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Aug
31
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Millennium World Vol. 6 (Yu-Gi-Oh! (Graphic Novels))
Filed Under book love | View Comments
author: Kazuki Takahashi
name: Rebecca
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2007/08/31
shelves: i-own, manga
review:
Aug
31
W Juliet, Volume 4
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author: Emura
name: Rebecca
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2007/08/01
date added: 08/31/07
shelves: borrowed, manga
review:
In many ways, W Juliet reminds me of Ranma 1/2. Emura has found a situation (a neatly tied-together set of situations, actually), and then keeps finding different ways to explore and play out the situation.
I realize I should be getting bored with it, but I’m enjoying watching how the situation plays out in each new setting, and I really like Mako. (And I have ten more volumes to go. Eep!)
Aug
30
W Juliet, Volume 3
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author: Emura
name: Rebecca
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2007/08/01
date added: 2007/08/30
shelves: borrowed, manga
review:
Aug
30
Using songs as writing prompts
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I’m not sure how this didn’t occur to me sooner, given that I write fan fiction, and an alarmingly number of fanfics are what have been called “song fics”. In a song fic, the writer weaves a song’s lyrics through the story, tying what’s happening in the story to the song. (Most sites frown on posting these because of the copyright issues, but interestingly, none of them enforce it.) I have an accidental song fic myself (It has the title of a song, and then the song’s chorus is at the very end of the last chapter I was all but bullied to add on by the readers.)
The thing with songs is that if they’re done correctly, a song is a story in and of itself. Think about your favorite song. Think about the lyrics. Print them off if you need to, just to carefully consider them. Are they a story? It may not be a direct narrative like one of my favorite songs (”Home” by the Eric Stuart Band). It might be something more subtle, just trying to persuade. (My favorite song, “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls, is like that.) Sometimes, it’s a problem-solution set up. (I admit it, I like “Skater Boy” by Avril Lavigne.) Songs, by and large, are a story.
The point of this post, however, is not to convince you to go write a song, or to spend your time looking for every song’s story. I actually want you to consider this lovely post from Tapping Creativity, and consider using songs as writing prompts when you’re feeling blocked.
Songs provide great material for writing prompts because you can write the story you hear in the song. You can write to a specific line that just pops for you. (You can tie the chorus of a song to a favorite character in a cartoon…) You can write a reaction to the song. You can rewrite the story by playing the What if game. What if he hadn’t come back? What if he didn’t make it big? What would have happened then? In some ways, it’s an odd form of creating fan fiction, only you’re working off a song instead of a book, television show, or movie.
Give it a try. Pull out your favorite song. Find the story within it, and write to it. (Remember to credit the song back to its creator.) If you post it somewhere online, share the link in the comments.
Aug
29
Lifestylin’
Filed Under personal development | View Comments
People often look at me funny because I tend to have so many projects and activities going. They can’t quite seem to understand that it’s just me trying to preserve what’s left of my non-existent sanity. I learned long ago that if I didn’t have activities to move between, I’d get restless. I learned long ago that if I don’t have a variety of activities to move between, I just shut down and stop doing anything.
Somehow, I’m not the only person who’s become aware of this need to vary the day.
I think Life is a Journal has become a favorite read over the past week, mainly because I feel like I’m reading someone who thinks kind of similarly. He says, “Create your own physical education program” (Did you know one of the goals of P.E. is to create the habit of activity within students?), and I look at my walking/yoga plans, and the fact I document them to make myself feel badly when I blow them off. He says “Create your own art program”, and I look at my jewelry shelf, my graphic design folder, and my attempts to figure out Illustrator.
My favorite is the “Make up your own syllabus” part. I’ve been trying to figure out how to restructure my independent learning efforts into something more course-like, but haven’t found an approach that works for me yet. I used to think I was crazy for thinking that way, but… I’m really glad to see I’m not.
Maybe I’m just trying to justify how it is I juggle so many projects at once.
Aug
29
Boxes and Arrows recently ran a great article on Foundations of Interaction Design. The article takes various artistic concepts and analyzes interaction design against them.
My favorite part, mainly because I’d never actually thought about teaching itself as having such a thing, is the section on negative space.
Negative space
All good design disciplines have a form of negative space. In Architecture and Industrial Design it is the hollowness or the space between solids. In Graphic Design it is “white space” what is left without color, line or form, literally the white part of the paper to be printed on. Sound design looks at silence, and lighting design looks at darkness.So what is the negative of interaction?
There are many places where you can “lack” something, or more accurately there are many layers. Are we only talking about the product action? What about our action? What about the space in between either entity’s action?
Pause – So clearly a pause in time where no action is taking place by anything that is part of the interaction experience. Often in interaction design we try to fill these gaps, but maybe these gaps are useful.
Cessation of thought – What if doing nothing created a reaction from the system? Well, one student thought this up with BrainBall (http://w3.tii.se/en/index.asp?page=more&id=4) at Sweden’s Interaction Institute (http://w3.tii.se/en/). As you think less the ball moves more.
Inactivity – Doing nothing, or the product doing nothing in reaction to an action may be a negative occurrence. This differs from pause, but in this case inactivity is the reaction to activity as opposed to just a cessation of activity.
Well whatever the negative space of interaction design is, it isn’t.
If you think about it, in our teaching the negative space is wait time. I know that doesn’t really agree with the article, but it’s that point where we stop talking, and the student has the chance to process, to think, on their own. It’s our negative space because the teaching art isn’t being practiced in that space, and it’s necessary to aid in the student learning.
I don’t think there could be a total absence of thinking or work in the teaching negative space, but it’s certainly something to think about.
Aug
27
Journaling
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I think I’ve been writing things down my entire life. Stories, ideas, random things, song lyrics. You can sort of see that reflected in this blog because it’s my personal blog. I’ve actually had a vision for this blog that has managed to never manifest itself for unknown reasons. Oh, well. This blog tends to live in the moment. I’ve long thought about trying to make it more of a journaling experience, but I can’t seem to shift myself into a journaling frame of mind.
A journal can be whatever you want. If you want to just write, then just write. If you don’t want to feel trapped in one style of writing, then let your style suit your mood. If you’d rather journal in images, then draw or put pictures in it. A journal is personal, and should therefore reflect you.
I guess in a way, this blog is sort of a journal. I capture my thoughts on things that matter to me. I occasionally review the books and games I’m enjoying. I like to occasionally throw in song lyrics (I need to find some others to spruce up the place a bit.) I’ve thought about putting some lists here, but I’m really not sure how far inside my odd little head you readers really want to be. If I can get my act together, this blog will reflect my Web 2.0 self, and then you’ll know all my dark secrets!
For you, find your format (paper or electronic), and give journaling a try. Don’t put any boundaries on it. Just let it develop. See what it can do for you.
Aug
27
author: Syd Field
name: Rebecca
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2007/08/27
shelves: borrowed, writing
review:
Aug
26
GTD revives the Card Catalog
Filed Under productivity | View Comments
Not many people are aware of this, but I love libraries. In school, I used to love playing with the card catalog, trying to figure out how many different ways I could look up the same book. (I was a strange child.) When I was in high school, I worked in the school’s library for about a year. One of my jobs was to sort new cards into their proper place in the card catalog. I knew I’d hit the big time when the librarian let me start filing cards in the accession catalog!
Let’s just say I have fond memories of the old card catalog.
Yesterday, I stumbled across Pile of Index Cards, which I’m guessing is part of the whole Hipster PDA/GTD thing just from looking at the site. If you poke around the site a little bit, you’ll notice a filing system that would warm any card catalog enthusiast’s heart. (It certainly made me smile!)
I keep trying to go index card, but my limited living space has made it something of a challenge. Dead Bunny’s book is sequenced on index cards. I’m planning to organize this year’s NaNoWriMo attempt on index cards.
Maybe I could create my own card catalog…
Aug
25
author: Carolyn Keene
name: Rebecca
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1947
rating: 4
read at: 2007/08/01
date added: 08/25/07
shelves: fiction, i-own
review:
When I was a kid, I read Nancy Drew books mostly from the 50-70 range of the set. It was nice to reconnect, and to see what the stories were like earlier in the run.
