The bug has developed what I call her 'dictator' voice over the past week or so. She now echoes a lot of the parenting techniques we use for behavior modification, which makes her simultaneously cute and infuriating. A few examples from the past few days:
"Don't say no to me." (To her father, while at a friend's house, when being refused the opportunity to outstay her welcome. For full effect, imagine the lower lip extended in full pout.)
"Daddy, I want to talk to Mommy. Daddy, go downstairs and vacuum." (An astute command on her part, as the rug really needed it, and protofeminist in the sense of equalization of household work, but still, out of control.)
"Mama, no time out. Read books to me or play games." (self-explanatory--don't all parents know the "give two choices that aren't really choices" technique?)
It would help if our response to these included keeping a straight face, but the last one actually got me laughing to the point of tears. Any tips for when your toddler tries to manage your parental behavior? (Except "don't let her do it"--we've got you covered on that one.)
5.21.2007
5.16.2007
Does art have an endgame?
My aunt-in-law Catherine emailed me last week and I haven't had a chance to answer her directly yet. I thought her question was sufficiently interesting that I want to open it up to my readers, in the hope of spurring a nice long comments thread:
"As Matt's grandma Elizabeth (the devoted scientist--Heather, I wish you had known her) used to say, art never becomes obsolete. We are still looking at Greek statues, performing Greek plays etc, and these works speak to us much as they spoke to people at the time the works were new. In contrast, there's nothing left of Greek science; no one takes ancient scientific ideas seriously.
So does that mean that science is progressive and art never gets anywhere? Science builds on itself but art is just the same thing over and over?
If that's true, it may be so because art deals with the individual human (we learn more about ourselves through art), and human beings are pretty much the same now as we were during classical Greek times. In contrast, science deals with the material world, and we can always learn more about that by increasing the spatial and temporal scales of our observations into areas where materials behave differently (microscopic, astronomical, geologic, nanosecond scales, etc.).What do you think ? Can art get anywhere?"
The beginnings of my own response to this:
1) I think that the arts also build on the traditions of the past, and that lessons are learned from generation to generation of artists that transform the production of art and influence its content. The only off-hand example I can think of is the gradual development of the ability to paint/draw in three-dimensional perspective.
2) Most such developments I can imagine are skills and materials-based: We make longer-lasting paintbrushes, transmit playscripts in print and online, file music on our MP3 players, and so forth. But the plays, the music, the artworks, don't universally "progress" toward something "better." I would hazard a guess that more truly awful art is being produced now than in all of previous human history simply because the world's population is larger than ever before.
3) I have a rather arbitrary response to science as progressive. While I certainly buy that the scientific approach has revealed and will continue to reveal more about the universe, the human body, the composition of an atom, and everything in between, the questions science can be used to answer are not always the questions humanity needs answers to. We have often looked to the arts for those answers, and will continue to do so.
4) On the flip side I think that historical events add layers of meaning to artworks over the centuries, and so rather than "art being the same thing over and over" art undergoes a process of ongoing evaluation. The way we read ancient art today is not the same as the way people then interpreted it. We cannot predict what future generations will preserve of today's art, nor how they will work to interpret it. Artworks that physically stand the test of time continue to evolve in meaning. Just as I believe there is no theatre without an audience, I believe there is no art without a viewer/ listener/ receptor to interpret the art.
"As Matt's grandma Elizabeth (the devoted scientist--Heather, I wish you had known her) used to say, art never becomes obsolete. We are still looking at Greek statues, performing Greek plays etc, and these works speak to us much as they spoke to people at the time the works were new. In contrast, there's nothing left of Greek science; no one takes ancient scientific ideas seriously.
So does that mean that science is progressive and art never gets anywhere? Science builds on itself but art is just the same thing over and over?
If that's true, it may be so because art deals with the individual human (we learn more about ourselves through art), and human beings are pretty much the same now as we were during classical Greek times. In contrast, science deals with the material world, and we can always learn more about that by increasing the spatial and temporal scales of our observations into areas where materials behave differently (microscopic, astronomical, geologic, nanosecond scales, etc.).What do you think ? Can art get anywhere?"
The beginnings of my own response to this:
1) I think that the arts also build on the traditions of the past, and that lessons are learned from generation to generation of artists that transform the production of art and influence its content. The only off-hand example I can think of is the gradual development of the ability to paint/draw in three-dimensional perspective.
2) Most such developments I can imagine are skills and materials-based: We make longer-lasting paintbrushes, transmit playscripts in print and online, file music on our MP3 players, and so forth. But the plays, the music, the artworks, don't universally "progress" toward something "better." I would hazard a guess that more truly awful art is being produced now than in all of previous human history simply because the world's population is larger than ever before.
3) I have a rather arbitrary response to science as progressive. While I certainly buy that the scientific approach has revealed and will continue to reveal more about the universe, the human body, the composition of an atom, and everything in between, the questions science can be used to answer are not always the questions humanity needs answers to. We have often looked to the arts for those answers, and will continue to do so.
4) On the flip side I think that historical events add layers of meaning to artworks over the centuries, and so rather than "art being the same thing over and over" art undergoes a process of ongoing evaluation. The way we read ancient art today is not the same as the way people then interpreted it. We cannot predict what future generations will preserve of today's art, nor how they will work to interpret it. Artworks that physically stand the test of time continue to evolve in meaning. Just as I believe there is no theatre without an audience, I believe there is no art without a viewer/ listener/ receptor to interpret the art.
5.15.2007
what's been keeping me busy?
I have three book chapters due to the publisher before I leave for a conference next Thursday. Almost done--putting the finishing touches on the last one.
I have a syllabus, half-generated. I need to figure out which precise chapters of a kajillion different books I want to use; all the authors' rights regarding those chapters; which books to order; if I want to make a course reader; and the last three weeks of assignments, before submitting it for the department chair's approval. Theoretically this is due before I leave but I'm not going to actually get it done before my return since the chair won't be here to review it until June. I'll be talking much more about this course shortly--I'm teaching a writing class in Women's Studies this fall and am ridiculously excited.
I have a conference presentation to generate on massive multiplayer online roleplaying games and the similiarities between character generation online and onstage. Which I present next Friday morning, at 8:30 a.m. (Fervently hoping caffeine will be locally available, and at least four other people show up for the presentation.)
It sounds from the above like I'm an actual academic instead of an administrative lackey. Sadly, I am not. My work doesn't keep me busy; it's the independent scholarship above that keeps me hopping. Change is in the air career-wise in the next few months; I'll keep you posted.
I haven't taken on any more additional freelance writing assignments for the time being. This is because I need time to get back to communicating with all of you for awhile. I've got months of photos, loads of letters, and general love to get spreading among friends and family. I've been hiding a bit the past few months just trying to dig out from the writing overload and remain decent to my immediate family.
And I had a fabulous Mother's Day-thanks for asking! My folks were in town last weekend and we had much good food, a mountain walk with some lovely lilacs, and fun with the bug. I received a lovely Mom's Day gift from the little one--a handpainted frame with a cute little picture of her on the playground equipment at the gulag. We went swimming for the first time this year at our local pool, went for a long walk at the lakes, and generally had a peaceful and relaxing weekend.
I have a syllabus, half-generated. I need to figure out which precise chapters of a kajillion different books I want to use; all the authors' rights regarding those chapters; which books to order; if I want to make a course reader; and the last three weeks of assignments, before submitting it for the department chair's approval. Theoretically this is due before I leave but I'm not going to actually get it done before my return since the chair won't be here to review it until June. I'll be talking much more about this course shortly--I'm teaching a writing class in Women's Studies this fall and am ridiculously excited.
I have a conference presentation to generate on massive multiplayer online roleplaying games and the similiarities between character generation online and onstage. Which I present next Friday morning, at 8:30 a.m. (Fervently hoping caffeine will be locally available, and at least four other people show up for the presentation.)
It sounds from the above like I'm an actual academic instead of an administrative lackey. Sadly, I am not. My work doesn't keep me busy; it's the independent scholarship above that keeps me hopping. Change is in the air career-wise in the next few months; I'll keep you posted.
I haven't taken on any more additional freelance writing assignments for the time being. This is because I need time to get back to communicating with all of you for awhile. I've got months of photos, loads of letters, and general love to get spreading among friends and family. I've been hiding a bit the past few months just trying to dig out from the writing overload and remain decent to my immediate family.
And I had a fabulous Mother's Day-thanks for asking! My folks were in town last weekend and we had much good food, a mountain walk with some lovely lilacs, and fun with the bug. I received a lovely Mom's Day gift from the little one--a handpainted frame with a cute little picture of her on the playground equipment at the gulag. We went swimming for the first time this year at our local pool, went for a long walk at the lakes, and generally had a peaceful and relaxing weekend.
5.11.2007
Graduation day snark.
Currently outside my window are approximately 1,000 graduating students, their families, and a troupe of bagpipers.
Yup, bagpipers.
The glory of the academic regalia on parade is somewhat dimmed by the fact that for some reason, approximately 1/3 of the females are wearing robes at least a foot too short, approximately knee-length in fact. This looks sloppy and inappropriate.
I mean, we live in what I presume to be the world capital of casual dress, Boulder, CO. If you're going to dress up in traditional regalia, would it kill you to pay a little attention to detail? Otherwise, screw it and just graduate in your flip-flops and tank tops.
And the tassel goes on the right until you graduate. On the RIGHT.
I'm really proud of all of them, and would be more so except that as a curricular affairs person, I knowmaybe 10% of them aren't actually graduating. They're walking early and won't be done until approximately mid-August, that is if they actually take and pass the summer school course they're currently waitlisted for...This also contributes to emptying the ceremony of meaning for me.
But hey, it's 8:30 in the morning and most of them are still sober. That's a good beginning to responsible homage to the academic tradition.
Yup, bagpipers.
The glory of the academic regalia on parade is somewhat dimmed by the fact that for some reason, approximately 1/3 of the females are wearing robes at least a foot too short, approximately knee-length in fact. This looks sloppy and inappropriate.
I mean, we live in what I presume to be the world capital of casual dress, Boulder, CO. If you're going to dress up in traditional regalia, would it kill you to pay a little attention to detail? Otherwise, screw it and just graduate in your flip-flops and tank tops.
And the tassel goes on the right until you graduate. On the RIGHT.
I'm really proud of all of them, and would be more so except that as a curricular affairs person, I knowmaybe 10% of them aren't actually graduating. They're walking early and won't be done until approximately mid-August, that is if they actually take and pass the summer school course they're currently waitlisted for...This also contributes to emptying the ceremony of meaning for me.
But hey, it's 8:30 in the morning and most of them are still sober. That's a good beginning to responsible homage to the academic tradition.
5.03.2007
Thank you for your business.
So I got new business cards this week. I'm going to a conference near the end of this month, and as my academic admin job doesn't provide me with cards that say "lackey to an assortment of deans", I designed my own cards. One of my freelance jobs is as the production editor for an online journal, so I included that info, website, and my email on the business card.
The cards arrived on Wednesday in the mail and they looked pretty spiffy. I unwrapped them and the bug asked what they were. The conversation went something like this:
"What are those?"
"Business cards."
"Cards for playing?" (very hopeful)
"Cards for work."
Matt interrupted to say, "They're for your mama's other job."
"Not the job at school?"
"Nope. I also work as a writer and editor. These cards tell people about that job."
"You tell people stories?"
"Not quite. I give these cards to people who want to tell me stories. Then they use these cards to get in touch with me and send me what they write. Then I help them fix it up and make it better. And I put it on the computer so that lots of people can read it."
"Can I have one?"
"Sure."
She studies it very carefully. Long pause. Then, all at once:
"Thank you very much. This makes me feel better. I will tell you if I have a story to write." And she carried it off and put it in her stroller.
Apparently the new cards are already getting me high-quality submissions.
The cards arrived on Wednesday in the mail and they looked pretty spiffy. I unwrapped them and the bug asked what they were. The conversation went something like this:
"What are those?"
"Business cards."
"Cards for playing?" (very hopeful)
"Cards for work."
Matt interrupted to say, "They're for your mama's other job."
"Not the job at school?"
"Nope. I also work as a writer and editor. These cards tell people about that job."
"You tell people stories?"
"Not quite. I give these cards to people who want to tell me stories. Then they use these cards to get in touch with me and send me what they write. Then I help them fix it up and make it better. And I put it on the computer so that lots of people can read it."
"Can I have one?"
"Sure."
She studies it very carefully. Long pause. Then, all at once:
"Thank you very much. This makes me feel better. I will tell you if I have a story to write." And she carried it off and put it in her stroller.
Apparently the new cards are already getting me high-quality submissions.
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