The Work/Play Relationship

For my Writing in the Digital Age class, I read an article by my professor titled "The Game of Facebook and the End(s) of Writing Pedagogy." It was an interesting exploration of Facebook, how social media and digital writing are changing the way we view writing, and the ever complicated relationship between work and play.

This work/play relationship is a subject I am also interested in, so the article was particularly enjoyable for me. I've often asked myself where the line between work and play is, partiuclarly in my writing. I write for fun almost every day, but I also write for work. What separates the two?

Honestly, not much. For example, for my Honors senior Capstone (read: big final project) I decided to write a novella. The story started out as a lot of fun, but now that I'm in my second semester and third draft, it's starting to feel more and more like work. It's the same story and the same characters that I loved before, but something shifted and I can't quite put my finger on where that shift occurred or even why.

This is true of more than just writing. My knitting often undergoes a similar transformation. Those of you who know me in real life (probably all of you) know that I'm knitting a big shawl for my wedding. It started out fun, and I would still probably call it fun, but it has also started to feel like work.

Why do you think things start to feel like work even when they started out as play? Do you have any examples of something that started out as work and transformed into play?

To My Class

Dear Writing in the Digital Age Class,

You all are the best.

Ever since my presentation on Thursday, I have been receiving lots of tweets and some blogs about yarn, knitting, and social interaction. I haven't gotten the chance to catch up on everybody's blogs yet (my bridal shower was this weekend), but know that I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has to say.

Thank you for being so attentive during my presentation and humoring my unhealthy passion for yarn-y things. I'm sure I came across like the Helvetica guys in the video we watched, but hey, passion is a good thing.

And thank you all for your tweets. Each and every one that has been sent my way has made me really happy. I'm so glad our class is together.

Love,
Autumn

Just Some Stuff

Usually I come to the blog with some sort of plan, but not so much today. Because of this, I figured I'll just share with you some of the things I'm into right now.

Logan started reading the Wheel of Time series and reeeeeeeally wants to talk to me about it, so I've jumped in. So far, so good, but I'm only about half through the first book. Hopefully it continues to be good, but I'm not going to jinx it by sending praise its way too soon. (Picture credit)

I'm still playing Red Dead Redemption, sort of. I wish I were playing Red Dead, but I never have the time any more. It's especially sad because I was starting to actually do story quests when my school work picked up. Also, does anybody know where I can find this horse? (Picture credit)

I'm still plugging away on the wedding shawl, and I won't post a picture because I want to save it for a big reveal. It's great, though. Use your imagination to picture its beauty, then double that. You're close to how gorgeous it actually is.

What are you into right now?

My Notebook Collection

Sometimes I miss writing things by hand. Reading A Better Pencil's chapters on handwriting and writing on clay tablets has made me nostalgic for how I used to run my writing life.

This was my favorite notebook in high school.

At my apartment, I have an entire shelf of notebooks full of the stories I would write in middle and high school. I usually got done with assignements early in class, so I had plenty of free time during the school day to fiddle around with my ideas.

When college started, I didn't have any time during class to work on my writing and I wrote on the computer when I was in my dorm. It was faster and easier on my hands with the additional benefit of not taking up as much precious room as multiple notebooks.

I didn't believe in right hand margins back then.

But now that I have some space once again, I've found that I really like having those notebooks. They give me a bigger sense of accomplishment than the works stored on my computer. When I'm having a rough day or just need a bit of a boost, I can look at my bookshelf and feel validated by the volume of work readily apparent.

But why is that? Why does my physical paper feel any more real than my virtual paper? There's no real difference. They're both just spaces filled with words.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts. Do you feel like you've done more when  you handwrite something versus type something? Why do you think people view handwriting and typing differently in the first place?

So many notebooks! And a Kindle.

iPhone Update to iOS 7.0

So, Apple just released the iOS 7.0 for iPhone, and it just finished downloading on my phone. I just got my iPhone (4S) and I love it, so the change has me a little nervous. I haven't looked up anything about it and have no idea what's coming, so I thought it would be fun to give my thoughts as I experience them.

So far so good, I like my phone telling me "Hello." Is that Helvetica? Ooooh, the new passcode buttons are pretty snazzy.

Asking for location services permission first thing is quite nice. Even though I'll probably change my mind later, I appreciate Apple allowing me to disable the service up front. The openness and availability of information on what location services is and how it's used makes me feel good. 

Typing the password for my Apple ID gives the first glimpse of the new keyboard, and I love it. I'm 99% sure it's in Helvetica now and the clarity is much improved (period).

Haha, updating my iCloud. I don't think I even have anything in there.

Oh. The home screen is a bit disappointing. The running header thingy with the time, charge level, and signal amount looks nice, but the apps and whatnot look kind of cheap. I'm sure I'll get used to it, as I get used to everything, but my initial reaction is that everything appears a bit flat. But that's just aesthetics, so I'm going to start getting into actual usability.

Since I use my calendar more than anything, I'm going to start there. My initial reaction is that there's a bit too much going on. I don't want to see the days of the week, I just want to see today. I liked the old list look, rather than the time blocks I'm seeing currently. Because I don't have any other calendars besides my personal one, and I don't use the invitation feature of the calendar, the bottom bar is just taking of valuable screen space. It's not enough to make me switch from Google calendars to something else, but it does feel a little clunky to me.

So I accidentally swiped up from the bottom, and now there's a handy screen! Nice, I have all my frequently fiddled with settings right there so I don't have to go into my actual settings menu to fool with it. As well as flashlight, alarms, calculator, and camera. Wonderful! And whatever I'm listening to at the time has a handy-dandy little section. Loving this!

Just sent a message to Mom, and the layout is much nicer to read quickly. The new font really helps improve clarity, and the keyboard is immediately easier to use.

I'm also digging the fact that pictures are now sorted by date taken. The web is cool too. I'm having too much fun playing to continue typing now.

TL:DR -- new update is super cool.

Dog Days of Senior Year

For those of you who don't know, this is my final semester of college. At first, I was just excited about this, but it seems like every day I get a little more scared. And I can blame just one question.

"What are you going to do after you graduate?"

I've been asked that question throughout my college career, but now it's real. Before, I could just push it off and say things like, "I don't know, something with editing," or "I'm not sure, but I'm not worried about it yet." Well, it's time to start worrying about it, because it's coming, it's coming quickly, and all I see in my head is

(http://www.angelfoodcomic.com/about/)

Last night I had a bit of a revelation and for a few brief and shining moments, I felt like I did know what I was doing. I was looking through a book on knitting and thought to myself, "Hey, I could help with this." I mean, somebody has to edit knitting literature (of which there is more than you would probably think), and it might as well be me! I want to be that person.

But then "I have no idea what I'm doing" dog comes back and reminds me that I don't even know how to begin going into that field.

Help me.

Logan

Today, I want to talk to you about true love.

This is Logan, my fiance.

This picture is at a weird angle because I'm sick and confined to laying on the couch. Logan and I started dating in February a couple years ago, and the day after we were official, I got sick like this. My nose was stuffy, my throat hurt, and I was pretty much just a nasty mess. But he took care of me by getting me medicine and making sure that I drank plenty of water and didn't forget to eat.

Now we've been dating for a while, we're engaged, and Logan still takes good care of me. Even though I'm sick and nasty and kind of cranky and mean, Logan doesn't hold it against me. He still makes sure I take care of myself so I'll get better.

Logan is always there when I need him with patience and grace in spades, and I just wanted to give him a public shout out and thank you.

My Body, My Rules

Yesterday I was talking with a classmate about his daughter. He slid his chair up to a group of three of us girls that are always chatty before class and said he needed some advice about girls. We, naturally, said we'd be happy to give it.

He asked us why girls wear shorts that are so short they have to constantly pick at them, and skirts so short that they're constantly pulling them down. In other words, why do girls wear uncomfortable things like that? His concern was that his daughter (who is college-aged) would start emulating this trend.


(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_short_shorts.jpg)

The two others I was with immediately started saying it was stupid for girls to dress like this and he should just tell his daughter it was dumb and not let her wear these things -- for her own good.

I disagreed.

Why do girls wear stuff that so obviously uncomfortable? Because we're supposed to. The above picture is a comically extreme case, but we like to look and feel sexy, because we're constantly told that our body is for the viewing pleasures of others. Women are constantly judged by their looks, even if not maliciously, because we are raised from the time we are children to think in this way.

I told this to my classmate and suggested that he just leave his daughter alone and let her look how she wants. She's old enough to make her own decisions, and she has to figure out for herself what she wants her image to be. By telling her what she can and cannot look like, even if it's with the best of intentions for her sense of self-worth, he would be perpetuating the idea that her body is not her own and exists only to be what others want it to be.

He was taken aback, and said he'd never thought of that before. He mentioned how, when he stopped to think about it, women really did have a difficult time with their appearance because it was such a double-edged sword. We just can't win.

It blew my mind that he had never thought of that before. He'd never had to, because he's a man. And though men do have to deal with biases based off appearance, it's not as rampant for them. But the intricacies of how men view each other is lost on me, since I'm not part of that group. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this subject in the comments though.

And ladies, do you often worry about your appearance and how others perceive you based on that fact alone?

To Revise or Not to Revise

I just finished reading "Revising Your Writing Again?" and it got me thinking.Is my revision for better or for worse?

I often go too far with revision in my writing and rework everything until it's hardly recognizable as the same piece, often at the expense of whatever made the piece special in the first place. I'm currently going through my own personal revision Hell with my Honors Capstone -- a novella. Everything just feels like it could be so much better, and it could, but I feel like my desire to communicate my message is actually obscuring any real connection I may have made.

Blogging is an interesting contrast to my longer writing and writing for school, because I usually just slap it up after the briefest of copyediting sessions, and hardly ever change the content. The weird thing is, I'm often surprised by how much I still like my blogs when I go back and read them, especially when compared to how I feel about my academic papers.

What are your thoughts on revision? Do you revise differently on the Internet versus on paper? 

(http://sharppendullsword.blogspot.com/2010/11/end-of-month-wrap-yo.html)

Pencils

Chapter 3 of A Better Pencil should be titled "I Bet You Didn't Know Pencils Were So Interesting." Seriously. I learned more about pencils than I even knew was there to learn. And it was fascinating. So fascinating that I put a pencil in my backpack for the first time in years. I won't use it because I hate the way writing in pencil feels, but still. It's there now.

It does make me wonder how often poor Thoreau got teased for his pencil passion. Let's face it, if this chapter was any indication, he was a nerd for pencils. Nerds get teased. It's the cycle of life. I wonder if he dreamt of pencils. I dream of yarn all the time, so I imagine it's not that unlikely. Did he have nightmares about pencils? Did he ever use a nerdy, pencil-themed pick up line?

Now I just want to come up with a bunch of nerdy, pencil-themed pick up lines.

And I can't. Ugh. This is going to bother me all day. Actually... "Life without you would be like a broken pencil. Pointless." Thank you, Google.


(http://designyoutrust.com/style/pencil-socks/)

Red Dead Redemption and Knitting Patterns

I want to start designing my own knitting patterns, but I'm not sure how to begin that process. I haven't been knitting all that long, just a year and a half, and I don't feel that I really understand it enough to begin designing.

But, in the Riot Grrrl spirit in which I try to live my life, I say I'm just going to go for it. What's the worst that could happen? I create a stupid looking sock? Oh no! Whatever will I do? It's knitting. I can just rip it back and start over if I so choose.

So, I'd like to design a sock based off the game I'm currently playing -- Red Dead Redemption. (Quick aside -- does anybody know if you're "supposed" to italicize game titles?) For those of you unfamiliar with the game, here's a picture that pretty much sums it up.


(Picture taken from: http://dangerbrain.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/red-dead-redemptions-religious-undertones/)

You play as a cowboy and do all sorts of cowboy-y things like catch bad guys, tame mustangs, and play poker, all while advancing the further mission of taking down the head of the most notorious gang in New Austin. It's got an interesting morality system, and the whole thing has me hooked, but that's a story for another day.

What strikes me over and over is how freaking beautiful the game is. The landscape is absolutely breathtaking, and I love riding through it on my trusty steed. Enjoy some more eye candy and soak up the beauty for a second.


(http://metavideogame.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/red-dead-redemption-unforgiven/)


(http://www.gamernode.com/reviews/red-dead-redemption-review/)


(http://www.glorytogaming.com/2012/05/is-it-just-another-rockstar-title-red.html)

Awesome, right?

And it's not only Red Dead's desert that has me inspired. It seems like everything I'm experiencing lately takes place in a desert. First was Dune, then Journey, now Red Dead. I've fallen in love with the colors and subtle beauty of the landscape. I like the wide open spaces that are ugly at first glance, but the longer you look, the more you see their intricacies of color and the way space moves up and down in canyons and cliffs.

I do understand the irony of designing something knit after a place where no one in their right mind would wear such a thing, but I'm going to forge ahead in spite of that. Now the question is what to make. Socks? They're small and portable, but I'm not great at them. A hat? Also portable, and very quick, but how would you integrate a desert theme into a hat? A shawl? I love knitting shawls, and I could incorporate the idea of dunes into some sort of wavy construction in a super light yarn that would float on the breeze...

I would love to hear your thoughts! Leave me a comment (or five)!

Explanation in the Digital Age

My classes are already starting to blur together. It happens to me every semester, but usually not until after midterms. I think it's because almost all my classes are writing based -- so they just feed off each other. Currently, I'm working on an assignment for my technical writing class in which I examine a piece of technical writing and perform a rhetorical analysis on it. Part of the assignment is to analyze and critique the author's ability to provide enough background knowledge for the reader to follow along (if applicable). 

Now, because I'm also taking Writing for the Digital Age, my brain is constantly picking apart current communications. That's when I got to thinking about the necessity for technical writers to provide background information. In our Google age, is there a point to explaining jargon and other highly specific information in every case?

Let's take, for example, a knitting pattern.

Above is Robin Ulrich's "Greyhaven Cowl" (Ravelry link for those interested: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/greyhaven-cowl).

I've been pining after the Greyhaven Cowl for a while, and finally broke down and bought the pattern. I haven't begun knitting yet, but a preliminary glance has got me feeling pretty good. The pattern is neatly organized, there are charted and written instructions, and repeats are even color coded. It even includes instructions for binding off and blocking, which is above and beyond the call of duty.

But, as nice as all that effort on the designers part is, I don't think she needed to do all of that. I wouldn't have blamed her for a second if she just charted out the pattern and didn't write it as well, because if I didn't already know how to read a chart, I could just Google it. Same for blocking and binding off. The information is already out there and readily available.

What is our responsibility to explain processes or jargon that's easily looked up by those who don't know the information already? I'd love to see what you think in the comments.

Also, on an only semi-related note, I think I'm going to make these socks for myself. They're just too cool.

They are Claire Ellen's "Pippin Socks" (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pippin-socks).