Hypercompendia

"I ride my bike, I roller skate, don’t drive no car,
don’t go too fast, but I go pretty far,"

Starting yesterday with an e-mail astrological notice that:

This is a mixed results day — meaning that although you will probably get a lot achieved, you might not be happy with the quality of what you have created. Listen to your gut, and if you want to ask for a ‘do-over,’ then do so. The standards to which you hold yourself are getting higher and higher, and this is a very good thing. You are ready to challenge yourself, and you should. It’s only when you expect the best out of yourself that you have a chance to make yourself proud.

Seeings that I’ve been working on nothing but Paths in Storyspace and had an appointment to meet with Steve Ersinghaus to discuss it, I deflated rather quickly and read it more critically many times before I got in the car and took off.

Just as I approached campus, one of my favorite happy songs came on and I felt oh so much better only because since I was smiling as I sang along, the worry got lost in the lyrics:

There’s nothing quite as fulfilling to a writer (or anyone who works on something creative for that matter) as to get feedback on something.  You kind of know it might or could be good and have some idea that even without fine tuning, the piece is going somewhere, but only only some of that is justified and sometimes it’s just parental pride.  All you have to do is look around to see what some people feel is not only their best work, but really the best out there to understand why I find it so hard to overcome doubt.

But good or bad, go on or start something new, the reaction of others is meaningful.  Particularly if it’s someone you trust (most important) and who has the expertise in that field (my husband’s honest, but frankly, he’d probably not get turned on by this narrative).

So back to the drawing board and and attempt as well to get started on two more ideas that are ripe and ready for hypertext–or as Steve suggested, using one to create the other.

Immediately upon finishing the last post on linking paths, I noticed that a Google search had landed here via keywords "Fresh Pineapple and Jello."

Talk about finding yourself in a strange new world, Betty Crocker.

Noticed this idea of what appears to be ‘cartoonized reality’ (my words) on several TV commercials and thanks to J-Walk, found a studio that does this.  Flatblack Films has the technology, but uses it internally and does not at this point offer it as software.  At J-Walk’s posting on it, there is commentary that points to Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop being a vehicle for this type of animation, with a point to to Creative Cow for tutorials.

An article by Julian Gough in today’s Guardian tackles the short story versus novel dilemma.  To me, the failure or success of one or the other appears traditionally to follow reading trends, i.e., what lifestyle the majority of readers lead that dictates spurts of quality reading time, need for escape, stress-inhibited AADD, TV and PC on the fritz, etc.  No doubt about it though that there is truth in the short story being more and more difficult to get published either in the remaining literary journals that seem to require additionally that the author be credentialed, hold an MFA or be a foreigner, teach CW or be a proven winner by publishing credit, or in an anthology without having several novels under your belt.

But there are ways to circumvent this phenomenon, swim upriver so to speak, buck the system–and I’m all for bucking the system–to turn this into opportunity.  Gough suggests that a number of stories tied into one novel by a theme or thread, (and Munro–whom I adore– is extremely successful at this, though she qualifies  to be published under any circumstances and no one’s likely to send out a rejection slip on any of her submissions) may be the novel of the future:

"What contemporary readers don’t seem to like are short stories that don’t connect to each other. Why? Perhaps because our lives feel fragmented enough already. Television too has almost abandoned the single, self-contained drama. People like art to make sense out of chaos but without denying the chaos. That demand is a tremendous opportunity for the natural short story writer, who merely needs to come up with an organising principle. It’s just another technical challenge. Story itself is infinitely flexible, and doesn’t much care how you tell it or what you call it. These stacks of stories, reinvented for the urban 21st century, could be called the multistory novel."

This bit of knowledge, together with more carried on the winds of time and technology are shouting whispers in my ear: Storyspace…Storyspace…Storyspace.

So very proud of friend and teacher Steve Ersinghaus for achieving the Reading Room Prize at Hypertext ’07 in Manchester, England for his novel The Life of Geronimo Sandoval.  Thanks to Mark Bernstein for the heads up and for his reporting of this major event in New Media Hypertext.

I’m just finding my way around this intricate novel and as usual, getting lost in its story and paths.  But I have been preparing to review this here and will begin as soon as I’m comfortable enough to know what I’m talking about. 

Storyspace is looking more and more like it’s in my future writing, though the transition as a focused one-track-mind and unplanner of plotting goes contrary to its more thought-out method of narrative.

Steve is one of the most forward-thinking people I’ve had the pleasure to know, with an odd mix of off-the-wall creative energy tempered by an abiding respect and knowledge of order. He’s a natural at hypertext as he manages to see all the various paths open from any given point and being accepting of all, can then manipulate the mapping to accomodate the "ifs" in story.

Great job, Steve.  Congratulations!

(Duplicate posting at Spinning)

Mark Bernstein’s great postings on his attendance at the Manchester, England’s Hypertext ’07 includes this tremendously interesting entry on a day’s hike through the hills, complete with photos and lotsa sheep who look like they thought they’d seen it all until Mark came along.

What I love best about this narrative of Mark’s travels, his choice of paths, his pretty much getting lost, is that Mark’s an engineer and designer at Eastgate, producer of Storyspace, a hyperlink mapping system that’s extremely  intricate and sophisticated.  So does this mean that despite the phenomenal capabilities of software, reality still poses a challenge?

Just making a link to one of my favoritist animation film clips now that I’ve found it again:  The Pretty Unlucky Head

Just making sure I don’t lose this link, Borges’ Book of Sand.

No doubt about it, fantasy has enjoyed the lion’s share of the video gaming market, and here’s the reason why:

Even the name “Chore Wars” sounds exciting.  But that’s all this website is really, is a method of organizing and competing as you do your chores and score as you complete your task.  And I’m talking real chores.  That’s about as exciting as it gets.  But oh, the graphics!

There’s something about fantasy cape-clad humans and weirdly colored creatures that is undeniably attractive.  The solid bright bold colors with lack of shading, thte black lines that emphasize by contrast, the hourglass-shaped women with coned breasts and the V-form shaggy-haired, square-jawed men, these are what sell the game, story, or website for housework.

Something to think about.

More a case of the old updating to adapt to new methods.  In watching (half-ass, I’m not that into it) the races on tv this afternoon, I’ve noticed that it looks exactly like my home page selection on my computer.

There are modules that are related and yet not.  At one point, on the right half of the screen was the commercial, the left half split again with the upper showing the race, the bottom showing the statistics.  Along the top, just like the stock exchange ticker tape ran the driver positions.

At another time, there is a three-way screen showing the same scene from different camera angles.

Funny, I used to figure why would anyone want to watch tv shows on their computer?  Now it looks like I’m watching computer graphics on the tv.