WIKIWIKIWIK

ahhh, Wikipedia.

we find ourselves consulting this 'all knowing' source constantly when faced with a query of knowledge.  often we assume it is correct.

while it is a widely known fact that wikipedia can be easily edited by the public, it's rarely considered when scrambling for term paper facts.  it brings to mind questions:

 if we are content with blindly accepting the word of a source known to harbor bullshit, what about sources which don't?  how much of what we 'know' is made up?

DECONSTRUCTING WIKIPEDIA

this article points out wikipedia's most glaring flaw: anyone, and that means ANYONE, can edit any article however they like.  for this, i stick with a tried and true saying: take it with a grain of salt.

a great deal of the information presented on wikipedia, however, is honest fact.  the best way to be sure of any information you come by is to double (or triple, or quadruple) check it with other sources, be they on the web or in a *gasp* library.

the number one factor standing in the way of people questioning wikipedia actively: inconvenience.  we have come to rely on convenience in ways that we never used to be able to, and it has resulted in a cultural expectation.  we've formed a bad habit that we need to break.

WHAT WIKIPEDIA ISN'T

i first think, "hmm...wikipedia lists an article on what it is not as a sidestep to attempting to explain itself."

though after reading through it, i find they have eliminated the majority of material which might be submitted that doesn't qualify as wikipedia material.  i wonder though, are most people crafting a post for wikipedia inclined to read this?

what keeps wikipedia honest in the end is for every troll looking to wreak havoc on information, there's someone else perusing wikipedia articles to correct mistakes.   this tends towards a majority of balance in the wikipedia community, even if there is the occasional outlier.

the moral of the story:  CHECK YOUR SOURCES!

have a great thanksgiving, everybody!

VISITING NEBRASKA: Possibilities...Endless

If you're thinking Nebraska is your next vacation destination, you're on the right track.
Here's a useful guide on the best sites in Nebraska.

WITNESS THE WONDER.

6000 years before Native Americans began settling Nebraska, glaciers gouged sprawling canyons and rock formations from the land and left behind breathtaking mesas, hills, valleys, basins, plains, and caves.

 Whether you kick back and relax, bike, ride horses, hike, or even skydive, Nebraska's diverse scenery and multitude of trails (scroll down) have something for everyone.

AMAZE YOUR SENSES.

Autumn is the best times to plan your trip to "The Good Life" state.  Nebraska's majestic hard wood forests make for awe-inspiring fall foliage.  The best place to catch this remarkable display is at any of Nebraska's many state parks (scroll down.)

LIVE THE ADVENTURE.

 Cutting through the golden plains and undulating hills are hundreds of miles of rivers and lakes, allowing for endless air boating, fishing, tubing, jet skiing, or swimming.  Many of Nebraska's state parks are located on the shores of glistening fresh water lakes, making the possibilities endless.

EXPLORE RICH CULTURE.

 Follow in the footsteps of great adventurers like Lewis & Clark, the Plains Indians, and riders of the Pony Express.  Relive the captivating history of Nebraska by living it yourself: take a tour of paths traveled by these monumental pioneers.

STAY CONNECTED.

Looking to dive into a bustling metropolitan area?  Check out Omaha, Nebraska's largest city.

Omaha is teeming with music and entertainment, home to critically acclaimed musicians of alternative, jazz, and blues.  You can catch a show at any of Omaha's great music venues.


Enjoy nature from the confines of the city: make the world's largest indoor rainforest one of your stops, housed inside the Henry Doorly Zoo.

DON'T BREAK THE BANK. 

Visit Nebraska even when you're on a budget.  Feeling a road trip?  Nebraska is easily accessed by many national highways.  With flights starting at $130, you won't have to rule out flying either.

Hotels start at a dirt-cheap $51, and most state parks offer lodging bundles.  Even if you're scraping the barrel, Nebraska is covered in sublime natural beauty, free to enjoy.

SITES, PARKS, & CAMPS

Panorama Point
Scotts Bluff National Monument
Lewis and Clark State Recreation Site
Niobara State Park
Indian Cave State Park
Smith Falls State Park
Ponca State Park
Mahoney State Park
Fort Robinson State Park
Pine Ridge National Recreation Area

TRAILS

Cowboy State Recreational Trail
Fort Kearny Trail
MoPac East Recreation Trail
Schramm State Park Trails
Chadron State Park Trails
Wilderness Park Trails

CLASS REVIEW PART ONE

Here, we find ourselves nearly halfway through yet another semester at dear ol' Columbia College Chicago.

So far, this class has proven to fit my writing style far more than the average writing/english class.  I cannot describe to you how much I detest the usual trudgery (taking license to make up words) associated with writing drafts, revisions, essays, and journals on shit I quite honestly don't give a flying flog about.

I love that this class allows me to explore something that I'm actually interested in as opposed to writing about a given subject.  I think this has really benefited everyone's writing, along with the class discussions which come with it.

This style of writing forces me to think in a new way about writing, escaping from the confines of the "School Paper."  While I could, these days, write your typical Paper standing on my head, half-drunk, I prefer not to.  I'd much rather engage in a discussion with a group of intelligent peers (YOU!) and throw around concepts which actually have something to do with our future lives and careers.

I am having some trouble keeping up with posting, I feel I'm falling a bit behind.  While I could whine about how much work and stress I'm under, this is something everyone could complain about.  What it comes down to is needing to set aside time to really bite into this blog business.  Thankfully, all the time I've spent ignoring my blogs, I have spent producing work.

WHAT'S THIS MEAN?

That means you all can look forward (or not) to multiple entries on my PWP in the coming week.

I'm still working out some design/layout/navigation kinks in my blogs.  I hope that these can be ironed out by, say, midterms.

Overall, I've found this class to be very refreshing and titillating.  Jeff, you're a wicked professor with a great sense of writing style and an effective way of communicating what we're supposed to be learning.  Keep it up!

Alright, kiddies.  Time to get back to this painting.

PROFILE ME? PROFILE YOURSELF

In this era of digital expansion, everyone has some kind of presence online.  This presence is often represented with a profile and/or avatar.

In my history of presence on the virtual web, I first began representing myself with a Xanga.  I was in 7th grade, and Xangas were all the blog rage for pre-teeny boppers such as myself.  It flashed with multicolored lights and music and mused about my most recent boy interests or what was pissing me off at the moment (lyk, omg, mom.)

From here evolved a knowledge of basic HTML codes used for decoration of websites.  The hottest thing to spring up after Xanga was Livejournal.  I just never got into it; it was not customizable enough for me.  But then, AHA! MYSPACE.

Myspace was the tremor giving way to the true social networking explosion: Facebook.  Myspace was cool for a few years when the general user range was high school students, but was eventually seen as a passing fad.  I was a massive scenester in the age of Myspace, and therefore rabidly accumulated "friends" as a status symbol.  By the age of 16, I no longer found an interest in showing my worth by digital friendships accomplished by the push of a button.

Once Facebook rose to the scene, initially touted as a college-only type of network, everyone joined.  My mother, grandmother, little cousins, and family pets are on Facebook.  Facebook has become the digital representation of physical self.

I have evolved my own Facebook into a means of platform and marketing.  I use it not only for connecting with friends and family members and planning events, but also to offer insights to my thoughts, be them funny, poetic, or to-the-point.

Facebook revolutionized the internet as a connection tool.  Creating an addictive need for connection means everyone spends even MORE time on the internet, linking and browsing pages often connected to one root source:  The Almighty Facebook.

In many ways, this could be seen as the beginning of the end.  When our world finally shifts to being entirely computer based, what happens to our physical self?  Does it deteriorate into disuse, oozing from our waistbands and decaying in our minds?  I think that's up to the individual.

What about you?

TEMPLATES

What's going on, peers.

I will begin by forewarning you that my punctuation and capitalization skills may be lacking in this post, i'm kind of exhausted.
As you can see, it's saturday evening...and i'm obviously a raging socialite, because i'm sitting inside (waiting on friends to swing by) writing a blog entry for class.

I thought i'd toss this blog up real quick as i'm thinking about my PWP and how i can apply a template to it.  I'm still having a bit of difficulty focusing my posts down from journal-like banter to something people would actually enjoy digitally biting in to.

:F

That is an example.

SO.  What do we know or think about inspiration?


INSPIRATION- 

1.

stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc, to special orunusual activity or creativity. inspiration appears to be the root of all new and innovative paths of thought, discovery, and creation.  It is thoroughly lacking in the society of today, a place in which you are encouraged to mindlessly consume substances of control and consumer cannon fodder. While our government aggressively protests the use of natural mood and mind altering substances such as marijuana, psilocybin, and dimethyltriptamine (three substances proven to have little to no negative side effects) with one gun-brandishing fist, it shovels dependency-forming alcohol and pharmaceuticals such as ritalin, adderall, and xanax down our throats (instead of solving our own problems) and brashly takes the money made by drug companies on millions and billions of government funded addicts.  These drugs often only intensify the problem they are intended to treat, as by weakening the natural production and transmission of chemicals. the answer is inspiration, in many ways. STEERING THIS BOAT BACK DOWN THE RIVER... The best way to flesh out what's inspiring is to ask some fundamental questions, which will lend themselves to my template.  I think each post should include one each of the following, to give a substantial posting. SIGHTS:  Describing visually striking and inspiring imagery. SOUNDS: Keeping you up-to-date on the freshest, most creative and unique tunes, or simply sound-related inspiration SMELLS:  i don't know about you, but i f*cking LOVE great smells.  Not much inspires me more than something which smells really intriguing.  This sense deserves more attention. TASTES:  have you ever had a sandwich which was truly INSPIRINGLY good?  cause i know i have. FEELINGS:  both of the tactile and emotional variety, feelings play a very important role in how inspiration is interpreted. SO WHAT?:  what's really at the heart of this inspiration, when you get right down to it?  the meat and potatoes, the place for poetic verbage and flowery descriptors. SO I DID:  if inspiration inspires nothing, then i'm not sure it really counts as inspiration.  do you call an aborted fetus your child? i think not.  (well...maybe you do. i wouldn't.)  The inspiration behind each post i make needs to feed into something, some piece of art i'm working on.  This may range from a simple doodle to a painting to a sculpture.  I'll give you some SHORT words on it, but mostly (to me) art is for YOU to figure out.  All i can do is put it in front of you. :] Alright, i think that just about wraps things up for this evening.  Your feedback is greatly appreciated! You all have yourselves a merry rest-of-weekend.  BE WELL!

MATERIALITY [in text]

This week we're thinking about the THING-ness of what we read.

Anymore, it seems like we're accustomed to decoding text on a light screen, which I personally think is harsh on the eyes (especially this black against harsh white contrast.)  But where did we start?

We began with wedge shaped reeds on clay tablets, Cuneiform.  Ancient civilization and development being of interest to me, I've explored the evolution of writing since this time.  The basic gist of it is an evolution from relief sculpture and pictoral representation to simplicity of line on flat screen.  Though, as we see it, our screens tend to be recessed into a metal or plastic box.

It seems to me, to be physically engaged with an object (as you are with a book) requires more mental activity and creates more and stronger neuro-pathways in your brain.  This allows whatever you're reading to sink in far deeper than scanning over a screen we are programmed to have very little interaction with tactilely.

To solve this dilemma in our blogs (as this tactile interaction creates more brainpower) we include pictures and links for the user to interact with differently than the plain text on the screen.  I feel like this break up of space and change of environment is most essential to any online post aiming for success.

Well.  Keeping it short for today, there's my 2 cents.  Let me know your thoughts in response!  See you all tomorrow.

PWP GROWTHS (not as bad as it sounds)

WELL!

Sounds like the candid response I get from ye followers is a need for a bit of focus.  This blog may end up to be a bit of thinking on screen, seeing as I'm not totally sure what to focus on.  I figured inspiration alone was enough focus in and of itself.

See? Check out THAT shit.  Awesome.

No, but srsly.  If I take something which inspires me and dissect it, I figure, from this you can figure out what inspiration truly is.  Can we recreate inspiration? I THINK SO.

So, to follow those guidelines, I think I probably just need to post more posts, of the concrete (yet compact) variety.  I think the feeling of lack of focus probably stems from one post going too many directions.  

QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS? contact emily. manager, co-owner.