They have the internet on computers now? – Homer Simpson

starting a blog seemed like a great idea at times.  setting up a blog and faithfully posting was a daunting task most of the time. and choosing what to write about in a blog took up entirely too much time.  i have often started and than stopped a blog, never finding the dedication to stick to some firm ideas. but now as i find myself in this environment of incredible self-reflection, i find it an appealing, albeit slightly frightening, concept to put myself out…there.  and whether or not this blog will eventually meet its fate into the netherworld as 90% of blogs roughly do, i am sure that at the very least, this blog will at least be a good reflection of the thoughts and ideas of my time here at ITP (namely my slow descent into dementia).

now we have reached an era in which the term being “published” means virtually nothing.  in fact, as i write this now, i am staring at a large glaring “publish” button off to the side in which with one click of the button i can send my thoughts and ideas out into the world for everybody to read, for better or for worse.  and to be honest, much of what is out there, could use some old-fashioned editorial critique.  and while my blog for the most part will be harmless, i can only imagine the thoughts behind bloggers whose blogs are being read by thousands if not millions of people around the world in which instantly through no mediated media outlet nor rounds of fact checking, can make their belief likened to fact through the simple click of a button.

so yes. this blog might get hot and heavy, as in I’m getting all excited and tingly thinking about doing some object-orienting programming on one of those new mac notebooks, but its not like i’ll be talking about what Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson are wearing…much.

Hello World.  This is me.

i’ve been reading Walter Ong’s Orality and Literacy, which if one can get past the fact that it is incredibly dense and somewhat esoteric, proposes some concepts that help reinforce the idea of the electronic-era as ushering in a new manner of communication.  backpacking on mcluhan’s earlier revolutionary theory of “medium as the message,” Ong delves into the history of oral and literal cultures and how in actuality, literary cultures are the minority and it has been the mistake of literate cultures to view oral cultures in terms of their lack of literacy.  Ong moreover, would argue that oral cultures are the more primary, dominant form of communication and that writing, though important, is static and unresponsive.  now however we find ourselves in a third form of communication, or a ’secondary orality’ which uses writing in a manner so instantaneous via text messaging, IM, etc., that it translates ideas at the speed nearly the same as ‘primary orality’.

reading that, i immediately thought of a scene in an episode of Californication, when David Duchovny’s character bemoans the loss of the english language when the girl he is dating responds to his question with BRB.  although one could argue that BRB is part of a new lexicon that circumvents the english language.  and even recently while flipping randomly through a magazine i see a little tip that says IM at work actually improves work flow better than something like e-mail because the communication is instantaneous in such a way that you don’t have to wait for a response before proceeding.  now while some companies might look down at the use of such things as chat-rooms or IM at work, certainly it makes sense that within an organization, it is a lot faster than getting up and walking over to someone on the 12th floor…

i was all set to check out Olafur Eliasson’s Waterfalls up close and personal.  Riding the NQBD trains everyday always allowed me to see them from afar but to be fairly honest–and I appreciated Olafur’s previous retrospective at the MOMA and PS1–from my high vantagepoint on the Manhattan Bridge, I wasn’t particularly impressed.   i had hoped however that perhaps a night view and a closer inspection would induce me to take back my initial judgement.  after determining my bike route based on the NYT recommendation, in the end i was only underwhelmed to discover that they were in fact even MORE disappointing up close because…they weren’t even turned on.

all the while, i couldn’t help but think that: (a) the roughly 15 million in money to support the work could have gone to better use; and (b) the visible structure behind the falls didn’t add to the work in a positive way.  despite the artist’s attempt to try to convey the physicality of water, that sense didn’t seem to translate to the mere viewer. all in all, it still felt like a dry town.