the blog as a notebook

and the mind as a blank page.

Balancing Act

Work and work make for a balance of work.

Having a baby makes for not being able to get certain things done at certain times. Rather than emptying an inbox and attacking a checklist, I soothe, entertain, change, and console.

The respect I have for single moms, or any mom at all, is huge. Now that Kara has provided me with an opportunity to get caught up with a list of to-dos, I can get back to getting done what I need to catch up with.... this blog (but I'm not going to actually have enough time to do that.)

Truth be told, it will be a little bit before I get this list of permalinks to where I want it to be, with regards to length and quality of content. I am starting to find out how to balance the bigger tasks at hand and with that comes sacrifice. Haven't played my bass in awhile and my drums are a distant instrument of the past.

There is a huge mess (library half organized, half on the floor/table/chairs) in the room beside me and I still need to complete a proposal tonight.

The AFA grant I'm thinking about lies well beyond anything that is taking precedence.

Oh yeah, {remembering} I was going to send that email.

{to-do list updated}

I'll post a copy of a few things once I get them together.

Tomorrow after class should be a good time to get things caught up a bit more.

Focus Andrew, focus.

{remembers he needs to be working on a portfolio for ECUAD)

Exhausted..

So much to write and so much to do, but sleep calls more than anything else.

A fantastic day for discovering possibilities and moving forward with this new semester.

I shall have to take some time tomorrow and get everything chalked out a bit.

It's way past my bedtime and Boston is sleeping.

Mass Appropriation and Digital Thievery (MADT)

411:

Our third class is fast approaching and it seems that I am just now writing about our second meeting. Last Wed. we presented our research topics and had a discussion that explored each topic and strove to connect them all together. It was enlightening to relate my research to completely different topics and see that there is a common thread. My perspective has been broadened and hopefully I will be in a position to create a stronger end product. Writing a concrete piece that explains my project will be extremely helpful, yet presents me with quite the challenge. Limiting myself to a page sounds appropriate for distilling the concept and getting the wheels rolling, and will allow me to ramble on and then refine. It is imperative that I find a nice quite space to focus and frame my words. Time doesn't make space for you, you have to make space for time.

Tomorrow, I have my first class of 204 and 315. It's going to be a long day. Chose both of these classes because of the instructors. Rita and Alex are both a couple of characters. Their personalities are bound to provide great connection to the class material and will be a source endearment to the subject matter. After the time spent in class tomorrow, I'll have a much better sense of how I can get ahead and really dive into the courses.

For now, it's time to plug away at what already needs finishing.

DIYDRONES

Watching the PW video in class on Wed. addressed the issue of DIY and specifically DIY Drones. The address related to terrorists and war; complete military applications of the technology. My homeboy, Naz, just sent me this link and talked about business applications for the creative minded. I found it interesting to see a contrast of thoughts. PW talked of the desire for violence, while Naz spoke of creative ways of contributing to society. My first exposure to the discussion of this newer technology (new in the sense that it's now accessible to the masses) was in a proposal that we are focused on violence, with my first personal encounter with the discussion being anything but focused on violence.

411 discusses art practice and it's relation to greater social issues. Giles said that most of what we use is a trickle down from military technology and it's very true. This music minded friend of mine sent me a link relating artistic practice to military technology. Irony, in the slightest.

School's Back and 411 is in.

While sitting in class I started working on my research paper for my final assignment. I decided to run with the project I've been burning to complete, podcasts for learning at ACAD. I have a feeling it might be considered a bit of a case study, but we'll see what it turns out to be. I have been having "stairwell discussions" with the instrumental people (the techs and faculty of course) of the college and they're all quite keen to be involved. I went to the effort of creating a mock-up that I felt would kick start the support wheels, mind you I didn't send it out to many people. Alan thought the section I had imagined for him was off. He went on to say that he wouldn't actually answer any questions, but would raise some. After that comment we had a great talk about educational philosophy. The conversation got started through my request for a signature to enroll in 411. While Dunning signed me past the holds of the college I mentioned that I was accepted to present a workshop at the iPED09 conference in Coventry as a result of my 311 class. Lack of funding prevented my ability to attend, but that's a longer story that would digress from my point today.

I figure I'll wait to send out the real version of my podcasting newsletter once I get enough content to support the concept. I will go forward with publishing the podcasts even if the college doesn't officially support them and decides not to put them on their iTunes U page. I wonder.... {follows a thought into another application} ....yes, the official ACAD page is not up yet. There's a link through a newsletter to students, etc. that gives a sneak peak at it, but the public, including potential students, sees no presence. The "secret" version I saw is a make corporate face that I am not even remotely impressed by. I am glad that the school has finally made an effort to get caught up with the rest of the internet savvy schools, but there is nothing that has any tie to actual course content or instruction. I hope that the site goes up and some actual art + design pod/vodcasts make their way out into the world.

"MIT I love your example. Let us all hope that the rest of the world will catch on."

The ACADSA office was fun today. There are a group of students who are petitioning for the president of ACAD to resign immediately. They have a web presence, buttons, pamphlets and the strangest petition I've ever seen. The signatures are all on individual sheets of paper; very wasteful. I checked their blog and found that they don't seem to have everything sorted out quite right. They're telling students not to eat at ACAD and to go to SAIT instead?!? The food services at the college are all run by the Students' Association, and are actually an asset of the student body. Weird. I'm sure this will be a fun ride to be a part of.

Back to 411....

Wired for War and Social Media on TED.

Concepts of ethics and morality were discussed and the personality of the class started to appear. Seems that artistic practice is very rooted in the larger social questions of humanity, and that to fail to address them is to play ignorant when you're actually aware.... irony. I'll spend the next week getting some ground work done on my final project and will hopefully make a solid presentation to the class. I'm very excited to see where the conversation goes this semester.

my private beckons