Wood's Blog

Html project proposal

	The Messy Human Heart Series. (or, le serie du coeur echevele.)
i've been thinking about this project for a few years on and off. this segment of the series will be 'le coeur perdu' (the lost heart) and it will be a journey of loss and recovery. i've decided to finally confront my trepidation towards drawing, and will hand-draw the illustrations, and maybe the words, too, but i already know how to do the draw words.   i'm considering making it a dual language experience, just for the heck of it. after i allay my drawing issues, i'm going to finally learn how to swim properly, but that is unrelated to this project, except in that it concerns our heartfelt anxieties about certain abilities we might or might not possess.

Ma!

oh, why can't i have a NORMAL mom. she is always SO concerned with my well-being and inner-life. but, exasperatingly, she is so attuned to the universe, that she is usually right. last spring she told me that i ought not plant green peppers on the waning moon in scorpio, but i didn't listen and my peppers have refused to flourish in their usual manner this year.

but she does know me so well. and her intuition is inexplicably accurate.

but i draw the line at making my decisions with crystals, unless they can help me write research papers.

hello, I'm a wiccan earth goddess.

wiccan earth goddess mother, here as interlocuter... The week of the waning moon before the new moon is Andrea's least industrious week of the month. she dreams about being alone in the woods. she dreams of quiet places, and of clean smelling air. she dreams about the privilege of seeing a timberwolf cross her path on a winter hike. but then the moon waxes and the spell breaks, and she goes out dancing and vigorously cleans her house and projects her efficiency onto the entire world. but, this week, this week she is in her lair, eating toast with hot butter and honey, or maybe merlot and chevre on crackers. during this introspective week i encourage her to reflect on her oneness with the universe, and, during this time of autumnal equinox, to also consider preparing her mind, body and spirit for the earth's restful winter months ahead.

my view(s)

I love the view from my bedroom window. it was one of the most convincing features upon choosing this house.





there's a chance i might be moving next summer for the next step in this procedure of life. i need a job, or i go on to ph.d-ville, but gads, do i want to be in school further? I MISS EARNING AN INCOME without an interest rate.

but the more i think about leaving, again.... i really do like duluth, but then you never know what lies beyond the horizon...and, it's better now, before Ash is really into his friends. but, i really like it here...oh, choices, choices, and, i guess they're all pretty good ones, eh?

...she's a flight risk

...she's a flight risk is a melodramatic fictional blog that reminds me something i would have enjoyed writing as a teenager or young 20. the writer, 'isabella' is a young fugitive from a wealthy european family. she has some cool embedded links on it, like decrypting programs, and dear raed.

Dullest blog in the world

this blog is like many cell phone conversations i hear. it lacks depth, but is good for a grin.

spectator sample

hale and hearty i've been thinking about the functions of the human body, a mere food processor and mechanical tool. i've noticed when i chop wood and labor at chores my body functions at a more efficient rate. considering that our bodies are designed for certain functions, it seems like you ought to use it or lose it.

my friend charlie likes to hunt a great deal. he calls this manly work. all about his house there are the chopped off heads of vermin, and big game and fish mounted to plaques of wood. last week he hit an owl with his car and brought it to the taxidermist.

myself, i like to do my exercises alone in the quiet of my own company. part of being well-balanced is doing your manly work along with your intellectual efforts.

reapin what i sow

this year i've had a nice crop of RED tomatoes. this warm month has helped a ton. i've only had green tomatoes for the last 3 years now. i've also got 6 acorn squash, some green peppers, broccoli, and my pride and joy: 2 fat watermelons. dig it. i love harvesting--except cucumbers and zucchini--they will make you hate your garden.

GORILLAZ: dangerous cool cartoon thug band

dang. i just lost another post again when i was uploading this pic. dang. i need to remember to compose in notepad. awright. over it.

Gorillaz have been pretty successful of late. their real identities are unknown to their adoring public. the inescapable irony of being a rebel band. which Gorillaz acknowledge in their album art, is that success is the doom of all iconoclastic ventures. can you be successful and famous and avoid idolatry?

another remarkable thing about Gorillaz, is how little the fans really care about the fact that the front-men are cartoons. it just sounds really good.

on the other hand, i think it does make a serious difference that the cartoons are so rad. if the band members looked like the back street boys, or the beach boys, their fan base and level of success would be different, for sure. there are similarities here to the hoaxy fiction that can be so surprising and alluring.

DELETION OPTIONAL

Chris's post about The Orphan brings up the big web issues, like trust, authorship and the veracity of text. He pulls a big hoax, people loved it, and he gets a book deal. Kind of like reality tv.

I see the web as a place where people seek dialogue through text. Text often replaces spoken word when it comes to very important issues, but in oral cultures your verbal word was sacred, and text was not honored the way it is today. Even in our electronic culture, your signature still means you''ve given your "word."

And our cognitive processes have altered so much that some people find it easier to converse in text rather than out loud. When I'm trying to untangle a jumble of ideas in my head, I need to write them down, not engage in verbal dialogue. My mind can't track it the same way. An entry on Jill Walker's blog about DELETING entries got me to thinking about the altered status of a person's verbal "word" and the digital age, where we can delete and revise. But, in many ways, I premeditate less when I'm typing or writing, than when I'm speaking. Sure, sometimes I'm foot in mouth all day long, but for the most part, I try to think before I blurt. But, with writing, it's just a straight shot from my brain to the paper or screen.

There are some interesting comments following Jill's entry about deleting and blogging, and premeditation in writing or off the cuff. It reminded me of Dayna's first post that was all calisthenics and tipsiness, and her pondering whether to keep it or delete it.

On a different note, Beacon to the Bayou was GREAT. perfect weather, a great crowd, kickin music, and lots of money raised for Katrina. and they auctioned off a banjo that went for $600!, i was so surprised--all donated to the Red Cross.

sunday morning

last night i got home quite late and decided to blog under the influence of tequila and bushmills. i remember typing very, very carefully and writing some exuberant prose, but, i accidentally deleted it somehow. utterly stricken at the loss of blazingly sweet material, i dejectedly opted to turn off the computer and make a sandwich.

i am such a night eater, especially when i come home from imbibing. i made a toasted tomato and mozz sandwich with mayo, garlic and oregano. then i made another one. ..... i took this picture of tomatos from my garden, but now i can't find it in my pictures...later i guess.

last night was such perfect weather. nice moon, good temp. i get into all sorts of trouble when my son visits his dad. good thing i'm going to pick him up this morning.

we're going to the BEACON TO THE BAYOU benefit concert down at Bayfront. it starts at 1 and goes til 8 with lots of great local bands: Charlie Parr, Trampled, Little Black Bks, there are more i can't think of at the moment. it's only $5 so i hope it's not sold out. the fetus ran out of tickets right away. it should be an excellent way to donate and get in touch with folks at the same time. and, this weather!, you can't beat golden september days.

beyond dual concepts.

I enjoyed Jill Walker's 5/9/2005 entry about [changing literacies - digital, bi-lingual and more].

She quotes from the book The World on Paper by David Olson,“Reading has put an indelible stamp on human cognition,” meaning, it has literally (ha ha) changed the physical composition of our brains, and the how we think. I got this book out of our UMD library.

Jill also quoted from Claire Belisle's conference presentation: "I think the internet is making us aware that reliability is not and has never been a function of information but of relationships. The idea of reliable information is based in print. Before print - and even in print - we had to trust a person."

I think the trust factor can be an uneasy and almost subconscious inhibitor when it comes to blogging, especially for those who never really intended to blog, but are required to for a class (like our class). In our exterior physical lives, most of us wear our 'public persona,' or enable our protection mode, kind of like the animal kingdom in general.

Instead of reading and writing being public activities, like that of the Roman forum, today they are predominantly private activities. Our thought processes have become increasingly interior, more so for some, less for others. And so, while blogs are a seemingly private place, they are in fact, not, even though I am sitting here, in my house, still in my pajamas and slippers, drinking tea,etc. The incongruities might bring a level of wholly new disconcert. We're all used to being in new places, but not with our naked thoughts published with the tap of a finger on the word 'save.'

During times of high anxiety, I still have that despair-filled dream that I forgot to wear a shirt to my first day of kindergarten, or I can't get my locker open, or I can't find my classroom in an endless maze of halls, etc. New stuff is mind-bending, which is good thing, but then there's also that little scared kid in all of us that needs some reassurance.

A lot of people think that web-culture is this ubiquitous new wave, and they march forward and never look back, but I know it's still a fairly small slice of the global population, even the American population. I'm also amazed at how much the history of literate cultures and the web have in common. It's like we've dug a hole through to the bottom of our interior minds and come out full circle through the exterior vastness of the internet.

This then brings me to ideas about the evolution of thought. I have a lot of ideas rolling around in my head right now, if you hadn't noticed...

Time is an invention

Last night when I was dj-ing a woman had a t-shirt on that said 'time is an invention.' For class, I've been reading about the the influence of literate culture on the implementation of a formal time system.

The past few summers I've kind of floundered about in all of my unstructured time in constrast to the tight regimentation of my school year time use. But, as parents of young kids know, even your free time is nothing like the breezy pre-child days. When I have time to myself I think, ok, now I really need to make this time count, instead of chillin' and not filling those child-free hours with too many goals.

TIME. Clayton posted an entry about it last week. It's an issue none of us can evade. When I dj I don't get to bed until 3 a.m. Last night Ash woke up at 3:36 with wet pj's, so..., clean him up, take him to bed with me, get up at 6:30, make breakfast, etc., do my reading for class, etc. After a big lunch, I zonked on the couch this afternoon (Ash is with his dad) and didn't regain consciousness til 6:30 p.m. aww man. TIME.

I mean, I could quit my twice-a-month dj gig, but then what, you start cuttin' away all the fun stuff and you've got lack of verve, no spice, just the daily gruel.

But then I remembered, oh yeh, I really do have less time, it is not that secretly time leaks out my life, but that I really do have more to do than ever, and I never really believed it because so much of it has to do with wet pajamas, and breakfasts which I would normally skip, and trying to remember to slow down and wait for my three-foot little charge who simply can't walk as fast as his speed-demon mom. slow down. it's really very taxing at times, like riding your bike very very slowly to the point where it wobbles, but I suppose you eventually get the hang of it, or decide to get off and just walk.

1 down, 14 to go.

i usually feel better after the first week is done. i vaguely know where i stand and how many papers I have to write and so on. already i'm trying to calculate how i can get my work done without losing my mind and also without short-changing ash on the parenting side of things.

i was always a planner, but being a parent has accentuated this tendency even more so. on top of my class work i'm planning for my M.A. exams in april, trying to make sure all the paperwork is in order, and thinking about either a job or a ph.d program for next fall. i write a lot of lists.

oh, and my family just told me that everyone is going to Columbus, Georgia for Christmas this year, for NINE days. My brother lives there. so, my one brother moves south and the other 5 (plus kids) of us are going down there? what do you guys think? I really shouldn't spend 500-700 bucks on the trip, and that doesn't even include the gifts, fruitcake or scotch. if i don't go my whole family is down there for the holidays and if i do go the whole gob will probably go on my credit card, ooch. plus, NINE days? is that really neccessary? maybe I'm just not looking at the situation in the right light. but, on the other hand, i am the family's only non-gainfully employed single-parent who cooks all of her own food at home and who studies financially unproductive topics like reader and book history. should i stay or should i go?

military blogs

for the past few years i've been trying pretty earnestly to be fair to the right wing, yes, yes, i know that sounds a little silly...but the majority of my family, well, all of my family besides me, is either mostly right or extremely right, and so i decided to take this as an opportunity to become a better liberal by at least trying to fathom the other side, unfathomable as it may seem at times. so much public debate fails to bridge any gaps. many of my liberal friends are surrounded by liberals, and come from either Minnesota or Massachusetts, so why would they ever really need to encounter an actual living breathing right winger, besides, perhaps at the very occasional hockey game. but, what was i saying? see how we digress like children into...um, what? okay, so i found some blogs from the the actual people who serve in the military instead of a blog by pundit or jounalist, and i find them really engaging and enlightening. Operation Truth is written by war vets in general. Lost in Iraq is written by an infantry for their friends and family back home. It is very candid and remindful of the fact that our 'troops' are real people over there, and are more than a passionately heated political media topic and magnetic bumper sticker contest.

question

just a quick question: I have my 'text formatting' set to 'none' but it hasn't saved any of my line breaks in the published blog. why for, how to ?

areas of interest

i have many interests and couldn't seem to pick just one. Wonkette is one of my favorite political blogs that is biting, and funny, but still, usually uses a modicum of tact for serious issues, well actually maybe not even as much as a modicum, but their tagline is 'politics for people with dirty minds,' so you know it's not exactly CNN, which is a relief, but anyway, regardless, the people who write it are very intelligent and informed, and very east coast irreverent.
i like Earth Blog by environmental scientist Dr. Glen Barry. i don't read it all the time because it can get pretty overwhelming, at least to me. i know about all of the global ecological issues, but at times i just need to step back and think about my recycling and buying bulk items, you know, the conceivable actions while i have nightmares about the sea levels rising while polar bears have to shave their fur and sit in tubs of ice.
i just found this trail runner's blog, though it's mostly interviews and such. i absolutely LOVE trail running. i can run at least 3x's farther in the woods. i'm just like a running deer... they say that runners improve every 7 years so this is my year to kick it down because i ran Grandma's 7 years ago this coming june.
this music for robots blog is a couple of east coast guys who are teachers and love indy and underground music. it started out pretty nonchalant but it has caught on and now they sell little known cds and even do compilation music for robots cds. the web has been catch-22 for musicians because, yeah, a lot gets illegally downloaded but now you can also promote your own stuff slick as slick. in fact an old friend of my just sold me his first album from cdbaby.
yeah, so, there it is. isn't it fun to talk about all of the things you like? and that's just the beginning...

what a captivating personal blog.

i thought i would be searching endlessly for a personal blog that was not merely punky spewage but then I happened upon this young indian student's blog with the tag This world, as I see it. and it's really quite lovely. she shares the personal poetically and with an awareness of the bigger picture. and I really like the perspective from India, it is such a paradoxical, alluring place.

all ideas connect somewhere and everywhere

sometimes when i'm listening to an idea in class i meander too deeply into my own thoughts so that when i finally comment aloud, i'm way across the pond from the original stream of thought, which often reminds me of the quick succession of jumps in hypertext that can take your from your search on zebras to the medicinal properties of birch trees, as an example. when we were talking about breaking the formally imposed rules of text my mind started clicking through the entire history of literacy and print culture. One of my plan b papers for the M.A. is about early modern authors and the distribution of their work during a time of unprecedent global changes. One of my classes this fall is "Readers and Book History" which i am avidly interested in because it kind of rounds out my initial studies, plus Rob's class is a nice foil, so to speak, along with and against the discussion of history and audiences. I really sit forward and pay attention when looking at the theory and history around class, literacy and technology and how these evolving cultural aspects collectively transform social structures, how we mass communicate and so on. Last night I read a chapter from A History of Reading In the West which talked about how we moved from only reading aloud to silent reading. Only monks and the such used to reading silently. With the advent of silent reading, people gained a lot of privacy, as you can imagine.

crappy ole bike

i rode my rickety bike to school today. it rattles and shakes over every bump. i push it up hills it is so old and tired. but gosh, i had fun and got to school so fast. halfway to school the seat slid down to its lowest position and all i could do was laugh as all of the other bikers went by on their studly light mountain bikes.