Thursday, September 24, 2009

Videos for today!

Today everyone is turning in their first major paper. Whee! I'm excited to read them. Really.

We are now moving into our "Remix" unit. We will be asking the questions: What is writing? What is technology? How does this affect how we see our own uses of technology, and how we see ourselves as writers?

To start, because everyone's been so busy working on their papers, we are going to watch some movies. Here they are.



Thursday, September 10, 2009

Class blog assignment, 9-10-09

Instructions: sign in to your blog. Take one of the items for your “Ten things about me and technology” list, and make that item the title of a new post. Now, take that item and flesh it out—write 200 words explaining this statement, going into more detail, or free associating. Post it.

My title: I've had a computer in my house ever since I was born.

The first computer I remember using was an IBM desktop that my dad set up. It had a modem before there was actually anything called "the internet"--my mom used it to directly connect to WestLaw and Lexis/Nexis, two databases that she used for teaching. It ran DOS but my dad set up an interface that allowed me to use it easily, even though I was a little kid. There was a menu where I could choose between different games I had on it. They were mostly shareware games that he found for me--my favorite was this thing called Captain Comic, where you played a spaceman and jumped around. For some reason, the computer had two monitors, and it only booted up through the first one, which was really old and monochromatic (it was orange and black).

When we bought a new computer after that, I remember it being very important that I never bring food anywhere near it, at great peril to myself. I was really afraid of messing up the brand new computer. It had AOL on it, and that's where I first started sending IMs, and going to chatrooms. We had games on it but a lot of them were really hard (Myst, anyone). The favorite of me, my dad, and my brother was something called "Master of Orion" but we also had Sim City and Tetris and Chip's Challenge and a bunch of other random games. I still have never beaten Myst, but I think my dad did. I had to help him with the music puzzle though.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

My response to the 30 things assignment

10 Things About Me:
1. I sprained my ankle on Sunday during a tactical exercise in the swordfighting class I am taking.
2. I draw a zine comic called "Oh Shit, I'm in Grad School"
3. I got my BA from MSU in 2006, with a major in Social Relations from James Madison College, and an additional major in English/Film Studies.
4. My favorite movie is Tim Burton's Ed Wood.
5. I am lactose and gluten intolerant, and I'm allergic to mangoes and MSG.
6. I studied abroad in England and Scotland in 2003.
7. Both my parents, 3 uncles, and 1 aunt all graduated from MSU, and my brother is a junior here.
8. I only have my right ear pierced (and my right eyebrow).
9. I was an AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer at the Allen Neighborhood Center in Lansing for two years before I came to grad school.
10. Teaching is my favorite job of all the jobs I've had in my life (although being a VISTA was a cool experience too).

10 Things About Me and Technology:
1. I have a pink Nintendo DS and I love it but I really want a DSI so I can play Ghostwire.
2. I play World of Warcraft (I have a Draenei hunter on Steamwheedle Cartel). I'm not especially good at it but it's a great way to relieve stress and talk to friends that live far away.
3. I've had a computer in my house ever since I was born.
4. I love vintage technology and old computers, and stories from people back when computers were new.
5. I use Mac OS X, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and GNU Linux (Ubuntu) operating systems on my computers.
6. I have four computers I use regularly.
7. I didn't learn to drive until I was 20.
8. I believe in a broad definition of technology, and yet, almost everything I want to put on this list is computer-related.
9. I am teaching myself how to program in Python.
10. This summer, I worked with computer scientists who create digital organisms and use programmable humanoid robots. (I helped them with their writing.)

10 Things about Me and Writing
1. I have thought of myself as a writer since I was a little kid.
2. I tried to write a novel one time called "The Philosopher's Daughter" but I never finished it.
3. I am good at helping people write about something they know a lot about, even if I don't know a lot about it.
4. I have written 2 full-length screenplays--one is sci-fi and is terrible, and one is a romantic comedy and it is at least not embarrassing.
5. I like to organized longer pieces of writing visually, like storyboarding, before I write them.
6. I also like to write down all my ideas on post-it notes and stick them to a blank wall.
7. I have to write my MA thesis this year and I am scared and excited.
8. I love using Gmail and Google Docs to keep track of things I am writing.
9. At the same time, I also like drafting things on paper--I actually wrote out this list on paper before I blogged it.
10. As much as I like writing and as much skill as I have, I still find it hugely challenging.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Welcome, WRA 110!

Hi to all my WRA 110 students. This is going to be a great semester, and I'm excited for us to all learn about writing together.

Our first exercise in this class will to get to know each other a little better, through writing. I don't know how many of you participated in the wave of people writing "25 things about me" lists last year, but I know I made one. Today, I would like you to make three lists about yourself: "Ten things you didn't know about me", "Ten things about me and writing", and "Ten things about me and technology". This will help me get to know you and your background as it relates to this class, as well as help you get to know each other (you will be posting these to your public blogs). To be fair, I will be writing these lists as well, and will post them here later.