Our House…
…from the bottom of the sewer!
She wears donna
I first thought
Hirsute.
But that was unfair
It was after all, just hair.
I saw her in a tangled
Space.
My gaze was riveted
On her shadowed face.
A razor glance
Creases.
I admired her lines
And coiffured graces.
But in the end the texture
Coarse.
The feel against my skin
Raw.
Rough.
I am too in love with skin.
A webbing we will go…
While most people were in church or napping the day away, I was back at work trying to get ahead of the curve.
All my self-fiddling got me started on a truly css-based web design so I took a swing at Hole’s new site. I think I’ve pretty much got the code down and the visuals look good so…
Next I just have to decide on php vs asp vs ruby…
Retraining really needs to happen…
…but I’m just not sure who needs the retraining in this case.
In January, Toronto Police Const. Michael Sanguinetti told a personal security class at York University that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”
Sanguinetti apologized for his comments, but his apology failed to satisfy walk organizer Sonya Barnett.
“It was evident that if you’re going to have a representative of the police force come out [and say that] then that kind of idea must be still running rampant within the force itself and that retraining really needs to happen to change that mentality,” she said.
Granted it’s not the most PC thing to say, but the message underlying the poor choice of vocabulary is nonetheless valid. Should women have to avoid dressing provocatively? Well no… but then again I, the quintessential white boy, shouldn’t have to be afraid of walking through a ghetto late at night either.
But that’s okay, if we retrain the people on our side that are talking without thinking, then the streets will be safe again for everyone… or maybe not… sheesh…
The whole CBC web story
Duuude! Ul?
The first traditionally drawn in 2002 with pen and ink.
The second done on the iPad with Brushes
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The Internet is not a community, it’s only a community hall
Not long ago, according to the new-media guru Clay Shirky, the Sudanese government set up a Facebook page call ing for a protest against the Sudanese government, naming a specific time and place – then simply arrested those who showed up. It was proof, Shirky argues, that social media can’t be revolutionary on its own. “The reason that worked is that nobody knew anybody else,” he says. “They thought Facebook itself was trustworthy.”
Oh Margie!
Margie Gillis Dance at the Arden tonight. Tired, so tired, but the arts must live on…
Tonight, Margie Gillis Dance Foundation presents Thread.
Self-indulgent, simplistic and trite. But at least it’s not “fine for a woman her age.”
Tsunami
From a bare street to floatng houses in 6 minutes…
Never, ever underestimate the power of water.
Pay for a real editor.
An incredibly awkward way to go about a straight forward process… but at least they arrived at the right conclusion…
Editing Woes
The very first edition of this book was rife with errors. Only a few technical errors, but plenty of spelling, grammar, and formatting issues. Isn’t that what the editing process is for? It sure is. We didn’t skip that part either, it’s just that we didn’t take it seriously enough. We relied on friends, family, and ourselves to read through the book, catch errors, and provide notes. We are hugely grateful for their help, because without it, that first edition would have been much worse.
After the release, emails started coming in pointing out problems. These emails were responded to as promptly and nicely as possible. People that take the time to report problems are excellent customers and responding to their emails with the utmost respect will hopefully keep them that way. Thanks to all of the editing help we received from many generous people, the next update produced a much higher quality, more accurate book.
At first, we tried responding to errata emails as they rolled in – checking and fixing errors sort of on the spot. With everything else going on, we soon decided to automate and simplify the errata process as much as possible. Our errata system is now threefold: 1) setup an official Errata & Changelog page to help streamline communique, 2) tag incoming errata email as such, and 3) check & fix all errata at the same time, during book updates. This system helps to save time by keeping things streamlined, efficient, and thorough.
After putting up the Errata submission page, we encouraged people to use it. Later, when the print book came out, we gave folks that did the most work in finding errors free copies.
With each update, the accuracy of the book continues to improve. At first, we were inundated with editing woes, but I think we reacted well to the the situation and ended up with a solid book that continues to evolve. Looking back, we probably should have been more thorough with the initial editing process.
Takeaway: Pay for a real editor.
Altogether, an interesting bit about the pros and cons of self publishing… http://digwp.com/2011/03/what-we-learned-publishing-digging-into-wordpress/
Understand what the media is, not what you want it to be
Read it.
Learn it.
Understand it.
If you ask journalists why they chose their profession, they give a range of answers: to see the world, something new every day, I like to write. The most common answer is some variation on: to make the world a better place, to right wrongs and stick up for the little guy. Social justice, in other words. No one ever says, “I went into journalism because I have a passion for being… objective.” Or: “Detachment, that’s my thing. I’m kind of a detached guy, so I figured this would be a good field for me.” #
And yet… When they get there, people who always wanted to be journalists and make the world a better place find that the professional codes in place often prevent this. It’s hard to fight for justice when you have to master “he said, she said” stories. Voice is something you learn to take out of your work if you want to succeed in the modern newsroom. You are supposed to sacrifice and learn to report the story without attitude or bias creeping in. And then, if you succeed in disciplining yourself, you might one day get a column and earn the right to crusade for justice, to move and convince
There is a lot of crap inherent in the way we think about journalism, the only antidote is to think. For your self.
http://pressthink.org/2011/03/the-psychology-of-bloggers-vs-journalists-my-talk-at-south-by-southwest/