Responsesto Wallace and Carver

Response to Wallace:

The opening and closing - the water analogy - were brilliant choices.  Most
commencement addresses are typically quite boring.  Something needs to be done
to snag attention early on, or, failing that, something to should be provided
for the audience to chew on while waiting for the speech to end.  Even if the
entire middle of the story was boring, the audience will not be bored: either
they are thinking about the opening themselves, or eagerly awaiting when the
speech will come around and explain the opening.

While the itself was quite strong, the speech was depressing.  I expect when I
am next seated, listening to such a speech, I'd likely prefer something
uplifting and celebratory.

Response to Carver:

I find the phrasing choices of the narrator/protagonist in the flashback at the
beginning quite interesting.  Specifically, I find it interesting that he talks
about himself in third person: "She told the blind man she loved her
husband...", where the narrator is the husband!  There are a number of ways to
interpret exactly why this was done. For example, it could be used to reinforce
the fact that the protagonist, initially, felt excluded by the relationship
between the protagonist's wife and the blind man.

The distaste the protagonist had for the blind man was presented so many times
early on that it was obvious there was going to be a change, and that the
protagonist would warm to the blind man.  Knowing what is coming ruins some of
the fun.

Micro-Project 4

Micro-Project 4

Write a brief paragraph aobut your normal activities in [place where you regularly go].  What do you notice?  If you were to close your eyes, what sounds would let oyu know that you are in this place?

I attend the Open Source Club here at OSU.  The typical structure of a club meeting has one of our members give a presentation on some topic related to open source software.  These presentations often raise topics that people in the audience would like to discuss.  However, for the sake of politeness, we (usually) wait until the presentation is finished before talking amongst ourselves.  Often this discussion is carried on between groups of us as we leave the meeting to return to our residences.  Occasionally, a group of us gathers by a bus station next to a cross walk where we split up: some will take the bus and the others will walk on.  Some very thought-provoking discussions happen at that cross walk as we wait for the inevitable coming of the bus and end of group discussion.  The crosswalk makes noises to assist the blind in knowing when to cross.  I find these noises distracting when I'm attempting to carry on a deep, technical discussion with someone else.  To be clear, I'm glad its there - I see no reason this like major assistance to others should be removed to lessen the ultimately minor annoyance for me.  I find it distracting nonetheless.   Hence, the video below:

 

While I expect most of the video makes sense in the context I laid out above, I expect it is possible that someone would be confused about why I made the day/night switch.  Which itself is the whole point: to be confusing.  When I'm trying to think about complex technical issues with an incessent beep, I can get a bit disoriented.  While frustration is easy to display - tinge things red.  The switching mental focus tied to sound is easy to show with camera cuts synchronized with sound.  Confusion is a bit harder.  The day/night switch seems a good way to go about it.

Craft a summarizing statement of this process.

The majority of the process boiled down to: (1) Finding a place I would recognize from the noise.  (2) Figuring out what I want to say about this place in a way that is tied to the noise.  (3) Figuring out how to use sound and video to express these thoughts.

How did your initial visit to the place transform through the process?

It changed very little, as once the assignment was described I knew immediately what I wanted to do.

What kind of emotions do you think your final piece creates?

Hopefully, frustration and confusion.  If I can get across the feeling of attempting to focus on one thing while being distracted by another, that would also be great, but I'm not sure that is technically considered an emotion.

Did you make overt decisions about the piece or were there happy accidents?

Everything about the piece (that I find of note) was calculated and purposeful - if there is any happy accidents within it, I've not noticed them.

What was satisifying about the experience?

Often, when I attempt to create a work of art, the end result isn't exactly what I had imagined.  This doesn't mean it is bad - it may be better than what I had planed - but it isn't what I wanted.  Here, when I first saw the final video, I felt it was exactly what I wanted.  Everything fell into place.  That feeling, in a single word, is satisfaction.  Moreover, I feel this gave me a bit of an outlet to express my frustration with that damnable beeping, which, too, was satisifying.

What didn't you like?

Other than the beeping itself, absolutely nothing about the process was unpleasant.  This is my favorite thing I've done for this class thus far.

Micro-project 3

Micro-project 3

Years ago I decided that I wanted to learn how to pick locks.  Ideally I would never need to utilize this skill, but one can never know, and it doesn't hurt to be prepared.  I purchased a lock to practice on.  The key you find below corresponds to this lock.  I've never used this key, but I like to carry it around with me as a reminder to always be prepared.

Preparation.

Since I am known as a computer guy, I am often asked to assist with computer problems, usually without much of a heads-up.  I carry the flash drive you see below around with me.  It contains numerous software tools to assist with fixing computers.

Further Preparation.

I enjoy playing video games competitively.  As a result, I am regularly challenged to put money on a  game.  Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose.  In one particuluarly satisfying match I won a two dollar bill  which I like to keep with me to remind me that while sometime I lose, sometimes I win.

Victory.

It is customary for Ashkenazi Jews to name their children after a relative who has passed away.  I was named after an uncle who died in the Yom Kippur War. The 9mm bullet you see below was manufactured in one of same factories that provided this uncle with ammunition he used in said war.  Living in the United States it is easy to forget this heritage; I wear the bullet to remind me of my namesake.

Heritage.

My primary hobby is programming.  I simply enjoy creating intricate and useful things.  While I generally prefer using a desktop, it restricts me to coding only when it is available.  A laptop, on the other hand, I can take with me.

Creation.

Using these images to create a single picture that - standing alone - says something about me proved to be very difficult for me.  None of the items above - or really anything I carry on my person - says anything about me without the story behind them.  I don't see how I could possibly tell someone anything about myself just by showing them, say, the image of my never-used key, beyond the fact that I carry a key around with me, just as a great number of other people do.  It doesn't matter how I utilize things like size or orientation.

Since thinking about what I am unable to do wouldn't really get me anywhere, I decided to focus on what I could do that would actually say something unique about myself and ran from there.  One way in which I am relatively unique is that I primarily use computers to create rather than (just) consume.  I don't just watch youtube and post on facebook, but rather create software.  My focus is not what I see on the screen but what I can do with the keyboard.  Hence, the picture below.

I'm not sure it works.  I tried numerous variations, none of which really stood out to me.  In the end I decided to settle on this.  The keyboard-in-the-screen should be recognizable to others, and since it is a bit odd, it will hopefully generate some thought as to why I did this.  The picture is sufficiently simple
that there isn't anything else to focus on - the viewer has no choice but to think about exactly what I want them to think about.

It does not say anything about my self-taught lock picking skill, my competitive video game playing or my heritage.  It hardly says anything at all. I'm not even sure it completely meets the requirements of the assignment, since it only utilizes one of my five items.  I'd like to think, though, that it does say at least one thing: when the person who made that image looks at a computer, he sees the tools to create rather than consume.