Alchemy, Ennui, Cupcakes

Last week, in my Poe class, I reviewed a book which talked about Poe's hoaxing of the American public. In one of these hoaxes, a man reveals that he has succesfully turned lead into gold. In another project for the class, we need to review a cultural appropriation of Poe. Many of these appropriations render Poe as the dismal, depressed man that he sometimes was.

This link has nothing to do with Poe. Officially, that is. It represents instead Swedish playwright August Strindberg and his chipper friend, Helium. But the convergence of ideas is certainly present. Alchemy? Dark Figure of Ennui? Cupcakes? (Maybe the last one isn't so relevant to Poe, but to me...)
And besides, it is Friday. Enjoy.

Twitter saves the Day

I've been searching around for stories on or in Twitter recently, and I ran across this CNN article: "Student 'Twitters' His Way Out of Egyptian Jail." The story may over-emphasize the role of the "twitter" on getting the kid out of jail, but it also points some interesting applications of the tool. Using Twitter to get out the word, update your status, inspire political change. Not that this is all that different from sending a clandestine written message back in the pre-cellphone dark ages. Yet the (illusion of) the "culture of the immediate" is certainly appealing. Consider the bandwagon of text-messaging emergency alerts to students that many schools jumped on in the past couple of years.
Maybe I should have a GPS Device embedded in my skin for my own protection.

Please Mum, I'd like some more red blood cells on my half!

'Nuff said. Go here to get your fix.

Moving Forward

I might be moving this blog towards a digital repository for my dissertation research and progress shortly. For those of you who have been delighting in my posted “go see this!” links, I apologize, but assure you that much of my content will still be me deferring to others' ideas. After all, it was Anatole France who said, “When a thing has been said and said well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it.”
That said, my dissertation research is, well, just beginning. Or, more specifically, just beginning to begin. I’m worried, and tired already.
So goes life, yes?
Oh yeah, go read this: How to make an Origami Burger (for my friends on the low-cal, high fiber diet).
Does it relate to my dissertation? No, of course not. But it is still entertaining, is it not?

Proust Was a Neuroscientist

I was perusing Amazon tonight and came across Jonah Lehrer's Proust Was a Neuroscientist.

I was intrigued by the title, and am hoping to order it (as soon as I get paid). Lehrer's book is doing double-duty, talking about science and art in the same textual breath, pointing us to several artistic big shots who were preempting scientific progeny of later decades in their own, early, artistic works.

One of my favorite sentences out of the reviews?

"...this collection comes close to exemplifying Lehrer's stated goal of creating a unified third culture in which science and literature can co-exist as peaceful, complementary equals."

Imagine that.

Elit 2.0

I was looking on the internet the other day for electronic literature material, and came across Mark Marino's helpful posting "Guide to Elit 2.0." Marino lists a number of web 2.0 tools, and then points us to compelling works that might be considered "elit" using these tools.
Facebook doesn't just have to be for stalking our friends, after all.

Electronic Bookshelf

Perusing the internet, I ran across Deena Larson's "Virtual Bookshelf," which lists several e-lit pieces according to the time they take to read. Lo and behold, the new media piece that I published with Caren Beilin is on the bookshelf.
Very cool find.
Also a very nice intro to some electronic literature that doesn't (necessarily) take a lifetime to read.