I read a post about Wednesday’s class when the three creative writing teachers spoke to us and felt compelled to write. First, I would like to say that I do not think it was their intention to shatter the hopes and dreams of our class. I believe they were sincerely trying to convey a realistic analogy about the hard work and low pay writers can face. In addition, I think if you are majoring in Writing and working towards your degree, that’s good enough for now. I think that there are many occupations and fields that embrace and welcome potential employees who have the ability to write and speak well. So please do not sell yourselves short and by all means do not pressure yourselves into thinking you have to have ALL the ANSWERS now. Just continue to learn, continue to explore and continue to write and you will find your way…
So as I am sure everyone remembers, yesterday in class, 3 creative writing teachers came into speak to us writing arts majors. I had class with one of the professors before, and really do cherish what he has to say. After the talk, I think most students felt a little discouraged as writing majors. It wasn’t that the professors told us not to major in writing with creative aspects, but they did tell us that creative writing can not be a career. One of the professors had mentioned that writing is a vocation, not a career. She talked about the visions we have of becoming famous writers which are mostly taken from television and film. I definitley see many of my life goals stemming from popular culture. After the meeting, I had the choice of being discouraged, or of taking the best interpretation of the event to heart. I decided that yes, it was quite diffucult to hear that my passion can’t also become my career, but as the professors said, incportating some other area of expertise with writing can ultimately create great results. Now I just have to choose one of my millions of interests to go along with my writing.
11:26 AM: Katie: so if we make things free, people will want to access them more, which will make them more well
known. why are we paying for things in the first place then
11:26 AM: Katie: *for things
11:27 AM: jky: what things do mean
11:27 AM: jky: ?
11:27 AM: Katie: like music, magazines, etc.
11:27 AM: alias: good question–why should we have to pay for information?
11:27 AM: jky: a lot of people don’t pay for music
11:28 AM: jky: but they are cheating the system, i still pay for it
11:28 AM: Caitlin: I think people will still pay to support writers and artists whose work they truly enjoy. Supposedly the
average download of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” is going for $7 (according to some guy on the radio, so I don’t know if it’s
true) even though people have the option of paying whatever they want.
11:28 AM: jky: i don’t know why
11:28 AM: jky: ahhaha
11:28 AM: jky: yea, i buy cd’s of people i really love, but i also go to their concerts
11:28 AM: jky: so in some people’s minds, if you go to a concert you
11:28 AM: jky: ‘are supporting the band
11:28 AM: jky: so you don;t have to buy a hard copy of their music
11:29 AM: jky: we have to pay for info because someone wants the credit
11:29 AM: jky: i guess
11:29 AM: jky: what would happen if everything in the world were free? food, music, airwaves
11:29 AM: alias: so credit = money?
11:30 AM: jky: i think for a lot of people credit=money
11:30 AM: Courtney: i agree, if you put the time and energy into something i think you should get something in return….
if that is money then yes
11:30 AM: Katie: well i think credit is really talent and honesty, and if i want to see/hear more from a person i would
want to support them, and to support them i would give them money to continue what they are doing, so in a way, yes, it
does
11:31 AM: Caitlin: Who are we really supporting when we buy a CD, though? How much of that money goes to the record
label and how much goes directly to the artist?
11:31 AM: jky: in the music industry i think the record label gets more of the money
11:31 AM: jky: but more of the credit goes to the artist
11:31 AM: jky: in that case, credit and money are different
11:31 AM: Katie: you might as well download the music and send twenty bucks to the artist
11:31 AM: jky: yeA! but how?
11:32 AM: jky: i mean why are we writing majors? to make money, or to share our thoughts with whoever is willing to
hear them?
11:32 AM: alias: good point katie–why can’t i do that?
11:32 AM: alias: why can’t i just send Bruce 50 bucks
11:32 AM: jky: BRRRUUUCEEE
11:33 AM: alias: why does he get only 1 dollar per every CD or even less
11:33 AM: Caitlin: You probably could, but I think the majority of people won’t.
11:33 AM: jky: i don;t know but hes selling a lot of cds
11:33 AM: jky: so those dollars add up
11:33 AM: Katie: i guess if we did that, then everyone else who worked on the music wouldnt get their share of the profit
11:33 AM: alias: well, you just said above, C, that people are donating toRadiohead at a pretty nice level
11:33 AM: Katie: like the producers, songwriters, etc.
11:33 AM: jky: yea
11:33 AM: jky: and i feel for the songwriters
11:33 AM: Katie: kind of like the writers in hollywood now
11:33 AM: jky: yep!!
11:33 AM: jky: i was just thinkng that
11:33 AM: alias: perhaps the artist would distrbute the money?
11:33 AM: Katie: probably not
11:34 AM: jky: i think they would
11:34 AM: jky: when actors win awards think of all the people they thank
11:34 AM: Katie: if it were like jon bon jovi, who cares for everyone, then i think he would, but like britney spears? she
would just like buy a new car or something
11:34 AM: jky: hahaha
11:34 AM: jky: bon jovi cares
11:34 AM: jky: britney doesnt
11:35 AM: Caitlin: I think if more bands went around the music industry like Radiohead did and made their music
available for download directly from the band, then people would pay for it, but if they were just downloading it for free
and sending money after the fact then most people wouldn’t bother.
…And I do mean that literally. W00t is the word of the year according to Merriam-Webster. In addition to being profoundly amusing, that has some interesting implications for the link between language and technology. It’s not just “geek speak” anymore.
I think it is the funniest thing when I’m listening to my itunes with headphones on in the library. Well, that’s not the funny part. What’s funny is when someone walks by and they walk to the beat. Whether it’s Kelly Clarkson or the Black Eyed Peas, I can’t help but laugh. I mean, it happens on the street all the time. Like, when you’re in your car and a pedestrian walks in front of you to the music on the radio. But when you’re in a library it just seems to be even more humorous.
Since we’re on the subject of libraries, I will talk about my favorite spot in ours. On the second floor, across from the reference desk, there’s a little section with a globe and a few chairs and tables. There’s also those rooms you can go in if you have to do a group project. It’s the perfect spot for people-watching without getting too distracted. Plus, if I need references, the lady is right there! The only problem with it is that I have to choose between looking out the window or people-watching. Unless its snowing, I vote for people-watching all the way. Maybe it’s because I work in the mall.
Today for my photography class, I completed a book. It is a book of all of my best work from this semester, put together in a stylish manner. We used a website called My Publisher to create the books. I must say, the preview of the book looks pretty fantastic. Though it is the holidays. We’ll see if it gets here on time to count as my final for my photo class. Anyways, I decided to share this in a post with you because I found the website pretty cool. Its like an online photo album that you can print out. You have to download layout software which is pretty easy to follow. You can make photo books for yourself, or as presents. You can add captions and funky wallpapers. Or you can keep it simple, silly. You should at least check out the site to view some examples. Why not!?
Hey, guys. I woke up early this morning with a massive headache, fell asleep again, and suddenly it was noon. Can anyone be so kind as to let me know what I missed?
Also, I changed the theme because the previous one didn’t display tags or usernames.
In class today, I mentioned something I discussed in my Aesthetics class last year, about objects and ideas and there “thrice” removal from their true forms. I looked up Plato on Wikipedia, but found a section about his relationship with Socrates. Under the metaphysics section, I found this, “according to Socrates, physical objects and physical events are “shadows” of their ideal or perfect forms, and exist only to the extent that they instantiate the perfect versions of themselves. Just as shadows are temporary, inconsequential epiphenomena produced by physical objects, physical objects are themselves fleeting phenomena caused by more substantial causes, the ideals of which they are mere instances. For example, Socrates thinks that perfect justice exists (although it is not clear where) and his own trial would be a cheap copy of it.”
Being able to know what something is inside of your head and draw a picture of it is an amazing feat. Hopefully someone else will be able to determine what you drew is the same object that was inside your head. As a writing major, and I discussed this in my final paper for Tweedie, I think being able to describe a thought in your head is pretty much just as cool as being able to draw it. Describing, through words what you see allows the reader to be the artists and paint their own picture in their head. I guess it all depends on if you want the audience of either a painting or an essay to see exactly what you saw in your head, or their own version. However, I bet plenty of artists get frustrated when their paintings don’t look exactly the way they want them too. In this regard, I can finally understand why our major is titled writing arts.
If you don’t understand what Socrates is trying to say, give this a look.
A week ago I was at The Electric Factory in Philly and saw one of the best shows of my life: Coheed and Cambria (one of my all time favorite bands). They played a two-hour set! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a band perform that long. The energy was just ridiculous, and I came out exhausted, dehydrated, and drenched in my own sweat…and I loved every minute of it. Here’s a video of “No World For Tomorrow,” the song they opened with off of their new album barring the same name.
(I should be somewhere around where this video was taken actually)
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