Linking investigation.

She finally realized that she has potential--something that she hasn't felt since high school started. With all the outside pressures and alternative motives coming from the people she knew she did not trust but wanted to, she felt trapped. She knows it was silly, but she told herself not to waste her time caring, to instead use that time for what made her passionate. She did just that and made time for those who cared. And even though she was still not good enough for the others, she was good enough for the only ones who mattered.

This was all until Mason came and it was time to trade her life in and pick up a new one. With this life came a whole set of problems similar to the ones before. She picked out a similar life with similar situations. The similarities were uncanny. But she was happy.

Now she looks to the future. She knows what to go by. She had a plan, but she's not letting anything limit her. She is seeking that potential.

Moving Beyond the Book.

I really enjoyed George Landow's essay, "Twenty Minutes into the Future, or How Are We Moving Beyond the Book?" (214). I just felt that this piece spoke to me because of something that the world of print journalism is going through at the moment.

After spending all winter break working with a new George Mason Student Media effort to have a new daily news site with me being the editor in chief of a weekly paper that is truly obsolete in a sense, I have been a bit disheartened regarding the future of journalism. With the Washington Post and the LA Times both laying off 150+ workers because they just do not have the money to pay for them due to lack of ad sales revenue, I can actually see the world of print journalism dying step by step.

I do see a similar idea being expressed by Landow in the first few pages of his essay because printed books are just not a popular medium of literature. And while print journalism and books have a such a long tradition in every culture, this is just the mark of the future. It goes along with the trend of "going green" and creating a sustainable environment, which reminds me of a tip that I got in my newspaper office.

A few students from Student Government went down to Richmond with a few administrators from the school and they heard about plans to build an $80 library on campus (maybe it was just $80 million worth of renovations). These students wondered why we are spending that much money on a new library because 1) we have so many books and articles online now that it seems like a waste of money, especially when the school is in debt (according to the students), and 2) with our school advertising this desire to be the center for education on climate control and sustainability, should we not be innovative in creating a complete eLibrary that would not require us to spend that much money on the use of more resources?

While this eLibrary is a very innovative idea, I do not believe that this will ever happen, just as I do not believe that print newspapers will ever completely die out--at least not in my time. There is just too much tradition and too many people who enjoy the hard copy of a newspaper or book in their hands.

Landow also writes about the design of next textbooks that are available to college students. He writes that current college textbooks have such a different design than the books that he used while attending school. This was interesting to me because it went along with the message of Writing Machines. The design of a book is what keeps print editions exciting, which is why the position of designer is such a highly desired job.

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I know that this breaking off into a random statement, but the use of electronic means to publish anything--books, news stories, blogs--makes words more permanent in a sense. The words that I use and the things that I do while online are constantly being monitored in ways that I do not know. There has recently been talks about how students would delete their Facebook page only to be able to request to open it again without having to re-create their page at all because Facebook kept them all in a file. I believe that now there is the option to delete a Facebook page forever, but it is still a bit unnerving that whatever I do can be traced back to me. Sorry that was a bit random, it's just something I thought of while reading Landow's explanation of new technologies...

Writing machines.

I will never underestimate the power that fonts and layout have on the message of a book after reading Writing Machines. I truly found it challenging to read, what with all the font and size changes. I was distracted by the writing so much that I realized just how much the presentation of a book means to the reader. I am the type of person who does literally judge a book by its cover. There are books that I tend to enjoy reading more because of the cover. I like soft cover books with soft pages, like the Scribner copies of all of my Hemingway novels.

Speaking of Hemingway, I wonder what his work would be like placed in this sort of setting. His simple and concise way of writing would surely be fun to change around a bit, whereas I would be completely opposed to changing the text of the "Blankness as a signifier" article because it was already hard enough to read without an text changes.

The ideas that I had from reading this book were summed up completely in this sentence: "Tracing her white-gloved fingers over the rich papers, Kaye thought about the interplay between materiality and mind these beautifully crafted objects initiated" (74).

Materiality is something that I have always paid attention to before in reading books, but I never grasped the idea enough to give it a name, or even to think about it as Kaye did. While Writing Machines was written by N. Katherine Hayles, under her name is the name of the book's designer, Anne Burdick. Since when do books have designers? I mean, sure, children's books and some other novels have illustrators who design the cover, but to have an actual designer for an entire book places such importance on the materiality of the book. It says that books are more than just words and text--books are an art form.

With the increase in audio books, with them being sold online through the popular iTunes and with their extreme convenience for those who are on the go, I suppose that the hard copy books take pride in their ability to use materiality. Just like with hard copy newspapers as opposed to daily news websites, designers are stepping it up so that newspapers are appealing to the reader.

To me, works like "A Humument" are more of an art form than an actual piece of text. I am not sure that I have the patience to sit down and read something like that, but I would like maybe a portion of it framed to hang on my wall. While freedom with design is important, and as I mentioned before, a way to take advantage of materiality, I feel like the reader is who you are serving and function should definitely be thought of when creating the form. I do not feel that the pages of "A Humument" are very reader-friendly. While I do understand that this particular piece is an example of abstract art, this sort of form would not work with a serious piece of text that needs to be completely taken in.

I think that form needs to take into account the reader and the message that the text is trying to convey. Just like when a word is set as bold to denote importance, the form of the text should just be conveying the message of the text in a visual way to complement the power of the words.

Reading Hypertext.

First, I always think of links as being denoted by a royal blue color, the text of the link underlined. I think of links as having the little hand on Mac computers pointing to the link. Also, with the coming of new journalism and media websites, links are denoted with little pictures of the page that the link leads to.

In the "Weepers" website, I chose the block in the middle row of the first column. I chose this link because I figured that all the little pictures would be links and I thought that most people might choose the center image, so I wanted to avoid that.

After clicking that box, I was led to another box of moving text. I clicked on it right away, so I did not have a chance to see any of the words that popped up. After clicking that box, I was led to a completely black, blank page. I am not sure if it was blank because it just had not loaded, so I just moved the mouse and clicked on a random area where the little arrow turned into a hand. This took me to a screen of flashing photos, where again I assumed that these were links.

I clicked on a random photo and was brought to a page with what looks like a poem and three pictures of shoes that resemble Dorothy's. I moved my mouse over the three images because I again assumed that they were links, but before deciding which picture to click on, I decided that I should read the poem. I read the poem, moving my arrow over each word that I read. Because the pictures are links, I did not even think that the text of the poem would be a link, despite the underlining. The underlined text were links, and I expected the italicized text to be a link, as well, but it was not.

I clicked on the third image of the shoes because the pictures of the shoes intrigue me more than just some underlined text. I was brought to a screen with an image of a pretty codex with the words "Capriccio." Again, since this is the only thing on the page, I assumed it was a link. Then, I searched the page for what could possibly be any hidden links, but I did not find any.

Clicking "Capriccio" brought me to an open book with a few lines of text. An arrow at the bottom of the page is what I assumed to be the link, but again I searched for any other links that may have blended in with the page. The text was not a link, either. But after clicking to the next page, I saw that the text was a link. This distracted me and I nearly clicked it before reading the text. The picture on the page is also a link, and because the picture is so interesting, I clicked on it.

This led me to another page with a single graphic on it, with a few sentences of text underneath. The links are underlined in the text and the photo is a link as I guessed. I clicked the picture and found a page of just white text. There were two underlined portions of the text, and because we are about to be done with the activity, I did not bother to read the text and decided to click the longest block of text that makes a link. This led me to about three more pages of similar text, eventually leading to a page where I only noticed the name "ernest hemingway."

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After meeting with my classmate, I learned that this was supposed to be a story. I did not have many pages with text, so I discussed with him that to me, I just thought it was a random arrangement of slides. Coming back to the last page, I see that the list of names it entitled "Famous shock-therapy patients" which seems very interesting. I am upset that I did not get to read more of the story.. the story that I did not even know was there :)

Formatting Ashbery text..

1. What was your theory in transforming the poem? Explain how the readings from the class connect to your decisions. How have you transformed the poem? How is it changed from the original?

I chose the poem "It Must Be Sophisticated" solely based on the title. It reminded me of Audrey Hepburn, so I decided that I would have to transform this poem.

After opening the link to this poem, I saw what was a normal-looking poem (if there is such a thing). There was simply too much text to write, and I'm not sure that writing it out by hand would be the most sophisticated look. I decided that sophisticated would be my goal for transforming the poem. This led me to changing the poem into a simple story.

I made each line of text fill the whole row, just like a story. I broke up the text where I thought it should be broken up, not necessarily by stanza (I'm not sure if stanza is the proper term). I ended up making what I thought was a complete thought into one paragraph as if it were a story. After reading what I had transformed, the words truly did seem like a story, as well. This helped in my modifying of the paragraphs.

I left it with a simple title to flush left of the page because it looked just how I envisioned it: sophisticated. It didn't need colors or bold text in random places because to me, sophisticated means classy, simple and polished.

I simply polished up the poem so that it lived up to its name. I feel that my decision to make the poem look this way came from the books and articles that we have read about how text is an important part of the representation of words. The placement and the look of the words made this poem feel sophisticated. If I were to put the text in the "Curlz" font and center the text on the page, I do not feel that the reader would come away with the same feeling, which is a definite example of how important font is in the representation of text.

Blankness.

The argument over the meaning of blankness seems trifling, but it truly is an important concept. I know that I relate everything back to my studies in journalism, but this is how the subject of text relates to me, and it seems that everything we read in this class relates to something that I have learned relating to newspapers.

We call blankness, or the lack of text or graphics in a space, white space. White space used to be frowned upon when talking about newspaper design. There are rules against having too much of it on a page, especially if it traps any of the page elements. Newspaper designers used to avoid any white space at all, as white space meant that there was information being left out. Also, it was just not entirely common to see one single story take up a large portion of the page as it is now.

Now, white space is a designers' friend, especially when talking about in perfect moderation. With the coming of so many daily news sites, the future of traditional print newspapers is a dire situation, and the design of the paper is becoming more and more important because of the desire to create more appealing print layouts. Designers are using white space to add a feel of importance to a story, as well as using large photos and interesting display heads. I suppose I just see a blank Quark or InDesign file as a blank page and it is the designers' job to fill that space with something eye-catching for the reader. Each decision that the designer makes is crucial to the overall success of the page.

This concept made me laugh at Gilbert-Rolfe's comment about how Europeans, especially the British, still "resist the blank wall" and turn to wallpaper for decoration. This is the same with the Victorians. I feel that perhaps the wallpaper was a way to avoid the blankness with a pattern that would ensure the presence of something on the entire wall. I find this interesting because I tend to be drawn toward Victorian patterns. I find this weird about myself because normally I like things that are really simple, but maybe I like Victorian patterns because while they may be a bit gaudy at times, they are repetitive and, in a sense, simple just by the way they repeat.

Now, the mention of Greta Garbo and how Rouben Mamoulian told her to be a tabula rasa. Gilbert-Rolfe writes that this is seemingly eloquent as opposed to vapid with the absence of a message. I find this interesting, especially while thinking about fashion shows. Models are tabula rasas at fashion shows, always being told to hide their emotions and just walk with a straight face. While this look may be vapid to others, to most in the fashion world, it is a look of sophistication and eloquence. I suppose one could argue that the blank look is a way for the clothes to speak and not the model, which could be contradictory to my previous statement and perhaps the models are supposed to look vapid.

Either way, I find it interesting how all of these ideas can be roped together under the topic of blankness with such ease.

Writing created history.

I was reading the second half of Orality and Literacy, and after yelling about how this is the hardest reading assignment I've ever had in my life simply because Ong is unreasonably hard to understand at times, I ended up having a two hour-long conversation with my two friends about the Bible. 

Now, I have talked to them about religion before and I know that they are both fairly religious people, and they both know that I am not. When I first approached them, I told them about how there are still cultures today that do not use writing as a form of communication. I then talked about how religion and the stories of the Bible might be different than how we know them today because they are, after all, just stories. Stories that have gone without proof and yet have been followed by so many people. They were passed down by God to other people and eventually they made their way to the Apostles who put them all in one book. Nowadays, with the availability (and just plain ability) to write so easily, I just wonder if the stories would have been the same. If you haven't guessed, I don't really have much faith in these stories. They are completely interesting, and it's not that I am trying to be difficult or purposefully cynical, I just do not see how people can believe so strongly in something that has not been proven, only taught to them (most of the time) since childhood. Aside from most religions being completely hypocritical, I just do not feel that it is truly that much different than the stories that we learn about Greek mythology in middle school. If these stories stuck and were taught as truth, would we have people believing in multiple gods and goddesses? 

As far as historiography goes, what else in the world would change if we had written accounts of everything that has happened? What would it change about what we currently know? Would the accounts of anything that happened in the past be more intricate and detailed than we know of? Because like with fairytales and folk tales that have been passed down, the more stories are told, the more the original details are lost and the more other details are made up--like gossip. 

With the new technology of writing, I am sure that when all of these stories (the Bible, historical events, fairytales and folk tales alike) were somehow changed, as it is the act of writing that allows for words and thoughts to be permanently in your head even though Ong argues that in primary oral cultures, "narrative serves to bond thought more massively and permanently than other genres" (138). I guess I am just not used to this idea, so this is hard for me to believe, since there are so many versions told of different stories that have been passed down. 

I think that I just value the idea of official documents too much.. and if we did not have official documents, recorded interviews, etc., would we be more trusting of the actual spoken word? Would we be able to make verbal contracts and abide by those? It is a bit sad that in this world, it takes a legal document drafted on watermarked paper to be official, but then again, I am more in favor of cultures that making writing a primary source of communication.

Bound to sound forever.

First, Ong must think that "writing is artificial" because his writing is completely horrid to read. While I may not be a great writer, especially while blogging and just typing away, I still have a tendency to edit everything that I read as a practice that I have been accustomed to ever since editing the school newspaper. There are copy and grammar errors everywhere, and this just makes it that much harder to read his work. In this case, I would have much prefered that he read his work aloud as opposed to reading his words on paper.

As for his assertion that "all verbal expression is bound to sound forever," I agree with many of the points that he makes. While reading words and seeing body expressions are truly important aspects of the world of communication, being able to hear someone speak is on an entirely different level. Listening to the emotion and the tone of what someone is saying gives a statement life, as opposed to one's imagination making up the tone that they think the writer is taking.

Ong post.

During this phase that I am going through where I feel like I either have the flu or pneumonia, I sure wish we did not have to talk as a form of communication. It hurts to talk, laugh and cough, and reading about these cultures that are primary oral cultures makes their way of living sound horrible. 

Like Ong writes, it is hard to understand a culture that bases their means of dialogue and socialization on only one form of conversing. To be honest, I had never even thought about cultures like these until this class. It is not that I think it is a weird custom, it is just that growing up in a culture where writing takes such precedence in the matter of socializing, it truly never crossed my mind that even existed a place that has not yet formed a method of putting their speech on paper. I say yet because I do believe that with the advancement of a culture/society/country comes an advancement of technology, as well, which is where the whole act of writing started. I feel that other cultures will eventually progress toward the writing trend just as our culture did way back when.

Thinking of cultures that do not put words to paper reminds me of when I was in sixth grade and I was deciding which language I wanted to take the following year. We learned about French, Spanish, Japanese and Latin. The subject of Latin was very interesting to learn about, as I did not see the purpose of a "dead" language existing. I could not comprehend the idea that a language that plays such a big role in so many other languages could exist without being spoken. The point of taking a foreign language, after all, was to sound really cool and intelligent. Why would I take a language that I could not even show off? 

Of course, just like Ong writes, only fully literate persons can imagine what a primary oral culture is like (and yet still with great difficulty), so I suppose I was not a fully literate person at the time, as I could just not fully grasp the idea of a language left unspoken. 

Today I regret not taking Latin, as it definitely is a great key to learning and understanding languages such as English, French and Spanish--all languages that I study. 

I do wonder how Latin became a primarily written language, as it was used by scholars and philosophers until the 17th century. I would think that as more technologies arose, Latin would go along with them, as it is the language of scholarship, but it also makes sense that with the increase of literate people and new cultures, new languages and means of communication would also develop. 

Thinking about primary oral culture makes me think that life in these cultures must be much simpler. Honesty must be expected by more, as there are no written contracts or calendars to write dates in. Thoughts must be shared to others around, as there are no written memories, only stories that have been passed through generations.

While I do think that being a part of a primary oral culture would be an extraordinary opportunity, it would be a complete paradigm shift and I am not quite sure I would be able to survive. As someone who started reading early in life and has always relied on writing things down in order to put them to memory, this kind of change is so deep rooted--it would be to change your founding ideals completely.