A few people have remarked that hubski is a convergence of people delving into their own reading for their own personal projects and I really dig that about this community. I am curious though, about the research side of it.
I've had exchanges with several individuals, usually in regard to procrastination and/creativity about how they sometimes feel like they get sidetracked into lines of inquiry. I do too. At the moment though, I'm in what I feel like is a particularly generative phase, one which I hope to sustain. As social media is about sharing and indeed, social interactions are about sharing things, I wonder what lines of research people are diving into at the moment.
I've posted drafts of poems before and a huge part of that is research or at the very least, wondering about things and seeking answers or glimmers thereof. At the moment, I haven't restarted my computer in over a week as I don't want to lose the thread, as it were. I know that I can bookmark my tabs, but honestly I've got innumerable folders of such threads of research that I will be unlikely to return to any time soon.
At the moment I'm looking into a number of things, but most noticeably etymology. Poetry is all about making connections in some fashion, as are most other creative endeavors. I'm hoping to get some dialogue going as people see the threads of things others are working on that they might find interesting for their own work. So what are the threads of research you are following? And if you care to name it, what's the project? Mine are all related to generating drafts of poems.
Etymology stuff:
Hymen <---NSFW unless you're in the medical field (it's a diagram, but still)
and from there, "Pollution Priapism" (no hits)
Other stuff:
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1 (of 6), by Havelock Ellis
I feel like I always have a few projects going or at least knocking around in my head as "Projects I Should Work On". Right now my fore-most project is making game review/playthrough videos. So right now my researching is basically how to use the video capture/editing software I've acquired (TechSmith's Camtasia Studio 8). And also watching lots of gaming YouTube channels to see what is popular, what kinds of things other vloggers do that I like and what I don't like. So far I've made a one minute long video that's just a bunch of clips of games with stock music. But it makes me really excited! I didn't expect to like it so much. A secondary project is that I am trying to sort out the garden of the house we just bought. It's just starting to be winter so it's a good time to start digging up beds and re-doing things. Unfortunately, there's so much stuff going on in our garden right now! I don't know if some of the stuff is weeds or intentionally planted (having lived in the Midwest of the States my whole life a lot of the plant-life in NZ is very exotic to me). So I'm doing plant research and researching when to plant the vegetables and fruits I want to grow. I bought a few books at the local bookstore - one of them is really great, *Companion Planting* by Brenda Little, that is specific to NZ. This is the good thing about being unemployed - I have so much time for personal projects!
You should post some of your videos once you've made them. That would be fun. The garden sounds very interesting as well. I can't imagine trying to make sense of different plants and fauna growing across the world. I hope that works out for you.
Hopefully the gardening will yield enough food that we don't have to buy as much at the grocery store. Already we buy a lot less fruit for snacking because we have a fully loaded mandarin tree in the yard. I know some people manage to make a living off of game-related YouTube videos. I don't expect to ever be at that level. But if I eventually ever make enough to buy myself a cup of coffee or a magazine, I'll count that as super successful :)
Quite a few people here in NZ are able to live off their own gardens quite nicely, the climate's perfect for that. Unfortunately, the place I'm renting doesn't really have space for anything near a decent garden.
I'm currently half-researching, half-procrastinating on an essay on an Auckland-based photographer, Joyce Campbell. She does some fantastic stuff relating to the environment and nature, and works with older photographic techniques - recently she went to Antarctica to take daguerreotype photographs - a technique that actually predates Antarctic exploration. Simply awe-inspiring stuff. For example: http://www.joycecampbell.com/img/thumbnail.php?img=gallery/l... I'm also organising gigs for a bunch of local bands and eventually, when I get around to writing a proper set, myself, along with a book launch next month (one that I've been putting off for a good two years). Alongside all that I'm at art school, currently working on a printmaking project due next Wednesday that I'm enjoying the hell out of.
Organizing shows is a ton of fun. I've put on 4 concerts over the past 13 months now, and have thoroughly enjoyed the process and performance for each one of them. Glad to see there's another person around here who does the same. Best of luck on your essay, she sounds like a fascinating individual!
It sounds like you're a guy who likes a full plate! Do you know how Joyce Campbell obtained daguerrotype plates? They must be kind of a pain in the ass to make, not to mention transport to Antarctica. I noticed some posts of yours in regard to music, which I plan to check out further. Is the book related to that? I've always been curious about printmaking. What about the project is so enjoyable?
I am! I tend to have a bunch of projects going at once, so if I get stuck on one I can work on another. I'm not sure, but I can ask her! She's a tutor at the art school I go to. The book is sort of music-related. It's an autobiography of a fictional musician I wrote about two years ago. Nothing too great, only 40k words, but I'm still moderately pleased with it. Printmaking has been one of the more enjoyable projects I've done this semester (the others being sculpture and photography). I like it because it's a bit freer than photography was (which I just finished). The effects you can get with monoprinting and diluted ink are really fantastic, too - sort of atmospheric.
That sounds like a cool concept for a book. I've never written a book before, but I did study writing in school. It was basically four years of bashing students heads in with the mantra "writing=rewriting" while making us read, write original pieces and then learning to take notes as our classmates gleefully destroyed the pieces we brought to class. Good, clean fun. I'd be interested to see how these turn out, if you care to post them. Also, if you could ask about the daguerrotypes, that would be rad. I know I can probably find the answer on the internet, but I'm trying to ask people for things instead of machines.
I wouldn't mind studying writing at some point, but I want to do some more major writing projects before I do, in case it changes the way I work (which I'm sure it will). The change would be interesting, I think. Sure thing! I'll grab some photos sometime soon and post 'em here or something. Give #art some more use :D I'll ask next time I run into her (which, granted, might not be until Wednesday, but still).
Yeah, that's generally how art education works. They try to iron the wildness out of people, which is exactly what they should be cultivating. Still, they're out to make money. I think in any education, it's better to go into it with a clear idea of who you are and how you'd like to accomplish things. Good professors tend to adapt to that and offering guidance, instead of trying to make students adapt to their vision of what something should be. Cheers man!
I, the school I'm at now has a pretty clear idea of what they want and expect from their students, but are open enough to allow quite a lot of variation. I was expecting them to be really harsh on my workbook - I don't draw at all, and instead I write out my ideas, whereas they expect a full working book from their students. They sorta just took it in their stride, though, which was nice.
I suppose I have two "projects" at the moment. They're related actually. The first is my quest to read a few poetry anthologies, on lease from my mother, and some books from my father. Reasons? Since finishing high school, I don't want to lose touch with poetry and literature (seeing as no-one is forcing me to read anymore). Also I want to improve my own writing skills. Which links in with the other project, music. Up until now it's all been "instrumental", but I'd like to start adding lyrics (I guess I'm feeling more confident or somesuch). So to be able to pen whatever inspiration might come my way, I figured I'd need the background knowledge. The problem is that also studying at the same time, so I'm not getting much time for my own stuff. Especially now, during exams. Holidays are soon though, so I'm optimistic.
Cool. Which anthologies, if you don't mind me asking? Also, in regard for getting time for your own stuff, is there no way to fit that into your schedule? Sometimes the way to make time is simply to come up with a routine where one works on things for only a few minutes at a time. Boundaries can do wonders for creativity.
Ha, they're not English so I wouldn't expect to have any bells ringing but nonetheless: -N.P. Van Wyk Louw: Die Halwe Kring and Raka -D.J. Opperman: Komas uit 'n bamboesstok and EDMS BPK -Ingrid Jonker: Rook en Oker -Peter Blum: Steenbok tot Poolsee -Two compilations, Modern Flemish Short stories and Poetry of the Netherlands I'm still settling into a schedule, but I also think that I didn't work hard enough (or maybe smart enough) this semester. I'm sure I'll figure something out. Little anecdote, last night I had an idea and I thought it would be good to write it down. In the darkness, however, I ended up scrawling over the formula sheet I'd made for Physics :| oh well
Ah, it always helps to have extra paper around! I did a study abroad in the Netherlands, years back. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I didn't bother to check out any Dutch poets, or to learn much Dutch. On consulting my memory, the only Dutch vocabulary I have left is words for various food items, "alstublieft," "roken is verboden," and the correct pronunciation of "van Gogh." Are there any Dutch poets with English translations you'd recommend?
Well actually none of those poets are Dutch, they're Afrikaans :) but I can see how that could be confusing. (The compilations are Flemish and Dutch though, it's a bit hard to understand some of the older stuff in there) I'm certain there are some translations but I can't put my finger on one now.
Ah my mistake, I apologize! I understand that Afrikaans is different from Dutch, but not exactly how. I have a few friends from SA who liked Indonesia for ease of travel, because many signs in Indonesia were in both Bahasa Indonesia and Dutch. Edited for clarity
Check it out. Proper Dutch pronunciation is tough for me.
I hear about books all the time from hubski and other sources. Then I ask my handy-dandy library to get them. So to discover the threads of research I am following, I checked the books that I've ordered from the library -- these are occasionally new fiction but are mostly books on science; technology; medicine; politics; and women and science, technology, and ambition. If I read a poem I like by an obscure author, I will find his or her books and ask the library for them. I'm lucky that I live two blocks from a library branch that is capable of finding almost any book. What's the project? The project is always finding the next project. There's a shelf in a corner of my mind labelled Ideas for memoir-writing workshops or ideas for 'todayswritingprompt' or ideas for a good blog question or ideas to add to my teaching and workshops. Gregory Charles, a Canadian musician and broadcaster once said "You can waste your life having dreams, but not having projects." Dreams are good, but projects are dreams put to work. I have a big writing/editing project that has been looming for years ... I've made inroads into it. Maybe it's the wrong project... maybe I'll finally MAKE the space and time to approach it. So as Humanodon said, Hubski, what are your projects? or if you had a project, what would it be. Thanks Humanodon for the question.So what are the threads of research you are following? And if you care to name it, what's the project?
I wondered about this question for a few days. What is my research? What is my project?
Well I can't really say yet, but I'll let you all know that it's something else music related that I'll be devoting a good amount of time to. The second is also music related, and that's a Chiptune EP that I'm hoping to finish sometime next month. I'm probably going to change names and have already changed styles to something more fun...
First off I fully understand the program and it's lot easier for me to make right now. I would love to create and record other kinds of music (I also play guitar and do some pretty terrible vocals), but I don't have the equipment or money for the equipment. As a genre it feels like the lo-fi/punk of the electronic music world to me, and that's a big draw. Taking something like a gameboy (in this case emulator) and seeing how far you can push it, and how organic of a sound you can make is a fun, challenging experience. But the biggest thing about chiptunes is the community. I've met a lot of people and have helped work to develop one of the largest communities for it in the city where I go to college. I'm yet to meet a person in the scene that I haven't liked immediately. Everybody has seemed genuine, and loves doing what they do for the music and not for many other reasons.
Hypnopompic! These are some great words — and it's exciting to find someone else who digs around etymological dictionaries. I get to see the Oxford English Dictionary online thanks to my library's subscription, and what's great about that is it has the etymology and first recorded use of a word. Which means you can stumble on gems like: 1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. ix. 152 ‘The gentleman has eaten no small quantity of flapdoodle in his lifetime.’ ‘What's that, O'Brien?’ replied I... ‘Why, Peter,’ rejoined he, ‘it's the stuff they feed fools on.’flapdoodle, n.
Pronunciation: /flæpˈduːd(ə)l/
Etymology: An arbitrary formation; compare fadoodle n.