The Cutest Bags!

I found these cute bags via Portland Picks :


Olive Juice Bags

They are all so cute - and I really like the and fun fabric patterns (they're durable, too!). My favorites have fun fabric sashes, like the Madi Bag pictured below.



The best part about these bags? They're made here in the Pacific NW (Camas, WA) and each is one of a kind! Maybe someone out there will take a hint for my upcoming birthday!

Hypertext Reflections

When we first started this class, I did not know what to expect. Although my prior knowledge of hypertext itself was limited, some of our readings reminded me of my personal use of the internet. As our class continued, I realized that I had been missing out on a lot of interesting (and sometimes bizarre) online projects.
Looking back on my experiences I can say this: Hypertext is confusing! The whole is definitely larger than the sum of its parts. (I feel that we cannot count most of the parts - they are vast and various). Landow described doing away with linearity as not necessarily doing “away with all linearity nor [removing] formal coherence, though it may appear in new and unexpected forms” (223). This statement is the epitome of hypertext: it is confusing, yet makes sense. Amidst this confusion, I did find out that although I was sometimes thoroughly confused, it was an interesting confusion.. And things did come together to make sense.
I was pleased to make connections with hypertext and my interdisciplinary classes. In my INT classes, we have discussed viewing our different disciplines as “lenses” which we can use separately (such as mine are English Literature and Cultural and Historical Studies), or look through both at one time, to bring our disciplines together in our world view. Landow describes “hypertext as a lens, or new agent of perception, to reveal something previously unnoticed or unnoticeable, and it then extrapolates the results of this inquiry to predict future developments” (219).
Although Landow writes about interdisciplinary studies becoming outdated without hypertext, his other ideas about literary education mirror those I have studied in an interdisciplinary setting. According to Landow, “hypertext…provides a means of integrating the subject materials of a single course with other courses.” In his book Interdisciplinarity: The New Critical Idiom, Joe Moran explores how many subjects are evolving. The same is true for hypertext: it combines theory (knowing what to do), subject skill (whether it is literary, historical, or other) and technology (knowing how to do it). Not only is the technology evolving, but ideas of what to write and how to present it are evolving as well. Many disciplines can be combined in hypertext in countless ways.

When learning about hypertext, I often felt confused and overwhelmed (most of it was technological frustration). Individually, the technology, theory, and readings were a lot to digest. However, upon completing this course, I can see how everything fits together. I feel satisfied that I understand theories and apply them to this growing technology. I also hope to learn more technology and delve further into the may layers that make up what we now know to be hypertext.

hypertext is frustrating

Having finally completed two websites for our hypertext class, I have come to this conclusion: TECHNOLOGY is frustrating! (AAK! Especially when you lack skills.. ha ha.)

Check these out:

Columbia River Journals - My project with Nic

Thoreau's Flora - My individual project for our class website

Henry Hikes to Fitchburg

While reading "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" by H.D. Thoreau, I was reminded of some great children's books. The series of "Henry" books by D.B. Johnson have to be some of my favorite new stories for children. Johnson takes passages from Thoreau's work, as well as stories from Thoreau's life and retells them in a way that is sweet and simple - yet profound .

The first time I read "Henry Hikes to Fitchburg", the last lines brought tears to my eyes!

Click here to link to Johnson's website, where you can read his books online and view his artwork.

Seeds as dreams?

Medbh McGuickan sometimes writes her poems as if in a dream. Her ideas are transformed into natural objects (as in this poem: seeds). I have heard her described as "obscure" and "random", but I think that she is particular in the metaphors that she chooses.

I found an interesting quote about her in the Oxford Guide to 20th Century Poetry (edited by Ian Hamilton).

"McGuckian has described her territory as the feminine subconscious or semi-consciousness"

Many of her poetry explores nature and feminity, which are sometimes the same. (Blended and subtle.)

The Seed Picture

Poetry is not my forté, but I love it! In the past, when I would come across a poem that I really liked (even if I wasn't sure of its meaning), I would copy it into a journal. My own attempts at poetry have been miserable - they usually end up as crumpled pieces of paper forever in the garbage.

The following is the first stanza of The Seed Picture by Medbh McGuckian.

This is my portrait of Joanna – since the split

The children come to me like a dumb-waiter,

And I wonder where to put them, beautiful seeds

With no immediate application . . . the clairvoyance

Of seed-work has opened up

New spectrums of activity, beyond a second home.

The seeds dictate their own vocabulary,

Their dusty colours capture

More than we plan,

The mould on walls, or jumbled garages,

Dead flower heads where insects shack . . .

I only guide them not by guesswork

In their necessary numbers,

And attach them by the spine to a perfect bedding,

Woody orange pips, and tear-drop apple,

The banana of the caraway, winkled peppercorns,

The pocked peach, or water lily honesty,

The seamed cherry stone so hard to break.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, McGuckian gives a good modern perspecive of women's lives in Ireland. (This poem speaks to me about women's identity - More to come...)

Click here for more information about Medbh McGuckian.