Free books? Not at Baltimore's THE BOOK THING?

The Future of Reputation, a book by Daniel J. Solove, is (each chapter as a PDF file). For anyone interested in thehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif phenomena of being Dooced, here are the chapters in the book: THE FUTURE OF REPUTATION: GOSSIP, RUMOR, AND PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET by Daniel J. Solove Yale University Press (2007) Chapter 1. Introduction: When Poop Goes Primetime PART I RUMOR AND REPUTATION IN A DIGITAL WORLD Chapter 2. How the Free Flow of Information Liberates and Constrains Us Chapter 3. Gossip and the Virtues of Knowing Less Chapter 4. Shaming and the Digital Scarlet Letter PART II PRIVACY, FREE SPEECH, AND THE LAW Chapter 5. The Role of Law Chapter 6. Free Speech, Anonymity, and Accountability Chapter 7. Privacy in an Overexposed World Chapter 8. Conclusion: The Future of Reputation Notes & Index Once again, I wish I could put all of this filtering of information and research into an art piece, but I have no idea where to begin, or where I would end on such a project. Part of me is very into high-touch art, physical constructions that are strong, purposeful, durable, and full of meaningful matter. The other part is into hypertext, interconnected dynamic flow of information, vast fonts of knowledge. Anyway, let me know what you think of the book if you read it!

Yay for early thank-you's!

As a present for helping around the house with all of the preparations for my moms' knee replacements (yes, both of them, at once), after making falafel for dinner and retiring to my room to let muscle relaxers kick in, I dropped by the kitchen to see how the food went over, and sitting on the counter was this. "An early thank-you present," mom said. I couldn't believe she'd gotten this for me! It's coming back to Baltimore and will take up residence in my studio this next semester.

"Soon I will be Invincible"

I am currently reading a book which I'm enjoying very much, called "Soon I Will Be Invincible" by Austin Grossman which appears to play on the popularity of City of Heroes and the Incredibles, the need of people to believe in something greater than themselves, the world after losing faith in G-d, the idea that someone is watching out for you. It's about a failed super-villain, and it reminds me a lot of the animated series Justice League, the complex inter-personal relationships the characters developed by the author. It's nice and not super serious, that's enjoyable when I've got a lot of serious things on my mind. My dad is snoring and I am wondering, dear G-d, why am I on a family vacation at the age of 21?

Another week of Vedawoo, WY

I spent this past week with my co from the past 10-day camp, Olga/Angie, and am really sad that we won't be spending any more camps together this summer. Olga is really opinionated, and I really like that because so many co's I've had are completely ambivalent about almost everything (other than when they'd like their 2 hours off, please). That being said, there's nobody I'd rather have spent an hour in a van with at 1:40 AM during a torrential lightning storm. So we did two different climbs in Vedawoo, WY, on two different days, and unlike the last time all of our girls had a ton of water with them, so it was pretty fantastic all around. I did a 5.7 crack climb and a 5.4 blindfolded, and to round out my week, yesterday, on my day off, Olga and I went to the local rock climbing gym. Why, yes, I am pretty much in love (with climbing, not Olga). The next three weeks, I have trips every week, and we will be rock climbing, kayaking, and whitewater rafting with each group of girls. If my parents' cannot make reservations for the dates they want to go camping at Big Sur (after camp), I'm going to get my Wilderness First Responder training, since not only is that a great idea in terms of summer camp tripping jobs, but it's also probably a Really Good Thing rock-climbing-wise. Do not pass SoCal, do not collect time with the fam-style (training is from 7th to the 15th of August, right before dorms open, so it'll be straight to Baltimore for me). This has been a really fantastic break from the ordinary for me this summer, and I'm really enjoying the outdoors, but I cannot help but say that I am worried for when the school year comes back around. After all, my art is about the domestic and the fraught nature of being a woman in the kitchen, not about rock climbing and whitewater rafting and all that. I guess what I'd really love from you all at this point is references to some artists to look at. Also, I'm reading the history of conceptual art. Yes, finally.

Time Traveler's Wife reminds me of John Titor. That is all.

All that I can say is that I am in dire need of this coming Tuesday night through Sunday morning off. I had a 10-day camp, and while I loved getting to know the girls, from scheduling to ratio to injuries up the wazoo, I can’t imagine a camp going worse. On the optimistic side (and despite a tendency towards bitterness and frustration at times, I do have one), I finished The Time Travelers’ Wife and figure that the next camp, whatever it may be, can’t go a whole lot worse. And I know at some point I’ve got to stop trying to shift blame or be defensive, but it’s not like I didn’t show the Asst. Director my schedule. It’s not like she couldn’t have seen the gaping holes in coverage during the weekend that there would be VERY limited staffing to fill. When your girls are starting to know that you need a break, and have showered more recently than you, that is when it really hits you: you are an inefficient, poorly-planning leader in the workplace, and your 9 to 11 year olds can see it. One other thing I learned about this age group is they hate not knowing the scheduling, the plan, what we’re doing, when we’re doing that, what goes after, etc. There were times that I was driven pretty darn crazy by the incessant questions, which is when you start making up games like you have to ask every other camper and only then can you ask a counselor, or say “it’s a surprise” “we’ll do that when we finish this” etc. What positive things can I say about the past week? My girls are amazing troopers, brave, repairable, patient, caring, kind, intelligent, clever, and funny. The coolest part about this summer is that I’ll literally have had dozens of girls by the end of it. And while I am not the most experienced, most patient, wackiest camp counselor, I am needed here, if only as a warm-body over-18 “child-care provider.” Last night we slept under the stars where the first girl scouts slept on the property here back in 1960 (Pan, who was one of those cadettes who camped in 1960, still helps out every Wednesday). Finishing books is always bittersweet. Last night we slept under the stars where the first girl scouts slept on the property here back in 1960 (Pan, who was one of those cadettes who camped in 1960, still helps out every Wednesday). The moon was full, and despite a little cloud cover, there were more stars out there than you can –ever- see in Baltimore. You know that one scene in Joe Versus the Volcano (Meg Ryan & Tom Hanks first rom-com together), where they’re on the trunk-raft, and the moon rises over the sea, and it looks like a dinner plate six inches from Joe’s face? It was like that. So, as I cried over the end of the happy parts of the book simultaneous to the beginning of the teary ending, the moon loomed over the pine and aspen with seeming concern. The adventure of last week was getting library cards at Estes Park library, and now that I’ve finished The Time Travelers Wife I can start on Geek Love, Shopgirl, and the Wicked Son. Geek Love is a little oddball for me (“Geek” in this title refers to the circus performers that eat glass, live chickens, etc.). A couple of my campers offered to take me home for the three day vacation, where I could do amazing things like going to outdoor sporting goods stores, replacing the sunglasses I lost on a hike (third pair for the summer, $20), watch cable, wear flip-flops, etc. I also am really very grateful for this camp because my co-worker was an international staff member that I wasn’t sure about, and I am so so so glad to have worked with her, and hope I get to be with her a few more times this summer.

In another show of the many ways in which I am becoming my parents...

By the time I get the whole way through the Sunday New York Times (which I get delivered so as to keep tabs on what is going on in the world, or at least read the latest Modern Love column), I usually have the next Sunday's paper in hand. It's not an intentional way to savor three dollars spent over a week. It's just what happens. Which leads to me FINALLY reading the Alexandra Jacobs article called Campus Exposure from March 4th's NY Times Magazine on "a new crop of college sex magazines shows students baring it all. In the age of MySpace and confessional blogs, is this the ultimate in self-revelation?" The rags run the gamut of scale, size, sexiness, and school sanction. Jacobs writes on the essential nature of the phenomena of printed college sex mags: Considering that a smorgasbord of Internet porn is but a mouse click away for most college students, there’s something valiant, even quaint, about the attempt to organize and consider sex in a printed magazine. It’s as if, though curious to exphttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giflore the possibly frightening boundlessness of adult eroticism, they also wish to keep it at arm’s length, contained within the safety of the campus. The students involved display a host of contradictory qualities: cheekiness and earnestness, progressive politics and retro sensibilities, salacity and sensitivity. They aren’t so much answering the question of what is and what isn’t porn — or what those categories might even mean today — as artfully, disarmingly and sometimes deliberately skirting it. I generally agree that there are certain levels of success and failure in this sort of publication, but I think when it comes down to it, my generation grew up with the Lewinski scandal and pornography a click away. For every sensitive and insightful MTV documentary or public service campaign (Rock The Vote, anyone?), there's a new episode of Jackass to placate the glamourized ignorant male masses. There's a real sense of people just trying to find common ground and comfort in a society that's so fast-paced and complex that one can easily feel divorced or alienated from those around them. I think that's a reason sub-cultures exist, that there are very specific fashions, styles, rules. In the end, it may be harder to try to be an individual, at the same time as someone of mass media and culture, than it is to sort of characterize one's self in the guise of a clique or group.

The post in which she gets a care package.

I'm a utility knife elitist. I was one way before 9/11, and I've had my utility knife that has gotten me through art school since pre-college in 2003. We're pretty attached to one another. In all the work I did on the stained class sun-catcher I made for the ex (and gave him right before he broke up with me), I guess I lost track of the thing, and had to leave SoCal without it. But, this week I recieved a care package containing the following: knee high socks! my utility knife (which was lost in my room!) two new belts (I lost mine somewhere at home) new blades for said knife So, that was nice. And then I picked up the OTHER package I got, which I thought might have been one of my many new books. Oh, and it was. Mind you, not a book I would have purchased myself. A book my mom got me. I knew it would probably be a self-help book, given all the tough things I'm going through, but I was pretty surprised to see Dr. Phil staring back at me. Apparently, gentle readers, I am so far gone that we've brought out the Big Guns: Dr. Phil's Love Smart. Never mind it's typeset with a trio of sweet little heart outlines around the numbers at the bottom of each page. Instead of little black holes for bullets, like the rest of the world uses, Dr. Phil's press saw fit to create another heart icon. It's not just the typesetting that bothers me about this book. Nor the clever use of a photo of Dr. Phil's back on the back dustjacket (Wow! The book is see-through!). It's that love isn't simple, relationships aren't, and I am not very keen on looking to Dr. Phil for advice on how to get on with my life. I don't need a man to tell me how to net a man, and I don't want one. I want to fumble around in the dark for a switch like everyone else, because I'm learning better with the risk of bruising. Also, Dr. Phil aggrivates me a great deal. I've got some other things to read right now, regarding the mind-body split, which are far more interesting. Will I peruse it? Sure. Will I let residents borrow it? Of course. Will I learn anything from Dr. Phil and will I be able to transcend my loathing for the man and the typesetting to mend my broken heart? We will find out, I suppose.