perfectly norml

2003-02-27T15:48:00.000-06:00

deal with this in politicrit later.

2003-02-14T10:57:00.000-06:00

deal with this in politicrit later.

2003-02-12T10:08:00.000-06:00

note my new blog politicrit is up and running. there is also a link to it in the course links. (top part blogroll to left)

2003-02-10T18:36:00.000-06:00

computer assisted reporting sound interesting doesn't it?

sorry, its not really. well, it could be. our class is learning excel in the slowest way possible. and i'm truly more interested in content-what we could find on the web, why these stories could have some impact in our community, etc...

our class is totally spread out on the computer-experience spectrum. this makes for frustration of everyone. those who don't "get it" or can't remember what we did last week feel like its moving too quickly. those who do spend the first hour counting the hairs on the back of their hands or blogging nasty things, as i am now.

i admit it would not be an easy course to teach, and would not take on the task myself, but that doesn't make me any more interested in it. as far as i can tell it is not a required skill for landing a job at an alternative paper. most locals don't even use it.

2003-02-09T20:45:00.000-06:00

loves insects, hates war

she blogged an entry about the poets against the war and entered a poem that she submitted to their site.
i've not been impressed with 90% of poetry i've read, but this one is wonderful. it is beautiful and sad and well done.

there will be a reading in the "poets against the war" realm right here in bemidji, february 12. It will be at the Cabin Coffeehouse in the p.m.

2003-02-09T20:34:00.000-06:00

gaudisyncronicity

saturday night i found a movie called "gaudi afternoon" at the movie gallery. since the ghost and the mice were keeping me at a pretty high anxiety level, i watched it very, very late in the evening.

plot: 2.5 of 5 tangerines
acting: 3.5 of 5 blood oranges
costumes: 4.5 of 5 navel oranges
architecture and design: 5 of 5 tangelos

2003-02-05T11:52:00.000-06:00

joggua is blogging about the designs for the rebuiling of the trade towers. interesting. this semester steve sundahl is teaching a history of modern design course for the visual arts department. in class the other day he mentioned a group of people pushing for the use of a design by Antoni Gaudi, the Spanish Art Nouveau architect. this bbc article has a small image and a good story about Gaudi's 95 yo buildin plan.

2003-02-05T11:26:00.000-06:00

bar-web-ports in bemidji

dear ms. blood,
i was just wondering if you could help me out with aome questions that i have about voice? if i wrote an entry while i was:

sober, under the influence of alcohol, pretending like i'm under the influence of alcohol,

could all of these modes be percieved as an authentic voice?

thanks for your help,
mackypinky

2003-02-05T11:06:00.000-06:00

Stiles explains that you need some skin to keep the nuggets succulent; 15% is about right, he reckons.

In one-third of the samples, the label was misleading about the nugget's meat content. One pack of nuggets contained only 16% meat, 30% less than it claimed. (And skin, of course, counts as "meat").

the above quotes come from a guardian article that rebecca blood blogged. this reporter went to extreme lengths to investigate the european chicken nugget trade/production/process. it is absolutely disgusting to read but well worth it. if you have ever wondered where the mc nuggets come from, read this. if you plan on eating them in the future, you may also want to read this. if you care about your body and what you put into it, read this. if you want to spike your own interest chickens and what new hormones and antibiotics are found in them, read this.

2003-02-04T21:23:00.000-06:00

blog this later

2003-02-03T20:58:00.000-06:00

loves insects blog

does she?

this is the blog of a faculty member of a university in south dakota, lesbian, poetic, poor driving skills, embarrassed about it.

this woman is a bit comical. she's very good at making fun of herself, which i appreciate, but is also very keyed into poking fun at the stange rules and institutional hinderances of college and the road. this was a very enjoyable selection because it was a short story of sorts. she narrates an experience but adds to it observations about herself and imagined outside perceptions of herself. a pretty goofy lady but definately a blog that i would go back to to see what kind of trouble she gets herself into in the future.

there can be a very series-narrative quality about blogging. i've noticed looking to other students' blogs half expecting to see something new. i want to hear what their observations are, but these things they publish aren't neccessarily things that i would ask them about in conversation.

geting to know people is fun when they don't know how well you are getting to know them-or if anyone knows what you know.

linking back and forth between classmate blogs is like leaving little circles of clues for the rest of the class.

2003-02-03T19:38:00.000-06:00

The Avocado Couch

i searched globe of blogs by birthday (mine-october 21) and found AC mentioned on another blog. She is probably a youngish woman (18-24?) and she incorporates arty images from pop culture-music, movies, graphic design.

i was immediately interested at the top entry-she was ranting about cell phone advertising PAUSE...
and the mass consumption of corporations. they keep devouring up more and more advertising space in our pro sports world....and our cultural learning spaces too i'd add.

2003-02-03T15:41:00.000-06:00

2003-01-30T21:05:00.000-06:00

does anyone else wish that you could bring a laptop with to the bar and make postings there? i haven't been at the bar, yet, but i have this intense desire to put one of these superlab macs on my back an plop it down among the ashes and beer spills. i just know something interesting would happen...maybe something a little dangerous even.

just having others to interact with while blogging would be a new concept. i feel so alone staring at this screen. (and the keyboard because i must look at it to type) and my face gets kinda hot and my eyes start to itch......hey i guess the act of blogging gives me the bodily sensation of being in a bar, i'm just sans vodka tonics!

i'm pretty unimpresed with what i've been soberly writing here so far. better end it.

2003-01-30T15:40:00.000-06:00

yeeeaah! yes! woooooooooo! gasssp!

...just read jasonblit's and found out that tom robbins has a new book coming our in april! i have read all but one of his books and was recently wondering if the guru was going to publish anything new......now at least i know how long i have to wait.

2003-01-30T15:21:00.000-06:00

Paint
Laundry
FAFSA
Bills
Cup Show
Common Ground
WikiName page
Blog
Modern Design Readings
Slide Room
Ceramics
Harmony
D.C. essay
Baker book essay
Campus Greens Monday
Touche' Gallerie
Exhibitions Committee
Computer Assisted Reporting
Journal
Taxes
Expense report
CAL key
Photo CD
Washington Post
Organize addresses
Incomplete

2003-01-29T11:04:00.000-06:00

Others may suggest that technology isn’t the answer to all our problems, that people need to feel more in touch with the world around them, to be enlightened by nature, and literature, and music, and the arts.

this is an excerpt from a sarcastic article that i found at word munger. It reminds me of the onion but a bit classier and somewhat more believable. i think this site gives the opportunity for writers and critiquers to mouth off in a very sophisticated way. the above excerpt is followed up with the end of a very convincing argument as to why the playstation2 is the answer to all of our problems in the U.S. the article is almost like a pr piece aimed at an adult audience or maybe it just aims to totally discredit the flashy-mega-ad-promo-dazzle that is generally related to hot, new video games and machines....

2003-01-27T20:53:00.000-06:00

just a note to self: blog this later.

2003-01-27T11:01:00.000-06:00

gwan 2 typ
4 da boi
b a kwik trp
hpfly

2003-01-26T19:12:00.000-06:00

i really liked rowanstaff's blog. the dark background makes reading a little dificult, but i gravitated to the images. i would like to include them in my blogging adventures...do you link to the image source on a disk, do they have to come from the web? i'll find out soon enough...

sorry all, for adding immediate drama to blogville, i was just surprised to read about interpersonal issues right away. i like the idea of commenting on eachother's blogs rather than eachother. but i guess the person and their writing are tightly bound. i didn't mean to be offensive by hinting at it. i'm still working on this idea of audience...i guess for right now i'm basically speaking to all of you (students+mike)

and really, i have no idea what is appropriate. what i do like the best about reading all of these blogs is the honesty and fearlessness of each writer.

2003-01-26T18:48:00.000-06:00

the blog that i have most read so far is UA's. could be that josh is good at talking about our class discussions; i too, feel strange about this journalish experience. i haven't found the right synthesis of course fulfilment writing and the writing that sparks my brain and heart. i mean i don't really see what bodily organs have to do with the whole thing but when working creatively, i want passionate about it. the blogging experience is somewhat alien to me still.

and, of course, one of the biggest technology skeptics i've met says "so you just write whatever you want? you don't have to take responsibility for it?" i'm thinking 'oh great now i have to justify sitting in front of this humming box to him when i don't quite know how to explain it to myself'

sure i'm taking the class for credit but i'm also trying to give myself an opportunity to experience more of the web. generally if i'm on the mac its in order to type a paper, email, manipulate digital photos, but rarely to read blogs. this class is going to rock.

i like that some people are gingerly entering the pool with a life jacket and others are doing canonballs off the high board.

2003-01-26T18:13:00.000-06:00

i thought it would be helpful (maybe annoyingly?) to post up some links to previous web sites that i have created in morgan's web design/content writing classes. seems geeky to link to places to describe the self, especially when those places were designed a year or more ago. this little 'self exposure' will give me chance to figure out how to link too. the hypertext essay requirement for advanced web design is good for an all around loop through my life last spring.

2003-01-26T17:55:00.000-06:00

so i'm finally getting a chance to write, but i've got nothing going upstairs today. i think i'll check out some of the class blogs then blog those, check out some external blogs, blog those.

2003-01-22T22:33:00.000-06:00

wow, just taking a look at some other blogs. some truly inspired entries.and some pretty nasty ones too. i see the character attacks have already begun.....it will be a challenge not to destroy our little web family with personal insults and petty whinings.

2003-01-22T22:19:00.000-06:00

alright, so thinking that bsu would just have this great website on 'how to set up your email account' i search around for 15 minutes wracking my brains on how to crack the system. there are no helpful links, just a note saying here's all you need to know about email, blah, blah, blah. if only one of morgan's web design students would have designed the page for bsu....looks like i'll have to bring my whole person down to the computer support center or whatever twelve step type title it has.

so mike, i'm ready for my invite to the daybook community blog. so far its been hilarious.

i've just got to speak to some of this wal-mart busines.....as someone who has not shopped at wal-mart for years i just cringe at the thought of buying an american flag t-shirt that was manufactured in korea by a rape victim's 9 year old sister whose mother died two months ago from a cancer caused by the purple dye used to make tel-a-tubby toys! its just inhumane to support mrs.widow walton's sheep sperm chin injections and gold encrusted girdles by ignoring the social injustice caused by the exploitation of all the world's workers. talk about racial and economic discrimination for the proud progress of capitalism.....and we call it patriotic. fucking family values only value lowering prices right now. what washes out in the long term on the local level is the degradation of local small (and generally family owned) business.

because i'm proud to be an american, where at least i know i'm free......FREE TO DO WHAT EXACTLY?

2003-01-22T11:05:00.000-06:00

this only took a short time to set up. damn good. now the real problem is trying to hook up my bsu email account. nothing is ever easy to 'set up' at this institution. minnesota nice, misunderstandings, and miscommunications fill just about every conversation that i have with the financial aid staff, the accounting staff, the library staff, the superlab staff, let's see, who else is totally neccessary to this institution yet fails miserably to serve the needs of the unknowing?

i'll not apologize for any harsh criticism, but i will take my leave from this web space.