Here are a few few more after the last set of terms about literature, academia, etc. Maybe more in the future.
June, 2009
30
Jun 09
Politically Incorrect about Academia, the Arts, and Literature (continued)
In keeping with my satirical mood towards my background, here are more terms following those introduced in my previous post.
30
Jun 09
Some Politically Incorrect Terms about Academia and Literature
Some of these thoughts started as a conversation between a friend of mine and I. Later, just for fun, I wrote some satirical tweets on Twitter about college and the humanities, especially literature. As a someone who’s gone through the system as an English major and an MFA in creating writing, I couldn’t resist expanding that list here: Continue reading →
24
Jun 09
Mr Deity and the Book, Part Deux
It’s a good thing God loves the gays. Too bad the Book got beyond his control.
24
Jun 09
Let’s Get Retarded!
Perez Hilton writes catty little posts about celebs and vandalizes their photos with mean little jokes. This, of course, has pissed them off over the past several years of his blogging, bad hair, and weight fluctuations. Unfortunately, he called Will.I.Am a faggot (publicly, not in writing), which was incredibly stupid, resulting in him getting punched out. Then came the glee fests on Twitter and celebrity backlash towards him. I guess it boils down to how whether people like the victim or not. That I find appalling, because if no one likes you, apparently you deserve it. You are seriously fucked.
Oh, he had it coming. How original. Can you say cliché? It still doesn’t make the assault right.
23
Jun 09
Speaking from a Script
I hate speaking off the cuff, especially in front of a group of people. I even hate doing it at times in conversations with someone. I often feel like I’m writing my sentences in my mind before they come out of my mouth, and sometimes the process is choppy. It’s worse if I have to speak in front of a class, because I’m caught up with processing what I have to say in front of everyone, including all my ums, dead end thoughts, and trailing off, which is the sonic equivalent of the ellipses.
I’ve been guilty of speaking off the cuff a lot to classrooms over the past few years. Obviously, preparation is the solution, but it was a matter of time, or that I was too busy, etc. It’s easy to do when there are several classes. However, lack of preparation makes for a trainwreck. And bad communication.
Last week, I made a script for my second day of class for the summer. I made notes on the reading assignment, wrote down what the students essentially needed to know about the text, and even threw in my talking points. Even if it took several hours of my time to prepare, I had a much smoother class session. It was much better than if I took it for granted that I read the story a few times and tried to get class participation out of them. Even if last week’s lesson wasn’t perfect, I was communicating and the students were. Also, I didn’t feel as drained as I would on unprepared classroom sessions.
I wish I could just talk without the pre-written stuff. I envy the people who can really hold their own without the notes and who don’t have to mentally write their sentences. Then again, I can spell and I know my punctuation. I can apply this type of approach of writing before I speak to other things, especially if I am speaking before any kind of audience. For video or podcast, I can write. All I need to do if fine tune it so it doesn’t take so much time to do. For notes I make now, I can always re-use and revise, but creating new stuff is where the challenge is.
13
Jun 09
I’m the Shindo
Last night, Facebook decided to go the Oprah route and hype up it’s new function with all the anticipation leading up to it. Of all days and times, Facebook opens the doors to creating a vanity URL on a Friday night, when people are out and about. In the early 21st century, that’s never an excuse as you can access the web with an iPhone or Crackberry, and if you’re seriously desperate for something more wieldy, a laptop, yours or someone else’s. Last night, at the tWineUp, a someone else offered his laptop for all present to register their vanity URLS. I did it from my iPhone. I finally secured a Shindo* name added on of these sites: http://www.facebook.com/shindo.
I am the Shindo, not ShindoTV. Finally. Well, I’d have to buy Shindo.Com for that to be true, but that would be expensive. Too expensive.
11
Jun 09
Simpler Living: Netflix pt 1
Before I ever became a Netflix subscriber, I checked out videos from Blockbuster or Hollywood Videos once or twice a week. It was always hit or miss. Some shops had great selections while others did not. Even if they had the title, there was no guarantee they’d have it in stock. Worst of all were the late fees. Who has time to stop by and return them on time?
10
Jun 09
Mr. Deity and the Virgin
It’s been a while since these crazy guys have broadcast their high jinx Here, Mr. Deity and Jesse get caught up in some discussion about the Prime Directive.
10
Jun 09
Simpler Living: E-Mail
If there’s one thing about the Internet I absolutely detest, it’s e-mail. It represents all that was wrong with the late 20th and early 21st centuries, which seems to be hell-bent on making our lives insanely unlivable. Then again, those living in mid to late 19th century must have the same thing about pneumatic tubes and the telegraph system. Even if the operators of those quaint systems felt overwhelmed, there really wasn’t some steampunk equivalent of spam or excessive bombardment of ephemerally important messages. No doubt it would have been too expensive. Unfortunately for us, e-mail is relatively cheap, especially for the senders. Forwards, spams, automated bot mails, and the all-important work-related memos — never, ever noticed. Unfortunately, some important e-mails get lost in the mix.
