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Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
June 12, 2017
June 24, 2015
wake (n., v.) Reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest
Excuse the lack of punctuation etc in this entry as I am curentlz typing ona tinz foreign keyboard, where the punctuation marks are hidden in super/subscript, require multi-digit ctr-alt-function-whatever motions and manz kezs have been swapped (mhm),semicolon,, I have little patience (at the cost of you, my limited audience, I know) - but if i were to stop and correct, i would do so at the expense of slowing down an insurgence of thoughts that come in the wake of my experience with a combination of things ill share with you below.
I had another lucid dream a few nights ago, likelz brought on bz jetlag, mz waking at 4am, reading Infinite Jest for an hour or two before falling into a buzzed numbing of sleep where i continue being awake. it was a failed attempt at a luciditz with full control, but i retained enough awareness of the fact that it was a dream to struggle in it and not be able to give in to the story unravelling, couldnt fall into the trance and rest my mind with body. instead, i lay awake watchful.
Waking from such dreams, where i have not reallz been entirelz ,asleep, is a strange feeling. I recall these dreams as real happenings, zet they bear no ,real, consequence on my life, albeit the emotions thez carrz on through to me in mz fullz wakeful state.its tiring being awake.
I had another lucid dream a few nights ago, likelz brought on bz jetlag, mz waking at 4am, reading Infinite Jest for an hour or two before falling into a buzzed numbing of sleep where i continue being awake. it was a failed attempt at a luciditz with full control, but i retained enough awareness of the fact that it was a dream to struggle in it and not be able to give in to the story unravelling, couldnt fall into the trance and rest my mind with body. instead, i lay awake watchful.
Waking from such dreams, where i have not reallz been entirelz ,asleep, is a strange feeling. I recall these dreams as real happenings, zet they bear no ,real, consequence on my life, albeit the emotions thez carrz on through to me in mz fullz wakeful state.
wake (v.) "to become awake," a Middle English merger of Old English wacan "to become awake, arise, be born, originate," and Old English wacian "to be or remain awake," (Gothic wakan "to watch", from root *weg- "to be strong, be lively" (cognates: Sanskrit vajayati "drives on;" Latin vigil "watchful, awake," vigere "be lively, thrive"), Middle Dutch wachten "to watch, guard;" Meaning "a sitting up at night with a corpse" is attested from early 15c.
- >Its tiring staying awake, too.
“The true opponent, the enfolding boundary, is the player himself. Always and only the self out there, on court, to be met, fought, brought to the table to hammer out terms. The competing boy on the net’s other side: he is not the foe: he is more the partner in the dance. He is the what is the word excuse or occasion for meeting the self. As you are his occasion. Tennis’s beauty’s infinite roots are self-competitive. You compete with your own limits to transcend the self in imagination and execution. Disappear inside the game: break through limits: transcend: improve: win. Which is why tennis is an essentially tragic enterprise, to improve and grow as a serious junior, with ambitions. You seek to vanquish and transcend the limited self whose limits make the game possible in the first place. It is tragic and sad and chaotic and lovely. All life is the same, as citizens of the human State: the animating limits are within, to be killed and mourned, over and over again.”
- David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest
(or. the "endless war against the self you cannot live without.")
But we battle on I guess. the words of a dear friend, JS, brought me some consolation this morning.
The most i can do is yes, narrate it, leave words in my wake and let my enduring internal dialogue turn to script so that i can document my state as i live, wherever it is i find myself on the spectrum of sleep and wakefulness. thoughts gett lost but those that survive remind me that the onlz thing real to me is my voice, mz abilitz to attach expressions to these insurmountable ideas, anchor them in this space and in this time, and continue that effortless struggle to reason myself into motivation enough to continue, to change, grow, do, something as an alternative to a crippling confusion , tickling uncertainty, an infinite jest that without the dream would otherwise leave only room for a laughter, maddenning and unsatisfying in nature. and thats one thing i dare not relinquish: my sense of humour.In ten, twenty years or even next week we’ll look back on right now and think that what followed was inevitable. Don’t forget the uncertainty and unpredictability of today and how you are fighting for every decision, every accomplishment, and every outcome. We’re all surfing on the edge of an ever advancing reality and it’s easy to forget that even when life seems the same what comes next is always new and every minute forward must be earned, lived, and will ultimately be left in your wake for yourself and others to recall and narrate.
humour (n.) Middle English: via Old French from Latin humor ‘moisture’, from humere, humid. The original sense was ‘bodily fluid’ (surviving in aqueous humour and vitreous humour ); it was used specifically for any of the cardinal humours, wence ‘mental disposition’ was thought to be caused by their relative proportions, to determine state of mind. This led to a sense of "mood, temporary state of mind" (first recorded 1520s);p.s. im still not going to copzedit this entrz. it makes the madness - or humour - more convincing. You decide.
June 5, 2015
publishing (v., n.)
I came across an HBR article on marketing today that I saved long ago, and I realized it may be about time I blog about what I do; ya know, professionally. But I'm going to call it "publishing." Here's why:
publish (v.) mid-14c., "make publicly known, reveal, divulge, announce;" alteration of publicen (early 14c.) by influence of banish, finish, etc.; from Latin publicare "make public;" also "to disgrace, put to shame; denounce publicly." In Middle English the verb also meant "to populate; to multiply, breed" (late 14c.)The article's premise is that marketers need to think more like publishers and use content as a way to get the public's attention.
"Start by figuring out what you have to offer the world."
When I started my Masters at SFU, we talked about publishing being Dead; but we quickly realized it's actually ubiquitous, as the web has increased both supply and demand for content. The traditional publishing model has been disrupted as distribution channels have opened up. Publishers are having to relying more on digital media to cut costs or increase margins through advertising, and companies are increasingly putting money towards "content marketing" as a way to hook discerning consumers.
"If you expect people to listen to you, it’s best to have something meaningful to say."The increased democratization of publishing in the last five centuries, thanks to the same online tools marketers use, has put less power in the hands of the traditional publisher or "gatekeeper" and more onus on the consumer to determine what will surface to the top. Or at least, that's the idealist's view.
But there's far more business in it than art. Big players are stepping in to help readers navigate the vast amount of content out there, filtering out what they determine to be "good" from the "bad." They roll out algorithms to manage the floodgates - in exchange for information. These formulaic approaches for pushing good content up, (in search engines, for example,) rely on precedents set by the consumer - by popular vote, behaviour, pattern. In addition to this, companies like Google and Facebook, who hold onto vasts amount of content, have a heavy hand in determining what readers do find. (Think not just organic virality but PageRank, Open Graph and sponsored/paid content bidding wars.) What gets read, keeps getting read. Not terribly sophisticated of an observation, but eerily Catch 22-ey, if you ask me.
Marketers - and arguably, publishers, too - are taking note of this, are reading and cracking the markets (think: content strategy), to earn their spot - and if they can't earn it, they can afford to compete in the system by paying for it.
This isn't to say that there isn't valuable information being published. I just think we can't take those google results at face value or trust "top 10" lists as really an objective standard.
"Publishing can be a great way to build unique bonds, but there has to be a true value exchange rather than just a promotion."
But what do readers today value?
I would like to think maybe...their time? Yet we waste a lot of time reading crap.
Arguably, too many of us consume our content like fast-food America: On the cheap, and on the go. We're often not willing to do the work (grazing the surface of headlines and feeds); yet, we expect to have the best body.
I would like to think maybe...their time? Yet we waste a lot of time reading crap.
Arguably, too many of us consume our content like fast-food America: On the cheap, and on the go. We're often not willing to do the work (grazing the surface of headlines and feeds); yet, we expect to have the best body.
Publishers (contributors, gatekeepers, bloggers, content marketers, call them what you will,) know this and they've figured out our vices. But it's important that consumers realize all of this, too.
We should try and understand the business motivations that influence what content makes its way into our feeds and why (and what we give up in exchange for reading). Right now, our votes are getting counted on priced-out impressions - the value of our eyeballs, our attention. We can't always control which content finds its way to us or who benefits from it, but we should realize that we always have the power to vote with what we choose to read and engage with. Otherwise, we may never get to see the content that will more fully satiate and nourish our intellects because we'll be too busy snacking on 2-cent candy (really, that's pretty much what a paid impression costs these days).
February 20, 2015
mediocrity (n.)
mediocrity (n.): early 15c., "moderation; intermediate state or amount," from Middle French médiocrité and directly from Latin mediocritatem, "a middle state, middling condition, medium," from mediocris. Neutral at first; disparaging sense began to predominate from late 16c.
Since when did living "in the middle" become a bad thing? Apparently since the 1690s. Discussing dreams and goals with a friend today found me identifying the tension between achieving and dreaming big. Both of us have set goals over and over and reached them relatively smoothly, finding ourselves time and time again at that "peak" that disappointingly feels rather...mediocre. I thought we'd be gasping for oxygen up here; rather, I'm gasping at how underwhelming achievement can be. Can we reach for more? Are we not dreaming big enough? "It must not be such a big deal then, if I could get here or do it," said more than one person, I'm sure.
And with each achievement building our confidence and ambition, is a dream only big enough when you fail?
For as long as I can remember, I've made writing an important aspect in my life. I wrote my first poem in grade one (it was about the moon, and it rhymed) and I read it aloud and received (what I believed was honest) applause. I kept it up, though over the years, more private.
 |
| From a 2004 journal entry. |
And while my writing style has (I hope) evolved from angst-ridden and self-indulgent, towards witty, critical, nostalgic and cynical, (informed by the years of the grand ol' experience that is a human life, years piled like those countless stacks of my "vocation",) I realize now more than ever that I've done a pretty good job of being a mediocre writer. Or perhaps (if there is a difference), a very mediocre job at being a great writer.
Is that so bad? Have I found a middle way - of doing something I really love in the periphery of other things I kinda also love? Or am I not dreaming big enough to give this something a bigger, less mediocre, attempt..?
How extreme, disruptive, challenging - perhaps impossible- must one's pursuit be to make Mariana's Trench into Everest?
And why does it seem more appealing to proclaim to the world, "I wrote this between Delhi and Dubrovnik when I couchsurfed" than it is to say, "I wrote this during my evening commute between Arbutus and Fraser after my 9-to-5."
Like right now.
p.s. Before the tinge of disparagement crept in, another name for the "Golden Mean" was golden mediocrity. Let's think about that one.
August 24, 2012
content (adj., n.)
I've spent so much time over the last 2 years thinking about content. Having written my thesis on media and content marketing, having begun a career in online communications, and having continued to be an avid content consumer, I should have realized this sooner: How utterly ironic it is that it also sounds like a very important, often unexplored, adjective. Content.
To be content, I think, is really far different from being happy or full of joy or many of those other frilly ways we describe the state of not feeling something bad - like sad, lonely, empty, etc. There's a beautiful and simple subtlety about being content - something natural, calm, and full of release. Rather than the experiencing of some kind of time-stamped smile or an energetic burst of hedonistic satisfaction, being content is plain, good.
In my work, I think a lot about content strategy, social media, branding and all these "outer-world" kind of things. Lately, I found myself thinking about how we consume information, what we define as "social", and how the online universe affects our everyday (as in, for example, how Facebook makes us lonely). Content is king, and we are slaves of it more than ever in this speedy information-propelled age.
Navigating the online world = Marketing ourselves
Self-branding online is not a new concept. But somehow, I can't seem to put aside this idea as it always reminds me of the demands of a digitized identity. The ways in which we express knowledge - of the world and of ourselves - are changing.
Everything is becoming more and more social online: Google increasingly adjusts it's algorithms to crawl what it deems as "social" content; online activity increasingly informs how and where we choose to "hang out" or hold conversations (online and off), (the same conversations via which we consume, use, and disseminate content). We know more about our world and the world knows more about us - but do we know too much about each other and not really enough about ourselves?
Our Ego has always been the mask that we use to present ourselves to the world. But web communications, and social media more specifically, is giving us a chance to manipulate this (much less transparent, much more agile) mask. Some of us may not even realize we're wearing it. Many of us may be even more aware of the mask though, which may be affecting our happiness because we don't feel real.
The internet is democratic
Online channels are democratic. The internet is a space with flexible hierarchies, where unconventional people can become significant influencers.
Companies, for one, have great opportunities to benefit online - they can take advantage of conversing with their market, which benefits consumers as well. At least, the web has opened up opportunities where marketing can become more interactive, expressive, and real. But does this democratized space harm us as human beings in any way? Just because the conversations are more real and the marketing appears more transparent, doesn't mean we feel more real, more understood.
Sorry - I know I can sound preachy in my posts. I often look to express conclusive answers to questions that I pose (albeit using puns and quasi-homonyms). But this week, I'm going to just ask a bunch of questions - and I'll be content to find that the answers we scramble for may simply float around my question marks - and that that's enough.
Does the internet force us to not be true selves? Or is it just part of our developing another ego, a new way to present ourselves to one another?
Do we recognize the difference between appearing content and actually being content?
Are making of our private life too public?
Should we have anything to hide? Is there value in holding on to something just for ourselves?
Are we practicing content marketing every day when we post status updates? What does this mean?
How does online influence feed into our confidence offline?
Is social media just a new tool for human socializaton?
 |
| "We are living in an isolation that would have been unimaginable to our ancestors, and yet we have never been more accessible." - Stephen Marche (The Atlantic) |
To be content, I think, is really far different from being happy or full of joy or many of those other frilly ways we describe the state of not feeling something bad - like sad, lonely, empty, etc. There's a beautiful and simple subtlety about being content - something natural, calm, and full of release. Rather than the experiencing of some kind of time-stamped smile or an energetic burst of hedonistic satisfaction, being content is plain, good.
In my work, I think a lot about content strategy, social media, branding and all these "outer-world" kind of things. Lately, I found myself thinking about how we consume information, what we define as "social", and how the online universe affects our everyday (as in, for example, how Facebook makes us lonely). Content is king, and we are slaves of it more than ever in this speedy information-propelled age.
Navigating the online world = Marketing ourselves
Self-branding online is not a new concept. But somehow, I can't seem to put aside this idea as it always reminds me of the demands of a digitized identity. The ways in which we express knowledge - of the world and of ourselves - are changing.
Everything is becoming more and more social online: Google increasingly adjusts it's algorithms to crawl what it deems as "social" content; online activity increasingly informs how and where we choose to "hang out" or hold conversations (online and off), (the same conversations via which we consume, use, and disseminate content). We know more about our world and the world knows more about us - but do we know too much about each other and not really enough about ourselves?
Our Ego has always been the mask that we use to present ourselves to the world. But web communications, and social media more specifically, is giving us a chance to manipulate this (much less transparent, much more agile) mask. Some of us may not even realize we're wearing it. Many of us may be even more aware of the mask though, which may be affecting our happiness because we don't feel real.
The internet is democratic
Online channels are democratic. The internet is a space with flexible hierarchies, where unconventional people can become significant influencers.
Companies, for one, have great opportunities to benefit online - they can take advantage of conversing with their market, which benefits consumers as well. At least, the web has opened up opportunities where marketing can become more interactive, expressive, and real. But does this democratized space harm us as human beings in any way? Just because the conversations are more real and the marketing appears more transparent, doesn't mean we feel more real, more understood.
Sorry - I know I can sound preachy in my posts. I often look to express conclusive answers to questions that I pose (albeit using puns and quasi-homonyms). But this week, I'm going to just ask a bunch of questions - and I'll be content to find that the answers we scramble for may simply float around my question marks - and that that's enough.
Does the internet force us to not be true selves? Or is it just part of our developing another ego, a new way to present ourselves to one another?
Do we recognize the difference between appearing content and actually being content?
Are making of our private life too public?
Should we have anything to hide? Is there value in holding on to something just for ourselves?
Are we practicing content marketing every day when we post status updates? What does this mean?
How does online influence feed into our confidence offline?
Is social media just a new tool for human socializaton?
April 16, 2012
back-up plan (adj.)
So today, after a really wonderful weekend that was productive, sunny, and pleasant, I had somewhat of a nightmarish morning. After a couple of days of feeling satisfied from the work I'd put into my project report, and a couple of days of feeling almost relaxed at coffee dates with my mom and dinner dates with friends, I get hit with an onslaught of stress: Apparently the dreaded Approval Page has come back to haunt me.
Apparently, it's supposed to be in black and white - and not in colour (i.e. the word "Approval" cannot be in maroon as my personal template had for all the headings). It's super frustrating because it had moved through so many hands at this point and no one told me that this wasn't right. It was confirmed my department administrator and I only used colour PDFs of past theses for reference. While I can change the rest of the thesis to suit this requirement by editing the raw file (I've already done this), I can't really fix the Approvals Page as easily since it's an original.
Thankfully, Zahra, my industry supervisor in Montreal, has been so supportive and open to my constant requests for new copies of the Approval Page. Thankfully also, Nancy at the SFSS copy centre has been a total delight and made this process go as smoothly as possible this morning/afternoon (even though it's not too smooth). A couple of my closest friends have also been super supportive, and especially when I needed them, sitting on that dreaded bus ride up the mountain. These people have kept my nerves from getting out of whack and have kept stress at bay for the most part. Just trying to calm myself down and remind myself that it's not the end of the world (and somehow, when I'm on the 135 bus to/from SFU on E Hastings, this perspective is a lot easier to have).
So, I'm thanking my lucky stars for all the good that I have...and for having the privilege to hope. Hope that Purolator will deliver on time, not ship Zahra's envelope to the wrong place, or lose it in transit (bite my tongue). Hope that maybe the Assistant to Theses will take pity or not see the Approvals Page as such a problem. And finally, hope that I'll get all three signatures in by the 27th so that I can graduate...
So my word for today, as I sit in the Student Services centre at the Maggie Benston building in Burnaby, is "back-up plan." I keep remembering that when I went ahead and booked my appointment for the 16th with the intention of submitting it that day (today), I also had a back-up plan. I keep reassuring myself that it'll all be fine, because I planned for a worst case scenario. Unfortunately, it seems to be happening...but hopefully it'll all be fine in the end. It sucks that I'm out of town from Thursday to Tuesday of next week... but I trust that it's all going to be okay because I still have time - not loads of it, but hopefully enough. Otherwise I'll feel like my back-up plan is backing me into a corner.
Fingers crossed! My meeting is in 40 minutes.
Apparently, it's supposed to be in black and white - and not in colour (i.e. the word "Approval" cannot be in maroon as my personal template had for all the headings). It's super frustrating because it had moved through so many hands at this point and no one told me that this wasn't right. It was confirmed my department administrator and I only used colour PDFs of past theses for reference. While I can change the rest of the thesis to suit this requirement by editing the raw file (I've already done this), I can't really fix the Approvals Page as easily since it's an original.
Thankfully, Zahra, my industry supervisor in Montreal, has been so supportive and open to my constant requests for new copies of the Approval Page. Thankfully also, Nancy at the SFSS copy centre has been a total delight and made this process go as smoothly as possible this morning/afternoon (even though it's not too smooth). A couple of my closest friends have also been super supportive, and especially when I needed them, sitting on that dreaded bus ride up the mountain. These people have kept my nerves from getting out of whack and have kept stress at bay for the most part. Just trying to calm myself down and remind myself that it's not the end of the world (and somehow, when I'm on the 135 bus to/from SFU on E Hastings, this perspective is a lot easier to have).
So, I'm thanking my lucky stars for all the good that I have...and for having the privilege to hope. Hope that Purolator will deliver on time, not ship Zahra's envelope to the wrong place, or lose it in transit (bite my tongue). Hope that maybe the Assistant to Theses will take pity or not see the Approvals Page as such a problem. And finally, hope that I'll get all three signatures in by the 27th so that I can graduate...
So my word for today, as I sit in the Student Services centre at the Maggie Benston building in Burnaby, is "back-up plan." I keep remembering that when I went ahead and booked my appointment for the 16th with the intention of submitting it that day (today), I also had a back-up plan. I keep reassuring myself that it'll all be fine, because I planned for a worst case scenario. Unfortunately, it seems to be happening...but hopefully it'll all be fine in the end. It sucks that I'm out of town from Thursday to Tuesday of next week... but I trust that it's all going to be okay because I still have time - not loads of it, but hopefully enough. Otherwise I'll feel like my back-up plan is backing me into a corner.
Fingers crossed! My meeting is in 40 minutes.
April 7, 2012
deadline (n.)
Today, as I take a brief break from formatting my MPub thesis, I bring to you an entry that is mostly dedicated to myself. (Sorry.)
I've been pushing and pushing to get this thing done by April 16th, the day for which I've booked an appointment with the Assistant to Theses at SFU to submit my project report finally. I've been battling the red tape, though, and have spent hours interpreting the convoluted requirements for what consists of a complete thesis package. How do I know if it's "applicable"? Is "suggested" stronger than "optional"? I've fixed style errors, typos, and made it look almost nice. I've sifted through words like a proofreading robot, vowing to never read again.
I've also persisted against the Approvals Page margin problem (thank you fast-ass Purolator and wonderful Zahra at RDC!) and will hopefully have the entire committee's signatures by the end of next week. Now I'm inserting figures into the body of my report (with fingers crossed that I can use them all, as I wait to hear a few answers regarding a couple permissions requests). Once that's done, I'll start getting all the documentation in order, ticking off the list (and checking it twice). Then, off to the printer I go to figure out what "20lb bond paper acid free laser" paper is (maybe I already know) so that I can print it all, stick it in cream-coloured folders with perfect labels on them and submit it at the thesis office.
I've been picturing this scenario over and over again in my head, except that I'm clutching my folders as I run across a finish line. It's a bit less scary than thinking of it as a deadline.
What SFU claims to be "3 steps to submission" really feels more like a marathon - but I'm okay with that. At least I know I'm moving forward, rather than having that dreaded deadline looming over me, as though it's getting closer to me, instead of me chasing it.
So here's to killing the deadline (ironic pun intended) and advocating for the finish line!
Because, if I hit that finish line on April 16th, I am going to be a very happy camper.
Literally.
(Yup, I've decided -come hell or high water- I'm going to Coachella!!)
Of course, I also have a back-up plan, in case I lose the race. I'm going to do another marathon (finish line: April 27th) after I get back on the 24th. But by then, I know I'll win. It's because I will have already figured out what I need to fix in my thesis package because I've failed once already. (Ha! Losing can be winning after all!)
Anywho, gotta run! (Not actually. I'm going to Bojangles to drop them figures in).
Thank you to everyone who's been supporting me through this sometimes-gruesome process. You know who you are because you've seen me act a special kind of crazy-anxious.
xoxx
p.s. Who's joining me at Coachella, weekend 2?
I've been pushing and pushing to get this thing done by April 16th, the day for which I've booked an appointment with the Assistant to Theses at SFU to submit my project report finally. I've been battling the red tape, though, and have spent hours interpreting the convoluted requirements for what consists of a complete thesis package. How do I know if it's "applicable"? Is "suggested" stronger than "optional"? I've fixed style errors, typos, and made it look almost nice. I've sifted through words like a proofreading robot, vowing to never read again.
I've also persisted against the Approvals Page margin problem (thank you fast-ass Purolator and wonderful Zahra at RDC!) and will hopefully have the entire committee's signatures by the end of next week. Now I'm inserting figures into the body of my report (with fingers crossed that I can use them all, as I wait to hear a few answers regarding a couple permissions requests). Once that's done, I'll start getting all the documentation in order, ticking off the list (and checking it twice). Then, off to the printer I go to figure out what "20lb bond paper acid free laser" paper is (maybe I already know) so that I can print it all, stick it in cream-coloured folders with perfect labels on them and submit it at the thesis office.
I've been picturing this scenario over and over again in my head, except that I'm clutching my folders as I run across a finish line. It's a bit less scary than thinking of it as a deadline.
What SFU claims to be "3 steps to submission" really feels more like a marathon - but I'm okay with that. At least I know I'm moving forward, rather than having that dreaded deadline looming over me, as though it's getting closer to me, instead of me chasing it.
So here's to killing the deadline (ironic pun intended) and advocating for the finish line!
Because, if I hit that finish line on April 16th, I am going to be a very happy camper.
Literally.
(Yup, I've decided -come hell or high water- I'm going to Coachella!!)
Of course, I also have a back-up plan, in case I lose the race. I'm going to do another marathon (finish line: April 27th) after I get back on the 24th. But by then, I know I'll win. It's because I will have already figured out what I need to fix in my thesis package because I've failed once already. (Ha! Losing can be winning after all!)
Anywho, gotta run! (Not actually. I'm going to Bojangles to drop them figures in).
Thank you to everyone who's been supporting me through this sometimes-gruesome process. You know who you are because you've seen me act a special kind of crazy-anxious.
xoxx
p.s. Who's joining me at Coachella, weekend 2?
March 9, 2012
rep (n.)
I've taken on a number of new roles in the social media world over the last couple of months and it's really got me thinking about this funny thing we call "klout". (Do note that, however, I have not chosen it to be my word. Rather, it's rep.) Today, I want to talk about reputation, and what it means to represent yourself in the world these days.
It's been a bit of an upward battle for me, trying to see where I (should) fit in. Let me explain. Almost being a grad from the Master in Publishing program at SFU, I'm at bit of a crossroads when it comes to what form my career will take (a little bit like publishing itself, don't ya think?)
It's making me think hard about how I represent myself to the world, how the world sees me - and especially when it comes to the online world, how tangible my reputation even is. Also, once garnering a kind of reputation I can be proud of, what do I do with it?
I've long been a bit nifty with gadgets, and I enjoy using them (as well as fighting them when they don't work). You can say I'm a bit of a Machead, but I am not an early-adopter. Heck, I just got onto Pinterest (and I'm a bit addicted). I've also long been a traditionalist when it comes to art forms: I still scrapbook; I still print my photos; I still cringe at the thought of saving my writing in the cloud (I just don't trust it entirely - even having my entire blog exist solely in digital format makes me wince sometimes).
I'm crossing the line between online and offline constantly, trying to see how to best balance these two planes on which we all operate as 21st century citizens. Being a publishing graduate student, however, this just adds a whole other element to my navigation of the world.
Facebook decided to change our profiles into timelines, emphasizing our "story" over what once was primarily "the wall". I think this is more than significant. This switch brings our personas to the level of community and corporate pages - our stories can be subscribed to. It also embarks to give value to a business' history, present and future and how it tells its story. The holy, omnipresent Facebook has framed the world of society and commerce as a bunch of entities that have reputations to uphold, stories to (re)present. Amidst it all, I'm left to wonder how to best utilize my energy and time to make sure that I represent myself (and my affiliations) effectively and in the right places. It's plain tough (if not impossible) to successfully manage a personal portfolio that exists on a few dozen networks - both offline and online.
I'm gradually delving deeper into the world of social media, becoming more active in more places: As a social media coordinator/online marketer for Global Mechanic Media, as well as a social media engagement officer for the IABC, I'm all over the map: I'm figuring out new strategies and using new tools to boost publicity and increase engagement online; I'm pushing cool new products (like Sir Bit!) and developing content strategy - and all the while I'm also trying to balance my engagement. I engage on a face-to-face level with people in appropriate industries, attend meet ups, find local tweetups, and network at conferences. I'm doing all of this, mind you, while also having what we once unambiguously called "a social life" - I attend concerts and go to parties; I work hard at being a good friend, daughter and girlfriend - generally speaking, while being tapped in online, I also participate in the "real" world (can we still call it that?)
What I'm finding is that I'm incredibly engaged on both a professional and personal level when I use online networking and content discovery tools in tandem with making "real" connections. I try to strike a balance so that when I assess my "klout", I'm assessing my online and offline rep - so that I'm influencing others and being influenced in the most appropriate places and in the most beneficial ways to myself and those around me. We want to feel human. Yet, I also think the human experience is evolving to be very active in an ephemeral place: online.
There's much to be had online, and if we're not active there, are we missing out on an aspect of what it means to be a social being today?
In today's world, I think we benefit from having all kinds of (somewhat paradoxical) "social skills": an ability to multitask while being able to concentrate; being adaptable but also committed; being human, yet always correct; being in many places at once, but always present; being able to think quickly, but also deeply; being open but also judgmental; being hopeful while also cautious and cynical; being creative yet reasoned and restrained; being charming and genuine; being connected and independent...the list goes on.
In a couple of weeks, I'll be sharing some of my (layman) knowledge and experience of social media at Using Social Media to Advance Your Graduate Career panel at SFU, Burnaby. As I think about what advice I'll be imparting, I know I won't be able to stress enough how necessary it is to be personable, not just social, to maintain a good rep.
It's making me think hard about how I represent myself to the world, how the world sees me - and especially when it comes to the online world, how tangible my reputation even is. Also, once garnering a kind of reputation I can be proud of, what do I do with it?
I've long been a bit nifty with gadgets, and I enjoy using them (as well as fighting them when they don't work). You can say I'm a bit of a Machead, but I am not an early-adopter. Heck, I just got onto Pinterest (and I'm a bit addicted). I've also long been a traditionalist when it comes to art forms: I still scrapbook; I still print my photos; I still cringe at the thought of saving my writing in the cloud (I just don't trust it entirely - even having my entire blog exist solely in digital format makes me wince sometimes).
I'm crossing the line between online and offline constantly, trying to see how to best balance these two planes on which we all operate as 21st century citizens. Being a publishing graduate student, however, this just adds a whole other element to my navigation of the world.
I'm gradually delving deeper into the world of social media, becoming more active in more places: As a social media coordinator/online marketer for Global Mechanic Media, as well as a social media engagement officer for the IABC, I'm all over the map: I'm figuring out new strategies and using new tools to boost publicity and increase engagement online; I'm pushing cool new products (like Sir Bit!) and developing content strategy - and all the while I'm also trying to balance my engagement. I engage on a face-to-face level with people in appropriate industries, attend meet ups, find local tweetups, and network at conferences. I'm doing all of this, mind you, while also having what we once unambiguously called "a social life" - I attend concerts and go to parties; I work hard at being a good friend, daughter and girlfriend - generally speaking, while being tapped in online, I also participate in the "real" world (can we still call it that?)
 |
| For a great article about managing time on social media. |
There's much to be had online, and if we're not active there, are we missing out on an aspect of what it means to be a social being today?
In today's world, I think we benefit from having all kinds of (somewhat paradoxical) "social skills": an ability to multitask while being able to concentrate; being adaptable but also committed; being human, yet always correct; being in many places at once, but always present; being able to think quickly, but also deeply; being open but also judgmental; being hopeful while also cautious and cynical; being creative yet reasoned and restrained; being charming and genuine; being connected and independent...the list goes on.
In a couple of weeks, I'll be sharing some of my (layman) knowledge and experience of social media at Using Social Media to Advance Your Graduate Career panel at SFU, Burnaby. As I think about what advice I'll be imparting, I know I won't be able to stress enough how necessary it is to be personable, not just social, to maintain a good rep.
May 6, 2011
patience (n.)
patience - a noun. Though it really should be a verb.
Over the last three months, I've been putting my design skills to work by offering my volunteer services to Mothership Stories Society, a non-profit organized by Marilyn Norry, which dedicates itself in collecting stories about mothers as written by their children in order to archive a valuable history of ordinary women, which otherwise may be forgotten. Without such efforts, legacies of interesting, perseverant women whose lives tell us about women's roles and experiences and the times in which they've lived, may never be recorded.
Today, after weeks of editing, typesetting, caption-collecting, resolution-fixing, exporting, merging, and flattening, we finally printed a final version of: My Mother's Story: the originals.
[Stay tuned for news on where to buy the book!]
The seven hour ordeal (made all the less chaotic and stressful by Oscar's Books' Adam and Barry), entailed changing margins last-minute for 120 minutes, fixing files to fit new printer specifications, and reformatting photos till we got them just right. We chose paper stock, grew impatient with the printer at times (oh cream paper why must you curl?!), but eventually came out with a breathtaking book that just made us all fuzzy inside.
During the process, I also just learned the importance of patience and how it helps to find the humour and joy in stressful situations so that you can stay functional. Find contentment through patience instead of making things worse by giving in to impatience, its evil sibling.
I also realized why, when saying patience, we're kind of saying "pay" "ssh" "sense".
Pay
Without patience, you pay the price. If you lose it, get hasty and decide "oh whoooo caaaares", it bites you in the ass. I thankfully didn't experience this today, but was nonetheless tempted to give in to this illogical bargain.
You also have to pay a certain amount of attention and find focus, energy, diligence, and good stamina in order to get patience to really work its magic.
Ssh
You have to keep that little voice in your head that's screaming "WTF %^&#@!!" and other such unhelpful and wasteful filth from clouding your mind. You must shush that angry, impatient voice so that you can keep your focus on what's really at hand - what really matters in the end. You don't want years of dedication and months of hard work to go to waste just because you lost your nerve right at the end.
Sense
This has a dual aspect. In one way, while impatient, your senses become a little crazy and over-irritated, for lack of a better word. You're waiting for the printer to print 234 pages at a time, the glue is heating up more slowly than you'd like, your stomach's grumbling, and you feel your blood sugar is plummeting because you just had to get those margins right before you deserved a break. (Yup, I'm referring to hangriness here again- I'm quite susceptible to it as you can see).
Your senses become a little crazy when you're impatient - the lights are too bright, and you lose sense of time. You start seeing page numbers where they shouldn't be (and really aren't).
(Thankfully, however, I also became hyper-aware and could still tell which "final version" was really the final version; I also somehow still retained a deft hand clicking through InDesign with super-alien precision.)
In another way, it also makes sense to be patient. It's always more efficient than impatience - and a whole lot more fun. Though we spent close to five hours at Oscar's today, waiting and printing, and proofing, and changing and printing again, we had a lot of laughs. I got to meet some new people, learn new things about distribution, eat a cookie and a mandarin, watch the Expresso machine in action, pose for pictures, and to our amazement and joy, finally see a pretty copy come out, with a smile on my face.
Here's to a job well done! And please let me know if you'd like a copy :)
And because it's so fitting:
Here's to all the mothers of the world for being the most patient people on the planet.
Over the last three months, I've been putting my design skills to work by offering my volunteer services to Mothership Stories Society, a non-profit organized by Marilyn Norry, which dedicates itself in collecting stories about mothers as written by their children in order to archive a valuable history of ordinary women, which otherwise may be forgotten. Without such efforts, legacies of interesting, perseverant women whose lives tell us about women's roles and experiences and the times in which they've lived, may never be recorded.Today, after weeks of editing, typesetting, caption-collecting, resolution-fixing, exporting, merging, and flattening, we finally printed a final version of: My Mother's Story: the originals.
[Stay tuned for news on where to buy the book!]
The seven hour ordeal (made all the less chaotic and stressful by Oscar's Books' Adam and Barry), entailed changing margins last-minute for 120 minutes, fixing files to fit new printer specifications, and reformatting photos till we got them just right. We chose paper stock, grew impatient with the printer at times (oh cream paper why must you curl?!), but eventually came out with a breathtaking book that just made us all fuzzy inside.During the process, I also just learned the importance of patience and how it helps to find the humour and joy in stressful situations so that you can stay functional. Find contentment through patience instead of making things worse by giving in to impatience, its evil sibling.
I also realized why, when saying patience, we're kind of saying "pay" "ssh" "sense".
Pay
Without patience, you pay the price. If you lose it, get hasty and decide "oh whoooo caaaares", it bites you in the ass. I thankfully didn't experience this today, but was nonetheless tempted to give in to this illogical bargain.
You also have to pay a certain amount of attention and find focus, energy, diligence, and good stamina in order to get patience to really work its magic.
Ssh
You have to keep that little voice in your head that's screaming "WTF %^&#@!!" and other such unhelpful and wasteful filth from clouding your mind. You must shush that angry, impatient voice so that you can keep your focus on what's really at hand - what really matters in the end. You don't want years of dedication and months of hard work to go to waste just because you lost your nerve right at the end.
Sense
 |
| paper, ink, glue to bind! |
Your senses become a little crazy when you're impatient - the lights are too bright, and you lose sense of time. You start seeing page numbers where they shouldn't be (and really aren't).
(Thankfully, however, I also became hyper-aware and could still tell which "final version" was really the final version; I also somehow still retained a deft hand clicking through InDesign with super-alien precision.)
 |
| "Pop! goes the weasel!" |
Here's to a job well done! And please let me know if you'd like a copy :)
And because it's so fitting:
Here's to all the mothers of the world for being the most patient people on the planet.
Happy early Mother's Day!
 |
| My mom and I. |
April 17, 2011
winding down (v.)
Thought it was time I plugged a new entry into my dictionnaire de la vie. Coincidentally, it's pretty well-timed - it's a chance to tie up some lose ends, some dangling threads of time, and reflect on right now.
I've been engulfed in a Murakami novel once again (I treat myself to his dream-like narrative whenever MPub and life stresses get a bit overwhelming), so I've been thinking a lot about capital T, Time.
At the core of the novel is the wind-up bird, this mysterious creature that winds the world and sets it into motion. It's this bird that no one in the story can see - they just hear it at certain moments - when the timing's right. Sometimes, it's during an important and intense moment like when a character is experiencing a death; sometimes it's while the protagonist is enjoying eggs for breakfast. The creaking of a winding clock, embodied in some natural non-mechanical, free-flying creature - a bird - throws him into a deeper reality and makes him experience more than just the sounds of a suffering man's cries, or the taste of his breakfast toast.
I feel I kind of noticed a winding of a clock recently too - like there's an energy being drawn in, so that it can let loose later (soon) and let things unfurl and change.
It often happens around this time of the year - during "spring cleaning" season, the end of school, the start of summer, the lengthening of days, just around my birthday, early in April - this pause for reflection so that time can start again anew.
This year, it's happened because a lot of things are coming together and taking me in a new kind of direction. There's a wind up going on, and I'm in the middle of that pause before the the tick tock motion begins..waiting in anticipation... and it's giving me a funny feeling...
MPub just ended - an eight-month long Masters program during which I spent close to 35 hours a week with the same 25 people. We had our final presentations a week ago, (#Rowlyshomebrew) and I've realized, finally, as we print off our final papers (God-sent), hand them in and get ready to write our one History final on Tuesday, MPub is coming to a close.
We're all heading off to our internships, taking the next step - no more giggling at *those incoherent emails, laughing at stupid puns in our little offices, mooching coffee from Harbour Centre events we aren't invited to, browsing for witty cats and tweeting word counts; no more highlighter pens, broken staplers, and sharing chilly rooms with some of the warmest people on the planet.
Some of us are staying in Vancouver, while a lot of us are also leaving.
In my case, I'm heading off to Montreal for an internship at Reader's Digest. There is crazy amounts of excitement inside me, though I am kind of procrastinating from actually showing any of it - maybe even feeling it.
Just the sheer thought of arriving in a new city, unpacking all of my stuff in my new apartment on my new street, Rue Aylmer... the thought of brewing myself my first cup of coffee (or will it be a brew-diddly?) in my new living room where I'll be until September... the thought of smelling the sheets in my new bed.. it all sends a surge of excitement into my veins and get's me all nervous and anxious and jumpy about the tick-tocking that's about to happen. Yet, even as I think of all this, I'm kind of getting nostalgic for right now.
For this reason, now, until the Time comes, I'm going to spend some time being a little girl, riding a prolonged wave and counting my blessings as though nothing is different..... Soon I'll be opening gifts and enjoying Vancouver "summertime"...before saying goodbye and embarking on a new journey in a new timezone.
The timing isn't right yet to start something new. I need to rest and relax and absorb now...wind down...
and lick all the cooking utensils as my mama makes me my favourite birthday cake.
I'm just gonna wait to turn 24 first, then I'll grow up another year and go coo-coo for "the summer of Vish".
Until then, I'll chirp in naive delight
before I take flight.
I've been engulfed in a Murakami novel once again (I treat myself to his dream-like narrative whenever MPub and life stresses get a bit overwhelming), so I've been thinking a lot about capital T, Time.At the core of the novel is the wind-up bird, this mysterious creature that winds the world and sets it into motion. It's this bird that no one in the story can see - they just hear it at certain moments - when the timing's right. Sometimes, it's during an important and intense moment like when a character is experiencing a death; sometimes it's while the protagonist is enjoying eggs for breakfast. The creaking of a winding clock, embodied in some natural non-mechanical, free-flying creature - a bird - throws him into a deeper reality and makes him experience more than just the sounds of a suffering man's cries, or the taste of his breakfast toast.
I feel I kind of noticed a winding of a clock recently too - like there's an energy being drawn in, so that it can let loose later (soon) and let things unfurl and change.
It often happens around this time of the year - during "spring cleaning" season, the end of school, the start of summer, the lengthening of days, just around my birthday, early in April - this pause for reflection so that time can start again anew.
This year, it's happened because a lot of things are coming together and taking me in a new kind of direction. There's a wind up going on, and I'm in the middle of that pause before the the tick tock motion begins..waiting in anticipation... and it's giving me a funny feeling...
 . |
We're all heading off to our internships, taking the next step - no more giggling at *those incoherent emails, laughing at stupid puns in our little offices, mooching coffee from Harbour Centre events we aren't invited to, browsing for witty cats and tweeting word counts; no more highlighter pens, broken staplers, and sharing chilly rooms with some of the warmest people on the planet.
Some of us are staying in Vancouver, while a lot of us are also leaving.
In my case, I'm heading off to Montreal for an internship at Reader's Digest. There is crazy amounts of excitement inside me, though I am kind of procrastinating from actually showing any of it - maybe even feeling it.
Just the sheer thought of arriving in a new city, unpacking all of my stuff in my new apartment on my new street, Rue Aylmer... the thought of brewing myself my first cup of coffee (or will it be a brew-diddly?) in my new living room where I'll be until September... the thought of smelling the sheets in my new bed.. it all sends a surge of excitement into my veins and get's me all nervous and anxious and jumpy about the tick-tocking that's about to happen. Yet, even as I think of all this, I'm kind of getting nostalgic for right now.
For this reason, now, until the Time comes, I'm going to spend some time being a little girl, riding a prolonged wave and counting my blessings as though nothing is different..... Soon I'll be opening gifts and enjoying Vancouver "summertime"...before saying goodbye and embarking on a new journey in a new timezone.
The timing isn't right yet to start something new. I need to rest and relax and absorb now...wind down...
I'm just gonna wait to turn 24 first, then I'll grow up another year and go coo-coo for "the summer of Vish".
Until then, I'll chirp in naive delight
before I take flight.
March 13, 2011
prejudice (n.)
 |
| I drink, I fall down, no problem.” ~James Joyce |
In light of some recent conversations, (either mildly inebriated or dead sober in History of Publishing class), I got to talking about Jane Austen.
 |
| "An alcoholic is someone you don't like who drinks as much as you do." ~Dylan Thomas |
Over the weekend, I had a chat with some friends of mine and we somehow started talking about literature (we were probably drinking scotch). Our conversation also culminated with Jane Austen by way of Joyce and Conrad.
 |
| "What's so unpleasant about being drunk? You ask a glass of water" ~Douglas Adams |
I say, there's so many books out there to sift though that it is a skill in itself to discover unconventional, "non-English curriculum" authors like Graham Swift, Haruki Murakami, Richardson Davies, Ivo Andric, and Will Self - at the expense of Jane Austen - and all of whom I would have never discovered had I stuck to "Top 100 Novels of All Time" lists.
 |
| "Beer, of course, is actually a depressant. But poor people will never stop hoping otherwise." ~Kurt Vonnegut |
I call it being proud in my prejudice.
There's too much to experience to not pass judgment.
 |
| Drink and dance and laugh and lie, Love, the reeling midnight through, For tomorrow we shall die! (But, alas, we never do.)" ~Dorothy Parker |
"Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable."
~ Louisa May Alcott
March 7, 2011
buck up (vb.)
So, in light of a previous "promise" I made - to make a list of goals, a "bucket list", if you will: It's nowhere near complete, but I did give it my best. I bucked up, took heart, gained courage, grabbed a pen (and now my Macbook) and went for it.
In the process, I discovered just how eerily difficult it is to give dreams physicality.
Also, since this experience of mine was really mind-opening and unsettling and exciting and daunting and energizing and inspiring and exhausting and refreshing and mind-blowing (for me), I figured I'd share it with you as it may be fun for you all to read something with an objective eye.
I present to you, A Bucket List: the visual edition.
1. Master the art of contentment.
2. Always find time and a space to practice yoga, however old I get.
3. Have a job that allows me to at least sometimes work from home.
4. Visit an ashram for some relatively extended period of time.
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| (yah, i know.) |
5. Go scuba diving
6. Decorate some future kitchen of mine with plaid tablecloths and curtains and other cheesy country style stuff. (and always have a huge bowl of fruit at the table.)
 |
| (Actually, anything in plaid will do!) |
7. Own my own home so that I can one day look back at carpet stains and cracked tiles, remember stuff, and get nostalgic.
8. Go on a yoga retreat
9. Take a guitar lesson or five
10. Learn how to sing
11. Take my future children to "the old country"
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| (Mostly so they can eat the best meat on the planet.) |
12. Visit Israel again. and again
13. Learn to get by in another language other than Serbo-Croatian
14. Write a book..a memoir....
15. Teach English in Asia
16. Have lifelong companionship
17. Paint a few wall-worthy paintings; take a few frame-worthy photographs
18. Host dinner parties
19. Learn how to sew on a sewing machine
20. Take good care of my family, especially my parents
 |
March 3, 2011
goal (n.)
Having begun a yoga challenge two days ago (I know, inspiration comes fast!), it's made me reflect on other ways I've challenged myself this year.
I've always been a lover of lists, as most people who know me personally know. I write 'to do' lists all the time, especially before bedtime when I feel I need to get it all out of my head so I can truly unwind and have a good night's sleep. At the risk of sounding really OCD, I'll divulge: I'll place anything from important things like "meeting with x at y:yy pm" to trivialities I can't imagine I'd forget to do (like "shower" and "watch The Office). Ha. But, to each their own, and for me it works.
Though seemingly a bad thing, I sometimes remind myself of Hugh Grant's character, Will, in About a Boy, who compartmentalizes his life into units. Except, unlike Will, it all does mean a lot, and making my lists, though not endowed with meaning themselves, help me appreciate the great things I get to do in my life every day, which make me feel and be a better, more capable person.
I also have 'wish lists' (really, shopping lists), which come in handy because they help me "keep track" (yuck) of how I can reward myself when I feel I've come to deserve it. I also prefer "wish" over "shopping" because they're things I'd like to have one day, and not things I must purchase on an errand day. It reminds me I can do without but that I also deserve sometimes to do with.
I also have 'pros and cons' lists, which I'll jot down every now and then to help me make a decision. If I'm feeling ungrateful or a but murky or overwhelmed, I'll also turn these pros and cons into those relating to my life in order to give me some perspective.
But, all in all, the most important list is probably one I've never given physical presence: a list of goals, however big or small, that shape what I'd like to do with my life.
This brings me to "goal" - my word, today (notice it's not "list"). I particularily like it because it has the word go in it. It's active, motivating, conscious, and present. It's about time I gave it form.
This list is not one to just be casually jotted down with a bunch of boxes next to each point. It's of course subject to change, but I need to think about it a little (or a lot more).
Stay tuned.
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| "My life is made up of units of time. Buying CDs - two units. Eating lunch - three units. Exercising - two units. All in all, I had a very full life...." |
 |
| I am not an island! And I will never hold a baby like this! |
Though seemingly a bad thing, I sometimes remind myself of Hugh Grant's character, Will, in About a Boy, who compartmentalizes his life into units. Except, unlike Will, it all does mean a lot, and making my lists, though not endowed with meaning themselves, help me appreciate the great things I get to do in my life every day, which make me feel and be a better, more capable person.
I also have 'wish lists' (really, shopping lists), which come in handy because they help me "keep track" (yuck) of how I can reward myself when I feel I've come to deserve it. I also prefer "wish" over "shopping" because they're things I'd like to have one day, and not things I must purchase on an errand day. It reminds me I can do without but that I also deserve sometimes to do with.
I also have 'pros and cons' lists, which I'll jot down every now and then to help me make a decision. If I'm feeling ungrateful or a but murky or overwhelmed, I'll also turn these pros and cons into those relating to my life in order to give me some perspective.
But, all in all, the most important list is probably one I've never given physical presence: a list of goals, however big or small, that shape what I'd like to do with my life.
This brings me to "goal" - my word, today (notice it's not "list"). I particularily like it because it has the word go in it. It's active, motivating, conscious, and present. It's about time I gave it form.
This list is not one to just be casually jotted down with a bunch of boxes next to each point. It's of course subject to change, but I need to think about it a little (or a lot more).
Stay tuned.
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