Hey evvverybody.....so my project has taken hold of my life, so much so that I've had dreams about it. Last Monday was my first meeting with all my actors (about twenty of them) and it went swimmingly. I've had two mishaps: 1. the space I was going to use for my scene, a wedding chapel, totally fell through. After leaving about 20 messages on their machine and getting absolutely no answer, I gave up. Also, one of the writers got super stressed out about her scene and didn't feel she could write it, or what she had was usable. A big bummer, as 'Five on the Town' had to become 'Four on the Town', which really doesn't have that nice ring to it. HOWEVER, the good news is I am now using her space for my own scene, and it's a whole lot less stress for me, as far as casting and directing goes. My actors are great, many of them have no experience but are thrilled. One guy, Fannypack Dan--the grumpiest homeless man I've ever crossed--is so excited about his part he shouts his lines to me from across the street. People have been coming up outta the blue and asking for parts. It's pretty magical. One of the writers schedualed a music show of old time rag blues to happen after the performances...As far as the books go, I found enough vinyl to cover a family of four at this great recycling store in Portland called Scrap. I'll use these for the cover, and I'm using my typewriter for the innards. I'd like to take pictures of the night of the performance for the books, so I'm really grateful for this extra time because the show isn't until January 3rd. I'll definitely have them out by the 15th.
In preparation for this falling through, and for my own sense of mystery and fun, I've been working on another project. Basically, it's an anonymous art show at The Boiler Room consisting of about ten mailboxes I've been collecting. I'm going to fill them with letters, poems, bits of stories, paint them real pretty and in the middle of the night on New Years Eve, break into the Room and hang them on the walls. Only the manager and my dad know about this, so don't tell anybody! They've all got their own themes like..."Varitiations on 'I Love You'", "Ten Things I Think I Know" and "Dear My Friend". My psuedonym is Pee Jay. If there's room at the Goddard show, perhaps I could haul one of these along? I'm not sure how to document it so thank the lord this theatre extravaganza has panned out (so far.....).
Well, that's about it for now. I'm damn excited for everyone's books/bubba boxes/psuedo-standardized tests....
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Answers to Nancy’s Questions and Plans for the Near Future
Hi there:
Here is a to-do list for the rest of our group study:
1. Send me your mailing address, to my regular email (jenhofer@gmail.com); I will compile a list and send it out to everyone via FirstClass (or if you prefer I reach you using a different email, feel free to let me know).
2. Finish your chapbook or project, and document the project. It would be great to post documentation (images, text, reflections, etc) to the blog, so future students in this group study can access it.
3. Send your work to everyone in the class via snail mail, and bring or send two copies to the residency. One of those will be given to the BFA Writing Program, and the other to the Goddard Library. The BFA copies should be given to Lucinda; they will live on a special shelf in her office. The Library copies can be given to Dustin Byerly.
4. Write a brief reflection on how the experience of this Group Study project informed your thinking and practice this semester. Please include information about what you found especially useful and/or ways this Group Study might be improved. I think it would be great if we post these to the blog, so we can read each other’s, but if you’d prefer to send your reflection only to me, that’s fine too (either via gmail or via FirstClass).
Due dates: Technically all work for this group study is “due” on December 31. I myself will not be able to finish my book before that date, though I expect to have it done shortly thereafter. If you need a little more time, take a little more time. What do I mean by “a little more time”? Specifically, I mean up to two weeks, but no longer! I will respond to each of your projects individually, but I will not have time to do that after mid-January. Simply put, if you send your project after January 15, I will not be able to write you a response. Likewise, I should receive your reflections about the low-fi publishing experience no later than January 15; I will not accept them after that date.
Showing our work: We pretty much agreed that we’d like to share our work with the larger Goddard community during the spring semester residency. Dee Windsome is the coordinator of the student art show, and I imagine she’d be willing to work with one or more of you to create a space to exhibit our projects as part of the show. I will be on leave during the spring semester, so someone (or someones) from our group should volunteer to be the coordinator or coordinatrix of our exhibition. Any takers? I’m happy to help with legwork in advance (via email), but I won’t be at the residency.
Any further questions? Please ask!
As Robert Creeley used to say, onward!
Jen
Here is a to-do list for the rest of our group study:
1. Send me your mailing address, to my regular email (jenhofer@gmail.com); I will compile a list and send it out to everyone via FirstClass (or if you prefer I reach you using a different email, feel free to let me know).
2. Finish your chapbook or project, and document the project. It would be great to post documentation (images, text, reflections, etc) to the blog, so future students in this group study can access it.
3. Send your work to everyone in the class via snail mail, and bring or send two copies to the residency. One of those will be given to the BFA Writing Program, and the other to the Goddard Library. The BFA copies should be given to Lucinda; they will live on a special shelf in her office. The Library copies can be given to Dustin Byerly.
4. Write a brief reflection on how the experience of this Group Study project informed your thinking and practice this semester. Please include information about what you found especially useful and/or ways this Group Study might be improved. I think it would be great if we post these to the blog, so we can read each other’s, but if you’d prefer to send your reflection only to me, that’s fine too (either via gmail or via FirstClass).
Due dates: Technically all work for this group study is “due” on December 31. I myself will not be able to finish my book before that date, though I expect to have it done shortly thereafter. If you need a little more time, take a little more time. What do I mean by “a little more time”? Specifically, I mean up to two weeks, but no longer! I will respond to each of your projects individually, but I will not have time to do that after mid-January. Simply put, if you send your project after January 15, I will not be able to write you a response. Likewise, I should receive your reflections about the low-fi publishing experience no later than January 15; I will not accept them after that date.
Showing our work: We pretty much agreed that we’d like to share our work with the larger Goddard community during the spring semester residency. Dee Windsome is the coordinator of the student art show, and I imagine she’d be willing to work with one or more of you to create a space to exhibit our projects as part of the show. I will be on leave during the spring semester, so someone (or someones) from our group should volunteer to be the coordinator or coordinatrix of our exhibition. Any takers? I’m happy to help with legwork in advance (via email), but I won’t be at the residency.
Any further questions? Please ask!
As Robert Creeley used to say, onward!
Jen
lessons learned
hey there all you,
so my book has had many trials and tribulations. after making the whole thing on in design, i ended up having to print it page by page rather than in a booklet form, because i don't have the right kind of cord on my external harddrive to take it to a printer's. i think this turned out to be a blessing because it brings me back to the initial low-fi-ness of the low-fi workshop. i wanted to learn the computer layout software and also learn to make a book with my own two hands. now i have learned many valuable lessons about both, and my book is a sort of hybrid little beast. yesterday i spent many hours at kinkos using their paper cutter and copy machine, only to realize, many dollars and hours later, that i had completely screwed up on the mock-up of my book, and had to redo everything i'd done. this was incredibly disheartening. i went home huffy and teary and generally down on myself. i just moved to philadelphia, and am super overwhelmed by being in a new city where i don't know yet how to do anything or get anywhere. so the little blunders of my little book became the manifestation of my big-city woes, and i had a temper tantrum about my own incompetence. then i calmed down. my roommate is a book-binder, and a lovely patient generous person. she sat with me and explained my error to me, walked me through the proper method, and made a new mock-up booklet with me. now i am ready to make the photocopies. then i just need to find cover materials, and stitch up the books this weekend (a process im sure will include its own blunders). i love holding it in my hands, figuring out the proportions, calculating where to slice pages and where to fold them, etc.
so, i have learned that when making a book, first make a little mock-up book and label everything, including the title page, the table of contents, and all the numbered pages. then it will be so much easier to arrange the pages in the right order for photocopies. i also learned that making things with our hands can become small physical manifestations of larger fears or worries that we have. these are little treasures. i'm regaining my perspective.
here's to candles and holiday lights,
monica
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Hot cocoa and gingerbread cookies anyone?
Hi. Just checking in...I'm making gingerbread men and just waiting for a reply from Jen to my last post. The piece I used for the chapbooks I made is about my plants in my garden. I was outside checking in with them all this morning. I'm concerned about the possibility of some of them freezing to death tonight. Year before last, when it got this cold, I actually dragged most of them into the house to stay for several weeks and I kept them all alive. But the next year, I re-potted a bunch of them into giant pots and now they're all too big and too heavy to move. So I hope they're going to be able to manage in this cold. Otherwise, my chapbooks are going to wind up being a eulogy. --Nancy.
Monday, December 15, 2008
It's All Happening Wednesday
Sorry I've disappeared. Update:
Could not find the master key that I so crucially needed, so I had to adjust my plans a bit. What I've decided to do is format a few of my pieces to look like the standardized test that all Texas students have to take (T.A.K.S.) and distribute copies of them at my former high school as classes let out. Along with the pieces I'll attach a little manifesto of sorts on the many, oh so many, flaws of our current education system and how to begin to possibly fix it. The whole point to this little project is to hopefully open these students minds a bit and allow them to actually think by inviting them to respond to the pieces any which way they see fit (no multiple choice here) on a blog I'll be creating for this purpose. Even though this isn't what I initially envisioned for my publishing project I'm quite happy with how it's turning out.
There are however a few concerns I have:
1. One of the key aspects to my original project idea was the "sneak attack" style of distribution, by leaving copies randomly throughout the school for the students to find. Unfortunately, this simply doesn't seem possible anymore without the master key. I wonder if me just distributing the copies all normal-like still fulfills the purpose of this publishing group. Thoughts?
2. I haven't decided exactly which pieces I'll be using (tomorrow I'm gonna print everything up), but it's quite possible that some of the pieces will contain obscene language/scenes (ranging from mere swearing to not-so-graphic-but-not-exactly-pg-rated-either depictions of sexuality.) Could I get in trouble for distributing this type of writing on a high school campus?
3. My biggest worry is: no one will care. The students will glance at it, if I'm lucky, then discard of it. I'm thinking it's a long shot that anybody will get all the way to the point of responding to it online. I suppose that is part of the experiment though; the results will be telling.
Good luck to everyone in their endeavors, school-wise, or otherwise
- alexander
Could not find the master key that I so crucially needed, so I had to adjust my plans a bit. What I've decided to do is format a few of my pieces to look like the standardized test that all Texas students have to take (T.A.K.S.) and distribute copies of them at my former high school as classes let out. Along with the pieces I'll attach a little manifesto of sorts on the many, oh so many, flaws of our current education system and how to begin to possibly fix it. The whole point to this little project is to hopefully open these students minds a bit and allow them to actually think by inviting them to respond to the pieces any which way they see fit (no multiple choice here) on a blog I'll be creating for this purpose. Even though this isn't what I initially envisioned for my publishing project I'm quite happy with how it's turning out.
There are however a few concerns I have:
1. One of the key aspects to my original project idea was the "sneak attack" style of distribution, by leaving copies randomly throughout the school for the students to find. Unfortunately, this simply doesn't seem possible anymore without the master key. I wonder if me just distributing the copies all normal-like still fulfills the purpose of this publishing group. Thoughts?
2. I haven't decided exactly which pieces I'll be using (tomorrow I'm gonna print everything up), but it's quite possible that some of the pieces will contain obscene language/scenes (ranging from mere swearing to not-so-graphic-but-not-exactly-pg-rated-either depictions of sexuality.) Could I get in trouble for distributing this type of writing on a high school campus?
3. My biggest worry is: no one will care. The students will glance at it, if I'm lucky, then discard of it. I'm thinking it's a long shot that anybody will get all the way to the point of responding to it online. I suppose that is part of the experiment though; the results will be telling.
Good luck to everyone in their endeavors, school-wise, or otherwise
- alexander
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Hey Everyone
So, yeah, I spoke too soon. I definitely got the wrong kind of paper for my project.
A few weeks ago, I looked online for awhile, but became discouraged by the pricing of all plantable seed paper I could find. I gave up at that point, frustrated. A couple of days later, my girlfriend surprised me by telling me that she had ordered me 100 sheets online while at her parents' house. When they arrived, I found that the reason she had found some cheap paper was because it wasn't plantable. There were some petals and floral fragments embedded in the paper, but burying it would not result in any kind of growth; they were intended for use as invitations or elegant stationary, not plantable poems.
So I have a couple of options. I can use household materials for the inner-pages as well as the covers, as I originally intended. Or, I can order enough plantable seed paper to make a couple copies rather than a dozen, but I don't know that I will be able to receive them in time to meet the deadline, nor do I necessarily want to spend much money on this project.
Argh. It wasn't the greatest week; this fiasco coupled with a death in the family. It was a great-aunt, not my immediate family, but it still puts a damper on an already dreary atmosphere.
I'm at a loss, so somebody give me a suggestion.
R
A few weeks ago, I looked online for awhile, but became discouraged by the pricing of all plantable seed paper I could find. I gave up at that point, frustrated. A couple of days later, my girlfriend surprised me by telling me that she had ordered me 100 sheets online while at her parents' house. When they arrived, I found that the reason she had found some cheap paper was because it wasn't plantable. There were some petals and floral fragments embedded in the paper, but burying it would not result in any kind of growth; they were intended for use as invitations or elegant stationary, not plantable poems.
So I have a couple of options. I can use household materials for the inner-pages as well as the covers, as I originally intended. Or, I can order enough plantable seed paper to make a couple copies rather than a dozen, but I don't know that I will be able to receive them in time to meet the deadline, nor do I necessarily want to spend much money on this project.
Argh. It wasn't the greatest week; this fiasco coupled with a death in the family. It was a great-aunt, not my immediate family, but it still puts a damper on an already dreary atmosphere.
I'm at a loss, so somebody give me a suggestion.
R
Checking in and questions for Jen
Hi everyone. It's the seventh Wednesday of our nine-week workshop and time again to check in. My chapbooks are virtually done. I wanted to know, Jen, what the plan is to send our projects to each other in this workshop and also to the BFA program. The end of our workshop is three weeks from today and, according to my schedule, we're supposed to be checking into our blog two more times, on December 17th and Dec. 31st, after today. I assume that's when the projects should be not only finished but distributed, as well. Will we be mailing them to each other, as I think we discussed at the residency? And, if so, we'll each need a list of addresses for all of those in our group. Also, when we met at the residency, you asked us to write a brief reflection on how the experience of this Group Study project informed our thinking and practice this semester. Where will that be sent to you and when is that due to complete this workshop? I don't want to be a pest, I'm just trying to schedule my time as I have lots of other work still to complete for this semester. Thanks a lot. Nancy
Monday, December 8, 2008
Locked Out
Hey everyone, I've been locked out of the blog. I could NOT get it up for ANYTHING (luckily a friend got me back in)
So. As far as I am on my project, I've been getting together what I want to put into the chap books. Also I've decided that, since I'm not sure paint would stick to cigarette boxes well, tape will!
I'm going to use black industrial tape to wrap the boxes up, and then light colored markers to put a title on the boxes or "Take me, read me" I'm not too sure yet.
I hope everyone is doing well on their projects.
-Megan.
So. As far as I am on my project, I've been getting together what I want to put into the chap books. Also I've decided that, since I'm not sure paint would stick to cigarette boxes well, tape will!
I'm going to use black industrial tape to wrap the boxes up, and then light colored markers to put a title on the boxes or "Take me, read me" I'm not too sure yet.
I hope everyone is doing well on their projects.
-Megan.
Friday, December 5, 2008
A Message From Your Friendly Neighborhood Schoolmarm
Ahoy there!
I can't help noticing that some of you have posted to this blog only once or twice, and by now you should each have posted or commented at least three times, if not four or five.
Aside from the fact that part of the learning process of this group study includes participating in collective conversation via blog, I'm simply curious about how your projects are progressing, and want to hear from you! If you are having troubles, it is entirely possible that I or someone else in the group will be able to make suggestions that could actually help. And there's nothing wrong with being slightly stuck -- in my experience, that's part of the process of any worthwhile project.
So if you are lurking in the ethereal virtual shadows covered in xerox machine toner or tangled in bookbinding thread, please come out into the sunlight of our blog for a moment and say hello to your fellow bookworms.
Thanks,
Jen
I can't help noticing that some of you have posted to this blog only once or twice, and by now you should each have posted or commented at least three times, if not four or five.
Aside from the fact that part of the learning process of this group study includes participating in collective conversation via blog, I'm simply curious about how your projects are progressing, and want to hear from you! If you are having troubles, it is entirely possible that I or someone else in the group will be able to make suggestions that could actually help. And there's nothing wrong with being slightly stuck -- in my experience, that's part of the process of any worthwhile project.
So if you are lurking in the ethereal virtual shadows covered in xerox machine toner or tangled in bookbinding thread, please come out into the sunlight of our blog for a moment and say hello to your fellow bookworms.
Thanks,
Jen
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
hey all,
i love hearing about your projects. its nice to think of everyone tinkering away like little mad scientists in their respective homes. my own project is progressing nicely... i decided to go for it and learn In Design which turned out to be completely addictive. i have spent many many hours in front of a big computer screen (i am posing as a student on Brown's campus, where my friend monitors their multimedia lab, which is the only way i've had access to such great software), arranging and rearranging some fabulous art and writing. it has been great to work with other people's stuff, but i also feel a little sad and jealous thinking of rick and nancy and megan all working so intimately with their own writing. i think this is an important aspect of writing, and i am glad you are all involved with your work on this level.
anyways i am finishing up the layout part of my project today, and will hopefully be able to print it next week. after that, my tasks are figuring out what to do for the cover (i'd like to use original/found material) and then binding the books!
since a number of us are self-binding, can we get a conversation going about this? i have started looking up some techniques online. maybe we could compile a little resource library on the blog? i'll post some of what i've found so far below. what other resources have you all tapped into?
like jordan said, i look forward to turning on some music, making some tea, maybe inviting a few friends over, and having a stitching party.
happy tinkering,
monica
i love hearing about your projects. its nice to think of everyone tinkering away like little mad scientists in their respective homes. my own project is progressing nicely... i decided to go for it and learn In Design which turned out to be completely addictive. i have spent many many hours in front of a big computer screen (i am posing as a student on Brown's campus, where my friend monitors their multimedia lab, which is the only way i've had access to such great software), arranging and rearranging some fabulous art and writing. it has been great to work with other people's stuff, but i also feel a little sad and jealous thinking of rick and nancy and megan all working so intimately with their own writing. i think this is an important aspect of writing, and i am glad you are all involved with your work on this level.
anyways i am finishing up the layout part of my project today, and will hopefully be able to print it next week. after that, my tasks are figuring out what to do for the cover (i'd like to use original/found material) and then binding the books!
since a number of us are self-binding, can we get a conversation going about this? i have started looking up some techniques online. maybe we could compile a little resource library on the blog? i'll post some of what i've found so far below. what other resources have you all tapped into?
like jordan said, i look forward to turning on some music, making some tea, maybe inviting a few friends over, and having a stitching party.
happy tinkering,
monica
Free Online Bookbinding Books | |||
|
| ||
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
