Class record 8-31

I spent three hours on William Blake in my English Literature class today.  Several students are still confused by the wiki, and this is my Blake-infused response:

The student’s career is governed by several levels of authority: teacher, college, university, state, and federal.  Each level has limitations that students are accustomed to and comfortable with. The wiki forces the traditional student to step out of a traditional classroom setting (physical and mental) and embrace the possibilities that lie between learning, reading, writing, and technology.  We are students of new media.  The way we think and function, as students, is heavily influenced by our [over]exposure to technology.  We do not realize it, but that realization is necessary to our progress. 

Different from word processing, as commonly done on a program like MS Word, the wiki provides an electronic space for documentation and collaboration.  The created pages are alive. This is in contrast to a printed piece of writing, which “dies” after being printed.  Contributions and connections are welcomed by a little button at the top.

Edit.

As a timid and green contributor, this is the shortest route to acclimation—a method like sitting on the stairs in a cold pool.  Type a letter, a word, a sentence, a paragraph.  Save.

Dive in the deep end and create a new page.  It’s all the same.

Make connections, and make links.

Edit.

Link.

Save.

Edit.

Link.

Create new page.

Save.

Edit.

Save.

…Times infinity.  You are not limited by class time, page numbers, hand-raising, permission, or character limits.  The wiki is what you see, what you don’t, who you see, and who you don’t.

It was difficult to separate the argument from the agreement in Tuesday night’s (8/31) class.  Some wanted fair wages for grant writers, while others wanted fair fees for the organizations.  The conversation brought back thoughts of last semester/LLS activity for me, as I’m sure it did for others.  I think if the debate was set in the spring 2010 Advanced Technical Writing class, things would have been more on the side of the grant writer.  Grant work is hard! And time consuming! With that said, we weren’t working on the grant to make a living.  Those who signed up for the class and stayed in the class were expected to participate in the SPB.  We had no competition; we could not lose the job.  From what I’ve gathered so far, Elizabeth has been in the game a little over a year, and I’m sure is up against some seasoned writers.  She told us that she needs to undercut at times in order to gain experience, a client base, and make a name for herself.  In the end, she does what she has to do and that’s respectable. 

After Grant Writing’s exile from the Venn diagram, our small group discussion moved on to Pretty Woman, feminism, socioeconomic class, and jail overpopulation.  If I could give our discussion a title it would be “What is ethical is not always legal, and what is legal is not always ethical” by AS, KH, JB, MO, ES, and LB.  The idea of a gray area haunted our conversation.  Why is it that we can’t define middle-class without so many exceptions?  Why is prostitution illegal, while habitual DUI offenders are licensed to drive?  Should breathalyzers some stock in all vehicles, and would it really deter drunk driving?  Is that an invasion of privacy?

We spent extra time on was feminism.  We all agreed that “we aren’t feminists, but…” We don’t associate our images with those of the popular “feminazi” image.  You could call us non-feminist feminists.  Speaking for myself, I have not been openly exposed to true feminist culture.  I appreciate the work of the feminist (right to vote, right to chose, right to divorce, etc.), but have never taken any women’s studies classes, read any feminist literature, or known any real feminists. 

On the other hand, I have found myself fighting the feminist struggle.  I spent several years working in the restaurant industry.  Specifically, in the kitchen—a male dominated field.  I was hired at a well-known four-star restaurant.  Before my first night, I was taken aside by the sous-chef and warned about the kitchen full of “dirty boys,” told to be less sensitive and not take it personally.  My progression through the kitchen was the slowest out of all of the other cooks.  I felt deprived.  After having enough, I demanded that I be shown how to do everything.  The sous-chef was uneasy and openly unsure about my capabilities and it took several conversations and demonstrations to prove him wrong.  Within a month, I was training new cooks.  After one of my trainees walked out because he couldn’t handle the work, I finally gained respect.  I lead the sauté line several nights a week and even had regular customers requesting me as their cook.  It felt good to prove myself, and disprove a hasty sexist judgment. 

So...I’m not a feminist, but it feels good to play like one.

List of Essentials

Input!

Wikipedia

Peace of mind

Walks in the woods

Blank pieces of paper

Eight hours of sleep a night

Decide what to be and go be it.

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.

Being (the change, willing, happy, understanding, strong, honest)
When I do good, I feel good.  When I do bad, I feel bad.  That is my religion.

Kitchen therapy (good tools, good produce, open workspace, "mise en place")

[Still working...]

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