Text and Hubris

I am supposed to start moving tomorrow. I am supposed to move to a small farm just outside of Grinnell, Iowa. It’s beautiful land with a large spacious house. My family lives nearby and the price can’t be beat. In other words, it is perfect.

Well, it was perfect. Now, it looks like we can’t go.

Simply put, the telecommunication companies don’t think that this area is valuable enough to provide service to it. To them, the people who live out there are not worthy of internet access. Those companies that do offer some sort of access, via satellite or wireless, enforce such stringent data policies that it is impossible to actually use the modern internet in any meaningful way. From a business perspective, perhaps the cost of providing connectivity is too much. From a practical perspective it eliminates possibilities and it furthers the digital divide in a very real way.

My family requires real internet connectivity. This means that a very nice house will have to find other occupants. There is no other way and, believe me, we have searched. Luckily, we can choose where we go. It’s just a real shame that this had to be the deal-breaker.

Here’s a small hint: if you plan on cheating in a class that I took a few years ago, one in which the teacher was kind enough to want to use one of my responses as an example for future classes, make sure to delete my name from the example when you post it on the cheat site and offer cash. It’s a very sad, and very dead, giveaway.

That was my surprise this evening. I’m still not entirely sure what to do about it. As part of my job hunt process, I have been checking search engine results for a my name. Mostly, I am just curious as to what comes up and it’s always nice to know that my sites are the first sources of information about me. When this little cheat site (which will not be linked to or mentioned here) popped up, I was more than a bit surprised.

It took me a little bit to figure out what happened. Apparently, a bit of reading followed by writing three 150-300 word responses are outside the realm of some students. One sad individual decided to post the entire assignment to the site, examples included, and offered $12 for a word document that evening. It always good to know our student’s are learning.

I really have a problem with this type of cheating, particularly, in a college setting. You’re paying to be there. No one is making you go (If they are, then you flunking out is probably a solid option.). All that this type of cheating does is hurt the overall class. Forget all that “you’re cheating yourself” garbage. To be honest, I don’t care about the cheating student, at all. Anyone who is willing to buy their grade is pretty much beyond hope at this point in time, and maybe a few years in the real world is exactly what they need. I do care that a teacher has to waste time and energy on a nothing assignment. Time and energy that could be better spent on students who are trying and who want to, oh I don’t know, get something from the class.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a name just a random alias on the site. This just happened on March 28, so it is very recent. I think I will at least contact my former professor to let her know what is going on. I’m not sure there’s too much that can be done but at least she’ll be aware and that’s better than nothing. If anyone has suggestions, let me know. I would also like my name off the site, but that too seems to be a trick. I’ll update with anything else that may develop.

A brief addition to the the Free to be You and Me Song on Wikipedia. Sadly, this wasn’t done by me, but whoever did the edit deserves kudos! I wonder how long it will last.

I loved that song as a kid. I really did.

In Mainstream Advertising Media

In 2010, Target started running advertisements featuring the title track “Free to Be You and Me.” Rather than narratively espousing the original meanings and values of the song (its nods to the 60s/70s feminist/new age/non-consumerist era), the ads depicted school children ‘free’ to make important post modern consumerist decisions in life–namely which clothing and colors to wear to school–as the tune played on in the background.

Links:
Wikipedia: Free to Be You and Me

I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. I went through all the work to get the job and they were kind enough to hire me so I guess I better head in. Yep, on Monday, I return to the work force. Well, on a part-time basis at least. For four hours a day, I will slave away on web code and library research. I know, it sounds like hell doesn’t it?

Ah, who am I kidding? It’s exactly the type of job I was looking for. It fits my school schedule, gives back to the world at large and uses skills that I love to use. If the money was better it would be my dream job. As it is, it is the best fit for what I need right now and that is rather nice. Honestly, I am looking forward to going in on Monday. It should be an interesting experience all around.

So, work is handled. School is pretty much settled for fall and I think Courtney and I have figured out our budget for the year. It still surprises me. I know I worked like hell to make it this way but everything is starting to fall into place. Oh, I am sure there will be surprises ahead but there is a real feeling that what we’re doing is right in all sense of the word. I like that.

My writing is the only thing that really suffered over this time period. i just haven’t had the time I wanted to sit and write and when I did, I was too tied up thinking about what had to be done. It wasn’t the best situation for a creative enterprise. It’s also something that I am going to need to figure out how to work through in the future. After all, things happen, that doesn’t mean I can stop writing.

I was able to get another poem out last night. It was a departure from my usual fare and I find that I am still questioning my voice and my genre. Amazon’s little deal with Wylie was horrifying, especially to someone who wants to believe and write in the new media and digital space. Those of us who came here first did so with a sort of egalitarian ideal. This was open space and territory was ripe for the picking. We forgot that the ideals of enclosure were never really done away with and all that was needed was for a company, like Amazon, to set itself up as the sole proprietor. In one move the works of several incredible authors has been locked away behind the walls of a plastic toy. Even then, we have been shown that, at any time, those authors can be plucked away on a whim. It’s a frightening concept to say the least and almost enough to push me solely into print.

It’s sad because we have here, in this interconnectivity, a chance to recreate the storytellers’ circle. We can share stories and poems. We can relate in ways that we couldn’t before and that is exciting. Narrative and poetry can flow, merge and can be shaped by the tellers and the circle. That should be astounding and every author in the world should be grinning at the thought of such a possibility. Instead, the best example of this is an advertising commercial for Old Spice. Really? I mean really? Doesn’t that embarrass anyone, because it sure as hell embarrasses me. Yes, there is no doubt, those guys are geniuses. What that means is that our best talents in modern storytelling work in advertising. It’s not even enclosure at that point. It’s just the marketing of another product.

There has to be a voice for storytelling. People want to tell stories. They want to hear stories. I know that much. I still run a small Improvisational Storytelling Group every other Saturday. In a lot of ways, it’s no different from the tabletop RPG’s I used to run. The difference is that the players all are storytellers. We set the scene and we let it run. It becomes a shared experience. In the best example of this there is no guide, there is only the story. I watch people come away from this experience wanting more. There is a reason for this. Stories and poems feed something deep within the human psyche and no locked gates can keep that desire at bay.

Ah well, as I said, I was questioning my voice and genre but a resolution was found. The truth is, I couldn’t stop now even if I wanted to. This is a part of me that I hid for a very long time. It’s out now and I don’t think I know how to put it back.

And if I did, I never would…