Eight weeks from today, March 13, 2008…I will be on a plane to India, not to mention finished with my graduate career, well my MA, perhaps Ill get a Ph.D one day .  But, wow, eight weeks. In those eight weeks, the things I have to do are endless. Sometimes I feel like I’m just done. That my brain can no longer register information and I must leave immediately, ironic, because now is the most important time of grad school. On the fifth chapter of thesis and revision (which I’ve started, and dread) I imagine it will be worth it at symposium, however I sometimes cannot sleep imaginging how I will finish all of that. It’s times like that I have to remember just how capable I am, not to mention some really great professors who remind me all the time . Not sure what I’d do without them. I just feel like I can’t give a 100% to a lot of things and I hate that. I give it to the things that need that much attention now, but even in class. I feel like I put things off, and it’s not that this class isn’t important, it totally is and I’m really learning a lot. I just wish I had more time to explore what we’ve learned and practice with it. I feel like I spend so much time planning my week to make sure I have time to do everything, but it never works out that way. I should quit planning so much, maybe that’ll free up some time!

Over the course of time I’ve definitely had my share of obstacles, but it think when you get older you really learn what people say yabout “relaying on youreself”. I’ve been fortunately enough to have so many people surround me that genuinely believe in me and want only the best for me. But, now, as I look for jobs and finish the biggest paper of my life I realize no matter how many people are there to help (and they REALLY help) in the end, it’s all me. If I think I can’t do it, I won’t.

I’m so ready to face the challenges of the real world, outside of school. I want to put to use all the information I’ve acquired and make a difference (either large or small), like I said in the beginning, I might sound naive, but I think I can do big things. I’ll keep believign that until I’m proved wrong..which will hopefully be never .

That plane ride is going to be SOOOOO realxing….me, my family, a few People mags, and of course a glass of red

CAN’T WAIT.

This morning, I spent time catching up on a few things, all while watching FOX. Different new anchors spoke while waiting for the ‘former’ governor of NY to surface from his apartment and make the public announcement of resignation.

I’m not really sure why I watched the whole time, because to be completely honest, this whole thing really infuriates me. I understand that everyone is human and makes mistakes, I do. I also understand that politics brings out skeletons in people’s closets, but I’m at a loss to understand why someone would do this to their family. His poor wife is standing by his side, I cannot imagine the humiliation she must feel. And the fact that he had so much do to with prostitution, what a hypocrite. He spent $80,000, over the last 6 years, RIDICULOUS. When you decide to take on public office, there would be just things you do not do. Somehow, people keep letting us down.

This woman, I’m not sure if I admire her, or think she should walk away from Spitzer, but I don’t think I’d be around. The bottom line is, you never know the true story, we only know what is portrayed by the media, therefore, we can make judgments, but we must never assume everything.

I found this blog by Ada Calhoun Stay Married to Spitzer, Cindy Adams Tell Silda — interesting. A strange point of view, yet some worthwhile points…enjoy.

This was quite an experience. I must say I was intrigued. There something about not having a beginning and an end–perhaps because we are just so in tune to that. Reading in itself is an extraordinary experience, because we are able to retrieve information and connect it to the thoughts that already exist in my head. However, this type of reading, with hypertext, allows the reader to pick and chose what he/she will read next. As humans, we are always more inclined to pay attention to color, so when something is blue opposed to black our eyes shift. we then either click on it, or continue reading to see if anything else captures our interest more. The options with this and all of the different places and information you would get was pretty remarkable and you CERTAINLY don’t get board.

When I think of the future of this, I get a little lost. I begin to think of how younger generations will learn to read, and since as time goes by, we are all encouraged to think for ourselves and make individual changes–since in this day and age people are encouraged to make changes as before you were forced to conform. I think this is a big part of that overall change. Being able to pick and chose what you want to read next, as opposed to just having something written out for you is really a way to form strong, free-spirited opinions. When you are not required to take the text and connect it to things already in your head, but rather click to whatever words interest you and make further connections with things that may not have sparks your mind the other way…definitely something different!

As much as I though it was cool and interesting, it was confusing at time, but I def see the possibilities!

it is precisely what is says UNKNOWN, and that intrigues people, well at least me…

George Landow brings up come complex points in his book Hypertext 3.0.  In chapter 4, When he discuses how one reads, then one writes, and then one reads some more.  He states “Hypertext, which creates an active, even intrusive reader, carries this convergence of activities one step closer to completion; but in so doing, it infringes on the power of the writer, removing some if and granting it to the reader” (p. 125). He goes on to say how hypertext essentially makes readers authors and coauthors –giving readers the ability to add links and texts to what is read. 

In that sense, we are co-authors because we are not changing what is being written, but the ability to comment allows us to have some impact on it. So instead of just reading, now we are able to infringe our opinions right there placing our opinions on the world. In turn, “hypertext [actually] reduces the autonomy of the author.” The idea that hypertext allows the reader a voice in the piece he or she is reading, can be both good and bad. What does this mean for the author? What is the point of stating your opinion when other people can just come into it and disagree, and perhaps change the opinions of all others.

Overall, I felt this text reminding me a bit of Fleck. Int he way ideas can change within communities.  I feel hypertext can be used as a tool to which this is facilitated. The overall picture holds true, I believe of any text on the computer. If it is posted it can now be commented, just like we learned in diigo. All someone has to do with create a group. This is very much a shift int he way things have been, and is important to see how the change is gradually taking place. Maybe then we won’t be so shocked when, all of a sudden, things are different.

There have been so many “Memoirs” lately that have been published then proven to be all false, or exaggerated. As a graduate student in courses like memoir and creative-nonfiction I’ve learned the fine line writers have when writing about their own lives. But, when you are published and go through all that just to be proven wrong, I think there is a flaw in the system. It’s funny because somehow people want to hear about “real” events, rather than fiction. And so publishing a book as a memoir can be better selling, but now we’re seeing writers ruining their reputations over that one word.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/books/05fake.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin