being ex officio has its charms.
After the meeting, off to the Bedford/St. Martin’s party at the Field Museum. There was an incredible wait for the elevator, and I got to sit and chat with Harriet from the B/SM New Media group on the way over. Inside, I had water and some snacks, and I wandered around among dinosaurs. Sue, the T. Rex, looked mean, especially when I was standing in a line for water and she looked like she was coming right for me. I don’t think she was being very thoughtful.
After a while of wandering about the cavernous room and not finding anyone new to talk to, I decided to head back to the hotel. Serendipitously, I ended up walking out with Cheryl Ball and Moe with the MTU-snow injury. Cheryl insisted that I could tag along to a Kairos party, even though I really wasn’t part of the group. Because of Moe’s crutches, the bus folks loaded us into the first seats on a bus—and Cheryl and I took it upon ourselves to welcome everyone to bus individually. “Welcome to the bus!” :)
After the joyful bus ride, we walked to the Exchequer for the party. Had a nice time chatting with folks from various places. Got to see Joyce Walker and Eric Hayenga, and the end of a couple of basketball games before Tony Atkins kindly escorted me back to the hotel. All in all, a long, but interesting day.
March 23, 2006
There is clearly something very pathetic about coming to CCCC and staying in my room, going to bed before 9, and then getting up at 12:30 am and watching DVDs while I write. My brain is clearly fried or pickled or full of stupid. Sometimes I’m such a doofus.
March 22, 2006
Ahh. Day one, and how do I spend it? Fiddling about for a while in my room. I didn’t go to a morning workshop, so there seemed no reason to rush. I did go downstairs to make myself a nametag and check on all my NCTE coworkers, to make sure that no one needed help. I decided to go ahead and lug my heavy laptop to the workshop so that I could take notes on the session. I was fortunate enough to get a seat near a plug, so I didn’t run out of battery power. The battery on this thing seems to only last about an hour :-/ Perhaps I should see if I can buy an extra battery for it, or maybe this is another excuse to get that baby Mac that I want.
There is no wireless in the meeting rooms so all I could do was take notes. No live blogging from CCCC it appears. Delayed blogging will have to do, so here goes:
I’ve broken in on an afternoon workshop, Fostering and Sustaining a Community and Culture of Digital Writing, with Doug Eyman, DÃ nielle DeVoss, Joy Durding, Angela Haas, Stephanie Sheffield, Martine Rife, and Suzanne Rumsey. The room is relatively full of people, but I managed to get here early enough to get one of the outlets in the room. The group has introduced themselves, and Danielle even introduced the handouts and CD of resources (and an excellent parallel Web site with copies of the resources).
After a brief introduction, we’ve been set to work as a group to think about
quuestions sent to folks in advance–basically defining the genre of digital
writing and exploring the pedagogical and professional issues and goals involved.
Issues that came up include:
There was lots of discussion of the term digital rhetoric, with one definition that focused on “anything you can transmit by the Internet”–an oddly limiting definition. Also focusing on word and image, none of the other modalities. Someone mentioned CAPTology (computer aided persuasive technology). Most visual assignments focus on image as argument/persuasion. Need to consider other modes of discourse.
Sharing of group goals for the workshop, and for exploration of digital rhetoric at home institutions. Importance of sharing, fact-finding. There was discussion of whether the word digital was necessary. If rhetoric is communication by any available means, isn’t the word rhetoric enough? And that exchange led to a crowd favorite question: “What is the opposite of digital rhetoric–analog rhetoric?”
Throughout the session, there were many video clips and Web site examples of
writing and pieces for students to discuss and explore. All were excellent,
but my favorite has to be the World of Warcraft video–”Grab your dick, and double click for porn.”
There were a number of specific assignments described, and I didn’t begin to
get them all written down. Here are a few:
March 22, 2006
This week college-level members will gather for the 57th Annual Convention of CCCC. Program Chair Akua Duku Anokye asked attendees to consider the question “How do we work in the middle spaces with integrity and conviction to clearly and loudly address the literacy needs of a diverse society?” as one issue that might shape their proposals for the Convention. One answer to this important question is to foreground the many literacies that students bring to the classroom. The Ideas Section from this week’s Inbox will get you started.
March 21, 2006
So I managed to get to the Palmer House after a minor driving error that took me through downtown Chicago at 5 PM. Note to self: do not arrive in Chicago at 5 PM again. Second note to self: Pay more attention to road signs.
Saw Susan Lang and Janice Walker in the lounge early then met Will and Michelle for drinks at the Exchequer. There’s been no end of trouble with the Internet connection in the room and the ice machine on this floor doesn’t work; but it’s been nice to see people whom I haven’t seen in 3 or 4 years.
March 21, 2006
I saved Burdens of the Modern Beast on March 4; but I didn’t get around to writing the entry. I never seem to get around to the things I’m supposed to these days. Yesterday, while I was at Saturn waiting for the oil change, etc., I reread the article and mused on how I had spent most of the last 24 hours trying to figure out how to cram my belongings into their various suitcases for the trip. I never seem able to pare things down enough. I’m not sure why I always have too much with me. When I look at it all, it seems perfectly normal, though I know that I have a tendency to pack for emergencies and other anxieties. Oh well, time to get the packing finished and get on the road.
March 21, 2006
So here I sit at the Saturn dealer with the huginormous laptop on my lap. Fortunately
Saturn now has wifi. Unfortunately, my mac’s battery died last night. Or at least
I discovered it last night. I noticed that it was unplugged on Sunday when it
went black screen on me. I’m not sure who twiddled the power cable. Since then,
the battery holds only 3%. It shutsdown and loses all sense within 5 minutes
of having been turned on. I’m less than pleased, but it is a very old laptop.
I think that I’ve had it for 5 or 6 years, well beyond the usable life of the
thing. I guess I really am going to have to find teh money to buy a new mac now.
While I’m sitting here, my car is receiving updates so that I can drive to Chicago
in a bit for CCCC. It needs an oil change, traansmission service, and brake fluid
flush (and presumably replace). $221. After this, I’m going to Target to see
if I can find a more usable bag. I can never manage to pack properly. I’m going
to have to rethink everything again : ( But regardless, since it would make no
sense to bring the mac, I have to take a rolling bag for this win machine. That
puts my stuff in really inconvenient places, so I need to find a purse or tote
or something so that I don’t have to get down on the floor every time I want
a pen.
After that little trip, it’s home to finish packing and off to Chicago. We have
a snow day today, so I don’t have to go to the office (woohoo!). According to
my NPR meteorologist, the weather north of here is fine, just blowing a bit;
so the drive should be okay. Possibly a little slow. Regardless I"m bound to
get out of here sooner than I originally thought since I don’t have to go in
to the office at all. I thought I’d have to work today and then leave after work.
It will be nice to get a head start on the trip during the daylight hours.
I must have a million partially done entries for this blog. Maybe I’ll have some time this evening to catch up once I’m in Chicago.
March 20, 2006
Okay, maybe not really a million, but it feels like a million. I went by the post office to stop my mail before going to work—one to do done. Did a ton of little things for work: edited a professional development newsletter, did the Inbox for tomorrow (on composition for CCCC), did preliminary work on the June calendar revisions, reviewed a lesson, and wrote notes for another lesson author. Plus I managed to go to Target for things I needed for the trip, got gas, and got money at the bank. Now I just have to figure out how to smash the right things into the right suitcase.