Final Portfolio Responses

Postcards by Victoria Huynh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym-tCDf844Q&feature=youtu.be

I loved this video! Your writing was done very well and I loved the story line. The images you painted with your writing were very descriptive and beautiful. The video is perfect- I'm sure it took a long time to edit all of that video together, so kudos! The video flows very well and adds a lot to the writing. Also, the music was great towards the beginning, but gets a little too loud later on. The voice used for your writing was very aesthetically pleasing  and made the video even more enjoyable. The guitar at the end got too loud and I wasn't able to hear a lot of what you said- perhaps turn the music down a bit? Other than that, it was great!


Up in Smoke by Elaina Yu
http://quietmorninglingering.tumblr.com/

I really loved this final project. We had similar types of projects in that we both used text and gifs. I loved how each part had a separate page with a completely different layout and look to it. I really liked your characters, they seemed very genuine and sincere. I really loved how your portrayed your characters as flawed and imperfect. I also really liked how the posts did not really have to be in order. I feel like I could have read each of the pages in a different order and understood the story, which is really unique. Your gifs, layouts, and pictures were all picked very well and added a lot to the text of your story. Great job!

Final Portfolio

Here is a link to tumblr page for my Final Portfolio:

http://after20905.tumblr.com/

My Final Portfolio is a short story about a girl's journey through the afterlife accompanied by gifs I found on the internet. I had some trouble fixing the text because I am incredibly critical of my own writing and have trouble finishing a piece of writing. I decided on the pauses and gif placement by emotional breaks in the text and by particularly interesting images. The gifs are meant to enhance the reader's experience of the text by breaking it up and adding meaningful images, as my story is mostly dialogue. I also added an orchestral song to my Final Portfolio blog page via Soundcloud. I love the song and I think it also enhances the reading experience. I used Tumblr and it was relatively easy, it just took me a while to get used to the settings and themes. 

The Road to my Final Potfolio

For my final project I used Tumblr, which was a bit difficult to get used to, having not used Tumblr much before. I edited my short story which is the text I used for this project, though I still have a bit more editing to do as I am never happy or satisfied with my own writing. My story is about a girl who dies and what the afterlife is like for her. There are two main characters in the story, Edith and Ashley, and the story has a great deal of dialogue. I made the layout of my blog something with a magical feel to it. It has a lot of gifs and pictures of the sky, foliage, and weather. It was difficult to decide when to pause and put a gif throughout the dialogue, but I decided to add a gif each time a particularly good image is described or a emotion is felt by the main character. I also added music to my final portfolio, which was not something I had originally planned. I am still editing my story and I'm sure I will make some more changes, but so far I am very happy with how it has turned out.

10:10 by Jeanette Winterson

10:10 by Jeanette Winterson was not at all what I originally expected. This piece was about the environment and worrying about the polar bears and how their homes are being destroyed. I loved that Winterson used Frankenstein as a reference to compare to polar bears. They are monsters slowly losing their homes. Once it is gone, we can never get it back. There was an almost pleading tone to this piece; Winterson seemed to be begging her audience to help the cause or at least share in her feelings. I did not feel that this piece was effective in raising awareness for the issue of environmental depletion but served as more of a creative work, which may have been her intention. I especially loved the line, "You wanted to see the sun rise after a night that lasted as long as all the things you have done wrong. You wanted to see the sun come up and no one to be near you." (Winterson). This line seems to be less specific to the main idea of the piece and more of a global theme that many people can relate to, which makes the piece effective in reaching a broad audience, although it takes a long time to get to any broader lines as many of the lines of this piece are very specific to polar bears and the environment, which may turn some readers off.

Linda Bierds Literary Reading Review

     Today I had the privilege to hear the talented poet, Linda Bierds give a poetry reading. I had never heard of her previously, but I always enjoy the guest speakers and events organized on Murray Hall's 3rd floor, so I gave it a try. It was a nice surprise that one of my old professors, Evie Shockley came to the event and appeared to know Bierds personally.
     First off, Bierds' poetry has a very dark, ominous tone to it. Her poetry was full of long descriptions that would most likely be more effective on paper, rather than read out loud. I found that I lost many of the images presented in Bierds' poems simply because they moved so quickly and my mind was unable to keep up with the rapidly described images. Perhaps it is the way she reads aloud but even while describing a fairly pleasant image, I found her poems to all seem very dark.This poetry reading was in celebration of Bierds' ninth book of poetry being published this month. That is an impressive feat to me, an avid creative writer myself.
     Bierds' recited about 7 or 8 poems, all of which she described her writing process and the images which first sparked the idea for the specific poem. The first poem she read was about the Darwin family. She described being at a museum and seeing these old artifacts from one of the Darwin ancestors: they were a pair of handmade ice skates, crafted out of sheep jaw. The bone was filed down into a blade and then connected to a row of teeth. The blade is then fastened onto a pair of child's shoes. Bierds' described this as an incredibly strange but striking image that when she wrote down, she did not have an idea for a poem.
     Another poem she recited was called, "Desires". After reading it, Bierds described the image which inspired it, something she did for each poem, which I found very enlightening and informative. I wish more poets did this at poetry readings as it would probably help with my own creative writing process. The image she described was a tuning fork, which is a two-pronged metal fork which, when struck, hums a certain note. It is used my musicians to tune their instruments by matching pitch. The image was a tuning fork put up to a spider's web and watching the spider react to the shaking of the web and how different pitches had different effects.

     Other poems which Bierds described the “orphaned images” for were her poems “DNA”, “Pantoon”, and “Notes from Prehistory”. “DNA” was a braided poem in that it had a lot of repeating lines. In this poem, the first lines also ended the poem, which I thought was very effective for a poetry reading, because many of the lines were repeated. “Notes from Prehistory” was about cave drawings that Bierds saw while vacationing in France. “Pantoon” was based off the image of a mirror and reflection. Bierds discussed that before writing this poem she had to do research, which she often does for her poems. She discussed briefly the physics behind reflections in mirrors and the fact that, in order for a mirror to completely embody the image it is reflecting, it must be at least half its height. I thought this was a very interesting concept, and an especially interesting concept to write about.
     One of the last poems Bierds recited at her poetry reading stuck with me especially. I unfortunately did not catch the name of it. This poem described two different “orphaned images”. The first image was of geese in flight and how the light bones of birds make different sounds than other animals, when in motion. Bierds recalls being in the Olympic Mountains on a hike when a flock of geese flew overhead and she heard the very unique sound of their “bones working”. She described the sound as almost mechanical. The next image was of a plane that crashed in the Olympic Mountains during World War II. It was a plane that was on a rescue mission that crashed in the mountains. Bierds recalled doing research about the survivors of the crash for her poem. I liked this poem in particular because it seamlessly switched between these two images. The poem was woven with the two orphaned images, creating something very different from either of the original images.
     What I loved most about the poetry reading was Bierds' description of her writing process. She described it as the "spark" comes first and then the research comes next. Bierds writes a lot about history and science and because she is not an expert on either subject, she must do a lot of research for her poetry. Her description of the things she writes down in a notebook are "orphaned images", which are ideas that have no poem or real direction yet. I found this reading to be very interesting and enlightening to the writing process.

Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw by Donna Leishman

     I completely misunderstood this piece while interacting with it. When I went through it the second time to take a screenshot, I found other sections that I did not find the first time. At first, I believed it was about a girl with a terrible relationship with her family who had a type of mental disorder she was dealing with. The piece was extremely dark and a bit disturbing. It is interactive and had no real order to go in. Once a certain section of the piece was completed, another part of the piece would pop up or the scene would change.
     The setting was a landscape with various buildings. One seemed to be a hotel with the sign, "Blue Lagoon" on top of it. There was a church in the distance, trees that would shake and drop objects out of them, and a big (what appeared to be) television or movie screen taking up about 1/3 of the piece at the top right corner. On almost every section, there would be flowers or a tree that when touched with the mouse, would bloom or shake it's leaves.
     The main character, Christian Shaw, could be found hiding behind buildings or trees. When the piece focused on her we found out strange things. She had a book which had a few pages describing who she was, like a diary. Then the pages all had a huge square cut out of them as if to hide things in the journal. Her journal had insects taped on the pages and when the mouse touched them, they would run away. When the screen showed Christian Shaw, she was often spaced out, staring at things. She could also be seen flying, vomiting, bent at odd angles, and sleeping.
     In one scene, she is at a doctor's office with her father, while another she is naked with marks all over her body. When the mouse touched certain parts of the screen, a creature would appearing next to her, it's arms outstretched as if connected to Christian.

     After finishing the interactive piece, the viewer has the ability to read the text explanation. The interactive piece is not meant to be understood completely or even at all. The explanation discusses a young girl, Christian Shaw, who was said to be possessed by a demon. She exhibited many of the characteristics of the accounts of the Salem Witch Trials which were four years before Shaw's accounts were documented. The report was anonymous but in them it states that Shaw would often move things towards her without touching them, she could fly across rooms, she would often be in a trance-like state, she would vomit up strange objects, and her body would bend at strange angles. The screenshot I've included shows the interactive section of the work where Shaw is vomiting up strange objects. There was another creature that was all white and when the mouse touched him, he split open to reveal his red, pulsing insides. A small gray creature appears and crawls out of the hole down his middle. I am still confused as to what part of the story this signified.
   I greatly enjoyed this piece because it seemed to be a modern description of this demonic possession from the late 1600's. It was confusing and disturbing, especially with the music that accompanied many of the more creepy images that appeared. While I think it was smart to have the text accompany the interactive piece, I find works like this are more effective when they are less confusing. Perhaps there should have been more journal entry type sections where the viewer could understand a bit of the intended story.

To view the piece by Donna Leishman click here:

Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw

Ekphrastic Poetry/Fiction

I found this image on the internet and it made me think about the image of a muse. I imagined the musician as a muse playing in someone's head.

     I believe in listening more often than you write. In allowing a song to cripple you, breaking apart everything you thought you knew about your own musical taste and stitching yourself back together with a completely new view of the world.

     I believe in controlled chaos. In using every single instrument at your disposal to create a cacophony only you can hear the beauty in. In blending every different genre in just three minutes, allowing every nerve ending to get chilled.

     I believe in headphones on the bus to drown out the inane chatter and silence while you walk to enjoy the music in everything organic. In approaching every new song with an open-mind and ignoring the gut reaction to be critical.

     So please, bring me to my knees every time a song manifests itself before my eyes. Allow it to shatter my senses and leave only ice creeping its way up my spine. Visit me in my waking hours instead of my dreams, where as I gain consciousness you quickly flee. Leaving me with only a whisper of song or phrase in my head. Allow me to appreciate the words and measures you’ve already brought me. Give me strength to harness every bit of chaos into perfect consonant cacophony. 

Response to "The Dreamlife of Letters" by Brian Kim Stefans

     I think Stefans' "The Dreamlife of Letters" is one of the most original online poems I have ever experienced. I am a huge fan of Poetry, especially spoken word. Though I probably did not understand the full meaning of this work, I found it very interesting.
     I felt that this poem was making a statement on sexuality and gender. Words such as "gender", "sex", and "phallic" were used multiple times. The poem starts out going by letter, and it does this somewhat consistently throughout, but it makes exceptions. For example, during the "s" words, gender came up multiple times.
     Also, when the word "gender" was the main focus, the words bent and moved across the screen. Perhaps this is a statement on the flexibility of sexuality and the spectrum of gender and gender roles.
     On the screenshot below, you can see that this poem can be very confusing and disorienting. I found that I struggled to understand if Stefans was attempting to make phrases or just nonsensical words. Perhaps that was the point of the poem. If it is a statement on gender or sexuality, then maybe the viewer is supposed to be confused. Just like gender and sexuality isn't completely understood, "The Dreamlife of Letters" is not completely understood. I think it was a definite stylistic decision to make this poem a bit confusing, but if I had done an online poem in this format, I would've put some phrases down, to give the reader something to definitely understand every so often.
     Overall, I really enjoyed this poem, even though it is not the way I would present my own written work.

Here is a link to the poem:
Dreamlife of Letters

Life of a College Senior

When a 100-level professor tries to tell me I need to fix my paper:

Homework?

 When my mom asks how many places I've applied:

When people ask what I'm going to do:

When I think about not being able to drink all the time:

When people tell me they're working on their thesis or applying to Grad School:

When I think about graduation:

 And how I feel overall:

Puppies...need I say more?

Just a collection of my favorite Dog gifs on the internet. Let the cuteness commence!

Where'd it go?

 Almost got it!

 I'm...stuck...

 Oh, fuck.

 Corgi butt!

I'm just gonna chill here...

 I'm gonna bite yo face!

 Chill the fuck out, Cat.

 My paws are getting overheated.

 Licklicklicklicklick.....

 *Pounce!

 Oh, hello there!

So I'm graduating in May...

Graduation. Possibly the worst thing to ever happen to a college student. You spend four years getting comfortable, making friends, finding the best places to get coffee or cheap food and then they throw you out on the street with a BA in Definitelywontbegettingajob. 
 
Now you're expected to be on your own without any money or experience. Well, I say "Fuck it." Sure I will apply to places this semester and during the summer but I have a few things I want to do before I am forced into slave labor for the next 40+ years of my life.

Ten Things I Want to do Before I Get A Job:

1. Travel. England, Italy, Amsterdam, France, Ireland, Germany, Australia. I'll take just a few right now. I just want to experience other cultures.

2. Finish all of the books that remain unread on my bookshelf.

3. Learn guitar. Took some lessons last summer. I'm basically retarded when it comes to the guitar, but I want to at least have 5 songs I can play/ remember how to play.

4. Visit my high school and play Viola again. My orchestra teacher of six years passed away last year and I hadn't seen him for two years before that. All of the alumni are invited back any time since an alumni filled his spot permanently. 

5. Gain skills that will be useful in my career. Copy-editing, proof-reading, whatever. I just don't want to go in blind.

6.Visit Harry Potter World!

7. Find a relatively cheap apartment in Brooklyn or Queens so my eventual commute doesn't suck so bad.

8. Play Kingdom Hearts 3. I hope I have a job by the time this game is out because if not I'll be broke as fuck but either way, I'll have to make time for it.

9. Finally beat KH 358/2. I'm in the last few hours of game play but I'm stuck. God damn you, huge pterodactyl in Neverland.

10. Go to Comic-con in a sick cosplay.  

Me thinking about my impending doom and the reality that I probably won't accomplish at least half of this list:

Chelsea Market 2013

I used this as a writing sample for an internship application but I kind of like it so here you go:

Chelsea Market: August 2013

Have you ever had one of those moments in life that made you feel like you were doing the right thing? Like the soggy puzzle pieces of your life had finally, somehow fit together and created something more beautiful than you had originally expected.

Probably the closest thing I’ve had to a defining moment happened this summer. It was a sunny, sweaty Friday in New York City. I had trekked all the way to the crowded Chelsea Market just to find an empty seat in an air conditioned building. Sure enough, others had the same idea so it was packed. So packed, in fact, that there wasn’t much of a difference in temperature once stepping inside. 

Nearly every seat was taken and seeing as I am too much of an introvert to ask if I can share a table with anyone, I ended up sitting on what looked like a bench. I later realized that it was a piece of artwork- carefully crafted and molded to sit in the famous Chelsea Market, to be photographed and stared at for the polite amount of time. I had been sitting on it reading, internally complaining about how its uneven surface was digging into my tailbone and making my butt fall asleep. I’ve never claimed to be an artist.

I sat on it reading for nearly 3 hours. People came and went: ate a danish next to me, took a picture sitting on it. I smiled politely at first, but after a while I started to focus on my book. At about the 2 hour mark, I had a roughly 28-year-old man sitting next to me. I noticed he was holding a very professional looking camera and snapping pictures every so often. I couldn’t tell you how long he was sitting there before he asked, “What’re you reading, if you don’t mind me asking?”

            First thing you have to know about me is: I normally hate being disrupted when I’m reading, especially by someone who is just making conversation. But maybe I was having a really great day, or had gotten enough sleep the night before, because I wasn’t at all annoyed by his question. He seemed genuinely curious. We exchanged a few words, I explained what the book was about, and just before he left he said, “Sorry to bother you, I’ve just never seen someone so engrossed in reading in such a busy place before.” And that was it: the stars aligned, the lights flickered, whatever other clichés you want to come up with. This was the first time in my life I had ever had a complete stranger make such a spot-on judgment of me. The way I see it, if my passion for books is apparent to that man in Chelsea Market, then maybe it’s what I’m meant to do. Maybe it means nothing, but for a moment, it felt like it did.  

Mark Grist's "Girls Who Read" Video

Amazing poet, Mark Grist's video for his poem, "Girls Who Read".

For more from Mark Grist: 

http://markgrist.com/index.php