Orlando moves forward

One of the main goals of this weekend for our family was the planning of the semi-annual family vacation.  Last week we had a Skype conversation where each family group (of 4) gave her/his ideas for vacationing this summer.  We established the approximate dates, we established when who had which conflicts and although it was informal, the list of options looked like this:  Branson, San Diego, Disney, Breckenridge.  Then about Tuesday San Diego seemed to be gaining momentum, there was Disney hesitation both cost and availability. My brother, who missed the last family vacation was driving the discussion, but didn't want  to commit until mid-March when I talked to him Saturday. San Diego and Branson were running neck and neck as long as we didn't have to commit yet. Then in an turn on a dime, a text...skype in 10 minutes.  We logged on and the (refundable) deposit had already been made on the Disney vacation, was that ok?  I could hear that my sister was a little shocked?  I was surprised but glad--less drama than sometimes.  My sister-in-law was sending links like crazy (this is where we will be staying, the layout of the apartment, the location to the parks, the general idea on food/eating in and out...) and my brother was managing the pr campaign to make sure we were all on board.  Countdown on my computer now--167 days until Disney...Orlando takes the lead early and my guess is that no one else has a chance.

Skype conference call, cell phones, texts, links, chat online with Mike--our Disney concierge, online airfare, download of an official countdown to our home computer.  This is what technology offers, access to what is there, the ability to do it "now", a chance to all weigh in on the same line. 

Doing my homework

I like lists, organization, a stack of things that I can rip through--signing, sorting, filing, one more email to put this or that to bed, checking accounts, making next week's list... this homework feels wildly different, like I can't put it on the list, like rows of velcro hooklets are latching to my small and big tasks, daring me to think about them differently, will they hold?

J. Murray's introduction: three things:

• As a German literature person, new media is a continuation of the story of "die Moderne" or Modernism. Especially in the 20th Century, authors and artists write/create against the grain, making news with their experimental language, the multi-level meaning and their insistence that they have overturned if not overthrown and undone all that came before. For everything that is new, there is both resistance and the compulsion to declare it better/innovative.
• The encyclopedic capacity (6) is exponentially experiencing my love of the library. Each book opens up to reveal something that I want to read and know, each journal reveals three or more authors that I want to follow to see where their work is leading us. But I have never been in danger of spending my life in the library, the computer, "as a place, one which we enter and do not wish to leave" (6) doesn't attract me at all. Is it possible to lose too much there? My perceived difference of talking with someone about what I have read/learned is markedly different (and infinitely richer) then when I send a friend a link, and we may not ever talk about it, or if we do the conversation is just "thanks for sending it" but no more.
• Rhizome-not impressed somehow with this term/concept. It seems to me that it is the brain's way of connecting things; that linearity and hierarchy are initially there, but the more we think about things the more the connect in non-linear and non-hierarchical ways. How do we train our brains to create more pathways? By opening perspectives and not allowing ourselves to be persuaded with soundbites and simplicity. These thoughts continue as I read "As we may think", see below.
  

"As we may think"--this was fascinating to read, and as a non-scientist a new way to think about what relationships exist between science, science fiction, scientific prediction and reality. The trails of interest, and the ability to recall them (return to them) with detail is such a gift when I consider research. How many times have you found a fruitful avenue to explore when you couldn't take it because you were focused on a different end for that study? Worse, when has a comment you or someone else made in a presentation sparked a moment of understanding, that you can't quite reconstruct later.

"Presumably man's spirit should be elevated if he can better review is shady past and analyze more completely and objectively his present problems" (47) Case in point, the Financial Crisis Report as understood by NPR's Morning Edition today. How do we focus attention, however, on how to solve the present problems. It is so much easier to just look back, criticize and shake our collective heads. Bush ends with hope (I think) in "As We May Think" and mostly so do I.

New You 2011

We should always be ourselves, but we are called also to define and shape ourselves--who would dare to say that we can't be better versions of ourselves? Think and then see if the changes are ones you are willing to make. What sacrifices are worth it? Personal Professional Relational