Response #1 - "Notation and the Art of Reading" by Karl Young

Young makes reference to many examples of notation, but the three that stood out as the most clearly delineated were his historic examples: notations recorded by indigenous Mexicans circa 1500, those in practice in China since the first pictographic representations and those employed in Tudor/Elizabethan England before the advent of standardized English punctuation and spelling.

In the first example, Young mentions Aztec practices in particular, most notably the pictographic nature of their printed word which appeared almost as a mandala and less as a script. He references the use of these works as aids to storytelling, being a physical talisman to the effects of memorized mythos and poetics. One scenario he creates is that of a storyteller placing a book in front of his audience in order to provide them with a physical branding to the words and songs being performed. Widespread bookbinding practices (such as the screenfolding technique), are very interesting because essentially they create books whose structure is malleable, subject to no set order or structure and open to the at-will manipulations of the audience.

Chinese writing is very graphic in origin, with each character (or zi) representing a plethora of thoughts, experiences, personages and impressions and as such having a physical as well as a mental correspondence. As he points out, this is largely irrelevant in today's information-obsessed culture, although this plays a huge role in the recording and performance of poetry. Young also points out the interrelated nature of poetry, painting and music within Chinese culture (incidentally - added to which the practice of playing Chinese go makes up the four virtues), as well as the common use of non-conventional writing materials and sources (such as stone carvings and calligraphic poetics). One kinesthetic aspect of Chinese writing in particular is in the melodious tonal implications of specifics characters in specific environments. In addition to being so graphic, Chinese is very much a verbal language and needs to be spoken to be appreciated and understood. Another example that I particularly enjoyed was of the shifu tattooed over the entirety of his body with poems by Po Chu-i.

Circa-16th century English literature was a mish-mash of spellings, punctuations and meanings. As Young points out, it was common to have more than one spelling of the same word on the same page of text. He also states that the rough material nature of these books added a certain physicality to the reading. Additionally, these works were meant to be consumed, pondering and performed (perhaps as an evening entertainment for the family or at a social gathering). Many of the poets and authors of this time were also clergymen or other members of the educated elite and as such wrote works that were meant to be read or preached. Combined with the highly individualized interpretations of spelling, rhythm and punctuation, this implies that each work would have a different incarnation based on the person reciting the piece and the audience present.

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On a side note, I've been thinking a lot lately about how the use of such a detailed writing system as our alphabet is both a blessing and a curse, in that it simultaneously allows and enforces the preservation of thoughts in a highly literal fashion. As such, it allows for great detail to be captured, but at the same time it seems to bog down literature into minutiae, if that makes any sense. I don't know - it's something I've been realizing for the first time lately and as such it's still kind of an unformed thought.

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And, on another side note, it was interesting to see Karl Young's take on recreating a Chinese style using English poetry, because I have been working on something similar for a while (although mine is in a completely different direction than Young's). It's interesting to see what someone else has been attempting.

Being Online Autobiography

I think I might be considered a bit too old to be a digital native, although I grew up with computers in the home. My father was a computer technician/programmer with Pharaoh Computers in the early 1980's (before the bottom fell out of that business), and one of my first memories is gluing together all the little bits and pieces of the motherboard on the large mainframe computer we had in our basement. I was often told that if I wasn't loved so much, I would have been killed for that.

But, basically, we always had computers around the house, although I was way behind the curve in obtaining other technologies (like cell phones, my first of which was purchased last year). Now I have my iPod and my cell and all those other goodies...

I used the internet a lot growing up, mostly because my father used my siblings and I to test things. He taught us BASIC and how to navigate DOS and the like, and we were some of the first people to sign up for AOL when it became available back in the early '90s (my first screen name, in fact, was Lilith for all the obvious symbolic reasons).

One of the most horrific moments of my childhood (aside from gluing the motherboard), was when I was playing around in DOS without paying attention and deleted a necessary boot file for our family PC when I was 14. I was so horrified of what my father might do upon discovery that I grabbed a phone book and began dialing computer specialists listed in the yellow pages...the first person I actually reached, a man named Alan Judy, knew my father and knew what lay in store for me, so he talked me through over the phone restoring the computer. I met him for the first time in person 4 years ago and he loves reminding me of that fact.

Now I mainly use the web for communication, information gathering, acquiring information/items and publicity.

• I blog on my own website and for WVU Study Abroad, in addition to sharing my photography and writing online on my site.
  
• I use Myspace and Facebook as social networking tools (many of my friends live in other countries, so they're very useful).
  
• I use the Internet to look up submissions guidelines for poetry and photography symposia/publications/exhibits, to research hard-to-find or newer information that may not have made it into print form yet.
  
• I teach ESL and I use a Yahoogroups listserv to communicate about pop culture tidbits and to share other types of information with my class.
  
• I subscribe to daily Chinese and Japanese podcasts, in addition to regularly downloading philosophical/linguistic/political/historical podcasts from a variety of sites.
  
• I use the internet to follow blogs like the DCist, the Shanghaiist, Plastic.com, the Huffington Post and the like.
  
• WheneverI come across a new artist or friend, I generally do a web search for them as well.
  
• I get my news online from mainly the BBC and from other smaller sources.
  
• I use a few pen-pal sites to help improve my Chinese and Japanese, in addition to using interactive websites daily for several of my courses (Chinese and Macroeconomics mainly)
  
• I watch tons of Netflix tidbits late at night in hotels while traveling (and, if I'm being honest, sometimes during the middle of the day between classes).
  
• I read some web-published 'zines and comics.
  
• I use JSTOR and the like to read academic articles and do research.
  
• I get a lot of music and movies online (I don't have cable or anything else.)
  
• I buy things online much more than I do in stores.
  
• I use Altavista Babelfish, like, every two hours.
• I listen to some webcast radio stations, like KILI from the Lakota Nation.
• Etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
  

All told, I probably spend about 4-5 hours a day online...I know, that's a lot. But I am always online even when I'm writing in order to research or clarify, in addition to the fact that I work for NAS department here helping with photography and their website (in addition to being tapped by an educational consultancy, Helianthus, to help corral their upcoming online networking forum)...so, yeah, I am constantly connected. I'm NEVER without my laptop and actually have to make it a point to get away from the computer and electronic things for a set period of time each day so I don't just meld into a virtual world...or develop some kind of illness from spending all day sitting down...

So, there. My "Being Online Autobiography". I am online way too much.